Chapter 3: Newspaper Clippings
A/N: Oh hey look a new chapter! This entire chapter is told via news articles on world events read by an unknown character (italics means reading). Enjoy!
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(Unknown POV)
One week after "The Event"
"Extra, Extra! Read all about it! Fairy Tail's Salamander assaults guild member and runs away! Read all about it!" Cried the newspaper boy, 'Intriguing, I guess I'll take a look.' I thought as I threw the kid a few jewels and he threw back my paper, opening to the article on the "Salamander".
'Tragedy strikes Fairy Tail as Natsu Dragneel aka the Salamander assaults fellow guild member Lucy Heartifilia, beating her within an inch of her life, only to stop when her spirit Loke, leader of the Zodiac gates, intervened and defended his master from the Salamander's assault. He then carried Heartifilia to the guild and gathered a group to go and confront the Salamander, however when they went to deal with him he denied all wrongdoings and fled Magnolia, current location unknown. The guild has refused to comment but has put a bounty on his head asking for his return alive so that he may answer for his crimes. The rest of the guild is out and about looking for him as well and as of now have no leads on his whereabouts. If you have any information you are asked to contact Fairy Tail via communication lacrima, the frequency being…'
'Hmmm something's fishy here, from what I have heard of Fairy Tail, they would never attack their own guild members nor would they simply believe that one of their own could do such a thing without hear their side of the story…hmmm I was planning on wandering about for a while doing freelance work but now I want to find out the Salamander's story… I guess I found out what I'm going to do while I wait for her to come in from our homeland.' I turned and went to the nearest train station and asked what are the surrounding towns of Magnolia were. I was sent towards a town called Hargeon.
One month after "The Event"
'Well Hargeon was a dead end! As was Onibus, Kunugi, Oshibana, Clover and all the other nearby towns. Damn!' I thought as I began my walk in a small town to the west of Magnolia.
I was interrupted from my inner monologue by the cries of a young boy yelling, "Extra, Extra! Read all about it! Salamander sighted near Shirotsume Town and Mt. Hokabe!" At the mention of the Salamander I ran and practically tackled the kid at the mention of a location and gave him my jewels for the paper.
Quickly opening the paper I opened to the article of the Salamander, 'Breaking! Natsu Dragneel aka the Salamander has been spotted! For the past few weeks there have been reports of random fires around Shirotsume and Mt. Hokabe and the cause of them had yet to be determined, that is until a brave reporter from the daily sorcerer, Jason, risked his life and investigated the mountainside. What he found was one pink-haired mage, Natsu Dragneel training and trying to stay warm. When he attempted to approach him and ask him if all that occurred was true, however, he was attacked by the Salamnder and forced to flee for his life. When asked what Salamander looks like now Jason replied, "It's like he's a wild animal, COOL! COOL! COOOOOOLLL!" We ended the interview as medical services arrived and whisked him away but sources close to Fairy Tail state that they already dispatched the newest wizard saint, Laxus Dreyar grandson of Makarov and rank 7 among the wizard saints, to deal with Dragneel. However other sources report that the campsite that Salamander was most likely using was destroyed and all traces of his being there gone. Now…' I stopped reading and was immediately off to the train station to the town next to Shirotsume, the name of which I didn't bother to learn as I began to plan out my strategy, 'he's on the run, and he won't still be heading west so I'll wait for him here and then I'll ask him for his side of the story!' I was pulled from my reverie by the ticketman and watched as the town I was in pulled away, sending me on a hopeful collision course with the Salamander.
Six months after the last article
'SIX GODDAMN MONTHS! I'VE BEEN WAITING HERE FOR SIX GODDAMN MONTHS, FOR HIM!' I internally raged as I sat at this café that I had begun frequenting during my stay. I had been waiting in this town (called Nintai as I learned and that name fucking fits as I have had all my patience worn thin by the Salamander) for six, long, grueling months as I awaited the arrival of the Salamander. But today my fortunes were bound to turn, as my contacting of people who are world-renowned trackers and finally one contacted me saying that he too was interested by the Salamander would help me in my quest. 'That must be him now.'
Now I am a very tall man, I stand at 6'4 and weigh a good 260 pounds of muscle, but that wouldn't have mattered if I wanted to intimidate the man walking towards me. He was dressed in a similar cloak that I was wearing, it covered his face, but he was a good foot shorter than I and seemed extremely thin. However my notion of hiring a guy I was going to have to babysit left as soon as he was within full viewing distance and speaking distance, his face was scarred and his eyes told me he could snap my neck if he really wanted to and not even feel bad about making the mess of my dead body, let alone for killing me. I stood and put on my usual scowl which was accentuated by a long scar that ran down the left side of my face that was left from a wyvern attack. His voice almost caused me to lose my scowl as I flinched at the deepness and harshness in it as he asked, "You the guy who hired me?" I nodded and he said "You can call me Gōsuto…oh you a foreigner eh? Then call me Ghost or can you understand Japanese?"
"Of course I can, how do you think I have survived here so long? But I do think so that no one understands us when we call each other by our names, you can call me Padre Naturaleza." I said holding out my hand and asking, "So what you got for me?"
" So you're hunting the Salamander huh? Well here's my idea/plan, I can track anyone with my magic of the shadows, but first I'm going to need something of his so that my magic can trace him…"
"And how do you propose we get something of his? Not exactly like we have a treasure trove of his shit." I asked already beginning to lose faith.
"I was getting to that! Baka! I have it on good source that Fairy tail has yet to touch his house yet, meaning that a treasure trove of his shit is still there! All we need to do is…"
"What are we waiting for?! Lets go to Magnolia then come on!" I said standing up only to be pulled back down by Ghost.
"Baka! Patience you think I wouldn't already have gone there if I could have! They have someone watching the house, Kurogane I think, waiting for him to come back, they think he's an idiot and will come back on his own and run into their trap." He said quite obviously irritated.
"Ok then what's the plan genius?" I said sarcastically, my already thin patience wearing to about as thin as the hair on Ghost's head.
"Well lucky for us there is a sure in for us to where Kurogane will be gone and we can sneak in unabated." He said as he slid a newspaper clipping in my direction, "And this it."
'Big News out of Fairy Tail as they have officially announced the wedding of Gajeel Redfox and Levy McGarden! The wedding is set for two months from now and will be held in the Kardia Cathedral and will be a private invitation event…'
I looked and smirked at Ghost and said, "So we have two months to plan huh? Well then I guess we could walk there and plan on the way if that's ok with you?"
"Sounds like a plan, Padre." He said as we shook hands and made our towards our new objective, the Salamander's den.
Two months and one week later
"Extra, Extra! Read all about it! Fairy Tail wedding crashed as the house of the Salamander broken into during the ceremony! Read all about it" I smirked at the headline and paid for a paper. "Thank you pops!" The kid said earning my ire for calling me 'pops', I ain't that old!
"Hey stop skulking and read it already!" Ghost whined as I opened the paper, 'It seems Fairy Tail can't catch a break even if it hit them square in the face as the house of Natsu Dragneel aka the Salamander was broken into during the ceremony of the wedding of Gajeel and Levy Redfox. The house was kept in perfect condition by Salamander's old partner Happy the exceed and a young mage named Lisanna Strauss, both hoping for his return while Redfox was acting as the guard of the home waiting for Salamander so he could bring him in. However seeing as all three were incapacitated/preoccupied at the wedding no one was able to watch over the house, leaving it open for two looters... "LOOTERS?! FUCK THEM I'M NO LOOTER, I WAS DOING MY JOB!" Ghost yelled as I quickly smacked him on the head to shut him up, wouldn't want anyone hearing him ramble on about that.
"Shut up! And let me finish baka!" I whispered yelled at him, when he mumbled his assent I continued, 'who only took a shirt of his. Neither were identified as both wore cloaks that covered their faces from the videotape lacrima posted inside the house… "SHIT! Good thing we wore the hoods up!" I whispered yelled and got a furious nod of agreement from Ghost as I continued 'and no leads have been found on who they are. Master Makarov has refused to comment on the matter but has upped security at the home…'
"Well we have the shirt and now I think we might have a lead. My magic is pulling me towards…Shit." He said and I looked at him concerned, "It's pulling me towards the direction of Crocus." Shit indeed.
Two Years after "The Event"
"Well now what?" I asked Ghost as we walked the streets of some god-forsaken town we were in on our search. "Crocus was a dead end and so was every other town so far, so now what…" I paused as I felt a vibration from my bag, a vibration that could only mean one thing, the woman I was waiting for had arrived and she was close. "Yes! Hey Ghost we're gonna have to take a break from searching for a bit, I have to meet up with someone."
"Oh and why is that?" He asked annoyed.
"My wife has finally made her way here to Fiore and will be joining us soon…So yeah I kinda want to see her you know?" I asked and began to unpack the device that lets me know how close she is and looked at it.
"There's no need to use the device… I'm right here cabron!" I heard a very familiar feminine voice say as I turned around and saw a woman who was medium height and build dressed in the female version of the cloak I wore. She walked over and looked down at Ghost, yes even she's taller than the guy, and then walked over to me and before I could give her my usual bear hug greeting I was greeted with a fist to my jaw. Ghost broke out laughing as I hit the wall behind and was promptly lifted off my feet by my wife as she yelled, "Cabron I've been wandering this country waiting for you and then trying to find you for a whole year! What .The. Fuck! cabron!" She yelled as she let me down.
I quickly pulled her into a bear hug and said, "I'm so sorry babe! I got kinda distracted and never heard or felt the device let me know you were here. Im so sorry! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" I pleaded as I pulled back and gave her a long and passionate kiss on the lips. We parted for breath and I said " So I'll take that as a yes?" I joked in between breaths.
I ended up flying back into the wall and groaned as she said, "CABRON! You really know how to ruin the moment huh?" She asked but all the anger in her voice was gone and replaced with her usual sarcasm, oh how I missed that. "But yes I forgive you…Ummm two questions who's the midget and what have you been up to?"
I laughed and said, "Oh baby do I got a story for you."
So after relaying the events of the past two years as well as introducing her to Ghost, we sat down at a small café and she asked, "So Ghost huh? Well ok you can call me Madre Naturaleza." They shook hands and she pulled today's paper and said "I think you should read this, they might be able to help us out."
'Shocking News! The independent, dark guild hunting guild Crime Sorcière was defeated by a duo of unknown mages only known as the "Couple From Hell's Gates".
The entire guild was wiped out in a single battle between the two forces, however no one was killed. The guild, no longer on the run constantly as the charges against them and the jail time terminated making them all free people, was then promptly disbanded and have gone their separate ways, the leader Jellal Fernandes, Meredy, and Cobra have since been taken in by Fairy Tail. The one known as Richard has joined Lamia Scale and the other two, Hotshot and Midnight went their own way only to be found dead a week later, most likely by the duo looking to finish the job. When asked if he could tell us anything about who they fought, Fernandes said that, "All I saw was fire and bright lights."…
"Fire! As in fire magic! It could be him! It could be the SALAMANDER!" I yelled excitedly.
"Yes! We could have just gotten the break we needed! Let me check with my magic… It's saying northwest of here! Lets go!"
"YOOOOSH!" We all yelled in unison and went to the train station off to find the Salamander! Finally!
Two Years Later
"UGH! TWO FUCKING YEARS AND YET NOTHING!" I groaned as we walked down the path of Mt. Hokabe, how we got back here is mystery to me. "GODDAMN! NOT EVEN A SNIPPET OF INFORMATION HIM OR THAT DUO!"
"Yeah it's weird, as if he's everywhere at once right now I can't get a lock on him anymore. " Ghost said as they walked, "Wait, someone else is coming, no two someones!"
"Crap! Everyone formation F2, I'll take point, Madre be my support, Ghost in the back!" I barked out the orders tensing up and preparing my mind for battle.
However the duo that we saw floored us as we saw two people one clearly male, about 4 inches or shorter than me but he was muscular and could probably take me on one versus one, and the other a female, who was still taller than Ghost but not by much, and her hands on her hips like she was extremely annoyed by all this. They were the two we were looking for! The "Couple From Hell's Gates"! They were here! Right in front of us! The man spoke before I could ask my questions, saying, "We hear your lookin' for us eh? Well that's good, we've been looking for you too. We wanted to ask you a question."
"Well? What do you want?" Ghost asked tensely not sure of what they wanted. We all tensely awaited his question, my right fist already turning into steel and the other into water, my magic allowing me to control and manipulate elements and use them to change my body composition or create things, which is why they call me Padre Naturaleza.
"Don't worry relax," he said reaching for his hood, "I ain't gonna hurt you, in fact I was going to ask you guys… Would like to join us and make this a five man team?" He said as he and the female pulled down their hoods, allowing us to see who exactly they were. The truth left us floored.
10 Months Later
"Extra, Extra! Read all about it! Another Fairy Tail Wedding! Read all about it!" The paper boy yelled as I walked up and bought today's paper.
'Finally! The date we have all been waiting for! The official date of the long-awaited wedding of Fairy Tail's very own Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser! Two months from today they tie the knot and leave Lucy Heartifilia the last bachelorette from that generation of mages…"
"Oi! Jefe you see this yet? A pretty big day huh?" I asked the bossman and prepared for some sort of object being thrown in my direction for interrupting his breakfast, which happened a lot.
But to my surprise nothing came but a light chuckle and Jefe saying, "Oh? And what makes today such an important day? Well come on let me see it!" He said as I passed him the paper, "OH! This is a big day! You know what this means right?"
I grinned stupidly and asked, "Time for plan: 'Venganza'?"
"YUP! Everyone lets go!" he said standing up and making towards the door, everyone else following him.
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A/N: Holy Guacamole! (I'm sorry I'm super cheesy) That was 3,002 words of transitional chapter cheese! But I liked the way it turned out. And if your wondering what cabron means it spanish for dumbass. Hahahaha! Please Read and Review, Adios!