Zrocker119: Damn! I can't believe how many favorites and follows this story has gotten already. We haven't even gotten to the good parts yet! I've noticed more than a few questions being asked in reviews, and I would love to answer them...but I don't want to risk spoiling anything, so I guess you'll just have to read more XD

-Chapter 3-

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It was safe to say that any preconceived notions Irene had going into this reunion had been utterly dashed by this point. For starters, this little meet-up was taking place in the middle of a remote forest far from any form of civilization. She was more than okay with this as it was much easier for her to keep her senses in check when out in nature than in the middle of a bustling city or town.

Second and most shockingly, however, was that the friends Yuji had spoken little to nothing of were not entirely human if the appearance of Hanami was anything to go off of. Not that she had any real problems with this discovery. After all, her closest friend and mentor had been an actual dragon.

And it wasn't as if Hanami had done anything to earn her distrust. If anything, he had been very cordial with her, answering some of her questions and asking some of his own. Neither of them had delved into anything that could be considered too personal, because as much as she wanted to know what kind of entity Hanami was, Irene instinctively knew that she would learn that information sooner rather than later.

As they headed deeper into the forest she could see Yuji smiling as he walked a few paces behind them, clearly happy that the two of them were getting along.

"We have arrived."

Irene blinked, realizing that they had come to a stop before the roots of what had to be the largest tree she had ever witnessed. Even her full dragon form would be dwarfed by the ancient tree. It had to be somewhere around a thousand years old, possibly even older.

And seated atop one of the roots was the familiar form of Choso, still dressed in the same outfit as before despite the chill weather. "Glad to see that you decided to come, Irene. I hope Hanami has made a good first impression."

The enchantress held up the smiling infant cradled in her arms, bringing attention to the flower tucked into her hat. This brought a smile to the brothers' lips.

"I see," Standing, he took a step forward and fell from the root, landing before them with practiced ease. He took a moment to stroke Erza's cheek, making the baby coo, before then gesturing up at the massive tree.

Nodding, Hanami held out a hand with the palm facing up and made a flicking motion. The ground around them began to shake as a massive root erupted from beneath their feet. Irene momentarily lost her balance as they began to ascend, but a second, thinner root branched off from the main one where it wrapped around her waist, securing her. She looked appreciative at Hanami, who simply nodded before returning focus to his current task.

Higher and higher they continued to climb, surpassing the heights of even the plateaus in the far distance. She wouldn't be surprised if this tree was the tallest on the entire continent as they had, by her best estimate, already reached the 300-meter mark by the time they had reached the lowest branches.

As Hanami began to maneuver then between the branches, Irene asked, "How had I not seen this tree when we arrived? And how did it grow this large to begin with?" The sheer magnitude of the tree should've made not seeing it impossible.

Hanami provided her answer.

"While I spread my energy throughout all of the surrounding forests, this specific tree serves as my home and receives the lion's share. As for why you didn't see it, I've long since put up a barrier that keeps it hidden from all forms of long-distance observation. Regardless of if it's physical or magical. Otherwise, there would be no shortage of humans flocking to this forest. Although the technique will fail if one draws too close. In those instances, I've set up a secondary barrier that'll alert me of unwanted guests."

As he spoke, they passed between a bundle of branches that were tightly packed together. Once they were through, Irene couldn't prevent her jaw from dropping at the sight that lay before her.

They had reached the canopy, but instead of continuing straight, the central support of the great tree instead split and branched upwards and outwards, creating an enormous bowl of branches and leaves. One that was so tightly compacted that even the strong gusts of wind that would've threatened to blow them away were little more than a gentle breeze.

Tearing her gaze from the surrounding branches, Irene spotted their destination. Situated at the center of the bowl was a large hut that seemed to have been formed out of the tree itself. Seeing as how Hanami had displayed nothing short of masterful control over plants, she didn't doubt for a minute that he had willed the tree to bend and twist into this specific shape.

Coming to a stop before Hamani's home, the group dismounted the root that had served as their transport, with Hanami being the last to depart. The moment he stepped off, Irene was startled to see the root immediately dissipate into motes of energy, revealing that it had been nothing but a magic construct.

Her surprise must have shown because as Hanami led them to his home's entrance, he spoke, "While I can control plants by injecting them with my curse energy, my primary technique is manifesting the illusions of plants into reality."

"But this tree is completely natural," had he been capable of smiling, then Irene was sure he would've been when he looked back at her. "So no need to worry about it suddenly disappearing."

Irene ignored Yuji muttering something that sounded like "wish I would've known that the first time" and followed closely behind their host. It wasn't until they had entered the threshold of his home that the exact phrasing he had used to describe his magic fully registered to her.

"Curse energy?"

Both Choso and Hanami paused at her questioning tone. The two shared a look before simultaneously staring at Yuji with incredulous expressions. Or at least his brother was. Hanami just turned his head towards him. But the straight posture he had since their introduction had been done away in favor of slumped shoulders.

"Yuji did you–" Choso began with a strained voice.

"Not explain anything to her," finished an equally incredulous Hanami.

