"That was exhausting…" Laura huffed while taking her place at the round table in a giant room within Pergrande Castle; this round table had thirteen other seats, only half were currently filled, the tallest one reserved for the King of Pergrande, but he was currently attending to other matters. Next to her was Lex, who wore the same gruff expression he had before the battle with Natsu and Lucy. The others who sat at the table were all donned in white coats, some of them kept their hoods on. "Throwing that fight was tougher than I thought…"
"You threw that fight…?" This comment came from the red headed male with spiky hair and yellow eyes across the table, one of the 13 commandants of Pergrande; Brax. His tone held some kind of mockery to it. "Because from what I saw…it looked like you two just flat out lost."
"Lost?!" Laura's nostrils flared at the accusation. "We were winning, and we DID win."
With a chuckle, the male next to Brax made his remark. He had bleached blonde hair and hazel eyes. "So explain why you came back with that shameful look on your face?"
A tick mark appeared on Laura's face, snarling towards the male who asked the question. "Okay, listen here, Xen…it's not my fault that blonde pulled off some random shit!"
"Random shit…?" Xen's attention was snagged, causing him to cross his legs and fold his arms under his chest. "Pray tell, what happened? Let's hear your excuse."
"Whoa, whoa…!" One of the hooded people spoke, their voice having that 'chill' vibe to it. "Let's not get all violent now…it totally kills the mood and tempo, y'know?"
"Oh shut up Wes…" Laura rolled her eyes before explaining what occurred. "So I went off of what our little spy had to show us…bringing Lex with me to that Isle of the Dragons or whatever. We had them cornered and I swore I sapped every inch of life from that blonde bitch…but then this aura appeared around her body and her magic was all creepy and dark! She temporarily got the upper hand against both Lex and I, regrettably."
"So in other words…you lost?" Brax leaned forward with a widening grin which only pissed Laura off more.
"It was a draw!" Laura corrected while gritting her teeth angrily.
"That's very unfortunate to hear…" Nercon appeared in the room while shaking her head, arms folded beneath her bosom.
"L-Lady Nercon…!?" Xen was surprised to see the lady appear in the room, but it didn't look like her attention was on the males, just Laura, who gulped silently.
"You know, Laura…" Nercon leaned down, resting her head just beside Laura's shoulder. "The only reason I let you go from the 'business' is because the King saw your talent and urged me to let you go. My King is quite fond of me, as I am of him…but if he heard about this failure, I'm sure he'd have no problem putting you back with the other ladies…you remember how popular you were back in my business, don't you?" Laura could muster no words, she merely nodded as a cold sweat beaded on her forehead. "You'd do well not to fail again…that goes for the other ladies in here, too…I'll deal with you personally if I hear of another failure. As the 13 Commandants, you should not be having such an embarrassing display…your performance is supposed to make people fear the Four Generals, who are a league above you entirely…" Silence, but nods were given to show they understood. "Excellent. Enjoy your day…I have some girls I need to break in…" With that, Nercon left.
"Wow…Lady Nercon is such a woman…" Wes commented while rubbing his gloved hands together. "The way she strikes fear into Laura leaves me speechless…to think that she's the Queen, too..."
"That's not the point…" Laura cleared her throat to regain her composure. She was still shaken up by Nercon's threat. "The point is…that aura looked similar to the one that traitor made years ago. You remember her, yes…?"
"Oh, that traitor?!" Xen slammed his hands on the table. "My former lab partner you mean? The one who stole my research and fled with that virus information…!?"
"I think stole is doing a lot of heavy lifting. She did most of the work." Laura waved her hand. "More like, all of it."
"I can see you're still heated about it…" Wes said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Listen, why are we worried about it? It could be anything else in the world, maybe she's just always been like that? Reports aren't always accurate…"
"Oh, so you're saying that our intel was WRONG!?" Laura's voice rose.
"Now, now…" Another male with a smooth voice spoke. He had short pink hair and green eyes; his stature was rather large as well. He was plucking petals from a rose, allowing the petals to flow in the breeze passing in the room. "Our spy is very through…perhaps the lack of information was not due to them withholding information…but rather, its information they did not know about. Did you think of that, Laura-san?"
"Lucius…" Laura furrowed her brows at Lucius' claim.
"What's the big deal?" Wes said while leaning back in his chair, acting all chill. "If we gotta dig deep and see if that blonde's an issue, we'll deal with it."
"Oh, so you're taking the lead on this then?" Lucius questioned with a faint smirk.
"W-Whoa, what…!?" Wes then brought his hands up, shaking them in a defensive manner. "You got the wrong guy for that. I'm totally not comfortable with that…"
"I don't think you have a say in this, #12." Lex finally made his remark with a brutish grunt.
"You're gonna send one of the lowest ranking guys to do the dirty work, huh…?" Wes sighed, blue comical lines wavering above his shrouded head. "Man, you're sending the wrong guy, let me tell you…"
"Speaking of lower ranks…" Lucius began to trail off. "I wonder how #2 is fairing..."
.
.
Natsu punched a wall in the Fairy Tail guild, pink hair creating a shade over his eyes. The events of the Isle were quickly flooding into his mind once again, and the fact he couldn't do anything to even try and stop it made everything worse. The citizens were dragons, Dhegensea betrayed and used them, Mii's betrayal, Laxus and Mira were left behind…everything was just a mess. "Damn it…"
"Everything we did was for nothing but their own benefit…" Gray clenched his hand into a fist.
"And we left Laxus and Mira-nee behind…" Lisanna was on the verge of tears.
"We have to go back for them." Natsu sounded like he made the executive decision, but Erza and Makarov weren't having it.
"Don't be so rash, Natsu," Makarov scolded.
"Don't you care about Laxus and Mira, Gramps?!" Natsu shouted.
