Author's Note: Sorry…It's been a while. Hope you all are faring well. Thank you for all your support and patience.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
TW: Electrocution, Asphyxiation, Emotional Damage
Spells and attacks will be written in bold fonts.
Thoughts, flashbacks, and emphasized phrases will be italicized. I recommend you re-read the italicized Moon District flashbacks from the previous chapters to make sense of the ones that will be present in this chapter and later just so it makes sense.
Wayfarers X790 arc - Chapter 20 - Blood Etched Unto These Hands
~Amdusias Manor Catacombs, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia, Fiore X790~
"Crap..." Meredy cursed at her own predicament. Moments ago, she thought she had Isaruth wrapped around her fingers when the dark mage expressed interest in getting rid of the Blood Pact placed around her neck by her master. Since Pierrot banished her into the cells within the dank catacomb corridors, she was now trapped in Isaruth's sticky web.
Within the confines of her prison chamber, eight mind-controlled children robotically stepped towards her with weapons raised with every intention to bludgeon her.
"No way, you're not seriously going to make these children kill me..." Meredy grit her teeth, shocked at the possibility.
"And what of it? Why should I risk breaking my manicure trying to catfight with you? I just got these done a few days ago."
Behind the rusting bars to her back, Isaruth complacently watched the potential crime she orchestrated come to fruition. By her near undisturbed demeanor, one could ascertain this was not her first time using her magic to make others do her dirty bidding. But young children. This was a new low entirely.
"My puppets, please break this bitch a new one," Isaruth yawned to display her ennui, "And make it quick. Big Sis has bigger fish to fry."
Meredy clicked her teeth at the dreadful thought. She could barely muster an audible utterance to encapsulate what she was feeling in the moment. Her gaze shifted between each of the mind-controlled children. Then to the transparent pink tendrils connecting each of them to a see-through jellyfish-like creature hovering over all of them. The Maguilty Sense mage's eyes focused on the cnidarian phantasm hovering over the children, "Is that what I think it is?"
When the first child raised their rusted pipe over their head, Meredy knew it was either go big or go six feet under. The hot-pink haired mage cast an apologetic look towards the children, "I'm sorry..."
As the first child swung their rusted pipe downwards, Meredy prostrated her hands forward. Neon, magenta briars undulated from her now outstretched hands, "Maguilty Briars"
Radiant, mauve-red brambles undulated and flooded the space within the cells. The rubrous vines wrapped around the pink tendrils latched onto the children; their thorns dug tightly into the mind-controlling tentacles before severing the connections between Isaruth's Mindflayer and the children. With every ectoplasmic ligament sheared off, each victim fell unconscious.
With all the children freed from the Neural Hacker's jurisdiction, the thorned wires whipped and slithered towards the main body of the jellyfish specter. The Mindflayer was immediately torn into shreds.
"No way..." Isaruth was too flabbergasted to form a full sentence as she watched Meredy undo her most advanced spell.
With both the Mindflayer and the young hostages incapacitated, Meredy sinisterly turned and glared at Isaruth on the other side of the cell. The scarlet thorned vines extending from her person undulated and faced the Neural Hacker's direction, menacing blaring their barbs towards her person.
Buckets of sweat flooded from Isaruth's forehead, "Oh crap..."
In the split second that followed, Meredy's sensory thorns bolted through the bars trapping their caster in the cell. Rusted from years within the damp, unattended space of the catacombs, the bars were ripped through with ease like a chainsaw splattering room temperature butter. Magic barbed wires darted towards Isaruth who was too slow to evade ensnarement.
"Gghhhh!" Isaruth winced as the thorns of the sensory brambles tightened around her bilateral wrists and ankles. Meredy, now free from confinement, eyed the silvery stave Isaruth clutched with her right hand. The Maguilty Sense mage focused her magic onto Isaruth's right wrist. The magenta briars wrapped around Isaruth's right wrist dug their thorns deeper into her joint.
"Ggaaahhhh!" Isaruth exclaimed in pain as she lost her grip over her stave. The silver wooden stave toppled to the floor, bouncing less than foot before stopping completely.
While her enemy was secured within her briar's grasp, Meredy walked over to the stave.
"D-Don't do it," Isaruth mustered audaciously, "I j-just received this today as a...a gift f-from..."
"From who?" Meredy sighed, unamused, "Your disposable himbo?"
"Y-Yes-I mean no!" Isaruth corrected herself real quick, "I-I never thought he was d-disposable. Stop putting words in my mouth."
Meredy glared incredulously at the deceptive, manipulative scum in front of her. This Isaruth girl was bad news. Then again, anyone who could something so awful to young children was. But Isaruth in particular was the type who flipped the switch easily depending on her predicament; from being cruel and sadistic when she knows she has the upper hand to becoming meek and crestfallen when she's at someone else's mercy.
"If you truly thought he was indispensable, you wouldn't have left him at Crime Sociere's mercy just to save your hide, " Meredy's eyes burned with indignation, "But you did anyways. Even after he spent his Jewel to get you this gaudy stick that gives you better control over the children your guild traffics...It's just all so insidiously stupid and messed up!"
Without a moment's pause, Meredy stomped on the rose quartz lacrima crystal attached to the argentous sinew linking it the wooden stave. The crystal shattered like glass underneath the force of her booted foot.
"N-Noooo!" Isaruth pouted, "My staff!"
Meredy turned her glare at Isaruth. She raised her hand and withdrew her sensory thorns. Isaruth plopped to the ground, shivering before the Crime Sociere mage. She scurried on all fours towards her shattered staff. The dread-locked girl chipped her red manicured nails into the muddied catacomb floors trying piece together the broken pieces of her rod. But without an adhesive agent, she had no means to fix the object of her greed.
A few seconds later, the Neural Hacker gave up. Her black and pink dreadlocks cascaded over her eyes as she dropped the wooden fragments to the catacomb floors. She stood up with a look of disinterest. The dreaded bangs covering her face lifted, unveiling pitch-black pupils with neon pink irises.
"This spike in magic power...!" Meredy stepped back as her thorned sensory vines meandered in front of her caster as if to protect her.
An electrical magic aura suddenly sparked around Isaruth's figure. Trails of blood streamed down her eyes and mouth. The pink electricity branched from Isaruth.
"Oh..." a near monotone, apathetic voice exited the girl's lips, "You did it now."
~Yorugao Dojo, Waxing Gibbous District, Caelum, X787~
"Nine-hundred-ninety-nine!"
"One thousand!"
Within the main dojo building, a group of apprentices dressed in black hakama and grey nagagi swung wooden dummy swords [A/N: bamboo mock blades are also known as shinai] in unison in front of their master atop the hardwood floor. The master, none-other than the raven-haired Tetsuya, clapped his hands once to adjourn their practice swings. Following their master's instructions, the group halted their exercise.
