Arthur wasn’t sure how far he’d ridden Enif. But he knew he couldn’t keep these three forces controlled any longer. Either he was going to turn into a dragon, attack Enif, or worse turn him around to give in to the angry souls of the damned screaming death and murder in his mind. He chose a third option. He closed Enif’s gate and let himself fall into the water.
He’d retracted his space. He’d shut off his archive. He needed not to know where Minerva was. The ghosts wanted her dead. They envied her survival. Why did her ancestor not die with the rest of the clan? And they wanted to remedy it, by killing her slowly, feeding off of her life force as they hollowed out her soul. Arthur didn’t have some impossibly strong, heroic will to hold it back. His takeover form, the demon sword that was his ‘cheat power’ from another world helped, but he couldn’t digest them fast enough without triggering the dragon force.
If he gave them the chance they would take control. And with his magical power flaring wildly Acnologia could be coming at any moment. He’d intended to fly straight to Guiltina. Hoped Enif could outrun Acnologia until he could reach the shielding aegis which was the presence of the 5 Dragon Gods. But that was impossible now. He had to hope Acnologia wasn’t coming.
He hit the water and dove down. He was still wearing his Sea King’s Regalia, the orange armor wrapped around his chest, before becoming a green codpiece-speedo mix and leaving his legs bare to the flippered boots. It’d let him breathe beneath the waves. He hoped that he could disappear there. That if Acnologia was coming he could hide from the dragon king beneath the ocean waves.
He wanted to dive to the darkness, and hide deep beneath the waves. But he was only a few dozen feet down when he started to feel his body moving under the control of those wraiths. They were angry. They were murderous. They wanted something to kill. And they had been denied.
They moved his demonic body awkwardly. They didn’t seem to have a natural grasp for his magic. He ceded control of his body; hopefully he could take it back. But he was going to lose it to something and he was less sure he could reclaim it from the dragon force.
He let himself be swept under, pulled away from the world of flesh to that of the soul. It was the damned souls grasping him, but in his mind’s eye he saw himself consolidating his takeover magic. He formed it into the black sword and he moved to face the great, dark serpent of his dragon seed, only dealing with the spirits long enough to pass through them to the dragon.
He was not trying to kill the dragon, though, but to chain it. His blade was not cutting, but forming walls of red, demonic light in its path. He struggled with it, till his hand was numb, and his arm ached, and then he felt his cage secure. At least for the time being.
Now it was just a matter of reclaiming his body. But that was simple. The wraiths had nothing to sustain them. He wasn’t a fit vessel. He lacked the lacrima, he lacked the connection of blood, he lacked the natural affinity to host such spirits, and he was actively digesting them. He only needed to struggle free enough to snort, breathing deep and he found his body his own again, the digestion beginning once more. But he had the dragon seed more firmly constrained, the dragon force not able to surge up against his will.
He tried to summon Enif, but found the time between summons had not fully passed. Arthur wasn’t even sure which direction was south. He’d flown past Fiore before he had closed Enif’s gate, and now he hung over the sea. He found the sun and stopped. It was near noon, and without a timepiece he didn’t know if it was before or after noon. It was nearly noon before they attacked Grimoire Heart so he guessed the sun was past its meridian, and that with it on his right he would be going south.
After a few minutes, it occurred to him, though, that he could call on Altair. The lightning eagle appeared, and he linked it to his Archive, allowing him to view through its eyes. His heart clenched. A dark shape was approaching. It was hard for Altair to make it out accurately at the distance, but Arthur panicked, closing Altair’s gate and diving beneath the surface of the water.
10 minutes passed. He was still diving deeper and deeper. 20 minutes passed. He wished he had gravity magic pushing him down. He could feel magical power, though. It was immense. Enough that he couldn’t fathom it. It didn’t truly dwarf Selene’s. In raw strength it was the same general feeling. But it was enough he could feel it after diving almost a mile beneath the waves.
And then it hit the water and he felt it stir the water into turmoil, the force of the currents it created pushing him and battering him despite his sea king’s regalia. Arthur dove deeper, and there was a second surge of magical power and another battering of water pressure. Acnologia was trying to find him and was blasting the sea to reach him. Arthur dove, using only a small amount of power through the Sea King’s Regalia to push himself to the bottom of the sea. He had no idea how deep the ocean was here, but he wasn’t rising for some time.
When he settled on the seafloor, he was left with time to think. He could feel less of the direct impact of Acnologia’s attacks here. There was more than a mile of water between them. But he could still feel the sheer magical energy.
He didn’t dare use too much magical power. Acnologia might sense it. But he didn’t want to sit here and do nothing. He didn’t think Acnologia was diving to the bottom of the ocean.
So he turned back to his takeover magic. And he contemplated his dragon seed. He pulled up a screen from his Archive, opening it to a self-analysis mode. Then he began to work, cross-referencing readings from his takeover magic with those from consuming Hon- the dragon in Diabolos’s guild hall, and with his two spikes of draconic power.
Takeover was magic that manipulated the soul and transformed the body. The little ritual to cement the dragon power into a dragon eater was an enchantment that tied it to the soul. Dragonification was the end result of it transforming the body. It made sense that applying principles from one might help with the other.
Irene never did it. But Irene didn’t have the chance to study a new form of magic once she became a dragon until after Erza was born. And by then had she even really still tried? Or had she given herself over to despair? Arthur didn’t know. But he knew that to really try this would require him to risk turning himself into a dragon.
