So is it time I admit I didn't actually finish all seven chapter for the week or what? Sorry guys. I'm kinda spent these days. Don't worry though, I'll still do my best to keep this ship sailing.
I'm going to aim for one chapter ever seven days. If I don't meet my deadline, don't worry, I'll try and get it up within two days afterwards. I'll post something if there's circumstances preventing me from posting. I'll also be booting up Homecoming of a Devil again. Been too long.
Enjoy!
Drake stared up at the roof of Ultear's house, waiting for the girls to be finished getting ready. Since he and Quinn had returned with the Intel of the fortress, Everyone involved had spent the last few days getting ready for the fight. Quinn had called in reinforcements from Crocus, which totalled around several hundred soldiers. Drake hoped it would be enough, but he could tell that the upcoming battle had everyone on edge. himself included. He couldn't lie that the idea of being in a massive fight didn't make him a little anxious, because it did. He was rusty, and not only that, but he wasn't as confident as he used to be.
He couldn't wonder what caused that.
"You ready?" Drake looked down from the roof to find the girls standing there, dressed and ready to go.
"As I'll ever be," he replied. "Should we go?" Ultear nodded, nervously playing with her hair.
"Quinn wanted us by the road to Seven by noon," she said. "So we should get going."
"And we can put an end to this," Elise added. "And these people can get their lives back." Drake could only hope for such an outcome. Judging from all he'd seen these past few days, it wouldn't be that easy. Then again, what was these days?
Standing from the couch, Drake followed the girls out of the house and towards the exit from the city, walking towards the meeting point. It didn't take long until they could see the large force of soldiers waiting for them, all armed and ready to go. As they waded through them to get to the front of the group, Quinn and Chief Idek soon came into view, also armed.
"You're here, good." Quinn said as they approached. "Are you ready?" Ultear nodded.
"Yes, we are." She said, looking over at Idek. "Are the forces ready?" He nodded.
"As they'll ever be," he said. "Outfitted with the best weapons we had available. I hope it's enough."
"It will be," Quinn replied. Despite the tense atmosphere, Drake noted she seemed calm and collected. As expected, she was a Lieutenant after all. "We'll finish this once and for all. For Arkney." Idek nodded, and Drake felt his spirits lift a little. He had to remember he wasn't just doing this for no reason, he was doing this so that the people of Arkney could live in peace.
He just hoped that everything went as planned.
Ultear stared up at the twin peaks from across the lake, anxiety balling up inside. She hoped this ended all the struggles they were having, and they could move on from this.
So she could move on from this.
"Ultear," Ultear turned as Steph called her name, and saw she as being called over. Walking back to the others, she saw that they were huddled around a small map of the area, one filled with Drake's intel when he'd been here a few days before.
"So, what's the plan again?" Elise asked.
"Simple," Quinn said, pointing over to the lake. "Ultear and you guys will enter the base from it's dock. Go underwater and get in without being seen. Once you're in, start to raise hell. We'll come rushing it once we're sure you're fighting."
"And how will you know?" Ultear asked. At her question, Idek reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.
"Fire this into the sky when you start," he said. "It's flare. When we see it, we'll rush in." Ultear nodded and quickly pocketed the flare, turning to look at the lake. She knew it would be easy to get herself and the others across the depths, but what awaited them at the other end?
"Drake's mapping shows a network of tunnels underneath the mountains," Quinn said, pointing to the tunnels crudely mapped out on the paper. "Once we clear out the courtyard, we're going to have to make sure there aren't any stragglers hiding away from us. They're extensive tunnels too, so Drake will lead us around so we don't get lost."
"Got it," Drake replied.
"Are there any questions?" Quinn asked, the whole raiding party staying quiet. "Alright then. Ultear, are you ready?" All eyes turned to Ultear, who steeled herself and nodded.
"I am," she said, looking at her friends. "You guys ready?" Elise nodded and cracked her neck.
"Let's finish this." She said. Drake crossed his arms and also nodded.
"When you are," he said. Steph also nodded, which was all of them. Walking towards the edge of the lake, the group bunched up behind Ultear and watched as she manipulated the water of the lake, forming a bubble of air around them. Together the group descended into the lake, Ultear focused on making sure they stayed dry and breathing as they walked across the bottom of the ocean.
