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"Ogama?"
Satan was giving me a brief down of what he recommends on having me learn. A couple hours earlier, I was feeling rushed about how I spent my time here. But Satan made it seem like he could tell me about the whole world if he wanted to. I shouldn't worry so much, and I trust Satan's judgement because after all, he is the most war-oriented devil I know. Ogama means 'scythe' in Japanese. Since I chose not to go through with learning the Mortality Curse to revert Zeref back into a mortal, Satan thought it'd be most logical to teach me another Curse that could help me in battle.
"Your God Slayer Secret Art: Reaper is your most powerful spell. It's properties are similar to a Dragon Slayer's Dragon Force, giving you enhanced speed, strength, and endurance. But with Reaper, you also summon a scythe of Black Magic capable of ripping apart a human soul from its body if it cuts right through, seeing the spirit momentarily before it moves onto the afterlife. In other words, it turns you into a true grim reaper."
"I'm not looking to kill anyone, Satan..."
"Fair enough," he coughed in his hand. "Ogama is the Curse that gives you the ability to freely conjure a scythe that you can channel your Magic through, amplifying its properties as you see fit. By doing so, your dexterity with that weapon can give you more ease while in your Reaper form."
I didn't question any of it. The focus of my training was already set, I have to enhance my God Slayer Secret Art.
43 days, 17 hours, 24 minutes, and 38 seconds
A "new record" according to Satan, but we all pretty much knew that the one human who spent the most time in the Devil Spirit World was Zeref. A devil's training regime was more rigorous than I could imagine. It was a struggle having to adjust to being part of a devil army because of their capabilities are abnormal compared to a Mage. But at least within that given time, I was able to get the basics of a Curse and some bits of Ogama. Curses are very similar to Magic, so it wasn't too difficult to get down. It only felt weird using it because that negative feeling can make you feel inhuman at times. But at least if there was some sort of Magic-nullifying thing was used against, I can always backfire by just using a Curse. Getting a shortness of breath was very different from getting tired from intense training, luckily I was able to return to the human world with no complications. I was sent back to where I originally left to the DSW, Sting's room. It didn't seem like anyone was home. I stole some clothes from Sting's closet to change out of. Nothing like his usual attire, but I just took one of his black, short-sleeved dress shirts and tied my waist with a belt. I was much shorter compared to Sting so it just naturally looked like a dress (perks of having a boyfriend, eh?).
I left his apartment and headed for the Sabertooth guild building. Converting the devil days into human, I was gone for a little less than a week so I assume that there wasn't anything major happening.
"Oh, Clarion-san! Welcome back!" I heard many guild members say as I walked through the doors. There still wasn't any sign of Sting. I walked over to where Rufus and Orga were. They seemed to already know who I was looking for.
"Sting and Yukino are on a mission in Obstone right now," Rufus notified as he tipped his hat.
"The Lady just left to go over there. She thought the request seemed suspicious," Orga stated as he took a copy of the job flyer and showed it for me. I didn't take the time to try figuring out why it was suspicious. I took a mental note of the location and thought I would also go ahead and find the two Sabertooth members.
Obstone is a mining town that is suppose to be south of where Sabertooth resided in. Getting there didn't take long at all, especially while using my Magic for a bit of transportation. I didn't really expect much of this "suspicious" Minerva had. Maybe because I had confidence that Sting and Yukino could handle whatever trick was going on. But for good measure and an excuse to try out my Curse in the human world, I might as well take the opportunity to see what I can do. I looked at my hand and focused my negative Magic to have a scythe appear in my hand. It was pitch black and had a nasty aura around it. In a sense, though, it was probably a good thing to use a Curse for good intentions. There's a reason why negative emotions exists, and instead of always antagonizing it, its probably best that you utilize it for our own benefit. No matter how hard I try, I think I'll always have these negative emotions inside of me. Nothing in the world could ever make me forgive myself for making my devils go through taking care of a brat like I was. I could never imagine myself ever forgetting how ungrateful I was. My origins don't matter anymore, I only have one purpose of getting stronger: protecting everyone I love... maybe if it includes both Zeref and Mavis-dono. I can only pray that everything will just fall into place for the better. I felt a dark presence coming from behind and quickly getting closer to me. Looking down, I noticed a fast travelling shadow just below me.
