Chapter IV: Reunion
Within the Capsule Corp.'s atrium…
Edo grinned mischievously as a new stranger entered the room, who sprung from a portal on the ground just to the dark wizard's left; and Edo greeted the newcomer by wrapping his left arm over his shoulders playfully. Edo looked at Gohan to gauge the demi-Saiyan's reaction; but he noticed Gohan was still trying to identify the new guest, whose figure was shrouded by a black and orange flame.
"It's sad, honestly." The Shadow wizard remarked thoughtfully as he released his grip on the fiery figure's shoulders, "Everyone here looks at me and sees a monster; but have any of you ever thought that there are things out there worse than me?"
"I have, actually." Iga interrupted, finally losing some of his patience, "I just know that there isn't."
"Even after considering this new foe you seek to challenge?" Edo retorted, "What did that feline call himself, a Keeper? Because of your selfish actions, you're entire planet's fate could hinge on the whims of killers of Destroyer Gods; and for what? Love?"
Edo had looked directly at Goten as he added a cynical tone to his last few words; and he smirked at the teen demi-Saiyan's irked expression before continuing his speech.
"You see, I didn't come here to cause chaos; and I didn't come here to harm any of you. I am here to clear the air, because we both have a few problems; and if we don't create some solutions for these problems, there won't be any worlds left for us to fight over."
"Are you saying you want to fight the Keepers with us?" Trunks asked him curiously.
"An amusing thought," Edo replied with a joyful smirk, "But no, there are other important matters to attend to; and that won't happen if we all run off to 'fight the good fight!'
"This threat from the stars is quite formidable, though; so I have decided that I will aid in your endeavor, seeing as doing so will kill a few birds with one stone."
Most of the crowd gave him confused looks as they tried to figure out his endgame until Videl decided to question him first.
"And just what 'birds' are you trying to kill?" She asked pointedly, and Edo chuckled at her before answering.
"I assume you remember hearing of the Black Wizard Zeref, or of my Earthland counterpart, yes?" He explained to her, "As powerful as I am, Zeref's curse prevents me from killing him; in fact, there's only one person in existence who can end him now. And I don't feel like technically killing myself, so I figure the guy that'd kill Zeref would take a dragon no problem. Oh, if only I had that person on my side…
"And then I found myself in possession of a Dragon Slayer, and a very special one at that. You see, he's not just Natsu Dragneel…"
As soon as Edo said the Dragon Slayer's name, the black and orange flames dissipated; and the pink-haired wizard came stumbling out of them, nearly collapsing to the floor until Goten caught him.
"He is Etherius Natsu Dragneel," Edo said as he watched Natsu slowly begin to regain control of his body, seeing the Slayer take his time at trying to stand on his own, "A four hundred year old, time travelling demon created by Zeref himself; or should I say, to be more correct… by Zeref Dragneel, his older brother."
Trunks was glad to notice that even Lisanna seemed to be surprised by this revelation; and he quickly looked around the room to see the several different surprised reactions from his friends. Only Iga seemed unsurprised in any way; but that was no shock to Trunks by this point.
"Natsu is… a demon?" Lisanna remarked as she processed the new information; and she looked toward Natsu, who was waiting to see her reaction in nervous silence as he finished regaining control of his own body. Edo practically giggled at the wizards' silent exchange before speaking again.
"He's not just any demon, my dear, he's THE demon." He informed her, "The sole purpose for E.N.D.'s existence is to eliminate Zeref, just like the other demons from his brother's Books; but he has more power than all the other demons combined. For not only is capable of defeating the second most evil man Earthland's ever seen; but he's also been given the power to slay the Dragon King, all part of the plan that's been hundreds of years in the making."
Most of the group was silent as they tried to process or comprehend the information they were being given; and only a handful of the Z fighters were on the same page as Edo, with Gohan and Iga being two of them.
"Natsu is important." Iga agreed before inquiring, "But why bring him here instead of just ending the war back home?"
"As far as I'm concerned, the ceasefire is ideal; and ending the conflict wouldn't benefit me at the moment." Edo replied thoughtfully, "If Natsu ever returns to Fiore, I'm sure that the first thing he'll do is end this nasty business with his brother. And thanks to his brother, I've been able to rule Earthland from the Shadows; so I'd rather maintain that for a little longer."
"And what's to stop me from simply bringing Natsu back there?" Iga remarked impatiently, "Maybe I'd like to see that smirk get taken off your face again."
Iga saw his rival's eyes flash with irritation for a split-second before the rest of Edo displayed amusement, seeing the dark wizard smile amiably before turning to the rest of their audience and speaking.
"I'm going to poll the room." He declared happily before looking directly at Gohan, Videl, and Pan and asking, "Why do you think I brought him here?"
"I don't give a crap why you brought me here!" Natsu finally cut in, having recovered and regained his bearings; and he was ready to show Edo exactly how enraged he was, yelling as he charged forward with large and bright orange flames in hand. The fire mage got nearly a few feet towards Edo until the dark wizard waved his right hand lazily; and Natsu's body tensed up before he fell forward, locked stiffly in his charging stance.
"Natsu!" Lisanna shouted in concern just as Goten caught the frozen Dragon Slayer before standing him up.
"What did you do to him?" Trunks demanded quickly, getting ready to attack the dark wizard if he had to.
"Calm down," Edo replied with an annoyed tone, "I've never hurt your friend and I don't intend to. This is just a simple body-lock.
"Due to mastering everything my Shadows could discover about curses," He continued, "I have learned how to control all things dark magic; and since Natsu's entire body is ultimately held together by a dark wizard's power…"
The dark wizard let Gohan finish his sentence.
"You can steal control of Natsu; maybe even possess him." The demi-Saiyan said darkly, wearing a poor excuse for a calm face as he spoke; and he felt his wife place a hand on his arm reassuringly before he decided he had more to say.
"And I know why you brought him here." Gohan told the dark wizard seriously, "You said Natsu's also travelled through time somehow, that means he's in danger anywhere he goes. Now that you've let the cat out the bag."
"Yeah," Iga agreed as he realized the demi-Saiyan's point, "I'm sure the Keepers know by now. And I'm willing to bet they're going to come for him too."
"So we have to protect him." Goten caught on aloud; but Natsu shook his head faintly as he finally recovered, before cutting back into the conversation.
"Protect me?" the Salamander repeated the phrase as if it had insulted him, "Screw that! Just tell me where these creeps are; and I'll burn 'em to crisp. We gotta get back to Fairy Tail!"
On Earthland, in the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…
Sting Eucliffe groaned as he slowly rolled onto his back just after landing in a heap, taking a moment to get over the pain of Orga's latest attack. The White Dragon Slayer was now located on the floating tier of the Council building, having been blasted into it from the courtroom below until a couple ceilings ended his ascent; and he was fortunate enough that one of the busted floors was able to catch him on his way back down. Feeling that some of the pain had subsided, Sting began to sit up and scan the room; but he only had a couple seconds before his ally's appearance caught his attention.
"Are you alright, Sting?" Mest Gryder questioned immediately after teleporting in front the Dragon Slayer's feet; but Sting rose to his feet before Mest could extend a hand.
