468 Alvarez Empire's Plans
Earth Land, Alakitasia, Alavarez Empire, Vistarion.
March, x786.
A few days have passed since God Serena disappeared from his hospital room. Then, after his disappearance, he sent a message conveying his failed assignment to the continent west of Ishgar, Alakitasia. More specifically, to the ruler of the empire controlling the entire continent, the Alvarez Empire.
And because of the message, Zeref, who is known as Emperor Spriggan in the Alvarez Empire, called his elite wizards to meet in the imperial castle's meeting room. And while waiting for the eleven of his twelve elites who were currently in Vistarion, the capital city of the Alvarez Empire, to arrive in the meeting room, Zeref once again read the message he received from God Serena.
'This young man, Alfonzo Marcus, would appear to be a greater threat than I expected.' Zeref said to himself while continuing to read the report. 'Though Serena is far from the strongest of the Spriggan 12, he is not weak by any means. And although Serena did not go into great detail about his defeat, I have no doubt that he was soundly defeated.
"*Sigh* If it wasn't for his petty pride, I would have more detail about the fight." Zeref said while laying the report down on the table in front of him. "I would also have a better idea of what caused the spike in power he mentioned in his report."
Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Zeref once again picked up the report and began reading it from the beginning.
Meanwhile, as Zeref continued to comb through the report, the first of the expected attendees entered the room.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." A bespectacled man of average height, with messy blue hair, uneven bangs that hang over his forehead, and a ponytail that hangs over his shoulder, down to his chest, on the right side wearing a high collared blue robe with silver trim that is held closed by a silver sash, a white dress shirt underneath with a dark blue tie, dark blue pants, and black boots, said as he saluted Zeref after entering the meeting room.
"Have a seat, Invel." Zeref replied casually without looking up from the report.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Invel replied before taking a seat.
Invel, or Invel Yura, a member of the Alvarez Empire's elite wizards, the Spriggan 12, as well as the Empire's Chief of staff, then moved quickly to take his designated seat.
Not long after Invel, the other members of the Spriggan 12, an old man with shoulder-length, wavy silver hair, an extremely voluptuous woman with scarlet hair and brown eyes, a young blond man with orange eyes, an extremely tall man whose only visible defining feature was his black eyes, a man with dark brown hair and black eyes, a bare-chested, dark skinned man with large, dark brown hair, a young mint-green haired woman wearing little more than a bikini and an overcoat, a golden blonde woman with brown eyes, a tall, black-haired man with a receding hairline, and finally, an effeminate young man with long eyelashes and long purple hair, entered the room one by one.
As soon as the last of the Spriggan 12 entered the room, Zeref raised his head from the report.
"I'm glad to see that all of you could make it on such short notice." Zeref said while smiling lightly.
"For what reason have you summoned us, Your Majesty?" The scarlet-haired woman, Irene Belserion, asked while adjusting the white fur lined witch's hat atop her head.
"Watch your tone, Scarlet Disaster." Invel said sternly while adjusting his glasses. "Do not forget, you are speaking to the emperor."
Glancing dismissively at Invel for a moment, Irene smiled as she returned her gaze to Zeref.
"I believe Irene is not the only one who wishes to know why you've gathered us, Your Majesty." The old, silver-haired man, August, the leader of the Spriggan 12 said.
Taking a moment to scan the faces of the other members of the Spriggan 12, Zeref could see the curiosity in their eyes. Though, he could also see that they were all confident they could deal with any order Zeref gave them. Well, everyone other than the mint-green haired woman, who looked as if she would rather be somewhere else. Though, she still held the same level of confidence in her eyes as the others. So, he decided that he would not keep them waiting any longer.
"Not long ago, I received a report from Serena." Zeref said as he pushed the report he had been reading forward. "And it would seem he has been defeated while carrying out my last order for him."
As soon as Zeref removed his hand from the report, August waved the staff he was carrying, causing the report to float over to him. Then, once it was floating in front of him, he tapped the end of his staff on the paper. A moment later, eleven copies of the report were created before they landed in front of each member of the Spriggan twelve. At the same time, the original copy floated back to where Zeref left it.
Nodding in response, Zeref once again picked up the report.
"Of course he failed his task." the golden blonde woman, Dimaria Yesta, said in a cynical tone with her eyes half-closed. "He made such a big deal about being the strongest wizard on Ishgar, and look what happened."
"That's not the important thing here." Zeref said. "The more important thing is that this Alfonzo Marcus may become an issue when we are ready to attack Fairy Tail."
Hearing that, all those reading the report raised their head to gaze at their emperor.
"So, what do you want us to do about him?" The mint-green-haired woman, Brandish μ, asked in a tone that suggested the issue was too troublesome.
"If you would like, I could go over to Ishgar and take care of him." Irene said in a confident tone while exuding just as much confidence from her smile. "I mean, he's barely more than a child. If I can find him quickly, I could be back in less than a month."
"While that is a viable option, I would like to know what caused his spike in power during the duel he had with Serena." Zeref replied. "And if possible, I would like to see if it could be implemented into our forces."
Hearing that, the meeting room fell into silence as the Spriggan 12 mulled over Zeref's words. Then, after about a minute, August was the one to break the silence.
"I would assume you intend to have someone infiltrate Fairy Tail, then?" August asked while running his fingers through his beard.
