Back with the continuation
"speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
Near Warrod's home
"Wa ha ha!" Warrod laughed loudly as he clapped his hands. "I knew it was a good idea to entrust the job to you! Well done!"
The Fairy Tail wizards left Sun Village late into the night, arriving back at Warrod's home just around the time the sunset the next day. It was a long journey on foot, but their renewed spirits from the smiling giants and Flare helped spur them on.
"We are relieved that we were able to complete the task given to us by you, Master Warrod." Erza smiled.
"We were really surprised to hear that Tartaros was involved." Wendy said.
"Hm…well you can trust that the council will investigate that." Warrod replied. He turned and began digging through his plants. "Now, on to your reward."
"Just what we've been waiting on!" Lucy exclaimed as her eyes had jewel signs on them.
"Well since it was a job, it's only natural." Charla smirked.
Warrod turned around, holding out to the wizards what looked to be a rock. "Here." He said.
"Here…what…?" Lucy inquired in confusion.
"This is a potato from my very own garden." Warrod beamed.
The Fairy Tail wizards had no reply. They were honestly confused, and slightly insulted that they were receiving a potato for their troubles. Warrod began to laugh.
"That was a joke…" he began.
"O-of course it was." Gray said with a half-heartedly laugh
"I didn't grow this. I actually bought it from a market in a nearby village." Warrod finished, trying to hold back a snicker.
"Just fork over the cash!" Gray shouted.
Near his home
"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed.
"This place looks amazing!" Wendy added.
After properly rewarding the Fairy Tail wizards for a job well done. Warrod gave them the location of a hot spring that was known to only a few wizards in the entire world. It was secluded, sealed off by the nearby trees and mountains that surrounded it.
"The view is absolutely breathtaking." Erza said as she looked out at the expansive fauna before her.
"Master Warrod is quite knowledgeable to know of such a secluded area." Erza said as she dip her hands in the warm water
"Look there, Wendy." Charla said as she pointed to a sign near the spring. "It says here that this spring helps promote both health and beauty!"
"That's amazing." Wendy said.
"I can just feel my troubles melting away." Lucy said as she relaxed into the hotspring
"A nice hot bath after a job is the best feeling in the world."
"I agree." Erza smiled. She was standing in the water, her hands blissfully busied with the leaves from the trees surrounding the spring.
"It refreshes both body and soul, allowing you to focus on the troubles and challenges of tomorrow."
"I feel bad that Natsu-san and Gray-san can't be here." Wendy said.
"never mind them! They probably have no interest in hot springs anyway" Charla said while floating in the warm calming water
"I wouldn't go that far" A voice called
"we like nice soak now and again"
The girls looked over, seeing Natsu, and Gray soaking on the other side of the spring. After the situation sunk in, Wendy and Lucy shrieked in fright except for Erza.
Wendy quickly covered herself and turned away, her face bright red from embarrassment. Lucy took the offensive, grabbing wooden pails and throwing them at the boys.
"This is a women's bath!" Lucy shouted. "Get out!"
Natsu tilt his head as he dodged the flying pail "We were here first. You guys showed up after we did." He told them
"Did I forget to mention? This bath is mixed." Warrod laughed as he stepped into the spring.
"You can't come barging in here either!" Lucy yelled. She clutched Wendy close to her, the dragon slayer still very embarrassed. "You boys need to get out!"
"This is so embarrassing." Wendy whimpered.
"Calm down." Gray said. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. It gets kinda boring after a while."
Lucy's mood darkened. "You have a death wish or something?" she growled.
"Let's all just calm down." Erza said as she dips into the warm water "Isn't it normal for comrades to be on such close terms with one another?"
"No! It's not!" Wendy shrieked in protest.
"Besides, Gray used to take baths with me all the time when we were young."
"heh" Natsu said with an amused smile
"can it" Gray said with a blush
Warrod chuckled at the young wizards. "Isn't camaraderie a beautiful thing?"
"You're not that kind of comrade!" Lucy shouted.
"I'm not?' Warrod asked, a knowing grin on his lips. "I guess I forgot to mention it." He raised his left arm from the spring water, there was a fairy tail mark emblazoned on it. "I was one of the founding members of Fairy Tail." Warrod revealed. "I was present when Mavis started the whole thing. So in essence, I am a senior member of the guild."
Erza and the others exclaimed in surprise "What?!"
"so, that's why your magic smells like the wood at the guild" Natsu said
"So the guild you said you retired from from…" Lucy began.
"Was Fairy Tail?!" Carla finished.
"Indeed." Warrod nodded.
"That's why the master was so adamant about us taking this job." Lucy realized. "I thought it was weird that he was getting so flustered over another wizard saint.
