Fire. It blazed through the still night air, illuminating everything in orange, before snuffing out. Only to be reignited seconds later. Again, and again. The targets of these flames were several mechanized men, slowly advancing on their target. They tried their best to dodge, and attack their target. But the target was fast, and powerful. Too powerful for them. Though they were made of metal, everything burns if the heat is high enough. And so did they. The mage stopped, and rested a moment.
"Very good. You're improving." The source of this voice was the man known as Nikodias. He was accompanied by the younger masked man called Torq. They both watched the display. The mage stood and stared back at them. "You should be ready for the second life bond soon." Nikodias said.
"I damn well better be. I'm getting tired of waiting." Said Natsu Dragneel. Natsu turned and looked back at the machines he had been training with. They were burned and blackened, smoke still coming off of them. Nikodias observed Natsu's handiwork. "King Sael was generous enough to let you train with his machines. You should thank him." he said. Natsu scoffed.
"Thank him yourself. They were too flimsy." Natsu said, kicking one of them for emphasis.
They were standing in a large open area, where the ground was paved over with stone. There were large stone pillars at the ends supporting a domed roof above. The area was otherwise open, with a large moon visible on the horizon. Nikodias was standing near the entrance to the main three floored building.
"By the way Mr. Dragneel, you have a visitor. Natsu turned back to look at the middle-aged man. There were only two people here who might want to visit Natsu. He actually wanted to see both of them, but for different reasons. "Who is it?" Natsu asked. He got his answer when she walked through the entranceway. It was Lisanna.
Upon seeing her, Natsu's mood lightened, and he walked over to her. Lisanna walked towards him as well, meeting him halfway. "Hi Natsu." She said.
"Hey." He responded. He began reaching a hand towards her, but then remembered the other two watching them. Nikodias shrugged. "Don't mind us. We'll be leaving now. I know you want privacy." He turned towards the entrance, and motioned Torq to follow him. After they left, Natsu and Lisanna stood there a moment.
After a minute, Lisanna stepped past Natsu, and looked up at the big, bright moon. "Its pretty, isn't it?" she said. Natsu followed her gaze.
"Yeah, I guess. Its big and bright." He said. Lisanna smiled. "You were never really into nature stuff, huh?" Natsu shrugged.
"Its fine, it's just not something I think about much." He said. "Flowers, and trees, and the moon. That stuff is nice and all, but I've got more important things to worry about." Lisanna nodded, while still looking up.
"Do you think the people back at Fairy Tail are looking up at this same moon right now?" she said suddenly. Natsu was caught off guard by her question. She turned to look at him, awaiting his response.
"I don't know." He said. "Have you been thinking about that? Fairy Tail, I mean."
Lisanna put her hands behind her back, holding her wrist with her other hand. "Yeah. I have." She said. "I've been thinking a lot about Fairy Tail. There's still so much I don't remember. But Boudica has told me some things." At this, Natsu's face became stony.
"Oh really? What did she tell you?" he said.
"Well…" Lisanna began. "She said the guild has gotten into trouble with the law. That you had some bad members. That the master and his son and grandson are bad people. And she said you left because of how bad it was there." Natsu listened to her, and just stood there for a moment. The only sound was a soft wind blowing. He started pacing a little, his sandals tapping against the stonework beneath them. She could tell he was becoming emotional about something. But then, it was rare for her to see him relaxed and happy these days. He then turned to her and said, "Lisanna, Boudica wasn't there. She doesn't know what she's talking about. Fairy Tail isn't a bad place. I mean, it's not what it used to be. It has changed. But there are still plenty of good people there." Lisanna considered Natsu's words. She trusted him, and believed what he was saying. But she had come to trust Boudica too.
"Boudica says that a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch." Lisanna said.
"She says a lot of things, doesn't she?" Natsu said with an annoyed tone. Lisanna looked at him, confused.
"Do you not like her? I thought you trusted her." She said. Natsu looked at her. He no longer looked annoyed. But he did look troubled.
"Its complicated. You can't believe everything she says." Natsu turned, feeling a rising frustration. "I want to get out of here. Both of us, I mean. Soon. I didn't plan to be here this long. But for a while, I felt really off. I couldn't think straight. I was tired, and weaker than usual. I'm still not a hundred percent, but I'm good enough to get out of here now."
Lisanna listened to his speech, and moved closer to him, touching his arm. "If you want to leave so badly, then why don't you?"
Natsu turned to face her. "A couple reasons." He said. "First, there's you. I can't leave without you." Lisanna nodded. "You mean the life bond?" Natsu blinked.
"She told you about that, huh?" he said. Lisanna nodded again. "Yeah. I know what it cost you to bring me back. I'm grateful. But I've been worried about you. How its affected you. I don't like it. I want you to get better. That's why I've been trying to improve my magic power. Boudica said it would help you. I've even gone with them on a couple missions. We freed a slave town." Lisanna had mixed emotions about that event, but some pride crept into her voice as she said it.
"Yeah. I heard about that." He said. "That's not why I brought you back. Your place is with Fairy Tail. That's your home. No matter what these people tell you." He said. Lisanna looked down at the ground doubtfully. "Maybe…"
"You'll see." He said.
"Natsu…" Lisanna began. "The other reason is Erza, right? You want to bring her back. But you'll have to make another life bond to do it. That will take even more from you. Can you really handle that?" Natsu was silent for a moment. He then sighed. "You really have been talking to her a lot. Its true. I don't want to leave here without Erza. When she died… it changed things. It made me start looking at… never mind. I don't want to get into that right now. I want to talk to Boudica. I want to set some things straight." His voice had an edge to it. Lisanna had a worried expression. When she looked at him, she could still sometimes see brief flashes in his eyes. The red glow. It was better now, but not completely.
"Natsu, you're not going to fight with her or anything, are you?" she said.
Natsu smirked. "Me, fight? You know me, Lisanna. I'm just gonna have a friendly chat with her." Lisanna still looked worried. Natsu started marching towards the entrance. When he got to the doorway, he bumped into someone.
"Hey." Natsu said, slightly annoyed. The person he bumped into looked at him, and raised his hands. "I apologize. I didn't know you were coming this way." It was Alrace, who still sounded like he struggled to speak. Lisanna saw him, and walked over.
