"Come, my boy," Ivan Dreyar said, his arms outstretched. His words had a gross gurgle to them like they'd been sitting in his throat for years, perhaps since the last time Laxus saw his old man. "You know what it is I want."
"My power?" Laxus asked, arms folded. Makarov watched with an expression that resembled no interest but was, in actuality, probably a seething hatred. The rest of the Thunder Tribe remained outside, unaware of the situation.
"Your…association," Ivan said. "By now I'm sure you've heard of the dissolution, of sorts, that's befallen the Dragon Division of the Twilight Empire."
"Nope."
"Well," Ivan said with a sneer. "They've quite a vacuum. And I thought it befitting that the most powerful Dragon Slayer in Fiore is titled as such, properly. You are of their generation, those who remain, but have attained far greater power than they could ever fathom." Ivan curled one of his hands into a fist. "So what'd you say, Laxus? And you, father, you belong with those of your elite power. A Wizard Saint should not be mucking about with low lives."
"A Wizard Saint has a duty to protect those in need," Makarov said. "With such power, I will do so."
"And as sweet as it sounds to boss around those other Dragon Slayer jerk-offs, I'll pass," Laxus said. "What, you think by sweetening us up and getting us into a meeting room with people that'll kill us you'll gain some clout? Don't think so."
"You'll regret this," Ivan said.
Laxus waited a moment, as Ivan tensed. Perhaps he had some backup, some insurance that would get Makarov and Laxus to stick around. As it stood, if Ivan was alone, the Thunder Tribe would take care of him with no problem the moment Laxus even intonated the thought.
"Tell me what became of the others who were here," Makarov said. "You were able to cast accurate illusions of some of their normal clothes, so you must have seen them. Where are they off to?"
"I wouldn't care to know," Ivan said.
"Why not hold them in one of your illusions, too?" Laxus asked.
Ivan shrugged. "Why waste my time with the likes of them?"
"Gildarts was among them," Makarov said. "I can't imagine he let you off lightly."
"Even Gildarts was stumped by my ability to be masked in an illusion. No, I wouldn't throw myself so lightly toward Clive, but—"
"He's lying, I bet he got his butt beat around by Cana or Max," Bickslow said with a sharp laugh.
Ivan silenced. Laxus grinned.
"Good for them," Laxus said. He approached daddy dearest, who hazarded some steps away. "Oh yeah. This weasel definitely got a beating."
"So what if I did?" Ivan asked.
"It means you're nothing but a peacock," Laxus said. He stopped a mere foot from his father.
This was the man who shoved a lacrima into his son to awaken latent magic, powerful magic. The man who weaponized a little boy, and set him on the path of completely alienating the only family that cared about him. This was the man who quit the guild, quit the family, and left Laxus to believe he'd done the wrong thing in staying behind.
This was the man who almost ruined his life.
"But I can't call you a coward," Laxus said. "Because at least, this time, you had the guts to show up alone."
"I don't fear children, nor whimpering old men," Ivan said.
"You fear August," Laxus said.
Ivan darted his eyes to Makarov, who nodded.
"I thought as much."
"So, a pawn of that Twilight Division, eh? Tough bastards." Laxus folded his arms. "So what'll it be, pops? Gonna keep standing around? Or you gonna answer us? Where did everyone else run off to?"
Ivan set his jaw. Laxus was only a bit taller than him but damn did he feel larger than the groveling worm. Part of him didn't want to pity his father but empathize with him—then again, part of him always had a little yearning to punch a hole through Natsu's face, and he so far was pretty good at ignoring the impulse.
He never dreamed about seeing his father again; at least, not in the same way he considered how he could come back to his grandfather's side after the mistakes he'd made. To see the man at least attempting bravado and strength was something, though.
"Fine," Ivan spat. "They're headed southwestward. Toward Magnolia."
"How do we know he's not lying?" Evergreen asked.
"He's got no reason to," Laxus said. "Even if he leads us to a trap, he knows we can beat it, so why even bother?"
"Don't pretend the Twilight Empire doesn't have wizards capable of defeating even you and me, Laxus," Makarov said. "Even with the diversity of skills you, me, and the rest of the Thunder Tribe have, we still have wizards to fear." Makarov sighed. "However, I doubt they'd waste their time coming down from their ivory towers to face us."
"Ain't that just a kick in the nuts," Laxus said, still maintaining eye contact with his father.
Ivan grimly nodded. "So, I'm a hostage of my own family?"
"No. You're just working for us. Consider it a job. Remember when you had those, as part of a guild? Funny how it works. Now, Freed, lock this guy up so he doesn't do anything stupid."
Freed nodded and approached. Ivan glowered at Freed, then, in a flash, flung his hands into the air. A ball of light, carrying a tiny lacrima, soared away, lost in the overcast clouds. Freed rushed the man, his rapier drawn.
"What was that?" Freed barked.
Evergreen folded her arms and approached. "I've seen the technique before. Tracking magic."
"He's just informed the enemy of our location," Makarov said.
Ivan didn't seem pleased with himself. In fact, there was a good bit of worry there.
As if, however, came to find them, he wouldn't mind wiping them out.
"Freed," Laxus reminded his friend, and the wizard approached his father. Freed placed an enchantment on Ivan's arms, and Bickslow started him off with a shove. Ever walked not far behind. He wouldn't get far if he tried to run and was turned to stone.
Laxus walked after her in line with Bickslow, whose puppets danced around Ivan mockingly. Makarov fell back, staying quiet as Laxus was even as Freed and Ever attempted further questioning.
Oh, to be reunited with family. How wonderful.
The lacrima came soaring into August's office, phasing through the wall as it'd been designed to. Dimaria, polishing her nails with a blade sharp enough to cut through any stone, raised an eyebrow at it but didn't stop what she was doing. Levy stiffened at it.
"Ivan," August muttered.
"What's that guy want now?" Dimaria asked. "Did he do something useful for once?"
"It's a pinged location," August said.
"And?"
"That's all."
Dimaria swung her legs down. "Tsk. Typical."
"You forget his mission," August said. The lacrima disintegrated with a single look. Levy set to wiping it away from his desk. "Locate Makarov Dreyar."
"And?'
"That's the extent of his mission and his abilities. A weakling has no place in the arena as a warrior with a Wizard Saint. But…"
Dimaria closed her fist. "Is that old man alone?"
"He walks with his grandson, the Second Generation Lightning Dragon Slayer, and his trio of friends, the…"
"Thunder God Tribe," Levy said. "They always travel with Laxus."
"A Letter wizard, a Stone Eyes wizard, and a possession wizard, to put it bluntly, each with the ability to cast Justu Shiki," August said. "All together, they were Fairy Tail's strongest unit, regardless of the allegations surrounding Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel's allies."
"Cute," Dimaria said. "Sounds like a good time."
"They'll be executed, by your blade," August said. "But their deaths must send a message. A path must be forged by this." He and Dimaria locked eyes, and he uttered words so silent, so foul, Levy could only widen her eyes and hide back every ounce of terror and fear she had remaining. "Am I understood?"
Dimaria snarled. "Loud and clear, Wizard King."
The glowing lacrima was delivered to Hisui via a secure transfer, one that'd been worked out between herself and Meredy when the Jade Star was first on the run against the Twilight Empire. There were few working ones left in the world. Jellal took care to recover as many as he could before the fall of the Magic Council to decimate among the rebels.
Hisui never held onto one she had for long, and Meredy understood that. If they were to use one of these communication lacrima, it meant something was urgent. Perhaps it was an update on their mission against Tartaros's Dark Wizard gambit, or something more.
She walked alone toward one of the private rooms, not the war room, of the Blue Pegasus guild hall. Mest spotted her with the glowing lacrima and stood down. Conversations between Hisui and Meredy were meant for the two of them alone. Anyone else could be susceptible to having a spy on them.
Hisui locked the door and rested her sword against it, activating part of her magic so that, if anyone were coming by with malicious intent, she'd sense it. She placed the lacrima on the floor and uttered their activation codeword:
"Toma."
The lacrima flared to life. Hisui folded her arms, waiting as the fuzzy image at last came into place. Meredy emerged, her eyes meeting Hisui as she stood a few feet off the ground, no doubt as Hisui appeared the same for Meredy.
The reluctant leader of Crime Sorciere wore a nearly identical outfit to her normal, save for the blue robe that'd been discarded. Her hair was tied back in two separate knots. She tucked a dagger into a scabbard on her belt, one loaded with other, smaller magical weapons and artifacts, all meant to be able to bind an opponent in place so she could work her magic.
