The words resonated in Erza's head as realization began to take hold.
"Wait. That last name. Are you his…"
"Mother? Yes. I am."
Erza stood silent in disbelief. As the shock began to wear off she took in the features of Kizara. She and Kazro shared the same intense silver eyes, jet black hair, and a resting expression that was hard to read.
"Does he know that you're here?" Erza asked.
"He knows I'm in Acherus, but he has no idea that you're able to move and that I'm with you. As for how he'll react to seeing the two of us remains to be seen." Kizara replied.
Erza chuckled to herself. She even answered questions the same as Kazro. The Shadow Demon beckoned for Erza to resume following and the Knightess complied while being sure to not follow uncomfortably close to her guide. The two women engaged in idle chit chat as they passed through the winding streets of Acherus. As Kizara led Erza through the town, the Requip mage could begin to hear rumblings and faint yelling that was steadily growing more audible. Matching the rise in sound was a swell of magic pressure. This seemed to have no effect on the former matron of Shattered Grin, but Erza began to have a small degree of difficulty staying on her feet as they came nearer to the source of sound and energy.
The two approached an open area in the city of the dead that looked more akin to the parks that could be found in any of the other cities of Fiore. The vast expanse held several demons of varying shapes, sizes, and colors practicing their skills on target dummies and on each other in light sparring. Erza scanned the grounds and was unable to find Kazro until Kizara pointed out the Devil Slayer off to the side. He was not involved in any kind of martial training, nor was he launching spells at one of the dummies. Instead, he was sitting cross-legged with green flames dancing around him. His eyes were shut and his breathing was steady. He was laziliy floating above the ground as a result of the superheated air beneath him. The sand underneath was lazily drifting to and fro as it started to form into the early stages of glass.
Erza turned to her guide. "Is he meditating?"
Kizara nodded. "He tends to do that on the few occasions he has come here. These training grounds are where he learned to harness his power and focus his emotions." She turned back to Erza. "Watching the flames dance around him is almost hypnotic. His control has improved dramatically over the past two years."
Erza made a step towards Kazro but stopped herself mid stride. The heat emanating from the Exorcist had spiked suddenly and the flames around him became more chaotic as they began to be drawn inwards while beginning to spiral. The fire coalesced around Kazro and formed into a sphere, effectively cutting the Devil Slayer off from the rest of the training grounds. Before the flames had sealed him off completely, Erza noticed something different about Kazro. His left arm had reverted back to what it was before he had been sent to Stella.
"Oh? That's a new one."
Kizara extended her left hand and began to focus her energy. Wave upon wave of darkness began to gather on the edges of the light created by Kazro's flames and what looked like tendrils trailed lazily along the inner rim of the void beginning to form. Even in the purplish twilight, Erza could see the darkness begin to spread outwards.
"What are you doing?"
"Testing. All I know of his power from the last couple of years is through scouts that are sent out to check on all the slayers."
As Kizara finished with her reply, she drew the fingers on her left hand into a fist and squeezed. The shadows that had gathered around Kazro quickly imploded and created a ball of magical energy that seemed impossibly dark. Erza simply stared in silence. Not a single response was able to form. All she could do was watch with bated breath to see how Kazro would react.
"Impressive." Kizara uttered with a smile.
Erza opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a swell in power from the ball of darkness. With the surge came a sharp rise in heat as the shadows began to be torn apart from the inside. Vestiges of light began to shine through growing holes in the shadows that had engulfed Kazro. The heat subsided as the last of the shadows were ripped into nothing. Kazro remained in meditation unmoved with flames still dancing lazily around him.
"Very impressive. Look underneath him on the edges of the flames' paths. The far edges have cooled into glass. Reminds me of when he and another slayer would work together."
"He willingly worked in a team?" Erza asked in disbelief.
Kizara nodded as the light from the green flames reflected off her silver eyes. "Kazro and two other mages. Both were devil slayers as well."
This revelation was almost enough to floor the knightess. Kazro had not only worked willingly in a team, but with two others who possessed a magic similar in nature. The idea that there had to be others wasn't farfetched by itself, but for there to be three under the same guild banner was something entirely different.
Erza regained her composure and asked another question of the Shadow Demoness. "Were they Fire Exorcists as well?"
