Gajeel hadn't been expecting this.
Edo-Gajeel had smuggled him to a safe house. It had all the basic commodities one needed to survive, but it was mostly filled with a mess of wires and machinery and...a printing press?
And the face that was peering up at him was...uncanny.
Bright blue eyes. Tousled green-bue hair. A young form that smelt female for all that it looked male.
"Earth-Gajeel, may I present my partner in the effort to liberate Fiore from Faust: Fae Terra."
"Gajeel, why did you clone yourself and dress your double like a heavy metal biker?" The voice, the inflections, it was freaking weird! It was just like the damn kid but- Wrong!
Deal with it later.
"This handsome devil says you can help me cut down opposition to my guild taking back our people and magic." He'd think things over later. He had a mission to complete right now and had to be ready, in place to free reinforcements by sunrise.
Expressions flickered over Terra's face. Confusion, interest and then-
Resolve with a little spark of manic defiance.
Like a damn mirror.
"Oh yeah, I can. Has he told you how?"
"Letting people know what's actually happening and not the BS that your king feeds the press." Terra nodded, looking extremely pleased with herself.
"Gajeel and I run the only free newspaper in the country. They've tried to cut us down, but they haven't caught us yet! And the harder they try, the more interested people are in hearing what we have to say."
"I get the info, and this little guy-"
"Girl." Gajeel interrupted with a growl. Shock crossed both of their faces for a moment before Edo-Gajeel spoke.
"How do you-?"
"I'm a Dragon Slayer. My nose is for more than just making my face look better. Keep talking."
"Well then...As I was saying: I collect information which Fae here then writes up and distributes to the public under my name."
"So what's your plan?"
"An interview. With someone from the world we have been stealing from for years now. Fae and I had a theory for some time now that the magic had to come from somewhere, instead of just empty space like Faust and his lackeys have claimed, but your word will be actual, living proof of that."
Gajeel grunted, leaning against a table covered with electronics and delicate wires that would probably be decent for snacking.
"Fine." He didn't have a head for publicity. His counterpart and the kid's doppelganger would be the experts in that. "Make it fast. I've still got some hell to raise before morning. And I need to know where the closest piece of decently sized lacrima is at." Mystogan had given him a bottle of pills to resupply the Earthland mages with magic. And because he was here right now, he'd need a more direct lead.
"I will take you to it." Edo-Gajeel promised. "They've placed a large lacrima in the city center to draw attention and boost civilian donations to the new harvesting project."
"OK. Hang on just a sec." Terra-Fae dove under a desk for a moment and then came back with a pencil and pad of paper. "We want this to be impactful and powerful, but also short enough that our other branches have enough time to put together the articles. I may need to ask some pretty personal questions."
"Just get on with it." The Iron Dragon Slayer's fists tightened briefly. "Keep it about Fairy Tail." His personal past was not something he wanted to get into right now.
"Right."
-vVv-
The morning dawned bright and chilly. People had already gathered around the lacrima in the plaza, marvelling at it's size. It was easily the largest they had ever seen. But those who weren't gaping at the blue crystal were buried in an article that was being passed around. A man in a cloak strode by one group that was reading it collectively, yanking it brutally out of their hands. He strode up to the guards and handed it over to the head of the watch.
The man's face was indignant at first and swiftly soured as he read what was written.
The Liberty Flag
FAUST CONDEMNS THOUSANDS TO DEATH
MAGIC POWER: THE TRUE COST AND SOURCE
People of Edolas, for years now you've relied on the magic power brought in by the Anima. When it was announced, you celebrated the return of a scarce resource. When it was tested, Faust was named a Saint in the Parthian Cathedral for his contribution to civilization. But now, the truth must be spread.
Faust has caused Fiore to be built on falsehoods. And would have us make mortar for his next palace from the blood of our brothers in another world.
Yes, citizens. Another world.
The claims of the years that the Anima is harvesting magic energy from a distant star, or simply empty space, have been shattered. How so you might ask?
The arrival of this man, see the photo below.
(The photo shows Gajeel and Edo-Gajeel standing side by side)
On the right hand, you have myself. I am known to you, you've seen me around and have helped me in my fight against tyranny. On the left, you see Gajeel Redfox, a renowned wizard from Earthland. A place that mirrors our own Fiore. A place where magic is plentiful and men and women are still born with the power to use it. Every living soul in Earthland has a portion of magic within them. But this magic is closely intertwined with their very life force. If they lose it, they will die a painful death.
My fellow citizens, the lacrima Faust has presented to us as the fruits of the Anima Departments' labors in harvesting and condensing magic power for the last 7 years is nothing but crystalized intended murder. There are lives within that crystal. Thousands upon thousands of them. Lives that will be lost if Faust has his way and extracts the magic from it.
Mr Redfox comments:
"It's a wizards job to fight battles and do things other people can't." And the same system in Earthland once existed here. Our kin, friends and neighbors once were capable of standing up and making a name for themselves with their own hands and hard work. Now they are forbidden from doing the services that provided so many of us our livelihoods. And the grounds on which we have been denied this right are ludicrous and simple: We cannot be trusted to know our own needs. Instead, we live under the draft. We survive on rationed food and water supplies. 30% of our goods, if not more, are taken regularly as taxes.
"You've got a Fairy Tail's city in there. People that relied on us for protection." Mr Redfox says. "So here's a little fair warning for you: I fought Fairy Tail once before I became a member. Worst decision of my damn life. They didn't do things half way then, and that ain't changed now. So anyone who wants to survive today? Pack up and get out. 'Cause Fairy Tail is coming."
"Damn propaganda rag." The guard grumbled, crushing the paper into a ball and tossing into the brazier set nearby to help the guards keep warm. "You did a good thing here citizen informing the watch of this. We'll take care of it."
He caught sight of the face beneath the hood. Dark crimson eyes, heavy piercings and a broad grin like a sword wound across the face.
"Is that a promise?"
-vVv-
Chaos erupted near the base of the lacrima. Then the whole crystal shook and sent out plumes of smoke as an ear splitting screech sounded. Like a massive drill biting into stone.
The guards closest to the epicenter of violence were thrown back like rag dolls. Others couldn't make it through the crowd of panicked onlookers to aid their comrades.
When the air cleared and a path was made to the lacrima, the guardsmen were unnerved to see that the massive, solid lacrima that had been their future magic supply...was hollow. Just a thin shell of crystal. The cloaked instigator was nowhere to be seen.
A message was sent to the palace, to the First Captain of the Royal Guard.
A Dragon Slayer had just just attacked a lacrima, and left it empty. A Dragon Slayer and who knows how many Earthland wizards were loose in the city.
-vVv-
Generally speaking, I had a lot of fond memories associated with theme parks.
I was currently gaping at the biggest indoor theme park I had ever seen...and wondering...
What kind of king is Faust? He's got the giant energy sucking death vacuum...but he's also got a children's amusement park inside his freaking palace. A side branch of the palace but still part of the main building.
I had asked Mystogan why Faust has such an exorbitantly large castle.
"The castle was meant to be a fortress for all the citizens in case of attack during the war period. When the war stopped being a full scale conflict, he had a lot of space and funds to use. The army's budget was already inflated beyond reason and he had to do something to persuade the people that the war was over."
Something other than cut the army down to size, that was. And his best idea was a theme park...
Freaking crazy man. And I know crazy!
Mystogan our current goal was to try and find Panther Lily. I had read there was a spot where the Exceed commander withdrew to get some solitude from his work and from his co-workers. It happened to be up high in this room where no one could easily reach or find him. Mystogan reached it easily with his Wind Walk staff, transitioning our physical forms into mist and simply drifting through the air as white wisps on the air. Cubellios simply flew up, following us.
As he set about leaving a message for the Exceed, Cubellios and I looked over the park to keep watch.
Everything in this room was magical. An exorbitant waste if one considered the scarcity of magic in this world. But I read that there were some parts of it that would allow easy control. Some lacrima set in certain places, hidden joints and movable flooring... If puppeteering had been a part of Naruto's skill set, I would have loved to try and mess up the park, just to make people confused.
The commanders are coming.
G2's report was soft and bland. I saw flashes of Erza-
No, Knightwalker. She does not get to be called Erza. She's nothing like my Erza.
She had been talking to two people I didn't recognize. A man in pink armor with a blond pompadour that defied both gravity and good taste and another slightly younger look man in a more tasteful white coat with purple hair and a white streak in his bangs. Those two people were who had just entered the park.
Sugarboy and Hughes.
"Mystogan." He seemed to materialize at my shoulder. "Two commanders of the army are coming, Hughes and Sugarboy." I rattled off the names, only noting that Pantherlily was not among them, though he had spoken with them earlier. That meant that retreating was the correct course of action here, as we were not yet ready to fight.
"Has anyone started stirring up trouble?" I steeled myself with a mental shield against the echoes and glanced over the other members of our guild scattered around Edolas.
"Natsu's group has made contact with Edolas Fairy Tail, but they haven't done more than that though they are planning to hit the outer walls in an hour to draw out the army. Gajeel-"
The echoes were there when I thought of the Iron Slayer but not as jarring. They had almost harmonized...
