Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 49 - The Illusion of Family

August was not in his office, his study, or even Mercurius. The man, draped in his standard flowing robe, sat at a fountain in the heart of the city in an abandoned plaza. Ruins surrounded him, still not cleaned up even after the fighting that rocked the capital two weeks prior.

Minerva pushed away the rocks and rubble in her approach. She walked without fear and certainly without hesitation. For a fortnight, she'd been attempting to get the man's attention but he wouldn't have any of it. He was busy in meetings with Mard Geer, or Ajeel, or the goddamn Queen. Never for Minerva. She was always redirected to Invel, but that worm wouldn't give her any of the answers she was looking for.

August raised his head as Minerva stopped. The echoes of her heels on the uneven pavement also ceased. She stood, arms crossed, a few feet from him. He didn't stand for her.

"You know," he said, "when I was young, much younger, I wondered what it must be like to live in a place so grand as Mercurius. Now that I am here, an old man, I am quite aware that it is nothing special. It's a common village dressed up and done to look more impressive. But look at these foundations—as broken as the towns and villages we marched over in our conquest."

"Shut up and listen to me, you old cretin," Minerva said. "I won't have your disrespect anymore. Do you understand what I did for you, for the Empire? Rufus was a threat to many of our soldiers and was a critical component of the rebellion's communication network. Notice how they haven't been able to do anything for two weeks? That's because of me. What I did. Take command from that oaf, Orga, and give it to me. I earned it."

August looked down at his hand, then touched it to his forehead.

"Memory Make: Water."

Minerva set her jaw but said nothing as the magic circle opened behind August and the fountain sprang to life with water once more. August stood so he wouldn't get wet, moving his cloak from the fountain.

"I want you to know," August said. "That you have never had my disrespect, Minerva Orland, because you never had my respect in the first place."

Minerva balled her fist, but her magic wasn't appearing. She glowered at August's closed fingers in his opposite hand. His own Territory magic was shutting off hers. Damn him.

How was he real?

"You snuck your way into our ranks by marrying an experiment that has proven, until recent events, worthwhile. However, I'm coming to understand the extent of a Dragon Slayer's true magic potential, and that what our great Emperor did was insufficient. Not misguided. Insufficient. There is one final test I am putting forth before the Dragon Division may be, as another in recent days, folded under my supervision."

"What are you saying?" Minerva asked. "What other?"

"Without Jacob Lessio I see little value in the Hunter's Division," August said. "Fairy Tail's tumultuous tirade upon the land isn't without recourse against our own structure, you see. Look at yourself. You're incapable. You had them in your hands, prior to any of them having their Second Origin available and completely fumbled. You lost to a girl whose magical latency is hardly in its infancy."

Long ago, Minerva's father would take her into the woods to train. Out there, she was beaten bloody and senseless by the elements and by her father. She took it back out on her enemies. She twisted and broke them, left them as little more than heaps.

Without having to throw a punch, August was already doing the same. The walls of the forest were closing in around Minerva again.

She was alone, no Sting, Rogue, Yukino...none of them. They'd all fled, they'd all abandoned her. Even Rufus, even Orga. Dobengal was about as friendly as his shuriken.