"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?" she asked.
Alrace looked unsure how to respond. He avoided eye contact. "Ah, I've been busy. Boudica has had… tasks for me to do."
"Oh. I see." Lisanna said. She wasn't sure how else to respond to his cryptic remark.
"Speaking of Boudica, I need to see her. Now." Of course, it was Natsu who said this. He started to walk past Alrace. "Um, actually…" Alrace said. "Boudica is not here."
Natsu turned. "What do you mean? Where is she?" he said. Alrace shrugged. "I don't know. She's not in the valley now. That's all."
"Then where is she? When is she coming back?" he said.
"I don't know, really." Alrace said. He wrung his hands and looked at the ground.
"You wouldn't be lying, would you?" Natsu said, looking Alrace up and down. The smaller man shook his head, avoiding Natsu's gaze.
"No. Really." Alrace said. "I can take you to her room to see for yourself if you want." Natsu appeared to consider this, but Lisanna touched his arm.
"Natsu, its okay. I don't think he's lying. You can always talk to her tomorrow." Lisanna thought this might also give Natsu a chance to rethink whatever he was planning, since she suspected he didn't just want to have a friendly chat with her.
After several moments passed, Natsu finally said, "Alright, fine. I'll wait. But she better be here tomorrow."
"Good." Lisanna said. "And since you're not going to be doing that tonight, maybe we could spend a little more time together? I've missed you."
Natsu looked at her staring at him with round eyes, and her lips slightly parted. His own expression softened. "Okay. We can do that." He said. Lisanna smiled at him. Meanwhile, Alrace shuffled awkwardly.
"I'll um, leave you two alone then." He said. Lisanna thanked him, as he walked back the way he came.
The two of them were again alone. Lisanna looked around at their surroundings. It was bigger than the garden she had spent time in before. More open and comfortable. It felt inviting instead of confining. Just outside the stonework on the ground was lush, uncut grass. Lisanna suggested they sit down, and guided Natsu over to the grass, where they sat together.
For a few minutes they just sat there. Lisanna listened to the gentle wind, and appreciated the bright, white moon. Natsu was distracted with other things though. She looked over at him. She wanted to make him feel better. When he wasn't paying attention, Lisanna touched his hand with her own. He looked down, and realized she wanted to hold hands. He smiled, and obliged.
"You know…" Natsu said. Lisanna looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "You know, I'm not the sort of guy to think things through. Not really. A lot of the time, I just go on instinct, and feeling. That's how I've always done things. I guess I'm sort of like a shark. Always got to keep moving, never stop and rest. It's always worked for me in the past. And that's how I ended up here. I did what I felt I had to. Didn't think about it. Even when people tried to tell me different." Natsu paused, and took a breath.
"But now, things are different. I haven't been able to move around much lately. I've been stuck."
"Because of me?" Lisanna said.
"That's part of it. There's the life bond. And the other bond." Natsu replied.
"Other bond?" Lisanna said.
"Anyway, I've had a lot of time to think lately. I couldn't think clearly for a while there, but I've been getting better." He said. He didn't respond to her last question. She decided she must have misheard him.
"I guess at this point I'm wondering what their endgame is." Natsu said. "I guess we've both been helping them. But with what? What do they really want?"
"Overcoming death. Freeing slaves. Fighting evil." Lisanna said.
"Uh huh. I want to see that for myself." Natsu said. He sounded less than convinced. "But like I said. What I really want is to get us out of here, and go home again. We just need Erza first. I know a lot of people will be happy to see you both again." Lisanna still didn't remember that much about Fairy Tail, nor a lot of the people there. She didn't even really remember Erza. So, she wasn't sure how to feel about what Natsu was saying. But she knew she trusted him, and wanted to be with him. She squeezed his hand tighter. To her surprise, he actually let go of her hand, only to put his arm around her.
"You know, the moon really is pretty." He said, gazing upwards. She looked at his face, and the white moonlight reflecting off it. "You know Lisanna, when I said that I couldn't leave without you earlier; it wasn't just because of the bond. Its because I don't want to leave you, bond or no bond. I want you with me." And then, he looked back at her, and smiled gently. Her heart skipped a beat. It was at that moment she realized she was falling in love with him. Natsu gently rubbed her cheek with his other hand. She wondered if they would kiss. The wind blew, this time a little stronger. The moment passed, and they didn't kiss. Instead, Lisanna settled for just resting her head on his shoulder.
The two of them stayed like that for a while, losing track of time. Eventually, they fell asleep there together.
The Fairy Tail guild hall at night. A short time had passed since Lucy, Cana, and Levy had met up with Mystogan outside the guild. After Mystogan informed the girls that he had important information, they all went inside where it was safer. The various mages wanted to hear what Mystogan had to say, but he said that he wanted to wait until Makarov was present to tell them. The master was out on an errand at the moment, but was expected back soon. In the meantime, Levy decided to fill the others in on what had happened. Lucy and Cana already knew the events, having lived them. So, they decided to go back to an unused area and train a little.
This training session was relatively short. Levy said she would tell them if Makarov showed up while they were in there. Lucy and Cana sparred for a little, with Lucy winning in the end.
"Alright Lucy, I think that's enough." Cana said. They both decided to take a rest.
"I think I'm getting better." Lucy said. Cana nodded. "Yeah, you are. In fact, I'm starting to think you're getting too good for me."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What? That's not true. You have all those cool card spells." Cana smiled.
"Yeah, well. I think you just have more drive for this than I do right now. Maybe there's someone else who could do a better job of training with you." Cana said. Lucy grew a little uneasy.
"You don't want to train with me anymore?" she said.
"Its not that." Cana replied. "I'll train with you if you want me to. But I was never the kind of person to spend a lot of time training and stuff. That's just not my thing. I feel like I'm shortchanging you here. You can do better."
Lucy quietly considered Cana's words. She wondered if Cana really was concerned about holding her back, or if Cana just didn't want to do this anymore. Lucy actually enjoyed training with Cana, but she sensed that Cana had been getting weary of it lately. Not that Lucy blamed her. Cana was doing this as a favor to her. Maybe its not fair to keep asking this of her. Lucy thought.