"I've been better," the Dragon Slayer admitted, trying to pump himself up with anger as he added, "But it doesn't matter how I am. I have to save Orga; and I'm tired of this playing around!"
Mest watched as Sting's dragonforce activated; and he had to take a step back and shield his eyes from the pressure and radiance of the Slayer's magic aura. The display was impressive; but the moment ended as Orga appeared to Mest's left, breaking through the wall between them before stepping through and giving Sting a grin.
"I remember when I feared your power." The God Slayer taunted before making a fighting stance and adding, "But there's no light that could defeat my Master's Shadow, an-"
"I'M YOUR MASTER!" Sting roared in rage as he slapped his hands together, as if he were praying, before separating his palms while keeping his fingertips in contact with each other; and bright white light filled the space between his hands.
"White Dragon's…" He chanted quickly before he yanked his hands apart, extending them horizontally at his sides and expanding the luminous sphere in front of him.
Orga recognized the spell in an instant; and he dashed toward Sting in an attempt to prevent it's casting, until he was cut off by Mest. The teleporting mage warped in front of Orga before landing a kick with his right foot against the side of his surprised enemy's face, creating a successful diversion for Sting in the process; and he warped away from a staggering Orga just as Sting finished his incantation.
"HOLY RAY!"
As Sting shouted, an intense barrage of white rays erupted from his magic sphere; and every single projectile struck the God Slayer in rapid succession, who was too slow to put up any form of defense. Orga roared in pain as most of his body was pelted with incredible amounts of magical energy; and he staggered backwards in response, barely keeping his balance as he endured the attack. The barrage ended after a moment; but Mest knew he and Sting needed to keep attacking while they had the upper hand, and he warped in front of Orga before the smoke could clear before throwing a right punch at his foe's face while yelling to his ally.
"Keep attacking!" He shouted as his fist connected, making Orga stumble backwards a few more steps before Sting obeyed his ally's command.
"White Dragon's ROAR!"
From across the room, the Dragon Slayer fired the breath attack barely past Mest's right side before it collided into Orga; and the God Slayer was shot through the crumbling wall behind him from the resulting explosion. Emerging outdoors as large amounts of rubble fell out the building with him, Orga was about to stop his fall until he heard Sting shout to Mest.
"Get me above him!"
Just as Orga slowed his descent and looked up, the two appeared a few yards above and in front of him; and Sting unleashed another breath attack at him instantly.
"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"
From the courtroom below, Gray and Yukino looked up to see Orga get struck by a massive beam of white light; and they watched it carry him downwards before hearing it crash somewhere out of sight and explode. The area was quiet for just a moment after the spell's detonation, until Gray smirked triumphantly as he looked back at Cel Rhea.
"Looks like you guys aren't as big and bad as you act." He taunted her coolly; but she did not seemed bothered by the remark, even chuckling before responding.
"Orga's nowhere near finished, I promise." She stated matter-of-factly, "He may be slower and weaker than myself, but he can take a beating. I'm sure he's still just playing around with them."
Cel took a moment to look around the room before she spoke again, looking at the pair of wizards in front of her, and at the multiple piles of broken black rocks around them that used to be her golems. Her white haired foe was showing signs of slight fatigue, but the ice wizard was as cool as ever; and she couldn't help but smirk before commenting on his bravado.
"I'm not sure if this cockiness of yours is a façade or not, but I will say; it is impressive. Taking down that many of my creations must have been tiring, but you don't appear to have even broken a sweat."
She gestured to Yukino with a nod of her head, "Unlike the tigress over here, it looks like she's just trying to keep up. No wonder Fairy Tail won the Grand Magic Games, am I right?"
"And just how long do you plan on rambling?" Gray questioned her instead of answering. Irritation flashed on Cel's face for a brief moment before she smiled at him amusedly and replied.
"I don't think you'd want me to stop talking." She informed him darkly, "Because as soon as that's done, I'm going to kill the celestial mage; and then I'm going to take you as my prisoner. And I'm going to talk to you every day, until you die miserable and without friends. That's if my magnificent charm doesn't win you over."
"I'm sure I'd love that." Gray told her sarcastically while she chuckled before readying himself for more fighting, placing his right fist on his open left palm as he held his hands in front of himself.
"And don't underestimate Sabertooth," Yukino chipped in, "We might be a younger guild, but we can be just as strong as Fairy Tail; and I'm going to do what I have to, to protect my friends!"
Cel Rhea held her amused expression as she gathered some of her magic energy, preparing to focus it into a spell while she talked, "How adorable. But I'm starting to wonder if you'll be this gung-ho after I've started grinding you into the earth."
Yukino pulled out both her golden keys the next instant; and Gray started preparing to attack, but Cel was the first to cast a spell.
"Now die, like a good little girl! Earth God's Bellow!"
A jet black torrent of rocks soared straight for Yukino's head, and the celestial mage was quick enough to dodge it; but the attack suddenly began to curve back around at her before it could hit the wall behind its target. Yukino jumped to her right to successfully dodge it, making Gray also move to his right to avoid letting her run into him; but the spell turned back towards Yukino once more. Yukino was getting ready to dodge it again; but Gray suddenly intervened, casting his own spell to block Cel's attack.
"Ice Make: Shield!" He quickly yelled before creating a large shield of blue ice in front of Yukino that caused the God Slayer's spell to explode with it upon impact.
"You see, Sabertooth?" Cel remarked to Yukino humorously as the smoke and water vapor cleared, "Even now, the fairy's protecting you. And it's getting rather annoying, actually."
Before Gray could say something, Cel stomped her right foot onto the ground; and in response, a large and flat-topped column of dark rock rose from under Gray's feet in an instant, carrying him a few stories up before he could react. Yukino had watched Gray go up with the pillar for only a moment, but it was long enough for Cel to take advantage of the distraction.
"Earth God's Quake!" She chanted next, and the ground underneath Yukino ripped open, "Fall into the earth, where you belong!"
The white haired wizard began to fall into the large crevice for a couple of seconds until she finally managed to summon another spirit.
"Libra!" She called out with a hint of desperation, and the celestial spirit appeared just above her before manipulating the gravity around them to lift them both out of the hole. The two landed on their feet smoothly the next moment; and Cel looked at them with amusement before Gray caught both of their attentions.
"Ice Make: Jackhammer!" He shouted, and an icy construction tool suddenly appeared in his hands before he used it to turn the rocky pillar into rubble from the top to bottom. He landed on his feet smoothly as the jackhammer vanished from his hands; and then he smirked at his spectators, but Cel was the first to speak up.
"You smile as if you're about to win," She noted as she looked Gray over, "But you do remember my Titan Form, don't you? You know I could end this at any moment, if I chose to."
"'Titan form'?" Yukino repeated curiously, wondering if she should be nervous; but she could see that Gray seemed un-phased by the dark wizard's threat.
"Yeah, I remember it." The ice mage replied to their enemy, "But I'm not really that worried; I started coming up with a plan to deal with it as soon as I thought you were here."
"Oh?" Cel questioned with amusement, "Well, maybe I should put that plan to the test."
Suddenly the entire courtroom began to tremor; and the two light guild wizards watched as their foe's body turned to stone, though Rhea was still able to speak as her transformation began.
"And then I'll send you back to the earth where you belong!"
Yukino timidly took a step back before looking to Gray and asking him, "What's happening?!"
