A/N: Whoo! A new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

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Chapter 46: Turning Tides

April 17, X792 – Night

It was quiet on the guild that night, or at least it was in the infirmary where Cordelia had found herself for the evening and late into the night. She was currently scrunched up in a chair, boots kicked off beside the chair and a blanket messily thrown over herself. A low lamplight flickered behind her, casting shadows along the beds and walls that filled the large room.

Both Jack and Zhuue had called it a night, everyone having been taken care of from the earlier attack and Zhuue having finally come back from her mission inland about an hour before. The blonde woman had handed over the map to Cordelia with a smile and a hug before yawning and following Jack back towards the dorms. Cordelia had opted to stay in the infirmary, watching over the only remaining occupant – John Morang.

The man had been out since Eli had taken him down. Cordelia hadn't felt right leaving him in the infirmary alone despite Jack telling her countless times that he would be just fine. Considering how the day had gone, she felt having him wake up alone wasn't right.

While she waited for the man to wake up or until Jack eventually came back in the morning, she read over the map. First she poured over the new clue, once again hoping that Blackstroker would eventually make an appearance just so she could give him a black eye or a busted lip…or both.

'So you managed to get those bickering wenches to cooperate with you? Job well done. No, really, I genuinely mean that. They were worse than the sirens and the genie put together! Damn spoiled teenagers if you ask me! Your next clue is below. Good luck and happy hunting! William Blackstroker.'

"Good to know this wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for you to set up, asshole," Cordelia mumbled before moving onto the actual clue.

'You must venture into twisting mist for your next clue, but in order to do so, you must first receive an invitation from Death. But take caution! Without invitation, that mist will twist your mind mad. And without honesty, Death will surely come your way.'

"I suppose it's a good thing some of Madmartigan's men died today or else I don't know how we would have went about getting Charon's permission to enter the island."

Her eyes then moved across the rest of the map, the large section that had been revealed from figuring out all the clues. Cordelia was certain that the treasure was somewhere on the main island of Caelum. She knew the layout of Caelum quite well since the guild tended to port there often as the island had several well-known port towns and they could restock on most of their supplies in any of them. So the geography on the map looked familiar, but unfortunately, she would need to uncover the last bit of the map to find the X that marked the spot. Though, she couldn't fault Blackstroker for that.

"It wouldn't be a real treasure hunt if we found the treasure early on or without any challenges."

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity," a low voice mumbled.

Cordelia looked over to see the gray eyes of John Morang staring back at her. She smiled warmly at him, "Was that the pick-up line you used on Securus for your bromance?"

"No," he quickly replied, a hint of a blush crossing his checks.

"No need to get all defensive. I won't tell anyone," she said with a smirk. She then rolled the map back up before turning her full attention on John, "So how are you feeling?"

"I've got a pounding headache."

"That'll happen when Eli puts you in a choke hold."

John became quiet at this comment. Everything that had happened earlier that day came rushing back to him. He felt embarrassed that he had let Roberts get the better of him. He felt ashamed for becoming Blood Rage John again. He was supposed to be atoning for his sins, not adding more to them.

"John," Cordelia said, her voice changing into a serious tone, "May I ask about Blood Rage John?"

He stayed silent, not even being able to look up at her.

Cordelia stayed quiet as well and watched him. She could see his body tensing and the shame in his eyes. She wished there had been something she could do or say to make things right for him, but it wasn't like saying everything would be okay would actually make things okay. It rarely ever did. And she couldn't promise to take away his pain. It wasn't something she could physically do like her other promises. This was something John would have to overcome himself, she knew that, and yet she had still hoped that he could at least share some of his pain. She had hoped he could unload some of the weight he carried by talking with her.

"I know that we're not overly close," she said, finally finding the words to say, "And I know that you keep yourself guarded, considering Securus didn't even know the name Blood Rage John. And that's okay," she said upon seeing more shame appear in his eyes, "But I want you to know that you have a place here in Storm's Helm. You're a hard worker and a reliable mage. You're smart and loyal and persistent. No matter what you did in the past and who you did it to, you will always have a place here."

John looked up at her upon hearing those words. For a moment, he almost thought he was going to cry while looking at her honest eyes and genuine smile. And for another moment, he thought he saw the woman he used to hold dear in those eyes and smile, but in a flash of red his mind wiped her away, leaving behind his guild master once again.