"So that's why you requested Natsu and Gray for this job." Erza deduced.
"It is." Warrod nodded again.
"You entering my home filled my nose with the scent of the old wooden beams that make up the guild. To meet young wizards is truly is a joy. Looking at all of you now, happy and smiling, this is the harmony that Mavis always spoke of. Even after all this time, that spirit still burns bright within each of you. I realized it the moment I saw you all. Mavis once said to me: 'Camaraderie isn't just a word. It's friendship of the heart. It's that person you can trust unconditionally. You can rely on me. Just as I am sure, I will be relying on you. In times both painful and sad…I will be by your side. So remember you are not alone! There are as many dreams out there as there are stars in the sky. The breeze on your skin foretells the events of tomorrow. Now let us walk together…in the rhythm of the fairies' song.' " Warrod titled his head down with a smile. He missed those days of his youth.
The others looked at him with soft smiles.
"That's what Master Mavis said when she created Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked as she looked up at the night sky. "That's so deep and moving."
"I have a question." Wendy spoke up.
"Yes, what is it?" Warrod replied.
"Do you know anything about Tartaros?"
Warrod leaned back against the rocks of the spring as he stroked his chin in thought. "Tartaros. You mentioned them earlier this afternoon."
"Can you tell us anything about them?" Gray asked. He was almost pleading, he wanted to know all he could about anything that could help reveal the identity of the ice wizard that froze Sun Village.
"Any information would be helpful, Master Warrod." Erza said.
"I don't know much…" Warrod began as he looks to Azuma who shook his head
"But I will tell you what I've heard. They are a creepy guild, but also mysterious. No one knows the location of their base, the number of their members, anything. But there is one thing that is known about them…" Warrod's gaze narrowed. "They are devil worshippers."
Gray's eyes widened in shock as Warrod continued.
"Now this is just an opinion shared by us 'Emperors of Ishgal', but we suspect that they are in control of a very powerful demon from the book of Zeref!"
"A demon from the book of Zeref?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Just like Deliora!" Gray said
"Lullaby as well." Erza nodded.
"not much is known about that guild" Warrod continued his explanation
""Tartaros"" Natsu thought of the dark guild as he looks at his right hand ""my book….is with them?""
Far Away
Minerva made the trip back to the Succubus Eye guild hall in anger.
"Damn her." She cursed.
"How dare she make a mockery of me again? I swear I will make her bow before me, and watch as she begs forgiveness for her sins."
Minerva approached her guild hall as she steps in her eyes widen in shock
"What…in the world?"
Her guild hall was in ruins. Everywhere Minerva looked there were broken tables, destroyed chairs, tattered curtains and cloth, and rubble.
"What happened in here?" she asked no one as she stepped further inside.
"Where is everyone?" Her eyes caught sight of a piece of black paper that looked to be in the shape of a person.
She picked up and examined it "What is this?"
"Human." An ominous voice answered from the shadows.
"Human?!" Minerva questioned in shock, still looking at the paper.
"This one's magic is able to make human's stronger." The mysterious voice informed.
Minerva turned her head, glaring at her mysterious "guest". "Who are you?" she demanded.
The person, now revealed to be a woman in a mask, ignored Minerva's question and continued her earlier musings. "But…not all are proven worthy. Weaklings become…that." She was referring to the paper in Minerva's hand. "This one is known as Kyôka." She introduced. "One of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros."
""Tartaros?!"" Minerva looked down at the rest of the paper dolls, surmising that they were the bodies of her guildmates.
""Impossible…the news of our failure to protect Sun Village has already reached them?"" She looked back to Kyôka.
"You would take such a drastic action over the loss of one village?!" she angrily questioned.
Kyôka looked at the former Sabertooth wizard in confusion. "Of what do you speak? This one has no memory of a village."
Once again Minerva was dumbstruck.
""So Silver was attacking of his own accord when he sent Doriante and I there? But why?""
Kyôka let out an amused sigh at Minerva's angrily confused expression. "This one has already explained her purpose here. To strengthen humans. In the coming days Tartaros will execute a massive operation in the coming days. This one is here under the master's orders to bolster our forces."
"These wizards should have been your soldiers in your operation!" Minerva reasoned. "What fool does this to their own troops?!" she failed to see the irony in her question.
"Those unsuitable for strengthening are of no value to us." Kyôka stated with a smirk. She then looked to Minerva, her eyes wide with intrigue and sadism. "The question is, are you suitable, human?!"
Minerva's eyes went wide with fear and she stepped back, tripping over a broken chair. She tried to get away, her body shaking as she watched Kyôka inch closer to her.
"Stop! Don't! Stay away from me!"
That's a wrap!
Bye bye