The sound of an alarm went off inside a small apartment room. Next to the alarm clock inside the bed, a hand moved to turn it off. A body stirred up from slumber and onto a pair of feet on the clean wooden floor. The individual made sure the curtains were closed before turning on the light lacrima-powered lamp.
At precisely 6:00 A.M, Shiin Verdade was already mentally prepared for the duties he must attend to today. He proceeded into the bathroom, where he would take his shower. Even a prestige Captain valued hygiene after all. No nook nor cranny was left unscrubbed.
After an expeditious wash, Shiin walked out of the bathroom and grabbed his prestigious coat. Looking at the symbol on the back reminded him of the importance of his mission. How important he was. He had a reputation and legacy to uphold, and nothing will derail him from that.
He looked at the time again. It read 6:10 A.M. Right on schedule. He pulled out his personal grimoire, containing the confines of his personal information and spells for his repertoire of bountiful resources. He got on his knees and placed his hands on the closed book and closed his eyes.
"Great realm, hear thy hymn. My body be thy vessel for your force that festers this world. Your vast power be thy guiding force for our kindred. Our souls to become part of your sacred swell upon our departure. Let thy magic bestowed upon me be the means to life."
It was his morning chant. A custom that was drilled into him ever since he started the foundations of magic for as long as he could remember. This chant would tether him to the Ethernano around him, becoming more akin to magic, or so his teachings claimed.
Regardless, once his prayer was finished, he turned off the lamplight and started down the stairwell. Upon reaching the cool morning air, the first thing to greet him was an old lady along with a Machoke steering a rickshaw cart filled with crates of fresh, imported produce.
"Ah, good morning to you, young man." The old woman raised her hand as she smiled. "Fancy seeing you at this time as usual."
"Likewise." Shiin gave a curt nod. He turned towards the cart. "Seems there's more imports than last week."
"Oh, yes. It's been getting so busy. Luckily, I have such an easier time to get them where they're needed thanks to my dear Machoke." The old lady patted Machoke, who looked prideful at his usefulness.
"Aw, don't mention it. This is great morning exercise for me." He laughed.
"Well, let's be on our way." With that, she continued her stride with Machoke hauling the cart behind. Shiin watched them off, keeping a distinct eye on the pair. If he recalled, she had to pay extra for the merchants to transport them to her shop.
'No extra fees means less Jewels circulating in the economy. These Pokémon are being used to save these people a pocketful apparently.' He shook his head. He had no time to dawdle on the dependency that everyone in Fiore has with these otherworldly creatures. He had to resume his primary mission.
Once he reached the outskirts of Magnolia, he used his Requip Magic and pulled out his cloak and the color-changing stylizer. He switched the settings to a camouflage and began his trek through the woodlands up to a high point, his usual vantage point.
He requipped his binoculars, seeing right into a certain someone's backyard where an explosion occurred.
Several clashes shot through the dust and earth that had yet to settle. When the dust settled, the field was pierced by shattered blade metal, curtesy of Erza's numerous swords broken by Greninja's Water Shuriken, effectively ruining her surprise attack.
"King's Shield!"
Behind Erza, Nic reappeared out of shadows with extended claws of pitch-black. Aegislash, who was at her Trainer's side, maneuvered behind and switched to her Shield Forme to block. Nic's eyes narrowed as he anticipated this, and he vanished mid-slash to avoid contact with the shield.
'He anticipated that and pulled back.' Erza had to think fast. Where would he reappear. That's when she noticed massive icicles coming down from above, forcing her into her Adamantine Armor to block them.
With her shield facing up, she came to another realization. 'Wait…a feint!'
Her sharp intuition made her Requip her Black Wing Armor's sword in one hand, parrying the Shadow Sneak that came up from her shadow. Meanwhile, Aegislash, still in Shield Forme, followed her intuition and shifted to Blade Forme. As she had suspected, Greninja unleashed more Water Shuriken, forcing her to use Sacred Sword and parry them.
CLANG!
The two parried the next second, both using Night Slash. Their glowing purple needle and blade respectively crackled dark static between their even force. Their eyes were locked onto each other with enthusiasm and respect, just like their Trainers.
"What's wrong? Getting slow on me?" Erza teased, turning away from the ground to swing behind. She only caught a faint mist that her sword fazed through that looked like Nic.
A voice mused in her ear. "You sure about that?"
Erza requipped into her Flame Empress Armor, spinning her heated sword around as smoldering fires closed in on an exposed Nic in his Spooky and Icicle hybrid form. Greninja blurred in existence between and fired an enormous jet of boiling water that tore through the flames after Erza. As fast as it was, Aegislash managed to cut between her and the oncoming blast with her own body. In Shield Forme, she used King's Shield at the last second, causing a searing mist to envelop the area.
Shiin watched the couple as they were going through their daily routine. They'd get up before dawn to train. First it'd be standard Pokémon battling, then the Trainer's would get involved. It'd go until it was around 8 A.M, when they'd take a break for some breakfast.
'As I thought, Erza Pularis is adapting to Nic's forms and utilizing the appropriate armor to counter.' He loss track of how many requips she's already went through in a matter of a minute's time. Their speeds was something even his well-trained eyes had trouble perceiving.
"Free, Free~!"
An all-too-familiar chirp made Shiin cringe. "…yes, morning to you as well." He heard Butterfree flapping to his side despite not looking his way. "It's just the usual."
"Free." Butterfree turned to see a hurricane of condensed water surging into the atmosphere. They watched as it all condensed into Nic-Greninja's water coat and medium-sized shuriken.
For the life of him, Shiin couldn't fathom how it had come to this. Despite his clear disdain and his stance on the Pokémon, he somehow ended up becoming rather…accustomed to this particular one. As annoyed as he was at first, he ended up becoming accepting of Butterfree's company. Given what they went through, at the very least, Shiin knew he could trust this one.
Of course, he's been keeping this fact off his reports. And for a good reason.
After a calculative and mind-numbing sparring match, Shiin watched as the two proceeded back into the house, followed by Junior who had just woken up. He moved his position closer towards the house, but far enough to stay out of potential magic sensory. He saw through a window of the Pularis duo and all their Pokémon at a table consisting of berries freshly picked from the back of their house, meats, and waffles, accompanied by sweet syrup that Erza loved. And of course, the usual morning omelete for Nic. The usual, from how he interpreted it.
Once breakfast was done, the duo started on the road to Magnolia. Staraptor glided overhead, with Junior on her back enjoying the ride. Shiin followed them of course, mainly Nic since that's who he was supposed to shadow.
