Welcome back handsome readers!
I MUST apologise... Also in this chapter, we will not meet Dalila! She is still sleeping, as the Thunder Legion safely brings her to Fairy Tail!
But I promise that in chapter five we will finally get to know her! Aww, I just can't wait! You will love her! And chapter five is just around the corner, so don't hold any grudge against me!
Morgana bids you farewell, and leaves you with this chapter, lovelies! See you next week ;)
XOXO
In the Blue Mountains, at the very same time in the morning...
The light of the rising sun was making its way among the peaks of the Blue Mountains. Laxus stretched his arms and opened his eyes. What an awful night.
The Thunder Legion had decided to stay close to the sleeping dragon slayer, still surrounded by the crystal. They had put some chairs in the room were the crystal was and had found some dusty blankets in a wardrobe. Despite the runes Freed put around the room, to keep it warm during the frosty night in the mountains, Laxus was cold and dump.
He turned around, looking at the sleeping forms of his teammates, still wrapped in the shadows of the night.
Evergreen had folded herself in a thick blanket and was curled up in a large chair. Freed had fallen asleep while sitting upright on a stool, with his back touching the wall.
Next to Laxus, Bickslow was snoring loudly from behind his helmet, floating mid-air, using his babies as an invisible bed. As soon as Laxus started to move, one of them, Pippi most likely, started chirping, but shut up as dragon slayer glared at it.
Laxus sighed. He was not mad at the doll, really, but Bickslow babies were as loud as their master. Hearing their excited screams was not always a pleasant experience for one with dragon slayer hearing. And after a night spent half-sleeping on a chair, Laxus hope they were not going to start a tantrum.
However, he could not blame Pippi. Bickslow kept his babies in the building all yesterday, and later ordered them to guard the crystal. Of course, the five wooden dolls were all nervous and fidgety by now. Usually Bickslow gave them so much freedom, no wonder they were yelling at whatever moved around them.
His eyes wondered around the room, and fell on the crystal. Well, on who was inside there. Laxus stood up and crouched next to it, silencing with a slow growl Peppe, which had started laughing.
He noticed immediately that the crystal was smaller than the day before, and now the girl was surrounded by merely a few inches of translucent material.
Dalila, thought Laxus, studying her more closely, Her name is Dalila.
Evergreen had laid a blanket on the crystal, in the attempt of cover Dalila's naked body, and had already decided to lend her a dress for the time being, but Laxus doubted they had the same size. Dalila was shorter, and so skinny. Looking at her, he hardly believed she was going to be a dragon slayer, a fighter, one day. But the he reminded himself that she hadn't been nothing but than a civilian. She had most likely never had the need to fight.
Definitely, she has never picked up a fight in her life. thought Laxus, looking at her. Her skin was fair, as it was made out of pearl, flawless. The oval of her face was surrounded by platinum hair, and her features were gentle, oh so gentle, Laxus couldn't even imagined her frowning. He asked himself what the color of her eyes would be. He imagined them blu, or green. Or maybe amber, like his.
Laxus tried to remember what it was like when he woke up after his father, Iwan, had implanted the dragon lacryma inside his skull. His hand went mindlessly to the scar on his right eye.
He vaguely remembered how the smells and the noises assaulted his senses for the first weeks. Or how much stronger his body felt, after he was back on his feet after the implant.
It was surely the reason he had grown so tall and bulky.
And Dalila, who looked so fragile and vulnerable in her sleep, was going to experience the same, enhanced senses and all. Laxus bent a little closer to the crystal, but he suddenly froze. He inhaled deeply, and he caught the faintest gust of a scent he hadn't picked up before.
Laxus moved his head even closer, and examined the crystal carefully. He was sure that smell hadn't been there yesterday. Maybe it was covered by the dust of the building and the sweat of the workers... Laxus wrinkled his nose at the memory.
Even if it was a mere whiff, it was enough to hypnotise Laxus. He felt... Tiny flowers, the same one you find in the mountains, that survive the long winters and bloom when the ice melts... the breeze of a cold morning, when the light is yet to appear...
Never he had smelled something so intriguing, so characteristic, to reminisced him of things that do not have a smell. Something, or someone. What if it was not the magic barrier who own such a scent, but the slayer imprisoned inside it?
Enhanced, Laxus smelled more closely. He felt, for how strange it sounded, the snow falling silently and coating in white the lands and the woods, and at the same time, the tempest that upsets the sky and rips off the trees from the ground. How could one possibly smell the falling snow? he asked himself.
He shivered in the cold room. If it was Dalila to give him such visions, all the other slayers had better keep their noses off to themselves.
