The words from the Fairy Tail master resonated in Kazro's head. The kind and jovial look that he had initially been greeted with had vanished, instead replaced by inquisition and something that could easily boil over into unrestrained anger if the wrong answer were given. A sigh escaped the bandaged man. He wasn't seeking a fight. He just wanted to get whatever this was over with and go off to the remains of what used to be his guild hall.
"My name is Kazro Fhlosten. Member of the guild Shattered Grin."
Makarov looked Kazro over once and chuckled inwardly. He knew this man was not easily intimidated even with being in no condition to fight. His thoughts quickly harkened back to the report Erza had given him several months prior. The guild master hadn't asked the knightess for the name of the stranger that saved her, but the physical description he had been given was a perfect match for the man who had been dragged in to the guild while near the brink of death. But that guild's name. It stuck out to him like a sore thumb. He almost didn't want to believe the rumors he had been hearing at the regular meetings for area guild masters. Whispers about a man hell bent on destroying one particular dark guild had been making their rounds. The dark guild had scattered to the far corners of Fiore but the members were tracked down and eliminated with a sloppy, yet brutal efficiency.
'So this is the one who saved Erza and several of the other masters worried.' Makarov's face softened slightly as he thought to himself before speaking. "Two of my mages saw you kill a man in the East Forest last night. Why?"
"He was the leader and last member of the dark guild Twilight Flare."
Makarov raised an eyebrow at this response. He had heard other masters refer to that particular guild, and it was always in hushed tones. Almost everything about them was a secret and not even the Council was able to determine anything definite about them. All they had known was that it was not part of the Balam Alliance and could easily go toe to toe with the strongest legal guilds in the country. A question began to claw at the back of his throat trying to get out and into the open.
"How is that relevant?" The words were out of Makarov's mouth before he could catch them. All he could do was wait for an answer to the question he wanted to phrase better.
"Vengeance."
The one word answer came with a change in Kazro's expression from emotionless to trying to hide twinges of an anger that was all too familiar to the Fairy Tail master.
"Care to elaborate?" Makarov asked as he noticed the shift in mood.
Kazro shifted gingerly in his chair and sighed as he got more comfortable. This elaboration was going to take him a good while to explain if he gave the long version and he wanted to avoid that as much as possible for now as he felt pangs of hunger grip at his stomach. He pushed the growing desire for food to the side and hoped that this little interrogation session would take no longer than it needed. He closed his eyes and rubbed them while he quickly mulled over how to put things as simply as possible.
"Twilight Flare was responsible for the destruction of my home and the deaths of my brothers and sisters in arms. Their deaths demanded the blood of anyone and everyone involved."
The answer had taken Makarov off guard. Not because of the reason, but the inflection behind it. He could tell that the emotions of the man before him were still raw and exposed. The cadence in which the answer had been delivered almost betrayed the mixture of anger and grief that continued to swirl behind silver eyes. Makarov decided that he wasn't going to press that subject any further given that most of his questions to the man had essentially been answered. One more question lingered in his mind and it was probably the most important question he was going to ask Kazro.
"Did you ever harm an innocent person?"
Kazro blinked. That was one question he did not expect to hear. Especially coming from the man responsible for a guild that ends up having to refund most of their reward money to repair collateral damage. Silver eyes searched the old man's face. They didn't find a hint of foreboding, anger or disdain. Instead he saw something akin to concern. It almost seemed like worry but without the desperation or panic that comes with it. Kazro merely shook his head. To him, it was one thing to blot out the sun and rain hellfire upon those he called enemies but he made damn sure that he wouldn't bring harm to people who had nothing to do with the deaths of the people closest to him. Unsure if the man questioning him had seen the head shake, he answered verbally.
"Never."
Another one word response. Makarov's black eyes scanned Kazro's face. The truth had been told. The stern facade finally left the old guild master's face and was replaced by his normal jovial and caring temperament. Kazro sensed the change in the mood and raised an eyebrow as he was unsure as to what the next thing would be that came out of the guild master's mouth. Makarov slid out of the chair and on to the ground and made his way around the desk and to the door of his office, motioning for Kazro to follow him. Kazro stood with a grunt and a silent curse as he braced himself on the back of the chair for stability. Once his balance had settled, he limped through the threshold and followed Makarov to the inside balcony with the old man looking through the bannisters at the lower floor. Several people had begun filing in to the guildhall and were sitting at tables scattered around with the sounds of conversations filling the empty space and rising up to meet the two men looking down. One of the mages at a full table near the center of the room caught Kazro's attention. A shiny breastplate with the Heart-Kreuz emblem adorning the front, two pauldrons and gauntlets laying on the table beside an empty plate, and brilliant red hair. A slight smile worked its way onto his face.
Makarov noticed the man beside him eying the redhead on the lower floor. He cleared his throat and spoke.
"She told me about you and what you had done after she had gotten back from Clover. You have my thanks for getting her out of there in one piece. She's also one of the people that dragged you back here."
Kazro looked down at the old man beside him. He heard the parent-like concern and full hearted gratitude. He could tell the master felt like a father to many of the people in the guild and less like what one would normally think of a guild master as. It was just like his old home. A sense of longing found its way into Kazro's heart but was interrupted by Makarov asking another question.
"Since it seems like your quest for vengeance has come to an end, where will you go when you're healed?"
For the first time, Kazro couldn't think of anything to say. A haze had come over him since he had returned to the wreckage of what used to be his home and he could focus only on avenging his family. He had fully expected to die during the fight with Twilight Flare's leader, if not then soon after. The possibility of having a life afterward hadn't even crossed his mind, let alone received any serious thought.
"To be honest, I have no idea."
Makarov felt Kazro's eyes on him and turn to descend the stairs leading to the first floor. He motioned again for Kazro to follow and kept his pace as he heard the uneven footsteps behind him. When they reached the ground floor, Makarov continued to lead Kazro to the bar and hopped up onto it then sat facing rest of the hall. Kazro settled onto a stool one spot down from the Fairy Tail, facing towards the hall as well as he slowly leaned back and propped his arms on the bar behind him. Silver eyes scanned the large, open room but repeatedly came back to the armored mage with scarlet hair. His thoughts began to turn to the issue of thanking her. His thoughts were interrupted when Makarov broke the silence between them.
"I hope you know that you're more than welcome to join us. We won't be able to replace what you lost but we can give you a new place to call home." He said with a warming smile.
The offer echoed in Kazro's head and he began to think. His quest for blood had ended and he could finally lay the memories and souls of Shattered Grin to rest. He shifted gingerly in the stool as he mulled over the offer extended to him. He threw back the last of the ale in front of him and turned his head towards an expectant Makarov.
"Give me a little time on that. There's something that I still have to do."
Makarov simply nodded at the response. He knew the silver-eyed man beside him still had a lot weighing on his mind and he wasn't about to try rushing a decision. He waved over at Mira for two more mugs of ale and the two spent the remainder of the afternoon in almost complete silence, with the quiet interrupted by the occasional brawl breaking out between guild members. Most of them had been started by a man of average height with spiky pink hair and a scaled white scarf coiled around his neck.
A week had passed since Kazro had eliminated the last member of Twilight Flare. His cuts and bruises had almost completely healed and his broken bones had been aided in the healing process by a thick blue liquid kept in heavy stock by Fairy Tail. Kazro looked out of the window of his train compartment and let his mind wander as farmland rushed by, broken up by the occasional thickets of trees and hedgerows. Most of his day had been spent in the compartment on the way to Shirotsume.
Once he had arrived, he grabbed his backpack and made his way off the train. He began to make his way towards the foothills on the outskirts of town and paused only to reach into his bag and pull out a cigarette and light it. As the smoke filled his lungs he pulled his dark gray cloak tighter around him and looked around the road he was taking out of town. Ruts from passing wagons and caravans had worn deep into the dirt and water had puddled in the deepest parts. The outlines of mountains could be seen over the hills in front of him and the snowy peaks commanded respect against the clear blue sky. The sun may have been shining brightly but the last vestiges of winter still clung tightly to the air. The tree cover had gradually become thicker as he made his way to what used to be known to him as home. He dragged on the last of his cigarette and snuffed it before throwing the remains of it to the side of the road.
A small gap appeared in the thick brush to his left. He looked around. He was certain that he wasn't being followed but he was always in the habit of checking his surroundings before he started making his way down a familiar path that was in the early stages of becoming overgrown. He frowned at the trail then quickly wiped his face of emotions. After twenty minutes, he reached the ruins of what had been a small castle on top of a hill. A huge gash in one of the outer walls greeted him. The stone making up the wall had been shattered and blown inwards creating a hole large enough for a forest vulacn to pass through without having to duck. The main gate had been blown down as well, splinters of rotting wood still clung in places to the stone frame.
Kazro reached the center of the courtyard inside the castle walls and knelt in front of a simple cross-shaped marker made of stone that glowed with an unearthly aura as the sun began to sink beyond the horizon to the west.
"Brothers, o brothers. They know now what they've done. Their lesson is finished. I've rained down the sun." The words echoed softly on the few remaining walls surrounding the courtyard.
In the time that Kazro had been gone, scavengers had begun to pick the castle apart in their searches for anything and everything that could be salvaged and sold off for a profit. He winced at the thought of people trampling on the resting grounds for those he had called family and a twinge of anger nipped at his mind. The only thing that they hadn't been able to even move was the marker placed before him. He looked up from the marker. On one of the few walls that had stood defiant against time and looters hung a small, stained, and tattered white banner with a red frill that was no worse for wear. In the center of the banner was the emblem Kazro had associated most with comfort, family and home. The mark of his guild.
"Rest now in eternity and guide me to my fate." These words were met with silence as the steady breeze that had been present through the day dwindled into stillness.
Kazro moved in silence to the wall holding the banner and pulled it down. He carefully folded the banner and placed it into his bag. If time were to claim his family's resting place then he would at least preserve his guild's standard as best as he could. A weak smile crept onto his face as he began to reminisce on the life he once knew. He hoisted the pack onto his back, closed his eyes, then inhaled deeply.
Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He carefully removed the pack from his shoulders and readied a fireball in his hands that rapidly grew in intensity and the emerald glow began illuminating the ruins forgotten by daylight. Someone had been following but had either hung a good way back or had been able to suppress their magic power till it was almost nothing. His eyes scanned the courtyard and turned to the gash in the outer wall.
Without thinking twice or calling out a warning, he hurled the glowing ball of fire through the hole in an effort to flush out whoever was hiding. Another orb of energy quickly appeared in his offhand, ready to be flung as soon as the other was on its way. The one projectile he had loosed made contact with the thick treeline and exploded, sending a shower of splinters further into the surrounding forest and back towards the derelict remains.
He shouted towards the wall. "Come out where I can see you!" He paused, then added "Slowly."
By this point the lower halves of his arms were engulfed in brilliant green flames. Kazro could feel his blood heating up as it pulsed through his veins. He forced the flames down into his palms and lobbed one of them up into the air where it hovered and grew in size and luminosity. An eerie gleam shrouded the ruins as it flickered sporadically in the still air. Kazro crouched and readied himself to spring towards where he could feel a faint glimmer of magic energy. He issued one more warning, this time not trying to hide any of his indignation and contempt.
The moon had just begun to make itself known when a short figure with a slight hunch appeared in the wall's opening. Kazro came out of his crouch and allowed the fire that had been gathering in his hands to flicker out and fade. His eyes rested on the same man who had offered him a new home just barely a week ago. The short figure was cast into a silhouette by the explosion of energy far behind him.
"What are you doing here, Makarov?" Some of the contempt was still present in Kazro's voice.
"I'm just out for a walk." Makarov's voice trailed off as his gaze shifted to the maker behind Kazro. "You loved them dearly, didn't you?"
"Yes. With all I had in me. They were the few people I would trust with my life." Kazro smiled pensively as some of the warm memories came to him. His expression was greeted by Makarov with a grandfatherly chuckle.
The more Makarov thought about it, the more he could see shades of the people he lovingly called brats. Like the rest of them, Kazro was bearing scars. They might not fade, but the pain that was associated with their coming will ebb in time. Before the aging guild master stood a man who had seen more than his fair share of blood, tears, and sorrow. He had bent slightly but sprang back in defiance, galvanized by something he treated as a holy mission.
Kazro broke the silence that had descended upon them. "That offer you made last week. About joining Fairy Tail. Does it still stand?"
Makarov responded with a nod then spoke. "Of course. But first there's a question I have for you. I have never seen flames burn that way, let alone that color. You could obviously give most of my brats a run for their money but what I want to know is this: what kind of fire magic is that?"
"Most people who know about it refer to it as Exorcism Magic."
Makarov started to stroke his chin at this response. "And what about the other people who know about it?"
"The people who know the real nature of it call it by its true name: Devil Slayer Magic."
Makarov chuckled again and his eyes softened. He had heard rumors of that type of magic but was never able to find anything concrete about it. He had known Kazro was some type of fire mage based off the report Erza and Laxus had made when they found him in the East Forest, but he didn't know if the type was suffixed by anything. The old man looked up at the sky, past the glowing ball Kazro had created and up at the moon that had made itself fully known by now. Makarov turned around and waved for Kazro to follow him. The exorcist complied and slung his pack onto his shoulders over his cloak.
"The next train to Magnolia leaves soon so we'd better hurry." Makarov stated as an unseen grin appeared on his face.
Kazro took one more look at the ruined courtyard before committing fully to the short trek back to Shirotsume. His eyes rested squarely on the marker in the center, still retaining its muted glow under the brightness radiating down from the moon. He muttered an incantation and in response the aura surrounding the memorial grew in intensity then began pulsing as the glow began to slowly fade away until it was no more. With the memories of his fallen brothers and sisters now laid to rest, he could finally move onto a new chapter in his life. A single tear had formed in his right eye and was wiped away. All his sorrow could now begin to recede like the glow that had just faded. He turned his back to the ruins to begin catching up to Makarov. His steps almost felt lighter as he got further down the road back to town.
A/N: Okay so this will be the last little introductory chapter. Thanks for reading it so far and let me know what you think.