Speaking of Nic, he's noticed a number of things have changed recently, most notably his training schedule. For some reason, he's been spending less time training in the afternoons than usual. Normally when he wasn't out on a job, he and his Pokémon would be training and maintaining their godly physical strength until it was time to eat or sleep. But ever since the S-Class mission and that other dimensional experience he kept off the record, Nic's been more out and about. For example, the other day he was talking to Levy about book recommendations, something about herbs and medicinal plants. That would explain why he was reading some books he got from the Magic Library yesterday before bed last night. He also went out to the East Forest to talk to Porlyusica, and later got art supply suggestions from Reedus.
As far as he's known him, it isn't like Nic to be this social. Was he planning something? All these felt out of place given the scope of his powers.
Upon arriving at the guild hall, the atmosphere was bustling as always. Everyone and their Pokémon were interacting in some way, and Shiin sat around idly observing it all.
"Good morning, Shiin." Walking up to him was Mirajane, offering her usual sweet smile.
He spared her a glance. "Yes, good morning to you as well, Ms. Strauss."
"Shall I get the usual ready for you?"
"Yes, please." He gave a sincere nod which told her to get to it. He's gotten quite used to ordering the simple two-egg course that it became routine for him as he observed the guild's actions.
"Woah, you're kidding! That thing can grow fruit on its neck?" Natsu was amongst the many who marveled at Sophie's newest Pokémon, Tropius.
Sophie nodded. "She can. They're actually really good if you put them in pancakes."
"If it can grow what it eats, what if it starts eating fish?" Natsu asked.
Tropius blinked. "Huh?"
"What?" Sophie raised a brow.
"Oh, I'd love that! Yummy fishies would be ripe for the taking every day!" Happy cheered a little too enthusiastically, His mouth was drooling at the thought of Tropius with a dozen fish dangling from her neck.
"Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that she's a vegetarian given her diet." Lucy butted in, shoving Happy's fish-crazed fantasy aside.
"Aw, c'mon Lucy. Don't tell me you're a little curious." Natsu whined.
"Yeah, what about stuff like cheesecake, or maybe even chicken."
Erza hummed, putting a hand to her chin. "Cheesecake, you say?" Now that it was brought up, she'd be lying if she said it wasn't something she could dream of.
"I think their stomachs are doing the talking for them." Nic exasperated.
"Tropius isn't a buffet dispenser, you know." Vanessa interjected.
Pantherlily, hearing the intriguing conversation, couldn't help but be reeled in. "Fruit, huh?" Instant thoughts of his own favorite food sprung to life in his brain. "Endless kiwis…" A little drool was starting to seep from the side of his mouth, but not nearly as much as Happy.
"Honestly…" Carla exasperated.
"Hey, do you think we can try her fruit sometime?" Wendy asked politely.
Sophie offered a polite smile. "I wouldn't mind. What about you, Tropius?" She turned towards Tropius for her input, to which the flying sauropod nodded.
"Sure, I don't mind." She craned her neck over towards Wendy, displaying her neck with a couple bananas growing on it. "Sorry, but could you only take one? The rest are still growing in."
"Oh, sure." Albeit nervous, Wendy reached for the largest banana and plucked it off. It came off easier than she thought. She had to admit, it was unnerving eating something that came from a Pokémon, but the Dragon Slayer wasn't one to shy away so easily. She unpeeled the fruit and took a bite. Instantly, her taste buds were lit up with a strong, sweet flavor that almost got a squeal out of her. "Mmmmm! It's good!" She hummed.
Tropius smiled. "Glad you do."
"Heh, you can have your stupid fruit." Gajeel interjected from a neighboring table. "Meanwhile, my new guy's got an appetite for metal that you can't match."
As Gajeel was pointing out, his Meltan was gorging on an iron clump he made with his magic. Bastiodon was out as well keeping an eye on it.
"Yeah? Betcha that thing can fly." Natsu bargained.
Gajeel grew visibly irritated. "Yeah? Well neither can yours, buddy!"
The two got dangerously close, Natsu crossing his arms with a taunting smile that only serve to agitate Gajeel further.
"Yeah? Well get this. My Charmeleon's set to evolve into a Charizard like Nic has. So I guess you'll be chewing on those words of yours."
"That so? Well it ain't there yet, pal. It has as much firepower as a match at best."
"Yeah? Wanna see for yourself?"
"Bring it! It won't do anything against Bastiodon's defenses!"
Meltan, who had finished eating its iron column, let out a loud squeal. It turned towards Bastiodon, letting him know of its approval. "Really? You think?" He scoffed and looked up. "Ha, then I guess we Steel-types will have to show we don't melt under pressure!"
"I'll drink to that bet!" Cana cheered, raiding her keg of beer from a neighboring table with her Pokémon.
"Is there ever a time she isn't drinking when it's not sleeping?" Vulpix huffed.
"Hardly." Prinplup huffed.
"You'll get used to it." Liepard chimed, dozing off beside the unnerved fox.
Vulpix nervously sweatdropped. "How is it even legal to drink that much?"
"If it were, I'd be in a life sentence by now." Cana winked playfully.
As the talk of a potential battle was going down, Shiin was observing from his table. He was taking pictures of Tropius while no one was looking for new information to add to Sophie's profile. 'I see, so Pokémon are capable of growing fruit.' The sound of a plate clattering made him look down to find a fresh plate of two eggs catered by Mirajane.
"There you go. Hope you enjoy."
Shiin nodded. "Much appreciated." He picked up the silver fork that came with the small breakfast and proceeded to eat.
"Say, has anyone seen Gray and Juvia?" Lucy asked, looking around the guild hall.
"I think they're still out on a job. They should be back today, though." Mirajane answered. She clasped her hands together and smiled wide. "I think I can hear the church bells already!"
"Hehe, not sure they're quite there yet." Lucy nervously chuckled.
"No, but they might as well be with how often they're together these days. You never know, they might just move in with each other any day now. In fact…" Mirajane raised an index finger, winking at Lucy. "Perhaps you and Natsu should think about moving in together?"
Lucy's face immediately flushed red. "W-where the heck is this coming from?!"
"Why not? He practically shows up in your room when you turn away for 2 seconds." Grovyle pointed out in his usual blunt and gruff tone. "I wouldn't be surprised he puts up a hammock in there."
Klefki chuckled. "Seems like something he'd do."
"You two butt out!" Lucy chastised.
Erza turned towards Nic. "So, wanna take a job?"
"Sure." Nic didn't disagree. In fact, he turned his attention towards Shiin, knowing well what to expect from him. "You coming as well, I suspect?"
Shiin finished his two eggs, scoffing nonchalantly. "I'm just shadowing you. I'm not part of your guild, so I have no participation mandated. I'm just an observer, that's all."
"I see." Nic didn't seem to be too pensive about where Shiin stood in the matter. If anything, his time reflecting on the incident in the other dimension made him realize he could depend on the visiting mage. Though having reservations still, he was more accepting of his company. "Well, we'll be counting on you if it comes to it."
