AND I AM BACK ! Well, I need to calm down on the other hand because I think that a 2 weeks gap isn't that big if we compare it the kind of delay some stories have on this website. But I had warned you of this extension in the note published previously. Anyway, let us stay concentrated on the task at hand and let us start again where we left it.
I am not the owner of Fairy Tail, only the Strizers and their enemies belong to me.
Here we go !
Chapter 24 : Strizers: origin and objectives.
Incomprehension. Indicate the lack of comprehension or understanding; inability to understand.
Surprise. State of mind when meeting something unexpected.
Two words which defined particularly well the 6 mages who were standing in front of their guild felt at this moment. Jellal, Natsu and Gajeel, supporting respectively Erza, Lucy and Levy, still suffering after their victory obtained in the pain against Rachel, the Strizer of gemstones, were surprised by this plot twist which they didn't understand. They were gazing with unbelieving look at Kareem, Strizer of the desert, who was standing in front of the door of the guild as if he was waiting for some guests, which was probably the case.
- " When you mention wanting to tell us why you came, what does it implies exactly ? " Asked Jellal, very intrigued by what this man was insinuating.
- " Everything, Jellal. Everything. " Simply answered Kareem, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. " It's going to be about who we are, what those monsters you saw in the north are, how we are linked to them and of course, what we are hoping to achieve in this world. "
The mages stayed skeptical, they were shy, on their guard and Kareem couldn't hold it against them seeing what his companions did to them before. However, a groan from girls were going to make the negotiation simpler. By hearing the girls moan in pain, the boys remembered themselves that they were seriously injured and needed to be taken care of immediately. Kareem jumped at the opportunity to 'force' them to follow him.
- " I have the impression that you NEED to follow me, unless you would prefer to let them die in the middle of the street ? " Proposed the Strizer by pointing at the 3 girls, the 3 other mages looking at him with a look in his eyes saying ' you think you're funny ? ' before complying to his request, but they didn't really had any choices : the health of the girls passed before the rest. They began to approach the Strizer but the latter stopped them quickly.
- " No, stop! " He ordered, as if he just remembered something, the conscious mages stun for a moment. What does he wanted, now ? " Wait just a moment. "
He swept the space in front of him with his hand and the fairies saw an orange line starting to appear on the ground and which seemed to circle the whole guild. A portion of the line faded in front of him and he took a step towards the back, inviting them to pass by the hole he created. The mages stayed still for a moment, looking at him as if he had just did the lamest joke in the world.
- " What the fuck was that, now ? " Asked Natsu, whose patience was running thin, not understanding what he was playing at.
- " I opened a safe way in my DRYING RUNE WALL. Now you can pass. Oh and while I'm thinking about it. " He walked through the hole in the circle and went to collect Rachel's bruised and unconscious body, still laying at the bottom of her crater, under the still jaded eyes of the mages.
- " DRYING RUNE WALL ? What is that ? " asked Gajeel, unbelieving and annoyed.
- " One of my techniques. A kind of invisible wall which dries out everything that passes through it. Let me show you how it works. "
He plunged one of his hands into his pocket and pulled out an orange which he threw towards the guild. But when it reached the place where the orange line was, the fruit became, in the space of a few seconds, a crumpled and dried out fruit, as if it stayed in the sunlight for many weeks after being emptied of all of its juice. The mages, once the slight surprise had passed, followed Kareem up to the door which he opened widely without saying a word, as if he was at home.
- " Hey, Stan ! The latecomers are there. "
The 6 newcomers still didn't know why their friends hadn't come while the girls fought in town but the atmosphere could give them a small clue about that. Everybody was hyper tensed, like frozen by something, or rather somebody, probably the aforementioned Stan. In front of all of the mages was held a man with dark hair raised on his head, his brown eyes were so clear that they seemed almost yellow. He wore a long white doctor blouse with black pants, with yellow and white sneakers and under the blouse, he wore a yellow T-shirt with a black jacket. In term of accessories, he wore a pair of black fingerless gloves and he had a silver headband on his head, in a ninja way, keeping his bangs away from his eyes.
- " On the other hand, Stan, before beginning the explanations, it would be necessary to look after the girls. " Asked Kareem but Stan just heaved a sigh.
- " What a pain in the ass, we are going to waste time again. " He complained by turning around towards his colleague and the mages who were by his side, his look settling on Rachel before releasing another heavy sigh. " And there's that dumbass who just go and fuck herself up, I didn't need any more of those shit. "
- " You plan to leave them like that, then ? " Kareem wondered by opening wide eyes. " You'd be a real disappointment as doctor if you did. "
Stan looked at him, sending him a dark glare, the Strizer of the desert knowing perfectly well that he had touched the weak point of his colleague who released yet another sigh before getting up.
- " Pfff, put them on the tables over there. " He ordered by gesturing to tables in question, Kareem going to them the next second, the mages hesitating a moment before following him. Once the 4 girls were put on the tables, Stan took place in front of them, observing their wounds closely.
- " Humpf, it's going to need some work here. " Mumbled the doctor before turning to the mages. " Hey, the little girl and the old bat, come here, I am going to need help on this one. "
Wendy and Porlyusica, who knew perfectly well that he was talking to them, went out of the group. Porlyusica seemed irritated, which was understandable seen that she had been called an old bat by this young man but she moved forward nevertheless to the young man, worried for the health of the fairies. Wendy from her part seemed more than tensed, hesitating to move but she felt a hand on her shoulder which made her turn around to see that it was Romeo who was giving her a reassuring smile which calmed Wendy who returned his smile. They stayed like that for several long seconds before being interrupted by someone, namely Charla, who did not seem amused by the situation contrary to the other mages, the white cat clearing her throat which send the two young mages back on Earth, both reddening by realizing what they had just done. Wendy then went to join Porlyusica and together, they began to work, working on Erza, Lucy and Levy while Stan focused on Rachel. Natsu, which was not far from the improvised operation tables with Jellal and Gajeel, was focused on Lucy and all the while asking a question linked with something they wondered about a little earlier.
- " Then it is you who had prevented the others from going out to come to see what was happening in the city ? "
- " Indeed. " Confirmed Makarov, still sitting on the bar. " But they didn't say much. They just made us stay here. "
- " And how did they do that ? " Asked Gajeel, who had asked his question without looking away from Levy, whom Wendy was currently healing.
- " I think that it's better to explain it by going back to the beginning. " Laxus had answered from the bar on which he was leaning, his face twisted by a deep desire to twist the neck of those Strizers. " It began a few hours ago after you all left to do whatever you had to do. "
/- Flashback, a little before the beginning of the fight against Rachel -/
The guild took advantage of a peace more than welcome by everybody. After all, without Gajeel nor Natsu, the mages had lost 2 of their main sources of problem and brawl. Wendy and Romeo were looking for a mission to do together, the two young mages blushing slightly every time their hands brushed, the whole ordeal happening under the amused looks of some members of the guild like Mirajane and a disapproving Charla who blushes abruptly by feeling Happy settling near her, inviting her to drink some tea, Alzack and Bisca looked at Asuka who was busy replaying her small heroic scene against the Strizer of the earth with the participation, voluntary or not, of several mages, everything happening much to the joy of several people like Makarov or Evergreen who was very amused seeing Elfman playing the role of the golem. Laxus was discussing with Gildarts, Lisanna distributed drinks and food with Kinana, Gray and Juvia shared an ice cream, sitting quietly, traces of their fight against Ragnar still present but of much lesser importance. In brief, everything went well. But obviously, that was not going to last. Makarov had just felt something strange who worried him greatly. He could be mistaken, but he had to be sure and for that, he called on to one of his 'sons'.
- " Warren, can you come here one moment. "
- " Yes, I'm coming. " Warren, who sat at a table with Max, Reedus and Vijeeter, got up to join Makarov, who was looking more and more worried. " You need anything ? "
- " Try to contact Jellal and Gajeel. " Looking up at Warren's surprised gaze, he gave some more explanation more, several pairs of eyes now turning to him. " Their magic presence totally disappeared all of a sudden. I need a confirmation about where they are. "
Suddenly more worried, the suspicions of their master being rarely false, the telepathist did as he was told, trying to establish a connection with his friends. But regrettably, it was only confirming what thought Makarov.
- " I can't contact them. It's as if they are too far. " This worried the rest of the guild, the cheerfulness having totally disappeared for the benefit of a growing concern.
- " Maybe they left the city ? " Proposed Romeo, not being able to conceive that something really bad could have happen to them, but alas Makarov didn't share his enthusiasm.
- " I am afraid that it is not so simple, Romeo. " Answered Makarov, his face somber. Wendy put an hand on the shoulder of Romeo in a comforting gesture whereas Makarov got up, finding itself standing on the bar. " I ignore what is happening right now, but I won't stand still and see my children returning wounded anymore. This time, I'm going. "
He began to walk to the door, the mages not knowing if they had to follow him or let him do as he wanted. But they had no leisure to decide because the door opened by itself. Or almost. To the surprise of the mages, two people were standing on the other side of the door and, after a few seconds, they broke the silence which they had brought down on the guild.
- " Sorry, but we cannot let you intervene, Mr. Dreyar. " Going out of the shadow, the 2 newcomers did an impression with the mages who had all already understood what they were. " You certainly already know that once our fights started, we never authorize outside intervention. Thus you're going to need to let them manage thing on their own. "
Feeling the presence of Natsu disappearing as well as a peak of energy signs that other mages were fighting, the mages need to leave and go help their friends was becoming even stronger and they were not going to be passive.
- " We have no time to lose with this bullshit. " Snapped Laxus by taking place next to his grandfather, looking at the Strizers. " Go away or we'll be forced to hurt you. "
- " Please, calm down. We can reach an agreement without any violence, can we ? "
POLARIZING WAVE !
No they couldn't. Kareem attempt to appease the situation was reduced to nothing by Stan who had thrown a wave of what seemed to be small red and blue sparks on the mages who, although having been struck quite hard, had felt nothing except for a small itch. Although nothing bad was really done, the aggression wasn't going to be forgiven.
- " If you want to stay standing here that much, I am going to help you staying still. " Had thrown Evergreen, a hand reaching for her glasses. But Stan snapped his fingers and the following moment, the glasses of Evergreen found themselves stuck on her face.
- " Wait … What ? " Evergreen was actually pulling on her glasses with her two hands but it didn't matter what she was doing, they didn't want to move. " They are stuck on my face, what is this shit ? "
BEAST ARM : IRON BULL !
- " What have you done to her ? Answer ! " Roared Elfman by throwing himself on Stan, his arm having been transformed into a big metallic arm, ready to strike but Stan snap his fingers again which slowed Elfman down, but it did not stop there. The slowing down was transformed into a full stop then into a repelling, Elfman being propelled far from Stan by an invisible strength.
- " What … What the hell was that ? " Exclaimed Lisanna by seeing her brother flying through the building.
- " It doesn't really matter, Lisanna. Well, not anymore. " Answered calmly Freed, which intrigued the mages before seeing purple symbols appearing on the ground, surrounding the Strizers. " If they do not want to move, then let's let them stay here. As long as they are in this zone, the use of powers will be forbidden to them. " The plan was ingenious and the mages already were smiling with satisfaction but the absence of reaction on behalf of Stan made them felt like they missed something.
- " It is a really good plan. " Admitted Stan by picking his ear with one of his little fingers. " On the other hand, I don't really see the interest of trapping just one person. "
Freed and the others stayed without understanding but by looking at Kareem closely, they saw his body bending like a reflection in a distorting mirror and after a few seconds, he had disappeared, leaving only Stan in the trap. The fairies wondered on the other hand where the other Strizer could be when Freed felt a hand grabbing his wrist. He turned his head and came face to face with Kareem who was smiling at him, quite proud, raising the hand of Freed until it was placed between both of their face.
DRY TOUCH !
The hand of Kareem took on an aura of weak orange light and, to the surprise and the horror of everyone, the hand of Freed began to dry out visibly, tearing away shouts of horrors from several people, and pain in the case of the green haired mage. Several people threw(cast) themselves on the Strizer to stop him or on Freed to try and help him, like Wendy who didn't wait to cure the hand of the mage.
- " It is incredible. " Commented Wendy by looking after Freed. " It's as if all the water of your hand had been sucked up outside of your body. "
- "It is the case." The answer reached them from the place where was Stan was still held prisoner, Kareem having returned to his sides. "Let me introduce myself. Kareem Merabet, Strizer of the desert. And know that I would have been able to bring him down to dust entirely if I had wanted to. So, I'd like Freed to free my companion if he doesn't want to see this cute little girl being transformed into a cute heap of sand." He ended his sentence by holding in front of him at arm's length Asuka who struggled as much as she could under the horrified looks of the mages, but no one was as horrified than her parents.
- "ASUKA !" Shouted Bisca, horrified at the idea that his daughter can undergo such a fate. But Freed preferred to free a potential monster rather than let the girl die. So, he did as he was told and the cage of runes disappeared, giving all his freedom back to Stan.
- "Well, since he introduced himself, I suppose that I should also do it ?" Said Stan while passing a hand through his hair. "I'm Stanley O' Brien. Strizer of the lightning."
- "The lightning ?" Repeated Laxus, suddenly interested. "But how did you pushed away Elfman and stuck the glasses of Evergreen."
- "Have you ever heard about magnetism ?" Stanley sighed, like he was irritated by their ignorance. "My first 'attack' was to place positive or negative charges on everything here. And the opposite poles attract while the identical poles pushed themselves away. I am positively charge and since Elfman was positively loaded too, it pushed him far away from me."
- "And you gave different charges to Ever and her glasses to prevent her from removing them." Deducted Bickslow from it.
- "Exactly. And Evergreen is negatively charged, by the way. Look."
He snapped his fingers again, a gesture which was used 'to activate' the magnetic loads and so, Ever was then attracted to Elfman like an iron ball attracted by a magnet, both mages finding themselves literally stuck one to another, unable to move.
- "And since you're all polarized, I can easily stuck you all together to prevent you from leaving. So you'd better avoid doing anything tricky, am I clear ? " Stanley's tone aimed to be threatening, but it didn't impress Laxus who stood up to him.
- " And if we refuse? " Stan support his gaze one moment before answering.
- " Did you know that the brain 'decision' are transmitted by electric impulses via the neurons ? " Laxus watched him showing off his science without understanding what he was getting at. " Can you guess what will happen if I shut down all of your nervous transmissions by absorbing those electric impulses ? "
The mages needed some time to think about what he was implying, but when they finally understood what it meant, they were much more tensed all of a sudden. The prospect of becoming almost literally braindead was not really something that they wished for at the moment.
- " Well, I see that we all agree about that. " He ends, apparently satisfied, turning to Kareem. " Go outside, set up your barrier just in case and wait for the latecomers. I hope that they won't be too long : there's a lot of things to be said. "
/- End of the flashback-/
- " After that, we waited for your return but it was about time you arrived. " Ended Laxus, pointing at Stanley, arms crossed. " He was about to get mad waiting for you. "
- " I am not known for my patience, everybody will tell it you. " Retorted Stanley who had just ended taking care of Rachel, Wendy and Porlyusica also finishing with the three other girls.
- " As a doctor, he has patients, but he is quite impatient. "
Everybody turned to look at Kareem, who was laughing alone at his own joke, all of them showing their lack of interest for his lame ass joke. But they all returned their attention quickly on Stanley who, his desire to strangle Kareem gone, got ready to get to the heart of the subject.
- " In our world, there are 12 entities which more or less created our universe. Once they created the universe, they let them evolve on their own without really intervening. They are in a sense the guardians of our world. " Stanley paused to verify that everybody followed what he was saying, which was the case. Everybody had their eyes aimed at him, the faces of the mages all marked by a profound reflection, not knowing if they could totally trust what he said. And that implied to ask questions, which Gray was the first one to do.
- " They are 12, you say ? This is why you are 12 Strizers ? You have a link with those 'guardians' ? "
- " In a way, yes. " Answered Kareem. " But we shall return on that a little later. Before that, we have to explain to you what are the monsters that you saw. "
The prospect of finally learning about these creatures which were still intriguing them so much that it woke those who up to there listened with only half an ear. Especially since Kareem had lost his usual cheerfulness and also because Stanley was more surly than usually.
- " When they created our world, they saw to it to create a perfect world, with as many defects as qualities. For them, the perfection could not exist without any flaw. But there was something that they had not planned. While they aimed to create their perfect world, they also gave birth to the Nyrans. "
- " The what ? You meant these monsters, isn't it ? " Asked Cana, bottle in hand but sober enough to follow the speech.
- "Exactly". Confirmed Stanley by putting his blouse back in place. " The Nyrans were birth from the pride of the guardians who had the boldness to consider themselves perfect while they had defects like everything else. "
- " And what is their purpose? " Asked Makarov, missing nothing of this discussion which he could not refrain from finding interesting. Stanley resumed his explanation where he'd left it.
- " They were created by accidents and had by consequence no goal. The guardians had put them aside and it was the error their mistakes. The Nyrans had no purpose and their anger towards the guardians were going to give them one. They began to destroy what the guards had created and after some time destroying, they eventually got to like it. When the guardians finally decided to act, it was too late. They had become extremely powerful and the guardians having definitely lost a part of their power in the creation of the universe, they had no way to stop them by themselves anymore. Since then, the Nyrans live for nothing more than the destruction and the conquest of everything they can get their hands on. "
- " All of this is very nice and all, but that doesn't explains why they came up to our world. " Jellal's question were more than justifiable and Kareem answered it tit for tat.
- " But it does explain it. " The mages frowned, not understanding what he meant. " They live to conquer and destroy and since they learnt to travel from a world to the another, they attack all the worlds which matches their taste. And your world is simply their new target. Furthermore, knowing that we still are their main targets, they also aimed to put their hand on everything that can help them to beat us, like any forms of powerful magics or allies. "
- " And your role in all this, what it is ? What are you for those guardians ? "
- " We are the new guardians. " Simply answered Stan. " As I said it, they had used a big portion of their powers to create our world, meaning that they were unable to fight so they chose beings to entrust their powers to so that they could fight in their stead. This is how we got our powers. "
- " But if you are the enemies of those things, why come before them to try and beat us out ? " This question asked by Gajeel is probably the one the mages wanted an answer to the most. It is THE question that was going to heavily influence the rest of the Strizers operations and they knew it. The tension stepped up a notch whereas Stan took the responsibility to answer.
- " There are 2 reasons, one for every aspect of the question. " Began Stan, taking a profound inspiration before starting. " In the first place, if we came before them, it is to make sure that they have no opportunity to prepare the ground. If they have time to prepare for the army arrival, they will be even harder to face. "
- " Is that what those scouts we saw in the North? " Cut Juvia, the memory of the black monsters with three yellow eyes returning to her.
- " Indeed. " This time, Kareem had succeeded Stan to answer to the mage. " They have for objective to collect all the possible and conceivable information so that they can provide for all contingencies when the rest of the army finally arrive here and win as much time as possible. "
- " And the other reason? Why fighting with us ? " Asked Makarov, looking tensed.
- " We had to verify if you had or not the capacities to repel this threat by yourselves. And regrettably, you aren't at the moment. "
- " And so instead of helping us, you fight us ? I admit that the logic of the thing escapes me. " Responded Laxus sarcastically, which slightly made Kareem laugh.
- " I recognize that the method was not necessarily ideal, but you can't go and dare say that it didn't helped making some of you stronger than before. "
At that, the mages didn't know what to answer and stayed silent. They thought again about all these times when the Strizers could have killed them or render them definitively unable to fight without ever going up to the end of it. For example, the Strizer of the earth could have been able to deprive definitively Gildarts of his magic, but it had only been temporary in the end. They had never understand the interest for them to behave like that but this explanation may give them a reason to all of that. They also couldn't deny that they had globally become stronger since the beginning of the 'hostilities' and just for Natsu, Happy and Lucy, the report was obvious. If Vincenzo had not said what he had told in Karista, Happy probably would have never gone to train, Natsu wouldn't have this awareness about his behavior towards the others and he wouldn't have, in front of Jameson, learnt to control his feelings. And at the same time, Lucy probably wouldn't have the strength to use the key of the Stellar Spirits King.
- " Why all the fuss just for those monsters ? Your buddy of ice destroyed the Nyrans that we saw. We would have been more than able to take care of it. " Answered Gray who broke the silence, his pride slightly hurt with the idea that he could be seen as weak.
- " He destroyed them because those were only scouts. " Answered Kareem. " do they are by far the weakest of the Nyrans. And as a Strizer, it's far more easy for us to fight them since we are from the same world. "
- " And what do you want ? That we joined our strength to face them ? " Asked Laxus disbelievingly, not amused by what both Strizers implied. At that, they both Strizers shrugged.
- " Yes, it's the idea. "
- " And you really expected us to forgive you after everything that your friends made us undergo ? "
- "No". Stan's frank answer took the mages by surprise. " I mean, it's not as if you could really have anything to say to me or Kareem because we did nothing to you. Well, almost." He said turning to Freed who was looking at him through squinted eyes. ". But I ain't going to make as if the others had not been particularly violent in some cases. "
- " You can say that again. " Answered Happy, standing on a table with Charla and Panther. " The one from the sky was ready to kill Charla. And you dare to say that you do not want to eliminate us ? "
- " We had to be credible. " Kareem defended himself. " And then, we had enough to repair if we did things really dangerous. " He plunged his hand into a pocket and taken out some kind of grey orb. " It is an object which we were offered. It allows us to return somebody or something to a previous state. If he had really killed Charla, we would have took the body and we would have used one of those things to bring her back to a time where she was alive. And keep her a prisoner so that we still can be perceived like real enemies to you. If you had doubts, you wouldn't have gone all out in our fights. "
- " So yes we have played you, yes we would have been able to go as far as killing you, yes we hurt you, but without us, most of you will not have become the one that they are today, whether it is on the physical or mental plan. " Stanley had got up, dusting his clothes off. " We don't expect you rely to become our allies that quickly, but know that you cannot face this army without help, and depending on the size of their army, even we might need help to succeed. "
This marked the end of the discussion. The mages remained silent before debating among each other, trying to make a decision. The Strizers looked at them while they made a decision, the stress going up a little in them. When they stopped their discussions, they turned as a single man to the Strizers which waited passively.
- " Let us admit that we accept your version of the facts and that we team up against these Nyrans, what would you gain ? " Asked Makarov, apparently opened to the discussion, which relieved a little the Strizers.
- " As we said, if we prevent them from making what they want here, they will have fewer weapons to fight us in our world. " Re-explained Stanley, Makarov nodding his head. " But except for a collaboration, we shall expect nothing in exchange from you. "
- " I see. But what about these monsters ? What are they really capable of ? "
The Strizers had opened their mouth, ready to answer, when the door of the guild opened suddenly. Everyone turned their head to the door in question and were faced with Daniel, the youngest Strizer who panted as if he had just run a marathon. By sprinting.
- " Dan ? What the hell are you doing here ? I thought I have told you to go with Jameson near Crocus ? " Stanley had asked his question with a certain fear, especially since the Strizer of the sky looked like he was about to faint out of stress.
- " They are already here. " The eyes of Kareem and Stanley opened wide under the shock. " Jameson sent me here and… and … You needs to go out, dude. Look at that. "
By ending his sentence, he moved away to allow Stan and Kareem to pass through the door, then all the mages, Daniel giving them a rather weird feeling 'Hey', in particular when those that he had faced, namely Wendy, Romeo, Charla, Happy and Cherrya, who gave him a dark glare. But he didn't paid any attention to it, and once outside, people understood why he was stressed. Not far from Magnolia, on the other side of the city compared to the guild, a big black and threatening mass was walking on the city, the mass in fact made of a few hundred creatures of varied and size and color.
- " It's their army, isn't it ? " Deduced Laxus, who at the same asked the shocked Strizers for confirmation.
- " Not really, it's just their basic detachment of basic soldiers. But I didn't thought that they would come so quickly and with so many individual. " Admitted Kareem, his eyes aimed at the Nyrans which approached the city.
- " You wanted to know what they were really capable of ? " Asked Stanley, turning to look at Makarov. " Well you're about to see it for yourself. Take a seat … " He wrinkled his fingers where sparks appeared " … And enjoy the show. "
Here is the 24th chapter, one of my favorite number but that wasn't as lucky as I thought because I lacked some inspiration. Don't worry, I'll be upgrading the next chapter. It is necessary to say that my week not was that simple so please excuse me if the quality have lowered in this one. Despite that, I'll see you next time !
Next time: Reasons part 2. The lightning and the desert bring the big guns out. Alliance or complications ?