Many of the apprentices were either slumped over or sitting down with bottles of water in hand to catch a breath. But one apprentice shorter than the rest continued swing his fake sword. Just like Master Tetsuya, the boy sported the same raven locks and sapphire blue eyes. His eyes were no longer as meek as they used to be when he was four. At ten-years-old, Shinji's eyes burned with a desire to achieve greater heights in his technique with the blade.
"One thousand one!" "One thousand two!" "One-thousand three!"
"Hmmm...Master's nephew is still swinging his blade even after he called time...again" an exhausted older apprentice with a green bowl cut with two leaf like ahoge and matching deep green eyes sighed as he watched the younger apprentice's efforts, "Think he'll reach 500 extra swings before Master calls for us to regroup?"
"Maybe. His tenacity really shows despite being the youngest and the smallest," another older apprentice with wavy blue hair and sky-blue eyes calmly chimed in, "He won't be able to hold his own if he allows his age and stature to limit himself."
"I'll say," the green-haired apprentice continued, "At this rate, maybe he'll be able to attempt Bladesmith."
"Midori, Aoba..., " Tetsuya loomed behind both of the teenage apprentices before giving both of them noogies with each of his arms.
"Gah! Master!" Midori's leafy cowlicks twitched as Tetsuya gave him a solid knuckle rub on his scalp.
"We weren't trying to slander your nephew! I promise!" Aoba surrendered.
"Geez, I've heard everything already. If you guys were slandering Shinji, I would have cut you both down in " Tetsuya released his apprentices from the grip of his noogies before his sapphire eyes sparkled compassionately towards them, "But, Midori, did you really mean what you said about Shinji possibly being ready to attempt Bladesmith?"
"U-Um, yeah, I did, "Midori hesitantly nodded.
"While I cannot deny the prospect makes me overjoyed," Tetsuya's eyes beamed delightfully at the idea before they switched back to normal, "Shinji is only 10 years old. We'd need to build his aptitude for magic and his magic reserves."
Although he could hear his uncle and seniors bickering, Shinji kept fervently swinging his blade with the same composure. Deep inside, his heart was jumping in excitement. A small grin fashioned itself on the child's face as he continued to swing his blade.
Six years had passed since Sasara and Shinji arrived at the Yorugao Dojo. Within those six years, Shinji grew into a fine adolescent youth. Sasara looked after him and educated him while Tetsuya took him in as Yorugao apprentice. Shinji always found himself in awe of his uncle and the honed Yorugao Dojo apprentices training and sparring sessions. The thing that captivated him the most was the magic blade technique taught in this dojo; Bladesmith - a Holder Type Magic that enables the user to reconfigure or enchant their sword temporarily with magic properties.
"One-thousand seventy-seven!" "One-thousa-"
"Halt! Master's orders!" Tetsuya commanded.
Shinji stopped his blade swings before turning to his uncle, making sure to wipe any traces of a grin from his face.
"Say Shinji, I think it's about time we switch up the regimen for once." Tetsuya smiled, "Let's have you spar against Aoba AND Midori. If you win, I'll have them both train you personally to learn the Bladesmith technique."
Shinji bowed to his uncle, "Thank you kindly for this opportunity Uncle."
"Gah! Master...we didn't agree to this!" Midori's twin foliar cowlicks flapped in blatant refusal.
"Why so nervous, Midori?" Tetsuya smirked at his older apprentices, "What better way for you and Aoba to become better than to teach your young colleagues? Besides, Shinji is only five years younger than the two of you."
"Sounds good to me, " without hesitation, Aoba readied his bamboo stick with a smirk on his face, "You've put in great efforts to improve yourself Shinji. It'd be my honor to test your mettle to determine if you're worthy of taking on the Yorugao Bladesmith tradition."
"A-Aoba! You can't be serious!" Midori flailed at his fellow apprentice's brazen words.
Shinji locked his sapphire eyes into Aoba's, "Thank you for taking me seriously, Aoba-dono."
Before Midori could protest further, Tetsuya shoved Midori onto towards Aoba.
"Ack! Sensei, that was uncalled for!" Midori pouted.
Tetsuya stuck his tongue out at his apprentice, "C'mon Midori, give it your best. Wouldn't want to get beaten up by a ten-year-old, would you?"
A vein popped on the green-haired swordsman's forehead as he readied his bamboo blade at his master's nephew, "Shinji, don't ever grow up to be like your uncle, 'kay?"
"That'll never happen, "Shinji jested, "Mother says one Tetsuya-dono is already too much."
"Aghhhh!" Tetsuya felt those words jab him through the chest before he slumped to the matted dojo floor in a crestfallen state, "Oh Ane-san, why must you be so cruel..."
"Hehe...it's my sworn duty as your sister to keep you in check," a woman's giggles echoed from across the dojo hall.
Tetsuya cocked his head in the direction of the voice to see his sister clad in a pink and black furisode with white socks over black sandals. Sasara did not change much over the past 6 years. The burdens of raising a child as a single mother and working full-time as a courtesan were lifted from her when she and Shinji arrived at Yorugao all those years back. Despite the newfound levity in her current situation, her countenance still seemed more tired than baseline; a fact that has panged her younger brother since her arrival.
"Sasara-nee..." Tetsuya's tone shifted to one of gentle concern for his older sister, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Mmm...I slept like a log," Sasara reassured her brother with a smile, "The sounds of the crickets and the night breeze rustling the trees were like a tranquil lullaby."
"Is that your roundabout way of saying I need to soundproof the walls of your room?" Tetsuya tilted his head trying to clasp a potential double meaning from his sister's answer.
"No, no. There's need to trouble yourself over me. I've been absolutely grand," Sasara maintained her reassuring smile while shaking her head, "I just wanted to get some fresh air...But I didn't think I'd have the pleasure to watch my Shinji spar with his classmates today."
"My hope is that. one day. my older disciples and I can impart our knowledge of the Bladesmith technique onto him" Tetsuya was transparent about his intentions, "Although I don't know his aptitude for magic, I do know I still need your permission as his mother."
Sasara was quiet for a moment. Her smile betrayed the maternal worries she carried for her growing boy. She had already relented and allowed Shinji to learn how to wield a weapon years ago. Having her son enter the world of magic was an exponentially different danger. Conversely, having magic power in one's arsenal would also be one's greatest shield in a world rampant with criminal mages, dark guilds, demons of black mages, and dragons.
She had no doubt that Shinji had an aptitude for magic.
Because surely someone related to "him" would have a connection to "that".
"I trust in your vision, Little Brother," Sasara broke the silence with a sigh, before looking into Tetsuya's sapphire eyes with her own, "Inevitably, we all are going to get hurt in this life. If teaching Shinji magic will help him protect himself and those he loves, then that will be enough."
