Ok. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.
I was seated in a tent in Minstrel. The book signing event had been added to a country wide cultural celebration of art in all its forms.
The Earth term is Comic-con.
Yeah, if Comic-con involved actual magic.
I had a copy of all three of the books on the table before me, plus the book that Freed had given me, which was magically capable of taking on up to 1,000 pages and compressing them to a volume no wider than two inches. (Yes I wanted to take that enchantment apart to see how he managed it. It wasn't quite 'bigger on the inside' as I wanted it. But it was a fair few steps closer than anything I had managed so far!) And I had some trial runs in the book too.
The Naruto verse had such things as storage seals, which allowed someone to carry enormous amounts of weapons and supplies in something as simple as a single scroll of paper. I had managed to copy the idea into my script and had put it down on some pages in my hopefully functional spell book along with enough of a story to make it work. Along with a handful of physical objects and totems. If this worked right, the spellbook would contain the power source and the item, making it so I could stow a given totem inside after using it to let it 'recharge'. That was the theory anyway.
Jude entered my tent, letting a flash of the outside sounds in.
How many people are out there?
I have determined, for your peace of mind, to not answer that.
Well that did not bode well.
"How's it look out there?"
I asked Jude with a slightly shaky smile. He gave a much more assured one in answer.
"The line is at least 300 feet long and getting longer."
Which was great and all, it meant sales were doing well. But I still felt like part of me was dying a little at how many signatures I would need to give. Specifically my wrist.
I exhaled, reaching over and pulling Fellowship of the Ring towards me. No point in waiting for my nerves to get the better of me. I thumbed through the pages until I found what I was looking for. Then I ran my finger under a line of text.
"Alright. Let's get this started then." I cleared my throat and read the passage I had planned out ahead of time. My voice came out as weathered, old and wise, one of the subtle Storytelling effects I could call on with minimal effort. "I found that it is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep darkness at bay."
I focused on that image. Not the setting in which it had been said, but what it had been said about in particular. The plain walls of the tent fell away as rolling, gentle green hills stretched out as far as the eye could see. Dotted with small copses of trees, rows of orchards, fields and tied together by simple winding roads. Jude was looking around with a decidedly impressed look, then down at me and he grinned.
"You'll do fantastic, Fae."
When I spoke in reply, it was in a voice profoundly different from my own.
"That is Mr Baggins to you, sir. Bilbo Baggins."
I wore the illusion of the homely, humble little hobbit over myself in the chair. While my feet rested comfortably on the floor, the illusion's feet were raised up off the ground by a stepstool, curly hair covering the tops of his feet and the buttons on a smart waistcoat gleaming in the mid morning sunshine. I tapped a lacrima in my bracer and tied the illusion down. And with it, a soft strain of peaceful music drifted through the air. The music of the Shire, that walked a line between soaring over green fields and quiet farmhouses and laughing children running through grass and flowers.
This was how I would meet fans and sign their books while retaining the anonymity of my pen name. I would wear the illusion of a different character, letting them see the images I had in my head and experience a flash of what Middle Earth was actually like. He said this would inspire interest in a visual adaptation of the books. He had already said that if I announced there would be a telling of this story like there was for the Legend of Zelda ones, there would be an international stampede to get seats. (Thus far, what stories of Arda I had performed had been to small, private audiences.)
Jude laughed at my theatrics, looking younger for a brief moment.
"My apologies, Mr Baggins. Let's go ahead and get started."
-vVv-
The reactions to my performance were rather gratifying. It ranged from open mouthed awe, to delighted laughter to some few outright fangasms.
To me, this was what real magic was. Taking something in a story and bringing it to life for people. The ones I counted as successes...were the ones who said variants of this:
"It's just like I imagined it."
Kudos to you, Professor Tolkien. Whatever world your story is from is surely a better one for your contributions.
-vVv-
I cycled through various scenes of the hobbit. I showed Bilbo, Frodo and Sam in Bag End. I showed Merry and Pippin in the Green Dragon tavern. Strider on the road. Aragorn, Elrond and his family in Rivendell. I was wearing the illusion of Arwen Evenstar when my first surprise walked through the tent door.
Rogue normally had this look of being on guard. It only went away thanks to Frosch. And Frosch was looking around in surprised awe at the golden arches and woodsy light of the elves. (I had pitched the idea of publishing 'The Hobbit' to Jude as a future project. He had agreed right away, sight unseen without even seeing the manuscript.)
I had no idea Rogue read my stuff!
He is a very avid admirer of the story.
"Frosch thinks it's pretty..."
The young cat said in awe, his green fur mostly covered up by a cute pink frog onesie that I had never seen before but I now couldn't imagine Frosch ever being without.
"Miss Phantasia, I assume." Rogue said, nodding to me politely and holding out his book.
"Correct." Arwen's voice was never described, but according to the lore, she was supposed to be almost exactly like Luthian. A famous elfmaid that had been called 'Nightingale' by her surprisingly literal people, so I gave her a natural sing-speak voice, pretty and meant to relax and put others at ease.
"To whom is this addressed? "
I managed to keep my voice level as I wrote out the oft practiced autograph on the title page of the book.
"Rogue Cheney." Frosch sniffed the air, then brightened and jumped from Rogue's shoulder onto the table and gave me a hug. "Frosch!"
"Miss Fae!" He cheered. "You made the outside come inside! Frosch likes this place, can we go see it? Miss Fae knows where it is, right?"
I could stay in character or I could break and greet Frosch as he deserved.
Who am I kidding, it's Frosch. I can't. It would be alright if I took a few minutes to sort this out, right? Max and Reedus were manning the door to keep people from stampeding in.
"Frosch that isn't Fae, her magic is here, but she isn't!"
Rogue was trying to pry Frosch away without hurting him.
He assumes that you are working the illusions as a method of advertising. Assisting Bella Phantasia, not that you are her. I chuckled, tapping my bracer and dropping the illusion and the voice alterations.
"Actually-"
"Fae?! You're standing in for Bella Phantasia?"
How obtuse can this boy be? He's normally so observant.
"I am Bella Phantasia, Rogue. We've been friends for this long and it seriously never came up?" Judging by his face, that was a no.
He doesn't advertise that he likes fantasy novels. He never mentioned him liking the Lord of the Rings because he was worried you, being a member of Fairy Tail, might accidentally spoil something for him.
Ah, he's one of those fans.
Frosch was still snuggling me and purring happily. I scratched his ears.
"I love your onesie, Frosch, you look so cute!"
"Frosch thinks so too!"
"You wrote...the Lord of the Rings."
"I used a pen name and false identity to help it sell. I started writing this stuff when I was 8, and no one would believe anything an 8 year old writes was any good."
Not before I had garnered a bit of a reputation as a storyteller that is. I could probably go public with my identity at some point in the not too distant future.
"That makes sense." Rogue said with a sigh. "You're busy right now, so can we talk about this later?"
Because he had questions, likely Silmarillion stuff that I hadn't outright mentioned but had alluded to in some places. It stood to reason that finding out that your friend was actually a well known author of a series you were a fan of, the first reaction was to set up a time and place to grill them.
"Yeah, there's gonna be a quick break at 12pm and 3pm, but the tent is closing for the day at 7."
"I'll meet you then. Where are you staying?"
"The Fourth Degree."
Jude had spared no expense for my tab or my security. The Fourth Degree was an excellent inn, positioned conveniently close to my event. Not the closest, or the nicest, but perfectly suitable and not so well known that people visiting from out of town would fill the place up. Rogue gave me a look.
"You picked it just because of the wordplay."
He didn't phrase it as a question and I just grinned back. He already knew the answer. I gave Frosch a final cuddle before putting him down.
"What should I show next?"
"...What have you used so far?"
"A couple Shire and Rivendell scenes. Didn't want to scare any kids."
"Do Moria."
Huh, does that mean I should do...Smeagol? A dwarf? A goblin?
I paused as an idea came to me, and then chortled. There was only one truly theatrical option and I was a bit of a showman.
The next patron that entered actually screamed at the sight of a balrog's fiery eye peering out of a hole in the ground and a goblin serving as the translator for its enormous rumbles and growls. I was the goblin. It was fun. I only dropped it when the next child came along, shifting into Haldir at the entry wood of Lorien.
-vVv-
My next surprise visitor was Bisca, towed along by a three year old Asuka in what could only be a tiny elf costume. She had the pointed ears carefully attached to her own and held a small, but no doubt fully functional, bow in her free hand and a quiver of tiny arrows attached to her hip. (Because Alzack would not be caught dead with his daughter having something as impractical and unrealistic as a back mounted quiver.)
I'm pretty sure there is room for a concerning commentary on how wizard kids grow up... That we don't think twice about handing them fully functional weapons. Or teaching them how to make weapons.
Asuka was one of the audiences I had told simplified versions of the stories in Lord of the Rings to. With visuals. She was in love with the elves. Or more precisely, the elves' accuracy with their bows. Alzack was a little upset she was straying from guns so early on, but proud as a plum that she had such good aim with her weapon of choice.
"Fae!"
Asuka ran up, Bisca letting her come to me with a fond smile. I scooted around the table set in the Golden Hall of Edoras and scooped her up, false long blond hair falling over my shoulders as the Eowyn illusions shifted to accommodate. There was a bit of telekinesis involved in holding Asuka like this. Eowyn was really tall, Asuka giggled.
"Fae, I wanna see you!"
"Do you?"
Alter the illusion, drop my image, keep the walls.
Right.
Asuka dropped a short distance into my actual arms as the Eowyn illusion dispelled, giggling.
"There you are!"
"Here I am. Happy now?"
"Yep!"
She looped her arms around my neck and gave me a big hug.
"I wanna see the eagles!"
"Asuka, Fae's working right now." Bisca said with a fond smile, taking her daughter back and setting her on the ground. "She can finish telling you your stories another time."
"But I want the eagles!"
"Maybe Wendy can take you paragliding." I comforted the little girl. "I've gotta show everyone else what Middle Earth looks like. They haven't even seen a little bit."
She pouted but seemed to accept that as an answer.
"Fine..."
"That's my favorite little elleth ." I praised her, ruffling her hair, with care for the tiny braids woven into her dark hair, and set her down. "They've got a couple accuracy games. How about you and your mom go show them how we do things in Fairy Tail?"
That got her attention. She was her mother's daughter in terms of competitive spirit as well as marksmanship. Asuka's face lit up and Bisca's warm smile fell over her daughter with a content glow
"That sounds like fun, what do you think, pardner?"
"Yeah! Let's go, Mommy!" The Requip gun wielder gave me a wave as she let her daughter take her back outside. I answered even as I ran a finger down the pages of the Two Towers, recalling the image of the Golden Hall of Edoras and the image of Eowyn, the shieldmaiden.
-vVv-
Asuka was not the first person to have come into the tent in costume. My biggest surprises came in the form of an on point Gandalf the White outfit. Like, almost perfect.
I kinda wish I'd been wearing the Gandalf face instead of this one . The current face I wore was one that wasn't mentioned that much in the books. Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower was only mentioned sparingly and he wasn't part of the main quest, so he was often sidelined. He might not be recognized as anything other than an elf. The man who had just entered, a very tall man at that, stared at me for a long moment...then squealed. I recognized the signs.
Oh boy, incoming fangirl moment.
"That is exactly what I thought Glorfindel would look like! This is so freaking amazing!"
