xvi.
Dinner was awkward.
Tsuna didn't know why he had expected anything else from the other, but somehow, the invitation had given him some kind of hope that hadn't been met. Of course, the boss-in-training couldn't expect the mage to be sociable, living alone on a deserted island that kind of reeked of magic, but the result was still painful to see and experience.
Thankfully, the black-haired stranger hadn't pulled questions about his flames out again, or as the other called them, "Ice Magic". To be frank, Tsuna already counted the days it took for the other to notice that, even though his ice certainly looked magical, it didn't contain even a lick of Ethernano. And before the mage came to this realization, the brunet would be hopefully long gone.
To where, he had no idea. His white-haired ex-enemy had been, of course, too tight-lipped to say anything about the true situation at home. The only thing he had admitted was that, yes, they were protecting him, yes, he had talked with Natsu but they had only introduced each other, and that the boxes of his friends needed a change of location. Tsuna honestly couldn't fathom why even other box weapons had hitched a ride, because surely, his friends would have a blast decimating whatever or whichever the others were protecting him from.
Tsuna had even begged his friend to take him with him again, pointing out that safe didn't necessarily mean healthy, that he wasn't really happy, that he missed them and he knew, he knew, with every fiber of his being that the others missed him too, but..
His friend's gaze had been haunted.
He never wanted to see such a look on his friend ever again.
If staying in this world meant taking a hit for the team, if it meant maybe suffering from more nightmares than in his whole life, if it meant that his friends could fight without worry, then he could endure this situation. He would endure this world, because any less meant death, and if there was one thing Tsuna had experienced more than anything else in his life, it would be staying alive on the brink of death, fighting with every shred of his dying will.
Which kind of made sense in the current situation, because the boss-in-training was having dinner with a very dark mage. Tsuna didn't need any Hyper Intuition to warn him about the other man's history, he could literally taste the stench of dark magic that originated from his form. The Ethernano basically vibrated around him, always restless and never stilling even in the mage's sleep. It was as if the energy didn't want to be controlled by someone like him and lashed out with every attempt of control.
Magic wasn't sentinient, however. And that was good, because the brunet wouldn't like to handle the air asking him why his weird soul aura could absorb magic. Nevertheless, Ethernano seemed to be agitated around the mage and it showed in every spell the black-haired man tried to perform. The magical energy kind of rippled if the other asserted his control, bucking and raging, and then settling because the mage's will seemed too strong to refuse.
It was concerning, because that wasn't the only thing Tsuna noticed. There was something inherently wrong with the mage's existence, as if denying the natural order of the world. This time, his Hyper Intuition was more helpful in identifying the reason for such a feeling; because, evidently, the mage had a mark-like thing on him and a very, very dark one, too. The boss-in-training didn't know what the "mark" did or if the black-haired man cast the thing on himself, but whatever it was, it was bad news.
And it was, by the sheer awe and hope that shimmered in these black eyes whenever he dared to look, a thing that seemed to be responsible for a lot of misfortune. Yet, the mage didn't look any worse for it. In fact, and if his intuition could be trusted, the mage had never been healthier. However, the brunet had never seen the other eat or drink in any way, and the island didn't really offer much, either. The animals, like the wolves, were competitive and constantly famished. Compared to the bony lifeforms, the mage was an oddity.
Tsuna really, really hoped that the "mark" forced the mage to stay on the island or something like that, but it wouldn't be the first time that his prayers were ignored. This time wouldn't be different, probably. And it won't be different, but the boss-in-training wouldn't know that until a later date.
So Tsuna sat in front of a rather dark mage and the second immortal person he ever met. And to eat for dinner and maybe let himself be manipulated into giving the other a demonstration of his not magical superpowers that somehow managed to look magical while not being magical at all.
What is my life, the brunet thought dully, his eyebrow twitching as if responding to his inner ire. My friends protect me by sending me into another world and I meet the probably most dangerous person in all of Fiore. His shoulders slumped in resignation. Why is this happening.
He must have pissed someone off in his past life or something. This time, his tutor couldn't be held responsible, right?
"Um, can I ask you something?"
Tsuna hastily snapped out of his musings and instead turned to the curious eyes of the probably most dangerous person in Fiore. "Huh?"
"I asked if you could give me permission to ask you something," the mage rephrased, almost too fast to understand with his limited knowledge. He sounded weirdly more polite, too.
"Yes?" Tsuna gazed down on his plate, internally wishing for lightning to go strike the island just to escape any more uncomfortable questions.
"This island, Tenrou Island, is hidden by an extremely strong barrier which makes it impossible to find no matter what magic is used," the black-haired stranger explained patiently, words a lot slower than earlier. Maybe his face did something strange by wishing for lightning? He couldn't tell. "How did you find this island?"
There is? Tsuna was stumped. The barrier had to be gigantic for him to not even sense a lick of that so-called barrier. "Kidnapped," the brunet responded honestly, completely ignoring the mage's furrowed brows. Mentally, he tried not to visualize The Loch Ness-like monster that had dumped him in the middle of the ocean, obviously very far away from the mainland. Tsuna had throughly fried the monster for attacking Happy, though, and for knocking him into the Vongola Ring. Waking up inside a monster's mouth hadn't been fun.
"Kidnapped..?" the mage repeated, stunned, snapping the boss-in-training out of his thoughts.
Tsuna nodded solemnly.
It probably hadn't helped that he had listened to his Hyper Intuition and left his rings with Natsu and Happy. The brunet had known that something would go wrong, but not what and when. Happy had been determined to go, though, and if he hadn't ventured with him, then it would have been Natsu and that would have been unacceptable.
Tsuna didn't know what his role in this world was, because it seemed like fate hadn't dumped him here just to do something, but if he could somehow save his friend from a fate like that, then maybe this world wouldn't be that bad. Plus, he could easily fly back with the help of his Hyper Intuition. His pink-haired friend wouldn't have been able to do that.
"How did this happen?" the other questioned, gaze almost feverish, leaning forward as if sharing a secret.
The brunet shrugged and decided to indulge the dark mage. The black-haired stranger just seemed curious, if a bit unhinged, but almost all of his friends were somehow like that, so he masterfully ignored it.
Clearing his throat, he tried to find the proper words in their language, trying to explain the situation as simple as possible. "Friend–"
"–and I went with them when I saw them leaving Magnolia," Erza began, her red bangs hiding her one glass eye. "Your friend, Tsuna, has been seen frequently nearby the busiest streets of Magnolia." For a moment, the redhead seemed to be flustered by this admission, but soon enough her expression smoothed over again into seriousness. "I wanted to confront him, but I couldn't catch him. Seeing Happy and your friend together.. I asked to accompany them."
Gray, a few tables farther away and extremely obviously eavesdropping, commented dryly, "Asked, ha. More like forced."
Elfman promptly slapped him over the head.
"Ouch!"
Everybody ignored the ice mage.
"It.. isn't a long story, like I mentioned. We went nearby the harbor and identified the monster," she explained. "It was strong, but I was confident that I would win." Her expression tightened into a grimace. "I was careless. Happy was endangered and because of my negligence, this Tsuna person had to save him in my stead."
"And was eaten instead of Happy?" Mirajane stated more than asked.
Erza nodded stiffly. "That was the case."
"Alright, but who was this person anyway?" someone asked offhandedly, nipping on their beer. "They are Natsu's and Happy's friend, but what? Who were they?"
"Someone precious," Mirajane answered coldly.
"Someone unknown," Erza countered.
Gray sighed deeply. "Isn't it obvious?" Everybody turned to the mage, eyes inquiring what the other meant by that statement. The ice mage rolled his eyes, voice blunt. "He was family, idiots."
"Ah." Some guild members gasped softly in understanding.
"So, that's why Natsu's frantically searching the harbor?" Romeo asked, expression solemn.
"I also saw him sniffing through Magnolia," another one added.
Erza shook her head, instantly drawing the attention of some gossiping guild members. "I don't have the right to ask this of you, but please help him," she pleaded though her voice was firm and unbending. It sounded more like a command than anything else, but no one pointed it out yet. "We know about Natsu's situation now. We should help him." Then, softer. "Please help."
"It's not your fault at all, Erza," the white-haired ex-mage pointed out before any more guilt could accumulate, kindly bumping her shoulders with her ex-rival. A self-deprecating smile lifted the corners of her lips. "I know I'm a hypocrite for saying this, but you can't do anything now except move on."
The redhead laughed bitterly. "I see," Erza chuckled and slightly shook her head again as if shaking all her unnecessary thoughts away. When she stopped, a hard glint had entered her eyes and her body straightened from her small slouch. "I'll move, then."
"Alright, but how do we even find him? Does anyone know how he looks like?" Gray asked, somehow being the person of reason amid the Fairy Tail's cheering mages who all already left the guild hall.
The person before him had been obviously tricked.
Normally, he wouldn't deduce the situation of someone he didn't even know for a week, but the evidence this time was quite clear—stranded, alone, on a mission to defeat a monster, the only one who got hurt and the clear signs of fatigue. It wasn't crystal clear in the beginning of their.. "acquaintance", but he was honestly sure now.
The other, this ice mage who was talented and who had absolutely stunning magic prowess enough to ignore his very probably overpowered Immobilization Spell, had been scammed by his guild mates.
Sometimes, a team in a guild is in need of extra firepower. As only ten percent of Earthland was born as mages, it wasn't a big jump in logic to say that there was a shortage of people to fill the necessary strength to finish missions. Light guilds were strict in their handling of missions and nobody wanted mages to slowly die out because of negligence. That was why some teams had to get the approval of the guild master for the mission before being allowed out.
Breaking a law like that should still be met with harsh punishments like the member being blackmarked or even the individual being excommunicated by the entire mage community, he theorized. To be honest, he wasn't sure if the guilds were still penalized like that, but the chances wouldn't be impossible because old policies were often still active.
Thus, the brunet in front of him had been obviously used so that the traitors were allowed to hunt the monster, only to be abandoned by his guild mates and left to die.
He didn't feel any pity. Greed and jealousy were enough to motivate humans to choose atrocious actions—and in the end, mages were still human, neither absolute good nor absolute evil. Rather, it was fortunate for him. There was now a logical reason how this person found their way onto this island; the island which could only be entered by the guild members of Fairy Tail. It had been a long time since he met someone from that guild, the guild his ex-lover so sincerely loved and protected, so to find out that the guild fell from grace enough to have such backstabbing traitors as members..? He almost wanted to laugh.
Ah, no, he was already laughing. The brunet even looked vaguely uncomfortable by his sudden fit of laughter. He tried to stifle his dry snickers, but the sound still slipped through his tightly sealed lips. It was just too funny. His one true love who poured her love and soul into her guild had such lowly members in their midst. Friendship? Adventure? Now it was obvious that she had been wrong. There were no dreams or hopes in this cruel world*.
He wished with all his might that she was nearby to witness this situation. It would be such a waste if she wasn't looking. This situation had turned extremely amusing, after all. Though, it should be quickly seen when she dropped by. If this person before him truly had been betrayed, then he would surely react the moment he would lay eyes on her.
Still, what fools would turn their back on a mage with this much skill? And how did the mage before him even get betrayed with the level of vigilance he showed toward him? Ah, it would be undeniably beneficial for him and his Empire if this person joined his cause. Wounded and scared, but still with a fire of defiance. He would be indeed a fine addition to the Empire. All he had to do was show that he could be trusted. But for that to happen, he had to stop laughing.
"I'm sorry," he apologized after his laughter died completely down. It shouldn't have been that funny, because his hope for humanity had long since died, but it had been too funny, too. Because it was Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail symbolized an ideal he had wanted to treasure in the past. As all things he treasured, it seemed that Fairy Tail died too.
"Are yu calm?" the other asked dryly with his otherworldly accent and his expression looked faintly disturbed.
He nodded as sincerely as possible. "Yes, thank you for asking about my wellbeing," he said and coughed lightly into his fist. Then, he slowly explained his strange behavior as mild as possible, "I uh.. Thought that your story was funny, I apologize. It won't happen again."
"I see," the other replied, tense. He absentmindedly noted that the word "see" by him sounded exactly like the "c" sound and could be wrongly interpreted as an "icy" when combined with the "I"**. What a strange accent.
"What will you do now, then?"
The brunet observed him with striking orange eyes, an odd expression fleeting onto his face and then disappearing as fast as it appeared. "Home."
He suppressed a scoff. Back to the traitors? Maybe he hadn't realized yet that he had been mercilessly betrayed by his own guild members. That could be rearranged, however. "To your guild, I presume?" he asked coldly and leaned forward. "I don't think it is a coincidence that you are here."
"I know."
"Exactly what I said," he confirmed, having expected a shocked "what?" from the other, and then did a double take. Blinking, he gazed at the other in confusion. "Excuse me?"
"Yu are excused," the other replied blankly, raising a single eyebrow in bewilderment. Before he could react to the strange sentence, he continued on, "And I am not from.. guilt?"
"It's "a guild"," he corrected unwillingly, his mouth moving before his brain could catch up to the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling.
The ice mage nodded. "I am not from a guild," he rectified dutifully, not even stuttering around the apparently new word he just learned of. "Just gou home."
His head throbbed. Confusion was flowing through his entire being. Not a guild. How can that be? This person before him was undoubtedly a skilled mage and yet, didn't belong to a guild. How. How was this even possible? He viciously shoved his raging emotions and magic down, and managed to shakily ask, "And.. where is that?"
Where could he find people as skilled as this person before him and how could he convince these people to join his side? An unaffiliated village or settlement somewhere in Earthland with people as strong as the brunet. A "home". A non-guild. He was barely holding his thoughts and magic back from erupting.
And then, the other mage said something unexpected again.
"Natsu."
xvii.
Tsuna hastily flew away from Tenrou Island with the help from his gloves he had hurriedly put on after sensing the buildup Ethernano. Behind him, the island let out a violent, dark storm that swallowed the entire island and its surroundings in its vicinity. Some of the undermost roots of the big tree in the center of the island began to dry and wither, ultimately turning as black as the storm the island was ravaged by.
As a matter of fact, the boss-in-training hadn't foreseen the end of today's happening at all. He had expected the awkward atmosphere, the questions the other had no business asking, even the hysteric laughter.
However, there were no words for describing the intense thunderstorm of magic that had exploded in a manner reminiscent of an atomic bomb.
One second, the brunet was answering another question the unhinged mage had no business asking, and the next, his Hyper Intuition promptly deployed the airbags in his head to get the fuck outta there. He didn't even need a second to book it out of the island and miss the resulting explosion of black magic that devoured every lifeform.
》to be continued..《
funnily enough, someone in rl asked me where im going with this ff. uhhh? idk?
*shameless reference to TCF where a person had said that. additionally, also a reference to the undertale ost "hopes and dreams"
*reference to an inside joke. but its tru, tho! "i see" sounds exactly like the word "icy"!
***white thing. shameless reference to TCF again.
Bonus (Natsu&Byakuran meeting)
Natsu stared the weirdo with white hair down. The white-haired weirdo stared right back.
"..."
"..."
Now, normally, the mage would have spoken with his fists after his numerous attempts at communication failed. Every "who are you" and "where am I" and every other confused question was met with a white raised eyebrow. However, because of something he didn't know and honestly wouldn't find out anyway because there was nothing in this white and blue space except this weirdo, magic couldn't be used. At all. There was nothing in the air. No Ethernano at all! It was weird as heck!
Was he even in Earthland anymore?
The weirdest part was the weirdo there, though. Humming and looking into space as if it were the most amusing thing. No words had left his mouth yet, but he was obviously able to talk. Natsu was half tempted to the shut the obnoxious humming up by just outright tackling the weirdo.
The glint in the other's eyes prompted his instincts to crawl.
"..Oi," he said to the white thing***, leveling him with a fierce glare. With as much care he had to offer in this situation, he asked clearly and slowly, "Can you.. understand me?"
Foreign features. Didn't talk. Looked as if his words didn't register at all. Weird clothes. And a ring on the finger.
Like Tsuna.
The Dragon Slayer didn't even wait for a response that would never come.
Natsu poked his own chest with his finger. "I am Natsu," he spoke, clearly, slowly, patiently. He poked himself again and repeated slowly, "Natsu."
"Natsu," the white-haired weirdo enumerated back, a sly grin languidly spreading from one ear to another. The other eyed him with a gaze that could only be called "delighted". The mage got the creeps just from looking at it. And then, the weirdo clumsily drawled back, "Eiiii 'm Byakuran."
The pronunciation sucked.