A/N: Whoo! A new chapter down!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 33: Promise Remembered
April 14, X792 - Night
Cordelia sat staring down at the open journal that had dropped heavily onto her desk once she had finished reading it. She had her hand loosely wrapped around the glass of whiskey she had been drinking, a thin layer of the brown liquid covering the bottom of the glass. Cordelia couldn't wrap her head around what she had just read for a long time and she had no words to describe what she was feeling at the moment. Her heart ached over the story she had just read, but sadness and anger and grief weren't enough to describe the tightening sick feeling in her chest.
She had never known about any of it, not a single word. To think Duke had something like this in his past, it made sense why he never dated or married when she was growing up. And to think that the man hunting down the treasure map in her possession was capable of something so vicious. She had known that Madmartigan was a dangerous man, but not to this extent.
The thought of Cheyenne's death flared up again and Cordelia felt her hand grasp the glass tightly. Madmartigan had taken everything from Duke. All his hopes and dreams. His entire future and his love. He had so easily ripped apart a man and his entire life in one single moment. She felt her teeth clench at the mere thought of what it would feel like to lose so much in a matter of seconds. It almost made her want to cry. She could feel the wetness building up in her eyes, but she shut them tightly and fought back the sorrow swelling in her chest. In place of that sadness, anger grew. She had no idea how Duke was able to make it through an event like that. Just from almost losing Zinnia earlier that day, she had completely lost her cool. To lose everything like Duke had, it should have drove a man crazy or so deep into a depression that he would never come back out of it. Hell, she had simply read his journal and her heart was breaking. She wanted to be angry for him and she wanted to cry for him. She was facing the same man Duke had twenty-five years ago. That same man was now trying to kill her mages and now she knew how capable he was of doing that. She realized then that Madmartigan had been stringing her along. Playing at her emotions and her protectiveness over her mages. He was trying to break her just like he had done to Duke.
Cordelia let out a roar of a shout from that thought and from the ache still hanging in her heart from Duke's story as she threw the glass at the wall next to her, the tumbler instantly shattering upon impact. She stood, breathing heavily as she watched what had been left of the whiskey drip across the wall and shine across the broken glass. Her head quickly whipped forward when she heard the door to her office open.
Finn stood in the doorway for a moment, looking between the broken glass, the journal and his daughter, "Cordelia," he finally said, the sound of his voice seeming to snap something in Cordelia.
"Madmartigan took everything from him! He broke him! And now he's trying to do the same thing to me! How does someone even come back from something like that?! How was he able to smile at all of us all this time?! Weren't we just reminders of what he lost?!" she shouted, throwing her arms around as she spoke before slamming her fist on her desk, "What am I supposed to do against a guy like that?!" she asked as she fell back down into her seat. She pushed the journal off from the desk to have it land in front of it while she laid her head down on the desk with her hair splayed out across it.
Finn sighed as he walked into the office, shutting the door behind him. He walked across the room and picked up the journal, flipping through it until he found the pages he wanted, "You know," he began quietly, "Duke didn't write in this journal for a year after Cheyenne died. Did you read what he wrote in it after that year?"
"No," she mumbled, keeping her head down.
"Then let me read it for you."
. : + : .
24 Years Earlier
A small group of mages had arrived back at Storm's Helm in the early evening. They worked to pull their boat up onto the guild, helping each other tie the boat off and get out of it. Though, there had been one mage that didn't take any of the help offered to him. Duke Ramirez easily stepped out from the boat without really looking at the men that had come on the S-Class mission with him. They had wanted the experience of a higher level mission, and with all the other S-Class mages out on their own missions, Finn had ordered Duke to take them out with him on his next mission. The men had seemed a bit hesitant to work with the large man, considering what he had been like for the past year.
