The Gray In Between

Vandrad stated his immediate report for duty, which the shaman nodded in acceptance. They both entered the elevator and began descending down to the lower level of the guild hall where job requests from people with wishes of needing extra mercenary strength, assassinations, bandit raids and other missions going beyond the law that the Magic Council had placed could be found. Mostly people who put all of their trust on the guild’s shoulders would send requests through this channel, and yet one’s hands would be full with all the objectives available today. Some missions aimed to ruin the fortune of barons disliked by whole towns, while others required one to break into other people’s properties to retrieve and deliver stolen heirlooms. Everything in between, now in their hands to fulfil.

However, this mission hit too close to home. And Mura decided to explain it to Vandrad once the elevator’s doors opened again to reveal the medium-sized room full of grey safes. The files stored in here were only available by Fairy Tail Wizards who could scan their marks on the elevator’s scanner, and it was stored away in safety should another attack on the guild take place.

“They were. A dark guild, and quite infamous… and they had a lot of issues with us,” he began explaining as the Guildmaster walked out onto the smooth, concrete floor and quickly found himself in front of one of the safes. A golden sprite - a fairy-like creature that looked like a flying, intelligent infant made of sparkling fire - opened the safe for him and handed a paper from a client who revealed the location of the ex-Savage Skull member in the small River Village.

“No other guild has assaulted us and our place as much as Savage Skull…” Mura stated to his new, stoic guildmate near him as he clenched the paper, “… and many innocent lives have been taken by them. Even from among ourselves.” Yes… a sore, sour reality was that many Fairy Tail Wizards had been dealing with Savage Skull’s terrors in the past, and either directly or indirectly, the guild’s own, previous Masters suffered tragic fates by their hands.

Vandrad had literally just joined the guild. He was from Bellum, so Mura could at least still work with the fact that the Energy Monarch hadn’t heard of Savage Skull before. They were a Fiorian menace and a nightmare from the past… and yet still full of loose ends. And the last thing that Mura wanted was a revival of the wretched guild. “I won’t allow the revival of a mortal enemy to Fairy Tail. Even if it’s just one ex-member - we’re going to seek him out and eliminate him before a fourth comeback of that guild comes to us.” With that said, the shaman stuffed the paper down into his pants’ pocket and closed the safe before approaching the elevator again. “Hopefully, our client Riverwood who lives there can give us some clues or lead us to the ex-member. We’re going to do this on 100 percent efficiency, no casualties and minimal property damage. And here.” Finishing his sentence, Mura tossed a silver circlet over to Vandrad that radiated with magic power.

“Just in case if we need to be stealthy. They’ll veil our faces and bodies into blurs and make us unrecognizable.”

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

River Village was small and surrounded by a river, so Mura was already thinking some things. No fucking way would the ex-member be located inside the small village where a single tourist group could meet every single villager in under half an hour. Beyond the river were grassy plains with tall grass - ideal hiding spots for predators seeking some of the cattle that lived there… and ideal as well for secret passages.

But first, Mura needed to know about the ex-member and his whereabouts. He needed to know how the village had been, and how it had been doing with the ex-member living around. To sum it up, he just wanted to make sure that no one had been wronged by the ex-Savage Skull member. That was why he met up with his client, Riverwood - a tall, blonde fisherman wearing a net shirt and isolated leather pants - who greeted them both with the offering of a handshake before speaking:

“I’ve done my best trying to get into people’s cliques and all, and it seems that most of the villagers… well, they don’t really like Fairy Tail anymore. I know, crazy, right?” he would explain to them, “It just happened overnight! I don’t think you should show off your Guild Crests, even…!” Mura sighed, not because that his backup was needed, but because he once again felt necessary to hide his Guild Mark. He would put on the circlet - he had brought one for himself, too - and let his body blur out until it looked like dust was escaping his skin constantly, creating the blur effect. “W-Woah, nice cover… anyway, uhhh, I don’t know if anyone wants to talk. I tried asking my neighbor, but he almost stabbed me to death… I had to laugh it off as a joke for him to calm down again.”

Mura gazed towards the entrance to the village in deep thought. Most people never took him seriously, so him asking people around and threatening them would trigger the wrong reactions. He didn’t want an all-out war on the villagers… he needed to intimidate them into ratting out the ex-member. “I might need your help with getting information out of them, Vandrad.”

