18 September X774
A few days had gone, and the three members of the Black Disciples had been arrested. Kane still had no idea who those people were, but he didn't want to know either. Ivan had a brief talk with the Master, and had left a few hours ago, on another mission. But there was one thing that did plague his thoughts. His abilites. Neither the Master, nor Porlyusica could figure out what exactly was wrong with him. But there was an idea germinating in his head.
"Hey Laxus.", he said to the blond, who was sitting next to him, eating his lunch. "Hit me."
"Uh, okay?", the Lightning Mage replied, with his mouth full, before slugging the boy in his arm.
"Ow! That's not what I meant!"
"You just told me to hit you. And I did."
"No, no. Hit me with lightning."
"What? No, I'm not gonna hit you with lightning."
"Just do it."
"No!"
"Come on, trust me. I survived getting poisoned."
"Do you have any idea how idiotic that sounds?"
"Just this once."
"Okay, fine.", Laxus said, as he fired a tiny jolt of lightning at Kane, who was unaffected.
"What was that?", Kane asked, a bit miffed. Laxus shrug his shoulders, as he went back to his food.
"You told me to hit you, I hit you."
"No, you need to really hit me. Make it hurt."
"Kane, I-"
"Just do it."
"Don't blame me-"
"DO IT!", Kane yelled.
"FINE!", Laxus yelled back. If Kane was so inclined on spending another week in the infirmary, so be it. The lightning blasted out of his hands, throwing Kane away. The blue haired boy was on his knees, as Laxus got up to check on him.
"Shit, I told you so! Are you okay?", he asked. But Kane just grinned at him, before jumping back to his feet and driving his fist into the table, shattering it into pieces. And all the soup, beer and whiskey on it went flying, as it splashed on Mages who were mostly minding their own business. Laxus looked at Kane, stupefied, as Kane realized that his actions did have consequences, as a dozen annoyed Mages looked at him.
"Is it too late to say oops?", he grinned nervously.
They did not reply with their words, but with their fists.
After a massive brawl that seemed to last much longer than it did, Kane finally crawled out of the mess. He wasn't really hurt, and better yet, it did confirm what he'd been thinking. Wiping his sweat, he smiled brightly as he found Laxus.
"I guess I figured out what the deal is with me."
"Wait, how?"
"What happened when you hit me with your Lightning Magic?"
"You got stronger."
"And what happened when the Disciple Lady almost poisoned me to death with her Magic?"
"You got stronger. Wait, does that mean-"
"Yeah, that's exactly what it means. My body absorbs magic."
Later
"So you're telling me Kane can absorb magic?", Makarov asked the boys, surprised.
"Yeah. That's exactly what we said.", Laxus said.
"That is rather surprising, honestly.", the Guild Master said, stroking his mustache. "I've heard of Mages being extremely resilient to magic, but to absorb it? That's new."
"Come on, Master! It makes perfect sense!", Kane exclaimed. "We all thought I was a Wizard, but I guess it turns out that I have these powers."
"It's very impressive, honestly."
"But can I join the Guild, in that case? I mean, it's not actual magic.", Kane said, a little despondednt as the realization set in. It was an ability that allowed him to counteract Mages, but it did not make him one, technically.
"Well, it's not something I ever knew about, but you can clearly handle yourself in the battlefield.", Makarov said. "I guess there's nothing wrong with you joining the guild after all."
Kane almost jumped with joy, barely managing to control himself. After almost two months, he was finally close to joining the Guild. And there was just one little thing left for him. His Guild Mark.
The Guild Mark was a small tattoo a Mage carried on their body, using it to identify which Guild they belonged to. Once Kane got his, anyone could identify him as a member of Fairy Tail.
"Cana!", Makarov called out to the little girl who was among the youngest members of the Guild. She was too young to go on missions, and was a Mage in training, but she helped the others around with errands. "Get the brand!"
"Who's joining the Guild?", she asked.
"Me.", Kane smirked.
"I thought you already were in the guild, Kane.", she said. Kane chuckled, before replying, "Yeah, but this time I get to do all the cool stuff too."
"Where do you want the mark?"
"Right here. Darkest purple you got.", he said, pointing at his right shoulder, as he folded his sleeve. She put the brand on it, as it imprinted on his skin. And with that, Kane was officially a member of Fairy Tail.
"So, there's just one thing left to do, isn't there?", Laxus said, looking at the Job Board.
"Yeah." Kane said, as he ran up towards the board, with Laxus just behind him. Searching it for a suitable first job, they looked all over the board.
"You wanna go to Onibus? It's pretty close by.", the older boy said.
"Hmmm. Maybe.", Kane replied. "Or maybe we could go to Hargeon." But what caught his eye was a job from Cedar, a port town that was a few hours away. Having never seen the sea, or at least not remembering seeing one, Kane's interest was piqued. And just as he snatched it off, another hand came to take the job. Kane turned his eyes to see a boy quite shorter than him, with green hair, and in a red suit.
"I was about to take that.", Kane said, sensing the coldness in the boy's eyes and his iron grip.
"I saw it first.", he replied curtly.
"Yeah, but I picked it first.", Kane said, gripping the flyer. The boy gripped it back, as Laxus intervened.
"Hey, no need to fight guys, I think we can all do this together.", he said with a nervous laugh.
"This is my first job, and I don't feel I need anybody else's help.", the boy said.
"Sure you don't.", Kane rolled his eyes, annoyed by the icy responses.
"I can do this on my own.", the boy said, trying to snatch the flyer. Kane tried to snatch it back, and the two would have torn it into half if it wasn't for Laxus grabbing them both by the shoulders, something he could easily do since he was older and bigger.
"Let's all do this together, guys.", Laxus said through gritted teeth. "Neither of you want to miss your first jobs, right?"
"No.", they both said, slightly unnerved by the aggression the usually amicable Laxus displayed.
"So, what's your name, kid?", Laxus asked the green haired boy.
"Fried. Fried Justine."
Elsewhere
Ivan looked around in the woods, as he held the Testament close to his chest. He had gone through hell while stealing it from the Disciples, who happily followed him to Magnolia. If it wasn't for his father, and the boy who he had taken him in. It had been a close shave, and he had to hide the book in the Library, since the old man would have probably found it if Ivan brought it home.
But all had gone well so far, and he was relieved. However, the person he had gone through such pains for was nowhere to be found. Ivan was irritated. In their previous meetings, the man had been a stickler for routine, and now he couldn't bother to show up? Ivan would have probably killed him for his audacity, if he could. But as much as Ivan hated to admit it, the man could have killed him in an instant.
"Well, it seems you arrived too early.", a voice that Ivan couldn't recognize called out to him.
"I arrived just when you told me.", an angered Ivan said. He knew he was being toyed with, and knew there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He saw a silhouette move towards him, and took a step backwards. Suddenly, he felt something against his back, something wooden. Turning around, he saw a pair of eyes staring at him.
Azuma, a member of Grimoire Heart, the Dark Guild Ivan was working for, stood there, almost emotionlessly. Ivan backed away, almost infuriated.
"What the hell was that?", Ivan protested.
"The master just wanted to see that you weren't trying to trick us.", Azuma said. "Of course you couldn't, but we wouldn't want someone disloyal as an associate."
"Have I ever given you the slightest hint of trying to double cross you?"
"No. And you won't.", another voice said, as Azuma's master finally revealed himself. Despite being over a hundred years old, the man's very presence inspired terror in most people, and Ivan was no exception. "I see you have the Testament with you."
"Y..Yes, Master Hades."
Well, so the plot thickens, as more players join the game. Thanks for reading, and do tell me what you liked or didn't in the reviews. See y'all soon!