Duke had succumbed to his anger and depression, becoming a cold and quiet man that didn't trust anyone around him. While he did not hurt his fellow mages, he no longer felt that bond he had once had with them, everything he used to be being torn apart when Cheyenne had died. Even Finn had trouble getting through to him most times. People had tried to comfort him after Cheyenne's death, but Duke would only lash out in response until eventually everyone left him alone. Once left alone, he had closed in on himself, refusing to open up to anyone, including Finn and Regina, despite the last wishes of Cheyenne. Nothing seemed to matter anymore now that she was gone and it had almost seemed pointless to continue on without her. Finn had to stop him from drinking himself to death several times while throwing it in his face how disappointed Cheyenne would be in him. This would rile up Duke enough to have him trying to fist fight Finn, but with the large amount of alcohol pumping through him, it didn't even come close to a fair fight. Eventually Duke lost interest in drinking and everything else around him, an empty and distant look covering his face at all times. The only reason he took missions was because Finn told him to and he seemed to move on instinct rather than actual awareness. Finn had hoped that going on missions, especially with other people, would start to bring back a spark of life to him, but Duke had only continued existing in the limbo he had created for himself.
So it wasn't a surprise for Finn to watch the team get off the boat together with Duke walking slowly in the background. He sighed heavily upon seeing that the mission had done nothing to help his friend come out of his depression, even at least a little. Finn understood why Duke had turned into the person he was now and he wouldn't give him grief for it, but he also knew that Cheyenne would hate seeing him the way he was now. She was probably shouting at him from heaven now if she was watching him, and Finn wished that her voice could break through the sky and hit his friend full force, but that wasn't going to happen and Duke had to learn to deal with the reality of things somehow other than closing off everyone.
"Cordelia!"
Finn turned slightly when he heard Regina shout after their now almost two-year-old daughter. Every since Cordelia had learned how to walk, she had been on the move constantly. She was a rather curious girl and she was always getting into trouble. Finn sighed over the memory of one of the chefs on the guild carrying a flour covered Cordelia back to him last week, the girl simply sneezing out the white dust when she came face to face with her father.
And even if she had been very young when it happened, Cordelia had been affected by Duke's change in personality. He had been the open and loving uncle figure for her, so when he suddenly stopped coming around and playing with her, Finn could tell that his daughter had felt hurt over it. He could see the sadness that filled her eyes every time that Duke walked by and didn't even look at her. But the little girl had seemed determined to be around the large man, much to her mother's dismay. Regina had been worried what Duke might do around the tiny girl. Not that she actually believed he would hurt her, but she just couldn't tell with the man anymore, not with the way he was now, so Regina did her best to keep her daughter close by. Though, Cordelia constantly had plans of her own to go do what she wanted, being a rather independent two-year-old.
Finn watched as his daughter stumbled her way through the crowd of mages that filled the main ship. He wasn't too worried as all the mages on board the guild knew exactly who Cordelia was and usually kept an eye out for her if she was wondering off on her own. Though, Regina worried much more than her husband, the woman trying to fight through the crowd of people, but Cordelia was much smaller and could weasel her through the crowed much easier. Finn continued watching the scene, wondering what his daughter had going on in her mind for the day. She seemed to be rather determined, much more than she normally was.
Cordelia eventually squeezed her way through the crowd, popping out from in between the legs of two men to trip and stumble forward until her face slammed into the solid muscle of a leg. She grabbed onto her nose, little tears appearing at the corners of her eyes from the pain she felt. She sniffed a few times, but she quickly caught herself when she looked up to see it had been Duke she had run into. He slowly looked down at her, his eyes still carrying that empty sheen in them. Mages in the area had quieted down as they watched the scene with careful eyes, curious and yet cautious on what would happen next.
Though, Cordelia didn't seem to feel an ounce of hesitation as she stared back up at Duke. The two continued to watch each other for a long moment before Cordelia finally smiled widely up at him, "Duke," she said like she had been practicing with her father for several months. She then reached her arms up to him, "Up! Up, up!" she repeated quickly while bouncing on her tiptoes in hopes that he would bend down and pick her up.
