Chapter 14 – Shock

==That Evening==

Oby exhaled slowly as he brought himself the last little bit back under control, but he allowed the rain to continue drizzling as he guided the ship into port. He flipped up his hood and looked over his shoulder at his guildmates, all dressed in rain clothes and smiled thinly, "Alright, I'm going to age everybody up for this meeting. There's no need to let our clients underestimate us. Everybody ready?" Oby and Erza were still in adult form from the night before, but now Oby snapped his fingers and all of his guildmates except Gildarts aged five years near instantly.

Oby frowned as a depression cloud formed over Gildarts' head, "Problem Gildarts?" "Obyyyyy!" Gildarts whined, "I wasn't ready to see my baby girl all grown up!" Oby patted him on the shoulder, "Consider it exposure therapy, she'll only be this age for a little while and then right back to her normal self, and now when she eventually is sixteen for real, you'll have already seen it and it won't rattle you as badly." Gildarts thought about that and then nodded slightly, "Ok." Then he glanced at Cana and almost had a breakdown.

Oby sighed, "Levy? Will you please calm him down?" Levy smiled and laid a hand on Gildarts' shoulder, "Calm and pride!" A flash of light later and Gildarts was fine. Oby sighed with a slight smile, "Okay, if we're all good, then let's move. The royal palace is up there on the hill overlooking the city."

He took off, sure in the knowledge that his friends were close behind him. The wizards of Fairy Tail looked around as they walked and drank in the sights. The streets were narrow and lined with cobblestones, not that different from Magnolia except for feeling more squashed together. The city felt withdrawn and closed as the cool rain drizzled down, but it was easy to tell when they made it to one of the city's many squares that it was normally a thriving bustling place. With Oby in front, nobody noticed his gaze twisting towards the forlorn the more he saw. When he stopped though, they noticed. He stopped quite suddenly and walked over to a store window.

He gently laid a hand on the window and looked through it for a moment. The others frowned at him in confusion and then Levy stepped forward, "Big bro? What's the matter?" "I had one just like that when I was a child," Oby told her quietly. Levy looked and was surprised to see he was staring at a small stuffed bear. Oby shook himself, "It's nothing, come on." He walked away quickly, not bothering to check if the others were following.

Erza looked at Levy, "Does he get like this often?" Levy shook her head, "I've only seen him get…" She became aware of a timestop and frowned as she pushed her way into it. She sighed as she saw Oby had walked back to the toy shop window and was still staring at the bear with his eyes watering. Levy walked over, "Oby, are you sure you're okay?"

Oby shook his head slightly, "No. I haven't been back to this part of the world in over ten years. It's…I'm seeing a lot that reminds me of my family." Levy raised a glowing hand in concern, "Do you want me to…" Oby shook his head, "No. I need to work on my emotional control and stop relying on magic to bring myself back under control. It's not fair to you for me to rely on it so much, and it's utterly cowardly and pathetic of me to have to. Thank you Levy, but not this time."

Levy nodded, "Okay, well, take all the time you need, I guess…" Oby nodded, "I'll be along before they know it." Levy dropped back out of the time stop and restarted her sentence, she hadn't gotten the hang of dropping right back into a conversation after a timestop as if she'd never left it the way Oby did, "I've only seen him get like this a few times. He's feeling nostaligic and sad because he's remembering his family. He'll get over it, he's just sad. He went into a timestop so as not to hold us up while he deals with it."

Erza and Cana looked at her with concern. "Does he go into timestops like that often?" Cana asked. Levy nodded, "He does it whenever anything upsets him. I can sort of tell how long he spends in them if I push my way into them. He doesn't bring time to a full stop because that triggers his timer to reuse his powers, he just slows it down enough that he can spend a year in a minute. The worst I've ever seen him was when Ultear dumped him. Immediately after it happened he walked around the corner and spent five years worth of time getting over it."

Erza and Cana stared, "Didn't he spend like two months after that being gloomy anyway?" Cana asked in concern. Levy nodded, "Yeah. He came out of it before he was completely over it because he was using too much power. Virgo was the one who finally snapped him out of it. He's been spending at least a day or two's worth of time kicking himself for the things he did as a member of Grimoire Heart on a weekly if not daily basis for years. I don't know how long he's been doing this, but he's been doing it at least as long as I've known him."

Erza and Cana looked at the spot where Oby had been, "God, that would have to add up to a couple of decades by now wouldn't it? What did he do that was so bad that he'd spend that much time beating himself up over it?" Cana asked with a frown. Then she remembered what she had seen in the Courage Tower of the S-Class Trial with Ultear, the monster Oby had been so close to becoming and flinched as realization of just how bad the things Oby might've done could be, "Oh…Never mind."

