Yep. It's me. 5 years. Happy Christmas! I have decided to carry on this series, I want to see it through to the end. I'm back for good! I've been considering drawing some art for the series as well. One illustration per chapter. At some point I'll link an account and connect my art to my writing. Happy reading, let me know how you feel!
It had been a long, rough ride, even Zancrow had to admit. The further away they strayed from Magnolia, the more rugged and wild the road they followed became. If Zancrow had thought that the terrain had been irregular when they had initially set out, then it was nothing compared to what they were travelling through now.
This route seemed to be a far less travelled one and consequently was not as smoothed by years of horses' hooves trampling the ground flat. Dirt was constantly being thrown up the sides of the carriage, spattering the windows with such a magnitude of soil that the inside of the vehicle was actually becoming darker due to the light of the sun being blocked.
However, it wasn't the churning of the ground that was the issue for the team, it was the violent swaying of the carriage to and fro, every bump in the road being magnified to almost seismic proportions, tossing the poor inhabitants of the carriage in every direction lest they hold onto some part of the interior for dear life. Perhaps more specifically, this particular aspect was an issue for Natsu's stomach. The even road had been somewhat of a challenge but the road they were on now was nearing impossible. Natsu felt so queasy that he was certain he was going to throw up in the not too distant future and he wasn't exactly sure how he would go about this task, seeing as the windows were hanging heavy with mud and would probably be a challenge to open. With a mouth full of vomit opening them probably wouldn't be feasible in time and the contents of his stomach would more likely end up in the vehicle.
Natsu sighed shakily catching Zancrow's attention, who had been trying in vain to look outside through the mud-caked carriage windows for the past hour.
"Uhh… What's up with him?"
Immediately eyes flicked towards him, always surprised he'd dare speak up.
"He's a Dragon Slayer. They get motion sickness." Erza offered sharply.
Motion sickness? As a God Slayer, Zancrow had never heard of that phenomenon. He had no weaknesses whatsoever… as far as he knew.
Getting sick of the dingy light that the muddy windows cast on the carriage, Zancrow banged his fist on the glass to shake some of the dirt free. It sloughed off with an awful slap but at least he had something to look at that wasn't judgemental stares. Cocking his head right by the window, he could see some fruit trees up ahead. Finally. Something that wasn't just dirt or grass. Maybe if he reached out he could grab something to eat whilst he was at it…
Zancrow looked around at the other inhabitants of the carriage and decided that fruit was definitely more important than what they thought of him in that moment. Stretching out, he pulled his head and torso out of the crack in the window and put out a hand, catching a branch as it streaked past. Pulling himself back inside, he looked over his prize. A bough absolutely covered in gleaming, fat cherries. As he looked them over Zancrow could feel a twinge of excitement – something deep within him remembered that this was, in fact, one of his favourite things.
Popping a cherry into his mouth, Zancrow looked up at the rest of the wizards who had been watching him with mild amusement for the past couple of minutes. Maybe they wanted some too.
"Ya want one?" he said thickly, brandishing the branch, an eyebrow raised.
He swallowed heavily, eating slowly wasn't exactly a strength of his.
"Cherries are my favourite but I don't mind sharing a couple."
All of the carriage's inhabitants shuffled slightly and for a moment Zancrow was worried that he was going to be completely ignored.
"Yeah… I like cherries too."
Gray had reached out and plucked a fruit from the branch, giving Zancrow a small smile. Zancrow returned it, his mouth working oddly to manage it. It felt odd to smile like that but not entirely unpleasant.
Spurred on by Gray's confidence, Erza and Lucy both took a couple of cherries and thanked Zancrow, the man himself fighting back the urge to snatch away his prize. He may have been trying to be nice, but he got very defensive around his food.
The branch lasted all of ten minutes and then it was back to boredom. Even spitting out the cherry stones and seeing how many trees he could split with them lost its appeal after a few shots. Thankfully however, it seemed as if the carriage was slowly grinding to a halt and Zancrow craned his head out of the window to look around. The environment couldn't have been more different than the one they just left behind. Clouds of dust swirled around the arid soil, the ground parched and sandy. There was even the odd cactus sprouting up from the ground here and there, their greenery at odds with the sandy landscape.
