Chapter 7
Operation: Fairy Tail
A little girl walked through the woods, crying. Tears streamed along her cheeks with a good amount of snot. When she wiped her face, her knuckles came away wet and sticky.
She was moving quickly— a fast walk, shy of a jog only because her arms were busy. The dress she wore was torn in a spot, showing the skinned knee underneath. Her name was Jess. She'd been born in these woods, but this was the first time they ever scared her.
Jess was a big girl. She was already ten. Too old to be crying like a baby! She just couldn't help it. The shadow of every tree seemed like it was trying to swallow her. When the wind blew branches, she flinched out of fear they would grab her. She was already lost, deeper in the forest than her mommy and daddy ever let her go, but she had to go deeper. She had to get away.
When Jess stumbled around the side of a knotty oak, she slammed head-to-hip into another person. Jess's butt hit the dirt. Instantly, she tried to run.
She was in the woods to hide. If she didn't hide, they would get her! She had to get away!
Jess made it two small steps before her wrist was grabbed. She wailed and spun around, beating on her captor's arm, but she didn't find what she was expecting. No fur, no claws, no fangs. Just a pretty young woman with a kind smile and flowing pink hair.
"Hello. Are you lost?"
The woman knelt down. Jess sniffed.
"I'm hiding," Jess said.
"Oh no! From what?"
Even at her age, Jess knew this woman wasn't from around here. She'd remember someone this pretty. More importantly, if the lady was from here, she'd know what Jess was hiding from. Everyone knew them.
Jess sucked her snot up and swallowed her tears, even though it was hard.
"The monsters," Jess said. She had to warn this woman. "I was playing in the woods, and when I came back, the town was on fire. My mom told me to go away. I'm supposed to hide here. They'll come find me, because they're going to be okay. Daddy will be here soon!"
That part was a warning. Just because this woman was pretty didn't mean Jess trusted her yet! She'd seen the monsters transform before. They could look like anything, until they used their magic. Besides, Jess wasn't supposed to trust strangers.
This woman smiled so nicely at her that Jess couldn't keep being suspicious.
"My name is Meredy," she said. "I'm traveling in these woods too. Should we go together?"
Jess thought about shaking her head but found that she couldn't. She didn't want the woman to leave her alone.
Meredy stood up, still holding Jess's hand. Together, the two of them walked over roots and between the trunks. Meredy seemed to know where she was going, so Jess followed her.
"Can you tell me about these monsters you're hiding from?" Meredy asked.
Jess shivered. It took Meredy squeezing her hand to remind her that she was a big girl. She could at least talk about the monsters.
"Sometimes, they look like people. When we see them they're like animals, 'cept they go around on two legs and they're suuuper strong. My daddy can boss around bulls, but he's as scared of the monsters as anyone. They come and make us give them money. The adults try to hide it, but I think we're running out."
"It's not surprising," Meredy said. "Rural villages aren't particularly wealthy. And monsters are never satisfied."
Jess nodded. "Mommy would sing to me when they came, while my daddy went out to deal with them. Today, when I came home from playing, they were both outside. A lot of things were on fire. The monsters must've done it."
Meredy looked ahead, squinting at something that Jess couldn't see 'cause she was too short.
"You sing?" Meredy asked.
"Mommy sang. But I'd sing with her."
"Could you sing for me now?"
It was an embarrassing request. Jess hesitated. It did sound like it would make her feel better, though.
"I'm not a good singer," she warned.
"I don't mind," Meredy said.
Jess looked down at her feet, dragging her toes against the dirt. "Bright and shi-ny, warm and ti-ny. What's that? What's that? It's a Lacrima, Lacrima, Lacrima. Yellow like a flower, giving us power, it's a Lacrima, Lacrima, Lacrima…"
The words came out of her easily, like a form of muscle memory. Jess didn't immediately notice that they'd stepped out of the woods, into a field full of cut-down trunks.
When she did notice, her body seized with fear. Smoke was in the air. Hooting, hollering, and growling filled her ears. Bipedal shapes covered in fur and scales and twisted forms wrestled and joked and tended a fire, where a huge cauldron of water was coming to a boil. Behind them was a firm wooden cage filled with bruised people. One in particular threw themselves against the bars, reaching through and shouting something that couldn't be heard over the monsters.
"M-Mommy?" Jess said.
The monsters noticed them. They quit wrestling, grinning hungrily. Jess's body froze, until Meredy knelt in front of her and blocked her view.
"Keep singing," Meredy said.
Feeling as if she could do nothing else, Jess listened. As soon as she began, Meredy touched her face, closing her eyes. A tremor entered Jess's singing.
"Where would we be with-out you? In the dark with nothing to do! Lacrima, Lacrima, Lacrima…"
Jess had felt Meredy's touch disappear. A thought came to her— what if she left Jess as bait?
As soon as the fear hit her, Jess opened her eyes. When she did, she gasped.
She could only see Meredy's back. The monsters charged her with their terrible speed that made her daddy quake, but Meredy stepped aside. Pink swords appeared in her hands. When she swung them, they went straight through the monsters, whether they were hitting furry muscles or scaled armor. Every time they were hit, monsters fell with a howl.
Two of them, never less. Whenever Meredy hit one, another monster would fall too, holding the same place. Jess saw flashes of pink around their wrists that disappeared quickly.
Twenty monsters were arrayed around Meredy. Then fifteen. Ten. Five. Jess watched Meredy turn her head aside from a swipe of a leopard-man's claws, her pretty pink hair floating up.
Her sword went into his head, and he fell down wailing along with the bull-man behind him. Meredy spun in a circle and finished off the other three in one move.
A shadow fell over her.
A monster twice the size of the rest loomed there. He was shaped like a turtle, with an incredibly thick shell and rough skin that could break arrows. Jess knew because she saw the old village chief shoot him once. The turtle-man had laughed it off, then hit the chief so hard that he still couldn't walk.
"I'm Vasco, little girl!" cried the turtle-man, lifting a wooden hammer almost as tall as he was. "I'm the Guild Leader of Zoo, the best Transformation mages on the continent! Just because you beat my boys doesn't mean you can handle me!"
Meredy tilted her head back to look into his face. The swords in her hands broke apart into motes of light.
"Good choice! Toothpicks won't pierce my super-carapace!" Vasco guffawed. "Now get in the cage before I throw you there! We're eating the animal way tonight!"
Meredy had already turned her back on him. She didn't walk to the cage, but back to Jess, who watched her come closer with trembling hands.
"Why did you stop?" Meredy asked. "It was such a lovely song."
Behind her, two-dozen pink swords appeared in the air around Vasco, pointing at him from every angle. They skewered him, going straight through his body and coming out the other side. The shell he was so proud of did nothing— Vasco foamed at the mouth, feeling too much pain to even shout, and fell backwards, unconscious.
Meredy was still smiling at Jess.
"Are you a goddess?" Jess asked.
Meredy had to cover her mouth, she giggled so hard. "No, silly. I'm a mage, from—"
O-O-O
In Southern Fiore, there stood a tree that was rumored to be centuries old. The locals in the region insisted it was older than Zeref. Every summer, for decades, they'd gathered and paid their respects, laying sacrifices on its roots and ensuring it had the perfect conditions to grow.
Every summer, that was, until this one.
"You say that they claimed the land three months ago?" Ultear asked.
She walked beside a man who used a cane. His spine shared the same shape as his walking implement, curving forward and a bit down at the top.
"Five months and twenty two days!" he barked. "Six hours, too, if you care."
"How diligent."
"Of course I kept track," the man grunted. "I'm the elder of Canopy Village. We took our name from this tree. If I forgot a single thing about how it was usurped, my ancestors would never accept me in the afterlife!"
The two of them were approaching the tree. It was clear to see how it became a religious symbol. Ultear had to lean back to see the top, which was easily three hundred feet above the ground. More impressive was the girth of its trunk. If she were to estimate, its diameter was more than sixty feet. The tree had branches like a willow hanging with wispy foliage.
Marring the trunk like a garish belt was a treehouse. Even from the tree's base, Ultear could see that the structure had been nailed into the bark. Remnants of damaged bark lay around her feet. Sounds could be heard from inside the treehouse. There seemed to be a party on.
"Thank you for bringing me here," Ultear said. "I'll be able to handle the rest."
The elder squinted at her. "You're sure you can handle this? I'm old enough to remember your guild, but I haven't heard about them for a long time. You're just one lady. I'm telling you, we had no chance against them."
"I assure you, your tree will be free again by the time the sun sets."
"...Can I watch?"
"It would be easier if you didn't," Ultear said politely.
The elder nodded, issuing a grunt. "Right. Wouldn't be easy, fighting 'em while taking care of an old man. If you aren't back in an hour, we'll send word to your friends."
Ultear was already facing the tree. "That won't be necessary."
She waited until the elder was gone. Despite his assumption, she would have no trouble dealing with a few Dark Mages while protecting him.
It was just… simpler if he didn't see her method.
Ultear held her hand toward the tree. An orb appeared under her palm.
"Arc of Time: Regression!"
The tree that stood for centuries disappeared.
Its trunk contracted and its branches regressed. In a matter of seconds, the tree was seemingly gone— leaving the structure that had been attached to it suspended by nothing.
Naturally, gravity didn't allow this.
The Dark Guild — named Vantage Bolt according to Ultear's research — came down with their fancy base. They were all mages, they wouldn't die from a little fall.
A few broken bones? Well, that was a different story.
The ones who could stand struggled up, looking at her murderously.
"You wrecked our tree! Do you know how long we looked for one that good?" shouted a mage with a mohawk. Perhaps he was the Guild Leader, perhaps he wasn't. Ultear hadn't bothered with the job's trivial details given her schedule.
"Frankly, I couldn't care less," Ultear said. "And I didn't destroy it."
She pointed to the middle of the wring of wreckage from the fallen treehouse. A minute sapling poked from the earth there, its tiny branches reaching toward the sky. It was so small it could have been stepped on by mistake.
"Don't fuck with us!" shouted Mohawk.
He started to cast a spell, though what kind would remain unknown, as Ultear was in no mood to let him finish.
"Ice-Make: Rose Pit!"
Vines of ice grabbed the wizards, pinning them to the ground. Even the ones who hadn't been moving were bound. The ice was strong enough to hold out against any resistance they could offer, and sturdy enough to last until Magic Council officials arrived to arrest them properly.
Ultear turned her hand upside down, this time resting her time orb on top of it. "Arc of Time: Resumption!"
With a nearly deafening rumble, the sapling shot toward the heavens, catching up on hundreds of years of growth in only a few seconds. The trapped dark wizards watched the process with wide eyes. Immediately, any thought of further resistance ended.
"You're a monster," said Mohawk.
Ultear looked amused, clapping her hands to dust them off (as if she'd ever gotten them dirty). "You're actually the lucky ones, actually, to have only gotten me. You'll find my methods are quite tame."
"What could be worse than you?" Mohawk asked, aghast.
"Oh, it could have been much worse," Ultear said. "Don't underestimate the monsters that I know. After all, we're talking about—"
O-O-O
In central Fiore resided Bonanza, one of the largest active Dark Guilds. They operated out of a concrete and steel Guild Hall designed for perfect defense. Guards on three different levels were constantly alert against any attack. Their ability to withstand assault was the reason they'd been so successful. Even a guild like Lamia Scale would have to mobilize their strongest mages if they wanted to break through.
Tonight, under the light of the stars and a full moon, every guard across all the base's multiple floors were looking up.
"It's a person," said one half of the duo at the front gate, looking through binoculars at the strange shape that had appeared in the sky, framed against the moon. "His robes are blowing in the wind. There's some kind of glow around him. It looks like there's a tattoo on his face."
"What is he doing?" asked the other guard.
"He's holding his arms out. I can't see anything else."
A tremor made both of them lose their footing.
They fell down, looking into the sky, where clouds had formed out of nothing. From them, an orange shape emerged. The shape started to descend, picking up steam and growing larger with every passing second.
The guards looked at each other, then looked back into the air. They stayed there and accepted their fate. What were they supposed to do, run? There was no escape.
"Bonanza is doomed," said one.
His partner nodded.
Thirty seconds later, the Guild Hall was nothing but a crater in the ground. Jellal mopped his brow, hovering in the air. He was tired. Summoning an attack like that was well and good, but keeping it from killing anyone? That was the real work.
"Ten down, five to go," he murmured.
He was pushing himself hard. He felt ready to pass out, frankly, but he couldn't stop yet. This was what his Guild Master needed.
Jellal never thought there'd come a time when he worked for someone else. The only way he could explain the change was that a fight was a kind of dialogue. Exchanging blows could tell you more than any words. It was how Erza changed him, freeing him from his dark path. When Jellal fought Harry, he sensed something.
Somehow, Jellal had become certain that if any man could, this was the one who would destroy Zeref. Harry's inexplicable magic, the skill with which he deployed it in battle, and the peculiar laughing reaction he showed to Zeref's name all filled Jellal with a strange hope.
He was willing to gamble on Harry. To do that, he wouldn't let him down. Jellal would find a way to push through like the Fairy Tail mages of old.
Thinking of his resolve, Jellal defeated his fatigue and lifted his hands. He had one last job to do before Council forces arrived to deal with the dark mages.
Jellal summoned meteors, carefully controlling their flight to make them strike in exactly the right places. The impact craters formed lines, then letters, then a name.
"Good," Jellal said, surveying his work from the air. "Now, they'll know this was the work of—"
O-O-O
Harry shielded his hand from the sun, his other hand on his hip. "So there it is! Fiore's glittering capital… Croaker!"
He got strange looks from the other travelers taking the busy road toward the sprawling city in front of them. Laki hid her head in her hands.
"It's Crocus, Harry! Crocus!"
"...I was close," Harry said. "Come on!"
He grabbed Laki's wrist, pulling her hand away from her face and dragging her forward. The two began the descent down the hill they'd been standing on, toward the front gates. The closer they came the more massive the capitol city seemed, with tiers of a thousand sloped roofs ascending toward a central palace.
He could've Apparated them straight into the city, but he wanted to go in the proper way. It was exciting. Plus, it was important that their entry got recorded.
They were here to beat the one Dark Guild no mages had been able to stop, after all, so it was better to avoid awkward questions after the fact about just how they entered the city.
The pair mixed with a throng heading toward the city, full of everyone from other mages on jobs, to merchants heading to sell wares, to country kids ready to be awestruck tourists. Crocus had a livening effect on everyone in the line. They were all looking forward to something.
"Aren't you excited?" Harry asked.
"A bit," Laki admitted, smiling slightly. "I haven't been here in years."
"That's the spirit! And we're not here for just any reason."
Harry set his eyes on the city, already picturing himself walking its streets.
"Today's the day," he said. "It's the return of Fairy Tail."
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