Chapter 29- Rebirth

Kraken Maw, Past

Bisca woke up slowly as the light flooded into her room through the porthole. She tossed off the luxurious quilts and rolled out bed, placing her feet on the rug below. The whole room screamed comfort. Which was a fact that had surprised Bisca when she'd first set off weeks ago. She heard a knock on her door and she quickly rushed to thrown on a vest and pants.

"Come in!" She yelled. The door opened slowly and Diana entered. The woman's silver hair was done as nicely as ever, and from behind her entered another figure. He looked nearly identical to Diana but was male, and his silver hair was much shorter.

"This is my brother, Dima. He uses the same water magic as your friend Juvia. Now then, we've arrived. Please follow us," Diana instructed. Bisca nodded and followed them out of her room. They strolled through the halls of the galleon and up several staircases before they reached the main deck. It was bustling with activity as sailors were working the rigging, furling the sails and slowing the pace of the ship. Across the sea several other ships were distant as specks of the horizon.

"We're close now," Diana said reassuringly. "The rest of Ne'e's invitees are here, which means she'll greet us soon. And then we can set off for our destination." Bisca's heart sank a little. It had already been longer than she'd expected and it was still far from over. She missed Alzack.

Several minutes had elapsed and the ships on the horizon were growing close enough to see in detail. One was similar to the galleon on which Bisca stood. The other was a much smaller barque, and the final ship was massive. Nowhere near the size of the flagship, but easily twice the size of any other galleon.

"Is that the ship Ne'e is on?" Bisca asked incredulously. Diana and Dima chuckled and glanced at each other.

"No, that's Admiral Arapaima's ship. You don't need to know who he is, he's always just out hunting sea-beasts anyways." Bisca nodded her head and looked at the ship once more. It made sense now. Several cranes dangled from the sides and it looked as if it was constructed from bone and scale. The bleeding corpse of a huge turtle hung from one crane and several port holes were eeking blood into the sea.

"Is the ship always chumming?" Bisca looked up at the silver haired introverts beside her as she asked. They both nodded in unison.

"Yeah, he figures since sea-beasts are notoriously hard to track he might as well see if he can get any to come to him in the meantime. Oh, there's Ne'e," Dima stated nonchalantly.

Bisca looked around for a ship but was surprised to not see another. And then she found it. But it wasn't a ship. It was a raft with one small sail. Ne'e stood atop it in all of her glory as she had one had wrapped around the mast, and another holding a net full of fish.

"That's our boss," Diana said with a grin. The raft pulled up alongside the huge hunting ship and was lifted into the air by a crane. Bisca's vessel pulled up alongside it and several gangplanks were lowered between the two for ease of access. As soon as she stepped over the rickety wood onto the poop deck of the enormous ship she saw them both. She guessed completely on a whim that the giant Ne'e was talking too was Admiral Arapaima. Standing beside each other they seemed superhuman.

He was easily a head or two taller than Ne'e, and his flesh looked almost scaly. His hair was pink and red and a short beard covered his jagged face. The leaders of this guild were certainly something… Without warning Ne'e spun on her heel and her yellow eyes fixed onto Bisca.

"Ah, she has arrived! Your motion has brought you to me, young one. It is very promising. This is Arapaima, he too has strong motion for the coming tides of darkness." Bisca had to blink and repeat that phrase in her mind once more. Tide of darkness? She suddenly realized she had involved herself in something far deeper than she'd intended to. "Now, we must depart for the grove at once, I feel it. I feel the disturbance and we must hasten. Diana, Dima. This girl stays with you. I will join Bigs on his barque as it is the fastest vessel. At once!" And without another word Ne'e leapt from the side of the poop deck and landed loudly on the deck of the barque below. It unfurled its sails quickly and headed off into the west. Bisca watched as crew scrambled back to their original ships with crates and barrels, and without prompting Bisca followed Diana back onto the galleon.

"What's the grove?" Bisca asked. Diana didn't respond but simply kept walking. From, behind her, Dima answered the question.

