Aftermath Part 2

Zack stood there with an open mouth and a bewildered expression on his face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

' The village...it's destroyed ...how?why?

...who did this?'

Zack thought in confusion.He was only gone for a night.The village was completely fine the last time he had seen it.' Wait a minute? was it really one night? Could it be that the breakage of the seal took longer than I thought!... But the old man would have tried to do something about it if he saw me in that situation...'

"WAIT !!! THE OLD MAN!? AND THE VILLAGERS!?"

Only now did Zack come to the realization that if the village was destroyed than what happened of it's inhabitants?

He immediately took off,dreading the worst.But as he neared the village, he breathed a huge sigh of relief as he saw the camps made just outside the village. The existence of the camps suggested human presence,but 'These camps weren't here last time.Did the villagers make them...or are they some kind of army?Did they destroy the village?'

Thinking of such a possibility, anger filled Zack's heart as he speeded up toward the camps.But this time he moved stealthily and not out in the open.He re-entered the forest and circled back towards the camps.If they really were some kind of enemy troops then he had to remain cautious.If the opponent had mages in their ranks then he would be in trouble.

Although his powers were very destructive and perfect for fighting against a large number of opponents.He was still a novice.Although his magic power was abnormally high, that was only when compared to someone of his age.If he ran out of magic power before he could finish them all, then he would be toast.His high physical strength wouldn't be of much help.He wasn't a warrior. Hell..he wasn't even trained in combat.All he had ever fought were some stupid beasts in this life and a few middle school kids in his last.He was sorely lacking in the experience department.

And this made him depressed.All this power and he had now way to utilize it to it's full potential....yet.Although he had inherited 'Whitebeard's legacy'.This didn't mean he will get all his fighting experience.The legacy of Whitebeard's mastery of hand-to-hand combat and Weaponry will only manifest itself as flashes of inspiration and instinct.The same with the Haki and the devil fruit abilities.He had to first train them and if he ever encountered a bottleneck or couldn't grasp something then this 'experience' will help overcome it.That means in his training of hand to hand combat,his tremor-tremor abilities and Haki, He will have a smooth sailing journey until he hits the peak of Whitebeard's own mastery over them.

Where as The Rokushiki and the Hasshoken will have to be mastered by his own capabilities.He had the training methods in his head. Everything else depended upon his comprehension.

'I have just awakened my memories. I will need time to accumulate strength.If they are really the ones who destroyed the village then I swear I will make them pay, If not today then tomorrow. One day when I am strong enough!!!...'Zack thought with a dark expression adorning his face.

As he neared the camps,He saw a flag waving above the camps and men in blue and yellow striped uniforms holding spears and shields.They were also wearing helmets that had a cloth attached that covered their necks.

'Fiore Royal Military!!!...why are they here?'Zack came to a stop on a tree's branch,confused. He would know that symbol anywhere.The village school had taught them about how the Royal Military worked.Fiore Military HQ or commonly known as HQ is the heart of the Military and it is located in northern Fiore,in other words it was in this region.Thus the military had very high influence here.

The northern reigon of Fiore is very poor. Due to the mountainous terrain, trade is problematic.So for the young folk in this reigon,the only sure fire way to success is joining the military.The kids here dream of being generals and commanders instead of being Mages and joining Guilds.Many young men and women enlist in the Royal Army every year.Even the village chief's son, Nathan had joined the military.He was stationed in the west branch of Fiore Royal Military.He would come back after every 3 months to reunite with his wife and parents.Zack had seen him a couple of times.The whole village would throw a big party everytime he returned.And big party meant delicious food.

'Why is Fiore's military here?Have they come to investigate?'Zack thought in confusion.He was lacking information.He had to know of the situation before he could plan anything.

'What is going on here!? FUCK!!! Nothing is making sense.'Zack scratched his head in confusion.

"Okay..okay..let's see...The old man teaches the ignorant me about magic...to perform said magic the ignorant me had to absorb Ethernanos which resulted in me not being ignorant anymore because I awakened my memories.That might have possibly messed with my sense of time.Then I tes..teste.... powers.!... Earthquake.... destroyed village....Whitebeard's powe..rs!"Slowly a dumbfounded look appeared on Zack's face as his skin turned pale white in fear.' No way!! that couldn't be it ,right!!?'

But no matter how much he tired to deny it,he knew in his heart that this was the most likely possibility.

