Chapter 33: Celebration and Mystery!
The battle was over, the dragons had been either vanquished or returned to the past. The civilians of the capital had been given temporary refuge while the town was being rebuild. In the meantime, all the wizards that fought the dragons had been invited to a party at the royal palace. Yet, some were not so eager to celebrate, especially one person.
Itachi sat in the corner of the ballroom where everyone was, dressed up in fancy clothing, the boys in tuxes or some noble like clothes, while the girls in fancy dresses. Itachi was dressed in a mere black elegant suit, he didn't want to go to the party in the first place, although Mira had managed to convince him to come to show everyone whom were so worried about him that he was fine. Speaking of Mirajane, she of course sat next to him, dressed in a beautiful red frilly dress with her hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Please, try and not look so down. You will end up worrying everyone." Mira gently said while looking at him with worry and concern on her face.
"You looking worried won't help with that either…" Itachi muttered as the image of him killing Ivan right in front of Laxus kept replaying in his mind, while feeling good about doing it as well.
"…" Mira didn't know how to respond, she couldn't help but look worried after Itachi telling her that he was scared of his power and of losing control again. In the end, there was only one thing she could think of. "Please, for me…" She gently placed her hand on his while looking him straight in the eyes. Itachi's gaze softened as he looked into Mira's big blue eyes, he looked down for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Very well." Itachi stood up, putting on a fake smile using his years of experience to mask his true feelings to keep up appearance. "Let's go." He only looked truly sincere with his smile as he gently pulled Mira up. They then walked out to the others, while Itachi kept up his mask with a fake smile.
"Oh, Itachi you seem to be feeling better." They already got a comment from Freed whom was trying to chase away girls getting too close to Laxus.
"You seem to be quite occupied there Freed." Itachi quickly changed the topic, while pretending to look amused at the scene.
"Well, as a proud member of the Thunder God Tribe I can't allow just anyone getting close to Laxus." Freed replied to which Laxus sweat dropped.
"What are you my mother?" Laxus said in a whisper like tone, his gaze was then directed at his friend and rival. "You sure you okay?" Laxus narrowed his gaze at Itachi, having known him for so long, he could tell when something was off such as it was now.
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Mira helped me sort thing out." Itachi said while linking arms with Mirajane, whom also tried to hide her true feelings of worry directed at Itachi.
"Oh? So, the two of you going to dance or somethin'?" Laxus decided to change the topic into a more pleasant one.
"Huh? Well… maybe, we'll see." Itachi didn't really feel like doing such things now, but he had to give some kind of answer to avoid suspicion.
"…" Laxus looked like to be in deep thought as his gaze narrowed on Itachi, he was thinking back to what the dragons said about Itachi's dark power. 'Ancient Demons… the hell does that even mean?' Laxus wasn't the only one thinking about this, looking at them further into the crowd was Gray and Juvia.
Gray's gaze was focused on Itachi, as like Laxus he also got the feeling that something was off by looking at Itachi. And the thought on what those dragons called Itachi still lingered within his mind as well. 'Ancient Demons…' An image of Deliora popped into Gray's mind and he shook his head. 'No, there is no way Itachi is like that monster, no way in hell.' Gray clenched his fists and then he thought back on a different kind of demons he has encountered before. 'Maybe…' Gray's train of thought was interrupted by the woman whom loved him so.
"Gray-sama, how about a dance with Juvia?" Juvia linked arms with Gray in the same fashion Mira did with Itachi, Gray looked at Juvia blushing slightly at the sensation of Juvia's chest pushing up against his arm.
"Juvia, please, not now. I got a lot to think about." Gray turned down the offer as memories of his parents, and his master Ur came to mind, and their deaths as well.
"Is there something Juvia can do to help?" Juvia asked.
Gray looked into Juvia's deep ocean blue eyes, and saw her desire to help him in anyway she could. "Not really, I'm just thinking about getting some answers I need from someone." Gray replied.
"From who?"
"Just, someone I once met at a job. I'm thinking of traveling to them once we get back to the guild." Gray replied, and Juvia's mind instantly went into jealousy mode of a potential rival girl stealing her beloved Gray's heart.
"Juvia will come with you!" Juvia instantly declared causing Gray to look taken aback.
"Huh? W-Well, if you want to, I guess it's fine…" Gray blinked in confusion at Juvia's sudden reaction, he could never understand what was going through Juvia's head sometimes. 'I guess her abilities might be useful to get there…' Gray thought and shrugged his shoulders.
"Juvia will go!" Juvia insisted.
"Okay then." Gray replied much to Juvia joy.
Erza looked at her older brother from the corner of her eye, and although he was smiling, she instantly could tell something was wrong. 'He's putting on a fake smile… Guess he is still not over what happened, well that's to be expected.' Erza thought with a saddened look as she clenched her fists in frustration, she then noticed someone else whom looked to be looking around for someone.
It was Kagura, the younger sister of Erza's old dead comrade Simon. She was dressed in a dark purple dress decorated with golden markings and had her hair tied up. "Woah!" She almost dripped as she stepped on her own dress, she looked down on herself with a frown. She never was one for girly things like dresses. "Jeez these are hard to walk in." Kagura then noticed Erza walking towards her, smiling at her like they had been friends for years.
"How are your injuries, Kagura?" Erza asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
"I could ask you the same." Kagura retorted.
"We've been through a lot… but how about we start being friends?" Erza reached her hand out to Kagura.
"I decline." This shocked Erza and quickly made her wonder what she did wrong. Although those worries were quickly put to ease. "I was hoping you would become more like an older sister." Kagura gained a faint blush and avoided eye contact with Erza whom looked beyond stunned.
"Well, who knew? You're actually cute." Erza pulled Kagura in for a hug landing Kagura's face onto her breasts causing her to blush even more.
"I was obviously kidding, you numbskull!" Kagura instantly denied it, although her face said otherwise. "B-By the way, do you know where Itachi is? I would like to… have a word with him…"
"Onii-san is over there with Mirajane." Erza looked past the crowd and at her brother and his girlfriend. "Let's go over to them and say hi." Erza instantly dragged Kagura over to Itachi before she could protest.