"Wow, it's warm down here," Steph commented from behind her. Ultear nodded.
"The bottom of bodies of water stay warm in the winter," she said. "It's so all the life down here doesn't die." At this, a few fish lazed past the bubble to prove her point.
"Makes sense," Drake said. "The cold would kill them pretty fast."
"Can we focus more on the fight?" Elise asked. "Not marine life?" Ultear had to admit she had a point. Talking about the fish and not their plan was a waste of time.
"Remember, we just barely match their numbers," Drake said. "We need to do a lot of work to make sure that the soldiers don't get hurt."
"We're the special forces, essentially." Steph said, moving her coat away from her body. Apparently in was that warm. "Making sure the mission goes smoothly."
"We'll be fine," Drake replied. Ultear hoped he was right. "Besides, we'll get the drop on them too. How could we not get out of this fine?"
"Don't jinx it," Ultear muttered. "You're still rusty, and I bet you two are as well." This made Steph and Elise look around, not answering her question. "So stay on your toes, and don't do something foolish. This isn't going to be a walk in the park."
"Way to bring the mood down," Drake muttered. Ultear knew he had a point, but being over confident wasn't a good idea. Especially not with what was on the line.
And what had happened last time they weren't careful enough.
After twenty or so more minutes, the ground in front of them started to rise, and the surface of the water began to get closer. Once they were nearing head level, Drake's hummed.
"Dock's clear," he said. With this knowledge, the group resurfaced and quickly ran across the dock onto the solid ground. Looking up, Ultear watched the upward trail, waiting for something to happen. Thankfully, nothing jumped out at them. "Path's clear too."
"Where is everyone?" Elise asked.
"It's cold out here, so maybe there inside in the warmth." Steph said.
"Pretty dumb reason to leave the one opening undefended," Ultear said. Despite their theories, Drake wasn't wrong. The entire pathway up towards the base was empty. The occasional twist in the path made them nervous, but time and time again Drake confirmed there was no one around. After a few minutes of treading lightly up the path, they came across a steel wall, and a door to the inside of the base. Ultear tried the obvious and pulled at the door, but it didn't budge.
"Locked, huh?" Elise asked, looking upwards. "Guess we're going up and over." Looking up, Ultear saw that there was a roof the room, which was really their only options. Using ice, Ultear raised them all up to it and quickly melted the platform.
"Walk lightly," Drake said. "They might hear us up here, and we aren't ready yet."
"Which way is the courtyard?" Ultear asked him. "We need to start there." Drake's ears twitched, and he looked around. After a few minutes, his eyes widened.
"What?" Elise asked. Drake didn't say anything after a minute, before taking off down the roof.
"Drake?!" Steph called, but he didn't reply.
"Be quiet he says," Elise muttered as they sprinted after him, feet making quiet the ruckus from the metal roof beneath them. Drake was standing near the edge of the roof, staring downwards.
"What's the matter with you?!" Ultear hissed. "You said to be quiet, and-?!" Ultear was cut off as she got a full frontal view of the courtyard below them.
Quinn and the forces from Fiore were on their knees with weapons to their throats.
"What are they doing?!" Elise asked. "Why did they run in without the signal?!"
"This isn't good..." Steph murmured.
"What do we do, Ul?" Drake asked, casting her a worried look. Ultear didn't know. This wasn't supposed to happen, why had Quinn led the charge in prematurely?
"Oi, guild kids!" A voice yelled. "If you want the Lieutenant here to survive, you might want to come down here!" Looking down, Ultear saw that they had been seen, and all the bandits were staring up at them. A sword was being pressed against Quinn's throat, who was watching them as calmly as she could. Taking a deep breath, she raised her hands.
"We surrender," she said. "We can't risk their lives."
"You sure?" Drake asked.
"Yes," she replied. "We got caught, don't be dumb." Creating an ice slide down into the courtyard, Ultear and the others slide down and raised their hands up in surrender, immediately being surrounded by bandits. They were lead over to Quinn and the soldiers, and were forced to their knees.
"Quinn, what the hell?" Elise asked. "Why did you rush in?" Quinn looked over solemnly.
