Chapter 11
Galuna island a few hours later
The next few hours were a blur, Strife was introduced to Ibojil Aka the blood anvil, Strife introduced them to Mayhem and they all had to admit he was actually a very nice horse. And Gray helped out Lyon as a sign of compassion.
"Be lucky your hand and failed plan were your only punishment" Samael had said, "be lucky Strife was the forgiving one in the family otherwise you weren't going to get off so lightly".
Strangely, Lyon looked peaceful, as if Deliora's death caused his manic obsession to fade, much to the relief of Gray. "I'm sorry this happened to you, i know what it's like to realize you are a puppet" the Watcher said, uncharacteristically sympathetic as a Watcher should not be.
Presently it was time to rest. "Oh yeah!" Natsu cheered as all of them exited the temple, "We totally finished an S-Class quest all by ourselves!" Erza glared, the Celebrating mood died even Strife felt a little unsettled, "isn't there something you forgot?" she demanded, "oh yeah the villager" Strife said slapping his forehead, "alright Samy" Strife said turning to Samael, "you got a lot of the deal to live up to".
"Of course horseman" Samael smiled, the others didn't trust Samael, but Strife had assured him that Samael kept his promises, "still it'll be wise to keep an eye on him" Ibojil then whispered, "aye" Happy agreed, "Caw" Huninn cawed in the same manner, "so then Deloria had nothing to do with anything about the curse?" Lucy said, "yes that is correct, the intense magical energy from the moon drip spell is what affected the villagers" Erza said
"Impressive Erza, very impressive" Samael said, generally impressed, but he allowed them to dangle off his hook, "so what is the cause of this?" Gray asked, "perhaps Lyon knows something you don't" Samael suggested not giving a straight answer.
Typical of demons they always like to play games and talk in riddles, Lyon was now sitting against a bolder no longer in his Armor "To be quite honest, I don't have a clue." Lyon replied impassively.
Natsu and Happy looked at him incredulously, "You don't know?" Natsu asked, "What?" Happy added in disbelief. "But he does know something" Samael said mysteriously.
Lyon saw no point in keeping anything so he spoke, "When we first arrived here three years ago," Lyon explained, "we were aware that there was a village somewhere on this island. However, we had no reason to contact the villagers, so we left them alone. They never came up to the temple to see what we were up to, I swear."
"In three years, you never met?" Erza said in disbelief. "I don't understand. The light from the Moon Drip is so bright that anyone can see it from practically any point on the island. It's kind of strange that they saw it every night and never went to investigate." Lucy noted.
"Maybe because they wouldn't or maybe couldn't" Ibojil said, "wait a minute those Wraiths Lyon where did you find them?" Strife asked, "here on this island in that same temple" Lyon responded, "Zalty showed Sherry how to control them hem properly"
"Your girlfriend controlled those fuckers?" Ibojil asked, "She's not my girlfriend" Lyon deadpanned, "We're not through with you," Natsu said, "You still destroyed the entire village and…"
When Erza squished Natsu's cheeks together, his ranting had stopped. "That's quite enough, Natsu." Erza ordered.
Erza retold Toby's explanation for why they agreed to help Lyon. She could not interrogate the prisoners on the pirate ship since they were all unconscious. Erza's explanation revealed that Lyon's followers had lost their families, friends, and everything they owned to Deliora. He had convinced them that if they helped him free it, he would kill it, and obtain vengeance for all of them.
"They were all misguided and that made them slaves to their own grief" The Watcher said almost sympathetically, "murder is not justified" Natsu said, "murder and killing are two different things an easy thing to forget" Strife said, "murder is not justified but killing can be".
"But, how are we going to lift the curse?" Natsu asked, "I have no idea." Erza replied, "Oh great…"Lucy muttered. The rest of the team, minus Gray, walked away toward the storage area, leaving only Gray and Lyon behind. The former looked at his old friend with a sympathetic look.
Lyon simply glared at him. "What do you want?" He asked, "I know you don't want to hear it, but you should really join a Guild. You'll make new friends, new rivals, and maybe even a new dream to live for." Gray answered.
Lyon's expression softened a bit, but then he turned away with an angry scowl. "Whatever," Lyon grumbled, "you should just get out of here!"
Gray smiled slightly as he turned around and walked away, unaware of Lyon bursting into tears after he left. "Thank you little brother" Lyon whispered, smiling, but Strife was the only one watching, "you've been punished enough, I don't expect forgiveness but good luck" Strife whispered back though he knew no one could hear.
The team had just arrived at the storage area that was serving as the villagers' temporary home made even less long thanks to Samael and his long ranged portals.
Despite her witnessing it in action against Zalty, she felt amazed when she actually felt it. In contrast, Natsu puked his guts out when they arrived due to teleportation being a mode of transport, unfortunately all over Erza's boots.
Erza quickly shook it off when she and the rest of the team realized something was not right. There was not a single soul present throughout the mass of tents. Only the sounds of the jungle animals could be heard, accompanied by the snorting of Mayhem as his Armor disappeared and went to graze for a little bit.
"That's weird," Happy noted, "Where is everybody?", "perhaps they heard the temple noise and hid" the Watcher suggested smacking Natsu on the back to get his guts clear.
"Since we have some time, Natsu, can you come over here for a minute?" Erza said menacingly.
This expression got Natsu worried, but he was confused why Erza was looking at him like that. He then remembered that he puked somewhere, and saw the evidence all over Erza's boots. His reaction was priceless.
"AHHH! I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!" Natsu yelled as he ran away, only for a very pissed off Erza to begin chasing him, much to the rest of the team's enjoyment.
"Natsu, these were my favorite boots!" Erza yelled as she finally caught up to Natsu and comically pummeled him in a cartoonish fashion. Samael burst out laughing, "oh this is amusing" he said sitting down and summoning a glass of something in hand and drank from it.
Suddenly, a male villager with green reptilian skin, black short, and a tail turned the corner of the tent. "Um, am I interrupting something?" the male villager inquired, sweat dropping at the display in confusion.
The sudden voice had interrupted the team and everyone quickly composed himself or herself, except for an unconscious Natsu, with numerous red bumps on his head.
"Now that I have your attention, come with me!" Follow me to the village!" the man said enthusiastically. Natsu had to be carried on Mayhems back, "this can be his punishment until ya get back to the guild" Ibojil said as she refused to have the motion sickness prone boy on her shoulder.
The village was fully restored as it happened, to the group's surprise, "um I'm sorry but what?" Lucy said as she stared incredulously at the village, Mayhem neighed, "hey don't worry buddy no one holds you responsible" Strife reassured his horse.
"It was Zalty, her magic restored it, as planned" Samael informed, "AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL US?" Ibojil exploded, "in fact couldn't you have told us who your spy was?" The Watcher added. There were just so many questions.
But they were interrupted by Mako who had been resting next to Bono's restored grave, ""Hmph, I can't tell you how much I'm grateful for it. However, I must know…" his look became more intense,"…when are you wizards finally going to destroy the moon for us!? Well!?"
Lucy was shaking in fear under the chief's stare, but she was quickly saved when Erza returned to approach them. "Destroying the moon is a simple task, sir." Erza nonchalantly.
"What!?" The rest of the team yelled in shock, "I underestimated you humans" Samael admitted "she catches on quicker than I thought". "Geez just say it already" Strife said.
After gathering all the villagers in front of the main gate, Erza and the rest of the team stood in front of them.
"Let me get the facts straight; the first time everyone began to take on these demonic forms is when the moon turned purple, am I right?" Erza asked.
"Yes," Moka answered, "during the day, we are human, but when the moon comes out, we transform into the hideous creatures you see now.". "On the contrary to many you would seem rather majestic" Samael helped up, "he's not wrong compared to some demons I've seen you lot look in your prime" Strife added, "aye" the Watcher agreed with Huninn and Muninn on his shoulders.
"And the moon turned purple three years ago, right?" Erza inquired, ignoring the remarks, "Wow…has it really been that long?" a villager asked.
"Yeah." Sakura said in awestruck.
"My friends and I have learned that the Moon Drip Ceremony has been performed on this island for the last three years, and each night it produced a beam of light so bright that you couldn't have possibly missed it." Erza explained.
Suddenly, with an uncharacteristically girlish shriek, Erza stepped onto a pile of leaves and fell into a hole, which startled everyone. "Whoa…even Lucy's lame trap is back." Happy said, "of course it did" Strife added dryly "She screamed…like a girl?" Natsu said in awe, "Yeah…and it was kind of cute." Gray added.
"Oh you wizards are more funnier than I thought" Samael had laughed, "meh she deserved it with that attitude of hers" Ibojil said unrepentantly unlike Lucy, "I'm so dead when she gets out!" Lucy screamed hysterically.
Erza climbed out of the hole and stood back up, acting as if nothing ever happened. She crossed her arms over her chest armor. "Seriously, didn't you ever wonder where that light came from?" Erza asked the villagers.
"She got up like nothing ever happened?" One said. "Yeah, she must be pretty tough." Sakura added. "I don't understand," continued Erza, "why did no one investigate?" The villagers looked at each other and talked, however, it sounded like they were as clueless as they were.
"Well…" Moka responded, "We would have looked into it, but according to village lore, we are forbidden to ever go near that temple." "This goes beyond Village lore so out with it already before I start breaking things!" Ibojil threatened, "calm Maker, this problem goes back long before the village itself" Samael said.
"Your demon Friend is correct" Mako admitted, "that temple was here long before this village was founded, we tried going to investigate but all we found was the wraiths" ,"wait so their are actually called wraiths?, I just called them that because I did not know what they were called" Strife said.
"Anyway We took up weapons we never had to use, I trimmed and stylized my side-burns, and then we ventured off into the jungle several times." Mako continued, "But, we could never get near it. We could see its glow through the trees, and then suddenly, we'd find ourselves back at the village gates. Many of them with a hole in their chests like they were impaled".
Strife then remembered the dream when he was stabbed through the heart by one of those wraiths, "But, how's that possible?" Lucy confusedly asked horrified, "It doesn't make any sense at all.".
"We held our tongues because we were worried you wouldn't believe us." A villager said.
"We're telling you the truth, "the reptilian villager explained, "We've tried to go back to the temple may times.", "But not even a single villager made it inside, not even the children." Sakura concluded.
Erza stood there, absorbing the information, 'I understand…yes." She whispered. Lucy lightly gasped while the rest of the team, minus Samael, looked at the redhead with puzzled expressions. "Okay you lost me a long time ago I was catching up but now I'm lost" Strife said.
"Argghh I'm gonna go get my forge equipment" Ibojil said, beginning to walk off being fed up of being fed this nonsense, "tell me how it goes" she called back.
Erza stepped away, heading to the village tower that stood along the wooden wall that surrounded the settlement.
Suddenly, a yellowish-white light engulfed her entire body. When it faded, her previous clothing had disappeared; her clothes were now yellow armor with blue highlights, and it had a blue cross on the torso plate, arched shoulder pads, and a white fur trim on the bottom of her shoulder plates. This was her Giant Armor.
"Impressive" Samael said, "my head hurt" the Watcher said randomly sitting down, "Watcher do you think you can get me up there?" She asked the still sore headed Watcher, "what why him?" Natsu asked, but then Mayhem snorted in a threatening manner and Huninn and Muninn flew around his heads.
"Fine" the Watcher said, "just say when and where", The remaining members of the team minus Samael, grew paler. Their jaws had dropped and their eyes grew wider than dinner plates while they stuttered in shock. Even the villagers all stood motionless.
Erza then gestured to her armor, ""This is Giant Armor," Erza explained, "It increases my strength and allows me to throw farther. And this…" Erza held out her right hand, and a red magic circle appeared. After a red flash, in her hand was a seven-foot tall spear with a blue shaft, yellow armored base, and a cross-shaped, yellow spear at the top. "…this is the Spear of Ha-Ja, it repels darkness.".
"You better know what you're doing or else I'm going on a rampage" Strife threatened, Erza aimed her spear, "Ready Watcher?" Erza asked the Watcher to open the portal in the path of the spear and another a few kilometres in the air.
"Are you sure those coordinates are correct?" The Watcher asked Samael, breathing heavily all of a sudden, "I'm extending my limits here", "have I led you down the wrong path so far?" Samael asked, "you put us on the long path," Gray noted.
Erza threw the spear with all her strength and it went straight through the portal perfectly like a rocket and came out the other portal and continued higher and higher and higher…
Until Suddenly there was a loud boom from above, which returned the team's ad the villagers' gaze to the sky. Shockingly, cracks began to spread over the purple, cratered orb. The villagers began to cheer louder at the sight of the cracking moon.
"No way!" Lucy and Gray screamed.
"Hah! I told you!" Natsu yelled.
"What just happened?" Strife asked, still lost.
However, confusion soon replaced everyone's shock as the cracks spread out from the moon…and into the sky. The night sky around the purple glowing moon was starting to crack away. Without warning, like glass, the purple moon and the entire sky shattered into thousands of pieces, revealing a normal blue glowing moon in its aftermath.
"The moon?" Natsu trailed off, "It's still there!?" Moka shouted at the top of his lungs.
"It was not the moon that shattered, "Lucy gaped, staring at the crystalline particles raining around the island. "It was the sky."
"What the hell is going on here?" Natsu yelled in confusion. "As a result of the Moon Drip spell," Erza explained at a loud volume with a smile, "a nauseous membrane was covering the island." "What?" Natsu asked.
"The drip releases an evil energy in the form of a gas" Samael explained, "the gas crystallised around the entire island and formed a dome around it giving the moon its purple glow".
Then, the light disappeared; however, nothing was different. The villagers were still in their demonic forms.
"What happened? They're still demons." Gray confusedly asked. "Oh no," Happy muttered worriedly. "Of course" the Watcher said, snapping his fingers, "it was a mental affliction not a physical one; these are their true forms they just forgot".
Lucy and Happy screamed in shock while Gray and Natsu's jaws dropped. Strife couldn't do the jaw dropping because of his mask but his eyes definitely widened.
"Hey, is that true?" Gray demanded, getting in the face of a random villager.
"Well…maybe," the villager stuttered, "my memory's still a little hazy. We all looked pretty human when you guys first met us, right?"
"Yes," Erza enlightened, "because you all possess the ability to take on human forms. Your false memories led you all to believe that your temporary states were actually your true forms. In reality, you succumbed to the Moon Drip's side-effects."
"Wait, that doesn't explain why Lyon and his team weren't affected at all," Natsu said. "Keep up Natsu its because they were human and not Demon with human forms" the Watcher sighed.
Suddenly, a purple-skinned demon appeared with horns, a black mustache, and a goatee on his face. He was wearing grey pants, a white shirt, and a cape.
"Impressive detective work, Titania. I knew I could trust you and your friends. Especially when Bezaliel was among them" the demon said, he was oddly familiar.
Lucy and Happy hugged each other tightly as they shrieked girlishly and Natsu and Gray's jaws dropped, "wondered where that son of a bitch went" Strife chuckled.
Moka felt his eyes tear up and his lips quivered from the sight of his son that he had presumed dead. "Bobo," he mumbled.
"Huh," a confused villager said, "but we thought that you were dead!"
Bobo lightly chuckled. "Getting stabbed in the chest hurt pretty bad, but you got to do more than that to kill a demon."
"Wait a minute…you vanished to thin air back on the boat. Explain that." Gray mentioned, still shocked by this new development.