"Enough...?" Tetsuya questioned his sister's phrase almost inaudibly.
...
Shinji weaved to and fro, avoiding the two fake blades swung at him while clutching his own. Aoba and Midori were his seniors and showed great promise as Yorugao disciples. Having watched them train every day since he first arrived, Shinji had nothing but reverence for them. His only strength was his speed, which Aoba already outclassed him in. So, the only way he could find an advantage is remembrance itself from observing their strengths in sparring sessions many times prior.
Aoba, the taller disciple with wavy blue locks and blue eyes to match, moved like a flowing river. His footwork combined with his stamina and speed makes him good at wearing down his enemies.
Midori, the shorter disciple with light green hair and twin leaf cowlicks, was timid outside of battle. But once armed, he becomes an immovable mountain. To compensate for stature, Midori focused on a fighting style that capitalizes defense.
The raven-haired student pivoted 180 degrees to swing his bamboo blade at Midori's neck.
Inches from Midori's face, Shinji's bamboo blade was halted by a timely block. With Shinji wide open, Midori leaned forward in attempt to elbow the younger disciple.
Shinji stepped backward with a 360-degree turn holding his shinai in tow to swing at Midori's other side.
Another sound of wood knocking echoed through the dojo walls as Midori parried Shinji's second attempt, knocking his blade away.
"Ghhh..." Shinji bit his bottom lip as his hand stung at the reverberation of Midori's timely block.
"Hmph..." Noticing the split-second Shinji's guard was lowered; Midori bent his elbow back to draw his bamboo sword in preparation to jab Shinji.
"Mmmph!" Shinji's blue eyes widened at his green-haired senior's shift to attacking stance. With barely enough time, Shinji flipped the handle of his shinai, placing the broad part of his stick in front of his other palm.
Midori thrust his elbow forth. Another wooden knock tolled as the bamboo blade's point made contact with the long body of the young disciple's blade.
In the second that followed, Shinji was sent back a yard away from Midori. His palms stung more severely from reinforcing his shinai from his senior's blow. The raven-haired swordsman took a deep breath before refocusing himself on the sparring match with Midori in his visage.
"Wait...isn't someone missing?" Shinji thought to himself tilted his head in confusion.
"Don't tap out just yet!" Like a rushing river, Aoba darted in front of Midori and sunk low to the ground with the intention of swiping his shinai at Shinji with a clean vertical slash.
"!" Shinji's breath hitched as he blocked Aoba's blade on pure instinct.
"There's more where that came from!" the blue-haired male's movements were fluid as he continued to subdue Shinji with quick, undulating strikes.
The raven-haired swordsman continued to block each of Aoba's flowing swings. Repetitive knocks of bamboo clashing against each other became an arboreal chorus that echoed throughout the dojo walls.
"C'mon! Keep at it!" the wavy blue swordsman's excitement upped in tandem with the speed and fervor of his swings.
"Ngghh..." Shinji runted as he continued to block each and every one of Aoba's strikes. Although his senior had yet to land a hit on him, Shinji knew he his endurance would not last. Furthermore, his hands were now throbbing. In due time, Aoba would definitely strike him down.
Aoba grinned as he noticed Shinji was still putting up a good defense against him. Knowing his sparring partner could not maneuver the tides to deign attempt an attack on him was all too reassuring.
Anticipating a clean hit, Aoba closed in on Shinji shifting side to side to as he closed in on Shinji for less predictability. The blue-haired disciple swiped his blade across aiming to strike Shinji's transverse plane.
Despite his severely throbbing hands, Shinji gripped his shinai's handle with both before putting his blade in front of himself and Aoba's slash. Just when Aoba's blade was about the connect with Shinji's...
"Stop!" a sudden voice rang out from the dojo halls.
Both Aoba and Shinji stopped in their tracks. Aoba's shinai stopped at about half an inch from Shinji's. Shinji, Aoba, and Midori turned in the direction the voice that echoed. A pink-eyed male with red-hair tied in a low ponytail clad in the same Yorugao Dojo hakama entered the fray. The red-haired disciple was around the same age at Midori and Aoba.
"Guren-san... we are in the middle of training Shinji," Midori frowned at the red-haired swordsman.
A vein popped on Aoba's forehead as he glared daggers at the red-haired disciple, "Damnit Guren, what gives?! We were just getting to the good part!"
"Haaaah..." Guren sighed, "At the rate you were going, Aoba, Shinji's shinai would have snapped in two. What good is training the young disciples when you keep breaking the tools they need to practice with? You know that someone has to craft a replacement."
"Huh?" Aoba raised his eyebrows at Guren," What good is coddling the young ones going to do if they run into someone stronger than them in real life? Or worse yet, an enemy smart enough to damage or disarm their weapon?"
"Huhhh?" Guren glowered at Aoba, "But does that necessitate making more trouble for the dojo by breaking practice weapons?"
"Grrrr..." Aoba and Guren butted heads as they growled at one another.
Shinji and Midori sweatdropped at this turn of events, "Ah man, not again..."
Before blue and red could paint the town purple, Tetsuya appeared behind both of them and bonked them on their heads, "Hai! That's enough, you two."
"Tch!" Guren and Aoba both winced at they held their heads.
" I think you both have valid points" The Yorugao Master tapped in, "Guren is right in that we shouldn't take our resources for granted and break our blades and training tools recklessly to train our students. Our swords are, in a way, an extension of our lives and our wills to survive, protect, and cull."
"Heehee..." Guren cast a smug grin at Aoba. The wavy blue-haired male clicked his tongue at his fellow red-haired trainee.
"But..." Tetsuya continued regaining both of their attentions, "Aoba is also right in that there will be enemies out there that can exploit our weakness. Our strength as swordsmen is dependent on the weapon in our hands."
"Ah-ha!" Aoba stuck his tongue out at Guren who grit his teeth into a grimace at the blue-haired disciple.
"Anyway, I think maybe you both should work out the differences in your ideologies by..." Tetsuya stopped then shifted his gaze to his nephew, "Teaching my nephew how to use Bladesmith!"
"Ah." Shinji made a blank face in disbelief.
"Eh?!" Aoba and Guren were taken aback by the notion.
"B-but Sensei, " Midori interjected, "Shinji didn't win the sparring match per agreement..."
"A-ah..." Shinji slumped over in shame as he felt Midori's unintentional burn sear his pride.
"Uh, s-sorry Shinji. I spoke without thinking," Midori sweatdropped as he patted Shinji on his back.
"Well, he didn't lose either..." Tetsuya teasingly smiled at Midori and Aoba, "Although I could tell you both didn't hold back. Neither of you could land a single blow on him."
"Gah!" Midori and Aoba felt their teacher's words pierce them both, "Y-you're absolutely right."
"Then it's settled, "Tetsuya smiled as he looked at his three teen disciples and young nephew, "What greater challenge to test your mettle than to train my nephew to learn the dojo's honored technique? Shinji, I am placing you under their tutelage."
"Y-yes, sir, " Shinji bowed to his uncle, "I deeply appreciate the opportunity, Tetsuya-dono."
Tetsuya sighed a happy sigh before turning to Midori, "If you don't mind, Midori will you do me the favor of overseeing Shinji's training under those two?"
"I appreciate your request, but...w-why me?" the green-haired disciples twin cowlicks twitched with self-doubt.
"I need someone strait-laced to play the middleman, "Tetsuya answered, "Aoba and Guren collide often which will, at times, be an impediment on Shinji's progress. So, I need you to keep them in place."
"We're right here, you know?" Guren and Aoba glared at Tetsuya for talking dirt about them in front of them.
"It's practically common knowledge, " Tetsuya sarcastically jested, "Unless...you guys prove me wrong..."
"Grrr...why you!" Aoba grit his teeth and continued to glare at his teasing master who stuck a tongue out at them.
Guren sighed and approached Shinji who was beyond lost for words. After all, so much happened within this span of a few hours. The red-haired disciple held out a salutatory hand towards the raven-haired boy, "Shinji, I guess you, me, Midori, and Aoba are going to be more acquainted from here on out. Let's make you an impeccable swordsman worthy of the Yorugao name."
Shinji took his senior's hand and shook it firmly, "I am truly honored, Guren-dono, Aoba-dono, Midori-dono."
...
"Hmmmm..." Sasara watched the scene from afar with a loving grin on her face, "Oh Tetsuya, you sne-*cough cough*"
Sasara quelled her cough with her pink and black sleeves, making it near inaudible for anyone else to hear. Lifting her sleeve from her face, she noticed a speck of blood blotting her furisode sleeves.
"Oh dear...my time is already starting to run out..."
White moonflowers in the dojo's Zen Garden swayed innocently with the gentle breeze with the false promise for a better future.
~Amdusias Manor Main Study, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia Fiore X790~
"I found it!" Shinji exclaimed as he held up a navy-blue, brochure like paper containing sketches etched with white ink.
The once fancy, well-maintained study now looked like a miniature hurricane whipped up inside its confines and scattered papers everywhere. Given how hurriedly Ultear and Shinji searched for the building blueprints, there was no need to fret about sloppiness.
"Well done," Ultear nodded to Shinji with approval, "I would not have guessed you were adept at sifting through documents."
Immediately, the raven-haired teen unfolded the paper and set it flat on the table over the trafficking map of Fiore's southwestern port cities.
Ultear scanned the architectural document with acuity, particularly eyeing the lower levels of the mansion.
"There," she abruptly pointed her gloved index finger onto a specific point - a staircase on the first floor leading to a lower level not depicted in the papers, "Isn't this a little suspicious?"
"Yeah, " Shinji nodded, "Let's head down to the first-floor hall then."
...
Although a tad weathered from the natural elements trickling in, the first-floor hallway of Amdusias main headquarters still bared a fraction of its exorbitance. Withered leaves and dust scarcely speckled the once pristine, ivory marbling on the floor; almost as if someone was still cleaning it every now and then.
Alabaster paint covered the walls of the floor-hall with sable vectors of angels playing trumpets lining the walls with equidistant spacing. A rusted, semi-circular fireplace with charcoal in its pit gave off a smell that a fire was recently put out. Opposite the fireplace, lay a tall, mahogany cabinet containing an array of books with a complementary rollable ladder. On the side adjacent to the fireplace and bookshelf, a black sofa matching the walls was stationed in front of a mahogany rectangular table over a deep red carpet. A top the table were strewn some opened books; an inkwell with a quill; a round, glass paperweight; some rusted keys; and a vase with withered morning glories. Opposite the couch, a pair of windows painted over with black paint were plastered on the walls.
Upon arriving at the first-floor hall, Ultear and Shinji with the still unconscious A-1 clinging to his back could not find anything remotely resembling a set of stairs leading them downwards in plain sight. Ultear held out the outstretched blueprints to reassess.
"This room..." Ultear switched glances between the papers and the room it purportedly depicted, "It seems smaller than what the prints state."
"Is that so?" Shinji gently set A-1 down supine on the red sofa, "There might be a chance Amdusias's members modified this floor to hide the entrance to the lower floor."
"Tch." Ultear clicked her tongue, "If I had more magic power on me, I would have been able to revert this place back to when it was first constructed."
"You can do that?" Shinji was perturbed.
"With ease." Ultear sighed, "But draining myself when we still might have enemies lurking here would put you in danger. I suggest, we search the walls. I'm not an architect by trade, but it seems based on the pictures, the stairs are likely either behind the fireplace or the bookshelf."
"I'll hit the books then, " Shinji promptly walked to the mahogany shelves.
Ultear quickly glanced at the pink-locked A-1 who lay unconscious on the red velvet sofa before proceeding towards the rusted fireplace. She inspected the charcoal and ashes in the firepit, "It seems like this was recently put out in a hurry. Not a single ember in site. When we entered the first hall, neither Shinji nor I could smell a hint of something being burned. Could the entrance be behind the firepit itself?"
While the Ark of Time mage was contemplating next to the fireplace, Shinji climbed up the roller ladder to scan the books in the first-floor hall's collection.
"Dark Ages: An Account of the Baram Alliance's Rise...Zeref Demon Encyclopedia Vol. VII...Fiore Commerce Guide: Bosco Slave Trade X784...Entombed Nihilous...There's a mix books with topics related to dark guilds and trade..." The young swordsman thought as he mulled over multiple encyclopedias and historical record titles.
After parsing through the top two rows, Shinji's eyes eventually found themselves drawn to a small red, hardcover book without a title in the middle section of the bookshelf. Only a black symbol of a horned devil blowing a trumpet was adorned on the cover. As if compelled to do so, Shinji pulled the on the nameless book.
Suddenly, the whole room shook. Ultear took a step back from the fireplace which began slowly turn. Stopping at about ninety degrees, a hidden stairway leading to the uncharted lower floors was revealed.
The Arc of Time Mage looked to Shinji with an approving nod, "A job well done. Let's find Meredy."
~Amdusias Manor Catacombs, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia, Fiore X790~
"Maguilty Briars!" Meredy waved her right hand towards Isaruth. As if following her command, the magenta vines rapidly undulated towards their intended target - the mind-manipulating Isaruth who seemed to gain a new lease on her magic after her new toy was broken. Now that the Neural Hacking mage was provoked, Meredy would now bear the misfortune of dealing with her misdirected wrath head-on.
"Oversynapse." Isaruth outstretched her arms in opposite directions, allowing the electrical currents manifesting around her to take shape into galvanized, crackling tendrils. Within the murky confines of the catacombs, she became a giant, sinister luminance akin to the jellyfish-like Mindflayers she would summon. Isaruth mimicked Meredy's earlier hand motion. The electrical tendrils followed her order, lunging towards Meredy's thorns.
Both sensory vines and neuroelectric binds collided. Upon contact, sparks and flashes of electricity intermittently occurred. The once dark catacombs where only the sounds that permeated the room was the dripping water and scurrying rats was now the location of an intensely blinding light show with near-deafening sound effects.
While locked in the power stalemate of their initial attacks, Isaruth re-allocated some of her magic into her next move. She channeled the neuroelectric energy from a few of her spare extensions into a space between her left and right hands. Within that space, she conjured a concentrated orb of electricity produced from her nervous system. "Synaptic Shock!"
The Neural Hacker pushed her hands forth unleashing the energy stored in the scintillating sphere she created into rings of lightning that homed in on Meredy.
On instinct, Meredy ran out of the cell as the voltaic rings retained their initial trajectory. The rings blasted holes through multiple holding chambers with a bellowing boom. The crumbling of stone and rumbling echoed throughout the lower floor.
Noticing her enemy's positional change, Isaruth switched the direction of her fire. While doing this, the remaining nervous extensions created by Oversynapse funneled their neuroelectric energy into four orbs similar to one Isaruth made with her hands earlier.
Meredy kept running from Isaruth's onslaught, going into the holding cells across the one she was initially locked in. But with the little space the catacombs had to offer, she would certainly get electrocuted.
Isaruth's neuroelectric force blasted through the walls of the second row of chambers. Once more, the crumbling and rumbling flooded the once murky halls of the catacombs. The scale of Isaruth's attack was too much for Meredy to avoid this time. Although she avoided being directly shocked by synapse-generated voltage, the hot-pink-haired lass was knocked forward by the force of the Neural Hacker's attack striking the cell walls behind her.
"Ack!" Meredy was launched forward, skidding a bit before stopping. Immediately, the Maguilty Sense mage came to her senses and assessed her surroundings.
"This is bad! Really bad!" Meredy internally screamed as she glimpsed her enemy's next plan of attack, "Evading can only buy me so much time. And not enough to drain her magic power. Worse yet..."
"I can't have her misfiring or getting any of the children caught in the crossfire," Meredy cast solemn glance to the captured children lying unconscious on the in the holding cell now across from her, "The only silver lining is that I led her away from them..."
Meredy looked up at Isaruth who had a quadra of neuroelectric spheres surrounding her person. The dreaded, bespectacled lady displayed a menacingly unhinged countenance. Her black pupils with mischievous neon-pink irises dug into Meredy's being in a manner different from how Pierrot, the soul-obsessed clown did. People like her who use a cutesy, demure facade to manipulate and get what they want often tend rear their true ugly, self-serving heads when pushed into the corner known as accountability or comeuppance.
"It's curtains for you!" the Neural Hacking mage cast the Crime Sociere mage a bewitching smile as the electrical orbs created by her tendrils and herself glowed brighter than usual to indicate their maximum capacity has been reached. The rumbling throughout the catacombs intensified into full on tremors.
"Synaptic Hypershock!" At her words, all orbs expanded into an overlapping formation of voltaic rings that homed in on Meredy.
"No."
Not bothering to dodge, Meredy smiled smugly at her enemy. Her left wrist was lit up with a neon-pink band with a heart insignia," Sensory Link!"
A lone, light blue arrow shot from Meredy's left wrist towards Isaruth's left wrist faster than Isaruth's neuroelectric pulses could hit their intended target. Within the nick of seconds, a matching neon-pink band with a heart insignia was emblazoned onto the Neural Hacker's wrist too.
In the brief moments Isaruth peered at Meredy before her nervous system would be bombarded five times over, she found herself confused at why her adversary adorned such an annoying look of satisfaction.
When the electrical rings enveloped Meredy, she as if her nerves were directly shocked by multiple lightning strikes. Her screams were too loud for even audio onomatopoeia to encompass. The sheer force of Isaruth's attack pushed her back to the other side of the catacombs. As all the chamber walls behind her was reduced to rubble by Isaruth's earlier onslaught, Meredy flew through each and every perforation until she untimingly slammed into an untouched wall near the catacomb exit into the upper floors.
As her back hit the wall, a resurgence of five-fold nervous pain reverberated through her body. The hot-pink haired mage plopped rubble littered floor onto her hands and knees. As this type of enhanced pain was unlike anything she felt prior, Meredy abrupted collapsed.
Still breathing, the Crime Sociere held onto her consciousness "...aghhh...aghhhh...agghhhh...aghh"
The sensory band on her left wrist maintained its ominous gleam.
Isaruth grimaced at her results she witnessed from afar. The enemy had been incapacitated. Check. The goods were still unscathed thus able to be sold for a profit. Check. Were there more enemies? Oop. But at least there was one less. Isaruth's grimace remained as she walked towards Meredy's near unconscious body.
"Oh...she still hasn't kicked the bucket after all that?" a vein popped on the bespectacled girl's forehead, "This Crime Sociere girly really gets on my nerves."
Isaruth raised a heel over the nearly knocked out Meredy's skull, "Then I guess I'll just have to put you out of your misery."
Before Isaruth could lay a heel on Meredy's body, the neon-pink wrist band on Meredy's body shone with greater intensity. Startled by the light, the Amdusias mage stepped back, "W-What's going on?!"
A blue sensory arrow instantly traversed from Meredy's sensory wrist band into Isaruth's. Immediately, the Neural Hacking mage's nervous system was bombarded with the exact same nervous pain she inflicted upon Meredy.
"Gyahhgahgahgahgahahagahgahggah!"
Foam frothed from her mouth as the Neural Hacking mage writhed uncontrollably in indescribable agony. Isaruth, too, felt like someone strapped her onto an electric chair running current into wires connected with her insides. After minutes of torturous flailing, the once fashionable deceiver collapsed to the ground, a puddle of spume gurgling from her opened mouth. For once, her messy outward countenance matched her horrendous personality.
Having taken a severe direct hit from Isaruth, Meredy immensely struggled to stand. The hot-pink haired female winced as she shifted her weight towards her feet.
"U-ugh..." Meredy took in a few deep breaths.
Right when she was about to stand, the Maguilty Sense mage felt a sudden sharp pain in her legs that made them give out.
"Ah-"
Right when Meredy nearly slipped to her side, a pair of familiar, white-gloved hands caught her.
"Ul..." She looked up into Ultear's deep red eyes.
The Ark of Time Mage was now aware of the severity of Meredy's injuries and the preceding circumstance. Although one part of her was so frustrated she could level down this ugly mansion by fast-forwarding its wear and tear with her time magic, she knew there were other things at stake. Simultaneously, she was frustrated with herself and her own limits.
"Meredy..." Ultear looked solemnly into Meredy's aquamarine eyes, "I'm sorry we couldn't come to your aid sooner."
"It's okay, Ul," Meredy tried to reassure her mother-figure, "I...just need some rest..."
Meredy slipped out of consciousness in Ultear's hands.
"Meredy-!" Ultear immediately checked the younger girl's carotid artery for a pulse with the index and middle fingers of her right hand.
"Whew...she's not done yet."
"Ultear-dono. It's not safe-" a young male's voice called from the exit stairway behind her.
Shinji laden with the unconscious A-1 on his back entered the catacombs. Upon entrance, he scanned the scene before him. Rubble from the now-destroyed holding cell walls was scattered everywhere. Collapsed trafficked children caught in the crossfire were strewn amidst the havoc.
"What on earth happened here?" Shinji kept his thoughts to himself before shifting his glance to Ultear holding a sleeping Meredy in her arms and the messy sight of Isaruth's twitchy, foam-spewing form in front of them.
"Yuck..." Shinji scoffed at the knocked out Isaruth.
"No need to pay mind to that," Ultear sternly said, "We need to get all the children out of here."
"I understand where our priorities lie," Shinji nodded, "But how to propose we do so? There's only so many people you and I could carry?"
Ultear's expression dimmed, "That may be so. We'll just have to take our time-"
The dark-purple haired lady's eyes suddenly widened with shock as if she sensed something powerful loomed over them.
"No!" Ultear turned around, "It can't be...this is the worst possible outcome..."
Shinji's sapphire eyes turned icy as he felt the same pressure, "What is this magic power?"
Ultear turned to Shinji. She yelled with utmost urgency, "Quickly Shinji, come to me!"
"R-Right away," confused and afraid Shinji huddled next to Ultear and Meredy, still clutching A-1.
Ultear mustered as much magic as she could into her hands. Chilling air coalesced around them until frost began to form on the walls and floor.
"This won't be enough, but all I hope is that this lessens the blow, "Ultear warned, "Ice Make: Rosen Cradle!"
The temperature in the catacombs dropped so low that ice crystals bloomed from the ground. Ultear conjured protective, glacial dome of rose vines and thorns encompassing the entire lower floor.
"Seven stars, pass your judgement! Grand Chariot!" a familiar voice loudly echoed from outside.
Recognizing that voice, Shinji's eyes widened with dread, "Jellal-dono?"
In the next second, seven rays of light came crashing down from above bringing with them the collapsing components of the Amdusias Manor.
~In Front of the Amdusias Manor Ruins, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia, X790~
A cacophony of collapse and wreckage ensued like an orchestral explosion. The once decrepit elegance of the Amdusias's main hideout was utterly obliterated by the Crime Sociere mage's signature Heavenly Body spell. Viewing the disaster with front-view seats stood a red-ponytailed woman clad in black and an armored, blue-haired man in a navy-blue cloak. Threads of deep red liquid extended from the male's joints and limbs connecting to all of the woman's fingers. Behind them lay a trail of unconscious Amdusias mages defeated by Jellal en route to the manor.
"It's a shame really...Taking out some of my headquarters, grunts, and cargo just to snuff out the other enemies..." Arvesque curled her lips into a devilish smile, "Oh wait...you did that! And to your own allies and the children nonetheless! Ohohoho! What a riot!"
Although Arvesque's Blood Puppetry spell had his every limb and magic at her disposal, she could still have no control over his emotions and expressions. As for himself, it felt like he had just added another set of bodies to the list he had already desecrated.
"Once again...I have committed more sins...Ultear, Meredy, Shinji...I...I'm sorry..." Jellal grit his teeth in incomprehensible self-frustration, "This is what I get for letting my guard down...But I didn't expect her puppetry could control my magic...Just what is Arvesque?"
"Oh? Too scared to express your resentment at me?" Arvesque continued to verbally prod her new puppet, "Or maybe that resentment is directed at yourself?"
"Shut...up..." Jellal could barely contain himself with this buzzing mosquito next to him, "What was the point of making me do that? Your cargo, assets, and fellow men go down with the manor when you make me destroy it?"
"Finally, an intellectual question..." Arvesque sarcastically jested before she switched back to her more serious, demure side, "Everyone else in the guild is disposable...People in this line of work can betray you or rat you out at the drop of a hat because even if this line of work gives you an inordinate sum of money, they grow tired of it or scared of the risk of getting caught. As for the cargo...it really is a shame...*sigh* Oh well...I can always start from scratch or find a different way to make revenue..."
"You're mad!" Jellal grinded his teeth at the Blood Magic user, "Beyond mad even!"
"Is that the cliched line you say to every villain you meet?" Arvesque smugly smiled back at Jellal before her voice lowered as her ashen orange rhombus eyes glinted into his soul, "Also, like you're one to talk. Did you already forget that you rank highly amongst us? You're one of the foulest in fact."
Her words cut him deep, digging into places he seldom could bring himself to talk about. Jellal's mind was in turmoil. Given the horrible things he has done to countless lives in the process of reconstructing the R-System, has he lost his right to cast indignation on the horrible actions of others? Was redemption that far out of sight for a fugitive like him? Even considering all the previous dark guilds and Zeref cults he and his fellow Crime Sociere mages worked to bring down?
"Stop it...Stop introspecting...You're wasting your time and mine," Arvesque arbitrarily expressed her nonchalance, "Go kill yourself"
With a flick of her wrists, she pulled on the blood strings attaching to Jellal's limbs
"W-What...on...earth...is t-this..."
The Heavenly Body mage felt his throat felt a tightening force around his neck slowly closing in on his airway.
Jellal found that Arvesque manipulated his elbows and hands to make him choke himself while kneeling on his lower limbs.
Arvesque hovered over the blue-haired mage, making sure to watch as she forced him to go through with it from above. She was elated looking down at his helpless expression filled with immeasurable agony and regret.
"N-No...T-this...i-isn-n't...h-ho-"
"Sssssh..." Arvesque seductively hushed her prey as the cyanosis gradually crept in on the Crime Sociere leader as Arvesque made sure to manipulate Jellal into choking himself harder. The power of taking down someone far viler than her exhilarated her. She wanted to make sure to enjoy every bit of it until she watched the last breath leave his body...
...
"Shing-!"
A flash quicker than lightning zipped between Jellal and Arvesque.
Like blooming roses, the blood strings splattered in front of the Blood Magic user as a newfound sense of pain surged through her left hand
"W-What?"
