Mama Mirajane-33
"So this is the home of the Exceeds?" Scythe asked as he walked alongside Nida through the town of flying cats.
"It is. As you can see, we're a prosperous race, and are able to live in a society similar to those of humans." Nida stated escorting him through the crowds.
"Though I take it humans aren't all that popular up here?" Scythe inquired, noticing all the glares he was getting.
"I'm afraid so, in fact the only human remotely close to being liked by the Exceeds is the lost Prince of the kingdom below." Nida explained.
As they were walking through the town, Scythe was unaware of the shadow following them, before a rock hit him in the back of the head.
"Filthy human, leave this place." An Exceed shouted throwing another rock at him, as others joined in.
"You have no business being here."
As they continued throwing rocks, Nadi tried to reason with them, but it was futile as they didn't stop. One of the rocks that was thrown, came into contact with Scythe's skin, and burned him, with quite the visible mark. He looked down at the rock, and found it was a very familiar glassy volcanic rock.
"Obsidian?" Scythe questioned, before more obsidian was thrown at him, as the Exceeds noticed this had harmed him. Some of the shards imbedded themselves into his skin, while others had slid down his skin, leaving trails of burn marks, forcing him to his knees, as he didn't want to fight back and accidentally harm innocent Exceeds.
"THAT'S ENOUGH ALL OF YOU."
All the Exceeds stopped as they recognized the commanding tone of that voice, and froze when he came flying down, and stood between Scythe and one side of the angry mob. Standing there, Scythe nearly fainted, when he saw it was an Exceed that looked like Ichiya.
'This must be his Edolas counterpart.' Scythe thought, feeling the obsidian still within his body. 'Damn, obsidian must be negating my healing factor. Gotta get these shards out of me, before I'm poisoned by this volcanic mineral.'
"Have you people lost your minds?" Nichiya shouted. "The Queen has summoned this human to the royal palace, personally. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for harming a guest of her Royal Majesty."
Nichiya and Nadi helped Scythe to stand, as he still felt the sting of the obsidian entering his system, before Nichiya went back to reprimanding the Exceeds who had acted out against Scythe. As the duo continued to walk, Nadi seemed to be stumbling himself, as he had flown them both their all throughout the night, as Nadi had decided to take the flight as slow as possible, to let Scythe get used to someone else being the one to fly.
"Oh. Hey you've been flying all night, don't you wanna rest a bit?" Scythe asked, seeing Nida stumbling as he walked.
"I'll be fine, I assure you, besides you're injured." Nida stated. "Please, this way. We'll get those shards out and injuries treated as soon as possible."
"Not taking no for an answer." Scythe said, picking Nida up, much to his surprise, and put him in his shoulder, ignoring the pain from bending down and picking him up. "There, now you can rest your legs. Just direct me to where we must go."
"Thank you. I guess not all humans are so bad." Nida sighed, knowing it was no use to argue. So he began directing Scythe through the market, and into the royal palace, bringing him down the halls.
"So, I gotta ask, why do you call me Sire?" Scythe inquired.
"My apologies, but I am not allowed to divulge that information to you. Only the Queen may share that with you." Nadi exclaimed.
"Very well." Scythe said, accepting Nadi's answer.
"Don't look so upset, we're here." Nadi said as they approached a large set of doors, with an overly fancy design on it. "Guards." Nadi addressed jumping down from Scythe's shoulder. "Get the royal physician and get this human some treatment."
"Yes sir." One of the guards said, before leaving.
As the guard went for the royal physician, the other opened the doors for Scythe and Nadi. Upon entering the great hall, Scythe was amazed to find it was large enough to house more than five hundred toddlers, by his estimated guess.
Sitting at the end of the room, was a throne, with the queen sitting in it, a neutral look on her face with her eyes closed, as he proceeded to walk through to the queen, before kneeling in front of her.
"Greetings your grace, you wished to speak with me?" Scythe inquired.
"Yes, let us skip the formalities." Queen Shagot exclaimed. "You're presumably wondering why you're… young man, where did those injuries come from?" Shagot inquired opening her eyes to look at him.
"I apologize, but it would seem your people don't take too kindly to humans, or half-breeds, and proceeded to assault me with obsidian, which is negating my healing factor." Scythe explained.
"I've already called for the royal physician to come and tend to his injuries, Nichiya is delivering punishment upon the villagers for assaulting your guest." Nadi explained.
"Very well, with those worries taken care of, let's get down to business." Shagot said as the physician came in. "I summoned you here, because there is a, prophesy that concerns you young warrior."
"Great." Scythe sighed. "Apologies your majesty, but I'm not the type to follow through with stuff like that. As you're probably aware, I'm from Earthland, the world you sent all the Exceed young, before they hatched."
"Y-yes, we're aware of where you're from but how did you know about my plan for saving the Exceed's next generation?" Shagot inquired.
"It was simple to figure out…" Scythe began, flinching at the physician began pulling the shards of obsidian out with tweezers. "…once I had all the pieces to the puzzle. I have a few friends who are Exceeds that grew up on Earthland. One of which, happens to be well known in knowledge of her race, since she traveled the world, and ran into someone else who was from Edolas, quite a bit." Scythe stated referring to Jellal. "From there she learned about the Exceed race from him, but not much else. Then there was the Anima, and the Exceed species. Talking, flying cats, who have their own personalities, just like Happy, Velvet, and Carla. Then there were the rumors about your power, clairvoyance, which allows you to see into the future."
"I see. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together." Shagot sighed.
"So, this prophecy I'm in, what's it about?" Scythe asked.
"The prophecy you are a part of, was predicted by Queen Shagot herself, and we fear, we're nearing the prophecy's climax." One of Shagot's royal council exclaimed.
"The prophecy is one, where a being, a Prince of the Gods, neither man, nor beast, will come to Edolas, and save the Exceed race from extinction. The time of the prophecy, is to take place tomorrow evening." Shagot explained.
"I see." Scythe stated, as the physician put some herbal ointment on the areas he pulled the obsidian from. 'So that's why Nadi called me, sire. Guess it makes sense.'
"So I ask you, will you help protect the Exceed race from its extinction?" Shagot questioned.
"Your majesty, I promise you that your race will be saved from extinction, but I've got my own battles to fight at the moment." Scythe exclaimed flinching as the final shard of obsidian was removed from his body, before the final gauze patch was placed over the wound.
"Such as?"
"My friends and family were taken through the Anima, and turned into a giant lacrima. I battle the king's champions tomorrow, to win it all back." Scythe stated standing up, before stumbling, having to force himself to lean against a pillar, for supporting his weight. "Damn, guess I've still got some obsidian coursing through my veins. At least my wounds are healing, even if it's slowly."
"You're going up against the King's champions tomorrow?" The queen asked.
"I am." Scythe sighed.
"You mustn't, if you do, you'll surely die. All seven of his champions are monsters, they cannot die, and have been around for centuries." Shagot exclaimed. "If you die, then all hope for our race, is lost."
"I don't care if I die in the process. I'll just make sure that I don't." Scythe declared, his hand gripping the pillar he was leaning against.
"Please you must reconsider what you're going to do tomorrow…"
"I CAN'T." Scythe shouted, putting everybody on edge as his grip destroyed part of the marble pillar. "I can't give up. I've come this far to rescue my mom, my uncle, my whole family, including my sister. I don't have a choice but to fight to get them back." He stated, sounding calmer. "I don't wanna lose any more of my family. So I have to do this."
"I understand, then at least let us educate you on your opponents." Shagot said, seeing the pain and fire in his eyes. "It'll give you at least a fighting chance."
"I appreciate your help your majesty. But in reality, to beat a monster, you need a monster." Scythe exclaimed. "I know where I need to go in order to get what I need."
"Very well. Safe journeys to you, and may the odds be ever in your favor." Shagot smiled.
"Do you have the Hunger Games Trilogy in Edolas, or were you being serious?" Scythe asked.
"There are some rather interesting things that come through the Anima that aren't turned into lacrima." Shagot said with an amused smile.
With a smirk and a nod, Scythe left the royal palace of the Exceed, taking back his shirt, that had been repaired for him during the conversation, with a thanks to the exceed who had sewn it up. Before he exited the door, he did stop and without turning his head, spoke once more.
"Though, I suppose a little help won't hurt. What are the names of the King's champions, if you don't mind me asking?" Scythe inquired.
"Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Pride, and Wrath." Shagot stated. "As I said, they aren't human, they are homunculi."
"Artificial beings created without a soul, but can still interact like normal every day humans. I see. Thank you for inviting me your majesty, but I really must be going." Scythe stated, and in a shimmer of light, he disappeared, giving shock to the rest of the room.
"He is special indeed, I can see why he was chosen to be the Celestial Spirit King's Champion." Shagot chuckled.
~Royal Capital: Natsu's group~
"Mmm, morning Velvet, morning Carla." Wendy yawned, stretching out in bed, as she greeted her two fellow roommates.
"Morning Wendy, I trust you had an enjoyable rest?" Carla asked as Velvet handed the bluenet a cup of coffee with cream and sugar.
"I didn't actually. I kept worrying about Scythe and what he must be doing right about now." Wendy sighed.
"Which is why I called the front desk earlier to bring in some coffee grinds, that have extra strong with caffeine." Velvet stated as Wendy took a sip of her cup.
"Thanks Velvet."
Knock-knock-knock…
"I wonder who that could be." Velvet exclaimed going to the door. After peeking through the peephole, smiling at who she saw. "Well I'll be…"
"Who is it?" Carla asked.
"See for yourself." Velvet smiled opening the door.
"Yo shorty, how you doing?" Gajeel smirked walking through the door.
"Heya sis, glad to see you're not a giant lacrima." Miia smiled.
"Miia, Gajeel, what are you two doing here? How are you here?" Wendy asked, getting out of bed.
"We were sent here together by Mystogan, we met up with my Edolas counterpart, and he's doing a scoop on the fight tomorrow. When we saw the broadcast yesterday, we knew that Scythe had the highest chance of winning." Gajeel smiled.
"I wouldn't be too sure on that." Carla sighed.
"What do you mean?" Miia asked as Velvet closed the door.
"Natsu and Lucy went out a bit earlier, and let me borrow a book Natsu got for Lucy. This world might have finite magic, but it's got an unlimited amount of alchemy." Carla stated.
"Alchemy, you mean the science behind medicine?" Miia questioned.
"Correct. Here Alchemy is just as plentiful as magic in Earthland. Which means alchemic energy can be used to create, pretty much anything of either equal or lesser value. But there is one thing, that can be made, that is immortal, and undefeated. They bear the mark of the dragon eating its tail, the Ouroboros. These creations of alchemy, are known as homunculi." Carla explained. "It could be, that the reason behind the King's champions being unbeatable, is because they are homunculi."
"That's bad." Gajeel stated. "Very bad, and if that's the case, then things aren't looking too good for our champion."
"Care to enlighten some of us who are not clear on the science stuff behind homunculi?" Miia inquired.
"Basically, it means there's a good chance Scythe could have some trouble with fighting these guys, especially since they're immortal, and his power isn't what it used to be." Velvet explained.
"I see, but that's another thing I don't understand, Scythe's power not being as bulky as it was before, care to elaborate on it?" Miia questioned.
"All right, you know how whenever you use your muscles, they get stronger?" Gajeel asked.
"Yeah, I know that, magic is the same way." Miia stated.
"Right, well when Scythe was training with John, he locked his magic away, making it become weaker over the course of ten years on the fifth floor of the training grounds in the Celestial Armory." Gajeel explained.
"So basically, Scythe's magic got weaker, because he never relied on it, during his training with John Wick, and that is the reason why it's not the way it was before." Miia stated in understanding.
"Exactly. Now you're getting it." Gajeel chuckled.
"So, what do you think he's gonna do to prepare for the battle tomorrow?" Wendy inquired.
"Most likely, he's going to train and become stronger, as much as possible in his short amount of time before the battle." Velvet exclaimed. "You know how Scythe is when it comes to family, he's always willing to do whatever he can to help. But hey, at least Scythe will be happy to know you're not part of the giant lacrima."
"Yeah, he'll be so happy." Wendy smiled.
"Turns out, anyone with any type of Slayer Magic, or is originally from Edolas, can't be affected by the Anima spell." Gajeel stated. "Which is lucky for us. But now we gotta sit and wait for the battle tomorrow."
"I wonder what Scythe is up to right now?" Wendy inquired.
~Celestial Armory~
"Huh, who'd of thought I could still enter the Celestial Armory from Edolas." Scythe exclaimed walking through the halls.
"Of course you can. The Celestial Armory is in a location between worlds, or did you forget that?" Rin Tohsaka asked, hugging him from behind.
"Hi grandma, it's good to see you again." Scythe chuckled.
"How come you never come to visit more often? It's so unfair." Rin complained in a teasing manner.
"I'm sorry, with running a gym, and studying under Master Makarov to take over the guild, I'm swamped with work." Scythe exclaimed.
"Well, it doesn't matter right now. We have company. Come join us." Rin smiled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him to Shirou's study in the Celestial Armory, finding a couple faces he was not expecting to see there, sitting across from his grandfather drinking tea.
"Lucifer, Ms. Rarity, what are you doing here?" Scythe inquired.
"Well you see my boy, we came here for shelter until Magnolia is returned to its proper place in Earthland." Lucifer stated with a sigh. "I honestly have no idea what dear old dad was thinking by starting the apocalypse right then, but we weren't able to get to your family in time, so I just figured you'd bring them here yourself…"
"Indeed, it's honestly a hassle with having the all mighty creator as a father-in-law." Rarity exclaimed as she sipped from her tea.
"What's happened to Magnolia isn't his work." Scythe stated, causing Rarity to nearly choke on her tea.
"My dear boy what on Earthland do you mean?" Lucifer asked.
"Scythe, what are you talking about?" Rin asked.
"What's happened to Magnolia, is the work of a man known as King Faust in a world called Edolas." Scythe explained.
"Ah, Edolas, my father's first failed attempt at creating a world with unlimited magic in the atmosphere." Lucifer sighed. "Hold on a bloody moment how in hell's name can that be? Their magic resources are finite, and should be depleted to nothing any day now."
"For centuries, they have been using a spell called the, Anima, to steal entire nations of magic from other worlds, converting them into lacrima, and draining that lacrima of its power before the king stores away eighty percent of that magic power, and distributes the other twenty percent to his people, claiming it's all that they could get, but could last them for years to come." Scythe explained.
"Scythe, if what you're saying it true, then that would mean your mother, our daughter, is part of that lacrima." Shirou stated standing up.
"She is. I fight the King's champions tomorrow to reclaim all of Magnolia." Scythe stated.
"That might be a problem my dear boy." Lucifer stated, standing up and pulling a book from the bookshelf. "Edolas might be finite on magic, but they're more than overflowing with alchemic power. Centuries ago, about fifteen hundred years or so, a homunculus was created, not long after, a philosopher's stone was fermented and placed inside that homunculi's core. However, it wanted to be perfect, to reach my father's level of perfection. So it went about shedding its sins, creating each one incarnate, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Pride, and Wrath. Now Pride might be the oldest sin known to man, but Wrath is the strongest." Lucifer stated, handing the opened book turned to the pages, for Scythe to read.
"Yeah, Queen Shagot of the Extalia told me those were the names of the King's champions." Scythe explained.
"Indeed. You see not long after the homunculus, known to the others as, Father, had perished at the hands of a spry young alchemist, they were without a ruler, so they traveled across countries, and wound up serving the Royal Family in the Capital, for about a thousand years now." Lucifer explained.
"How was the Philosophers Stone created?" Scythe asked looking over the detailed illustrations of the seven homunculi.
"Sadly, that part is quite gruesome, some have been known to call it the, Devil's Work." Lucifer stated. "Which quite honestly I find offensive, since I didn't have a hand in the initial development of it at all, but I don't really care that much."
"How?" Scythe asked.
"It requires a complex transmutation circle, and human sacrifices. Why do you think in all the illustrations so far, the stone has been red? It's made with the bodies, blood, and souls of humans who were sacrificed." Lucifer stated.
"What about animals?" Scythe asked. "Has anyone ever tried to make one with animal souls?"
"No, but given what you're saying, theoretically, it could be done." Rarity stated. "Rin I hate to be a bother but…"
"Way ahead of you." Rin stated looking through an alchemy book. "According to this book, written by Edward Elric, every living thing has a connection to the Door of Truth, with the exception being the homunculi as they are artificial creatures, proving that if an animal were to gain the intelligence, and learn the basics, alchemy could be performed, by a non-human subject." Rin read aloud.
"The reason why humans are used as the main ingredient for creating the Philosophers Stone, is because of their connection to the Door of Truth, thus making the Philosophers Stone, the one thing able to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange that are learned through the basics of alchemy. Page 815 paragraph two." Shirou recited. "I memorized that book from cover to cover, and I must concur, that if we were to create a Philosophers Stone from animal lives instead of human, then it might just work."
"Unfortunately, none of us are skilled in the art of Alchemy." Rin stated.
"Ahem, did you forget who's in the room with you?" Lucifer asked. "I'm the devil, I know all, and I'm a master in the art of the Alchemic ways."
"So you can draw up a Transmutation Circle that can be used for creating a Philosophers Stone?" Scythe asked.
"Of course dear boy. Even one that far surpasses the original circle in design. All I'd have to do is make a few tweaks to make it compatible for animals instead of humans, and boom, we're in business." Lucifer smiled.
"I might have agreed with the theory, but I don't like it." Shirou stated standing up from his desk. "Using a Philosophers Stone corrupts the mind, rots the brain, and even devours the soul. I don't approve of you using one young man, even if it's to save our family."
"Then what do you propose I do?" Scythe asked with a sigh.
"Use a Reality Marble during the fight." Shirou stated.
"A Reality Marble. Shirou are you insane? Only summoned heroes of the past have that kind of power at their disposal, and even then the number of heroes who are able to do that are in the low single digits." Rin exclaimed. "Besides, even if he had the ability to do so, how would he?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Shirou questioned walking around his desk to stand directly across from Scythe. "He already knows the mantra. He just has to learn to unleash it."
"What?" Scythe asked.
"The mantra you do when you unlock the Grimm Reaper, is the mantra I used to activate my Reality Marble, Noble Phantasm. If you're able to use it to do that, then it's possible you have the ability to use my Reality Marble." Shirou stated.
"Come to think of it, that's true. Your grandfather has many different Noble Phantasms, which is uncommon for a summoned hero, but in his case it's normal, given the type of magic he wields. If you're able to use Unlimited Blade Works, than who knows what other kinds of Noble Phantasms you could be able to use." Rin stated.
"All right, but I need to learn fast, the fight is tomorrow." Scythe exclaimed, before he noticed someone was missing. "Hold on, where's Lucifer?"
"He left before he could hear what Shirou said about not liking the idea of you using a Philosophers Stone." Rarity sighed. "I swear it's as if no opinion but his matters. At least outside our relationship of course."
"Well, what are you waiting for then?" Rin asked. "Let's get you training on that Reality Marble. C'mon chop-chop times a wasting."
"This, should be interesting."
"I'll be right back, first I need to get your instructors." Shirou smiled before disappearing in particles of light.
"Where's he going?" Rarity asked. "Aren't you two going to teach him?"
"Apparently not. But I see where he's going with this." Rin stated.
"What do you mean?" Scythe inquired.
"In order to use a Reality Marble even a little bit, you need to be able to withstand the physical, and magical strain it puts on your body. Since you obviously don't need the training for the strain the Reality Marble puts on your magic reserves, you still need training for the physical strain it puts on your body, and Shirou is going to be bringing you those instructors." Rin explained.
"So, who are these instructors he's going to be working with?" Rarity asked, before four figures popped into the room in particles of light, one of them being Shirou.
"I guess there's three of them now." Rin exclaimed.
"No, there's still only two, this guy just insisted on tagging along. I had to call in a favor they owed." Shirou sighed, sitting back and relaxing in his wingback chair.
"So Emiya, where is this grandson of yours you said you wanted Grand-Torino and I to mentor?" The woman asked.
This is Nana Shimura. She is a fairly tall woman of a slender yet voluptuous frame, and at the same time, is well-built. She has fair-skin and has a small mole below her bottom lip, centered to the right, and sharp, intelligent eyes with quite long eyelashes. Her hair is dark and straight, kept shoulder-length with the exception of a clump of short bangs hanging above her forehead, and kept usually styled in a half-up-half-down bun.
Her hero costume consists of a dark, sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar, yellow elbow-length gloves, and white knee-high boots. Around her waist is a belt with an angular golden buckle, a small cape attached around the back which hung down to her knees, and over her shoulders is a longer cape, buttoned to the shoulders of her bodysuit. Breast Size: K-Cup.
"He's right over there." Shiro stated, pointing to Scythe.
"Hmm…" A rather fit looking man stated, eying Scythe up.
This is Sorahiko, better known as Grand-Torino. His attire consists of a full body monochrome, suit along with a yellow cape, a belt with the letter "G" on it, very thick yellow gloves and boots, and a dark domino mask which resembles two diamonds. He stands at roughly around 195cm, with the body to match, and has short grey hair, despite his age.
"Well, it seems like he's already well built, and is in tip top fighting shape, the scars on his body indicate a veteran of sorts, and if I had to take a guess, I'd say his body is 80% muscle." Sorahiko stated.
"Seventy-five actually." Scythe exclaimed, leaning away from him a bit.
"What exactly do we need to train him in? He seems like he doesn't need it." Nana stated, doing her own inspection of Scythe's physic, lifting his arms and everything. "Though to be honest, if I hadn't have found Toshinori already, I would have chosen him as my successor for One-for-All."
"Um, what?" Scythe asked, stepping back from them. "Hold up, are you telling me, you're Nana Shimura, current holder of One-for-All, you're Grand-Torino her lifelong friend, who I theorize has a crush on Nana?"
"This kid already knows about us?" Nana asked, as Sorahiko was blushing at the mention of his secret. "Oh please Sora, it's not like I haven't noticed the way you look at me." Nana stated, making him blush even harder. "I'm flattered, and maybe after we return home, we can go on a date."
"Believe it or not." Rin chuckled gaining their attention. "You three are nothing but fictional Characters in Earthland. Scythe is actually a big fan of the manga based off of Toshinori's hero career. Even uses Smash, after calling out the elements of his attacks, instead of giving his attacks actual names."
"Seriously?" Sorahiko exclaimed.
"So if she's Nana, and he's Grand-Torino, then that must make you, Toshinori Yagi, A.K.A All Might." Scythe exclaimed pointing to the third person there.
The third person that came with Shirou, Nana, and Sorahiko was a bit of a lean and well-built fellow, with blonde hair, standing at the height of Grand-Torino's shoulders, with a small smile on his face.
"That's me, I haven't even picked out my hero name yet, and I'm already famous from what I'm hearing." Toshinori chuckled softly.
"So, could you answer my question? What is it we're needing to train him on?" Nana asked turning to Shirou. "You said doing this would start off paying you back in terms of the favors we owe. So please explain."
"My grandson is going to be participating in a fight tomorrow, one that requires him to use one of my abilities, a Reality Marble." Shirou explained leaning forward, putting his elbows on his desk, like a headmaster at an academy would. "He's got enough power to maintain it for at least ten minutes in terms of magic, but in terms of his physical condition, his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain of holding it, while fighting at the same time."
"We have a level in the Celestial Armory's training coliseum that goes faster in time than in actual time. So training him in there for half an hour out here, would suffice for it." Rin stated. "If need be, we can do the training for longer."
"So what you're asking of me and Grand-Torino, is to put your grandson through hell?" Nana asked.
"Pretty much, just don't go overboard with One-for-All, we don't want to break him, and he needs to fight tomorrow to save the lives of countless people, who will die, if he fails." Shirou explained. "I'm begging you. Two of those souls, are our eldest daughter and our son. Scythe's mother and uncle. Please help my grandson to…"
"Stop." Nana stated, raising her hand. "All you had to do, was explain what the kid was fighting for. If the kid wants to train to be a hero, than by hell itself I'll grind those lessons into him if it's the last thing I do."
"Same here." Sorahiko stated with a firm nod.
"I have a feeling I'm in for a bad time." Scythe sighed.