The light of daybreak beamed through the cracks of the curtains of Nic and Erza's bedroom. Another morning had dawned, albeit rather early. However, with the rays to Erza's face first, she came to a rude awakening. Moaning, she slowly arose to wake.
"Hm…?" she lethargically slouched up, her supple womanly frame still sore from yesterday's job that she went on. She squinted as he glared out at the curtains, seeing light beaming through. "It's morning so soon." She sighed. She didn't want to get up so soon, not that it mattered. She got out of bed…clad in nothing but her underwear, not that she cared. She opened the curtains to look up at the sun barely beaming through the tree line far out. When she looked farther up, she saw that due to it still being partially dark, the waxing crescent of the moon was bright.
She took a moment to take in the serenity of the daybreak light compared to the moon. Both looked so beautiful when seen. She slowly turned away with a grin. "Guess it's time to wake up then. Nic, are you ready to…" she trailed off when she turned to her husband, only to find a sight to behold.
Nic was on his side, facing Erza as he was out like a light. His upper body was covered by the thin fleece blanket he preferred since his body doesn't vent heat too well to sleep. But his frame, and the way he was sleeping, it almost made Erza regret calling out to him.
She didn't think about it often, but Nic doesn't normally sleep in. She didn't look down at all on it, but seeing like this was…cute. He was sleeping like a baby. Seeing his own frame breathe in and out so softly made it practically a crime to disturb such a sight.
Erza's warm smile upon her hard-working husband finally getting some shuteye made her see no rush. She opted to face the curtains, sliding them shut to block out the sun. She traced back towards the bed, laying on her side as she watched Nic sleep peacefully. For now, morning can wait a little longer.
Erza leaned in, giving Nic a soft kiss on his forehead. She embraced him as Nic subconsciously moved his right arm to hold her. Both slept in as the moon shined right over their house.
While they slept in for once, daybreak rays shined elsewhere. Others who felt more committed were already up, training hard elsewhere.
"Again!"
Armed men struck their fists out, punching air with hardened cores. They were accompanied by an armored man who walked back and forth, studying the age group each one was in. He leered intensely as he paced back and forth, watching all of them mimic the same exact movements as per their training. "More ferocious!" he roared. "You! Keep those arms tucked in!" he called out a middle-aged man his age. The man did just as told, punching the air with a tight fist. "Good."
"Keep coordinated!" another shout roared across the campus. "No time to second guess! Keep those attacks in line!"
Another armored man with a middle-aged complexion had the same coating of armor, only of inverse black and red accents compared to the other general. He watched carefully as he overlooked a pupil reach his arm out, giving a Houndour a command and expelled a Smog across the battlefield. "Don't just reach for the air! Grasp it!" he exclaimed to the trainer-in-making.
"Yes, sir!" the soldier replied. He punched forward, staring intensely. "Go! Use Bite!"
The Houndour charged straight through the black cloud that had the Slugma disoriented and poisoned. As intoxicating bubbles made it cough, Houndour slipped in front and snapped his glowing fangs onto the lava slug. The force raised it up and slammed to the ground, creating a force that dispelled the Smog. When it cleared, Houndour stood triumphantly over the defeated Slugma.
The general nodded. "Good. Just like that." He turned towards the soldier in armor that lost. "You! Drop and give me 30 pushups!"
"Yes, sir!" As per discipline, the soldier immediately dropped to do the first set of pushups. "1…2…"
As he did that, the General looked towards another battle, seeing a Darumaka roll into a Numel, creating enough force to make it fumble over. He remained studious to his gazing as other soldiers were battling all around him.
In this bizarre warzone, it could've been mistaken for a bootcamp, if not for the massive iron walls that governed the perimeter of the whole estate. The ironworks bootcamp sat alongside the northern edge of a coastal cliff with plenty of hill space. It gave a beautiful array of the seas far out, with a beach sitting along the southern area of the camp where men and their Fire-type Pokémon able were helping each other carry supplies onto armed ships fit for battle. It's here that another general also looked them over, watching carefully as the supplies were often held by two men. As a large inactive crossbow was rolled up the loading dock, his head turned towards the camp's massive palace-like estate that watched over the domain.
Inside, it was dark, with only the first rays of sun illuminating the room. It had a massive panel window that gave a man inside a full view of the hard-working force he has going. He watched the show while sitting back on his lavish seat, holding a morning beverage.
"Looks to be another morning." He said casually, his gaze fixed on the sunlight. "The sun is looking bright for us today…as is the moon." Taking a glance over, the corner edge of his panel window showed the moon. He stared at it with a look of suspicion before he looked back down, seeing the sun's rays radiate his army as they did unison fighting techniques. He felt a nudge from the side, making him turn towards something.
Beside him, there was a huge dog-like Pokémon. It had a massive creamy tan fur coating that was like a massive mane all over the face, chest, and the mohawk. It had orange fur with black stripes, much like a tiger.
The man who was covered in a lavish black coat with red outlining moved his hand over, stroking his pet's chin. "At ease, Arcanine." He chimed. "We'll both get what we want." With a snap of his fingers, the door slid open behind, presenting a butler who walked in with a massive platter of food.
"Here you are, sir." The butler generously bowed as he presented a hardy plate of eggs for the man. He also had a very small fruit bowl, with patty sausage and a small orange juice cup. "And here you are." The butler presented Arcanine with a plate of Pokémon Food, which he immediately dug into.
"Ah, sunny-side up. Excellent work, Jenkins." The man complimented, looking at his eggs. "Now then…" he looked back out at his fighting force still practicing. "When shall we be ready?"
"By our estimates, I'd say by tonight."
"Good." The man chuckled as Arcanine was scarfing his food bowl. In no time, it was gone. Satisfied. Just as he wanted to feel as well. He took one more glance at the moon, smirking before he ate as well.
With the sun bright and early, the glass windows of another lavish office refracted the warmth onto Arthur's back. Confined to his wheelchair, he scrolled through his paperwork as his Stoutland napped on the floor beside him. Arthur's back was to the sun, snuggling him enough to perk his mood despite the uproarious amounts of paperwork on his desk.
He read through the contents of another report, showing lines amongst a contract with another town in need of supplies. He scribbled his name, creating the contract and slid it off to the side for the next document. This one was a new Trainer hoping to join the Cambire Foundation. He scrolled through the background information briefly before he was interrupted by the door opening, revealing Marie.
"Ah, good morning Marie." Arthur greeted. "You're looking ready for the day."
"Good morning, sir." Ignoring soft-heated pleasantries, Marie presented Arthur with an updated documentation.
"I see you're already on the ball this morning." He teased, accepting the documentation. "Why am I not surprised."
Remaining on task, Marie began citing what she had learned. "That report of gave you, it's the detailed progress of the machine that Jefferey had been making." She watched as Arthur was scrolling through the documentation and blueprints as she went along. "Its progress should be on schedule, but the supplies are still of high demand."
Arthur sat the clipboard down. "I see. So about another two weeks at least." He slouched forward, resting his elbows on his desk with fingers folded. "And tell me, what have you uncovered from the fossils that Fairy Tail has uncovered?"
Marie prodded her glasses up to place. "They are preserved just as you have asked. When the machine is past the testing stages, they will be ready."
Arthur grinned. "I see…" He lightly snickered at the rapid change of pace that's been going as of late. In all honesty. He would've thought that their progress would be behind, but it turns out it was the opposite. After that exhibition battle demonstrated, he was getting more reports of people and mages who were starting to capture more Pokémon. Not only that, but more 3-on-3 battles with them being official were popping up. He had a lot of thanks because of Fairy Tail, especially because they've been his entire backbone that he's sitting against. He almost felt guilty for relying on them too much, but the symbiosis they've created has been of fruit bearing for everyone. It's all for one and one for all.
His thoughts aside, he looked towards Marie. "But Marie, remember this. No authorized testing with those fossils." He firmly said. "It's Fairy Tail's call, since they were the ones who found them, they get to decide how they should be used. Is that clear?"
Marie nodded. "I understand, sir."
Arthur sat back. "Good. Now then, what's the progress of our trades marked?"
Marie pulled up her own clipboard and began scrolling through the pages. The pages flipped were loud enough to make Stoutland's ears twitch. "So far, nothing too drastic. Our profits and exports have been up 35% in the past 3 days. Ajeel of Alvarez has been accepting supplies and remedial guidance that we've been steady on."
"And looking at these documents, we're getting some new recruits that I need to schedule on." Arthur noted, taking a look at the many documents that he's already signed and went through. "With this amount of work force, we should be covering on experience. Charlotte's been occupied incorporating the Rune Knights' safety and protocols into her schedule, so that leaves the Trainers she was tending to for Travis to handle on his own."
"Should we be worried, sir?" Marie inquired, genuinely curious of Arthur's lamentation.
Arthur shook his head. "No, Travis is more than capable of sustaining many jobs under Charlotte…what concerns me is something else."
Marie stepped forward. "And what might that be?"
Arthur glanced over at a document that he's had off to the side. He reached and slid it over to Marie. She caught it and picked it up, reading over the detailed report. She could see that the numbers were not good.
"That report specifically; it says that no trades nor exports have been accepted in that region specifically. Meaning that we've been met with some signs of confrontation with the natives."
Marie took a look at the name of the continent it was based on. "Antarcia…" She scrolled deeper through the contents to get thorough insights. "Glacidia…" her eyes narrowed as she put the pieces together before Arthur. "And you believe this is where the problem lies?"
"I have no doubts." Arthur's tone was firm and stern. "Listen, Marie, our goal is to help this world understand what it means to have Pokémon by our side. To help them grow and learn. If we're met with this kind of force, then it means that another form of practice must be evoked. We need to do everything we can to make sure that everyone is on the same page."
Marie sprouted an idea. "If that's the case, would sending Charlotte be an option?"
Arthur looked down as he out a hand to his chin. "I get where you're going…" he sighed. "But no. You know how Charlotte can get. She doesn't take resistance too well. If we show up with an army, that'll only give the wrong impression."
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Arthur folded his fingers together. "What we need is a subtler approach to this nation's capital." He grinned. "And I think I know just the person to convince them otherwise."
Marie had a feeling about this. She sighed in defeat. "I'll call Fairy Tail and inform them of the situation."
He watched Marie walked out of the door, sliding closed behind her. Arthur smirked as a meek chuckle escaped. "As always…on the ball." He mused before resuming his cited documents.
Cold waves swayed about, Gyarados seen below breaching before diving once more to deep depths. The massive blimp drifted along the air currents, its rudders unhinged despite the air. Looking out the window, Nic looked a little bored. He stared at blue sky endlessly, envious in the eyes.
"Someone's a little restless?" Erza chimed, sipping from a cup of tea that sat on a stand in front of her. "I know what you're thinking Nic, and the answer is no."
"I got it." He sat back with crossed arms, very annoyed. "But sitting here too long isn't…my thing."
Erza sighed. She always knew Nic would hate this kind of transportation. It wasn't that she was never on a blimp before, but she won't let a new experience deter her from savoring it. Nic was another story. He's always used to not using transportation other than Charizard. While she didn't see it to be an issue, she didn't exactly condone with the idea…this time. "Don't get me wrong, I'd like to get there myself. But this was supplied by the Cambire Foundation. It would be very rude to not use what Arthur had given to us personally."
Nic sat back with a small pout. To a degree Erza was right; he trusted Arthur, but he didn't have to feel so spoiled. He hated that feeling. But marriage made him realize that he had to make some sacrifices, so for Erza, he would have to stomach not wanting air crash against him.
A gulping was heard from directly across. "Yeah, so just chill for a while, 'kay big guy?" Cana chimed as she held a half-bottle of wine. "These expenses aren't gonna use themselves ya know."
Nic sighed in defeat. He was gonna get bored again, he just knew it. The least he could do was look out again. He saw a passing flock of Pidgeotto fly by to the south. It only made his left eyebrow twitch.
Gray sat back in his chair. "Yeah, so just chill. We'll be there soon."
Juvia nodded. "A few more hours, I'm sure."
"Yeah, according to this atlas, we should be on the right track." Levy said. She was sitting next to Cana as she had a few textbooks on her lap. She was reading the geography and the map provided on the blimp.
"Well we better be…" Gray glanced over his shoulder, seeing Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy all slouched in their seats, groaning in gurgling sleep. "Otherwise we'll never be hearing the end of this." He pulled out his Poke Ball, and popping out was Snover.
"Yello!" he chimed.
Gray pointed his thumb at the gurgling dragons. "Make sure they stay asleep until we get off this thing." He asked, though it was more like a groaned plea. Thankfully Snover got the message and waddled over, readying a Grass Whistle.
"Good grief." Lucy sighed.
The group of mages from Fairy Tail - comprised of Team Natsu, Nic, Cana, Sophie, Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, Vanessa, the Exceed squad and The Freaks - were amongst the selected that were chosen to handle the request that Arthur had sent them. Rather technically, Freed was the one who orchestrated them. Sending Nic was one thing, but he felt a party would help better the odds. And as an added bonus, to get to this continent, the Cambire Foundation, supplied a lacrima-engine powered blimp. A flying ship felt more practical, but it would be too cold for the material to handle.
Vanessa was looking out the opposite window, making her off guard by Sophie's inquiry. "So your world makes these contraptions called…airplanes, right?" the blonde asked.
"Yes. So to say." Vanessa replied, getting over the surprise question of Sophie. "Though to be honest, I haven't been on one. I heard they're quite nice. Especially their first-class seats."
"Well can't beat what we're getting here." Gray remarked, raising a glass as an assistant came around to pour water for Gray's drink. "Thanks."
The waiter made his way over, presenting a small plate of lemons for Vanessa as well. "Thank you." She gestured, and the waiter nodded before he resumed his regiment. Vanessa turned and picked up a piece of the finely sliced lemon for her water, like Sophie did. But instead of squeezing it, she ate it, skin and all so complacently.
"There you go again, sourmouth." Sophie chimed, but Vanessa remained deeply relaxed. Sophie turned to Gray. "That is true. We don't normally get services like this on transportations. PokeEarth's customs really are taking quite a shine, aren't they?"
"You got that right girl." Cana winked. "Hey, can I get another round over here?!" she yelled at the waiter from across the blimp, waving her empty bottle.
Erza sighed irritably. "Honestly Cana, why must this be necessary?"
"Oh it's fine. It's not like I'm driving this thing." She beamed in victory as a waiter politely came over to accept her empty booze bottle. "Thanks." He uncorked the next one, handing it to her before walking away. "Anyways, it's no big deal. Besides it's like you said, it's rude to not use what Arthur gave us, right?"
"Yeah." Nic shot a smirk at Erza. "It would, wouldn't it?" he teased.
Erza sighed a second time. "Sometimes, you're just unbelievable." Whether it was to Nic or Cana or both didn't really matter. She knew they were doing it just to get under her skin. Nic and Cana high-fiving really didn't help her case either.
Lucy realized something. "Hey wait, why are you even on this trip anyway Cana?"
Cana looked towards her. "What? You make it sound like a crime or something."
Lucy sweatdropped. 'That's not what I meant.' She turned towards Vanessa and Sophie, hoping to find answers in them.
Sophie sighed. "It was Mirajane and Laxus' idea." She explained. "Her tab was getting big again, so they're making her come on this quest in agreement to pay off a part of it."
"Oh…okay…" she watched as Cana resumed her downing of another bottle of the liquid. She had a feeling it wasn't going to change anything.
Snover returned to Gray's side, seeing how his Grass Whistle had put the dragons to sleep in the background; Happy too apparently. "Good job, buddy. Thanks." Gray grinned, returning Snover back to his Poke Ball. Afterwards, he felt something urgent as he got up. "I'll be right back. Gotta find the restroom around here."
"Take your time, my love!" Juvia cheered. "I'll be right here for you."
…
"Do you see that?! That's just too rich!" Joey uproariously laughed with Dereece as he pointed at the TV screen in front of them. Unlike the others, they were given privilege to sit in first-class luxury. It was originally meant for Nic since he was a key, but he chose to kick back with the others and gave The Freaks the spot, much to their joy. It had a TV, lavish seating, painted walls, and velvet ballroom music playing in the background. Joey and Dereece were laughing themselves to death as they were eating shrimp and classy finger foods while watching a montage of bloopers in mock Pokémon battles. Some birds crashing into each other like planes made him wheeze. "Man, how is that even possible?!" Joey laughed, watching a Swellow dive into a mound of dirt. "Now that's funny! Isn't that right, Duncan?!"
Unlike the uproarious duo taking full advantage of the compartment, Duncan had no say. He just kicked his feet up as he was reading a guidebook on strategies and combination attacks that he took notes of.
Poking his head between the velvet curtains, Gray's head appeared. "This it?" He looked around, his eyes widening. "Man, this is classy…"
Joey was bouncing in his seat, laughing with Dereece until he saw Gray. Immediately the wide smile gaped to shock. "Woahwoahwoahwoah! Woah! Time out!" he shouted at Gray. "Uh, sorry but would you mind going the other way? This is kinda first-class." He picked up a shrimp and inspected it. "It's nothing personal…it's just that you all suck, and we don't." his eyes widened when he got an idea. "Oh! Dereece! Dereece! Go long!"
"I'm open!" Dereece got out of his seat as Joey stood on his chair. He aimed and chucked the shrimp at Dereece as he hung his mouth wide open. The shrimp landed in Dereece's mouth.
"Ayyyye!" they both yelled.
"Oh! My turn!" Joey hopped out of his seat as Dereece switched places with him.
Gray could see where this is going. He exited behind the curtains, looking for another place where the restroom could be.
"Hit me! Hit me!" Joey had his mouth wide open as Dereece threw the piece of shrimp into the maw. It was a perfect shot and Joey swallowed. "Sco-ah! Ah!" Joey lurched as he started gagging. He clutched his throat as his eyes crossed. "Gah! Oh god! Oh god!" he weakly coughed. "Dereece! A little help!" he choked.
Dereece gasped. In a rush, he rushed over to Joey to hold him in the Heimlich position. "Stay with me! Stay with me! And one-!" He lurched Joey's abdomen, making him gag. He gagged again.
Duncan glanced over, seeing the stupid act. "Pathetic." He groaned as Joey coughed, sending the shrimp flying over Duncan's head, landing in his glass of water. He wasn't drinking from that again.
…
Gray walked back into the direction he came from. "Man, I don't know what's bigger, this blimp or that ego Joey's got." Dismissing, he saw the signs in the far back. "There it is." He walked towards it, passing his friends again as Levy was going through another history book.
"So where are we going? Tropical island?" Cana inquired on a more sarcastic note.
"Arthur made it clear that we were heading to a capital known as Glacidia." Erza explained. "It's there that we're to help negotiate a solid reason for them to ally with trading with the Cambire Foundation."
Nic looked towards Levy. "Levy, what's that?"
The petite mage was rummaging through the book, her reading glasses taking in the large sums of words in a short span of time. "It's an encyclopedia of Glacidia, at least that's what I've been told." She answered as she turned another page. "I was just reading their history section. It's pretty interesting."
Nic nodded. "I see. So what's this about? Anything about their background we can use?"
"Let's see…" Levy turned page after page, until she found a suitable spot. "Oh! Here's a good spot! So listen to this…" She cleared her throat to begin the speech for everyone. "Glacidia is the capital of Antarcia, a cold continent that lies in the northeast of Ishgar. Roughly 400 years ago, the dragon wars were beginning to travel to Ishgar. People were growing scared, so those daring fled north, where the cold, harsh environment would keep them safe."
"So they chose to settle where they couldn't be touched?" Lucy asked. "How did they survive?"
Levy continued. "It was a rough journey, but finding shelter in the snow and ice to make igloos was a small start. Soon enough, the small group grew into a single community, which blossomed into a civilization that specialized in fur and fish found in their waters alone."
"So they made do with hunting and fishing." Erza surmised. "That's a reasonable way to get by."
"They've adapted quite well. Anyways, after the dragon wars came to an end and died out, people around the world were rebuilding what was lost., and some were willing to trade certain sums and riches in exchange for the fur and fish that Glacidia was prized for, making it grow into a refined nation. In fact, their demand was so high and rare that some people couldn't afford it. And that lead to other means of getting them."
"Pirating and hunting for themselves." Nic deduced.
"Correct, but they weren't adapted like the others in Glacidia, making it almost unbearable. But because their own sources were finite, and demands starting to get to be overwhelming, Glacidia eventually closed off its borders for certain periods of time so they can regroup and harvest for themselves. Some periods lasted maybe 1 year, to maybe even 5 years. There's been one record that showed Glacidia actually closed for 50 years even."
"50 years?" Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"That must have been a very complicated era." Sophie deduced before facing Levy. "I'm sorry Levy, go on."
"So anyways, once they were ready, the borders would come down again, but only the prestigious rich would be allowed to trade. And even now, Glacidia is considered the stomping grounds of the survivalists and traditional of the world. Even when more smaller cities branched off, they didn't go too far, because Glacidia is the crown jewel of its coldest winters."
Cana whistled. "Well ain't that something."
"Yeah I'll say." Lucy awed. "I thought we were coming across some empire, not some kind of place that lived on ice."
Carla put a hand to her chin. "So these people are indigenous to the cold waters and specific trade partners."
"Sounds to me that we're coming across picky people." Pantherlily deduced. He turned towards Levy. "Tell me, does it say that if their borders are open seasonally or at all?"
Levy shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. It only goes to that far back. This book was dated to X767, so it's still old. Antarcia isn't a continent that gets around to others often."
Gray walked up from behind, having returned from his business. "So if their gates are closed, that means we'll have trouble negotiating."
"Do you think they would at least hear us out? I mean this is important. We can't have them hunting Pokémon." Juvia worried. She detested the image of something cute like her Azurill being hunted down for her tail.
"We'll just have to make them see reason." Erza said. "Remember, the Cambire Foundation is counting on us. We won't let their own trust nor the customs of these people change that. Isn't that right, Nic?" she shot a look at her husband, seeing what he had to say.
Nic had a stone-cold serious look on his face, although it was masked well by the calm look he had. "Yeah." He looked out the window again, watching as they drifted over a glacier. It was a sign they were getting close. "If they won't see reason, we'll just have to do what we can to appeal to them. And if that doesn't work…" he glanced at everyone else. "Well, let's just hope they try to understand. Better to try than not do anything at all."
Erza genuinely smiled at Nic's words. She knew what he meant but chose to keep the note silent. They don't want to make another enemy against the Cambire Foundation.
"Look!" Happy pointed to the waters below, more specifically at the glaciers beneath. "Woah! Is that a glacier?!"
"Let me see." Carla moved next to him, looking down at the drifting block of right. "He's right. That must mean we're in arctic waters now."
"Meaning we'll be there shortly." Pantherlily deduced.
"About time. I was starting to get a little anxious there for a moment." Gray replied.
Vanessa was looking out her window, she watched the scenery of blue yonder drift below. When she noticed the passing glaciers, she turned her head northward. It wasn't just her, Nic also looked out, his glare serious as he could see it as well: Their destination.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your attention for a moment." The pilot's voice was heard in the intercom throughout the blimp, alerting everyone onboard. "If you look out your windows, we'll be seeing our destination afoot."
Erza peered out the window besides Nic, leering at something in the distance. "There it is."
Everyone who was able got out of their seats and moved to the nearest set of windows possible. In their eyes, the air was so clean and blue. The passing glaciers below grew in size as they all drew towards sheets of ice that solidified to an open frontier of snow and ice. Through all that ran a short canal into a humungous wall of solid ice and snow that was carved to look like a dam that reached as high as Mercurius itself.
"Damn." Gray marveled.
"You can say that again." Cana remarked at the irony.
"So that's Glacidia." Levy couldn't believe it. "I wonder what'll be like?"
"Only one way to find out." Erza said before getting to her seat. "Back to your seats people, we'll be there shortly."
The blimp had briefly set foot on the thin stretch of ice near the dam of ice, occupied by a number of guards that had magic spears and artillery for defense. The deported group set foot on the ice, clad in their warmwear.
"Freedom!" Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy all cheered. They fell over on the cold, hard ground groaning in salvation. Gajeel had a thick black coat, as to where Wendy had a nice green coat on. Natsu – due to his magic – was already at stable temperature.
Lucy shivered in place, her teeth chattering despite the long furry pink coat she had on. "Brrr…it really is cold here.
"Yeah…" Levy, clad in an orange furry coat, shivered beside her. They huddled together for even more warmth.
Everyone else was behind them watched as their ride slowly drifted back into the air. Any last calls for anything they needed was now up in the air, along with the booze that Cana wanted to drag down if not for Sophie and Vanessa holding her back. The majority of everyone present had long and thick coats on. Cana had a magenta purple coat with gray fur lining, Vanessa had a teal fur coat, Sophie had a gold fur coat with brown lining. Juvia wore her standard attire, Gray was shirtless – not surprising – Erza had a bright purple coat on, and Nic…was in normal attire. His years of training in cold environments north of Kalos made it all worth it. Duncan and Joey were the same, though Joey wore navy blue gloves, while Duncan wore brown. And Dereece wore bright red coat and gray sweatpants to fit his physique.
"Well we're here nw. So what do we do?" Cana questioned.
Gray turned towards the dam. "Well there's no point in waiting around here, not unless you guys are wondering what frostbite would be like."
"Yeah, no." Lucy deadpanned. "I'm sure you and your Ice-types would love it here, but we're not taking too kindly, right guys?"
Getting around Lucy's point, Nic looked over to the couple of gatekeepers that were looking at them strangely. They all had magic spears aimed for him, but he remained relaxed. "Sorry for coming in like this." He started. "I understand you're all a little confused about this, right?"
A guard prodded his staff at Nic. "Identify yourself."
Another guard readied. "Otherwise, no passing without authorization."
"I'm Nic Pularis. And I came here with my friends on behalf of the Cambire Foundation to have a talk with your people about Pokémon."
It was short and to the point. It's what got the guards to lower their defense as they looked at each other confusedly. The name rung a bell, but they weren't looking so confident. They gave nods to each other and shot glares at Nic.
"Our apologies, but you'll have to wait for a minute." The first guard ordered.
"Yeah, sorry. But we'll have to get into contact with our Minister first."
Nic looked back to everyone to see them alright, of course Lucy and Sophie looked like they were about to complain themselves to shivering death. He glanced back. "Alright, do what you gotta do. We'll be out here waiting." He turned back and went walking towards everyone, who were all giving expectant looks at him.
"So what's the word? They gonna let us in?" Gajeel asked.
"They need to clear it with their Minister first." Nic explained. "My guess is not too much longer."
Natsu raised a brow. "Say what? That ain't right. These guys should know who we are, they gotta let us in."
"Natsu, weren't you listening on the ride?" Lucy retorted. She looked at Natsu's confused expression before she realized it. "…oh, right, sorry." She apologized. "These guys aren't exactly sociable. They probably don't get out much in the real world. For all we know, we're just regular traders to them, got it?"
"Indeed." Erza nodded. "We'll need to be tactful and weary on how to explain the situation. So for now, no adhesive force. Is that clear?" Erza's little statement sounded like a promise of bodily harm underlying that stern tone. It was enough to alert Natsu but not enough to make him feel lowered.
"I gotcha." He shot a look at the dam. "But if they pull any funny business on us, they're gonna pay."
Soon enough, the guards that explained everything to the Minister got permission. They faced the dam and pointed their magical spears to one spot. The tips glowed, and by some show of force in unison, the staffs angled lower in unison, bending and molding down a passageway that went up to a waterway. The downward stream had a small basin inside, where there were a few prestigious boats waiting.
"Guess we're taking a little boat ride." Dereece said.
Joey shrugged. "Works for me!" He shuffled along the ice pass the guards. "Excuse me, fellas." He slid across the frosted ground until he worked into a backflip into the boat. "Perfect 10!"
"Well, guess there's no point waiting around any longer." Levy started for the boat.
"Y-yeah…yippee…" Wendy half-heartedly replied. She, along with Natsu and Gajeel, once again paled as they lazily followed behind.
"Uuugh…why me?" Natsu groaned. He was one of the last people to get onto the boat, where he almost immediately collapsed. He hung over the edge with the other Dragon Slayers as all got aboard.
When the guards saw that the people were in the three boats, they gave affirmative nods upwards, alerting two guards overhead as they oversaw the wall. They raised their magical staffs as they turned around. The dark blue tips glowed as they gently lifted a little. The current beneath the three boats began to go in reverse, slowly trekking water back up the eddy towards the streams that connected to the canals. As they all were lifted with the water levels, they were brought through the tunnels, their eyes widening upon seeing Glacidia.
"What the…?" Lucy gasped.
"Oh wow." Levy awed.
Nic looked around, catching glimpses beside Erza. "So this is what lies beyond the dam." Erza said.
Glacidia, was unlike anything they expected. They were expecting a bunch of stuff made of ice and snow, with frozen water, but that was far from the case. There was certainly a ton of snow for ground, but a lot of things look so modernized. Around the base of the cold water canals were a lot of fishing spots off in some alleys, and stone bridges arched over the riverbanks that connected the two sides. Some buildings were white, but a few were modernized. They looked all around the city as they crossed canals and turned corners. Fountains and waterfalls of cold water spouted in a lot of areas, including in plazas and displays in front of stores.
"Get real." Cana looked up, eyes widening. "That a casino?!"
"Try and contain yourself." Vanessa told her.
"I can't believe how fancy everything is." Sophie admired, seeing a lot of shops and goods that were out in the open. Even the people looked like they were unfazed by the cold. "I don't recall ever such conditions being so pleasant."
"I'll say. Just look at all this! It's so lavish!" Lucy awed, her boat passing by a smooth waterfall. It looked so clean that she saw her own reflection as clear as day. It was like looking through a mirror.
"This is so cool." Happy awed, though he was looking at the arctic salmon stand that they were passing. His mouth was watering from just looking at all the salty salmon flopping in fishing nets.
"Do try and contain yourself, Happy." Carla chided.
"So this is the capital of Antarcia." Juvia stated. She looked around, noting how the water was so cold, and yet so crisp. She leaned over the edge, allowing her fingers to graze the water's top. It felt so smooth; cold, but smooth. "Just refreshing water runs through these canals. You think any Water-type Pokémon live here, Gray?" she asked hopefully.
Gray was leaning back, arms crossed as he was looking around. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." He looked away. "I've been wondering about Ice-types myself honestly…but you know…"
"I know…" Juvia looked down at the waters. They were so blue, but she could get a feeling of uncertainty. There wasn't anything that looked like Pokémon that swam in the currents.
As they traveled through the riverbanks that lead them to the capital's head branch, they were coming across a medium that separated streams like traffic. As they went one way, a few more boast traveled another way, although one boat in particular was lavish with blue accents, and on it were two guards, with one using a magic staff to tread water.
"Check it out Dereece, that a bake shop?" Joey pointed at a baking center above, which confused Dereece.
"Wow, just when you've seen it all."
"I know, right?" Joey kept looking around, his wandering eyes traveling to other places. He looked about, briefly glimpsing at Sophie's rich lipstick for a moment. His tendencies were making him avert to even seeing Vanessa's wide hips, and the coat she wore surrounded her curvature quite well. When he looked all around, he could see other women around the capital, though the coats and figures were spontaneous, and some caught his interest.
'I wonder what kind of ladies there are? I hope they like to paaaaa~…' Joey's attention drew to the other side of the medium to a passing boat. When he saw someone on there, time briefly slowed down so that he could get a good look at her.
The woman on the prestigious boat looked to be about his age, if not slightly older. She was fair-skinned with a slender yet very voluptuous body. She had long purple hair that was wavy down to her lower back, with curved bangs hanging over the right side of her head. She had hazel eyes and dark purple lipstick over her large lips. She adorned a fur lined navy blue coat with a massive white fur drag hanging around her shoulders. Beneath those was a dark purple dress that hugged her curvature.
For a brief moment, Joey was caught staring her and her beauty. He was so lost in the moment that he didn't hear anything else, nor see anything else. For a glimpse of a second, he saw that the woman looked in the corner of her eye at him, making his heart pounce slightly. As her boat passed, he found himself dragging his weight to the back, continuing to stare at her as they went down different ways.
"This place sure is lovely." Sophie admired.
"Yeah…it is…" Joey muttered, dreamily staring at the girl still. Duncan and Dereece looked at each other confusedly.
The boats they traveled on continue their way, all the way up to the basin that lead to the center of the city canals. There, everyone slowly got off, where they made way up the carved stairways to city levels. The guards posted escorted them until they had found drop off points. They were all guided by different guards roughly about every other mile, until finally they came to a massive white temple-like domain with a huge plaza-like plateau that they all stopped at.
With everyone accounted for, the many guards posted around the area gathered, with two walking down a light of massive white stairs that lead up to the temple. They all glared at the newcomers, seeing they weren't from around here. Remaining weary of them, they all gave leers that told the other to be on guard.
"May I have your attention, please!" A middle-aged guard announced, he had tribe-like clothing on him, with a bigger spear compared to the rest. "To the guests that traveled afar, please, welcome the one who has graced you with his gift of entry…Isaac Farlock!"
The gestures all went to the temple stairs. Their heads turned up as they glared at the man coming down from them.
This man was of late middle age, but he held a healthy complexion. He was tan-skinned with a slim white moustache and beard combo, with white hair slicked back and tied in a bun. He had narrow crystal blue eyes, with a blue coat with white fur trimming. He had hands behind his back as he was accompanied by his advisors as he came down to talk with Nic and his allies. From him, they could all feel a cold, icy chill run down a majority of their spines.
"Yeesh, talk about taking a chill pill." Joey whispered to Dereece.
Isaac caught wind of the whisper and gave Joey a look, making him shrink back in fear.
"So this is the head honcho huh?" Gajeel grunted. "Guy sure looks like it."
"Alright, so what do we do?" Natsu questioned.
"For the moment, I think we should listen." Juvia advised.
Everyone fell silent as Isaac approached them all. He shot a look at all the women that were present, giving studious appeal to them all. His attention soon drew towards Nic, who had hands in his pockets and looked surprisingly relaxed. At his gesture he raised a brow.
"So I take it that you're this infamous person that we've been given word of, is that right?" He shot a look up and down at Nic. "To be honest, I was expecting someone of more…impression."
Despite the offense, Nic waved a dismissal. "Can't say that I aim to please." He straightened upright. "But we didn't come here to be judged."
"I see. And what exactly is it that has caught wind to your ears?" Isaac sternly asked.
Erza stepped forward, taking the reins for the conversation. "If I may explain…"
Erza explained the situation as detailed as she knew how. She made sure to go into detail about the creatures known as Pokémon, and how the world has been changing because of them, and how they are acting as ambassadors to the Cambire Foundation.
After taking in the information, Isaac remained firm. "I see, so that is the reason of your visit. You want us to open our borders to allow trades for these goods that can help us with these…Pokémon." He strained.
Erza nodded. "Yes. Are you familiar with these beings?"
Isaac put a hand to his chin. "…incidentally, there has been some of these pests that have been around our nation." He explained as he glanced away nonchalantly. "We've been trying to see if we could make use of them, but they've been making things…rather difficult to some degree."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Nic inquired.
Isaac sternly raised his nose. "Nothing that can concern you. Just know that these creatures that can defend themselves makes it rather hard for use to use them. I'd rather not have our waterways sullied by these things that could ruin our livestock."
An advisor from behind walked up, getting close to his ear. "Sir, may I need to remind you of our ongoing shortage of supplies?"
Isaac turned towards him with a glare. "As I am aware…but, that situation revolves around food, not how to handle this infestation problem. I believe that we can settle with a solution just fine."
Sophie stepped forward. "You say that, but how can we be so sure?"
"Are you questioning what I think is best for my people?" Isaac countered.
"It's not just about the people." Erza interjected. "It's about them and the Pokémon. If what you're saying is true and that your solution benefits your folk, can you guarantee this for the Pokémon as well?"
Isaac stared at all of them. He gave a long, icy stare at everyone, one that could've frozen them in place if it were magic. He looked towards his advisors to see them silent; unsure, but also silent. He turned around and gave them all another cold look. "We have our borders closed for a reason in Glacidia. We don't just associate ourselves with others just because they think they know better than the rest of us. Unless you're willing to have a high price on your hands, exactly what makes you think this is worth the time at all?"
Natsu began growling beneath his breath. He wasn't liking the way this guy was talking at all. If it wasn't for Lucy putting a hand on his shoulder he would've started melting the snow beneath him.
"Glacidia relies only on the business partners that are willing to give us what is needed. If to survive in this land means to use these creatures, then by all means, convince us otherwise."
"Are you saying you'd resort to enslaving Pokémon?" Erza inquired.
"If they become such a hazard." Isaac told them. "But these creatures have such powers that intrigue us. We've been keeping them out of our capital grounds to play it safe, but what concerns us is if they continue to meddle within our supplies. We've been keeping a steady supply of fish, and if they intend on ruining the supply, then measures will be met."
"Have you ever considered there being other less defensive measures?" Nic inquired. "You don't know if they're just trying to find a home of their own, or maybe they're just curious of this world."
"And if not? Then that would mean that the measures that we are taking are of upmost necessary for our survival. Intelligent beings or not, pets or not, no one enters into my Capital, and tell me what is best for everyone. I'm sorry, but I believe that I have made myself clear. We do not associate with those who aren't of promise business." Isaac gave Nic a stern glare. "How can we even we sure that this 'Cambire Foundation' can be trusted?"
"Would you like to see for yourself?" Erza looked towards Sophie. She gave a nod, to which Sophie understood. The Memory-Make Mage pulled out a Poke Ball, which alarmed a lot of the folks.
Isaac raised a brow. "What's this?"
"Just watch." Sophie gingerly lifted the Poke Ball, tossing it up. "Come out!"
The Poke Ball shot open, summoning forth Abra in front of them. Immediately a lot of people were shocked; hummed whispers crossed ears as they saw the sight. Isaac was amongst those who was surprised.
"You…you summoned a creature?" he stuttered.
"Sorry if we're not speaking on the same level." Nic insisted. "We're not trying to enforce this onto you, but we need you to at least hear us out."
Isaac fell silent at the tone displayed. He's heard a few fables here and there about Nic Pularis; the instance a few years ago was a dead giveaway. He could tell just from looking at him he was serious about helping, but he still abided by his traditional customs. Though, when he looked at his advisors, he saw how surprised some of them were, and looked to him for answers. If it could benefit his people, then would it be worth it?
He looked at Nic, raising a brow. "…tell me, just who exactly is the Cambire Foundation associated with?"
Erza stepped forward. "That would be us. We are mages of Fairy Tail, here to appeal in their stead."
Isaac's face went stone-cold. "…a mage guild…" It was like a switch went off inside of him, because when he took another look at everyone his glare narrowed. Instantly he turned way. "Get them out of here."
"Yes, sir." A soldier said, gathering men around.
"Wait, what?" Natsu gasped. He looked around to find himself surrounded with his friends by Isaac's forces.
Gajeel looked around, raising his fists. "The hell's up around here?"
"Yeah, we didn't do anything!" Wendy chirped. For her sake, she hoped that she was right. Though she really hoped it wasn't about the vomit in the water on their way here.
Remaining calm, Nic remained stern at Isaac's advances. "What's the meaning of this?"
Isaac gave a cold stare as he replied. "I'm sorry, but we prefer that our affairs remained untangled with the likes of your advances. I do appreciate the offer you are giving, but my answer to you mages is no. Get them out of my sight."
"You heard him, everyone line up. We'll escort you out." The soldier from before directed his mean to close in on Nic's group, unaware that all they were doing was getting themselves closer to an unfair warfare.
Natsu balled his fists tighter. Literal steam could be seen resonating from his body as a warning to everyone around him. It was strong enough to make Lucy quickly recoil and keep her Klefki close in case she needed her keys. Everyone was giving off an intense magic level, one that alarmed even the guards as some were hesitant. Before things got too far, Erza held her arms out, interjecting the tense air.
"Everyone relax." She said. "It's unwise to have a pointless tiff."
"Tiff?" Isaac scoffed. "These 'tiffs' that you mages cause, I would go as far as call them more than just that. If what I heard was right, then this so-called war that happened on Ishgar happened because of you mages and your uncontrolled power, is that right."
"Is there a point?"
Isaac scoffed again. "My point, young lady, is that I would rather not associate with such people who claim to be allies with these people who may think they know a way to handle these invaders. This Cambire Foundation must have less faith in its own stability if it thinks sending mages would change what I have said."
Hearing enough of this, a foot stepped forward. "Enough!"
The harsh shout silenced everyone. The air grew vividly chilly as Nic's shout alarmed the plaza. Joey and Dereece nearly turned to popsicles upon shock at Nic's expense. With Isaac and everyone quiet, Nic walked towards him.
"Listen, I don't know what you have against us mages and our work…" he stopped several feet in front of Isaac, arms folded to mimic his defiance. "But if you're seeing us as a nuisance, then wouldn't that mean you're still looking at one end of a spectrum."
"It's not 'one end', it's a fact." Isaac retorted.
"Yeah, I won't deny that. Mages can be destructive, but there are those who use their powers for purposes besides those. That's the same principle with Pokémon, and we should know. We've seen them in all kinds of shapes, just like people…and just like them, they have their own stories as well."
Isaac still looked unamused. "If you're implying that I open my gates to understand them, then I'm not interested. The decision stands. I refuse to open these gates to trade. Do you intend to ask the same question until I have to call every guard to the plaza?"
"If it means that by the end some sense is seeped into that head of yours, then it's worth the shot. Better to try than do nothing at all."
To a degree, Isaac looked stumped at Nic's bold choice of words. A little cliché, but effective. He had to admit the truth to this, but he chose to keep his position firm. "…interesting perspective." Isaac smirked, stepping forward. "But, to be fair, I suppose that there is a way that we can better settle this negotiation we are having."
Erza joined in on the foreground. "And what might that suggestion be?"
"You mages and Pokémon seem to know a lot of how to handle a situation. We've also been taking note as to how these creatures have been able to perform these…magical attacks. So then, if it'll be the case, shall we agree to a battle of skills?"
Everyone's eyes widened at this. "You mean…like a Pokémon battle?" Wendy inquired.
"Is that what those are called?" Isaac mused. "Huh…interesting ring to it. Very well then, a Pokémon battle. If I were to win, then that proves that your efforts were unnecessary. But if you win, then I just might be willing to hear your thoughts."
"And can you guarantee this won't be a farce?" Erza inquired.
"You have my word."
The tone he had was anything but a farce. Its sly, arrogant tone made it sound like it was too easy to be considered true. Nic didn't have to use the Mind Form to know that there's an underlying hint there of discretion, but for the sake of the Pokémon and his friends he had to think this through.
He looked back to Natsu and the others. They all gave nods and expectant looks, relying on Nic for the answer. He turned towards Erza, his stare being the sign that she was reading. She faced Isaac. "Very well."
The knight shook hands with Isaac.
"Very good. We will have our battle at sunrise tomorrow. And be sure to pick your mage well. I'd rather not feel too cheated by the end of this bargain we are having." He turned away from them, heading back towards the temple with a few guards in tow. "You all will be allowed to roam freely in this district for the meantime, but I shall give you this one warning…" he looked over his shoulder giving them all a harsh glare. "If any one of you proves to my point about mages, I will guarantee you will never set foot anywhere around this ice again. Dismissed."
He departed on that icy note, leaving Nic and Erza to glare at his back with cold stares of their own.
Joey leaned into Dereece again. "Eh, I don't he likes us." Certainly nothing gets pass Joey.
The day had soon turned to night as the group soon found themselves at an inn. It wasn't too shabby, but fixed enough to accommodate their needs. They all had connected suites, with Team Natsu, Sophie, The Freaks, and Vanessa all gathered in Lucy's suite, much to her dismay.
"Uh, why are we in my suite again?" Lucy inquired. She had a feeling that it didn't matter anyway.
"What's the big deal? We always end up in your place and you're just fine with it." Natsu shrugged.
"What the heck gave you that idea?!" she shrieked. "Besides, that's just you!"
"So this is what we got to work with, huh?" Gray remarked, getting back on track. "Honestly I expected a little more of a welcome."
Juvia looked towards him. "I don't believe they roll out the red carpet for just anyone my love."
"Unfortunately Juvia is right." All the attention went to Erza as she sat on the sofa with Nic and Vanessa beside her. She looked deep in thought as she recounted the disposition Isaac had. "Isaac's behavior isn't very welcoming. He's a stronghold to his customs and beliefs…and what's even more concerning is how he reacted upon realizing we were mages."
"Yeah, I noticed that, too." Gajeel noted, folding his arms. "What the hell's his deal with mages anyway? It's not like we're here to hurt him."
"Maybe not just him." Levy pointed out, reading the same biography of Antarcia. "Remember what I said, this country's hard to reach because of its tundra landscape. Their sources are finite, so I think they're worried about us harming their economy." She put a hand to her chin. "My question is why hey choose to keep their borders up when their economy is finite?"
"My guess would probably be that they're cautious." Sophie noted. "Or rather, perhaps something from before that caused them to keep them closed in the first place."
Nic had his own arms folded as he looked down, thinking about Sophie's inquiry. What could've caused them to close to begin with? It could be personal or political, but dwelling on it wasn't going to change anything. "Whatever the case may be, we need to convince him to at least open the trades to the Cambire Foundation." He insisted.
"And you really think that a battle will settle the score?" Happy asked.
Carla glanced at him. "It'd be hypocritical to say, but we don't exactly handle our problems peacefully either. You're all aware of what he said about us mages. I only fear this proposition will prove his point regardless."
"So he's got us pincered either way." Vanessa pondered.
"Precisely." Pantherlily nodded. "I'm afraid for the time being, we'll have to play by the hand we're dealt with. Besides, any hand is better than an empty hand." He smirked. "And we've had worse hands dealt."
Everyone fell silent as they were processing everything. Even if Isaac was unyielding, they knew there was more than one way to prove a point that benefits everyone, they just needed to find a way to make Glacidia open to that. Before they could all strategize, Natsu picked up on something. "Hey, hold up?" he looked around, noticing some people weren't there. "Where's Joey?"
Happy looked around, realizing he was right. "Hey yeah, wasn't he here before?"
"Dereece and Duncan aren't here either." Levy realized. "And where's Cana?"
"Last I recalled, them and Cana left a little early." Sophie acknowledged. "I think they wanted to check out the capital district for a little bit."
Nic stood up. "Sounds good to me. If we dwell on this too much, we might end up wearing ourselves out before tomorrow. We can probably use a small break before we regroup anyway."
"I'm down with that!" Natsu pounced off the bed, grabbing Lucy's wrist. "C'mon guys, let's see the sights!"
"Woah! W-wait! Natsu!" Lucy embarrassingly shrieked as she was dragged on her heels in a dust cloud out the door. Happy of course tailed behind in a hurry to catch up.
"Nic's right." Sophie stretched skywards. "This stressing is going to ruin my complexion. C'mon, Vanessa. We better go find Cana before who knows what happens to this capital's brewery system."
Vanessa calmly obliged. She followed in her best friend's footsteps and made way out next.
"C'mon, Gray." Juvia eagerly pulled on her man's arms to nearly drag him. "It'll be just us two! We should enjoy it as well!"
"Okay, okay, just hold on already would ya?" a reluctant Gray tried to calm the rain woman. Despite them being 'together', that wasn't to say he was still getting used to it. Calmly following out next, Levy was next to drag Gajeel.
"C'mon Gajeel, I'm not gonna let you sit in here and try to eat the inn's pipelining as a snack…again." She testified.
"Hey now, that was just one time! C'mon!" the Iron Dragon Slayer complained, but he saw the glare Levy gave and he relented. "…tch. Fine." He flustered, leaving Levy to pull him with a big smile.
With the stale air finally gone, Nic took in a deep breath. He looked up towards the ceiling. He just now realized the skylight was showing off the incoming full moon. It was surprisingly bright. He could see practically everything. 'The moon's very bright tonight…' The lunar radiance was enchanting in a way. It was strange, but as he basked under the moon, he could feel its shine call out to him. It was a strange feeling, but in a way majestic. It was bringing him back to some nights of full moon he had when it was clear along Frost Cavern. Such memories.
"Are you going to just stand there all night?"
"Huh?" Nic looked up, seeing his wife above him with a stern glare.
"I do believe that there are better ways to enjoy yourself than just lie around. You coming?"
Nic blinked. "Uh, yeah. Sure-woah!"
"Good. Then let's go." With a smirk, the pushy redhead dragged Nic along, with him barely catching up behind her pull. For now, even Nic could use a breather as well.
The moonlit room was left dark, shutting behind them.
Glacidia was a very vibrant city during day, but when night soon fell, it was like the city had completely transformed. The raw, bright moonlight shined brightly over everything like its own light source. Those outside having late night dinners were hardly fazed by the cold as waitresses presented them fresh steamed and baked meats. Lacrima lights were dim because of moonlight shined everywhere, including on the calm waterways. The people were just as lively now as they were in the day, perhaps more so.
Cana was inside a makeshift brewery made of stone and snow finely carved. She was downing one load of booze in a matter of a few gulps before relenting. "Yeah, now that's the ticket." She smirked, wiping her mouth.
"We had a feeling that you would be here." A voice called from behind.
Cana turned around, finding Vanessa and Sophie at the entrance. She looked pleased. "Hey, there you girls are. I was wondering when you'd be showing up." She reached out with a bottle. "Wanna drink?"
Walking inside, Vanessa dismissed the offer. "You're too kind, but I think I'll pass."
"And as I recall, the drinking age in Nic's world is 21." Sophie shrugged, making an excuse.
Cana shrugged. "Suite yourselves." She resumed her drinking habit, downing the last of the bottle before she slammed it down in front of the surprised bartender as he turned around.
"Woah, that was fast." He stammered. "Someone's thirsty."
"You can say that." Cana chuckled. "That was a little brisk down the throat if ya ask me. What's in that stuff anyway?"
The bartender looked towards the empty bottle. "That? That has a special blend of some of the snow that comes from the outside. We just mix it in with citrus and let it simmer."
"Well that's new to me." Cana smirked. "Not bad." She placed another bill with a lot of zeros on the counter. "Say, how's about one more of those?"
The bartender looked at the dollar bill and back at Cana. When he read the currency exchange, he had a questionable look on his face. "You not from around here?" he asked.
"Can't say we are." She answered, raising a brow. "Why?"
He held up the dollar bill to Cana. "Well, we do have a slightly different exchange rate in Glacidia. I'm not sure what you pay for wherever you came from…but this will only get you half here."
Cana looked completely dumbfounded by this revelation. Her quenched throat suddenly got dry from the earlier drink she had that it was almost hard to breath. "You serious?"
The bartender waved his hands up. "I just work here. But listen, because you're not from around here, I'll let you have or weekly discount on that drink."
That made Cana feel a little better, but she still didn't look happy. She groaned as she sat her head on the countertop."
Being the watchful eye from a nearby table, Sophie rested her chin on her palm. "I have a feeling we won't be here very long."
"Apparently so." Vanessa agreed, but as she watched Cana pay a little more than what she had liked, she looked up at the board suspiciously and compared the amount that she brought as well. She shot a look at Sophie, leaving both discerning the worth they have.
"Mmmm! Oh so yummy!" Happy moaned as he salivated on a fish that he got from that earlier fish stand while gliding. "You've gotta try this, it's delicious."
"Just watch where you fly, got it?" Carla chided. "You hit a wall with that pudding face it'll lead to Wendy healing."
In the back, Wendy sweat dropped. "Uh, it's okay. Really."
"Yeah, chill for a while guys." Natsu bit down on another small steamed fish stick, which slid off the stick and he munched the whole thing in one bite. "Besides, we're just checking places out."
"Yeah you're right." Lucy said as she watched Natsu enjoy himself. She looked away as she smiled at the lights all around her. "Just look everywhere, it's like a winter wonderland."
"Yeah you're right." Wendy chimed, looking across the riverbank. She noticed something in the distance in another plaza across from them. "Hey, wait."
"What is it?" Happy asked, having ate the whole fish.
Wendy pointed ahead. "Look there."
Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked towards the other side of the canals. It was faint, but they could make out a fine dining place out in the open with a balcony. There, sitting there in two seats, two people that they recognized were having what looked like an expensive meal. Upon further inspection, they saw that it was Gray and Juvia.
Everyone present looked completely stupefied with wide circular eyes and triangular mouth. "…say what?" they all muttered.
On the other side of the street, Gray looked like he was explaining something to Juvia, and the rain woman looked genuinely intrigued. The longer he talked, varied expressions were told on her face. They saw her giggling, and at one point shock. But that shock didn't compare to what the others felt.
"Woah! Are they on a date?!" Happy squealed.
"It appears to be." Carla said. "…that or this is all a dream."
Wendy was looking at the scene with her face flustered in beet red. She gasped as she was seeing Gray and Juvia in a romantic setting. "They're…having a moment…" She flashed back to when she learned that Gray and Juvia have been living together during their time apart. That load of information was enough to leave her fainting.
"Wendy!" Carla rushed over to catch the unconscious Dragon Slayer. "Speak to me Wendy!"
Wendy looked distraughtly at the moon. "A…date…" she murmured.
"Uh-oh, looks like her brain kinda overloaded." Happy worried. "Should we do something?"
Carla activated her Aera wings in her human form. She picked up Wendy as her eyes were in spirals. "I suppose we'll just have to take her back to the inn. Coming Happy?"
"Yeah, okay!" Happy glided off with Carla, carrying Wendy away from the group. "We'll be right back!" he shouted from afar.
"Hey, wait! Don't go too far without…" Lucy warned, yet she trailed off as she realized they were out of earshot. "Good grief." She sighed.
Natsu shrugged. "They'll be fine. We promised no funny business, right?"
"Er, right. Yeah…" Lucy nervously agreed to Natsu, but the problem wasn't for Wendy. It was more about Natsu. Talk the talk, but walking that walk always leads to fumbles with him specifically. She didn't even know how long it would take for him to break something or melt snow on accident.
As she drifted her vision back towards Gray and Juvia as they shared an expensive cooked fish, she could see the two continuing their conversation, like a normal couple would. It boggled her enough to know that Gray was actually taking Juvia seriously, but even more so that they were looking genuine. She already knew Levy and Gajeel were a thing months ago, and Nic and Erza had already tied that knot that same time. But where exactly did that leave her?
When she looked at Natsu, she could see how fixed he was on the bright moon. "Man, it sure is bright here, huh?"
Lucy didn't even know what to say about her relationship with Natsu. In all honesty, she didn't even know what went inside his own noggin. Part of it stems from his ignorance, and another because of her own doing. She was never straightforward with these kinds of things. In fact, she didn't know where it stood to begin with. Were they just friends? Were they boyfriend/girlfriend? Or were they just that kind of couple that kind accepted where they are and rolled with it? The third option was the road she felt Gray and Juvia took, and the second option was what lead to Levy and Gajeel. But what concerned her was the first option. Was that all she and Natsu were? Just friends? She can't lie to herself when she felt more than just that feeling at times from him. He's been there every step of the way for her, through thick and thin. She's held onto that same faith in return, despite the whole E.N.D and Nic incident. A part of her wished she knew what to do with herself and Natsu, but another part of her was holding her back. One could say it was fear of rejection, or maybe Natsu would never see her beyond a close friend. But that couldn't possibly be the case…right?
The longer she watched Gray and Juvia enjoying themselves, the more her own heart yearned. Something inside of her was making her jealous of that kind of attention. But she just didn't know how to approach it.
"Lucy?" Natsu called out to her, snapping her to attention. "Hey, you sure you're alright?"
Lucy shakily stammered before she finally found ground. "Oh, y-yeah. Yeah, I'm good. Really…"
Natsu frowned in concern. "Are you sure?"
Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
Natsu wasn't exactly an idiot…well okay, he was, but he's been maturing quite a lot as of late. He learned that there were other ways than with just heart and passion alone, though accepting that at first after his dispute with Nic still took a while to sink in. But even when he had trouble accepting change or something he didn't like, he knew better than to fake it. Seeing Lucy when she frowned at Gray and Juvia's affections made him a little sad. In a show of a big smile forming, he grabbed her wrist.
"Woah, what the-?!"
"C'mon, let's go find another stand to snack on!" he smiled back. "That'll perk you right up, right?"
Though he could be brash, as Natsu dragged Lucy, her brown eyes were staring at his genuine toothy smile. She could never forget that. All the doubt and questions she had about them seemed to have lifted for that one night. "…yeah!" she cheerfully shouted.
"Alright! Then let's go!" Natsu raced across the distract, with Lucy in tow.
"Hey, not so fast! You're gonna slip you flamebrain!" Lucy scolded.
In another part of the district, Levy was seen holding Gajeel's hand as they were walking around; Pantherlily was behind, though he was more of commentary. For the time being, she actually enjoyed being around Gajeel.
"This city isn't bad." She started.
Gajeel looked at his surroundings in question. "Yeah, I guess so."
Hearing his neutral tone, she looked up at him. "What's wrong? You don't think so?"
Gajeel looked down, seeing the concern on her face. "H-huh?" he stammered. "No, uh…it's nothing."
It's been an hour since the two have been walking. They didn't have any particular aim per se, but didn't have any reason beyond that. They just wanted to. But of course Gajeel wasn't exactly sure of what to say, or rather how to take the situation, about Levy. She would try to talk to him, but he'd end up stammering with what to say. He wasn't exactly the brightest when it came to speaking of random stuff. Still, he had to at least try.
"So…" he started. "…you like it here?"
Levy looked at him, this time giving a confused look. "Hm? Yeah, that's just what I said."
"Oh right. Sorry."
"It's no big deal." Levy looked up towards the full moon over their heads, seeing how majestic it is. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen the moon this close before. It's like you can just reach up there and grab it."
Gajeel looked up at the moon as well, catching an idea of where Levy was going with this. "Yeah…it's really something huh." He smirked mischievously. "Of course I can reach up and grab it."
"Hey!" Levy whined. "Not fair."
Gajeel laughed. "Just kidding. Geez take a joke." He looked up at the moon one more time. "But you know…it really is kinda nice when you look at it."
Levy calmed down and stared up as well. "Yeah, it is."
It wasn't often that Gajeel took notice of the beauty of nature, at least that was what he used to be. But since becoming part of Fairy Tail, he's become much more…serene. The evident appeal came from the Alvarez and Tartaros attacks. He wanted to protect his friends and those who came to appreciate and loved him. One in particular was Levy. When he stopped to watch her bask in the moonlight, it was like all those nerves he once had washed way. Seeing her in the light, her brown eyes and bright smile twinkling, it made him realize how far he's come, for himself, and for her.
Levy was too distracted with the moon to realize Gajeel's stare. When she did, her confused look was fixed on the small blush he had. "You okay?" she asked.
Stammering, Gajeel coughed. "Yeah…I'm good."
Levy lovingly smiled. "Yeah…I'm glad."
Watching them interact, Pantherlily smiled and snickered.
An overview of the forever winter landscape of Glacidia seen. The rooftops were all neatly flat to have glistening frost litter its top. In a way, it looked like another world, one of calm blue shine. On a flat rooftop, this was where Nic had taken Erza. Sitting on a small wool blanket they borrowed from the inn staff, they sat down to just watch everything around them from such a tall height. And just like everyone else, the moon shined directly in their glowing faces.
"It's beautiful." Erza said.
"Yeah, it is." Nic agreed. He looked at Erza briefly to see her small smile. He wanted to say how beautiful she was too without sounding so corny, but it was hard to come by.
Erza glanced at him, smirking. "What's the matter? Do I have something on my face?"
Nic shook his head. "No. Just thinking is all."
"You're always thinking." She commented.
"And you don't?" he chided back. "It's just…I was just thinking how you and the moon have a lot in common."
"What do you mean?" she asked surprisingly.
Nic sat back on the wool rug and looked up at the shimmering moon. "Well…the way I see it…I guess you both shine at your brightest. When you really try, when you let others know how you feel, you let yourself shine on others. But we both know that isn't easy, for either of us." He meekly chuckled. "It's funny, but that's why I guess the moon goes to phases before it fades away for a while."
Erza didn't stop to think about it, but she felt appreciated by the compliment by her husband. It was enough to make her smile. Sure anybody could say such a thing and compare it to some intangible figment like the moon, but Erza knew Nic better than anyone. She knew what she meant, and though not easy to read, what he says matters to her a lot.
"And you know, here, it feels even closer. It's like you can reach out and touch it…." His eyes softened. "You're both very beautiful." He muttered softly. He trailed off in a soft thought as he watched the moon, until he felt a palm graze his cheek and turn him to face Erza. Her smile made him see she looked pleased.
"I'm really glad that you think of me that way Nic, I really am." She said. "But there is something that I am that the moon isn't…and it's that I can be touched." She demonstrated this by seizing Nic's hand and holding it to her own cheek. "See? Yes, maybe I do shine quite often on those who see me that way, but not just anyone can see my beauty. It's by those who truly believe strongly and know that I'm there for them. Even if they can't see me, I'm never truly gone. I watch over them, and lift their spirits until they make it through the night." She snickered low as her eyes softened. "Nic…you really need to work on your corny jokes."
Erza's laughter only made Nic's face scrunch. He flopped onto his back. "Well give me points for trying." He huffed.
"I know." Erza slowly went to her side, laying besides Nic. "But hearing you call me beautiful makes it worth it."
Nic said nothing. Hearing her acceptance made him sigh in relief.
"You know, if we're going to be making comparisons…then if I'm your beautiful moon, then that makes you my radiant sun."
Nic rolled his head to stare surprised at Erza.
"You give a world a sense of warmth, even when you are blocked by clouds, people still know you're there. When the darkness swallowed the universe, wasn't it you that cast away that darkness with your warmth and light. You give lives meaning, and when you really try, you shine on those who really need it most…" her mature and supple lips formed a luscious smile. "A world just isn't the same without a sun, and a moon can't cast its light without the help of the sun. You help me with that, Nic. You're my light I look forward to seeing, everyday, whenever possible."
She hovered over Nic as she closed in, the two sharing another soft, long kiss. Once satisfied, Erza pulled away with an alluring smile. Nic shared that same one before he faced the moon.
"Thanks Erza. That really means a lot." His confidence rising again, Nic looked deeper o the basking white radiance above. "You know, I think I know how we'll win them over tomorrow."
The two laid there, ignorant of the cold as they snuggled up together to bask in the moonlight in peace.
Over one of the bridges that connected the two sides of the canal together, Joey was leading the pack with spirited strides as he had a big smile and hands behind his head. "Man, they actually have pretty good sushi here, huh?" he chimed.
"Yeah, it was good." Dereece said. "But you have any idea how much that cost?"
Joey did an eyeroll. "Yeah, I just figured that out when I paid the bill."
"Again, that was me who paid that bill." Dereece chimed.
"Okay. I get it. No need to be a drama queen, Dereece. We get it. Yeesh." Dismissing his friend's bantering, Joey looked ahead. "So you guys wanna find where a dance club here is?"
"Why would we do that at this time?" Duncan chided.
Joey stopped in his tracks, sassily craning his neck. "Boy, do you not know me by now? There is never not a time to get some funky hunky down. Just ask Dereece." He said, pointing at him.
"For him, yeah." Dereece muttered despondently at Duncan.
Joey turned away happily again. "Good, now that we got that settled, let's go find some pla-a-aaaa…" he slowly trailed off again as he froze in place. His teammates behind looked at him confusedly before they saw Joey staring at someone heading their way from the other end of the bridge.
There, slowly walking in the basking moonlight, two guards followed behind a woman around their age with long purple hair as before. The very same one that Joey saw on their way inside. Joey could see even inside the moonlight, she looked even more beautiful.
"G-guys. Guys!" he harshly whispered. "Are you seeing this?!"
Dereece was taken back by his friend's harsh tone. "Yeah, I can see alright."
"T-that's the girl from the canal earlier." He pointed to. "S-she's coming this way! What do I do?!"
Duncan, clearly not interested, turned away. "Why ask me? I'm not a love expert."
"D-Duncan!" Joey turned towards Dereece. "Uh…Dereece, quick! I gotta do something! Uh…get a beat going!"
"You sure you're alright?" Dereece almost immediately regretted because of the desperate plea in Joey's eyes. He looked at the incoming girl of luscious form and knew better then to argue. He groaned as he reached and pulled out the boombox again. Once set, he pushed the button.
[Darude – Sandstorm]
The music was loud, loud enough to alert the purple-haired girl and her entourage of something ahead of them. When the girl got closer, she saw someone dancing on the side of the bridge.
The blonde-haired boy with admittedly large earrings and blue eyes was wearing a magenta coat with black spots and black fur lining. He was dancing to some electronic music, his body being rather stiff. When she stopped to take a look at him, she could see that he was more like doing the robot, with each stutter in the beat making him stutter and stiffen.
She paused as Joey was beginning to quicken the pace and little as he was jogging in place, rolling his arms and hands until he put them both up in combat position, but his arms started moving like fans with his breathing and stare fixed on her. He shuffled left and right, like an electric mambo or noodle. It was hard to tell, but he was really trying with each robotic nudge in front of her.
Once the song had reached its peak to a stop, Joey held his position, breathing lightly despite the small beads of sweat of his face. The air had gotten a little too subtle for everybody's liking as Dereece and Duncan were off t the side, trying to act invisible to Joey creating raw stupidity.
Joey panted as the song was over, but he cocked his brow at the girl alluringly. "Slick, right?" he asked dumbly. "I've been working out."
He dumbly gave a toothy smile at the girl, earning a facepalm from Dereece. Duncan showed nothing.
Realizing he may have came off strong, Joey looked around wearily and whistled nonchalantly. He saw that the girl didn't even seem at all fazed by his showoff, but she wasn't saying anything either. "Uh…o-okay. I uh…guess we should be going now." Very awkwardly, he slipped away from her. "Uh, l-let's go guys~. We're very busy and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." He shrunk to the distance, almost out of earshot for the girl. "You know! Because it's not like we were busy at all! Yeah! HAHA! Yeah…yeah…"
With Joey shuffling away, he took off in embarrassment, and Dereece and Duncan looked at each other again despondently before facing the girl.
"Sorry about that." Dereece apologized. "He can be a little…eccentric."
The girl nodded politely. "It's quite alright." She replied, but suddenly her guards stepped forward. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I have to go. I promise I can pay your friend later." She grinned as the guards escorted her passed Dereece and Duncan, making sure to leer at them in threatening warning. They maintained a safe distance until the girl was finally out of reach.
"Uh…okay then!" Dereece shouted. Once she was out of sight, he finally realized something. "Wait…WE'RE NOT STREET PERFORMERS!" he shouted annoyingly across the district.
Duncan started walking away, finally losing his interests. "No, but apparently the Captain is." He scoffed.
With the team having turned in, Dereece facepalmed. "Oi vey."
Inside the temple-like estate that Isaac was in, the place was surprisingly desolate at this time of night. Isaac was looking out the massive vaulted window of his own home was he frowned towards the moon. While others were embracing the moonlight with beauty, all he saw was something that he dreaded.
In the shadows behind him, a pedestal with a communication lacrima beeped. Without having to look, he looked expectantly ahead as the screen in the darkness illuminated, revealing someone's face.
"Good evening, Sir Farlock." A male voice greeted darkly.
Isaac sighed angrily as he faced forward sternly, away from the chastising voice that's been bothering him, even in his sleep. "Hello…Emmanuel." He begrudgingly greeted.
"Oh come now." Emmanuel swooned. "Don't be like that. If you're going to talk to someone, at least have the guts to face them."
Isaac reluctantly turned around, staring coldly but calmly into the face of the lacrima. Inside was an image of a middle-aged man, possibly no older than him, if not in his early 50s. He had no hair, meaning he was bald, but he had a dark goatee and moustache combo with slick dark eyebrows with equally dark eyes. He had on a primarily black coat and armor with red patches and accents on them. He seemed to be sitting down with an Arcanine by his side that he petted.
The man smirked. "Ah, there's that face I haven't seen in a while." He chimed. "You have no idea how much I've missed seeing you."
Isaac wasn't sitting around. "What do you want, Emmanuel?"
Emmanuel put his hand up in innocence. "Calm yourself, brethren." He insisted. "Why, I'm just checking up on you is all. After all, we still have an agreement, do we?"
Isaac's eyes narrowed. "I'm aware."
"Is that so?" Emmanuel questioned. "So then, I take it that you're still at odds with these Pokémon? You know, they're not bad once you get to know them. Isn't that right, Arcanine?" The humungous creature gave a knowing bark as if he somewhat agreed, wo which Emmanuel continued stroking his fur. "You see? So tell me, why is it so hard for you to just open those borders to let these creatures in?"
Isaac turned around, clearly not wanting to hear from him anymore. "You know exactly why, Emmanuel. You don't have to remind me."
"That so?" Emmanuel frowned. "Then you tell this, Farlock, if I am aware of this, then how come you fail to come to terms? We have a deal."
Isaac's teeth began gritting. He was starting to fume in frustration, but he'd rather not see his acquaintance see his stoic expression turning sour.
"It's been 6 years, Isaac, and I have paid my half in full. Just how long do you intend to hold out my patience for anyway?"
Isaac strained to find an answer. "…as long as it takes." He coldly replied. "As long as I don't stoop to your levels, I will keep this nation the way it should be. Safe."
Despite the rebuff from Isaac, Emmanuel looked amused. He darkly smirked as he chuckled. "You can continue playing this little waiting game for as long as you'd like, Farlock, but we both know you can't hide forever. You and I both know what happens when I find out that you're holding out on me any further."
"I'm not."
"…not yet anyways." Emmanuel smirked. "I won't wait around forever. Continue testing my patience. See where that gets you then…goodnight, Farlock."
The lacrima turned off, leaving the message to sink into Farlock's skull. He continued staring up at the moon with cold eyes, colder than they were minutes before the "friendly reminder". He sighed heavily as a wave of dejection overwhelmed him.
"Why did this have to happen?"
From the crook in his door, the sound of footsteps could be heard as someone was seen inside. "Father…"
Hearing a familiar voice, Isaac turned around, seeing a purple-haired woman who looked at him concerningly. "Camilla." Gasping, he adjusted and calmly straightened. "I see that you've come home, safe and sound."
The daughter nodded and stepped inside. "Yes, I've come home."
"…you were late." He scowled. "By five minutes." He raised a brow to her. "So tell me, what nuisance of an excuse made you late for your curfew…again."
Camilla mulled over that boy who danced in front of her, showing off his slick moves in flashy display. She kept a straight face. "It's nothing, Father."
"Was it a mage?" he coldly asked, his eyes piercing icicles into her eyes. "What have I told you about mages?"
Camilla nodded. "I know, Father. But I wasn't certain…he was possibly just a street dancer looking for some loose change."
Unaware as much as Camilla was, Isaac seemed to have bought it. He turned around and faced the moon once more. "I see…"
Camilla could clearly see the distaste in Isaac's tone, even more so on his face. It was clear to her something else went awry today. "Father…was it him?"
Isaac gravely sighed once more, giving a dead giveaway to the answer Camilla needed to know. "There's no need to fret, Camilla. I'll make sure they never touch you." He declared. "That's a Father's job. Now, go get some rest."
Camilla frowned. She didn't know what to say, but she didn't hold onto her Father's words. She couldn't feel such promise emanating from such a chilled tone. "I will. Goodnight."
She walked out of the room, walking into the shadows with a worried frown as the door remained cracked. Isaac continued staring at the moon, his stern, stubborn traditional look fixed.
Underneath that same kind of moonlight, the Fiore Mages were back in their inns. In Nic and Erza's bed Erza was sprawled on Nic's side while Nic was sleeping soundly, the skylight directing the full moon onto his sleeping face.
The few rays of daybreak shined over the tundra's glaciers as light refracted into bright rays. The frozen water shimmered as sunlight peered over the horizon as dawn approached.
In front of Isaac's province, all the mages were gathered by guards that escorted them from their district to the capital estate. There at the top of the stairs, Isaac stared at his challengers with cold glares. Besides him, Camilla was staying perfectly still, seeing her father's challengers come as well.
Joey's eyes widened when he saw Camilla again. "Wait…what is she doing here?" he gasped. When he looked towards Isaac, he started getting a very bad suspicion as they held the same posture. "…oh." He gulped.
"Oh boy." Dereece groaned.
Isaac slowly made way down the steps, observing everyone suspiciously. "I see that you all have made it on time…surprisingly." He admitted. "I thank you once again for giving me such a plentiful experience."
"The honor is all ours." Erza replied, sharing the same impatient tone.
Noting to the point, Isaac moved right along. "Now then, to whom shall be my adversary for this challenge?"
Among the many mages present, there were a few ready to take this arrogant snob down a peg. However, stepping up calmly, Vanessa made her way to the front to the edge. She took the position and stared back at Isaac. "If it's alright, I would gladly accept your challenge." She answered.
Isaac raised a brow. "You?"
"Wait, Vanessa's gonna battle?" Lucy inquired.
"Wow, that's a surprise." Happy noted. "I would've pegged Nic would crush him or something."
"Oh don't worry about our girl." Cana winked in a hint, earning questionable looks from the others.
"Believe me, I think Vanessa knows what she's doing." Sophie beamed. "I wouldn't question her just yet."
Wendy looked ahead concerningly. "Yeah, okay…" she balled her fists and looked prepared. "C'mon, Vanessa. Show'em." She eagerly said.
"We're counting on you, Vanessa." Nic told his sister. "Remember why we're here."
Looking calmly back and smiling, Vanessa's smirk was all that was needed to tell everyone she knew. "I'm aware." She looked ahead. "And I'll be sure to show him that too."
"GO VANESSA-SENPAI!" Joey eagerly cheered, waving his arms around maniacally. "GET THAT JERK! SHOW HIM WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH A PULARIS!"
"Not so loud there, Joey, yeesh." Levy veered away. His obsessions needed to be toned down some.
Isaac overlooked Vanessa with conspicuous interest. "So you're my opoonent?" Isaac scoffed. "What's this? Are the mage men of very poor lack?"
"Say what?" Natsu growled. Once again, Lucy held him back.
Juvia, Cana, and Sophie all shot leers at Isaac. He clearly ignored them.
"My apologies. I wasn't aware you were picky with whom you'd prefer to pick on." Vanessa chimed, though she did her best to dismiss the sexist taunt. "Am I to say that I'm not to your standards?"
Isaac cocked a brow as he scoffed. "Nothing gets pass you mages. It's only fair that two men to agreement in battle than rely on another partner to fight in their stead." He shot a look at Nic, who was the sole reason for all this.
"And last I checked, we didn't agree that I would be your opponent." He reminded. "Isn't that right?"
Isaac lightly scoffed. "So be it." He stared at Vanessa. "But do try not to dismay me so soon. It'd be a shame if I went too harshly on such a supposedly strong feminine figure."
A tick mark grew on all the females present as a dark aura radiated above them. It was taking Dereece everything he had to hold Joey down from wanting to beat up Isaac. Camilla herself lightly coughed.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Vanessa replied calmly, defending the challenge without rebuff.
Isaac glanced over, seeing several guards bringing something that was on all fours heading his way. "Now then, your opponent…"
Everyone turned as well, all of them fixated on a less than cordial sight to behold.
It was taking four men that were barely on their heels as they withheld chains that connected to a muzzle laced around a massive polar bear-like creature with an icy-like beard. The Ice-type looked well agitated as it was being tugged by the guards, its forepaws dug into the ground every other step, meaning some signs of resistance.
A guard tugged harder. "C'mon, move it. Just up here." He and the others nearly dragged the creature to the center. "Don't make it any harder for yourself now."
The muzzled bear shook its head to try and pry the chains off, but it soon relented, continuing to follow to the center with the four guards at each corner.
"A Beartic." Nic said neutrally.
"A what?" Natsu questioned.
Gray gave a focused look on the Beartic in front of them. He pulled out his PokeDex and analyzed the icy beast for himself.
"Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon. It freezes its breath to create fangs and claws of ice to fight with. Cold northern areas are its habitat."
Gray's face contorted with the information given, hints of curiosity on his face shown. "So it fights with ice too, huh? Interesting…"
"What do you think Vanessa's going to use?" Lucy questioned.
"Beats me, but whatever it is, she better pick something big to match that kind of raw muscle." Cana said.
Vanessa reached down to the belt hanging from the side of her hip, plucking out a Poke Ball. She went and tossed it skywards. "Go!"
The capsule went flying open, summoning forth Vanessa's Mawile. The Deceiver Pokémon had her horns facing the humungous bear with her taunting smirk behind. "Somebody called me?" she chimed.
"Mawile." Erza identified. "Interesting. So Vanessa's going with type advantage on this one."
Nic remained sturdy. "This is Vanessa; she isn't just relying on type alone. Mawile may not have much physical strength the way she does normally…" Nic glanced ahead, focusing on the battle. "But we'll see how she uses her moves."
Duncan remained very much quiet. He was paying full attention.
Seeing Vanessa's Mawile, Joey was trying really hard to not hyperventilate, but it was getting to be too much for him. "T-t-that's Vanessa-senpai's Mawile! Her Mawile!" he pointed out. "Dereece, where's my camera! I need my camera! I need it for the scrapbook!" Of course knowingly, Dereece eyerolled.
The four guards all carefully unchanged Beartic's muzzle, weary of his many harsh claws. Once the chains and clicked the Beartic's muzzle dropped to the ground. Immediately the bear growled and the men backed away. It looked ahead to recognize that it had opponents waiting.
The bear slowly arose on his hind legs, taking a massive stature that would put even Elfman to shame. It growled down at Mawile. "Who're you supposed to be?" he scoffed.
Mawile flicked a lock of hair on her toss. "Your worst nightmare, what else?" he teased.
Beartic glared menacingly. "We'll see about that."
Isaac looked far from impress, and he wasn't afraid to say it. "If that's what you choose, so be it. But don't think you will be taken likely because you're a small fry."
Hearing the insult, Mawile turned around to face them both, though she didn't seem too happy. "Big words coming from an ogre." She mocked back.
Isaac's brow twitched in spite. "I would've thought you mages would teach these things some manners. I'll have to it myself. Now, go! Attack!" he ordered.
The Beartic released a powerful roar that made the land beneath tremble from the pressure. His body shined a vibrant blue aura as clouds above began to cover the battlefield overhead. The dark clouds hovered, leaving everyone confused.
"What the heck?" Natsu questioned before something dropped on his head. "Ow! What the-?!"
Looking all around, everyone saw that it was beginning to lightly hail across the plaza. Small pelts of ice fell from the cloud onto the battlefield, forcing Mawile to use her horns and shield herself from the chunks buffeting her.
"Hail?!" Lucy gasped.
"Just like Gray's Snover." Wendy realized.
Gray nodded. "Yeah…and I get the feeling that Vanessa's gonna be in trouble." He was speaking out of experience with using his Snover before. Hail was cumbersome for others that weren't Ice-type after all. But he remembered when he lost to Lucy awhile back. That didn't mean he didn't held faith.
"Stay calm, Mawile." Vanessa said.
"Yeah, yeah. I know." Mawile grunted, looking around. "Now where's that big tub of…!" She felt a chill from behind and turned around, seeing that Beartic was already there. Before she realized it, Beartic began slammed his fist into her backside with a shrilling roar. Mawile screeched as she flipped in midair, barely catching herself in a slide back.
Beartic returned on all fours, exerting a brutal roar as he began repeatedly punching at Mawile, whereas the tiny creature was bracing for the blows.
"That looks like Thrash." Nic said, though by the tone, it wasn't one of worry.
As Beartic's next big strike came, Vanessa timed it as soon as the fist reached its peak. "Mawile, Protect!"
With a scoff, Mawile brought up a translucent turquoise shield as Beartic pounded furiously into the barrier. The fists rained down as a furious bellow from the wild bear shrilled through hear canals all around. "C'mon, that all you got?!" Mawile taunted.
Beartic's fuming only enraged as he continued the barrage, only with nothing getting through. Each fast blow only ended in failure and soon enough he relented. Mawile lifted her barrier, where some ice pelted her, inflicting damage.
"Is that the best you can do?" Isaac taunted Vanessa. "As you can see, the Pokémon we've held are aware of what they need to-!" He stopped when he noticed Beartic was looking disoriented. He shook his head, grunting in a haze. "What's this?"
Vanessa watched as Beartic was shaking his head, a distressed look in his eyes. He grunted as he banged his head against the ground, hitting himself repeatedly.
"What's the matter with you?" Isaac shouted.
"It's an effect that Trash has." Erza explained to her friends. "When the move ends, the user in turn suffers fatigue, and that can lead to confusion."
"Just like Vanessa's Krookodile with Outrage." Sophie recalled.
Seeing an opportunity in the hail, Vanessa took the shot. "Use Iron Head!" Mawile rushed in across the plateau towards the disoriented Beartic, taking a lunge at the last footstep to get above and brought her horns back as they shined brightly. With a strong cry, she swung them down over Beartic's head, sundering him with force that depressed the ice beneath him.
"Alright!" Happy cheered.
Isaac grunted at the repercussion taken. He watched his Beartic stammer back up, a hazed look in the eyes still as it didn't seem to recognize anything. He wasn't like that. He knew what he was doing…or at least, that's what he believed. He reached out confidently. "Attack!"
In Beartic's ears, it sounded like a muffle, but he heard and roared. He raised his head high, sending Mawile into a spin into the air. With her midair, he opened his maw and expelled an intense icy blizzard that exploded into a subzero maelstrom. The cold rush immediately enveloped Mawile and she was blown back towards Vanessa by the shockwaves into the ground.
Vanessa glared forward, recognizing the attack. 'Blizzard.' She realized. 'It never misses in Hail. This Beartic may be wild, but it's very experienced.' She looked down at Mawile as she staggered back up, wincing from the hail damage. 'Attacking head on won't benefit. We'll have to find another weakness.'
Isaac smirked. "Troubled are we?" he reached out. "Attack again!"
The wild Beartic's head shook about, the confusion still active. He grunted as he opened his maw as a light blue aura enveloped his whole body. He pulled the head back as a spiraling frost began to generate from inside.
"That looks like Sheer Cold." Nic said, containing any surprise from such a high-levels move it had.
Vanessa reached forward again. "Protect!"
Beartic's wide maw shut for a moment, making light beams shimmer from the cracks. He got on all fours and shot out a sheer bright blue beam with frost racing along its edging. That same beam caused so much frost that instant stalagmites of ice formed as it traveled towards Mawile. Mawile brought up the shield again, defending herself from the intense attack. The blue beams separated upon impact, diverging into streams that froze everything that it touched. Ice stacks appeared around Mawile as she was gritting her teeth.
Vanessa's hair shifted through the cold winds, with a stray beam heading her way. Using her magic, she created a small wall of teal aura that blocked the beam's tracks. With her and Mawile both on defense, they both looked at each other, their eyes meeting in expectant behavior. Together, they hatched an idea.
"Mawile."
Protect lifted, leaving nothing but cold air again as hail did even more damage. "I gotcha girl."
Beartic shook his head, his beady eyes returning to sanity. "Gnnngh…what the…?" he looked ahead, seeing Mawile as his opponent again. When he processed it, he glared and suddenly sped across the ground in a flash.
"Woah, that's fast!" Natsu gasped.
"For a big guy, yeah!" Gray exclaimed.
Beartic's Ability, Slush Rush. Thanks to it, Beartic was blitzing left and right, until he finally closed the gap with a fist, via Thrash.
"Crunch!" Vanessa commanded.
Beartic roared as his fist came down, but Mawile rushed at him, barely rolling pass the fist and tumbled between the legs. As she slipped beneath, she anchored her jaws with the move and snapped on the knee, making Beartic scream as Mawile unhooked herself and got to midair. But Beartic winced and swatted her away in frustration, but not without a blue aura lowering his Defense.
Mawile grunted as she used her open jaws to bite at the ground. She broke her way through spare icicles still engraved from Sheer Cold, until one finally stopped her slide. She grunted as even more hail fell down on her.
"Finish this mediocre at once!" Isaac ordered. "Do it, and you shall be freed."
Beartic was tempted. He stomped on over and glared down at the Mawile pinned against the icicle. She didn't look all that impressive, and he wasn't too enthused by the damage taken. "Nothing personal." He scoffed before opening his maw. Inside swirling energy began to manifest into frost and bright blue energy.
"Vanessa!" Dereece shouted. Beside him, Joey was on the verge of a heart attack. Duncan's eyes narrowed as he inspected the battle with suspicion.
As Beartic readied his final move in hopes of ending it, Vanessa times it just right. "Now!"
Mawile grunted. "About time!" She pivoted in place, swinging her horns around and biting off the icicle that they were pinned against. She threw it into Beartic's maw, making him bite down on it and caused his attack to explode inside his maw. The frosted explosion swallowed Beartic in a cloud of mist and frost.
"What?" Isaac gasped.
Cana smirked. "Now that's a mouthful. That's our girl!"
"She waited at the last second to find an opening for the mouth, clogging up the attack." Sophie indicated as she saw the frost clear, revealing Beartic stammering backwards. "That's using experience."
Beartic gagged as ice and frost was coughed up. He fell onto his back with a pained thud. He laid there, trying to catch his breath, but when he looked up, something bright was seeping through the clouds. The position he was in made him visible to sunlight as Hail dissipated. His advantages lost and distracted by the sun, Mawile jumped overhead and came down.
Vanessa gave the command. "Iron Head!"
Mawile flipped constantly as her metallic horns shined. She cried out as she slammed her horns full force onto a shocked Beartic's chest. The impact created an intense crater that made ice levitate off the ground momentarily as frost and ice erupted from their position.
Isaac gasped in horror at what he was witnessing. As the settlement showed, he saw the Beartic had swirling eyes, with Mawile standing proudly on his chest. She scoffed lightly. "And people say I'm cold." Ending the battle on that note, she turned away.
Nic grinned. "Look like that's that."
Dereece took an intense sigh of relief. "Man, glad that's over. I nearly got a heart attack there. Joey…Joey? Joey!"
On the ground, Joey had a big smile on his face as wavy tears fell from his face. He looked so happy that he was crying. But his chest was in pain it seemed. It was another Joey breakdown of ecstasy. "Bless this day." He sniffled. "THANK YOU!" he screamed to the heavens.
"She won! Vanessa actually won!" Lucy shouted, double high-fiving Wendy in cheers.
"Well that was crafty." Cana winked. "Girl had me on my toes."
Isaac looked down at the ground, completely puzzled by this phenomenon. He was in disbelief by being defeated fair and square for one thing, but beaten by a girl was just insult to injury. Just watching Vanessa praise and telling Mawile she did a good job made him all the more annoyed.
"Father." Camilla looked concerned.
Isaac looked far from happy as he began approaching the Fiorians. He cast them all a panel glare at them, showing them his deep loathe. He looked back at his daughter, who was right behind him with a concerned look. He thought back to the conversation he had with her last night. He was going to protect her. No matter what.
An eerie silence fell across the area, leaving a cold breeze to pick up on his chill.
He sighed. "Get that thing out of my sight. It's no use to us." He told the guards. He turned and gave them all a harsh glare. "And with these mages, do the same."
"Say what?!" Natsu yelled. "You bastard, you…!" he began approaching him with deep ire, but thankfully for all of them that Lucy held him back.
"Natsu, just wait!" Lucy insisted.
The guards began to envelop their perimeter, pointing magical spears at them. "I'm sorry about this." One said. He began to approach, but they were all stopped when they thrust their spears, but they shattered in midair upon hitting something solid. All the guards gasped as they looked at their spears, which were broken-tipped. They all looked forward, stupefied by what looked like a turquoise dome around the Fiorians.
"What?!" another gasped.
Camilla's eyes were wide as she looked at Joey using his magic. She blinked in surprise at the revelation. 'Wait…' she recalled the man that she saw last night trying to woo her. Instantly it clicked. 'You mean, he really was a mage?'
Joey stood in front, looking angrily at them. "Sorry, but scum like you aren't even worth Nic and Vanessa-senpai's time!" he roared.
"Joey?" Dereece gasped.
"You've made an agreement with us that you would hear us out. First you have the audacity to scoff Vanessa-senpai, and now you're cowering away because you're a sore loser?" He recalled how Duncan berated him the other day. He really didn't own up to his mistakes until too late. "You're not a man at all."
Isaac's eyes narrowed at the lack of respect given towards Joey specifically. "You punkish outsider."
"Better a punk than a coward who hides behind walls all day."
Before Isaac could make a witty retort, a menacing roar shrilled the air. He and everyone looked over to see bodies flying off of Beartic. The massive white bear was agitated. Men were trying to muzzle him, but they only ended up being swatted away by the bear's annoyance.
"Get that deathtrap away from me!" he swatted another man with a chain, sending him on his back.
Isaac moved to get a chain and handle the problem himself, but when he reached for one, he was cut off when a paw stepped in front of him. Looking up, his face was painted in a show of fear upon seeing Beartic glaring him down. The massive tundra bear looked far from pleased with how he was treated, and he wanted to make Isaac understood his pain.
"You…you stay away!" he ordered.
The Beartic opened his maw, inhaling to make icy spirals circulated inside. The temperature dropped drastically as Isaac was too paralyzed to move.
"Father!" Camilla shouted.
All Isaac saw was a blast of bright blue that he flinched from. He prepared for a fitting end being frozen in fear, but he didn't feel a thing. When he looked at himself, he realized he wasn't frozen. Instead, he looked up, his eyes widening in shock.
Beartic's blast was unleashed…in the wrong direction. The beam was blown right over his head into the atmosphere. It dissipated to thin frost, while Beartic himself was restrained. The tundra bear was held at the shoulders by sharp fins and claws hooked around him. When he looked back, a Garchomp was holding him back with a cold glare.
"That's enough." The voice coming from the side alerted Isaac. He turned and saw Nic standing a few meters away.
"Nic?" Wendy gasped.
Dereece's eyes widened. "But wait, I thought Joey…" When he turned to where Nic was supposed to be, he saw a large hole. He saw another hole outside, making the connection. 'So he tunneled underneath!'
"Hmph, good thinking." Duncan shrugged.
Nic slowly walked between a shaken Isaac and the struggling Beartic. The man was scared out of his heels, making Nic look towards Garchomp. He gave the Pokémon a nod, and Garchomp understood. He unhooked the bear, making him go on all fours again as he slowly approached Nic.
Nic held his ground as Beartic closed the distance. Isaac was stunned as he was balling his fists to attack, but Nic began talking.
"I know change can be scary. Believe me, it's not easy." Without hesitation, he stepped forward, giving Beartic a calm but also sympathetic look. The two shared a stare down and Beartic's growling began to simmer by Nic's relaxed tension. Nic slowly reached forward, gently stroking the top of his head. "It's not easy accepting things you're familiar with…but treating them always as outsiders is the same as pushing others away."
Isaac gritted his teeth. He refused to admit to this fault. Nic glowed and became his Mind Form in front of everyone's eyes.
"But you know…maybe for once, you need to think in another perspective." His hands began glowing two orbs; one that he reached for Beartic's head, and another for Isaac's chest.
"What are you-?!"
"Just stay calm…Heart Swap!" Nic's eyes flashed pink, allowing everything in their psyches to completely go black.
Beartic and Isaac both went stone cold as they began to feel themselves distort. 'What's happening…? Why do I feel so…?' When he blinked, he realized something was off. He gasped, finding himself looking down, he was on all fours, and the white fur surprised him. When he looked up, he was shocked when he saw himself. 'Wait…is that me?'
Beartic was also completely surprised as well, but neither could say anything. But through Nic, they were feeling the other's emotions, seeing everything they saw. But more importantly, this same feeling both had…fear.
Contempt. Anguish. Confusion. All these mixed emotions that they were both sharing that Nic was transmitting they were feeling. And yet Beartic felt it, the fear of the outside world that Isaac kept shut. And Isaac could see through Beartic's eyes, the imprisonment of people when he just wanted to find a home.
When these emotions were fully sunk in, both started to look a little guilty. Nic finally let up his move, reverting them both to their own minds. Both of them were completely stuck in place to process everything.
"Father!" Camilla rushed over to Isaac, seeing his distraught look. "Father, are you alright?"
Isaac looked like he was ignoring Camilla. He was so warped on that inverted feeling as he looked down at his palm. It was shaking, trembling in shock.
"I know what it's like to not accept change."
Beartic and Isaac snapped out of their shock when Nic began talking again. Garchomp regrouped with Nic from behind. Nic gingerly scratched his neck from over his shoulder.
"You don't want to accept it because it's not something you're accustomed to. Nobody likes to do something they don't know. Sometimes the appeal just comes off the wrong foot. When I first came to this world, I didn't know a thing either."
Isaac frowned as he turned away. He looked displeased with where Nic was going with this.
Nic continued. "But I found people that were willing to embrace me than to cast me aside because I wasn't one of them. But now look." He looked over to Fairy Tail, specifically his wife he looked t him expectantly. "I always preferred being alone to, you know." This made Isaac gasp. "If you don't know something, don't be afraid to ask for help. It's not always fun when you're doing everything alone."
Isaac didn't know what to say. He was sullied greatly and made a mockery of himself in front of people who bested him. Here he was, being treated nicely, yet he deserved to be slammed to the ground. He suddenly felt a grip on his hand, making him turn to see Nic making him reach for Beartic's snout.
The backs of their minds were telling them to back off, but Nic's warm hands were alluring. Isaac oddly found himself looking into Beartic's eyes, both of them fearful and stoic at first, soon turning soft as their hands and snouts began to slowly touch.
When they touched, it wasn't like the other expected. Isaac expected a cold prickly snout that would freeze him. But no, this felt…still cold, but soft. Beartic felt this same feeling from another human hand. They both looked a little more relaxed.
"Just give it a try." Nic said. "We'll help you."
Isaac was complacently quiet about it all. He was stunned silent for a moment before he finally took a quick breath. He stepped away from Beartic as both backed away, though neither had the will to fight. Isaac looked towards Camilla just one last time, seeing the neutral look she had. He looked back at Nic to give him a serious look.
"…one." He started. "One chance. That's all that I'm giving you." He turned towards Camilla. "But make no mistake. If I find this to be a farce, I'll be very displeased."
Nic accepted the challenge. "That's fine with us. You have our thanks."
He and Isaac finally shook hands, their agreement finally acknowledged. Everyone smirked and liked where this was going. Camilla, however, still held a neutral look, like it didn't matter. In fact, she looked even more worried than before.
This didn't sit well this Jory as he stared at the beauty.
Erza smiled proudly with hands to her hips. "very well then. Looks like we've got work to do around here."
"Now we're talking." Natsu eagerly smirked.
"Aye!" Happy cheered.
The rising sun shined brightly on everyone that morning. It was probably the warmest day that Glacidia has felt.
The bright sun radiated down on another pupil elsewhere. Stepping onto a deck, trained soldiers all went in tandem with Fire-types beside them as they entered the last boat; the biggest boat on the dock. Once the last of them entered onto the deck, the general that was in charge of the shipping turned towards the loading area.
"That's the last of them." The general said. "We'll be leaving shortly."
"Good." A familiar voice came from the loading area. Walking up, the general and all the soldiers loaded saw their leader walk up with his Arcanine in tow. In his hands was a massive black cane with red accents, and at the tip of it was a massive red jewel the size of a bouncy ball. His black cape shifted in the winds as he stepped onto the deck, a proud smirk on his face.
This was Emmanuel, and behind him, soldiers of many sizes with the same armor and numbers on 100 different battleships were all waiting for his orders.
"Ready whenever you are, sir." The general stated. "The fleet is finally complete and ready to set sail."
"I know." Emmanuel said. "Those progress reports weren't wrong. Excellent job, General Bigge."
The general bowed in respects. "You're far too kind, sir."
Emmanuel walked closer towards the bow, getting an overview of the rising sun in their position. He could feel its warmth giving him confidence as the moon was to the back of his head. "It's time that we pay our old friend a nice, warm visit…set a course for Glacidia due north!"
All the ships began emitting smokestacks. Their coal inside was being shoveled in by soldiers while Torkoal, Slugma, Numel, and many more Fire-types were spewing fire or embers to get the flames going to power up everything.
"And General..." The ship general heard his name called. "You made sure he was set before departure?"
Bigge walked up beside him. "Rest assured, Emmanuel. He made himself perfectly prepared for this visit."
"Good." Emmanuel stroke Arcanine again, making the massive beat raise his head as his chin was scratched. "I'm sure they'll be delighted to see him so soon."
Farther out at sea, also heading north, a lone boat was sailing through the ever-shifting waves of the calm blue. It was vast now, but it was closing in on the cold waters farther up. On that one small black and red ship, there was a white accent like tiger fangs imprinted on the front. At the front was someone who had a straight posture as all that could be seen was a rude smirk. He looked like he couldn't wait to get to where he was going.
They've been very patient for their dues. And when one doesn't pay…that's when patience is tested. One side will break first. The question here is which side it will be.
Here you go guys, here's the start of the Glacidia Arc. I tried my very best to make it as condensed as possible, and I have to say that I feel quite proud of myself. Not so much action sadly as many of you would like, but plenty of buildup for the next 3-4 chapters. And, for good measure, I've added NicxErza fluff to add coziness to this winter season!
If you guys noticed, I've taken a little inspiration from watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was thinking about the North Pole Arc and I found a great idea to put a little Fairy Tail/Pokémon spin on the idea. As for the concepts I'm also incorporating, you'll just have to wait and see.
For now, I guess this is time for me to say thank you for everything guys. It's been a great year as of 2018, but for the rest of December, I'm going to be focusing on From Depths We Rise. So when this story picks up again next month in 2019, you'll be seeing more craziness from me. So for the Glacidia Arc, reviews are very much appreciated and until then! XD