"I think Gajeel made contact with his Edolas self." I saw a flash of chaos and a blur of iron shavings. Iron Dragon Roar. "He's already attacked a large lacrima in the city. I can't see who he freed yet." That would take time that we didn't have right now. We were hidden for the time being, one of Mystogan's staff combos let him deaden the sound we were making, keeping it from being heard outside a limited area.
:What comes, hatchling?:
:Enemies: I replied to Cubellios's question. She hissed with an almost eager note in her voice.
:We cannot fight yet! We haven't found our ally in the enemy fortress: My tone had maybe a hint of scolding in it. Cuebllios was a little too eager to adopt the Fairy Tail method of charging headlong into a fight with no plan and no particular worry about how we survived it.
"I take it she's ready to fight."
"Yeah..." Mystogan had gotten pretty good at reading her body language for all that he didn't understand a word she said.
"Well, sorry, Cubellios. Your job is to protect Fae. Best case scenario is that she won't be fighting at all." I gave him a look for a long second...Then I looked back at the massive snake coiled at my feet who was waiting for a translation.
:He's being silly:
There was next to no chance of me coming through this without fighting someone. I was planning on fighting, so just on that principle I would find a way to work in a few swings, even if they were vicariously done through the traps I had set up.
Cubellios offered a very put upon sigh, which made Mystogan give us both a Look.
This one was: 'I know you were talking about me and this discussion isn't over'
"We know the drill, Mystogan. But I think getting through this without fighting anyone is a bit of an unreasonable stretch. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of going to war."
"I'm more concerned about getting you through this without fighting anyone above your skill level. Guards and rank and file soldiers, you two could take apart in your sleep. Officers in the Edolas Army got their rank because they were willing to kill anyone to enforce the laws against civilian magic use."
And that means the most likely way to stop them will be with lethal force.
It wasn't my first life or death situation. He knew that. But I still appreciated his efforts to keep me out of a fight where killing my opponent was a likely outcome.
We could see Sugarboy and Hughes making their way through the room now from our vantage point.
"Can you read them?" Mystogan asked.
I squinted over the distance, then tapped a pre-set rune on my bracer. Hawkeye, the distance viewer sniper scope that Link acquired in the Twilight Princess portion of Hyrule history.
The mask like apparatus settled over my eyes like a ghostly illusion, giving me telescopic vision. I had turned off, for lack of a better term, my ninja headband to conserve power once I had finished setting my traps.
I zoomed in, finally getting a better look at the two individuals below.
They were moving along fairly casually, but their posture was wrong.
Gajeel's attack has put people on high alert. A new article is circulating in the city, proclaiming Earthland Fairy Tail's intentions and reasons for going to war against Faust. And specifically targeting Faust and the current administration.
G2's report was accompanied by a flash of connecting thoughts and ideas.
In response to try and curb the propaganda, the government was doing exactly the wrong thing and trying to destroy all copies they could get their hands on.
In the last 30 minutes since Gajeel's attack on the square, the percentage of people who had read the article had rocketed from 30% of the total population in the city to 86% and rising. And, over all, people were sympathetic to us foreigners. No matter how good life was made for people under a tyrant, some would always be dissatisfied on some level or another. Especially in one as top heavy as Faust's that favored conquest over other means of growth.
But the two commanders weren't just ambling through the amusement park, they were patrolling, looking for any infiltrators.
The commanders of the Edolas Army are using their knowledge of the native Fairy Tail to try and determine what resources Earthland Fairy Tail has.
Well...that would only work to a limited degree. While I didn't doubt there were some similarities, the two guilds seemed to be pretty profoundly different.
But the palace was now on alert.
I relayed this to Mystogan.
"Where are the other commanders?" I pulled out my rune slate and called up the map I had been unconsciously drawing of the whole palace while we had been inside.
"Since I'm assuming you mean Pantherlily, tell me about him."
"He is mostly black with white highlights. He has a scar next to his left eye. He was banished from the Exceed Kingdom for taking me in shortly after I first ran away. He's loyal, dutiful and a capable swordsman."
The map in my hands flared for a second, the halls and passages whirling by until-
"There." I pointed at the small cat paw shaped icon hovering over the palace. "He's searching from the air for any intruders with a few of the...jetpack squad. The army has a jetpack squad? Unfair, I want one!"
"You can already fly."
"But it's a jetpack! It's a matter of principle. Can I steal one?"
"No."
Boba Fett. Mandalorian armor. Lots of history there...Shelf that thought. First thing I want from Star Wars is a lightsaber. I was trying to phrase the idea in such a way that Mystogan wouldn't immediately nix it on accounts of the weapon involving large amounts of concentrated plasma being swung around like a deranged lunatic. Not only getting enough power to ignite the sword, but the containment to make it viable and safe enough to use... Maybe Erza would be the better one to ask given that it was technically a sword...
