Chapter 2
[Zev Journey]
Zev swiftly read through the screen displayed in front of him. After he finished, he simply flicked his hand slightly and the ten-page long archive was swiftly categorized and saved into a desired folder relevant to its contents. The next document quickly opened and displayed itself in the same glowing gold color his Archive Magic produced.
The rocking and swaying of the train as it sped through the rails would have made reading any sort of book almost impossible. Luckily for him, Archive Magic just required a minor adjustment to solve the issue. All that was needed was for the panel of gold to just bounce and bob together with his head at the right speed for his vision not to have to readjust itself.
If he ever met the inventor of this magic, Zev would have liked to shake the man's hand for the thorough work they had done. It was certainly a thing of wonder. He could hardly believe the difference in productive time saved with such a simple tweak of the display spell. This and dozens of other features had more than made up for the exorbitant price of the Grimoire when he invested in it five years ago.
It certainly beat the old way of doing things, with a notepad and a pen. How much time had Zev lost trying to find the right position to keep his handwriting at the very least readable at the cost of comfort? How much time was saved by finishing his documents and writing reports at the speed of thought?
'102 days, 15 hours, 35 minutes, and 18 seconds.' Naturally, Zev knew the precise answer to that question, having set up an automatic running formula for information such as this with customizations to the Archive. Accurately measuring the time taken to finish his work and the average time it had taken had he used more normal methods.
Certainly well-spent money, he thought to himself as he continued reading through the new file. This one in particular held trivia knowledge about the most notable manufacturers of interest that could be found in the city and their daily income. It was important to keep track of these kinds of things in case a lucrative opportunity presented itself to them.
Sadly for him, all the results were only mere estimates and not exactly facts that he could blindly believe in. For all the advantages Archive Magic presented, being all-knowing wasn't one of them. It just pulled information from the mind of the user and displayed it.
While on paper it might not sound that impressive, he found that such an opinion was short-sighted. The Archive Magic passively recorded and archived all knowledge the user had, be it conscious or not. One can't underestimate how much the human mind deteriorated and twisted what it knew. Images that you vividly remember could be completely different from what you actually had seen.
Archive Magic got rid of such changes and showed it as if it was happening at the moment again. These applied to even things the user might have already forgotten or might not even be aware of. Thousands of background conversations of people he hadn't even really paid attention to or things he'd seen in passing and not really looked into, things he didn't even remember and much more provided precious nuggets of information for his magic to analyze and show. From there, it was just a matter of organizing and archiving.
Zev shook his head to both get rid of the tangent thoughts about his magic and the small migraine that was steadily growing due to the long hours he had spent cataloging all knowledge he could scrap from his mind about their next destination.
He took a sip of the bottle of water he had bought at the station while he looked through the window at the darkening sky. Mountains and small settlements passed across the glass in the distance. He idly noted that based on the location and time of the day, they would be arriving in precisely 7 hours and 4 minutes. Assuming that there weren't any complications, of course.
Randall sat across from him, flipping one of his coins in the air idly as he gazed out the window, just like he had for most of the trip. Occasionally, the most he'd do was switch to another coin or start making it roll over his knuckles instead of throwing it in the air. They'd been on the train for hours already, but the man had barely moved, smile firmly in place. He would sometimes wonder if he wasn't sitting in front of a looped illusion or something of the sort.
Zev wasn't exactly sure what to think about the man. They had been in a business partnership for the past four years, but they could hardly be called friends. If anything, they were acquaintances who worked together and that was about it. Of course, he had done his research and looked into him back in the day to check if it was safe to do business with the lanky kid who showed himself one rainy morning at his doorstep; wad of cash for 'investment' in one hand, bags under his eyes, an excited grin on his face and a golden coin in his other hand.
That was how he met the only son of Royce Campbell, a magnate of the industry, someone who was only second to the likes of Jude Heartfilia. He was known to manufacture and dab in everything under the sun. And that really meant everything, from ship transportation to Lacrima mining and processing to magic vehicles and even real estate.
Naturally, he was incredibly suspicious of the kid when he first showed up to an admittedly small-time entrepreneur like himself. Zev even turned him away at the time, expecting the sudden investment to be some kind of honey trap to take his business from him. Alas, as time went on and Randall kept persistently showing up, he decided to take the opportunity for what it was.
Zev took the – at the time – kid under his wing and got to work. While the investment money helped him to kickstart his business in earnest, he would admit that the thought of Royce Campbell one day knocking at his door with an army of thug mages had kept him awake for many nights. Nothing of the sort happened, however. There was only Randall, showing up every day at his doorstep like a stray cat that had been fed and refused to leave until closing hours.
Most of the time the boy had just lazed around at the office or wasted some of the money on junk food. Still, it was a mere pittance compared to the initial investment the kid had brought with him. Furthermore, Randall would, surprisingly, at least do his part of the work before the deadline — if only barely.
Not the most efficient employee, but he was the one bringing the money, so Zev let him do what he wanted for the most part. As long as he didn't get in the way, Randall could continue his life as it was. That was the unspoken agreement both of them had maintained for four long years.
He was fairly sure Mr. Campbell was fully aware of where his son was and what he was doing – 89.3% chances of it, according to his Magic – but he didn't seem to be willing to do anything about it. Zev wasn't exactly aware of the reasoning behind that, honestly. As he said, Archive Magic wasn't omniscient, but he supposed that he was confident enough that he could retrieve Randall whenever he wanted.
Zev didn't particularly care. As long as Randall kept doing his part of the work, and left his family problems outside his doors, nothing else really mattered. 'Well, that is until he showed me that magic of his. After all-'
A chime sound resounded from the top corner of their booth.
"Dear passengers, we will be arriving at Calendula in 15 minutes. We will proceed with our scheduled train inspection there to guarantee both your safety and comfort. Please be aware that if you plan to head to the city, the train will depart again at-"
Zev tuned the rest of the announcement out. Even so, he made sure to pour some of his magic power into his Archive which even now continued noting down the words of the train driver. It'd be good for when he actually needed that information.
"I'll go out and buy us some dinner," he said to Randall who even now continued looking through the window with that smile of his. He also needed to stretch his legs a little bit. Plus, he didn't want to leave the task to Randall, the man would probably just buy something completely unhealthy and greasy if he left the task to him.
"Sure thing," Randall said absently, for the first time glancing away from the window and towards Zev. It was then that he noticed there was something different in that smile. He'd know, he had seen it so much he had it memorized without even needing his magic. It wasn't the same this time. There was an edge there that hadn't been there before.
As soon as he noticed it, it was gone, however. He would still make sure to save it and run it through the simulations. He wasn't the best with people reading and identifying emotions, but having the power to remember microexpressions and compare them to other people made up for that at least a little.
"Get us something decent, yeah? Don't be cheap, man," Randall told him.
"I know, a balanced diet is crucial to keep a perfect performance." Zev rolled his eyes as his Archive categorized the best-known foods that could be found in the zone based on their caloric and nutritional values.
"I meant, for flavor," Randall said, a twitch in his eye. "You always pick the blandest shit because it's cheaper."
"I buy what is necessary and nothing more," he rebuked. This was an old argument between them. The words came out almost automatically, really.
"You waste money on those fancy suits, though. How is food any different?" Randall asked, and Zev knew he'd say that before he even opened his mouth. The same as always, it seemed.
"Because the way you present yourself is important for business," he repeated his argument to Randally, yet again. "As for food… It is just a waste of money. If it gives you what your body requires, why does it matter how it tastes?" It was just food. It would be past one's taste buds in minutes.
"Why do I bother?" he heard the other man sigh as he took his coin in his hand and pressed it against his forehead. "Whatever, man. You are paying anyway," he added, his smile widening a bit before returning to normal. "I'll just be here."
Zev's only answer was to nod and leave through the door without another word. He guessed that there wasn't really another way. Due to the fiasco with the parade, they had pretty much lost what little had been left of Randall's savings. Even though he didn't like paying for things for other people, he would just have to file this under necessary expenses.
He would recover from those losses at some point. Sticking together was the most profitable option. He would know, he had run the calculations over and over, after all, for one last chance. If the plan didn't work, then he might have to cut his losses with Randall, after all.
Zev also shut down a dark corner of his mind that thought how regrettable such an action would be.
[}-o-{]
[Randall Campbell]
Lamia Scale had rejected them.
Fucking Quatro Cerberus – galling as it had been to go there – had rejected them.
They'd traveled to and visited a handful of other first-tier Guilds and, lo and behold, they'd rejected them too.
Randall had to be losing his mind. No way everyone was telling them no just because. His magic wasn't the best, but it was good, and so was Zev's. There had to be a reason why this was happening. He refused to believe that they were just being told no for no reason at all. They didn't even get trials or anything. They just kicked them out at the front door over and over again.
He didn't know what the reason was though, but it better be fucking good.
He was at the end of his rope as it was. Sitting there, he tried to remember if there were any half-decent choices for them to try. He'd more or less memorized Zev's Archive list of Guilds. He didn't remember any name after the last one they'd visited. He'd been shown it, but he hadn't bothered remembering it, so that had to mean that it was a shit option.
