Chapter 29
(Soldiers Barracks, Edolas Castle)
"Alright boys! Up and attem!" A man dressed in an Edolas army uniform called out as the dozens of bunks came to life and hundreds of identically dressed soldiers began lined up in front of their beds. "Alright Men! Listen up! We are about to enter in Edolas' long history of prosperity as our king is ready to supply us with decades of magic power but that doesn't mean our work is anywhere near done. We have no idea what those Fairy Tail terrorists are planning and we have to be ready for anything. You are the first line of defense protecting or magnificent king and in extension Edolas itself. Do you men understand me?!"
"SIR! YES SIR!" The masked guards answered in unison.
"Good, now get yourselves down to Mess. Breakfast is at seven!" The Barracks captain declared as the soldiers began to march out but then the captain reached out his hand and stopped one of the passing soldiers. "Not you…" He said somberly. "Captain Knightwalker would like to see you in her chambers." The captain put a sympathetic hand on the masked soldier's shoulder. "Captain Knightwalker would like to see you this morning after the incident yesterday. She likes to look people in the eye when she talks to them so you can leave your helmet here…. I'm... so sorry…"
The soldier returned to his bunk and slowly removed his helmet letting his messy white hair fall out and Mason looked back with a satisfied grin on his face. "Oh don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine." Mason's eyes flashed a menacing red and the flash echoed in the captain's eyes.
When the captain looked at Mason he didn't see the snowy haired, teenaged Dragon Slayer but rather a significantly older, adult man with brown hair styled into a soldier's buzz cut. "You think so?... Well I hope you're right for your sake..."
'Man this is just too easy..' Mason thought to himself as he marched down the castle corridors on his way to his meeting with Erza Knightwalker. 'I've dialed back my Fear spell into just a basic illusion spell that changes up my voice and appearance so that I look like one of those soldiers from the plane. Wizards back in earthland wouldn't be fooled by a spell this weak but these edolas guys don't seem to have any magic power so they can't defend themselves from my attack.' Mason smirked as he pushed open the door to captain Knightwalker's office. 'Now all I gotta do is keep up the mind games till I get the info I need then I'll go and save the guild. Like taking candy from a baby.'
"Welcome…" The room was dark, the only light coming from two candles that sat on a large black desk where Knightwalker sat, forebodingly. Her chair was more like an evil throne and mounted beast heads decorated the four walls. "I've been expecting you…" She said, not bothering to lift her head up to look at the boy.
"Yes it's an Honor to meet you Miss Knightwalker." Mason in his soldier illusion bowed before a captain. 'Wow, it's almost unbelievable how similar she looks to the Erza I know but in this world she took the military route. "Captain Erza", now that's scary no matter what world you live in.' Mason thought as he pulled out the chair in front of captain Knightwalker's desk.
"WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO SIT DOWN?!" Knightwalker roared, causing Mason to jump nervously.
"S-Sorry…" He whimpered as he slowly backed away.
"... Now…. You may sit…" Knightwalker declared getting Mason to sweat nervously but he took a seat nonetheless. "So you're the man who managed to survive the fiery crash that killed three other people including an Earthland Wizard who supposedly possessed internal magic power. Now I don't believe in trivial things such as good luck and I have my own theories as to why you of all people are sitting here today and let's just say it's...suspicious." The crimson haired captain's eyes narrowed. "So here's your chance to explain yourself and provide your story of what happened on that plane. Let's hope you've got a good one."
'Sorry "Erza" but it's in my best interest to keep that info to myself but there is something I'd like to talk about but for that I need to get into your head.' Mason's focus tightened as his eyes began to glow ruby red. 'Masters of Phantom Magic like my old man can fully possess their opponents' minds and bodys. That technique takes a few hundred years of practice to be something actually worth utilizing but just with my illusion spell I can execute a much simpler version of that spell. I can make suggestions and using my illusion magic I can make her brain think that it's something she'd actually like to talk about. Let's hope this works!' Mason's eyes twitched as he tried to work his way into the edolas girl's mind. "Tell me about the king and the Lacrima!"
Mason's voice seemed to echo through the room and Knightwalker's eyes darkened and her voice went monotoned. "The lacrima was summoned from another world using the King's Anima system. The lacrima is made up of wizards we pulled from that alternate world and we plan to use it to replenish our magic supplies for the foreseeable future."
'Yeah I already knew all of that already but at least I've got her talking hopefully I can keep this up.' Mason continued to push his spell further. "When does the king plan on draining the lacrima?"
"As soon as we can…" The parallel Erza answered. "We can't effectively execute our plan and drain Lacrima's power without using the Dragon Chain Cannon and for that we need to capture the Dragon Slayers and drain their magic power."
"Dragon Slayers? What the hell do dragon slayers have to do with any of this and what's a Dragon Chain Cannon?" Mason scratched his chin for a moment before going back to the source. "Elaborate. What do you mean?"
"I cannot.." She answered getting Mason to raise an eyebrow. "The only ones with that information are Byro, our chief of staff, or the King himself."
'Well that complicates things. I can't exactly try and use my mind trick on the king with all his guards around so my best bet is to target this Byro guy but I have no idea where to find the guy.' Mason thought as a pained expression came over his face before noticing the hypnotised edolas captain sitting in front of him and a grin began to form. "Take me to Byro." Mason commanded as he congratulated himself. 'Too easy…'
"I refuse Earthland Wizard." Erza's deadpan broke, bringing Mason back down to earth and getting his eyes to widen in realization. "You've underestimated me. No one controls MY thoughts. I answered your questions because I knew it wouldn't matter in the long run and you confirmed my fear." Erza stood up and pulled out a long spear with four jagged blades at the end from under her desk and pointed it at Mason. "This is the end of line for you, prepare to face the might of Edolas."
Mason's fight or flight reflex immediately kicked in as he lept back away from Erza and dispelled his illusion and began charging magic into his fists. "Guess I did underestimate you, my bad. Should've expected more from Erza, no matter what world we're in."
"Oh…. You're HIS counterpart.." Knightwalker made a disgusted face as Mason revealed his true appearance but then a vicious smile formed on her mouth. "It'll be fun separating your disgusting head from your body." Knightwalker lunged forward with her spear but her attack passed straight through her opponent's torso. "What the?!"
"You see. It sucks when you come up with a plan and it falls through. Now you know how I feel."Mason taunted as he extended his arm, pointing his palm directly in Erza's face. "PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!"
Mason unleashed an energy blast point blank that not only knocked the Edolas Captain back but destroyed her office. "Ughhh…." Erza was slow to get up after the surprise attack and by the time she managed to climb to her knees Mason was ready with another magic blast aimed at her head.
"Not so fast…." The dragon slayer grinned figuring he still held the upper hand. "Well if my illusions won't work then I'll have to resort to good old fashioned force. Now you're gonna help me get my friends back or else I'm not sure you'll ever walk again…" Mason threatened with serious glare.
"Helping you would mean dooming my country and betraying my king!" Knightwalker lifted her head and looked directly at the magic blast aimed at her. "I'd rather die!" She growled but Mason's magic grew in size, startling the commander a bit.
"Well I'm not gonna kill you but I'm warning you this is gonna hurt…." The power continued to build in Mason's shot until "PHANTOM DRAGON! SHO-" ZAAAAPPPP! Mason was interrupted as a black pole made contact with the boy's back and a strage white energy surged from the rod into Mason, destroying his magic and rendering the boy unconscious.
THUD! The pole struck the ground behind the collapsed dragon slayer and it was revealed to be a long black scythe with a glowing white blade and holding the strange weapon was a person whose face and figure were covered by a pitch black cloak with golden trimmings.
"So you've been there the whole time?" Erza asked as she lifted herself back to her feet but the cloaked individual remained quiet. "I'm tempted to ask who gave you permission to lerk within my office but in this case I suppose it doesn't matter does it? Reaper?"
As Erza addressed the mysterious visitor Mason slowly began to regain consciousness and he instinctively took a sniff of the air SNIFF! SNIFF "Huh? No way… It can't be?.." Mason muttered in shock but regardless he had no plans of sticking around to further investigate the strange scent. As soon as he became cognitive enough he attempted to escape, turning himself invisible but this attempt would be quickly thwarted as the cloaked figure slammed the pole end of his scythe down on the invisible Mason resulting in another ZAAAAPPPPP! "AAAAAHHHHHAAAAHHH!" Mason roared as he was forced to be visible once again by the strange power of the scythe but this time the Reaper continued to press his scythe even after Mason hand been rendered immobile, prolonging the pain for a number of seconds. "AAAAHHHHAAAAAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He continued to scream.
After a few seconds of nonstop zapping Erza eventually intervened. "ENOUGH!" She declared and the reaper ceased his attack. "The king may still need this one alive if we are unable to obtain the other dragon slayers. So no "playing" with this one…"
"My bad. I seemed to have lost my composure for a minute, miss knightwalker." A familiar voice echoed from under the cloak. "But can you blame me?" The reaper continued as he began to pull down his hood revealing an all too familiar mop of messy white hair. "It's not everyday you get the chance to kill yourself and live to talk about it." He said as he lifted up the unconscious Mason by the back of the head to compare the similarities in their identical faces.
(Later…)
Mason laid unconscious on a dirty gray mattress on the top bunk of a stone prison cell complete with metal bars, a single sink and toilet at the back of the cell and a leaky dripping roof.
Drip! A small droplet of water dripped down from the ceiling and landed on the boy's face. "Mmmmm…." He muttered as he began to stir from his slumber before quickly regain consciousness "What the?! Where am OWWW!" THUD! As Mason quickly tried to sit up he slammed his head on the cell roof before rolling off the bunk. WHAMMM! "Oww…." He muttered again, this time muffled by his face being pressed against the hard stone floor.
Mason picked himself up and made his way to the prison bars, not noticing the strange lumpy mass concealed under the sheets of the bottom bunk nor the collar with the strange red gem that found itself around the boy's neck. Mason looked out through the bars at an empty hallway and across from it was a long row of empty cells. The hallway was empty as well but this didn't stop Mason from seeking answers. "HELLO!" Mason yelled down the hallway getting the lump on the bottom bunk to move slightly. "HELLO! HELLO! ANYBODY THERE?! WHERE AM I?!"
'Okay, so it's pretty obvious where I am. I'm in jail.' Mason thought as he pressed his head up against the steel bars. 'And I know why I'm here but still, somethings up about this place. Where is everyone and how long have I been out?... Doesn't matter I'll just phaze myself through the bars and then I'll figure stuff out from there.' Mason began to slip through the bars with ease but when it came time for Mason's collar to leave the cell a powerful electric shock surge through the wizards body. ZAAAAPP! "AAAAHHHAAAAHHH!"
"Grrr…." The being from beneath the sheets began to growl as Mason fell to his knees.
"Uggghhh…." Mason groaned as he picked himself back up. "What the hell was thammmmm…" Mason was quickly silenced as a pillow hit his face.
"Hey asshole." A familiar voice called out as Brosnan sat up on the bottom bunk only she was dressed in a bodysuit divided into two pieces with an opening that showed off her midriff, her hair was tied up into a ponytail and there was a golden Fairy Tail guild mark at the button of her neck on the right side, mirroring the place where Mason's own guild mark was located and she wore a matching collar. "Why the hell would you think it's a good idea to make so much noise first thing in the…. Morning…" Her eyes widened as the pillow fell off of Mason's face.
Mason went silent as well once his eyes met hers. He was rendered speechless being met with one of the last faces he thought he'd be seeing but then his eyes fell on the familiar guild mark and everything began to make sense. "Oh you're the Edolas WOAH!" Mason just managed to duck underneath a spin kick aimed for his head.
"How dare you EVER show your face to me again!" She roared as she tried to slam another kick into her fellow captive but Mason managed to block it with his arm. "You're gonna pay!" She didn't let up, this time a jump kick but her attacked passed directly through the phantom dragon slayer and she smashed her foot into the toilet, shattering the porcelain and creating a water spout in the cell.
"Wait!...Gah…. Stop!... Hah!... Hold on!" Mason tried to calm down the violent girl in order to explain things but he had his hands full blocking her flurry of jabs and kicks. 'Ugh.. This is getting nowhere.' Mason's eyes flashed purple as he extended his hand and a small veil of purple magic formed around brosnan and she was frozen in place before mason lifted her up into the air. "Whew…. Glad that worked. A spell like that would've just pissed off the othe Brosnan…."
"Is this magic?…. Did you say other Brosnan?" Brosnan muttered before putting things together herself as she spotted the guild mark on Mason's own neck. "So you must be from earthland. Alright go ahead and put me down, I'll stop beating you up."
"Huh? Who are you to tell me what to do? And you didn't even lay a hit on me." Mason argued back but Brosnan didn't react.
"Are you serious? Let me go I'm not gonna fight you and you clearly need help getting out of here, why are you trying to argue." She stated getting a bead of sweat to drip down Mason's face.
"Ahem! Sorry, you're right." Mason released his telekinetic hold and lowered the girl back to the ground. "You just sound so much like my Brosnan that I resorted to old habits."
"Your Brosnan? So are you and the me from Earthland an item." She asked in her matter of fact way of speaking causing Mason's face to go red immediately.
"AH! NO WAY! Not that monster…" Mason muttered sending chills down his spine. "Ughh… Scary…."
"Scary? That's not very nice." Brosnan answered blankly. "Me and the Mason from here used to date so it's not that weird."
"AHHYAHAHA! I don't need to hear it." Mason covered his ears and turned around to hide his blush. "Anyway you said you could help me get out of here? Where is here anyway? If this is jail why isn't there anyone else in any of these cells? And why-"
"Hold up!" Brosnan interrupted holding a finger out to silence the earthland wizard. "That's three questions, that's alot already and I'm not gonna answer them in order." She said with a straight face that got Mason to raise a confused eyebrow. "Second question first, this is a special holding facility apart from the castle dungeons but still in the capital this is where they keep prisoners designated to be executed, death's row is what it's called."
"Death's row?..." This time it was Mason who interrupted. "But this still doesn't explain why OOFF!" Mason roared as Brosnan pinched his sighed.
"I'm getting there! Didn't anyone teach you it was rude to interrupt?" Brosnan scolded not seeing the irony in her words. "Anyway third question, second. The reason it's so empty in here is because the executioner is so good at his job you and I are lucky we got to spend the night. Most prisoners don't get that long."
"Spend the night? When I went to visit Knightwalker it was early in the morning that means I've been unconscious for a whole day. OOOF!" It wasn't a pinch, this time Brosnan drove her foot into the Dragon Slayer's stomach, knocking him to the ground and shutting him up.
"Now I'll continue." She said crossing her arms in frustration. "First question last. When I said I could help you escape I meant "could" in the sense that it's possible I can help you get out of here not "could" in the sense I can definitely help you escape."
"Great…." Mason groaned. "But I'm not sure I'll even need your help busting out of here." Mason smirked "If I can't phase through the bars I'll blast them down! STAND BACK! PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!" Mason put his palms together and fired a massive energy blast directly at the steel bars KABOOM! His attack was successful as the bars were disintegrated by his magic power. "Hahaha… See ya later! I'm out of here." Mason sprinted for his newly created exit.
"Oh wait…." Brosnan tried to speak up but it was too late. ZAP! Just as Mason passed the threshold of his cell another massive shock was sent through his body and he was stopped right before the exit. "Guess I should've spoken up sooner. That's not gonna work…"
"Oh…. Now you tell me…" Mason groaned as he coughed up a small puff of smoke.
(End)
