Notes: This is the last chapter I've written so far at the time I post this. So, its going to take longer before the next chapter is published (not too long hopefully). It took me a few months to write these first twelve chapters originally. I appreciate the people who have followed the story so far, and have taken the time to comment. Also, if anyone has any constructive criticism to add, that is also welcome, as I have said before. I know this story has flaws, and could be better in some ways. If anyone has any opinions about what they like or dislike about the story, feel free to say so. Although, trolling/flaming/baiting will be ignored/deleted. To everyone else, thanks for reading so far.
An old enemy had come to visit Fairy Tail. A peaceful night at the guild suddenly turned violent. The dark guild known as Raven Tail stood outside the entrance to the Fairy Tail guild. There were five of them, including Ivan Dryer, the leader of the guild. The red headed woman was using her long red hair to hold Levy. Several Fairy Tail members, including Makarov, were on the other side of the door, standing off with the unwelcome guests. Makarov grit his teeth in anger.
"What do you think you're doing Ivan? Let her go now." Makarov said. Ivan just sneered. "Why should I do that? I have a hostage, which means you have to listen to me." Ivan said. Makarov's anger deepened.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but you won't get away with this. You shouldn't have come here." Makarov said. Jet and Droy, the other members of Levy's team known as Shadowgear, had come rushing over when they heard Levy was in danger. "You better not hurt Levy, or we'll make you regret it!" Droy said. Ivan just scoffed at this. He turned to the red headed woman. "Flare, they don't seem to take this seriously. Maybe they need convincing." Ivan said. Flare grinned widely with an insane look on her face. Her hair around Levy tightened, and part of it wrapped around her throat. For further emphasis, the tips of her hair ignited into flame, coming just an arm's length from Levy's face. Flare turned her sadistic expression to the Fairy members at the door. "Better do as he says, or she dies." Flare said bluntly. Makarov's face became stony.
"Ivan. Listen to me. Whatever you're planning, you can't win here. I'm going to give you one chance to leave. Put her down, and walk away, and you'll leave unharmed. But if you don't, you will regret it." Makarov looked ready for a fight." Ivan's expression faltered. He suddenly looked unsure. He looked at the Fairy Tail mages gathered, some of them quite powerful. Ivan moved back a step. "Well, I…" Ivan began. Before Ivan said anything else, a hand touched his arm. It was the hooded/masked man. It wasn't a very noticeable gesture. In fact, Makarov was the only one who really noticed it. Makarov took note of the masked man. He was wearing a long brown robe, which appeared to be made of leather. He wore a mask that covered his whole head, also brown leather. The mask seemed to have symmetrical designs on the front. The man's real eyes were covered by large white circles set into the mask. Ivan still appeared uncertain. The masked man's grip on Ivan tightened a little. Makarov also thought he saw the man's "eyes" glow a blueish color. But it was hard to tell in the dim lighting. After a few seconds, Ivan's expression changed again. He looked back up at Makarov, with a slightly crazed look on his face. "You want me to run away? That won't happen. I won't back down, old man. I want you to come out here, alone, and face me or she dies!" he said, pointing to Levy. Flare, holding Levy, saw some of the mages preparing to attack, some of them charging their magic. "Don't try anything, or I'll snap her neck! I'll do it." She said, becoming more wary.
Makarov tried to quickly process all of this. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Ivan do this? I know he hates Fairy Tail, but this kind of reckless, head on challenge isn't his style. He's a schemer and a cheater. And that masked man… who is he? Makarov thought these things while Ivan was making his threats. The thought that Ivan was being manipulated somehow had suddenly occurred to Makarov, which changed the situation. It made things more dangerous and unpredictable. Makarov held up a hand.
"Fine. I'll come out. You better not hurt her though." He said. Makarov slowly stepped out of the guild. "You can't be serious." Macao said from further back. "Master, please be careful." Mirajane said. As Makarov walked out, the masked man looked inside the guild, and noticed Seraiisa standing behind the other mages, watching all of this. He seemed to be staring straight at her. Mirajane noticed this, and walked over to Seraiisa. "Maybe you should go into the back until this is over. It could be dangerous for you here." Seraiisa looked up. "Don't worry about me. You need to worry about Levy. She needs help." Mirajane nodded. "Yeah."
Makarov walked up to Ivan. They locked eyes. The other members of Raven Tail had backed up a little, giving the two of them some room. "Well? What do you want?" Makarov asked. Ivan smiled.
"That's simple. I want your guild. I want you to surrender Fairy Tail to me."
Back at the site of the ruins, near Nirvana, Team Fairy Tail were talking with Racer, while his companion slept nearby. The rain was picking up again, but the trees and ruined buildings offered some shelter. The rain and the dark created an oppressive atmosphere around them. Gray once again took charge with asking questions.
"First of all, your leader Brain; where is he right now?" Gray asked Racer. Racer looked at him. "He went off to investigate. He didn't say when he'd be back. Not that I would help you ambush him or anything." Racer said.
"What is he investigating.?" Gray said. Racer turned his head in the direction of nirvana, still surrounded by the magic barrier. "What do you think?"
"So, that wasn't you? You're saying it was this 'outside faction' that did it?" Gray said.
