Alanza is mine. The alterations she is making to the timeline are mine. Everything else? Not mine.
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"Before we discuss the frenemy event, Erza, would you and Lucy mind giving us a run down of how your mission went."
"Very well. Truthfully I was not present for most of what happened so perhapse Lucy should give her report first."
"Me? Uhh... Ok."
As Lucy told the rest of the group about the Galuna Island mission Alanza continued working on tags to add to the motherboard. She had little need to pay close atrention as the mission went almost exactly as it had the first time. There were two noticable differences. One being that they received their reward as the mission had been approved by the guid and Erza had technically been present. The second being that the mysterious masked man was only mentioned the one time when 'he' discussed the moon drip spell with Lyon.
"So... We were successful. The island's inhabitants are grateful to the guild for our help, and I got a new celestial spirit! Lucy did held up Saggitarius's key and gave the room her cute little close-eyed, head tipping smile. Erza then told of her part in the mission.
"As Lucy already mentioned we split up upon arriving on the island. Alanza had informed me that there was an individual pulling strings in the background and it would benefit us to contact them. It took a while for me to hunt them down, but I finally did. The same masked individual Lucy spoke of earlier. We had a nice long chat. Which reminds me. I need to go visit my weaponsmith after this meeting and replace part of my collection." Meaning they had faught at least a bit and Ultear's Arc of Time magic had done a number on Erza's swords and armour. "It is my beleif that they will be approaching us at some point in the near future. They seem to be incredably curious regarding how Alanza came to know of the betrayal in their past." And apparently that was the entirety od Erza's story.
"OK then. Pay close attention to this next part because it is about to get tricky." She held out a name tag to Mystogan." This individual is connected to Frenemy and Tenrou as well as the mission on Galuna island."
"Ultear? It can't be..."
"It is, in fact, the woman you are thinking of, Gramps. Ultear Milkovitch from the magic council. Who also happens to be the presumed dead daughter of Gray and Lyon's sensei, Ur."
"Good heavens." Freed slumped a bit in his seat. "The magic council is our enemy?"
"Not exactly. She was lied to and manipulated by this man." Another name tag. "Brain, aka Zero, used to be, I think, the head researcher at Era. We will see him again during the Nirvana incident. Ultear believes her mother cast her aside and replaced her with Gray and Lyon. She has been told that she can rewind time and get her mother back with enough power. She is currently working for this man." Another name tag. "Hades we can also expect to see at Tenrou."
"Wait a minute." Levy waved her pencil around like a wand. "Tenrou Island? That is Fairy Tail's sacred ground. How are our enemies there?"
"Simple answer? Hades is a new name. He used to be known as Precht."
"Fairy Tail's second master!"
"Yep. After a certain incident we will probably discuss at a later date he became obcessed with dark magics and is now trying to ressurect Zeref." For now she was goung to leave out the fact that Zeref was still alive and didn't need resurrected.
"The dark wizard Zeref? Why would anyone do that?"
"You would think people would know better, but no. Actually... Let's just say it is a recurring theme. Now. Ultear is connected to Frenemy through this guy." She held up the paper between the fingers of her hand, the one farthest from Mystogan. She wasn't ready for it to be seen yet. "Origionally we would have seen him there and then again during Nirvana where he became an ally. Sorta. Before I let Myst put this on the board I want you all to understand. The only reason he has been acting the way he has is because the crazy trickled down through the ranks and Ultear straight up hyjacked his brain. She is all up in his noggin because of the resurect Zeref/return her mother thing."
She handed Mystogan the paper. He stared at it a moment, then looked up to the motherboard. She had no doubt his eyes were looking more at the ominous Edolas lable than at the Frenemy one the paper went under. This was where things were going to get uncomfortable for everyone.
"Alanza... Are you sure you want to do this?"
"We have to." He took a deeo breath and pinned the Jellal/Seigrain paper up, connecting it to both Frenemy and Nirvana with red yarn. Erza paled and made an almost whimpering sond when she read it. "I'm gunna give everybody a moment before we continue." Erza wasn't the only one who needed that moment. Seigrain was on the magic council, young, handsome, powerful. They all knew who he was. Alanza was pretty sure he had been in Lucy's datable guys book when she first joined the guild.
