Chapter 35
The Opportunist- I said before in the last chapter, you need to make an account in the site before you can access the PM function. Without you're not able to PM me.
If you want lore on Kroq-Gar, you can look it up in the Warhammer wiki. It doesn't go into great detail on what he's done throughout his life, but it gives a general idea of what he's done and who he is. Essentially, though, he's the Saurus you want if you want something dead while also leading armies to victory.
Ogres may make it in, but I honestly don't have any plans for them right now. Even then, why would I focus on them when there's other, more important races at the moment that I should be focusing on.
Clan Skurvy I guess can make it in, but why do clan Skurvy over clan Skyre, Moulder, Eshin, Mors, or Pestilens. You know the more important Skaven races. Other than the fact they have ships, there really isn't a reason to include them beyond being transports for the others great clans.
I guess I can do the Vampires, but honestly I don't want anymore Warhammer races until after Tenrou Island is done. Because let's be honest, the Dark Elves, Warriors of Chaos, Wood Elves, and Lizardmen are more than enough for now. We don't need any more right now.
Naestra
The black-haired Wood Elf groaned as she got up from the floor that she was sprawled upon. Blinking a bit, she noticed that she was in a stone room with no furniture in it at all. There was a window, but the breeze she felt from it indicated that she was high above a building. Going over to the window, although it was more akin to a doorless entrance, confirmed that she was indeed she in high above of a building. Looking down, she can see that if she jumped the fall would be fatal to her as there weren't any ledges of rooftops that she can safely land on without breaking a bone. And given that she didn't know her surroundings, she guessed she was taken by someone within the Phantom Lord Guild as the last person that she remembered speaking to was Black Steel Gajeel. Although, another possibility was that person that tried to attack Gajeel, she prevented it at the last second.
That person could have been from the Dark Elves, he did wear attire that matched those that attacked them during the guild conference event with Eisenwald. Although given that she wasn't restrained by any means, she very much doubted that was the case. The Dark Elves would never dare to give their prisoners a chance at escape, even the most sadistic would be more cautious than this. As she tried to think of who was responsible for all this, the door to the room opened, catching Naestra's attention.
To her shock, she saw an unconscious Lucy being carried gently by a blue-haired girl in a blue coat and some sort of strange hat. Placing Lucy gently to the ground, the blue-haired girl looked at Naestra and spoke up.
"Greetings." Said the girl before introducing herself. "I'm Juvia of Phantom's Element Four. And I'm pleased to see that you're fully awake. Please forgive us for your inhospitable conditions. The master, unfortunately, insisted on them as you and Miss Heartfilia are prisoners of war."
"Prisoners of war?" Asked Naestra before widening her eyes in shock. "War has started between my guild and yours!?" When Juvia nodded at that, Naestra instantly spoke up.
"Why!?" Demanded Naestra as she looked at the stoic woman, looking at her with emotionless eyes. "Do you not know of the repercussions that will occur between both guilds, regardless of the victor of the conflict? The Magic Council will not be lenient on either guild. Why seek war with my Guild?" Juvia just responded blankly, though not as an insult. Rather it was just the way she spoke.
"I do not know the reason why Master Jose wishes war with Fairy Tail." Answered Juvia truthfully. "He claims that it was to assist in our true objective." Naestra narrowed her eyes at that. Waging war with Fairy Tail was just a means to an end? An end for what?
"How does waging war with my guild help facilitate whatever plans you in motion?" Asked Naestra. "Surely a war will only impede your efforts in achieving your true objective, yes? Unless your true objective is something that we possess." Juvia just nodded in confirmation before looking down at Lucy.
"Yes, Lucy Heartfilia is our true objective." Said Juvia, causing Naestra to widen her eyes in surprise at hearing Lucy's last name being brought up. "Her father, the owner of the Heartfilia Konzern, hired my guild to bring Miss Heartfilia back home. Master Jose claimed that Fairy Tail will not give Miss Heartfilia up without a fight, nor would she wish to go back peacefully, thus he concocted this war in order to fulfill our objective. And to do so, he had our Dragonslayer commit attacks on your people in order to force them to declare war on us. Though I admit kidnapping you while you're wounded was a bit much." Naestra stayed silent as she processed all this.
