Chaos IX
"Such a shame, what happened to Deliora." A black-haired woman spoke.
"It was only a matter of time. I never would've guessed it'd have already been dead." A blue-haired man replied, a red tattoo very noticeable over and under his right eye. "If only I could've got my hands on it…"
"I do apologise, Siegrain-sama. I didn't think that woman's magic would be so powerful."
"You should respect your mother, Ultear. Tear of Ur. Should she have lived, no doubt she would be one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints."
"Hm. She was but a miserable woman." The woman, Ultear, pressed a finger to her companion's lips before the conversation could continue. "Enough about what doesn't matter, we must proceed to the next step."
"What's wrong with your face?" Siegrain asked, noticing swelling on Ultear's cheek. The woman put a hand to it quicky, grimacing as Siegrain laughed.
"It took so long to set in!"
"You took a direct hit from the Chaos Dragon himself; you should be grateful a swollen cheek is all you escaped with." Siegrain's demeanour changed into one of seriousness. "The Chaos Dragon… he's quite impressive. And too big of a threat to ignore."
"I shouldn't have held back. I could have gotten rid of him on that island."
"No, you couldn't have." Siegrain turned to look out the window. "The son of Acnologia, student of Igneel. He will only get stronger."
"Excuse me, council members Siegrain and Ultear. Your presence has been requested in the Grand Hall." A servant quietly entered the room, passing the message to the two magic council members.
"Of course."
A few days passed from the Galuna Island return, and the guild was as lively as ever.
"Pick up your feet!" Lucy shouted to the drunken Macao and Wakaba, who seemed to step wherever she wanted to sweep.
"You missed a spot!" Wakaba laughed.
"And I'm still waiting on that roast, Gray!" Macao called to the kitchen. Gray approached the table in an apron with a tray, practically throwing it at the older men.
"I hope you choke on it."
"No way to treat a paying customer, tsk tsk. That's coming out of your tip." Macao took a bite of the pot roast only to turn blue and cough it up. "This is ice cold!" Gray pretended not to hear the complaint as he returned to the kitchen. The guild was back up to normal speed as Gray and Lucy carried out their punishments.
Members danced and drank, chatted and capered as if life was the best it had ever been. Until suddenly, members of the guild began to drop like flies.
"What's... what's happen..." Lucy wondered as she fell to the floor in a sleepy mess.
A cloaked figure entered the silent guild hall. Skilfully avoiding unconscious bodies, he made his way to the job request board, studying it for a moment before making his pick. He waved the sheet towards Master Makarov, who sat drowsily on the bar but awake nonetheless, nodding in approval at the hidden stranger. And as the unknown man left the guild hall, people began to awaken one by one.
"What was that?" Lucy asked, rubbing her eyes and picking up her broom.
"Ugh, that was Mystogan. He doesn't want people to see his face, so he puts the guild to sleep when he comes to take a job." Erza explained, yawning.
"Scary dude, that Mystogan. Master is the only one who's seen his face." Wakaba let out of puff of smoke as he thought about the mysterious S-Class mage.
"That's not true!" A voice boomed from the second floor. Leaning backwards in a chair and looking down on the fairies was none other than Laxus Dreyar, lightning user and S-Class mage of Fairy Tail. "Chaos and I have both seen him!"
"Shut up- no one asked." The dragon slayer growled from the chair beside Laxus, facial expression as uninterested and annoyed as always. Lucy wondered when he had gotten back.
"Don't be like that, Chaos Dragon. Behave, or I'll be forced to kick you out of the guild when I become master!"
"You say that as if I'm here by my own will." Natsu opened his eyes to shoot a glare at the guild master down below before slamming his eyes back shut.
"What are they talking about?" Lucy asked aloud. "That guy is taking over the guild? Natsu's not here on his own will?"
"Laxus is the master's grandson," Gray explained, appearing beside a shocked Lucy. "He's most likely to take over Fairy Tail if something happens to Gramps. As for Chaos..."