"H-Hey-" Kagura wasn't able to say a word against Erza as they quickly got over to Itachi.
"Onii-san." Erza called gaining both Itachi and Mira's attention.
"Erza? Is something the matter?" Itachi asked keeping up his fake smile to hide his feelings, he honestly didn't want Erza seeing him like this nor Mira for that matter but somethings can't be helped.
"Just found us a new little sister." Erza said with enthusiasm while pointing at the embarrassed looking Kagura.
"I-I said I was kidding!" Kagura's blush increased. Itachi widen his eyes for a second, he wasn't in the mood for jokes now though. "W-Well umm, I guess you do look like a big brother figure and everything so… maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing…" Kagura whispered that last bit and then shook her head. "Anyway, you said you were willing to talk with me once the games were over. Well, I just wanted to say… thank you."
"Thank you?" Itachi questioned, had he done anything that deserved her thanks? He couldn't think of anything in particular.
"For showing me how brave and strong my brother was, in his final moments it really meant a lot. And I'm sorry for how I reacted at first, I was just blinded with rage. I also want to thank you for helping me calm down. Although I still haven't forgiven Jellal, was he really being manipulated?" Kagura decided to ask, depending on the answer it would decide if she would kill Jellal or not.
"He was." Erza was the one to answer. "At the beginning, Jellal was a kind soul. He looked out for us, all of us even Simon. He lead us through our darkest times, especially me. Comforted me when I was afraid and tried to protect me every time. But then…" Erza halted in her words and began shaking a little at remembering the bad times. "But then he was captured and tortured because he wanted to save me. That's when he was tricked into believing the spirit of Zeref was speaking to him, making him believe he was the chosen one to change the world. Putting ideas in his head on how the perfect world should be. It drove him mad, twisted him from the young man I knew and into something evil. Although, on that fateful day Simon died. I noticed small parts of him struggling within himself, trying to fight back a little. And when onii-san defeated him…" Erza couldn't keep going and Kagura listened closely to the story and looked stunned at what she was told.
"He said thank you, he thanked me for stopping him." Itachi finished, and Kagura's attention was diverted to Itachi. "Later the dark guild known as Oracion Seis brought him back. His memories were gone he couldn't remember a thing, except for the name Erza. He was horrified when he heard from Erza what kind of a person he was, and what he did. He later turned himself in after the whole ordeal, and in his time in jail he regained his memories. Then someone broke him out, and here we are." Itachi finished the entire story of Jellal, well he left some parts out. "Right now he is taking down anything linked to Zeref and seeks to destroy Zeref, to make sure no one gets put through the same that happened to him."
"I see…" Kagura uttered, she clenched her fists while her body was trembling. "In the end he was a victim as well… I won't kill him. However, I haven't forgiven him… I'm unsure if that will ever change." Kagura looked into the palm of her right hand, and a sorrowful smile grew across her face. "Feels like a burden has been lifted off my chest, things seem more clearer now than ever before now that my goal of vengeance is gone. I shall instead focus on a new goal, to get stronger so that I can make sure something like the Tower of Heaven will never happen again. And to protect my guild and my friends." Once Kagura spoke her new goal, Itachi's fake smile was replaced by a genuine.
"That is a fine goal, I wish you luck."
"Thank you, brother-" Kagura instantly stopped herself, covering her mouth before she could speak another word. She then blushed slightly, and quickly snatched a drink of some kind and chugged it down. "No, I'm sorry… I-I just blurted out something like that."
"It's fine, I don't mind. You actually do remind me of Erza when she was younger. As well as my very own younger brother." Itachi patted the top of Kagura's head only to increase her embarrassment.
"Q-Quit it… idiot." Kagura uttered.
"Aw, she's cute." Mira giggled at seeing Mermaid Heel's ace's reaction.
"Right." Erza spoke like a proud older sister. Kagura got even more embarrassed and grabbed another drink.
"Urgh! That was alcohol…" Kagura's face turned redder, and she started looking rather tipsy.
"She seems drunk." Itachi pointed out the obvious.
"Oh dear." Mira giggled.
"Are you alright, Kagura?" Erza put her hand on Kagura's shoulder.
"I'm fine big sis…Hic* Although this dress is annoying… What do you and big bro think?" Kagura asked about her dress, seeming more comfortable calling them bro and sis now that she was drunk.
"I think it looks beautiful!" Erza complimented with a thumbs up.
"Hn, I must say I agree." Itachi complimented.
"Mmm, I don't know… it seems just too girly…" Kagura looked at her own dress once more. "But I do feel pretty…" Seems she also doesn't mind looking girly when she's drunk.
Then they heard a conversation not so far away from them, Sting pleading Yukino to come back to Sabertooth now that Jiemma was gone. Also, it seems Minerva just vanished after her defeat in the games. This instantly got Kagura's attention and she marched over. "Hey! Yukino's life belongs to me! She's joining Mermaid Heel and I will brook no objections!"
"You're drunk!" Sting retorted.
"Shut up! Yukino belongs to Mermaid!" Kagura retorted and then the chaos began on which guild Yukino should join. Every single guild went in on the action to get her to join, Itachi and Mira watching from the sidelines sweat dropped at the scene.
"It's nice to see things going well for Yukino." Mira smiled with joy since Yukino reminded her of Lisanna, earning the girl a soft spot in Mira's heart.
"Even though we're in the royal palace it doesn't stop them from having a brawl." Itachi commented, although the brawl ended as soon as Arcaidos spoke out.
"That's enough everyone! You showed great valor during the Grand Magic Games, and your efforts saved the country against the dragons. His Majesty would express his appreciation directly, so take heed!" Everyone watched in anticipation as the music started to play, and a figure came into view, although everyone gaped at seeing Natsu dressed up in royal outfit and wearing the kings crown. With the pumpkin man from the games trying to get the crown back.
"My subjects! Make yourselves comfortable!" Natsu declared and then let out a laughter as he stood there acting all high and mighty.
"Give that back-kabo!" The pumpkin man whom was obviously the king in disguise reached out for the crown.
"I'm the king! I became the king!" Everyone from Fairy Tail paled, and Makarov looked like he was about to lose what little hair he had left.
"He seriously went overboard this time." Itachi couldn't help but smile at Natsu's little outburst.
"That's Natsu for you I suppose." Mira smiled and grabbed onto Itachi's arm. Itachi looked at her in bewilderment and she gave him a little wink. "How about it, cutie? Has your mood gotten better? In that case, how about a dance?" Mira smiled cutely at Itachi whom widened his eyes a bit, his gaze then softened and he smiled.
"Oh, why not." Itachi took Mira's hand and lead her out to the dance floor. Them along with the other couples or those who wanted to dance with each other, slowed dance to the sound of the music. Itachi and Mira looked deeply into each other's eyes, and in that moment, it seemed as if all their troubles were gone. Itachi could feel calm and at ease while dancing with Mira, to him she shined as brightly as ever blowing away all the darkness in his life.
It might have only been one dance, it may only have lasted a few minutes, but for the two of them it seemed to last forever. It seemed as if they were all alone on the dance floor, it felt like it, like this moment would last forever.
Makarov looked at Itachi and Mira, in particular at Itachi. He smiled a little at seeing Itachi having cheered up a bit since last he saw him after the battle. Although then an image of Ultear and her sharingan flashed through his mind. Makarov waited until the dance was over, and walked up to the young Uchiha. "Itachi, may I have a moment to speak with you?" Makarov gave him a smile that showed Itachi that he wasn't in trouble or anything like that.
"Of course, master." Itachi gave a small nod and then looked to Mirajane. "I will be right back, okay?" Itachi held onto her hand, and she smiled at him and gave him a nod. Itachi then let go of her hand and followed Makarov to a corner of the ballroom where no one was standing and where no one could hear them. "My boy, during the battle against the dragons. I came across a young woman with sharingan eyes, you wouldn't perhaps know anything about that, now would you?"
Itachi looked a little stunned that this is what he wanted to talk about, he then realized he never told the master about Ultear. "Her name is Ultear, she's Gray's master Ur's daughter. She's also the daughter of Madara Uchiha." Itachi revealed and Makarov looked shocked at hearing that name.
"Really?" Makarov looked at Itachi whom gave a nod as confirmation. "How long have you known about this?"
"Ever since Tenrou Island, she was a member of the 7 kin. With all that happened, I forgot to tell you, forgive me."
"No, it's alright I understand. Well, do you know if she's on our side? Or will she side with her father should he be an enemy of us?" Makarov asked.
"She doesn't really have a connection with her father besides the fact that they share blood. Madara apparently left Ur before Ultear was born. She only seems to want answers from her father, right now you could say she is on our side." Itachi explained the situation to which Makarov looked relieved. "I honestly thought you called me over here to talk about Ivan… Or that dark power of mine…" Itachi clenched his fists upon saying those words, his feelings of sorrow returned and the darkness rose within him.
"For the last time, I don't blame you for what happened to Ivan, I only blame myself. As for your power, I am worried, now more than ever. Not just for your safety, but for the safety of everyone." Makarov expressed in concerns.
"One of the dragons, called the black marks for demon marks. It was that fire dragon who helped us in the end, he vanished before I could get him to tell me more than that." Itachi informed Makarov of the new knowledge he had gained on his power, it wasn't much to go on though.
"Demon marks? Hmm, I will search through our guilds library to see if I can find something." Makarov said.
"I will help."
"No, you will keep going on jobs like normal. This is something for an old man like me with nothing better to do to handle. You need to worry about your income and rent, maybe even save up money for yours and Mira's weeding." Makarov gave a light chuckle at that last part.
"Master, I-" Itachi was about to protest but Makarov would not have it.
"Now I do realize you and Mirajane aren't engaged, but this old man can see the future for the two of you clear as day. You just leave the boring book searching to little old me, while you focus on those precious to you and work your butt off to pay rent. End of story, and I will not hear another word about it." Makarov strolled off leaving dumbfounded Itachi, whom in the end smiled looking grateful at the dwarf master for worrying about him that much.
"Thank you, Master Makarov." Itachi whispered and went back to his girlfriend for perhaps a second dance.
The party went on all night, and the very next morning, the Fairy Tail guild would head on back to Magnolia with pride over having become the number 1 guild in the land. The journey was long, but eventually they arrived back to their hometown, and it was like a festival. People were cheering in the streets over the return of Fairy Tail, the champion guild of the Grand Magic Games. Natsu of course being the person he is walked up front holding their trophy, the Kings' Cup as it was called, up high, Natsu even had Romeo sit on his shoulders to hold the trophy up even higher for everyone to see.
What made it even better was that the mayor of Magnolia, in a token of gratitude for making Magnolia the home of the number 1 guild. Gave the guild back their old guildhall, this was enough to make the old Makarov cry and declare his love for the town.
"Isn't it great? We got our old HQ back." Mirajane expressed her excitement to Itachi, whom only looked emotionless at the castle like guildhall.
"I liked the simpler version." Itachi replied, the silent peaceful, quiet, fresh mountain air, a simple old tavern like building with farming supplies and such. It seemed so peaceful, whenever he wasn't inside with all the brawling, Itachi let out a sigh and then he looked at the castle like guildhall in front of him gaining a smile on his face. "Oh well, at least there are more warm and pleasant memories here." Itachi thought back on the very first day he and Erza came to Fairy Tail, meeting Mirajane and her siblings for the first time, meeting Natsu and everyone else, true the building was different but it still had the feeling of the old one.
It didn't take long for the hyped-up members of the guild to start going on jobs again, because of everyone going on jobs the quest board was almost empty. Because of the lack of jobs Itachi and Erza had gone to the second floor to check the S-class jobs. "Some of these jobs would take days to complete… And if we are planning to bring the others along, we can't pick something too difficult." Erza pondered while looking at the S-class quest board.