Before Gray answered, he quickly glanced to Cel to see her black-stone body beginning to grow rapidly; and he grabbed Yukino by the wrist before springing away from their foe and shouting.
"We're running, that's what's happening! We've got to get out of this building before she brings it down around us!"
Back on Earth…
Having taken a long moment to calm Natsu down, the Z fighters continued to keep their eyes on Edo as he finally resumed his conversation.
"Now that we've gotten a hold of our tempers," He said to poke at Natsu before continuing, "I'd like to add two more things before I go."
Gohan and Iga exchanged wary glances before turning back to watch Edo closely with the others before letting him begin his list.
"I hope you can forgive me for the hypocrisy; but everything I've said about Natsu must never leave this room, at least not yet." He stipulated boldly, "And if my Shadows find even one of you talking about this, I'll split Natsu's neck in an instant; and I'll let his dear older brother crush Fairy Tail beneath his feet. Maybe I'll feed the guild to my pet Dragon King before that, too; it has been a while since he's had a nice bloodbath, and I know a few other Dragon Slayers that would do just nicely; with a few alterations of course…"
"You won't touch Wendy!" Goten immediately shouted at him, more than angry with the clear threat; but Edo was unimpressed, only smirking knowingly at the demi-Saiyan before responding.
"Just so you know, I do want to see you suffer for the annoyance that you've become," Edo explained honestly, "But I have no need to try and take the Sky Maiden from you; someone's already taking care of that for me."
"What?!" Goten demanded immediately, taking a few heavy-footed steps closer towards the dark wizard as he spoke; and Edo wasted no time in savoring the demi-Saiyan's reaction before adding:
"That's right. And by the time you get to Earthland, it'll be too late. She won't be yours anymore; and even if you might be able stand the sight of her by then, you'll never be with her. Ever…. again."
Goten was confused by most of what he was hearing; but he did feel a fear of impending tragedy from hearing Edo's words. He glanced nervously at his family and friends before trying to get more from Edo.
"What are talking about? Is Wendy in danger?" He interrogated the wizard as he moved another few steps closer; and the other god-ki users tensed up as they readied to intervene if they had to, noticing Goten's growing anger as he yelled at Edo.
"Tell me!"
"Relax, she's not in THAT kind of danger. See for yourself." Edo replied; and he waved his left hand lazily to make a portal appear on the floor in front of Goten before offering kindly, "I'll even hold this rift open for you, if you don't like what you're seeing and feel the need to intervene."
Goten was not sure if he should be grateful for the help, or if he should even look through the portal; but his fear and curiosity overrode his hesitation and he looked, despite a last-second cautionary glance from Trunks. If he was confused by Edo's words already, he was now puzzled by what he saw; but Edo had also begun to speak again, successfully pulling the other's attentions away from the distracted demi-Saiyan.
"Now where was I?" the dark wizard thought aloud, "Oh right, I had one more thing to say."
Edo looked over the entire room before ending his list, "These Keepers you've chosen to challenge, they have magic that prevents me from locating them; and it's becoming a point of frustration for me. So, if you would be so kind, I'd be overjoyed if you could share this information with me, before you bring them down. Swear to pay me this kindness; and I'll return the favor by saving some of your friends tonight. There's a little scuffle going on right now, involving a couple God Slayers, two tigers, and two fairies; but there's only one way everyone comes out of that alive, and that's with my help."
Gohan, Videl, Trunks, Iga and Lisanna all exchanged thoughtful glances at each other before Edo pressed the issue.
"So what's it going to be?" He tried to hasten a decision, but Goten interrupted them with an angry and stunned shout.
"No!" He yelled, still in his own world, before he moved to jump into the portal; but Trunks was quick enough to grab him by an arm before he leapt into it.
"Goten, wait!" Trunks called out just as he grabbed his best friend, "We can't just run back to Earthland."
"I know," Goten shook his head as he replied and his friend released him, "But I can't risk it, if something's going to happen to her…"
"Let me see." Trunks calmly requested before moving to get a better look at the rift; but he only saw an image of Wendy Marvell walking next to Romeo Conbolt, appearing to be walking out of some diner in Magnolia.
"I don't see anything, Goten." Trunks observed honestly, but his best friend was unconvinced.
"Look at his face." The younger demi-Saiyan told him, gesturing to the dark wizard as he spoke, "He's not lying when he says that something's going to happen."
Trunks looked at Edo, who only grinned at the two devilishly.
"I need to be there." Goten suddenly decided, "She won't even see me, but I have to make sure she's safe."
Gohan and a few others in the room were also about to try changing his mind, but he gave them no chance by leaping in the next moment; and a few people in the room suddenly became fearful for the demi-Saiyan the moment he had vanished. Trunks was about to jump in after Goten, but the portal his friend left through disappeared; and everyone in the room immediately snapped their attention back to Edo.
"What are you doing?!" Trunks demanded in confusion, "You said you'd hold it open for him!"
"True." Edo parried nonchalantly, "But you're not him, are you?"
"Weren't you agreeing to help us?! Open the portal!" Trunks demanded, "Now!"
Deciding he had enough of entertaining his rival, Iga quickly created his own portal underneath himself as he decided to go after Goten himself; and he arrived in Earthland before anyone back at C.C. could react, arriving in the center of an empty road that led to Fairy Hills. Looking ahead, he could see he had a few minutes before Wendy and Romeo would be where he was standing; so he quickly moved to chase after Goten, who was trying to find any kind of decent hiding spot. Unfortunately for the demi-Saiyan, the terrain around him was mostly flat and grassy, with sometimes an occasional hill; and there were no tall trees or shrubbery to hide behind. Iga shook his head at Goten before quickly catching up to him; and he gently grabbed Goten by the left shoulder with his right hand, trying to be reassuring as he spoke.
"C'mon, kid, she's safe." He pointed out, "There's no one around for miles that would even think about attacking her. And there's even less who could survive doing just that."
"No." Goten shrugged off Iga's hand as he replied, "Edo could have one of his goons coming after her."
"He's not going to come after her." Iga argued calmly, "He said he wouldn't."
"Because someone else is going to hurt her." The demi-Saiyan paraphrased the dark wizard's words, and then he gave Iga a stern glare before ordering the immortal, "I'm staying until I know she's safe, so get the hell out of my way."
Goten moved to take flight, planting his feet in preparation to launch before Iga finally gave up.
"Alright, alright. Calm down," The redhead sighed in exasperation, "We can both keep an eye on her. Here."
Iga pulled out a small white lacrima from his left pants pocket before tapping it twice and tossing it to the demi-Saiyan, who caught it and instantly became invisible to everything except Iga.
"I guess if we are going to stalk someone," Iga remarked humorously as his own magic rendered him invisible, "We can at least do it right."
Goten was about to make his gratitude known, but Iga kept talking.
"Just follow me. If you have to move, don't use your feet; and stay absolutely quiet." He instructed Goten quickly as he realized he could begin to hear Wendy and Romeo's conversation.
"I don't know…" the two heard Wendy say thoughtfully, "I haven't thought about it that much, really."