"Master picked him up out of the forest when we were kids and blackmailed him into joining." Erza appeared at Lucy's other side, finishing the explanation. "Put a rune on him and everything forcing him to stay in Magnolia his first six months here. Even as an adult, Master makes sure Chaos knows if he tries to leave Fairy Tail, the magic council will be notified of his heritage."
"His heritage?"
"That's something we don't know too much about in detail, sadly. Just once overheard." Mira cut in.
"And something you morons should keep your noses out of." Natsu called from upstairs, a clear spoken warning to everyone in the guild. He stood up and disappeared from the first floor's view, only to reappear downstairs moments later with a job flyer. "I'm out." He stated, heading towards the door.
"Wait!" Lucy called. "Can I come?" The man ignored her completely, continuing on his way. Lucy pouted but didn't give chase.
"Nice try, Lushi." Happy floated on the blonde's head. "You'll get 'em next time!"
"I'm out too, the Raijin are waiting." Laxus grinned before disappearing in a thunderbolt, making the entire guild hall stand on edge.
"That was…"
"Kinda intense."
"Emissaries of Revival, huh?" Natsu read the name of the cult on the job sheet. "These damn Zeref worshippers… multiplying like vermin." He reached the outskirts of Magnolia quickly. It was a long journey North to the Waas Forest, where this cult was supposedly slave trading.
Sensing someone approaching, Natsu tensed. Turning slowly to see none other than Mystogan.
"Chaos." The mysterious mage greeted with a nod.
"Mystogan. Where ya' headed? That job didn't come off the S-Class board."
"Phantom Lord. Stumbled across a plan I didn't like- figured if I'm gonna take 'em out, I should get paid for it."
"Phantom, eh... What are they up to now?"
"No good, as usual. You heading North?"
"Yeah, all the way to the Seven border."
"Clean out any bases you pass on the way for me, would you?"
"Have I ever refused you a favour?" The two shook hands and continued in opposite directions.
On his way to the border, Natsu kept his promise and took out multiple Phantom Lord strongholds, pocketing every flag to give to Mystogan. It wasn't tedious work. Phantom was trying to establish prominence in multiple areas of Fiore, yet they kept their strongest holds closest to their main guild hall. Not very smart, if you asked Natsu.
He wasn't sure why someone was requesting for all Phantom Lord bases to be destroyed either, but it wasn't his job, and he sure didn't care enough to ask. Having powerful friends like Mystogan will always prove convenient, especially when they owe him favours. So he wouldn't question a thing.
Soon enough, Natsu made it to the outskirts of the Waas Forest. A road passed through these woods, leading to the border.
"Hold it!" Someone shouted, before Natsu could pass the threshold into the woods. "This here's a toll road, can't read the sign?" The stranger on the side of the road pointed to a poorly made wooden sign leaning against a tree.
"Toll road, huh?" Natsu held back a laugh. "How about you let me through, and I don't kill you?" This irritated the man, and he stood up to walk towards Natsu, drawing a dagger from his belt. A few other mages emerged from the trees holding various weapons and formed a circle around the dragon slayer.
"You know who you're threatening?" The man flexed his forearm to show off a tattooed infinity symbol and upside down cross. "Better watch that mouth." Natsu's gaze flickered around the rest of the horde to see markings in the same spot on the surrounding members' arms.
"Emissaries of Revival, I presume?"
"Oh, so you know us?" The man grinned viciously. "That makes things a whole lot easier." At once, magic circles began to form all around as each mage rushed towards Natsu.
"Chaos Dragon's Deflection." A blue and black magic circle appeared above Natsu before forming a dome around him. When various elemental attacks flew towards him, every spell bounced right off. A few got hit by their own spells, flying backwards into unconsciousness.
"Tch, you think some shitty shield can stop the power of Zeref?" The mage was suddenly surrounded by a black aura, the surrounding members of the cult simultaneously being affected the same. "See what you can do against our master!"
Natsu jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the enhanced axe kick of a red-haired man with a leather mask covering the lower half of his face. The patch of dirt Natsu stood in seconds ago became a small crater of dust.
"You thought you can harm my members without me noticing?"
"Getting you out here was the goal. I heard you got some people captive?"
"What would you know, jackass?" The first man spit.
"Quiet, Swing. Let me handle this fool." The masked man rushed at Natsu with a dusty attack, who evaded with ease.
"Ash magic- rare."
"Ah, you're familiar with it? I've never- "
"Chaos Dragon's Charge." Natsu's speed increased exponentially, and he charged towards his opponent with a flaming fist, hitting him in the nose. The cult leader shot backwards but recovered quickly.
"It's rude to interrupt someone speaking, you know?" He reset the break on his nose with a grimace before conjuring two sharp towers of ash, which he sent flying horizontally towards Natsu. Side stepping the attack, Natsu countered immediately with Chaos Dragon's Flare. Sending the unprepared mage flying only to hit the ground brutally.
"Talk less, maybe." The masked mage tried to recover, but the fall was too hard.
"Master!" The original adversary sent a ball of fire towards Natsu, who caught and ate it.
"What the-" A larger fireball flew right back at him, thrusting him towards a nearby tree where he hit his head and was out in an instant.
"There's something about you. Something sinister. Are you sure you're from a light guild?" The leader pulled himself to his feet, staring hard at Natsu.
"When did I ever mention a guild? I'm just passing by."
"Plenty of annoying guilds have already sent people here. It never ends well for them; I'm surprised they're still trying. What we're doing is providing souls for the Tower of Heaven. A tower that can revive the dead. Surely it's of interest to you?"
"I have no interests."
"Then why come here?!"
"Big reward." Natsu shrugged before chaotic energy enveloped his fists and he charged towards his opponent. The man jumped back, which Natsu expected. "Chaos Dragon's Roar!" The breath attack hit the man in the chest, knocking him down. He recovered quickly, as he had multiple times already. The resilience was commendable.
The two mages exchanged attacks. Both evenly matched in combat. After a test of stamina, Natsu gained the upper hand. His opponent was running out of energy, and it was only a matter of time before this job would be over.
"This power is just like… surely you're not…"
"Yeah, yeah. The Chaos Dragon. Just give it up."
"No. You are the Reckoning." Before Natsu could fish for more information, the man burst into black flames. Natsu stepped back apprehensively, turning to see each member of the cult combust, screams of agony making his ears ache. The flames all seemed to be emerging from the common denominator amongst the group, the tattooed symbols on their arms. As the noise receded, Natsu looked around in slight disorientation at all that remained of the Emissaries of Revival. Piles of ash.
In a daze of confusion after this string of events, Natsu headed into the woods to find the missing people. It didn't take long. The cult had set up a poor excuse of a prison camp in a low ravine, keeping the people chained to trees in a makeshift wooden shelter. Natsu freed each captive and collected information on where they were from, and what had happened to those who were no longer around.
He led the rescued people back to the nearest village and claimed his reward from the chief before heading on his way.
Meanwhile, in the basement of the destroyed Fairy Tail guild hall, Mira and Cana searched for stronger members.
"It's no use. I can't locate Chaos or Mystogan." Cana threw up a stack of Tarot cards in frustration.
"This is awful. The master is gravely injured, and our stronger members are unavailable. You're our only hope now, Laxus." Mira spoke to the S-Class lightning mage through a communication lacrima.
"Man, that old geezer's pathetic! It's not my problem, deal with it yourselves."
"Seriously, Laxus?" Cana shouted, marching towards the lacrima.
"It's true though. The old man started this, why should we have to clean up his mess?"
"They're going after Lucy," Mirajane spoke softly. "She's one of us!"
"Who's that? The newcomer? Tell her I'll consider helping her if she becomes my bitch!"
"You're unbelievable." Cana scoffed.
"That's how you act when asking someone for help? Whatever. Tell the geezer to step down already and make me the new master. With me in charge, those fuckers would be dead before they could even declare war!" Laxus cackled as Mira broke the lacrima. Tears streamed down her face.
"Mira..."
"I can't believe it. Is he really a member of Fairy Tail? In that case, I'll just have to fight too!" Mira marched out of the room, Cana watching her solemnly.
a/n: black clover easter eggs ehe