The village was located close to the Royal Military Headquarters so it was unlikely for it to be a foreign military attack.The idea that a random dark wizard did this was also not possible because from what he knew the old chief was an extremely powerful wizard.And he even told Zack about his Nullification Magic , which was the bane of mages.To destroy the whole village, The attacker either had to be higher in numbers or one extremely powerful wizard.But even then there was the question of what would they even want from such a remote village? He highly doubted this village contained some secret that would warrant its destruction.So the only option left was his attack being the cause of all this.

At that moment he had just awakened his memories and was still in disbelief.He wanted to confirm if everything was real or not? If he had really been given a second chance? So he poured all his magic power into that quake bubble and attacked in a random direction.The magic arrays surrounding the secret place had messed with his sense of direction.So he didn't know which way the village was located.What were the odds!!? At that time he wasn't in the right state of mind.But now that he thinks about it he couldn't help but curse his past self.

" What was I thinking!!!I am such an idiot! ...I should have been more careful.I underestimated its range. I didn't know the tremors would reach this far! and still be this powerful!...I destroyed the whole village ..."He said, almost on the verge of tears.

'This is a disaster.This power is really dangerous! If I am not careful enough I might hurt innocent people.Infact I already have.I have to master it as quickly as possible....But first where are the villagers.If the village was really destroyed due to an earthquake, there are bound to be survivors.' thought Zack, as he wiped his tears and continued his search.

He circled the army camp and found another set of less decorated tents. Growing hopeful he came closer and he finally saw the villagers. His heart almost burst out in happiness before he remembered that he was the one responsible for this disaster.He slowed down and entered the camp in conspicuously. He looked around at the now homeless villagers and guilt grew in his heart.He listened in on their conversations and any doubts he had left previously of his innocence, were swept away as practically everyone was talking about the devestating Earthquake.His heart grew heavy as he continued listening.'This..this is all my fault....I did this.!'

*sob* *sob*

Zack wasn't able to dwell in his negative thoughts for long as commotion erupted!

"Announcement!!! Announcement!!!... Everyone head to the village chief's tent. He has an Important announcement to make. Announcement!!! Announcement!!!...." A man kept shouting,attraction the villagers attention and urging them to go towards the village chief's tent.

'Old man!!! He is alive. Thank goodness!'

Zack breathed a sigh of relief before he wiped his tears away and followed the crowd stealthily.They came near a large tent.There were already more than a hundred people present and more were coming by the minute.

Zack's mood improved a little, seeing so many people still alive.After a few minutes the whole clearing was filled to the brim with people.Zack couldn't see anything with all the adults blocking his vision so he used his small stature to his advantage and found his way to the front row.

The village chief finally came out of his tent along with a strange man wearing a military uniform.He had the appearance of a young teenage man with a fairly lean but muscular build with fair skin and dull gold eyes. He had dark purple hair.Two soldiers were following the young man as if they were his bodyguards.

The village chief stepped forward infront of the crowd and raised his hand,demanding silence.The crowd obeyed and the village chief cleared his throat before speaking loudly,

"Residents of Sphinx Village! I have gathered you all here for an important announcement.The Fiore Royal Military has agreed to help us in the reconstruction of our village to the best of their ability and representing the military is this young man here with me , Captain Arnold Palmer, who will lead this project."

Loud Cheers erupted among the villagers as the chief announced this shocking news. Everyone had been worried about this for the longest time. They could rebuild the village themselves but without magic it would take a long time.Their village was very poor and couldn't afford a good construction company.Besides they were located in the mountains.Getting all the supplies here would be very costly.The villagers has already prepared themselves to live in tents and camps for months until their homes were rebuilt.But with the help of the Fiore Royal Military and their mages, The whole village will be as good as new in just about a week.Words couldn't express the amount of gratitude the villagers felt.The position of the Royal Military rapidly grew in their hearts as they began to admire it with increasing fervour.

Zack looked at the commotion the chief's words had caused and thought in his heart,'No wonder,The royal military has so much influence here!!!.They really know how to win the people's hearts.This is a small village.Rebuilding it wouldn't cost them much resources but it would increase their reputation.Simply brilliant. Although I too am thankful.No matter what their intentions are , they will still rebuild the village and The villagers will no longer have to remain homeless.This is good enough for me.'

The village chief once again raised his hand and the crowd grew quiet.He cleared his throat and spoke once again,

"Now I know that all of you are excited but before you leave I have got some good news and some bad news to share."

The people started muttering among themselves,wondering what the chief was talking about.Zack was also curious.'Is there something else?'

The chief had to once again raise his hand.After the crowd grew silent the chief continued,

"The good news is that the report about all the damages came out. Although the village was almost completely annihilated, miraculously there was no casualty whatsoever~!!!"

"WHAT!?" Zack shouted, absolutely gobsmacked. And he wasn't alone as everyone around him shared the same feelings.

'No casualties!!! WTF! What kind of luck is that!!!'

But after the shock weared off,The crowd went absolutely wild! There was shouting and cheering everywhere.The people were happy. It was just good news after good news.They had been expecting a lot of casualties. The whole village was destroyed after all.It had only been a few hours since that disaster. Although they had seen a lot of people entering the camps, no one had bothered to count and see who was missing and who wasn't.They had assumed the worst after seeing the wreckage.But to think such a miracle occurred!Simply Unbelievable!

The villagers didn't for one moment think that their chief might be lying. It wasn't something you could lie about.There were only so many people in the village.After enough time passed they were bound to notice who was there and who wasn't. That's why the villagers were so happy.

But there was one person among them who was the most affected by this news. It was Zack!!! At first he couldn't believe his ears and thought he had heard wrong but after confirming it again and again he was absolutely euphoric.All this time after learning that he was the actual cause of this disaster, he had been feeling guilty and responsible for the deaths of innocent villagers.But now the chief suddenly said that there were no casualties! ' WTF!!! WHAT KIND OF PLOT TWIST IS THIS!?'

Zack had went through a rollercoaster of emotions just after awakening his sealed memories.He was afraid that at this rate he would surely die of heart attack before the day ends.His little heart couldn't take anymore of this!!! This was supposed to be an adventure filled life, whith lots of action and romance. What's up with all this Drama.He didn't sign up for this shit...

The village chief waited for the excitement to die down before speaking again,"The bad news is that this was no ordinary Earthquake.In fact,what we experienced was not even a natural phenomenon. The Earthquake only hit this village.The nearby villages and towns remained completely unharmed.And since this was no small earthquake,It is almost impossible for this to happen.The Capitan and I have come to the likely conclusion that this was the result of some form of magic.We suspect it might be the work of some dark guilds. Although we aren't sure exactly who did this or for what purpose? the fact is that they are still out there and could potentially cause another such event.I have reported this to the Magic Council and the Fiore Royal Military and they will try their best to solve this mystery! They are professionals and they will get to the bottom of this soon.So till then I request of you to stay alert and remain as far away from tall structures and shaky houses as possible.Miracles don't happen all the time."

Just as the chief finished, The villagers broke out into a holler as the shouted loudly and angrily.To think humans were responsible for this tragedy was unthinkable! They were helpless against nature but that sure as heck wasn't the case for some dark guilds.Their chief was a mighty wizard!!! He would surely catch them all.And they had the support of the Royal army!!!The villagers cursed whomever was responsible for this and asked the chief to avenge them.They shouted loudly and vented their frustrations by describing vividly what they would do to the perpetrator.

"DEATH BY THOUSAND CUTS!!!"

"BURN THEM ALIVE!!!"

"No, BOIL THEM ALIVE!!!"

"no,no BURY THEM ALIVE"

"DISEMBOWELMENT"

"FLAY HIS SKIN"

"FEED HIM TO ANIMALS"

. ....

. ....

. ....

The more Zack heard the more scared he got as he hid his face and immediately escaped from that place.He arrived in the forest a few moments later as he clenched his chest where his little heart was throbbing like no Tommorow.He was shaking and sweating , his skin completely white from fear.

" OMG!!!! THOSE ANIMALS!!! They'll fucking eat me alive!!! What do I do!? What do I do!? shit,shit,shit..."

Zack was in full panic mode as he had just escaped from a crowd that was discussing his execution methods.

' Damn it!!!How could I ever have been guilty about killing those bastards!!! Where is my fun and adventure full life!? This is a fucking scam!!!'

Zack stood there as he cursed his bad luck.The Magic Council ! Fiore Royal Military ! How can he even escape from such organisations.

'They'll surely find that clearing I made in the secret grounds. The chief know I was there.It doesn't matter if I run or not.I am not familiar with the geography at all.Where do I even go!? Fairy tail?Some other country? Some other continent? That's impossible!!! I have to find a better way!'He sighed, exhausted from all the events.And it was still morning.He really doubted his chances of survival if things kept going at the same pace.His heart really couldn't take it.

"...sigh...what do I do now?"