Chapter 17.5

Master Makarov. A little earlier.

Makarov went up to the second floor of the 'Ghosts'. Something was wrong here, they were too easy. Where are the older magicians, where are the 'Four Elements', after all? And the fact that in the battle there is no dragonsler of the guild, Jose does not climb into any gate at all, so that someone from this fraternity would voluntarily refuse to fight? Sephiroth came to mind ... hmm, maybe, but not likely.

Dreyar passed the hallway and found himself in Jose's study. The God-chosen magician sat at ease on the throne, stretching his lips in a grin, as if demonstrating his superiority over others.

-Jose, what the fuck? the Fairy Master greeted politely.

-Makarov, how many years, how many winters? Six, it seems? Then we saw each other for the last time ...

The master recalled that advice and those words spoken by the young (only 35 years old) chosen magician. The bad mood got worse. Dreyar was about to start tearing up the office in the best traditions of his guild, but common sense won over annoyance. Painfully, Jose's words sounded like a provocation. The head of the phantoms grinned disgustingly and ... at his feet there was an image of a bound Lucy, unconscious. Fury began to overwhelm the Master, but ... Sephiroth remained there, which means, most likely, this is just another provocation, having learned the character of the silver-haired magician, Makarov was sure that he could get Lucy Jose only through his corpse, and this dragonseer was tenacious even by his own standards. colleagues, Dreyar didn't want to think that Lucy might be real. Waiting for some trick, the head of the fairies caught a vague movement, although, rather, a shadow of movement behind him. Acting on bare reflexes, Makarov turned around, striking a new enemy with an enlarged hand. The second limb rushed to Jose and ... passed through him, a projection, the Master thought distantly. But the first blow reached the goal. The unknown magician who tried to approach him from the back has already raised suspiciously glowing hands. From the contact of the limb of the Master with the magician, several things happened at once - the unlucky 'ambush' was carried away through a hole punched in the wall (he punched it with his body, so it hurt him, very painful, because the wall was unusually thick and strong), but also Makarov - nine-tenths of the reserve as a cow licked its tongue, and if he had reacted a little later, he could have remained here without magic or life at all - the senile body had long been supported by more magical than vitality.

-Jose, creature ... - the Master gasped, grabbing the wall.

-The battles of the God's Chosen are more like a natural disaster, I wanted to win with the least losses. And, I succeeded - you will not come to your senses soon, and the rest are not opponents to me, so wait for a visit, fakes - the head of the 'Ghosts' grinned and dispelled the astral body. Makarov sighed heavily, still got caught. Well, that means you need to leave and get ready for the meeting. Going downstairs, Makarov noted with some pride that his 'kids' are great superior to the 'Ghosts', although now in the hall none of the older magicians is observed, but nevertheless ...

-Let's go! - shouted the head of 'Fey'.

Sephiroth. While the whole guild stomps to the 'Ghosts'

I have to admit Juvia is just something. Her emotions, the speed with which she changes them ... this heady cocktail. Longing, turning into hope, then into tenderness, giving way to burning jealousy. I liked her for her directness and spontaneity while still being an anime heroine, but now, damn it, I'm already in love with her in absentia, if you face it - Lucy is not her rival, Elsa and Mira - yes, but the blonde, alas, loses in all respects (well, maybe in addition to the size of the chest and general likability), however, why did I think about this? Anyway, I don't want to lose any of my girls. Although four, perhaps, are still the limit, and then we urgently need to learn material astral projection ... or grow tentacles. So, down with vulgar thoughts. Although it is very difficult to concentrate, carrying a beautiful girl in her arms, and injections of jealousy and envy from Lucy's part only encouraged her raging imagination.

We got to the basement where the Fey's headquarters were temporarily located, no problem. There we were met by a worried Mira, who noticed a small column of fire on one of the streets of the city. Mmm, another jab of jealousy, mixed with a drop of envy, now from the waitress, how lovely. He pierced me with a stern look, then exchanged glances with the blonde and, after helping to attach the blue hair on one of the benches, together with Lucy they left somewhere, apparently, they will now be interrogated about who she is and where she came from. Oh, I feel like I'm still tormenting them, but ... it's worth it.

While the girls were sharing the news, I decided to take care of one simple thing - to secure the rear. I think if in the middle of our guild a water mage of S rank wakes up, and even starts to rampage, it will be bad. There are two options. You can put magic shackles on her, fortunately, I got some stock after that story with the Hokage, there are even those that just look like beautiful bracelets, but there are some drawbacks - girls may not like this, especially Elsa, and Juvia, I think , will also not be delighted with such decorations. Then option number two - let him sleep longer, since Simba can plunge into a very deep sleep, and if you also slow down the processes in the body itself, you will not have to suffer with some physiological problems that arise in a person who remains unconscious for several days.

Returning fakes found an interesting picture - the magician Sephiroth, thinking about something, gently fingering the hair of his captive, sleeping sweetly on a bench and smiling at something in her sleep.

-What are you doing? - asked Mira tenderly, with a slight hint in her voice. It's funny, now both girls are clearly united and together are jealous of Juvia, it's not bad, but I need this trio to become a quartet ...

-I gave her a potion that will provide a sound, healthy sleep for a couple of days, and now I am setting up its work so that there are no unnecessary physiological problems - we will obviously have no time to look after the sleeping one, and we definitely do not need a violent S-rank magician in the heart of the guild. Iii, let me know why such notes in your voice? - Mira was embarrassed and looked away. Damn, she's cute. I wanted to come up, squeeze her to me and not let her go anywhere. But I had to habitually restrain myself. No, that's enough, all this garbage with the 'Ghosts' will end and I'll talk to the girls, they already understand each other quite well, and I ... I'm already starting to howl like a wolf! And then let them decide whether they need such a strange me or not, but if they still don't, then ... the light did not converge like a wedge on this trinity?

As a result, it was decided to leave Juvia in the guild, and send a certain too gentle magician home so that he could 'restore the strength spent in battle', in short, they sent me to hell, both from girls and from sin ... eh. So, ours will be back in three days, at least, and, it is not known in what state, I think, some of my potions will not be enough here, which means they will pull Polyuska. Officially, I don't know about her yet, so I'll wait for the healer to appear to the people. But what should I do? Hmm ... indeed, I had been planning for a long time, but all hands did not reach, or there was no necessary information. Now everything is there, so why not?

The idea was to develop a 'combat uniform', more specifically, adapted for magic and possibly close combat. Now, having collected some statistics on the dragonsleer and having some idea of ​​magic, you can tackle the form. So, what is known is that the dragon's tissues are clearly better 'conduct' mana, plus they are able to withstand much more damage, both physical and magical. We take it, definitely. This will not increase the reserve, but it will avoid losses and, possibly, increase power. But the ability to fly is better to screw on from demons - for lizards it is too expensive and is not very suitable for a humanoid form. Problems with excessive expenditure of energy for maintaining physical shape can be solved in the old proven way, what else? The bones, again we take the dragon's bones, but they can be screwed to the normal form - the dragon's bones, of course, are also nothing, but you can arrange a 'level up'. So, now let's go back to the battle form, we cover the skin with dragon scales only so that the scales are smaller, in proportion to the body, add enhanced protection on the elbows and knees - damaged limbs - very unpleasant, bone growths? It is possible, most importantly, not to reduce mobility ...