Eventually he switched his Archive to uploading the information from the shades he had consumed. It was already heavily damaged and fragmentary, both because the shades which had been attacking Minerva were only mere fragments, and because he hadn’t done it at the time, but had been too focused on other matters. He worked with it for more than an hour, getting everything he could into his Archive for later perusal, and then he summoned Caelum and realized that the spirit was not rated for these pressures. He rose, needing a break, and began to walk. He didn’t dare rise straight up; he couldn’t feel Acnologia any more but the dragon still might be up there waiting and watching. He was getting hungry, and worse, thirsty. Really really thirsty. He couldn’t remember the last time he had something to drink. He began to eat the darkness about him, feeling it restore his power and vitality, but it was salty, and it only served to dehydrate him further. His head was pounding from dehydration, a headache forming where he could feel the beating of his heart.
He reversed the flow of the magic of his armor and rose from the sea. He was facing the setting sun. He didn’t see Acnologia. And he didn’t feel Acnologia.
He waited a minute and then he summoned Altair to see if the eagle could identify where land was. Once that was done he summoned Enif, and climbed from the sea onto the horse.
By the time he had reached Fiore it was past sunset. He stopped at the first cluster of lights that looked like a town in the mountains. He couldn’t establish his Archive link with the others from here. He’d go to Crocus and contact them from there. But it would have to wait till morning. He wasn’t trying to navigate by Enif at night. And he wasn’t risking stretching his space far enough to connect with it in Crocus with Acnologia potentially still on high alert. Besides with the sheer anxiety and panic he was feeling after noticing the patches of black scales which were definitely formed now on his arms he wasn’t in any shape to perform a long range teleportation. He had beaten it back for now, but he was showing draconic features and that was not good.
Arthur landed Enif in Hargeon. He had been wary of summoning the pegasus another time after flying to Crocus, but given the communication lacrima he was trying to contact was in use and enough time had passed to call Enif again he decided to try it. Acnologia hadn’t noticed the prior flight.
Still he wasn’t searching all through the southern sea for the ship. From Hargeon, though, he should be able to reach out through his Archive to Minerva if no one else.
The moment he had the mapping function popped up, telling him their relative locations and distance. He was more used to using overclocking to feed his thoughts directly into the Archive, than actually observing it on the map, but he was wary of that right now as well.
This was approximately when Acnologia was supposed to attack Fairy Tail. It’d be just his luck to have stopped Grimoire Heart from triggering it only to cause it himself. You’d think with the power of being lucky he’d have less bad luck.
Still Minerva seemed relieved to hear from him. He was worried. She very well could hate him. He had killed her father right in front of her. That wasn’t something she should have had to live through. Though neither was Jiemma trying to kill her. He hadn’t wanted to kill Jiemma. Minerva still cared about her father whatever a total piece of shit he was; or she had he didn’t know about now. Killing him was a strain on the relationship which wasn’t needed.
Once contact was achieved with Minerva opening the link fully with the others wasn’t hard.
Ultear Milkanovitch. The official story, from Erik and Minerva’s reports, was that the tide of battle had turned when after Jiemma’s attack on Minerva she had been appalled by where following Hades had led her and had destroyed the Devil’s Heart and surrendered herself into Thunderbolts Custody.
It was not exactly true. Neither was the amount of blame for Jellal that she was shifting to Hades. She had been thoroughly involved in the planning and not just the execution.
Still her request to join the Thunderbolts Program was met with suspicion. She wasn’t the only member of the Seven Kin who was doing so. Most were dismissed out of hand. It was simply too possible they were just doing it in hopes of breaking their fellows out of prison.
Ultear and Melody were the only ones being considered. In the end while Arthur had a voice, he did not have much of one. He was leaving in under 2 weeks. It would be someone else’s problem then. Seeing Laxus in the uniform of a member of the Magic Council’s rune knights was not something he had ever expected to see. Of course he looked a lot more comfortable in it than Arthur did in his own.
He’d suggested Laxus for the job days ago. Laxus would hopefully be a good fit for it. He had a strong sense of justice, even if it sometimes went wrong, and one that would defend his people against authority if needed. He’d have liked to be able to leave MacBeth or Sorano in charge, but the council had already made it clear that was not on the table no matter how well they performed against Grimoire Heart.
Still Arthur was able to get authorization to allow Ultear to help out with a few things. Notably she repaired the demon’s heart, and recharged the Astra Weapon and Ten Commandments Spear, turning back their time. He was also able to get her permission to have approved visitors. There was only one on the list: Gray Fullbuster.
He had to find out if Gray would meet with her, though.
Then there were the Thunderbolts themselves. Sorano was getting to see her little sister. Not actually talk to her; though that was at Sorano’s own request. She just wanted to make sure she was well and in a good situation, and if everything was fine then she would stay away until she could meet her with pride and not as a criminal.
The rest were given something almost unbelievable: leave. There were restrictions, they’d have to wear lacrima which would allow them to be traced, and it was only one member at a time, but it was a chance to go out and live a little, especially as they had been given pay.
And then there was Grimoire Heart’s airship. Arthur wanted what was in it. There were 2 bounties all about stealing what was in it. He’d intended to try and loot what he could before turning it over to the Magic Council, but that plan had fallen through. He decided to try his best to think like Karl Tagon of Schlock Mercenary and find some way to get paid for doing something he already wanted to do.
He managed to get Gran Doma to give him the task of removing the Keys of Zeref from Ishgar entirely, before they caused another to attempt to revive him. But the council was not about to give up the Demon’s Heart, the Airship itself, or even its library. Not that he had expected as much but he did try and negotiate with them on what they’d pay him for taking over from Crawford in rebuilding the council’s main surveillance network. In the end he had to turn down the job; it would have meant extending his stay in Ishgar.
Hisui Fiore presented him with a golden key. It had been found on the airship. She believed he was the most suitable to determine what to do with it. Arthur summoned Capricorn. They talked. He learned of Capricorn’s past; how Zoldeo usurped his body as opposed to fulfilling the contract to give him to his former contractor’s daughter. Arthur had not given Aries to Lucy because it would have been rejecting Aries. But when Capricorn asked he felt sick at the idea of saying no.