Duke stared down at her with his blank stare, but inside a feeling of surprise filled him. It was the first time he had heard her call him by his name. He had vaguely remembered several conversations about teaching her his name before curse words and it looked like it had happened without his notice. A sadness quickly followed his surprise, as he should have been the one to teach her his own name and he had now missed out on that. He quickly realized that she was standing next to him on her own, showing just how far she had come in her mobility and the fact that he had missed that too. Just how much had he really missed in the last year since Cheyenne's death?
"Ya can't ferget that ya have people here that still need ya…ya can't ferget about them when I'm gone."
Cheyenne's words rang out in his mind, breaking through the wall he had built up over the last year. He felt himself shatter all over again, but it wasn't from the thought of his dead lover. It was over the fact that he had let himself forget. He had forgotten about everything and everyone around him for the past year. He had been so focused on his anger and grief, that he left behind everyone else, especially those that still needed him.
"Duke!"
He felt himself being pulled out of his darkness at the sound of the little girl's voice. He felt himself be pulled away from the shattered pieces of himself and placed back into the light. While he could still feel fragile cracks in him, he could feel those cracks ever so slowly begin to heal when a pair of small hands hit against his leg in order to gain his attention.
"Ya have ta promise me."
It had been so easy to forget that promise in his darkness. It had been easier to forget everything and fall in on himself than to face reality, to face Cheyenne's death. But because of the little girl in front of him, he realized that he could no longer do that. He would miss everything if he did, and when he finally met his maker and reunited with Cheyenne in the afterlife, he knew that she would hate him for what he had become. He couldn't stand the thought losing everything all over again. He wouldn't be able to handle it a second time and his soul would break if Cheyenne turned away from him when they would eventually meet again.
"Up!" Cordelia pushed, "Duke, up!"
Duke looked down at Cordelia, really looking at her this time, seeing how much bigger she had actually grown over the year. She looked like she was about to cry out of frustration from the man not reacting to her at all and Duke felt a wave of guilt hit him for forgetting about her and the people around him. But along with that guild, a light returned to his eyes. He dropped his bag down onto the deck and moved to pick the girl up, easily swooping her up with one arm. Her frustrated face turned back into a bright smile when he finally reached down for her and brought her up to eye level, her big blue eyes locking onto his green ones.
"Hey there, baby doll," he said, his voice low and raspy from not having used it very much for the last year.
Cordelia seemed to light up at the nickname he used for her, moving into to hug him, "Duke," was all she said as she hugged him and sighed against him in comfort and contentment.
Duke felt his eyes well up with tears, surprised that he had any left in him. He gently hugged the little girl in return, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you wait so long, baby doll. But I remember my promise now," he said before clenching his teeth in hopes of holding back the tears, but they came rolling down his face regardless. It felt good though. He felt alive again. Even if he could feel the sadness of Cheyenne's death welling up in him again, he felt alive and that's what mattered.
. : + : .
April 14, X792 - Night
Finn closed the journal once he finished with the entry and laid it on the desk just as Cordelia lifted her head from it. She stared out at the floor for a moment before she looked up at her father, unsure of what to say. Finn seemed to pick up on this and began to speak in her place.
"Duke went through more heartache than anyone should have to. I watched him literally become nothing because of Madmartigan. So no, he shouldn't have been able to come back from something like that. And yes, you probably were a reminder of what he had lost," he said, taking a pause to let his words sink in, "But despite everything that happened and how he felt, Duke came back into the light. He could smile at you because you were the thing he lost. He might not have had his own child, but you and Ace and everyone else became his kids. So even though Madmartigan took away Cheyenne, he still had you. In the end he won against Madmartigan because he continued smiling and he continued loving and he continued to have a future," he said, watching his daughter's eyes go wide at his explanation, "So you want to know how to win against a man like Madmartigan, you do exactly the opposite of what he wants. You want to know what to do from here, to know which direction to step in? You go in the direction that pisses that man off the most and you win against him in the end. You play him along just like he did to you and then you land the final blow on him while smiling in his face the whole time."