I had heard variants of this all day. Though I was very impressed that he could recognize this character on sight, I had put his house insignia beneath the chapter in which he first appeared and the illusion I wore had that worn as a broach at his throat. But the gushing was going on for a full minute without stopping for breath. It was rather disconcerting to see Gandalf bouncing on the balls of his feet like a toddler while being close to 7 feet tall.
Upgrading this event to a full blown fangasm.
The best thing to do was let them vent for a minute or two and then gently prompt them for their book to give them their signature. (I was normally a bit more gracious but I'd been at this all day and was bottoming out on energy levels.) Then I heard something I never had before.
A giggle. In the back of my mind.
Where Morgana usually manifested.
What is it?
You'll see.
Gana, I am not in the mood. Spill.
Take a closer look.
At her prodding, I did so and noticed that, while his costume was great and his beard remarkably authentic...his eyes were unaltered. And they were red.
Red eyes? That's not weird, because it's Earthland, more specifically Fiore.
I had a working theory that Earthland, due to its incredibly high concentrations of ambient ethernano which made it so well suited to wizardry and magic, had a higher than average population with unusual hair or eye color. Case in point, I had seafoam green hair and eyes that were so bright a blue as to be considered to literally glow. But red eyes were still uncommon, and almost always only found in some type of wizard.
Morgana followed my thoughts, taking me through the narrowing process step by step. The costumed man/wizard gathered himself and pulled out a copy of the Return of the King. One of the collectors editions Jude had recommended we splurge on in the first printing.
I spoke in the unnaturally smooth, merry voice that I had assigned to this Glorfindel, letting a rich chuckle color the air.
"I see your good taste does not only extend to your choice of attire. Well met, sir, I almost thought Mithrandir stood before me. Though we can hardly call you that now that you've lost all your grey."
I took the book, the telekinetic aspect of this spell holding its few inches away from my actual hand, much like the pen I was using to write. To match up with the fact that Glorfindel was absolutely huge compared to most normal people, and thus his limbs would be a lot longer than mine.
"This...is incredible!" The fan, because he could hardly be anything but a fan enthused. "I heard some stories that you're going to be putting on live readings with visuals. Is that true?"
"A wizard should not reveal their secrets. But rest assured, this tale will be added to those told in the Hall of Fire for as long as Eldar remain in Imladris."
That was as close to a confirmation as I was willing to give while remaining in character. And given the man had gone this far in creating his costume, I was not going to break first. I appealed to Morgana as the illusion took over interacting with my current guest.
There were only a couple hundred collectors editions printed. Cross reference them with red eyed individuals.
There were three possibilities when Morgana finished.
Only one of them could be standing before me. And it pretty much floored me to realize who.
I called on every scrap of acting skill I possessed to politely, while being in character, ask for his name, sign the book with a flourish and send him on his way. I let the illusions drop and let my head rest on the desk before me, chortling.
The darn best non-magical cosplay of Gandalf the White...had been worn by Bacchus Groh of Quatro Cerberus. The Drunken Falcon himself. And he was not only a fan of the books, but a die hard super-fan to the point of recognizing and connecting a single throwaway page decal as the described emblem of a minor character.
Ok, I'm done. Nothing else can surprise me today. That did it!
-vVv-
I know what you're thinking...I was asking for it when I thought that, I really was...And I agree wholeheartedly.
Some guests had asked to come in in a pair, not just a parent and child, Warren had gotten the okay from me with a bit of telepathy and had ushered them inside.
After Bacchus, no costume could really look impressive. But I had to admit, Ultear and Meredy made a very convincing, if somewhat surprising, Merry and Pippin. Morgana's scan assured me they meant no harm and were simply here to get their books signed. And...
"Miss Phantasia, it is such an honor to meet you!"
Meredy was almost vibrating with excitement, very much like an eager hobbit. I was, ironically enough, appearing as Merry perched on the ruins of Isengard, curly toes waving as a stream of visible but scentless smoke curled through the air.
"The honor is all mine, my good lady!" I replied, infecting the air with as much cheer as I could. "Your interest in our little adventure is most welcome! Give here! Let's make a nice memory of it to tell 'round the hearth someday!" Meredy handed over her book with a will. I had the illusion I wore glance back behind the broken wall. I did a quick bit of sleight of hand. The pen had been in my hand all along, but I had been disguising it as the pipe Merry had been smoking.
"Oi! Pippin! Where's that pen you said you found?"
I promptly threw my voice into the new character as a pen 'flew' through the air and Merry barely managed to snag it by the tips of his fingers. I pushed the ventriloquism aspect of the spell to throw and alter my voice so that it came from where the pen had come from.
"I still say it can't be a pen. Not like any of the Isen orcs knew what to do with it."
This delighted Meredy who couldn't seem to stop smiling. And her happiness in turn warmed Ultear's expression, which had been intrigued but slightly bored even when she entered the tent.
"Sorry for Pippin's manners. He's my first cousin on my father's side. Still acts like he's a tween, you know."
"That's alright." Meredy took the book back after I signed it, naturally as Bella Phantasia, Ultear glanced at the signature, then at me with what I could only describe as hesitation. Then resolve came.
"Go on ahead." She told her companion. "I'll follow soon."
"Didja have a question, miss?" I asked, still in Merry's voice. "I'll help however I can, but I'm afraid unless it's about the Shire, I'll not know much."
"I do. But not for your character, Celeste. For you."
She knows..
Yes.
That just figured. Ultear had been one of the ones to keep a closer eye on us than the rest of the Magic Council, likely due to her working with Jellal. I still didn't see any plans for hostility. So I quietly made sure that the sound dampeners were still in effect and dropped the illusion.
I had...neither a positive nor a negative view of this woman. Yes, I had seen that she had been involved in the Tower of Heaven, which was traumatic, and that she was complicit in Jellal having been possessed. But I had never seen her before and had only witnessed all of that second hand, so mustering anger wasn't something I had the capacity for right now. Besides, she had disappeared after Tenrou.