All the people he knew possessed and unique scent, often related to objects that were close to them - Titania, for instance, smelled of different metals and strawberry cake. And cherry, in Laxus' opinion, but he never told anyone. Cana, of booze, of course he chuckled to himself, going back to his seat. Gajeel smelled of iron, and Natsu of ash entangled with Lucy's vanilla and strawberry. Why was that, he didn't dwell into. That was Mira's job. Freed was smelling of books, and a particular scent Laxus had come to associate with runes, Evergreen stunk of all the make up and perfume she was using, and Bickslow was smelling of wood, but it hard to tell, as the man was wearing so many clothes and the helmet most of the time.
Even Cobra had a particular smell - one that Laxus didn't like at all. It was... toxic. Not like soap, or bleach, but it was the smell Laxus expected if a snake poured poison into a glass. Which wasn't strange, considering Cobra's magic and his affinity with the slithering type. Laxus knew about Kinana, or Cubellios - he had eavesdropped the conversation between Gramps and Kinana. Not his fault, his hearing was just too strong. And Cobra had also another smell he didn't like - something that made Laxus wary, like he was facing an exotic, ferocious beast. And that damned soul hearing magic of the poison slayer, and that cocky attitude... Enough for Laxus to growl every time they met at the guild. Which happened almost never, thank Mavis.
Laxus averted his thoughts from Cobra. Even if he was not happy of the poison slayer to be part of Fairy Tail, probation or not, he admired his grandfather for his ability to keep that cunning galeot in line. Laxus had expected Cobra to run away after a week or so, bur seven months have passed and nothing had happened.
Speaking of Fairy Tail, Laxus hoped they could live that day. He wasn't sure he could stand another sleepless night like that. It's still early in the morning, he thought, looking at the pale light outside the window. However, it was a good idea time to wake up the others.
Laxus heard some voice from the outside. The workers had arrived. Among them, he heard the voice of Mr. Jinis - that was the name of their client, right? - shouting orders here and there. Another day was beginning, and without the crystal and Dalila, the workers and Mr. Jonis could go back to their routine.
Bickslow grunted in his sleep. The dragon slayer glanced at him. "Hey Bicks." Laxus called. "Wake up! It's morning!"
"Morning, morning!" chanted the dolls under him. "Wake up, wake up!"
Bickslow rolled onto his babies. "Nah." he mumbled, voice hoarse and sleepy. "Just five more minut-OUCH!" The dolls broke their formation, sprinting in all directions, shouting "Morning!" and "Wake up!" full volume. Bickslow was left mid-air, and landed on the floor with a low thud. A strain of course erupted from Bickslow, as he slowly pulled up. "Damn... Fucking morning... Should have let them out yesterday..." Laxus sneered.
Evergreen muttered something, cracking one eye open as the iperactive dolls kept flying in circle around the room. Laxus was sure he heard the words 'beauty sleep'. "Good morning, Ever." he said, motioning Bickslow to go and wake up Freed.
Bickslow mood lifted immediately. Strange enough, Freed had not been awaken by all the fuss, which meant he was still well in dreamland. Which meant, in particular, that it was going to be a lot of fun for Bickslow to wake him up. The Seith mage stepped stealthily next to the unaware, sleeping Freed, pressing one finger on his lips, "Shhh!" he whispered, and his dolls stopped screaming and running around the room. Bickslow pointed Freed's sleeping form. The five totems directed towards him, silently surrounding the Rune mage.
Evergreen opened her other eye and peeked out from the blanket, definitively awake now. She shot Laxus an exasperated look, but the dragon slayer shrugged, as the dolls came closer and closer to Freed's face...
"WAKE UP FREED!" five high pitched voices shouted at the same time.
"EEEEK!" the Rune mage jumped in his stool. Throwing his arms and legs into the air, he slid on the ground, hitting the wooden floor with his back. "What happened?" he asked, startled, in a voice which was an octave above his normal tone.
"Good morning, beautiful. Slept well?" the Seith mage asked, sticking out his tongue.
"You..." hissed Freed, narrowing his eyes, as he focused on the world around him. He saw Laxus and Evergreen snorting, and he finally looked at Bickslow, who was ceremoniously holding out his hand to him.
Never, never once Bickslow had considered to wake him up normally. A good shake would have done the job, really. Now, Freed's back was aching, his hair were sticking out at weird angles, far from the way they should be.
Laxus smile grew as Bickslow was instantly enclosed in a green box by and irate Freed. "This will serve you well!" said Freed with another hiss, pulling up and dusting his clothes.
"Come on, man!" despite being caged by Freed enchantment, Bickslow was clacking madly. "You literally just woke up!"
"How many times do I have to tell you to not wake me up?" snarled the other one, trying to put his hair back in place with his hands.
Laxus stiffed a laugh. "Stop you two! We need to go and talk to the client!"
