Fairy Tail: Bonds of Silver- Chapter 23: The Differences of Justice!

(Real quick, I know I said that Seth's plot was wrapped up for now, but I got inspired by re-watching the main series and coming to a certain scene (I think it'll be pretty obvious which scene I'm talking about) and I thought it would be a good scene to use in this story, anyway, enjoy!)

Back with Seth's group, they were going down the road in their Four-Wheeler, even with Callie driving, they moved slowly down the road and everyone had fallen silent inside the carriage; they all had serious looks on their faces, after a while, Seth finally broke the silence "We should have done something...how could we let them take him?"

His question fell on deaf ears initially, none of his companions answered him, he then stood up and looked from Rai to Caspian "He helped so many people! How could they treat him like that?!" this time, Rai finally answered after letting out a short sigh.

"What did you want us to do? Go against the Families for one man?" He questioned, holding up his index finger "Besides...even if we wanted to, Dr. Kran knew the consequences for helping a Dark Guild like that..." he glanced over at the seat next to Caspian where a small bag sat, a final parting gift from Dr. Kran, who seemed to be nowhere in sight…

(Flashback)

The group had made their way back to town with the cure in hand, heading directly to the church "Everybody! We've got some great news!" Caspian yelled, taking a flask off of his belt and holding it up for the people to see "We've found the cure! We should have enough for everyone!"

The reaction was less enthusiastic then what they were suspecting, with the villagers slowly sitting up and looking at Caspian: some with disbelief in their eyes, others with fearful hope welling up "Is...is it really the cure?" the villagers slowly got to their feet and shuffled over to Caspian, weakly shoving others out of the way, making sure they were the first in line for the cure.

"Now, now, everyone, there's no need for shoving, we have quite enough to go around" Dr. Kran called out, trying to placate the masses "Please, from a line and we will treat you all!" after a little more arguing and shoving, the villagers finally fell in line and waited to be given their dose of the cure.

One by one, the villagers were given the potions, and were beginning to show signs of improvement, and once the last of the villagers had been cured, the church was filled with cheering and merriment, the villagers who were once sick and dying were now leaping and dancing around, the mages watched on in quiet pride...until it was broken by Callie throwing her arms around Caspian and Dr. Kran, pulling them both close to her "You two eggheads did it!" she cheered, unable to hear their protests.

She finally let go as one of the villagers approached them: he was an older man that they assumed was the leader of the village, his eyes were wet as tears streamed down his face as the rest of the villagers continued to celebrate behind him "We had almost abandoned hope, there is no way for us to thank you for all that you have done, but please, allow us to try" he wiped the tears from his cheeks and spread his arms wide, smiling "We shall have a feast! You'll be our honored guests, what do you say?"

"There's no need for that, we should be getting back home anyway" Rai answered, stepping forward, though the rumbling from his stomach betrayed him "I, uh, suppose we're all hungrier than I thought, I suppose one more day here wouldn't hurt, are you guys okay with that?" he asked, turning to his companions.

"Didn't really think about it 'till now, I'm pretty hungry" Seth replied, placing a hand on his stomach "Though I'd be fine if you threw a couple of lug nuts my way!" he said, folding his arms behind his head as he smiled widely, much to the confusion of the mayor "Don't worry about it, I'll take anything else you got, too."

After recovering from his confusion, the mayor turned back to the villagers and started to wave at them, trying to capture their attention "Everyone! Everyone! I need your attention!" once they had settled down and turned towards the mayor, he cleared his throat "We have a feast to prepare! Our heroes deserve nothing less than the best, don't you agree?" the other villagers cheered in agreement and they left the church, leaving the guild members and doctor Kran behind.

"To think, not even an hour ago they were at death's door..." Dr. Kran noted, letting out a contented laugh, he then turned to the members of Silver Hippogriff and bowed deeply, showing his gratitude "I suppose I should thank you all for giving me the chance to set things right, if you had not decided to help this town, I don't believe I could face myself..."