Gripping the coin in his hand as hard as he could, he tried to keep himself calm.
He almost felt like laughing, because their situation was just ridiculous. 'Dad would definitely laugh at me,' he mused, a bitter chuckle leaving his lips. 'Gods, I just can't win, can I?' he thought, closing his eyes for a moment before letting out a darkly amused sigh.
"We ran out of decent options, didn't we?" he asked in the end, after having put off the question for entirely too long. Glancing across the table, he saw Zev still looking through his Archive screens. The man looked far from pleased, but that was hardly surprising.
"We have gone through most of the first class guilds and even some prospect second class," Zev said as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Unless we want to cross the entire country to visit Sabertooth and some others, those were all of the guilds worth anything."
"Too long and we are running out of money," Randall replied, sagging where he sat. As it was, whatever scraps they had left after the Parade fiasco had gone up in flames. If they tried for much longer without success, they'd start sleeping in places where they were more likely to get a disease than a night's sleep and eating more shitty stuff than whatever bland trash Zev would normally buy. "A third rate Guild it is, huh?"
And wasn't that just wonderful? Zev could probably tell him the exact success rate of new Guilds, but he didn't need fancy number magic to know that it was abysmal.
Dozens of Guilds were founded every single year, after all. However, it was considered unusual when even one of them got to see their first anniversary before disbandment. The chances of failure for newbies were quite high after all. Not only the tax cost to maintain one of those things was quite high. It was also dependent on the amount of Quests you could complete. Mages had to eat too after all, so not many would risk their precious abilities on the chance that a certain Guild would manage to lift off, often preferring to jump right into the trusted ones, much like they were at the moment.
Without Quests or mages to even complete them in the first place. The whole thing became just a vacuum of money bound to collapse like a house of cards in the very first few months. It was only those who had managed to survive the test of time that were able to maintain themselves.
The system was not much different from a popularity contest. People would always prefer the familiar and trusted over the new and unknown. As such, it was rare for new Guilds without very heavy backing to be able to keep themselves afloat during those first few years when they barely got any missions. Even if you went past that, most of the so-called third rates had to fight for any scraps of influence and reputation they could find to make a name for themselves and stop tethering at the edge of termination.
All that meant that even if they got in, they were far from safe. Still though, worse comes to worst, at least they'd get a month or two to do some jobs and get their feet under them once more. At that point, he'd take it.
"It would be… far from preferable, but I can't deny it is the most optimal choice," Zev admitted with a bit of reluctance. Randall found it hilarious. Jumping right into the frying pan was their 'most optimal choice' at the moment. Anything to avoid the fire, he supposed. "I have compiled a list of the Guilds most likely to persist around the zones we can reach with our current budget. Some have stood for at least a year or two… albeit barely, others have just started but show some promise due to different reasons." Zev sent the screen his way. After a short scan through the names, he realized that none of them meant anything to him since he had never heard of a single one. He went to check the locations, trying to see what the cheapest one could be.
It was then that he saw it.
Randall couldn't help but laugh at the sheer irony. It wasn't a happy laugh, but it was a laugh nonetheless. 'What are the chances?' he thought, grinning widely.
Plan B-2 was a go, it seemed, and it was starting off shitty.
Plan B-2 couldn't be any other way though.
[}-o-{]
'I hate this place,' Randall thought to himself as they got off the train and started moving through the city. A familiar one, for once since they started their search for a Guild. Despite that, he had few fond memories of the place and far too many awful ones. Alas, needs must, and he was feeling petty enough to go through with the idea anyway.
Because fuck everything
If he couldn't get a win, then at least he'd drag others down with him.
As it was, he just walked forward, flipping a coin up and down and occasionally having it dance over his knuckles. It was basically like breathing for him at that point, after years and years of growing familiar with his magic's constructs. It also allowed him to keep his mind centered, a bit of a crutch, but if it would always be with him, what did it really matter?
He certainly needed something to keep his mind calm, at the moment.
Everywhere he looked, he saw something that annoyed him, after all.
"I didn't think I'd come back here," he commented out loud, a hollow chuckle escaping his lips. "Certainly not to stay, I can tell you that."
Magnolia.
'Who would have thought that we would end right where we started?'
Zev didn't answer. It took a moment for Randall to realize that the older man had stopped walking altogether, making him look at him in confusion. The dark-haired man continued looking towards the side, his posture stout and his fist clenched so hard it was shaking. Veins popped from the side of his forehead and Randall was fairly sure that if it wasn't for the loud sound of the busy Magnolia station, he would be able to hear his companion's teeth grinding against each other. The only other time he had ever seen the normally stoic man this angry was when they were refused a refund for all the destruction during the Parade fiasco.
Curious as to what had caught the man's attention, Randall turned his gaze towards the side. A rowdy crowd seemed to have gathered at the forefront of the main entrance of the station. Clamors and cheers resounded loudly. And facing the group, Randall found the reason for Zev's anger, his smile gaining more of an edge.
Four people and a cat faced the crowd and had their backs to both of them. They waved and cheered with happy smiles and assured goodbyes. Three of them, he knew the names of.
'Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel,' he noted. Those were all people he recognized. How could he not? They were some of the most destructive people in Fairy Tail. They were also half the reason why the Parade had ended in such a shit show, Team Natsu. They were third on Randall's shitlist, right under his father and the Thunder God Tribe.
"Let's go," Zev said curtly, which snapped him from his thoughts, and grabbed him by the arm, all but dragging him away from the station. Not that Randall wanted to stick around, so he followed suit, taking a deep breath in, flipping his coin and shaking his head with a smile. 'The world sure has a shit sense of humor,' he thought to himself, keeping his eyes forward.
Else, he might throw a coin at the Fairy Tail mages and that was, regrettably, a fight that he couldn't win.
'Not yet, at least,' he told himself. Because oh, did he want to see if he could in the future. What he wouldn't give to have them taste at least the smallest bit of his bitterness. If Randall had any say in the matter, he'd see to it that they bit his dust at least once. His one chance, his last chance, had been lost because of them.
Now he was there, scraping the bottom of the metaphorical barrel that was the pool of Guilds, not sure if he'd have any stability for the foreseeable future. It was their fault. And even if he was wrong and it wasn't, it was their fault that the culprits had gotten away with it all with no consequences. So, one way or another, they deserved every bit of his resentment.
Oh, he was going to try and make them suffer for it.
As it was, they left the station behind rather swiftly, continuing to move towards their destination. While they were at it, Randall saw signs of the mess at the Parade still remaining— He still couldn't believe it had almost been a month since then — Much had been rebuilt, but there was no mistaking the many scraps and burns littered throughout the city. Too small to merit being replaced or fixed, but too big to be mistaken.
Despite all that, Fairy Tail would still be the heroes of Magnolia though, Randall was sure. For all their destruction and chaos, they did get the job done at the end of the day, every time. He could understand that, and normally he wouldn't have been that angry. Shit happened, to him more than other people apparently, but still. He'd learned by then to roll with the punches.
It all boiled down to the fucking Thunder God Tribe though. The three lackeys were still part of the Guild and nothing had happened to them. Laxus Dreyar had been excommunicated and that was it. No fines, no prison time, no community service, no repaying the damage caused, nothing at fucking all had happened to them for their mess.
The old Master might as well have sent the guy to sleep without dinner, for all the consequences he faced.
'I need to calm down,' he thought, shaking his head as they approached their destination. He needed to get a hold of himself and soon, because otherwise, his time at Magnolia would be even more of a pain than he'd thought. 'There it… is,' he mused as the building they were walking towards came into view.
"Are Guilds contractually obligated to have shit designs for their buildings?" he wondered out loud, a wry smile on his face. Because gods there hadn't been a single Guild they visited with a semi-normal design for their places. All of them had some over-the-top, weird ass design or decoration all over the place. Would it kill them to have something normal?
"If we get to make this work, and succeed, the first thing we'll invest in is a new building. This is disgusting," Zev responded, almost affronted at the sight in front of them.
"I knew you were the boss for a reason, Zev," Randall replied with a chuckle. "One last project for us to try, I guess," he added, flipping his coin as he read the words over the ugly ass head on top of the shoddy, barn-like building.
Twilight Ogre, the sign read.
[} Chapter End {]
Arc: And the Guild for these two unfortunate gentlemen has been revealed! I do wonder how many suspected it… It is certainly not the first option I'd think about when presented with all the Guilds in the series, that is for sure…
Adrian: It's certainly a choice though. Revenue is cursed to be a rewrite story though, because not only did we change the first chapter like three times, but we also changed this chapter… What, twice?
Arc: I have lost count at this point. Revenue is certainly one of the problem children of our muse.
Adrian: Anyway, hope you guys liked our character struggles and the extra info on them we dropped here.
Random Adrian Fact: In the previous iteration, Randall and Zev were going to join Sabertooth instead. However, we decided that it didn't fit them all that well. Instead, we went with Twilight Ogre for… reasons you'll find out later.
Random Arc Question: What is your opinion on the amount of incidents Fairy Tail causes every time they take a mission? Don't get me wrong, I love them to bits, but they seem to cause mayhem everywhere they go.
Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