I woke up to an incessant tickling feeling on my chest. Like I did with all things attempting to wake me up before I wished to, I did my best to ignore it. Unfortunately, the tickling didn’t go away and, frustratingly, it didn’t get worse. It was just there. Constantly, incessantly, itching.
I opened my eyes to the sight of a man digging around in my chest.
‘Why is there someone digging around in my chest’ I thought groggily. Then I stepped a bit closer to wakefulness ‘There’s someone digging around in my chest!’
The thought brought with it a surge of adrenalin that had me tensed and ready to punch the man in his face.
Fortunately for Zack, the thought also spurred me to full wakefulness, and I recognized that what he was doing was normal.
‘Well, not normal, but not unexpected either’ I took a moment to reflect on the fact that someone digging around my internals wasn’t too shocking for me anymore.
“This is a terrible way to wake a person up.”
Zack looked away from my apparently fascinating internals. “If you want to heal such wounds, you’re going to have to put up with some discomfort.”
“I’m pretty sure it would be more than discomfort for the both of us if I actually followed through on punching you in the face.”
He waved his hand dismissively, “I assure you; the Wolves have a far more refined instinct for violence than you. I’m more than prepared for such reactions.”
“Your funeral” I very deliberately didn’t shrug. “So, what are you still doing in there, I thought this would be a one and done deal? Enjoying being in a girl that much?” I waggled my eyebrows (probably poorly, but that was immaterial).
He choked, then gave me the most exasperated look I think I’ve ever seen. I took it as a victory.
“Reconstructing a heart is a time consuming and difficult operation. Not to mention one that I’ve no experience with due to most patients with the condition also being corpses.” He said dryly. “Did you really expect it to be one and done?”
I mean, I can turn into water that can mimic my biological functions. I’m surprised there isn’t anyone around who can cast Cure Wounds or something, let alone magical healing taking more than one application to stick. “Yeah, kinda.”
Zack sighed, “Well unfortunately reality denies many of our expectations. The treatment will take weeks.”
“Weeks!?”
“Yes” he nodded “Quite unfortunate as I can tell you’re on a tight schedule. However! I have a solution for this problem.”
We already risked our lives to pay him, what the hell else does he want. I nodded for him to go on.
“I find myself rather unhappy with the new guild master and would much rather ply my trade in a place that would be more grateful for my efforts.”
“…such as Crocus?”
“Or Magnolia” he confirmed “Whichever you happen to be heading towards at the moment.”
That’s honestly nowhere near as difficult a request as I was expecting. Makes sense too, Gajeel was just a glorified thug before Fairy Tail mellowed him out. Without that and with the power of a guild master he’s probably getting worse, and thugs rarely have an appreciation for the more cerebral pursuits – or anything that isn’t brute force really.
There’s also the possibility of Zack bullshitting me and slowing down treatment to get me to take him with us, but that’s unprovable until I get to Crocus and largely irrelevant as getting him there costs me little.
“I’ll discuss with Cana once she gets here, but it should be doable.”
Zack nodded.
“Speaking of, where is Cana anyway?”
“Sleeping off a hangover I believe.”
I groaned; I’d thought she was past alcoholism.
“How long until I can walk at least? I need to wake Cana up and give her a talking to.”
Zack fiddled about with the strings he was using to hold my internals together. “Not too much longer. I would still like to get breakfast.”
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A few minutes later found Zack getting his breakfast and myself poking Cana awake.
“Five more minutes” she groaned.
Lying there, stretched out and half naked, Cana was making a very tempting case for just getting into the bed with her. Unfortunately, I was hungry, and Cana’s potentially resurgent alcoholism had to be taken care of before I could eat.
I poked her again.
“I’m getting uuup”
We’d more or less sorted out the blatant alcoholism before we left for the mission, reducing it to mere excessive social drinking. Seeing Zack dig around my chest might’ve been rather stressful for her though, so maybe it was getting worse.
Cana dragged herself into a sitting position, looking surprisingly healthy for a someone hungover.
“What?” she grumped.
“Zack tells me you’re slipping back into alcoholism.” I said, gearing up for a lecture.
Cana startled at that. “What!? No, I’m not. I barely had three bottles last night.”
I blinked, thought, then remembered. Cana has an absurd tolerance for alcohol. What would send a normal person to the healers with alcohol poisoning barely registered to her. Zack didn’t know that and probably assumed Cana had normal tolerance.
“Oh, right, yeah, sorry. You have high tolerance, my bad” I ducked my head to hide my embarrassment.
Cana glowered at me for a few moments before brightening. “I think this is one of those things that deserves a punishment once we get home.”
Oh good. Familiar territory.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time” I shot back.
We devolved into some friendly bickering that really hope Zack hadn’t overheard. Cana was lonely, horny, and grew up in a world with magic. I was lonely, horny, and grew up in a world with the internet. We’d just spent a couple days exploring the relationship. We hadn’t done anything yet, but we had ideas.
After that I filled Cana in on how long my healing was going to take and that Zack wanted us to take him to Magnolia.
Cana thought for a moment before agreeing that it was doable. We were plenty powerful, and I could form effective shields with water so it’s not like he’d be too much of a liability in case of a skirmish.
That done, we got breakfast and began working out the logistics of getting to Crocus.
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The logistics of leaving Ghareon were fortunately uncomplicated. We’d packed well back in Magnolia, so all that we needed here was to restock our supplies and get another set for Zack.
Zack also had to pack some of his equipment, but that had little to do with us and we used that time to figure out the one snag with leaving Ghareon.
See, even thugs understand the importance of a guy who can put them back together, even if they don’t respect the ‘wimpy nerd’, and there aren’t many healers in Ghareon. This meant that Zack would have to be hidden while we went out, and this neatly hamstrung our plan of him hiding us when we went out due to Gajeel trying his utmost to find – and probably murder – us.
We couldn’t brute force our way past the guards either as that would alert the Wolves and none of us had Enhancement Magic so Gajeel – and likely most of his minions – are faster than us and have more stamina than we do.
This left us with figuring out how we planned on getting out of Ghareon unseen with three people and a boatload of Zack’s equipment. I didn’t have any space for it in my Pouches of Holding due to the Great Heart, and Cana’s cards could only hold specific items and creating new cards for all of Zack’s stuff would be a massive waste of time and resources we didn’t have.
None of us could turn invisible (well, Cana got ideas about a light card, and I started thinking of refraction, but nothing achievable within a reasonable timeframe if at all) and we couldn’t use anything like sleeping gas on the guards as that would both endanger the city and the guards would alert the Wolves as soon as they woke up or were spotted asleep.
Fortunately, Zack was an Alchemist, and though he specialized in medicine, that didn’t mean he didn’t have any experience with other forms of alchemy.
‘Can’t say I ever thought of this as use for alchemy ' I thought as we walked right past the guards guarding the path out of the city, ‘but fancy magical makeup does make perfect sense '.
It didn’t exactly allow for shape shifting or anything but changing hair and eye color and a few contours of the face to look almost entirely like a different person wasn’t too difficult. Well, not too difficult for someone who knows how to use make-up.
I had wanted to go for something extreme when I found out about it, like a goth look or cosplay or something, but we were trying to be as unmemorable as possible. Thus, to my great disappointment, Cana and I were currently sporting dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and make up to make us appear like sisters while Zack had grown himself a beard and was masquerading as our father.
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The guards barely gave us a second glance, and that only because of the small, covered wagon Zack was pulling that contained all of his equipment. Cana was stronger and would probably take over pulling the wagon once we were out of the city, but for now Zack was playing the part of badass monster hunter (including an oversized hunk of metal pretending to be a sword), so Cana or I pulling the wagon would look a bit strange.
Soon enough we left the tunnel that led away from Ghareon and saw the sun for the first time in days. Or we would have if it wasn’t raining. Keeping the rain off of us was an effort barely worth mentioning, but I was looking forward to the sun despite the wondrous lightning in Ghareon.
Our path out of Ghareon was the very definition of bare minimum success. We’d gotten out safely but with none of the frills that would’ve made it fun.
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Our leaving of Ghareon was indicative of the rest of the journey to Crocus. We made it there without any further injury or significant delay, but we were attacked every couple of days. It was expected given that alchemical healing isn’t the most magically ‘quiet’ thing, but it was still annoying.
Nothing that attacked us was especially strong or stealthy, easily wiped out by a wall of water or exploding card, but they were all strong or stealthy enough that we had to be constantly aware and on our toes. After all, it didn’t really matter if nothing any of the monsters could throw at me could affect me in water form if they bit my head off before I could shift.
We all let out a collective sigh of relief when we finally spotted the towering walls of Crocus in the distance. The hours it took us to reach the walls after we spotted them really gave me a new appreciation for magical construction though.
Seamless stone rose above us to nigh mountainous heights, with arched gates large enough to let an army pass through seeming miniscule in a comparison. The gates were closed, though as we approached, they lit up with a lattice of golden runes.
The runes bulged out into a massive, bearded face that stared down and considered us.
“What business have you in Crocus?”
I glanced at Cana and Zack uncertainly, but they just waved at me to answer. ‘Why me? Well, I know why me, but still.’
I cleared me throat “We’re, uh, we’re here to resupply and to help Healer Zack move into the city.”
The light coming of the runes on the face’s eyes intensified and I felt the telltale tingle of Archive Magic being used on me.
We waited nervously until the tingling faded a few moments later.
