{Author Notes}
After another personal hell created from my own incompetence, I have returned.
Sup dudes and whatevas. Anyway, heads up: I'm playing with a new format style because there's a lot of people doing a lot of different things at different times and places. (I'm surprised this story is still getting support when it's almost one foot on the grave. So thanks. I may not sound like it, but thank you all for supporting this story and the no-longer-weekly uploads this story used to have in its beginning.
I am far from perfect, but I just wanted a fun story with fun characters. And this one is one of my crazier story arcs attempted. I'm super close to 1000 Follows, so I might be able to reach for that soon.
[Fairy Tail]
"WHAT!?" Earthland Natsu's voice scared away the local wildlife of Edolas. "They're going to get executed!? We gotta save them!" At the rate he was screaming, The Kingdom of Edolas was more likely to find and arrest the remaining Fairy Tail members.
Luckily for them, there was a 'mute' button known only by those stronger than the Fire Dragon Slayer: punching him in the head. "Quiet, Dragneel! We're still in hiding!" Laxus snarled as a cartoonish bump rose from where the Fourth Guildmaster struck.
"They're doomed! There's no hope for us!" On the somewhat opposite spectrum was Edolas Natsu, who was sniveling in terror.
Edolas Mira picked up the sniveling Edolas Natsu by the collar. "Why are you out of your vehicle!? You lose all composure when you leave it! Get back in there!" Laxus watched as Edolas Natsu, also known as Dragion, had another shift in his character when he was shoved back into his car.
"Right, sorry about that." Laxus blinked at the quick change in character. "I had to tell you guys something." They watched the man take something out of one of his car's compartments: it was a flat, square-shaped device, but Dragion pressed something, and its black screen came to life. "First off, Jet and Droy hijacked a delivery aircraft. They're right here in our link."
"Yo!" Jet saluted with two fingers on the screen. "I had Droy scrub off the alarms and tracking devices, but we'll have this thing ready for air travel in no time."
"Something came up, Jet," Mirajane Rhea folded her arms.
The speed agent dropped his smile. "Droy and I overheard a news broadcast while sneaking in. They're going to kill the others in two days: on the day the crown prince died. And seeing as that it's late-night..."
"We have less time than usual." Rhea put a hand on her head. She looked over to Laxus. "Do you have any idea where Commander could be in your world?"
"No," Laxus looked to his Natsu. "But Dragneel has a better sense of smell than me. If you guys had something that belonged to him, he could track him down."
Lisana, Rhea, and Dragion looked at each other. Their faces didn't look like they had anything. On the screen, Jet shook his head.
"Ah!" Lisanna raised a finger. "Does Mr. Obra own something that might help us?"
"Obra, as in Volis Obra, The Grand Magistrate?!" Jet yelled out in shock. "What does he have to do with the Commander?!"
Lisana tilted her head. "What? Jet, I thought you knew! Mr. Obra is one of our secret supporters!"
"This is the first time I've heard of it. How'd you know Lisanna?" Mirajane Rhea folded her arms.
"The Commander mentioned it to me once. Or more like he implied that he still had friends on their side."
"Okay!" Natsu got back up from Laxus' blow and punched his fists together. "Then let's go find this Oblong guy and save our friends!"
"Umm," Everyone turned to Jet, even ignoring Natsu's wrong pronunciation. "About that. We stole flight chart inventory, and guess where planes are not allowed to travel to at this time?"
Laxus exhaled through his nose. He was hoping that without the lawyer, their luck would change for the better. "It's in the same city as the Grand Magistrate, isn't it?"
"Traia? Yes." Jet answered his question and proved to the fourth master that the Kain Theory was an actual thing.
Laxus closed his eyes as if that would stop his incoming headache. "As much as we should get things done, we'll need all the strength we can muster. We should get some sleep. I'll take the first watch. When the other two come in, I'll swap without whoever's up for it."
As they dispersed, Laxus found himself reflecting. It was odd to hear about the man who isn't his father. Everyone in Edolas looked up to him as this powerful and all-knowing man. And whenever they mentioned him, they all had such respect and admiration in their tone.
Edolas Ivan sounded like everything Laxus wished his father was. Years of chasing his father's approval, all for nothing. Yet here, other versions of everyone else got it without asking for it. The cosmos had one sick sense of humor. Then again, he'd probably laugh if it was anyone else but him, so maybe it isn't all unwarranted.
Laxus felt a shift in the air but then relaxed. He continued watching the area before speaking up, "What do you want, Rhea?"
The biker girl of Edolas sat down not too far from the 4th guild master, looking up to the night sky as well. "Just trying to figure you out. The Natsus? I can understand. I heard about Wendy. And the red knight beside you sounded familiar in a weirdly refreshing way. But I've never seen anyone in Edolas like you before."
