Fairy Tail Origins Episode 1: The Eternal Journey

Vallory grabs Aldous and Rosa by the shoulders, guiding them toward the door.  "Enough talking.  We have a plan, and now it's time for action.  We'll visit every blacksmith and store in town, if we have to.  Every inn and bar, as well.  Sooner or later, we'll find someone who recognizes the work, I'm sure."

She pauses at the door just long enough to look at the others.  "Well?  What are you waiting for?  Pack your bags.  The train to Ambrosia won't wait for you, I'm sure.  Hurry along, now, and I'm sure you can still catch it."

Jerid and Nalia exchange a grin.  Jerid sidles next to Hecate and tosses an arm over her shoulder.  Nalia slips around to the other side and does the same.  "Well, Hecate, looks like we'll finally get to know each other!" Jerid says cheerfully.

"We've seen so little of you, even though you joined a whole month ago!" Nalia adds.

"Haha!  Don't you worry about a thing, little lady!  We'll get our little lion back if we have to take on every dark guild and abnormality from here to Fiore!" Jerid promises.

"Nothing can stop us when we get serious!" Nalia growls.

"So put away that frowny snarl, and put on your determined smirk!" Jerid continues.

"Onward!" Nalia cheers.

"Upward!" Jerid answers, as the pair quickly boost Hecate into the air, tossing her up a few feet.

"Get packed!  To Ambrosia we go!" Nalia commands.

---

Vallory drags Rosa and Aldous to one store after another.  Almost every blacksmith and store owner has something to say about the knife.  Almost none of it is useful.

"It weren't made hereabouts," one says.
"The craftsmanship is exquisite, definitely a master's work."
"'s definitely made in Aselia," another assures them.
"Well, it's brand new, I can tell you that much."
"Ah, now whatcha got there's a Fiore design."
"This balance.  Hmph.  Amateur work."
"Did you check with the Pergrande import station?"
"I think the shop next door makes 'em like this."
"What a wonderful antique!  How much do you want for it?"

"Now that knife was made for killin'!" one particularly unlucky blacksmith says.

"I'm sure it was made for killing!  It's a knife!" Vallory snaps at him.

"Hey, hey, knives can be made for lotsa stuff.  I meant this one's especially made fer killin' people.  Where'd you get a thing like this?" he asks the group.

After boarding a train to Ambrosia, Hecate took a seat opposite of Atticus. Beside them in their respective seats, Nalia and Jerrid were humming tunes and singing along. Hecate was uncomfortable with the two, even if Atticus had assured her they were good people.
She looked out the window, musing to herself how this would go over.

In times like this, Velia's words came back to haunt her. She found herself unable to find the definition of her existence beyond the same words she had told Velia a few days ago. Why she fought, that was for the people that allowed her to stay in Alicorn Wing. Hecate rubbed the scar on her collarbone.

She remembered that day clearly. It was such a long time ago, but the scar remained fresh in her mind, and the causes of it along with the knife meant to take her life...as a sacrifice. The mere thought made her uncomfortable, and she turned further to the window, hoping to banish such thoughts.

One day she would come to terms with her past, but not now. Things had to be settled before she could face the old demons. For a moment when she looked at her hands, she saw them stained with blood, and thought she heard screams.

"-cate." Atticus' voice brought her back to reality. She looked up to see all three of her guildmates staring at her strangely, and her hands almost covering her face as they shook.

"I'm fine." She lied smoothly. Yes, fine indeed.
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Aldous sighed. "No, we're fine. But it could take days to find the right town in this land. Thank you for your help."

Vallory thanks the blacksmith profusely, and promises to remember his kindness and expertise next time Alicorn Wing needs something made.  Vallory continues to lead her team of crack investigators, Aldous and Rosa, as she blindly searches the town for witnesses.  Maybe someone got a better look at the assailants than Atticus, or saw the one that was gone before Hecate caught up to them.  The search goes about as well as expected.  She manages to find a few people that saw the attack, but none that can give any useful information, none that really remember what the assailants looked like.

As dusk falls, Vallory takes her escort to a local dive for some less-than-healthy eats.  And some cheap booze.  The waiter drops off Vallory's salad and a mug of beer.  "Alright, let's run over what happened again."  She grabs the booze and takes a deep gulp.

