115 Curse Lifted

East Forest, Magnolia

Kingdom of Fiore

X776

Pained groans fill the clearing as the children collapse on their backs, exhausted from the grueling training regimen that they have just finished. Meanwhile, Scáthach, Azula, Morgan, and I watch on from our standing positions. Looking up at the noonday sky, I make note of the fact that the training plan takes about a quarter of a day to complete, just as we planned.

"Congratulations, you have all survived day one." I tell them as I Morgan goes about slightly alleviating their soreness, exhaustion, and fatigue, just enough to allow them to get up and make their way to the guild hall.

"If you can heal us, why don't you make all of the pain and tiredness go away?" asks Cana from her position on the floor.

"Because you need to learn to function properly with the pain and exhaustion." answers Scáthach while children help each other up.

"Besides, where would the fun be in that." adds Azula with a faux sadistic smile that fools the children while Morgan, Scáthach, and I know that she is in fact teasing them.

While the majority of the children groan and whine about Azula's words, the four of us cannot help but internally laugh to ourselves.

"From now on you shall all return here every morning at six and do your warmups by yourselves." instructs Morgan. "Failure to do so will result in your lessons being terminated. We will not waste our time training anyone undisciplined or undedicated." she tells them before turning to a shirtless and pantless Gray. "Gray, put your clothes back on." she directs him, causing him to go into a panic as hastily apologises while picking up his clothes from the ground and putting them back on.

"With that said, everyone but Erik is dismissed for today." I instruct them while beckoning Erik to come to us.

Despite feeling uneasy at having been singled out, Erik worriedly makes his way to us along with his serpent Cubellios while putting up a brave front. Rather than speak to him in front of the others, Azula and I lead him inside the house while Morgan and Scáthach head to the guild hall with the children. Once we are inside the living room, we make him sit on the couch.

"There is no need to be worried. You aren't in trouble, but we need to talk to you about Cubellios." I tell him, causing him to cradle the serpent to him.

"What's wrong with Cubellios?" he asks with a slight frown.

"Your friend isn't a snake. It's a person that a dark mage cursed into the form of a snake." answers Azula as she rips the proverbial band aid off.

"What?!" screams Erik as he looks at the serpent. "Are they ok?!" he asks.

"The person is fine." I answer. "But we need to turn her back." I tell him.

"I…Ok." answers Erik as he reluctantly puts Cubellios down on the couch and makes his way to us, leaving the previously sleeping serpent to wake up from the sudden change in setting and frantically search for Erik.

Before Cubellios can make her way off the couch and towards us, she is enveloped in a purple aura that comes from Azula's hands. As the aura envelops her body, Cubellios begins to thrash about on the couch and, for the first time since we have seen her, release a small whine.

"What are you doing?" questions Erik as he sees the serpent writhe, and thrash about on the couch while releasing sounds of distress. "She looks like she's hurt." he tells me with a frown.

"It's painful, but it will be over soon." I reassure him even as the snake continues to squirm about on the couch.

"No, you're hurting her!" exclaims Erik as Cubellios releases her loudest distressing sound yet. "If this is gonna hurt her, I won't let you do this to her." he says as he tries to walk towards her only for me to grab his shoulder.

"I can't let you do that." I tell him.

Rather than answer or to retaliate like I expected, a shockwave of sound erupts from him and proceeds to destroy the entire house, leaving only Azula, Erik, Cubellios, and I unharmed despite his best efforts to target Azula and I.

"Can't you hear her crying?" asks Erik as he turns to face, allowing me to see the tears that run down his face. "She's crying and calling me for help." he tells me as if he already knows that I couldn't hear her, despite me never having answered his question.

Before I can answer him, the purple aura around Cubellios turns into a flash of light and the serpent slowly morphs into a naked little girl of eight years, with violet hair and green eyes. Seeing that the procedure is finished, I allow Erik to run to his friend.

"Erik?" calls out the girl hopefully once he reaches her. "You didn't leave." she says with a sigh of relief before she falls unconscious, forcing Erik to catch her while he makes sure that she's ok.

"So how was it?" I ask Azula as I a magic circle erupts beneath my feet and the house slowly returns back to its pristine condition.

"She will be fine, although she now can change back and forth at will like Jason can turn into a dragon." she answers as we watch Erik lift the girl and place her back on the couch. "His use of magic, was that deliberate?" she asks.

"Yes and no. He activated his magic by accident when he saw her in distress, but the targets of that shockwave were deliberate. He targeted everything except his friend." I answer as he turns to face us.

"She's ok, so I guess I should thank you. But what are you?" asks Erik.

"Excuse me?" replies Azula.

"What are you? I can hear the soul of every living thing, but I can't hear anything from you. It's like you're not alive but alive at the same time." he explains, earning a raised eyebrow from us.

"Interesting." comments Azula. "And how do you know all this?" she asks.

