*Disclaimer: neither duodragoon nor I own/have any affiliation with Fairy Tail; all rights go to Hiro Mashima. Seriously, we just do this for fun*
The New Fairy Tail
Guild Battle Arc: Epilogue
Chapter 18: What's Not Gone…Isn't Broken?
*Two weeks have passed since the guild battle for number one in Fiore finished. We begin outside the gates of the council. We go inside, and we see a female pushing a male in a wheelchair down the hall. We start to zoom in and can now see that it is Juvia pushing Gray. At the end of the hall, they pass through a doorway that leads to a meeting room*
"Well, well, well, better late than never old pal," a snarky voice says from inside. The table that was previously in this room has been extended and now has five extra seats. Filling out the seats are Master Mirajane Strauss of Fairy Tail, Masters Sting Eucliffe and Rouge Cheney of Sabertooth, Master Lyon Vastia of Lamia Scale, and the last seat is taken up by Gray Fullbuster, master of Ice Devil.
Gray answers, "You'll have to forgive my tardiness, I'm still not used to my new...temporary handicap." "Yes, I heard those three from Fairy Tail gave you quite a run for your money," Jura bellows with a laugh. "Now you know how it feels to be on the other side of that famous Fairy Tail will," Rouge says, obviously thinking back to when he fought Gajeel. "Yeah, old fire breather hit hard, but never hard enough to knock me into a wheelchair," Sting says grabbing his neck, remembering the soreness from a fight long ago. "Damn Mira, whatever you're putting in that water must be wiiiiild!" Bacchus says, way too drunk for this early in the day but not as drunk as he has been before.
Mira puts on a sly smile, "Wouldn't you like to know? It would make your job of training the new recruits even easier, so that you can be even more drunk." The room is filled with laughter. Once it dies down, Erza gets her serious face on, "Now that we've gotten a few laughs out, it's time for the real reason we're here." Around the room, everyone adopts a serious look, except Bacchus. He looks more dazed than focused.
*Meanwhile in the commercial town of Hosenka, we peer into a room in an extremely large and fancy hotel. A young woman in a sports bra and compression pants is staring out a huge window overlooking the beautiful city. Upon closer inspection we see it is Raiu, who is deep in thought, remembering what lead up to her being here*
*Flashback*
*We are now in Laxus's office as he is filling out some paper work*
The phone on his desk buzzes and he answers the call, "Hello?... Ah okay, send her in ... Really now? Send her in too." Laxus hangs up the phone and seconds later Raiu and Akiko walk in. "Hello ladies. I heard about your recent victory, allow me to say congratulations. Now, I heard you had something important you wanted to say to me?" Laxus says, not looking up from his papers. "Right... Well... um, how do I say this?" Raiu mumbles. Akiko nudges her then grabs her hand. Raiu, now having the courage, yells out
"DAD, I'M GAY AND AKIKO IS MY GIRLFRIEND!"
For a moment there is silence, and Laxus even stops writing, but only for a second. Laxus then asks, "Uh huh, is that it?" Immediately Raiu is enraged, "Is that it?! Well don't act like it's a big deal or nothing: your only daughter is gay, yeah, it's nothing!" Laxus stops filling out his papers, puts down his pen, and stands up and begins to walk over to the two girls. "You're right, I am treating it like it's nothing, because it is nothing, well to me anyway. I don't care if you like girls, guys, or the log in our backyard; just as long as you keep a few things in mind."
Laxus is now right in front of the girls, "You must always put others before yourself, you must always follow your heart, and most importantly you must protect those you love." Laxus bends down ever so slightly to hug his daughter. She's in shock while tears of joy start to run down her face, "I am truly happy you decided to share this with me, and as for your choice...not half bad either." Raiu begins to cry and hugs her father back.
*End flashback. Back in the room with Raiu, we can now see the bed behind her. As the scene becomes clear, we start to see the covers wiggle and shift around*
After a few seconds, the upper half of a body pops out, obviously still sleepy. She yawns and rubs her eyes, "What are you doing over there?" Raiu scoffs, "Well, I can't sleep all day like some people." To which Akiko replies, "Hey, it's a process to look this beautiful. I don't see you complaining about that." Raiu turns with a demonic look on her face. She jumps up with blinding speed and lands with a 'plop' on the bed. They begin wrestling on the bed...
*Let's see what else is going on around Hosenka*
*We transition to the pool; inside we see Hikari swimming around before a huge shadow appears under her. The huge shadow rises, lifting Hikari with it. We hear a manly [N/N: SO MANLY!] roar, as the last of the water falls. We can now see it is Jarvan and he has Hikari on his shoulders*
"Ah no! This monster has me; someone help," she says jokingly as she's waving her arms around. She stops and grabs her arm which is bandaged. Jarvan notices this and immediately puts her down and asks, "Are you ok!? Did I hurt you!?" Hikari shakes her head, "Sorry big guy, you gotta do a lot more to break me." They both laugh then Hikari says, "It's a shame no one else wanted to join us. This pool is so nice!" Jarvan nods, still worried. Hikari then asks, "Can you get us something to drink? I'm parched." Jarvan then begins to awkwardly rush through the water towards the drink shack. Hikari keeps up her smile for a few seconds then gets a hurt look as she grabs her hurt arm again.
*Flashback*
*We are inside the guild infirmary where Hikari is lying next to Duo. There is a young-looking woman tending to Hikari's wounds. The woman is wearing an orange, low-cut minidress that is frilled at the bottom. Her legs are clad in mid-thigh high socks that are orange with a sky-blue stripe running down the front of her leg, with a pair of brown and tan knee-high boots on her feet. A white, feather-like headpiece on the right side of her head accompanied by her flowing, deep blue hair completes her look*
Hikari wakes up screaming and drenched in sweat; she immediately grabs her arm. Hikari looks panicked, "What? Where am I?" The woman grabs her hand, "You're safe. You're home, Hikari. I've been treating your wounds, and you'll be fine." Hikari calms down seeing a familiar face, allowing the woman to go back to work. A few seconds pass, then Hikari asks, "Umm, so…Wendy, what happened?"
The now named Wendy answers, while not losing focus, "Well, you guys won. You'll be happy to know that there are only two other injuries worse than yours, so it's not as bad as it could have been." Hikari then asks, "Two?" Wendy finishes her healing spell, then looks over at Duo, a greatly injured Duo at that, "He gave it his all in his fight, without him there's no telling how this would have ended." Hikari's face contorts in pain seeing Duo in this condition; she clenches the covers in her fist, "I see."
'Maybe if I hadn't been so foolish, maybe if I were there I could have helped, maybe...' Hikari's thoughts are cut off when Wendy speaks, "You know, you remind me a lot of myself when I was your age..." Hikari looks up confused, "But you're nothing like me, Ms. Wendy; you're so strong." Wendy immediately chops her (somewhat playfully) on her head, "I told you not to call me miss. I'm not that much older than you, you know. Anyway, I wasn't always this 'mature, powerful' woman you see before you. I trained, fought, and learned from and with my team, my family; that's what made me this way. Never forget who and what you fight for, and always remember your friends are there to help." She looks down and sees Hikari crying in her lap. Wendy pets her head in a comforting way.
*Back to the pool with Hikari and Jarvan*
'She's right every battle can't be fought by me, and I can't let everyone fight for me. I must find the perfect balance...but still..." Hikari's thoughts are interpreted by Jarvan coming back with drinks. She smiles at him. 'It can wait,' she thinks to herself
*Now we must visit a karaoke bar in a shadier part of town*
At the bar is a familiar fella by the name of Lucio; however, he doesn't have the same swagger as usual. His hair is a mess, his clothes are sloppy, and his glasses are dirty, "All that time...all that effort...all the girls rejected...and for what? Nothing. That's what," Lucio mumbles to himself as he's lying on the bar. As he's doing this, two shady guys approach a lady not too far from Lucio. "Hey baby, let's get out of here," one of the guys says. She replies with, "No thanks, I'd rather not." The other then says, "Come on girl, don't be like that; we just trying to have some fun."
The conversation continues this way as Lucio gets up, fixes his clothes and hair, and makes his way over to them. Once he gets behind them he puts his hands on their shoulders, "Listen guys, she said no, and I know you don't wanna interrupt the ladies good time, right?" One of the guys questions, "Just who do you think you are?!" The guy swings at Lucio who easily counters and flips the guy, twisting his arm. The next guy charges at Lucio, but winds up in the same position.
Lucio twists their arms, "You two are disgraces to men, messing with a beautiful woman like this. Apologize before something worse happens to your arms." He twists their arms tighter, causing them to scream out in unison, "We're sorry!" Lucio lets them go and the woman runs over and kisses him on the cheek and hugs him, "My hero!" Lucio puffs up his chest as he asks, "What shall we do now, my lady?" The girl whispers something in his ear that makes him smile, then they both run out together.
*Now, let's visit town square, which is home to a beautiful garden. We see many people hustling and bustling throughout the garden; in the center, under a blooming cherry blossom tree, we see Silvia and Duo sitting*
Duo is very bandaged up still; he is napping in Silvia's lap with a book over his face. Silvia is actually reading her book in one hand, with the other on Duo's chest. She looks down at her hand to check and make sure that her hand is glowing faintly with a blue light. She begins to drift into thought.
*Flashback*
*We are back in Fairy Tail's infirmary where Wendy is working on Duo. Some time has passed as Hikari is not there anymore. There is a knock on the door followed by said door opening*
In the door way stands Silvia; Wendy looks over and smiles, "Ah I've been waiting for you." Silvia warily walks in, "I heard you asked for me, is there something wrong? Is he...?" Wendy waves her over, "Come here, I want you to look at something." Silvia walks closer and gasps. Several spots on Duo's body has human scales instead of the usual metal. Silvia becomes panicked, "What's happening to him!?" Wendy gets back to work.