He was going to Magnolia anyway. Jellal wanted to be taken there, and he’d promised he’d go look up Lisanna if he passed through again. It was a few days before he could leave Crocus. And then he had to delay for another day to take a trip to Seven and pick up the lacrima that Draculos had commissioned for him.
“I thought you and Sorano were going to get together,” Minerva commented as Arthur came out of the florists with a bouquet of flowers.
“She doesn’t really see me that way,” he said. He wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. Sorano was a man eater, though. And he wouldn’t survive her that way. Honestly he worried he was just playing around with Lisanna’s heart to erect a barrier between Sorano and himself. If she did some heartfelt confession and asked him to stay he wasn’t sure he could. But he needed to go back north. Acnologia was still alive. And he couldn’t put all his eggs in the Natsu basket. Besides, he’d vowed to save Diabolos. And to do that he needed Selene’s help.
But he wasn’t sure that such rational arguments would overcome his loins. Still, Lisanna knew he was leaving in less than a fortnight. That tonight was very likely the last time they’d see each other. There was no deception there. He’d take her out to eat, and to Hargeon’s boardwalk for some fair style games and just a walk.
“Are you certain? You’re important to her.”
“I saved her. I put her on a new path in life. My power has become something she relies on.”
“I don’t like Lisanna,” Minerva said, pouting a bit.
“You’ve never even met her,” Arthur said.
“Yeah, but she’s stealing you from Sorano.”
“I am not a possession to be stolen. Besides, we’re not really staying in Ishgar. So it doesn’t matter.”
“If it doesn’t matter, why are you getting her flowers?” Minerva asked back.
Jellal emerged from the florist looking awkward, holding a group of scarlet flowers. He wasn’t really sure it was appropriate, but… He was getting to talk to Erza as someone who wasn’t actively being hunted by the authorities. But Arthur carried on his conversation with Minerva without noticing the blue-haired mage.
“Because I can pretend to be a human being and not have to worry about anything other than interacting with a cute girl for a change.”
“I’m not a cute girl?” Minerva asked with a cheeky smile.
He and Minerva still hadn’t really talked about what happened on the ship. He’d killed her father. And she seemed… happier than ever. He had the feeling she was faking it. Or bottling up her trauma. He shouldn’t have brought her to the airship. Except she’d been critical in success.
“You’re rather too young for me.” Arguably Lisanna was too. “Besides, you’re in my care. It’d be wrong on so many levels. More than with Sorano.”
“Can I have one of the lacrima?” Minerva’s words made him freeze.
“You know how dangerous implanting a lacrima can be. You…” He started to bring up Jiemma.
“I know,” Minerva said.
“You don’t need to get more powerful. You’re already strong.”
“You’re a dragon slayer. You’re going back to a guild of dragon slayers. And I’m supposed to be your apprentice. I want to learn to be a dragon slayer.”
“I didn’t get a lacrima implanted in me through a dangerous procedure for that purpose.”
She looked at him. “Will you help me eat a dragon?”
Arthur pulled up his sleeve to show the dragon scales on it. “Definitely not.”
“Then the lacrima is the safest method.”
Arthur hesitated. He’d originally planned to implant the lacrima into himself this week. It was those scales on his arm that was preventing it. He thought he had the dragon seed under control. But it could horribly destabilize what he had.
A monstrous part of him was eager to observe Minerva for the data it could provide.
“We’ll talk about it,” He said, and then sighed. “Minerva…” They talked about it. The dangers involved. The risk that it’d mess up her magic permanently or kill her. An hour later, Arthur had agreed to pay for it. He had been planning to get the surgery himself after all; it was a big bit of his funds, but he had been paid for bringing down Grimoire Heart.
The evening with Lisanna was relaxing at least. They went to Hargeon Town and enjoyed fresh seafood, and various games at its boardwalk under the starlight. Mirajane and Elfman didn’t manage to follow them this time either, a teleportation trip made that difficult.
It was relaxed, and it was casual. At least until the topic of small talk turned towards Edolas. Lisanna’s question was innocent enough. “Think you could take me back there sometime? Just to visit. Not to get trapped there again.”
“I’m forbidden to use that magic on Ishgar.” Arthur sighed.
“Eh?”
“It could attract Acnologia’s attention.”
“Acnowho?”
“The ancient dragon king who exterminated dragons hundreds of years ago.”
“If he did it hundreds of years ago…”
“Remember the dragon that seized control of Edolas?” She nodded with a little sound in the affirmative. “She fled to Guiltina and then out of this dimension to get away from him. He’s just as ageless. He’s how Gildarts lost his arm.”
Lisanna’s eyes went wide. “Oh,” She said. “And if you use that magic?”
“If I use too much magic at once in general. My fight with…” He broke off. He’d been reprimanded for Laxus and Makarov learning the truth of the Grimoire Heart battle. If it got out to the general populace the Thunderbolts could be troubled by it; they were still expected to act as a top secret black ops unit. “Someone for my job I shouldn’t talk about saw me getting his attention.”
“The council job?” She said, leaning back against the railing of the pier that the evening had taken them out onto. She was relaxed and carefree, a soft, kind smile on her face. She wasn’t half as gorgeous as her sister. There was a reason Mirajane was more famous as a model than as a powerful mage. She didn’t have Sorano’s sexual confidence. But she made Arthur feel relaxed, and he simply liked watching her smile.
He nodded. “The one Laxus is taking over soon?” She continued to question.
“I am not at liberty to answer that question,” he said with a little laugh in his voice. “I should probably start asking you who you heard it from. But yeah, that one.”