I planned for a long time, thought this way and that, some of the ideas had to be wrapped up - obeying the madness of the world, my consciousness periodically gave out too intricate configurations. As a result, the 'battle form' began to look ... like a mother demonyug - wings. Fangs, claws ... strong scales, horns, again (sometimes a head blow can help a lot in battle, it is desirable that the head remains intact), in general, the darling should have turned out to be that one. But must I live up to my name? Having finished calculating the shape, I once again paid a visit to the girls (once again they gently and unobtrusively escorted me out, but at least they did not forget to feed me, thanks for that too), and then climbed into the cellar - I needed about fifty kilograms of meat and bones, well, a kilogram five to provide energy. If he bothers, Phantomov will meet a very dangerous opponent, although I hope that Jose Makarych will take over.

Three more days passed, the 'combat form' matured and took root, Mira and Lucy were still talking about something, periodically throwing pensive glances at me, Juvia was asleep. And so, on the fourth day, the return of the main part of the guild took place. What can I say, they fought well - each had a fair amount of abrasions and bruises, many were kept solely on willpower. The master looked much better than in the canon, but still worse than I wanted, looking at him with dragon eyes, I confirmed my assumption - instead of a bright sun in front of me there was only a fire, but at least the coals were not cooling - and that was good. Elsa's story pleasantly surprised me, and at the same time clearly showed me the 'butterfly effect' - without Levi crucified on a tree, the master's anger did not acquire such monstrous proportions and did not blind him, as a result of which he had enough common sense to suspect that something was wrong. As a result, Aria, although he struck, but it came out not so crushing, and the airman himself flew well. Also, Dragneel received special praise - the guy was `` burned '' so that most of the low-level magicians dropped out of the battle, in fact, before it began, which allowed our not very advanced comrades to distract the attention of the larger `` Ghost fish '', substituting them for blows guards represented by Macao and Wakaba. In general, many distinguished themselves, and, although it was not without injuries, and, in some cases - very serious, everyone was in high spirits, however, mana was almost zero.

Then it was our turn to share the news - Lucy told who she really was, even offered to surrender herself to her beloved dad. To get away from the 'Fairies', but ... Natsu, I adore you! The guy almost word for word repeated my speech, in the end, I could not restrain myself and laughed heartily.

-Well, you just saved my cloak from being eaten, thanks, friend! - after the puzzled looks of those around, I had to explain what was the matter, now everyone was smiling, even Lucy, who was trying to secretly wipe away the tears that were coming. They decided to hide Juvia in the guild hideout, Lucy remained in the guild. After sitting a little longer, the people began to settle down to rest. Someone ran to Polyushka so that she examined the Master (although the grandfather himself was clearly not delighted with the idea of ​​meeting the old sorceress, but they somehow forgot to ask him, hehe), someone was already reaching for a beer. The girls ... the girls, of course, hurried home, you don't need to be able to read minds to understand what they were thinking about - almost everyone had a hot bath in front of their eyes (the others just had a shower). I managed to briefly intercept Elsa as she headed to the hostel. Not giving a damn about the fact that someone might see us or think about something, I just walked up and hugged her, breathing in the scent of her hair, mixed with the smell of ash, and for some reason heated metal.

-I'm glad you're all right, - embarrassment and ... a strange feeling, comfort blazed in the girl's emotions? I don't know, but the fact that they didn't repulse me was encouraging.

- Thanks for looking after Mira and Lucy while we were gone.

- No need, they are dear to me as much as to you, - I smile, feeling the warrior's embarrassment grow.

- I ... need a shower - I'm covered in dirt and dust, - said the girl, making no attempt to move away.

- Yeah, - we continue to stand. After some time (alas, not long), I still unclenched my hands. The girl reluctantly freed herself and continued on her way to the hostel, and I ... I realized that even if the light didn't hit them like a wedge, but damn it, I'll try to get them to the end. And after about half an hour, a small earthquake and an eerie rumble announced the visit of the walking guild 'Phantom Lord' to Magnolia. Well, and that building on legs that stamped on the city seemed to hint about this. So the Battle of Magnolia began ...

I was in a hurry to the shore - as far as I remember canon, the 'Ghosts' will try to hit the 'Fairies' with their wondrevflay right away, with acceleration, so to speak, but ... it was in the anime, I have doubts about real life. After all, Jose needs Lucy Heartfilia, and not her charred corpse, which means that he will not beat blindly. In the canon, such an act can be justified by the wild rage into which the chosen magician came after that blow to the 'most valuable', skillfully performed by the blonde, but, firstly, there were no such events here, and secondly, the shitty head of him would be guild and a powerful wizard, if after a blow from a girl who had just reached the rank, he would have lost control of himself and began to do stupid things. So ... then he knew for sure that Lucy would not suffer, - the realization came, the question remains - where? So, as far as I remember, the head of the 'Ghosts' could control some 'evil spirits', but is it possible that the godlike magician has only one kind of them in submission? Something is hard to believe, it means that there is a certain spirit-scout-gunner, hmmm, here's a Shadow from the third Warcraft for you. Okay, this is all the lyrics, what follows from this? That Jose will not shoot, now our Master is not in such a deplorable state and will be enough for calculating all sorts of zaslanets (if they really were, maybe then God's chosen one really fired out of anger, the world is somewhat inadequate) is he sure enough? Hmm ... what would I do in his place? No, provided I send a couple of inconspicuous guys with a set of good sleeping pills in order to mix the guilds into the beer, and then calmly take Lucy away from me ... I would continue to weaken the enemy as much as possible without entering into open conflict for as long as possible. Conclusion: he will shoot, but not necessarily at the guild, it is quite possible that he will 'accidentally' miss - no, he will not hit the residential areas of Magnolia either, but there are warehouses and just a port, where hardly anyone is left now - to break in There are no fools in the showdown of the two strongest guilds of Fiore. The port is far away, but the warehouses are close, knowing the way of thinking of the 'Fey' you can be more than sure that they will try to protect the city. Tts, so there will be a shot and Elsa will have to stand under it. Corresponding episodes came to my mind - a fragile figure in broken armor, being dragged by a blast wave along the street. Well, no, here all this can end with much more serious injuries than in the drawn world. I won't have time to stop the shot, it only remains to cover the girl with my long-suffering carcass. I chuckled. It seems that the madness of the world nevertheless undermined my mind, earlier I would have twisted my finger at my temple to such an offer and offered to just dump the whole guild and strike later, when the enemy relaxed a little, but now, I just want to test my strength, and then, fill the face of comrade Jose (a note for the future, once again delve into the genes of the dragonsleer, something is wrong here - almost each of us always gets into a fight).

Uh-huh, and here is the shore, on which almost the entire guild was crowded, even the victims crawled - here and there bandages of dressings and plastered faces flashed here and there. Damn, they even brought the Master along with a stern-looking aunt, which continued to grumble angrily and ... periodically issued preventive kicks. Hmm, so this is what you are, Polyushka ... 40 years ago, she must have had no end to the guys, but here's the character ... for some reason I remembered another pink-haired girl and her attitude to a certain blond with a funny painted face, by the way, and after all, Makarych in his youth was just fair-haired ... my reflection was interrupted by the appearance of Elsa, wrapped in one towel. The girl looked quite unhappy, although what kind of girl would look pleased if she was pulled out of the bathroom somewhere in the middle of the soaking process? Mmm, wet hair covering my back and a few strands falling on my chest, covered only with a layer of a towel ... a wet towel. The entire male part of the team, no, no, but threw interested glances (the Master once again shook off Polyushka for this), well, I didn't just stare too much, but didn't hide my interest either, intercepting my curious glance, the warrior was embarrassed and hurried to put on her armor again. A disappointed sigh passed through the crowd, flavored with the sound of a savory slap and some kind of mumbling, something like an 'old pervert', although I could be wrong.

