Fate moon.
Disclaimer :I don't own fate series nor fairy tail.
Chapter 4.
Adelwolf was breathing heavily as he clutched his left hand which was sprouting an arrow, knowing his muscles were severed, as were some of the nerves in his arm.
His left leg didn't fare much better, and he biten his lips, drawing blood as to not scream out in pain. His eyes locked on his brother, who slowly returned to his senses.
" Wolf" the older man said, his voice broken " What have I done? How did I lost control?" he asked, his eyes downcast.
" Not your fault Adelbert" the younger brother rasped " We couldn't have known that this thing was working like a tainted grail" he said slowly as he approached the older sibling.
" Yeah.. I couldn't believe it... My entire reasoning was used against me" a tear escaped the mercenary " And I hurt you Little brother".
" Shut the hell up.. You little runt, show me the pride of the Ainsworth. I am not dead you know" Wolf said darkly his eyes closing for a second his body tired " You should break your connection to the card... I will have to take it out, there is no other choice. It is tainted and must be cleansed of the evil" he said slowly.
Adelbert nodded " Of course. But are you sure you are up for that mein bruder?" he asked concerned.
Wolf let out a small chuckle " I have enough Prana don't worry.. What you should worry is your own pain.. It's going to hurt so brace yourself!" he proclaimed.
Adelbert nodded in affirmative" Do it " he said with a cold voice.
" Very well then " the younger one said as he pumped most of his remaining od into his circuit, leaving just enough to survive" Flash air " he said quietly, mentally bracing himself to the coming avalche which the alchemy spell caused.
At first nothing happened and the wizards around looked weirdly at the boy in front of them.
" What is it that you are trying to do? " the redhead asked the injured boy " Stop stalling, we need..." but before she could finish her sentence Adelbert screamed.
Looking at him Tytania widened her eyes as his entire body was engulfed in light, it surrounded him from all the sides, and from a moment to moment it intensified, and with it the high pitched screams of the mercenary.
" Stop this!" she called, but was ignored by the young boy who had a look of pure concentration on his face.
She was ready to physically stop him, and already started to move toward him, only to halt as something started to float from the light, and as it did, the light faded slowly, leaving one black haired mercenary on the ground breathing heavily.
The "something", appeared to be a card of some sort, with some image wich the girl couldn't see. The card suddenly vanished and reappeared in the younger boy's hand who looked exhausted himself, and without warning he collapsed.
Adelbert slowly got up, finally realizing that he was relatively unharmed and quickly moved towards his fallen brother.
" Adelwolf! Adelwolf!" he called gently shaking his brother.
But the boy just breathed heavily and didn't respond.
" Damn it! He used to much od... I will need to lend him some of my own" he mutterd as he started to build up his energy and slowly transferring it to his younger brother.
It took several minutes, but the end result was Wolf opening his eyes looking around slightly confused " W-what?" he asked dumbly before realizing what was going on. He hurriedly made sure the class card was by him and only sighed in relief as he saw it was indeed there.
He looked up at his brother " Adelbert, we should start routing the prisoners and get them ready to be moved to prison... That's includes the rouge wizard saint there" he said slowly and barely audibly, his body still weak.
The older man nodded " Yeah, it shouldn't take long though and it's not our job to begin with" he said quietly as well only to be interrupted by the redhead wizard behind them.
" Now excuse me please.. But you are not taking him anywhere.. Fairy tail has unfinished business with him!" she called.
Jura moved forward " Erza stand back!" he said authoritatively " They are all criminals and must be handled by the magic council, and those two are their representatives ".
The woman shook her head" No.. We still have a lot what to discuss with him! You can't stop me! " she said moving toward the two siblings.
And just as Jura tried to move to stop her, the rest of fairy tail turned to block his way" Erza needs to talk with him.. Please do not interrupted " it was Grey who spoke, Natsu was near him barely standing.
At the same time Erza approached the two siblings" You will not take him with you... I have business with him, and I will hurt the two of you if will be neccecary.. After all you are not part of fairy tail! " she said menacingly.
Adelbert stood up" Hey hey.. There is no need for violence you know "he said his voice laid back as usual " Its not our job to take them in.. And unfortunately for you those who's job it is have arrived " his face was a mask of boredom and sleepiness, which irritated the sword wizard.
" Yeah you're right it is not our job Adelbert " the young magus said softly" Those idiots are finally here " he said quietly.
" What idiots? " Erza asked only to be suddenly covered by a buble as several squads of rune knights appeared, apprehending everyone but the mercenaries.
A man in the white cape and uniform of the rune knights appeared, his black hair a contrast to his cape.
" Lord Ainsworth.. I see you are finished already" he said, his hand subconsciously adjusting his glasses.
" Captain Lahar" the black haired mercenary nodded back " Thank you for coming, the criminals are kinda scattered all around.. But the danger was neutralized" he said.
" Thank you sir, we appreciate your help, we are already taking control of the situation, the medical tent is further ahead " was the reply of the captain.
" Very well.. We will be going then, " Adelbert said as he lifted his brother. Turning to the others he nodded curtly "It was a pleasure to know you all. I hope to meet you all again" he said as he walked away.
Erza looked at the two distancing figures when something hit her " Hey! Those two didn't give us any answers!" she called angrily, which brought a chuckle to some of the wizards there. At least until she looked back at them.