"Probably. I mean, I didn't see them do it, but we sure as hell didn't do it." Racer said. The others looked at the giant machine, as well as whatever was built around it. "They must have built that pretty fast if they did it under your nose like that. I mean, I can't imagine the Oracion Seis would just allow some outsiders to come in and put up something like that. Especially if it messes up your plans." Gray said. Racer nodded without saying anything.
"Hey, I have a question." Lucy said at the bottom of the steps. "What happened to the other members of Oracion Seis? You said they injured you? Why?" Lucy said to Racer. Racer sat there, not looking at anyone. Then he spoke; "Yeah, I did say that. I don't know if I should tell you. But I guess if I do, you could go kick their asses for me." Racer looked at team Fairy Tail, up and down. "Then again, they'd probably destroy you. But I guess that'd be good too. Maybe you'll wipe each other out." Racer said.
"Are you gonna tell us or not?" Gray said impatiently. Racer appeared to consider. "Yeah, sure. I've got nothing better to do. Alright, I'll tell you what happened. At least as far as I know." The group gathered closer to hear the story.
"You want me to what?" Makarov said incredulously.
"You heard me. I want your guild. I should be the master. And I will banish you, just as you did me." Ivan said.
Makarov shook his head. "You must be out of your mind. Do you honestly expect me to do that? Give Fairy Tail to you? And do you expect anyone in that guild to follow you?" Ivan grimaced, and his eye twitched. "They'll follow me because I'm the guildmaster! They'll have to obey! And if they don't, they'll be cast out." Ivan ranted. Makarov was still angry about what was happening, but despite himself he couldn't help but feel some concern too. He knew that Ivan was behaving strangely. Makarov noticed that at least a few of the other Raven Tail members looked concerned too. But he also knew that Levy was still in danger.
"Why don't we settle this, man to man? Just you and me." Makarov said. Ivan shook his head. "You don't tell me what to do." He said. He then raised his hand, and prepared a spell. He was calling on his shikigami magic. Makarov prepared a defense. A blast of energy shot through the air. It hit the ground near Flare, knocking her off her feet. Her grip on Levy loosened. The blast hadn't come from Makarov or Ivan, or anyone inside the guild for that matter. Everyone looked around in confusion. In the middle of this confusion, Levy scrambled to her feet and ran towards the entrance. Two of the Raven Tail mages ran after her. Elfman rushed out and charged them. Levy ran past him, back into the guild. At that point, a brawl broke out. Mages were throwing spells. Ivan summoned his magic power, but Makarov used his light magic to push back Ivan. By now, the Fairy Tail mages were rushing out to deal with Raven Tail, now that they no longer had a hostage.
Inside the guild, Mirajane was watching this unfold. She turned to Seraiisa beside her. Seraiisa had a sour expression on her face. "This should be over shortly. They're no match for Fairy Tail." Mirajane assured her. "Yeah." was all Seraiisa said. The two of them saw Raven Tail trying to mount an offense, but were being quickly overwhelmed by Fairy Tail. The fight would be over soon.
Something suddenly crashed through one of the windows of the guild. It was a large creature, laying on the floor, surround by broken glass. It slowly got to its feet. It was a big green bird. Levy, now inside the guild, recognized it. "It's a clipper. And… it looks like one of those modified ones that Gray and Lucy saw before. What is it doing here?" The creature turned towards Levy, and screeched. Levy backed off, and framed a spell. It stepped towards her, and she used solid script magic to hit it with a blast of ice. It stepped back, but appeared mostly unharmed. It became more aggressive and used its wings to hover a few feet off the ground. It was suddenly hit with a blast of small explosions, knocking it back to the ground.
"We can take this thing together." Cana said. She had been hanging back until the monster bird came in, and then she began preparing her cards. However, two more of the birds crashed through Fairy Tail's windows. These got up quicker then the first one. Other mages joined in the fray. Macao, Alzack, Bisca, Nab, and a few others were all dealing with the intruders. One of the clippers leapt towards Macao. He jumped out of the way as it smashed through a table. He countered the attack by shooting blue flames at it, injuring it. Cana threw a card at it that burst into flames, further burning it. It screeched and staggered towards them. But Levy used her magic to turn her words into a heavy boulder, crushing it underneath. The sound of bones being broken could be heard. It seemed unlikely to get up, although it was twitching.
Outside, Raven Tail was being beaten. Elfman had just punched the small pink skinned man, knocking him unconscious. Ivan was laying on the ground, with Makarov standing over him. Laki was also nearby, along with a few other Fairy Tail members. The three remaining Raven Tail members were trying to back off and regroup, but were surrounded. The masked man tilted his head, and Flare readied her long hair, igniting it. She looked much less confident now though. "You should have surrendered when you had the chance." Makarov said. "Too late now." Elfman added. He turned into his beast form to prepare to finish them. The fight was about to end. Except it didn't end.
Slowly approaching the Fairy tail guild from the front was a group of people. And some animals too. They were walking slowly, but clearly straight for the guild with a purpose. As they got closer, it became apparent that something was wrong with them. Pale, bleached skin, off-colored eyes, and in some cases deformities, like arms covered in large veins or scales. Everyone had stopped the fight to watch this. Makarov turned to Raven Tail and said, "What is this? Is this part of your plan too?" But Flare and the dark haired man looked just as surprised and unnerved by this as Fairy Tail. Flare shook her head. The masked man was harder to read, and didn't make any obvious movements.
