AN: So been a while hasn't it. Not got much of an excuse, I've just been busy with the shitshow that is 2020, and with writing some stories on my Greed720 account. I'm afraid my enthusiasm for Naruto and Harry Potter stories has not yet come back though. Maybe they will once again after I read an especially good story that re-inspires me, but for the moment I remained distracted with other things. Not much to say about this chapter though, other than that I want to be done with this arc by the end of 2020. So I will hopefully, all things being well, get 3 more updates out by end of December, and get this arc tidied away.
That said there are some bits and pieces I might be going back to clean up, and edit. Just because I regret putting them in to begin with, it doesn't fit with the story I want to write anymore. Especially not with the new material that is filtering in from the 100 year quest arc. I will alert people the minor changes I make in updates as and when I do them. None of them will be major though, or change the plot as it currently stands.
Thanks for reading, please leave a review.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Fairy Tail.
( - )
(Last Time)
"Well you did, you know. She was there when you were born, in fact, if I'm not mistaken, it was she that named you, Makarov, after some kind old king she had read about in a book." Percy chuckled, a fond smile spreading across his face as he thought about his long gone comrade. It had been nearly ninety years since she had left them.
"I didn't know that," Makarov said, a smile on his face as he continued to look at the Shrine. "Thank you, Perseus."
Percy smiled at that, but didn't answer. Instead he pushed himself to his feet and picked up his sword. "Well I suppose it's time for me to head out and terrorise a few brats. I'll see you in a bit, Makarov."
With that said, Percy began to head out of the grove.
"Have fun," Makarov called after him, "And don't be too hard on them, this is just an exam after all!"
( - )
Chapter 27
( - )
(On Tenrou Island)
"So, you figure anything out?" Cana asked her partner, a slight frown on her face as she looked around at her heavily wooded surroundings.
"No." Lucy sighed, following the older girl's gaze as she too tried to find some sign, or some hint of where their goal, the grave of Fairy Tail's First Master, Mavis Vermillion, could be. "How can we search for a grave without a single hint or clue?"
"Maybe that's the problem." Cana muttered, turning back to her blonde companion as she did so. "Do we really not have a hint? I mean, I've taken part in this exam four times already so it's just a hunch, but I have a feeling there is no impossible test here. There must be a hint hidden somewhere! Some clue about where it is that we've been told, but just missed."
"Maybe, I mean Master Makarov is a creepy perv at times, but he isn't unfair. He would never give us an impossible test." Lucy muttered to herself, her eyes narrowing in thought, before she then closed them as she tried to remember everything they had been told by the Master when it came to setting out what the test was about. "Thinking about it, maybe the puzzle is in the words."
"Words?" Cana repeated, confused now as she focused on Lucy. She wouldn't say she knew the blonde all that well. She was a friend, sure, but not exactly a close one. Still, she was smart, that much she knew.
"For example, we hear the word 'grave' and automatically think it's a place, a marker, like a tombstone, or something." Lucy said, speaking her thoughts out loud now. "We also assume that it means 'the end of one's life'..."
"Ok, and so what does any of that actually mean?." Cana asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. "So does that mean that we're not looking for a grave then, but something else? And does the 'end of one's life' just mean death?"
Lucy didn't immediately answer, and instead continued to stare at her for a moment worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she continued to think hard about what the Master had said. Before, with a start she jerked up slightly. "That's it!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I know where the grave is! Come with me!"
Cana grinned, she still didn't have the faintest clue what the other girl had figured out, or how she had done so. But at the moment she didn't care, instead she was just glad her partner had figured out what she could not. "I knew you could do it, Lucy!"
( - )
(Elsewhere on the island)
'What's with him…' Levy thought to herself furiously as she continued to run through the forest, and away from her obnoxious partner. 'I finally thought he had sort of turned into a good person... but he's still just a jerk! I hate him! I hate, hate, hate him! I…'
She spun around when she heard a bush rustle nearby, her inner monologue coming to a screeching halt at the same time she did, as she spun around and looked around at her surroundings. "Gajeel?"
There was another rustle, and then the culprit, or rather culprits, emerged.
Instead of it being the Iron Dragon Slayer though, like she expected. It was instead two very odd, and completely unfamiliar figures. A red armoured, samurai-like man with a brown furred, bestial face, and what looked like a large scowling, anthropomorphic chicken...
