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CHAPTER START---
Days after Laxus and Oberon left Magnolia, the Fairy Tail guildhall is quiet on a regular early morning.
And standing in front of the S-Class Job Board on the second floor, Gildarts stares at the few listen Jobs with disdain and annoyance. Travel bag on his back and well rested after the recent parties and celebrations, he's ready to go on his next adventure.
But for some reason, his legs wouldn't move.
"Trouble choosing?" Master Makarov asks while walking over to the man. He hops onto a nearby table and takes a seat.
"Something like that. It's just, these Jobs should be easy. But they're a bit…"
"Far away?"
Gildarts turns to the man. "Yeah. How'd you know."
"I had the same problem when Ivan was born. You go from being free to adventure as far and long as you want, and then, you suddenly have something that keeps pulling you back here, to home."
Gildarts walks over to the railing and leans on it, back facing the mostly empty guildhall. "I've been asking myself 'why' ever since I found out about Cana. And for the life of me I couldn't understand it, until maybe now."
"She didn't want you choosing between your job and your family. After all, the work you do saves lives," Makarov says. "If you chose your family, people may die because of it, and there is a chance that could lead to your relationship with her and Cana becoming sour."
"And if I chose my job, Cana would know she wasn't the most important thing to me. Well now I suppose there isn't much of a choice, is there?"
"Since you're going to be hanging around for a while, why not becoming guildmaster?"
"Ha! Not a chance. I'll only take smaller Jobs and do emergency requests until she's older, but after that I want to continue exploring this world. It sucks that this happens just as the heat from the legal changes subsides and we're cleared for Jobs far from Fiore again, but I'm not missing any more time with her."
"A wise choice, and not the one I made, so its definitely the correct route."
Gildarts frowns and walks over to the man, dropping his travel bag onto the table. "You know, Ivan may be a piece of work, but Laxus is a great kid, and that one is on you too. You're a really great grandfather."
"Thank you, I certainly try my best with him."
"The result show ever day. He'll be a great guildmaster one day. And I know I'll be a lot more relaxed knowing Cana will have him and Oberon looking out for her."
"Speaking of Cana, has she shown any interest in Crash Magic yet?"
Gildarts feels like someone poured cold water down his back. "Ugh! She still just wants the Card Magic stuff! I don't get how my kid doesn't think breaking stuff is cool!"
"She got her mother's smarts, that's all."
He glares at the older man, and Makarov laughs. "Whatever. I wouldn't know how to teach it anyway. Think Oberon can make me a Grimoire with it?"
"You'd have to use it within the Boundless Cosmos for him to more easily understand it first, but probably. They should be a back in a few weeks."
"Where did they go anyway?"
"Iceberg, the Magic Council broke up some cult that had a large underground lair. Oberon recognized part of a ritual they were doing so they invited him to investigate."
"Iceberg huh."
"Northern coast. At the Peninsula Cities."
"Ugh. That's like what, twenty five days by sleeper train, each way. Can't believe Laxus volunteered for that."
"I think Oberon has some way to help him with the motion sickness, or he'll just knock him out a lot," Makarov shrugs. "But I figured this would be a good enough time for Laxus to finally get to leave Fiore. Ivan isn't dumb enough to approach him while Oberon is there, assuming he is on Ishgar."
"Good call. Well, since I'm not going on any big Jobs I should go talk to Cana's aunt while she's in school. I'll go tell her I don't plan to leave Magnolia for more than a few days at a time aside from Emergency Requests. She's still living with the woman, and I'm hoping it stays that way for a while…"
"So your company can keep visiting."
"And so I can get rid of all the alcohol I have everywhere in my house before Cana visits. Ugh, cutting back on the drinking is the hardest part of being a dad…"
---Undisclosed Location…
Sitting at a desk within his private laboratory, a tall, well-built man with a long white beard and matching hair on his head with an eyepatch over his right eye, carefully plots runic sequences in his Grimoire. Beside it is a copy of a Grimoire he's borrowing knowledge from.
Beside him at the far end of the room is a large tube, filled with green liquid, containing the still-beating heart of a demon, connected to various tubes and instruments. He continues working on his Grimoire with only the steady beat of the demon heart echoing through the room.
Until minutes later, a cloaked figure hastily enters. "Master Hades, we have a problem."
Hades stops his work and turns to face the figure. "What is it now?"
"We've just gotten word from one of our people in the Magic Council, they discovered a Resurrection Tower in Iceberg."
Hades frowns. "A tower can easily be rebuilt, a minor setback at worst."
"But, they weren't able to destroy the rune chamber before the Light Wizards took over, and now they're expecting Oberon to arrive and study it."
Hades sighs. "This does complicate things. Do we have anyone nearby?"
"Not close enough to arrive before him."
"And the only person that could fight him is me, which isn't an option. I need Makarov to think I'm dead, otherwise I'll have my old student hunting me down."
"Could we not take this chance to ambush him on the way back to Fiore?"
Hades reaches for the Grimoire he was copying notes from, waving it for the man to see. "This Grimoire contains Fairy Law, the most powerful Magic, and that boy likely has it. And even if he doesn't, Makarov does. Not to mention Makarov already gave him the other two Fairy Magics. What a mess, back when I was master of Fairy Tail I at least waited until Makarov was an adult before handing him Fairy Law…"
The man sees Hades reminiscing, and decides to snap him out of it. "About to towers, what should we do?"
"Ah, that. It doesn't matter. Oberon will likely solve what their true purpose is. We can continue that operation with the secret 8th tower hidden off the coast of Fiore. For now, cut all ties and resources from the seven on the continent. Consider them a lost cause, and treat them as such."
"But, we invested so much into those."
"And now they're forsaken," Hades says. "Unless you think you're capable of stopping Oberon."
"Uh, no, Master Hades."
"As I thought. Send observers to each location, let's use this opportunity to collect all the information we have. To see if the Magic Council is exaggerating their tales of this 'Prodigy of the age'."
"As you wish, Master Hades. Is there anything else you desire?"
"Hmm, contact Ivan. Tell him I need him to take a message to my contact in Alvarez. Contact him as Hades, not Master Precht of Fairy Tail. I still can't trust that boy, but he is a good courier to August…"
"Speaking of our affairs on other continents. There is movement on Guiltina."
"We can't do much on the northern continent while the Dragon Kings persist. If I begin to grow as powerful as intended, they would try to stop me."
"That I am aware of. But the Demon, Deliora, has emerged. We could capture it."
Hades scoffs. "I'm not making such a journey for that feeble little thing. Not to mention the risk of my cover being blown. The current Demon Heart is far stronger than Deliora, extracting more power from it is a better use of my time."
"I see. And is there anything more you require, Master Hades."
"No, and if that's all you have to say, leave me to my work. If any of the powerful Demons of Zeref arise, then you may interrupt. But I will not halt my work and reach into the mud for the likes of Deliora."
"As you wish, Master Hades," the man quietly excuses himself, eagerly moving to follow his master's orders.
And Hades gets back to work, but he can't regain his focus, mind clouded by a singular thought. "Oberon, that boy. Makarov isn't the type to prop up anyone who doesn't deserve it, especially not to the extent of the Magic Council praising you. Perhaps it is time I checked in on my old guild…"
CHAPTER END---
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pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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