All of a sudden, a pair of black, bat-like wings folded from behind Bobo's shirt as he leaped into the air, flying above them with his arms crossed.
"Of course you can do that" Strife said still being light hearted, he felt great if he was honest, "I will leave you all to get reacquainted, for now me and the horseman have a business deal to live up to" Samael said as he opened the portal.
"What do you keep calling him horseman?" Lucy asked, "well he has a horse" the Watcher pointed out, "see you guys on the other side" Strife said as he literally dived through the portal "what the horseman said" Samael added as he went through the portal himself which closed behind him.
"Horseman?" Bobo pondered, "what is it Bobo?" Mako asked, "what colour was his horse?" Bobo asked the group, "oh Mayhems right over-" Lucy began but when she looked Mayhem was gone.
"Wait mayhem?" Bobo asked dumbfounded, "that white horse was Mayhem?", "Yeah Strife managed to tame it" Gray said, "re-tame it actually it was Strifes to begin with" the Watcher added, "a white horse" Bobo said.
"Wait chief you don't think?" Sakura said, "yes I think it's happening, the prophecy is happening" the Chief said.
Forbidden temple
Strife face planted in a river of water, Samael appeared next to him, "oops" the demon chuckled, Strife looked around there was a house, webs in the cavern like ceiling that had a crack in it to allow moonlight in and a forest.
An indoor forest of all things just like… just like in Strife's dream! "Wait I've seen this place in a dream" Strife said out loud, "we are in a part of the forbidden temple" Samael said, "the most sacred part of it as it happened"
At that moment Wraiths appeared all around them, Strife drew his guns, "hold horseman they shall not hurt you they just want to rest and play" Samael told him.
And indeed they did play a beautiful song on their webs like they were playing banjos, "what are they?" Strife asked, "formally spirits of corruption until they were cast out when Absolon died and corruption was giving a new more powerful vessel" Samael said.
"Now they are giving a new purpose to a new master, a more practical purpose until you take what they guard and then they can finally rest".
Strife walked towards the house, "it better not be a broom" Strife warned, "what's in the house?" Strife asked, "an old friend and something you cannot allow my rivals to have" Samael said.
Strife opened the door, and found a statue of a demon inside it was one one knee like bowing and holding a sword in its outstretched arms.
The moment Strife and Samael stepped inside the rock crumbled revealing the demon inside, it's wings were black on its back it had hand looking like they were made out of lava, a feline face with a blackened spot where his right eye should have been.
"Arioch?" Strife asked, Arioch was an angel who was charged for something he did not do by the council and punished by becoming the deformed demon he was now and he did side with Lucifer until he realised that revenge was not worth replacing the creator.
So instead he offered his services to the council to take the elder god weapon of humans now that they were unguarded and hide them somewhere. Obviously there was that somewhere.
"horseman it can't be how are you here?" Arioch demanded, "easy Arioch you are safe" Samael said, "Samael!" Arioch exclaimed, "are you here for the crown jewel of all the elder god weapons?" Arioch demanded.
"No, much has happened in your absences, the seals were broken but the horseman we not summoned the apocalypse began when it wasn't supposed to" Samael said, "Lucifer has gained too much power and he must be stopped".
"Lucifer no" Arioch said defeated but then the demon composed himself "I will help however I can", "you can start by giving me that sword so that I can eliminate his rivals in this world".
"By the way, who is this rival?" He then asked Samael, "Azazel the archangel and his alliance" Samael replied, "then I'm going to need more than a sword to deal with him" Strife pointed out.
"Come horseman all will be as it will be" Arioch said as he exited the hut and spoke to the Wraiths who stopped playing their song to listen.
"Wraiths you have served your purpose well as you have promised" Arioch started loud and clear, "and for that you deserve rest, so reawaken the sword and gain it" Arioch raised the sword, the mightiest sword of all swords, besides chaoseater, the sword Stormbringer.
"We answer you call to Arioch as the horseman shall answer their call when the end war comes" the Wraiths rasped in unison as their bodies turned to dust and the blue fiery mist flew straight towards the sword and was immediately absorbed upon contact with the sword.
Village same time
The chief was now showing the groups some sacred artifacts that belonged to the person who first discovered the island, that person's son was a wizard with magic that allowed him to see the future and it was all literally written in stone.
"Damn he predicted all these pictures" Gray said looking around, "yes all of it predicted here and all of it written down and carved in vibrant detail" Bobo said. To be honest it wasn't very vibrant detail but at least it was neat enough to make out some images.
"Wait a minute" the Watcher said as he came over to something in the corner of the room, it was a statue, in fact there were statues in all four corners of the room, "wow what are these" Happy asked, "what are these?" The Watcher asked exasperated, "what are these? These are the four beasts"
The four beasts included one of a reptilian bull with ten horns, a three headed leopard with wings, a winged lion or lioness, and a giant bear. "What does this mean?" Erza asked, "why is the colour of Strife's horse important? What are these creatures and what do all these pictures mean?".
"Meh, they just look like ordinary pictures to me" Natsu said, "perhaps this will explain all your problems" Mako said pointing to a large tablet with words in an unknown dialect to the group.
"Uh it just looks like chicken Scratch" Lucy said, "to you maybe but the wizard who wrote this down knew what it said and we have taught it to every generation since it was carved" Mako said proudly.
"It's in the tongue of the old ones I can read it easy" the Watcher said, "well what does it say?" Natsu asked, "alright alright slow down" the Watcher begged.
"Now I have watched when the lamb opened the seven seals" the Watcher read as the others listened in fascination "and I heard one of the four creatures say with a voice of thunder "come" and I looked and behold a white horse and it's rider had a bow and a crown was given to him. And he came out conquering and to conquer".
Forbidden temple
It was a storm inside the temple wide, whipped up from the power the sword was absorbing, finally the storm stopped, Arioch fell to one knee panting heavily.
"The sword is not meant for me to use" he said then presented it to the horseman, "but for a horseman I can rest easy knowing it is in safe hands" Strife took the blade gritting his teeth as he momentarily felt the burning power then settled.
"This is only one of the few here"Arioch said, "search them out and take them before Azazel does", "you have my word I will find them" Strife said, "head to Raziel he will have a place for you to stay and be safe".
Arioch nodded, "be safe horseman" Arioch said as Samael opened a portal, Strife made to leave but Samael stopped him, "oh and before I forget horseman, your brother Death came to me before my banishment from the future and he had your gun, redemption, on his hip"
Time travel of course why wasn't Strife surprised that would be something Death would do to help claim Wars innocence, Strife without a word upholstered Redemption and looked at it, and without a word he tossed it to Arioch, "make sure it ends up where it needs to be, wherever that is" Strife said as he exited through the portal.
Galuna island Village
"Guys I'm back" Strife said as he exited the portal and immediately got pummeled by Erza, "that was for Lying to us" Erza said as Strife twitched on the ground, "Christ girl you really need to lighten up" Strife said recovering as if nothing had happened.
"So what happened?" Gray asked, "met another demon and got a new weapon and gave up an old one" Strife said, "I don't follow?" Natsu said, Strife sighed, he pulled out Stormbringer, "wow" the group breathed, "this belong to another demon, Arioch, it's from my land and is the literally crown jewel of all weapons" Strife said.
"Crown" the group thought back to the prophecy, they had honestly thought it meant literally but the question was what of the bow and the rest of the prophecy?
"So this Arioch, he came here from your land?" Erza asked putting the thought to the back of her head, Strife gave a nod, "there are more of these artifacts that I need to find for him for the balances sake" Strife said.
"Balance?" Happy asked, "I think we can hold off for now" the Watcher interrupted Huninn and Muninn on his shoulder, "for now let's get the reward money". The group forgot all about their questions as they remembered, "yes please take it" Mako said handing them a bag, "We are rich!" Lucy squealed, "well since you guys arent S-class fraid me and Erza are going to take the Money" Strife said.
Lucy looked ready to break down and cry, but then strife chuckled, "I'm kidding, we share it equally, even if we're all going to be punished by the master," Strife said. "Hey okay if I come along" called a voice, it was Ibojil, behind her was a large cart of blacksmith equipment and some of her creations, "but first I'm gonna need an explanation"
And so the group explained to her everything that had happened, the Watcher had told Strife about what the prophecy has said, the seven seals was an obvious point to the apocalypse and the lamb was most likely Abbadon but for now Strife saved it for a later date and they had a party to celebrate, Lucy got a new key that had the spirit Sagittarius.
Bobo offered them a boat ride home after abandoning them to that flood, but Erza turned it down, she did have her own boat now after all.
Beach
As the group went down the shoreline Strife had sent the two ravens scouting out, Muninn was the first to return but the news he gave was not good as he cawed it out as he stood on the rock, "what?" The Watcher asked his 6 eyes widening at the raven's words.
Further Along the shoreline of Galuna Island, the entire team were visibly shocked and appalled by what they were seeing, even Erza. A ship bearing a pirate symbol on its sails had been burnt to a crisp. All of the passengers, including the pirates and the chanters Erza had captured, were dead.
Their bodies were horribly burned and visible throughout the charred wreckage of the pirate ship. In a rare moment of human weakness, Erza fell to her knees and began openly crying out of her left eye, something only Strife saw as he looked sorrowfully at the ship.
"Poor lads" Ibojil said as she looked over them almost apologetically for being too late to save them, Natsu and Gray seething with anger at the remains of the ship, Lucy was on the verge of tears, Happy fell to his knees in shock, the Watcher simple looked away, even Watchers had feelings.
"There is nothing we can do now" he said trying to comfort the group, this is hard then it sounds for a Watcher as they were cruel by nature, "you're right Watcher but how the hell do we get home now?" Ibojil asked, "maybe I can use the sword to get home" Strife thought but then there was a Caw from above it was Huninn back from his own patrol.
"He says he found something" the Watcher said hope rising, they followed the bird and eventually found a rather large rock, "oh I think I know what this is" Ibojil said giving the rock a quick and violent punch.
the rock disappeared to reveal a large 30 ft. boat, big enough for all of them!, "how?" Gray asked, "it's Lyons" the blood anvil said. "Lyon must have hid it with a disguise charm, but most animals are immune to its effect. I knew there was something strange about that rock, but I had no idea until now." Erza deduced.
"Aye I stumbled across it while hunting some demonic rabbits" Ibojil explained, "I'm not sure if you disturb me or not" Lucy said.
Without hesitation, Erza re-quipped into her Giant Armor and with Ibojils help carried the beached ship back to the ocean, she was visibly sweating and straining but luckily Ibojil made the job easier. As soon as the boat hit the water, Erza re-quipped back into her normal armor, and fell flat on her rear, utterly exhausted.
"Take it easy Erza we'll take it from here" Gray said, "if ya ever need that Armor checked or weapons made just come to me" Ibojil said, her stuff was safely below deck.
They bid their farewells to the Galuna Island natives with Erza steering the commandeered ship back home. Despite what they had seen, Strife was more concerned with who destroyed the pirate ship and why. He also could not help but wonder how Lyon and his followers would get off the island now.
Sherry was already off the island so how would they meet up, he was interrupted by Ibojil, "I noticed that you were missing yah gun so I'll see if I can whip something up maybe to go with that sword on ya back" she offered, "thanks Ibojil I'd really appreciate that, at least until I get redemption back or and make it a rifle maybe" Strife said, he wanted to keep Redemptions holster empty for now.
The Watcher then asked his question, "so did you figure out how humanity got here?" He asked and Strife remembered now, he had totally forgotten about that, "god damn" he cursed as the ship sailed.
Era 2:30 PM
In the town of Era, the Magic Council's headquarters was a large, castle-like building that looked quite extravagant on the inside and out. Ultear was in the office of Siegrain, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. He was a young man with blue hair, a red tattoo under and above his right eye, and wore a white shirt and pants with a black trim.
"It's a shame that Deliora failed." Ultear said.
Seigrain smiled. "Yes, it is rather unfortunate." He then closed a green book, and used his magic to place it back on the enormous shelf of books at the end of his office. "But we had no way of knowing the demon was already dead. It is a minor setback; I will be more comprehensive next time."
Ultear stepped forward. "Forgive me, Siegrain, sir. I had no idea that wench's magic was so powerful."
"You shouldn't speak of your mother that way." Seigrain chimed half heartedly. "Do not cause Ur to shed another tear. She was an amazing wizard and greatly admired. In fact, if she were alive today, I believe that she would be counted among the Ten Wizard Saints."
Ultear merely scoffed, "You give her far too much credit. My mother loved her magic and nothing else. It is no wonder why my father abandoned her."
"They say the greater loss a person suffers; the stronger they must become to vanquish it." Seigrain stated. "I highly doubt my awful mother considered me a great loss." Ultear replied.
"You never know Ultear, perhaps she took those students to help fill the void you left behind." Siegrain said. "Can we please change the subject?" Ultear demanded. "I think it's time to move on to the next stage."
"Yes but first can I ask how you got that bruise on your forehead?" Seigrain asked, all of a sudden Ultear's face displayed the bruise it was a nasty one at that covering her entire forehead "it was Strife he got a lucky shot on me" Ultear said, "I didn't even use half of my power."
Ultear was half lying, it wasn't a lucky shot, Strife had used Natsu as a distraction and had tuned it almost perfectly. "Regardless, he is nothing to the son of Igneel. To realize my dream, he must continue burning brightly." Seigrain said. "You may leave now."
With that Ultear sprinted out of Seigrain's office and into the nearest ladies' room, however, she came here for a much different reason. After checking all of the stalls to ensure that she was alone, Ultear locked the door and pulled out the same reddish-purple orb from Galuna Island from underneath her right sleeve.
"I'm ready to talk, Lord Zeref." Ultear said to the orb.
"Good. I trust that everything went as planned with Seigrain?" the man said. "Of course, the gullible fool suspects nothing." Ultear said.
"Yes he is almost as gullible as you" the man said anger now in his voice and Ultear all of a sudden felt her body stiffen and it felt like nearly all her bones were about to snap in half.
"You were tricked!" The man roared, "by someone imposing as me and he stole Delorias heart before I could" "please I didn't know" Ultear begged, "of course you didn't know you aren't supposed to know when your fooled until someone tells you you are" the man said tightening his mystical grip. Ultear swore she heard her bones creaking.
"You are on a very thin line my kind aren't very forgiving so be grateful I let you live" the man said calming down and releasing his grip "but once my plan is finished your failures will stay your feet as the rest of us rise to power"
"I understand." Ultear said, visibly shaking in fear.
"See to it that you do not fail me. Otherwise, you will suffer the same fate as your predecessors" the man who threatened that if he really was a man "must remain in my dimension for longer than I anticipated cleaning up your mess. I will return within a matter of weeks, so Do. Not, Fail. Me." The man finished as the orb returned to its lifeless state, leaving a thoroughly traumatized Ultear in its aftermath.
Magnolia
Erza stopped walking as the entire group walked through magnolia back to the guild, her smile turning into a frown. "You're all so carefree. It's almost as if you forgot that you're supposed to face punishment when we get back to the Guild."
At that statement, the entire team, minus Strife, Watcher, Ibojil and Huninn & Muninn, all looked back at Titania with horrified expressions.
"But why?" Natsu asked weakly.
"Everything worked out in the end! Mostly." Lucy added frantically. "Can't we just forget about the whole punishment thing?!"
"You're right. Everything did almost work out, but only because I came here to finish the job none of you were qualified to do." Erza replied sternly. "Stealing an S-Class quest is a serious offense."
The four gasped in fear. Strife was the opposite as he stared at the red haired beauty determinedly and fearlessly. Ibojil was rolling her eyes at the drama and the Watcher was clueless.
"Now I'm scared." Happy was holding his face, which plastered a fearful mien. "Do you think he's going to make us do that?"
Gray's face paled considerably. He suddenly crouched low to the ground, holding his head frantically. "JUST KILL ME NOW! I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN LIVE THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"
"You guys are freaking me out!" Lucy yelled.
Natsu, however, was smiling confidently. "Don't let them scare yah." He reassured, patting Lucy's shoulder. "I'll talk the old man out of punishing us. That guy loves me."
"Natsu, you can't talk your way out of this one. Good luck with that." Erza grinned and then she began to warmly chuckle.
Natsu was still smiling, but his confident demeanor evaporated as sweat poured down his face. Suddenly, Erza grabbed him by the bag on his back and dragged him across the ground.
"DON'T TAKE ME!" Natsu screamed.
As Erza dragged Natsu away, Lucy remained in her spot, trying not to wet herself out of fear. She finally could not hold back anymore as she shrieked, "Will somebody tell me what THAT is?! I'm totally freaking out!"
"Well we are dead" Strife said, "you are maybe" Ibojil told him, "but since we are not members of the guild we get off easy" the Watcher added gloatingly.
Fairy Tail Guild Hall
Everyone was relieved and excited that the team had come back unharmed and apparently victorious, "let this be a reminder to never bet against the house" the Watcher said appearing out of literally nowhere, everyone stopped what they were doing abruptly, the Watcher looked around at their faces with raised eyebrows, "what?" he demanded and the entire guild was thrown into chaos except for those who had already met the Watcher I.E team Natsu.
"Uh i probably should have said that i got a friend or two" Strife said, and Huninn and Muninnflew in through an open window, making some members duck in surprised, they flew around three circuits then landed on a table, "uh what the heck show" Wakaba tried scare them off as Huninn was eating the remainder of his meal but Muninn flew into his face causing the smoke wizard to panic and full over still believing he was attacked.
"Meet my scouts Huninn and Muninn and their keeper, Watcher" Strife introduced, the Watcher gave them all a friendly wave as the twin ravens settled on his shoulders, Makarov recovered from his heart attack and went back to his anger about the S-class request being stolen despite it being successfully completed. "I am happy that you all came back safe" the Master admitted, "i'm still very disappointed with you five mark; my words you'll be facing that punishment. So without further Adieu".
The Master used his magic to make his magic grow and slam it onto Natsu saying "Bad" as he did so then repeated with Happy, "Bad", then to Gray "Bad", then Strife, "bad" and then a slap on the rear to Lucy "Bad" "ouch" the Watcher commented trying to hold in his chuckled, "but i have a point to arise".
Everyone turned to him, "you forgot to punish one more" he said, everyone gave confused looks, "what are you talking about ghosty?" Cana asked, the Watcher decided to let the nickname slide and continued, "you forgot Erza she disobeyed the masters orders" the Watcher said, "she was supposed to take them back to the guild immediately but she didn't even after finding them and she disobeyed them willingly and thinking that you would not punish her. A bit hypocritical if you ask me".
Despite their fear at Erza getting angry at the information, they all at to nod in agreement, "W-wh-WHAT!?" Erza exclaimed in shock of what the Watcher had just said unable to think of how she got into the situation, "you planned this didn't you" Strife said in realization, the Watcher simply chuckled sheepishly.
Makarov put his hand on his chin then said, "hmmmm...now that you mention it Watcher, it would appear that Erza did take longer than ordered to bring them back and giving the story she even took part in the mission against orders", Erza went pale, "thank you for bringing it up…" and with that he slapped Erza across the face.
The rest of the guild, Except Strife, were absolutely shocked as Erza had not been punished throughout their lives, they saw her as a perfectionist and disciplined, never causing any trouble while on jobs. Erza now in humiliation looked at the Watcher with fury, "how dare you embarrass me, you bastard" she roared pointing her sword at the now laughing Watcher who was laughing his cruel laugh.
"Oh no your pissing her off dude" Macoa said, "if you want to live stop laughing" Nab added, the Watching only laughed all the harder, "oh i'm shaking" he mocked and laughed all the harder, "you really need to control yourself more" Strife said quietly, "die already!" Erza roared and requiped to a club hoping to bash the Watcher into his place.
The Watcher was sent spinning to the side from the club and impacted on top of a table in such a way that his upper half kept going down to the floor while his lower half stayed on the table effectively breaking his spin, and the impact on the ground would have snapped his neck at least. This sight shocked Erza out of her anger while the rest gave absolute shocked expressions, "WHAT THE HELL?!" the entire guiled exclaimed in horror, Huninn and Muninn pecked at the Watchers supposed corpse.
"You killed him" Lucy whispered hands over her mouth, "I know you are pissed and all but you didn't have to go that far!" Gray shouted angrily, "now look what you did!", Natsu looked away in anger, "i can't believe you killed a person Erza...you should be ashamed" was all he said, "i hate you Erza" Happy sobbed, "your a killer".