Shiin crossed his arms. "I see no reason given your skillset."
From the bar end of the guild hall, Laxus was leaning against the bar counter, sitting on a stool as Manectric was resting at his feet. The Guild Master was watching his guild being as rowdy and lively as it always has, and if he was honest, he preferred it this way. However, he made sure to keep his eyes on Shiin especially.
The sound of footsteps was accompanied by a glass cup being filled by Freed with warm tea be prepared. "Here, this should start your morning. Just the way you like it."
"Thanks." He took the cup in one hand, sipping it slowly.
Freed turned his attention towards the guild. "Looks like everyone's being productive today." He watched Natsu and Gajeel make their way outside, with other members rushing out to see their battle.
"Well, better than getting drunk and lounging around all day I suppose." Laxus huffed. He turned his attention towards Shiin, who got up to join the battle and collect more data on Gajeel's newly evolved Pokémon.
Once he was out of earshot, Freed spoke up. "I must say, it somehow feels distant to us that he's from the Pergrande Kingdom."
"Yeah…hard to believe now." Laxus took a break from his morning brew, frowning heavily. "Speaking of, it's been a while since we heard from 'him'."
Understanding how he phrased it, Freed played along. "Yes, he should be due for a report anytime now."
"You think they've caught onto us?"
"Given his credentials, I'd say you'd have better luck catching a fish swimming in circles in a pool. Besides, we've been able to get a sizeable amount of intel from him already."
"That's one way of putting it…" Laxus couldn't necessarily disagree with Freed's remark, nor the confidence behind it. He knew what they were doing was risky, but it was better than being left in the dark and unprepared like they were in the Tartaros incident. That was something he never wanted to repeat again.
'What do they got you doing over there, Mest?'
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away from Fiore, the morning sun was also shining down upon another setting that was set within the Pergrande Kingdom. Much like how Fairy Tail was going about their own days preparing for upcoming events, so was a certain someone.
In the prestige that was the Heaven's Eye headquarters, Sheela Starlock was inside her office overlooking the information that was on her desk. Due to a headache from a lack of sleep management, she was wearing Gale-Force Reading Glasses to help with production. "I see, so this guild is…"
A knock came from the massive double doors. "Excuse me, may I come in?"
The Vice-Captain broke out of her focus to turn towards the doors. "Oh, right. That must be him." She looked at the clock to see it was at the scheduled time. 'This early still?' She mentally groaned. 'I swear, I'll get wrinkles if I don't get a vacation!'
She cast her woes aside and sighed to alleviate from stress. After a quick fluff of her hair, she straightened herself and clasped her hands on the desk. "Yes, enter."
"Thank you." The doors opened to allow someone in. The man in question was wearing a silver robe over his attire. There was a noticeable cross-like scar on his head, with his clear blue eyes that was fixed on the woman before him.
The young man stepped forward until he reached the circular center and politely bowed his head, as per his training.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. Doranbolt." The Vice-Captain smiled warmly. "You may lift your head."
"Right." He did as instructed. "I've come because you wanted to see me?"
"Yes. We have some documents we need to send over to the Magic Research & Development Department. I need you to make sure the informant is given the encryption before the morning briefing."
Doranbolt nodded in understanding. "Understood. I'll be back in time."
Sheela thus slid a manilla envelope across her desk. Once it reached the center, a magic seal appeared beneath it. The same seal appeared in front of Doranbolt. The book fazed through the seal and dropped into his hands. With nothing else, he gave a polite bow before leaving the office.
Now alone, Sheela looked back at the clock again. "Great, now I just have to ready the materials for the briefing…"
Once the office door closed, Doranbolt proceeded down the enormous hall lined with porcelain cloisters on either side. The bases on the top and bottom had magic encryptions of some sort, and the ceiling was designed in a way that had the insignia of the heaven's Eye where glass didn't cover. Even the flooring wasn't anything to scoff at as the cream-colored tiles were patterned with dark gray edging to make 'lanes' of sorts. As fellow Heaven's Eye mages were filing down one way, others were taking the other lane.
Inside his head, Doranbolt silently admired the architecture of it all. 'This isn't even the primary central estate and it looks better than the past council buildings. Man, they really went all in around here.'
Mest Gryder – undercover by his former alias, Doranbolt – had managed to make it into the Pergrande Kingdom under the orders of Laxus. Despite the short time that has passed, he's managed to utilize his expertise in the council to better help situate himself in his infiltration mission. He even went out of his way to cut his hair shorter to sell the façade.
Upon first glance, it seemed like making it into the Pergrande Kingdom's Magic Government would be a sinch. But upon seeing the prerequisites, he couldn't be any further from the truth. Apparently, the Pergrande Kingdom's standards and structure were different than what they were in Fiore.
For example, if one learns to use magic regardless of age, they were required to enroll in a Magic Academy and accumulate credentials to get a certification to being a mage. After that, they had two choices for their career.
One option, being the most common, was to join a guild. The minimum age requirement was 15, but since he was a grown adult, he didn't have to worry about that. In fact, some guilds even reached out to these academies and handpick mages themselves depending on their specialties and functions.
The second option was much harder, that was becoming part of the Magic Government. And if he thought the credentials were hard enough for the academies, the demands were beyond excruciating here! In order to even get a chance to be part of the Magic Government's regimen, you'd have to have high marks on all your studies, and go through extra courses regarding Magic Foundations and Principals. But the payoff was that it was a guaranteed stable salary, as well as authorities over other guilds.
Of course, Mest had a shortcut he applied to get in much easier.
'Thanks to my magic, I was able to fit in fairly well around here. The problem was forging my background and those documents.' He suppressed a deep groan. 'It wasn't that strenuous back in the Council. This place makes the Council's standards look like a playground. Never thought I'd have to go by my old name again.'
For him, it was a whirlwind to remember all that he had to do in order to just get in to begin with. Not wanting to go through years at a magic academy, he opted to manipulate the memories of an academy's Chairman and staff on top of forging his own records. Once that was accomplished, he got recommended to join some guilds, but he chose to decline in favor of the Magic Government.
Since being here, he managed to manipulate the memories of people just enough so that he was around for a few years. At the same time Tartaros killed off the councilmen back then. If anyone got suspicious, at least he had that to fall on as his background.
Turns out, from what he realized, the Magic Government was one gargantuan province, at least five times the size of Crocus. And the Capital it was centralized in was even bigger than that. The province itself was surrounded by gargantuan walls making a dodecagon of sorts. Likewise, the Magic Government was divided into 12 factions with a specific function.
The one Mest managed to get into was the most relevant to his cause, the Heaven's Eye. It was a district that focused on information and archives and processes it to other factions in the government.