Zancrow heard the whips crack powerfully and the large horses finally stopped altogether – he could hear their muscular frames pawing the floor and tossing their heads. The door snapped open, the bear-like man once again leering at them. One by one the wizards jumped down and gave their thanks, Erza leading the way to the top of a large cliff looking down into a canyon.
"There." She pointed and Zancrow followed, just about spying a rickety, grey stone guild hall through the intensifying sand storm. He squinted, the sand making his eyes water. He supposed that a sand storm would make for a good cover but it might do more harm for them than good.
"A clever tactic," he proclaimed, puffing his chest out in pride at working out Erza's plan. "They won't even see us coming through all the sand."
The other wizards just stared at him blankly, as if this was pretty obvious to them also. Zancrow deflated at their lack of praise, scowled and began to make his descent down the wall in silence.
The climb was arduous from the start – the wall was a 90 degree angle straight down for about 300 feet and footholds were few and far between. As they began to climb, Happy circled around them nervously, ready to catch anyone who fell. Zancrow looked downwards, hearing movement and was irritated to notice that Natsu was making his way down the wall more quickly than he was. His inner competitiveness immediately sparked and with a grunt of annoyance and resolve he pushed himself to make it down far before his nemesis could.
In the heat of the competition, Zancrow and Natsu had entirely forgotten about magic. The rest of the team simply watched incredulously from the top of the cliff as Natsu and Zancrow began to speed up, snarling at each other.
"You think we should tell them?" Gray suggested.
"They're too far down by now… I don't know if they'd hear us…" Lucy sighed, knowing that if Zancrow was half as competitive as Natsu could be there'd be no stopping them.
"Competition is healthy! It helps us strengthen our bonds!" Erza said passionately, requipped into her climbing set, a glint in her eyes that gave neither Gray nor Lucy confidence.
"I don't know if anything could be healthy between those two," Gray observed, seeing that the two fire wizards were now climbing side by side, noses pressed to each other's and chattering angrily like budgies.
"We'll just…. ignore it," Lucy said resignedly, turning away from Virgo with whom she planned to tunnel through the cliff.
"Go Natsu!" exclaimed Happy, cheering on his friend, who was now scrambling down the cliff alongside Zancrow so quickly they were both nearly a blur.
As their feet touched the ground the two immediately rounded on each other.
"I was first!"
"Are you blind?! I was clearly WAY ahead of you!"
"All that hair blocks your view, I felt myself touch the ground first!"
"And all that being stupid blocks YOUR view!"
They both continued growling at each other until a sharp crack broke their focus.
"Do we have a problem here?" said Erza threateningly, looking over them both with her climbing rope grasped firmly in her hands.
"N-no," they both stammered, immediately breaking up the squabble.
"Wow, and here I thought we were going to be dealing with this all the way," called Gray sardonically, grinding to a halt after sliding smoothly down his Ice Make slide.
Zancrow ignored his jibe, trying not to make himself look bothered. Natsu however was openly pouting looking exactly how Zancrow felt on the inside.
A loud bang jolted him from his sulking as Lucy and Virgo exploded out from the nearby wall.
"Sorry," Lucy began, "Virgo kind of got stuck on this huge rock. And then it was all about punishment and you know…"
Zancrow cocked an eyebrow. "Punishment"? The blonde girl didn't really strike him as the type. Lucy noticed his unsettlement at once.
"No, no, it's not like that at all my spirits are just a little… quirky and you know they get these ideas about things and-"
"No it's fine, I get it."
"You don't understand, really, I'm not like that at all I-"
"Your business is your business. I'm just sayin'."
Zancrow smirked, Lucy looked defeated. He really was starting to relax and enjoy himself in this team. Maybe they weren't so bad, especially when he got to tease.
Erza grouped them together and motioned to the guild hall.
"This building is guarded from all directions except the rear. But the rear is strongly reinforced itself. We need a plan of action to even start an attack."
"Ask him, he'll know how to get in," said Natsu, pointing at Zancrow.
"I have no clue! Did you forget I can't remember?" retorted Zancrow, a little defensive.
"Well… maybe you forgot that you could remember."
"Or maybe I- huh? What? That's the-"
"Hey look, there's two guys walking in right now," interrupted Gray, leaving Zancrow highly confused in his train of thought.
"Natsu. Gray. Go and get some information from those two," Erza said, pushing them both forwards.
"Aye aye captain!" roared Natsu, rushing forwards with his fists ablaze, catching the first member by surprise with a bone crushing fist to the face.
It took all of ten seconds to restrain the two members, one sorely burned and the other frozen solid.
"Alright, how do we get in then?" said Zancrow, hands on his hips, looking down at the two mages.
"T-t-the master i-is having a m-m-meeting with the l-legion right now in t-t-the back…" stammered one, his teeth chattering from the intense cold.
"Then we attack from the front!" exclaimed Natsu excitedly.
"Seems we do," added Gray.
"Thank you, you two. You've been very helpful," said Zancrow, smiling warmly, the other wizards looking at him with concern.
The two dark mages looked up at him with hope flickering in their eyes just before Zancrow slammed their heads together, knocking them out cold.
"I thought you might have gone soft then," said Gray, looking at him.
"Probably will take more than a near death experience to do that, I'm afraid," quipped Zancrow, dusting his hands off.
"What are we waiting for?" said Natsu impatiently. "Let's get in there!"
"Natsu, we need to think more carefully than that," said Erza, giving him a stern look.
"And I'm going to show the newbie how it's done!" yelled back Natsu, already halfway to the front gate.
"Natsu come back!" yelled Lucy, knowing it was useless.
Natsu had now breached the front door. Silence fell upon the wizards as they listened. Zancrow frowned, straining his ears for any noise.
Suddenly a loud shout from Natsu pierced the quiet, followed quickly by the shouts of other wizards as the fights began. The group exchanged concerned looks and sprinted to the front door, throwing it open as they ran.
As soon as they skidded over the threshold and looked around the large, stone guildhall they found themselves in the large wooden doors leading to the back were flung open, four wizards springing forwards to enter the fray.
It was obvious to Zancrow that these were the so-called "legion" who had been having a meeting. Their clothes were more extravagant than their lesser peers dotted around the hall, who had resorted themselves to wearing dirty and most-likely pilfered cloths. The leader of the group rushed at Natsu, his hair wild and black, his eyes slanted and calculating. Just before he reached the flame wizard he pulled a white fox mask over his face and slipped around Natsu with such speed and grace he might have been a gust of wind.
Before Natsu could even react he had been slammed into the opposite wall, making a noise of shock and anger. There wasn't much time to think. A hulking metal monstrosity in the shape of a knight was already bearing down on Zancrow, its steel armour clanking and its sword raised. Zancrow blocked its heavy blow and delivering a scorching fist to its middle, making a hollow ringing sound. The suit of armour didn't recoil in the slightest merely raising its sword once again and Zancrow rolled to the side, taken aback at its tenacity and lack of response.
It didn't take him long to get used to its fighting pattern – a jab here, a kick there and the thing would be on the ground in a heartbeat. His magic and his fighting skill were so ingrained in his being that not even memory loss could take that ability from him. All of his focus was on footing, magic and positioning. There was no time to dwell on pressing matters. Though they weighed heavy on his mind most of the time, in the thick of the fight the burden was lifted off his shoulders and he felt nimbler and freed because of it. Perhaps ignorance truly was bliss.
Meanwhile, Gray was having his work cut out for him with the sleek-haired beauty who had approached him calmly and brazenly, a devilish smile playing about her lips. A snap of her fingers and all the surfaces seemed blindingly reflective and Gray tried in vain to not close his watering eyes. Himself – reflected it seemed a thousand times over – circled him, each copy advancing on him with malice in their eyes. Gray lashed out at the one closest and it shattered like glass but there were far too many to keep track of and the light was dazzling. She let out a shriek of laughter at his bewilderment but Gray knew better than to take notice. The key to defeating her was not playing the game.