"Rogue?" I called out.
"Fro too!" Frosch randomly came out from the shadows and hopped into my arms.
"Come, I know where Sting is," he gestured me to follow him as he fastened his pace. Not like I needed helping finding where Sting was (I did swallow his Magic, but I guess Rogue forgot). As we got closer and closer to more rocky terrain, I felt the presence of Sting's White Magic growing weaker. If there was a weakness for anybody, it would be some way of getting rid of the source of your strength. Rogue's shadow form was capable of travelling at much faster speeds than I can. Judging by his quickened pace, I assumed that he also sensed Sting's depleting magic power and couldn't afford to have me drag down his time. He was headed straight for a stone wall. I had to admit, I was quite nervous going at a high speed and the wall just got closer (so I made sure I kept my pace right behind Rogue... hopefully he takes care of the wall for me... last thing I want him to do is just travel through it cause he's a shadow). Right on impact, Rogue broke through the wall and caused it to collapse and give me an opening (yay). The shock waves rippled through the inside of the cave and caused more of the loose rocks to crumble. Dust clouds made it hard to see what was exactly inside, but I did sense a separate entity aside from Sting and Lector. But out of the debris Sting fell right on his face, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. As soon as
"A-Are you okay Sting-kun?!" I saw a little Lector scurry his way over to the White Dragon Slayer.
"Ha... HAHA...! All the dragons are here! I thought my plan had failed... but..." a disgruntled, and somewhat maniacal voice echoed. He couldn't help but laugh in a sinister manner at the moment of his situation. When he was done laughed, he just gave us a crazy ass smile. "Looks like God is on my side."
"Too bad you have a God Slayer here," I returned his nasty smirk with a death glare. Threatening him further, I pointed my scythe at him, but it didn't seem to bother him too much. This guy had something planned from Sting and Rogue for some reason, but it appeared that his intentions didn't scare them at all considering how I could hear them just ignore this guy's excitement.
"What the fuck?!" Sting's sudden cursing just ruined the moment here. Looking back at the pair, I see him holding his cheek and the two just returned back to stupid bickering. It was like watching Natsu and Gajeel argue during important times. I guess it's a second nature to Dragon Slayers of our age. It wasn't just any quick argument either... they were just going back and worth with witty remarks and aggravated responses. I was beginning to lose my patience as well that I had to just punch Sting again to make him shut up which caused him to curse in the same manner as he did when Rogue punched him. But then his expression instantly changed when he sort of snapped out of it and realized that I was right here in front of him. Sure he hasn't seen me for about a week, but it felt like a month to me. The look on Rogue's face just told me that he was about to make a comment about Sting. Before allowing him to do so, I mirrored the same punch he did just a moment ago. The Shadow Dragon echoed the same cursing (boy they sure are partners). I didn't care how much they protested the pain, they definitely deserved it for embarrassing me in front of the enemy. But I was being careless and underestimated the enemy, especially when having my back turned to him. There was another dose of that rumbling again and quickly made the ground shake slightly. As I turned around to see what he was planning on doing, I just slowly saw a rock fist coming right at me and I didn't have the reaction time to dodge.
I took the full impact of it while having the strength to keep standing. I heard Sting's cries, but luckily it felt like nothing. At least at first. My head suddenly started hurting like crazy that I couldn't keep my eyes open. Next thing I knew, everything was going black. I should really stop doing that.
My eyes fluttered open, but when I tried lifting my body up, that same headache came back to me. I winced at the pain, but when I opened my eyes again, I saw Sting with a worried look on his face. Someone else placed another warm towel on my forehead and I looked over to see Yukino and Minerva on the other side of the bed. I was really confused at this point. Everything that happened before I blacked out was just a little blur to me. Hopefully, I wasn't out for long.
"You got knocked out," Captain Obvious stated. "You were sleeping for almost 24 hours."
"That long?" I responded in a weak voice.
"Sting-sama told us you went to the Devil Spirit World for training," Sabertooth's Celestial Spirit said as she was rinsing out the towel I had on before. "Even with clothes on, it isn't healthy for a human to stay in a spirit dimension for a prolonged time."