"To be fair, a lot of those people in our usual group are S-class level, they just haven't achieved the rank yet." Itachi pointed out while he picked a job before Erza could even say anything.
"B-But are we bringing Wendy and Carla with us? Do you think the two of them are ready for that kind of job?" Erza expressed her concern over the youngest most frail looking members of their group.
"Wendy was there during the Nirvana incident, she was there during Edolas, she was with you when you fought against Hades, and she helped fight those dragons. I would say she is ready for something like this." Itachi assured Erza while petting her on the head making her look embarrassed over that Itachi treated her like a kid, she looked cute over how worried she was for little Wendy. "Now let's assemble our team." Itachi and Erza headed back down to the first floor and looked around for their team, only to not find them.
"Cana, have you seen Natsu, Lucy and Gray?" Erza asked the guilds champion drinker whom was chugging down a barrel of booze.
"Huh? Natsu, Happy and Lucy went out on a job…. And uh, Gray went somewhere with Juvia. They didn't grab a job request though… Maybe they went on a date." Cana gained a smug expression on the thought over teasing Gray about it when he came back.
"Strange… Guess it's just you, me, Wendy and Carla then." Erza looked over to the corner of the guild were the tiniest of the dragon slayers sat with her Exceed companion having a chat.
"Wendy, Carla, are the two of you ready to go on a job?" Itachi asked the duo whom took a quick look around to see where the others were.
"Where is Natsu-san, Lucy-san and Gray-san?" Wendy asked looking a little confused over the lack of team members.
"They are apparently already out, so it will be just us four." Erza replied.
"Really? Just us four? And what exactly is the job?" Carla asked looking at the request Itachi held in his hand, in responds Itachi held up the request and Wendy and Carla looked shocked to see the "S" stamp on the quest.
"Th-That is an S-class quest!" Wendy stuttered.
"Yes, are you ready for your first S-class job?" Itachi asked the duo, whom looked at each other looking rather uncertain.
"I would rather not have Wendy put in any danger… are you sure the four of us is enough?" Carla expressed her concerns over her best friend, whom pouted a little.
"I-I can handle it." Wendy declared, to which Carla looked at her with an uncertain look.
"If you really are that concerned, we can bring others to tag along." Itachi scanned around the guild to see who was available, and it seemed that most already were on jobs. The ones that were left were Max, Warren, Reedus, Nab, Vijeeter, Kinana, Mirajane and a few other side characters. 'Seems out of those left the ones that can handle an S-class job is Mira.' Itachi looked over at the barmaid whom with Kinana were preparing meals for the ones whom were taking a break from jobs. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't gone on a job with Mira in a really long time. "Hey, Mira! Are you interested in going on a job with us?" Itachi called out to his girlfriend while holding up the S-class job request.
Mira beamed with a smile and instantly gave a reply. "I would love to!" Mira accepted the offer without questioning, she then looked over to Kinana. "Are you sure you can handle things here by yourself?"
"Oh, yeah, I will be fine. You just go and have fun!" Kinana assured with a kind smile as she quickly went to deliver an order.
"Thank you." Mira thanked Kinana and instantly rushed over to Itachi and the others. "Let me just get a few things and I will be ready."
"Sure, we'll leave within 30 minutes or so."
Meanwhile, violent waves roared around the great ocean, and floating across this violent ocean was a sphere of water containing two people. "Just keep going straight, we should be there soon." Gray said as Juvia focused her magic power to make the water sphere around them move at tremendous speed.
"Right!" Juvia was curious to where they were going, she wanted to ask but it didn't seem that Gray would answer her even if she asked. Guess she would see once they got there. 'Ahh! Juvia is so frustrated! Juvia wants to know! Juvia wants to know! Is Gray-sama going to meet some secret lover?!' Juvia's imagination was going wild.
"There it is." Gray narrowed his gaze on a lone island in the distance, Juvia peeked over Gray's shoulder with a raised brow at the island.
"Isn't that…" Juvia uttered.
"Galuna Island." Gray finished.
They quickly arrived at the islands beach, and Gray instantly started walking and Juvia quickly followed. "Why are we here Gray-sama?" Juvia couldn't help but wonder why Gray wanted to visit this lone island that was known as the cursed island once.
"Seven years ago, just before the battle against Phantom, me, Natsu, Erza and Lucy went on this job, or more like Natsu stole an S-class job and me and Erza were sent to stop them and got caught up in it all. Anyway, the people here thought the moon had cursed them so that they turned into demons at night. It was actually a lens over the island that made some sort of purple light from the moon light. This light manipulated the memories of the villagers into thinking that, when in fact they actually were demons." Gray explained the story to the intrigued looking Juvia, whom still didn't really know why they were there.
"But, why are we here?" Juvia asked yet again.
"Remember what those dragons said about Itachi's dark power?" Gray asked to which Juvia finally looked to have realized it. "They said Ancient Demons, so I was thinking maybe the villagers here could give some answers on that." They kept walking until they got to a large open village, with demonic creatures flying around in the sky holding some boxes. "Heh, seems they removed the walls." Gray gained a smirk as last time he was here the island was surrounded by tall walls. Times must have changed a lot for the demon villagers since the last time he saw them.
"Greetings." A familiar voice to Gray was heard and he looked down and saw a short, purple skinned demon looking old man, he was bald with long silver sideburns, he has blue claws and talons, he wore a neckless made out of animal teeth, he wore a black cape and a traditional kilt with a decorative symbol of the tribe on it. This was the villagers elder and head, Moka. "It has been a long time, my young Fairy Tail wizard." Moka smiled and multiple of the villagers surrounded one of their friends and rescuers.
"We heard some of your guild members vanished seven years ago." A female demon said, it seems they have all been worried about the once whom rescued them all those years ago.
"Well, a lot happened, everyone returned though and are safe." Gray smiled at seeing all these familiar faces, it was like neither of them had changed a bit in the past seven years.