Meanwhile, one of the walls of the opponents' guild sank down and a cannon ... with a telescopic barrel ... a hefty cannon with a telescopic barrel appeared before our eyes. My knowledge of resistance to materials and mechanics unanimously stated that you cannot burn with an ordinary core from it - it will break the walls that are not thick enough, but in the world of magic few people bother with the resistance material (some mechanical 'joints' of the walker, which can withstand several tens, if not hundreds of tons of guild weight and a decent piece of granite underneath). Despite the seriousness of the situation, I began to punch on the 'hee-hee', the barrel ... is large and telescopic, hmm, Grandpa Freud could tell Jose a lot, but oh well. But that black ball that began to form at the end of the trunk abruptly removed all the fun. I transform the eyes ... so, the Ball consists of 5 elements. I recognized Fire and Darkness right away - I myself was connected with them, in addition to them there were also elements very similar to the abilities of Juvia and that green one, as it was there ... but, it doesn't matter, it means that Water and Earth, which is logical, it turns out, is unknown to me, the last element is Air ... well, the problem. Painlessly, I can only 'grab' 2 out of 5, which means it will hurt, but there is nothing to do.

- Take cover for all! - Scarlett was already in a hurry to get in the way of the murderous wave of magic. Now she was wearing really deaf armor, somewhat distantly (very distantly) reminiscent of the Milanese armor of the 15th century, though with a much longer and wider 'skirt' and massive shoulder pads, well, a helmet ... hmmm, from the helmet there there was only one name, however, this was not the main thing, the halves of a healthy shield, attached to the elbow pads of the armor, killed much more than me, okay, I'll just consider it a cunning artifact, just large and strange looking. Jupiter (I think this wunderwaffle was called that) finally fired and a stream of murderous magic rushed towards the warehouses, well, I was right. A scarlet-haired warrior stood in the way of the shot, but now I would not mind making a mistake, but, alas, Elsa decided to defend the city, I had no choice but to accelerate, stand in front of her, blocking my face with my hands and, just in case, preparing Simba in order to close the weakly defended places. And then the magic got to my body hmm, and the devil is not as terrible as he is painted. The shot consisted entirely of Darkness, as the most destructive element, simply absorbing the rest and 'slightly' transforming them ... mmm, it can be compared to a good piece of meat flavored with seasonings. Darkness is meat, everything else is just seasonings that give a certain 'taste', I won't say that I was very delighted with such a dish, but it is quite tolerable. The energy filled the reserve almost instantly, but continued to move on, it all started with a slight burning sensation in the whole body, and then ... then the consciousness simply turned off ...

The 'Mind' of the Symbiont. (Translating to a more 'human')

Error, psychomatrix is ​​overloaded. The reason for the overload is the excess absorption of unknown radiation, the code name 'magic'. It is recommended to use a backup psychomatrix. Search. The search is over. Optimal Matrix - Codename 'Overlord', Obtain Clearance. The admission is not confirmed, the psychomatrix is ​​blocked. Search. A non-standard matrix based on the 'Tactician' model was found. Analysis. The analysis is complete. The parameters are appropriate for the situation. Psychomatrix code 'Demon Mask' is activated. Launch. Transform the host body according to the matrix.

Elsa 'Titania' Scarlett.

When a charge of murderous force began to form at the end of the weapon, the warrior hurried to stand in her way, thoughts that were far from combat operations were spinning in her head. Somewhere in the distance, Natsu screamed furiously, restrained by Gray and Elfman hanging on him. That's right - he can't do anything, he'll just die in vain, she has a chance. For some reason, a certain magician stood before her eyes, who followed her figure with a thoughtful look. Elsa clearly understood that there was a very high probability of not surviving the shot of the 'Ghosts' gun and now, she was ready to be honest with herself. She really began to like Sephiroth, and, obviously, more than a friend. When the comic game and confrontation with Mira because of this magician became not just a game, Elsa could not remember, but ... how stupid it is if everything ends like this without really starting. But then a stream of magic broke from the end of the weapon and rushed in her direction. It was necessary to focus on him. Everything else will come later ... if this is the 'later' in general. Suddenly, a woman's scream was heard ... it seems that it was Mira ... and Lucy, and the back of the head of a suicide with a well-remembered hairstyle and hair color appeared in front of the warrior. `` Damn, he said that he would protect ... a fool, '' flashed through my head, but neither pushing away nor closing the dragonsleer with a complete lack of instinct for self-preservation (that is, completely ordinary), the girl had no time - the figure of the magician drowned in the darkness of the shot.

For several tens of seconds the 'Fairies' watched as the charge powerlessly tried to overcome the strange defense of their comrade, but the power of the blow dried up and the dust settled down. The girl fixed her gaze on the guy who took the blow and ... instead of a well-known magician there was someone else. He smelled of monstrous power, comparable to the Master, when he was very out of sorts and a look, completely cold and indifferent, studying the world with indifference worthy of an ancient old man who had seen something like that in his lifetime. Such 'trifles' as sharply shortened and changed color of hair, changed facial features, as well as eyes blazing with an ominous scarlet radiance faded into the background. It was just another magician ...

-Sephiroth? - Someone from the crowd called 'Fey' uncertainly.

- Not really. - The magician thoughtfully studied his right hand, along which several black discharges ran. - An interesting effect ... I didn't think that a simple oversaturation could wake me up ... But now it doesn't matter. - the unknown stretched out his hand in the direction of the 'Ghosts' guild, his figure for a moment was covered with a film of dark energy escaping outward and a dense stream of raw force hit Jupiter, designed to destroy and destroy everything in its path. The weapon did not resist for long - the barrel literally dissolved under the influence of the magic of the unknown, and several explosions were heard inside the Ghosts building.

-Who are you? - muffled Elsa. The dark-haired magician turned around and the gaze of red eyes rested indifferently into the girl's eyes. The warrior slightly shuddered - it seemed that now she was being studied like some kind of funny little animal and I was thinking what to do next. Either pat on the head, or conduct a vivisection.

-Alter ego, dark side of the soul, inner demon, there are many names, choose whatever you like. And do not worry, - his gaze turned to the Master, who twitched sharply at the word 'demon'. - I'm not going to harm any of you. - Red eyes went over the faces of Lucy and Mira, who came out to the noise from the guild, judging by the reaction of the latter, the girls did not like this look either, and returned to Elsa. "But I don't think now is the right time to discuss my personality. - As if in confirmation of his words from the side of the 'Ghosts' guild building came an indignant shout from Jose, amplified by magic:

-Who are you and how did you stop the shot of Jupiter ?! - But the dark-haired did not seem to even hear him, continuing to speak quite calmly:

-I think it's better to remove from the street those who are not able to fight or are unnecessarily exhausted, and it would not hurt to send the children too. - The eyes of the magician rested on Romeo, who, unnoticed, peered around the corner of the building and stared excitedly at what was happening. In an instant, Macao, roused up, obviously fully shared the opinion of the transformed Sephiroth, as he immediately attacked his son.

-But ... Are you Sephiroth ?! - Somehow the girl gathered her thoughts.

-Yes. Just different. - Elsa's head was noisy, she was desperately trying to comprehend what was happening, but so far it turned out badly. 'Sephiroth ... The inner demon ... The dark side of the soul ... How is that even possible?' Somewhere on the periphery, Jose's voice was heard, which had already passed from questions and demands almost to screeching - the head of the 'Ghosts' was clearly not in the best mood (still, to be left without an expensive artifact, and even a few torn floors do not add mood), and the demonstrative disregard for him clearly did not raise the mood.

