Good news! I don't have therapy tonight, so you guys get to see this chapter before 10 PM! Huzzah! (Did I mention I live on the east coast?)
Also, ten chapters! Woo! Hopefully I'll get 100+ reviews by the time this is done.
Chapter 10 - Sore Sights
Levy's eyes widened to impossible proportions when Madilia introduced herself. This went unnoticed by the rest of the guild, as everyone was still concentrating on their surprise guest.
Madilia dipped her head forward in a bow of respect, her silvery hair cascading over her shoulders. "You now know who I am. I will let you decide whether you want to hear what I have to say or not. Be warned though, Makarov Dreyar. I bring important news that may spell the end for your guild and your children."
Makarov regarded the woman coolly, his expression hardened. "You were part of one of the most notorious dark guilds known to the magic world, Madilia Cienny. Among Discord Palette's members, you were one of the most talented and from what I understand, you had quite the hand in many kidnappings of young wizards." The woman flinched ever-so-slightly. Makarov held his stare for a moment more. "However… For you to approach me in broad daylight, and after making contact with one of my own, the news you have must be of the utmost importance. Come." Makarov turned, and began walking down the hall. "Follow me, Madilia-san. We will discuss this in my office." Madilia raised her head and nodded.
"I thank you for this chance, Makarov Dreyar."
"I'm not about to turn someone away when Fairy Tail is involved. Let us hurry."
As the two exited the room, Levy felt herself able to breathe again.
"Ooooh myyy goooood…" she gasped. She looked to her teammate in excitement. "We've got to talk to that woman." Gajeel eyed her with a strange curiosity.
"Why? What the hell could she possibly tell us?"
"Didn't you hear master!? That woman was involved in kidnappings! Maybe she could tell us something about Natsu- I mean Irien!" Gajeel snorted.
"Nice to see you're not letting that idea about Natsu get to you."
"Ugh." Levy smacked her forehead. "That was a stupid mistake… But I'm not going to let that bother me. Come on, let's go eavesdrop."
"We're gonna get caught."
"Not if you don't stop complaining, we won't."
After Madilia entered his office, Makarov put his hand against the door and muttered a spell. The door glowed briefly, and then went back to normal when he took his hand back. Madilia raised a brow at his actions. As he walked to the back of the room, the Wizard Saint explained,
"A spell to keep our voices inside this room. Knowing my children, some of them will attempt to listen to our discussion."
"That is very smart of you," Madilia admitted, taking a seat in a spare chair. "Yet rather impertinent of them."
"It's common sense in this guild to create sound barriers when you want to speak to someone alone," Makarov chuckled good-naturedly. "I love my children, but they tend to ignore the meaning of that word 'privacy'. Now…" The older man's face lost its cheerfulness. He hopped onto his desk and sat on the edge, ready to discuss business. "I shall listen to whatever it is you must say."
"Again, I give my thanks." Madilia bowed her head briefly. "Before I begin, though, I want you to consider a request of mine."
"A request?" Makarov echoed with interest. This woman was making deals with him right off the bat? He sighed. This was going to be a tiresome session. "Fine. Let me hear it."
"Very well. It concerns my child."
"Your child?" Makarov found his brow rising for the umpteenth time that day. Madilia nodded.
"Yes. Though he is yet unborn." The psychic gazed out of the nearest window, green eyes glazed over with a cosmic wisdom that didn't go unnoticed by the Wizard Saint. "Within a decade from now, I will bear a child on my own… And I fear that I will not live to see his seventh year." Her aura shrank at that moment, obviously due to emotional unrest within her. This also didn't slip by Makarov's eyes. He nodded solemnly at his guest.
"Being born with tremendous powers of premonition and then being given such terrible visions of your own future… I am truly sorry for you."
"I have gotten used to such sights by now," Madilia reassured him, turning her head to speak directly to the man once again. "But like any mother, I worry for the well-being of my son. I want him to grow up happy, surrounded by those who care for him." Makarov instantly knew where this was going.
"You wish for your son to be granted entrance into the Fairy Tail guild." The woman nodded.
"Your guild, Makarov Dreyar… It is unlike any I have seen before. Everyone is treated as a family member, and everyone is happy, despite their own pasts… There is a warmth surrounding you, such a sense of family… I have never come across anything like it." Her hands tightened, gripping the material of her dress slightly. "I wish for my son to grow up surrounded by such a warmth; and if I cannot give it to him… I would rather he join a family like yours than the hellhole I ended up in as a young adult."
Makarov tightened the grip on his staff. It was clear she was speaking of the dark guild she'd been affiliated with, as vague as her words were. He stared her down, getting another look at her person. She seemed not to be there to cause harm. He would trust his instincts.
"Madilia-san," he started. "Anyone who wishes to join Fairy Tail will not be denied entry. Your son will be granted membership the day he comes looking for us."
"I am both pleased to hear that and extremely grateful for your hospitality." Madilia smiled ever-so-slightly, but then regained her serious composure. "Now, I shall inform of the news you wish to listen to." The psychic stood up and walked over to the wooden desk where Makarov sat. She gently placed her palm on his forehead, and closed her eyes. Before Makarov could question her actions, he suddenly found himself swimming in the darkness of someone's consciousness.
"What are you doing?" he asked within his mind.
"I feel visuals are necessary for this tale," came his reply.
"Move, Gajeel! I wanna hear too!"
"Good luck. Even with my sensitive ears, I can't hear jack."
"Oooh, darn it! Master must've put up another barrier! Come on, let's just go find Lu-chan. I'm almost positive she'll still be in the infirmary with Natsu."
"As you know, I was once an S-Class mage of Discord Palette. I'd have to be, to still be alive today." Makarov didn't argue with that. The S-Class mages of the guild were given trials. The other members were either executed or put in prison for the rest of their lives. "It was not my choice to be a member, however. Koda, a powerful wizard, wanted my psychic powers and knew they could not be easily torn from me. Thus, he just included me in the guild with the promise of allowing me to never get hurt. What he promised, he held. I did not receive any physical scars. Emotional ones are a different story."
The setting around Makarov changed from blackness to what appeared to be another infirmary. A younger version of Madilia, with much shorter, duller hair, was tending to a young girl.
"I was involved in the kidnappings," Madilia continued. "But not in the way you think. I merely inspected the children who were abducted from their families to make sure they were suited to train. If they passed, I was told to tear their memories from them and hand them over to other members so they could begin training them. If I found a child did not have as much potential as Koda initially thought, they were to be thrown into the wild and left for dead. Either way, none of them left Discord Palette's infirmary with knowledge of their past. Whether they joined or not, their memories were still taken."
Makarov saw exactly what she meant. In the scene, the younger Madilia was performing a spell to completely remove someone's memories from their head. When it was completed, the young child had a blank expression on her face. She was obviously confused by her surroundings.
"Where am I, miss?" she asked. Madilia bit her lip. Makarov could see some wetness behind her eyelashes.
"I'm very sorry, young one." The scene ended, and the darkness was brought back. Makarov stroked his chin.
"I find it strange that you would do these things willingly, yet cry when doing so. What is the reason for that?" he asked.
"My brother." Another scene popped up, this time with both the young Madilia and a man with dirty blonde hair dressed entirely in blue.
"You want me to do what!?" Madilia cried.
"You heard me, child," the man replied calmly, folding his arms. "Loud and clear." Madilia glared at him.
"I will not use my powers to strip innocent children of their lives!"
"You are not ridding them of their lives, you are merely preparing them to join Discord Palette. Think of them like whiteboards that need to be cleaned before being used again."
"By taking away their memories, I might as well be killing them! I refuse to use my powers in such a blatantly cruel way, Koda!" Koda chuckled, and stood up. From his desk, he walked over to Madilia and patted her on the head.
"Come now, Lia-chan. Your brother seems to appreciate the way this guild works… Why can't you?"
"Cyander is a stupid individual with terrible morals and a sick sense of humor, that's why," Madilia spat.
"Oh? Then you won't care if I simply off him for you."
The horrified expression on the young Madilia's face showed just how much she wasn't expecting that as a response.
"Y-You wouldn't… Cyander is your right-hand man. You wouldn't kill him off."
"I might, I might not. That is up to you. Although if you hate him so much, I don't see why there should be a problem."
"I could never hate my own brother, no matter how much of a moron he is for choosing to be in this guild."
"I see… Then refusing my request would put you both in a dreadful situation, wouldn't it?" Madilia swallowed, despite her dry throat.
"You… I can't believe you would betray one of your own, just to get me to do this…"
"There are plenty of things I will do to get what I want. Don't ever put that past me." Koda stroked her cheek in a falsely-loving gesture. "So, what was your answer again, my dear?" Madilia slapped his hand away, glaring at the dark guild's mark on his neck in disgust.
"Fine… I'll help you create more mindless followers." Koda smiled.
"That's my girl." Again, blackness enveloped the flashback, leaving Makarov with his own thoughts.
"Cyander may have been a disgusting individual who loved inflicting emotional pain… But family is family, and I did not want to see him hurt," Madilia admitted softly. "My brother had taken care of me for years. Betraying him would have been…"
"I understand the feeling of broken family well enough, thanks to my son," Makarov said bitterly. "My sympathies. However, I fail to see where my guild comes into play."
"It is because I did not let my brother be killed that Fairy Tail is going to suffer," Madilia's voice answered softly. "It is my fault. I apologize."
"That is in no way your fault," Makarov assured her sternly. "But I am curious as to why you think so."
"Because Cyander escaped from his imprisonment years ago, right from under the council's nose; and now he's tormenting others again, physically and mentally. The scarlet-haired woman in your infirmary is proof of that." Makarov's eyes widened.
"Are you saying your brother was responsible for Erza's wounds!?" he yelled in surprise. Even though he couldn't see her, Makarov imagined Madilia would be shrugging right about then.
"In a way, yes," she replied with the barest hint of anger in her voice. "My most recent residence is located in the area the woman was summoned to. I felt a bad premonition that day, so I went to investigate. I found the woman in a massive pool of blood, with her eye missing. I examined her consciousness, finding much turmoil and guilt flowing through her. I couldn't pinpoint the source, but it seemed to me that the same unstable emotions had been dug up rather crudely – As if she had hidden them away, and then had them forcefully brought to the front of her mind." Madilia paused. "I said my brother liked to cause emotional pain as much as he did physical pain. When I realized what was going through the woman's mind, I knew this was his doing." Makarov took the information in with a nauseating feeling brewing within.
"And her eye?" he asked. "Erza's right eye is missing. Was that his doing as well?"
"Most likely. An eye crafted by an expert healing mage has the ability to connect deeply with magic relating to emotions. If there were a powerful mage who used such magic, using the eye would be a surefire way to steal that mage's magic from him or her; and not only that, but that same magic could then be utilized by the person who stole it."
"And your brother possesses that kind of strength?"
"No. This leads me to my next point. I assume you know who Koda Mathera is?"
"The guild master of Discord Palette. Of course I know that name. It's hard to forget a wizard who takes his own life." Makarov's eyes narrowed. "Why is he important now?"
"Because your information is wrong," Madilia said grimly. "Koda is very much alive."
When Levy and Gajeel got to the infirmary's hallway, they found Lucy far from the room, arguing with Porlyusica over something.
"… But why not?" she asked for the third time. She was beginning to sound frantic. "Is information like that really that private?" Porlyusica was ready to whack the girl over the head with her broom by this point.
"You have failed to give me a good enough reason for wanting to know that boy's blood type," the healing mage retorted irritably. "Repetitive begging is not going to make me give up a person's medical information."
"I don't want his medical information! I just want his blood type!" Levy sweated at the scene. Gajeel just groaned.
"So that's what she's up to…" he muttered. Levy laughed nervously.
"Maybe I should step in before Porlyusica-san hits her…"
"I kinda' wanna see that happen."
"And I kinda' don't wanna see that happen." Levy ran over to the bickering females and waved cheerily. "Lu-chan! What's up? Why are you bothering Porlyusica-san?"
"She wishes to know that pink-haired boy's blood type, that's why," Porlyusica snapped. "Yet she will not specify why she's acting so desperate." Levy just giggled.
"Oh, I can tell you why, Porlyusica-san!" The elder woman raised a brow. Lucy looked even more panicked. Levy smiled. "You see… Lu-chan has a crush on Natsu!" The Celestial Mage's face paled to the color of a fish's belly.
"Levy-chan-!"
"-And she wants to know his blood type to see if they're compatible!" Levy cut off her friend's protest. She patted the blonde on the head as if she were a toddler. Lucy was so mortified at the script mage's words she didn't even notice. "She's just so shy, she can't admit it… Isn't she adorable?" That snapped Lucy out of it.
"Levy-chan, why would you say that!?"
"Because, like Happy would say…" Levy grinned. "You lllllike him!" Lucy all but shrieked in embarrassment. Porlyusica massaged her temporal.
"Honestly, young women these days… Trusting in astrology to find yourselves a boyfriend." She turned on her heels, her destination being the infirmary. "For such a stupid reason, I will give you no information. Don't believe in such nonsense." She muttered to herself. "Blood type compatibility, my arse…"
As the elder woman walked away, a red-faced Lucy smacked Levy on the arm as hard as she could.
"Ow! Lu-chan, that hurt!"
"You deserved it!" Lucy was practically trembling from anger. "Why would you lie and tell Porlyusica-san something like that!?"
"That was a lie?"
"Stop joking around!" Levy chuckled, but frowned soon after.
"Jokes aside, if Porlyusica-san won't tell us, then how are we supposed to learn Natsu's blood type?" The red faded from Lucy's cheeks slowly as she contemplated Levy's question.
"I really don't know, Levy-chan… I really don't."
"K-Koda… He's alive?" Makarov stuttered. He couldn't believe it. That monster of a man, thought to be dead for nearly two decades… He was still out there?
"Yes. I believe he was the one who inflicted the physical wounds on the woman, and not my brother. The amount of blood and the way it was splattered… Not to mention the aura of disaster I felt lingering in the air. I have no doubts. Koda is alive and active. And he is after your guild's strongest members."
"But why? Why Fairy Tail?" Madilia didn't hesitate to give the reason.
"I believe it is because your guild is considered to be the strongest. As you know, Koda desires power – And now that he has that woman's false eye, he has the ability to steal a wizard's magic and use it as his own. He probably intends to use this to gather the magic from your most powerful mages and overthrow the council once he learns how to steal from different types of mages - Aside from those who use emotion-based magic."
"The council will not fall just because he has gathered the magical abilities of one guild alone."
"That is true, but it will give him ample enough power to invade Era and steal the magic of the council members. With that, he'll surely be able to take down anyone else who gets in his way – Wizard Saint or not."
Makarov ground his teeth together in frustration. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his gut. If Koda was alive, this spelled major trouble – Not just for Fairy Tail, not just for the council, but for the whole country of Fiore. And if he was already strong enough to take down Erza…
"I thank you for this information," Makarov said. "You've been most informative." At once, the darkness receded and he found himself back in his office. Madilia had removed her palm from his forehead.
"Now," she began. "Will you please show me to the scarlet-haired woman?" Makarov looked up at her in surprise.
"Why would you want to see Erza?"
"I cannot be sure, but Koda may have already stolen the scarlet-haired woman's magic from her." The guild master's breath hitched. Madilia hummed to herself in thought. "It would be a stretch to say that he could create the spell with her eye in such a short amount of time… But I do not put anything past that man anymore. I feel it is best to check."
"I… see."
"Not only that," the psychic continued. "But I am confident I will be able to awaken her. She remains as she is now due to her memories and internal battles being forcefully brought back to her attention, so if I can soothe her mind, she will regain consciousness." Madilia brought her cloak over her shoulders again, covering herself almost entirely. "The only reason the woman is alive is because I administered some quick first-aid to her when I found her, and then brought her back to Magnolia. I knew one of your guild members would be in town, and I purposely left her where he would find her."
Makarov really didn't know what to say about this.
"I… I thank you, Madilia-san." He bowed his head in respect. "Thank you for saving one of my children."
"I need no thanks. Now, will you show me to your infirmary? I don't believe it's a good thing for a person to be in a pseudo coma for days on end, and I wish for the woman's health. She has a strong heart that I don't want to see suffering." Makarov sighed heavily. This entire situation weighed heavily on his shoulders… But if there was a way to lighten that load, even by a little, so be it.
"Alright." The old guild master hopped down from his desk. "I will take you to Erza." Madilia nodded.
"My thanks."
Not much in the way of Lucy/Levy/Gajeel/ect interactions, but this needed to be written like this.
To be honest with you guys, I already have a sort-of sequel planned out for this. Madilia's child will be involved in it.