Here is the third chapter of this story released when I wanted it to be in keeping with my self-imposed upload requirements for this series. The Black Bulls left the Clover Kingdom for a new world and now it is time to explore that new world as the Black Bulls arrive in Earth Land to begin their banishment. That is all the administrative stuff I have for you but there was one question from the reviews that requires an answer which I will do now. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from those who enjoy my work.
Will the events of the Fairy Tail movies or OVAs that occurred after the arrival of the Black Bulls be in this story? As of right now no they won't be incorporated into this story though depending on a poll I will be conducting nearer the time I may make one slight, indirect, reference to Dragon Cry. I've not actually watched the OVAs as they don't have dubs unfortunately so I can't put them in. As for the films, if there is enough support for this story when it is all done I may do a side story for at least the Dragon Cry film and probably Phoenix Priestess though that one is a bit harder to place into the canon but with enough support I can do it as well. This is something I will be doing for all my stories so those who also follow 'Miraculous Quirks', 'Akame ga Clover', and 'Black RWBY Academia' then for the films set during those ones (the three MHA films for two of them and the upcoming Black Clover film for the other one).
That is all that I have for pre-chapter note so it is time to end it so that y'all can sit back and enjoy the third chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 3: Welcome to Earth Land
The trip was near instantaneous for the Black Bulls, and until they returned to their own world Mimosa would call herself one as well as that was what she was while they were in Earth Land, though it was hard to really explain what the trip felt like. It wasn't like Finral's portals where they went from one place to another without an issue. Rather it was like they were sucked through a tunnel in a split second, a very tight, uncomfortable tunnel, before being spat out the other side with only the faintest memories of what had just happened.
Thankfully the base remained intact when the experience ended though it shook a bit and Henry had to quickly use his magic to reorientate it slightly as they'd landed on the slope of a hill and that was the basement part. As such Henry moved it around to stabilize it but he'd move it to a better location once they got their bearings and he was able to process the strangeness of the magic that he was feeling. This was all her could do for now, however.
All of them other than Asta were feeling the Ethernano right away and all could tell that it was different to the mana back home. It was still magic, they could tell that, and they could tell that they still had the same levels of magic that they'd had before coming here and that they recharged at the same rate which meant that they could still use their spells. That said it would take a little bit to get used to the new feelings of the magic, especially for those like Charmy, Nero, Vanessa, and Henry who's respective magical attributes weren't exactly common in Earth Land.
Still, they'd made the trip and gotten here in one piece and despite the shaking none of them had fallen over when they landed and got stabilized, though Nero had instinctively turned into a bird just in case, which was good as if they had Asta likely would have ended up on top of Mimosa with her rather impressive attributes serving as airbags for his face. That wouldn't have made Noelle happy at all but thankfully it didn't happen, this time at least, and they were all on stable footing.
"Right let's hope that that hasn't arisen any unwanted attention." Yami said as he puffed his cigarette that he'd managed to keep in his mouth this entire time once things returned to normal. "Henry, can you assess our surroundings. You too Luck, any magic users nearby."
"I sense a lot of magic in the air but nothing in the form of a magic user." Luck said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "It's new magic so I may need a moment to adjust to it, hopefully there's someone strong nearby to fight."
"Don't, at least not until we've established ourselves and gotten job requests like a Guild does, or they attack first." Yami warned before looking to Henry. "Henry, the area?"
"We are on a hill with grasslands all around us." Henry said in his slow, methodical way of speaking as he used his magic through the house to assess the area now that it was stable. "No one is near us that I can tell. There is a town a few miles to the southeast though."
"Must be something to do with the key." Yami said looking at it and noting that it couldn't be recharged at the moment, so he put it away in a pocket for safekeeping until it was able to take them home again. "Julius had said that he was near a town called Magnolia when he came here so perhaps this is a set location. We will go and explore the area soon enough but before we do, Mimosa, was it?"
"Um yes sir." Mimosa said with a little eep at suddenly being addressed by her temporary Captain though she knew that Asta and Noelle, as well as her own Captain Vangeance, all heavily respected Captain Yami so she would as well. "What is it?"
"You were reading up on this world and nation in particular before we came." Yami said looking at her. "What can you tell us about its structure. Julius kinda just glossed over it so I want an intermediary report on it from what you gathered. After that I'll decide who to send out for a full in-depth report on the matter."
"Right well I read what I could and here's what I know." Mimosa said. "We are, if we are in the same place that the Wizard King sent us, in the Fiore Kingdom which is a standard monarchy run by the ruling Fiore family and located on the western part of the Ishgar peninsular on the eastern continent. When Julius was here there was a King on the throne who ruled by decree so it can be presumed that it is still a monarchy though whether it is the same King, which is unlikely, or more likely a new King or Queen is hard to say right now as the book was dated."
"Ok so basically like Clover only hopefully with a more competent monarch." Yami said and no one could disagree as they'd all seen King Augustus Kira Clover XIII in action and knew he wasn't exactly the most affective or useful King. "What about nobility."
"Well, it seems like there is a token nobility but it's not like it is back in the Clover Kingdom." Mimosa said which annoyed Noelle, but the rest of the Black Bulls were more than fine with that. "Like there are royal titles but this place seems to be pretty equal and fair with no real aristocracy below the monarchy to speak of. Again, a thorough examination of the area and current system would yield more results, and this only applies to the Fiore Kingdom."
"It would and we will do just that in a moment so that we, as foreigners, understand it better." Yami said. "And the Wizard Guilds here, what of them?"
