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CHAPTER START---
---March X773, The Tower Of Heaven…
Standing in filthy ankle-deep water, two young children, a boy with blue hair and a strange marking on the right side of his face, and a girl with blood-red hair, mix mortar in buckets with their hands and plaster it into a cracked wall.
Their clothes are dirty and tattered, and their skin is rough and worn, covered in cuts and bruises, but they work their battered and exhausted bodies as if they're healthy. Above them, the cultists peer into the hole they're working in, whips and Shock Staffs at the ready to punch any disobedience.
Blood and gore float in the water, the remains of the last slaves who slowed from exhausting and had their cuffs detonated, and these two work with vigor to avoid the same fate.
"Ah," the girl cuts her hand against the crack in the stone wall, almost spilling the bucket. But the boy moves quickly and catches it, tearing his skin against the thin metal handle.
He glances back and up at the cultists, seeing them glaring down before handing the bucket back to her. "We're almost done. Just a bit more, Erza, then this shift is over."
"Right, let's get this done," she reaches into the mortar with her hand and continues plastering.
Beside her, the boy doubles his pace, giving her a moment to breathe, hoping the cultists don't punish them. "Don't worry, I can handle this. I'll do my best to keep everyone from getting punished."
Erza pushes him aside and insists on doing her own work. "Jelall, if you get tired they could send the others in here from the walls, so lets do this together…"
High above the slaves are those working in the pits to seal the holes, working to build walls and rooms, breaking their backs and falling to their deaths to construct higher floors of the tower. Halfway up the tower that reaches hundreds of meters into the sky is a balcony looking down on everything, including the ocean all around them.
Protected by a similar Barrier to that which shields Tenroujima Island, the leader of this faction leans against the balcony and looks down at his slaves. He looks out from the island under the afternoon sun, seeing small objects on the horizon.
Taking out a spyglass, he looks to the horizon and sees a dozen ships, none of which are flying known banners on their sails, and certainly not the Magic Council.
"What the—" a wave of heinous and evil Magic Energy flows out from the tower, washing over the entire island and inspiring a delighted smile on the leader's face. He turns around and rushes into the tower, ignoring the other cultists, who all kneel and mutter their prayers to the source of this Magic Energy.
All while the slaves prostrate themselves in reverence, as they've been conditioned to do. These rare moments are the only time when work ever stops on this island, and the slaves seize this opportunity to rest as best they can with insidious Magic Energy suffocating them.
The head cultist reaches the innermost chamber, and amidst the main Resurrection Altar, there is a soft red and black glowing sphere. He immediately kneels and bows his head, trying and failing to steady his heart as the foreboding presence grows.
"Rise," a shrill voice echoes through the chamber, and the man raises his head to see a shadowy mess and black and red Magic Energy, covered in eyes and writhing tendrils in the middle of the Resurrection Altar.
"Lord Zeref, my lord," the cultist nearly trips over himself while rising to his full height. "Your desires and my mission, what is it you request?"
"You have done well, and proven yourself. You, and only you, have passed this final test."
"Test?" the man looks confused, thinking back to everything that's happened. "I see. The uprising. I crushed them, and executed the leaders. Tortured them to death for all the other slaves to watch."
"No. Your control and resolve have already been proven. This, was a matter of faith in me."
"I have never doubte—"
"Silence!" Another wave of Magic Energy ripples through the island. "You have always been my chosen. When I am resurrected, you will be my right hand, as you have earned. The others have failed me, and been uprooted."
"There were others?"
"Seven other locations. Each given one rune for my resurrection, and they failed to complete even that. The Magic Council struck and ended their endeavors."
"I see. They were each given one Rune, but I was given all seven."
"Because you are my chosen. That is why you were given this location, away from the continent, away from those who conspire against my resurrection."
"Thank you for believing in me, Lord Zeref."
"Your faith is true, and has been rewarded. The ships coming here bring new slaves, and the last vestiges of the failed groups. Take command of them all, redouble your efforts, and show me once more, why you are my chosen."
"Yes! I will not disappoint you, Lord Zeref!"
Everyone on the island feels their breaths being sucked out of them as the figure disappears, pulling all of its Magic Energy away with it.
The cultist leader takes a moment to catch his breath before marching out of the room, rushing back to the balcony and amplifying his voice so all can hear him.
"Double all shift! We have more slaves coming in, be ready to put them to work at once!" His commands batter any remaining hopes and dreams of the slaves deeper into the ground, all while his faith in his belief is stronger than ever.
Elsewhere on Ishgar, the visage of 'Lord Zeref' that had just been speaking to the cultist leader undoes the Illusion Magic, returning to its form as Hades, leader of the Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart, Fairy Tail's 2nd Master.
He stands at the edge of a cliff, looking down into a rocky valley with a few injured Rune Knights below. They beg and plead for mercy, but he ignores them and turns to his guildmembers.
He sees dozens of people finishing off Rune Knights and interrogating others, and from them, a goat-man with brown fur wearing red samurai armor and wielding a katana approaches.
"Master Hades, our sources were correct about the operating the Magic Council lead, but we learned some new information from the constable here."
"Explain, Yomazu."
"The Magic Council hit all seven locations on the continent at once. They had no time to prepare, and no chance against the forces gathered. Multiple Wizard Saints and guilds were a part of it."
"I don't care about that, I care about how they were able to find the Altars. Do we have a leak?"
"No. They found the Altar in Iceberg, but nothing gave away the location of the others."
"Then how did they bring them down?"
"Oberon."
"The boy?"
"He was able to read the Resurrection Rune."
"I fail to see how that would lead to all of this."
"He was able to reverse engineer the entire matrix from one Rune."
Hades is stunned at the thought of that. "That…what?"
"He was even able to map it against a map of Ishgar and locate the regions the other Runes were in. That boy, he's dangerous."
"I took me years to translate those runes, a decade of my life, just like that," Hades turns back to the cliff, stroking his beard. "No wonder you love that boy so much, Mavis, too damn talented."
"How would you like to proceed, Master Hades?"
"Quickly, and violently. I've been too hands off. Too consumed in my research, I failed to keep up with current affairs. That boy was offered the position of Wizard Saint, was that true?"
"Yes, Master. He refused, not wanting to leave Fairy Tail."
"Dangerous. They wouldn't allow him to be S-Class if he wasn't strong. Fairy Magics aren't on the table in most situations."
"That won't change much for us."
"What do you mean?"
"Me and Kawazu are your elite kill team, but we won't be enough. We've had people tail him before. He didn't notice, like his head is up his ass. Naos Till has also been tailing him, hasn't noticed him either."
"That Avatar Magic boy…interesting, but he can't be controlled. Leave him be."
"Yes, Master Hades. But we learned a lot. He has a shield that would take a lot for Kawazu and I to break. We get past that and his body is tough. He also heals quickly, not to mention the way he fights, and those summons…"
"What are you requesting, Yomazu? Get to the point."
"Bluenote Stinger. You trained him to deal with Gildarts in the event we ever had to fight Fairy Tail. I don't think this boy will be brought down by any less."
Hades nods and takes a few marble-sized Explosive Lacrima from his jacket pockets. He leans over the side of the cliff and drops one, detonating it as it falls between all the suffering Rune Knights below.
It violently explodes, creating a 20m -60ft- wide crater in the ground, shaking the cliff they're all standing on.
He then turns and tosses one of the Explosive Lacrima to Yomazu, who carefully pockets it. "Take Bluenote with you. He's been waiting for the chance to test his Magic against Oberon's. I assume you have a plan, yes?"
"Yes, Master. Oberon is on his way to Midi for a Decade Quest. The Magic Council keeps track of him, so we'll always know the best time and place to ambush him. I assumed that's how Naos Till is also tracking him."
"Then go meet up with Bluenote and proceed from there. But keep this as quiet as possible. Makarov won't take things personally if one of his people dies on a Job, but if someone actively hunts them, that would start a war."
"The Job he took provides the perfect opportunity to remove him from play."
Hades nods, and raises his voice so everyone can hear him. "Finish with these Rune Knights, we have to move on."
"Yes, Master Hades!" his people cheer before massacring the few surviving Rune Knights…
CHAPTER END---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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