"More specifically, I would like someone to infiltrate that young man's inner circle." Zeref replied. "The closer they can get to the target, the easier it will be to get information about what we're looking to find out."
"I see." August replied with a nod. "The question is... Who is suitable to do so?"
In response to August's question, the rest of the Spriggan 12 began scanning the faces of everyone present. Eventually, all eyes in the room fell onto Brandish.
"Seriously?" Brandish asked in a tone that made her discontent obvious.
"Well, it says here in this report that he is a young man in his early twenties." The effeminate, Blue-haired man, Neinhart said while looking down at his copy of the report. "And you are the closest in age."
"But this is going to be so troublesome." Brandish said in a frustrated tone. Then, she looked towards Dimaria. "Why don't you send Mari? She's in her twenties, too. I'm sure she could fit in just fine."
"Sorry, Randi." Dimaria said with a smile. "But I already have a mission. In fact, I had to put it on hold to respond to His Majesty's summons."
Hearing that, Brandish frowned. Then, she turned her attention to the other members with young appearances. However, like Dimaria, they all had prior obligations.
"This may be the first time I've ever been upset that I wasn't currently on a mission." Brandish muttered as she lowered her head.
"Well then, that's settled." Zeref said. Then, he turned to Irene. "And Irene, I would like you to go with Brandish on this mission. Since this Alfonzo can overpower Serena, it would be dangerous for Brandish, who is on par with Serena in terms of power, should her identity be discovered."
"It would be much faster if you just let me capture that young man and bring him back to Vistarion." Irene said with a shrug.
Hearing that, Brandish began nodding her head vigorously, completely in agreement with Irene's plan.
"But if those are your orders, I guess I'll follow them." Irene continued with a smile after seeing Brandish's reaction.
In response, Brandish could only look at Irene as if she had been betrayed. Unfortunately, since the emperor had made his decision, there was nothing she could do about it.
Eventually, the meeting ended, and the Spriggan 12 left to return to their duties. The only exceptions being Irene and Brandish, who had to prepare for their mission in Fiore.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
"Damn the Magic Council." Alfonzo muttered while checking through the material delivery he just received. "Because of that shit show with the Ten Wizard Saints, I barely get to spend ten days at home after being away for so long."
Like Alfonzo said, in a few days, he would have to leave Magnolia again. And this time, he would be travelling to Quatro Cerberus' guild hall.
"And I'll have to deal with that drunk fucker, Bacchus, too." Alfonzo grumbled as he continued to work.
"You don't have to worry about Bacchus, Fonzie." Elicia, who was sitting with Alfonzo while he inventoried the delivery, said in a grim tone. "One way or another, I'll get him to stop with his delusions."
Hearing Elicia's tone, Alfonzo looked up from his check list. And when he made eye contact with her, he almost felt bad for Bacchus. However, when he remembered all the times he wanted to kill Bacchus for the things he has said, Alfonzo shrugged it off and returned to work.
"Anyway, I guess I'll leave him to you." Alfonzo said. "But if he starts poppin' shit in front of me, I'm gonna put that little mother fucker in his place. The relationship with Quatro Cerberus be damned."
"I won't let it come to that." Elicia replied. "If anyone's gonna ruin the relationship between our guilds, it will be me."
With that, the pair fell into silence with a rather dark aura floating between them.
"Anyway, did Juvia come to you about the issue she was having with her [Water Body]?" Alfonzo asked after calming down.
"Uh... Yeah, she did." Elicia replied. "But I've never heard of a material like the one she wanted. Not to say it doesn't exist. I just have to do some research about it."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "I mean, finding something you can add to water without lowering its purity sounds as much like a wild goose chase as you can get. But this is a world of magic, so anything is possible, I guess."
Nodding in response, Alfonzo checked off the last item on his inventory list. Then, after stretching for a moment, he made eye contact with Elicia.
"Well, I guess I've put it off for long enough." Alfonzo said, his tone quickly turning solemn as he continued. "I really need to talk to that Ikaruga chick."
"Yeah." Elicia replied with a nod and a smile. "But she really seems to be a woman of her word, Fonzie. I mean, she's followed every order I've given to the letter since she got here."
"I actually don't doubt that." Alfonzo replied with a small smile making it onto his face. "It's when you're not around that has me worried. Because she definitely can't follow you everywhere, you know."
"Yeah, I guess you're right.' Elicia replied with a nod. Then, she seemingly spoke to an empty area. "Well, we both already know you're there, Ikaruga. So, just show yourself."
A moment later, Ikaruga, with her long katana strapped across her lower back, appeared while kneeling in front of Elicia.
"Yes, Mistress Elicia." Ikaruga replied with her head bowed.
"Well, she's all yours, Fonzie." Elicia said with a shrug before turning around and walking into the mansion. "Just let me know what you think when you're done. Oh, and Ikaruga, you should answer all of Fonzie's questions honestly. Otherwise, we won't waste any time shipping you back to prison."
"Yes, Mistress Elicia, I understand." Ikaruga replied, keeping her head lowered until Elicia entered the house.
Once Elicia was inside, Ikaruga stood to her feet and turned her gaze towards Alfonzo. And despite the fact that he and Elicia had destroyed her old guild, Death's Head Caucus, she showed no signs of anger or wanting to get revenge. Instead, she looked at Alfonzo as if she would dedicate her life to him, as well.
