9. Ice-Make: Decision
"The fate of the world and yourself lies in your hands and once you make that decision, there's no turning back."
"Thank you so much for coming." The mayor said, his hands clasped together on his desk. "The attacks have been getting worse lately and it's worrying the town."
"It's our pleasure to be of help to you, Mayor." Erza said, representing the rest of the team. "Now, can you tell us exactly what's been happening here?"
Gray stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall as the mayor began his recollection of the recent magic attacks plaguing the town. The whole train ride, he had been preoccupied with his troublesome thoughts and he was hoping this job would take his mind off of it for a while.
"Yes, of course." The mayor began. "It all started about two weeks ago when the local museum was broken into. The perpetrators killed the guards and then went on to trash the whole museum. They didn't even steal anything. They just damaged much of the museum's collection, including some priceless treasures. These break-ins happened quite a few times after that, and each time it was the same story."
"If they're not stealing anything then what are they after?" Lucy asked.
"That's what I'm wondering too." Erza said. "And also, what makes you suspect they're mages? Did you find any traces of magic?"
The mayor frowned. "When we found the dead guards after the first attack, we noticed they didn't have any physical injuries. Upon further examination by some doctors, they were said to have died of hypothermia."
"Well, that makes sense." Natsu said, gesturing towards the window. "I mean, just look outside!"
Gray rolled his eyes. "This was before that, Natsu. If they really froze to death as the mayor claims, it wouldn't be by any natural means."
Though as he glanced out the window, he realized the weather now wasn't so natural either.
"That's true." Erza agreed. "While it's possible that it was the work of a wizard, it isn't really the only option."
"Yes, but we have more evidence." The mayor interjected, capturing their attention. "When we went inside the museum after each attack, everything was always decked in ice and frozen solid."
So we're dealing with an ice mage. Gray thought as his gaze remained locked on the window, showcasing the snowstorm outside. Ice Magic seemed to be getting a lot of attention over the past few days, and it made Gray a bit suspicious. Ice mages weren't one of the most common types of mages in these parts, so for all these events to happen almost simultaneously was quite a rare occurrence. Well, so much for the mission taking his mind off things for a while.
"Well, sounds like magic to me." Natsu said, smiling. "Let's go find this dude and beat his brains out."
Happy shook his head. "I don't think we have enough information to do that yet, Natsu."
"Not so fast." Erza said, her commanding tone immediately causing Natsu to back down. "Based on what the mayor told us, we can probably assume an ice mage had something to do with it. However, we have no idea of how to find whoever's been doing this. So before we start a wild manhunt for some unknown mage, I think we should first check out the museum." She paused and then turned to the mayor. "Is that alright?"
The mayor smiled. "Yes, of course. The museum is just two streets down from here. It shouldn't be hard to miss with all the destruction."
"Perfect, thank you." Erza said and turned to the rest of the group. "Alright, let's go."
The mayor was right; it wasn't that hard to miss.
The stone steps leading up to the museum doors were heavily damaged with broken pieces of destroyed columns scattered around. The large, double doors leading inside had been blown apart with one still hanging onto the frame with all the strength it could muster, firm in the belief that it wouldn't end up like its partner which lay amongst the debris, tattered and in ruins beyond repair. The glass in the windows had been shattered and the roof looked as if it would collapse if even the smallest bird would land upon it.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Natsu asked, appearing unfazed by the sheer magnitude of the destruction. "Let's go inside and check it out!"
"Very well, then." Erza agreed. "Let's go."
"Is anyone going to comment on how disastrous this looks?" Lucy asked as Erza and Natsu began to stumble their way up the broken stairs and Happy easily avoided the obstacles by flying above them.
Gray smiled as he too began to follow their lead. "You seem to forget we're Fairy Tail wizards, Lucy. Destruction at this level is what we're famous for."
"More like infamous." Lucy mumbled as she followed him.
The first thing Gray noticed upon walking through the damaged doorway was the ice covering most of the interior. The floor was almost completely frozen and icicles hung from the half demolished ceiling. Blocks of ice lay scattered around and the whole building seemed to sparkle in the sunlight shining in through the broken windows and the gaps in the walls.
"This is definitely the work of an Ice Mage." Gray muttered as he ran his fingers across the ice encasing a half standing wall.
Judging by the texture, Gray could tell it was just regular ice made with magic, susceptible to the melting process just like any natural ice would be. The only reason most of it was still frozen though was due to the significant drop in temperature outside. The freezing air blowing in from the broken windows and openings in the walls was enough to preserve the icy interior, leaving enough evidence of the perpetrator's magic.
"Looks like someone really wanted to destroy this place." Erza said as she inspected a damaged display case, its former contents shattered and in pieces, surrounded by chunks of glistening ice. "I wonder why."
Gray walked over to where Erza was standing and picked up one of the pieces of ice. He was curious as to what kind of Ice Magic it was, as it certainly wasn't Maker Magic. He turned the ice over in his hand a few times, letting the frozen object chill his skin to the point where any average person would have already gone numb. It was cold, much colder than any normal ice.
"Is it safe to touch?" Erza asked, picking up another piece with her gloved hand.
Gray shook his head. "Keep your gloves on. These aren't just any old ice cubes."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asked as she overheard the conversation.
"Expose this to your skin and you'll get frostbite within seconds." He explained as he dropped the ice back into the broken case. "While your average ice cube stays fairly under the freezing point, this kind of ice is typically below negative sixty degrees where risk of frostbite is at its highest."
He wasn't that surprised though by how cold it was, as he knew there were types of Ice Magic which were more effective when using ice at such extreme temperatures. He tried to come up with some of the types that did that, but none he could recall fit their situation. It had to be magic with this kind of destructive power, but what?
"Hey, guys, come quick!" Gray, Erza, and Lucy looked up to see Happy flying towards them. "Natsu found something!"
"Oh, yeah." Lucy said as she realized Natsu wasn't with them. "Where'd he run off to?"
Erza crossed her arms and looked over at Happy. "Well then, lead the way."
The three mages followed Happy as he led them down some hallways, each one destroyed to some extent and completely decked in ice. Everything glimmered and Gray thought he could almost call it beautiful, if not for the fact someone had done it in order to destroy it.
Gray found his mind beginning to drift again as Erza and Lucy commented on their frozen surroundings. Any other day, Gray would have loved to take this job, being able to work with what he was used to. But with everything that had happened so far in connection to his magic, he really just wanted to deal with something different. All the ice kept reminding him of the problem they had temporarily put on hold and left for later even though Gray doubted the two being connected considering one began before the other and seemed liked a normal, ordinary occurrence that could have happened at any time during the year. It was probably just a coincidence they happened simultaneously, and a rather unfortunate coincidence in Gray's opinion.
"Guys, check this out!" Natsu shouted as they followed Happy into one of the museum's various showrooms.
It looked similar to the rest of the building with more than half of it in ruins and encased in ice. Shattered display cases dotted the frozen floor, the remnants of their now destroyed artifacts strewn about the mess. Natsu was standing before a similar case, causing the others to wonder what he could have possibly found.
"Check out what?" Erza asked the dragonslayer as they approached the broken case he was looking at.
Natsu bent down to pick something up and then turned to face the others, a large, fully intact red stone in his hands. "This."
Lucy stepped closer to peer at the stone. "I don't believe it. It doesn't have a single crack on it despite its case being completely destroyed."
"That's strange." Erza said as he surveyed the rest of the room. "It looks like whoever did this was targeting the museum's collection as it looks like they were hit the most, so why would they leave this intact?"
An idea suddenly came to Gray's mind as he remembered a certain type of Ice Magic that fit their situation almost perfectly.
"Hey, Natsu." Gray said and gestured towards the stone in his hands. "Can I have that for a minute."
"Sure, I guess." Natsu replied, handing over the stone.
Gray took it and began to examine it. From its weight and texture, it didn't seem like such a powerful stone that could withstand an attack like this. It felt like just any ordinary stone, subject to break upon the smallest impact. If that were the case, it wouldn't even survive a drop to the floor. Without much of a second thought, Gray threw back his arm and launched the stone across the room, hitting the far wall and landing onto the iced floor with a resounding thud with not even the slightest crack on its surface.
"Why'd you that?" Natsu asked as though feeling betrayed by the ice mage for throwing the stone.
"Yeah, I kind of agree with Natsu." Lucy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What did that accomplish?"
"I don't know why I didn't think of it before." Gray said as he went to retrieve the red stone. "Whoever did this used Ice Destruction Magic and for some reason, their magic was ineffective on this stone, almost like it's indestructible."
"That's because it is indestructible." They all turned towards where the unfamiliar voice was coming from as a young man slowly entered the room. "Your friend is right, I did use Ice Destruction Magic and while I managed to completely demolish most of the artifacts here, I couldn't even put a dent in that stupid stone."
"Who are you?" Erza demanded as they all got into a fighting stance.
"Who am I?" The man repeated as he stuck out his hand towards the stone laying on the floor. A blast of ice shot forth, tearing up the frozen floor underneath it and catapulting the stone in his direction, effortlessly grabbing it as it flew towards him. "I'm Alvaro of the Konungaris Legion and I believe this stone belongs to me."
"What do you mean you didn't take him like I told you to?! You couldn't at least find out where he was going?!"
Lena trembled as tears flooded her blue eyes, ready to spill out at any moment. She tried to ignore the yelling directed at her, but found it too difficult to stay silent and accept his insults.
"I gave you one job today, you incompetent girl! You couldn't accomplish one little capture and you call yourself a wizard!"
"Stop it!" She screamed, her ice tubes instantly wrapping around the black cloaked man in front of her. "I've had enough of this! I don't want to be a part of this anymore! It's wrong. Altering the weather so you can trick people into doing your dirty work just to then destroy their hope is wrong and cruel. I helped you do it once, and that was a mistake. I admit that was wrong and I'm not going to help you do it again, Pelphides!"
"How dare you try and disobey my orders, Lena." Pelphides said as the ice bonding him broke and fell to the ground. "I'm the one in charge here and when this spell is finally finished and my Dark Ice-Make restored, I will be in charge of the whole world!"
"I won't let that happen!" Lena shouted. She tried to run, but Pelphides immediately froze her arms and legs in place, preventing her from making an escape.
He laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
The cloaked man then left the room, leaving Lena alone and unable to move.
Please Gray, she thought pleadingly. don't go back on your words. The fate of the world and yourself lies in your hands and once you make that decision, there's no turning back.
And the plot thickens...
Thanks to everyone still reading this and a big thank you to those of you who left a review last time. I apologize for not getting back to you as this week has been a bit busy, but just know that I really appreciate your kind words!
I don't really have much to say this chapter, so I think I'll just leave it at that. Thanks again for reading, hope you enjoyed, and if you're feeling adventurous then go ahead and leave a review.
Remember to stop by next week for Chapter 10!
-britishsconesahoy