Mystogan lightly rapped my forehead.
"Focus, Fae. There used to be an alcove on the west tower. Concealed from the ground, only accessible and visible from the air. Is it still there?"
Yes.
"Yeah, but if it's only accessible from the air, how do you know about it?"
"A misspent childhood doing anything and everything to avoid my tutors and my father."
That was leading into a whole plethora of stories that looked absolutely fascinating! But I didn't have time to look at them right now.
"Pantherlily will be the only one on a regular patrol who will notice anything out of the ordinary." Mystogan pulled out a lacrima the size of my fingernail. There was a small band wrapped around it marked with a few runes. I squinted at them briefly.
"Voice recording?"
"It'll get his attention. He was popular among the Edolas citizens from what I heard. If he orders a mass exodus from the city to protect the civilians then they will listen if the order comes from him."
"But that would mean telling him what side we're attacking from. And where to send the army."
He smiled, not that I could see it anywhere except his eyes.
"Which is, in fact, what we want." Oh...
"Minimum civilian interference and less chance that some scumbag will take a bystander hostage to get us to stand down." And there were people who would do that in a heartbeat if it meant getting the upper hand over Fairy Tail. G2 read that there was, showing me names and examples. My stomach wanted to churn, but I diverted my focus, and hers to maintaining my thoughts in proper structure. To keep calm and to be able to read updates as they came in.
Mostly updates on the locations and actions of our enemies. One of which-
Knightwalker is approaching.
Telling this to Mystogan made him scowl suddenly and deeply.
"Damn...She's good, always has been."
"Like, Rune Knight good or...?"
"Actually comparable to Erza good." His words sent a trickle of well founded fear down my spine.
Erza kinda scared me, just a teeny tiny bit, and she was my friend who I knew would never so much as scratch me.
Picturing her as my enemy was bad enough. But Knightwalker was something else entirely. That was Erza with no restraint on her abilities in the form of Master, or other S-Class wizards to keep her in check.
"That's...bad. Very, very bad." I said lamely, aware of the understatement but unable to do anything else.
"Not just that, I'm also betting she inspires the same kind of loyalty in her troops that our Erza does in the guild."
So if Knightwalker was in any way involved in repelling our frontal assault, then we would lose people without someone there to neutralize her. And anyone who had the clout to do that, would be not fighting several hundred other soldiers.
I zoned out, mind racing through everyone I knew that had a reasonable chance of standing up to Erza when she was being serious...And the cross referencing that list with everyone we had available. It was...very short.
Mira, Master, Laxus or Gildarts would stand a chance at facing her, but they're all either in lacrima or weren't anywhere near the Anima. There wouldn't be time to get them. Lucy and Wendy are brave, but not even close to the kind of experience they would need to survive fighting her... Natsu can't beat Erza, proven fact of many, many years of trying. Though it would be close if they actually ever duked it out no holds barred. Gajeel lost to Natsu, but he'd have a better chance of winning against Knightwalker. He's got more killer instinct so he wouldn't hold anything back. Might have an advantage if her weapon is made of metal, but he's out of reach and causing trouble in the city.
"We have no good options. What do we do?" I summarized, looking up at my teacher and trying not to show how nervous I was. He chuckled mirthlessly.
"I'll handle her." WHAT!?
My face must have said a lot more than I could vocalize. And it must have been a funny expression since Mystogan actually did laugh, and wave a hand.
"I'm an S-Class Wizard, Fae. I did duel Erza when I received that rank."
It was a draw.
"But you didn't beat her. You just wore each other out and you've only got a limited source of magic right now!"
"I know." He rested his hand on my shoulder. "I said I fought Erza to a draw. Knightwalker isn't Erza, though she is similar."
No...
No, she was not.
She was as skilled as Erza, but she was not as strong. Much like Mystogan, she had access to a very limited pool of magical power. If Mystogan could fight Erza to a draw, then he could beat Knightwalker. I had to believe that.
I swallowed my nerves and worry with some effort. Mystogan's plan to get civilians out of the line of fire rested on my being able to find and persuade Pantherlily to help us. And he was now needing to leave me alone in order to keep me safe.
I lurched forward and hugged him tightly, burying my face briefly in his cloak. His hand rested on the back of my head as he accepted the embrace.
"What if he doesn't listen...?" I asked softly. "He doesn't know me, he has no reason to trust me or believe that I am who I say I am." And if Pantherlily didn't listen then a lot of people would die.
"I know you. I've seen what you can do. Lily's a good person, Fae. He'll hear you out, he'll listen."
And he'll also protect you since he has a soft spot for kids.
I squeezed him extra hard, drawing a deep breath and focusing my magic into the headband on my forehead.
Focus on the mission.
