Hello people, I back once again for the next chapter of my story. This story is beginning to get a little hard to type. I have to remember a lot of little detail I put in and use them for later and that is what is making it hard. Anyway I hope you enjoy and please leave a review.
"Magic" - Magic attacks
"Thoughts" - Thoughts
"Talking" -Talking
Chapter 10: Approval
Acalypha Town, Five minutes back
Wendy blocked Erza's sword strike and went in for her own. However Erza leapt away out of her range. Wendy was about to attack when Mirajane and Erza entered the fray. Wendy decided to let Natsu take care of those two while she took on Lucy, Lisanna, and Gray. Unsheathing her daggers Wendy attacked Gray first. She swiped at his neck, only for him to lean back. Her dagger passed just above his face. Using his momentum Gray allowed himself to fall backward, bringing his foot into Wendy's jaw. "I guess it's going to be our job to take you out. Tch, I wanted to fight Natsu." Gray said, throwing away his shirt Gray got ready to attack. "Ice Make: Lance!" Wendy dodged most of the lances but had to use one of her daggers to cut the last lance.
"You're going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat me." Wendy mocked Gray. "Hey! He's not alone you know!" Lucy and Lisanna shouted as they too joined the fray of battle. Lisanna took the lead in the fight. "Take-Over: Tigress!" With a burst of speed Lisanna was in front of Wendy. Lisanna took one swipe at Wendy, but Wendy caught her arm and twisted it. Lisanna twirled her body in the same direction and brought her heel down on the top of Wendy's head. Wendy released Lisanna's arm and thrust one of her daggers forward. Lisanna used her insane reflexes and flexibility to twist out of the way. However she received a cut on her side. Using the momentum of her dodge Lisanna rotated into another kick. This time however Wendy blocked it, Wendy crossed her arms and allowed the kick to hit. Lisanna was now unbalanced, using this Wendy punched Lisanna into the ground.
"Open Gate of the Goat: Capricorn!" Capricorn launched a succession of quick attacks, Wendy was forced on the defensive until she found the right moment. Ducking under one of Capricorn's attacks Wendy stabbed him in the throat and sliced to the right. Lucy watched as Capricorn returned into the spirit world. "You all shouldn't have come here, picking a fight with us was a bad idea." Wendy said. "Why do you care? Right now we're your enemy." Lucy said back to Wendy.
"You guys are good people, I don't want to kill you guys. We did nothing to you guys so why are you trying to attack us?" Wendy asked them. "We want to free Natsu. That is why we are fighting." Gray said, his face was as serious as Lucy and Lisanna had ever seen him. "Free Natsu? Natsu is fine the way she is, she is free to do what she wants. She does not need freeing." Wendy stated, "Then if we release the seal on the back of her neck it won't change anything. Right?" Gray countered, Wendy had to admit that it made sense. Plus that seal could be used against Hisui if someone made a new contract with Natsu. Wait! That's it, they want to use Natsu for themselves. They cover their true intentions with good ones. Wendy felt stupid for almost agreeing to them.
"You can't fool me! I know what you are really scheming!" Wendy shouted to the three Fairy Tail mages. Leaping high into the air Wendy attacked from the sky. "Sky Dragon's!" "Holy shit! She's a Dragon Slayer!" Gray shouted in shock. "Roar!" A blue tornado hit all three mages and crushed them into the ground. Before they could get up Wendy was once again upon them. "This is the end Fairy Tail!" Wendy shouted. Wind swirled around her in violent arcs, destroying the ground, leaving gashes. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" Extending her arms out wind formed a wall around the Fairy Tail mages. Turning her arms ninety degrees the wind began to close in on the mages. "Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" A massive burst of magic ripped through the air towards the Fairy Tail mages. When the smoke cleared all three mages were unconscious, blood flowed from multiple cuts on their body. Wendy walked over to Gray and lifted him up by the hair. Bringing her dagger to his throat she prepared to slice across his throat.