"Of course I do," Makarov responded, keeping his cool despite Natsu's yelling. "But we can't just rush in blindly. We're outnumbered and outmatched…I've already called the Council and they are gathering the old and new Wizard Saints as we speak. Guildmasters are also involved in this since what's on the coast concerns this entire country first…"
"If we waste too much time…" Lucy worriedly began, but Erza placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Laxus and Mira are strong. They should be able to handle themselves until we arrive," Erza said with a nod. "They may have the situation handled by the time we get there." That last part was said to lighten the mood a little bit.
The doors of Fairy Tail opened slowly, causing everyone to turn. And to their surprise, it was the one person they did NOT want to see right now: Mii. "Ah! I'm glad to see you all made it! So this is Fairy Tail, huh?"
Before Mii could finish, Natsu lunged at her and slammed a fiery fist into her face, the force causing her to tumble backwards. He raised another one in preparation to just wail on her, but Erza held a firm grasp on his arm, but she was willing to let go if Mii's answers were not adequate. He didn't care that she was a girl; she endangered his guild and that was more than enough for her to pay. "The HELL are you doing here, you traitor!?"
"How did she even get here so quickly…?" Carla questioned.
"O-Oi…" Mii rubbed her nose before staring up at Natsu with a look that showed genuine concern. "I was worried."
"We aren't in the mood for any of your lies, Mii," Erza's tone was low and threatening. "Why are you here."
"That's how you thank the gal who saved all of your hides?" Mii scoffed while looking away. "Wow, so ungrateful!"
"And how did you save us, exactly?" Gajeel growled. "Your actions put us at risk if I remember clearly."
"Oh yeah…?" Mii glanced over at Wendy, who instinctively stood closer to Cynthia. "Oi, Wendy…I'm really sorry I had to use you like that, but it was the only way I was gonna get to the second story. Dhegensea told me to do it…"
"And you just listen to him now?" Gray asked.
"It's complicated…" Mii said with a frown.
"Then explain!" Cana shouted. Mii ultimately shrugged.
"BUT! After your fiery friend here nearly committed suicide, I was the one who bailed him out."
"Y-You shot at Dhegensea on purpose…?" Natsu paused for a moment. His glare still remained but he got off Mii at the very least, allowing her to stand up.
"Of course!" Mii said while dusting herself off. "You put me in a tight spot there, idiot. You see…Dhegensea and Nasir…they called me the Island's…Chosen. You could say that I'm a slave to fate, too. Nasir told me to come to the throne room of Gaius' castle, but I didn't know they were going to do that to me and make the island fall…I didn't even know my body was capable of doing something like that with the Scared Gem…."
"I think she's telling the truth on this one…" Wendy spoke up with a murmur.
"…I agree…" Levy nodded slowly. "She didn't know about the isle like we did…but there's more to it, isn't there?"
A slight smile curved onto Mii's lips and she nodded. "Mm…you're a fast learner…I think…well, I was told…they have the person I'm looking for held captive…and I was told he'd be released if I complied with their demands…I didn't say anything before because I didn't know it was true, but then I was put on the spot and had to act…"
"You put my children at risk," Makarov's voice grew low while his eyes shut. "And now two of them are out there on that island alone. Do you know the severity of what you've done to my family?"
"You sure know how to pin the guilt on someone…" Mii sighed. "I helped them make a break for it too. Though they're still on the island, along with those White Eclipse mages…I couldn't just carry them all the way…"
"Are you telling us the truth?" Lucy stepped closer to Mii, brown eyes staring directly into Mii's green.
"Honest." Mii nodded slowly.
"I don't wanna trust her," Cynthia huffed and crossed her arms.
"Slave to fate?" Gray lifted a brow. "You think that's an excuse?"
"Yeah." Mii said, looking at Gray directly. She smiled and wagged a finger. "When it comes to fate, you don't really have a choice. If the dragons' fate was to die, they probably would. If their fate was to march onward, they would. It doesn't matter who you are, Lady Fate's always got her grip on you somehow."
"There's alwaysa choice." Natsu said while glaring towards Mii. His words surprised her, but ultimately she shrugged.
"If you think that way, then maybe you just haven't encountered your fateful moment yet." Mii replied.
Before anyone else could say too much on the matter, Sting and Lector walked through the Fairy Tail doors, looking slightly out of breath. "A-Ah…you're all here now…"
"Sting…?" Erza blinked at Sting's sudden appearance.
Sting was glad to see everyone around. Considering the events from an outsider perspective, he had a reason to be worried. "You all were gone all day…and suddenly something crashes off the coast and you guys are back! What happened?!"
"It's…a very long story…" Lucy said with an exhale.
"I see…" Lector rubbed the back of his head.
"Well…if that's the case…that might be why the Council was calling me earlier…they said a meeting was beginning really soon and Guild Masters were required to come…" Sting explained.
"I see…" Makarov hopped up from his seat. "It must be time then…"
.
.
Council Headquarters, meeting room.
Siegrain stood in the center of the room between nine other figures whose faces were shrouded by the dimness of the room; on the sidelines were Odin, Correll, who stood in the corner, far from everyone else, Doranbolt, and Lahar. There were several others within the room as well; new Wizard Saints appointed by Siegrain himself. "Wizard Saints…I've gathered you here today because there is a threat that looms off on the coast." He began to gather everyone's attention. "This threat endangers not only us, but potentially the entire continent of Ishgar from what I've been told…therefore…" Siegrain slammed his hands on a table, staring at the other Wizard Saints. "We must reach a decision quickly, here and now, about how we will deal with…The Isle of the Dragons…"
.
.
The Wizard Saints have finally gathered! Who are they, and what is the decision they will reach?
Next Time: The New Wizard Saints.