A stranger, or no longer a stranger, the girl has not yet had time to decide, turned her head at the sound. And after waiting a few seconds until José shut up, he uttered absolutely indifferently:

-Who am I? A dark magician, and not a pathetic forgery, posing as such - there was neither mockery nor ridicule in the guest's tone - just a naked statement of fact - the godlike Jose is a pathetic forgery. From the loudspeaker came an indistinct gurgle, as if someone in a state of wild rage choked on the air ... or began to gnaw at the microphone.

-Now we will have guests, - the scarlet-eyed one turned to Elsa, in confirmation of his words, dozens of figures in dark robes began to fly out of the Ghosts building.

-To take the all-round defense, these are shadows - the magic of Jose - if they touch you, they will begin to pump out magic and vitality, do not let them come close! - shouted the Master, continuing to follow the changed Sephiroth out of the corner of his eye.

The guy looked around the approaching 'balhonshchiks' and, raising his right hand to his face, began to change - the magician's body was again covered with a film of emanating energy, two small horns bent back grew out of his head, the cloak turned into leathery wings, and his hands got small, but clearly not fake claws. The clothing has also changed, taking on the appearance of closed leather armor, a rather beautiful but gloomy look. After completing the transformation, the demon pushed off the ground with an imperceptible movement and somehow immediately found himself ten meters above it, flew to the approaching enemy.

Volleys hit the shadows from the ground - fire, light, something more sophisticated ... The 'fairies' beat carefully, trying not to hurt their comrade, but hard. But after each, even the most powerful blow, the creatures, seemingly scattered into dust, rebelled again ... except for those that came across on the way of the changed magician. The master warned not to touch them, but then apparently Jose's magic misfired, Sephiroth easily tore the shadows apart with his bare hands and it was seen how the energy of the ghosts literally absorbed into his body, without causing the slightest harm, but rather only accelerates the magician's movements. Dozens of dark purple magic clots fell from his arms spread out on the sides, simultaneously mowing down the same number of ghosts. But black, long whips appeared, covering three or four opponents in one blow, and as soon as the thread of energy touched the ghostly creature, it disappeared with a quiet hiss and did not appear back. Soon, Jose's summoned army noticed that it was very quickly destroyed in some incomprehensible way and hurried to retreat. The demon followed them.

-Well, what are you waiting for, go ahead, you need to break these assholes properly! Sephiroth there alone cannot cope, no matter how much his brain gets short! - the master shook his staff and was about to rush with everyone together. But ... Elsa noticed one insurmountable obstacle in his path.

-And where are you going, old fool? Want to die? So do not be shy, tell me, I'll bury you on the spot! - The formidable Master was caught by the collar by the even more formidable Polyushka, - In your state, you generally need to lie in bed and not move once again! Now you just kill yourself about Jose and you can, - the old sorceress looked seriously into Dreyar's eyes.

- It doesn't matter ... I have to! - persisted the head of the Fey, trying to escape from the steel grip. Polyushka sighed heavily.

-Okay, give me ten minutes, I will prepare the necessary compositions ... and don't you dare die there, understand ?! - the elder sorceress turned her gaze to Elsa, who was also standing nearby, trying to collect her thoughts - much that she saw today greatly shocked the girl, - and what are you standing here?

Mira caught sight of Elsa. Very, very angry Mira.

- He laughed in my face, damn Laxus, how useless I am, everyone is fighting, trying to protect their loved ones, friends, even Lucy took the keys and fights with the 'Ghosts', even the barely living Master, - the force began to spin around the girl, - I alone am a burden, a magician without magic, a pitiful sight, - the sorceress continued to wind herself up.

-World, what ...

-I don't need Elsa, I know that after Lisanna's disappearance there is no sense in me and now again someone is dying or crippled for me. You could have died under that shot, Sephiroth ... I don't know what happened to him, but this is how he scares me and all because we simply didn't have enough strength. Enough! - the girl suddenly cried out, growling notes came out in her voice, notes that Scarlett had not heard for several years, - it's enough for me to be a ballast, I will tear anyone who encroaches on my family, - the cage collapsed with an inaudible ringing that once a magician I put transformations on my strength. Devil Mirajane soared into the air. Elsa watched her retreating friend - Mira regained her magic, but ... wouldn't the price be too high? Scarlett hurried to the Ghosts Guild - the guys might need help.

Sephiroth.

Hmmm, I came to myself almost instantly, but the crystal clarity of consciousness and the absence of at least some feelings made it clear that in some unknown way I put on a 'mask'. I tried to leave the mode and return my appearance back, until no one noticed the changes (fortunately, I caught in time that the appearance had changed to Cedric, and I was still hidden from the guilds by the dust raised by Jupiter's shot), but nothing happened - I just ran into what -that wall, in theory, there should have been panic or bewilderment, but no, consciousness simply noted this fact, asked the body to try to return to the original every ten minutes and switched to more important tasks - confrontation with a whole guild of magicians. The fakes tried to understand who I am, I had to give a brief description, slightly shifting the emphasis, of course. In theory, there should be a feeling of annoyance - taking the time - to sort things out on the battlefield. Ally? That's good. I note that it is worthwhile to talk with them later about the basics of tactics and common sense (I know, it's useless, but what if?), In general, I suspect that the conversation with the girls will then be somewhat heavier and longer than planned earlier, and just with the rest magicians in the guild will also have to interpret for a long time, but now it is useless to think about it - first you need to survive and destroy opponents.

Confrontation with the 'Shadows' Jose did not cause problems, it is useless to try to destroy with the help of the dark spirit the one who himself draws his power from the Eternal. Then everything was even easier - on the shoulders of the retreating creatures of Darkness to break into the 'Ghosts' guild, find the first reasonable target there and 'ask' how to get to the library. For the fastest recall of the route, you can cut off something unnecessary for her. I returned to my original state just at the entrance to the abode of knowledge, when I killed an extra witness - one thing is a fire in a destroyed guild and quite another - the mysterious disappearance of books from her library, especially after a certain magician asked for directions there, so that unnecessary people - down with. Then, I take off the 'demon mask', take out my Book from my spatial pocket and throw it into the library. The command was given to the book (someone else's, freebie, take-take), so there was no need to worry about the former library of the Ghosts, while the Book was attending a meal, I place a few of my explosive gifts, as I said - there is no need for extra evidence, and the fire will hide, the main thing is not to extinguish it too quickly - not finding the burnt tomes if the fire is eliminated in record time, the extinguishers may have many unnecessary questions, which means that they need to make sure that they have no time for fires. After placing the charges and giving the Book clear instructions (how to eat everything, you hit this cone with a binding and fly home quickly and quickly), I left the library and even managed to go through a couple of corridors when the next wall scattered in a bunch of fragments, and through the ruins, my back already flew a green-haired magician I know, and after him came in ... came in, in general, Elfman in combat uniform, growling something about 'tear for Lisanna'. I've never seen him so angry, although ... I never saw him angry, as well as Mira. Here we met with gazes and the giant tensed a little.

- Calm down, I'm fine, and you? - the nightmare of the grasshopper nodded.

-You made us worry, it's not like a man! - Elfman growled.

-Well, excuse me, the magic current that slightly fried my brains somehow did not ask if I wanted to drastically overestimate my values ​​or not. Although in this state there are also advantages - it has never been so easy and simple to conjure. And why are you doing it like that? I nod at the chopped earth mage.