Kizara shook her head. "No. The elements used by the other two were sand and wind." She shifted her glance to Erza. "All slayer magics are related in that they cause the user to take on aspects of their family. Dragon Slayers can become paragons of humanity, able to coat their bodies in scales to shrug off all but the deadliest of blows. God Slayers can reel in even the mightiest of deities should they come out of line. Devil Slayers are slightly different."
"What do you mean by different?"
"At the peak of their power, a Devil Slayer becomes a harbinger of destruction for anything and everything that draws their ire. Kazro and the other two were no exception. When pushed to the very edge, the three of them would have been capable of tearing apart even the strongest of guild alliances without needing a fourth person. Balam alliance. Council affiliated. It would have made no difference to them if one or the other threatened their family."
"Were the three of them seriously that strong together?" Erza asked in shock.
"I have no doubt of it. I never saw them collectively backed into a corner, but the three were able to dismantle more than their fair share of guilds that tried stepping in to the void left by the disbanding of Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart. After that carried on for a period of three years, the third guild of that alliance declared war on us."
"Tartarus?" Erza asked without needing to hear the answer.
"Correct."
"I had always thought the Balam Alliance was more of a nonaggression pact between the dark guilds."
"It was. To be honest, we were trying to get them to come out of hiding by picking off their subordinate guilds. The fight with them came very close to being a pyrrhic victory for us. We lost at least twenty out of our sixty members to them and another fifteen were wounded to the point of not being able fully recover."
"That must have been hard to bear. I can't imagine how that must feel, let alone what Kazro felt when he…" Erza's voice trailed off as she was too afraid to say anything more.
"Found our hall in ruins, and most of us dead. A small handful of us managed to cling to life just long enough to tell him what happened. I can tell you this one thing, though. He removed all doubts about his bearing the title 'Demon Scourge' in the world of Fiore's dark guilds." A prideful smile crept on to Kizara's face as she spoke again. "Not even the Devil King himself would be foolish enough to stand in Kazro's way."
XXXXXXXXXX
"So that's how it happened?" Gildarts asked with obvious concern etched into his features.
Lucy nodded. She was still in mild shock from seeing two of her closest friends get overpowered so easily. The fact that it was a sneak attack did little to help her deal with the incident.
"But there's one more thing I need to tell you and Master." Both Gildarts and Makarov perked their ears up at this and motioned for her to continue. "When Kazro beat back whatever that thing was, I could not feel enough magic power that would explain how he did it. There was something… else mixed in with it. It's as if he was a demon himself. It didn't have the same pressure as magic power. It felt more like a void trying to suck the very life out of that thing that attacked us."
"That will be all, Lucy. Go check on Natsu." Makarov reassured the young blonde.
Gildarts cleared his throat after Lucy had excused herself from the room. The Fairy Tail master shifted his attention to the Crash Mage on the other side of the room.
"What do you make of that, Gildarts?" Makarov asked.
"I honestly don't know, master. I think we would have to find wherever Kazro took Erza and ask him ourselves."
"That seems rational en-" Makarov began before getting cut off by the only other mage in the room.
"I don't trust him. I never have, and I doubt that I ever will. I know you like to welcome all mages to this guild, but he is far from the type that we normally attract."
"Care to explain further, Gildarts?"
"We have our fair share of fighters in this guild, but none like him. None of the other members have even killed another person, let alone taking the lives of possibly hundreds of other human beings. Not even Gajeel has gone that far! Yet, with this one, you open our halls to him on the trust that he hasn't killed a single innocent? It's bullshit, master!"
Makarov chuckled inwardly. The mage standing on the other side of the room and on the verge of wrecking the entire office had a point. The aging master swirled his hands in the air and summoned another lacrima that floated lazily over to the Crash mage.
"What's this?"
"Gildarts, did you really think I would let a man like that around you and the rest of the brats without vetting him? That lacrima holds information on every little council approved job that Shattered Grin received from the time they were founded up until they ceased to exist. It will not absolve him of the lives he's claimed, but it will change your perspective on the why. Everyone else, even Laxus, has seemed to warm up to him. Read through what's on there and let me know if your mind is changed."
Gildarts gently placed the small orb into a pants pocket and faced Makarov once more.
"What should we tell the others then? They most likely know some of what happened but how will we explain Kazro and Erza disappearing like they did?"
"I've had Freed, Levy, and Mira working on opening a portal since Lucy and Happy dragged Natsu back here." Makarov stated with a glint in his eye. "Me having the title of 'Master' means I need to know who can do what in off the wall situations. And this is definitely one of them. Follow me, Gildarts. They should at least have a general idea of what needs to be done at this point."
"If by some chance they manage to open a portal, who are we sending through?" Doubt was buried deep in the Crash Mage's question.
"It will be you, Laxus, and myself." Makarov stroked his chin before continuing. "At the very least, the three of us should be able to handle anything that happens."
XXXXXXXXXXX
The conversation between Erza and Kizara was interrupted by a pulsing glow of white light coming from the center of the training grounds. All the demons in the area ceased their drills and moved away from the source of light. Erza could feel their energy shift into a more concentrated form. It felt similar to Kazro's but without the warmth of ethernano. She could feel the same thing from Kizara mixed with the warmth that could be felt from other human mages.
"This is unusual."
Those were the only words out of Kizara's mouth before the light strobed once and faded. When everyone's eyes had adjusted, they were greeted by three figures. Two of which were tall by human standards and a third figure shrank by the passage of time.
"We are here for Erza and Kazro!" The shortest of the three exclaimed.
Kizara stepped forth to greet the three. All six of their eyes rested squarely on the woman before them. The Matron sized all three up and motioned for the demons in the training grounds to stand down.
"I take it you three are in Fairy Tail as well?" Her voice sounded just as strong in death as it must have in life.
The shortest was the first to respond with a nod. "We fully understand the consequences for mortals to step foot in this realm before meeting with death."
"Cut the bravado, Makarov. I knew it would be a matter of time before you would try something stupid like coming here while you still walked the land of the living." Kizara replied with a hint of playful teasing in her voice. "The three of you may approach."
Three pairs of eyes exchanged almost apprehensive glances before their bodies relaxed and spread from one another. They looked warily around the training grounds and were met with steely gazes from the demons who had since grown dramatically in number in the short time they had been there. Erza glanced between the three who shared her mark, her guide and host in the realm of the dead. She could still feel the steady pulsing of Kazro's magic energy over her shoulder. It seemed to be one of the few sources of warmth for her.
Makarov halted as the two behind him did the same. "Why was Erza brought here?" He asked with hints of worry and anger in his voice.
"I will explain it to you, Makraov. In private. You may tell the other two as you see fit." Kizara responded and motioned for the guild master to follow.
The taller two Fairy Tail members exchanged glances before approaching Erza with smiles.
Gildarts was the first to say something. "You seem to be in one piece. The way Lucy described everything had us all worried sick."
"I feel better than ever!" Erza replied with a warm smile. "How are the others?" She then asked with concern etched into her voice.
"They'll be good as new in no time." Laxus took his turn to speak.
Gildarts looked past Erza to Kazro. The Slayer was still meditating as the flames began to accelerate around him. The flames spun faster and faster before being drawn to a singular point above Kazro's interlocked hands. The glowing singularity began to descend and dissipated in a brilliant flash of green. Kazro opened his eyes that glowed with the same intensity of the flames that had surrounded him before fading to their usual silver. Laxus leaned to Gildarts and whispered something into the crash mage's ear.
"Fhlosten! I need to speak with you." Gildarts' voice boomed.
Kazro nodded, rose to his feet, walked to the center of the training grounds and stared at Gildarts. His face betrayed no emotion as he sank into a fighting pose.
Gildarts sank down slightly as well before charging towards the Devil Slayer. A roar sprang forth from his diaphragm as he threw a monstrous right cross at the waiting Kazro.
Makarov brought his hand up to rub his eyes as he heard the roar and resulting crash of energy.
"I should have left him back at the guild." He groaned.
"He seems the type that would have followed, regardless of what you would have said. Now, I believe you came looking for an explanation for why Kazro would bring a human on the verge of death here. The irony isn't lost on me."
Makarov nodded as he glanced out of a window in the cramped barracks that acted as a makeshift meeting room. Kazro and Gildarts were holding nothing back. The master could feel it in his bones but the building was showing no sign of buckling or even moving under the vast changes in pressure from their attacks.
"Simply put," Kizara continued "Erza was attacked in an ambush and would have surely been a permanent resident here if Kazro had not acted in the manner that he did. "
"What had to be done to keep her alive?" Makarov asked while almost dreading the answer.
"A high amount of magic transfusion had to be done. While normally that would have been done in your realm, your doctors are unable to deal with the levels that would have been needed to save her life." Kizara explained.
"From what little I know about the subject, I have never heard of using demons as donors for a human."
"That's because it was a human to human transfusion."
"You mean to tell me that Kazro-"
"Yes. And Erza will be feeling the side effects of it for an extremely long time."
"What kind of side effects and for how long"
"The what is something I'm unable to answer completely. The length is a different story."
"How long are we talking?"
"That's even more in the air. Could be as little as one year. Could be for however many years the two of them still walk outside of this realm."
"Will the side effects be painful for her at all?" Makarov began losing his aggression as he became more and more worried about one of the strongest mages in his guild.
"Absolutely not. If anything, she'll come out of this with far more power at her command. The only issue will be how well she can control it."
"Is that why Kazro is meditating? So he can quickly replenish the energy he expended to bring Erza back from the grips of death?"
"That is exactly why Makarov. Normally, he would have let death have its bounty. But Mel'kirel was willing to give her a pass considering the fact that Kazro has kept him busy for a good while since his old family was lost."
"Did you think I wouldn't notice that mark on your neck? You were his old guild master, weren't you?"
Kizara nodded and smiled briefly at Makarov. "We must get back to the grounds. I'm actually curious to see just how strong he has gotten over the past couple years."
The two strode back out to the grounds and stood beside Erza and Laxus. The two had been observing the fight going on in front of them. Both Kazro and Gildarts again seemed to be reaching into endless wells of power for their attacks.
"Well now this is interesting." Makarov spoke. "Unlike back at the games, Kazro isn't holding back on his blows at all. Neither is Gildarts, for that matter."
"It's unreal, Gramps. I didn't think anyone was even capable of going toe to toe with Gildarts for this long, let alone match him for every blow."
Erza could feel pulses of heat in her veins with each of Kazro's attacks. Every punch. Every kick. Every dodge. Every parry. Even the subtle way he attempted to manipulate his flames around the Crash Mage's defenses. Her attention darted back and forth between the two combatants. Both mages were expending energy at a staggering scale, the likes of which she had only felt a scant few times.
"Kizara?"
"Yes, Erza?"
"How did Kazro's arm take on the form it did while he was in Stella?"
"From what I read from out scouts, he went up against four mages. They were focusing their power into a single point for a spell known as Abyss Break."
Two of the three living mages let out an audible gasp. Makarov kept his expression solid and gaze focused on Kazro and Gildarts.
"A city of several thousand people were saved from certain death. He somehow not only stopped it, but reversed the flow of the attack back to its origin. That is not something that can be done with normal magic power. Is it, Kizara?"
Kizara arched an eyebrow at the diminutive man beside her. "No. It isn't. There is a secret to Devil Slayer magic that very few people have even heard rumors about. It's something of a hybrid."
"What do you mean by hybrid?" Laxus asked with trepidation.
"You three are familiar with magics meant to counter Dragons and Gods, correct?" She received three separate nods. "Devil Slayer magic is similar in one respect and vastly different from everything else you've ever come across. The family of magic employed by Kazro, several of his now dead guildmates, as well as myself, relies on a mixture of regular magic and curses."
"Curses?"
The voices of Kazro and Gildarts could be heard over the din of their attacks as they roared their incantations, many of which at point blank range of the intended target.
"Yes. Curses. There's a reason why people like him are called upon when demons get out of line and tear a portal into Earthland. They can only be vanquished by that same 'hybrid' that Kazro employs." Kizara paused as she tried to figure out the best way to frame her next verbal salvo. "It is how he was able to make short work of what attacked Erza a couple days ago. It is how he managed to save that town in Stella from certain doom. And it is how you feel something akin to a void pulling at your soul when he fights seriously. You do not feel that void now because he does not view that third person as an enemy."
"How can you be so sure that he sees Gildarts as an ally?" Laxus asked, this time without trying to hide the irritation in his voice.
"Because he views those with the same mark on his neck as his new family."
The roar of combat subsided as Kazro and Gildarts approached the center of the grounds. Both were breathing heavily as they sized each other up while standing less than two paces apart. Gildarts began to chuckle.
"Point taken, Fhlosten." Gildarts stated, still chuckling as he put an arm around Kazro.
"Is it out of your system now, Gildarts?" Makarov asked the giant of a man.
"It's all sorted out, master." He smiled as he spoke.