"Well, my time in there is up anyways," I tried being optimistic about it. I'd be more surprised if there weren't some repercussions being in the Devil Spirit World for that long in a single visit. I can probably estimate that Mirajane's limit to visiting the DSW would be around my time or more, and she most likely has only visited less than five times for the sole purpose of absorbing a devil for a new Satan Soul form. And her nature only allows her to only obtain new powers if she absolutely needs it. Then again, if I chose that route I would probably jeopardize my devils' life force. Minerva lifted my hand up and examined it for a bit.
"Will she be okay?" Sting asked the lady.
"No need to worry," she reassure him as she felt over my skin. "Her body is just going through a desynchronosis from getting use to the time and conditions of the devil's world. Now that she has returned, her biological clock has to readjust which has side-effects of heavy fatigue and headaches. There may be some minuscule amounts of poison in her blood stream from breathing in the air. Nothing life threatening, she just needs rest to fully recover."
"Thank goodness," the idiot had a look of relief, but it wasn't like I'm gonna die or anything. At worse, this was just a normal thing to go through, like having a sort of jet lag or something. I would have smacked him behind the head to snap him out of it, but I still felt too weak. Any sort of sudden movement would probably make my head go crazy again. I had to keep my head down and rest up more. The women both told me to get well soon and soon left the room after, leaving Sting and I alone. Sleeping would probably be a good idea, but I couldn't help but notice that Sting was just staring at me. Doesn't he have like... guild Master things to do? But deep down though, I was grateful that he was using his time to keep me company. Even when I'm with Fairy Tail, I would still have this little feeling in my heart that made me feel detached from everyone else. I might have the face of their founder, but I am also the only member that came from a dark guild and knew absolutely no history with any member. But when I'm with Sting, he's just the kind of guy that could never make me feel alone. It's strange how different we were, but how at ease I feel when he's around. "Should I let you sleep?"
"No," I immediately said. "Keep me company."
"Sure," he gave off a soft smile that quickly turned into a childish grin. "So, how was it? How's the Devil Spirit World? Was it cool? Did you see your devils? I bet you got a lot out of it."
"Y-Yeah...," I said looking away from his face. "I saw everyone for a bit. I trained with Satan, the devil of wrath, for the most part. It's a shame that I can't see them anymore. It's against their nature."
"It sure is. They all did a good job taking care of you," he complimented. "Did you learn anything else?"
My face sort of paused for a minute because I didn't know what to say to him. Lie and say nothing? Or just come out with the truth? It's not something that he has to know, right? Well... Acnologia was the one who took away all the other dragons' souls, including his foster father. Sting did do all he could to help me learn of my origins... I suppose he does deserve to know. I know Sting wouldn't think of me any different, but I guess I just have this little part of me that feels it could happen. My mouth felt dry. But I came out with it. His eyes sort of widened a bit, but his reaction was more minimal than I thought. He didn't stand up or anything, and he never looked away from my eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment, assuming that he just needed a bit time to himself to think and wrap around his thoughts. And not one moment did I feel that he was disappointed. Despite that, I could feel my palms feel sweaty as I clenched them harder. His lack of response is actually making me feel more anxious. After a couple minutes, he finally did some movement by scratching his jaw.
"Wow, we really are polar opposites," he opened his eyes and had his mouth half-opened. He had a comically pathetic look on his face that made me want to smack him. "Me being a White Magic person, you being a Black Magic person... now it even extends to our fathers. Weisslogia and Acnologia huh? Well, that just means one thing, doesn't it?"
"What?"
"We really are meant to be," he cooed. I could feel my face get warm and I immediately dove under the blanket sheets to prevent Sting from noticing. He had the attributes of a dragon and a tiger in one after all. With that thought, the dragon and the tiger, when paired together, can be representatives of yin and yang. When I first got closer to Sting, I remember comparing us to that ideal. He has the patience of a tiger, ferocity of a dragon, and everything in between. If we're on the topic of our guilds and Magic, then I would be linked with the fairy and a god. Nothing about those two really connect on a symbolic level, but I suppose you can relate them to the fictional concept of a fairy god mother minus the maternal part. In fairy tales, the role of a fairy god mother is to support and mentor a particular prince or princess whatever. Thinking about this motif though... just made me think about Natsu and his relationship to Zeref. Even though we have no blood relation at all... I did grow an older sister vibe with him. He has no idea what is coming to him... and I feel responsible for protecting him. He may be what Zeref has been aiming for... but all of that has changed. Natsu does not need to be dragged into this, or it might be detrimental. I don't know where he is now, but knowing Natsu, he won't do anything rash (yet). He's probably getting stronger and we both have Zeref in our future forecast. In due time, I will see him again and make sure he's aware that he's much more connected to Zeref than just the creator of Etherious. "Oh yeah-"
"What?" I muffled out from the blanket.
