A/N Hey everyone! Here is the first update of the new year, the side story winner for January. I hope you enjoy it. Sorry it's a few days late. I had some stuff come up, but it is here for your reading pleasure.
I hope you all had a good holiday season, Christmas and New Year! I am committed to continue writing my stories for you, so I hope you will stay with me as I do my best.
If you want to vote on the next side story poll, or read ahead up to ten chapters on PFTG, head to my pat-re-on, Bored Peasant's Written Works.
Extra special thanks to Amorac07, Arrimar26, Ben wanless, Blaine Hughes, carl hoffman, Cesar Montemayor, Chris, D19x0, David C, Eligah Moreno, Endervslender, Ezoz, FallenMetalGod, FoolishlyReading, Freeman, internetadik, Jason Bourne, Jason Moreno, Jebusno2, Lasted, liam darrell, liquidpotato, Lord BlackDragon, MathTheOriginal, My Name is Klondike, Nathan Block, Orangerazor120, Paul Fischer, Proxy, R J, r4p16, Robert Tipton, Sand_Worm, Sith_Paladin, SolomonGreen16, sonic, SupremeRuler17, The Senn Master, Thezombiegamer707, UtopiaKnight39, Voidwolf 1994, Will Turner and WorkForFood for their support. You are all awesome!
Anyway, here you go!
…
Chapter 9 – Fun Times on Galuna Island
Despite my realisation from the previous night that I need to socialise more, the next morning saw me once again going alone to my airplane to head to my next destination. I needed to drop off a letter in Crocus, now that Erza was likely to be on her way there to face trumped up charges from the Magic Council.
After the first time I had to deal with those overinflated windbags, I had taken joy in the small moments I was able to find to poke them whenever possible. I hadn't been able to do much over the last couple of years, but now that I was back in Fiore properly, and letting people know about it, I was going to continue doing it as much as possible.
What better way to start than messing with them?
The current targets of my ire would be the ones that are most pressing, timewise. And judging by what Simon had said, the first option was one that I already had a particular gripe with, seeing as they tried to have me imprisoned for self-defence.
The Magic Council.
Still, while I wanted to help Erza and annoy the Council, the fact remained that the Council was made up of extremely strong Wizards, at least three of whom were directly Dark aligned. Ultear, Siegrain and the Chairman himself, Crawford Seam. He in particular was someone I was holding a grudge for. It turned out that the Dark Wizards I had killed were one of the smaller, less powerful Dark Guilds that was subservient to the Balaam Alliance. More specifically, they were under Tartaros, who Crawford fed information to on the sly.
That didn't' mean that I was going to let them go scot-free. Not at all. But it did mean that I would be a little more careful in ensuring that I was not around while their anger was hot. I would then need to make sure that the more evil members of the Council, Siegrain and Crawford, didn't have a chance to take vengeance on me for messing with them. After all, Crawford was still the Chairman of the Magic Council. I wasn't going to be able to provide 'evidence' that they would accept of him being a Dark Wizard, which meant that he was going to have a lot of political power which could make my life a hassle. That wasn't ideal.
Thankfully, I still had plans upon plans and more than a few decent allies. I should be able to do what I needed to do to stay away from them, until I was safe.
No need to make it easy for the enemy to find you.
Some people might think there was no reason for me to make an enemy of the Council in the first place, but they already thought of me as one, so I no longer cared.
Besides, the only one that might be able to find me was Ultear. She had that crystal ball, after all. And while I had a countermeasure for that in case she tried to find me with it, I also don't think she knew about Crawford. All her plans seemed to be tied in with Siegrain/Jellal at the moment, except that stupidly complex plan to get enough power to cast that magic spell to go in the past. And if I was to poke her directly, she would be the type to try and get her revenge personally. She couldn't do that through a crystal ball.
Not if my countermeasures worked, that is. After all, Scrying Magic wasn't a Lost Magic. There were plenty of people that could use Scrying. When I had been hunting in Bosco, we had someone using Scrying to find our targets regularly. Bosco also had people that used Scrying to try and find us to kill or enslave us so we couldn't continue killing them. I had to work with our Scryer and learn how to create Runes to hide us from other people Scrying.
The problem I would have, is that I would still be bound by whatever magic power I have in a Lacrima to counter the magic of the person doing the Scrying. Ultear has a lot of magic. The Lacrima I use on my Rune sheets wouldn't be enough to stop her if she wanted to put a lot of effort behind it, channelled her magic long enough that the magic of the Lacrima gets expended. I would need something massive to have a chance if she was dedicated.
Maybe if I powered it with Irene's Lacrima? Something to consider.
I stayed the night at my main research base near Crocus because it was closer to the Council Headquarters. It gave me the opportunity to get a few more supplies ready for the trip to Galuna. Then I stopped and thought for a long moment.
I was going to get the ice from Ur's Ice Shell. That was a lot of ice. The barrels wouldn't fit in my plane's cargo hold. That made transportation difficult.
Luckily, I was used to creating expanded spaces. A few Runes and my plane's cargo bay was as large as a forty-foot shipping container.
The next day, I walked to the Council Headquarters, not wanting to give away knowledge of my plane. I walked straight up to one of the Rune Knights that was standing guard at the entrance.
"Excuse me, Corporal," I greeted as I approached. "How goes your day?" No need to be rude to the guards; they were just doing a job. And most of them were actually decent people. It only tended to be the officers that were hard arses. Or those that wanted to be officers. General guards were usually pretty chill.