However, that wasn't what concerned Mest. A striking observation after being here for a while made something evident…not a single Pokémon in sight.
In fact, the rules of the government made it clear that no Pokémon were allowed, and mages regardless of their sector would be under constant watch to ensure they were doing their respective duties. He knew failure to comply in these two fields would lead to more than just disciplinary actions.
'I really wanna know why Pokémon aren't accepted, but I'd rather keep my head on my shoulders.'
Upon reaching the lavish entrance to the main building, Mest – or rather Doranbolt – walked down the flight of stairs towards the bottom. There, a magic circle imprint was on the ground. It glowed green, then a smaller version of it appeared on the opposite end. A watchman appeared in a yellow robe.
'Right, these messenger jobs are handled by another faction.' Mest couldn't remember which one it was exactly. It grated at him that he didn't know. He wanted to gnaw at something so bad, but for the sake of appearances he reigned himself in.
Silently holding out his hand containing the envelope, the envoy held out his palm and sent a magic seal his way. It stopped in front of him, motioning Mest to place the envelope inside. The envelope moved on the seal back over towards the envoy who took it.
"To the Magic Research & Development Department." Mest instructed.
With only a nod, the envoy vanished when a magic seal came down on him.
He sighed to himself. "Wish I knew what that was. But, if I did check, the seal would be undone and they'd know the information was compromised." He grumbled. "And if they found out it was me, I'll be punished." He gritted his teeth, trying to keep his composure. 'Grrrr! I wanna know, I really wanna know! I gotta know!'
"Um, excuse me." A small voice spoke up.
Mest snapped out of his mental crisis when he looked beside him, recognizing the petite woman who stared with curiosity. "Hm? O-oh, uh…top of the morning, Waverly."
Waverly reciprocated the greeting. "Greetings to you as well, Mr. Doranbolt."
"You can drop the Mr. I'd much prefer Doranbolt." He smiled.
"Oh! I couldn't possibly. I mean you're much older than I am, and here, seniority is the hierarchy, so…"
Mest chuckled. "That's true. But think of it as a favor from a colleague."
"A colleague?"
"Yeah, that's what we are, aren't we?"
Waverly's confidence began to show as her large eyes broadened, her smile widening. "Okay then!"
Mest couldn't help but smile. This girl was so young, but full of energy. 'Hard to believe someone like this is part of such a strict regiment. She reminds me of Wendy. It's pretty cute.'
"Hey you two, quick dawdling." A rather stern voice spoke up.
The two acquaintances turned to see someone walking their way. He was a rather young male with spiky raven black hair that resembled Gray. His eyes were sharp with thin eyebrows that turned concave at their ends, making sideways 7's of sorts. Like everyone else in the Heaven's Eye faction, he adorned a silver robe.
"Good morning, Grisley." Waverly gave a prompt bow to the man.
Grisley returned the curt nod with his own. "Punctual like I taught you. Good." He then turned his attention onto Mest. "Doranbolt." His words carried less heart as he gave a respect nod towards him.
"Morning." Mest responded with the same authentic chime.
Grisley hummed and proceeded past his associates. The two watched him go up the stairs towards the sacred central building that was Heaven's Eye's HQ.
"That's the person who mentored you, right?" Mest asked Waverly.
She nodded, albeit unnervingly. "Yes. He's a senior staff member. I think longer than you. He's pretty strict on new members." She didn't wanna go into detail about the numerous rules and regulations that the stern senior was drilling into her head a week straight. She almost quit because of it. "Trust me, his bad side is not something you wanna be on."
"I hear ya." Mest turned back towards Grisley, making note to be wary of him. Though he's only seen him a handful of times, he's never interacted with him…at least before he used his Memory Manipulation.
Grisley looked over his shoulder. "What're you standing around for? The morning briefing is in ten minutes."
"Right, on our way." Mest followed up the stairs, with Waverly in tow.
…
Back inside the Heaven's Eye main building, countless associates under the stewardship of the sector all gathered in a spacious corridor. At least five-hundred people wearing silver robes made themselves present in the meeting hall. All stood at attention, no mingling, no small talk; they were adverse in following the rules of the government. Even in this room, despite there being no glass, a large imprint of the Heaven's Eye insignia was on the ceiling.
Mest stood amongst his peers. The order in which they all presented themselves was based on their seniority. In his case, he was stationed about halfway through the ranks. Luckily, it was setup like a lecture hall, meaning higher rises the further back it went.
Seeing clearly from his stand, Mest watched as a green magic seal appeared in the center. The Vice-Captain faded into view, her eyes fixed on everyone.
'With looks like that, might even give Jenny Realight a run for her money.' Mest thought to himself.
"Morning, everyone." She started on a surprisingly flat note. "Now then, this morning briefing is now in session."
As soon as she said that, a magic seal appeared on the double doors, essentially locking them in.
Sheela cleared her throat. "Now, to start with…"
As she droned on about today's regiment, Mest was taking it all in. 'According to Article 13, associates are forbidden to speak up during the debriefing unless spoken to. They really don't practice much free thinking around here, do they?'
Vreep! Vreep!
A hum followed by a glow from Mest's pockets that immediately made his heart pounce. Others around him shot glances at him as the humming didn't stop. He hastily pulled out the Communication Lacrima and managed to silence it. But by then it was too late. 'Shit!'
"Doranbolt." Sheela spoke up.
"Uh, y-yes, Ma'am?" He straightened up at his name called.
"That's Vice-Captain." She sternly corrected in a rather stern tone.
Understanding the gravity of his error, Mest flinched before hastily bowing. "Y-yes, my deepest apologies. You know I have family matters and they worry about me a lot…"
"You know Article 2 of the Government Compliance Policy prohibits the acceptance of personal items and equipment. Also, not addressing me as Vice-Captain from the start is also considered an offense. Your duties first and foremost are to the betterment of magic society itself, not family."
"Yes, I'm truly sorry." Mest mentally cursed at himself. He knew he should've left the lacrima in his barracks, now he's getting shameful looks by his peers who clearly knew better than him. Grisley and Waverly were no exception.
Sheela huffed. "I'll let you off for now since this is your first offense, but if this mistake repeats again, you'll be facing proper disciplinary actions. But I expect better from you from now on, understand?"
"Yes, Vice-Captain. I swear I'll be more proper." He bowed again.
The Vice-Captain seemed satisfied with his compliance and returned to the debriefing. "Now, back to what I was saying…"
An allotted amount of time passed before the meeting eventually came to a close. A number of matters were assessed such as yesterday's productivity, any new information that came in, who would be assessing it, everyone's designated agendas, and finally their schedules.