While Hisui obviously stood in a blank slab of a room, Meredy always held her meetings with Hisui within one of Midnight's Reflector dimensions. No doubt all of the other Crime Sorciere wizards were standing around nearby in case someone came to attack Meredy while she was vulnerable.
"It's good to see you, Your Highness," Meredy said.
"How goes the hunt?"
"We're not far from another Dark Wizard," Meredy said, "this one of a particular…build. He's a real demon."
"Demon?"
"Yes. A former human, as I understand it, who'd been turned into a human. He's been making his rounds about the region around here."
He. Hisui let out a small sigh of relief that it wasn't Mirajane. Crime Sorciere was indeed skilled, but skilled enough to face one of Fairy Tail's strongest who'd been further enhanced by Tartaros? Perhaps if Kagura was with them they could accomplish it, but she'd split off from the main group already.
"I'm sure you'll make quick work of him."
"As am I. But, Hisui, that isn't the reason I wished to speak with you."
"No?"
Meredy shook her head and revealed some scrolls held in her hand. "We've been slowly making our way through these documents that the Magic Council had. Weapons they had in their back pocket for, admittedly, any powerful wizards that may have gone rogue."
"Anything they had devised up for Alvarrez?"
"FACE. That was about it."
But those bombs were wiped out in the initial invasion wave. Zeref made sure to strike at them with God Serena's help when he snuck his way into Fiore with his infinite space magic.
"However," Meredy said, "we discovered something else. A weapon that the Magic Council had tucked away for a while. A long time ago, a Dark Wizard and his guild, Eisenwald, got a hold of it and attempted to use it to wipe out the entire Magic Council. Our friends at Fairy Tail were able to stop him, but only just."
"A weapon that could kill the Magic Council?" Hisui asked. "Something so powerful existed right under our nose?"
She knew that her father liked to check in with the Magic Council and ensure things were nice and tidy in the kingdom. She was also aware that he had his own powerful tools at his disposal. The Garou Knights were an unstoppable killing force, and then there was that mysterious Eclipse Gate…
Of course, when Zeref came to power and dealt with Hisui's family, the Garou Knights swore their allegiance to him and the Eclipse Gate, as Hisui understood by way of Arcadios, was destroyed.
"Lots of them did—do," Meredy said. "A weapon that was created by Zeref himself."
Hisui wanted to laugh. "Come on, Meredy. A weapon from Zeref that we can use against him?"
"It's unrealistic but at this point so is defeating anyone from the Twilight Division, Hisui," Meredy said. "With this weapon, we may be able to wipe them all out at once."
"Get a grip."
"Then look."
Meredy unfurled the scroll and raised it to the lacrima so Hisui could see. Though the image was still fuzzy, she made out a shape that looked vaguely like a flute, with writing next to it describing it as Lullaby. It relied on sound magic that, when cast, could rend death upon any who heard its sound.
"How did Fairy Tail defeat this?" Hisui asked.
"The flute took demonic form," Meredy said. "And the demon itself came loose. Natsu and the others were able to beat it back."
"Something like that doesn't sound like it would do any harm."
"Not on its own."
She showed Hisui, then, another scroll. This one had another diagram, once more of the flute, and of a spirit drifting out of the flute. No, not just a spirit. Thousands, little tiny things floating into the flute. Writing around it described the regenerative properties of some sort of magic, some testing that was being done.
The document on Lullaby was dated X783, the year before Fairy Tail vanished.
The second document was dated X788. The Year of Tears. The year the Magic Council was obliterated.
"Why not use it against Zeref?"
"They were afraid to use it against the flute's master," Meredy said. "Rightly so. I doubt its magic would work on someone as powerful as Zeref, but certainly his followers, even August."
"Again, Meredy, I appreciate you bringing this before me, but for this magic to be potent enough to kill August, surely you're mistaken that the Fairy Tail that was around before the Twilight Empire defeated it?"
"They did. And, back then, the flute was weaker. But the Magic Council decided not to let such a weapon merely sit. Like I said, they wanted weapons for when a wizard went rogue. Think about the powerful wizards that were around before the Empire. Someone like Gildarts Clive can destroy an entire town with a sneeze. If he decided he had enough with the Magic Council, they had to be prepared. So, in essence, while some remnants of Lullaby remained in shame, the Magic Council, so to speak, reloaded its power."