"Do I still need to get Acnologia's blessing?"
"Stupid Sting!" it didn't matter to me how much my head was pulsating. I just had to break out of the sheets and smack him for saying something so moronic. "I have no father. If anything, I see..."
I stopped myself from saying anymore (which gave time for Sting to take the pain in from the punch) because I became ashamed of it. And I'm ashamed for being ashamed. Zeref was the father figure that I saw the most in. He built my foundations of the person I became to be. He taught me everything from my Magic, to my morals, to my attitude, to my virtues... Up until recently, I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt no matter how many dark things I've heard about him. But at this point, no matter how I look at it, there was no way of me to... save him from his sins. I felt hopeless, but there are some things I can't change. I care about Zeref, I do. But if he really cared, he wouldn't try destroying the things he claim to love. And at this point, I need to put my work into protecting things I love. I looked at Sting again to see that he was still going through the sting of the smack to the cheek.
"You already have my blessing," I said under my breath to prevent Sting from hearing it. I immediately went back in a sleeping positing and had my back turned to face the White Dragon Slayer. But as if I had eyes on my back, I had a feeling that he did hear what I said. Oh well, all I could do now is focus on the present and look forward to the future.
"Avatar?" I re-read the topic of this job request that was handed to me by Minerva. The flyer kept bending up backwards which made me have to flick my wrist a couple times to make it stand up straight in my hand. Not understanding why this job was given to me, I just looked back up to the Lady of Sabertooth with an eyebrow raised. I was aware of this organization making a name for itself, especially as of late, but I didn't think that I have any right to go after them as much as any other benevolent guild. In any sense, I would always assume that Crime Sorciere would always be on their case about any dark guild, more so with this fast growing cult.
"It is a cult that worships Zeref," Minerva simply stated with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "They have become quite complex within the last year with multiple branches operated in numerous locations. Their actions has been more aggressive lately."
"What does this have to do with just me?" I said as I placed down the work itinerary.
"All members of their elite branch specialize in Black Magic."
Without having her say another word, that statement alone perked my ears. The worship of Zeref was one thing, I guess, but this takes the cake. Now it made more sense why this was presented to me rather than the other much popular paired picks of the twin dragons or the Rufus/Orga combo. Being a Black God Slayer puts me on a higher tier than these Black Mages. Like with the ever so common Dragon Slayers, Natsu being one puts him on a step above Mages who just specialize in Fire Magic. Black Magic users are already rare within itself, but it isn't as simple as elements such as fire or iron. Black Magic comes in different forms, so it is hard to be absolutely certain that I can merely 'eat' their Black Magic. But, it wouldn't hurt to try, right? I didn't want to sound arrogant, but I was just more curious. I never exactly encountered a truly sinister Mage who specifically uses Black Magic for bad intentions.
"Then it's settled," Minerva stated as if she could read my mind. She turned over to the side where the twin dragons were. "Rogue, Clarion, and I will commence the job request to annihilate Avatar."
"Isn't Sting suitable to go on this job too?" he does use White Magic after all.
"Do you really think he's in the right condition?"she said as if I didn't know what I was saying. She pointed to her finger to the west side of the hall. I looked over at the other side of the room where Sting was. He was slumped over the table and morbidly bloated. Sabertooth had their annual "Saber-eating" contest awhile earlier. Sting was so hyped of winning, but he just ended up losing to Minerva (who knew she had such a huge appetite to stomach all that food). I guess we didn't really have to have Sting with us. If anything, he could just be the trump card that comes to our aid if anything goes wrong. I shrugged it off and quickly got preparations ready for the job. It was just going to be a lovely stroll to their location and who knows what we will come up with while getting there.