"Julia," he said, pausing at how it felt to have the name come from his lips again after so long, "She was a lot like you. Bright, happy, outgoing. When Securus brought me on board the guild for the first time, it wasn't because of his hand of friendship that I decided to stay. It was because you smiled at me when he introduced us and I could have sworn I saw Julia again in that moment. I believed then that this guild could help me fix what I had done wrong. That I could atone for my sins here. That I could wipe Blood Rage John away. And I still believe that now," he said looking her dead in the eye, "I'm sorry that I'm not telling you the whole story, who Julia is and what Blood Rage John has done, but please believe me when I say that I believe this guild can help me and that I plan to stay here. I'm sorry that my being here brought more trouble with Roberts, but I honestly don't want to be anywhere else. This is where I wish to stay to atone for what I've done."

"And this is where you are welcomed, sins in all," Cordelia replied without missing a beat.

. : + : .

Securus ran a hand through his dark brown hair for what felt like the hundredth time. He sat huddled away at a table in the shadows of the middle ship. He tried to focus on something, anything, other than the echoing laughter in his head. He looked to the low lights across the ship and the few people still hanging about in the late night, but every time he did it would all just turn into blurs; and the blurs would turn into the memory of the slaughter he had committed earlier.

While it might have done the trick of sedating the bloodlust of the evil within him, he still had to live with the memory. He had to live with the feeling of killing all those people and, despite however brief it was, the feeling of enjoyment he got out of it.

His body tensed up when he heard his own gunshots ring out in his head again, creating a horrible melody of manic laughter and bullets. The hand he had laid on the table began to grip it tightly, his fingernails imbedding into the surface of the table so hard that the wood dug up underneath them.

Luckily, a thump on the table froze him and brought him back to reality. He looked down at the table first, seeing the thick green glass of a sake bottle along with two cups beside it. He then moved his gaze upwards to see icy blue eyes staring back at him.

"Shiraki."

Her brow furrowed at the harsh tone of his voice. Nanami was used to the man having a hard exterior, but the tone he held wasn't one he normally used, at least not towards his fellow guildmates.

"I figured you could use a drink, Securus-kun."

"I don't want one. Thanks."

"I do not believe I have ever seen you pass up alcohol before, especially when it is free," she said, ignoring the obvious fact that he wanted to be alone at the moment. She instead sat down at the table and began opening the bottle.

"Yeah, well, I'm passing it up tonight. You can move onto another table, Shiraki. I'm not sitting alone in the shadows to test my ninja abilities."

"I hope that was not a quip towards my heritage," she said, knowing the man before her knew of her Encan background.

"If I was going to make a joke about that, it'd be a hell of a lot better than ninjas."

"That is good to hear," she said, pouring the sake into both cups and pushing one towards him.

"I told you I didn't want the damn drink."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want your damn pity!" he shouted, slamming a fist onto the table.

The handful of people left on the ship became quiet at the shout, eyes glancing over towards the pair in the dark.

"Piss off!" Securus shouted at them, causing everyone to quickly look away.

"I never said anything about pity, Securus-kun. I simply said you looked like you could use a drink," Nanami said, not bothered by his outburst in the slightest, "Am I wrong about that?"

Securus was quiet for a moment as he argued with himself. After making such a scene, he didn't want to let her know that she was right and that he did need the drink. After another moment of silent debate, he gave up.

"Tch, well it'd be a shame to let it go to waste," he grumbled before grabbing the cup in front of him and downing it in one gulp.

Nanami let a brief smile appear as she refilled his glass, "I thought as much," she said before turning her attention on her own full cup. She let a moment of silence pass between them before she looked up at him and spoke again, "You do know, Securus-kun, that what you did today was for Vi-san, right?"

Securus had the cup at his lips when she spoke, causing him to pause. He sighed as he sat the cup back down on the table, "Yeah, but no matter how many times it's said or who says it, it doesn't change the fact that I killed all those people. And it was because I couldn't…" he drifted off, not being able to admit that he couldn't control the thing within him or that it was his fault for waiting so long to go on a solo mission.

"People die in our line of business. And sometimes we are the ones doing the killing."

"That doesn't make it right. Those men could have been knocked out or chased off the guild."

"They would have killed Vi-san before anyone would have been able to do that."

"Twenty people, Shiraki!" he said, Nanami hearing the pain and guilt the incident had caused him, "Twenty people are dead, and it took me less than a minute to do it! Twenty people in place of one!"

"Would you rather Vi-san have died?"

"No, of course not! But dammit! They were just following orders and I didn't know what else to do and I had to kill them, not just because of Vi, but because of the stupid, bullshit evil voice in my head! How fucked up is that?!" Securus shouted, Nanami staying quiet during his outburst, "Those people were our enemy and they were trying to kill Vi, but lives are still lives! It's still really messed up that I had to kill them!"

Nanami stayed quiet a little longer, allowing herself to gather her thoughts before speaking. She took a sip of the sake before setting it down and speaking, "Well it is good to know that you do not get enjoyment out of killing people."

"Hell no I don't! The thing in my head does, I'll tell you that! But I don't!" he continued shouting, trying his best to ignore the fact that he might actually get enjoyment out of taking out Daniel Sierra of the Black Skulls.

"Securus-kun, sometimes we have to do things we do not like to protect the people we care about. Many people on this guild know that feeling. Cordelia-san knows that feeling. I know that feeling. The weight of killing someone…it stays with you. Every person you kill stays with you."

"I know that," he answered, pushing away thoughts of his past, "I know they stay with you. But this time…it just feels different. When I go on solo missions, it's usually a monster or beast that needs slaying, so I don't feel guilty about letting lose and killing it," he said, staring down into his half empty cup, "This time it was twenty people all at once and it was all done so quickly, and I ended up giving into that voice. I let lose on people and it wasn't even really my own choice…"

Nanami stared him down hard, "Part of you made that choice. You cannot push all of it onto the entity inside you," she said, watching his head snap up and his eye stare her down, "Yes, it pushed you toward that choice, influenced you to make it, but ultimately you were the one that decided to move forward with it. Now you must live with that choice. But," she said, her eyes moving over towards one of the bars across from them, Securus moving his gaze along with her. There stood Vi in their direct line of sight, "You also saved someone important because of that choice. I am not saying that killing is the right thing to do, but it is a necessary thing, living the life we do. We do not always get easy choices and often we have to carry a heavy weight with us because of those choices, but in some cases, there are silver linings to what we decide to do."

Securus was quiet as he watched Vi order a drink from the bar. He then looked over to see Nanami still giving him a hard look, knowing in that moment that she was right. Finally, a charming smile crossed his face, "Thanks, Shiraki."

She smiled in return, both returning to their drinks.

"You know, you should write a book of proverbs or some shit like that."

Nanami smiled at first at the comment before laughing lightly. The light laughter soon turned into full out laughter, the woman having to set her drink down.

"I'm serious here, Shiraki! You could make a shit ton of money off poor saps who need life advise!"

This only caused Nanami to laugh harder while Securus when into more detail on business plans and book tours and crazy fans sending them free shit.

. : + : .

April 20, X792 – Early Morning

Domingo Barton walked across the dark ship with purpose, wisps of mist wafting over him. He could already see a number of the crew huddled up into the shadowed parts of the ship in hopes that they could hide away from the mist. Anger coursed through him. It pumped heavier and faster through his veins with every step he took towards the helm. The crew members not yet affected by the bits of mist quickly moved out of his way upon seeing the sharp look in his golden eyes. His boots came to a resounding thump in front of the helm, the man guiding the ship flinching when the blonde came to stand before him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The harsh question wasn't meant for the man at the help, but their captain that stood a few feet away from them. The dark-haired man turned to glance back at Domingo, his dark eyes piercing from under the brim of his hat.

"Following the guild. What else would I be doing?" Madmartigan said in a low voice.

Domingo knew that his gaze and voice were meant to intimidate him, but it wasn't working, not when his decision was putting the lives of the entire crew at risk. Instead of trying to argue with Madmartigan, he turned to the man steering the ship.

"Turn the ship around. Now."

The man nodded his head, wanting to get out of the area just as much as any other person on the ship. Though, before he could even grasp the handles of the helm, their captain stepped in.

"My orders are to follow Storm's Helm. We will not be averting the course I've set."

"Like hell we're following them into Caligo! You'll send everyone here to their deaths, including yourself! What'll be the point of everything then?!"

A stunned silence followed Domingo's outburst, the crew holding their breath while waiting to see how Madmartigan would react. Minutes passed, feeling like hours, before the captain finally moved towards his first mate. Once in front of Domingo, he gripped his shoulder tightly while placing his sharpened hook at his neck.

"Going against my orders is punishable by death."

"Then do it," Domingo said, his voice steady and steel-like, "At least that way I don't have to go mad with the rest of the crew."

"Your attitude makes it quite tempting these days."

"Why? Because I'm the voice of fucking reason around here?" he said, seeing Madmartigan's eye flinch at the remark, "Kill me here and now and I guarantee that many of the crew will turn their back on you."

"They fear me too much to do that."

"You think so? You don't think they saw how you sent many of them to their deaths on Pluvia? Roberts and Rika barely came back alive! And you didn't even pay for their souls when Charon came calling!"

"All men on this ship know to carry a coin with them!"

"You're their captain! You're to pay for them when they don't!"

Another silence filled the ship, but instead of the worry that had filled the last one, this one was filled with curiosity and irritation. The crew had lost good men, friends even, and their captain hadn't bothered paying for their passage to the other side. That had put them on edge, even if they wouldn't voice their opinion to Madmartigan. Now Domingo was calling him out on it and they were all eager to hear his response.

Madmartigan stayed quiet for a long minute. He wasn't used to Domingo standing up to him like this and forcing him to answer for his actions. The blonde man normally went with his orders, causing little fuss and only giving his opinion on things here and there. It was what made Domingo a good first mate for him, he didn't question him. Now he had to worm his way around the blonde and he found he didn't like it at all.

"Tch, what does it matter now? The little guild master paid for them and they have their way to the other side."

"It does matter! They were your men!" Domingo shot back quickly, his anger fueling his words, "And do you think that Charon will let us into the waters of Caligo, let alone onto the island? Your crew might listen to you out of fear, but Death sure as hell won't!" he said, the words hitting everyone like stone. In that instant, the crew knew that if they moved any further towards Caligo, it was very likely that they would never come back out, "Your men have already started to try and hide away because of this mist and we're only on the outskirts of it. It's only going to get worse from here. I know you want to catch Storm's Helm, but this is not the way to do it. I will not have all these men go mad in your own madness to exact revenge!" he shouted, looking over at the man steering the ship again, "Turn this ship around!"

"You will keep moving forward!" Madmartigan shouted. While he fully understood what Domingo was talking about, it was now a matter of pride. He would not have someone else give out the orders!

"Like hell he will!"

With that shout, Domingo created a red needle and turned towards the helm. In the process, the silver hook at his neck scratched across his skin, a line of red instantly appearing. His jaw clenched in pain, but he continued with his plan, smacking the needle along the helm to send it spinning and making the ship turn quickly. As soon as he had the helm moving, he turned on his heel to face Madmartigan again, aiming the needle at the man. He knew that if the captain implemented his Hard Skin that the needle would be useless, but it was all he had at the moment.

Madmartigan stared down the blonde in anger, his magic already in play. He had plans of smacking him back into submission, but then he looked around. Most of his crew had turned up to watch the showdown. It wouldn't do him any good to knock down his first mate like this, especially after he went against him to save their lives. His eyes then fell on Swabbie and Atlas who stood not too far from the helm, both men looking anxious and ready to step in between the pair if need be. He could easily take on Domingo if he needed to, but add in Swabbie and Atlas and it would be a fight he wasn't currently ready to have, especially with the tension rising with the rest of the crew.

"Tch, fine," Madmartigan said, moving back a few steps to stand down, "You do what you want for now. But the end goal is still the same. Take down Storm's Helm and take the treasure. You got that?"

"Yes…captain," Domingo answered, having a hard time calling Madmartigan by his title.

Madmartigan gave his crew one last glance before moving away to his personal quarters.

"Get us turned around and on the outside of this mist," Domingo said, looking at the man steering the ship, "We can wait for Storm's Helm in clear waters."

"Yes sir!"

The crew began to disperse after that, most of them feeling grateful to be getting away from Caligo. Though, Daniel was one of the few to stand in the background and glare at Domingo for a long while, believing the captain should have done much, much more for his insubordination. Unfortunately for now, he had to bite his tongue and curse the blonde before storming off.

"Here," Atlas said, handing over a handkerchief to Domingo for the blood that was now dripping down his neck, Swabbie standing next to him.

"Thanks."

"So…are we really just going to wait for Storm's Helm?"

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice right now," Domingo sighed before noticing the guilty looks on the other two men's faces, "Why? Do you have a problem with that?"

"It's just that…well…the champion doesn't feel right about any of this. That guild master…she was kind to the champion and offered her home to me. And she paid for our fallen brothers' souls."

"And you?" the blonde asked, looking at the redhead.

"I don't like it," Swabbie grunted in reply.

"I don't like it either," Domingo admitted quietly, "But we can't just go about causing trouble or a mutiny now. We need to be smart about this. We need to know how many people are on our side. And if we really want to help Storm's Helm, then we need to be quiet about things right now. A surprise turn on Madmartigan will be much more useful than going over to Storm's Helm now."

"But how will we tell the guild that we want to help them? They'll attack us as soon as they see us," Atlas said.

"I've got an idea," Domingo said, "You just need to keep playing your parts for now. I'll get things figured out once we reach Caelum. I just hope Cordelia is in a listening mood," he said with a nervous laugh, remembering his last encounter with the guild master.

A/N: And there we are! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

A turn of events! Madmartigan is slowly losing allies here! Ooohhhhhh, things are building up! And just wait until next chapter! Nyahahahahahaha! I've got something awesome planned!

And speaking of the next chapter, I should have it out much quicker this time, especially since I owe Dread two chapters now instead of just one since he was able to get out a couple chapters since I last updated, so you should see an update coming out much sooner! CHA!

Thanks for all the reviews! :3 I loved them as always!

Not much else to say this time around as it's pretty late/really early and I really should be heading to bed at this point…

Until next chapter!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson