ⓦⓗⓘⓣⓔ ⓜⓐⓖⓘⓒ
"What? We're stopping for two hours here?"
Rae woke up from her slumber by a soft nudge from her daughter and her head throbbed, must be because of her dream. Everyone was pretty excited to get out for a bit of fresh air and the girls, Wendy and Haruka were pumped up to take a look at the bookstores ahead. Rae decided to go outside as well, but she certainly did not want to walk with Gray. She didn't know how to face him—should she treat him as a friend? But that would hurt him even more and she can't exactly treat him like a lover since she had Jellal.
"Rae, what's wrong—"
"Glen dear?"
Rae looked straight and saw Juvia's lookalike walking towards them. "I'll just go ahead." Perfect chance for her to avoid him even more. Rae didn't wait for his reply and pulled her hand out of his grip, as if she was caught stealing him from Juvina. The blonde haired girl hurried to leave the place, although she had to admit that she was a bit bothered by him being with Juvina, she shall not disturb them anymore. Rae was not a fool, she had seen the way Fairy Tail Juvia looked at Gray.
"I am not supposed to be here. Does my existence interrupt the fate of this world that bad?" Rae ruffled her hair and strolled leisurely, eyes looking left and right to enjoy the scenery. Although, her head and heart were restless but somehow, talking a walk there had relaxed her mind and body a bit. She probably shouldn't try hard to remember things, but she did need to be stronger. Just as she was determined to get stronger, there was a flyer passed to her. It was an announcement of the opening of a fighting ring.
Rae bit her lower lip, should she try it? But she probably didn't have any clue of martial arts, however, she was the strongest wizard in Fiore, her body and muscles should have remembered the adrenaline rush of fighting. She should be fine, yes. It was reckless of her to join that tournament just to practice her combat skill but she couldn't think of any other way. Her eyes flashed red for a second and Rae was determined to participate her name in that. Immediately, she ran to the venue, although she couldn't use any magic power, she should be at least strong physically.
"Yes, this is an insane idea." The fighting ring was filled with people and apparently, for the qualification round, each participant needed to survive and fight their way to be enlisted as the top 4 fighters. Rae covered her ears, it was too loud there and it seemed like she was the only girl. "If I die here, would I be reborn again?" For some reason, perhaps she would like to redo her life. Rae took a look at the screen, no doubt everyone had their attention on her. It was a wise move to eliminate the weakest first but Rae was slightly annoyed that she was considered to be the weakest.
"You're gonna die, girl."
"What the—" The fight started.
Someone quickly threw a punch to her face and thanked to her agility, Rae swiftly dodged it and slid under his legs to raise her foot and kick another guy behind him. She couldn't believe it, she was actually having fun. Rae started to laugh, her body actually became lighter and each punch and kick she did was actually stronger than she ever thought of. Had she always been this strong? Eight men were down in less than five minutes. But of course, not everything went smooth as right now.
There was someone who actually could punch her on the face and that hurt. Rae smirked, spitting the blood to a guy on her right. It was a right idea to join this fight. She could use it to practice her combat skills. Magic power and weapons were prohibited in the ring but somehow, the rules were broken a long time ago since everyone in the ring brought at least a knife with them. Rae clenched her fists tightly and ran ahead to do a backflip, kicking someone on the head while doing it and grabing someone by the arm to twist it.
She felt alive. Everything that was in her head a while ago—her curse, sins, Gray, Fairy Tail—everything had turned into a dream that she had began to forget it. The adrenaline rushing inside had never made her felt so alive. However, she was a bit surprised that she was able to take down almost a quarter of the participants all alone. Perhaps, she didn't even need her magic power to get stronger. If she could polish and enhance her strength and combat skills, she could at least help everyone.
"It's been one hour, I should finish this quick." Rae mumbled under her breath while throwing a guy across the room.
A sharp sound of gun discharging was caught by her ear and if she didn't manage to roll her body to the side, she would have a bullet penetrated her brain. "Do you think this is the time to lose your focus, lady?" A man probably in his late thirties grinned creepily while aiming his gun to her face, that's when Rae finally realized that this match was not a mere fighting championship. Everyone here was dangerous and she could lose her life if she wasn't careful. She had to make sure she didn't get any major injuries or else, everyone will notice it.
Rae chuckled and looked down, seeing a polearm by her foot. Stepping on the edge of it harshly, the polearm bounced on the ring and her hand caught it effortlessly, swinging it continuously to get used to it. "Not too light and not too heavy, perfect." The blonde girl immediately rushed forward to the man while dragging a body as her shield and within a few seconds, she had sliced the gunned man on his stomach. No doubt, her face was splashed with blood now. She only laughed mercilessly and threw the two bodies aside.
"Ah, such a good feeling to have someone dead by my hands." Her tongue made a click sound as she furiously wiped the blood on her lips. The match continued until there were four contestants left and eventually, it's time for the final round. Seeing her opponent didn't have any weapon on him, Rae decided to discard the polearm and fought him barehanded. It was a tough fight, she could feel that he was an experienced fighter. Each movement didn't allow her to get any openings to attack him. However, he was just defending.
Not once he made a move to land an attack on her and that made her frustrated. Rae couldn't waste any more time, there were 15 minutes left, she should have gone to the train station by now. "Hit me, damnit!" She grabbed his forearm and attempted to backflip him but his hand was fast, instead he twirled their bodies and slammed her on the floor. He was straddling her. Rae had her eyes widened, the two feather earrings caught her eyes. She didn't properly take a look at her opponent before, surprisingly, he was a young man.
Probably her age. He had long hair that he had tied into the back using a white hair tie and he's wearing a black kimono. His eyes were staring straight at her as if he knew her from somewhere. Sensing him lowering his guard, Rae quickly raised both of her leg to wrap them around his neck and flip him. She staggered to her feet, swaying a bit, the previous blow was hurt. Rae didn't let him get up, she ran towards him to grab his collar and shoved away his hands that were about to grab her neck. Her elbow jabbed him in the stomach and with one last strength, Rae slammed him on the floor.
Her head snapped towards the clock up ahead. 5 minutes left. Everyone was counting the seconds and she knew he still could get up. But he didn't. Instead, he lied there, accepting his loss. "Let's continue this again in the future if we ever met and next time, use your sword." His eyes looked at her, a bit shocked once he heard her. The crowd cheered for her victory and Rae wiped her sweats with the sleeves of her jacket. She didn't even bother to wait for the prize, she just immediately left the place and ran to the train station.
"Nee-san!"
"Mama!"
"Rae!"
A pair of hands cradled her face and Rae looked up to only see the Ice Mage frowing anxiously over a bruise on her face. "Rae, where have you been? How—how did you end up like this? Who hurt—"
Rae held his hand. "Oh, this—I—" She can't tell them that she participated the fighting tournament. "It doesn't hurt, just a few injuries I got from fighting monsters."
Lucy shrieked. "Monsters? Where did you go, nee-san?"
"Rae, why didn't you tell me? I could have joined you to beat up those—" Natsu whined and eventually, received a knock on head by Erza.
Rae could only let out a small laugh. "I just wanted to have a warm-up, trust me, this doesn't even hurt. Stop worrying about me." Thankfully, she had washed off the blood splattered on her face earlier. She patted Gray on the chest and took a sit beside Haruka, she had totally forgotten that she had been avoiding him for a while now. That made their interaction more awkward but thanked to Natsu and Happy boasting her strength, all of them finally dropped the topic and Haruka told her about Natsu getting rid of some people who were hitting on Lucy.
"Woah, Natsu, good job." Rae gave him a thumbs up and shockingly, the Fire Dragon Slayer blushed.
Bella huffed. "He went a little overboard though."
"Even we got scorched by it." Carla rolled her eyes as she cleaned her fur.
"Aye!"
Rae heard Erza asking Gray if something happened to him as he seemed to be spacing out and she looked away from him once she heard his answer. He was wondering how Juvia's doing. Ah, she forgot that those two actually had something going between them and if it wasn't because of her, she was pretty sure that those two would be together now. Rae clenched her fists and looked down on her bandaged fingers. That reminded of her hatred to see her own hands. They just felt filthy. Especially after discovering her ability to take someone's life barehanded.
"Juvia's doing well."
Rae looked up. "Juvia—"
The girl smiled preciously. "Long time no see, Gray-sama! Juvia decided to tag along!"
"W—why are you here, Juvia dearest?"
The blonde girl snapped her head towards him. "Dearest?"
Juvia giggled. "Of course, Juvia came after you, Gray-sama! Oh, to see Rae-sama too!"
Everyone was surprised that she was able to find them there, as expected, her radar for Gray was truly incredible. However, Rae couldn't help but feel something odd about her. It's nothing personal, just why did she act bizarre when Carla asked her about the guild. She was unable to answer them straight away, as if she needed time to think of a lie. Rae decided to keep her hunch to herself and leaned her head back against the seat with a sigh. Her ears were pretty much filled with Juvia calling her Gray-sama repeatedly.
Few hours later, they had finally arrived in the heart of the continent, Draseel. It was definitely big and there were so many people. Rae was amazed, it was very lively and they decided to find a place to stay first. Once settled down, they told Juvia the confidentiality of the quest. They can't even add her as a member since they already signed the contract but Juvia waved their concern off, she will go home right away. After all, her only objective was to get a glance of Gray and of course, she would be worried about Lucy getting close to him.
"In that case, let's start collecting information for work tomorrow!" Natsu threw his hands in the air, breathing fire simultaneously.
Erza grinned. "Sure, today, let's party!"
Seemed like everyone enjoyed their short break while Rae was still thinking of the curse she had. She didn't have any appetite to eat much, thankfully, everyone was too caught up in that chaotic atmosphere to notice her slowly getting up and leaving the table to get fresh air. Though, she can't stay there long as they all got kicked out because Natsu was so wild breathing fire everywhere. "That's so you, Natsu." Rae chuckled and walked ahead until her feet stopped unconsciously. She didn't feel good.
"Mama?"
What's this presence?
"Be careful with the White Mage!"
"Juvia!"
Rae was about to help Juvia when the ground suddenly shook and it felt as if it was lifted up. Her eyes roamed around, the townspeople were all acting fine as if this happened frequently. Unless, the place they were standing— "The Wood God Dragon!" Draseel was actually the Wood God Dragon, Aldron's right hand's city. Rae took a few steps back, she was informed that he was huge but that word didn't even define the size a bit. That was way too gigantic. Once the tremor ended, they all took Juvia to the inn and laid her on the bed.
"I wonder if she's alright." Lucy took a sit by her side.
Gray ruffled his hair and slicked it back. "There was something off about her. She said something about being careful with the White Mage."
Rae leaned back against the chair and crossed her legs. "If I wasn't mistaken, the human, Caramille mentioned that once. Didn't she ask the White Mage to take the Water God Dragon's strength? But why did Juvia mention the White Mage? Could it be that the White Mage had gone to the guild?" Her head hurt. Either way, they needed to look after Juvia for a while, they might learn something else when she woke up. Rae nodded. "It is possible that the townspeople are favoring Aldron. We can't risk to let them discover our plan to slay Aldron."
Erza hummed, agreeing with her. "Then, we are going to gather information."
"I'll be looking after Juvia." Gray immediately spoke up.
Rae stopped on her tracks, turning her head back to smile at him. "Of course. Haruka, Bella, you stay here too with Wendy, alright?"
"Rae—"
She didn't spare him a glance. Was she jealous? No. She didn't particularly harbor feelings for him. It would be nice if he moved on from her and be together with Juvia. It would be great to have a few changes in this timeline. Rae shook her head aggressively and went outside with Lucy, Natsu and Erza. "Guys, I think it's better if I move alone. The townspeople haven't seen my face. It would be best if we take a precaution." Rae had been wearing a cloak and a mask all the time.
"Alright." The Titania nodded her head.
Lucy squeezed her hand. "Be careful, nee-san."
"Of course." Rae stretched her neck a bit to look at the face of the dragon. He seemed to be deep in his slumber. "I'll go first, see you later."
