16 Chapter 16: Hargeon Port
Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi
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-Ishgar-
Era was a large town built around a high, rocky mountain. The mountain held the headquarters of the highest authority in the world of magic, the Magic Council. The rocky peak is located in the heart of the city, and it features a jagged pathway that encircles the mountain's circumference as an entrance into the Council headquarters.
The place looked like a castle, both intimidating to any that approached the building and a source of pride to the locals.
Within the headquarters was a vast room with a circular table in the middle. A beautiful balcony connected to the annex, showing off the entire city with silk curtains moving around in the wind; it was both peaceful and tranquil.
A bit too tranquil for some.
Crack!
A single orb fell to the ground and broke into many pieces. Only for it to reassemble back, as the shards that fell returned to the main body. The formerly broken crystal orb was back to its previous, undamaged state.
At the Magic Council meeting table, Ultear was playing with the now fixed crystal orb. "Ultear! This is an important meeting. Would you please stop playing around?" one of the council members asked her to stop.
"But there's nothing else to do. I'm bored. I hope somebody will stir up trouble~" she said while continuing to use her magic—Arc of Time—on her crystal ball, much to the annoyance of the other members.
"Shut your mouth!" Shouted an old man. "Why did we let such a rude brat join the council again!?"
"Because I wield a lost magic, you old fart."
"Will both of you be silent!?" This time the head of the council decided to intervene before things got too out of hand. "We still have lots to discuss. One of the main concerns is the location of the immense source of magic we felt a few years ago. Even after all this time, we have yet to discover the location or the being responsible for the power surge. None of our spies have confirmed any of enemy nations to have built any weapons of destruction of that magnitude. Nor have we confirmed if this was the work of one of the Dark Alliance's main guilds."
The head of the council, or commonly called the chairman, Crawford Seam, was a vast, tall man with a large bushy beard; the beard was knotted into a bun on either side. He has a snub nose, moderately sized droopy eyes, high eyebrows, and relatively small ears. He was also sporting a small bun atop his nearly bald head.
"We need to get to the bottom of this matter as soon as possible!" He bellowed, his irritation present from the lack of information.
While the rest agreed and started their discussion, Ultear ignored them as she continued playing with her orb. She already knew the source of power. Her eyes had seen the person behind such an amazing gift. But when she tried to control him years ago, it backfired horribly and nearly killed her, along with destroying the only ship off the island.
Master Hades wasn't pleased by her failure, so he instructed her to leave the man until she was strong enough to handle him. After a rigorous training period by his hands, breaking her body to the ground and rebuilding from scratch—Ultear was confident she could have him under her fingers without even using magic. The only problem was that she couldn't find him anymore. He had hidden from her senses, like he had never existed, and has been looking for him whenever she had the chance. She knew her time would come, she could feel it.
'I can't wait to meet you again, fufufufu~.'
{Break}
-Hargeon Town-
Hargeon is one of South Fiore's most well-known ports and also one of its most beautiful old towns.
The town was more prosperous and renowned for their fishing than magic because only 10% of the people in the town could use magic in the first place. Like any port city, it had its own large marina in the southern part of town, where rows of boats and ships were docked.
It was the perfect location for a vacation or commercial town for merchants to set up their shops—unless it involved magic. Because as both Lucy and Broly discovered, there was only one magic shop in the entire town!
"I still can't believe that this is the only one… I was hoping to browse many different shops." Lucy moaned in disappointment.
"This is better than nothing, right? Imagine if there wasn't a single shop, then we would have wasted our entire trip here." Said the second voice to her right. It came from a man whose stature made people wonder if he wasn't a giant. Wearing an oversized black winter coat and green pants with another coat of fur wrapped around his waist and carrying a large green backpack that held all of their stuff.
It was none other than Broly.
"That's easy for you to say, for someone who can fly at supersonic speed; this shouldn't be a problem for you."
