Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters; they belong to the one and only Hiro Mashima.
I do own the idea for the fic though.
A/N by Kuro: I would seriously recommend you read this one with attention to the details. Some things from this will be important in the future chapters.
A change of scene.
(A I.-.-.I Kuroyagi I.-.-.I original fan-fiction story.)
Special 4
Catastro
Two months ago…
South-east of Fiore…
The country of Caelum…
Baratios Village…
A small island to the south-east of Fiore, a country that few mention due to its isolation rules that prevent any and all citizens from leaving or telling what happens inside of it. Caelum is a country recently formed by some bright men that wanted to give their fellows independence from the bigger countries, like Pergrande, and successfully did so.
The problem came now in handling that new liberty they've gained.
Why?
You surely wonder why.
The answer is simple.
Negligence.
It abounds in this world.
Everywhere you look.
Everything you touch.
May it be the result of it or the tool to reach such end, you can find it easily.
"But in the end, the small pockets of respect and righteousness around us…" A man clad in white robes, scarce ones that barely managed to cover most of his body, mostly his torso, spoke to the alluring sight of the valley below. Kneeling at the edge of a cliff and overseeing the town below and its limits, he regarded the world with words of wisdom as his white spiky hair shined with the moonlight. "They are strong enough to drive back the negligence, the darkness of this world."
"…you're talking alone again."
"Don't interrupt me when I'm giving a cool speech." The man answered quickly, giving the person standing behind him a dull glare before resuming his epic pose.
A fist close to the chest, the other hand held back, his posture firm and his head high.
"It is not every day you get to see the moon like today."
Yeah.
Epic pose.
Enjoy it.
"…it's a full moon, it happens once every month."
Or not.
"You're an asshole."
"I know." The party-pooper behind the man of white robes was a simple citizen from the same town beneath them, someone not different from the average person. Brown hair, the clothes of a poor farmer, rough factions. The only remarkable thing about him was the attitude he had towards life as a whole, reason why he didn't tolerate the white-dressed man and the antics he had. "But this is not why I hired you for."
"You gave me an objective and coin, nothing else. I'm free to dictate how I act during jobs if the client does not say anything about it." He stood up and turned around, resting his hands on his hips as he gave the poor farmer a bored glance. His face was covered by the same robe he was wearing, leaving only his hair and eyes to be seen by the other person. Both were of a grayish color, almost silver, complementing perfectly with the full moon in the sky and the clothes he wore. "Remember that or else I'll be forced to cancel our agreement."
The farmer sighed and shook his head in disapproval. If it weren't because there was no one else that could help him with this task, he would ditch the strange man of white robes and find someone with a straight state of mind. "Alright…"
"Good. Now…" Giving the town below a glance from over his shoulder, he noticed how many of the lights from the main street and plaza were turned off, leaving the place with the moon's light as its only source of visibility. That was part of their plan; attract the target with a seemingly defenceless town and lure it from whichever hide out it had. "How long until this… Ripper, arrives?"
"…if he's around, it should be soon." The contractor narrowed his eyes and looked down at the tranquil town and its surrounding forest. The air was still, the skies were clear and the moon served as a source of light. All of it gave a sight of peace to the small little town but the feeling hovering its houses spoke of something different.
There was fear.
There was dread.
Quite the contrary to what the picture had to say.
"Soon, huh?" A sight to behold, a perfect night, a lurking enemy. They were all bad signs in the man's opinion but he had nothing to complain about. There was a reason why he took this job, unrelated to the money or the challenge. He has been waiting to meet this enemy of his for a very long time. His eyes shone in anticipation. "I hope you're right."
"He's known for striking in the middle of the night, pillaging whatever he can find, taking the kids with him." The farmer sounded depressed when mentioning these things to the mercenary, but he kept on going. He wanted for this to stop. The mercenary was his best option now. "He doesn't kill anyone unless they stand in his way… and as you can guess, he has killed many men since he appeared."
The white-haired man nodded silently, understanding that words were the last thing needed here.
