Firefall || Fairy Tail

32 : a . s i s t e r ' s . w o r r y

Kia could smell it on the air as the three hurried the rest of the distance to the guild at a breakneck pace. A smell that she couldn't exactly pinpoint, but it immediately brought two words to her mind: pain and fertilizer. She knew her nose shouldn't have been sharp enough to pick up on anything, but even the subtlest of quiffs could take her back to that place. Her brain had hardwired that scent into itself as a defense mechanism, wanting her to run as soon as she caught the faintest hint of it.

Everytime she blinked against the wind, unpleasant images coated the inside of her eyelids. The stone walls, the approaching thorns, her old cell door. Her ears were starting to play tricks on her as well, turning the wind into cackles and laughter or her young screams. She felt like she was going to lose her lunch.

What made it worse was that she could swear that the smell was growing stronger.

Kia shook her head, refocusing her thoughts on getting to Magnolia and the guild hall as quickly as they could. She peeked down at the blur of lightning that she knew encased her two friends. Verani hadn't missed a step since they shot from the train.

'Focus,' she told herself. 'One step at a time. Just keep coming.'

Her wings flickered in her peripheral vision. Kia could be formulating a plan right now, but she needed to speak with Master first. But could she afford to lose track of this scent?

There were so many times over the years that the Mythics were roaming after Acnologia and Zeref when she had tried to locate that damned floating island. That was one of the only places she had left to look for that book and something in her gut always told her that she would have to face that place again if she was going to get it.

||~x~||

The protection teams for the ex-council members had already left when the Mythics touched down outside Fairy Tail. They had walked in as Erza and Mira were heading out. Their eyes scanned the girls, giving each other only nods of understanding before continuing on their ways.

Every person in the guild was busy. Some were pouring over books or loose pages while others were pinning notes and flags into a large map of Fiore. A few people looked up and greeted the girls, but didn't stop what they were doing and the three didn't bother them. Instead, they each split off in their own directions. Verani turned for the hall, Amber stepped toward the map when Cana was helping coordinate the information with Warren, and Kia continued straight through the center for their Master. They hadn't spoken about their plans before stepping through the door, but they each fell into a role naturally. Verani would go to the infirmary and see how her brother and the Thunder Legion were doing, while Amber would get a status report about where they were in their search for Tartaros and the former council members, mainly who had been sent where. She would also see where she could best jump in to help. The pinkette nodded toward their Master when he noticed her coming in his direction.

"That was faster than I expected, but I'm glad to have the three of you back home."

Kia stepped up beside him, turning to watch the organized chaos before them, "Not as fast as we would have liked, but it couldn't be helped."

The old man shook his head, "There's nothing extra I could ask from your girls." There was a pause before he spoke again, "Mira said that the reports weren't exaggerated. The attack on the Council was that bad."

"As far as I know, Doranbolt was the only survivor topside." Though the information wasn't new to her, it hurt Kia to say it outloud, to acknowledge the true scale of damage. "Has anyone learned what caused them to act?"

Master's features hardened, "The first set of teams just checked in and are on their way back. Master Michello was able to fill us in on a weapon that we believe they are after." Kia's brow quirked as she took her eyes away from the room. He continued, "It's an anti-magic pulse bomb that could wipe magic from the entire continent."