"The world is a big place, so who knows?" Though Laxus had to admit he was curious why he was the only one without a counterpart. Though, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew the answer.
But he'd rather not discuss hypothetical topics. That was the brat's job. "Aren't you going to sleep?" He asked with a voice barely restraining his annoyance.
"I don't like sleeping unless I know my family is safe." The Edolas version of Mira looked up to the night sky. "Elfman's too much of a crybaby, and I'm more worried of him than I am of Lisanna."
Laxus wondered something as he remembered that Lisanna was the one from Earthland. So why...
"I know she's from Earthland," Rhea answered as if reading his mind. "I know she just looks like my sister. Still, I owe it to my Earthland version to make sure we don't lose another sister. Once is enough for two worlds," At that moment, the biker-girl took out what looked to be a cracked amulet in the shape of a kangaroo. She caressed as if it was her very heart. "And there's no way I'm losing another brother. But we can't do anything without the Commander."
"You look up to him, don't you?" Laxus found himself asking.
"He saved my siblings when we were young. It's pretty much with everyone: wronged by the kingdom that's supposed to be good, but saved by the kindest, bravest 'Criminal Scum'."
The lightning dragon slayer noted her bitterness.
However, the white-haired woman went on. "I remember this one time that the Commander shared a drink with everyone. It was the first time I saw him drunk, and he talked about this pretty woman he fancied a long time ago. He called her taciturn, broody, and blonde. But he blushed brighter whenever he mentioned her."
Laxus slowly started to see where this conversation was going. "The commander confessed in peaceful times he would have loved to marry her." Rhea looked over to Laxus with a smirk. "Now, let's do some math, shall we? Lisanna told me that Earthland has been in an era of relative peace. And now someone who acts as the commander, but has no Edolas counterpart appears—"
"Yes, Edolas Ivan is my father's counterpart. I don't appreciate beating around the bush. What do you want?" Laxus interrupted with the delicacy of a chainsaw.
"Boo, it's no fun if you just admit it." For half a second, Laxus swore Mirajane Rhea sounded exactly like Mirajane Strauss.
"You're still beating around the bush, you annoying woman." Laxus felt his shoulder sting when Rhea punched his shoulder. She was tougher than he thought.
"If you weren't the hypothetical son of the commander, I'd deck you in the face for that." That made him curious as to what she'd do to normal people who ticked her off. "The reason why I came here was to give you a pep talk. The commander always talked about strength in numbers, so seeing you all alone and broody doesn't sit well with me."
"Strength in numbers," Laxus would have laughed at the irony of hearing his 'father' sounding and acting like everything his grandfather wanted him to be. Wait a second. If Ivan had an Edolas Counterpart...
"Hey, did he mention anything about his father?" Curiosity got the better of the 4th Guild Master.
"Hmm, I've heard the older guys saying that the commander's father was a strict and hard-to-please man." She shrugged her shoulders. However, a smile soon appeared on her face with an ambitious gleam in her eyes. "Okay, let's do it like this. Since I answered your question, you have to answer one of mine."
"If you're going to keep being this excited up like this, I'm going to sleep next. You should take the first watch."
"Oh, no. You're not getting away that easily. I want to know about Earthland!"
"Couldn't you ask Lissanna?"
"And remind her about a home she can't go home to?" Laxus conceded that point to her. "Alright, what do I ask for?"
Silently, Laxus wished he was captured instead of the lawyer.
[Kain]
"Okay. Okay." Kain put a hand on his head as if that could stop the headache he was feeling. It NEVER does. "Start from the top. I don't know as much as I should, so could you tell me more about this crime Ivan Redray did?"
His prisoner princess looked at him in confusion. "How do you not know? Don't you lowlifes swarm to that Heretic because of his infamy?"
"Cut down on the insults, please." Kain would rather hear conversations than insults. "If it was your brother that died, then you must know how it happened, right?"
"How could you not know? All of Edolas knows about it." The princess could not understand her captor. Yet a few seconds of patience silence passed before Hisui found herself speaking. "When I was young, my brother was kidnapped by the founding head scientist of the Anima Project. He tried to make it look like an accident by putting him in a faulty rocket that launched into the forbidden Land of the Exceeds. However, the King of the Exceeds saved my brother and attempted to bring him back. He was intercepted by Ivan, and both were killed."
There was a look of utter loathing on her face. "He's been wanted ever since."
Kain, being a lawyer, felt his entire body lurch as that entire story brought up more questions than answers. "Why would the Head Scientist try to kill both the prince and King of Exceeds?"