"It's something that happens to Dragon Slayers; after a period of time, they would eventually turn into dragons. However, we had found a way to stop the transformation and gave it to all slayers, including Duo, so I have no clue what would cause this to happen." Silvia, now even more worried, asks, "What can we do?" Wendy sighs, "I've done all I can do, but I have a feeling you might be able to do more." Wendy grabs Silvia's hand and puts it on Duo, immediately a blue light covers her hand, and the scales on Duo slowly begin to disappear. Once all the scales are gone, she turns to Wendy and asks, "Just what was that?"
Wendy replies, "It's an ancient healing technique that has been lost for a long time. It takes a true heart at peace to use this method." Silvia looks down at her hand in amazement as Wendy continues, "Will you do me a favor and look after him, and give him "assistance" if need be?" Silvia looks back at Duo, then at Wendy and nods.
*Flashback ends*
Silvia is still looking at her hand, 'I'll be sure he's ready for whatever is next, but I still wonder how much of this is Gray's doing. Why were the scales still growing if they had already fixed the problem?' Silvia stops thinking of her worries when she notices Duo snoring. She giggles to herself, 'At least somethings never change.'
*The sun is setting as we head back to the council headquarters*
Everyone is leaving the council chamber, with the last to leave being Mirajane, Juvia, and Gray. Erza walks up to them, "Will you three please join me in my office." The three of them nod and follow her. Once they open the doors to the office, they are greeted by Gajeel and Levy who are already sitting at the table. Erza sits at the head of the table, while Mirajane and Gray sit on opposite sides from each other. There is an awkward silence in the room before Erza breaks it, "So, the events of two weeks ago shed light on a few things we need to discuss."
Mirajane angrily slams her fists on the table, "Yes! Let's talk about Gray's little monster that almost killed Hikari! What do you have to say for yourself!?" Gray calmly answers, "My boy had never gone that far before; I believe there was another force clouding his judgement. I'll admit he has…anger, to put it lightly. It is something we are working on and he will be punished as we see fit." Mirajane stands up, "Bullshit! Why I-" Erza grabs her arm with a serious look on her face, "I understand your anger, but there are other things we need to discuss; please sit."
Mirajane eyes Gray then sits. Erza continues, "Now then, Gray does speak some truth. It is unclear exactly when Brazz was affected by an outside power. The obvious is that something or someone took control of him and altered his behavior, though at this point it is also unclear who or why. So, until this is cleared up, keep an eye on your young ones." Everyone nods. Gajeel and Levy look at each other, then Levy asks, "Um, why did you call us here, high councilwoman?"
"Cause our last piece deeply involved you, Gray tell us about your battle," Erza replies. The attention turns to Gray, "The final battle was me vs the Iron Dragon Slayer Gajeel Redfox the second also known as Duo. In this battle, the young man was clearly out matched and was willing to take a fatal blow in the hopes of stopping me. I was able to dodge the attack; however, he was not so lucky. I thought that he was greatly injured, but once the dust settled he stood before me renewed. He had somehow absorbed the power in a way I've never seen, not even in your Iron Shadow Dragon or the Lighting Flame Dragon mode, he...turned gold."
The whole room is in shock (except Erza). Mirajane is the first one to respond, "Is that even possible? F-for someone to change that way?" They all turn to Levy, "Well I haven't read anything in any of the ancient texts I've been decoding about slayers, but you can bet I'll find out. With your permission Erza, I would like to use some of the council's tools to speed up my research." Erza nods and Levy gets up to walk away, but Gajeel grabs her arm, "Levy, I need you to be safe, okay."
Levy looks at him with a face that shakes even Erza and says, "For nineteen years, I've brushed this off Gajeel. For nineteen years, I've looked away and not acted. But Brazz being controlled by an outside force, and Duo showing this new power can't be a coincidence. I'M GOING TO FIND OUT!"
Levy then storms out, angry tears in her eyes. There is another awkward silence in the room before Erza breaks it again, "She will have full support here Gajeel; we will make sure she is safe." Gajeel slams his fists on the table, cracking it, then gets up to storm out, but stops at the door, "You better Ms. Councilwoman, or that table will be the least of your problems." He slams the door behind him. Erza turns to the remaining group, "We need to explore all options, I want us to be prepared for whatever is coming next.
*It's the middle of the night. We see Jarvan, Lucio, and Duo all asleep. Well, for a moment at least; Duo wakes up in a cold sweat, both his eyes and tattoo are glowing blue*
He is panting trying to catch his breath; he puts his hands over his face and through the cracks we can see his eyes still glowing. As he sits there trying to regain his composure, he asks himself one question,
"Those eyes…who's are they!?"
N/N: *whistles* That was one intense epilogue, yet also surprisingly relaxing. Also, look at me, finally getting a chapter out on time; feels good man…anywho, that officially closes out the Guild Battle Arc. Thank you all so much for reading, please leave a comment or follow/favorite if you feel so inclined to do so. Onwards, to the next arc!
Until next time FanFiction, this is
…
duodragoon & SkyFlameDragon
…
Signing off