Laki pointed towards the approaching group. "Is that a rollidillo? Its like what Gray and Lucy described. All freakish looking."
"Yeah, and I see a few dogs with them too." Elfman observed. He was still in his beast form. They watched the group approach, preparing for another fight. But the approaching threat suddenly stopped moving. They stood there, as if waiting for something. Then some of them parted to make way for something. Several figures stepped through. In front was what appeared to be a man in unusually ornate samurai armor. The armor was colored black and gold. The hard rain pelted off of his armor, while streetlights beamed down on him, giving him a ghostly looking visage. He was flanked by several other men, also in samurai armor. Their armor was less impressive looking though, and black and grey colored.
The samurai in black and gold armor stepped forward, stopping several yards from the entrance of the guild. He crossed his arms in a commanding gesture. He spoke in a deep, harsh sounding voice. "Go ahead. Finish Raven Tail. They have served their purpose." He said. This statement was greeted with confusion from Fairy Tail. Makarov spoke up. "Who are you? What are you doing here? And what have you done to these people?" This last question referred to the freakish looking people that had preceded the samurai. They were still standing there with mostly vacant stares. The samurai turned to look at Makarov. He was wearing a helmet with mask, so his face couldn't be seen.
"You may call me Lord Yoshimoto. These… people, are under our control, and do our bidding. And why I am here? The unconditional surrender of your guild. Fairy Tail." He spoke the guild's name derisively. Makarov narrowed his eyes.
"Did you send Raven Tail here? Do they work for you?" Makarov asked.
Yoshimoto shook his head. "They do not 'work' for us. Although, we are responsible for them being here." With his statement, he turned his head towards the masked man with Raven Tail. As if on cue, the masked man walked away from Raven Tail, and moved towards Yoshimoto's group. He stopped a few feet from the samurai, and bowed to him. The significance of this became apparent.
"You're working for them?!" Flare said. Her dark-haired companion shook his head. "What the hell is going on here?" he said. "That's actually a pretty good question." Elfman said.
"Truthfully, I was hoping they would keep you occupied longer." The samurai lord continued. "But it appears they were more incompetent than I thought. No matter. Our forces are now gathered. Now… Surrender, or die. Choose quickly." He concluded.
"We don't even know who you are, and you expect us to surrender to you?" Makarov said.
"We are your betters. That is all you need to know." The samurai said.
"Screw that." Elfman said. He tensed, preparing for another fight. Suddenly, everyone else started tensing too. "Screw all of this, I'm out of here." The dark-haired Raven Tail member said. He began running, heading for a small gap left by the enemy force.
"Kurohebi, wait!" Flare shouted. The man named Kurohebi ignored her and continued running. He reached the gap. He made it past some of the monster people, but was abruptly struck with something. It was a sword in his abdomen. One of the black and grey samurai had caught him, and impaled him. The sword came out covered in blood, quickly washed away in the rain. He fell to the ground, arms wrapped around his midsection. He quickly stopped moving.
Master Makarov watched this all play out. "He may have been our enemy, but he didn't deserve to die. You crossed a line." He said. "Fool." Was Yoshimoto's only response. The samurai around him drew their swords, and the Fairy Tail mages prepared various spells. "That's enough!" a voice said. Everyone stopped. The voice had come from inside of the guild. Everyone turned. It was a man standing behind Mirajane and Seraiisa. Somehow, he had appeared in the guild without anyone noticing. As Mirajane turned and saw him, her initial reaction was that one of the enemy had snuck in, so she pulled Seraiisa behind her to protect her. But after just a second, she realized that she knew the person standing in front of her. It was Mystogan.
"You!" Mirajane said. Mystogan stood before her, unreadable with his face covered. "Its time you told the truth." he said in a husky voice. Mirajane looked confused. "The truth? What do you mean?"
Mystogan appeared to look past her. "I wasn't talking to you." He pointed at Seraiisa. "I was talking to you."
Seraiisa knitted her brows, but said nothing. Mystogan persisted. "I've been following this girl and her family for some time now."
"You've been following her!?" Mirajane said, clearly unhappy. Mystogan held up a hand. "Let me finish. She's not what you think. She's with them." He said, pointing to the gathered enemy force outside the guild. The enemy outside wasn't sure what to make of Mystogan's sudden appearance, and stayed their ground for the moment. Mirajane shook her head.
"That's not true." She said.
"It is. She's been spying for them, giving them information. You had to have known something was off about her." Mystogan said. Mirajane became quiet. She slowly turned to Seraiisa. Mirajane didn't ask the question. She just looked at Seraiisa. Seraiisa slowly looked up at Mirajane. She had a strange expression on her face. She was smiling, but her eyes looked a little sad. "Sorry Mira. I didn't want it to happen this way. I hope we can still be friends." They stood for a moment, looking at each other. Then, Mirajane knelt down and put her hands on Seraiisa's shoulders.
"You don't have to do this. I know you're just a kid. Whatever your family told you, whatever they told you…" Mirajane looked at the hostile crowd as she said this. "… You have a choice. Fairy Tail is full of good people. We can talk about this. Your family isn't here, but I am." Seraiisa shook her head.
