Chapter 82: The Vanishing Village, the Power That Will Not Return (2)
The Chairman of the Council, ERA.
Beneath this place there was an underground prison that confined criminals who had committed great crimes in the magical world.
Among those subterranean cells, the lowest solitary cell — the darkest, dampest one that no light reached — held a woman with hair as white as silk, breathing raggedly.
"..."
Only the sound of dripping water could be heard in the darkness when the cell door opened and the torchlight illuminated the room.
From the open door stepped a warder in uniform — Ciel — who glared at the prisoner chained inside: the former Oracion Seis member Angel (Soranо).
"What an intriguing sight."
Her prison clothes had been torn to rags from lashings. Soranо, reduced to something barely recognizable as clothing, looked like a beggar. Ciel approached her.
"Yes — that anguished face. I came here to see that expression of yours."
Ciel smiled as he regarded Soranо, whose body was covered in wounds from all manner of torture.
From where she lay, Soranо glared up at Ciel and spoke.
"Is it so enjoyable for you to torment people, Ciel?"
"This isn't Ciel. Call me 'warder'."
When she said his name, Ciel struck the wall with the whip in his hand.
Soranо shrieked in surprise.
Recovering her composure, she spat in his face.
"Pfft!"
"…You still have the will to resist, then."
"Ciel — I won't submit to this."
"I said call me 'warder' many times already… you really are slow on the uptake."
In the next moment, Ciel loosened the neatly tied necktie, threw aside the whip he'd been holding, and drew from his waist a riding crop.
"It seems that a villain like you needs a strict lesson."
"What do you intend to do to me?"
"I'm going to interrogate you myself."
....
"Happy~, Leaders~ what are you two working on?"
"Ah… Mi… Mirajane?!"
"Ah… um!!"
In the guild's tavern, everyone gathered around to see Leaders' drawing and to listen to Happy's narration. Mirajane — in her Satan Soul form — stood before the two of them as they were speaking.
Beside Reedus was the drawing that matched Happy's story — the picture of Ciel and Angel (Sorano).
When Mirajane appeared, Reedus' face turned pale as he hastily smeared white paint over the illustration and tried to explain himself.
"Th–that… I was just recording what happened during the Oración Seis subjugation, so I asked Happy for the details and drew it down…"
"I only asked him for illustrations so we could tell the story to the other guilds…"
"You two… do you not realize exaggerated rumors can become poison?"
With a flick of her tail, Mirajane tore the picture to shreds and glared at Reedus and Happy with venomous eyes.
The two clung to each other, swallowing hard.
Mirajane stretched out her hand toward them.
"Bad children need punishment, don't they?"
"I'm not a child though…"
"Reedus, that's not the point right now!"
"Both of you — prepare yourselves!"
"Gyaaaaaaaahhh!!"
"Nyyaaaaaaaahhh!!"
The guild hall resounded with Reedus and Happy's blood-curdling cries, drawing everyone's eyes toward them.
Everyone instinctively understood: if they provoked her too, they'd be next.
Terrified, Lucy and Wendy quickly turned their eyes toward the shelves lined with bottles at the bar.
"W–Wendy! Don't look! If you see this, we'll meet a terrible fate too!"
"Y–Yes!!"
"Men… why must they always create things like this that provoke women's tempers?"
Feeling a little sour, Charle cast Happy a disdainful glance before turning her head away.
Lucy, wanting to break the oppressive atmosphere of fear, tried to steer the conversation back to what they had been discussing moments before.
"It was July 7th, X777, right? The day the dragon who raised Wendy disappeared."
"Yes. The dragons who taught me and Natsu Dragon Slayer magic all vanished on the same day."
"Now that you mention it… I think Natsu said Gajeel's dragon disappeared that day too…"
As the mood finally eased a little, Lucy sighed in relief inwardly and focused on the story.
The dragons who had raised Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel — parents in all but blood.
And Ciel, who had been their elder brother, mentor, and guardian. He too had vanished seven years ago — on July 7th, X777.
The same day the dragons disappeared.
Lucy wondered what kind of connection all of this could possibly have.
"What kind of trick of fate is this?"
"Was it some kind of picnic day or something?"
"Lucy, you do say some cold things at times."
"But wait, Ciel also disappeared with the dragons, right? Then shouldn't he know something about it?"
At Lucy's question, Wendy shook her head.
"He said he doesn't remember exactly what happened that day either. When he opened his eyes, he realized the dragon who raised him had vanished as well."
"I see… Fire Dragon Igneel, Iron Dragon Metalicana, Sky Dragon Grandeeney, Phantom Dragon Phoenixia. Where… could they all be now?"
All the dragons who had raised Dragon Slayers vanished on the same day.
And Ciel, too, had disappeared with them, only to later reappear, battered and broken, in Mirajane's village.
Wendy had once asked him directly about it, but he only avoided the question, saying he had no memory of that day.
The coincidence, and his strangely evasive answers, set off alarm bells for Lucy and Wendy — but no matter how they turned it over in their minds, they could not find the answer.
"Sha… Charle!"
Beaten black and blue by Mirajane earlier, a big lump still on his head, Happy came shuffling in with a silly grin, holding a ribbon-tied fish.
"This… I caught this fish. I wanted to give it to you, Charle."
"I don't need it. …I hate fish."
Charle rejected him flatly.
Eager to win her heart, Happy pressed on anyway.
"R–really? Then what do you like? Next time I'll—"
"Quiet! Stop bothering me."
Charle's sharp reply left Happy crestfallen.
Wendy, unhappy with her friend's harshness, chased after Charle as she walked out of the guild.
"Wait, Charle!"
"Hmph."
"Charle! Don't you think that was too much?!"
....
Kardia Cathedral Graveyard.
Ciel placed a bouquet of white flowers upon Lisanna's gravestone.
As he set the flowers down, the sky began to drizzle with a quiet, somber rain.
"Lisanna, it's been a while. With your anniversary drawing near, perhaps even the heavens mourn with us."
Ciel began telling her about everything that had happened.
The subjugation of Oración Seis, the return to the guild, wandering from place to place taking requests alongside Wendy so she could adapt — lighthearted but warm stories.
It was his way of keeping the promise he had once made before Lisanna's grave.
As he spoke, a shadow appeared behind him, striding through the rain — Mystogan.
"Ciel, Anima will soon activate."
"Yes, I know."
"The Dragon Slayers may not be turned into lacrima by its effects, but the other world has limited magic. Whether you'll be able to use your magic there… that's uncertain. It worries me."
"I understand. But I have my own power beyond magic. This Mist Spear, for example."
Ciel answered calmly, forming a spear of mist at his fingertips.
A great calamity was about to descend upon the town.
It was destiny — and these two men steeled themselves to fight against it.
"…Your earring is burning?"
"Ah… well, well. Seems it's been so long since I prepared myself like this that even this earring is responding."
Mystogan flinched as Ciel's left earring flared with indigo flames. But seeing no danger, he reached into his pocket and handed over a small box.
"Take this."
"What is it?"
"I'm heading to Fairy Tail now to explain the situation to the Dragon Slayers. And once I cross over there, I'll have my own tasks to handle — I won't be able to give you advice."
"I see."
"That's a memory-recording magic tool. I've stored my advice about that other world inside it. When the set time comes, my thought-projection will emerge and guide you."
"You really do prepare some incredible things."
"Then…"
With those words, Mystogan stepped out into the pouring rain, disappearing down the road.
Ciel watched him for a moment, then lifted his gaze to the heavens.
"Lisanna… once again, I cannot bring this story to a pleasant end. What lies ahead will surely be a merciless catastrophe. But I will resolve it… to protect the family you loved… and…"
He faltered. The words caught in his throat.
After a brief pause, he swallowed his hesitation, turned back toward Lisanna's gravestone, and smiled softly.
"No… I will fight to protect my precious family."
Yet he could not bring himself to say what his heart truly wanted: to protect Mirajane, the woman he loved.
He had come to understand the meaning of love — but within him lingered hesitation and fear.
Fear that, with his immortal body that would never age nor die, he might taint Mirajane's pure, radiant soul.
Anxieties whispered: Does a monster like me even have the right to love someone?
And so, he held back.
"I… am…"
But before the words could form, the sky tore apart.
Dark storm clouds split open, revealing a swirling vortex as blinding light flooded Magnolia.
"What… is this?!"
Ciel shielded his eyes as the distortion in the sky roared above.
It was here — the ultimate spatial magic. Anima.
Anima's colossal force swallowed all of Magnolia in its radiance, dragging the city into its abyss.
Already knowing the truth of it, Ciel slipped the magic device Mystogan had entrusted to him into his pocket.
Then, without hesitation, he hurled himself into the consuming vortex.
.....
At that same moment.
On a small floating island at the edge of Edolas…
A man stood, watching as Anima's light descended upon the capital.
His hair, the deep blue of the ocean, was tied neatly back. In one hand he swirled a cup of sake, savoring the sight with calm elegance.
He wore the flowing robes of the Eastern nation — a pale lavender kimono draped beneath a black haori, which only emphasized his refined, noble beauty.
"Ohh… so the time has come, at last. To meet… my…"
He sipped slowly, savoring the taste, then rose to his feet.
From his sleeve he drew a kiseru pipe, lit it, and began walking gracefully toward the forest.
"Well then… perhaps it's time I returned to the royal capital~."
In his right eye glowed a crimson sigil — the mark of the Oni.
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