Hey everyone! Well here is another big chapter… Even larger than the one before. I hope you guys do like big chapters. Please Read and Review as well as just enjoy it!
Megan walked into the town nervously, how on earth did she end up getting sent into a town for rooms, resources and info? She recalled the conversation clearly enough.
"Your job-" Gray started. "Is to go into the village and rent us a room at the inn, there should be plenty of rooms available, I heard that they even rent out the basement for a cheap price. I want you to rent the basement, we need to keep ourselves well hidden around here. The guild is still awhile north of here so we need to stay here for the next couple nights to prepare, this leads to your two other goals-"
First step, reserve at a hotel. Megan walked over to the one small inn that Onibus town contained, it didn't look half bad, but a basement could be different than a room. It was still pretty cold, so Megan activated her cold resistance ring and strode in. An old lady was standing there reading a sorcerers weekly magazine. Huh so this woman has a liking for that magazine huh? I admit I used to read it before I met with Taka. Megan chuckled to herself.
"Excuse me miss." The old woman looked up, her mousy gray-brown hairs showed her age just as much as the wrinkles and crow's feet that marred a possibly once pretty face.
"Yes?" The lady asked me in a plain tone. She sounded and looked tired, and a bit irritated. Was her job really that bad?
"I would like to rent a room, the basement in particular…" Megan asked. The lady's eyes narrowed questioningly, and Megan felt herself warm under the old lady's dark brown gaze.
"Oh? And why the basement." Her voice was tinged with curiousity. Megan shifted slightly.
"Because ma'am, we need somewhere quiet and out of the place for us to get some decent rest, you would be surprised how hard it is to fall asleep in even this forest, it's not as quiet as you might think..."
It was a lie, but she obviously didn't care. "Very well miss, but I will need about 7,000 jewels." Woah, Gray wasn't kidding, the basement really is cheap! Megan paid for the room and the old lady handed her a key. Megan gave a quick wave of thanks and hurried out with the lady's gaze still following her.
The ring mage let out a soft sigh of relief. Megan wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. It became wet with sweat and she realized that she had started sweating. Well, that old lady was rather unsettling. At least the walk to the bar was short and sweet, with the chilling breeze of the evening to cool her down.
She pushed open the door of the bar, it was warm and rowdy, her hands flashed to her ears. However it only lasted for a moment. She brought her hands back down and walked over to the bar counter.
"-Then, after you have bought us the basement, we need information. The wizards bar should have plenty of it." His eyes grew distant for a bit, as if he was remembering something. Then he shook himself and the coldness returned to his dark blue eyes. "Don't tell any wizard of our names since they might know us. But listen to them for information as well, don't shy away from socialization."
Megan nodded, "Also last of all we are going to need some supplies, I am sure that when you two left you packed plenty but otherwise we still need more food and blankets and other things like that since between the three of us the supplies will become worn much faster, we do have plenty of time to do this while in town however so if you don't get it tonight it's no big deal, is that clear?" Megan nodded again quickly.
That was the last part, judging from the fact that the sun was going down she wouldn't have time to get restock their camping gear since they would be coming into town at night. Megan plopped down onto the barstool and waited for the server to come around.
"What would you like miss?" The bartender growled.
"Some wine would do just fine actually, white wine please?" He nodded and left, leaving the auburn haired mage to entertain herself.
She looked around, her gaze lingering painfully on the sight of a couple. A woman sitting on the lap of a heavily muscled guy, the guy was tickling her and she was giggling cutely. Megan sighed, feeling a pang of jealousy. Just watching this was more agonizing than being hit twice by Gray's ice make magic. She was too into staring at them to notice her wine being placed at her spot.
"That's a horrible idea!" The loud noise made her head snap around.
A short blue haired mage in an orange dress was arguing with two other mages. One of them was incredibly obese. With short black hair that was neatly kept, except for the small tuft at the top. The other had orange hair that was held up tightly in a ponytail.