“Be welcome in in Crocus, Juvia Lockser, Cana Alberona, Zackariah Sucidem” The face intoned before fading back into the gates.
The gates then opened soundlessly, though only wide enough for us and the wagon carrying Zack’s equipment to pass through, and they closed again as soon as we were clear.
We found ourselves atop a road made of the same seamless stone the walls were. The road was wide enough that I almost mistook it for a modern highway but for the lack of lanes and different building materials. It led straight to what could only be the Royal Castle, a, in what I was rapidly beginning to figure out was a theme with this city, massive complex of rainbow-colored domes and crystal spires surrounded by another wall, this one shining white.
The seamless stone stretched out under us to encompass the whole city. The buildings were made of the same material and appeared connected to the underlying stone. I’d say the whole city looked like a single mountain had been carved down into appropriate shape though that wouldn’t do justice to just how smooth the stone was.
The people were less impressive, looking much like the people of Magnolia, though better dressed and slightly more energetic. The width of the streets meant that there was space to move and quiet enough to talk despite the massive number of people and merchants hawking and haggling.
We stood and goggled at the sights like country bumpkins. Well, I did, and in a replay of our first sight of Ghareon, Cana had to pull my attention away from the city and to a woman who had noticed us (me) gawking and was asking if we needed help with anything.
We told her that we were looking for somewhere to spend the night and somewhere for Zack to begin setting up a practice.
The woman winced at the second, and when prompted she explained that Crocus was unusually strict with population control – Zack would have to prove himself worthy of moving into the city before he could set up his practice.
Zack waved of that concern, apparently confident in his skills, and – given that he rebuilt my heart – I was inclined to believe him.
The woman then gave us directions to The Guilds’ Gilded Gathering, a special hotel/guest house a King had built for visiting mages from across the kingdom. We dropped Zack off at a more standard inn, since the Southern Wolves weren’t a prestigious enough guild to allow its common members stay at the Gathering.
Our goodbye with Zack was fairly warm considering his usually formal manner and I promised to keep him in mind whenever I or someone close to me needed medical attention.
The Gathering was just as ostentatious as the name and exclusivity suggested, sporting actual gilding just about everywhere, large and soft mattresses, overequipped bathrooms, and meals fit for a king. All free too! To thank us for our service apparently. Which does actually make sense considering the stuff the mages go through to keep monsters (and Demons and Fiends and Giants and…) away from the civilians. I just never thought I would be in the receiving end of this sort of gratitude.
We took our time in the baths, separately since we were determined to save sex for after the mission, and eventually stumbled into the beds that eclipsed the ones at home in every metric except familiarity. Buried in warmth and comfort, I drifted off within seconds.
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The next morning was a perfect experience of luxurious normalcy. I woke up in a soft bed with no bandages stretched over my chest and no need to shift to get rid of muscle aches. I performed all of my ablutions with water that required exactly zero effort for me to get or warm up, and even let myself indulge in my own vanity in front of the mirror for a bit.
Leaving the room, I was greeted by the sight of a similarly refreshed Cana and we went arm in arm to a breakfast made by a guy with Cooking Magic. I didn’t know Cooking Magic was a thing prior to this experience but I added to dream life goals as soon as I had my first bite.
We took our time about enjoying the Gilded Gathering, but all too soon it was time to head out. First to the palace to report on the Demons, and then to the Sabretooth Mountains.
The atmosphere of peaceful recuperation was neatly shattered the moment we stepped out of the Gathering. The ground flashed with golden runes, halting traffic and prompting a surprised scream from some children down the road. The runes flowed together to a point just in front of Cana and I, piling on top of each other until the formed a golden humanoid figure with the same face as the city’s gates.
“Cana Alberona, Juvia Lockser, your presence is commanded at the Royal Gatehouse by High Captain Arcadios.”
“We’ll be right there.” Cana answered.
The figure nodded, then melted back into a runic lattice and faded.
I turned to Cana, “We will?”.
Cana started walking toward the palace, “Of course we will, you can’t just ignore the head of the Royal Guard summoning you. Plus, we were going there already.” She gave me a look that made it clear she was questioning my intelligence.
“Well, yeah, obviously that makes sense.” I blustered “It was just a bit sudden. Took my brain a second to catch up.” Definitely had nothing to do with not knowing who Arcadios was until Cana told me. Nothing at all.
Following the main road, we reached the Gatehouse in short order. It wasn’t so much a separate building as a thickening of the walls around the inner city which housed impressive armories, break rooms, and a small barracks. A guard (in full plate!) led us past the facilities in an impromptu tour as he took us to meet Arcadios at the top of the wall.
Stepping out onto the top of the wall, we were greeted with yet another magnificent view of the city. Though the quality of construction was evident even from street level, from the top of the wall I could see that the city was expertly planned out as well.
I didn’t get to examine the city for long though, for the gleaming form of what could only be Arcadios demanded my attention. Seven feet tall and clad in snow white plate armor, the Captain certainly looked the part of the head of the Royal Guard, though his wild brown hair spoiled the image somewhat.
Cana bowed and I followed her lead. “You asked for us, High Captain?”
“I did,” he rumbled. “I want to know what brings two members of Fairy Tail so far from Magnolia.”
Though we were adventurers in all but name, most mages never went too far from their base town. After all, a mage guild’s main function is to protect its hometown from monsters and dark guilds which is rather difficult to do when one is halfway across the country.
“Two reason, sir” Cana answered. “We initially left Magnolia on a mission from the guild master to investigate Jiemma Orland, but we came across a situation in Ghareon that you should know about.”
We couldn’t exactly say we came to act as child services for Minerva based on an Outsider’s memories after all.
Arcadios raised an eyebrow. “There is little that the kingdom needs to know about Jiemma Orland that we don’t already know. However, any help with his capture would be appreciated.”
“He’s a wanted man?” I asked. “What did he do?”
“Seven proven counts of murder, three proven counts of rape, twenty-seven counts of property damage, at least one count of kidnapping, and far more as of yet unproven.” Arcadios rattled off.
Our eyes widened. “Oh,” we paused “Why haven’t you captured him then?”
Arcadios grimaced slightly, “He is, unfortunately, too powerful for the Royal Guard to spare the numbers required to capture him, hence I am resorting to charging you with the mission.”
We nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense, we were probably going to have to do something like that anyway.” You don’t really tell a man like Jiemma Orland that he’s being an abusive asshole without expecting violence after all.
“Good” he nodded, “And the news from Ghareon?”
“We found demons there.”
Arcadios’ eyes shot open as he realized what we were implying. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, sir” Cana said, “They were working on with an item they were calling the Great Heart that we think could perform Life Make magic and using the created creatures to assault Ghareon. We killed them and took the item and notes, but we’re still not sure what they were doing.”
Arcadios seemed relieved by that, though considering he seemed to be a stoic, I couldn’t be sure.
“You have the notes and item with you?”
“Yep.” I patted the pouches at my side. Cana nudged me. “Sir” right, the guy is important.
He nodded. “Gran Doma, storage for a potential Artifact and an Archive node for the research notes on the object.”
As I tried to parse what the hell that was supposed to mean, it became clear that he wasn’t talking to us. The ground lit up in a by now familiar lattice of golden runes. This time, however, they didn’t form a face or any humanoid figure. The runes formed a circle with spiraling arms that led from the perimeter to the center. The arms then untwisted in a motion almost like an aperture of a camera, revealing a pitch-black hole where the ground used to be.
“Place the item and the notes in there” Arcadios motioned to the hole.
I opened my mouth to argue – I literally killed for this stuff. Cana cuffed me on the back of my head before I could say anything though and mouthed at me to go through with it.
I tried my best not to make a show of my reluctance to do so, but after getting over my gut reaction, I remembered that I was talking to the head of Fiore’s military. He could order the things seized anyway, and while I was fairly confident in my ability to escape, that would bring a lot of trouble down on me, Cana, and the guild.
I threw in the notes first, then conjured a few streamers of water to reach into the pouch holding the Heart and retrieved it. I let Arcadios and a few of the guardsmen marvel at the thing for a moment (well, look with maybe a little extra attention in Arcadios’ case) before tossing it into the hole as well.
The hole then twisted closed, but the runes didn’t fade. A moment later, the arms twisted again, though this time they spun out a small pillar on which rested a slab of golden crystal about the size and shape of a phone. Arcadios picked up the crystal and tossed it to me. I wasn’t expecting it and nearly dropped it, but a reflexive streamer of water caught just before it hit the ground.
I aborted a glare halfway through completion and Arcadios didn’t seem to notice.
“That is an Archive Node containing all of the notes on the Great Heart. The notes will also be updated with Gran Doma’s findings on the item. Do you have anything else to report.”
“Yes, sir” Cana replied while my mind went off on the possibilities of what I could do with all of the notes and research on the Great Heart conducted by the creator of Archive Magic himself.
Cana gave the High Captain a run down of the situation with Gajeel and the Southern Wolves while I kept one ear on the conversation and chimed in with any details I felt Cana missed. I made it pretty obvious that I had zero experience giving official reports, but at least I tried.
Arcadios then thanked us for our service, gave us a briefing on Jiemma, and sent us on our way. It was a pretty brief affair all told.
Now the only thing left to do was a final resupply run, another night of rest, and then we were off to the Sabretooth mountains to track down and rescue a little girl (probably not innocent after spending so much time with her father) from one of the most powerful psychopaths Fiore had to offer.