DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, the honor belongs solely to Hiro Mashima-sama.
A/N: This is getting tricky. Hmmmmm. Chapters from here on end may take a while to be updated since I'm gonna be spending a long time in reviewing and editing it, to make sure it's understandable and everything.
WOohoo, rocking to Fiesta the 6th opening song for Fairy Tail.
I worry that the previous chapter was too depressing. No pun intended.
Chapter Thirteen
The fallen king
(Ajowan's POV)
As I made my way to our encampment, I ignored the other mages who were all hurrying up to find the treasure. Once the sun rises, the treasure will also disappear the old man had said to his greedy relatives. Ah, but the treasure I'm after isn't some stupid little trinket. No the treasure I'm after is much more than that.
Coming inside the tent, I stared at the once proud master of the Wolfsbane guild. Oh, how the mighty have fallen indeed. I bowed to him and said pleasantly, "Raul has disabled the recording bats just as we planned."
I stood up erectly and barely kept my annoyance in check. The man was too busy feeding his equally annoying pet. I swear the man has become unhinged ever since he came back to the guild carrying that poor excuse of a rat of his.
Fixing a smile on my face, I continued on "I'm sure we'll find that trinket soon enough. Shall we have tea for a while?"
I motioned to Areca to bring in the tea set and waited patiently for his reply.
"I was wondering if I should take this time to visit Makarov. I heard that they are having so much fun with their little event." Cruciferae said while patting his now sleeping ferret.
I clenched my hand into fists as I quickly thought up a possible excuse. "I think it will be more appropriate to visit them after the event."
The man scratched his chin. I mentally wince at the thought of the germs that would have surely been transferred from the white rodent. I looked down and stared at the golden eyes of the little germ infected rat. I quickly took a step backward.
"Perhaps you're right. I want Makarov to meet Hikari and of course see how Fairy Tail has been going."
I bowed down my head; it won't be helpful if he sees what I really think about that last statement. Fairy Tail is of course very much alright, in fact it's become much more powerful than it ever was while you were wallowing in self-pity. I answered in my head, while what came out of my mouth was, "I have heard that Fairy Tail is doing quite well despite the problems that have arisen against them."
Just then Areca came inside the tent with the tea set and Anise right behind her. I nodded to the table, signaling to them to prepare the tea. As I pretended to looked on in apparent interest at the proceedings outside I heard a voice whisper in my ear. "Master, a new seith mage has appeared. He is at the cemetery right now and he has also managed to have beaten the ones stationed there."
Why won't anything go according to plan? I calmly told myself though that it will all soon come to pass and my plans will go according to plan once again. "If you'll excuse me, it seems there has been an accident by the cemetery. Not to worry Areca, Anise and I will handle it."
The three of us bowed and left. But before I went outside the tent I looked back and blinked. I shook my head slightly and looked back again. I could have sworn that Hikari's eyes were red just a while ago.
~0~X~0~X~0~
(Lucy's POV)
We had somehow miraculously landed on the beach alive. Déjà vu. I looked around the place only to catch sight of Natsu's head buried in the sand his legs swinging all over the place and Gray was lying on the sand out for the count. Double Déjà vu. Wait a sec, where's Juvia?
"Juvia! Where are you?" I shouted while quickly scanning the place. I caught sight of something dark buried in the sand and being washed by the waves. I straightened and cautiously approached the dark mass all the while mentally chanting "let it not be a head, let it not be a head".
In the background I heard Natsu give out a grunt. It seemed like he had finally managed to free his head and was now screaming at Gray to wake up. I hesitantly reached out a hand towards the object. "Oi, Lucy!" I heard Natsu shout.
Hand still outstretched, I look back towards Natsu ready to tell him off for shouting so much when all of a sudden I felt a clammy hand grasp my wrist tightly. I screamed at the top of my lungs and fell on my butt. I looked up to see a huge bat flapping around my head while the cold hand was now pulling on me with force.
"LUCY!" I heard Natsu and Gray shout at the same time.
I fisted my free hand and slammed it on the bat with all the strength I had which caused it to explode. What the heck, since when do bats explode?
"Lucy-san. Juvia is back to normal. Did our recording bat just explode?" I heard the unmistakable voice of Juvia saying by my side.
Whoops.
~0~X~0~X~0~
(Normal POV – trying to do Mr. Narrator from the Fairy Tail anime)
On the back of the Dark Cove inn, revelations as to why there were a number of unknown mages running around the area is currently being told. Kneeling properly in front of the Fairy Tail guild master and the mages who had caught them were the four previously unknown mages.
They were all presently kneeling in a neat line that managed to impress Mirajane. The scrawny man is Jules Straw while his heavy counterpart is Nutty Carbo. Upon hearing the duo's names a while ago, Gildart, Jet and Droy had coughed out their beer much to the confusion of the two.
Kneeling with backs erect and faces set in serious lines were the other duo. The bulky orange Mohawk headed man is Juiz Orange while the scarred dreadlocks man beside him is Xcel Mace.
"Ahem." Master Makarov coughed out. "So how's Cruciferae?"
Juiz answered respectfully, "Master is very much alright now. Although lately we have noticed that his magic is acting strangely."
"I don't get it. Isn't he unable to use his magic?" Jet points out.
"Yes, he can't use his magic but this doesn't mean his magic has disappeared from his body. Am I right?" Makarov states while taking slow gulps of his drink.
All four nodded in agreement. The three then looked significantly at Xcel. Nodding at the others, the man stood up and kneeled closer to Master Makarov.
"Our loyalties lie primarily at Master Cruciferae and Raul-sama. We are aware that our appearances don't exactly make people trust us. It was only on our late teens that we realize we had magic by then we had all done manual labor, gotten into fights and such. The town of Azalea is known for the trade guilds and non-magic industries. Only a few of us have magic, magic isn't even taught in schools that much." Xcel took a deep breath and continued, "The wolfsbane guild has for a time given out magic lessons to the children and teens who have displayed magic powers. During Ajowan's reign, he cancelled this saying that it was a waste of time and money. Raul-sama managed to talk Miss Solana and some of the older mages in the guild to give out magic lessons for free. Raul-sama was among the ones who would spend his rare free times teaching both the old and young magic users."
"I come from a family of traders and mathematicians." Xcel continued on seriously, completely unaware of the disbelief on the Fairy Tail mages faces or the fact that Master Makarov had spilled his drink on his lap. The other three were bowing their heads and revealed that they were sons of renowned farmers, herdsmen and plantation owners in their town.
"I see." Master Makarov continues on while looking up the night sky and strategically placing the end of his cape on his stained pants. "You have to understand, we humans tend to take things by sight first before taking the time to actually examine it at its fullest possibilities."
Hearing this wise outlook from the guild master of the famous Fairy Tail, caused the four mages to see the old man in a new light. Gildarts, Jet and Droy were sweat dropping while Mirajane was beaming at the touched mages.
"Ahem. Do continue on." Master Makarov said to the dreadlocks sporting mage.
"Well, I have always been good with numbers to the point even Ajowan agreed to place the books of the guild in my hands. This past month whenever I took the time to show my reports to Master Cruciferae, I've felt his magic disappear at times. On the first few times this has happened, I thought it was all in my imagination. But then the day came that I didn't feel anything from the master for the whole afternoon, when night time came he was pale, weak and bedridden." The dreadlocks man forcibly gripped the grass in front of him as the Fairy Tail mages remembered the time when their own Master Makarov's magic had also disappeared.
Master Makarov walked toward the man and asked "Did his magic come back?"
"Yes, it did. But it was two full weeks before his magic seemed to have fully returned. By then I had already told Raul-sama and Miss Solana about feeling the master's magic come and go. The truth is we want the trinket in order to—OW!"
Before the mages could react at the intrusion they heard a clear voice say "Hello, Makarov."
They stared in shock at Master Makarov when the old man gave loud guffaws of laughter on hearing the strange voice.
~0~X~0~X~0~
(Levy's POV)
I looked in interest towards the path that Lucy had mentioned before. I felt someone tapping my leg gently. I looked down and saw that it was Pantherlily.
"What's the matter, Lily?" I asked the serious looking Exceed.
"Levy, do you by any chance have extra towels in your backpack? Gajeel and Alzack might need it." He said while pointing at the two exhausted men panting by the side of the lake. I sweat drop at this and quickly opened my backpack to see if I do have any towels.
On our way to the lake we ended up being chased by a weird faceless lady. We had of course run away from this. I had somehow managed to drag Gajeel to the ground again. Bisca had of course seized Alzack on instinct. Erza surprisingly had grabbed Pantherlily and ran along with us.
I looked to Erza and asked, "Erza how come you didn't attack the lady?"
"Oh you didn't know? That was the faceless woman of legends who would take away the faces of the women that she catches." The requip mage answered seriously.
Bisca and I stared horrified at Erza. When all of a sudden the bushes behind us started shaking, Erza quickly pulled out her sword. Bisca and I grabbed each other and screamed when five shadows burst out from the bushes. We then heard the two guys curse out. Surprised, we looked back to see the two had their hairs and shirt drenched with water. Before we had the time to think properly we heard a familiar haughty voice say, "Honestly, is that any way to talk in front of women? Wendy ignore them."
Tell me what you think. *sniff and sneeze*