Objective: Find Pantherlily. with secondary goals of not being detected, and not starting any fights. Naruto had missions, and he saw them through. Not letter for letter, but...
Naruto excels at finding allies in unusual places, especially among perceived enemies.
I befriended Cobra under the same kind of situation.
"Ok." I accepted the assignment and transfer of responsibility, meeting Mystogan's gaze with resolve. "I'll find him."
The thought came to me and I smiled mischievously.
Find Pantherlily - Tora Retrieval mission.
"Atta girl." My teacher ruffled my hair, then rose. "I'll draw the enemy away. When you see your opening, take it. Find me or Gajeel when you're done."
"Got it. Good luck Mystogan."
I was then alone with Cubellios in the high, hidden alcove in the amusement room. The snake nosed me gently.
:What do we do now, hatchling?:
:We wait for the apex enemy predator to become distracted: Knightwalker was absolutely the priority here. :Then we find our ally and convey the message:
She drooped slightly with a sigh.
:So we do not fight?:
:Not yet. I'm very sure it will happen at some point:
Knightwalker has entered the room.
G2's report made me fall silent, and I gazed down at my slate. I had to watch for an opening. That meant when the other occupants of the room were either gone or so distracted they couldn't spare any attention to notice me.
I sank into a meditative state, breathing slowly and silently and concentrating...
The past was said and done, it was easy to see. Focusing on the present, the story as it was playing out right now was a little trickier. A moment's lapse in concentration could result in losing the thread.
I drew out runes on my slate.
Live Stream Mystogan vs Knightwalker.
Of course, it wasn't that word for word, but it was the gist of what I was after.
The image shown on my slate was a general far seeing view below. Focusing it on Mystogan would have used more power than I could afford. Isolating one element of the story was always harder than just seeing everything all at once. But this wasn't about where he was, it was about the encounter and when I would have my chance to slip out of this room.
There was Hughes and Sugarboy, patrolling through the area carefully while still feigning indolence and inattention. Knightwalker entered, carrying her oddly malicious and bloodthirsty spear, and saw them-
"Report." Hearing the perfect replica of Ezra's voice sound so harsh was not pleasant. It almost rocked my focus, but I held on, just watching...
"No sign of any intruders." Sugarboy said with a flourish of his sword and a bow. "Fairy Tail must not have managed to make it past security."
There was only a split seconds warning.
A movement so fast it was a blur.
Knightwalker had launched a blistering spear thrust between her two allies to create a massive hole in the side of a large support beam of a roller coaster.
A vacuum wave attack called Mel Force.
"Clumsy idiots: There was an intruder right here and you didn't notice." She snarled. "Present yourself for arrest and mercy might be shown!"
"I'll have to call your bluff." Mystogan's voice was emitting from a place off to the left. Closer to the door.
Sugarboy reacted with surprising speed, though still not before Knightwalker let loose another Mel Force that blew apart another section of the park. Missing yet again, I knew. Ventriloquism was something Mystogan had picked up to pad his mysterious reputation. Add that to his air staff and he could make a stage magician weep for joy. Sugarboy swung his sword and-
Whatever Knightwalker hadn't destroyed somehow just...melted. Like ice cream left in the sun for too long, in drops and gobs, it simply fell apart.
The Rosa Espada, capable of softening anything it touches, though it cannot alter the composition of a material.
So a limited transfiguration effect, altering structural form but little more. So don't want to see what that could do to a person.
"After all, you do have more of a track record-"
Another bad shot, and he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted at all.
"-of killing Fairy Tail members." Mist coalesced into a solid form. Mystogan, sans one of the staves he normally had on his back.
Hughes and Sugarboy were both reacting, but Knightwalker had seemingly frozen at the sight of the masked man.
She recognizes him.
My breath caught even as I felt my eyes watering from the effort of focusing on the play by play scene unravelling on the slate I clutched in both hands.
Erza's reaction to Jellal had been instantaneous and personal though she hadn't actually seen him since childhood. It had been about as long since Mystogan was Prince Jellal, and there were enough common features between Knightwalker and Erza that-
"Prince Jellal." The statement made Hughes and Sugarboy freeze mid attack.
"What?!"
"The lost prince?"
Lost? He always said he was banished...
Knightwalker almost looked like Erza for a second, softening, twisting with pain and loss. Then it hardened with a raging, malicious fury that Erza had never had.
"You admit to affiliation with Fairy Tail?" Mystogan tilted his head, a movement that looked a little odd to my eyes.
HIs Skyscraper illusion. He's already moving.
Ah. The figure that looked almost exactly liked my teacher placed his hand on his chest, over his heart.
"I claim it with more pride than I ever felt being a Prince of Edolas."