The weather was nice outside, I almost felt ashamed that I had to work. We just had some small talk while we were walking to the outskirts of town. Minerva was also filling in Rogue and I about some information and facts about Avatar itself. I didn't want to be so cocky, but an organization that proclaims itself as the successor of the fallen Balam Alliance of dark guilds just sounds like big talk to me. Fairy Tail was responsible of taking down Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros... honestly, it felt like there weren't any strong bad guys out there. But then again, I would only be right if I kept thinking that we live in a small world. In a sense, we do, but Fiore isn't the only country in the world. I have to remember that Zeref has also built up his own empire so... I could only assume that there will always be someone stronger. Just hopefully there aren't any more powerful Mages looking to hurt people.
I was readjusting my satchel tote when I suddenly heard loud footsteps coming closer and closer. Rogue and Minerva just kept on walking forward, but I turned my head around to see who was running by.
"ROGUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" that was something that made the two Sabertooth members to look this way.
"Natsu...?" I said as there was a little pink dot in the distance ferociously getting closer. But without even a proper greeting, he immediately shoves me aside and clings onto Rogue. I almost fell over, but I was too surprised by his sudden presence to be angry over the rudeness. I would normally be confused by this situation, but I was still stunned at seeing Natsu after so long. I'm happy that he looks healthy and doing well. But I still wonder what he needed Rogue for. I heard more footsteps coming this way as I heard another familiar voice yelling at Natsu. He immediately pulled Rogue to the side as he told all the females to stay and let the guys have their conversation. "Happy? Lucy? You too?"
"Clarion! It's nice to see you!" the Celestial Spirit Mage did not hesitate to embrace me. "Love the hair~"
"H-Hey- you too," I returned the compliment. Being reminded of my haircut was sort of funny on my end. Minerva had cut her long hair too from influence of Yukino's short hair. Then I was sort of pressured to cut my medium length hair to my shoulders. I suppose that it helps me during any sort of fight because my hair won't get in the way so much. But it really doesn't matter so much when it comes to really good fighters. For example, Erza and Mirajane have longer hair than I do, but they can perfectly execute well in battle. Oh well, a new look doesn't hurt I guess. Lucy had also grown her hair longer which she kept it all in one side ponytail rather than her old, half-up ponytail look. It really shows how time flies and things change. My attire has even changed. I wore an open-breasted, maroon dress with the collar portion clipped together with the charm of Zeref's necklace that I glued together. You could still see the crack, but at least I was able to keep it in tact. Underneath the dress was just a silk white undershirt. I wore black leggings underneath and black boots with white laces. I also tied long black ribbons along the middle of biceps, similar to the look of Sting's gloves. When the hug broke, a light pink color just popped in my face. It couldn't be anything else but Lucy's Fairy Tail crest. Sting did give me some letters that Lucy had addressed to me. I didn't have the time to respond, but I did tell him to notify her in some way that I was in the care of Sabertooth. But with Natsu also returning from his year long solitary training, he would have no other intentions but to bring everyone back together.
"L-Long time no see...," Minerva awkwardly said as she and Lucy locked eyes, making her feel obligated to say something or greet her in some way. The two made some small talk, but I could see the angst Minerva had in her eyes. She surprised me a bit by going as far as apologizing to Lucy for the last Grand Magic Games we participated in. It was a year late apology which Lucy accepted, but assured the Territory Mage that it was nothing she should worry about. Her optimism, friendliness, and forgiving nature was very admirable. I would completely understand if Lucy felt more vengeful, but she was perfectly kind to her former adversary. Minerva looked surprised as well and complimented Fairy Tail as a guild and sadness of it disbandment. Without giving into the negativity, Lucy just smiled and flashed her crest in pride, believing that her guild was never dead, but in her heart. What a cheesy thought, but it was that belief that made the Celestial Mage motivated to be stronger. I wonder what everyone else was doing with their time. I looked over to the Dragon Slayers. They looked like they were almost bickering about something. I disregarded Natsu's insistence that their conversation be private and decided to make my way over to the two. Natsu didn't seem to notice and kept his attention on Rogue.
"Don't leave town...," I heard Natsu plea. It sounded like a ridiculous request to make, but his tone did not suggest any joking. "Until I come back.. just don't!"
"You're crazy...," that was all Rogue can muster up to say from the Fire Dragon Slayer's weird behavior.
"Natsu... what's this about?" I crossed my arms.
"Clarion... you should stay in town too," he suddenly demanded as if he just thought about it after seeing me. Like with Rogue, I felt reluctant.
