{Foreign Rituals}: Losing My Humility

When he left the building, he felt his ability to persued people to join him had increased. He was sure that Gajeel was considering his offer, no matter how cold he tried to look on the outside, what was buried in his heart wasn't hidden from Micah. He knew of the conflict residing in Gajeel's soul.

Getting back to Magnolia took no time at all now that he knew the way. He was slowly getting accustomed to moving long distances while using his powers. Regarding his powers, there was one thing he had yet to become comfortable with, and that was travelling. What he was forced to do in only milliseconds was dematerialize his body into atom-sized particles and move them through space and maybe eventually time, depending on how profound his understanding would grow to become.

Being a streak of blue light, his arrival in the city did attract a few curious gazes. But, thanks to his incredible speed, most of what they saw of him was in their peripherals. Just a blue blur passing them like a bolt of lightning. It didn't take long until that blue blur struck down within the ground of its mark, a fancy-looking villa on the outskirts of town. It materialized into Micah and he walked into the house which was now fully furnished, which came as a huge surprise. Not just a few chairs, it looked like people had spent months decorating the interior with great care.

While he stood gobsmacked at the entrance, Richard walked up from behind with a proud smile. "A few old friends owed me some favours. Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? As Yukino said, this could very well be a place designed for the king of Fiore. You are amazing, you know that?"

"Thank you, boss, I know." His pride turned into smugness, which by how quickly this had been arranged was well within his right. He had done more for this group than all others combined, both behind and in front of the curtains. Though, some of the things he had done he prefered Micah not know about.

Trying to collect himself, Micah put on the trained professional smile of a hoodlum boss, which he deemed most appropriate considering his subordinates was just like him, quite the bunch of misfits. With every step taking him deeper into the villa, his feeling of awe never vanished or diminished. Coming from a small bakery and barely making enough money to get by, realizing you now owned one of the biggest houses in one of the biggest and popular cities was a hard thing to swallow. It took a little struggle to not let the insane climb from nothing to something get to his head.

As he and Richard walked down the corridor left of the magnificent stairs leading to the second floor, a side-door opened up and out fell Yukino in a grand tumble, she didn't stop to greet the head of the house as she zoomed by like a rocket. Before they could process what happened, a loud ghost-like screech came from the kitchen, where Yukino had just fled.

The same door suddenly flew off its hinges as a furious-looking Sorana walked out with a look of pure death and destruction on her face. "Where. Is. She?" Her gaze turned to the duo, as a feeling of dread washed over them, Richard took the opportunity to bolt it and he followed Yukino's strategy of running for his life.

"Ehm," Micah looking behind him for clarification from Richard noticed he stood along against the grim reaper. With a hard swallow to accept the reality he found himself in, he smiled and said. "Whatcha doin?" Hoping his tone of playful innocence would deter her from the path of destruction, he also added in a slight wave thinking he could probably best this devil.

"Where is she?!"

"How about we don't murder anyone today. Tell me what happened,"

"My Snacks!" Sorana took a step closer as Micah took a step away. "She. Ate. My. Reserve. Snacks.

"I did not! They were everyone's snacks! They didn't have your name on it." Yukino stood on top of the stairs looking down into the slim corridor.

"Heathen!" Sorana displayed physical abilities beyond what Micah thought possible when she suddenly jumped all the way to the railing on the second floor. "You're dead!" With a skip over it, she landed on the floor and the chase continued on the second floor. Yukino, realizing she screwed up and seeing Micah doing nothing ran down the stairs and out the door leading outside. Like a blur, much like Micah, Sorana passed by and followed the little heathen out the door.

"W...What just happened?"

"Well, Sorana fell in love with a very peculiar brand of candy, and I believe Yukino just ate that. It would explain her reaction." Richard stood by the front door, he had, in fact, opened it for Yukino so it wouldn't be destroyed too.

"Would it? I have never seen her react like that before, when did she become so... Emotional?"

"I don't know. When we worked for Brain, we didn't really have emotions, we didn't display any, so maybe this is just how Sorana is deep inside. A cookie-loving devil."

"Yeah, whatever, I'm going to my room for a nap. Where is it again?"

"Second floor to the right, Door at the end of the hall. You got the master room, of course. It's quite nice."

"Thanks, make sure their chase doesn't turn magical. I wouldn't want to wake up in a completely wrecked house tomorrow."

"I'll take care of it, boss."

Much like the first floor, the second one was of equal awe-inspiring design. Expensive-looking paintings hung in short intervals on the walls, giving the halls an overall captivating feeling. As he reached the end of the long corridor he pushed open the white doors leading into the master bedroom. The light flowing in through the large magnificent windows stretching along the west-side wall bathed the room in a bright, fresh and clean light.

"Man, why did I agree to this? I can already feel my humility fading." With his eyes locked on that comically-sized bed placed against the centre of the back wall. An army could sleep on that thing and still have plenty of room. But, as nothing could be done about this now, he swallowed his humility and laid down on the bed, just the material of it sent a shiver through him. "I don't deserve this!" In a quick motion, he sprung up on his feet and rushed out the door. He ran to the stairs, flew down them and ran into the kitchen where he found Richard.

"RICHARD!" With fierce determination he slammed the door open, scaring Yukino so badly she dropped her bowl of ice-cream.

"Damn it, boss! Look what you made me do!" She threw the spoon at his head, but with a badass tilt, he expertly avoided the spoon attack.

"Never waste ice-cream!" Yukino sat around another comically-sized furnish, the kitchen table. The same army sleeping upstairs could fit around this table, no problem.