Freed looked indignantly at the dragon slayer. "But he-" "I told him to wake you up, Freed."
"Oh." Freed anger seemed to calm a little. He could accept to be awaken by Bickslow, if it was Laxus order.
"Awww, thanks boss!" Bickslow lifted a thumb from his greenish prison.
"... Although I didn't tell him to made you hit the ground."
Freed turn once more towards Bickslow. "See? You could have done it normally!"
"Boys!" huffed Evergreen, finally emerging from her blanket with a yawn.
"Boys! Boys! Boys!" shouted Bickslow dolls, flying happily around their caged master.
While Freed and Bickslow argued in the background, Laxus motioned Evergreen to come closer. "The crystal has almost melted." he said, pointing at the remnants of the magic barrier. Wait, wasn't it smaller than a few minutes ago?
"I see." Evergreen approached Dalila, and looked at her. "We need something to cover her - I have some spare clothes with me, luckily."
"And we need to go to Fairy Tail as soon as possible. She must see Porlyusica."
"Yes." Evergreen nodded. "I will go to the train station and check the departures. If the crystal disappears by lunch, we might be able to catch the first train in the afternoon." Evergreen tapped her chin with her manicured hand. "If we take the 3pm train, we can take the night train in Era. This will cut the travelling time." she said, "We will be in Magnolia tomorrow morning. It should be ok." slept in Era coming here, but since this time we have be quick, I don't think it would be wise to split the trip in two days."
The only thought of spending the night in the train was making Laxus want to vomit his own guts. They had stopped a night in Era while going from Magnolia to Linveland, but the return trip needed to be as fast as possible. "Yeah," he muttered, tasting his own bile coming up from his stomach.
Behind them, Freed had started slowly diminishing the size of Bickslow prison, while the man inside had not stopped one second laughing at the Rune mage messy hair.
Lunchtime, still in the Blue Mountains...
Freed had just come back from Linveland. He had given back to newspaper he rented the day before, and had requested a copy of them instead, to show to Master Makarov once they got back to Fairy Tail. He had stopped to a restaurant and brought lunch, too.
"It's cold." muttered Bickslow, munching slowly a piece of roasted chicken. "And it tastes of sand. Do they know spices up here?"
"Linveland it's half an hour away from here, and it's cold outside." grunted Freed, trying to swallow a potato. "And I don't know about spices. Maybe their diet is simpler than ours."
It's terrible, thought Laxus, putting aside his unfinished plate. He was not going to eat much anyway. Not when there was a full twenty-four hours on that death-trap common people called 'train'.
"Is the crystal gone?" asked Freed, trying to avert everyone's attention from the awful lunch.
"Almost." Laxus replied, "We should be able to catch the three o'clock train."
He looked at the sleeping figure of Dalila. They had moved her onto a table Mr. Jones had given them that morning. The poor foreman had been so happy to know that the girl was going to be taken away, that he was almost crying. "So many problems solved... Thank you so much! You see, now we can proceed with the constructions, you see... Hope there are no more bodies like that, the workers would start to talk, you see..."
Freed had reassured the short man that no other crystal would be disturbing them, and that they could dig into they mountains as much as they pleased. Now, Mr. Jones was back in the mine, and the Thunder Legion was alone in the building. They had already taken the reward and bide their goodbyes to Mr. Jones.
Laxus had been worried that Dalila could be cold, naked as she was, but Evergreen, who had dressed her with some of her clothes that morning, had reassured him. "She is good, Laxus. Her skin is quite warm. I do not think she will catch a cold."
"The crystal must have prevent her from freezing, too." had observed Bickslow, trying to peek as Evergreen was tying a top around Dalila's tiny waist.
"Yeah, must be so. And Bicks, do not peek." Laxus growl had startled the Seith mage, who had took quickly a step back. "Sure, boss!" he whimpered.
"What do you think is her element?" asked Freed, finally giving up on finishing his own portion of chicken. Bickslow was right, it was tasteless.
"No idea..." Evergreen studied attentively Dalila. "Her skin is very pale, and her hair so light... Maybe moon?" she guessed.
"Or ice!" laughed Bickslow, "The chick could pair up with Gray! Just imagine how strong they would be!"
"Ice, ice!" chanted his babies, flying around the table were Dalila was sleeping.
"Why Gray?" grunted Laxus, eyeing menacingly the wooden dolls, as they flew closer and closer to the girl.
"Aww, boss, you jealous?" the Seith mage stuck his tongue out. "I would be jealous too! Have you seen those legs?"
"Bickslow!" Evergreen fan shot full force on Bickslow head. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't dodge it.
"Ehi Ev! Keep that evil thing away from me!" "Evil! Evil!"
