Hideout, Summer Time,
Year X792
Sting Eucliffe
We all stood about the somewhat derelict hotel room with a mixture of boredom and anticipation. We knew what was coming, and how important it could be for our guilds, however that still didn't mean we had to enjoy every stage of Arthur's plan. In order to 'sell the illusion' that both Sabertooth and Fairy Tail had been hired to protect this 'artefact' brooch, both Natsu and I, alongside Gray and Rogue, had remained 'posted' in this old hotel building all day. It seemed alright, even fun, initially, however as the hours built up, boredom finally set in and all four of us grew quiet, resigning ourselves to our own minds. A little earlier, Natsu had tried to distract me with suggestions that we should engage in some 'fun' activities in a neighbouring room, however I shot that idea down; I was still a little tired from yesterday, and the importance of our task meant that I couldn't feel entirely comfortable slacking off with something like that. Not to mention the fact Rogue, and maybe Gray, would probably hear us I had added mentally.
I sighed loudly and checked my watch. "Still another twenty minutes before Arthur should arrive" I commented aloud. A grumble of acknowledgement sounded out across the room. Looking around I noticed that Natsu had assumed a position lying on the floor, whilst Gray and Rogue hovered near to each other closer toward the door. A faint flicker of amusement passed over my face as I watched the pair, memories of Natsu's earlier suggestion making me chuckle. "Do you two wanna go somewhere?" I asked the two, raising my eyebrow at them, "Maybe somewhere more private?" I added slyly. Gray frowned at me, whilst Rogue looked annoyed.
"We're not doing anything" the Shadow Dragon stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Gray nodded in support of this.
I smirked before speaking. "Really, then why've you both edged so close to the door, planning on guarding this precious heirloom piece from all the way over there, hmmm?" I inquired sarcastically. Ever since we had been caught in bed yesterday by my black-haired flatmate, the pair of boyfriend-mages had done nothing but poke fun at Natsu and me, teasing us for what we did, even though we had already caught them in a relatively compromising position back in Magnolia.
"It's not like we're not guarding it. However, how are you supposed to be guarding it, Natsu, from there on the floor" Rogue commented, drawing attention to my own boyfriend. I sighed, unfortunately Rogue was right.
Gray gave a slight smirk. "It's not the first time you wouldn't have been ready to protect something, right flame brain?" the Ice Mage laughed. Natsu narrowed his eyes at Gray.
"What ya sayin' popsicle?" he barked in a mildly offended tone of voice.
Gray scoffed. "What I'm saying is, you're a terrible guard. Remember that job to protect that museum piece whilst it was on display, or how about the time you were supposed to be guarding that camp of merchants with me, eh?" Gray stated, earning a slightly annoyed grunt from the Fire Dragon Slayer. I decided to watch with amusement, although I loved Natsu, I found it interesting to hear about at least a few of his shortcomings from time to time. Natsu muttered something inaudible, which made Gray laugh more. "You destroyed the museum, and those merchants ended up being captured by bandits" he stated, finishing the point he had started making. Natsu frowned.
"Yeah, but it didn't matter anyway, I saved them, didn't I?" he retorted, Gray sighed.
"Yeah, but that wasn't what you were hired to do, was it, you stupid pink-haired lizard" he commented in response. Natsu jumped up and glared at the dark-haired Ice Mage, before looking to me for support. I chuckled.
"Hey, don't look at me, pinky" I said to him, earning a confused expression.
"But Stiiiiiiiing" he whined, taking a step closer to me, "You're supposed to be my boyfriend and support me in this" he stated. I rolled my eyes and reached out to pat his shoulder comfortingly.
"Well, I would support ya, but… I kind of agree with Gray in this. Besides, you two shouldn't be arguing anyway, it'd be better if you just at least acted civil, so I'm not gonna help start a fight" I replied, putting on a mature tone of voice. Natsu pouted and folded his arms over sulkily.
I noticed Rogue smirk over at me. "At least we don't fight like this" he stated. I nodded.
"And that's why we're the best team in all of Fiore" I responded. Gray raised an eyebrow at this and shook his head.
"I may not get on with Natsu, but there's no way you two can think you're better than us in a two-on-two fight" he stated. Natsu looked over to Gray at hearing this, before looking back to me, a grin on his face.
"Hmmm…" he muttered in an interested manner.
I gave a wide-mouthed look of surprise at Gray's insinuation. "You're challenging the Twin Dragons, there's a reason we have that name you know. We are the best team in Fiore" I barked at Gray. The Ice Mage raised his eyebrows and looked to Rogue, obviously seeking his opinion. The Shadow Dragon Slayer just shrugged his shoulders.
"Sting's right, we do have a lot of practice working together… whilst you and Natsu…" he trailed off, leaving the obvious unsaid. Gray huffed.
"You're taking Sting's side in this over mine?!" he barked annoyedly, before pacing over to where Natsu was. The pinkette looked to Gray with an expression of relative understanding.
"I know, it's annoying isn't it. You can see why everyone thinks they're a couple. They take each other's side in everything" Natsu mused, before shooting me a wicked glance.
I scowled back at him. "What are you saying Natsu, you want me to abandon my friendship with Rogue or something?" I asked the pinkette. Natsu shrugged.
"No, I was just making an observation" he stated, before looking between Rogue and me. He then wore a bright grin as he asked his next question. "Just out of interest though, have you two ever… you know… tried to get together? I mean you're both gay… and well…" he let the question hang in the air. I gave a face of shock at Natsu's, and looked to Gray to see how he felt about Natsu asking such a thing. The Ice Mage, however, just smiled.
"I have been wondering the same thing" he stated, looking over to Rogue. The Shadow Dragon Slayer looked to me for a moment, before rolling his eyes.
"No, we haven't done anything like that" he said. I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I mean… well, we have been to dinner before, but that was just when we needed to eat, and Rogue couldn't be bothered to cook" I added on. Gray and Natsu looked to me with surprise as I mentioned this. Oh crap… that sounded like we dated, doesn't it? I cursed internally, as I saw their expressions. Natsu frowned at me for a second, before cocking his head to the side.
"Sting, what's that glowing in your pocket?" he asked me a little distractedly. I almost burst out with an explanation for what I had just said, before my mind caught up and processed Natsu's question.
Looking down at my own trousers I noticed a slight red light, and fished into my pocket to find the source. Closing my fingers around it, I pulled out small lacrima. I took a moment to remember what this meant, before I checked my watch. "Oh, right… that means Arthur's tripped one of the alarm-traps Minerva put in place. It's time" I stated, before turning off the lacrima and replacing it in my pocket.
Once I was finished with that, I looked back to Natsu and Gray, who still stood grinning. "Anyways… what were we talking about?" I asked, hoping that they had already forgotten about the embarrassing confession I had just made. Gray, however grinned.
Then the explosion happened.
/
Hideout Top Floor, Summer Time,
Year X792
General Perspective
Arthur ran along the length of the corridor, ignoring the remaining alarm lacrima, jumping over the two too-obvious trip wires, before stopping with his back against the wall on one side of the door to the target room. The blond thief-wizard took a breath to calm himself. No need to panic, this is just… an interesting change of pace he thought to himself; Instead of tricking them during my retreat outside, we're going to have to face them down in here. I suppose I should be thankful that this makes the job easier he smirked, before righting his shirt collar, and suit jacket. Then with a final nod, the Zollzero Mage conjured up his magic and teleported to the other side of the door. May as well at least look like I attempted to covertly enter the place he thought.
The inside of the room was a complete mess. What had originally been a spacious function room, with large table and numerous chairs all coated in dust, was now a battle-torn scar of its former self, and in the centre of it all stood a vast, cavernous hole that seemed to reach all the way down to the ground floor. "What the hell happened in here?!" Arthur barked as he saw the state of the place. Looking to his right, the blond wizard immediately noted the huddled group of three Dragon Slayers and one Maker Mage. They all nodded to him in recognition, before fixing their eyes toward the hole.
"Guess you missed the party" Sting commented upon noting the Spatial Mage's presence. Arthur frowned, before a wicked laugh sounded out around the room.
"The guest of honour has finally arrived" a voice called out from the darkness of the hole. Arthur gave a muttered curse, before calling on his magic in preparation for any possible attack that could come.
"Who are you? Or rather would you prefer I ask, to which member of the Blade Troupe am I speaking?" Arthur called out in a flat, level tone of voice that left no emotion in his words. The laugh sounded out again, before it was joined by several others. Hearing the cacophony, Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Surely not… all of you?" he mumbled in a barely audible tone. Natsu, Sting and the others all looked to Arthur with intrigue, their minds already having gone passed shock or surprise at the sudden explosion only a moment ago and instead had become more interested in knowing exactly what, or who, their opponent was.
The laughing chorus remained for about a minute, before five figures leapt up from the hole and landed perfectly in a line around its rim. Arthur analysed the five faces with a frown, before cursing under his breath. "So, it is all of you" he stated unwelcomely. Sting and the others saw the figures and each of them took a slight inhaled breath.
The group before them was not a particularly imposing bunch, not one of them screamed 'dangerous', however they all had a bladed weapon of some sort visible on their person. Natsu and Sting's eyes both locked onto the same individual simultaneously; the leader of the group. "You!" they barked in unison, before taking a step forward, drawing level with Arthur. The leader smirked at the duo, before giving a slightly exaggerated bow.
"Why, hello again my dear puppets. I hope you are faring well" the black-haired man said. Arthur looked at the pair of Dragon Slayers for a moment, holding out his hands to stop either of them from making a foolish move. The Zollzero wizard was already aware of the Blade Troupe's leader's actions at Hargeon, as well as his capture of, and subsequent escape from, the Fire and White Dragon Slayers. "Keep calm, you two. One wrong move and you'll end up in two, rather equal, halves" Arthur said, verbalising this warning. Natsu and Sting both looked to Arthur, before steeling their gazes and returning them back toward the five opponents. Their eyes did remain somewhat fixated on the black-haired leader, who wore only a deep navy shirt, black trousers and shoes, along with the ever-present rapier-like blade slotted into a loop at his hip. Arthur silently thanked that the Dragon Slayers did not argue back. At least they recognise the danger here… we're in an enclosed space with five sword masters. And we can't even allow ourselves to be so much as scratched or else… Arthur didn't even bother to finish his train of thought, as the black-haired sabre wielder stepped forward a little.
"Right, now that we have at least revealed ourselves, perhaps you would like to explain why you went to such lengths to lure us out, eh… Arthur Zollzero" the man spat the name like it was poison.
Arthur narrowed his gaze as he heard the other man speak. "You would ask me something like that? Surely you do it in jest? No?" the black-haired man gave no response to Arthur's comments, which made the Zollzero give a mock look of insult. "So, you are going to deny the threat you place upon the Zollzero businesses, and on these guilds behind me?" he tried a slightly different tactic to get the Troupe to speak. This was more successful, as two of the other members, a burly man with a greatsword strapped to his back, and the same red-haired man that had been present in Magnolia, each smiled.
The leader looked at these two members for a moment, before smiling also. "Well… perhaps we wouldn't deny that we have placed a few thorns into the Zollzero family's side, as well as a few stones onto your sibling's paths" he said in a sly tone. Arthur snorted derisively.
"A few stones in perhaps putting it lightly. Taking a small subsection of the population of Magnolia Town and turning them into a mob to be sent against us is…a rather large boulder to be put in our path, annoyingly" Arthur commented. The black-haired man smiled at the slight compliment to their strategy. Arthur used this to his advantage. "But then again… it was foiled before it really begun. And of course, now I've managed to force all of you into a nice straight-up fight with no hostages. An ideal opportunity" Arthur grinned. The Troupe leader's smile did not waver for a second. His burliest companion, however, fell for the taunt and took a step forward, growling.
Arthur took that to mean he had won their exchange of words. The black-haired man held up his hand to stop his companion, before glancing about the room. "You say that your trap is ideal, yet if I were to compare it to your brother Edric's, I would say his was far more sophisticated, with a greater chance of success" the leader commented. This comment earned a smirk of approval from the other members of the Troupe, especially the red-head.
Arthur did not lose momentum. "Likewise, though, if I were to say… compare your schemes to hire thugs to undermine Zollzero businesses with your little plan in Magnolia, I could easily say that the latter was much too complicated and with numerous risks and holes that could easily be exploited" Arthur countered. The black-haired leader shrugged.
"Some great plans are prone to such weaknesses" he stated, before looking over Arthur's shoulder towards Gray and Rogue behind, who had each assumed a position nearer the door to cut off at least one escape route. "However, enough about plans and schemes. I think now is as good a time as any to introduce ourselves, since I'm sure you Zollzero's will not have even bothered to tell these guild wizards our names" the leader added with a more pleasant smile. Arthur frowned, before shrugging, waving his hand dismissively.
"Go ahead, knowing your name will not stop these guys from beating your head in" he stated glibly, gesturing to Natsu and Sting at either side of him. "You've already earned their contempt" he added.
The leader smirked. "Well, I suppose that is true" he agreed with a nod, before directing his gaze towards the other four Mages present. "However, just for formalities sake, we stand before you as the group known as the Blade Troupe. I am their leader, the one known as the brains of this operation, Hugo" he bowed graciously.
Next to Hugo, the burly member grunted and folded his arms over his bare chest. Unlike his well-dressed comrade/leader, this brute wore only an open-fronted, sleeveless leather jacket as well as leather trousers and big heavy boots. His heavy-set eyes were bloodshot, whilst his bushy eyebrows and longer mane of silvery hair made him look like some half-wild animal. "I'm Argent" he said in a blunt, aggressive tone. Natsu immediately began eyeing him up; he was always quick to accept any perceived challenge or tackle any threat. Sting smirked slightly noticing his boyfriend's anticipation.
After the greatsword wielder, the red-head spoke next. "I'm Caspian, and of course, we have met before, when you so ruined my fun in Magnolia" he stated, before flicking his head back and running a hand through his auburn-red hair, pink eyes analysing each person intentally as his gaze swept around the room. Caspian wore a deep blue cloak around his body, the same cloak he had worn when he had been found at the bar back at Magnolia, this time with the hood down. As he moved small flashes of blue showed that he wore some sort of waistcoat and white pants beneath the fabric cloak. Sting narrowed his eyes at the red-head; something about his attitude really annoyed the White Dragon Slayer, although he could not place what it was. He's dangerous though… the way he looks at you is like he's trying to read your thoughts or something Sting thought to himself. Caspian grinned, before looking over to another of their companions, a shorter man with wild, brown hair and a small dagger in a sheath at his side. "Not going to introduce yourself? I would've thought you'd be dying to bark out at these weaklings" Caspian commented with a wicked grin.
The dagger-wielder shrugged, before smirking. "Just leaving some of the best for last" he stated, voice edged with a slight aura of superiority. This guy's definitely the strongest Natsu thought as he heard the younger man speak. "Anyways, worms like you lot should bow down before me. The name's Andor, but knowing that doesn't mean anything since you're all gonna be dead soon" he stated. Andor appeared to be the youngest in the group, about the same age as Sting, and whilst his tone was confident, his eyes seemed like they were trying to size up each person to figure out who was the strongest potential opponent. Arthur glowered at the teenage Troupe member, who just smirked, before brushing imaginary dirt off of his grey vest. Aside from his age, other things about Andor seemed similar to Sting, including his choice of clothing. The teens wore a grey vest that only just about reached his mid-section, leaving his own muscular abdomen exposed, along with red fur outlining the openings for the arms. Unlike Sting's vest, however, Andor's was closed at the front, and he also did not wear suspenders. He also wore black shorts and grey-and-red trainers. Rogue was vaguely amused by the similarities between the Sabertooth Guildmaster and the younger wizard.
Finally, the last remaining member of the troupe spoke; another brunette, this time wielding a longsword-like blade. "My name is Vance" the man said, "I am the final member of our troupe, and wielder of this longsword. Your names are unimportant to me, although I already know you each individually" he added with a flat tone of voice. Gray narrowed his eyes at the last member; his blunted speech, and tone reminded him of Lyon somewhat, although perhaps his fellow Ice Mage was a little more pleasant. Vance glanced around the group momentarily, before placing a hand on the sword at his hip. "Should we not proceed on to the next part?" he asked, directing this toward their leader, now known as Hugo.
Hugo smiled at his comrade, before shrugging. "In due course. Now… where were we?" he turned his head to meet Arthur's stony gaze.
"I believe you were going to reveal your plans to me, then we were going to capture and subsequently deal with you all. Perhaps permanently" Arthur commented in a frost-laden voice. Hugo shook his head.
"Ah yes, I remember now" he mused, before giving a slightly hollow laugh. "Anyways, threat aside, as far as our plans go, we hope for what we always do" Hugo commented with an arched eyebrow, earning a scowl from Arthur.
Sting took the initiative to speak up. "And that is?" he questioned the black-haired rapier-wielder.
Hugo gave another laugh, more real this time though. "Why, the destruction of the current Zollzero family, their business, and their entire syndicate, not to mention the murder of that damnable father of yours, Arthur" Hugo stated in an impassioned voice. Sting looked between Arthur and Hugo for a moment, before frowning.
"So why target us, or our guilds… or even the townsfolk, they have nothing to do with your petty feud?" the blond asked the Troupe leader, eyes confused but only loosely veiling the anger and contempt he felt towards both Hugo, and his group as a whole. Methods aside, Sting still couldn't help but hate the man for what he had made Natsu and himself go through.
Hugo smirked at the question, before looking between Sting and Natsu. "You mean, how long have I been using pawns like you or your little boyfriend there?" Hugo corrected Sting, who growled. Natsu narrowed his eyes and Sting noticed the pinkette's legs tense, ready to pounce. The action did not go unnoticed by the Blade Troupe or Arthur either. "Well… perhaps fourteen years, since the war started" Hugo answered at last, giving Sting a little smirk.
Natsu growled loudly at the insinuation. "You mean you've been making people suffer for all that time!" he barked at the Troupe, before taking an angry step forward. Arthur moved his hand up to stop Natsu once again, however the Fire Dragon Slayer was a hard beast to pacify. "Stay calm" Sting and Arthur said to Natsu in unison. A chuckle sounded out as both wizards acted to stop their ally.
"Well, looks like were not the only group with a wild animal, eh, Argie?" Caspian commented in an amused tone. The burly guy beside the red-head just grunted, ignoring the fact he was also being called a wild animal. The red-headed figure grinned brightly. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, after seeing him fight those mobs I put in their way in Magnolia" Caspian reasoned with a disseminating shrug.
Natsu maintained eye-contact with the black-haired leader for a few long moments, before finally sighing and relaxing, a little at least. "Hmph… I will punch that face in one day" he stated, "And I'm gonna turn that sword into a pile of ashes whilst I'm at it" he added smugly.
Hugo just raised an amused eyebrow. "Hmm… well, that'll be an interesting day" he stated, before finally returning his attention to Arthur. The Spatial Mage smiled brightly.
"It could be today, you know" Arthur said, earning another laugh from the whole Troupe.
Hugo shrugged. "Well, that all depends on how this goes, doesn't it. How is your arm by the way, Natsu Dragneel?" the black-haired man smiled. Natsu frowned for a moment at the question, looking over his arms, before his mind dredge up the appropriate memory; the miniscule cut beneath his guild mark. Smirking, Natsu looked back at Hugo. "It's already healed, so much for your 'curse', hah!" he responded.
Hugo chuckled. "The curse remains longer than the cut, boy" he replied. Natsu narrowed his eyes at the man once again, however he was not as angry as a moment ago, and so did not tense up. Seeing that they wouldn't have to be worrying over a rabid Fire Dragon at that minute, Rogue took the opportunity to ask the question that had just struck him.
"What is this about curses? Do they have some special magical power, or are they demons like those Tartaros members?" the Shadow Dragon Slayer spoke up from the wizards back-line. Arthur glanced over his shoulder, to answer the question.
"It's not that they have any particular magic, however their swords are a different matter. This group before us each uses a special magic-infused blade that will impart a long-lasting 'curse' of sorts when it cuts or even barely grazes you" Arthur explained hurriedly. Hugo scoffed at the description.
"It's a little more than a simple 'curse', or blades are the ultimate weapons in close combat, and you know it" Hugo declared, to a mutter of agreement from his cohort. Rogue and Gray both looked to each other as they absorbed this information.
"So… Natsu's been cut before?" Gray asked, looking to his pink-haired guildmate. Natsu didn't look back to meet the Ice Mage's gaze, although he knew it was on him.
Sting, on the other hand, did. "It was a little while ago, when we went on that beach job. It shouldn't cause an issue now, I mean… you can resist the control, right Natsu?" Sting looked to the pinkette too as he suddenly realised the slight wariness that was becoming more evident on both Rogue and Gray's faces. Natsu smiled confidently, before nodding.
"Right, no stupid curse is gonna get to me!" he declared. Hugo frowned at the pinkette's show of bravado.
"We will see, Dragon Slayer" he responded, before Arthur decided to interject; the Spatial Mage hoped that Natsu's declaration would've shaken their black-haired opponent enough to throw them off balance.
"So, you see Hugo, we are not bothered by your powers" he stated, earning the Troupe leader's attention once again. Hugo shook his head, but said nothing, instantly recognising the trap in Arthur's words; the trap that would get him to admit the weakness of his own abilities. Arthur sighed, before shrugging, aware that his ploy had failed. Instead of following through with his last statement, the blond Zollzero attempted a different tactic. This talk was becoming tedious, however as all he was doing now was stalling for long enough for the secret spell had been weaving to take effect, he would try to keep it going for as long as possible. "Regardless… I am lead to wonder if the lies I spread yesterday were ever believed by you, even for a second?" he mused. Hugo chuckled, before shaking his head.
"Do you really think you could fool the Blade Troupe with such a simple trick?" he asked, rhetorically. Arthur smiled and replied all the same.
"Well, technically at least Caspian there fell for the same technique when Edric and Medea spread rumours in Magnolia about their presence in that bar" Arthur retorted. Caspian sputtered at the comment, however Hugo raised his hand to silence his comrade.
"I suppose that's true" he agreed, sending a slightly withering glare towards the red-head, who immediately shrank back. "However," Hugo returned his attention to Arthur, "He has learned from his mistake, and all of our remaining members will remember never to believe a lie spread by you or one of your siblings" Hugo stated, a little venom edging into his words.
The red-headed scimitar user smirked beside his leader. "Your lie wasn't all that convincing either, certainly not as much as Edric's, I mean… what are the chances that another Zollzero would just so happen to be in the same town that we were, so soon after I was chased out of Magnolia, hmmmm?" he commented cockily. Hugo nodded, earning a look of contempt from Arthur.
"Well, say what you like but I still managed to get what I wanted in you coming here" Arthur replied, before cocking his head, as if listening for something. The blond-haired male then smiled. Hugo immediately frowned upon seeing Arthur's grin.
"What are you smiling for?" he asked in a more up-front tone. Arthur chuckled, before looking around at Sting, Natsu, Gray and Rogue.
"Nothing much, save the sound of our victory" Arthur replied. Hugo furrowed his brow for a moment, before glancing around the room.
"You've used some damnable power to trap us here?" the black-haired rapier-wielder commented. Arthur nodded in response, earning a muttered curse from the other man. "Well, I suppose should have factored this into our plan. Damn it!" Hugo barked, before looking around to his compatriots, as if deciding what to do.
Sting took the moment of distraction to lean in close to Arthur. "What exactly did you do?" the White Dragon Slayer asked the other blond. Arthur shot Sting a confident grin.
"I used Territory to slowly form a bubble around this whole building, trapping them in here with us" Arthur explained. Sting pouted for a moment, before smiling.
"Minerva uses a similar skill when trying to prevent people we've been hired to capture from escaping too" the blond stated, before frowning again "But doesn't that take a lot of time to prepare?" he asked. Arthur's smile faded for a moment.
"Well… yes, usually. My Territory Lock wasn't going to be finished in time, however I just heard some noise downstairs, it seems Minerva and Yukino have moved into another position after realising our issue, and finished off the lock for me, thereby speeding the process up" Arthur answered. Sting beamed with pride at hearing these words.
"Well, that's m'lady for you" he responded, before sending his eye over to Natsu. The pinkette seemed to have been listening as well, since he now wore his own signature smile, this time tinged with confidence along with eagerness for the fight to come. Gray and Rogue both just listened silently from behind, each acutely aware of the likelihood that their own guildmate may jump out to attack at any provocation; they both knew their respective partners well enough to expect some sudden attack, but were also happy to hear that their opponents escape was cut off. As Arthur returned his gaze over to the Blade Troupe, the five weapon users all smiled.
Then Hugo stepped forward once more. "It pains me that you have managed to lay such an annoying, full proof trap, however… I would have been lying if I said it didn't occur to me to prepare my own counter measure for such an issue" Hugo grinned. Arthur's face immediately went slack with the confidence in their opponent's tone.
"There can't be… there's no way you've put some kind of plan in place to escape this. So long as you're within my Territory Magic, I control all the aspects of space here. If I wanted I could make everything appear bright pink with polka dots… I can sap the magic from those blades and stop you from using your powers" Arthur mumbled, earning a chuckle of amusement from Hugo. The Blade Troupe leader then shrugged.
"That's true" he commented, before raising an eyebrow, "However this is not just your Territory is it, you damnable Zollzero?" Hugo continued. Suddenly it struck Arthur what the Troupe's plan was, and he groaned angrily. A moment later the five enemies all disappeared in a rapidly disappearing bubble of Territory Magic. Sting and the other's looked on at the sight, confusion clear in all their minds, whilst Arthur stomped his foot so hard the old wooden plank beneath him gave way, and he had to sidestep in order to avoid falling into another hole made in the floor.
The Blade Troupe had escaped.
/
Yukino woke, bound tight with rope, but otherwise unharmed, upon the steps of the derelict hotel's stairwell. She saw no other figures around her, save the only other person she had arrived there with; Minerva. "What on Earthland?" she muttered with a slight hint of surprise. "Minerva?"
The Spatial Mage remained quiet, looking out towards the doorway, as if concentrating greatly upon something. Yukino sensed a great amount of magical energy flooding the area around her, all seemingly emanating from her fellow guildmate. "Minerva?" she repeated, trying to garner the other wizard's attention. There was no reply. What is with her, I thought we came here to finish off the Territory spell she sensed being cast on the building? Yukino tried to piece together what happened, however her memory was still fuzzy; she could not remember anything after first entering the building.
Suddenly, a shimmering red portal opened up in the space to the right of the silent Sabertooth Spatial Mage. Yukino had to shield her eyes from the bright light that emanated from the space, however through her half-lidded eyes she saw two people emerge, both of which were easily recognised by her. "Sting, Natsu" she called out.
Immediately, Minerva moved, jerking down as one of the figures leapt upon her, bright white light crashing into her side as a softened blow struck at her. The Territory wizard did not even cry out. The other figure ran towards her, pink hair covered in dust, but otherwise as messy and unruly as always. "You okay?" Natsu asked Yukino in a blunt tone, mind clearly preoccupied with other things. Yukino nodded.
"Yes, but… what happened? We came here because Minerva sensed Territory Magic and we assumed it was Arthur, then… I woke up like this. Why is Sting attacking her?" the Celestial wizard's mind rocked with questions, however Natsu did not have time to answer her.
"Well, stuff happened. A lot of stuff. We'll tell you in a minute, just help us wake Minerva up first" the pinkette stated, before helping Yukino to her feet. The white-haired woman nodded, from Natsu's tone she could tell that whatever they were doing was necessary; plus, Yukino could tell something was wrong with Minerva anyways, due to the other woman's strange behaviour and quiet demeanour.
"Alright" she said to the Fire Dragon Slayer, before coming up to the unconscious Minerva's side. Sting knelt beside the Spatial Mage, his eyes looking up to meet Yukino's as the woman approached. "Sting, what's going on?" she asked him. Sting gave a serious look, one rarely seen by his guildmate's except in the direst of circumstances.
"Minerva helped the enemy escape, we need to wake her up in order to figure out where they've gone. Arthur, Rogue and Gray have already headed out. Arthur's trying to see if there's any residual trace of energy he can follow, whilst Rogue's trying to track the scent" Sting informed Yukino as he hoisted Minerva up so her head was resting on his knee. Natsu remained standing, in case any of their opponents remained within the building and would try to attack them. Yukino knelt on the other side of Minerva, looking into the slack-but-beautiful face. She noted the slight glow of a stigmata, and realised that Minerva was being prevented from moving by Sting's power.
"If we need to wake her up, we could try using water by summoning Pisces" Yukino suggested, already grasping the situation at hand rather well, despite having been unconscious only moments earlier. Sting looked to her and nodded.
"Alright, but summon them outside, they're so big that it'd probably bring this whole place crashing down otherwise" the White Dragon Slayer smirked. Yukino nodded, a slight smile touching her own features at Sting's upbeat nature, despite the situation at hand.
A few moments later, and one hell of a racket outside, Yukino returned with Pisces, in human form, trailing behind her. "Alright, stand back" the female 'mother' Celestial Spirit stated upon entering. Yukino and the others stood a little way away from Minerva, alongside the 'son' Spirit. "Don't forget, we're not trying to hurt her" Yukino said just before the Spirit used her power. Mother Pisces nodded.
"I know" she said, before holding out her hand. Calling upon her magical power, the Zodiac Fish-Spirit conjured up a foot-ball sized sphere of icy cold water, before carefully making it float above Minerva's head. "And now…" she let the ball go, allowing it fall downwards and over Minerva. The Territory Mage shot awake with a start. Sting immediately removed the stigmata he had placed upon her so she could sit up.
"Who the-" she began, before catching herself, looking around confusedly. Minerva's eyes locked with Sting's, before furrowing her brow. "What happened?" she asked instantly.
Sting smiled. "Welcome back" he stated, before rubbing the back of his head, "Although… there's a lot we need to discuss, let's go back to the guild" he added after a moment.
Minerva continued frowning, but got up nonetheless, adhering to Sting's request. Yukino thanked Pisces for their assistance, before the group left for the guild to rendezvous with Arthur.
After all their trouble, they had gained nothing from their venture, and worse, still had a debt to be paid since they had failed in their mission to capture one of the Blade Troupe.
A complete and utter failure… Sting thought bitterly.
/
It was an hour later before Arthur and the others returned to the guild with defeated looks on their faces. In order to avoid anyone asking odd questions, the blond Zollzero wizard used his powers to create a portal straight to Sting's office. Sting was already slumped in a chair, Natsu hovering nearby. The defeated look on the White Dragon's face was annoying the pinkette, however with Minerva and Yukino there, he knew he could not act on his impulses and try to make Sting feel better. "Well… that was a waste of time" Arthur commented upon entering, Rogue and Gray each looked as worn out as Arthur, they had been chasing any lead they could find; however, it was all for nought.
"We looked over everywhere in town I could think of, however they've completely vanished" Rogue stated, as he slumped against the wall. Sting sighed and looked to his partner sympathetically.
"It's alright, I know you did everything you could. To be honest, once they escaped I kinda figured that they wouldn't be easily traced" Sting commented. Arthur nodded, however this did not lighten the mood at all.
"Yes, I suspected as much too. This was all pre-planned by them" he said, moving over to a position in the centre of the room so he could speak to each and every person with ease.
"I've been trying to remember when they managed to cut me, if that is how they control people, however I just don't know. Nothing comes to mind" Minerva stated with an annoyed tone of voice. Arthur nodded, before holding his chin in a thinking pose.
"Since it affected you so much, it's likely they didn't do multiple cuts, but rather combined two of their powers. I assume you were unconscious, yes?" he directed this inquiry toward Sting and Natsu, who both nodded.
"Yeah, like at Magnolia" Sting replied. Arthur nodded once more.
"As I suspected. I believe, what they have done is cut you three times whilst you were asleep. First with Hugo's rapier, in order to implant the command for you to fall asleep, then with Caspian's scimitar to control you whilst asleep, and finally with Andor's knife" Arthur hypothesised. Sting raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"What's that guy's power, he seemed really confident and there were definitely some strong traces of power on his scent" Sting commented. The blond shrugged.
"He can control perception, that is your ability to see, smell, hear, talk, and touch. He can't control all of them at once, but can control them in tandem if he has cut you multiple times. My guess was that they used his power to prevent Minerva from being able to see the cuts they implanted on her so she wouldn't notice them, whilst making sure the cuts wouldn't be noticeable to others either. That way, once they healed the secrecy of what they did would be maintained" Arthur explained. Sting frowned upon hearing this.
"So, could they have done that to other people in Sabertooth?" he asked. Natsu narrowed his eyes.
"Or Fairy Tail?" he added on. Arthur frowned, before shrugging once more.
"I can't be sure, however since they had Minerva tie Yukino up and knock her out, I'm guessing that they've only done it to a handful of people at most" Arthur stated. Natsu growled instantly at this.
"So, why haven't they done it to me and Sting, since they've seen us and they know we're after them?" he barked.
Arthur pouted, before smiling. "It'd probably be really hard to sneak up on a Dragon Slayer even when asleep, because of your acute senses… or at least they probably think so. Also, since they've already cut you once Natsu, it's likely Hugo doesn't want to waste time cutting you again, since conflicting commands given by his curse would cancel each other out" Arthur reasoned. Sting smirked upon hearing this. They don't know how hard it is to wake Natsu up… he thought with vague amusement, before seriousness settled into his mind once more.
"What about the debt then, I take it we still have to pay in full" Sting asked Arthur. The blond Zollzero wizard folded his arms, before narrowing his eyes at Sting.
"I was aware of what Edric said, however it is unlikely I could allow your guilds to go without paying without any captives" Arthur began, before smiling slightly, "However as this was outside of your control, and since it was not by your failure, but the failure of my plan, that this all occurred, I am willing to leverage a small amount off of the total" Arthur stated, "With my authority as a Zollzero of course."
Sting smiled at hearing this, before looking around at the group. Although the sting of defeat still hit everyone there hard, having that slight benefit was a good morale boost. "Okay, we can discuss the debt later to iron out details" he beamed. Well, we may not have wiggled our way out of the whole sum, but at least some of it has been levied he reasoned internally.
Arthur smiled alongside Sting. "That's fine with me, all I want now is a stiff drink and a lie down. Using my magic all 'round town really drained me, not to mention casting that Territory Lock" he chuckled.
Sting nodded. "That can be arranged. We'll all have a drink, right?" he looked around. Natsu, Gray, and Rogue all nodded, although the two ladies seemed more reluctant. Minerva smiled.
"I think I'd rather cook my stress away" she commented. Sting almost cheered.
"Well that's even better" he stated happily.
If one thing was able to lift Sting's spirits it was the deliciousness of Minerva's cooking.
Well, that, and fucking around with Natsu.
But we can get to that later Sting smirked to himself, whilst eyeing up his boyfriend walking beside him discretely. Natsu noticed the look, and gave his own hooded wink in return.
/
On the outskirts of town, five figures crowded around, their eyes all glinting with mischief. "Well, we didn't manage to finish up our plan here" Andor commented. Vance sighed.
"And it was so close to completion. Did you think it was worth it to reveal ourselves to Arthur and his group, Hugo?" the longsword-wielder asked their black-haired leader. The rapier-wielder smirked, before shrugging his shoulders.
"Although I don't think coming back to our two little leaders without captives for a second time will go down well" Caspian mumbled, voice edged with a little fear; as he had also failed in his previous scheme, he was right to share in Hugo's worry. The black-haired male still smiled all the same, despite the comments.
"It will be fine, this all falls within the predictions I forwarded to the Young Masters" he replied, before looking over toward Argent and Andor. "And since it's come to this, we'll be moving on with Plan D, understand you two?" he narrowed his gaze at the pair. Argent nodded regimentally, however Andor pouted.
"I could probably capture them single-handedly, if I wanted" the youngest member's voice stung of injured pride and somewhat well-founded confidence.
Hugo's smile dropped at the childish comment. "You will not do anything to compromise this, our rightful return is almost at hand, and with only a few more weeks of preparation. I will not let you bring ruin to our decade of planning and careful manipulation" the black-haired leader's tone turned cold and venomous, his gaze becoming hard and dangerous. None of the Troupe members moved a muscle, not one even took a breath, less the careful façade their leader put up shattered and his true, deadly, personality was unleased upon them.
Andor then hung his head in defeat, and with a heavy sigh uttered a barely audible apology. Hugo took one last long glare at the child, before a smile returned to his features. "Right, let's get going. I need to discuss matters with the twins about our next move. For now, let's all keep a low profile" Hugo stated, before looking around the group.
They all nodded, shaking slightly from the lingering dread left over from Hugo's sudden transformation.
Not one of them had ever seen the black-haired man get truly angry, however they had heard the stories, and they knew that from his sudden, violent reaction, their time was coming close at hand. Even Andor, impatient and childish as he was, decided it was better to wait the short while that remained, rather than to make a move on his own and risk incurring Hugo's wrath.
After all, they had formed their group for one reason; to completely and utterly overthrow the Zollzero family, and the finally complete their own grand revenge.
Soon, very soon… Hugo smirked to himself as he began the long trek back to the designated rendezvous point.
Soon, we can prove our Master wrong… and then everything will be as it should… soon…
End of Chapter 22
Chapter Hint; Parting