"They are run by a Magic Council from their headquarters in the town of Era with a rather complex and convoluted structure and that was 70 years ago in this world's time." Mimosa said. "So, if you go there then you should be able to register us as a Guild."
"Yes I read that while taking a dump and it will be faster than just filling out some paperwork." Yami said bluntly. "Very well, Finral and I will take brooms there but while we are out you will all also have your own tasks to do."
"Why do I have to go with you?" Finral asked.
"Because I hate brooms so if you're with me you can make portals to it afterwards, that goes the same for the town nearby so that we can travel there with ease as I am not sure that they travel by broom here so best to use them sparingly." Yami pointed out with a slight growl to his voice which did shut Finral up. "Right, the rest of you, here are your assignments while we are here. First up we need food so Charmy, you take Grey, Luck and Magna and search the local area for anything edible. We don't have money for this world yet so we can only eat what we can forage and hunt that Charmy can then cook for us. Make sure that it's wild though, best to avoid annoying the locals own."
"Where there is food there is Charmy." Charmy said happily. "Don't worry captain, I'll find us plenty of tasty nums."
"This is only until we start making money and I learn how the request system works though you are still free to hunt so long as it is for food and within reason." Yami said. "Next we need more general information on this world and specific information on this Kingdom so Gauche and Gordon, you two are to go to that town and find a library or something to research the area. Take Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa with you but they will have their own task there. Hide your brooms and if you run into anyone tell them that you're foreigners from far away who are new to the area and part of a soon to be official Wizard Guild. The fact that we aren't marked yet will help out on that front."
"I'd rather just sit here and stare at a picture of Marie." Gauche said pulling out and looking at an image of his sister as his nose began to bleed ignoring most of what Yami had said but the others got it and Gordon would make sure that Gauche behaved himself while out. "I won't see her for a while though I should get her many presents unique to this place. Yes, that will make me the best big brother out there for sure. I can already hear Marie's gratitude at it."
"I can't wait to spend time with friends." Gordon said quietly so that the others couldn't hear him while Gauche's nose bleed even more.
"You're both still creepy." Yami said.
"Oh Captain Yami, sir, what is our mission?" Asta asked.
"Calm down short stuff I was just getting to you so be patient." Yami said looking over to Asta. "You and the girls are to go and gather information from the nearby town and learn what you can about the current on the ground situation to get a more real-world perspective to flesh out the historical one that Gauche and Gordon will be getting from a library. You three are going because the girls can actually socialize and you're not going to arouse suspicion because they'll just think you're an idiot or something."
"He's not wrong." Noelle said. "But seeing as I am royalty I can do this."
"Not here you're not Noelle." Yami said. "Remember that."
"And me sir?" Nero asked as Noelle pouted about that because she was still royalty to them, as was Mimosa but she didn't mention her royal status all that much.
"Go with them as a bird but then use that to find out more that even they can't find out." Yami said. "You can go places no one else can as a bird so we will use that to our advantage while we're here. Your main goal though is to find out more about this Fairy Tail Guild that Julius spoke of, more importantly where they are located and then infiltrate it as a bird to learn of their current situation. Of all of them you can take as long as necessary to get the information we need. The rest of you I expect back by tonight however."
"Yes sir." Nero said with a nod while those currently sent on missions understood their time limit.
"As for the rest of you." Yami said looking over Vanessa, who was already drinking again, Zora who was lounging on a sofa, and Henry who was in his special box. "Stay here and hold down the base, we can't leave it undefended so you lot will be the defense. Thankfully two of you are adept at trap spells so set them up while we are away."
"Woah more wine for me then." Vanessa said with a slight slur to her voice.
"Sure thing, I don't mind not doing anything." Zora said as he closed his eyes for a nap though he would do as the Captain said and set up some traps once everyone was away from the base.
"Yes Captain." Henry added.
"Alright, the rest of you move out." Yami said but as he did he felt a rumble in his gut. "On second thought, everyone but Finral move out as that time distortion thing is catching up with my insides. Finral portal now and while I'm dumping figure out how to get to this Era place."
"Gross Captain." Finral said as he made a portal and pushed Yami through it so that Yami was in the bathroom as soon as possible.
The others just sighed though Mimosa looked a little off put as she had yet to get used to Captain Yami's frequent dumping habit or his bluntness about it. Regardless they all had their orders and set off to see that what they could find.
Asta, Noelle, Mimosa, Gauche, and Gordon all landed on the outskirts of the town that they'd seen from the air and dismounted from the three brooms that they'd used. Nero, who was in her bird form, flew off Asta's head where she'd been perched and took off to look around the area on her own. Normally she'd have stuck with Asta, but she had her orders, which given the situation made sense, and besides he was safer here than he was in Clover she felt. As such she was going to explore and find this Fairy Tail Guild while the others worked on their own missions.
They'd come here on three brooms, one for Gauche who rode standing and wouldn't fly with anyone but Marie, while Gordon took Asta, and Mimosa took Noelle. Mimosa had wanted to take Asta, even volunteered to do so but Noelle had insisted that as a fellow royal only Mimosa could take her, as well as the fact that they were both girls, when Magna wasn't around to ferry her to where she wanted to go.
Of course, Noelle failed to add that she wasn't comfortable with letting Asta ride with Mimosa because Mimosa would let him hold her hips as they rode which Noelle wanted but couldn't admit to and of course she didn't know why the thought of Asta doing that with Mimosa made her so uncomfortable. Conversely, Mimosa didn't know why her cousin's insistence that she not take Asta made her so uncomfortable as well. Despite this they got over it, Gordon was really happy to take his best friend Asta regardless of the girls though he did pick up on the fact that both were clearly soft on Asta, and they'd flown off.