Knightwalker went for the kill. I didn't see her move. Didn't hear anything but the sound of her ragged breathing. Her temper was starting to flare up, straining the limits of her discipline.
Her lunge went right through the phantom Mystogan he had let the three Edolas wizards see. He let out a soft sigh, the sound seemed to come from everywhere.
"You never could keep up."
The scream of rage and madness that Knightwalker let loose contained an explicit order for the other commanders. That being; Take Cover if you wish to live. The crazed spear woman was off in pursuit of Jellal, though how she was following him I didn't know. But he was still keeping ahead. His Wind Walk Staff vs the configuration of her spear that allowed her to move at something like four times her normal speed.
I could feel that my teacher had successfully distracted Knightwalker, much like Jellal had taunted Erza in the tower of Heaven. By playing on their history and poking something sensitive and personal. And much as I wanted to look at the context, I didn't have time for that. I had a cat to find.
All the times he asked. All of the times I said no...And now I'm off to find Gajeel's cat.
Fairy Tail is gaining one new m-
Yeah, yeah, I know.
But I was still focusing on Mystogan, so there were some things that I heard like whispers in the air even as Cubellios and I started to move.
-vVv-
OK, she's distracted. The plan worked.
Jella thought, listening to Knightwalker blow through the halls and some walls in pursuit of him. He wanted to get a good bit of distance between his opponent and Fae before he went hand to hand with her. But in spite of his taunt, Knightwalker had grown up considerably since they last played tag together. She was much, much faster. He had to make use of some ventilation shafts, which were very uncomfortable to squeeze through even as mist, to keep ahead of her.
Moving through the halls with a fuming red head in pursuit, he felt memories he had long since pushed aside in favor of others trying to resurface.
"Son, this is Erza. She'll be living in the palace from now on." A girl whose knees were only shaking a little bit with nerves and whose eyes were only a little overbright with zealous determination.
"It is an honor to meet you, your most royal highness!" She almost shouted, bowing deeply. A little too deeply and overbalanced, nearly falling. Jellal reached out and steadied her automatically.
"You too, Erza. Please call me Jellal."
This wing of the palace had once been interconnected in such a way that you could run one great circle throughout the whole thing and never need to enter the main business sections of the palace. It also happened to be where children were housed, Mystogan included. The majority of his time, before his banishment, had been spent in here. In company of the same woman who was now hellbent on tearing him to bloody shreds.
Once they entered that wing, he heard a crash. She sealed off the wing. Trapping him in here with her and minimizing interference from outside parties. Good. He lingered by one doorway as if he hadn't been able to move fast enough, letting Knightwalker close the distance. Let her get a shot off at him.
He reformed into physical matter in the nick of time to swung a staff out to block it, negating the attack with a carefully controlled burst of the energy stored within the staff. The protective capabilities of a Therian Shield were sung about in Edolas history. Combined with Earthland magic, it had made him very nearly invincible. But in the aftermath of the magical bolt he had just blocked, he discarded it, as though he had lost his grip.
As a son of the royal family, Jellal's education was second to none. He was getting access to magical tools the likes of which another wouldn't see until they were certified and in their thirties. Magic had been put in his hands since he was a toddler first in the form of toys, then tools and weapons. He had years of practice in handling them that Erza lacked.
She fumbled with the unfamiliar weapon, a simple staff meant to fire color bursts to help train for the guards Thunder Lances. It landed with a clatter, the recoil from her shot going wild and spattering them both with paint. She looked mortified. He merely laughed, picked it up and offered it back to her.
"Anyone can make a mistake, just try it again!"
There was never any question when they were younger which of them was more skilled at magical tools.
She didn't say anything, there was no rant, no attempt at persuasion or dialogue. Mystogan didn't say anything either. All of his words had already found their mark deep in their history.
"It's wrong that we take all the magic." Jellal insisted over one of their shared study sessions.
"But we know how to use it so it doesn't get wasted." Ezra argued back fiercely.
"So we teach more people how to use it to grow better crops instead of making more weapons we don't need." It was an old argument between them, passed back and forth and gnawed over like an old bone. It was a surprisingly heavy topic for children, but they weren't ordinary children. They were the Crown Prince and his future Hand.
"When you're king, you can decide what to do with the magic. But whatever you do has to be what is best for Edolas." Erza stated.
"I know that Erza." The blue haired boy ran a finger down the side of his face, along the odd birthmark that people had taken as a sign of his future greatness as a leader. "It's not fair though. To keep magic all to ourselves. Why did I have a moving, life size toy Legion while a man keeping back magic fuel to provide food for his family gets sent to prison?" He pushed his book back with a huff. Erza's reply was cut off by the sound of raised voices echoing through the halls of the children's wing.
With nary a glance between them, the duo started to move towards the sound of the argument.
Within moments, they found the source.
A small white haired man was glaring at Faust with a look of pure outrage.
"-to violate every standard to which Fairy Tail holds. I am sorry, Faust, but I cannot accept this mandate."
"It is already drawn and drafted for finalization. It is the law my friend. It's already done. All magic power remaining within the bounds of our kingdom is now the property of the royal family."
"You will divide brother against brother with this law. It will lead to nothing but bloodshed!"
Jellal was motionless, watching two people who had been a central part of his life quarrel. Disagreements had happened before between them, but this felt different. This felt...much much worse. There would be no making up after this. No second chances.
The two children watched as the king and the Master of the Fairy Tail guild, who had only ever been friends and allies to one another, parted ways as enemies...The latter to be escorted to a cell.
Fairy Tail was declared a Dark Guild before sundown.
All banners proclaiming they were sponsored by the powerful guild were torn down and burned. Dozens of arrests were made.
The seed of doubt in Jellal sprouted into a small, resilient certainty: His Father was going mad.
They were clashing through the old children's library, it had been remodelled into a large class room. Mystogan's two staves caught the head of the Ten Commandments, circles flaring to life as a flare of electricity ran down the length of her weapon. She bared her teeth, refusing to release the weapon even to spare her the painful current. She bore down harder than ever and Mystogan broke away with a roll, sacrificing another of his staves to fall to the ground. His Sacred Lightning.
That's three. Just need to plant one more.
He had been giving ground this whole time, letting Knightwalker chase him to her savage heart's content trying to destroy him. But was she perhaps slowing down? Was she starting to think, realize he didn't have as many weapons as he had before and to wonder-
"Slowing down already Fairy Hunter?" He asked. "I thought you vowed to destroy every last one of us. Guess what, I'm still breathing."
"Not for long you won't be, traitor!"
Ah, good, she's angry again.
A flurry of blows made Mystogan's arms ache faintly. Even without her innate store of magic, Knightwalker was like her Earthland counterpart: She was incredibly strong and that combined with the hours upon hours of time she had put into honing her fighting skills had made her capable of delivering an enormous amount of force. The Ten Commandments was also multiplying whatever power she wasted in the recoil and sending it right back at him.
I wanted her angry. This is part of the plan. Or so he told himself again and again as he tried not to keep the fast moving spear head from being decorated with his blood.
Ever since Makarov Dreyer was imprisoned, it was like a war zone. Fairy Tail had declared war to retrieve their guild master and they were not stopping for anything. People were suffering on both sides, both the villages that Fairy Tail stubbornly defended and the loyalists trying to do the right thing for their country. It was a chaotic, blood stained mess. People were confused, trying to understand how Fairy Tail, advocates of the kingdom, peacekeepers and helpers, were suddenly being considered criminals.
Jellal saw a simple solution.
Free Makarov and let the fighting stop, then try to talk them around again. What was happening right now was a waste of resources on all sides.
His face stung from the force of his father's slap. Shock was painted across everyone's face as they held their breath, looking between the king and his son and heir.
"Speak of preserving those wastes of life and time again, and you will learn a sharper lesson." Faust said frigidly.
The seedling of certainty grew into a tree of resolve.
Later that night, Makarov's cell was discovered to be empty. Someone had returned his Mass Converter to him, fully charged. The old wizard was gone without a trace.
The fighting stopped almost overnight.
Over the next few days, the only sightings of Fairy Tail wizards came in the form of their members returning to the ravaged battle fields to restore what had been destroyed.
Jellal spoke boldly that Fairy Tail was being the better person in this conflict. They were trying to help the citizens of Edolas more than the royal family and the government.
"I'd rather be one of them than a prince if it means I can help my people."
The red haired girl standing behind Jellal flinched slightly, mouth trembling faintly with emotion.
But she said nothing. He only noticed later than she hadn't spoken up. It was quite odd for her to not have something to say about him being the prince. Usually a comfort or assurance. But silence? That was odd.
Mystogan hadn't noticed it then. It had taken years of reflection and thought to piece together what had actually been going on in Knightwalker's mind when he said that. And that was what had been the first nudge of their friendship sundering.
Knightwalker viewed the kingdom of Edolas the same way Erza Scarlet saw Fairy Tail. That had been what saved her, gave her hope, purpose, shelter and family. Prince Jellal had been one of her only friends. And when Prince Jellal had started to push against the kingdom, and his father, she hadn't known what to do or how to feel. He always felt that she suspected his involvement in Edo-Makarov's escape from the palace. But she had never said anything.
Now here was Mystogan, back before her after years, and boldly claiming pride in being a member of Fairy Tail. That bottled up rage of many long years of harsh training and conditioning to be loyal to Faust and the kingdom released in a flood of anger that seemed to go on forever.
There was a death.
A skirmish between the royal guard and some members of Fairy Tail. It was accidental. Completely and utterly. Rob wasn't as young as he used to be. He shouldn't have been out with the younger guardsmen as it was. But the excitement and the stress of the situation had resulted in his heart failing and the doctors being unable to save him.
Erza was devastated. Rob had been the one to sponsor her training, he was the one who would fight tooth and nail to get her a spot in the royal guard. He had recommended she be trained as Jellal's future Hand, his bodyguard and advisor.
"I'm sorry about Rob." Jellal said quietly, settling beside her, not looking at her to allow her some semblance of privacy as she hastily dried her tears.
"It's not your fault...it's those dark wizards. Those crooks." He did look at her now, teeth bared and eyes bright with grief. "You were right. Fighting them is making us waste so much magic when it could have been used to..." Her fists clenched, the material of her gloves creaking under the force.
"I'll get them...I'll get every single one of them. Seize their magic power...so we don't ever have to lose more people like Rob..."
The S class mage was down to one last staff, his Air Staff which he had all but mastered in his time in Earthland, his time as Mystogan.
The S-class mage called up another Skyscraper. An illusion meant to distract and divert his opponents attention. All he needed was a few seconds.
He had carried his staves with him for years. He knew them inside and out, had modified several of them personally. Specifically, had modified them to be able to be used in various combination attacks. One man Unison Raids that no one else had ever been crazy enough, or desperate enough, to try.
Channeling his will into the magic weapon, feeling the power it held, he reached out further still, touching the lacrima that linked his five staves together. All throughout the lines of their battle, they started to move of their own accord, the air around them cradling them.
This will all but drain my air staff. I'll be down to only a few minutes total of Wind Walk to get back through the Anima alone. But this was a way to neutralize Knightwalker. So it was worth it. He'd recharge his staff when they went home.
Knightwalker managed to pierce his illusion, the spear slamming into his shoulder with a grunt. Even the armor he wore beneath his clothes couldn't shield him from that completely.
But Mystogan smiled behind his mask.
"Five Layer Magic Circle." He shifted his Air Staff to lie between him and the last one, the Therian Shield which would focus the others power. "Echo's Flight." This last was said in a barely audible whisper.
The first surge of power began in the first staff he had deliberately dropped. Then it was caught by the linking lacrima and channeled into the next. And so one, and so on. The loud, random jumble of magic power would normally need to be placed close together and carefully aligned in order to be channeled into High Magic like this. Magic that involved so many different elements, some of which opposed one another.
But the protective capabilities of the shield staff included a reflective barrier, and if it were angled just so when all that magic came into it...
The waves of sound started to bounce through the air in a series of ringing chimes, inundating the entire wing of the palace with a cacophony of noise that steadily grew louder and louder, quickly reaching deafening levels and then surpassing them. The vibrations were affecting more than her ears, making anything she was wearing or holding shake. Including her bones, which were not meant to do so. His Air staff created a bubble of still air around him, neutralizing the sound based attack. All his focus was on amping up the vibrations in the air until it was physically impossible to take any more.
Knightwalker flinched, her hands loosening as faint cracks and creaks told him her bones had begun to fracture in hundreds of different places. While bone had some give, it was not meant to take that kind of punishment.
With his free hand, Mystogan seized the Ten Commandments, hauling it out of her weakened but still formidable grip with a surge of effort. He cut off Echo's Flight, letting the air go still, dropped his remaining staff and swung the butt of Commandments up.
The force multiplying effects that had let Knightwalker pursue him so relentlessly now let him knock her unconscious in one clean blow.
Thousands of microscopic fractures in her bones will result in her being in a lot of pain. Her body won't let her wake up and try to move for several hours yet, and she will be too weak to stand unassisted, let alone fight.
Without Knightwalker leading the charge against Fairy Tail, the army's morale would be shaken at best. If she was there, as he bet that she would force herself to be, and tried to rally them anyway, it would have a mixed effect of inspiring some to fight harder than ever, and weakening the resolve of the rest at the sight of their formerly undefeated champion being so weakened.
Either way, he didn't intend on letting her get that far.
"You and Erza both...too stubborn for your own good." He told her motionless body. "Your loyalty was what helped me survive my childhood here. I only wish it had been given to someone better than Faust."
Gajeel had started the fight, Mystogan had cut off one of the hydra's heads with this act. But there were many more to face still. This fight was far from over. Leaving Knightwalker here would be fine, she was out of harm's way and would be given medical attention as soon as she was discovered.
Mystogan had a wayward student to find. If she was channeling their guild in any amount, the debris would lead him right to her.