WC: 963

Vandrad quickly went to action and asked the neighbor in question about Savage Skull, the ex-member and his hideout’s location. True, it would likely be quicker to find it themselves - with the prowess and magical sensory that both he and Mura possessed, the ex-member could’ve been pulled up from his rat hole already by now. However, this village was on the map and was frequently passed by travelers and tourists, and no fucking way would Mura leave any seed of inspiration from Savage Skull breathing in this area out of worry for the future that it could bring. He had to drown the issue out here and now in its early stage. He had seen enough comebacks, and they began haunting his moments here and now, mocking him for being paranoid and unnecessarily afraid of the future.

Heh… the elder neighbor almost spat out at Vandrad in fury. With the knife out, it was clear that the villager was willing to go all the way for this ex-member.

This was exactly what Mura feared… if he held loyalty to the ex-member, then that could mean two things; either the ex-member is actually living a decent life and came out of their crimes with clear hands, or they were still on it and just won the loyalty of the villager with… money, perhaps. Perhaps an artifact?

The way he swung his knife said it all. A decent person didn’t need to flail his weapon around like some big gun. Mura considered for a second to go ask another villager to confirm it thoroughly, but Vandrad already brought the knife guy to his knees by force. It was time to make things clear.

And clear, things became.

According to the target of Vandrad’s harsh questioning, their target was located in the knoll outside of the village between a tree stump and a log - more specifically, said target had made a cave system there. This would allow him or her to conduct practically anything the member desired without much of the village’s knowledge, but their deep trust in him looked to be genuine. The two Fairy Tail Wizards had to go and confront the ex-member now.

He nodded at Vandrad after the information was relayed to him before approaching the location that their new friend had informed them about. The footing became wet, muddy ground rather quickly as they exited the more lively village area and entered wild, grassy plains contrasting the flowing river. Their informant hadn’t fooled them; a large log was laying on the grass, having made quite a wide area of smashed grass and shrubbery with its past advances due to weather and, possibly, human activities. The knoll was located right next to it, but at first, there was no sighting of any tunnel entrance. Only a lot of flattened, spread out grass…

The grass rose up as if it was alive, stretching out and exposing the entrance to the tunnel that Mura and Vandrad had been searching for. Thanks to Mura’s magic, shrubbery like grass would do his bidding, and he silently entered the tunnel while keeping his eyes open for any traps laying around. One would wonder; why not just nuke the whole cave? With Mura’s magic, it would be easy enough without damaging the plains above; one flare would be enough to light up anything in the tunnel and whatever it led to. Just why was Mura set on approaching the ex-member in person…?

… There was a purple fog in front of them that blocked the way towards an entrance locked up by wooden planks. Mura thought it to be Dark Magic and stuck his hand in, but not only was it actually Dark Magic - which was a lucky case for him… it didn’t make him smile, though. It was a familiar signature.

Mura’s hand cracked as it grasped the fog like grabbing a blanket, siphoning its form away by his mere touch. The fog settled and faded away, leaving no trace of itself for the two of them. Now, only the wooden planks stood in the way…

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“It’s been soooooooo long, sooooooooo loooooooong,” a young lady moaned to herself inside the chamber that she had built. With a few candles lit, the room had an eerie but surprisingly cozy atmosphere, and the lady was dressed modestly despite her habitat being underground. A black dress with purple garments donned her, but she looked worn out, and her dress had flakes and was ripped overtime. She was sitting with her back leaning against what looked like a sarcophagus made of grey granite, and from above, its frontal figure of a full-human skeleton was visible. The sarcophagus was beaming with an ominous energy.

The lady hadn’t talked to anyone else in days. No, it felt as if she hadn’t talked to any human being since she arrived here. Being a member of Savage Skull could make life lonely for someone like her, but she saw it a necessary cut. To this day, she wondered why it took so long for her Mistress to return…

"Hurry up, Milady..."

WC: 850
TWC: 963 + 850 = 1813

Mura instinctively stepped aside by one foot and watched Vandrad release light rays of pure mana, no specific element attached to them at first sense, blast the wooden boards off and incinerating them with high temperatures. Energy Monarch, perhaps? Was it pure Ethernano manipulation? Mura was aware of that kind of magic - the kind that he witnessed another sorcerer use way back when Fairy Tail was attacked by Savage Skull who sought that dreaded mask.

It felt highly concentrated. There was a lot of potential in Ethernano manipulation, but at the same time, Mura couldn’t put his finger on how Vandrad would utilize his skill and what branch of magic he would dwell in.

The path exposed to them was a little longer, but Mura sensed a presence nearby. Unfortunately, they had to take care of what appeared to be living spirits leaking through the walls on the other side of the entrance. Mura identified them to be ghosts, spirits of dead people, but they roared in pain as if the tortures of their previous lives still haunted them to this day. Were they locked here only to hinder their way towards the ex-member?

Also, it seemed that this ex-member wasn’t even that experienced with magic. These obstacles were honestly quite laughable; forget the wooden planks from earlier, these ghosts faced the Ghost Slayer right now.

“Watch out for other traps, Vandrad,” Mura commanded him before unsheathing his katana and resting his hand over the blue spirit ball form that was Kyuken’s avatar, “Whoever this ex-member is, they don’t seem that well-prepared for intruders.” After grabbing Kyuken’s avatar and infusing him with mana, Mura launched him into his katana, Harusame. The blade lit up a faint, blue tune, and the ghosts were immediately cut apart, each being sent directly to the Afterlife by his sword slashes. With the blade cutting through the air, it made a quick, hissing sound with each move that the shaman made, and despite there being a couple handfuls of ghosts leaking out of the walls to entangle them, Mura was able to take them all down - or up, really.

He sighed in relief when the last ghost was sent away, but the ground shaking was but an alarm against his relief. They were far from over; the dirty hallway that they were located in revealed white pillars from each side that slowly cramped in towards them, and they looked bent and arced around them. Soon, the floor rose up in a rapid fashion, and one would likely lose their foothold if not holding onto something.

“*Sigh* Watch your steps, Vandrad…”

Deciding to do what was meant to have happened a long time ago, Mura clapped his hand on the ground beneath his feet. Grass wasn’t the only element that he could manipulate; soon, the room itself around them - with the dirt walls and the earth and the roots sticking out - widened to make more space for them. The earth released itself from the white pillars that revealed themselves to be the remaining ribcage of a huge, skeletal behemoth that they found themselves inside in. The ribcage was rapidly covered in rotten flesh, attempting to encage both of them, one in each lung of the reanimated beast.

“H-Hey, Vandrad! Vandrad!” he shouted, trying to get a reaction or an answer from his guildmate who wasn’t by his side at the moment. It was pitch-black inside the lung of the beast, and the stench around him was unbearable, grotesque and void of words capable of describing its repulsion. Mura felt needing to hold his breath as he cut through the lung and tried to make his way towards the position where Vandrad’s magical signature could be felt.

Once he cut a way between the two of them, a flame was ignited in his hand to make some light. It was still unclear to the shaman whether they were caught in a trap of dirt or of a literal zombie dragon. “*cough* T-There you are! Let’s get- urgh, this is- give me a momen-“ Mura turned around and went to the corner of the meaty cell they were in - the cell was about 10 meters in diameter, and that was just one of the zombie’s lungs - and in his new corner, Mura emptied his stomach like there was no tomorrow. This had got to be the most disgusting event in his life as a wizard, and he barely knew where he was or why it smelled like this.

… … … … …

“Milady! Milady!” she gasped in surprise by the approach of the two wizards, which forced her to awaken the skeletal being whose ribcage she used as pillars to hold the underground hallway up, “Someone’s coming! I think they’re not my friends! Not at all! They are wizards! But there are no wizards in River Village! This is outrageous! Who dare disturb me in my attempt at waking you up from your deep, deep slumber?! A pair of headless roaches who have a death wish, that is!” Enraged by the intrusion, she rose up from her feet and almost shrieked by the earth in her walls collapsing. It was as if someone pushed the walls apart from outside of her secret room.

She threw a magic circle onto the floor and waited. The beast would awaken soon, but it had to hurry! The wall had broken down in front of her, and she was exposed to whoever was outside for just a brief moment, just a brief one! She sighed in relief, thinking the beast to digest the two of them in the wrong, internal organs…

WC: 946
TWC: 1813 + 946 = 2759

Thankfully, the stench and place was quickly taken care of - Vandrad released a huge outburst of magic from his hands, just as pure in nature and even more concentrated than before. Its raw power shattered the chamber that they were in, and only after a moment when Mura looked around the falling debris did he realize that whatever he was trapped in was made of flesh… rotten, pseudo-necromanced flesh. Most necromancers could raise the dead in better conditions, but this was detestable in many ways.