Tenrou.
That I could get angry for. For attacking Tenrou Island looking for Zeref. I wouldn't have cared about that, but the fact that she had hurt my friends for no other reason than they were in her way-
"I don't expect you to forgive me for what I have done."
"Good."
She flinched at my tone. Short, sharp and icy. I felt Unseelie Magic dance on the tip of my tongue. Something I could throw out at her, who I had been wronged by.
Unseelie Arts: Eye for an Eye.
It was a cruel and brutal spell. It targeted something I viewed as a loss and in turn attacked what Ultear valued in the same way. I had not been in a very good headspace when I came up with it. I had dialed it back from something truly lethal to a simple counter. A way of equalizing a battle.
"But...I would like to say that I am sorry."
Of everything that she might have said, that wasn't what I expected to hear.
Inside the tent that was now colored simply and felt way too small, I stared at the woman. She had infiltrated the magic council, and unlike Jellal, she had not been possessed. She had actually been the one helping Hades keep control of Jellal. She-
Is like us.
Morgana made the connections, delving into her past.
Ultear had had about as much of a choice in her life as I had. Only she hadn't had the fortune of being picked up by a rescuer when she did run away. She had been molded into this. Guided towards her kidnapper's goals, used as their weapon until they had been able to take off her leash. She would never stray from their side anyway...
But now she was. And she was apologizing to me.
"What for?"
"The R System and the island."
"And for stealing Jellal's life? And for trying to kill Gray? And for working with Hades?"
She didn't flinch, but I could see grief and sadness in her like a dark mantle. It looked a lot like what Jellal had been like when I first met him in his right mind. Something had happened to Ultear to shake a lifetime of psychological conditioning and obedience to one ideal.
Zeref destroyed Grimoire Heart. She has nothing outside of that. Just Meredy.
Faced with the reality that everything she had been raised for was no longer valid, she could have either kept at what she was familiar with or started anew. And I had the feeling...that she had started over. Or tried to at least.
"Yes..." She replied to my questions in the barest whisper. "For all of it...It wasn't right."
She sees much of herself in you. Much of what she wants.
I had been yanked off of the path she had grown up on. There was a pretty massive difference in our actual guilt levels...but getting her or Meredy sent to prison for their former association with Grimoire Heart and Hades would only give the Magic Council some witches to burn and make them go back to their former complacency that allowed infiltration into their ranks.
I held very still for a moment, thinking over all the possibilities...then I held out my hand.
"I don't have time to talk now. But I will be here for a few more days outside of this event, if you want to have a...talk."
I was still angry, and I still did not want to forgive Ultear. But I could understand her. Understand how easily our lives could have mirrored one another exactly...If someone had saved Ultear like Natsu and Fairy Tail saved me.
Minstrel had no extradition agreement with Fiore. So turning them in here and now wouldn't do anything in the long run but leave me unsatisfied and with a burning miasma of angry poison in my soul. I wanted it out. I needed resolution and closure...And if talking to Ultear was how I got it, then I would do that and damn the consequences.
"You would do that?"
She sounded shocked, rightfully so, her hands remained by her side.
"Yes."
Ultear's eyes were overly bright with emotions and her mouth compressed in a tight line before she nodded once, pulling up the hood of her cloak, pinned by a green Lorien leaf, or what I assumed was meant to be one.
"Then...We will meet again soon."
"Until then, Ultear."
And then I was alone in the tent with my thoughts and Morgana.
"That took awhile! Everything alright, kiddo?"
Warren's telepathic message kept me from sinking into a brown study.
"Yeah, all good. Just really beat."
"Hang in there. Just a couple more and we'll call it a day."
His message meant that I didn't have time to really process what I had just agreed to. Meeting with a wanted criminal off the books...
Lovely, more felons for your collection.
Shut up, 'Gana.
I'd...basically manipulated Jellal into joining Fairy Tail by giving him a cover story to not get arrested. And I doubted Eric would want to go anywhere else given that I'd won Kinana over to become an official member. That made three-
Four. Doranbolt counts.
He technically was already a member! He just needs his memory jogged a little!
-vVv-
I spent the next thirty minutes debating with Morgana whether my screwing with Doranbolt's deep-cover Rune Knight identity was subverting an enemy into an ally. She said yes, I mandated that he had been a Fairy at heart all along and no memory spell could alter that.
The soul is more than just a collection of memories.
So engrossed was I in this that I only noticed the aura of my next patron was not so good when he was actually standing in my Lothlorien recreation. I was appearing as Galadriel. I had done her a couple times before, but her character's serenity helped me stay grounded and calm even though I was reaching the end of my rope.
"Bella Phantasia."
Not as real of a fan as some of the others. He had barely given the scene around us a second glance.
"Welcome." The next thing I noticed was he wasn't holding a book for me to sign.
Left.
My hand slipped to the side and rested on the cover of my book, the one that I had stored some...precautions in.
"You appear to be missing something."
Warren and Vijiter are being distracted outside.
That meant that if something went on in here, they wouldn't notice thanks to the sound proofing. Warren was thinking about something else and without his reaching out first, I couldn't connect to his telepathy.
"There is someone who wants to meet with you."
The ground to the left bubbled like water and then a man in a suit with a large strong button on its coat, a large mustache and a tiny scrap of gelled hair covering his pate burst out of the ground, landing in a pose I...assumed he thought was impressive. Following him were another three men, who Morgana told me were wizards with some minor physical enhancement magic. Thugs.
This means trouble.
"I restrict visitors to my glade to two at the most. Normally just one."
I said in Galadriel's serene tone, letting an edge of sharpness enter it. Stay in character. I nonchalantly drew my spellbook closer to me, bringing it inside my circle. That meant it would be a lot harder to see from the outside. As long as I was careful, they shouldn't ever notice what I was doing...
