Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 3.1 - Magnolia Again Pt. 1

The setup was even smaller than the one they had before. Hisui made no indication that she wanted special treatment, even though people kept on insisting on it. Gray had no reservations about her being among the people; at least Hisui was humble about it.

A few of his guildmates had been wounded in the retreat. Wendy was getting to these that she could. Gray sat hunched over, staring at the ground. He froze it a little bit, flaring his magic to relieve some tension. He glanced around, spotting Juvia on her own, watching him. He returned his gaze.

"Hey, get up."

Gray leered at the woman approaching him. Cana. She held the bag at her side tightly and had no cards in her hand.

"What for?" Gray asked.

"I'm sick of not knowing what the hell is going on," Cana said. "I'd ask my dad to help but he's busy meditating to get his magic back. Mira's over there with Max and Laki." She gestured, and, indeed, Mira was holding a weeping Laki's hand. Max had her arm around Laki quite comfortably.

"What, going to just barge over and talk to the Princess?"

"Yeah, I am. I'd like some backup. Figured you were cold enough to not be bothered if she pushed us away."

Gray got to his feet and nodded. "Come on, then. I'm also getting tired of being kept in the dark."

Cana led the way. Gray followed her down a small corridor and then down into a tiny cellar where Hisui was alone. One of the Three Stars, the woman among them, stood guard but let them pass. The other two were on patrol with Lisanna and Levy.

Hisui stared down at her sword, faintly glowing with some remnants of magic power. It had a similar sense to Lucy's.

The light increased to the rest of the room. Portraits of a small old man and a happy family covered in cobwebs. Ancient documents and scrolls were neatly tucked away. Hisui stood in front of the only table in the whole room, but it was a well-carved one.

"I expected more of you for this," Hisui said.

The light of her sword shone similar to a twinkling star, the light wavering on and off of a painting of whoever lived here to another of a beautiful old woman smiling. Then, one glistened over a painting of a much younger Hisui as well as that same old man and another, even smaller, one. That one had a tear across it.

"I'm sure there would be," Gray said. "If so many of us hadn't been taken."

Hisui nodded. "We'll try to find them. I'm not sure how, but we will."

"We can track them down," Cana said. "Don't doubt us."

"Of course I will," Hisui said. "And I didn't mean how we can hunt them. I meant how they will be when we find them. Alive? Dead? Or...changed."

"They're not going to die," Gray said.

"Gray put your clothes on," Cana muttered.

Gray grimaced and Cana continued down the steps into the cellar. She landed and approached the table, then, in a swift movement, slammed her hands on the table. The sword did not move.

"So what the hell is going on, then?" Cana asked. "What is the Twilight Empire? I've never heard of it, how's it just knock you off your throne and, what, change the whole world?"

"In short," Hisui said, "the Twilight Empire is our collective nightmare made manifest. But I assume that won't quite be good enough for you two, nor the rest of your friends."

Gray joined Cana at the table. Hisui sheathed the blade and snapped her fingers, a small candelabra in the back of the room providing just enough lighting to light their eyes and parts of their figures, while much of the three remained encased in shadow.