Welcome to Fiore Pt. II
The group kept pace with each other as they made their way to the ever-emptying street as the time before the Gildarts shift drew ever so closer. Out of everyone, it seemed that Lelei had been the only one to be short of breath after covering such a distance so fast, but a new surge of energy shot through her as she looked up towards the grand guildhall. The others had also been in awe at the near castle-like building that Fairy Tail called home, many of which thought that the guild building looked far grander than the duchess' manor back in Italica. It was truly a sight to behold and at the front gates, a very tall and muscular man awaited them with a confident smile.
"Didn't think we'd be expecting company, but that hasn't stopped us from celebrating before." He said in the native tongue of Fiore which quickly reminded the others that it took a special type of elixir to allow Mirajane and Makarov to speak to them.
"Visitors from beyond the Gate, here for some "Cultural Exchange" business or whatever," Laxus replied in the same tongue as the large man nodded his head as Mira hopped ahead to stand next to him.
"Everyone, this is my little brother Elfman." She said with a proud smile on her face and plenty of the group had done a double-take at her claim.
"Little brother?" Kuribayashi muttered to Kurokawa as the man looked nearly double of Mira's weight in muscle alone.
"His arms are practically bigger than my leg!" Kurata was aghast by the sheer size of the younger Strauss sibling and couldn't believe the man's frame.
"Now that's a curious thing." Rory could see that the sibling also had a variety of souls within him at his control, the difference with him was that they were very akin to demi-humans.
"What is?" Lelei asked as she could surmise that the white-haired man has something special about his soul by the way Rory and Tuka were looking at him.
"Just wondering what may have happened to all the demi-humans of this world is all," Rory replied and although it was a morbid theory, it was the only one she could work with since it was unclear why there was such a lack of species differential in this world.
The bells rang again, this time in short succession and Makarov knew all too well that his guests needed to stand on the guild's grounds for what was to come next. Quickly, he had them shuffle towards the gates and face the once-bustling city, now turned almost ghost town as the bell's kept ringing in their quick successions. They all knew this had to do with the Gildarts Shift, but no one had given them a proper explanation as to what it was specifically and a sense of excitement welled up in some of the group to see what happens. They watched for anything out of the ordinary within the city, the bells falling silent now and a large grin began to split across Natsu's face as he looked straight ahead into the city.
Itami quickly picked up the sound of gears turning, starting as a low grind as they began to turn until they were almost at the volume of a factory. Those of the Special Region had never heard such sounds before and believed that an other-worldly cataclysm was about to occur, the thought only being reinforced as the ground began to shake beneath their feet. In their fear, Tuka had been the first to point out a section of housing beginning to rise and shift over towards a new position. It was quickly followed by another block; a commercial building, and soon enough sections of the very city were beginning to move about to clear a path. The JSDF themselves were blown away at the sight of a moving city, more like city blocks, and were mesmerized by the way the moving pieces began to fall back into place like a massive puzzle. As the last pieces fell into place, they all had realized that a straight path that led from one of the city entrances to Fairy Tail had opened up.
"That was unbelievable!" Pina said breathless, never imagining such a thing being possible even in her wildest dreams. "So this is the Gildarts Shift."
"You can say that again, I knew I was expecting something magical but a technological feat is just as good," Itami said as they were still decades away from even beginning to think of ways to effectively replicate the Gildarts Shift.
"I guess Alvarez gave you this too, huh?" Kuribayashi said towards the old master who chuckled at her words as he stared off into the distance of the opened path.
"Not really, in fact, the city had built it well over thirty years ago and always keeps it maintained." That was quite the shock that their advanced ally had no hand in making this city-wide contraption, but the question remained as to what its purpose was for.
"Such a mechanism must serve a function, so what may that be, Master Makarov?" Kurokawa asked since such a thing would be costly to maintain and the reason for its creation would equal just as much.
"One would think it was to help traverse materials for the guild's construction efficiently, but it was made for the one person it's named after," Makarov replied as the familiar silhouette of a cloaked man could be seen off in the distance. "A man who could cost the city enough in damages to maintain the Gildarts Shift and have a surplus."
"Geez, this guy must be overwhelmingly powerful if just walking can destroy the city," Kurata said and had realized that it may be a bad idea to have someone like that in your guild that lies at the heart of the city.
"He's not known as the Ace of Fairy Tail for nothing." Natsu chimed in as he hadn't moved his gaze away from the entrance, following the figure's movements as it made its way towards them.
"Though Natsu's right, he was rather "clumsy" many years ago and it was in the city's best interest to limit any accidental damages he'd cause," Makarov added as their guests would come to learn of the Shifts creation from the others over time, so it was best that they learned it from him.
"Wow, so it's like he could sneeze and an entire building would disappear?" Itami said jokingly as being clumsy could mean anything, even the wackiest occurrences.
"Well..."
"I was joking, that really happened!?"
"There's plenty of fun stories like that to learn about, so let's head inside to learn a few, okay?' Mira said as she went back to Makarov's side and began pushing his wheelchair towards the guild's main doors.
"Mira's right, I'm sure you'll all have a blast inside the guild, and besides, it'll be a while before Gildarts gets here," Lucy said as Lelei was the first to move and follow after the white-haired woman, Tuka, and Rory not far behind her.
"And what of Natsu, will he not join us?" Hamilton asked to no one in particular as the dragon slayer's gaze never waved from Gildart's form.
"Go on ahead, I've been itching to see that old man again." The pink-haired slayer said confidently as the petite knight gave him one last look before following after the others.
The first thing the visitors were treated to was a rowdy group of people having the time of their lives in a near party sensation as people drank, talked, and played happily with each other. Much to Itami's slight disappointment, there weren't that many pointy hatted and staff-wielding magic users that he expected to see. His disappointment aside, the Japanese were quite taken aback by the almost palpable feeling of being welcomed into the Fairies' home so readily which became apparent when someone pointed out that their guildmates had returned.
A jovial cry rang out that felt as if the whole building began to shake just from them welcoming back old friends, which also included a display of magic that reminded some of the JSDF of summer festivals back home. It was quite the welcome and by the looks of it, the other girls felt even more out of place by the carefree attitudes that the mages around them seemed to have. Tuka stepped closer to Itami since she had no real idea on how she was supposed to carry herself around such people and Rory was impressed that she hadn't been asked about her style of dress.
Then again, her clothes didn't seem to be too out of place after taking a look around and noticing the various things people wore. Like one woman who wore what she learned to be called a bikini top and a man dressed as a knight, with minimal armor if that's what he was supposed to be. Rory wondered what lead to some of their clothing choices, but was curious when a family of three stood side by side with hands at the ready at their sides.
The woman in the middle called something out as three circular disks of ice flew overhead and in the instant that Rory saw them, they exploded into tiny pieces like snow. She turned to look at the family to see each of them wielding guns; from the father all the way to the daughter, which caught the surprise of one of the JSDF women. Kurokawa couldn't believe how fast a quick draw the little girl was, a sharpshooter to boot, but mostly the fact that she could wield a weapon so well.
"Quick on the draw as always and it looks like Asuka's gotten the hang of your old magic revolver, Alzack," Gray said in the regular Fiorean tongue since this family test they proposed to him months ago was the first in weeks since his departure for the Special Region.
"I know that we've already seen weapon magic because of their army, but I didn't expect a guild mage's gun to be so..." Kuribayashi began as she took an interest at each of the guns the family wielded, which she was certain had an Earth companion to it.
"Familiar." Itami finished off Kuribayashi's words and had to agree as the family's armament could easily be mistaken for any back on Earth, although none seemed to have a Japanese influence on them.
"Aside from the unbelievable resemblance, it is quite off-putting seeing a little girl holding a revolver so easily," Kurokawa added to the conversation as the medic felt quite certain that girls her age wouldn't be so quite adept to wield such a firearm or even any for that matter.
"I can understand if it is a little unsettling to see but they are Fiore's best gun fighting family," Mira interjected as she believed the soldiers were giving unsure opinions about her friends in their native language.
"So, they each have a good skill set with magic guns?" Kurokawa asked, although her concern was more towards the little girl who had the dexterity to do a gun spin into her holster.
"Of course; Alzack Connell is the fastest draw and caster this side of Ishgar, his wife Bisca is the undefeated sharpshooter in almost all of Fiore and little Asuka has a natural talent for both of her parents' skills," Makarov answered as he looked on with prideful eyes towards the parents who were busy praising their daughter's marksmanship.
"With high praise coming from their guild master, I can't wait to see their skills in action," Kuribayashi said as Mira wheeled the aging master over towards the family as Asuka had pointed out his return. "The only thing that still gets to me though, is the fact that they're all dressed like a family straight out of one of those American Western movies with more liberty in the way the girls are dressed." She added in a whisper towards Itami as the petite soldier noticed Lucy walk off to catch up with a blue-haired young woman.
"That same thought had crossed my mind just now, but I don't think personal style is something that they primarily focus on though," Itami replied as he noticed how unique everyone was dressed within the guild and yet, none looked strangely out of place.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, but if I'm not mistaken, I think that toddler is eating a small sheet of metal." Tomita had his eyes on a peculiar child that was happily enjoying metal like a treat and wanted to confirm with the others that this was indeed what he was seeing.
"No kidding and she's cutting into it like bread, the kid's got a serious bite," Itami replied as the blue-haired woman talking with Lucy bent down to pick up the toddler in her arms but shifted his attention when Pina began to tug at his sleeve.
"Sir Itami, are you not the least surprised by such a sight!?" Pina exclaimed as such a bizarre sight has never happened before in her lifetime or even that of the Empire's, especially if it looks as if the individual was enjoying a pastry.
"It's more to do with the fact that we've seen something similar that our reaction is a bit subdued." Itami replied as the little girl finished the last of her metal, though he showed much more surprise when the blue-haired young woman wrote the word "metal" in the air and a heavy thunk sound followed after it hit the floor.
"Now that's different," Kuribayashi said as she removed her gaze from the solid form of a word that looked exactly like it was made of its material.
"You can say that again, but something tells me that they aren't aware of the fact that they wrote in English just now," Itami added as he's seen the common language of Fiore all over the place that was made of characters he couldn't understand, but that was undoubtedly English.
"You've got a point, Lieutenant, the FEF has shown us that there wasn't a language they were familiar with from our world so the question is how that woman knows how to write in English?" Tomita added as the blue-haired woman had done it so casually, no doubt it being her magical affinity for it, but it still posed the question of how it exists in this world.
"Aside from that, what do you believe is the limitation for her magic?" Kurokawa posed the question that truly needed to be addressed as turning words into solid objects can completely change a situation based on its versatility. "With her… "Word Magic", she could have the potential to copy an advanced technology just by writing it out."
"Best case scenario; the girl can write simple objects and give them shape and worst case; she could create far more technical things and have them at the palm of her hands, right?" Kuribayashi offered and Itami gave her an acknowledging head nod as such a magical ability could prove extremely useful.
"And to think I held the foolish notion that their magic would behave to the extent of how the Lieutenant and Kurata had clamored on about." Tomita said with a hint of remorse as he had the thought that those two were the leading "experts" in terms of the realm of fantasy.
"Hey now, I've read plenty of material in my time and even those don't have something as Word Magic existing." Itami defended his hobby as there are things he may not know of, but before he could refute further, a large explosion was heard outside.
"Laki, prepare for the damages," Makarov said tiredly in the Fiorean tongue to a young woman with glasses who nodded her head and stepped off to the side.
The visitors watched as the guild began to clear certain areas while carrying on with their conversations until a loud crash rang out. Something was falling through the various layers on top of the ceiling before a mass with pink hair crashed hard into one of the tables. A few short coughs escaped the dragon slayer's mouth as he began to sit upright, a hand coming to rub his sore stomach. It was quite the sight for the visitors who've never seen the young man hurt before, even after the battles he'd been through.
Pina almost left herself agape at the fact that Natsu was actually hurt, unable to believe someone as formidable as him could feel pain. To think there was someone out there with even greater power than a dragon was a nightmare waiting to happen if they were let loose on the Empire. She willed herself to turn around when the doors slammed open behind the group, hoping that there was some way this could all end peacefully.
She watched as a lean but muscular man walked into the guild, a tattered dark gray cloak covered his body that only left his orange hair to contrast it. His eyes were sharp and calculating as he took in the sight of all the newcomers, the man's eyes falling onto Gray who seemed to shrink just a little underneath his gaze before he moved on. Pina tried her best to keep her hand from shaking as he began to look at her party, feeling a sense of dread loom over her as an indescribable pressure befell her. The best she could think of was that it was suffocating as if there was nothing around her but the man's presence. It wasn't long before the feeling dissipated and a sense to choke overcame her group, but Pina made sure that they kept their composure as the man went over to stand before the old master.
The redhead watched as the man crossed his arms with one encased in armor as his gaze was met by the old guild master. The orange-haired man held no malice in his gaze but was filled with disappointment and Makarov responded with a tired sigh. Pina knew that this man had to be the Gildarts that an entire city had to be mobilized when he arrived. Makarov and the ace of Fairy Tail exchanged a few words before Mira had given him the same orb they had consumed when they first met them in the castle.
"I'm out of it for a few months and all of a sudden, Fairy Tail's been plunged into another war." Gildarts began, turning to face the group as Pina had now realized that both Lelei and Tuka were struggling to stand on their own. "I don't make threats, I make promises and I promise you that if either of you drags my little girl into this then there won't be anyone left to fight your war."
The pressure returned once again and this time even the JSDF felt it as Kuribayashi instinctively went to position her rifle for combat, but Itami quickly lowered her weapon. Pina could see a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his head and knew that this was truly a serious situation they were in.
"That's enough, Gildarts." Makarov calmly said as he drew closer towards the powerful man.
"Is it though?" He questioned, but seemed to back off on his silent offensive as things simmered down.
"There is still much that needs to be done, but these two parties come in peace. They understand that the fighting must stop before things get further out of hand." Makarov replied as Gildarts narrowed his eyes and ultimately relented, now standing beside the aging master almost like a bodyguard.
"I'm sure it's become rather obvious by now, but allow me to formally introduce the ace of Fairy Tail; Gildarts Clive."
"My, don't you ooze power, it's rather different to that of Natsu's." Rory was the first to speak up and although her voice was sickly sweet, an undertone of challenge could be subtly picked up.
"Believe me, this power is far more capable than you think." Gildarts retorted as he could sense the faint sense of something beyond the mortal plane that seemed to permeate the little girl's being, though he felt far more danger from Acnologia than her.
"Willing to wager your words?" Rory offered as she truly wished to test the might of the strongest of Fairy Tail.
"I've got more important things to care about over having to prove my words and besides, you'll find a fairer fight against Natsu than me." Gildarts was no fool to know when someone was gauging his abilities, so he wasn't going to be playing her game.
"Party pooper…" Rory muttered as she backed off her egging on of the orange-haired man.
Itami couldn't have been happier knowing that Rory was shot down, unsure how things would've turned out if they had come to blows. The Japanese soldier knew that Natsu was formidable and he hasn't seen anything like him on the battlefield that wasn't his ally, but it was a hard pill to swallow seeing him in such a state after confronting Gildarts. A combination of things could've happened in their engagement and the result was that Natsu was blown away with enough force to come crashing through the ceiling. There was a pain growing in his stomach of having to keep a mindful eye on Fairy Tail's battle junkie and the very person who could put him in his place almost easily.
"My reckless years are behind me, more so now that I have a family I'm not willing to lose," Gildarts said as he eyed over the bar behind the group, happy to see a certain brunette who rolled her eyes at him.
"Understandable, parents would want to do their all to protect their children," Kurokawa said as she drew his attention back to them.
"Then you understand how dangerous it is for this war of yours to continue, especially when there's already a dragon daddy fighting for Fiore," Gildarts said as the lingering thought was confirmed of who the toddler's father was, though it was rather obvious given all the clues.
"Please understand that we would want nothing more than this conflict to be resolved and rebuild our old way of life," Kurokawa said as the older man kept an unchanging look of scrutiny to her. "If you'll excuse me, I must attend to two of our companions who've seemed to have fallen ill."
Kurokawa politely excused herself with a bow as she made her way over to Lelei and Tuka whose pale appearances drew her concern. Added to the fact that Tomita had to assist Lelei to an available seat as she was giving her all to support herself with her staff. Tuka was no different as she had been using Itami to keep herself standing, Kuribayashi coming to her aid to help her sit beside the mage girl. The medic had theorized that whatever the pressure the man seemed to exude was felt much more powerfully to the two with the most magical affinity, Kurokawa could only assume how devastating it was to stand before such a presence.
"I was close that time, Gildarts!" Natsu exclaimed as he had finally regained his second wind, marching up to the group with a hand still over his abdomen.
"Good job, you managed to push me twelve steps back so you're slowly regaining your power," Gildarts replied but a hardened glare overtook his features once again as he eyed the dragon slayer. "But you and I need to have a chat soon."
Natsu could recall that tone of the older man and a sudden shiver ran up his spine at an old memory of his. He wouldn't cower as he had done before, but there was a sudden numbness to his legs that planted him in place. He was far from the wizard who was given the reality check of the difference between his power and Gildarts', but he has to live with the fact that the gap returned when he lost Igneel's power. He made it his own over the years and has been regaining that pinnacle point of his power again, but there was still more training to do before he could readily stand at the orange-haired man's side as an equal more so as a better. For all his powers, Natsu always thought of Gildarts as being the peak he needed to reach as a human before advancing towards Igneel's strength.
He was close to that peak years ago during the Alvarez war, but he had to sacrifice so much of his all and that of the other dragon slayers that it had set him back in the end. He spent so long training to get himself back and it only served to make him angry that he didn't reach it in time. If he had, then the Imperials would've never survived to retreat to the Gate in the first place. Those were his thoughts and feelings as he put up his resolve against Gildarts' glare, against the one person everyone should fear when he gets serious.
"Perhaps it would be best for you to have that conversation now. With Natsu currently caring for his injury, there would be much more conversation than fists flying." Makarov said as more of an order than a suggestion, leaving no room to argue as Gildarts let out a sigh and began walking away.
Of course, he didn't forget to grab the dragon slayer on his way out. Pulling him by the collar as the dragon slayer tried to wiggle his way out as they went away.
"Please forgive his attitude, Gildarts is a seasoned mage and has watched over a majority of these brats since they were children," Makarov said towards his guests who were still stunned from the experience.
"Almost like an overprotective father, makes sense," Itami said as his behavior took it to the extreme but knew it was better not to test the veteran mage on his resolve.
"More like fun-loving uncle ever since he reunited with his daughter, for who he solely acts like an overprotective father for," Makarov said with a slight chuckle although the image of a fun-loving uncle was hard to imagine after how serious Gildarts had been.
"So, it's safe to assume that his daughter isn't part of the FEF?" Kuribayashi asked as the last thing the JSDF needed to worry about was a rampaging father who's no doubt far deadlier than what they've seen thus far of Fiore's forces.
"I limited the amount of participation that Fairy Tail would have in this conflict to a small and capable team. Many followed in volunteering when Natsu made his stand to be a part of it, though I understood the fury in their hearts, I couldn't send so many of my own to take up arms again in good conscience." Makarov said as he could still think of a few times where some of his brats tried to go even after the team had been selected.
"If what they've shown so far is any indication, your mages are more than capable," Itami said as he remembered the Battle of Italica and how it was a one-sided fight thanks to the mages. "It looked like they've dealt with much worse than bandits with numbers."
"Believe me that our guild has had our fair share of run-ins with forces far beyond a simple empire and its soldiers." Makarov knew what he was doing when he said that and although it seemed like a burden upon the princess' shoulders, it was best for her to understand the situation with Fairy Tail.
"Forgive me for being forward, Master Makarov, but do you believe that the Empire is a simple matter that stands before your guild." Panache couldn't stand for his words that her Empire was "simple", though she realized a beat too slow that her pride was going to cause trouble for her princess.
"My words may be harsh but the reality of the situation is that had I not interfered as much as I did, the vanguard would've simply consisted of all my S-Class mages without restrictions. Only supported by retrieval teams to scour through the remnants of the destruction and be escorts of the captives." It was a plan he had thought of if Queen Hisui pushed for their absolute involvement in the war, knowing that his brats would avoid harming innocents and look after the captives on their own until reinforcements would come to pick them up and they would move on.
"S-Class mage?" Hamilton asked curiously as she understood it to be a rank, but was only familiar with the ranks of Apprentice, Master, and Elder amongst the mage community, though she hadn't noticed Itami's eyes light up at the old master's words.
"It is a rank a mage can obtain within a guild, usually the highest tiered member. If they show signs of even greater ability and it shows, they can be asked to join the Ten Wizard Saints." Makarov answered, stopping himself from going into a long-winded explanation of their tier system that he believed his visitors wouldn't want to hear.
"So who are your S-Class mages?" Kuribayashi was curious to know which mages were considered the best of the best in Fairy Tail, more so since she had a feeling the really big guy they met out front was no doubt one.
"That would be Laxus, Erza, Mirajane, Gajeel, Natsu, Gray, and Cana." Makarov listed off and he could tell by the slight disbelief that they had caught on to the fact that the main team that he sent consisted mostly of S-Class mages.
"Wait, you're an S-Class mage!?" Kuribayashi was shocked to know that the elegant and lady-like white-haired woman was considered one of the tops of Fairy Tail.
"Why yes, though I'm not as active as I used to be," Mira said with a smile and the surprised expressions appeared on the Imperials at the idea of her being on the level of a warrior like the War Maiden.
"Of her generation, Laxus was the first to obtain S-Class though she is one of the youngest in history to obtain the rank," Makarov said as Pina was afraid of any of her knights who'd ask how old she was when she was granted her rank.
"I've got to know, how old were you when you became S-Class?" Kurata was the one to ask as most games he's played always depicted mages who receive high ranks at young ages as naturally gifted magic users.
"I was sixteen when I passed the trials, the record holder who has the title of youngest S-Class mage is Erza at fifteen," Mira replied and Kurata understood that young would mean anything, but that's practically a high schooler.
"Is she a Shonen protagonist or something?" Itami whispered towards his otaku ally, coming to the same conclusion as most of their interactions with the redhead often show others relying on her guidance and standing at the forefront of helping those in need.
"Many here have a story to tell of their adventures, but perhaps it would be best to learn for yourselves rather than stay here with us. First impressions are key and this could be an excellent opportunity to learn some new things for yourselves." The group looked at each other with uncertainty at his words, but Rory was the first to take the plunge and made her way towards Laxus who was speaking with an odd trio of people.
Kuribayashi followed suit as she went to look for the sharpshooting family from earlier to learn a bit more on magic guns, deciding to drag Tomita with her since Kurokawa was still looking after Lelei and Tuka. She also asked for Mira to tag along to translate or give the family one of those pills they have to speak the language of the Special Region. Pina and her knights went on to find Lucy since she was the only person they felt comfortable speaking with, plus she was the only one available that could talk to them. That left just Itami and Kurata as the only ones left with Makarov, though this was something that the Japanese man was hoping for since he needed advice and believed that the most aged magic users were quite wise.
Makarov has already shown his wisdom and would be grateful for any advice the guild master would give him and though he would've preferred to do this in private, he had to let Kurata stay since he couldn't send him off to be with Gray. Mainly because they had no idea where the ice mage went off to and it would be bad to have his private wandering around the guild with no way to speak with anyone. Itami just hoped he could finally find a way to resolve the Tuka situation without putting himself out in the forefront since the last thing he wanted to do was break the last straw tying the elf to reality.
A/N: Hey everyone, been a while since I've done one of these segments, but I thought it was best to add this for future reference. I've been moving forward with some things and has now taken up most of my time, but don't fret since I won't be giving up this story as the most enjoyable thing I love is writing. The uploads will come at a much slower rate compared to earlier in the year, but they will come when I have the chance to work on them. To give some insight as to what's to come, these next installments will primarily be filler and stepping stones to progress certain subplots forward and give our cast a chance to experience the guild of Fairy Tail. Giving the opportunity of touching upon certain details that haven't had a chance to be addressed and, you guessed it, character growth.
I'll be honest, it might very well be boring compared to those moments where the FEF had shown what they're made of, so I won't mind if anyone does what a normal person would do and skip over the filler. Fair warning though; there might be callbacks in later chapters or a series of events that were covered and led into them from those filler chapters. Just in case there's confusion as to how something has happened with no prior indication, just like other things that have been set in motion in the background throughout the story.
Once these segments are all complete and we make our way back into the Special Region, this A/N will be deleted so the flow of the chapters remains uninterrupted. Alternately, I could leave an A/N at the end of the next chapter to reply to a review relating to the previous one(s). I'll let the majority answer whether there should be interaction or the chapters should flow seamlessly like they have been doing.
Hoped you enjoyed this overdue chapter and see you in the next one.