A/N - So, uh, how about that latest chapter of the manga, huh? Pretty exciting, hahahaha MashimaifyoukilloneofmydarlingsIwillfindyou. v

And here's the last chapter of the Ajisai mini-arc! I'm honestly a little glad for that; this little mini-arc hasn't been the greatest thing I've ever written, if I'm being perfectly honest. I probably should have done more planning than I actually did? And I usually do; you know how I am, foreshadowing abound. But I planned out the trip to Ajisai before actually figuring out what was in the mine, and I planned the ruins before figuring out what I was going to put in them, so there was a lot of winging-it that I'm not gonna look back on happily in a few months.

But we can talk more about that in the end-of-chapter notes. Nobody reviewed this chapter, so no reviews to respond to, so I guess we'll just get straight to the chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Fairy Tail is the intellectual property of Hiro Mashima. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.

Chapter Nine - Emotions

"Brandy!"

Master Torhearth?

Brandy's mind was a jumbled mess. Images flashed in her head, ideas of the Baku's frowning face and a shedded snakeskin deteriorating in a rainstorm, the sensation of soft silken robes against her body as smooth hands with long, tapered fingers held her close to an unfamiliar chest. She felt confusion and anger, but most of all what she felt was fear.

And it wasn't hers.

"Brandy, listen to me!" Emmett's hands were wrapped tightly over her shoulders, his voice muffled by the war erupting inside her head. "You need to snap out of it, okay? Whatever thoughts you're thinking, they're not your own, your mind is being taken over by the Baku!"

No… no, she still had control over her own mind, as tenuous as it was. "M-master Torhearth," she managed to cough out. "I'm not… I'm still…"

"Brandy!" The surprise in his voice was palpable. "You're fighting it's influence?"

"Not me," Brandy gasped, as pointedly as she could manage.

The realization struck Emmett, and she could feel his hands on her shoulders tense slightly through the thick fabric of her overcoat. "Oh," he said. "That figures. How are you feeling? Do you think you can drive it out completely?"

"I… I don't know… Master Torhearth, it's not angry, the Baku is scared, it's scared of us." The images were clearer now, images of her and Emmett with their visages twisted to look like monsters. Brandy could feel the Baku trying to poke its nose into the rest of her mind, only to rear back as if slapped with another NO! More images of snakeskin flashed through her thoughts, followed by an image of the Baku, with its head tilted inquisitively to the side as it regarded something unfathomable. "I think I'm confusing it."

Emmett managed to crack a weak smile at that. "Well, your condition can be pretty confusing, when you first find out about it," he said, before his expression fell back into a concerned frown. "I don't understand. Why is it scared of us? I mean, I can understand if being scared of, well… you know… but it attacked us first. And don't even get me started on the gravity magic!"

A tidal wave of indignation sent Brandy reeling, doubling over and grabbing at her head as new images find her consciousness. The Baku leaving its amphitheater; the Baku trying to float over the gorge, single-mindedly focused on the doorway on the other side; the Baku being dragged down by the gravity magic, barely able to escape the darkness of the ravine's depths; the Baku fleeing back into the amphitheater with a despairing look on its face. "It didn't make the gorge," Brandy whispered as the pieces began to fall into place. Opening her eyes, she looked up sharply, wincing as her vision spun and doubled. "The gravity magic weren't meant to keep us out; it was meant to keep the Baku in! That's why it was stronger on one side than the other; even if the Baku did manage to surpass the gorge, the gravity magic would just pull it back!"

Emmett blinked. "But… why?"

More images. A cluster of people in beautiful, ornate red robes, all gathered around the delighted Baku. "There were… people. They…" Reverent face dances across her vision, with wide smiles and eyes full of awe and wonder as the Baku performed simple tricks in the air. "They loved the Baku. They worshipped it."

"A cult, then?" It wasn't uncommon to hear of small groups of fanatics coalesce around the worship of one magical creature or another.

"I… I don't know. Maybe? It's hard to tell. Everything's through the Baku's eyes. I really don't think it had an… unbiased view of things." There was a sharp spike in irritation lashing out from where the Baku still lurked at the corner of her thoughts, and it prodded at her consciousness again in irritation before promptly getting pushed back by the anger in her head. "It didn't like me saying that."