Cana noticed how quiet Lucy had gotten. "Hey Lucy, forget what I said. I'm just a little tired. We can train some more tomorrow." Lucy looked up, and shook her head. "No. You made a good point. This is my deal, and I need to find a better way to deal with it. I appreciate you helping me, Cana. A lot. But you've done enough. I'll just need to come up with something else."
Now Cana looked uneasy. "Okay, if that's how you feel. We're still cool then?"
"Of course we are." Lucy said. She walked over and half hugged Cana. "Thanks again."
"You're welcome." Cana said. Lucy turned towards the door. "I guess we should get back out there. Levy's gotta be finished filling them in. By the way, am I the only one who thinks that Flare girl is a little creepy?"
Cana shook her head. "Nah, she gives off big creep vibes. I don't trust her."
"Well, its still a good thing that we saved her back there. So, at least something good came out of that incident." said Lucy.
"I guess. Still don't trust her." Cana replied.
"Maybe we should at least hear what she has to say." Lucy said.
"Yeah, that should be interesting." Cana said. Together, they left the room and rejoined the group in the main hall.
By the time Lucy and Cana returned to the main hall, Levy had finished explaining what had happened in the forest. She had spent several minutes answering questions. Levy was sitting near the stage with various mages gathered around. Flare was sitting on a nearby table, with Jet and Droy standing near her, watching her. They didn't hide the fact that they didn't trust Flare, especially around Levy. Mystogan was standing a little apart from the others. He was now unmasked since everyone there already knew his identity. He had still been wearing his mask in public, to preserve his secret. But secrets are hard to keep, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone knew his identity.
As Lucy and Cana walked up, Mirajane stood up and spoke.
"So, I hear you guys got into some trouble out there. Are you all okay?" She asked. She said it in a light tone, but they could tell she was concerned. Cana nodded. "We're fine. We got out of there before things got too heavy. Got to admit, I'm starting to wonder if running was the right call. I mean, maybe we could have taken out one of their leaders right there, and one of the Seis guys." Mirajane shook her head.
"No, I think you made the right choice. You weren't prepared, and there was a fire, and you were outnumbered. It was too risky." She said.
"We are gonna have to fight these guys sooner or later though." This comment came from Macao. His son Romeo wasn't there, as he had gone to bed by this point.
"I know." Mirajane said. "In fact, I intend to talk to the master about that."
"Where is he anyway?" Lucy said. "I was expecting him to be here."
"He's out at the moment, but he should be back soon." Mirajane said. "Warrod sent out a telepathic message to all the Fairy Tail mages within the radius of his magic. Unless they're out of town or on a job somewhere far away, they should be able to hear it."
"That's good." Lucy said. "So, what do we do in the meantime?"
Levy raised a hand to get their attention. "Flare said she has something to say. I guess she has a story of her own to tell." Jet and Droy still eyed Flare suspiciously, but Levy gestured for them to let her be. Flare sat there, looking around at the Fairy Tail mages glaring at her with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. At that moment, she didn't have her usual crazed expression, but instead looked uncomfortable. She knew she wasn't welcome there, but she was afraid to go back out alone.
"Come on fire girl, you got something to say, then say it." Flare turned around at the voice. It was Gajeel. Flare eyed him warily. She had never really spoken to him before, but she had seen him a few times when he was working as a double agent in Raven Tail. Back then, she had had her suspicions of him. But in the end, it wasn't him that destroyed Raven Tail.
"I'm getting to it, metal head." Flare said. "Don't get your panties in a bunch." She wasn't really annoyed at him; she just felt the need to retort to his comment. He grunted in response. Flare turned back towards the main group. "Alright, where should I start?"
"How about you start from the beginning?" Macao said, as if stating the obvious. Flare smiled mischievously. "The beginning? Okay. I was born many years ago near a village called-"
"That's not what I meant smartass, and you know it." Macao interrupted. Flare laughed a little. Mirajane stepped forward and said, "Macao, that's enough. Miss Corona, Flare. This is serious. You said you would give us information that could help. So please." Mirajane said this politely, but firmly.
"Okay, okay." Flare said. She looked down at the floor, remembering the sequence of events. Then she spoke. "Alright, so you know about me and my guild showing up at your door, and us getting arrested. I don't think we need to go over that again. But I'll tell you what happened after that. The Rune Knights took me and the other Raven Tail members away. We were held in lock up for a couple days. But after they reviewed all the facts, they decided we weren't really responsible for what had happened. So, we were free to go. Except for Master Ivan. Apparently, he did some bad stuff on his own too." Flare paused. She didn't elaborate on this, but the Fairy Tail mages made some contemptuous noises at the mention of Ivan.
"Anyway…" Flare continued. "After we got out, we went our separate ways. Since my guild was broken up (and apparently evil, which I swear I didn't know), I decided to go back home. Remember that village I mentioned? That's the one." As Flare told her story, the manic expression crept back onto her face. At first she was nervous, but now she was starting to feel excited at being the center of attention.
"So, I took some money I had saved up and went to board a boat back home." She went on. "I arrived at the docks of a nearby town, and there was a long line there. And also a lot of guards. Especially at the front of the line. I didn't know what was going on, but it made me nervous."
Flare paused again, and saw everyone watching her intently. Flare's own expression had become almost blank. She was focusing on recounting the events. "So… I stood in line, and it slowly moved. Some of the people at the front were taking a while. Some of them argued with the guards, and a few of them got arrested over something. At first, I figured they were just arrested for starting trouble. But it wasn't just one or two people. By the time I got halfway through the line, a dozen people had been arrested. I heard bits of conversation around me. It seems like they were being arrested because… They had been arrested before. Which meant they were suspicious. Even if they hadn't been convicted. This was all because of some kind of new travel restriction. At least, that's what I was hearing. Got to admit, it scared the hell out of me. The Rune Knights had let me go. But they said that they'd be less kind if I got into trouble with the law again. Sort of an unofficial probation, I guess. I… really didn't want to get arrested again." By this point, Flare was starting to look uncomfortable again.
