Hello, my little chocolate chip cookies! ^^ I'm doing much better and I can write again properly! Thank you for all the support, I love you all! ^^ And thanks for all the comments, votes and reading this story!
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Journey back to their tavern was quiet and not the kind of silence Freed enjoyed with his Thunder God. They had stepped out of the tram car and even Felix was being unusually quiet all the time. The rune mage sighed, holding his son's hand as they kept walking towards the Dancing Nope.
When they arrived, there were already a full hassle going on.
"You can't name your tavern as Dancing Nope if you don't even have any meaning for it, baby!" they heard Bickslow's voice first when they stepped in the building.
"I'm the owner, I can name my tavern whatever the hell I want", the owner guffawed happily.
"That's just not right! You should at least have some pet spider here or something! Or did you fight off some big ass spiders before you could move in here?"
"Big ass spiders? Here at the middle of Crocus?"
"You know, maybe they were big enough so you had to use a broom..."
"Now that I think about it, there was few really big spiders when I bought this place", the owner said scratching his big beard.
"We should sing a ballad!" 'babies' giggled twirling around the owner. "A great hero story!"
"Now that would be something!" the owner laughed.
Freed smiled when hearing his friends laugh. Maybe it would help them to take their minds off of all the things they heard from Lucados and Ivan.
"You came back", Ever smiled when she noticed them heading towards their table. "Oh no, did something happen?" she asked when seeing Laxus' face.
"Somewhat", Freed sighed letting go of Felix who ran to Bickslow and the seith mage lifted him up. "We should talk about that later", Freed said and he was glad that it seemed like Felix managed to forget some of his scare, laughing when 'babies' came to babble something for him.
Ever looked concerned, looking from Laxus to Freed.
"Seriously, what happened?" she asked a little bit lower so only they could hear.
"Nothing", Laxus grumbled.
"I'm not buying that."
"We got new information", Freed explained. "But it might be better to discuss about it once we're back in Fairy Tail."
"We should leave today", Laxus said. "As soon as we hear something about Yukino and Minerva that they are doing okay."
"They are fine and recovering well", Ever smiled. "Sting and Rogue visited here while you guys were away. Apparently those bullets Emmett used were made out of magic sealings stones."
"So that's why it made Jish-Ahrna, Umanor and Valdeghar disappear", Freed said with a frown.
"Seems so. That Emmett guy is really dangerous if he has other weapons like that as well."
"Yeah, we should be really careful with him", Laxus grunted. "So now that we know the situation, we can leave this city."
Ever huffed crossing her arms, watching how Laxus and Freed went to tell others that they should leave. Now she was really worried what had happened, she had been against them going to see Lucados from the start.
Chester stepped out of the train with others and he looked around. He seemed confused and almost lost.
"Where are all the people?" he asked. There were hardly any people waiting for trains or stepping in!
"Magnolia is a smaller city than Crocus, baby", Bickslow cackled. "So there's less people here. But it's still a pretty big place."
"I like Magnolia better", Felix said. "I did like tram cars, but Magnolia is still pretty cool place."
"It is", Freed smiled. "The atmosphere in Magnolia is a lot less busy than in Crocus."
"Yet there's still so much to see", Ever assured.
"Yeah, and for first we're going to show you your new guild", Bickslow grinned ruffling Chester's dark hair.
Following others, Chester kept looking around and he was surprised how different Magnolia was compared to Crocus. The town was big and there were people walking around all the time, but it was somehow different from Crocus.
"Feeling homesick already?" Roscoe chuckled.
"No", Chester muttered with slight blush.
"You will soon get used to Magnolia", Laxus assured. "This is a good town. And remember what Teina said, you can always go visit Crocus whenever you want, she will take care you have a place where to sleep."
It had been a long time to wait for their train, listening Teina's talking. Chester had merely nodded to everything she said and when they had stepped in their train, even when it departed they had seen Teina still talking.
It didn't take much time for them to arrive at the Guild House of Fairy Tail. Chester looked at the big sign over the gate curiously and he was impressed by the big building. Well, truth to be told he did imagine it a little bit bigger, but it was still pretty impressive.
Laxus opened the huge doors and they stepped inside. They were really glad to notice that those who had been poisoned were up again and talking with others.
"Gramps!" Felix shouted happily, running to the small old man who laughed.
"Hello there, brat", he smirked hugging his great-grandson. "Did you all have fun in Crocus? Was it a big city?"
"Yeah! It was enormous!" Felix said excitedly.
"It was that big?! What did you see in there?"
