Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
August 4, x791.
"This seems kinda inhumane." Yoruichi muttered.
"Kinda." Elicia agreed.
"It's just the way it has to be." Cana replied. She then took a long swig from a bottle of alcohol before continuing. "Mira wouldn't do this if she didn't have to, after all."
"Oh, she definitely would." Marin said while shaking her head. "Remember, Bianca is inside."
"Oh, *Burp* right." Cana replied.
Currently, while in her [Satan Soul: Sitri Take Over], Mirajane was ruthlessly beating up Seilah using her [Suppression Arts], a form of magical martial arts she performs while wrapping her fists in the [Darkness Magic] her [Take Overs] usually afford her.
And unfortunately for Seilah, although she was one of the Nine Demon Gates, among Tartaros top ten strongest members, Mirajane's rage and training made that fact completely useless, as the Etherious, with nothing to use her Curse, [Macro], on, she was being beaten rather one-sidedly.
To clarify, [Macro] allows Seilah to control both animate and inanimate objects such as people, corpses, and other objects. However, the corpses Keyes once controlled had already crumbled into dust, there were no random objects that would be able to harm Mirajane in her current state, and all the people in range of her Curse were too powerful to be controlled. So, the only thing she could rely on was her demonic physique. Unfortunately, Seilah was not physically strong enough to deal with an enraged Mirajane while she was in her [Satan Soul: Sitri Take Over].
There was one trick Seilah could employ to even the odds, however. And that was turning her Curse on herself. With that, she could command her body to release its limiters. As a result, she would be able to take on her [Etherious Form], which would give her an overall boost in power.
But with Mirajane's relentless assault, there was no way that Seilah had the opportunity to do so.
"Yeah, I would have done the same if I had gotten to her first." Elicia muttered darkly. "This is the second time in a year that people have attacked our house with the kids inside. And to be honest, I'm getting tired of it."
"The second time?" Yoruichi asked.
"Yeah, last year on Mar'e's birthday." Elicia said, sounding uncharacteristically dark. "A bunch of rogue shinobi decided that they wanted to get rid of us because we were getting in their way."
"Isn't that, like, the story of our life?" Marin asked in a faux-dramatic tone. "I mean, that's why Phantom Lord attacked, why Grimoire heart attacked, why the homunculi attacked, why the ninjas attacked, and why the demons attacked. Yeah, we go through this, like, once every other year, don't we?"
"Huh? Homunculi?" Yoruichi asked, sounding even more confused and taken aback than before. "What are those? You're not talking about the artificial humans that Alchemists have been trying to make since forever, right?"
"Indeed." Erza replied with a solemn nod. "In ffact, we did not manage to deal with all of them. There should still be one somewhere in the world."
Earth Land, Ishgar, Enca, Roanapur.
On the island nation of Roanapur, with it strange magical phenomenon and isolationist policy that prohibited contact with the Magic Council, there is a rather large city known as Roanapur. In this city, there are a large number of Dark Guilds and dark wizards. Most of these people are into some of the most heinous criminal acts seen on the continent.
However, there are several Dark Guilds with the most say in Roanapur. And one of them I known as Hotel Moscow. Though, this was only a single branch of a much larger guild in charge of human trafficking and drug trade. And the leader of this branch was Balalaika, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with hair done in a ponytail that reaches the base of her spine, fair skin, a slender frame, and a mole under her left eye.
However, thanks to being injured by a [Fire Magic] user in the past, a large part of Balalaika's body, the right side of her face, neck, torso, and upper legs, was covered in burn scars.
Though, at this point, calling Balalaika the leader of Hotel Moscow's Enca branch would be a stretch. Because, although it was not known to the other higher ups of the Dark guild, she had silently been replaced by a man with enormous strength, the strange ability to change his body's carbon content, and seeming immortality.
Naturally, this man was Greed, the homunculus who was created when a Philosopher's Stone was introduced into Orga's blood stream, the only homunculus to survive the purge in Crocus. And the reason for that was simple, when Father sent him out to find intel on the one who killed Lust, he slipped away and decided that he was not going down with that sinking ship.
Instead, he traveled the world, hoping to find a place where news of his survival would not get back to the Magic Council, and eventually Fairy Tail. He eventually ended up in Roanapur. However, as expected of someone named Greed, he could not just live a simple life. Instead, he wanted power, status, money, women, and all the best things life had to offer. So, with his unique assets as a homunculus, he took over Hotel Moscow from Balalaika. Though, he had little to do with its day-to-day operations. Deciding to leave that part of the job to Balalaika.
Instead, he only acted as the last line of defense. Though, that was not to say that he cared about the members of Hotel Moscow. Rather, he only cared about not losing what he deemed as his.
"*Sneeze*" Orga, lounging in a luxurious chair in the Hotel Moscow guild master's office, suddenly sneezed while a beautiful woman was feeding him a piece of fruit.
"Oh, I didn't know a monster like you could catch a cold." Balalaika, wearing a wine-red skirt suit and black stockings while sitting at the desk in the room, said sarcastically while reviewing documents.
"Nah." Greed replied casually before opening his mouth wide. A moment later, the woman who was feeding him placed a piece of fruit in his mouth and he started chewing. Then, once he swallowed, he continued while grinning confidently. "I can't get sick like you humans. There must be someone talking about me."
In response, Balalaika only rolled her eyes without dignifying Greed's reply with a response.
"I hate my job." Balalaika muttered as she got back to reading the document in her hands. "Is it too late to find the guy who burned me and ask him to finish the job."
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
"Oh, I remember him." Elicia said in reply to Erza's statement. "He was the one that was created from Orga. King Bradley did it right before the execution was about to start."
"Seriously?" Yoruichi asked in a dumbfounded tone. "No, what! That's not important right now."
Hearing that, the other ladies, most of which were not wearing particularly friendly expressions, turned to look at Yoruichi, wondering what she thought was so important.
"Then what would you call important?" Saeko asked curiously.
"Why isn't Mira just finishing her off?" Yoruichi asked, while pointing a finger at Mirajane, who was beating Seilah like she stole something. "I mean, the longer you let her live, the bigger the chance that something might go wrong, right?"
"In most cases, that would be true." Sun replied. "But Mira wants to use her magic on her, ya see?"
"Huh?" Yoruichi intoned.
Though Yoruichi was not dumb like many of the members of Fairy Tail, she had little experience with [Take Over Magic]. So, she knew very little about the procedure to gain a new [Take Over] form.
"For a [Take Over] wizard to subdue their target, they must be weakened thoroughly." A familiar voice said from the edge of the group of women on the artificial island. "After that, they must initiate the [Take Over]. Then, they have to win a battle of will with their target after absorbing them into their magic. And although this demon is not particularly powerful by any of our standards, she is still quite strong. So, Mirajane must injure her enough that the [Take Over] may be initiated without killing her. Though, I would imagine that the satisfaction of making her pay for attacking the place where her children are is making that process take longer than necessary."
Hearing that familiar voice, all the ladies present on the Mansion on the Lake's lawn turned in its direction. When they did, they saw Retsu walking towards them with leisurely, yet graceful steps. Though, the scent of blood wafting about her was unmistakable.
"Master Unohana, I take it you took care of the situation at the guild hall?" Yoruichi inquired curiously. "So, how was the battle?"
"Disappointing." Retsu replied while shaking her head. "From the way he boasted about his strength, I thought he would be more of a challenge. So, I unleashed my [Bankai]. However, he would have barely even been more than a nuisance had I not done so."
"*Whistle* I knew you were strong, Master Unohana, but it sounds like you're even stronger than Gramps." Cana said with a smile. "Maybe even on par with my dad. So, why aren't you a member of the Ten Wizard Saints?"
"Simply because I am not originally from Ishgar." Retsu replied calmly. "Had thee Magic Council appointed me as a member of the Wizard Saints, it would have made the wizards of Ishgar look weak."
"That makes sense." Cana replied before taking a swig from her bottle.
"So, Master Unohana, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Erza asked, her eyes sparkling while she stared unwaveringly at Retsu's sword, Minazuki.
