Chapter 11
Blurry Pages

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas

.:+:.

"WHAT?!"

"No way!!"

The attentions of Frea, Erza, Mirajane, Gildarts, Chase, Gajeel, Makarov and Corbyn turned toward the front of the building, a resounding SMACK echoing as a thin, pale blue and white wall of Magic flared across the entrance- halting Natsu in his tracks as he slammed against it instead of being thrown though the entryway.

"Natsu hardly even touched them!"

"Gray too!"

"This is insane!"

"Are we really that far behind?!"

Gajeel bristled, red eyes wide as his jaw dropped. Natsu landed back in the ground, dazed, as the wall of Magic disappeared. He was outside the hall in the next instant,

"You two idiots can't even take on two little cats?!" He snapped, before halting in the doorway, stiffening when he came face to face with Uno- and immediately realized his mistake.

They weren't so little anymore.

Both Uno and Moon had taken their forms of incredibly large and powerful cougars. They were easily as tall as Elfman in his Beast Form, with stripes that glowed a pale blue running through their fur- long, razor sharp claws and teeth, rippling muscles and thrumming with strength. What differed between them were the color of their fur, still remaining that gray for Moon and tan for Uno- for Iki he was his dark brown color in his Etherious Form, though he had elected to stay out of the fighting.

The Exceeds collectively could use other various Spells, such as Telepathy and Aera.  Uno was incredibly light on her feet and could use a simple version of Light and Water Magic, that allowed her to refract the light off of water in the air and essentially hide herself from view. Moon could siphon information using Memory Magic, and even knock a few people out with it- though usually she relied on her Etherious Form for that.

And Iki could do little bits of most everything simple in Magic. But for the most part his talent was in a Magic that was particularly rare- Sound Magic. There was little he couldn't hear across a room, and even across a city.

Gajeel was rigid, his mind racing and trying to come up with some reaction to the giant beast that suddenly stood before him, smirking.

"Wanna go, Ironboy?" Uno nearly purred, Gajeel scowled slightly.

"Tch.... Gotta show these dumbasses up, don't I?" He growled, Uno smiled.

"Good answer!"

They had started to tussle in an instant, soon out of sight from the front of the Building as Erza, Mira, Gildarts and Masters eyes remained wide, a little taken aback by the form Uno has taken on.

".... Do they all have Take-Over forms?" Mira asked aloud.

"Yes." Iki called over, floating toward the kitchen with a small smile on his face. "We use other Magic too, but yeah. 'Take-Over: Etherious Beasts' is kinda our headline." He disappeared through the doors to the kitchen, throwing a small smile over his shoulder.

Frea was the first to move, her eyes closed as she started toward the bar without a word. Corbynn glanced up at her,

"Oi," he grumbled.

"I'm not going anywhere. And you should go meet everyone else." Frea called back easily, "Seriously kiddo, quit worrying about it. I'm just gonna talk, geez." Corbynn frowned slightly, looking less than convinced but Frea didn't care. She had already circled the bar and taken a seat down near Gildarts, her arms crossing on the countertop.

"Go, enjoy yourself, make friends, quit hovering." She smirked slightly, "No arguments either."

Corbynn huffed slightly, looking a little cross as he silently cursed her in his head.

"I was serious about finding the Old Woman." He replied shortly,

"And we can find her later." Frea replied easily, her voice didn't raise, nor did she sound all that adamant about it- but at least she was being a bit more stubborn than she was earlier. That was a good sign at least...

"Tch.... Fine." He growled, turning on his heel in a sudden surge of annoyance. He moved outside the front doors, seething silently but he didn't think she was going to do anything stupid at least... Besides, he did want to see these infamous missing Members for himself.

He promised to keep an eye on her none the less. But for now he figured Chase and Iki would do that for him.

Erza and Mira settled down in the end of the Bar counter, their eyes slowly turning to Frea as Master's and Gildarts did. Chase settled back in his earlier seat, next to Erza now.

Frea heard Corbynn walking away though she didnt look his way, instead she gestured her hand toward the side of the hall, where those he hadn't gone to watch the fight had settled in to their own conversations and the like.

"Now, you- Broody Lightning Boy in the corner." Frea's voice called across the hall, clearly and lowly. Her hand fell, tapping her finger against the bar counter. "Sit your ass down, I have a few questions for you myself."

Mira and Erza blinked, following Frea's hand to see her gesturing toward Laxus, who grumbled slightly as he was called to attention, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the wall. He had only just managed to shake off Evergreen, Bixlow and Freed from hovering around him, and it slightly agitated him that commanding tone of voice Frea suddenly used with him.

"Tch... Who the hell do you think you are?" He shot back, though he started moving toward the group anyway. Frea's opened slightly to settle on him, face neutral.

"Not looking to argue, Lightning-For-Brains." Frea grumbled lowly, a vein ticked on his forehead at the name. "You were gonna listen in anyway, so might as well just sit down." She added lowly, though she didn't sound angry about it.

He let out a low breath of slight annoyance, before dropping into a seat a bit away from Makarov.

He had been listening to what conversation had started between Chase, Erza, Mira, Gildarts, Macao, Max and the Old Man beforehand, but he faintly wondered how she immediately guessed he was doing so.

"First off, why in the hell were you on Tenrou in the first place?" She started right off, her cheek resting in her hand as she looked over toward him. "You're still expelled, so why were you there?"

"How'd you even know?" He grumbled,

"Well you've been missing for seven years like everyone else, and you popped up the minute everyone else did." She said rather nonchalantly. "I figured you'd been on Tenrou a long time ago."

"Hmmph.... I showed up when Grimoire Heart attacked." Laxus grumbled, Frea blinked.

"Grimoire Heart?" She murmured,

"Yes, they invaded the island, and halted the Exams." Master told her.  "The Guild Master before me, Precht, was their leader." Frea's head tilted slightly at the name. "He made it off Tenrou before Acnologia appeared, along with some of his Guild."

"...... He's dead." Frea said after a moment, earning shocked looks from everyone else. She let her eyes fall closed, sweatdropping slightly. "Zeref destroyed him.... which then means Grimoire Heart are the people who were chasing him down.... cryptic ass, he couldn't have just told me plain?  But what the hell was he doing on Tenrou in the first place? And he left before it all went to hell....." Her voice dropped as she seemed to fall into her own head, wondering aloud to herself.  "...... he was trying to outrun Acnologia then..... heh, damn even he's afraid of him...."

"Wait a minute, back up." Chase broke in immediately, his blue eyes flashing. "You talked with Zeref?" 

"..... We ran into one another a few months after Mordren." Frea replied lowly, not at all concerned with what had everyone else reeling.  "Big, colossal fight for the Balance of the World, and Light over Dark, it's not a surprise he was interested in it. All he did was muse and spout nonsense at me, as well mention Precht," She stopped herself before she said anything more.

.... and he talked about him too..... There was a lot things I had questions for.... and Zeref.... he was content to tell me....

"He was here and then he was gone, as far as I can tell he just wanted to meet me, and then he did and left. I take it he tends to disappear and reappear wherever the hell he likes, but nothing happened." Frea grumbled, which was not true, but she didn't let herself think about that.

Her chin pressed into her hand, her eyes narrowed at the table.

.... But that.... It suddenly makes sense.... Why it feels like time started moving again.... Shit..

"All he wanted... Was to meet you?" Erza mumbled slowly,

"..... You guys haven't been around... You weren't around when I fought with Mordren." Frea replied, though her eyes didn't move up. "..... There is an internal balance to things, if Mordren had won there would have been war and plague and famine, the world would have crumbled in on itself and anyone who tried to stop it would have been killed doing so. Zeref does that, he chooses to throw the world into chaos, and he will try to do it eventually.... But he was probably interested in me, because I won. Against something, someone- older than he is." She growled under her breath. ".... Which by the way, Energy Mages were around before Zeref, but Mordren destroyed them all... A long, long time ago."

..... So much information and history..... Between Mordren and Zeref and the Old Geezer... And him too.

She stiffened, failing to not outwardly react to what flash of pain ran through her head in the next instant.

... Damn it.

"... Well, that aside." She sighed slightly. "... That makes more sense as to why Acnologia appeared. He was hunting Zeref." She leaned back a little, her hand falling away from her face. ".... So for me that hashes out what happened on Tenrou. I don't have anything else I wanna ask."

"Just like that?" Gildarts mumbled,

"Just like that." Frea murmured, "I don't really want to, nor need to fuss over every little detail. I do understand the gist of it, and that's all I need. You're all back and not dead... And honestly that's good enough for me." She smiled slightly, wearily almost. "The Guild's been really quiet without you lot."

Frea's attention turned from them as Iki landed lightly on the bar top, a mug in his hands as he set it down in front of Frea, his tail flicking her arm lightly. He pushed the cup forward until it barely grazed her fingertips,

"Here ya go." Iki murmured, Frea blinked, her eyes fixing on the cup, her nose immediately filling with the sweet, yet incredibly familiar scent.

Her hands curled around the cup lightly, almost tentatively as she nodded.

"Thanks." She murmured softly, taking a drink and sighing as the mug left her lips. She grimaced a little, earning an amused smile from Iki.

"Still taste it?" He asked, "I dumped like three cups of sugar in to the pot."

"...Mmm... it's not awful, it's better than last time with the added sugar." Frea replied lowly, letting out a small sigh. "... At least I'm not gonna be drinking this for a month again. So I'll deal with it."

"What is it?" Mira murmured, glancing over.

"Tea." Frea replied, earning a deadpan look from the Take-Over Mage. Frea didn't seem to notice the look though, and simply took another drink, a small grimace still pulling at her lips though she didn't voice any disapproval again.

"It's herbal tea with Hellein Flower in it." Iki elaborated, Mira and Master alike blinked. "That's why it tastes so bad, Hellein Flower is really bitter."

"Hellein Flower is used in potions and poisons to limit Magic and disrupt the flow of Magic Energy." Master murmured, his eyebrow quirked at the Exceed. Erza, Gildarts and Laxus blinked in slight surprise at the comment,

"Should you be drinking that, then?" Erza asked immediately.

"Yep." Frea murmured,

"Why?" Mira asked,

"To get rid of my headache, hopefully." Frea replied, though it was still less of answer than anyone else liked. Erza and Mira frowned slightly, their eyes narrowed, Erza glanced to her left toward Chase, who sweatdropped, giving her a shrug an apologetic look.

They noticed it  right then, what he meant when he said Frea had changed. It wasn't her Magical Pressure that threw them off, it was the subtleness, the subdued behavior and the non-answers. Frea may never have been the most open person to begin with, but they would have expected her to be grinning all the while the minute she walked inside the Guild. They would have expected her to jump into a brawl with Natsu, she had always used to be so thrilled to do so. When they asked her questions, she may have kept a few things to herself but this was like she wasn't interested in talking at all- let alone explaining anything. She seemed to have fallen in on herself, she seemed.... distant, cold even.

Then they were reminded of that dangerous light that come into her eyes when Jynx and Mavis confessed to knowing about the island and Fairy Sphere. It wasn't a look they had seen in Frea before, and it had only been there a few precious seconds... and it made shivers run up their spines.

It was almost... murderous, in a way.

"Frea," Master grumbled, his eyes narrowed at her as he tried and failed to piece together how much she had changed... because surely there was more to her than they noticed thus far. For a moment he wondered if any shred of that girl he brought into the Guild was left, under the scars and the power... and what pain she had suffered while they were all gone.

He never got to ask what question he had prepared, everyone's attentions snapping around toward the sound of furiously flapping wings as a beam of white shot in through the door, before coming to a halt right in front of them, hovering over the counter in front of Frea.

A messenger bird.

"Messages for Miss Frea of the Fairy Tail Guild!" The bird chirped, it's claws clutching to a heavy, folded envelope. Frea glanced upward, her eyes narrowed and sweatdropping, just slightly, as she set the mug down on the counter top.

"From who?" She mumbled half-heartedly.

"Knight Captain Lahar, and Councilman Org, Miss!"

Frea's eyes fell, looking less than thrilled as she held out a hand, the bird dropping the envelope into her hand before zooming out of the Guild without another word.

"Councilman Org?" Erza murmured,

"He's the one who was always berating the Guild, wasn't he?" Mira asked quietly,

"Lahar was at Tenrou before everything went to shit." Gildarts grumbled under his breath. "But what the hell does the Council want with you?" He glanced toward Frea, who's eyes fell to the envelope in her hands as she flipped it over, revealing the branded Magic Council symbol on the front. She drew her finger across the lip, tearing it open with a line of silver that sliced through the paper easily, taking the letters out and opening them slowly, her silver gaze narrowed at the paper for a few short moments, and sweatdropping.

She felt the ache in her head grow all the worse.

... Damn it.... Why did I even try...?

She bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes falling closed as she held the letters out toward Iki instead, who blinked, before taking them from her. She leaned against the counter, her hand threading through her hair as she leaned against it, her eyes closed as she sweatdropped a little more, the other hand moving to pinch the bridge of her nose.

The Tenrou Members blinked, eyebrow's quirked at the sudden hand-off of the letters, and the sudden reaction.

"..... Lahar is asking you come in at your 'earliest convenience' to do a follow up report on the... heh, 473 Wizards of Death Bolt you turned into the Council a few days ago." Iki read aloud the contents of the letter, his teal eyes skimming the words that Frea hadn't seemed to bother to read.

"Mmm..." Frea hummed lowly, looking weary at the thought. She missed what looks of sheer shock passed across the faces of everyone else at mention of the number.

473?!

He flipped to the next letter, reading through it quickly.

"Org says he gave the report to the Council Hearing this morning, and that they expect many of the top ranking Wizards captured can give valuable information on other, lower level Dark Guilds. Some of the less involved members will be released in a few years, while most of the others face heavy charges for their various crimes, and likely won't be out for much longer." Iki recanted the letter, "He also made sure that the Guild Leaders, Tomaru, Kane and Cedric will never be released. They'll be in jail for the rest of their lives... since the known crimes they committed are too many to count, and that's not to mention the ones the Council don't know about." Iki folded the letters up and replaced them in the envelope,

"There's also a note about the Council sending the rest of the reward in the next few days." He concluded, Frea sighed a little, her eyes still shut, but her hand fell away from pinching the bridge of her nose.

"....... thanks." She mumbled, Iki nodded.

"Yep." The tom-cat replied easily.

"Frea..." Erza murmured, her head tilting. "... are you alright? Why did you pass off the letters without bothering to read them?"

"Hmm?" Frea hummed, cracking open one eye to glance toward the redhead.

"You... said you had a headache?" Mira murmured, her blue eyes glinting.

"Oh..... well, reading would imply I can actually see what's on the page." Frea replied quietly, "Of which, at the moment... I really can't. I can't even really see any of you either." She let her chin rest in the opposite hand, her eyes narrowing slightly to try and make anything out... but it was just a mess, fragmented and shapeless. ".. the only reason I know who's who is based off sound and scent."

"What?" Erza and Mira asked immediately, their eyes flashing.

"You sayin' you can't see a thing?" Laxus grumbled, 

"Did you get hit on the head? Do you have a concussion?" Mira asked the questions in sudden rapidity,

"It's not like that. And I didn't get hit over the head or anything." Frea murmured, "I'm not blind, I can see....  it's just a mess." She paused, sweatdropping slightly.

"And the reason?" Gildarts asked lowly, Frea paused for a minute,

"..... do you recall that Spell I used to use, 'Energy Sense'?" She asked at length.

"The Spell you used to search out and see different forms of Energy at distance." Master replied, everyone else nodded.

"Yeah. With it I could literally see different forms of Energy, their color, their movement.. that sort of thing. If I didn't use it I could still feel Energy, but I couldn't actually see it." Frea murmured, "... over the years, that's changed. My senses have heightened to the point it takes just a little concentration to actually see Energy, no Spell needed. There's Energy in everything, in every person, in Magic, in items sometimes... and there's even Energy that naturally flows off the air and from the ground." She let out a low breath, "I can usually ignore it, but when I was fighting with Mordren..... my Magic got out of hand." She seemed to swallow slightly.

"It's like I tore a hole in my own concentration and willpower. If I overextend my Magic, or use too much all at once, the world comes flooding in and the Energy gets overwhelming, to the point I can't ignore it or block it out.... and with it, all I see is just... swirling bits of color everywhere. It's fragmented and muddied together, and it takes over everything, leaving me pretty much unable to pick out shapes or see anything but the Energy swirling around everywhere. It's just overwhelming... thus the headache." She pushed her hair back from her face a little, her eyes closing again. "And I overdid it a little when I was fighting a few days ago. It's a pain in the ass... but it usually only lasts a few days, and it's not really something to worry over... so don't sweat it."

She paused, smiling a bit ruefully.

"Not that I could tell any of you were worried at the moment anyway, but just in case." She added in.

"... and that's what the tea's for?" Gildarts murmured, "... trying to dull down your own Magic and senses?"

"You got it."

".... your Magic has grown so strong even you can't control it at all times?" Makarov asked quietly,

"Basically yes." Frea murmured, "... Don't get me wrong, I got stronger year after year and it wasn't a huge problem.... but eventually, well... it's like my Magic Power just exploded, all on it's own. I jumped from one level, to several dozen levels above that, all in a really short amount of time- too short a time. I'm good at Control, but it is a bit of a pain sometimes, especially if I don't watch it." She sighed, "Or at least that's what the Old Geezer tells me, and he does tend to know what he's talking about..." Again she seemed to go off an a tangent and a topic they knew nothing about, and then failed to elaborate it.

".... how much stronger have you gotten?" Laxus grumbled, his eyes narrowed at her.

"Well I don't have a chart for you." She replied easily, "... I don't know how to explain it to you without showing you either... and right now I'm not in the mood." She blinked, "Not that I could show you the full extent either, if you're really interested, I'm sure Moon can manage to show you the collective Memory of what happened with Mordren, to get at least an idea."

She smirked his direction, her eyes flashing for a minute. "But you remember we were supposed to have a rematch?" She asked, he blinked, for a minute that competitive flare igniting in her again, before being replaced, just faintly.... by something colder.

"You will lose, if we ever decide to have a go at it, Lightning-Boy. Hard as it is for you to hear, you would not stand a chance against me."