"I'm sure Bobo would have been glad to see you once again, although he is out with some others doing trading for our village. Come on in and we shall prepare a feast for you, it's the least we can do after you helped us all those years ago." Moka offered with his hand or claw kindly stretched out.
"No, sorry but I'm not exactly here on pleasant business." Gray turned down the offer to which Moka raised his brow.
"Oh? What seems to be the problem?" Moka asked wondering what sort of troubling business the young wizard had that involved them.
"A few days ago, we had a bout against some dragons." Gray replied to which everyone looked surprised thinking that dragons were extinct, and the villagers started whispering amongst themselves. "Anyway, some of those dragons mentioned something called Ancient Demons, I was wondering if you could shed some light on that." Once Gray mentioned that word the villagers started to whisper amongst themselves even more and some looked either frightened or nervous, and Moka widened his eyes at that statement.
"Ancient Demons…" Moka uttered tightening his grip on his staff, the grip was so tight it seemed as the staff would break. "Back in the day, the term was only Demons. Then the Demons of the Books of Zeref came around, and we were known as ancient."
"Wait, we? Are all of you considered to be Ancient Demons?" Juvia questioned to which the village elder nodded.
"We are, as for how we got here to this island is a long story." Moka replied as he looked up at the moon. "Seriously, when are you going to destroy the moon?" Moka joked trying to lighten the mood a little.
Gray gave a small nervous laughter, and then decided to ask. "Could you please tell us the story? It might help us."
"Very well then. We don't originate from this realm, all of these villagers are from what you humans call the "Underworld" or as we call it the Demon Realm. Roughly 500 years ago, in the Demon Realm it was decided that the demons would send their most elite members to take over the human world to expand the Demon kingdom. So, they decided to send us first to make some sort of headquarters and a base for the elite warriors. We are what is known as the lowest of the low ranked amongst the Demons." Moka started the tale of his people.
Gray and Juvia widened their eyes at hearing this. "Wait, you were going to take over?!" Gray questioned in a slight hostile tone.
"Most Demons are violent and cruel by nature, but us lower ranks have been abused and discriminated by the higher ranks for years, so we have developed a more gentle nature so to speak, that further increased in the past 500 years we have been here in the human world." Moka explained to which Gray's level of hostility decreased.
"So, did the humans win against the Demons elite then since we haven't been taken over?" Gray questioned seeing as the world wasn't worshiping demons right now.
"Not exactly, those elite demons are so powerful that only one of them should be able to wipe out the ones you call the 10 Wizards Saints. They attempted to invade the human world 400 years ago, although they were outwitted by a single wizard. A human cursed with the curse of immortality by the God of Death Anksheram, the Black Wizard Zeref, he defeated them. The invasion was cancelled and we were stuck here, although that was for the best, we like it here in the human world." Moka spoke with relief in his voice that they weren't in the demon realm anymore, and that the invasion was cancelled.
"So, you have been here for 500 years? How old are you?" Gray raised his brow with a questioning gaze at Moka.
"We demons have lifespans that far surpasses that of humans, I myself have been alive for 1902 years now, and I most likely will live for another 100." Gray and Juvia looked taken aback over hearing a demon's ridicules lifespan. "There are very few of us in this village that have been born in the human world."
"Wait, so almost everyone here is over 500 years old?" Gray looked around with a look of disbelief, he couldn't worry about that now he needed more answers. "The thing is, when those dragons mentioned the ancient demons, they were referring to a friend of mine, who's energy felt similar to that of your race." Once Gray mentioned this Moka didn't seem to look surprised.
"Ah yes, we felt that energy all the way out here as well. For a moment there I thought a member of the demon elite had returned. But it was somewhat different..." Moka rubbed his temple looking rather worried, he then held out his right hand and formed a small sphere of pure darkness within his palm. Gray recognized that darkness, it was like a super weak version of those black marks on Itachi. "This is the most common magic among demons, darkness. We lower ranks are so weak we can barely use this for hunting. I assume by your reaction you have seen something like this before, this friend of yours I assume." Moka closed his palm and the sphere vanished. "Higher level demons tend to have a secondary unique magic ability like you humans do. Then we have the elite that have darkness, their own secondary magic ability, and something known as curses." Moka explained the abilities of the demons.
"I see… Question, do you have an answer as to why my friend has this power?" This was the main question Gray had in his mind ever since coming here, he wanted to help his friend in any way he could.
Moka turned around and let out a sigh. "I'm afraid not, we have been mostly stuck on this island for the entire time. This is very much a mystery for us as well. Are you certain your friend is human?" Moka looked at Gray from the corner of his eye, like Gray he also wanted answers on this matter.
Gray thought back on Itachi showing them all his memories, and without a doubt that was real. "I'm certain, there is no doubt in my mind." Gray replied, although then Zeref came to his mind. "Is it possible that anyone can give someone demonic power?"
"… I'm not certain, it might be possible, but I can't be sure. After all, I'm just a lower rank demon, it's not my place to know such things. I'm sorry I couldn't be much of a help." Moka turned back to face Gray and Juvia.
"I see, don't worry about it. It's just… I just wanted to know if my friend was in any kind of danger. He has always been there for us and… a great inspiration for most of us I suppose. I just wanted to know if there was a way to help him." Gray expressed his concern to which Juvia widened her eyes that Gray held Itachi in such high regard, she always knew of course that he did, but she didn't think it was to this extent.
"… If he really is human, and he has the power of darkness of the demons. Then all I can say is this, beware, so that power doesn't corrupt his mind. The greater power a demon has, the easier it is to be corrupted by that power." Moka warned.
"Itachi ain't that easy to corrupt, he managed to come back from what happened, although it was close…" A shiver ran down Gray's spine as an image of a wrathful Itachi fighting the dragons while unleashing such killer intent. "Thank you for your time, I think it is time for us to go, Juvia." Gray was about to turn around although Moka grabbed his wrist.
"Wait, even though you didn't come here for pleasantries, at least let us treat you to some food after your long journey to get here." Moka offered and just as Gray was about to refuse, but then they heard a rumbling noise which was traced back to Juvia.
Juvia was blushing out of embarrassment while fidgeting. "Umm… Gray-sama, J-Juvia thinks it might not be a bad idea…" Juvia was so embarrassed she avoided eye contact with Gray.
Gray looked a little stunned, for a moment there Juvia looked really cute. Gray then shook of that thought by letting out an amused chuckle. "Okay then, guess we will take you up on that offer."
Meanwhile, on the road
In the road of a farming area, there was a single carriage driving on the loan road as nightfall began to set. Sitting up front driving the carriage was the legendary Demon Eyes of Fairy Tail, Itachi Uchiha. He looked up at the night sky, and then peaked in the back of the carriage where Erza, Mira, Wendy and Carla were going over some maps for their job. Itachi noticed the little dragon slayer, Wendy, rubbing her eyes while letting out a small yawn. He then redirected his focus to the road ahead and saw a fine little spot to camp for the night. Without any warning to the girls he halted the carriage.
"Eh? Why are we stopping?" Erza peaked her head out from the carriage to the driver seat, looking at her older brother.
"We are stopping for the night. We'll camp here and continue first thing in the morning." Itachi replied and jumped off the carriage, Erza looked behind her to see Wendy looking a little tired. Erza smiled a little at how her brother was always so considerate for others.
"Come on, let's bring out our camping gear." Erza walked over to the stroller attached to the back of the carriage, pulling her ridicules mountain of luggage. "Let's see, the tents were in… this one I believe." Erza carefully grabbed a bag trying not to make her mountain of luggage collapse. Once that was done Erza followed Itachi to the spot where they were supposed to camp, and noticed he had already begun making a fireplace. "Are you not going to sleep right away?" Erza questioned.
"Considering our mission, someone needs to stay on watch. Might as well be me, you and the other girls just get some sleep." Itachi replied as he was stocking the fire wood.
Mira, Wendy and Carla arrived at the spot as well, having brought with what was going to be their breakfast in the morning. "Erza, I will help you set up the tent. Wendy and Carla, why don't you help Itachi?" Mira went to help Erza,
"Right!" Wendy beamed with a smile and rushed over to Itachi. "How can I help, Itachi-san?" Wendy looked slightly energetic for someone whom was yawning earlier, guess she got excited over the idea of helping.
"For now, you two can gather a few rocks for us to place around the fire. Leave the lunch boxes here." Itachi smiled over the little dragon slayer's eagerness to help, and the fact that she gave him a beaming smile before heading off with her Exceed companion.
After a while, Erza and Mira had managed to set up the tent that looked big enough to contain ten people. And Itachi and Wendy had managed to finish making the fireplace.
The fire wasn't that big which made Wendy look at Itachi with a questioning glance. "Itachi-san, why are the flames so low?" Wendy questioned.
"It's so we won't be easily spotted by anyone. It gives off less light, but just enough to keep us warm." Itachi replied, just sitting there staring into the fire.
"Oh? Natsu-san usually makes the fire way bigger, or he eats them when he is hungry…" Wendy sweat dropped a little at thinking of the pink haired dragon slayer. "It's kind of weird not having him, Lucy-san, Gray-san, and Happy here…"
"I would say it's very peaceful." Carla commented looking a little relaxed without that blue cat around asking her if she wanted fish. "Although, it is strange… we've gotten way used to them all by now."
"That's true, although that's a good thing." Wendy beamed with her usual child like smile, and then she let out another yawn and looked rather sleepy.
"Should we call it a night?" Mira giggled at the drowsy looking Wendy, gently lifting her up like a mother would do to their child.
"I'm not that tired…" Wendy uttered in a sleepy like tone, to which everyone smiled.
"Let's go then." Erza requiped into her pajamas and went into the tent with Carla, Mira and Wendy not far behind.
Before Mira entered, she looked over to Itachi. "Are you sure you're not coming in?"
"It's fine, I will just stay watch for the night. You four just make sure you get some sleep." Itachi assured, Mira looked a little hesitant at first, but then entered.
"Well, good night, Itachi." Mira said before they closed the tent.
"Sleep tight everyone." Itachi replied and returned to looking at the fire.
As the sounds of the girls changing into pajamas, minus Erza, Wendy noticed something. "Huh? Mira-san, are you alright? You got a cut on your thigh." Wendy noticed the scratch Mira got from Itachi when he went on a rampage against those dragons.
"Oh, it's nothing, I got it when we were fighting against the dragons. It won't leave a scar or anything so everything's fine." Mira assured the little Wendy, although her voice sounded a little nervous since she knew Itachi could hear them.
Itachi frowned while looking into the fire, seeing the flaring flames burning wildly, the glow of the flames reflecting in his eyes. He clenched his fists while thinking back on when he killed Ivan and the members of Raven Tail. Although he couldn't remember anything that happened before he sealed away Scissor Runner with the Totsuka blade. And that thought, was disturbing to him. What happened to him? Why can't he remember what he did? How did his body move without him knowing? How strong are those demon marks? These questions kept popping up in his mind as he just stared into the fire.
The next morning
The sun was shining, and Mira groggily opened her eyes. She sat up and let out a yawn while stretching her body. She looked around the tent, and saw Erza sleeping while hugging onto Wendy and Carla, she also noticed Itachi wasn't in here. Mira quickly got changed from her pajamas and into her normal clothes, she ended it with tying up her bangs into her signature ponytail.
She got out of the tent, and saw Itachi putting out the fire. From the looks of it, he has been up all night. "Morning, did you get any sleep?" Mira asked despite knowing the answer, hoping she was wrong.
"I'm fine, and morning." Itachi replied as he brought forth the lunch boxes that were their breakfast. "I heated them up a bit before putting out the fire, could you wake up the others." Mira didn't like seeing this, Itachi acting a little cold and distant.
"Itachi, it really wasn't your fault." Mira said while holding her hand over her thigh.
"… Please, just wake the others." Itachi dodged the subject and sat down on the same spot he sat all night.
Mira didn't know what to say or do, she just wanted Itachi to feel better. 'Guess these things take a lot of time, huh?' Mira thought with a saddened look, she then went back into the tent to wake up the others.
Once the others were awake and had changed, they ate their breakfast, packed together their stuff, and before moving on with the carriage they went over the details of the job once more. "Okay, our job involves taking down as many of the branch dark guild from Grimoire Heart and Oracion Seis. Ever since they were defeated, the branches of those dark guild have either joined Tartaros, and those that haven't are divided through the country. Reports have it, that some of those dark guilds will be meeting together to discuss their plans for the future." Erza gave a quick run down on the job details, and despite knowing what she was getting into, Wendy still looked slightly nervous. "Our job is to capture as many of them as possible and hand them over to the magic council."
"Lahar has also stationed some of his troops around the area to make sure that no one escapes. We will meet up with Lahar before we start the job." Itachi finished the rundown of the job, and they went on in their carriage to the meeting point.
After driving for some time, they arrived at the outskirts of a forest where Lahar was waiting for them. "It's good to see you, Itachi." Lahar greeted with a bow. "I must congratulate you and your guild for winning this year's Grand Magic Games."
"Thank you, Lahar. Now let's get down to business, shall we?" Itachi having experience capturing dark guilds with Lahar before decided to cut right through the case.
"Right, the dark guilds are meeting up at a castle in the far end of the forest. Rumors has it that it that there are over a hundred of them in there. I have my men covering the entire forest, no one gets in or out without our permission." Lahar explained to which Itachi gave a simple nod.
"Come on guys, we'll walk from here." Itachi said and the other four jumped out from the carriage, and with Itachi walked into the forest.
They walked all the way to the end, until they noticed the large castle. "Okay, that's our target." Itachi activated his sharingan to see if he could detect anyone, although he raised his brow at what he saw. "What's this?" Itachi walked closer to the castle.
"Itachi, wait." Mira whispered as they followed after him, and to their surprise Itachi walked right up to the door.
"What's wrong?" Erza asked.
"… I can't detect anyone inside, and I don't feel a barrier around it either. Something's not right here." Itachi kicked the door open, and quickly smelled a foul scent. It smelled so rotten, that the girls had to cover their noses, yet Itachi didn't but only because he was used to this type of smell. It was the smell of rotten corpses, guts and blood. Itachi walked in, looked around and saw hundreds of bodies spread across the entire castle.
"What's going on here?" Erza widened her eyes at seeing all these corpses.
"What happened here…?" Wendy looked utterly horrified.
"Wendy, let's get out of here." Carla quickly acted to protect Wendy from seeing this sight, escorted her out leaving the three S-class mages to inspect the scene.
"Wendy, Carla, get Lahar and tell his men to move in." Itachi ordered.
"R-Right…" Wendy uttered as she and Carla moved back to where Lahar was.
Itachi walked up to a corpse and pulled out a shiny blade sticking out from the neck of a man. It was a kunai knife, and it was drenched in poison. They waited until Lahar and his men got here, and they instantly looked in disbelief at the sight before them. "Everyone is dead." Itachi said while still holding the kunai knife.
"T-That's impossible… my men saw them a few days ago enter this forest. They made sure no one got out…" Lahar widened his eyes in confusion, how did whoever killed them get out of the forest with his men on guard at every corner.
"I know why." Itachi said and threw the kunai knife stabbing into the ground in front of Lahar. "This wasn't the work of mere assassins or mages, it was a man named Sasori." Once Itachi spoke that name Mira and Erza widened their eyes in shock.
"Sasori? The one you fought during the Nirvana incident?" Erza questioned, while sweating, he really was alive after all.
"Yes, he is highly skilled at infiltration, although my guess is that he has someone amongst your people working for him." Itachi payed close attention to the reaction of everyone in Lahar's squad, and noticed two men reacting differently from the others. The others reacted in shock and disbelief as anyone would do when they hear one of your comrades is a traitor. The two men however, flinched when Itachi said that and were instantly grabbed by the throat by Itachi whom lifted them up.
"What are you?!" Lahar immediately reacted looking like he wanted an answer as the rest of the squad readied their weapons.
"You have five seconds to tell me where Sasori is, or else you will be in for a world of pain." Itachi loosened his grip on them so that they could talk.
"W-We don't know what your talking about…" One of them uttered.
"Your crazy…" The other one uttered.
"Pain it is then." Itachi glared into their eyes with his sharingan, and then they looked a little drowsy having been put under Itachi's genjutsu. "Where is Sasori?"
"We don't know… he contacts us at random…" One of them replied to which Lahar widened his eyes in disbelief, knowing of Itachi's ability to make people tell the truth.
"How does he contact you?" Itachi continued the questioning.
"He sends messages with a bird puppet… and we send messages back to him reporting on the council's movements…"
"Why are you working for him?" Itachi narrowed his gaze at the guards.
"We have to…" They simply replied, Itachi looked at them closely and noticed traces of chakra in them. "Mind control, huh?" Itachi let the guards go to which Lahar's men apprehended them.
"Mind control?" Lahar questioned.
"Sasori has the ability to put people under his control, that way he can get contacts within armies and such to work as spies for him." Itachi explained remembering how Sasori used to use it on Kabuto to keep tabs on Orochimaru back in the day.
"So, what now? Do we look for him?" Erza asked as Itachi went over to inspect another victim.
The reason this one caught his interest was because it looked like his body had been torn through by shark fangs, there was only one man he knew of that would do this. 'These patterns… Samehada. Kisame, huh…' Itachi thought, having solved the mystery on who the last person Zeref brought back to life was. "No, he is long gone by now. We'll have to wait, in time I'm sure our paths with him will cross." Itachi said answering Erza's question, and while he headed towards the exit. "Lahar, sorry but it seems our business for today is done. Guys, let's head back to the guild we're done here." Itachi called and Erza, Mira, Wendy and Carla followed him back.
"Onii-san, I found something I think you should take a look at." Erza held a cloth in her hand, and handed it over to Itachi. He unfolded the cloth and there was a symbol, it was the emblem of the dark guild Tartaros. "It would seem Sasori has aligned himself with Tartaros this time." Erza said to which Itachi narrowed his sights on the emblem, he then handed the cloth over to Lahar with this new information and then they went on their way, and new questions were made, with no new answers.
Meanwhile, deep in the Magnolia forest
Walking through the forest with her bare feet, was the spirit of Mavis Vermillion. Her eyes filled with anger, as coming into view was a lone young man dressed in black sitting on a rock, it was Zeref. "This presence… Mavis." Zeref uttered as an emotionless smile grew across his face. "To think I would be haunted by a ghost from the past."
Mavis focused her magic power while glaring at Zeref. "So you were observing the Grand Magic Games, Zeref." Mavis spoke and Zeref reacted.
"Well, so you decided to speak to me, I still can't see you however. I haven't felt your presence this close to me since seven years ago on Tenrou Island." Zeref spoke as he turned in the direction where the voice came from, Mavis having used her magic power to communicate with Zeref.
"I came to ask you a few questions, Zeref. First, are you still looking for a place to die? Or has that changed?" Mavis questioned.
"I have decided my place of death, although not in this era." Zeref replied as he tried to reach out to where the voice came from, yet all he felt was a cold sensation. "So cold, just like a dead corpse."
"What do you mean by that?" Mavis reached her hand out to Zeref's gently touching it.
"Over the course of my cursed life, I've seen many eras coming to an end. Conflict between people, hatred, wicked hearts… most caused by me and my followers. For a long time, I have always hoped the new age would purify my mistakes. But history keeps repeating itself… no matter what." Zeref couldn't feel Mavis' touching his hand, all he could feel was the cold, but for some reason he knew Mavis was touching his hand.
"Yet they have survived every time as well." Mavis retorted.
"They haven't, not in a certain sense anyways, if this circle continues, they never truly will survive."
"I take it you have made a decision on where you stand?" Mavis narrowed her gaze at Zeref.
"I have, after thinking for these past seven years I've reached a conclusion. If the world continues to reject me, I shall reject this world." Zeref declared as the trees around them looked to be slowly dying.
"I assure you, Fairy Tail shall protect this world from you if needed." Mavis threatened.
"These shall be my two gifts. World harmony and regeneration." Zeref's death energy started to make the grass whiter away, the leaves to whiter as well, and birds flying nearby to die and fall to the ground.
"Will there be war?" Mavis had a look of sorrow, although Zeref couldn't see it, he could hear it from the sound of her voice.
"No, only a one-sided annihilation. I will not let a single human live should the world keep rejecting me." Zeref declared and Mavis removed her hand from Zeref's whom felt only the cold around his hand to vanish.
"Fairy Tail will stop you. You're the one who'll be destroyed." Mavis returned to glaring at Zeref, with only one more question lingering in her mind. "Before I leave you, tell me. What did you do to that boy? What did you do to Itachi?"
Zeref smirked when that name was mentioned and his eyes flared red with malice. "I gave him life." Zeref simply replied, yet Mavis could tell there was more to it behind that menacing voice.
"What did you do to him?" Mavis asked again releasing what magic pressure she could in her spirit state.
"…" Zeref didn't seem bothered by the pressure in the slightest. "I merely gave him power. In time everything shall be revealed. If I were you, I would be more concerned on the upcoming obstacle in your guild's way, Tartaros have begun making their move. The battle between us will come in time as well, Mavis." Zeref said, and just before Mavis could say anything at all, Zeref vanished in a flash leaving the dead withering leaves blowing in the wind around Mavis.
"Should have expected that out of you… When the time comes, Fairy Tail will take you down." Mavis declared and like a ghost vanished, with all left as a sign that they were there, was the dead forest area.
That's the end for now!
I'm back, Japan was amazing! Up next we have the Sun Village arc which I will try and cover in a single chapter.
The mystery of Itachi's power, and the connection between the former Akatsuki members and Zeref are slowly starting to unfold for the characters. What awaits at the end of this mystery? What waits for Itachi? With Tartaros on the move, and with the former Akatsuki members seemingly having aligned themselves with Tartaros.
And if anyone is confused why Zeref could hear Mavis. Apparently, Mavis can make none guild members hear her if she wishes, or something.
Leave a review!
-Later!
(responds to reviews)
TheJSmooth: Party time is over, as more trouble seems to be on its way.
588963-B: Thanks!
Shadow Joestar: Indeed he does, although the learning of controlling it might have to wait with his old friends Sasori and Kisame on the move.
Mr. Haziq: That he did.
Sandi091000: Thanks!
Guts and Toes: Itachi and Fairy Tail have to deal with Madara on their own I'm afraid. And I see, that part with Lisanna and the lunch boxes back in chapter 3, it was meant as Itachi just brushing off what Lisanna said as a joke and then asking Mira where she bought it as that is what she claimed at first. And you think he comes of a bit cocky? Might I point out a certain scene in canon when Itachi confronts Kabuto with Sasuke, he says this about the edo tensei. "This jutsu's risks and weaknesses, are my existence." Sounds kind cocky to me, just sayin' XD. But thank you!
Immortal ninjaaa: Well… she is struggling with it inside, although I may not have been clear on that XD.
Ultimatrix bearer: Uhh, I think if he combined Atlas Flame with Amaterasu, Atlas Flame would die since those flames can even burn fire away. Zeref's plan will remain a mystery for a bit longer.
Dracus6: I will consider it.
seant5054: I have major writers block on that one, sorry. I will try and update it when I can.
nikki nein: Not sure if that was meant in a negative way, or a positive way…
abciluvpie: I see, all I can say is… plot reasons.
Fog: Thanks!
keybladelight: Don't worry, already have the Madara and Ur story planned out for a flashback later on, and I have planned out Madara and Ultear's encounter.
anonymouse47: Thanks!
Michael Guss: Yep, and maybe? Wait and see what unfolds when the mystery is further explored.
Guest: I see, I will try and work on that.
AkumaNisshoku: Thanks!