"Myst… gan," the King froze for a second.
"Is that your name in the other world? Je—," he muttered, repeating the name he once knew so well—and later grew to despise.
A few moments later, something seemed to click. He slowly lifted his head, his gaze a tangled mess of emotions as he looked at Roger and asked a question no one saw coming:
"What exactly… is a guild?"
"A guild, huh?" Roger tilted his head back, lost in memories for a beat before answering with a soft smile:
"It's a place full of noise and laughter."
"That's where you find friends who get you—companions who aren't blood, but feel closer than family."
"You can take jobs there to earn a living, or just kick back with your buddies, chugging drinks, swapping stories, sharing food… or hey, sometimes you just sit with the people you care about and do absolutely nothing."
Scenes from the Fairy Tail guild flashed through his mind—warm, chaotic, perfect. The corners of his mouth curled into a gentle, genuine grin:
"They'll laugh like idiots one minute, then hug each other and bawl when someone gets hurt or leaves."
"Sure, they bicker nonstop. Sometimes a tiny argument turns into a full-on brawl that wrecks half the building—"
"But the second a real enemy shows up? Every single one of them stands shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to fight together."
"It's loud. It's messy. But it's… warm."
His eyes settled back on the King, voice steady yet kind:
"Whether it's pain or joy—not everything, but a lot of it… everyone shares it. Carries it together."
"That's a guild."
"Sha… ring… bu… rden…" The King stared blankly at the heartfelt smile on Roger's face, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his eyes.
He whispered the words like he was tasting them for the first time.
"A guild…?"
A sudden whoosh of footsteps—Natsu burst in like a hurricane, cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes blazing.
"Roger! That insanely cool robot—was that Daphne's work?!?!"
"It was awesome! When did she even build that?! I want one!!"
"Just two days ago," Roger chuckled.
"Originally meant for sparring with the guild to test the mech's performance. Didn't expect we'd need it here in Edolas."
"The data from the two mechs clashing was way more than expected. Daphne's gonna love it."
"Ughhh, so jealous—" Natsu groaned, staring at the sky like he could still see the white mech soaring.
"If I had one of those, fighting would be so much fun!"
Happy fluttered down, landing in front of the slumped-over King.
He'd somehow snagged a little stick, holding it like a baton and pointing it dramatically at the King, puffing out his chest like a tiny interrogator:
"You! Right now! Tell me—what exactly is the Transcendents' mission?!"
Lucy facepalmed nearby, muttering under her breath:
"(=_=) Wow. I'm witnessing true 'fake it till you make it' energy."
"That tone—like you're the one who took down the Dragon Knight."
"Hmph!" Happy stuck his nose in the air, one paw on his hip, tail swishing proudly.
"Roger and I are guildmates! He beat the bad guy, so technically I beat the bad guy! Close enough!"
He shook his head like a wise old man. "Lucy was spacing out earlier and didn't even listen to Roger."
"It's called sharing, Lucy. Sharing."
He threw his paws up with a dramatic sigh: "Girls who don't pay attention aren't popular, y'know~"
A giant "#" popped on Lucy's forehead.
"Mind your own business, you dumb cat. And for the record, I'm not a simp."
Happy immediately turned his head away, pretending not to hear, and jabbed the stick at the King again:
"Spill it! What's the mission?!"
Lucy: "—"
"=_= This guy… just ignored the simp thing—"
"Is he even a cat? Or a dog in disguise?"
The King, finally snapping out of his daze, spoke in a hoarse, hollow voice:
"I… don't know the full details."
"All I know is—it was a direct order from Queen Exdalia herself."
"The Transcendents sent to the other world had a special mission: locate and guide the Dragon Slayers to Edolas."
"To use the immense magic in their bodies… to improve—or even save—this world where magic is running dry."
"Wh—WHAT?!" Lucy clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers.
"Wait! Queen Exdalia—isn't she a Transcendent too?!"
"Does that mean the Anima plan to suck magic was her idea?!"
"No," the King shook his head, a complicated look on his face.
"The Anima plan was proposed and led by me and Minister Byro."
"The Transcendents' role was only to secretly send their newborn eggs through the Anima passage to your world… to carry out the plan of bringing back the Dragon Slayers."
"As for the rest…" His gaze drifted far away.
