Arthur ended up being drawn into a party that evening. Lisanna had lived here for years. She felt bad leaving her family here. But her family at home were hurting because of her absence. Still, strapped for time as Arthur was, he couldn’t force her to leave without a proper goodbye.
From the Edolas Fairies he got another image of the world. The people of the castle and capital resented him. Whether Selene’s coming was a godsend or a horror they hadn’t decided on. But Arthur had killed their friends, had destroyed their homes, and had brought destruction onto them. To them he was something to be feared.
The exceed were clearly wary of him and Selene. He had - perhaps inadvertently - saved their kingdom, and Queen Shagotte was certainly interested in him. He was a distortion, something which changed the world from the path she had foreseen. His seeming allegiance to Selene was suspect because Selene herself was suspect.
To Fairy Tail he was something of a hero. Selene was capricious, wicked, and cruel; but Faust had been as well, and Selene was as of yet hiding it from most of the world. And for all her power Selene had sent magic flowing back out from the capital. It was far from an even distribution; she was purposefully creating multiple power centers. It was almost like Selene was setting things up to break out into civil war. But Arthur had stood against the king. If he hadn’t drawn Knightwalker and the Black Knight away, they would have destroyed the guild. Even as it was, the guild hadn’t come out of the fight untouched. Gray, for one, had died. But Faust would have continued to choke the world to death, and to the people outside of the capital Arthur represented the feeling of liberation and hope they now felt.
Edolas Cana even offered to make him a magical tool to replace his hand, from some of the lacrima Selene had benevolently provided. It was very much Lisanna’s farewell party; she was the star of the evening, but Arthur was given a hero’s welcome.
He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He felt he’d screwed the pooch so to speak with his handling of Edolas. The more time he spent with Selene the more she scared him and the more he feared she was going to destroy this world and Elentear both. He’d lost a hand. Every death in the guild during the battle was due to his choice for taking hard mode. And it was all for a chance at more choice points, yet he had spent more to survive it than it had given him.
“Don’t like people much?” Lisanna’s voice was soft, gentle, and kind. He’d slipped out of the party proper, sitting on the roof of the building, his legs hanging off, creating and re-creating his darkness dragon’s hand as he brooded.
“Just needed some air,” He said, sipping his drink. It was fruity, and probably alcoholic. Alcohol always seemed to make his mood more intense; if he was happy he was exuberant, and if he was touched with melancholia he was a brooding ball of darkness. He’d not drunk much, though.
“It got a bit too much for me, too,” She said. “Everyone’s good-byes. And then I’ll have to do it all over again in the morning.” She was starting to sit down next to him.
“Could skip out tonight. They know you’re leaving. You’ve said good-bye. Could find a place to sleep in Guiltina tonight, and, well I need to stop by my guild for a while before taking you to Ishgar, but it should be doable.”
“I… I’d need to really say good-bye to Mira and Elfman. He’s going to cry, I just know it. But, I wanted to thank you. Traveling worlds, taking me all the way back to Ishgar from Guiltina, you’re really going out of your way to help me.”
“I came to Edolas to collect my armor, and I need to go back to Ishgar. I just was informed that to avoid Acnologia’s attention I needed to detour,” Arthur said. “Picking you up on the way isn’t a big deal.” It let him fix something he had set wrong.
“It’s a big deal to me. And it’d be easier and cheaper to travel from Guiltina to Ishgar alone,” She said.
Arthur shrugged. “Enif can carry two, and with a proper heading it should be an easy enough ride. Well we’ll want to tie on. And you’ll not want to eat beforehand. Enif is a rather disorienting ride.” Lisanna reached her hand towards Arthur’s claw made of darkness. Arthur jerked it away, letting it dissipate into the night. “Don’t touch it. It’s dangerous,” he said.
“Sorry,” She said with a blush. “I just…” She’d seen him staring at it. Watched the - failed - attempts to make it take on a human-like shape. She’d hoped to reassure him somewhat that it wasn’t too monstrous.
“It’s alright,” He said.
“Cana will make you a prosthetic,” She said.
“And so too will two different Royal Armsmasters. Everyone is eager to make a prosthetic for me. But, I have no idea how they will work. And if they’re damaged… I need to find my own solution.” He’d heard the explanation from the Smiley Face as to how ‘fiat’ worked. His magic was ‘fiat’ backed; it would continue to work in future jumps he visited as it did on Earthland; oh, if there was a portion which had less magic - like Edolas - it might run into problems, but even if the world was an Earth like his where there was normally no magic it would treat the baseline like Earthland’s. However this only applied to bounty rewards and things he purchased with points. Any objects he gathered in this world would only work in future ones if the world was sufficiently metaphysically close to allow their operation. Well unless he made them himself with powers that were fiat backed along the way. It was why he wanted Edo Magic so badly. But he’d blown that when he spent his last 400 point discount on the Knight. And then he’d made it twice as necessary when he lost his hand. With it he could have made a magical prosthetic himself which would work in future worlds. Without it he was stuck trying to make his magic work for it.
Lisanna obviously didn’t know what to say. She just put a hand on his shoulder. “You saved a world. Countless people will thank you for it. I know it doesn’t make it be any less missing, but it was lost for a good cause.”
Arthur held back the urge to laugh bitterly. Instead he just drank a heavy gulp.
“I’m going to go tell Mira and Elfman I’ll be heading out tonight,” She said. “If that’s alright with you,” She started to rise, and he caught her hand with his darkness claw, wrapping it in his Territory armor. He released immediately, fearful that the hand would revert to a destructive state which could and would eat through his armor from the inside out.
“Don’t go just because I’m moody. I’ll be moody wherever we are,” He said, starting to pull his legs back up and pull back from the edge. Rising was more of a production than it would have been with both arms.
“It’s not that,” She smiled at him. “I don’t want to sleep here knowing I’ll be leaving in the morning. I’d rather leave tonight.”
Leaving was interrupted. The people of Fairy Tail wanted to show their gratitude. Jet gave him his magic shoes, promising that Cana was already working on turning the lacrima Selene had given him into new ones. Lucy gave him her whip, stating that she had had enough fighting for a while. And Juvia gave him her umbrella. Apparently she had decided to use Gray’s magic tool in remembrance of him after his death.
It twisted his stomach. He felt like a fraud. Like he was deceiving everyone. He wanted to puke. Yet he didn’t say no. Each of the tools was worth a point. And he could use them. Minerva could use a weapon. The boots were apparently pretty high end. And the umbrella could summon or banish rain which he could do the latter through his territory magic but it sure wasn’t easy and the former definitely had its uses. He made himself thank them, and then he took Lisanna back to Earthland.
He’d missed Diabolos’s guild hall proper. He was instead somewhere in the mountains. It was dark, but Lisanna was prepared to sleep on the ground. Arthur sent out Altair. If nothing else the eagle could hopefully ensure they got back to the guild in the morning. He ended up going to sleep, summoning Kochab to watch them while they did so and make sure nothing attacked them.
He woke up tired. Or drained. He’d left two celestial spirits summoned all night. It’d impacted his ability to regenerate his ethernado. Altair had found the guild hall, though. In an instant they were there. “Ominous looking place,” Lisanna said. “Not exactly the friendliest.” She was trying to brush her hair. Obviously she’d need a bath.
But right now Arthur had other things to deal with. He walked into the guild hall. It was silent. Too silent. Skullion’s team was sitting in the main hall, but no one else was in sight. “The prodigal son returns,” Skullion said, looking at him. “We were beginning to think you’d just run away.”
Arthur held up the ice box. “Got blood from three of the five dragon slayers, though I’d like to get some from the lacrima users as well.” He’d have mentioned the lacrima he’d gotten from Serena, except ‘I killed our best client’ was unlikely to go over well. “Still haven’t found the other two, though, but I’ve got some leads that might result in taking out the biggest game on the planet. I want to pursue them, but I figured I should check in.” Skullion glared at him. It reminded him that Skullion was a teenager with just how much of a teenager glare it was. But he wasn’t sure what had garnered such resentment. “Sorry, I sent your team away, but I didn’t want Kiria picking fights with the guild that I needed to ask for help.”
“You’re too late anyway,” He said. The words lingered for a few moments, just hanging as a dark cloud.
“So Byaku turned,” Arthur said, after a few moments he hadn’t really known Byaku; he’d specifically avoided getting to know him because of how many death flags were there.
“Not just Byaku. Honami turned first.”
Arthur’s heart clenched. The image of the dark haired woman formed in his mind. It’d have been easy to call her beautiful, though by this world’s standards she was wasn’t anything special. Still she’d been sweet, and kind. He could still remember the touch of her hand on his. When he still had two flesh and blood hands. He’d have probably tried to make some move if Roy and Ike hadn’t been there. And if he hadn’t always tried to keep himself aloof from Diabolos.
She’d been his closest friend here, only Kiria comparing. Everyone else… He kept at arm’s reach. They were the villains of the story. A line of thinking that he knew did them injustice. He couldn’t think of Suzaku as a villain. Kiria was a battle idiot, but that was a description that fit most Fairy Tail mages. They were antagonists, but never really villains.
Honami though had just been… innocent, sweet, and pure. It was a thing to make his knees tremble and his shoulders sag. More than anyone he’d been working on the cure to save her. Well he’d gone to work on it. He’d gotten distracted by Sorano in more ways than one. And then stopping Tenrou Island. And he knew with the safety nets gone stopping Tenrou Island was more important than saving Diabolos. But…
“How’d it happen?”
“Roy’s team was on a job. Byaku heard about it and rushed to rescue them. Things went south from there. The other Knights and Georg are dealing with him and Honami right now,” Skullion said. “No real clue who will win. Georg and Byaku were always close, and as a dragon Byaku is going to be stronger than ever.”
A part of Arthur dismissed it as no danger. All four of them had lived in the manga, so all four would live. Except Arthur had chosen to experience interesting times. There was no guarantee that they’d survive. “Where?” Arthur asked. He hadn’t been there to stop this. And he fully believed he could have stopped it if he had been there.
“It matters to you?” Skullion said angrily.
“Yes,” Arthur growled.
“That’s not fair,” Kiria stated. The blonde was rising to her feet. Arthur was glad she was safe; and glad to see her stand up for him. He had a friend here. He thought. He hoped. That bounty for 3 friends not triggering made him second guess.
“Sir Arthur, it’s too far to reach. Even if you flew there on your winged beast you’d never reach it in time,” Madmole said stepping forward.
“I’m a teleporter,” Arthur reminded him. “I just came here from an alternate world. I have a pegasus spirit which can travel between continents in hours. Tell me where they are so that I can help.”
Skullion looked at him for a time. Kiria, though, darted towards the map by the quest board. “Around here somewhere,” She said. “Get close enough and if you’ve developed properly as a dragon slayer you’ll smell the battle, though I know my horsie isn’t much of one.”
“Kiria, you shouldn’t have done that,” Skullion said. “Besides, look at him. He used the dragon force.”
“You can tell? It wasn’t by choice,” Arthur defended himself weakly.
“Yeah, yeah, circumstances forced you. You got in over your head. It was a good idea at the time. I’ve heard it all before,” the knightly teenager growled out in a jaded and cynical tone.
“A weapon was used on me which attempted to turn me into lacrima and reacted with my dragon slayer magic by forcibly inducing the dragon force,” Arthur explained as he approached the map to see where Kiria was pointing more clearly.
“Well that’s a new excuse,” Skullion said. “Honami and her team got in over their heads. Far as we can figure the bounty was a fake to draw them in by someone. At least Byaku claimed to have just come from the region and knew it was a fake. Next thing we knew there were two dragons, a shine one and a white tiger one, and the dark guild Silver Demon was declaring itself the new rulers of the kingdom of Statovar. Georg took the surviving three dark dragon slayer knights and went to put a stop to it. Ordered everyone else to avoid the place, and for my team to stay at the guild hall as a base camp.”
“Well I guess I should go do my part to help out.” The draconic part of him was roaring out. He wanted to go and find this Silver Demon and burn them to the ground. It urged him to rend them limb from limb, and rain their viscera down onto the ground below. And right now Arthur felt like agreeing.
“No. You should avoid the place, like Georg ordered. Just look at you. You were ‘forced’ to use the dragon force, and you’re missing a hand. You’re in no position to go rescue anyone, you’ll just endanger them further.” Skullion’s glare was filled with something bordering on contempt. Arthur wasn’t sure if it was for Arthur’s incompetence in battle, or that he blamed Arthur for not being here when he could have helped.
“I fought an artificial Acnologia in another dimension. Got a little cocky,” Arthur said, trying to sound cool. “I think for fighting a foe that could eat magic and had a blast to shame a dragon’s roar, keeping my head was commendable even if I lost a hand.”
“I can’t let you go,” Skullion said. “You’ll get in the way. Georg is going to be having a hard enough fight as is; he can’t babysit you while doing so.”
“You aren’t my keeper, Skullion. I can handle myself, and you don’t have to let me do anything.” Arthur said, turning to walk out of the guild. He knew he should have reasoned. He should have talked. But that dragon inside was goading him forward.
Skullion turned to ash and flowed through the air, reforming between Arthur and the door. Madmole and Kiria were getting to their feet looking at each other and moving to Skullion’s side.
“He’s better in a fight than you give him credit for,” Kiria said, rising to Arthur’s defense. “He has enough power to help even if we don’t.” Still her stance said something different. Skullion was part of her team; if Arthur tried to fight his way out of here he’d be fighting all three of them.
In an instant he was outside behind Skullion and Madmole. “Sorry, Lisanna, I’ve got another detour I have to take,” He said requipping Enif’s key into his hand. He was borderline growling. His heart was heavy, and the dragon force scratched at his mind. It was within reach. He just would have to reach out lightly and grasp it. So much power calling to him, promising him he could just reach out and grab it.
“Arthur, you go there like this and you might just make things worse. You’re on edge,” Skullion said.
“Please, friend, stay here. Georg can handle himself,” Madmole added.
“I say we let him go,” Kiria chimed in.
“Skullion, you can’t stop me,” Arthur repeated. “Don’t waste time trying.”
“You won’t teleport me away without a fight,” Skullion said, his body partially discorporating into ash.
Arthur raised his stump, a claw of darkness forming from it, fingers spreading. Skullion was on the roof in an instant. “Words, Skullion.” He said. Yes Skullion had made himself hard to teleport, but he’d spread his will out thin as well, and he had nothing to stop Arthur from just pouring in more power. “Why shouldn’t I go?” Even as he spoke, their eyes drawn to the dragon claw, his other hand was manifesting his Archive interface. He’d not fully repaired it, but it was still enough to help him Overclock. The increase to reflex times could be decisive in a battle.
“You’re not a fighter, you’re not experienced, and you’re too powerful. If you turn into a dragon we might be dealing with a sixth dragon god. You can’t be certain that Silver Demon won’t manage to transmute you into a dragon and control you like Byaku,” Skullion said.
Arthur looked at him. “I fought a dragon god since I left. I didn’t beat them. But I survived them.” He didn’t mention he’d had to don anti-magic armor, or that he’d made a faustian pact with them during the fight.
“Don’t lie to me,” Skullion said.
“Who’s lying?” Arthur answered. “I saw Selene the Moon Dragon God. She tried to squash me. I’m fairly certain she was only testing me, but I passed her test at least. Let me go help Georg.”
“Test?” Lisanna, Kiria, and Madmole were all watching with bated breath. Kiria wondered if Skullion had noticed the difference in how Arthur held himself. There was a dangerous confidence there, and he seemed ready to slip into a combat stance at any moment.
“She tried to squash me like a bug.” Arthur let a claw of darkness flicker and form from his stump; if Skullion moved the other two would as well without hesitation. Oh, he didn’t think they’d try to kill him, but he’d have to be ready to defend against a combined assault, and unlike Team Natsu who mostly fought solo battles, Skullion had shown the ability to coordinate the team against a single target.
“If you can actually survive a dragon god you have nothing to fear from us,” Skullion said. He surged forward then, a wave of ash lashing out towards Arthur. It was his Corpse Dragon Slayer magic; it would not destroy him, but would either turn him to ash or teleport him at Skullion’s desire.
Arthur slashed the air, his darkness magic cutting through the ash. Lisanna, though, was already in Skullion’s grasp, his arm around her neck. “One move and the girl gets it. Who is she-” Lisanna had changed. After all these years she hadn’t completely forgotten her magic and the Takeover Sibling had become a catgirl biting down onto the arm which had grasped her throat.
Arthur was dealing with Kiria and Madmole’s assault. Kiria’s blades - likely restrained to avoid injuring him - were deflected by his territory armor, and mostly a distraction for her hypnotic spell - Strength Cutting - transmitted by eye to eye contact. Arthur had expected it and had countered it with his own eye magic.
Madmole hit him. It was enough to knock him staggering back, but it didn’t even scratch his territory armor.
“Let go of me! Why can’t I see?” Kiria screamed, the cutting force of her blade dragon slayer magic slicing - lightly - into Skullion’s body. Arthur had swapped her and Lisanna, freeing the Fairy Tail mage, while trapping Kiria in his grasp.
Madmole was coming up swinging, Arthur leaping back and detonating a sphere of territory magic, but Skullion’s voice cut the air: “We yield. I don’t know what’s changed in you, but we can’t beat you.”
“Skullion? Why are you grabbing me in the middle of a fight?” Kiria asked. Arthur’s spell had stripped her of her sight. It was ultimately based on her own Strength Cutting. He was glad it had been enough to overpower hers.
“He teleported you. Our little Arthur has grown into a real fighter now. He might just be a real dragon eater now,” Skullion said. “But Arthur, Byaku was a real fighter too. Your going could still be a disaster. Please rethink it.”
It was the way he asked please that gave Arthur a moment’s hesitation. Still he shook his head. He could be a critical change. If he stayed and Georg, Suzaku, Misaki, or even Kirin died he’d blame himself forever. He was confident they’d be better, not worse, for his presence. “I can’t sit and do nothing. Take care of my employer while I’m gone.”
“Fine, we’ll watch after the kitty while you’re gone,” Skullion said as he glanced towards Lisanna. She scowled back at him. “Go on. Good luck, and save the chief.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Arthur promised as he summoned Enif and climbed onto the pegasus.
“Think he actually survived a dragon god?” Kiria asked.
“Think he’d lie to us about that?” Skullion answered. He wasn’t sure. Arthur had changed, and he wasn’t sure if Arthur was finally becoming one of them, or a walking disaster waiting to happen.
While the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights had fought Silver Demon, Georg had killed the alchemist guilds’ leader, as well as the newly born dragons that had once been Byaku and Honami but were now consumed by their own draconic power. But to do so Georg had used the dragon force, and his body was threatening to undergo dragonification itself.
He had bulged to twice his normal size, wings sprouting from his back. Scales covered his body, and his face had become a snout. He was almost more dragon than man now. He loomed over Suzaku, and the teenager looked up towards the man who had trained and raised him. Each time Georg tapped into the dragon force a little less of him came back, and he was a more brutish, that much angrier and more demanding, that much more driven by his hatred of the dragons which had robbed him of his original family and his first guild.
Georg’s nostrils flared. He could smell the dragon inside of each of the dark dragon slayer knights.
“Georg, it’s me,” Kirin said, his arms spreading wide. “Kirin. I’m one of your knights. Remember me.”
“Yes, honored master,” Suzaku added. “We are your sworn allies, who are here in your service. I implore you to remember who you are.” The three weren’t here to deal with Silver Demon. There was the hope that they could have stopped the alchemist guild and taken Byaku and Honami out, and allowed Georg to avoid tapping into the Dragon Force in the first place. But it had always been considered a small chance. They were here to help talk Georg out of the Dragon Force if he had to enter it.
“Master, it’s alright,” Misaki said, hands open and spread wide in a gesture of passivity. “We’re here to help you. Remember?”
Georg was looking between them. His body was shrinking though, and lucidity seemed to be returning to his eyes. The drool which had been falling from his jaws was starting to stop as he gazed at them.
Kirin walked up towards him, and wrapped the still half-dragon guild master in his arms. He was completely vulnerable, offering Georg his utmost trust. And Georg returned it. His body was slowly reverting to normal. But his dragon seed had grown.
“Get off me, brat,” He growled, shaking Kirin off. There was an annoyance in his voice which wouldn’t have been there before. Suzaku and Misaki shared a look. His will was strong. He’d pushed back dragonification by will power once again. But they didn’t expect it to happen another time. It would be up to them to ensure he never needed to use the dragon force again.
Arthur arrived a few minutes later, as they were discussing how to fetch Haku. Byaku had chosen the youth, and had been preparing him to learn his magic when the inevitable happened. It was time for him to feed.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Arthur had another suggestion. He was planning to return to Ishgar, which Georg objected to, and he could take Byaku’s heart to Crocus, find someone who could turn it into lacrima and have it implanted into the child.
Georg objected to the Ishgar return on the general principle of its insubordination in not asking him first, redoubled when told Arthur had accepted a job from the King of Fiore without contacting the guild first. But all said and done that was just ruffled pride and Georg would not let it hold him back if Arthur paid his guild dues.
Georg’s objection to the lacrima implantation plan was more stringent. “It’s a procedure that’s deadly more than 90% of the time. If the child eats he’ll eventually become a dragon if he doesn’t die first. But that plan he’d just die.” There would be no budging on this point.
And Arthur didn’t have it in him to fight much. It wasn’t just Byaku and Honami who had been lost. Kirin returned during the conversation to state they’d found Ike’s remains. Roy hadn’t been found, but given Ike had been burned with light magic and left only as shoulders and a head, and Honami’s stomach was full of human victims; he was presumed killed in action.
Arthur had almost puked from riding Enif. Now he did so.
Arthur was in for a debriefing on the ride home. Georg and the others had taken transportation to reach the capital. Arthur was expected to ride home with them so Georg could learn what had been happening to him in the interim.
Arthur’s story was somewhat abridged. He talked about encountering the Oracion Seis by accident, and his failure to find Sting or Rogue. He talked about being in Crocus during the disappearance of the capital and how he had had to ally himself with the Oracion Seis who had escaped to save the city. He explained the money he had bought Byaku’s and Honami’s hearts with - gruesome as that was - as coming from a gift from the king for his service to the kingdom; it was true Toma had given him a fair bit of jewels as a reward and proof of gratitude. He told how he had lost his hand - though he didn’t confess that the Dark Army lieutenants had only existed due to his own meddling and a deal he made with otherworldly entities. He had stupidly spilled the beans that he encountered Selene to Skullion so he admitted here that he had encountered her.
“She seems to hate Acnologia and the other Dragon Gods. Maybe we could work with her, and fight our mutual foes together,” he suggested.
Kirin, Suzaku, and Misaki looked at him. It was a stunned stare and silence. Georg though was not stunned, merely disgusted. “She is the enemy. Do not let her fool you. She is a dragon and all dragons must be destroyed. We are close. Only a few remain. We will wipe them from Guiltina, and the world.”
“If she wasn’t hurting people and was willing to help,” Arthur began.
Georg laughed raucously. “A dragon not hurting people? Dragons exist only to destroy. They’re the very personification of destruction. And we are what consumes them.”
“What about the Law Dragon, or Belserion?” Arthur asked.
Georg struck the wall of the train cabin, slamming his hand through the metal. “What do you even know about the Law Dragon?”
“That he was a dragon slayer once. Guild master of the first mage’s guild, and is said to have retained his sanity through dragonification.”
Georg glared at him for a few moments. “We’ll eat him eventually. Dragons are prey, Arthur. The sooner you give up your ideas of coexistence the better. The wolf doesn’t ally with the deer, even if the stag would be willing to help kill the other stags.”
“Why not? If it helps the wolf, what’s the harm?” Arthur asked.
Georg breathed deep and growled. He was looking at Arthur, his nostrils flaring. And then he pulled his head away. “I lost my home to dragons. I lost my first guild. I lost my family. I will avenge them. I will see every last dragon wiped out. Even if I raised them like my own children. I am the dragon eater. And if I ever hear you suggesting working with them again, I will count you among them.”
Arthur’s eyes dilated a little, his nostrils flared. He could feel the dragon inside of him wanting to challenge the old, alpha bull and tear him apart. It was telling him that he could win this fight.
“Let’s all keep calm,” Kirin said. “We’re all members of the same guild, and Georg is of course our master. His word is law.” His eyes were on Arthur.
“So what happened with Selene to make you think she could be bargained with instead of eaten?” Georg asked his tone harsh and accusatory.
“She inflicted no casualties in her initial attack on the castle which had tried to turn her into lacrima, rescued a dragon slayer who was there because she was part of an old plan to kill Acnologia, and decided merely to test me instead of go all out when I stated my purpose was to kill Acnologia.”
“You’re scared of a dragon god and you think you can kill the dragon king? Pathetic,” Georg said. “You’re still terrified of me,” He reached and grabbed Arthur’s stump, squeezing hard. “And you lost a hand. Don’t get delusions of your own importance.”
“Do I look terrified of you right now, Georg?” Arthur asked, glaring at him from across the crowded train cabin.
“It comes and goes with you doesn’t it?” Georg was looking him over.
“No,” Arthur said. “I haven’t feared you, really feared you, since I ate my dragon. Respect yes. Serve certainly. But not fear.”
Georg glared at him. It was a junkyard dog stare, feral, furious, dangerous. “You should fear me boy. I’ve killed more dragons than I can count.”
“You taught me to face dragons, sir,” Arthur said. “Not to fear them. You always told me fearing you made me a coward. Besides we’re on the same side. Why should I fear you regardless of your power.”
“Damn your insubordination!” Georg bellowed, rising to his feet. Magma had formed around one hand, a swirl of space around the other as he seemed ready to go to blow, but then he stopped. He sat down again. “The dragon in me. It’s harder to control every time I tap into it. You used the dragon force while you were gone, didn’t you? You know why it’s forbidden now don’t you?”
“It’s the voice that’s telling me to rip your throat out right now,” Arthur said.
“Exactly,” Georg answered. “That’s why dragons can’t be trusted. They’re nothing but monsters. And those that aren’t are just time bombs.”
“You sure we’re just not used to the power or able to handle it?” Arthur asked. Georg looked like he was going to hit him. Arthur had his territory armor on, he’d kept it on this whole time. And he was confident in his ability to reinforce it.
“Doesn’t matter. They’re food. We grow strong eating them. And we’ll grow stronger consuming the dragon gods.”
Arthur bit back that Georg was making them sound as monstrous as dragons. He bit back that growing strong wasn’t supposed to be the ends, but a means. Of course it was what he was supposed to be doing in this world. He wasn’t here to save it. He was here to grow strong enough to survive his return to his world. He wasn’t sure Georg even still knew why he was doing this. And what about the kids, the guild was mostly kids to be honest, how much did they have a choice in all of this?
Arthur would probably think about this less if he wasn’t overclocking his mind. But as it was he was going to have a long time to think on the train. And ultimately that meant thinking about Honami.
He was just starting to really get close to her when he had decided it was time to leave. He thought about what might have been if he had stayed. He probably could have stopped it. He probably could have saved them. Then he’d have not messed up Edolas and convinced a mad dragon to rule it. He’d not have killed Naked Mummy. He’d not have killed Brain. He’d not have… saved Jellal and Sorano from years of jail. He’d not have saved Minerva from Jiemma’s abuse. He’d not have given Edolas a hope for magic. He’d not have realized that the precise combination of things to have Fairy Tail beat Acnologia was no longer guaranteed the moment he had set foot in this world. He’d not have a hope of beating Acnologia.
His brooding vacillated with a foolish, self-important pride partway through the ride. He was the one who was going to save the world. But he had lost an arm due to his screw ups. But he had survived a dragon god, and she’d agreed to teach him. He was lying to Georg about her. But it gave him the chance to save them.
The mood in the cabin was generally poor. They were returning from a mission that had led to them killing a friend. None of them were really talking to each other. With the silence descended Arthur turned to working on repairing his Archive. It’d be slow and annoying doing it in the crowded train cabin; he couldn’t fully manifest the Archive and manifesting a part while modifying how it connected to the full construct was doable but difficult. He dropped his overclocking; while it wasn’t really equivalent to performing brain surgery on yourself, modifying his Archive while interlacing his cognition through it was not a good idea.
Selene, watching from Elentear, closed her scrying portal. She didn’t know what or how much Arthur’s Archive could detect, but it was clearly information based magic and she didn’t want to risk him noticing. At least not yet.
“Arthur, your story attests that you were transported to another world as if called by a summoning of a hero?” Suzaku said after some time. He actually had to repeat himself louder before Arthur noticed; the hole that Georg had left in the train had left a rushing air that made it somewhat difficult to converse at normal volumes.
“I was dragged there with a whole city to be sacrificed for magical power,” Arthur corrected.
Suzaku nodded. “Still such a fantastic voyage, surely there was more to it that you could tell us. What was the world like? How did they receive their hero?”
“Everyone and their mirror universe counterpart tried to kill me, a dragon god eventually arrived to mess with me, and I left the universe nominally under their control. I’d not call myself their hero,” Arthur said.
“You left the universe under Selene’s control?” Georg said even as one hand crushed part of the train cabin’s seat. There was an uneasy gaze towards Georg. For the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights he was a father; he had raised them all since they were young orphans. Their looks were those of worry, concern, and pain. Arthur realized he had taken a very, very bad turn when he’d used the dragon force last. He’d already been wild and dangerous, but to Arthur’s mind this was the start of the uncaring brute, who just shouted for dragon meat. He was pretty sure the guild would say and do nothing about it; Georg was still their father, the one who had taken them in when they had nowhere else, and if he turned abusive now… how long would it take before they were even willing to consider removing him from authority?
“Not like I could stop her. I’d just lost a hand, lost a hell of a lot of blood, lost two silver keys, and fought till I was almost empty. I was at her mercy,” Arthur said.
“Pathetic,” Georg growled. “Are you really strong enough to be a dragon eater?”
The others shifted uncomfortably in their seats. “Master,” Kirin said in a meek, polite tone which was sucked away by the screaming wind. “Master,” He repeated louder, and Georg turned to glare towards him. “The dragon force is still affecting your judgment, perhaps it would be better to sleep on things before making any hasty decisions.”
Georg glared at him for several moments and then nodded. “Yes. You’re right. It… was worse this time than any other before. So, our enemy is in charge of a whole world now. Who can tell what sort of resources she’ll have at her beck and call.”
“Two worlds,” Arthur said. “Though I don’t think we can count on Edolas for much. It was already running low on magic and I think between the Dorma Anim, its pintsized copy, and the castle they ran what it had into the ground. Last I knew she was using her own power to reignite magic in the world one hunk of lacrima at a time.”
“So you’re saying she’s weakened and right now is the time to strike?” Georg asked.
Arthur tensed. He was spinning plates, here. Plates that wanted to bomb each other. “She can just retreat back to Elentear to draw on its incredible reserves of magic and recharge. I regained energy there several times faster, I’d hate to imagine how much more she regains.”
“Still if we could strike when she’d just given up her power,” Georg said with a twinkle in his eye that said he wasn’t going to let this go.
“She’d crush you like a bug if you fought her,” Arthur stated.
Georg harrumphed. “Clear your schedule. We’re going to this Edolas,” He said.
Arthur requipped his canister of X-Balls. Or his single remaining X-Ball. “I didn’t tell you something about Edolas. The reason she’s making lacrima to kickstart its magic is because it doesn’t have magic of its own. The people there don’t produce any and the world was running on empty before three machines drained it for dragon levels of magical might at once. I could only use magic there because I ate two of these. I transport the guild to Edolas and we’re all stuck there with no magic.”
“You could make more, couldn’t you?” He asked.
“No idea,” Arthur said. “I’d have to figure out the composition and even then there’s no guarantee I could replicate it.”
“Well then what about just get more, where’d you get those?”
“Found them in Ishgar. It was a whole complicated thing and I can’t say there are more where they came from.”
“Well, medicine man, I think you’ve got a new task. Do it quickly.”
“I have to get back to Ishgar. I accepted a job. We’d not want to ruin the guild’s reputation there.”
Georg glared at him. “And who said you could go around getting royal commissions anyway? You’re not one of the Dark Dragon Knights, you’re not one of the Guild Elders, and you’re not me. You don’t have the authority to accept missions for the guild.”
“Would you have had me turn down a request from the king of Ishgar’s most powerful nation?” Arthur could feel the dragon rage bubbling inside of them both. He didn’t want to kill Georg. He didn’t want to see Georg descend into a dragon either. He needed Hades’s research just for the chance that it had something useful, even if that was secondary to the need to stop Acnologia from having a reason to attack Tenrou Island.
“No. I guess not. Oh yeah, you see our best customer while you were in Ishgar?” Georg asked.
“Best customer?”
“The jumped up peacock who calls himself a dragon god. Serena.”
“He stole my demon sword, used it to regain magical power in Edolas by killing people, and then tried to murder me with it,” Arthur said nervously.
“What?” Georg roared as he surged to his feet once more.
“Yeah, he wanted to take the opportunity to become king of Edolas and maybe Fiore both,” Arthur fibbed.
“He was our best customer,” Georg growled.
“Hey, I’m buying their hearts now,” Arthur said consolingly.
“...” Georg glared at him for a few moments, and then slapped his shoulder hard enough to make a small shockwave through the cabin. Arthur’s armor withstood it without issue. “Guess you are. But you actually killed him? He didn’t look like much but he’d killed dragons on his own before, and not babies like that darkness dragon.”
“I guess I had tricks in my bag he didn’t expect,” Arthur said after a few moments of awkward silence.
Georg, though, was looking at him with a different gaze now. It made Arthur feel uncomfortable. He thought of King David and Uriah. Or a lion looking at its brother’s cubs. Arthur had just gone from an insubordinate punk to a real threat to his power. Oh, there was respect there. Yesterday it might have won him praise, respect, and even trust. But the beast in Georg had dangerously grown; and Arthur was fairly certain it was only his knowledge that it was the beast that was telling him to kill Arthur right then and there that was keeping it at bay.
Suzaku began to pelt him with questions about Edolas and Elentear, while Misaki started to ask what she called the “important questions”; that is: how did the Dragon God fight.
Arthur agreed to stay the next day. They were going to have a feast to mourn the dead. He actually got sent out with Enif for several hours in the morning to recall as many individuals as he could. Georg did pay him for being guild courier for the day, flying out, teleporting back. It took time. Time he’d have rather been putting into studying the blood, or gathering his medicinal herbs. He didn’t want to be without them again.
Kiria went to get some of the closer ones. She’d pretty much taken his lizardhawk as her own pet. She’d even named it Screechy. Though when they were both at the guild house, she hovered around Arthur, darting to open doors and hand him things; she’d been ready to mock his weakness when he’d shown it before, but she didn’t mock the loss of his hand. She just silently tried to help him with things. He was surprised by the action to be honest.
Lisanna was obviously not the most comfortable at the guild house, but she understood the delay. She was not, however, invited to the feast. She wasn’t the only one not there. Haku, who was at the guild hall, was not; and Kirin was with him. He was consuming Byaku’s corpse, at least as much as he could, to obtain his dragon slayer magic. Memnon’s team had also been too involved in a bodyguarding job to leave.
The rest of the guild was gathered. One of the elders, a man who had joined when the guild was new, emerged with the meat. The guild’s servants - non-mages and hired hands - were serving the food. Like most meals in Diabolos’s guild hall when they weren’t eating their dragon slayer element it was a meal heavy in meat. It only took 3 bites for Arthur to realize what the meat was.
“Who?” He asked.
“Arthur, don’t be weird,” Kiria said, elbowing him. “It keeps her with us.”
Arthur gagged. A dragon slayer could gain power by consuming the flesh of a dragon even if you weren’t using a touch of enchantment magic to bind the power to you, like in the creation of a ‘5th generation’ dragon slayer. Haku was consuming the White Tiger Dragon. The guild would consume the shine dragon.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Arthur said.
Suzaku was talking about Byaku, eulogizing him and bidding his soul to rest well in peace. Etiquette demanded Arthur listen. But this was a cannibal feast and it turned his stomach.
Skullion leaned behind Kiria and grabbing Arthur’s arm pulled him close to whisper in his ear. “Arthur, I know the outside world might see this as monstrous, but this is our way. She knew it would happen if she became a dragon. Her power will be our power.”
Power.
It always came back to power.
“Eating dragons speeds dragonification,” Arthur muttered.
“The rest of us aren’t you. We weren’t blessed with power and strength enough to kill them easily,” Skullion rebuked him. “Eat. Before Georg notices.” There was a bit of fear there. If Arthur rejected this meal it would come down to a fight between him and Georg for dominance.
Arthur looked at the meat. He wondered if the others felt shame about this. It was definitely a taboo act. To eat the flesh of a friend. Did they really see it as an honor; making a part of them a part of yourself? Or was it just they all had done it before and were now bound in the shame of it, connected by the act that they could never share with the outside world?
Arthur considered getting up and leaving right then. But he remembered Edolas. He remembered why he had made that Faustian bargain. This might not give him points. But it might give him just a sliver of power. It wouldn’t hurt Honami anymore than what had already happened. And it might, just might, be important to fighting Acnologia.
He opened his Archive, covering the walls of the guild hall in it.
“Arthur!?” Georg called out, standing up, and glaring at him. “What do you think you are doing?”
“Recording everything,” He said. “The flows of ethernano. How it changes my magic.” He paused, his voice failing him.
“Why?” Georg said. “Why disrespect the dead?”
“Because if I’m going to consume one of us… I want to do it right. I want to keep every bit of her with me that I can. I don’t want to waste one, one element of her sacrifice.”
Georg looked at him for a moment, the bubbling anger battling with something else, and then he sat down. “Eat! And see to it you waste nothing.”
Arthur looked at the meal. He still hated having to clean his plate. It wasn’t human. It was dragon flesh. He’d eaten a dragon before. He could do this. He could do this.
His stomach churned. It smelled good to be honest. Something in him craved it when that scent hit his nose. But the knowledge of what it was going to haunt him. Still he’d not waste a bit twisted as that was. With every bite he was telling himself some excuse for why this was ok. When in Diabolos do as the dragon eaters do. It would give him a better chance against Acnologia. Even if just a little better. This was her funerary custom. She’d have wanted it this way. Whatever it took to make the salty meat go down.
Suzaku talked about Byaku. He talked about training together, fighting together, and times the other slayer had saved his life. Misaki took her turn next. She talked about Byaku training her as a child. She talked about helping Honami find her place. They were each taking their turn. By the time it was Arthur’s he had definitely had too much wine. Still he talked about Honami in the library. Talked about Ike and Roy and their obvious thing for her. Talked about their unwavering confidence in the face of the lack of their own power. As he spoke, Arthur realized he’d miss them both just like Honami.
He was glad, though, when it became someone else’s turn to speak and he’d not be stared at by the eyes of his guild. He didn’t know any of them as well as he should.
Skullion’s hand moved to his shoulder, planting there. “I’ll admit I didn’t expect tears from you. When you teleported us away I thought you’d abandoned us. You really were looking for a cure, weren’t you?”
Arthur nodded. His stomach still twisted into a nauseating knot. He wasn’t sure if the fact that he knew it was psychosomatic made it better or worse. He found himself looking at Skullion, and recognizing the mixed hope and fear in his face. Skullion was a dragon eater. He wasn’t going to change that. But he didn’t want to become a dragon they had to slay.
None of them did. Their paths were set. They had used the forbidden magic, and eaten the forbidden meat. It was going to happen. Unless Arthur could save them from that.
“It’s why I went. I got caught up in things while I was there. Or else I might have been here.”
“Everyone leaves the guild from time to time. We have to take jobs. We are the strongest mages’ guild in Guiltina. We are the dragon eaters. We are each a capable and accomplished mage. We do not need babysitters. Just don’t forget where your loyalties lay. You are one of us.”
Arthur nodded. In this moment he was one of them, united in shared sin and taboo.
Suzaku wanted to test himself. Arthur claimed to have faced a dragon god. Suzaku wanted to taste the power that had done so. They clashed swords. It wasn’t the first time. They’d tried practicing swordplay without magic before. Suzaku had simply been too fast for Arthur to follow. Now, though, Arthur had anime sword skill to surpass Suzaku’s own, and with his mind overclocked he could keep up easily with the speed that Suzaku was capable of generating with his dragon slayer magic. As he would be at the end of the decade Suzaku would have won, at least against Arthur sword to sword with no magic except that which enhanced their speed.
They were not limiting themselves to that magic, though it was Suzaku that acted first, using his sword saint dragon slayer magic. Arthur caught the cutting energy wave in his darkness dragon hand, the claw he had shaped for himself proving too hard even for Suzaku’s magic. As he was when he would have normally fought Selene in the manga Suzaku’s attack would have cut through Arthur’s defense, but Suzaku was a child still in his teens. The two fought for some time later, Arthur trying to avoid relying on his territory magic beyond his armor, but he still found himself using it to aid him in dodging and avoiding blows, teleporting to escape from attacks he simply was not fast enough to dodge. Eventually, though, he caught Suzaku in a rising dragon of darkness letting it send him flying.