The Guild Hall attack. The attack on Levy and her team. Her kidnapping. All this was to get Lucy back to her father? It was madness. But it also left her a bit perplexed.
She and Arahan always knew that Lucy was a member of the Heartfilia family. After coming back to Magnolia after the Hargeon port incident, the Twilight Sisters did some digging and found out that Lucy was a member of the Heartfilia family, a family that was behind a profitable company in Fiore. One of the biggest, in fact, and Lucy was the daughter of the company head. Both sisters hadn't revealed this revelation to anyone but Makarov, who needed to know such things, because she and Arahan realized that Lucy needed to reveal such information herself. They also realized that something must have happened between her father and Lucy if she didn't reveal her family lineage to anyone sooner.
Lucy isn't a girl that would keep something like her true heritage a secret from her guildmates unless her father was abusive or was so terrible to her that she refused to mention him ever again in fear of remembering the trauma she had to endure from him. It's either that or she didn't want people to see her as the daughter of a rich man. She wanted to be seen as her own person. Not the daughter of a company man. Whatever the reason is, it's up to Lucy to tell them the truth and their choice in how to react to it. Arahan, although already knowing her origins, will probably react with disdain and disgust, regardless of the reason as it was her father that caused the guild its most recent grievances as well as her kidnapping. As for the others, Naestra had no idea, but she knew that she'll be there to comfort Lucy once she revealed the whole story to them all. That is if both Lucy and herself were able to escape from Phantom's grasp.
Looking at the woman named Juvia, Naestra then began to change the subject.
"Tell me, Juvia." Said Naestra as she spoke with the blue-haired girl. "Why do you follow Jose so blindly? You have to know that a war between guilds is illegal and will only bring the Council's wrath upon both guilds. Did you not bring this up to Jose?" Juvia, upon hearing that question, immediately spoke.
"My loyalty to the Phantom Lord Guild is absolute." Said Juvia, knowing what Naestra was trying to do. She was trying to plant seeds of doubt within her mind. To make her question Master Jose's orders. That was what Jose warned her that Naestra would do.
According to him, Elves were masters of manipulations. They were able to convince people that their ways are best with just their mere words. There were other depictions of elves, of course, all with differing abilities, but Master Jose warned her to not underestimate Naestra, especially when it was confirmed that she was a master of using words against people.
"It was Master Jose and the Phantom Lord Guild that took me off the streets and enable me to become the Wizard that I am today. As a result, he has my full loyalty, even if I do question some of his decisions." Explained Juvia on her loyalty to Phantom Lord. Naestra couldn't help but shake her head at that. It was the same situation with Gajeel. She was too blindly loyal to Jose to think for herself. Then again, she seemed to be too young to understand the intricacies of loyalty as well as how important it is to question the judgment of those in charge. While Naestra very rarely questioned the orders of Ariel, that was only because Ariel always acted within reason and always explained the reasoning behind her orders and tasks bestowed upon the Twilight Sisters. And the few times she did question Ariel's orders, Ariel reassured Naestra, trying her best to calm the mind of the black-haired elf.
Jose, on the other hand, didn't do such a thing and simply relied upon the idea that his guild members would do whatever he said without question. That was something that Naestra disagreed with. A person should be able to think for themselves and be able to voice their disagreements with the orders of their leaders. And it was also the leader's duty to try to make their subordinates understand the reasoning behind their orders and actions. What Jose was doing with his guild members wasn't being a leader. It was being a fool whose arrogance or overconfidence will be his downfall. She faced similar people before, in both elves and men. Each and every time, those men and women cost the lives of far worthier lives. The same would no doubt be the same here. She had to stop this all before it's too late.
"Juvia, I understand loyalty to your guild, especially if they've given you a better life." Said Naestra as she looked at Juvia. "But you have to understand. What Jose is doing will bring an end to that. The Magic Council isn't something that you can gloss over, even though my guild has earned its ire many times throughout its lifetime and it hasn't negatively affected us a great deal. Breaking a rule as important as one that prevents inter-guild war between guilds is not something that the Magic Council can gloss over. There will be heavy reparations for all involved, regardless of who is ultimately responsible for the war. Phantom will face punishment for provoking us while Fairy Tail will face punishment for falling for the provocations and the situation will only deteriorate further for both of our guilds as war can lead to destructive actions that can and will lead to collateral damages. Do you want to be partially responsible for innocent people being injured in a guild war between Fairy Tail and Phantom? For no doubt that innocents will be injured from a war between our guilds." Juvia pursed her lips upon hearing that.
"Master Jose assured us that innocents won't be harmed." Said Juvia with some slight hesitance, something that Naestra caught on. "Any fights that Phantom starts will only occur in areas where innocents are nowhere in sight, like a forest or our guild hall. Any fights that occur with innocents involved will be the fault of Fairy Tail."
"And what happens if innocents are around your guildhall, like fans of your guild or ours being there when the fighting occurs with the attacks not knowing of their presence there? Or if hunters are in a forest hunting game while we fight?" Asked Naestra pointedly, making Juvia gulp. "What would you do if those outliers occur? Will you ignore them or use them against us when the Magic Council discovers them?"
"We would do no such thing!" Said Juvia in shock. Naestra wasn't convinced, however, and kept pressing on.
"Truly? If so, what will you do to assist those people that have been hurt by our war?" Asked Naestra. "Surely my guild will do the same, even if the Master and I will have to force our members to do so, will yours do the same?" Juvia was about to reply yes when they both heard some groaning. Looking down, Naestra saw that Lucy was stirring up.
"Oh, man. What's with all the racket?" Asked Lucy groggily as she tried to stretch her hands, only to realize she can't as they were bound together by ropes that also tied her arms tightly around her body. This caused Lucy to become wide awake and see the predicament she was in. "What the hell!? Why am I bound in ropes?" She then looked around her surroundings. "And why the hell am I in a stone room?" Seeing Lucy was awake, Naestra spoke to her.
"We're being held prisoner by Phantom Lord." Explained Naestra, causing Lucy to look at Naestra in shock, even more so when she saw that her hood was down, revealing her full beauty to Lucy.
"What!?" Yelled Lucy before everything came back to her. That's right, she was getting groceries for Team Shadowgear when she was confronted by two members of Phantom Lord. One of them was Juvia and the other was a weird man named Sol. She tried to fight but Juvia encased her into a water bubble and knocked her unconscious. Speaking of Juvia, Lucy looked at her and glared. "You!" Lucy tried to get up but the ropes prevented her from doing so without outside help. Thus, Naestra helped her up. After giving Naestra her thanks, Lucy glared at Juvia. "What's the matter with you Phantom creeps! Don't you realize we're all going to get into trouble for the stunts you pulled!? Not only are you going to get in trouble for hurting our guildmates and destroying our guildhall, but my guild will also get into trouble for going to war with you because of what you creeps did yesterday! Why do that all in the first place anyway!?"
"It's because of your father, Jude Heartfilia." Said Naestra, causing Lucy to widen her eyes in shock, surprised that Naestra knew about her father. How did she know? "Your father contracted Phantom Lord to bring you back home. For what, I have no idea, but it's the reason behind Phantom's recent attacks for some reason. Even though they could easily have just brought you back with simple negotiations." Juvia just stayed silent as Lucy processed this.
"No way." Said Lucy before reacting in anger. "Why the hell would he care about me now!? Why does that jerk suddenly care about me coming back!? Why now!?" Naestra looked at Lucy in concern while Juvia took a step back in surprise. So it was neglect or abuse that made Lucy leave home. Perhaps even running away as well. "After everything he did, why does he suddenly care if I'm home or not!? It doesn't make sense." Before Naestra can try to calm Lucy down, they suddenly heard some snickering and before their eyes, a man materialized before their eyes. It was Master Jose of the Phantom Lord Guild.
"Jose, I presume." Said Naestra as she looked at the tall red-haired man that wore clothing that resembled both that of a Jester and a Sorcerer. Jose just chuckled as he nodded.
"That is correct, my dear." Said Jose as he adjusted his hat a bit. "I'm Jose Porla. Guild Master to the Phantom Lord Guild." That caused Lucy to narrow her eyes at the man while Naestra placed a hand on Lucy.
"You're the man responsible for everything behind our guild's destruction." Accused Lucy, causing Jose to chuckle again.
"That's right, Miss Heartfilia." Said Jose. "Of course, that's all an unfortunate necessity if we wish to achieve our mission in bringing you back to your father. You see, your father contracted us to bring you back home and given how stubborn Makarov is, we had no choice but to do it by force." That explanation for their actions left Naestra scoffing along with Lucy.
"Yeah right." Said Lucy. "As if a war is a right way to bring me back home."
"Indeed." Agreed Naestra. "If I needed to, I would convince Lucy to return home to her father had your guild simply come to us and told us the truth." Though Lucy looked at Naestra in shock at that, the next thing she said left her even more surprised. "You knew I was a member of Fairy Tail and that I had good standings in it. I would have easily been able to convince Lucy and the others to let you take her back to her father so long as she was well-taken care of and was able to return back to the guild by her own decision. But rather than trying to explain that situation to us, you attacked us. You tried to make war with us, despite knowing the consequences. This bodes ill for your justifications, Jose. If anything, your justifications are simple excuses for you to declare war on our guild for the humiliation that Makarov gave you six years ago. A sad and pitiful thing for a guild master to do, much less a wizard saint." Everyone, upon hearing that, reacted in differing ways.
Lucy was shocked at the revelation while Juvia was stunned at what Naestra just said to her master, who was one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Jose reacted the most stoically, only twitching a bit, before raising a hand. Before anyone can do anything, a mass of shadows appeared before Lucy's left side and sprang right towards her. Naestra, having seen this in time, pushed Lucy back before being forced to take the hit. The mass of shadows pushed her to the wall, creating a crevice as Naestra grunted in pain as the shadows began to press hard into her armor and body.
"Naestra!" Yelled Lucy as she saw this. She then glared at Jose as he smiled.
"You should know better, my dear, than to insult one of the Ten Wizard Saint." Said Jose before looking at Naestra with a sadistic smile, causing both Juvia and Lucy to shake in fear. "You may be a strong warrior, I won't deny that, but there comes a time when physical capabilities alone will not save you, especially when you don't have the time needed to strategize and plan ahead." He then increased the power behind his attack, this time causing Naestra to scream out in pain as the shadows began to cause her body armor to dent and dig into her flesh.
"Stop this!" Yelled Lucy in fear as she saw Naestra screaming out in pain as she got up with much difficulty. "You're going to kill her!" Juvia, also worried about Jose killing Naestra, spoke to her master.
"Master Jose, we can't kill her." Said Juvia. "The Magic Council will…" She then gasped out loud when Jose looked at her with a dark glare, causing her to shut up.
"Not to worry, Juvia dear." Said Jose as he turned back to watching Naestra suffer. "I know the repercussions of killing a Fairy Tail Wizard. I won't kill her, but that doesn't mean I won't give her a lesson in respect. Besides, you saw her capabilities. She'll survive."
"A lesson!?" Yelled out Lucy as she watched all this in anger. "What kind of lesson is this!? At this rate, you're going to kill her!" Jose ignored Lucy, causing her to shake in anger and fear. She wanted to do something but knew that she couldn't do anything against a Wizard Saint. Erza told her that Jose was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, a cadre of the strongest wizards in Fiore. There was no way she could do anything against him, especially when she didn't have her keys with her. Phantom must have taken them when they captured her. Eventually, Jose stopped and Naestra fell to the ground when the shadows dissipated. Sneering down at the elf before him, Jose spoke.
"Next time, you should learn to respect your elders." Said Jose as Lucy knelt down at Naestra, worried for her. "Although then again, I shouldn't say something like that when I know of your true origins." Upon hearing that, Lucy looked at Jose in both shock and anger, mostly the latter.
"What do you mean by that!?" Yelled Lucy, causing Jose to laugh out loud.
"My. My." Said Jose with amusement. "It seems that the women of Fairy Tail have quite a number of secrets that they keep from their friends and fellow guildmates. And your guild claims to be a family." Lucy glared at that while Naestra raised her head and glared at Jose, uncaring to him knowing her true origins. "Seeing as I'm merciful, I'll tell you, Miss Heartfilia. Naestra here is an elf." Upon hearing that Lucy widens her eyes in shock at hearing that. Naestra was an elf? Upon seeing this, Jose continued.
"That's right, Miss Heartfilia." Said Jose. "She's an elf. That mythical race we all heard about in Fairy Tales and fantasy stories. You would think that elves would be real in this world, but they aren't. Or at least, we haven't found them yet. Until now that is. I must admit, I'm sort of disappointed at seeing that elves just look like humans with pointy ears, but not disappointed enough that I can't see that keeping her around will most certainly be something worth awhile." Upon hearing that, Lucy returned back to glaring at Jose, still in shock at this revelation. She stopped when Naestra coughed out blood, forcing her to look at Naestra and try to examine her wounds. Jose laughed upon seeing this before ordering Juvia to return to back to the Guild Hall in Oak Town. She may be needed there as Fairy Tail was spotted coming to the Guild branch there. He then apparated away, leaving Juvia alone with the Fairy Tail members.
Looking upon Lucy turning Naestra around, she saw that Naestra's armor was heavily caved in just below her chest, causing the metal to dig into her flesh and spill out blood. Juvia wanted to help, but she had her orders. Thus, she left the women alone, but not without much hesitation. As she left, she felt the anger coming out of Lucy as she glared at Juvia leaving the room, locking it along the way.
Unbelieving this behavior from the Phantom Lord Guild, Lucy went back to looking at Naestra as the elf lady tried to remove the latches to her armor that were located at her back. She managed to, with excruciating pain, undo all but one, which forced Lucy to do it for her. After some failed attempts, one of which caused Lucy to fall on Naestra, causing blood to stain her clothes, she managed to undo the final latch, allowing Naestra to pull the armor off her, revealing the undersuit of leather and cloth beneath. Lucy winced upon seeing the blood around the area where the metal caved in and pierced the leather undersuit, creating a sizable wound just below Naestra chest. She winced even further when blood squirted out of the wound, causing her to feel guilty. She was no doctor, but even she could see that Naestra would die if she didn't receive medical attention soon.
"Naestra." Said Lucy in regret as Naestra sighed in relief at most of the pain being gone before she crawled to a wall and sat, her back pressed against the wall. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Upon hearing that, Naestra looked at Lucy and spoke up.
"It's not your fault." Said Naestra, talking through the pain from her wounds that should heal soon. She'll have to explain that when Lucy sees it happening. "It's your fathers and Phantom Lord for doing these actions. Your father should have specified to the Phantom Lord Guild of how he wanted you to return, and the Phantom Lord Guild should know better than to wage war against another legal guild. None of this is your fault."
"But it is." Insisted Lucy as she looked at Naestra in tears, having kneeled down in front of Naestra while doing so. "If I hadn't run away from my father, then none of this would be happening. The Guild Hall would still be up, Levy and her team wouldn't be hurt, and you wouldn't be on the cusp of dying." Naestra couldn't help but internally laugh at that last part. Soon Lucy will see that was untrue. Still, she felt sadness that Lucy will think such things until it's proven before her eyes that Naestra was no ordinary elf. "Both of them may have escalated the situation, but I'm the catalyst behind them. I'm so sorry." As Lucy teared up, Naestra crawled over to her and embraced Lucy.
"None of this is your fault, Lucy." Insisted Naestra as she stroked Lucy's hair, feeling regretful that she's spilling more blood on Lucy's clothes, but the girl needed her embrace right now and so Naestra will give it to her. "You're not the first one in Fairy Tail to bring harm and conflict to the Guild. Many of us have done so before. Granted not on the large scale you did, but that doesn't matter to any of us. Not when our past actions have caused some members to leave in disgust or die in tragic events. Even if you did bring this war upon us, we don't care. You're one of us now, Lucy, and it's clear as the sky that all of this is not because of you. This is the fault of your father and Phantom Lord. As you said, you may have been the catalyst for all this, but they're the ones that are ultimately responsible. They should have ordered restraint in bringing you home. They should have known better than to wage war with us. And, above all, they should have known that their goals could have been achieved with the quill. Not the sword or arrow." Lucy teared up upon hearing all those words from Naestra, feeling both happiness and regret when she heard that Naestra didn't blame her at all. She still felt remorse for everything happening right now, but Naestra was lessening the blow. Enough that Lucy began to cry on Naestra's neck, something the elf took in strides, knowing she needed to do so. Eventually, Lucy stopped and let go of Naestra.
"Thank you." Said Lucy in tears as she rubbed her own tears away. "But I still feel guilty about everything." Naestra smiled at that.
"That's what makes you a good person, Lucy." Said Naestra with a smile. "Never lose your humanity, Lucy. It's what separates you from Jose and that woman with him." Lucy smiled at that before she looked at Naestra wound, causing her to gasp out loud.
"Naestra." Said Lucy with wide eyes as she saw her wound close up right before her eyes. "How did." Naestra just sighed at that before speaking.
"As Jose said, I have certain…capabilities that ensure that things like this, I'll survive from, even if they're fatal wounds." Said Naestra as Lucy processed what she saw. Eventually, she looked at Naestra and spoke.
"Is this natural for elves?" Asked Lucy, pointing at Naestra's former wound. She remembered Jose said that Naestra was an elf, but she didn't believe it. Now, she wasn't so sure. She was absolutely positive that healing magic wasn't a thing anymore and that no one has the ability to regenerate wounds without a potion or something. Then again, there was almost no factual information on elves so this could be a natural thing for them. Naestra gave a small smile at that before explaining.
"No. It's something that's unique to my sister and me." Said Naestra before she pulled her hair back to reveal her ears, causing Lucy to widen her eyes in shock. "But that doesn't mean that elves are, by no means, weak." Lucy, with the number of revelations that she was forced to process in such a short amount of time, was left a babbling mess, causing Naestra to chuckle, finding comfort in the girl before her. She then narrowed her eyes once Lucy recovered before speaking.
"We must find a way out of here, Lucy." Said Naestra as she looked at Lucy, causing her to nod in agreement.
"But how?" Asked Lucy as she looked around the room, finding nothing they can use to escape. There was an open door on the other side, but the breeze told her that they were really high up.
"That's, unfortunately, the easy part." Said Naestra as she got up, not fully recovered, before looking outside, wondering if her sister was amongst those that were attacking Phantom Lord. No doubt that she was, but she was wondering if she and the others were nearby. If so, she could be able to summon Gwindalor and have the Great Eagle get both her and Lucy out of here, but if her sister isn't, then there was no hope of them escaping with assistance from the guild. That meant they had to escape on their own merit. Looking around, Naestra tried to make think up a plan of escape while Lucy was walking over to Naestra, wondering what the Black-haired elf was planning.