-I got into my head ... decided to mock, you bastard, showing the most unpleasant memories, in the end I ... got angry, - somehow embarrassedly finished the giant. An embarrassed three-meter monster with horns, fangs and claws. Thoughtfully scratching my horns, hmm, that's another picture.

-So, what is next? - then the ceiling collapsed and an interesting picture appeared to our eyes - a badly beaten magician with a broken katana, breaking through our ceiling with his head, rushed to the ground. After him fluttered ... gentlemen, now I'm definitely in love!

-What a woman! - I breathe out with admiration, beautiful shapes, white hair, cute horns, claws and a ponytail, let alone the 'taste of magic', mmm ... something very familiar, dear. A sensitive jab from Elfman brought me to my senses. Well, like a poke, from him I gently imprinted into the only remaining wall.

-Oops, - the giant was confused again, - I'm sorry, I didn't calculate something.

Hmm, he doesn't seem to be lying. But still, remember ...

- It's okay, it's a working moment, it's just that you and I will somehow practice strength control - my new form is also really still incomprehensible to me, - I smile promisingly, feeling empathically that the giant immediately got bored. However, now I have no time for him. I went up to Mira, hanging in the air, looking at me suspiciously.

-I must admit, in this form you are not just beautiful - you are charming, Mira, however, now is not the best time and place for compliments, - I smile at the girl, damn it, it really flatters me from her appearance. What a cutie!

-Sephiroth? - there is a lot of suspicion in the look, but in the emotions there is a clear relief, well, yes, the 'demon mask' will certainly not weigh out compliments. But Elfman got a very interesting look, and so interesting that the hefty scaly giant somehow nervously swallowed and tried to appear as small as possible. Hmmm, poor fellow, I feel he will get it from his sister too. Although, he deserved it, hehe.

-Yes, I, I, - damn it, how cute she is in this form, I can't, I just want to come up, hug her with a wing, stroke her back and tail ... uh, apparently I started to take me somewhere again, and so much so that it showed on my face. Ahem, a blushing demoness, wrinkling her tail in embarrassment, damn it, why am I attached to this tail? But is it really all that is reflected on my face now? I look from the slightly embarrassed Mira to Elfman, ahem, yes, it seems, it is reflected, so we urgently need to change the topic, there is nothing to involve outsiders in our delicate relationship ...

-And where ... - I was not given to finish by a strange sound from the corridor, like a horse beating with its hooves, wait a minute, a horse? A colorful group appeared from around the corner - a hefty centaur armed with a monstrous-looking bow, under two meters in size, if not more, a quiver of arrows hung behind its back, judging by the thickness, these are rather small spears than arrows. Lucy was sitting on his rump with clear signs of magical exhaustion, behind Lucy, a medium-bruised green Natsu dangled across the rump. The centaur was saying something to the girl, I listened.

-How did I shoot him with the scales? Well, I'm still an aspect of the air - it's difficult to hide from my arrows even with the scales of a dragon, albeit an iron one, although you still can't help me with powerful attacks, child, - the archer shook his head disapprovingly, - you should train more, - the centaur drove his passengers to us and carefully unloaded, - now I will leave you - I have not been in your world for too long, I spent too much energy.

-Yes ... thanks, Sagittarius, - the girl waved the key, closing the Gate behind the Great Spirit, - um, hello everyone, - the girl waved her hand tiredly and swayed. Purely reflexively, I rushed to her and supported her, not letting her fall, - Sef ... - the blonde whispered quietly ... and fell asleep. Hmmm, I did my best. For another ten minutes it was relatively quiet - someone beat someone quietly, but the fighting gradually subsided. Soon Elsa and Gray joined us - angry, but whole - one unfortunate Aria was clearly not enough for the two of them, given the already slightly crumpled shape of the air vent, and someone smaller ... not even funny. I removed the claws and wings a long time ago, returning to my usual appearance - after all, not too wide corridors are not the place where you can normally use such a large piece. But now a northern fur-bearing animal has come to us.

The animal looked like a tall and dense dark-haired magician of about forty years old, responded to the nickname 'Jose' - here he is at the other end of the corridor, and after a split second - already next to us - damn it, I, of course, already realized that the stronger the magician, the higher his speed and physical strength, but what the hell? Our reserves are already comparable - perhaps mine is even slightly higher, but keeping up with this type ... it seems that it still affects how long the carcass has been 'marinated' in magic. I was thinking about this, heading for the nearest wall, fortunately, even though I did not let go of the weapon. The bad guy treated me to something dark and unpleasant, I remember, I said that in order to fry a dragonleyer, you need to be a Fire mage of the chosen level of God? But now I ran into the God-Chosen Magician of Darkness, the enraged God-Chosen Magician of Darkness. Hastily put on the 'Mask' back, the world becomes simpler and clearer again. Trying to 'eat' his attack is useless. I simply cannot - with such monstrous control of the enemy, I could not 'pinch off' a grain of energy. In speed, the enemy also surpasses me, and so much so that I do not even have time to hang the cells of the Symbiont on him, and those that somehow miraculously fall on him are simply burned in the monstrous power of the wizard, Magic attacks are also ineffective - the only thing is that made him widen his eyes once in surprise - a blow with the raw power of Death, but the defense put to Jose coped with it without any visible problems, there was no question of hitting him with the adamantium blade either - too fast, too good a reaction and too much experience ... There were dozens of gaps in his defense, but with such an advantage in speed, there was no sense in this knowledge. We were - 2 S-oviks, two dragonslers, one A rank magician. Everything is relatively fresh and ... we couldn't do anything to this monster, nothing at all. Jose chose me as his main target, as the most dangerous (or maybe just annoying personally) opponent, and he simply brushed off the girls like flies. My survivability made it possible to withstand his blows practically without consequences, and for something more vicious, he did not have enough time - after all, albeit almost harmless, our attacks somewhat distracted him. Catching the right moment, I still managed to get it - but the blow that pierced the granite boulder only knocked the chosen one out of breath and threw it back a little. I didn't have time to finish the attack and finish it off with the blade - I was sent on another flight to the nearest wall. Hmm, it seems that something crunched in the body, analysis of the damage ... but no, it's just an overlap ... once again I rise from the floor, but Jose also rises ... in an extreme degree of brutality and just blows us all with one careless gesture.

"Well, who's just a fake now," he hissed in my face, spicing up the hiss with some ingenious spell design that gave my bonds the pleasant feature of a torture machine, I had to quickly cut out the sensitivity of my body. Well, now I need to properly divert his attention to myself, and at the same time - to play for time. The plan is thought out, but now I need emotions ... I take off the 'mask'.

- Well, you definitely don't understand torture, - trying to smile carefreely (as far as possible in my situation), - but nothing, as soon as I get out of here, I will show you a couple of interesting options, I guarantee an unforgettable experience. - At the end of the monologue, I spit pathetically in his face. What why? Well, not for the sake of a dramatic effect, for sure - while hanging, I remembered some funny guys, the Adeptus Astartes are called, and they had one funny property - thanks to a cunning gland in the lip. They could spit acid quite tolerably well, or, in extreme cases, literally gnaw their way out from behind bars. No, on my knee and in a minute I could not invent and grow such a gland, but with the help of Simba, I could 'slightly' change the chemical composition of saliva ... it turned out well, even burned my tongue, Jose got it right in the eye. This bastard howled in a bad voice, but did not break the concentration, in revenge enriching my dictionary of Fiore mat with new constructions and rewarding, in theory, a lot of pleasant sensations, in any case, in that spell - he put the executioner's strength without regretting, damn, any ordinary magician would have already bent over from the painful shock, the dragonseer, most likely, too.