"Reloaded?"
"Yes." Meredy seemed to shrink a bit. "They'd never outright say it, but the Magic Council was prone to dipping into darker arts if it meant maintaining a bit of order. While she and Jellal posed on the Magic Council, they were slowly dripping information Jellal had accrued from the Tower of Heaven into Magic Council databases. Lullaby was a weapon they could one day use, even, should Ultear's machinations come to fruition.
"They never did, of course, but, never did that information leave the Magic Council. When the Twilight Empire began to pose a threat, their experimentation with that data began. We then found documentation that followed a peculiar decline in the rate at which the Magic Council was holding prisoners."
Hisui's heart sank. "Meredy…"
"Lullaby's initial magic was powered by a demon. The Magic Council had magic at hand that delved not into the demonic, but certainly the dark and warped. They had to make do with twisting the souls of their sacrifices, but, in order for it to reach anywhere near the heights of power it could have had before, they needed as many sacrifices as they could get. Lullaby is now powered by hundreds, maybe thousands, of wizard souls and a Demon of Zeref's. And if our read on how it now functions is correct, those souls will be unleashed on anyone who hears their melody."
Melody.
Of a thousand souls ripped from life and plunged into some mutated flute…with a demon.
"The weapon is in Merucurius, perhaps Crocus at large but we believe Zeref wouldn't have it put far," Meredy said. "You have your agents there, Hisui."
"Lucy or Levy would need to retrieve it," Hisui said. Her gut instinct was to decline. Power like that in anyone's hands was dangerous. What if Lucy or Levy messed up, and it backfired?
Hisui balled her fist.
Those two were ready to lay down their life for the cause, for the dream that twilight would break and dawn would return.
"I can get word along," Hisui said. "Have a way for them to retrieve those documents. They'll need all the help they can get."
Meredy nodded. "Thank you."
"No, thank you for putting this before me. We'll need to take greater and greater risks from here on out if we're to make any meaningful progress."
Except, wiping out the Twilight Division wouldn't just be progress. It'd be a near-total victory for the rebellion. Yes, they still had to find a way to contend with Zeref and his other Etherious, but…
August, sometimes, seemed far more of a threat than Zeref. Hisui used to wonder who the real master was as she wallowed in her prison cell.
"We'll speak again soon," Meredy said.
"Indeed," Hisui said, then, in a swift motion, shattered the communication lacrima. Shards, dust, and tiny fragments scattered everywhere. She left them behind as she exited the room, a new weight on her shoulders.
Mest spotted her. She nodded to him, summoning forth a voice she used to use in the royal court. She was still Princess—Queen—Hisui, still a ruler, still someone who had to command respect and authority. Someone had to.
"Summon Jude Heartfilia to Crocus," Hisui said. "He has work to do with Lucy."
Smoke billowed up behind Meredy and the rest of Crime Sorciere as the Dark Wizards' bodies lay strewn about. Dark blood rested on Meredy's hand, wrist, and part of her cheek. She didn't bother wiping it away. Her cloak, tattered, was cast off to the side. She stepped over to recover it while Richard said a silent blessing for the dead. Macbeth, arms folded, watched with a glower.
Sawyer returned from the perimeter search.
"All good, Meredy," he said. "Let's blow this joint."
"Agreed," Meredy said. Embers danced in the frolicking wind around them.
Off to Meredy's side, Doriate lay keeled over, dying with no aid coming to help him. There'd been no aid for the innocent family they maimed and tortured, either. Meredy hid the snarl trying to escape her lips. She'd let them know the extent of her rage, and they still hadn't paid a full enough price.
"Let's go," Meredy said.
She swung her cloak, changed from a deep blue to a darker one matted gray, over her shoulders and the others joined her. She glanced up to the sky, turning a fine dark.
Hopefully, Kagura was having as much luck as they were in her mission. The great Shiroribon, Sword of Fate, aided by her best feline friend. Meredy smiled at the thought of Kagura strutting around, not a worry in the world.
Oh, what she wished she could do to that woman. But, it'd have to wait.
They had a mission, an enemy to tear down.
So, Crime Sorciere carried on. Hisui would see to the darkness emerging out of Crocus, and Meredy would see to the darkness encroaching toward it.
Together, maybe, that meant they could spare a little more light in Fiore.