Date: XX/XX/0791
Time: 1920 Approximately
Location: CLASSIFIED…Magic Council Headquarters
"So I go in, flame's exploding out of every part of my body like the 80's action hero I was always meant to be. The Magic Council is fucking gobsmacked by my audacity to interrupt an official hearing. They were like 'da fuck,' and I was all like 'I'm here to chew ass and kick bubblegum…and I just ran out of Hubba Bubba.' Then…" That was the last thing Mest heard before he felt comfortable enough to use his Memory magic.
Sure, he could just brute force his way into End's mind, sift through all the little secrets he kept inside the folds of his brain, but that would only work so well. No, the first thing he learned when he first used his Memory magic, was that a person's mind is infinitely easier to break into when they weren't expecting it.
Mest waited patiently for the demon in Natsu's skin to get comfortable in his story, before he reached out to infiltrate his mind. It only took a split second, one moment he was seated in the interrogation room with Lahar and End, the next he was inside…well, he wasn't quite sure what he was inside.
Most brains he's infiltrated in the past took the form of libraries, a stack of magazines in a lounge room, there was even one that was a floating laboratory inside an entirely different dimension! However, that is to say that the Mind Space as he called it, usually took the form of some information storage thing. End's mind wasn't that…
"Hello good sir. What can I do for you on this fine evening?" In front of Mest stood a dark haired man with bright red eyes, an overall emo vibe exuded from the person…except for what seemed to be a weird mesh of a jester outfit and a butler's uniform that he wore.
Mest was taken aback slightly at seeing another person within the Mind Space. Usually the Mind Space was relatively empty, honestly it was somewhat uncanny to have large rooms filled with nothing but information, so either this was a being that had taken up residence inside of End's mind, or…
"A blockade? Why does End have a mental blockade in his mind?" Mest was confused, mental blockades were almost never natural, only forming from incredible amounts of trauma and stress to weed out those memories from the good ones. That, or it was put here to keep out intruders…
"Hello good sir. What can I do for you on this fine evening?" The blockade repeated, seemingly waiting for a directed response from him.
Mest hummed in fascination as he took in the room around him. It was…a weird, small room with a fence separating the blockade and him, a small slit at the bottom to allow something to slide through. His side was completely barren, except for the grungy, filthy tiled floor and the desk chair he sat in. On the other side it was just as dirty, but it also contained a short hall that housed tiny lockboxes as well as a flickering office light, the only source of light in the Mind Space other than the white fireflies that illuminated the room. He had been inside Natsu's Mind Space before, it was nothing more than a simple copy of the Fairy Tail guild with a stack of disorganized books on the tables that were his memories. It was clear that End's mind was a tad different then that.
"What the…" Mest was certainly freaked out. Usually the Mind Space of a person is clean and pristine, a visual representation of a person's mental state. He'd only ever seen this kind of dirty, small, and overall damaged Mind Space once before…when he made the mistake of entering inside a mentally insane person's brain.
"Hello good sir. What can I do for you on this fine-?"
"Evening, got it. There is something actually." Mest had half a mind to turn back and call it quits on this endeavor, but he wasn't sure when he'd get another opportunity like this one. No, he had to push forward, "You see, I'm looking for anything you might have on a person known as Kageyama. I heard he was dead, and I just wanted to make sure that was the case.'
The blockade smiled at the response before immediately turning around, unlocking one of the lockboxes, and pulling out a small cardboard box. He then slid it through the slot of the fence. As it was turned around, Mest could clearly see a stab wound that was bleeding profusely from in between his shoulder blades, "This is all the information we have on, Pineapple Fuck."
Mest sighed at the nickname before opening the box…and seeing a small doll that looked remarkably like Kageyama, carrying a small flute with a three-eyed skull etched into it. Except, there was a large hole in the doll's chest, and the eyes were a bright purple.
"The hell is this?" Mest said aloud, usually memories were in a written form, like a book or a file. This was just…what?
"I'm sorry sir, that's the all we have on: Kageyama, A.K.A Pineapple Fuck" The blockade said with a smile, though that did little to help explain to him what exactly it meant.
Mest sighed before placing the doll back in the box and sliding it back through the slot, "Alright, give me everything you have on the Everlue, and Macao rescue missions." Mest really didn't have time to doddle, the more time he spent in here, the more suspicious End was bound to get out in the physical world.
"Everlue and Macao rescue, right here for you sir." The blockade responded with a smile as it shoved two similar boxes to the first through the slot.
Mest opened the boxes…before giving out another exasperated sigh. The Everlue mission box was filled with nothing more than pictures of ugly maids, and he meant 'really' ugly maids, and a full maid suit obviously suited for someone much more attractive…and apparently blonde if the hair strands on it were anything to go by. The Macao rescue mission box was filled with an action figure of a snow vulcan, that could separate to show a tiny doll of what he knew to be Macao inside it. The bottom of the Everlue box had a small novel, which Mest hoped was a recounting of the events, but when he went to read it, he found it couldn't actually open. The Macao rescue mission box only had snow on the bottom…great.
Usually, if Mest wanted to rewrite memories, he'd just add in a few paragraphs within a book, or file, or magazine, or whatever. But this? He wasn't sure how he could alter his memory even if he wanted to, "Fucking…I can't make heads or tails with this crap." He was sure that if he had the context for this stuff that it would make sense then, but sadly, he didn't have that context, that was why he was here in the first place, "Alright, alright…give me the deepest, darkest secrets you have." If he wanted answers…he was going to have to dig deeper.
The blockade immediately lost its friendly demeanor, "I'm sorry sir, I cannot allow you to access:
E̴͙̊͒t̸̢͔̥̱̻̒͆̀́̾͂̕e̴̦̔̅r̴̡̬͓̼͖̐̈̾̾̒̍̒́̍̄̓̎n̷͖͙̮̪̗̹̤̼̣̲̪̎̐̀͌̋͑͗̅̐a̴̛͉̜͎͂̉̿͑̋̄̂̏̀͋͠ĺ̶͔̪͚̩͙̯͉̟̯̺̀͐̀̓̅͋̊̀͗͘͠͠ͅ ̸̲͔͎̰͔͇͓̋͋͑̃̽̓͜D̴̦͈̲̟͎̤̄̏̓̀͌á̸̛̲̗̩̠̽̿͒̅͆͛́̾̌̑͂̉m̶̹̙̜̻͓̟̮̣͉͚͇͈̈́͌̂́̈́̿̒͒̒̚͜͠͠͝n̸͙̩̣͓̘̦̰̓͋̄̓̾͐̑̈̅́́́̕͘a̴̡͙̜̺̖̣̺̜͓̪̣͔̙̬̒t̷̢͙͕̱̣̙̬̥͉̙̳͕̳͛̇̅̊̊͒͒̋̉͐̃̾͘ͅi̸̢̡͉̪̲̘̟̮̺̘̻̪̭͑͑̽̾̃͆̓̋̋̿̏̅͛͝ȯ̶͕͕̼̖̠̕ń̸̡͉̥̣̫̥̔̑̐̎́̑͆̊͂̀/̶̡̨̬̭̃̊́̉͛̄͠S̸̺̱͖͂̍͆̈́͑͑͊̿̀͌̿̋͠͝ừ̴̡̧͕͗̉̑͒̀̚ͅf̶͕̝̮̤͈̲͓̈́̆͘͠f̶̢̛̻̯͈̰͙̳͖̻͈̟̪̞̀͗͆͐̑̓̃̄̓͝e̵̢̧̯̩͔̟͋͐͗͒̂̅̈́̾̊͋͂̚͝ͅŗ̴̗͖͓̙͉̮̀͑̈́̓͑͋͘̚į̶̟̭̟̌̐̋͒͂̔̉̋͋͑̒n̷̖̣̰͎̜̆͗̉̓̅̾͒̍̄̐͝͝͝g̵̠͙̈́̊̒̆̂̇̆̓͊̌̈́̈́̚͝/̵̣̹̳͎̪̥̩̜̫͂͊̇H̷̪̑̌̂̏̓̑̓̑̒́́̋͝è̸̢͎̖̪̤̤̭̺̮͗͋̄̌l̵̛̛͕̝̾̓̿̈́̆̋̾́̆̿̓̕l̷̡͓̼̜̗̗͎̠̭̻̮͉͖̐̐̈́́̈́͋̏͒̀̄̆͂̚͝/̶̼͈̆͑͊̏͗̇͐̎̚̕̚͠T̴͓̰͔͚̱͉̗̘̝̿̐̇͋̈́̉̿͂̚͘ḫ̴̱̀̂̂̈̾̓͐́͋̍̔̕͝͠ḭ̶̑͆̍̉̃̽̍̃̍̈́̃s̷̝̼̮̤̲͖͍̥̅̈́̇̑̒͜͜ ̸̙̗̝̯̬̿͐̇̿̇͒̍͘I̵̼͓̤͔̜̼̫͕̤̲̩̊́ͅş̸̧̯̝̃̂̈́̓͆̿̐͊̇̚͘̕ ̵̡̡̡̺̙͔̼̘͔͔͚̆̋̈͂̎̉͛̍̕̕͜͝H̷̨̥̳͓̺̳̗̫̗̞͎͊͌̄̉͋̓͂͗̓̕͝ě̶͙͍̭̗̫͈̖̼̹̩͚̐͋͆͑͐̑̕͜l̷͖̝͚̰͚̩̮̞͕̖̾̋̎͋̀̾͋͊̕̕͜͜͝͝͝l̵͍̾͑̓͂͘̚/̷̡̮̝̖͇̬͑̾̅̀̊̀̓͜H̵͙͓͙̱̬̾̈͑͂͆̓̄̀̌̚͠ĕ̴̡̨̧̡͉͓̩͈̩͕͈̫ͅl̴͓̜̻͉̆͐̎͛́͌͐͋͗̂͠p̶͕̝̺͕̲̲̪̖͖̝͋̈́̃̽̆͌́ ̴̨̲̰̣̦͇̭̘̥̘̭̊̑͘M̷͖̟͈͑̔͌͗͘͝͠ḛ̴̫̰̘̗̆ͅ/̸̯̎̈́̎̑͒̽H̵̰͔͓͔͇̘̬̊̍̐͊͌́̔́̅̃̌͌̚͜͝ȩ̸͓̫̼͙̝̝̂̽́̄l̸̠̼̖͆p̶̧͍̥͌̅̄̒̌͑̄͑͋͒̈́͗̾̓ ̵̡͎̰͙̩͈̯̽̀̓̑̓̏͌̋̂͌̌̚̕͝M̵̲̮͙̗͍̤̼̩̲̺͔̰͍̑̊̋͑e̷̹̞̒̅̐̋̆͝͠/̷̘̫̤̊̄͑̎Ḩ̸̗͎͖̞͍͂̋̓̋̈́̋͗͌̕͜͜͠͝ę̴̢͎̦̯̬̳̪̤̄̈͂̀́͝l̷̬͈͙͖̮̖̝̫̬̖̘̈́p̵̹̻̫̩̗̹̙̠̺̙̃̿̉̋͆̃̀̾̄͠ ̸̯͇̩̞̾͆̆̓͠Ḿ̴̫̪̮̏̈́̃̓̅̐̐͋̾̒̑͠e̷̼̜̮̙̝̔̿͆̿͊̉̚͘͘͠͠/̷͓̺͍͈̥̟̞̖̖̋̈̈̔͗H̸̡̞͙̘̘͔͈̖̘̟͓́̋̅̇̌̚͜ȩ̵̛̼̪̺̭͖̰̱͇͇͇̄̆̈́̆̽l̴̨͖̦̜͖͕̞̰̺̈́̎͊͋͋̇͘p̴̛͇͖̮̣̻̑̎͌̓̔͂̒͝͝͠ ̸̯̗͙̊͛̑͗̾̔̍̂͑͝͝M̷̲͇͚̭̲̫̐͐̓͌̂̏̄̅͝ḛ̴̻̭̖̆̿̾̿̓͝/̴̧̨̡̛̺͍̙͓̮̭̮͕̝̼͌̏̑̈́̋̕̚͘̚͝Ḩ̷̪̗̻͋ę̷̧͚͎̪̞͕̹̮̭̟̞̬̄̽̌̑̎̓͌̐͜l̶̨̖̙̬̾̆̑́̓̃̊́͘͘͝p̶̛̫̺̗̖͉̍̏́͑̾̐̈́͠ ̶͈̤͖͇̯̇M̵̛̹̣̱͍̞͚͎̼̤͈̖̬̈́̈́̇͑̎̀̈́̀̾̔͘ë̵̢̜͍̗̠́͑̈́̈̒̂̕/̷̛̹͕́̔̀̊͒̈́̍̎͌̐̿͝Ḩ̸̛̮̀͊̀̂͒̉́̏̈́̓̚͠ĕ̵̺̠̻͒̋͆͛̇͊̒͝l̶͇̟͍͉̖͎̘̯̳̹̩̓͛̉̋̽̊͊̿p̵͇̱̙̑̀̆͆̀͋͂͂̽́͘͝ ̵̨̯̦̮̼̥̣̫̯̀͗͐̌M̴̥͖͚̹̫̹͂̒͗̃͂̓͛͆̿̈͜͝e̷̫̜̩̩̠̬͎̝̱̖͂̈́́̉̾͛̕/̴̻̝̝̮̖̖̦͗̾̿̏̽ͅḤ̷̡̛̟͙̜̣̮̭̈́̆̅̓̌̄̎̂̀͜͝ȅ̴̯͉̠̙̙̬̪͙͛͗̀̀͑͑̽̆́́͜͝͝ḻ̶̞̝̱̩̬̩̞̃̍̈́͊̄͒̆͊̌͝͝͠͝p̸̨̱̗̏̾̾̆ ̸̥̞͙̝͔̀̾̔͛̕M̶̬̪̄e̶̡̳̬̺̠̻̜̳̝̫͖̣͈͒͂̇͝ͅ/̶̡̹̞̝͔͚͓̃̔́̐̏͌̚H̶̡̗̬̄e̷̘͎̮͍͚͐̈́̄̒̆̏̀̽̂̕͜͜͠ͅl̶̮̙̥̪̣̝͛́͋͑͗͝p̵̡̋̀̉͌̒͆̿̓͘ ̷̢̨̗̙̯̦͔͔̖͇͎̤͓̼̔̾̀̿̆̒̅́͝͝M̵̨̲͈̘̹̪̭̗̭̙̰̒́̈́̒̓̇͐̃̋̚͜ͅë̶̛͎̤̜̳͖̩̦̞͖̮͇̐̑̇̃̏͛͑̉̾̕/̴̛̛̰̩̰͚͚̮̱̈́͒̈́̂̈͘ͅͅH̵̛̙̞̼̰̠̽́̈́̏̈͋͌̆̚͝ȩ̵̛̞̟͎̂͛̐̉̉̈̂́͜l̵̟̇̈́̉̉̚ṕ̷̨͕͉̲̰̪̰̙̼͛͗͐̌̚ ̴̝͉̔̌́̀͂̈̿̏̈́͘͠M̷̱͎͚͙̗͈͚͉͖̈́̒̏̒̓̐͐̆͘͘͠͝͠ͅͅé̷̺̜̬̾͒̌̄̃̾̓͋͂̅/̷̙͋̒͆͌͋̒̓̀̽̽̔̄̒͂Ḧ̸̢̡̛͚̮̫̫̫́͊̂̈́̐̄͊͆̆͐̄͗͜͝e̴͔͔̙̤͔̩̻͎̜͉̻̙̲͒̽̓́͋̿͋̈̈́̓͜͝͝l̷̨̛̥̗̜͔͍̫͙̺͂̓̌̐̅͗͒p̸̛̩͙̘̙̹̞̽̓̎̓͆͒̽̀̔̾ ̶̧̛̭̬̞̔̀̒͆M̸͍͒̉̏̔̐́͛̓͘͝e̷̓̃́͂̔̀̈́͝͝ͅ/̵̩͂̈́̿̉̐̊͝H̵͎̫̳̭͍̼̀͒̃́̈͌̆̊̓̕͠͝͝e̶̬͈̪̽͜ľ̵̮̲̬̯̻̾p̷̹̹̞̫̺̭̲̞̣̎̎̐̎̋̆̈́͋͆̀̚ ̵̨͖͕͓̰͓̠̰̰̤͚̱̒͗̂̎̈́̌̎̾M̵̠̩͈͓̙̰̦̮͓̳̈̀̃̀̽̄́̔̄̉̕͠͠͠ė̴̻̄̋̕/̶̡̣̪̗͂̐̾̈́̄H̸͍̦̠̝͖͍̞̜͓̮̮͗̂̾̈̋́͊̏̀͘͜ë̶̬͓͔̳͉̹̝́̅̀̈́͆l̵̢̡̬͎͎̖̙͖̐͊̂́̄̀̏̄͝p̸̢̫̰̜͇͍̹̱͍̞̪̒́̉͘̕ ̶̥̹͓̩̔̑̅̏̓͆̾̈́Ḿ̷̥̹̲̳̻̤̯͓͓̞͎̉̿̿͛͊̃̒̿̂̌̕͜ẹ̴̢̩̤̰̙͕̜͕̩͚̄͐͑̊͝/̵̡̡͇͙̪̮̪̬͍̟̑̎̐̒̏͌͛́̀͊̚̕H̶̖̖̞́̎̽͗͌͌̒̚͘͜͝e̸̡̤͔͉̝̮̗̰̟̦̮̟̅͋͆͆̉͗̍̾͂̓͜͜͠ḻ̵̻͙̮̼͂͠p̵̢̛̳͎̺͒̔͋͛̃͘ ̸̡̧̺͔͎͙̭͚̬͉̐͛̆̈́̃͌̉͂̿̉͗͘M̴̡̞͇̏̓e̴̪̯̤̱̳̯̞̬̠̍̆̑̅̽̀͌͌̊̕ͅ/̸̤̜̯̻̠̤̠̆͑H̸̢̬̝̲̞͕͇͆̕͠e̷͍̯̬͍̜̝͊̀̈̃͌̒͐͂̇̆̊̉̕̚͜l̴̖̗͈͓̯̙̘̣̘͓̻̈́̓͆͋p̷̬̼̖̹̅̿̈́̏̃̊͛͆̂̈́̎̔̏͝ ̸̢̡̡̘̣̟̝̻̗̱̱͙̉́̀M̷̡̾͛e̸̝͇̟͚͋̅/̷̺͕͉̇̈́͊͌͗͌̅̊̊͗̔̈̚H̵̺̳͍͓̗̦̦̎̿̽͊̓̉̏̆̐̾̉̕e̵̝̱͇̊̓̈́̒̾̂̇̊͘͝͠l̷͇͈̱͚͕͇̖͍̈́̿̂̈́̒̑̐̓̓̕͝ͅp̸̮̯͚̌͠ ̸̛̪̗̱̤͈̖͉̝͈̭̝͇̉͊̍̿̏̀̅͊́̉̋͝M̷̨̧̯̯̭̪̥͚̬̗̥̩͕̊̈́̀́͂̕ẽ̷̛̪͈̬̟̞̼̹̖̘̭͔̱͆̀́͆̏͑̍̕̕ͅ/̶̖́̑̓͝H̷̢̲̰̺̞̩̟̱̪̃̕͜͝ȩ̶̘̲͉̝̥͇̖͕͍́̑̀̀̉̐͒͘̕͝l̴̟̀̓̉͑͂̇̂̀͐̿̀p̸̨̙̞̮͔͚̜͊͋̽̒̀̀̃̀͋̕͠ ̷̹͈̞͙͎̍͗́͊M̵̞̙̞̳͐͂̒̍̒e̵̢̡̧̲͈͐̆̏̅̇͒̊̾/̴̻̭̭̦̻͛̈́̀̾͆͘H̴̡̢̫̦͍̗̲̮͉̤̫̻̐ͅͅę̸͖̙̼̲̙̱̮͉̤͛̂͑̎͌͑̋͋́̿̓̋̚͜͝l̶̺͚̯͖͙̙̫̰̪̍̾̀̌̊̆͑͑̽̓̚p̷̧̛̺̝͇̘̼͔̺͍͉̘̩̙̗̓̉̽͌͐͒̀̿͠ ̴͈̳̻̝̞̜̳̳͓̘͍͋M̷̛̪͇͚̬͎̯̉̾̾̑̏̄̓͗̎̑ẹ̵̢̪͖̩͔̿̊͗̈́͐̀̒̓͌̒́̈́/̶̭̥̣͇̙͕̫̕H̶̹͇͈̿̽́͐͗͝͠e̵̡̤͉̲̭̞̬͑l̸͙̱͍̬̩͂̃̋͛̇͑̽̌̀͠p̷̧̥̹̥͇̮̟̮̺̿́͐͛͛͂̎̆̾̈͜͝!̶͉̔͛͗̋͆̈́͐̈́̈͘!̸͕̟̀̋̌̿̋͌̌͘!̶̧̤̫̯̟̣̯͓̫̜͕̻̫̉̎̍̔̊͌̈͑͜
At this time. Please come back once I have been given clearance to reveal its contents. Thank you."
…Mest didn't like the sound of that…
A bang from behind Mest made the Rune Knight jump from his seat and turn to reveal a battered, wooden door that wasn't there before. Before more furious banging could be heard from the otherside. Mest frowned at the turn of events, "Looks like I'm out of time…crap." He'd spent too long here, with nothing to show for it, and End was now about to force him out. Well…if he was going to be kicked out, he might as well see what's inside that secret box.
"丂ㄖ尺尺ㄚ 丂工尺-丂工尺-丂工尺-丂工尺| ⼕闩𝓝'ㄒ 丂廾ㄖ山...丂廾ㄖ山-廾㠪㇄㇄ 尺㠪⼕㠪工ᐯ㠪ᗪ-⼕㇄㠪闩尺闩𝓝⼕㠪 闩⼕⼕㠪尸ㄒ㠪ᗪ! 廾闩ᐯ㠪 闩 𝓝工⼕㠪 ᗪ闩ㄚ,.!?" Right before Mest's very eyes, the mental blockade began glitching in and out of existence. Before appearing back where it was originally, but this time with a singed black box in hand. It slid the box through the slot…and disappeared in a mess of static.
Mest looked at the box with a hesitant gaze, before moving his hands to open it…
"D̴͓̻̍o̵̭̒r̷̲̤͆͠á̴̡̲̓ń̴̜̊b̵̙͚̿ȏ̶̖̚l̸͚̇t̴͖̊̌.̶̠̣̓ ̵̛̲͘I̷̗̫͌̃s̷͚̄̒ ̸̭́̋t̴͕̉h̷̥͖͑a̸̬͝ͅt̴͎͋ ̴͎̕ÿ̶̮́̑͜o̵̖̟͗ű̶̜ ̵̬͚͊̌Ȉ̷̝̻ ̶̪̌̎ḟ̴̝̺̓ë̸͕́̑e̵̟̭͋͂ļ̷͈̈ ̸̛̮̐p̸̗̯̈̔ȍ̵̤͛k̷̺̘̋i̷̡͗̏ǹ̴͖̩g̶̮̗̍̚ ̵̨̟̍̅å̴̱r̸̥̽̽o̸̯͋ủ̵̢͒͜ǹ̴͈̺d̷̗̫͘͝ ̶̢͛ḯ̷̥n̸͕̝̐̒ ̸̨̥̾͘t̴̡̂̓h̴̢́e̵͚͛͠r̶̻̈́ḛ̵̳̒͌?̶̛̳̃" Mest's blood went cold as the muffled voice of Natsu came through the now still door. He was as still as a corpse as he listened to the demon speak, "I̶̹̋͌͜ ̸̡̧̏̂ẅ̶̰̚͜o̷̱̗͌u̶̖͋l̸͓̙͋̓d̸̝̽ņ̷̿'̵̢̜̇t̶͍͐ ̸̪̳͗̍o̵̱̹̽͝p̵͈̈e̷͓͗ǹ̸͉͉ ̶͍̃̓t̴̟̤͒͠h̴̨̹̊ẫ̴͍̺ẗ̴̛̻̱́ ̸͖̰͝b̵̧̜̿́o̸͚̿̑x̷̳͆́͜ ̶̰̑̀ḭ̶̙̉f̶̧͂̔ ̴̧̪̀͑I̶̳̼͗ ̶̦͚̎̕ẅ̷͕́͘e̵̙̩̿ŕ̵̦̣́e̵̅͜͝ ̶̞͇̏ÿ̶̟́͝ò̶͚͉͝u̷͔̻̒͘.̷̜̜̄ I̷̖̣͋͠t̸̫̩͝'̷̨̎l̶̨̜̔l̴̰̓ͅ ̴̙͍̿͠f̴̻̬̅é̸̱̇ě̴̱̜ḷ̵͐ ̴͉̌ĺ̵̟͉i̶̬̊ͅk̶̰̑̍ę̵̐͋ ̷͔̮͑H̴̡͔̚ẹ̵͌l̷͚͖̊̚ĺ̶͔͑!̵̣͐́" Before the banging continued.
Mest started to sweat as the door was beginning to be violently ripped from the hinges. Now that End knew he was here, he'd never be able to come back. Which means he has only one chance to see what's inside the box, just one shot for this entire ordeal to not be a waste.
Mest gave a sigh as the door cracked more and more from the war End was waging on it. It was now…or never. He had to know what turned Natsu into that demon! Mest ripped the lid of the box off just as the door exploded open, but at that point, it was too late. Mest had opened the box, he saw what it contained, before he was violently whiplashed back into his body. His twitching form fell back in its chair as his mouth started to foam uncontrollably.
"Mest? Mest!" He could hear Lahar shout, but it was no use. He had seen the inside of the box, the thing that turned Natsu into a cruel, unfeeling, monstrous, murderous, demon. He'd seen the answer to his questions. He now knew why Natsu became the Demon King…and if he could be quite honest? He didn't blame him one bit…
"Mest, Doranbolt, wake up! What happened!?" Lahar shook his partner trying to get the frothing Rune Knight to stir from his seizure-like sleep he was experiencing.
"Huh, guess I didn't make it in time…" End responded nonchalantly, his face, half hidden in shadow, smiled as he looked down at the obviously distraught Rune Knight and his mentally broken partner.
Lahar let go of Mest before turning and grabbing End by the horns and pulled him close to look right into his glowing eyes. End didn't even attempt to resist, "What the hell did you do, you demon!?"
"What did I do?" End asked, the smile on his face not leaving for even a second, "What did you two do? One moment I'm just sitting here, telling you my story, the next Mr. Mind-Rapist over here decided to mind fuck me without consent. Now, I'm not sure about the social norms here in the Magic Council's dungeons, but where I'm from, going through someone's mind palace without their knowledge is a tad bit rude."
Lahar didn't appear to listen, as his grip on End's horns grew tighter and an uncharacteristic expression of rage filled his usually calm features, "Change him back! Now!"
End froze for a second, before a genuine laugh escaped the cage of sharpened teeth in his mouth, "You're joking, right? Do you have any idea what that imbecile saw inside my head!?" End stood tall as he chuckled a distorted laugh, "You'll be lucky if he survives the mind break he gave himself. Best case scenario? He'll be slurping down pudding in a nursing home for the rest of his sad existence!" End cackled even as Lahar's face twisted in fear, before he dropped down to hold Mest's head, his friend's head, in his arms.
Lahar had always felt at least a little in control throughout his entire career as a Rune Knight, the only real exceptions to this being whenever he got involved with Fairy Tail. Now, however? He'd never felt so powerless, "Please…help him…"
End looked down at Lahar with eyes filled with contempt, hate, disgust…and pity, "Fine." Lahar looked up, tears twinkling behind his glasses as he looked towards the demon with hope, "But…"
Lahar realized almost suddenly, that he had directed his hope towards an actual demon, "But what!?"
End looked down at Lahar with a knowing grin, "I know a spell that might help out, but with these cuffs…" End jingled the magic suppressing shackles that tied his wrists together with long chains, "...I'm gonna have a little trouble casting any magic, wouldn't you say?" Lahar knew what End was asking him to do, release him to save his friend, but at the possibility of letting a literal demon loose. Lahar could feel Mest's breathing become more shallow and his pulse growing weaker by the second, "Looks like you're running out of time to think. Might need to make your decision sooner rather than later." End said, resting his remarkably strong hands on Lahar's shoulders before giving the distraught man a slight massage as he brought his stretched lips to his ear, "Don't worry, we demons are known for holding up our sides of the deals…" End said this in a way that could have either been taken very literally, or entirely sarcastic.
Lahar felt a chill run down his spine as he felt the eyes of a predator stare down on his vulnerable form. Mest and him had been inseparable ever since he teamed up with him not too long ago, partners, Rune Knights, friends…
A lone tear rolled down Lahar's cheek, he wouldn't let Mest die today. Not when he was the one who brought him here, not when this whole operation was his idea in the first place, "...okay…" Lahar brought his hand into his white cloak and pulled out an iron key, the key to End's shackles before bringing his shaky hands to unlock the demon's bonds.
End massaged his now freed wrists before he brought two fingers up and ignited them with a small, white flame, "This will only take a second." The Demon King got down close to Mest and placed the flame directly on Mest's forehead, a look of discomfort growing on the Rune Knight's sleeping face.
"W-what are you doing?" Lahar asked, half surprised that End didn't instantly kill them both when he was freed. Looks like demons really do keep up their sides of a deal.
End held the flame to Mest's head for a few more seconds, before getting back up with a satisfied expression on his face, "Burning away the memories of the past few minutes or so. It's not as precise, or as powerful as Mest's Memory magic, but it doesn't have to be for erasing what he saw in my head." Lahar collapsed to his knees in both shock and relief. Mest, his friend, he was going to be alright, "Now then…" Lahar's happy expression was replaced with confusion as End slapped himself back in his magic suppressing cuffs, "...where were we in my tale?"
Lahar stood up slowly as he watched the demon with a quizzical look, "Aren't you…going to leave?" The Rune Knight was confused, he had been freed, why did he imprison himself again in those cuffs?
"Hm?" End looked at Lahar with a blank expression, before he suddenly realized something and smacked his head in embarrassment, "Oh silly me, I almost forgot!" Lahar suddenly felt his back hit the wall of the room as End loomed over him with pinprick pupils and a purely insane smile, "I'll need to wipe yours as well…" Before bringing up another white flame directly in front of Lahar's forehead.
Lahar didn't have time to react to the fact that End could apparently still use his magic, or power, or whatever he was using while in the cuffs, as his mind was suddenly filled with pure unbridled fear of what he'd just seen that same white flame do to his comrade, "No, wait-!" But Lahar could only stare with his mouth agape as End pressed the flame into his forehead, and he felt his memories slowly burn away…
"-and so I said, 'Cana recommended it, I thought it sounded pretty good…' before we laughed off into the night!" End said with a flourish, his shadowed form expressive even while cloaked in darkness.
Lahar blinked a second, as did Mest as it felt like they had just woken up from a nap, but without any of the grogginess associated with it, H-huh? What are you talking about?" Lahar asked, his mind still taking a little time to catch up to his current situation.
End grew a confused look in his burning eyes, "Why, telling you about me and Erza's misadventures with the Magic Council of course! Gotta say, not super happy with how they just threw us in the cell without dinner. I mean, what kind of barbarism are we teaching the children!?"
Lahar blinked a couple times before adjusting his glasses, "Y-yes of course. Please, carry on." Mest looked as though he was trying to remember something important, and stayed quiet to try and remember what exactly it was..
End let a disturbing smile stretch across his face, his expression unseen from within the shadows of the room, "Of course…now, where were we?" Before the demon moved on to the next part of his story.