The fourth and last member of the legion was especially non-descript. His thin straw-coloured hair clung to his scalp and his pale skin was dotted with freckles. Clearly, he was not as frail as he looked as he was prepared to take on both Lucy and Erza.
Erza was the first to approach, not even bothering to don any armour. Her surprise was immense when nothing but a light blow from the wizard shot her like a pinball into the wall with a resounding crunch. It seemed there was more to him than met the eye.
"Erza, are you okay?! Taurus!"
Lucy summoned her spirit, a hulking bull wielding an axe.
"Moooo! I've got him Miss Lucy!"
Taurus' axe connected with a thud but was immediately blown back by nothing more than a light shove from the dark mage.
"Who is this guy?!" Lucy gasped, astounded at his ability to push back Taurus' axe with little to no effort.
"I'm Hale," he replied with a small, almost humble smile, "the strongest man you'll ever meet."
"Why the long face Jellal? Pouting doesn't suit you, y'know?"
Jellal gave Cobra a weary look but by the look on his face, he'd already heard exactly what the matter was.
"I'm sure you've heard everything?"
"Naturally, naturally," Cobra waved his hand smugly. "And what are you planning to do about it?"
"I don't know yet," Jellal replied, frowning.
The entirety of Crime Sorciere were gathered at their usual meeting place, a forest clearing a few miles south of Magnolia.
"I just can't believe it…" Meredy said worriedly, overwhelmed at the thought of Zancrow's return.
"Well, I can. Hades was messing with some dark stuff," Racer snapped, arms folded and clearly concerned.
"Who knows what he did to that kid? Mind, he was already a complete psycho when I knew him…" Cobra added, thinking back a few years.
"You know him?" Jellal looked up interestedly.
"Not that well. I met him a couple of times since we're both Slayers. Brain and Hades had a mutual interest in those magics."
"Do you think he's… something else?"
Cobra raised an eyebrow. "Meaning what?"
Jellal sighed. "Prepare yourselves for what I'm about to explain."
A sudden left jab from the massive suit of armour broke Zancrow's pattern and he blocked, knowing that this thing wasn't unintelligent. As much as he was learning from it, it was learning from him. Another high-speed left jab came his way and Zancrow dodged to his left, giving the hulking metal monster a kick with his right leg to the chest, blocking its left arm for good. If he had lost everything else, Zancrow was still an incredible tactician; he hadn't been a general in Grimoire Heart for nothing. He smirked as his kick finally did some damage – the chest of the monster had caved in considerably and it finally stumbled backwards.
To his surprise a high-pitched yell came from the armour and Zancrow looked confusedly at the creature for the source. Unknown to him the suit of armour had a passenger. His legs wrapped around its neck, a young mage no older than fourteen brandished a sword at Zancrow.
Zancrow cackled. "Come on then, get down from there and fight me like a real knight!"
The boy merely raised his sword and swiped at him but quick as a flash Zancrow had dashed around the armour and delivered a scorching uppercut that nearly launched the boy from its shoulders.
It was then that Zancrow noticed something that made him stop in his assault. Looking at his enemies from behind, he could now see that one of the kid's legs was twisted strangely, unnaturally. He was obviously crippled, the knight his protector. An odd feeling rushed over Zancrow then, something foreign that he could not immediately identify. His hand dropped, his magic vanished. Was it guilt? Pity? Was this something he should not do? His concentration broke and the suit of armour delivered a crushing blow that made him see stars. He was sharply brought back into the present and leapt back from another sword swing. That was far too close. It would not do to dwell on the ethics of the matter at hand. The truth of the matter is that despite his age and condition this was still a dark mage that would kill him in a heartbeat. He had to take him down.
Black flames engulfed Zancrow as he rushed forwards, determined to finish his battle.
"Okay so we're all aware that Grimoire Heart were nutty about Zeref. That's nothing new. What's your point?"
Cobra looked unimpressed – Jellal wasn't giving his thoughts up easily.
"On the contrary, that's exactly the point. Hades was definitely involving himself with Zeref's magics. I'm suspicious on whether he carried things on further," Jellal continued.
"You don't think he messed around with people do you? That would be creepy." Angel shuddered lightly.
"I don't know if I ever really explained the events of the Tenrou Island… fiasco shall we say?"
"We know the bare bones," said Cobra quickly.
"Well, let me tell you it from another point of view. I'm trying to get you to understand something."
Safir knew it was over. His sword clattered to the ground as his fell from his protector's shoulders, landing hard on the stone floor. He looked up at the wizard looming over him. He was terrifying. Eyes red and piercing, wild hair blowing madly in the chaos of the fight. He looked like he belonged on the battlefield. Safir couldn't move, though his sword wasn't far from him. Just reach a little further… He at least wanted to defend himself before the end…
Zancrow kicked away the sword and took another step closer. Safir winced. He knew the final strike was coming and he squeezed his eyes shut. Instead he felt a massive pressure on his legs and his eyes snapped open, confused. His enchanted suit of armour, now still, lay across him and pinned him to the floor. Zancrow looked down at Safir shrewdly.
"Now you're definitely not going anywhere…" he muttered. Turning away, he surged forwards into another fight.
Safir didn't understand. Why didn't he kill him…?
"So you're telling me that Hades had a demon heart?" Cobra said slowly.
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Jellal replied, pleased he understood.
"Sounds impossible. Surely humans and demons are incompatible. Maybe it was just a huge source of power." Midnight had begun to take an interest in the conversation now.
"I don't think they're as incompatible as you think they are, Macbeth." Jellal stood up. "At any rate, demon influence likely runs thick through the Seven Kin. I doubt Hades would have missed an opportunity to involve them in his experiments."
"You think some sort of demon power is protecting them or something?" Racer looked unconvinced.
"Possibly more than that."
"Sounds like a load of-"
"Love, Erik, love perhaps was protecting him!"
"Oh, shaddup Richard…."
Much to Zancrow's displeasure, both he and Natsu were tailing the masked man. With his fox mask he was incredibly swift and before Zancrow could even whip his head around to see where he had gone, the dark mage had already kicked him into the ground.
"He's fast!" Natsu shouted almost gleefully.
"No shit! DOGOU!"
Zancrow's bellow missed by a long shot and he was once again slammed into the floor. It would take drastic measures to take this guy down.
"Gimme some of your fire!"
"Are you serious?! Get your own, Mr God!"
"Well you can't eat mine!"
"I so can!"
"Arguing in the middle of a fight? Poor form for friends, I'd say." The dark mage had finally decided to speak up.
"HE'S NOT MY FRIEND!" Natsu and Zancrow bellowed angrily.
Gray was starting to understand how this woman's magic worked. It may be dazzling and confusing but it carried no real combat advantage. He needed to get in closer… but to do that he would need to pull some tricks of his own.
"Oh my… so you think you can take them all on at once, huh? You're a foolish boy, but you've got guts."
She giggled softly. So he was going to take on all the copies at once with just one attack? No matter, she could just make more. She put her hands on her hips cockily as she let Gray wipe out all her clones with an Ice Make geyser.
What she didn't expect was the arrow of ice that shot through her from behind. But how? He was right in front of her!
The Gray in front of her shattered into shards of ice and she knew that she had been bested. She looked up. He was right above her with his bow of ice, a smug grin across his face. As she fell, defeated, she couldn't but think that despite being in a light guild he was rather attractive…
"Erza, let me try something!" Lucy said, reaching for another key. "Aries! Use your wool on that guy!"
As the wool swirled around him Hale was understandably confused. What was wool going to do about anything? He struck out again as Erza requipped into a high defence armour and was shocked when she managed to hold him in place with her own blade. Was the wool absorbing the impact of his fists? This was the only magic he had. If his incredible strength wouldn't work…
Erza pushed with her sword. Hale felt himself inching backwards. Even if the wool absorbed the impact this woman must have amazing power to be able to push him back. Just who was she? Her scarlet hair streaked back at the intensity of their struggle and Hale suddenly realised. It was the Fairy Queen, Titania. He never had a hope from the start. Try as he might, Hale could not get the upper hand and he felt himself being launched into the opposite wall. He was beaten.
