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Chapter 8
A young man with long dark hair tied in a large ponytail stands before Natsu, Wendy, and Seilah. Slung over his shoulder is a knapsack that is slightly bulging. He walks over to Natsu and Wendy. He exudes an air of confidence in his walk.
"Who are you?" Seilah asks, "I will give you one chance to release the carriage and turn away. If you do not, I will be forced to arrest you."
Mard Geer smirks at the woman, "My name is Mard Geer. I am the assistant to Zeref Dragneel. And as for your request, I don't think I will."
"Then you leave me no choice."
Before Seilah can continue her sentence, Mard Geer cuts her off, "What, are you going to use your Macro on me? Don't try and bluff me. I know you can only use it effectively on two people. Even if you tried to use it on us, we would be able to break out of it easily. That's why you haven't tried to use it on Natsu or Wendy, right?"
Seilah shuts her mouth and stares at Mard Geer with disdain. It annoys her, but he's right. Her Macro gives her complete control over whatever she wants, but there's a limit to her control. At this time, she can only control up to two living people.
"That's what I thought."
Natsu takes this opportunity to bring a swift end to their fight. He launches at Seilah and ignites his fist on fire. He swings at her and launches her back into a tree.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Once Seilah contacts the tree, Mard Geer uses his magic to restrain and tie her to the tree. Seilah's head slumps down onto the thorn affixing her to the tree. He then brings the wagon back down to the ground.
"Wha- Hey!" a male voice shouts from the carriage.
The knight who was driving the carriage is swiftly thrown from the carriage onto the ground. A thoroughly pissed off Erza and Anna follow him out of it.
"Worst. Day. Ever." Erza says.
Mard Geer swiftly gets to restraining the knight before addressing the travelling group before him.
Mard Geer bows before Erza, "Well, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, your highness."
"The pleasure is all mine." Erza replies, "Might I ask you name, kind traveler?"
"My name is Mard Geer Tartaros. I am assistant to the Arcmage Zeref. I came to deliver some parcels for Wendy and Natsu. I was told they were traveling in this direction."
"Who told you that?" Anna asks as he gives Wendy and Natsu a cylindrical metallic container.
"Why, Zeref of course."
Natsu and Wendy open their canisters and immediately make a disgusted face, "This stuff?"
"I hate this stuff…" Wendy pouts.
"Yes, well it's a requirement for your training."
Natsu and Wendy begrudgingly drink the contents of the container. Disgust is evident on their faces, but they drink it all nonetheless.
"Hold on, what do you mean Zeref told you?" Anna asks
Mard Geer turns his attention back to Anna, "Grandine was concerned for Wendy's wellbeing. So, she asked Zeref to check up on her. That's when he discovered you four were travelling together. Which, by the way, why are you travelling together?"
It is Erza's turn to step forward, "We were hoping to enlist you master's help in reversing the effects of dragonification on my Mother."
"Hm," Mard Geer folds his arms and thinks for a moment, "It is true that Zeref would be the most knowledgeable on the subject of dragons and dragon slayers. I'm not sure that he would be able to reverse those effects though."
"There's no way bro would say no." Natsu adds.
"Ah, well yes. I don't see any reason why he wouldn't at least try."
"That's all I can really ask for."
Mard Geer walks over to the carriage. The horses that were carrying it had run a little a way down the road. It would be no issue at all to go back and retrieve them. The real problem was Erza's wagon. It's contents were littered about the ground.
"Two people should probably go retrieve the horses." Mard Geer advises, "The rest of us should clean up this mess."
"Natsu and I can get them." Erza immediately volunteers.
Mard Geer nods at Erza and proceeds to aid Anna and Wendy in picking up the debris. Natsu and Erza head off in the direction of the horses.
"He seems nice." Erza remarks.
"Yeah, he's pretty cool. He's also really smart."
"Say, thanks for helping us back there." Erza says with a shy smile.
Natsu smiles at Erza, "Anything for a friend."
Erza's smile fades a little.
They reach the horses and Erza helps Natsu calms his down. They lead them back towards the carriages. Erza has no problem hooking them back up to the carriage, and they get to work clearing up the rest of their supplies.
"Are we really going to take that thing?" Natsu asks wearily.
"It would speed this journey up considerably." Anna explains to him, "Sorry Natsu."
"Wendy, don't you know Troia?" Mard Geer asks.
"Huh, oh yeah!" Wendy jumps in realization, "Natsu, I can use my magic to cure your motion sickness!"
Natsu throws Wendy into a bear hug, "Really? That's awesome!"
Mard Geer continues saying, "If you cast Troia as an enchantment instead of a Dragon Slayer Spell, you should be able to use it on yourself. It's effects will be lowered though."
"I'll try it!"
"You sound very knowledgeable of these things." Anna remarks.
"I am Zeref's assistant. I've taken the time to learn these things."
"I don't know what else you are doing, but I feel like we could really use your help."
Mard Geer begins to chuckle to himself, "If you are asking me to join you, then the answer is yes. I am headed for Mount Zonia as well after all. There's no reason for me not to join you."
And so Mard Geer joins the group!
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