He helped Suzaku to his feet, the younger man obviously surprised by the outcome. “How?” Suzaku asked. “Magic can grow in leaps and bounds, sometimes. Magical power can surge up due to some experience. But swordsmanship takes discipline. You had no patience for it. You lacked the diligence that was to be expected of a student. And now… how did you improve so quickly?”
“I used my demon sword,” Arthur said as if it was an explanation.
“The one you say eats souls. That weapon almost seems like something like a cheat object which would appear in a novel about a transmigrant hero from another world,” Suzaku said. Arthur winced a little. Suzaku didn’t know how right he was. “I’m surprised you don’t use it more of-”
“Alright, my turn. You gotta fight him, I want to fight him now,” Misaki said. “See if he can handle my blue dimension now.”
The fight with Mizaki was one of spatial magic. He couldn’t assault her directly with his territory - she would eat it - but she couldn’t touch him with her spatial magic. Even her blue dimension was easily overwhelmed by his Territory, and turned into his own dimensional space which was turned against her. She couldn’t eat it, too much of it was still her own, but she managed to escape it.
Still even with a wooden sword he brought her down easily, leaving her shocked. Arthur had grown immensely in the time he was gone. And they weren’t completely sure why. But it was undeniable that he had. It wasn’t just that his magic came to him more easily, or he had learned some tricks to using it which multiplied his combat effectiveness. It wasn’t that he had mastered the sword. He had faced death often enough to have had that hesitation and fear that had held him like a deer in the headlights gone. He had gained a certain level of certainty which he had critically lacked before.
Kiria came to him afterwards asking questions about Ishgar, and his journeys, forcing him to recount how he lost his hand. She wanted the details. Madmole and Skullion came with her. Skullion especially seemed to want to apologize for his reaction to seeing the absence, and how he’d not be sure of Arthur’s ability to fight.
“So you and the cat,” Skullion cleared his throat suggestively. “Or how is your bed situation?”
“I am a gentleman,” Arthur stated.
“So she took the bed for herself,” Skullion grinned wryly.
“I offered it.” Honestly Arthur suspected Georg’s refusal to let Lisanna use a guest room had more to do with his annoyance at Arthur than anything. But sleeping on the floor was less than comfy.
“Take my bed for the night. You’ve got a journey before you, and I don’t have anything planned tomorrow,” Skullion said. “And Arthur, stay safe.”
Kiria grinned at him. “Horsey, come back quicker next time. Don’t leave us wondering if you’re alive or dead.” Then she turned towards Skullion, flashing a grin that showed teeth that looked a bit too much like fangs. Arthur wondered if he had a similar smile now. His tongue moving in his mouth assured him he did, but truth be told he’d not looked in a mirror in days. “That reminds me, Skullion, you lost the bet.”
“The bet?” Arthur asked.
Skullion was giving her a stink eye, so Madmole answered. “They had a bet going, Sir Arthur. I told them that it was disrespectful, but Skullion bet you’d come back dead if you came back at all. Kiria bet you’d stay alive.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess,” Arthur said.
Kiria looked at him. “I knew you’d be back, and you’d be alive. And when you come back to stay, let’s hunt a dragon together again. Maybe this time you can take the lead.”
“Thank you,” Arthur said.
“We’ll be an unbeatable team,” Kiria said, smiling at him.
In that moment Arthur hated that smile. It’d have been so easy to cut ties with Diabolos, to stay in Ishgar, and simply say good riddance. Honami had been the one he was closest to. Georg was growing more belligerent. But Kiria had that hope filled smile which he didn’t want to let down.
And then she began to fill him in with the events in the guild in the last month. And Skullion and Madmole helped. He gave Kiria what she asked for, a no holds barred spar afterwards, letting her see how far he had come and how far she needed to. She didn’t hold back from her blades this time. Madmole took the next go. Skullion lost by default. He’d not been holding back before, there was no reason to expect things to be different this time.
Between the lateness of the evening, his hangover, and the fact that he had yet to manage to gather his ingredients or get someone to study the blood for him, Arthur left in the afternoon, instead of near dawn as he had intended. Still he’d not lose his potions, or his supplies this time. Not after learning how to requip.
Lisanna was strapped to his back as they mounted Enif. It was going to be a bumpy ride. But at least this time it was a straight line. Skullion helped him figure out his bearing. He just needed to fly straight. Somehow Arthur had a premonition it’d not be that simple.
Hours later Enif set down in Magnolia. Except for when Lisanna had gotten pegasus sick on his back the flight had been as uneventful as one could ask for. The weather was clear. Nothing in fact had happened.
Arthur regained his footing faster than Lisanna. He’d gotten more used to Enif’s nauseating flight. Dragon slayers didn’t register ‘friends’ for motion sickness for some reason, and Enif probably counted, but to Arthur’s knowledge no one could ride Enif without getting motion sick.
He helped Lisanna to her feet, and walked her to the guild. When she opened the door things were nearly riotous inside. A normal day in Fairy Tail as the guild enjoyed themselves. And then everyone went silent. Mirajane dropped the plate of food she was bringing someone. Natsu shouted Lisanna’s name. Elfman swept her from her feet in a hug that was one part tackle, lifting her up and spinning her manly tears running down his cheeks as he was speechless.
Ever looking on the darker side of things, Arthur realized if he had focused as much on keeping his own guildmates safe he might have saved Honami and Byaku. Arthur turned to leave, waving back. “I did my part. I’m three days overdue for returning to Crocus. They’ll be wondering what happened to me,” He’d asked Aries to deliver a message to Sorano through Scorpio, and Aries said that she had done so. So hopefully the Thunderbolts knew why he was delayed; but even then he was supposed to be back yesterday.
“Wait,” he heard a voice shouting after him. He turned to see Mirajane running up towards him. She embraced him, pulling him close and kissing him full on the lips. “Thank you,” she said. “How? Why? Thank you.”
“I could. It needed to be done. I saw it. I did it. Unfortunately I really do need to be going. I’m supposed to be training a team,” He said.
Mirajane smiled at him, tears of joy in her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough. You brought my sister back to me.”
“It’s just what I do,” Arthur said, wrapping himself in his territory, stretching it far, and disappearing.