"If you can stop him now… if you can stop this atrocity…" The sarcastic farmer broke down, falling down to one knee as he remembered all the lives lost so far. All the children that were never going to be seen again. "P-Please… do so… w-we don't have much money, Tristan-sama, but whatever we had…"
He looked up and moved his fingers away so he could see the silhouette of the white-haired man.
"W-we gave it to you… please… bring our children back!"
"…I will." Tristan spoke confidently, feeling the words, the same sentiment of the farmer in his veins, heart and mind. He didn't know what he would really do in a situation such as this one, but he knew that he at least would try to do whatever it was in his power to stop any harm from coming to his heritage. He gave a step forward and stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down towards the forest when he felt something approaching. "Leave it to me, I will bring your kids back."
And he leaped.
Disappearing from sight and diving into the darkness of the world on his own.
"I-I… I will leave it to you…" The farmer said shakily before returning to his tears, to the memories of those he lost.
'If I'm right and I know I am, as always, that Ripper will stop at the centre of town to see if there's any resistance before making his move.' The passing of the landscape at his sides was nothing new, he had gone through something similar prior to this day. It's more, when the ground was close to him, he only had to do some minor movements, a spin or two, to land successfully without any kind of harm coming to him. 'D-dammit, my knee hurts!'
Stop making a joke of my narration, dammit!
'I only need to lunge and catch him off guard.' He continued nonetheless and rushed towards the centre of the small village, where a dark form could be discerned. His eyes narrowed to allow him a better sight and a second before he got into contact with the enemy, he pulled a long dagger from his robes. 'If I do that, he will have no choice but to fight me.'
He swung the dagger into a horizontal slash towards the enemy and the dark form retaliated by moving one of its limbs, catching the dagger with a bare hand.
Tristan was then able to see his objective face to face.
"A surprise attack." The enemy was wearing a dark armour, light in weight, probably allowing him to move faster and easily. It had metal plates covering most vital points except for the joints and a helmet with no slots, with nothing to allow him sight of his surroundings. The hand that caught the blade, alike to the other one and the feet, had sharp points at the ends. Meaning the man could deal some damage even if he was fighting just with fists. Or maybe he liked to tear his enemies apart? "You're not like the others."
"And here I thought my move would have a better result. Shame on me." Tristan pushed the blade towards the enemy and drove him back, giving them some space to talk, so to say, without any sharp objects near each other's throats. He lowered his stance and prepared for a possible counter, not knowing what else to do with an enemy that was known to take no prisoners. "But look at this. Someone stopped my super-duper surprise attack. That's new."
"With a name like that, I beg to differ." The armoured wizard shook his head and raised a hand to regard the person in front of him, wanting to know who was this opponent that the villagers brought up to face him. "Who are you? Another foolish mercenary who was promised riches if he could defeat me? That's getting quite old."
"Believe me when I say that's… that's… that's the truth, yes." Tristan muttered under his breath, silently cursing the sarcastic farmer for not confirming his suspicions. He knew he might have not been the first person to respond to this call for aid, but he gave it little thought. He had to play the hero's part and do right without asking what. He shook his head vigorously and stood straight, pointing a shaky finger to the armoured wizard. "It's not important though! I will defeat you and get fame from getting rid of the Ripper!"
"Huh. Being used is not important to you. That certainly is new." The armoured wizard nodded and took a step back, going into a stance, unlike his opponent. He had many things to do, a schedule to follow. He couldn't delay with another foolish soul that wished to play the hero in front of the helpless. "I wonder if you're capable of doing more than your predecessors."
He clenched his fists and tightened every muscle in his body, going serious.
"I will be quite enraged if you happen to be just another failed try of a hero."
"Hey! I'm not a hero! Wait! I'm not a failed try of a hero! Wait! Goddammit!" The white-haired man tried to come up with an answer, he really did, but all he could do was ruffle his hair in annoyance. Why was this man talking to him with complicated words? Why couldn't he be like the rest of the enemies he faced before? He was sure that for the next mission, he was going to bring a dictionary along. "I'm Tristan Asturias! I'm a mercenary who puts the well-being of others before his! And that means!"
He shifted his flustered stance and got ready.
