Chapter 57: un
"So, where abouts would you like the guild mark?"
After having spoken to Makarov and being allowed to join the Fairy Tail guild, Mirajane took him back upstairs to the absolutely totalled main hall of the guild where the magic stamp they used for the guild marks was being kept.
Sat atop the bar while Mirajane leaned over it and looked up at him curiously, Daiki tapped his chin in thought, while doing his level best not to stare down her dress top and admire her massive well of cleavage, "Hmm," he hummed in thought, "Maybe my chest?" he mused.
Directly parallel to his four symbol seal.
"Sure, just take your top off," Mirajane shrugged, "What about the colour?"
"Red will do." Daiki nodded, hopping off the bar and reaching for the zip of his jacket. Out of the clothing he'd bought, he'd changed into a simple pair of hiking boots, black cargo pants and a white hoodie
"Wow, you're really well built," Mirajane noted with a blink as he pulled the jacket off, "How old are you again?" she asked.
"Looking to see if it's frowned upon?" he smirked at her, "I won't tell if you won't." he winked.
"Cute try, but no," Mirajane giggled and poked his chest, her finger lingering on the four symbol seal over his heart, "I just can't tell your age. Going by your height and build I'd say about fifteen or sixteen? But something about your face makes me think a little younger."
"I'm thirteen, soon to be fourteen." Daiki revealed with a roll of his eyes. He was only two and a half months off of turning fourteen before he ended up here.
"Really?" Mirajane's eyebrows climbed up high in surprise, "It's crazy how young you are and how built you are, just from touching you right now I can feel how dense your muscles are." as she finished, she gave him a sad, almost pitying look.
Daiki snorted, "All thanks to the grind," he laughed, reaching up to grasp the wrist of her hand that was pressed against his chest, "Though if you keep feeling me up like this, I'm gonna have to have you let me do the same to you as repayment."
"Ara? You're a dangerous little flirt huh? Despite your age," Mirajane giggled, the sad smile being replaced in just a moment, "I was just curious what the muscles of someone lugging around four hundred tons as you say you are would feel like." she said, even as her eyes glanced curiously at the seal tattoo'd over his heart.
"I mean, I'm curious what the chest of Mirajane Strauss would feel like in-" Daiki began to retort, only to be silenced by a finger being pressed gently to his lips.
"You'll have to stay curious I'm afraid," Mirajane winked, before lifting the stamp in her hand and pressing it to his chest on the opposite side of his four symbol seal, pulling back a moment later to show off the crimson red emblem on Fairy Tail atop it, "And there we go, you're officially a member of Fairy Tail."
Daiki stared at it for a moment, wondering if he should customize it with seals in some form, before putting it out of mind for the moment, "Awesome, thanks," he grinned at her, "And actually, since we're alone, this is probably a good time. I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Hmm?" Mirajane tilted her head curiously, "What about? Though if it's just more flirting I don't actually have the time for it right now, there's still some more things I need to go shopping for."
"Nah, at least not right now, I can flirt with you later," Daiki laughed, hopping back up on the stool and not bothering to zip his hoodie back up, "It's about what we were talking about with master downstairs, you know the other dimensions and stuff?"
"Oh?" Mirajane hummed, "What about out? I'm taking masters word for it, but it's still a lot to believe. Honestly, I'm still not sure I believe most of what you said, like the fact you're carrying four hundred tons for one. If you are, why isn't the bar breaking under the weight?" she asked, giving a pointed look to the bar he was sitting on.
"Because the weight is only targeting my body while I wear my weights," Daiki shrugged. That was pretty standard for weights like these back home, otherwise anytime guys like him or Gai or Lee took a step they'd be cratering the ground, "Here, I'll let you try." he said, hopping off the bar.
Once he took the weights off, the weight would be applied as normal. So reaching for his wrist, he slid one of his weights off, balancing it so the weight didn't channel into the floor beneath his feet, before slowly placing it on the ground.
