I AM ALIVE!
Really though Chapter 50 we did it again everyone talk about a wild ride! Honestly it occurred to me when I first started writing this chapter that if we are only hitting the Thriller Bark Arc NOW and its chapter 50 this is gonna be longer than Volume II by a landslide!
Thanks everyone for putting up with my as of late absolutely trash upload schedule however given that I feel I'd like to say a few things.
First off thanks for sticking with the story for so long guys I truly do appreciate it! Due to the whole COVID 19/Coronavirus thing and my job being an essential service I've been getting smashed every day (worse than usual I should say) so some days it is hard for me to write since I'm so tired.
Despite that though this story is a passion of mine that doesn't die and even when I'm working I think of things for the story like future battles or key moments in the story that I want to reach and it keeps me going and the great reviews from all of you also help greatly since I can feel the excitement or the desire to know more from them!
Rest assured the story isn't going to die I refuse to let that happen after all the work that has gone into it! Sure my upload schedule is going to be dodgy now since my full time work has now evolved into the equivalent of basically existing there but we will persevere!
I could write forever on how grateful I am to have you guys here with me when I assumed my story wouldn't ever take off all day but I'll cut it here for now (until we hit the 400k milestone anyway haha) and let you all enjoy the chapter!
One last thing before we get into it though I want to ask you all something regarding some other work I've created for this story. So I have quite a few stories similar to The Witcher spin off I wrote that are each semi complete and I wanted to ask do you guys want me to release them?
I have two that are mostly complete the first being a Frozen one set several centuries after the events of Frozen 2 where Elsa lives alone in her Ice Palace, all those who she has ever known have withered away and died whilst she lives on Immortal not knowing that she is in fact the Devil for her world and a Yu Gi Oh one which in all honesty I started writing more as a joke where Natsu shows up at the Duel Academy in GX and ends up playing the role of those one off characters Jaden duels. (And yes I actually had Natsu duel him I said I wrote it as a meme!)
I also have a Gintama one but that one I'm on the fence with because after seeing Utsuro I'm actually considering making that a full on Volume in of itself so let me know what you guys think!
Anyway onto the reviews!
DarcFireCat – As amusing as that would actually be to implement unfortunately that would be considered him killing someone with violence so no. However there are more creative ways to do it such as in VR for example like the first arc did with BLANK so we'll see what I come up with!
Susano'o Chaos – Thanks for that feedback on the way I have dialogue written I know there are spelling errors littered throughout that would break the immersion but eventually I will find time to go back and fix as many of those as I can.
As for how I would work a mute character it would be through emphasising facial expressions, gestures and doing my best to describe their body language. Honestly it would be a challenge for me at first I believe however I read a HP Fanfic where Harry was a mute and it was actually extremely well done so I would 100% take pointers from it when writing one of my own.
So if Life gives the God's Aura and Death the Devil's Aura with both mixing to create the Hybrid Aura or Balance let's say then think about what the Titans represent? The Titan species represent the building blocks with nothing having come before them. Therefore if Life is represented by God and Death represented by Devil then Titan will represent Foundation, the Genesis of which all current aspects in existence find their foundation.
As I have said so far the Gods and Devils usurped the Titans positions as the rulers of the Mortal Realms and that before them there was nothing therefore they are the seedbed that not only created the concept of God and Devil but the foundation for all mortals.
Now that we've said that think about this. If God and Devil are derived from the Titans and the Titans are the Genesis for all that has succeeded them then what does that make a Hybrid ...
Also #Timrevivalprojectwhen!
Hope that answered some of your questions a lot of it is future plot stuff that will be explored eventually so I can't say a lot sadly but I'll try to do my best!
Dragonborn2704 – I'm unsure as to what would constitute physical violence in that world because Escanor is crazy strong and if he lets say broke the persons arm when doing that would that constitute breaking the world law of no violence?
Hard to say really so I'm avoiding it because I'm not 100% on it but that being said it lets me explore how he would go without access to any of that and I really find the idea interesting.
Erasenpai – Robin still has to complete it, when that is we'll find out in the future ...
Shadow465 – I'm making these under the Tales From The Tale Verse Banner because they aren't really long enough to constitute a full story however I'm not opposed to the idea of grabbing the old ones and making them into their own singular story and posting them up on my profile. It would beef it up to high hell but I also feel like it might not be received as well so I'd have to get a consensus from everyone on it because if it does work then I'll just post them like that in the future.
The length however won't change because they are essentially like how Oda does the One Piece Cover Page Stories, little snippets into stuff not directly focused on Natsu himself.
Anyway with that massive wall out of the way on with the story!
I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece or the Nasuverse.
Welcome To Thriller Bark
/Luffy's POV/
"Man this place sure is dark isn't it," Luffy said much to the rest of the groups chagrin as they walked down the long winding road that they hoped would lead to the massive castle in the distance.
"You've said that like eight times now Luffy, shut up if you don't have anything different to say," Zoro snapped prompting Sanji to sigh as he lit another cigarette.
"Why the hell didn't we just talk Natsu out of taking this Moria guy out?"
"Because the guy is a SUPER real bastard, that's why," Franky replied as he clenched his fists. "You saw what that guy did to Ardorton and this place seems even creepier than that one!"
"Well to be fair we haven't actually run into any undead yet," Zoro pointed out. "Just lots of bats and stuff that make the place feel like an island graveyard."
"Because a graveyard isn't suspicious by itself," Sanji scoffed as the chef and swordsman began bickering back and forth leaving Franky and Luffy to continue to watch their surroundings alone.
"I feel like we should probably look for that skeleton guy since he knows a fair bit about this place, maybe he knows where this Moria guy is?"
"Even if he does Franky you saw him run off across the water so who knows how far he's gone by now," Luffy replied as the group reached a small broken gate that had the words THRILLER BARK woven into their rusted, metallic centre.
"Well at least now we know it's a hundred percent the right place eh?"
"Is anyone else wondering how this guy just stuck a massive mast on an island and made it into a ship, because I'm definitely wondering how that works," Sanji said as he went to open the gate only for the half he touched to come clean off of its hinges and hit the ground with an audible clang.
"Good job idiot ..."
"Shut up you stupid moss it would've happened no matter who touched the damn gate!"
"Yeah well it was you so naturally it's gonna be a bad thing."
"Why you-!"
"Hold on a second," Luffy said suddenly as his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you guys all hear that?"
"Hear what," Franky asked as he focused his hearing before also narrowing his eyes. "What is that?"
"Sounds like ... digging," Sanji said as the group looked at the small space in-between them only to find a head poking out of the ground, rotting eyes looking right at them.
...
Without a word Luffy placed both hands back onto the head and pushed it back into the ground and covered the hole with dirt before turning around and walking away, the others simply looking at him stunned.
"What the hell was that!"
"You can't just do that!"
"The hell Luffy!"
The head burst through the ground once more now with the rest of its body as several other audible sounds went off around the group.
"Great ..."
"The perv cook just had to go and drop the gate-."
"SHUT UP YOU DAMN MOSS HEAD IT WASN'T ME WHO DID THIS!"
"Kill the Straw Hats," one of the undead cried shocking the rest of the group as the undead began to charge toward them forcing the group to enter defensive stances.
"These ones can talk!"
"Let's discuss that later," Zoro growled as he drew both his swords.
"How many of these things are there!?"
"Who cares let's take em all out," Luffy cried as he unleashed his Gatling attack onto the nearest group of undead, tearing them apart as the rest of the group spurred into action.
"Honestly I leave for but a few minutes and you all manage to alert the undead to our presence, how disappointing."
Just as the group cut down another wave of undead the shadows formed a large tidal wave that crashed over the remaining forces, crushing them underneath an unknown force with only Seilah emerging from the aftermath. The same shadows used in the tidal wave were hanging off of her arms before, slowly dripping down onto the ground as they began returning to their original places.
"Well maybe don't leave us then if you think we aren't capable," Zoro scoffed prompting Seilah to direct a glare in his direction.
"It isn't that I believe you all incapable rather it is simply a matter that this Warlord possesses abilities and forces we've yet to discern in addition to the home field advantage. Alerting him to our presence is the last thing we ought to be doing!"
"Of course Miss Seilah, as usual your beauty shines through the simple mindedness of these pathetic idiots-!"
"Says the guy who dropped the gate that started the whole thing ..."
"DO YOU WANNA DIE MOSS HEAD-!"
"ENOUGH! Both of you shut up before you draw another wave of these things here; we need to learn more about what we are dealing with here before we go any further!"
"Uh guys I think it's a bit too late to try the stealth approach," Franky said slowly as he pointed toward the path past the gate which was now covered in undead that were now shambling toward their position.
"Honestly you humans," Seilah sighed as she summoned a sphere of darkness into her right palm. "I suppose we'll eliminate these ones and then TRY to get back on course! It's all we can do at this point ..."
"Now you're speaking my language Seilah," Zoro grinned as he entered a ready stance as the group charged toward the next group of undead.
/Mordred's POV/
"Where the hell are we?"
"I don't know why you think asking me will help Mordred," Nami replied prompting the knight to snort in amusement.
"Well its obviously because you're the Navigator so naturally you should know the right way, right?"
"That's ... who even told you that's how a Navigator worked!?"
"That's how they worked in my time," Mordred shrugged as the group wandered toward the castle.
"Do any of you guys think it's strange we haven't run into any of those undead yet," Chopper asked from his spot on Mordred's shoulder prompting Usopp to make overly dramatic shushing sounds in response.
"Don't say that out loud Chopper otherwise you'll jinx us!"
"Jinx? HA! That crap isn't real you know, if you're destined to get ambushed then that's it! There isn't any way to avoid whatever Fate has in store for you," Mordred scoffed prompting Usopp to shake his head in response.
"That kind of talk is exactly what someone who got shafted because someone jinxed up a mission would say, guarantee you!"
"Stop being dumb Usopp there's no way you're avoiding your Fate by simply ignoring the obvious! I guarantee you that these undead are just waiting to ambush us at any moment-!"
Just as Mordred finished speaking, to the shock of the entire group she was suddenly face down in the dirt with Chopper landing on the ground next to her in shock.
"Wh-what the hell!"
"Guys someone just hit Mordred," Chopper said as said knight jumped to her feet, summoning Clarent as she did so. "I felt the force behind that hit!"
"Y-you mean that she got hit by someone we can't see," Usopp asked shakily. "You mean like a ... ghost!?"
"Ghost or not I'm pissed off," Mordred growled as she blindly fired off an aerial slash attack that tore up part of the wood they were in. "YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COME OUT OR I START SPAMMING THESE YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
"Mordred just calm down a minute," Nami cried out as she fired off two more consecutive attacks. "Getting mad won't help us find whatever hit you-!"
Just as Nami was about to finish her statement she felt a hand slide down the front of her shirt and grope her right breast eliciting a startled shriek followed by an immediate elbow behind her that seemed to hit its target.
"Oi Nami what is it," Usopp asked concerned as Nami dropped to the ground clearly furious.
"MORDRED START FIRING THOSE BEHIND ME, DO IT RIGHT NOW! AS MANY AS YOU CAN THAT PIECE OF SHIT NEEDS TO DIE RIGHT NOW!"
"With pleasure," Mordred grinned as she did as instructed, her first attack hitting home as it seemed to slash something across the chest eliciting a loud growling sound. "Got him!"
"Y-you bastard," a voice growled as the group watched a strange animal humanoid appear before them, a massive gash in its chest which seemed to be bleeding profusely.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT," Usopp screeched as he held a cross out in front of him. "AN EVIL SPIRIT, I'LL BANISH YOU DAMN IT DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"
"It isn't an evil spirit Usopp it's an undead," Mordred growled only for said undead to retort in anger.
"I'm not an undead you moron!"
"Could've fooled me," Mordred replied disinterestedly only for Nami to continue her rant.
"Mordred stop acting so passive aggressive toward this guy and cut him down!"
"Oh no you don't," the strange 'definitely not an undead' man cried before vanishing on the spot. "You bastards won't catch me!"
"He can make himself invisible!"
"Must be a Devil Fruit," Mordred sighed shaking her head. "Ah well he didn't really do all that much so we might as well leave him for now-."
"HELL NO WE'RE HUNTING THAT BASTARD DOWN RIGHT NOW," Nami screeched as Mordred covered her ears, wincing at the pitch being slammed into her eardrums.
"Jeez, fine we'll kill the dumb weird guy ..."
"Hey I wouldn't take that guy lightly you kno-WHOA HEY THERE NO NEED TO GET ALL STAB HAPPY!"
Mordred spun around and had the tip of Clarent's blade at the neck of a strange hooded figure who held his hands up in a surrendering manner. Taking a step backward the figure removed his hood revealing that he indeed wasn't human ... or any species any of the group recognized for that matter.
"Wow you really are out for blood aren't you, can't go warning anybody round here anymore about nothing! Course that does make sense since we'll all, y'know DIE if we get caught by Moria's crew so ..."
"Who the hell are you," Mordred growled in response prompting the figure to narrow his one visible eye dangerously in response. "And why do you look kind of familiar yet also so weird I can't even begin to describe what you are!?"
"You need to get your priorities straight lady, I'm not an enemy if that's what you're wondering though if you wanna make me one then by all means keep pointing that Divine Blade at my neck!"
Reluctantly Mordred lowered her blade prompting the strange creature to sigh in what appeared to be relief. Shaking his head the strange attachment on its head began to glow as it slowly levitated off of the ground.
"To answer your questions I can tell you that I'm a Servant, Class Caster to be more specific, and my name is Kupo!"
"Well it's nice to meet you Kupo but if you don't mind me asking are you ... one of them?"
"A zombie? Nah I'm not one of them nor am I one of that quack Doctor's wacky experiments either! Ya see I'm not surprised you guys haven't heard of me since my kind don't exist in this world instead I come from anoth-well a really faraway place!"
"You mean another reality," Chopper asked prompting Kupo to fall flat on his face in shock before quickly regaining his composure as he again began floating in the air before the group.
"How the hell do you know about that!?"
"Our friend Natsu told us," Nami replied as the single visible eye of Kupo widened to an almost comical degree.
"Natsu, you mean Natsu Dragneel!? THE NATSU!?"
"Well at least now we know he's definitely a Servant," Usopp sighed as Kupo began bouncing up and down whilst still airborne.
"This is great with his help I'll definitely be able to find him now and then we can get back onto our proper mission!"
"Find who?"
"Oh, you guys wouldn't know who I'm talking about," Kupo replied dismissively as he began to float back and forth. "See I'm actually supposed to be summoned in with my good buddy but no matter how hard we try Fate always seems to split us up! Damn Fate, how am I supposed to keep that Magun working if he always goes off by himself with it!?"
"Magun," Mordred said sharply prompting Kupo to look at her in surprise. "That weird golden tri barrelled gun that Avenger has?"
"WHAAAAAAAAT," Kupo roared as he flew back into a tree, sliding down to the bottom before dashing right into Mordred's face. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE ANYWAY AND HOW DO YOU KNOW K-AVENGER!?"
"I'm Natsu's summoned Servant for the Realis Holy Grail War and we've been running into that guy all over the place, first place actually was in another reality altogether," Mordred replied. "So you know that guy?"
"Know him? Me and Avenger go WAAY back, I'm talking saving an entire reality kind of way back too! Why me and Avenger stopped Chaos itself I'll have you know, TWICE!"
"Uh guys ..."
"Let me tell you that fight was the toughest of our lives but me and Avenger, why there couldn't have been a better team to face down that rotten little brat-!"
"Can you two shut up for a minute," Nami snapped prompting the pair to look at her before following her outstretched hand. "LOOK!"
"More undead," Mordred scoffed as the shambling soldiers slowly closed in toward the group. "Big deal."
"Absalom probably got Hogback to send them after us for what you did to him," Kupo added as Chopper's head snapped toward the floating, still to be identified, being.
"Excuse me did you just say Hogback, as in Doctor Hogback!?"
"Yeah the quack Doctor who experimented on all these zombies, why," Kupo asked as Chopper seemed to shut down on the spot with a devastated look crossing his usually cheerful face.
"Oi Chopper what's wrong," Mordred asked now completely serious at the shift in the little reindeer's emotions. "Who is this Hogback guy!?"
"Doctor Hogback," Chopper said as Mordred picked him up and placed him on her shoulder whilst entering a defensive stance alongside the others. "Doctor Hogback is one of the greatest Doctor's to ever live and if I'm honest he's one of the people who inspired me to become a Doctor ..."
Mordred could only frown knowing how the entire picture looked for the young reindeer seeing one of his inspirations willingly working alongside Moria, violating the corpses of countless beings in the process.
"He disappeared a while back though no one knows why; vanishing in the night and leaving only a note that he wouldn't ever be a Doctor again. Some people think he lost a patient and finally snapped but there always was one other theory ..."
"Come on guys we need to get moving before that bastard Absalom tells Moria about us," Kupo shouted, cutting off Chopper and spurring the group into action. "If any of you have any salt it works great on these things!"
"Salt?"
"Yeah, get some salt into their mouths and it seems to take em out real easy!"
"Who the hell just carries salt around with them anyway," Nami cried only for Usopp to begin pulling out bags upon bags of salt, loading them into his slingshot as the entire group shook their heads. "Of course ..."
"Come on you guys I'll lead us to a safe place, just follow me," Kupo cried as he flew above the group with the appendage on his head glowing bright enough to see even through the thick fog that blanketed Thriller Bark.
"Come on guys, we cut through," Mordred said as she sliced apart a group of undead as the group ran after Kupo, questions about what they had just walked into and the strange being Kupo running through their minds.
/Natsu's POV/
"Isn't this nice Robin," Natsu sighed as Robin snuggled closer into his side, the pair sitting comfortably as the undead cleared a path for them through the densely packed and dimly lit catacombs.
"As usual you never disappoint Natsu."
The pair were currently seated atop the Cerberus who now sported massive welts atop each of its three heads, the beast clearly fearful of the two sitting atop its back as it padded its way down the dark corridor which only remained visible thanks to Natsu's flames.
"Where do you supposed the Cerberus is taking us?"
"Who knows, hopefully straight to Moria so I can rip out his spine and make him play jump rope with it," Natsu replied eliciting an amused giggle from his companion.
"You say such imaginative things Natsu but how would he be able to use his spine as a jump rope without it being within him?"
"Isn't the answer simple Robin? Magic!"
"Speaking of Moria though do you have a plan on how to deal with him? You were right to leave Abigail on the ship however Elizabeth ..."
"You don't fully trust her?"
"Would you?"
"Of course not," Natsu replied as the pair watched a strange six armed creature fly past seemingly not noticing their presence or ignoring it outright. "The moment she said she was here willingly I didn't trust her, even if my future self does."
"You don't trust your own judgement?"
"Different timelines present infinite possibilities Robin, who is to say that my supposed 'future self' is a decent being at heart? Sure he might be called my future self but he is the future self from any number of possibilities."
"Paranoid much?"
"I know darker versions of me exist, darker ones of you exist too you know, however it is our choices in the present that will prevent us from walking the same roads they did. Perhaps one day when I regain my Clairvoyance ability I'll peek at your futures Robin?"
"I would rather not know, to do so after all I have endured would be a slap in the face not only to those who helped me this far but it would undermine all that I had endured and suffered to reach the happiness I have now with you and the others. I suppose that sounds kind of silly doesn't it?"
"I don't think so," Natsu replied as he wrapped an arm around Robin, covering her with his coat as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Many beings far larger than you wouldn't even come to such a conclusion instead choosing to gaze forward out of fear, your courage to live in the here and now is most commendable."
"Did you ever do it, back when you had the ability?"
"Did I gaze into my own future possibilities," Natsu asked as he looked out into the pitch black void before them. "Unintentionally when I first ascended during the war against Alvarez I was bombarded with countless possibilities."
"And what of this one?"
"This timeline?"
"Yes."
"Fortunately not though in my case I see that experience in a different light than what you do, it allowed me to teach the lesson of focusing on improving oneself in the present to many people. I even showed this one kid from the last world I was in what it would be like if he went down the path of the Avenger, fully embracing hatred and falling to what the mortals would call 'Darkness.' He learnt his lesson well."
The pair felt the movement of the Cerberus halt, snapping them out of the focused conversation as they found themselves met with a single set of ordinary looking wooden doors attached to what looked like the entrance to a massive tomb.
"We can discuss this another time Robin," Natsu sighed as the pair jumped off of the Cerberus and landed before the door gracefully before turning back to face the fearful beast. "And as for you I'll keep my promise alright, go free but DON'T go attacking my friends! I find out you've done anything to them regardless of if it was on Moria's orders or not and it'll be more than what you got last time, alright?"
The Cerberus nodded quickly with all its heads before it took off back into the darkness heading back toward the surface. Sighing and shaking his head Natsu turned back to face the doors and without a moment's hesitation he pushed them open to reveal ...
"Is this for real?"
"Who would design something like this?"
After opening the doors the pair were met with the same pitch black they had just been through which meant clearly whoever designed this route was a sick individual indeed.
"Should we move forward Natsu?"
"I suppose we should since we came this far," Natsu sighed as the pair walked through. "I swear if we end up hitting another set of doors like this though I'll be devising an extra special torture technique for Moria!"
"Agreed," Robin hummed in approval. "I can already think of several methods in which to gut him without actually killing him ..."
"Oh, do tell," Natsu chuckled darkly as the pair vanished further into the darkness.
/Seilah's POV/
"I'm bored," Luffy groaned as the rest of the group collectively sighed. "When are we gonna fight more zombies!?"
"Damn it Luffy we just cut through over a hundred of those things and you're the only one who wants to keep fighting them," Franky snapped. "I mean even Seilah doesn't wanna deal with em so just settle down and wait!"
"But we've just been walking for ages now I'm already sick of waiting!"
"Luffy it's been five minutes ..."
"No way Sanji it's been way longer than that!"
"Will both of you be silent," Seilah sighed shaking her head as the group began bickering between one another. "If they didn't know we were coming before I guarantee you that they do now ..."
"Well look at it this way Seilah he could be charging on ahead without us and getting himself in trouble, alerting all of Moria's henchmen to our approach, ruining any chance we'd have of pulling this off without a hitch so I'm content with just letting him do his thing here for now."
"I suppose that is a fair point Franky however do not forget that we are almost at the main castle now and if these loud arguments continue any chance of surprise we might have will be all but ruined."
"Well you have that ability to sense things that are coming up like Natsu though don't you so we should be fine so long as you can warn us right?"
"Remember Franky she already explained why that isn't gonna work on the ship," Zoro cut in as the group walked over a small hill.
"Yes, though I can indeed see ahead I am unable to do so without my full focus and even then compared to Natsu's version of it mine is borderline useless."
"Why do you say that I mean sure he's some SUPER powerful guy but you're just as capable in your own right?"
"Natsu has trained his ability for decades whilst I have only recently begun training under him to emulate it so to compare the two would be to compare a novice to a professional of the art."
"In other words you aren't that good at it yet," Zoro said with a shrug. "Big deal, just use this as an opportunity to train even harder."
"Sounds like someone wants Natsu to beat them with a stick a little harder later during training," Seilah replied dryly prompting Zoro to unconsciously shiver in response.
"Hey guys is it just me or has it gotten SUPER quiet," Franky asked prompting the other two to look at each other and nod in agreement.
"Hang on a sec, where the hell is Luffy!?"
"He ran on ahead because he got bored," Sanji replied casually only to receive a heeled boot to the face courtesy of Seilah.
"Why in the world would you let him run off by himself you idiot! You guys will need to go on ahead to the castle without me; I must ensure Luffy doesn't get himself into trouble he cannot handle."
"That's fine, go clean up the shitty cooks mess," Zoro replied with a wave of his hand. "As per usual he's just showing his lack of intelligence-."
"THAT'S IT I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"
"BRING IT ON YOU SWIRLY EYEBROWED PERV!"
"DISGUSTING GARBAGE DUMP MOSS GROWTH-!"
"Just go on ahead Seilah and I'll try and sort these guys out," Franky sighed prompting Seilah to offer him a small smile in thanks.
"I shall try to be quick Franky so good luck."
Sinking into the ground Seilah quickly shot off toward the castle as Franky turned around and cracked his knuckles whilst slowly approaching the two unaware Straw Hats.
/Elsewhere/
"Look at them, they've gone and split up! Kishishishi! It's like they want me to win!"
"Curb your thoughts of victory Moria, though they have indeed split up they could still easily win things as they are now."
"But I've got the other Mysterious Four in place and Assassin is helping Hogback with the final infusion of blood on my ultimate zombie soldier-!"
"Even with all that in place victory still isn't guaranteed, Archer speaks true as per usual. "Yohohoho!"
"Oh, you're still here? Why haven't you returned to your post yet now that the meeting is over," Moria asked as a withered undead stepped into the light with his sandals making a loud clapping sound each step he took.
"The skeleton is back Master Moria," the withered undead said bluntly prompting Moria to narrow his eyes and look out the window. "He's come for his shadow once more it seems and with him he has brought powerful allies."
"You see Master, add that troublesome skeleton into the mix and we've got even more shaky variables where we can ill afford them. Natsu was already a massive one as it was, Seilah slightly less so though I am confident my Niece Assassin can at the very least draw her to a standstill."
"You have a lot of faith in Assassin don't you Archer," the undead said as he moved toward the duo. "Yet you were so quick to banish the other one, why is that?"
"She refused to form a contract with the girl like Saber and Caster did, Niece or no she was a liability to the plan."
"And yet she has all but returned, leading the Straw Hats and Dragneel right to our door all because you refused to simply destroy her-!"
An overwhelming chill struck the room as Archer's eyes began to glow, a Blood Red Aura exploding around his form as his eyes met the unflinching ones of the undead.
"I might be a despicable monster however she is blood and no matter how far one falls to darkness they shall never taint their own line. I might not be willing to destroy her however if you are suggesting that I am incapable then I shall show you the power that struck fear into my world for centuries!"
"Archer calm down," Moria snapped as his eyes darted to the undead. "And don't you go making such stupid assumptions! We needed Lancer alive to maintain the other two so there was a perfectly valid reason for locking her away on Ardorton!"
"If I might interrupt this wonderful conversation for a moment?"
"Ah, Assassin! How goes the project!?"
"Thanks to Hogback's skill with undead surgery we are on schedule to complete it within the next three hours," Assassin said before her eyes began to glow Blood Red beneath her mask. "However I must request better blood than what you have been giving me Master Moria lest the resulting creation find itself lacking in the brains department."
"Come now, surely you could spare some of your own stash if you are that desperate my darling little Niece?"
"Be silent Uncle," Assassin snapped as she took several steps toward the relaxed Servant. "If it weren't for you this would've been completed weeks ago!"
"Hehehe ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Archer's cold, almost deathly laugh echoed across the room as both Servants' Auras crashed into one another setting off blackish red sparks that shattered the windows in the room. The pair stared at one another, neither one blinking as Archer's maniacal grin widened ever so slightly.
"Do not try and match me, they might call you the Countess but I was the TRUE KING!"
The two Auras folded in on each other and sent out a horizontal blast that cracked the walls of the room leaving it in a dishevelled form of its original self. Assassin merely sniffed in response to Archer's words as she spun on her heel and walked toward the door.
"All I require is better blood for the project Master Moria otherwise the results will not be up to the standards you desire. The current subpar blood isn't even useful for my bath let alone for powering a beast of this magnitude."
"I understand," Moria sighed shaking his head at the destruction around him though he still held a grin despite it. "Speak to Absalom once Hogback is finished stitching him up and tell him to assemble the Zombie Generals to hunt down the fresh blood that just arrived!"
"What about that one corpse Master Moria," the undead asked prompting the Warlord to frown. "Will you not finally assign a shadow to him as well?"
"That one is a relic from a time before Roger, from a crew that once almost brought this world to its knees. There is only one shadow suitable for him and it is up to Archer to buy me time to snatch it."
"And like I said you will get your chance," Archer replied as he returned to his original position as if the last several minutes hadn't occurred. "Also Assassin before you go ..."
"What?"
"I trust you have prepared yourself for your assigned task?"
"Of course I have Uncle, do you dare doubt my power!?"
"Heh ..."
"Oh shut up," Assassin snapped before storming out of the room leaving Archer to chuckle softly to himself.
"Even now she still acts like such a brat, you can scarcely tell the difference between her and her fourteen year old selves."
"Aside from the astronomical difference in power," the undead pointed out prompting Archer to laugh once again.
"So a brat who can back up her childish ravings then, such a minute detail at best!"
"In any case I shall move to intercept the skeleton just as I did last time," the undead said, shifting the topic. "Master Moria I will not fail this task!"
"Of course you won't, no one is going to beat the legendary Sword God in a fight," Moria scoffed. "Go do what you need to do."
"Of course," the undead replied before exiting the room leaving Moria and Archer alone.
"Dragneel and that girl are almost within the trap Moria which means you need to prepare for things to kick off."
"I know," Moria replied dismissively as the shadow on the wall behind him began to warp and distort before a second Moria stepped out of it. "This one will go with you, I'll go and deal with the little pest who is about to reach the castle myself."
"Very well then," Archer replied as both he and the second Moria each began to dissolve into a pool of shadow on the floor and slipped out of the window leaving the original Moria alone.
"Soon I shall possess shadows without peer and with them I'll return to the New World and get my final revenge," Moria snarled as he clenched his fist over the small piece of visible sky. "Emperor or no ... with the power of Dragneel and his allies' shadows I'll make sure not even the sky will save you!"
Tales From The Tale Verse
Pride Seeks The Ultimate Challenge VII
The Human City
After my embarrassing defeat I pondered my worth as the Sin Of Pride. Was I truly suitable for the role when such a simple trick could so easily pass beyond my comprehension?
Feitan has been a good companion to have in this world, truly. Without his blunt words I would have likely fallen into a depression, no I would have already lost everything to those bandits from the other day. Either way his companionship on this journey has begun to teach me something about myself ...
And so I have begun to try and improve myself so that I shall not fall for such trickery again and although he appears indifferent it seems Feitan does indeed hold some desire to see me improve, if only to ensure our mission here is completed successfully.
I do wonder though what the others would have thought about my embarrassing defeat the other day? What of her ...?
"So this is the city where the humans live," Feitan said in a bored tone as he looked around the place. "Doesn't look like the place has a dime to rub between them. Honestly that's so pathetic."
"It doesn't look like much down here however it appears the city is in some sort of district setting," Escanor pointed out as he pointed to several large buildings off in the distance. "Plus do you feel this strange energy, faint as it is?"
"The Aura of a Hybrid," Feitan said softly as his eyes glowed momentarily. "We're close."
"I wonder how we will manage to attain the fragment from these humans?"
"I feel like we won't be able to just swipe it out from under their noses so we'll have to play the people for it most likely," Feitan sighed before he began moving toward the upper districts. "Come on and don't go trying anything with anyone!"
Escanor simply nodded as the pair walked through the lower district, attracting attention all the while due to both their attire and their looks and just how out of place they truly were. It took them only several minutes to reach an area that didn't look like a slum however it was there that both felt the presence of something powerful.
"That isn't the fragment," Feitan muttered. "The kid maybe?"
"His presence felt different, no this is something else entirely," Escanor replied with a frown. "But why, or how, could something with such power exist in this world? Surely it wouldn't rely on games like these people do?"
The pair froze as the power seemed to dart right toward them leaving neither the time to do anything more than enter defensive stances on instinct.
"Oh my ... when I felt such power I had assumed some of my own race had come to try more of their pathetic attempts at bringing me back and yet here you are, two members of Imanity."
"Imanity," Feitan asked confused with neither he nor Escanor overly surprised by the angelic appearance of the woman before them.
"As I suspected," the woman smirked as she skipped toward the pair. "Both of you are not what you seem, a puzzle that needs to be solved! Imanity that are also not-!"
"Is she drooling," Escanor said more to himself than Feitan though the latter could only look at the being before him in complete confusion.
"Can you answer some questions for us," Feitan asked only to cut the woman off before she could speak. "Ones that don't require us to play some stupid game to receive them?"
"Interesting," the woman said as she wiped the drool from her mouth as if it were perfectly normal. "You hate playing games yet this entire world must conform to that ultimate law?"
"How about a trade," Escanor said prompting Feitan to snap his neck toward the larger man in alarm. "We will answer your questions if you answer ours? I believe that our answers will be more than enough to suffice such answers regarding this w-place?"
"How interesting," the woman mused before smiling at the pair. "A trade of knowledge given freely, how novel! I suppose I can agree to such a discussion however I believe we can find a greater setting than out in the open where the other rabble can overhear us, no?"
"Very well we shall follow you," Feitan said with a sigh of relief.
"Great! Just follow me you two I know the perfect place," the woman replied cheerfully as she moved to take off down the street before spinning on her heel once more and hopping into the air and floating. "Oh and I'll give you this one for free, my name is Jibril!"
To the woman's excitement both Escanor and Feitan also began to float, an action that seemed to get the woman to begin drooling again as her pupils gained small love hearts within their purple depths.
"Nice job Escanor," Feitan said dryly. "At first I thought you actually did something right but I feel like we're about to be violated ..."
"Come now Feitan I know this woman appears a little ... odd, however we stand to gain information this way!"
"I suppose that is a fair point," Feitan conceded with a sigh. "Nice work I guess."
Escanor grinned as the pair flew up to the woman's height and the three shot off toward one of the large buildings in the distance.
Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!