Cordelia stayed quiet, feeling amazed that her father had put the answer in front of her so plainly. Though, she still couldn't help but worry over her mages, but Finn seemed to pick up on this as well.
"You afraid of your mages being hurt in the process?" he asked, earning a nod from her, "Well don't be. If you show you're afraid for them, then they'll just be afraid too. You stand strong against Madmartigan and they'll stand strong with you. You have that way about you, Cordelia. Whatever you feel will portray onto others. That is a huge advantage you have over Madmartigan. Do you understand that? If you feel strong against him, then so will your mages. What do you think will happen when Madmartigan and his crew have to stand against a guild full of pissed off mages?"
Cordelia thought over his words, knowing he was right. Lately, she had let herself feel doubtful and she let Madmartigan pull her along the way he wanted. He really would win if she continued that way and the thought of the pirate winning pissed her off more than anything.
Finn watched as a look of determination with a hint of anger came over her face as she stood from her desk, causing a satisfied smiled to appear on his face, "Where are you going?"
"I need to go see one of my mages," she answered before throwing the door open and stomping out of the room.
Finn's smile grew as the man chuckled lightly, "I impress myself sometimes."
. : + : .
Cordelia made it a point to walk across the main vessel instead of taking the side ships to reach the infirmary. This path allowed many of her mages to see the change in her demeanor compared to how she had looked when disappearing into her office earlier. She walked with her back straight and her head held high, that deep determination set in her eyes. Many mages stopped and watched her as she passed by their tables and made her way to the bridge that connected with the side ship that held the infirmary.
She soon made it down to the infirmary, quickly gliding down the stairs before busting open the door. Jack and Zhuue stopped what they had been doing to look at her in surprise. Zinnia had been awake as well, laying in one of the hospital beds. The brunette stared at Cordelia in surprise as well, but she also felt a little worried that she was about to start shouting at her.
Cordelia locked eyes with Zinnia for a short moment before she started shouting, "Zinnia! You better make sure your ass heals as soon as possible! We have a treasure hunt to finish and I don't need any bums laying around doing nothing! Got it?!"
"Yes!" she squeaked in answer.
"Cordelia, I don't believe now is the time to-"
Jack was quickly cut off when Cordelia sent him a heated stare. He quickly took a step back before she continued speaking, "And just so you know, we're gonna get the Black Skulls back for what they did to you! I'll make damn sure of that! They'll see what happens when they cross Storm's Helm! So you best be in a fighting condition soon too! Ya got that?!"
Zinnia finally let a smile appear on her face upon seeing the spark back in her friend, "Yes ma'am!"
"Good! Now I need food! I'm starving!"
With that, Cordelia turned out from the infirmary, leaving it in as much wild confusion as she had brought to it. Though, Zinnia laughed loudly despite the pain in her stomach. It was good to see her best friend all riled up again.
Cordelia stomped back up to the main vessel and made her way to one of the bars, slamming down a hand, "OI! Give me a beer and a meal! And don't be skimping out any anything!"
"Uh…Cordelia?" Eli asked, appearing behind her with a few others, "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is great! We're on the hunt for treasure, aren't we?" she asked, looking back at her mages, "And we're gonna take that treasure from some lame pirates too! We'll shove it in their faces and swim in the treasure right in front of them! It'll be a grand and amazing adventure!"
The rest of the crowd stood silently as they exchanged glances, wondering where the change in their guild master came from. Seth was the first person to step forward, letting out a booming laugh as he lifted her on top of his shoulder.
"You bet it's gonna be a great adventure! We'll show those pirates who's boss!"
"Exactly! The treasure will be ours and we'll be set for life!"
"Treasure! Lots of treasure!" Gamu said from Seth's other shoulder.
"That's it!" Cordelia smiled brightly, "No matter what they do, no matter how many times they knock us down, Storm's Helm will keep coming back! We'll keep fighting and we'll win against those stupid pirates! So eat and drink and be merry knowing you're a mage of Storm's Helm! We'll show them just exactly what it means to make an enemy out of us!"