"Try and lift it," Daiki gestured to the weighted wristband on the floor, "Though careful, it weighs one hundred tons."
"…It sure doesn't look it." Mirajane said, giving him and it a suspicious look as if he were just playing a joke on her.
The white haired woman crouched down and grasped it with one hand, before tugging. It didn't budge an inch.
Mirajane's eyes widened and she added her second hand, and grit her teeth with exertion and pulled with all her might. So much so he could see the muscles bulging and contracting under the skin of her bare arms.
And to her credit, she managed to drag it a few centimetres, before giving up and staggering to her feet panting deeply, "…You weren't lying at all." Mirajane gaped.
"Nope." Daiki smirked proudly and bend down.
Before picking the weight up with one hand and sliding it back on his wrist.
"…Alright so I guess you really are just that strong," Mirajane giggled, shaking her head, "So what was it you wanted to speak to me about then in regards to these other dimensions?"
Alright…how to word this?
"You remember master mentioned a specific world he knows is connected to this one?" Daiki began.
"Mmm, Edolas, right? Where Mystogan is apparently from?" Mirajane nodded.
"That's the one," Daiki nodded, "See I actually passed through there before I ended up here. there's ethernano there like in this world, but unlike some of the people here, nobody in Edolas has magic containers so they're completely unable to use magic."
"Hmm, I see," Mirajane nodded again, taking in his words, "But, what does this have to do with you wanting to talk to me about it?"
"Yeah…." he trailed off, giving an awkward shrug, before deciding to just bite the bullet, "Promise not to freak out until I'm finished?"
Mirajane gave him an odd look, before nodding, "Nope." she replied succinctly with a pop of her plump lovely lips and beaming at him.
"Fine," he rolled his eyes, "Look, the thing about Edolas is that it's a counterpart to this world, so if you go there, you'd be able to even find an alternate version of yourself, there's even an alternate version of Fairy Tail there."
"Oh! Now that sounds interesting," A wide smile spread across Mirajane's face, "I wonder what the other me is like over there?"
"A lot the same," Daiki shrugged, "And right, look for context. Edolas runs their appliances and stuff with magic power. But there's hardly any ethernano left there. To deal with that, they've built a machine called Anima which connects Edolas to Earthland and they use it to steal ethernano from this world."
God, explaining all this was a pain in the ass.
"And the plot thickens again, huh?" Mirajane laughed, "Honestly, you should have gotten me some popcorn before delving into this story."
"We can save that for a date to see a movie," Daiki shrugged, "But look, here's where we get to the crux of why I wanted to talk to you alone."
"Obviously something that effects me I suppose considering you wanted to talk to me alone?" Mirajane mused, before gasping and clapping her hands together, "Don't tell me you slept with the other me over there and now you feel awkward being around me? Is that why you keep flirting with me?"
"No," Daiki deadpanned, "I flirt with you because you're one of if not the most beautiful women I've ever seen and no reason other than that."
"Oh, poo, that's boring, though thanks for the compliment," Mirajane pouted, "That would have fun been to tease you about if you did. I could have made a ton of jokes about forbidden love and romance that just isn't meant to be because it was a completely different Mirajane."
"You're quite the evil one, huh?" Daiki snorted in amusement despite the heavy topic he was trying to broach.
"Hehe, they didn't used to call me Demon Mirajane for nothing y'know!" Mirajane grinned, flashing him a peace sign with her fingers.
"I suppose not," Daiki rolled his eyes, amused, "Well anyway, look, I'm going to be blunt. You had a sister right, Lisanna?"
It was interesting to see the teasing and amused expression drain from Mirajane's face in all of a split moment, "I did," she nodded, "I suppose if you're bringing this up, then there's a counterpart of Lisanna over there as well? Is this just a warning or something to not be shocked if we end up over there are at some point?"
Daiki sighed, "No," he denied bluntly, "The Lisanna over there was thought to have died two years ago, but then turned up out of the blue not long later. The thing is, I saw that Lisanna. And unlike everyone else I saw in that world, she had a magic container."