"Uh guys he's fine" Strife said poking the Watcher himself, the guild rounded on him with incredulous stares, "b-but his spin" Mirajane said shocked beyond words, "you all acting as if he is human, news slash he ain't he's alive" Strife replied. As if on que the Watcher groaned, he wrenched his upper body back up and corrected his snapped spin with cracking that made the entire guild cringe, even Strife winced a little, the Watcher then corrected his neck with another cringeworthy Crack.
"Urgh fuck me and i thought Lyon was short tempered" the Watcher cursed, "has Erza been punished yet?", "h-how are you ALIVE!?" Cana exclaimed, "i'm a watcher we are supposed to take hits" the Watcher said, "that's manly" Elfman said in amazement, "um okay so uh what now?" Makarov asked still slightly rattled from the scene, "first of all i wish to join the guild, perhaps i can teach your brats a little lesson" the Watcher told him looking evilly at the guild.
"Hmmmm...well what can you do?" Makarov asked, "Huninn and Muninn can see if any members broke the rules, tell us who breaks the laws and then you can work out a good punishment, plus i can understand them" the Watcher said, " i also have very excessive ways of keeping others in line", "trust me i felt them first hand" Gray helped out shivering.
That only made everyone else shiver.
"Well you certainly do seem to make an impact, alright you and your Ravens can join" Makarov decided, "let us welcome our newest member shall we?" the guild weren't as excited as normal but they gave their best cheerful cheer dispute their recent shock. "Oh and not just those three" Strife pointed out, "allow me to introduce my old friend" and from underneath him, Mayhem fully armored appeared and reared with Strife on top and when Mayhem came down his stomp shook the ground.
"Wow" the guild breathed, "damn where did you get that ride" Cana asked, "i ran into him back on that S-class mission, his names Mayhem and well it's a long story" Strife said, "mayhem, oh so that's who you've been missing" Mira deduced, Strife nodded, Romeo walked up to Mayhem curiously, Mayhem noticed and bent his head down allowing the boy to nuzzle him even with his mask on.
Mayhem then despawned his own armor revealing his truth self and all of the guild had to admit that he was a very majestic creature, Laxus also had to admit that that horse was a very fierce horse indeed if reluctantly. "He is actually pretty nice when he's not throwing you off the cliff" Lucy said patting the horse, Mayhem snorted at the comment.
"Is that all your friends?" Makarov asked as Mayhem disappeared, "no theres one more" Strife said, and right on que through the top of the door was cut a little bit by a whie hot sword that imbedded itself in the wall above Master Makarov, "you need a bigger door" said a voice from outside, it was Ibojil herself, bending down and stepping through the door.
Everyone was absolutely stunned by her sheer size even Elfman wasn't that tall, "wow is she a giant?" Romeo asked, "i'm a Maker boy" Ibojil snapped, "so you here to join huh?" Makarov asked, "aye us Makers are blacksmiths and builders" Ibojil said retrieving her weapon and sheiving it on her back "perhaps i can help do a little bit of repair for yah, would save yah money don't yah think?".
"Hmmmm" the Master thought, "i like her already" Cana said, "she is rather manly" Elfman added but quietly, "so sorry bout the fright if it helps me get in" Ibojil added, "oh it's okay fights break out regularly" Mira said, "yes and i think you could be very helpful, so you may join" Makarov said, the guild cheered, very happy now that they had 3(or 5 counting the ravens) new members.
Mayhem got his guild mark on his shoulders and on the same place on his armor and in purple, the Watcher got a gold guild mark on his chest, Mira tried not to squirm at the skeleton like chest, the ravens got them on their backs then promptly stole Cana's lunch, and Ibojil got her guild mark on her breastplate.
And they celebrated long and hard at their newest members, getting introduced making new friends and having a good time, Huninn and Muninn got on surprisingly well with Happy, the Watcher oddly enough made for great conversation with Team Shadowgear, and as for Ibojil her celebration was short with nearly outdrinking Cana and then outwrestled Elfman after she woke up.
"So how when did you get that sword?" Mira asked, "got it on the island, it's the literal crown jewel of all weapons" Strife said, "it has the power to steal souls, open portal, hell it can even slay gods" Strife said, "WHAT?" the guild shouted, "appropriate reaction" the Watcher commented
"Right thats good to now! now it's time for me a make my forge" Ibojil said as she bashed a section of wall and it instantly Crumbled, "My Guild?" the Master moped, "okay who heres knows about how to make a forge?" Ibojil asked hoping for Volunteers to help make the forge, "i made a list for later but now seems like a good time to use it" Mira said, "thank ye Mira your a sweet girl" Ibojil said.
"I'm strong and manly enough to get them" Elfman said, "no i am" Gray said, "shut up i'm the strongest" Natsu said, "good you three can go get them" Ibojil decided, the guild chuckled at the three's misfortune, "don't think you get off easy, you all be will be playing a part in building it" the Watcher warned, "oh hell yeah ket's do so" Strife said standing up and ready to help.
It only got worse, "well then what are you standing around for do as you say" Makarov ordered the whole guild, "you can all get those materials". The entire guild feel over in shock, and i am afraid that we will have to leave them there on that note to build the blacksmith shop for Ibojil.