"I don't know." The moment Kain heard those words, alarm bells started to ring. "That's what we were told." And those words marked mental black flags enough to make NATO jealous.
"Wait, you weren't there?" The lawyer asked.
"I was asleep! When I woke up that night..." Hisui shook her head. "All I knew was that I lost my big brother."
Kain went over the story again, but more questions popped up. "Why would he try to kill the prince by sending him towards the land of the Exceeds? Wouldn't there be easier ways to get what he wants?"
"I don't know! Maybe he wanted to lure the King of Exceeds and use my big brother as bait!? Why are you asking so many questions!?" The princess huffed in annoyance.
Kain felt a need to look into this more. "I'm a lawyer. I trained to find discrepancies and contradictions." Cross-examination is a basic skill lawyers have. Though there were times he had to study cases on the losing side.
"It happened! My brother is gone, and it's all that monster's fault!" Hisui barked. "I can't believe I ever trusted him."
That also caught Kain's attention. "You knew Ivan personally?"
"I saw him a few times. I thought he was a funny old man. He was originally brought in to help with our Energy Crisis. I know better now."
An instinct deep within the lawyer started to surface. There were so many holes in this story: if Ivan was truly doing this convoluted plot, how was he found out so easily? Wouldn't he have been more meticulous in trying to hide what was impossible not to detect? Did everyone in Edolas just accept what they were told by their government...okay, his world wasn't exactly perfect in that regard, but still.
He wasn't a detective out for the truth, but even for lawyers, the truth was always something that broke or made cases. "Princess, where is the proof of all this?" Kain asked.
"What proof is needed? My brother is gone!" Hisui's voice was slowly returning to that more arrogant state.
But something screamed at Kain to continue to prod and pick apart the story he was told. Like his old magic tricks, there was more than meets the eye.
"Did you see the body?"
"Body? N-No, they told me that it was too horrifying to look." The Princess watched her captor's eyes widen with alarm.
The lawyer sighed. "There's something fishy going on here." He made the Omni Tool form a blade and cut the ties that trapped Princess Hisui. "You can go now. I've got friends to save." Without waiting, Kain got atop Ignis. The two started to leave through the night sky.
"You won't escape!" Hisui screamed to them. "I'll have all of Edolas hunting you down!" Her voice was carried by the winds the further they traveled.
"Aww, she likes me." Kain rolled his eyes as he flew away. Ignis started to whine before the lawyer rubbed his head. "I know. I know. She has the power to do so. But what could we do? Lug her around where everyone could see me holding a captive princess? I can barely feed you as is, let alone her. Anyway, I'm more interested in what she said about her brother's death. There's more to this place than just stealing our friends and turning them into Lacrima Crystals. I have a bad feeling about this."
Ignis growled.
"Okay, trying to regroup the others is going to be hard considering we have no idea where they are." Kain looked ahead. "But we do know where they're going to be. The problem is, I know all too well what a certain pink-haired friend of mine is going to do. I just have no idea how to stop it."
Kain liked pretending Ignis could talk. It helped him think.
"But at the same time, I've got an idea that crazy enough to work. Ignis, we're heading to Fiore! Fly to that big tree on the horizon! Hopefully, Natsu wasn't doing something too hotheaded."
Ignis's snorts were sounding suspiciously like "fat chance".
[?]
"Waaaa! Waaaa!"
"Stop crying!" The Heir to the Edolas Throne wondered why his sister was such a crybaby. Although he complained, he held the green-haired girl close as she clung to his leg and turned his royal pants into a royal tissue. "Hisui, you can't keep crying over every little thing! You're a princess! That means you gotta... now I sound like those annoying robots and stuck-up adults." This realization made the young prince sigh as he petted his sister's head.
"Ah, Mr. Prince?" If there was one thing that made this day better, it was the fact that Zeref Dragion arrived. "Oh, and little Ms. Princess! How are you today?" Sadly for the teen, his only form of greeting was more crying. "What happened this time?"
"She tripped and scraped her knee. Even after the bots put medicine and bandage on it, she won't stop crying."
The pink-haired teen nodded before he kneeled and petted the girl's head more affectionately. "It's going to be okay. Hey, I have a gift for you!"
The crying of the little girl finally stopped. Instead, she cooed in awe as the prodigy showed what looked to be a new high-tech gauntlet computer of some kind.
"How'd you do that?" The prince asked the prodigy.
"I have a crybaby brother of my own. One of the things I do to get him to stop crying is to introduce him to something they like." He rubbed the back of his head. "Just-uh, don't try to teach her how to drive Lacrima Cars yet. I'm technically grounded for trying to teach my little brother how to drive."
The prince raised his brow. "How old is your brother?"
"Younger than you, my liege."
