Broken Heart
Chapter 7
Cat and Dog
The second round had started, and the kids were essentially running blindly through the jungle, trying to find some clue as to the whereabouts of Mavis and Makarov's graves. They quickly learned that the jungle was inhabited by a large amount of big and powerful beasts.
"This is insane!" Nashi cried, running with all of her might away from a beast like a giant, rampaging boar. "It's like the island is out to kill us! I thought this was our holy ground!?"
Elsewhere, smoking monsters lay prone on the ground as Laura chose a more direct route, striding about at a leisurely pace, zapping anything that came too close.
Thanks to his mum, Gabriel was an expert monster wrestler, and decided to enjoy himself. Several monsters fled back into the jungle after he gave them a good thrashing.
Frozen monsters thawed out slowly in the jungle heat, evidence of Karren's passing.
Tacks chose to run as much as possible and disturb the environment as little as he could. The beasts just thought he looked delicious – no point in beating them up for it.
Individually, the five children pressed deeper into the heart of the island.
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The base camp was in a foul mood. Ignale and Aiko sat next to each other at a wooden table, pouting and looking away from the other. Bea sat opposite them, looking down at the wood grain with disappointment. Wendy had given them all a basic healing session, so they were all a bit better off than after their fights.
Levy stood by a great metal drum, stirring the broth she was preparing. Since Lucy had decided that it wouldn't be masterly to cook and Natsu and Gajeel had gone running at the first sign of housework. They were probably fighting somewhere in the jungle to amuse themselves. Levy wasn't sure where Wendy had gone. Maybe to patch them up after their mutual hiding?
"This is pathetic," Aiko groused. "How could both slayers lose? Hell, even our dads lost!"
Across the table, Bea shifted uncomfortably. Aiko and Ignale were two of a kind, though they'd never admit it. She was a third wheel here, and felt out of place. Considering that Wendy was the only Slayer to win her round, those two probably relished Bea's defeat as the natural order.
"I didn't lose," Ignale whined pathetically. "I just… kind of… shut up."
"That's right!" Merry declared, prancing on the table. "This is this and that is that! Ignale would win any other way!"
"That's still called losing," Kara said wryly, regretting it as gloom settled upon the two slayers. "H-hey, you both went up against really strong opponents and fought well. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"That's right!" The looked up as Lucy came and stood next to the table. "Let me promise you that I was nowhere near as strong as you three were at your age. If you have the wisdom to accept that you are not the strongest people in the world, then you'll see how strong you really are."
Lucy closed her eyes and awaited praise for her words of wisdom.
"Baka!" Aiko shouted, standing. "I'm not standing around and listening to this!"
"W-wait," Lucy croaked, delusions of grandeur falling around her. Aiko ignored her and stalked away from the camp towards the jungle. Regathering her wits, Lucy called after her. "If you want to go and blow off steam, that's fine, but don't interfere with the exam!"
Aiko grunted and plunged into the foliage. Ignale decided to go after her a moment later. From by the stove, Levy sighed patiently, quite used to her daughter's bullheadedness. After all, that wasn't a trait that purely came from her father! Levy was known to be stubborn as well. She looked over at the remaining people at the table. "Hey, Bea! Would you help me with the cooking?"
Sighing, Bea stood and came over to the cooking area. Despite being more than twenty years younger than Levy, she stood a full foot over her, the legacy of her father. She took the ladle from Levy to stir the broth as she went and cut some more vegetables.
"You're too kind, Levy-san," Bea said softly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Levy replied coyly, continuing to chop. "I just wanted a little help is all. You know, it's hard for little old me to stir that thing since it's so far off of the ground."
"You don't need to be nice to me. I know that I'm useless," Bea replied bitterly.
"You know those two who just left? Ignale and my daughter? They're both strong, no doubt, but they're idiots, bless their hearts. Never once in their lives has doubt flared in their minds. You, are more like me. You're clever, and you think too much. Idiots are much more cheerful people, you know!"
Bea sniffled. "I guess that means that I don't get everything from my father…"
Levy laughed. "Your dad, not the brightest, for sure. But he struggled with his strength too. I suppose having Mira as an older sister would be a little… overshadowing. You have your mother's intelligence, but not her arrogance. It would do you some good to see your strengths."
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"Damn it!" Laura shouted, coming to a clearing in the jungle. How were they expected to find anything here? It was just trees in every direction! Where the hell was Mavis' grave!? Laura looked into the sky. The only landmark was the great tree. Logically, it'd be near the roots of it. But that still left an enormous radius to cover. Wasn't there a better way?
She heard rustling and tensed, expecting another monster to assault her. Instead, she saw a familiar shock of red hair in the distance, heading towards the tree. Gabriel? Had he figured out the same thing? Maybe she should follow him…
Wait! This wasn't a battle, but was there any reason that she couldn't take him out? If she beat up the other four, she'd win by default! She punched her fist into the ground. A moment later, a bolt of vermillion lightning struck upwards from under Gabriel's feet. He cried out as he was zapped, and rolled head over heels as he lost his balance. To Laura's surprise, he rolled to his feet an instant later, sword drawn and before him.
"Nice eyes," Laura goaded. "You look ready to fight!"
"Laura!?" Gabriel snapped. "This is a waste of time!"
"Huh. That's a line… to be said by the winner!"
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Tacks was having similar thoughts. They'd been given such a little amount of information to go on, that he'd stopped to think about the problem. There had to be some way for one of them to gain an upper hand on the others, bar just running around like headless chickens until they stumbled upon the grave.
He wrung out his shoulders. Damn, but he still ached from his father's beating. On the bright side, they were all worn out from round one, except for Nashi. He wondered where she was now. If anyone here was smart enough to figure this exam out, it was her. Maybe she'd go on to win this thing, with her brain and lack of damage. Tacks hoped that she would. She'd make a great S-class mage.
He shook his red face, trying to focus on the task at hand. The tree. For now, the tree was the beacon. He'd have to figure out more later on. He didn't notice the blue haired girl following him.
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"Baka, baka, baka!" Aiko shouted, kicking at the foliage as she passed. Baka Lucy! Baka Flamebrain! Baka cat! Baka this damn jungle! This wasn't how it was supposed to be! She was Aiko Redfox, daughter of the mighty Gajeel, granddaughter to the Iron Dragon Metalicana! She was supposed to win this handily!
True, all those things also applied to her older brother, but he wasn't a slayer, so it didn't count! And Ignale was the same too, but he was an idiot! And… logically it would follow that Nashi was also…
"Shut up, brain!" Aiko shouted foolishly. "I'm the best, me! No one else!"
A rustling in the bushes. Aiko turned to look just as two shadowed figures sprang out. She leapt back as a sword whistled past her face, millimetres from taking her nose off. As she stumbled, the other one grabbed her arms and slammed her into the floor.
She could see her assailants now. The one holding her down looked like a giant chicken. Not so bizarre in this world. An eye patch bound his left eye. The other one looked like a dog, wielding what she could now see was a wooden sword.
"Now, we get revenge!" The dog ran forward and brought the sword down on Aiko. The dog's blade stopped as Aiko caught it with her feet. The look of surprise on his face was most gratifying. Using the sword as a pivot, Aiko spun herself around like a dervish, lashing out with her freed fists and feet, knocking the pair back and away from her, though they still had her surrounded. "Baka, what sort of idiot would die to a pathetic attack like that?"
"Achoo!" Levy sneezed back at the base camp.
"What do you two freak show zoo rejects want?" Aiko asked brusquely. The dogman laughed harshly.
"With that manner of speaking, you are definitely his daughter! We are here for vengeance! Of the Grimoire Heart guild, Yomazu!"
"Likewise, Kawazu!" The chicken clucked.
"Yomazu and Kawazu? I think I've heard those names before… but Grimoire Heart is a dead guild. It doesn't exist anymore, so get with the times, dumbass." Aiko cracked her knuckles. "But you two have caught me in a bad mood, so I'll be happy to make you both extinct too!"
"Foolish girl, aren't you going to ask what we mean by vengeance?" Yomazu growled. Aiko tilted her head and stuck out her tongue, infuriating the beastman. "What I'm trying to tell you, brat, is that we fought your father here, twenty years ago!"
"Wow. Hold a grudge much?" Aiko replied sarcastically. "I remember your names now. Dad beat the shit out of the two of you. I'm out of the exam, but kicking your asses will prove that I'm as strong as my father was!"
"You think that we haven't grown stronger these last years!?" Yomazu shouted, brandishing his sword towards her. A kanji for 'cut' appeared next to it. Suddenly realising the danger, Aiko crossed her arms in front of her as cuts appeared in her now metallic skin. Script magic, like her mother… no, like Frederick's? But Frederick couldn't slice through her scales with such ease!
Above! Aiko's head snapped up as Kawazu was in the air above her, seeming to inhale. "Egg Buster!" He spat a huge number of eggs down towards her. As they flew, they cracked and fists emerged from the albumen, striking her and the ground around her, kicking up a dust cloud. If they thought she was in trouble, they were largely mistaken.
"Platemail of the Iron Dragon!" Aiko's skin was covered by a suit of armour, forming like mercurial skin around her, protecting and reinforcing. Cutting through her scales was one thing, but his armour could –almost- survive a point blank dragon's roar. Okay, a baby dragon's roar, but that's not important right now!
"Egg Buster!" Aiko laughed as the fists pattered off her armour harmlessly. The chicken-thing drew back his head once more and spat a single egg this time. As it cracked open, Aiko could see that the albumen was green and as it splashed against her armour, smoke began to drift from where it touched her. "I've lived on this island for a long time, pe-pero. I've learned to ingest the toxins from plants here into my egg magic, pero!"
Acid? It was eating away at her armour! And now the dog was rushing at her, hand on a sheathed sword.
"Darkness Sword… Death of a Thousand Cuts!" From Aiko's point of view, his sword only sliced once. But a hundred slashes landed upon her weakened armour, slicing through the metal as if were eggshell. Aiko staggered back, her armour fading as it crumbled. How had these two goons gotten through it so easily?
"Twenty years," Yomazu said darkly. A sudden movement and Aiko cried out in pain as blood erupted from her midriff. "All we did is train, became stronger for this day. For vengeance upon the Fairies that destroyed us. And how great that we'll start with the daughter of the man who beat us! Die!"
Aiko couldn't dodge as he brought his sword down. This was it.
Yomazu staggered back as a foot took him in the head.
"You think I'd let a filthy dog touch my partner?" Kara growled, now in her battle form, inherited from her father, Panther Lily. She had flown down from the sky after having been following Aiko through the jungle and kicked Yomazu hard in his skull. She'd expected the headstrong girl to get in trouble, but this was more than she'd thought.
"A cat?" Yomazu wondered. Neither he nor his partner were fond of cats, for obvious reasons.
"An Exceed, you mangy mongrel. Don't lump me in with the likes of you scum." Her azure irises flickered back to her partner. "You okay?"
"Jeez, I'm fine, you damn cat," Aiko lied. Kara looked at her for a moment longer and then passed one of her curved sabres to Aiko.
"You're hurt. Eat up."
"Your sword…"
"Not important, eat!" Aiko began to chew down on Kara's blade. She began to feel strength flow back into her tired limbs, reinvigorating her. It wasn't just the metal, Aiko decided, it was the soul of a weapon that her friend owned. She slammed a fist into a palm, cracking the knuckles, and then repeated the gesture with the other hand.
"I remember it now… it's an old story. Mum and Dad get all lovey-dovey when they mention it. You two assholes tried to kill my mother and hurt my father. Then you DARE come here and demand vengeance from me!?" Depsite themselves, Yomazu and Kawazu took a step backwards before Aiko's sheer ferocity. "It's me who's gonna get vengeance on you two, gihi!"
There was a sound and suddenly the visible guildmark on Kawazu's neck glowed. "What the, pe-pero!?"
The guildmark on Aiko's shoulder glowed a dull orange and she clutched at it in irritation rather than pain. What was going on!? She saw Kara arch her back, knowing that's where her mark was. Their marks were hurting them!? What was going on!?
That's when Aiko heard the beating emanating from the very land.
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A heartbeat. Another. Another. After several seconds, the familiar rhythm started properly. The sound reverberated through the island, inaudible unless you had the magical senses to hear it. In the highest boughs of the great Tenrou tree, a figure emerged, coming into view from nothingness.
A tall, old man. A thin, grey beard ran down to his chest. At one time, an eyepatch had covered his face, but no more. A long cloak settled around his shoulders. He looked up into the sky, which was becoming bleak and dark.
"Am I alive, then?" Asked Master Hades of Grimoire Heart. He looked down over the island beneath him, trying to understand his position. He felt great power flow within his limbs. More so than even before he had died. Where was this strength coming from?
"Kyahahaha! This is great!" At the shout, Purehito looked down to see one of his henchman on a branch below him. Golden hair flowed down his back and his eyes were rubies full of evil. Zancrow, the God Slayer of fire. He looked down and saw two more emerge, Rustyrose and Kain Hikaru. Three of his most powerful henchmen. But where were Ultear, Meredy, Asuma and Zoldeo? His seven kin were incomplete.
"My men, are you also surprised to be alive?" He shouted.
"The last thing I remember is being on the ship, then Zeref arrived…" Kain said, his voice trailing off with obvious memory. Zeref had killed them.
"That asshole got me too," Zancrow snarled.
"Zeref's magic is death magic," Rustyrose pointed out. "Powerful magics often have drawbacks. Maybe death magic recreates life again, later down the line?"
"I doubt that," Hades pondered, rubbing his beard in thought. "This island… it is said that the dead do not rest easy here, but to think the magic would affect us, who do not bear the seal of Fairy Tail…"
"The Fairies are here," Zancrow hissed, dropping into a prowl, like a predator ready to hunt. "I can smell them. They are on this island. Now is our chance for vengeance! Let's kill them all!"
"But we failed before…" Kain whinged, wringing his pudgy fingers.
"Time has passed," Purehito noted. "But how much? How long have we been gone from this world? Are these the Fairies that we knew, or is this a hundred years later? A thousand? A million? We need to know more, but I'm not going to wait. Find these Fairies and find out what is happening. If they resist… I'll leave that up to your discretion."
"As you say, boss!" Zancrow didn't mention to Hades what he could smell. One very specific scent that he recognised. Natsu Dragneel. Zancrow was interested in information – he was going to kill. And not Natsu himself. He'd smelled a much more appropriate prey. A young girl who carried his scent. He would kill her in his place.
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"Dammit, Aiko! Which way did you go!?" Ignale shouted at the jungle. It was hard to smell his way through this place, with all the flowers and stuff. It was confusing and he wasn't used to it. Somewhere along the way, his Exceed had floated up alongside him.
"You're lost, aren't you?"
"No!" Ignale shouted. "I know exactly where I am – on Tenroujima! Now I…" Ignale stopped talking suddenly. What was that strange feeling? A strange rhythm, not quite a sound. He looked up into the sky, which was darkening. Something was happening. He took off at a run, suddenly finding a direction that drove him.
"Oi! Where are you going!?" Merry called, flapping after him.
"Something's wrong. I need to find my sister."
===Author's Note===
Let's apply artistic license to Zancrow's sense of smell, okay? I just needed a little plot convenience there. Forgive me!
Sorry for the delay. Busy and unwell. So sleepy -.-
===Replies to Reviews===
Playgod: It just seemed to fit Gabriel here.
Ulcaasi: *cries*
Bookworm0313: It's beginning…
SakuraIchigoDark: Yes, it's Haru's sword. Also the spear that EdoErza uses.
Bookieworm123Nalu: I apologize for the delay.
Heve-chan: Making Lucy guild master wasn't my idea originally, someone else mentioned it to me (I forget who). But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. Most of the guild is too impetuous to become master. Out of everyone else, I think Laxus is the only real contender for the position, and maybe Erza, but I wrote her out of it.
Lexie Loves Anime: The magic of Tenrou.
JellyBeanBubbles: No, it was a joke.
Tomoyo10798: I've grown to love them.
Denasia Ichigo: You're far too kind.