"Sorry, but you have a choice to make." Seraiisa said.
"Her family is here. Right now." Mystogan said. Mirajane looked up. Mystogan pointed towards someone outside. The man in the mask and hood. "Her brother."
"Her brother?" Mirajane said.
Mystogan began talking louder. "Her father is here too. Back there, with them. You should come out. Your daughter is here!" His words were heard by everyone. Makarov, Levy, Elfman, and the other mages heard him, and looked towards the opposing group.
Someone was coming through the group. The freakish men and women parted for him. He stepped through and walked up to Lord Yoshimoto. He was wearing a grey robe with a hood. "Give me a chance to speak to them first. Maybe I can convince them." The hooded man said. Yoshimoto stood there and regarded him. "You follow our orders. Remember your place." He said. The hooded man persisted. "I remember my lord. I only ask for a few minutes to speak with them. Please." Yoshimoto made a gesture indicating he was given permission.
"What is going on here?" said Cana, who had joined them outside the guild. She and the others had finished dealing with the monster clippers, albeit with extensive damage inside. "Maybe we're about to find out." Said Elfman. By now he had resumed his normal form, unable to stay transformed for a long time. The hooded man walked over to the gathered Fairy Tail mages. He stopped just a few feet from them. He removed his hood. It was indeed Seraiisa's father.
"Its true." Mirajane said. "Yes, it is." Seraiisa responded. Seraiisa walked past Mirajane and walked outside to join her father. As she walked up to him, they embraced. "Sorry I'm late." He said. Mirajane watched the two of them. The man who was apparently Seraiisa's brother remained in the distance, observing. "Please explain what's going on." Mirajane said, sounding distant.
"Mirajane, maybe you should let me handle this." Makarov said. Seraiisa shook her head. "No, I do owe you an explanation. I'm sorry Mirajane. I do like you. Really. But… your guild is sort of in our way." She said. Mirajane furrowed her brow. "In your way? What are you talking about?" Seraiisa looked down at the ground a moment, as if to gather her thoughts. She then looked back up at Mirajane.
"Do you remember what we talked about in the cemetery earlier? About bringing people back? And how that would require sacrifice? You said you would never be okay with that. I hope you change your mind about that." Seraiisa said. Mirajane had thought it was odd at the time that Seraiisa had brought that up. Then again, there were a number of odd things about Seraiisa and her father that were starting to make more sense now.
"Was this really all just an act? Were you lying the whole time?" Mirajane said, in a soft voice.
"Like I said, I do like you. I even came to like your guild. Mostly. I admit, it was my job to spy on you. That's why I came up to you at the market. But just because it started like that doesn't mean we can't be friends. And Mirajane, most of what I said was true. I just… left certain things out." Seraiisa said.
"I don't know what to think." Mirajane said. At this point Makarov cut in. "Tell me; who are you people?"
Seraiisa's father, Nikodias, smiled. "That is a long story. Too long to explain right now. Suffice to say, we are not originally from here. We come from another place and time."
"Another time?" Cana said.
"Yes. We were part of a great alliance. Lord Yoshimoto being one of our leaders. We hoped to change the world. But the world resisted. They didn't appreciate that great change requires great sacrifice." Nikodias said.
"By sacrifice you mean…" Makarov said.
"Lives. Many human lives." Nikodias said.
"Sounds like you were the bad guys." Elfman said bluntly. Nikodias looked at him disapprovingly. "You don't know the whole story." He said. A sharp sound could be heard in the distance. It was Yoshimoto, striking the ground with his sword. He was becoming impatient. "And like I said, there is no time to tell it." Nikodias said.
"Why attack Fairy Tail? Why now?" Makarov said.
"Fairy Tail is a threat. It has a reputation for getting involved in outside concerns. This is a preemptive strike. Although, I would have preferred to wait, and try a more diplomatic approach. But my superiors felt that this had to be dealt with tonight." Nikodias said.
"Why tonight?" Cana said.
"A few reasons. For one, there is the rain. Its raining heavily, and many people will be inside. That will make this easier, and with less distractions. There is also the matter of the coalition."
"The coalition?" Mirajane asked.
"Yes. We knew that you would be sending several powerful mages out to fight the Oracion Seis. That would leave you vulnerable. Along with the other guilds in the coalition." Nikodias explained.
"Other guilds?" Mirajane said. Does that mean that Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Cait Shelter have been attacked too? Mirajne thought. Nikodias didn't respond to her last question. The sound of the other samurai readying their weapons could be heard. They were getting ready to attack.
"I'm sorry, but we're out of time. You need to decide. Surrender, and many of you may be allowed to join us. Or resist, and watch your guild destroyed." Nikodias said. Seraiisa quickly spoke up. "We're doing good Mirajane. Really. We're going to save lives. Conquer death. But before that, people will have to die. Nothing comes without sacrifice."
Mirajane looked down, with a sad expression. "I could never agree to that." She said simply.
"Yeah, me neither." Elfman agreed.
"Fools." Nikodias said. He turned to his daughter. "I'm sorry Seraiisa, but I warned you this might happen." Seraiisa nodded. "I know." She turned to Mirajane. "I do like you Mira, but you're making the wrong choice." Seraiisa said it softly, but with a hint of judgement. Mirajane looked down at the ground.
