Author's note

Sorry about the longer wait before this update, I'm traveling again so finding Wifi and the chance to upload has been interesting. But as promised there are several fight scenes in this chapter and the introduction of a plot-relevant character so I hope you enjoy it.


The Greyhound: Part 2, Old Demons

Chapter 12

The guild had watched on at the spectacle of Gray's grief for some time, but eventually, the two separated. Gray, deciding he needed some food and familiar faces around, moved to a booth with Natsu, Lucy, and Happy. For once the two rivals weren't fighting.

Kinzo on the other hand returned to his stool at the bar to contemplate everything he'd heard. Makarov had come to take a seat nearby and Mira was always around, but neither had decided to press him on the subject. For that he was thankful.

...

Another hour passed and things seemed to be back to normal for the guild. Even Gray had brought himself to start bantering with Natsu again, though the insults were significantly more tame than usual.

All was well, or getting there at least. And he had the quiet he needed to think. Until an irritating redhead came walking up to him. Seriously could he get a break from people today.

"What do you want Scarlet?" he asked after she'd been standing there menacingly for half a minute without saying a word.

"Eh-hem" taking the time to clear her throat. "I've been thinking about our fight in the train station, and after some consideration, I would like a rematch. Please fight me." She said with a bow.

"WHAT?!" came the indigent cry of Natsu from across the guildhall. "But Erza, you promised to fight ME once we got back!" he pleaded after running over to them.

A quick gauntlet-covered fist to the back of his head sent him to the ground.

"Not now Natsu I'm busy."

"Yes ma'am." he squeaked back with his face still smashed into the flooring

"He's rather well trained." Kinzo complimented.

"Indeed. Nevertheless, will you fight me?" she questioned.

With a heavy sigh, he gave his answer.

"No"

"No?!" She yelled back.

He nearly recoiled from the sound, his enhanced hearing forcing him to take the brunt of it.

"That's what I said, A second fight would be pointless anyway." was his irritated response.

She started grinding her teeth together after that, and anger covered her features. He didn't really understand why at first, but then realized he should probably clear things up for her.

"It would be pointless because I already know you would win." She paused at that unsure how serious he was being, but after detecting no signs of sarcasm in his voice she accepted the statement.

That seemed to calm her down since she knew he wasn't making light of her, but confusion remained about his answer.

Deciding to explain, rather than risk upsetting her he continued "When we fought in Oshibana you were already tired. You'd just finished fighting off an entire dark guild before jumping straight into it with me. Not to mention that at the time you had no idea how I fought or anything about the tools I use in combat. Now you're familiar with far too many of them for my liking. And to top it all off the only reason you fell for my trap was because I managed to get you angry. You clearly weren't thinking straight."

"So given that you would now be in perfect condition, know all my tricks, and be in the right state of mind. The odds of me winning a fight are ridiculously low. Besides, sparing isn't really my thing." Cutting people down when they weren't looking was more his speed.

She seemed to understand his reasoning, even so, "I still would like to spar with you, even knowing all that." She had a certain gleam in her eyes as she said it.

"This girl just wants to hurt me doesn't she?" he was about to reject her request again but the geezer two seats down had to open his mouth.

"Why don't you take her up on that offer Kinzo, it couldn't hurt," Makarov said.

"Maybe it won't hurt you old man but what about me?" He thought back.

Sighing heavily for the umpteenth time that day he asked a question he knew he wouldn't like the answer to "Is that an order Dreyar?"

"Should I make it one?" He shot back while taking a sip of his beer.

Damn.


And that's how he found himself standing across from the 'Fairy Queen' behind the guildhall with a crowd of people putting bets down on who would win

"5,000 Jewels says Erza puts the new guy down for a dirt nap!"

"10,000 says he cries by the end of it!" etc. etc.

Makarov decided to take charge for once and lay down the law surrounding the duel. "Alright brats, listen up. This will be a 1v1 spar between our resident Titania, and our newest colleague Kinzo."

"The rules are simple. The match is over once one party is unable to continue or admits defeat. And, no inflicting serious injury" He was practically staring a hole through Kinzo's head while he said the last bit.

"Relax old man, the kiddy gloves are on," he said just loud enough for Makarov to hear and Erza to get pissed off.

"Re-quip: Black Wing armor!" In an instant, she was on him. Slashing right for his neck. He barely dropped under her blade in time.

Once he was upright again, his mind started putting together a plan. He didn't think he could win, but he sure as hell was gonna try.

As the woman flew in for another swipe, he channeled magic into his two silver rings. Molding the material together into a long metal bo-staff. He would hold off on anything with sharp edges while Makarov was watching.

Parrying her slash as well as swinging at her legs, only to find his strike blocked by her waist guards. Even so, a staff was designed to deal blunt damage through armor and padding. She probably felt that.


She'd made three or four more attempts at cutting him with her Black Wing armor, but he kept getting around her. Striking back with that staff. And hell that thing hurt, her legs would definitely have bruises when this was over. Regardless the pain wouldn't distract her from the battle at hand. She needed to spice things up if she wanted to win and she knew just the thing to do it.

Dashing in once more she stabbed for her target expecting a parry, but instead of staying in the fight, she flew away. Straight up… and then straight back down aiming for the top of Kinzo's head.

She was only a few meters away from the ground when she cried "Re-quip: Lighting Empress Armor!" changing into white robes with silver gauntlets, and breastplate, while clutching a long spear in her hands. A spear that was crackling with electricity.


"What the hell is she doing?" Kinzo asked himself when Erza flew straight up into the sky.

As she came back down aiming for his head he started to get the idea but was taken slightly off guard when she Re-quipped into a new set of armor he hadn't seen yet. The most concerning part was the spear she held. He didn't need Talionis to know what she was about to do. What he did need was to get off the ground, NOW!

And quick dash backward and a leap into the air were his next course of actions.

As her weapon met the earth sparks of electricity serged out scorching the dirt as it branched away from her point of contact.

He could smell the soles of his boots melting from the extreme heat. A quick Conversion Leap straight up had kept him safe from any real damage. But his poor boots.

As Erza righted herself and Kinzo landed on the earth once more they squared up yet again. This time Spear vs. Staff. She dashed forwa- "STOP IN THE NAME OF THE COUNSEL!"

They both held their attacks at bay, looking over to see… a 6-foot tall frog staring at them

Seeing it had their attention the creature opened up a scroll. "I am a messenger of the council, and due to the recent Eisenwald incident, Fairy Tail is being charged with 11 counts of property damage. Erza Scarlet, you are under arrest." As the words settled in every onlooker's mind, Kinzo couldn't stop himself.

"Ha...hahahaha! Oh, that is too good Haaa" practically wheezing as he spoke. "Oh, oh sweet Lord."

The frog-man-thing turned to him confused by his response before its eyes widened in recognition. "You, you're also under arrest for vigilantism and property damage." It said while holding up a court-ordered arrest warrant with his picture on it. I guess one of the pissed-off guild masters reported him.

Erza looked at him with a shit-eating grin.


Erza was cuffed and in the cart ready for transport. He was about to be in the same situation. Funnily enough, the Rune Knight brought a pair of magic restraining cuffs, the very ones he made. Not so funny was what they called them.

"Did you just call these 'seal stones'? Is that a joke? These things are made of metal, not stone! What idiot came up with a name like 'seal stone'?"

"Achoo!" a purple-haired woman sneezed.

"Are you alright?" a blue-haired man asked.

"Whatever, let's just go," he said while entering the cart. Sitting next to Erza, who was still smirking by the way!

This was gonna be a long ride.


They'd just arrived in Era and were exiting the cart, walking into the Magic Council's headquarters for the city. A missive castle-like building where they handled administrative work, political hearings, and trials.

As they walked through the halls, Erza in front of him, he noticed that all their guards left at the same time. They were alone, completely unattended. At least, a normal person might think that but he knew better. A large source of magic was walking just around the next corner and it was about to turn.

What appeared to them was a blue-haired man with a red tattoo under his right eye, dressed in Councilman garbs. He smiled when he saw them, well Erza at least. He wasn't really looking at Kinzo.

"Ah Erza, always good to see you. Though I do wish it was on better terms." he joked.

Erza's disgusted reaction was his first clue that this guy was bad news. "What do you want, Siegrain?" she sneered.

And, as if to prove he was in fact a scumbag, once this 'Siegrain' reached them he gripped Etrza by the chin. Pulling the girl close before whispering into her ear, something he probably thought Kinzo couldn't hear. Sucks for him, enhanced senses gave him a front-row seat.

"Now now little Erza, no need to be so rude. I'm just here to remind you it would be best for everyone if you didn't mention the tower or my brother while we're in there. I mean who knows what that kind of information could do if it got out... Who knows what I might do." despite the obvious threat, his tone never changed. It stayed as that fake-friendly demeanor.

Still smiling he released her and in seconds she was moving again. Pushing past him and walking straight for the doors leading to her trial. Kinzo was quick to follow, but Siegrain seemed to take an interest in him as he passed.

"Oh, so you're the one that took down Lullaby? I'd really lik-" the bluenett started.

"Piss off, I'm not wasting my time with a Thought Projection." He responded while moving right past him. Taking great satisfaction in the shocked look on the prick's face.

Indeed the man before him was nothing more than a magic projection. A high-level one to be sure, but a projection all the same. Talionis made it obvious for him, but even without it, he could tell. The man had no scent after all.

Seeming to decide it wasn't worth pursuing he left in a flash "Perhaps another time then."

"Not likely."


Erza had just walked in for her trial, He would have his right after. Things were proceeding normally, but a familiar face in one of the worst disguises he'd ever seen changed that real quick. Natsu, dressed up in a red wig and cardboard armor, ran straight past him. Knocked the doors down and started breathing fire. All while trying to insist that he was the real Erza.

"Send them both to a cell, they can sit through the sentence together!" came the bellow of a council member inside. The guards did just that, and man did Erza look pissed.

"Send in the next defendant!" The voice from earlier called out, and he started walking.

On his way to the stand a number of thoughts popped into his mind 'Would they know who he was?' 'Could he get away if they did?' 'Would Makarov keep his word?'

"Stop thinking about it Kinzo. Makarov agreed to a Binding Contract. Unless he's looking to die he'll keep his word." He reassured himself

"State your name for the court."

"Kinzo," he replied while still looking at the floor.

"Raise your head, you are to be questioned, defendant."

No, they wouldn't know who he was, how could they? So with confidence, he looked up.

And terror gripped him the moment he did.

Right there, right in front of him was a member of Grimoire Heart. And she looked all too happy to see him.


Siegrain was quite amused at the moment. He'd just finished Erza's trial and sent her to the dungeon with her entertaining yet very stupid guildmate. And now he had the pleasant surprise of seeing wide-eyed fear on the face of this Kinzo boy who'd blown him off earlier.

At first, he wasn't sure what had caused it, but after following the black-haired boy's petrified gaze he understood. Ultear.

His fellow council member had shown minimal interest in the last case, but after seeing the most recent defendant. Well. She looked like a child on Christmas morning ready to tear open her presents. A large predatory smile stretched from ear to ear. Turning her normally beautiful face into something much more sinister.

He couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy "Poor kid."

As the trial proceeded some standard questions were asked and standard answers were given. But all the while Ultear was enjoying herself a little too much.

He didn't even have to look and he knew she was eyeing their defendant up and down. Looking on like a wolf who'd found a trapped rabbit. It was a bit much. I mean the trial is nearly over and she can do whatever she wants after, but right now she needs to foc- "Did she just lick her lips?"


This had to be a joke. She was licking her lips right in front of him! And no one else seemed to notice!

"Given all the facts of the case, the 4 counts of property damage, and one count of acting outside of the law during the Eisenwald incident, I hereby sentence you to one night in the Era branch council dungeon along with a 20,000 Jewel fine." Came the call of the head councilman. "Are there any questions from the guilty party?"

He had one, but he already knew the answer, there was no escaping her "Can I assume everyone here today is a thought projection?"

"No, Councilwoman Milkovich is currently present in Era." the judge responded.

"… did he just say, Milkovich?" What was happening, why did this dark mage have the same last name as his master?

"If there are no further questions then this meeting is adjourned." With that said every member of the council disappeared. All but one.

...

As she rose from her seat he couldn't help but notice nothing had changed about her since the last time they'd met. Her long purple hair still framed her face well, acting as a strong contrast to her pale skin. The sharp features of her face only added to her appearance, but he wouldn't be fooled. No, every time he saw those bright red eyes he was reminded of their prior meetings. Reminded of just how dangerous she was.

She approached without a word, crystal ball in hand, and ordered the Rune Knights to leave. She would take him to his cell personally.

As they walked he tried to keep his mind clear but his thoughts just kept going back to their first two meetings.


3 years ago

He was in Bosco, in the middle of a dense forest. Roughly 3 miles from the nearest town, hiding on a tall tree branch. Staring at the guildhall of a formerly active dark guild that had been big into human trafficking.

He'd call it formerly active because while there were people inside they were all dead, or about to be.

He'd dealt with the dark mages and packed several barrels inside with explosive lacrima. Normally He would have already detonated them and be gone by now, but he read something very interesting in the guild master's journal. Apparently, someone from Grimore's main guild was supposed to be here today.

His plan was to take them by surprise and extract any information possible. But that would only work if they arrived before the squadron of Rune Knights that he'd already tipped off. And at the moment it was looking like they wouldn't make it in time.

He brushed his thumb against his holster preparing to pull it out and spark the lacrima he'd planted. But then he felt it, a rather large magic signature was nearby maybe a half-mile out. So he waited patiently for their arrival.

When they finally broke through the brush what he saw was not what he was expecting. She was beautiful. Long purple hair and red eyes. Wearing high heels, a traditional kimono, and holding a crystal ball. Not a blemish or wrinkle on her pale perfect skin, and a graceful smile dancing on her lips. She was stunning, and her features were somehow familiar to him.

On top of her physical appearance, the magic she was packing made an impression too. Not the most he'd ever seen (Brandish took that hands down, and she was barely 16. It almost scared him to think about what she'd be like as an adult) but this woman was impressive nonetheless. Though he would say there was something strange about her magic for sure.

He couldn't put his finger on it until after he'd already watched her walk inside. "It's moving through her body so slowly. Almost like it's being suppress-!" The woman's magic all but exploded, easily dwarfing anything he'd ever seen before.

Sorry Brandish.

As he watched, the guildhall seemed to fall apart. No that wasn't right, it was almost like parts of the building were disintegrating, reduced to ash. Eventually, it did fall apart and after the dust settled there in the center of it all stood the woman. Surrounded by rubble, fallen beams, and the newly crushed bodies of deceased dark mages.

For about a foot around her in every direction, there was a ring of ash. As if the material that otherwise would have fallen on her was turned to powder.

His interest peaked. Her magic was a mystery. It was the strangest shade of purple. In some ways familiar and in other ways foreign. He just couldn't place where he'd seen something like it. His musing would have to wait though because the object of his curiosity was doing something strange again.

Her magic was shrinking in on itself. Building up, tensing almost like a muscle. And then, boom it expanded outward. As it reached him he felt a weak force push against him. It seemed to be harmless so he just kept watching the woman on the ground from his perch.

As he studied her two notable thoughts entered his mind. First, he noticed she was smiling, seemingly satisfied about something. Maybe breaking the guildhall was therapeutic? The second and more pressing concern was that "her crystal ball is gone." But where could it have gone?

As his thoughts progressed his ears picked up on a sound he was rather familiar with. It was the sound of something moving so fast it displaces the air around it. Turning to look behind him he came face to face with the missing orb as it hurled itself toward him at high speed.

He couldn't break it; he didn't have the time to mold anything.

He didn't want to block, there was no telling the kind of damage this thing could deal.

So with only one option left he rolled to the side, and fell from his hiding place. Landing right in her line of sight.


Ultear was having a rough week.

Hades had ordered her to check up on all their main sub-guilds responsible for slave trade in Bosco, Sevens, and Iceberg. On top of that, she was dealing with added stress because some jackass was goin around and blowing them all up. Seriously, 4 out of the 7 guilds she was supposed to check in on were already up in flames by the time she got there. Hades was gonna be pissed.

So she was understandably upset when she stepped into a guildhall that while still standing was filled with dead bodies instead of her lackeys. And because she was a tad bit upset, stressed, and very overworked she may have overreacted and reduced their 2 million jewel guildhall to rubble. Oops. Well, whatever she could just put it back together when she was done here.

Speaking of, she wasn't done here yet. She needed to check her surroundings just to be sure no one was still there. So she sent her magic out in a pulse and sensed for any irregularities. "Ah there you are," she thought before sending out her crystal ball to either drill this idiot or force him down from that tree. In the end, he chose to come down.

"Oh, he's got a cute face, should make for a nice punching bag" Lord knows she needed to relieve some stress.


"How in the hell did she know I was there?" He was well hidden. Did she see him somehow? That shock wave she sent out? Maybe some kind of echolocation? Well, it doesn't matter now, he was out in the open and knew next to nothing about his opponent. Great.

"Listen sweetie, I've had a really rough couple of days so just hold still while I mangle your face. Okay?"

He knew nothing about her, and part of him was glad.

Instinctively he molded dual swords ready to engage at the first opening.

"Cute," she said mockingly, before raising her hand.

Talionis helped him see, a spell was in fact headed for his swords. He would let it hit, if she wanted to give him magic to throw back at her so be it.

When the spell connected... nothing happened, and the witch looked on in confusion. Turning her head slightly in a manner that might have been cute if she hadn't just threatened to maim him.

He took satisfaction in her confusion, enjoying the superiority he felt over such a powerful mage. Until his swords started to disappear. The metal would quickly rust over before being completely reduced to dust.

"There we go, I was wondering what took so long." She commented.

What the hell just happened? Why were his swords gone? His swords weren't supposed to just disappear!

What the hell? The only time something like this happens is when he gets into fights with Dimari- it all clicked. The weird purple color, his swords disappearing, the guildhall turning to dust.

"You're a time mage aren't you?" He said in irritation.

"Oh, you figured that out rather quickly. What gave me away?" She asked, a smile never leaving her face.

"I've dealt with your kind before"

"Oh, another time mage? And here I thought I was pretty unique." She pouted.

"No. You're irrationally violent, have a stupid amount of magic, and arrogant to boot. You two could practically be sisters" seriously why did he have to be the guy that dealt with not one but two time witches?

"Now now, is that any way to speak to a lady?" she jested.

"You're no lady, just one of Hades' dogs."

And that piqued her interest.

"Oh... so you know I'm from Grimoire Heart and aren't running away in fear? Interesting. Well for your bravery I'll let you know that I'm actually rather high up in my guild." she lightly boasted.

"No duh, with magic like that you could probably concur a country on your own." But he wouldn't say that out loud. No, he had a different approach in mind.

"Oh please, I bet you're just some lap dog. What is it? One of the Kin keep you around as a pet?"

She didn't respond to his insult at all, just kept staring at him with that self-satisfied smile on her face. But then she spoke...

"Oh sweetie," she cracked a few knuckles, "I'm going to take my time with you."

...and everything went to shit.

The earth beneath him disappeared and his boots lost all traction on the now non-existent ground. Before his feet landed again, before he even had a chance to really think, that crystal ball from earlier buried itself in his gut. He flew back a few meters before righting himself midair, landing on his feet. As he looked up she was still just standing there with a smile. He would fix that.

"Metal-Make: Field of Mars!" In a split second, a magic circle appeared at the woman's feet before a half dozen blades shot up from the ground aimed at her head. All she did was raise her chin and mere centimeters before his swords would have impaled her, they turned to dust.

She just smirked at him.

That was probably the moment he realized he was screwed. The next several minutes couldn't be described as anything other than a beating.

...

He was lying down, back on the ground. Bruises already forming across his body. It seemed like she was done playing with him now.

He heard footsteps coming. Then he felt them.

She was digging her heel into his chest and enjoying every moment of it.

"Urrah" he grunted

"What was it you called me? Ah, that's right, a pet." She said while pushing more weight onto her foot.

The pain on his face was refreshing, especially with how confidently he was talking earlier.

"I wonder if Hades would let me keep you as a pet?" She mocked.

How was he gonna get himself out of this one? Honestly, he should have just blown this place sky high and been on his way. Maybe then things would have been different.

He tried to drown out this mad woman's words by taking in the scenery, but all around him everywhere he looked was just rubble. All seemed lost until two realities appeared in his mind. Truly he thought he was playing tricks on himself, but there they were.

First mixed in with the rubble just behind the woman was a barrel. A barrel he'd planted there, filled to the brim with explosive lacrima. And the other factor that just might save his life today was the sound of marching in the distance, the Rune Knights were here.

A plan was forming in his mind, one that might just save him. But first, he had to get a bit of distance from her. Man, he was already sore and broken, this was really gonna hurt.

"Hmm, pet are you listening? I said I promise to treat you well." Suddenly he didn't care about how much it was gonna hurt, he just wanted to be far away from her.

Taking a deep breath he set everything into motion. Using Telekinesis he threw dirt into the air Effectively blinding her even if only for a moment.

Next forming a Conversion Leap at his feet to push his body along the ground. Which was easier said than done, since his abuser was still standing on him. The woman's heel left a nice cut from his chest to his navel, but now he was free with a thin 'smoke screen' between them.

He'd caught her off guard and he planned to milk that for all it was worth. Rushing to his feet and pulling his revolver out he fired a single round toward the barrel of lacrima. Everything exploded.

...

He couldn't hear anything at first, he was just thrown off his feet landing hard against the ground. Only after did the concussive sound thunder through.

The blast had kicked up an insane amount of dust. He was bruised, and parts of him were broken, but he was free. His previous captor didn't like that fact, her rage-filled cries reaching across the entire clearing.

"Where are you pet! You hear me mutt? Come out!" She was throwing around waves of magic trying to clear the air, but still unable to find him.

As she cried out her shouts were silenced when she heard him speak through the ash.

"Enjoy the Rune Knights" was all he said.

And after another 30 seconds when all the dust had finally settled she was in fact surrounded by Rune Knights, and the boy was gone.


8 months later

He was still in Bosco, the capital in fact. Now in the northern side of the country. His current objective, a business deal. James Hath was an associate he'd met months prior, a top-notch salesman in the criminal underworld but he tended to stick to items rather than selling people which is why Kinzo was willing to work with him. He'd sent a message that some big wigs in the capital were looking to buy some of his magic restricting handcuffs, so here he was in James' office. Well kind of.

James had a hidden room in the back of his office, that's where the assassin was. James was still out in the open waiting for the client to arrive, but he wanted to listen in and see how things went. So he just stood there with his back to the wall listening.

30 minutes of silence came and went before he heard the main door opening, and a feminine voice call out. "Hello James, I assume you have what I want?"

That sounded familiar, where had he heard that voice before?

"Of course Ma'am." his partner replied. "We can finalize the trade immediately!"

"Yes yes, but first I need to check something." Seriously, where had he heard this woman's voice from?

He was so preoccupied with her voice that he almost missed it. But the second he felt a soft magic wave pass over him he knew. "I need to leave, like right now!"

He should have seen her coming, her magic signature was big enough to notice from a half-mile away if you were paying attention. But he was in the capital city, there were thousands of mages around. It would be difficult to notice just one person if you weren't looking for them.

He made to bust through the back wall of the hidden room, intending to land on the street and apologize to James for the damages later. He didn't make it 2 feet.

A hand smashed through the wall behind him grabbing his coat and ripping him backward. Being pulled through the wall he landed heavy on the ground. That part wasn't so bad. No, it was the heel that was once again digging into his skin that really sucked.

"Hello pet, I've been looking for you." Yep, it was definitely her.

"I was so sad when you ran away, I promise to keep a closer eye on you this time," she smirked down at him.

As she continued to taunt him he was desperately looking for anything to get him away from her. The beating he got last time still fresh in his mind. But there was nothing.

His attention was brought back to his attacker when she said something that kinda ticked him off.

"Oh, that's right, pet. I heard you picked up a little nickname. What were they calling you again, the Greyhound?"

Of course, she knew about that, because why wouldn't she.

"Get a life, why are you wasting so much time obsessing over me?"

"Why am I obsessing over you? Maybe because 5 out of the 7 dark guilds I was in charge of running went up in smoke after you paid them a visit." She bit back with poorly concealed anger.

Ah, that made sense actually.

"Also hitting you is therapeutic, that day was the most stress relief I've had in months"

"Screw you lady!"

"So when I heard James here could find you, I just had to make a deal."

Looking at the man in question, James wouldn't meet his eyes. So that's how it is, he was sold out.

"But don't you worry I'm not out to get you just for myself. Hades wants to meet you as well. Something about you being responsible for hundreds of millions of Jewels in destroyed property, and personnel."

"Honestly when he told me just how much you've set us back I was rather impressed. I mean, how old even are you? 16? 17 tops?"

He'd completely blocked out the second part of her speech, only focusing on one thing she'd said. 'Hades wants to meet you.'

"Will Zancrow be there?" asked through grit teeth. Her weight on his chest still causing a fair bit of pain.

"Oh?" That was a surprise, he knew about another member of the kin (Not that he realized she was a member.) "I suppose he would be yes." She was looking down at him with genuine curiosity now.

"Then as tempting as it is to let you take me straight to him, I can't go. I don't think I can kill him just yet." He knew his limits. Assassinating them one at a time was one thing but dealing with both of them together would be impossible. I mean he couldn't even handle this woman.

"It's cute how you think you have a choice."

Oh, he had a choice, he just didn't want it to come to this.

Re-quipping an explosive lacrima into his hands he forced magic into it and tossed it up. This was risky, but better to die fighting than live as Grimoire's slave. Shock flashed across the woman's face as she pushed back and tried to use her Time Magic to stop the blast. Too little too late.

"Metal-Make: War-Door" He covered himself with a large shield and felt his body fly across the room as the bomb exploded. Crashing through the wall was rough but it was nothing compared to landing on the street below. No doubt he'd ripped the skin off of his back from the way he slid against it, but he was alive and out of her reach once again.


His thoughts stopped as they reached the cell, and she shoved him in.


Author's notes

Another one down. And with that Ultear has finally joined the story.

Okay, so a few things to cover with this chapter. As I wrote in, Ultear has more magic than mages like Brandish in this story. What that means is that Ultear is going to be buffed a fair bit. It never made sense to me that her backstory focused on her having so much magic she was dying as a child but then making her relatively average by the time the main story started, so that's going to change. Keep in mind though that in my story just because someone has a lot of magic doesn't mean that they're a better fighter or are guaranteed to win. I also think I'm making her a little OOC but I hope it still seems similar to canon Ultear's personality.

As always if you guys have critiques or ideas that might help make the story better feel free to let me know.


Magic

1) Metal-Make Magic like ice make... but with metal

2) Speed Magic (Potential energy magic- p.s. I made this up so you won't find it on a wiki... I think.) so any time you see Conversion Leap (speed boost) or Kinetic Decay (stealing something else's speed and trapping it in place)

3) Telekinesis lifting things with one's mind etc.

4) Re-Quip

Tools

1) His Revolver- Iron Maiden (two types of ammo revealed. Puncture rounds and Flashbang rounds)

2) The rings his mother gave him - can be molded into other objects and when spun together replay a recorded message.

3) The magic absorbing metal - He can choose to make his weapons out of this or other kinds of normal metal (iron, steel, etc.)

4) The Eye of Talionis - replacing his right eye, it allows the user to see magic (Ethernano)

5) Isacc Colt's journals - three journals belonging to his father

6) metal woven into his hair - this will not play a major role for most of the story but I may as well mention it so people don't forget.