It hadn't taken them long to find the town and it was a lot larger than they'd expected it to be. Their hideout was to the northwest of the town, so they came in over some mountains and forest before finding the sprawling, almost rectangular, town laid out before them.
The town itself was situated on a lake that was to the north of it with a series of tributaries or cannels, they couldn't really tell what they were, breaking the town up into sectors. For the most part the architecture of the place looked kinda like what they were used to in the Clover Kingdom only a little more advanced that their world, something that Mimosa had picked up on in the book she'd been reading as magical technology here was much more advanced than in their world, which was something that they'd have to investigate when they had time.
That said there were two buildings in the town that really stood out as they flew in, and the buildings seemed to be connected by a central path that cut through the city. It was properly though the city from north to south as it there was a bridge over the cannel to keep it straight and unimpeded.
Well, the street was unimpeded until it reached the first of the two buildings that they noticed as that one was in the center of the path, or they guessed road was more accurate. The building itself was a large and impressive church, well given its size they presumed that it was a cathedral actually. While they didn't know the religion here they knew what a church looked like so they could easily identify the building and its central location in the town meant that it was the core of the city.
Down the road from it, at the northern end of the town and right on the lakefront was a large, probably three-story building of a design that was different to the rest of the town though too far for them to properly make out from the air. Given its location and size it was almost certainly a Wizard Guild building, this place's equivalent to a Magic Knight Squad's hideout or headquarters, so it was a must to go and check out and see what info could be gleamed from it. In fact, it was so important looking that Nero took off directly for it after they landed meaning that they could leave its investigation to her.
The others just stashed their brooms in the underbrush of the forest where they knew they could find them again before they split up and headed into the town with the two boys going off in one direction to find a library or research center and the girls and Asta heading into the town to try and get some information from what was going on there. They'd regroup here in a few hours so that they could all head back to the headquarters and debrief Yami on what they learned.
It didn't take them long to get into the town and start wandering around it. The first thing they noted was that the styles here, both architectural and fashion, were different to what they were used to back in the Clover Kingdom but there was such a range that they didn't really stand out. They got some looks for their robes and of course Asta was being, well, Asta and getting fascinated and distracted by everything around him got them some looks as well but Noelle for the most part kept in him line as they looked around as she was used to this behavior from him.
Thankfully they didn't have any money on them so Asta couldn't go and explore shops, though they did check them out to see what kind of magic was in this place and noted how prevalent magical tools were here. They didn't know it yet but Nero was skilled with creating magical tools, she'd help make them in her past life, so in time she'd get some to examine and work on but only after they had establish themselves here. That and as they had no money they couldn't get any regardless.
That was the one odd thing for Noelle, not so much Mimosa due to her mentality, as she was not used to not having any money on her. She was a royal and used to having more money than she knew what to do with, but she also rarely spent it as, well, she didn't need much especially after joining the Black Bulls.
True she'd spent a lot on that sparkly bikini but that had been because it would catch a person's eye, in particular Noelle had hoped to catch Asta's eye with it, not that she'd cared really about his opinion even if she was desperate for a compliment from him when she wore it that one time, but that had been it for her spending. She'd found her true family with the Black Bulls and deep down that was all she'd needed though her financial security did often blind her to the actual need for money most of the time.
Mimosa for her part was just a kind and understanding soul, she'd been so since that incident where she'd seen a commoner steal bread to help other starving kids which her brother had denounced as proof of the criminality of commoners, so living humbly like this would be fine with her. She rarely mentioned her royalty in Clover and now she couldn't here which she was looking forward to though she'd probably have to keep Noelle in check on that at the start to avoid awkward questions just as Noelle would keep Asta in check. Unfortunately for Mimosa that came a lot sooner than she expected.
That was because as they were walking and exploring the town, which they'd learned was Magnolia so the very town that had Fairy Tail in it, which was good for them as it saved them having to actually find it, they turned a corner near the train station, which was another thing they would have to look at as that was new to them, and as soon as they did Asta, who was in the lead with the girls slightly behind him and to his sides, bumped into a boy who was a few years younger than him also walking ahead and between two people and send the kid sprawling though Asta wasn't budged at all.
"Sorry." Asta said sheepishly as he crouched down to help the kid up. "I didn't see you there."
"Well watch were you're walking." The kid said angrily as he swiped away Asta's hand and got to his feet while the two people, an older man and woman who looked a shade too young to be his parents and not enough to be his siblings, sighed at his antics. "Are you an idiot or something?"
"Hey, I may not be too smart at times but that was an accident." Asta said glaring at the kid. "I apologized alright; I wasn't looking as we've never been here before, but you don't have to be a little brat about it."
"I'm not a brat." The kid said. "You're just an obnoxious kid."
"Kid? Look who's talking." Asta said and the boys devolved into name calling causing the others who knew them to sigh in resignation at what was going on.
Still, the various companions to the arguing boys took a moment to look over the other group and evaluate them. The trio that the Black Bulls had run into were all clearly magic users though their magic levels were about on par with an average Magic Knight's levels so below Noelle and Mimosa but still not too bad. Plus, all three, even the kid who looked no older than 12 or 13 at the oldest, held themselves with the poise of professionals who'd experienced their fair share of fights in their lives which caused the girls to study them more.
First up was the kid arguing with Asta. He was short, shorter than Asta which was saying something, with slightly shaggy midnight purple hair and piercing black eyes that held a sadness to them that was beyond his youth. Still, the boy was clearly in shape as they could see his abs through the opening of his vest and while they weren't on Asta's level they were still impressive to say the least.
They could see this because all the boy wore was a burgundy vest thing that fell to his mid thighs with a white border, green ¾ length pants, and brown boots. He wore a white sash around his waist to hold things together while still leaving the opening in the center, an orange scarf, and white bandages or wrappings on his forearms.
However, the oddest things, and to them a slightly disturbing one at that, was the red tattoo on the boy's left shoulder. It showed the silhouette of what looked like a bird of sorts with a long tail under it or at least that's what it looked like to the Clover Kingdom royals. Whatever it was it was certainly not something that they expected to see on a boy his age but clearly it wasn't abnormal here to have such a tattoo.
Oddly enough neither of the two older people had the marking on them though with the man it was hard to tell because he wore brown pants, a dark red collared shirt, and an orange poncho thing with a yellow edging on the collar and just above the hem so he didn't have much skin showing. The same couldn't be said for the woman with him and by the body language the girls could tell that they were a couple.
The woman was, well, wearing slightly more than what Vanessa would normally wear in the base and that was it. All she had on was a black, er, top thing with gold edging that covered the lower half of her impressive breasts so enough to cover her nipples while leaving more than enough cleavage on display. She completed the look with an off orange mini skirt held there by a thick burgundy belt, near knee high boots, burgundy cloth bracers on her forearms and bands with frills from them on her biceps that matched her skirt.
However, despite her state of dress, the most shocking thing about the woman was her bright green, clearly natural, hair that fell down to her mid back and was under a burgundy hat in a style that the girls had never seen before. She had a fringe cut above her eyes and a set of bangs framing her pale face, but the color, and more specifically the vibrancy of it, was still the shocking thing. This was in contrast to the short black hair her partner sported.
Naturally as the girls were eyeing up the trio opposite them, the couple were looking them over as well. They easily noted that the trio were strong and seasoned fighters despite looking to be around Natsu's age when he disappeared, if not a year or two younger though certainly a few years older than Wendy had been when the disappearance happened, because they held themselves with the same sort of poise that the top tier members of Fairy Tail had done back before they vanished.
All three teens before them wore an interesting black robe that fell to their mid chests with gold edges and a gold and black frontal shot of an elaborate bull's head with a gold upside down star in the center. The robes themselves had a cut up to just below the right shoulder and looked to have hoods on them. Clearly it was some kind of uniform, perhaps Guild related as all three clearly knew how to fight with the two girls exuding so much magic each that they could probably match an S-Class wizard if they had the right training to match their magic levels.
Thanks to the amount of magic the girls were giving off they couldn't get a clear reading on the boy, but his presence was enough to let them know that he was a fighter who's skills likely exceeded the two girls and his while attitude seemed to be a little like Natsu's in a way. He wasn't like Natsu physically as he was rather short with spikey grey hair and green eyes while wearing a simple shirt, short jacket, ¾ pants and boots that all looked cheap as if he came from a poor background, but otherwise it was clear that he was an inspirational force, one that both girls looked to.
Of course, Bisca was able to tell that the girls looked at the boy with them as more than just an inspiration to them but as a woman in love herself she could see it clearly and it was clear that both the girls with the guy were in love with him. It was just the way they looked at him, the way they clearly deferred to him and regarded him that told her that though as the confrontation would go on any doubts would be erased from Bisca's mind about their feelings towards the boy while also showing her that the boy could rival Natsu, if not exceed him, when it came to noticing a girl's feelings towards him.
However, that wasn't the interesting part of the odd love triangle before her, no that was reserved for the fact that both girls looked like they came from money and not just a lot but Heartfilia levels of money before that family went bankrupt. Hell, there was a chance that they actually exceeded Lucy's family's old wealth individually which was really saying something.
One of the girls, the one a little closer and somewhat more comfortable around the boy, had silver hair tied in two small pigtail things at the sides and pink eyes. She had a haughty but austere beauty to her, and she knew how to look good in long white coat thing that flared out past her waist into two tails on either side with a feather like hem design and ended in golden cuffs on her mid forearms though with her robe Bisca and Alzack couldn't see the detailing around her neck and shoulders.
Under the coat thing the silver haired girl wore a pink dress or shirt and shorts combo, again it was hard to tell as she had the jack closed around her by a brown leather belt with a satchel that hung down to her right thigh. The girl completed the look with a pair of simple sandals and white cloth greaves with golden cuffs over her calves leaving her thighs bare.
It was certainly an interesting look and a sharp contrast with the other girl who had a more homely and natural beauty to her that shone through with her pleasant attitude in contrast to the arrogance the girl in white was giving off. That girl, who was a little back and clearly cared deeply for the boy but was hesitant to make a move it seemed, had vermilion hair that fell to just past her shoulders in a loose fashion with a simple fringe above it and warm yellow eyes that showed how much she cared for both teens that were with her.
Like the other girl she too was dressed in fancy clothes wearing a puffy, cream-colored sweater of sorts under her black robe with long sleeves that came down to her wrists, and white, puffy, shorts. Over it all she wore a brown corset that was laced up in the center and pushed up her rather impressive chest even more though it was probably smaller than Bisca's was even if the girl's bust was still above average.
Well, it was above for the normal population but with the women of Fairy Tail, both still in the Guild and missing, they were slightly below average because for some reason almost all of the girls in Fairy Tail except for Wendy who was still a kid and Levy had impressive busts. Even Laki had grown a fair bit in that area in the last few years in keeping with the general Fairy Tail female trend.
All this was just a note Bisca made though as the look was still highly conservative on this girl and she completed it with thigh high brown boots leaving only a strip of skin visible between the tops of the boots and the bottoms of her shorts. Like the others she too had a satchel at on her hip which was odd as they had no other bags unlike Bisca, Alzack, and Romeo who were all carrying their bags as they returned from their most recent job.
"I'll show you that I'm not some kid, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard and while that doesn't mean much now it is still something because one day Fairy Tail will return to what we once were." The kid said as what looked like purple fire, something that clearly shocked the teen girls, appeared in his hands and escalating so much that they others were immediately back into it. "I know we've fallen on hard times, but you have no right to look down on us for that."
"What I don't even know about that." Asta said confused but he could sense that the kid's ki was hostile and was about to react to pull one of his swords out of his grimoire to snuff out the boy's flames that were a cool purple color that Asta had never seen before when Noelle grabbed his shoulder with one hand. "Huh?"
"Don't Asta, it's not worth it." Noelle said as she drew her wand with her other hand and pointed it at the kid with the end glowing blue. "Besides, I can quell this commoner's fire without an issue."
"Commoner?" The kid asked glaring at the girl that had grabbed the boy as the fire in his hands intensified and not showing any fear to his fire being quenched as he knew that his purple flames couldn't easily be put out by wind or water, the latter of which this arrogant girl was likely about to use. "What are you talking about? Are you some stuck up noble or something, I thought those didn't exist anymore."
"I'm roy…" Noelle began before Mimosa deliberately stepped on her foot, a little harder than necessary but Mimosa wasn't happy that Noelle had grabbed Asta, so her jealousy came out a little when she trod on her cousin's foot, as she had a forced smile on her face while addressing the other three.
"I am sorry for my cousin's rudeness, she's not some high and mighty noble here just a little frustrated as it's been a long day for us seeing as we finally made it to Fiore." Mimosa said smiling as Noelle glared at her but quickly realized that she would have to relent on this front as she yanked her foot from underneath Mimosa's boot. "And we are sorry for any insults that we may have caused you with our ignorance of the local area."
"Yeah sorry for that." Asta said calming down. "I wasn't looking, I was too distracted by all the new stuff I was seeing here."
"No, it's partially our fault." The older man said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him down just like Noelle had done with Asta though without the threat of his own magic as well. "Romeo, don't get so worked up, pause and think for a minute. Look at their clothes, they're clearly not from the area so they don't know about how things are here. I know you're frustrated, we all are, but they didn't mean any harm. Apologize."
"I'm sorry." The boy, Romeo apparently, grumbled as the fire went out and Noelle lowered her wand though it was clear that he wasn't happy at being made to apologize. "Now if you excuse me, I should get back to my Guild Hall."
"Wait." Mimosa said before they could go as she'd recalled something he'd said a moment ago. "Did I hear correctly that you are in Fairy Tail?"
"Yeah what about it?" Romeo said his hostility back again.
"Oh, nothing bad, I promise." Mimosa said raising her hands defensively. "We've just heard a lot about it before coming here and we're curious to learn more about Fiore's strongest Guild."
"We haven't been that in a long time." Romeo said as he folded his arms across still looking upset though he was pleased that what the girl had heard about Fairy Tail was their good reputation from a few years back. "Not since before the incident 5 years ago, so if you're trying to mock us then just move along already."
Bisca and Alzack looked to each other and then to the trio before them, all of whom looked confused at Romeo had just said. It was clear that they hadn't heard about the incident and as both of them were foreigners to Fiore they could tell when others were like them. Clearly these people were as they'd not heard of Fairy Tail's downgrade though thanks to Fairy Tail's historic reputation they'd still heard of it which said something. Clearly they were just curious, so it was on them to step in and defuse the situation.
"Romeo, I don't think they're from around here so they may not have heard of what happened to our Guild." Bisca said kindly. "Have you?"
"We had concerns that something may have happened, but we'd not heard anything specific." Mimosa said as she tried to figure out how best to phrase things. "A man we all respect and who suggested we come here is friends with your Guild Master Makarov, but he lost contact with Makarov some time ago and got concerned about it. He asked us to look into the lost contact and so we are."
"Ah well there's an unfortunate reason why our old master hasn't been in contact with anyone in the last few years." Alzack said with a sigh. "He, along with basically all of our strongest guild members, vanished some 5 years ago."
"Vanished?" Noelle asked sounding confused at that.
"It happened 5 years ago during an annual trial that our Guild has." Bisca said which fit with what Julius had told them though it was only 5 months in Clover Kingdom time. "A trial that involved our Guild Master, the 3 S-Class wizards we have though a former 4th Guild member who was S-Class before his expulsion from the Guild may have been there as well as he's not been seen since that day as well, along with 7 of our strongest non-S-Class wizards and 5 others from our Guild. A 6th member is presumed to have returned to the Celestial Spirit Realm as he was one of those while I think there was a 7th member but our memories of that one are hazy at best."
"Also 2 other members had gone to the event for their own reasons that we didn't find out about until after the incident." Alzack added. "They are presumed to have been with them as they too haven't been seen in 5 years."
"It's been so long that they are presumed dead but, well, no bodies have been found." Bisca said. "In fact, the entire island they were on vanished without a trace so it's all rather confusing."
"All that doesn't mean that they're dead or anything." Romeo said defensively. "They could still be out there. It's not like Natsu to just roll over and die."
"We certainly know someone like that." Noelle said looking at Asta who was known for having a near daily dalliance with death and while clearly the girl thought she was glaring Bisca could see the love and concern in her eyes. "Some people are just too stubborn to die though which isn't a bad thing."
"So, they vanished but no one knows what happened to them?" Mimosa asked moving the conversation along.
"They were on our sacred land and were attacked by a powerful force the likes of which no one had seen in recent times." Alzack said. "As we said the island also vanished and there is nothing left in that area now, so we really don't know what happened to them other than that they vanished."
"Regardless loosing that many key members of the Guild has caused us a lot of problems." Bisca said with a sad sigh at that. "We couldn't keep up with the requests we got because we didn't have enough people to man them without our best Guild members and several others left the guild as a result. We then lost our Guild Hall and moved out of town which has led to even more problems for us that you needed concern yourselves with."
"But Fairy Tail isn't out of it." Romeo said. "We will be back one day, I know it."
"I don't doubt it." Mimosa said, she'd heard how Julius had spoken about Fairy Tail and knew that if he was impressed by them, so much so that he actually joined the Guild apparently, then they had to be strong. "Well thank you for informing us, I am sure our friend will be glad to hear that there is a chance that Makarov isn't dead."
"And just don't give up, you'll be back on top in no time." Asta said with a grin. "It's all about attitude. We were once the worst of the worst where we were from but within a year we turned it around to come in second."
"Yes, Dorksta here is a bit of an idiot but on this front he's right." Noelle said with a flip of her pigtails. "We went from last to second and if we weren't so far in last place to start it off we would have come first."
"You would?" Mimosa asked before she realized what she'd said and quickly added. "I didn't know, I'm the last to join our, er, Squad is the term we use back home so I didn't know."
"We started with negative 30 and ended on 101." Noelle said which caused Mimosa to do the math on it. "The top ranked Squad got 125 so we actually eared 131 that year. As much as I hate to admit it, Asta here was a big factor. Not the only factor mind you, it was a team effort of course so don't let that go to your head Dorksta."
"Huh, of course it was a team effort." Asta said confused as Mimosa pouted at Noelle's words because they made her uncomfortable. "We all did that together."
"Can I ask why you are here?" Bisca asked interrupting the three teens but smiling at it as it was really clear now that both girls had deep feelings for the guy with them. "I can tell you lot aren't from around here; I should know as both me and my husband aren't as well so what brought you to Fiore? It can't be just to check up on Makarov."
"No, we're actually here to establish our Squad as a legal Wizard Guild in the kingdom." Noelle answered. "It was recommended that we move to this kingdom and become one to help out. Fairy Tail was the example we were told about as the man who sent us knew your Guild well hence why we came to ask about it. Our Cap…I mean Guild Master is on his way to Era, at least I think that's the name of the place he said he was going to, as we speak to sort out the paperwork and become official."
"I thought that that might be the case." Bisca said as Alzack nodded but Romeo didn't really care, he'd been sullen ever since the incident but so long as these people weren't dissing Fairy Tail then he could just be indifferent to them. "You're all wearing matching robes, but we can't see any guild marks like the one you can see on Romeo's shoulder. If you're applying to be a legal Wizard Guild then this makes sense."
"Just make sure not to do anything that an official Guild would do until you get approved." Alzack said. "That could make you a Dark Guild and especially don't do anything a legal Guild wouldn't do because that will definitely make you a Dark Guild."
"We won't." Mimosa said as Noelle glared at Asta to make sure he got that as well. "Thank you for telling us, um, oh my we didn't even get your names I'm so sorry for my rudeness."
"That's fine we didn't ask either." Bisca said as Mimosa bowed slightly to her which she dismissed as not necessary before she gestured to herself. "I'm Bisca Connell, maiden name was Mulan, and this is my husband Alzack Connell."
"And before you ask Romeo here isn't our son." Alzack said not that they were going to ask as it was clear that he wasn't. "He's just our teammate as we help show him the ropes as one of our newest members though as he is our current master's son he knows how it works."
"I grew up with the Guild so I will do all I can to honor those who I looked up to." Romeo said simply.
"A pleasure to meet you Bisca, Alzack, and Romeo." Mimosa said bowing again though not as deep before while also not showing how unusual she thought the names were. "I'm Mimosa Vermillion, the other girl is my cousin Noelle Silva."
"It's via our mothers." Noelle said though the trio of Fairy Tail wizards were more focused on the Vermillion name than anything else. "And this usually loud and obnoxious guy is Asta, just Asta."
"Hi." Asta said grinning at them.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Alzack said. "But can we ask, er Mimosa was it."
"Yes what is it?" Mimosa asked.
"Did you by any chance have an ancestor called Mavis?" Alzack asked.
"No, not that I know of at least." Mimosa said confused. "Why?"
"Oh, you just have the same surname as our long dead first Master that's all." Alzack said surprising Mimosa. "And it's one we've never heard anywhere else, so we had to ask."
"Ah I see no we're all new to Fiore." Mimosa said with a shake of her head. "Perhaps a long ways back we had a common ancestor though who moved here and that's where your first Master comes from, or she had an ancestor that moved to where we are from that was the common ancestor."
"Probably that or just a coincidence." Alzack said. "Well thank you for clearing that up and not looking down on us but we should get going as we do need to get back to our Guild Hall."
"As should we but thank you for clearing things up for us regarding your Guild." Noelle said. "Come on let's go."
"What's your Guild?" Romeo asked as they turned to leave his curiosity getting the better of him for it.
"We're the Black Bulls." Asta said with a grin at the boy. "Remember that because soon we'll be the number 1 in town."
Romeo just glared at that, but the older wizards smiled, the Black Bulls would soon learn who was the current number 1 in Fiore and why they held that rank. Still, at least they weren't dismissive of Fairy Tail which was a nice change of pace. With a grunt, Romeo just headed off to the Guild Hall with Bisca and Alzack following him as they too thought on the people they'd met feeling that they could be people to watch in the days, and probably years, to come.
As for Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa, they walked away until they could talk freely to discuss what they'd learned about Fairy Tail and why Makarov couldn't be contacted by Julius. They'd learned a lot, hopefully the others would as well during their own missions in Magnolia.
As Asta, Noelle and Mimosa were getting acquainted with three members of Fairy Tail, Nero flew towards the large building at the northern end of the town to see what was up with it. Clearly it was important and almost certainly a Guild Hall so as she reached it she was looking forward to roosting in the rafters and learning all that she could about this Guild and town around her.
At least that was the plan until Nero reached the building and found it foreclosed and abandoned. It was clearly well built and had some magic to it as it wasn't derelict or anything, but it wasn't under occupied by anyone which confused her. She could have left it at that but decided that it would be more productive to search it and the area around it for clues as to why it was like this before she left the building to continue looking around the town for information on the Fairy Tail Guild.
As such she flew into the building and began to explore it. Naturally she remained in her bird form as she didn't know if there were any magical surveillance devices in the building, so it was best to be cautious while here. One thing that Nero had noted on her flight in how magical tools were very common in this world and as a creator herself she was itching to check some of them out, but she had her orders from her Captain, so she was going to follow them and began to fly around the building.
The first thing she noted was that while it looked like it had three stories from outside it was actually only two story with a large open center hall with a bar that had a kitchen behind it, a stage and a lot of benches and tables that were in various states of disrepair. Along one wall was a board that said 'Request Board' above it though Nero was a little surprised that she knew what it said as she didn't recognize the language it was written in but chalked that up to the magic of the world. Regardless, it was bare now and there was another bare request board one on the second level that had a balcony overlooking the lower level.
All in all, there really wasn't much to look at given how barren the building was. Clearly the tenants here had fallen on hard times and had to sell things off before leaving the whole building all together so there wasn't much to go on from it.
Not much didn't mean nothing though and as Nero looked around she kept seeing one thing on various discarded items, mainly tattered banners but it was embossed or printed on other things as well, and that as an emblem of some sorts. It actually reminded Nero of a Squad Crest only with less details than what the Magic Knight Squads of the Clover Kingdom used.
The emblem varied in color and size, but it was always the same, a silhouette of what Nero though was probably a bird of some sorts with what looked like a long tail under it. As a bird with a two tails Nero didn't understand how a tail like that would look, even tried to match it with her own and failed, but it was clearly the crest of this Guild. She had to find out what it mean and why the Guild wasn't here anymore.
That was all she had to go on so with her inspection of the building done she flew up and left it not noticing the magic coming from below the basement as it was sealed to the point that even she couldn't feel it despite being a Sealing Mage. Well, that and she wasn't looking for it so her senses weren't attuned to it as she flew out of the building and began to scour the town to see if she could find that emblem again.
It took her a while to find it though she did find an active Guild called Twilight Ogre that seemed to be in the business of just making money with a garish, sinister looking design to their Guild Hall and an unsavory atmosphere to them. Nero made a mental note to come back and spy on them for the Squad at a later moment as they could be an issue but for now she had a mission, and she was flying over the town looking for that emblem.
Finally, after what felt like an age, she found it though not as she was expecting it. She'd expected to find it on a building, likely a banner based of what she'd seen, but not as a tattoo on a boy's left shoulder. This was after the boy had run into Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa, not that Nero knew that at the moment, so he was heading back with two older people, a man in a poncho and a scantily clad woman with a bust size that was only a shade or two smaller than Vanessa's though Nero herself didn't mind as unlike some girls she didn't have a complex about her near complete lack of a chest.
Things like that didn't bother Nero and besides she was focused on the emblem now that she'd found it again, so she followed them from up high until they came to a small, run down, inn on the outskirts of the town. It had some washing up on the outside, which was odd to her, but she ignored it as she focused on the banner from the center of the building beneath a windmill thing that had the emblem on it. This was their Guild Hall; she was sure of it and so she flew into to an upper window and then made her way down to the common area to perch in the rafters and watch them.
It was as she was settling in that she heard it as the boy was giving a sullen report to a man that looked to be his father and also the head of this Guild if Nero had to guess so the equivalent to Captain Yami in her books. The boy mentioned that he'd run into three strange people on his way back from his last job in a port town called Hargeon who'd asked questions about Fairy Tail.
That was just what Nero was looking for, the guild that the Wizard King had joined and so she was going to get some answers here. She had the time, unlike the others she could take it before returning to the hideout to give her report so she made herself comfortable in the rafters, it wasn't nearly as comfy as Asta's head but nothing really was, and listened in as she began to learn all she could about Fairy Tail.
While all of this was happening Gordon and Gauche had made their way through the town and after getting utterly lost because they didn't know it they eventually asked someone for help and were directed to a public library that the town had. It was a decent sized building a little off the main road and they settled in once they got there to read up on the town and nation that they were currently in.
It was there that they found out that the place was called Magnolia, the very town that had the Guild that Yami had told them to learn about if they could so with that information they began to read whatever they could find on Fairy Tail, as well as other things about the area with Gordon focused on the various poisons around and Gauche looking for things to get Marie. Unlike the others this was an uneventful assignment, and they didn't run into people, not that any would approach them given Gordon's creepy aura and Gauche's nosebleeds over his sister, so they could read in peace.
They'd had plenty of experience with this back when Asta's arms were cursed and had gone to a library to find a way to reverse the curse, so they quickly fell into a rhythm as they worked for a few hours and made notes on paper they'd brought with them. It was a simple task and thankfully they weren't going to get into trouble, so they were able to get a lot of good notes on the history of Fairy Tail and its relation to the city of Magnolia along with other useful information about the place they were in.
As such they'd have plenty to report later and when it was done they packed up and left to regroup with Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa before they headed back the base armed with all that they'd found out. Then, once Yami returned and told them about their current status, they would likely return to continue their research so that the Squad was fully informed on the world that they would inhabit for the next 6 years.
"Yes these look tasty and edible." Charmy said as she picked up a mushroom and ate it without thinking or even trying to actually confirm that it was edible before eating it. "Add them to the bag Grey."
Grey, who had opted to take the form of Charmy for this mission, did just that as she hoped that they weren't like the last mushrooms that Charmy had eaten when they were looking for a cure for Asta's arms. Those had been very embarrassing to deal with, and it had taken Grey ages to get them off her though at least she wasn't constantly eating them like Charmy was which only made it worse for the short bottomless pit of a girl.
"You know you shouldn't just eat them to see." Magna said as he lugged over a dead magical boar that had tried to kill him after appearing cute, but it was no match for his fireballs and even if it hadn't tried to attack him Magna would have tried to kill it as it was clearly a good source of meat for them. "And besides you can basically eat anything so you're not a fair test."
"True but they are yummy." Charmy said as they filled up the bags her sheep were carrying with more mushrooms to go with the fruits that they'd already found, and that Charmy had declared edible. "And besides we have a healer now so we're all good."
"I don't mind food that can fight back." Luck said hauling over another boar, his second to Magna's first. "But these are hardly a challenge. Say Magna, you only have one so you're behind me, ha."
"Just you wait, I'll get two more to beat you." Magna said as he turned and ran into the woods with a laughing Luck behind him.
"We need at least 4 more." Charmy called out. "And find a lake, I want some tasty fish as well."
Grey just sighed and noted it all as the sheep carried the stuff back to the base for storage. This was more than enough food for the squad minus Charmy, but she needed more so they were looking for enough to satisfy her insatiable appetite as well.
At least this was their task and not interacting with humans so Grey could do it without an issue and it would help the Squad while also preventing Luck from getting into a needless fight within a day of arriving in Earth Land. Hopefully the others were being as productive as they were as Grey, and Charmy continued to walk through the woods gathering grub and at least Grey doing her best to understand the local area for their report when the Captain got back.
Yami just grunted as he and Finral flew through the skies of Earth Land heading towards the town of Era where they were going to register their squad as a legal Wizard Guild in Fiore. They had to do it to make money and operate which meant bureaucracy that Yami wasn't looking forward to but so long as it was just this one time then he could deal with it to set things up.
The annoying thing was that they had to fly there, which Yami hated doing, so that Finral could use his magic to get to and from Era in the future. Thankfully once this was over they would make sure that Finral went all over Fiore to mark as many locations as possible in this Kingdom so that they could use his Spatial Magic going forward but it was still a nuisance to do so.
The flying was just the first issue though, the other was that they'd not actually known where Era was at first. After Yami's long dump Finral had pointed out that they didn't know where they were going because they didn't know where they were at that very moment so while Vanessa got drunk, Zora slept, and Henry recovered Yami was forced to crack open one of the books Julius had sent them and look over a map of Earth Land to find where Era was. The problem was that they themselves were in the middle of nowhere, so they had to fly and find a point of reference for such a trip.
That point turned out to be the town of Clover ironically enough. It wasn't the town near them, Yami figured that with 6 of his squad in that town they could deal with it and take Finral there later to provide portals to it in the future, so they went north and ended up over that town. With it as a reference they began to head to the Era where the headquarters of the Magic Council were located.
Now they were at last on their way there and Yami was going to go as fast as he could, well he could go faster so he was going as fast as Finral could go, so that they could get this sorted quickly and return. The rest of the squad would have food and reports for him, other than probably Nero as she was in her bird form so had a longer mission, when he returned so they'd be able to hit the ground running once Yami had the Black Bulls registered as a Guild.
Hopefully that didn't take too long as the outskirts of Era came into view, as did a giant mountain thing right in the middle of the town, and Yami prepared himself for what was to come. It was time to make the Black Bulls into a Fiore Kingdom Wizard Guild.
Well, the Black Bulls are in Fiore and have already begun to investigate the area and learn some things. Fortunately, they were near Magnolia, so they have been able to get some useful information right at the very start, as well as some good research to present when the reports come in in a few chapters' time. We've also seen the first run in with Fairy Tail though not the main characters of it yet as they are still missing, and no magic has really been revealed but all will be done so in time. Next up is of course Yami's arrival at the Magic Council Headquarters and all the fun he gets to deal with there but this is all I have for this chapter so I will leave it off here for you. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog