Episode 004: Arrival of the Father
Natsu and Happy continued their run through the many passages of the Everlue manor's sub-level, trying to chase after Lucy and the notorious Duke Everlue who had followed her in pursuit of the book written by the famous author Kemu Zaleon. Their chase was leading the two further and further down into the mansion's depths.
"Damn it! I knew I should have stayed up there and fought!" Natsu shouted angrily as Happy flew beside him. "Ragna's probably having a great fight up there and we're stuck chasing after Lucy and some old man!"
"Ragna did tell us that Everlue might be the real threat here," Happy reminded. "With the Digger magic that we've seen, he might just have a point."
"Errrr... I should be kicking butt right now!" the Fire Dragon Slayer shouted out in annoyance. It was then that the two felt the ground quake beneath them. Happy was unaffected as the cat was flying, but Natsu had to pause in his running and tried to regain his shaken balance. When the shaking ended he glanced up at the ceiling. "See? Ragna's probably having the time of his life."
"I could try flying up ahead to look for Lucy," Happy suggested. "You can try to catch up to us as we go."
"Yeah, you do that. Don't stop until you find Everlue, I want to be able to clobber him good!"
"Aye!" Happy shouted as he flew on up ahead and left Natsu running behind him.
"I wonder what Ragna's going through up there?" Natsu thought before another massive rumble was heard throughout the manor, the force of which was actually enough to send Natsu off of his feet. "Knowing him, somebody probably just called him an old man again."
-Further Underground-
"This... this is horrible," Lucy said looking through the book. "So this is why I haven't seen a new book by Kemu Zaleon and why...?" As she flipped through the hundreds of pages of the book, she had a set of magical glasses upon her face. The glasses allowed her to read through books at a breakneck pace, allowing her to find the truth of this book more easily. "Looks like I've just about decoded it..."
"GOOD! THEN YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE FOUND!" Before Lucy had time to react, two hands reached out from the wall behind her and pinned her arms behind her back. "Boyoyo. So then what's the secret of the book? Tell me!"
"Rgh!" Lucy growled as she felt the arms pinned behind her. "You-! You monster! What did you to Kemu Zaleon!"
"Him? Oh I just happened to acquire him though my usual means," Everlue told her threateningly. "Deception, blackmailing, and bribery. How else do you think I managed to come into my enormous fortune? I knew you were ugly, but naive to boot? You really are a cursed woman."
"I'M NOT UGLY!" Lucy shouted, screaming as the Duke applied more pressure to her arms. "You kept him in his own personal prison for so long!"
"And what did he have to show for it? A cheaply made book that didn't reflect my magnificence in the slightest! Now, tell me the secret or else I'll-!"
Using every bit of her resolve Lucy slammed her head back, smashing it into the Duke's large nose. He lurched back slightly, but only continued to increase his pressure to Lucy's arms, causing her to grimace further.
"Stupid blonde! You have no idea what you're dealing with!" the Duke said, seething with rage. "It doesn't matter anyways; you don't need your arms to tell me of the secrets of Daybre-!"
"HAPPY TACKLE!" came the sudden battle cry as the blue cat barreled into the perverse Duke's head, causing him to grunt and let go of Lucy as Happy flipped back landing in the murky sewer waters.
"Happy! Er... thanks for saving me, but shouldn't you get out of there?"
"But it feels good! Aye!"
"…That's disgusting."
"Tch, another annoyance," Everlue muttered before he saw Lucy reaching for her keys. "You're-!"
"OPEN! GATE OF THE GIANT CRAB!" Lucy shouted as a large magic circle appeared before her. "CANCER!"
The spirit summoned was a strange one to say the least, red crab legs sprouted out of its back and a bizarre red and black hair style to add to it. It appeared human overall and was dressed as such. Its weapon of choice appeared to be two pairs of scissors and was rocking a dark pair of shades.
"CRAB!" Happy gurgled from the sewer.
"Hey, baby," the crab person said in a rather suave sounding voice. "You need another haircut? Got a couple of… specials in mind."
"Not today, I'm hoping to take down this pervert," Lucy said as she pointed to Everlue, the Duke beginning to laugh.
"So, that's how it is then?" he said through his chuckles.
"LUCY!" came a call from behind the blonde summoner. Natsu then ran onto the scene.
"It's over Everlue, we've got you outnumbered!"
"Maybe, but I have only last card to play!" Everlue said as he grabbed out his own spirit key, surprising everyone. "OPEN! GATE OF THE MAIDEN!" Another magic circle formed, this time revealing the giant gorilla of a maid that had first greeted Lucy up above.
"Virgo's a celestial spirit!?" Lucy exclaimed at the maid that stood before her.
"Boyoyo, of course she is, how else could you explain an angelic lady such as her?" Everlue complimented as he stroked his nose-hair mustache. "I'm giving you this last chance to return that book to me, otherwise you'll be completely overwhelmed once the Vanish Brothers are done with your crippled friend."
"Sorry, who's done with what now?" came the familiar voice of Ragna the Bloodedge. The Grim Reaper calmly walked to the scene of the conflict.
"Y-You beat the Vanish Brothers!?" Everlue demanded with shock.
"…How'd he catch up with me so fast?" Natsu had to question. "By all accounts is doesn't make sense."
"Actually, I just followed Everlue through one of holes and took the shortcut," he explained.
"…Totally should've done that," Natsu realized in hindsight.
"Curses, I knew I should have requested that third mercenary sooner," Everlue growled. "You'd have been no match for him if he'd been here to protect me."
"You're talking about Thirteen, right?" Ragna questioned rather nonchalantly.
"H-How did you know that!?" Everlue demanded before realizing. "No... You couldn't have beaten him..."
"I did, and he went down easy," Ragna told the Duke with a chuckle. He then saw that the Duke was looking over him almost like he was analyzing the Reaper. The old man's gaze was enough to make Ragna's skin crawl.
"Hmmm... Perhaps then I should have hired you in the first place," Everlue said, looking over Ragna. "You do seem to have a good amount of ability if you've managed to defeat three mercenaries with ease, and your appearance would tell me that you have a long life of experience..." Ragna was about to tell the old pervert off (partially to refuse the job, partially to insist he wasn't old), but Everlue wasn't done. "And I never thought I'd say this to a man, but looking over you now you do seem to have the kind of face I would hire to guard my person."
"Wait..." Lucy began. "Everlue hated my cute charm but had all of those freaky maids at his side. Meaning if he wants to hire Ragna..." Her mind coming to the obvious conclusion, her head made a creaking sound as she slowly and worriedly turned her head to her friends. Natsu and Happy were covering their mouths with their hands trying not to laugh at the comment, Cancer didn't seem to care and was waiting for her to give the order, and Ragna... Lucy couldn't see the top of his face with the darkness cast by both his hair and his complexion. "R-Ragna?"
"Lucy..." the Reaper slowly began. His voice was so cold and void of emotion that everyone around him froze at just the sound of it. "I want you to take that crab of yours, and make this idiot bald... with tweezers."
"...Boyoyo?" the Duke asked, now very much terrified.
"That's harsh, baby..." Cancer said, the crab himself appearing to be nervous.
"Y-You got it!" Lucy said nervously as she pointed at Everlue. "All right Cancer! You heard the man! Take Everlue down!"
"Understood, baby," the Crab said rushing forward.
"You won't touch the master!" Virgo shouted as she leaped up into the air and attempted to crush its enemy Celestial Spirit under its massive weight.
"Natsu!" Ragna shouted out, throwing another fireball into the air.
"I'm on it!" Natsu shouted as he jumped into the air, devouring the fireball before intercepting Virgo. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
The resulting attack sent Argo flying through the air with a pained shout before she crashed into the walls and went still.
"My loveliest maid!" Everlue cried, right before noticing the shadow looming over him.
"Hold still, baby," Cancer instructed, right before going to town on Everlue. The Duke gave a high pitched scream as the Crab Spirit gave a forced 'haircut' to the very strange man. Soon Everlue was passed out on the ground, his head completely void of hair and the strange nose hair mustache completely gone.
"Serves you right for what you've done," Lucy said as she glared angrily at their antagonist.
'Sounds like she managed to decode whatever message was in that book,' Ragna thought before turning to Cancer, the crab looking over Ragna and appearing to be deep in thought. "What the hell are you looking at?"
"Mmmmm, your hair looks like it needs some work," Cancer told Ragna as he looked at the man's silver hair and snipped his scissors in the air. "A few adjustments and I can turn it into an art piece, ba-"
"Touch a single strand of hair and I'll give Happy that steamed crab dinner he's always wanted," Ragna threatened causing Cancer to sweat with fear.
"Don't be so harsh on him, you could use the haircut anyways," Lucy instructed. "Go ahead and head back Cancer, you've done enough."
"Until next time, baby," the Crab said before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Now that we got the book, it's time we headed back," Ragna muttered before the ground began to shake. "Come on, now what?"
From beside the four, a large portion of the sewer water burst from the ground. Lucy screamed as the murky water nearly hit them before a giant figure rose from the depths. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRR..." The figure was of an apish design, its wet and messy fur a disgusting shade of greenish gray. This was reflected in the putrid smell which nearly caused everyone around it to gag as it towered over them at 12 feet tall, even while hunched over.
"A Vulcan!?" Happy shouted out.
"What's one of those damn dirty apes doing in the sewers?" Natsu groaned as he tried to cover his nose.
"Was that freak Everlue keeping one as a pet!?" Lucy shouted through her gagging before she noticed that the monster was looking directly at her. "Oh no..."
"Wuman...?" the creature said with something of a slur. The thing then rose to its full height and began beating its chest with great ferocity. "WUUUUUUMAN!"
"NOT AGAIN!" the blonde cried out before the giant of a monster launched itself her, a perverse shine in its eyes as it reached for Lucy's attractive form.
"Requip."
"Ooo?"
The monster's last monkey grunt was followed by a deafening CLANG as the monster was hit by a massive frying pan. Lucy saw the monster's surprised and pained face the for the split second the weapon made contact, right before it was sent spiraling into the sewer wall; a massive cloud of dust forming as it barreled through the thick stone wall and causing the sewer to rumble. The monster projectile created a hole that rivaled Everlue's digger magic in how deep it was. Ragna then gave a sigh as he slung the massive frying pan over his shoulder.
"I think you've had to deal with more than enough perverts lately," the Grim Reaper told the Celestial Wizard, which was followed by no argument from her. Ragna then turned to see Natsu and Happy... oddly shaken...
"He really is starting to be like... that..." Natsu said, sweating and shaking with fear.
"Aye, and I thought Fairy Tail could barely handle one of them..." Happy said, the cat also visibly shaken.
"Seriously, what is it with them and the magic I use?" Ragna said with a groan as he unequipped his weapon, right as the entirety of the sewers began to shake again. Dust and stone began to rain down from up about as the holes Everlue had created with his magic began to cave in.
"This place is collapsing!" Lucy shouted.
"Aye!" came Happy's oddly joyous response.
"I thought you said you didn't want to destroy this place," Natsu accused the Reaper with a miffed expression on his face. "We could've just done this from the start..."
"DON'T YOU DARE PIN THIS ON ME!" Ragna shouted as the building collapsed around them.
-TimeSkip- Employer's Residence
Their second visit to the mansion of the man that had hired this team had a very different feel to it. The team hadn't arrived at the man's estate that long ago, but in the ten minutes that they had sat down across from him, Kaby Melon had said nothing. He sat slightly hunched over, his hands crossed in front of his face as unconsciously tapped his foot, glaring at the team. His wife stood behind him and said nothing, but it was clear that she was worried for her husband.
"...I know we were supposed to destroy the book, but a lot's happened in the few hours it's been since you've seen us," Ragna said, trying to defend his group.
"...So you've read it then?" Kaby demanded.
"Only Lucy did," Ragna told him honestly. "She gave us the short version of what happened; Kemu Zaleon was forced to write a trashy novel about Duke Everlue in which he took the role of a hero. Zaleon spent years in captivity trying to refuse before Everlue started to threaten his family if he didn't write the book. Eventually, he had no choice but to write the damn thing... and that's how we got Daybreak, a trashy book about a self-absorbed pervert." Ragna then gave a sigh. "And judging by how strongly you've felt about this book being destroyed, I have to guess you're Zaleon's son."
"I... think I get it," Natsu said, starting to put the pieces together.
"You don't," Kaby told them angrily as he glared at the tome Lucy still held. "When my father finally returned from writing that book do you know what he did?" No one answered. "He... he cut off his own hand in disgrace."
'Try losing a whole arm... twice,' Ragna thought to himself passively while Natsu and Lucy appeared to be visibly startled.
"He died to his injuries... he couldn't stand the shame of writing that... filth,' Kaby spat understandably close to tears. His wife took a seat behind him, trying to do what she could to comfort her troubled husband.
"...That's where you're wrong," Lucy said finally speaking up, causing everyone to pause.
'Seriously, why didn't she just lead with that instead of going through all of this drama?' Ragna thought to himself, again staying silent.
"What are you saying?" Kaby demanded.
"When we first found the book, Ragna said that he was getting a strange sensation from it; there was magic in this book; a powerful spell cast by your father," Lucy continued. "After reading this book I was finally able to put the story together... the real story."
Raising the book into the air, Ragna and the others watched as magic letters encircled the book in countless rings, amazed as the book began to rewrite itself. Slowly the light faded and the book fell into Lucy's hands, which she caught before handing the book to her employer who took one look at the title only for his eyes to grow wide with surprise.
"Dear... Kaby...?"
"His last book, and his greatest," Lucy told him. "Daybreak was nothing more than a cover of the real treasure. He cast the spell to cover what he'd really worked on; a letter to you in the form of a novel. You were never out of his thoughts all of those years... this is the thing to prove it."
'So wait... he cut his arms off because he did his greatest work ever and didn't think he could ever top it?' Ragna thought to himself. 'That's... a little severe...'
"Well, looks like we can't get paid for this job!" Natsu said suddenly as he rose, looking oddly happy while Lucy instead looked shocked at the news. "I mean, we were supposed to destroy the book and we weren't able to."
"What!?" Lucy exclaimed with shock. "Natsu-!"
"That's much more of a technicality than a failure to complete the request," Kaby insisted as he rose. "If anything you've gone above and beyond your job requirements. Please I insist; if not as payment, then accept the reward as a gift of my gratitude at the very least."
"Keep the money, you're going to need it anyways," Ragna muttered surprising Kaby, his wife, and Lucy. "I can tell that this place ain't yours, you're not nearly as rich as you're trying to look."
"Wha?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"I knew what was up the moment we met," Natsu boasted proudly. "Their rural smell told me they didn't belong in a mansion as big as this one. They had to be renting the place."
"Wha?!" Lucy shouted again, he jaw dropping further and further.
"Oh, so that's how you were able to tell," Ragna commended, somewhat impressed by Natsu's ability. "I could just tell by the way he acted; way too nice to be some rich asshole looking to hire us."
"Glad to see we were on the same page," Natsu said, giving the Reaper a thumbs up.
"You mean... from the start..." Lucy began before shouting once more. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?"
"You couldn't catch on to that yourself?" Natsu asked innocently, seeming confused by the idea that Lucy couldn't see through the ploy. Without another word, the blonde stomped off angrily, exiting the room. "Seriously, what is it with her? She's so weird."
"Aye," Happy agreed as the cat and dragon slayer finally left the building. Shaking his head at the display, Ragna rose to his feet and began to walk away himself, stopping only to glace over his shoulder.
(Cue Cowboy BeBop Call me, Call me)
"Father..." Kaby said as he continued to stare at the book's cover before holding it closely to his chest as his wife sat beside him. "I've finally put that awful nightmare behind me... Now I have the last real piece of your legacy as a writer... Your last letter..."
"...You know, it doesn't have to end with this book," Ragna told him with an emotionless tone, his head facing away from the man and his wife so they couldn't see his expression. "Your father wrote that letter to you while he was held in Everlue's manor, but what about your side of the story? You had to live through years without a father, only for him to return and chop off his own arms off in front of you. After that you had to live thinking that he'd had been forced to write one of the worst books of all time with only your wife for support. Trying to put it in the past for good, you ended up hiring a group of wizards and finally discovered that you're father's last work as a writer was to you; his son." The Grim Reaper gave a shrug. "I dunno about you, but I'd read it."
Without saying another word, the Grim Reaper left Kaby and his wife. An important decision now in their hands...
Later -Borders of Magnolia-
"I can't believe we did all of that work and we didn't even get paid," Lucy moaned as she slowly followed behind the boys.
"Aw c'mon, we couldn't take all of that money from them could we?" Natsu told her. "You shouldn't be so greedy Lucy."
"Aye," Happy the cat agreed.
"I still have to pay rent!" the blonde shouted before moaning again. "Seriously, we could've at least gotten some of the reward..."
"If you ever think that way after a job like this, just think about what you were able to do," Ragna told her, becoming oddly serious. "If we'd just decided to burn the book instead of decoding it ,where would that have left the client? He'd recover somewhat sure, but he'd have go on thinking that his father had just given up on life after what he wrote (which he still kind of did, but let's ignore that). Now he's made peace with himself and what his father's done." Ragna turned to Lucy. "Even if you don't get paid for it, don't turn your nose up at a happy ending; you might not always get one."
"...I guess you've got a point," Lucy agreed with a smile. "We should be proud of what we did."
"That's the idea," Ragna told her with smile.
"Giving Lucy some fatherly wisdom?" Natsu asked with a slightly mocking tone.
"Shut it with this dad thing already; it's annoying," the Reaper groaned, noticing Lucy was slightly shaken by the comment. Deciding he'd play with his teammate, Natsu then began to drag his feet on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust. "Pick up your feet, Nat- …Dammit."
"See? Hating being called it doesn't stop you from acting like you're the team dad," Happy told him, the cat also laughing somewhat mischievously.
"...He's sort of got a point," Lucy finally told Ragna, the red coated man looking at her with disbelief in his green eye. She was going along with this? "Besides, if it's either being mockingly called 'dad' or 'old man' by us, which would you rather have to deal with?"
"For the love of-" Ragna muttered in angry submission. Eventually though he gave a smirk, albeit an exasperated one. "Fine, but try not to overdo it alright? There's only so much shit I'm willing to handle before I ground you."
"Hah! Go ahead and try!" Natsu shouted as a challenge. "So, should we celebrate a job well done with a huge meal at the guild?"
"It's an idea, but we're kind of low on cash at the moment," Ragna reminded, deciding he'd take some responsibility in the spending. "Maybe if we can get one quick job in before night falls, we can think about it."
"Aye! Let's get a job done as fast as we can!" Happy shouted with glee.
"Alright! I'm fired up now! Let's go pick out a good one!" Natsu shouted before he began running off and Happy flew behind him.
"Hold it! I'm not letting you two pick out another job after what I just went through!" Lucy shouted as she quickly ran off to follow them.
"...Maybe they've got a point; compared to them I am the most mature one here," Ragna thought aloud with a chuckle. He was about to follow them, but then realized that he wasn't alone out here. "You might as well show yourself; I know you're out there."
Coming out of the tree line and coming into Ragna's visible view was Thirteen, the so-called Blade of Gilgamesh that he'd met last time... or former now that Ragna had beaten him and received the title in doing so. The mercenary was still wearing the armor that Ragna had seen when the two had dueled each other, except now the XIII atop his mask had been intentionally scratched out.
"What do you want?" Ragna demanded, having thought their business had been concluded.
"Only to offer you a warning," the enigmatic warrior told him. "A few have heard the news that a silver haired man with a limp arm, a bad eye, and a red coat has beaten me and its slowly beginning to spread. It won't take long before most cities will know of it."
"And your point?" the Reaper questioned, rolling his eye. "Did I hurt your reputation worse than you'd thought? It doesn't sound flattering."
"...Just be ready, eventually word will reach the other Blades of Gilgamesh; sooner or later Twelve will find you... I'd prepare for that meeting if I were you." Without saying another word, the mercenary headed off in the opposite direction of Magnolia.
"That's not ominous at all," Ragna muttered sarcastically before smirking and following the others back into the town, watching the chaos unfold as Lucy tried in vain to catch up to a laughing Natsu and Happy. "Whatever; I've already got enough to worry about with these kids."
Author's Note
Storm: Happy, last time I was here you were preparing for a 'Shipping War'... So what are you doing now?
Happy: Well, I know the news you're planning on telling everyone, so I'm preparing accordingly.
S: From a NUKE SHELTER?
H: Aye!
S: For the love of... Alright, a few OTHER things to cover before that. First, this chapter's shorter than what I've usually written lately, but I didn't think of what else I could really add unless I did the whole Grey appearance from the anime. That would've likely taken me another week to do with my busy schedule and would have added next to nothing. I'm just saying this now, sometimes I have to make smaller chapters for a mix of the flow of the story and personal commitments... Next time will likely have a longer chapter, probably.
H: At least you're getting overtime at your job! Aye!
S: With your constant fish demands, it's more of a necessity at this point. Second, as far as my next few updates go, I'm thinking of doing 'Rebirth of Azure' again before finishing that chapter of 'A Reaper's Game' I'm about halfway through. After that I feel like I should cover a story that I haven't looked at in a while, so not sure what I'm going to do there. Besides that...
H: Here it comes...
S: This story has gotten much more attention than I thought it would have; with the constant in flow of reviews and the following count breaking a hundred after only two chapters I was surprised to say the least. When I asked what story I should be doing over the weekend, support largely went to this story. So thanks for that.
H: You're stalling! Get on with it!
S: Shut it cat... Look, a large number of those reviews have been pushing for a pretty specific pairing and I just felt like I should come out and set the record straight. I do have a pairing in mind for Ragna MUCH further down the line... but it won't be with Kagura Mikazuchi.
Fandom:...TACTICAL NUKE!
S: THE HELL!?
H: I told you!
S: FOR THE LOVE OF-! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOR! OPEN THE DOOOOOOOR!
H: Sorry! No room!
S: You're a foot tall, Happy! How is there no room for me!?
H: All of my fish is in here! Aye!
S: DAMN IT ALL!