"I can imagine." Now that control of the situation had been somewhat reclaimed, Emmett had started to relax a bit, his shoulders no longer tense with anticipation. "So… what was it doing all the way down here? And how long has it been down here?"

If you had told Brandy the day before that she would end up being the middle-man for a conversation between her mentor and a Baku, she would have called you a number of colorful epithets, most of which implying unflattering things about your intelligence level and current state of sobriety. But here she was, translating the residual emotions and memories of a magical creature that had tried to take over her mind and would have succeeded were it not for the fragmented mess that was her subconscious. She didn't think that her mom would have even been able to predict this turn of events.

(Though if she had, a little heads up would have been nice.)

Brandy tentatively reached her thoughts out towards the Baku, allowing the thoughts she was sensing to become clearer and more understandable. Her skin crawled at little at what that spark of primal anger in the back of her mind no doubt perceived as an intrusion, but she ignored it and pushed forward. "This was some sort of temple. They built it because the Baku wanted it. And the amphitheater right there was so the Baku could perform tricks for people who came to visit. It… it really liked showing off. They were happy, the Baku was happy, until…"

The images flashing in her head painted a clear story; the robed figure's joyous expressions slowly grew fearful and then disgusted as the Baku fed from the dreams and thoughts of those it lured into the amphitheater. The images were shown with an undercurrent of indignation. "The people who worshipped the Baku stopped when it got hungry and started to feed on people. It doesn't think it was doing anything wrong; it ate when it was hungry, just like every other creature." The images continued, flashing in front of her eyes erratically, as if the mere memory of what happened was enough to send to Baku into a near frenzy. She did her best to translate what she could see. "They were the ones who set up the traps; the pressure plate to keep out people coming in, and the ravine to keep the Baku from trying. They sealed the place away and buried it. The Baku isn't sure how long it's been here." An image of a calendar, followed by a spike of inquisitiveness. "What? O-oh. It's the year ex-seven-eighty-four."

Panic spiked through Brandy's, causing her to double over and clutch her head. "Damn it!" she shouted. "Augh, it didn't like that news. It's been in here for over three hundred and forty years."

"It went that long without eating?" Emmett asked. "I wasn't even aware Baku had such a prolonged lifespan. Then again, it's not like a whole lot is known about them. Most scholars in the field of magical fauna study don't generally get close enough to properly study them, for good reason." He rubbed his hand across the stubble at his chin thoughtfully. "So… wait. If this place was repurposed to be a prison for it, why did the doors at the front open?"

Images of the the door opening and closing. The Baku, floating proudly near the entrance, cheerfully welcoming new worshippers. "The Baku can control the doors. It can't reach them due to the gravity magic in the ravine, but it can still open them. It opened them in the hopes that a powerful wizard who would be able to undo the gravity magic and let it go free."

"And it ended up getting exactly what it wanted," Emmett muttered. "So now we know why it's in here, and what it wants. Which only leaves one more question…" His dark brown eyes glinted dangerously. "Why should we let it go free?"

There was a moment of silence. Brandy's head was strangely quiet, leaving only the lingering wariness lurking deep within her subconscious. Then…

Rage. Unstoppable rage that pushed past even the anger that kept Brandy's mind her own, overwhelming her thoughts until she was no longer sure where she began and the .Baku began. "Gyaaahh!" she screamed, her vision going almost completely dark as her sense of control fragmented and her senses stopped being her own. She could barely feel Emmett's hands back on her shoulders, could barely hear his cry of "Brandy? Brandy, what happened?!"

The anger only intensified at hearing its voice. "You need to let it go, Master Torhearth!" she shouted. "It's been here for over three centuries, it needs to be set free!" Brandy was used to words that weren't hers leaving her mouth, but she wasn't used to it feeling like this; she knew she wasn't angry at Emmett, but at the same time, anger was all she could feel.

"What? No, no, Brandy, listen to me," Emmett urged. "These thoughts aren't yours. That's the Baku talking. You need to snap out of it, you need to get it out of your head so we can get out of here and find a way to seal this place off for good."

"No!" Brandy - or maybe the Baku - she didn't know anymore - shouted. "It didn't do anything wrong, it just needed! Everything has to eat, human, that's how things work!" Definitely the Baku, now. "It's so tired of being trapped in here, can't you just set it free?"

"Listen to me!" Emmett said sharply. Brandy flinched; anger was such a rare emotion from her teacher. "Look at what you're doing! You're taking over my mentor's mind, causing her pain!"

Oh, Brandy realized. He's not talking to me anymore. He's talking to that Baku.

Emmett continued. "You don't just eat, you eat thoughts! Our unique thoughts are what make us who we are, so when you eat our thoughts you're basically eating us! Can't you understand, your worshippers were scared for a good reason! Aren't you scared of your predators?"

Brandy recoiled a little in shame. "It can't help what it has to eat."

"And humans can't help but be afraid of you," Emmett pointed out.

Stymied by his words, the Baku retreated from Brandy's mind a little. She quickly wrenched back whatever control she could, gasping as she feels her senses return to her… and immediately wincing as she realizes that part of being able to fully sense things again is feeling the way her skin burns, the itching sensation spreading across her back and arms like an army of insects crawling across her skin. "Ohhhkay, that's unpleasant," she grumbles, pulling her overcoat closer around herself.

"Brandy?" Emmett leans forward. "That you?"

Brandy nodded. "Yeah. What you said confused it, I think. It's not gone completely, but it's backed off a bit. I think that it's thinking."

"That's a start, at least." Emmett hesitated. "How are you… holding up?"

Picking up on the subtext within his question. Brandy shrugged. "My skin feels like it's peeling and I'm still a bit dizzy, but I'll recover. It felt… well, it felt different, you know? It wasn't like my body was being taken over, more like my thoughts and the Baku's thoughts started to blur together. For a while I couldn't figure out who was talking, if it even mattered." She shot him what she hoped was a comforting grin. "Don't worry, though, Master Torhearth, I'll be fine. There aren't going to be any incidents."

She hadn't noticed just how tense her mentor was until he let out a sigh of relief and practically deflated. "So," he said. "Do you have any idea what the Baku's thinking about?"

"No. It's mostly out of my mind now, and it's not like I can go inside its mind. The only parts of it I can feel are the parts that are still in my hea-oh!" Brandy was cut off by the Baku hesitantly poking back into her primary consciousness, dropping a single thought into the forefront of her mind. "It has a question for you, Master Torhearth!"

"What? What is it?"

"It asked… 'what if I only ate nightmares?'"

Emmett blinked in surprise. "Nightmares?"

Brandy nodded as more thoughts began to trickle in through her connection to the creature. "It knows that humans hate nightmares. They don't taste good to it, but it can eat them, and they sustain it as much as any other thought. If it ate nightmares, people wouldn't have to deal with bad dreams anymore, and it could feed without scaring anyone. That way it could go free." Brandy ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, it sounds reasonable, right? I know I wouldn't complain if there wa a floating tapir-monster going around and eating my bad dreams before I even had them."

Emmett seemed a little more reluctant. "I suppose. But how can we trust it not to go after good dreams, or waking thoughts?"

An answer formed. "It wants to be free," Brandy translated. "It knows that if it starts eating good dreams and other thoughts, the wizards will come back and trap it again. And it doesn't want to be trapped anymore. So it'll keep its promise."

"Well, it's right about that part, at least." Emmett was quiet for a bit, a thoughtful expression on his face. "All right," he eventually said. "I suppose it would be cruel of us to just leave it here. And we'd probably have had to get rid of the gravity spell anyway, if we wanted to get out of here. But it has to leave your mind completely before we do anything."

Brandy's mind was immediately cleared of any of the Baku's thoughts as it practically fled from her mind. After a couple seconds, the Baku itself appeared from the darkness blanketing most of the amphitheater, looping around the two Construction wizards with a hopeful expression on its face. Emmett shot a look towards Brandy as he stood up, an unspoken question lingering in his gaze. She got to her own feet, brushing the dirt off of her overcloak and nodding her answer. Emmett turned to the Baku. "All right, then. How do we free you?"

The Baku chirped happily and flew up towards the crystal floating high above the center pedestal of the amphitheater, giving it a wide berth as it spun around it. "That crystal is controlling the gravity spell?" Emmett asked.

The Baku nodded.

"So then we have to destroy it." Emmett turned to his Stone Archer, who had been standing there patiently the entire time, waiting for instructions. "Shoot the arrow," he commanded.

The Archer nodded and drew another arrow, nocking it and taking aim towards the crystal. It fired, and Emmet and Brandy watched with bated breath as the arrow soared through the air…

...and bounced off the crystal's surface, not even chipping it. "Well," Emmett said. "That might pose a problem."

"No, it won't," Brandy replied.

"The Archer's the only thing that can reach that, Brandy."

"No it isn't." She pulled off her overcloak and let it drop to the floor, placing her hand against her stomach. "If I can get up there, I can shatter it. I just need a little help."

"Wha-" Emmett's eyes widened slightly as he realized what she meant. "Are you sure? The Baku invading you mind had to have taken a lot out of you, and you've already summoned two Constructions today."

"You've summoned three. Ten, if you count each Infantryman as a separate summon."

"Yes, but-"

"You brought us to Ajisai in the first place so that you could assess my skills as a Construction wizard, didn't you?" Brandy pointed out, affixing a pointed yellow stare to her mentor. "I've got this covered. Trust me." A black magic circle sprung to life against her fingertips. Magic Concealment Ink: Dispel!" The tattoo that appeared on her abdomen was especially elaborate, in the shape of an eagle with its wings spread and a sword held tightly in its claws. "Construction Focus: Ink Tattoos! Come forth, Valkyrian Eagle with Sword!"

Her powerhouse Construction came bursting from her stomach, expanding and taking form as it landed in front of her. The Valkyrian eagle was huge, easily a good eleven or twelve feet from its beak to the base of its tail. Its feathers were a brilliant gold in color, shining like liquid metal underneath the gleam of the crystal's light, and its eyes were two pools of pitch blackness, matched only by the darkness of its talons. Clutched in one of its feet was an ornate longsword, comparable to one of Erza's many, many swords. The Eagle dropped the sword on the ground in front of Brandy and waiting, its head tilted so it could focus one large, inky eye on her.

"You know, I still think you went a little overboard with the Eagle's design," Emmett remarked.

"I was fourteen, what do you expect?" Brandy grabbed the sword from off the ground and began to approach the Eagle. "Besides, I still think it looks pretty cool. And there's something to be said about the merits of having a giant bird you can ride around on, you know. For instance…" She threaded her fingers through the thick feathers of the Eagle's neck and hauled herself onto its back, sword still in hand. "I'll be able to fly up there and break that stupid rock that's keeping us trapped here." She looked down at her Construction. "Let's go, Eagle!"

The Valkyrian Eagle let out a mighty screech, a declaration of intent to all those who heard it, and spread its wings, flying up towards the crystal and taking its creator with it. For a moment, Brandy was grateful that the Baku's love of showing off necessitated the amphitheater to be as large as it was; if it were much smaller, she didn't think it would be able to house the Eagle's impressive wingspan. But she couldn't worry about that right now; they were drawing close to the crystal, and she'd have to act soon. Struggling to keep her balance, Brandy carefully stood up atop the Eagle's back, gripping the sword tightly and readying herself to strike. "Three hundred and forty years, huh?" she muttered. "That's a pretty strong spell to last that long. Let's see how it lasts under the might of a Fairy Tail wizard!"

With a cry of her own, she swung the sword in a wide arc, striking the crystal with everything she could throw at it. The crystal shattered underneath the blade of her sword, shards of what surely had to be lacrima flying through the air and dropping to the ground. A few sharps sliced through Brandy's skin as they passed, and she let out a hiss as the resulting cuts tingled with a strange energy. Yup, definitely some sort of lacrima.

With the crystal shattered, the air around her shifted and changed. That cold, heavy feeling that had permeated most of the ruined temple was gone, and breathing helt a little easier. No doubt if she were to go back into the room with the ravine, she would find the gravity magic gone. As the Eagle soared back down to the ground, the Baku came up to greet them, bouncing through the air with renewed spirit. It rapidly danced in circles around Brandy, giggling madly before lightly butting her on the back with its forehead. "Was that some sort of 'thank you?'" Brandy teased. The Baku nodded. "Oh, well then, you're very welcome. You know, you're actually kind of adorable when you're not trying to take over my mind." She turned the attention to the Eagle. "Valkyrian Eagle, return!"

With a final squawk, the Eagle melted back into the ink, the sword in Brandy's hand quickly followed suit. The ink returned to the light brown skin of her abdomen, and Brandy dropped down to the ground below, landing with practiced ease. "So," she said, silently reactivating the magical concealment on the tattoo as she addressed Emmett, "what's the grade for that one, Master Torhearth?"

Emmett pretended to mull it over. "Well, let's see… You summoned three Constructions in one day without any signs of magical overexertion, you've shown remarkable control over all of them, Frigga's webs are now strong enough to withstand intense gravity magic for several minutes, you managed to withstand an assault on your mind by a powerful magical creature, and destroyed an enchantment strong enough to last for over three centuries…" He grinned proudly at her. "As your teacher I'd say you've more than passed your assessment, kiddo."

Brandy beamed and pumped her fist high in the air. "Haha, yeah I have! Man, I can't wait to tell the guys back at the guild about this! How many ancient spells has Natsu broken, huh?" She was getting a little more excited than usual, but being good at her magic was important to her, and getting the approval from a Construction wizard as powerful as the Stone General of Fairy Tail only solidified how hard she had worked to become the wizard she was now.

See, Mom? she thought. Just because I didn't carry on the family tradition doesn't make me a poorer wizard.

Her jubilation was interrupted by the Baku impatiently floating between of them, soaring back and forth between the open door of the amphitheater and the two wizards pointedly. "I think it wants to leave," Emmett said with a wry smirk. "We should let the townsfolk know that there's no more danger. Though they probably should come exploring; there's still the pressure plate in that one room, and even without the gravity magic the gorge is pretty deep. Wouldn't want a miner falling in by accident."

Brandy nodded. "Okay, then," she said, picking her cloak up off the floor and pulling it over her shoulders as she followed Emmett and the Baku out the door. "Let's go finish this mission, shall we?"

"You seriously fought off twenty Vulcan?"

"Nineteen, actually." Macao Conbolt corrected. Despite his words, he bore a proud, cheeky grin on his tan features as he took another swig from his tankard of mead. "The twentieth one finally got me. Good thing Natsu and the new girl came to get me; I don't know how long I would have been out there, otherwise."

"Jeez," Emmett sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Suddenly I feel like I accomplished a lot less today."

After he and Brandleif had returned to Magnolia, Brandleif had left to go find her friends, no doubt to tell them about what had transpired during their mission. The Baku had disappeared into the mountains as soon as they left the mines. Emmett hoped that it kept up its promise; he didn't want to have to put the thing down if it came to that. "So, Emmett said, "how's Romeo holding up? He was pretty shaken up when you didn't come back."

"Yeah, I heard." Macao's gaze turned downwards towards his tankard, his expression growing somber. "He said that the kids who were teasing him have stopped after he told them about how I fought the Vulcans. That's another reason I'm glad Natsu came to find me. I don't want to think about what would have happened if Romeo had been left all alone like that. After Enno left..."

Emmett exchanged a glance with Wakaba Mine. Macao didn't talk about his ex-wife much. "We would have looked after Romeo, Macao," Emmett said. "The Guild would've given him a place to stay."

"Yeah," Wakaba agreed. "Heck, this is probably one of the most kid-friendly guilds I ever seen. Remember when Natsu and all of his friends were little? Boy, were they ever little trouble-makers. Always setting things on fire or freezing things."

"You say 'were' like they stopped," Emmett pointed out.

"Heh, ain't that the truth." Wakaba leaned back in his chair and craned his neck towards Mirajane, who was tidying up the shelves of tankards and glasses. "'Ey, Mira! Wanna bring us some more ale over here?"

"Be right there, Wakaba!" Mirajane bustled over, bringing a couple more tankards with her. "How are you feeling, Macao?" she asked as she placed out the new drinks and collected the empty tankards.

Macao rubbed his shoulder. "Still a little sore, but I'll be fine. So, did anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"Well, there was the new recruit, Lucy," Mirajane said. "But you've already met her. Oh, and there was a bit of a guild fight right before Natsu went to go find you."

"Aw, man, I missed a guild fight? Everything fun always happens when I'm on a mission."

Wakaba spoke up. "Hey, Mira," he said with a suggestive grin, "speakin' of fun, why don't you and me catch a play and get some drinks sometime?"

"That does sound like fun, Wakaba," Mirajane said, and Emmett caught a hint of a devilish smile playing at the corner of the young woman's lips before she used her Transformation magic to shapeshift herself into the spitting image of Wakaba's wife, "but wouldn't you rather go do something like that with Millgana?"

"Gyah!" Taken off-guard, Wakaba flailed backwards, causing his chair to tip over and send the smoke wizard crashing to the ground.

"You pretty much asked for that one, Wakaba," Emmett said as Mirajane transformed back into her normal self and headed back to the counter with a wicked smile on her face.

"Shut up…" Wakaba groaned from the floor.

"Hey, that reminds me," Macao said, turning to Emmett. "Are you ever gonna find anyone to settle down with? I mean, it didn't work out for me, but you've always struck me like the type of guy who would appreciate the whole wife-and-kids thing."

Emmett frowned at the question. "Haven't had the time," he answered vaguely. "Being a wizard is a full-time job, especially with Brandy's training to consider."

"Ah, come off it," Wakaba scoffed as he pulled himself to his feet. "Brandy's a grown woman now. She ain't hiding in your cloak anymore, she can take care of herself. You wanna know what I think?"

"No, but I suspect you'll tell me anyway." Emmett took a sip of his ale...

"I think you're still holding a torch for you-know-who."

…and promptly spat it back out. "W-what?" Emmett coughed, staring incredulously at his friend.

"Seriously?" Wakaba said. "You haven't even looked at a woman since you and the kid got here, and it ain't like there's a shortage of beautiful women here in Magnolia, you know."

"That doesn't mean- look, that was a long time ago and I've gotten over it, okay?" A bald-faced lie, and everyone there knew it. "I've just been busy. I have rent to pay and people to help and of course there's Brandy's condition to worry about. Just because she's older now doesn't mean I'm going to abandon her to deal with her problems, especially when her problems were my fault to begin with."

Macao grinned. "See," he said. "This is what I'm talking about. Take it from me, Emmett, you'd make a good dad."

Emmett stared down at his tankard for a long time before he spoke again. "Look, I don't even know how we got onto this topic, my family life is not important. This is just supposed to be three men drinking and enjoying each other's company, right? So let's just sit here, drink our ale, and celebrate the fact that no one got eaten by monsters."

Wakaba chuckled and raised his tankard. "All right," he said. "I'll drink to that!"

A/N - Call me crazy, by I think Emmett harbors a little bit of bitterness over this particular topic. Weird.

In retrospect, I wish I hadn't ended the last chapter where I did. The pacing gets a little weird with the chapter break where it is. I had been worried that this chapter would have been too short in comparison if I had placed the break later, but then it turned out to be over 4.5K words in length without the author's notes. So much for that, I guess. Still, all's well that ends well.

But yeah, next arc is gonna be a lot more thought-out than this. We'll also be getting an in-depth look into how Construction works in about two chapters. Speaking of which, we get to see the fourth of Brandy's six Constructions, the Valkyrian Eagle with Sword! To be honest, I really just wanted to give her a giant bird to fly around on because I thought it would be cool, and the sword came from back when her tattoos were visible. So yeah, Rule of Cool dictated this tattoo in its entirety. (And apparently it dictated its appearance in-story, too.)

Overall, I don't feel like this overall arc was very… impactful? Like, it further established the dynamic between Brandy and Emmett, which is gonna be super-duper important as the story progresses, so I guess there was a net benefit. And we will be coming back to Ajisai and its residents again. I have plans for them. So yeah, admittedly weak arc, but it sets up for the future, and everyone knows that Chekov's Guns are my favorite thing, so. And the Everlue + Eisenwald arc will be a lot more cohesive, I promise. (And fun to write; oh, there will be a couple scenes from Episode Three that I will very much enjoy writing, heh heh heh.

The Baku being not as malicious as originally thought came from an idea my sister-slash-beta-reader had. She suggested that the inhabitant simply be a prisoner, hated by circumstances it couldn't control and a nature it was born with. My sister is awesome, and the reasons why will be apparent much, much, much later.

Chapter Ten will be posted soon! In the meantime, feel free to favorite and leave a review!

-Diana "Nocte"