- ENOUGH! - How long have I waited for this voice. The heavy cavalry arrived. Makarych. Very angry Makarych. A very angry Makarych, returning with mana and drenched with potions almost up to his throat - from here there was a scent of a dozen herbs and something else emanating from the Master. With a flick of his hand, he dispelled the holding spell. With the second wave, I sent in Jose something brain-twisting in complexity - there were about twelve rune circles, and I generally keep quiet about what kind of concentration is needed for this matter - in combat mode, I'll probably still pull, but in normal mode, and even in one gesture ... not even funny. Hmmm, it's enviable, but I won't be able to do this very, very soon. Unlike the canon, Dreyar did not give birth to a lecture that Jose could have achieved very, very much if he were not such an ass. When SUCH spells are used, there is no time for talking. The only thing that the Fairy Master allowed himself was one short phrase:

- Look, you have nothing to do here, - and I fully supported him, vitality by vitality, but here they could actually finish off even me, I don't know how, but I have no doubt - they will incinerate and not notice. Having lifted the still sleeping Lucy into my arms (either she was VERY tired, or she has iron balls ... uh, I mean, nerves), I followed the majestically retreating comrades (yes, that definitely sounds better than 'we were reeling, flashing heels', and we will write it down), during the strategic retreat we managed to leave several of our cells, maybe it will still be possible to spy on something from the arsenal of God's chosen ones, even if there is not enough talent to apply, and it will be useful to hang a beacon on the loser Jose, it seems that he will then go to zero mana, which means that he will not be able to instinctively burn out my settlers. Meanwhile, the dismantling of two such monsters began almost to distort reality itself - until recently, the calm sea suddenly curled up, and the clear sky was covered with suspicious clouds, and in the distance it was noisy rumble. So far, in the distance ... The culmination of this whole story was a small earthquake (points 3-4) and a hefty Runic Circle that covered the entire Phantom guild and the coast. But okay, the size of the circle is not yet an indicator of the complexity of the spell, but only its strength - the invested magical power itself 'expands' the boundaries, of course, through tight control and concentration you can keep them, thereby making the spell 'denser', but ... now this was irrelevant, Makarov simply covered all the 'Ghosts' with his construct. And if I used to think that that twelve-circle construction was mind-breaking. Now I realized how much I was delusional - that THIS was really brain-breaking - not a single repeating chain of runes, and even some parts were mobile.

- Fairy Law - Elsa whispered reverently, Light destroying the wizard's enemies ... a legendary spell.

-Now I know what to strive for, - without looking up from the contemplation of a truly Legendary, with a capital letter, spell, - I whisper in response. The Power was amazing, but in the Master there was not so much Power, then where? Is he addressing the elements directly? Or something else? No, it is useless to make assumptions - this is not nearly my level. However, they pulled me out of my thoughts, however, in a very pleasant way ...

-Sephiroth ... - Lucy woke up, in whose emotions so much is mixed now that it's just horror, - I wanted to say, thank you ... for everything, and ... about our conversation, in general ... - the girl is not Having finished her sentence, she reached out and kissed me, clumsily, but very diligently, and some theoretical preparation is visible, but why shut my eyes? Ten seconds later, we broke away from each other and ... the girl, shooting her eyes towards the stunned Mira and Elsa, blushed and ran away. Em? Am I kissing so bad?

-Well, no, this does not fit into any framework! - outraged Mira and ... - a new kiss, now given to me by the waitress, hmm, I don't know how the 'demonic' component affects the girl's character, but I like this attitude, and the slightly enlarged fangs give a certain charm ... Here my emotions were struck by someone's annoyance, regret, sadness and a drop of joy mixed with envy, I had to interrupt the kiss with the cute pinkish 'Devil'. I look at the sad Elsa, who is slowly moving away from our company, clearly in a depressed state. Well, I do not.

-Yes, what the hell ?! - a few quick steps and I find myself behind the warrior's back and put my arms around her shoulders. Elsa stops and turns to me, her face is so close ... I bend over and tenderly kiss my slightly parted lips ... a slight stupor, but now, the girl begins to answer, and then ... Then from both sides, almost simultaneously, waves flooded me shame mixed with embarrassment. Scarlet, matching the color of her hair, Elsa with a panicky movement wriggled out of my arms and ran towards the crowd of guilds. Turning to Mira, I see only a winged silhouette receding across the sky, from which waves of shame still radiate. Damn, what the ... am I kissing so bad? So short, and what a complex to earn!

At this, the battle with the 'Ghosts' came to an end, the unconscious were unloaded onto the shore, the wounded, both ours and the 'Phantoms', were dragged to the very 'happy' Polyushka. Gajeel screamed and cursed especially loudly - his carcass was turned into a pillow for needles, in any case, limbs pierced in many places by arrows, as well as an arrow in the ass (Sagittarius has a sense of humor - so subtly hinting at some awl of a dragonsler in the same place) talked about the fact that the iron Dragon Slayer had passed the acupuncture course. But the killed were nothing at all - and, basically, they were all my 'clients' (however, they were not able to find all, not all), also part of them choked with smoke, trying to extinguish the fire in the library, well, a couple were just very unsuccessful welled up from stairs or roofs - no one purposefully eliminated the enemy's "manpower". It is not accepted here with them.

The victims were assisted, the Master, standing on the ruins of our guild (the damaged building could no longer stand the earthquake), pushed the speech about how great we are and further in the text. True, then the thought came to him that the Council would definitely demand someone's blood, and he, with a passion already ... let go of Jose. By the way, why would that be? No, I can't understand his kindness ... In general, Makarych felt very sad, so much so that when I handed him a flask with tincture, he silently accepted the container and halved it in two powerful gulps. Then he exhaled and ... sniffed his sleeve! That is another spectacle, I can tell you, psychedelic surpasses the last series of Evangelion, believe me, I can compare. Well, then ... then everything was like in any other world - the 'valiant' law enforcement officers appeared in Magnolia about two hours after the end of the battles and began to quickly arrest and interrogate everyone, and, in this sequence, to be indignant there was neither strength nor special desire. Yes, and seeing the pleading look of the Master, I tried to keep my mouth shut, simply knocking out of the servants of the law the replacement of arrest with a 'not to leave' for myself and the girls - I tried to organize this for everyone, but too many 'fairies' had difficult relationships with the Council, (let's not poke in the direction of Natsu and Gray, they are far from alone there), I had no problems, rather the opposite - a 'clean' list and even gratitude. Well, the girls were simply given a discount on gender and a love of hygiene - a field camp with the only convenience like a 'toilet' is not the best place for tired 'fairies' and my subtle hints to the familiar captain of the Rune Knights have nothing to do with it!

The interrogations lasted for almost a week, but, in the end, justice prevailed - more precisely, all the dogs were lowered to the 'ghosts', especially when the awakened Juvia told about the provocation on the orders of Jose, who, by the way, was never found ... well, yes, the basement nobody searched mine, hehe. What, how did Jose end up in my basement? Oh, this is a very banal story - after Makarov finished him off, the former head of the now disbanded 'Ghosts' was an easy prey - only a dozen of my cells were enough to survive in that mess. Aria was punished much harder than in the canon, and therefore could not take care of the boss. So the former God's chosen one turned out to be my 'guest'. Why ex? Well, now I understand why Makarov let him go. Fairy Law ... a truly terrible spell. Darkness is merciful, it just kills, Light ... it burned out all the energy structures in the body of the former magician. In general, everything. At zero, now in the dragon's eyes, Jose was no different from Mystogan - a man, even theoretically incapable of magic. Well, his nervous system suffered a lot, but this is so, little things. But there were brains with knowledge, while sitting under house arrest, thoughtfully dissecting them, pulling out any grain of information, but this is a somewhat different story, the problem of the 'Phantom Menace' was resolved, showing that as a magician I am still very weak and I have a lot to develop, well, let's dig ...

