6th Chapter
A few years later, right after Juvia's sixth birthday, Zephyr Hearts' second-in-command awoke from her coma, claiming to feel better than ever before and acting as if nothing had ever happened to her. Just like Cornelia had predicted, she instantly returned to her tight schedule of jobs and journeys and she was not heard off for many months until a short letter reached her brother. But this was normal for her and therefore, no one considered it noteworthy or even strange.
But it was also the time when Cana and Juvia finally reached an important conclusion for their lives, a conclusion that would change many things for the following years.
"Cana-nee… Juvia wants to join Fairy Tail too," blue-haired Water Mage said. "You and Laxus-kun are members as well and dad said that it will be fun for me to be there too."
"I think so as well, Ju-nee-chan," Cana said, grabbing her adopted sister's hand. "We will be happy … and we will be strong mages – just like our parents and Laxus-kun. We will make them all proud of us – I promise, Ju-nee-chan."
"Do you think that Auntie Nameless will come back soon?" the younger girl asked, holding onto her sister's hand as they ran over the meadow. "She has been so unhappy, even before she was injured … Juvia really wants her to be happy now…"
"She will happier one day," Cana said, smiling cheerfully. "She will find an amazing name for herself and then, she will come home and everyone will be able to say something like … Welcome home, Aunty Thunderstorm – only that we will have a real name for her then."
"You are right, Cana-nee," the girl with the untamed blue hair said as she waved at their mother who was approaching them rather quickly.
If anything, Cornelia had grown more and more beautiful along the years. Even when she had first captured Gildarts' attention to become his wife later on and the mother of his children, she had been only a bud. By now, she was a rose in full bloom, mixing the beauty of a young woman with the confidence and experience of an older one. According to Gildarts, she was the most beautiful being to ever trade Fiore's ground – even though Laxus had tried to argue that he was biased and that Cana and Juvia 'were really, really pretty too!' which had amused Makarov.
"Cana and Juvia!" the older Card Mage called out as she reached her daughters. "We got a train to catch. Cana, I know that you enjoyed your vacation but I believe that you said that there's a job waiting for you when you get back to Fairy Tail…"
"Ju-nee-chan will join Fairy Tail too," Cana said as she beamed at her mother. "So she will stay with me and we can go on jobs together – this will be generally awesome and funny all the time. She can have my bed and I will sleep on the couch … this will be great."
"I think that we can afford a second bed for Juvia," Cornelia grinned as she patted her second daughter's hair. "Ah well, it will be silent at home without a second person around … I guess that I might just move back into the dorm of my guild."
The moment Cana had gotten the black stamp on her stomach, her mother had known that both her daughters would join Fairy Tail because Juvia adored her sister and Laxus likewise and it had been unrealistic that she would join a guild without Cana. Therefore, she was not upset at all because she had had two long years to get used to the thought.
"When we've brought them to Magnolia, Conny, how about a joined S-class job in the North?" Gildarts asked as he wrapped one arm around his wife. He had tried very hard to be there to witness the childhood of his children and even though he had known Juvia as socially awkward adult, he had been amazed by how wonderful she was. There was a huge difference between the Gray-Fullbuster-obsessed woman who used Water Slicer like there was no tomorrow and the little girl who cried out of compassion with her sister who had cut herself, trying to cook.
"That demon-thing?" she asked. "Are you sure that we will be enough for that one?"
No, he thought. This one took a potential wizard saint's greatest sacrifice to be defeated and I cannot imagine that our powers would be enough. But with two very special mages…
"I asked Master Serena and Master Philippe both to join us, knowing that this demon would be too much for us otherwise," he said, remembering Makarov's words, more than twenty years into the future.
"Serena and Philippe were … miracles. The only time they fought seriously was when the Balam Alliance targeted their guilds. Just the two of them were enough to smash Tartaros into tiny little pieces, it was … amazing. They are at their strongest when they combine their power for a shared goal and at their weakest when they are fighting each other."
"This might be enough," Cornelia agreed, taking her children's hands. "Let's go now, guys."
Mirajane Strauss, nine years old and downright evil, chuckled darkly. "Looks like your girlfriend is a little bit late today, Laxus-kun," she said in a ridiculous baby voice. "Are you already missing her or are you too much of a 'man' to admit that you want to have your dorm mate back?"
"Shut up, Mira," the blond boy snapped at her. "I am just kinda worried 'cause she was gone for three weeks now and because she said that she'd be back on time."
"Behave yourself, Laxus," his grandfather said. "But you can go to the train station if you want to and wait for them to arrive there. Gildarts said that he would report back as well before he leaves for another job … the man has been working himself to the bone lately."
"That was all because Cornelia-san couldn't leave and go on jobs for nearly a year after she fell sick," Macao shrugged. "And since Gildarts is a decent husband, he didn't let her down."
"Cornelia-san was friends with my mother," Mirajane threw in, her fists clenched at her sides. She and her siblings had joined the guild one year before after their mother had been killed on an S-ranked job. This had turned her into a violent and – according to Laxus and Cana – slightly psychopathic Takeover Mage who would stop at nothing to protect her siblings.
"I am back!" Cana called out as she entered the guildhall. "Sorry for being late but dad said that we have to buy a bed for Ju-nee-chan before we came here."
"So, Juvia-chan, you are joining now as well?" Makarov asked as he looked at the little girl.
"Yes," she said as she nodded. "Juvia wants to be in the same guild as Cana-nee and Laxus-kun."
"Then, you will get your guild stamp and I will welcome you here," the master said. "Um, Cana-chan, why don't you get it and help her with it in back?"
"Sure thing, Master," the brunette said as she led her sister into the room behind the counter.
"You are leaving us again, today, aren't you, Gildarts?" Makarov asked calmly.
"Yeah," the S-class mage said. "There is trouble stirring up in the North. We want to check it out. It's a dangerous job but I asked both Alen and Tempest for support. We will be fine."
The blond woman snorted, wrapping her scarf around her neck and the lower part of her face. "It is not like Cornelia to be late," she said, crossing her arms. "I believe that this mission was supposed a quick one … I do not like this cold."
"Cheer up, Rena," the man said, patting her head. "We will put an end to Deliora's evil doings and return to our guilds afterwards. I had hoped that my sister would show up but it seems like she is not here … too bad, I would have been happier to know her behind me."
"We are here, Master Philippe," Cornelia said, rubbing her gloveless hands against each other.
"So, we are going demon hunting now, Clive?" the man asked as he looked at Gildarts.
"We are … but we have to be careful. I estimate this demon's power to equal the strength of a wizard saint – will this be a problem?" the Crash Mage inquired.
"Not all," Serena said, smirking at her shoes. "We are supposedly able to match a wizard saints' power and neither you nor Cornelia are to be underestimated either. We should be fine."
Gildarts had calculated this fight seriously before he had decided that the four of them would be enough. While he had never seen Serena Alen in battle, he knew all too well that she had been a match for Master Makarov in her best days. As for Philippe Tempest, he was probably the strongest user of air magic the world had ever seen.
"Very well," Serena said, interrupting his thoughts. "We should hurry up a little bit. I won't be able to use my regular water attacks in those quarters and yet, we should be alright here."
'What are you planning to do, Serena Alen?' Cornelia wondered silently as she followed her master into the battle. 'And why am I here, Gildarts? Compared to you or the masters, my powers hardly matter at all. You know this. You know that I will be hardly able to do anything at all.'
"Don't worry, Conny, I will make sure that you will realise why you are here," Gildarts said, slipping her hand into his for a moment. "I wouldn't have endangered you for no reason, okay?"
"I know this," she said. "It's just … compared to Master Serena, I will very small and meaningless. Her abilities are nearly unmatched by other users of water magic."
"Sorry to disturb you, lovebirds, but there's a nasty big demon even though he was already engaged into a fight by … a little boy," Master Philippe ended as his voice dropped. "Alright, we ain't got any time to waste. Rena, get the boy out of there – now."
"Consider it done," she said, raising her arms. "Spinning Water Lily!"
"You are still terrible at naming your moves, Rena," her fellow master commented.
"Why, you barbaric moron," she snapped at him, sending a lethal glare his way.
"I'll take care of the boy," Cornelia said as she made a first step into the direction where the water was dissolving back into thin air again.
"You won't," Philippe said, mentioning towards the demon. "To get rid of this one, we cannot afford wasting a single moment – or that a mage takes care of a mostly uninjured boy."
"You are right…" the Card Mage said, throwing a bunch of her cards into the air where they stayed. "Alright, alright … here we go: Explosive Shuriken Cards!"
"Isn't that the spell Cana created a few weeks ago?" Gildarts asked as he crashed Deliora's counterattack. "Up to now, we are dealing with this pretty well. Oi, Master Serena, join the party!"
"Remove the Power Limiter, Rena-chan," Philippe ordered. "This beast isn't the monsters we usually deal with – hell, I really wished that my dearest sister would be here too."
"Is it only me or did the master really loosen up since we got here, Gildarts?" Cornelia asked.
"He did – and this worries me a little bit. He is usually so reserved, always holding back…"
"You mean that we should use the full extend of our magical powers, Phil?" Serena asked as she dropped her bracelet to the ground. "Very well … so here we go … Water God's Second Requiem – Lost Pearl."
"You … you are a God Slayer, Master?" Cornelia asked as she watched how the demon was thrown back five hundred metres. "Why did you never tell anyone?"
"Because this kind of magic … is the same kind of magic that was used to slay my sister," the blond woman said. "For a very long time, I wasn't aware of this but now I know the truth. My sister who was killed eight years ago was killed by a very young God Slayer, one that was not aware of his power. My sister was not an easy opponent and I strongly believe that she left some kind of mark on her murderer. Phil's sister was the last one to speak to her before she passed on … and therefore I assume that her killer was a god slayer with the earth element. We … we found sand in her wounds." She twirled around, forming a giant wave. "Because of Nerissa's death, I swore to never use my magic again. Before, I had never bragged with it because I saw no need to. I was a good enough mage to use the original water style to be in need of this magic."
"Sorry to interrupt your story telling time, Master Serena, but Deliora needs to be taken care of first," Gildarts said as he gently pushed her out of the way. "Oh – but for now, let's retreat, yes?"
"Now we know the demon's strength – and his weaknesses, so I agree," Philippe agreed, crossing his arms. "There's a house – we shall speak over there. It seems to be stable and not harmed."
"Alright, alright," Serena said as she followed her friend. "So, what are his weaknesses?"
"It's our lucky day – he is weak against air, lightening and water," the other master said. "So if we work together, we should be capable of defeating this lowly creature. Cornelia-san, please prepare a few lightening combinations. I remember an impressing one from your S-class exam."
"Of course…" Gildarts said. "By covering Deliora in water and hitting him with a lightening attack then, we will cause more damage than when we only use one attack at a time."
"That's exactly the point, yes," the black-haired man nodded. "When the both stun him, I can move in for an attack to slash of his arms. I cannot aim for his head because I have no idea what would happen then and I want to play this as save as possible."
"Phil, someone arrived and is now battling Deliora," Serena said as she stepped away from the window. "From the looks of it, it should be the ice mage who lives in this area."
"Ur Milkovich finally made her move … this is interesting," Cornelia said, crossing her arms. "I heard that she stays out of any kind of business that concerns other mages."
"We should move now!" Gildarts said but as he reached the door, Cornelia was already outside. "Oi, Conny – why are you in such a hurry?" he called after her.
"Milkovich-san is about to use an extremely powerful technique – we need to stop that," the Card Mage said. "Master Serena, I need the water … now."
"Here you go – Great Wave!" her guild master called out as she extended her arms.
"Here's to nothing and everything," Cornelia said. "Triple Lightening Bolt!"
The cards swirled through air and right above the demon, they reunited into three triangles before three powerful lightening strikes hit Deliora who stopped his movements.
"Air God's Air Blade!" Master Philippe called out and seconds later, the demon lost his arms.
"This should even our odds," Cornelia said as she ran forwards, jumping over rocks and destroyed houses until she got a better position for her attacks. "I need to go all out from this point on. I will be worthless for the rest of the battle afterwards but … this has to be done. Great Arcana – Tarot Miracle!"
Out of all directions, her cards came flying at Deliora, leaving her bag, came out of her hair and clothes to form various attacks.
"This … this is her strongest attack," Serena said as she jogged towards the demon as well. "It uses up all her magical power but it is a combination of all the attacks she has at her disposal … I knew that she was working on this but … I never expected her to learn this so fast."
"A card mage's paradise is also his hell," Philippe said as Cornelia collapsed. "Anyway, let's go."
"Good," Serena said as she covered herself in a layer of water. "If our power is supposed to slay gods, we should be able to take on a demon like him as well – especially when he is disabled."
"Are you coming, Gildarts? This was your idea after all, right?" Zephyr Heart's master asked.
"I am not sure whether I would be of great use there," the Crash Mage admitted. "But if this is your wish, I will battle this demon alongside you."