Chapter Seven
Jade shook off the feeling. Ever since they left Magnolia, she's felt that she was being followed Jacob. She went down to hotel bar and took down a couple shots of their strongest stuff. She sat at the bar at looked at her mug of beer. I can't wait to put a beat down on him. Just then she felt a few new presences standing by me—in fact there were three.
"What is such fine young lady doing here, and with such a lovely outfit on?" a man said behind her.
She groaned. It would have been smart not to go out in only your swimsuit, Jade. She didn't turn around. "It's a beautiful light green bikini, but how about we skip the pool and go straight to the bed?" another man added. For some reason this reminds me of when I met Gajeel…he better not show up.
"Why so quiet? You playing-," the third man stopped in the middle of his sentence as soon Jade heard an 'eh-hem.' She heard the men run away from her.
Jade took a whig of beer. "Interesting having you hear. Where you looking for Cana or just a drink?" she asked.
"Neither. You shouldn't be roaming around by yourself; you don't know who those guys were." He replied.
Jade turned and looked at the man. "Laxus, I could have taken them on."
The blonde man looked down at me. "I know, but what if they were with Jacob. You-,"
Jade held up a hand. "Don't talk about that here. Anyway, I don't want to be a dog on a leash, but I was just heading off to pool. Are you coming or not?"
Gosh, this girl just runs from topics. "Why do you think I'm walking around shirtless? And you're not a dog on a leash; your cat asked about you."
Worry old girl. Jade finished her mug and left some money on the counter. "Let's go."
I stretched arms as I relaxed on the pool chair. "Nice place." This hotel was amazing. It had a giant pool with a big hot springs pound on the other side.
"You're really relaxing now, Jade-chan. In fact, I've been meaning to ask you what you did with your free time. I mean when you were on your own." Levy replied. She was the only one sitting with me.
"I have to be relaxed and comfortable; it's all about adapting. As for free time, um I cook, doodle, eat, drink, sleep, oh and read."
"Eek, you do! What type of books do you like? Do you think you have any I might be able to read? Oh-,"
There was a sudden yawn by us. "Gosh shrimp, you complain about me calling ya 'bookworm' yet it's all you rant about." Gajeel complained as he stood behind the bluenette. Levy jumped a little from his voice.
"What do you want Gajeel? Can't leave two girls to their fun." I responded.
Gajeel gave a dark smirk. "Just adding to fun in fact." Out of nowhere, someone covered my mouth with their hand and picked me up. My eyes went wide, and the person began running. I started kicking my legs; I looked up and saw it was Natsu with a toothy grin. Simultaneously, Gajeel had thrown Levy over his shoulder, and now the two dragon slayers were running by each other towards the pool.
I knew they were trying to throw us in there, but Natsu slipped on a puddle and ended up knocking into Gajeel and Levy-having all of us fall into the deep end. I swam up and started laughing. "Gah, ya screw up! You can't even do that right!" Gajeel growled after popping up.
I chuckled darkly as I approached him from behind. "So you wanted to play Kurogane, hehe, I can do that." I jumped on his back then pulled him deep into the water. I covered his mouth and he turns and sees me. I winked before letting go and racing towards the surface.
Levy was laughing when she saw the both of us. "She got you, Gajeel." She giggled pointing at the man.
The man growled. "Yea, yea whatever."
"You deserved it." Levy giggled. Gajeel just looked at the girl and sighed.
We all then heard a dark voice. "Well now that you had your fun, are you ready to be punished." We all froze. It's Ezra, and she's mad…
We all slowly turned our heads and saw a pissed off Ezra standing from her pool chair and glaring coldly at us. I tried to figure out why she was upset, but I then noticed that her bikini was soaked and ruined. I backed away slowly in the pool; I knew this wasn't gonna end well.
Titania smirked. "Gajeel, Natsu come here." She wiggled her finger motioning for the two men. I knew a shiver went through their spines. But froze too just in case she called for me too. The men complied taking big gulps and breathing nervously as they got closer. "Get out the pool." They obeyed. "I think we all need to call it a day and head to bed. As for Natsu and Gajeel, put some clothes on and meet me in my room in an hour." Everyone cleared out of the pool and left fast.
I just remembered standing and leaning against our room door along with Levy-chan. We were breathing hard. "I think we should call it a night." I panted.
Levy breathed hard for second before replying. "Yea I think so too."
(A/N: I believe I don't have to go into detail about what happened to those two, but if you must know, it wasn't pretty.)
Jade laid there staring at the ceiling in their new hotel room. They had finally reached Christen Town after a long, exhausting ride for all the dragon slayers, well except Wendy and Laxus, yet the girl laid restless having thoughts flash through her mind about the upcoming days. Of course Laxus and Ezra already came up with a plan; they weren't wasting any time, but it all didn't feel right.
His presence is watching. Jade told herself her cousin was only manipulating her parent's magic in her necklace to mess with her mind. She wanted it all to be only a dream. You know he's here just face him. Jade mentally growled. It would be at least a couple of days before they were suppose to stop Jacob cause he was definitely up to something illegal, yet more important, evil and life-threatening to a lot of people. Jade sat up in her bed and looked to her partner sleeping in the neighboring bed. The Exceed and dragon slayer shared a room without anyone else. Do you want something bad to happen her, all your new friends? Just learn what Jacob wants. Another growl. Don't be a coward and just make up your mind! Jade sighed. Need to stop arguing with self…*mental sigh* I know what I need to.
Crystal screamed. Her body shook. Everything was beginning to get all confusing, again. Her voice had made all of the Fairy Tail gang charge into the room.
Ezra was already for a battle—having her armor on. "What happened she said?" she said with much authority in her voice, after she pushed her way to the front of the crowd.
Crystal shook her head and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She slowly lifted a piece of paper. "Well, what does it say?" Natsu asked. The Exceed shook her head again before breaking down into full tears. The crowd went into a arguing mess, but it was soon silent.
"Juvia-chan will read it." The water mage said. She then went over to the disturbed Exceed and patted her head before taking the paper. The room was silent waiting to her words.
"Dear My Fellow Guild Mates,
I know you're probably worried or pissed about my absence. But I have something to confess. I've felt Jacob's presence nearby since we left Magnolia. I know I should have mentioned it, but my guess was proven right last night. He came by the room when we were all asleep and left a note explaining more about me, and my family. However, he threaten your lives, and though I am confident in your strength, Jacob's magic doesn't make me want to risk your lives.
The truth is my family was a clan of power mages, with extraordinary magic levels who centuries ago targeted by Fiore's early rulers. Those who remained struggled to survive before soon thriving again. I don't know what was going on during the time of my birth and how I truly ended up at the mouth of a dragon's cave. I'm not saying I don't like living in present, but I want to know about my past.
For now, I'm settling my business, but I hope you're all okay, and please don't worry about me. Everything will be cool. Oh and Crystal, keep up the good work with the swords, you're good. Hehe, Levy-chan you should-," Juvia blushed and paused and she quickly skimmed the rest of the letter.
"Why'd you stop?" Crystal asked wiping eyes. Juvia handed the paper to her. Crystal read through paper again.
Her eyes watered again and began crying. "Damn it Jade! It's not the time to be playing match-maker, gah!" she wailed. She dropped the note and sighed. Happy came over and patted the cat's head.
"What now?" Wendy whispered.
"What do you mean what now!? We go there and drag her ass back; I don't care if she's kicking and screaming." Natsu answered not missing a beat.
"Natsu's right. Jade's nakama; she needs to be back we us." Cana agreed as she took down her bottle from her mouth.
"She's only trying to watch out for us, but she's sacrificing herself in the process." Lucy added.
"There's something she's not telling us. I know it." Levy said as she finished reading the note.
"Gajeel, you said one time Jade was muttering something, do you remember what it was?" Ezra asked.
Gajeel thought for a moment. "Et veniet consummatio. Et venient, et salvare illos, qui tamen ab aeterno certamine? I think, why?"
"Levy, can you translate it?" Ezra asked.
"Yes, but there's something else on the back. Cavete facere magia periculum." She answered quickly.
"Gah, what is this language?" Laxus grumbled.
Carla, who had been silent the whole time, answered. "Latin…oh god, it was real!" Everyone turned to see what she was taking about.
"What is Carla?" Lily asked.
Carla stopped herself from panicking. "I had a vision last night. There was a girl with this mist coming out of her mouth. It was like the life was being suck out of her. We were all there, but on the ground defeated. I thought it was just me being paranoid, but now I see it's was more."
"That's it. We need to come up with a new plan. Our objective is to bring back Jade-chan and destroy whatever plans Jacob has for her." Ezra said.
"Aye sir!"
(A/N: Ugh, it's so hard to keep that girl under control. The more I try to develop her; the more complicated stuff has to happen to get there.)
I knocked on the large wooden door, as I had finally reached my destination. He was here; I could smell him, but there were many others. Does he have followers? Or is this just the under-lord business? The door opened.
A slim young woman with short, dark purple hair was there. Her outfit consisted of a short pink skirt and a lime green belly shirt. She was chewing some gum and blew a bubble before speaking. "What do you want? Mr. Foster is busy."
"I have some business of my own with him." I answered.
"Well, I don't think he has time, so-," There was a laugh.
"Oh Jade, dear, it's lovely that you've finally come by. I hope Jeanette, here was sweet." It was Jacob. I gave him a plank stare. "Anyway, let's get you into a room. We can talk in tomorrow." He let me in the building.
I walked into the large building that was like a castle. We walked down the hallway that was upstairs. "I would explain all the details, but I'm sure you're exhausted. It is a rainy night." He stopped in front of a room. "A princess deserves tower. There should be a nightgown on the bed." He smirked as he added, "I just had a feeling you would come."
I mentally growled. I knew it was his magic trying to convince me. Ugh, there's still no reason to go back. I entered the room. "I hope it's nice and warm. Good night, Jade. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
"Night." I muttered back as I entered the room—closing the door behind me. I didn't know what was gonna happen tomorrow, but I could tell hell was gonna break loose if I hadn't shown.
Jade awoke with to the sun shining through the curtains. She could tell she slept the morning away and it might have been well after noon. She looked at the bedside dresser. There was a note:
Good Afternoon Ms. Jade,
My name is Ms. Smith. I will be your maid during your visit here. Mr. Foster has requested you come to lunch at one. There is dress he would like you to wear. I hope you enjoy your time here.
It was like Jade was visiting a five-star hotel, except this was her cousin's place and he wanted her for something important.
Jade climbed out of bed and saw a dark blue and black Victorian hanging from a hook on the door. It was short sleeved with frills. I'm not gonna…calm down Jade, let's get this over so we can see what Jacob wants. She was undressing when someone entered the room.
Jade yelped before using the dress to cover her body. It was an old woman. She had blue silver hair and was dressed in a modest maid outfit. Jade relaxed a little. "Ms. Smith?" The woman nodded. Jade sighed. "Thank goodness, can you please help me into this dress. I'm not really used to this type of stuff."
"As you wish." She said with a curtsey. Ms. Smith spent the next few minutes helping Jade get into the dress. She soon got her to talk.
"So how long have you been working for my cousin?" she asked.
"Since he was first got into the under-lord business. He rules this town like a happy mayor until something doesn't go his way." Ms. Smith answered.
"Oh, well do you know why he has invited me?" Jade interrogated.
Ms. Smith tightly tied the bow at the back, which made Jade straighten up. "There we go. Now, I suggest we get you downstairs; you don't want to keep Mr. Foster waiting." Jade mentally groaned. She didn't answer the question.
They exited the room together, and Ms. Smith led Jade to the banquet hall. Ms. Smith entered only by a few steps. "Ms. Jade Blueshepherd." She announced with a bow.
"You may go Ms. Smith." The woman left. Jade walked to the table. Jacob stood and met her halfway. "My dear cousin, I've been waiting for this meal for a very long time." He took her hand and led to her seat.
Jade sat in her chair and realized that she was not the only guest at the table. There was another at the long wooden table. It was a man with dark blue hair with black side bangs. His eyes were bright yellow. Jade knew he was one of Jacob's goons. He directed a smirk towards her.
Jade looked down and saw an array of utensils and an empty plate. She wasn't into fancy life-style, but she has experienced it a few times. She just didn't know this was how Jacob lived. "Jade, this is a friend of mine, Mr. Samuel Johnson." She gave a polite nod.
Jacob took his seat, and immediately food was being served. Ms. Smith came again only to place a small plate with a fillet of salmon on it. Jade began eating taking small bites. "Let's get to business. Jade, I'm sure you are aware of our family's horrid past, and now it is time to reveal our plan." He began.
"We have found a device that can resurrect the dead. You might be familiar with the "Tower of Heaven" incident, but this is completely different. With enough magic, we bring our whole clan back to life. We'll be a feared people, again."
Jade was shocked. It seemed impossible and ridiculous, but she figured out why he needed her. "You need all my magic." She whispered. There was no way you could bring that many people back to life without it.
Jacob nodded. "Yes, but in essence think about what a sacrifice you could be. And we made sure you wouldn't die, just…be really sick for a while."
"This would be very smart for you to do." Samuel finally spoke. Jade was so confused.
"Jade you must know, you have the magic of all of our people that ever lived. You are known as the 'Golden Child.' It was a prophecy given to our family centuries ago by a wise wizard. You are very capable of doing this. Plus, if you don't, we would be force to take the magic of the people around the world." He added. So that's what Minitacia meant all those years ago…I can't believe this. "Just do this Jade, don't endanger all those people." Jacob held out his hand.
"Jade isn't gonna do anything!" a voice yelled from the high ceiling foundation. Jade happily gasped. Natsu!
The dragon-slayer hopped down and onto the table. He squatted down in front of Jacob. "Hey punk!" he said with a mischievous toothy grin. "Are ready to get hit by Fairy Tail?"
Whew! I'm so happy I got this done. I hope it's good. Please tell any improvements for the next chapter.