Alchem's Notes: So it occurred to me that I butchered a few names in the previous chapter (I have no idea how that happened, especially when I proof read it several times) and they will be fixed from this chapter on. If I get spare time, I will go back and replace the chapter with a corrected document. Also, let me know how you all like the plot. I will try to get new chapters out on a weekly basis; so far the current story board is going to give about 8-10 chapters depending how I spread it out and hopefully a couple epilogue chapters afterward. Anyways, lets get back to the story. Enjoy chapter two!
-2/ Preemptive-
In the Fairy Tail Guild Hall
"And that is why I have kept it secret all these years. I am truly sorry."
Mavis had just finished explaining Fairy Tail's deep dark secret, Fairy Heart, a source of seemingly endless amounts of magic energy that the second master, Precht, accidentally discovered when trying to resurrect Mavis.
James added. "When the Infinium Rift was created, I sensed it immediately as it was an extreme violation to the laws of magic. I came to where Mavis was to see if I could correct the anomaly; it turns out it was impossible even for me. So I used a spell that would allow Mavis to cast her spirit into the world and interact with it using her own infinite magic, after which I was able to tell her what has occurred and how she should handle the Infinium Rift. In a way, I too am responsible for her actions, so I must apologize again as well."
There was a silence in the guild before Natsu began to speak.
"Well, now that we all have that out of the way! There is something I need to say!"
Natsu walked up to James and pointed his finger at his hidden face, scaring the other guild members.
"So, who exactly are you? Why can't I see your face? And why do you make Wendy, Gajeel and I feel like you want to murder us!?" Natsu questioned James, not thinking about the words coming out of his mouth.
"Natsu! Shut your trap!" Gajeel retorted.
"Please Natsu! I want to live too you know!" Wendy nervously stated.
James looked at Natsu, and then spoke, "James. I'm wearing a shroud hood. You three are Dragon Slayers."
Natsu stood there dumbfounded.
Gray couldn't help but mutter, "Fire boy just got roasted."
"What do you mean by 'you three are Dragon Slayers'?" Lucy asked James.
"Dragon Slayers are usually trained by parent dragons. When a parent dragon trains a pupil, dragon slaying magic, or any magic really that's dragon related, they have to give part of their power to the pupil to 'feed' and 'grow' on. This, indirectly, infuses the pupil's soul with the dragons power; the human's soul remains dominant. This is why when a Dragon Slayer enters their 'supposed' final form, Dragon Force; their physical body will also reveal things like scales, hardening of the skin, drastically increased sight and hearing, and on rare cases, wings… And if pushed to the extreme, in Acnologia's case, full on dragonification."
"Oh, wow." Lucy muttered.
"That's just like what that dragon spirit said to us back under the coliseum in the Grand Magic Games." Wendy pointed out.
"Yeah, what did you use… it was something like Milk Chocolate Bar?" Natsu wondered.
"It's called Milky Way, Natsu…" Wendy reminded him.
"Milky Way!?" James' mood changed immediately, silencing the room!
"Did I say something wrong?" Wendy now in a panic.
"…Who taught you that spell?" James questioned.
"Grandeeney did… What's wrong with that spell? It's just sky dragon…"
"That is not Sky Dragon magic!" James interrupted. "In fact, it's not even dragon magic or sky magic in general! That spell is an Ancient Lost Magic!"
"Huh?" Wendy's eyes widened in a shocked confusion.
"Are you positive it was Grandeeney who taught that spell to you?"
"Well not personally, she left a tome for me to learn from. She explained in it that she didn't have enough time to teach it to me and left details on how the spell should work. Is the spell dangerous or am I too young to know it?"
I understand now. It's not that the dragon didn't have enough time; the dragon straight up could not teach her the spell as it was incapable of preforming it. James thought to himself.
James then asked Wendy, "How do you feel after using the Milky Way?"
"After about 10 minutes I start to feel tired and need to take a rest."
What the hell, 10 minutes! It took me 25 years to be able hold Milky Way that long and when I gave this spell to Mavis so she could project herself, she was only able to master it because she has infinite magic energy. And yet, before me is a human, a young girl on that matter, that claims to be able to perform this spell exceptionally!
James wanted to question her more, but judging by her reactions, he knew Wendy wouldn't understand or know anything else about why Grandeeney would 'teach' her such magic.
He simply responded, "Just so you know Milky Way is a very powerful spell that requires a lot of magic energy. Just be careful when using it."
Wendy nodded her head 'yes' trying to figure out why her knowledge of Milky Way disturbed him.
Who- or what, exactly is this girl? What are you hiding Grandeeney?
Mavis is growing a bit impatient. "Now that you've gotten acquainted with our Dragon Slayers, it's about time you finally introduce yourself to the guild and explain how we are going to prevent the animas from destroying Magnolia."
"Yes, allow me to officially introduce myself." James removes his hood and jaws dropped as the guild members saw his face for the first time.
"What is he? / What's wrong with his ears? / Is he a demon?" Everyone, except Mavis, was questioning his appearance.
The iris in James' eyes glow a faint green along with having long red hair and pale skin; but the most noticeable trait was his ears. They pointed out about two inches from his head, shaped like knives. At the same time, his hooded robe that was originally greyed out is now white and green with leaf vinyls and stems that outlined the sewn areas.
Questions about James appearance slowly ceased as he began to speak.
"As you can see, I am clearly not human. Nor am I a demon or a god… I am an elf. Perhaps the last as I have not met another of my kind in over 550 years."
"550… years? Just how old is he?" Lucy muttered to herself.
"Elves, also known as Observers, were created before dragons or humans to ensure that the world would never be corrupted. We can perceive both physical and spiritual entities as well as those created by magic. That is why I can see Mavis without the Fairy Crest. Once magical stability allowed for the presence of both humans and dragons, we hid ourselves from the world, watching from the shadows. However, once the humans and dragons started conflict, magical stability started to fluctuate and we had to act as a mediator. This ultimately failed as the dragon leaders did not like finding out that there was another race that could outclass their own power; thus the Elven Dragon War began. That was nearly 550 years ago now. Even I do not fully understand how that war ended because suddenly both elves and dragons vanished; including the leaders of both sides and all traces of the war's existence was wiped from the battlefields. As far as I knew, I was the last surviving elf. The humans and remaining dragons went and formed the Magna Carta, a document that would ensure peace until the Human Dragon War that would follow. It would be this war that created Dragon Slaying Magic."
Levy sat writing down all of this information in her journal, Makarov and Mavis listened calmly, while everyone else seemed to struggle in comprehending all of this information.
"Going back to my statement earlier about dragon slayer magic should also answer your previous question better Natsu. As dragon slayers, you three have been trained by parent dragons, therefore your souls also inherited and grew off of fragments of your parent dragons power. Unfortunately, that has also given you three the burdens of dealing with elves. Even though it was 550 years ago, the 'memories,' if you want to call them that, of elves being a threat to dragons have passed down the generations. Normally, should a dragon and elf meet… only one walks way. But because you three are human, your dragon trait is still classifying me as a threat; however, your humanity is still dominant in being logical. To be clear though, it is not any of your faults, and I cannot do anything about it. It's just nature and we all have to cope with it."
"Wow, you know so much about us and dragons…" Wendy started to say before being cut off.
"Wait! So does this mean that you know where our parents are!?" Natsu implied, immediately sparking both Gajeel's and Wendy's interests.
"I do not know." James simply said.
"What! But after everything you just said, there has gotta be something you know, right?" Gajeel pursued answers from James.
"Whoa, since when have you been so eager?" Natsu smirked to Gajeel.
"Shut it, I was just curious!" Gajeel felt somewhat emotional about being able to see Metalicana.
"I'm sorry. There were five dragons that used to fly about the landscape, but I lost trace of them July 7, 777. I do not know what became of them."
"Oh…" The three Dragon Slayers sighed with disappointment.
"Okay, I've had it with those three getting the spotlight. I'm a Dragon Slayer too, you know!" Laxus declared, stepping in on the conversation. "How come you haven't acknowledged me?"
James looked at Laxus for a moment before saying, "Artificial Dragon Slayer."
"YOU'RE CALLING ME A FAKE!"
"No, but you were not trained by a parent dragon as I do not sense an infusion in your soul, hence why I also previously stated 'Dragon Slayers are usually trained by parent dragons.' You have the power to slay dragons, but you do not have the infusion in your soul, instead you use a special lacrima. This leads to two things. One, you are not threated by me, are you not?"
"No actually." Now thinking about it, he felt nothing from James unlike the other three.
"And two, this ultimately leads to how you grow. By using a lacrima, most, if not all, the possible magic dragon slaying knowledge is given to you immediately. There is a price to this, however, and that price is the inability to achieve dragon force. This is because dragon force is the result of the infusion of the soul. Simply put, you can perform all of your spells with mastery instantly, but you cannot grow them as they were already mastered from the get go. You can build off them though and create unique combinations, so don't let it discourage you."
"I see, that explains why I don't have to struggle for more advanced spells and why those three have to step up their game when battling me. Huh, I guess it isn't so bad." Laxus smirked.
"Okay, seriously James!" Mavis snapped. "How did we get back on this!? I said for you to introduce yourself and explain how we are going to save Magnolia! Yet, you introduce yourself and immediately start giving a HISTORY AND MAGIC LECTURE!"
Everyone stared at Mavis appalled as they have never heard her yell like that before.
"First master, please…" Makarov said while trying to calm down Mavis.
"I probably should have said this before; I am waiting for Mystogan to contact me through this thing, I'm still not sure how it fully works yet." James pulled out a gray, thin box shaped item that lit up when he touched the top of it. It caught the eyes of a few guild members. "He said it will alert me when he tries to contact me and that I should not contact him as he is a busy man and we don't want take the chance in blowing the operation. As you can see, I'm just passing the time through knowledge."
"Operation?" Mavis and Makarov questioned in unison.
"About eight years ago, this city, Magnolia, was absorbed by the anima and returned within a week. The amount of magic that was transferred to and from the worlds was incredibly massive. As I observed the transfer, I was relieved to know that Mystogan was able to fully return all the power back because if there was a distortion in the flow, some people would have been lost or fused together. That is the most dangerous part about the anima."
As the guild was taking this news in, James turned toward Mavis.
"There is something more critical however; Mavis, in Edolas, the man who attempted to harvest this city last time has learned of you and your power. His name is Faust."
"Wait, I remember that guy." Natsu recalled.
"Wasn't he the king that tried to harness you and Wendy's power to destroy the exceeds?" Lucy recalled as well.
"Yeah, and then he turned into a dragon only to get pulverized by Natsu!" Happy boasted.
"You do realize that was a machine right? And Wendy and Gajeel helped out as well." Carla corrected him.
"Hmm, it seems you are already aware of our enemy then." said James.
"I don't understand how he knows about me though." Mavis stood trying to calculate any possibilities that would have led to Faust learning her power.
"Mystogan and I are completely clueless to how Faust is managing all of this entirely, as Mystogan erased the remaining magic to prevent any future contact with our world. That's not everything though, after Faust was exiled from the kingdom, his followers disappeared as well despite being under lock and key to rebuild the city. More so, after hearing all of what he had to say, I grew suspicious and began to question if I should even be trusting Mystogan. Mostly being the fact that the magic was erased, yet he contacts me using magic and gives me this weird item for further communication." James looks at the object that was given to him by Mystogan with doubt.
"The prince was an S-Class member of this guild! He should be one-hundred-and-ten percent trustworthy!" Lily butted in; the others agreeing with him.
"And it's because of that, why I trust him for now." James added. "According to Mystogan, Faust wants to capture Mavis to get his hands on the Infinium Rift; through that he will be able to fully restore Edolas with an infinite supply of magic power. How this will happen, I do not know, but this will ultimately kill Mavis in the process if he succeeds even with her immortality. Luckily, the key to stopping Faust is still in the hands of the three Dragon Slayers…"
"AHEM! Did you already forget that I'm a Dragon Slayer too?" Laxus stated, reminding him.
"According to Mystogan, a lot of the artifacts in Edolas are countered or powered by a Dragon Slayer because of the soul infusion. Because you do not have a dragon's…"
"Yeah, yeah… forget I said anything." Laxus said feeling a bit useless.
"I'm sure you will have a role in the events to come." James said as Laxus blew him off.
*sigh* "So Mavis, as I was saying. If Faust manages to capture you and achieve his goal, the consequences for this world will be dire. With infinite magic, Faust can take back the kingdom in a heartbeat; after that, he will be able to invade and destroy Earthland. That is why I am involved. I have to do whatever it takes to protect this world; as an observer, an elf, it is my duty!" James proclaimed.
"Yeah, this is my home. I will protect it!" Wendy rallied. Whoa, where did this confidence come from?
"That's the spirit!" Erza cheered
"Yeah, I'll show them how a real man protects his family!" Elfman cheered alongside Mirajane and Lisanna.
The guild uniting together pleased James. So this is their bond? Humans really are interesting.
A few seconds later, the item that James had started to ring. "That's Mystogan."
James presses the green button named 'answer' and sets it on the ground. Mystogan then was able to project himself and communicate to the guild. Everyone gathers around James as he begins to report to Mystogan who is in Edolas
"Good. I'm glad you have managed to alert the guild, but I'm afraid our communication ends here." Mystogan said in a disappointing tone.
"What!? Has something happened?" James voice was filling with concern.
"When we terminated our last meeting in the forest, I noticed a third node in the transmission. Meaning that there was a third person listening in on our conversation. I didn't notice it until the connection ended; therefore we have to assume from this point on that this line isn't secure."
"Dammit! I didn't notice anything at all! That means now we also have to assume Faust knows we are coming after him!"
"Indeed. We wi.. *static* ..again when w.. *static* ..Is someone!... *static*"
"Mystogan, your losing signal… Mystogan?
The static clears and the face that takes over stuns everyone!
"Ahh, hello Earthland fairies. My, oh my, it has been such a long time Scarlet."
"Night-Walker!" Erza couldn't forget her sadistic Edolas counterpart, Erza Night-Walker.
"Oh crap! It's the second Erza! It truly is the end of the world!" Natsu screamed.
"Natsu settle down!" Erza grabs Natsu. "What do you want Night-Walker?"
"What do I want? I only want his majesty to unite Edolas with the magic it deserves. That also comes with the bonus of murdering all of you along with that prince that stole away the throne! It's been eight long years and I'm dying to return the favor, hehe."
Night-Walkers face revealed her pleasure in watching the guild fill with anger.
"Now that we have the chance, what is it that Faust wants to accomplish?" James demanded calmly.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Night-Walker moves out of view as a new face moves in view.
"My, my! This is quite the fancy you all have here. I may adopt this style once I've reclaimed the throne with a magical Edolas. Hahahaha!" The old foe, Faust, greets the guild in an… unfriendly manner.
"So this is Faust. The Edolas me? He doesn't look like me Natsu." Makarov mumbled to himself. 'Oh yeah, I think you were the king!'
How to I turn it off? James tried to think of any way to shut it off without breaking it.
Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy grew furious when they saw Faust appear before them.
"How dare you…" Natsu grinned under his teeth
"Oh, I haven't forgotten you three and my public humiliation, but don't worry though I have an amazing welcome back gift just for the three of you!"
Memories of the lacrima harvest ceremony in the town square, the extraction room under the castle, the guild's lacrima being used as a bomb along with other memories flooded the Dragon Slayer's heads which was translated by the extremely pissed off look on their faces.
"So, where is this 'Fairy Heart,' hmm?" Faust looked around the room.
What do I do, I don't want to break our only means of communication to Edolas. James was unsure what to do for this scenario.
"James, I'm going to break it." Erza told James.
"But then we will lose our only connection to…" James was interrupted by Faust's discovery.
"What's this? A transparent girl?" Faust noticed Mavis retreating away.
"He can see me!?" Mavis shrieked.
"The device can see her!" James yelled then nodded toward Erza. Break it!
Erza then unsheathed her sword to go destroy the box, but as she got close a pulse knocked her back and a shield surrounded the device.
"Erza!"
Erza got up, "What the…"
"Hahahaha! You like it? Nothing like a little sabotage before the main show!"
Makarov steps forward, "You have disgraced our guild for the final time! Heed this warning Faust because it will be your last! We will never allow you to take our First Master and you will regret making an enemy out of Fairy Tail!"
Mavis, James, the Dragon Slayers and all the other guild members united behind Makarov ready for war!
"Aww, I'm going to screen-shot this moment and hang it on my wall." *click* "Enjoy this moment Fairy Tail, in a few moments the anima will open and all of you will be swept into it yet again, but this time you won't be coming back! HAHAHAHA… *static* ..HAHAHA.. *static*" The device turns off, then shatters.
The ground starts to shake as the storm outside intensifies. Everyone starts to lose balance while the three Dragon Slayers get motion sick.
Why do I not feel so good? Wendy thought as she fell next to the other two.
No. This cannot happen to us again. Lucy thought.
"Everyone, grab a hold of something!" Gray shouted.
The hall shook violently, everyone hanging on for dear life. Mavis hovered toward James who was the only one standing with a concentrated look on his face.
James then levitated to maintain balance and smirked, "No Faust, we will come and go as we please. Thanks for the door key."
Huh? Mavis overheard James' comment.
Everything started to settle down to a complete stillness. Everyone was able to regain their bearings and the Dragon Slayers recovered from there motion sickness.
"But… how." Lucy mumbled.
"James, what did you do?" Mavis questioned
"Go step outside." James recommended.
The guild steps outside and everyone goes chibi eye-jaw drop at the sight they are beholden to.
"Behold, 'Divine Roof of the Forest!'" James exclaimed.
Giant trees were suddenly everywhere in the city and completely blocked out the sky. It was calm and dark; and light was generated by Magnolia's streets and magical torches that branched out from the trees like a mystical perma-night forest. The citizens of Magnolia took to the streets in confusion to see what was happening. Looking directly upward, the guild sees that the trees next to the guild hall stretched directly into the anima.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Mavis freaked out. The property damage bills are going to be insane!
"Despite what most might think, Invasion is a two way road. If Faust wants to invade our world, then we'll invade his. Also, these oaken trees are very dense, and their inner sap blocks magic from escaping into the anima. Magnolia is safe for now."
"So the shaking was the trees then, not the anima?" Mirajane asked.
"Correct." James answered.
"I could get used to this." Lisanna said to herself in her panther form.
Makarov turned to the guild, "Now all we need to do is plan our counter-attack."
"Don't worry, thanks to that anima activation, I was able to connect my trees through to the other end of the anima, establishing a two way node that we can use to travel between as we please. Mystogan should be waiting for us at the flare my trees should have shot out."
"WAIT! THAT MEANS YOU PLANNED THIS!" They all screamed at James.
"As an observer I have to account all possible outcomes and new possibilities created by those outcomes to ensure that this world is not destroyed. That also includes quick actions to ensure a fail-safe."
"This completely changes all of my possible outcomes…" Mavis said.
"After all this, there is one thing I've noticed!" Happy pointed out grabbing everyone's attention. "The way Mavis and James act… They must LOOOVE each other!"
"WHAT!" They both exclaimed.
"Mavis and I aren't even of the same race! Plus she's a ghost and underage!"
"…Actually I was in my mid 20's" Mavis whimpered.
"Very underaged then!" James corrected.
[In case the joke just went over your head. James originally thought Mavis was over 100 years old and elves historically have almost eternal lifespans.]
"Focus!" Erza shouted.
"Right! In a few moments a gate will open that will transport us into Edolas. If all goes well, Mystogan should be waiting for us."
"Wait! There is no magic in Edolas; how will we fight?" Wendy realized.
"That will be best explained when we get there. The gate will open in… ten."
A ring formed around the guild and they started to slowly rise off the ground.
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Whats happening, Gray?" Juvia asked.
"I don't know!" Gray responded.
"Seven."
"Six."
"Five."
"Wait, why am I coming along... and how?" Mavis shouted.
"Four."
"Three"
Everyone was far off the ground rising into the sky past the tree line alongside the four massive trunks that continued into the anima.
"Whoa." Everyone was looking down at where Magnolia should be but all they could see was an ever expanding forest.
"Two… One."
Everyone was consumed into a massive ball of light that then immediately shot into the anima, sending a shockwave across the sky.
Meanwhile in Faust's Throne Lair
"That will definitely through a wrench into things, but I'm a bit impressed that the anima was taken over." Faust said. "But it doesn't matter, I have just the right tools to punch straight through the anima and destroy that defense. With that out of the way, grabbing Fairy Heart with be incredibly easy!"
"So, you intend to use the Javelin then?" said another familiar voice.
"Indeed, but I will need one of the Dragon Slayers to activate it."
"Even though I was only able to extract two out of the three Dragon Slayer's magic, the memory is still clear to me that the blue haired girl has a lot of it, about eighty percent of the magic that was used in the Dragon Chain Cannon eight years ago came from that one little girl. And she's right at our front door."
"Really!? Excellent memory Byro, she will do! Send the word out to the others for her capture only, do NOT have her killed!"
"Yes your majesty, I will tell them of the new plan at once." Byro turns and walks out.
"So, Earthland Fairy Tail, now that you're here, come… come and meet your doom! Hahahahaha."
-2/ Chapter End-
Alchem's Notes: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! I will now use my powers of foresight to pre-answer 10 questions before they are asked!
1) So your OC is going to be overpowered? A/ Historically, elves are known to be the most in tune with magic than any other race in fantasy lore, ever. This is due to their near immortality that gives then enough time to master the greatest of magics. They are even stronger than dragons naturally which is why the Dragon Slayers sense hostility in James' presence and why there was a war in the past. So... yes. I wont let him take all the glory though.
2) OP Wendy? A/ This answer was pre-deleted due to spoilers
3) Mavis x OC? A/ No. She's a ghost.
4) I still don't understand how the animas came back because I thought Mystogan reversed the magic? A/ It hasn't been revea... have you been paying attention!
5) That joke on Mavis' age was very f*cked up! A/ I know. =}
6) How and why did Faust's followers become evil again? A/ I don't recall them ever turning good. Also it hasn't been revealed yet.
7) Do you hate Laxus? Will Laxus get any action? A/ No, I do not hate Laxus, he has more than redeemed himself. Of course he will.
8) So you skipped over the explanation of Fairy Heart then? A/ I gave a brief summary of it, why would I rewrite it? It was explained in the manga. If I explained Fairy Heart, that is what this whole chapter would have been about because it was a very long explanation.
9) When does this story take place in the timeline? A/ After the Celestial Spirits went insane after the GMG arc.
10) Wow, I've never considered Dragon Slayer magic like that before, especially Wendys Milky Way! A/ This has been a theory of mine for a while now. I've always wondered why Wendy has been the most 'different' and having the most 'special attention to detail' out of all seven dragon slayers, primarily Milky Way which of all the powers she has, is the most 'out of place' magic in her arsenal. She also gets at will dragon force which activates instantly without break unlike Sting and Rogue and features a complete colour palette swap. And lastly, and the most incriminating, is the fact she can enchant herself but not heal herself but she can enchant and heal others just fine, and what's worse is that Carla has stated before that 'Wendy cannot use any support type magic on herself' in the Japanese original (I believe this is not stated in the English dub); that throws many red flags all over the script. I strongly believe Mashima is hiding something in Wendy and it won't be much longer in the manga that it finally gets revealed.