AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm finally back with another chapter guys! From now on, I will be focusing more time on this story as I feel that it still has some potential for me to keep going with this.
However I won't be updating regularly, i'm sorry.
As of this point in the story it's going to focus more on Oc's,Kouki and his adventures in this new arc I've come up with. I will be coming up with my own history of the Nirvit tribe and the world around them in the past. This is a new thing for me to do so if you could tell me your thoughts on it and critique, that would be awesome!
Enjoy!
Six weeks later...
Nighttime at the west coast of Seven was a stunning sight. Not many people lived here because of its extremely rocky terrain and with little light pollution the stars lit up the night sky. However, this night in particular was a bit different. Sure the stars were still there, but an unnatural silence spread through the area. The slight coastal breeze was gone, no crickets buzzing in site, even the waters were still. Although if you listened closely,Muffled screams could be heard coming out of a dingy worn down estate, overgrown with weeds at the center of a small forest. In daytime it would be hard not to notice it. A estate that once would have been a beautiful thing to be at now was reduced to a shell of its former self, forgotten by everyone, except for the people who now call it home. This building was now occupied by a small dark guild named Dark Hearts, a guild that had yet to make themselves known to the world.
Since the upper floors were never used as their base operations the cellar was renovated for them to do most of their handiwork . The whole place was relatively empty save for the one room near the end of a darkened hallway. It was large and dimly lit by a single light hanging from the ceiling. The walls were a rusted grey and the only window was a small one placed up high in the back wall. On the right wall was a small sink decorated with grit and grime and next to it was a steel medical dresser, the only clean thing there. On the left wall were all sorts of tools that were hung side by side. None which were made for a good purpose. At the center of this madness were two people. A man seemingly at the age of forty, who hung limply from the ceiling by the chains fastened tightly around his wrists. He twisted in the air as another shock raced through his body and bit down hard onto his sore lip, drawing blood. Taking a shaky breath he spit down at the feet of his captor before shooting a angry look.
"Forget it." He began with a noticeable quiver in his voice. "You can try all you want but I-I ain't saying anything! So you can shove that stick right up your-Aaarggh!" A rod crackling with electricity smacked him across the face giving him another dose of pain. As he bit down on his lip again his captor pressed the rod on his cheek and pushed so that he was facing her.
"Up, up, up!" She tsked in childish disgust. "No need for those types of words Mr. Pottymouth! It's only gonna get you nowhere, nya~." She towered over him by mere inches with a cheshire grin revealing razor sharp teeth. Her honey brown hair fell wildly down to the nape of her neck and sticking high above where her ears were supposed to be were cat ears, standing alert. Her plain white shirt was dotted with the man's blood and her knee length cuffed shorts were smudged by a mix of blood and grime. Pulling the tool away from his face she took a step back and stared as her long tail danced behind her.
"You're making this very difficult for me, nya~. Most people crack twenty minutes in but you- you've lasted nearly three hours!" She gave him a playful thumbs up to which he glowered even more.
"A feisty one eh? Well then." She walked over to the small metal drawer and opened it sharply. Inside were knives of various shapes and sizes. She ran her finger over them while humming softly before her slanted eyes fell on her desired one. Smiling widely she picked up a scalpel and walked over to the worn and bleeding man. Carving a small line below his left eye she watched the blood flow in a kind of morbid fascination before turning her attention back to his gaze with a gleam in her eye.
"Let's see how long it takes me to break that stubborn will of yours." Taking his silence as compliance she leaned closer yellow eyes practically glowing with malice.
"Tell me where the elixir is or your eye is the first to go."
I would have never guessed that in such short period of time so much had happened. The Phantom Lord incident drew expectantly large media attention, an event Wendy seemed to be transfixed on due to Natsu and Gajeel. When I asked her why she didn't travel to Magnolia to talk to the other dragonslayers, she shyly told me that she was to scared and intimidated by them to do anything. Carla had grown fed up with the girl's shyness and unwillingness to go and tried to coax her into going. However, it didn't work.
As I looked back on it, it makes some sense why Wendy didn't go to visit Natsu earlier in the show. She simply didn't have the confidence. Most Likely the experiences beforehand must have shaped her into gaining the confidence to see them in the Oracion Seis arc. So while the months went by I kept tabs on local news. I even got a subscription to Soccere's heavily after a session of rigorous training. Since my chakra control was nearly on par with someone like sakura, who could channel exactly thirty percent of chakra for jutsu, I suspected chakra enhanced strength would be a breeze. However I was wrong. This Eternano was making things I already knew even more difficult. Each punch I threw would do more damage than I wanted, which was great but not if you don't want to kill an opponent with one punch. I took a staggered step away from the worned out tree before wiping my sweat drenched face with my hands splintered. This won't slow me down, not if I can help it.
"Kouki!"
My attention turned towards the entrance of the clearing. One of my guildmates was there waving me down. His name was Darmond ,a boy two years older than me. Besides Wendy he and I got along pretty well.
I smiled and waved back with my shirt draped over my shoulders.
"What's up?" I called back. The boy jogged over to me and stopped clearly out of breath.
"Master just came back from the Guild Master's meeting. He sent me here to get you! Whatever it is it seems urgent!" Urgent? I frowned before nodding. What could he want me for? There's only one way to find out.
Master Roubal sat in a lavish sofa chair decorated with colorful pillows and designs. Despite the loving aura the room gave off his expression was deeply troubled as he studied a white letter with rushed handwriting as if someone was in a hurry to get it sent to him. When my presence was announced he turned his attention towards me, strange expression gone with a relieved one taking its place.
"Ah Kouki! I'm sorry for disturbing your morning training session but this is of the utmost importance." I bowed politely before smiling.
"It's fine really. What do you need?" The old man sighed showing lines of stress and beckoned me to sit,
"It appears that an old friend of the village needs our help however due to recent events at the Guild master's conference, I won't be able to go personally. But you are a strong and courageous fellow and I believe you have the power to help them." Roubal folded the letter in his hand and put it back in it's envelope. I watched the man in masked confusion as I went over what he said in my head.
An old friend? What could he mean by that? The anime never delved into the old man's past in full detail or at least from what I could remember.
"We are one of the few descendants of native native tribes left in earthland. Many have made contact with the modern world while most still try to remain isolated but times are changing..." Roubal stared off into the distance while stroking his beard thoughtfully.
"Um, Master?" I called out worriedly. The old man jumped out of his thoughts before smiling sheepishly.
"I'm sorry for rambling off, now where was I? Oh!" He snapped his fingers in sudden recollection.
"The Nirvits have made many alliances with tribes in our long history but our longest and most deep is with the Nanook tribe whose remaining members live north west from here." Roubal then stood from his chair and walked over to a large scroll before returning. Unraveling it revealed to be a map of Fiore but the big difference was that the usually landmarks were gone.
"This is an old map of Fiore." Roubal explained. "Passed down from generations, it shows us the many territories native tribes had." I looked down at the map in wonder. There were tons of native tribes that dotted the map. The ones that caught my eye were four large names which territories covered the entire north eastern part of the map.
"As you can see the Nanook were one of the four great tribes that ruled in that time period and sadly were one of the major parts of a long and bloody war." Roubal gazed at the map sadly.
"They were a tribe who prided in their strength in battle and in the arts of potion making. The most infamous of their creations was called Keezheekoni's Might or simply known as The Elixir of Power. It was named after one of their more prominent gods, Keezheekoni, the god of battle and fire. Before being sent off into battle the warriors would gather for a ritual to be blessed with protection by Keezheekoni and the main event was taking a drink of the potion. The potion worked marvelously giving their warrior unbelievable strength and willpower which made the them feared on the battlefield. However, it came with a price. The warrior with weak minds were easily corrupted by the potion's power turning them into rage filled monsters whose only goal is to destroy. However the one's with strong will and control over one's magic were able to maintain balance between the potions lust for power, but they wouldn't last long. It was most likely that the potion was a cause for the many civil wars that broke out between the people leaving them completely vulnerable for invaders. So in realization of their mistake, they sealed away the elixir passing the exact location down to those who have been selected to guard the sight twenty four-seven." A long silence grew after he finished. I quickly put two and two together.
"One of the guards was taken correct?" I asked. Roubal smiled and folded his arms.
"Quick in the head I see, yes you are absolutely right. I need you to go over there and help them out. Time is of the essence and we need to find whoever captured them before the location is revealed." Roubal then handed me a small paper slip.
"There is the location of where they reside at. I should warn you now, they aren't as friendly to people who aren't from their own tribe. If you show them your guild tattoo they'll warm up to you." Roubal smiled reassuringly. " You should also know this, you won't be the only one going."
My eyes widened slightly, there would be others going?!
"Who?!" I asked a little bit too harshly. Roubal chuckled heartily.
"Another few guilds in the region will be sending some of the wizards to help. Fairy Tail isn't one of them for reasons that are obvious though. Now, get going. I want you to leave no later than an hour."
My eyes locked onto his with confidence.
"I'll do my best Master." I said before leaving. As I left though I didn't see Roubal's face turn troubled as he stared back at the envelope.
"If this doesn't work it will mean trouble for all of Fiore." He muttered
Wendy was a bit sad when I told her about my new mission, being that it would send me away for a few weeks or even months if I weren't careful. So, she made me promise to give her a call on the communications lacrima whenever I could. Before I left I managed to stock up on supplies like food, water, clothes and etc. Since the ride to the guild would only take me so far and I would have to trek the rest of the way.
With a heartfelt farewell from the other guildmates I went and caught a carriage, which went and took me to the neighboring country of Boros. Turns out you don't need a passport to get to different countries if you're a mage. All you need to do is flash your guild symbol and you're good to go. Which was good since I had no idea how to get a passport anyway. Along with the fact that I'm not technically from here. When I got to the first town there were two major differences between Fiore and Bosco. One, Bosco was a bit sketchy. If you were to go into Fiore for the first time, a friendly and magical presence would immediately force itself on you filling you with unwanted friendship and happiness. Bosco was a bit different. The population was significantly lower and was mostly filled with dense forest. The only city in the country was its capital, other than that the rest of the country was filled with small villages. The country was a bit less enthusiastic with magic users which came to my realization when the guard who confirmed my guild symbol gave me a look that switched from fear to anger. And it wasn't just him, the people in the first town I stopped at looked at me if I was some kind of abomination.
The other thing was that, the country was one of few countries where human trafficking was a huge problem. I could point to the government not giving a damn and the dense and harsh forests. You could hide almost anything in there. Another thing that I found interesting was that Bosco was a lot bigger than I had expected. When you look at the map it seemed like it would only be about the size of Connecticut, though I would like to compare it to New Jersey. The human trafficking was so bad in some places that villages had curfew hours.
But to bring up spirits, it was going down in the recent years by a statistic taken by the Bosconian King's best scholars. The declining scale was thanks to the few mage guilds that had inhabited the country, which confused me because why would the Government praise the mage guilds so much when the general public was so distrustful and downright afraid of them? The theories were scrambling in my head but I had to dismiss them. That wasn't my job to figure it out, I came here for a completely different reason.
And I promised to get it done.
"Well here you are!" The carriage driver announced. I had taken three carriages around since the rail system in this country was trash by my standards.
"Are you sure you can't take me any further?" I asked crossing my fingers in hope.
"Nope sorry kid, I ain't stepping any farther in this place. This goes far above my pay grade." The man shot down my request the instant it came out of my mouth. As I got out of the carriage in disappointment he pulled on his curly mustache in nervousness.
"Be careful out there kid, wouldn't want anything bad happening to you. You got guts boy." He warned before cracking the long straps on each of the weird animals pulling the carriage."Mush!"
I waved as the carriage faded into the treeline before turning toward the damaged trail that led me further into the unknown. I had stopped at an abandoned town that had been in a wrecked state for a few decades. Not many people would tell me what happened as they would either walk away with haste or completely change topics. Although I heard whispering s of a former dark guild that had reigned terror on this region of the country.
I walked in a steady pace past vine and moss ridden houses that had the scars of fire. The cobble stone road was in a nearly non existent state, with grass that had nearly grown over all of it. I crinkled my nose at the feeling of hopelessness in the air, along with the pitter-patter of rain to which I put on my hood. My hike took me past the town and down a valley. I stopped and closed my eyes feeling for any magical abnormalities. At first I got nothing then...
Bang!
It seemed like I walked in on a presence of an ancient being. It felt old ancient and dangerous. The malice was great, so great that any normal person would have went and fled. But I wasn't normal by a long shot. I tracked the trail until I came across a magical barrier. It seemed to be a disguise to hide whatever was behind it. I put my hand on it suddenly feeling it start to unravel under my conflicting chakra when I heard something. My eyes caught a something fly at high speeds toward my face. Using my reflexes I jumped back and caught the thump of an arrow sticking itself onto a tree three feet next to me.
"What the?-" Before I could voice my confusion I was grabbed from behind an and a found a knife being neatly placed at my jugular. With no time to process the sudden event I watched tensely as a number of tribe people similar to Cait Shelter materialized out of nowhere, except it looked like they were out for blood.
"Who. Are. You?" A gruff voice hissed in my ear. I looked around at the dark angry eyes of my aggressors before I spoke carefully.
"I'm guessing that you guys are apart of that Nanook tribe right?" The hand holding my wrists clenched harshly.
"What of it?" The gruff voice said.
" I'm from the Cait Shelter guild in Fiore, if you could let me go I could show you my tattoo on my shoulder." I offered. There was a brief silence an exchanging of worried glances before the hands released me. Rubbing my wrists I took off my hoodie and lifted up my left sleeve showing the red symbol of a abstract cat. There were numerous sighs of relief from the group although there were some, including the guy behind me, who cast me suspicious glances. As I heard one of them call out "He's safe!" A portion of the barrier disappeared.
This was going to be interesting.
