Chapter 6: Surrosanna

After his sorta kinda date with Mirajane the previous day, Charon was feeling surprisingly optimistic and looked forward to the day ahead of him. For the first time in a while, he slept in till 10:00 am and was refreshed, although, he woke up on another roof. He was happy, but was disappointed by the lack of opportunities to use his magic. He decided to head to the guild hall to pick up a mission.

Charon opened the door, walked in and sat at a bar stool. He watched his new friend serve the guild with food and drink all with a smile on her face. He was caught off guard when Makarov sat next to him.

"Well, you seem to be fitting in around here rather nicely!" He laughed as he startled Charon.

"Ah! Ohh, hey Master, what brings you over here?" he said while scratching the back of his head.

The master chuckles "I see you're quite fond of Mirajane." He says and starts to guzzle down the mug of beer. "All I can do is wish you the best of luck against her admirers."

"Uhh, thanks... I MEAN, WHAT?! ITS NOT ANYTHING LIKE THAT, WE'RE JUST FRIENDS AND ALL!" Charon was panicking. "Whatever, I'm gonna go pick out a mission. I could use some travel time after being here for so long." he sighed.

Grey, who was in hearing distance looked confused "You've only been here about a week though..."

"Yeah, and?" He scoffed. "This is the first time I've had a home since I was 7, so I'm not use to it."

"Well, why not just take a big job and buy one? " Gray asks

Charon thought for a second "That's not a bad idea you got there, I'll go see what missions you got." He walked over to the mission board and read through the posters. There were missions of all kind, from picking fruit to stopping bandits. One mission in particular caught Charon's interest... it read.

The job was listed under the S-class missions.

Job Request

S-Class Rank Request

Request: Hello there whoever takes a gander at this job! My name is not important, but what I'm asking is. Zeref's damned demons have taken my only son captive. He is the last thing I have left in the world and I'm begging you to save him. I don't have much in terms of jewels, but I have an Enchanted Item that would be worth your while. My village, Surrosanna, is located near Cait Shelter. If you accept the offer, seek me out in the village Tavern...

The note ended with the reward and the minute details. The money meant nothing when Demons were involved. Charon took the request to the master so that he may perform it.

"Very well, you make take on this mission, but not alone. You must take someone to aid you." The master said.

"You don't understand! It's my job to rid the world of demons! If I can't handle this by myself, I would be unable to call myself an Exorcist Mage!" Charon shouted.

"I'll go with you!" Gray shouted. "A demon was responsible for destroying my village!" he slammed his fist against the table. "Please, let me fight them too!"

The master looked worried "Gray, I understand how you feel, but his mission is far too dangerous. I cannot allow you to go!"

Charon looked over "He's right, demons aren't easily taken down by normal magic. You'd need to have mastered a form of demonic magic to even stand a chance. Just listen to the master."

"Fine..." Gray sighed and walked out.

The master sighed "Fine Charon... you'll get your wish this time, just go and get the job done, and make sure you keep yourself alive." the master walked away slowly.

"I won't let you down sir!"

Charon saw Mira looking down for some reason. "Mira, you ok?"

She looks up "Are you really taking on a mission like that alone?"

Charon looked confused "Yeah, of course! I am a devil slayer after all. Its my duty to protect the world from demons."

"You don't have to go alone you know? I'll go with y.." She was interrupted by Charon placing his hand on her head.

Charon grinned brightly "I know what you're going to say, but I can't accept." He locked eyes with her "If you got injured while trying to help me, I'd never forgive myself. The people around here need you and besides..." a blush formed on Charon's face. "When I get back, I've got something special planned for you and me. And don't even try to ask what it is because I won't tell."

Mira's sad mood took a 180 and she jumped and hugged Charon with tears in her eyes. "Alright! But if you die, I'll kill you!"

Charon was embarrassed with her sudden action and could hardly breath with the strength of her hug. "Yeah, yeah... I won't die... PROMISE... CAN'T... BREATH... PLEASE!"

She let go and Charon was immediately gasping for air. "Remember, you promised!" Mira then went back to the bar and started back on her work.

Beginning of the Journey to Surrosanna...

It was around early afternoon and Charon was packed and ready to start his journey to Surrosanna Village. It would most likely be a 1-2 day peaceful walk, but the weather around the area was rumored to be not all that pleasant around that area, so he prepared for it. Looking over the request form once again, he felt something suspicious about it.

He thought to himself 'Why would a group of Zeref's demons take a hostage... they aren't known to negotiate... This could get really bad fast, so I shouldn't let my guard down.' He sighed. 'I promised Mira that I wouldn't die, so I won't!'

Charon began his journey to Surrosanna. It was only a few hours till sundown, but he decided to travel through the dark.

He was about to stop and take a break when he heard some footsteps in close to him. He then noticed that bandits surrounded him. 'This is annoying...' He made an irritated sighed "Alright.. you can show yourselves now!"

A rough and tough voice echoed "You hear that boys? We got ourselves a tough guy! Why don't we make him suffer before we take his valuables?" His proposition was followed up by at least 20 people cheering and agreeing.

Charon rubbed his temples. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" he sighed. "Well, if that's how you want to play it, then fine."

One by one, the bandits attacked Charon only to be whacked away by the giant fan of his until it was only the leader left.

The leader was nervous. "C-COME ON GUYS! WE CAN'T LOSE, IT'S JUST ONE PERSON!"

"You know, I haven't even used magic yet... and I don't need to. Abjurers Curse: Chains!" black chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around each bandit.

The leader was squirming "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! LET ME GO!"

Charon grinned. "The curse will end after I give the command or after 48 hours. Either way, you won't be bothering me anytime soon" he laughed and kept on walking. "Try to do something better with your lives!"

An hour later, he was tired and decided to sleep up in a tall tree, where the view would be the best.

Morning came and he continued all the way to the village without any trouble. He arrived in Surrosanna, which was a typical "In the middle of nowhere" village and immediately noticed something weird about it. The villagers looked like a bunch of walking corpses, completely void of emotion. Charon didn't let his guard down. He saw the tavern and walked in. An old man was waving him over to his table.

The old man spoke. "Are you the one whose gonna save my son?

"Yes sir, I'm here on behalf of Fairy Tail and I accepted your job request." Charon said politely.

The old man puts his hands together "Thank you thank you THANK YOU, I'm in you debt!

"No need to thank me so early... I have to save your son first, remember?" Charon says

"Ah, yes! The demons are to the north of town. We'd send some warriors if we had them. You're my only hope." The old man looked stressed.

"Alright, I'll go immediately." Charon said walking towards the exit and left the tavern. He was headed for where the old man's son was.

Meanwhile back at the tavern...

The old man smiled widely showing off his true form a bit. He chuckles evilly "Everything is falling into place just nicely. The one with the devil slayer curse has gone to find my supposed son. HAHAHA! Once I have his curse all for myself I won't have to take orders from the boss anymore and I'll have enough power to wield Nirvana and use it to bring unending chaos to the world in the name of Zeref!"

Charon though to himself grinning 'They take me for a fool do they, It's just about obvious that this is a trap and they think I fell straight into it. I know the old man is a demon too. He was none other than Tentarafoo, the demon jester who uses the Incognito curse to cause mayhem and a right hand man to him... If I can get a hold of Tentarafoo with the chains, I can finally learn where he is! This job is getting better by the minute.'

To be continued...

Author Stuff...

I'm really excited in the way of Charon's powers. He's going to be really cool by the time the Grand Magic Games come along, I can promise you that. Tentarafoo by the way, is a SP skill in the Shin Megami Tensei games that confuses the enemy, so I figured that it would be great as a demon name. I'm looking forward to revealing who He is and continuing forward. Next up: Tentarafoo!