Out of the corner of her eye, Irene saw Yuji trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. He even went so far as to stuff his hand into his pockets and whistle while looking off to the side. A glance at the others told him that they were not amused.

Pursing his lips, he idly poked the tips of his fingers together. "I didn't wanna ruin the surprise-" A solid fist sunk into the top of his skull, forcing his jaw shut and causing him to bite his tongue.

While Yuji nursed the growing bump on his head, Choso lowered a smoking fist and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Irene. What exactly has my brother told you?"

"Other than what we discussed during your first visit? Nothing."

Two more strikes rained down upon the Pinkette's dome, one from Choso and Hanami respectively, leaving Yuji in a smoking crater and with two even larger bumps. Irene simply held Erza and watched from the sidelines, a sizable bead of sweat rolling down the back of her head. For all this talk about Yuji being in charge, Choso sure didn't let that title hold him back when it came to letting his thoughts on Yuji's decisions from being made clear.

Justice having been served, Choso tucked his arms into his sleeves while Hanami's dropped to his sides, the two of them acting as if nothing had occurred.

The elder brother gestured to the hut. "Well then. Shall we introduce you to the others?"

"Why are you guys so mean to me," mewled Yuji, his voice muffled from the bark he was currently embedded in. Erza simply giggled at the entire interaction.

Stifling her growing amusement, the ancient enchantress waited for him to pick himself back up before following the others inside. Upon entering the hut, she was surprised to see how spacious it was on the inside. But while that was surprising, the appearance of the ones that had been waiting for them drew her immediate attention.

The first was humanoid in shape but his physical appearance was distinctly inhuman. It appeared to be male and was relatively short, barely over 4 ½ feet tall, with a hunchback posture. Its head was what really drew the eye and understandably so as it was likened to that of a volcano, with a single cycloptic eye, and two holes in the side of his head, both of which were plugged with large corks.

He wore an all-black outfit that consisted of a loose shirt with quarter-length sleeves with matching pants and shoes. Over his shoulders lay a green spotted cape over that along with a white scarf. The little amount of skin that wasn't covered by his clothing was a pale gray, with the only exception being the area leading up to the volcanic vent atop his head, which was brown.

He sat in a wooden chair and was smoking a pipe. He let out a long bellow of smoke and smiled at Hanami's return, revealing blackened teeth. His smile turned into a confused frown at the sight of Irene and Erza following close behind, but rather than comment, he simply went back to smoking his pipe.

But despite his laid-back appearance, Irene could sense the power that broiled below the surface. Like a volcano that was on the cusp of erupting. How fitting.

The one sitting across from him wasn't nearly as intimidating, but much more inhuman in appearance. Bright red with a circular-shaped head, big round eyes, and striped tentacles around its mouth. It had two muscular arms with four fingers and a caterpillar-like body that was covered mainly by a large, white cloth.

"Bwoo-hoo," the centaur-like creature scooted over to them and looked at Irene and Erza with curious eyes.

Ever the curious child, Erza reached out with a mitten-clad hand, prompting the creature to tilt its head at her.

"Booa?"

Irene didn't know what that meant, but Yuji did as he sighed exasperatedly. "Dagon, we've talked about this. You can't go around eating random people. Let alone friends."

Irene took a not-so-small step back as Dagon's head slumped forward. It let out what she interpreted as a disappointed sigh before sugging back to where it had been sitting before. She gave Yuji a pointed look who had the courtesy to look sheepish.

"Not the worst first impression that I've seen."

Irene immediately shot a look towards Choso, holding Erza close to her bosom. "Your friend just asked if he could eat my child! What kind of introduction could be worse than that!?"

Silence greeted her. Looking around she saw the others share a look between themselves before simultaneously turning towards her with blank expressions and saying.

"Don't ask."

Figuring whatever that was was something that she would rather not look any further into, Irene decided that now would be a good time to introduce herself. "Irene Belserion," she gave a quick curtsy. Or at least as best of one as she could while holding onto a baby. "This is Erza."

As if understanding what was going on, Erza held up a hand and exclaimed, "Gah!"

The cyclops took a deep puff of his pipe and exhaled, his eyelid half closed. "Jogo. You've already been acquainted with Dagon."

The Lovecraftian chibi waved at her. A gesture Erza returned wholeheartedly, completely oblivious to the fact that she had almost ended up on his menu mere seconds ago. Irene wasn't nearly as receptive, for obvious reasons, and glared at him. This caused the oddly adorable creature to slump forward.

"Oh, don't hold it against Dagon," Jogo rose from his seat and patted his friend on the back. "He's quite docile around friends. And since Yuji and Choso both saw fit to introduce you to our little circle, that makes you one of us."

Irene looked between them all, a contemplative look upon her face. "I don't mean to be rude when I say this, but what exactly are all of you?"

Jogo spared a glance at Yuji. Upon receiving a nod, he took a puff of his pipe. "We are curses. Manifestations of negative human emotions."

Irene blinked. After a moment she responded with a confused, "come again?"

"Strong negative emotions ebb and flow from the human psyche. Given enough time, the energy released from these emotions condenses and gains sentience in the form of curse spirits."

"Most have intelligence equivalent to that of an animal," Hanami placed a hand on his chest. "But then there are special cases like us, who are formed out of humanity's collective fear of specific natural phenomenon."

"Baoow," Dagon nodded in agreement.

Irene held a hand to her forehead. "Hold on a moment. If what your saying is true, then how come I've never encountered a Curse before?"

If negative emotions were all it took for one of these spirits to form, then she sure as hell would've learned about their existence before now. After all, war and death spawned nothing but negative emotions from those who were affected by them. These curses should've been manifesting on every battlefield during the Dragon War.

"Long ago there was an…event that took place," Choso said, choosing his words carefully. "The aftermath of which resulted in Cursed energy evolving, giving rise to increased numbers of Sorcerers. Mages as they're called nowadays. Due to this change, Curses have become all but extinct, with only the strongest of emotions being able to manifest."

That gave Irene a moment of pause. Giving Dagon, Hanami, and Jogo another look over, she could see a shared theme. Hanami could create and manipulate nature around him. Jogo looked like a volcano given a human-ish form. And Dagon looked like some deep sea monstrosity.

It all clicked together. "You three are the embodiments of humanity's fear of Natural Disasters."

"I see you're quick to catch on," Jogo grinned. "Yes. We represent humanity's shared fear of the forests, earth, and the seas."

Her gaze shifted over to Yuji and Choso. The brothers had stayed out of the conversation, opting to watch the interaction from the side. She wondered how the two of them fit into all of this. They called Yuji their King, and while the energy he emitted had a similar enough feel to the three Curses, it wasn't nearly as malevolent. The same could be applied to Choso.

Before she could dive further down that rabbit hole, Yuji suddenly clapped his hands, garnering everyone's attention.

"Alrighty then! Now that everyone's here, we can get this party started! Dagon! Do the thing!"

"Bhooa?"

"The Thing!"

"Baoow!"

Irene had no idea what the hell was going on and she was too afraid to ask at this point. A fear that only rose when Dagon began emitting a monstrous amount of energy. So much so that he reached a level that, while lower than her own current maximum output, put him just below some of the weaker dragons she had fought and killed during the war.

Dagon released an unintelligible. A black dome formed around him before rabidly expanding outwards, enveloping the entire area in darkness.

Or at least, that was what Irene had been expecting.

But instead of the black abyss, Irene was instead greeted by the warm rays of sunlight and the feeling of soft sand underneath her feet. Blinking, she looked around, her eyes widening in shock at what she saw.

Where before they had been surrounded by towering walls of branches, leaves, and cloudy skies, there was now crystal clear water for as far as the eye can see. The towering oak had been replaced with moderate palm trees and ferns, and rough bark with soft sand.

The entire environment had been transformed from a forest during the coldest winter in generations to a picturesque tropical island. Irene even spotted several lounge chairs and a large umbrella.

Had they been teleported? Regardless of the semantics, at least she now understood why Yuji had had her pack swimwear.

"Alright!" Yuji pumped a fist into the air.

Irene blinked. During the transition between locations, Yuji somehow changed his clothes. He now wore black swim trunks and a white, short-sleeved, button-up, collard shirt with a green, seven-pointed leaf pattern decorating a majority of it and had on a pair of star-shaped sunglasses. The shirt had been left open, allowing Irene an unrestricted view of his muscular yet lean body.

She had had an inkling before to just how in shape he was, but now she knew for certain. By the gods, she could grind meat on those abs. But while she was mildly distracted by his excellent physique, it was the numerous scars that drew her gaze. The biggest of which were the ones directly over his heart and liver.

Realizing that she was staring, Irene averted her eyes before Yuji could notice her lingering gaze. She instead focused her attention on Erza who was busy looking at the new surroundings with unrestricted curiosity. Already she was trying to wiggle out of her arms so that she could crawl around and explore.

Her personality was so infectious that Irene could feel herself smiling as well. But before anything else, they both required a change of clothes. Ones that fit the tropical local. With a snap of the fingers, their heavy winter clothes disappeared with the glow of magic.

Adjusting her new wide-brimmed beach hat, Irene looked herself over, nodding in satisfaction at what she saw. She wore a white, two-piece bikini that showed off her well-developed curves. A thin, nearly see-threw veil was tied around her waist with a slit that ran up the length of her right leg. Her hair had been changed as well and was now tied into four, thick braids.

Erza wore a simple one-piece swimsuit with a wavy frill along the waist and a hat similar to her mother's to protect her from the sun's rays.

"You two look great," Yuji gave them a double thumbs-up and a beaming smile.

"Thanks. 'You don't look too bad yourself'," Irene said the final part quietly to herself. Thankfully, the awkward(at least for her) silence that ensued only lasted for a moment before Erza really began to struggle in her grasp.

The two shared a laugh and Irene set Erza down while Yuji began rummaging through one of the bags he had packed, retrieving an assortment of beach toys. He immediately passed off a small plastic bucket and shovel to Erza. She stared at the tools with wide eyes. Grasping the shovel in her pudgy hands, she slapped it repeatedly into the ground, giggling joyously at the spurts of sand that were thrown about.

While the two watched over Erza, the others hadn't remained idle. Hanami and Choso worked together, setting up two poles with a net connecting them. Jogo had produced a grill, from somewhere, setting it up for later use.

And Dagon…Dagon was out in the water. Gentle bobbing up and down to the motion of the waves.

"Since you decided to bring someone along this time, how do we want to do teams?" Before the net that he had helped set up, Hanami started doing some basic stretches.

"That depends." Yuji looked at Irene. "Have you ever played volleyball before?"

"...Volley Ball?" This was the first time she had ever heard of it. Judging from how the others began performing similar stretches to Hanami, Irene could hazard a guess that it was some sort of competitive sport.

Yuji nodded. "Yeah, that's answer enough. Let's do the same teams as last time. Give her a chance to see how the games played and all that."

"Are you sure that she'll be able to keep track," questioned Jogo, "You know how intense our matches can get."

Yuji waved off the volcano-themed curses question and got into position near the net, with Choso falling into place a few paces back and to his right. Jogo and Hanami took up similar positions on the opposite side of the net. While she might have trouble keeping up with their movements at first, he was confident that she would adjust soon enough. Especially if she wanted to participate.

Her curiosity peaked, Irene positioned herself so that she could keep an eye on both the game and her child. Said baby was still happily making a mess in the sand, uncaring of everything that was going on around her, having fun in her own little world.

Making herself comfortable, the ancient enchantress watched with interest as Yuji and the others finished their stretches. He passed the ball to Choso who tossed it into the air and smacked it with the palm of his hand with enough force to send it over the net.

Hanami tracked its trajectory and intercepted it before it could hit the sand, bumping it forward with his writs, setting it up for a Jogo who lept into the air and spiked it back across the netting. Yuji dove, saving it and setting up his brother for retaliation.

The game continued as such for some time, Irene watching from the sidelines. She understood the concept of the game easily enough. If anything she was slightly disappointed by what she had seen so far. Jogo had made it sound like it was going to be some sort of intense-

Her thoughts were interrupted when a loud "boom", followed shortly by the ball disappearing from her sight. No, it wasn't just the ball. Yuji, Choso, Hanami, and Jogo. She could no longer see any of them. The was another blast of concussive force that threatened to blow her hat away had she not reached up and held it down.

Enchanting her eyes, Irene blinked and they came back into view, but only just so. She watched Yuji leap, hitting the ball hard enough that it broke the sound barrier dozens of times over. But it wasn't fast enough as Jogo immediately intercepted. A jet of flame burst from the back of his hand, propelling it forward.

There was a deafening BOOM as the ball hit the sand on the brothers' side. Or at least it would have had Choso not dove at the last possible second.

That was the last exchange that Irene saw as even with her reinforced eyes, she couldn't have hoped to keep up with the fours' breakneck pace. At least she now understood Jogo's earlier caution. Had she been a regular human, hell, had she been an average wizard, Irene didn't believe for a second that she would've been capable of surviving a single exchange with the group.

She turned to Erza who had managed to make a pile of sand nearly as tall as she was, completely unperturbed by the neigh apocalyptic game of volleyball taking place not twenty meters away.

"Why don't we go and play in the water," Irene said, picking up Erza and walking to the water. Letting it wash over her feet and satisfied with the temperature, she walked further in, stopping only once it reached her waist.

With the sounds of the world's most intense game of Volleyball at their backs, Irene spent what must have been the next couple of hours playing with her daughter. Said toddler enjoyed it immensely, kicking and splashing about in the ocean's warm waters. The only moments she stopped playing were when she had grown too hungry or thirsty to continue.

Irene enjoyed it as well. She couldn't even remember the last time she had felt as at ease as she was in those moments. But the next time they left the water so that she could feed Erza, Irene noticed something.

Hours had gone by since they had arrived here, yet the sun hanging in the sky hadn't moved. And now that she thought about it, nothing had changed. Not the temperature of the water, or the gentle breeze that kissed her skin. Other than the sand that had been disturbed by them and the game, everything was the same.

It was as she contemplated what this discovery could mean, there was a final crash followed by Yuji and the others came back into view. The pinkette pumped a fist into the air.

"And the brothers take the crown once more," Yuji high-fived his brother. He looked at Irene, a twinkle in his eyes. "So. You wanna take a crack at it?"

Irene looked at him, looked at the dozens of smoking craters that now dotted the landscape, and looked back at him. "I think that I'll pass this time around."

Yuji shrugged, not all too bothered by her refusal.

Irene made herself comfortable in one of the chairs, Erza sitting on her lap and sipping from one of the bottles she had prepared earlier. Once she had her fill, Irene laid her against her chest, gently rocking her. And sure enough, all of the excitement of the day caught up to her and Erza soon fell to sleep.

Taking the seat next to them, Yuji had a gentle smile, idly rubbing the baby's cheek. The sight of her sleeping peacefully never ceased to make him swoon at how adorable she looked. For several minutes the two of them did nothing but watch her sleeping form. While they did that, Choso and Jogo had gone to the grill and began to cook, with Hanami heading over to see how Dagon was doing.

"Yuji. There's something that I want to ask you." Seeing his questioning gaze, Irene continued. "Where are we exactly?"

"Heh, I was wondering how long it was going to take you to notice." Hands behind his head, Yuji kicked back and relaxed into his chair. "I'm guessing you thought that we were teleported, right? The truth of the matter is much more complicated than simple teleportation. Have you ever heard of an Innate Domain?"

Irene's eyes narrowed in thought, sorting through hundreds of years' worth of memories for any and all information that she might have pertaining to the magical arts. But try as she might, nothing came forth and she shook her head defeated.

"Think of an Innate Domain as a metaphysical territory that exists within the confines of ones mind. An inner world. And by sealing off an area with a barrier, powerful Curses or Sorcerers can create a separate space and use cursed energy to construct an environment within it that reflects their Innate Domain."

"This ability is called Domain Expansion." He gestured to the environment around them. "And that is what Dagon performed."

Irene blinked. Looking around at the tropical paradise they were currently lounging in, her gaze eventually fell on Dagon, who was still bobbing up and down with the waves of the ocean. For such an unassuming creature to create what was essentially a pocket dimension and maintain it for hours upon hours with no apparent effort was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. She looked from Dagon to Hanami, who was now conversing with Choso. From those two, she looked at Jogo who was, once again, leisurely smoking his pipe. From what she had been able to sense from them earlier, Dagon was what she would consider the weakest of the three Curses.

Her gaze briefly flickered to Choso, trying to get a scope of his power to compare him to the other three, but as always it was impossible to get an accurate read on the man. Eventually, Irene returned her attention back to Yuji.

A dozen or so feet away, Choso watched with a small upturn of the corner of his lip as the pair conversed with each other. The arrival of Irene and her daughter had been a welcome and much-needed change in his brother's life. While he was content with living for the sake of Yuji, his brother was not him, and it had been so long since he had forged a new bond.

Far, far too long.

Shaking away those depressing thoughts, Choso tried to focus on cooking but was distracted when Hanami came to stand beside him.

"There may be an issue."

Calmly, so as to not alert his brother, Choso motioned for Jogo to take over before allowing Hanami to lead him down the beach, under the guise of them going for a stroll. Once there was a significant enough distance between them and the others, Hanami spoke.

"Someone has triggered one of my barriers."

Choso's expression slowly reverted to its normal aloofness as Hanami's words sunk in.

"I'll go out and take care of-"

"No," Choso stuffed his arms into his sleeves, his eyes straying to Yuji. "I'll go. It has been several years since our last gathering, so he'll notice if either you or Jogo leave. I how however see my brother frequently enough that my disappearance won't be noticed right away."

Hanami crossed his arms. "Are you certain that is wise? Due to my cursed plants monitoring the outside, I can tell you that this interloper possesses a rather sizable amount of power."

That gave him some pause. For Hanami to provide caution. This intruder must be something indeed. But nonetheless. While he may not possess Hanami's durability or Jogo's sheer destructive power, he was far from helpless.

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-five minutes ago-

Upon taking his first steps into this forest, Gildarts immediately knew that something was off about this place. Hell, he had known that once it had come within eyesight. Honestly, the greenery in the middle of winter had been a dead giveaway. The warmth that had hit him when entering had been a welcomed change. Wasn't nearly enough to make him consider removing his furlined coat, but it was certainly an improvement.

Why was he even in the middle of the ass-end of nowhere? Oh yeah, that's right. He was the only one in the entire guild that was qualified to take the Quest. The old man's son might have been able to take it had he not been busy looking after his brat. Gildarts like kids as much as the next person, but damn was he glad to have avoided having any of them.

A shiver shot down his spine at that thought, but for some odd reason, he had the distinct impression that it wasn't due to the cold.

Deciding to put a pin in that thought for the moment, Gildarts continued walking deeper into the forest. The Quest he was on was rather straightforward. Over the last decade or so, dozens of people had been reported as missing in this region of the country. While not unheard of, what with so many dangerous beasts and rogue wizards running loose, a large number of those that had vanished were last seen heading in the direction of this forest.

And those were just the most recent ones. He had done a little bit of asking around and had discovered that these disappearances go back several decades. He was also the third mage in the last year or so to take up this quest, his predecessors being the most recent ones added to the list of those that had never come back.

Was he worried? Absolutely not!

He's Gildarts Clive, the Ace of Fairy Tail! Whatever creature was behind these disappearances was in for a nasty surprise, once he-

Something washed over him, making him stumble forward but he was able to catch and right himself. He looked back in the direction he had come from. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he wasn't fooled. Reaching out with a hand, he grasped at the air and was rewarded when his hand pressed against something that had previously been invisible.

"A barrier." He put a little more of his strength into it and was rewarded with his arm passing through with little difficulty. Whatever the purpose of this barrier was, keeping him trapped inside wasn't it.

"Then what the hell was this barrier for-Oh...that's what." Gildarts had turned around midquestion, allowing him to see the tree that took up most of his sight. It was absolutely massive. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if it was taller than the one on Tenrou Island. And he would bet the pay for this quest that the thing he was searching for was sat perched at the very top of it.

After a few more minutes of walking, he came to a stop at the roots and stared up. Even though he had felt like he was being watched, nothing had yet to actually attack him. He took a moment to ponder how to scale the mountainous tree. After a second or two, he came to a decision.

There was no way in hell he was climbing this thing.

Clenching his hand into a fist, he coated it in a thick aura of magic and threw a punch. But just as it was about to make contact, something shot out and struck his fist mid-throw, sending the attack wide and splintering a nearby root instead of the base of the trunk.

Gildarts only had a second to process what had happened before more projectiles began to rain from above. He lept back and judging from the craters they left in their wake, that had been a smart move.

As his feet touched back down to earth, he heard something move behind him. He turned to see a fist flying towards his face and ducked before retaliating with a right haymaker. With precision that was only seen in experts, his ambusher diverted the blow aside by smacking his wrist, sending a jab into the wizard's stomach with his free hand.

Despite not having moved his fist forward all that much, the force behind the blow was enough to make Gildarts fold over, but not before getting in a hit of his own. As he doubled over, he took a step forward and rammed his shoulder into the man's chest, throwing in a bit of magic for good measure.

His attacker went flying back, smacking into a tree with such force that it split in half. But despite that, the man didn't look all that bothered as he picked himself up. With some distance between them, the two took a moment to knock some of the snow off of themselves and observe their opponent.

Taking in the man's board-looking features, Gildarts smirked. "So, I take it you are the one responsible for all the disappearances."

The man's eyes narrowed in confusion before widening minusculely. "Damn it, Hanami. Couldn't you have given us a heads up," he whispered, but not quietly enough as Gildarts was able to catch it.

"So, there's more than one of you-"

Gildarts didn't get a chance to finish. The man across from him clapped his palms together, fingers pointed forward. Blood flowed from the mark on his cheek and down his arms to where it pooled between his palm.

"Piercing Blood."

A narrow beam of blood shot out from his clasped hands, just barely grazing Gildarts cheek, who had tilted his head to the side at the last moment.

"You know, I usually like to at least know the name of the one who I'm about to beat into a pulp." Though he spoke with his usual level of confidence, it was more so to hide his surprise. Usually when Wizards battled, one could sense the build-up of magical energy. A sure sign of an incoming attack.

But that attack just now? He didn't detect a single drop of magical energy until it had already been fired. That level of precision and control over one's natural energies spoke of one who constantly battled other mages.

"My name is Choso," Choso introduced himself, not lowering his stance. "I slowed that attack on purpose." He didn't say it out loud, but he had done so for his brothers' sake. For Yuji, despite the years of suffering and heartache, still held value in human life.

While Choso admired Yuji and they held onto many of the same values, Choso was not his brother. From what he managed to piece together, Hanami had disposed of all trespassers in his domain and thus mages had been dispatched to investigate.

And if this man meant to harm Hanami, then he was a direct threat to his brothers' happiness. This was something that wouldn't stand.

"I will offer you this opportunity only once. Leave, now. Tell whoever sent you that my friend only wishes to be left alone."

Not to his surprise, the mage responded by emitting, quite frankly, a startling amount of magical energy, forcing him to emit an equal amount of cursed energy to counter the growing weight on his shoulders. The pressure proved too much for the surrounding environment. The snow around them was whipped into the air and blown away, nearby trees splintered and the ground beneath them shattered and cratered.

"Gildarts, and sorry, but this friend of yours is responsible for far too many disappearances to just walk away."

"I see," Choso's expression hardened. "That's unfortunate."

Gildarts nodded. "Yeah."

An unseen signal went off. In the next instant, the energies surrounding them were gone, having been pulled back into their bodies. Choso launched another Piercing Blood, one that was several times faster than the previous one. But Gildarts had been expecting it this time and swept his hand before him, unleashing a wave of Crush magic that smashed and pulverized everything in its path.

The two attacks collided, and to Gildarts surprise, the beam of blood pierced through his wave of destructive energy, coming within touching distance before it finally fell to the influence of his magic and cracked into minuscule droplets of blood that splashed harmlessly against him. But still, that had been far too close for his liking.

Across the newly made clearing, Choso managed to keep his surprise from leaking through and kept his facial expressions in check. While he had expected his foe to be of considerable strength, he did not foresee one of his most potent techniques to be nullified.

He didn't have any more time to ponder as Gildarts went on the attack, sending out waves of the same attack that had been utilized to dissipate his previous attack. Choso quickly lept to the side, avoiding the waves of destructive energies, gathering and condensing the necessary blood for his counterattack.

Or at least that would've been his plan had Gildarts not suddenly appeared before him with speed not normally associated with a man of his size and build. He halted the condensing process, instead forming the gathered blood into the shape of a dagger and slashing at Gildarts' side.

Before the blade could connect, Gildarts' caught in on his left forearm instead of in the guts. The limb had been coated in his Crush magic, causing the blade's form to fail and fall into a puddle.

Choso ducked underneath a right hook and stepped back, only to be halted by Gildarts stepping on his foot, essentially anchoring him in place. Before he could even curse, an uppercut to the jaw snapped his head back. There was a brief moment of respite before more blows followed.

Choso had known from their very first exchange that this man was physically superior to him in terms of raw strength. But there was a distinct difference between knowing something and experiencing it firsthand. And as he attempted to guard against Gildarts onslaught, he knew that he would have to step up his game.

Cocking his fist back, Gildarts threw a punch that he thought would end it. But as his fist flew, his opponent, who had gone somewhat limp, suddenly snapped forward, burying both fists into his chest.

Gildarts spat out a mouthful of spittle, his breath stolen, and was launched across the clearing. He flew through several trees, snapping them all as he went before hitting the ground, digging a trench as he finally came to a stop. Ribs screaming in protest, Gildarts picked himself up.

Glaring daggers at Choso, he saw that the mark across the man's nose had changed, now sporting two vertical lines on each of his cheeks that extended up past his eyes. Hands held out to his sides and palms facing up, several rotating chakrams of blood formed, orbiting around him. With a flick of his wrist, they were cut loose and shot forward, slicing through meter-thick trees with ease as they honed in on their target.

Gildarts flipped to his feet, dodging one chakram and smashing another with a magic-infused punch. He managed to destroy another and tried to move and avoid the rest but was too slow.

Even with magic reinforcing his body, the rotating blades proved more than capable of piercing his defenses as one sliced through his left shoulder while the other clipped his leg. Both wounds went deep, each giving off a spurt of blood that painted the surrounding snow crimson.

"Shit," Gildarts' cursed when he put pressure on his injured leg. While he could deal with the pain, the wound severely hampered his movement. Something that could prove to be a death sentence when going up against an opponent that favor ranged attacks.

"Hehe, I haven't been in a position this bad in years." he grimaced from the weight on his leg but fought through the pain. He ducked suddenly, only just managing to dodge the Piercing Blood that had been aimed at his throat.

"You talk too much." Ignoring the glare being sent his way, Choso kept his palms pressed together and swung his hands in a diagonal, slicing motion.

Gildarts felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and dove to the side, but as he had foreseen, his injured leg proved detrimental as the attack he had just barely dodged came back around and punched a narrow hole through his side.

He fell to a knee, but he didn't stay there for long as Choso fell upon him. And just like that, the table had been flipped, with Choso now being the one to do the pummeling. Gildarts tried to defend himself, calling upon his immense reserves of magic energy and reinforcing his body to its absolute limits.

But even as the magic rushed throughout his form, another feeling accompanied it. Something was spreading throughout his body, leaving an intense burning sensation in its wake. It felt like someone had injected him with acid, his body burning from the inside out.

After several, agonizingly long moments of unrelenting punishment, Choso relented in his assault once he saw that his foe was no longer able to defend himself. Knowing the cause of his opponents' lapse, he released his Flowing Red Scale technique and calmed his racing blood.

"This battle was over the moment my first blood attack connected."

"W-what did you do to me?" Gildarts vision was becoming blurred, making it exceedingly difficult to focus. He attempted to say more, but a hurridly turned onto his and vomited.

"My blood is highly poisonous and fast acting," Choso slipped his hands into his sleeves, no longer seeing a reason to be on guard in the face of a soon-to-be-dead man. The only reason the man was only just now feeling the effects of his poisonous blood was probably due to his insane amount of magic energy. But now that he had divulged that aspect of his blood, the effectiveness of the poison would increase. Ensuring an even quicker demise.

Given a few hours, all that would be left of Gildarts would be a pile of bones and the clothes on his back. Seeing no reason to stick around, Choso turned his back on the dying man and began to walk away.

"S-stop. I'm not-not done yet." But Gildarts demand went ignored.

Rage flared alongside the pain. Gritting his teeth to the point that they felt on the verge of shattering, the recently appointed Ace of Fairy Tail forced himself to move.

Hearing this, Choso let out a sigh and turned around. Gildarts had managed to get to his knees and was attempting to stand. The half-curse found himself being filled with begrudging respect. To experience the pain of one's insides being slowly dissolved and still carry the will to fight was a feat few could manage.

But still, h had been gone for far longer than anticipated and was sure the Yuji would notice his absence soon.

"I'll grant you the mercy of a swift death." Bring his palms together, Choso prepared to activate convergence for a final time.

Through sheer force of will, Gildarts forced his failing body into action. He couldn't just stand there and do nothing. Doing so would only lead to his death. And so, his vision swimming, he took a shaky step forward. And then another. And then another.

And then he was running. Growing closer and closer to a calm Choso, who merely quirked a brow at the man's resilience.

Once he was only a few paces away, Gildarts pulled back his arm and began to focus what magic energy he could muster into his fist. He couldn't afford to die here! Not when he made a promise to everyone that he would be back in time for this year's Harvest Festival!

Once he was in range, Gildarts' fist flew forward at the same time that Choso fired his Piercing Blood. As the beam of blood met fist, the magic that Gildarts had been calling on traveled from his magic all core and to his limb.

There was a brief spark.

Gildarts' fist crashed through the Piercing Blood, past Choso's outstretched arms, and into his chest.

The moment before impact, there was another spark.

And for the first time in several millennia, the world of Earth Land was once again blessed by the grace of.

Black Flash!

Blood erupted from Choso's mouth as the force of Gildarts blow traveled through his with the strength of an angry god. He rocked across the forest, his body obliterating everything in his path, only stopping when he hit the bottom of a plateau that had been over a mile away.

He fell into a heap on the ground and curled into a fetal position, his body spasming from the foreign energy that lingered in his system. Only once it had parted fully did he speak.

"S-s-so," his voice was barely above that of a whisper. "That's how it feels to be on the other side of a Black Flash."

He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was at the sudden emergence of the phenomenon. Ethernano was just a branching path of Curse Energy after all. But surprised he was all the same.

Forcing himself into a sitting position, he focused his Flowing Red Scale on his eyes and looked in the direction he had flown from. He saw Gildarts simply standing there, staring at his hands in wonder and confusion as magic energy visible flowed around his towering form.

But while the mage was of interest, it was who now stood behind the man that caught his eye. Blinking to make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, Choso saw that he had not gone delusional from the pain.

Leaning back until his back was against the cliff, took a deep breath, and sighed. As much as he would like to finish what was started, his involvement was no longer needed.

"So much for a relaxing day."

Back in the clearing, Gildarts continued to stare at his hands as if they and the magic that encompassed them were a completely foreign element. The energy coursing through his entire body felt far more potent than anything he had ever experienced before. And yet despite this feeling, he knew that it was his own.

"It's quite the thing isn't it."

Having been ambushed not ten minutes ago would put anybody on edge and Gildarts was very much so. So he didn't think, only acted. The pain forgotten, he spun on his heels, fist raised for a backhanded strike. But as turned, he felt a hand clasp him on his left shoulder.

"How about we take this somewhere a bit more open."

Gildarts didn't even have a chance to process the words. He merely blinked and then suddenly he was no longer standing in the clearing that his battle had created. Looking around, he wondered where he had been taken. Looking around, he spotted the massive tree in the distance and realized that he had been instantaneously moved to one of the nearby plateaus.

"That's much better." He turned around and was taken aback by the sight of a pink-haired man, dressed for a day at the beach, doing basic stretches in knee-deep snow not three meters from him.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"Yuji Itadori," Yuji said, squatting on one knee and stretching out a leg. Once he was certain that the muscles were good and relaxed, he switched to the other, all while maintaining an easygoing smile. "And you. You must be pretty strong to get one over my big bro like that. But then again, a surprise Black Flash would do that to just about anybody."

Brothers? Black Flash? Gildarts had no idea what this Yuji character was going on about. But what he did know was that this man had been able to sneak up on him without him even knowing he was there until it was too late. That spoke volumes of how dangerous he was.

Gildarts flared his magic energy in a mixture of anger and confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you involved with the disappearances as well!?"

Yuji stood, ignoring the question in favor of working on loosening his arms. "You're feeling pretty good right? Magic feels more potent. Clearer than ever before. I'm even willing to bet that your blood doesn't feel like it's burning."

Gildarts opened his mouth to tell him to answer his questions but came up short when he realized that his words rang true. How did this man know what he was feeling?

"How do you know that?"

With a final stretch, Yuji straightened up and shot him some finger guns. "That punch that just gave my big brother an intimate relationship with that cliff? That was a Black Flash. When one's energy is applied within one-millionth of a physical strike, a distortion in space occurs, the energy flashes black, and the destructive power is multiplied to the power of 2.5."

"It also gives any who manages to pull one off an immeasurable higher understanding of the essence of magic energy." Yuji was intentionally using words that the mage across from him could understand. It wouldn't do to confuse him with words like "Cursed Energy" and the like. "Think of it as being a chef that knew a recipe, but never actually tasted the ingredients."

"That's what you've been doing your entire life. Now though? Now that you've "tasted" magic energy's true essence, you can manipulate the flow of it through your body as easily as breathing."

Again he was right. Even as he listened to this man speak, Gildarts could feel his magic energy flowing throughout his entire body without any mental input. It was as if his body was operating on automatic. He had been an active mage for nearly a decade and a half. So how was it that this was the first time had had ever heard any of this information? He didn't even think the Old Man was aware of this.

"And lastly, this increased understanding temporarily gives one a greatly increased performance to combat, allowing them to operate at 120% of their current maximum potential. That means you're currently the strongest that you've ever been. And I wanna see what the Sorcerers of this generation of capable of."

"But before we get started. I want to ask you one, very important question." Sliding one foot behind him, Yuji bent his knees slightly before bringing up his fists into a combat-ready position. "Tell me…"

"What is your type of woman?"

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-End-