"It' so fucking hot!" Aizen grumbled as he trudged his way through the train station behind Laxus and his Thunder Legion. He had grown up in the snowy north, he was used to chillier climates. Minstrel was one giant dessert, large mesas dotted its sun-baked landscaped, small to large oases provided the centers of villages and cities alike. It was often called the Lands Without Shade, a moniker that Aizen was not too pleased with. Given that shade shadow was quite delicious.
"Quit you're whining, you'd be cooler if you took off that fur pelt off," Laxus said with Bickslow and Evergreen both looking at him with disbelieving looks. It was a little hypocritical for Laxus to say something like that given he still had his large black overcoat draped over his shoulders.
"Shut Up!" Aizen yelled back. "I'll wear what I want." He said as he continued to sweat and pant under the hot sun that shined down into the open roof train station. They were in the port city of Calbim and had gotten off the cruise ship easy enough. Now they were heading deeper into the nation and towards their target. Two days by train and they would be in the mining town of Cil where the representative of the Minstrel Republic would be waiting for them. Aizen was dreading the trip if the train lacked any form of AC like the train station did.
"You will need to purge this annoyance from yourself if you're going to be able to lead Reds into battle." The Armored Specter chuckled much to irritation to Aizen. The future Overlord knew that this would only get worse. Given that they had the sea winds to cool the air, but soon they would be out in the dry heat blasted dessert.
"Everyone just shut the fuck up," Aizen grumbled as he dragged himself on the train. The feeling bare basic AC breathing a bit of life back into the young man. He could at least feel that he no longer was sweating gallons. Didn't mean like he didn't smell like he was. With one sniff his face soured, thankfully there was a shower in his suite. He was really loving the fact Minstrel was footing the bill for the top end means of travel.
So with a flow through the cabins along the floors and walls as nothing but a shadow, he headed for his cabin and a nice cold shower. He had been in such a hurry that he had not seen that two others from the cruise ship had come onto the train.
"You are not to leave my sight, do you understand Seilah?" Kyôka growled as she looked behind her to see Seilah nodding submissively. Kyôka's fellow demon never looking up from her gaze toward the floor. "If you do then I'll have to punish you again." Kyôka grabbed Seilah's face and forced her to look into her own eyes. "Now say it again…"
"Humans are filthy pigs that don't deserve a single thought other than their death." Seilah repeated the words like she had done a thousand times over. Kyôka's frown however had not left her. The tone was still a pained and sad one, like a kicked puppy that did something bad. It wasn't what Kyôka wanted, she wanted Seilah to say it with as much conviction and belief that she herself had for those words.
"Good enough." Kyôka said as she let go of Seilah. "But it seems that I'm going to need to work on you a little more during our ride to Cil." Kyôka casually said as she walked further into the train, not seeing the look of betrayal and fear that was on Seilah's face.
"I hate water… I really hate water." Inferna grumbled as she felt greatly annoyed as she walked up the gangplank back onto the ship that she and the three other Netherghuls used to get around the world in search of the Overlord. They had spent years traveling around the known world without a hint of the Overlord.
"Aye… 'fter years 'm gettin' sick of it me 'self." Hakon agreed as he came up the gangplank after Inferna. The two watched as Minions ran up alongside them, each of them carrying hordes of gold and jewels. Behind them was a ruined port city that they had just raided, a rumor had been going around the coasts that it was home to an overlord. Turned out to just be some vampire that styled himself with the title, in fact he was far from the true Overlord.
"If we don't find the new Overlord soon…" Inferna couldn't say that she was that unhappy with her second undead life. It was filled with killing, pillaging, and fighting somewhat strong opponents. Just what she wanted out of life… or un-life as it were. However there was certainly a feeling of what's next? going on with her. There was someone out there that she was one day meant to fight, and she was itching to have that fight.
"I'm sure we 'ill." Hakon chuckled as he starched his long beard. "But 'fr right now, we best be countin' down the number of ports." He said as he continued on past her and up onto the ship. Inferna watched as he went straight toward the main cabin that acted as bar/gathering room for the Netherghuls. It was supposed to be the captain's quarters, however they all agreed not to have that fight and just use it for everyone. Meaning that everyone had claimed a piece of the ship for themselves.
Hakon slept in the bar area, most of the time he was passed out. He still had a personal cabin below deck but he rarely used it. He never claimed that he lived in what used to be the captain's quarters so none of the others' ego was hurt by this living arrangement.
Cryos had made his own little kingdom out of the Minion quarters. He had them all serving him hand and foot. It made no sense to the others but the Dark Elf Prince was able to stomach prolonged contact with the dimwits. Cryos even said he had respect for them at this skill in being just what they were… evil minions.
Malady held up in the bow of the ship, none of the other Netherghuls ever dared to go there. Cryos believed that it was a place of unholy necromantic magic, and that it should be disturbed or they would all suffer the consequences. Hakon was deathly convinced that should he even think about going towards the room Malady would zap his bits into nothing. Inferna meanwhile knew exactly what was waiting behind those doors… a world of pink and girly cuteness that was still unmistakable evil.
Inferna herself stuck to one place above all else on the ship. The crow's nest. She stayed up there to avoid everyone else and at night watching the stars above. It was one of the few peaceful activates she enjoyed. Ever since her father left her out in the red sands of her homeland, she had watched the stars and looked to them for guidance. Now she mostly followed Gnarl's malicious advice and left behind the childish notion that the stars held any power over her. She was a being of evil, the celestial bodies were still in the realm of divinity and so were not for her.
"It would seem that we are at a loss for leads." The sound of Cryos' regal and self-absorbed voice brought Inferna out of her musings. "This had been the only one that held a sherd of creditability… I fear we are once again out of options."
"No!" Malady whined like the spoiled child she was. "There must be something… I don't want to go back to the Tower Lands again." Malady said crossing her arms under her chest. And Inferna and Cryos had to agree with that sentiment. Going back to the lands of the Dark Tower was counterproductive in many ways, but without a lead to go on they needed to do so. Now all they could do was return and see if Gnarl had any insight into the whereabouts of the current Overlord or maybe the Tower or Nether Heart would give them a vision.
"We have no choice… we've searched all the known lands. There must be something we missed." Cryos grumbled, the annoyance in his voice clear for everyone to hear. But what he said got Inferna thinking. They had checked the Known Lands. The various continents connected to the Tower Lands. However… there were lands that were thought to be beyond the great sea.
"You!" Inferna pointed to one of the many Minions. "Get Harkon and tell him to get into his coffin. And to tell the others were going to be going on a long voyage." Inferna ordered as this new idea took root in her mind.
"You think of somethin'?" Malady asked with a small tilt of her head.
"Both of you get in your coffins, we're going to want to sleep through this trip." Inferna ordered not giving the other two Netherghuls an explanation. Not that she felt she needed to give them one. Right now she had one of her gut feelings, the kind that never had been wrong before.
"Ah… much better." Aizen sighed as he came out of the suite's shower room and into the main compartment. His tail swinging around his feet in a show of his mood of bliss at the reprieve from the hot weather. His Transformation magic had been long since dropped, and the future Overlord was in nothing but a provided bathrobe.
"You know I don't I've gotten used to you looking like that." The sound of Bickslow surprised Aizen who looked to one of the two beds to see the man laying back relaxing. Aizen's lips twitched slightly at the annoyance at the fact that this wasn't a single person room and he would have to share a space with someone else. "Don't get me wrong, you look badass as fuck but… have to remind myself that you're Aizen."
"It's not that big of a change. My face is still the same." Aizen grumbled, to him it was such a stupid thing. People made such a big deal out of his real appearance. It wasn't just back when he was a kid, the few times that people outside of Fairy Tail saw what he really looked like were not good events. Fear and anger quickly came to anyone that saw his real form, then they died. He had to keep it a secret or else the whole incident with the Shinning Justice Order would happen all over again.
"Not that big of a change? You got horns, a tail, shark teeth, claws, and scaly red skin." Bickslow pointed out as he sat up on the bed. Aizen meanwhile began getting dressed, first using his Transformation Magic as his horns had grown a bit since childhood… made putting on shirts hard as hell without ripping them up.
"So where are the rest, I'm assuming that Evergreen is in her room getting it up to her standards?" Aizen asked as he finished getting his clothes back on and took a spot facing the large window that showed the desert landscape outside go on by.
"Yeah, Laxus and Freed are bunking together… one of them wasn't happy about that and the other felt the exact opposite." Bickslow chuckled and Aizen smiled at that as well. "It sometimes hurts to see Freed get like that knowing its never going to be mutual."
"We all know how he feels, we all know how much of a pig Laxus can be on his bad moods. It is a little sad." Aizen had to admit that he pitied Freed, as someone that wanted someone else that would never be interested. Aizen himself had never known that feeling, he naturally had a dark allure that drew women and men both in. "Having to watch the person you have such strong feelings for act the way Laxus can at times. Makes you want to…" Aizen stopped as he noticed something out the window. "Damn."
"What… see something?" Bickslow asked as he got off the bed and walked over to the window. "Oh… fuck… that's what we're fighting?" Both of them watched as row upon row of marching war golems locked stepped through the sands. Aizen quickly counted, it was a ten by thirty blocks of constructs all marching to perfect step with each other. All being done with an efficiency that only can come from machines.
Each one of them looked exactly the same. Vaguely humanoid in shame with inverted legs and long elongated faces being the biggest difference between them and a normal human. The magical machines were bulky and moved with a slow lock movement that was entirely alien to the ideas of grace and dexterity. They were built to take punishment and keep on going, a wall of stone made animate by magic that kept marching forward. And each one was built with two magical cannons into their shoulders and armed massive stone sword that was more akin to a club in practice.
"Do you see that… at their joints." Aizen asked as he tried to focus as much as he could.
"I think… they're pretty far away. I'm more concerned with if they're going to attack us or not." Bickslow said as he wondered if he should get ready for a fight. The marching war golems weren't heading for the train but heading parallel to the railroad back to the port the wizards had just left.
"No… the job said that not one single one of these things have attacked anything in the borders of Minstrel, but the second they do leave they go crazy and attack everything." Aizen explained as he tried to see what he noticed earlier. He focused his eyes as best he could to see past the distance and the shimmer of heat. Dripping out of every joint of the war golems was some kind of tar-like substance, what it was the future Overlord had no idea. It couldn't have been an oil or other lubricant given the way that the war golems moved. Aizen had read up on Durentel and their war golems, thank you Levy, and whatever he was seeing wasn't mentioned anywhere in the accounts of the magical war constructs.
"By our luck… I'm guessing those are just the foot soldiers." Bickslow sighed, those things out there all looked like a tough fight all on their own. And there was three hundred of them just in that single formation.
"The books Levy gave me called them Hesiti, and yeah… they're the basic of the basic for what we're facing. The higher tiered golems range in size and specialty, with some of them reaching the level of the Ten Wizard Saints." Aizen said and the thought only of a machine on the same power scale as the Master was unsettling. "Thankfully those are rare and extremely difficult to produce… years in crafting the body and even more to start it up. Given the timeline for this job I doubt we would have to fight something like that."
"Don't tell Laxus that… I'm pretty sure his grin grew ten times when he found out there was the possibility to test out his skills against something on par with his grandfather." Bickslow nervously chuckled and Aizen just sighed in response. Laxus had bad moods… a lot… but a growing development since Aizen knew him was his obsession with taking over Fairy Tail and beating out Makarov. Laxus was beginning to take the Killing Your Own Father trope a little too seriously.
"I'm sure he'll manage." Aizen said with controlled annoyance as he leaned back in his seat. A frown set on his face as he watched the marching magical machines lockstep toward the Wizards' port of arrival in this desert nation. The small irregularity of their job's target from what historical facts knew about them was gnawing at the future Overlord's mind. The trained hunter side of him was telling him that it was the prey that stood out from the rest that needed to be watched. "The bar open yet?" Aizen asked feeling the need to numb his worry for the time being.
"I need a drink." Kyôka grumbled as he walked through the halls of the train cars. Seilah right behind her as were the rules of her punishment dictated. The lead Tartaros demon hadn't been happy for days, not since that damn human had shown up and put all sorts of ideas in Seilah.
Something was very wrong with Kyôka's fellow demon, both in body and mind. It was obvious that Seilah was doubting many of the convictions that demons as a whole knew to be true. And moreover, during their punishment session Kyôka discovered that something had begun to change in the makeup of Seilah's Etherious' body. There was a draw on her that wasn't there before. All of them were loosely connected back to Cube, handy for when they died and could be reborn. But whatever was drawing on Seilah now was much stronger and would snap back at any attempt at removal. All of this made Kyôka angry and nervous to just who the hell was that man. Seilah was useless in exactly who he was, Aizen Korath, that was it… all they both knew in hard facts.
And that power that he had that scared her to her very core. It now was all blurry but she could remember a glowing blue hand and a predatory look in his eyes. It wasn't right, that look belonged to her! She was the one that hunted, she was never the prey. But what made her even more scared was the lack of killing intent behind his attack, whatever that was going to do to her… wasn't going to kill her. It was going to do something far worse. Even her Torture Curse still had the intent to kill… if a bit of a dragged out death… but the intent was still there. If she had to say anything about it… it would be that reminded her of how Franmalth looked when he talked about his collection of souls. But that was not an exact comparison.
She would need to talk to Mard Geer about this new player and possible threat. He already showed a sense of cunning able to confuse and cause doubt in a member of the Nine Demon Gates. And then on top of that held a power that frightened herself on an instinctual level. This would be needed to be addressed sooner or later. But Kyôka personally would be conflicted on whether she wanted to be personally involved in doing so. On the one hand she was furious at that bug of a human for what he did and the insult he gave to all demon kind, but… right now all she wanted was never seeing his face again.
"I know a few drinks I'm sure they can make for you." Seilah offered but that response to Kyôka's own mumblings just raised her bad mood.
"Yes I'm sure you had plenty of time to learn what humans are capable of doing." Kyôka growled bitterly causing Seilah to shut down further. If it wasn't for the fact Kyôka knew that their chances to complete this mission were already doubtful enough, she would have killed Seilah just to send her back to Cube. Never the less Kyôka continued on her way toward the train car that held a bar for the passengers, spending more of Mard Geer's money would give her a tiny bit of relief along with getting shit faced. But the second she opened the door to the train car and saw who was sitting there… all thought of relieving her stress and anger was destroyed.
"Hey! It's you." And it was too late to try and leave. He had seen them and already that look of a predator circling its prey entered his eyes. Aizen Korath, there he was sitting at the bar with a drink in hand much like how she had first seen him. Only now he was fully clothed and without Seilah. "Are you following me because if you really wanted to get to know me better you could have just asked." He was way too smug for it to be genuine which meant he was mocking her.
"I am not following you, but just why the hell are you on this damn train?" She didn't care one bit to the stares that she was getting from the humans. And from the continued smirk on his face he didn't either.
"Me? Oh… that's simple… I'm heading to Cil because I'm a Wizard hired to deal with the awakened War Golems." Mumbles and excited whispers crossed between the few occupants of the car. Meanwhile both Kyôka and Seilah both had their eyes widen in surprise and shock. "Should be an interesting fight. Now… I've given my reason… care to reciprocate?" He asked as he shook his glass of booze causally.
"Kyôka… maybe we should…" Seilah started but Kyôka already knew where she was going with that. She had a mind to slap her fellow demon for that but doing so would likely give the man an opening. She could see it in how he carried himself, every movement he made was ready to run over to them and try his luck at that power he had. He was looking for the right moment to strike, and taking her attention off him for a single second would give him all the chance he needed.
"Quiet, I know." Kyôka growled back, she knew that working with this man was tactically sound. That they needed all the help they could get in the face of an enemy that could easily overwhelm them in both numbers and power. But to work with him… it made Kyôka sick. "Seilah… make everyone leave now." Seilah wasted no time using her Macro Curse to force everyone out of the train car, meanwhile the Wizard just watched impassively. Only a small hint of interest came over him initially. Whatever Kyôka thought about him, she could see that he was well trained and skilled in controlling his reactions.
"Hmm… alone with a beautiful woman and her friend… whatever shall we do." He said obviously continuing his mocking tone but that still didn't mean motive couldn't be seen in his words. Ignoring the clear jab at herself, Kyôka could see that he still intended to target Seilah.
"Shut up, you are not dealing with just anyone here. We are Etherious, demons of the Black Wizard Zeref. Members of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros!" Kyôka was feeling a bit freer with information. She needed to impose some sense of fear in him. But instead of reacting like any other human… he just laughed. Kyôka's eye twitched at that blatant show of arrogance.
"Wonderful! I had thought that you were some kind of demon but… yes… Zeref made you. That makes sense." He said before he stood up from his seat and placed his glass down on the bar. "And thank you for making this a private meeting… lets me lay all the cards on the table." And with that he dropped whatever Transformation Magic he had over him showing what he really looked like.
It was surprising to see that he was more like them than human. Crimson skin covered his body instead of the tanned flesh that was there before. Much like a lizard however, the scales seemed to be heaviest on his backside, his face while now red was still fairly a flesh texture. It was behind his ears that the lizard-like scales really showed and from the way they extended down his neck, Kyôka could guess that his chest was also bare of them as well.
Then there were his horns, two sets grew out of the sides of his head, right above his sharp and slightly elongated ears. Both were ivory white and smooth without a single groove or ridge. The first set extended back before extending up and then returning back to straight back. The second set grew right under the first, though at half the size and length.
The rest of his face was mostly humanish, aside from the lizard-like yellow eyes and sharp shark-like teeth. If Kyôka wasn't already actively hating this man then she would even say he was quite handsome. And now that she knew he was more like them than not, she would have found him very pleasing to look at. But his actions had already poisoned her opinion of him. Lastly there was his tail, very long… almost twice his twice his size. Ending with barbs that Kyôka could tell could be retracted, the fact they were out said enough about his readiness for a fight should it break out.
"Aizen Korath… not a name I recognize from Zeref's creations." Kyôka said, a bit of her anger had dropped. Knowing that she was dealing with something above a human made much of what happened a bit easier to understand and accept. It certainly cleared up why he was able to connect to Seilah at all.
"Because I'm not." He growled, showing a true sense of anger. "I was born not written, and for your information… I still consider myself human. Just… a little extra in my blood." He said before he grabbed his glass off the bar and took a drink.
"That unfortunate." Kyôka deadpanned. "But what exactly is that extra?" He didn't answer at first. And when he did respond it wasn't to her question. Instead he just turned into a shadow like he did to escape them prior. He then phased to the other side of the bar and returned back to his humanoid form. He then proceeded to refill his drink, and then paid for it.
"So what does Tartaros have in mind for these Golems?" He asked ignoring her question entirely. He then began pouring two glasses for them. Kyôka starred at the hard liquor, she did come here for that exact reason. But his rude dismissal of her question returned a bit more of her anger toward him.
"It's the same as you." Kyôka finally relented and sat down at the bar with Seilah following her lead. "They are too big of a threat, they are a benign cancer at the moment but can and will grow more deadly as time goes on."
"They are hardly benign." He scoffed before taking a drink. "Anything you might know about an enemy is thrown out the window with the addition of a single anomaly to them." He scolded like he was speaking to some newborn. Further angering Kyôka to the point where she was sure he was doing this on purpose.
"Sound reasoning… you suggest that there is one such anomaly in the golems?" She grinded out trying to hold back the bile that rose in her throat. She had missed something that he had noticed, unacceptable! She had been hunting all sorts of creatures and beings for centuries, and this man was talking down to her on a fundamental level.
"Something is leaking out of their joints, some kind of black liquid. Not sure what it could be, but all the books that I read about the golems never suggested that they had a drop of liquid in their bodies to begin with." He explained, and this new information puzzled Kyôka and Seilah both. Neither one had heard of something like this, they would need to investigate this further when they had the chance.
"Since this mission has new chapters we were not aware of prior… we should work together in the greater odds we are successful." Seilah said trying to hide the hope in her voice. Kyôka knew that just being around Aizen was further pulling her toward him. Kyôka had already made up her mind on the idea of working with him and whoever he was with. No. While it was true that facing a mutual foe would be a better tactical choice, in the long term Aizen was a threat and working with him now would only make that threat greater in the future. Kyôka wasn't about to let him dig his claws further into Seilah or give him the chance to learn more about her own abilities.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Kyôka looked up from her thoughts in shock that it had been the man that turned them down. "While spending more time with you two would be interesting… I'm afraid that I can't do it. My friends are aware of my true nature but the trust me. You on the other hand are members of a Dark Guild and demons of Zeref no less… I highly doubt they would be willing to overlook that. In fact… I'm supposed to attempt to arrest any members of any Dark Guild I come across." At that he took a nearby rag and threw it at Kyôka. "Oh no… darn it… I tried my best but the dastardly demons got away… I suck."
"I'm going to rip him to pieces!" Kyôka mentally raged as she tore the rag off her face. Thankfully she w*+as too distracted by her anger to notice Seilah covering her giggling at Aizen's antics. "Whatever… have your reasons. It doesn't matter in the end, once we're done destroying our target you'll be next." Kyôka growled before she stood up and began stomping off to her room.
"Mmm… I always did like salty snacks." Aizen chuckled before giving one last look to Seilah. A wink later and he vanished into the floor and the shadow that replaced him phased back toward his own room.
"What do you mean they went off into the sunset!" Gnarl yelled after slamming his hand on the small table that had been set up for him. While the oldest minion alive, he was still as strong as the bad old days when he walked along with the rest of the minions to battle. Thus… his outrage caused the delicious bowl of grubs and roaches to be sent flying into the air and onto the head of one lucky Brown.
"Dats what dy say! Deadies go off into coffins and tell Minion to set sail across the sea." The reporting Brown said with normal minion enthusiasm. Gnarl groaned and began rubbing his chin as he did when in thought.
"We've looked everywhere else… why not send those rotting meat bags off where no minion has been." Mortis grumbled as he hung back in the shadows like he always did.
"I'm worried that they will become rotting meat bags if they travel too far from the Tower Lands for too long." Gnarl pointed out as he shuffled his way toward the open arches that gave a spectacular view of the lands that the Dark Tower shadowed with imposing form. "They have already…"
"BIG TROUBLE!" One of the Browns from the dungeons screamed as he and several other minions ran up the stairs to the Dark Tower's Throne Room. "Boss! Da prisoners are outs… day killin bunches of Minions!"
"It the stinky not-anymore Mistress and stupid hero!"
"And Elvies! Lots of Elvies!" Gnarl just stared at the screaming Minions with his glowing beady eyes. This was not good news. No… this wasn't even the kind of bad news he enjoyed hearing about. The Tower for years had been degrading due to a lack of an Overlord to rule it and infuse it with Evil Energy. The Tower Heart had long since dulled it just a background magical artifact. Gnarl had even been planning on moving the Minion Hives back to the Netherworld.
"Mortis, go to the Burrows and make sure that the Hives are ready to be taken to the nearest Nerthergate. We are leaving the Dark Tower." Gnarl ordered as he shuffled to the pool of water that acted as the central interface of the Tower Heart.
"It takes time… but we should be able to gain a bit of time by sending what Minions we have to unlock the beast cages we have in the arena." Mortis mumbled before moving off to do just that. Gnarl knew that Mortis was one of the few Minions with a brain and would get the job done. Leaving him to handle the Tower Heart. This wasn't the first time the Dark Tower had been attacked when an Overlord was absent, and there were procedures in place to keep the worst magics of the Tower Heart out of the hands of stupid heroes. There was a reason why the last Overlord found it being used to grown pumpkins.
He began enacting the needed words of power. Various black speeches and forbidden tongues were needed to do this and only he, the Gnarl, knew all the needed commands. But what began to frustrate him was the fight he needed to pull to do this rather simple task. Another power was pushing back on him, something was actively trying to slow him down. What should have taken five minutes turned to an hour of dark mumblings and Evil incoherent shouts.
"Not so fast Gnarl." The aged Minion's eyes narrowed at the sweet womanly voice. He nudged his head to see Rose standing over a dead Minion. The woman was a mess but beaten was not a word that could be placed on her. In the years since her capture at the end of her father's failure to regain power, she had not broken under his own personal attention in the torture chambers. He would say it was impressive if he cared enough. Traitors were one type of villain that the aged Minion hated rather than adored. "I can't let you lock down the Tower Heart until I find out who is the next chosen Overlord."
"Heh… that's what you want is it?" Gnarl chuckled as he began building up his own Evil Energy in preparation what he needed to do. "Leave this place, I'll tell you exactly who is the next Overlord." His willingness to tell her caused the momentary shock he needed to dump all of his hastily built magic into the pool behind him and override the magic she used to keep him out of the Tower Heart. "It's your blood… the spawn of your own sister and Aizen Korath."
"Impossible! Both of them died from father's ritual!" Rose shouted in disbelief. This information blinding her to her failure to keep the ancient Minion from completing his task.
"Not at all… Evil always finds a way." Gnarl sneered happily at her before being enveloped by shadow and vanishing from the room.
"Shit!" Rose swore as she realized what Gnarl had done. She then ran over to the pool and sent every tendril of magic power she could into the conduit to the most powerful Dark Artifact in the lands. "No! No no no no no!" Rose continued to attempt to grab ahold of some piece of power but only found the shell of ancient wards holding firm.
"I take it you failed?" Rose looked back with burning anger at both her failure and the cheery narcissistic way the speaker had asked that question. There standing where she had been a moment ago was the elf that had rescued her from that horrible dungeon. She never got his name.
"There's nothing left here… maybe a spell stone or two… a chest of gold… all worthless compared to what was just in my reach." She said before looking back into the pool. She didn't care enough to notice his footsteps walking toward her. He could come and kill her… didn't matter… she had failed so royally that it would be fitting to die. But death didn't come… instead there was the sound of a slice of flesh and then dripping of blood into the clear pool. "What are you doing… it will never recognize you as…" Almost answering her words the pool began to glow red.
"With the blood of an Overlord in my veins it will recognize me. Or at least an Overlord's brother's blood… close enough." The Elf explained as they both watched as the Tower Heart raised out of the pool. Rose watched with awe as this single Elf had managed to outmaneuver the wards and spells that protected the Tower Heart with the simplest tactic in magic ever.
"But how… no family of an Overlord survives their successor." It was a well-known fact that one of the first things a new Overlord did was kill off all potential rivals for the title. First on the list were relatives of the previous Overlord.
"This was before the so-called First Overlord who built the Dark Tower and crafted the Tower Heart. My ancestor, Grenvill, was the brother of the man that took the mantle of leader of the Netherspawn, he who set the Dwarves and Elves on their bitter hatred of each other, and later became the Master of Evil. It was this man that wrote the rules of the Fell Magics of Evil itself." The Elf said before he approached the floating Tower Heart and raised his hand to the artifact of Evil.
"And I didn't do all that to have the scum blood of my brother claim it for themselves." A voice boomed throughout the throne room of the Dark Tower. Runic arrays began forming across the Tower and then expanded beyond. Creeping and settling into the surrounding air glowing baleful red. "I knew this would happen one day… the bastard descendent of Grenvill would return to claim was is nottheirs."
"What is this! You died long before the Tower Heart even existed!" The Elf shouted toward the disembodied voice. Rose meanwhile couldn't believe what was happening around her… and then she began to decipher the runes that were spreading across the throne room. The Elf hadn't noticed the sheer catastrophic horror that this voice was preparing to unleash on them but she had.
"I knew that something akin to it would come, that someone after me would bind Evil Energy to a focus. All I did was weave this message and spell into the Magics of Evil itself."
"That's Impossible! That level of magical manipulation is the domain of the gods!" The Elf shouted as the runic arrays around him covered the entire throne room. He could feel the ghostly voice smirk despite the lack of the needed lips to do so.
"Indeed… so it would seem. But I still managed it." It said before a suddenly clicking sound filled the chamber. Each click was following a rune rotating into place, a flow of energy from the Tower Heart began flowing down the paths created by the runes, slowly filling up the entire array. "I dearly hope that you are last of my brother's foolish seed, destroying a line is only worth it if it is root and stem."
"If you proceed with what you're doing, then the Dark Tower will be destroyed!" Rose called out finally alerting the Elf to danger that was around him.
"Hmm… oh… I hadn't noticed that there was another person here." The voice said dismissively, its tone showing both a lack of care for the Dark Tower or the fact others beyond the Elf could be harmed. "If this Seat of Power is destroyed so be it, it is not mine… it was built by another. That old maggot Gnarl is not here nor are there any Netherspawn… the loss of this place of Evil is nothing compared to my legacy of finishing what I started." There was an implied shrug to that statement.
"Sorceress! Get me out of here!" The Elf demanded looking to Rose. She could not believe that this fool could think that she could take him from here. This trap was set up by someone who can do god level magics. There was no leaving this place… at least for him.
"My Lord, would it not please you if I could leave while he could not?" Rose stood up and faced the center of the array on the Tower Heart. The Elf first looked at Rose with shock but then changed to a scowling glare of rage.
"Whore! You change allegiance so quickly!" The Elf boomed as he drew his sword and readied a swing towards her. But instead of cutting into flesh, the blade harmlessly dropped to the ground a pile of dust, leaving the hilt in the Elf's hand before that too turned to dust. The Elf just stared down to his weapon now on the floor then back to Rose who just gave a small smirk back to him back to him before returning her attention to the real power in the room.
"Yes… it would be amusing to me to add more sorrow on my brother's moronic descendent But… you have the magic of a Mistress lingering on you but not the full bound. An Overlord found you unworthy… why should I? Though I guess I care not for the opinions of any recent Overlord. However… I will not give a single opportunity for escape for the spawn of my brother's line."
"All you would need to do my Lord is give me access to the pool below the Tower Heart. This Elf here is without a hint of magic power, he will not be able to provide the magic needed to use it at all." Rose pleaded while still trying to sound both submissive and confident at the same time. She knew how to speak to Overlords and how to get them to do things they wouldn't normally do. There were sounds of the intelligence behind the voice and power mulling her words over.
"Very well… the added sight of him splashing in the pool like a child, impotently trying to escape has tipped this in your favor." At that, the runic array opened to allow access to the pool under the floating Tower Heart.
"Out of my way whore!" The Elf shouted as he shoved Rose aside to reach the reflecting pool. There he began to do just as the voice said he would. Slamming his hands into the water repeatedly only for nothing to happen. Rose stood back up and walked over to the pool with only a hint of hurry as she could see the runes filling up faster and nearing completion. All she did was place a pinky in the water and she vanished. "NO! This cannot be!"
"AHAHAHA! Perfect! That is the perfect line for you to give here." The voice cackled deeply as the final pieces of its trap fell into place. "Now End." All around the Dark Tower; birds, animals, dumb peasants, all low thinking beings felt a sudden change in the air. And then… everything for miles around the Seat of Power that had been the central fortress for Overlords for centuries was blasted into ruin. Destructive and wild magics ravaged the lands and brought death and madness to everything it touched.
The Old Lands were no more, destroyed by the destruction of the Dark Tower and its core. In the coming months the dust and magics would settle. And all that would remain would a blackened and blighted land devoid of rational beings. Hordes of mutated humans and animals roamed the twisted jagged rocks that would forever be simply called from those days forwarded as the Wastelands.
"Something has happened." The Armored Specter said suddenly as he appeared in front of Aizen. The future Overlord stared at the former, the Armored Specter rarely appeared while Aizen was in such a public place. Not because others could see him, but because Aizen tended to appear strange to those around him as he focused and spoked to an unseen person. But here he was, Aizen and Laxus were walking to Cil's townhall for their meeting with the Minstrel Government.
"What… are we in danger?" Aizen thought toward his ghostly companion. Aizen tried to limit his conversation to thought to thought but sometimes he would just react and speak out loud. The problem with that was that Aizen tended to just stop hat he was doing to focus on the conversation.
"No… t isn't something nearby… but there has been a change in the magics of Evil." The Armored Specter said while looking west. His gaze intent even behind the slots of his helmet. "It was some sort of ripple that followed a strange… it is hard to explain… the best I would say it was like a knot in the Magics of Evil finally came apart." At that the Armored Specter walked toward Aizen and leaned down close to his face. "Something has happened… something that affects all of Evil." At that he vanished and the world around Aizen return back to normal.
"Somethin' wrong… you were just stood there dazed out for a moment." Laxus asked as Aizen blinked back into awareness. A tiny bit irritated that he had to wait for Aizen to come back to reality.
"I'm just taking in the scenery." Aizen brushed off but Laxus narrowed his eyes. That was a bullshit answer if he ever heard one. Aizen had been acting strange ever since getting to the country. In fact the entire train ride to Cil had been strange to the blond man. Aizen refused to leave his and Bickslow's cabin unless it was in shadow form. And then he saw the green haired chick from the cruise ship, she was in a foul mood so he didn't even try to talk to her. He had enough experience dealing with bad-tempered women.
"Well enough of that, we got a meeting and I don't want to be late because you want to do a little sight seein'." Laxus grumbled as he continued on his way toward the townhall. Aizen followed behind glad that Laxus didn't press his clear suspicions.
As the two approached the large governmental building they had to stop as the entire townhall was surrounded by a protesting mob. All holding signs and yelling out demands to leave the golems alone. Calls to raise efforts to gain control over the golems and renew the old Durentel Empire. And demands that the current merchant republic be cast down and the original imperial monarchy restored. Both Aizen and Laxus was greatly shocked by the sight, they were under the impression that Minstrel lacked any of these sentiments. It wasn't something widely known to the other nations that the homeland of Ishgar's only conquering empire in history was gearing to make a comeback to the old warmongering ways.
"These weak willed desk-workers have castrated the once fiery spirt of our people! Brought low our power over all others and seek to destroy any and all history that doesn't agree with their own political beliefs!" Aizen and Laxus looked over the crowd, both had noticed that the average height in Minstrel was somewhat shorter than Fiore. Laxus just huffed at the rage filled speeches given by the obvious leader of the mob. Aizen… he saw a spark of Evil in the man and was internally grinning at what that could mean. Down with establishment indeed.
"And just how are we supposed to get through th… yeah… right." Laxus began but once he saw that Aizen had already phased into the ground figured out the plan. The sight of a man stepping out of a black shadow and then another appearing in a zap of electricity was not something anyone in the townhall were used to. Thankfully all the guards were busy with the mob outside and the knowledge that foreign wizards were coming had spread around. "Did you do anything more than freak out the desk lady?" Laxus asked as Aizen came walking toward him from the front desk. The receptionist looking both a bit flustered and nervous. Laxus could guess that Aizen had used his normal way with women that on averaged had then putty in his hands, but given his means of entering the building she was more scared than charmed.
"Shut up… I had to do paperwork." Aizen griped as they fell back down in a few nearby chairs. His eyes looked back to the front desk, things in Minstrel so differently than Fiore. For one thing, everything had to be written and signed in triplicate and signed and confirmed in triplicate as well. Making the very process of confirming their arrival an arduous thing to do. Fiore was far more laid back in how it ran things, basic economy and basic rulership. Nothing exciting and at times it could seem a little too laid back. It opened up the opportunity for other influences other than the ruling monarchy, such as Wizard Guilds… Holy Orders… a prospective Overlord.
Another thing about Minstrel was that they didn't have free Wizards Guilds. They were far more regulated, they had certain schools of magic that were taught and anyone that knew something different was taken in and shipped somewhere else. They didn't like deviation. Resulting in better control over Wizards and a lack of destructive guilds like Fairy Tail or even Dark Guilds. But at the cost of powerful Wizards capable of handling tasks like the one Laxus and Aizen were hired to do now.
"I understand that every second wasted is the second that the factory could finish one of those doomsday Golems but getting all pissy about it ain't going to do anything about it now." Laxus said a little smug causing Aizen to glare at him.
"Oh like you're such a serene oasis of patience, you're counting down the days tell the old man bites the dust." Aizen shot back earning his own glare from Laxus. The two continued to have their unsaid standoff until they were approached by one of the town hall's staff. They stopped their glaring contest and followed the staff member to the office of the representative that had hired them. It was a spacious office, many examples of the wealth of the town had been seen by the Fiore Wizards on their way and it continued in this room.
"Gentleman, let me extend my country's welcome personally and let me say thank you for responding so quickly." The man sitting at the central desk said as he stood up and shook Laxus and Aizen's hands. "I am Prector Frinz, I guess you could say I am the mayor of this town."
"Well it's a very nice town you got here… business must have been good until…" Aizen said before looking out the nearby window, showing a view of a nearby mountain range with pillars of smoke rising from various points. "But that's why we're here."
"Yes, the Golems…" Prector Frinz sighed with great distress apparent on his face. "… we have known about the factory for many years. But we made efforts to stay away from the general location it was known to be in." The man explained as they all took seats.
"The job said that you stumbled on the factory, accidentally reawakened it." Laxus pointed out as what the man said didn't exactly match up what they had been told.
"That is what we have been publicly saying… it's a better explanation than it suddenly started up for no reason. If we said that then the nations that the Golems attacked would say that we are lying to cover up reawaken it on purpose. You must understand that Minstrel wants nothing to do with war or to return back to the days of the Durentel Empire."
"But that's not what your neighbors would believe." Aizen surmised and the man nodded in confirmation. "So instead of the truth you lie because they would accuse you of lying when you tell the truth… that's hurting my head." Aizen chuckled in amusement at the political quagmire that Minstrel found itself in.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." Laxus sighed as he found all of this to be a bit unneeded. However there was something that he wanted to know that had been bugging him. "But why hire us… why not have your own military handle this?" Laxus knew that things were different here in Minstrel, while the Wizards here were quite weak compared to some other countries, their military was of the best. Specialized on defense, but also in highly capable spec ops teams that could be on par with S-Class Wizards in terms of fighting power.
"Because we worry that we might make ourselves a target of the Golems. None of them have attack within our borders, we are holding to the theory that they think that we are the old Durentel Empire."
"How does that work, how could they possibly understand Minstrel's current borders and yet not distinguish between Minstrel and Durentel." Aizen questioned and Prector Frinz threw his hands up in exasperation.
"It is only a theory! The only one we have… the only one that makes sense to any degree. Even if that doesn't include complete sense." He groaned as he sunk deeper into his chair. "This was a peaceful and prosperous town… I'd hate for it to be the site of such turmoil. The job is simple… we need outside help in order to shut down the factory. Destroying it will be impossible, you will need to either find its central furnace or the master control array. Getting rid of either one will result in the shutting down of the entire factory and once that is done we'll send out orders for our soldiers to engage with the Golems in our territory."
"Right…" Aizen dragged out before a hungry smile came over his face. "You said that Minstrel doesn't want anything to do with war and a return back to the Durentel Empire… what's all that about outside then?" Aizen could smell the denial and fear coming off this man at the mention of the protests outside.
"They are just the fringe groups that are projecting their own failures and turning that into anger against the current government. Lazy bums that are glorifying the past that doesn't need to be repeated." The haughty anger that the man had toward the people outside said quite a bit about the situation.
"Remember… for every person willing to speak out for their beliefs… there are five more that go unvoiced for one reason or another." The Armored Specter whispered into Aizen's mind. "And from my own experience, for every ten dumb bastards that speak their minds… there is a far more cunning man waiting for the right time to take action for those same beliefs."
"Now let's talk payment for saving a country, its neighbors, and throwing ourselves into a nearly impossible situation which death is a very likely outcome." Laxus grumbled not wanting to discuss over the internal politics of another nation that wasn't his own.
Far from the town of Cil, was the Frexil Gul mountain range. It was a desolate place, no trees or any plant life grew here. Not that people hadn't tried to do so in the past, but life simply rotted away as if by a curse. The soil was tainted beyond repair by some force long ago and the water that flowed down from the icecaps of the peeks was laced heavy with metals.
The only draw it had was it was the largest deposit of precious minerals in all of Ishgar. This is what made Cil so wealthy, and why the Durentel Empire had chosen it to be a spot for a Golem factory.
"The smell of this land is foul… greasy and noxious." Kyôka snorted as she and Seilah made their way up the side of the central mountain. Both demons were standing on a large rock controlled by Seilah's Macro Curse. Seeing as how they lacked any other means of transportation this was the best they could do.
"This is very unexpected… these factories were supposed to be hidden throughout the Durentel Empire." Seilah started. She had read a great deal on this subject, history of certain human and their empires could be enjoying. The Durentel was one such human empire that caught the demon's attention in her many readings. "Their general area was known but not the exact location. Their vital importance to the empire's success made them important targets for their enemies." She explained as they looked around to see the many pillars of smog raise up into the sky. The amount of blackened smoke was so great that it was nearly blotting out the sun.
"Even humans can understand that what is going on here is not stealthy." Kyôka jabbed though she took what Seilah said into consideration. There was logic to it, why expose your trump card to the enemy if you didn't have to.
"Aizen Korath did say that there was something different about the Golems, maybe he was right and this is another sign of it." Seilah suggested meekly as she was fearful of Kyôka reacting badly to the mention of Aizen's name. But Seilah knew that he had been right, everything pointed to it. That something was very wrong with the Golems and that could mean that they were too quick to act.
"Even if that fool is right that doesn't mean that we can't handle whatever is causing this change." Kyôka snapped with a growl before hopping off the rock. Seilah followed and the previous means of transport began falling back to the ground and crash with a massive thud. Then proceeded to roll down the side of the mountain, creating an avalanche. Both of the demons paid it no mind or the possible casualties it may cause.
"Here… the emergency hatch should be here where Mard Geer said it would be." Their leader had given them very exact instructions on how to enter the Golem Factory. As one of the very first Etherious of Zeref, he had been around during the Durentel Empire's bid for conquest. Mard Geer had little to do during that time and took an interest in the Durentel Golems as a concept. The Underworld King then visited the places where they had been created purely to see the potential that golems had for his future plans.
"This should take us right to the master command array… and with that we just trash it. Done… and Mard Geer thought this would be hard." Kyôka said as she ripped open the hatch that led down into darkness but for a few small lights that lined the floor.
"He assumed that the Golems would be guarding this point… this was made for the crews of the factories in case of attack. But the Magical Intelligence that oversaw the Factory knew about them, Mard Geer assumed that it was Magical Intelligence that is the cause of this." Seilah said as she followed Kyôka down into the small hallway. The two demons made their way through the hall, the smell of noxious smoke grew with each step, the darkness that limited their vision became less and less from a lack of light and more from the pollutants in the air. "It's getting hard to breath…" Seilah coughed as she covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
"Can't you just order this smog away?" Kyôka demanded but Seilah didn't get a chance to answer as Kyôka stumbled into the end of the hall. "Damn it… finally. Hopefully the air is a little more clear." Kyôka said before slashing the door in half. The top and bottom halves collapsed onto the ground with a great metallic clang. The chamber on the other side was clear in term of vision however the air still was heavy with foul-smelling pollutants.
"This is very wrong." Seilah said, the worry in her voice apparent. Kyôka watched as her fellow demon walked to the center of the master command array, a large Lacrima centered in a runic system that was etched into the floor and walls. "This Lacrima is dormant…" Seilah said as she put a hand on the smooth surface of the orb. "… the Magical Intelligence is not in control here."
"That would be me darling." A deep sensuous voice echoed through the chamber. The sounds of dripping followed and Kyôka and Seilah watched as through the ceiling, blackened tar began dripping down and onto the floor. "My what lovely creatures you two are… not human... no no… not at all." The voice cooed as the puddles of dark ooze traveled together into one and then vapored into a thick cloud of black smog and smoke. Only small outlining colors of dark gray and the general shape of the gases gave the being form. The smoke formed itself into what looked to be a male body though lacking the lower half, large and muscular were the defining traits.
"And just what are you?" Kyôka snarled as she did not like the way this thing was speaking to her at all.
"I? My dear I am what you might call an Elemental." It chuckled as its dark gray eyes gave a sort of eye smile. In reality it was spots of lighter gases marking somewhere for people focus their own eyes on. The smoke traveled around the room and eventually stopped at Seilah… or more accurately around Seilah. "You know I don't think I have had the pleasure of speaking to anyone in quite some time… forgive me if I'm a bit rusty." It said as it formed, arm around her shoulders and head moving in close. "But even I know that it is proper manners to give your name when you first meet. I'll forgive your rudeness this time and go first… my name is Quls. Now your name sweetheart?"
"I am Seilah, Goddess of the Chill Moon, member of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros, and an Etherious of the Black Wizard Zeref." Seilah stated with a stern bordering on angry look and tone to her words. Quls meanwhile once Seilah was done pulled away and put a hand on his face like he was thinking about what she had said.
"Zeref… Zeref… Zeref… I know I have heard that name before…" Quls mused before he snapped his nonexistent fingers. "Yes… I think I recall a troubling Wizard by that name. Much death made by that one. And you are creations of him… maybe we can work together then?"
"In what?" Kyôka asked, a little irritated that this being completely ignored her and that he was apparently dismissive of the power of Zeref. However… if this thing was indeed a real Elemental then he did in fact have the right to dismiss someone as powerful as Zeref. Elementals were literal forces of nature made manifest.
"The destruction of all nature's creations." He smiled a grimy and smug smile. "I am rot, I am muck and slime and all manner of toxic sludge. I am pollution itself… I am the corruption of nature and all things green on this world." He nearly sang this, the pride and self-devotion he had for what he was oozed out of his words. This was not a being that would ever accept anyone but themselves as their master. Not what Kyôka wanted, because she was the same.
"The goals of the Etherious are not so… definite." Kyôka tried to say as diplomatically as she could. Quls meanwhile changed to an unreadable mass of smoke and grime. Kyôka took that as a bad sign. "We however are on a mission to shut down this factory…"
"And why would you want that?" Quls gasped with hints of mockery and the first signs of aggression. The mass of gas and smog snaked its way over to the large window that oversaw the great cavern the factory was built into. Flashes of light signaled the points were pick hit rock, golems working to mine the needed stone to build more of their kind. "These marvelous machines are just what I need to spread my power throughout the world. Numerous, untiring, without minds of their own… humans create such wonderful things." Quls drawled out in loving appreciation for the golems and their human makers. "They have always had a place in the world I plan to make… they will have to be modified a bit to… live… in it. But what can you do? No one is perfect." He said as the cloud of black smoke turned and hovered back over to them.
"Then we cannot work together, humans are not part of the demons' future." Kyôka growled as she positioned her body ready for a fight. Seilah meanwhile did the same, knowing that they were in for a hard battle. There was no observable reaction from Quls, the mass of smoke just stayed where it had been, not changing into any particular shape or answering the refusal. But then a low chuckle began coming from all around them, not central to the apparent body of Quls.
Then in the span of three seconds, something sent Seilah flying across the room and crashing through the window. Kyôka watched as Seilah fell down into the cavernous darkness, but then returned her worry to herself. Tendrils of black ooze came from small cracks in the floors and walls, entangling her to the point of total helplessness. She attempted to do anything to free herself, her curse, her Etherious Form, anything at her disposal but all of it refused to answer her demands
"My Dear… I think you have this all wrong." Quls said as he reformed back into his semi-human form. "When I asked you if you and your kind would like to join me… did I say it had to be willingly?" He laughed as he flowed around her until he was right behind her. His gaseous head rested on her shoulder. "When those humans unwittingly set me free, digging so deep until they chipped away into the stone prison that I had been entombed in for so long… I knew I was indebted to them forever." He said before flowing back around in front of her, his toxic fingers grabbing her face. "I'm just beside myself with love, for these great machines, with the humans… hatred is such a pointless and stressful feeling. I much rather love as much as I can in a world that loves me too."