Both of whom leapt out at her the moment they emerged from the brush, the samurai already drawing his curved sword as he did so, a snarl spreading across his bestial face. The chicken meanwhile, just glared at her with its cold, avian eyes.
Levy, upon seeing this, paled rapidly, and then flung herself backwards and to the ground when the samurai swung his blade at her. Her quick actions allowing her to just about dodge the potentially lethal slash.
"What the..." Levy scooted back in fear, her mind racing as she tried to understand just what was happening here, and just who, or what, these people were and why they were here. "Who are you?"
They didn't answer, instead they lunged at her again. Their actions forcing a strangled cry out of her when the rooster/ chicken man thing, grabbed her, and then promptly slammed her to the ground, swiftly winding and immobilizing her before she even had a chance to fight back.
"You first." The samurai replied in a low growl, swinging his sword down at her as he did so. The blade aim for her legs, just above the knee. No doubt the warrior was looking to incapacitate her permanently, making it so she could not flee, or get help while they did whatever it was to her that they were planning.
Continuing to struggle in vain with the creature holding her, Levy's eyes widened when a familiar, dark haired figure jumped in front of her from out of nowhere, and blocked the weapon with an iron enshrouded arm.
It was Gajeel.
"It's hard looking for someone so small." Gajeel grunted, struggling against the attacker as he did so. "So stay close to me."
Levy couldn't help but smile at her partner's words. The guy couldn't help being an abrasive ass, even when he was trying to help her out. The familiarity of it was almost comforting in a way.
"Also..." Gajeel glared at the two intruders now, his attention riveted on the two unusually looking beings as he continued to hold the armoured man back. "Who the hell are you guys?"
"Grimoire Heart." The bestial samurai replied curtly, indicating vaguely at the golden, spiky, heart-shaped mark on the centre of his breastplate.
"We're a Dark Guild." The chicken added nastily, as if thinking that by just announcing that his Guild was dark, it would be enough to get them to give up, surrender, and beg for mercy.
Gajeel frowned at this, gritting his teeth as he continued to keep the samurai's sword at bay, even as he kept an eye on the other, feathered interloper. "Why the hell is one of the Balam Alliance on the island!?"
Hearing just who the two were, and who their Guild was, was enough to make Levy anxious. Grimoire Heart was renowned for being both dangerous and powerful, and also very deadly. "They must have snuck onto the island, probably to get revenge for what happened to Oracion Seis!"
It was the only reasonable explanation for why members of one of the strongest Guilds, dark or otherwise, in Fiore would be on this small, isolated, out of the way island.
"Well if that's the case, then we'll just have to teach them the same lesson as Oracion Seis, and then chuck them off the island!" Gajeel grinned, his red eyes flashing viciously as he forcefully shoved the samurai away and then raised his fists up, ready for a fight. "Besides, we're pretty much S-Class mages right?! Dealing with smallfry like this should be easy for us!"
"But this is Grimoire Heart we're talking about..." Levy shot back. She was nowhere near as confident as her partner at the prospect of fighting the pair in front of them. "They're one corner of the Balam Alliance for a reason, Gajeel,... we can't just recklessly attack them."
"Ah ha ha!" The armoured samurai laughed mockingly, his sword up and at the ready. "As expected from a normal guild! Rules, rules, rules... so suffocating!"
"Rules don't exist in war!" The cackling chicken added, before it then let out a grating clucking laugh.
"War?" Gajeel repeated, scowling now as he stepped back so he was now shoulder to shoulder with the standing Levy.
"What is your goal?" Levy demanded, her eyes narrowing as she too prepared to fight.
The bestial samurai smirked. "To poach all the fairies on this island!" He laughed, swinging his sword and creating an eastern language character in the air. A shrill high-pitched noise filling the clearing moments after he did so.
"My ears!" Levy wailed, trying to block out the shriek.
"Magic from words..." Gajeel shouted out, his face scrunched up in pain as he tried, with difficulty, to ignore the effects the screeching had on his heightened hearing. "It's the same magic as yours!"
"That's Solid Script from the Far East!" Levy shouted back as the noise suddenly intensified.
"Aaagghh!" Gajeel roared, hunching over and also covering his ears now as he was unable to ignore the screeching any longer. "Shut it up!"
"Gajeel!" Levy warned when she noticed the chicken take advantage of the situation and leap at them. "Gajeel! GAJEEL!"
'He can't hear me…' She realised as she looked over and saw the tough Dragon Slayer hunched over and clutching his ears. Gritting her teeth, she pulled Gajeel down with her, letting the chicken fly over them as it missed. It's claws raking across his back, shredding the back, and drawing blood.
"Ha ha!" The giant, humanoid chicken clucked, sliding across the floor. It's claws gouging furrows in the dirt as it that open its beaked maw and spat out some eggs at them. "Egg Buster!"
With the eggs cracking in mid-air and then exploding. The following concussive blasts knocking, both Levy and Gajeel back as they did so. Gajeel letting out a hiss of pain as he landed on his wounded back.
At the same time as this, the armour man-beast, charged in with his sword raised.
'Dammit!' Gajeel thought furiously rolling and leaping to his feet as he was forced to dance back, dodging the flashing and slashing sword repeatedly, his movements clumsy as he tried to avoid both the sword strokes and the exploding eggs at the same time. All while still being assaulted by the loud, screeching noise. He'd already picked up a few new cuts and bruises for his trouble. 'Because of the noise, I can't even hear their footsteps!'
"Solid Script!" Levy shouted upon seeing Gajeel's situation, swinging her magic pen through the air. "Silent!"
In response large, blocky letters of the word 'silent' smashed into the eastern symbol, resulting in both spells shattering, and blessed silence falling across the clearing.
"The sound went back to normal." Gajeel breathed a sigh of relief.
"You bitch! You cancelled out my word!" The armoured mage shouted at the same time.
"I heard that." Gajeel growled. He was already spinning on the spot, his iron arm extending as he then rammed it into the other mage's armoured gut with a loud clang. Denting his metal armour, and knocking the wind out of him as the blow forced him to backpedal. "There you are!"
"Dammit!" The chicken screamed, swooping down on them again and spitting out another barrage of explosive eggs.
"Solid Script: Fire!" Levy shouted, flicking her pen through the air again and writing the word 'fire' in flaming letters now. With a blast of fire erupting forth from the word as she finished. The flames quickly consuming the eggs, and then reducing them to ash.
"How dare you!" The quickly recovered samurai roared, swinging his sword around and creating air blades with each strike as an eastern word formed on his sword repeatedly.
"Guah!" Gajeel shouted, flinching in pain as he tried to block the rapid air slashes with an iron arm, only for the attack cut straight through the armour and create more slashes upon both his body and clothing. The onslaught forcing the Iron Dragon Slayer to use his magic to enshroud himself in iron scales. He wasn't being given the time to mount an offense, not with the constant attacks forcing him back. It was like they already knew his skillset, and how to get around it.
At the same time, the chicken intensified its attacks. Getting in close whilst Gajeel was distracted, and forcing Levy back by spitting out more eggs than she could immolate in a single go. The explosions around her singing her flesh, and jolting her body about as she was forced back.
'This guy…' Gajeel thought to himself, his eyes narrowed in fury. 'He's cutting through my iron scales…'
Once again the samurai slashed his sword and created a new word, the effect this time creating a small beam of magic that gouged into Gajeel's armoured side.
Blood visibly spurting out as the dark haired Dragon Slayer fell back and tried stemming the blood flow with one of his clawed hands, ignoring the samurai for a moment as he prepared another attack.
"Dark Sword..." The samurai intoned, his blade at his side already in mid swing. "Biting Echo!"
A moment later and Gajeel coughed up blood as the armoured samurai sped past him and inflicted a deep slash on the iron user's chest. The glowing purple blade slicing through his iron skin and bone like butter as it bit deeply into his side, leaving behind a inch deep gash both along his arm, as he tried to block it, and his side as he manage to deflect it slightly. Though it still sliced nearly cleanly through his third and fourth rib, and the flesh surrounding it.
"Gajeel!" Levy screamed in horror, looking away from the chicken as her partner collapsed to the ground, blood dribbling out of both his mouth, and the wound on his side. "GAJEEL!"
"If this is the level they're all at, then we can probably take care of them all before the main squad arrives, ey Kawazu?!" The armoured samurai laughed, his blade up and resting nonchalantly on his shoulder now.
"Easily, Yomazu!" The now named Kawazu agreed.
"Did you say... main squad..." Gajeel groaned weakly, struggling to stand up even as Levy came to his side and tried to help him. There was more blood spilling down his side, even as he forced more iron scales to cover up the wound.
Fortunately for the moment the two dark mages just watched, seemingly playing with their prey before finishing them.
"Looks like he's still breathing..." Kawazu remarked, his feathered head tilting to the side as he observed Gajeel's struggles.
"For now, Kawazu. As for you little girl, I'm talking about our Guild." Yomazu explained, mostly ignoring his companion as he instead kept his eyes locked on the two Fairy Tail mages in front of him. "The entire Grimoire Heart guild."
Gajeel's eyes widened, looking sideways at the worried looking girl. "Levy..." He rasped, picking himself up and then shakily standing on his own two feet. "Run..."
"What?" Levy whispered back, her eyes also widening.
"This isn't some mundane war... this is going to escalate beyond your wildest imagination. We need everyone to know about this as soon as possible! They need to know, so they won't get ambushed. So they can defend themselves!" Gajeel replied, his voice hoarse and raspy as he spat out a globule of blood, and kept one of his hands clutched to his side in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood that still dripped out from under his iron scales.
"But..." Levy protested. "I..."
"Go!" Gajeel raised his voice, pushing her away with his free hand now, as he then turned and faced off with the two dark mages. "I can take care of those guys myself, easily!"
It was a lie.
Yomazu scowled. "Don't let her escape." He grunted, his gaze flicking to his companion for all of a moment.
Only for Gajeel to take advantage of the momentary distraction by sending an extended iron arm slamming into his gut, and knocking him backwards.
Levy glanced back. "Gajeel?"
"Stop hesitating!" Gajeel shouted after her. "Hurry up and go!"
Levy paused for all of a moment, before she then nodded and waved her pen, before running off. It was the last thing she could do for her friend, before she heeded his advice and went to both get help and warn the others.
'Iron?' Gajeel glanced at the large blocky iron letters that formed in front of him.
"Please... don't die..." Levy choked out, just before she left the clearing.
"Yeah." Gajeel grunted, already tearing into the iron snack as he built up the iron in his stomach for a roar. It would be painful with the rent in his chest, but he could hopefully still manage it.
"Hey!" Yomazu yelled at his feathered companion. "You just let that girl get away!"
"Who cares?" Kawazu shot back with an angry cluck. "That'll just make the hunting more fun!"
Gajeel growled at that and smashed his fist into the ground, getting their attention. "You want a full-scale war with Fairy Tail?"
"He's standing up..." Yomazu muttered, his eyes narrowing and his grip on his sword tightening.
"This reminds me... of the time I did the same..." Gajeel rasped, blood sheeting down one of his sides. "It's going to turn out as badly for you, as it did for us!"
Yomazu sneered at that, his sword raised and already glowing with purple energy.
Kawazu meanwhile let out a clucking laugh and shook his head. "Pe-pe-prepare to die, Fairy Tail scum!"
( - )
(With Levy)
Sprinting away from the clearing, and the sounds of battle behind her. Levy had to hold back tears as she sprinted through the undergrowth.
She wanted to turn around and go back, to fight alongside Gajeel and help put both of the dark mages down. It was possible, if they worked together. Her magic could counter the samurai's script magic, and Gajeel could tank the chicken's attacks.
The both of them complimented each other well in a fight, brains and brawn, muscle and subtlety. She had no doubt that if she went back now, they could, after a prolonged fight, defeat them both.
But that would take time, and already they knew that the entirety of Grimoire Heart was here.
In her research about the other Guilds, she had heard of that Guild, the strongest amongst the Balam Alliance. Their mysterious Guild Master was apparently on the level of the Gods of Ishgar, and each of the Seven Sins of Purgatory, the Dark Guild's elite squad, were on the level of an S-Class wizard at the least, if not a Wizard Saint.
They had eight phenomenally powerful wizards, and probably scores of less powerful wizards to back them up.
Fairy Tail meanwhile had Master Makarov, Perseus, Gildarts, Mira and Erza Scarlet. A Guild Master and four S-Class wizards, though both Gildarts and Perseus were probably as strong as a high ranking Wizard Saint. After that they just had ten other wizards, only some of whom were on the level of an S-Class.
She did not count Loke, Mest, Happy, Lucy, Gajeel, Cana or herself amongst that number. She had no doubt that herself and the others were strong and talented, more than a match for an average henchman or dark mage. But if the two that she and Gajeel had just faced were anything to speak of they were just average mages in Grimoire Heart, which considering she hadn't heard of either of them was likely the case. Which if that were the case meant that they were in real trouble.
They were already outnumbered and outmatched already, the last thing they needed was to be taken by surprise too.
Gajeel had realised this, and it was why he had sent her away. He had been willing to sacrifice himself, so that the others would have a chance.
No matter how much it hurt, and it really did. She couldn't turn back now and let his sacrifice be in vain.
Gritting her teeth she continued to run, the sounds of battle fading to nothing as she hurtled through the trees, spreading her senses out as she desperately tried to find one of her Guild mates, anyone that could help her get the message out.
With a faint cry she lost her footing and tripped over a protruding root, a spike of pain shooting through her as she grazed both her knees and jolted her arm on the hard packed earth beneath her.
"Who goes there!?" A familiar voice rang out, drawing her attention as she shakily pushed herself up onto her hands.
There was a figure approaching her, but the only detail she could see of the figure through her teary eyes was a halo of red around their head. "Erza…!?"
( - )
(With Percy)
Walking through the island's tangled undergrowth, Percy felt momentarily at peace with the world.
He could feel the ebb and flow of the sea in the distance, the chirping of birds in the trees, and the whistle of the coastal breeze as it blew past branches and ruffled his hair.
Letting out a sigh of contentedness he raised his bare arms and basked in the sunlight.
This was nice, there was no hustle and bustle of a quest that needed to be done. No annoying kids challenging him, or trying to demand his attention.
He was alone with nature and his thoughts.
It was at times like these, that he realised just why his old friends Precht and Warrod had left the Guild and gone into self-imposed exile like they did.
With Warrod whiling away his days in his remote hilltop home, playing with plants, and eating magically enhanced mushrooms, and smoking one of the many psychedelic herbs and funguses he grew.
It was no wonder the drugged up Wizard Saint turned hermit/ hippy had literally turned into a tree-person.
Smiling and shaking his head at his memory of the eccentric man and his antics, Percy then started to head for the sea.
It had been awhile since he had seen his old friend, but even so he couldn't help but be a little jealous of his lifestyle.
Sometimes he wished that he had done as the younger man had, and just left the Guild and retired to a beachside shack where he could fish, drink and sleep his way through the rest of eternity.
It wouldn't be a bad life. After all he had once spent a good couple of years learning how to make outstanding beer, and had by this point refined his cooking to the point at which other people were not only willing to eat it, but happy too. Which was actually a pretty big triumph considering he still stubbornly made any beer he brewed, or food he made, blue.
There are some traditions, some customs that just stand the test of time, and for him blue food was just that. That and it was a good way for him to remember his long since lost, and most likely deceased, mother.
Letting out a sad sigh at this, Percy continued through the jungle, ignoring the faint sounds of battle he could hear in the distance. He would let Scarlet, Knightwalker and Natsu have their fun.
He, like both Gildarts, and probably Mira too, would just avoid trouble and just relax.
It was time to make the most of this vacation whilst he could.
It was, after all, better than dwelling on what awaited him back on the mainland. As once he returned he would have people mythering him for his attention again, mainly Natsu and Gray. He really shouldn't have offered to give them a bit of training and some tips, but alas hindsight was a bitch sometimes.
After that he then had the whole Erza situation to deal with. Makarov had been right about how it was unfair to string them both along. But still, he didn't know what to do.
Both of the redheads were far, far too young for him. He was several centuries their senior, and yet that had never stopped him before, nor had it stopped the gods before him. After all if his father had actually given a damn about age gaps, then he, Percy, would not be around today.
On top of which, moral quandary aside. He found himself quite, and equally, enamoured with both of the redheads, even if it was for different reasons.
Both of them were obviously very physically attractive, beautiful even, he had perhaps only met a couple of people their equal during his many centuries in this world.
But that wasn't the only reason. Their personalities too, were both so different, and yet so similar, he found them fascinating.
They were both stubborn, hard-headed and very confident, or at least very outwardly confident. Inside however, both of them were also very sweet, innocent and shy. It was shocking how similar they actually were at times, despite their very different upbringing.
That said they did have differences Scarlet was stern, authoritative and liked order and rules. Call him a masochist, but something about that just turned him on.
Knightwalker meanwhile was aggressive, mischievous and chaotic. There was just something wild and dangerous about her, that just drew him in.
On top of that, Scarlet valued her friends, and often relied on them for support, probably more than she realised. Knightwalker meanwhile was a lone wolf, and thrived in her independence. He could empathise with both of them.
They were both so similar, and yet so different.
Shaking his head at this, Percy finally saw the bluish green sea through the trees up ahead.
He was in a really sticky situation with those two. He wanted to pursue something with one or both of them. But at the same time he didn't want to hurt either of them, or set himself up for future misery.
It had happened before several time. He had met someone, fallen in love, settled down and had kids, and then time, age, and disease had taken them all from him, and he had been left alone.
It was soul rending, even now he felt a dull empty feeling resonating in his chest as the memories of those he had lost haunted him.
He had lost so many people, so many friends and loved ones over the years. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep doing it. How much longer it would be before his mind finally snapped, or before he gave up on his bonds and connection to life all together, before he gave up on his humanity.
Rubbing his face at that thought, he tried to force the memories of lost loves away. As a demigod it only hurt more. After all he was a product of literal intelligent design. His body was not only beyond human, as were his reflexes and his god given abilities, but so too was his mind. It had been specifically designed for him to keep going, to keep fighting no matter what.
Things like trauma, and grief didn't have a long term hold on him. They literally couldn't as such emotions were numbed within him, and quickly faded. His grief for a lost love quickly faded, allowing him to carry on fighting, but his memories did not.
His memories remained as sharp and clear as ever. He was always aware, and could never forget, what he had lost, even as his memories of lost loved ones and friends continued to grow. His memories continued to pile up, but despite that he was not allowed to process his feelings of grief and loss in his own time. Instead they were muted, and instead faded, leaving him empty.
Just as demigods were prone to feeling some emotions; like love, anger and hate, emotions that would help them fight harder, far stronger than regular mortals. So to were they robbed, by the specifically designed chemistry of their brains, to fully feel emotions that would slow them down, or make them turn stop fighting. It was why they had been able to keep going, even as their brother, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles died all around them. Why they stayed positive, even when they knew they were destined to die a horrific death at a young age.
They were born distorted and broken.
Demigods, they were not meant to live as long as he had. They were meant to have short, sweet, brutal, bloody lives, and then that would be it. That was why their brains were wired the way they were. They were like mayflies, they were supposed to pack in as much good stuff as they can into their short time in the land of the living, and then die and make way for the next generation.
He though did not die, not through battle or from age. Nor was his mind protected by the Blessing and laws of another god, like Artemis. Instead he was forced to continue, to keep on living, to keep on falling in love and losing loved ones, only for him to then never be able to properly grieve for them, nor forget them either.
Sometimes, it felt like a curse.
A curse, Percy thought bitterly. That would soon come back to bite him in the ass again, after all not only did he have to sort through his feelings for Scarlet and Knihgtwalker. But he also needed to work out just what to do about, Wendy. His possible child.
Not that he remembered making love, unprotected by anti-pregnancy magic, to anyone recently enough for her existence to make sense. In fact he hadn't even been laid in years.
Still, there was still that possibility that she could be his. Magic was weird like that, it always had a way of creating a balance, and making sure that things that should happen, did happen. Edo Percy was evidence enough of that, after all there was no conceivable way that an identical, non-demigod, non-immortal version of him should exist. But yet one clearly did, through some unknown means, as to did his child, Wendy.
It was all so confusing and nonsensical. But then again, so to was magic, and the whims and existence of the gods.
Stepping out of the tree line, Percy stared out at the wide blue sea for a moment, before he walked to the edge of the cliff and leaned against a nearby tree.
It would be so easy for him to just jump into the water and disappear.
A few decades, maybe a century, spent at the bottom of the sea, and all his current problems would be a thing of the past.
Percy let out a bitter laugh at that.
As if he would ever take such a cowardly path, he couldn't abandon his friends or the Guild.
He wasn't like Warrod who could just walk away and turn into a hermit.
Nor was he like Precht, who he hadn't seen in nearly forty years now, who had quit being Guild Master and had then spent the rest of his life as a nomadic traveller, walking the lands of Earthland, all while trying to learn as much about magic, and its origins, as he could.
He couldn't see himself doing that, as for one he would get bored, academia had never been for him. For another, he couldn't abandon those that needed him, it wasn't in his nature to turn his back on his friends and loved ones.
Letting out another sigh at that, Percy closed his eyes and allowed his senses to travel out and into the softly churning ocean before him.
He wasn't even sure why he was thinking about this, especially when he already knew what he had to do.
Once he got back to Fairy Tail he would need to speak to Wendy, find out if she was indeed his child, and then if she was, take responsibility.
After that he would need to kick the shit out of Natsu and Gray and teach them to become stronger, like he had foolishly agreed too. That though, could at least be therapeutic.
Then after that he would need to sit down with Knightwalker and Scarlet, and just work out what in the Hades was going on between the three of them.
"Argh! I wish this vacation didn't have to end!" Percy suddenly shouted out, snapping his eyes open now as he then thrust a hand forward palm first. His gut twisting, and the power rising up within him as he then sent a shockwave through the ocean. The motion stilling the chaotic waters, turning the churning, wave fill water into a still, mirror glass surface. There wasn't a ripple in sight as it reflected the sky above perfectly.
Looking down, he could see his reflection staring back up at him from the water. Tall, heavily built, with tanned skin, messy black hair and sea green eyes. He had not changed much in the last few centuries, hell if he looked close enough he could still see the slight streak of grey in his hair from when he was fourteen and had foolishly tried to hold up the sky.
"You can come out now." Percy said, not looking away from the water and his reflection, as he continued to reminisce about times long since passed.
A cool breeze was his only answer.
"I said you can come out!" Percy repeated, his voice a bit louder and a lot harder now. "And you can do so either willingly, or I'll drag you out kicking and screaming."
This time a displacement of air, and a 'whooshing' sound answered him.
"So you knew I was watching?" The newcomer asked, his voice taking on a cold, stern quality.
"I wasn't talking about you, Mest." Percy replied in an amused tone. The kind of tone that one would take when they were talking to a loveable, if slightly dim, child, as opposed to a powerful wizard. "Or is it Doranbolt?"
Mest's entire body stiffened at Percy's words, his scarred face twisting into surprise as he then stared at Percy's back. "How did you know?"
"What about you being a spy at the Magic Council?" Percy mused, still not turning around. With the amount of moisture in the air, due to the proximity to the sea, his sensory abilities were far greater than they normally were. So much so that he could sense every pit, pour, contour and ridge of the other man's face, and read his every micro-expression and movement. "But anyway, as I said, I was not talking to you when I said that a person should come out!"
Mest frowned in confusion at this. "If not me, then who were you talking to?"
In response Percy pushed off the tree, and then lashed out quickly with his left arm. His palm making contact with the trunk, and then causing it to explode in a shower of splinters as all the water in the trunk rapidly expanded at the same time.
Mest teleported back at this action, putting a good ten feet between him and the other wizard. Two knives already in his hands and at the ready, as he landed back on the ground in a crouch, his eyes narrowed and locked warily on Percy.
Percy meanwhile just turned, his back now to the ocean as he instead stared at a point just behind Mest.
"That was unnecessary." A deep, unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. The voice making Mest flinch and turn around so he was now stood in between a tall, tanned man in green, with a wiry mane of brown hair and black eyes, and a bemused looking Percy.
"Well since you wouldn't come out to play, I didn't feel like I had any other choice." Percy replied dryly, unsheathing the sword, Scarlet had loaned him as he did so. "So let me ask, who are you?"
From the side Mest visibly flinched from the sudden palpable magic power flowing off of the two men, at Percy's verbal challenge.
"Perseus Jackson, the God of Fairies." The other man said, his voice low and slow. "I wanted to face you, to test you, to meet you in battle like a true warrior. But my Guild Master demanded otherwise. You are not to be my prey."
"Guild Master?" Percy replied, his tone taking on a harder edge. "Am I to understand then that you are from a Guild, and that your Guild is currently attempting to invade or infiltrate Tenrou?"
"I am Asuma, one of the Seven Sins of Purgatory. I am amongst the strongest of the members of Grimoire Heart." Asuma replied proudly.
"Grimoire Heart, the Dark Guild, a member of the Balam Alliance." Mest muttered from the side-lines. He looked to be on the verge of a panic attack.
"I see." Percy said, his tone milder now. "I can't decide whether or not your coming here was bold or stupid?"
Asuma glowered at that. "It matters not what you think. Tenrou will soon be ours, the Fairy Tail Guild will be exterminated and the Black Wizard Zeref will be free once more."
"Zeref?!" Mest gasped, his brow knitting together.
"A bunch of fanatics then." Percy sighed, rolling his shoulders now. "What's new. Look kid, Zeref is dead, and he has been dead for the last, oh I don't know, four hundred years."
"How little the supposed god knows…" Asuma replied mockingly, folding his muscled arms in front of him and shaking his head, as if he felt sorry for Percy, because of his ignorance.
Percy narrowed his eyes at this comment, his hand clenching tightly around the hilt of his sword.
"It is a pity that I will not be able to humble the would be god, and show him the true might of Grimoire Heart." Asuma shook his head slowly. "But alas, Lord Hades has given me other orders. I will not be fighting you this day, God of Fairies, the pleasure of defeating you will instead go to my Lord and my comrades."
"You say that like you think you can escape me?" Percy growled, his hackles suddenly raised at the mention of a very familiar name. He had of course heard rumours about the mysterious leader of Grimoire Heart, a man who had stylised himself after the God of Death, Hades.
During his years of searching for the gods of this world, he had often let slip the names of other gods he knew of. All in the hopes of finding some reference, or some sighting of them, some evidence that he was not the first being from his world to come to this one.
Unfortunately though, as things tend to do, his questions had led to rumour and hearsay, and over the centuries these dangerous, hallowed names had spread about through word of mouth. Until nowadays it was not uncommon to hear about cults set up to worship gods that didn't exist on this plane, or of dark mages stylising themselves, or their Guild, after names that did not belong to them, or originate in this world.
It was irritating, especially since it had long since hindered that avenue of his search, and had muddied the waters when it came to trying to track down some of the actual gods of this world too.
Asuma smiled at the challenge. "And you say that like you believe yourself capable of stopping me?"
Percy's mouth twisted up into a smile of his own, his sword arm raising now to point the tip of it at Asuma. "Well let's just see who is right then, shall we. And then after I have taught you the error of your ways, then we'll have a nice conversation about what to expect from the rest of your Guild!"
Asuma's smile widened at that, his arms unfolding and the rippling aura of green energy he had previously been exuding, doubling in size.
The man looked to be on the verge of either fleeing, or fighting.
"Wait both of you!" Mest suddenly snapped, standing straighter now as he broke the growing tension. "Both of you stand down now, in the name of the Magic Council!"
"He's a cocky little one, isn't he?" Asuma muttered irritably, his dark eyes flicking over to Percy.
"Not without reason I wager." Percy mused dryly, not taking his eyes off of Asuma just in case the other man tried anything.
Mest seemed to swell up at that statement. "As of this moment, consider yourself and your entire Guild under arrest, Asuma of Grimoire Heart. Even as we speak there are over a dozen vessels headed to this island, each of which contains a company of Rune Knights. Surrender now, and you may be shown leniency!"
Asuma blinked in surprise at the command, before he finally showed some emotion other than arrogance and disdain. Without any warning he let out a short bark of laughter.
Percy meanwhile, just let loose a sigh, and rubbed his forehead. "So anyway, I believe I was about to kick the shit out of you?"
Asuma stopped laughing at that, though his smile remained as both of them ignored Mest and idle threats, and instead prepared to face off.
( - )
AN: So next chapter will see the fighting kick off in earnest. I won't cover every fight between the smaller Fairy Tail group and Grimoire, just Percy's fights, Makarov and the two Erzas. The rest might get a brief snippet, or a mention, or a glimpse. But I don't want to be bogged down writing 6 or 7 chapters and covering every fight and confrontation. That would probably bore the hell out of both me and you. Though if you have any specific requests for what you want to see, go for it, I may or may not take them on board.
Other than that, I've not got much to say other than I'm now on a writers Discord group. Feel free to join : / /kYCPuAw if you want to chat, discuss ideas or whatever.
Thanks for reading, and hope you leave a review.
See you all later.
Seagate.