Fifth Mission [Action/Video]

[redhairedknight]

[Fayren - Action]

[Ever since a few days ago, Erza found herself in a new costume each day that she woke up. Some were already part of her normal list of outfits, so it gave her an opportunity to wear them around town. Meanwhile, others were specific to this holiday, but she was sure to get some good pictures of them so she could have her own versions made later.

The downside was that the costumes seemed to stick with her - even exquipping wouldn't change them, though she can still summon weapons. However, Erza isn't too concerned; she can take some time off bounty hunting and try relaxing for a change.

Erza can be found all around Fayren, looking relatively upbeat and unconcerned about whatever state of dress this place has left her in today. She usually just sticks to Fayren, since that's what she's familiar with, but a conversation that she hears about Everglade catches her interest...]

[Everglade - Video/Action]

[Erza's eyes are practically sparkling - despite what she had heard, she didn't believe it to be true until she saw it with her own eyes.]

This... This is incredible...

[In her haste, the idea of making this video private doesn't even cross her mind.] First! Mira! Look at this! [She holds up the camera, panning around to capture something that looks like Willy Wonka's wildest dreams. All of Everglade, from buildings to benches to even the streets themselves, is made entirely of candy, cookies, cake, and countless colossal confectioneries.] And it even comes back after you've eaten it!

[With that, she'll dash off to sample the sugary sweets that make up Everglade's surroundings... and possibly get charged for more property damage than she does back home in the process. This gets her wondering - what do the other districts have to offer?]

[Attleton - Video - Private to Zeref]

[...Unfortunately, she found out the hard way that this isn't just awesome costumes and delicious treats. The screen is pressed incredibly close to Erza's face, and from the scenery behind her, she isn't exactly out in the open.] You wanted to know when someone from Tartaros showed up? There's one in Attleton.

[She quickly peeks the communication device's camera over the edge of the roof that she's on, showing Kyouka hunting for her on the ground below along with Azuma. Even with her strength, she doesn't want to rush in to fight them when she (as far as she knows) can't change her armour, especially since the mummy costume that she's in doesn't offer much in the way of defense.]

[Attleton - Video/Action]

[Once Zeref's informed, she'll address the public at large, still on the roof. She's trying to stay composed, but from the look in her eyes, she's clearly shaken. She went through something similar back home, and it's not an experience that she wants to repeat, especially when she isn't aware that she can, in fact, change her armour outside of Fayren.]

Some incredibly dangerous mages, and a powerful demon, have entered Attleton. [She briefly sticks the camera out, catching a shot of Ikaruga, Azuma, and Kyouka on the ground below, before pulling it back to her face.] I've fought them before, so I know that most of them have no respect for the lives of others. They've been focused on me so far, but who knows when they--

And here I thought you were too old to be playing with toys... [A chill runs through Erza as she recognizes the voice behind her. She turns, the camera catching a glimpse of a face that's quite similar to Erza's own before it shuts off.]

((OoC: Erza's all over the place for this event, so if you want to make separate threads to interact with her in a variety of places, that's fine with me! I might be slow for the next few days due to work, but I'll be sure to respond when I get the chance.))

Comments

[ Everglade - Action ]

[im_gonna_heal_u]

[ Congratulations, you have decided to take a bite out of a store! A store, which, by the way is being patrolled by dark creature who doesn't seem to take very kindly to people munching on it...

...but then it winds up getting candy on its ear and its sleek but menacing aura is foiled as it decides to clean itself up first instead oops.

The harried store owner pops out a moment later, decked in something red, white, and showy. ]

Ahhh! Don't eat that! That takes forever to grow back!

[ Everglade - Action ]

[redhairedknight]

[Erza looks from the store to its owner and back again before realizing her mistake. She bows, hoping to make it clear that she's sincere.]

Mm srry. [The apology is less effective due to her mouth being full of gingerbread, but she swallows and tries again.] I'm sorry. I... got a little carried away.

Re: [ Everglade - Action ]

[im_gonna_heal_u]

[ Thankfully, it seemed she got the message. Yuunagi, the dark creature Umbreon, sauntered off now that the situation looked resolved, though it remained in sight. Konoka let out a sigh of relief, then smiled. ]

Thank goodness. These buildings repair themselves but they're not nearly as fast as one might think. Negi-kun ate one of the columns on this building and the roof nearly collapsed!

...ah! I'm getting ahead of myself. This is my store, the Mahora Fortune and Onmyodo. I sell protective and utility charms.

[ Everglade - Action ]

[redhairedknight]

Thank you for being so understanding. ...I'll try to be more careful in the future. [Unless a building has turned into a giant cake - then all bets are off.]

[Still, Erza's intrigued by the store, and she'll work her way over to the entrance.] I haven't heard of something like that before... [She met a fortune teller shortly after arriving here, but the charms are new to her.] What do utility charms do?