She pulled down her cloak and strolled around the town to gather information about Aldron. She was right. Everyone seemed to be favoring the Wood God Dragon. There were even stalls selling his goods such as dolls and mugs. If one judged the atmosphere of the town, they would say it was a peaceful place to live but she didn't think so. For some reason, she had a bad feeling about the perfection of it. It felt too good to be true. "As if they were under control." Rae froze for a second.
There was a possibility. Just as she passed by a building, she saw a few people walking robotically to a church and they were all wearing same robes. "This might be a chance." Rae hardened her gaze on them and sneakily got behind them to knock them out. Carefully, she dragged them to a secluded place and once she took off the robe, her face turned pale. "Fairy Tail insignia?" It was Wakaba and Macao. "Oh crap, did I beat them too hard? Wait, what are they doing here?!"
God only knew what would happen if she killed them beforehand. Rae tossed her cloak on them to cover them up and wore one. "The situation is worse than I thought." She fixed the robe and calmly walked inside the church, there was a crowd inside and such a coincidence that Natsu, Lucy and Erza just got there as well. However, Rae remained standing at the back silently. She heard an old lady talking about those three possessed a magic too powerful that went against the teaching of the White Magic.
Again with the White Mage.
Suddenly, Mirajane appeared in front of them and she's acting different than usual. She punched Erza and the crowd inside—everyone began to take off their cloaks and show their faces. To say Rae was shocked, it was an understatement. Everyone from Fairy Tail was there, even Jellal. They made a way in the middle and Rae lowered her head, following everyone's lead. A young girl was making her way to those three, she assumed, that girl was the White Mage based on the clothes. Rae gritted her teeth in anger, oh how tempted she was to kill her there right now.
"To be honest, I don't care about Aldron. That's just another evil and someday, it will need to be erased into whiteness. But for now, I focus on you. Once I'm done with all of you, Fairy Tail will be all mine." The White Mage smiled. She then looked at Mirajane. "Mirajane, can you explain this? It appears that the number of people does not add up."
Mira bowed. "I brought Natsu and others here as I was instructed to—"
"I thought I commanded you to bring everybody here. Elfman! Lisanna! Punish her!"
Rae turned her head away from the commotion, the two siblings were beating Mirajane and she just can't look at it. Apparently, the White Mage had tainted them all white, said Fairy Tail was opposed to their doctrine and since it's a guild with a way too big magic power, she had to keep an eye on them. "Especially on that Dark Enchantress—her presence in this world has disturbed the balance of this world's magic—But that's fine, since you'll understand once you end up white as well!" Rae watched her extended her hand and did something to Natsu, Lucy ad Erza.
I have to help them. But not now. She can't blow her cover. Fortunately, Wendy, Haruka and Gray were there. Wendy had prevented her from draining their power and Rae had to watch them retreat with a heavy heart. Just a little bit more. Gajeel and Laxus wanted to follow them but the White Mage stopped them, saying they'll come back at them another time and she intended to turn Aldron white with all of Fairy Tail's power. She asked a few people to come forward to an orb and easily with their power, that orb shattered and that was the orb of the right hand.
She's planning to destroy all of those remaining four orbs to make sure Aldron lose his power and within one command, everyone had left the church to find the orbs. Rae took a note of her three objectives. First, they were instructed to destroy the orbs and second, they had to execute Natsu, Lucy, Haruka, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Bella and the two cats the ones who opposed the White Doctrine. Lastly, they had to bring her Rae King alive. Everyone was under her control.
Rae left the place and decided to go to the left hand's city alone. How did she know where to find the orb? Simple, there was a very obvious light that screamed 'a bad thing'. Rae snickered at her own thoughts and ran ahead. There two guys chasing after her but she didn't even remember their names, hence she just knocked them out easily. Once she arrived there, Rae pushed the door open and her heart dropped when there was someone there already. She was late and things couldn't be possibly worse when he happened to be Jellal.
"I knew you were there with us, Rae." He revealed his face as if she can't see his face under the cloak from her spot.
Rae stood straight. "Don't make me fight you, Jellal."
Jellal smirked then he did something that she would have never thought in the world. "Why fight when we can take our time to do something a married couple only does when they are alone?" He took off his robe and undressed.
"Hah?!"
24/7/23
Jellal no.