"Nothing of great importance." Retsu replied. "I've only come to have Alfonzo do a tune-up on my motorcycle. Nothing more."
As she finished speaking, Retsu gripped Mizuki's hilt with her left hand while the light in her eyes changed from serene to something rather bloodthirsty.
"And should time permit, to possibly have a sparring match with him, as well." Retsu added, her gentle tone replaced with a much sharper edge.
"Hey, Sun." Marin whispered into Sun's ear after hearing Retsu's tone.
"Yeah?" Sun replied in a whisper of her own.
"It might be just me… But why does it sound like this spar she's talking about will be much more dangerous than a simple spar?" Marin asked apprehensively.
"Does it?" Sun asked innocently. "But I don't think Master Unohana would do anything to hurt Alfonzo, though."
Hearing that, Marin looked at Sun with Exasperation. A moment later, it was clear to see that she had given up on explaining the situation. She then patted Sun on the shoulder and dropped the topic while Sun tilted her head innocently.
Meanwhile, Retsu flicked a glance in Marin's direction as her smile returned to normal.
"Well, Fonzie is out on a quest in Hargeon with Lucy and Brandish." Elicia said. "I doubt he'll be back tonight."
"That's a pity." Retsu replied. "Then, it looks like I should head back into town and book a room for the evening."
"You're more than welcome to stay here for the night." Elicia offered. "With all the space expansion stuff Fonzie did to the house, we have plenty of rooms."
"I wouldn't want to impose." Retsu said politely.
"Not at all." Elicia answered quickly. She then shot a glance at Erza, who was still staring at Retsu as if she was struggling to hold back her urge to draw one of her many swords and challenge Retsu to a sparring match, before continuing. "Besides it looks like Erza would like it if you stayed, as well."
"Indeed." Erza replied with a nod. "Your experience with a sword is a fount of knowledge. I would love the opportunity to learn from you. And should time permit, even cross blades in a friendly exchange."
Retsu could not help but smile when she heard that. She then took a moment to consider before shooting a glance at Yoruichi.
"Don't worry about me, master Unohana." Yoruichi, having noticed Retsu's glance, said quickly. "I don't mind booking a hotel room until you're ready to leave."
"If you're certain." Retsu replied. She then turned back to Elicia. "Well then, I will accept your kind offer."
"Yoruichi doesn't have to leave, either." Mirajane, now dragging a half-dead Seilah behind her, said as she returned to the group.
"I really thought you had forgotten your purpose." Ultear, who had been watching Mirajane the whole time, just in case she actually made a move to kill Seilah, said. "I really thought I was gonna have to step in. We all know how you get when someone threatens Bianca's safety."
"I was in full control." Mirajane said casually. "I just needed to vent."
"So, why haven't you used your magic yet?" Cana asked curiously.
"Oh, because Lici said she wanted to hit her once, too." Mirajane replied. "I bet even Shizuka, who wouldn't normally hurt a fly would have wanted to hit her, too. But she's still at the guild hall. So, she's just gonna miss out."
"Yup!" Elicia said energetically. Though, her eyes were rather dark. She then skipped towards Mirajane and Seilah. "So, let's just get that out of the way."
*Bang!*
And before she even finished speaking, Elicia had already balled her fist, cocked it back, and thrown it forward. Then, just as her words ended, the loud sound of fist meeting face echoed around the area and Seilah, who was still barely conscious, was knocked out, her head slumping to the side as her eyes rolled back into her skull.
"Ah~~~! Now I feel better." Elicia said happily. "Okay, Mira, suck her up and let's go in for a snack. Grayfia and maria should be done by now."
"Poor choice of words." Cana said with a giggle. "I really wish Fonzie had been here to hear that. He would have had a field day."
In response, most of the ladies present rolled their eyes while Yoruichi laughed loudly. Meanwhile, Mirajane cast her [Take Over Magic] and integrated Seilah into her arsenal of [Satan Souls]. Then the group of ladies headed inside to have snacks before a few serious conversations took place between Yoruichi and Alfonzo's wives and lovers.