Incinerated bone meal and pieces of ribs… they were inside the organs of some huge creature. It mattered not so much now, but Mura could wipe his mouth clean and burn away any apparent impurities on his arm and face. That was… a little awkward, but he could’ve sworn that his senses used to not be so sharp as now. Oh well, the unbearable smell was gone…

Someone was hidden behind the rubble and boulders from the ruined wall. Mura could sense the magic circle being summoned by a person, and when Vandrad erased the barrier between them, Mura spotted the source of their troubles; a lady wearing rugged clothes and wide eyes. Her confidence was gone, eyeing two members of her sworn archenemy. They were far more adept in magic, and each of them could end her in a heartbeat… and she came to realize that.

…

Mura’s eyes weren’t aimed at her now. No, he was looking at the sarcophagus, his own eyes almost imitating the ex-member’s with the same level of fright. For nothing could invoke fear like this in the shaman than the very aura of the abomination veiled in a woman’s flesh and bones who snuffed away his life back when he was so young… a life he thanked the gods he got back.

The sarcophagus was still closed, but it was undoubtedly her aura that escaped its cracks. Mura paid the other woman no mind and passed her on heavy steps towards the tomb, for was she trying to revive her? Bring her back? No sane person would do that after knowing what Marceline had caused… a thing, a nightmare incarnate that reveled in the concept of death being their mere tool, a woman who played God so sinisterly, ruining both the living and the dead alike and putting a scar on Mura’s very self that he could never heal from.

Why was there still remains of her?!

With a swift sledgehammer blow, Mura’s clenched fists broke the sarcophagus in two - his own magic destroying the embers of aura that was left in it with surprising ease. The tomb was smashed apart and left hundreds of pieces on the floor, while the deadly aura faded away… hopefully to never be felt again.

But he wasn’t done.

The little cauldron that the ex-member had built up here - Mura tended to it with destructive intent. The walls holding her potions and concoctions were split, her vials broke down, her tables splintered apart, candles were extinguished in the falling dirt and all of her notes were crushed under the rubble of his commanded earth. The ex-member shrieked in confusion: “NOOOOOOOO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU RETAARD?! I SPENT YEARS ON ALL OF THAT, STOP!!!” She clawed and punched the ground under her, tears escaping her eyes as her eyes widened even more, “I KNEW YOU’D RUIN EVERYTHING, I KNEW IT… DAMN IT, I HATE YOU! ALL OF YOU!!!”

Her magic began surging through her hands as she straightened her back while her teeth gritted. Her screams truly came from her heart, convoluted, confused and unorganized as one’s true feelings often were. Veins began to pop up on her exposed wrists as she cried: “F-F-FAIRY TAAAAAAAIIIIL!!!!!! I KNEW YOU’D SHOW UP AND RUIN EVERYTHING! WHY HAVEN’T ALL OF YOU DIED YET?!!?”

“Vandrad, kill her, I beg you…” he whispered…

WC: 649
TWC: 3408

His wish was executed swiftly; Vandrad dislocated the woman’s neck with just one hand, siphoning the last remains of her life away from her in an instant. She who worshipped a harbinger of death, who called herself Death itself, had… well, died. There was nothing fun or pleasant in killing people, that much was certain… but Mura wouldn’t let that sting his heart too much when it really counted. He wouldn’t turn his back or cheek, he wouldn’t pretend like there was another way. A better way… for him to seek an alternative would be to assume that anything good could come out of a deluded ex-member of Savage Skull.

Never in his life would he jeopardize the safety of his guild because of something like that.

He was fairly emotional at the moment, hence why he asked Vandrad to end her. He needed a moment to clear his head, but he couldn’t do it in here. “… Thanks. Let’s go, I’ll bury the rest,” Mura spoke before moving towards the rubble where they passed into the chamber of hers.

He would stop on the way, his back still turned towards the other mercenary. “I… don’t know if you’re curious about… uh, that. I can explain later back at the guild, if need be,” he assured him before taking in a deep breath, “… A Guildmaster shouldn’t lose their cool that easily…”

It was a bitter event. Eager to deafen the bitter taste in his mouth, Muar advanced towards the nearby opening out to the plains near the River Village, ready to voyage back to Magnolia with the trusty mercenary.

The contour around Vandrad’s Guild Mark was slowly changing color on their way back home…

WC: 285
TWC: 3693