"So, I was almost at the front of the line." She said. "Those guards were holding some kind of weapon they use to shock people with. They were looking at all of us, pretty hard. The guy in front, they stopped him. They explained something about towns being attacked, and some weird cult. Later on, I realized that they were talking about the same people that showed up at your guild, right after we did. But at the time, I was so goddamn nervous that I didn't even think of that. I just knew I had to leave. Right away. So, I started letting my hair loose a little. Figured I might need it. I said I needed to use a toilet. They didn't like that, and told me to stay in line. Well, that wasn't going to happen."
"So, I'm almost at the end of the line. I point at something and say, "Look, its those cult guys!" Most of them turn and look, and I start running. But one of them chases after me, so I used my hair and brought out some flame. I whipped my burning hair across his uniform, and it caught fire. He did the stop, drop and role. I knocked a bunch of stuff over, and people were yelling at me. If they weren't going to arrest me before, they sure as hell were going to now."
"So what happened next, Flame?" Gajeel said. Flare turned around again. "Well, I got the fuck out of there! Also, my name is Flare." She said. Gajeel just laughed, and Flare turned back to the group.
"So yeah, I ran like hell. I ran until I was sure they weren't following me anymore."
Flare paused for a minute. She looked at the mages in the guild looking at her, listening to her. They were all strangers to her, and the previous time they had met was a hostile encounter. She was aware they probably didn't trust her, and she wasn't sure she should trust them. But she decided that she probably didn't have any better options at the moment. So, she resumed.
"I ran for a while. I ducked into an alley and lost them. After that, I managed to sneak out of town, and headed off… well, somewhere else. Somewhere where people weren't looking for me. I followed the roads from the town, and eventually I hitched a ride to a nearby village. It was a passing wagon with a family. Husband, wife, couple of kids. They let me ride with them. I was grateful and all, but it was kind of awkward. I'm not good at small talk."
"Anyway, they seemed pretty religious from the way they were talking. They didn't come out and say it, but I think they wanted to convert me or something." Flare started giggling a little at this, amused by the thought of it. "Weird thing was, they sounded like they only just recently joined this religion. Seemed a little nutty about it. They seemed nice otherwise though."
"I'm going to take a guess here: they were part of Boudica's cult?" Levy interjected. Flare turned to face her, and tilted her head a little. "Who?" she said.
"I guess you haven't met her." Levy said. "She's supposed to be the leader of this religious organization. They're connected to the group that attacked us."
"Actually, we never met her either." Said Lucy.
"Yeah, of their leaders, we've only met Yoshimoto, the samurai." Levy added. Flare didn't have anything to add to this, so she shrugged and resumed her story.
"Anyway, you don't need to hear me going on about all the minutiae of what happened, right? A lot of it was boring. I'll just tell you the broad strokes. I went back to their village. They let me stay with them temporarily. I spent a week there. It was nice, but boring. Sometimes the people there would go on about their faith, but otherwise it was normal. I think? I'm probably not the best judge of normal. Heh."
"After a week, I was trying to figure out my next move. I wanted to go back home, but didn't know how to get there. But it didn't matter, because that was when these samurai guys showed up. They had some people in robes with them too. I don't think this Boudica chick was with them. But I do remember some people mentioning some female leader had visited the village before I got there. I guess that was her. It sounds like a bunch of people there had been converted, and were pretty righteous about it."
"So, these samurai ask who in the village has joined up with "the cause". A lot of people went along with it. Some didn't. I was obviously an outsider, and I kinda stuck out. They asked me if I wanted to join. I said no. They weren't happy about that. I was getting that same bad feeling I got back at the docks. Time to run again, I thought. But there were a bunch of these guys walking around now, rounding people up. They had their swords drawn and everything. The few people who didn't want to join up were looking at me. Some mom with her kids said, 'Can you help us?' That caught me off guard. I wasn't used to people asking me for help. But I realized it was because I was a mage. The only one there, not counting the armored goons. I guess they thought I could use my magic to save them. They thought wrong."
"So then, this samurai guy with a gold mask and black helmet comes walking up. The way the other guys made room for him, it was obvious he was the leader. He decided to make a little speech." At this point, Flare tried to imitate Yoshimoto's deep voice and formal way of talking, which got some weird looks from some of the mages listening to her.
"Many of you have joined our cause. This is good. But some haven't. They are fools, and moreover a liability. Those who stand with us, come forward." Flare said, imitating him. She explained that many people pledged their loyalty, some seemingly reluctantly. The few who wouldn't were all stared at and shunned. Flare resumed her impression. "After thinking it over, I've decided that the children of those who disobey could be of some use. They will come with us. The adults, shall be killed. Does anyone object to this?" Flare finished her imitation.
"Nobody objected. In fact, a lot of them seemed to be cheering it on, even the kids. Kind of scary. The mom and her kids looked at me, and tried to reach out to me. I felt bad about that, but I was just one girl. And I wasn't keen on dying for a bunch of people I barely knew. So I told them 'I'm gonna run, and you should do the same. If you want to live.' That was the best I could do for them. While everyone was cheering for blood, I started running. I could hear some of the others running behind me."
"I ran to the edge of the village (did I mention it was a small village?) but there were some samurai waiting for us. I let my hair loose and swept it across the ground, knocking them back, and lighting up at least one of them. The family tried to run ahead while I was dealing with the other guys. But a couple of the samurai came after them and cut them off. The mom tried to fight them, but she got impaled on a sword for her trouble. The kids started screaming. Some of the other resistors saw this, and started throwing stuff at them. The guy who impaled mom was hit in the mask with an alcohol bottle, which broke open on him. How convenient. I took advantage. I ignited my hair and lashed his face. He ignited, and started screaming. Served him right. But I saw some of his friends coming for me, and I started running again. I basically started whipping my hair around to keep them away from me, and got out of the village. There was a forest close by. I ran towards it. At least a few other people made it out with me, and one even ran past me. We were all being chased though."
"We all headed towards the woods, but went in different directions. I got into the trees, and thought I could lose them in there. The armored guys kept chasing me. It was cold, and it was getting dark, and the trees didn't provide the kind of cover they would when they have leaves on them. I guess what I'm saying is, it was hard." Flare had an intense look on her face, her eyes wide, and her mouth set to a grimace. She was becoming emotional from recounting this whole thing, and so soon after it had happened. But she continued.
"I ran around the woods for at least an hour. I was getting tired. They were still chasing me though. I was getting desperate, so I started setting things on fire, hoping that would slow them down, or something. I cut off a bunch of paths, and just hoped I wasn't trapping myself. It was getting hot. It was dark, but the fire was so bright it looked like daytime. It was winter, but it felt like a hot summer. So yeah, fire everywhere. Maybe I overdid it."
"I stopped for a minute to rest. I could still hear them running around, but I was worn out. All I wanted was to get back home. But I knew I was going to die in those woods. Then I heard someone behind me. So this is how I die… Except, it was a girl's voice. I turned, and saw this funny looking blonde girl. And she had two friends with her. They were all from Fairy Tail. And… you know the rest." Flare finished her story. She took a deep breath, looking tired, and sad. Mirajane walked over to her, and handed her a glass of water.
"Here. You look like you need this." Mirajane said. Flare hesitantly took the glass.
"Uh, thanks. Heh." She took it, and started drinking while holding it with both hands.
"What does she mean 'funny looking blonde'?" Lucy muttered nearby.
"You've obviously been through a lot." Mirajane said, ignoring Lucy.
"We appreciate you telling us your story. This information could help us." Levy said. Flare looked over at her. "I owed you. All of you, I guess." She said quietly. Mirajane looked down, considering something.
"Flare, if you'd like, I can ask the master if it would be okay if you can stay here temporarily. Until you figure out how to get home." Flare looked up at Mirajane.
"Really? That's really nice of you." Flare said, surprised.
"Thanks, but I can't guarantee he'll say yes. I'll definitely ask him though." Mirajane replied.
"Hey Mira? You sure that's a good idea?" Cana said, making no effort to hide her feelings from the red headed mage.
"I'm not comfortable with her here either." Droy said. "She hurt Levy."
"Its fine, Droy. I forgive her." Levy said.
"Maybe you do…" Droy said.
Gajeel suddenly got up and walked over, standing just behind Flare. "Hey, c'mon. You guys accepted me, and I was a real bastard." He said with a grin.
"What do you mean 'was'?" Cana said. Gajeel grinned wider. "All I'm saying is, everyone deserves a second chance, right?" The way he said it, the others couldn't tell if he was being serious, or screwing with them. Either way, Mirajane held up her hands in a calming gesture, and spoke again.
"Okay, that's enough. I'll speak to the master and see what he says. I'm sure he'll make the right call."
"Speaking of master, where is he? He's taking a while." Lucy said.
"He should be here soon." Mirajane said. "Maybe something's holding him up."
"Gray and Wendy are still gone." Cana said. "And so are Elfman, and Evergreen. And Juvia." Lucy added.
"I wonder if they heard the call?" Levy thought aloud.
A little earlier, in a different part of town, Wendy and Gray were on a job. Carla and Happy had joined them as well. As Gray had mentioned before, it was not a big job. Someone residing in a large house near Lake Sciliora had requested help. Apparently, the person living there believed that they were being watched on a regular basis. Several nights a week someone would be out on the rocks near the lake, observing the house. Or so the owner claimed. The owner didn't know who this person was, but swears that they saw magic being used. Therefore, it is probably a mage.
Gray didn't know if any of this was true, or if this was all just in the owners' imagination. Gray had also considered the possibility that the house owner had some ulterior motive for dragging them out here. Although, after meeting with the owner, he doubted it. It was a reclusive old man who seemed frail. He simply told them to find out who this person is, and get rid of them. Gray and Wendy agreed. The old man was apparently well off, and promised to pay them well if they completed the job. So, they went to work.
The house was situated on a large hill overlooking the lake. There was a small opening (not quite a cave) at the bottom of the hill that the two of them decided to hide in, waiting to see if they could spot the supposed watcher. Meanwhile, Carla and Happy agreed to fly overhead to see if they could spot anything. Normally they would be rather conspicuous flying around like that, but since it was nighttime Gray decided it was okay.
They watched for over an hour, with Carla and Happy occasionally taking breaks from flying by sitting in the leafless trees. Gray had hoped this would be over with fairly quickly, but things are rarely that easy. Eventually, out of boredom Gray decided to try starting a conversation with Wendy. He had barely spoken to her before, so it was a little awkward.
"Hey, Wendy. How do you like it at Fairy Tail? I know you're still kind of new here, so is everything all right?" Wendy looked over at Gray, surprised at the sudden conversation. She had thought Gray didn't want to talk to her. She knew that he originally didn't want her here at all, and was wondering if she made a mistake coming.
"Uh, well, its good." She said. "I mean, it's okay."
"Just okay?" Gray said.
Wendy hesitated before speaking again. "Its just, I feel a little lonely. Don't get me wrong, most people at Fairy Tail are nice and all. But I don't feel like I've made any real friends. I've got Carla, but I was already friends with her."
Gray was starting to feel bad for not wanting to bring her now. He didn't realize how lonely she was. But then, it occurred to him that he hadn't made much of an effort to get to know her at all. He'd been keeping to himself more lately. He hadn't wanted to socialize. Which he knew wasn't healthy, but it was just how he felt right now.
"Wendy, look." Gray started. "You seem like a good person. I don't know you very well, but I know you've been through a lot. I know you lost most of the people you were close to. Had to leave what you thought of as your home, and start over again at Fairy Tail. Believe it or not, I can relate. I lost my family. My home. But then I found a new home at Fairy Tail. I'm not saying things got better overnight. It took time. But eventually, I made friends. I learned to feel good about things again. And I think you will too. You'll make friends. In fact, we can be friends, if you want."
Wendy looked over at Gray, and said, "Thanks Gray. I'd like that." She said this with simple earnestness. For a few minutes they just sat and watched the lake, still seeing nothing. Eventually, Wendy spoke again.
"I know your team broke up. I've been meaning to ask about it. If you don't mind." She said. Gray looked at her. He wasn't annoyed at her asking. Although it was something he had avoided talking about for a while. But he felt like it would somehow be easier to talk about it with Wendy. Maybe because she was younger. Maybe because he didn't have a history with her, like so many others in the guild. It could also be her earnestness.
"I don't mind. What do you want to know?" he said. Wendy shuffled a little, more out of physical discomfort than emotional. They had been sitting there a while. "What happened exactly? Why'd you guys split up? I heard you were pretty good. 'The Strongest Team', right?"
Gray also shuffled, but for him it was emotional discomfort. "Erza Scarlet. It started with her. By which I mean, it started with her death. She was a member of our team. One of the strongest in the guild. And a close friend. "
"I'm sorry." Wendy said quietly. She didn't say anything after that, but Gray knew that she wanted to ask how it happened. She didn't though, either out of politeness or shyness. Gray decided to tell her anyway.
"The Tower of Heaven." Gray said. "That's where it happened. Some looney bastard had that thing built so it could use etherion energy to resurrect Zeref. Sounds insane, but it's true. Long story short, we stopped him. But it came at the cost of Erza's life. She sacrificed herself to save everyone else. Our team, our guild, was never the same after that." Wendy sat still, listening to what Gray said. She didn't reply, but looked sad.
"And then there was Natsu." Gray continued. "He was another member of our team. A real dickhead. Uh, sorry. I shouldn't say that around someone your age."
"…Its okay. I've heard worse." Wendy said. Gray nodded and continued.
"Anyway, Natsu was part of our team. I'll admit, he was pretty powerful. He could usually get the job done, even if he caused a lot of collateral damage doing it. And I guess other people had a higher opinion of him than I did. But that changed after Erza died. He wrecked her funeral. Stopped talking to everyone. Wouldn't listen to the master. And then he just left without warning. Right when our guild needed him most. I don't think I'll ever forgive him. If I ever see him again, I'll kick his ass." Gray said, forgetting he just apologized for language.
"After that, it was just me and Lucy on the team. And Happy, I guess. That didn't really work out, so we stopped teaming up. I mean, I like Lucy, but with just the two of us, it didn't feel right."
"What if you, me, and Lucy teamed up?" Wendy said. "With Happy and Carla too. Would that work?"
Gray laid his head back against the wall. "I don't know. Maybe I could think about it." He said noncommittally.
"I'd like that. But if you don't want to, I'll understand." She responded.
"Just give me some time. I'll let you know." He said. A minute passed. Gray was starting to wonder how long they would have to stay out here, and whether or not they would even see anything. If I had known this would take all night, I would have chosen someplace less cramped to sit, he thought. But his thoughts were interrupted by Wendy.
"Hey Gray? Erza Scarlet… she was pretty special to you, huh?" Wendy said. Gray smiled a little.
"Erza was special to a lot of people. Fairy Tail especially. She was one of a kind."
"I wish I could have met her." Wendy said.
"Yeah. Me too." Gray said.
At that moment, there was a sound just outside the opening they were in. They both tensed, not sure what to expect. Without warning, Happy suddenly appeared, flying down from above. He was joined seconds later by Carla.
"Carla, Happy." Wendy said. "Did you see something?" Happy nodded.
"Aye, sir. We spotted something right out there on the lake. Kinda hard to miss, actually." Wendy and Gray both looked towards the lake. In the distance, they could see several things floating in midair. And it looked like there was a person near them.
"Guess we got so distracted with talking we weren't paying attention to what's happening out there." Gray said.
"Whoops." Wendy replied.
"I guess this means that if the tomcat and I hadn't been here then you would have botched the job." Carla added.
"We can talk about this later." Gray said, standing up. "Let's go find out who this is." Wendy also stood up and stretched. She looked out at the figure in the distance. "What if its someone dangerous?" she asked. Gray cracked his knuckles while eyeing the floating things moving around.
"Then we'll deal with it." He said. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind a fight right now. Just consider it on-the-job training, Wendy."
"Okay…" Wendy said uncertainly.
The group got up and started heading towards the person standing on the rocks on the lake. They kept low, and moved somewhat slowly. They didn't want to give themselves away too soon. After a few minutes, they got close to the rocks. The darkness hid them. If this had been daytime, then they would have been spotted for sure.
Under the moonlight, they could now make out more of what was in front of them. The rocks were large, like boulders. And were damp from the occasional splashes of water from wildlife. They could also see that the person standing on these rocks was female. A woman in a dress. And the things flying around her, she seemed to be commanding them. Rocks, and twigs, and shells, and even a few birds. She was controlling them.
At this point, Gray and the others were only a few yards away from her. Gray decided to confront her. He wanted to get the job over with. He stood up. "Hey, who are you and what are you doing out here?" he said bluntly. The woman, startled, quickly turned to face him, and the floating objects suddenly dropped out of the air.
"Who the hell are you?" the woman said.
"I asked you first." Gray said. "Wait, I know you. You're that girl from Lamia Scale. The one always hanging around Lyon."
The girl folded her arms. "My name is Sherry Blendy, thank you. And the only reason I remember your name, Gray Fullbuster, is because Lyon used to talk about you so much."
"Flattering." Gray said.
"Not really." Sherry responded.
"Um, excuse me." Wendy interjected. "We only met once. My name is Wendy by the way. But we're here on a job. We were told that someone was watching that house over there all time, so we came out here to investigate. Was that you doing that?"
"Good job getting to the point, Wendy." Carla said. "If we had left it to Gray, they probably would have been bickering like children for another twenty minutes."
"Hey, she started it." Gray said, referring to Sherry. Sherry rolled her eyes at Gray, and turned to Wendy.
"To answer your question, no I wasn't spying on anyone, or watching any houses. How ridiculous. It is true that I've been coming out here sometimes, but its for a different reason."
"Yeah, what's that?" Gray said. Sherry lifted her arms to her sides and smiled. "Why, for love of course. What else?"
"I'm a little lost." Said Wendy.
"I've been practicing using my doll magic. This was a nice, secluded area to do it. Or so I thought. I wanted to come up with something that would really impress Lyon, show him how much I care. I wanted to create a big, beautiful doll for him. A token of our love."
"Oh boy." Gray said.
"That explains everything." Wendy said.
"Personally, I'm a little disappointed." Happy said. "We come all the way out here and its just some girl trying to impress some guy who doesn't care. We could have stayed back at Fairy Tail and followed Juvia around for that."
Sherry, climbing down off the rocks, sneered at the blue cat. "Lyon does care, he's just playing hard to get. Mind your own business."
"Well, I guess that solves the mystery." Wendy said.
"Yeah, now maybe we can get paid." Gray said. He started to walk off back to the house, and Wendy and the cats followed him. But after taking just a few steps, Gray stopped. He paused for a moment.
"Wait, do you hear that?" he said. Wendy, Carla and happy all listened intently. "Yeah, I do. Its Warrod, isn't it?" Wendy said. Carla and Happy both confirmed that they heard it too.
"I don't hear anything." Sherry said. "And who's Warrod?"
"Only Fairy Tail mages would hear this." Gray said. "We're being called back. They want us back at the guild asap. Guess we'll have to come back for a reward later." He said.
"You know that guy won't actually pay us, right?" Happy said. Gray and the others headed off back to Fairy Tail, leaving Sherry to her own devices.
Unbeknownst to Gray, and Sherry, and the others there at the lake, they were being watched. But not by human eyes. A short distance away, on a smaller set of rocks near the lake, was a small mechanical creature. It was bronze in color, and had a light magical glow to it. It looked somewhat like a pill bug, but closer to the size of a lobster.
This small, strange creation observed the mages nearby. It watched them. It recorded them. And they never saw it. After Gray and the others left, it continued to observe Sherry Blendy, until she too left.
Back at the Fairy Tail guild, master Makarov was just arriving. He wasn't the only one. Juvia was there, having arrived moments before the master.
"Good, you heard the call." Makarov said.
"Yes. I wasn't far off." Juvia said. "I wonder what information they have. Apparently Mystogan has some information. I've actually never met him."
"Me neither." Another voice said. Makarov and Juvia turned to see that it was Wendy who had spoken. Right behind her were Gray, Happy, and Carla. "He's supposed to be really mysterious. I'm curious to meet him." she said.
"We all arrived together. That's good. Let's not waste any time." Makarov said. He opened the doors and went inside, followed by the others. They found that much of the rest of the guild was already gathered here, and had been for a while. Makarov also noted the presence of Flare, not a member of Fairy Tail.
"What is she doing here?" Makarov said.
"I guess Warrod forgot to mention her." Mirajane said. She walked over to the master. "Master, there's a good reason why she's here. She was attacked, along with some of our own members earlier tonight. She and Levy both told us about it. I'm sure you want to hear it too. And Mystogan has his own story to tell. But he wanted to wait until you got here." Makarov observed Mystogan sitting patiently, without his mask. Wendy was curious, and moved up to see him. And was shocked when she did.
"Wait… is that… Jellal?" She said in a small voice. Mirjane heard her though.
"Don't worry, he's not the Jellal from the tower of heaven. He's different. I'll explain later, but just trust me, he's a different person."
But Wendy continued staring at him, at a loss for words. He saw her, and made eye contact. He opened his mouth to say something. But before he could speak, someone else entered the guild.
"Alright, we're back." Another voice said. This time it was Elfman, accompanied by Evergreen. "What did we miss?" he said.
"I hope this is important." Evergreen said. Mirajane nodded. "It is. Now that everyone's here, let's get this all settled. I guess we should go over what Levy said, just to catch everyone up."
"We're gonna be here all night." Cana said, while grabbing a drink. After that, the late comers were given a somewhat shortened explanation of what Levy had already explained, followed by a summation of Flare's story. Makarov listened intently, although many of the others were distracted since this was now old information for them. Finally, it was Mystogan's turn to speak. He stood up and addressed everyone.
Unlike the others, Mystogan chose not to go into a detailed narrative of what had happened. Instead, he kept it short and to the point, only giving the information he felt was necessary. He told them that he was scouting in Bosco, as he had done a few times before. He told them how he observed a battle between their enemies, called "Shadow Kings", and a rival faction which apparently ran a slave colony. He explained that the Shadow Kings won, and freed the slaves, but only after killing a fair number of people. Finally, he told them about Lisanna. When he got to this part, the guild fell silent. Several heads turned to Mirajane and Elfman.
Elfman was initially silent, but was grimacing and clenching his fists. "Why would you say that?" he said. Mystogan looked at Elfman for a long moment, and then replied, "I say it because its true. I understand how you must feel. But the person I saw, working alongside your enemy, was Lisanna Strauss. I'm sorry." At this point Elfman stood up.
"You're lucky I don't deck you." Elfman said.
"That's enough!" Makarov said. "Elfman, give him a chance to finish explaining." Elfman reluctantly sat down again.
"As we all know, these people have brought animals and in some cases people, back from the dead." Mystogan resumed. "We've seen it before, including when they attacked the guild. Its horrific, but it's a reality we have to face."
"You said Lisanna was walking around normally, and talking to them." Gray said. "That doesn't sound like the undead creatures we've seen. They all seemed pretty mindless."
"That's true." Levy added. "Even the humans we saw seemed to have little or no will of their own. So, even if they could have somehow brought Lisanna back, why would she be so much more lucid and intelligent?" At this point Elfman stood up again.
"You know, you guys could at least have this conversation some other time. Did you ever think of Mira?" he said, sounding more upset than angry at this point. The others looked at Mirajane again, who just sat there with a blank expression on her face.
"Are you okay Mirajane?" Levy asked. Mirajane just stared at the floor. After taking a deep breath, she spoke. "I… don't know. I don't know what to think. I'm going to need some time." Her voice sounded mostly flat. But there was a small, painful tinge of emotion in it too.
"Mira, you don't have to be here for this." Elfman said. "In fact, you and me can go somewhere together."
"Maybe that would be for the best." Makarov said, bowing his head. But Mirajane slowly shook her head. "No. No, I should, I should be here for this. I should. I want to be." She was stammering a little, but made an effort to compose herself. Makarov sighed.