"They had a mole," she said. "They fired a fake flare around ten minutes after you left. We thought it was for you guys."
"Who was it?" Drake demanded. At this, Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Who do you think?" She muttered, clearly irritated at the thought. At this, a man laughed.
"Guilty as charged," he said, Looking forward, Ultear's stomach dropped as Idek walked out from the group of men, watching them with a smirk.
"Of course," Drake hissed from her left. Idek laughed.
"What a surprise!" He said. "The man who suggested a suicidal front door assault was working for the enemy!"
"Idek," Ultear hissed, a blade pressed to her throat. "Why are you doing this? You grew up in Arkney! Lived there all your life! Why would you betray us?!"
"Yes, Chief Idek lived there his whole life," he said. "I haven't though." This made Ultear's eyes widen. No, there was no way they'd missed this.
She watched, horrified, as Idek's face began to morph, and soon it took on a completely different form. This man had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scar across his nose.
"Transformation magic sure works wonders," he said. "I took on the Chief's identity six months ago, and none of you idiots noticed."
"Fuck..." Quinn said. "Idek went on a scouting mission around six months ago. He must of been compromised."
"Bingo," The man said. "Also, please call me Aldin. That's my real name."
"So you took the guys face with Transformation magic," Drake surmised. "Is the real Chief dead?" Aldin shook his head.
"I wish," he said. "Sadly I needed a refresher every once and a while, so the boss would sent me his face every once and a while so I could keep the facade going. No use in that if it's decaying, huh?"
"Boss?" Elise asked. "SO you aren't even the big boss?" Aldin laughed.
"Nope! There's another man keeping track of operations. He'll be down to visit you all shortly. Until then, though, I think you all are do for a visit to our holding cells. Why don't we give you the grand tour?"
With this, Ultear felt a sword hilt connect with the back of her head, and everything went dark.
"Ul? Ul!" Ultear frowned with annoyance as she heard someone calling her. Couldn't they see she was trying to sleep? Jeez.
The memory of what happened flooded Ultear's head, along with a wicked headache. She groaned and rolled her, gripping her head.
"She's fine," she heard Elise say. Sitting up and opening her eyes, Ultear looked around to find that she, her friends and Quinn were all in a cell. The walls around them were black, and the cave door was also a dark hue.
"Where are we?" She asked, still trying to clear her head.
" A cave under the mountain," Drake replied. "Guess what Mount Cryc used to be a mine for?"
"What?" Ultear asked weakly.
"Magic Canceller stone," Steph replied, helping her stay upright. "They used to mine it here. The bandits turned the excavations into magic prisons."
"Which is why my sound magic didn't see these cells." Drake added. Great, so they couldn't even use their magic to get out. The cave itself was dark, only lit by a brazier in the center of the room. Quinn was off to the side, running her hand against the wall.
"We need to get out of here," she said. "We need to rescue my men and the real Idek."
"I think that's more easily said than done." Steph said. "We can't really help you here."
"I know, but there's got to be a way out." She said, still investigating the walls.
"Even if we manage to get out, it'll be use versus a whole crew of bandits." Elise said. "And if we do get out, they'll probably start offing soldiers as punishment." Ultear knew Elise had a point. Right now, their best bet was to stay put and try to come up with a solid plan, one where they would all survive.
"Aldin said the boss would be down to visit us too," Drake said, leaning against the wall of the mine. "So we can get a read on him and see if he can take him."
"Maybe even surprise attack them when he gets here," Quinn said, reaching for her boot. She cursed. "Fuck, they took all my weapons from me."
"Guess that options out," Drake said. "So, what do we do?"
Ultear really didn't know. She never even suspected Idek wasn't himself, and the Dragon Slayers couldn't have known from his scent because they never met the original. He'd been trying to walk them straight into an ambush, but Drake got in his way. Didn't seem it mattered in the end, because Aldin had still gotten them captured.
Wait.
"What are they going to do to Arkney?" She asked aloud. Silence filled the cell., and nobody answered her,
"Fuck," Quinn hissed, slamming her hand into the wall.
"We need to get out of here, fast." Drake said. "Arkney's in danger."
"Do you see a way out other than that door?" Elise demanded. "Cause I do-!"
Someone started slamming their hand on the door, Ultear watched as a small peephole opened, revealing a pair of eyes.
"All of you, up against the wall!" He said. "Any sudden moves and we'll kill you!"
"God sake..." Elise muttered. They all stood and faced the wall, hands behind their heads. Ultear could hear the door being opened, and a pair of feet walked into the cell.
"No sudden moves," A voice, Aldin's, warned. "Or the real Idek gets it." Ultear didn't dare look over her shoulder, but from the muffled yelling, she could tell that Idek probably had a sword to his throat and something in his mouth. After a few more seconds, a voice laughed.
"What do we have here?" He asked.
A chill went down Ultear's spine. There was no way.
"Is that who I think it is? After all of this time?"
No...no no no...
Without warning, a hand grabbed her and tossed her to the ground, landing on her face.
"Ultear!" Drake shouted. The voice laughed coldly.
"I knew it!" He shouted as Ultear struggled to all fours. "It is Ultear Fullbuster! And after all this time too!" Ultear' tears threatening to fall, turned to look at the man who had thrown her.
She recognised the tattoos.
The bald head.
The horrible teeth.
Even with the vicious burn wound on his face and upper body, Ultear knew the man standing over her with a victorious smirk.
"How have you been, little Ultear?" He asked. "It's been nearly two years!" Ultear gulped as tears began to fall.
"Z-Zindo..." She managed weakly. He laughed.
"Ah, you remember me. I'm so flattered." He said, leaning down to get in her face. "Last time we saw each other, your pink friend sent me flying. How is said friend, by the way? I see she isn't joining us for our reunion."
"..." Ultear didn't answer him, simply stared at the ground and tried to get a hold of her emotions. Zindo. It was impossible. Nashi had killed him, hadn't she? There was no way. No way.
"...Oh, I see." Zindo said, face turning sour. "She's dead, huh? I didn't know. Shame. I wanted to off her myself." After this, he chuckled and grabbed Ultear's chin, making her look right into his eyes. He turned dead serious, and got even closer to her.
"I hope she died like a dog," he said, silence in the room, except for the ringing in Ultear's ears. Tossing Ultear back down, Zindo stood and dusted himself off.
"Leave them to rot," he ordered. "I'll see to Fullbuster myself shortly." With this, Zindo and his entourage left the cell, leaving Ultear and the others alone. Silence came over them all, and Ultear stared at the ground as she tried to process what was happening.
Zindo was alive.
He was still leading The Enchanted Blades.
Another failure.
On her shoulders.
Erza sighed as she took a deep sip of her drink, reading a magazine absentmindedly. It had been a few days since Drake and the others had left to go and find Ultear, and she had to admit she was happy for them. Seeing them beating themselves up every day was horrible, getting out would be good for them.
"Just as she was about to take a bite of her strawberry cake, a pair of hands covered her eyes.
"Guess who," A familiar voice said. Erza rolled her eyes, granted no one could see her do it.
"Jellal I was about to eat my cake," she warned, which got her her vision back. She turned in her seat to see her husband looking a little frightened.
"Sorry, I didn't see that." he said. Erza smiled and got up to hug him, one he returned happily.
"It's so good to see you," she said. "You need to come around more often."
"I know, but we stay busy." He said. "Don't worry though, I've set aside a few days to stay here. Everyone has."
"That's great!" She said, smile quickly turning serious. "even Simon?" At this, Jellal frowned.
"Forced him too," he replied. "I'm worried about him Erza, he hasn't been himself since Nashi died."
"I know, none of them have been," she said. "But it's good he's home, at least." Jellal nodded and turned, looking at the rest of his guild bunched up near the door.
"Simon!" He called. "Stop being sour, come say hi to your mother!" After a few seconds, Erza heard grumbling. Her son stepped forward, but it almost took her a moment to identify him.
His hair, while still scarlet red like hers, was messy, long and unkempt, not something Simon usually did. He had a scar running down the side of his temple to his neck, and his eyes looked angry.
As if that was knew.
Despite the anger present in his eyes, he wore a soft smile on his face.
"Hi mom," he said. "How are you?"
Hm, some fun happened today, huh? I hope you guys enjoyed, lave a review! Let's try and get five!
Chapter 294: Prince of The Heavens