Beta read by Shigiya and DARKLORD331
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"He looks like he's in rough shape."
Fairy Tail had plenty of powerful majors, whether it be Erza, the elusive Mystogan Who really showed his face at the guild itself, the eccentric Gildarts, and even herself — there were less than a handful of other guilds who could boast a similar roster. All of this without even taking into account newcomers like Broly himself, who, in her opinion, was like the unofficial S-class mage.
Just a handful of instances where he showcased his magic and strength were more than enough to prove that he stood on a different level compared to others in the guilds.
Regardless, it was because of these individuals that Fairy Tail attained this level of popularity and notoriety amongst the dark guilds. Very few people, aside from the wizard saints themselves and other s-class wizards, posed a natural threat to each individual. Mirajane recalled how Erza herself had the capabilities to take on more than one as classmates at the same time as well, even if it was during a friendly sparring session. Laxus himself was no slouch, easily amongst the top three within the guild itself, though he liked to see himself as the second strongest, below Gildarts.
But for him to be put in such a state along with his teammate, it really stunned the white-haired woman, who had never seen him come back from a quest with similar wounds and much less unconscious. 'Was it Phantom Lord? They have been lingering around these parts more often lately, even that blue-haired girl occasionally comes by to visit the guild, but never stays long enough for me to ask any questions.'
Unfortunately, even that idea did not make sense. Other than the Master himself, Jose, no one in that guild was powerful enough to put Laxus into a state like this, and Master Makarov himself commented on how he did not recognize the lingering magic on the Thunder God Tribe team. On that note, she looked on the other side of the infirmary room, where sleeping on a chair was none other than the old man himself, having stayed here for several hours waiting for his grandson to wake up. She felt bad for him, for even if their relationship was quite rocky these past few months, he was still his grandson and Makarov still cared about his few remaining family.
"It's best if you have some rest, Mirajane. I'll take over from here." The old man said, opening his eyes and letting out a long yawn before stretching his limbs. "Don't worry about this, I may be old, but I'm still capable enough of taking care of you brats. I've learned a thing or two from Porlyusica."
"It's fine, she said while shaking her head, "I have someone else take over for me at the bar. I don't mind staying here for another hour; in fact, it's better if I stay here."
"..."
He did not say anything, not even trying to argue back, unlike his usual self. Just from that alone, it became clear just how worried he was. "Any clues on what or who could have caused this?"
Makarov stroked his beard with a contemplative stare. "From what I recall, their last quest was something to do with a nearby town that kept having trouble dealing with thunder strikes descending upon their town regularly. I received word from Freed before they left that this was due to the mayor secretly powering a lightning lacrima, of what sort exactly, I am not sure, but most likely he was trying to either use it for himself or sell it off for a pretty jewel at the black market. But that is unlikely to be the cause of this; the injuries themselves are not the kind you would get from a lightning strike, and such an attack would have no effect on him. There are burns, but it's not from fire either, something more concentrated, and from what I could gather on the other three members — The fight must have been very short."
"That does not really help with shortening the list of suspects."
Makarov grumbled while scratching his eye, "No, no, it doesn't. We just don't have enough clues to paint a reliable and valid picture. All of this is just guesswork at best. Our only option is to ask him to bring himself when he eventually wakes up. He is too stubborn and too big an idiot to go into a long coma from just this much."
It was hard to keep herself from laughing at that, especially in this scenario, having such a reaction felt wrong, so she had to contain it to the best of her abilities. But as the world itself had agreed with Makarov, both of them heard faint grounds come from the blonde-haired wizard, and the Master immediately jumped out of his chair.
"Urgh," the sound of discomfort came from Laxus, with him squinting at the sunlight and using his arm to cover his eyes for a bit. "Where… where… am—"
"You're back at the guild, you idiot!"
"What? Old geezer, you…" He seemed completely confused with his surroundings and took a moment to adjust and figure out basically everything. All the while his grandfather continued to shout at him, Laxus kept his silence without even glancing at him a second time. This went on for several seconds until he eventually had enough. "Oh, for the love of—SHUT THE HELL UP! Your yammering is going to make my head explode at this rate! Shut your trap before I shut it for you!"
"Is that how you talk to your elderly!? You should be ashamed! And what will you even do in that state of yours? I can pick a random nobody from the street, and they'll be able to beat your snot out in a matter of seconds!"
"What did you fucking say to me!?"
Well, just looking at the back and forth between them, it was clear that Laxus was going to make a full recovery soon enough and that his mind had not been that affected by whatever happened. Despite the young man's troublesome behavior during these recent times, he was still a member of the guild, and she worried about him just like she did for everyone else.
"Hey, where do you think you're going!?"
While she was preparing the medicines prepared for the ground in case they woke up and to replace the bandages; The two behind her started to get even more rowdier than usual. Mirajane turned her head to see Laxus getting out of his bed with Makarov trying to get him back on it, only for the former to ignore him.
"Brat, you still need to heal up! Your injuries were bad enough that even that old witch was stunned by how you were still alive and breathing, for goodness sake! You shouldn't even be getting out of bed, let alone going outside!"
"Shut the hell up, you old timer! I ain't sleeping until I find that bastard again and turn them into ashes after breaking every single bone in his body! There is no way I will accept losing to someone like that, who the hell does he take me for!?" At this point, it was practically futile to stop the raging force that had woken up. Regardless of the pain he was suffering through, Mirajane could immediately tell that he was not going to take a note for an answer and much less listen to his grandfather.
"Don't force my hand, I will knock you unconscious if I have to keep you here and even tie you to the bed!"
Unfortunately, the Master's threat was no different than adding fuel to the fire. Sparks started to coat Laxus' arm, pointing his fist at the old man with a sneer on his face. "Don't think for a second your empty words will have an effect on me like these other weaklings. If you want to stop me, then you'd better dig up an early gray for me because I won't be going down so easily. And I won't be holding back even against you."
"Laxus!" Appalled by those very words and how he could even say such a thing to his own grandfather, Mirajane tried to intervene, only for an arc of lightning to shoot past her and strike the wall behind. Eyes widened and her hair completely disarrayed, she could not even believe what he had nearly done.
"Stay out of this, Mira. This is not a place for you to get involved, listen, or the next thing I will be aiming for is not the wall behind you."
Immediately, any sense of compassion and empathy she felt for him earlier on was washed away, leaving very little of it present. Her eyes narrowed, "You have gotten quite cocky in these last few years, haven't you?" She knew where her train of thoughts were heading, a flame of anger that ignited and threatened to grow if left unchecked.
A reminder was what this person needed at the moment.
She was not a stranger to uncontrolled anger and irrational thinking like the man in front of her, but if he continued to act this way, then she was more than willing to loosen up the belt around her emotions. Watching him scoff at her reaction and have the nerve to turn his back on her and continue to make his way outside.
Eternano started to swirl aro— "Don't." Right at the end, Makarov came forth and grabbed her hand, immediately pulling her out of her prior state. "You shouldn't be the one to handle my mistake. Don't worry, I'll just use more force for means if I have to. He's always been a stubborn kid."
"You are too lenient with him…"
"Am I?" He said with a chuckle, then proceeded to shake his head tiredly. "I suppose I am… but I can't help myself."
It irked her how she could not even reprimand him, for she knew well why the master was like this towards Laxus. With how things went with his son, when he kicked him out of the guild, it all started to go downhill from there. Such an action not only affected his grandson but also the grandfather himself, though he did not show it; she could tell even till this day it kept swirling within his mind.
"—!"
Soon, a commotion erupted from the other side, coming from the main hall of the guild. Both Mirajane and Makarov already figured out what was going on, and that uncooperative leader of the Thunder God Tribe most likely started trouble with the others. This just further made the old man groan with frustration. "Damn it, it's one thing after another with him. Natsu must have found him."
Without wasting a second, both rushed towards the entrance, wanting to not only put an end to an unnecessary fight between guild members during such a time, but also to bring Laxus back to rest. While she was curious as to who could have been capable of injuring his team to such an extent, she doubted the man could change the outcome if he went back for a second round and possibly risk coming back even more injured than before. "Wait, Laxus! You can't leave like this! Eh?" Yet as her hand pushed the door open, expecting to come across a chaotic scene between Natsu and Laxus arguing with one another, and it soon escalating to a fight between those two, instead, she stumbled upon an unnaturally quiet guild hall.
With every single person's attention being glued to the two individuals standing near the counter. One being none other than Laxus, and the other one…
"Hey, get the hell out of my way," Laxus growled, standing right in front of a certain Saiyan who was holding on to a quest form in his hand. Even when Laxus was one of the tallest members of the guild, in front of Broly, he was forced to twist his neck upwards just to look him in the eyes.
"..."
Despite the threats thrown at him, no movement was made whatsoever, with him just staring down at Laxus with a hint of curiosity. Not even angered by the hostile tone or even the murderous glare sent his way. Just from this alone, Mirajane had a bad feeling about what was about to happen next.
"Oi, are you deaf!? I said get the fuck out of my way before I turn into a spasming mess on the ground."
Again, he got no answer whatsoever. Murmurs started to spread across the guild, with several people even placing bets on what was going to happen. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Erza already up with her hand turned into fists. Ready to intervene at any moment. As for Gildarts, the man was literally flat out drunk and sleeping on the counter, snoring loudly without a care in the world.
Seeing the lack of reaction, the already incensed Laxus was at his wits' end. Lightning coated his arm and traveled across his body, sparks covering every inch, with the atmosphere getting increasingly tense and hostile. "The old man should really step down. What's the point of allowing weaklings in this guild who can't even follow a simple order and think they can't be destroyed by anyone?"
This… was bad.
"Hey, Mira." While contemplating intervening between the two of them and stopping Laxus from pushing things out of hand, instead, she heard Broly call her out with his eyes now focused on her. "Is he supposed to be out of bed?" He asked while pointing a finger at Laxus.
"Um… no?" Still caught off guard by the overall atmosphere, she answered without thinking, which made him nod his head.
"I see. You should listen to her and go back to bed. Your Ki is weak and needs some time to recover. You shouldn't be worrying the master like that, since you are his grandson." Broly said calmly, those words coming out as sincere rather than sarcastic or even as a mockery. But while everyone understood his genuine intentions, Laxus, on the other hand, misunderstood the entire thing completely, and his face went full red from pure anger.
Bzt!
Lightning crackled, dozens of pure yellow arcs of electricity came to life and concentrated around his fists as he raised them with the intention to harm. "Who the fuck do you think you are to call me weak!?"
"Laxus!"
"Shit, are you out of your mind!?"
"Broly!"
The sudden attack shocked many people who could not believe he would just straight up attack Broly like that. Even though people brawling and hitting each other was quite common in the guild, none did so with any intention of causing permanent harm, and we're mostly doing it out of fun. But the intent behind Laxus' attack was clear; he was not holding back at all, and such an attack could even potentially be fatal if thrown at any other member of the guild.
Several people were already on the move: herself, the master whose hands had enlarged ten times their prior size, and rushed ahead, intending to stop his grandson from doing something stupid, Erza rushing forward with her sword drawn, with even Gray already in position to summon his ice constructs. The only one completely unbothered by this was Gildarts, the latter having just opened his eyes for a tiny bit to observe the situation before closing them once more and letting out an audible huff. "Idiot."
The one who wielded the power of thunder turned out to be much faster than many anticipated, his fist already halfway across — only to immediately halt in place when Broly's palm caught it mid-air.
Bam!
The following aftermath came in the form of a shockwave and an ear-splitting noise spreading all across the building. The support beams were trembling from the force alone, and a flash of light coming from the lightning nearly blinded those who were closest, with Mirajane having barely managed to shield her eyes at the last second and opening them back to see Laxus frozen in place.
Not by being encased in Gray's ice construct, but rather in pure shock upon seeing the person before him just straight up grabbed his fist as if it were nothing. The lightning was still coating his arm, doing little to no damage, and the fact that he could not even move an inch after being grabbed like that. This only served to anger him further; even Mirajane could see that she knew better than anyone else on just how short-tempered and stubborn Laxus could be.
"YOU FUCKI—URGH!" Whatever words that were about to come out of his mouth ended shortly as Broly's other hand grabbed his head and immediately pushed Laxus to the ground at lightning speed. Where one second the latter was still standing, the next, half of his body became buried under destroyed wooden planks, cement, and dirt. Only the white of his eyes were visible; there was no sign of consciousness, and his forehead was covered with blood.
"..."
It ended in less than a second.
Those who were prepared to see a fight remain glued to their spot with their mouth hung open, unable to believe the outcome. While the rest, who were more familiar with Broly, just sighed in relief, good thing Lucy and Cana were not present at the moment.
Meanwhile, Mirajane just stood there, not sure whether to feel relieved or find this entire thing funny. She knew Broly was quite powerful, but for him to just shrug off one of Laxus' attacks that casually… It further cemented her previous statement of him being no different from an unofficial S-Class mage.
"Hah," Makarov, too, was not surprised by the outcome, going over there and grabbing his grandson by the leg and pulling him out without any attempts at making it gentle. "Thank you, and sorry about his behavior. He is usually not this angry. I guess he must have taken the loss more seriously than I thought."
Broly just shrugged, "It's fine, I can understand him having anger issues. I'm sure he'll be calmer after waking up. I can help him with that, given I went through something similar recently." He said it so casually that Mirajane couldn't help but chuckle at how all of this turned out in the end. Walking over to the counter, she couldn't help but smile when seeing him so focused on a particular quest he must have found from the quest board. Reading the details with so much concentration that it was clear that whatever happened earlier did not even register in his mind as something worth remembering.
"Ah, Mira, I… uh, I have a weird question."
"Hm?" It was strange to see him make such a face like that. It only enabled the curiosity within the girl to grow along with a hint of mischief. "If it's something personal about me, then perhaps we should find a more private setting. Or perhaps are you looking forward to redoing the modeling session we had before?"
"Oh, sure, I don't mind doing that again. But now, I was hoping if you could help me with some questions I have with this." He said, well, placing the quest on the table, which called her attention immediately as she recognized what it was.
"Demons?" She did not expect him to take on such a quest; it was not necessarily dangerous enough to be classified as s-class… still… "Demons are very tricky beings. It's hard to gauge just how dangerous they can be without an expert mage who has already dealt with them. It could be a harmless one or a deadly one that managed to disguise itself as something harmless. Are you sure you, Lucy, and Cana want to take this one?"
"Actually, I'm thinking about doing this alone. As you said, it can be dangerous and… uh, I just want to make some quick money to buy Lucy a present."
"..."
Did he just… lie to her? The white-haired mage became speechless, this being the first time she found someone else who was just as bad as Natsu at lying, and the fact that it was Broly of all people.
"Back to my question, I wanted to ask if there is a way I could track down demons in an area. Do you know of any tools or spells that could help out?"
"Well, there are plenty of ways," she answered while still trying to wonder what was going on here. "But the most accurate one would be to have someone who has a demon within them. Like Takeover, it's the most reliable way by far."
She saw several different kinds of emotions across his face. Which made her curious as to why he wanted to track down demons of all things. "Is something going on?"
Broly shook his head, "It's nothing serious. Just a question I asked out of curiosity. I'll be taking this one, so please note it down for me. If Lucy or Cana arrives, tell them that I'll be back late!"
"Hey, wait!"
Unfortunately for her, the Saiyan had already flown out of the building at high speed, grabbing the quest paper with him and leaving her standing there with her hand stretched out to where he was earlier. Having gotten the idea of luring him with a solution to his problem and presenting herself as the one who could help him out, giving her magic, she did not get the opportunity to do so, with how quickly he flew away. "Damn it."
"I'd advise you not to play these kinds of games with him," Gildarts mentioned, having finally woken up from his drunken state. "The guy is pretty straightforward; he won't be able to understand or even spot the kind of signs you're sending him. It's no different than talking to a brick wall; you need to really give it to him straight for it to get through his head."
The girl pouted, "Broly is not that dense. He was probably to preoccupy it with whatever was going on to notice. But I'm sure next time he'll spot it." She did not even make any attempts at denying her prior actions.
"Next time? Ha! Good luck with that. Since you're playing the slow waiting game, I'll give you advice as a fellow guild member: that guy has already slept with a woman."
"What!?"
That revelation came so out of left field that the glass she was cleaning slipped out of her hand and smashed against the floor, shattering into thousands of pieces. Her reaction only made the middle-aged man crackle out loud. "Hahaha! You didn't know? Of course he did! Unfortunately, I can't say with whom specifically, but I can tell with certainty that he did! I have been around for long enough to spot the difference; my instincts have never been wrong about this."
"You're just basing this off of feelings!" Mirajane shouted back, her mind going crazy with several possibilities. Could it have been Lucy? She was not blind to the enormous crush the girl had towards him, but it also could have been that celestial spirit who was practically glued to him and made no efforts to put any space between them.
"Regardless of whether you believe me or not, I can tell for certain that he is surrounded by beautiful women. One of them just so happened to be someone I also met recently. She's a scary person, very different from the people in this guild and perhaps the closest one to his level. But then again, she did not give me the impression of being someone who would sleep with him… though they do say that it's those kinds of women that tend to work in mysterious ways. I'm pretty certain he must have gone to whatever this quest was with her tagging along, can't blame him — she's beautiful. Many things can happen between a man and a woman during such times."
No, she had more questions than answers, first being about this person and why he was bringing her along to this quest rather than his team. It was so strange that something felt terribly off at this moment. Looking back at the quest that she had a copy of, Mirajane did not see anything strange stand out about it. A demon subjugation at a rural village was common, so why would Broly be interested in this?
'I have a bad feeling about this. Should I…' Looking back at the rules, there was nothing prohibiting several different teams from taking on a quest unless there was a restriction put in place by the one who made the quest specifically. An idea popped into her mind, but she did not know if it was wise to follow it.
'Maybe I should talk with someone about this first… where is Erza?'
{Break}
-???-
Ishgar was an expensive land with plenty of regions devoid of life, ideal places for several groups to hide from the eyes of the council and the royal family. Whether it be because of their past sins, preference, or any other reason, the wastelands were the perfect place for one to just disappear. And it was within this space that a large floating cuboid fortress hovered mid-air, traveling from different lands and now stationed in this region.
Within its many rooms, a bedroom could be found, a large and quiet one with high ceilings, dark wooden beams, and heavy crimson curtains that blocked any sunlight from peeking through. Polished stone walls and at its center sat a wide bed dressed in black and wine-colored sheets, its carved frame subtly suggestive without being overtly threatening, while a faint mix of incense and something sweet lingered in the air.
From within the sheets, one could see several slow movements of figures entangled with one another, their figures half covered, with the other half barely illuminated by a nearby candlelight.
Sensual moans filled the air, filled with ecstasy and pleasure.
The person on the top, the light of the fire barely illuminating her long brown hair and some aviary physical traits, curvaceous hourglass body that rested against an equally gifted one. Beneath the sheets come up both naked bodies pushing against one another, enjoying the other's embrace, legs and tangled tongues fighting for dominance. With the one at the top going ahead and playing with her partner's breasts, which were even larger than hers. Going down and biting onto them, making a loud scream of pleasure echo within the cobblestone walls.
"Not so hard, you leave marks on my skin, Kyouka-sama." The one at the bottom spoke first, with long raven hair and two distinct black marks on her shoulders. The most noticeable trait is two large golden horns protruding from her head. Neither of the women were humans come out at most possessing the appearance of one to a certain extent, but everything about them just exuded a demonic presence.
Both being Etherious.
"Oh? I am pretty sure you like it when I do that~! Or maybe I should start with the main course? Your body has been craving my tongue more than I recall. How adorable, Seilah."
The black-haired woman did not deny the claim; instead just returned the favor with her hand going below the sheets and forcing her to let out an equally loud moan. Her body shaking as she moved back and forth for a bit, gasping for air while Seilah brought back her fingers now coated in a sticky liquid and licking them right in front of her partners lust filled eyes. "I could be saying the same to you. You're more sensitive than last time. Did you use your curse on yourself?"
Kyouka smirked, leaning down to plant a deep kiss on Seilah's lips. Their tongue exploring each other's mouths until they separated with a string of saliva connecting both of them. "With someone like you, do I even need to do so?"
"It would be an insult to my skills if you did. And it is an honor to hear that I am still able to make you feel this way."
"That I know." Answered Kyouka, leaning forward once more to continue where they left off, only to be stopped at the last moment as Seilah placed her finger between both of their lips. This action caught her by surprise as she looked at her partner with an inquisitive look.
"I'm afraid that we will need to end this here today. I was in the middle of handling something important when you dragged me away from the library in order to have some fun just because you were bored."
The avian Etherious frowned, "What duties do you even have? Spending all day reading those meaningless books will do you no good compared to spending time with me. We can keep each other company for all eternity, not something that those bound pieces of paper can accomplish."
"Oh? Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your tone?" Seilah said, chuckling mirthfully. "I am not just reading those books to pass the time. Have you forgotten our meeting earlier with Mard Geer? There is a pretty big anomaly that made itself known during the past few years, and another one that showed up because of a certain dragon god. While we know the location of the first one, the second one has practically vanished. So it is in our best interest to handle these two before they become a problem."
So she said, even though her words sounded logical, they only served to irritate her partner. "Who cares about a bunch of humans with a somewhat unique power? After we've accomplished our goal, they will end up being just as useless as the rest of them."
"Are we sure if either of them is even human? You haven't even seen the face of the second one, let alone the first." Seilah continued patiently, pushing Kyouka to decide gently and getting up from the bed, her full body on display, curves that outshone Kyouka herself. Oozing sex appeal and a level of beauty high enough it could be seen as unnatural, demonic, and even capable of affecting others of her own kind. Even while putting on a loose kimono wrapped around her torso and showcasing an enormous amount of cleavage, it did little to hide her overall figure.
"If they were capable of creating trouble for us, then they would have done so beforehand. The first one took down the other two dark guilds only because those idiots were too weak. Even that human who tries to spy on us could not do much against you. Fufufu~! I wonder if he enjoyed the gift I left for him. It's only a matter of time before he comes back begging to have it removed."
"I trust your judgement, Kyouka-sama. But you must admit, it is troublesome that we are down to guilds that have been of great use to us these past few years. Without them, it's become much more troublesome to gather intel and recruit fresh meat to join our roster. And of course, those responsibilities now fall onto my shoulders." At the same time, Kyouka wrapped her arms around Seilah, one hand groping her breast while she also licked her earlobe before gently biting it.
"Leave that to me, I'll make sure we find some nice compliant slave who will be more than happy to take on these tasks. In fact, I do hope more like that fool from last time show up at our doorstep, it will be easier to subjugate them than to hunt more of them down."
"Mmm~! W-What if the magic council sends their more powerful mages? I got word that Gildarts has returned to Fairy Tail."
To that, Kyouka laughed.
"Doesn't matter if it's Gildarts or the four gods themselves, whoever shows up next, I promise I'll turn them into compliance slaves to you as a gift, my dear."
"That… I look forward to, Kyouka-sama." letting herself be pulled back onto the bed, the kimono she had just put on was immediately discarded once more, with the sensual sounds of their moans once again filling the room.
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.