Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 9, x791.
After finishing the battle with Chrollo Lucilfer, Alfonzo, after [Sealing] away the corpse, walked deeper into the cave that served as the Phantom Troupe's secondary hideout. Alon the way, he took note of the path, as there were many branching paths that could lead anywhere.
However, with the memory of where he once felt Kotorpi's location, he eventually made it to the cave where the Phantom Troupe stowed their ill-gotten gains, most important of which were the Kurta Clan's eyes. At least for the scope of this quest, anyway.
"Damn… There's some really good shit in here." Alfonzo muttered as he counted the pairs of eyes in small glass bottles. "Can't nobody say the Spiders weren't efficient. Even while on their way to make a deal with that corrupt minister, they hit quite a few licks. Hell, there's even a Dragon lacrima in here. I wonder where they got that shit from."
Shaking off the stray thoughts, Alfonzo decided he would look into what he found in the cave later. For now, verifying that all one hundred and twenty-two pairs of eyes were securely stored was more important. Though, he did wonder how Kurapika would transport them after he received them. His magic power had not been unlocked, after all. So, he would not be able to use the [Storage Scrolls].
"Whatever, he can figure that shit out on his own." Alfonzo said to himself. "I'm only responsible for killing the Phantom Troupe and retrieving the eyes. Anything after that isn't my concern. And wizards don't do overtime for free."
After saying that, Alfonzo fell into silence, all his attention on counting the pairs of eyes.
When Alfonzo eventually confirmed that all the eyes were accounted for, he [Sealed] them, Kotorpi's corpse, and all the other items into their own [Storage Scrolls]. Then, he quickly made his way out of the cave.
"Alright, all the fighting in the city is over." Alfonzo said. "The only ones I'm not sure about are Ur's team. But with the Old Man and Ur there, there shouldn't be any issues. Plus, Levy's no push over, either."
Reaching that point, Alfonzo looked towards the noble section of the city in the distance.
"But for some reason, I'm worried about Lici." Alfonzo said. "I know her safety shouldn't be in question. But still, I have a bad feeling about this. Like… There's a chance that she might have killed that bastard, Caine."
At the same time, in Zash Caine's underground facility, Elicia was making her way towards the largest magic power signature she could feel. Undoubtedly, that had to be the artifact Zash had stolen before he fled Fiore.
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
"Ugh! Every time I think about what this piece of filth did to those women, I wanna ring his neck!" Elicia shouted just after spinning on Zash, and kicking him in the ribs, the sickening sound of bones breaking intertwining with her angry roar. "If those women hadn't gone through so much, I would have really done it! I would have let him feel what it was like to be someone's plaything."
Unfortunately, thanks to all the damage inflicted during his time as Elicia's human shield combined with the damage Elicia had personally inflicted while walking through the facility, Zash was in no condition to respond or threaten Elicia for her actions.
At the moment, Zash was barely conscious. And from the way his eyes were dilated, it was clear that he had a mild concussion at the very least. But that was not the full extent of his injuries, as he had more than a few broken ribs, his arms and legs were all broken, and he was bleeding from wounds all over his body.
On top of that, the rough way Elicia was dragging him through the corridors was not helping with those injuries, either.
["Careful there, Elicia."] Scylla replied, trying to lighten the mood. ["I don't think Fonzie would be happy to hear you trying to take another man as your plaything."]
Elicia's response to Scylla's attempt at humor was to roll her eyes hard enough that they might produce their own gravitational field.
"Don't get me started on that, Scylla." Elicia said with a pout. "Actually, if Fonzie ever finds out that This piece of garbage threatened to enslave me like he had done to all those other women, he'll never make it back to Fiore to face judgement."
["Speaking of which, won't Stella have something to say when they hear about us coming here and basically kidnapping one of their ministers?"] Scylla asked, her tone making it clear that she was taking this topic seriously.
"Yeah, they'll probably have a problem with that." Elicia replied with a solemn nod. A moment later, however, her expression turned playful. "But that's only if they know that we came and took him. Well, they'll find out eventually. But that will be after we're already back in Fiore. On top of that, I'm going to leave them a nice little care package detailing what this jerk has been doing."
["Oh, I see."] Scylla replied in an understanding tone. ["*Sigh* Too bad we won't be able to see the looks on their faces when they realize what kind of snake they've been sheltering for the past few months. In fact, how did he even get such a high-ranking position so fast after fleeing Fiore?"]
"If I had to guess, Stella was probably helping him with his coup attempt." Elicia said while tapping her chin with one of her index fingers. "I mean, although he was the Secretary of State, or something like that, in Fiore, there's no way he should have had that much influence. Especially since no one has any real discontent with King Toma. Things would have been different if the Eclipse Project ever happened in our world, though."
["Yeah, having the capital city destroyed, even if no one knew it was the Royal Family's fault, breeds a lot of discontent among the citizens and politicians."] Scylla said. ["But with Fairy Tail making Fiore a better place to live, things like that never happened in our timeline. Neither Princess Hisui or the king has done something so monumentally stupid as believing in a cloaked figure who came out of nowhere and would not confirm his identity."]
"Yeah, that was kinda dumb, wasn't it?" Elicia asked rhetorically with a giggle. "Besides, even if that Future Rogue had made it to the princess and started putting stupid stuff in her head, she would have probably called Fonzie to ask him what he thought and if Fairy Tail could handle a bunch of dragons showing up."
As Elicia continued to chat with Scylla, somewhat lifting her mood from what she saw in Zash's sex dungeon, she finally reached the room with the massive magic power signature. And when she looked inside, she found a mostly empty room. The only thing worth taking note of was a pedestal. And above the pedestal was a staff floating several inches above said pedestal.
This staff, blue and red in color, had a dragon scale design etched into its surface. However, the things that stood out the most about the staff were its somewhat crooked shaft, the strange dragon skull-like head at the top, and, most of all, its ominous aura that made Elicia feel like she was standing in front of hundreds of angry dragons.
"What is that?" Elicia asked, slightly recoiling from the feeling she was getting from the staff.
["I don't know, but it's definitely bad news."] Scylla replied, sounding a bit apprehensive. ["I can only imagine what someone like Caine was planning to do with something like this that feels so evil."]
"Yeah, it's a good thing we showed up when we did." Elicia said as she slowly stepped towards the staff. "Not only did we save a lot of captured women, but we stopped whatever he was planning before he could even get started. Though, I bet this thing has something to do with all those automatons. I mean, where else could he have gotten so much draconic energy to make them."
["You're probably right."] Scylla said. ["Anyway, let's just seal it up. Fonzie will have a better chance of figuring out what it is."]
Nodding in response, Elicia reached into her waist pouch and pulled out a [Storage Scroll]. Then, after unrolling the scroll, she laid the scroll on the pedestal and injected magic power into it.
Yet, the staff was not immediately pulled into the space inside the scroll.
"Huh? What's going on?" Elicia asked as she continued to inject magic power into the [Storage Scroll. "It's not going in. Don't tell me this thing is alive…"
On a side note, the [Storage Scrolls] Alfonzo created with the [Sealing] knowledge he stole from Danzō Shimura, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves' organization, Root, which he destroyed years ago, could not store living items. So, Elicia's doubt was justified. However, something about the way this was going seemed a bit off.
["No, I don't' think that's it."] Scylla said, though her tone made it clear that she was unsure. ["When you tried to [Seal] living things in the past, it just stopped, right? But this time, it's still taking your magic power. So… Maybe that just means it will take more magic power to [Seal] something this powerful…?"]
"Maybe…?" Elicia replied, her tone making it clear that she was just as unsure. "But if you're right, then I guess I should go all out. [Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]."
In the next instant, Elicia's magic power swelled by nearly ten times, showing that she was close to reaching the minimum threshold to attempt Bankai training, as her wrist band began to glow and cover her hands in golden magic power.