"Wait, he can drive, but I can't!? I demand that you teach me! But instead of a car, teach me how to fly an aircraft!" The look in his eyes showed that he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.
The prodigy sighed deep from his lungs as his mind calculated potential scenarios for each of his actions. Here were the outcomes: execution for refusing the prince and a fiery death as he and the prince crash into the ground at Mach 2.
If only he was smart enough to find a way out of this hole he dug out for him.
Luckily for the prodigy, he spotted the one weakness of the little prince. He pushed his hand up and called, "Hey, Miss Kinghtwalker!"
[Kain]
It was early morning when I became a hypocrite. Sure, let the princess to a technologically advanced empire go free. She looked more sad than dangerous, and who knows? She might help you out in the future?! That's how these Anime stories go, right?
There was a blimp on the sky that said, "Be on the lookout for this red-armored individual. If spotted, do not confront. This criminal is armed, dangerous, ugly, stupid, and crazy."
Those last parts were uncalled for. And I have this sneaking suspicion that she used more adult insults but was censored. Though in fairness, I am crazy. I think I should see a doctor, I might have been hit in the head more times than I should have. Then again, Fairy Tail's doctor is... unreasonable at the very best of times. This means I can't trust doctors, but I might get crazier over time if not checked. But then at that point, I'm scared they'll assume the worst and put me in an asylum, which will only continue my problems and fear of doctors.
Ignoring that depressing cycle I've trapped myself in, I'm a little surprised that they're using pictures of me in my armor. Did they have no good pictures of me without my armor on? Or did the Princess do something too rash again that made it so that they couldn't use my face? Maybe they couldn't use my face because I was too injured? I did have a throbbing headache, scratches, and black eye when I woke up back there. Either way that's one good thing going for me. But that at the same time, the moment I armor up, I'll be basically kicking a hornet's nest.
I did the same thing I did a while ago, I left Ignis a fair distance from the city border before getting up close. Fiore of Edolas was pretty much New York in every futuristic setting from every movie imaginable: the bright, neon lights, the dirty walls that still seemed technologically advance, and the fact that this city still seemed active in what felt like the dead of night.
Despite how dangerous it was and what had happened last time, I found one of the libraries closest to me. This time, I ignored the front desk and carefully sat nearby the computer area. This next part of my plan was to wait and wait...
Until someone got up to use the restroom, preferably a female. It was a guy, so I had to move fast to his computer.
I typed in the words that caught my attention when we were first confronted by Eisenwald: Kero Pierce, the Edolas Version of Kero Pierre. They mentioned he was an internet star, and I started to form an idea that was... errr...
[One address lookup later.]
"Mrghplff! Mrggplff!"
It's just that this plan wasn't very... let's go with 'orthodox'.
"How!" Whack! "Are!?" Whack! "You!?" Smack! "Still!?" Slam! "Conscious!?" POW!
I gasped for breath as my doppelganger, Kero Peirce, finally lost consciousness... and some teeth... so I locked him into his... very expensive and spacious-looking closet.
Man, they weren't wrong when they say that anime changes you. Almost a year ago, I was a normal and upstanding citizen.
Now here I am committing identity theft, fraud, kidnapping, assault, and battery in one day on a guy with the same face as me. And I'm doing this all before dawn too!
... How? How do I keep finding myself in these... I'm letting it go. I'm going to change into this guy's clothes... holy crap all his stuff is so immature: pwned? N00bs? Is this blue hair dye?! I can't believe I'm saying this, but at least Pierre had an air of fear around him that made everyone naturally take him seriously.
Now that I am looking over the area since I snuck in with super speed, I'm noticing a lot of video games and other very teenager-like things?
I guess this would be the dream of a social scientist to compare the Nature Versus Nurture argument. This stuff really makes me want to thank my parents for doing a somewhat decent job in raising me.
Huh?
[Kain 3rd POV]
As the lawyer took time to look at his doppelganger's room, something caught his attention nearby the king-sized bed: it was a picture of two kids. Kain recognized one of them as himself but the other?
"Rico?" The lawyer handled the crazy and dangerous situations the Anime of Fairy Tail had to offer. So when something close to his own heart came out of nowhere, the lawyer didn't know what to think.
So he almost had a heart attack when he heard knocking on his door. "Yo, KP! Keep it down in there, bro, we're trying to sleep!"
"Aigh't, brosephs!" It was both a blessing and a curse that Kain had enough time to watch one video of his second counterpart and found out he was a horrible actor. (This was weird since Kain joined the theater and Pierre was a natural liar.) "I'm doing stuff in here!"
When he heard the sounds going away, Kain sighed and looked back at the picture of him and an older "Rico".