"No, we are not going back to the guild! The whole reason we left is to try to find any clues where they have gone and we can't find out any of that back there!" said the orange haired one, shouted back. Megan finally noticed her wine and took a small sip of it.
"But why would they be out here in this small little town? It makes no sense!" shouted the black haired one.
"Hey, hey enough fighting you two, we shouldn't be fighting when we need to focus right now!" Levy huffed.
"But wherever the dark guild is holding Natsu, Erza and Happy at can't be anywhere near Onibus… Right Jet?" Droy addressed the other guy apart of Shadow Gear.
"We just have to keep looking in this area guys, maybe we could check the former Eisenwald building they could be hiding there, if that doesn't work than we can come home?" Levy said before Jet could answer.
The two brightened at the idea, "brilliant idea Levy!" they exclaimed.
Megan observed the conversation with interest. Maybe these guys have some good info, they are talking about a dark guild maybe it might be useful, it's better than nothing and there's plenty of time to kill. Megan stepped lightly over to them and cleared her throat.
"Hello, my name is Megan, can I buy you three some drinks and we can chat?" The auburn haired asked. Levy, Jet, and Droy looked a little startled. Then Levy nodded hesitantly but smiled.
"Sure!" she said.
The three mages walked over and sat at the bar with Megan, Megan ordered drinks for them and started her little interrogation. Droy ordered some food from the counter, earning an annoyed look from Jet.
"Are you really getting more food? You ate before we left… Stop eating so much."
"You calling me fat?" The two continued bickering, leaving Levy and Megan alone for the most part.
"So what's wrong with your guild? I heard you were having some trouble." She inquired curiously. Levy looked a little suspicious.
"A few members of our guild were kidnapped, by a traitor," Levy said. "Three were captured, one escaped and warned us, we have been trying to find both the traitor and our captured guildmates for awhile now." Megan took another sip of her wine, Levy who had just gotten ice water, took a small sip herself. Megan smiled encouragingly at the blue haired guild mage. She just smiled back uneasily.
"What guild were you apart of? And what's the dark guild?" Megan questioned, she could feel something important about to slip out, some kind of info that would make this all worth it.
"Me and my team are apart of Fairy Tail, the guild that captured our precious friends is a dark guild called Hellfire Imps… Does that sound familiar?" Levy asked as Megan started choking on her wine. Wait a second… So the guild we are joining has captured these guy's mages? Why? I have to tell Juvia about this later! Megan sputtered for a long minute as she tried to clear her throat, she grew warm with embarrassment when Droy began patting her on the back to try to help her.
"Don't choke and die!" Droy warned. No fricken way, really? She regained her breath and moved away from him. Determined to continue the conversation, she gave the overweight mage a grateful smile and turned back to Levy, who was watching her with concern.
"Are you alright Megan?" Levy asked worriedly, Megan cleared her throat and nodded.
"Yea I'm fine, thanks for asking. No I'm afraid I haven't." Megan looked at the time, it was getting pretty late, soon Juvia and Gray would come into town.
"Oh that's too bad, so much for getting a lead here." Levy said disappointedly. She turned to her teammates, who had been watching the conversation and enjoying their drinks. "Do you guys think we should turn in? There is that room we rented at the inn here."
Wait don't go! I still need more information. Fairy Tail though huh? I've heard of them, aren't they famous? News of them never really reached the village. The only news that I knew of were that the guild was really strong, maybe I could ask Juvia about it sometime.
The two teammates nodded to the short girl and they started heading for the door, Levy however, lingered. She scrutinized Megan closely and Megan just returned her gaze. The two was locked in a staring contest for a few more moments before Levy continued and broke the silence. If there were any onlookers they could have been instantly amused by the sight. A tall red haired girl in a staring contest against a short blue haired girl, it could have made anyone who was paying attention start laughing.
"So you have been asking me all sorts of questions… What's going on?" Levy asked innocently. She didn't seem to have any particularly bad intentions, the guild mage just seemed curious.
Megan paused, if she revealed too much then there would be trouble. Megan shuddered at the thought. Levy apparently noticed this, and her concern for Megan deepened. The auburn haired mage lifted her head up. "Hey, hey don't worry about it, I'm fine."
"umm okay them? Well me and my team will be leaving. Good luck with whatever might be happening, and wish us luck too!" Levy smiled as she excused herself and headed for her teammates. She gave a small wave to Megan, who responded in kind. The three guild mages left and Megan looked at the time, it was about time for them to meet. Why do I have such a horrible habit of taking too much time? Megan wondered.
She paid the bartender for his services and walked out the door. However there was a couple drunk wizards who tried flirting with her on the way out. She knocked them back… Painfully. Ug some wizards, the sooner I get away from these creeps and over to Juvia and Gray the better. I'm sure some of this info will be useful. Their names were Levy, Jet and Droy huh?
By now it was fully dark and the wind was blowing harder. The moon was a thin sliver of white in the black sky. The ring mage tapped her light ring and a warm golden light pushed away some of the darkness. The familiar slow drain of energy started as the ring drew away her magic power. Where is the meeting place again? Oh yeah!
Megan huffed in the chilly air and hurried to the meeting spot, which was behind the inn for privacy.
"Hey guys, are you here. Gray? Juvia?" Megan called softly. The sound of footsteps falling on dirt and twigs alerted her to their presence. Gray was the first person Megan saw, Juvia followed. Their expressions were serious though Juvia's appeared a bit worried. But relief covered the blunette's features when she saw that Megan was safe.
"Well, how much did you get done?" Gray didn't bother with greetings. Juvia however rushed forward and hugged Megan.
"You are a little late, did you run into trouble? Juvia hopes that nothing bad happened."
Megan smiled in response to her friend. "Of course nothing bad happened Juvia, actually I got a large amount of info that might be useful. Sorry I couldn't get as much as you probably want though, I lost track of time." Megan admitted, blushing slightly.
Gray sighed, making Megan and Juvia's heads turn towards him. The ice make mage stared emotionlessly at Megan. "Well then, let's hear what you got." He sounded exasperated, and Megan inwardly sighed.
Megan explained what happened to the two, though leaving a few bits out. She didn't want to explain her choking and having to be helped by them, or her sudden jealousy at that one couple, or even the small sapling of doubt she felt about the Hellfire Imp guild after the conversation.
When she had finished she saw Gray's eyes turn serious and he looked at the ground for a few moments, apparently lost in thought. Juvia's eyes had widened with shock and her mouth gaped. Gray cursed barely loud enough for the auburn haired mage to hear and started muttering even quieter.
"And you said that this wizards were Levy, Jet and Droy?" Juvia asked. Megan nodded and the blunette looked at Gray.
He noticed both of the girl's gazes on them and looked up; his expression had slipped behind an emotionless mask. "We still need to restock, we will be staying here for the full time paid to gather our bearings before heading on for the guild. We may have to detour a bit and become a little late but if we are not caught it should be fine. The Fairy Tail mages is wrong with their guess, Hellfire Imp's Headquarters is north of here, not in Eisenwald's old place." Megan felt aroused curiosity about Juvia and Gray, but would save the conversation for some other time. She could press the question on Juvia later.
"Okay."
"Juvia agrees!"
The three teammates headed into the inn, Megan appearing as she did before but Juvia and Gray wearing their cloaks and hiding their faces. Something told the ring mage that these next few days were seriously going to be hectic.
"The apocalypse?" Erza asked again, startled.
Bartemius nodded grimly. "Yes indeed. I heard a couple of the mages here talking about it during the large amount of time I've spent here. There is a prophecy that says that a dark guild will rise up and try to take power, they will use an artifact to summon and control a great dragon. I don't remember the name of the dragon though…"
Natsu stood there in shock, there was only one dragon that could cause an apocalypse… And that was Acnologia… "Could it be...?" He muttered as he clenched his fists, he heard the rustle of chains from Erza's cell and the pounding of bars.
"Acnologia! Did they say Acnologia Bartemius?" Erza blurted out. Her voice was edged with worry and it Natsu couldn't blame her for seeming slightly panicked. Not even all of Fairy Tail's strongest members attacking the large black dragon could harm it.
"That might have been it, I'm not sure though." Bartemius mumbled as he thought about it.
A loud chortle and the sound of the door being kicked open made their heads all turn to its source. A guy walked in casually. Natsu, with his dragon slayer hearing, heard the word "Nathan…" in the raspy voice of Bartemius.
The pink haired dragon slayer stared at the man Bartemius called Nathan. He had long black hair with a maybe just as long beard. The hair and beard blended together to form a ridiculous sea of dark, coarse hairs. He wore spiked iron armor and what skin was revealed was ghastly pale.
"Alright what do we have here? Looks like Gray was right, this is a good catch. Too bad him and the master have already ditched the place." Nathan let out another haughty laugh. He strode over to the cell's holding Bartemius and Natsu.
The dragon slayer growled aggressively and Nathan glanced over at him. A cruel smile split his mouth. "Haha so you are the famous salamander! You should pay a high price when we sell you!" Natsu felt rage bubble up inside of him.
"Fire dragon's roar!" Natsu shouted, brought his fists together, and breathed fire through the bars of the cell. The flames dashed around the bars and hit the evil man directly, the flames licked at his armor but when the spell faded it was completely undamaged. Erza gasped with shock.
"Pathetic, and I thought that Fairy Tail mages would put up more of a fight." Nathan sneered and ignored Natsu, focusing instead on Bartemius. "Get over here ya old geezer!" The old mage struggled to his feet and walked to the bars slowly, having to lean against the wall for support.
"Enchant this." The man tossed a large chunk of metal into the cell and it clattered to the floor loudly. Bartemius leaned down to touch it. Nathan kicked him and chuckled. "Make sure that it can penetrate magic shields, if we are going into war against legal guilds, we need better gear."
Natsu noticed the smell of blood that had risen in the air. Is the old man all right? He seems hurt! I swear when I get out of here I will burn him to charcoal.
"Okay…" Was all the slave mage said. Nathan nodded and head back out of the jail, whistling cheerfully.
"Sir, what was that about?" Erza inquired. Bartemius looked up at the two and wiped the blood from his mouth.
"He wanted me to infuse this mace with a spell, it's what I do. I can take any item and enchant it with a spell, often a powerful one, they force me to do it all the time and use the enchanted items in combat. They are the reasons your fight ended badly." Bartemius rasped.
"What do you mean old man?" Natsu asked.
"I can probably guess accurately that during your fight with Hellfire Imp that your magic wasn't as strong, your magic right now is probably fizzling as you try using it. They most likely used an enchanted item specialized to weaken caster magic in order to work around your defenses."
"That must be why only Lucy was unaffected by the warehouse!" Erza said with revelation. "She is a celestial mage, her magic is holding magic. The rest of us use caster magic."
Natsu couldn't really understand why having the artifact around would affect them all so badly but there was a more prominent question on his mind.
"So why is our magic having little affect now? My fire is weak and Erza can't seem to requip? This is so lame…" Natsu whined. He heard the just-named requip mage sigh.
"When I first was put here, I was forced to imbue all of the chains, except for mine, with spells to restrict magic flow. Without the magic flow your magic will either fizzle or not work at all." Bartemius explained.
"Strange… I've never heard of this kind of magic… What is it?" Erza asked.
"Imbuement magic, it allows the user to place rare spells on anything with solid matter. It's a lost magic."
"Can anyone else use it?"
"Not that I know of, from what I can tell only a few people have ever used it. However Apollion can use another kind of lost magic, and that makes him dangerous, and Hellfire Imp as a whole is heavily reliant on the artifacts that our magic's together create."
"Is there any way to break out of here?" asked the requip mage. Natsu expected some elaborate plan to be drawn, but Bartemius only said one thing.
"You could just try to break out. You are the first prisoners I've ever seen be able to use their magic while in the chains, and I know a plan."
"You Do!?" Natsu yelled, earning a fierce hushing sound from Erza and a "Be quiet!" look from Bartemius.
"However, Nathan has magic dispelling enchanted on his armor; his fire won't do a thing. The only thing that can overcome the spell is another enchanted item." Bartemius said. The old man dragged forward the object given to him earlier, revealing an old spiked mace.
"You aren't really gonna imbue it right?" Natsu asked. The slave wizard looked up with a planning grin on his face.
"Of course, I'm going to give It just the enchantment he asked for." He chuckled.
"What! Why!" Natsu stared him in shock. He heard Erza's mumbling from farther down the hall.
"I see, that's perfect! We could do that!" Erza was saying.
"What?" Natsu could have sworn that he heard Erza facepalm. Okay so… What are they talking about?
"I'm glad that one of you Fairy Tail mages are smart…" He heard Erza chuckle and wondered slightly what he was missing.
"I…I still don't get it!" Natsu complained.
"Idiot! He's going to enchant it with the magic dispelling spell and we are going to use it to get rid of the enchantment of the armor!" Erza snapped. Oh that makes so much more sense, I mean really this guy's magic seems so lame and confusing? You can't really punch anything with it! "I will wield it, I am use to fighting with weapons anyway, I will deal with Nathan. Natsu, you need to find Happy as well as provide a distraction. Feel free to destroy as much as the place as you need."
Natsu smiled, a role where he could fight and destroy as much as he wanted? It was perfect. "Alright!" he growled. "I can't wait!"
Bartemius stood over the club, his hands glowed with a yellow energy and a golden magic circle hovered over it. "Imbuement: Arcane dispellment!" he muttered in a low tone only Natsu could have picked up. The magic slipped through his hands, darted through the center of the magic circle and covered the club. The weapon shone for a moment before dying down, it shined like it was some glazed object.
The old man leaned down and picked it up; he lifted it with great difficulty and tossed over near Erza's cell. There was a small huff sound as Erza caught it. A couple minutes passed, all of which Natsu's blood boiled with anticipation for the upcoming fight.
"It will do," said Erza. Bartemius nodded.
"Very good, I wish the two of you luck on your breakout." He said grimly, Natsu looked at him strangely. Does he really think he's just gonna stay here? He won't last long unless he comes with us.
"Aren't you coming with us old man?" Natsu asked. The slave wizard shook his head.
"I'm too slow and weak to do you much good. I won't last much longer anyway, I've been waiting for someone to break out. Don't fail me you two." Bartemius rasped and turned away. The three discussed the plan quietly for what must have been hours, Natsu knew that it was nearly night. It would be the perfect time to break out. Bartemius went to his bed to try to fall asleep, the less involved he seemed the better it would be for him.
"Are you ready Natsu?" Erza asked. "I know exactly how we are going to do this, when the jailor comes in to retrieve the weapon in an hour, we take the keys. Bartemius said that Nathan himself rarely comes in so the odds of him being the one we have to get rid of is rare. I can lure him over, knock him out and take the key. I'll free the two of us."
"But we can't just leave Bartemius behind! It's not fair to him." Natsu protested.
"We have to Natsu, he won't survive the escape even if we did help him. Besides he specifically told us not to." Erza's voice dropped to a low whisper. "We can rescue him later, you want to get back to Fairy Tail… And find Gray right?"
Natsu clenched his fists, they burst into flames and his eyes narrowed with determination. "Gray, I will find him. Okay Erza." Gray, you better be ready for when we find you. You owe us answers ice princess.
And that's the 6th chapter! Wow I feel like I made it waaay to big. I couldn't even find a good way to end it… Whatever please tell me if I did good with this one or not. I'm really not sure… Well please drop a review if you want and tell me if I did good or bad, reasons why for the two would be good too.