The moment the two wizards were in earshot, Goten's eyes locked onto Wendy; and he had to take a long moment to get over the sudden surreal sensation at seeing her. She was everything he had imagined, and more. It was torture that he had to let her walk past him; but just seeing and hearing her, that was enough to make him feel happier than he had ever been back on Earth.
"Maybe you should." Romeo suggested, "You'd cover at least two months' worth of jobs; and it'd only take half-an-hour, at worst. Heck, I'd definitely buy an issue. Maybe three."
"I know you would." The Sky Maiden laughed with a faint blush that she hoped was unnoticeable, "But I've never modeled for anything like that before, and this is Sorcerer Weekly's first issue in two years. Wouldn't they want someone more popular?"
"And this is where I say you're underestimating yourself, again." He quipped humorously before speaking to her with a slightly serious tone, "Why do you think they want you for the cover? It's because you're the wizard everyone wants to see right now."
Goten saw her give Romeo a curious look, one that he remembered too well; and he couldn't help but smile at the familiar expression before continuing to listen. From everything he was hearing, Goten could tell Wendy had accomplished a lot since he'd last seen her; and judging by her ki, he could tell immediately that she had put everything into her training. Hearing Romeo's words only helped to confirm his observations, and he couldn't help but smirk with some pride in her while he continued to listen.
"You think so?" Wendy asked, about to add more to her question; but a faint, familiar scent caught her attention. She recognized it immediately, there was no way she wouldn't recognize it; but she knew its presence was impossible. She tried putting the puzzling stimuli at the back of her mind, but the mystery of its appearance was getting to her; and she suddenly realized she hadn't been paying attention to Romeo as he suddenly spoke a little louder than before.
"Hello?" He said amusedly, "Earthland to Wendy, are you there?"
"Sorry," She quickly apologized, "I got distracted thinking about something."
"What was it?" The fire mage asked caringly, "The only time you do that is when you're thinking about something important."
"It's nothing." She tried to get past the topic, "I just thought I smelled someone nearby."
"Anyone we know?" Romeo inquired, but Wendy shook her head as she sniffed the air again.
"I couldn't tell." She lied, "And I can't find the scent again."
"Oh well." Her partner remarked, "I guess you're just going to have to suffer and keep walking with me."
"I guess so." Wendy agreed with amusement, exchanging smiles with Romeo as he chuckled at her; but what they did next made Iga instantly nervous.
Wendy looked ahead to see how much father they had, but she quickly looked back to her partner as he quickly grabbed her left hand with his right. And as soon as their fingers were interlocked, Romeo pulled Wendy closer to his side and leaned into her before asking,
"Are you suffering yet?" He interrogated her jokingly, and she giggled before replying.
"Oh, please. You know you're gonna have to do better than that."
"Yeah?" Romeo questioned with a goofy grin on his face, "I think you're bluffing."
"Am I?" She remarked cryptically.
"Oh yeah, I can tell." He affirmed with surety, "I know you'll break eventually."
"We'll see." She challenged him, and the two shared a small chuckle before looking back ahead and changing the conversation.
But while they were having the time of their lives, Iga was hovering a few yards behind them, sweating in nervousness as he realized what Edo truly meant when he spoke of Wendy. And he could feel the looming presence of Goten just behind him, wondering if the demi-Saiyan had connected the dots yet or not; but either way, the situation was turning ugly for him.
"I think we should go." He whispered to Goten quickly, knowing his best option was to get the demi-Saiyan back to Earth as soon as possible, "She's safe, I'm sure."
"No." Goten matched Iga's volume as he replied, but he still managed to put force behind his words, "Not until she's back at Fairy Hills."
"We can't be here any longer." Iga pleaded with him, "The Keepers…"
"I don't care." The demi-Saiyan told him with an impatient look, "And I'm not afraid of them."
He floated past the redhead before returning to listening to Wendy and Romeo. He wasn't lying about staying to make sure she was safe; but Goten had another reason to watch them now, now thinking that there was one thing he had to know before he could go back to Earth.
"-ou really want any pointers, you should talk to Mira." He heard Romeo say, "But it shouldn't be that difficult. I mean, a lot of guys in Fairy Tail have modeled for them too; and you know we're not the brightest bunch around."
"That's not true." Wendy kindly argued, briefly tightening her grip on his hand to show she was serious, "I think you're very smart.
"And sometimes, you're too smart." She added with a faint smile that Romeo quickly matched.
"I knew you had some reason for keeping me around," He remarked humorously, "But I didn't think it was that."
"What did you think it was?" She asked with amused interest.
"I don't know," He thought aloud, "I was hoping it was my infectious sense of humor, or my handsome good looks…"
"Carla would be gagging at your ego right about now." Wendy noted with amusement.
"It's a good thing you're not Carla." Romeo commented back, looking ahead and seeing that they were about to arrive at Fairy Hills as he spoke.
"I mean," He added half-jokingly, but also trying to test the waters, "It'd be weird if I was having a date with a cat."
"So this is a date?" She asked with her tone still sounding amused, instantly picking up on where he was leading the conversation.
"Feels like one to me." He answered with a faint squeeze of her hand before asking her jokingly, "You got a problem with that?"
"Not at all." She replied happily; and Romeo's face lit up with the biggest grin she had ever seen him wear. She twisted her left arm slightly to wrap her arm around Romeo's; and that was the moment that made Iga realize he was about to have a serious mess on his hands, as the immortal heard Goten's right fist clench in anger at the sight.
No way… Goten said to himself, There's no way…
The demi-Saiyan had first thought that Wendy and Romeo's hand-holding was just playful, and though it bothered him, he was able to put it out of his mind. But when Wendy wrapped her arm around Romeo's, that's when he knew what he was watching was serious.
She can't...
Goten could hear nothing but his own thoughts at the moment; and the only thing he saw was the two wizards as they finally reached the front of Fairy Hills.
But I'm right here!
He watched Wendy stand in front of Romeo as their conversation neared its end, but their hands were still together; and Wendy didn't appear to be in a hurry to head inside.
This isn't real… Edo's gotta be playing with me!
"I guess this is good night." He heard Romeo say as his sense of denial forced him to pay attention to the end of the conversation.
"Looks like it." Wendy agreed.
"It's a shame." Romeo commented amusedly, "I was hoping to see you crack after all this torture I've been putting you through."
Wendy giggled faintly before reminding him, "I told you that you were going to have do better than that."
"I thought about it." Romeo replied seriously, though he still kept his humorous tone, "But you didn't want me to do that the other day, so…"
"Wait…" He quickly asked hopefully as he realized exactly what she was saying, "Do you really want me to?"
Wendy took a moment to think before answering with a nod; and to his own surprise, Romeo suddenly grew nervous.
"Okay." He said as he gathered himself, making Wendy giggle at the fact that he needed to prepare; but she couldn't deny that she was just as oddly nervous.
"Wendy," He asked her softly, feeling the need to confess something to her, "Did you notice that I had freaked the other night, too?"
"I didn't." She answered quietly, feeling slightly surprised.
"It was when I went to the bathroom, just before we left for here." He revealed with a faint blush on his face, "I was so scared you were going to reject me… I'm still afraid of that, somehow…"
"Romeo?" Wendy interrupted him, sounding amused yet impatient.
"Yeah?" He replied nervously.
The next moment, Wendy's lips were on Romeo's; and Goten suddenly felt like his gut was being torn apart from the inside.
She has… the demi-Saiyan realized as his heart shattered on the spot, but he was so stunned that he couldn't pull his eyes away from the two as their kiss deepened. Romeo grabbed Wendy's waist with his free hand and pulled her closer while Wendy used her own free hand to hold his face as they kissed. The two enjoyed the moment immensely, but it was short lived as Wendy suddenly heard something that caught her immediate attention.
"Wendy…" Goten accidentally said her name aloud, making Iga visibly cringe at the pain in his voice; and Wendy noticed the same thing about the disembodied whisper.
Goten and Iga exchanged glances for a brief moment; and the redhead was only able to see that the teen was crying before he suddenly dashed away and took off into the air, flying blindly southward as he ascended rapidly.
Wendy removed her lips from Romeo's when she heard the voice; and she noticed the brief changes in the wind around them the next second, but Romeo hadn't noticed either. Without explaining her actions, Wendy began scanning the area around them.
Goten? She thought questioningly, knowing that she had smelled him, heard his voice, and could have sworn she felt someone flying away; but then she put the thought aside as Romeo regained her attention.
"What's wrong?" He asked her, noticing that she had tensed up and started looking everywhere for something he couldn't see.
"Nothing." She replied with a shake of her head before trying to change the subject with a joke, "I guess I'm finally cracking."
"It's about time." The fire mage remarked with amusement before adding a sad sigh and saying, "But I guess this means that it's good night for real this time."
"It does." Wendy said sadly, but with a warm smile.
"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" He asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear it anyway.
"Of course." She answered without hesitation before offering a time to meet up, "Are you going to get breakfast at the guild?"
Romeo nodded and said, "Yep."
"Could you meet me and Carla out here before you do?" She asked curiously, "I know it's out of the way; but I want to see how Carla reacts to… this… away from the guild."
"That's a good idea, actually." Romeo remarked thoughtfully before agreeing, "Okay, I'll do that. Eight, or nine o'clock?"
"Seven." She decided, slightly surprising him.
"That's earlier than usual." He pointed out.
"Well," She explained half-jokingly, "I do have to beat people to the guild if I want to get any modeling tips from Mira in private."
"So you are going to do the interview?" The fire wizard replied curiously.
"Why not?" She said honestly before deciding to end her statement with a half-joke, "The money would be nice; but I've got a new reason to now. After all, my fans would want to know about my new boyfriend, wouldn't they?"
About five miles outside of Hargeon…
Iga was trying to keep his mind from thinking over the memories that watching the wizards had suddenly dredged up; and one name in particular ran through his head as he remembered having once felt a pain similar to the one Goten was feeling now. As he landed roughly a few yards behind the grieving demi-Saiyan in an open field, wanting to say something comforting, he wasn't sure if he should even move closer to Goten, let alone say something to him.
"This is a nightmare…" He heard Goten mutter before watching the demi-Saiyan's hair quickly flash to blue for an instant; and he could feel a surge of wild energy building inside the young man, realizing it was only a matter of time before it exploded.
Goten yelled at the sky at the top of his lungs, and the ground underneath his feet shattered and Iga staggered back a few steps as the demi-Saiyan's hair began to flicker between blue and black.
"Goten!" Iga had to shout to get the young man's attention, "You can't spike your ki like that… the Keepers!"
There was a blinding flash of blue; and before Iga could register what was happening, a fully transformed Goten rushed at him in the blink of an eye before a fist collided with his face. The immortal was shot backwards at least sixty yards before he came to a rough, rolling stop; and Iga groaned as he registered the intense pain just underneath his right eye.
"How dare you?!" Goten demanded in a rage as he suddenly appeared standing over the immortal, "You caused all this- and you know that, but you still don't care! Even now, all you care about is protecting yourself!"
Goten aimed two palms at Iga, who opened his eyes wide in shock as two blue ki spheres appeared in his face; but the immortal was quick enough to warp away, reappearing just behind Goten as he created a large crater in front of them.
"You're wrong!" The redhead argued honestly, but his shouting only told the berserk demi-Saiyan where to aim; and Goten spun quickly to the left while aiming his right foot directly at Iga's head. The wizard was barely able to get his left forearm in front of the kick; and he quickly tried talking to Goten again as soon as the shockwave from the kick had stopped ringing in their ears.
"I'm trying to protect BOTH of us!" Iga reminded him; but Goten wasn't in a listening mood. The demi-Saiyan still tried to connect his right foot with the wizard's head; but he only managed to brush the redhead's arm aside as Iga took a step back and let the kick complete its arc. And once Goten had both feet planted underneath himself again, he continued venting his rage at Iga.
"LIAR!" Goten roared at him before cocking back his right arm while creating a blue orb of ki as big as his head, which he held firmly in his right hand. The Blue Super Saiyan swung his right arm forward the next second; and he threw the ball of energy directly at Iga's head. The redhead quickly sidestepped the blast; but he wasn't able to dodge Goten's next move, not yet realizing that the demi-Saiyan was only distracting him with the energy attack. The moment he glanced to his right to see the blue orb fly inches past his head, Iga was struck on the side of his face by Goten's left fist; and once again, Iga was sent tumbling backwards until he finally stopped some thirty yards from Goten. He groaned in pain before he heard Goten appear a few feet behind him and start yelling again.
"If you really wanted to help us, you wouldn't keep hiding crap from us!" The demi-Saiyan stated angrily while he watched Iga slowly get up and face him, "All you've done this entire time is tell us just what we need to hear to keep us cooperating, because you really just want us to be doing whatever you say!"
Though he knew it was poorly timed, Iga's sense of humor forced a chuckle out of him as he rubbed away the newest stinging pain in his face; and he looked over the irate warrior before speaking as calmly as possible.
"You think I've been tricking you into fighting my battles for me?" The redhead questioned as he tried to stifle his annoyed tone; and he shook his head sadly before remarking, "What would you have done, if you knew what was happening over here?
"I know what you would have done." Iga finished his point as he saw Goten silently get angrier at his words, "You would have forced your way back here, met up with her again; and then been murdered by the Keepers, with Wendy right alongside you."
"I told you, I'm not afraid of the Keepers." Goten reminded him before charging up more energy, "So you're gonna have to come up with a better excuse than that!"
Goten was about to launch at the redhead, but he was suddenly caught off guard as Iga rushed at him; and the redhead aimed a powerful punch at the demi-Saiyan's chest.
"Dragon God's Fist!" The immortal chanted as he threw his right fist towards the center of Goten's left pectoral, and it sparked with bright red and white flames just before it struck its target. The resulting explosion shot Goten backwards a few yards, but the Blue demi-Saiyan was quick to recover; and he used his ki to halt his movement and regain his balance before Iga spoke up again.
"You fought because you wanted to come here, and I helped because I need you and your family back here," The immortal pointed out calmly, "But I've never tried to manipulate you."
"I guess you must have just done that by accident, then." Goten quipped sarcastically before taking a fighting stance; and Iga sighed before taking his own defensive stance.
"I'm sorry, Goten; I understand why you're angry…" the redhead apologized ahead of time, "But I'm not going to stand here and let you slap me around anymore."
Meanwhile, outside of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch…
Barely one hundred yards east of the government building, Sting Eucliffe and Mest Gryder were still battling Orga Nanagear; and the area around them sparked with black lightning and white light frequently. The two guild wizards had developed a decent tag-team rhythm, one that their opponent had yet to figure out how to disrupt. But despite the fact that they had the upper hand, the two were beginning to tire; and they could see that Orga was nowhere near defeat yet.
"Man…" Mest panted as he recovered his breath, "I can't believe this guy can take this kind of beating and still have a smile on his face…"
Sting would have replied with an additional comment; but his pride wouldn't allow him to show any signs of weakness now, despite the fact that he could feel his magic beginning to weaken. The White Dragon Slayer simply stared down his foe angrily as he waited for Orga to make the next move. The God Slayer noted Sting's expression; and he smirked at it before moving his hands in front of his body, holding his right palm one half-foot over his left palm before black lightning began to spark between them.
"I hope you're not getting tired on me, Sting." Orga taunted as the gap between his hands filled, "Because I'm just about to get started.
"120mm Black Lightning Cannon!" The God Slayer shouted next; and he aimed his hands at Sting before firing his attack.
Mest instinctively moved to grab his partner in order to teleport away from the attack, but he was surprised when Sting quickly dodged his grasp; and he watched as the Dragon Slayer launched straight at the lightning spell with an angry yell.
"White Dragon's Sacred Fist!" Sting bellowed as he threw his right fist, which was covered in bright white light; and he punched Orga's attack. Mest quickly warped away to avoid the large black and white shockwave; and when he returned after the blasts, he heard and saw through the clearing smoke that both his partner and their enemy were still standing. He was amazed that Sting had been able to destroy Orga's attack; but Orga wasn't as impressed.
"Not bad," The God Slayer remarked to Sting honestly before grinning at him and adding, "But you know that's not my biggest shot. You wouldn't survive my Particle Cannon."
"Try me." Sting ordered him boldly; and a white magical aura erupted around the Dragon Slayer as he prepared to attack, making Orga take a few steps back and shield his eyes from its intense brightness. The God Slayer grunted in frustration before moving his hands in front of himself and creating lightning between them again; but only this time, the black magical energy expanded until it overlapped his forearms. Suddenly trying to figure out what he should do, Mest quickly looked to Sting and saw that the Dragon Slayer was preparing to charge straight at their enemy; and he had his right arm cocked back, with white light grasped firmly in his right fist.
"White Dragon Slayer's Secret Art…" Sting incanted as Orga aimed his forearms at the Dragon Slayer; and he fired his spell with a roar, "Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon!"
The White Dragon Slayer charged at the attack full-speed and finished his incantation while he launched his right fist forward, "Holy Nova!"
The attacks were inches from collision when Mest suddenly intervened; and before neither Sting nor Orga could realize what had happened, the Dragon Slayer disappeared with the teleporting wizard before reappearing just behind Orga with all of his momentum still behind him. The God Slayer's attack bore a massive tunnel through a nearby mountain; but Sting's light-wreathed fist was able to easily strike its target in the back of the head, sending Orga tumbling forward at least fifty yards as a massive white explosion sent him sailing. Totally surprised by the outcome of the exchange, Sting shoved Mest's hand off him before showing his anger.
"What the hell was that?!" He demanded in frustration, which only made Mest give him an apologetic look as he added, "I had that handled! I didn't need your help!"
"I'm sorry," the memory mage apologized, "But I saw a chance to do some real damage to him; and we can't waste our magic trying to out-muscle him. The only way we're going to beat this guy is if we're smarter than him."
"That won't be too hard." Sting remarked as he slowly forgave his partner for the surprise assist; and he watched as Orga finished standing back up, while Mest took a moment to see what his other allies were up to. He looked to his southwest; and his jaw dropped at the sight of a massive, jet-black stone version of Cel Rhea, making for an intimidating sight from even hundreds of yards away.
"How did we not notice that earlier?!" Mest wondered aloud as he saw the Titan throw some rather large boulders at something in front of her feet, "That thing's at least a thousand feet tall!"
Meanwhile, Gray Fullbuster was busy dodging a massive boulder, jumping as hard as he could to his left; and he felt and heard the intense tremoring as the giant jet-black rock collided into the earth just behind his feet. He was glad to have survive Cel's projectile, but he knew that she had another boulder in her other hand; and he quickly looked at the Titan to see she had hurled the other rock at his partner, who was about forty-five yards ahead of him. The large chunk of earth was barely two feet from crushing Yukino, who called for her one of her spirits in reflex, and Libra suddenly jumped in front of her before changing the gravity around the boulder. To Cel's annoyance, the celestial spirit redirected the boulder right back at her; and the massive rock slammed into her face before shattering on impact.
"Agh!" The Earth God Slayer yelled in surprise, taking a step back and grabbing her face with her left hand as she did. She quickly recovered, though; and she immediately decided to make her enemy pay for their counterattack.
"You little bitch! You're all going to die for that!" She boomed at Yukino before she swung her right arm quickly in front of herself from left to right as she yelled, "Earth God's Landslide!"
An enormous barrage of black mud and rocks appeared from Cel's arm before it crashed into the ground in front of her; and it quickly avalanched over anything in its way as it barreled for both Gray and Yukino. Realizing that the attack was too big to dodge without jumping over it, Gray quickly figured out that Cel wanted Yukino to use Libra to avoid the landslide; so he hurriedly cast a large defensive spell before Yukino could react.
"Ice Make: Wall!"
A giant blue wall of ice, which was about fifty-yards long, appeared between the two guild wizards and the tumultuous mass of earth; and there was an extremely large crash as the two spells collided. Cel watched in irritation as most of her landslide rolled past the sides of Gray's slightly-curved wall, which was nearly destroyed by the attack; but it was just strong enough to remain standing. Angry with the result, Rhea quickly created another boulder in her right hand before throwing it directly at the center of the ice wall. And though the attack was enough to finally shatter the ice, Gray's spell gave him enough time to run closer to his partner; and he quickly shouted to her, trying hard to be heard over the loud booming of the two spell's collision.
"We need to get her out of this form!" He told Yukino when he was about thirty yards from her and her spirit, "Cause If we keep fighting like this, she's eventually going to get us!"
Gray made eye-contact with the celestial mage, who barely heard him over the noise, but had read his lips. She quickly started to think, and she finally came up with a few ideas just as he was within a few yards of her.
"I know what to do!" She declared confidently before glancing up at Cel to see she was looking directly at them, smirking; and the Sabertooth wizard realized she had to be quick if she planned on coordinating an attack.
She quickly made eye-contact with Gray again before saying, "Aim for her legs, she doesn't protect them!"
But as she said it, she shook her head as if to contradict her own words. Gray was confused for a moment, until Cel accidentally helped him remember a small detail about the God Slayer's magic.
"I will protect them now!" The Titan taunted with a laugh, "You little idiot, why can't you remember that I can hear you from wherever you are! You need to be telepathic to talk secretly in front of me!"
"That's a good idea!" Yukino suddenly thanked Cel, to her great surprise; and the celestial mage quickly communicated an order to Libra through her key.
The still-summoned spirit looked at her master, slightly surprised by Yukino's cunning; but then she quickly did as she was told, throwing a confused and angrily-shouting Gray way past the Titan.
"I'm sorry, Gray!" Yukino apologized as she heard Gray's confused shouts of protest; and she watched as Gray crashed into the floating tier of the Magic Council's Fiore Branch.
"What was that?" Cel asked the celestial mage while she fought off the urge to break down in a fit of laughter, "You took out your own ally? Why?"
"I thought that a dark wizard would understand, of all people." Yukino remarked with a shake of her head before explaining her actions, "My guild might be on good terms with Fairy Tail, and Gray might be a good partner; but this is my guild's fight. "
Cel shook her head in amusement; but she was too distracted to notice that Gray had not been 'taken out' at all. Initially confused and angry about being launched back into the building by his own teammate, Gray noted that he had only been thrown through a window; and he only received a couple scrapes from his landing. But when he looked back out the window he broke through, Gray realized why Yukino had Libra throw him here: he had a perfect angle to hit Cel in the back of her giant head.
"Don't you realize you need all the help you can get?" Cel cockily remarked, "What makes you think you're anywhere near as strong as I am?"
"I might not be a strong as you," Yukino quipped before pulling out a second golden key, "But my spirits are! Pisces!"
She raised her second golden key over her head; and the two giant fish emerged from a large magical seal above her, spiraling skyward for a moment before they both charged straight down at Cel. The Titan was able to get her massive left hand in front of the light-colored fish; but the darker fish managed to slip past Cel's right hand, slamming into her right chest and shoving her backwards as she fought to keep her balance despite the force of the impact. The next instant, the fish that collided into Cel's left palm flailed its tail upward before slamming it onto the top of her head, making Cel also use her right hand to deal with just the one fish; and the other moved for Cel's feet while she was distracted.
Gray was watching the fish as they took their positions; and he grinned eagerly before placing his hands together, preparing to cast the biggest ranged spell he could manage. Taking a few steps back after realizing he was going to need room to make a big gun, he looked out the window and saw as Cel finally managed to throw the light fish off of her before she glanced down to find that the dark fish had snaked around her legs without actually touching them. But she had no time to react, because Gray took his chance as soon as Cel started to look down; and he fired the biggest attack he could muster without hesitation.
"Ice Make: Big Bertha!"
A large, four-hundred and twenty millimeter artillery gun made of bright blue ice appeared in front of the ice wizard; and it fired a shot the next instant. The ice obstructed Gray's view, but he heard the explosion as his attack hit its target; and he smirked when he heard Cel's yelp in surprise before he removed the ice gun from his view. And as soon as he could see what was going on; he witnessed Cel start to fall forward as the dark fish's tail tried to trip her. The Titan stumbled when her feet got caught up by the dark fish; and she started leaning forward, which was enough for Yukino to finish the attack.
"Libra, Pisces, take her down!" The Sabertooth mage ordered hurriedly; and the lighter fish quickly charged back to Cel's forehead before flipping over her and slamming its tail between her shoulder blades. Cel was on the brink of falling until Libra finally brought her down, altering the gravity around the Titan's head to try forcing it as hard as possible into the ground. The four point attack finally worked, and Cel sudden found herself falling face first into the dirt; and she hit the ground painfully as the impact of her fall shook the ground for miles and miles around.
Outside of Hargeon…
Iga rubbed the sore right side of his head as he looked over the panting Blue Super Saiyan that was standing a few yards ahead of him; and though he could see that Goten was getting just as physically tired as he was, he could also tell by the angry glare the demi-Saiyan was giving him that this whole situation needed to end, and soon.
"Goten, you have to try to hear me out." Iga pleaded once again as he moved back into a defensive stance, "I don't want to have to hurt you; but I will if that means saving you in the end."
"You couldn't hurt me even if you tried." Goten quipped, still clearly too enraged to be reasoned with; and Iga sighed before the demi-Saiyan suddenly shot his palm forward, aiming it at the redhead's stomach. An intense and focused gust struck Iga in separate sections of his gut, despite his successful attempt to block it with his arms; and his expression suddenly showed some surprise and curiosity as he staggered backwards.
"What was that?" Iga questioned as he finished recovering his breath, "You hit me with the air, didn't you? That's why I couldn't see it, or totally block it."
"Do you ever shut up?" Goten remarked with ire, and Iga only smirked before replying.
"I'm afraid not." The immortal answered honestly, "Seriously, I talked in my sleep so much; it was a problem for a while.
"Well, it wasn't exactly a problem for me, I mean. I couldn't hear any of it." The redhead continued talking as he began to think he had figured out the solution for his current predicament; and Goten quietly focused his ki, planning to shut Iga up in a few seconds.
"The problem was that I kept waking Ves up." The immortal recalled with a hint of melancholy in his voice; and Goten glanced at Iga to see he had a sad smile on his face as he spoke.
"And it was dangerous to do that, you know?" Iga added with a faint chuckle; and Goten lowered his guard as something in the redhead's expression made him curious, deciding to give Iga more time to talk on a random impulse.
"I'm sorry, of course you don't know." Iga apologized before remembering his age, "You weren't there."
To Iga's slight surprise, Goten's curiosity had taken hold of him; and the demi-Saiyan suddenly found himself asking questions about this 'Ves'.
"Is this the same girl Edo mentioned earlier?" Goten recalled with a neutral tone, and Iga nodded before Goten asked him, "Who is she?"
"She's my wife." The immortal informed the surprised demi-Saiyan before he pointed at the large scar that ran under the right side of his jaw and diagonally downward, towards the mid-left side of his neck.
"About seven hundred years ago, in one of the many times we fought; Edo managed slice open my neck." Iga told Goten while he lifted up his chin to give the demi-Saiyan a better view for a few seconds before lowering his head sadly.
"But that was the least painful part of that whole fight. You see, Edo knew that as painful as any physical injury could be, he knew I would heal from it." The redhead remarked sourly, "So he decided that going for my emotions would work better; and he killed her when she tried to help me… Said he did so because he wanted something to hold over me."
Goten gave the immortal a reappraising look as he listened, starting to realize that he actually knew very little about Iga.
"Yeah," The redhead sighed, though he gratefully noticed Goten's calmer demeanor while he spoke, "Things were never the same after that."
Goten was still angry with the immortal; but something about Iga's honest emotion was compelling him to listen, having slowly realized that Iga was finally revealing more secrets to him.
"I really do have an idea of how you're feeling, I do." Iga tried to console Goten once again, "And you are right, I should've been more honest; but I swear: I had no clue about Wendy and Romeo. I would never keep a secret like that, especially from a friend."
The two warriors tried to read each other at the same time, with Iga wondering for a long moment about what Goten was thinking; but he didn't have to wait too long to find out.
"I'm sorry," the demi-Saiyan apologized as his blue hair faded back to black, shaking his head at himself as it did, "I wasn't thinking straight."
"Love will do that to you." Iga accepted the apology with a sad and relieved smile; but Goten was upset with himself now.
"I shouldn't have listened to Edo." the demi-Saiyan reflected, "But I had to know what was happening; and I played his game…"
"None of this is your fault, Goten." Iga replied reassuringly, "If I had given you more reasons to trust me, then maybe I'd blame you."
Suddenly feeling tired from their skirmish, Iga slowly sat down before offering an equally exhausted Goten a seat to his right; and the demi-Saiyan accepted the invitation. The two sat quietly for a moment before Goten spoke up.
"So, um, what was she like?" He asked Iga curiously.
"Vesta?" Igneel replied thoughtfully, and he saw Goten nod before continuing, "Well, she was a lot like me, really. We had the same sense of humor, the same inability to shut up, and the same ridiculously large appetite. Seriously, I never figured out where all that food went; but she could have put some of you Saiyans to shame."
Goten chuckled before Iga continued.
"And she was beautiful." The immortal said as he perfectly recalled everything he knew about Vesta, "She had red hair that was brighter than mine, somehow; and she had green eyes and pale white skin that made her hair look even brighter. She always wore a grin or a friendly smile; but she knew how to wear some intimidating expressions when she had to, as well. She was only about two inches shorter than me; but she was more than able to stare me down -because there really was a fire in her, and no one could put it out. At least, I thought so."
Goten glanced at the immortal as he added his sad remark, and he could see the mix of emotions on Iga's face, even though the redhead was looking off into the distance.
"When I first met her, I thought she was just a humble and witty waitress in some small town's inn; but then I learned she was also a pretty decent fire wizard. She didn't use her magic in front of people often; but she did have some skill. I was lucky enough to see that on that same day, when I accidentally caused a bar fight with some dark wizards on my way out. She helped me take them down; and that was when I saw the potential that she had."
Iga momentarily stopped talking as he glanced at a sympathetic Goten, showing the demi-Saiyan his sad smile before thinking he saw something weird. About twelve yards from Goten's left, Iga could have sworn he saw some grass move against the faint breeze; but he decided to pretend he didn't notice the anomaly, continuing to talk as if nothing was wrong.
"After I watched her take down three pretty mean guys by herself, I decided to ask her out. I admit, I was physically attracted to her right off the bat; but our first 'date' was more like an evaluation, to see if I could totally trust her with everything that I knew. And then she passed, so I revealed my true powers to her on our second date, about a week later. You should have seen her face when I ate her flames, she was so amazed by that…
"I like to think that was our first official date; we had our first kiss that night, after all." Iga continued as he glanced at the small patch of grass, noticing that it was being depressed by some mysterious force,
"But that was just a parting kiss, as sweet as it was. I was definitely into her, and she proved that she had what it took to become my apprentice; but it wasn't until a couple months later, on my third visit, that I realized I was in love. I had gone back to her bar to pay her a surprise visit, but she somehow knew I was coming. When I got there, she was standing out front next to two travel bags, holding a big bottle of liquor and dinner to-go while wearing a dumb grin on her face; and then she greeted me by saying, 'Took you long enough'."
Goten laughed, failing to notice Iga's glare seemed to be focusing on something as he enjoyed listening to the immortal's story.
"We never had a wedding ceremony or anything like that, and neither of us ever proposed either," The redhead informed the demi-Saiyan, "But I guess you could say we got engaged that night. We split the bottle and the meal, got too drunk, and then I accidentally broke a hole in her village's town hall after I got carried away with trying to show off. I took her back to the Sanctuary to escape an angry mob; and she never left my side after that."
Iga glanced at the suspicious spot to see that the grass was still being flattened; but he still decided to not address the oddity aloud, thinking that if his hunch was correct, continuing his story might be the only thing keeping him and Goten alive at the moment.
"Trunks was the first person I ever recruited after her death, you know; and that was a hugely out of necessity." Iga remarked as he looked back to Goten, "And I haven't touched another woman since her, though I used to be quite the playboy."
"You still are, from what I heard at the party." Goten finally chimed in with a faint grin on his face, "Lisanna told everyone about when you practiced pick-ups lines with her so you could trick some dark wizard into giving up info on her guild. Some of them were really good; but-"
"Some were real cheesy, right?" Iga interrupted with a weak laugh, and Goten nodded before he explained, "Vesta came up with most of the good ones, actually; and the rest was all me. She was way more charismatic than I am, by a long shot."
Iga glanced past Goten again; and he saw that instead of the mostly-solid round patch from a few seconds ago, there was now two much smaller small spots of grass, about three feet apart from each other, where the grass was visibly being compressed. Finally deciding his hunch was correct, Iga wrapped up the conversation; and he acted cool as he tried to plan a way to get Goten to safety.
"I felt like a god back then, with a goddess at my side." He concluded with a sad tone, "But I got careless; and she paid for it.
"But that's not happening again. Not this time." Iga declared confidently, and he stood up towards the end of his statement as he talked, "Once we get these Keepers out the way, we're going to rain hell on him and his God Slayers; and we'll make him pay for every single person that he's ever harmed in his aim to torment me. Because that's really what his 'game' is; and it's gone on for way too long."
"Edo's not going to stand a chance against us." Goten agreed with a similar amount of confidence as he stood up with his friend, "I promise you, he's going to be regretting everything he's done before it's all over. That's for certain."
"I believe it." Iga remarked humorously, "I wouldn't be going on this little suicide mission with your family if I didn't."
Goten smirked before changing the subject, "I guess we should go back to Earth; so I can get back to training… and try to get Wendy off my mind."
Iga gave the teen a sympathetic expression before saying seriously, "I know you'll be okay in the end, kid, you're strong like that."
Iga opened a portal on the ground between himself and the demi-Saiyan before instructing Goten, "Go ahead and jump through without me, there's something over here that I've got to take care of before I can go back."
"You don't want any help, do you?" Goten questioned, but Iga shook his head.
"It's nothing serious, I just want to catch up on current events over here before I leave." The immortal lied before ending the conversation, "Just go on ahead and tell everyone I'll be back in a couple of hours. Besides, they might need you if Edo is still there."
"Okay." Goten replied; and he said goodbye before jumping through the portal, which Iga promptly closed behind him.
"I'm surprised, Claris, you let me finish my little story." Iga greeted the invisible threat as he looked back to it, "And here I thought you Keepers were a bunch of heartless monsters…"
"Most of us are." He suddenly heard a woman's voice say from the exact spot he was looking. He still saw no one in front of him, but the voice was scarily familiar; and his memory had already painted an image of who he was speaking with.
"So it is you." Iga smirked as he confirmed his assumption, "You know, you don't have to be so shy. Come on, show your face, I'm sure it's not as ugly as you think."
"Heh." Claris chuckled in amusement, but she remained invisible as she replied, "Trust me, you'd be eating those words if I showed my face."
"Perhaps I should just say please." Iga quipped humorously, "But then again, minding manners is probably not your strong suit, considering your penchant for eavesdropping."
"Oh, please." The unseen Keeper retorted with equal amusement in her tone, "You've been spying on people way longer than I have."
"Yeah… that's right, I do remember hearing the big fur ball say that you were the new girl." Iga replied with a smirk still on his face, "Maybe I should be worried, then, because I know I'm going to feel bad if hurt a rookie."
Claris chuckled at her target, with the familiarity of her voice starting to bother Iga; and he could hear her take a few steps closer to him before she spoke again.
"Just in case you were wondering, I let your Saiyan friend leave because he's not my problem." The Keeper explained seriously, "The only person in my sights is you, Igneel. And I'll be damned if I let you get away from me again."