A/N: Writing a fanfic is way harder than it looks, especially a fanfic like this one that doesn't exactly follow canon at all.
Hope you enjoy it though.
Chapter slightly revised and updated on December 14th
"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry"
- Adapted from "To a Mouse," by Robert Burns
Chapter 2.5 - How it was Supposed to Be
Those in Terrible Consequence who didn't happen to be named Sasuke Uchiha, often wondered how the plan to recruit Lucy Heartfilia came to be. Sakura assumed it was well thought-out brilliance. Naruto claimed, matter of factly, that it was all thanks to Sasuke's stupid looking stupidness. The truth would disappoint the both of them.
It was a sad love-child of a plan born from the specific need to recruit a Celestial Spirit Mage into Terrible Consequence (upon Illen's strange request) and Sasuke's lackadaisical method of choosing one. Really lackadaisical. In fact, the choice only took a few seconds.
First, he was given a list of five names, all Spirit Mages: Angel, Duke Everlue, Karen Lilica, Lucy Heartfilia, and Zoldeo and crossed off both Angel and Zoldeo right off the bat simply because their names sounded too weird for his taste. After all, having a guy in the guild named Naruto was bad enough as it is. Then, he crossed off Duke Everlue because that name sounded particularily old, rich, and preachy. Who needed another Master Illen? So that left only two names on the list: Lucy and Karen. And since one of them was dead and nobody in the guild had a gift for necromancy, the decision was practically already made for him. Still, he would have preferred Karen. The coin he flipped said so.
In any case, that was how the inital plan of recruiting Lucy came to be. All his best plans started out similarly; with his trademark 'I don't really give a shit' attitude.
The plan got a little more complicated along the way, of course. Now it had become more of an elaborate scheme to make Lucy hate Fairy Tail and fall in love with Terrible Consequence instead.
The Hargeon Town portion of the plan was supposed to go something like this:
Sakura, as a member of Terrible Consequence, would befriend Lucy and guide her around town, eventually leading Lucy over to where Sasuke waited in ambush.
Sasuke, who would be disguised as a recognizable member of Fairy Tail, would attempt to scare or disgust Lucy, either through lecherously hitting on her or fighting against her will. It didn't really matter which because the point was to plant a seed of doubt in her mind regarding the popular guild.
After Sasuke made his move, Sakura would step in and 'save' Lucy from the fake and 'evil' Fairy Tail member, earning Terrible Consequence some points. This would also have the added benefit of developing Lucy's trust towards Sakura. Using this trust, Sakura would console Lucy and tell her about a ship full of Fairy Tail members. Sakura would say something like 'they probably aren't all bad,' or something like that and lead her to the ship to meet the rest of the guild and prove it to her.
Of course, the ship, a slaver ship, would be taken over by Naruto and his clones. They would all be disguised as members of Fairy Tail, members who abused magic to take advantage of all the women and slaves aboard the ship. Lucy would arrive on the ship and see for herself that Fairy Tail is nothing short of despicable. Then, to add insult to injury, Naruto would 'enslave' both Lucy and Sakura.
Finally, to seal the deal, an undisguised Sasuke would appear out of nowhere and 'save the day' so to speak, earning Lucy's undying gratitude... or something like that.
Everything that came afterwards was moot.
That was it. That was their grand plan in a nutshell. Make Fairy Tail look like crap while making Terrible Consequence look like the best guild in the world by comparison. It was supposed to be a piece of cake. A done deal. A foregone conclusion. But you know what they say about mice and men and the best-laid plans.
They simply should have known better.
Chapter 3 - The Best-laid Plans
- 1 -
Year X784 - Streets of Hargeon Town
"Why is it so hot here?" complained Lucy to nobody in particular as she slogged through the streets of Hargeon Town, ever forward and ever onward towards the town's only magic shop where she hoped to find some Celestial Spirit Keys for sale.
She wiped the little bit of sweat that was accumulating on her brow and wondered if there was anything else she could do to keep cool. She had already tried fanning herself with her copy of Weekly Sorcerer in one hand and a map of Hargeon Town in the other. This accomplished little but making her arms sore. She had also tried staying in the shadows as she walked, which helped a bit, but there was nowhere near enough shade anywhere along her path. Finally, she tried loitering in random air-conditioned shops. Unfortunately, she would only be inside for so long until the owners pressured her into buying something and since she couldn't afford to waste any of the precious Jewels she had left, she always got kicked out.
So Lucy just kept walking, content with her last resort of partially unzipping her white and blue sleeveless shirt. It kept her cooler than she thought it would but it also happened to reveal a scandalous amount of her cleavage. This earned her plenty of gawks and stares and wolf whistling as she passed men on her way to the magic shop. But to her, it was a price worth paying for in this ridiculous weather. Besides, she would never admit it out loud but, she liked all the attention. It was flattering and she was proud of her looks.
However, it wasn't long before the heat took it's toll. Lucy suddenly decided that she had enough and needed a respite. Catching sight of a nearby bench sitting comfortably underneath the shade of a tree, she ran to it and claimed it as her own; collapsing onto it as if it were one of the lavish couches from her home, bestowed to her by the celestial spirit realm itself.
Except it wasn't.
Where her couches were soft, the wooden bench was hard. Where her couches were comfortable and surrounded by familiarity, the bench hurt a little at first and and overlooked nothing but passing strangers. It was always the little things that made her somewhat homesick. She missed her room, her servants, her... family. Her mind momentarily flirted with doubt. Maybe she had been too harsh on her father. Maybe leaving so suddenly wasn't the best course of action. Maybe her father did know what was best. Besides, was it his fault that mother died? Was it his fault that he had become more distant with each day that passed, more enthralled with work than his... his very own daughter.
Lucy shook her head. All doubt fading away from her like a bad dream. Her father loved his work more than he loved her. That was the truth of what she saw. He was even willing to marry her off to some ugly, perverted, pig-headed noble's son off at some distant kingdom. All for what? To expand the Heartfilia empire? What a jerk. Her mother would never have allowed it. If mother were here... if she were still alive... It hurt. It really hurt; all the memories of her mother, but Lucy tucked the feelings back inside, deeper this time. When they say ignorance is bliss, they were right.
She opened her copy of Weekly Sorcerer, idly flipping through the pages in an attempt to get her mind off of things. It wasn't until she reached the special on Fairy Tail that she forgot all about her homesickness and became excited again. She read the article for the fourth time today, getting lost in the absurdity of it all. Salamander, who destroyed the Devon Thief family, also happened to destroy seven innocent neighboring households at the same time. And the story of Gray Fullbuster, who was sighted walking around nearly naked after his mission, only to get caught stealing clothes when he tried to correct this indecent exposure.
She couldn't help but laugh. This was the guild she wanted more than anything to join. It wasn't because it was the biggest, most popular guild in all of Fiore. It was more than that. It was the indescribable sense of fun and adventure that Fairy Tail had in droves. She wanted fun and adventure. An escape from her boring life and oppressive father. She wanted to go out there on her own. To explore, to experience all the exciting things Fiore had in store for her; to make wonderful lifelong friends and maybe... maybe even fall in love?
She blushed. 'Easy Lucy, one step at a time', she thought. In short, she wanted to play the main role in her very own personal fairy tale. And like it's namesake suggested to her, Fairy Tail was the perfect guild to make it happen.
A scream nearby woke Lucy up from her reverie. It sounded something like, "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa, pervert!" When she looked over in it's direction, she saw about six or seven spectators looking towards an alleyway maybe half a block away. Lucy considered heading over to see what the commotion was all about but then decided against it. With that many people there, any pervert would be quickly driven off or apprehended. Being a girl herself, she knew first-hand the dangers that seemed to follow her everywhere. There were too many lecherous men out there. That's why she always carried around her whip and Celestial Spirit keys at her side. A girl can never be too safe.
Going back to her magazine, she flipped past the article on Fairy Tail for the first time and read the next entry: Weekly Sorcerer's 'Mage I'd Like as a Boyfriend' ranking. She wasn't really interested in the article itself but she liked looking at the pictures. Some of the guys in there were incredibly gorgeous. Too bad for them Lucy wasn't shallow enough to judge someone by appearance alone. The usuals were there in the top portion of the list: Loki, Hibiki Laytis, Eve Thylm, and Ren Akatsuki along with a bunch of others. She glanced down the familiar list until her eyes stopped at number nine.
'Hmmm, he's new,' she thought, 'Kinda cute, too.' Looking at his information, she found out he was mage from Blue Pegasus. 'Big surprise there,' she thought sarcastically. Blue Pegasus was a predominately female guild but pretty much all of the guys who joined were pretty boys.
From his description, he was a man that would 'jump-start your heart' with his lightning based magic while his fire magic left you 'burning with passion'. Lucy fell into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. 'Who the hell writes this stuff anyways?' When she recovered, she took a closer look at his face. Where everyone else held smiles or sexy poses, Mr. Number Nine just seemed to kind of sit there, arms folded, and glared at her through the picture. It was like he didn't want to be there. Still, there was something dark and dangerous behind that raven hair and those onyx eyes. A mysterious sort of charm she didn't see in any of the others. She kind of liked it.
Then, finally, she looked at the name, Sasuke Uchiha, and wondered what he would be like in person.
- 2 -
If there was any place that was hotter than the blazing infernos of Hell, Sasuke figured it was probably right here in Hargeon Town during one of it's scorching summer afternoons. The sun in the sky was like some kind of sweltering, vengeful deity getting it's kicks by torturing the denizens down below. Even at his current location, a shaded junk-filled alleyway between two nondescript buildings (the ambush spot in their plan), the heat was almost too much for him to bear.
'Burn, burn, burn, AHAHAHAHAHA!' was what Sasuke imagined the Sun to be saying at this very moment. 'And why don't you take off your clothes, while you're at it? Let me scorch that beautiful body of yours." The sun in his mind sounded suspiciously like a hormone-induced Sakura.
Sasuke breathed a sigh and began unbuttoning his long overcoat. Horny imaginary sun-voice or not, it did have a point. The heat was killing him and plus, it was almost time to carry out the plan. Lucy was surely out of Hargeon Station by now and so he had to be appropriately under-dressed by the time Sakura gave the signal. Besides, he suspected that his outer outfit: a hat, sunglasses, and a long overcoat, was the reason behind all the people sporadically approaching him for illegal magic earlier; it was getting annoying.
So Sasuke threw off his coat and hat. He kept the sunglasses on, though, because the sun hurt his eyes and his Sharingan was precious.
But as he stood there, wearing nothing but his sunglasses and a pair boxers (well, two actually) a strange sensation hit him. He felt oddly... free? The soft warm breeze that brushed against his bare flesh felt truly invigorating. It made the heat feel almost welcome against his skin. He looked to the openings on either side of the alley, feeling a strange and inexplicable rush of adrenaline as he did. He watched people pass by in their 'clothes.' They were fools. Why wear clothes at all in this burning weather? Are they all insane? Had Hargeon Town gone mad? Clothing is so stupid, so pointless, so ridiculous, so... so contrived.
Those were the thoughts running through his head until a high-pitched voice screamed out, "Kyaaaaaa! Pervert!"
The scream broke Sasuke free from the odd disorientation that he experienced. Regaining his senses, he shooed the girl away, along with the half-dozen other onlookers that either blushed, gaped, or shook their heads in disapproval at him. When they finally left him alone, he hid amidst a bunch of empty boxes and crates so to attract less attention to himself, though the rush and excitement of his near nudity never went away.
"Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me?" he chided himself. Was he perhaps some kind of freaky... nudist? No. The heat was definitely getting to him. That was his excuse, anyways, and anyone who said otherwise would get a Sharingan-guided Chidori straight to the face.
So Sasuke crouched down and looked to the sky, impatiently waiting for Sakura's signal. He hoped she would come soon. Very soon. Because right now, even his boxers felt profoundly irritating against his skin and he wanted nothing more than to be comfortably naked.
- 3 -
Back near the Sunny Fish Inn, Sakura was feeling an altogether different sort of heat. Natsu was on the offensive again, swinging at her with his flame-coated fist. The tendrils of fire licked at her cheek and shoulder as she dodged his straightforward attack. When she ducked below his second Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, another attack was already there; a burning knee accelerating towards her face. She threw back her head instantly and flung her entire body with it, using the momentum to flip backwards in a sort of dolphin kick that managed to catch Natsu's chin. She felt him rise up with the kick, predicting that he would also be thrown backwards and back onto the ground. When Sakura landed again, she saw that her prediction was right on the money and he laid on the ground groaning a little.
Up on a nearby rooftop, Happy worried, cheered, and offered words of encouragement. But only for Natsu. "Come on, Natsu," he said. "Get up. Don't give up! Only you can save me from the Pink Devil Lady!"
Sakura glared up indignantly. Pink Devil Lady? Oh the things she would do to Happy if he weren't so damn soft and fluffy and adorable. Actually, they were the very same things she already did do to him because he was soft, fluffy, and adorable. Who knew?
"You're gonna pay for that!" screamed Natsu as he jumped back to his feet afterwards. He didn't seem deterred by her last attack in the least.
Sakura noted that Natsu was much stronger and faster than in their last fight a year ago. And somehow he had become especially durable to pretty much all forms of physical attack. This was definitely a troublesome fight to get into. She increased the amount of chakra going to her muscles, now fighting at roughly twenty-five percent of her maximum strength.
Natsu, engulfed entirely by flame once again, rushed at her at his top speed. Sakura recognized the attack as his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn. She barely had time to blink but somehow her reflexes had allowed her to bring her arms up and brace herself just in time to block the full force of the attack. The ground at her feet cracked and seemed to split open a bit when the attack hit. And her arms felt like someone smashed it hard with a hammer. But she held her ground. This surprised Natsu enough for Sakura to simply twist out of her block and into a straight chakra powered punch directly into his face. He flew back much farther than she anticipated and she wondered if maybe she put a little too much power into that punch of hers.
When he finally crashed into a wall of a building several feet away, it crumbled and caved inwards a little. This time Natsu was visibly shaken. Maybe now he figured he was over matched.
"Yeah, right," thought Sakura aloud. "Natsu? Give up?" That was about as likely him leaving Fairy Tail to be a sailor or something. He'd throw up just thinking about it. So she sighed and prepared for his eventual counter attack.
All of a sudden, sirens in the distance sounded. She looked towards the source of the sound and noticed that smoke was rising into the air from the location a couple blocks away.
"Fire, fire!" screamed some panicked voices. "Fire at Halibut Avenue."
"Halibut Avenue?" said someone else. "Oh god! Not Halibut Avenue!"
"Run for your lives!" yelled another.
All of a sudden, the streets were filled with Hargeon Town residents fleeing from the source of the fire. It was kind of strange.
"Hey Natsu," said Sakura. "Maybe we should move-" she looked to where Natsu was supposed to be recovering, only to find that he had disappeared. "Umm, Natsu?" This time she peered towards Happy who whistled innocently and looked away. Suspicious.
"It's the Salmander!" cried out a voice near the burning building.
"Amazing, he's devouring the fire!"
"He's come to save us all," cheered another.
Sakura smacked her forehead and ran towards the burning building. Unfortunately for her, by the time she arrived, Natsu had already 'eaten' all the fire that was supposed to be consuming the building. He stood on top of the roof of the charred five story apartment, ignoring all the cheering happening all around him. Clearly powered up, Natsu cracked an evil grin at her.
"I've got you now, Sakura!" he proclaimed, the aura of fire engulfing him burned ever brighter. He took in a deep breath, putting his hands in front of his mouth. "Fire Dragon's..."
Sakura braced herself.
"ROOOAAAAAAR!"
The streaming torrent of flame came at her way faster than she expected. It was like a laser beam of pure fire that simply smashed into her chest, knocking the air out of her and throwing her body viciously into the ground. The cobblestones exploded into a searing cloud of dirt and crushed rock all around her when she crashed into them. The heat was so intense that the only thing keeping her from being burned alive was the chakra infused into every cell of her body.
Sakura coughed and sputtered, somehow getting to her feet and jumping away just before another of Natsu's roars crashed into the ground beside her, turning the spot into a shallow smoldering crater of molten rock. The crowd that had been cheering at Natsu before had now all started to panic and scream hysterically again.
"Run!"
"He's not here to save us. He's going to kill us all!"
'Damn that brat,' thought Sakura. 'Forcing me to use this much power.' She infused even more chakra into the cells of her body, this time reaching approximately fifty percent of her maximum strength.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAAAR!"
Upon the roof, Natsu continued shooting roar after roar after roar at her as if he were some kind of flaming turret but this time she dodged his attacks easily. She sidestepped one beam of fire, jumped over another, then slid under the next, getting closer to the building with every roar she dodged. The chakra she put into her muscles not only enhanced her strength and endurance, but also her speed and reflexes as well. Approaching the base of the building, she jumped at him, jumped three stories into the air, infusing chakra into her feet to run vertically the rest of the way up along the wall. When she got to the rooftop seconds later, she managed to catch a surprised Natsu right before he finished his next roar and jump-kicked his stomach in. The attack forced him to practically vomit out all the fire he was building up for his last roar as he flew backward and crashed through the walls of another, taller building nearby.
Natsu's vomited fire washed all over her and the rooftop. It was hot but she held out thanks to her chakra again, brushing off the fire from her clothes like how a person would brush off dust or lint. She was surprised at how her orange dress was still perfectly intact. It was a wonder how they didn't just burn off of her, leaving her completely naked...
She blushed at the thought, then shrugged. 'Oh well, doesn't really matter.'
The rooftop wasn't so lucky, though, and the apartment complex had caught fire again. Sakura ignored it, for the most part, knowing that Natsu couldn't eat his own fire. But then she looked towards the neighboring building he crashed into and groaned. Somehow, that entire building caught fire as well. 'What the hell happened there?' she thought. 'Natsu would never purposely set a building on fire. He can't eat the fire if he did.'
The sign on the building read: Parchment Paradise, and it looked as if all the people within it had already evacuated beforehand. In fact, the entire district seemed to be mostly desolate now. People had been running away scared at the merest hint of fire ever since it started. Sakura thought it was a little strange. She expected people to evacuate from the fire but the way those people ran. It was like the entire district would blow up or something. It was silly.
Or was it?
Sakura came to a realization and looked around herself at all the surrounding buildings, reading off the signs as she did: Hargeon Town Librarium, Peter's Papers (which claimed better prices than Parchment Paradise), Giles' Gunpowder Emporium, Oils 'N Things, Flynn's Flammables. What the hell did they sell at Flynn's Flammables? And the store beside it... Explodia? She didn't even want to think about that one. The entire area was set up like some kind of ticking time bomb. If the entire district blew up, Natsu would probably gain something like, unlimited power for a while.
Sakura's eye caught a tuft of blue flying out a window of the newly burning Parchment Paradise; a mischievous look upon his feline face. And was that... it was! That damned cat had a box of matches in his hands. That damned, sweet, lovable, fluffy, and cute flying blue embodiment of adorableness. Clearly it was Happy that was flying around like a pyromaniac helping Natsu power up with fire, she had to stop him.
Sakura leaped with all her might at Happy who for some reason only just noticed her.
"Noooo!" screamed Happy, seemingly in slow motion.
She caught him in her arms, slapping away his box of matches and wrestled with the poor creature. Coincidentally, she found some rope in Happy's small bag and used it to bind him. Now fully restrained and wailing with all his might, Happy looked distraught as Sakura added a bit more rope, forming two loose straps that turned Happy into some kind of makeshift squirming blue backpack. Sakura gladly wore Happy on her back ignoring all the cries and kicking that came with him.
With Happy mostly out of the way, she leaped into the burning Parchment Paradise building where Natsu was currently in. The fires inside had already died down, mostly because Natsu had been eating it all. In fact, when she spotted him, he was still in the middle of his meal, literally grabbing flames and embers and throwing them into his mouth.
"You cheaters!" accused Sakura, pointing at him and referring to the blue cat tied at her back as well.
"Ahhm's fmaaiir imm Mmwaar," retorted Natsu with his mouth full. She figured he meant to say 'All's fair in war.'
"And love," added Happy at her back.
"Uggh, you guys are jerks!" Slightly enraged, Sakura rushed at him full-speed, chakra fists at the ready, fully intending to throw him out of the building before he could eat anymore fire. She managed to hit Natsu once, then twice, before his guard was up. But when she followed up with a round-house kick to his solar plexus, he caught it easily with his newly found insane strength. 'Damnit, how much fire did he eat?' He gripped her thigh with both hands, and Sakura was unable to free herself or even move all that much.
"Got you now, Sakura," said Natsu with a look of perfect smarmy confidence. "Fire Dragon's INFERNO!" he yelled.
Sakura vision became a blur of orange and red and burning. In fact, she was pretty sure her entire body was on fire right now. At the very least, her arms and the leg that Natsu still held on to was completely engulfed by flame. It was hot, almost unbearably so. She could feel that the chakra protecting her skin from getting burned was starting to give in to the intense heat. Before that could happen, she willed even more chakra into her cells, powering up to 75% of her maximum power now. And even then she couldn't free herself from his grasp. She was worried about Happy too, but was relieved to see that the rope holding him to her had burned off completely and he flew above Natsu, completely on fire but strangely, completely unharmed.
Maybe Natsu had gained some subconscious control over what his fire burned and didn't burn? Whatever, she didn't have much time to think about it right now.
Without warning, Natsu lifted her by her leg and threw her. Actually, it was more like he tossed her, still burning and everything, at one of the walls of the building. The wall gave in when her body was smashed against it and she fell nearly five stories down, crashing into the cobblestones below, all the while still feeling the searing heat from the fire that wholly engulfed her. Her chakra still held the heat at bay though and like before, she managed to brush and shake the fire off of herself. Immediately afterward, she frantically looked around for a way out of the damned explosive district.
She could hear Natsu laughing manically from above, probably high off the thought of his impending victory.
So Sakura took the opportunity to run. She simply sprinted away from Halibut Avenue.
"Natsu, stop laughing," said Happy. "Quick, she's getting away. You gotta catch her!"
"I told you I would finally beat you!" exclaimed Natsu as his legs caught fire and he ran after her at blazing speed. "Who's S-class now?"
Sakura was fast. Really fast. Probably as fast as Naruto and Sasuke and they could each outrun a speeding train if they wanted to. But this super-powered up Natsu was keeping up with her pace pretty easily. Sakura turned a corner, zipping through confused and shocked onlookers through the street. Then she turned another corner, gaining even more speed. Finally, she saw her destination, an abandoned warehouse practically in the middle of nowhere. There was no way Natsu could power up again in there. So she rushed towards it, Natsu very close behind.
She took a quick glance at the broken wooden sign hanging over the door. It read: The World... The other half was broken off. 'The world? It's probably supposed to say 'The World of... something' Whatever, Sakura didn't care, she just smashed the door in and waited for Natsu to follow her inside.
It was dark and gloomy in the abandoned warehouse until Natsu came in, all glowy and fired up. It created a strangely moody atmosphere. Happy was nowhere to be seen so Sakura just assumed that he was still trying to catch up. All around them were boxes upon boxes of something. Sakura had no idea what, nor did it really matter. She concentrated on the opponent in front of her.
Natsu though, was curious, for some reason. He opened up a random box that was sitting beside him and peered at what was inside. His eyes lit up and he grinned evilly.
"Ummm," said Sakura, curiosity getting the better of her. "What's up with that look? What's in the box?"
"Oh, nothing," he said, spitting some fire into it. "Heh, heh, heh."
Sakura's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you trying to destroy what's inside or someth-"
The box erupted into one of the loudest and weirdest explosions she had ever heard. There was a lot of whistling then loud booming then her vision was filled with rainbow colored blindness. Fireworks. That's what was in the boxes. Fireworks.
"Fire Dragon's Inferno!"yelled Natsu again while Sakura took cover. The hundreds of boxes of fireworks scattered and piled all around them seemed to go off all at once, filling the entire warehouse with deafening noise and rainbow brilliance the likes of which had never been seen before. The roof of the warehouse consequently gave out, releasing plenty of fireworks into the Hargeon sky. And Natsu, when Sakura dared to peek at him, was actually eating as much of the colorful explosions as he could. 'What the hell,' thought Sakura. 'He can eat fireworks?"
The exploding went on for what must have been a good five or six minutes before it died down. And when it was all over, Sakura gingerly got up. The warehouse was in complete shambles. Everything was burnt or charred or broken. She didn't think there was a single box of fireworks in the place that hadn't already gone off. And Natsu was in the middle of it all, finished with his latest meal.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH," growled Natsu. He was in some kind of meditative stance, legs spread wide with his fists curled up at his waist. The aura surrounding him had become some kind of rainbow spectrum of fire, cracking and melting the ground all around him with it's extreme heat and pressure. Then, without so much as a warning he yelled out, "SAKURAIWILLBEATYOU!" all at once as his rainbow aura exploded out like an equally colorful nova of flame.
The blast hit Sakura hard but she stood her ground. Her chakra gave in slightly and she could feel the burns stinging across her skin all over her body. When the nova passed, Sakura saw Natsu in a new light. He looked different. Angrier. And pretty scary, to be honest. His spiky hair looked a bit longer and stood straight up on end, now a little more golden yellow than pink. Little colorful crackles of electricity jumped and snaked all around him.
And the pressure! His power level... surely it had to be... well... over something like nine-thousand! Had Natsu finally achieved the impossible? Had he reached the ultimate power known only as the Super Dragon Slayer she read about in a fantasy book somewhere?
"This is it, Sakura," growled Natsu. "No more games. No more running away. I'm gonna end this right here right now with my final attack! I'm gonna prove to you that I'm stronger!"
Sakura sighed. Somehow this just all seemed too ridiculously cliched. Whatever, she went with it. She powered the last of her chakra into her muscles, reaching the full 100% of her maximum strength. Natsu was right. It was time to end this. "Bring it, Natsu!"
But just as she was about to charge at him, Natsu yelled "WAIT!"
"What?" complained Sakura annoyed at being stopped mid-stride.
He pointed at her accusingly. "You're supposed to power up like me," he lectured. "You're supposed to put all your power into your last move or it won't be fair!"
Sakura's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" She was putting all her power into this final attack. Just because her moves weren't nearly as flashy as his doesn't mean... hmmmph, she'd show him. "Fine! Watch this!"
Jumping into the air and seemingly hovering for an impossibly long time, she twisted and twirled, round and round, using color magic to change the color of her dress to pink and the color of her hair to match Natsu's golden yellow. Then, using some extremely basic requip magic she had learned from Erza a while back, a white bow-tie sash appeared around her waist and two more ribbons separated her hair into twin ponytails at the side of her head. Finally, a round straw hat appeared out of nowhere and fell upon her head. (The hat was actually a screw up; it was supposed to be a tiara she found way back when.)
When she finally landed, she gave Natsu her best pose. "In the name of my fist, I shall punish you!" She winked for good measure. It seemed the appropriate thing to do at the time.
Natsu sweat-dropped. "That..." he began, "was so lame... And what's up with the hat?"
'Ugggh,' Natsu really pissed her off sometimes.
She had enough. Sakura charged at him screaming her lungs out, pure chakra engulfing her entire body. Natsu did the same, with fire engulfing his. And when they collided in a dazzling explosion of rainbow fire and blue chakra, 'The World' shattered and crumbled all around them.
- 4 -
Sasuke grinned, his look was full of smug satisfaction. He had beaten it; he had overcome his earlier nudist inclinations and managed to keep his boxers on for an entire fifteen minutes. Well, one of them anyways. His other pair, the original black with red clouds one was currently in a pile with his discarded coat and hat. There was no way he was going to take anything else off anymore. Well, maybe the sunglasses... or... or maybe the pair of boxers he was currently wearing. But certainly not both. Never. Not unless... Gods, if Naruto and Sakura knew about this, he'd never hear the end of it.
'Where the hell is Sakura, anyways?' he thought, looking towards the opening of the alleyway. It shouldn't have taken her this long to get Lucy. Maybe they got her train schedule wrong? No, that was impossible, he made sure of it.
He stared even harder.
Then, as if by some sort of miracle, Lucy appeared right where he stared. It was only for a brief few seconds as she passed the opening of the alleyway but there was no mistake, his eyes had caught sight of her walking casually down the crowded streets seemingly without a care in the world.
'The hell...' This meant two things to Sasuke. First, it meant Sakura was either busy or indisposed with something. Second, it meant their carefully thought out plan just went to-
"Shit," he thought aloud. "What now?"
Their backup plan for this portion went something like: ...well fuck, you're screwed.
Sasuke shook his head and rethought the plan. Sakura was out of the picture so the whole 'threaten Lucy then save her to gain her trust' part of the plan was currently impossible. However, the slave ship was still in play. If they lead her to the slave ship, the plan might just still work assuming Naruto did his job...
No, they still needed to plant the idea of Terrible Consequence in her mind before she experienced the slave ship event. It was one of the keys to swaying her towards their guild and not some other random guild she had in mind.
Now that he thought about it...there was only one way the plan would still work. Sasuke would have to gain Lucy's trust himself, then lead her to the slave ship himself, then 'save' her himself.
But how? She wasn't just going to follow and chat with some random stranger.
Then all of a sudden, it came to him.
Two years ago, Sasuke had joined Blue Pegasus as per Master Illen's request. And for the first month, he hated it there. The majority of the guild was full of perpetually horny female mages who seemed to join only to be closer to a group of pretty-boy mages called 'The Trimens'. It was like they didn't care at all about doing jobs or advancing their own magic.
So for that first month, Sasuke worked alone, doing random jobs posted on the job board that was always full. Some of the Blue Pegasus girls approached him but Sasuke refused anyone who he thought was too weak, or those who only approached because they thought he was cute. He wanted a team that was useful, not a bunch of crazed magical fangirls following him around as he did all the work.
It wasn't until he met Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki that things began to change.
It happened without warning. Sasuke was sitting alone at his usual table at the Blue Pegasus mess hall, looking over his soon to be next mission, when a short square-faced man with the most ridiculous looking hair and gaudy looking white suit sat across from him.
And the first thing that man said was, "You reek."
At that point, Sasuke was too shocked by the out-of-the-blue insult to respond.
"Your perfume... it stinks of pain," the small man continued, "and loneliness and vengeance. Such a horrid smell polluting our wonderful guild. Here, let me help you..." Out of nowhere, the man pulled out a bottle of perfume or cologne or whatever it was and sprayed it into Sasuke's face. Then he sniffed again. "Hmm, that didn't seem to help at all. I thought for sure my perfume of love would work." All the while, Sasuke was coughing and sputtering, fighting away the sting in his eyes caused by whatever that man sprayed at him.
"I see, you must be more troubled than I thought," he had said, oblivious to Sasuke's struggle to breathe. "But worry not! For I am Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki and so it is my duty to help you. As such, I am offering you a rare one-time opportunity to join me and the other 'Trimens.'" Ichiya gripped one of Sasuke's shoulders and looked into his face. "My, are those tears of happiness in your eyes? I am flattered but please, no need for such emotions. Remember this, men must not cry for themselves, but only for their comrades and loved ones. No need to thank me for this wonderful opportunity or my amazing advice, I do this for all the lost souls of our guild.'
Sasuke couldn't remember the specifics of what happened after that. All he knew was that they got into a fight shortly after the perfume incident, which Sasuke won handily. Followed by three more fights, one by one, against the other three Trimens, which Sasuke also won handily. Followed by the four of them giving up on their revenge and instead trying to recruit him into their group. They did this by annoyingly following Sasuke around during his missions, mostly getting in his way, until Sasuke had finally relented and joined.
That was how Sasuke became 'Silent Night Sasuke' of the Trimens (earned because he had a reputation of ignoring anyone who annoyed him which, let's face it, at Blue Pegasus, was pretty much everyone). His trademark pose when he was forced to introduce himself as a Trimens was to fold his arms together and glare away. Sasuke thought this suited him.
He didn't even hate the other Trimens like he thought he would. Hibiki and him quickly grew into good friends. Ichiya became his 'aniki' while Ren and Eve felt almost like brothers. And unlike most of the other members of Blue Pegasus, the Trimens were actually pretty powerful in their own right. Had they all fought him at once or even two at a time, he probably would have lost against them.
In any case, the other Trimens all taught him one thing that was invaluable in his current situation. And that was how to be a womanizer.
Sasuke took a deep breath. He hated having to do this but he saw no other way. He had to seduce Lucy Heartfilia.
There was a small piece requip magic 'archived' into his mind thanks to Hibiki. He used it, instantly feeling the cloth of his familiar Trimens outfit pulling across his body. It consisted of an open black suit over-top of a red untucked dress shirt underneath. A red Blue Pegasus insignia covered the shoulder of his suit and a distinct white and red fan design was embroidered into it's back.
To top it all off, he activated his Sharingan. Back at Blue Pegasus, it always made the ladies go wild.
He walked out the opening of the alleyway and looked in Lucy's general direction. He spotted her, not even a block away. Then, preparing the first pick up line that came to his mind, he approached.
- 5 -
"Wait! Stop!"
Lucy didn't know who the call was for, but she stopped to take a look back anyways. Her eyes almost bulged out of her sockets when she saw Mr. Ninth Mage You'd Want as a Boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha, running towards her and waving frantically.
"Please, wait up," he begged.
Lucy couldn't believe it. She was just reading about him a moment ago, thinking what he would be like and then he appears out of nowhere? This had to be something like fate. He looked even better than he did in the magazine.
When Sasuke caught up to her, he suddenly took her hands. "I knew it," he said earnestly, "I just knew it."
Perplexed, Lucy asked, "Knew what?"
His mesmerizing red eyes looked directly into hers. "I knew that you were the most beautiful girl I have ever seen," he said with all the confidence and forwardness in the world. "There's just something about you that sets my heart on fire."
At that very moment, before Lucy could even react, she heard the familiar distant whistle of fireworks going up into the air in the distance behind him. She watched, hypnotized, as several of them exploded into Hargeon's sky, lighting up the already bright afternoon with the most dazzling display of color and radiance she had ever seen since her childhood. It hit her hard, but not in the way anyone could have predicted.
It was always the little things. And the fireworks, they reminded Lucy of her mother when she still alive and her father when he was still kind to her. They used to take her to different festivals every season to eat cotton candy and watch the fireworks unfold in the night sky. And as they watched, her father would always tell her that she was the most beautiful little girl he'd ever seen while her mother teased that her bright smile might someday light the world on fire. And those memories, brought back because of Sasuke's words, were like knives through her heart.
Funny, isn't it? A person might think that when you lose someone, the memories of the loss itself are the most painful. But that isn't true at all. At least not for Lucy. She remembered clearly how her mother died. How painful it must have been as the illness slowly seeped the life out of her. She remembered her mothers last words. She remembered her mother's serene face as she lay there lifeless on a bed. Then in a casket. Then on a picture in front of a grave. Those were bad memories, but they weren't the worst.
The worst memories were the good ones. The happy ones. Her father playfully throwing her up into the air while her mother scolded him. Her mother guiding Lucy's own hands over a silver key during her first celestial spirit summoning. The feel of either of them brushing back her hair as they tucked her away to bed, happy and safe. These were the type of memories that hurt her the most. Precious and perfect. Sharp like daggers stabbing her heart again and again and again.
So even in front of Sasuke, Lucy just stood there with her fists tightly clenched, a trembling mess, unable to turn her mind to other things, unable to stop herself from remembering. Again. And again. And again.
- 6 -
Sasuke thought he had done everything perfectly. The clothes, the eyes, the one-liner. Heck, he had no idea where the fireworks came from but it only added to the romantic atmosphere. Yet here Lucy was, standing there, shaking like he had done something horribly, horribly wrong. Sasuke backed away slightly as if his presence would burn her.
"I'm... I'm sorry?" Sasuke's voice tilted up, forming a question. He might have just turned around and left her standing there if it weren't for the fact that when he saw her brown eyes on the verge of tears, there was a familiar sort of emptiness there. Something he could actually understand. Something he experienced himself a long time ago. The eyes that meant she had lost something or someone close to her.
Maybe he just felt sorry for her. Or maybe it was just instinct. But he did something he would never normally do. His hand came up, brushing away the wetness that was starting to crawl down her face. She began to cry in earnest so he stepped closer, put a hand on her tensed arm and lent her his shoulder. "I know," he said sadly. "It's bad sometimes, isn't it? It's okay. Let it out. You'll feel better after."
Lucy's own hands stayed at her side as she cried even harder. "I miss her," she said between sobs.
"You can say it," Sasuke said.
Lucy was shaking hard now, her tears dripping off her chin and onto Sasuke's shoulder. "She told me to stay strong. To mind my magic lessons. To take care of daddy. She always... she always..." She choked and clench her teeth.
"Just say it," urged Sasuke softly. "It'll get better once you say it."
"She always knew exactly what to say to me," she choked out. "She always knew how to cheer me up. She always knew how to calm me down or make me feel better."
"It's okay," comforted Sasuke. "Let it out."
"I'm never... I'm never going to see her again."
- 7 -
'So that's another way of gaining a woman's trust,' thought Sasuke as he and Lucy walked side-by-side towards Hargeon's magic shop. 'Just make her cry her heart out then console her.'
Sasuke tucked away that particular thought into his secret bag of tricks. He'd probably share it with Hibiki, Ren, and Eve if he saw them again. The Trimens always shared their womanizing secrets with each other.
Still, he did feel genuine sympathy for her. Lucy had lost her family. He understood that particular kind of pain. He had lost his, himself. There was a bit of a difference though. Her pain was still fresh while his was dulled by time and experience.
"Hey, sorry again," said Lucy. She had regained most of her composure. "And thanks."
Sasuke's eyes quirked up. "You sure you're okay? You might be delirious if you're thanking me for making you cry. I'm the one that should be apologizing to you."
She laughed. "I meant thanks for making me feel better. I was holding in my feelings for so long, it felt good to let it all out for once."
Sasuke gave her a look. "Then... no problem, I guess."
"So what's a mage like you doing here anyways?"
So she knew. Sasuke's eye quirked up again. "How'd you know I was a mage?"
She pointed at his shoulder. "That's the insignia of Blue Pegasus on your shoulder, isn't it? Plus, you're pretty famous."
"Famous?" retorted Sasuke sarcastically and rubbing his shoulder unconsciously. "Yeah, right."
So Lucy handed him her copy of Weekly Sorcerer, open to the 'Top Mage I'd Like as a Boyfriend' article. Sasuke scanned it, a look of outrage spreading on his face when he spotted his own name and picture within. "What the...?" He had told the Trimens specifically to not include him or mention him in any way when they were interviewed by Weekly Sorcerer... didn't he? Sasuke couldn't remember. That aside, how lame was his article? 'Jump-start your heart? Leave you burning with passion?' Sasuke sighed. 'Only Ichiya could write something that idiotic.'
Lucy looked at him inquiringly. "You seem disappointed. I know mages who would do anything to get in Sorceror Weekly."
Sasuke noted internally to himself to slaughter the other Trimens at the first opportunity. "It's nothing," Sasuke responded. "I just don't like this kind of attention." He handed the magazine back to her. "It's just not who I am."
"Says the guy who just tried to hit on me," teased Lucy. "and made me cry because of it."
He glared at her for that and she smiled back. Why does nobody ever take his glare seriously anymore?
"Anyways, to answer your question, I'm here looking for a friend." said Sasuke. Then, he gestured to the keys hanging at Lucy's side. "You're a mage yourself, aren't you? A Celestial Spirit Summoner too."
"Yep," said Lucy proudly, dangling her keys up for Sasuke to see.
"So what are you doing here in Hargeon?"
"I heard there was a magic shop here so I'm going to see if they're selling any rare Spirit Keys." She nodded to herself excitedly. "Then I'm going to Magnolia Town to see if I can join Fairy Tail."
Sasuke wanted to grimace but he held it in. Now was his chance. "Fairy Tail... huh?" he said, somberly.
Lucy caught this. "Hey! What's up with the long face? What's wrong with Fairy Tail?" Lucy opened up her magazine again, practically shoving Fairy Tail's article into Sasuke's face. "See, they're amazing! I bet you think they're not as good as Blue Pegasus, but if you read this, I'm sure you'll change your mind about them."
"I get it already," said Sasuke waving Lucy off. "It's not like I don't like Fairy Tail. It's just... there's been some nasty rumors about that guild recently. I can't say they're very flattering ones, either."
"Oh come on. They always get bad press" said Lucy, thinking about the crazy articles she read in Weekly Sorcerer about them. "I think they're just misunderstood, you know? They're just so different from all the other guilds. I can't explain why but I think I'd have a lot of fun there."
Sasuke smiled at her. "Maybe you're right. I'm sure the rumors are just that," he said.
Lucy's curiosity was piqued. "What kind of rumors have you heard?"
Sasuke hesitated purposely for a bit. Then shook his head at her. "It's nothing, really," he said.
"Hmmm..." Lucy gave him an investigative stare.
"Look," said Sasuke. "I heard Fairy Tail is holding some kind of celebration today. I was going to stop by and see if I could meet some of them and get all these rumors sorted out myself. And my friend is supposed to be there as well."
"Seriously?" Lucy's entire being seemed to light up at this. "Where? Where?"
"It'll be at Hargeon Port on one of the ships," said Sasuke, chuckling at her excitement. "Calm down. How about this, after you finish your business at the magic shop, we can both go meet Fairy Tail together. I could use the company."
"Really?" said Lucy, pumping her fist into the air. "Yeah! Let's go!"
Interlude - Guild Values
- 1 -
Year X779 - In the Luckless Tavern
The 'Luckless' tavern was actually supposed to be called the 'Luckless Cutlass'. On it's swinging sign outside was the word Luckless sprawled atop the blade of a fat, curved sword.
Inside, the tavern was still a big mess. Aside from the long stretch of mahogany that served as the tavern's bar on the right side of the room, the tavern painted an ugly picture of destruction.
At Illen's request, the three kids, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, were seated at the bar; something about an important "adults only" meeting that was taking place between Illen, Brutus, and Beatrix at the table in the heart of the tavern. Between the 'adults' was a map, presumably of Crocus and the area surrounding the Phoenix Crown guild. The table wasn't even that far away and the kids clearly heard the discussion that was going on there.
"So, Brutus, this is the front door of the bad guild. Do you know what you have to do here?"
"BRUTUS, SMASH?"
"Yes, perfect. But past that is a narrow entrance hall. Now, if you go over here..."
"THERE, BRUTUS SMASH! HERE BRUTUS SMAAAAASH!"
"Hmmm... Smash? Are you sure? I never thought of that but, my god... you're brilliant Brutus. Absolutely brilliant!"
Sakura groaned an inaudible complaint causing Naruto to give her a reassuring pat on her back. "Cheer up, Sakura. I'm sure he's not as bad as he looks... or sounds... or acts... probably. I mean, he slobbers a lot, but there's probably a chance-"
"BRUTUS CRASH!"
"Thanks, Naruto," said Sakura, sarcasm thick in her voice. She threw her face into her hands. "I wonder if Illen will let us switch."
"So you're Illen's kids, huh?" asked a voice in front of them. "New to Terrible Consequence? I've never seen your faces before." The three kids looked up to see the the tavern keeper. He was a bald, semi-formally dressed, man probably in his mid twenties or early thirties. The outfit he wore consisted of a black blazer over-top of a white button-up shirt. And he had this lazy yet hard look about him; like someone who knew his way around a fight but couldn't be bothered to actually commit to one. He gave them a curt nod and answered the question bubbling underneath their stares. "The name's Giles. I'm actually a member of Terrible Consequence too but I only do the paperwork. It's more dangerous than it sounds. Oh, and I own this here tavern." For a guy who just had half of his tavern completely wrecked, he didn't look particularly upset. In fact, he was downright languid as he poured three drinks from a bottle and pushed one to each of the kids.
Naruto stared at the drink that Giles had pushed in front of him. Within the tall clear mug was a dark violet liquid. It didn't bubble or fizz, but seemed to shimmer instead. Naruto had never seen anything like it before. "What is it?" he asked.
"Crocussi Starlight Wine," answered Giles. "A Crocus favorite. Go on, it's on the house. It should help calm your nerves a little."
Sakura clasped the mug in her hands delicately and unsure, before taking a leap of faith. When she took a sip, the violet liquid went down her throat hot, smooth and sweet. It sort of tasted familiar to her but she couldn't quite put her mind around what it was exactly. In any case, she loved it and happily gulped down a few more mouthfuls of the stuff.
Following Sakura's lead, both boys at her side took their own sips of the wine, winning looks of pleasant surprise from the both of them.
"Huh," said Naruto, "this stuff is pretty good! Thanks mister."
Giles chuckled. "You know, Illen brings all of sorts of people into this place. Mages, thugs, knights and alchemists. He even brought the actual princess of Fiore here once, though that was a pretty long time ago and she was so frickin' hussy I hope I never have to see her pretty face again. But this is the first time he's ever brought kids. Recruits, no less." Giles looked at them with an inquiring eye. "You do know what kind of mage guild Terrible Consequence is, right?"
"What do you mean?" Sakura tilted her head a bit as she said this.
"So you don't know. I suspected as much." Patient as can be, Giles explained. "There are two types of mage guilds out there. There are the light guilds, approved by the National Mage Council, an order that sets the rules and laws for all mages to follow. Then there are the dark guilds, which aren't approved, because they refuse to abide by those rules and laws."
"Now... let me rephrase my question: Light guild or dark guild, what kind of guild do you suppose Terrible Consequence is?" A corner of Giles' mouth crooked up into a devious smile. There seemed to be a dark miasma about him.
"W-w-we joined an evil guild!" proclaimed Naruto, standing up and pointing profusely at Giles for some reason. "I knew there was something fishy about that old man!"
Giles burst into honest laughter. "You crack me up, kid," he said, motioning for Naruto to sit back down. "Calm down and finish your drink. The guild isn't what you think it is."
"Terrible Consequence is a dark guild, I know it!" Naruto refused to take his seat, worried that he may have made a deal with the devil. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna let him make me rob people, or kill people or make people suffer. That's not my ninja way!" Sakura and Sasuke both shifted uneasily in their seats at this.
"Wow, you're a remarkably naive brat, aren't you?" remarked Giles. He looked half amused and half angry. "Then let me ask you this. You know what Illen is planning, don't you? The whole annihilate Phoenix Crown thing. So why aren't you disgusted by the things he's going to do to them?"
"They're... those guys are different," said Naruto, uneasy. "That guild made us slaves. Anyone who uses slaves has got to be bad."
"Now what if I were to tell you this: Phoenix Crown is a perfectly legal guild. What would you think then?"
"Y-you're a liar!" Naruto accused.
Giles sighed. "I wish I was, kid. But it's the truth. You seem to think that all light guilds are automatically good and that all dark guilds are evil but the world isn't so simple as that. Take Phoenix Crown, for instance. They're a light guild but they're behind most of the undergound operations here in Crocus. Everything from slave trade, to the trafficking of illegal magic, drugs, and dangerous weapons."
"But isn't all that supposed to be against the Council's rules?" asked Sakura. "Shouldn't the Council turn them into a dark guild for stuff like that?"
"Obviously," Giles replied. "But Phoenix Crown isn't stupid enough to get caught. It's as simple as that. Hell, even if they did get caught, it would only take a few bribes and some connections at the National Mage Council and they'd get away without even a dent in their reputation. This is part of the reason why Illen wants to destroy that guild. He says they're a nuisance which means he considers them dangerous enough to actually worry over."
"So does that mean we're a light guild?" asked Sasuke, still unsure. "Out to take down all the guilds that are like Phoenix Crown?"
Giles burst out into laughter for a second time. "You guys are just too precious," he said. "You make it sound like we're some kind of vigilante guild or something." He laughed some more. "I can almost see it too. That old Master Illen crying out 'In the name of Justice' or some crap. Too funny!"
Sasuke frowned. "So we're not?"
"You're right about the light guild part," said Giles, slightly recovered from his fit of hysterical laughter. "But it's not like our guild goes out hunting for dark guilds or anything like that. Normally, we just leave them alone. But from what I can tell, Illen wants to destroy Phoenix Crown, and only Phoenix Crown, for three reasons. First, I mentioned this before, but he thinks Phoenix Crown is getting a little too dangerous. He wants them... out of the way, so to speak."
"Second, taking down that guild came as a personal request from Beatrix, though I'm not sure why. Illen respects her and values her as a member of the guild so he wants to honor the request. Same thing any guild master would do for one of their own."
"And the last reason... well he said Phoenix Crown owed him some money. And if there's one thing you should know about Illen, it's that he really loves his money. I mean like, really really loves his money. I think he hugs Jewels at night when he sleeps. Oh, and he's got this thing with walking down beaches too. It's weird."
"So there you have it. Are you better now?" asked Giles, pointedly looking at Naruto. "Terrible Consequence is a light guild. You can rest easy tonight."
Naruto, somewhat appeased that his ninja way would not be compromised, retook his seat and slowly enjoyed the rest of his delicious wine.
"I should warn you, though, Illen tends to bend the rules a bit." Giles poured in a little more wine into each of the kid's glasses, urging them to keep drinking. "Okay, maybe he bends the rules a lot." He poured a bit more. "Hell, who am I kidding. The truth is, he doesn't follow the rules at all."
Before Naruto could get up to argue again, Giles gave him a firm look. "Listen kid, the only way to legally take down another mage guild is to declare war against them. Do you think a guild like ours with what... 4 members... 7 including you three, would be able to take on a guild like Phoenix Crown head on? They'd paint their walls with our godsdamn blood. Hell, even if we did have enough power to take them head on, we wouldn't. Illen wouldn't allow it. Any idea why?"
The three kids slowly shook their heads.
Giles sighed. "Illen taught us this a while back but you should hear this too: you can fight fire with fire, but only if you're willing to burn everything around you." Giles gestured to the rest of the tavern, to all the destruction. "Look what happened here in my tavern. Illen, Beatrix, and Brutus went all out here. They all fought fire with fire, so to speak, and the result was a destroyed tavern because none of them gave a shit. Now what if their friends sat over in those tables, and family and loved ones? Do you think they would have fought the same way?" Giles paused for a bit to let it sink in. "Why do you think nothing on this side of the tavern got wrecked?" He pointed to himself. "That's why."
"That's why you should understand this as well. When Illen lies, or steals, or cheats, or even kills... when he breaks any rule or law at all, he doesn't do it on a whim. He doesn't do it because he fancies himself as some kind of renegade or outlaw. He respects the laws as much as anyone out there. The ones that count anyways. He does it because one: it's usually more effective and two: so he doesn't lose the precious members of his guild. Because in the end, his ultimate goal is to fight a fire. A blazing fucking inferno in the heart of Crocus itself. And he doesn't want anyone he cares about to get burned because of it."
- 2 -
Illen's meeting was over and his two companions joined the kids at the bar, waiting for their own glasses of wine.
"My, my, what an unusually sullen looking bunch you are," said Illen as he looked over the kids. "I see you've met our Giles. He does the paperwork. It's very dangerous, mind you." Illen noted the sombre mood of his apprentices and the normal one of Giles and came to a sort of conclusion. "Giles, you've insulted them, haven't you? I swear, when you're angry your tongue gets worse than those sailors from Caelum." He turned to the kids and tried to console them. "Don't worry about him, children. He made Brutus cry once, and I assure you it was no easy feat to prevent Brutus from smashing his face in afterwards."
"It was nothing like that," said Giles, shrugging. "Just told them a little more about the guild, is all."
"Is that so," mused Illen. "That reminds me. Giles, the stamp, you know where it is. Fetch it for me, won't you?"
Giles nodded and reached underneath the bar, rummaging through something for a bit before pulling up a rubber stamp and handing it over to Illen. Then, he briefly considered Sakura, rummaged through the same spot he did before and pulled up a second rubber stamp, handing this one over to Beatrix who nodded knowingly.
Sakura looked a little confused when Beatrix suddenly grabbed hold of her arm and led her away from everyone else to some back room somewhere. Illen made no move to stop them.
"Since you three are now officially part of this guild, you will need to wear our guild insignia," said Illen. "Other guilds would have you put their insignia on any part of their bodies. We at Terrible Consequence are a little different. There is only one spot for us and it is right over-top of our hearts." He handed the stamp to Naruto first. "Go ahead," he urged. "Just press it over like so." He gestured to explain his meaning.
Skeptically, Naruto lifted up his cloak and orange shirt and pressed the stamp onto his bare chest. "Ouch," he exclaimed. Thinking it to be cold, Naruto was surprised when he found that the stamp was actually really hot. It felt like it burned him. Quickly, he took the stamp off his skin and looked down at his chest. There was no burn mark like he expected, or any mark at all really. All he saw was his usual smooth skin.
"Done," said Illen, taking the stamp away from Naruto and handing it over to Sasuke. "You're turn."
"Wait, I don't see anything," said Naruto, still squinting down at his own chest. "Isn't it supposed to leave a mark or something?"
"I'll explain in a bit," Illen merely said.
Naruto looked confused but he pulled his shirt down again while Sasuke worked on stamping his own chest. Sasuke seemed to wince a little when the stamp touched his skin but made no sound. He just pulled his shirt back down and handed the stamp back to Illen.
At the same time, they all heard a girlish squeal coming from the back room of the tavern. When they saw Sakura emerge from wherever she was, (with Beatrix following closely behind) her face was all red and she looked shaken and confused.
"You did better than Beatrix did," said Illen, all smiles. "She refused to put the stamp somewhere so... private, at first." Beatrix scowled, folded her arms and looked away, slightly blushing herself.
"Now for my favorite part," Illen said as he put a hand over his own chest. "the reveal." He muttered what sounded like spell under his breath and the portion of his chest underneath his hand began to glow bright and green. A few seconds later, everyone else in the room began to feel their own chest heat up slightly and looked down to see a bright glowing marking that was clearly visible, even underneath their clothes.
The marking was an insignia that consisted of a stylized broken love heart with an arrow piercing through it's center.
"I will eventually teach you all the spell to make the insignia appear later on. It's meant to be hidden but at the same time practical. There are many times that you will infiltrate another guild or disguise yourself as someone else. Should any of you ever need to confirm the identity of another, it comes in handy."
Naruto looked confused. "Why the broken heart?" he asked. "Why the arrow?"
Illen sighed, letting the glowing marks fade away from each of them. "It means many different things to many different people," admitted Illen. "But to us, it is meant as a reminder of the core values of our guild. Carefulness, prudence and sobriety. Many times, not always, but many times... if you are not careful enough, someone in the guild may lose their life. If you are not prudent enough, someone in the guild may lose their life. If you do not employ enough sobriety in the things you do, the same."
"So why the broken heart? Why the arrow? It should be obvious by now. Let's use you three as an example, shall we? Let's say one of you forgets one of the core values of the guild and becomes shot with a proverbial arrow and dies. What do you think would happen to the other two?"
"They would be left with a broken heart. What a terrible consequence, don't you think?"
Interlude - Guild Values
- END -
A/N: Not much Naruto this chapter. Sorry for that but he's the focus of the next chapter. The next chapter will also conclude the Lucy arc of my story. It's kind of long, now that I look back at it. The entire Lucy arc is just meant as an introduction to the main story too, lol. Seriously, it's all just character introduction.
God this is going to be a long story.
Now's your chance to take the story off your favorite and alert lists. I'm serious, you'll regret it if you don't.
If you choose to review, I've got some questions for you that would help me out a lot. Answer them if you want. You don't have to.
1) How's my writing? Grammar/vocabulary/etc... does anything feel like it's off?
2) How's the flow of the story? Was there any part that was too wordy or parts that you skipped entirely because it was too boring?
3) How was the Sakura/Natsu fight scene? Honestly, I think I suck at writing fights. I might avoid them in the future.
4) How are the interludes? Are they good? Do they suck? Do you even read them? Is it because no Fairy Tail characters are in them so far?
If you do decide to answer any of my questions, please do so honestly. I'm one of the few authors who believe flames can help a writer improve, even if it isn't entirely constructive. This is because, in my opinion, a flame takes two things to kindle: a profoundly flawed story and an abrasive reviewer to rub it on.