"What the hell?" I said back to him. I saw the job flyer in Natsu's hand and assumed that he was going to take over the work. "Rogue can stay, but I'll go."
"What the-" Rogue wanted to argue, but I just shoved him aside.
"It's too risky!" Natsu roared. I'm sure he had his reasons and cared about me enough to prevent whatever. But it also made me feel like he thought I was weak. There are some things I want to prove to myself and others, but also, I promised myself that I'd protect Natsu the next time I see him. I can't just go back on my word and allow Natsu to go head onto a dark cult with members that can use Black Magic. I'm their natural enemy. "Just-"
"Ogama," I conjured up my scythe and intentionally slashed it right beside Natsu to demonstrate what I learned. I could tell from the look on his eyes that he knows that its not normal Magic and felt similar to the battles with Tartaros. I didn't want to be upset, but showing off power and passion were the things that could change Natsu's mind.
"F-Fine... but do me a favor...," he gave in and I released the Ogama scythe away. He went close up to my ear and whispered, "You can deal with Avatar... but don't fight with Gray."
Gray? I didn't know how he was randomly involved with this, but I had to promise at least that to tag along with Natsu. He suddenly just grabbed a hold of me and Lucy and took off. He was so bent on having Rogue and Frosch stay in town that he yelled back to Minerva to watch over them. Rogue looked pissed off, but whatever, he wasn't going to fight against a hard-headed Natsu. But it did make me curious to what Natsu knew that made him specifically target those two to protect from whatever Avatar had in store. And also Gray's involvement. After awhile, we took a break around a forest. I decided to find some higher ground to make sure we were headed in the right direction.
Natsu looked down at a defeated future Rogue. The Eclipse Gate had been destroyed which made every entity that had passed over from it to return to their original time. This Future Rogue's time is up and he had a few final words he had to say before disappearing.
"In a year...," he said to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Please tell 'me'... to protect Frosch and Clarion..."
"Clarion too?" Natsu questioned. It was already a change of character for this evil, future Rogue to beg someone he tried to harm just now. It was sort of sweet how he still cares about Frosch, his Exceed partner whom he loved so dearly. But with the addition of Clarion, it just sparked Natsu to be confused due to how random it seemed. He knows about her relationship with Sting, and naturally, Clarion would probably also be buddy buddy to his Dragon Slayer partner. But now's not the time to question that. More importantly, he should know why and what would happen to those two if he were to ignore this warning.
"Because... Gray will kill Frosch...," hearing his Ice-Make Mage guildmate's name twitched his ears. Now, suddenly, Gray is also involved? "... and leave Clarion comatose."
Getting a better view allowed me to see that if continue passing the forest, we would eventually hit a point where everything is just dead. In the distance, I was able to notice that the vegetation of the green trees would gradually dissipate, leaving just a leafless forest. This particular branch of Avatar just makes it obvious where their location is. They are probably confidant enough that their power and influence itself is enough to fend away from strong opponents who defy them. We weren't in any sort of rush and it would be wise if we saved up as much strength as we could to fight whoever comes in our way. Despite how far we have come, it still isn't smart to just be over-confidence and underestimate our target. Even if I'm a Black God Slayer, there is still a chance that it wouldn't matter to them. Who knows what they have up their sleeve.
By the time we made it over there, it was still bright outside, the day was still young. Natsu wanted to just barge in there without a plan (typical) only to have Lucy pull him away to also prevent Happy from just following whatever lack of plan he had. With what a Celestial Mage does best, Lucy summons her gold key spirit of Virgo who... appeared tied up for some reason that I didn't want to know.
"Star Dress: Virgo Form," a spell that I never seen Lucy do before. She had a symbol of the Gate of the Maiden on her shoulder and changed attire to a maid, similar to Virgo. This also surprised the dragon, exceed duo (more on the latter that it reminded them of a particularly scary armor-clad Titania).
"This dress enables her to use parts of my power and increase her Magic as well," Virgo explained with a cunning smile on her face.
"Wow, so cool," I couldn't help but enjoy the attributes of this new profound fighting style Lucy learned. I almost felt jealous. "I should've learned this from Satan instead of using a dumb scythe. I wonder how cool would that be to look share powers with a devil."