"Don't worry about it, Doc!" Seth cheered, not dropping his grin "You didn't really have a choice in the matter, I doubt those jerks would have let you say no to their deal" he then walked towards the door, grabbing the doorknob before stopping "And hey, if they ever try to come after you, just know you got Silver Hippogriff backing you up!"

"Hey! Don't make promises for everyone else!" Callie replied, surprised by what Seth had declared "Though you've got a point, we can help you out if you need it" she patted Dr. Kran on the shoulder and walked towards the door as well, waiting for the others to follow.

"Well, that's quite a generous offer!" Kran answered, slightly taken aback by the sudden forgiveness from the mages "Perhaps I'll set up a new clinic in Turquesa? It sounds like quite a friendly place...maybe it will be the best chance for a fresh start..."

The mages finally left the church and went around the village, trying to see if they could help in anyway with the preparations for the celebration, despite the constant protests of the villagers, they finally conceded and allowed the mages to help, once everything had been set up and all the food had been prepped, they sat at several long tables in the middle of the village.

Dr. Kran and the Hippogriff mages were specifically sat at a large table at the head of the party, talking to random villagers that came up and asked them questions, especially Rai, who was regaling several women with a recap of the battle, subtly playing up his own involvement.

"Tch, guess he'll never change..." Callie chided, stabbing at the food on her plate with a fork "Though I can't blame him, we've more than earned a little downtime" she looked around at her other companions, she saw Seth was devouring a large plate of food, seemingly decorated with building materials such as nails, and Caspian was trading notes with Dr. Kran "Well, if you can't beat 'em..." she said, grabbing a mug of filled with some sort of wine and drinking deeply from it "...Cut loose with 'em!"

The rollicking party carried on through the afternoon as the sun began to dip below the horizon, it slowly began to peter out and calm down as the party-goers began to lose their energy, wild dancing and merry singing was soon replaced with pleasant conversation and relaxing melodies; the party seemed to have reached it's end when they heard the marching of boots and wheels rolling on stone.

Everyone turned to face the new arrivals and noticed that they were knights bearing the Sigil of one of the Merchant Families: A black raven flying with it's wings spread as it took to the sky, these were members of the Orden Brillante (Brilliant Order), an order of knights dedicated to serving and protecting the Merchant Families and the people of Joya.

One of the knights, wearing the standard golden surcoat over his plate armor and a sugar loaf style great helm stepped in front of the other knights as they stopped "Would the Mages of Silver Hippogriff and Doctor Aramis Kran step forward!" he bellowed, scanning the stunned crowd in front of him, Rai silently looked to the others, who nodded in affirmation as they stood, walking towards the knights.

"What do you want?" Rai asked, keeping a level tone as he locked eyes with the knight in front of him "I'm guessing you're here to apprehend the criminals?" he questioned, gesturing towards a small building that was used as an improvised jail.

"We shall deal with them in time..." The knight answered in his booming voice "There is a more pressing matter at hands, it has come to our attention that Doctor Kran has committed an act of treason against the country of Joya, he aided these criminals in infecting this towns populace, and then fooled them into thinking that he was their savior" he then began approaching Dr. Kran, taking a pair of handcuffs off of his belt, but before he could reach him, something flew forward and pierced the ground in front of him, he looked down and saw a carpenter nail sticking out of the dirt "What is the meaning of this?!"

He traced the path of the nail and saw Seth glaring at him, with several nails still sticking out of his mouth "You're not taking Kran anywhere, he's done his damnedest to make things right, no way you're sticking him in some jail..."

The knight stared at the young mage, astonished "You would obstruct justice for this man, even with the crimes he has committed?" seeing the unwavering defiance in the young man's eyes was the only answer he needed, he drew his sword and prepared to fight "Very well then, if you will not give him up willingly, he will be taken by force."

"Fine by me, I'll take all of you on.." Seth said, turning his body into metal, he took a deep breath and aimed at the knights "Iron God's Bell-" before he could finish his incantation, a fist slammed into his stomach, and to the surprise of everyone in attendance: It was Rai who had punched him, incapacitating Seth with a lightning-charged punch, dropping Seth to his knees.