Just for a moment, Kain forgot about being a Fairy Tail Member. He forgot about Edolas, he forgot about the execution, and he forgot about being an accidental hardened warrior.
Kain Reynolds touched the picture with all the gentleness of a good friend. "I'm glad there's one world where you're happy."
It was silent in the mansion filled with riches and material things. It felt like that one moment was more priceless than all the fame of two worlds. The lawyer put down the picture, and with renewed focus, went to work.
The lawyer's plan was simple: hide and pretend he was his doppelganger. Hopefully, he could go incognito long enough to find a way into the castle...
Kain stopped as he started to pick up his other-other self. His Edolas version had blue hair.
The lawyer looked back to the can of blue hair dye he set down a while ago.
"Oh, you have got to be f—"
[Extalia Castle. Days until Execution: 1.5. Time: Late Night.]
"What do you mean?" Carla recalled the memory of orders. Orders that entailed the destruction of Dragon Slayers. She even recalled the same voice that commanded the death of their friends, but now? "Did you not order Exceeds to hunt and kill Dragon Slayers?"
The person in front of them did not look like a goddess, the shame across her face looked far too human.
"I did that as a cover. In reality... wait a second." Her eyes opened with realization. "I told only the Exceeds of Edolas that. How could you have possibly... that doesn't matter now. I need you two to walk with me. I can't be sure if this place is compromised as well."
The Queen walked back towards her throne, prompting the two Exceeds of Earthland to follow after her. They watched the queen/goddess raise a paw before the throne slid to the right and revealed a trap door underneath. The Queen waved her hand before the trap door unsealed itself.
"Please, come with me. There is much to explain but this is not the place."
As the 'goddess' led the outsiders to her secret chambers, she, nor the other two, noticed eyes appear from the shadows of her giant ceiling.
[Edolas Fiore. Days until Execution: 1. Time: Morning.]
Gajeel enjoyed these breakfast burgers. The moment the intern kid ordered one, they already had one out for him! And it wasn't that bad! Maybe he could figure out a way to bring fast food to Earthland somehow.
Eventually, he and the Parker kid walked towards the castle. The Dragon Slayer was adamant that they take no transportation whatsoever. But Gajeel noticed that he was heading towards the giant of a tree.
"Man," Gajeel turned to the young photographer. "The Gaia Tree is even amazing up close! It's bigger than you can see it from the colonies."
"Yeah," The Iron Dragon Slayer felt a nauseating feeling looking at the tree. "It's pretty big."
It took a while before they reached the main gates of the castle. Gajeel had to admit that the Edolas Castle made the Earth Land one in Fiore look like a toy house. The ID tags he got from Phantom Press allowed him and Jason to enter what looked to be a press conference.
Gajeel spotted all the strange guards around the area. Even with his heightened senses, he didn't even see one of them twitch. However, he did hear footsteps coming from behind the stage. Gajeel spotted a handsome man with arrow-shaped eyebrows, dark purple hair with one strand dyed white, and wearing what looked to be a military uniform.
When he arrived at the podium, the crowd around Gajeel started to erupt with questions and devices kept flashing with light.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and other good people of Edolas!" The purple-haired man spoke with flair. Gajeel winced when he didn't expect his voice to be projected to every corner of this already big room. "I am here to make an important announcement. Today, Edolas will sleep better knowing that the terrorists, Fairy Tail, have been captured!"
As soon as the words left his lips, the flashing and noises got worse for Gajeel. People left and right screamed for questions while Jason Parker kept taking pictures of the dastard—in Gajeel's mind—on the podium.
But Fairy Tail? What? What was going on here? Did he need to go back to Phantom Press?
"Unfortunately, their accursed leader is still at large. However, we will prove to these terrorists that we are not afraid of them. That is why the king himself has ordered all captive's execution on the day our beloved Prince has died! That is right, tomorrow morning at sundown, these vile criminals will beg our beloved prince for forgiveness!"
More screams, more lights. Gajeel hated being a dragon slayer at this moment.
The purple-haired man, who Gajeel barely caught the name, Hughes, calmed down the crowd and started asking for questions. The moment he did, Gajeel started to smell something in the air. It was faint but closer than he expected it to be. Seeing how much heated being there, and how he needed to confirm this scent, Gajeel stood up from his seat.
"Keep track of this, I need to be somewhere else." Gajeel told the Phantom Press Photographer before he dismissed himself from the 'press conference'.
By the time Gajeel left the castle, he spotted someone wearing a red cloak that had the scent of grape smoothies. The person looked deep in thought, which allowed the Iron Dragon Slayer to reach for the man's shoulder.
"Hey, punk."
The cloaked figure turned, and Gajeel couldn't help but smile for the first time since he got here. "There you are, brat. I have questions."
"Gajeel? Wait, Earthland Gajeel?!" Kain eyed his former enemy with shock.
"What the hell do you mean by Earthland?" Before Gajeel could ask more, he stepped forward and squinted his eyes. "And is that... blue hair dye?"
Kain pulled down his hood harder. "I had no choice. My doppelganger apparently dyed his hair blue! It was the only other way I could trick his friends to not start thinking something was wrong."
"Doppelganger?" Gajeel thought back to the entirety of Phantom Press and how it had many familiar people that reached uncanny valley for him.
Kain sighed. "Look, I'm heading towards the Edolas Museum. I'll try to fill you in. But I'm going to be whispering from now on. I'll trust that you can hear me easily."
As Wyvern Rider and Dragon Slayer left, they did not notice someone tailing after the two since Gajeel was still somewhat disoriented from the conference and was focusing on Kain's catch-up.
It did not take long until the two reached the Museum of Edolas' Natural History. Kain always had a fondness for going to a museum.
"What are we even doing in a dump like this?"
Sadly, aside from Levi and Lucy, Kain wished he had more friends that shared his tastes again. "Something bothered me when I heard about the story of the Prince's death. I did as much research as I could, but I reached a dead-end fast. So I'm taking a different approach. I want to know Edolas' history."
Gajeel found himself curious as well. "Why there?"
"Something's been bothering me ever since we came here. I don't know what, but my gut instinct keeps telling me to look at how this entire place came to be." Kain trailed off as he looked ahead. "Ah. There's a Holo Computer."
Gajeel watched Kain pick up his ticket and inserted it into the slot below the floating screen.
"Howdy, Edolanites!" The screen came to life with an electronic face. Gajeel was taken aback but Kain was unfazed. "Are you ready to learn about Edolas' great history?"
When his surprise fell, Gajeel felt annoyed at the tone the machine was giving them. "Why the heck is he talking down to us?"
"Sorry, I ordered us for the equivalent of a kid's school field trip."
"Why!?"
"It was the only available one." Kain pulled his hood downward again when he saw people looking in their direction. "Look, calm down. It can't be that bad."
"Are you ready, kids?" The Machine asked as the two remained silent. "I said, are you ready, kids?"
Gajeel leered at his lawyer. The young man winced before he sighed. "Yes, we're ready."
"I can't hear you!?" The machine sang.
"We're ready, Mr. Machine~," Kain said louder and more dead on the inside and outside.
"Alrighty then," The machine faced away and floated towards the east side of the building. "Follow me as we learn more about the wonderful history of Edolas!"
The two otherworlders followed after the robot as it led them towards the 3rd floor. When they entered the area, they saw what looked to be a mural/artistic depiction of an adventurer leaving his humble home.
"It began with The Adventurer."
[Extalia]
The night before, The Queen/Goddess of the Exceed led two strangers down a secret passage. It was dark, and both newcomers wonder where the leader was taking them.
"There has been something stirring in Edolas. The magical crisis we face only grows worse and worse each day. But strangely enough, it's as if the planet itself is being drained of its magic. It is not only the humans who face a magical shortage. The mission you have heard is nothing but falsehood to my people. My abilities helped me come up with a fail-safe that I would send 100 of our children to another world in case this world met its end. You two are one of those children, and you were supposed to be free of our sins." The queen explained.
"So we don't have to kill Natsu and the others? We're not traitors!?" Happy said with hope in his voice.
"If anyone is the traitor, it is I, child. I ask that you forgive me, but Edolas and Extalia have been in decline for a long time. And I fear it almost time for our judgment day." The Queen told the children.
"Why are you telling us all this? And what do you mean by judgment day?" Carla asked.
"Equal parts confession and desperation. My magic is the ability to look into the future. However, it's not perfect and spotty at times. Recently, all I perceive in the future is a void. I know enough of my magic to recognize it does not simply mean my death, but the death of our entire world. That tragic part is that I do not know how the world ends, but I was able to piece together that perhaps a Dragonslayer might be able to save us."
"You mean, Natsu?" Happy put a paw close to his mouth.
"If that is one of their names, perhaps," The Queen kept walking. "But sadly, I do not know. I seem to only see the results, and the results show an end to everyone here." She paused for a second. "But perhaps my beloved knew more than I did."
"Beloved? You mean the King of Extalia?" Happy asked.
"Before my Husband died. He left me a message. His message simply said," The Queen inhaled. "Edolas' past has been perverted."
Carla raised her brow. "What does that mean? And how did the former king know about this?"
The Queen stopped and started to search for something on the stone wall. "To this day, I still do not know what his last warning meant. As for your second question: our magic. He and I were the only ones among the Exceed to be gifted with signature magic. Where I had the ability to see the future, my Beloved could witness the past."
Happy was confused, along with Carla. "What?" The blue cat raised his paw. "How is it magical to see the past? Can't you just recall it?"
The Queen gave a small but melancholic smile. "In his words: the past is more elusive than the future, especially when someone else controls how it's told. In other words, the past can be told in many ways, but My Beloved saw the past as if he was there. But he always hid something from me; he told me that it was important to hide it even until the end..." She stopped as she found a specific brick she was looking for and pressed on to it.
Carla and Happy looked up to see the wall seemingly come to life certain bricks flared with colors from a rainbow. They shined until they started to take a form of a man holding a sword forward while leading a scary army...
A voice echoed through the old walls, one that sounded like a whisper carried by the wind.
"It began with The Conqueror."
[Edolas]
The Machine went on as the mural depicted The Adventure crossing vast worlds.
"The Adventurer crossed lands untold. We don't know if he did it for fame or wanderlust, but he journeyed the lands in search of something that he could not explain."
[Extalia]
"We do not know why he began his conquest, only that it left fields of flames and rivers of blood in the wake of his armies."
The wall showed the images of a cruel king killing all those that opposed him.
[Edolas/Extalia]
In two different times, in two contrasting places, something impossible happened: two voices said the exact words.
"Until he came across the Great Tree."
In the future, A Dragonslayer and Wyvern Rider watched the digital mural form into a holographic and hyper-realistic version of the Edolas Tree on a smaller scale, which still towered over them. In the past, two Earthland Esxceeds witness the room light up with green and brown colors, forming a bright tree that cast its shadow over the whole kingdom and some flying islands.
[Edolas]
Gajeel and Kain watched as darkness filled the room. The Mechanical voice went on. "The Great Tree was the home of a Demon."
[Extalia]
The Imagery showed what looked to be an angelic being with multiple wings flying towards the founder. Under the light, the army and the founder knelt before the bright being. "The Great Tree was the home of a Benevolent Being. They touched the heart of The Conquerer, changing the man for the better."
[Edolas]
In Edolas, a monstrous and giant being grabbed the explorer. "The Demon tricked The Explorer. He offered prosperity, riches, and other vices in exchange for his soul."
[Extalia/Edolas]
"And that was how Edolas was born." One showed how The Explorer and many others slaved away building the city. The other showed former soldiers becoming architects and builders. The various groups watched as the city rose around the tree.
[Extalia]
The colors depicted a new army coming in from beyond the edges of the image. "One day, an army from beyond came and ambushed The Being's new home. They bore the insignia of dragons."
[Edolas]
In the future, Gajeel and Kain watched something similar happen, but with a different context. "But luckily for those poor souls, a strange and mysterious army, with the symbols of dragons, rose to liberate those enslaved by the beast. The fight was chaotic and bloody, but with the help of the Adventurer, they sent the demon from where it came."
[Extalia]
The colors turned to a cruel tone in the hidden chambers. "Alas, the kind being fell. The invaders forced the former Conqueror to guard its dead body for all eternity."
The colors faded but implied that the humans built and lived in the city afterward.
Carla looked towards the queen. "Is this the history of Edolas?"
The Queen opened her mouth.
"You overstepped your people's pact, Goddess,"
But she did not say those words, a cruel but almost otherworldly voice said that from behind the cats. Quickly, the queen speed in between the direction of the voice and the two exceeds. From the darkness, four eyes appeared: one on the top, one on the bottom, and two on the right and left respectively, but each one glowed a pale white light.
"W-What's going on!?" Happy cried as he stepped back.
"My Beloved hid everything from me in an attempt to keep me and his people safe. He was a stubborn oaf in that regard, but perhaps I'm not so different in that regard." The Queen removed her cloak and in a flash of light, her form changed. Instead of a small, cat-like creature in front of them, there was a majestic panther the size of a car that wore full body armor. Six golden wings that looked like they belonged to an archangel sprouted from the back of the being before she let loose a powerful roar. However, her tail handed Happy what looked to be a crystal orb.
"Leave! Follow that orb!" She reached screamed before more four-eyes appeared in the darkness. The two Earthland creatures heard what sounded like a mix of hissing and something liquid-like. That was all they heard as the Queen pounced into the darkness but was swallowed whole. Carla had enough of a mind to grab Happy's hand and just run down the path the Queen originally brought them through.
[Edolas]
Gajeel and Kain watched the light show end.
"Hmm..." Gajeel was silent as he thought back to what he saw on the device of his counterpart. He recalled seeing the dragon ruins that were crossed out. "Hey, brat. I need your opinion on something." The Steel Dragon Slayer told and compared notes with Kain.