"Stop! Enough Wendy we need to leave now." Natsu interrupted Wendy. Natsu looked like she had gone through hell, blood flowed from a deep gash on her thigh and her armor was now nonexistent. "Why did you tell me to stop?" Wendy asked, Natsu continued to limp her way over to Wendy. "We need to leave them alive, Fairy Tail is notorious for taking revenge if anyone of their members is hurt. So to keep Makarov silent we shall allow them to live. Plus these people are good people, they don't deserve to die, after all you want to make the world a better place, right Wendy?" Natsu was being as cautious as possible for Hisui's sake. Wendy sheathed her daggers and let Gray drop to the ground with a groan.
"Then what shall we do then?" Wendy asked Natsu, these people knew what Natsu is now and there was no telling what consequences that could have. "We shall leave them alone for now, we should focus on what we shall do about the countries Bosco and Seven. Master will not attack either country without a good cause and excuse. So we need to sour relations with one of the countries and then make it seem like they caused the spark of conflict." Natsu said, she knew what the problem with Fairy Tail would have to wait until they could talk with Hisui.
Wanting to leave as quickly as possible Natsu grabbed onto Wendy and Spread her wings. With a great flap of her wings they took off high into the air, flying as fast as she could Natsu headed to Crocus. Leaving behind her the destruction the mage battles had caused.
Capital of Fiore, Crocus
Hisui paced around the throne room, her eyes were unfocused as she was in deep thought. Fairy Tail, what shall I do about you. Hisui stopped pacing and opened her eyes. A smile slowly spread across her face, she had finally come up with an answer. "Tell the magic council to send a messenger to Fairy Tail." Natsu who had been in the throne room the whole time watched as a guard quickly left to go get a messenger. A few minutes later a strange frog man walked into the throne room and kneeled before Hisui.
"Your majesty you called for a messenger?" The frog man had a paper ready. "Tell Makarov that he will appear before me tomorrow, no questions asked. He has no choice in the matter." The messenger wrote down her words and then left the room. Hisui then turned to Natsu and spoke.
"How did your meeting with Mr. Heartfilia go?" Natsu explained to Hisui, that Jude agreed to help and that he would come to Crocus soon. After hearing this information Hisui dismissed Natsu. Hisui knew that her window was closing, she needed to push conflict out of Fiore and into the surrounding kingdoms. Hopefully Natsu's plan works out as well as she thinks it will.
The Next Day, Southeast Fiore, Magnolia
Makarov watched his guild from the second floor, members were drinking, talking, and talking job requests. It was a normal day for Fairy Tail if it wasn't for what had happened yesterday.
Flashback
Gray, Lucy, Lisanna, Erza, and Mirajane had limped their way into the guildhall, bloodied and bruised. Concerned member helped them into the guild's infirmary, all the while asking what happened and how they got injured. Makarov entered the infirmary and told everyone to leave so that he could speak to the injured mages in private. Mirajane and Lucy were awake, everyone else was still unconscious. Makarov clenched his fists as he passed by each injured member, he stopped at Erza who was covered from head to toe in bandages. "She took a fire blast at point blank range to the face. I'm surprised she will be fine." Mirajane answered Makarov's silent question on how she got so injured. "Mirajane how did you all get so injured?" Makarov said silently, his expression was controlled to look calm and collected, but Mirajane knew from his eyes that he was furious about their injuries. Mirajane flinched in pain as she slowly sat upright.
"We picked a fight with Natsu Dragneel." Makarov's eyes widened in shock at that statement. "You tried to do what! Natsu Dragneel is Queen Hisui's personal guardian, she is one of the most powerful people in the kingdom, and you tried to fight her! Are you stupid! This could have very dire consequences!" Mirajane flinched at Makarov's yelling, she did not think he would react like this. "Well the magic council will take care of this, after all it's their job to deal with magic guilds." Mirajane countered, Makarov shook his head.
"Things have changed from the seven years we were in the Fairy Sphere. The Queen now has control of the magic council after they previous members were wiped out in an attack from a dark guild." Makarov said silently again, he would not have been too worried if it was the old magic council he had to deal with but now the situation was much more unpredictable. Mirajane did not know what to say, because of their actions Fairy Tail was in a precarious situation. "Rest for now I'll take care of the council, hopefully they are forgiving." Makarov sighed to himself, they had just gotten back from a long slumber and already were his brats causing trouble.