“So if this big nasty dragon has you in its sights what does that mean for you?” She asked, a gentle hand moving to his shoulder where he faced the sea.
“It means I should be leaving Ishgar for the relative safety of Guiltina already. But I have a few loose ends to tie up here first.”
“So this is probably the last time I’ll see you…”
“Unless you decide to come up to Guiltina. If you do send word, and I’ll try and show you where to have a pleasant time there. Though I’m probably going to be doing government work in Edolas so that might be difficult.”
The future and anxiety had crept into the night then and soon afterwards they were returning to the Fairy Tail guild hall. It was easy enough. The distance was short, and Arthur’s space hadn’t been allowed to decay there yet.
He walked her all the way back to the Guild Hall. He’d offered to walk her home, but given Mirajane was still on duty at the Guild Hall, and Elfman was likely there she would have just gone from there to the Guild Hall anyway.
When they stopped at the door, there was an awkward pause. Arthur knew if he was going to kiss her, he should do it now, but he also knew there was at least a 50/50 chance that Elfman or Mira would ambush him if he tried.
As Lisanna lingered, and the moment became more and more awkward, he raised his territory armor - with the exception of the front of his face - and leaned forward for a kiss.
He was not surprised when he heard the words, “How dare you!?” and a fist sent him flying. The territory armor protected him from any damage, or even the feeling of impact, separating the space within from the space outside, but it didn’t protect the ground from being furrowed, fire licking the grass and smoke rising from where he had landed.
Natsu, wreathed in fire, and with the angriest expression Arthur had ever seen on his face, was glaring at him.
“Natsu!?” Lisanna shouted in surprise.
“If you liked her, you should have told her already,” Arthur stated, rising to his feet. He let his anger get the better of him, a sphere of territory magic exploding against Natsu’s gut and knocking him back. The fire dragon slayer landed on his feet, still glaring at Arthur.
“Liked who?” Natsu asked.
“Lisanna.” Arthur named the girl beginning to blush in the faint lamplight by the door of the guild.
“What’s this got to do with her?” Natsu asked.
“It’s my date you’re interrupting,” She said, smacking him upside the back of his head.
“Ow. Stop that! This has nothing to do with that.” Natsu answered. It was a little bit later before things calmed down enough to actually pursue the civilized response of talking things through.
“So, if it’s not about me trying to kiss Lisanna, what is your grievance?” Arthur finally asked.
“You met a dragon who knew Igneel and you didn’t tell me,” Natsu said. He’d calmed down a bit.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Arthur blinked, before withering under the glare that Lisanna was now shooting him. “Selene?”
“Did you kill it?” Natsu asked.
“No. You sure I didn’t tell you I met Selene?”
“Natsu, I’ve told you about Selene at length and in detail,” Lisanna said.
“Yeah, but you never said she knew Igneel and Grandeeney. He didn’t even tell Wendy that.”
“Wait, I didn’t?” Arthur asked in a shocked tone.
“No!”
“It must have slipped my mind. I thought Wendy knew.”
“Slipped your mind?”
“I have had a lot to think about.”
“Like what?”
“Top secret council stuff,” Lisanna said lightly, her voice playful. It contrasted Arthur’s response of simply raising his arm and holding up his shiny new prosthetic hand. King Toma of Fiore had come through with his promise. It wasn’t one with the most bells and whistles, but it was fully serviceable, and did have holder magic properties; a bit of long distance manipulation magic and spatial magic, though nothing Arthur couldn’t mostly duplicate between Macro and Territory.
“Oh…” Natsu did remember that Arthur had lost his hand in Edolas.
“The fact that I’m turning into a dragon that will almost certainly go mad with power and become a mindless force of destruction. The deal with Selene where I pledged her my service in exchange for not destroying Edolas. Accidentally angering Zeref’s demons so who knows they might be after my head. Trying to get everything I need to do in Ishgar done in the time Selene has allotted me despite it being a lot of shit. Stopping Grimoire Heart from destroying your guild… I’ve had a lot on my plate,” Arthur vented.
“Oh…” Lisanna said lightly, kicking herself for not having guessed that Arthur had something to do with Grimoire Heart’s heavily publicized recent setback. Arthur fought a battle big enough to get a mythical dragon’s attention at just about the same time, and it was almost immediately after that the Thunder God Tribe were complaining about Laxus’s new job.
“Wait, what?” Natsu asked. “Who’s trying to destroy the guild?”
“Natsu, I think they aren’t any more,” Lisanna said. “Don’t you remember the ship we saw the council’s navy impound on the way to Tenrou.”
Natsu looked at her and then Arthur.
“Could you please forget that,” Arthur said. “I’m not supposed to let it be known the council used outside contractors for that.”
“My lips are sealed,” Lisanna said.
“That’s not important anyway. Tell me about this dragon,” Natsu said. “I want to talk to them. Take me to them.”
“I can’t. She’s forbidden me from using dimensional magic in Ishgar for fear Acnologia will notice and replicate it.”
“Acnologia can do that? I thought it was a raging beast,” Lisanna said.
“Acnologia is the fate of any too successful Dragon Slayer,” Arthur answered. “He was a mage once, and given his power a damn good one. And he might still destroy, but with 300 years to get used to that power, we’ve got to worry he’s fully regained his ability to think even if he does it more like a dragon than a human.”
“This is the dragonification thing you talked about, right?” Natsu asked. Arthur nodded, and for a while Natsu was quiet. Arthur didn’t know what was going through the pink haired youth’s mind. Fear? He’d been told that he was protected, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t the sort of thing to cause dread. But Natsu wasn’t too like that. Maybe concern for Arthur and his guildmates? That seemed more likely.
