A/N: And here we are with a new chapter!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 13: Magic Council Inquisitions
July 26th, X784
"All right everyone! Gather around!" Nika called out through the sounds of construction all around them, a stack of folders in her hands as the twenty-three other mages of Phantom Hearts setting down their work for now to look up at Nika who was standing atop a table in the middle of them all, "In light of the fact that we have so few mages to go around, I've decided a new form of mage ranks is necessary to ensure the right people are sent to the right jobs and no one is biting off more than they can chew. As you are all aware, I'm sure, given that I've spoken to you all about this individually," Nika began to explain as the constructions workers continued to move all around them, "I've settled on assigning each of you a rank D through S depending on each of your strengths, weaknesses, workload you desire and the difficulty of missions you're comfortable with."
"If we're not happy with where we end up, how easy is it to move up and down ranks?" Emrys could be heard asking over the noise.
"Well, down is much easier than up. All you have to do is ask or, god forbid, screw something up so badly I have to demote you. But to raise in rank, you'll definitely have to prove you're ready for it to me," Nika answered, "But before we get into too many other questions, everyone find the folder with your name on it and pass the stack on while I announce who our two S-Class Mages will be," she said as she handed the stack of folders down to Lillian, who was nearby before she took her folder and passed the stack on, "Our first S-Class is Raoul!" she announced, a good-natured round of applause ringing out to congratulate him, "And our second S-Class is… Lulu!" she continued as several looks of confusion crossed the faces of the mages around her.
"Oh my," Lulu gasped in surprise, smiling nonetheless as she took her file from the pile and saw the S-Class rank on her profile.
"Oi… The woman is a total badass," Rocco huffed, "None of you lot saw her fight that Mystogan creep. Did better than the rest of you did."
"When did she fight him?" Iva asked, looking up at the taller man.
"She showed up shortly after he sent you to sleep," the aqua-haired man answered, "She's way scarier than you are, gecko."
"Come again, Blue?" Iva snarled as she stomped on Rocco's foot, digging her heel into the top of it, the man holding back a yelp of pain.
"Settle down," Nika sighed, putting an end to the fight before it could go any further, "If any of you would like to have a word with me about the ranks I picked out, please visit my office later. One last note about the ranks. The only rank that gives any sort of authority over other mages is S-Class as this system is otherwise just going to be used to determine who goes on what missions. Thank you for your time," Nika said in conclusion before stepping off of the table, stopping next to Vincent and speaking with him briefly before the two of them walked towards her makeshift office in one of the undamaged dorm rooms on the ground floor.
JV scowled down at the folder in his hand, staring at the C-Rank in it as if he was trying to burn a hole through the paper with his eyes, though as he took a step forward, he found his way blocked by an arm, the young man quickly looking up to see Irma standing in front of him.
"Out of my way," he demanded as his harsh stare turned towards the woman in front of him.
"No can do. I can tell you're about to needlessly give the Guild Master a hard time," Irma retorted.
"What? Pulling rank on me already? I saw that A-Class rank of yours," JV snapped back, trying to push her arm out of the way before she fully stepped in front of him.
"No, I'm not. You heard what she said. A-Class doesn't have any special authority over the other ranks," Irma countered, "But I can tell you're about to start a ton of crap needlessly. Besides, it was my input that got you placed in C-Class to begin with," Irma stated as a scowl appeared on JV's face as he stared her down.
"The hell do you mean by that?" JV growled, stepping up to Irma, putting the two inches of height he had on her to as good of use as he could.
"You're reckless, too sure of yourself and your spirit and as far as I'm aware, that's the only one you have," Irma began to explain, "What are you going to do if you can't call Thanatos or if he misses? Ask them to stand still so you can try again?"
"You bitch," JV cursed as he reached out to grab her, only to find his wrist being grabbed by the much bigger Kord.
"JV. Calm down," Kord demanded, "If you want to change your rank, prove you deserve for it to be higher."
"Tch… Get off of me," JV muttered before pulling his wrist out of Kord's grasp and turning around to walk away.
"Think I was too hard on him?" Irma asked as they watched JV stomp off.
"No. He's hard-headed and needs to hear things like this," Kord replied, "He's the sort to try and use words to get what he wants rather than actions, so hopefully this will spurn him into action."
"Well, I hope he doesn't do anything he won't regret," Irma sighed as they watched the young man leave the guildhall.
. : + : .
"So, what did our esteemed Guild Master want to see little old me for?" Vincent chuckled as they stepped into the temporary office, Nika taking a seat at the small desk shoved into the corner of the room, "Need me to steal something for ya?"
"Actually… Yes, I do," Nika answered plainly as a look of shock came across Vincent's face.
"Wait… What? Say that again? You actually want me to steal now?" Vincent gawked as he looked at the serious expression on the woman's face.
"There is something I want you to steal for me," Nika repeated as Vincent let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm seriously having a hard time believing this right now," Vincent chuckled before crossing his arms, "So what did you want me to acquire for you?"
"Something that belonged to Jose," Nika began as she opened a drawer and pulled out a folder before setting it on the desk and opening it up, revealing a picture of what Vincent assumed to be a rather old magic tome.
"What's that do?" he asked as he picked up the paper as Nika let out a deep sigh of her own, Vincent watching a weary expression appear on her face as the sigh ended.
"It's… come to my attention that I'm not nearly strong enough to protect the guild," Nika began to explain, "So, I thought I might try and learn a new magic, one that's been in our guild's heritage for quite a while."
"So you want the magic in this tome then," Vincent mused as his eyes fell back to the paper in front of him.
"Yes. Jose wrote everything there was to know about his Shade Magic in it. I assume he wanted it to become a staple of Phantom Lord Guild Masters after he retired. The problem is, like most things belonging to Phantom Lord, the Magic Council seized it when they disbanded the guild," Nika continued as Vincent lifted his hand up to his chin in thought.
"Do you know where they took it?" the purple haired man asked as he handed the paper back to Nika.
"My sources say they've taken the tome to one of their strongholds. Particularly the vault in Coleus Port," Nika sighed, "It's a repository of all sorts of magic tools and tomes. A literal treasure trove."
"How… interesting. I've gotta say, you really have my attention now," Vincent chuckled as a sly smile appeared on his face as Nika placed her elbows on the desk in front of her and leaned into her hands.
"I'm really going to regret this… But since we can't let them know it was us that stole it, you're free to steal some of the other things to cover up the fact that it was the book we were after," Nika groaned before lifting her head back up to look at Vincent, the man positively giddy.
"You really know how to make a guy's day, Nika. Say no more, I'll get right on it," Vincent said happily before a knock could be heard on the door, Raoul poking his head in.
"You're not gonna believe this, it's the Rune Knights again. One of the Councilmen themselves is here too," Raoul stated before Nika quickly stood up from her desk and walked out the room, Raoul and Vincent following after her as she stepped back into the main room to see a tall man with blue hair and a unique, red tattoo on his face standing amidst the construction, flanked by a pair of Rune Knights.
"Veronika Anastasia, I presume," the blue haired man called out as Nika approached, the man chuckling when he saw her flinch in anger at the sound of her full first name, "How far the mighty have fallen indeed. To think this is all that's left of the once prestigious Phantom Lord."
"To whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking with, sir?" Nika practically growled.
"Seigrain, Wizard Saint and Fourth Seat of the Magic Council, at your service," the man chuckled, mocking Nika with a slight bow.
"And may I ask what the purpose of your visit is, Councilman?" Nika asked as Seigrain stepped closer to her, motioning for her to follow him, though as Raoul and Vincent attempted to follow as well, the man stopped.
"Alone, if you'd please," the man ordered before he and Nika walked away into the courtyard, leaving Raoul and Vincent alone in the company of his Rune Knight escort. As the two mages stepped out into the courtyard, Seigrain took a moment to look around walking over the damaged bridge in the center before stepping over to Izzy's garden, "How quaint," he mused before grabbing a plant and ripping it out of the ground.
"Why do that?" Nika asked as Seigrain tossed the plant to the side before turning to face her.
"A small reminder of what the Magic Council could do to any Mage Guild that steps too far out of line," he explained as he walked back over to Nika.
"Is that all you came out here to do? Threaten us?" Nika asked as she stared down the man, struggling not to tremble under the man's immense magical power.
"No, not at all. The rest of the Council was rather concerned when they saw that remnants of the recently disbanded Phantom Lord submitted a request to found a new guild so quickly. So they sent me out here to investigate your motives since I was personally involved in the trials against your former guild," the Councilman stated as he began to walk around, stepping up to a small sculpture before putting his foot on it, "You see, my rather nervous compatriots in the Council are concerned that you will merely start up the guild war again and attack Fairy Tail, not that you'd stand a chance against them as you are now. It'd be suicidal even. There's a lot of bad blood for you guys over there right now," he mused before crushing the sculpture beneath his boot, grinding some of the rubble into dust before looking back to Nika, "So they just wish to ensure that we're on the same page if we let you operate legally is all."
"We've no intentions of attacking Fairy Tail unless they attack us first," Nika retorted, "As you said, it'd be completely reckless of us to do so."
"Good. Good," Seigrain said with a smirk on his face as he stepped back up to Nika before reaching up and grabbing her by the chin, as if appraising her, "Now that we're on the same page, you'll have to prove your goodwill to the Council. We'll be sending you a job for you to do, no payment for doing it of course since refusal to do so will force us to declare your guild illegal. But should you complete it, you won't have to worry about that, will you?" the man chuckled as Nika managed to pull away from the man, removing his hand from her chin.
"I take it you won't share any details about the job with me until the notice arrives?" Nika asked, doing her best to ignore the man's actions up until now.
"Correct. After all, I'm no courier responsible for dispensing information," Seigrain answered before stepping around Nika and crossing back over the bridge, "Do keep an eye out for that notice. It'd be a shame if anything were to happen to your guild," he said as he lazily waved back to Nika as he left the courtyard and entered back into the main room of the guild, calling his two Rune Knights to his side before leaving just as Nika entered back into the main room of the guild.
"Trouble, I'm guessing?" Raoul asked as Nika scowled at the doors.
"Yeah. I get a feeling he's going to try and screw us over too," Nika sighed before looking over to Vincent, giving him a slight nod before the man nodded back, running off shortly after.
"The hell is that about?" Raoul asked.
"You'll find out," Nika chuckled.
. : + : .
Iva sat on the edge of the stone pathway next to the river that flowed by Rocco's townhouse, her bare feet dangling over the surface of the water as it flowed past her, the young girl looking down at her hand as she made her dragon scales appear and disappear over and over again.
"You're still doing this?" she heard Rocco ask from behind her, "You seriously haven't made up your mind yet? Either go or don't. It's not that hard."
"I haven't been back there since he died, Rocco. It's not that easy to choose to go back to somewhere like that," Iva sighed before her dragon scales appeared one last time on her hand, Iva gripping her hand tightly as she did so before releasing the grip, her scales disappearing as they heard Vincent call out to them.
"Yo! You sorry saps need a job to do?" the sand mage called out as he approached the two of them.
"I guess," Rocco shrugged as Iva looked over her shoulder at Vincent, "Don't tell me you actually found a job worth doing right now."
"Something like that. More like a special job from Nika that she wants done," Vincent chuckled.
"How much does it pay?" Rocco asked as he cautiously watched Vincent.
"Depends on how much we can snag and pawn off," Vincent said quietly as he threw his arm over Rocco's shoulder, "She needs a little something special acquired for her from the Magic Council's vault in Coleus."
"The Sealed Forest is just north of Coleus, isn't it?" Iva quickly asked before Rocco could protest the job.
"That it is," Vincent replied as a look of determination crossed Iva's face, the girl having finally made up her mind.
"Then I'm in, so long as we stop by the Sealed Forest first," Iva answered before pulling her boots back on and standing up.
"Rocco?" Vincent asked as he looked over to the taller man.
"All right, fine. I'm in," Rocco sighed as he gave in, "But this better actually be on the up and up and not just some scheme of yours to steal a bunch of crap."
"Why Rocco!" Vincent faked gasped as he backed away from the man in mock horror, "I would never dream of it!"
"Tch… Yeah right," Rocco growled before following Iva inside to pack his things, Vincent following in behind them, the man taking in the fresh sea breeze scent and the blues and whites that adorned the living room.
"You know, you guys could use more sand lying around if you're going for the whole beach theme for your décor," Vincent called out as the other two mages went up the stairs.
"If you leave a bunch of sand lying around, I'll kill your ass!" he heard Rocco shout from upstairs.
"Touchy," Vincent chuckled as he helped himself to an apple from one of their many fruit bowls before Iva came down the stairs, her duffle bag thrown over her shoulder, "So why do you wanna go to the Sealed Forest. Place is hella dangerous, you know?" he asked between bites of his apple.
"I used to live there with my dad," Iva answered bluntly.
"Weird place to live… So you wanna visit your dad then?" Vincent questioned as Iva turned her eyes away from him.
"Something like that," she replied before Rocco came down the stairs, a backpack on his back.
"Where's your pigeon?" Rocco scoffed as he watched Vincent stand up from the couch.
"He's off delivering a letter for me, so he won't be joining us on this one unless he manages to find his way to us later," Vincent explained as he grabbed a small drawstring bag he brought with him and threw it over his shoulder, "We're all packed and ready then?"
"Don't you dare say we're heading to the train station next," Iva growled as she walked out the door, "The Sealed Forest is only a three days walk from here and then its another day to Coleus from there," she explained as the other two mages followed her out of the building, Rocco locking the door behind them, "And yes, I would know that for certain."
"Yeesh, fine, we'll walk this time," Vincent sighed as he began to mentally prepare himself for how much his feet were going to hurt a few hours from now.
"I really wouldn't get on her bad side right now," Rocco whispered to Vincent, "Going to the Sealed Forest has been gnawing on her for a few days now."
"I can tell. Something's really crawled up her-," Vincent began to say before Iva cut her off.
"I can hear you whispering, you know," Iva pointed out as she shot a glare back at the two men.
"Guess we'll pass notes when we want to keep secrets then," Vincent chuckled as Iva let out another groan, almost wishing she was sick and unconscious for this trip like she had been for the last few of them, if only to be spared of Vincent's quips.
A/N: And there we are! Chapter complete, back down to being shorter than the last couple since I'm just setting up events to come with this chapter. But I got my splint off today, so I was able to crank this chapter out in just a few hours, which is good.
We got the ranking system set up in this chapter too and I have personally sorted all the characters into the ranks I thought that suited them most. If you'd like to see the complete list, you can visit the discord for the story. Link for that is in my profile.
Anyways, I'd like to thank Grimnack, Benthino, XLil MEkoX, MyDearWatson, wjolix98, Paperman0 and bulk Locke the the grim head for the reviews! They are all appreciated!
That's all for now.
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Dreadburner94.