A/N: Boom! A new chapter!
I don't own Fairy Tail!
Please enjoy!
Chapter 50: Trust Them
April 22, X792 – Night
Even in the late hour, Port Solis was lit up like a sea of stars and jewels. Like Balsam Village in Fiore, Port Solis rarely ever stopped moving. And there was much more to do in Solis than Balsam, considering the latter was made specifically for spas. Solis held spas, casinos, clubs, bars, pubs, restaurants, a huge concert hall, a decent sized theme park, a street made entirely of arcades, and even a red-light district. It was one of the ports that the guild loved coming to and the residents of the town knew the guild well, having built up a good relationship with them over years of coming to port to rest and resupply the guild.
Cordelia could hear thumping music and shouting voices reaching the guild at the docks. She grinned widely, knowing the guild would have to stay in Solis for a few days at least to enjoy it after the battle with Madmartigan was done.
"Welcome to Solis!"
Cordelia looked down from the front ship to see who the booming voice belonged to. It was a middle-aged man with thick blonde hair that she knew well.
"Sunny!"
"Ayeeee! Miss Cordelia! Welcome back!" he said with a wide grin that was filled with bright white teeth. He caught the thick rope that Cordelia threw down to him and tied it to the dock. He did that several more times to ensure that guild would stay put. When he stood back up he ran a hand through his thick hair, pushing it back in a handsome blonde mess on top of his head.
Cordelia walked down to meet him properly, shaking his hand and finding it just as firm and calloused as always, "You still on night duty, Sunny?"
"Always!" he said, standing only an inch taller than Cordelia. But the man more than made up for his height with the trained muscles in his body. You didn't work on the docks without building up quite the body strength, "Tony still takes care of the day shift. We work good that way."
"How's your older brother doing?"
"Tony is Tony. Just got engaged to Andrea for the sixth time. I think they're going for the record this time. They haven't broken off the engagement for five weeks now!"
"Maybe this time it'll stick," Cordelia grinned.
"I doubt it," Sunny said with a laugh, "Besides, my money is on them finally getting hitched after the tenth engagement," he said, making Cordelia laugh, "I'm serious. I've got real money on that bet with my little sister and uncles."
Cordelia made a face at that, but didn't say anything against the bet. Deep down Sunny and his family loved each other. They just had a weird way of showing it. She supposed her and her guild were the same that way.
"Anyways, you hungry? Ma just made a fresh batch of doughnuts and she made more lasagna than we know what to do with."
From the house a little further down from where they stood, an older woman's voice shouted, "Did ya tell her about the doughnuts and lasagna?!"
"Ma! I got it handled!"
"Did ya tell her about the food though?! Those sailors need a homecooked meal!"
"I told her about the food, ma!"
"Tell her to come in here and eat before it gets cold!"
"Ma! That's enough!"
Loud cursing and grumbling erupted from the house, but Sunny ignored it, "Sorry about that," he chuckled, "You know how she is."
"I know," Cordelia agreed with a smile, "I'm not hungry right now, but I'll let my guild know about the free food."
"Ah, yeah, congrats on the promotion by the way."
"You already know?"
Sunny pulled out the wanted poster that Bern had made for her, showcasing her as the guild master of Storm's Helm, "Kinda hard to miss with something like this. Pretty good picture, if ya ask me."
"Right?! I thought so too!"
"Me and ma agreed that you'll take good care of the guild," he said with a genuinely warm smile, which caused Cordelia's own smile to widen, "Now then, how long will you be staying?" he asked, pulling up the clipboard that was hanging at his side.
"Put us down for a week for now," Cordelia said, pulling out the jewels she needed to pay for staying at port for that long, "The rates still the same?"
"Yeah, so the usual price for staying for a week."
Cordelia nodded her head and handed over the jewels to the man, "If we stay longer than that, I'll let you know."
"Sounds good," Sunny said, tucking the jewels away in his pocket, "Thanks for the business. Now go enjoy the nightlife!"
"Thanks, Sunny. I'll see you around."
"Did ya tell her about the food?!"
"MA! She knows about the food!"
"And I'll send some mages your way to eat that food," she said with a laugh as she walked back onto the guild.
"Appreciate it!"
Cordelia made her way back on the guild to nominate a person or two to come with her into Solis to find Van Black. As she made her way to the middle vessel, she heard a rumble of thunder heading towards the island. She looked up in time to see a flash of lightning cross the sky.
