Fairy Tail - The World of Mages -

Chapter 19

Everyone was mourning over Ice’s death over the next few days. The army was investigating what was happening but nevertheless, they found out nothing and declared Ice to be killed in action because of the battle with Phantom. He was buried at the small hill away from the centre of the town, at the edge of the forest.

Almost every member in the guild knew what had happened that night and it was spreading within the guild. Nobody blamed her but that made Vye felt worse.

She locked herself in her room after the interrogation. She refused to eat or see anyone, including Gray.

“Vye… Please, don’t be like this.” Gray said desperately from the front of her room. He has lost count of his attempt to get her out of her room.

“I’m sorry, Gray… But I want to be alone… Please.” She said and could hear the defeated leaving footstops outside.

The blue sphere that she took out from Xrytos was still with her. She didn’t tell anyone about it yet. She felt it was an evidence of her sin, for killing Ice. She knew it when she watchedt from her own head, but she kept on hoping that Ice would live. It was a false hope. Reality couldn’t be changed.

“Ice…” she buried herself into her arms and cried again, while holding the sphere tightly in her hand. She didn’t know for how long she had been in that state till she fell asleep, tired of crying.

In her dream, Vye appeared in somewhere all white, completely the opposite from Xrytos’ nightmare.

The blue sphere was still in her hand. How she wish to destroy it. Just because of this sphere, Ice was killed. That very sphere slowly released itself from her hand and floated in front of her. It turned into a soul of a person.

“… How are you, Vye…” he said, smiling gently as what she could remember.

“… Ice... I'm really sorry...” That was the first thing that came to her mind the moment she saw him, “If I’m stronger… you wouldn’t…” She cried again.

She could feel his soul was touching your face, it was warm and gentle. “Vye… It’s not your fault…You have sealed Xrytos, forever. That's enough for me."

“But you are not here with me anymore!” She said deperately, "I miss you..."

He shook his head, “…I’ll always be with you and watch over you…Thank you for sealing Xrytos…”

“Why should you thank me for that? Because of that, I killed-“

“I told you, Vye. It’s not your fault…” He said once again with emphasize, “Sealing Xrytos... is the purpose of me being reborn in this world."

Vyera looked at him. She couldn't believe what she has just heard, "What-"

Ice stopped her. He continued, “Sealing Xrytos is my mission for this life." He stopped for a moment, letting Vye digested this information. She looked very confused.

“Hundred years ago, I was an ice mage, overly powered due to my generation line… I have no relatives and always alone. Everyone was scared of my power... I grew to have despair and hatred towards humans. Xrytos sensed that and offered me his power as long as I obeyed him." He said. His voice started to fill with hatred and anger.

"I was wrong. He aimed for my power. Once he was in my body, he drained my magic power bit by bit. That's how he managed to gather so much magic power. The moment I realized that, I am already dying.”

“…” Vye couldn’t say anything. She could only stare at him disbelief. Ice went on. “… I took him to a holy temple and gambled with my life to seal him there. I succeed but also lost my life in the process. That blue sphere is a combination of my and his power.”

“Then, how Xrytos could be freed?! Is it because of my Master…?”

“No…“ He answered sadly, “My power is based on ice… My power was not enough to seal him completely, even with the power of the holy temple… Ice will always melt someday… That’s its characteristic. The seal couldn’t last forever.”

“My Master arrived exactly at the time your seal melted?” Vyera said again.

He nodded. "I couldn’t forgive myself for not sealing him completely… even if I hate the humans… I love the world… I cursed myself to reborn over and over until he was awaken to seal him completely.”

“Ice, it was not your fault.” Vye said, “It was that demon’s fault.”

He smiled weakly, “To seal him, I must let him kill me…He'll die along with me. But... " He looked at Vyera right into her eyes, "... This time, I found him in you. He didn’t realize my presence but I couldn’t kill you… You are the first human who become my friend…”

“Ice… You should have told me and-"

He shook his head, “I’ll never kill you… ever.”

That made Vye lost for words. Then she suddenly realised something, "Then the seal I put on him will also break one day?" She said worriedly, "If he is freed and possess mages again to regain his power.... Let me take over your place. I-"

He hugged her gently, “Don’t worry… your seal will never be broken.”

“... Why?”

“Your power is based on nature. The time the nature dies is when the world is destroyed. Plus, you have taken his magic power away. He won't be strong enough to possess anyone else. Nobody will be endangered by him anymore.”

She silently cried. She was relieved to hear that nobody will meet the same fate as Ice or herself. But the guilt of killing Ice would never disappear.

"... Are you going to be reborn again?" Vyera asked.

He shrugged, "Who knows? I have never thought of the future without Xrytos... But if I am reborn again, I will definitely come back to Fairy Tail." He promised.

"... Even if you lost your way or forget about us, I will find you and make you one of us again." Vyera promised.

He smiled, “Vye… Will you accept this power?”

Vyera knew he was referring to the combination of Xrytos and his power, the blue sphere.

“However… It will turn you into half demon, like me… as Xrytos’ power is in it as well.” He said uncertainly.

She looked at him and smiled, “Are you stupid? I will gladly accept your power. There is no need to ask.”

“That's the Vye I know. Don't shed anymore tears for me. I love your smile the most." He said, "I will come back. Even if my soul is not here, but my power will always be with you and protect you… Don’t blame yourself anymore. Promise me.”

“… I promise…”

“See you again, Vye. Till we meet again.”

"Till we meet again.” Vyera replied while he slowly changing back into the blue sphere and it slowly went into her body. Vyera could feel it entering her body. It was a warm power. There is no trait of evil left. Something was changing inside her, she could feel it faintly. She was not sure what was changing. Her appearance definitely still stayed the same.

The moment the power synchronized, she slowly wake up in her room, still in the position before she fell asleep.

Her right hand was not holding the sphere anymore. Instead, there was a pure white feather. It was not just a simple feather, it was glowing with magic.

… Happy Birthday… I love you…

Vyera heard it. “Ice…” It was the last birthday present he gave as 'Ice', “Thank you…” She said, holding in her tears. She has promised him that she will not cry anymore.

At the same moment, someone knocked on the door, “Vye! Vye! Are you in there?”

It was Gray. Vyera went to the door and opened it. The moment Gray saw her, he immediately hugged her in worry, “You scared me… I knocked a few times and nobody answered…”

“I’m sorry, Gray… I’m okay now…” She assured him. Gray looked at her and saw in her eyes that she has gotten over Ice's death. He smiled at her. Ice’s precious feather was kept in a bottle on her table, protected from any harm. It was her charm and will always be, forever.

Vyera apologized sincerely to everyone in the guild for making them worry. They forgave her almost immediately but nobody dared to mention Ice in front of her. Everyone had known what happened that night.

“Vye-chan… your left eye…” Cana asked with a bit shock.

She touched her left eye lightly, “This? It’s blind.”

“WHAT?!”

She explained briefly on how she used it to seal that demon and what Ice told her in the dream. The fact that she was a half-demon now was rather shocking. There was a silence for a moment before Vyera asked, “Could you… bring me to where Ice is?”

“But Vye-“

“I won’t do anything stupid. I just want to give my last respect for him. That’s all.”

The usual gang reluctantly took her to where Ice slept. The place where they buried him was peaceful and there was no disturbance at all. On the tomb, this was written:

‘Here lies Ice Elliott. X768 – X784.’

“...” She kneeled down in front of the tomb and prayed for him. Everyone was looking at her worriedly, fearing that her would suddenly do something foolish.

They were stunned when Vyera stood up and summoned her silver magic sword, Argent, while still facing the tomb.

“Hey, hey, Vyera… Don’t do anything foolish please…” Lucy pleaded.

“Yeah, yeah… Ice won’t be happy if you do that…” Happy added

Everyone was rather panic, but didn’t dare to anything reckless. Vyera ignored them and held up the Argent. She grabbed her long hair and cut it. It was a bit shorter than shoulder-length now.

“V-Vye?” Natsu called confusedly.

“… My first and last present for Ice.” She tied up the hair she cut with a white ribbon and put it on Ice’s tomb. She turned to face them, “So… What do you think I was trying to do?” She grinned.

“Vyera! Stop scaring us, please!” Lucy said in defeat.

With that, Ice was left to have his sleep peacefully forever. Vyera was sure he will be reborn again and she will definitely find him.

Back in the guild, before she could explain anything, Minerva and her disciples appeared. 

“Vyera… we need to talk.” She said seriously.

“Yeah… I have tons of things to ask you too, Master…” She replied, “See you later in the guild." She told the others and went away with Minerva. She followed them to the beach side, where all the ruins of the battle with Phantom still remained.

 Vyera have never met her other disciple except for Mil, the guy with green hair and eyes before. “I haven’t introduced myself yet.” He held out his hand, “I’m Helios Crossroad.”

“Vyera Phoenix. Nice to meet you, Helios…” Vyera replied and shook his hand.

There was silence for a moment. “… It’s almost 6 years since I last saw you…” Minerva started, “You’ve grown…”

“You didn’t change, Master... Always in that child form to trick others.”

“It’s none of your business!”

The tense atmosphere reduced. Everyone laughed.

“Master, let’s get on to business… Tell me everything, everything that you have kept from me all these years...”

“… … 18 years ago, I found Xrytos in a temple on an island far from here. I managed to seal him in this key when it suddenly awaken,” She took out the Ophiuchus golden key, “Yet, this key couldn’t hold it for long.”

There was silence, thus she continued her explanation, “I was panicking. I must find a host for the demon before the key broke… And I remembered a prophecy foretold by Yume.”

“Yume, that famous clairvoyance?” Vyera said surprised.

“Yes, she is my old friend… She predicts the future in the form of prophecies and foretold a prophecy to me before I set out on a journey. That’s about you.”

"... Me?" Vyera asked again to be sure.

“Yes…This is the prophecy... ‘The child born under the crescent moon when the tenth month dies will be the strongest Natural mage ever… With her white aura, the strongest demon will cease to exist among humans… Under the care of the fairies, she will never lose to her cruel fate when the demon awakens 17 years later after her birth…’. She recited.

Yet another surprise for Vyera. She was in the prophecy of the famous Yume. Moreover, it’s all about Xrytos. It was a wonder why she never found out about it.

“And then?” She asked for further explanation.

“… I search for information on weird phenomenon when a child born. That’s when I came across you and your family. You should know them by now right?”

Vyera nodded, “Go on.”

“… It matched the prophecy but I thought if I gave your parents the prophecy, they wouldn’t let me seal Xrytos in you. The time was running out. Thus, I changed the prophecy to ’A child with white aura will be born when the crescent moon shines as the tenth month dies… She will be the child of disaster and catastrophe if she reached the age of 17 under the care of the wings when the same crescent moon appears…’ Your mother agreed to let me seal Xrytos in you, hoping that the world will be better in that way, while your father…”

“… He disowned me…” She continued, “Never mind with that… And then, Jii-chan found me, didn’t he?”

“More appropriately, I arranged that he took you in. That’s why he knows me. I’m truly sorry, Vyera.” She lowered her head in front of her. Vyera was startled. Her Master who was full of pride and stubborn, could lower her head to her. Vyera looked at Mil and Helios, hoping to get some hint on how to handle that, but they were also as shock as her.

“M-Master… It’s okay… I really don’t mind it that much…”

“No, I’m really sorry… causing you to be separated from your parents…” She said again.

“I think I’m lucky to be in Fairy Tail… I’m sure my mother will agree with me…”

Her Master looked at her for a moment and continued again, “… And 6 years ago, Makarov sent you to me for training. I recognized you right away from your magic power. Maybe it was fate for us to become master and disciple.” She sighed, “I’ve been waiting for the time to come, so that I could save you from that demon… In the end, I couldn’t do anything.”

Vyera saw her Master regretting, “It wasn’t like you, Master, to be in low spirit. Be what you usually like, arrogant and full of pride.” She smiled, “That’s the Master I know.”

“But your friend-“

“He’s fine… I know he’s fine. He has told me everything.” Vyera said, “So, don’t worry.”

“… Here,” She held out the golden key, “You should still remember it… since I put in the stellar spirit in it in front of your eyes 6 years ago.”

“Yes… with the stellar spirit king… Why do you give this to me?”

“It’ll protect you… You’re a half-demon now. I’m also a Natural… I can feel it from your magic power.”

Vyera took the key from her Master and said, “I’ll take it. Thank you.”

“… Hmm, that’s all I have to say right? Do I forget something?” she said, asking the two guys.

“… Should be all…” Helios answered lazily.

“No, no, there is still the issue on Naturals.” Mil reminded her.

“Oh yeah!” she flicked her fingers, “Do you remember everything I told you about Naturals?” she asked Vye.

She thought for a while and answered, “Naturals are special mages that could feel and distinguish magic powers. There is only 1 in 100,000 mages that is Natural. They have a certain special magic since born.” She recalled, “That’s all that I remember.”

“Well, I always admired that memory of yours that could remember word by word. But part of that fact is wrong. There are only 5 Naturals in the world and there will always be 5… No more, no less. All 5 are the only ones who can feel and distinguish magic power. Their magic differs from each other but always the same over the generations.”

“So… do you mean…”

“… All 4 people here are Naturals… I got the information after you went back to Fairy Tail… And I’ve going around finding the other two since then… Now, only one left.”

“Will something happen when the 5 meet?” She asked curiously.

“At the moment, I can’t tell you more until I’m certain of it. But one thing that I'm sure of… Naturals attract each other… Like us.” She said, “So everything will be answered the next time we meet.”

“Are you leaving?”

“Yes, tomorrow… Oh by the way, let’s get back to guild. There’s something going on there.”

Vyera frowned, "What-“

“Just come, Vye-nee.” Mil dragged her like how a brother would pull his sister.

“W-Wait, what’s going on?” She asked around but nobody answered. They just asked her to follow quietly. Arriving at the guild, she could not find the correct words to express her surprise.