"It is far easier to see in person than to describe. Be patient." And he continued with his task of ferrying the crew across. Bisca sighed and watched the sun reach higher and higher into the sky as the ocean glimmered like a gem. If there was one good thing to come out of this all it was how pretty everything around her was.

The gangplanks were pulled back in and the crew of the galleon went to work letting the sails loose. The ships all pulled away from each other at the pace represented by their sizes. Bisca couldn't help feel as if something was horribly wrong. She looked back at the hunting ship and saw that standing at the bow was Arapaima, glaring at her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it only served to heighten the tenseness in her body. She descended the main staircase to return to her cabin, shaking as she did so. Something was wrong. She couldn't get rid of this feeling. And worst of all she still missed Alzack.


Alzack was surrounded by friends. He hadn't expected that sailing on a cramped and awful smelling wooden tomb would be the catalyst for close bonds, but it had been. He didn't know all of their names, but he knew most of them. And now here he was. Drinking and partying back at home after a successful voyage. It was like coming home from a job but bigger and more grandiose. It made Alzack feel special.

"Hey, let's give one more cheer for tha pipsqueak!" Aaron roared as he raised a tankard the size of a barrel. The crowd rose all of their cups and glasses and gave a loud and drunken cheer. Alzack flushed and lifted his drink into the sky, before downing it.

"I've known that lil fella was special for a long time!" Malcolm shouted from a table. "He and the green haired girl took me down back when I robbed shit! That's no easy feat!"

"What the fuck do you mean?!" Bellowed Gaz from the bar. Alzack was surprised the guild master could talk, let alone stand. "Malcolm, you're a fuckin weakling and we all know it!" The present crew guffawed and began to tease malcolm, which only served to irritate the irritable drunkard.

"Oh, yea, sure! Any one of you fuckin wimps can go head and fuckin take me on right the fuck now! Who's first?!" And to Alzack's surprise someone did take Malcolm on. A big man with huge forearms hopped out of his seat and pounced on malcolm, dropping the both of them to the wooden floor. Fox smashed his glass cup on a table and randomly swung at a man beside him. Two more huge men grabbed Fox by the shoulders and heaved him into the table. Alzack was astonished.

"Fuck it, I'm in!" Aaron shouted eagerly. He downed one last tankard and picked up a chair, hurling into the crowd. It had already been a madhouse, but the chair had turned it to pandemonium. Everywhere drunk idiots were vomiting, rolling and punching. Gaz was hurling glass bottles into the brawl and laughing uncontrollably. Alzack thought he was safe, but suddenly one of the sailors sprinted for him. The gunslinger shrieked and dove away, but a high heel impacted with the sailors face first. Sarah sighed and gestured for Alzack to follow her.

The two weaved their way through the mess. One man was preparing to hit another with a bottle of rum, but Sarah nabbed it from his hands and took a swig before returning it.

"Does this happen often?!" Alzack shouted as he ducked beneath a flying chair. Sarah looked back at him and nodded her head. She put an arm up to stop Alzack, and Aaron charged in front of them, clotheslining six men. As soon as he was out of the way Sarah and Alzack continued. The two finally exited the bar into the hall. A woman in the hall glanced at the two of them and then to the door.

"Ay, there's a brawl!" She called down the hall. "Let's fucking go!" And another huge crowd sprinted down the hall and into the bar. Alzack looked at the madness with his jaw dropped.

"Look, Alzack. We're a crew of eternally horny and angry privateers. Fucking and fighting is honestly all we really know how to do…" Sarah explained. Alzack rolled his eyes and the two got in an elevator to the main deck. It was cramped, and Alzack could smell the sweat and alcohol from himself. And Sarah too. But her sweat clung to her and made her skin shine. It reminded him of that time her body oil did similar. He shook his head and tried to clear those kind of thoughts from his mind.

"Hey, by the way. Good job. You;ve been fitting in really well here, which I didn't expect. It's commendable." It took Sarah a while to get it all out, and Alzack could tell that she was slightly buzzed from the alcohol. He was too, he couldn't blame her.