"Don't play coy with me." Duke Everlue said with a booming laugh that grated on my every sense. He gave a smarmy smile. "Miss Phantasia, your illusionary magic is as I've heard: Beyond compare!"
He looked around the illusioned tent with greedy eyes that made me feel strangely violated and offended. The four men in the room beside him flanked him and hemmed me in a loose semi circle, not threatening, but certainly not friendly either.
They plan to abduct you.
Morgana and I were especially focused on any plan that involved that. Three times was enough for one lifetime, thanks.
"You flatter the wizard who aided this set up."
I acknowledged, slowly turning pages in the book beside me. My first run as a spell book.
"And your story! Pure magnificence! A truly thrilling tale for all. There's just one key feature that I would change in it."
My fingers tingled as they landed on the page I wanted. I made a soft inquiring sound, channeling magic in the runes I had scribed around my chair. They were the ones that powered the illusion on me in a given instant. I detached my new pen from the spine of the book with my free hand and began to write, slow and careful to give the illusion new instructions. All the while, I turned the pages as silently as I could
Duke Everlue continued, chest swelling with self importance.
"There is not nearly enough diverse representation in it! All these characters practically sound the same. And even look the same! They are as interesting as a field of dead grass."
What does he actually want?
A story with a character he can identify with more closely.
He wants me to write another 'Daybreak' where the main character is an evil corrupt bastard who gets away with his flaming garbage lifestyle scot free.
My lip curled under the illusion in disgust and anger. Kemu Zaleon was still a much loved author whose suicide shrouded an otherwise stunning writing career with a negative pall. His son, who had been one of Lucy's first employers in Fairy Tail, was one of the sponsors that Jude had reached out to when Two Towers first hit the shelves. He had made a significant donation to the start up fund for Return of the King as well.
Duke Everlue...had kept him captive and blackmailed him into writing a story where he was essentially the main character. With all his flaws and cruelties idealized and praised...The perfect narcissist's tale.
Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.
Suddenly, I changed my mind about what I was going to bring out for this. This event was meant to be self policed. So throwing out rude or rowdy customers was my right. And since the whole day had thus far been quiet, no one would really mind that I caused a little trouble.
"How tragic, Duke Everlue." I dropped the spell that made me sound like Galadriel. I needed my focus for something else. "The story you see, practically wrote itself. In that time setting there would be no room for a more...interesting character without them dominating the entire story. Such a large cast was involved all around, you see. I couldn't spend much time developing them."
"I understand completely Miss Phantasia. Other than that disappointing feature, I am a tremendous fan of your work. Which is why I would like to commission a project from you."
Here it comes.
"I think such discussions would be better held face to face, Duke Everlue."
"It can happen right here and now."
What does he know?
That you are far younger than your pen name and reputation suggests. He believes you will be even more easily taken than Kamu Zaleon was for that reason, and intimidated by his men.
But not my name or real identity?
No.
Idiot.
A little bit of showmanship would be appropriate here. I had the illusion stand up.
"I take it that what you want is a character you can relate with more strongly."
The illusion moved slightly to the side. The chair would look to be empty to them and she would hold their attention while I finished this up.
"Just so. I am sure a woman of your impressive talents can produce a satisfactory novel in say...four months?"
This complete and utter asshole is just begging for it...And I will give it to him.
Writing a full length complete novel with all revisions in four months time was tantamount to surrendering all of my time to eat, sleep or even breathe. Small wonder Kamu Zaleon had been a broken wreck after he was subjected to Duke Everlue's hospitality. It seemed he had recovered a lot of his bluster after Natsu and Lucy beat him up. And he needed to be checked again.
"I have just the story in mind." I said pleasantly. "It's a fascinating tale...Don Corneo drives a major portion of the story."
And...while he did drive parts of it, the seedy underworld boss and notorious pervert, was just a side show after the story left the city slum where he lived. The biggest fish in a small pond. Very much like this man here.
"Oh, if you've already got one ready this should be quite exciting!"
"Indeed. If you wouldn't mind, I shall have my head of security reenact a very specific scene for you, right here and now."
With someone else catering to his whim, Duke Everlue looked fit to burst with greasy pride. (I know what I said, and I'm not taking it back.)
"Miss Phantasia, I am delighted that you are so willing. I shall have rooms prepared for you in my estate right away."
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere with you." The illusion assured him, lifting her hand in a graceful gesture. "Celeste, take care of this."
Then I let the illusion vanish to reveal me, spells at the ready and face highly unamused. I then pulsed magic through my hand into the seal on the book. This scenario was one that this item could feasibly have been used in in a perfectly canon setting.
In the story, Final Fantasy 7, Don Corneo abducted one of the female party members, Tifa, to...enjoy her for a little while. He liked having his pick of a handful of women and giving the leftovers to his men to encourage their loyalty. Cloud, the main protagonist and Aeris, his current party member, dressed up and entered the mansion as candidates for the same selection. It was one of the funniest moments in the story, especially if circumstances fell just so to make it so Cloud was chosen over the other actual women by the womanizing pervert.
Aeris...was a primary magic caster who used staff weaponry. And one of her weapons...was literally called 'Fairy Tale'. It was too on the nose for me to not take that and run with it.
A semi circular orb crowned with three short spires rested at the top of the weapon I had pulled out of that story, cradled in a set of almost butterfly-like wings. It was not good for bashing at people, though it would stand up to that, but for precision magic...
Lacrima and materia were very similar in appearance. And I had a friend who happened to be almost overflowing with magic power of a very specific type.
My staff only had two "materia" in it, a clear lacrima that would be identified in Final Fantasy as an 'All' Materia. And the other was a light green lacrima that contained distilled, focused and purified Gravity Magic.
I'm tired from running the tent all day. Illusions, plus sound effects, voice alterations and even background music, as appropriate. The totem should cut back on the excessive energy drain to the point where I can get through this without needing to call for backup.
