I found out that the first chapter's formatting was messed up, so I fixed that. I think. If it's still wonky, I'd appreciate the tip off.
That aside, have fun!
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"What had you done?"
Aki, who was happily licking a lollipop, glanced up. "Oh, it's you! Have you come to play again? Where are your friends?"
Jellal sighed.
Though the girl in front of him was, undoubtedly, Aki, one of the two most feared and evil mages in history, she just – didn't act much like it. She acted how you might expect one the age she appeared to be to act, not like the centuries old Black Mage that she was. He had expected them – Zeref and Aki – to act mysterious, sagely – even if the sageness was for evil – and sophisticated; maybe wild, malicious, and sadistic; even just old and knowledgeable – but not this. He had had no idea how to respond when he interacted with her the first time. He had expected that it was an act – which he knew it undoubtedly was – that she would drop when he proved to be serious, but she hadn't. If anything, she had upped the ante when he showed up with a team-mate. She had clearly enjoyed their interaction, regardless of the blows Ultear had landed on her.
After having discussed with Ultear and Melody, they had decided that they wouldn't be able to capture her through brute force; they should have anticipated that, but after hearing Ultear's account of what had happened on Tenrou Island, they were, perhaps, justified in having underestimated their target. Nothing Ultear had told them, except her appearance, seemed to be the case anymore. Aki wasn't breaking down, she wasn't with Zeref, she was able to recover almost instantaneously, and, most importantly and irritatingly of all, she was clearly far out of their league.
All in all, they had agreed that this would require something else than a contest of power; much to their chagrin, as all three were extremely powerful wizards – a former wizard saint, the former leader of the Seven Sins of Purgatory who had previously defeated both Aki and Zeref on Tenrou, and a former member of the aforementioned group.
They had four more days, four more days to trick, coerce, or force Aki to come with them and show them where Zeref was.
Now, Jellal took out a bag of candy. "Want some?"
It may have been clichéd, but the girl had responded to so many of the clichéd things he had tried – if only because of confidence – and, as he didn't want to just let her be and his next plan would take place tomorrow, he thought to give it a go. Might as well rule out the ridiculous ideas first, right?
"Oh, yes, please!" Aki reached over and grabbed a chocolate train, sending her lollipop to who knows where; Jellal might have fallen over. "Oh, there's no need to act so surprised," she chided, popping another chocolate into her mouth. "I just love the feeling of eating spiked food, feeling it dissolve before it even reaches my stomach, traveling as fast as it can through my veins to get to my head before, inevitably, vaporizing before it can have any real effect. By the way," she added, "can I just have that hole bag?" She laughed at herself, "Why am I asking?" and snatched the bag from Jellal's loosened grip.
Jellal muttered a curse. So drugs are ruled out… He sat down beside her while she hummed, pulling a differently shaped candy out each time she stuck her hand in the bag.
"Want to play a game?" he blurted on sudden inspiration.
Aki's eyes sparkled. "Oh, yes!"
"What drug did we use?"
The girl's eyes widened before she chuckled, looking down at the bag of candy. "You are definitely the first person to flat out admit that you spiked it." Her head tilted slightly.
"Well, you clearly knew, so," Jellal grumbled.
"Fair enough," she sniggered, leaning back up and picking out a candy, examining it. "Well, it certainly sounds like a fun idea. Hold on." And she started opening candies. When she had ten open on the bench, she said, "Alrighty, if I don't figure it out in these ten, then you win."
Jellal raised his eyebrows. "And what do I get when I win?"
She hummed. "What do you want? You can ask for anything, really, since it's not going to happen." She smirked.
"Well, then, let's make it a more difficult game, shall we?" She looked at him expectantly, her interest clearly caught. He took all ten candies, putting them in his pocket, and took out three different ones. At her raised eyebrows, he explained, "It wouldn't be fair if you got candies you've already been eating."
"Awww, I wanted to tell you what each one was," she whined, hunching forward. "And these had better be better than the chocolates. Those were obvious."
He smiled faintly. He felt certain that she wouldn't be able to guess it, as the drug in these three candies was made by Meledy, her own special mix. (He had not asked why she had her own special drug.) She had assured him that the taste was less than not there, the smell non-existent, and magically unnoticeable. She had also told him, quite cheerfully, that the amount she put in each of the candies would be enough to paralyze fifteen whales.
Setting them down where the chocolates had been, he said, "You only have three candies, and if I win you don't move for five minutes." Seeing the light of mischief in her eyes, he immediately amended, "That doesn't mean you don't move from this spot, and it doesn't mean you use some magic. You have to be limp and not use magic at all. Or call anybody," he added, recalling yesterday's fiasco.
She gave a shout of mirth. "You are educable, apparently!" She clapped him on the back, startling him – though he did his best to hide it. "Very well, let's do this!" She grabbed one of the candies, but before it had gotten halfway to her mouth, she paused.
"What?" Jellal asked, trying to hide his apprehension.
"I have to decide what I get when I win!" she answered, and he felt his stomach drop. Before he could assert that he wouldn't help her do anything evil, she chirped, "I want to meet up with one of the Fairy Tail members."
Jellal stared. "And why would I be able to do that?" he asked carefully.
She laughed, waving a hand as if to brush his words away. "Jellal, I already know you're only able to be here because those little Fairies are helping you." Jellal paled at the idea that she knew this, wondering what else she knew. "I just want to have a quick conversation with a member called, uhm… well, let's call the member… Fairy."
Jellal eyed her. "And how do we know that you won't kill this person?"
"You don't!" She beamed. "In fact, you should be quite worried, if not for Fairy's circumstances; I do hate h- them," she corrected, ignoring his glower, "after all. But, you know, I really would like to speak to Fairy, now that I think of it. Well, my prize can be something less than that, yeah?" She tilted her head, her fist squishing into her cheek as she watched him. The action, as all her other ones, was disconcerting, as Jellal struggled to link the cute action with the mage who had created dozens, maybe hundreds, of demons – killed thousands of people. "I just want you to give them a message. I'll tell you after I win."
Jellal considered this. He couldn't see how any harm would come to the member, assuming they didn't accept the invitation, and it seemed better to do it this way, rather than leaving her to kidnap whoever it was. "Al-right," he agreed hesitantly. "Deal." He jumped slightly as her hand shot forward, but it stopped long before reaching him.
"We've got to shake, idiot," she teased, rolling her eyes.
A game! That's it!
How could he have not seen that until now? She had, so far, acted as though it were all a game – quite blatantly, he realized with a thrum of frustration. And it was only now that it was an actual game that he had figured it out. He hadn't been able to understand the light that danced within those absent eyes before, but it seemed so obvious, now.
Tentatively, he took her hand, and she shook it vigorously. "Deal signed!" And she tossed all three candies into her mouth. He watched nervously as she made faces, seeming to roll the candies around on her tongue. She started to sway back and forth, eyelids drooping, shaking her head a few times as though to clear it…
She vanished.
Panicking, Jellal jumped up, looking frantically around for his target, but, not ten seconds later, there was a loud crash from behind him. He leapt forward, spinning around to find – Aki. Lying flat on the ground, arms spread wide and eyes open, she lay in the wreckage of the bench.
"Well," she groaned, pushing herself up. "That was far stronger than I expected it to be."
Jellal felt a strum of pride for Meledy, but his attention was caught by a piece of wood lodged in the other's arm. "Your-" he started, but she cut him off, apparently wholly unconcerned.
"Give my praise to the chef, but I still know what it was. I never thought someone else would realize how to utilize those plants, though…" she added to herself, trailing off.
"Your arm," Jellal interjected, pointing at her elbow, where the thin strip of wood had punctured her skin. Even as he did so, he felt confusion. Why am I telling her this?
"Oh," she said disinterestedly, glancing at the piece of wood.
It's because of how childish she acts. It's a strategy, and you're letting it work on you! Get it together!
Aki reached over and yanked the offending plank out with a loud squelch; Jellal winced slightly, but she seemed unperturbed. "So," she continued, as though she hadn't just pulled a splintered piece of wood out of her arm, "that drug was made from entirely organic material, I'd guess to avoid magical detection – a smart move, because even if a magic repelling ingredient had been used, I would have felt my magic bounce away from it. There's no name for it, officially, so I'll just explain how it was made to prove I know it."
She took a deep breath, then said in one go, "Strained Kilchur mixed with ground Fertren, dried in the sun on a porous rock, ground again, sifted, mixed with agar and aloe, melted, and then mixed with these candies while melted, hardening with the drug as a component, rather than a coating or center."
She nodded approvingly. "I always appreciate when someone manages to do something that surprises me. I didn't think anyone else would learn to make that drug."
A lot of things were going through his head at that point, but all he could think to say was, "Anyone else…?"
Aki, who had been staring at her fingers, ticking off who knew what, glanced up at him. "Oh, yeah," she breezed, waving an airy hand, "I made that very same thing, like, two hundred and fifty or so years ago. It was an accident, but it seemed useful enough, so I wrote it down somewhere… I've since lost the book, actually… Anyways, I had been trying to make a poison that could kill even an immortal, but mixed my Fertren up with, well, something I'm not going to tell you in case you think it would be a grand idea to attempt to imitate it in order to kill me. It wouldn't work anyway, so… And I haven't left my jars unlabeled since," she groaned, facepalming.
Jellal didn't speak. She had been right about the drug, of course, but he didn't know what to say now.
"Soooooo, the message?" she prompted him, waving her hand in front of his face.
Jerking out of his trance, he muttered another curse before nodding. "Y-yes… a message," he agreed unenthusiastically, and Aki jumped up and down, hands in the air and whooping.
"I get to see M- Fuh- Fairy," she corrected hurriedly, "-again! Oh yeah! Oh, the bench."
Jellal stared at her as she considered the broken remains. I thought she said she hated this person…?
"Jellal, do you think I should use Wood Make to create a new bench from the old one's corpse or Arc of Time to fix the-"
"Arc of Time?!" Jellal blurted.
"-old one?" Aki finished unconcernedly. "Arc of Time, huh? Well, since you say that, I think I'll use Wood Make."
"Wait, how-"
But Aki was already speaking, a hand held out towards the bench. "ウッドメイク:ピグトリーのうえにからすほえるみましょう."
{{"Wood Make: Let's Watch the Raven Bark Up the Pig-Tree." A Wood Make spell inspired by Laki Olietta's own bizarre spells.}}
If he wasn't as preoccupied with her mentioning Arc of Time, Jellal might have wondered about how nonsensical her spell had been. As it was, he only bleated, "You can use Arc of Time?"
"Hmm?" Aki hummed as the bench's pieces reformed, twisting around themselves in a basket-weave pattern. "Oh, yeah."
"Is that your magic, then?"
Aki, who had sat herself back down, glanced up at him, then laughed affectedly. "I assume you know that one of your colleagues uses Arc of Time, then?" Jellal nodded cautiously. "It is very impressive of her. She was proficient back on Tenrou." She patted the bench, looking at him expectantly.
Shaking himself mentally, he moved to sit, watching her suspiciously.
She either didn't notice, or didn't mention it, musing, a finger to her bottom lip, "It really is an eminent achievement for one so young to be as skilled in that magic; it has such a high base level, people usually need to have studied magic for some years to even attempt a spell. Wonder if she ever read A Chronicle of Temporal Manipulation: Practical Usages…" she added as to herself.
Seeing his still shocked expression, she sniggered. "Look, Jellal, I know how to use most – if not all – Ancient Magics. There are a couple I can't use – at least not properly – because I never had the genes or proper teachers." She sighed. "Certain magics, especially older, stronger ones, are rather finicky in who can use and how to learn them. There's loads of – well, not restrictions, per se, so much as… requirements? Attributes? – in the strongest of magics: Natural affinity, magic types, magic memory and quantity… hundreds of factors, some of which can be addressed, some of which are set even before birth. It's why someone who doesn't know about different magics will still develop a unique one, why some magics are more of a struggle to some people; it isn't just about thought and knowledge."
Apparently enjoying lecturing him, she continued easily, "So, beyond most people's limitations in learning magic, there are just some things that can't be helped – at least, for a few, not without inordinate effort; it varies. Take an example of Dragon Slayer magic: To be most effective, it minimally requires interaction with a dragon, preferably tutelage from one. Implanted Dragon Lacrima can only be used within very static limitations, limitations that are hindered even further by the lack of feel that one who hasn't interacted with a dragon inevitably has.
"This is why 'Kami Slayer' magic is a flop. I know, right?" She grinned, noticing his dubious expression. "It sounds great, and if you can learn it you can be very powerful, but it will, inevitably, be trumped by a matched opponent who has mastered Dragon Slayer Magic under the instruction of an actual dragon. No one has learned 'Kami Slayer' magic from an actual deity, so they have the inherent limitations of that. 'Kami Slayer' magic was created by mages who tried to make something beyond their knowledge, and is thusly undefined. One can never reach the true 'mastered'" —she made quotation marks with her fingers— "stage of that magic, because no such stage exists…
"In the case of Dragon Slayer magic, though, consider this scenario: two mages have a Dragon Slayer magic with no weaknesses to the other's. Player one could have five times the magical power of player two, but if player two was actually taught by a dragon, then player two stands at least some chance of winning, as player one would be hindered by static limitations that player two just doesn't have.
"Wizards were able to kill off all the dragons because they had been helped and taught by dragons. Dragon Slayers that just have lacrima implanted in their bodies wouldn't be capable of the same feat. Though," she added thoughtfully, leaning back and staring up into the sun – Jellal wondered why she was trying to blind herself, but didn't speak – "combining the two would result in-" She froze, then sat up straight, eyes closed and chuckling. "I went off rambling. I need to tell you my message."
"R-right…" After a minute of silence, during which she stared blankly at the fountain in the small public garden, he pressed impatiently, "Well, what is it?"
She twitched, blinking up at him- so innocently!
Fury pulsed through him at how casual the Black Mage acted, as though she really was just a little girl, not the mass-murdering, demon-creating, cult-inspiring nightmare that had brought so much pain and suffering to the world.
"Thinking it's annoying that I act so sweet?"
He jerked backward. She was grinning in satisfaction, eyes sparkling as they hadn't for her play-acting. They glittered eagerly in reaction to her taunt, surrounded by a cruelly amused aura.
"It's so funny whenever this happens," she continued in a malicious whisper, leaning closer to him. "Vengeance seekers find fault in me for acting cute, denying the fact that, having interacted with me, they can't see me how they want to see me. 'Course," she added, grabbing the clasp of his cloak and pulling him down, closer to her face, leering, "that isn't my fault; it is entirely their own, being so naïve. Letting appearances trick you – especially you, Jellal, since you know who and what I am…
"Of course," she added in a still lower voice, smile broadening to insane pleasure, "I could act in the manner you had expected, but…" She paused, eyes roaming over the square and dozens of people .
And then she was smiling, leaning back and tilting her head, as childish and harmless as ever. "What do you say, Jellal?"
"You-" he started venomously, jumping up, but she put a finger to her lips with a wink.
"You wouldn't want to have a fight with me in a crowded place, now would you? Not that it would be much of a fight," she sniggered, summoning a roll of parchment and a quill. She placed it on the bench and began to scribble, tongue sticking out.
"By the way," she said normally, "If it weren't an impossibility, you must realize how many would die before you succeeded? I count at least thirty people in this square, and I could kill all of them accidentally in seconds." She snorted, looking up and gazing around at them, her every feature filled with derision.
He merely glowered at her, but she didn't seem to see him as something flickered in her lifeless eyes. She blinked, looking down at her paper, then at him.
She slapped a palm to her face, startling Jellal so badly he nearly jumped.
"Uuuugh, sorry about that," she groaned, rubbing her forehead. His eyes narrowed, but she continued absently, "Whenever something fun happens, I just can't help but not want to play with… with…" She trailed off, and whatever speck of life that had awakened within her black eyes snuffed out.
"I need you to tell them that, um… the crazy-old, floor-length… blonde-haired, book-loving- no… hold on…"
"What are you talking about?" he growled.
She frowned at him in plain bemusement. "What are you talking about? No matter," she forestalled, holding a hand up. "I'm speaking of the message that-"
"And why should I-" he started furiously.
"It was a deal, Jellal-ly," she hummed, tucking her hair behind her ear as she bent once more over her paper. "That's actually a good nickname," she murmured, seemingly to herself. "Je-lolli… yeah…"
She straightened, sending the paper back to wherever she had pulled it from. She considered him in her emotionless way that left him not only wondering what was being thought, but jumpy, as though she were about to say catch and throw a knife at him.
"If it makes you feel any better," she offered abruptly, "I hardly ever accidently kill a whole group of people anymore."
"Oh, is that so?" he spat.
She sighed, shaking her head. "It took a long time, Je-lolli, trust me, to learn how to not immediately rend anything and everything of life the second I saw it. Zeref-nii's much better at it, too… I've probably killed roughly one-and-a-half times more people than him. But that's irrelevant," she yawned, ignoring his incensed glare. "I would like to give you the message, so long as I manage to stay on topic for long enough to actually get around to telling you it."
She fell silent, seeming to ponder how to phrase her question, undoubtedly so that none but the intended recipient would know what she was talking about. Inspiration apparently hitting, she snapped her fingers in front of her, light in her dull eyes dancing like actors on a stage. "Tell them that I'd like to meet Zera's friend tonight."
"I don't think that Zeref has any friends in Fairy Tail," he retorted coldly.
"Z – E – R – A." Aki said each letter carefully before repeating, "Zera, not Zeref."
"Oh, is that it?" When she nodded, he scowled. "So they're just going to have to know where you are?" At her quizzical look, he added grudgingly, "Where? Where are you wanting to meet this person?"
"Oh, that!" Aki laughed. "No, they're just going to have to know where I am."
"Alright," Jellal grumbled reluctantly, "I'll tell them, but you better - Oi!" Jellal jumped up as the Black Mage beside him vanished. "Lizard tails-"
Something caught his eye on the bench, and, turning, he found two small candies and the wiretap he had placed in a white sash resting where Aki had been just a second ago.
"I didn't think they could be any worse than I imagined them to be," he growled to himself, picking up the candies and crushing them in his fist.