Chapter 8: Chapter 7
Ivan Dreyar had a sudden, inexplicable bad feeling. A cold shiver washed down his spine and an annoying throbbing came from the back of his head. He could see nothing that may have caused this feeling, but it was there nonetheless.
He was seated in his office on the second floor of the Raven Tail guildhall. His Raven Tail guild. He smiled to himself at the thought.
You'll see Makarov! His mind is occupied with thoughts of savoring the look on his father's face on the day that his guild surpasses Fairy Tail. Dark chuckles fill the room and his feeling is brushed to the side.
A couple of minutes later, the scent of blood trails into his office.
Immediately, Ivan jumps to his feet and makes for the door. This isn't just some guild brawl, not even a simple murder when the fights get out of hand. No, when the stench of blood becomes this pungent, it can only mean one thing.
A massacre.
Ivan Dreyar swings the door open and steps out into the hall dressed in his armor and mask as "Alexei". Turning to head down to the main hall, he freezes in place.
Standing at the end of the corridor, just in front of the door to the library, is a ten-year-old child. The child is wearing a black haori with a purple scale pattern which almost looks like the body of a large serpent coiled around him. He thinks it's a boy, but it's hard to tell, what with the long white ponytail that falls down its back. What looks like a human spine sits at the child's hip like a sword.
"Ah," The child exclaims upon seeing him. "Hold on a moment. Just one more, then I'll be ready for you." The voice makes Ivan believe that the child is a boy. He sounds far too happy considering the strength of the bloody odor on his body.
Before Ivan has a chance to gather his thoughts about the bizarre situation, the boy enters the library and a thud sounds out a moment later. The sound of liquid dripping to the ground accompanies the boy's footsteps as he returns to the hallway. When he's back within sight, his left hand is gripping the hair of an elderly woman. It's Margret, the guild librarian, copious amounts of blood escape from the spot where her body should be.
"Ok then," The boy rolls his head to Ivan's feet. "I'm ready to play with you now!"
"Boy-chan, what have you done to my guild?" Ivan calmly asks, he needs to get information first. "Who are you?"
"I'm White." The boy chirps. "As for what I'm doing, I just came here to play a little bit."
"Then, White-chan, what shall we play?" As Ivan talks, he casts an illusion to hide the fact that he's been approaching the child.
"Hmm," The boy puts his finger to his chin. "Then how about a game of tag? I'll be it, so don't let me catch you too ea-*Cough*" Ivan plunges a paper dagger into the White's stomach, twisting it further in as blood spills out of the boy's mouth.
"White-chan, it's no good if you underestimate me like that. It's truly distasteful to kill a child, but that doesn't apply to you." He gloats. "A little devil who reeks of death like you can hardly be considered a child." He lets his magically created dagger fade away and walks past the boy in the direction of the main hall.
Ivan still has to see what happened there. If this boy did kill most of his guild members, he can only hope that at least Kurohebi, Nullpudding, and Obra are alive. If they are alive, there's still a chance to rebuild.
"I thought I said that I was 'it'," A voice pouts from behind him. "Oh well, now it's your turn anyway. Narukami Flash." Ivan hastily turns around, but before he completes the motion he loses his balance and falls to the ground.
An excruciating rush of pain, worse than anything Ivan has ever felt, shoots up his leg. When he looks down to see what happened, there is nothing left below the knee. Half of his leg is lying on the ground perpendicular to his body, both flesh and armor have been cleanly cut through.
"You're 'it'."
Ivan screams in pain, rolling about the floor, but the boy just dips his fingers in the puddle of blood on the floor.
"What the hell are you?!" Ivan shouts, trying to gather his magic enough to cast another illusion. "How aren't you dead?!"
"Dead?" The devil tilts his head to the side. "I can't die, silly. If I died, how would we keep playing our game?"
"You're insane!" Ivan's image talks to White, but his real body is leaning against the wall and hopping down the corridor, slowly but steadily making his escape.
"I said you're it." A gash is cut into the wall, not even 5 inches in front of Ivan's face. "Why are you trying to leave?"
Damn it! He couldn't tell that I was using an illusion last time, how does he know where I am now? Ivan's mind raced, it shouldn't be possible to see through his illusions. Just when he starts to think it was a fluke, he spots something at the edge of his vision. A taut red line of blood connects his leg to White's right index finger.
"What the hell is that?" He sends a paper blade to cut through it, but the blood simply reconnects itself right after.
"I control cells, why should blood be any different?" Comes the calm explanation. "Now hurry up and start playing. You can't get away."
"Damn it! Shikigami Torrent!" Ivan sends streams of magically sharpened paper dolls flying at White, each one tearing into his skin. However, the boy shows no signs of pain and demented laughter fills the air.
"YES! That's how it should be!" The boy's body starts to shift, his legs bend back and his bare feet no longer look human. His toes are now hardened claws and they dig into the floor as he lowers himself into a stance. "My turn." He whispers out and disappears from Ivan's sight.
Ivan turned around to see that the boy had crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the building, severely cracking the stonework and leaving a massive splatter of blood on it. Did he just crack open his head and die?
"Gosh, this is embarrassing. I need to learn how to slow down." White pulls himself up and looks back at Ivan. His face is repairing itself at a visible rate, but he looks confused. "You're not going to scream this time?" He points to the floor in front of Ivan.
Ivan follows his finger and sees his right arm on the floor in front of him. He screams out of equal parts fear and pain and falls to the ground once again. Desperately, he crawls away from the boy.
My illusions won't work, that devil heals any damage it takes, and it attacks too fast for me to see. I can't fight it. I have to run, but it's too fast! I won't make it!
Ivan's thoughts are a mess, fear, and panic overcoming his mind. For the first time in his life, he begins to think he might die.
No! I don't want to die! I'm scared!
He crawls to the door of his office, knowing that he won't make it to the end of the hall.
"You're quitting again?" He looks over his shoulder at the devil that invaded his home. It hasn't moved any closer, but he knows it could reach him in an instant. "Oh well, how about this? I'll be 'it' again, but I'll give you ten seconds to run away. Let's have fun, okay?" The boy cutely claps his hands together and tilts his head to the side. Ivan's heart drops at the boy's words, knowing that he can't run if he wants to. "10"
Why is this happening to me?!
Tears and snot stream down Ivan's face as he desperately crawls for the door with his two remaining limbs.
"9"
I'm scared!
Ivan struggles to pull his body up high enough to reach the doorknob.
"8"
I don't want to die!
The door swings open and he falls inside.
"7"
I can't die here!
He slams the door shut and begins to drag himself towards his desk.
"6"
Somebody! help me!
His hand touches the leg of his desk.
"5"
Anybody!
He heaves his body forward and to the other side. His golden mask falls off.
"4"
Please!
He opens the bottom drawer and pulls out a lacrima.
"3"
Dad!
He tries to connect to the Fairy Tail lacrima.
"2"
Save me!
"Ivan? I thought I told you to never contact me again." For the first time in as long as he can remember, Ivan Dreyar is happy to hear his father's voice.
"Save-" The lacrima is cut in half and the communication cuts off. The devil is standing in the open doorway.
"Sorry, I hope that wasn't anything important." The sincere regret in the devil's voice makes Ivan's stomach curl. "I got bored."
"Wait, wait!" Ivan's back is against the desk and his only remaining hand is waving in front of him. "Don't kill me! I have money, lots of it. If that's no good, I can even give you my guild! Whatever you want, just let me go!"
"You don't have to worry about dying, Ivan Dreyar." The devil purrs. "But I can't let you go." White brings his face directly in front of Ivan's and emerald green eyes stare into black. "I have my orders you see."
"That mark," There's no mistaking the red symbol in the monster's eye. "What does Grimoire Heart want with me?! What did I ever do?!" Ivan cries out, tears still pouring out.
"Nothing. Just blame your bad luck that I was the one sent here." White states in a bland tone before that manic smile returns to his face. "Now then, enough with the boring stuff. Let's get to the main event!" He holds up his hand and, one by one, his fingers turn into sharp blades.
Slowly, painfully, he sinks them into Ivan's eye socket and carves a circle around it.
"No! Stop! It hurts! It hurts it hurts It hurts it hurts It hurts it hurts!" Ivan screams out until his throat tears and blood begins to spray out with his words, but White never stops and he never speeds up. Even as his face and hair are stained red, he maintains the same excruciating pace, using magic to keep Ivan awake for the entire process.
The devil takes his time to inflict the most pain he can. To make sure that his toy lasts for as long as possible.
Two hours later, the boy walks out of Raven Tails guildhall admiring his sword. There is a third eye with a black iris looking back at him.
....
Hades ended the scrying magic that he'd been using to monitor White with a heavy sigh.
Normally, the boy is so unexpressive and emotionless that he comes off as robotic. Once he finds something that can make him stronger though, he begins to become unhinged. Hades has seen it a few times now, and each viewing is just as unsettling as the last.
Once White begins to unravel, it's already too late for anyone in his way. With every kill, every drop of blood spilled, his veil of sanity is pulled further and further away. Eventually, he is overcome by his bloodlust, fueled by the death and chaos around him.
When that happens, the boy becomes something that Hades would hesitate to even call human. He becomes a monster in every sense of the word. A monster more ruthless than any he had ever seen in the past.
Hades remembers the first time he saw the boy's mask fall off.
He was watching White's first mission, an execution order for a member of the guild who had trained him before. He didn't detect any abnormalities as he watched the fight, all the way up until White's chest was pierced by the target's sword.
At first, Hades was merely shocked by the fact that there existed someone who would willingly allow his heart to be pierced, just to expose an opening in their enemy's defense. Then he noticed the boy's face.
It was an expression that didn't belong to a 7-year-old child. White pulled the sword out of his chest with a face of euphoria so great that had he been any older, Hades would have been convinced he had climaxed. His eyes were rolled up and an inhumanly wide smile stretched his mouth.
His voice after that was chilling, even when it wasn't directed at Hades himself. The man pleaded for his life through his sobs, but White paid him no heed. He lavished on the man's suffering and kept that horrible smile on his face, even as he carved out his brains.
That insanity is most likely something he carried over from his time in Brain's experiment. Nobody could enter something like that at such a young age and survive, not unless they're completely insane on the inside.
Honestly, Hades is a little bit afraid of the boy. He is stronger than him for now, but White's magic is an anomaly. He doesn't know for sure if he could kill the boy. Keeping a monster on a leash always comes with the risk of being eaten by it. However, the old master of Grimoire Heart has already committed to his decision.
If he is going to raise a monster, it will be the most vicious monster in the entire world. A monster that will tear apart anything that he puts in its path. It will be an unstoppable blade, an unavoidable death for anyone who would be an enemy to Hades.
...
Mirajane Strauss cried and cried, but no amount of tears would help her.
She had lost another sibling.
Lisanna had died.
Mirajane failed to protect her little siblings yet again. She was arrogant and stupid. She picked a quest that was above her level, thinking nothing could threaten her, and Lisanna and Elfman paid the price for it.
The monster had beaten her and Elfman had to force himself to try Take Over Magic on something too strong for him to control in an attempt to protect her. Even when Elfman lost control, she could do nothing but watch as the beast took over. Lisanna was the one to step forward and try to save him. Only her death brought Elfman back to his senses. They never even found her corpse.
Mirajane is a failure of an older sister. She was impatient to get stronger, to find a lead on Cyrus. She was so focused on finding her missing little brother, that she overlooked the two siblings she still had. She took them for granted and now she has lost someone precious yet again.
Even her magic has given up on her. She can't feel her magic at all. Now that Lisanna is dead, she can't muster up the power to fight. Makarov always said that magic runs on emotions. Her magic is fueled by her powerful desire to save her little brother, but Lisanna is dead. She can't save her.
Maybe she has subconsciously given up on Cyrus as well. Maybe that's why her magic wasn't strong enough to save Lisanna. Magic is based on wishful thinking that she doesn't truly believe can't possibly be strong enough to protect anyone.
Mirajane can't help but think that she's just too pathetic as she cries into her pillow. She knows that at a time like this, she should be there for Elfman. Elfman probably feels just as bad as she does, but she just can't do it. She's scared that he will blame her and come to hate her. She knows that it's all her fault and he has every right to hate her, but hearing that from her only remaining family would kill her. She's such a terrible big sister.
Cyrus, I'm sorry but your big sister can't do this anymore. She's giving up.
Mirajane's heart feels like someone took a hammer to it as soon as she finished that thought.
...
Honestly, Hades should be more considerate of me. He sends me out to every little dark guild that he thinks is about to go under these days. I can't even remember the last time I had more than a week to myself. I'm just a kid Hades, Treat me more carefully you jerk!
I internally grumble to myself as I walk through the woods on yet another execution. He's been having me do so many of these that I've become famous in Earthland's underworld. They even gave me an edgy moniker! The Balam Executioner, they call me.
Still, it's not all bad this time.
Four days ago, this guild's master came to the Grimoire Heart airship to ask Hades for help. You can see for yourself how that went, but some good did come from her visit.
I was bored, so I chatted with her for a bit. She looked terrified, but she answered honestly to all my questions. Naturally, those questions were about her magic, and it's quite interesting. It's called Body Restriction magic, and anybody she touches can't move for a time after. I couldn't help but notice that her blue eyes were quite pretty as well.
I have high hopes for her magic because the last one was a bit of a letdown. Ivan Dreyer's illusion magic requires finer control than my manipulation allows me to have. All that I can manage is to cast illusions on the sword itself. Things like changing its perceived length or shape, or shifting its position a few inches to the side.
Don't get me wrong, those effects are still tremendously helpful. It's just that compared to what he could do with it, it's lackluster.
Still, I cheer myself up as I near my destination. I saw something in the Fiore newspaper yesterday that made it hard for my mood to stay down ever since.
There was a guild war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord 3 days ago.
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