No way was he going to lose now.
"I'll make you pay for the lives lost! For the kids you've taken! Be ready for the Forerunner's punishment!"
Ripper scoffed in mock amusement. "Sure, if you can do that, I'll change my opinion."
"Just a little heads-up." The armoured wizard lunged and appeared before the surprised mercenary, taking a hold of his shoulder with one hand and cocking back the other with a fist formed. Ready to deliver a finishing blow before the match even got to a minute of duration. "You're slow."
The punch connected to the white-hair man's chin and sent him skyrocketing towards the cliff of the mountain from where the mercenary came from.
"Really, people these days have no idea what true strength means." Ripper murmured to himself as he saw the smoking site in which his opponent landed. From past experience, he knew that the man probably had a broken jaw, a numb felling coursing through his upper body and no contact with his extremities. He was finished. And his body turning around to face one of the many houses of the village said just that. "I'll return to what I was ordered to do and return before – "
A hand landed on his shoulder.
"Hey… you might want to check up if you really hit your enemy or something else." Tristan hissed behind the armoured man. Ripper looked over and found a fist connecting with the centre of his helmet, sending him flying towards the opposite direction. The white-haired man stood where the armoured wizard preciously was and shook his head with a low click of his tongue echoing in the small plaza of the village. "Are all the bad guys like this? Or you're the only one that has to swallow his words?"
From the other side of the park, where the dust was flowing freely after the crash.
"I see. So you're a challenge then." Ripper moved the rubble away and stood upright, using one hand to help himself in cracking his sore bones. His shoulder, back and neck were a little stiff after that hit. His face was also numb, maybe temporarily, maybe not. But the hit certainly was different from those he got from other mercenaries. "A true challenge."
This was amusing.
Exciting even.
He leaped again and reappeared before the white-haired man, bringing his legs forward instead since his arms needed some time before he could use them at full again. "I wonder how much you'll last, Asturias!"
In between Fiore and Caelum…
A patch of land in the sea…
Otherwise known as the Tower of Heaven…
"Where is Menas?" A man of blue hair asked in curiosity once he was done giving orders to the guards, realizing he had other matters to attend to and that needed a quick look before they got out of hand. If it were up to him, sure, he would go and deal with those troubles himself. But he had a reputation to uphold in the Magic Council. Well, his supposed twin brother was supposed to. "I need someone that can handle the rebels from Ming before they get too close to our island."
There were two people beside him in the room.
To the right, a woman of straight, long purple hair and brown eyes. A white robe, how fitting, was all she wore. It was rather simple and revealing, not leaving much to the imagination but neither showing it all. An orange sash held it close to her waist and a pair of sandals were the only thing keeping her feet from touching the cold ground. Her appearance might be closer to that of a faithful servant, but everyone in the Tower knew that she was just as relevant as the other two inside that room.
To the left, a boy of spiky, short pink hair and pointy onyx eyes. A black robe clung to him, almost marking every part of his body, and reached the ground, showing only a pair of white trousers where the legs of the boy should be. Details? Golden stripes ran along the length of his arms and around his robe's sleeves, showing him to be the other important person inside that place.
"Hmmm? I thought those pirates were nothing we should be concerned about." A purple-haired woman whispered loud enough to be heard, sounding amused at the topic. "Or was it perhaps that Jellal-sama had a miscalculation?"
"Hey, I'm pretty sure Jellal did nothing wrong." A pink-haired boy countered, wanting to defend his leader and friend from the possible besmirching of his name. He crossed his arms in thinking and frowned, looking at the blue-haired man with readiness. "Those pirates were always a pain in the ass anyway."
And the leader of these two was the man of blue hair, who preferred to be covered by a cloak the whole time rather than letting his face and factions be seen. His identity. He had to protect it, despite the countermeasures he pulled to have no need of it.
Better safe than sorry.
"True, Natsu, true." Jellal nodded and went onwards to the other end of the large room, coming to sit in a large throne that was only reserved for him. Once on it, he leaned back and moved an elbow to one of the armrests, later using this one's end to support his head by the jawline. "But to make it this far… either they are stronger than we thought or the soldiers of the north are weaker than flies."
A short irritated sigh escaped him.
"Whatever should we do with them, hm?"
"Menas is currently getting more manpower for the building of the Tower." Ultear informed with an orb showing the armoured wizard attacking another village in the small island of Caelum. Pillaging and killing, ravaging everything in his way to fulfill his objective. "He cannot be bothered now, so he's out of the question."
"What about the others?" Natsu asked, wanting to remember the other two about the people that were in, maybe, the same level as them and had yet from leaving the Tower to see the outside world. "I'm pretty sure Simon, Millianna, Sho and Wally can handle a few pirates."
The purple-haired woman commanded the orb in her hand to float in front of the blue-haired man and stood next to it, seeing the pink-haired boy doing the same. All eyes fell on the orb and what it had too show. Black sails billowing near the coast of the north, where Bosco's border united with Fiore's.
"No, I cannot let them out just yet. They are preparing for another task." Jellal spoke firmly, despite his laid back appearance. He didn't have a problem in letting Millianna, Sho and Wally out of the Tower, but he still had his doubts about Simon. That man… "This situation must be handled by someone else. That is why I requested for Menas."
"And Menas is not an option, so take another pick." Ultear reminded him jokingly, actually stifling a laugh when the blue-haired man sent a lazy glare in her direction.
"Hey, I can handle them if you want." Natsu told to the leader of the group, looking at the black sails inside the orb with some interest. His arms crossed. Maybe they were strong enough to pose a challenge, something that he could enjoy at last. "Besides, the Council has been asking for people to deal with those pirates since a few months ago."
The words made the two older people in the room truly wonder about it, bringing some silence that made the pink-haired boy nervous.
That is, until…
"Maybe this is our chance." The blue-haired man thought for a little about the proposal and nodded, giving the pink-haired boy an approving smile. "Alright, Natsu… or should I say, Luminer?"
The three either smirked or smiled at the fake name.
"You'll go and take care of those pests in the name of the Council… that is, after Ultear and I propose the idea to the rest of the old farts." He rose his free hand and pointed to the entrance of the room, silently commanding the Dragon Slayer to start getting ready for his new task. "Get ready and go to Era. When the decision is made, we will let you know."
Natsu rushed towards the entrance with a happy and predatory grin in his face. It has been some time since he blew up some steam. And who knew? Maybe the pirates would prove to be a challenge and give him some entertainment for once. "Yosh! Leave it to me!"
Once the boy was out of the room and earshot.
"I feel pity for him when I see him so happy." Ultear said lightly, a bit of her saying it with amusement while the other part was truly wondering if it was right to abuse of such a pure person. Sure. There was this girl she took under her wing and was currently idolizing her but it was not the same case. This boy was seriously an incorruptible soul. "How much longer until we tell him the truth, Jellal-sama?"
Jellal looked conflicted at the question.
If it were up to his evil self, he would deliver the news now and see the boy break down into pieces.
But, as the woman next to him, he grew to like the boy.
What little was left in him prevented him from doing anything to Natsu.
"I will decide when that has to be done, Ultear." He stood up from his seat harshly and marched towards the exit, his posture firm as he tried to give a strong impression to the most unreliable one in their group. Even though she was the one to give them all the materials and information to reach this point, he still had his doubts about the purple-haired woman. "Let us concentrate in the matter at hand and leave that for later."
Ultear stared on until he left her sight, later shaking her head in amusement.
"As you wish, Jellal-sama."
The country of Caelum…
Baratios Village…
A tree fell down and another lost a part of its trunk.
The ground shattered and several gashes were made on the ground by an invisible force.
A sharp thud was heard, letting a sonic wave push the dust away and two figures appeared in the middle of the village.
"I guess I underestimated you, Asturias." Ripper hissed lowly, pushing his fist forward with all the intention of breaking his enemy's defence. The punch was being held back by the other man's forearm but barely, shaking in an attempt of holding back the armoured wizard's strength. "To last this long, I commend you."
"C-commend me? W-what are you? A snotty noble or something!?" Tristan pushed the fist aside, somehow letting it slide and spun on his heel, giving a complete twist and ending behind the harasser. He cocked back a fist and used the other one to deflect another try to grab his face. "You're too much of asshole, Ripper! I don't like you at all!"
Ripper took a step back and raised one leg at full speed, using his armoured boot's spikes to leave a bleeding wound along the length of the white-haired man's arm as the fist passed. He too, spun over the heel of his foot and took a different position, both of his hands grabbing the mercenary's wounded arm strongly.
"You're not supposed to like me, Asturias." He concentrated his strength in his arms and flung the white-haired man to the skies, quickly bending his knees to prepare himself for a leap. "You're supposed to fight me."
The leap was made and his form reappeared next to the ragdoll of a mercenary.
"I'll give you a quick death," Ripper muttered, summoning a pair of swords to his hands and bring them down to slash his opponent in half, right at the waist. "That much I can do."
"Would be cool, sure," Tristan snorted just before the blades were to reach his body, disappearing from sight and leaving a dumbfounded killer wondering what happened to his victim. He came back a few meters above the armoured wizard, holding a strange weapon with four blades positioned into a cross fashion. A circular guard to keep them all together, it had a handle in the middle for the white-haired man to hold onto when using it. "If it were my time, that is!"
The enemy was too late to notice from where the attack was coming from and when he looked up, the blades of the mercenary's weapon slashed his torso from his left shoulder all the way down.
A red rain ensued.
"G-gah!"
"You've never faced someone like me, that much I can tell." The white-haired man pointed-out since he was still close to the armoured wizard, watching the blood of his opponent raining around him towards the ground of the village's park and his own white robes. He narrowed his eyes and spun, bringing a leg up. "Stay still and accept defeat!"
The spinning kick connected and Ripper was sent flying towards the dense mass of trees around the village, crashing loudly somewhere in it and letting a cloud of dust, branches and smoke raise from the collision.
Meanwhile, Tristan landed safely and on his feet, holding his strange four-bladed weapon over his shoulder while the other hand rested on his waist.
"Got a long way to go before you can face a true killer, Ripper."
The scenery remain quiet for a moment, only showing the moment of the clouds in the skies together with the dust that was settling after that previous crash. Silence. So mortal it could kill you without the need of an actual weapon.
Fear is the strongest weapon.
"…a long way to go?" A sickly voice echoed from the cloud of dust that was in the forests' innards. The sound of metallic footsteps could also be heard, echoing and making it seem like the enemy was everywhere. "A true killer?"
'What is he going to do now?' Tristan wondered in waiting, preparing his senses for any kind of surprise attack. He knew that the enemy was sure to do its best from now on. After such a blow, both to the body and to the pride, he would do the same. But it was still left to assumptions. "What is this? You finally lost it?"
The smoke cleared and the form of the armoured wizard came into sight.
He was badly wounded, the gash on his torso still open and bleeding profusely.
But what slightly confused the white-haired mercenary was that the helmet of the man was also broken.
Did the fall cause that?
"Lost it… huh." He didn't know if the bangs of hair that were coming out from the broken part of the man's helmet were true in their color or if they were dyed like that because of the large amounts of body fluids that he was losing. "That is… amusing…"
Scarlet?
Short scarlet hair?
He really wanted to know if the previous opponents of the man got this far to see this.
"Who said I had it to begin with?"
But Ripper lunged again, this time surrounded by a purple aura that seemed to triplicate his speed.
"W-what the…!?" Tristan tried to dodge the fist to his face, he really did, but the fist never came. Instead, he felt a strong kick to his lower back and a hand pushing his head down. Taking it to crash hardly against the ground beneath him at the same time of losing hold of his weapon. The soil shattered into the form of a crater on impact and the man coughed up blood. "A-Argh!"
The armoured wizard remained over him, using his full weight, plus that of his armour's, to keep the mercenary pinned with his knees.
"A long way to go? A true killer? If I lost it!?" Ripper changed the hold of his hand and grabbed all of the hair that he could take from the immobilized man, raising his head a little before forcing it down again against the ground at full force. His voice sounded far more lively than before, more crazy and out of control. Was it the magic he was using or something he has been trying to hold back the whole time? "If I lost it!? Hahahah! You fool! You don't know me when I truly lose my limits!"
He continued the same movements over and over again, breaking the ground beneath them more and more with each blow.
"Don't talk to me as if you know what kind of suffering I had to endure! Don't dare to assume you can relate to it! Don't you even think you can figure it out either!" Oh great, the man truly lost it. Was it the wound or the words what set him off? Tristan was too busy trying not to lose to consciousness so he didn't know. Still. He could hear the suffering in the man's voice. "This pain! The pain! My pain! It is mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! It is all I have left!"
With the sentence finished, the armoured wizard let go of the mercenary.
He didn't care if the man was dead or just unconscious.
He stood up and raised a leg high, preparing to deal the finishing blow.
Cockroaches must be crushed.
He was going to do just that.
"Thank you for giving me a chance of venting things out, you miserable piece of trash." Right now, he needed to retreat and take care of his wound. If he let more blood ooze out of it, it would be difficult to do so in the long run. It would be even more difficult to recover and fulfil his objective before the time given to do it was over. "Now, give my regards to my sister and parents."
The boot was brought down.
"May you suffer in the afterlife!"
And Tristan saw white.
A patch of land in the sea…
Otherwise known as the Tower of Heaven…
In the darkness of a room that was especially reserved for her.
Ultear let the orb in her hand come back to her magical storage space.
'Such power… fuelled by rage and grief.'
Finding both amusement and guilt when remembering the show she just saw and purposely avoided to be seen by Natsu and Jellal.
'A power that can equal Natsu's and maybe put him against the ropes.'
There were some things that were better left in the dark.
'Wild… dark… raw power.'
Just as she was right now, in the middle of an obscure room with no source of light whatsoever.
"I see you still remember, Menas, even though you shouldn't have after what Hades-sama had to do to wipe out those memories of yours." She shook her head and wondered what to do now that she confirmed her doubts. The man, even if loyal, was of no use to her like this. She needed someone that could operate correctly even in the most complicated of situations, someone that didn't give in to the pressure or to memories from the past. "Perhaps it was too soon… perhaps I should've waited and tested it personally to check there were no mishaps."
She sighed and stood up from her couch, walking down towards the door of her room as she continued to ponder the issue in her mind.
'All up to assumptions again, back to square one.'
A perfectly normal smile etched itself on her face to fool those that she might happen to encounter along the way.
'Still… it doesn't matter…'
The last thing she wanted was for people to start noticing her double-play.
'Once you return, I'll make sure you don't remember a single thing about Rosemary village.'
And her form disappeared after taking a turn to the left of a dark corner of the Tower.
Two days later…
Bosco…
Fortress city of Kracto…
It has been a day now since he arrived to this so-called city.
It has been a day now since the Council gave him permission to interfere in the conflict.
It has been a day now since he has been doing nothing but stare at the pirates and guards fighting in the walls a few blocks away.
"Meh… I thought these pirates would prove to be more challenging than this." Natsu, currently under the name of Luminer Dragneel – a respectable member of the Magic Council residing in Era –, muttered with disdain at the sight of the burning city around him. The cries of people, either of fighting men or crying women, he could hear all of them. "I mean, sure, they made their way here… but… meh…"
Sure, he was supposed to do something.
Actually, he was sent to do something.
"D-Dragneel-sama! P-Please! The pirates have broken through!"
"I know I know, jeeez."
Even those moronic elders from the city were telling him to do something.
Maybe he should try to?
Attempt to?
Finally do something?
He didn't know.
After arriving and fighting a couple of those pirates from Ming, he lost all and any interest in the mission. He was there not just to represent the Council – fuck them, in his honest opinion – but he was also there to stop the pirates from venturing too close to lands that were not to be seen by anybody just yet.
"L-Luminer-sama!"
The safety of their plan was of essence.
"P-Please! We'll do anything you wish!"
So maybe he could make an exception this one time.
"Okay, tell y'all what, I'll go and deal with those annoying pirates in less than five minutes." Luminer spoke in boredom, walking forward towards the edge of the tower from which he was sightseeing the battle in the city. His words shocked and earned some tears of gratitude from the elders. They had been wishing for the young man to do something a long time ago. To prove he really was worthy of the title he was given. "But…"
The pink-haired boy grinned sadistically before jumping down to join in on the fight that was occurring on the streets.
"Don't blame me if you cannot handle the heat!"
The next day…
Magnolia town…
Fairy Tail…
"Hmmm…" An old man of bald head and scarcely covered sides hummed at reading the last issue of Fiore's news, taking a short sip from his coffee at the same time he continued to read the contents of the main article of that day. His visage was serious, and even though not even a single member was paying attention to him – due to a guild brawl -, he still kept on reading aloud what the reporter had to share with the people of the country.
This was quite surprising.
A little enraging too when thinking of it slowly.
Fiore's news: Luminer Dragneel, respectable member of the Magic Council in Era, visited today the sieged city of Kracto and engaged the enemy together with the defenders of the city… …the outcome was the total annihilation of the Ming Pirates, and part of the fortress of Kracto being levelled to the ground by his wild flames.
In words of this reporter, if Luminer-sama would have wanted, he could've had as well destroyed the whole town if he didn't have lost interest in the fight and left the place to return to his usual occupations.
"Luminer Dragneel made a mess again, without thinking of the innocent that might get in the way of his magic." He muttered quietly, clenching the side of the newspaper with some anger. Sure, he didn't know the boy or his reasons to be so destructive, but he sure didn't like how he handle things. "Such power… it is good to be young and try to find things that can challenge your limits."
There was no excuse to this.
The mug of coffee broke and the newspaper disintegrated.
"But this is not right, no matter how you look at it." The old man murmured as he leaped off the counter and went upstairs, thinking on filling in some paperwork to ease his anger and forget about the whole thing. "I'll be damn if I don't give that youngster a piece of my mind when I see him in person."
Two weeks later…
Era…
Headquarters of the Magic Council…
"And with that matter solved, this session is adjourned." The Chairman's voice boomed inside the court room, only making the poor Rune Knights close to the doors flinch while the rest of the people, the other wizards, remained respectfully silent. "Makarov Dreyar, Master of Fairy Tail, you can return to your hometown now."
The old Wizard Saint nodded once and turned around, getting down the stage with short but firm steps. "I will do so immediately."
"Wait a minute there, old man!" A lively voice interrupted him. "You ain't going nowhere until you fight me!"
"Luminer!"
"You wrecked fool!"
'Luminer…? Luminer Dragneel…?' Makarov looked over his shoulder and indeed, the young of pink-hair from whom he was hearing a lot lately – both in rumours and news – was lunging straight at him with a fist engulfed in fire. 'Is this the fool that has been giving me a headache?'
"Stop them! Now!"
Luminer prepared himself to deliver a swift and powerful fire fist to the old man's head. "Fire Dragon's - !"
"Get out of my sight, troublemaker." But all that Makarov had to do to stop him was enlarge one hand and swat him away like a fly, not even caring to see how the pink-haired boy crashed against one of the walls of the court room. "Control that temper of yours and return when you're older."
The rest of the room was speechless.
Though one purple-haired woman and one blue-haired man couldn't help the smiles that wanted to form on their mouths.
"W-w-w-w-what was that… uh…?" Luminer asked in a confused, slightly dizzy state after… whatever might have happened. He was currently upside-down against a wall, his eyes and mind spinning, his body aching all over. "W-w-where's the Vulcan that hit me…?"
Did he get to punch the old man or not?
"I-I'll take a short… nap… now… ayeee…"
To be continued.
A/N by Kuro: Some insight.
*Kaz stares*
He's letting you look inside, people, he's letting you look inside. - Jage
It means we're going to cut him open and see what makes him tick. Hopefully, we have enough knowledge not to harm him during the procedure. Well, harm him too much anyway. I want to poke his spleen. - Yoh Doosh