Saying that idea out loud only gave Natsu and Happy an even more terrified look. Maybe the thought of me taking form of one of my devils (particularly Satan) reminded them of a certain devilishly, powerful Takeover woman. Oh well. With Virgo and Lucy able to use Earth Magic to create tunnels, the rest of them followed their underground tunneling to the bottom of the Avatar building. But by the time we managed to sneak our way to their basement, Natsu immediately yelled out for Gray. His loud burst caused Lucy to, of course, be Lucy and scold her guildmate. I kinda wanted to do the same, since I thought we were doing the stealth method. But, Natsu is Natsu and we can't exactly take back the noise he caused. We could only brace ourselves of who will approach us first. Gray's confrontation would be saved for Natsu and Lucy, leaving me plenty of space to take out the rest of the Black Mages.
"He's here," Natsu said totally disregarding Lucy's raging panic just now. But his sense of smell could never lie, and that was enough to calm down Happy and Lucy to be prepared for imminent fights.
"Over there-," the moment I heard footsteps, I immediately moved my attention to one of the ceiling wall vents.
"Hey, what are you doing in our base?" emerging out from the shadows was a small body with a childish clown face. He was fully clothed with cloth-like material and a his head was also wrapped around looking almost like an over-sized turban. "Is this fun? This is fun to you?"
He was fumbling with something in his hands. Lucy and Happy especially recognize it as the curse doll used for the Lost Magic, Ushi no Koku Mairi. I assumed that Kain fought with them during their invasion on Tenrou Island for them to know what that doll really is for. The small brat was entertained at the thought that we knew of that doll. He jumped down and tried to comment about the interesting world of Black Magic. But what I know about this Black Magic from my time in Grimoire Heart, you have to defeat your opponent before giving him the chance to alter the doll. But this guy had another thing coming. He quickly disappeared and jumped on top of my head. But before I could retaliate, he jumped right off and back into his original position.
"This is fun~" he said as he placed a single strand of my hair onto the doll. He showed it off to me as if he wanted to threaten me with it. This guy started laughing as he grabbed the doll's arm and twisted it.
"Nothing's happening," I nonchalantly said as the entire room was surprised by the lack of effect. I took a step closer to the little guy and his sweat drops could be visible. As I towered over him, he tried to smile it off as if he wasn't afraid.
"B-But my Black Magic!" he tried to argue.
"Can't compare to mine," I finished the sentence for him. In an instant, I took grabbed this Avatar member's head and slammed it and the rest of his body to the ground. With his small statue, he immediately fell unconscious on impact. The rest of the gang felt impressed at this. Because of my Black God Slayer Magic, it makes me immune to regular Black Magic. I got a load of confidence from knowing this, but I can't let it get to me. I heard more footsteps coming from the corridor.
"Abel!" out came a rather tall man with a bald head and shaggy eyebrows. He frantically cried out for his fallen comrade and cursed at us for intruding their domain. He seemed confident enough to start a fight against all of us with just him. Though, with my close proximity to the little guy, he probably correctly assumed I was the main culprit and targeted me. Suddenly appearing were various types of weapons and torture machines. I should probably guess that this is also a form of Black Magic, but I was disappointed that it was more of a Holder Magic than a Caster kind. Ushi no Koku Mairi had no affect on me, but without Black Magic, these devices are just normal objects. He threw a bunch of those barbaric toys at me senselessly. He had no tact at all with his attacking method. All I had to do was just side step to avoid them. It really bothered me how a guy like this was possibly an elite member of Avatar. After realizing his assault was useless, he conjured up another device called the 'wooden dragon'.
"Looks more like a deer...," I said as I simply stopped the incoming animal figure with my foot and took a closer look. But he took advantage of me letting my guard down (and bit of arrogance) and started making hand gestures which caused the deer thing to transform.
"It's actually an iron maiden!"
I took a step back, but not before a casket with spikes on the inside appeared all around me. As it closed it on me, I could hear the cries of everyone's concern over my well-being. But I still felt like I was in control of this situation. If this guy wanted to fight with torture machines, then I'll just fight back with my own.
"Black God's Guillotine," a spell I last used during my fight against one of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. Using this particular spell allowed my arms and legs to form blades of Black Magic as attachments. With this, I was able to twist my body around to cut through the iron maiden much to the surprise of my opponent. As I freed myself from the apparatus, I pointed the blades to the Torture Mage. "Your instruments are just meant for torture, but a guillotine is designed for execution."
