Chapter 76: Mission
"Little Garden." Kuro read the title of the foster home, matching the title on the paper with the large sign upon the building. Nami peered over his shoulder to get a good look of her own, shuddering a bit. "It looks like it hasn't been touched in ages." To which Gray replies. "She's really ransacked the place, that's why. Whether she knows it or not. She's made it her home, causing to look abandoned so no one will enter so freely. But we came here to do a deed, so you guys ready?" The Water Bearer nodded. "Juvia is ready." Kuro and Nami followed as all four walked inside. "Ready." As the four entered, a figure from the distance watched them. Unseen to any eye, he pressed two fingers to his temples. "I've followed them, and it looks like they've found one of ours. If so, I'll be retrieving now."
"Good." Daityas's voice rung through his head. "I've heard you're a reliable source, so I'm counting this as a win. Just report back here when you finish."
"Noted." He then removed his fingers, a slight grin appearing on his features as he gripped the sword's hilt placed at his hip. "Nami... it's really nice to finally meet you..."
With a quick look around, the four mages came to the front desk. There sat a large woman, just quietly sitting there with a stoic expression upon her features. "Welcome to Little Garden!" She said with a weakened enthusiasm. "We're sorry, but due to certain circumstances, all of our kids have been transferred to different foster homes! Right now we're dealing with a specific crisis, but all shall be returned back to normal one day..!"
She smiled, but the terror in her words were more than evident. Gray nodded. "Well, that means she's the only one in here, then. That's good." He then turned back forwards the woman. "Excuse me,
Miss?"
"Elaine!" She said her name, a bit jumpy. "Right.." The Ice Maker continued. "Elaine. We're here for the job actually."
Her eyes lit up! She was so happy that she didn't have any problem putting her faith within the four before her. "Are you really!? Will you really help that child!? I'm so happy!"
"Help?" Nami questioned. Elaine nodded while crying. "Yes! She's so troubled, that she won't even tell me her name! She's ran off all of my employees and potential families, all because she's so misunderstood!"
"This might be a problem." Gray figured. Kuro then stepped forth with the truth. "Elaine. That little kid. She plays with shadows, right?"
Elaine nodded, blowing into her tissue as she kept sobbing. "Yeah but that's just her magic! She's no different from anyone else! Shadows can be scary, but that doesn't make her frightening!"
Kuro sighed, but then continued on. "Elaine. I don't know how to tell this, because normally I would agreed, —"
"We'll do our best with her." Gray interrupted, causing Kuro to look his way, confused. Elaine then stood up quickly, giving a grateful bow as she continued wailing in tears. "THANK YOU! GOOD LUCK AND THANK YOU SO MUCH! SHES RIGHT IN THE BACK TO THE RIGHT!"
Gray bowed. "Thank you. Leave it to us, no charge."
As the group walked towards the back, Kuro then addressed it. "Why did you stop me?" He asked. Gray then answered. "Because..didn't you hear her? She's attached to Sora. And also, I saw something that seemed to be missed by everyone here."
"Nuh uh...I saw it too." Nami said. Flashing back to thirty seconds ago, as the group was shown standing before Elaine, behind her, her shadow silhouette was different than normal. Above her shadow, another silhouette was seen. Puppet strings that dangled over her shadow, as if she was being controlled. "Sora had gotten to her already. Elaine's being manipulated." Kuro and Juvia turned to each other, blinking in confusion, both obviously missing what Nami and Gray saw. "More importantly." Gray said as the four of them walked down the hallway. Each step gained a darker atmosphere as a child's laughter could be heard as a echo at the end. "We're getting closer to her, so don't lose focus. Once we're there, do not hesitate, right? I know she's a little girl, but she's a demon and a part of Tartarus. We can't waste any time, or one of her kind will be here to save her, Daityas being the worst case scenario." Juvia nodded, Kuro and Nami remained silent.
As the four came to the last room, where the laughter was heard, Gray placed his hand upon the doorknob. Pressing his ear to the door, the familiar sound of the demon child laughing was heard. Gray then turned back to the group one last time, holding up three fingers, then two, then one, and finally...
"Now!" He yelled, and from the hand that was holding onto the doorknob, Gray released a large amount of ice magic, attempting to freeze the entire room in one shot. Right after, he shoulder barged in, sliding to a stop with his hands at the ready as Kuro stood by him just the same with his own element. Taking their guild mate's respective sides was Nami and Juvia, but as the group came together, they all gained shocked and confused expressions. Yes, the entire room was filled with ice, completely frozen; all except for a single couch, pink and wide. In the middle, laughter could be heard —the same laughter they heard before, and as she peered around what stood before her, the little girl who was indeed Sora, waved towards the four. "Hiya! Have you come to play with me as well..." As Sora opened her eyes, putting memory to the faces before her, she immediately began screaming as she grabbed her head and folded over on the couch. The head aching pain that struck Kiora was now striking Sora. "Wha...what's happening!? Why—"
"That's your memories returning to you." A voice said — the voice of the person who stood between Sora and the others. He had black hair, a lot of it yet tied back into a tail. Even so, a good bit of it rested over his left eye.
"Who are you!?" Nami asked, and as they waited for an answer, he turned only his head to face them over his shoulders. His blackish-orange eyes then directed towards Nami, grinning ominously as he said to her. "Hey there, Nee-Chan."
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Jaxon Meteoro found himself in the heart of Matza Valley. With him — Cygnus Gwydion, the Gravity Mage of White Eclipse, and The Raijinshu without Laxus. Jaxon the Weather God Slayer sat upon a small cloud fit just for him, already placed at a heightened area. Looking around, he was in deep thought until Cygnus called out to him. "Oi! Ya see anything suspicious?" Jaxon looked a bit longer before sighing out loud. "No, not yet! But the people here said it happens at this spot all the time..." At that time, Evergreen turned back to the flyer that led them there. "Old geyser releasing strange phenomena every hour, unsure of what to make of it, please help." She read the post, turning back up to Jaxon as he continued to look around in the valley below him. "It's been two hours, and nothings happened." Evergreen noted. "Maybe it was just a wild goose chase."
Freed shook his head. "I don't know. The stories add up, but for some reason nothing is happening over here."
"Come on.." Jaxon pleaded, continuously hovering around as he waited for one of the geysers he was floating over to explode. "This is just a hoax! There's nothing here!" Bickslow shouted, only for his soul carrying dolls to repeat "just a hoax" three times. "Why would someone make up something like this, smart guy?" Jaxon asked without averting his visage. "It would make no sense for a whole valley filled with people to make up something like this. But...it is going on three hours and not a single explosion..."
"Maybe it just happened to go dormant. Maybe we just missed it's final eruption." Cygnus speculated. "Unlikely." Freed was quick to rebuttal. "And why's that?" Cygnus asked, raising a brow towards the Rune Mage. Freed gained a cocky visage, simply looking out over the valley-side as the wind blew. "Because...you're not smart enough to make a correct speculation, so what you say is obviously opposite to what is truly going on."
"...What did you say!?" Cygnus gained a tick mark upon his forehead, realizing he was being insulted, by Freed of all people. With Evergreen and Bickslow laughing in the background, Freed remained in his confident manner as Cygnus shook his fist. "You pompous..."
"Hey!" Jaxon shouted, gaining everyone's attention just before the rumbling did. "The ground is shaking..." Evergreen pointed out. "After three hours? The geyser must be dying, but let's see what's going on." Freed suggested, and everyone floated down into the crevices of the valley.
Touching down in the valley's opening where the geyser's laid, Jaxon and the crew braved themselves as they waited for one of them to blow. They were told that only one had been erupting every hour on the hour, but this time it felt as if every geyser down there was about to go off. "This is actually kinda dangerous." Bickslow mentioned, holding his ground. "Now it just feels like we're doing a regular job, too." Evergreen added. "I haven't seen a Tobias around here at all. Why would he have something to do with he'd geysers!?"
"Why don't you ask him yourselves?" Cygnus said, already on guard as the rest spotted a figure walking their way. They didn't even need a second look, the remaining four readying for a fight as Tobias came into the clear, stumbling about with his hand over his right eye as if experiencing a migraine. "Is he hurt?" Evergreen asked. "No." Freed responded. "This is that memory thing they were talking about. But did we trigger it? Did he see us before we saw him?"
Groaning, groaning in pain, that pained groan slowly turned to...laughter. Soon it crescendoed into a heinous laughter as he removed his hand from his eye to show he was faking it. "It's too bad. I thought we'd capture bigger prey than this, but Jaxon Meteoro will do as a great haul. You idiots, my memories have already returned. We just kept it a secret just to set this trap to dwindle down your numbers!"
"No way!" Jaxon shouted. Quickly realizing the state of danger they were in, he shouted to Cygnus and the Raijinshu. "Don't just stand here! Get out!"
Everything made sense now. The geysers going off was just a simple inconvenience, and an obvious ploy with Tobias's name written all over it to gather a few mages into his trap. Now that they were all here, it was too late to scatter as Tobias snapped his fingers, and every geyser around them exploded like a minefield. Their futile attempt at escape was quickly consumed by a spectrum of elements made from his Etherious. As Tobias laughed, the group was swallowed by fire, water, lightning, earth, dangerous winds, and held down by a weight of gravity not used by Cygnus. As screams of pain and horror could be heard, only one person made it out of the valley's crevice unscathed. Tobias walked away with a shit eating grin on his features, pressing two fingers to his temple. "All done. Jaxon, Cygnus, and Laxus's lackeys are all finished. That should—"
"GET OFF THE LINE TOBIAS IM TALKING HERE!" Kiora shouted, causing Tobias to gain an actual headache as a tick mark now appeared on his crown. "I'm just reporting that my mission was a success—"
"NO ONE CARES! WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT SHIT TO DISCUSS!"
"Okay stop yelling." He said to himself, electing not to speak out loud anymore at this time. Kiora let out a loud sigh before speaking again; this time in a calm voice. "Okay Crow. What were you saying?"
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He was perched upon a hillside, hidden in plain sight as he kept his sights on her walking into a mansion while being escorted by a bunch of men in suits. Beside her was a male with blonde hair. He stood out above the others since they all surrounded the two. Smoke flew from his mouth, and a relaxed grin appeared upon his features. Crow then raised his fingers back to his temple as he reported what he saw. "I was saying... I've found her. Maggie...I've found her. But man is she heavily guarded. I've been following her for a good twenty minutes and there hasn't been a moment where she was alone. This is looking like a raid type of mission, not just a grab and go, big Daityas. And that isn't the worst part." Crow then turned his visage to another hillside, looking over at the few who couldn't see him. Sidney, Arcturus, and Jack Royal were together, hiding out of sight just like Crow was. "It seems that Src is here, and he's not on our side. He's also brought some of his Eclipse friends."
"...Stay put." Daityas spoke. "This isn't something you can handle alone. Me and Kiora will be there to assist you shortly."
"YOU'RE DAMNED RIGHT WE WILL BE!" She began yelling again, causing everyone to flinch. "Alright... I'll stay right here. I can't say the same for those three though, so make a move." Crow then removed his fingers, inhaling the cigarette that hung from his lips once more before putting it out. "Man. This is going to be messy, huh?"
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"Nee-chan?" Nami questioned, blinking a few times in confusion as she kept her distance from him. Everyone else however. "Fire Make: Wall!" Kuro shouted, slamming his hands to the ground and creating four walls of flames that covered the room in case they tried to escape. The male in question simply looked around as he did, then turned his attention back to the hurting Sora. "Hey now, Sora." He said, crouching down to her level. "The pain will go away soon, I'm told...so just try to remember everything that you are."
"Stop right there!" Gray shouted, slamming his hands into their familiar positions. "Ice Make: Lance!" From his extended hands, a plethora of frozen spears fired the man's way, but as they reached him, they were easily thwarted with a single swing of the blade that was once hidden within its sheath. "Without any effort!?" Gray asked, shocked. Juvia then appeared from above, swinging her hands as a torrent of water shot forth. "Water Nebula!" But again, the same result happened as he merely swatted the waves away. "You are Sora. The Shadow Puppeteer and demon of Tartarus." He told her, causing her to cry out more. "Daityas, Kiora, Ruika, they're all waiting for you." "Cut it out!" Gray lunged forward with his giant sword of ice, the Ice Bringer, swinging it horizontally, only to be stopped once more by his own blade. He finally looked back as Gray took a leap away to stand with the others again. "And my name." He began, holding out his right hand. "Is Tsunako. It's been such a long while, Sora, Nee-Chan. You've both have grown so much."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" Nami asked, but instead of answering, a large, white circle appeared above them. They looked up, and it was Kuro who made the ominous connection. "That circle looks familiar..."
"You've probably seen Nee-Chan use it a lot." He said, and before anyone could react to his words, a plethora of light shot from the ground up, capturing everyone inside as the entire foster home began collapsing from the damage being done.
"T-This is Nami's technique!" Kuro says in the midst of his painful cry. As they wailed in pain, Tsunako, the male in question, grabbed Sora and held her in his arms. He then turned back to the others as the ceiling above them began to quickly collapse on top of them. "Well, that is Nee-Chan after all. It's too bad our reunion couldn't last any longer, but someone important is waiting for us. Good luck surviving all of this, Nee-chan." In a flash of light, he disappeared, leaving Nami and the others to their supposed demise as the entire building came crashing down on top of them with no signs of escape. Appearing a distance away from carnage, Tsunako held a sleeping Sora in his arms, pressing two fingers to his temple. "Hey. I got Sora. She passed out from the pain like you said she would. Also, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Kuro Crane, and..Namiyaka are no longer a problem. Mission's complete."
Though he was addressing Daityas, someone else answered which made him smile all the same. "Good job kid. See Daityas, I told you this one was reliable. So considered the other two of mine...scrapped."
He stood alone upon an empty road as a smile etched upon his sturdy features. His black hair fell down to the top of his shoulders as his charcoal eyes remained glued upon the two unsuspecting figures walking his way — Reve and Taya. "Well, let's not just count her out yet. I'll see what I can do from here before killing the traitor."
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And yet, all while this was going on, Tartarus had placed their plan into action. In the city of Era, the council building filled with the ten wizard saints and other councilmen...suddenly exploded. A powerful bomb detonating and literally blowing the roof off the council headquarters, causing perilous screams as a heinous laughter could be heard from inside.
Tartarus was moving, and no one knew the motives behind their movement.
