A/N: And I'm back with a new chapter! CHA!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 39: The Tsar Weapons

April 16, X792 - Evening

The sailing guild had been on course for the next island of Pluvia, Matilda stating that they should reach it by morning at the latest since they had been on the far end of Tonituri. But Cordelia didn't seem to mind it so much since it would give her mages a night of rest along with allowing her to get some business done on the guild.

She was currently heading towards her first stop of the night - Vi's workshop. She was making her way through the maze of stairs and narrow hallways, hoping that Vi had been able to fully repair her Tsar Cannon. She was also thankful that she had been able to slip away from everyone for the moment or else Vi would have to deal with a herd of people following her into the workshop, which the crafter was never too pleased about. More people only meant more nuisances getting in the way of her work, and while Vi didn't consider Cordelia a nuisance, she did put many of the people Cordelia hung around in that category. So it was always much easier if Cordelia managed to slip into the workshop by herself. So she grinned over her own ninja skills when she came to stand in front of the open doorway that led into Vi's place.

Cordelia peeked her head inside first to see if the woman was in the first section of her shop. Though, there was no one in sight as she fully stepped into the place, but she could see light coming from the back room that she did most of her work in and she could heard tools being clanked around as well. After glancing around at some of the work hanging in the first section of the shop, Cordelia made her way towards the back room, figuring that Vi wouldn't mind her dropping in.

As soon as Cordelia stepped into the back room, her eyes grew wide at the sight before her. There sat her Tsar Cannon in pristine condition as if it had just been completed for the first time. It shined and sparkled in the lighting of the room, looming over Cordelia as if the weapon carried a confidence all of its own. Sparkles ignited in Cordelia's eyes as excitement flooded through her. She threw her hands outwards as she ran towards it, not being able to take it anymore.

"My baby!" she shouted as she jumped on top of it and hugged it, "You're looking better than ever! I knew Auntie Vi would take good care of you!"

Vi appeared in front of the cannon, letting a small, crooked smile appear on her face as she watched her guild master gush over the weapon, "So you like the repairs then?"

Cordelia's head popped up from nuzzling the weapon to smile down at Vi. She then jumped off of the cannon to land in front of the crafter and hugged her tightly, "Like them? I love them!" she said before letting go of the woman to motion back towards the cannon, "It's perfect, Vi! No! Better than perfect! It's…it's…it's my baby as she was meant to be!" she said, beginning to tear up a little, "You're the best crafter ever! What would I do without you?!"

Vi let her smile stay on her lips a few moments longer as she patted Cordelia on the head, "I enjoy how much you appreciate my work," she said, "Just try not to let Bern get near it again. It took a lot of work to get this thing back in working order. It was made a while ago, you know. Things like this are hard to come by and even harder to repair without the proper knowledge of how they were built or the materials used to build them."

"I know," Cordelia smiled, "I did a lot of research on this cannon and the three other weapons to complete the set."

"A set?"

"Yep. A lot of people didn't believe the Tsar Weapons existed and they thought I was crazy for trying to look for them," Cordelia explained, staring up at the cannon with pride, "As you said, they were made a long time ago. They must have disappeared or were hidden away at some point and after a while, people forgot about them. So many years passed that they became something of a legend rather than actual weapons. But when I read about them in a book, I was fascinated by them, so I began trying to find more and more information about them. Isaak helped me a lot with that part," she smiled again, remembering all the late nights staying up and reading about the weapons, "But one piece of information eventually led to another and then another until I finally realized that there just couldn't be so much lore on them without them being real. So I made it my goal to set out and find all four weapons."

"I see," Vi said, "So there's the cannon. Then what are the other three?"

"The Tsar Pistols, the Tsar Sniper Rifle and the Tsar Bomb," Cordelia answered, "I don't care how long it'll take me, but I'm going to find them all. I found the Tsar Cannon, which proves that the other three are out there somewhere. Although," she said, laughing a little at remembering all the trouble she and Eli went through to get the cannon, "We might have to stay out of the northern waters for a while. I may or may not have pissed off the leader of the pirates in the north. Hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."

Vi felt a sweat drop roll down the side of her head at Cordelia's last comment, knowing just how easily she could get into trouble.

"But anyways," the guild master continued, "Thank you very much for fixing her."

"Aye, you're welcome," Vi nodded at her as Cordelia recalled the cannon back into her re-quip space, "Oh, and I made you three extra shots for it too," she said, pointing to three huge cannonballs lined up on the back wall.

Cordelia's eyes went even wider at the sight of the extra ammo, "You really are the best, Vi!"

"I thought you might like some replacements for the ones you've already used," she said, "And also, now that I know there are other weapons to the set, you can bring the weapons to me once you collect them. That way I can check out if they use specific ammo or not. If there are specially made bullets or whatnot, I can study over them and learn how to make them."