"I don't know how." answers Erik with a shake of his head. "I just know. It's how I could hear Cubellios calling me, and how I know that she's ok now. I can hear her soul." he answers with a tearful smile as he looks at his friend.

"Then how did you know that I couldn't hear her?" I ask him.

"I got a vague impression then. Now I can't hear you at all." he answers.

Before Azula or I can question him further, Morgan's voice speaks in our minds.

"*You two may want to come to the guild hall soon. Scáthach and I found something quite interesting.*" she says with a voice usually reserved for when she finds something fascinating that is magic related.

"*We're on our way.*" answers Azula.

"That's interesting, we'll experiment during training." I tell him as Azula and I turn to leave the house. "Right now, just stay with your friend. She will need you when she wakes up."

"You never answered the question." comments Erik before we reach the corridor that leads to the exit. "What are you?" he asks once again.

"We're gods." answers Azula honestly as she turns to look Erik in the eyes.

Looking into Azula's eyes, Erik seems to be searching for something. After a few seconds he seems to find it, since he simply smiles before turning back to his sleeping friend.

"I believe you." he says as we walk out of the house.

Once out of the house, Azula and I teleport to the guild hall and arrive just outside of the entrance. Walking inside, we are met with an unusual silence as all members of Fairy Tail face towards the bar where Gildarts, Makarov, Scáthach, and Morgan reside.

Gildarts Clive, S-Class Mage, and Fairy Tail's Ace, its most powerful mage after the guild master. Gildarts is a young man in his thirties with a tall, muscular build, shoulder-length orange hair that is slicked back, dark green eyes, a stubbly beard, and the guild mark on his left pectoral. His attire is rather simple; he wears a long, black, high-collared and tattered cloak with pauldrons on his shoulders and around his waist is a simple belt. He also wears loose-fitting dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard bearing plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots.

While Gildarts' presence in the guild hall is a rare occurrence, it is not the reason for everyone's attention. Rather it is a little girl that is eating with enthusiasm, almost as if she has not eaten anything in a while.

The girl has very long, wavy, pastel yellow-blonde hair that reaches down to her feet with a small lock of hair sticking out from the top of the head, large green eyes with no pupils, peachy skin and a slight child-like build. She wears a frilly, pink layered robe with a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck. Around the chest are three blue diamond patterns with two blue triangles above. Each series of these is outlined in a hot pink color. She also wears wing-like adornments around her ears and small hoop earrings, and is bare feet. The girl can be no older than thirteen years old, yet I know for a fact that she is Mavis Vermillion, first guild master, and co-founder, of Fairy Tail. The only other thing that I remember for sure about her is that she has some curse that gives her immortality.

Walking our way past the guild members, we arrive next to Morgan and Scáthach who seem content with watching her eat.

"This is what you found interesting? A child?" questions Azula incredulously.

Mavis, who had been content with ignoring us in favor of eating her food, frowns and looks up at us before swallowing her mouthful of food.

"I'm not a child." argues Mavis, with a childlike voice that makes her sound like a petulant child.

"That is Mavis Vermillion." says Scáthach before Azula can further antagonise Mavis.

"The first guild master of Fairy Tail?" asks Azula with a raised eyebrow.

"In the flesh." answers Morgan while Mavis happily returns to her meal.

"*That is indeed interesting.*"I answer telepathically as I completely stop time for everyone but Azula, Morgan, Scáthach, and I. "*So how did you find her?*" I ask them with a raised eyebrow.

"*When we came to the hall we felt something calling to us. As it turns out she was kept in stasis inside a crystal in order to keep her body intact.*" says Morgan. "*Whoever put her there seems to believe that she was almost dead, when her body was in fact recovering thanks to a curse that was implanted on her, and that was what called to us, the Curse of Ankhseram.*" she explains

"*Curse of Ankhseram? Isn't that the Curse of Contradictions that gives the inflicted immortality while also killing anything that they love?*" I ask as I peruse through my sparse memories.

"*It is.*" answers Scáthach. "*A vile curse created by Ankhseram, the goddess of life and death, in order to punish those who violate the line between life and death. Mavis and another man named Zeref are the only recipients.*" she explains.

"*Did you remove the curse?*" asks Azula.

"*We did. Now they can live without having to worry about it killing those around them.*" answers Morgan.

"*What of their aging? From what I can remember, Mavis is around a century old while Zeref is much older. Wouldn't the removal of the curse make them age until their actual age catches up with their physical body?*" I ask them.

"*They will age normally from now on starting with the age when they received the curse as opposed to their true age.*" replies Morgan.

"*Couldn't you have at least made her an adult?*" I ask them as I imagine how ridiculous the Fairy Tail members must feel at the thought of having a thirteen year old guild master.

"*She did not want us to.*" answers Scáthach.

"*Do the members of Fairy Tail know that we are gods now?*" asks Azula.

"*Only Mavis and Makarov.*" answers Morgan. "*Any more questions?*" she asks.