Present
Makarov watched his guild while drinking his beer, he felt in his gut that something was going to happen, he just hoped it wasn't too bad. Just as he was going to refill his beer, the guild doors opened. Standing at the entrance was a frogman, Makarov knew it was from the magic council immediately. The frogman spotted Makarov and quickly moved through the guild towards him. "Are you Master Makarov?" The frogman asked, he sounded slightly out of breath. "Yes I am indeed, can I help you?" Makarov asked, the frogman pulled out a letter and opened it, reading loud and clear the whole guild could hear what he was about to say. "By order of her majesty Queen Hisui, you Makarov Dreyar, current guild master of Fairy Tail, are to head to Crocus today and have an audience with the Queen. In her majesty's own words, you Makarov will appear before the Queen, no questions asked." As soon as the frogman finished the guild erupted in an uproar. Makarov could feel a pit form in his stomach, he would not deal with the magic council, in other circumstances that would be a blessing. But this time he would have to defend Fairy Tail against the most powerful person in Fiore, the Queen.
To silence his guild Makarov gave them a few hopeful words. "Do not worry my children, I shall defend Fairy Tail just as I have always done." The guild cheered and clapped but Makarov felt none of it, he knew this was much more serious. Makarov quickly left the guildhall and head towards the Magnolia train station as fast as he could, after all he could not keep the Queen waiting. As the train zoomed past the countryside Makarov watched the sky slowly darken, it just made him feel a little nervous.
Capital of Fiore, Crocus
Makarov walked through the hallways of Mercurius, he did not know what was going to happen, after all he was only used to handling the magic council. Two guards walked on either side of him, an awkward silence hanged over them as they walked towards the throne room. Once they reached the doors of the gate room, the two guards walked in front of Makarov and opened the doors. He could see Queen Hisui sitting on her golden throne, Makarov saw that she had three necklaces, however her third necklace caught his eye. It shined like a gentle flame, giving Hisui an almost menacing look in her eyes. Walking forward Makarov kneeled before Hisui and waited to be addressed.
"Master Makarov...do you know why you have been called here today?" Hisui asked, she had yet to move from her throne and her eyes had not moved from Makarov. "I do...and I would like to formally apologize for the actions of my children." Makarov hated how silent the room was, he could hear his own heartbeat.
"I accept your sincere apology. However Master Makarov...you are on very, very, very thin ice right now, and it would be in your best interest that you proceed with caution. Consider this meeting a warning. If there is a repeat of this…" Hisui stood up from her throne, her eyes intensified into a sharp glare. "...Mark my words, there will be hell to pay." The threat was loud and clear for Makarov, the Queen was dead serious on her words. "You may leave, and remember I don't want to hear of another incident ever again." Makarov stood up and bowed to Hisui. "Thank you, your majesty." After saying those words Makarov left Crocus as fast as he could, Erza and her group had fucked up big time.
Southeast Fiore, Magnolia
Once Makarov had arrived at Fairy Tail, he immediately went to the infirmary and informed Erza and her team about the situation. "The Queen has got to be kidding...right?" Gray asked, Makarov shook his head. "She was dead serious, and I believe she would follow through with any threat she says."
"And why is that Master?" This time Erza asked, she had finally woken up. "As guild master I had to catch up with what has changed during the seven year gap. When the old magic council was attacked, Queen Hisui ordered the extermination of all dark guilds. That order meant that even prisoners that were affiliated with dark guilds were also purged. The next day after her speech, she had all dark guild prisoners executed. A few weeks after that almost all dark guilds had fled from Fiore."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock, they did not know such a terrible thing had happened. Though those that were purged were affiliated with dark guilds, they were still people. Makarov sighed, drama seemed to always find Fairy Tail no matter what. "Erza...and the rest of you, I forbid you from continuing to pursue Natsu Dragneel. We, your guild mates will always your backs, however this situation puts all of Fairy Tail in unnecessary danger." Though Erza and Lucy wanted to protest, they understood Makarov was very serious about his decision. "Now get some much needed rest, your wounds need to heal." Makarov spoke softly, almost like a father would talk to his children. The group of mages laid back in their beds and closed their eyes to rest, on their mind was the memory about the power Natsu Dragneel wielded. Wendy Marvell too was on their minds, she was a new obstacle, a very powerful obstacle.
Two months later, Northeast Fiore, Border with Seven
The Fiore border with the kingdom of Seven was a heavily wooded area where animals thrived. In the thick of these woods was a small dirt trail that traveled between the two countries, this was one of many trails made in the forest for people to use for easier travel. Be it mages from wizard guilds or simple citizens who want to travel between countries. Currently on this specific dirt trail was a caravan of trucks. In front of said trucks stood two women, the darkness of the night covered these two females in shadows. About ten men got out of the trucks while the rest of the men stayed in the trucks. One man walked forward towards the two females, he had a large brown cigar in his mouth. Once he stood before them he extended his hand out towards them, he smiled as he shook both their hands. "It is quite a pleasure to finally meet both of you." His voice was laced with barely contained excitement. Reaching into his pocket the man pulled out a lighter, bringing the flame to his cigar he inhaled softly. Looking up he quickly pulled out two cigars and handed them out. "Would you like one as well, I believe it was rude of me to not offer you two a cigar." The two women took a cigar and put them in their mouth, leaning forwards the women waited for the man to light their cigar.
With a small cloud of white smoke one of the women finally spoke. "You brought the shipment quite fast...why?" The man chuckled at the question. "Well with the amount of product you are buying I had to move it out quickly or risk getting caught. After this delivery I am a rich man. I'll probably be able to retire with this much money. Speaking of money, did you bring it, after all we agreed that we would both keep our end of the deal." Inhaling softly the gentle glow of the cigar illuminated the women's eyes, a beautiful emerald color. "Bring the case." The emerald eyed women said to her partner. Walking towards a tree the women grabbed a briefcase and presented it to the man. With a soft click the case opened and showed its contents to the world, stacks of money. The man reached to grab the case when he was interrupted.
"Before we hand our money over to you, show us the product." The man retracted his hand and nodded to the men behind him. "Open the trucks, all of them." Once the doors opened a powerful smell rushed into the air. Walking towards the end of the first truck, the females looked at the contents, their only reaction was an inhale. The cigars glowed for a brief second, turning around one of the women took the briefcase and walked towards the man. "How about another deal? I'm sure you will find it interesting." The women stopped a few feet from the man, her identity was still obscured by the dark night. However as the clouds slowly moved through the sky the moonlight finally got to shine down on the earth below.
The moonlight could barely breakthrough the dense forest, but it was enough for the man to see the armor and katana. The only thing her could see of her face was her emerald eyes, they were cold and calculating. Gulping the man took one step forward and spoke.
"A new deal? Please elaborate on this deal of yours." The women was quick to respond. "We want you to retire so that we can control these routes." Her tone was clear and showed no hesitation. The man narrowed his eyes at her. "You want me to give my business to you? And why would I do that?" This deal was quickly losing his interest, he would not hand over his hard work just because he wanted to retire.
"While we control the business, you will receive a cut of the profit. You can retire and never have to work again and still make money. Plus if operations are compromised you will never be questioned as we will be the ones who were in charge. I believe this is a good deal." The man rubbed his chin in thought. He was already rich enough to retire an entire neighborhood, why not retire and still continue to get paid. Plus he would become immune to arrest as his involvement could never truly be confirmed. "I accept this deal if I am able to supervise all operations for one month to see how well you work." His demand was a far cry of what most would say, but he wanted to make sure he was making a good investment. "Deal." The women held out the briefcase of money. "Consider this your first payment." With that said the women handed the money over. The man turned to his men and showed the case of money. "The payment has been made, you know the routine people. Let's get this shipment moving." Soon the sound of engines roaring to life filled the once silent air. The caravan of trucks moved through the rough terrain, their bright lights shined throughout the forest.
