[X784, Worth Woodsea]
— Dannis Martell —
With the defeat of Brain and the destruction of Nirvana, the aftermath was pretty anti-climactic.
Though the one thing they didn't expect was the scale of Nirvana's destruction. The entire ancient city crumbled from within, endangering everyone that was on it after they destroyed the six lacrimas.
Dannis flew through the falling rubble, careful to avoid the hundreds of tons of stone above him.
"Kyaaa!"
Was that Sherry?
The scream had him whirl around, seeing the Lamia Scale mage tumbling through the air with her hands covering her face.
Right, that reminded him that not everyone on the team has the ability to fly or have flying cats as partners. Erza, Mira, and Ichiya should be fine since they could fly. Natsu and Wendy have the Exceeds with them. Levy should be running out of magic at this point which makes her, Gajeel, Juvia, and Gray the priority.
"Woah!"
Oh yeah, there's Lyon as well. But why the hell was he naked?
His wraiths flickered into being around him. With a thought, they surged, swooping through the storm to catch the alliance mages one by one, using their bodies to shield against the falling rubble.
"Dannis!"
"Nice timing!"
"Dannis!" Mira's voice came in, her hand pointing to a direction. "Wendy and Carla!"
His gaze snapped left, to see the mage and cat pair falling unceremoniously through the air.
They were too far for any of his wraiths to catch on time. Except for him.
Wraith Jellal shot like a comet, glowing with the dark yellow light of Meteor as he scooped Wendy and Carla, carrying them bridal style.
'They must have run out of magic', Dannis realized.
It made sense really. Wendy was still very young, far from reaching her prime as a wizard. Dragon Slayer she may be, magical power grows with age. She still had a lot of growing to do.
It was different with Carla. Her problem came from having stuck to Wendy most of the time. She wouldn't have the same magic levels as Happy who regularly goes on high level missions with Natsu.
"Jellal!" Wendy cried out with a bit of emotion.
'Hm? Did Wendy know Jellal?' Dannis raised a brow before shaking his head. Question for another time.
With a single blast, Jellal cleared a path through the rubble that everyone immediately took advantage of.
Piece by piece, the alliance regrouped, and the wraiths bore them down to the forest floor where Lucy, Hibiki, Elfman, and Lisanna waved frantically. They landed in a loose cluster, exhausted but alive.
Dannis dismissed the wraiths, though Wendy gave one last, wistful look at the spectral Jellal before he vanished.
She turned, bowed low, and said with a trembling voice, "Everyone… thank you for protecting my guild!"
Her words tugged a rare smile out of him. Dannis reached out and ruffled her hair. "You did well today."
"No problem, Wendy!" Natsu grinned at the Sky Dragon Slayer.
"We were happy to help." Lisanna smiled warmly at Wendy.
Hibiki winked. "Happy to be of service."
"We wouldn't just let your guild be destroyed," Lucy assured Wendy with a bright smile. "And look at these! This mission was very fruitful!" She gestured to the keys of Aries, Gemini, and Scorpio.
"Gihihi. This mission was fun. I wouldn't mind going for the rest of the Balam Alliance." Gajeel said with a fanged grin.
"Don't even start." Levy sighed, still exhausted from using up a lot of her magic.
"I'm glad your guild is safe, Miss Wendy." Jura said with a small smile and a nod.
The smile that she returned was overwhelmingly bright. "Cait Shelter isn't too far away. Please, come stay with us for a while!" Wendy offered everyone. "We have food, drinks, beds, and we have healers that can tend to your injuries as well!"
"What about her?" Lyon asked, gesturing to the still unconscious form of Angel, "Not to mention the rest of the Dark Mages. There had to be at least hundreds of them here from Oracion Seis' subordinate guilds.
Before anyone could answer, a small rumble was heard in the air.
Dannis had to roll his eyes at that. The rumble was caused by three large airships that bore the emblem of the Magic Council in front of them. It was just like the Rune Knights to arrive fashionably late.
"Late as always." Gray scoffed with his arms crossed.
"Show some respect, Gray." Erza chastised. "They are from the magic council."
True to form, Lahar and the one that Dannis recognized as Doranbolt descended from one of the ships while the other two ships encircled the destroyed Nirvana from above.
After some quick questioning and a trade of information largely handled by both Dannis and Jura, the hundreds of Rune Knights went about their work.
The scene reminded Dannis of the aftermath from the fight with Phantom Lord. Many of the Rune Knights put different colored bands on the numerous dark mages around, labeling whether or not they were alive, injured, or dead.
The bigger threats were handled more carefully. Members of the Oracion Seis were all S-Rank mages, who are usually hard to kill in normal circumstances.
The fight with the Dark Guild took place all over the Worth Woodsea. The battlefield was scattered across the expansive forest and recovering them took time. But after a thorough search, all of their bodies were found.
Of the six members of the Oracion Seis, Angel, Hoteye, and Cobra were the only ones left alive.
Brain and Midnight didn't stand a chance. As powerful as they were, few could survive being buried underneath a city's worth of rubble. If it wasn't the impact that killed you, the lack of air would.
It was only a combination of Jura's earth magic and Lucy's Virgo spirit that made it possible to move hundreds of tons worth of rock and stone to find their bodies.
Racer's death was self-explanatory. Being pierced by a powerful magical spear in the hands of a weapon master such as Erza would kill anyone.
Dannis was glad for it, for they now served a newer purpose. He could feel their contentment through the connections he had with his wraiths. It seems that neither Midnight or Racer were truly bad people.
They were victims, groomed by Brain since a young age when he rescued them from the Tower of Heaven. Their souls were at peace when they understood Dannis' purpose in claiming their souls. He was happy he could give it to them.
Brain, though? His soul was purged the moment Dannis touched it. Evil that deep, he would not keep. A tainted soul such as his deserved nothing less.
Angel, Hoteye, and Cobra remained alive, bound in chains and dragged aboard the airships.
The mission ended in victory, and soon the alliance found themselves welcomed in Cait Shelter's humble halls.
Dannis sighed in contentment as the guild members laughed, drank, and rested. All the girls were given new clothes from the special woven cloth of the Nirvits, and Dannis had to admit that Mira looked damn good in it, enough to distract him for a fleeting moment.
Ren and Eve were understandably frustrated when they found out what happened after they got switched by Nirvana. They apologized to everyone for being a burden and made a promise to do better in the future.
They didn't spend long sulking though, as all of the Tri-Men were back in action. Hyping Ichiya's performance as he chose to sing to grace the ladies of the guild with his horrid singing voice.
What surprised Dannis was when Ichiya whipped up what he called 'Singing Perfume'. The result of which was a wonderful voice that had almost everyone tearing from the beautiful performance.
Dannis had to wonder just how versatile Ichiya's Perfume Magic really was. Seems there was nothing he couldn't do with the right perfume in hand.
Still, beneath the laughter, a shadow lingered. Jura noticed it too.
"Dannis-dono," Jura murmured beside him, voice low. "You saw as well, didn't you?"
"Yeah." Dannis' gaze flickered to the Master of Cait Shelter. "That Master Roubal, he's just a wandering spirit without a physical body. The other 'members' of Cait Shelter, aside from Wendy and Carla, are just illusions."
"Remarkable ones," Jura agreed. "So real they could fool all five senses, even ones that belonged to a Dragon Slayer. To leave behind something like this even in death… Master Roubal must have been a great wizard indeed."
Statement of the century, Dannis mused. The only reason he could notice was due to his connection to souls. It reminded him of Master Mavis in a way. The illusions that Roubal crafted were so life-like that it was eerie. They were capable of speech, touch, and even independent thought.
He couldn't even imagine the type of magic power required to do something like this.
They fell silent as Roubal raised his voice to address the room. He gave his sincere thanks to all the gathered mages, before descending into a story about the origins of Nirvana.
Everyone including Dannis listened with rapt attention. It took everyone by surprise when Roubal admitted that he was the creator of Nirvana, four hundred years ago.
What came after was a tragedy that stemmed from mankind's want to do good. In his attempt to stop war, he instead birthed an opposite power. While all darkness was turned into light, the same light turned others into darkness.
A balance, yin and yang. Darkness, as many often suspected, was not the absence of light. It was its own element, one with a primordial form just as many others. Dannis would know better than most.
Roubal's old eyes were filled with pain as tears pooled on Wendy's eyes. She was a smart girl, she could tell where this was going.
Roubal finally revealed the truth, that all of Cait Shelter was just a mirage designed from his own memories, to give a lost girl the home that she deserves.
"No…" her voice cracked, tears streaming as Carla clutched her tightly.
"I want to thank you all." Roubal said as he smiled at the gathered mages with warm eyes. "Please look after Wendy and Carla for me."
But Wendy lunged forward, hugging him fiercely. "No one was false! They were real to me! Oika, Killi, Ragna, Pepe, Aisha, everyone! Because you shared them with me, I'll never forget! We're family!" Her tears glistened, but her smile was blinding.
For the first time in centuries, Roubal smiled free of guilt. His spirit dissolved like morning mist, and with him went the Cait Shelter mark from Wendy's shoulder.
The girl collapsed to her knees, sobbing openly. Carla pressed against her side, fighting her own tears.
Dannis stepped forward slowly. His hand rested lightly on Wendy's trembling shoulder.
"It's painful to part with those you love," he said softly, voice gentler than usual. "But your family is at peace now. And you don't have to face the world alone."
Wendy sniffled, looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes. Dannis can't help but feel a tang of nostalgia. It felt so long ago that he was the one crying and a kind old man gave him the same offer.
"Come with us," Dannis offered with a small, rare smile. "To Fairy Tail."
…
AN: And this ends the Oracion Seis arc, man what a ride. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely happy with how this turned out. There were some things I wanted to add but missed, and other points that weren't necessary to put in but got blown wildly out of proportion.
But in the end I just grit my teeth and forced myself to finish it. And here is the result. Though I enjoyed writing the last bit where Dannis invited Wendy back to the guild, a parallel to Makarov and Dannis so long ago.
I have big plans for Edolas, one I'm sure will blow the previous arcs way out of the water. The only thing I can give is that it'll be a lot bigger than it is in canon.
Like the Tower of Heaven, plenty of more factions will be involved.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, cheers!
Advanced chapters on my P-word and yada yada. Check it out if you're interested. Chapter 98 should be available by the time this chapter was uploaded.