"Huh. Gajeel, what you said brings up another question: what happened to your counterpart? I've met Natsu's and Wendy's, but not yours."
"If I had to take a guess, he's probably fishing for info somewhere." Gajeel thought back to the pictures of the crossed dragons. "While we're here, maybe we should do some research on the dragons of this world."
Kain raised his brow but nodded silently. "My training as a lawyer is screaming at me that there's something connected about all of this: the portals, the history, maybe even the counterparts. But the fact remains is that Fairy Tail of Edolas is going to die soon, and if they die, we don't have a chance of saving our Fairy Tail."
"It's not like we can do anything about that now. Looks like our best move is to follow the clues of history." Gajeel fixed his hat before smiling. "I've always wanted to be a hard-boiled detective with a sidekick."
Kain fought the urge to roll his eyes. "In that case, we should probably find more about the dragons of Edolas. They're tied into the history of Edolas even though there isn't physical mention of their existence, just references. Why?"
Gajeel and Kain moved forward, but Gajeel stopped in his tracks and tensed.
The brunette, feeling the shift in his ally, also felt bad. It was then he realized that the museum was quiet when a while ago it was as noisy as a regular public area.
"Kid," Gajeel started.
The Wyvern Rider felt his stomach drop. "They surrounded us while we were watching this, didn't they?"
After the lawyer admitted this, they heard the sound of clapping. Gajeel gritted his teeth when he saw the same man, Hugh walking in with a row of armored soldiers behind him.
"It's not uncommon to arrest someone more than once. But it is amazing to see someone who has the same face as a trespasser we found not too long ago." The Royal Captain, Hugh, gave an amused smirk at the Fairy Tail mages.
Kain soon hated the fact that over a dozen red dots were shinning over every important part of both their bodies.
"What the hell?" Gajeel asked as he looked at where the lights were coming in. "Grr! Quit shining them on my eye! Didn't know there were this many gun mages."
"Gun mages? Lacrima Rifles are state of the art and mass-produced..." Hugh repeated before his eyes widened. "Amazing! You must be those doubles our king told us to keep an eye out for! Amazing!"
Kain noticed the guy saying amazing a lot but just chalked it up to quirky anime villains.
"I wonder though, among those with two faces, which one is a Dragon Slayer?"
Kain hated how he glanced at Gajeel after saying that. He looked away, but Gajeel also had a look of surprise on his face.
"So the big guy, huh? Well, that's a given. He does look tougher. So what will it be, boys? The easy way or the Amazing way?"
Despite the gravity of their situation, Kain's sarcasm rose as it always did: in the worst possible times. "Great, getting captured twice in the same adventure. At this rate, I'm going to give Princess Peach a run for her money on most times I get captured by the enemy."
[Eartland]
"You should take a rest, Mystogan," Redray said after finishing the campfire. "We've got another long day ahead of us."
The blue-haired mage sighed. "... How's my sister?"
"She," The man paused to find words. "Took your death hard."
"I guess I would too," Mystagon looked down. "Before everything, we had each other. I could count the number of friends I had on one hand. Her only real friend was me, and I had to share my friends with her."
"... She's troubled, but I can sense that she truly does have the makings of a good ruler, Mytogan. There just needs to be a lot done. And quickly too. With Anima at full power, it's going to take a lot to stop it completely."
The hooded man was thankful for the kind insight, but it did lead him to wonder about something. "Is that why we've been fighting and hunting so many rare creatures?" Mystogna motioned to the pile of rare tusks, bones, and even organs. He felt like a poacher, but Ivan was desperate.
"We just need one more," Ivan's pocket started to beep. "Odd, I should be out of range."
The golden-armored man took out what looked to be a rectangular device with a foldable antenna. "Commander? Is that you!?"
"Rhea?" Ivan stood up, signaling Mystogan to do the same. "How are you in Earthland?"
"Sir, we've been set up! We need you back in Edolas, now! They're going to kill everyone!"
At that moment, a spotlight shone down on them, and they looked up to see an Edolas Transport Ship flying overhead.
Mystogan had a bad feeling about this, especially when he saw the bewildered look on Master Laxus' face behind the cockpit.
{AUTHOR NOTES}
At this point, I should be a phoenix. The number of times that I thought I killed my interest for this story, only to get revived in the most random of times, is frightening.
It's amazing how a half-dead fic can almost get 1000 Follows. Thanks a lot for that guys. I mean I'm still writing this story, but my life is... I am not very good at managing it, and I'm hopefully doing better. Still, if I went this far, it would be a darn waste to give up now. Although uploads will be slow as heck.
On the bright side, the jumping around is going to come to an end very soon! We're all converging to the mass execution, and that's when all heck breaks loose!