Mirajane froze, her entire body locking up, "…W-what?" she uttered, eyes going wide with shock, "But…how can you even know that?"
In response Daiki pointed to his eyes, "My eyes are special, they're known as a dojutsu back home. Specifically, my eyes are called the Shinkugan, which means the all seeing scarlet eye," he said, "These eyes have a ton of abilities they grant me. From the ability to see up to ten miles away, hear anything within the range of my vision, mask my energy, reading minds and heal almost any wound by using up my own life force and energy. But they also give me the ability to see any energy I have myself and to see through solid objects. I'm capable of literally seeing inside your body, and because of that I can tell who is a wizard from just a glance."
"Oh….oh…." Mirajane bit her lip and stumbled back, and would have tripped over a stool at the bar if he didn't place a hand on her shoulder, "Then….does that…?" she trailed off, unable to even complete the question.
"I'm certain your sister is alive," Daiki nodded, "Two years ago, she was dragged to Edolas when she was weak and vulnerable by the anima, and she took up the role of the Lisanna from Edolas who was already dead."
He wasn't sure what he was expecting.
But it wasn't quite Mirajane bursting into tears and throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, her face buried in his neck.
Daiki stood there awkwardly for a moment as she cried, before wrapping her arms around her and patting her back comfortingly, "Sorry for dropping it on you." he apologized.
"It's…it's fine!" she sniffled into his neck after a few moments, pulling back to give him a teary smile, "It was just sudden, but I'm glad you told me, thank you."
"Better news than me sleeping with the other Mirajane?" he teased light heartedly, squeezing her gently.
"Yes." she giggled, but didn't let go of him.
"Well, not that I'm not enjoying you pressed up against me and all, but if someone see's us like this, and you all teary eyed, they're gonna have a lot of questions," Daiki pointed out, "Especially your brother."
"Oh right, Elfman!" she pulled back from him, eyes widening, "I'll need to tell him! He's been blaming himself for Lisanna's death since it happened, this'll be really good for him. And we'll need to go there right away!"
She looked him in the eyes, "You said you can travel dimensions right, can you take me there?" she asked.
"Sorry, I can't," Daiki apologised, though it was more for the lies he told than anything else, "I'll be able to return here in the future by leaving a beacon to lock on to while jumping worlds, but while I was in Edolas, I hadn't perfected my technique yet so I don't have any there."
"Damn, that's too bad," Mirajane sighed, before shaking her head, "How do we get there then? This anima thing? Maybe Mystogan will know?"
"You won't need to worry about that," Daiki said before she could ramble on with her thoughts, "The ruler of Edolas is looking for Dragon Slayers specifically because they can create a special lacrima they want from their bodies. Sooner, maybe in a few months at most, they'll be targeting Fairy Tail since there's two dragon slayers in this guild, three if you count me."
"Two?" Mirajane blinked owlishly, "We have another dragon slayer besides Natsu?"
And Daiki blinked right back at her, "Yeah, Laxus?" he replied, "He's a second generation dragon slayer. He's got a dragon lacrima implanted in his body made from a dragons heart."
"He's a dragon slayer and he never told any of us?" Mirajane clicked her tongue, "That guy is such a big brat!"
Today had been an odd day for Mirajane Strauss.
It started with her coming to open up the guild first thing in the morning, only to see that it had been demolished by dozens of massive iron pillars.
Courtesy of that bratty Iron Dragon Slayer that belonged to Phantom Lord.
To make matters worse, he'd managed to hit the larder where they stored all their food in the guild. So even after spending hours alongside master trying to calm everyone down, she then had to go shopping to stock up on supplies for everyone at the guild.
And of course nobody wanted to help because they were too busy roaring with rage and wanting to pick a fight.
If it were two years ago, before everything that happened on that dreadful day? She would have been right there with them, she'd actually probably have been one first gnashing her teeth and demanding to go kick down Phantom Lord's doors and give them a beating.
Alas, she wasn't much for fighting these days. Though she did feel that old violent streak of hers simmering within her blood.
On her way back from her second trip of picking up supplies, she found a young man, boy actually as it turned out admiring the wreckage of their guild.
Daiki he'd introduced himself as.
And he'd proceeded to drop bomb, after massive bomb on her and master both. Crazy things that shouldn't have been possible, only to be clarified as real by master.
And then there was the biggest bomb of all.
Lisanna…was alive.
She'd been stolen from them that day and they'd suffered for two years thinking she was dead. But she was blessedly alive all this time. And according to Daiki, she was actually living happily.
Despite how much Mirajane wanted to tear her way into this Edolas world with her bare hands and see her right this very moment, it was okay. As long as she was happy, healthy and safe she couldn't ask for more right now.
That was why there was a skip in her step as she walked down the streets of Magnolia, heading to pick up more supplies, with her newest guild mate walking by her side
"So, what exactly are dragons like?" she broached the subject as they walked, "Natsu wasn't very helpful in explaining beyond how strong and amazing Igneel is."
"Well he's not wrong in that regard, Igneel used to to be the strongest dragon alive, he's still overall the second strongest dragon," Daiki shrugged, arms folded behind his head, "As for what they're like, you'll need to be more specific. Dragons are just as intelligent if not more so than most humans, and vastly more powerful. Though pretty much all the dragons are dead now, have been for four hundred years."
"I'd think so, otherwise we'd have seen one by now with how doggedly Natsu is searching for Igneel," Mirajane chirped, though that was interesting to know. Igneel was really that amazing huh? No wonder Natsu was so proud of his dad, "I mean though like what did they think of as humans?"
"That's why they're all dead," Daiki replied making her blink, "The vast majority of dragons saw humans as below them, because no human could ever hope to beat a dragon in a fight. It's impossible. Dragons are literally outright immune to magic unless its from another dragon. So the only way to hurt them is with physical attacks, but dragons are also far far physically stronger than even the strongest humans around."
That…was new. Natsu didn't say anything like that at all about dragons. "Then what about dragon slayers?" she asked.
They were humans, right?
"Some dragons liked humans and wanted to protect them like how Igneel adopted Natsu Dragneel, and it lead to a big war breaking out between the dragons," Daiki pointed out, "But the ones who were protecting humans, were vastly smaller in number and losing. So they came up with an idea, to bestow their magic upon humans. And there's where Dragon Slayers come from. From what I know, there were tens of thousands of dragon slayers back in the day, and they became stronger both physically and magically by bathing in the blood of dragons. Originally, they were gnats compared to the dragons, I mean, even the weakest and most pitiful of dragons would have more than ten times the magical power you do."
"More than ten times?!" Mirajane's eyes widened in shock and she gaped at the boy. Not to brag, but out of everyone at the guild, the only ones with more magic power than her were Master Makarov and Gildarts, and Laxus she supposed but not by much!
But, ten times the amount she had? Would dwarf even the master and Gildarts put together! And that was the kind of power even the weakest dragons had? And on top of that were immune to all magic except that of another dragons?
That was crazy!
"Yup," Daiki grinned, he seemed to like her shock the precocious little flirt, "But yeah basically, even when an ally of theirs were killed, the dragon slayers could use them to become stronger and before long, because of all the dragons dying around them during the war, they rose up to the point where they were just as strong as the dragons themselves."
So back then dragon slayers ended up like that huh? There was a vast difference between them and the likes of Natsu, huh?
Not that Natsu was weak or anything, but not even Gildarts could compare to that, never mind Natsu. He had a long time to go before he could hope to match his predecessors huh?
"So then, does that mean the good dragons that liked humans won the war?" Mirajane asked next.
"Nope, neither side won," Daiki shook his head, "Back in the day, there was this crazy strong dragon slayer. His name was Acnologia. He was the very strongest dragon slayer, and he hated dragons. He killed so many dragons and bathed in so much of their blood, he ended up turning into a dragon himself, and he hunted every single dragon in the world he could find and slaughtered them all, he didn't care what side they were on. Hell, he didn't just stop there, he slaughtered the dragon slayers as well."
Oh…well-
"Hell, that guys still around to this day," Daiki mused, "But yeah that's pretty much what happened to the dragons. Atlas Flame was actually already dead when I met him and was lingering around as a soul."
Well, that was horrifying. Such a being was still out there? And had been alive for over four hundred years?
What a monster.
But if what he said was true…
Mirajane stopped walking and bit her lip, she was afraid to ask, but she had to know, for Natsu. "Daiki, do you know what happened to Igneel?" she asked, "Do you know why he disappeared?"
Daiki paused himself and looked her in the eye, "Igneel didn't disappear, he's actually a lot closer to Natsu than he realises," he said bluntly, "Acnologia killed Igneel over four hundred years ago. But like Atlas Flame, his soul stayed in this world, he was simply too powerful for mere death to take him."
Oh.
Mirajane wasn't sure how to react to that. Natsu's father, whom he'd been desperately searching for…was already dead? Poor Natsu.
Wait.
"What do you mean Igneel is a lot closer than Natsu' realises?" she asked.
"I mean it literally, Igneel is inside Natsu's body bolstering his strength," Daiki shrugged, "It's through a technique called the Dragon Soul technique, it lets a dragon seal themselves inside a humans soul more or less. Igneel wants to kill Acnologia. He knows Acnologia will one day sniff out Natsu Dragneel and come to kill him because he can't stomach the existence of dragons in any shape or form. When he does, Igneel plans to take the chance to take him out himself."
Today sure was full of revelations, she opened her mouth to speak, but Daiki cut her off before she could, "Don't tell Natsu about Igneel," the young boy told her, "If he wanted him to know, he would have told him about it. It's best not to let him worry about guys like Acnologia anyway, if he does learn about it he'll probably spend all his time thinking about it and worry himself into an early grave."
Despite the heavy topic, Mirajane felt her lips curl up into a smile, "You're considerate in your own way, huh Daiki?"
"Nope, not at all," he denied, "I'm just trying to get into your panties and rock your world. I'm totally evil."
She laughed, "Couldn't you just look through my clothes with those special eyes of yours?" she teased.
Well, for all she knew he already had.
"I could, but that would defeat the point, only losers like Jiraiya peep." Daiki snorted, "I'd rather you just happily show me."
She had no idea who Jiraiya was, but it seemed he was a pervert of some kind. And Daiki had standards.
At least as far as peeping on girls with his eyes went,
Not quite the attitude she'd expect of a boy so young, but considering he was apparently some super child soldier and next in line to be a leader of an entire state of mercenaries….well it was unlikely he was a virgin despite his age.
"Well, who knows what the future holds, I just might," Mirajane giggled, before reaching over and grabbing him by the arm, "Come on, let's go grab the stuff we need and we can go back and introduce you to everyone."
Introducing Daiki to everyone properly, went pretty well as far as Mirajane was concerned.
Though he spent quite a disconcerting amount of time with Cana after she invited him to drink.
Despite his age, which she had stressed.
But then, when had Cana ever cared at all about listening to anyone when it came to guzzling alcohol.
That girl was never going to get a man at the rate she was going.
Though as it turned out, it wasn't long before Daiki after being the centre of attention for an hour, bid off claiming he was going to the bathroom.
Though instead of returning back to the basement afterwards, she found the young boy sitting up in the main hall of the guild, alone and kind of staring up at the ceiling with a frown.
"What's wrong?" Mirajane asked as she approached him, "Is something bothering you?"
"Not really," the boy shrugged, "I'm just feeling kind of antsy."
She blinked, "Why?" she asked, "You looked like you were having fun."
"I was, that's kind of the problem," Daiki sighed, "I don't know how long it'll take me to get back, and sitting having fun with you guys, I could feel it more, how peaceful it is there compared to back home."
Ah.
"You're planning on leaving, huh?" Mirajane pointed out knowingly. She already knew he was going to in the coming days, he'd said as much. But it was sad, that such responsibility was on the boys shoulders.
Incredibly strong or not. Incredibly informed and confident or not. He was still just a young boy, the same age she was when she joined Fairy Tail. She could barely look after her siblings back then, never mind be responsible for an entire military state.
Despite the cocky flirty personality the young teen had, she could see a deep pit of shadowy sadness in his gaze.
"Maybe in a few days after this stuff with Phantom Lord blows over," Daiki shrugged, not denying it, "It would be ungrateful of me to leave after just joining when there's a possible fight coming."
"Don't worry about that," Mirajane immediately assured him before her brain even realised what she was saying, "Fairy Tail is strong, we don't need you to fight our battles for us, actually we don't want you to. As a member of Fairy Tail, it's not your power we care about, it's you. If you feel the need to to leave to take care of things, then do so, don't hold back because of us."
Daiki gave her a weird look, "…And that's…alright?" he asked, the concept seemingly utterly foreign to him.
"Of course it is, Fairy Tail is home where we all come together to live, not somewhere you're bound to," Mirajane shook her head, before wagging her finger at him, "But you definitely need to come back every now and then okay? You might have just joined today, but from now on, you're a Fairy Tail wizard."
He stared at her, looking his age for a moment, before that familiar cocky grin appeared on his face, "Are you kidding?" he snorted, "Of course I'm coming back. Why wouldn't I when a babe like you is here?"
"Exactly!" Mirajane nodded, "I am pretty damn hot, right?" she giggled, cocking her hip to the side teasingly and crossing her arms under her chest in just the right way that pushed her cleavage up within her dress but didn't make her breasts spill out of it.
"Like so hot," Daiki laughed, "I'm immune to fire now, but your looks even burn me up inside."
"Cheesy," Mirajane snorted, "But well, play your cards right and next time you're here I might let you take me out on a date." she winked at him.
"Bet," he grinned, hopping off the bar, "That's definitely worth coming back for alone. Hell that's tempting enough for me to think about just staying and forgetting about everything else."
"I'd like that, but you won't." Mirajane shook her head. She'd only known the boy a day now, but she had a decent grasp on him she thought. He was cocky and flirty, boldly and unrepentantly checked her and other girls out, but a lot of it was a facade. Not all of it, but with his strength and his knowledge, with his position and responsibilities, he pushed back any doubts and smothered them never allowed to be seen. But he couldn't hide the fact he cared.
She was just a stranger to him before really, but he'd still specifically went out of his way to let her know about her sister and more, when it would be far more to his interests to have just left already.
It was cute and a little bit charming.
"Yeah, it sure does suck not being a complete asshole," Daiki pouted, "Well whatever. Where should I leave my beacon to come back with?"
"You can just leave it with me." Mirajane shrugged and held her hand out.
"Gotcha, fine with me." Daiki nodded and smirked.
And then he just, disappeared.
One moment he was there, the next he was just gone.
But just before confusion could settle in-
"Eep!" Mirajane squealed as she felt a hand impact her backside in a quick spank, before she felt fingers and palm take a great big greedy handful of her ass, "Daiki?!"
An arm wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back into a solid chest, "Thanks for the pep talk Mira, I'm taking a feel for the road and i'll be seeing you real soon." Daiki whispered in her ear.
And then an unbidden breathy moan of surprise left her mouth as he pressed a kiss into the back of her neck.
And then suddenly, the hold on her was gone and Mirajane found herself standing alone in the guild hall.
She stood there for a moments in the quiet hall, the only sounds being the partying from down in the basement floating up. Cheeks red, Mirajane reached back to rub her backside where he'd spanked her and felt her up, "That…little perv." she couldn't help but giggle.
Had he left his beacon to return to their world on her butt of all things?