The senior Knight of the two looked over at me and nodded. "The day goes well, Civilian," he replied in a polite tone of voice. "Is there something you need?"
"Good to hear," I said genuinely. No one likes having a crap day at work. "Actually, yes, I was wondering if Erza Scarlet of the Fairy Tail Guild has been brought before the Magic Council for her trial today? My name is Zack Brown. I have a letter that I am seeking to submit in her defence."
The guards exchanged a look before their attention turned back to me and the Corporal gave a thoughtful frown. "While I am unable to confirm or deny whether or not anyone of that name has been brought to the Magic Council," the Knight said cautiously, "I can confirm that a Wizard of Fairy Tail with red hair has indeed entered the building. Do you wish to enter to speak in her defence?"
I shook my head. "No," I replied. "I have no need for that. I wish I could stay, but I have some pressing matters to attend to. Work must go on as you know." I shared a commiserating look with the guards, who nodded. "I am really just here to deliver the letter. I trust in the honour and integrity of our noble Magical Council employees and our capable Rune Knights to discharge their duties. However, I am more than willing to stay here while you inspect the letter to ensure that it is not trapped or enchanted in any way, should you require it? Though, I assure you that I am not capable of casting magic on my own. I do not possess a container."
That seemed to earn me some good will, along with a couple of pitying looks from the guards. After all, to be a Rune Knight, one must first have a magic container. I took the letter from my pocket and opened the envelope, pulling the letter out and showing that there was indeed, nothing else inside. The Corporal pulled out an eyeglass that could detect magic and ran his eye over both the letter and envelope and confirmed that there was indeed no magic on either.
Once done, the junior Knight was sent to look for a Council messenger, who would take the letter to be read during Erza's trial. I thanked the Rune Knights and offered them a drink of water, which they both declined as they were on duty. After that, I left.
At no time did the Knights, or the messenger read the letter. If they had, they may not have allowed it in. I just wished that I could have been in the room when the letter was read out.
…
(ERZA POV)
Siegrain left to go to his position in the Council chamber, his smug face leaving Erza infuriated. She knew he was evil. She just wished she was in a position to stop him. After all, she didn't know exactly how, but she knew that he was involved with Jellal and the building of the Tower of Heaven somehow. She knew he needed to be stopped!
She shook her dark thoughts off, letting her mind go blank as the strange frog lady led her towards the Council chamber where she would be told her charges and assigned a punishment. All trumped up, of course. The Magic Council was looking to punish Fairy Tail in some fashion and she was happy to take the blame instead of it being given to the Guild that she loved.
Just before the made it to the closed doors of the chamber, another person in robes ran up to the frog woman.
"Excuse me!" the think man cried out, waving an envelope in his hand. "I have evidence to submit for the defence in this case against Miss Erza Scarlet!"
Erza blinked in surprise. Makarov sent a letter for her defence? He didn't usually do that. Maybe it was one of the other Guild Masters? Bob seemed a likely candidate. Goldmine wasn't. Still, knowing that someone had been willing to put something forward for her defence warmed her heart slightly. It was touching.
"A letter?" one of the voices from the Council spoke up. "Who sent it?"
"The man who dropped it off identified himself as Zack Brown," the Council employee reported dutifully as he gave the letter to the toad woman.
Erza gaped for a moment, before she smiled, feeling a warmth in her chest. Zack was still looking out for her. She had worried that he would be too offended to want to be close with her again. Thankfully, it seemed that he wouldn't hold a grudge if he was willing to submit a letter on her behalf.
He also wasn't stupid if he chose to only send a letter instead of coming in himself. She knew all too well that the Council didn't like Zack.
The Council members muttered to themselves softly, before the second chair, Councilman Org, raised a hand to the messenger frog. "Very well," he said gruffly. "We may regret this, but you may read the letter out loud for us all now."
The strange frog being stepped forward and cleared her throat, holding up the letter to read.
"To the esteemed Magic Council of…" the frog woman cut herself off and gaped at the letter. The silence in the chamber grew as she opened and closed her mouth, looking like she was too in shock to keep reading any further than that.
"Well?" Org demanded from his position in the second seat. "Don't just stop!"
"Yes," Jellal said, looking supremely amused as he smiled down at the messenger with a condescending look on his face. It made Erza's skin itch. "Don't keep us all in suspense. I am sure that we are all dying to know what Mister Brown's letter says."
The frog lady looked up at the Council for a long moment, before clearing her throat again.
"To the esteemed Magic Council of," she paused with a wince, "blowhards, morons and active traitors to the Crown of Ishgar."
Everything stopped for a long moment as everyone, including Jellal, who Erza noted with a look of satisfaction had stopped and looked at the messenger in surprise and maybe even a little annoyance.
"It seems like it was just yesterday that you tried to take the laws of the Kingdom of Fiore into your own hands, pretending to outrank the royal family in your arrogance and supreme stupidity that naturally comes to a person or to a group of people such as yourselves, who think that their position makes them above the law and above the people they are supposed to have stewardships over; that 'might makes right'. You have forgotten your mandate on occasion and sought to promote yourselves, forgetting that even the highest have to be held accountable to someone. And remember, the higher that you go, the farther you can fall.
"But it seems that those lessons that you learned when you attempted to imprison a person who was forced to kill evil wizards that were stronger than him in self-defence have been forgotten or ignored, because you have grown fat and lazy, attacking the law-abiding guilds while ignoring the crimes of the openly Dark Guilds. It is nice to know that your courage only exists to fight those who won't fight back against you. Truly, you are inspirational to all petty criminals in Fiore. Thank you for giving them examples to aspire to.
"However, while you may have all forgotten the lessons that you learned three years ago, you may sleep well at night knowing that I have not forgotten them. So, as you have a law-abiding Wizard who has willingly and unresistingly presented herself to you, despite knowing that the guilt has already been determined, you normally would puff up your chests and spout your drivel before giving a fine. Then the law-abiding Wizard would go their way, accepting the punishment out of a sense of guilt that has nothing to do with this incident, but from trauma that leaves them feeling as though they are not deserving of true happiness and will accept any punishment from any person as a form of penance. Even if the Wizard in question is being a moron and doesn't realise that she has done more than enough to earn forgiveness and in fact has been forgiven by the parties she once hurt, and that the one person who drags it out does so because he thinks so little of you and has a kink for causing pain. Though, that last one is because he has the unfortunate feelings of inadequacy for his three-and-a-half-inch penis that has never fully pleased a woman. And if his co-conspirator stopped faking it, he would have found that out ages ago, but she likes to lead him along, making him think that his ideas are his own. But I digress. The young Wizard in question should realise that even if she doesn't realise, her friends already consider her family and would die for her, that they value her above their own lives if necessary. I even had to stop a certain pink-haired idiot from dressing up in drag and pretending to be said Wizard because he wouldn't let his family get unlawfully punished."
Erza stared open mouthed at the frog woman. What had Zack been on about? Is that truly what he thought? She closed her mouth as she considered the words. Was he right? Was she denying herself true happiness and connections because she felt guilty for leaving Wally, Simon, Milliana and Sho, and having Rob die. She knew that Zack had referred to that several times, telling her she deserved true happiness, that it was her right to do so, but she had always held herself back, not wanting to turn against her memories of Jellal or her other friends. Being open with Zack had been the only times she felt like she could really let go of all those troubles.
Now, to hear her insecurities laid bare, right in Seigrain's face, was concerning. She didn't want him of all people to hear that! But it took real concerted effort to not start laughing at the shock and fury that the blue-haired wizard had on his face as he heard Zack's insults. She wondered who the co-conspirator was, but she didn't really care right now.
Honestly, seeing that Zack had written to the Council to defend her meant a great deal. It touched her that he would reach out on her behalf, despite her cold shoulder that she had given him after the Dark Wizards had tried to kill him and he had killed them in self-defence, made it seem like he was still there for her.
It warmed her heart in a way she didn't think it could. It also made it harder to ignore that feeling of butterflies…
"But back to you bloated Council egos, and not the hypothetical innocent Wizard with the awesome rack," Erza gaped at the letter, her face blushing at the audacity of Zack's perverted comment so strongly that she wouldn't be surprised if her cheeks blended into her hair, "I have a question for you: Do you think the King would accept the Council charging a Wizard on a job who committed a minor infraction, when the job in question was to try and retrieve a Demon of Zeref that the Council somehow managed to lose from their secure vaults, when a mere A Class Dark Wizard had to stay in the vault for days to break the seal on the Demon and was able to do so without being detected?
"Will the King accept the scapegoat that the Council is attempting to present without punishment, when the two hundred witnesses I was able to find in less than an hour would be able to present evidence that the Council is trying to cover up their crime? How quick before the King needed to make an example of the Council for trying to participate in such casual corruption against his citizens?
"The time is coming, you ancient ghosts, politicians and traitors, where you will find yourselves unable to hide your crimes. The harder you try, the faster they shall be revealed, especially if you attempt to hurt others that don't deserve it. Oh, and before people in the room think I am joking, here is a series of random, unconnected words that won't mean anything except to the people involved. Tower eight; Meredy; Orkstone; Balon; Kitty Fuel; Jackal."
The words meant nothing to Erza, but she was certain that several of the Council members flinched heavily at the words and stare at the frog woman in horror. She knew she wasn't the only one that saw their reactions as Councilman Yajima stared hard at several of his fellow members and had to wonder what the cause of that was. Interestingly, she saw Siegrain and the younger woman both jerked back as if they were burned.
"I think that will do. And Erza;" she blinked as she looked over at the toad woman again. "If they still drag it out, just Requip into that purple lace lingerie set that you used when I was trying to help you learn more about seduction. And seeing as you are a little bigger in the chest and ass now than you were when we were learning together, it will make it look like you are about to burst out as it will be tighter and more revealing. That image alone should be enough to send some of these old geezers to a hospital for blood loss and heart attacks. They will probably even thank you for it. Maybe not Belno though. She might just be a little jealous. Ultear will be even more jealous, knowing that for once, when these geezers have their private time in the bath, they won't be thinking about her. It's the only reason she wears such a short kimono to Council meetings like this. But I know that they will remember you till the Arc of Time, I mean end of time. I know I will. The memory of those lessons kept me warm during the cold nights of the campaigns back in Iceberg. Remember dear, it's all about the confidence."
Erza almost wanted to start throwing things around with her telekinesis as she clenched her hands in embarrassment. Everything just kept getting worse! She wanted to hit the man, thank him, hug him, then hit him again. She was mortified, amused and blushing at the bawdy words like crazy.
That said, she also had some pleasant memories of rubbing up against Zack during the seduction training. His hands were warm and firm like in her books…
She shook her head as the toad woman finished the letter.
"Anyway you lot, consider yourselves warned. 'The Council isn't just some powerful group that can do everything they want; they are to be held to a higher standard, for theirs is the responsibility to keep themselves clean from the muck that pervades the Dark Guilds as they protect the rest of the country.' Those were the words of our benevolent king at my trial, if you recall. Be the Council He expects you to be.
Your conscience,
Zack Brown
P.S. In case any of you decide that me disappearing will make your secrets never see the light of day, don't worry about it. I made sure to have plans in place that in the event of my untimely death, disappearance or imprisonment, that all of the secrets I know regarding you will be made known to every single person in Fiore. You wouldn't be able to show your faces in public out of fear of being abused, and even hunted in some cases, for your actions. My continued freedom, safety and health is all that is keeping this iteration of the magic Council from mostly being executed. My loss of those freedoms would end it. And I am a man of my word.
P.S. Ultear, get a proper kimono. Your legs are great, but the one-sleeved look is ridiculous. It does nothing to hide your Heart."
Silence filled the room again. A dreadful silence, full of anger, horror and offended people on the Council. Several of the Councillors were letting their powerful magic loose, causing the frog people and low-level Knights to faint at the pressure that they were forcing on the chamber.
"How dare he?!" Org roared out.
"The fiend!" Councilman Michello cried.
The voices of several other councillors joined them in exclamations of outrage. Erza couldn't help gaping after the toad woman, who ran back out of the room to hide from the magical pressure still being exerted by the furious Council members. She couldn't help looking up to Siegrain and was surprised, but happy, to see his face twisted into a snarl of hatred. The younger woman, Ultear, was a little more composed, though her eyes were almost glowing as she glared into the distance, her expression beyond furious.
For the satisfaction that she had at seeing how put out the evil Councillor was from Zack's letter, Erza couldn't help but feel that the embarrassment that Zack had shoved onto her in that letter might have been easily worth it. Still, he deserved to be punished; and now that she was thinking more clearly, physical violence wasn't the way to go. He was too fragile for someone of her strength to be punished without likely doing more damage than she wanted to do.
She looked down at herself, casting an eye over her armoured body, before smirking. Well, there were certainly more ways to punish a man than just hitting him…
"Silence!" Gran Doma bellowed above the noise of the other angry Councillors. It took two more shouts before the last of the Council cease their noise and turned their attention to him. "The question remains, despite the complete disrespect broached in this letter, what course of action do we take?"
A few muffled voices spoke up through the room, but no one seemed to be willing to put their thoughts out there right away.
Finally, the Chairman, Crawford Seam let out a sigh. "While his words are deplorable," the bearded old man began in a grandfatherly voice, "they are not without actual merit."
Several councillors started to loudly object, only to fall silent by the raised hand of the Chairman. "You all here know that I am growing tired of the recklessness of Fairy Tail," he continued, causing Erza to flinch a little. "I would rather that such excesses of failure to act appropriately be curtailed in full. However, the words spoken were not fully wrong: the failure to prevent the theft and release of the Demon Lullaby was not at the fault of Erza Scarlet, nor was it Fairy Tail's. It was ours. If presented to the King in the wrong way, this would cause the King to possibly look at dismissing members from this Council for acting inappropriately for their station. It would certainly cause the Council to lose face, more than having a Dark Wizard stealing the Demon in the first place was."
There was a silence that settled over the room as even those most vehemently against Zack's letter considered the Chairman's words.
"Erza Scarlet," the Chairman addressed her, making her stand taller at his attention. "The charges against you are withdrawn and you may return to Fairy Tail."
Recognising the dismissal, Erza bowed to the Council and turned, leaving the room before a certain blue-haired councillor could say anything else.
The moment the door to the Council chamber closed, she could hear the shouting start up between them again, along with even more magical power being leaked from the councillors. If she wasn't an S Class Wizard, she had no doubt that she would have fainted from the power the group was letting off.
She decided that the smart thing to do was find Natsu and get out of there while she could. On her way back to Magnolia, she could think about other ways to punish Zack for his comments in that letter.
Excellent rack? Purple lingerie? Yes, she couldn't help the smirk that crossed her face or the butterflies in her stomach as she thought on how to punish her… friend.
…
(Zack POV)
A shiver went down my spine as I flew in my plane. I had a feeling that something had happened and someone was planning something against me. I didn't know exactly who, but after the comment I had put into that support letter for Erza's trial, it could have been any of them.
Was it dangerous? Sure, but it was funny. Besides, I already had plans on how to protect myself from that group. The ones that I couldn't be sure of were the Demons of Tartaros, who the corrupt chairman was reporting to.
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Jackal. Oh well, too late now.
I guess I would have to work harder on Irene's Lacrima. If I could do that, I might be able to get a crazily powerful benefactor with a vested interest in keeping me alive. That would surely go far to making sure I didn't get removed from life early. Or maybe I had something else in my back pocket to protect me.
We would have to see.
In the meantime, I had other things to do. Now that I was able to get Erza taken care of, and I knew I was going to pay for that in some fashion later on when I saw her in person again, I needed to go to my next stop; a place of demons.
Galuna Island.
While this might seem coincidental to the Fairy Tail timeline, it was also because I had been wanting to experiment on something else that was connected to the events of Galuna Island. Not the pink moon thing that was covering the island. No, I was more interested in the magic that was being used to hold that demon that Lyon was planning to release in his idiotic plan to defeat it in an attempt to outdo his master, Ur.
Side note, Ur was also a name that I think should have been changed. Sounds too much like I was grunting every time I said it.
Back on track, that spell that she used to hold the demon, Ice Shell, was something that I had a lot of interest in. After all, in the anime at least, it looked like the person still lived in some form or other despite their body and life energy being converted into the Ice Shell used to hold its target.
Ignoring the conversion of energy rates and so on that I would normally focus on during a magical spell, and how it would be replicable through the use of Runes, I was considering it from another aspect. If the water was able to be captured completely and all brought to the same place, was it possible to reform the body of the person and bring them back to life? Was the Ice Shell spell only considered a fully sacrificial spell because no one had thought of a magical way to return the person to their body? Or if the ice was melted, like it was with Lyon and Sherry, then was it just not captured to be able to heal the body?
My hypothesis on the matter was that if there was enough of the water captured from the shell, then there should be enough matter of the original person left to be able to reform them. And if they were alive, then it would basically treat them like they were in stasis the entire time. Magic could be kind like that sometimes and I was choosing to be optimistic.
There were other possibilities, of course. For one thing, Ur had lost a leg before she was frozen. She was going to have one less leg if she was brought back in her entirety. or the matter could be converted across the whole and she would just be a little shorter, or slimmer than before.
Another possibility was that she was just dead. That it was possible to reform her body, but her soul was long gone and all we got was an echo. I hoped that wasn't the case. There seemed to be a lot of possibilities in how this could pan out and I wasn't sure which of the possible result could work. Hell, it could be none of them and she couldn't be reformed, in which case I got a whole bunch of water that I had no purpose for.
However it panned out, if it was possible to make Ur whole again and bring her back to life, then I would do it. She was useful to some of my other plans, but she was also a good person who had given a lot for the protection of others. As far as I was concerned, if it was possible then she should be allowed a second chance.
I was also wary of trying to do too much. I didn't want to turn out like Zeref or Mavis, after all, with their Curse. If she was dead, I would just reform the body for burial and remembrance. I wasn't going to do anything regarding the soul if there was no soul there.
Anyway, after I dropped the letter to defend Erza and lightly threaten the Council in their meeting, I quickly got back in my plane and took off for the coast, heading southeast towards Galuna Island.
Luckily, unlike Tenrou Island, Galuna was recorded on every accessible map in Fiore. That made finding it a lot easier. Unfortunately, cartography was still a developing art and directions weren't exactly precise on a map.
Sure I could have gotten more specific directions if I had gone to Hargeon and spoken to a ship's captain or navigator, but being high enough in the sky to be able to see the island so far away meant that I could avoid a lot of those navigational issues. Plus, it was well established that there were whirlpools and heavy rocks around Galuna and I had no desire to go through that on a boat if I could just fly over it.
I loved flying so much. It was so convenient. I don't know why more people didn't do it!
Finally, Galuna Island came into view on the horizon, just as the sun was starting to reach its zenith. I flew low over it, taking note of the village and the temple. I decided to avoid the village. I know that the demons on Galuna didn't currently know they were demons, and even when they had their memories back, they were actually pretty reasonable people, at least from what the anime showed. However, I had a lot of memories fighting against demons on my ill-fated century quest. While I wouldn't hold the deaths of my friends against the demons on Galuna, I wasn't really interested in seeing more demons than I had to.
I chose a clearing near the temple, where I knew that that demons wouldn't be able to go to, and descended, making sure to land safely and watch out for potholes. Then I taxied to the cover of some trees and climbed out, putting up my protective ward stones.
A sudden chill in the air as I finished doing that let me know that someone was watching me.
I turned around and saw a small group of people. A weird dog-man that was only wearing a pair of blue pants; a shorter man with the king of all eyebrows; an attractive and well-endowed young woman with pink hair wearing a pink strappy dress; and finally, the main reason for the chill in the air, a young man with snow white hair, wearing a large white coat.
Team Lyon had arrived.
I gave them a grin. "Hey Lyon," I called out, waving as I approached. "It's been a while. Sherry, you've grown even more beautiful than the last time I saw you!" I looked at the other two. "I am afraid that I haven't met the two of you yet. I am Zack Brown. Pleasure to meet you."
The two new guys looked uncertainly towards Lyon, who didn't move an inch, even as Sherry gave me a coy smile.
"Sorry, Mister Brown," Sherry said, moving closer to Lyon. "But your flattery will do nothing to attract my love, for it is destined towards another!"
My grin widened as I looked from her to Lyon and back. "Oh, well in that case, I wish you well in your efforts to receive the love you give." I gave an exaggerated grasp at my heart and closed my eyes. "However, I shall have to find a way to push on through my own heartbreak, to know that such a fair maiden has rejected me before I had the chance to win her love!"
She giggled at my acting as the new guys gave me a cautious smile. Lyon still watched on silently, his expression stone-faced as he ignored Sherry and her affections. "I'm sure you'll survive." She gestured to the new guys. "As for these two, they are Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horhota. They have been working alongside us for about two years now."
"And I no longer go by the name of Lyon," Lyon said stiffly, trying to make himself look regal. "I am now the Ice Emperor. You will address me by my title."
I looked at him in feigned confusion. "Say what?"
He scowled at me, the first expression I had seen him make. "You will address me as the Ice Emperor."
I looked at him flatly for a long full minute. The silence went on so long that the other three were beginning to sweat nervously.
"Nope," I eventually said cheerfully. "I knew you as an annoying squirt Lyon who decided he was going to drag a demon to this island to do a ritual to unseal it, I knew you as the determined kid Lyon who started that ritual here three years ago and made a deal with that Lyon that he had better hope is still going on. As such, I will only refer to you as Lyon. If you want to have someone refer to you by a title that you made up, then you will get someone else to do it."
He immediately growled at me, as did Sherry. The two other guys, Yuka and Toby, lost their smiles and turned serious, moving to take combat stances.
"You will show me the proper respect, or I will cancel our deal immediately, you non-Wizard!" Lyon snapped at me, icy whisps starting to form around his hands.
I smirked at him. "Oh, Lyon," I said, a slight mocking edge in my tone, "you'd best not start threatening to cancel deals you made. Didn't I teach you this before? If you make a deal, you better keep to it, otherwise no one will trust you with deals later and you will find yourself hard pressed to get people to do what you want without planning to kill you because they can't trust you to not kill them first."
He flinched slightly at that, but I ignored it and put my hands in my pocket. "But," I continued with a smile, "if you want to 'show me the proper respect', you are free to do so, Little Lyon."
He growled at that and threw his hand forward. "Ice Make: Ti…guh."
He cut off his spell when he found my knife at his throat. I had done the same trick to him that I had done to Brandish. With my hands in my pockets, I could activate my micro-portkey and jump behind him, grabbing a knife out of my other pocket to put at his throat. While everyone froze in shock at me having teleported, I jammed another anti-magic Rune sheet and stuck it to the back of his neck. I didn't move away though, nor lower the knife. After all, there were three others here that would attack me if I didn't get an agreement first.
"Move to the front, Sherry," I ordered firmly, my tone commanding. "Both of you as well. I would hate to twitch right now. Otherwise, Little Lyon might never be able to complete his wish of surpassing the better ice mage that was his instructor."
Sherry looked terrified as she moved around to be in front of me and Lyon. She was joined a moment later by Yuka and Toby a moment later. They both looked at me warily.
"You fool," Lyon ground out, trying to now move too much with my knife pressing at his throat. "Ice Make: Spear!"
He had moved a hand back to aim it at me and tried casting his attack spell, only for nothing to happen. Just as I expected from my Rune work.
A look of panic crossed his face. "No!" he cried out. "Ice Make: Lance! Ice Make: Tiger! Ice Make: Blizzard! Why isn't it working?!"
"Oh, poor Little Lyon," I mocked him. "That was four potentially deadly attacks that you tried to use on me. I think that means it is only fair that I now stab you four times in potentially deadly places. After all, I am a fair guy. I stick to my agreements."
Full blown fear crossed his face as I moved the knife to the side of his neck, the trail of my knife causing a very thin scratch on his neck. Sherry screamed when she saw it but didn't dare cast a spell at me.
"Oh look Sherry," I said, continuing my mockery. "I cut him. That's one." I lowered the knife slowly down along his chest, feeling him shivering in fear as it slowly moved, the sharp blade cutting easily through his coat buttons on its way down. I stopped, keeping the sharp tip of my knife digging right into Lyon's groin. "Seeing as you clearly don't seem to have any interest in the beautiful woman who is throwing herself at you, I guess you don't need this anymore. So this will be number two."
"No, please!" Lyon shrieked as Sherry's face went white. "I'm sorry! I'll never do it again and I will stick to all of our agreements! I won't ever attack you again and I promise I won't betray you! Please just don't do any more!"
I paused. "And how can I guarantee that you will stick to your agreements this time?" I asked with a sneer in my voice as I dug the knife in just a tiny bit, drawing a whimper out of Lyon. "After all, you have shown that you have none of the honour that your master had. You are showing that your manner is so pathetically below Ur that I think she would be ashamed of the man you are today."
He flinched. "I-I," he stammered. "I don't know! But I can promise you I won't do anything! Ask whatever you want from me!"
I considered it for a moment, before I reached into my pocket and pulled out another Rune sheet. "I am going to put this on your back," I declared. "It is a Rune set that will be tied to another sheet that I keep on my person. If you go against any of the things we are going to agree to now, or if your companions attack me thinking that they can take me out to protect you, I will activate the Runes, which will cause your lungs to fill up with blood and it will slowly suffocate you. And if you think you can beat that, don't worry, because your heart will be stopped completely three minutes later." I grinned at Lyon, who was watching me terrified. "And don't worry, the Rune sheet won't stay on you long. The Runes themselves will attach to your soul. They will last forever. Isn't that nice?"
It sounded horrific, but they didn't actually do that. The Runes did mimic that though, making the one they were attached to think they were choking before knocking them unconscious. It was a torture technique that one of the soldiers in Iceberg came up with. It wasn't one of mine, but I did use it. And the Runes did actually attach to the soul, but I wasn't sure whether or not they would last forever.
"I-I, fine!" Lyon shouted.
I stuck the sheet on his neck and waited for ten seconds for the Runes to disappear, before I stepped back.
Lyon immediately stepped forward out of my arms and Sherry ran over to the ice mage and began fussing over the tiny scratch on his neck.
"What is your problem?" she demanded loudly, glaring at me. "We had an arrangement!"
"That your precious Lyon was breaking when he attacked me," I replied calmly. "He, and all three of you, clearly thought that you could break an agreement with me simply because I don't have magic. That I was less than you because of it."
I leaned forward towards her and Lyon, who both stiffened as if I was threatening them.
"Do you really think that I could go through more than a year of war in Bosco, and not learn how to kill A-Class Wizards?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at them. "Did you think that I would only be able to do minor jobs because of my lack of ability to cast magic like you?"
All four of the Wizards in front of me stayed silent, but from the guilty expressions on their faces, it was clear that, yes, they did indeed think that.
It was understandable; nearly no one else who couldn't use magic would be able to stand up to Wizards the way I could. I just happened to have a unique perspective and a determination to win that would let me do it. After all, if I just let things play out, I would likely have been put into slavery or just killed a long time ago.
I refused to let myself be a victim because I couldn't cast magic. Hence my Runes and my training.
I shook my head and leaned back. "Sherry," I said, mock-sadly, "it appears as if you don't know what real love is, if that is your thoughts about me. What would Sherria think, if she found out that's how you viewed people? Would she believe that you had real love?"
Sherry flinched heavily and looked at the ground.
I huffed and looked at the group as a whole. "It appears as though I have a group of Dark Wizards here," I said, my tone switching to something a little more threatening. "Certainly, unsealing a powerful demon would be considered a Dark Wizard activity. In fact, they only just had someone try that a few days ago in Clover Town, where they succeeded in releasing a B-Class demon. Considering how embarrassed the Magic Council was over that little event, I wonder how quickly they would shut you down if someone told them about you lot?"
The blood left all four of their faces as they received the threat.
"Now," I said, looking straight at Lyon, "I trust that there will be no further talk of betrayal? Nor any thoughts about revenge or trying to force me to say some silly little title that you haven't earned?"
He flinched and looked down, but shook his head all the same.
"Good," I said. "By the way, Lyon?" he flinched against as he looked up at me. "You will have your magic back in a little under twenty minutes. Understood?"
He looked relieved, as did Sherry. After living as Wizards their whole lives, I can only imagine how it would feel to not be able to use magic anymore. "Now, let's get to the reason that I am even here. How much have you got for me?"
Lyon swallowed nervously. "Follow me," he said.
He led the way down to the lower levels of the temple where the demon was currently stuck, sitting under the pale pink light of the ritual that was letting it defrost, for lack of a better word.
As we walked, I couldn't help looking at Lyon and wondering what had caused the change. He had been a little stiff the last time I saw him, but nothing like this. It made me feel the need to speak up.
"So, Lyon," I began conversationally. "Why did you start acting like a dickhead? When I saw you last, before I went to fight in Iceberg, you acted normal. Sherry I can understand; she's planning on following you because she wants a relationship with you, but what made you change?"
He flinched and looked down a little. "Am I really that bad?"
I looked at him deadpan. "You tried to kill me with an ice attack because I wouldn't go along with your new title," I said bluntly.
He winced. "Not kill," he defended himself weakly. "I was just trying to scare you mostly. It would have roughed you up a little. I didn't launch an attack that would kill you until you had a knife to my neck."
I hummed at that. "Fair point," I replied. "But how was I supposed to know? You gave yourself a title like emperor that usually is something tyrants give themselves, you are trying to bring a demon back to life and then you cast an ice attack on me. What was I supposed to think? I only took that level of drastic action because you acted like the slavers of Bosco."
This time, all four of the Wizards flinched. "I guess I didn't think about that," Lyon said, looking miserable. "I-I'm… sorry I attacked you. I wasn't really going to go back on our deal. I just feel the need to do better than my master."
I sighed. It was hard sometimes to think that these Wizards were just kids with power. Other times, it was hard to look at them as anything but kids with power.
"Fine," I said. "If you and your little crew here behave yourselves properly and stop thinking I am just some helpless little nobody, or thinking I am a threat, then when we are done, I will destroy the Runes on you. Happy?"
An expression of cautious relief crossed Lyon's face. "Deal," he said quickly.
With that, the atmosphere became far less tense and we continued our journey to the lower level of the temple, coming to see the massive frozen demon. Deliora.
It was frozen just as it was in the anime. I don't know exactly how Lyon managed to get it under the temple like this, but he did something about it.
Underneath the demon, there was a large waterproof sheet, like a tarp but not quite the same material, it led down even further until it curved and drained through a pipe. The pipe went down further and emptied into several large oak barrels.
It almost looked like a whisky store. Except the whisky was water that was also the body of an attractive woman.
The saying 'a tall glass of water crossed my mind, making me grin at the thought.
"What's so funny?" Toby asked, frowning at me. I guess the guy hadn't fully gotten over the earlier exchange.
"Nothing," I replied easily. "I am just glad to see that you guys kept your side of the bargain. Thank you. Now," I looked up the path that we took to get here, "I just need to get these up to my plane and I can get the full ones out of the way."
"Are you going to tell me what you are planning to do yet?" Lyon asked, giving me a frown of his own. "I know you said that you wouldn't' disrespect her, but, well, this is my master here."
I nodded. "I am not going to do anything bad," I promised. "I am actually going to see if it is possible to bring her back."
Lyon gaped at me, as did the others. "You can resurrect her?" Sherry asked. "That is a supreme act of love!"
I chuckled and waved her down. "I don't know yet," I admitted. "In my mind it is technically possible. After all, the physical presence is still here, though in the shape of the ice, her magic is still present in the spell. Besides, it is more respectful than letting her remains turn into sludge. If nothing else, I will try to restore her body to give a proper burial. But, that will also mean that you will need to get as much of the ice as possible when Deliora breaks out of the last of the shell. If too much is left in the dirt then it might cause issues with the reformation."
"That's… going to be difficult to do once the demon is freed," Yuka said, frowning thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.
I nodded. "True. Would you be able to find a way to save the ice that is left when Deliora manages to be broken out of the shell?"
The group of Wizards looked at each other. "Maybe Zalty will have an idea?" Sherry asked cautiously. "But he is lacking love."
I refrained from shaking my head at her love declaration. "Who is Zalty?" I asked, remembering I am supposed to be completely clueless.
"Someone who helped us get Deliora here," Lyon said. "He is a Wizard that has a few unique spells. He is on the island but decided to go for a walk and watch out over the village before you got here."
So Ultear was somewhere on the island? I guess it meant that she was just using her Thought Projection to attend that Council meeting. I blinked. Oh, wait. Ultear was already here. That wasn't good. I wasn't on my home turf with my defences yet. Time to change that before she came after me. I don't know if she was going to call my bluff, but I imagined that there would at least be a… chat with her in my near future.
I clapped my hands. "Well, if I could trouble you four," I said loudly, bringing their attention back to me, "I can pay you to help bring these barrels up to my plane so that I can take them away for experimenting on how to bring Ur back. One hundred thousand jewels to get the barrels up there."
They all blinked, but not many people can turn down easy money, even if it was split four ways. It took an hour, but eventually we got the barrels up through the temple to my plane, making sure that there were more barrels in place to catch the slow, steady drip of water from the moon ritual.
It took another ten minutes before I got the barrels secure in my cargo hold. Finally, it was all done.
I wiped my brow and turned back to waiting four. "Alright," I said, throwing over a back of jewels to Sherry, who caught it easily. "Not sure why you could have got your giant rat to help us though."
"Angelica is full of love!" Sherry declared dramatically. "So she needed a nap."
I raised an eyebrow and looked at Yuka. He sighed. "She overate at breakfast and is sleeping," he explained dully.
I nodded. "Gotcha." I turned to Lyon. "Well, you kept your bargain, and as you found out, you can use your ice magic again. So, here." I reached into my pocket and grabbed out another Rune sheet. "This is the sheet connected to the Runes that were put on your body earlier. They come in pairs and can only be controlled from the paired sheet." I ripped the Rune sheet in half, destroying it easily. Lyon gave a massive sigh of relief.
"Just don't be a dickhead to me again, all right?" I asked casually, as if I was asking a friend.
He gave a soft chuckle. "Fine," he agreed, reaching out to shake my hand. I shook it and he didn't even try to chill me at all. I guess the near death experience had knocked the arrogance out of him. Except that it was me doing it, instead of Gray like in the anime. Hopefully that wouldn't cause a problem later.
They started to turn and head away somewhere else, before stopping when I called out to them.
"By the way," I said, "I wouldn't be surprised if Gray Fullbuster rocks up soon with some other Fairy Tail Wizards. I don't care if you go with the Ice Emperor routine for them. Just no killing anyone, alright?"
He smirked at me and nodded, before turning and continuing his walk away into the bushes. Once they were gone, I looked back at my plane. It had been up here and Ultear was somewhere on the island. I wasn't going to put it past her to do some sabotage.
I looked over the plane carefully, making sure there was nothing wrong with the tyres, the ailerons, the wings and flaps, the connection to the power Lacrima, and every other crucial part that would cause the plane to either crash or just not fly. It took another hour of just looking it over. Nothing. I couldn't find any damage. That seemed odd.
I was about to hop into the cockpit when I got the feeling to duck my head and look at the inside of the ladder recess. There was a tiny Rune scheme scratched into it. With my experience, I could easily see that the Runes were to do with tracking and tracing. Ultear was looking to follow me.
I thought about it for a moment. I had thought earlier this morning that I shouldn't make it easy for my enemies to find me. But, as it turned out, Ultear was already here. She had found me. She might even be looking at me right now, watching to see what I would do.
I considered my circumstances for the moment. I could remove the Runes in a moment; with my knowledge it would be simple. But I don't know if she would resort to drastic measures to find me. But if I got ahead of it, I could control things far more than I would otherwise be able to. I could choose the ground and set myself up for the confrontation.
My thoughts came to a solid conclusion: I could use this. Was it risky? Yes, especially as I had let some information out about her double-agent act. Would it work? Maybe. Was it worth the risk? Maybe, maybe not. It would depend on how likely she was to attack me on sight or if she would listen when I spoke to her. She hadn't attacked me yet though, even though she knew where I was That stood for something, right?
For better or worse, I decided to leave it there. I would just have to go to one of my other bases, one that I didn't care about losing. I wasn't going to have Ultear of all people have access to either of my main bases; my research centre or my main home. Somewhere I could take an enemy in case of emergency.
Luckily, I had one such place. It wasn't really designed for that, but I was willing to lose it if I needed to.
With that in mind, I got in my cockpit and took off to the north, leaving Galuna Island to fade in the distance behind me.
…
A/N Please Review and Follow/Favourite as you please.
Not going to lie, I had fun writing that letter to the Council. I can see that several people would be very cautious going on from there. Maybe some will seek vengeance. Who knows?
Sherry is an odd one to write. I tried to give Lyon his in-character arrogance, until he thought he had lost his magic, after which he calmed down when he realised he was still in danger but defeated. Hopefully I got the mixture right.
Setting things up for a meeting with Ultear. I wonder how that will go when he has already insulted her and shown he has knowledge about her?
Until next time!