Once the meeting was wrapped up, Mest began tending to his duties as per his schedule. Paperwork, helping gather information on various cases or creatures across the kingdom, then helping draft concrete reports to be profiled of those instances to be stored in the archives or otherwise distributed. The routine would start after the meeting and then go until nightfall. Of course, there were two instances throughout the day in which mages get an hour-long break, that being labeled their 'Reflection' period.
On one of those periods, he found himself back in his barracks. A plot of land was designated within each of the 12 sectors for living quarters for its members. From his understanding, your ranking and seniority also have a factor in your living accommodations. Those who were relatively new only got the bare minimum and a small studio. Mest was amongst them.
Lined up amongst the junior staff barracks, Mest walked along the long wooden porch and made way towards his unit. A special key was required for his room, in which the knob would respond to his Magic Power. He placed his hand on the knob and it flashed green.
He walked into his temporary abode and looked around, seeing the space was comparable to that of Lucy's bedroom. The walls were a dull gray, a single bed, a desk with a wooden chair, and a broad bookshelf. The single window he had made it feel like it was more of a prison than an actual room.
'They seriously treat everybody with these accommodations?' Even he had better accommodations when working with the Magic Council. 'Well, better than sharing with someone else.'
He pulled out the Communication Lacrima and turned it back on. Almost immediately, it vibrated violently and he accepted the transmission, revealing Freed on the small screen.
"Freed, what gives?" He hissed.
"What took so long to report?" Freed sternly asked.
"Don't give me that! I told you before that I can only answer at certain times in the day! I was gonna be put under on the spot because of you!"
"I see. Apologies, seems that slipped my mind."
Mest sighed angrily. "Geez…well, I'm free now, so what is it?"
"Have you anything to report?"
Mest frowned, his expression turning serious. "There hasn't been any noticeable changes on the surface. But…I can tell that something's going on. There's been an increase in productivity as of late. The government has been collecting and processing information to a point where we're making enough pages to make a library per day."
Freed hummed in curiosity. "Oh? Have you figured out what information they've been collecting?"
"Just the usual. The jobs that this country's guilds go through are accounted for, including the mages that partook, the spells used, the enemies they've fought, whatever the guild's report to us." He furrowed his brow. "But we've also been receiving intel on other countries and their statuses as well."
This got Freed's attention. "Is that so? Tell me, do they have anything about Fiore?"
"I'm fairly certain. Although I haven't been to the archives library before. That's for senior staff."
"Then couldn't you just use your magic to make yourself a senior staff?"
Mest scratched the side of his head, looking irritated. "I thought about that. Unfortunately, all the staff are extremely adverse in magic sensory and have better intel than I do. Besides, forging those records was not easy."
"I understand. If you come across such information, let us know immediately. It's dangerous to think what they could know about our guild."
"Right, I'll be careful." Mest responded and ended the network. With that bit of business out of the way, he looked at the clock hanging on his wall. 'I still have 43 minutes of my Reflection period. Better make it count.'
He exited his quarters and made way out of the barracks. He worked his way through the Heaven's Eye sector. As he walked through the sanctum that was the government, he made note of the numerous buildings that were in the area. The main building, the bare minimal recreational area where mages were free to practice their magic, the various other buildings with their own functions such as the library. Around him, hundreds of dedicated people were scrambling to encode and decode all sorts of finds that was shared amongst the government officials.
For a moment, Mest looked pensive. 'Maybe if I had joined that one sector, I'd be able to get a better layout of how the other districts operated.' He shook the thought out. 'But, my mission is to gather intel. The Heaven's Eye is more akin to that.'
He made way to where the archive library was. As soon as he was within sight, he looked around to see if anyone was around him. The building was comparably more compact than the Magic Library in Fiore, but it was built similar to a mansion.
He walked up and noticed something off almost immediately. 'There isn't a door?' He noticed something at his feet and looked down. A medium-sized bright green magic seal presented itself. 'I see. This must be the way in and out.'
The circle suddenly flashed, causing Mest to step back. Appearing before him was Grisley.
"Senior Grisley?"
The senior staff member leered at the wary spy. "What is your business here, Doranbolt? You don't have the authorization, let alone the ranking, to be part of this facility."
Mest cleared his throat, coming up with an excuse. "At ease. I've come for something on that report I'm putting together. The one about the Iron Wings Guild."
Grisley folded his arms. "I see. You're talking about their recent promotion trial changes?"
"Yes, that's the one. They've recently promoted some mages from C and B-Ranks. I just needed to go through their history and see if everything lines up with their qualifications. You know the level of difficulty varies between the ranking promotions."
"Hmmm…" Grisley growled low and stared at Mest, trying to decipher if what he said was a lie. However, the stagnant seriousness in the lesser mage's eyes made it hard to tell. Hoping the illusion sold, Grisley relented. "Very well. Get what you need, but those archives can't leave the premise. They're all imprinted with magic seals that will trigger an alarm, just so you know."
"Right, thank you." He bowed in gratitude.
Grisley nodded and started walking past him. "You've been missing the mark for a while now…don't ruin the reputation of this sector, especially since our Captain is absent."
With that warning, he left and made way towards his destination. Mest watched him off, being extremely wary of him. 'Something tells me I better steer clear of him. Now then…' He turned towards the magic seal again. 'It probably senses my magic, so it can tell if I leave or go.'
He didn't want nor needed that. Instead, he looked around if anyone was watching. He walked away from the entrance until he was around the corner. Checking again for any surveillance, he used his magic and teleported inside.
Once inside, he appeared behind a shelf. When he looked over, his eyes widened at the towering walls of books around him. Some were too high for a ladder to reach, instead mages were seen getting around using levitating yellow magic seals like platforms to get to archives.
'It's like a condensed version of the Magic Library.' He marveled at the sight. 'I'm sure Levy would love to be here.' Remembering his guild, he got down to business. 'Right, my objective. Gotta see what they have on us.'
He had to be mindful not to get caught. If he was, it's over for him. He walked over towards a stone platform where an imprint of a magic seal was. He stepped on it. A yellow magic seal arose from it with his feet planted firmly on it. He started ascending, making sure to stay out of sight of the few senior staff doing their job.
'B…C…D…E…there!' He made way over to where the letter 'F' was on the wooden shelf. He started scanning the various books and archives related to guilds. As soon as he saw the archives on Fiore, he noticed there were a handful of portfolios that were very close.
Scoping out the archives, he opened a portfolio. Inside he saw a number of files pertaining not just about Fiore, but further details such as their economy, guilds, and even having recorded incidents like the Council War and FACE documented, all with pictures and definitive numbers.
'They really don't sugarcoat anything here.' As impressed as he was, it meant nothing when he saw he reached the guild section of Fiore. 'Here we are.'
When he opened the archive, he was shocked to find the numerous guilds that were documented. Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth…they even had past intel on other guilds like Phantom Lord, Raven Tail, and Star Order.
But the biggest file belonged to Fairy Tail.