"Two out of nine council members... Conspiring with dark guilds."
"Well, Seigrain is more just... Conspiring in general. He thinks Ultear is working for him to, when really she is pulling his mind strings. Basically he is posessed."
"So..." Erza sounded shakey, looked it too. "Does that mean Jellal isn't..."
"Evil? Correct. Once we shake the crazy lose and power wash the dark magic out of his brain he should be fine."
"Oh, thank Mavis." The fact that it was Mystogan and not Makarov or the obviously distressed Erza who said that got some raised eyebrows. Alanza smirked, but decided to have pity on the poor man.
"Erza, would you prefer to tell your story or shall I?"
"Y-you know about..."
"About the tower? Yes. I know a great many things about a great many people, many of whom have been to the Tower of Heaven." She handed Mystogan five names. "Such as these people. Origionally we didn't meet them until the Nirvana incident." Mystogan added the true names of the Oracion Seis to the motherboard around Brain's name. "However Brain originally... Aquired them from the Tower of heaven. Richard's brother Wally, as well as three others, are still in the Tower." She held the names of the four individuals who had kidnapped Erza and waited for him to finish. Levy hopped up and took them instead.
"Let me. Where do they go?"
"Frenemy." Erza gasped when Levy reached up to place the names on the motherboard. "Simon and Sorano both have sisters as well who they haven't seen since the Tower took them from their homes." Mystogan finished placing the yarn for his names and reached for the two names she held. There was a length of yard dangling from Richard's name that Levy connected to Wally's.
"These two we wouldn't have met till the GMG. As far as I know there are only eleven survivors of the tower at this time." Erza made a slight sobbing sound and despite the fact that Lucy didn't know why she was so upset she was comforting her the best she could. Alanza imagined her hugs were super awesome. "However. If we were to let things play out the way they did the first time there would only be ten by the time this Frenemy event was completed." Erza startled everyone in the room by slamming her hands against the table and standing right out of Lucy's hug.
"No! We will not let that happen! The Tower of Heaven has stolen enough lives! We will not let it take another! I will tell you all what happened there." Erza walked around the table and gently touched the names on the board before speaking. "The Tower of Heaven was built using slave labor, primarily that of children. The dark cultists who ruled there would raid small villages, slaughter any who opposed them, and steal the defensless from their homes. I-I was one of those children. I shared a cell with several others. Wally, Sho, Millianna, Simon... Grampa Rob... and... Jellal."
"Well Damn." Alanza rolled her eyes. Cana was seriously lacking in the tact department.
"Jellal... Saved my life. I was being punished for an escape attempt." Her hand came up and hovered over her artificial eye. "He offered himself in my place. I-I couldn't just accept letting him die that way. I faught back. Grampa Rob died to protect me and all the slaves in the tower revolted. We were victorious, but... By the time I got to Jellal it was to late. His mind had snapped. At least that is what I thought at the time. Perhapse it was the spell Alanza speaks of taking hold. He cast me out. Sent me away from the island in a small boat and burned all the others so... So the other slaves couldn't escape. He told me if I ever came back he would kill them."
"Fuck. That's harsh, Red." Mira silently wrapped her arms around Erza and held her.
"Origionally Erza's team and Juvia were the only ones directly involved in this incident. However. Lives were lost. Seigrain had hired a trio of assassins from Death's Head Caucus. Between them and the emotionally compromised state of the team they were simply to slow. Also no one was around to stop Ultear from collapsing the council building after she and Seigrain tricked them into firing the etherion cannon at the Tower of Heaven."
"The etherion cannon? Child are you certain? Such a thing would only be done under the most dire of circumstances."
"Two words. Ressurect Zeref. The majority of the council was unwilling to risk it. We may want to consider sharing some of what we know with authority figures outside of the guild. Carefully selected authority figures. Such as Master Makarov's old team, and that one old lady on the council... I can't remember her name. Warrod, though he might not take us seriously. Maybe Lahar. Speaking of Lahar! Seeing as how I know Exactly what is going on in Alvarez could you bring poor Mest home?"
"How do you- Right. Secrets of the past present and future." Makarov sighed. "I'll see about talking to the boy." He gave Alanza a look that was very near a glare. "You and I need to have a talk later." Laxus snorted.
"Your list of people to talk to later is getting pretty damn long, Carrots."
"Shut up, Lightbulb!" He laughed. Honestly Alanza had expected to be electrocuted for her lack of self control. "I understand Master. Can we do it tomorrow? Laxus is forcing me to go shopping after we are done here."
"I suppose that is acceptable."
"Hey! What did you mean by Gramps old team? Wouldn't they be, ya know... Old? No offense ment to you Master." Makarov smiled at the card mage.
"None taken child. Alanza is refering to the team I worked with when I was young and still active as a guild wizard."
"Grampa Rob was one of your team mates, was he not, Master?"
"Yes. Rob was one. Also Porlyusica."
"The old hag!"
"She was quite the looker in her younger years. Never much friendlier though. Councilman Yajima, Guildmaster Goldmine, and Guildmaster Bob were also my teammates."
"They were members of Fairy Tail?" Levy's voice was a bit awestruck.
"They were indeed, as was the Wizard Saint Warrod. Perhapse I should have letters delivered to them and ask for a meeting here. I can speak to Yajima, Belno, and Lahar when I go fetch Mest."
"Who the fuck is Mest?"
"You will remember after he comes home." Laxus growled, but let it go. Alanza had a lightbulb moment.
"Master would it be alright if I delivered the letter to Master Bob? I have something I need to look into in that direction." Gramps studied her and hummed.
"I suppose so. When the time comes you should take someone with you though. You still aren't familiar with how things work in this world. Laxus. You will deliver my letter to Goldmine. If you are serious about taking over after me you need to start taking some responsibility for things around here." Laxus was visably shocked. "Now. Let's return to the issue of this Tower of Heaven."
"Right. Well, as I said before the origional team on this mission simply wasn't able to pull it off without casualties. They will need back up or something. If we do this quickly we won't have to worry about Ultear. If we are forced to wait we will have to send a team to deal with her also. Juvia has this... Water bubble spell that can get everybody in without being detected."
"If Juvia goes then Gajeel is a good option. They have worked together and Juvia says they make a good team."
"Lil Blue's right. He's a fucking asshole, but I'm pretty certain he's a damn capable wizard."
"What kind of enemies would we be up against? I am aware that... Seigrain uses heavenly body magic. Surely that alone would not be enough to cause you to suggest backup. What other opponents should we expect to face?" Alanza handed Erza three name papers.
"First off all your friends use magic now. Sho uses card magic. I'm not sure how similar it is to Cana's, but he can trap people inside of his cards. Wally... does this weird minecraft transformation thing and he can turn his arm into a gun. Milliana makes these elastic cat tail things and I think she has claws. Simon... Has a blackout spell, I know that much." Erza smiled at the thought of her friends as she made notes on their name sheets.
"Then there are the assasins. Hair Guy has hair he can use kinda like another limb and hypnotic music. He can 'enslave' the wizard who hears it to fight for him. Last time Lucy and Juvia beat him. Owl Guy can fly with, like, rocket boosters. He can also swallow his enemies and absorb their magic. I thing Natsu and Gray got him last time, but they may have had help. Sword Girl... Uses swords. I think that's all she does, but... There was music and cherry blossoms. Erza barely beat her."
"Wow. That was specific as fuck."
"It was a long time ago, ok! And stuff doesn't exactly... Happen in my world like it does here. Like... Stars in their eyes is just an expression there. Here peoples eyes turn into actual fucking stars! How the hell does that even happen? Seriously!"
"How do you tell what people are feeling if their faces don't change?" Alanza looked at Lucy and felt her eye twitch.
"You just can. It's the same as here, just without the... more dramatic stuff. No hearts and stars for eyes, no actual sweat dropping or that washed out deadpan look, pervy nosebleeds aren't real and nobody's ghost escapes and goes flying around. Also whatever the fuck is up with Mystogans pants would not be a real thing." The whole room turned to look at the masked man's pants.
"My...pants?"
"You mean he wouldn't wear em? Isn't that just wishful thinking, Girly?" Mystogan turned his body sideways, probably in an attempt to keep Cana from staring at his crotch, but she just leaned back and stared at his butt instead.
"Seriously. They are Bowl shaped. What is with that? You collecting water when it rains or something? And how do you walk and keep from getting caught on trees? What holds them up? It's insane!" Lucy snort-laughed.
"Oh my Mavis! She's right! Your pants defy physics!" First Levy, then Freed, then the rest of the room followed Lucy into near hysterical laughter. Mystogan placed his hand over his eyes and groaned.
"You ever think This is why I put the whole guild to sleep when I come here?" Alanza grinned.
"So they don't laugh at your pants? Just wear different pants."
"That is Not my Point and you know it!"
"Oh, Oh! If his pants defy physics does that make them their own law of nature?" Levy made a sputtering sound as she tried to hold in her laughter to speak. "The Law of Mystogan's Pants! Bwahahaha!" He groaned again as the laughter increased.
"They're enchanted, ok! I travel all the time and I can't do caster spells like requip, so the Pockets of my pants are linked to my apartment so I can access stuff I stored there. Happy?" Erza got control of herself long enough to take a breath and speak.
"Pretty sure Happy won't help you here."
"Yeah! It's not like you have fish in your pants!"
"Magical fish pants!"
"Bet that smells rank as fuck on a hot day!"
"Cod! Myst has Cod pants!" Laughter finally burst out of Alanza. She couldn't help it.
"More than a peice eh Myst?"
"For the love of magic would you all stop!"
"I will." Cana grinned at him in the sleaziest way possible for a sober female. "If you share some of the magic in your pants."
"Cana!" The other females turned almost as red as Mystogan did, though his blush was harder to see what with the mask and all.
"You!" Mystogan pointed his finger right between Alanza's eyes. "This is all your fault!" Alanza leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the table
"Yep. It's totally my fault that you have physics defying magical pants." Mystogan grabbed both sides of his head and growled in frustration. It ruffled his hat enough that more of his blue hair than usual was showing. "It is also totally my fault that those magic pants make your ass look super sexy without your travel gear on." Sue her for totally noticing that once his cloak and staves were removed. She might have oogled a bit when his back was turned to work on the motherboard.
Mystogan glared at her and threw his arm out toward his staves. The one with the curly end and the golden rings hanging from it flew into his hand. He swung it sharply over the room as if he was backhanding someone. Suddenly it was silend. Most of them were still laughing or talking they just couldn't be heard. He then sat down with an incredably smug air about him and tipped his chair back to lean against the wall.
"When you are all ready to behave like adults again I will lift that for you so that we can discuss the rather important reason we are here." Alanza tried to point out that most of the people in the room were still teens and were therefore never adult in the first place. Her mouth moved, but the silence spell prevented her snark from reaching any ears. She shrugged and resigned herself to watching the others slowly compose themselves.
Mystogan continued to play with his staff while he waited and the only sound to be heard was the soft tap of the wood on the floor and the jingle of the golden rings. Once every one had settled down he tossed the staff toward the corner where it landed neatly with the others. Sound returned to the room then.
"Ya know-"
"I Will put you to sleep, Cana."
"Fine, fine. Important adult shit. I wanna go on this mission. I know I'm not much of a combat wizard like the rest of em, but I wanna see this card kid in action."
"We would welcome your assistance. I must admit I am looking forward to seeing the magic they have learned."
"I bet Ryos would love to tag along. He uses shadow magic, so he's real good with the stealthy stuff."
"With the element of surprise on our side that should be sufficient, don't you agree, Alanza?" She nodded. More than sufficient hopefully. If the Death's Head crazies weren't there yet and Erza was able to talk to her friends there would only be Jellal and no etherion cannon blast to worry about either. Lucy got up and pinned a list of the wizards assigned to the future mission to the board up next to the big Frenemy title page.
The Phantom War and the Tower of Heaven had been discussed and action planned. Alanza needed to speak with Loke, but Lucy already planned to be in close contact with him. Fantasia didn't look like it would be anything but a parade this time around. She planned to take action to prevent Nirvana from becoming an incident after delivering Makarov's letter to Master Bob, as well as talk to Hibiki about Urano Metria. That would leave only Edolas as an issue before Tenrou.
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To be continued.