My birthday is tomorrow (I'll be 25!) so I'm posting this tonight so I wake up to reviews!
Also, for those interested, I posted the first chapter of Riptide (the AU mentioned previously) and the second chapter should be up in a few days while I work out the Festival Arc.
And here we fucking GO! I saved some of the most interesting perspectives for last. Have some reveals and revelations (:
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Five - An Interesting Interlude, Part Five
"I think it's the perfect opportunity!" he said, slamming his hands on the table.
"And I think you're being irrational because you want revenge," Hades said lazily.
Brain nodded. "I agree with Hades, Ivan. Your opportunity will come, but we don't have the forces needed to take on Magnolia in the middle of a wizard festival. It's likely the other guilds will also come, and we're not going to sacrifice the dark guilds under us for a suicide mission."
"You're the one who's upset that Fairy Tail has been systematically taking out the dark guilds," Ivan pointed out. "Wouldn't it be better to go after them now, before they get more members, become more powerful, and continue to go after your guilds one by one?"
Brain and Hades paused, and exchanged a look.
Brain leaned forward, lacing his fingers. "Go on."
Ivan smirked. Finally, those brats would get what was coming to them.
If, a few years ago, someone had told Ur she'd move to Fiore with her daughter, two students, one of their fathers, and happily join a guild and get married and have more kids, she'd have laughed so hard she cried.
And then she just would've cried, because her daughter was dead.
When Ultear barreled into her life again, Ur froze. She'd thought she'd lost her forever, and for a while, it seemed like everything would be perfect (even if Ultear didn't exactly get along well with her boys).
And then came Deliora. Ur knew it couldn't last.
But she resigned herself to using Iced Shell, because it was the only solution.
And then an eleven year old punched her in the face.
Something she thought no one saw coming (mostly because the girl teleported right beside her) but Ur didn't want to get her hopes up when she said she had a different way to deal with Deliora.
After all, she was just eleven.
But she was also the one who encouraged Ultear to speak out, who fought off Brain so Ultear could escape.
And before she knew it, the demon was dead, Gray's father was somehow alive and these two kids coerced her and the rest of them to migrate countries and join a magic guild.
Sometimes it felt like a dream. Like she shouldn't be there, like she should crack and shatter into pieces or melt away.
Porlyusica said that there's nothing physically or magically wrong with her; it's all in her head.
But she's making it work. It's annoying, of course; missing out on her own life. It's like she's not always present when she should be.
But considering that she wasn't even really supposed to have a life anymore (much less one like this) Ur was okay with that.
Sorano was upset.
Elle was more upset.
"…Do you exist to make me mad, Sorano?" she asked, sighing.
Sorano screwed her face up. "You always do this! This is the magic you wanted me to learn."
"Do you know why I didn't want you to learn 'Angel Magic'?" Elle asked.
"Because you're biased," Sorano said.
"I…what? What do you mean by that?" Elle sputtered.
"You're fine with Mira's magic!" Sorano pointed out.
Elle gaped at her. "What…That's not the problem, Sorano! For one, those dumb 'angels' you're obsessed with are terrifying and not angelic in the least. You've got to admit that."
Sorano crossed her arms but couldn't disagree.
"Second, I don't like that summoning them takes off part of your lifespan," Elle said. "And that's the same problem with this spell. Yes, it is still Moon Magic, and it's probably the most powerful spell of those, but using this could kill you. Do you know what the Three Great Fairy Spells are?"
Sorano couldn't see what that had to do with anything. "You mean Mavis's spells?"
"Yeah. Originally, they were Black Magic, Mavis just found a way to convert it. And here," Elle pointed at the spell on the book between them, "seems like it works similar to Law but can counteract it. Law is what Mavis used and she got cursed. She managed to make it Fairy Law so future users wouldn't be cursed like she was. This spell looks like a variant of Law with the same sort of alterations that Mavis made. Which means that, by casting this spell, you would lose life each time for everyone you effected, a balance added to avoid the curse."
Sorano was quiet.
"Now, I can't exactly tell Master that he can't cast Fairy Law," Elle said. "What with him being Master and also an old man. But I already know that he's talked to Mavis and they're considering making him the last user of Fairy Law. The other spells don't affect the user negatively (well, any more than using magic normally does) and he doesn't want anyone after him to use Fairy Law and die from it. And I know for sure that he wouldn't be happy if you ever pulled out this spell."
Sorano didn't quite know what to say.
Elle pointed to a spell a few levels before the one they were talking about. "This one has virtually the same effect; if anything, I believe it's the equivalent of Fairy Glitter. Which means it will, essentially, disable your opponents, but since it doesn't kill them, it won't take life force from you as payment. This is a plenty powerful spell, Sorano, and it might even be more powerful than Fairy Glitter is because I think this is the original magic. The Spirits said that Priestesses of the Moon essentially died out, and that the rest of your line became Celestial Spirit Wizards. Someone could have easily heard about these legendary spells of yours, and decided to try and recreate them, which Mavis then modified. That's what I think, anyway."
Elle slumped back in her chair and let out a breath. "I know that you're still having trouble with your Moon Magic, Sorano. But jumping to the most extreme spell will not force you into being good at it. We'll talk to the Spirits, okay, and see what they'll say. Maybe we can find another way to use Moon Magic, and tweak it for you, okay? But not this spell."
Sorano nodded, her head down. "Okay."
She just felt so behind. Elle, Jellal, and Lucy were on ridiculously high levels. Even Levy was pretty skilled. But she was still struggling with Moon Magic while Yukino had already shown signs of having a talent for it. Zeref said it was probably because Yukino was the Heir, but that didn't mean that Sorano couldn't be good at it, too!
Sometimes she still felt trapped. Trapped by her magic, by her friends, by Fairy Tail.
She didn't know why. This wasn't the Tower, or Brain. She knew she was free now. She could leave any moment if she wanted to. She didn't have to listen to Elle.
…But she did it out of concern for her. All of her friends did.
Sometimes she just felt so smothered.
Like she should float up into the sky, and straight to the Moon.
Sorano can hear it calling to her, getting louder every day.
She just can't understand what it's saying.
Not yet, at least.
Bickslow felt bad for leaving things out with Gajeel and Elle, but he really didn't know how to explain everything he saw.
Each day he got stronger, the more detailed the strings became.
And honestly, the guild was just a tangled ball of yarn.
He knew he should talk to someone about it, but he didn't know how to bring it up.
It didn't help that it was technically gossip about his guildmates, and unlike most of the guild, he didn't always feel comfortable spreading that to the wind…when he could even decode it.
Erik didn't really like spreading the gossip either, but because of the different nature of their powers, he'll hear a phrase of something he can't help but blurt out. Bickslow has time to see the strings, be confused by them, and slowly figure out what they mean, so he has to take a much more measured thought to actually sharing the information with other people.
The Dragon Slayers in particular, were strange. Not even with their soulmates, but their other bonds.
Like the fact that Gajeel and Rogue have a string connecting them, and he knows that they don't know they're physically related (cousins, maybe, considering the similarities between their string and Jellal's and Levy's previous string before they realized their connection?) Though it should be obvious, considering the dark hair and red eyes they share.
Or how Natsu has a string connected to Zeref; a string that is simultaneously unknown from his end and also, somehow, dead, which he'd never seen before.
Natsu and Wendy also have strangely transparent strings connecting to Gildarts and Porlyusica; strings which are identical to the ones Mystogan mirrors with Jellal. See, Mystogan has every single one of Jellal's strings, but they're Different, like they're not entirely there. He knows that Mystogan is from an alternate universe; they all do, but he's not quite sure how it all connects here. Were Natsu and Wendy also from another universe? Or Gildarts and Porlyusica? Because not all of their strings were Different; both pairs also had connections to people in this world. And even Mystogan had formed some new connections, like the strange double string he has with Wendy, since Jellal is also close with her now, and another doubled string with Elle, which he assumes means Mystogan knew her back in his home universe.
Bickslow couldn't help but wonder if the Elle there was as crazy as theirs.
No, the strings were getting way too complicated, and it doesn't help that the few books Elle and Papa helped take from his house aren't that specific on what all the different strings do or mean.
Besides, nothing in the book ever said anything about dead strings or Different strings from another universe.
He was writing his own book when this was done…or maybe he'd make Freed do it.
And then there were the soulmates.
You'd think soulmates were supposed to be easy, right? That most people would only have one.
No. They were not.
Some of these idiots were so strangled in strings he'd forget that they were metaphysical and wonder how they were even moving around the guild.
And different shades could mean different things. For example, he could see that both Cana and Brandish had multiple soulmates, but the string between the two of them was getting the strongest. Though, it was a close race. Sorano's connection to Brandish is catching up to Cana, and he's starting to feel the tension between those two.
It's also strange how the strings can show someone's reluctance to love, like how Ultear's changed with Simon's. Even though the string was pretty obviously red, it also seemed to be actively pushing Simon away, something he was pushing back against. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd be more receptive to the other strings she had, or if Ultear would push them away when she met them, too.
Bickslow should probably mention these things to Elle, or at least not wear the Runic Bracelet Freed made him that would block out Erik (mostly because Erik complained that he could never see the strings through Bickslow, he just heard Bickslow's comments randomly and it was driving him nuts).
But something was also telling him to wait, wait until he understood more.
Besides…everything else (Jellal and Levy, Jellal and Laxus, etc) had come out so far.
And then…there were the soulmates of the Slayers and Stellars.
Sting, Rogue, and Yukino is the first set triad he's seen. Their strings connect from one to the other, and crisscrosses over, and is completely fine with that.
Erza and Jellal, Levy and Gajeel, Erik and Kinana, those were easy. Koku and Amber were just babies but still had a connection. Hisui still hasn't met hers. And then there were the other pairs.
Well…not pairs, exactly.
See, even the Slayers and Stellars could have multiple strings.
Like the possible crush Erik had had on Elle until Laxus, you know, terrified him and Kinana got turned human.
Or how, while Sorano (as stated) has a connection with Brandish, she has an even stronger string off into the distance, likely a slayer they haven't met, considering Gajeel's words.
Gajeel had told him that Slayers either end up with Slayers or Stellars, which is why Sting and Rogue still have a connection to each other, and why Sorano's connection to the unmet slayer is so strong. Bickslow thinks that, if Sorano never met the other slayer, and Cana was…elsewhere, she could've been happy with Brandish. But that doesn't mean they both don't have better options that would make them happier.
And then there were the last few things he had trouble understanding.
Wendy's was a bit strange. She had a connection to Romeo but another connection leading off. It was weird because Romeo definitely only had one red string. It seemed likely that whoever was on the other side of that string wasn't Romeo's soulmate.
And it was very clear that Wendy and the other person were still soulmates with each other. Unrequited love didn't appear the same as soulmates. So, it wasn't just that Wendy had the potential to love someone else…there was actually another love of hers wandering around out there.
Maybe Wendy just gets two people? He's not quite sure how that would work, but he's not sure how Sting, Rogue and Yukino will end up working either, just that it will, from what he can see of the strings.
And finally there was Elle's. He hadn't seen it before because it hadn't been there before, but now she had more than one red line connecting her, too.
One that was flickering, like it wasn't sure whether or not it was going to exist. Something that changed from what Fate was supposed to be; something Bickslow thought only Elle was really capable of.
He'd never seen a string appear like that before.
Even when the dragon slayers had appeared in this time, and Lucy and Levy's strings had finally appeared; that was more sudden, like it was snapping into place.
But Elle's other line had flickered into existence, and hasn't disappeared for a while. It was set now, and was getting stronger, and nearer, every day.
And one day (one day soon) that person attached to that string would walk into the guildhall, and he didn't want to think about the riot that would happen once the Ellaxus Shipmates could feel the tension there. Because Laxus was not connected to the other string, just Elle.
Freed would probably kill him for not warning him, but honestly, at this point?
As long as it happened before everyone else figured it out, Bickslow would be okay with that.
She stood at the edge of Magnolia as the wind whipped her long hair around her. A paper blew up to her and landed at her feet.
She knelt down, picking up the flyer. It took her a bit to read it; her literary skills were still rusty. But she got through it eventually.
Fairy Tail's Fairy Festival! A week of fun games, battles, and concerts run by the Fairy Tail guild. Everyone welcome! Attendance is free!**
**Specific games/products may cost a fee.
The date was soon; within a month.
One month. She'd go to the festival, watch the guild from the shadows, and make her decision.
…Sometimes, it was like she could still hear her father, in the back of her mind. A voice, telling her what to do.
You'll go there whether you want to or not.
She wasn't sure she'd listen to the voice. Father wasn't there to make her do anything, anymore. But she had to admit, she was still curious.
It was like something was pulling her towards the guild hall. Like…she was supposed to go there.
It could have, possibly, been Father. He was very insistent that she join this guild, ever since he had visited it around five months ago. For all she knew, he may have put a spell on her to make her join the guild.
She'd still go to the festival, as his last request to her. But that was all.
After that it was up to her. She'd control her own Fate.
Her eyes wandered back to the date on the flyer.
Soon.
"So, what do you think?" God asked her, delightedly.
The deity lay relaxed in an armchair, and with a wave of her arm, a tray of tea appeared on the table beside her. Her guest picked up a teacup and settled down into the identical armchair that faced her.
"I think," the guest said, "that you're having too much fun with this."
"Oh, you might be right," God said enthusiastically. "But this isn't my doing."
"It's not?"
"Oh no, he chose to mess with things with his own free will. I will admit, I didn't see it coming. I don't think Elle would either. I can't wait to see how she reacts when it all comes together! It makes it quite exciting; don't you think?"
Her guest turned back to the screen that hung between them, watching down on Earthland and the guild.
"Yes," Layla Heartfilia said, smiling down at her daughters and their friends. "I suppose it does."
:3