"I will do just that once I find the other weapons!" Cordelia said as she began to recall the cannonballs as well, "Also, Vi," she began in a much more serious tone, instantly catching the crafter's attention, "When the final battle comes between us and the Black Skulls, I want you manning the cannons across the guild. If something happens to them, then you can repair them during battle, at least enough to keep them in working order. And also because I know you can aim well too. I know some people think you can't, but you make weapons for a living. It would be weird if you didn't know how to shoot them properly. So I'm leaving the long range fighting in your hands. Will you be okay with that?"

Vi was quiet for a moment as she thought about what Cordelia was asking of her. There weren't many people that asked her for things like Cordelia did, that believed she could do things like Cordelia did. She knew this was mostly due to keeping to herself on the guild, but that didn't mean she was incapable of things. Her crooked smile returned to her face, truly happy that her guild master appreciated her and relied on her like she did.

"Aye," was all the woman said, but it seemed to be enough from the smile that Cordelia beamed back at her.

"Glad to hear it," Cordelia said, turning to leave the workshop, "I'll leave you to continue your work then, but if you want to give yourself a break, even just a short one, come up on deck and find me. I'll buy you a drink for everything you've done for me."

Vi simply nodded at her before turning back to her work table for the night.

. : + : .

Cordelia had made her way back to the top deck of the middle vessel, smiling at the sight of her mages laughing and drinking and partying for the night. It was a sight she had truly missed in the past couple of weeks, so it was good to see everyone in high spirits. Though, she easily spotted one woman who didn't seem to be in high spirits like the rest of the guild up by one of the bars.

She moved smoothly through the crowd until she came up to the bar where the woman sat. She kept quiet as she moved to stand right next to the barstool she sat on, leaning back against the bar with her elbows. She stayed that way for a moment, the woman not even noticing her until the bartender began to speak.

"The usual, Cordelia?"

Cordelia nodded at the man with a smile, watching the woman next to her jump in surprise of having someone standing right next to her with her notice. Cordelia waited to speak until a glass of whiskey was sat down near her. She nodded her thanks to the bartender before smiling over that the woman and turning to take her own seat on a barstool.

"I'm surprised you aren't sitting with Aria and Alisa, Zipporah," Cordelia finally said after taking a drink, "You're kinda wasting a good night sitting up here by yourself."

The redhead had managed to pull her gaze away from Cordelia and back down into her own drink, "It does seem like a waste, doesn't it?"

"And I'm even more surprised you didn't notice me when I moved next to you," Cordelia continued, "You're usually more aware than that."

"Must be the drink then."

"I don't think it is."

Zipporah sat quietly for a moment, the sounds of people partying going on around them. She eventually let out a heavy sigh, "No, it's not the drink."

"It's that prick of a captain, isn't it?"

"Yes. I had been hoping it would be much longer before someone from home caught wind of where I was. I was actually hoping they never would."

"So, you're from a noble home then?"

"Yes, but I don't like to go around telling people that. I don't want to make it seem like I'm better than anyone else here. And I don't want rumors spreading in order to keep my location secret from my parents."

"Were they bad parents?"

"No, not really, but they wanted to choose a lot of things for me and expected me to be a certain way. I suppose I didn't mind some of it, but being forced to marry someone wasn't on my to do list. I didn't want an arranged marriage, but no one would listen to me, so I left home without telling anyone," Zipporah explained, "But now Desmond has found me. I had no idea he had become a captain, so I never really worried about him finding me. But now he has and I'm afraid he'll make me go home. I don't want to leave the guild now that I finally feel like I found a place where I belong where I have friends and found someone I like on my own," she said, squeezing her glass harder and harder the more she spoke, "How can I go home before I'm able to tell and show them all what they mean to me and what I think of them?"

Cordelia sat in silence, sipping at her drink as she thought over what the redhead was telling her. Once she was sure Zipporah had said her piece, she sat down her glass, "Well, it's not like any of this is really my business, but the answer seems pretty easy to me," she said, waiting for Zipporah to look back at her before she finished her statement, "You don't go home."

Zipporah stared at her guild master in surprise. She hadn't expected an answer like that. She thought she might get an answer to go fix her problems with her parents and to face whatever she had to face at home, but there Cordelia was telling her to pretty much disregard whatever her family wanted of her.

"I'm not saying to never fix whatever issues you have with your parents. Because you should at some point, but that point doesn't have to be right now. It doesn't even have to be a year from now. It could be twenty years down the road if you really wanted to. It's up to you to decide when you're ready to go speak with your parents," Cordelia said before she sent a smile at the redhead, "But you are a mage of Storm's Helm, so there's nothing here forcing you to marry anyone or to go home. In fact, after today it seems that you have people here that are willing to fight marine captains to keep you around," she said, laying a hand on Zipporah's shoulder, "I want you here on my guild, Zipporah, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you aren't forced to go home earlier than you want to. No matter what Desmond does or your parents do to get you to leave, I will make sure you keep your freedom. You wanted to make your own decisions bad enough that you left home to step into a world that wasn't your own and you survived and adapted and made a name for yourself as a mage. I say that's pretty damn admirable and I'd be willing to protect what you've done for yourself."

Zipporah could only stare at Cordelia in shocked silence, almost disbelieving what she was hearing. She even almost started crying at what Cordelia was telling her, but she managed to hold them back, causing her eyes to have a glossy appearance at the moment.

"So smile and laugh and drink with your friends instead of sitting over here by yourself," Cordelia said as she turned the redhead around to face the table that Aria and Alisa were sitting at, the two women wearing worried faces, "They've been staring over here like that the entire time we've been here. They're worried about you, so you should go reassure them that you won't be leaving any time soon."

Zipporah nodded with a smile as she wiped a hand across her eyes, "Thank you, Cordelia," she said with a small bow.

"Don't worry about it. And don't bow to me," Cordelia said, waving her off, "Just remember that you will always be a mage of Storm's Helm. Oh! And make sure to tell whoever you like that you actually like them. God knows I know how annoying that can be. Trust me, you don't want to end up in my situation."

"Your situation?"

"That is not of import!" Cordelia answered quickly, "Just make sure you tell them one day."

"I will," Zipporah said, laughing at Cordelia's reaction, "Thank you again!" she said before running towards the table that Aria and Alisa sat at with a happy smile.

Cordelia watched over the young woman a moment longer before turning back around in her seat. She had been aimed to grab her drink again, but her eyes soon came into contact with a pair of bright blue ones directly in front of her.

"Angel!"

Cordelia let out a yelp of surprise upon hearing the shout, falling backwards off of the stool.

"Gotcha!" Seth said, managing to grab hold of her before she fell flat across the deck.

"Thanks," she said after she was back on her feet. She then turned a glare on the man that had scared her, "Isaak!" she snapped as she bonked him on the head, "Why do you still continue to do that?!"

"Because your reaction is too cute! I get you every time!"

Cordelia felt her eye twitch in annoyance as a faint blush appeared across her cheeks while she mumbled something akin to 'stupid boys'.

"I told you not to do that, four eyes!" Eli shouted, getting right up in Isaak's face.

"Who's going to stop me? You?" Isaak retorted with a laugh, "Like that'll ever happen."

"Do we get to watch a fight? Do we?" Gamu asked, having appeared on top of Seth's shoulder.

"That probably wouldn't be wise," Seth said with a smile, "But it'd sure be entertaining to watch. But I think my money's on Isaak."

"Same," Gamu said.

"What?!" Eli shouted, looking over at the two men, "What the hell?! I'm supposed to be your best friend here!"

"Yeah, but Isaak is definitely smarter than you," Seth chuckled.

"Smart. Smart. Way smarter," Gamu chimed in.

"See? They can admit it, so why can't you?" Isaak asked, his smirk still in place.

Eli let out a shout of anger as red flames began to lick off of his skin.

Though, all four of them were quickly silenced as a bucket of ice cold water was thrown across them. They looked to see an aggravated Cordelia glaring at them while Zinnia was behind her laughing.

"You're all stupid boys!" Cordelia shouted before turning away from them with a huff and dragging Zinnia along with her.

"Looks like you all got an early taste of what Pluvia will be like!" Zinnia said before laughing at their drenched appearances, "Better get used to it now!"

"Shut up, Zi!"

Though, all their shouting managed to do was to reignite Cordelia's anger and have her turning on her heel to engage all four men in a wrestling match, with, of course, the guild master winning at the end of the night.

A/N: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Ok, so yes, I know I disappeared for a while. And thank you to all of you that checked in on me during that time. Nothing bad was really going on personally, as things are good in the real world, lol. But I just fell into a really bad slump for a long while that kept me from writing not only Storm's Helm, but all of my stories. I can't say for sure why it happened, but things like that do happen to me from time to time. But it doesn't mean that I'm giving up on my stories or anything as I do plan to continue them. So sorry that it's taken a while, but things seem to once again be moving and you should once again see regular updates to my stories. There will also be a tentative schedule on my profile for when my stories will be updated.

Now then, I know this chapter was a bit short and not much action happened, but longer chapters should start coming out again. I just needed to get through the things that happened in this chapter for reasons and I also needed to get used to writing the characters again. So things should start to pick up after this chapter with finishing out the treasure hunt and everything.

Due to time restraints from being at work and because I am getting back into the swing of things, this author's note will be fairly short. But I do thank and love all of you for your reviews! They were awesome as always and I always look forward to seeing them! :3 Honestly, I couldn't ask for better readers!

So then, I will eventually get back into the review responses and Storm's Helm Question Corner as I enjoy doing both. So! With that being said, if you have new questions or have questions that haven't been answered yet, please send them to me as I might have lost them by now…Mostly, it would be easier for me to start up the question corner again if you PM me the questions so I can know for sure that I have them. I would appreciate it!

I think that should be it for now.

I'll have the next chapter up soon! And it should also have a couple new Black Skull members in it!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson