The aftermath of the Furies debut passed with more or less no repercussions. At least no formal ones. Master called us in for a chat the next morning. And by us I meant Wendy and I since the other usual suspects, aka Team Natsu, would have caused more overt destruction. Kagura came along to take her punishment alongside us, surprising and causing him to break down in frustrated tears when we left his office.
"Not yet...They're not even teenagers, they're not supposed to be doing this..."
I stuck my head back through the door.
"Look on the bright side, master, as least we didn't cause any property damage yet?"
"Yet?!"
-vVv-
Fairy Tail took responsibility for the take down on account of Kagura's testimony against Dusk Gnoll. They didn't say who specifically had been involved, always managing to evade the question when asked or dropping the matter when Simon gave a little smile that promised murder. Kagura had told him why we did what we did. Morgana had had a comment in response...
If she didn't keep what had happened a secret until it was already over, there is a 40% greater chance that Simon might have killed some of them.
But it was nonetheless an unspoken secret among the guilds now that even Fairy Tail's kids were strong enough to take on minor Dark Guilds. This also meant a big upsurge of new jobs and new clients despite the season being one where Fairy Tail typically pulled back on work in preparation for the biggest internal event of the year:
The S-Class Trials.
Laxus's banishment from the guild had opened up a slot, plus there were a large number of other hopefuls gunning to make the jump in rank. It wouldn't mean anything other than give them some authority when dealing with outside infrastructure and let them take command of certain operations. Like how Erza had been in charge of the Fairy Tail wizards during the fight with the Oracion Seis.
There was even talk of this year, Master would let more than one wizard advance to that rank, one to replace Laxus and another to put us ahead. But that rumor was just a rumor. (Aka, Master had asked me to keep the truth quiet. He was looking at bringing up at least one, but was willing to promote as many as three.)
Another perk of Operation Duskfall was that the four of us who had been involved were all much closer now. Kagura smiled a bit now and displayed a startlingly black sense of humor in conversation. Rogue showed up without us going out and dragging him in and Frosch was always happy to ride along on his friends shoulders. He had tried to join us by himself a few times, but always got lost. I always kept an eye out for his story so Kinana and I could go and snatch him before he got too distressed.
But not even the increased happiness of this, or the fact that Jellal and I had successfully designed a brand new spell to work like magic suppression cuffs, patent pending, or the general chatter and excitement from the upcoming trials could keep my mood up. Why?
Because I had a headache the size of Cana's freaking bar tab!
And it was all that guy's fault!
I had such a headache that I couldn't even distract myself with other writing as I stared at the guy across the guild hall. A pleasant looking dark haired man who was...licking the furniture? Weird quirk aside, he was the source of my headache.
It wasn't that he stood out, he seemed to fit in almost perfectly, laughing and joking as if he had been there all along. I even knew his name, his name was Mest, he was a teleporter and had been here for an indefinite period of time. The trouble was, his story didn't match up. Morgana was all about facts and reality. And she could not give me an actual length of time that Mest had been in the guild, but she was certain he had only just showed up.
Ok, we are getting to the bottom of this. I decided, grabbing a sheet of paper and slamming it onto my table with a touch of aggressiveness.
"Kagura seems to be influencing you." Rogue remarked, picking at the free lunch Mira brought to him with a pat on the head and no room for argument. Said girl had commandeered Wendy to help her practice some magic. She had identified that she wanted to learn Gravity, a power intensive magic that suited her needs and talents. She thus needed Wendy's help to keep her orientation and stomach under control even while her senses were sending her conflicting messages of which way was down. It was still a work in progress though. The field where she was practicing under Jellal's eye, due to him having similar magic, was already a wreck and they'd only been at it for an hour.
Wendy and I had been labeled Fairy Tail's cutest team. Since then, Kagura made us a trio, and while she could be cute, it generally wasn't the first thing people thought of upon seeing her rip up the ground with her sword strikes and turn boulders into meteors.
"No, I just have a headache. And I don't know exactly why." I cracked my knuckles as I picked up a pen. "But I am gonna find out!"
"I'm sure you will."
"Frosch thinks so too!" The green kitten was playing with a crumpled piece of paper and being his usual adorable self. (He actually sounded supportive unlike Rogue who just seemed to be trying to placate me.) According to Carla and Pantherlily, young Exceed displayed more instinctual cat-like behavior, though it became less overt as they grew.
Not even my irritation could stand up to the little guy though, so I scratched his ears fondly before turning to my task at hand.
"How will you go about finding what is bothering you?" Rogue asked as I started to write. I was focusing on Mest, tapping Morgana's knowledge of his history and searching for some blip in his backstory to let me know there was something fishy.
"Hang on. Muffliato." With a precaution against eavesdropping set up in the form of an orange glowing rune on the table top, I went back to work, speaking out loud as I did so.
"Someone showed up today. I remember him being here for years, but at the same time, his story says he just got here. I know his story as if he's always been here, but there's a conflict somewhere that's giving me a headache."
"I thought you could always figure out what was true and what wasn't."
"Generally, I can. But there are always exceptions. The fewer people know about the truth and the more removed I am from the actual scene of the event, the harder it is. Same for if someone is using a complete immersion technique, actively working to keep it a secret, or if someone is using shadow or darkness magic to hide parts of it from me." I gave him a pointed look, which he returned with an unashamed deadpan, taking another bite of his lunch.
