Chapter 1 : The S class request :
Two hours after the prologue, Oshibana :
After leaving the guild hall and preparing luggages, Erza took a train in direction of Oshibana, the closest town of Dianthus with a train station, it wasn't so long before arriving at the station, while getting off the train, she had a feeling of nostalgia, after all, it was here that they fought the dark guild Eisenwald 'to think that 7 years passed since that battle.' but quickly the knight chased away her toughts, she was not here to remember the past, but to go on a S rank request.
While she was walking out of the station, Erza keep thinking about that wierd feeling she had about the request, something feel odd, it wasn't about the rank, but more a feeling that there is something dangerous about this, last time she felt that was right before the dragon who « destroyed » Tenro arrived, but this time the problem was not just what she felt, it was the very nature of the request, unless it was one of Zeref's demon it was impossible for such a creature to be considered as dangerous.
'I should be careful with this.' Thought Erza
Before she even realize it, the knight was out of the station, and after looking around her, she suddenly remembers something, she doesn't know the exact way to Dianthus, at first she felt ashamed of herself for not knowing the way, but quickly she pulls herself together, it wasn't the end of the world and she can just ask around to get the way from Oshibana to the village.
"I should go to the tavern, there is probably someone who knows the way here." Thought Erza out loud
The knight then started to walk into town in order to find the place she was seeking, and, after a few minutes she found a tavern in the middle of the town, it was looking like the typical image people have of an Inn and tavern, a small building made of stone and woods, colored glass and with a sign above the entrance's door saying « The crazy raven » not like she cared much about all of that, after all, she only need the way to Dianthus, and, with that in mind Erza enter into the building.
Once inside the knight was greeted with another « typical » view of the tavern, the interior was made mostly of a bar, of tables and chairs and with a scene were people where playing music to entertain others, and this place was quite animated given how many people were present, eating or drinking, but she ignored all of that and quickly spotted a woman at the bar and started walking toward the barmaid.
"Hello, how can I help you ?" Asked the woman after noticing Erza
"Hi, I would like to know the way to Dianthus if you know it." Replied the Knight
Suddenly Erza noticed something, at the moment the she mentioned the village's name, everyone in the tavern stops doing their thing and looked at her while the barmaid had a mix of serious and sad expression on her face, for the knight it really seemed like she just say a cursed word, in a way, it reminded her of what happen during the S rank request on Galuna 7 years ago when nobody in Hargeon wanted to hear about the island.
"Are you... a wizard ?" Asked the woman
Erza was surprised by the question and simply answered "Yes." but her reply just seemed to make the ambience of the building colder, and, after a few seconds of silence, the barmaid look at her and say " I'm sorry, but I can't give you the direction to Dianthus, now if you'll excuse me. " before leaving for the kitchen while everyone else in the tavern resumes their prior activities, the knight was confused by what just happen, but choose to ignore it before leaving the building.
'That was strange.' Thought Erza
After leaving the place, the knight chooses to go and ask around for the way, to the village, but no matter where she goes, it was always the same result, people asking if she is a wizard before saying that they don't know the way to Dianthus or refusing to help her, and all of this raise quite a few questions for Erza, the most important of them being why they were acting like that ? and Why Dianthus seems like to be a cursed word in this town ?
Without realising it, the knight was just walking in the middle of town lost in her thought, and before long, she runs into someone, this brings her back to reality as she hears the sound of someone falling on the ground, she then saw the person she ran into, an old man, on the ground, as a reflex, she bows to him while saying « I'm sorry ! »
"It's fine." Replied the old man while getting up
When the man was finally up, he looks at the knight and asked " Is everything alright ? " Erza hesitate to answer at first, after all, she was sure he was gonna react like the others, so she simply answered " I was lost in my thought." this seems to intrigue the old man who asked "And what could be in the mind of a young woman like you."
"I was... searching a way to Dianthus." Say the knight as an answer
Just as she expected, the old man seems surprised and she could see him having a sad expression, but after a few seconds the old man took a kinder expression and say "Listen, there is an unspoken rule in this town, never talk about Dianthus and don't help wizard who would want to go there." this information shocked Erza who asked "Why ?"
"Let's just say that you are not the first who try to help the people of Dianthus." Simply reply the old man
This answer confirmed the knight's feeling about this, it was really like Galuna, when nobody wanted to go to the island because of the curse, except that this time it seems to be more because of how dangerous the request is, the man then said "But if you really want to go there, i know someone who can bring you."
"Really ?" Asked Erza with hope that finally she can get to Dianthus
The old man simply nodded, turn around and replied "Follow me." before walking, quickly the knight started following him and, after a few minutes of walk, arrive in front of a small shop, Erza was confused, but the man ignored that and entered into the shop, leaving her in the middle of the streets
After a few seconds he came out with another person, a girl with large amber eyes and purple hair tied with a red ribbon, the girl quickly approaches her and ask " Are you here for the request ? " Erza simply nodded and the girl looked at the ground before saying " Follow me, i will bring you to Dianthus. " and walking away, the knight quickly followed her, but started to have a feeling that things were going to get weirder.
One hour later, Dianthus :
It only took an hour from Oshibanna to reach the small village of Dianthus, but during all of the journey the girl was silent, she looked kinda sad, but it should be expected given who people reacted back in town when she mentioned the name of Dianthus, it was really like what happen back at Galuna island.
"Here we are, Dianthus." Finally say the girl
Erza was surprised, after all, Dianthus looked like a lot of small villages she see during her missions, they were small houses, a small square, a small church and a bigger house that was probably the mayor's mansion who was on the other side of the place, by all means, this would like so many others villages, and yet something was different, a heavy atmosphere was present here.
"You must be the wizard sent by Fairy Tail." Say a new voice
Upon looking at the square, the knight saw an old woman coming towards them, once in front of them the old lady says "Greetings, I'm the mayor of Dianthus and I guess you are the infamous Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail." the knight simply nodded while the mayors turned towards the girl that accompany her and say "Senna, can you please go to the house and prepare some tea for our guest ?" the girl nodded and started running towards the mayors house.
"Now then, let's go to the mansion so we can talk about the request." Say the old lady before walking away, followed by Erza
While they were walking toward the mayor's house, the knight noticed how the villagers look at her, like they saw this scene too many time, then the words the old man told her echoes in her mind 'You are not the first who try to help the people of Dianthus.' she knew it wasn't going to be an easy request, but still all of this feels like the request should be more than just S-rank.
After a few minutes, the two arrived and entered into the mansion, Erza noticed that the inside of the house is quite simple with living room composed only of two couches, a table and a chair, she then saw Senna putting two cups of tea on the table and the old lady moving towards the chair before saying "Thank you Senna.", the knight quickly moved toward one of the couch and sit on it while taking the cup of tea that was gifted by the mayors.
"So, about that mission." Say Erza while drinking the tea
The old lady nodded and say "It all started five years ago." before taking a deep breath and continue "At that time, a group of villagers who was out to hunt saw it, a beast unlike any we have ever seen, this thing defeated the hunters with ease, but hopefully they were able to get away." she then looks at her cup of tea "This is when we submitted a request to wizard's guilds in order to deal with the beast."
"And so some wizards came to help us." Suddenly say Senna
Those words were very close to what she heard in Oshibanna, so, the knight look at them and asked "And what happened ?" the mayor sighed before answering "They were defeated, i remember when the villagers bring those heavily wounded wizards to my house, those poor people who just wanted to help us." the old lady looked at the table before saying "After that, other wizards tried to do this request, but no one was able to defeat that demon."
"The luckiest of them leaved the village, wounded, but the others didn't get that chance." Say Senna while looking away with a sad expression
Erza looked at the girl with surprise before looking at the mayor who just closed her eyes and say "You are the fourteenth wizards who try this request, four of them were wounded, but the others..." nothing had to be said for her to realize what the old lady mean, truly a sad fate for the villagers and the wizards but this just strengthen her will to help them, the mayors then look at her and ask "Will you help us, even after hearing such a sad tale ?"
"Yes, I will." Simply reply Erza
The mayor, upon hearing, nodded while saying "Thank you on behalf of my people." before looking at her granddaughter and say "Senna, can you bring Erza to the location of the demon." the girl simply reply "Yes." before heading to the entrance of the house and making a sign for the knight to follow her, Erza quickly got up and followed Senna while the mayor was finishing her cup of tea thinking 'Please be careful, Erza Scarlet.'
A few minutes later, forest near Dianthus :
After leaving the mayor's mansion, Senna and Erza walked into a forest close to the village, shortly after, they arrive in a small clearing and the girl stopped walking near a tree close to the entrance of the clearing with an X on it, upon seeing this, the knight asked " What is it ? " Senna simply looked at the X and say "This is a mark of the area where the beast is."
"I see." Said the knight before walking past Senna and the tree
Soon after she walk past the tree, something appears before her, Erza had seen many things in her time as a wizard, but she was not expecting this, a being of human size but with a ghostly white skin, claws and red fur on hands and foot, a black pants and a black sword in his hand, but the most disturbing things about this creature is the hole in its chest and the demonic face of the creature, with apparent tooth and two horns on it with orange hair behind it.
"Senna, stand back !" Ordered Erza before summoning a sword
While the girl was retreating behind a tree at the edge of the clearing, the knight started running towards the demon, once close enough, she starts swinging her sword in hope of taking the beast down, but the thing simply blocked the attack with its own sword, seeing another opportunity, Erza summons another sword and try to cut the demon down, but the thing just catches the second sword with its free hand, but suddenly, after a few seconds of struggling, the beast disappears.
"Erza, Behind you !" Shout Senna
The knight was barely able to turn around before blocking the demon's sword, and, as an instinctive move, she jumped back as the beast tried to catch her with his hand, once away from the demon, she was thinking about the beast's action, what was that technique, it clearly wasn't magic and feels like the demon just teleported behind her, if it wasn't for Senna she would have been wounded by the attack.