However, after settling the problems with the law, I personally had much bigger troubles - 'Fairies' ... 'Fairies' burning with curiosity, and the determination with which girls inhabited me ... in general, it was difficult, but I fought back like a lion!

From the memories of Sephiroth.

-So! Calm down, breathe through your nose. What's the matter? - I was surrounded by a crowd of guilds, led by the Master. And judging by their appearance, they won't get off me until I find out what interests them. Despite the criticality of the situation, I felt unexpectedly cheerful and excitement flared up inside, so putting my hands in the pockets of my raincoat, I calmly looked around the audience without any anxiety or nervousness.

-We have questions, - explained Makarych suspiciously looking at me and playing with a staff with a smiley face (and where did the old man dug it out? I want to!).

-Understand. - A light half smile in the best traditions of Aizen. "But what about the guild's rule not to ask about the past? - Under my gaze, the top was slightly obscured, even Gray and Natsu diminished the enthusiasm on their faces, pretending that it had nothing to do with it.

- I know, but ... - The Master stubbornly obstinated. - But still, I ask you to tell some details, if you want - only to me, I promise that it will not go further than me. - A friendly, disappointed sigh of the guild rolled across the square.

-Hey, old man! But we are also interested! - Natsu ... No, well, who else could it be ?! The master, however, did not manage to reason with the prodigal dragonsleer, as a bowing blow from the category of 'a hammer on an anvil' was heard and the pink-haired man dynamically met his face with the ground. `` I ... w-got it ... '' came an indistinct hum from below. Gloomy Elsa stood behind the guy and watched what was happening.

-What's going on here?

-Mass flash of curiosity, suspiciously reminiscent of a desire to climb into the past against the will of the respondent, - Keeping a significant half-smile on my face, I explained to the warrior. For one thing, he noted Mira's curious little face, peering out of the basement and attentively listening to the conversation.

-WHAT? - Very quietly, but extremely expressively asked the girl. This is the look ... This is the emotional press. Although, if you remember her past and her reluctance to stir it up ... And with what views I was massively awarded by the guilds ... But nefig, gentlemen

`` M-we just wanted to ask Sephiroth a few questions ... about what happened to him, '' Elfman tried to choose his words very carefully, but ...

-Braaatic, - but such Mira really scared me, I even felt a little sorry for Elfman ... a little bit ... but okay, whom I am trying to deceive, at that moment I sincerely enjoyed the painting 'The World in Anger'. Driving a white-haired giant into the humus up to the nostrils with one glance ... inspires. But, I did not take into account something, namely, female curiosity and female charms ... Morally destroying my brother, the waitress took up me, well, how she did it ... she was still wildly embarrassed by that incident with the kiss, and therefore she constantly averted her eyes and blushed slightly, I was wildly crushed by her sight, which this demon did not fail to take advantage of - many in the guild have memories that you don't want to touch, don't you know? - still an angry voice, but there is no anger in the emotions, - when Sephiroth considers it necessary, then he will tell everything himself, right? - two blue lakes of eyes looked at me, in which I immediately began to drown, fortunately, the girl was again embarrassed and averted her eyes, looking down sweetly . I suspected that she was deliberately, perhaps purely instinctively influencing me this way, but I didn't want to offend the girl that she told me about the misfortune of her family with distrust, and I felt a genuine interest in Lucy, whose secret had already become known to the guild (even By no means everyone understood what was so terrible about the girl's origin), who also pulled up to the noise of the conversation (it seems even from the same basement as Mira, I wonder what they were doing there?), and Elsa pricked up her ears, hmmm .. Taking a deep breath, I said:

- Okay, I give up. - Without stopping smiling, I bow slightly to the girls, for one pressing my right hand with my palm to my heart. - But keep in mind, I myself have not fully figured out the situation myself, so I definitely cannot explain everything.

"Nothing, I think together we can try to restore the truth," Mira smiled sweetly, clasping her hands behind her back, "embarrassed", ���and Levi will help us with the theoretical part.

"Of course," the blue-haired girl nodded happily with her bandaged head.

-Hmm ... okay, where to start ...

-Start from the 'dark side of the soul', - prompted, nervously shifting, Elsa. The crowd held their breath.

- Well, this is the easiest thing. Each person experiences emotions, feelings, desires, but they do not always correspond to our ideas about the right thing. Some may not like it, we will deny the existence of others even alone with ourselves, and so on. However, despite denial and even hostility, all these feelings continue to be an integral part of our personality, forming a kind of shadow on its backyard, which can be called the 'dark side of the soul'. This does not mean at all that this side is necessarily evil, not at all. As a rule, the essence of this second personality is what we try to hide from others, deny, or simply do not use in everyday life. Well, for example, for some brutal knight of runes, ruthlessly chasing subordinates and always pretending to be an evil, soulless flint, which is not interested in anything other than service, such a `` dark side '' will be expressed in a tender, love for kittens, airy cakes and romantic books, - Elsa blushed a little. - that is, everything that he would never allow himself to demonstrate in front of his subordinates. And at some, the Great Light Magician in years, - Here I pointedly looked sideways at Makarov. Grandfather tensed and the glances of all those present turned to him with interest. - in hobbies that are not allowed by status ... for example, young sorceresses. - Makarych already wanted to protest something loudly, but under the understanding glances of the entire guild and the insolent smiles on the faces of the magicians, he fell silent and said nothing. - Also, in some, special, cases, this side of the personality can replace the main one, first of all, with a strong shock, mental trauma or ... magical influence. At the same time, a person remains the same, he has the same life priorities, desires, dreams, attachments, but the angle of view on reality and, above all, behavior can change a lot. I paused, allowing the audience to ponder the information. Elsa's and Mira's faces were very thoughtful, why, I explained what they both experienced, one on the island with the Tower of Heaven, and the other after the disappearance of their sister. Even now, I'm not very sure how the changes in consciousness take place there, but the demonic and peaceful hypostasis of the World, as it were, hinted.

-Iii, then under the shot of Jupiter did you have such a substitution? - Asked Lucy squeezing forward.

-Yeah. I was able to absorb about half of the energy, and then an oversaturation happened and I was suddenly switched over, although I lost consciousness for a moment and did not notice how it was happening. Simply - once, and I stand on the site, and no emotions, only the awareness of the need to protect the guild and deal with the 'Ghosts'. Just bare reason and logic, I didn't even feel anger that Jose was trying to kill you. No doubt, no worries - an ideal car, an ideal ...

- Dark magician, - whispered Lucy, but in the established silence her voice was heard quite clearly, - on the way to his goal, ready to use any methods if they seem suitable for the situation.

- Yes, - I confirmed, - although there are different dark ones - this one is just that. A very interesting feeling, I must admit, of a sort of simplicity, even elementary nature of the surrounding world, but ... I would not want to experience this all the time.

-Well, what about the change in appearance? - The master scratched his forehead with his famous staff with a smiley face.

- I think there are two factors - a subconscious desire to isolate oneself from 'my dark side' and the Magic of Life. Unfortunately, I missed this moment and when I woke up I already had short hair.

-Hmm ...

-And the wings, claws and ... horns that appeared? - Mira was a little embarrassed, why would it, really ... like that look, hehe?

-It's even more interesting. Perhaps the oversaturation of energy spurred the process of 'draconization' of the dragonslers, and even the Magic of Life went into action, be that as it may, then I turned almost without thinking, only imagining what exactly I needed to resist the 'Shadows'. By the way, practice has shown that I can now repeat this action quite consciously.

-Hey, wait! What do you mean by this like her 'draconization'? Is it that if I do a lot of magic, then I will also grow myself a couple of jewelry? - Natsu's emotions were ... interesting, on the one hand, he wanted to be like adored flying lizards, but on the other ...

-No, after the termination of the magical feeding, the body returns to its original or almost original state, I checked this almost immediately after initiation, although ... I think the problem can be solved by immersing in a magically saturated environment ...

-Uh?

-If you kill a couple of dragons and swim properly in their blood, for example.

-Hey! Why would I kill dragons ?! They are good! - the Dragon Slayer was indignant.

-As you know, but there are suspicions that the dragon-slayers were called Dragon Slayers is no coincidence, however, there are several more options - for example, to keep the changes with the help of Life Magic, theoretically, so you can become a dragon in general, although it will take quite a lot of time and magical energy ... and with the return to human hypostasis, problems may arise ... no, nafig, nafig! - I get carried away a little and delve too deeply into reflections.

-But Life Magic is prohibited! - Levy, yes, perhaps the most 'correct' of the entire guild.

-Not really, - another Aizen-style smirk, - it is forbidden to animate inanimate objects and create chimeras, especially human ones. That's all, there is not a single line about the fact that you cannot study your body with the help of magic. However, I own the Magic of Life at a level that is clearly insufficient to carry out any changes in the body, just to notice that these changes occur if the pressure of magic of sufficient strength is kept in the body. Actually, that's how I learned about this very 'draconization'.

-Yasn ... the Master's phrase was interrupted by a savory slap in the face.

- HOW MUCH IS POSSIBLE ?! IT'S LITTLE THAT YOU DRAWED ME OUT OF HOME, FORCED TO TREAT ALL INSANES, SO NOW YOU DON'T GIVE ME A REST ?! "We seem to have woken up the Kraken. The Kraken had pink hair, a bad temper, a love of unmotivated cruelty ... oh yes, she was also called Polyushka. Having looked at each other amicably, we made the only right decision ... we have to blame!

"Farewell, Master, we will not forget your sacrifice," Macao bowed his head, 'mourning' his beloved chief, who had moved away from the place of executions ... the educational conversation of the senior magicians, the 'fairies' joined their colleague, escorted by Dreyar's doomed gaze. I involuntarily grin, yes, in this way, to defuse the situation and slightly brighten up unpleasant memories, I take off my hat, Makarych, you are great ... after all, this is just a performance, and in fact it is not going to ... a desperate scream and the sound of the body falling interrupted the chain my thoughts ... ahem ...

But back to Comrade Jose, who is now firmly settled in my basement. After a week of constant brain dissection, he became slightly inadequate (although I have met personalities much more 'bruised' and without my intervention), but he continued to share information in good faith. Hundreds of spells, various dark rituals became worthy trophies, there was also information on a number of other schools - as I said, the head of 'Ghosts' had more than a lot of experience, I'm not talking about the coordinates of various caches and stashes downloaded from his brain, but God's chosen the magician, and even with a bias into the Darkness, had a lot of them, as well as a bunch of informants and simply 'interesting' people. More precisely, access to the dark guilds. Speaking of the latter, it seems that now I understand exactly how Lucy's father went bankrupt - no matter what he said to the girl, in fact, it seems that the ransom demanded from him - after all, partial blame for the destruction of the 'Ghosts' lay on him, in in any case, for the 'partners' of Mr. Jose, moreover, there are even suspicions for which ones, I think, it is worth visiting them and ... to talk a little - I will not allow anyone to ruin my girlfriend's family. But that was not the most valuable thing. Now I understand why I lost my hand, trying to turn to the Dark for the first time. It turns out that you need to work with this element here on a completely different principle. Darkness, as well as Light, it turns out, has something like its own consciousness (no, I felt that the Eternal is quite reasonable, but I was not sure that it 'descends' to the level of mere mortals so much that it constantly turns its gaze on them ), so you can refer to it directly ... but with a number of conditions. Jose believed that this element is destruction itself, cruel and merciless, a magician without protection risks being crippled by leaning towards her, but ... it seems to me that the whole thing is simply in the curiosity of Darkness, no matter how strange it may sound, she studies the person who turns to her magician, but even getting under the fleeting glance of such an entity, an insufficiently strong creature risks being crushed on the spot. But there is protection, or rather, even several options. The first and the simplest one is to work through an intermediary - Jose's Dark Spirits, Frid's Dark Letters is the most striking example. Mirazhana also addresses the Eternal, but using the 'spirit of Satan' - it is no longer quite a mediator, rather a disguise - there are many spirits and demons in the Darkness, one more does not cause any interest of the elements. But, there is another way, much more risky, but also much more effective - you can draw the power of Darkness directly, but then you need to fence yourself off from it. Anger, hatred, anger - experiencing these feelings, the magician can scoop up a bit of strength, but constantly being in anger ... you can burn out. Why do I think Jose was wrong? No, not for some romantic reasons (maybe just a little), just, I turned to the Darkness, being in the 'demon mask' - the force responded easily and naturally, and I didn't ruin any reprisals. Completely devoid of emotions and feelings, but without any protection or 'intermediaries', and nothing - no pain, no loss of a couple or two limbs, only a feeling of strength and power (although Jupiter's devoured shot may be to blame), I was simply invisible or uninteresting, and after all, the Darkness, loving no one, does not refuse to help anyone ... strange, where did this thought come from? Hmm, I think I've read it somewhere ... but it doesn't matter. If I'm right, then one of the main problems of really dark magicians I decided for myself, I think this will allow me to use all possible directions of Dark Magic ... Dark Arts, really ... Zeref also got to this? Not a bad explanation for his eternal poker face, although trying to understand the train of thought of the most skillful Dark Magician in the world ... no, I'm not so crazy yet (Really? Well, nothing, you have everything ahead of you) ...

Life began to return to its usual course again - we restored the guild, tried to figure out the scheme of the new building (the drawing issued by Mira was, of course, not a strange drawing, as in the anime, but there were very few people among us who could normally read the drawings, contact they didn't go to professional builders, because "we have to build our own house!", as Makarych said pathetically), they did not forget to rest, of course, where without it.

Out of the corner of my consciousness, I constantly felt the presence of Juvia, the girl really turned out to be a 'stalker' - she was either afraid to make contact, or she was shy, I kind of didn't see her, but the water sorceress cooked just amazingly, excelling in this Elsa with Mira, if not on her head, then close to this for sure. After the first time I received a box of food from an 'unknown fan' and out loud I thanked 'a modest but very kind girl who cooks so well' (Juvia's emotions bloomed with real happiness with a slight touch of superiority, but the usual trinity began jealous and sidelong glances at each other, what a charm), the girls arranged a culinary competition among themselves. The whole guild won - judging by the faces of some of the guys, they had never been fed so tasty.

The fun ended when a crystal ball arrived in the mail for a long distance communication, and Lucy disappeared, leaving a note that she was 'going home' ...