"You two should stop! And you Bickslow, should be more respectful." Freed pointed out. "She will wake up, you know."
"Yeah, and she will not be happy if she knows that you have peeked here and there!" Evergreen glared at him.
Bickslow eyed the fan the woman was holding, and swallowed. "Sure, sure, Ever. Now put it away, yeah?"
"We should go and take the train soon." Laxus interrupted them. He stood up and reached the sleeping body of Dalila on the table. The crystal was gone. A few splinters were still glowing in her hair, but as soon as Laxus noticed them, they were gone.
"So, are we leaving?" asked Bickslow relieved, standing up. He grabbed his unfinished lunch and tossed it into the bin.
Laxus imitated him. "Yeah. Need to go go back to Fairy Tail as soon as possible." he said, grabbing his coat and heading towards the door. As he open it, he breathed the cold air of the outside. Even if it was April, it was still very cold in the mountains. A strong wind had risen during the morning, and was bringing frost air down to the valleys.
Laxus heard Bickslow behind him cackling as he shouted "Babies, formation: the carrier! We have a chick to bring to good old Porly."
Laxus doubted Porlyusica would have been happy hearing Bicks calling her 'Porly'. He chuckled, relieved they were finally leaving that dusty place. The others gathered their bags and coats, and followed him down to the path that lead to the train station.
Era, Council building, eight months ago...
It was September in Era. Two months had already passed from the Grand Magic Games and the battle against the seven dragons. The fight had been terrible, but thanks to the ability and the bravery of the mages of Fiore, the dragons and the future-Rogue were defeated. Great part of Crocus had been destroyed, and the Royal family had promised to rebuild the city, as a retribution for their inconsiderate usage of Eclipse.
Thanks to the King and the constant work of his collaborators, Crocus was now going back to his previous glory. Houses and shops were not piles of rubble and debris anymore, and people were walking and chatting in the newly-paved streets, believing it had all been a huge show to celebrate the end of the Games. They all were unaware of the disaster that had beed so close to them.
And he, Dorambalt, was more than happy to let civilians think that no real dragons had been wandering freely in the city, and that no mage had risked his or her life to protect them.
Dorambalt had played a vital role in helping the country to go back to normal life. In fact, in accordance with the guild masters of the seven guilds that had took part in the Games, he had modified the memories of the citizens, the Councilmen and Councilwomen, so that no one of them remembered what really happened.
Dorambalt knew that, if the plan was discovered, there would have been no mercy. Thus, for the past month, he had been attentive at every whisper and sentence said around him, to check whether some of the Council members had regained his memory.
After so many days of silence and quiet, he was starting to relax.
Of course, he had lowered his guard too soon.
After the Etherion disaster, Belno was no more a Councilwoman. However the new-born Council had asked her to stay in Era, for her skills and experience could still be useful. As years passed, her wise advices and diplomatic abilities had become essential, and after five years spent in the shadows, she had been elected honorary member of the Council.
Dorambalt knew Belno very well. He knew that the woman had voted for the use of Etherion out of good faith, and that she possessed a honest a pure heart, despite her cold and distant appearance.
It happened that Belno was using her Thought Projection magic when Dorambalt cast the Memory spell onto the Council. She had not been affected by the Control Memory enchantment as everyone else in Era, and, after a month, the spell broke, freeing her memories.
This was the reason why Dorambalt had been summoned by the honorary member that morning, and was currently sitting in her office, telling her how thing went back in July.
"... and therefore, we came to the conclusion that the best solution would have been to let everyone but us remember what truly happened after the Games."
Dorambalt had just finished to tell Belno his version of the story, and the conclusion he and the other guild masters had draw at that time. He let himself fall back on the chair, without tearing his eyes from the woman in front of him.
Belno had her eyes closed, and was pressing hard her fingers to her temples. She was silently processing all that Dorambalt had just told her, and it was no easy task.
The Memory Control mage didn't dare to interrupt her thoughts. He knew that, as honorary member, Belno could have ordered him to break the spell. And then him, and all the Masters of the guilds, would have been in serious troubles. What they did, was enough to sent them all to prison, and give and excuse to the Council to throw away the keys. He could only hope that Belno understood, and, somehow, accomplice them.
After long minutes of tension, Belno finally opened her eyes. "Dorambalt," she started, "what you and the guild masters decided was highly illegal. However, in all fairness, I don't see what you could have done." Her black eyes locked with his. "You had no choice. You took the bast, yet the most illegal, route to allow people to go back to normal life, without the Royal family or the Council getting into... trouble."
'Trouble so to speak', thought Belno. If the people knew that the King had used the Eclipse gate, allowing seven dragons and a dark mage enter our time...