"Time to get serious." Thought the knight out loud while reequip
Once equipped with the Heaven's Wheel armor, she quickly fly away from the beast before summoning a hundred swords who start spinning around her, the knight then shouts "Dance, My Blades !" and sent the swords against the demon, upon hitting, the attack destroys everything around the beast's, creating a large cloud of dust covering the clearing, while landing on the ground, Erza kept looking where was the demon.
Shortly after, the dust started to dissipate and she could see the result her attack, almost all the swords who hit were broken, and the very few who missed where stuck on the ground, but the beast's didn't seem too affected by the attack, just some scratch visible here and there, other than that, the attack was not effective, but Erza quickly pull herself together and use reequip to the Flame Empress Armor before charging once again towards the beast.
Upon arriving once again in range, the knight swings the Soaring Fire Blade to wound the demon, but, once again, the beast blocked the sword and vanished, Erza quickly spotted the demon and was able to avoid the attack before the two started to exchange blows, the knight, trying to hit the beast while avoiding it's swing and the demon simply trying to kill her.
After a few other swings, Erza was sent away by the beast, the knight didn't waste time and reequip the Flight armor, she then used her speed to run around the demon while attacking it, at first it seemed to work, but at the moment one of her swings created a small cut on the beast's horn, things changed as she saw the beast teleporting away, the demon just touched the wound before letting out a huge roar as a red aura appears around it.
"This can't be good." Thought out loud Erza
As soon as the aura disappeared, the beast at the knight and a red sphere started to form between its horns, Erza quickly realise that this was an attack and used reequip in the Adamantine Armor while summoning the Adamantine Sheilds before getting into position to take the attack, shortly after, the beast launch a devastating beam toward Erza, who was able to stop it.
But as seconds past, she was pushed back by the attack and, after another couple of seconds she noticed that the shields were starting to break, so, the knight instinctively moves the shield to deflect the beam, but by doing this, she was blown away and sent to the ground where she would watch the attack go away and hit a mountain nearby.
Erza then saw the explosion created by the beam and realize that if she didn't deflected the attack, she would have been badly injured, this demon isn't just strong, it's a really dangerous creature, and this fight was going to be one of the hardest battle of her life, with that in mind the knight was able to get up and reequip the Black Wing armor as she saw the beast ready to attack her, and, after a few seconds, they charged each other to continue this battle.
A few seconds earlier, near Oshibanna :
In a forest near the town of Oshibanna, three hooded people are walking, while one of them is focused on something else, the other two were talking about something.
"Are you sure this « incident » in Crocus is bound to this strange energy ?" Asked the first hooded person
"Yes, I'm sure of it." Answered the second person
In the past three years, an unknown energy appeared on Hearthland, but it was so rare that nobody really noticed it, that was until two days prior, when the small group was exploring a cave, there they found the body a strange creature, by any mean it looked like a big lizard, but the hole in it's chest and the mask on its face show that this creature was not normal, and that the place was soaked in this unknown power, after this discovery, they thought of the « incident » that happen in Crocus and realised that this energy might be implied.
"Do you think whoever is behind what happened in the Grand magic games try to use this power ?" Asked the third person while walking towards the others
"There is a chance." Simply said the second hooded person
The other persons were thinking about it, after all, it would be logical that trying to do something with magic and this unknown power would create incidents, but suddenly, the person was taken out of it's thought when one of its comrade said "Did you see that !?" upon looking, the other two saw a red beam in the distance, the attack quickly hit a mountain and blown up.
"What is happening !?" Say the first person, looking at the explosion
While the others were looking at this explosion, the last one was trying to understand what it was, and, after a few seconds, the story of Dianthus's demon come back to its memory, a beast that defeated and killed a lot of wizards, and somehow, hearing this story and looking at this scene gave him a strange feeling, the same feeling they had back in the cave when they encountered that beast and it's strange energy.
"We should go and see what is happening." Finally say the last hooded person
Right after saying that, the other two looked at the last person, and while one of them just nodded, clearly lost in its thought, the other one seems worried about this and asked "Are you sure we should do this ?" the last hooded person simply answered "Yes, call it a feeling or watever, but I'm pretty sure that whatever did this attack is bound to the strange energy we felt." it seemed to reassure it's comrade who then nodded and started to walk away.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Say the third person
The first person look at his comrades and ask "What do you mean ?" the third simply looked away and say "It's just... when we found the other creature, it was already dead, but this time it's different, and I'm afraid that something bad will happen." well, it was understandable, after all, they were about to encounter and maybe fight something who use an unknown power and, given what they saw, was probably really powerful.
"I know, but we can't go back." Simply answered the first before walking away
After a few seconds the two joined their friends and started to walk towards the place where the thing who shoot that beam was, and while they were discussing about what to do once they reach the creature, all of them had this feeling, not just a bad feeling, but a feeling that something big was about to happen.
This concludes the first chapter of A Fairy's Spirit, in the next chapter, the knight and the substitute will finally meet, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and on that I'll see you next time.