'Here we are! Wow…just how much of us do these guys know about us.'
He opened the portfolio and began rummaging through the condensed report. He was seeing everything, from the guild's history, to the hundreds of written remarks of the destruction the guild caused, it's offenses, it's mages that joined, and…those currently in the guild.
His eyes widened with a gasp. "This is…!" He scoped the organized portfolio filled with very dense details about his guildmates. "Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray…" He listed off the members with pictures of them attached to their biographies. "Erza, Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy…Joey, Dereece, Duncan…Nic and Vanessa…" He noticed how dense Nic's file was compared to the others, just a little thicker in detail compared to Erza.
The horror was like a freight train that struck Mest. 'They have this much intel on us? It tells us about our histories, our hobbies, magic type, all of it…just how much of us did Shiin possibly leak to them?'
"Should be over here." A voice spoke from nearby.
Mest tensed at the situation he was in. 'Crap, I'm not supposed to be here!' He hurriedly closed the files and stuffed them back where he found them. He maneuvered the platform as fast it could go until it got to a corner. Mest remained hidden as he watched a senior member drift to where he was at before.
"Let's see. Fang Blades…Forever Dusk…ah, here we are." He pulled out an archive portfolio pertaining details to the assignment he was doing. According to the dossier, it was labeled under 'Faith Hill' Guild. "Now, the details for their member's demotion…hm?" He stopped scrolling when his eyes caught something out of place. A massive portfolio archive that looked uneven. "Looks like somebody didn't put it back properly."
He pushed the portfolio back into place. Mest watched him carefully, hoping he'd go away, but like luck turned south when he noticed the member turned to his direction, forcing hm to hide again.
"I sense magic…someone there?" The member floated on his magic seal platform closer, serving to give Mest anxiety.
'Crap, they can sense my magic! And if I teleport, they just might track it.' Running out of ideas, he was left with one last resort to ensure safety. 'Guess this is an emergency.'
He pulled out a Poké Ball and faced a nearby balcony. "Gallade, come out!"
The capsule expelled energy that became Gallade, who flexed his arms with a huff.
"Quick, use Teleport and return us to the barracks!" Mest ordered hastily.
Gallade nodded dutifully, wasting no time teleporting himself and Mest out of sight just before the mage turned the corner. When he saw nothing, he tilted his head in confusion.
"That's odd, I swore I sensed someone here." He looked around for any clues, but ultimately chose to return to his duties.
…
As soon as Mest and Gallade's feet touched the surface of their unit's floor, relief washed over the spy's body.
"That was a close one." He turned towards Gallade. "Good job, Gallade. That saved us."
"No problem." He thumped the side of his chest thorn with a nod.
"They could trace magic, and I'm sure I checked the time that video lacrimas are under maintenance. We were lucky this time, but…" Mest bit into the fabric of his glove in stress. "They certainly don't give us much room to work with."
He frowned heavily as he thought back to what he saw. 'Still, they have all that detail of us archived. How long have they been keeping tabs on our guild? Was it before Nic joined even? I didn't get a deeper look, but I think they have files on our Pokémon as well.' He put a hand to his chin. 'Then there's that embargo this entire country has. There's no imports of any kind, yet we're continuously getting intel from all around Ishgar. Wait…is Shiin not the only envoy?!'
Caught up in his obsessions, he found himself gnawing on the end of his bedpost. "GAH! I wanna know! I really wanna know!"
Thump! Thump! Thump! Gallade began hitting his head into the wall, his head crest putting holes in the wall.
As the two were lost in their quirks, a quiet knock came from the door. "Um, excuse me. Mr. Doranbolt?"
The two froze up at the soft voice they heard.
'Crap! Company now?!' Mest scrambled to return Gallade to his Poké Ball before stashing him away.
"Are you in there?"
"Y-yeah, hang on a sec!" Mest regained his composure and hurried over towards the entrance. When he opened the door, he was greeted by Waverly. "Waverly, hey. Is there something wrong?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But…I just heard a lot of banging. Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, sorry about that." He sheepishly apologized as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was just moving some stuff around and it fell over was all. Sorry, neighbor."
Waverly inspected him carefully to see if that was the case. The longer she observed, the more unsound Mest got. However, the petite rookie eventually let up and smiled. "Well, that's a relief. I was worried you were in trouble."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you had a hard time this morning, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah…guess I did." As shocked as he was, it subsided as he smiled sincerely. "Thanks for your concerns, but it's fine, really."
"Really?"
"Yeah. What happened was just a mistake on my part. Mistakes happen, whether we can help it or not."
Waverly hummed as she thought of Mest's words. She seemed more than a little apprehensive about something. "I guess so…but…even the slightest bit of miscalculations can mean a great margin of error. The Heaven's Eye is always watching everything. We see through the truth to determine who's guilty or not. I joined this sector because it seemed like the most responsible. I just…wanna prove that I'm capable to being important to helping society, y'know?"
Mest couldn't help but feel sympathy for the young mage. To some degree, he could understand where she was coming from. Everything he was doing right now was for the guild, and everything he was putting up with here was to ensure the government wasn't plotting something behind Shiin's visit. Still, he had to say something to encourage her.
"If it means anything, I think you're doing just fine."
She perked up. "You mean it?"
"Of course? You're astute, and unlike me, you haven't gotten on anybody's bad side. I think you're leagues above me to be honest. Believe me, you're plenty responsible already."
Her eyes lit up with delight. "Thank you, Mr. Doranbolt!"
Mest nervously chuckled. "I thought we agreed to drop the formalities." Suddenly, low glows followed by hums came from their bracelets, which showed the time being 2 o'clock. "Looks like our hour's up. Back to those reports I guess."
"Right!" She followed behind him on their way to fulfill their duties.
As he was heading to write another report that he was going to have to scramble over, Mest couldn't help but feel the weight get heavier on his shoulders. 'This isn't going to be easy. I'll find out everything about this government and what it's hiding. Just hang on a little longer, guys.'
It was dark by the time Shiin returned to his rental apartment. To say the Pergrande Kingdom representative had quite the day would be an understatement.
As he was writing his routine report, recounting everything that he did and observed throughout the day, he made careful note of everything down to the very letter. Although, despite how he made sure to keep his involvement within the job as minimal as possible, Nic made sure he participated in helping reign in a wild monster colony that's been disturbing the folks near Freesia. He wrote down everything, from the Pokémon Nic and Erza used, to the strategy and spells used. And despite better judgment, he wrote down his involvement.
The one thing he left out was the inclusion of Butterfree, for a good reason.
Once his report was finished, he opened his grimoire to a bookmarked page and sent the report. With that, he closed his book and gave a relaxed sigh.
'It was no surprise someone of Nic's caliber to deal with A-Class monster colonies. I was hoping to only observe, but he had me and Butterfree assist in routing them for Erza and Cloyster to finish.' His brow furrowed in deep thought. 'Well, experience is experience. This more inclusive change in his battle style will be added to his dossier.'
"Free?" A soft chirp from behind made him remember he wasn't alone in his room.
He sighed and turned towards Butterfree. "Yes, all is well. And also…" He cleared his throat and glanced away to avoid eye contact. "You were…exceptional in your aid today."
"Free! Free, Free!"
Shiin didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to understand Butterfree more and more. Safe to say that he could depend on him to watch his back if needed. Was this what it feels like to have a bond with a Pokémon…?
Realizing where his train of thought was heading, he shook his head. 'No. This is strictly professional and for observational matters. Affection holds no weight to the law.' He walked over towards the window and opened it. "You should head back out. It's getting late."
Butterfree chirped appreciatively before fluttering off Shiin's bed out the window. He watched him make his way back in the direction of the forest before choosing to retire for the night. He closed the window and made way towards the bathroom to wash up before turning in.
As he was tending to his own needs, a familiar trio was walking through Magnolia.
"I still can't believe it ended up as a draw!" Natsu complained.
"You sure you wanna call it that?" Lucy chimed in. "It only went that way because of Bastiodon getting that burn."
"Pretty sure Charmeleon's goose would've been cooked either way. I mean Fire-types aren't so good against Rock-types after all." Happy pointed out.
Natsu folded his arms, huffing in exasperation. "Whatever. We'll get 'em next time. Huh…?" He noticed a familiar smell and a light coming from the building beside him. "Hang on, where the heck is this?"
"Isn't this the place that Shiin's staying at?" Happy asked.
"Yeah, I think so. He usually comes this way when the day's done." Lucy explained.
A wily thought rushed to Natsu's head, making a lightbulb go off. His face contorted to a mischievous smirk as his eyes lit up with opportunity. "Then I guess it's time we pay him a little visit." He sneered. "Let's say we snoop around when he's not looking, aye?"
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
They were both met with chops from Lucy on the backs of their heads. "You guys don't know the first thing about respect and privacy, do you?"
Natsu turned towards her. "Oh c'mon, Lucy. What's the big deal?"
"Yeah, besides we crash at your place all the time." Happy pointed out.
"Yeah, and you were uninvited every single time!" She exasperated. Her brows furrowed as she put her hands to her hips. "Look, the point is this is breaking and entering. I'm one thing, but Shiin's another. Besides, he's not even part of our guild. Didn't Master Laxus say to not intervene?"
Natsu showed no signs of backing out. "You can't tell me that you're just a little bit curious about him, aren't you? I mean, he's been with us for a while now. Surely you're wondering about him too."
"Well, that's…" Lucy couldn't fully deny what Natsu said wasn't too far from the truth. The journalist side of her was picking at the numerous questions she had for Shiin is she had the opportunity. But the more reasonable side of her suppressed those urges.
"C'mon, it'll just be in and out. He won't know we're there." Natsu persuaded. "Hey Happy, a lift pal?"
"You got it!" Happy used his magic to create a set of wings and carried Natsu up to the second floor window. He felt around for any loose ends and confirmed that the window wasn't fully locked. With surprising silence as a cat, he creaked the window open and snuck in. Happy kept his magic active while Natsu landed on his feet, immediately scouting the room for any signs of secrecy or blackmail.
"Huh…the guy doesn't know much on interior decorating, does he?" His rhetorical whisper was in fact due to the very minimal commodities. "Talk about boring."
The sound of grunting was heard behind them. When they looked back, they saw Lucy trying to crawl through the windowsill, her huge breasts pressing against the windowsill. "You guys…just slow down…?"
"A little late, aren't ya?" Natsu teased.
"Cork it and help me up!" Lucy argued. She got so riled up for a brief instant that she felt her hand slipped. Luckily Natsu was there to yank her in. Of course, the momentum was against him and she landed atop of him, her breasts on his face. "Er…thanks for that." She mumbled embarrassed.
Natsu muffled something, but it was incohesive underneath her cleavage. She assumed it was a 'No sweat'.
Now that she was roped in, Lucy looked around the small room. "It looks just like a plain bedroom to me."
"Well I'm not buying it. He's got something around here." Natsu began snooping around the room, checking for anything that could be hidden. Happy joined in as well. They looked underneath his pillow, in the dresser drawers, and in the nightstand. But nothing was there.
"Finding anything yet?" Natsu asked.
"No, nothing over here." Happy chimed.
"See? I told you guys." Lucy scolded. "Now let's get out of here before we're caught."
Natsu seemingly ignored Lucy and noticed a dim light shining on the desk. Out of pure curiosity, he walked over and noticed a fancy-looking grimoire sitting on the desk. "A book?"
Lucy leaned over, sparing a glance at it. "What do you think it is?"
"I don't know. Looks too fancy to be some kind of reading book."
"Hey!" Lucy shouted in offense. As an author herself, she didn't like how Natsu was brisk in the sentiment. It took her days to design the cover for her new book that was currently being published.
"Maybe it's a diary?" Happy reasoned.
Natsu cheekily snickered. "Only one way to find out." He picked up the book and made an attempt to open it…but it didn't budge. "Huh…?" He tried opening it, but it was trying apart raw steel. He grunted as he was using both hands to pull in opposite directions, but to no avail. "C'mon, you stupid…!"
Lucy put a hand to her chin, furrowing her brow. "I wonder…"
"Have you gotten weaker, Natsu?" Happy chimed.
Through his gnashing teeth, Natsu snarled. "Yeah right. This stupid book's being stubborn. But I got the trick." He held up the book in one hand, with his other hand basked in draconic flames. "Maybe if I burn the cover off, then we can see all the juicy stuff inside."
"Nice thinking, Natsu." Happy beamed.
"More like horrible thinking!" Lucy scolded.
Suddenly, a green magic seal lit up beneath them and expanded to encompass them. A transparent barrier rose up from the sides and trapped them inside.
"Hey, what gives?!" Natsu complained.
"Did we trigger a trap?!" Happy panicked.
Lucy scanned the ground with widened eyes. "What kind of magic is this?"
"Caught you!" The trio turned to find Shiin standing in front of the bathroom. His hand was reached out at them, his eyes narrowed with a fixation of seriousness and offense. "I thought I sensed a familiar Magic Power close by. Turns out to be you three."
"Gah! We've been caught red-handed!" Happy fearfully yelled.
"I knew this was a terrible idea! Why did I let you guys talk me into this?!" Lucy despaired.
Natsu banged on the magical barrier, but his fist constantly bounced off. "Hey, what gives? Let us out of here!"
Shiin started walking towards them. "You have no room to make such demands, Natsu Dragneel. I'll have you know, breaking and entering itself is a crime. And digging into other's personal belongings is a violation of privacy…not to mention, it's also considered an offense to be touching another mage's personal grimoire. I have more than enough reason to have you behind bars."
"Let me explain!" Lucy visibly panicked as she tried to be reasonable. "I tried talking some sense into them, but they wouldn't listen! I didn't touch anything, I swear!"
Shiin's eyes narrowed. "The fact that you're in here as well makes you just as guilty of breaking and entering."
Natsu continued banging on the invisible wall around him, his annoyance growing. "The hell is this? And why ain't it breaking?"
"You're caught in my Jury Seal." Shiin explained. "Unless you tell the truth or accept your actions as your error in judgment, you cannot escape your confines." He took a few steps forward and held his hand out. To Natsu's surprise, his grimoire flew out of his hands and back to him.
"Woah…"
"If you were wondering why you couldn't pry my grimoire open, it's because it's employed with Organic-Link Magic. Only the owner is permitted to open its resources."
"Is that true?" Lucy gasped.
"Well, it does check out. Organic-Link Magic is pretty complicated in some ways." Happy explained.
"Silence!" Shiin's harsh tone made everyone cringe. "I'll be asking the questions here. Now, what business did you have to break into my abode? Your answer may depend on the severity of your punishment."
Natsu blinked rapidly. "What? You don't have that kind of authority."
"As a matter of fact, I do. I'm a member of the Magic Government, and Article 14 mandates that any interference with a government official's duties is considered an obstruction of justice as well as a sentence depending on the severity of such interference. Given that, do you wish to try my patience?"
"Nope! Nope, nope, sir!" Lucy shook her head feverishly.
"Then answer! What were you hoping to gain?"
Happy raised a paw. "We just wanted to check your place out, that's all."
"Yeah, man. You were with us for like a couple months now and yet we don't know squat about you. That's totally unfair!"
Shiin remained unamused. "So you were intending to blackmail me to gain my trust? Quite counterproductive, isn't it?" He closed his eyes. "Well, in any case, as you may have seen for yourselves, I have nothing of the sorts."
"You sure about that?" Natsu challenged.
"Yes, I'm sure." Shiin challenged Natsu's glare with his own.
An unsteady silence fell in the room. Natsu was a stubborn one, almost as stubborn as Nic. When he thought something was wrong, he was normally right about it. And his gut was telling him that there was more to Shiin than he leads on if he's living this secretive lifestyle.
Shiin was the same. His trained intuition and experience made him be sure to keep everything essential close to the vest. Despite how accustomed he's gotten to everyone's habits, he was doing his best to not be directly involved in their matters. He would uphold his duty even if it meant his life was on the line.
After what felt like an eternity, Shiin scoffed. He undid the magic binding them, allowing them free movement. "Very well. Since you told the truth, the spell dissipated. I'll let you off with a verbal warning this time, but if you ever disrespect my privacy like this again…" His glare became deathly serious. "Expect the full consequences of the law to weigh you to the ground."
Lucy sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."
"I was worried for a sec, too. Be a shame if we were behind bars before the games." Happy noted.
Natsu furrowed his brow, looking very annoyed. "You don't have to be such a jerk about it…" He started walking towards the window, but Lucy started pulling on his ear, enticing pain. "Owowowow!"
"Not this time, Mister. We'll be taking the stairs." Lucy scolded. "Like proper people!"
"Ow! Lucy! That hurts!" Natsu whined.
Lucy paid no heed and turned towards Shiin. "So sorry about this. We'll be sure this doesn't happen again. Let's go, bub!" She started pulling Natsu out of Shiin's room towards the exit.
"Wait up, guys!" Happy glided out of the room after his friends.
As soon as they were gone, Shiin sighed and closed the door. He turned towards the open window and put two-and-two together. 'I forgot to lock it.' He clicked his teeth at his own shortcoming. He walked over and shut his window, making sure to lock it properly. 'At least they didn't catch me writing my report. I'd have to forcefully incarcerate them…perhaps execution if they knew too much.'
He heard incoherent shouting from the streets below and saw Natsu, Lucy, and Happy leaving Shiin's apartment. Lucy was telling Natsu off about something, but he seemed to be whistling it off, only irritating the blonde further.
Shiin continued watching them with a straight face. 'Regardless of how you feel, Natsu Dragneel, personal feelings have no weight against order…no matter how much you disagree with it.'
Back in the Pergrande Kingdom, night had fallen upon the sanctum. Many of the districts' faithful mages had turned in after a long and busy day. The only ones still up were those on the nightshift or higher personnel.
In an isolated room, it was mostly black, with the only source of light being the silver magic seal that acted as the floor. 12 Thought Projection silhouettes were in a perfect circle, with each projection having a different shape to distinguish characteristics amongst these important personnel.
The silhouette with the massive hat lifted his head slightly. "Vice-Captain Starlock."
Sheela, her Thought Projection being more visible than the rest, gave a respective bow. "Yes, Grand Captain."
"What has been the progress of your Captain?"
"Sir, Captain Verdade is steadily watching the target as we speak. So far, we have yet to receive signs that they are onto our objective."
"I see." He paused. He turned his attention towards another silhouette. "Captain In-Su, what is your status?"
One of the many silhouettes closed his purple eyes and bowed. "Grand Captain, everything is in swift production as scheduled."
An eye opened from the Grand Captain's silhouette. "And…of those specimen?"
An intrigued smirk showed the captain's golden teeth. "They're proving to be a most interesting test subjects, Grand Captain. Each of them possesses such great strength that it's taking some time to fully detain them. But, rest assured, once they're under our control, they'll be of great use to us."
"Hmm…" He hummed in thought for a moment. "So be it."
"I heard Fiore's Grand Magic Games are coming up." Another Thought Projection spoke up. This one having a hot pink robe. "And they'll be including those Pokémon. Sounds like it'll be quite a show."
The Grand Captain took this into consideration, his attention turning onto Sheela. "Vice-Captain Starlock."
She bowed. "Grand Captain."
"Regarding these special games…I have an assignment for Captain Verdade to do."
Got a third chapter out this month, and the last one for January. All things considered, I think I did pretty okay for the first month of 2025. Being able to pump out 3 chapters and some character concept art on my Deviantart, on top of maintaining my physical health is a lot to manage, but I think I'm doing fine so far.
This chapter was more focused on the respective spies. As you saw, I was more focused on Mest and the Heaven's Eye sector. I didn't want to get into the other 11 yet, but I will when the time comes.
One more chapter, and then it's finally time for the X793 GMG Arc. Stay tuned, cuz next chapter is gonna take place on PokéEarth in a familiar setting.
Please share your thoughts in a review of how you think I handled this chapter. Thanks again!