"Allow me to explain," a calm, regal voice floated down like a gentle breeze.
Everyone looked up.
A pristine white cat, radiating elegance, descended slowly from the sky.
She wore a luxurious gemstone cloak, a tiny crown studded with jewels perched on her head.
Flanking her were five elderly cats—wrinkled, stern, and serious.
"Q-Queen…" the King stammered, staring in shock.
"Huh? Queen?" Wendy whispered, gaping at the majestic white cat. "That's the Queen of Exdalia?! She looks… so refined!"
One of the elder cats glared at the King on the ground and Delinquent Lucy in the Aslant group, barking sternly:
"Insignificant pests! Step aside! You have no place speaking here!"
The King's face twisted bitterly. With a long, weary sigh, he struggled to his feet and shuffled away.
Delinquent Lucy instinctively bowed her head, ready to obey.
But Mirajane stepped forward first, planting herself in front of Lucy.
She looked up, her usual warmth replaced by icy calm, staring down the Transcendents.
"She's our teammate. You don't get to dismiss her."
Narrowing her eyes, she continued: "So, Your Majesty—what brings you here in person?"
A surge of powerful magic rippled from her.
"Or… are you here to capture the Dragon Slayers, just like before?"
"You cannot speak to the Queen like that!" Delinquent Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin, grabbing Mira's sleeve from behind and whispering frantically:
"As an 'Angel,' the Queen has the power to execute people on the spot!"
"All she has to do is name someone—and soon after, they die from some freak illness or accident! It's terrifying!"
"Curse magic?" Mira's blue eyes narrowed, carefully sensing the magic radiating from the white cat.
(It's faint… weaker than even Happy's.)
"From what I know, curse magic that kills instantly requires a massive cost to cast."
"And using dark magic like that repeatedly leaves a cold, tainted aura that can't be hidden."
"With how little magic she has—and how calm and neutral it feels—she couldn't cast deadly curses multiple times."
"Whatever the King thinks she has… it's not 'name and kill' magic."
"Huh?" Delinquent Lucy blinked, stunned.
This was the first time in her life anyone had questioned the "Angels'" power.
(But these people from the other world are strong. They know way more about magic than we do…)
(Could it be… the legend that Angels can kill with a word… is fake?)
Still confused, she tilted her head: "But… if the Queen can't kill people, why do the ones she 'sentences' always end up dead?"
Erza crossed her arms, thinking hard before speaking:
"In As aslant, magic that causes bizarre, instant death is extremely rare."
"And every single one requires the caster to have massive magic reserves and a strong body—or the spell backfires and kills them instead."
She rubbed her chin, brow furrowed. "But… there's another kind of magic that can 'see' death."
"Not exactly 'see death'… more like…"
"Seeing someone's future death."
Kana's eyes lit up. "You mean—like fortune-telling? Or prophecy magic?"
"Exactly!" Erza nodded.
"Magic that peeks into the future doesn't usually need huge power—unless you're trying to see way ahead or involve insanely strong beings."
Connecting it to Lucy's info, she continued:
"And you said the people she 'sentences' die soon after?"
"Then it's safe to assume the Queen's power isn't a curse—it's prophecy."
"She just foresees their deaths and makes it look like she's passing divine judgment."
Clap, clap—
Soft paw pads patted together in applause.
Everyone looked up—the white cat Queen was clapping with her tiny paws, a pleased smile on her face:
"Brilliant and accurate deduction. As expected from those mentioned in the prophecy."
"Pro… phecy?" Lucy's head slowly tilted, full of question marks.
The Queen gently unclasped her ornate cloak with a paw, revealing simpler clothes underneath.
One elder cat hesitated, stepping forward as if to stop her, but she silenced him with a look and a small gesture.
"The critical point in the prophecy has already occurred."
"If we keep hiding the truth… our entire Transcendent race may face extinction."
The elders' worried expressions faded into resigned sighs. They stepped back silently.
The Queen approached Roger, placed her left paw over her chest, and gave a small bow, voice sincere:
"Greetings, friends from Aslant."
"I am Charlotte, Queen of the Transcendents."
"As you've deduced, my power is prophecy."
Delinquent Lucy's eyes nearly popped out: "It's… actually prophecy?!"
Wendy, confused, asked: "Then… why spread rumors that you executed people?"
Charlotte tilted her head, a sad, helpless smile on her face as she sighed:
"Because… we are too weak."
"The Transcendents have always been a vulnerable, oppressed race."
"We have magic in our bodies, but we can't use it to fight. Our bodies are frail. We have almost no way to resist outside threats."
"To survive—to protect our people—we had to pretend to be powerful and untouchable."
"At first, no human believed we had 'divine punishment' powers."
"But when I used my prophecy to predict and announce the deaths of guilty people who were already going to die soon from natural causes…"
"…and they did die shortly after…"
"Gradually, humans began to fear and revere us."
"From then on, every so often, we would 'condemn' someone I foresaw dying—and claim it was divine punishment from the 'Angels.'"
"And just like that… humans stopped daring to harm us. Instead, they worshipped us as untouchable beings with the power of life and death."
Her gaze drifted to the defeated King sitting far off.
"Even the King… feared this 'power' and didn't dare cross us."
"That's… how it was?!" A shocked voice came from behind.
Everyone turned—Lilly had limped over at some point.
He looked rough—face bruised purple and blue, his proud panther features comically swollen, his signature weapon chewed up like a beast had gnawed on it.
Standing beside him was Gajeel, arms crossed, grinning like he'd won the lottery, nose practically in the clouds.
Everyone: "—"
Lucy's mouth twitched at Lilly's state.
"=_= I know you won… but did you have to go that hard?"
"He's a mess—think he'll still agree to be your cat?"
"Gehehe!" Gajeel wiped his nose with a thumb, flashing a toothy grin.
"Of course! That's the power of my unmatched charm!"
"Wow," Happy muttered, one ear flopping down as he deadpanned at Gajeel. "This guy's ego is beyond saving. Totally unlike me—I'm super handsome, but I never brag—"
Lucy: "(←_←) You two are exactly the same. Pot, kettle."
Charlotte looked at Lilly, lowering her head in deep guilt:
"I'm so sorry, Lilly. The fewer people who knew the truth, the better."
"That's why, after you brought that child back to Exdalia… we had to exile you and brand you a 'Fallen Angel.'"
Her voice cracked: "If the secret got out—that we're actually this weak—our entire race would be doomed."
One elder cat rushed forward, frantic: "No! Your Majesty, this isn't your fault! We old fools made the decision to exile Lilly!"
"We insisted! Charlotte was heartbroken! If anyone deserves blame, it's us!"
Lilly stared at the elders who once banished him, then at the guilt-ridden Charlotte. After a long silence, he let out a heavy breath and waved a paw.
"Forget it. No point digging up the past now."
But his eyes sharpened as he locked onto the lead elder:
"But… you're risking everything—exposing your greatest secret to these people."
"That means… Queen Charlotte has foreseen something new, hasn't she?"
"Yes," Charlotte said softly, lifting her gaze past the group to land on Shagotte—who had been frowning, tense and conflicted from the start.
"You asked about the 'mission' earlier."
She paused, then declared solemnly:
"But the truth is… the Transcendents sent to Aslant never had any 'mission' at all."
"You're lying!!" Shagotte snapped like a cat whose tail got stepped on, eyes wide, paws flailing as she shouted:
"From the moment I can remember, I've had clear memories of Edolas—and a duty to bring the Dragon Slayers here!!"
"How could there be no mission?!"
Charlotte remained calm, voice gentle:
"Those memories and images that appeared in your mind… weren't an assigned 'mission.'"
"They were—like mine—your innate prophecy ability."
"Pro—PROPHECY?!" Nearly everyone shouted in unison.
"Yes." Charlotte nodded.
"You were too young to know you had this power, so it activated on its own, without control."
"Once it did, fragments of the future burned themselves into your young mind."
"You couldn't understand this sudden 'knowledge'… so you naturally interpreted it as a 'mission' you had to complete."
"That's… impossible…" Shagotte's eyelids twitched violently. Reeling from the shock, she staggered back two steps.
She clutched her head with both paws, pupils shrinking.
"You're saying… the 'mission' I've believed in my whole life—the one that tormented and confused me…"
"…was all just… unconscious glimpses of the future?!"
read my new story : Naruto I Have an Attribute Panel