People finally cheered in response to her declaration, a wave of mugs rising into the air and smacking together.
"What a speech, my lovely Cordelia," Ingrid said as she sashayed up to Seth's side and ran a hand down Cordelia's leg.
Cordelia shouted in response, her teeth turning sharp momentarily as she snapped at the woman.
"I have not seen this side of you for a while. It is much more wonderful when you act more like yourself," she smirked up at her, "Speaking of which, we have not had competition for some time either. I am really beginning to think you have forgotten about me in your path to guild master."
Cordelia jumped down from Seth's shoulder to stare the woman down, "You bring on any competition and you're gonna lose! Like I'd forget someone as irritating as you!"
"Well, you did say you were hungry, correct?"
"Hell yeah!"
"Then why not a food challenge this time around, my lovely Cordelia?"
"You'd actually want to do a food challenge?"
"Of course. And I will win with my manners in tact. So how about it?"
"Bring it on!"
"Great. Bartender," Ingrid said, snapping her fingers, "I know you all caught some delicious crab today. We need you to cook everything you caught for our little competition tonight."
"Uh…all of it…?"
"You heard her!" Cordelia shouted, "Do it! Now!"
The bartender jumped at the bark of command, running back to the kitchen to give the chef the orders. In a matter of minutes, loud cursing could be heard from the kitchen from the ridiculous order, but they could hear the cooking starting by the way pots and pans were being thrown around.
"You have such a way with words, my lovely guild master," Ingrid purred, rubbing a finger under Cordelia's chin.
Cordelia simply hissed and swatted her hand away before jumping into another argument with the woman. People crowded around them while they waited for the contest to start while more mages across the deck laughed and drank and ate, everyone suddenly feeling more lighthearted and happy than they had in days.
. : + : .
A large man watched the guild from the black ship of the Black Skulls, an overly wide grin spreading across his face. The smile wasn't malicious or dark in any way. It was more of a show of excitement from watching the hyped up guild. It made his own excitement burst forth, the man more than ready to take his turn with the guild, if only to get a good fight out of them.
"Mingo!" the man shouted to the blonde that stood right next to him.
Mingo covered his ears at the shout before glaring over at the man, "I'm right here, you know," he grumbled.
"I do get to go next, right?!" the man continued, ignoring the blonde's comment.
"Yeah, you do."
"Good! I hate waiting! Just make sure no weasel sharpshooters or vengeful mechanics come barging in on my fight! You know that's not how I do things!"
"Fine, fine. Just stop shouting," Mingo said, "But I think you're just what they need after the last few days. Do them right, Atlas."
The man boomed out in laughter, "So long as I get to fight one on one, then you have nothing to worry about, Mingo! Trust me!"
"I'm glad to hear it," Mingo said, smiling at the man. Though, his smile quickly fell as he looked back out across the sea towards the guild. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything to make up for what had happened earlier that day, but at least this would give them a fair fight for once. He trusted the man next to him enough to do that.
Storm's Helm Question Corner!
Today's question comes from Origm2012 for Hagi:
Are we ever going to see one of your dates in action?
Hagi: Maybe if someone would give me some time to do so!
Watson: Look here! I'm not in the mood to deal with this today!
Hagi: But it's not fair! I have so much potential to set people up and make them look fantastic and create wonderful dates for them, and you won't even give me a chance!
Watson: I've had other things to worry about! You saw the flashback! That took a lot of work!
Hagi: You only made people cry with that! I make people smile and fall in love!
Watson: *eye twitches* It was important to the story! I had to do it!
Hagi: *starts crying* You just don't love me anymore!
Watson: WHAT?! What the hell?!
Mia: *comes racing in from off screen* You made him cry?! What a horrible person you are!
Watson: WHAT?! WHY IS THIS MY LIFE?!