"We went to see the battle arena and we saw the palace up close! And we used tram cars! Did you know that they move because there are tiny vulcans inside them that use pedals?"
"You know what, son? I did not know that! Thank you for telling me", Makarov laughed.
"Granny!" Felix smiled hugging Roxanne who giggled.
"It sounds like you liked your visit in Crocus, Sugarcube", she smiled.
"Yup! We had so much fun. But... There were some scary stuff too that happened", Felix said while others were approaching.
"Scary stuff?" Makarov asked and he looked at Laxus and others. "What kind of scary stuff?"
"We'll tell you soon", Laxus grunted.
Makarov nodded and he lifted his eyebrows when he saw a new face.
"Who's this?" he asked curiously.
"This is Chester", Bickslow grinned. "He came here to join Fairy Tail."
At this point everyone stopped talking and all the eyes were shifted to look towards Chester, who suddenly felt really nervous. Were they unhappy because someone new was joining?
"New member means more fun for Fairy Tail!" Natsu suddenly beamed up happily and others cheered loudly. "And new battles!"
"He's just a little kid, Natsu", Gray reminded. "You can't fight with him, you would kill him with your flaming burp."
"What was that, Jish-Ahrna's freezed turd?"
"You're insulting Jish-Ahrna!" Bickslow cackled.
"That does it!" Gray snarled bolting right up and towards the seith mage, who slipped up in the air with his dolls.
Immediately there was a new fight and Chester blinked confused. Chairs were tossed, two tables broke down and someone was even thrown through the air at the other side of the Hall.
"It's always like this here, you'll get used to it", Roscoe assured. "They're good guys all of them."
"Mira, go get the stamp", Laxus said and then he looked at Chester. "You still have a chance to escape if you want", he smirked.
"Well... I came this far already", the little silver mage said.
"That's true", Freed smiled. "I'm sure you're going to enjoy your life here."
"So what kind of magic do you use, Ravenberry?" Roxanne asked curiously and Chester was confused.
"Madam Roxanne always gives nicknames for people", Felix explained. "And that's my great-grandfather Makarov Dreyar, he used to be Master here before dad took his place."
"Oh", Chester said. "I use silver magic", he said and formed the little knives in his hands.
"I see", Makarov said looking at those knives. "That's really handy."
"But you still have lots to learn", Roxanne said and surprisingly fast she swished her old cane, snapping one of the knives half just like that and it startled Chester. "You have to train your magic more, these knives can make ugly injures, but anyone could destroy them even with a cane like this as you can see. And you're playing with pretty dangerous toys anyway, do you know how to use them, Ravenberry?"
"Of course", Chester said suddenly annoyed. How did that old woman cut his knives like that? With just plain wooden cane? "I know how to take care of myself."
"You got some guts, I like it", Roxanne cackled.
"What else can you do with your magic?" Makarov asked.
"Well... That's actually all I can do right now..." Chester confessed and Felix was surprised. He had thought Chester was really good with his magic!
"You better concentrate on training for now", Freed suggested. "Before you start doing missions. You have to learn how to properly defend yourself and you need to strengthen your magic so your knives won't fail you when you need them."
Mirajane brought the stamp and raised it, smiling to the dark blue haired boy.
"Where would you want it and in what colour?" she asked.
"Uhm... Make it silver and put it here", Chester said after thinking for a while and he pointed at his arm, between his wrist and elbow.
"Alright", Mirajane smiled and she stamped the Fairy Tail insignia on the pale skin.
Chester looked at the silver mark and he felt odd. He was happy, yet still he could hardly believe this. He really had a guild mark.
"That's awesome!" Felix smiled. "You're so lucky, I want to have my mark soon too! But only those who know magic can join mage guild..."
"You'll learn it", Freed assured. "Don't you worry."
"Let's have a party for our newest member!" Natsu howled.
"like people here really need a reason to have a party", Laxus huffed. "I can see others are doing better, what did Porlyusica say?" he asked from Makarov and Roxanne.
"They can't yet go out to fight, but they are doing much better as you can see", Makarov smiled looking how others surrounded Chester, introducing themselves and asking things from him.
"Is it really okay to let them party, we all know how things tend to end up", Freed said.
"Let them have their fun, Sugar", Roxanne giggled. "They're strong kids all of them, this will cheer them up."
"I guess", Freed sighed.
"Where did you find Chester?" Makarov asked taking a beer from Lisanna, who was serving them around the Hall.
"From Crocus, he's an orphan and just drifted around the city", Laxus said taking one as well. "Thanks, Lisanna."