"Leone was planning to leave on a vacation today, go into hiding, because of personal reasons.  Anyway, she took Atticus and stopped at a blacksmith, because she wanted him to deliver that necklace thing to Hecate, and she was going to slip off without saying goodbye."  Another draught from the mug.  "An' anyway, then some prick in fancy clothes grabbed 'er, used some weird paralysis magic thin'.  Other mage grabbed Atticus, stabbed 'im with a shock-thing."  More beer.  "Att'cus... notished a mark on 'is hand, so we gotsh that, maybe the other's'll even figure out who it belongs to.  Anyway, shocky tel'ported 'em to the town field... plashe..."  Drink.  "Aldoush an' Hect shaw za... 'tack.  Al stayed to help... Att'cus, while Hect whent and chashed 'em."  She empties the mug and signals for another.  "An' the knife we been lookin' at, one of 'em stab Hect wif it.  Anway, we know the ki-kin... knife's fram shome shtupid li'l town somewhere in Aselia.  Sho shuper helpful...  Anyway... what now?"

She stares sadly at her empty mug, then her two confederates.

Jerid and Nalia wake up at the sun's first light.  Jerid springs out of bed immediately, slipping out the door.  "I'm heading out on my morning run!  Think you can handle the kids on your own?"

"I'm sure I can handle it," Nalia says, stretching.  "Atti's a pain, but Hecate seems like the type that sleeps with one eye open.  I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't sleep at all last night..."

"I hope she got some rest.  We've got a big day of research ahead of us.  And we don't need her falling asleep on us," Jerid says.

"I'm sure it's fine.  We'll meet you at the library in an hour.  Now, get out there and do your run, dear," Nalia scolds him.

"Deer?  Hm.  That'll work."  Jerid bounds down the stairs and out the door, giving the innkeeper a wave as he prepares to step out.  A deer leaps out through the door in his place.  Jerid hops along the sidewalk, avoiding the handful of people already out for the day, as he makes for the park.

As Jerid prances merrily about the city, Nalia slides into her dress and heads downstairs.  She grabs two bowls of oatmeal and heads back up, pounding on the door to Atticus and Hecate's room.  "Let's go, guys, no more time to sleep!"

---

Vallory groans as she rolls out of bed, letting herself drop to the floor with a thud.  "Blegh," she tells the bedpost.  "Rmph grgl.  Nevr 'gain."  She fumbles for the glass of water she keeps by her bed in case of just such an emergency.  More of it ends up on her face than in her mouth.  She lies on the floor for a moment, waiting for the room to stop spinning, before she forces herself up and starts to dress herself.  By the time she finishes with her hair, she's feeling a bit better.  She heads down to the main hall to find Sounders sitting in his usual seat.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Sounders teases her.

"Not... today, Harland.  What time is it?"

"Still a few minutes before dawn.  Water," he says, pointing to a pitcher sitting on a table by the couch.

"Thanks," Vallory says, flopping down gracelessly.  She forgoes the cup and starts draining the pitcher.

"Rough day?" Sounders asks.  "Rosa and Aldous said you didn't learn too much."

"Yeah," Vallory answers.  "Any luck on your end?"

"I spoke to a few other guild masters and other friends, and they said they'd keep their eyes open.  Never did manage to reach G.  I've also asked the port authority to keep an eye out for any suspicious cargo, for what it's worth."

"So we're counting on Atticus and Hecate, then?" Vallory muses, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, the stamp's the best lead we have," Sounders points out.  "In the meantime, there's plenty we can do.  Gotta make sure we have all the pieces in place, yeah?"

"I'll have Rosa take a look at everyone's equipment, and I'll take Aldous to prepare travel gear.  Go ahead and get the basics together."

"Sounds like a plan," Sounders tells her.  "I'm going to send out a few more feelers, see what I can stir up."

Atticus drew the stamp from his jacket, showing it to the librarian. "Here. Here's the stamp I managed to write down. Can you tell us if you've seen this before? It's really important." He said.
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Aldous came downstairs like a ghost...he was quiet as he sat down and made himself breakfast. Then, he looked at everyone gathered. "I was just about to suggest that. Is it not odd this happened after we went on the escort mission to Rosebud? Barely three days after we returned; yes, that's enough time to set things up." He mused aloud, drinking his orange juice.

Aldous studied the caltain's face before he formulated a response. "We're here for a few things, stopping in town, and we thought that we'd pay a visit to the Mermaid's Folly since we heard it was here. If possible, we'd like to speak to Marian, but if that isn't possible, we're content as well." He said curtly, adjusting his clothes.
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Atticus paced. "They must be pretty competent to be able to do that. The question is what did they do this for? It makes little sense for this sort of stuff to happen." He muttered angrily, pacing faster and faster. He seemed to be aware all eye's were on him. Nervous, but secretly proud, he continued, "We should study all of their bases, formulate how far they move, and see if we can learn their patterns. I think we'll find their motives for this elsewhere."

Hecate had been sitting in a chair, listening to both Jerid and Atticus. The thing that bothered her wasn't the size of the guild, but the competency and brazenness they had displayed. "We should also see if they were following us. That could have been possible...but I am concerned mostly with how strong their members are. Size can play a factor in strength, but not always in scenarios. They might be stronger than we think," She added, rising to her feet. She placed a hand on the table, eyes hard. "But that doesn't mean we are going to cancel our rescue. We should keep our eyes open, ears stretched, and mouths quiet. A good thing to have would be spies. I'm not sure if we have or can afford those...or their loyalty for that matter." Hecate mused.

"We might be watched as we speak. I wouldn't put it past them to have spies tracking us. They might be small, but I doubt they're idiots. They might have been hired as well, like Atticus suggested."

"Hello," Hecate said, bowing before Zalia politely. "The only other thing we have on Basilisk Wattle is a knife they used to stab me, which Aldous has. They're getting clues on where it was made, and we're here with this." She gestured, referencing Nalia's explanation as a source.

Atticus shuffled nervously in front of the guild master. "A-and a sketch," He said, pulling out his handrawn sketch that they had showed the librarians. "Their guild stamp, ma'am...lady..Guildnaster!"

Hecate looks at the couple, smiling warmly at the sight. I'm staring, she thought, then turned her eyes to look at the passing forests and mountains to her left. She had the window seat, and noted Atticus had been much grimmer since Fluffy and Leone's kidnapping. He was really maturing, but a part of her missed his grins and jokes. He was a good friend, and so was Aldous.

Hecate became aware that each of the members had a special place in her heart. They filled a void that had been left by her deceased parents and adoptive mother. Hecate remembered her parents vividly. They were simple villagers, but her mother had once served as a wizard to some guild. or so her father had said. That was...before everything. Hecate traced the scar around her neck. It was barely visible after all these years, but it served a good reminder to not be too trusting of others.

She thought about those dark days when her life had been turned upside down. And for the next years, life had been bright and sunny. She learned much from her adoptive mother, including reading and writing. Her mother knew much about human culture. Hecate always considered herself a dragon despite being human, but she knew her limits. Her mind wandered to her goals. If she traveled the world, she could finally answer the question Veila had asked her during their duel. She glanced at Jerid, Nalia, and Atticus. She didn't want to leave so soon. Maybe she could wait awhile, once Leone was rescued and everything returned to normal.

Sitting on a train made her restless. She was used to fighting or moving about, but decided to improve her patience. Fighting wasn't everything. It got her mind off of things, but it didn't solve everything. She didn't want to become some bloodthirsty wizard with little common sense.

Hecate decided to improve her standing in social matters. She fidgeted. "Um...so...the weather...it's...?" She said, glancing once more between her companions.
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Atticus had been glancing out the window every so often, mind questioning the Three Cornerstones. He wasn't himself. That much he knew. He was more fretful than he had ever been...maybe because he had viewed his guild as friends, but never as family. With all of these things going on, he felt closer to them than he ever had in the years he had been with them.

He wondered if Hecate was the reason they were all so close now, or Leone, or maybe he had never noticed it, and spent all his time joking and flirting with random women impulsively.

"Um...so...the weather...it's...?"

Atticus turned to answer Hecate's question. "Weather looks fine to me," He shrugged, peeking at the mountains in the distance. "And nice as well." He managed a small grin, feeling better. The entire environment felt much better now that he thought about it. Soon, Leone would be with them, and things would be complete. Atticus was sure of that. Basilisk Wattle or no; hell or high water, they would rescue their friend. Atticus was sure he'd prove useful to Alicorn Wing.

Then maybe he and Aldous could be on the same level for once.

"Well, Harborshore's a pretty major port.  We get all kinds here, from all over the place.  Most are pretty decent folk, yeah?  But we get our share of bad eggs.  Most captains are smart enough to keep their problems on a short leash, though, if you follow.  So, you're thinking about joining Alicorn Wing, eh?  Well, we take all kinds, so that should be fine.  But are you sure this is the right guild for ya?  I'm sure ya coulda found a bigger one in Ambrosia."

Aldous nudges Atticus.  "Where'd Hecate go?  She did come in, right?"

"She darted up the stairs without saying anything," Atticus tells him.  "She's been acting a bit... off since we spoke with Master Grave."

"Oh...  Think I should go check on her?" Aldous asks.

Atticus takes a look around.  "No, you need to hear all the stuff we found out in the library.  I'll go."  With that, he quietly walks over to the stairs and heads up.  He stops in front of Hecate's door and knocks.  "...Hecate?" he calls softly.  He knocks a bit louder and repeats the call.