*Bang!*
At the same time, Zash, who was laying at Elicia's feet, barely conscious, was sent flying by the increase in magic power pressure. Though, everyone who knew Elicia would have only rolled their eyes at this, as she had more than enough control of her magic power to not affect her surroundings in the slightest when releasing Scylla's power.
When the glow faded, Elicia's hands were covered in dragon scales. Though, she had no need for the abilities granted by Scylla's release. What was really important at the moment was the increase in magic power.
"Ugh~~~~!" Zash groaned in pain while sliding down the wall next to the room's entrance.
["Careful, Elicia."] Scylla said, her tone filled with schadenfreude. ["You might kill him at this rate. And if you do that, how can we get the reward for bringing him back to Fiore."]
Hearing that, Elicia glanced at Zash over her shoulder. Then, when she saw the state he was in, she snorted disdainfully before returning her gaze to the staff and the [Storage Scroll].
"If he dies, he dies." Elicia replied angrily. "Honestly, I'd rather kill him myself than let him live even a second longer. But Fonzie might get mad… Because wizards don't work for free."
["Yeah…"] Scylla replied. ["But like I said, Fonzie might kill him himself if he ever finds out what that jerk said to you."]
"Then, maybe I should just kill him right now." Elicia said as she pumped more of her magic power into the [Storage Scroll]. "That would save us a lot of trouble. No need to think about keeping him alive long enough to return to Fiore. We wouldn't have to waste any food on this subhuman trash, either. Plus, we never actually accepted a quest to bring this guy back, did we? So, we don't have to worry about failing a quest, either."
["Sometimes it amazes me just how much better your brain works when you're pissed off."] Scylla said while shaking her head.
"Whatever, it's not like I'm the only one who lets things slip without thinking." Elicia said while rolling her eyes. "Remember that time Tatsuo told us about Alfonzo letting it slip that he was a reincarnater? If Tatsuo hadn't been there, Akatsuki and Sakura would have known."
["Not that it would have been such a bad thing at that point."] Scylla muttered. ["I mean, everyone ---"]
*Poof!*
Before Scylla could finish, the staff, which had been floating above the pedestal, disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"I guess you were right." Elicia said, sounding somewhat dazed. "It just took more magic power to [Seal] it. Releasing you was a bit overkill, though. I could have handled it in my base state. I just would have been nearly drained when I was done."
["Then it was a good thing you did release my power."] Scylla said while rolling her eyes. ["You might have collapsed after using that much magic power. And even if that thing by the entrance is half-dead, do you really wanna be in a weakened state while it's this close?"]
Once again, Elicia glanced over her shoulder at Zash. And like before, she snorted disdainfully. At the same time, she shivered in disgust.
"Yeah, no." Elicia said as she turned back to the [Storage Scroll] and started rolling it up again. "No matter how close to dead he is, being weakened while in the same country as… that… seems like I'm playing with my life."
["Exactly."] Scylla said while nodding emphatically. ["Now, let's [Seal] up as many of those automatons parts as we can and get the hell outta here. I miss Fonzie and I know you could stand some… comfort. Your inner world has been gloomy ever since we saw that room. And if you don't get your mind together, some of the clothes in here might get damaged."
Hearing that, Elicia's eyes shot open wide. Just the thought of her creations, even if they weren't real, made her heart ache. Besides, Scylla looked good in so many of them. There was no way she would be okay with them being damaged.
"Right! Let's go!" Elicia said as she pulled out a handful of [Storage Scrolls] from her waist pouch. "We'll just let Fonzie deal with that guy. And if Fonzie ends up killing him, Fonzie can deal with it. But for now, I need to calm my mind. I can't let those clothes be damaged or destroyed."
["*Sigh* At least you have your priorities…"] Scylla said in an exasperated tone as Elicia started dragging Zash through the facility to store as many of the automaton remains as she could. ["Anyway, as long as we get out of here as soon as possible, I don't' care why."]