"*Not from me.*" I answer while turning to Azula with a raised eyebrow.

"*Nothing from me.*" she answers while giving me the go ahead to return time to normal.

Without further prompting, I return time to normal and we watch as Mavis enthusiastically finishes her food.

"Ahhh." sighs Mavis happily as she cleans her mouth with a napkin. "That was good." she says before turning to the four of us. "So you're the newest members of Fairy Tail. You guys don't look like much." she comments while looking us up and down, earning a raised eyebrow from Morgan and Azula.

"If you want to see us in battle you should just say so." I tell her.

"Mmm, you saw through it." whines Mavis with a pout. "Oh well, that just means that I'll have to bluntly ask you to show me your strength. After all, I can't have just anybody training the next generation of Fairy Tail." she says as her pout quickly disappears and a smile returns to her face.

"And how exactly would you test us?" asks Azula with a small glint in her eyes.

"Gildarts will fight you." answers Mavis without a second thought, shocking the man.

"Huh, me? Are you sure, because I'm not very good at holding back." answers Gildarts.

"That's exactly why!" exclaims Mavis enthusiastically as the entire guild looks towards us for an answer.

Seeing that Gildarts has accepted and that Makarov has no objections I turn to face Scáthach, Morgan and Azula to see that they are staring at me expectantly.

"What?" I ask them with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you not going to accept the challenge?" asks Morgan.

Knowing that I will not be able to get any of them to fight in my stead, I simply sigh and accept Mavis' challenge.

"Alright!" screams Mavis happily as she hops off the stool and skips her way out of the room and towards the back of the guild hall.

Following not far behind, the entire guild, along with customers who are only there for the bar, makes their way to the courtyard behind the guild hall where one can see Lake Sciliora, and where Gildarts and I stand on opposite sides.

"I guess I should introduce myself." says Gildarts as he rubs the back of his neck tiredly. "I'm Gildarts Clive, S-Class Mage, and the Ace of Fairy Tail. Nice to meet you."

"I am Ambrosius Malphas, not ranked yet, and master of all forms of Letter magic and time magic." I say to introduce myself as I seal all of my power except for my magic from this world. I want to see where I stand without my divinity and other powers.

"Alright you two, I want a clean fight and please try to keep the environmental damage to a minimum." orders Makarov from the sidelines.

As soon as Makarov gives the order to begin, Gildarts and I release our magic power in the form of thick, potent aura around us, causing the ground to crater and for Makarov to release his own magic power in order to protect the bystanders.

"Not bad." comments Gildarts as he further increases the output of magic power.

Not one to be outdone, I also increase my output of magic power, causing the ground to crater and for Morgan to create a protective barrier around the spectators.

"You won't beat me that easily." I tell Gildarts with a smirk.

"It was worth a try." answers Gildarts with a shrug as he slightly spreads his legs and tenses his muscles.

Had I been anyone less competent, I would have missed the little detail and been caught completely off guard for what happens next. With a boom that further craters the ground where he stands, Gildarts disappears from his position and appears a few feet away from me with his fist poised to punch me in the face. With the smirk still on my face I tilt my head to the side and dodge the punch before sending a magically enhanced fist of my own towards his stomach. Just when I think that my punch will connect, it hits something a few inches away from his skin and a force I did not expect sends me flying back through the air. Adjusting myself to land on my feet, I raise my arm and block a kick from Gildarts before I activate a spell that significantly slows him down.

"What?" wonders Gildarts as he sees the magic circle appear in my hand before his body begins to move twice as slow as before.

Pressing my advantage, I sweep his feet out from under him before smashing my fist on his stomach so hard that it craters the ground beneath our feet and sends him crashing into the lake behind the guild hall. Letting him recover I crack my neck and roll my shoulders just as he erupts from the lake and lands a few feet away from me.

"That trick with the time magic was pretty nice." he tells me as he drops his cloak.

"You're one to talk when you use something as broken as Crush Magic." I answer as I think about the OP magic that is Crush Magic.

It is an extremely powerful Caster Magic that smashes everything the user comes into contact with into pieces. It can be used to both crack Magic into pieces, thereby nullifying its effects, as well as to reduce the Magic's power and to deflect it. That is how he sent me flying backwards earlier, by deflecting the magic from my fist back towards me.

Even the most powerful spells are rendered useless when faced with this destructive and advanced Magic, which is difficult to control. The fact that he is able to control it to such a degree is extremely impressive. Had he not had that amount of control, the deflection would have destroyed surrounding areas, guild hall included.

"Ah, you picked up on that. Not bad." he answers with a carefree smile on his face and shaking me from my thoughts. "Just warning you though, I'm going to be serious from now on." says Gildarts as the smile on his face disappears.

"Bring it." I answer him with a smirk before launching myself at him with a boom that further shatters the ground beneath my feet.

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AN: As usual, tell me what you guys think of the chapter.