Natsu continued on. “If we leave Ishgar you could take me to her, right?”
“She’s… dangerous and capricious,” Arthur said. “She spared Wendy because Wendy was Grandeeney’s child, and she believed Igneel had a plan to stop Acnologia with the 5 dragon slayers.”
“Five?” Natsu asked.
“Yeah, there’s two more kids raised by dragons, I… think I’ve got their location, but I haven’t been able to track them down for their blood yet.”
“Two more that Igneel knew?”
“Along with you, Wendy, and Gajeel, yeah.”
“Why haven’t you told me this?”
“I don’t know if I’ve actually found them yet or not.”
“How do you know all this anyway?”
“I read a lot.”
“I don’t think me and Natsu can do that,” Happy, Natsu’s exceed and constant companion, helpfully interjected. “Unless it was about fish. Are some of the books fish?”
“So tell me about Igneel’s plan,” Natsu said.
Truthfully Arthur didn’t remember it well. Until he’d found references in books here, he’d forgotten about the Dragon Soul transference. And he still didn’t properly remember how it worked. “Selene might know more. I can ask her when I go back to meet her. It’s why I have to go back to Guiltina. I have no idea what she’ll do if I break my word. She’s… Well… She was going to smash the capital of Edolas for having the sheer hubris to try and turn her into lacrima and leave when I first met her. And was actively cultivating destruction in Elentear.”
“What?” Lisanna grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled on him. “You didn’t tell me that!”
“I didn’t think you needed to be burdened with the knowledge when there’s nothing you can do about it.” Arthur defended himself.
“But there are people I care about in Edolas. People I love,” she said, shrinking down a little.
“What can you do about it now that you know?”
“We’re dragon slayers, we should go slay her,” Natsu suggested.
“And if she has information you can’t get anywhere else about Igneel?”
Natsu wavered, eyes casting down. “Still…” He said.
“Or what if she’s being true to her word. Her appearance stopped Edolas from falling into a bloody civil war. Last I knew she was siphoning Elentear’s excess magic and pouring it into Edolas. Elentear’s problem predates her meddling. She was just making it worse. Last I knew she was fixing it and Edolas’s. Do we kill her because she planned to do wrong even if she’s doing good now just because she might return to doing wrong?”
“Well… no,” Natsu said.
“Besides, she almost squashed me like a bug. I couldn’t kill her as I was then no matter how many times I tried. As you are right now, Natsu, you’d be a liability not a help. I sold myself in service to her to save Edolas. And given the weight of that is crushing me, I didn’t want to lay it on you.” He was talking more to Lisanna than Natsu by the end, and the obvious irritation she had felt at him seemed to be somewhat mollified.
“I still want to meet her,” Natsu said. “And if she is evil I will slay her.”
Arthur sighed. “I can’t just port to Guiltina, and Enif only rides two. Minerva has the second seat already.”
Natsu clenched his fist, but no other sign of his frustration. “So what does she know about Igneel? What do you know about Igneel you’ve not told me?”
“I don’t know. She could smell Grandeeney on Wendy and had heard rumors about Igneel’s plan from 400 years ago. I know that around 400 years ago Igneel and 4 other dragons concocted a plan to kill Acnologia by using a group of dragon slayers who didn’t risk dragonification, through a magic that imparted their souls to the dragon slayers. I don’t know much more than that.”
“Imparted his soul?” Natsu asked.
Arthur remembered vaguely a bounty involving it; it was one of those that gave him information about the world he had forgotten and which blurred the precise details from his mind. It was about ensuring that his plan was given the chance to work properly, and he could return properly, and somehow Natsu being time skipped on Tenrou Island would stop that. But without more than vague memories he didn’t want to raise Natsu’s hope too much. “His soul. Or a part of his soul. Is inside of you. It’s why you have antibodies against dragonification. I think there’s a way it can be used to bring him back, but it’s not something I would want to mess with given my current level of knowledge.”
“It’s getting chilly, can you two finish this inside,” Lisanna said, a bit of a pout on her face.
“One thing first,” Arthur said, rising to his feet. “I still haven’t seen the lady home, and I do owe her that for the lovely evening.”
Lisanna smiled at him. He’d lost a kiss thanks to Natsu, but a smile was still something to warm the heart. And he’d finish talking to Natsu inside. Natsu was going to have a lot of questions about how this soul-imparting worked, and Arthur honestly couldn’t tell him. He didn’t remember the details from the manga, it’d been too long, and hadn’t even remembered it at all until a scrap of text had mentioned the technique. He was going to have to tell Natsu that a dozen times in a dozen different ways though.
The next days were spent with a focus on the lacrima implantation. He was no longer on active duty watching over the Thunderbolts. He was allowed to come and go as he pleased. It was his last week in Ishgar. The grateful king was still willing to give him room and board, but his contractor work for the Council with the Thunderbolts had ended with Laxus’s acceptance of the job. Gran Doma wanted him in Era regardless, which gave him plenty of excuse to go there to arrange the surgery.
He set up the surgeries, and listened to Gran Doma’s pitch for repairing the Council’s systems. Arthur gave his advice, but spent the next day traveling to Seven and back to collect the lacrima which Draculos had commissioned for him. Well the first few hours of the day. Afterwards he was being called upon to provide consulting help on what was in effect creating a communal Archive. It was… weird. He wasn’t a computer programmer, and he wasn’t sure that as much as Archive was a magical computer that would have helped, but he kept just knowing things from the instillation of magical knowledge in his mind from when he had purchased it from the jump.
He felt like a poser. Talking the talk, and walking the walk, but only because someone else was constantly whispering in his ear how to do so. Gran Doma implored him to stay an extra two months in Ishgar to finish the project completely. Arthur, however, refused.
The next day, the 24th, was the day of the operation. He was going through it first; to test that it was safe. Wendy had come across from Fiore to help as a final medical backup even with Christmas being tomorrow. Arthur couldn’t use magic during, but he could create a reduced instance of his Archive that could be used and function with a sort of magical battery he provided it with. It’d need to be reconnected before it shut down, but it could record things during the surgery.
The lacrima which was going to be implanted was the shine dragon’s. Sort of. The lacrima made from Honami was flawed and weak. She’d not been powerful enough. The one from Serena was flawed and weak; over the years he’d leeched power from it, making it his own. The lacrima smith had found them surprisingly easy to unify into a single crystal with his magic however. It was this lacrima which was being implanted into Arthur’s heart.
He tried to tell himself that Honami would want that. That she’d be watching over the guild through him. He couldn’t be certain it was anything more than a lie he told himself to keep it feeling like he was stealing her heart for his own personal gain.
The surgery went without a hitch. The scales on his arm didn’t extend. The points of his teeth didn’t sharpen. Though he was warned not to engage in any high stress or high intensity use of magic for a while as it had taken God Serena’s magical energies a week to a month to stabilize with each of his surgeries. So ordinary individuals, well ordinary by the standards of those who could survive it which tended to be well above average as far as magical power was concerned, could expect it to take as much as a year before they were capable of making proper use of their magic once more, and to have to acclimate themselves to the changed magical energy through minor exertions of magical force and energy throughout. Arthur kept his Archive open during Minerva’s operation despite the doctor’s protests.
He wasn’t certain what he hoped to learn, but he wanted to observe as much as possible about the flow of magic. If he was going to find a cure for dragonification, or maximize his and Minerva’s chances that this didn’t shoot them in the foot somehow, he needed all the information he could get.
It was only after Minerva’s operation, when Minerva mentioned it, that Arthur realized the whites of his eyes had turned black. The increased draconic energy inside of him from the lacrima was having an effect.
Christmas was spent as a day of bed rest. The implantation of a magical crystal where it was fusing with his heart was rather painful. It was obviously so for Minerva too. Wendy's healing had helped; the pain of the surgery itself was gone, but the lacrima itself hurt. It pushed in odd ways, causing odd pressure inside of the chest. It was also affecting the blood flow through his body, limbs falling asleep in odd ways and forcing shifts of position. Finally his magical power seemed to hurt. Minerva's was clearly worse than his and Wendy and the doctor were tending to her, while Arthur tried merely to stoically bear his own pain so that they didn't feel the need to leave her side.
It left him with time to consider Christmas. There were decorations hung up in the hospital room, so they did celebrate it in Earthland, and he'd heard some talk about it in the castle while working with the Thunderbolts, but he'd not heard Jingle Bells or any of the traditional songs. He'd not seen Christmas decorations filling stores. It was definitely a smaller thing here. He'd missed Halloween because it just wasn't a thing here, and now he was going to miss Christmas as well. He'd not celebrated Christmas much since he was no longer a child, even as a teenager it'd been a fading thing, but he couldn't help but miss it a little. Even if it was just the old Rudolph movie and them singing about misfits.
He felt it was a dereliction of duty, though, that he hadn't at least made an effort to create some Christmas cheer for Minerva. He just hadn't thought about it being Christmas.
Several days later, he arrived in Crocus earlier than he had told the others. He had planned to take a boat and then train back to Crocus; he wasn’t certain how far he could stretch his magical power so soon after his surgery. He was recovering well; his body was integrating the lacrima much faster than Minerva’s or even than Serena had until the final lacrima. The doctor was amazed and impressed.
Still teleporting across a country was not a light act of magic. Maybe if he had proper teleportation magic. But he was using Territory. He could only affect his ‘space’. He had to seed the area with his space first. Thankfully the training grounds in Crocus were saturated with his power. Of course, he had already realized the strain could be avoided; he just had to take time and a bit of extra care not to access the wrong parts of his magical power. It was integrating, though.
Thankfully it wasn’t too problematic to have had the guest of honor for a feast arrive early. It might have left him with some time to kill, if it weren’t for the presence of 2 children and their bizarre talking cats. One of the cats, wearing a frog onesie, was more bizarre than most exceed.
Sting Eucliffe, and Rogue Cheney, were the last two of the 7 destined dragon slayers, and 5 children from the past who had been part of Igneel’s plan. King Toma had had them found and brought to Crocus the day prior. The two children were understandably nervous about meeting the person who had had them called there by the king due to a need for their service. Arthur always assumed Sting was younger than Minerva, though by how much was always unclear, so he’d peg him at 11 or 12 on that basis alone. And he guessed Rogue at the same age.
Not that it really mattered. They were both definitely still children. Children who were brimming with a volatile mix of emotions. They seemed to be afraid to even look directly at Arthur when he entered. It was one of the exceed, a red cat with a distinctly rude tone, who first spoke. “So what was so important that you needed to bring my buddy, Sting, all the way here?”
Arthur tried to put on a friendly, and hopefully non-creepy, smile. “I don’t know exactly what you have been told. But…” How was the best way to tell children you want their blood for magical research without sounding like a deranged mad scientist? “Well I’m a dragon slayer, like both of you, and I come from another continent to the north.”
“Yeah, they already told us that,” the red cat said in a tone of impatience.
“Did they tell you why I came to Ishgar?” Arthur asked.
There was a shaking of heads, and the red cat, apparently the (self) designated spokesman for the group, said, “No. They haven’t told us why they needed Sting’s time here.”
Sting bit his lip, his solidarity for his friend conflicting with his good sense not to speak to a big shot like that.
“Well I come from a guild of dragon slayers,” Arthur started.
He paused for a breath, and Sting stepped up so close to him they were practically touching. “And you want to recruit me, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch to join?” Hisvoice was exuberant and hopeful.
“Even on other continents they’ve heard of you, Sting!” The red cat’s voice was elated as well.
“No,” Arthur said. “I’d suggest you go join Fairy Tail. They have a trio of dragon slayers there, one’s about your age. They’d be a good fit for you, and be able to teach you lots. My guild has a problem.” He pulled up the sleeve on his unmaimed arm. Black scales were visible on it. “Dragon slayer is a lost magic. Those have dangerous side effects. My guild suffers from them, becoming dragons if they over use their powers. But in my research I learned about 5 dragons who were working to perfect it. I believe the dragons which raised you both, and the three dragon slayers at Fairy Tail were those five dragons. And I believe they succeeded. I just hope that whatever was done to you can be replicated. For that reason I’ve come to Ishgar to try and see if I could get you five to each give me some of your blood so that I could perform some tests on it to see if there’s anything special about it, or any residue left over from what the dragons did to perfect it and if I can somehow use it to stop my guild mates from becoming dragons.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to become a dragon?” Sting asked. “Weisslogia was awesome. He was so big and strong.”
“Wait… You know about Skiadrum and Weisslogia?” Rogue shot out, finally speaking.
“Only what I’ve read,” Arthur answered surprisingly truthfully. “And because when a dragon slayer turns into a dragon the draconic power tends to overwhelm their reason and their humanity, turning them into beasts of destruction.” Really from what he had researched ‘beasts of destruction’ described the substantial majority of dragons. But what he had read was written by their enemies so had to be taken with a grain of salt.
“Oh…” Sting said.
“What did the books say?” Rogue asked.
“Not much more than I told you. The fire dragon king got together an iron, sky, shadow, and white dragon and worked on it. They disappeared from history long ago, but it was said they were working in Ishgar and when I heard about Natsu I decided to check it out.”
“Oh,” all four of them said at once, seeming to deflate a bit.
Sting was the first to raise his head. “Wait, does this mean that Salamander is so famous you’ve heard about him overseas?”
“Sting, you’ll be more famous than him in no time,” the red cat said.
“If you do a lot of research you might find out he exists. I’d be surprised if you could find someone on the street that knew without hunting down travelers from Ishgar.” Arthur felt he was getting better at lying, especially to children. Unfortunately there wasn’t a bounty for that.
“Oh,” Sting said.
“So. Would you be willing to help me out and let me get a bit of your blood to test on?” Arthur asked, looking at them. They looked at each other and finally gave their consent.
The Thunderbolts were not at the feast. Arthur understood the need not to publicly show the team of dark mages who were buying their pardon with blood, and who were still publicly perceived as highly dangerous criminals, but given the feast was to thank him for his actions in Edolas and role in leading the Council team that brought down Grimoire Heart it turned his stomach. Laxus, and many of the officers from the crews of the council ships which handled the clean up were there.
It cast a pall over the whole feast for Arthur, leaving him picking at his food instead of scarfing down. It was only the reminder that he was going to be riding Enif for hours tomorrow which got him to really eat. And he was expected to play up the council’s role whenever someone asked him about how the battle had gone.
Arthur was presented with the keys of Zeref, and officially commissioned to remove them from Ishgar once and forever, and ensure they did not return there. He was also given a bag of jewels, and several books taken from Grimoire Heart’s ship as a sign of thanks and gratitude. It wasn’t the whole haul he had hoped to get, but it was better than nothing.
He probably should have been following Laxus’s lead, shaking hands, flirting with the ladies, and networking with important businessmen and political power players. But the idea filled him with dread. He instead struggled merely to do the minimum to talk to and interact with the people who came to see him.
After what felt like far too many hours, Arthur was allowed to excuse himself with the fib that he was going to make an early night of it due to needing to sleep before his long journey in the morning. In truth he was going to see those who he had actually come here to see.
He was relieved to see that while they’d not been at the banquet, the Thunderbolts had been given a share of the sumptuous feast in their mess hall. It didn’t have servants rushing about to get them whatever they wanted or fill their cups, but they weren’t being completely cut out.
They gave him a cheer when he entered. It was, after all, a farewell party for him and Minerva. Arthur had, of course, brought presents for the winter holiday he had missed, and he did not seem to be the only one to have considered it. Nothing was big, flashy, or expensive, but that wasn’t the point of it.
After a few hours it was getting late. Minerva was starting to fall asleep in her chair, and Arthur truly did need to sleep for the long trip tomorrow.
“So this is the last we’ll see of you for a while? Not gonna be zipping back and forth?” MacBeth said.
“I’d love to be back again, but I have no plans to return for the foreseeable future. Though, truth be told, I can’t foresee past tomorrow,” Arthur stated.
“It’s your turn to be on someone else’s leash.” MacBeth’s smile was twisted, almost sadistic.
“Unfortunately.”
“I’ll miss you,” MacBeth said, planting a hand on Arthur’s shoulder before pulling back. It was, Arthur thought, the first time he’d seen MacBeth touch someone in a non-aggressive way.
“I’ll miss all of you too.”
“If you ever need our help, don’t be afraid to ask, boss man.” Sawyer grinned as he spoke.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“We won’t forget what you did for us,” Richard’s hand clasped his shoulder.
“Alright you are all getting too sappy,” Erik said. Then he looked straight at Arthur. “Keep the little princess out of too much trouble. She’s going to be a real tiger when she grows up. Make sure she does, or I’ll have to show you a real dragon slayer.” MacBeth snickered at Erik’s threat. It didn’t bother Arthur. There was no actual malice he could detect in Erik’s tone or on his face. “And keep yourself safe too. I mean if you get yourself killed we’ll have to take revenge and that’s not something we really should be doing if we’re going to be on the straight and narrow.”