I had no intention of using my guillotine spell to cause any bodily harm, just to escape this guy's attempt to eliminate me. He looked like he had no other way of countering any of my attacks and stood still. I quickly retracted out the mini guillotines and gave a full frontal punch to the guy which caused him to fly back and hit the wall behind him. Immediately after, I felt a presence appear behind me. I slightly moved my head to see that there was another Avatar figure behind me and lunging toward me. It was his downfall to allow his entire body fully exposed. All I had to do was to follow my body's own momentum and fall forward on my hands, and while doing so, I was able to give this new opponent a direct kick as I did a flip.
"She's... strong...," Virgo compliment as she awed over my one-sided battle against three Avatar members.
"Hell yeah she is," Natsu smiled as he held a fist in his hands. "I'm getting fired up!"
"I-Im...possible!" the guy with the torture machines coughed out. "We-We're all Black Mages!"
"She's a Black God Slayer," we heard a familiar voice coming down the stairwell. "She's on a whole other level above the likes of you."
"Yo," Natsu greeted with a battle hungry smile. "You've been well?"
"I'll deal with you myself," appearing was no other than Gray himself, but with a completely different look than what we probably last remember. Not only was his new get up a change, but also his demeanor. My body naturally gravitated close to him with the intention of knocking some sense into him. But Natsu held my arm back, reminding me about the promise of not getting into any altercation with the Ice Mage. Natsu walked past me as he made me tag out of the fighting scene. I couldn't help but worry. The aura that Gray was emitting was definitely not human. But as I turned around, the two immediately commenced a battle with each other. I suppose there had to be something that never changes. I minded my own business as I watched the two throw punches and what not at each other. Lucy seemed to be against them fighting, but I was understanding that sometimes, fighting is their own way of having a conversation (especially when it comes to Natsu). But it was difficult keeping up with their conversation. Gray was acting cold and didn't want anything to do with Fairy Tail.
"I will go my way, and you go yours," Gray retorted back at Natsu for trying to reaffirm Fairy Tail's existence, how we are all still bound together by the guild. "Fairy Tail is no longer a part of me. So could you please drop the whole BFF act on me?"
That statement definitely stung the chest, but I wasn't the only one. I had to hold myself back due to Natsu's promise, but Lucy did the job for me by stepping forward and slapping him across the face (you go girl). She gave him a quick, hard lecture about everything he was saying, but before she could say any more, Lucy fell to the ground cringing around her abdominal area. She looked like she was in terrible pain as I dropped down to her side.
"Mary?" Gray called out. Looking behind his was a petite, young woman smiling ever so happily.
"Who are you people?" she questioned. "Gray's friends from before? The ones from the guild that doesn't exist anymore?"
That comment really pushed me over the edge as I lunged straight at her. She kept on smiling as I got closer to her, preparing to land a punch right at her face. But became really shocked when she was forced to back away, causing me to miss her cheek and hitting the wall behind her instead. Apparently she was expecting me to go down like Lucy did, but if it was Black Magic she was using on her, then it has no affect on me.
"Be careful Mary!" I heard the voice of that bald man again followed by sounds of shackles and chains. Look back, I saw that he managed to subdue Natsu and Virgo using Magic sealing cuffs. However, Natsu still had physically strength and caused quite a bit of trouble for the torture guy to keep him down."She can nullify Black Magic!"
"Don't move," I heard a new voice and looked back around to where Gray and Lucy was to see that she had a sword to her by another Avatar member. The pink-haired Mary girl took this opportunity to kneel down before Lucy and sadistically smile at her pain and then mock the rest of us for being weak like the coward she was being. But in this sort of hostage situation, I can't risk Lucy's safety and I'm forced to stop fighting. Magic seals were then placed onto me, I suppose this was karma for me being so overconfident and relying on my Magic to defeat Avatar. I didn't expect to be put in the situation where my Magic would be sealed, but I guess this was my own fault for not being careful.
"This is what you get for sticking your nose in other people's business," Gray coldly criticized and all I could do was ball my frustration in my fists. So far, 'Operation: Bring Back Fairy Tail' has started off horribly.
Thanks for reading! I'm happy I got this chapter out before school starts picking up... hopefully there won't be a big delay for the next chapter.