"But since most people don't have the same abilities I do, I can delve into a backstory just by focusing on it. But it's still like when someone is interrogating another person. They ask them variations of the same question to try and catch a slip up to pursue. If I go over a false story often enough from different angles or people's perspectives, a weak point will pop out at me and I can use it to unravel the rest and find out what is actually going on."
"Like working a cloth down until it's threadbare in one spot and then pulling it apart from there."
"Exactly! I'm starting from my point of view, then I'll move on to some other people. I'm gonna figure this out, believe it!"
I paused in my writing then...and deliberately removed the ninja headband from my forehead. It wasn't active, but...just in case. 'Believe it' was a fairly harmless verbal tick, but I didn't want it to develop into a more iconic 'dattebayo'.
"We're back!" Natsu called from the entrance as he walked in with Lucy and Gray. They had been working as a trio lately since Erza was focusing on mentoring Kagura. He raced up to the board and slammed the completed job down in front of Mira. "And we beat Gajeel home!"
There had been two almost identical job requests on the board this morning and the two Slayers had decided that to spice up the day's work, they would race each other to see who could get it done first. Gajeel, Juvia and Pantherlily, or Natsu, Gray and Lucy with Happy as an observer.
"Well done, ah...any damages to report?" Mira asked a little nervously. Lucy let out a long breath.
"Luckily nothing too bad. The orchards are fine." It had been a job to clear out some of the hibernation chambers of rot-fiends beneath a large, nearby fruit producer.
That is why she invited Gray to come along when she realized it was going to be a competition.
Lucy had called Virgo to dig tunnels through the various chambers and connect them all while Gray and Natsu had wiped out the dangerous and harmful pests. Or, Natsu wiped them out, Gray did damage control to ensure the ground didn't get so hot as to hurt the orchard above.
I smiled seeing them come back before turning my attention back to my work. As I did so, I noticed that Rogue had gone a little stiff upon Natsu's entry.
Why?
It's a dragon thing.
I was not satisfied.
"Rogue? You ok?"
"I'm fine." He said, eating a little more quickly now, dark eyes fixed on the still celebrating Fire Dragon Slayer. "I just remembered that I have some errands to run."
"Oh." Yeah, and next I'll believe Natsu bought stock shares in the railway system. Something about Natsu was unnerving Rogue and he wasn't saying why. "Will you make it back for story night?" It was going to be one of the last sessions we had before the S-class mages and the new candidates headed off for their yearly test on Tenrou Island. Master hadn't announced it yet, but he was going to be inviting Cana, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Freed and Mest. That decision had been what made me suspicious of the man in the first place.
"I...I think so." Rogue looked down at Frosch, who was still happily pouncing on the paper ball I had made him, giggling when it crinkled and rustled under his paws.
"You can leave him here, if you want. I'll keep an eye on him." I invited, with the slight additional motive of getting him to actually come back later if only to retrieve him. I am your friend, introvert. If I have to, I will throw rainbows and cheesy songs at you until you accept that.
"Frosch?" The green Exceed kitten leapt at my neck in a tight hug, purring happily.
"Yes! Stay! Frosch wants more frog story!" I had put my tales of Hyrule on hold for Frosch in favor of a reboot of the Princess and the Frog, set somewhere called New Orleans.
"Later tonight, little buddy. No story until after dinner." I win! "You can go with Rogue now and be back later, or you can stay with me. Which do you want?" Frosch seriously considered his options, looking between rogue and the paper ball he had been playing with.
I rolled my eyes, grabbing his toy and writing a few runes on it.
Float, anchor to Exceed, evade capture. I tossed the ball into the air and it started to bob around Frosch, he swatted at it, eyes wide, and it drifted away, just barely making him paw graze the edge of it.
"Frosch will go with Rogue!" He decided.
"What do you say when someone does something nice for you?" Rogue is such a good big brother. At the prompting, the little cat purred and nuzzled my cheek.
"Thank you, Fae!"
"You're welcome! I'll see you two later."
The oddness of the situation distracted me momentarily from my headache of figuring out why Mest Gryder was bothering me so much. After Gajeel and his partners came back, and he cooled off after being told he lost the competition, I approached him.
He knew Rogue well, the little guy always found some way of being around him when he visited. And he was the oldest Dragon Slayer so maybe he could give me more insight than: 'It's a dragon thing.'
"Ryos?" Gajeel asked, chewing on a handful of nuts and bolts like they were candy. "Someone been bothering the little punk?"
"Not...explicitly?" I said, settling onto the table beside him. "It's just he seems to be getting really tense around Natsu and I'm not sure why."
"It's a dragon thing." I let out a short huff of frustration.
"Yeah, I got that. It's why I'm asking you." He grinned at having been able to tease me.
"It's nothing that major, kid. It's about territory. This place?" He gestured to the guildhall and the people in it. "It's Salamander's territory. His home. Ryos is a kid, another dragon encroaching on an older, stronger dragon's territory. He's just a little skittish 'cause of that."
"But he doesn't feel that way around you." Gajeel spat out a rusted piece of metal with a disgusted grimace.
"Nah, he doesn't need to. When I ran off those assholes who were messing with him a couple years back, I was treating him like family. Dragon's aren't scared of family."
"Unless it's mom." I added. He scowled at me for the comment. "I dare you to claim that a mother dragon isn't the most terrifying thing in her hatchlings lives."
Gajeel closed his mouth with a growl that sounded irritated, but was really just his response for conceding a point.
"Either way. Dragons are normally solitary, but when they form alliances, they're meant to be formed between equals. Any imbalance means that one is submitting to the other. And we don't do that."
"You mean you don't like it."
"So we don't do it. Dragon's don't do jack that they don't want to. Right now; Salamander and I know where we stand with each other. Ryos doesn't know, he hasn't fought Salamander. And he knows that if he does, he'll get his ass handed to him and have to submit to him."
"And he doesn't want that to happen so his solution is to avoid Natsu." I recorded that knowledge in my head, letting Morgana fill in the relevant details as I absorbed this information. "Ok, so why hasn't Wendy been acting weird like that?" Gajeel snorted.
"It's different 'cause she's a girl. And he's being different because healing magic's worth it's weight in diamonds. Even a king brat like Salamander knows that. If someone who can heal wants to live nearby, you better damn well let them." And this brought on a whole new line of questioning and Gajeel was apparently in a chatty mood.
"King?"
"King. Some dragons were stronger than others of their kind. The strongest of each type was named king. The idiot-" Gajeel jerked his thumb towards Natsu, who was already stuffing his face from the guild fireplace, and dancing around Kinana's mildly annoyed strikes for stepping on her tail. "-was adopted by the King of the Fire Dragons. That's why he's still acting like the alpha of the two of us even though I'm older." It was true that Gajeel clashed with Natsu. A lot. But when push came to shove, like it had against Dorma Anim, he had worked together with him without hesitation.
So, Gajeel's instincts will always demand that he challenge him. But as long as they're so closely matched, Igneel having more rank than Metalicana means Natsu is the top dog between them. Even if that bugs the crap out of Gajeel.
This had been a very fascinating and eventful few minutes. I had some more questions to ask, but seemed to have lost my info dump's attention. Gajeel was watching Levy put up with the smothering affection of her two fanboys with a spark of amusement in his eyes.
Gale will triumph! The same pink, glittery voice squealed in absolute delight, startling me with how loud it was.
The fudge is up with that? I thought we got it handled. I directed the thought at Morgana who gave me the equivalent of a metal shrug as she side eyed the voice warily.
I wanted to know why my magic had split off it's it's own ship-crazy fangirl. And if I looked hard enough, I could probably detect a distinct personality beneath all that glitter. But...I didn't really want to look that closely.
Reasoning occasionally worked on the Nalu voice, so...
I looked between Gajeel and Levy critically. It had only become a thing after Gajeel tanked a hit from Laxus for her. But I hadn't really gotten the chance to look at the two of them in the same space to figure out if there was anything behind that craziness.
Gajeel was watching her, but not overtly. Barely turning his head to keep her in the corner of his vision as Team Shadowgear came back from their morning shift at the local elementary school.
Watching alertly does not make a ship. I told the voice flatly.
Watch! It replied with a manic giggle.
Gajeel turned back to his drink. Just in time for Levy's eyes to flash over to where he sat. Her gaze landed on me and she looked startled for a moment. I raised my brows questioningly and glanced at Gajeel.
She flushed redder than Erza's hair and hurriedly looked away before Jet or Droy could come out of their two man show enough to notice who she had been looking at.
Well dang...You might be onto something here.
Gale! Will! Triumph!
I then realized I had been having another semi conversation with yet another voice in my head. And not the one that had named herself.
I'm just gonna dive back into the Mest thing and not think about that for a bit. Contemplating my mental breaks probably wasn't the best use of my time. Though if I got more voices than that, I would have to get some serious therapy.
Or maybe talk to one of the takeover siblings...They've got voices in their head from their magic naturally.
-vVv-
I only took a break from my efforts at digging out the truth about Mest's presence for Story Night. And I stayed up late working on it in the room I shared with Wendy at Fairy Hill's dorms.
I had a break through...and my headache got so much worse.
Mest Gryder is pretending to be Mest Doranbolt for the purposes of spying on the Magic Council for Fairy Tail, and Mest Doranbolt is pretending to be Mest Gryder for the purposes of finding dirt on Fairy Tail to get restrictions placed on their influence.
Apparently the Oracion Seis thing had been processed enough by the council to decide that we were too strong and too much of a loose cannon. Finding something incriminating to either blackmail us into good behavior, or buying us into the council's pocket was preferable to letting another incident like the Tower of Heaven go down. Having a group of wizards survive an on target Etherion Blast was some cause for concern. The tower's destruction and Jellal having gotten away by virtue of being presumed dead had left them with no answers and looking bad for firing on an area with some very popular wizards in it.
Ok, that's the summary. Run it by me step by step, please. Morgana responded by taking control of my hand and sketching out the timeline on my wall.
Sometime last year, Makarov had approached Mest and asked him to take a mission to check up on the Magic Council and find some information about...something that Morgana had labelled as 'Master does not want anyone to know.'.
Mest did as he was asked...but went extremely deep cover. So much so that he erased his own memory of ever having been a member of Fairy Tail to make the story complete. Master had a key to bring Mest out of his false identity, but was choosing not to do so for some reason-.
Mest's memory spell is at play.
Of course...of course! I slammed a fist into my hand in triumph. Mest uses memory magic even as Rune Knight. And he's trying to infiltrate Fairy Tail with the same skillset! He cast a spell on everyone that makes people believe he's always been there. And no one has really noticed because they recognize him as an ally unconsciously and that he does belong!
Which could also mean that Makarov genuinely did not remember that Mest was a former/currently undercover member and could not jog Mest's memory and get him out of our business safely. And right now, if Mest did find anything that he decided we could get in trouble for, he would report it without hesitation and have to deal with the consequences of the guilt of betraying his family while under the influence of his own magic.
This is a mess.
I could dimly remember the teleportation mage now! He had been a fun one. Goofy, kind, I wasn't as close to him as I was to Gray or Natsu, but he had been a reliable guildmate. I'd actually been working on a formula to mimic his teleportation magic...But then his memory spell had made me lose all connection to the story and I had scrapped it all as being gibberish once I no longer understood it.
That made me mad! Gryder was still my friend, yes, but Doranbolt? Doranbolt I could screw with a bit. He put me back years of creating a teleportation spell I could use!
I'll have to find some way to jog Master's memory...Without jogging it too hard and making him pass out. As funny as that might be.
Yeah, my guild pride wasn't liking the idea of the Rune Knights poking their noses around for blackmail on us. They couldn't find any flaws major enough in our conduct and performance on jobs to get us in trouble, so they decided to dig around under rocks looking for something...Bureaucratic jerks.
Ok, time to set my stage.
-vVv-
Makarov stared at me with vaguely glazed eyes for a split second as he processed when I had just told him. Then I felt a small pop as he shrugged through the same thought barrier I had worked my way through.
"Paper pushing, conniving, no good, interfering..." He was getting angry. But I waved my hand in front of his face to distract him.
"Agreed on all counts, but can I mess with him? I promise I have the perfect way to get him back for trying to sneak in."
As I had discovered with Kinana, editing a story or spell, was a lot easier than undoing it entirely. And creating a link between things that already existed that were basically similar? Child's play. All too literally.
-vVv-
Mest almost choked when Nab laughingly recounted a story of escorting a merchant's ship to a small island. And then he slapped Mest on the back and said:
"Go on, man, you tell it. It was almost you that got hitched!"
He was a Rune Knight. A keeper of the law. He had been trained for high pressure situations. But high pressure about potentially ousted as a spy in the strongest guild in the country were two different things.
He forced a laugh.
"You know I tried to blot that out. I'm not dredging it back up again."
"Why not? It's not like she was that bad looking."
"It's the principle of the matter. If you want a laugh, you tell it. I'm out." He got up and sauntered to the bar to the sound of good natured jabs being thrown his way as Nab continued with the story. It involved the accidental mistranslation of some verbs on his part and the deliberate machinations of the chief in taking his actions as an alliance proposal.
Mine? No. That's never happened. He automatically checked that his memory spell was in place and active. And it was. The members of fairy tail were supposed to see him as a friend who had been a long standing member returned from a long term mission. But the spontaneous production of false memories wasn't what he had meant to have happen. The advantages of his magic meant that he could infiltrate for as little as a day and be seen as a lifelong member of whatever group he integrated himself into. Frankly, with Fairy Tail it was almost too easy. There were no passwords required upon entry, no codes or tests the members threw at each other to verify identity. They were actually appallingly careless when it came to their security. Acting as if they had nothing to hide...
Which, I have to admit, they might not. Not here at least. Access to the more secluded properties would be harder to get. And the tip off that Fairy Tail had a secret, members only private island was definitely something worth investigating.
"Hey Mest! Feel like sharing some of your Joya adventures? We just got in a new brew!" Again?
"Feeling more hungry than thirsty." He deflected with a laugh, pushing a little more on his Memory Magic to deflect attention away from him. He stepped over the large purple snake who cocked her head at him.
:You smell distressed.: That was another thing he hadn't been expecting. A talking snake in Fairy Tail? And now three talking cats instead of one?
"I'm fine, just a little peckish." He replied, trying to force his body to relax. Animal instincts were sharper than a humans and if Kinana gave him away, he'd have to withdraw entirely without gaining anything from this venture!
:I think cook just came back from acquiring new prey. There won't be anything fit to eat for some time yet.: The snake informed him before going back onto her belly and gliding across the floor to where her usual companion sat at a table in the front of the hall. The child, Celeste D Faerun, found, registered as a citizen and retained as a ward by Fairy Tail with Makarov's signature.
Wards weren't unusual. But having one pop out of nowhere and fall into place as if born to belong in the wildest guild in the country had gotten a few raised eyebrows from the Magic Council. Especially one with a gift for a versatile magic like Runes. Fae was scribbling something, amber letters in a foreign script dancing around her as she giggled, clearly in high spirits. Kinana hefted herself onto the bench, shrinking slightly to wrap herself around the girl's warmth more effectively. Her head lay over the girl's shoulder as she worked, clearly inspecting whatever she was doing.
A prodigal breakthrough at age seven into her power, followed by the display of an extremely high level of intelligence, demonstrated by her voracious reading habits. And then being involved in multiple incidents, including being abducted twice. Mest was also here to inspect whether this environment was genuinely safe for Faerun as a ward and whether intervention was necessary for the other young members of this guild. But that was more of a personal mission than a formally sanctioned one. He had a bit of a soft spot for kids.
Almost as if she sensed him watching her, Fae looked up, met his eyes, smiled playfully and waved before going back to work.
Even his professionalism strained a little at that innocent gesture.
Focus. Find something to reign them in. Actually...
Mest leaned against the bar, accepting a plate of crackers as a snack and contemplated a new angle he hadn't considered before.
While she was signed on as a ward, Faerun was clearly being prepared as a future member. Why else would Mystogan the wandering S-class Mage suddenly grow roots and never stray far from Magnolia? He was there now, leaning over Fae's table, conversing with her quietly. She was in turn, saying something that amused her greatly. It was hard to tell what the older wizard thought behind that mask of his. And there was a distant buzzing in his ears. A privacy ward of some kind, likely to help the girl focus.
If he could find some kind of proof that Faerun was no longer safe here, that alone might be what was needed to hold the guild in line. The threat of her being relocated to a safer home base... but that would also mean that if they did comply, Mest might very well be deliberately keeping a child in a dangerous situation if it got the cooperation of the guild as a whole.
There came a surge of heat from the door and a very battered, dirty, but clearly pleased as a punch Salamander charged in followed by a resignedly amused Makarov. Natsu charged straight for Fae, bursting through the ring of runes that served as her privacy ward with a dull pop and tossing her into the air as if she were little more than a doll.
"It's happening, Fae!" he cheered. "I'm going to the S-class trials!" Her surprise vanished into a split second of delight before her expression fell into droll humor.
"I know."
"Come on, at least be a little surprised!"
"If you insist: Oh wow Natsu that's amazing!" Her face lit up with childish glee and literal sunbeams radiated out from her person. Cute. He really hoped he could find some other kind of leverage to get Fairy Tail to behave. And that his investigation of hazards would turn up nothing. The girl was happy here, a blind man could see that.
"I also got a surprise for you." Natsu said, Fae's face twisted in annoyance.
"Natsu! That's not fair!"
"Nope, it's a secret, no poking it, got it squirt?"
"Fiiine." She said with a sigh. The blue cat, or apparently they were called 'Exceed' landed on the girl's shoulder next to Kinana.
"You're gonna flip, Fae, it's awesome!"
"How good can it be if I didn't automatically figure it out?" She asked dryly, hugging Natsu and muttering something under her breath. An amber light flashed and he was suddenly clean and his clothes mended. "That's better..."
"Thanks Fae!" Natsu then plopped down at the table with her and Mystogan, clearly intent on monopolizing her attention for a while. But then he caught sight of Mest and went still.
Oh no... Dragon Slayers were always tricky to work with because there were so few of them it was near impossible to get an idea of how some magic reacted to them. Natsu's grin showed a lot of teeth, some of which were dangerously sharp.
"Hey Mest! Welcome back! Ain't seen you in forever!" Natsu shouted across the hall, lifting a flaming fist. "Don't go chickening out on our match like last time, you got it?"
This again? I've never met him before, I didn't create that memory...
"Oh really? Did I do that?" Tell me more, get me to play along, please...
"Yeah, you used that warp spell of yours to keep running away! It took me two days to finally catch you!" A phantom ache twinged in Mest's shoulder and he rubbed it absently before he could stop himself.
"Most people would consider the match over after two days and you caught me off guard."
"Not how I roll! It ain't over until one of us is down!"
"I told you setting conditions before you fight was important." Fae said from next to him. "Mest technically did nothing outside the rules since you didn't give him time to accept that it was an actual sparring match instead of you being yourself." Her too?
How many people were caught in this spell? That was at least four people referencing some history with that that he hadn't made. Who was interfering with his work? He had managed to evade the worst of the suspicion, but this was getting more and more specific and he was getting more notice the longer he conversed with Natsu. He was already feeling the strain on his spell, he needed to push still more power into it in order to maintain his cover.
"You don't look so good." Happy remarked, seeming to materialize on the bar top beside him as cats are wont to do. "You ok Mest? You want some fish? I caught a huuuge catfish while Natsu was talking to Master."
And how in the world would this furball know I like catfish?
This was getting weirder by the second. His information indicated this feline rarely ever shared his bounty.
"Are you sure, Happy?" He looked affronted.
"Of course! You got me that piece of bluefin tuna! I owe you for that!"
-vVv-
Mest was nibbling on the side of fried catfish that Happy had given to the cook for him. Fish and chips with mustard. The cook hadn't even asked, he had just served it up with his preferred condiment. And no one seemed to even be batting at eye at the oddity of Happy sharing fish with him. He was supposed to be blending in among them, but not to this extent. It wasn't that they weren't noticing him as strange they were actually...accepting him as one of their own. And they knew things about him!
Max had talked about the mission where he had gotten his scar with a mistimed teleport into the line of fire. Cana had laughed about how he behaved while drunk and trying to teleport and was spot on in her estimates of how he would behave. These were things they couldn't know. They shouldn't know! Was his spell failing? Or were they getting interference by some acquaintance that they had that resembled him?
"You look stressed." Faerun's voice popped up behind the counter, hands cupping her chin. He started at her sudden appearance.
"I'm the teleporter so I should know: Jumpscaring people like that is not ok."
"You did it all the time when I first got here." But I didn't! I never met you in person until two days ago! But saying that could damage his memory spell. She was only supposed to remember him as a vague, nebulous presence that had no real connection to him as a person.
Fae was smiling again, this time, a look that combined playful innocence with an unearthly knowing that was not helped by the fact that her eyes were literally glowing. She reached across the counter and patted his head affectionately.
"It's ok that you've decided to be silly and forget about being here. We all know deep down that you're one of us." The odd words made him stare at her in absolutely confusion even as two other girls came in. One, the Sky Dragon Slayer that fairy tail had taken on after the disappearance of Cait Shelter, and the other who had been registered as Titania's student and was carrying around a wooden sword to emphasize that.
"Hi girls! How was training?" Fae turned her attention to them effortlessly, leaving Mest to stew in his bewildered thoughts.
Did she know? How could she have found out? Why was she saying that he was one of them? His spell was working...but they knew details about him. And the guild as a whole were not duplicitous types, they couldn't lie to save their lives. It was one of the guilds's saving graces as a whole. The trouble you saw was the trouble you got, he mused a bubble of fondness swelling in his chest.
I...might need to take a step back. Mest concluded when he noticed the feeling. He wasn't supposed to like these people, he was supposed to be finding a way to control or implicate them in some shady business! If he wouldn't have to wait for an entire year to get the chance to visit their exclusive island, he would already have withdrawn.
-vVv-
I cackled internally as Doranbolt's Rune Knight persona did battle with Gryder's Fairy Tail wizard. All I had done was breath some reminders around about Mest into the memory spell trying to assimilate him into the guild. It wasn't just affecting us, it would have the side effect of touching him as well.
I had just made it so the two personas were starting to collide a little more. All it had taken was the suggestion to Gryder that Doranbolt might be up to something detrimental to the guild. His unconscious desire to protect Fairy Tail, the entire reason he had agreed to go deep cover in the Rune knights in the first place, then started interfering with his memory spell. Such as letting facts about his old life slip out here and there with the people he had interacted with before leaving us.
A sharp tap on my cheek made me glance at Kagura who was giving me a very flat sort of look.
"You were starting to grow horns." She made a gesture at my head and I lifted my hands to feel very distinctive devil horns poking out from under my hair.
"Whoops."
"Fae, you weren't doing anything really naughty, were you?" Wendy as suspiciously.
"Only a little." I admitted, conscious of Mest still sitting close enough to listen in. "I kinda tricked Rogue into agreeing to come back here later by getting Frosch to say that he wanted to." Kagura didn't look like she approved, but Wendy's face cleared with relief and she nodded.
"Good. He seems like he'd be on his own a lot with just Rogue for company."
She also enjoys having a Dragon Slayer her age nearby.
Morgana's comment was noted.
Thanks for the info, but back to focusing on Doranbolt's slow mental breakdown.
I still had a headache because of Mest's conflicting personas. Literally no one but me was aware of the dueling identities and I would have to suffer through the wordless shouting matches until Gryder won. (He was a darn good memory mage but you needed a sense of self identity almost as strong as a Takeover Wizard's to successfully use Persona Simulacrum. Gryder was going to win. And if he looked like he was losing, I would use the key I had read off of Makarov to snap him out of it.)
"What news about Dusk Gnoll?" Kagura asked, looking at me expectantly. Whether she knew outright why I knew so much, or she was just falling into the same habit as everyone else by using me as a private newcaster, I wasn't sure.
"They are gone." I said simply. "All of them have to pay heavy fines. The guild master and the ones responsible for the deals that edged them into the acts that got them ultimately convicted have all been sentenced to jail time. The group that took away the orphanage has gotten a 10 year minimum."
Makarov has also reallocated funds to purchase the orphanage back. I brightened upon hearing that and relayed it to Kagura. She likewise seemed very happy.
"Good..." She whispered.
Doranbolt is very confused as to how you could have known that when he hasn't seen you leave the hall all morning. He is adding another personal objective to find your sources.
Good luck, boi.
"That's great news!" Wendy exclaimed as Carla alighted on a stool next to her, clearly having just awoken from a cat nap and looking less put together than normal. She also looked slightly embarrassed. "Now you don't need to worry so much about getting your membership so quickly, Kagura!"
"We're still training again tomorrow." Wendy slumped, and I swore I saw her soul leave her body a little. Apparently Kagura and Erza were both of the opinion that Wendy needed better close combat skills to compensate for the fact that she couldn't heal herself. I patted her hand in sympathy.
"Hey, it's nothing I haven't already lived through and I'm still here!"
"Yeah but you're insane..." Wendy moaned. "Someone has to be the voice of reason among us..." I giggled and offered Kagura a fistbump, though she only responded to it after staring at it a moment.
"Sanity is a wonderful thing, Wendy. But being insane makes life way more interesting. Speaking of making things more interesting: How are we gonna get Rogue to stay tomorrow? It's not Story night so we can't use that excuse."
"Use Frosch again." Kagura supplied. "He doesn't seem capable of refusing him anything."
"Yeah, Exceed can be really persuasive." Wendy said this even as Carla's tail prodded her sharply into sitting up straight again.
:Perhaps let him witness a new experience. The kitten has not had much living among the frogs.: Kinana said, shrinking down to the size of a small viper and coiling on the countertop.
"Hey my brats!" Makarov called from the upper story drawing everyone's eyes up to him. Erza, Mira, Jellal in his mask and Gildarts all stood there with him. "It's that time of year again!" A cheer rose up and suddenly everyone was giving him their fullest attention, eagerness vibrating through them.
"What does he-?" I shushed Wendy.
"Just wait him out, that usually works when he's being dramatic."
"The S-Class Trials!" This brought on a flurry of foot stomping, raging noise and clapping that he had to use a Titan shout to quiet down again.
"This past year has brought many changes to your guild. From the arrival of new members, to our saying farewell to others." The reminder of Laxus no longer made me feel anything angry or bitter. My letter hadn't reached him yet, though I calculated that it would within the next week or so.
"As we're already down one S-class wizard, I have decided that this year if you impress me enough during the test, the whole lot of you have the chance to be promoted. If only to make you stop ripping off S-Class job requests." He glared at Team Natsu. Predictably, the fiery idiot that he was actually talking to simply whooped.
"Get on with it Gramps!"
"This year: Those coming with me to Tenrou Island, our guild's sacred ground, will be: Levy McGarden." The hopeless Wonder Duo went bananas. Some more restrained individuals congratulated her as she blushed.
"Gray Fullbuster." To his credit, he didn't cheer, just grinned like a savage. Though Natsu seemed oddly subdued-
"Natsu Dragneel."
"OH YEAH!" A plume of fire rose and died just as quickly as he roared his triumph. "SUCK IT GRAY!" That got more than a few laughs, but the upcoming brawl never started when a flash of light glinting off of Erza's recently summoned sword fell across them with chilling precision. They very quickly snapped to cordially shaking each other's hands as if they were normal best friends instead of perfect frenemies.
"Elfman Strauss." This got a lot more cheers. Elfman had been trying to make S-class ever since Mira's magic was blocked but had never fulfilled the job requirements. He fist pumped.
"Like a man!"
"Freed Justine." I clapped with everyone else, letting my voice carry louder than normal.
He heard you. Morgana whispered. He misses you as his student.
"Juvia Lockser." Now that is impressive. Juvia must already have had an impressive history of completed jobs in order to qualify for the S-Class trials. Master must have been impressed with her conduct and attitude as well.
"Cana Alberona." Another homegrown favorite with a great deal of cheers. And though she was pleased at the enthusiastic support, she did seem more than a little nervous. Especially about Gildarts watching her.
"These seven wizards will be joining myself and the other S-class mages on Tenrou island for a series of grueling tests." Those hopefuls who had not been named were disappointed. Doranbolt actually seemed stunned and on the verge of exploding.
He did manipulate the spell so that he would also be selected to accompany the S-Class trials.
Which was never gonna happen to Gryder since he's too perfect of an undercover operative. I hope Master talks to him about that, otherwise Doranbolt might try again.
"We set sail for Tenrou in three weeks' time. In that time, I expect you to choose a partner who will support you and help you undergo this challenge. Make your preparations well, and I do not doubt that we will return with all 7 of you proud and able to claim the title of S-class!"
But mostly I saw Macao and Wakaba ribbing each other for not having made the qualifications. (Macao couldn't because of Romeo and his obligations to him. Wakaba never tried that hard because he did not want to get promoted without his friend.) Alzack was sunk into a deep depression, bemoaning his fate once again. Bisca was trying to comfort him. But not really succeeding given how she would no longer be able to be his partner formally if he were promoted without her.
"So this is a test."
"Correct." Simon said, coming up behind us, laying a hand on Kagura's shoulder in greeting. She gave him a pout that made her seem a lot younger than her 12 years of age.
"Why didn't you get picked, Si?"
Does Kagura have a brother complex? She always seems to lighten up around him and turn into a 7-year old cutsie girl.
Definition will require time and more analysis for a firm conclusion.
"He offered, but when I heard who all would be leaving, I volunteered to stay behind. A lot of our most powerful are going to be heading out and be gone for more than two weeks counting travel time. I didn't want to leave you for that long when we just found one another again." Kagura's demensor softened and she turned into her brother, hugging him tightly.
"Hey! Gramps! You didn't finish it!" Natsu roared from his seat as Lucy tried to make him sit down. "Tell 'em the rest!"
Makarov paused at the top of the stairs.
"Oh, right! Another announcement for you all to celebrate!" The chatter died down again as people all looked at him expectantly. "As has been pointed out to me. There is one among us who has gone above and beyond in their growth in the past year, achieving several milestones of great significance. And frankly, I've run out of excuses. When we come back to welcome our new S-class wizards, we will at the same time: Witness Fae take her guild mark!"
The cry of absolute joy tore out of my throat and I was on the bar top, jumping to hug Makarov before I could stop myself, wings blooming on my back in spite of the admonition I was always given to not fly inside the guild hall.
"ThankyouThankyouThankyou!"
This cheer put all the others to shame, I saw the rafters shaking even as Makarov laughed and tried not to get knocked over completely. From the looks on the others faces, no one had seen this coming-
Except for Natsu who had a broad, satisfied grin on his face.
He had something to do with this, didn't he?
Yes. He still has something else for you.