I pulled on that as I swung out quickly. Two of the men went flying out the tent before they could stir. The remaining two stepped between me and their client, who was on the verge of diving into the ground, literally, to try and escape.
"Oh no you don't."
The green lacrima in my staff flared and Duke Everlue floated gracelessly off the ground, away from the earth that he could otherwise have used to escape. I then dodged the initial attack of the closest man, swatting his arm to make his arm unnaturally attracted to the ground. He landed painfully on his side and struggled to pick himself up, cursing vehemently. The second man sent a faint pink gas at me that Morgana warned me would knock me out.
Make it lighter than air.
Gravity magic flared once again, these applications were draining and painful, but very satisfying. The gas drifted up to the top of the tent and slowly started to filter out through the seams.
"Fae, are you ok?"
"I'm fine Warren, just catch them when I send them out. I'm not done with them yet."
I got the distinct impression that Warren was restraining a lot of stress and nerves in response to that statement. But I focused on the man who had tried to knock me out again.
"You know, I've regrettably gotten used to being kidnapped."
My staff head bashed the one remaining man across the face, leaving small gouges on his skin from the spires on my staff head. A gesture and a visualization and the man's head impacted the ground as gravity increased its pull on it.
"It has happened up to three times before. And thus. I don't like it when someone does it to me or to my clients. So, I will say this once and only once to you, Duke Everlue."
I informed Duke Everlue, leaning on my staff as he flailed desperately in mid air. I swung my staff up so that the sharp prongs of Fairy Tale menaced his eyes.
"You will be met with the worst fate I can devise if you ever so much as think about pulling a stunt like this again. I suppose you thought: Oh, it worked out so great for me with Kamu Zaleon, I'll just do it again! Right?"
"Let me go!"
"No. Not until you learn your lesson...and play out your scene." I gave him a nasty smile. "Miss Phantasia promised you a live reenactment of a scene where a character that you should identify with makes an appearance. Don Corneo had considerable wealth and influence, having him in the story changes it in...unforgettable ways. He, like you, had a bit of trouble understanding the whole concept of free will. And 'no means no'."
"You said 'had'. What are you going to do with me?"
His small eyes were wide with either fear or excitement and I didn't care to find out which.
"I'll let you choose. You can either be ejected from this tent and handed over to local authorities on the grounds of attempted abduction and enslavement...or we can reenact that scene I told you about." I gave a sunny smile, knowing that a vaguely malevolent aura was coming to life around me. Yes, I'm channeling Mirajane. She'd totally back me up on this.
"It's an interrogation, you see. The Don was poking his nose in places he wasn't welcome... And when he wasn't getting the message, well, the characters had to get a bit more direct. Some of my favorite lines include... 'I'll cut 'em off.' "
I let the magic holding him in the air ripple around him so he would make no mistake what I was talking about. He paled, the men on the ground instantly went silent and motionless.
"Pretty rough and brutal, I know. And I don't have a sword or knife, so the next option would be... 'I'll rip 'em off.' "
One of the men on the ground gave an honest to goodness whimper. My homemade Gravity materia was keeping the air palpably thick and difficult for them to breathe.
"I however, don't have the brute strength to pull that off. And it would make quite a mess to clean up. So let's go with door number three." I lifted my staff. " "I'll smash them." And maybe after we go through that, you'll get it through your head that abducting people is rude. And if that doesn't do it, I'll keep you and hand you over to the Fioran Rune knights and let them earn their pay making sure you don't have the chance to buy your way out of jail again."
Incoming.
I told them I was fine.
Not Warren or Vijeter.
The tent walls brightened then were promptly seared away to nothing as a fuming angry… blond Dragon Slayer exploded through the walls.
"The hell do you morons think you're trying to pull!" Sting snarled, a fist slamming into Duke Everlue, in a very ironic spot given what I had just been discussing. The duke squealed, his canceled gravity sending him soaring away until he impacted the other tent wall.
What the- Where did he even come from?
And more appropriately...
The odds of him busting here and this moment, and his first hit landing in that spot...Morgana?
The probability of that would be negligible. If it weren't for the fact that you are test driving a new totem and haven't had the chance to account for environmental bleedover.
I didn't have time to work through those implications right now.
Sting was already on the Duke, all but ignoring the men on the ground. Rogue was hurrying after him. Frosch was actually bounding by his side rather than being carried.
"Miss Fae! Miss Fae are you ok?"
The green Exceed leapt into my arms.
"I'm fine Frosch. Vijeter, can you get some local security together to take care of these five? They need to be detained on grounds of attempted abduction and miscarriage of justice on behalf of Kamu Zaleon."
It had been a long day and was only going to get longer... I was running on the low side of 40% total magic capacity, a distance away from being in danger, but definitely not maximum output.
Jude showed up with the local law enforcement around the time I managed to calm Frosch down. Lector was doing the same for Sting, who was more furious than I had ever seen him be before. Rogue wasn't that much better. I tapped into my limited reserves to draw up some magic suppression rune cuffs to keep Duke Everlue from slipping away as soon as he recovered enough from Sting's beating. He was in pretty bad shape. I idly wondered if this wouldn't be a good time to give my own formula for magic suppression a test drive...
You are in no state of mind to accurately gather and transcribe such data.
This made the third time that I, and Morgana could remember that we had been almost kidnapped...It was bringing back all kinds of unpleasant memories. Especially from the tower of Heaven since Ultear had visited earlier. And remembering that the same people that had saved me back then couldn't do so this time felt like a heavy damp blanket was placed over my head, weighing me down and making breathing harder...
Frosch was clinging to my neck and quivering, in obvious distress over what had happened.
Whoever told him what kidnapping is, I want to punch them in the face.
Lector. He tried to lecture him about not getting lost and made mention of someone taking him away and not ever letting him come home again. Frosch fixated on that last part.
Amended to just a complaint: it's an important lesson to learn.
"Come on." Rogue said, beckoning me over. "I've talked to Warren, I'm taking you to your hotel."
"I don't think I'm gonna be up to chatting about Bella Phantasia tonight, Rogue."
He gave me a look that was a curious blend of indignant exasperation, fondness and just the faintest undercurrent of disappointment.
"I know, Fae. Right now, I just want to look after you." Rogue was a dragon slayer that had elected to hoard friends, as most of the ones I knew did. And part of his hoard/family had been threatened even if it hadn't gone anywhere. Nor really had the chance of being a serious threat.
"Ok." So Rogue shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around me. I nestled my face in Frosch's fur and let his purr block out my whirling thoughts...
Morgana helped keep my feet moving in the right direction and I didn't focus on anything else, quite deliberately, until we were back in the room I had rented. Warren and Vijeeter were staying next door, and Jude across from me. The room had a double bed that looked heavenly. But I knew that trying to sleep right now would be useless. I had to decompress and wind down.
"Are you gonna be ok with leaving sometime tonight?"
I asked Rogue, unwrapping his coat from around both Frosch and me and handing it back. It was an honest question. When Dragon Slayers got triggered, they tended to respond with hovering and a spike in protective behavior. I came back from one trip abroad with a sprained wrist and had to tolerate Wendy practically carrying me to my bed and forcing me to stay there after throwing every pillow in our combined apartments around me. Wendy would hover and nurture as part of her expression of her inner nature. Rogue was a Shadow Dragon. He had soft moments, but it was not his first instinct to care, but to fight and eliminate the threat.
So I had to take some steps to defuse him so a murder wouldn't be committed tonight.
"Don't think so."
He views Sting, you, Wendy and Kagura as his thunder. The term for a group of dragons felt appropriate. Or I thought so at least given how it must have sounded when they flew. That much moving air all at once from the force of their wingbeats.
Who'd have thought dragons were such social creatures?
They are not, But humans are.
Everything that Rogue insisted that I do, I firmly insisted he do the same. When he put in an order for food, I asked for a double portion so that he and Frosch could eat too. He ushered me to change into comfortable pajamas. I created some for him that matched Frosch's attire and threw it at him. He was dressed in it by the time I came back out of the bathroom, looking grumpy but more settled.
I took my cues from Morgana and my experience with Wendy, Kinana and Kagura. Between them, I had a vast experience of draconian instinct, feral protective behavior and the sheer aggressive drive to protect that I could imagine would have developed in Rogue, growing up with us as his primary social contact. Rogue was not satisfied until I was showered, seated in a comfortable chair with food in my hand and my pajama's on. Frosch was seated on the arm rest, the hood of his onesie dropped to let me scratch his ears more easily. Rogue started to glare at me. And I had created a matching human size onesie for Rogue to change into while I was in the bathroom.
What now?
He wants you to eat more. I drew my hand away from the Exceed to scoop up another forkful of the warm, comfort food paradise pasta dish that the in-house chef had prepared at Rogue's request. Frosch grabbed my hand and cuddled it, eyes huge and sad.
"Frosch thinks the fat man was scary..."
"Only a little scary, Frosch. I had everything under control."
"Fae, he outright said he wanted to kidnap you."
"Yeah. Fourth time that's happened."
Rogue's irritated growl would have been a lot more concerning if he weren't wearing a large pink frog onesie to match Frosch's. He looked adorable, if somewhat grumpy. Maybe because he had realized that he was now stuck here with me instead of being free to do violence of Duke Everlue.
"It's not funny."
"That he wanted to do that, no. Not in the least." I smiled privately, scratching Frosch's ears as I carefully took up another forkful. The food was already making me feel very full and sleepy. "But that was the first time it happened when I could actually fight back on my own and not have to wait for someone to rescue me."
"Ah." He could understand that, he glanced at my staff which I had yet to stow again. I needed to look it over, review the skirmish and see what needed tweaking, either in the story component in the book, or on the item itself. "I didn't know you were learning Gravity Magic from Kagura."
"It's a new idea I had. If I get it to work right...I should be able to use that to act as a stand-in healer to back Wendy up."
I just needed to distill healing magic into a lacrima to serve as the appropriate focus. And that would be a gamechanger. Being versatile enough to act as a medic...
"What story is it from?"
"I don't think I ever brought it up a lot. Final Fantasy?"
"You mean the one with the cool boss music?"
One Winged Angel was both thrilling and terrifying and everything the Final Boss theme should be. Not as iconic as the Imperial March, but dang impressive nonetheless. I had given Rogue a brief run down of the setting and the main cast of characters.
"Yeah?"
"Still got bleedover from it, huh?"
He gave me a smirk, red eyes glittering. I couldn't fight the yawn that came over me. The long day plus the adrenaline inducing afternoon and evening had wiped me out...
"Yes...? Maybe? It's a prototype. This was the first time I used it live. I'm not sure what it did other than laser guide Sting's fist for the sake of poetic justice."
He ducked his head, unsuccessfully hiding a grin.
"Eh, I guess that could be it..."
I was tired enough that it took about four seconds of blank bewilderment to process what he had said...Then I made the connection.
Freaking bleedover. I had been channeling Aeris's weapon and been in a situation uncannily like the one she had been in before...and my untested totem had summoned an aggressive, powerful spiky blond boy to rescue me because that was what happened to Aeris all the freaking time.
"...I am fixing that first thing tomorrow."
"Fixing what exactly?"
"The fact that I appear to have accidentally summoned Sting from wherever the heck he was by yanking out that totem."
-vVv-
Rogue looked incredulously at his friend's sleeping face.
Sting and Lector had only accompanied Rogue and Frosch to this event on a whim. After Sting...wandered into Magnolia and found that Fae wasn't there to entertain him for his weekly challenge. The irritated White Slayer had braved the train to come here to distract himself. Rogue hadn't made mention that Fae was actually here, but as a contributor rather than an attendant. But Sting had caught her scent somehow and had been hunting for her in the crowd for most of the day.
"This place is just where she would hang out! She's not at home, and she can't say no to fighting me here!"
He had lost sight of Sting for a while in the crowd, and had been looking for him because odds were that was where Frosch was, with Lector. Then Rogue had heard the familiar angry roar of his partner and seen Fae's tent basically flash into cinders around her.
He had covered her scent trail with his own so Sting wouldn't run her down tonight when she was tired after a full day of using magic to power her illusionary display.
He remembered more about the story of Final Fantasy than he had let on. He remembered the main protagonist happened to have spiky blond hair. And one of the prospective love interests wielded a staff. Apparently, specifically that staff.
I know Fae isn't this dense normally, right?
The door to the room opened and Lector peered inside.
"Rogue, Frosch!" Rogue made an aborted motion, signaling him to keep quiet. Lector had grown on him much like Sting had, but his personality, and tendency to speak in an obnoxious, loud tone could be trying. Especially when he was already running on a short fuse.
"Where is Sting?"
He asked, keeping his voice as low as he could. The magenta Exceed tiptoed inside in cat-like silence, pulling himself up beside Frosch.
"He's been looking for her since you ran off with her." He said, pointing a paw at the sleeping Fairy Tail wizard. "I've never seen him get that mad before."
"When she disappeared?"
"Nah, when he saw that fight. I've never seen them before, so maybe he had a beef with them?"
Not one they knew they were getting into. Rogue thought as the White Dragon Slayer himself entered, quietly closing the door behind him. His eyes focused on the girl in one of the twin beds.
"Is she alright?" Rogue gave a slow nod, still wary that Sting might try to wake her. "Relax, man. I'm not about to start something when she's this beat."
"It's never stopped you before."
"Just shut up. It doesn't count if she can't do her best."
"Fae does not accept subpar work from herself."
In fact, she was developing an even greater perfectionist streak than their ally in Sabertooth, Rufus.
"All the more reason she doesn't belong in a dying guild like Fairy Tail."
Rogue, still on the raw side, gave a low grunt that was a warning without dipping into a threatening growl. Fairy Tail mages had welcomed him in and given him a home before he found Sabertooth. His friends would not let Fairy Tail become obsolete and saying their guild was dying was the same as saying that they were failures. Sting's posture shifted, weight subtly moving from the balls of his feet to a more balanced stance. A concession.
"I'm just saying, without her and your other buddies, they'd have gone belly up by now."
"No. They'd be much worse off, but the tenacity of Fairy Tail doesn't depend on the strength of their mages."
"Whatever, man. I don't see it. They're the only ones I see standing up to any kind of rest of 'em are just holding them back."
"Sting, we've never agreed on this before. And we won't now. She's fine, I'm staying. I'll find you tomorrow when we leave for home."
It was as close to an order to leave as Rogue would state. And it was the only kind of order Sting would follow right now.
But the White Slayer hesitated all the same before slipping out the door. Eyes on Fae. His skin shimmered slightly, an instinctive reaction he could never tone down completely. Rogue didn't point it out to him and watched him until he left.
"Frosch thinks it was nice of Sting and Lector to come see Fae."
These words from his closest friend and confidant made Rogue nod.
"It was."
Sting likely had no conscious clue as to why he had felt the need to see her, even if he couldn't fight her as he usually did. Or why he always felt better after he saw her. He had in part accepted the fact that Rogue had chosen to connect with those outside of Sabertooth. Kagura 'Skyfall' Mikazushi had worked with some Sabertooth wizards before and she did not tolerate fools or insults an instant longer than she had to. Many guilds, not just their own, had tried to recruit Wendy 'Sky Sorceress' Marvell and failed miserably. He had seen the aftermath of one such attempt. Wendy's pupils had become slits and her eyes had lightened from their usual dark brown. She was on the verge of a Dragon Force, she had been so angry at the encounter. Thus he had advised Sting against delivering Sabertooth's own petition. He was working on Dragon Force, but wasn't quite at the same degree she was. That fight would have ended in his disfavor and with him alienating one if not all of his friends.
Because he knows all of them are strong, he can understand my staying with them. But because he doesn't see anyone else in Fairy Tail who is on their level, he sees them as ill matched with their guild. That they can only rely on each other. So Sting would likely change his tunes from protesting their ability, to protesting their suitability as Fairy Tail wizards..
"Does Fae know about her other name?"
Frosch asked him curiously.
"Fairy Princess?"
"Frosch thinks she is like a princess. But the other one."
Rogue considered them chuckled.
"I don't think so. She'd get a kick out of it. It'll really take off once she goes public with her writing. If she ever does."
Frosch hummed, yawning and curling up into a ball. He soon fell asleep, but Rogue stayed up for several more hours until Warren contacted him telepathically and told him they were back. Only once he was assured there were other allies in the building could he make himself go to bed as well.
You'll be safe.
He would definitely need to meet with the girls, all together, and get the other raging protective instincts sorted out. Wendy had gone through it a year or two earlier, so he had some guidelines of what to expect and from there he could likewise.
But Sting was right...Protecting his family would be much easier if they all could be and work together more easily. He would be more at ease if Salamander and Gajeel were there. Which was stupid and moronic since the girls could take care of themselves. But he still thought of them as his elders, the ones that ruled the territory together.
You'd better come back soon. All of you. My friends get more and more sad the longer you stay away. I can taste the fears they hide in their shadows, the secrets they don't ever speak aloud to anyone. They're fighting, but they're still suffering every minute you're gone.
Come back...I'll never forgive you if you break my friends' hearts by turning up dead.
A/N
I have a soft spot for protective, brotherly Rogue. And an even bigger one for Frosch, but really, who doesn't?