Mia: You should be ashamed of yourself! Come on, Hagi, we'll go get some ice cream and talk about possible dates in the future since someone WILL be giving him time to put them into action! *walks off screen with Hagi, the blonde looking back at Watson with a sly smile*
Watson: *freezes in silent scream upon seeing smile*
Producer: Would someone please come get her off the set?! We have other things to work on after this!
Seth: *laughs as he picks up a still frozen Watson* You should really know better than to pick a fight with Hagi. *turns to audience* We'll see you all next week!
A/N: And there we are! I hope you enjoyed it!
So I think that was a nice way to wrap up all the flashback stuff and to start stepping into our next clue and Black Skull member. I thought I was going to be able to fully introduce the next member, but all the other stuff took a little longer than I thought, but I still really liked the way this chapter turned out, so I hope you all enjoyed it too.
Not much else to say this time around, so I'll jump right into those reviews!
Thanks to everyone that reviewed last chapter!
CrazyAnimeForever - Yep, got some definite drama going on with the past few chapters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Origm2012 - Well it's good to know I've got a timing down for the updating, haha! Fufufu! Always expect the unexpected! So of course I had to drop another name in there! Just remember that name, Killian, it'll be rather important later on. That's all I can say for now. I was actually really glad that I ended up writing that chapter at home instead of out at a coffee shop or something since I actually started crying while I was writing it. (That probably sounds pretty lame, but it happened, lol.) So I'm glad that same feeling of sadness came across in it for you as a reader. I was really nervous about that chapter since it had the character death and everything in it, so I'm really happy to see it turned out well, despite all the sadness in it. And I'm glad all the fighting itself turned out well too. And I hope this last little flashback in this chapter lived up to the rest of the flashback in the past chapters. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Joshua1277 - I couldn't bring myself to do a Question Corner for the last chapter, so no worries on not being able to add in some humor to your review, lol. But definite emotional chapter and we finally got to see everything that Duke went through. Poor guy! But I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Momochan77 - I'm sorry! I was crying too when I wrote it! T.T And working through Cordelia's reaction was a bit hard, but hopefully it turned out well. And I have plans already for Mia and her romantic life. ^.^ But I don't think Duke could bring himself to be romantically involved with someone again because of what he went through, but don't worry, he's okay! He's got a whole guild to love him! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
silverhawk88 - Yep, Duke lost everything in seconds because of Madmartigan. But yeah, he sees the rest of the younger generation of the guild as his kids because he lost his own. And we'll have to wait and see when Duke makes his reappearance at the guild. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
reven228 - Super emotional chapter for sure. So hopefully this chapter was just as good! And is that ice cream question for the Question Corner as well? Just wanting to make sure! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
XLil MEkoX - I know! Those feels! I still can't believe I did that to Duke, but there it is! But yeah, Cheyenne should have thought that through a lot better, but there's no going back now. Poor Duke! T.T But I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! And I hope you enjoyed this one too!
Benthino - All three of those words fit that last chapter perfectly! Poor Duke! But I'm glad you still enjoyed the chapter nonetheless! And I hope you enjoyed this one too! (I quite enjoyed picturing the look on Jack's face when Cordelia busted into the infirmary, lol!)
LightandDarkHeart - It about killed me too! I don't know what I decided to do that to Duke! I cried myself while I was writing it! But I don't think you have to worry. I'm pretty sure Cordelia is dead set on winning against Madmartigan now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
ThePrinceOfLight - Super sad chapter for sure! And yeah, I think many of you had an idea of what was gonna happen, but actually reading it (or writing it in my case) is a bit different. But yeah, Duke got lucky that Finn had enough sense to stop him when he did. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Dreadburner94 - Geez, you and your procrastination, lol! But yeah, that was a sad chapter, even if you knew what was going to happen. I was glad that I ended up writing it at home rather than out at a coffee shop or something since I ended up crying a bit over it, haha! And yep, there were some more hints in there about later stuff to come! Glad you picked up on that! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
That should be it for this time around.
See you all next Sunday!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson