A tube flushed from Hell's Core. Rose blinked awake slowly, grumbling from the chilly air. The demon glanced towards Lamy, who had a wide grin on her lips. "Riiiiiiise and shinnnnnnne!" The lamb exclaimed.
Groaning, Rose dried herself off before slipping into the clothes she left some time ago. "I fell asleep for a while in there…what's going on…?"
"Actually…" Lamy poked her fingers together. "I put you in there yesterday. You kept fainting once every other day after you got back from that little tower thing. I believe it has to do something with your fragmented consciousness…but I fixed it now! Fwahaha!"
Rose rubbed her head, completely confused but decided not to question it. She then placed a hand on her heart. It was beating weird. She didn't like it... "I see…Being near Wendy probably made me sick. I've been incredibly sick to my stomach since I laid eyes on her…I cannot wait to tear her damn heart out…"
"Again with that potty mouth!" Lamy swooned. "Such a naughty little girl! Where does all that pent up aggression come from anyway?! I bet Wendy would just haaate to hear you say these words-!"
Before Lamy could say anything, Rose slammed her against the wall with her piercing red gaze. "Don't you dare utter that disgusting name in my presence ever again, are we clear?"
"Uwaaaah! You're not Jackal-kun! You don't have the right to touch me like this!" Lamy objected before her curse allowed her to literally slip from Rose's grasp and back onto her feet. "Also, I believe Marde-sama said he wanted to see you! So you should do something about that before he gets really, really angry!"
"W-…" Rose gave up and shook her head. "Unbelievable…"
"Rose-chan!" That voice belonged to little Sora, who surprised Rose by leaping onto her back. "You're awake now!"
"Oh…hey Sora." Rose gave a faint smile while making her way out of Hell's Core with Sora clinging to her back. "Yes, I'm fine now, thank you. I'll play with you a little later, okay? Marde-sama wants to see me first."
"Daity said the same thing…" Sora nodded before releasing Rose. "Sora wonders what's going on…it's gonna be big!" Tiny arms were thrown out as she spoke.
"I can only wonder what it is…" Rose pondered the thought before waving Sora off. She had to meet with Marde before he grew too impatient waiting. A few moments passed and Rose arrived at Marde's throne, where Jackal, Silver, Torafusa, Franmalth, Tempesta, Kyouka, Sayla, Keith and Ezel. "Oh…this is quite the party…"
"Isn't it?" Daityas appeared with a widening grin. The large throne room was now packed full of demons; on his end he had: Maggie, Kiora, Sora, Rugal, Tayakata, Tobias, Ruika, and Arcturus. "A grand stage which signifies the beginning of the end of those pesky humans; personally, I would have loved to pick them off one by one. But this plan is just as promising, wouldn't you say, Marde?"
"Of course." Tapping his fingers along the arm rest of the throne, Marde grinned while clutching the book of END close to him. "This will be the last peaceful morning these humans will experience. There is still one more day needed for our plan to fully enact…however I do wish to instill despair into their hearts."
"And how do you want to go about this?" Maggie placed her hands on her hips, staring at Marde with intrigue.
"This is where you come in, little Rose." Marde grinned. "I'm sure you've yet to actually field test your new abilities. So I want you to cause as much destruction as you can. However…do not target any major areas just yet. Begin in the evening, understand?"
"Wonderful." With a nod, Rose grinned and proceeded to head out.
"You better be careful." Tayakata added as Rose left.
"I will be." Rose responded with a nod before disappearing.
"Jackal. As for you…the morning Rose has finished her duty, I have a special job for you." Marde turned his attention to the explosive demon. "You're going to be paying a certain building a little visit…and I want you to greet every single person there. Are we clear?"
Hearing those words caused the Demon Gate to grin madly. Jackal gave a slow nod. "Crystal."
"You'll also be taking Kiora with you." Marde added.
Jackal and Kiora's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why can't it be Maggie!?" The both of them said at the same time. Flattered, Maggie just wore an amused grin.
"Sorry, loves. I guess you'll have to make due without me. I would've preferred Kiora anyway." She flashed a wink to her dark haired companion, while Jackal was stewing angrily in the background.
"Because it's more fun that way." Daityas said. Ultimately, the words of Daityas and Marde were law around Tartarus. As such, despite their clear objections, they had no choice but to obey. Daityas then turned to the rest of his crew, pointing at Rugal, Tobias, Arcturus, and Tayakata. "As for you four…I have a special job for you later. Soon after Jackal and Kiora take care of their mission."
"Finally, a little bit of action." Taya placed her hand on her hip, using her other to flip her hair. "It was beginning to grow dull in these parts…though I can only help but wonder what you two have been scheming." Black eyes darted between Marde and Dait…it was clear they weren't always on the same page, hardly ever in fact. But when they came together for something…it could only mean big trouble.
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"Oh right…" Calium walked into the main hall of White Eclipse where everyone else was relaxing. "There is something I have to inform you all of."
"What is it, old man…?" Cygnus said that last part as a reflex. Old habits die hard, and he was still getting used to seeing Calium as a young person instead of the old man that was around for years. "Er…no, I'm not gonna change that."
"Ahaha…" Calium laughed it off before continuing. "The other day, shortly after I returned, Sidney and I went to the Council and spoke to Siegrain. Sidney officially passed his Wizard Saint Title to me, so now I am Wizard Saint #2."
"Wow…" Luke blinked. "That title does fit you…I just never thought I'd ever hear it."
Sidney was sitting in his corner of the room. "Those meetings really weren't my type of thing anyway." He was literally just mumbling to himself. Nobody else heard a word of what he said.
"Anyways, that was all I wanted to inform you of." Calium nodded and returned to his office.
"I still can't believe he's back…" Aira let out a happy sigh. "Now it feels like this guild is whole again, and we have all the rookies and kids here too!" Clapping her hands together, the healer of White Eclipse had a gleam in her green eyes. "This guild is growing so quickly…"
"Peh…" Heather waved her hand dismissively from the couch. "Too big, too noisy…" As she said that she started to flip through the channels on the TV.
"You're still just as lazy as ever…" Reve shook his head, though there may have been the slightest hint of an amused grin on his lips.
"There's one thing that will never change though…" Aira shouted from the infirmary. In the next instant she appeared with a bundle of needles in hand. "It's shot day!" Those three words made the face of everyone in the room pale considerably. Shot Day was an infamous day in White Eclipse where Aira jabbed people in the arm with needlessly large needles to assist their immune system. It was all for good health! The delivery was just…not the best.
"You stay away from me with that needle." Luke shook his head.
"Oh come on Luke…" Aira pouted. "You always over exaggerate with these kinds of things…" With a sigh, the healer of White Eclipse waltzed over to Sidney and pointed the needle at him. "See, watch Sidney!" She turned to Sidney with a smile…and then Sidney just vanished in a puff of white smoke. "Oh…"
Selene decided to use this chance to sneak away. Not only that, but it was her turn to do shopping for the guild anyway. "Right…so…I'll be right back! Shopping!" With that call Selene slipped out of the White Eclipse guild hall and went down the mountain, eventually arriving at the town at the mountain's base. She was going to start shopping, but a vaguely familiar scent entered her nose and caused her to turn. "Huh…?"
Taya appeared before Selene, displaying a welcoming smile. "Selene…how long has it been? You are looking well."
Selene's purple eyes were wide in shock. The last time she saw and heard of Taya was during Tartarus' attack on Crocus during the Dealer fiasco. She was supposed to be dead….that's what Luke reported since he was on the scene at the time. "T-Taya…you're alive…?"
"Of course I am." Taya said with a faux grin, slowly closing the distance between the two. "If you think I would be one so easily to be killed…oh, you wound me, Selene. Why don't you come here and give your 'older sister' a big hug, hm? It's been so long…"
This was real. Even Taya's scent was the same…but there was off about this…Selene couldn't put her finger on it. Even though this situation was completely surreal, Selene found herself approaching Taya to wrap her arms around her for a hug. "Taya…"
"Oh, Selene…" Taya's slender arms tightened around Selene to return the tight embrace. …Or rather…they were tightened so Selene wouldn't have an easy time escaping. From the demoness's back, vectors sprouted. Before Selene could even react, a vector pierced through her stomach and she spit out blood immediately. "So naïve…but that's just what I like about you…"
"…." Selene's purple eyes were wide in pain. Her body was paralyzed and her breathing was cut short. There was a brief look of animosity at Tayakata that only lasted for a second before her eyes grew dull and closed, body falling limp against Taya's.
"I don't know what's planned for you, but sleep dreams, Selene….~" Taya cooed while gently patting the top of Selene's head before carrying her off.
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The sun started to set over Fiore. Yet another day was coming to a close…but it would not be a peaceful one. This is where the peaceful days would end and the terror would begin. A cloaked figure slowly walked through a small town completely uninvolved with all of the situations going on in Fiore recently. Rose silently made her way through the area, seemingly having no plans to destroy the area…or rather; she was just looking for an excuse. She was granted such when a child bumped into her.
"O-Oh! I'm sorry…!" The child looked to Rose and gave an apologetic smile. "I wasn't watching where I was going and…"
"Stop, drop, and roll." Rose uttered with a sly grin. With a snap of her fingers, the child burst into dark red flames before he could even figure out what was going on. The town witnessed this moment and immediately fell into a panic. "Look at you all…scattering around like ants. It's kind of amusing, actually. I want to see you all burn!" Lifting her arm up quickly, a wave of demonic flames rushed out and covered half of the town, incinerating everything within its path; people, buildings, everything. The aftermath of a single wave of flame was melted buildings, everything else in between reduced to nothing but cinders. There was an oddly content sigh passing through Rose's lips as the destruction she caused. It was horrifying to see a small child who loved life to enjoy taking it away with such ease. As for the other half of the town where people tried to escape to, Rose turned on her heel and began to inhale. "Omega Fire Demon's…Rage!" Lurching her head forward, a stream of dark red flames spewed from her mouth in all directions, making escape impossible. The end result of Rose's mini rampage was a town completely wiped off the map; people and all. Nothing remained aside from gigantic burn marks that were seared deep into the ground. With a dark giggle, Rose began to walk off to the next location. "It feels great to finally stretch…this power is wonderful and has confirmed one thing for me. Cynthia is dead."
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Back in the Fairy Tail guild hall, Wendy's ears perked slightly. There was an odd sensation in her mind that didn't sit quite right with her. It was enough for her to start looking around worriedly as though she were searching for something. "Huh…?"
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Next Time: Unhappy Reunion.