Okay, so, here's Chapter 25. I really hope you guys enjoy it. I enjoyed writing it A LOT. Also, yay happy note, this story reached 300 followers which makes me so so so so happy. Anyways read and enjoy my crazy mind.
Chapter 25: The Final Piece
It was two days after Agent Doranbolt had come to inspect the school. The Fairies had a plan, but no one really knew the extent of it except for the Magic Council, Mavis, Makarov,and Lucy, who had come up with the plan herself. They hadn't even told the rest of the Earthlanders or Doranbolt and Lahar, let alone the Golden Trio, Dumbledore, or the Order of the Phoenix. They knew that Lahar and Doranbolt could successfully infiltrate the Ministry of Magic, however, they needed to go one step further, and for that, they needed to bring one last person to Earth, and he wasn't entirely aware of the plan either.
Draco didn't know any of the Fairies' plans. He was just reporting anything and everything he saw to his father, who then reported everything Draco told him to Lord Voldemort. He didn't need to understand, he just needed to see, hear, and tell. However, that didn't stop him from trying to understand, although after today, he could tell that this group, whoever they were, had complex histories that he was fairly certain he didn't want to uncover, and he definitely didn't want to become involved.
He was eating breakfast at the Slytherin table, as he always does, and Lucy decided to join the Slytherins, which was entirely against social custom, but the Hogwarts students had grown so used to their abnormal behavior that they paid no mind to when one of the Fairies did something unexpected, like a Gryffindor girl going to sit with a group of Slytherins.
"So, who was that guy the other day?" Draco asked her. His father had mentioned an Agent Lahar causing 'problems' at the Ministry for him, and that he worked with an Agent Doranbolt, who had visited the school two days ago to investigate Umbridge, although he made it look like a routine check up on the students from Fairy Tail at the school. "You seem like you knew him?"
Lucy looked at him, "Hm? Oh you mean Doranbolt? Yea, we've worked with him a little in the past. Because of his position in the Magic Council as part of the Liaison Office's subdivision for Magical Schools in Fiore, we see him a lot. I guess you could say he's kind of like our case worker. He pays a special interest in us."
"Really? Why?" Draco asked.
"We tend to either cause a lot of trouble or end up in a lot of trouble," Lucy shrugged, before turning a glare towards Bickslow who was grinning.
"I'd say it was you who's always bringing us trouble Cosplayer," he laughed out, lolling his tongue out of his mouth. "Trouble, trouble!" his babies echoed him.
"Yea, Bunny, you're the one always gettin' kidnapped," Gajeel said, letting out his peculiar laugh at the end.
"I hardly think either of you have any room to talk about that matter," Mira said, smiling a little too sweetly at the men, while Rogue just looked to the side.
Draco couldn't help but notice the huge amounts of guilt radiating from the three men. He had no idea what they could be that guilty over, maybe slightly guilty about the joke, but this was a little bit too much.
Suddenly, all of the dragon slayers faced towards the entrance, for the second time since arriving, their bodies tensed and their faces darkening.
The doors opened, and in walked Lucius Malfoy and Cornelius Fudge, followed by the agent from the other day, Doranbolt, and another man wearing an identical uniform, who they recognized from the newspaper article, Agent Lahar. In his hand was a glowing chain, which attached to a pair of handcuffs, wrapped snuggly around another man.
This man didn't ooze raw power and authority like Laxus. He didn't have the appearance of a sadistic killer who could tear you apart in a split second like Gajeel. He didn't even have the look of unrelenting determination that got under the skin of every enemy Natsu had ever faced. No, this man didn't have any of that, but that didn't make him any less terrifying, and as everyone's gaze landed on him, a shiver ran down their spines, because this man looked like the type of man who embraced insanity as a weapon, who played games with his prey before devouring them. This man left everyone breaking out in a cold sweat as his gaze travelled over them, before landing on the Slytherin table, right on Lucy, who had just barely breathed out a solitary word when her eyes landed on his shackled form.
"Cobra."
As if hearing her, the man smirked, and then began stalking forward after the four government officials through the center of the Dining Hall.
Lucy's eyes never left him, and his eyes never left her, smirk firmly in place. When he passed by her, he leaned down next to her, causing Gajeel, who was sitting next to her, to growl out angrily. The man dismissed the growl, acting as if he hadn't heard it and smirked wider as he said into Lucy's ear, loud enough for the group at the Slytherin table, along with the four agents, but no one else, to hear, "I can hear you Princess; your fear sounds so… delicious."
She stiffened as she turned her eyes to meet his, and again his smirk widened before he was being dragged further up towards the front of the room.
"What did he mean?" Draco asked, staring at Lucy wide eyed, but she didn't respond. Her posture remained stiffened, her mouth drawn into a tight line, and her eyes bored into the man's back, but if he noticed, he acted like he didn't.
Most of the Earthlanders looked ready to attack, but one look from Agent Lahar had them all sitting back in their seats, although they, too, remained stiff and their eyes continued to bore into the man.
The Minister went up to talk to Dumbledore quietly, accompanied by the three other agents, while the man just looked bored. He seemed to be getting agitated as Dumbledore continued talking to the two. It was only now that Draco noticed that Makarov and Mavis weren't in the room at all.
The man seemed to be having some sort of internal debate, and before anyone realized it, he had come to a conclusion. Then, he walked over to stand straight in front of Umbridge and in the silence that had encompassed the Dining Hall asked one question, "Are you treating the students and teachers here unfairly and unjustly, Miss Toad?"
If they all hadn't been so surprised, the students would have burst out laughing at the name he used to address her and the look of pure unadulterated shock and horror on her face. She was stuttering out an answer, when the man smirked. Lahar was next to him in a second, and then the chain shortened to where the man couldn't move more than a foot away from him.
"Sorry, Laharse and Dorandick, but your talking was taking too long. Besides I already have the answers you wanted," he smirked at the two.
"Speak with respect. You're here under our watch and we have been ordered not to let you out of our sight, so you very well will behave yourself," Lahar said sternly, eyeing him seriously. The authority with which he spoke was undeniable, but the man didn't seem to care, he just smirked wider and laughed out loud.
"Treating the students and teachers unfairly?" he said, bringing his voice up several octaves in an almost flawless imitation of Professor Umbridge's. However, when they looked to see how she would react, they didn't see her pout or her famous look of disapproval, instead she looked haughtily away from the entire group, lost in thought. "I don't know what that could possibly mean, or why this entire investigation is going on. Those Fairy Tail vermin are behind this, I swear it. All I did was punish the students according to their crimes, after all a blood quill isn't that bad, honestly, and those teachers. The accusations are absurd, who cares if I disregard and get rid of the crazy ones like that dreadful Trelawney and that oaf Hagrid. After all, we need to fill this school with teachers who will condition these students to be the perfect followers. That's what the blood quill's for, so that they never forget the lessons they're to be taught here. After this investigation's over, I'll get a new rule to put up, saying that any detention I give is just that way they can't say I didn't give them detention without a reason. As far as I'm concerned, talking about yourself in the third person, like that half wit Juvia, is presumptuous and deserves punishment, as does sticking out of the crowd, spitting lies about fantastical creatures, like that insane brat Looney, deserves punishment…too… Is he… repeating… what… I'm… thinking?"
At that, they all transferred their eyes back towards Umbridge, who was staring at the man in yet another face filled with shock and horror.
"In answer to your question," the man said, turning to look her in the eyes, smiling dangerously, showing off what was obviously a sharp pair of canines resembling Natsu's and the other dragon slayers. "Yes, I was. You see, I can hear everything." He said the last word with emphasis.
"From the way the muscles in your hands move as they start clenching in nervousness, to the way your heartbeat is sky rocketing in fear, and your thoughts, which are running wild. I can hear every thought of every person of this room. The anger of my dear old friends in Fairy Tail, the ones that locked me away, and the fear of my other friend in Fairy Tail, the one I kidnapped last time I broke free…" he paused and slid a glance towards Lucy, eyeing her figure up and down.
"I can hear every deep desire, every dirty secr-" his gaze had slid over to the four men escorting him.
"Erik, you will cease speaking at once!" They all turned to see Lahar looking the man firmly in the eye, the only one he had, as the other was sewn shut by a scar. The man, Erik, stopped talking, but slid his glance back over to Lucy once more, smiling wickedly and sliding his tongue over his lips and canines.
He slid his gaze back to Lahar and they held a silent conversation with their eyes, or possibly with Erik listening to Lahar's thoughts. Erik dropped his smirk and his gaze, submitting to the man before him, but not before firing a glare towards both Lahar and Doranbolt.
Cornelius Fudge, for his part, was watching the entire thing without showing off a face of complete and utter surprise and betrayal. Lucius, on the other hand, was watching the whole thing with barely disguised interest.
…
The day before, at the Ministry of Magic, Doranbolt was giving his report on Umbridge to Cornelius and Lucius, who, as a board member of the school, insisted on being present. Lahar was present, and so was Rita Skeeter, who had walked in during the middle of the report and insisted on listening to the rest from the room itself, rather than continuing to eavesdrop from outside the room as she had been doing since the report began.
Skeeter was in the middle of questioning the Minister of Magic about what actions he was going to take, as it was obvious that Umbridge was abusing her power at the school, especially since her new favorite agent's partner was the one who gathered the evidence, when she interrupted by a door made of solid blue magic appeared in the room.
Lahar and Doranbolt immediately went to stand in front of the door, although it was obvious they were confused. Two masked guards came through, holding a shackled man between them.
"Agent Doranbolt, Agent Lahar, we have been ordered by the Magic Council to bring you this prisoner. They have asked that you keep him under your supervision until a later time. They will inform you of the reason for this adjustment at a later date, but for now they ask that you cooperate."
The two men nodded, while Lahar reached for the chain attached to the cuffs around the man's wrists and secured it to his uniform before the man walked forward and stood beside the two visiting agents. Then the two guards disappeared back through the magical gates.
"Excuse me," Lucius said, "Exactly who is this?"
"Erik, code name Cobra, capital criminal of the Magic Council for affiliating with a dark guild, attempting to bring the ancient black magic Nirvana to life, escaping prison, and multiple counts of murder," Lahar said.
"Well, when you put it like that, you make me sound like such a bad person," Erik said, quirking his eyebrow. The thoughts coming from the men in this room were so very interesting. When the guards came to him, they wouldn't tell him anything, so he searched their minds. Obviously, the Magic Council didn't tell them why he was being brought to them, let alone another world, where apparently the Fairies were visiting. Perhaps he'd get to see his favorites while he was here.
"You can't deny I've helped you a few times," he continued, trying to stir up some trouble. It'd been ages since he'd gotten to play a game with so many people, and he was dying for a cure to his boredom. The short old man that looked way out of his comfort zone, who was apparently the leader of this world's magical community, despite his obvious lack of ability, snapped his head towards the two so quickly it almost fell off.
"You allow a prisoner like that to assist you?!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, don't you think that rather… inappropriate?" the blonde man, the one who wasn't really loyal to this Minister at all, but some other guy that he obviously didn't want the others to know about. Lahar was having his own fun with the blonde and the midget, manipulating them into traps and getting what he wanted out of it, so he'd keep that little tidbit of information to himself. It didn't mean that he couldn't have any fun though. Actually, if he thought about it, this might help Lahar, and just as the thought occurred to him, it occurred to Lahar as well. The bespectacled man sent a quick glance at Cobra, unsure whether it was planned or not, and Cobra gave no hints away, only a small smirk, his usual poker face.
"Well, there was an incident a while back in which the country's capital was under siege of dragons. Dragons can only be harmed by Dragon Slayers. Cobra is the Poison Dragon Slayer, and, as there are only 7 dragon slayers including Cobra, and there were 7 fully developed dragons present, we needed his assistance in battle. Surely you understand that in certain circumstances, the help of a former enemy is necessary for the protection of society, wouldn't you agree, Lucius?" Lahar turned his gaze from this 'Minister' the the bleached pompous ass standing next to him. At this point, Cobra didn't care how much it helped Lahar, he didn't like this man. He was like the men that ran the Tower of Heaven: rich, entitled, and believed themselves to be better than all.
To both he and the two agents' amusement, although they hid it well, for the most part, both Cornelius and Lucius spluttered a bit before Cornelius spit out a reply to the innocently worded question, "Well, yes, I suppose your right. Circumstances can change… given time…"
'I hardly think that's the case here,' Lahar groaned in his head, and he then began going through the list of things he could have possibly done to grant being sent to Lahar and Doranbolt during their mission. He then shot Cobra another glare, threatening severe punishment should their purpose in this world be revealed.
Cobra just shrugged in response, he really didn't care why they were here, and as far as he was concerned, the world could do with one less entitled ass, no matter what world it was. At least he had the decency to admit that he was just a jerk that loved to break things, and people. The so-called 'Dark Lord' here was just being an entitled prick that didn't even admit to himself that what he was doing was seriously screwed up by most people's standards.
"Are you sure he won't attack us then?" Cornelius asked nervously. Cobra almost laughed out loud, what could he possibly gain from that? Besides he was cuffed. "All he has on him are those cuffs, what will they do?" the little old man continued. Well that explained it, he had obviously never seen magic repressing cuffs before.
"These handcuffs are very special, they're made out of a magic that cancels out all other magics, making it useless, meaning as long as he has these cuffs on, he can't use his dragon slayer magic."
The end of the day soon came and went. The men were talking about some teacher at some school that was abusing her power and that action had to be taken. The two men from this world argued that they had no legitimate proof other than heresay and that they couldn't take any drastic measures while it was simply her word against theirs.
Cobra zoned out for most of it, only really keeping an ear out for any news on how Fairy Tail was doing. He was pretty much over trying to take over the world. Been there, done that, failed twice now. He didn't feel like trying again, but that didn't mean he wasn't always up for a fight against some of the stronger members of Fairy Tail, or even a conversation where he could tease the little sassy blonde Celestial Mage.
The next day, he was forced to go with them to the school, although he guessed it would mean that he could see the little Fairies, maybe even Kinana was there, though he doubted it, since it was apparently supposed to be a mission.
When he walked into the room, he was greeted by the most amazing thoughts filled with anger from the Fairy Tail members. He had missed hearing thoughts like these, but then he heard the little blonde girl breathe out his name under her breath. Then he heard her thought, 'Are you listening to me Cobra?' Now, his interest was thoroughly piqued.
He shifted his gaze until it landed on her, letting her know she had his attention. Her posture spelled fear and shock, but not her thoughts, they betrayed her.
'Listen to me, you're not here because you did something wrong. You're here because you're being given the opportunity to do something right. The only people that know so far are the Magic Council, Master, First Master, and myself, although I'd be willing to bet a few of the others, including Lahar will figure it out if you cooperate. I want you to question Umbridge, you know what about. Condemn her, that's your first task. Then I want you to start bragging about your hearing, make the former bad blood between Fairy Tail and you known. I want you to basically bait Lucius into trying to recruit you to the Death Eaters. You're a criminal, a dragon slayer, you can hear thoughts, and you supposedly don't like us. Don't bother lying to yourself, I know you like us, deep down, or else I wouldn't be alive right now. If helping us out isn't enough incentive to you, know that the Magic Council considers Voldemort a bigger threat than you, not because of pure magical power, but because he has followers, lots of them, and he has Zeref's interest. Work your way into Voldemort's inner circle, or at least get into Lucius's mind and help us take him down, and you'll probably find some time shaved off of your sentence. Besides, at the very least, it'll cure you of your boredom.'
Cobra smirked wider. Damn, the girl was smart. He'd already considered what he could do with a few well placed words in order to either help this Voldemort guy or to help the Magic Council. It was mainly because he had nothing better to think about while listening to them talk on an on, and he had decided he would definitely steer clear of being on Voldy's side, as he wasn't interested in adding any time to his sentence, but he wasn't particularly inclined to helping Lahar either.
But here was this girl. This clever, little, sinfully built girl, who had figured it all out and planned it before he even knew that Lahar and Doranbolt were gone. Maybe, he'd add a little something to his price, but for now, he would help. Besides, he'd heard enough about this bitch Umbridge yesterday, and her thought right now about him were not making him happy, so he could at least get the old hag out of the school for them.
So he walked up to her, and he leant down next to her ear, ignoring the growling of the metal faced dragon next to her. He heard her heart beat pick up as he breathed on her neck, oh he would have his fun with her, especially since he could hear, and practically tangibly feel, the rage that the lightning rod was radiating from his place at the front of the room as he said loud enough only for those near them and the rest of the dragon slayers, "I hear you Princess…" but that would sound obvious, once he revealed his trick, so he added, as an after thought, "Your fear sounds so… delicious."
He heard her breath hitch, her heart beat go even faster, but it wasn't fear, it was excitement. She was happy her plan was going so well, and that he was cooperating. 'If you're a good snake, you might get some poison later.' He grinned at her, oh he hoped so.
He did what she asked, going over the top to condemn the toad faced woman to exile from the school, playing it off as mere boredom. Then, he made sure to reference the anger of Fairy Tail at his presence, as if it wasn't obvious enough, and the fear of little Lucy, kidnapped Lucy. He wasn't sure if he would mention it, since he didn't want to make his sole source of entertainment actually scared of him, but, while her body stayed in a position of fear, her mind was singing him praises.
Lahar, meanwhile was watching the whole display with easily disguised curiosity. To most, it wouldn't seem out of character for Cobra to cure his ever present boredom by causing drama using those god damned ears of his, and it wasn't. It was the way he was doing it. He was helping them. He had to have known their purpose there, he had to have known that they were aiming for basically a confession from Umbridge, and as far as they were concerned, even the Magic Council, Cobra was as good as a confession. People may be experts at lying to others, but lying to themselves was practically impossible, especially when they thought no one was listening.
Then there was the way he approached Lucy earlier. Something was off about her. The last time Cobra had seen Lucy was when she had visited Lahar and Doranbolt at headquarters. He was taking Cobra out for some exercise because he had behaved for the previous month, and she hadn't been scared of him in the slightest. On the contrary, she was welcoming to Cobra and even went to the exercise pit with him and called out a few of her spirits to spar with him. No one else was there so no one knew she was no longer scared of him, except Lahar and Cobra.
Then it hit him. The Magic Council randomly sending Cobra here, without telling him or them anything. They wanted honest reactions from Lahar and Doranbolt, as well as the Earthland mages. They decided not to tell him anything, because they wanted Lucy to. It was obvious Cobra had a fascination with her, the fact that she was alive was evidence of that. He also wouldn't have made a decision back in Earthland about it, because he would have wanted to meet the people he would be spying on before making a decision. That way, if he decided against it here, they would know quickly and could return him before he caused trouble, and if he accepted, then he could help them get Umbridge out them, and help them do the only thing harder than infiltrating the Ministry of Magic: infiltrating the Death Eaters.
He smirked when Lahar stopped him mid sentence, and then he finally paid attention to the agent's thoughts. He had figured it out, just like the Princess said he would. From the moment he spoke to Umbridge, he had pieced everything together.
Lahar merely looked him in the eyes, 'Listen, you have to make it seem like I have some sort of control over you. I know you won't like it, but you have to so that Cornelius has some faith in me. But, you also need to make it clear to Lucius that you aren't at all happy with it.'
Cobra already knew that, but he humored Lahar by listening to him, before shooting him a glare, glancing sideways over to Lucius that only those who were really, truly watching would notice, and then let his gaze drop to the ground, letting his smirk fall off as well for extra measure.
'Good little snake' he heard as he left the room. 'Maybe you'll get a treat for being such a good pet' she teased, and he turned back to smirk at the blonde one last time, mouthing, 'I can hear you,' and the expression on her face told her, she wouldn't get away with that one.
...
Okay, so this is officially the LAST Fairy Tail character I'm bringing in. I really thought about this chapter, is it what I wanted, is it too many characters, but no matter how much I thought about it, I realized I needed him here for what I have planned for the story. By the way, I've made up my mind about the Lucy pairing for this particular story: It is going to be a love triangle thing between Laxus, Lucy, and Cobra, in case you didn't see it this chapter. I improvised a little bit, twisted the facts, but oh well, that's how I want to write it sooo yea.. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what ya thought! I read every review, honestly, I do!