She looked down and was baffled to see the fingers on her left hand were chopped off.
To her left stood raven-haired boy in tattered clothes and blood dripping from his forehead brandished his blade. A pair of fierce, icy sapphire eyes met with her ashen orange irises, nearly freezing her in her tracks.
"Shing-!"
Shinji swung his blade again, faster than her capacity to retract her other hand. Blood momentarily sprayed like a small firework as Arvesque's remaining fingers were lopped off like nothing.
Jellal, now freed from Arvesque's sanguine clutches, immediately removed his hands from his throat. The blue-haired male took a much-needed gasp of air before he looked up at the spine-chilling scene before him, "This cold killing intent...Shinji?"
"Tch...Audacious, filthy cur... I'm surprised you're not dead yet."
All traces of Arvesque's stern poise and jovial jesting were washed away now that the tables turned on her in the most unexpected way. Multiple veins popped on her forehead as her orange rhombus irises glinted with the fiery rage of volcano on the verge of erupting. Despite the pain of losing her fingers, her lips were still curled in sickly smile. But this one screamed 'I'm gonna pay you back double for what you inflicted upon me'.
Crimson magic circles formed around Arvesque's mutilated hands. Rubrous liquid ebbed and coagulated forming long dark wine-red claw-like fingers. The Blood Magic user lunged at the young swordsman with her new, sanguine appendages raring to tear him apart.
Shinji was silent. He simply had no words to give his adversary. The raven-haired mage took a single breath to calm himself and his nerves. Quickly he slid his left index and middle fingers along the body of his katana.
"Bladesmith: Kaguya-Hime!"
In a flash, Shinji's magic reforged his regular katana into glowing lavender blade with a black tsuba, gilded bindings, and a purple pommel. His cold sapphire eyes glinted before he swung his Bladesmith creation at the approaching Arvesque.
This time, Arvesque was able to jump back before she would get cut up a third time.
"Not this time, brat," the Blood Magic tauntingly smiled, barely able to hold back her urge to pounce.
Immediately, she outstretched her hands with her red claws spread apart, "Rotpeischte!"
Her new fingers extended into whips with sharpened coagulated tips. Arvesque moved her hands in crisscrossed motions causing her blood whips to undulate towards Shinji in wave-like formations. He readied his blade and severed through every bloodied whip in a single slash. When Kaguya-Hime's sheen phased through the Arvesque's bloodied whips, the appendages uncoagulated back into deep red liquid drops.
"What?" Arvesque's eyes briefly widened in shock to see her Blood Magic come undone before quickly regaining herself, "I see...so your sword can nullify other magics it comes into contact with. Convenient as that may be...it's still useless if your blade can't reach everything."
The red droplets that once formed the Amdusias mage's substitute phalanges remained suspended in air. Shinji's eyes widened as the suspended globules glowed bright crimson.
"Shinji! Get down!" Jellal yelled as he leapt towards Shinji to tackle him down to safety.
"Blutblumen." Arvesque wickedly grimaced.
Sanguine droplets effloresced into crimson spikes which subsequently exploded on the two Crime Sociere Mages. Jellal and Shinji were barely able to guard their vitals in time.
"Gah!" Jellal winced as a barrage of hemic barbs jabbed into his back and his hands, pinning him onto the grass.
Shinji was able to maneuver to Kaguya-Hime to guard his frontal body - mainly his head and vitals- but that could only protect him from so many. A few of non-mitigated crimson spikes cut into his sides, legs, and shoulders. Another grazed his right cheek.
"Tch...You..." Shinji clicked his tongue as he immediately turned his attention to the red-haired mage. His eyes expressed slight annoyance at the Amdusias Mage's cunning trick.
"Me..." Arvesque mockingly imitated his tone while gathering magic energy around her hands again to prepare for another attack. Blood spiraled around both of her hands. Her left hand reconfigured into a scarlet demonic maw lined with jagged garnet teeth. Her right hand morphed into a crimson broadsword. Arvesque swung her hematic blood blade at Shinji's and Jellal's vicinity, sending a volley of crimson crescents their way, "Blutschneider!"
Knowing that intercepting the spell might enable Arvesque to utilize the dispersed residual blood droplets in the air, Shinji attempted to yank Jellal from the blood spurs anchoring him to the ground amidst the approaching sanguine onslaught.
"Jellal-dono, I c-can't do this alone," Shinji pleaded to his superior as he as he assisted the Heavenly Body mage upright with one of his shoulders, "Please, we need to finish this so we can get back to Ultear-dono and Meredy-dono."
"Ultear...Meredy...They're alive too? Then that means..."
A hopeful light flickered in Jellal's eyes. The blue-haired man mustered some strength into standing. He put a hand on Shinji's shoulder, "My apologies, Shinji...Mind holding me upright while I settle the score?"
"Whatever you need, Jellal-dono,' Shinji curtly nodded in response as he allowed Jellal to lean on him.
"Right," Jellal nodded back. He immediately crossed his hands above his head. A Heavenly Body Magic Circle flashed and widened at the point where his hands intersected. A black hole dotted with shiny stellar specks was conjured in front of the radiant magic circle. True to its nature, this heavenly object drew in blades of grass, air, light, dirt, and gravel from its immediately surroundings.
"Simon...I'm sorry...I despise myself for using this spell again...But maybe from up above, you can forgive that I'm using it to protect an innocent life..."
"Altaris!"
Jellal undid the crisscross formation of his hands, pushing the black hole forward towards Arvesque's attack. Everything in its path was near decimated. The black hole swallowed the ground it touched, leaving a dug-up trail in its wake. The bloody arcs sent in Jellal's and Shinji's direction were soon drawn into its pull and subsequently devoured.
"Drat..." Arvesque politely cursed as she extended her crimson maw at the approaching spell. The jaws of the blood demon appendage opened gathering rubrous light within its gap, "Karmesin Annihilation."
A red ray fired from the jaw of Arvesque's blood demon cannon, directly falling into the void of Jellal's Heavenly Body Magic. The black hole's pace slowed down upon making contact with Arvesque's strongest Blood Magic spell. After a few seconds, the white specks resembling stars on the black hole began to glisten crimson. The black hole grew unstable as the ground beneath it grew unstable. Blood-red cracks began to form in the night palette surface.
"No way..." Jellal was baffled that there was someone out there who could hold off Altaris without the use of Gravity Magic, Heavenly Body Magic, or Nullification. This diabolic woman was not one to be trifled with.
"Now!" Shinji signaled, snapping the blue-haired male out from his untimely awe.
On his own count, Shinji leaped directly into the black hole with Kaguya-Hime's sharpened edge. He waved Kaguya-Hime through the heavenly body creation and Arvesque's sanguine death ray's trajectory, conjuring a luminous, violet crescent that pierced vaporized through both attacks.
Behind him, a glowing purple magic circle appeared with a crescent moon with a crown in its shadow. Momentarily he was suspended in the air unfazed by Altaris's gravitational pull. Shinji closed his sapphire eyes. When he re-opened them, they became amethyst colored. His left eye bared the same insignia as the magic circle once behind him.
Kaguya-Hime's lavender iridescence intensified as if it became the Moon itself, reflecting a fraction of the Sun's light. Still, that radiance was all he needed.
"This definitely is..." Jellal's suspicions were confirmed, "Moonlight..."
"Shingetsu...NAGEKI!"
Another purple magic circle with a crescent moon emblem suddenly appeared beneath Arvesque's feet.
"What is this..." Arvesque clutched her breath as she felt all her bloodborne body modifications and weaponry melted into bloody slop before staining the grass beneath her, "I can't...use my magic or move..."
In front of her, an unstable version of Altaris was gradually approaching her. And above...Shinji was basked in Moonlight's luminescence.
"Ah. I'm screwed."
From afar, Shinji swung his blade multiple times towards the confining Moonlight circle. With each swing, swathes of amethystine crescents relentless rained down upon Arvesque.
"Ghhhgaaaahhh!" Arvesque struggled stifle a scream as she bled out from various slashes. When her body couldn't handle anymore, Arvesque collapsed while bleeding amongst her fallen henchmen.
Taking a deep breath, Shinji closed his eyes. He slowly descended to the ground. Upon landing, Kaguya-Hime reverted back into a regular katana with a brief flash of light. Shinji opened his eyes again. His eyes now regressed to their regular sapphire hue. Both the Moonlight magic circles behind him and below Arvesque dissipated.
Weakly he turned back to look at Jellal, who was at a loss for words, "Did I-Did I do well? Jellal-dono?"
"Yes. You did. Please rest now, Shinji. I'll take care of things from here, "Jellal tried to reassure the young Bladesmith.
"I'm glad, "Shinji cast his superior a weak smile before slipping out of consciousness.
Before the Shinji fell to the blood-stained ground, Jellal caught him. The Crime Sociere founder glanced at Shinji then at the all the destruction in front of them. Amdusias Manor was reduced to an unrecognizable pile or marble and ivory rubble. Injured and unconscious dark guild henchmen and executives alike littered the floor mixed with puddles of blood and torn datura petals.
"It seems like we will have a lot to talk about when you wake up..." He then glanced melancholically at the unconscious thirteen-year-old in his arms, "But that magic insignia...Moonlight...Just who on Earthland are you?"
"Jellal!" "Jellal!"
Two familiar voices called out to him. Jellal heeded the direction of the voices to see a battered Ultear and an injured Meredy. Slumped over Ultear's right shoulder was cloaked girl with pink locks.
"What are you gawking at? The Magic Council will be sending reinforcements any minute now! We need to get out of here!" Ultear called out to him.
Jellal sighed as he got up, carrying Shinji's towards his allies, "I guess those things will have to wait..."
"We are fugitives after all."
~East Forest, X790~
Somewhere in the depths of East Forest, there lies a peculiar tree. Most people passing through would easily confuse it for any other tree in the East Forest. Those who actually pay attention will notice the two circular windows and the staircase leading to a hollow fashioned into a doorway. Dusk was slowly transitioning into eventide. Outside the residence, an elderly woman in a deep red cloak was sweeping the staircase with a scowl on her face.
Porlyusica, the Medical Advisor of Fairy Tail, was an antisocial recluse. Nonetheless, her medical skills were paralleled by few across the country. Over her long-lived life, she had been exposed to the countless cruelties humans inflict upon each other. From patching up extreme injuries amongst the Fairy Tail mages to treating the former guildmaster from his Drain affliction, the work all piled up back then. But these days, things were different...
While the drastically decreased influx of patients was more than welcome, the reason it was rather gruesome.
Six years ago, X784, most of Fairy Tail's strongest members vanished along with Tenrou Island...by the bidding of the omnicidal Black Dragon, Acnologia.
Porlyusica sighed as she finished sweeping the last step, "You know I hate receiving visitors..."
She turned around ready to bash some skulls with her broomstick.
Upon seeing who was standing before her, she immediately dropped her broomstick. Her lightless, red eyes widened in surprise to see a familiar face...or someone resembling a familiar face...among the four unfamiliar ones next to him.
"Mystogan...What are you doing here?" Porlyusica interrogated, "I thought you went back to Edolas..."
"Mystogan? Who's that?" Meredy turned to Ultear with her head tilted in confusion.
Ultear sighed, "So the rumors were true that one of Fairy Tail's former S-Class Mages looked just like our leader here."
"My apologies, Miss Porlyusica, for the inconvenience," Jellal spoke as he outstretched, "This is actually my first time meeting you. My name is Jellal Fernandes of Crime Sociere. I have a personal favor to ask of you. I need this to be discreet."
At the mention of favor, Porlyusica grumpily furrowed a brow at him. But her expression changed as soon as she laid eyes upon the catatonic A-1 and the magic-deprived Shinji.
"Bring them inside. Hurry."
Next Chapter: My Promise To Protect You
This next chapter will conclude the Wayfarers X790 arc. Yippeee! Everything is coming together. Writing about how Jellal was affected by Erza being gone after X784 was wild; being crushed by the guilt of his transgressions juxtaposed with his justice-seeking actions and indignation for inhumane actions as a Crime Sociere mage was fascinating. The self-doubt and self-deprecation were both heavy yet euphoric.
Also, what do you think about jumping between X790 storylines and further flashing back and forth to the Caelum storyline? Necessary or too discombobulating? I mean a flashback in a flashback arc is kinda inception-esque. And I oop- But do let me know if its too confusing and if there is anything I can do to remedy that.
And yes, fight scenes are always my favorite to piece together. I got a nice soundtrack to listen to get into the grove and pacing. Kaen Ranbu is probably one of my favorite FT OSTs. That aside, some of these were particularly brutal though. So, my apologies in advance if any of this was triggering or too messed up for you.
Please remember that this is a work of fiction. "Reader discretion is advised".
As more of the fragments piece together [some of which you already know], we near the conclusion of one fractions of main OC lore.
As usual, feel free to give me your constructive criticisms, feedback, suggestions, etc. but please don't be too harsh. If you do, Porlyusica will hit you with her broomstick.
Porlyusica: *waves broomstick in type boomer madness* Scram! Get outta here! I hate visitors!
Author: *smiles smug af* You heard her.
Porlyusica: *hits Author with broomstick* That includes you too! Get outta here!
Author: *in between broomstick hell* Ah*hit* ahh*hit* ahh! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!