"Did I ever even know you?" She said. There was a silence for several seconds, aside from the rain. Then Nikodias spoke; "Time is up. You had your chance."
"You won't win. We will beat you. It is true we're missing some powerful mages right now." Makarov said. He began talking louder, so that the rest of the guild could here. "But all of us together will fight you. And we will win, because we will never let Fairy Tail die." After he said this, the rest of the guild cheered, and several more members stepped outside to prepare for a fight. They were all ready.
"Nice speech. But completely wrong." It wasn't Seraiisa or her father who said this. Nor was it Yoshimoto. It was a feminine voice coming from behind Yoshimoto. The women stepped forwards, standing beside him. She was a young woman holding a white umbrella. She was wearing a white feathered dress. She also had white hair, and fair skin. She was small, but looked very confident. She spoke again. "Hello Fairy Tail. Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Angel, formerly of the Oracion Seis." The mention of the Oracion Seis got a surprised reaction out of Fairy Tail. Angel smiled viciously. She held up a celestial key in one hand. "This will be over soon." She said.
"Just so you know, I'm not much of a storyteller." Racer said. He was now sitting against a wall, while his companion known as Midnight continued to sleep nearby. The group had gathered in the ruined building, and set down the light lacrima on the floor. The glow of the light surrounded by the dark and rain gave the setting a feeling of sitting around a campfire telling stories. Which wasn't too far off. They were sitting in a loose circle by the light. Except for Gajeel, who was standing and keeping an eye out for anything.
"We're not asking for poetry, just tell us what happened." Gray said. Lucy, sitting close to him, moved a little closer and whispered to him, "Are you sure this is safe? What if that guy over there wakes up? What if this 'Brain' guy comes back? Can we handle that?" Gray side eyed her. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, Gajeel's watching things."
"Oh, that makes feel better." Lucy said sarcastically.
"Hey love birds, you want me to tell you what happened or not?" Racer said.
"Shut up and start talking." Gray said. Racer snorted. "Yeah. Sure." He put his hands behind his head, and looked up at the broken ceiling. "Alright. Let's see. Where should I start? We knew that there some outsiders in this area for a little while now. But we left them alone at first. As long as they didn't interfere with us. I hadn't seen them myself, but Cobra and Hoteye did. They said these guys just seemed like some weirdos wandering around. They were told to get lost anyway though." Racer looked back at the group around him. He paused.
"Anyway… I'm not going to drag this out. A few days ago, there was an incident. A big one." He paused again, this time longer.
"Well, what happened?" Gray said. Racer looked into the distance. "I hate to air the guild's dirty laundry like this. But hell, I'm not even sure there is still a guild anymore. Anyway…" He began again.
So, me and the rest of the guild were out investigating the area, preparing for Nirvana, and preparing for you guys showing up. We knew about that ahead of time. Brain and Midnight weren't there though. They had other things they needed to do. So, me, Angel, Hoteye, and Cobra had all gone our own ways, scouting out the area, and checking in with some of the other guilds working for us. I spent about an hour walking around different points. It was about time to touch base with the others. So, I headed towards the rendezvous point. It was a clearing by a river. I didn't see anyone there. I sat down on a boulder and rested a minute. I was bored so I started watching the fish in the river.
"Is there a point to this?" Gray interrupted.
"I'm getting to it." Racer said.
I got distracted for a minute. But I suddenly noticed I wasn't alone. I looked up and saw Angel. She's one of the other Oracion Seis. I got up to ask her what she had seen, but then I realized she wasn't alone. There were a few other people with her. In robes and hoods. At first, I thought maybe they were one of the dark guilds working for us, but I didn't recognize them. They were wearing grey and brown robes with weird symbols on them. I asked Angel who they were. She had this weird look on her face. She said, "These are some new allies."
"New allies?" I didn't know what she was talking about.
"Yes. They can be a great help to us. And we can help them too." Angel said.
"I don't remember Brain saying anything about this." I said.
"He doesn't know yet." Angel said. That surprised me.
"What do you mean? You know Brain's the one who makes decisions like that. Who are these people anyway?" I was feeling confused and annoyed by that point. Angel smiled at me. "I think there's someone else who can explain it better. Someone you have to meet." She turned and looked at the trees at the edge of the clearing. There were more of these robe guys there. They started walking closer.
"Okay, I want to know what's going on right now." I said.
"Me too." Someone behind me said that. I turned, and it was Cobra, another one of us. "What's going on Angel?" he said.
"I was just telling Racer about these-" Angel started to say, but Cobra cut her off.
"They're outsiders. Brain isn't going to like this." He said.
"You think he'll be angry?" Angel said.
"I know it. And you should too. What's the matter with you?" Cobra again.
At this point, the second group had gotten close. Oh, and Hoteye was there too. I just noticed him. "Hoteye, don't tell me…" I started to say.
"These are wonderful people. Just wonderful. You have to get to know them." He said. I just groaned. Cobra looked at Angel, and then back at Hoteye.
"I see. This must be some kind of mind control. That's the only thing that makes sense. We'll have to deal with this." Cobra said. He looked like he was getting ready for a fight. He also had his big snake Cubellios with him. The snake started hissing like it was ready to fight too.
