Hey guys, so in this chapter I'll be introducing a little cameo appearance of a certain object from a very famous series. Maybe the credits would make it clear ;D. Going on ahead, I'll be answering your reviews below, and then on to the next chapter.
EDIT: I forgot to include me responses to reviews, so here they are. Sorry about that!
Dxhologram : You got that right ;)
Saru : No one's got shit on Franky :D :D
Terra : It was about time ;)
Greer123 : Thanks!
SleeplessForest27 : Glad you liked that part! I wasnt sure how it would be taken, but I'm glad people like it positively! You have a surprise in store in this one as well ;)
Guest : Thanks!
NOTICE: - Another important thing I wanted to mention. I've taken so much time to update this chapter since I was going through a bit of writer's block and also because I was working on something for this fanfic, an artwork to be precise. I've put it up in my deviantart page, do give it a look. It concerns one of the most important ships in this story. My id is sreshtiyer. I hope you like it!
Chapter 8: - A new guest and a new quest
"Well now, I suppose we should get going" suggested Frankenstein. Nods of agreement followed. "This whole episode has been one never ending annoyance…I really need to relieve my stress" he said with a grin. He charged up his fist with his dark energy, his grin speaking for what he was about to do.
"Relieve your stress..? You don't mean…." Started Erza with a comical expression. Franky just grinned even more, jumped and then punched towards the ground, sending another powerful beam piercing through the floor all the way to the bottom. The entire structure crumbled, taking Frankenstein and party with it. The blond simply repositioned himself gracefully, stepping on the debris as he descended. The same could not be said for the others however, as they outright fell down to their apparent doom, comically screaming.
"AAAHHHH! He's insane!" shouted Gray, hugging Natsu, who also did the same. Happy stuck on to Natsu's clothes, followed suit as well, screaming along the way. Then he looked confused, and gasped as he realized something stupidly fundamental.
"Wait a second, I can frickin' fly!" he screamed, and slowed down Gray and Natsu's descent. Erza copied Frankenstein's movements, while still in her current armor, allowing her to be as light as possible. The one who suffered the worst however was Elfman, for whom his physique alone did most of the work. Close to the ground however, Frankenstein grabbed the strauss sibling and helped him land safely. The gang took a huge breath of relief.
"Hey, atleast give us a warning!" protested Natsu, his eyes comically popping and shaking his fists.
"And that's your idea of stress relief?! I've never seen even Natsu do so much damage so fast!" added Gray, joining suit with Natsu.
"Whatever, I'm feeling a bit better now, and besides, that was payback for destroying the guild….We should go check on the others" suggested the blond, and the team followed closely behind.
"Hey! I hope you haven't killed him, cuz no one dies in Fairy Tail! If they did, it would be breaking out of character!" said a voice from the background, and for some reason, only Frankenstein could see and hear him, the author of Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima.
"Zip it, Mashima-sensei! This isn't Fairy Tail is it now? Once I come in the story, plot armor won't work against my crazy lover!" said Frankenstein with a smug expression, and began laughing to himself. Regardless to say, Natsu and group did find it weird, but assumed this was one of his higher power moments and left it to him. Mashima left disappointed.
"It's ok man. Trust me, I've been there" consoled Son Jiho, one of the authors of Noblesse.
"Yeah, sometimes, even we feel powerless before his character" added Kwangsu Lee, the other author, sweatdropping. "Let's just go get a beer, you'll feel better" he suggested, and the three went on to share their tales amongst each other.
Ruin of Fairy Tail, a little while before
Amidst the ruins of their home, the members of Fairy Tail took this time to recover, the ones that were relatively ok were helping those who were not. Azlack and Bisca had currently gone over to Porlyusica's place to check on Makarov's condition. Suddenly, the phantom MK-II that had been stationary for some time, started collapsing, after being hit by something. All heads turned in that direction, cautious.
"Hey the enemy base collapsed!" alerted one.
"Does this mean that we won…?" wondered another optimistically.
"But Natsu and the others are still there aren't they?" asked Cana worried.
"But wasn't Frankenstein there with them as well? I'm sure they'll be fine….After seeing Raizel, I get the feeling that he's got more than he's letting out" said Loki.
Mira on the other hand, had a lost expression on her face. A torrent of questions were whizzing around her head, and she wasn't sure which she wanted answered first. She slowly made her way to Raizel, who was currently resting against a tree on his own.
"Raizel….about earlier…" she started uncertain. " was that truly your power?" she asked, more concerned than curious. Rail stared at her without saying a word, and simply nodded.
"But what about your injuries? Are you feeling alright? I thought you were…"
"There is nothing to worry about. I am fine now" he assured.
"But…"
"Right now, we must worry about the guild and helping everyone else recover, don't you think?" asked Raizel, and that was enough for Mira to be convinced.
"Hey everyone, I can see someone coming from Phantom Lord's machine!" noted one, which caused all the heads to turn towards the horizon. Indeed, they could all see a silhouette, followed by another and then so on till a whole bunch of shadows backed by the setting sun came into view. Smiles decorated the faces of the weary victors of the battlefield, and they joyously sped towards.
A few hours later
The air was rent with the smell of booze and the chatter of accomplished voices of the members of Fairy Tail who were now taking a well-deserved rest at the basement of their guild. Adding to the fact that their dear master Makarov had also made a full recovery thanks to Frankenstein's efforts and Porlyusica's help, the celebrations were all the more sweeter. Lucy was sulking in a corner, still unwilling to talk to anyone.
"Lucy…none of this was your fault. No one blames you in any way for what has happened…see, even master is here, completely recovered! You really should join us to take your mind off things" suggested the white haired beauty.
"But….if I was simply strong enough…." She muttered.
"So….you're worried about not being strong, is that it? The helplessness?" queried Frankenstein. Lucy simply gave him a nod.
"That may be true, but not everyone is born strong. We can always overcome our weaknesses, with the right resolve. But I do believe that your equipment could use a bit of an upgrade. Here, take this" he said, handing Lucy a leather whip.
"Huh, a whip? But I already have one" she said, pointing towards her waist.
"Yeah but this one is a special one. It's called Vampire Killer, a whip made by an alchemist with the souls of generation of human heroes in it. It was once used to destroy a very evil monster and acts like a magic nullifier. Go on, try it out" he said. The ground near them then broke open, and a pink haired maid popped out of it.
"Virgo!" exclaimed Lucy
"Pardon my intrusion, Frankenstein-sama, but I would like to propose a better replacement for Lucy-sama's whip" she said, and took out one of her own, except this one had just the handle, with star ornaments. Virgo swung it and a fluid like matter protruded like a whip, and the flowing whip destroyed some part of the remaining furniture.
"It's called Fleuve d'étoiles, meaning the river of stars. It can even change it's length, is strong enough to break things. It's the perfect weapon for Lucy-sama" said Virgo with confidence.
"It's impressive, but I would still like her to have Vampire Killer" insisted Frankenstein. "Maybe you should have a look as well" Upon his suggestion, the maid celestial spirit took another good look at the ancient whip.
"What is this…..I can sense such strong energy! This isn't normal!" she gasped. "Alright, I suppose I can accept that. As long as I can be of service of Lucy sama" she said ,and left the way she came.
"Well then, why don't you try it out?" he suggested "I'm thinking a certain pink haired brat who's always leaking magic by breathing fire would be good target practice, don't you think?" winked the scientist. Lucy giggled. She then took up the whip, and with a mischievous smile, cracked at natsu right in the butt.
"AIEEEE!" squealed Natsu, jumping in the air comically, clenching his butt. And sure enough, the flames in his mouth disappeared. Satisfied, rolled it up and slung Vampire killer in her waist.
"No kidding!" she said, excited.
"Oy, what was that for!" demanded Natsu, eyes popping. "And you've finally gotten better I see! Come and join us!" he said.
"Yeah!" agreed Gray.
"Frankenstein…..thanks a lot!" she grinned, and went off to join up with Natsu and team.
Erza and Raskreia were engaged in a serious conversation, one that caught several people's attention.
"You wish to learn swordsmanship from me?" asked Raskreia confused, as if she couldn't believe the request that the red haired beauty asked of her.
"Yes. I realized after watching you take care of the phantom lord members earlier at their hideout, and also from what Mira tells me. If you guys weren't there, I wouldn't have been able to protect those that I hold dear to me. I can't do that unless I improve my current strength" she replied with a pleading look in her eyes.
"I understand. But even if I wanted to, it would be next to impossible for a normal human to learn the kind of style I use. It's not because you're weak, but simply because my kind of people are naturally stronger than regular humans. I'm sorry" replied the raven haired beauty apologetically, which greatly disappointed titania.
"Now now, why don't you give it a try first?" suggested Frankenstein "After all, the Lord did send you here to improve your skills. And she isn't any pushover either, so you'll definitely be able to improve as well. What do you say?"
"Frankenstein…." Said Erza. Raskreia looked at Frankenstein, deep in thought.
"Hmm….alright. But I have one condition. Before I can take you on as my apprentice, you have to prove your worth first. I can only train you at my level, and it would be a waste of time if you couldn't handle it. Therefore, before I can take you on under me, I shall test you in a dual, one on one. You are free to use any armor or weapon in your possession, and if you manage to land a hit on me, then I shall accept you under my wing. I shall only use my sword and nothing else Otherwise I suggest you look elsewhere. I shall accept your challenge anytime you wish. That is all" she said sternly. Frankenstein sighed, knowing that things wouldn't have ended as easily as he thought. He was well aware of how difficult it would be for a human to match up to a noble's skills, let alone with one who was the direct blood relative of the noble Lord. Although she was still not as strong as him, she was atleast as strong as any of the family leaders, if not greater; and Frankenstein knew she could never match up to Raskreia. Even without her blood field or her telekinesis, she would easily dominate the red head.
"There is truth to what she tells. This time we were lucky to have the three of them helping us, but in the future, threats more dangerous than Phantom Lord are very likely to arrive. I suggest that not just Erza, but all of us should become stronger to face whatever challenges that may come our way" suggested Makarov, capturing the attention of all the members.
"Sounds fair. I was thinking about having sparring matches with some of you as well. Like I said, you guys are all strong, your abilities have a of of potential, but you end up using it the wrong way. For example, Natsu has tremendous offensive power, and thus he charges straight up into the frontlines without any strategy whatsoever." Explained Frankenstein.
"It's more fun that way!" claimed Natsu, pumping his fists.
"Although I can't decline that, there are times when your enemies are much stronger than you can even imagine, ones that outweigh you in terms of offense, defense and speed. What will you do then? Not just Natsu, but all of you could be a lot stronger if you simply used your abilities to your fullest extent. For example, Gray" explained Frankenstein, turning towards him. "Your ice abilities are only limited by your own imagination correct? But you seem to use only a limited set of moves. Why is that?" he asked again. Now, the bar had quieted down and all were listening to Franky with rapt attention.
"I dunno…..like you said, I have never been able to do something different so far, because it all solely depends on the kind of situation at that point of time. I adapt to the situation and create shapes accordingly" replied the ice mage.
"Exactly. At this rate, the only way you can improve is simply with more experience with different kinds of situations. I also did notice that you have to 'name' your moves before executing them. I find this both strange and inefficient. You should simply be able to use your moves as is, saving both time and also the fact that you're practically announcing your next move to your opponent. The strauss siblings are all within S class, yet have not shown me the power I expected to see." Said the blond, then turning to face them.
"I've already said about how you should never fear your powers, for you will be doing the opposite of what you expect instead. From what I hear, you could finally do a full body transformation correct?" he asked Elfman.
"Yeah….and its all thanks to what you told me. I would've never realized it otherwise….that was really manly!" thanked the younger of the strauss sibling. Franky sweatdropped.
"Mira…..the root of your powers is not something to be taken lightly…..I can sense that you too are afraid of your powers, even though they are dark, they aren't trying to consume you or anything like that….are you hesitant because of the very nature of your powers?" he asked.
"How can I..….like you said, it's because my powers are so strong, if I lose control of them because of my emotions, I could end up hurting those around me as well…and besides, they don't even look human…." She said in a quiet tone.
"Nee-chan…" said Elfman.
"Mira, I've already told you, no one…" began Makarov, but was interrupted by Frankenstein.
"Then, let me show you something" He place his hand on her shoulder and raised his power by a tiny bit. Once again, those in the vicinity could sense the hostility in his energy, something they were still having trouble getting used to. It didn't shock them as it did when he showcased his powers the first time, but it still felt unpleasant to say the least. But Mira on the other hand was another story entirely. She had a horrific expression on her face, and tightly wrapped herself, as if to protect herself from something. She was also shaking from the very feeling of it. Frankenstein immediately let go of her.
"Hey, what did you do?!" demanded Cana.
"No..it's ok…..he just made me feel his energy up close….but…..Frankenstein! What was that?!" she asked, quivering.
"That was just about 1% of my total power, I just demonstrated that to you so you know what kind of energy it is" answered the scientist.
"But…..how?! I've never seen something act like….that!All those voices….." she replied frozen from fear.
"What happened?" asked asked Makarov concerned. "1% ?! No way! That nearly matched Erza's power!"
"To make even that Mira cry out in fear….." thought Cana.
"My powers are very similar to Mira's, the only difference being that my power tries to take over my soul, and I have to keep it in check….it's like having one crazy lover" said Franky cheekily. The others sweatdropped at the comparison.
"What do you mean take over your soul? Are your powers self aware ?" inquired Makarov.
"You could say that. Even in battle, I have to constantly watch out for my powers and consciously monitor how I use it. One wrong move, and I could lose control and let my 'crazy lover' take over. If I had to give an example, say that Natsu's dragon slaying magic actually came from a dragon sleeping inside Natsu, one that's trying to devour him whenever it gets a chance. And every time you step in too far into its territory, the dragon swallows you whole, and makes you go berserk instead" said Frankenstein darkly. There was silence that followed.
"Not just that, but everytime he uses his powers, he experiences excruciating pain and mental agony and that only gets worse the more he uses his powers." finished Raizel sadly. Shocked by this new information, the members of Fairy Tail now had a newfound respect for the blond.
"Anyways, do your powers look scary to you now?" questioned Frankenstein, looking towards Mira. "If you really want to overcome your weakness, to truly become stronger, then accept the fact that using your magic could have consequences that may not be always favorable, but also believe that there will always be others who are ready to accept them as you are". Upon those words, the entire guild beamed, and so did Mira, for even though his tone was stern, there was a certain warmth behind them.
"Thank you" she said simply. "I may have feared my own abilities, but after today, I fear more, the inability to help those that mean the most to me. I too shall give it my all, so that I won't look back and think about things that might have been!" came the bold declaration. This was followed by optimistic 'ohs' and 'yeah's'
"Seeing you like this, it reminds me of the First master of Fairy Tail, the one who was called Fairy Strategist Mavis….never have I seen someone who could conjure up such unique tactics in such a short time" said Makarov in awe. "You people continue to amaze me ever since you first got here"
"Speaking of which, how did Raizel recover so much? When we last saw him, he was near death's door, and now, he has enough power to make an army of shade soldiers kneel at a simple command. What DID you do at Porlyusica's?" asked Max.
"Ah that! I completely forgot in all this chaos. I couldn't have been more satisfied by…" They were interrupted by the sounds of approaching footsteps, and the figure of Rayga Kertia made its appearance amongst the guild members.
"Ah, please forgive me for intruding, since I couldn't find a door, the broken sign outside told me that this is the Fairy Tail guild, I am very sorry about intruding during your times of crisis, but I must ask, have you seen a person called Frankenstein?" asked the leader of the kertia family.
"Rayga! How are YOU here?" asked Frankenstein astonished.
"Frankenstein! So you were here after all! Then am I to presume that you have successfully found Raizel-nim?!" he inquired, unable to contain the anxiety.
"I am right here, Rayga Kertia" replied the Noblesse, making himself visible to the blond family leader.
"Raizel-nim!" breathed Rayga, and immediately knelt in front of him.
"Rise" came the swift order, which Rayga did so diligently.
"Whoa whoa…what's going on here?" asked Gray confused.
"Are they acquaintances? But this man just knelt in front of Rai….." wondered Erza.
"From those looks, that elegance, it would seem so" said Mira.
"He looks like a manly elf!" claimed Elfman.
"Manly elf…? More like elfman…hey wait! Elfman! Haha that name suits him more than you it seems!" chimed Cana.
"From the smell of it, that blond guy and Raskreia and Rai all seem to be from the same group" said Natsu.
"Then he is also a special human like them?" wondered Makarov.
"Human?" asked Rayga confused.
"Ah you see…" started the scientist, and out of the corner of his mouth, hastily explained using a few sentences. Rayga's trained eyes caught every word, and he put two and two together.
"Ah yes, I too have special abilities like them. But more than that" Rayga faced the other members of FT now. "I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking care of Raizel-nim when he was at his most critical condition. Nothing I or the rest of us could ever do can repay this favor. We shall always be eternally grateful for this" he said humbly with a bow.
"He…hey now, we just did what we had to do….I'm sure any of us would've done the same had it been them. And besides, Rai, Raskreia and even this old man are good company!" said Gray flustered.
"You're giving us more credit than you think, young man" assured Makarov. "Why don't you stay a while? Looks like you've come here with some purpose"
"Ah yes, I almost forgot" he realized, and then turned to Frankenstein "Frankenstein, I am here on lord's orders to investigate about what happened to Raizel-nim, since there was no news since you left. But now that I am here, I can see that Raizel-nim is quite healthy, more so than what I even imagined. Would you mind explaining what happened here all this time?"
Frankenstein turned apologetic; for someone who considered himself a perfectionist, who liked leaving no unsatisfactory results anywhere, he felt ashamed that he failed to take care of the simple deed of informing the Lord about Raizel, especially when he was the reason they were here and could rejuvenate him.
"I am ashamed that I didn't do this earlier. To make up for this, I shall accompany you along with master and Raskreia to visit the Lord right away" he said.
"That would be most appreciated" came the kind reply.
"Speaking of which, how did you manage to enter this place? I thought only the.."
"Ah….Lord thought of an ingenious way for making a path for me or anyone else….Ah Lord!" he said in a voice full of admiration. Frankenstein listened deadpanned, for he could imagine what might have happened in Lukedonia all too well, especially when things concerned 'the' Lord. "But you still haven't told me how you helped Raizel-nim become so full of life"
"Yes I was getting to that, and seeing as how they want to know as well, I should explain things here" said the blond, and took a seat. " Well, to start off, where we come from, we don't have a 'magic rich' environment like eterno. So when we use our powers, it comes directly from within our bodies, and sometimes, the power can be so great, that it needs to be fueled from our very lifespan itself. Imagine for example, if master makarov's magic power actually shaved off years of his life everytime he needed to use a very powerful magic. The same thing here as well with my master. Everytime he uses his abilities, he loses a portion of his life….the more the force my master exerts, the more it hurts, unlike in my case, although I do feel pain with my abilities, I don't actually lose any lifeforce. This had always been a major problem since time memorial. But after coming here, I found the magic rich environment which is the source of all magic in Earthland. I thought if I could somehow replenish my master's life force by using this eterno; that's where Porlyusica came in. She is someone who specialized in healing magic, hence she knew ways to replenish lost eterno in a person. In our world, we have an artifact called the blood stone, which lets the user absorb life force from living things around them and convert it into power for the user, but as a side effect, it drives the user insane as well. All I did was combine a small part of the blood stone with a lachrima from Earthland that can absorb and replenish lost vitality in mages. I have Porlyusica to thank for that. With her help, I was able to combine the two to create a jewel that could convert the magic in Earthland's atmosphere to life force for my master. And soon enough, within a matter of few days, I successfully managed to restore all of his life force that he had ever lost in his entire lifetime. Not just that, now he won't lose any as well in the future, as long as the seal on his earrings is not removed. So in this sense, as long as master is not forced to use his full power, he wont lose any more vitality from using his sealed abilities. I can never be more satisfied from anything in my whole life" he finished.
"I'm glad things worked out so well for you guys!" grinned Makarov. The others nodded in agreement, adding to the joyous mood. But Rayga's reaction was completely different.
"Frankenstein….is that really true?! Have you really dealt with Raizel-nim's problem?!" he asked, white as a sheet.
"Yeah…" Rayga let out a deep breath.
"This is…..incredible…..As someone who was assigned to find the whereabouts of Raizel-nim, having heard such incredible news….I am honored to be chosen to be the bearer of such news" he said, on the verge of tears. "Frankenstein…..I would like to leave immediately to meet the Lord and the other family leaders….Such news must not be kept waiting for the Lord" he urged.
"Frankenstein….go with him" requested Makarov.
"Yeah….dont worry about us" assured Natsu. "I think your people have the right to know"
"…very well. I shall take my leave then" he said finally. "Although we just met everyone after being away from the guild, we're leaving again…I hope we can see each other soon. Really defeats the purpose of being guild members doesn't it?"
"Ah..trivial things like that are nothing. Even Gildarts, our strongest member, only stays here for a couple of days every time. He's always away on some mission or the other" assured Wakaba.
"So you just focus on what you need to do" continued Macao.
"I see...and about the training, We can work on it once I return. Till then, just keep performing your duties as normal, and try to keep in mind the things I told you guys while on missions. It should help you improve, even if a little" he said, getting up.
"Then…..see you soon" said Raizel, smiling. Mira, Erza and Cana blushed hard. Lucy swooned, and Levy looked confused. The reaction of other female members wasn't too far off.
"Thank you!" said Raskreia, with a smile of her own. This time, the men of the guild clenched their hearts dreamily and fell off their chairs, Makarov included. The 4 then made a small courteous bow, and left.
"Alright then, let's call it a day, it IS quite late, and we got some serious rebuilding to do!" ordered Erza, and no one felt like disobeying. The fatigue and sense of weariness were at their peak, feeling lazy, they all packed up, bid each other goodbye, and left for their own homes.
The next day
The sounds of hammers hammering nails and the sounds of wood being sawed echoed the early morning of the town of Magnolia, as the largest guild in town was being repaired and rebuilt by its own members. Makarov used his giant form to handle transportation of material and heavy duty work, along with the powerhouse Elfman. Erza exquipped to her mason's clothes and began handling logs to be fixed at certain spots, and Gray and Natsu took it up to themselves to compete in deciding who would carry the most timber to their destinations. Unbeknownst to them, Juvia, the phantom mage was watching a particular ice mage since they assembled in front of the guild, with a bento at hand.
"Alright everyone, lunch time!" announced the white haired beauty, and the tired souls eagerly made their way towards a nearby clearing. Makarov was holding some request letters in his hands.
"Now that we're back to business, the requests are back as well" he said optimistically.
"Anything special, master?" asked Mira sweetly.
"Let's see here…Find missing cat, 5000 jewels; Defeat the troll in magnolia forest, 70000 jewels; Acquire 5 fire lachrima, 4000 jewels….." he ticked off his fingers, disappointed.
"I guess not, since we didn't get anything higher than 70000 jewels…" he said.
"Man, that's a bummer" sighed Natsu.
"Hey what's this?" asked Lucy, looking at an odd parchment in the back, which didn't quite stick out since it was almost stuck to the previous sheet. Carefully, she pulled it out.
"Huh, another request? Let's see…..Investigate the mystery of the anemic inhabitants of White Mist Town. S class mages only. Reward…..!" Lucy started shaking, slumped to the ground, her eyes frozen in disbelief.
"Hey what's wrong?" asked Cana concerned. "What did she see?" Makarov snatched the paper from the celestial mage's hands, and read it. He too, went white as a sheet.
"Master you too?! What does it say!" demanded Erza frantically.
"S class mages only. Reward….10 billion jewels" All of their hearts skipped several beats.
Phew, finally got to make another chapter! Hope you liked the 4th wall part at the beginning and the castlevania bit! Like I said, all credits belong to Konami for the Castlevania series, Hiro Mashima for Fairy Tail and Lee Kwangsu/Son Jiho for Noblesse. I'll soon try to update the next chapter, as I have something planned. AS you can see, I'm introducing a new quest, and I will be adding new elements to both series, in hopes of keeping it fresh and intriguing. The same goes for the pairings as well, and don't forget to check my deviantart page for one important concept art. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!