I broke away from Master after thoroughly smothering him in affection, and was just as quickly enveloped in hugs, some of them quite tight and bone breaking, (Gildarts and Erza). I clung to Jellal happily.
Makarov decided to allow you to join on account of you mastering your script to the point of creating your magic circle, becoming more proficient in spontaneous casting, surviving all challenges thrown at you completely unharmed, and due to your advanced knowledge and practice of ritual magic under Jellal's tutelage.
"Thank you..." I whispered to Jellal as he carried me down, casually stepping off the edge of the railing to land on the ground floor where we were quickly swamped by a throng of congratulatory, thrilled guild members. "He's letting me do this because of what you've helped me learn, thank you so much..." His arms tightened and he released me, letting me hover before him.
"You are a genuine pleasure to teach, Fae." He said, eyes smiling with the same warmth and kindness that had made Erza fall in love with this guy all those years ago. "I hope you won't mind still working together even after you're official."
"I'd love that!" I turned midair, trying to spot a figure through the crowd-
There you are.
I swooped overhead of everyone to impact Freed in the back in a tight hug.
"It's happening and you're walking away?" I yelled at him. "I got this far because of you too, you know?"
He is still guilty.
He let out a rough chuckle, turning towards me and accepting the hug.
Freed had not actually touched me until I had been attached to him as a student for almost a year. Successfully creating and demonstrating my alphabet had gotten him so excited he had hugged me spontaneously. He had tried to let go and retreat soon thereafter, but I had latched on and not let him go. And after that, I had usually been the one to initiate hugs.
"I'm so proud of you, Fae." he admitted, pulling me in closer with a care for where my wings were anchored on my back. He pulled back and let me see there were tears in his eyes. "You've worked hard, and have more than earned your mark." I floated up a little higher, brushing away the moisture in his eyes.
"Freed-sensei, no crying. If you're going S-Class then of course I gotta get a guild mark to be able to follow you around!" This had the opposite effect that I wanted and actually made him cry even more.
"You'd want to come work with us, kiddo?" Bickslow asked in evident surprise, Evergreen being drawn out of her musings to likewise stare at me.
"I wanna work with everyone!" I declared drifting back. "I refuse to be a one trick pony. I shall be a well rounded badass in all the forms of butt-kicking."
"Fae!" Natsu's bellow rose above the din and I saw him standing on a table, arms outspread, sharpened teeth bared in an exhultant smile.
"You'd better believe I'm gonna come work with you." I informed the Thunder Legion. "I thought I told you that ages ago."
"You did, but we all assumed you wouldn't be up to it given how you felt about the whole Battle of Fairy Tail debacle." Evergreen admitted. I smiled sweetly, letting my wings morph into bird wings and forming a little halo above my head.
"I'm still annoyed, yes. But revenge is a snowball to the back of the head: best served cold and to an unwary target." I saluted as I flew back over to where the three members of Team Natsu were waiting. Natsu didn't wait for me to land, he just jumped and snatched me out of the air.
"Guess what?" He told me as I altered my power output to hold us both aloft.
"What?"
"Who's gonna give you the stamp?"
"Well, Mystogan. He's my teacher." And by that I meant Jellal. The Fire Dragon Slayer laughed, bopping my nose with his finger.
"Guess again: and by the way: I got Gramps to agree to a little change in tradition." My eyes widened as I realized what-
Does he mean...?
Yes.
"You? You're gonna stamp me?" He grinned and nodded.
"If you agree, then yeah! I brought ya back here, I wanted to be the one to mark you. It feels right. What do you-"
"Yes!"
Mystogan would have been the one to do so were he still here. And while I had made up with Freed, our relationship was not as close as it had once been.
But Natsu had only ever been a comfort, support and strength to me. And he was spot on that it felt like the right thing to do. He had carried me into the guild, into my new life as a ward. And he would be the one to stamp me and start me into the newest portion.
"Master also said you can't take any solo jobs until you're at least 12, and no teaming up with boys until you're 25-"
"Ever." Gray corrected, grabbing Natsu's ankle and hauling us both back down to the ground. "You never get to team up with boys. Got it?" I laughed and released Natsu to let the Ice Make wizard hug me.
"Would you curse Fae to be an old maid for eternity?" Juvia gasped, horrified. "Love will always prevail!"
"She's a bit young for that kind of love, Juvia." Lucy said dryly. "But the other rule makes a lot of sense: No soloing dark guilds until 12."
"I'd take Wendy and Kagura with me. We're awesome together!"
"Yeah, we know." Gray said, brandishing a photo that I presumed Happy had swiped from my and Wendy's room at Fairy Hills. "But again, I point out: You had a boy with you."
"Rogue is harmless and he's my friend. And we're stopping this conversation right there because Lucy is right, I'm too young, and I want him to survive when he gets here later for story night." I dismissed my wings and let the rest of the guild wash over me in their congratulations for the candidates and their celebrations in finally getting the mark I had been wanting for years.
So in the midst of questions flying about what partners the boys would choose, and what color I would have my mark in, I just smiled as Kinana made her way through the various pairs of feet and looped around my shoulders.
:I am glad you are happy, my friend: She hissed in my ear. I hugged her back as the night wore on, unable to stop smiling even when people all stared at me while I unfolded the devious nature of Doctor Facilier and his greedy plots.
Three weeks till they leave. Five till they come back. I get my mark just after New Years.