Re: [ Everglade - Action ]

[im_gonna_heal_u]

A variety of things, but the easiest to use does something like this!

[ She threw out a charm and created what looked to be a chibi doll of herself. ]

It's more than just a cute version of yourself. You can use it as surveillance! And it can also do some low level magic that you already know, too.

You can also make blank charms to cast some low level spells like a heat charm or a cooling charm.

video; everglade

[truesmiles]

You know, if you eat too much you could get a stomachache.

[Fai smiled for a moment.]

video; everglade

[redhairedknight]

But it all tastes so good! [It's odd to hear Erza practically whining, but her sweet tooth is a massive one, as Fai knows all too well. She's summoned a fork and knife, and is currently making her way through a fountain that has turned into a cake, with caramel cascading down it.]

Er... I mean no offense, of course - your work is delicious as well.

video; everglade

[truesmiles]

No offense taken. But yet when you think about it, you are potentially eating peoples belongings.

video; everglade

[redhairedknight]

It grows back. Eventually. Besides, I'm sure a lot of people here are doing the same thing to their own possessions. How could anyone resist something like this?

video; everglade

[truesmiles]

Yeah, but I'd still feel guilty if I ate someone's property even knowing that.

Also to note their own possessions, that's a different matter because it is thiers, to begin with.

[ private to Mavis, then to Erza ]

[deathsought]

{ Zeref saw the message from Erza, and sighed. Great. Just what he didn't need right now, a-- wait, was that Kyôka? And she was with... well, he's never actually met that one, but he recognized the symbol on his shoulder. Grimoire Heart.

Something about this immediately didn't smell right. Tartaros, for all intents and purposes, honored the Balam Alliance, but the Alliance was never an alliance in the traditional sense. It was always more of a non-aggression pact, one that existed mainly to guarantee that Tartaros, Oracion Seis, and Grimoire Heart didn't interfere with each others' interests and operations. Tartaros, being made almost exclusively as Etherious, saw humans as, well, subhuman. Maybe Kyôka was disoriented and just so happened to be lucky enough to find the closest thing she thought she had to an ally in this world.

But every other member of Tartaros who had appeared in this world before posted a message to the network, or immediately went looking for him before doing anything else. Patience was never Kyôka's strong suit. But why Attleton?

It wasn't that long ago that Deloria and Acnologia "appeared" in this world, only to turn out to have been illusions, manifestations of the fears of both Gray Fullbuster and himself. But he couldn't take the chance that that's what was happening again. He dealt with Tartaros in this world before, and he'll do it again if it came to that.

But first, a quick message to Mavis: }

Heading to Attleton. Erza needs help. One of the etherious. Meet me there. Stay safe.

{ If it's really her... well, it could be worse. Could've been Jackal, or Ezel. At least Kyôka was unquestioningly loyal; here's hoping that her loyalty to him outweighed her hatred for Erza.

Zeref finally responded to Erza, dressed in what looked like a stereotypical magician's outfit, complete with a hat, cards, and wand; in Alvarez, it was the attire of choice for a specific kind of Mage who used their magic not for combat, but to entertain. He looks more annoyed than concerned, but his words were sincere. }

I'm on my way. Try not to start any fights until I get there.

[private]

[redhairedknight]

[If not for the current circumstances, she'd find it a little amusing. As it stands, she nods, her expression as serious as it always is when danger is afoot.]

I'll try, but I doubt they'll be willing to cooperate with that. Ikaruga and Azuma seem to seek strong opponents, while Kyouka... [Here, her glare hardens.] She's just sadistic.

[private]

[deathsought]

Most of them are, to some degree. I never crossed paths with the Grimoire Heart mage on Tenroujima, and I've never heard of the other.

{ He's moving quickly. It's a fair distance from Fayren to Attleton, though; he'd have to cut through Genessia City to get there, and there's been some odd goings-on there, as well. With luck, Zeref will be able to avoid most of the monsters, and hopefully, he'll make short work of whatever does decide to attack him (meaning, hopefully it's not something undead). He's sticking to the back alleys in Fayren for now, which he's come to know like the back of his hand after the past two years. But, it might be a while. In an emergency, he'll send a Thought Projection, if and when he gets to Attleton's archway; high-tier mages can project one to the complete opposite end of the world in Earth-Land, but unfortunately, in this world, they can't go through Archways. Makes sense;
must be for the same reason why he can't send one to, say, Edolas. }

She'll be disappointed to hear that she missed Sayla, if nothing else.

[private]

[redhairedknight]

She was an assassin, hired to stop me at the Tower of Heaven. It was a while ago, but that memory isn't a pleasant one.

[She takes a moment to think - she hadn't seen Sayla for very long, but those two demons definitely seemed close.] I feel like she's more concerned with hunting me down at the moment, but the two of them did seem like they had a strong bond. It seemed odd, considering what the rest of that guild seemed to be like. [Erza missed out on a lot of subtext there.]

[private]

[deathsought]

They certainly were. Tartaros was united not so much by bonds, or even by the fact that they were all etherious, though that might have been a part of it. They were united more or less by a lie that Mard Geer had been repeating for so long, that I suspect he started to believe it, himself.

{ He might have genuinely believed that he was 'resurrecting' E.N.D., but E.N.D. never founded Tartaros, or was even a member. Ironically, Mard Geer was face to face with him, and even fought him. He died never knowing the truth, an irony that Zeref relished when he finally put him out of his misery. }

Sayla and Kyôka were the exception. They were genuinely close. Sayla lamented the fact that she got to meet me without Kyôka being here, as well.

{ Zeref falls silent, for a moment. }

Do me a favor. If you can avoid getting caught, try to get a closer look at one of them, and tell me if they're wearing an amulet, like the one you and I received when we first awakened in the Bay.

{ Shouldn't be hard, given Kyôka's usual choice of outfit. }

[private]

[fairysoul]

I'm on my way.

[She's taken off her pantyhoses and shoes. This is an emergency and she doesn't yet know how to run in those.]

I saw Erza's video message. The Etherious is not alone. There's also two mages from dark guilds. ...Eileen is here too.

[private]

[deathsought]

What!?

{ There is a several seconds-long pause while Zeref lets that sink in. Out of all of the Spriggan Twelve, it had to be her. He'd hoped for August, Invel, hell, he'd have taken Dimaria, Brandish, or even Larcade. But Eileen? And with Kyôka here? Kyôka at least was an Etherious and should listen to him because of it. Eileen was willing to disobey him on the best of days.}

Listen to me, Mavis. Let me handle her. It's the only way you or Erza will avoid a fight with her.

[private]

[fairysoul]

Yes, of course. You stay safe too.

[Mavis could deal with Erza as a guild master and friend. Maybe even with the other two mages. She had a reputation after all. But Kyouka and Eileen? There's no reason why they would listen to anyone if it wasn't Zeref himself.

Something, however, was starting to feel very off about all this. And as Mavis kept running, she sent another message to Zeref.]

Don't you think it's odd they would all appear right now at the same place? And not in Genessia City but in Attleton?

What if it wasn't really them? What if it was like the costumes and the people who were turned into monsters?

[It could even be the spirits playing trichs on them or just plain illusions.]

It wouldn't be the first time this world tries playing tricks on us.

[private]

[deathsought]

{ As he reads Mavis' next message, he slowly nods. He'd considered that possibility as well, as soon as Erza first told him that Kyôka was here. It did seem odd that she would wander off to Attleton of all places, without saying anything on the network. But now that Erza has told him about Ikaruga and Azuma... and now Eileen? It did seem like too big of a coincidence.

And as Mavis said, it wouldn't be the first time this world tricked them. It was Acnologia's first 'appearance' that prompted him and Mavis to start planning for just that sort of contingency, after all.

But still. }

I had the same thought, Mavis. But at the same time, that's too big of a risk to take.

{ He's not going to say 'and we should help Erza, regardless.' Even if they should... that's exactly the kind of thought not to allow to enter their minds, with their Curses. }

Attleton Action!

[bigbadrose]

[Rose is a gargoyle, perched on the university roof nearby, unable to wake up until night, but as she does, she watches the red-head filming.]

Want a hand?

Attleton Action!

[redhairedknight]

[Thankfully, she had only finished contacting Zeref, so she hasn't run into Eileen yet. Still, Erza looks up at the gargoyle, a little confused.]

I'd appreciate it, but I think I'll be fine. I don't want to risk someone else getting hurt.

Everglade [Video]

[fairysoul]

Really? Do you think you could take some back to the guild?

Everglade [Video]

[redhairedknight]

I hope so! [She's a little concerned that it will turn back into building parts, pavement, etc. when she enters another area.] I'll grab what I can, and we can figure out what's the best!

[Summoning a sword and a massive bag, she starts stabbing at the cookies that used to be pavement in order to break off pieces of it.]

Everglade [Video]

[fairysoul]

[Erza, your magic is so useful! Mavis beams and nods.] Make sure to grab as many different samples as you can. It will be Fairy Tail's mission to tell the people of Everglade which areas are the tastiest. [...Yes. She is very serious about that.]

Everglade [Video]

[redhairedknight]

I'll be as thorough as possible - you can count on me!

[Erza takes a moment to take in her surroundings, considering what she should prioritize.] I was a little concerned at first, but this is actually quite fun! The costumes are great, this goes without saying... The monsters in Genessia City are the only downside that I've seen, and they're only out at night.