If you read the Manga, you'd have recognized by now I've altered what has happened regarding Dorabolt/Mest. And Lahar. But it's all necessary for the story.
Also, Im on tumblr! If you like my writing, I update about that, answer questions and I post other Fairy Tail stuff. Username: Nightlockedx3
Thank you Amaranth121 (who's stories are great btw), Skyblu7, FallenArkAngel (the appreciated Beta-reader and fantastic author), Cleopatra-2002 Kasumi Yukimura, and Guests for reviewing.
But here we go! The third chapter of The S-Class Target!
Here's a AMV I've been enjoying lately; Fairy Tail AMV -Leave It All Behind You
"Sajeh Trika!" Lahar shouted. "You're being deployed. Come on out, we got briefing to do."
The door whipped open and a woman stood there at five foot, seven inches. Her skin was clear, and she appeared to be a friendly person. Her hair was deep purple. She stared straight at Lahar before breaking into a wide grin.
"About fucking time."
Lahar waved her to follow, walking back towards the stairs. "Let's go. You've got a lot of work a head of yourself."
"Big-fucking-surprise." She gripped her left wrist in her right hand behind her back. "As a Council dog, I've got one of the trickiest jobs you can get." She started to skip a little.
"How old are you?" Doranbolt turned around, bothered by her spirit. "You're an expensive Council weapon, yet you can't walk straight, talk to a superior properly or even-" He was cut off suddenly as her hand gripped his face, and pulled him behind her.
"How old are you?" She mimicked. "Please. Listen, if you want to waste your youth without having some fun in this place, go for it." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't have a choice. Now-"
"Who do you think you are?" He forced himself in front of her. "I know one thing for sure, as a CO of yours, you cannot grab me like-"
"Shut the fuck up." She grabbed him again, tossing him behind her with more force. "Fuck the system. That's what people say pip-squeak. And the system fucked me first. So-" She looked dead into his eyes. "I take every chance I can get to fuck it back."
"It's time for both of you to can it." Lahar turned and looked at Doranbolt. "We may be superiors, but we are comrades. At the moment, we need her because we don't have the time for this ourselves. Our skills are needed else where, her's are needed in our place." He began the ascent back to the main floor. "That's why we'll let her, as she says, 'fuck the system.'"
Doranbolt fell silent as he fell instep behind the Hunter they needed as she followed Lahar. He did know Lahar was correct, but if she was a Council weapon, she should respect the Council more, at least her superiors more. He looked at her. What the hell did she mean, the system fucked her first?
"Now, no more unnecessary questions or comments. Next time anyone of use says a word will be at the debriefing." Lahar looked over his shoulder as he continued up the steps. "Understood?"
Doranbolt slowly, as well as stubbornly, let out a response. "Yes, sir."
Sajeh took a less professional approach. "Whatever. Let's get started." She clapped her hands together. "What am I going to be doing huh?"
"What did I just say? Be quiet," Lahar ordered. "We'll pick that back up once we get to the office."
When at last they finally did get to the office, Lahar had given up on getting the Hunter to be quiet while Doranbolt debated altering her memories into...something. He hadn't decided what yet.
"We'll begin now," Lahar started. "We got the clearance to release a Hunter of our choosing, which-" He glanced over at Sajeh. "-is you."
"Aw, does that make me special?" she mocked. She couldn't careless about who they choose. Although, admittedly, she was glad they gave her something to do. It could get really boring down in the 'Bunker' as the Hunters called it.
"Yeah, you're a special fucking snowflake," Doranbolt muttered.
Sajeh flicked a wrist out and hooked a magic chain onto his forehead before yanking on it. Doranbolt's face smashed onto the table they all stood at.
"Enough," Lahar said. "Don't retaliate," he warned Doranbolt. "Let's just get back to work."
"Yea, whatever." Doranbolt clearly was reluctant to letting Sajeh get away with it. He was fading in and out of sight, working his teleportation.
"We chose you for two main reasons. Your chain magic can pierce defense magic. This target has a potential defensive magic called Time Zone. We'll touch up on him later. The other reason is because you are more aware of civilians around you. So I'll say this once," Lahar pointed at Sajeh. "Do not, under any circumstance, hurt an innocent."
She rolled her eyes and offered a shrug. "I can't make any guarantees."
Doranbolt faced her. "Why not?"
"Shit happens. The situation can change in an instant. If any Civi puts my identity at risk, I'll waste 'em." She shrugged again.
"You will not-" Lahar started.
"You haven't studied us much, have you?" She laughed. "We have absolute authority to do what we see fit if we are at risk of being compromised on the field. You cannot stop me if I get in that situation."
Lahar could only narrow his eyes at the Hunter. Her brown eyes both fought gently and blended well with the deep purple of her hair. But, if you observed her physical behavior, it was clear she was unhinged in the slightest, possibly mentally unstable. Who knows how far she could go if things took a turn for the worse? He didn't doubt she'd kill any civilian in the way.
Child or adult, it wouldn't matter.
Doranbolt could only stare at the woman. She would kill an innocent if the job was put in danger? The Council give Hunter's this authority? "Lahar, this could be very problematic."
"I realize this."
"There are guild mages out there, doing this exact job as well-"
"Pussies."
"This is an S-Class mission, so don't get cocky. S-Class mages from guilds like SaberTooth, Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail more than likely have the power to wipe the floor with you." Doranbolt defended the guilds. "If I were you, I'd avoid confronting them."
"If I meet one that gets in the way and puts me at risk, then I'll have at them. But," Sajeh took a step forward, towards Doranbolt. "-if they don't, then I have no reason. I do what's in the best interest for me."
Lahar cocked an eyebrow. "You're a mage; a busier place for a mage is clearly guilds. Why did you not join one?"
She snorted, turned around and began to leave before replying. "I don't get the thrill of the kill in a legal guild." She reached onto the end of the table and grabbed the job sheet. "This debrief, as you call it, is a waste of my time. I've got work to do." With that, she left.
Doranbolt faced Lahar. "She's literally insane. And we thought she," he waved his hand at the door, "she was stable. She enjoys killing."
"Of course." Lahar looked at him. "All the Hunters enjoy it. But, they wanted to cut a deal with the Council. We employ them, they get the occasional kill order and we can keep our hands out of it." He straightened his back. "Come, time for us to get back to work as well. I'm sure Sajeh Trika can take care of this from now on."
Erza walked down the shore for a solid day. When she had arrived at the next town, a town called Riverstead, she had ended up with nothing. The entire way down the stream, she hadn't picked up any sign of magic use at a large scale. So, with as little as she knew, she thought it was time to do a debriefing.
By herself. Huh.
She found a nearby bakery and restaurant. Upon receiving none other than strawberry shortcake, she began.
Two innate magics. No idea how much magic they consume. One magic labeled as a Black Magic, the other labeled as a Lost Magic, not seen for two centuries. One could remove anything or anyone from anything or anywhere. The other can freeze time in a chosen range.
She took her first bite into the cake. Her tongue watered more as the spongy cake made contact with her tongue, the strawberry and the cream exploding into flavor. Oh, it was heavenly. It was her brain food, only good reason to keep eating it.
Focus, Erza. She went back into thought. So, magic types listed. Now, his face. Odds are, with his posters all over the place, he's hidden it some \how. Probably just a regular cloak. Big enough hood, he could hide it easily. He had gone this direction, she knew that. So whether or not he was in the area she didn't know. She'd quickly scan the town and the surrounding wood before continuing down the stream if there was no luck.
At this rate, there wouldn't be any luck.
As she walked through the trees and analyzed what was around her, she realized a few things.
For one, she hadn't done a solo in quite a while that was S-Class. It was quite noticeably quieter without Natsu and Gray in the background.
On the other hand, it gave her more time for her to think about those she didn't get to spend as much time around. She's been so busy, it had been a while since she had visited properly with those that do basic services.
Such as the man at the bakery. God knows where she'd be if he wasn't around.
Then Jellal appeared. His pleasantly dark azure hair, his odd red tattoo that had marked his face since before she had known him. The list went on as she thought about the man's missing presence as it weighed down on her heart. Since that one day after the events of Tartaros, she hadn't seen him. And it weighed on her heavily.
Thrusting a hand through a magic circle, into her reequip storage, she withdrew a piece of paper. It was a photo of Jellal, more than eight years old now. She had kept it after the Oracion Seis events, when the papers published of Jellal's arrest. Yet, although old, it was pristine. No sign of damage, not even a fold line.
As she looked at the piece of paper, a photo of a man who was nearly lost to her, nearly lost to his own misery, her heart stretched and hurt.
My heart can't swell with love in this situation. It can only stretch in fear for his safety. All she could do was wish.
And hope that she'd see him again.
Derec had taken time to visit the town himself. Some place called Trate, small town. He approached the Law Enforcement building, a mix of regular police and a few Magic Council staff. The outside had a board with posters of dangerous criminals.
It was a kick in the stomach to see his face on the board. With a bounty of ten million jewels alive. Seven million if he was dead.
Stomach flip.
Looking at some of the other names, he noticed he wasn't the highest bounty. One was a girl, without a picture actually. She's supposed to have pink hair and is guessed to be around twenty, named Meredy. A girl with a twelve million jewel bounty. The other a man. An ex-member of the Magic Council and an ex-Wizard Saint. Jellal Fernandes, aged twenty six. His tattoo made him identifiable, as well his abnormally blue hair. A man with a fifteen million jewel bounty.
At least he wasn't the baddest wolf at the moment.
He turned around to leave town when he noticed the sunset. He looked up...
Jellal walked into the town he was currently camped outside of. It was called Trate, and housed around four thousand people. Lot's of wood around with a river nearby. It had been a few days since he had heard that his person of interest had in fact not been seen for quite a while.
The information was outdated and whoever it was skipped downstream.
So, still mildly interested in whom it was and having no moves to make against Zeref at the time, he followed after them. He and the Crime Sorciére agreed to meet up in two weeks time. They split up and decided to take both a break and a time to do good deeds if they could.
As he wandered through the town, alone to watch, listen and think, he did exactly that. He watched the individuals walk through the town, either dressed for work or for play. He noticed kids play in a fountain that had ducks in it. They were feeding them bread. He noticed couples walking to or from a date.
He could hear birds whistle the last tunes of the day. He heard the trickle coming from the fountains. He couldn't understand the conversations, but could hear them from all angles.
How he was tired of being forced into hiding. If only, if only Ultear hadn't been guided to deceive him. If she hadn't been kidnapped by Brain of the Oracion Seis. All there was were ifs. But, the ifs affect Fairy Tail greatly. It wouldn't be the same as it is today if it wasn't for those events. So, he kept walking through the dirt, head covered, for the sake of Fairy Tail.
For the sake of Erza.
He could never change their past. Changing the future was still on the table. He still might be able to get a life once again.
He just didn't know how.
"Erza, I know I've told you this before, but," Jellal took a deep breath, "I'm sorry." He looked at the sky as it clashed with pink and purple with a faded blue. Clouds lit up like lanterns holding some more of the sun's fading light. "I'll finish my atonement one day."
A glare of reflection hit the corner of his eye. A hooded man. Masked. He had stopped to gaze at the sunset like Jellal, but a ray of sunlight had bounced off of his lenses on his mask. Physically fit, a little taller than average, probably early twenties. Close enough to investigate some more.
The man of interest spun around after a few more moments of staring at the sunset. He headed for the edge of the town, towards the dense forest that lay just a hundred yards away from Trate.
Walking past the Law Enforcement, Jellal passed the billboard. His face and Meredy's face was up there as well. Of course.
Jellal followed the man out of the town towards the forest, where he stopped in between the town and the woods. He needed to plan. If this was the man he thought it was, he definitely needed one.
Times like this, he was glad for some of the magics that Siegrain took the time to learn. Jellal released a small portion of magic, creating his Thought Projection of himself. He separated himself with half of his magic, a consequence of using Thought Projection. The identical copy stepped forward and continued to follow the man, who never stopped walking into the forest.
Jellal turned himself around and began his journey back to his camp, on the other side of town, while continuing to watch through his Thought Projection.
Derec Prain had left after realizing he'd been staring at the sun for longer than he was comfortable with. He just felt too exposed. As he approached the edge of town, the hairs on his neck were upright and the gooseflesh told him that someone had to have been following him.
Did someone recognize him? Impossible. The mask covered his face.
Did he have the mask on? He could feel it.
Was he imagining it? Quite possibly.
Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind of the doubts. He was almost at the woods now; nobody goes into the woods past dusk. Right? Right. It's just a bit too sketchy.
Still... A voice whispered. Doesn't hurt to check.
Giving in to the voice, he looked over his shoulder before fully turning around.
There were two people. One walking away, the other towards the forest.
Towards him.
Derec faced the woods and with his adrenaline racing, his heart in his ears, he ran into the woods. He had to get to his clearing. He could set up a better ambush there.
Racing through the woods, he jumped roots, dodged branches, and weaved through trees and bushes. He could see his clearing. He couldn't even hear the branches break, the leaves shuffle. All the noise that went into Derec's ears was the sound of his blood pounding. All he focused on was getting to the clearing.
He slid into the open, bolting for the best cover he had; a large oak tree. He quickly scrambled up a few branches before perching himself on a branch where he could look over the clearing. That's when the person who had been following him walked in.
A dark blue coat with a hood that covered his head, something that appeared to be body armor covered him. Derec paced his breath the best he could, more desperate for his beating heart to make less noise. Please, oh please. Don't make me kill you.
"So, am I right in thinking you are who I believe you are?" The voice rang out strong and clear. Derec didn't move. "Come now, I'm not a threat. I'm not interested in killing someone. I've only got a question or two for you, Derec."
He knows! Derec froze. Shit! He knows who I am!
"Don't worry. You have my word. I will not act aggressively in any manner." The man stopped. "How about this. I turn around, and we can discuss that way?"
"No." Derec said his first word to the man, testing him.
Not even a twitch in the direction Derec was hiding in the tree. "Why not?"
"I feel like it's a requirement for me to see your face." He paused. "It is, for what I am being forced to do."
"I'd appreciate if I don't have my heart removed from my body."
H-How did he know about my Extraction Magic? Derec was baffled at the amount of information that had been made public about him. "How much do you know about me?"
The hood fell. "I know how you feel. I know more about what is about to happen than you do."
Derec sat in amazement at who was standing in his clearing. It was none other than the most wanted man in Fiore. Before him stood Jellal Fernandes.
"You're more than likely to know who I am considering I've evaded the Magic Council for the past eight years." Jellal smiled a sad smile, toeing a stone. "I've actually got a bounty higher than your ten million jewels."
Derec thought. "You're giving me more reason to kill you, now that I know who you are..." He paused. "You might be my ticket."
Jellal put his usual dead pan expression back on. "Won't work. You've killed over twenty people, injured many, many more." Jellal fought the urge to look in Derec's direction. "In fact, I'm willing to make a bet."
"I do not enjoy bets. Especially now." Derec's voice was low and cautious. "I'm sure you understand that."
Jellal nodded. "I get that." He waved a hand. "Now, I bet that the Magic Council has pulled out one of their last resorts just to get you. Like they did for me."
Derec sat still and thought. While he did, Jellal suddenly faced him. "Don't-!
Jellal held up a hand, startling the younger mage into silence. "They will have sent a Hunter after you. A hired killer that takes the kill orders of the Magic Council."
This new information seemed to settle in slowly. When realization clicked in, Derec began to panic. "Th-then what are you doing here?! You wouldn't come out here to risk getting caught by the Council!"
"I came here to give you an offer." Jellal stepped forward, towards the panicking young man. "Join my guild."
...What?
"What?" Derec couldn't believe it. An enemy of the country of Fiore was offering him a place in a guild? "Y-you have a guild?"
Jellal sat down where he stood. "Yes. A guild of wanted wizards, all of whom have something to atone for. We exist to right our wrongs as much as we can and to end these dark guilds."
Derec had no idea what to say. He couldn't process what happened. His mind was fried from the shock and the adrenaline. All he did was just stand in the quiet.
Jellal stood up after sitting in silence for a few minutes. "Tell you what." He brushed himself off some. "It's been a long day for you. I'll let you sleep on it for a few days. I'll be in the area. Obviously. I'll be here for a few days." He began to walk away. At the edge of the clearing he stopped and faced Derec. "You are a danger, Derec. That's a fact. But, I don't believe you're a bad person. You just need a helping hand." He offered a small smile. "Crime Sorciére is about being a helping hand." He flipped his hood up. "Take care of yourself, Derec." He took three steps into the woods before he faded into non-existence.
In Trate, a new presence had arrived. Sajeh Trika walked into the center of the town, her deep purple hair thrown over a shoulder. Approaching the town board, she picked out the most recent Wanted sign. "There you are, Derec, baby." She turned around and faced the town, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a lighter. Spinning it in her hand, she faced the fountain the middle of the Square.
"The blood hound is coming for you, little fox." She flicked the flame alive. "And this hound is only going home with you're body in tow."
And there is the third chapter. For those of you who perhaps didn't read the first note at the beginning of the chapter, the setting of this story differs from the manga. Doranbolt/Mest's and Lahar's lives are still in the Magic Council. Thank you Fallen Ark Angel for doing my Beta-reading, it makes this a lot better for us all.
Until next time lad's, cheers!
~NightLocker