One Month Later, Mt Hakobe
Two steel doors opened, cold wind blew past the opening. Once the doors fully opened, trucks drove through, behind them the doors closed again. Natsu sighed, it was a struggle to get the trucks to the secret base in mount Hakobe. However she could not complain, this was the best place to hide. She watched as the men unloaded the trucks, the now retiring boss approached Natsu. "Ah miss I congratulate you, you have proved to me that you won't destroy what I worked so hard to build. Hahaha, I will head back to Seven now, I leave this business to you." The man got into one of the empty trucks and left with the convoy, they were all heading back to Seven. Natsu walked around the hideout, there were hundreds of boxes, all from the past month. Natsu noticed that each box had the symbol of Seven, strangely enough the symbol was waves crashing into a rocky Cliffside. Natsu laughed to herself, she expected the kingdom to use the number they are named after instead of a scenery. Opening one of the boxes Natsu saw that it was filled with plastic bags, all of them containing small green buds. Natsu's nose twitched at the powerful smell coming from the box, grabbing one bag Natsu was surprised on how light it was.
My plan is almost complete, all that is needed is to create a situation that creates tension between Fiore and Seven. And I believe I know just how to do that. With a smirk spread across her face Natsu placed the bag back in its box and opened the steel doors to head outside. Her hair blew back and forth from the cold wind. With a massive blast of hot air she transformed, red wings sprouting from her back and her tail swishing back and forth lazily. Crouching slighting her wings spread to their full length. A small crater formed when she jumped, she flapped her wings faster. Heading towards Crocus at full speed Natsu smirked, her plan simply needed to be approved and then begin her operations.
Capital of Fiore, Crocus
When Natsu arrived at Crocus it was late noon. The sun had begun to set and the sky was a fiery red. When Natsu was directly above Mercurious she allowed her wings to disappear. The sudden loss made her drop like a stone, she waited until the last possible moment to ignite the bottom of her feet, cushioning the impact. She had landed on a balcony, opening the glass door Natsu walked into the room and then out into the hallway. "You know, you could have used the front door?" Wendy said, she was leaning against the wall behind Natsu. "I have great news for master!" Natsu said, she began to walk again, Wendy following closely behind. "So all preparations are complete?" Wendy asked, Natsu simply nodded in confirmation.
The two walked into the throne room and bowed to Hisui. "Master all preparations are complete, all that is needed is your approval." Natsu said, Hisui stood up from her throne. "I see, then I shall allow this operation to begin. Plus construction on the railroads has begun. All we need to do is wait. Natsu I trust you can handle this?" Hisui asked, Natsu nodded and then looked over to Wendy. "You know what to do, correct?" Wendy nodded.
With the operation approved Natsu and Wendy left the throne room to prepare. Hisui sat on her throne and gnawed on her fingernails. I'm starting to have second thoughts about this, maybe I should only take Seven. My army is too small to handle more than one country. However time is running out, this plan needs to work. With one overwhelming offensive I need to unite Ishgar under one banner, even if it's by force. Hisui walked to the end of the throne room, in a display was a decorated sword. It had a golden sheath and jewels, at the end of the hilt was a single ruby. Grabbing the sword Hisui unsheathed the blade, it gleamed red from the sunlight. Gripping the hilt Hisui hardened her eyes. For the future of my kingdom I will do all that is in my power to make sure my father will be proud of me. My rule will be remembered for hundreds of years. My name shall be known for all time and when I join my father in the afterlife my people will cry my name in sorrow. I will unite the continent of Ishgar under one banner. We need to unite, the massive empire Alvarez has already tried to attack Ishgar once and I know they will try again. The question is when. Hisui sheathed the sword and placed it back where it was, she left the throne room and headed to her chambers. She knew the other kingdoms would never believe her if she said Alvarez will attack. They would say that there has been peace for over one hundred years. So her only option was to unite Ishgar under the flag of Fiore, that way everyone in Ishgar would be forced to help fight off Alvarez.
That's the end of chapter 10 I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I apologize if the chapter seems too short. I'm disappointed in myself I'm ten chapters in and I still have not started the arc yet. I will probably be on hiatus for a few weeks but I will continue to type for all.