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Chapter 11. Faust's big mistake

Meanwhile (in Extalia)…

"Something must be wrong with my eyes! They can't be here!" Laxus thought, refusing to believe his senses. He stared at the three people in front of him. Yes, there was no mistake. Fried, Bixlow and Evergreen were watching him with sarcastic smiles on their faces. That were they; there was no doubt about it. Their faces, hairs, clothes, everything was well-known to Laxus.

"Impossible! What are they doing here? Are they on Faust's side?" the lightning mage thought. "Does it mean that…? Is it necessary for me to fight with them? It just can't be!"

Then he heard Jellal's voice. It seemed to him that he was hearing it from a great distance.

"Laxus! That's not your team! Think logically! You know that your team mates aren't here! They just can't be here! These people are their Edolas counterparts!" the illusion mage shouted desperately, trying to block Knightwalker's strong blows. "Laxus, do you hear what I'm saying…"

"Shut the hell up!" Erza's fierce voice cut the king's words off. She pounced at Jellal with doubled rage. "Shut up immediately!"

"Listen to me, Laxus! That's the Edolas Raijinshuu team! Don't hesitate to fight with them! For goodness' sake, pull yourself together! Hurry up and defeat these people! Laxus!" Jellal yelled as loud as he could.

The thunder mage knew all that even without Jellal's reminder. "That's not my team! That's not my team!" he repeated in his mind and yet he couldn't force himself to attack Fried, Bixlow and Evergreen. Even the thought to harm any of them was unbearable for him.

"Why is this happening to me? What should I do? What?" Laxus wondered. Completely lost his ability to speak, unable to command his own body, he was standing immovably, staring at the three people in front of him. He lost the sense of time and every second looked like all eternity to him.

-ooo-

Meanwhile Faust was standing next to the gate between the worlds and was watching it with concentration, completely indifferent to the uproar near to him.

The entrance created by the Exceed queen covered a quite big part of the hall floor. It was oval-shaped; its surface was absolutely smooth and was emitting a pale blue light. At first sight it looked like a mirror; that impression was exalted by the fact that a male face resembling Faust's one could be seen on the surface. But one more careful look would discover that it wasn't a mirror because the other part of the palace hall didn't reflect in it.

The truth was that Faust was using the magical gate to speak with Guran Doma, the chairman of the Magic Council. The other members of the Council could also be seen; they were standing around their leader. Their expressions were filled with curiosity.

Faust has just finished telling (in a few words, of course) how he had lost his crown.

"So you have been dethroned?" the chairman asked.

"That's right. And as I told you, these Fairy Tail members from your world are responsible for that!" the former king said.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Causing trouble to people is what they can do best," the chairman muttered. "But why are you telling us that? This story has nothing to do with us!"

"You are right, it has nothing to do with you," Faust agreed. "And yet I want to offer you a deal. In order to regain my crown, I must defeat the one who is wearing it now. I will be able to do this if I have some magical power… So I ask you to give me the power I need. It will be easy for you. And in exchange I will do you a big favour when I regain my throne."

"A big favour, you say? What do you mean exactly? Please explain me."

Faust took a deep breath. "I will rid you of the magic guild you hate, Fairy Tail, (1)" he answered.

The effect of these words was even greater than he had expected.

"What?" the members of the Magic Council exclaimed in one voice, looking at each other in astonishment. They didn't believe their ears. "You will…"

"Silence!" the chairman ordered them. He looked at Faust, raising his eyebrows. Obviously he hadn't expected to hear such words. "What did you say? You claim that it is possible for you to rid us of all Fairy Tail members, even master Makarov? Did I understand right? I hope that you aren't kidding with us!"

"Of course not. Do I look like someone who is making jokes? I'm speaking seriously," Faust ensured him.

"And how can you do this? Don't you know that Makarov is an extremely powerful mage?" The chairman's mistrust was more than obvious.

A smile formed on Faust's lips. "Please don't ask me about my methods," he said because he didn't want to mention anything about Anima. It would be better the Earth Land people to know nothing about it. "Isn't it enough for you that I'm giving you my true word?" He continued speaking slowly, laying particular stress on every word: "I promise to rid you of the entire Fairy Tail guild, including its master! Within two days all Fairy Tail mages will disappear forever! You will never see any of them again. Even the guild building will disappear without a trace from your world; you can be sure about it!" He made a pause. "Well, what will you answer me? Do you agree to give me some of your magical power? Help me and you won't regret, I promise!"

There was a deep silence for a few seconds. Each one of these seconds looked like a year for Faust. He wanted to repeat his question but he knew that it would be better to wait patiently.

The chairman cast a glance around himself. "What do you think?" he asked the other members of the Magic Council. He didn't dare take decision without their approval. "What should we do? Tell me your opinion!"

The mages looked at each other.

"If this man is really able to erase the entire Fairy Tail guild from the face of the earth, why shouldn't we help him?" a male voice answered without hesitation.

"That's our chance to get rid of Makarov forever! Just think about it, we will never see him again!" another voice added enthusiastically.

"It's too good to be true," a third member of the Council muttered with a nervous smile on his face.

The chairman was still hesitating. He remained silent for a second, and then turned to look at his Edolas counterpart again.

"Very well, if we have your word, let it is as you want," he answered finally. "We will give you the magical power you want."

Faust didn't say anything but he couldn't stop himself from smiling in victory. "Excellent!" he thought.

A bright white stream of magical energy began flowing through the entrance between the parallel words, infusing into Faust's staff.

-ooo-

Each and every word of the dialogue between Faust and the chairman of the Magic Council could be heard in the corridor where the two former S-class Fairy Tail mages were.

The last part of the conversation brought Laxus out of the stupor he was in. Faust's words echoed in his ears: "I promise to rid you of the entire Fairy Tail guild, including its master! Within two days they will disappear forever! You will never see any of them again."

Faust made a big mistake saying these words.

"How is this possible? This trash dares threaten the old man… and not only him but also all my former guild mates!" Laxus thought, clenching his hands in fists unconsciously. The blood rushed to his head.

-ooo-

(1) For this story's goal, I decided that Faust must know about the Magic Council's hostility to the Earth Land Fairy Tail guild.

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