"Mystogan, I want you to explain what you saw of this girl you believe was Lisanna in as much detail as you can. Her appearance, her behavior, everything." Mystogan did as he was asked. He described how her appearance was changed. She now had demonic features, and yet still resembled the Lisanna of old in many ways. She was still able to use her magic, although it too was altered. She appeared to express a full range of emotions, and was able to carry conversations. He relayed all of this to his guildmates. They all listened to this with a wide range of emotions: confusion, fear, anger, sadness.
"The question is: is it really Lisanna?" Gray said. "The same girl who died, and was buried outside Kardia? And if it is, what are we going to do about it?"
Makarov sighed, and said, "I don't know. I can't answer that question tonight. But there is one thing I do know. I've come to an important decision." Makarov stood up, and walked to the center of the room. He wanted everyone to hear what he had to say.
"It was only a few weeks ago that our guild was attacked by these people. These dark mages, or cult, or army. Whatever they are, they are our enemy. And not just us. They've attacked other people too. Guilds, and towns, in Bosco and Fiore. Lives have been lost, and battles have been fought. This has all happened in a short span of time. Although, I know it feels longer."
"This can't go on any longer." Makarov continued. "Up until now, I've hesitated, because our guild was already hurting. I felt that we needed more time to heal. But now it's obvious that we don't have that luxury. This is a threat that needs to be dealt with immediately. And deal with it we will. We're going to take the fight to them." At this point, some of the members were getting riled up by Makarov's speech. The idea of going out and fighting as a guild was appealing to many of those there. But Makarov held up a hand.
"Having said that, I know that this has been a long night for everyone. So, I want you all to get a good night's rest. And then tomorrow morning, we'll make our plans for dealing with this threat moving forward. Is that all clear?" Makarov finished, and he was answered in the affirmative by most of the mages there.
Makarov began to walk off to his private room, but was stopped by Mirajane. "Master, do you have a minute? I'd like to talk with you about Flare." She said.
"Hey Mira, you don't have to worry about that right now." Elfman said. The way he said it, she could tell he was still concerned about her, due to the new information about Lisanna.
"Thanks Elfman, but I promised Flare I would." Mirajane said. Makarov glanced over at Flare, and back to Mirajane. "Alright, if its important. Let's go to my office and talk." Makarov said. They walked off together to the back. Many of the other mages began to disperse as well.
Lucy began to leave as well, but Cana walked over to her. "Hey Lucy, going home?" Lucy was a little surprised by the question.
"Well yeah, its getting late, and I'm kind of tired." Lucy said.
"I know, its just…" Cana said. She wore a look of concern on her face. "Maybe it would be a good idea for you to spend the night here, at the guild. Just in case."
"That's probably not necessary." Lucy said.
"Maybe. But with what you told me earlier, and with what happened tonight, I just feel like it would be safer if you stay here. I'm a little worried, you know? I mean, I'll stay too. I'm sure the master would be okay with it, under the circumstances."
Lucy listened to Cana make her case. Her initial reaction had been to just shrug off Cana's suggestion. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that Cana might have a point. It is dangerous out there, and I don't even feel entirely safe just walking home right now. Of course, I'll have to sooner or later. But for tonight…
"Okay, you win. I'll stay. Just for tonight. Just hope I can get comfortable somewhere." Lucy said.
"Good." Cana replied. "I'll look for blankets and stuff." And she left to do just that. Lucy sat down in a chair, and thought, This really has been a long night.
The following morning, Lucy awoke abruptly. She had been sleeping on a blanket on the floor, which wasn't particularly comfortable. She was used to her soft bed. But the uncomfortable floor wasn't what woke her up. She'd heard something. She slowly got up, and looked around. It was still pretty early, so many people were either still sleeping, or just starting to wake up. A few other people, including Cana and Mirajane, had chosen to sleep in the main hall as well. The two of them were still sleeping soundly.
After a minute passed, Lucy started to feel that she had just been dreaming, and she should try to sleep a little longer. But then she heard something else. What sounded like a voice outside. Lucy remembered that Macao and Wakaba had agreed to watch outside during the night, just in case. Lucy had thought this probably wasn't necessary though. The voice outside sounded angry. Are those two arguing about something? Lucy thought. She decided to go out and take a look.
She walked over to the door of the guild hall, and opened it. While it was early, the sun outside was still bright enough to momentarily blind her, and it took her eyes several seconds to adjust to the change in light. She walked out still half blinded, her pupils adjusting.
"Hey guys, what's going on out here?" she asked. But they didn't answer. Her eyes were now adjusting, and she could see what was in front of her. Although, for a moment she couldn't understand it. She blinked. Standing in front of her was a dark-haired little girl wearing a white robe with symbols on it. The symbols were glowing. That wasn't the most unusual thing.
Behind the little girl was a man in a brown leather mask with strange opaque "eyes" sewn into it. And then, there was what appeared to be some kind of throne. Sitting on the throne was a woman, with long, blond, curly hair. She was tall, with bloodshot eyes, and blue irises. She wore a long, elegant dress, and had an expression that was a cross between amusement and impatience. Beside her, were two large, robed figures, with a purple glow emanating from them. And these two robed figures were both forcefully holding Macao and Wakaba respectively. And the strangest thing of all, was what was behind all of them: it was what appeared to be a large airship, bronze and green in color. It blocked out the view of everything behind it.
Lucy was speechless. The little girl took a few steps forward. "Hey there." She said. "You must be the celestial wizard. I've heard about you. But I guess you don't know me. My name is Seraiisa." Seraiisa bowed. "And this…" she said, indicating the woman on the throne. But the woman held up a hand.
"Thank you Seraiisa, but I'll take it from here." Boudica said, and then turned her attention to Lucy. "You may call me Boudica. Now, let me get straight to the point." As she said this, she leaned forward in her throne, looking like a predator about to pounce. "I want to have a talk with Fairy Tail's master. Right now."
Endnotes: This chapter took longer than usual to write. I'm probably going to take a short break from writing this story now. I don't plan on abandoning the story though. I'm also considering going back and combining chapters 2 and 3 into one. At the time, it made sense to have them separate. But looking back, it seems like it would probably help the pacing and flow of the story for them to just be one chapter.
