Chapter 8: Truths
The night sky was pleasant to look at even as the clouds obscured the crescent moon from displaying its majestic glory. Despite that it still managed to create a peaceful atmosphere for a certain pirate to enjoy. Zoro was currently leaning against the wooden frame at the back of the wagon being pulled by a panting boar desperately trying his best to bring its least favorite passengers to Kamrun Village.
It was already the fourth day since the departure from Dinkle Town and since then the former maid allowed the poor animal just one hour of rest before continuingly pushing it to its limits. Not that Kagura herself was feeling any better. She didn't sleep since then at all and used her magic to lighten the boar's body none stop in order to boost its speed, before her magic reserves run out, making her wait for it to replenish, rinse, and repeat. Her obsession with getting to the village got so bad Jellal practically forced her of the driver's seat and took over. There was not much a sleep deprived young teen could do against that and in the end resulted in Kagura's tired form now sleeping right next to Zoro's with her head comfortably resting on his left shoulder.
"We should arrive in two hours from now. " Informed Jellal, while trying to stop the yawn from manifesting behind his face mask.
"Got it" answered Zoro softly not wanting to wake up the sleeping girl next to him, who was pushing herself to the limit just hours ago.
Looking at her peaceful demeanor it was a stark contrast to her usual serious and headstrong self. She was a strong fighter, both in mind and especially body and if that wasn't apparent then the way she slaughters her enemies sure will. Still, for all her powers and strength she was just a child desperately looking for her family. Nothing more, nothing less.
Suddenly Kagura was moving in her sleep and somehow detached herself from the greenhead's shoulder and landed safely on his cross-legged lap, while her soft cotton blanket fell down protecting now only her bottom half from the cold night. Reaching for it, Zoro covered the teens body with the cow patterned cloth up to her shoulders as a small smile formed on his face.
It was quite a nostalgic feeling and one that he somewhat missed, but as his children grew older it became more and more obsolete. Nothing to lose a tear about, but still something that could have lasted a little longer.
Looking at her calm posture Zoro hoped that she can at last find peace and live her life to the fullest, with her brother of course by her side. Having nothing better to do, the swordsman closed his eyes too and took his scheduled after midnight nap.
The Fairy tail Guild was known for being a place where people can display their crazy selves out for the word to see and not be judged by it. Be it their appearance, character, or anything else for that matter, this guild will accept you, if you accept it in return including its daily brawls of course.
Still, in the early morning where the sun has yet to show its face the guildhall was extremely quiet as a lone guild master was in his study, sitting before a pile of papers that mostly consisted of bills, complains, bills, an invitation for Bobs birthday party, bills for property damage labeled under one specific Crash related name and of course the one or other letter from the Magic Council. Yet despite all those the stack of papers he was currently holding in his hands was the most horrifying one. Its sender the Magic Busters, its Medical Branch specifically.
Now overall Makarov himself was on friendly terms with the entire organization, something that other guilds and especially the Magic Council did not. In short, the guilds feel the higher and better paying jobs were taken away from them, while the Magic Council could not place on them the same regulation as they do on guilds because the Magic Busters were a business foremost and so they had less control over them and if they tried, other businesses would suffer greatly in return creating an enemy no governing body would want to face against.
His lacrima lit up, alerting the older mage of an incoming call.
"Hey Porlyusica, did you get the copy?" addressing the person on the other side was an elderly woman with pale pink hair holding the same thick stack of papers as he was in her tired frail hand.
"I did and just so we are clear, I don't appreciate calls on three o'clock in the morning. So next time call me for real emergencies only!" Makarov did call her earlier wanting the opinion of a medical expert, but she insisted to at least have her morning coffee, if it wasn't anything life threatening, before she hung up.
"Hehe, sorry I know, but it gave me no peace of mind so I hope you will forgive me." Holding out his hands in a somewhat playful mock apology the older woman could only scoff at his antics.
"You were always the most exhausting one in our group." Shaking her head Porlyusica wanted to end this call as quickly as possible." Now then. What do you want to know?"
Not wanting to drag this out the guild master didn't beat around the bush for long.
"How serious is it? Will Natsu fully recover from this?"
"He will recover, but if he will be the same as before I highly doubt it. He was lucky enough to get treated in time, before the lacrima in his body sucked out all of his magic and depriving him from regaining ethernano back into his body, while also growing in size and I think I don't need to tell you how badly that would end. " Pausing for a minute to gather her thoughts she continued." Still, thanks to their healers they managed to stop the growth and were able purify the lacrima to a state where it would not harm its user, as long as they will not be overcharged with too much magic. Overall you could say he got several mini lacrima in his lungs now and depending how well Natsu can control it, this may either help him or drastically hinder his fighting ability."
"Can you not remove them?" Makarov knew how deadly overheated lacrimas can be. "Laxus nearly died multiple times because of his when he was younger. He had massive trouble to fully control it for the first two years and that was just one. I fail to imagine what multiple ones could do."
"There's not much we can do except teach Natsu to utilize those lacrimas. If not, he will find it a lot harder to use the same amount of magic as before and even if he recharges by eating flames, only part of that will be converted into magic for him to use, while the rest will be stored in the lacrimas. How much it will hinder him only time will tell."
"…Is there really nothing we can do?" asked Makarov hopefully.
"If there was, you would know it by now. So is that all?" exclaimed the annoyed personal Healer of Fairy Tail.
"Yes, that's all. Thanks for everything." All he could do was hang his head down at his failure.
"It's not your fault." added Porlyusica. She wasn't such a heartless monster to end the call right now when her friends were in such a state. She hated humans, but for friends she was always ready to be there for them.
"I know, it's just…. I wished I could have prevented it somehow, but that Siegrain-" clenching his fist the sorrow expression changed into one of fury as he was gaining in size that would dwarf his original body five times over. "The moment he crosses my path I will make him pay!"
"I think he goes by Jellal now."
"Doesn't matter! Jellal or Siegrain both of them will pay for what they put my children through!"
"Seeing how he has become the most wanted person on the continent, I doubt you will ever cross paths with him. See you next time." With that Porlyusica hung up, as Makarov shrunk down in size.
The older mage was exhausted. The daily stress was eating away at his nerves constantly and there were days he would feel his chest sting at times. Porlyusica said he should watch out or it would get worse the longer he would put up with it. She even recommended for him to choose a successor already, but it wasn't so easy as she made it sound. Makarov had in fact considered retiring for some years already, but none of the possible candidates were fitting for the job at all. Gildarts is constantly moving and can't remain in one place for long, Laxus had the wrong mindset, Mystogan is too secretive to trust him fully, while Mirajane and Erza are still to young and inexperienced.
"Right... she sent me a letter." Reaching under his desk, he pulled out a white envelope. Makarov did not know what it contained yet, but Erza told him that it had the hidden truths that he was entitled to finally hear.
It somewhat hurt knowing that your child didn't trust you enough to share it with you before, but she sounded very troubled and regretful, saying even some insane things like leaving the guild, which Makarov promptly stopped her from committing. It was a parent's job to forgive his children's sins, while also giving out appropriate punishment, but Erza came out of her own will, so he can't be too harsh with her, not when she was this troubled already.
So, leaning back into his comfy chair that was custom made for his small statue, he touched the seal as a miniature, bandaged Erza was displayed, telling Makarov everything that she had been hiding from him.
Waking up in the face of the morning sun, Kagura had no idea when she fell asleep or how she found herself in the comfortable lap of the annoying greenhead. Not wanting to remain in that position any longer the teen stood forcefully up only to hit heads with the sleeping form of Roronoa, waking her in turn up.
"M-morning…." grasping her head where it hurt, Kagura sheepishly greeted the woman, while feeling a little embarrassed by her action.
"…. Morning." came the slow, but not completely annoyed response, as if she was used to such head bumps all the time.
Not knowing what to say next in this situation, Kagura turned to the driver's seat occupied by Jellal and tried to get a status report in order to forget the entire thing right now.
"How far are we?"
"Morning to you, too." said Jellal instead. It seemed he was a firm believer of proper morning etiquette, or he just wanted to take the piss out of her. Either way both options would and have soured her mood somewhat.
"Yeah, whatever. Morning. Now what you got?"
"We are close by. I can already see it from here." answered Jellal, having had a little fun at teasing the gravity mage.
Moving towards the tattooed mage and trying to avoid eye contact with the greenhead, Kagura could see the village as they closed the distance.
It was a medium sized one, surrounding with healthy green fields covered in dew shining in the morning sun that gave of a feeling of peace and tranquility, while the birds sang in the background adding to that effect.
"Good, now hold on tight!" Tearing the reins out of Jellal's unsuspecting hands, Kagura forced the boar to increase its speed from a leisure pace to its maximum, which was further increased when she used her magic on the animal, leaving behind a giant dust cloud.
As they passed the gate, which had the village's name engraved on it, the trios wagon came to a sudden stop, as the boar's legs gave up on the finish line, launching the wagon up in the air towards the center of the place.
Using their magic both Jellal and Kagura exited mid flight and landed safely on the ground, thanks to the useful ability to fly. Zoro meanwhile was slowly getting out of the wreckage, pushing the wooden structure out of his way.
While she wasn't particular hurt, Kagura didn't need to guess that this was probably not the mosshead's favorite way to exit a wagon, but yet again she displayed an air of indifference mixed with slight annoyance. It was as if this was nothing new for her and nothing worthy to get angry about anymore.
"Ah, travelers." seemingly unfazed by their dynamic entrance an older man approached the trio with a wooden cane in his hand. " What brings you to us?"
"We are looking for someone," answered Kagura, taking the initiative seeing as this is her quest. "Do you know where I can find Haja Samrel?"
"Oh, yes. She should be in the daycare as usual. It's the third house on my right." Using his staff in one hand, while scratching his butt with his other, the elderly man pointed at a well maintain stony building with various yellow star symbols on them and the words 'Star Light' written above the entrance.
"Thank you." After politely bowing down, Kagura alongside her traveling partners made their way towards the building, after which she addressed them.
"You better stay here. It will probably last only a moment." With a smile on her face she entered the daycare, practically beaming with joy, while leaving the duo behind who respected her decision without question.
She was so close to be reunited with her brother that she could not do anything but smile. Happy thoughts were entering her mind, as Kagura was already planning to catch up on so many things that the shitty Cult of Zeref had robbed them of.
"Um, excuse me? Can I help you with something?"
So much so she didn't realize she almost walked past on of the only adults in the daycare. Catching herself Kagura turned around and came to meet an older woman who was probably in her thirties.
"Ah, sorry. I was daydreaming a bit." Apologized the teen, holding a hand behind her head before continuing. "Are you Miss Haja Samrel?"
"No, that's my gran. What's your business with her?"
"I have an important message for her. It's from Legos Iwolf." The mood suddenly darkened as the woman before her was not successful in hiding her displeasure, but Kagura didn't care and remained her toddler like innocent smile "Where can I find her?"
"It would be better for you to leave-" the young woman didn't have much more to say as the young teen grabbed her by the shirt and dragged the daycare worker down to meet Kagura eye to eye.
"I will ask again." With a stronger emphasis on intimidation Kagura's voice became a little more tense as the gravity increased considerably for the fear induced worker. "Where. Is. She. I have an important message for her."
Kagura tried really her utmost to send the point across how important that matter was without seriously injuring anyone, as the wooden floor was starting to crack, trying her best to not lose her happy mood.
Sensing the danger and having no way out the woman reluctantly answered, before falling to the ground with a horrified expression when Kagura released her hold.
"Second floor. First door to my right. Got it. Don't worry it will be quick." the worker could only remain on the ground paralyzed as she watched the teen go upstairs, as some early rising children were passing next to her, playing catch with big smiles adorning their faces, as if they didn't know the monster that was right besides them.
Entering the designated door, a one-legged elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair sleeping peacefully came into view. The teen did not like what she had to do, but waking up an elderly in order to find her brother had to be the most innocent crime she had yet to commit. So with a quick step she softly touched the woman's hand repeatedly, increasing the force only slightly to gain her attention.
"Huh...Oh, hello." Waking up, the woman quickly changed her startled state to one professional maintained smile. "What can I help you with dear?"
"Good morning, I have an important message for you." Her smile was starting to match that of Haja's. "It's from Legos Iwolf."
"Oh, little Legi!" Her reaction on hearing that name was entirely different to the one her granddaughter downstairs had. "That's a surprise. I haven't heard of that little star since a long time. How's he doing?"
While Kagura wanted to just tell her the message and leave, she felt it was necessary to at least talk to her and tell her everything she wanted to know. Even if the teen couldn't remember her mothers face anymore, she still remembered her lesson about treating the elderly with respect and Kagura was one to not ignore lessons learned, especially from people that she cared about.
"He's dead." Kagura also was one to not sugar coat bad news. "A dark guild attacked us, and he was their primary target. I'm sorry for your loss." Bowing down, the teen said that as if she was describing the taste of water, unable to even pretend remorse before the elder woman.
"Oh..." while a sad expression was eminent on Haja's face, she didn't really seem heartbroken by that message. "I thought that would happen to him sooner than later... He always was one to get into trouble with the one or other shady group. Even when I was protecting him here. Wait a moment please."
Standing up on one leg, while reaching for the cane next to her, the woman limped her way to the drawers, as she was looking for a specific item. Being polite, all Kagura did was walk after her, not uttering even one sound.
"Ah, here we have it!" She was holding an old worn-out album. Opening it she slowly turned page after page before she found whatever she was looking for.
Watching from the sidelines, Kagura eyed the photo Haja was holding in her hands. On it was a group of children alongside a much younger, but still middle-aged version of the woman before her, holding in her hands a child version of Legos sporting an innocent smile, but on thing caught the gravity's mage attention.
"You were part of Mermaid Heel?" it wasn't really something amazing, but Kagura adored that guild since she was a little girl. Which was not a big surprise for anyone that knew that her mother was part of that particular guild.
"Ah, yes. I was. In fact I was one of the founding members of it and was known under the name of Star Light, while some other preferred to call me just Sparkle." she became a lot livelier before sitting down with less energy." but not anymore."
"What happened?" Kagura blurted out before regaining her composure. It was not like her to be this childlike, but she always planned to join Mermaid Heel after she found Simon. While she would have to answer for her crimes, she doubted the sentence would be too harsh on her seeing that all she ever killed were some middle tier dark guilds and or destroyed their entire guildhall to send a message … usually both now that she was thinking about it.
"I was injured, or you could say I let myself be injured to protect little Legi here," caressing the photo she remained silent for just a moment." Magic nor technology back then was able to replace a missing limp, so I was forcefully retired. I was acting as a secretary of some sort in the meantime, before taking over the family business. Legi did blame himself for it and left me five days later… Tell me, what were his last words?"
"He told me to deliver this message to you." While Kagura wanted to hear more about her newfound idol, she was finally getting to the entire reason why she even came to this far away place. So reciting the message again in her head, she fulfilled her part of the deal. " I hope we can see the stars again on the other side"
Hearing that the older woman, sported a weak, but heartful smile. "Sure we will."
In the same moment the pact was fulfilled and Kagura felt how she gained the key to all her problems, or rather the key to enter Legos personal dimension. It was finally time.
"I will take my leave." said Kagura while bowing down respectfully. "I wish you a good day."
"You sure are being hasty. Don't you want a cup of coffee before you leave?" offered Haja.
"No, but thanks for the offer." answered the teen politely. "I hope we see each other again some other time, then you can tell me more about your adventures."
"Hoho, I sure will. Come visit me someday again, my little star."
"I will." With that Kagura left her idol alone.
That Kagura-girl was taking her sweet time, having left Zoro and Jellal a good fifteen minute outside in utter silence as neither one had anything to say to the other. The greenhead was already planning to go out hunting in the nearby forest, when the teen finally came out sporting such a childlike big smile it was almost uncanny. Not saying a single word she engulfed her hand in some blue energy before moving her arm in a downward motion, as the space before her distorted, opening a portal to another place.
Not wasting a single second Kagura entered the wobbly rift in space with an enthusiastic step. Following right behind her was Jellal with his stoic pokerlike face. Seeing no reason to be left behind Zoro entered the magic portal thingy as it closed behind him, stopping anyone else from gaining access to the place.
Inside was a black void with various shelves and other furniture flying back and forth, while rotating on their own axis seemingly on their own. Living here had to be a pain was the only conclusion that came to mind.
"What a mess." commented Zoro, not understanding why someone would design their own personal space that way.
"It is. Let's change that!" Holding out her hands out, multiple magic seals materialized all around Kagura as the furniture's all stopped in place, before being dragged down by some unseen force.
In a matter of moments what was once a black void with flying object transformed into a proper oversized room reminding him more of a museum with additional bookshelves.
To be honest Zoro wasn't really interested in that place at all, but while Kagura was looking for something and Jellal was studying her every move if she tried to double cross them, the greenhead made a beeline towards what he presumed was the armory and he was right. A shame that Legos took the word to literal.
Stepping inside all he could find were armors upon armors, each in different sizes, but none in his current one. Luckily under all this junk he finally found something of interest. Ripping it out of one of the armors cold metallic arms, Zoro was greeted by a sheeted red katana, with a scarlet golden colored schemed leathery scabbard. Wanting to inspect the blade up close, the swordsman pulled the sword out and in doing so small sparks came to life every time when the silver blade grazed the scabbard.
This caught Zoro's attention. Surely it couldn't be what he was thinking, was it?
"Maybe Kagu can tell me more about it."
With that in mind Zoro wandered off to look for Kagura, by walking of course down the armory instead of turning back were he came from. The swordsman would have surely gotten lost, but as luck would have it being inside this dimension had some perks, because when Zoro took one more step the entire area changed its layout suddenly.
All the items and furniture's were flying away as they did previously, but this time the tile he was standing on did too. Zoro did not know what to do so he remained standing while flying through the air, wanting to see where this was going. Luckily it was a short-lived ride, before everything organized itself to its previous proper state. With one exception.
"See, I told you she couldn't get lost here." Proudly declared Kagura to a relieved tattoo face as the swordsman was standing now right next to them.
Zoro was again pretty much indifferent to that, while it was useful on its own right it was nothing in comparison to Laws instant teleportation. Once you have experienced it any other way of transportation was just inferior in comparison, but who knows maybe that portal thingy could change his mind.
"Hey, Kagu could you help me with something quick?"
"Yes, of course!" said Kagura with an enthusiastic voice, not bothered by that nickname in the slightest. It was starting to be somewhat creepy how much her demeanor changed in such a short time. Then again nothing could probably destroy her mood if she was this close to reunite with her brother.
"Can you show me how to activate this sword?" handing her the blade, Kagura happily took it.
"Ah, so you have found that bastards Medo Inferno." she was still in a good mood, as she was holding the silvery blade in a casual manner. "You just got to fuel it with magic like with all magic blades, look!" The blade caught on fire in an instant before she put the flame out and gave it back for Zoro to try out. But to his surprise he was not able to. He even tried to use haki on it, but to no avail. The flames refused to materialize.
"What's the matter its not so hard…Wait, don't tell me you don't know how to use magic!?"
"No, I have never used magic before." Zoro was quite disappointed. He finally was holding a magic fire sword, but he couldn't use it. What a sick joke to trample on a man's dream.
"Well, no big deal," said Kagura dismissively "This blade was designed that even some beginner could use its fire properties. First sheath the sword and when you take it out try your best to grind most of the blade across the golden end of the scabbard in a quick succession. This will make the sword suck your magic out at a greater rate of course until you sheath it back. Just don't overuse it or you will feel sick from magic deprivation."
Following her instruction, Zoro finally managed to engulf the sword with flames. At the same time he felt something being drained out of his body. It was a strange feeling at first, the best way to describe it would be something reaching inside your body and slurping some fluid out with the help of a plastic straw. Wanting to test something, Zoro tried to tap into this mysterious power and in doing so tripled the flames size, startling Jellal as it was to close for his liking and did almost burn him had he not reacted in time.
Now the plastic straw was being replaced by a cup and Zoro could already feel how a fourth of his reserves were already used up. Not wanting to overuse it, the flames started to dwindle per Zoro's command. First it was slow, but in a matter of seconds the revived swordsman using his experience with Enma managed to put the flames out in an instance with ease.
Zoro tried to engulf Medo Inferno the same way Kagura did earlier, but to no avail. It seemed tapping into your magic reserves out of your own accord was harder than controlling a tool that sucked it out for you. With a grin on his face the greenhead was ready to master this skill.
"Can I keep it?" but Zoro was a polite pirate, so he first asked for permission.
"Sure, don't need a memento from that piece of shit." She was still in a good mood despite her chosen language. So with a second blade secured Zoro was feeling a lot more comfortable than before.
"Have you found what you were looking for?" asked Zoro the teen in return.
"Not yet. The bastard was always this messy, so it will take a while before I find his notes." Kagura was a little annoyed, but she was still in a fantastic mood. "I'll probably have it in a day or two, so don't you worry. Now let's send the two of you to Aeraos."
In an instant a massive stony structure rises out of the ground, but no one present was really startled by it. It was in simple terms a massive ring with some markings engraved on it and Kagura was standing before it with a bottle containing some sort of pink liquid.
"Good. Are you ready?" asked Kagura the duo, but she saw someone's puzzled expression. "And before you ask Jellal, I got the ingredient when I was waiting for both of you in Dinkle Town. I hope you didn't think I would just waste my time waiting for you and not do something productive in the meantime. By the way I recommend the ice cream near the statue. IT'S DELICIOUS!"
Jellal was hiding a little smile under his facemask. He was getting predictable if even a little girl like her was able to read him like an open book.
"We are ready." confirmed the blue haired mage.
"Good." with that Kagura threw the bottle onto the upper half of the stony structure, shattering on contact as the pinkish fluid drippled down in a circular manner filling each rune with its contents before it adapted the color itself. When the last one was filled the portal activated with a thundering sound. Something similar to lightning was shot between the ring's insides, before a shoddily made circle appeared, struggling to remain its proper shape.
"Let's go!" Not missing a beat as if he did this a thousand times Jellal entered the portal and disappeared in the same moment without a trace left of him. Like Kagura herself the young mage didn't want to waste any more time, if he was so close to fulfill his goal. Still he could have said a goodbye.
"Kagura!" addressing the teen, Zoro was looking straight into her confused eyes. "If you find your brother don't forget to invite me to your reunion party."
"You just want a shot at that bastards homebrew again, don't you?" teased Kagura, having gotten a clear understanding of the swordsman preference and priorities in the last few days they spend together.
Zoro didn't know how to respond to that banter, having been caught red-handed, so Kagura let her senior a pass this time only. "If I find him you will be the first one to know. Now go before the portal collapses. I will charge you double if it comes to that."
"See you soon, Kagu."
"Yeah, till next time mosshead."
With a heartfelt smile both parties went their respective ways.
It would only be a few days after that, when Kagura finally found what she was looking for and to say the least, she was looking for blood to spill.
"Their signatures have reappeared!" reported a young unnamed mage to his superiors. "They are in Aeraos, Master Brain."
"Do we have confirmed contact?" asked the older man obscured by darkness sitting in his rocky throne that had to be the most uncomfortable thing imaginable to sit on.
"Yes." but who was he to point something like that out " Several members of Naked Mummy and Crimson Rot have seen the duo drop out of the sky. It was not hard to miss, Master Brain."
"Splendid, lets move out immediately!" Addressing the five other members in the room, Brain stood up and moved towards the exit. They had a person to capture and a weapon to find.
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Chaptero achte is out and while not my longest creation its one that I can be proud of, like this story in general. You have no idea how happy I was when the first person favorited my story. It was magical. So I thank each and everyone that has thus far shown me support. Even those that have not yet made their voices heard. Maybe I will make a discord server in the future... well sometime for sure, but not right now or this year in general, I think. Either way what did you like and what could have been better. I will patiently wait for your reviews like always.
In the meantime we are one or two chapters away from my second long planned key moment, so stay tunned what we will get in Aearos (did I write it right? I hope so)
So while I will go to sleep with my doggy (her name is Zoey), you can do whatever you want.
I personally recommend using your remaining time on earth to go watch I'm A Spider So What (Kumo desu ga nani ka) It's one of my favorite titles.
I did write more in this note than I wanted... see you soon, my wonderfuuuuuul readers.
Zoey sends her regards
Chapter version v3 : 29.12.2021
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