“I’ll try to not die,” Arthur grinned back. “You keep yourself, and the rest of them safe too.” He needed to remember to try and fix the snake. Didn’t Makarov fix her normally? Would that have happened by now? He didn’t have time now. He’d been busy. And keeping Selene on board was the priority.
Arthur glanced to see if one of the remaining three would say anything, only now noticing that Jellal had apparently peeled off earlier in the night. Lilith was still there. More than a little drunk. But she had not been excluded from things or shunned by the Oracion Seis. Something had changed since he went to get his surgery.
“Thanks… chou…” She slurred her words a little.
“You’re welcome,” Arthur said, not completely sure what she was thanking him for.
“Learnd lots from chur arki… arrr… chou taught me things.” Richard caught her as she lost her balance.
“I’ll take her to bed,” Richard said. Arthur caught a snicker from MacBeth and Sawyer.
She’d been taking her training more seriously after MacBeth’s stupidly dangerous stunt. And she’d been on Laxus’s mission, so maybe it was something to do with that.
And that left Sorano, who walked past Arthur, grabbing his hand and pulling lightly, tugging him towards the exit. Arthur followed, letting the others think what they would. He walked out with her into the night air.
“Do you really have to go?” She asked. She was wearing an outfit that’d be fit for a burlesque dancer, or Emma Frost; a feather cape, a low cut fashion corset, and tight pants. All white.
“I came here for a job. I’ve stayed longer than I was supposed to already. I’ve still got to go back to my guild and find a cure for dragonification.”
“Your guild?” She said, narrowing her eyes. “We’re more your guild than they ever were. We’d not be here if it weren’t for you.”
Arthur winced. “I’m turning into a dragon. I need to find a cure for that.”
“Find it here.”
“I promised Selene I’d return.”
“You’ve said she won’t come here. She’s scared of Acnologia.”
“She’ll take it out on Edolas. Or Diabolos.”
“Screw them. I want you to stay.”
“Sorano,” Arthur said, looking at her.
She frowned like a scolded child. “Is there something I can do to convince you to stay? I know you had that bounty about kissy kissy stuff,” She said, hands moving to embrace him.
Arthur couldn’t deny he found her attractive. But… the way she put it felt more like she was trying to make it some transaction; and yes courtship in general could be viewed as a transaction but it felt like paying for a prostitute. I will be your lover if you stay.
It still felt like it took every drop of resolve to pull back when she kissed him. To not wrap her up and press into the kiss. Lisanna was… not really a factor there. Save for the guilty thought that he’d gone out with her to discourage Sorano from this.
“Do you mean that? I mean… Why do you want me to stay?”
“I like having you around.”
“Are you trying to say you love me? That you’ve grown attracted to me?”
Sorano paused. There was a flirtatious, playful smile on her face, and then it faded. She sighed. “Erik wouldn’t let me live it down if I lied there. If I had to pick somebody, I can think of worse ones. A lot of worse ones. But…”
“But?”
“You’re talking about love. Love is a commitment,” She said with a frown. “I’m not ready for that. And if I get you to stay with that it’s going to be one. And while I’ve fooled around with worse to get what I wanted, you’re not really, well, you’re not attractive.”
“Thank,” Arthur said sourly.
“Hey! I’m being truthful here. It’s not easy, you know. I’m used to lying to guys, manipulating them, and using them.”
“But?”
“I owe you too much to do that. I… Please stay. I trust you. I feel safe with you looking out for me.”
“Laxus is strong, and he’s protective of his people. He’ll keep you all safe.”
Sorano scoffed. “We’re not his people. We’re an obligation to him. You helped me and Jellal when it caused you trouble, and when your silly bounties only needed you to help one of us. It’d have been a lot easier for you, but you went out on a limb to help me anyway. And you kept doing it. I don’t trust people. But I trust you.”
“And you don’t trust Laxus.”
“He doesn’t want to be here,” she said. “I can tell. Plus he doesn’t get flustered when I turn on the charm like you do. You’re still blushing by the way. He is rather yummy, though.” She laughed as Arthur gave her a sour look. “You turned me down.”
“Would you have wanted me to take you up on that offer?”
She shook her head and let it lower down. “No. I don’t want to be the manipulator I used to be any more. I want to like myself.” She raised it again. “I still wish you’d stay.”
“Selene…”
“Will kill people and you’re the sort of sap to blame yourself.”
“I mean if she’s doing it because of my promise to her…”
“And if you hadn’t made that promise? You’re not responsible for her actions.”
Arthur sighed. “She’s my best chance to stop this,” he touched the scales on his arm, “And she’s my best chance to help stack the deck against Acnologia.” If Sorano was going to be honest with him, he’d stop trying to virtue signal and be honest. “She can teach me a lot. And I want to use her for everything she’s worth. I’m not from this world where friendship is power. I don’t have friends to fall back on. But I’ve been given power to shape things, and I intend to-”
He stopped as Sorano stabbed his stomach with three fingers held straight. “If you’re gonna go all god complex, make sure you can’t just be knifed like a punk. Keep that armor of yours up, stupid. And what do you think I am?”
“Huh?”
“I thought I was your friend. I thought we,” She gestured at the building a little ways away now, “were your friends.”
Arthur felt like warmed over garbage all of a sudden. “You are.” His tone was guilty and ashamed.
“That’s why you’ll come back, right? Even if I won’t go kissy kissy with you?”
“I wholly intend to.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
They smiled at each other for a few moments. “I really should go to bed if you’re not going to make leaving any harder on me.”
“Eh, you need to suffer for it.”
“Why?”
“Otherwise you’ll forget to come back.”
Arthur couldn’t help but smile at her a little.