Redemption V

by Goshinzilla

After her defeat at the hands of Noelle, Vanica had believed that she had discovered what true friendship was. Rejected by Noelle and betrayed by her own devil, the journey of Vanica should have ended there. Instead, she finds herself in a new world. However, this is NOT Fiore as most know it. What awaits Vanica within the Fairy Tail guild? Friendship and salvation, or rejection?

1. A World Without Grimoires

Hello dear readers, old and new alike, and welcome to my latest work, Redemption V! As you can probably tell, I got into Black Clover a few months ago and now I'm completely hooked on it as one of my favorite franchises in shonen jump. The way the cast is balanced and handled, to taking the best tropes of the genre while doing its own thing, it's become one of my all time faves, and I won't stand for any who call it a Naruto 'rip off'.

For those of you who are fans of Vanica or are a curious Black Clover fan, I welcome you. It's my first foray into this franchise, so I hope that it comes out all right despite this.

As for my fans from A Quincy's Fairy Tail, I hope that this story entertains you just as much as the main story has. I eagerly look forward to continuing this story and (eventually) adding into the lore/world of AQFT proper. I sincerely hope that you all enjoy this.

However, it was my intention to make this story engaging for non fans of AQFT as well, so if your here as a fan of just Vanica, have no worries. I plan to go into things so that newcomers such as yourselves can enjoy it as well. And who knows? Maybe this will convince you to check out AQFT for yourselves.

Anyways, I've wasted enough time. Lets get to it, shall we?

Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shönen Jump. Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata and Shönen Jump. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Weekly Shönen Magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.

---

This battle! This battle, it had been everything Vanica Zogratis could have ever hoped for!

Win or lose, victory or defeat, none of that mattered! If she won, she could goad her opponent into getting stronger. If she lost, she could simply grow stronger herself. The bloody dance would never, ever end! And that… that made it all so much fun!

Now there she laid, battered and beaten. But in spite of her injuries, or specifically, because of them, it was a look of glee that was plastered on Vanica's face, and the resulting joy she had experienced, was nothing short of orgasmic.

"That...was...amazing, Noelle!" Vanica exclaimed, eyes all a twinkle. "Is this...my chance to chase you? To grow strong, strong, strong!? And then when I get past you, you can chase me again!?"

Vanica smiled broadly, looking up at the saint that had brought her down. She could see it, the steely gaze in her eyes, the strength that exuded from her every being. The power behind the sword that hung over her head.

"Is this...friendship?!" Vanica asked, giving into temptation. " Are you my friend, Noelle!?"

How long had it been since she had felt this desire? Not since she had been a little girl, living in the outskirts of the royal capital along with her siblings. She had been denied it then, but now? Now things were different! Now she had someone strong! Someone just like her! Now she could-

"As if."

Noelle Silva, the saint looked down upon her though, and didn't even so much as shake her head, her words speaking louder than any action. "Do you think I'll be content if you're satisfied, Vanica? After everything you've done? You stepped on people for your own amusement without a care in the world. How could you expect me to be your friend? I'm going to end you now!"

That was when Vanica felt it.

Pain.

It was nothing like from a fist or a sword or a spell. Those were fun, proof that a battle was worth fighting.

This pain went straight to her heart.

The chase was never going to happen.

Ever.

But still...still, at least she was to fall in battle. She had felt this way once before, so long ago, her great power brought low by Acier Silva. Perhaps falling then would have been a worthy end, death in a bloody battle its own reward, but the Devil that dwelled within Vanica had denied her that, urging her to run. She had wondered if the Devil had cared for her...or simply sought its own preservation.

"You truly are an interesting woman, Vanica."

There it was, the voice of that Devil.

Of Megicula.

"However, this won't do. I will not let it end so cleanly for you or that Magic Knight's spawn!"

Vanica felt it then, another betrayal, this one from inside. Megicula's power burst from her skull then, the monstrous hellbeast growing out from her body and soul, taking on its hideous form. Black magic spread across Vanica's body, eclipsing her altogether until only her eyes could peer out.

"Lucifero and the others haven't noticed us. And there are souls of three vastly powerful mages of the same sex here. The preparations of my descent are all in place."

Vanica could see the look of horror on Noelle's face, though her eyes were not focused on her, but the Devil itself.

Megicula looked down on Noelle before it continued to speak. "I've been with Vanica for a long time, so I do…sympathize. However, once Vanica and Lolopechka die, my manifestation will be complete."

As Lolopechka began to float up from the ground, the cursed energy within her began to warp and swirl around her, changing her form into something much more demonic.

Megicula's lips curled upward into a sinister smile as the remaining mages could only watch on in horror. "But before all of that happens, I'll let you brawl one last time. If you die together, then you won't be lonely. Isn't that right, humans?"

Vanica wanted to reach out, to move her hand towards Noelle, as if she could ask the woman she wanted to chase to pull her back. She had denied her, but surely she would not now? Vanica wanted to fight, to fight and fight and fight until the end of her time... It could not happen now.

For the first time in Vanica's life since she had acquired Megicula's strength, she felt hopeless. Powerless. Try as she might, her body just wouldn't move. It felt so wrong, to have that control wretched away from her. To simply be made a prisoner within the confines of her own body. All she could do now, was watch, as darkness slowly began to overtake her.

How could Megicula have done this to her!? For seventeen years, the two had shared a body, practically inseparable! Up until now, until she had found her little Noelle, they had been the closest thing to a friend she had! They had gone out of their way to save her life back when she almost lost her life to Acier Silva, and they had plenty of pleasant conversations together. They had found her desire for battle fascinating, and had even been willing to placate her desire for battle even at the cost of their own plans?

Yet, here and now, she was being discarded, like yesterday's trash.

Megicula…Why? She thought weakly, her head unable to turn to look at the one she had practically considered a part of herself. All she could do now was stare hopelessly at the one who had given her her greatest joy.

Little... No, Noelle...please! I want...to chase you! Please! Be my...saint...

However, despite Vanica's best efforts to reach out towards Noelle, she could not feel her arm move, the Devil having complete control over her body. Slowly her soul drifted into the endless darkness, the visage of Noelle fading as her eyes closed.

Be...my...friend...

---

"Oh…dear. What have I stumbled upon this time?"

The multiverse was a strange, immeasurably large, and complex thing. Countless universes with just as many possibilities made traveling it rather difficult. While the concept of one was far from unknown, knowing of its actual existence was rare. Fewer still had the ability to peer into the infinity that was the multiverse, and even fewer could do so without the possibility of going mad.

However, for one such goddess, it was but one of many of her abilities. To peer into the greater cosmos and see what existed outside of her own plane of existence. To see if there were those that she could find interesting. Of those whom she could help.

For she was a Goddess of Comradery, though she herself tended to prefer the much more amiable title of Goddess of Friendship. For the goddess, this was her own personal hobby. Even deities needed those, as well as some time to themselves. She often peered through the endless depths of the multiverse in her off time to find those who were practically interesting to her, even if they did not know her name or of her existence.

To some they were simply monsters. To the goddess though, they were hard luck cases. Broken souls who were, in fact, nothing more than sobbing individuals yearning for something better. Something greater. Not of the world, but of themselves.

This one though, seemed far more...content with herself than the others the goddess had reached out to, gave a second chance to. A being who took delight in the pain and suffering of others and not on an insignificant scale to boot. She might have passed her over, in fact, she would have...if she had not been privy to her thoughts, hearing her voice in her head.

Widdle... No, Noelle...please! I want...to chase you! Be my...saint... Be...my...friend...

The die was cast, the decision made then.

"You poor thing," The goddess said as she watched the battle between the mighty devil known as Megicula and the Black Bulls. "It was only in those last few moments that you began to have an inkling of what you really wanted. But alas, the friendship you desire with Noelle Silva will simply not come to be, I'm afraid."

She certainly couldn't blame the youngest of the Silva family. Not in the slightest. The pain Vanica had put her through was great, having spanned over the course of her entire lifespan, and with little to no remorse to show for it all. Her life had been made a living nightmare all because of her, and the corresponding cruelty of her own siblings.

That was, until she had been found and taken into the Black Bulls.

She looked towards the group of the magical knights, smiling. "Such strong bonds of friendship. Such teamwork, such comradery. Truly, you Black Bulls are something special. Magnificent, really. With possible the exception of my own realm, I don't believe I've ever come across a world with such a strong sense of companionship. You should be proud of the bonds of friendship you've all created. I'll certainly have to pay closer attention to you in the future, yes indeed."

Normally, she would have reincarnated the woman into a new life, to give her a proper second chance from the get-go. However, given how much of a lust of battle her most recent charity case had, with penchant for cruelty to match, simply reincarnating her soul would have more than likely caused Vanica to go down the same path once again. Certainly, there was a chance she would not fall down this path, but she had already nearly lost a 'charity' case of hers to darkness to this method before.

Her reincarnation magic could not change the personalities of those whom she brought over, but simply reset their body and mind back to their first, original state within the womb of a mother who was most compatible. Ultimately, there was simply no telling where Vanica would end up, and unless it was within the single town that the goddess hoped it would be…No, the odds of her falling into darkness once more was simply too high.

Furthermore, it was only because of the most recent pain that Vanica had experienced, both the heartbreak of losing what she had considered a 'friend' and her subsequent betrayal from her devil, that greatly facilitated the odds of her going down the right path. Prior to her loss to Noelle, the desire for friends had been nonexistent, and a reset could erase the chance of her ever experiencing such a desire ever again. No, that wasn't quite true. The desire had existed, once upon a time. But it had been promptly snuffed out until now. Would it remerge had she been 'reset' to zero? Very likely. But could she be faced with such hardship once again that it would wind up deeply buried like it had been all those years ago?

It was far more likely than she'd like.

No, as far as the Goddess was concerned, everything Vanica needed for a chance to turn over a new leaf was already in place. The desire was there, the flame burning and bright. Besides, the power that Vanica currently possessed would no doubt be of great assistance in the future for the world she had in mind. A place near and dear to her own heart. The world that she called home.

Even if Vanica's presence came with a... caveat or two.

The Goddess turned her attention back to her own world, her eyes narrowing in on a small country with a population of only 17 million people. A world so similar to her most recent charity case, yet so different. A world of magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace, for most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, magic is an art, and they have devoted their lives to its practice. Banded together into magical guilds, they apply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dotted the landscape of Fiore, but there was one place in particular that this goddess had in mind.

"May you change her just as you've changed the lives of so many others," The Goddess said as a small smile made itself onto her face, her eyes gazing over the magnificent guildhall that looked over the town of Magnolia.

"My beloved Fairy Tail."

---

The darkness began to lift, light piercing through as Vanica opened her eyes. "Where am I? little Noelle?"

There was no response, Vanica trying to squint, to bring the world into focus.

"Lolopechka?"

Still nothing, though the world was coming into focus. That was when Vanica realized she was alive. Alive...but alone.

Utterly alone.

"Well, this won't do!" she said, natural exuberance overtaking her. "I just gotta pull myself up and be on my way! This is my second chance! I can chase Noelle's strength to my heart's content! And- Oh. Owie."

Vanica felt it then: Pain.

Not the pain in her heart that truly ached, but the pain of battle itself. It made her feel alive, confirming her continued existence, but...

"This… is not good."

It was an understatement, the woman looking up into the sky at the sun. She could not move. Noelle had beaten her utterly already, and Megicula had no doubt done more damage with its partial emergence. Vanica could not move her body. She could not roll over. She could not sit up. She could not even find it within herself to move a single finger.

And she was alone.

In the middle of nowhere.

"No!"

Vanica cried out then. This was… cruel. Beyond cruel. She had already found herself fading away into nothingness, not from battle, but by the betrayal of one she had accepted into her very body and soul. She had felt… happy to find herself alive, but now it was happening again.

This was no great death. No fight to fall in.

She was going to die, alone and broken.

"No, no, no..."

Vanica could not stand the notion. She wanted… more! She wanted...everything!

No, not everything. Just another battle. Just another day if that was all her twisted soul could afford. Just one more battle.

Anything other than this.

But that was clearly not meant to be. So she lay there, alone in the sun, her thoughts all that could keep her company.

"No Noelle. She hates me. No Lolopechka. She probably does too. No Dante and no Zenon. They're fighting the good fight… right? And no Dark Disciples. I killed them."

Vanica took a deep breath.

"I killed them all."

Another breath.

"Just one more day," she whispered. "They probably wanted that too. And I killed them."

Vanica was quiet for a moment, then laughed.

"But they weren't strong! They couldn't push me past my limits. I had to make them strong and they still couldn't keep up with me! So they had to die! That's how it is! They served their purpose to make little Noelle strong! To make me happy! To make me..."

Another deep breath, cutting away the laughter.

"... to make me die here?"

Vanica shook her head as best she could, the one movement alloted to her, even if it still hurt. The pain of her body was one thing, that was a hurt she could enjoy. And it certainly Hurt so good

But this pain? The pain of her heart? Of betrayal? The loss of someone she had hoped to consider a friend? That was a pain entirely new to her…and she didn't care for it. Not one little bit.

She closed her eyes then, as she thought back to her dark disciples. Her soldiers, her underlings…and the people she had thrown away to the wind.

"I guess we all just want one more day… but we were all too weak."

---

"Are you sure this was a good job request to pick, Wendy?"

Wendy Marvell could hear Carla's voice as they walked through the forest, the Sky Dragon Slayer looking at the flying Exceed. "Come on, Carla. I've done a lot in Fairy Tail ever since we joined. I can handle myself. Besides, it was just a mission getting some special clothes for our client."

Carla huffed. "I still can't believe they insisted on using a seamstress so far away from Magnolia. I don't care if they're considered the best in all of Fiore, or how valuable those robes are, it's absurd!"

And the worst part was that they had set up shop in a place where no local trains traveled. They had to make their trip the long way.

"I think that's because it's made from The Twilight Butterfly silk," Wendy answered. "It's supposed to be super expensive."

It certainly had to have been. Countless bandits had been hounding them ever since they had gotten their hands in the special robes. Normally, they would have been no problem, but their attacks had been relentless, as cavalcade after cavalcade of different groups of bandits had tried to steal the silk for themselves, leaving the two of them with little to no time to rest at all. As things stood, she was almost out of magic.

"We'll be alright Carla," Wendy told her. "I should have just tried to conserve more magic is all."

"We should have gotten help is what we should have done. I told you that it was too early for you to go on a job like this all on your own. I'm certain that woman would have agreed with me if she was in the guild hall when you accepted that job request."

Wendy frowned at the Exceeds scowling. "I'm sorry for getting you dragged into this Carla. I just… I just wanted to show that I could do this on my own."

"I know, I know, child," Carla sighed. "I suppose sometimes I just worry too much. Magnolia isn't too far away, fortunately. I suppose I thought...thought you were trying to impress-"

"What the!?" Wendy stopped dead in her tracks, forcing Carla to bump into her.

"Good heavens, Wendy, don't-" Carla was interrupted again, this time by herself. She could see what Wendy saw.

A naked body, save for her damaged underwear, laying in the open field ahead and a rather ravaged one at that.

"Is she dead?" Carla asked.

Wendy shook her head and ran forward. If the woman was not already, then she would be if Wendy did not try to help.

---

"This… is far too… boring..."

A death outside of battle was undignified enough for Vanica, but to die lying motionless, her own fragmented thoughts her only company...was far too dull. How long would it be till she died of her injuries? Hours? Days? The mere thought of it was maddening. In fact, it was entirely possible that she'd sooner die from a lack of water than even her own wounds.

It was completely unacceptable!

"Not… like this..."

Then she felt it. A power coming closer. And not one that was insignificant either. At the very least, it was higher than that of a Stage 5 wizard. Turning her head as best she could, Vanica could see someone approaching. A young girl in red and black, her blue hair done up in two pigtails...and a cat with wings by her side.

That much magic is coming from her?

It wasn't specifically the amount of magic that had caught Vanica's attention, but rather the age of which she already had that much magic with. She was so young, younger than any mage she had ever seen and yet Vanica could sense such power radiating from her. It defied all common sense, for someone to have such strength so soon in life. She was just like she had been!

And yet...it did not stay with Vanica for long, another thought overtaking her mind. It was far from ideal, but it was the best course of options she had left. "Please… fight me... I don't want to die… like this... Just...give me a good death, little one."

"Don't talk like that!" Wendy shouted, crouching down by Vanica, hands stretching out. "I'm going to save you!"

Vanica's eyes widened, her eyes looking over the girl. She had been certain, oh so certain after all of the horrendous things she had done that she was about to be put out of her misery. Honestly, who wouldn't want the opportunity to be regarded as one who managed to kill a member of the Dark Triad? Even weak as she was now, it would have mattered little. Her crimes, her atrocities, were many. This girl would have been lauded by the people of the Clover, Diamond, Heart and probably even her own Spade kingdom for putting an end to her life!

So why then, for what possible, conceivable reason, would this girl save her?!

Then, it hit her. There was an obvious answer to all of this! How could she have been so foolish, of course that was the reason. Vanica weakly chuckled as she felt her body slowly yet surely beginning to heal.

"I'll... see to it that you and your family are properly rewarded with money once I return back home." She muttered. Normally, she'd hate the mere notion of the idea. She shouldn't have to be helped by someone like this! Sure, the girl had far more magical power than anyone her age had any right to, but she was still nothing compared to the likes of her and the rest of her family at their full might!

However, it was only thanks to this girl that she had avoided the most heinous of ways to die. Alone in a field, completely and utterly bored out of her mind. Now, however, she could fight to her heart's content! No, even better than that, she could find and reunite with Noelle and then they could battle again! As much as she'd hate to admit it, she was indebted to this girl. God how she wanted to puke at the thought of ever owing anything to anyone with the exception of her siblings, but it was simply how things were.

Besides, she could always use another Dark Disciple. Sure, she'd be starting over from scratch, but she'd have to start somewhere! Why not have one who could heal her when things got rough?

She wouldn't be treated like the others had been, oh no. Vanica had most certainly learned her lesson after her near-death experience, and besides, she owed this girl her life. To simply dispose of her once she got 'bored' simply didn't feel right...As alien as a concept as it was for her.

A smile made its way across Vanica's face then as her one eye began to light up with newfound passion! Just you wait and see, little Noelle! I'm going to heal from this and then It'll be my turn to chase after you! Then we can fight over and over and over! Ah, it'll be PERFECT!

"No jewel is necessary," Wendy said, magic circles forming around the palms of her hands. A gentle breeze flowed out from them, encircling Vanica. As it worked around her, she could feel the pain slowly but surely subsiding.

Wait, seriously? She wasn't even interested in that!? No, she couldn't believe it. No one was that softhearted. "C'mon, don't be like that..." Vanica told her. "Money's good, right?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong about that," Wendy continued to say, trying to focus as best she could on the spell, "but that's not the point of this. You're hurt and I just want you to feel better is all."

"Though I will admit, the extra jewel would be helpful with our current living arrangements," Carla said, her wings fading as she landed on the ground beside Wendy. "Still, you wouldn't be Wendy if that was a concern, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

So, she really was just that much of a bleeding heart, was she? Well she supposed she couldn't complain. In the end, this act of generosity would allow her to get back up to snuff, and right now that was all that mattered. Naive and foolish as it was, it was an act done on her behalf. Besides, why chastise her would be savior? It simply wouldn't do herself any favors in the foreseeable future.

At least now…I'll be able to battle once again!

Vanica felt the relief wash over her, her body beginning to breathe easy. The magic around her felt so...comforting, just like the magical items she had been healed by on occasion back in Spade. No, better. For her spell to be comparable to such top-of-the-line magical items if not outright superior…This girl was truly something else. She had experienced healing magic prior to her becoming the host of Megicula, but none of them compared to this. Severe injuries, though not comparable to the ones she currently had, would have required at a prolonged period of rest. But with her current situation, she hadn't been too far from death's doorstep, and now she was being brought back from the brink within mere minutes.

This girl…her power is already comparable to a stage five wizard. And at such a young age. I haven't run across innate talent like this aside from Noelle! Oh, the potential this girl has…I want to see it bloom!

Was this girl much of a fighter? Did she even possess any offensive magic spells? She had so many questions she wanted to ask the mage who had saved her life. However, there was one thing that truly perplexed Vanica.

"Girl..."

"It's Wendy," the wizard said. "Wendy Marvell. And this is Carla."

"Wendy Marvell and Carla," Vanica repeated. Now that she thought about it, she was pretty certain that she had heard that cat talk. But she brushed it aside. It could have just been a spirit like Lolopechka's was for all she knew. She continued then. "You're so strong, Wendy. I can sense it, but..."

Vanica's eyes slowly darted around, confusion still overtaking her. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find what she was looking for, further adding to her confusion, which ultimately culminated in her next question.

"How can you perform such potent magic without a grimoire? I know that thier given out when you turn fifteen, but for you to be so skilled..."

"What?" Now it was Wendy's turn to be confused. "Grimoire? Should I have one?"

Vanica blinked. Of all the things she expected to hear, that had certainly not been among them. Certainly, it wasn't impossible for one to use magic without one, everyone practically could. But for her to be capable of such incredible healing without one was nothing short of astonishing. "You don't know about Grimoires? But their integral for magic," Vanica continued to say. "Without it, magical spells are nowhere near their-"

"Carla, have you heard of using a grimoire for magic?" Wendy asked, turning to the white cat.

"Not here in Fiore," Carla replied. "Why, not even in Edolas."

Fiore? Edolas? Just what on earth are they talking about!? Vanica shouted internally. Sure, she had never exactly been the most attentive student when it came to learning about geography back in her school days, but she at the very least knew all the names of the countries that surrounded the Spade Kingdom. Fiore? Edolas? These names were completely alien to her. There was now but a single question that plagued Vanica

Where...am I?

"Oh, is that a grimoire?" Wendy suddenly asked, looking over the woman.

Vanica could see it then, floating only a scant few inches off the ground, the dark red tome containing all her accumulated power and spells.

"Yes, that's it," Vanica said, content to see it had stayed by her side. "And no one here needs to use one?"

"No one I know," Wendy replied, still working her magic.

"Then your magic..." Vanica asked. "How...?"

"It was taught to me by a dragon," Wendy answered honestly.

That was the last thing Vanica had ever thought she would hear. A dragon? Creatures of unspeakable, immeasurable power!? She had learned her magic from one of them!? How was that even possible!? Were they even capable of sentient thought? It was almost too much to take in. And yet, for the first time since she had gained consciousness, Vanica smiled. "You're quite the strange one, Wendy Marvell. And yet, that explains why you seem so strong for your age."

Wendy blushed, taken aback by that. "Oh, I'm not strong! Not really! There's plenty of others in Fairy Tail way stronger than me!"

"Str-stronger?" Vanica was shocked to hear that. Then that meant… "New...rivals... Friends!"

"Huh?" Wendy looked down at Vanica then, surprised. "You don't… have any friends?"

Vanica was on the verge of spilling her soul, to let loose her hopes and dreams as they were filtered through her soul to Wendy. She was about to exposit the joy of tormenting others so that they would grow stronger and stronger, so that they would give you a perfect battle. Of how you could find solace in defeat, a new goal in trying to catch up to the victor in response. Of the endless cycle of victory and defeat one could obtain in bloody battles. She was about to…

---

"As if. Do you think I'll be content if you're satisfied, Vanica? After everything you've done? You stepped on people for your own amusement without a care in the world? How could you expect me to be your friend? I'm going to end you now!"

---

And then she remembered Noelle's reaction in the end and kept it all buried away.

"No, no I don't," Vanica said, covering the blood in her past with white lies. "They're all gone. Or they simply never were in the first place."

"That's so sad!" Wendy exclaimed, sniffing back. "Carla and I...we could introduce you to Fairy Tail-"

"Wendy Marvell!" Carla suddenly said, paws on her hips. "I adore your kindness, I really do, but we know nothing about this woman! For all we know she could be a member of a dark guild!"

"Oh!" Wendy lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Carla."

"Yet still you keep healing her..." Carla sighed.

"Dark guild?" Vanica asked. Yet another term she was unfamiliar with. Despite that, given the tone the feline used, along with some basic common sense, tt did not sound pleasant at all, though probably applicable to herself. She was far from what one would have considered a 'good' person after all and she knew it. No, not just knew it, owned it. Reveled in it. Anything, anything for those battles she carved so much.

Nevertheless, she was now a stranger to lands unknown to her. To simply go in guns blazing once she was healed, while certainly fun in its own right, was ultimately foolish. Here, she had no one to rely on. No dark disciples, no brothers…no friends. No, she was all on her own, and if she was going to make this work, she'd need to be smart about it.

And besides…she had to admit her curiosity was piqued about this 'Fairy Tail.' guild. For now, she would use the young girl's innocence to her advantage. "Trust me, I'm not part of any dark guild. But this Fairy Tail... There's strong people there?"

Wendy shook her head. "Oh, absolutely. Honestly, I don't come anywhere close with how strong they are."

Vanicas interest in Fairy Tail had suddenly managed to increase about ten times over! No, it would be more accurate to say a hundred-fold. "Really!?" Vanica asked, her eyes practically filled with stars and face alight with both curiosity, and a newfound passion. If this girl was already this strong, then how strong could the others be? "By how much!? Oh please, please, tell me all of the juicy details!"

Wendy blinked, having not expected the woman to respond with such vigor. "Well, I can think of a dozen people back at the guild who are stronger than I am. Honestly, there might be even more."

More and more did Vanica's interest pique. A dozen more people stronger than her, she says, and possibly even more to boot? Ohhh, I just may have stumbled upon a treasure trove of fun! The woman thought excitedly…before she quickly reigned herself back in. Now, now, let's not get too carried away. For all you know the rest of this 'guild' could only be filled with third or second stage mages. Sure, this girl may have a lot of potential at such a young age, but she has yet to reach her own peak. Best to prob a bit more for information…

"I see, that's very interesting!" Vanica said in a cheery tone. "Tell me, are any of them at Stage Zero?"

As far as Vanica was concerned, that was the only kind of opponent worth battling against. Stage one could make for a decent warm up she supposed, but that was it. And anything less than that was complete garbage in her mind.

"Stage 0? I can't say I've ever heard of that before…" Wendy commented, taking Vanica by surprise. "But I do know that Erza fought two Wizard Saint's before, and a some of our members are a match for some of them. Or at least that's what I've been told."

She doesn't even know what a Magic Stage is? I truly am somewhere strange. Vanica thought. Sure, the Clover Kingdom hadn't been using that system either, but that had changed before they worked with the Heart kingdom in an attempt to invade Spade. This as most peculiar. But more interesting than that was whatever these 'Wizard Saint's were. Gathering her thoughts, she asked Wendy her next question. "I'm sorry little Wendy, but could you tell me what a Wizard Saint is? I must have hit my head pretty hard before you found me…"

The cat, Carla if she recalled correctly, seemed to give her a strange, distrusting gaze, as Wendy tried her best to answer her question. "Oh that's easy. The Wizard Saint's are considered the strongest Wizards in all of Fiore. They're all really strong, and apparently the top four are considered the strongest in the entire continent of Ishgar."

A bizarre mixture of excitement and confusion filled Vanica's mind. On the one hand, she hadn't just ended up in some random far off country, but an entire continent entirely! One she had never heard of. A small country was one thing, but an entire continent? Preposterous! Just where the hell had she ended up?

However, on the flip side of her confusion was utter jubilation. Supposedly new land she found herself in had ten wizards of magnificent strength, and this 'Fairy Tail' had multiple mages who were at least considered roughly equal to them. If nothing else, fighting this 'Erza' will be a great way for me to see where I stand in this place! And if she's really strong, I'll have someone else I can call a rival! Oh this is just perfect!

"Can you take me to this 'Fairy Tail' guild?" Vanica asked, her smile growing with each passing moment. "I'm just dying to see all of these strong wizards!"

Wendy had to admit, the woman she had found was certainly an excitable one, especially when it came to strength. However, she was far from the first person Wendy met who got excited at the prospect of a good fight. She nodded. "Sure, I can -"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Carla shouted, forcing Wendy and Vanica to focus their attention on the talking cat. "We don't know the first thing about this woman, Wendy! Not to mention the fact that she seems to know next to nothing about Ishgar, or even how Earthland magic operates."

Wendy's expression began to turn into one of worry. "What are you saying, Carla?"

The white cat hugged, her arms crossed under her chest. "What I'm saying is that I highly doubt that this woman is even from Earthland at all. She could be very dangerous, Wendy!"

Vanica's cheerful demeanor quickly changed into a cold visage, her large smile replaced with a small but very noticeable frown, her eyes narrowing in a contemptible glare at the white cat. Another world you say? Well, that certainly would explain why I don't recognize the names of the continent and why wizards don't need to use Grimoire. However, I'm not about to let some silly talking cat get in my way of a good time. Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to eliminate her once little Wendy isn't-

"That would make a lot of sense, but that doesn't mean that she's a bad person or anything," Wendy replied, recapturing Vanica's attention as her face took on its more chipper demeanor. "Besides, we've met people from other worlds who've helped us out." She then gave Carla a smile, her eyes closed. "Like you! Even though we're not from the same world, we're still best friends!"

Carla sighed. "I suppose you have a point. But even still, we should be cautious!"

Best friends? With a cat? Vanica thought as she looked at the pair. A talking cat, certainly, but a cat nonetheless. She doesn't even have much magic! I doubt I'd need to even use 1% of my power to squash her like a bug. She's just holding little Wendy back. Now that simply won't do. Perhaps I should just…remove her from the equation?

Yet, as she looked at the warm smile Wendy was giving Carla, Vanica felt…odd. As if the idea of killing the annoying feline, and the subsequent sorrow of Wendy wasn't exactly the best of ideas. Well that's strange. Usually this is my go to idea of getting people at the level I need them to be. So…Why am I feeling so down in the dumps about it now? Vanica asked herself.

It didn't take her long to realize why, as Noelle's hateful gaze once more returned to the forefront of her mind. No. No. I finally had someone I could finally consider a true rival and when she finally surpassed me, she didn't want a single thing to do with me. I'd…rather not repeat that experience, thank you very much!

Certainly, that hatred Noelle had for her had been what spurred her on to acquire such strength in the first place, but what did she have once the battle was over? Nothing but a beaten body…and a broken heart. However, this girl, this Wendy, had not only healed her and given her the chance to do battle once again, but she had given Vanica something she never realized she wanted before.

Trust.

Sure, she wasn't all that strong now. But the sheer potential that this girl could have was unlike any other she had sensed back home with the exception of her brothers. It was entirely possible for her to reach the same level of strength as Noelle had, or even surpass it! No, for now it was best she played nice. At the very least, it would be a boon to have a healer by her side whenever she needed it. And, if what Wendy said was true, she'd find far more stronger individuals at this guild of hers.

You don't know just how much you lucked out, you damn furball.

Still, it was best that she came clean. After all, if they already knew about other worlds then there was no real point in hiding it. Besides, they might even have had a way to send her back home. In a worse case scenario, she could always just head back to the Spade Kingdom and find her brothers.

"I think your friend is right. About me being from another world that is," Vanica interrupted the two of them, their focus returning back to their newest acquaintance. "I just thought I had landed up in a far away land, but the more I think about it, the more and more I'm led to believe that this is the case."

"So you're from another world like Carla?" Wendy asked. "She's from Edolas, but I'm guessing if you didn't recognize an Exceed, that can't be where you're from."

"And they didn't have those magic books like that!" Carla added. "Or much of any magic, really."

"No, no, my world was full of fun magics!" Vanica exclaimed. Fun ones to fight! Though that part she kept to herself. "And lots of kingdoms! There's the Clover Kingdom, the Spade Kingdom, the Heart Kingdom, and the Diamond Kingdom! But the best one was the Clover Kingdom if you ask me now!"

"I take it that was where you're from then," Carla said, folding her paws across her chest.

"It must have been lovely there..." Wendy said sweetly.

"Oh no, I'm from the Spade Kingdom," Vanica exclaimed. "Royalty from there even! I even used to have a pretty crown!"

Well, not through bloodline, but through bloody conquest, but little Wendy didn't need to know that.

"Really?!" Wendy asked, her eyes sparkling with joy. "That's amazing…Um…I'm sorry, I don't think you've given us your name."

"Vanica. Vanica Zogratis!" The woman answered excitedly.

"Vanica, huh?" Wendy asked before she smiled. "That's a nice name."

Vanica rubbed the back of her head then, eyes closed with a large smile. "Awww, that's so nice of you to say, little Wendy! You've got a nice name too!" Her eyes opened then as she thought back to her old world. "Anyways the Clover Kingdom had such fun people to meet! But..."

Vanica paused, once more remembering Noelle's last words to her. She hesitated, not bringing that up and focused her despair on something else."...I might never see any of it again."

Vanica shook her head, snapping back to her manic self. "But that's future me's problem! Anyway, all our magic are enhanced by our own personal grimoires! And we can add new spells and new pages under the right circumstances! It makes things so unpredictable!"

"Really!? Wow, that sounds really interesting!" Wendy commented, her own curiosity about the this woman growing with each passing second. "It's so cool that you're a princess from another world though. I guess that makes two members of royalty from another world that I know."

"Oh really? Now isn't that interesting," Vanica said. It was becoming quite clear that this girl, and very likely the rest of her guild as well, had been on her own share of exciting adventures. That just made things all the more interesting.

"It sounds like you went on quite the adventure," Vanica said. "And that you've had a lot of experience dealing with some rather abnormal things."

"Well…kinda," Wendy replied. "Honestly, I spent most of my life living in Cait Shelter. I haven't been with Fairy Tail all that long. Up until then, things were pretty peaceful. It's only after I joined the guild that I got involved in a lot of crazy things."

"Things a girl your age shouldn't be dealing with," Carla spoke in a slightly haughty attitude. "I'll be forever grateful to them for opening up their doors to us to help you settle into the world outside of Cait Shelter but that doesn't mean that I approve of all the danger you've been placed into."

"Maybe you're right. Things have gotten pretty scary ever since I joined Fairy Tail," Wendy told Carla as she finally finished with Vanica's treatment. Nevertheless, her chipper demeanor remained firm. "But I've made so many new friends here! Sure, it was scary at the time, but we always managed to pull through and get even stronger because of it! I don't regret joining one bit."

Carla shook her head, though an almost unnoticeable smile made it rather clear that she took was rather happy with her lot in life.

Vanica, however, easily had the largest smile of the group by far. So, things only got more interesting for you once you joined this guild, and you're already at this level because of it? Oh yes, this Fairy Tail already has my complete attention. Hook, line and sinker!

The pain in her body now having ceased in its entirety, Vanica rose up and did a once over in her body. Sure enough, all of the aches and pains, as well as her various wounds, were now nothing but a distant memory. "Wow, that healing magic of yours really is something, little Wendy! I'd still be bedridden if I was healed up by my doctors back home! But because of you, I'm fit as a fiddle! You must be really talented!"

Wendy laughed a little, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck as she did so. "To be honest, I haven't healed injuries as bad as yours all that often, and I was already running pretty low on magic. I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off. I'm just glad you're feeling better."

Vanica's eyes widened ever so slightly as she glanced at Wendy. Wait a minute…she already had the power of a 5th stage mage and she was low on magic!? That's… that's… AMAZING!

Did the people in this world just have an absurdly higher growth curb than her own, or was it that Wendy and the rest of her guild just this freakishly strong? Oh, the anticipation was killing her!

Vanica then shot a smile towards the pair of them. "Well, what are we waiting for then!? Let's get going to Fairy Tail!"

"Now hold on just a minute!" Carla shouted at her with the exact same words she had used mere moments ago, her paw held up. "We're not taking you anywhere near Magnolia until -"

"Oh please, Carla, stop being such a worrywart," Vanica interrupted her with a forced cherry tone. "I think it should be pretty clear that I'm not from any of those dark guilds you were so worried about, so how's about you -"

Carla, however, wasn't having any of it. "I'm referring to your clothes, or rather, your lack thereof! We absolutely can't bring you to Magnolia looking like that, let alone the guild!"

Vanica quickly glanced down, and for the first time since she had arrived in this brand-new world, she took notice of her state of undress. . She blushed in a very rare show of embarrassment. "Oh…Well, I suppose you do have a point." Fighting in such a state in the middle of battle would have been one thing, being ogled by men and women for her beauty was another acceptable outcome…Walking around in her naked in public, however, was a step too far even for her. More so even due to her present company. "Awww, that's too bad. I guess I'll just have to wait outside of town till you come back with a new pair of clothes."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about waiting, Miss Zogratis, I've got some extra clothes right here."

Wendy, it seemed, had already thought of a solution of her own as she sat down her backpack and began unzipping it. Carla, however, looked aghast.

"Wendy, surely you can't be serious!? Those are the special clothes our client wanted us to retrieve! You can't just let some woman you just met wear them! Why, I'm certain that if the client sees as much as the slightest wrinkle, they'll throw a fit!"

"But we can't just leave her out of town looking like that Carla. Miss Zogratis needs our help," The blue haired girl insisted. "Besides, it's an emergency. I'm sure they'll understand."

Carla couldn't help but sigh at Wendy's naivete. Knowing how persnickety their client had been in regard to these valuable garments, the exceed was quite confident in her conjecture. But even more so than that…she was well aware that Wendy simply wouldn't allow someone else to suffer for her own benefit, even if it was for the sake of a job request, no matter how foolhardy it was.

"Well, I know better than to continue to argue with you once your mind is set on helping someone. Fine, do as you will. But if the client starts yelling at you, you only have yourself to blame, understand?"

Wendy's smile grew before she continued to reopen her backpack. "Thanks Carla. I'm sure Miss Zogratis really appreciates it!"

Vanica, however, simply nodded with a slight smile as her mind ran through the most recent conversation. A client you say? Here I was thinking that these 'guilds' were simply Magic Knight squads working for the government. Now it's sounding more like some sort of job service. This 'Fiore' certainly is different from back home, that's for sure.

But what kind of jobs did they take? It couldn't just be carrying out menial tasks for the upper class. Sure, the silk these clothes were made of were supposedly quite valuable, but why not simply use their own help to get the job done? Why, a simple caravan of low-level stage trash would have sufficed.

No, given her young age, this was likely on the bottom poll of 'jobs' these wizards could take. Something someone young like her could be trusted with. There simply had to be much, much more dangerous work available than something so uneventful. Especially from their earlier talk about how much more 'eventful' their lives had become once joining the guild.

"Huh, that's strange. I don't remember putting an outfit like this one in my backpack. Do you Carla?"

Both Carla and Vanica's eyes widened as Wendy took out the article of clothing in question. It was a high collared brown vest and short skirt to match, along with a pair of belts which covered the chest in the form of an X. A black eye patch with a yellow spade was among them as well, alongside pair of thigh high brown boots, a dark blue fur coat with a short white fur mantel, and gold tiara with five spikes with a red heel at the base of each spike.

Vanica's eyes widened at the sight. There was absolutely no mistaking it, that was definitely her outfit! Furthermore, it looked completely brand new, without even the slightest sign of battle. But how?! And furthermore, what was it doing in that backpack of all places? Ignoring the incredibly unlikely possibility that the client Wendy and Carla were working for just so happened to have an outfit exactly like her own, the pair of them just seemed as equally confused as she was.

Vanica's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the uniform as she pondered her current predicament. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Little Wendy, may I...trouble you again?"

Carla heard Vanica ask the question, the Exceed glancing at her with some degree of annoyance.

Wendy, meanwhile, was quite chipper. "Sure, it's no trouble at all, Miss Zogratis!"

"I appreciate the outfit you were going to lend me, I really do, but..." Vanica looked at the familiar outfit. "I think that one is more...my style."

"Huh?" Wendy looked back at clothing she had no explanation for the appearance of. "I guess that would be better. Then the client wouldn't be upset."

Carla huffed. "Fine, so be it. At least this way we can get a move on things!"

---

A few moments later, and Vanica stood before Wendy and Carla in her familiar Spade Kingdom uniform, as she spun around, her arms held out playfully at her side before she suddenly stopped and struck a pose, her right index finger pointing upwards. "Ah, it feels so good to be back in a uniform again," She proclaimed before she pointed at the tiny crown worn atop of her head. "And look, I even got a pretty little crown again!"

"It does look really pretty," Wendy admitted, while Carla simply rolled her eyes. "It kinda makes you look like a princess."

Vanica smiled at her words, never having been called as such back home despite her status as one of the Spade Kingdom's rulers. "Awww, that's so nice of you to say, little Wendy!" Then, with her cheerful demeanor still on full display, she began to make her way towards the nearby dirt road. "Ooh, this Fiore seems like it's going to be so much fun!"

"I really hope you like it here," Wendy added as she walked next to Vanica. "And I'm sure you'll love Fairy Tail even more. Everyone does."

Carla kept herself quiet, only giving Vanica a slight uneasy glance before she looked over the horizon. "Well, I suppose if we get going now, we'll still be able to make it back to the client on time. We've wasted enough time as it is!"

"Oh, relax Carla, we'll make it there in a jiffy, I'm sure of it!" Vanica said as she ruffled the cat's fur atop of her head (slightly harder than she probably should have, though certainly on purpose) as she looked over at the town in the distance It wasn't anywhere near as large as the Capital of the Spade Kingdom was, but it was far from the tiny village she feared it would be. Surrounded by mountains, a large and varied landscape, and a massive lake behind it, it had some natural protections against any would-be invaders. "So, that's your home, huh?" She asked as she began her trek towards the town.

"Yup, that's the one!" Wendy answered as she walked alongside. "Our Guild is located at the very top of the hill. It gives us a good look over the town."

Vanica smiled. "Ah, a headquarters with a nice view! That's certainly something I took for granted back home! I can't wait to get a better look at this 'guild' myself!

Well, at the very least, she could easily see herself spending some time in such a town while she got a better hold on her current situation. In the best-case scenario, this Fairy Tail would have some amazing wizards whom she'd be able to use to keep herself entertained while she searched for a way back home and gathered some intel on this brand-new world. Assuming there even was a way back. At worst…well, she supposed she could just take over it and gain several brand-new dark disciples in the process. This Wendy Marvell was already a prime candidate in that regard.

That's when Vanica felt it then, as her trek towards Magnolia came to a complete stop. She could sense one, two, four…eight, sixteen, no, over fifty individuals heading their way. Oh, and what do we have here?

Wendy seemed to sense it as well, her nose twitching. "Carla, we've got a lot of people coming in close. Loads of them!"

"More bandits again!?" The Cat asked, taking to the sky as wings formed from her back. "I was hoping we had beaten the last of them off."

Wendy shook her head. "No, these guys smell different, not to mention there's way more of them!"

Carla flew over towards her friend then, her concern quite evident. "Then we need to get going now! You've already used up all of your magic fighting off bandits all day and healing that woman! We can't win this fight as you are right now. I'll carry you back to the guild and then-"

Wendy immediately shook her head. "But we can't just leave Vanica behind! Who knows what those bandits will do to her?! You should take her instead!"

"Absolutely out of the question!" Carla yelled back. "It wouldn't take us long to get to Magnolia! We could just go get help and-"

However, before Carla could continue with her rant, a black band of some sort shot out and wrapped around the white cat before she was promptly tugged back from the three of them.

Wendy immediately went into a panic, her eyes wide and her breathing erratic as she frantically ran towards her friend. "Carla, no!"

It didn't take her long to reach her destination, however. As the young mage stumbled upon where Carla had been abducted, she quickly came to realize the faulty nature of her actions. There were over four dozen mages that stood right behind Carla, the cat helpless tugging at her bonds in front of the assorted group. The one responsible was a man with tanned skin, a sharp noise and pointed chin, along with a yellow and black jacket, and a striped hood adorning his head.

Carla quickly turned her attention towards Wendy then, her expression one of total fear before she began to plead. "Run away Wendy! There's nothing you can do here! Go take that woman and get help!"

"But Carla-"

"No buts!" Carla demanded. "Go now and-"

But before she could continue, a sword pressed against the back of Carla's head, electing a horrified cry from Wendy. "No, please, don't hurt her!" She demanded, the mere notion of any harm coming to her best friend unbearable. "If-if you want the robes, you can have them! Just, please! Let Carla go!"

The gathered men gave each other a quick glance before they began to chuckle before it erupted into full out laughter. Wendy's eyes began to shrink then, as it became quite clear they had no plans to negotiate.

"Those robes!? Yeah, sure we could sell those for a good profit, but that's not why we're here!" One of them said eagerly.

"Yeah, we've got some personal business to pick with you!" Another one added, the man slowly drawing out his sword as he and the rest of them glared at Wendy with malicious intent.

"W-with me?" Wendy asked, her confusion momentarily overriding her own fears. "But, I've never met any of you people before."

"I don't imagine you'd remember any of these men, if you were even there on that fateful encounter with Fairy Tail. However, I still recognize your face when we met in Krautweide, Girl."

As a somewhat familiar, but mostly vague voice reached the girls ears, the gathered men began to part down the middle as a sole man began to make his way towards her. He was dressed in dark armor as a red cape seemed to bellow in the wind. Wendy couldn't make out his face, obscured as it was beneath a spiked helmet. Still, something about him did feel…familiar.

"First Eisenwald, and then Stonebreakers. The Fairy Tail guild has certainly been a thorn in my side for the last year or so," The man said as two magical circles surrounded his hands before a pair of serrated, curved blades appeared in his hands. "But now, I can finally take my revenge on that accursed guild."

Wendy stared at the armored individual before her, trying to place the man in her memory before her eyes widened, as a prior mission several months ago quickly replayed itself within the back of her mind. "You're Schwarzwald!"

Yes, she remembered him quite clearly now. He was the former guild master of Eisenwald, and later on the Stonebreakers who tried to take over Krautweide. She had been a part of the mission to free the town from the Stonebreakers reign, though she admittedly did little in the way of fighting, save for knocking out a few of their members with a Sky Dragon's roar. They had ultimately succeeded, thanks mostly in part to the others who had been on the job, but now here he was once again, and from what she could sense, just as powerful as ever.

"Ah, I'm so glad that the Fairy Tail fly can recall my name," Schwarzwald said as he dragged his massive swords across the ground as he stood just mere inches in front of Carla. "Thanks to your guild, I was forced to rot behind bars until I was finally able to escape with my old guild. I suppose in a way, I should thank you. Because thanks to that loss, the Eisenwald guild has been reborn once again!"

Admittedly, it was a shame that both Erigor and Kageyama were no longer amongst his ranks, but it scarcely mattered in his mind. While powerful, the two of them were ultimately replaceable. But as long as he lived, as long as he still drew breath, the ambition of Eisenwald would be eternal.

"W-what do you want?" Wendy asked as she took a single step back, as she felt a nervous sweat begin to trickle down her skin.

Schwarzwald slashed at the ground close to Carla, startling the two Fairy Tail mages. "Isn't that obvious!? I want revenge! Both on Fairy Tail itself for running both of my plans! At first, I thought I'd simply capture any one of you Fairy Tail flies to grab their attention, but now I see that I have a much more exceptional hostage in the form of their healer!"

Wendy could practically hear the sneer that the Guild Master was no doubt giving off underneath his mask as he made his way closer. "I've done my research you see, and I know just how much the guild dotes over you. I'm quite certain once I have you, they'll come barging to rescue you. After that, they'll be easy pickings for us to finish off!"

However, in spite of the horrible circumstance she found herself in, Wendy refused to budge even an inch, her own fears quickly giving way to newfound resolve. She couldn't run, not now. If she did, who knew what they'd do to Carla. For now…for now she'd just have to hope that someone from the guild would stumble upon her plight.

Even now, even with a little magic as she had now, she couldn't, no, she wouldn't leave a friend behind just to save her own skin. She'd never forgive herself if she had…and it absolutely wouldn't have been what she would have either.

Wendy balled her fists then before she took a brave step forward. "Let Carla go, right now!"

The members of Eisenwald could only just stare at Wendy before they burst out laughing.

"What!? Let her go!?" One of them demanded. "Are you serious!?"

"Yeah, what are you going to do about it, huh!? You're just a little pipsqueak!"

Wendy wasn't deterred by their jeering in the slightest. "Let her go right now or else!"

Another roar of laughter followed, with several of the Eisenwald mages holding their guts. "Is this little shit head serious!?" One of them asked.

"She hardly even has any magic left, what a joke!"

"I say we just beat the shit out of her!" One last mage asked before he gave the guild master a bloodthirsty grin.."What do ya say boss!?"

Schwarzwald said nothing for a few moments before he nodded. "I suppose we don't need her in top condition to use her as a hostage. Very well, just don't rough her up too badly. We'll want to make sure she has enough life in her for that woman to scout her out to fall into our trap."

There was a loud cheer then, as the mages in front of the assorted group pointed their hands at Wendy, various magical circles of all sorts of colors coming to life as the man who made the request sneered. "Alright, you heard him, boys! Let's lite her up a bit with some fireworks!"

"Yeah!"

An assortment of fire, light, ice and all sorts of other spells hurtled towards Wendy then, the young dragon slayer standing firm as she prepared to look for a way to charge forward and somehow, beyond the impossible odds, save her friend. Her nervous sweat had not left her, but fear was no longer a deterrent for the young mage.

Alright, focus. Look for an opening in their attacks, and then make a run for it. After that…After that I'll…just do what I can till the others arrive.

Meanwhile, Vanica stood in place for the moment, debating her next choice of action. She could simply just let what was about to happen occur without incident. After all, she was not a member of Fairy Tail. The strong ate the weak, that was just how things were. Letting things play out would have simply been a part of that natural cycle. After all, she had no interest in the weaklings that dominated the populace, neither in this world or her own.

But...

This just simply would not do.

This girl helped her when no one else would have. And more importantly, she had a whole future ahead of her to grow stronger in! Far stronger! To see a potential new rival down the road die here simply was not acceptable. Not to mention the fact that she was only so low on magic due to having gone out of her way to heal Vanica herself, and the various bandits she had already done battle with.

Ultimately, these Eisenwald mages were little better than a pack of vultures waiting for a once strong lioness to slowly starve to death before they'd feast on her corpse. As far as Vanica was concerned, they didn't have the right to take down one with so much untapped growth!

And last but not least, she was Vanica's ticket to Fairy Tail, where a whole new world of strong opponents awaited her.

Wendy felt her body tense as the spells hurtled in on her. Try as she might, she couldn't see any visible openings in Eisenwald's barrage of spells to swoop in to save Carla. For now, all she could hope to do was simply grin and bear it and hope that help from Fairy Tail would arrive. That she would arrive.

She grit her teeth then, preparing to brace herself of the oncoming onslaught…but it was not to be. In almost an instant a strange red, fluid-like substance had shot out in front of her, blocking the combined assault of Eisenwald with ease.

Surprised by the unexpected assistance, Wendy gave the newly created barrier a better look. However, upon closer inspection and an unintentional whiff of the substance with her enhanced sense of smell made it quite clear what it was. "B-blood?" She squeaked out nervously, not having expected the source of her salvation to have been made out of such a disturbing substance.

(Song of choice: Die Fledermaus, Hellsing Ultimate, 37 seconds in)

She then felt a soft, yet firm hand on her left shoulder, prompting her to look towards the source. It was Vanica, the woman's chipper nature ever present and her grimoire floating right beside her.

"Miss Zogratis…"

The woman simply shot her a small smile before she focused back to the massive congregation of mages. "Oooh, are you naughty little brigands going to try and rob this girl of her future?" Vanica said, stepping forward. "See now, I don't think so..."

Vanica clicked her tongue, dispelling the shield and moving right before the group. She motioned for Wendy to stay behind her, Vanica running a tongue over her lips. Finally, finally, she'd be able to experience the utter bliss that was a bloody battle, happy that Wendy couldn't see her mannerism just now. She was just about to rush headlong into battle, her lust for battle at a fever pitch...and stopped.

Oh, wait a second, talented as she is, she's still so young. She probably doesn't want to see a bloody battle...and I do want to stay in her good graces for now. Oh well, I suppose I'll have to use a little restraint for once.

Vanica pouted a bit...and then looked at the group with a manic expression.

"You bandits were going to mess with little Wendy when she doesn't even have any magical power at the moment? For shame! Now where's the fun in that!? You should want to fight people at their best! So come on, show me your best! Give me everything that you've got! It'll be fun, right!?"

One of the dark mages seemed unimpressed, taking a step forward. "Don't get too cocky just because you stopped our spells, ya damn bitch. It's not like we were trying to kill the little twirp. But if you get in our way, we won't have worry about holding ba-"

Vanica leapt into the fray then, crashing into the group at full speed and slammed the heel of her boot onto the dark mages face, breaking his nose and burying his head into the ground. She rose up, surrounded by foes, but she wasn't worried, not in the slightest. She had already seized up her opponents and saw them not worth too much effort. No, not at all. Most of them were about ranked 8th-7th stage as far as she was concerned trash like this didn't deserve the right to even speak to her.

No, for low level stage trash such as this, a simple melee spell would more than suffice! As the pages of Vanica's grimoire began to turn, a bloody talon formed on her right hand and she quickly went into a spin. The weaponized blood, unleashed and hardened by her resolve, smashed the lot of them down. "Oh yes! Let's get this show on the road! Give me more!" Vanica turned, a wild smile on her face as she saw more of the wizards attack her from behind, elemental spells at the ready. She laughed then, slicing her talon up and sending the lot of them flying into the air as a slash of blood followed in its wake. "Come on! Come on! Show me what you're all really made of! Hurry!"

A fire spell flew towards Vanica, but she was ready. Raising her other hand up. Blood burst up, forming a shield that blocked the spell. Now, however, her manic expression started to slowly wane. " Really? Is that it? How lame. I didn't even need my shield for attacks so paltry."

Five Esienwald mages attempted to rush at her, swords, axes, and various other magically enhanced weapons held high above their heads as they prepared to strike her down. However, she nimbly dodged the strikes with ease, easily landing on her left foot as she flexed her bloody claw. "Nuh uh uh! You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want to hurt little old me!" She swung her hand at the five mages then, a red slash demolishing their weapons and sent them rolling across the ground.

Vanica pouted at the sight, her manic smile replaced by a disappointing frown. "Oh come on. Seriously? I'm going at you guy's with the least amount of effort possible, yet you're still falling like flies? The only way I could possibly make it any easier would be to not use any magic!"

About a dozen more members of Eisenwald attempted to strike at her then, some with various mid range spells, while others opted to come in close and personal. To Vanica, however, it was all the same.

Utterly futile.

She leapt up high into the air, her maniac expression quickly returning to the forefront before she launched herself downwards upon the ill prepared dark mages. It was over in almost an instant, Vanica slashing and slicing through the fodder with the same ease of which one would swat away a fly. It was only due to this uncharacteristic level of restraint that her cuts were shallow, though the mages who bore the brunt of her attacks fell nonetheless. She slowly turned to face the rest of the dark guild, and the collective flinches and shrieks was all that she needed to know about her current foes.

While a small part of her did relish in the fear she had been able to generate with her overwhelming might, but that joy was vastly overshadowed by a wave of utter disappointment. In the past, seeing such fear on her foes would have been enough, yet now…It meant so little to her. Despite her innate preference to focus on the here and now as opposed to the past or future, the battle she had with Noelle was still fresh in her mind. It was the best she had ever had, bar none. She had gone from such a high, a battle where she had been pushed to her absolute limit, only to still fall in the end… to a battle where even at her most restrictive, a mere 5% of her strength, her foes tumbled to the ground and cowered before her…

Merely calling it a disappointment wouldn't have been appropriate, oh no. As far as the member of the Dark Triad was concerned, it was an insult to her very being.

Pathetic, each at every single one of them. Vanica thought, the smile plastered over her face only there to inflict further horror upon the insignificant rabble. Even combined, none of you vermin come even close to holding a candle to my precious Noelle! Had she the luxury, she would have made sure to make each and every single one of their death's as painful as possible as compensation. However, she knew fully well that such a desire could easily blow up in her face, not with Wendy present.

Patience now, Vanica, patience. Right now you're just feasting on an ill prepared appetizer. If what little Wendy said is true, then you're about to go and enjoy a top notch buffet in Fairy Tail! For now, let's just play the role of 'hero' till we get there and see if it's truly worth it.

As Vanica took a simple step forward, most of the remaining members of Eisenwald took several back as a result, the braver few still flinching upon her encroachment. This was supposed to be a simple abduction mission, an 'easy grab and go' to lure in their real target. Yet this single woman was throwing everything out of whack.

"Just who the hell is this crazy chick!?" One of them demanded. "I've never seen magic like hers before!"

"It has to be some sort of lost magic, it just has to be!" Another answered.

"It hasn't even been a minute, yet she's already taken out half of the guild! What are we supposed to do against someone like that!?"

"Calm down." One of them, a man with a pale red jacket, dark pants and hair and six whiskers, tried to assure his fellow guild members. "Me, Rayule and Karaka got this covered. After all, we came up with that combo attack for when we were supposed to deal with someone just like this! Ain't that right Karaka?"

A short yet very rotund man with a red jacket and oversized gold necklace,short spiky grown hair, large lips and an apparent lack of a nose soon stepped up next to his associate. "That's right, Byard. I say we give it a go! I've been dying to try it out on a living target."

"As do I!" The man who was responsible for Carla's capture in the first place exclaimed. "I, the great Rayule, will gladly help send this woman to the depths of hell!"

"Oh, you three got a strategy? How cute! Come, tell me all of the juicy details!"

Byard, Karaka, and Rayule's hearts froze, their eyes wide as saucers as Vanica's cheerful voice resounded in their ears much closer than they would have liked. The three of them, along with the rest of the entire guild whipped their heads towards the sound of her voice, only to find that the woman was practically right behind the trio.

"Come on," she said with a tilt of her head, eyes closed. "Share with the rest of your class. It's not nice to keep secrets! I can tell that the three of you are at least a little bit stronger than the rest of these vermin."

She looked so carefree, as if being surrounded by half of an entire dark guild didn't phase her in the slightest. Never before had any of them faced such a brazen foe with the sole exception of the redheaded ace of Fairy Tail. As Byard, Karaka and Rayule shared a horrified glance amongst each other, the lesser members of the guild took the woman's apparent lack of guard as an attempt to strike, with six Eisenwald wizards attempting to strike at her with their weapons. But before their swords and the like could connect, the pages of Vanica's grimoire began to turn once more as it floated by her side, a veil of blood forming behind her and several blunted spikes of blood jutted out, sending each of them tumbling across the ground.

Vanica sighed then, her eyes still closed. "Haven't you all learned by now that just coming at me with weapons isn't going to get you anywhere? At least these three have a strategy or something." She opened up her eyes at Byard and Rayule then, as her lips curled upwards into a malicious smile. "Now then, how about you three show me a good time, boys!" She was just about to run straight towards them, to begin the battle anew…only to feel a powerful grip on her feet.

"Huh?"

A quick glance downward quickly revealed the culprit, Karaka's massive hands holding her in place as half of his body seemed to phase out from the earth itself. The rotund man looked up at her with considerable worry, before he looked back at his comrades. "Rayule, do it now!"

"You've got it!"

Several black bands shot out from Rayule's hands then, wrapping themselves around Vanica's body and binding her arms and legs together as she was left in a tight cocoon of dark cloth, Karaka's hands still keeping her feet held firmly to the ground. "Now get her, Byard!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Byard proclaimed as he ran forward, his hands glowing with a bright light before he leapt up into the air and punched Vanica across the face with his right hand. As Vanica's head snapped back from the strike, Byard let out a defiant battle cry before he proceeded to wail on her with his light magic. Vanica's head moved to and through as Byard unleashed a barrage of plows. As Byard landed punch after punch, his confidence began to grow and swell. Sure, this woman had almost single handedly managed to take down their guild, but bound up as she was now, she was completely helpless!

We can do this! We can win! Byard encouraged himself before his entire body began to glow with a bright light. He leapt backwards then before he looked back at the remaining members of Eisenwald. "Come on guys! Let's hit her with everything we got!"

"Yeah!"

Meanwhile, Wendy had taken the opportunity that Vanica had created for her and rushed toward the captured exceed. She knelt down and began to untie her friend, working as fast as she could so they could properly escape. "Don't worry Carla, I'll get you out of this real quick." Wendy reassured her as she finished untying the cat.

Carla shook her head "Forget about untying me child and just run for it! That Vanica woman is in some serious trouble!"

"No, I won't leave you!" Wendy insisted as she continued to work at untying her feline friend. "You've always been by my side when I've needed you, so I have to do the same for you."

However, just as Wendy had finished freeing Carla, a series of blasts and explosions grabbed their attention then as the remaining members of the Eisenwald guild had begun to fire an endless barrage of spells at the bound mage, each shot aimed carefully to not accidentally hit Karaka's hands which held Vanica down. The ground shook from all of the spells, and Wendy could feel the shockwaves of the attacks even from where she stood.

"Oh no!" Wendy was startled by the sudden attack, worried for Vanica's sake. If she got hurt on Wendy's behalf, the Sky Dragon Slayer was unsure if she could forgive herself. She started to move forward then, only to feel a soft paw on her leg.

"Wendy, no!" Carla shouted, "You are not in any condition for a fight after all of the magic you've used today!"

Wendy was distraught then, shaking her head. "I know, but…I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Wendy insisted. "Miss Zogratis went out of her way to help us!"

"We can be of more help to her by running back to the guild!" Carla insisted as she took to the air, the spells in the background finally coming to a halt, Vanica's prone form obscured by a large cloud of dust. "Come on now, we have to hurry while there's still time!"

"But…"

"That was it? Really?"

Wendy was caught off guard by Vanica's sudden question, turning to look back.

The dust had settled, revealing Vanica Zogratis for the world to see. Still bound by the wrappings of Rayule, Vanica stood firm. Her face showed no signs of the beating that Byard had given her earlier, nor any sort of scuffs or burns from the earlier onslaught of spells. If anything, it looked like she was...bored.

Byard, Karaka, Rayule, and the rest of Eisenwald could only look on in bafflement, their jaws agape. Half of an entire dark guild had blasted at that damn woman with countless spells…and yet, despite it all, she looked no worse for wear even in the slightest.

"That…that should be possible!" Byad. shouted, unable to believe his own eyes.

"W-what kind of a monster is she!?" Rayule demanded as Karaka let go of the woman's hands, not wanting to be anywhere near such a fearsome opponent.

Vanica simply rolled her eye at their disbelief. "So, that was your big strategy huh? Just binding me up, hitting me over and over till I fell down dead? Well, I guess it's not too bad, in theory. Unfortunately for you, there's just one problem…You're all completely worthless stage 6 trash."

Byard's hands began to shake at her words, his fear overcome by an all consuming rage before he tried to run towards her, light once more adorning his fists. "Don't mess with me!" Byard landed one more strike then, making Vanica's head turn to the side hard, her upper body lurching to the side. The dark guild wizard was satisfied then, to not hear her talk back to him now...but then her face turned to gaze upon him and she was...emotionless, unexpressive.

Disinterested.

"Bored now."

Vanica's right arm swung around then, a massive clawed hand of blood swatting Byard away with casual ease. The other members of Eisenwald tried to prepare to fire another series of spells, but just as their magic circles began to form around their hands, Vanica slammed her bloody claw into the ground before two dozen blunted spikes shot out from the ground, knocking the remaining members of Eisenwald up into the sky before the came crashing down, each and every single one knock out cold.

Vanica rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to sigh. So, that was a dark guild huh? What a total bore that was. I really hope this isn't the sort of thing this 'Fairy Tail' deals with on average or else this new world is going to be soooooooo boooorrring!

"Miss Zogratis, you're alright!"

Vanica turned around towards the sound of the young voice and gave Wendy a smile. "Oh you don't need to worry little Wendy, I wasn't ever going to lose against a bunch of weaklings like that!" She reached out and ruffled the young mages head then, and for a reason she couldn't quite fully explain, her anger at the disappointing battle began to fade, if ever so slightly.

"I guess you're right," Wendy admitted sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "But you really are strong! You just took out an entire dark guild all by yourself!"

A part of Vanica had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the insinuation that one had to have been 'strong' to deal with such vermin, but she restrained herself. The girl was simply trying to pay her a compliment, nothing more. Besides, to the eyes of one inexperienced such as her, it probably had seemed rather impressive. "It was nothing, really," Vanica reassured Wendy. "After all, you could have just as easily defeated them all yourself if you were at full power, couldn't you tough girl?"

Wendy blinked. "You think so? There was an awful lot of them…"

"You could have. I was able to gleam a bit of your power when you approached me," Vanica reassured her. "Taking into account how you've been fighting all day, you could have probably beaten them in just a few minutes like I had. Honestly, for weaklings like these I didn't even have to use-"

Without warning, Vanica suddenly shoved Wendy out of the way as an arching blast of magic hurtled towards them, leaving a large gash in the ground between them. Vanica slowly turned her head towards the source, and a small, bloodthirsty grin etched itself onto her face. "Well, well well. Looks like I missed one. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised though…" She turned the rest of her body in turn now to fully face her new adversary. "Afterall, you're on a completely different level from the rest of those pieces of trash, aren't you Mister Guildmaster?"

The sound of Schwarzwald's metal clad footsteps resounded through the air as he made his approach, his two curved swords already drawn. "A rather impressive display of power. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought I was in the presence of one of the Ballam Alliance's top mages."

"Oh? The Balam Alliance? Do tell!" Vanica asked, her curiosity piqued. Any and all information she could acquire for a potentially stronger foes was a welcome addition in her mind.

"There's nothing left to say," Schwarzwald proclaimed as he pointed a blade at Wendy, forcing her to tense up. "That ones guild has already wrecked havoc on many of its members. Of the great three dark guilds that were pillars on the partnership, only one remains."

"Oh, did they now?" Vanica asked as her smile increased. While her interest in the Balam Alliance plummeted to almost zero, the same couldn't be said of the Fairy Tail guild. The more and more she kept hearing about this 'Fairy Tail' the more and more her excitement began to grow! "So is this whole thing your attempt to avenge your former boss'es or something? Who cares about avenging people like that when they've already lost?"

After all, it only proved that they were too weak to even recollect.

Schwarzwald scoffed at her words. "Please, I couldn't care less about such sentimental drivel. My presence here is simply to get revenge on the Fairy Tail guild for stopping my grand plans for revenge on the magic council for disbanding my guild!"

"You absolutely deserved it!" Carla told him. "The Magic Council forbade any further assassination requests, yet you refused to heed their warnings."

"A bunch of weak, feeble old fools don't have the right to tell us what we can and cannot do with our magic!" Schwarzwald shouted back. "We're just supposed to let them decide how we make our livelihoods, is that it? Eisenwald specialized in assassinations and they took them away simply because it didn't align with their morals! How can the morals of the few become the morals of the many!? Only a corrupt society would allow such a thing! That's why the magic council must burn!"

"No, you're wrong!" Wendy retorted. "This isn't about the magic council taking away people's rights, you just want to make money by killing people! No matter what you say, killing people..is wrong!"

Vanica's eyes narrowed slightly at that, her smile gone. I see. So these Fairy Tail wizards are a bunch of softies at heart, huh? Well, that's disappointing. Oh well, at the very least this means I made the right call in not getting too bloody with those weaklings. Furthermore this one fact didn't mean that they were weak. Soft hearted and naive, certainly, but she had learned well from Noelle's own growth, along with her battle with Acier, that being 'kind' had nothing to do with one's strength. If anything…it had given them a bit of a boost in power.

Maybe, just maybe…there was something to it?

She shook her head. No, such soft minded drivel just wasn't her style! It may have worked out for the likes of Noelle, but that hardly meant that a member of the Dark Triad needed it for herself. She was already strong and she liked the way she was. Right now what she was doing was nothing more than repaying a debt and pursuing more powerful foes, and, better yet, acquiring a new worthy rival. A 'friend'.

Yes, to that end and that end alone, she had chosen to play nice. Nothing more.

"You stupid brat, how dare you!" Schwarzwald yelled as he pointed his blade at her. "I'll make sure you're bloody and beaten before that woman shows up so I can drink in all of her despair, Then I'll kill both of you and then the rest of you Fairy Tail flies!"

"Now hold on just a minute. You're forgetting about little old me!" A chipper voice called out.

Schwarzwald turned his attention back towards Vanica as a crimson aura began to surround his body. "Ah, yes. You. The interloper. As much as I'd love to take my time making you pay for what you've done to my men, I simply don't have the time to deal with you. I'm going to need as much of my magic as I can before I enact my revenge. So for just this once, I'll forgive you for this transgression if you simply mozy along."

Vanica shook her head. "Sorry, no can do! I'm not going to just leave little Wendy here all by her lonesome to deal with you. That just wouldn't be fair!" Vanica said as she began to approach Schwarzwald.

"I see, I take it that you're a member of Fairy Tail as well?" Schwarzwald asked.

"Nope!" She answered simply.

"Then this matter doesn't concern you. This will be your last warning. Leave these two Fairy Tail flies to me, and you'll be able to escape with your life."

"Now see, that just won't do!" Vanica answered, her right pointer finger extended. " I owe little Wendy a debt for helping me in my time of need and leaving her in your hands would just leave a bad taste in my mouth. So, I'm going to keep my adorable little healer nice and safe, so we can square things off. And besides, I might be joining their ranks if their interesting enough!"

Schwarzwald brandished his blades then as he took up a fighting stance. "Very well then. I suppose I'll just have to dispose of you as swiftly as possible. Just remember before I send you to hell that you only have yourself to blame for all of this."

"Really, is that a fact?" Vanica asked as she stopped just a mere five feet away from her foe. "Right now, I'm just hoping you'll make for a better warm up than the rest of those losers."

Vanica grinned, hopping from one foot to the next, eyes never wandering from their gaze upon Schwarzwald.

"You look like you'll be a lot more fun than the others..." Vanica charged the wizard, her right hand held back, leaving her giant claws stretched out. "So let's make this a fight worth committing to memory!"

(Song of Choice: Stand up, Count, Hellsing Ultimate OST)

"Oh I'll commit it to memory alright," Schwarzwald declared. "It'll be fun to reminisce on killing such an eyesore!" His twin blades at the ready, Schwarzwald dashed forward and swung his blades down onto Vanica, the mage blocking his sword with her bloody claw. He smirked. "I see you have enough power to block one of my strikes. Then again, I suppose you should have some decent power for defeating the rest of Esienwald so casually." The guild master complimented her.

"Decent? Decent? Please, you don't need even halfway decent to do what I did. Those pushovers didn't even get my blood all a tingle! But you?" Vanica slammed her bloody claw against the swords, pushing the wizard back. She tilted her head to the side, her eyes ablaze with joy. "You're going to be the main course!"

"Ha! So you really think that you have what it takes to defeat me!? What a farce!" Schwarzwald jumped back, his swords combining into a massive blade. A crimson aura surrounded the blade before he swung it down at her, a blast of power firing towards Vanica.

"Hrm..." Vanica looked to close the distance between herself and Schwarzwald, stepping closer. The slash that cut through the air, however, made her redirect her efforts. Her other hand becoming enveloped in her own blood, her magic tome's spell making it harden, Vanica swung both clawed hands in front of herself then, catching the slashing energy between them both. "Not bad, not bad! Give me more!"

"Impudent tramp, I'll carve you into two!" Schwarzwald declared before he took off in a burst of speed, rushing right towards Vanica before he suddenly pivoted at the last second and spun around, his gargantuan sword aimed at the back of her neck.

I've got her!

But before the blade could connect, a wall of blood erupted from the ground by Vanica's heels, reaching up to meet the blade. The sword connected with it and, despite the blood chipping from the strength behind the attack, it still stopped the sword dead in its tracks.

Then did the makeshift barrier shatter altogether...and Vanica was looking over her shoulder at Schwarzwald.

"Oh, a sneak attack! So duplicitous! I love it! You're more fun than I expected! But it's no-o-ot going to be enough, so try harder! Harder!"

Schwarzwald grit his teeth before he took another swing. As close as he was he was certain she would have been unable to dodge a swing from this range!

However, to his shock and horror, Vanica leapt over the strike before she lashed out with her bloody claw, destroying the large sword in his hand. Before he even had the chance to curse, the woman had already followed up with her next attack, kicking him across the face and destroying his helmet, exposing his tattooed face to the world.

"Damn it!" Schwarzwald cursed before he glared at the woman. However he quickly regained his composure and calmly whipped the blood off of his face. "Not bad, woman. Not bad. I suppose I'll have to go all out if I'm to defeat you before that woman arrives."

"Oh? You mean you've been holding back on me?" Vanica asked, her hopes for a worthy opponent rising ever so slightly. "Well don't hold back on my account. Come on, hit me with your best shot."

"With pleasure." With that, Schwarzwald plunged his massive sword into the ground, as a dark gray aura began to leak out from the ground, as painful wails began to echo through the air.

"I had a weapon much like this when I battled that Fairy Tail fly several months ago. However, I only recently discovered that it was but one of many weapons made by disciples of the Black Wizard." Schwarzwald proclaimed as the ghouls continued to swell up from the ground as a double bladder scythe, its blade completely black, emerged from the ground before he firmly grasped it.

"This was the latest and greatest weapon created by Benjamin Howard, a dark mage who specialized in creating weapons powered by the souls of the dead! My old weapon only had command over a mere twenty souls. This one possesses the power of 500! And with its power, I am invincible!"

Several of the ghouls began to seep into Schwarzwald's armor then, transforming it from its pure silver to pitch black. However, it didn't stop there, as some of the ghouls went into Schwarzwald himself, his muscles beginning to bulge before they shrunk down in size. The dark mage gave Vanica a sinister grin then before he swung his scythe behind him, slashing down several dozen tree's from the mere shockwave of his sword.

"Now do you see? This is the true power of Schwarzwald The Underworld! No longer do I simply command the undead, I can add their power for my own!" The man proclaimed as he slammed one of his feet to the ground, the ground cratering underneath his step as a result.

Normally, such a sight would have sent shivers down the spine of whomever Schwarzwald had shown this power to. For others, they would have been overcome with a furious rage for daring to use the souls of the departed for his own nefarious gains. But Vanica?

Vanica smiled.

"Oh, that's a neat trick!" Vanica exclaimed, feeling her heart race. Her tongue slipped out, running across her lips. "And new! I've never fought the dead before! Now come on, come on, come on, show me what you can do when you get serious!"

Schwarzwald couldn't help but feel put off by the woman's bizarre reaction towards the true nature of his power. It soon passed, however, as Schwarzwald pointed his blade at Vanica."Oh, fear not. You'll experience my power in full force soon enough! Now perish, foolish interloper!"

Schwarzwald took off with a burst of speed and swung down his scythe down at Vanica. She leaned back, narrowly avoiding the strike from Schwarzwald's weapon only for her to feel an unexpected force upon her body, forcing her to skid backwards across the ground. She looked back at her foe then, and immediately she figured out what the problem was. Specteres surrounded the weapon much like they had Schwarzwald, the guild master giving her a nasty sneer in return.

"You didn't think that simply dodging my weapon would be enough now, did you? Fool! Even if my blade itself won't connect, the spirits confined to my weapon will simply strike you down in its place!"

However, rather than the look of worry he had anticipated would cross Vanica's face, even if only for a moment, the woman simply chuckled. "Ohhhh, I see. That's a tricky little toy you have there. But that just makes things all the more interesting!"

Schwarzwald scowled at the woman's response. "A toy!? Do you not understand the gravity of the situation you're in? I command over 500 souls of the undead! And with their might I shall smite you into oblivion!" He spun his scythe around his body before he pointed it up to the sky as purple lightning began to crackle above him. "Behold the power of the undead! Spectral lightning!"

A single bolt of lightning shot towards Vanica, her battle loving smirk only increasing at the oncoming strike. The pages of her grimoire turned once more as a wall of blood formed before her, stopping the lightning in its tracks. "Now that's certainly better!" Vanica proclaimed, her eyes twinkling. "But surely you can do better than that, can't you?"

Schwarzwald grit his teeth at the woman's impudence. before he slammed the pommel of his scythe onto the ground. "Very well, let's see how you handle this! Souls of the undead, I command thee! Spectral Pillar!"

The ground beneath Vanica began to shudder and quake, before a burst of ghosts burst out from under her, forming into a large pillar composed entirely of spirit that shot up high into the sky. However, a red slash formed at the middle of it, Vanica leaping towards the ground, slightly singed, but mostly unharmed. She smirked then, cracking her neck from side to side.

"Well well well, I suppose that wasn't half shabby, at least compared to the rest of those losers I defeated earlier. At least now I know that the magic from this world can actually hurt me if I'm too reckless."

Schwarzwald felt his body shudder with fury, before he took a deep breath and regained his composure. No, he wasn't about to let some nobody get under his skin like this! "Reckless you say? Fool, you can't afford to make any mistakes at all right now. After all-"

Schwarzwald spun his scythe in front of his body then as ghouls began to surround his weapon, turning a purplish red. "Your life is on the line! Spectral Flames!"

An outburst of flaming ghosts shot out from his weapon then, the ground beneath searing as they hurtled towards Vanica. However, rather than retreat or mount some sort of defensive barrier like she had prior, Vanica instead chose to run towards the onslaught of burning specters. Her claws at the ready, she clawed and slashed her way through the barrage, quickly closing in on her foe.

However, as she cut through the last ghoul, Schwarzwald was already prepared, his scythe held high above his head as ghosts swarmed around his weapon. He swung it down at Vanica's head, only for her to raise up her claw to block the strike. The earth beneath Vanica shattered then, her knees buckling for but a moment...and a giggle escaping her lips.

"Yes, now this is more like it!" Vanica declared before she pushed back with her claw, sending Schwarzwald back. However, he only skidded back across the ground briefly before he dashed right back towards her in nearly an instant, swinging his scythe at Vanica. Vanica jumped back, knowing that she would need much more distance to dodge the ghouls that hung near Schwarzwald's weapon.

As she landed on her feet, Schwarzwald had spun his scythe above his head, this time summoning three blasts of purple lightning. She leapt back, dodging the first strike and knocking back the second before she ran forward, ducking underneath the last bolt of lightning as she prepared her claws and ran towards Schwarzwald.

"Insolent wretch! I'll skin you down to the bone!"

Blade met claw as the two struck simultaneously at one another, the ground cracking beneath, only for it to shatter upon another strike. Schwarzwald leapt back, and swung his weapon as an arching blast of ghouls shot towards Vanica. She leaned to the left to dodge the strike, and parried the next with her claw, before leaping over the next one, somersaulting over Schwarzwald and attempted to kick him behind the back, only for a wall of ghouls to form behind him, blocking the strike.

"Ha! Don't think that a mere attack from behind will be enough to settle this!" Schwarzwald declared as he spun around and attempted to strike at Vanica's head. She raised up her claws then, skidding back from the force of his blow. Yet, to Schwarzwald's irritation, the woman didn't look concerned in even the slightest.

"Oh yes, you're much better than the rest of your guild," Vanica said as she prepared to launch herself forward. "Now I'm wishing you had joined in earlier! Maybe then it wouldn't have been such a colossal disappointment!"

Schwarzwald looked at the woman, completely baffled. "Here you stand, barely managing to hold your own against me, yet you wished to have fought myself along with my compatriots? I'll be certain to execute you for your arrogance."

"Arrogance you say?" Vanica asked as she punched the ground below. "Let's see if you feel the same after seeing this next little spell!? Blood Magic: Impaling spikes of Avernus!"

The earth shook and quaked before the entire field transformed into a forest of bloody spikes. Schwarzwald was shot up into the air, his spectral defense of ghouls having been completely overwhelmed by Vanica's spell. He snarled then as he crashed downward and ran towards Vanica, slashing at her with his scythe multiple times, but for each and every single one of his strikes, the woman managed to avoid his blade, and the spirits that enveloped the blade.

"Damn you, just stay still and die you-Gah!"

However, just as Schwarzwald had tried to prepare to fire another blast of ghouls from his Scythe, Vanica had already struck, her right claw having slashed him across the chest and destroying his chestplate, sending him tumbling across the ground until he came to a complete stop. He panted for but a moment, before he wobbly returned up to his feet, his furious gaze meeting that of the cheerful Vanica's.

"Well, well, well. It's good to see you can at least get up after a few attacks of mine. For a second or two there I was worried I had ended things a bit too soon." Vanica said as she slowly made her approach. "I wouldn't want our little fight to end too soon!"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Schwarzwald asked, his hands clutching onto his weapon as he grit his teeth. "You're not just fighting for mere sport, you're fighting to live! And I'll prove it with this next attack!" His power began to concentrate around him then, the ghouls forming around his sword as the air became thick with their magic.

"Oh? What's this? An ace up your sleeve?" Vanica asked, her cheer still clear as day. "Good! I was starting to wonder if I had already seen everything you had to offer."

Schwarzwald chuckled then, as a massive purple circle of magic formed in front of him. "You haven't seen anything yet. Behold, one of the special techniques of my Spectral Magic! Spectral Wave!" A massive orb of purple energy shot forth from his scythe then, the force of the blast causing all of the surrounding trees to bend as if they were in a fearsome tornado.

"Yes, now this is more like it!"

Yet, even in the face of such a spell, Vanica stretched out her right claw then, attempting to stop the attack right in its place. However, the power of the blast was more than she had anticipated, the member of the dark triad skidding back across the ground as a result.

"Oh no! Miss Zograits!" Wendy called out, her worry clear as day. So far, Vanica had managed to prove more than a match for the dark wizard, yet here and now she was being forced back. Oh why had she insisted on staying here!? She should have gone right to the guildhall! How could she have been so stupid!?

Schwarzwald guffawed at Vanica's struggles, a malicious grin etching itself over his face. "Ha! Now do you see!? Up until now you've had but only a taste of what Schwarzwald The Underworld was truly capable of! Now you see what true magical power is! Beg and plead as much as you like, but your fate is already-"

"Ok, I think I've seen enough of this little spell."

Her push coming to a sudden halt, Vanica's heel's planting themselves against the ground, the woman added her other hand to the spell, and then flung the attack upwards into the air where it then burst into a magnificent blast, shaking the entire forest and leaving Schwarzwald, Wendy and Carla completely flabbergasted at Vanica's display of overwhelming might.

"Well, that wasn't too bad I guess." Vanica stated as she dusted her hands before she looked back towards her foe, her smile returning in foe. "So, do you got any more spells of that level or higher? Come on, this is finally starting to get to be a little interesting!"

Schwarzwald couldn't believe his eyes. That spell had been among his strongest, with enough power to wipe a small town off the map! There was absolutely more to this woman than meets the eye. Yes, he had been watching her closely ever since she had arrived and single handedly ruined his plans of revenge. Beneath that cheery and chipper demeanor, was someone who took thrill in battle, who enjoyed the pain and misery she took upon others, and more than likely, knew the joy of taking life.

And that…was something he could use to his advantage. What could have led to his downfall, would soon serve as a key component to his revenge!

"I see. You truly are quite the capable mage," Schwarzwald admitted, his scowl transforming into a creepy grin. "Yes, quite capable indeed. It would truly be such a waste to kill such talent. So, how about I offer you a proposal? I'm certain you'll find what I have in mind far more beneficial than whatever that girl over there and her guild could possibly offer."

"Oh?" Vanica asked, eyebrow raised as she rested her right hand on her hip. "Do tell."

"I can sense that we're kindred spirits, you and I," Schwarzwald proclaimed, his hands resting at his sides. "You seek to kill and slaughter your foes. Wallow in their misery and despair. I know not what you hope to gain from Fairy Tail, but I'll tell you now, what you truly desire will forever be denied to you there."

"How so?"

Schwarzwald chuckled. "Because the Fairy Tail guild is weak! Perhaps not of body and magic, but of mind! They're nothing more than a bunch of bleeding hearts, taking pity on their foes and refusing to take the lives of those whom endanger them!"

He then pointed his scythe at Wendy, the dragon slayer tensing up ever so slightly. "The moment you join their ranks, you'll find yourself constrained by their morality, unable to ever be your true self! Forever denied the bloodshed you so dearly crave!"

Schwarzwald then pointed his index finger at himself. "But it doesn't have to be that way! Join the ranks of Eisenwald, become my second in command, and I can promise you all of the bloodshed that you so desperately crave!"

He then pointed the scythe at Wendy. "All you need to do is simply beat that girl to an inch of her life, and I'll gladly welcome you into my guild so we can-"

"Mmmmmmm, no thanks. Not interested."

Schwarzwald's eyes widened at her sudden refusal, turning his head back towards her. "What? You refuse!? But why!? Under my command you could kill to your heart's content! For what inane reason could you possibly have to deny my generosity!?"

Vanica simply raised up two fingers from her left hand, the rest remaining closed. "I've actually have two of them, silly! For starters, you're offering me the wrong thing! "

"I…what!?" Schwarzwald exclaimed.

"Yup!" Vanica answered before she shrugged her shoulders. "You see, I couldn't care less about killing a bunch of weaklings. In fact, it's really overrated. If I wanted fun like that, I could just do it myself. I certainly wouldn't need you for something so trite. As for me…"

Her grin reached from side to side of her face then, her eyes sparking with glee. "I only care about fighting the strong! People who can really get my blood boiling with excitement! People that can push me to my limits! A fight where the outcome is completely unknown! What could possibly be be better than that!?" Oh, speaking of which-"

Vanica turned her head, her attention solely focused on Wendy, giving her as comforting as a smile as she could. "Tell me, little Wendy. Are the people at Fairy Tail stronger than this man?"

While Carla could only stare at her in disbelief at her goal, Wendy nodded. "Yeah, way stronger!"

"Excellent! I just knew that this Fairy Tail is just the place for me!" Vanica's tried her best to reign in her excitement, turning around before her smile grew into a disturbing grin. "As for the last thing, it's quite simple really," With her eyes now closed, she tilted her head to the side.

"You're actually really weak!"

(Song of choice: Your Battle is My Battle, Jujutsu Kaisen0, shortened and half instrumental version)

Schwarzwald gripped the handle of his scythe as hard as he could then, blood dripping from his palms as a result. "What did you just say!? Weak!? You stupid wench, I have no need to use any more power than this to send you to your grave. For I am-"

"Unworthy of your full power, right?"

Schwaezawald's eyes widened then, the woman who had been several feet away now stood right in front of him, one her hands delicately holding onto one of his own. "Sorry, but I'm going to need to put a kibosh on that silly little theory. See, right now my body needs a proper warm up before I go to Fairy Tail and I think you're just the thing I need. My perfect little appetizer before I get to my main course. So I still think I can have some fun with this."

Her fingers then clasped onto his own, in an almost intimate fashion, her eyes completely closed. "But that said…you're not at that level right now. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to beat it out of you."

*Bam!*

Schwarzwald lurched forward as blood erupted from his mouth, Vanica having slammed the palm of her hand against his stomach. Her other hand still grasped onto his own, she proceeded to repeatedly strike him with her free hand, each eliciting a pained groan before she landed a powerful kick to his stomach, sending him careening away.

"Tch, damn it!" Schwarzwald cursed before he came to a complete stop, his spectral underlings helping to stop his momentum. He snarled, pointing his Scythe at Vanica. "Why you-"

"You want to know something funny about blood? Well, at least something I find funny about it?" Vanica asked, the pages of her Griomoire turning as she pointed the palm of her hand at him. Blood began to formulate and swirl around her palm then, her magical power increasing in turn.

"Blood is a fundamental part of life. Without it, most things from my world, and probably yours too, would cease to live without it. And yet, despite it all, with the exception of my own family, everyone got so scared of me when they saw what my power could do. It's silly, don't you think?"

The swirling orb of blood solidified in the palm of her hand then, before cracks began to form around it as rays of right light began to leak out from it.

"Blast of Red."

With the utterance of her spell, the red light burst out in a destructive wave of red energy, slamming into Schwarzwald and decimating several dozen tree's of the forest. As Schwarzwald found his body tumbling across the earth before he used his Scythe to stop his momentum, preparing his next strike out of fury, purple flames concentrated around his weapon. "Don't think that you'll be able to just-"

Only for Schwarzwald to feel the sudden impact of Vanica's fist across his right cheek, sending him crashing to the earth, his body rolling across the ground once more and crashing through three tree's before he managed to stop his momentum and leapt up into the air trying to locate his foe. "You damn-"

But before Schwarzwald could even attempt yet another cliched villainous rant, he felt a blooded hand grasp onto the right side of his hand before he was sent hurtling towards the ground. As his back impacted against the ground before he felt himself being propelled against it. The grasp of his head still remaining firm, he was nevertheless able to gleam upon the form of his attacker, Vanica's cheery demeanor having not changed a damn bit as she ground his body against the earth as she carried him along!

"So, are you going to finally fight me with all you've got?" She asked with an excited tone.

"Enough!"

With a kick to her stomach, Schwarzwald jumped up into the air, his spectral magic prepared to fire down upon her once more. "Spectral-"

Only for Vanica to vanish before his eyes one last time, the woman unknowingly vanishing behind him before she performed a spinning kick to the left side of his head, hurtling him across the horizon before he finally crashed into a small clearing of trees.

What…what the hell was all of that!? Schwarzwald demanded as he pounded at the earth with his spare hand. I couldn't follow any of her movement's at all! Damn it all, has she been holding back on me this entire time!?

"Oh? You're still conscious? That's not too shabby. I was worried that I might have put you to sleep prematurely. "

The woman managing to take him by surprise yet again forced him to let out a worried gasp as he turned around, Vanica standing a mere three feet away. "I suppose you're on par with a Stage 3 Wizard..." She then pressed her index finger under her chin as she appeared in thought. "...Wait, no, No, You're probably more akin to a Two. It's so hard to tell when the enemies are so much weaker than myself. Oh well, it hardly matters. If you couldn't handle a beating at that level, you wouldn't even be worth considering a warmup!"

"A…warm up? Is that what all of this is to you!?" Schwarzwald demanded, as a dark purple and gray magic began to surround his entire body. "A damn warm up!?"

"Yup!" Vanica answered cheerfully, not in the least bit bothered by either his anger. "So, do we finally have a proper understanding? You. Me. Strong as you can get. Are we clear?"

His scythe held up high above his head, he gave Vanica the most hateful glare he could muster as he began to slowly rotate his weapon above his head. "Crystal. Behold the most powerful spell at my disposal!" A large magical circle, several times the size of his own body, formed above him, as ghouls emerged not only from his weapon, but from the ground as well.

(Song of choice: Enemy Unseen, Bleach OST)

"I call upon the souls sealed within my weapon, and the souls of those whom I've slain! You now face the wrath of over a thousand undead! Behold, the full might of Schwarzwald of the Underworld! Spectral Twister!"

As his scythe twirled above his head, a massive torrent of ghouls erupted from his body, each of the dark specters scorching the land as they soared above it. The ghouls hurtled towards Vanica, but before the moment of impact, they spread out, surrounding Vanica in a dark vortex of the departed.

Vanica felt her feet lift off the ground then, her cloak fluttering within the vortex of the undead souls that buffeted her. "Ohhhhhhh, now this is a pretty little trick! Let's see what it's made of!"

She slashed out the wall of the vortex with her claws, smirking as she saw it tear apart...and then losing her smile as it came back together just as fast.

"Hrm..."

"Haha! You'll find that my Spectral Vortex won't be so easy to disperse!" Schwarzwald proclaimed before he pointed his sword at her. "And that's not all it can do! Tear her apart, souls of the dead!"

Several ghouls that made up the vortex then shot out towards her, their hands outstretched as they prepared to attack her!

One such ghoul lunged at Vanica from the front, her blood covered hand racing to meet it. She caught it around the face then, hearing its wailing echo in her ears. Not caring in the slightest, Vanica tightened her grip, crushing the creature's ethereal skull.

"Nex-Ah!"

She could not even call out another foe without being interrupted, a ghoul striking her in the back. Whirling around, Vanica slashed at it, only to see it begin to reform as the barrier made of them had moments before. And then...

She felt the ghouls swarm her, grabbing at her, restraining her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the first one to attack still there, grabbing her arm even as its head reformed.

"Hahaha! Don't you see!? Compared to my overwhelming might, you're completely helpless! Now, wallow in despair as I send you hurtling into the pits of hell!" Schwarzwald shouted as the twister began to slowly shrink in on them as the ghoulish wails increased in pitch. "Now perish, foolish interloper!"

"Hell, huh?" Vanica chuckled.

Vanica pushed against the ghouls swarming her, seeing the vortex's world around her grow smaller...and she smiled.

"This is a battle! Win or lose, it could never be hell! 10%!"

The power of her contract began to flow across her body more, allowing it to strengthen. Allowing her magic to become more potent. Vines of blood burst outwards from her radius, skewering the ghouls and piercing through the twister of the dead.

"What!?" Schwarzwald shouted as Vanica's bloody spell dispersing his own, forcing him to take a step back. "What...what kind of magic is that!?" He demanded. He had admittedly wondered about this from the moment she had attacked his fellow guildmates, but he had pushed it to the side, believing it irrelevant. But now he was starting to believe, slowly yet surely …that this was a foe beyond his measure.

(Song of choice: Ruler of Death, Overlord OST)

"You spoke of hell..." Vanica whispered, turning to look at him. Manic glee overtook her then, her eyes alight with joy. "But you don't know half of it! What you see before you is a true, genuine, devil!"

A step backwards, then another. For the first time since he had been freed from his imprisonment, Schwarzwald felt a distinct sensation of beginning to course through his very being. One he had only felt once before during his tenure as guild master.

Fear.

It was inconceivable! He who ran the Eisenwald guild which had once specialized in assassination requests! He who's name used to send shudders down the backs of any poor fool who had run afoul with the law when Eisenwald worked hand and hand with the Magic Council. He who had taken a thousand lives, each of whom had been forced back under his beck and call after that woman had initially freed them from his command.

But yet here and now…none of those accomplishments meant a damned thing.

"Well, well, well. That was better than expected." Vanica said with a clap of her hands. "Your last attack was almost good enough to be Stage one! Unfortunately for you, however..." The woman sneered before she took a single step forward. "That's nowhere near good enough to defeat me..."

Vanica slowly began to make her approach, her crazed expression still ever present. His own eyes went wide with fear as he took several steps back, the woman slowly being over imposed by the one who had defeated him all those months ago.

Those eyes… He thought as his entire body began to shake and shudder, Vanica's short hair and crown replacing itself with a distinct white hat, and flowing locks.

They have the same damn eyes!

Then it happened, as sudden flashes ran through his mind. From the time he had learned his first spell, to his first ever job request. The first time he had taken a life, and even when he had opened up the doors to the Eisenwald guild, The flashes soon ceased, and he found himself hunched over panting from the overwhelming sensation.

"What...what was that?" He sputtered, trying his best to recompose himself.

Vanica stopped just ten feet short of her foe, her bloody claws resting at her side. "Aww, what's wrong?" The woman asked, her smile growing ever larger, and with it, her features became more and more crazed.

"Life flashing before your eyes?"

Her words alone invoked a powerful chill to run down his spine, his eyes transfixing on the woman before him.

Schwarzwald took a step back. She was wrong. Vanica was wrong! His life was not flashing before his eyes, not at all! Flashing would imply light and all he saw now was the dark. The dark that rose up from behind Vanica's very being, shadows spreading from it like wings. They stretched out, as if they were reaching towards Schwarzwald himself.

"No..."

What kind of monster was she!? She was...she was just like...

Schwarzwald saw it then, a woman's mouth curling back into a wicked smile. It was not Vanica's though, the wizard's mind piercing through time and dredging up a nightmarish moment of his past. Of the one who had bested him from the past. However, the unbearable world he was finding himself drawn into in the present would not let him escape so easily.

Schwarzwald felt a presence behind him, and the cruel smile from the past shattered before him...and he saw another by his side. Vanica seemed to be leaning over his shoulder, grinning. But…

Schwarzwald took a frantic, deep breath, feeling something else by his side. He turned then, finding another face leaning his shoulder. Something much more...demonic.

Vanica felt it then, the wizard letting out a surprised yelp, the two beings hunched over his shoulder fading away from his body. He panted and wheezed as he looked up, his eyes meeting Vanica as she still encroached upon him. "A…a…hallucination?"

Her lips curled downward for but a moment, before returning back to that damn persistent smile. "I guess my magic does have that effect on people. Well, whatever. Come on now, stand up, wittle Schwarzy! Be strong! Don't chicken out now! Overcome your fear! That last spell proved to me that you're actually pretty good warm up material! So come on, let's keep going and have even more fun!"

Schwarzwald felt himself shudder for a moment, his fear keeping him in place before he let out one last defiant yell and ran straight towards Vanica. There was nothing for it. He either won here or faced the possibility of rotting inside of a jail cell for the rest of his life. No…No he couldn't go back. He wouldn't! Victory would be his! He swung his scythe at her wildly with reckless abandon, skill lost as his mind was overcome by a single, overwhelming desire! To slay the woman before his eyes!

Yet, as he tried to swing down his weapon onto her one last time, the woman grasped onto one of his arms and yanked it away from the scythe. She gave him only the briefest of glances and then…promptly snapped it in half.

Schwarzwald let out a scream of pain then, the pain far too excruciating to ignore before Vanica promptly landed a kick on his stomach, sending him tumbling away. He panted and wheezed, still trying to overcome the agonizing sensation in his arm, as he took several steps backwards only for him to glance up back towards her.

He wished he hadn't. The woman looked as cheerful as could be with the smile plastered on her face. As she took a single step forward, he took another three back, her crazed eyes sending horror down his spine!

(Song of choice: Bodhisattva Cathedral, Hellsing RAID OST, two minutes and 36 seconds in)

"M-make it stop!" He demanded as he took several steps backwards. "God, just what the hell kind of wizard are you!?"

Vanica pouted at his question. "Oh, quite whining. All I did was break your stupid arm," Her smile returned in full force then, as she took yet another step forward. "Now come on, you still have plenty of magic left! Summon your ghouls, use all one thousand souls you've slaughtered to empower yourself! Pick up your weapon and attack me! Do something! This is where the real fun starts!"

She took another step.

"Come on!"

What the hell is she!?

"Come on! Come on!"

A mage like this couldn't possibly exist!

"Come on! Come on! Come on!"

She's absolutely insane!

"Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"MONSTER! Oh god, you're a monster!"

As Schwarzwald's terrified voice echoed outwards, Vanica found herself stopping midstride, frozen in place. He may not have known it, but Schwarzwald has finally inflicted a truly painful blow. Not with his magic, but with his words, as her mind unintentionally drifted to the distant past.

---

"Blood magic!? Ew, that's gross! You're so weird!

---

"H-how can you be so strong?! You're just a brat...No, no you're a freak! A battle loving freak!"

---

"Stay away from that girl sweetie, I don't want you to get hurt by accident."

---

"Did you see how easily she killed that monster? That girl's practically inhuman!"

---

"Let you hanf around with us? What are you kidding me? I don't have a place here for freaks like you!"

---

"Monster!"

---

Vanica's gaze went downward, her expression no longer one of excitement, no longer filled with the bliss of battle, but of disappointment. "I see," She spoke in a low tone. "You're…just like the rest. Nothing…but a disappointment."

Schwarzwald felt his body shake and shudder, his breath a complete erratic mess, not paying his foe's disappointment the slightest bit of attention. It had become abundantly clear to him now that victory was quite clearly beyond his reach. Thus, Schwarzwald did the only thing he could against such an overwhelming petrifying foe.

He ran.

His spectral magic lifted him up from the ground before he took off like a rocket, shooting towards the opposite direction of Fiore. That woman is a monster! A DAMNED MONSTER! Schwarzwald screamed. Things had completely spiraled out of control the moment that woman had shown up! The plan had to be completely scrapped as it was. The entirety of his own guild has been wiped out by a single woman.

A single, horrifying woman!

I can't hope to defeat her as I am now all on my own! I can't believe I have to resort to getting help from THEM of all people, but I need to find a representative of Tartaros quickly! Surely with their aide I'd be able to fell her no problem! Yes, it'll be easy! And then once her soul is under my command, and Tartaros assistance, destroying Fairy Tail will be-"

"Nuh uh uh. You're not getting away!"

Schwarzwald's heart skipped a beat, his breath caught in his throat as the familiar chipper voice of one Vanica Zogratis ran through his ears, along with a firm grip on his right shoulder. He turned around, his eyes widening with horror as Vanica gave delightfully crazed countenance filled his vision. He let out a horrified yelp then as Vanica flung him across the ground, his body rolling several times over till his back slammed into a large boulder.

The guild master groaned as he slowly rose up to his feet, only to realize that his weapon was no longer with him. He worriedly looked around, desperate to find it...and desperately wished he hadn't.

There it was, his jet-black weapon resting in Vanica's hands. She tossed it at him, the weapon rolling across the ground just like he had moments ago before stopping just before his feet.

"Come on! Pick it up!" Vanica asked cheerfully, the woman slowly making her way towards him, still giving him that disturbingly cheerful look. He began to crawl away to the left, whimpering, only for a spike of blood to jut out of the ground right in front of him, stopping his retreat.

Tepidly, he turned to face her, expecting that same, unceasing cheerful expression…Only to find it had vanished completely, replaced with a cold bitterness that froze him to the core. No, something was different now.

(Song of choice: Raw Breath orchestra 2022, Bleach TYBW OST)

"Pick. It. Up." She demanded, her voice now having changed tone drastically. The cheer was gone, replaced with an ice cold, steely hate, her eyes seeming to pierce right into his very soul.

Panicking at the sight of her changed demeanor, he grabbed his weapon in a hurry, before pointing its tip right at Vanica's intimidating expression. "S-stay back!" He demanded before letting out a nameless blast of spectral energy at Vanica, only for her to swat it away with ease.

"You just had to ruin what little fun I was getting out of it, didn't you?" Vanica snarled, flexing one of her clawed hands. "You know, it's people like you that I detest the most." Vanica said as she began her slow trek towards Schwarzwald.

"Keep the hell away from me!"

He fired off yet another nameless spell, only for her to bat it away just like the first. "I couldn't care less about the weak. There's no fun to be had with them, but at least the vast majority of them acknowledge it. They know that they lack power, and then act accordingly. When danger arrives, they run. Just as the weak should. They know their place in the world."

Another blast, followed up by yet another deflection.

"Then there are the weaklings who think they can make a difference. Magic Knights and the like. They're good for defending the weak from other weaklings, but once they run into someone strong, they tend to fall like dominos. Still, at least for them it's either for some sort of a job or their precious, obnoxious morals they espouse. I don't get why they care about them so much, but what I do get is that more often than not, at least they tend to die with some dignity and go down swinging."

"Stay away, stay-" Schwarzwald tried to cry out, only for her massive bloody claw to grasp over his face, slamming the back of it against the massive rock outcrop he had hit moment's ago, disorienting him enough to let go of his weapon.

"Then there's your kind. The kind that prays on the weak because it's easy. Convenient. Now, I'm not going to talk down on you for that in particular. It was an old hobby of mine back in the day after all. No, what really irks me about you people is how cowardly you are," She slammed down the heel of her boot on Schwarzwald's leg, the heel of her boot piercing flesh and eliciting a horrified scream from Schwarzwald. "Because here's the thing. You have power. The potential to get stronger…and you squander it."

She slammed her heel into his other leg, an equally painful squeal erupting from his mouth. "But, you know what really gets under my skin about people like you? You all tend to think that you're invincible, that you're so strong, when in reality you've been nothing more than a big fish in a small pond. Because you refuse to grow. And what do you do when you run into a shark like me?"

A terrified whimper escaped Schwarzwald, resulting in her heel impaling itself into his stomach, electing the most agonizing wail yet. "You all fall into despair so easily. Every last one of your kind. Any time when the going looks tough, you'll always run away. There's almost never a defiant last stand. Nothing worthy to remember, nothing distinct. Honestly, it's pathetic. Even your subordinates were better in this regard."

She spat at the ground then, her saliva mixing with the blood on the ground. "Tch. 'Despair.' What an irritating concept. The only use I had for it was to motivate my enemies to get stronger. But, honestly, too many times a really fun one would just wind up breaking because of it, like my little Lolopechka. Honestly, it's a total buzz kill. Only my dear Noelle ever grew from it…and in the end, I lost her because of it."

She twisted her heel, Schwarzwald's screams increasing in pitch. "At least the magic knights have enough experience and know how to know when they're out matched, or they've fought enough people on their level to have at least some justification for how strong they are. Or they have the motivation to protect people that forces them to fight above their weight class. Something. But you?"

The heel went even deeper with Schwarzwald howling with increased agony. "You all purposely pick on the weak, because it'll be easy. A quick buck, or a cheap thrill, that's how it is with you types, and now all of a sudden because you can push around a bunch of nobodies, you feel like you're on top of the world. But here's the truth of the matter about killing weaklings. There's no substance, not enough variety. Because, you see, once I fought my dear Acier and my brothers and I took over the Spade Kingdom, I found that real joy comes from battling the strong!"

Schwarzwald gave Vanica as pitiful a glance as he could, hoping, pleading that she would show mercy…only for her heel to simply implant itself in his stomach yet again, and another painful wail accompanied the new wound.

Vanica simply glared at him, not paying his cries even the slightest attention. "So, listen here, and listen well, you worthless piece of trash. You don't get to act like you're strong if you just keep eating low quality dishes. Eating the weak doesn't make your magic or your body stronger. No, the only thing it feeds is your ego. You want to actually be strong, to get truly powerful? Then find a meal that's worthy of savoring."

"P-please! I just -"

"Shut up," Vanica told him before she slammed the back of his head against the rock once more. "I certainly do hope the other dark guilds in Fiore actually have some spine. What's left of that Balam Alliance probably does if they're the big shots. I can at least look forward to running into the last one of them. Maybe then I'll have a half decent appetizer…Unlike you."

Then without giving Schwarzwald another chance to plead, she slammed the back of his head through the rock, his body going slack before she released his head, his body crumbling to the ground. His chest rose up and down, indicating signs of life. He would live…but with excruciating pain once he awoke.

Vanica scowled at the sight. What had been little more than a glorified warm up had soon turned into a dissatisfying beatdown. She took a deep breath before letting out an exasperated sigh, her cold bitterness giving way to an immature pout, arms crossed over her chest. "Awwww, that really sucked! I thought he'd make for a halfway decent snack, but it turned out he was only about as good as a breath mint!"

How long had it been since being called a monster had bothered her? It was far from the first time either. Ever since she and her brothers had taken over Spade...no, even before then, it was a pain that was almost as old as her magic. Sure, it had hurt at first, but she adapted, she moved on. Who cared what a bunch of weaklings thought. They didn't matter. She was certain she had gotten over those feelings quite some time ago. She had to, if she wanted to enjoy her life.

So...Why now?

She grit her teeth. No, it didn't matter. She had moved well beyond that pain. That wasn't _her_ anymore. She wasn't the little girl she used to be back in Spade. She was a strong, powerful wizard. The object of every one of her Dark Disciples adoration. The love and care of her siblings! She had all the adoration she needed. Everyone -

---

"As if. Do you think I'll be content if you're satisfied, Vanica? After everything you've done? You stepped on people for your own amusement without a care in the world. How could you expect me to be your friend? I'm going to end you now!"

---

Vanica's eyes widened before she shook her head, her chipper demeanor returned in force. ""No, no, it's fine! It's fine!The past is in the past, so it doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is the here and now! Nothing to be done about it now! I'd better take this guy back to Wendy before…Oh. Ohhhh. Ohhhhhhhhh. Uh oh."

Only now, with her mind now cleared of the rage that had briefly consumed her, could she now see Schwarzwald's injuries for what they truly were. The wounds weren't so bad that he wouldn't die if he hadn't received some kind of medical attention...but they were of a much more bloody nature than she would have liked Wendy to have seen. It... probably wasn't a good look, if Fairy Tail really were a bunch of softies.

"Well, that's no good," Vanica said, a dower expression quickly overcoming her. "Here I was trying to keep things as bloodless as possible for little Wendy, yet I ended up blowing it at the end. Awww! Why didn't anyone tell me!? Megicula you should have reminded me to -"

Her voice stopped, as a sudden realization came to her. Megicula. The devil that had made her one of three strongest wizards of the Spade Kingdom. The one who used to help her prevent from making such foolish mistakes in the first place…and the one who ultimately ended up betraying her.

She hadn't heard their voice even once since she ended up in this world. Had her arrival in this strange realm separated them?

No, more importantly than even that…why had she even bothered to call upon their power? They had betrayed her, cast her aside like worthless trash. Even after all of those years they spent together. After everything they had been through together...Had it all meant nothing? They were supposed to have understood her. No, they did understand her. Yet even despite all of that, despite it all…she had been offered up as a sacrifice.

Her lips began to tremble ever so slightly, alongside a pit of some sort forming in her stomach. She could feel it then, a strange wet sensation from the corner of her right eye. She whipped it away, only for her eyes to widen at the sensation. "Tears? I…I don't-"

"Miss Zogratis! You're alright!"

Vanica quickly shook her head then, trying her best to discard her emotions and to regain some sort of composure, sensing the approaching dou of Wendy and Carla.. I don't know what that was all about just then, but I can't let her…no, I can't ever let ANYONE see me like that.

Giving Wendy her usual cherry countenance, the cat carrying Wendy through the air, Vanica gave them a playful wink of her eye. "Little Wendy! I'm surprised that you were able to catch up with me so quickly! He ran away pretty far. That tiny cat if yours must be pretty quick."

Carla huffed at her question. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't fly at a decent pace. Wendy just wanted to make sure you were alright, that's all."

Vanica rolled her eyes at the flying cat's uppity attitude. Just be lucky I want to be on little Wendy's good side, you stupid moggie. The woman thought before her smile turned more genuine as Wendy approached. "Oh, you didn't have to worry about me, little Wendy. I'm really strong, ya know?"

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, I can see that now. Honestly, you took me by surprise! You're really strong!"

A slight twinge of worry overcame Vanica now. Well, at the very least, she didn't seem all that bothered by the damage she had inflicted on Schwarzwald. Then again, as a healer, she had probably gotten used to such sights, if not worse. This now, however, brought a new concern to her mind. If Wendy was impressed by a mere 10% of her power…Was the rest of the guild truly worth checking out? Time to prod for some more information.

"Little Wendy, sweetie, would you say what I did was about on par with your strongest?" Vanica asked.

Wendy paused for a moment, not exactly an expert in comparing her friends' strengths. Carla, however, was far blunter. "You're certainly stronger than most of the guild, but you'd have a long way to go if you honestly want to be at the top. There are several members who could have defeated Eisenwald much faster than you did, several of them with one spell even."

Well, that did something to lift up her hopes, though not much. For all she knew, the cat was simply taking this as an opportunity to speak down to her. She knelt down to get a better look at Wendy's face before she made her next inquiry. "Is that true, little Wendy?"

"Um, I think -"

However, before Wendy could begin to answer her question, Vanica felt a considerable amount of power rapidly approaching closing in on them. It was almost as much power as Vanica was already excreting, if not slightly more. Despite this she could sense that there was much more beneath its current surface than was currently being output.

However, what truly grabbed her attention was how different this power felt. It was nothing like any other magic she had sensed before, either in this world or her own. In fact, it didn't even feel like magic at all. It was simply as if a great invisible pressure was weighing down on her as it rapidly approached. The pressure itself was easy enough to acclimate to, but the fact that she felt it at all could only mean one thing to Vanica, a gigantic grin plastering itself over her face.

Whoever this belongs to….is strong!

"Wendy!"

The one responsible for the strange source of power zoomed right past Vanica then, and crashed right in front of the dragon slayer, picking up dust as a result. From what little she could make out, however, the person had already grabbed hold of Wendy and held her tight.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright! I was really worried when I sensed all of those assholes surrounding you like that! I ran all the way from my job request in Hargeon as soon as I did!"

It was definitely a woman's voice, probably in her late teens to early twenties. She set Wendy down then, patting her on the head as the dust slowly began to clear.

"I'm fine, really," Wendy insisted as the woman finally let her go. "Miss Zogratis didn't let any of them get close. She even helped me save Carla!"

"She did?" The woman asked. "Huh. Guess I was in such a hurry that I didn't notice. Still, I oughta give my thanks."

It was about then that the surrounding air cleared enough for Vanica to get a closer look at the latest arrival, as she turned around to face her. Indeed, she was a woman who appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties, though she seemed to be a bit on the shorter side, just an inch or so above five feet. She had long hair that went stopped a little past half of her back, with matching eyes. Her outfit was entirely white, consisting of a white military style cap, white cloak, white military style jacket with an adorable heart pin and wings, a heart buckle to match, and white skirt, with a matching pair of white boots and gloves, each of them with a red trim.

She wasn't even trying to leak out anymore of her power, whatever that was, but it had been enough. From what Vanica had sensed, it was It was at least stage one... but from what little she could glean, there was likely far more than that.

Finally, a truly worth mage had arrived.

The woman gave her a small grin, left hand resting on her hip. "I really owe you for coming in for helping out Wendy back there. Seriously, I don't know what I would have done if they had so much as laid a finger on her, but I sure know it wouldn't have been pretty. You saved me a real hassle back…there…"

The new arrivals' eyes suddenly narrowed then, finally taking in Wendy's 'savior' right before her. Something wasn't right about this one. For starters, the amount of magic she had was abnormal. With very few notable exceptions, almost every difficult foe she had defeated before the fiasco on Tenrou island would have lost fighting this new arrival…and from what little she could gleam, there was more that had yet to be unveiled. Much, much more.

Secondly was the dark nature of the magic she was sensing. She had come into plenty of bizarre and lost magic on her adventures with Fairy Tail, but one of them felt quite like this. The closest example she could think of was none other than Mirajane Strauss…and a former friend whose name was best left unsaid.

But what truly left her on edge was the smile she saw from Wendy's recent savior. Something was definitely off about it. Like at any moment that cheerful little smile on her face would give way to a bloodthirsty killer. It wasn't something your average person would pick up, but she was no stranger to such a thing. Yes, she had seen that kind of smile before. It was one she was well acquainted with in fact, having seen it on the likes of a god Slayer, a self-proclaimed king of a dead world, the one given the title of strongest amongst all shinigami…and herself. It may have been much more subtle than theirs had, but it was present nonetheless.

An unyielding bloodlust.

"So…. What's your name, stranger?" The woman in white asked, her left hand reaching into one of her pockets to take out some sort of silver cross. "I'd like to be able to thank you properly."

The battle loving mage smiled, eyes closed and tilted to the side. "It's Vanica! Vanica Zogratis! I'm so happy to finally meet someone else from the guild. I can already tell you're pretty strong! Let's be friends ok!?"

"...Yeah, sure thing." The woman replied, her eyes not leaving Vanica's for even a second.

"Yay! Oh, this is just spectacular!" Vanica declared, her hands clasped in front of her. "I can tell that you and I are going to get along just fine, Miss…"She then rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just realized that I didn't get your name."

"It's Bambietta." The woman in white answered bluntly, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly more. "Bambietta Basterbine."

---

(Ending Song: The World Without Logos cover by Lily Arciniega)

---

And so there we have it, Vanica's adventures in Fiore have just begun. However, as I'm sure many of you are well aware (either before reading the story or after) this isn't 'just' Fiore as readers of Fairy Tail know it. No, it's a version of the Fairy Tail cast that has many new inhabitants from the world of Bleach.

To clarify, for those who have yet to have read AQFT, these are not versions of the characters who were born in Earthland, but rather the 'canon' characters that 'died' and wound up in Earthland. It'll be explained more later but TLDR, dead Bleach characters were isekaied into the world of Fairy Tail on behalf of the gods to fight for their own respective side of a war that will decide the fate of humanity.

I understand that this may be a lot to take it, but I'll try to ease you into things slowly in the story itself. I hope that despite this, non AQFT fans can at least enjoy this.

As for my readers from AQFT, I'm certain you can see now why, at the very end, I asked for you all to read this as well. As I said in chapter 87, the events of this story are indeed canon to AQFT. While Vanica's appearances may be sporadic at best in AQFT once we reach this point in the timeline (post tenrou), I hope that you enjoy both her, and the journey she is about to embark in.

As for how Bambietta herself plays into it, or why I chose to place Vanica into AQFT instead of plain old 'regular' Fiore, I do believe that will be quite clear by the time we reach the conclusion of this 'Side story'. I don't plan on it to be overly long, about 6-10 chapters at the most.

Allow me to dispel one potential fear. No, this is not a sign of me adding in more crossovers to AQFT. I'm well aware that adding more and more universes into the mix would muddy things quite a bit, and I have no plans to add on anymore characters from either Black Clover, or any other universe from here on out.

No MPFS for this one, I need to figure out how powerful the AQFT cast will be post Tenrou before I start leaving any numbers here.

That's all I have to say for now. If you really enjoyed this chapter, or are curious to see more, please let me know. I'm eager to hear from you all.

Till next time!