"You avoided rebellions and disorders in the whole country." Belno concluded out loud.
Dorambalt didn't reply, but inside him, he sighed in relief.
Belno stood up and started walking up and down her office. "One month ago, I started remembering I thought I had never seen... At the beginning, I thought I had gone mad," she stated, "but slowly, I understood I could not doubt my own mind. When I asked around and found that everyone shared the same memories but me, I suspected there had been a huge spell cast on all of us. I feared darkness had once again fell on the Council."
Dorambalt lowered his head, as Belno stopped right in front of him. "However, there was a discrepancy, a detail, that lead me to you." Belno took a deep breath, "Cobra."
Dorambalt blue eyes shot open. "Cobra?" Damn. Of course. He had wiped away from the memories of the Council members and of the citizens the presence of the poison dragon slayer in the battle against the dragons. He was supposed to be locked up. What would have Lahar thought if he knew Dorambalt had free him on the battle field?
"He came back..." Dorambalt said tentatively. That was not a justification, and he knew it, but the fact that Cobra had turned himself in once the battle was finished, had been one of the main reason their plan had worked. There was no missing Cobra in Era's prisons. If that had not been the case, there would have been much more to explain.
"Exactly." said Belno. "To clear my mind, I decided to pay him a visit a couple of weeks ago."
"Uh?" Dorambalt was taken aback a little, but before he could ask what Cobra had told her, Belno had started to pace the office back and forth again.
"He was not easy to talk to, and I had to be extra careful, for I didn't know what he knew. And even so, with his Soul Hearing magic, he always had the upper hand in the conversation." Dorambalt felt the irritation in the woman voice, as she recalled the episode. "He knew everything I was about to ask him, and seemed to be rather pleased to get on my nerves... When I asked the guards, they told me it's normal... isn't it?"
"He is cunning," Dorambalt had experimented Cobra's sharp tongue and snarky remarks more than once. "His magic is the best one, if you like that kind of... tricks." 'If you like to make yourself unbearable' he thought, but kept his opinion to himself.
Belno nodded, muttering something under her breath and going back sitting in her chair.
She was silent a few more minutes, and her forehead was frowning. Dorambalt saw her lips moving, but no sound escaped, like she was debating something within herself.
"Has he behave properly, these last years?" she asked suddenly.
"Who?" Dorambalt tilted his head. "Cobra?"
"Yes." Belno pursued her lips. "No attacking or strangling the guards? No attempted break outs? No illegal activities within the prison, no destroying or ruining any item in his cell, no communications with other prisoners?" she asked again.
Dorambalt hadn't to think much before answering. No, Cobra had done nothing of the sort - he had been put in an isolated wing, far from other prisoners. He had had no contact with the rest of the Oraciòn Seis. There were no items in his cell, but a small hole to be used as a toilet, and a small mattress that was worn out by years of use. Oh, and a blanket for the winter, but Cobra was not going to ruin that, since he was always cold and there was no replacement. He had no windows in his celle, and the guards were giving him food with a stick from distance, since when he poisoned two of them. But it happened several years ago, so Dorambalt thought it didn't count. "Only nerve wrecking comments, I would say."
"No misusage of the poison he receives?" asked Belno, raising an eyebrow.
Dorambalt doubted Cobra was going to use the little poison he received weekly for everyone but himself. He needed that to survive, after all. "Not that I know."
"Good."
Belno picked a paper folder from a pile on her desk. "Here is his psychological report..."
She was interrupted by Dorambalt snort. "What's funny about that?" she scolded. "I went through it, and it says he is a psychopath, with the tendency of torture his victims to death. He said his favourite hobby his maiming, and that his best memory was when he skinned a woman alive!" shouted Belno, slamming the folder on the table.
"I think his favorite hobby is only to play with the minds of other people." Dorambalt admitted, regaining his composure. "I am not very surprise, seeing the life he lived."
Belno raised both of her eyebrows. She put the report aside, and as she folded her hands in front of her, her expression changed from scolding to surprise, and from surprise to - Dorambalt was not very sure about that - satisfied.
"And what do you mean, by that?" asked Belno, suddenly very interested in the ring on her left thumb, which symbolized her status of honorary member of the Council. "I assume you read his profile, Dorambalt?"
"Yes." Dorambalt swallowed. He wasn't sure what the Councilwoman had in mind. "I know that he was born in the Tower of Heaven... And at the age of five he was abducted by Brain."
"Have you ever talked with Brain?" Belno interrupted.
"No, never." It was Lahar who had talked with the leader of the Oraciòn Seis had been at that time. And even the Captain had been concerned when he exited the interrogatory room, but he hadn't wanted to tell Dorambalt why.