A large hand landed on her head giving her a pat, "Now, don't be so pessimistic. Why don't you check out the shop, and who knows… you might even find something you can use."
A lot has changed with these two.
Lucy had turned into a full-grown woman, with shoulder-length blonde hair tied by a green ribbon in a small side ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose. Her body matured considerably from her younger self, and she had a buxom and curvaceous figure that made many men and some women on the streets give her a second look. It didn't help that she chose to wear a short skirt and tightly fitted upper clothes.
On the other hand, since they first met, Broly had no noticeable changes in his physical appearance. His Saiyan genetics made the man keep his younger appearance for a considerably longer time than regular humans. Even after a few decades, he would look the same. The Saiyan's body was made for battle. They needed to stay in their prime self for a longer time in order for them to continue fighting.
But, on the inside, he had changed considerably.
He no longer had the constant frown on his face. He spoke more often and even began laughing for once. He was much happier and calmer since arriving in this world.
"Fine, I'm going to check." Even after all these years, Lucy still couldn't get used to his touch without blushing slightly. Thanks to hanging out with Gretel and the other servants, Broly had become more affectionate and expressive with his emotions. Even Aquarius found the new him to be much more endearing and would frequently hang out with him whenever Lucy summoned her to join them.
Thanks to constantly summoning her most powerful Spirit every day for as long as she could hold it, Lucy's magical reserves had expanded a lot. She could even comfortably call a single golden key for an entire day and three golden spirits for combat. It made her more confident about being able to join Fairy Tail.
Lucy hoped to one day gather all twelve golden keys and become the strongest Celestial Wizard in the world.
"Come on, let's go." Broly beaconed her inside the old shop. As they entered, an old man greeted them.
"Welcome to my humble shop! Care to browse my most popular wares?" The man retrieved an oddly colored book from the shelves. "This ColorS is very popular with the lady wizards in town!" He threw the item at Broly, who caught it and carefully opened it.
Pouf!
His green coat turned emerald green in a blink of an eye! "Wow!" The Saiyan was amazed, checking his clothes out and liking the new look.
"Amazing, right!? This magic item will change the color of your clothes to match your mood!!" He gave the green-colored coat a confused look. "Though emerald green usually represents one being sick, I'm not sure what's going on with you."
"I want it." Broly decided to purchase it. He had grown quite attached to the winter coat. It was made from the fur of a Gorian and was created as a birthday gift from Aquarius. He had grown closer with the Celestial Spirits and even established a special friendship with them. The others had given him some mitten gloves, shoes, and even a haircut—which only lasted a week before they returned to their previous state.
"Great choice, sir! That'll be 3000 Jewels."
"Wait! Broly, I already have a couple of those. You can take them all if you want." Said Lucy, trying to stop her best friend from wasting his money.
"But you left them in your house… and father threw you out."
"..."
Oh right, Lucy had forgotten about that small detail. It felt weird not being allowed back in the Konzen, not that she regretted her decision on leaving, but still. It felt so natural to live with Broly in his small house that she felt the years go by so quickly. It honestly felt like yesterday when she confronted her father.
"Wait…" She saw him hand over a few bills to the old man. "Where did you get the money?" She was just about to pay for him.
"Oh, your father gave me some." Broly said casually, putting the book-shaped item in the backpack, "He wanted me to make sure that we had some money on hand in case you wasted all of your own."
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"WHAT!?"
Her father!? He gave Broly—the one he once put a bounty on—some money!? When? What happened? How did this development come to be? Lucy felt like she was in a bizarre dream and stretched her cheeks to wake up.
"Ouch!" It wasn't a dream…
"Lucy?" Broly called her out worriedly about her weird behavior.
Was it that hard to believe Jude gave him some money? A few days before they were about to leave and he was doing his final preparations, Jude approached him. Broly didn't think much of Lucy's father back then. He reminded the Saiyan of his father—slightly. He had the same cold look in his eyes along with his mustache, but that's where the similarities ended.
They didn't exchange words. He didn't know at that time if he should have invited the man inside his house or not. But it looked like Jude didn't have such plans on staying, to begin with, as he had thrown a small package at him and walked away. A few seconds later, Broly decided to open it and discovered about 500k Jewels inside and a single note that said 'Keep her safe'. Lucy and Aquarius taught him the concept of money during the time stayed with him and its use in everyday life, so he had done the math and found that with this much money… Lucy could buy a lot of meat.
But this wasn't for him, at least he didn't think so. It was probably meant for Lucy if the note was any indication, so he decided to use the least amount possible, and today turned out to be the first time he used the money to buy something since their trip. Granted, it wasn't for Lucy, but who knows… she might want to use the ColorS book in the future.
"Okay," Lucy sighed. Things between her father were awkward, to say the least. Gretel did mention how he would spend hours looking at her and mom's pictures while managing his work. He didn't hate her, nor did she… one day, Lucy hoped to reunite with him with a big surprise of her becoming an S-class wizard. "I'm looking for a really powerful gate key, a golden one if you have any."
"Gates?" Said the shop owner. "Those are pretty rare…." Barely any mages existed in this town, let alone Celestial ones. He had probably seen one a few years ago who gave him a single key as a gift. He believed it was…
"White doggy!" Oh yeah, that one.
But…
"I'm afraid that isn't the powerful Spirit you're looking for, young lady. It's quite weak in fact."
Lucy didn't acknowledge his words as she gushed over the thought of having one of those adorable spirits with her like a personal pet. Since they were so cheap—price and magic-wise—and so numerous, she could have one by her side all the time as a new companion!
Now comes the hard part…
"How much?"
"20,000 Jewels."
"..."
Maybe he didn't understand her question.
"No, I mean, how much?"
"You deaf or something? I said 20,000 Jewels.
{Break}
(A few minutes later)
"Tch, that stinking old man! Is my sex appeal worth only 1000 Jewels!?" Lucy exclaimed in anger, kicking a random board on the road.
"But he gave us a 3000 jewels discount…."
"That's because you got involved and scared the old man into lowering the price after just standing there… menacingly. We can't forget the part when you released your magic after getting caught in your excitement from using ColorS."
Broly laughed sheepishly. He would, from time to time, release a tiny amount of his Ki by accident. This would typically not cause any problem, but for someone as weak as the old man, he must have felt very uncomfortable. Though the dark green and black coat did look amazing.
"Hn? Is something wrong?" He noticed Lucy staring at him, her gaze a bit lost.
"Nothing," It felt weird when she first met Broly. He barely talked and always had that stern frown on his face when they first met. During the years she lived with him, the man began to show more expressions on his face. The servants would visit them frequently and converse with the stoic giant. It changed him slowly but surely. He could express his inner feelings more freely from time to time. And when he laughed for the first time, Lucy honestly felt awestruck by it and nearly cried then and there—much to the Saiyan's confusion back then.
"Kya!"
"He's here!"
"The famous wizard!"
A bunch of girls suddenly ran across them, hurrying towards a particular crowd gathering in the middle of town.
"Salamander, the fire dragon!"
This shocked both Lucy and Broly, "A dragon?" This interested Broly. He read about dragons and how powerful they were in the past. Though he didn't have the lust for battle like most Saiyans, he was still curious about these legendary creatures if the stories are true.
Lucy, on the other hand, had a different idea. "I cannot believe that Salamander is here!" She squealed in excitement. Why wouldn't she be? "Salamander is said to be a powerful Fire Wizard with the power of fire and can summon large pillars of flames to destroy his enemies! Let's go!" She ran towards the crowd, hoping to convince the Wizard to let her join his guild.
But what she found was not who she expected.
Tall, with spiky blue hair and a long decorated robe. On his face, just above his left eye, was an 'x' marked sign and a few earrings on his ears. Wearing multiple rings on his fingers, the man signed autographs for the surrounding girls.
"—el!"
Ba-dump!
Ba-dump!
Suddenly, she felt her heart beat faster for some reason. 'Wh-Wh-Why is my heart racing like this!?' She felt her face flush the longer she looked at the Wizard. The man turned his head towards her and sent a wink which made her entire body shiver in delight, and she nearly let out a squeal! In her eyes, the man became a heartthrob, as every girl was melting like putty in his hands. He was both breathtaking and irresistible.
'Wait! This isn't normal!' she thought to herself. Her feet moved towards him—incapable of stopping herself. This wasn't possible. She couldn't be falling in love just from seeing him.
"—neel!
Since she already…
"Ign—"
"Hey, what are you doing!?" Suddenly, she was broken out of her trance when the blue-haired man suddenly cried out in distress. Everyone around gasped when they saw the famous Salamander's wrist being caught in a grip by a giant.
"Broly?"
The Saiyan made his way past the crowd and up to the fire Wizard, who initially thought that the man wanted an autograph or something. Broly grabbed his wrists without saying a word and brought the hand closer to observe the rings. No matter how hard the blue-haired man tried, he couldn't pry it off.
The girls were about to go absolutely crazy on the big lunk that dared treat their idol in such a way. But when they saw Broly and felt his imposing presence, many stopped in their tracks and decided it would be safer to just wait and see.
"These rings," Broly whispered, eyeing the jewelry with a glare. "I remember Lucy talking about them… Charm magic."
At the mention of his tricks being brought to light, Salamander tried to deny it while struggling out of the Saiyan's grip.
"Listen, buddy, if you don't let me go right now—I will burn your ass." Blue flames appeared on his right hand. He sneered and gave the Saiyan an arrogant look, promising pain and misery if he didn't comply. But Broly just raised an eyebrow at his attempt before letting out a sigh.
People always liked to fight first and talk later.
"These are forbidden by law, and you're misusing them on the girls here. Please hand them over." He asked nicely, trying one more time to take the peaceful route.
"Who do you think you are, punk!? I'm Salamander, the greatest flame Wizard from Fairy Tail! I can destroy you instantly if you don't let go now!" Salamander snarled in anger, the blue fire in his getting bigger with tendrils running up his arm in a show of force.
"..."
"..."
They had an intense stare, one looking furious while the other was calm and collected.
Not only Broly didn't release his wrist, but he also grabbed the two rings with his other hand and applied a bit of force on his wrist.
Crack!
The two charms broke into pieces, and as they fell to the ground, many girls that had gathered at this location, looked around in confusion and were wondering how they ended up there. The blue-haired man saw many of them walk away, and his rage exploded.
"You asked for it, stupid gorilla!" He unleashed a torrent of blue fire on Broly, coating him completely. The girls had long run away from the commotion and left only two people standing on the sidelines.
"Hahahaha! That is what you get from offending the greatest Wizard of Fairy Tail!" Shouted the man as he continued gloating at what he expected to be a doomed person. His expectations were way off as the grip on his hands tightened further before and made his bones creak from the pressure.
"I tried to go with a peaceful option," Broly's calm voice resonated from the wall of fire. Neither did he sound hurt or in pain from the fire.
"What!?" The so-called Salamander's jaw fell to the ground when a fist punched through the fire with ease, extinguishing in the process and causing a large force of air to push everything away. Some of the windows in the buildings rattled from the sheer pressure generated by the punch, and Lucy nearly had her skirt rip away from her lower body.
"Kya!"
Bam!
It felt like a train impacted his face at full speed. With several teeth and blood spewing from his mouth, the blue-haired man was sailing through the sky with an arc. His scream of pain resonated all-around port Hargeon.
Broly was about to return to Lucy when he heard another shout coming from behind.
"Wow, you're pretty strong! Fight me!"
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.
