AN: So here we are again, I have settled down to write another chapter for another story but was besieged with ideas for this story. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it was an interesting one for me to write. I hope I did a decent job.
Would love it if people would leave a comment or a review and will try to answer any questions you might have. Have been quite bust lately though, what with work, real life and other commitments so I have only been putting aside about three or four hours a week for my stories.
Other than that I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Percy Jackson.
(Last Time)
Zero quickly erected a shield of dark magic to block the first few stone projectiles before blowing up the next few with a blasts of darkness, whipping his hands around as he sent out stream of potent 'Dark Magic' which destroyed everything around them.
Seeing he was distracted Percy decided to finish this, the man was too dangerous to be left alive, besides considering the state of his body it was likely he was about to go nuclear any second. Already the cracks on his body were growing larger as more magic poured out of him, soon he would explode, Brains' body, or Zero's body, was not built to deal with this amount of magic.
Darting forward his sword held tightly in his hand, Percy slowed down time again as he got in close. His blade slashing out; once, twice, three times, eight times, fourteen times, twenty times, twenty eight times as Percy delivered blow after blow going through a combination attack that cut tendons, pierced organs, sliced muscles, with the final slice completely decapitating Zero. Taking his head clean off his shoulders, before using the momentum of the last strike Percy sheathed Backbiter once again.
With a thud Zero collapsed to the floor dead, not even making a sound as his soul had already been destroyed, such was the power of the blade of Kronos that it didn't just kill someone, but it also destroyed their magic and their souls as well.
Not even looking back at Zero's remains, Percy instead focused on finding Jura, he would need to find the Wizard Saint sooner rather than later, after all with the Oración Seis now wiped out and Nirvana all but destroyed their mission was pretty much finished. All that was left was destroying Nirvana once and for all, and Percy couldn't exactly do that if Jura was still on it.
( - )
Chapter 8
( - )
(Onboard the Christina)
Looking through the large windows that looked out over the Wooodsea Forest, the assembled Light Guild Alliance members watched the destruction of Nirvana from Christina's control room.
"It's kind of beautiful in a way isn't it?" Erza spoke up into the silence, the scarlet haired mage was no longer wearing any of her magical armours. Instead she was wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt as she stood by the large window alongside Lucy, Wendy, Gray and Natsu, watching as the ancient Nirvit weapon was destroyed before their eyes.
The entire city of the Nirvit was collapsing in on itself, the four lacrima which had once supported the colossal structure having been destroyed simultaneously as Perseus, Jura, Ichiya and Sherry each individually destroyed the large orbs, robbing the structure of its power, the same power that not only allowed it to move, but also kept the ungainly structure together.
Buildings that had once many centuries ago held families, homes that had once been filled with life and laughter, but which now only empty and lifeless mausoleums slid off the side of the collapsing frame of Nirvana, tumbling to the ground as little more than rubble. The four legs that had once held the great structure aloft began to collapse in on themselves, the weight of the structure now causing the lifeless, magicless legs to cave in under their own weight.
Within a matter of minutes Nirvana was completely destroyed, its form breaking to pieces as it collapsed into the forest below. No doubt as time passed the forest would soon spread and Nirvana would be covered over, a once mighty and fearsome magical weapon reduced to little more than a number of large wooded hills in the Woodsea forest.
"So that is it then. Mission accomplished." Lucy spoke up into the silence that had once again fallen on the assembled Light Guild Members as they watched the dust from the destruction of Nirvana begin to settle.
"Yes Oración Seis was defeated and Nirvana was destroyed, but it came at a great cost." Eve the youngest member of the Trimens said hollowly as he watched the dust from Nirvana's destruction settle. Eve was in a sorry state, his entire torso was covered with bandages, his face was very pale, and eyes were a dull empty blue as he watched Jura, Sherry, Perseus and Ichiya approaching the hovering Christina, their job done, now that Nirvana was no more.
"Not all of Oración Seis has been defeated." Hibiki said bitterly from where he stood by Eve's side. "Angel still walks free, she murdered Ren and Karen and yet she is still happily living her life, like none of it ever happened."
Eve flinched as he heard the woman's name, his hands twitching as he felt his wounds suddenly start to sting again.
"I wouldn't worry about Angel, justice will catch up to her eventually. It always does." Erza spoke up grimly, thinking of Jellal, her childhood friend turned enemy. The man's body, along with the remains of Hoteye, Racer and the other Dark Wizards that had fallen, were being kept in stasis in Christina's hold, the remains all prepared to be turned over to representatives from the Magic Council so they could be bruueid or destroyed… or whatever the Magic Council did with the remains of Dark Wizards.
Another thirty Dark Wizards including Cobra and Midnight were all chained up on deck, their hands in magic negating shackles and their bodies bound in chains. These men and women were also going to be transferred over to the Rune Knights, the Magic Council's enforcers, so they could be put on trial and likely be imprisoned for their crimes.
"I know." Hibiki said as he looked over at Erza. "And I am planning on being the one that brings her to justice."
Erza nodded at that, knowing as she did that she would probably do the exact same if someone killed one of her friends. She would hunt them down and if at all possible capture them, before forcing them to face justice for their crimes.
"So what do we do now then?" Lucy asked once again as she saw both Gray and Lyon had gone outside so that they could lower a boarding ladder to the other four that were now all patiently waiting below on the forest floor.
"We go back to Fairy Tail of course, the jobs done." Natsu replied uncharacteristically quiet as he stared at the wreckage of Nirvana, not even feeling travel sick like he usually did as he stood on the unmoving deck of the Christina, his mind completely on other things. The dragon slayer like Eve was bound in bandages, having received a number of injuries from his fight with Jellal.
The fire dragon slayer had been strangely quiet ever since he had gotten back to the Christina, no longer was he filled with his never ending enthusiasm to fight instead he was surprisingly solemn, calm almost as he thought about the events of the last day. This had been his first properly sanctioned S-Class mission; and in this one he had been facing off against proper S-Class wizards.
Clenching his right fist, Natsu closed his eyes as he thought back on how useless he had been. He had rushed in thinking he could take on the members of Oración Seis and defeat them with ease. He had been wrong; the Oración Seis members were in a different league to those he had fought before. These mages didn't mess around in a fight; they went all out from the start, aiming to kill from their first attack.
He now knew he had a lot of training to do before he could properly call himself an S-Class wizard. Previously he had always been messing around, going off on random missions, fighting with Gray or searching for Igneel. He had never properly tried to train himself; instead he had relied on his natural talent with 'Fire Dragon Slayer Magic' to succeed no matter the odds.
Unlike him and Gray though, Mira, Erza and Laxus when they were growing up had all badgered Perseus, as the Guild's Ace to help them, to give them a few tips here or there and eventually to train them. Natsu however had been more concerned with fighting Gray and going on adventures. Now he was coming to regret the time he had wasted, he did not regret looking for Igneel, he was his father and he would not stop until he had found him, but now he was starting to think he would have had more success had he been a stronger wizard.
"We could go to Cait Shelter first, it is near here and we can stay there whilst I finish healing everybody." Wendy spoke up with a slight smile from where she was standing next to Erza.
Looking down at the blue haired girl, Erza smiled at her. "That's a very generous offer Wendy."
"Agreed" Perseus spoke up as he entered Christina's control room, now only wearing a baggy red T-shirt, black jeans and brown boots, his sword Backbiter once again sheathed at his hip, his left hand idly resting on the pommel. "I think we'll need a bit of time to rest up before heading back to our respective Guilds. Plus we have to drop off our captives to the Magic Council; Cait shelter should be a good rendezvous spot."
"I will go and contact the nearest garrison and tell them to meet up with us at Cait Shelter." Ichiya spoke up agreeably, moving to the captain's chair in the centre of the control room as he made to use the communication lacrima. "Hibiki, Eve can you two turn Christina around, the Cait Shelter Guild is around four miles north of here."
Both Hibiki and Eve nodded as they hurried to man the controls, happy to have something to do, to distract them from the loss of Ren.
Casting a gaze at the others Percy gave a number of them a reassuring smile. "The rest of you might want to rest up, it shouldn't take us too long to get to Cait Shelter, and Jura and I can keep an eye on the prisoners."
"Perseus is right, Lyon, Gray and Natsu you have been badly injured you three should rest up." Jura added on solemnly, nodding along with Percy as he did so, ignoring the fact that he himself had a number of injuries from his fight with Zero, including a mangled left hand form where Zero's last attack had struck him.
"Jura you're also hurt." Erza spoke up as she took a step forwards, her eyes drifting over the Wizard Saint's various injuries and coming to a rest on his hand. "I think you should rest up and let Wendy take a look at you, I will go with Percy."
Jura looked down at his own injuries before shaking his head and somberly replying. "They are only a minor nuisance."
"She's got a point Jura; you are hurt, it is best to get your injuries sorted out now than later." Percy spoke up, lighting his right hand up with silver flames as he placed it on Jura's mangled hand, drawing on the power of Iapetus to heal the worst of Jura's injuries.
Jura looked down as he saw what Percy was doing, his eyes widening as he saw his injuries beginning to steam, before closing up, the damage quickly disappearing. "I was not aware you knew healing magic Perseus?"
Percy shrugged in response, before he began motioning the others over. "It's complicated… but I do hold a talent with few forms of healing magic, one is water based, and another based on this unique fire… 'Flames of Life' is what I have come to call this magic." Percy replied absentmindedly as he began to heal the worst of Gray's, Lyon's, Natsu's and Eve's injuries, leaving the minor cuts, injuries and scrapes they had received, Wendy could fix those up later. "It is a useful skill but one that requires a lot of concentration and energy, so I don't use it carelessly."
Wendy's eyes widened as she saw what Percy was doing, it was the first time she had seen someone else using healing magic, and one which was much faster acting than her own currently was. "Yeah healing using 'Sky Magic' is similar, the more I use it the more tired and dizzy I get."
"That is because you overuse it too much you silly girl." Carla, Wendy's feline companion spoke up, having regained much of her bluster since the fighting had ended. "You should only use it when you absolutely have too!"
"But if I have the power to help someone, shouldn't I do what I can?" Wendy replied, a frown on her face, this was a long standing disagreement between the two of them.
"If you can help someone you always should, but only if doing so does not risk your life and the lives of those around you." Percy suddenly spoke up a kindly smile on his face as he stopped what he was doing and met Wendy's curious and intrigued gaze. "Your willingness to help others is a fine and admirable trait, but it can also become a flaw. If you put the needs of a single person over the needs of the many you can end up doing more harm than good, which is why you always have to be careful and properly think through your actions."
Wendy looked confused as she heard that, but she didn't immediately disagree as she could see some of the logic in his words. "But what about if you don't have the time to properly think things through?"
"Then I suppose you would just have to assess the situation and do the best you can to do what you think is right." Percy replied with a shrug.
Wendy nodded at that, a contemplative look on her face as she looked back up at Percy. "Could you maybe give me a few tips sometime?"
Percy nodded at that a slight smile on his face, he was more than happy to help others, even if it meant taking the time out of his day to do it, but he would only put the effort in if the one asking his help was willing to do the same. After all he was a busy guy, if the person he was teaching was not fully committed to learning why should he waste his time?
"Right well, Erza and I have prisoners to guard and the rest of you need to rest up." Percy spoke up suddenly, turning on his heel as he headed out of the control room, Erza following after him, but only after she patted Wendy on the shoulder and gave her a supportive smile.
"You're a good girl Wendy, listen to what Percy says, trust me most of it will be useful." Erza muttered to her, she could already see the potential in Wendy, and she knew for a fact Percy saw the same, Erza was looking forward to seeing the kind of wizard Wendy would go on to be.
Jura watched them go before he looked down at his now healed hand, "Well it appears we have got some time to kill before we get to the Cait Shelter Guild."
( - )
(With Percy and Erza)
"So did you find Jellal in the end?" Percy asked as he glanced over an Erza, a curious expression on his face, as this was the first time he had properly seen Erza since they split up earlier.
Erza closed her eyes as she heard that, letting out a breath she turned to look at Percy. "Yes... he's dead..."
Percy let out a soft sigh as he heard that. "Were you the one to do it?"
"Yes," Erza replied a frown on her face as she looked away from him and instead looked out over the Woodsea Forest as they passed over it.
"Do you have any regrets?" Percy asked as he took a few steps forward so he was now standing next to Erza, leaning against the railing on the side of the airship.
"No... by the end... Jellal had become little more than a monster. He didn't even seem to recognise me; he was just attacking everything on impulse. He tried to kill Natsu and Lucy, and I decided enough was enough, he had already caused so much pain and suffering to so many people, I just wanted it to be over." Erza replied gripping the railing tightly as she thought back on that moment. It had almost been instinctual, Jellal had begun to craft a deadly spell, his arms raised above his head as he prepared to unleash it on her comrades, in response she had rushed forward, her blade drawn.
Reaching out Percy placed his hand over one of Erza's, a soft smile on his face as he once again got her attention. "What's done is done. Jellal is dead; there is no point in feeling shame or regret over what you did. It sounds like he had become little more than a mad dog by the end, if I was in your position I would have done the same thing."
Erza gave him a hollow smile at that, "I hear what you're saying... I just think I will need to process what happened."
Percy smiled at her as he heard that, squeezing her hand supportively before he said. "If you need anything, anything at all, I am here for you."
"I know you are." Erza replied softly shifting over slightly as she leant against Percy's strong frame, her head resting gently on his broad shoulder, her crimson hair blending in with his shirt as it fell down across his chest.
Percy smiled as he felt her lean against him, bringing his arm up he put it around her shoulder, gently holding her as they watched the forest slowly pass them by.
"Unless you're planning on taking anymore Decade Missions?"Erza muttered softly, enjoying the feeling of being held, though a part of her was worried he would just up and leave again like he had two years ago.
Percy smiled as he heard that, noticing the hint of concern he could hear in her voice, it felt nice to have someone care about him. It was why he had been a member of Fairy Tail for many years now; the Guild Members were all so close, caring and supportative to each other.
"No" Percy replied "I think I will be sticking around the Fairy Tail Guild Hall for the foreseeable future."
"Good" Erza muttered with a relieved sigh as the two continued to stand together watching the world pass them by.
( - )
(At the Cait Shelter Guild)
"Well this is nice…" Sherry Blendi said absentmindedly as she looked around at the Cait Shelter Guild, though to call it a Guild would be a bit of a misnomer.
It was more of a small village than anything; the Cait Shelter Guild consisted of a large wooden building, which was shaped like a cat's head. Around that main building there was dozens of smaller wooden huts, homes for the numerous members of the Guild, all of whom were dressed in odd, antiquated tribal garb, most of whom were milling around as the different members of Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus unloaded the Christina.
The prisoners were all being held in a rock prison Jura had created in the centre of the village. The dead, the dead had been placed in a nearby empty hut, temporarily out of sight and out of mind. Ren's body had been left up on the Christina, wrapped up in a sheet and waiting transportation back to the Blue Pegasus Guild, where he could be buried.
"So this is your home Wendy?" Erza asked the younger girl as she looked around the small settlement, a glint of approval in her eyes. "It looks… peaceful."
"Yeah this is it." Wendy replied softly as she looked around. "I have been here ever since…"
Wendy stopped abruptly at that, her eyes downcast, she had been about to say "Ever since Jellal had left her here", she didn't though. Partly because thoughts of the once kind boy he had been and the monster he had become were painful for her, and also because she didn't want to think of the fact that he was now dead.
She had spoken briefly with Erza about it, learning from her what had happened. She held no blame for the crimson haired wizard, knowing that she had done what she had for the sake of her friends. But still, she found herself still getting a bit upset about how it had turned out in the end.
"Yeah I have to admit it is a nice out of the way place." Percy commented as he approached the other two, Ichiya and Jura following behind him.
Both Erza and Wendy turned to look at Percy as they saw him approach.
"Any word from the Rune Knight Captain?" Erza asked they had been here for nearly an hour now, waiting for the Rune Knights the Council had sent to arrive.
Since then they had all just been hanging around patiently waiting, Lyon and Sherry had only just come down from the Christina, Lyon having been resting from his few remaining injuries that Percy and Wendy hadn't healed and Sherry, Sherry had been doting on the injured ice wizard. Natsu, Lucy and Gray were off exploring, having a look around the small settlement and generally just making a nuisance of themselves. Hibiki and Eve however had been making a few half hearted attempts to flirt with the female Guild members, though it was obvious from just a glance that their hearts weren't really in it.
"Yes we just heard from Captain Lahar, they are just a few minutes out and are aware of the situation." Jura responded with a nod.
"Indeed, and the Christina's lacrima is once again charged up and after we have transferred the prisoners to the Rune Knights we should be nearly ready to leave." Ichiya spoke up with a nod of his head to Erza, not bothered to flirt or harass her at the moment, as he was just not in the mood; this day had been a long and exhausting one. "I would be more than happy to offer my honoured allies in both Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail a lift home, or at least out of the Woodsea Forest."
"That is a very generous offer, and one I would be more than willing to accept." Jura replied slowly and calmly as he gave Ichiya a small smile.
Percy shrugged in response, before he turned to look at Erza. She after all had been the one put in charge of the Fairy Tail retinue for this mission; he was just a tag along. When it had come to the fighting he was more than willing to step up and lead the Alliance as a whole, after all he had a lot more experience in fighting, tactics and life than…, well than anyone else in the Alliance. But for things like this, where it only involved the Fairy Tail members he was happy to let Erza take the lead.
Seeing Percy's look, Erza was confused for a second, before she realised he was waiting on her to make the call. She rolled her eyes as she realised that, she hadn't been much of a leader so far, but still she appreciated the token gesture. Even if she also knew she would need to work on her leadership skills, maybe by taking a few A-Class mission and leading Natsu, Gray, Lucy and whoever else fancied tagging along so she could build up the experience she was lacking.
She had after all only been in a team for the last few months, in the two years before that she had only gone on solo mission, and before that she had mostly gone alone or tagged along on some of Percy's easier missions, as well as occasionally teaming up with Laxus or Mira and her siblings, depending on whether they were arguing at the time or not.
"We would appreciate the lift." Erza replied in amusement.
Ichiya cracked a smile at that.
Before anything else could be said the group of Light Wizards were distracted by the loud clanking of armour, and the familiar sound of marching boots echoing throughout the forest and growing progressively louder as it got closer.
Leading the oncoming group was a young looking man with a white cloak, embroidered with the Magical Council's symbol, the man wore a thin pair of spectacles and has his long black hair tied back behind his head. Following behind this man was a large squadron of Rune Knights marching in an orderly file towards Cait Shelter, a number of prison wagons trundling along behind them. Nearly every Rune Knight that followed the white cloaked man was dressed uniformly in mail with a blue and yellow tunic over the top, and clasped in their hands were magical spears which they could use to both create Rune barriers and to form fighting formations to fight against stronger mages.
The man leading the group held up hand, signaling for the platoon of soldiers to come to an ordered halt. Clearing his throat loudly, the man in charge gained the attention of all the wizards present.
The group of Light Wizards, upon hearing the Rune Knight's arrival had all gathered in the centre of the village, just in front of the imprisoned Dark Wizards, facing off against the Rune Knights, a number of the group giving the magical soldiers of Fiore a few wary looks.
"My name is Lahar, Captain of the Reformed Magic Council's 4th Enforcement and Detention Corps. We have been reborn, to uphold the law and protect the Kingdom of Fiore" The glasses wearing man stated bluntly, his gaze moving over the assembled wizards.
"Okay, nice to meet you Lahar." Percy spoke up just as bluntly a she walked forward to meet up with Lahar. "Do you want to hurry up and take possession of the Dark Wizards then?"
Lahar turned to look at Percy, recognizing him from his files. "Perseus the God of Fairies… I was not aware you were on this mission?"
Percy shrugged in response. "Well I was on my way back to the Fairy Tail Guild after I completed my other mission and I heard about how an alliance was being gathered to destroy Oración Seis and how some of my Guild mates were part of said alliance, I decided to drop by and lend a hand."
Lahar nodded abruptly at that, before he glanced back at his assembled soldiers. "Men I want you to secure all the Dark Wizards living and dead for transport back to Era." Lahar ordered, gesturing for his men to surge forward as they obeyed his command. "Whilst they are dealing with that, I will need some brief details for my initial report to the new Magic Council."
"Yeah I heard about that holy fuck up with the Etherion Blast and the old Council building being destroyed by a rogue Council Member. Ultear wasn't it, the hot one with the great arse?" Percy replied with a grin.
"Mistakes… were made, but the Council has since been reformed." Lahar replied curtly, before a curious look crossed his face, ignoring as he did how his men were gathering up the captive Dark Wizards and transferring them to the prison wagons he had brought along with him. "When did you return, the last I heard you were still in Seven, working to uproot and destroy the underground slave trade that had sprung up there?"
"Yeah and I did just that, every person involved is now either dead or behind bars… most of them are dead. Took me about two years and a lot of bloodshed to scourge Seven of the practice, starting with the suppliers and ending with the buyers." Percy replied, his tone now grim as he thought back on his mission. It had been one that had been issued a number of years ago, since then half-dozen wizards had taken it up and tried to complete it, none of them had succeeded, until Percy had taken it up.
It had not taken him long to infiltrate the criminal underworld in Seven, from there he had moved swiftly, moving up the chain of command making the full use of his most deadly abilities to ruthlessly route out the foul network. When he had said it had involved a lot of bloodshed he had been telling the truth, he had lost count of how many Dark Wizards and criminals he had killed. But he didn't regret any of it, he had been around for a long time, he knew humanity was a deeply flawed race. Just as he knew the more bloody and brutal he made the consequences the less likely it was that the industry world start up again. Eventually it would though and when it did he would be there to once again destroy it and any involved in it.
Lahar paled as he heard that, his eyes flickering form Percy to where the other Light Wizards were, all of them out of hearing distance as they assisted his soldiers. Lahar had of course known about the mission, just as he had been informed that Percy was given free reign by the government of Seven to do whatever he had to, to complete his mission.
Still though it made nervous, after all standing in front of him was a mage who was said to be on a par with the Four Gods of Ishval. That same mage, according the Magic Council's private records had also been a member of Fairy Tail since its founding almost a hundred years ago, this meant he was not only powerful but he was also very experienced. It was a deadly combination, and one that made Lahar very nervous, even the Magical Council knew not to fuck with this man. He had after all been given an SS-Class ranking in the Council's files.
Shaking off his nerves, Lahar decided to redirect the conversation to a more relevant topic, he was sure the less he knew about Perseus's mission to Seven the better. "So the details of what happened here?"
"Hoteye, Racer and Brain are dead as is Jellal Fernandez, Midnight and Cobra are wounded but alive and incapacitated. Angel however is still free. She was also responsible for the death of Ren Akatsuki from Blue Pegasus." Percy summarized, leaving out the other Dark Wizards they had captured or killed, partly because he did not know much about those no-name wizards and partly because he knew Lahar was more interested in the members of Oración Seis, and the dangerous criminal Jellal.
"I see…" Lahar replied as he pulled out a note book and began to jot down a few notes, the death of Jellal was a surprise, but not an unpleasant one, with him dead it would make things easier for the new Council to establish themselves as a true new power, all that remained was tracking down Ultear. "What of the magical weapon… Nirvana?"
"Destroyed" Percy replied as he gestured vaguely in the direction the now destroyed weapon lay. "It won't be causing the world anymore problems."
"Ok…" Lahar replied as he wrote that down, making a note to himself to send some soldiers to investigate the ruins to see if anything valuable could be salvaged. Putting his pen and pad of paper away Lahar looked over to his soldiers, seeing that they had locked up the last Dark Wizard. "The Council will expect a full report to be lodged later in the week, one which contains more detail of the proceedings, including the people responsible for and the reason behind the deaths that occurred here today."
Percy's eyebrow rose as he heard that.
"It's standard procedure, as with that information the Magic Council will have material they can use in case any accusations of excessive force by Guild Wizards, or Abuse of Magic claims are made against the Light Wizards involved in this mission." Lahar replied carefully, fully aware that in a secluded place like this those allegations would probably only come from the Dark Wizards who were captured or from the relatives of the deceased, and considering that they were Dark Wizards involved in hostile activity it was unlikely the Magic Council would rule in their favour.
Percy nodded as he heard that. "I will speak with the others later; a report will also be lodged with the Council… later."
Lahar nodded as he heard that, before he looked around and saw that his soldiers had completed their tasks. "Very well, I will transport the prisoners back to Era. I will also leave a small detachment here to keep an eye on things in the Woodsea Forest."
"Do what you want." Percy replied nonchalantly as he began to make his way back to where the others were.
"Soldiers prepare to move out!" Lahar shouted to his men, watching as they quickly got back into their meticulous formation, patiently waiting for him to lead them off again.
Turning to the other members of the Alliance, Lahar gave them a brief nod. "The Council appreciates your actions here today and will send on the payment for the completion of your mission to destroy Oración Seis."
With that said Lahar turned away and began to lead his men away as swiftly as they had appeared. His mission was complete after all; there was no other reason for him to stick around.
Watching the Rune Knights leave, Percy glanced over at Ichiya. "You still up for giving us a lift?"
Ichiya nodded in response. "The Christina just needs to be loaded up and then we can be off." The short man replied before he turned away and began to get on with making the last preparations for their departure.
"So it looks like this is it." Erza spoke up as she looked from the Christina to Wendy, a smile on her face as she saw the sad expression on the younger girls face.
Percy smiled softly as he heard that coming to stand next to Erza, Natsu, Gray and Lucy as they faced Wendy.
"Yeah it's been… interesting." Gray replied with a wince, he had been ogn to say it had been fun, but considering what had happened it seemed quite inappropriate. "Thanks for all the healing…"
"Yeah you were awesome!" Natsu replied with a grin, giving Wendy an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Wendy laughed awkwardly as she heard that, scratching the back of her head as she looked to Percy and Erza.
"It was nice to meet you Wendy" Percy said with a smile. "I am sure you will grow up to be a very strong and accomplished mage."
"Yeah you are already really great now!" Lucy added in with a smile.
"Thanks a lot; it was really nice to meet all of you." Wendy replied a sshe shuffled her feet.
"Yes I suppose you weren't too bad…" Carla spoke up from where she was standing next to Wendy, a scowl on her feline face.
"I know it sounds weird considering we have only just met… but I really am going to miss all of you." Wendy replied, nudging Carla slightly as she did so, getting a "humph" from the white cat in response.
"Actually Wendy…." An elderly voice suddenly called out, getting the attention of both Wendy and the others. The speaker was none other than Roubaul, the Guild Master of Cait Shelter, the elderly man had a sad expression as he looked over at Wendy. "There is something I need to tell you…"
( - )
It was about ten minutes later as the Christina slowly began its journey out of the Woodsea Forest, and Wendy and Carla were currently stood at the railing looking out into the forest, tears gently falling form Wendy's eyes as she looked at the place Cait Shelter had once been.,
Wendy hadn't been able to believe it at first, the Cait Shelter Guild and all of its Guild Members, they had all been illusions. However, when the people she had called her friends and her family had started disappearing before her very eyes, she had had no choice but to believe what Master Roubaul had told her.
The people she had known were little for than echoes of their former selves, created by Roubaul to keep her company. They had once been the Nirvit people, the creators of Nirvana and Roubaul had been their chief. For over four hundred years his soul had remained bound to Earthland by both his magic and his will, watching over Nirvana and waiting for the day he could finally destroy the thing he had once created.
For the last few years he had spent his time looking after Wendy, getting more joy from that then he had ever felt before. Cait Shelter and all the people Wendy had known had all been illusions he had created for her, but now Nirvana was gone and Wendy he was no longer able to keep himself bound to Earthland.
His last request after he had explained this to Wendy had been for the others, Percy, Erza, Natsu, Lucy and Gray to look after her. To take her back to Fairy Tail where she could make new friends and family, and where she could grow into the powerful, kind and gentle mage he one day knew she would.
"Are you feeling okay?" Erza asked a she approached Wendy from behind.
"I-I'm f-fine… it's…j-just a lot to take in all at one…" Wendy replied as she turned to look at Erza, thankful for the company she provided.
"I am sure it is, but I just want you to know, we are here if you need us, all of us. You are now a member of Fairy Tail, and Fairy Tail is a family we will never abandon a member of our family, no matter what." Erza replied as she placed a gentle hand on Wendy's shoulder.
Wendy nodded at that before she lunged forward and threw her arms around Erza, burying her head into her shirt as she once again began to cry, this time though she was not crying tears of sadness, instead they were tears of happiness.
AN: So that is the chapter. I spent more time wrapping things up than I thought I would, I had originally thought I would at least get back to Fairy Tail, though it appears that will have to be next chapter. No matter though, there were some important things in this chapter, things that not only flesh out the story but show how characters are developing.
The next chapter as I said will be taking place as they return to Fairy Tail, I should have it out soon. Though first I am going ot update my story Limitless, as I think a few people have been quite keen for me to bring out the second chapter.
For this story I will say now Percy will be paired with two people. I will try to do it in a way that is not cheesy or cliché, but I am doing this as I think the idea is interesting and that it will be both amusing and would work well.
Other than that I will see you all later and I hope you all leave a comment or a review behind.
See you later.
Seagate.