"From his psychological report, you would say he is rather a normal person. However..." Belno took carefully another folder. As soon as the handed it to Dorambalt, a few picture escaped and slide onto the table. Dorambalt pick up one of them, and choked a scream. "What is this?"
Belno looked at him severely. "This is the proof that Brain in not sane at all."
Dorambalt averted his gaze from the picture, and handed it back to Belno, but she didn't move to take it. "Look at it, and tell me what you see." she insisted instead.
Holding up the picture, Dorambalt forced himself to look at it. There was a man, with his torso bared and his head dropped forward. He recognise the tanned skin he had seen many times, as long with the blood-red hair. What shocked Dorambalt, were the many white lines running up and down his body.
Scars. On every inch of his body. Some were disturbingly red and bulged from the skin, others looked so old, Cobra had to be a child when he got them. Some were thin lines, others were rounds, like he had been used as an ashtray. Others had the edge sawtoothed, as if...
Dorambalt stopped that train of thought. It was too horrible. Belno was already holding another picture in front of him. Dorambalt swallowed and closed his eyes. Cobra's back was no better than his chest, and from the quick glance he gave, it looked even worse.
He heard Belno collecting the pictures and tucking them again inside the folder. When he opened his eyes, the old woman had a sad look.
"His arms are surprisingly good... Probably his dragon magic and the scales on his arm helped the skin healing... I will not show you the state of the rest of his body..." Her eyes trailed around the room. She also had been shocked. And no one in the Council had ever seemed to take into account what the Oraciòn Seis had been gone through, as they were left ta Brain's mercy. 'As if Brain was capable of mercy...'
Brain was disgusting and dangerous, in her opinion. She had talked with him a couple of times, and his sly smile, the casualty of his tone when speaking of the things he had done, had horrified and upset the Councilwoman. Brain was crazy, a mad-man, who had to be kept locked up for the rest of his life. 'And for the best.'
Belno regained her focus. "As a member of the Council, I feel... responsible, for the state in which Cobra and the rest of the Oraciòn Seis are in, and for what they have been forced to endure."
Dorambalt nodded, Of course, Midnight, Angel, Racer and Hoteye must not be in a much different state. As far as he knew, Midnight was impossible to speak to, Angel and Racer had refused to collaborate in any way. Hoteye - or Richard, as he preferred to be called - was the only who actually collaborated with the Council, and gave them an insight of what was like to be part of the Oraciòn Seis.
Belno took other four folders, and the names of Angel, Richard, Midnight and Racer fell one after the other.
Dorambalt glanced at them, and then back to Belno. "What does this means?" he finally asked. Weren't they talking about Cobra one minute ago?
"Hoteye was the only one who agreed on telling us his real name." Belno stated, ignoring Dorambalt's question. "Of all the Oraciòn Seis, he had been the only one who talked with us. The others, either are lost in their own little world, like this one," she pointed the name of Midnight, "either spat obscenities, insults and promises of revenge, like these two," she pointed Angel and Racer, "either pretend to be a murderous psychotic, like Cobra."
"What does all this mean?" Dorambalt tried again, with a little more force.
Belno seemed nervous, but it lasted only a moment. Holding her chin tall, she stated in a stern voice "As I just told you, I feel responsible for them. It was because of the neglection of the Council if the Tower of Heaven was built, and if men like Brain have been able to wander in Fiore, abducting, torturing, and abusing children of five. It is a few years I have this project in mind, and the fact that Cobra had given his support in the battle of the Grand Magic Games, and that he turned himself in afterwards, has given me the courage to proceed."
"I will ask to put him on probation," concluded Belno, "to prove that he can he rehabilitated. If the experiment goes well, I will proceed with the rest of the Oraciòn Seis."
"What... Why-When?" Dorambalt stuttered. He was speechless.
"The reason why I am doing this, I already told you." Belno scoffed. "And for 'when', it is 'now'. As soon as you will exit from his office, you will have in your hands all the documents required to present the petition to the Council next week."
"Are you-Are you planning to tell everyone about-" "No, of course not, Dorambalt. Your secrets are safe with me." Belno lowered slightly her head, and Dorambalt felt the last bit of his anxieties melt away. "I will only say that I think he deserves a second chance." her tone had suddenly dropped. "As the Council gave me one, too, as I think you remember."
Dorambalt nodded. Clearly there was a huge difference between Belno and Oraciòn Seis stories, but he could understand why the old mage was helping the ex-criminals. 'A second chance, then...'
"Very good, madame."
Dorambalt had talked several times over the years with the poison slayer, and came to the conclusion that his worst flaw was also his greatest edge: his hearing. Being able to hear his opponent soul made Cobra both almost impossible to fool, and at the same time, the poison slayer had grown mused by being able to forestall his enemies. Or whoever was around him, in general.
Dorambalt had seen Cobra's smug face too many times, and had finally given up trying to take in the slayer. Instead, he had resolved to deal with him the less possible, and preparing himself a camomile before and after every meeting.
He paled, when he realised he was about to have to talk with the slayer way more than usual, having him to be released on probation.
Dorambalt and Belno discussed the details, mostly related to paperwork which had to be done. The thought of the amount of paper that was going to lay on Dorambalt's table in the next few weeks made him sick, but he pushed it aside. That was going to be a solvable problem. Moreover, he suspected Belso was relying on him that much because of his role in the Eclipse affair. Smart move form the Councilwoman, as expected form her.
Now, the question was, who was going to tell Lahar? The answer came as soon as he left Belno's office, arms full of folders of documents that needed to be filled and signed.
"I understand you will talk with Captain Lahar, Dorambalt?" asked the Councilwoman.
Dorambalt gulped. "Well..." "You are one of his most close collaborator, and have been known him for many years. Of course, you are the best person for this task."
Dorambalt wished he had been quicker to protest - such a news was better delivered by a high ranked member of the Council, not him - but Belno had already closed the door of his office, leaving him in the hallway, arms heavy with paper and an absurd fear of the Captain reaction.
Dorambalt knew for a fact that all that Belno wanted was avoid Lahar complaints. And once he announced to Lahar the Councilwoman decision, he wished to have been able to avoid it himself. After the first minutes of disbelief, Lahar had been pacing all around the office, screaming and protesting as if they had declared that Cobra was going to be next King of Fiore.
"Has Belno gone mad?" he asked Dorambalt, for the tenth time.
Dorambalt rolled his eyes. He was close to be exasperated. "She seemed quite convinced of her intent."
"How can it possibly be?" Lahar slammed his fist on the desk, sending documents flying around. Dorambalt let out a sigh. "There is still the chance the Council will not allow this, but..." "I will totally oppose!" "Considering Belno's position and how much the Council trusts her, there is not much that can be done."
"But why? Why on all Fiore..."
Dorambalt tried to ignore the rambling of the Captain. Maybe if Lahar knew that Cobra had helped Fiore win against the dragons, he would have been more prone to support his cause. Maybe. But then, that meant he had to tell him the scheme he and the guild Masters had put up, and that was out of question.
"You know, Belno had always been too soft for this work!" Lahar's voice was almost a whine. "Also with Gajeel Redfox, she had always been too kind with him..."
"Redfox?" asked Dorambalt, surprised. "The Iron Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail?"
"Yes. Before Redfox joined Fairy Tail, he was in Phantom Lord. I assume you know his story." Lahar scoffed, annoyed. "Well, whenever Redfox was brought in front of the Council for some reason or the other, Belno was always on his side. Every single time!" Lahar slammed another fist on the table. "No matter what that slayer had done, she was always-ah, why I am even recalling that?" Lahar groaned, letting himself fall on a chair.
"Well, now he seemed to have calmed down." said tentatively Dorambalt. "At least Fairy Tail has done a good job, after all..."
Lahar stayed silent a few seconds, with an angry expression on his face. Then, slowly, Dorambalt saw his features relax a little. A wicked smiled played on his lips, and his eyes narrowed. "Fairy Tail has done a good job," he muttered "yes, you are right, Dorambalt..."
The sudden cool of the Captain made the Control Memory shiver. The expression with he looked back at him, was even worst than his wrath.
"Fairy Tail has proven to be a very strong guild, right, Dorambalt?" he asked "They won the Grand Magic Games one month ago, right?"
"Right." said Dorambalt, warily. "But what has this to do with-" "And they have done such a good job with Gajeel, and Juvia, if I recall properly the name of the other mage that was in Phantom Lord, right?"
Lahar slowly raised from his seat, a victorious expression on his face. Dorambalt stood dounbfounded for a second, before realisation hit him. "You are not planning to..." he cried.
"Yes, I am." hissed Lahar. His expression was dark and pleased at the same time, enough to rival the poison dragon slayer most evil grin. "Cobra will be released, I will agree, but with the obligation to join a legal guild. And the only option we will give him will be Fairy Tail. Those fairies have been on my nerves for too many years, now..." Lahar rubbed his hands, as if he had just concluded the most important affair of his life. "All we have to do is sit and watch Cobra blow up their guild, be ready to drag him back... Or even better, he will run away and we could blame it on Makarov and his goddamn children!" he spat. "Or, even better, Cobra will refuse to join... This will spare us the paperwork..."
Two things were utmost clear to Dorambalt. First, that Lahar should have taken a vacation and stopped troubling himself with the fairies. Second, that Cobra would have been glad to join Fairy Tail even if only to piss off the Captain. The paperwork was just an added bonus. Maybe Cobra was even willing to behave, just to prove the Captain wrong. Which Cobra was perfectly capable of, Dorambalt shivered.
"And do not think I will let this go so easy!" Lahar shouted. Dorambalt jumped. "What do you mean, Captain?"
"I will be on their neck! As much as I can! Probation or not, Cobra will not go far! He is a criminal, Dorambalt, this is a mistake, and I will prove it!"
Dorambalt fought the urge to rub his face in his hands. If Lahar was not going to let Cobra go, as he declared, 'he will not let go of me either!' He could not think about bearing his Captain, and the paperwork, and Cobra all together...
Cobra stared at the sleeping form of Dorambalt.
So it was Belno, he thought, closing his eye once more. And he knew why they forced him to join Fairy Tail, and why Lahar had was suddenly bringing him back to Era. Just to prove I am worth a life in jail...
Well, Dorambalt had been right about him behaving just to piss off Lahar. It was exactly what he had done in the past few months, even if he had no idea he had been a source of annoyance for the Captain. The thought was hilarious.
In the compartment, all but one Rune Knight were asleep. The wagon had been surrounded by Lahar runes, and the Captain had secured his ankles with a pair of shackles, an hour after the train departed. Cobra had hated him, but he had to force himself to not protest. Not too much, at least.
Cobra had just filled his mouth with bile, and spat it on the floor as soon as the shackles clicked around his ankles. His own spit had crept and smoked as the plastic melted under it. A smell of burnt and acid filled the air, and even the Knights around him wrinkled their nose.
Cobra had smirked to Lahar. "Ops." The Captain had to swallow a curse.
After that, Cobra had decided it was enough, and had kept any his snarky comment or acid spit to himself.
Only once, while Cobra had his eye closed and was breathing so lightly one could have believed he had passed out, one of the Knights had tried to poke him. Cobra eye shot open and he had glared to the poor man in a way that had him ducking away in fear, squealing like a slaughtered animal.
Cobra was not sleeping, obviously. He was very busy keeping his bile down in his throat and not spreading it all over the wagon. Even if he was bored enough to be tempted to puke onto the sleeping for of the Captain in front of him.
The fact that Lahar was trying to get on anyone nerves and give the Council an excuse to lock him again made him boil with anger. Not a chance. He hadn't felt the urge to murder someone so much in a while.
He let his attention fall from Dorambalt. Those damn magic-canceling handcuffs had forced him to focus the little magic he was allowed on the Memory Control mage, to grasp those precious information.
On the other hand, if Lahar was so stupid to think he was going to behave like a damn parcel and withstand everything without a peep, Cobra was going to prove the Captain wrong. Now that Cobra knew what the Captain had in his little mind, things in Era were going to be a little easier. He didn't want to give to his freedom, not at all.
He relaxed slightly on his seat. It was strange to have something to fight for. With Brain, he was mainly driven by fear, a blind terror that Brain hammered in him with every way possible. The scars on his body were a good proof for that. And the scars he carried inside himself, not visible on his skin, well, he didn't really want to think about that now.
No one of the Oraciòn Seis had ever realised how much Brain was affecting them. Shaping them like reckless and cruel mages, channeling their anger and suffering into the desire to be more powerful, more cruel, more...
Cobra forced himself to turn his damn head away from those memories, and concentrated on the noises around himself instead. Luckily, no handcuffs could block his dragon senses.
It was lunchtime, he could tell by the smells that were coming from the other wagons. And from the crunching of metal he could hear very clearly. A pity he couldn't hear also Gajeel thoughts, hearing his distress for being on a train for more than three hours was going to be amusing. And maybe distracting him from his own urge to empty his guts on Lahar, who was sleeping in his seat, the book he was previously reading tucked at his side.
He took a deep breath. Lahar had ordered them to run all the way to Era. They were going to arrive by nightfall. That meant that there were still many hours they were going to spent on that train, with no break in between. He didn't mind, really. Even if they stopped to eat, his stomach would not take anything in. Cobra believed he had not been so sick in his whole life, and considering how he had lived until seven months ago, that was saying something. He heard a groan coming from the only awaken Rune Knights, and a moment after, the stomach of the Knight growled loudly.
Keeping his eye close, Cobra chuckled. The Knight turned to the prisoner and Cobra didn't need to open his eye to feel his angry stare. Before the Knight could say anything, the dragon slayer whispered "You don't want to wake up your Captain, would you?"
The knight seemed to consider waking up Lahar a worst idea than to retort to Cobra. He went back to his seat, grumbling about the long trip that was waiting them.
That has been easy, thought Cobra, going back to his previous occupation of not throwing up on his lap. Very easy.
