The clean-up was complete. The 'rubbish', as I had so delicately nicknamed the troop of Eisenwald lackeys, was properly bundled up and discarded in corners of the hall in little heaps of unconsciousness, pathetic groans, and, in some cases, surprise haircuts courtesy of my least favourite celestial spirit of all time. Erza was on her feet, panting, but with that dangerous glint of someone who has just had a good warm-up and now wants the main course. Lucy was trying to process the amount of bizarreness she had witnessed in the last twenty minutes, probably reassessing her decision to join a functional guild instead of our travelling circus of chaos.
And I... I was thirsty. Thirsty for tea, mostly. But, unfortunately, duty, that terrible word that always seemed to appear to ruin my moments of peace, was calling. Or rather, the lack of sound from Natsu's idiotic screams and Gray's icy retorts told me that the 'main event' was yet to come.
"Right then, you lot," I announced, patting non-existent dust from my shoulder, a gesture purely for dramatic effect. "The preliminary clean-up is done. Now let's go after the boys, before they manage, on their own, to blow up the station or, in the worst-case scenario, the city."
With a reluctance I barely bothered to hide, I started to run, leading the group. Erza, with her tireless warrior's energy, was right behind, followed by a Lucy who was trying not to trip over the fallen bodies and a Happy who was floating cheerfully, probably relieved not to be the focus of imminent violence anymore. Running was so... draining. So mortal.
We headed towards the main exit, and it didn't take long to find the remains of Natsu and Gray's 'welcoming committee'. And what remains they were. The mage in the white coat and awful hair, who looked like he'd survived an encounter with an ice tornado and then been used as a barbecue skewer, was slumped like a sack of potatoes on the floor. The other chap, the one with the striped hat and a garish orange outfit that offended the very concept of good taste, was unconscious and decoratively frozen up to his neck in a pillar of ice that Gray, in his haste or out of sheer visual sarcasm, had left behind.
"Hmm, looks like the boys had fun," I commented, appreciating the scene with the satisfaction of an art critic before a particularly expressive work.
But our moment of carnage appreciation was interrupted by a hissing sound and an... impressive sight. A colossal wall of wind, a vertical, transparent hurricane, surrounded the entire station, spinning with a fury that distorted the light and howled like a thousand spirits with toothache. Nearby, we saw the silhouettes of Natsu and Gray, looking wounded and frustrated.
"Natsu! Gray!" Erza shouted, running towards them, with us in her wake.
"Damn it, Erza... you finally got here," Gray grumbled. His face was contorted with frustration. "That bastard... Erigor..."
"What happened here?" I asked, my voice calm, already analysing the wall of wind with a purely academic interest. It was... potent, but clumsy magic.
"We were almost on top of him," explained Gray, pointing to the fallen mages. "But these two idiots showed up and intercepted us. It was a quick fight, we sorted them out. But..." he looked at the wall of wind with anger. "...it was enough time for Erigor to raise this bloody magic wall around the entire station. We've tried everything to get through, but the damn thing repels anyone with brute force. Throws us back like rag dolls."
"Brute force?" Natsu said, getting up with a snarl, his body already wreathed in his flames. "I'll show you brute force!" And then, before any of us could stop him (or, in my case, decide if it would be amusing to watch him), with all his 'wisdom' and a war cry, he launched himself at the wall of wind again, his fists engulfed in scorching fire. "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
The result was a repetition so predictable I almost yawned. The wall of wind caught him, spun him like an out-of-control top, and threw him back with a violent and humiliatingly calculated force. He flew through the air, screaming, and splattered onto the ground with a thud that drew a groan from everyone (except me, of course).
"I... told you," Gray sighed, putting a hand to his forehead in sheer exhaustion at his rival's stupidity.
It was at that moment that a weak, manic laugh caught our attention. The mage in the white coat, Kageyama (the name I'd overheard amongst the pained moans of the Eisenwald lackeys), was leaning against a column, his face bloodied, but with a triumphant smile.
Erza marched up to him and, without the slightest ceremony, delivered a series of slaps to his face. SLAP. SLAP. SLAP. "How do we undo this?!" SLAP. "Speak now!"
The man with the Erza-slap-swollen face just laughed, a gurgling sound. "Hahaha... you fools... It's impossible to get out! Master Erigor told me! Anyone can get in... but no one, absolutely no one, can get out!" He smiled, blood trickling down his teeth. "His wall of magical Wind Blades! It will only disperse when he cancels it... or when he's knocked unconscious! And by that time, your Masters will already be dead! You've failed!"
His manic laughter echoed. Erza, furious, dropped him to the floor. She turned, ready to launch herself at the wall with her own strength, to prove that the rule didn't apply to her.
"Oi, oi, calm down, Red," my voice, calm and rather bored, stopped her. I placed a hand on her shoulder, a light touch that halted her in her tracks. "As educational as it is, in an almost scientific way, to watch Natsu being used as a human boomerang by a stubborn gust of wind, I'm in no mood to see you get hurt for no reason against a barrier that was obviously designed to do exactly that."
"I'M NOT A BOOMERANG, YOU MEANIE!" Natsu protested from the floor, indignant that I hadn't shown due consideration for his heroic and utterly futile attempt. I ignored him.
I positioned myself in front of the howling wall of wind, the air whipping my white hair and my clothes. "Azra'il, what are you going to do?!" Lucy asked, concern in her voice, as if expecting me to be disintegrated.
I smiled, a confident smile, and looked over my shoulder at Kageyama. "You know, this 'wall of wind' of your leader's," I commented, my tone laden with disdain, "to me, it seems like... a fresh breeze."
I took my wooden jian. I closed my eyes. And then, a pressure, a dense, powerful aura radiated from me. Lucy and Happy backed away. Erza, Natsu, and Gray, even with their experience, held their breath. And Kageyama... the triumphant expression on his face melted into pure terror.
I opened my eyes. With a movement that was pure fluidity and economy, a simple, clean, and almost casual cut through the air, I released a wave of Ethernano through the jian. The howling wall of wind trembled. And, as if it were nothing more than smoke, it dispersed with the same ease as blowing out a candle flame.
"I-impossible..." Kageyama stammered, his jaw on the floor.
I smiled, and my smile was anything but gentle. "You know, Kageyama, the only reason I haven't killed every single one of you the moment we stepped in here, including your half-arsed Reaper, was out of pure, absolute, and monumental laziness," I declared, my voice low and dangerous. "Believe me when I say I could have defeated that edgy-villain-wannabe leader of yours with my hands tied behind my back and balancing a teacup on my head. I just... couldn't be bothered."
The gentle breeze that replaced the murderous hurricane was met with a stunned silence. Natsu and Gray, who had previously been staring at the wall of wind as if it were the end of the line, were now looking at the empty air, then at my wooden jian, and finally at me, with expressions that were a hilarious mix of shock, disbelief, and, in Natsu's case, a hint of poorly disguised envy. Lucy and Happy's jaws had dropped so low I feared they might swallow some unsuspecting flying insect. Kageyama, on the other hand, was just staring at the space where his glorious, impenetrable barrier had existed moments before and seemed to be going through all five stages of grief simultaneously. It was… gratifying.
Erza, as always the voice of reason and practicality amidst our private circus, was the first to recover. "Stop standing around like a bunch of dead fish! He's still out there! We don't have time to waste!" Her voice cut through the silence, calling everyone back to the terrible, irritating reality that our work was not yet done.
(Eos, location of our edgy Reaper, please. And be quick about it, my admiration-induced good mood is notoriously fleeting,) I instructed mentally.
[Erigor's location identified, Azra'il,] Eos's voice sounded, calm and efficient. [High-speed magical signature, consistent with the use of wind magic for aerial propulsion, moving in the direction of Clover Town, where, as predicted, the Guild Masters' Conference is underway. Current distance: approximately 7.4 kilometres and increasing. Estimated time to target: less than 8 minutes at the current pace.]
(Brilliant. That gives me... virtually no time. Mark his location in my field of view, please. With a very visible icon, preferably something like a small red target with 'SCYTHE IDIOT' written in capital letters,) I ordered.
[Target marked. I suggest you refrain from derogatory labels on the tactical display. It may compromise the seriousness of the mission.]
(Oh, Eos, you have no sense of fun.)
I turned and saw Erza already exercising her authority, speaking to one of the station employees who had regained consciousness (and probably developed a new and profound respect for women in armour). He was nodding frantically as she instructed him to call the guards and arrest the unconscious members of Eisenwald who now decorated the station floor like tasteless human rugs. So efficient, my redhead.
Then, she turned to the group, the keys to her magic car already in her hands. "Natsu! Gray! Lucy! Happy! To the car! We'll catch him!"
Natsu's face contorted into a mask of pure, absolute terror at the word 'car'. The prospect of facing an army of mages was clearly less daunting to him than another round of vehicular motion sickness. He began to back away, like a dog about to be bathed.
With a sigh that carried the weight of a thousand and one hasty decisions I'd rather not make, I went over to Erza, ignoring Natsu's pre-vomit protests. "Erza," I said, and my calm, sure tone made her stop. "That's too slow. He's flying. Even with you driving like a suicidal maniac, we'll lose precious time getting out of the city. I'll go on ahead. And I'll catch him."
"What do you mean, you'll go on ahead?!" Natsu interjected, his courage returning now that there was an alternative to the car. "You want Happy to carry you? I doubt you can go fast enough!" He looked at me suspiciously, as if I were about to present some harebrained, dodgy plan.
I smiled, a slow, secret-filled smile, one that promised something they didn't expect. "Ah, my dear Natsu. I appreciate the concern. But no, I won't be needing Happy's air taxi services to catch up with our terrorist-wannabe friend." I looked at Erza. "As soon as you've sorted things out here, and after you're sure all the unconscious members are properly tied up and catalogued, come to my location. I will deal with Erigor." I paused, my smile widening. "And, Erza... try not to overdo it with the speed while you're driving, yes? Arrive in one piece, please."
Before she could protest, I said, my voice now a little louder so everyone could hear, "Stand back. I recommend about ten metres, if you value your eardrums and your physical integrity."
They backed away, confused, but obedient to the implicit authority in my voice. Erza was looking at me with an intensity that was a mix of concern, curiosity, and perhaps a pang of that fascination she always showed when I was about to do something... out of the ordinary. "Azra'il... what are you planning to do?"
Instead of answering, I just positioned myself in the middle of the street leading out of the station, in the exact direction Eos had marked in my vision with a small, irritating, pulsing red dot. I took a deep breath, feeling the cold air fill my lungs. I stretched my legs with the calm of someone preparing for a morning run. I did a few little jumps on the spot, just to feel my muscles warm up. And then, I crouched into a runner's stance, my fingers touching the cracked street, my body tense like a bowstring about to be released.
And the pressure returned. But this time, it wasn't the cold, passive aura from before. It was different. The Ethernano around me grew thicker, denser. Static. Small blue sparks, like furious fireflies of pure, condensed magic, began to crackle around my body, dancing over my skin and my clothes, the sound of a million electric insects buzzing in the air. The ground beneath my feet began to vibrate.
Lucy gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "B-but... what is that energy?! What is that?!" She was in shock, and frankly, I didn't blame her.
Not even Happy, who had seen me do a few strange things, seemed to know what to say. He just hovered in the air, his eyes the size of saucers, watching the blue sparks envelop me.
Then, with a confident smile for my stunned companions, I looked at the road ahead, at the distant point in the sky where my target was flying, completely unaware of the predator about to be launched in his direction.
[Concentrated Ethernano release in lower extremities reaching 68% of your current safe limit. Preparing for high-speed kinetic impulse. I recommend closing your mouth to avoid accidental ingestion of insects and airborne debris,] Eos commented, ever so helpful.
I exhaled.
And, suddenly, I took the first step.
And vanished.
To them, it must have looked as if I had simply evaporated. But what I left behind was the proof of my departure. A huge crater had formed at the spot where I had pushed off from the ground, the force of my start pulverising the street and the earth beneath. And in the next instant, the sound. Not the sound of an explosion, but the sound of the air being violently torn apart. A shockwave that expanded from my starting point, shattering every remaining pane of glass in the station's windows and nearby buildings in a shimmering, dangerous rain.
I left behind a crater, a sonic boom, a trail of blue Ethernano sparks that hung in the air for a second before dissipating, and, most importantly, I left behind a group of Fairy Tail mages with expressions of the most absolute and total shock, probably wondering, once again, who the hell I really was.
(Brilliant,) I thought, as the world became a blur of speed before me. (Now I'll have to answer a load of inconvenient questions when this is all over. But at least I'll be in time for tea. Priorities.)