Rai turned back to the knights and dropped to one knee, bowing to the knights "You'll have to forgive him, Sir, he let's his emotions get the better of him more often than not" the captain was confused for a moment, but nodded and sheathed his sword, easing out of his battle stance.

"Understood, we have recruits with a similar fire" The captain replied, grabbing his handcuffs again and approaching the group once again "I trust no one else has any objections?" Callie opened her mouth to say something, but she was stopped once Doctor Kran held up his hand.

"I suppose my luck would run out eventually" Doctor Kran said, a bittersweet smile on his face "I've allowed you all to shoulder my burdens for long enough, I suppose it's my turn to ease your burdens..." he then turned to the captain "Will you allow them to go free if I go with you?"

"Yes, you are the only one we're seeking, alongside the other criminals" The captain explained, taking the cuffs off of his belt once again "We have no qualms with the members of Silver Hippogriff" Dr. Kran solemnly nodded and approached the captain, letting him place the handcuffs on his wrists.

"W-Wait...you can't...do this..." Seth wheezed, shakily standing to his feet "Doctor Kran...helped these people..." the captain turned from the mages and started leading Doctor Kran towards the carriage, but before he reached them, he called out one last time.

"Remember, young mage, men such as you and I have very different definitions of 'Justice'" he said, his voice resonating in Seth's mind, freezing him where he stood "It is not morals who decides which is right, it is simply the one with more power who decides which is right, Men! Grab the other criminals!" he ordered, pointing towards the jail-building, several knights saluted and marched towards the building, opening the door and apprehending both Vayne and Kojuro.

The party had come to a complete halt as they watched the knights leave the town, almost as quickly as they had appeared…

(Back in the Present)

The mages were still on the road back to Turquesa, tensions had calmed, but were still high "We didn't even try and fight them!" Seth complained, crossing his arms and gritting his teeth, before pointing at Rai "And you! Why the hell did you slug me like that?!"

"Don't you get it?" Rai questioned, trying to remain calm "If you had flown off the handle like you were about to, we would have just been arrested like Dr. Kran!" Seth then stood from his seat, and so did Rai, the two of them got in each other's face and before either could say a word, Caspian pushed himself in between the two of them and managed to shove them back into their seats, despite the strain it put on his weaker frame.

"Both of you, stop!" He shouted in a moment of uncharacteristic anger "Butting heads over this isn't going to help anything!" he sat back in his seat as well, looking at the bag that Dr. Kran had given him "Doctor Kran gave himself up so we wouldn't get in trouble, we shouldn't squander it by arguing..."

Seth let out an aggravated sigh and ruffled his hair "I know that, but..." he then looked at Rai and sighed once again "...Sorry, Rai, guess I just wasn't thinking."

"Don't worry about it, I'd be more worried if you had started thinking!" Rai joked, trying to lighten the mood "And I think I can find it in me to forgive you if you can forgive me for gut-punching you like that" he reached his hand out to Seth, waiting for him to shake it, Seth silently reached out and shook his hand, silently apologizing to one another.

"Everything okay back there?" Callie called from the front of the carriage, when Rai replied that everything was okay, Callie continued "Alright, glad to here it, we're pretty close to home now and I don't want you two whining anymore when we get there!"

"Hey! I wasn't whining!" Both Seth and Rai yelled, starting to argue with Callie as they continued down the road –though Caspian smiled, knowing this was the playful arguing that he came to know and love from the guild, all bad blood seemingly forgiven for now.

Once the argument was over, Seth sat down, glad that he now had something new to focus his mind on, though one question kept plaguing the back of his mind "That captain...his voice felt so...familiar." he decided to push that thought to the side as he heard Callie announce that Turquesa was in sight…

THE END!

A.N: And with that, Seth's side story is officially wrapped up, and the story will now focus on Dawn's story, as well as the prep for the festival, until all of those points converge, also yep, Dr. Kran's arrest was a nod to Jellal's arrest in canon! (as well as the scene in One Piece where Zoro knocks out Sanji when they're arguing who should take Luffy's pain on Thriller Bark, which is one of my favorite scenes from the anime!) anyway, I hope you enjoy a more emotional chapter as opposed to an action-packed one!