Looking up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but be somewhat glad. If the age of Steel Wits was over, maybe he was finally free.
"If you want us to go and finish him off, Jellal, we can do that. I don't know why you're telling us all of this."
Cobra nodded, agreeing with the sentiments of his friend Racer.
"That's not what I want you to do at all. I just want you all to be in the loop when it kicks off."
"When what kicks off?" Macbeth said cautiously.
"Dark guilds are being killed off left, right and centre."
"Yep, and we're responsible for most of 'em," said Cobra smugly.
"The age of demons may very well be upon us."
"You don't think… he's got something to do with it, right?" said Meredy weakly.
"As a matter of fact, I think he has everything to do with it," Jellal said sternly, "if he is what I think he is."
Zancrow was at his wits end with this fight. Natsu wouldn't stop cutting him off just as he got close and as much as he hated to admit it, he was doing the same to Natsu. There was no synchrony between them whatsoever and it was hindering rather than helping taking on the fox-masked mage together.
"Natsu, stop blocking me off! You flames keep blowing me in weird directions!"
"And you're doing the same! Just let me take him!"
Zancrow gritted his teeth. There was nothing for it.
"We've got to work toge-"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence. The back wall of the guild hall completely imploded, dust showering all the wizards.
Zancrow dropped to the floor confusedly, squinting through the dust. The fox-masked man darted to the back to join someone approaching through the hole.
"Excuse me for the mess. But I couldn't help but notice that you've been giving my legion a bit of a tough time. I thought I'd come and help out."
The dust screen cleared to reveal a short, squat old wizard, his beard nearly reaching the floor. He grinned as he stroked his moustache and then his eyes fell onto Zancrow. He looked shocked for a fraction of a second but quickly regained his composure.
"Zancrow! Well, well, it has been a long time. Last time I saw you, you were about as tall as me! What on earth land are you doing with this scum?"
Zancrow froze, not knowing what to do or say. The Fairy Tail wizards looked at him, about as shocked as he was.
"No matter. How is Master Hades, hm?" His smug grin told all. He knew of Hades' fate.
Zancrow's eyebrow twitched. He did not want to prolong the inevitable. A fight between himself and the master of Steel Wits was fast approaching.
"You always were such a silly boy. Hades played you for a fool."
"Did he now?" Zancrow felt his temper rising.
"Just a puppet. Worse still, an experiment! I always hoped for the day that Grimoire would fall due to its own darkness. Took far too much money from my humble little guild here."
"You know what? I think Hades did me a favour."
"And what makes you say that, my dear boy?"
"Well, I'm here and he's not. I'm free to live how I want."
"With the demon's blood? I think you are far from free."
"Jellal that's not even possible."
"I assure you it is, Erik."
"Well you said you didn't want him bumping off. I personally think it's a fantastic idea to kill off an unhinged abomination of nature, don't you?"
"Whatever he is, it's not our position to exact judgement."
"A half demon can't be allowed to exist, Jellal! Are you insane?!"
"Macbeth, calm yourself. He may yet show urges to return to Zeref, he may not. What concerns me is if other demons from the Books of Zeref learn that it's possible to make half demons."
"Imagine an army of the near immortal…" Meredy shivered.
"Do we tell Fairy Tail?" Racer asked sharply.
"Not yet. But I have an idea."
"That's right. I'm half demon. What of it?"
Zancrow felt the silence behind him more than he heard it.
"'What of it?' Well, my dear boy, just to start – your mood, your magic, your everything! Who you are! You are defined by the blood of a demon!"
"Maybe. But I'm still me."
"That means nothing. Come here and let me clean the stain of Grimoire Heart off this world for good."
"With pleasure. I hate those guys." Zancrow rushed forwards, fists ablaze, ready to strike down his foe.
To the new people, welcome! To the old people, sorry I've been gone so long! A side story involving Steel Wits prior to Team Natsu and Zancrow taking them down is in the works also. See you very, very soon.