Levy looked at Cana with worry, "Please don't look like that! He's not like that anymore! He hates who he was and he'd never ever go back to being that guy!" Cana nodded, but the look on her face didn't change, "I know, I just, hadn't really thought about it. He used to be pretty bad right?"

Oby choked on a disbelieving laugh as he dropped back into the timestream next to her, "Pretty bad?! I was on the level with the demons from the Books of Zeref! Have you ever met Kyo..." he stopped himself and shook his head, "never mind, you never have and I hope none of you ever do. Sadistic crazy bitch…" he grumbled as he strode off, "Still can't feel my freakin' nose…" Those paying the closest attention could hear him grin, "But I bet she never broke that speckle hex I put on her!"

Cana caught up to him, "Hang on, you've actually met demons from the Book of Zeref? Other than that one you killed to save Mom and Ultear and Gray and Lyon in Brago?" Oby nodded stiffly, "The dark guild Tartaros is nothing but demons from the Books of Zeref. Master Hades brokered a treaty with them, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, myself included at the time and Tartaros's Nine Demon Gates, the two guilds' equivalents of our S-Class, were in attendance. Kyoka's their leaders' right hand demon. Nasty piece of work, crazy, sadistic and strong enough that I wouldn't take her lightly even now. Her girlfriend Seilah was alright for one of Zeref's demons. Probably the second most reasonable of the ones I've met. She just wanted to be entertained. Bit snobby though. Humans don't make good stories my butt…She'd flip if she ever got a hold of my grimoire…" he grumbled darkly to himself.

He looked over his shoulder at Cana with a forlorn and slightly irritated look in his eye, "Come on, I used to be a bad guy. I hung out with bad people. I don't know why you act like this surprises you given what you saw during the S-Class trial." Cana stared at him in horror, "That was really you?" Oby adjusted his lapel and exhaled, his breath steaming as the temperature plummeted with the change in his mood, "It was a could have been. If Hades hadn't decided to try to kill me, it would have been."

Levy sighed as Oby blinked out of the time stream again, "Did you have to look at him like that Cana? Now he's moping again." Cana looked at her incredulously, and a little indignantly "He's moping? I find out the guy I've had a crush on and looked up to since I was a little girl used to hang with demons, actual demons, and he's the one moping?"

"Do you have any idea how much our opinion matters to him?!" Levy demanded, "He can barely stand to live with the guilt of who he was! Our approval is all he lives for! You think he goes out of his way to be heroic and nice and the best person he can possibly be for fun? He does it because he wants us, wants you and me and everybody else in Fairy Tail to like him so that when he drops out of time like this to hate the person he was and still can't quite tell himself he's not, he can tell himself he still has somebody that cares about him! If we hated him for who he used to be, he'd die! He'd die a slow horrible death just letting the misery and guilt freeze him to death from the inside out! He would already be dead if Makarov hadn't brought him to us! That's what his Lost Magic does! It makes his body reflect his spirit! He's constantly trying to hide the storm of hurt in his heart from us by dropping out of time every time he feels it start to act up because he doesn't want us to feel sad or have to burden ourselves with cheering him up!"

Cana was quite indignant at being chewed out and shouted back, "He's hurting?! What about all the people he's hurt?! Huh?! Him and his demon buddies?! If he used to be so buddy buddy with them, then how do we know he's not still? He's smart enough to fool everybody, but I saw what he's really like during the S-Class trials! For all we know he could be a demon himself! Consider that date I wanted cancelled! I don't want anything to do with him!"

Thunder clapped overhead so loudly it nearly blew out the windows and Cana saw a horrified and furious light in Levy's eyes just before Levy slapped her, "He can hear you." Then the wind started howling. "All of you get to shelter!" Levy yelled over the wind, "I'm going to find Oby and see if I can calm him down!"

Levy stormed off down the street, a stormy aura of her own brewing and keeping the wind from blowing her away as it was threatening to do to everyone else. Cana watched her go, her eyes wide as she realized what she had done. Erza punched her in the shoulder hard enough to make her stagger, "Good job. You just alienated our strongest wizard." Gildarts stared in the direction Levy had gone off in and then collected the others, "Come on kids, I think I saw an inn a few streets back." Erza turned and followed him, leaving Cana standing in the road staring until Erza came back, caught her by the hand and pulled her along.

==Twenty Minutes Later==

Levy huffed irritably as she stormed up the front steps to the palace, "Stupid idiot, he should know he's not in any condition to talk to people reasonably right now." The storm hadn't let up in the slightest, meaning Oby was still just as upset as he had been when he had taken off. She found him sitting on the top step in a time distortion between the two guards that had taken shelter in the recess of the stone outer wall. One of the guards motioned her closer to ask who she was and why she was there, but Levy just raised a finger to indicate that she needed a minute. She crossed her arms and looked at Oby, "Oby, I know you're upset, but you need to calm down. You're going to bring the whole city down at this rate. I've already eaten as much of the storm as I can, but I only managed to get it away from the area down by the harbor, and the rain crept back in before I was even done!"

Oby nodded silently and blew his nose into a handkerchief, "You're right." He stood up and glared out at the storm raging over the city as he allowed his time distortion bubble to drop. He raised his hands and then slammed them together, "ENOUGH!" The thunder, lightning and wind all stopped after one last massive world shaking BOOM of thunder, leaving only a steady downpour. "There's nothing I can do about the rain you know," he told Levy quietly, "But I think I've recovered enough to keep it down to just rain."

Levy smiled up at her big brother sadly, "You've really got to stop talking yourself into love. It'll make disappointments like this easier." Oby smiled thinly from beneath the deep hood of his cloak, "I can only hope not to be disappointed like this ever again. I had the highest hopes for a relationship with her." Levy hugged him, "I know Oby, I know." Then she smiled up at him as she stepped back, "but Sorano and Mirajane have still got it bad for you, why don't you try one of them when we get back?" Oby smiled a genuine smile and the rain lessened to a drizzle, "Yeah. I think I'll do that. I think I know why Cana said all that now."

Levy frowned up at him, "Having out of control teenage hormones dropped on her out of nowhere is no excuse! She was still being absolutely horrible to you, whether you could hear her or not, she shouldn't have said those things! Don't forget I know who helped her find the courage to tell Gildarts he was her father, and I know she would've taken a decade of misery to do it if you hadn't. She owes you her family, she could at least give you the benefit of a doubt." Now Levy was the one making thunder rumble overhead.

Oby smiled gently, "It's alright Levy, calm down. After the absolute mauling I gave her and Ultear and Jellal and Simon in the S-Class Trials, on top of what she saw in the Courage Tower and the out of control hormones thing, I'm honestly not surprised she said those things anymore. It makes a painful kind of sense now," he added as he looked away, "but even still, it's not worth getting worked up about. Come on, we should let the clients know we're here. Can I let you do the talking? I'm still not up to a hundred percent, and you're a better people person." Levy nodded, "Of course."

Levy hurried over to the guards as Oby eyed the storm carefully to make sure it didn't kick back up, "Hi! Um, we're here to see Archduke Stratford? Our guild received a distress call some time ago, we've only just been able to respond." She accompanied it with a winning smile and the flier pulled from beneath her rain cloak. The guard took the flier and looked it over carefully, "This is certainly the archduke's signature, but I'm afraid you're too late to see him miss, he died four years ago after his only child was taken by the Sonimites."

Levy frowned, "Well is there anyone who can see us? We've traveled all the way from Fiore in the greatest haste possible to get here!" The guards swapped a glance and then the first one nodded, "If you and your friend will follow me please, I will take you to the Viscount. He has been minding much of the affairs left untended in wake of the Archduke's death." Levy looked over her shoulder and saw Oby turn and follow.

They were led across a vast entry hall with a soaring arched ceiling, red velvet rugs and high stained glass windows currently dark thanks to the rain, and then they turned down a side passage. The side passage was still impressively decorated, clearly the Kreegan royal family was not destitute, but the smaller passage felt almost tunnel like. That is, until they walked out onto a small covered bridge across to one of the towers. The bridge columns were overgrown with flowering plants and Levy noticed numerous hummingbirds nesting in them as they took shelter from the rain. Levy made a mental note to come back one day when it wasn't raining and watch the adorable little birds.

Then her attention was completely diverted by the massive library they were led into. She stopped cold, "BOOKS!" The guard turned to look at her in confusion, "Ah, yes, the viscount conducts most of his business from the palace library. It has rather become his office as it were since he and his family were originally the palace librarians before discovering their relation to the late Archduke." Oby guided Levy forward with a gentle smile, "Please forgive my sister, she is a great book lover. The sight of so many all at once is like walking into a little slice of heaven for her."

"That is a good trait in a child," someone declared from a chair by the fireplace. The guard whirled, "Oh there you are Lord Viscount sir! I didn't see you there!" The Viscount waved a hand around the back of his chair, "Oh that's hardly surpising, I was facing away from you after all. Who are our guests?" "We're wizards from the Fairy Tail Wizard Guild," Levy replied as she regained her focus, "we received a request for help a few years ago, but we've only recently grown strong enough to be of assistance. We came as quick as we could."

"Ah, the Sonimites," the viscount mused, flapping his hand as though to shoo the two wizards away, "Yes. We have no further need of your services, the issue has been resolved." Levy frowned and then her eyes glowed slightly as she looked into the past, "You're lying. They're still taking your children, and shame on you! Your own child is set to be sacrificed in a week!" The viscount flinched ever so slightly, "Yes, well, it's not like anything can be done about it. We have come to terms with it. It's just one of those things that can't be helped."

An eruption of thunder shook the building as Levy's face turned red. She stormed over to the viscount, "NOW YOU LOOK HERE! WE CAME ALL THE WAY FROM FIORE TO HELP YOU, YOU ARE NOT TURNING US BACK NOW!" Oby quickly caught up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Easy Levy. He's testing us. For all he knows, we could be Sonimite spies. Isn't that right Lord Viscount?"

The viscount had a small smile in his voice, "That is correct. You are slyer than your younger sister sir." "I've had a lot more time to get that way Lord Viscount," Oby replied, "Tell me, how may we persuade you that we truly mean to help? It is our policy to never demand payment until after a job is done, you don't have to pay us until after the job is done." "Oh we certainly wouldn't," the viscount replied, "you could easily sail off with the money and never be seen again. No if we were going to pay you to fix that problem we don't have, we would certainly wait until after you delivered on such an impossible promise."

Oby nodded, "That is sensible. However you still have not answered my question. What must we do to prove our intentions to you?" "Why should I even tell you?" the viscount asked dismissively, "You have yet to even tell me your names!" "I'm Levy McGarden and this is my big brother Oby!" Levy said quickly. There was an immediate silence and then the viscount said quietly, "Get out."

Levy frowned angrily, "What?! We just told you our names and you reply with "get out"?! You could at least have the decency to tell us your own name!" "My name is none of your concern," the viscount declared, "Now GET OUT!" Just as Levy opened her mouth to say something, Oby laid a hand on her shoulder, "Take it easy Levy. He's clearly reacted negatively to our names. My guess is he lost somebody with a similar name and hearing that name again hurts him. So which one of us was it Lord Viscount? My sister or me?"

"You. Now for the final time, GET OUT," the viscount snapped. Oby smirked slightly, "I had a hunch it was. You've had a lot more children since the last time I saw you. I'm sure the pain had lessened for you over time and been reopened fresh and raw as ever now that you've heard your eldest son's name again. Rest assured, you will lose no more children while there is breath left in my body. We'll be back after we've dealt with the Sonimites. Let's go Levy."

Levy shot him a glance and then quickly followed him out, aware in a way that she couldn't explain that something was up. Oby led her back through the palace quickly and as soon as they were outside, he ran down the steps, taking them four at a time and leaping the last ten before taking off at a sprint. Levy ran after him, "OBYYY! WAIT UP!"

Oby stopped a few blocks away and propped against a wall. Levy paused next to him huffing, "What was that all about?" "Levy?" Oby panted, "Did you notice, that his hair, and yours, are the exact same shade?" Levy blinked and then pulled one of her bangs up to look at, "Wow, really? I didn't notice at all!" "I did," Oby panted, "The same way I noticed the first day I met you. That's why I started viewing you as my little sister so quickly and wasn't a tenth as upset as I should've been that you read my grimoire." Levy frowned, "You took a liking to me because of my hair?"

Oby raised a hand to his hood, "Levy, you remember that my home was destroyed by Deliora right? Have you ever seen a full-on demon attack up close and personal? When there's nothing even remotely possible for you to do about it? It scared my hair white and it's been that way ever since." Oby shakily pushed his hood back to reveal he had cast an illusion to make his hair to the same shade of blue as Levy and the viscount's, "This is my natural color, the same as my twin sister, and my father."

Levy could see his eyes now and tell he was seriously freaked out, he looked more shaken up than when he had caught her reading his grimoire, and that had terrified him. Then the ever so rapid gears in her mind started whirling, "How did you know it was his eldest son he had lost?" Levy asked, as all the pieces slammed into place to form a shocking picture. "That was my father," Oby said quietly as the shocked tears finally broke loose and a smile spread across his face, "My family is alive!"

AN: For those wondering, yes, Cana's little outburst in this chapter was almost entirely the result of having a full blast of teenage hormones dropped on her out of nowhere and no she didn't mean any of it. Next chapter we'll be delving into what the Flying Dragon Squadron, Thunder Legion and Strauss Siblings are up to before we get back to Oby & Co.