"You're welcome", Lisanna smiled happily and gave Freed a glass of wine he liked. "Was it his wish to join or did you suggest it for him?"
"It was Teina who brought it up", Freed explained. "The one who took off the collars from us. But I think Chester is really happy that he could join. Now he has a place he can call home", he smiled looking how Felix showed the Hall for Chester. "And I'm really happy they finally get along with Felix", he chuckled.
"At first Felix didn't really like him", Laxus said. "But now it looks like they will become good friends."
"That's good", Makarov smiled. "Friends are always a treasure."
"Aren't you such a romantic, Raisin", Roxanne cackled and Makarov pouted looking at her.
"We also found out some information", Laxus said and now he frowned. "And we should discuss about it."
"I see", Makarov said and he stood up on the counter. "We should use the office then", he said hopping down.
Makarov, Roxanne, Roscoe, Laxus and the Thunder Legion all stepped inside the office and they sat down where they could. Mirajane was taking care of Felix and Chester so they had time to focus on this.
After everyone was listening, Laxus and Freed explained what had happened in the prison. Makarov frowned when he heard about Ivan.
"I can't believe there was actually something good at meeting him", he grunted.
"That's some seriously scary shit", Bickslow whistled and his 'babies' moved like nodding. "If Ivan was telling the truth, dad's insane alright."
Freed looked at Laxus. He had left out the part where Ivan mentioned Katya. If Laxus didn't want to talk about it in front of others, then he wouldn't say anything either. But he could only hope that Laxus wouldn't let it bother him too much.
"Okay, so now we know what Yuidose is plotting", Roscoe said. "What are we going to do next? Find him and make sure he can't carry out his plans?"
"Don't rush things, son", Roxanne scolded. "Right now we can't do a thing. We don't even know where they are. And we don't know about that magic of his what all he can do."
"The book", Ever suddenly said and they looked at her. "Yuidose wants that book, right? There must be something he needs so he can resurrect someone. Using just his, Bicks' and Roscoe's magic isn't obviously enough."
"But we can't understand it", Bickslow huffed crossing his arms. "How can it give us any information?"
"If Yuidose uses netherworld magic and it comes from another dimension... Then that writing must be from there too", Freed supposed. "It would explain why we can't read it. But the spells it has to defend it are definitely from this world."
"That's not helping us, baby."
"Actually it does. Now I know I don't need to use my time to try and find out old languages or similar. I have to pass rest of those spells and see what will happen after that."
"You just have to be really careful", Laxus said looking at his green haired mate. "We can't know what all there is. You shouldn't study it alone."
"I can stay with him", Ever smiled.
"Good."
Roscoe frowned thinking about all this. He could hardly believe that the man he should call father was a man like that. Yuidose sounded like a total madman.
"I can't believe he would use his magic for something like this..." he growled and Bickslow looked at him.
"There are people who only think about money", the seith mage said. "Well, if you think about it, it is really sickening that he obviously will make his customers pay loads of money so they can see their loved ones, but at least they can see them, right? I mean, maybe it's not all too bad."
"But can we really trust that is all he has in mind?" Freed asked.
"I agree", Makarov huffed, sitting on the desk. "If Yuidose is ready to go that far, it's hard to believe he will only resurrect people so he can get money from their relatives."
"What else could he do?" Bickslow asked confused.
"Think about it", the former Master said. "Let's assume he can resurrect any human he wants. There are thousands of mages in the history who are well known because of their magic. There are people who know secrets. For Yuidose, you only need to tell him who you want to resurrect and pay enough money and he will do that."
"Yeah, we know that much already."
"What about then nations who want to resurrect powerful mages who could teach others to have their powers?" Makarov grunted and they all flinched. "Think about all the dragon slayers Yuidose could resurrect so they could teach their power to others. Think about all those mages who can use magic that is long lost nowadays."
They all went silent, thinking what would happen.
"That's... Shit", Roscoe growled. "Even Fiore would pay him insane sums of money so they could get him to give them some mages."
"I don't like thinking that way, but you're probably right", Freed huffed.
"And the other nations too", Roxanne sighed. "At worst case, this might even lead us to a new war. And Yuidose is the only one who will benefit from it since everyone is fighting over and paying him so he would give them more powerful teachers so they can have more powerful soldiers to fight. And not just nations, there are lots of people who would pay whatever to learn magic that has been long forgotten already."
"We have to do whatever we can and make sure Yuidose won't find that book or get his hands on Bickslow and Roscoe", Laxus said, his orange eyes burning with anger and few sparks emmitted from his blond hair. "Right now, our guild might be the only thing that can prevent that war from happening."