And without any objections they all quited down.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
Lying on med bed, the young black haired magus sighed deeply, as the last arrow was pulled out of his body, before the wound was quickly sealed by the medical team.
"I am astounded by your endurance sir" the nurse who helped closing his wounds said, her voice full of admiration "Never before have I seen someone who didn't utter a noise when a procedure like that happened... And I dare say whoever the archer was, he was a real master... If you wouldn't have put your hand you would have been dead" she said her eyes scanning the wounds again.
Wolf let out a short laugh, he knew he was lucky and he was much closer to death, considering that the arrow passed through his reinforced body with the same ease a knife passes through fresh butter.
"I am sorry Adelwolf" his older brother said, his eyes once again downcast.. None of his usual goofiness left on his face.
"Oh stop it Bert" the younger boy scoffed " This expression does not suit you.. And I told you already it was not your fault.. There was no way for us to know that this was an ancient dark grail"
"It was not a grail brother" the older mercenary said.
"It wasn't?" the younger one asked surprised "What was it then?" he asked curiously.
"I am not sure to telltell you the truth.. But a dark grail does not posses the ability to change dark to light.. Only light to dark.. If I would have hazard a guess it would be that Nirvana was either experimental grail, probably trying to reverse a dark grail.. Or it was a result of a wish gone wrong. " he said heavily.
"I see.. That's interesting and very important information.. We will have to reaserch it later, but in any case we should get ready to return, we still need to purify your card.." he sighed "Or maybe I should say I have to purify your card... You really are hopeless Adelbert" he snorted.
The older man smiled sheepishly and had the decency to blush.
"I am sorry to interrupt your talk" the nurse said "Just wanted to inform you that the nerves and muscles were mended but you shouldn't pressure them for at least two weeks.." she said.
"Thank you" the older man said " You have been a great help.. May I have your name so I can reward you later?" he asked.
The woman blushed "Segawa Minori.. But there is no need for any reward" she replied.
"Nonsense" he waved her off " Thank you again, I guess we will be leaving" he said as he got up, and helping his brother to do the same.
"Have a safe trip my lord" Midori bowed to them as they walked out.
Adelbert nodded and walked out, his destination the carriage which will take them back to HQ.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
As the carriage continued to move, the two brothers were seating in silence, listening to the rhythmical humming of the wheels.
"Wolf" the older sibling turned to his brother as the carriage started to slow down "We have arrived" he said softly.
Adelwolf opened his eyes and looked out of the window and a smile split his stoic face. They indeed arrived.
From the window, the young boy could see the fate moon head quarters, and the ancestral home of the Ainsworth.
It was a large castle, with three walls surrounding the main keep, a huge building which looked more like a palace then a military structure which it was. Each wall had eight towers along the length each with the flags of the Ainsworth and Fate moon.
Behind the first outer wall was the city of Kenigheim which was named after a city in the Ainsworth original homeland. The second wall surrounded the military part of the city, were barracks were standing and soldiers were walking with the sigil of the ruling family, while the third and final wall surrounded the keep and a huge library which belonged to the magi of Fate moon, here also were the training grounds of those of the archer branch.
Wolf smiled, his mind supplying him all the good memories with his brother and younger sister who was studying in the local magi academy, which was named the clock tower.
The cart stopped before the grand gates to the outer wall of the city for inspection which was quickly finished when the guards noticed the occupants of the carriage.
Two more stops before they disembarked in front of the keep, Adelbert helping the younger Ainsworth to disembark.
They walked toward the doors of the keep, which were opened for them by bowing servants standing from both sides.
In front of them, on the large steps a girl was walking down. She was young and looked to be around eight years old, her long black hair and blue eyes, made it quite clear who she was. As sgeshe saw the two of them, all the dignity which he held just a second ago, was thrown right out of the window.
"Brother Bert! Brother Wolfe! You're back!" she called delighted as she sprinted down the stairs with a wide smile on her face.
Adelbert caught her in his arms and smiled warmly "How are you little Adelaide?" he asked with a huge smile on his face, hugging her tightly, which made the girl squick in delight.
Adelwolf on the other hand, more reserved as always had just a small smile on his face and petted the girls head fondly "So Adelaide" he said softly "How is your studies progressing?" he asked her.
The girl puffed her cheeks at him "Stupid big brother Wolfe.. Only askes about school" she pouted which brought the older boy to burst out laughing at his sister antics.
"Oh don't be like that Adel" Wolfe told her with a stern look "School is very important.. No matter what those barbarians might say" he chasiteted her.
The girl suddenly smiled brightly as she jumped on her other brother tackling him to the floor, which nearly brought a pained scream from the boy who fell on his left side, but for the sake of not worrying his sister he controlled it and clumped down, releasing a shaky breath.
The girl, not noticing his reaction started to tackle him but was stopped by the older boy who did notice his brother's reaction.
"I think you should let Adelwolf go to rest.. It was a difficult mission" he told his sister who nodded.
"Very well" she said "Then the two of us should play together!" she exclaimed happily, taking the older boy by his hand and dragging him off to the playroom.
Adelwolf, still getting up, dusted himself before looking at the servants who were looking at him.
Bowing his head to them, he then walked up the stairs toward his room, wanting nothing more than lie down and sleep.
When he finally arrived to his room, the boy fell on the bed, exhausted, and fell asleep immediately, not even bothering to change his clothes.
End of chapter 4.