"It is not mind control." Someone said. It was one of the hooded guys. Or, hooded woman I should say, going by the voice. She was with the group with Hoteye. She took her hood off. Definitely a woman. And a really pretty one too. I couldn't tell what she looked like under the robe, but from the neck up she was gorgeous. Like a model. She had long, blond, curly hair. She was tall too. Had to be around six feet.
"Who the hell are you?" Cobra said. The blond woman smiled at him, showing her teeth. It was pretty, but somehow kind of scary looking too. Her lips were blood red, and so were her nails. Her eyes were blue. But the whites in her eyes were all reddish, like they were really bloodshot or something. Kind of creepy.
"My name is Boudica. And what should I call you?" she asked.
"Cobra. Now you better explain what you're doing here real fast, and you better make it good, or that's the last name you're ever going to hear." Cobra said.
"Erik don't talk to her like that. Listen to what she has to say." Angel said this. "Don't use our real names you fool." Cobra said. Boudica spoke up. "We are on a mission. A mission to save the world." Cobra made a sound, like he didn't think much of that.
"Sounds like your mission and our mission are at odds with each other. That won't do." He said.
"And what is your mission?" Boudica said.
"Destruction, chaos. Turning light to darkness. That's all you need to know." Cobra said. Boudica smiled, this time no teeth. "Our goals might not be as different as you think, Cobra. Sometimes death and destruction can lead to a great rebirth. On our journey, much blood will be shed. But in the end, many will be saved. We will create a world where each person can become something greater than what they are now. A world where you never have to lose the people most important to you. And whatever you have lost can be restored. A world of miracles." Boudica finished talking.
For a minute Cobra said nothing. He just stood there. His expression was hard to read. It seemed like he was thinking about something. But then he smiled. "I get it. You're a cult. You're some crazy religious group, and you're looking for disciples. Hate to disappoint you lady, but I ain't interested." Boudica didn't seem bothered by this. Just amused.
"You think it can't be done? You want proof? I'll show you." she said.
At this point, Racer stopped telling the story. He sat there, and picked up a canteen and started drinking. He sat back. "What happened then?" Gray said. Racer looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Hey, I've been talking for a while, give me a few minutes. I'm thirsty." He took another drink of water. "Man, it was just starting to get interesting." Lucy said. Meanwhile, Wendy and Carla were sitting together. Carla had pulled out something to eat, and was trying to get Wendy to eat something too. "You need to keep up your strength." Carla said.
"I'm not really hungry though. Maybe later." Wendy said. Wendy looked around, feeling uncomfortable in this dark place. At least my new friends are here with me, she thought. She noticed something in the corner of the room. It appeared to be some kind of stick with a skull on top. And the skull had what looked like a wig, or feathers attached. Wendy thought it was a little creepy. She turned to Carla.
"Hey Carla, what do you think of that?" Wendy said, pointing in the direction of the stick. Carla looked. "Think of what? She said. "That skull on a stick." Wendy turned towards the corner, and saw no skull-stick there. "Wait, what? I could've sworn…"
"You're seeing things child. Its the shadows and rain playing tricks." Carla said. Wendy looked concerned, but said nothing.
"Alright, so where was I? Oh yeah." Racer began.
So, me and Cobra were standing there, waiting to see what this chick did. Of course, I was preparing to attack in case she tried something, and I'm pretty sure cobra was too. She opened her robe. She was wearing a dress underneath. But she pulled a knife out of a pocket in the robe. She cut her arm, and her chest. There were lines of blood. But then she put her hands together. Her eyes started glowing gold. The wounds healed up quickly.
I looked at Cobra. He smirked. "Impressive healing magic. I didn't think anyone could still do that. But that doesn't mean you're special." I guess he wasn't impressed. She folded her arms. She turned to one of the guys with her, and said something to him I couldn't hear. He raised a hand towards something nearby in the grass. The thing in the grass shot over to his hand. It was a rabbit. He handed it to her. She took it in one hand, and held the knife in the other. I won't go into detail, but she used it to cut the rabbit's head off. It was a sharp knife, and it was quick.
"Gross. Didn't need to hear that." Lucy said. Racer ignored her and continued with his story.
So, we watched this happen. Cobra said, "Was that supposed to impress me?" The woman, Boudica, put the carcass on the ground. She got on her knees. She put the head next to the body. She put her hands over them both. A golden glow came out of her hands. There was this white light around the corpse. And then, the head reattached to the body. It healed with only a small scar to show what had happened. The thing blinked, and got up. Started moving around. It was alive again. It sounds crazy, but there it was. It seemed weird though. Confused, and lost. I don't know. Something off about it. Boudica picked it up and held it in her arms. She stood up.
"What do you think, Cobra? Are you now impressed?" she said. I looked over at Cobra. 'Impressed' isn't the word I would use to describe how he looked. He looked a little freaked. I mean, I could relate, but I wasn't used to seeing Cobra like that. "This is some black magic shit." He said. Boudica smiled. Pretty, but still a little scary. "No, not black magic. The opposite. Divine magic. Beautiful. Miraculous." Angel spoke up. "Exactly. She can perform miracles. Like… an angel." As if to emphasize what Angel said, Boudica spread her arms, and golden 'wings' came out of her back. Not feathers or anything, just light or energy or something. But I could see why Angel was so impressed with her. She looked like she might cry. Not sure about Hoteye though. Boudica petted the rabbit, and then let it go. It started to run off, but then turned around and came back, looking up at her. I stepped over to Cobra.
"Hey, what do you think of all this?" I whispered to him. He looked at me. "I don't know. I can't hear what she's thinking." He said.
"You can't?" I said.
"No. I don't know why. I can hear the other guys though. They're mostly just thinking how great she is, and how much better they're going to make things."
"I don't like this at all. We should go tell Brain." I said.
"Yeah." Cobra agreed. Boudica was staring at us. They all were. "What do you two want? What is your greatest wish? Tell me. Maybe then you'll believe." She said. I didn't want to tell her anything. I wanted to get the others. But Cobra spoke up. "You can't grant my wish. None of you can."
"But what if I could?" she said.
Cobra shrugged. "Then I'd believe you. If you could do that, maybe you could do all those amazing things you say." Boudica looked at him with her red and blue eyes. "Tell me." She said in a husky voice. Cobra seemed to think it over for a minute. He tilted his head a little. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you. If you manage to give me what I want, then I'll believe you. You're some kind of miracle woman, maybe even divine. But if you can't, then me, Racer, and Cubellios will make you pay for interfering in our business. Got it?" The woman nodded. I didn't know what to make of all this. Everything was happening so fast.
Cobra looked down at his snake. Its like his best friend. I'm not gonna pretend I fully understand it, but… Anyway, Cobra told her what he wanted. "I want to hear the voice of my friend, Cubellios. I can hear the thoughts of so many people around me. But not hers. I want to hear her. If you can do that, then I guess you really are something special." Boudica put her finger to her chin, looking like she was thinking about it. Then she said, "I believe that I can help you. But in this case, I might need a little help myself." She looked back towards the group behind her, apparently signaling another one of her flunkies to help her with something. Cobra made a noise, like he was unimpressed.
"You're supposed to have divine power, but you need help from these peons?" he said. Just as he said that, someone stepped out from the group. It was another person in a robe and hood, except smaller than I was expecting. And by smaller, I mean it was a kid. About the same age as that blue haired girl you got with you, in fact. The kid took off the hood. It was a little girl, with long black hair, and weird eyes. No color. Just grey. She had this white robe with strange symbols on it too.
"There's nothing wrong with a little teamwork. Right?" The little girl said this, while looking at Boudica. Boudica smiled at her and said, "right."
"And I don't know what a 'peon' is, but it sounds like an insult. I hope I can prove you wrong, Erik." The girl said with a smile. Cobra bristled at the girl calling him by his real name.
"What is this?" Cobra said.
"This is Seraiisa. She's an important part of our cause. She's going to help you." Boudica said.
"I thought we were going to help him." The little girl said.
"We are, but you're going to do the important part."
Suddenly, Gray interrupted Racer's narrative. "Hold on. You said this girl's name is Seraiisa? And she wears a white robe with symbols on it?"
Racer looked confused. "Uh, yeah. What of it?"
"Shit. Its got to be the same girl." Gray said.
"What girl? What are you talking about, Gray?" Juvia said. Gray looked over at her. "Mirajane and Elfman met this kid named Seraiisa. Mirajane apparently got pretty friendly with her. Claimed she and her family were interested in Fairy Tail. Guess now we know why."
"Hold on, we don't know the whole story. We don't know if these people are bad. We've only got this guy's word to go on." Lucy said, pointing her thumb at Racer.
"Hey, 'this guy' can hear you." Racer said. Lucy didn't seem to care.
"Either way, we're going to need to check in with the guild as soon as possible. Just in case." Gray said.
"Agreed. But in the meantime, maybe we should let Mr. Racer finish telling his story." Juvia said.
"Yeah, thanks." Racer said sarcastically, and took another drink from his canteen. "Alright, let's wrap this up." He said, and continued again with the story.
So, the little girl walked up to Cobra. She said, "To do this, I'm going to need to touch your head, and the snake too." Cobra looked over at me, and gave me a weird look. But then he shrugged, and called Cubellios over, getting it to cooperate. "This better not be a trick." He said.
"No tricks. Promise." The kid said. She did look a little uncomfortable with the snake near her. But then the blond woman walked up behind Seraiisa and knelt down. She put her hands on the kid's shoulders, and closed her eyes. She started glowing gold again, but now the glow was… moving into the kid, or something. She started glowing too. Especially the eyes. Gold. I guess it did look kinda angelic, but for some reason I was still a little creeped out by it. Boudica stood up and stepped back. Seraiisa looked up at Cobra and smiled. She didn't look uncomfortable anymore.
"Kneel down." She said. It was strange. Her voice had a slight reverb to it or something. Cobra hesitated a bit, but knelt down. He got the snake to lower its head too. Seraiisa put her hands on both their heads. The glow got brighter. I squinted. The girl looked like she was concentrating on something. This lasted about a minute, then the glow faded. The girl took her hands off them. She stepped back and said, "Done." She looked at Cobra, waiting for a reply. Cobra got up slowly, and looked down at the girl.
"You know what kid? I don't buy into this divine, religious crap. I don't think you're going to save the world or anything. But I don't care. I… hear her voice. Its faint, but its there. My prayer… you answered it, somehow. I owe you." Cobra said all this, and Angel and Hoteye both looked happy. I wasn't.
"What is wrong with you people? Come on Cobra, you don't believe this right? They're tricking you. I don't know what you think you're hearing, but-" Cobra cut me off.
"No. I know what I hear. Its her voice. I can feel it. This is what I wanted." He said. I don't know if they had actually somehow gotten him to hear that snake, or if they were just making him hear things that weren't there. But he definitely believed it.
"This is wonderful! See, we can still be a team!" Hoteye said. "Now we can find Midnight and Brain, and no one will stop us." Angel said. Cobra shook his head. "Its like I said, Brain will never go for this. He's going to pissed. Maybe even vengeful." Angel looked concerned. "I don't want to be enemies with Brain, but…" she trailed off, and looked at Boudica. Boudica smiled. For some reason, this made Angel smile too.
"Yeah well, looks like we made our bed. We'll deal with whatever happens as it comes. Although, there's still Racer…" Cobra said, looking at me. I hadn't agreed to anything. Boudica spoke to me. "What do you want, Racer? Tell me. What is your prayer?" she said. I answered her.
"No! I'm not telling you anything. You're all crazy." I pointed at both the cult people and my 'comrades' who were switching sides. "We're supposed to be loyal to Brain. He brought us this far. You can't just walk away like this. I'll tell him. He'll punish you." They all exchanged glances with each other. Boudica looked directly at me. "Well, we can't have that, can we?" she said. She wasn't smiling. She looked deadly serious. "Right. We have to deal with this." Angel said.
At that point, I suddenly realized that I was alone in front of a bunch of powerful mages. I had no backup. So, I quickly decided to change tactics. I decided to try gaining their trust, and then when they let their guard down, I'll use my magic to escape. They won't be able to catch me. And then I'll get Brain and Midnight. We'll deal with this. As I was thinking this, I was suddenly blindsided by something, and knocked to the ground. It was Cobra. He had hit me when I wasn't looking. He put his foot on my chest and pinned me down.
"I can hear what you're thinking, remember?" he said. Right. How could I forget. "Are we going to kill him?" Angel said.
"We're not killing him. I know we can't just let him leave, but… We've been on the same side for a long time. Us against the world. I won't kill him like this, and if you do then we're enemies." Cobra said.
"We're already enemies." I said.
"You should shut up." Cobra said back. Boudica seemed to be thinking things over. Then she said, "I see. Okay. I'll compromise. We don't need to kill him. But we can't just let him walk away, and report to Brain. He at least needs to be incapacitated. Make it harder for him, and buy us time. One of you can do that." After she said this, Hoteye stepped forward. "I'll do it. He said. He used his earth magic to pull up part of the ground. Then he turned it into a huge rock, and dropped it on my leg. I'll admit, it hurt like hell. I heard something snap.
"You brought this on yourself." Angel said. I wanted to call her a bitch, but I was in too much pain. I was having trouble focusing on what they were saying.
"Now we can focus on finding Nirvana." Boudica said.
"You told them about that?" Cobra said.
"I did, yes." Angel said.
"I think we can find it before Brain does, if we all work together." Boudica said.
"Teamwork is important." Seraiisa said.
"That's right." Boudica said. At that point I blacked out.
Racer finished his narrative at last. "I woke up a while later, and they were gone, I managed to get the rock off of me. I had a hell of a time getting back to Brain. He was royally pissed off when I told him everything." Racer said. Racer stopped and finished his canteen. He felt tired from talking so much. The group sat there for a minute, absorbing everything they had just heard. Gajeel walked over to the group. He had been silent during Racer's story. "Well, that's a hell of a story. Assuming its all true." He said.
"Think what you want." Racer said.
"This is not good. The Oracion Seis was bad enough. But now we have this other group to deal with too." Gray said.
"Think we're going to have to fight them?" Lucy asked.
"Probably. Sounds like it."
"I'm familiar with a lot of dark guilds, but I've never heard of this one before." Juvia added.
"Are they a dark guild? Or a magic guild at all? What do they even call themselves?" Gray asked. He wasn't asking anyone in particular, but Racer responded. "Beats me. I didn't ask. I was a little too busy being betrayed."
Happy, who had also been quiet, had another question. "So, I'm confused. Who were the good guys in that story?"
"It doesn't sound like there were any good guys. Just a bunch of evil bastards running into each other." Gray said. "Says you." Racer said. At this point, Lucy got up and stretched. "So, what now? I guess we need a new plan." She said.
"I've got a simple plan. Find Brain. That's the most important thing right now, right?" Gajeel said. Gray was about to respond, but someone else beat him to it. "You won't have to look far." Someone said. The group turned and looked toward the source of the voice, coming from the other end of the room. There was a hole in the wall, with vegetation coming through. And standing in that hole was a man. He stepped closer. He had brown skin, and white hair. He wore a long coat. He also carried a staff with a skull attached to it.
"Brain!" Racer said. "Brain?" Gray said. With that, the whole group stood up and quickly readied themselves. The man known as Brain smiled at their reaction. He addressed them. "Its so nice that you've all made yourselves at home. But I'm afraid story time is over. Its time for you all to be put to sleep."
End Notes: Boudica is pronounced BOW-dik-uh, by the way. Also, new cover image by Enrique Meseguer.