"Great," she mumbled as she stepped up onto the deck of the middle ship. She scanned the large crowd until she found a brunette that had finally healed up and was definitely ready for some action, "Zinnia!"
The brunette turned on her stool at the bar she sat at, grinning widely when she saw it was Cordelia who had called out to her, "Delia! Come have a drink with me!" she said, smacking the stool next to her.
"I would love to, but I have some work to do first and you're coming with me."
"I am?"
Cordelia nodded, causing Zinnia to look down at her mostly full beer glass. Zinnia shrugged before chugging the drink and jumping off the stool.
"What are we doing?"
"We're gonna go find Van Black. I got the land sickness cure from Jack earlier today, so I'm ready to go."
"Sounds good, let's head out!"
"Ohhh, but my lovely Cordelia," a voice purred, one that caused Cordelia's eye to twitch. There was a sudden weight on her shoulders, Ingrid having laid across her lazily, "You wouldn't leave without more backup, would you? What if you're attacked on the island and that cure just so happens to run out?"
Cordelia hissed at the woman, jumping away from her to put a good few feet in between them, "I think Zi and I can handle it, thank you! Besides, you have issues walking on land too. You'd just be a burden. A giant, irritating burden!"
Ingrid pulled out a syringe filled with a dark purple liquid. A Cheshire grin lit across her face, "I spoke to Jack earlier today as well, my dear."
"That still doesn't mean I'm taking you with me!"
"But Delia, we could always use some extra hands," Zinnia said with a playful smile.
"And I haven't been off the guild in so long," Ingrid drawled out, "Diamond and Pearl are dying to get out for a while," she said, calling forth the matching, white metallic guns.
"I said no!"
"I see," Ingrid said, though her smile hadn't disappeared. She made her way over to Cordelia in a smooth, fluid motion, her cat-like eyes blinking slowly, "If you don't let me come with you I'll have no choice but to tell everyone about that time in Seven when you-"
Cordelia clamped a hand over Ingrid's mouth so fast that she almost knocked the woman over. Her hand tightened as she watched the brown eyes of her rival dance in mirth, knowing she had Cordelia right where she wanted her. She released her hand, turned, and screamed into her arm before turning back to Ingrid with the most painfully forced smile she had ever given.
"You can come with Zi and I tonight, Ingrid," she said through clenched teeth.
"Wonderful! I'll be bringing Kasra along too. The man needs a night out on an island filled with such lovely eye candy."
Cordelia turned and screamed into her arm again before giving Ingrid another horribly forced smiled, "Great…go get him and meet us at the docks in ten minutes."
Ingrid pranced off into the crowd to find her partner in crime, leaving Cordelia to wonder what horrors they had planned to put her through tonight.
Zinnia came up behind Cordelia, "Soooo, what happened in Seven?"
"Nothing!" Cordelia said faster than she had meant to.
The two women stared at each other for a long moment before Zinnia shrugged with a smile, "Whatever you say, Delia. Are you ready to go then?"
"In a moment," she said, eyeing a mess of short auburn hair and with a head of neatly combed black hair sitting next to it. She made a beeline for the pair, Zinnia skipping happily behind her.
"Cordelia!" Matilda greeted happily, but loudly. She held a large, bowl-like mug in her hands, one filled with the brown liquid that everyone was certain replaced her blood long ago, "How is it going? Aren't you supposed to be on the island looking for Van Black? Did you stop to have coffee with us first?"
Cordelia glanced over to see Sam sitting in the other seat, the young man having his own cup of coffee in front of him, though in a much smaller mug.
Sam released a sigh, "She finally talked me into having a cup of coffee with her."
"I hope you know what you signed up for," Cordelia said with a smile, "The last time I had a coffee date with Matilda it didn't end for eight hours."
A horrified expression crossed Sam's face while Matilda cackled from beside him.
"Anyways, I wanted to relay some information to you both before I head out. I am expecting Bern and his crew as well as Rhouth from the siren group to show up tonight. Please welcome them on board and show them to my office if they get here before I get back. You all can set up my office to go over the battle plans when I get back."
"Got it, got it," Matilda said with several nods of her head, "A battle hungry vice-admiral, a man-eating siren, in your office to go over battle plans against a crazy pirate captain! Sounds fun!"
"I know, right?" Cordelia said, smiling with the woman while Sam just sighed again, "Don't worry, Sammy. It'll be fine. Plus, I'm really counting on the two of you to help me with this meeting. I'll need you in there after I get back."
The pair nodded at their guild master, hearing the seriousness in her tone.
"Also, if you could find Duke and my father and get them into that meeting too. The plans I have in mind involve them."
The pair nodded again.
"Last thing, a storm is rolling in, so I'll need everyone to help out if it gets bad. Ya know, making sure that nothing and no one gets blown away."
"You got it!" Matilda said, saluting the woman before taking a long drink of her coffee, "We got this! We got some orders, Sam!" she said, knocking her elbow back into the smaller mage.
"Yes, I picked that up," he said, rubbing his chest where she hit. He looked back over to Cordelia, "We can handle things here and we will be ready when you get back."
"Thanks!"
"Just be careful on Solis as well. We still have not spotted the Black Skulls since entering Caligo. We could have lost them, but they could also still be here. Actually, I'm sure they are here."
"I'm sure of it too," Cordelia said, "But don't worry. We'll be back within the hour. I really only have an hour anyways," she said, pulling out the dark purple liquid Jack had given her earlier.
Sam and Matilda gave her one last nod before she and Zinnia made their way to the docks.
At the top of the bridge leading down to the docks, Cordelia stopped to stare down at Ingrid and Kasra, both smiling up at her. She felt her eye twitch in irritation again but didn't fight against Zinnia when she began to pull her down the bridge.
"Hello Cordelia," the pair purred out when she came to stand beside them.
"No funny business, got it?!"
"Us? Funny business? Never!"
A boom of thunder rolled across the sky again as she turned away from the pair. She plunged the syringe into her thigh, prompting Ingrid to do the same.
"By the way, my dear," Ingrid said as lighting flashed, "I put another tick under my name on our board. I see this as a win for me."
Thunder cracked louder this time and with it came an instant downpour.
'Perfect,' Cordelia thought. She glared back at the brunette who irritated her to no end, and she was certain her eyes were permanently stuck in a twitch.
"Remember Seven, my lovely Cordelia," she said, sliding a hand underneath Cordelia's chin.
With another eye twitch and a hiss, Cordelia stepped forward towards Solis, "Let's get moving!"
. : + : .
Cordelia hated to admit it, but the walk through Solis so far had not been that terrible. Kasra had brought a rather large umbrella, so the group had stayed much dryer than they had expected. Zinnia had managed to make cocktails appear in their hands after they passed several bars. And Ingrid…well she had kept her hands to herself so far.
Though, Cordelia could not help the feeling that they were being followed. It was a nagging sensation at the back of her mind and no matter what she did, she could not shake the feeling. She continued looking around them, hoping to catch the sight of something out of place, but so far, she had only seen blurred lights and heard muffled voices in the bars through the storm.
Her head turned sharply to the left when she could have sworn she heard footsteps in the alley they had just passed. She stopped to stare down the alley, waiting for a shadow of movement to appear. Her concentration didn't break even when she felt a hand smoothly grab onto her shoulder.
"We can feel it too, my dear," Ingrid said, "Someone is following us."
"But we will never catch them by watching them," Kasra said, appearing on Cordelia's other side, "We should keep moving forward."
Cordelia glared down the alley a moment longer before turning away with a nod of agreement. She took the lead again, making her way towards the large music hall in town. Sunny had mentioned that she could more than likely find Van Black and her band there or at least somewhere near it. Though, she kept part of her concentration behind her on the followers that she was certain were from the Black Skulls.
As the group moved forward, Cordelia was certain she heard footsteps matching their own against the sidewalk. She started to walk faster, the steps behind them keeping in time with the speed up. She eventually broke out into a jog and then a full run, knowing for certain by then that there were people following them by the heavy thudding echoing behind them.
"Wait! Caaaaaaaaaaaaptaaaaaaaaaiiiin!"
"Way to go! You gave us away!"
"You already gave yourselves away a long time ago!" Cordelia assured them.
"What?! Then stop already!"
"Hell no!"
"But the champion wishes to speak with you!"
Upon hearing the last voice speak, the Storm's Helm group came to a stop and turned to face the group chasing them. Kasra let a satisfied smirk appear on his lips while Cordelia let a wide grin split across her face as they watched the large form of Atlas come into view.
"Have you come to join my guild?!"
"Still very tempting for the champion, but no."
As he said this, Mingo and Swabbie appeared on either side of the wrestler. Cordelia's face instantly fell upon seeing them, considering the last time she had an encounter with them, they were handing back a badly wounded Zinnia. She almost huffed at them and walked away, but a gentle hand on her right shoulder and a smooth hand clawing into her left shoulder kept her locked in place.
"It's okay, Delia," Zinnia said with a warm smile, "We should hear them out."
"Yes, my dear," Ingrid added in, "They came all this way and they are not armed. Not that they would be quick enough for my darlings!" she said, bringing out one of her white guns more for intimidation than anything.
"Thank you," Mingo smiled kindly at the two women before looking directly at Cordelia, "We wish to speak with you about the battle that is about to happen with Madmartigan."
"What about it?" Cordelia asked, shaking the hands from her shoulders to take a step towards Mingo.
He could see the fierceness in her eyes, the same shining emotion he had seen when they fought each other. It was almost too much for him to handle all over again, even in the dark pouring rain. Those blue eyes were an ocean storm all on their own.
"We want to help you fight against him."
The Storm's Helm mages looked surprised at the response, but Cordelia quickly recovered.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? What if this is a set up?"
"We're being serious," Mingo said, taking his own step towards Cordelia to show his determination, "Madmartigan is losing his grasp on reality and common sense. He would have sent the crew onto Caligo if I hadn't intervened."
"You should have let him," Cordelia said with a wave of her hands, "Would have saved me the trouble of a battle with him."
"I wasn't risking the lives of my crew for the madman!"
Cordelia saw Mingo's own fierceness when speaking about his crew. She had to admit that he had the makings of a decent captain…much better than Madmartigan anyways.
"So you're protective of your crew," Cordelia said with a sigh, "Doesn't mean you're not trying to trick us."
"You have to believe me! We want to help you!"
"I don't have to believe anything you tell me!"
"I brought your mage back to you, didn't I?!"
"Yeah, severely wounded!"
"Cordelia."
"What?!" she snapped, turning to look at an oddly serious-faced Zinnia.
"You should trust them."
Cordelia went quiet as she silently debated with herself. Zinnia was rarely ever serious like this and she was usually right when she was. But flashes of seeing her best friend hurt and bleeding made it hard for her to just simply trust the men before her. But then the same men had protected her and brought her back to the guild. And Atlas had shown them all such honor and respect. It was enough to have her scratching her head in frustration.
"If the champion may say something."
Cordelia stopped her inner debate to look at the large man.
"Mingo is being honest with you. The captain…he's not making honorable decisions…not that he was all that honorable to begin with, but he had always made decisions that benefitted everyone in the crew. Now he's so wrapped up in taking you out that he's lost focus and he doesn't care how many people he loses in order to get to you. If it hadn't been for Mingo, much of the crew would have perished by now. Please understand that we are being genuine in our request to help you. We want to set a trap for Madmartigan, not you. You have the champion's word!"
Cordelia stayed silent for a moment longer, feeling moved by wrestler's words. She then turned her eyes to the drunk redhead in their group, "And you? You feel the same?"
"Ayyyyyyyyyye," he slurred.
Cordelia let out a heavy sigh, "All right," she said, her focus back on Mingo, "We'll take your help."
The three men smiled in response to her.
"But so help me god, if this turns out to be a trap and you turn on us," she said as a loud crack of thunder boomed across the sky, the raging ocean back in her eyes, "I will kill you myself."
A/N: There we are! I hope you enjoyed it!
So I honestly had most of the chapter written for a while, but that last part of it with Mingo and Co. had me stuck for a bit. That and my internet has been shotty for a while, so that didn't help either.
But anyways! I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter still! Things are really getting close to being over with this arc! I'm so excited. There's going to be one more chapter before the actual battle begins, so that's super exciting! I'm hoping to get that chapter done this week since I'll be on vacation next week and will not be taking my laptop with me, but we'll see what happens.
I absolutely loved Sunny's character! I based him off two things. One was my best friend's Italian background, because she constantly asks people if they're hungry/tries to feed them when they come over and I think it's freaking adorable. Kudos to you if you can guess the other thing (person really) he is based off of. Mostly I'm just wanting to see if anyone can get it, lol.
And about that thing that happened in Seven…well we'll just have to wait and see what actually happened! Hahaha! Originally it wasn't going to be anything big, but then it turned into this whole big thing in my head, and I really love it! But it'll be fun to see you all guessing over it!
Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! They were as awesome as always!
Also, a reminder that I did start a forum called Storm's Helm Corner. If you haven't checked it out, you should! I have already gotten some great responses from you guys and I should be getting to some of them this week!
I think that's it for this time around!
See you all next chapter!
Yours Truly,
MyDearWatson