"Thanks. I like it here. It's cool. You're really hot." And then he stopped. Why had he said that? He wasn't that drunk. It was almost like something was willing him to move toward what he desired. And even if he didn't want to admit it, he desired Sarah a lot. She looked up at him in surprise, but instantly it turned into a smug smile.

"Oh, so it's like that? Ever since I met you I had a feeling green hair wouldn't be enough for you…" Alzack was extremely offended by that statement, but he couldn't help himself. All of the sudden his lips were on hers and her arms were draped over him. The elevator clicked open and they stumbled down the sandy street to Alzack's bungalow, lips still locked. Her jacket was off before they reached the door. Alzack put his hands on her chest and groped. They felt amazing, just as good if not better than Bisca's pair. The two slid into the bedroom and Sarah flopped onto the bed, tossing her bra and panties off into the corner.

"Don't worry, Al. If you use these it's not cheating…" Sarah cooed as she raised her chest to him. Alzack smiled and inserted his length into the valley of her cleavage, sighing as the softness encompassed him. She grinned and put her hands on the sides of her breasts, pumping up and down around the shaft. Alzack moaned and worked his hips with the motion, adding to the drunk stimulus he was experiencing. Sarah spit into it and lubed it up, making the whole thing loud with the sound of wet claps and squishes. The lewdity was beyond belief, and Alzack loved it. He was far too excited and pleased.

Outside crabs scampered and nightbirds roamed looking for insects. The world was unaware of Alzack's infidelity. For now.

GMG, Present

Bisca was ready to jump with happiness. The two names swirled in the air around the arena. The duel was decided. Bisca Moulin against Sarah Fortune. She stalked her way down the stone steps and it all came back to her so vividly. Now was the time for revenge.

Alzack sat in his box and watched the names swirl. He hated what he had done. He leaned forward and gripped his hands together so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Come on Bisca…"

She stepped through the gate into the arena and stared across the enormous playing field. There was Sarah. That smug redhead was smiling and sultrily strutting her way.

"Hey, honey. Funny little coincidence this is, isn't it?" She winked at Bisca, which raised the ire of the green haired woman.

"Yeah, funny. It'll be funny when you've got more holes than a maggot infested slice of swiss cheese, whore."

"Oh, sounds like somebody's angry. You don't have to be jealous of me. Oh wait, you do." Sarah burst into a fit of laughter. Bisca smiled. This was fine with her. Shit talking just made a victory so much better. This was going to be completely one sided.

"Begin!" Roared the announcer. The crowd went wild and both females readied themselves. It was a quick draw contest. Sarah immediately rolled her guns out and used her signature bullet time. Waves and waves of hot shrapnel propelled forward towards Bisca.

The Fairy Tail wizard quickly requipped her grappling gun and shot at a far away portion of the wall. Her arm screamed in pain from the force of the liftoff but she bore it with pride as her body sped away from the incoming attack. Once she landed she requipped her signature sniper rifle and fired a bullet for Sarah's head.

The redhead slid across the dirt beneath the shot and fired two richoteing shots off to both sides, each one bouncing in several angles and directions towards Bisca. She followed it up by letting loose a bullet rain above Bisca's only exit position, assuring that at least one of her attacks would hit.

But Bisca didn't give a damn. She requipped to the purple laser rifle and with a sigh fired a lance of energy into Sarah. All three of the redhead's attacks landed on Bisca. But what was more important was Bisca's attack landing on Sarah. The Kraken Maw mage ragdolled and was blown across the stadium. Her body spun and bounced several times before coming to a stop far away, unmoving.

"Fuck you, bitch." Bisca said under her breath. She then turned and sent an icy glare up into the Fairy Tail box. Alzack locked eyes with her and quickly looked away. He knew that he would likely never be forgiven for what he'd done.

Past

"Today is the day," Diana said from beside Bisca. All of the ships had now come to a stop in extremely shallow water. Across the sea there was a wall of green that sparkled in the sun. It looked like some sort of mangrove forest.

She loaded up in a dinghy beside the Kraken Maw twins and a few other crew members, and they slowly floated towards their destination accompanied by other longboats from Arapaima's ship. Waiting for them at the entrance to the sanctuary was Ne'e.

"Come, follow me in," She announced. And she then sat back down and gripped her own oars, steering into the mangrove forest. The sun was setting and the sky was darkening.

The group of boats rowed into the midst of the forest and the sunlight was blotted out by the treeline. It was brimming with foliage of smaller plants and large reptiles ambled across the surface of the water.

The moved further in. Bisca was afraid to break the silence. It was mystic. Firebugs fluttered and crickets chirped. It felt like a swamp. Then a light, brighter than the firebugs, came into view between the foliage. The boats snaked around a bend and it came into view. It was a temple. A large temple constructed of wood and seastone, upon which grew various plants and reeds. The entrance was shaped like a huge Kraken Maw. Bisca looked up at Diana and Dima who nodded at her. This was the inspiration for their guild.

The boats moored at wooden stakes in the sand in front of the temple and they all loaded off.

"We stay here tonight while I prepare for the ritual tomorrow. It can only be performed in the dawn, so you all must be prepared. Try to sleep if you can. E mālama i kāu mau moe." Ne'e spoke the last portion in a foreign language, of which Bisca had never even heard. The priestess stomped into the temple with most of the others behind. Bisca stayed outside with the twins.

"What did she say at the end there?" She asked to Diana. The silver haired woman shrugged.

"It means 'guard your dreams' ," Said a gruff voice. Arapaima finished tying off his longboat and strode past the trio. "This place produces strange visions, some are true and some are not. Don't read too much into 'em." He then entered the temple. Bisca gulped nervously.

"Arapaima was exiled from the same tribe Ne'e is from. That's why he doesn't have a traditional name, but he has her accent," Dima explained. Bisca nodded and the three stepped into the temple.

It was musty. Condensation hung in the air around the braziers that glowed with green flame. Vines hung from the ceiling and everywhere there were ponds filled with glowing fish. At the center of the main chamber was the skeletal structure of an enormous beast, the likes of which Bisca had never seen. Then there were smaller chambers filled with hammocks. Bisca entered one, but before she went to bed she took one last glance at Ne'e.

The priestess was kneeling on the stone floor and her tattoos were glowing.


Bisca woke up frightfully. She was no longer in the temple. She was in a comfortable bed somewhere else. The smell of salt and sweat were omnipresent, so she was guessing that she was still somewhere in the ocean. Then suddenly it wasn't a bed. She was sitting on a dinghy approaching a huge waterfall, like the ocean was collapsing into a void. She screamed and tried to jump out of the boat, but she was already over. Collapsing into the void.

Images. Quick flashes. Stills. She couldn't make out much more. A demon. A floating cube. Tentacles. A great beast of metal roaring into the sky. And then there was Natsu. But it couldn't be Natsu, he looked so much different. He looked… Evil. A huge army of icy warriors led by a woman with blue hair. Then suddenly it was calm. She wasn't surrounded by darkness. Instead she was in a small waiting room. It was hardly a box with one wooden door. And from behind the door came wet claps and moans. Bisca stood up, knowing full well what those sounds were. She didn't want to interrupt whoever was in there, but there was only one door. She thrust the door open.

Alzack was thrusting rythmically into that rehdead. She screamed in despair and the image contorted. Natsu was now standing between her and the painful adultery, and the pinkette was naked. He was impressive in all departments.

"Bisca, don't worry about that. I have something to show you…" His voice faded and the ground faded too. Natsu was sinking into the ocean. Bisca wanted to take his hand but she didn't want to drown. There was something else down there. A glowing orb. What was it? She was too afraid. She screamed once more. And then it all went black.


Bisca shot up in bed again. But this time it was her hammock in the temple. Which didn't soothe her nerves any. She wrapped her arms around her knees and wept silently. What did it mean? Was it true or was it false? She didn't know how to guard her dreams. She heard stirring from around her.

"Ah, you're awake already. Perfect. We're beginning soon," Diana said. The Kraken Maw mage took note of Bisca's condition. "Ah, you were visited by a vision. Ask Ne'e about it later, it could mean something."

Bisca nodded and gathered up her supplies. The group all followed Ne'e out of the temple, who was walking ceremonially toward a small raft. She set foot on it and began to chant in her native tongue, letting the current pull the raft away from the sandy shore.

The followers entered their boats and paddled after her, watching as the raft twisted and turned along the rivers of the mangrove forest. Bisca noticed that beneath the water she could see a faint glow, and she moved to look over the edge. Glowing fish were following the raft, almost as if the underwater world was looking forward to this ritual as much as the humans were.

They made one final turn and stopped. Ne'e continued floating forward into the middle of a vast lake, but the rest of them had halted.

"Why aren't we moving?" Bisca asked quietly. Diana pointed at the water. The Fairy Tail wizard took a second look and her eyes widened. The whole lake was covered in a layer of green pulsating algae. The raft on which Ne'e stood floated just above it, but their boats would definitely cut through it.

The raft drifted to the center of the lake and Ne'e stretched her arms out wide. Clouds hovered above and began to spin, blotting out the sun and turning the whole sky grey. This angered the sun feeding algae which then started throbbing violently. The surface of the lake quivered and the water rippled. Then Ne'e let herself fall off the raft with her back facing the water.

She disappeared for a moment. Then a greenlight pierced the algae and the clouds, shooting into the heavens. The algae followed the pillar and crawled up into the air, forming the outline of a human.

The plant matter fell away and revealed a massive and nude Ne'e. Her tattoos glowed and her eyes shone with yellow light. Tentacles were writhing on her back and where her hair had once been. She stared down at the boats and smiled.

"My children. Dark times are upon us. A reckoning will soon begin." A tentacle shot out of the water beside Bisca's longboat, and it stayed there momentarily. It then shot at Bisca and pulled her soul into the air. Bisca's eyes widened as she saw her ethereal form floating in front of her. "This one has the most promise of any of you. She shall be admin-"

"Ne'e, you old bitch! I'm the most worthy!" Arapaima roared. Ne'e smirked and another tentacle reached for him. His soul was pulled into the air and in seconds dozens of watery tentacles were beating upon it. Arapaima howled in pain and rolled out of the boat, stepping onto the layer of algae. He stumbled towards the writhing mass of tentacles to retrieve his soul, each step painful and exaggerated. He let out one last sigh and sank beneath the algae, his soul fading. Arapaima had perished. Bisca looked to her own soul in fear.

Tentacles rose up around it and Bisca knew that she would have to embark on the same challenge that Arapaima had just failed. She hopped out of the boat and the first tentacle swung. It felt like she had just been smacked by the iron scorpion once again. And there was more. Bisca screamed and fell to her knees, sinking into the algae slightly as the attacks continued, unceasing. The pain was so great that she couldn't breathe. Her vision blurred.

She then fell into the water, the algae opening up to let her in. Was this the end? Bisca opened her eyes and saw that it was pitch dark beneath the algae. Save for the light generated by the hundreds of swirling fish. This lake was filled with skeletons and remains of people. But this wasn't what Bisca focused on. The light of the fish was making… images. And it was the image of Alzack fucking Sarah. So it was true. Bisca felt her heat rise. This wouldn't be the end for her. She hadn't killed herself because of Alzack. He had now betrayed her. But at least she knew that there was one last thing to live for.

Bisca rammed her hands through the algae and climbed back up. The tentacles kept slamming, and the pain was immense, but she didn't stop. She wouldn't quit. She stepped forward and the tentacles ceased. Her soul reached its non-corporeal hand to her. And Bisca reached her own real hand out. The soul shot back into her body and the tentacles sank. Bisca sighed and fell back to her knees.

"Well done, young one. You have proven yourself. Now, you can be given the gift." Gift? Bisca didn't know what gift, but she knew that she was too tired to stay awake. Her eyes shut and she faded away.