"Richard!" Micah strode past Yukino, only giving a slight apologetic tap on her head. "I can't have that room. It's too damn big! I refuse to turn into some spoiled royal brat. That is the only possible outcome if I sleep in that room."

"Erh? Okay, then take any other available room, or would you prefer sleeping in the kitchen cabinet? It's about the same size as a one-bedroom apartment." The simple fact that he wasn't at all surprised was mostly contributed to the fact that he had expected this. Knowing Micah's stance on wealth, he would have been more surprised if his boss easily soaked this in and accepted it.

"That won't be needed, thank you. I was just coming to let you know that I am switching rooms, and I am never returning back to that hell." With that monstrosity called a bed in mind, he walked out the kitchen in silence. He wasn't sure before, but now he was, this purchase had been a mistake. Maybe the biggest one of his life.

-----

Having picked a new room, something a little less soul-destroying, he undressed, gave his body a quick once-over in the mirror before heading straight for bed. Before he could embrace sleep, Blue's silent but attention-seeking cough echoed out in his mind.

'Yes?' Micah knew exactly what the cough meant, not ones, but hundreds of times had he been bothered by that just before sleep. He believed the sadist in her liked bringing up very complex problems or straight-up anxiety-inducing ones just before bed. And, this time was no different.

'Master, we have to discuss your follower's magics-'

'First of all, not followers," He interrupted mid-sentence. "Friends! Secondly, I can already guess one of them. Sorana's spirits, right?'

'Yes, that is one. She can not use that magic if she is going to follow along when you leave this world. The spirits are bound to this world's dimension, not the multiverse's. I suggest introducing her to a new type of magic and having her start to train in it immediately. The older she gets, the harder it is going to be to part with her spirits, because of emotional bonds.'

'Hm, I suppose we could gift them to the guild. I believe the blonde girl with anger issues is a celestial mage as well. That is if Sorana agrees.'

'Good. Next, let's talk about Gajeel. If he is to join you, I should warn you that the soul hiding inside of him would dissipate during world travel.' At the revelation, Micah opened his eyes in surprise. He had not sensed anything inside Gajeel, but seeing how he was nowhere near Blue's level in that area, he wasn't surprised. She couldn't do much, but she could discern certain things about people Micah met. He still didn't how much of a person Blue could figure out with a glance. That was another mystery to solve.

'What about the soul? Who's is it? Is it dangerous to him?'

'It's a powerful one or used to be. It's a draconic signature, very likely to be the one that taught him magic as it has the same signature as him. But, it is damaged. Multiverse travel would evaporate it. You have to either restore it or kill it, else it will die and harm Gajeel in the process of travelling.'

'Do you think he knows of it?'

'Unsure. If he does, it might be easier to deal with as he should then be able to communicate with it. But, seeing how that is not remotely my problem, I am gonna leave that to you. I have now done my part.'

'Stoic as usual. Will you ever change?' Micah didn't have high hopes for it, but you never know, so he still held a sliver of hope of someday hear a more cheerful tone of voice from his angel.

---

"How was your sleep, boss?" Sorana sat with a wide grin in the kitchen, mostly because of the cookie in her hand.

"It's seven in the morning, no cookies before breakfast." Micah appeared beside her at blinding speed and took away the box of treats. "First, real food. Then, sweets."

"Bosssss...." A hissing appeared behind him as he placed the cookies in the cabinet. "That was not nice... Bossss..." A slim hand filled to the brim with the feeling of death rested comfortably on his shoulder. He froze solid, so scared was he that his blood almost froze. "My. Cookies. Now."

Micah's shaky hands reached into the cabinet again and slowly as to not agitate the devil. "Of, course, Sorana. It was just a tiny prank. Here you go." He didn't even dare to turn around, he just handed them over from over his right shoulder.

"Hahahaha! That's what you get for ruining my ice-cream!" Yukino had appeared and sat at the table with a bowl of ice-cream in her hand. The satisfied grin on her face made her look indistinguishable from her sister. After she grew a little, the two would look identical in every way.

" I...I wasn't scared. Let's just forget this. No need to mention this to Richard, don't you think."

"If you were to buy me a year's worth of ice-cream, I might consider forgetting this little embarrassing display." Yukino had clearly inherited all the worst qualities of her sister. Extortion, sadistic teasing, all the fun things Micah got to deal with on a daily basis.

With a shrug and a nod, he sat down at the table just as Richard walked into the kitchen. Dressed in a large nightgown, or it might have been a sheet because it looked very similar. "Good morning, my fellow mages. What a wonderful morning we have here!" With a smile adorning his oddly-shaped face, he made his way to the stove, "Who wants some eggs, hm. Let's start the day properly." Without waiting for answers, he started the process.

"Actually, while you do that, I need to discuss something with all of you." Micah looked at Yukino as she knew only of his identity, not about his ability to travel worlds. "It's about the world-hopping ability we discussed."

"Oh, can we not anymore?" Richard sounded cheerful as he asked. Maybe someone was a little scared of crossing the barrier into a different world. A justified concern Micah thought as he glanced at the big man. "No, it's not that. It's about your magic, well, mostly Sorana's."

"Ah, as I thought. Spirits can not travel, can they?"

"No, they can not. Nice catch, Richard. Quick as always."

"It's nothing, boss. I am sure we all thought of that." His humble response was smooth, so smooth Micah felt jealous of how easily he could embrace and respond to compliments. By the look of the sister's expressions, he had been wrong in that. Yukino looked confused as she didn't understand any of this, while Sorana looked horrified.

"B...But, Scorpio... What."

"Sister, are you in love with your spirits?" Yukino rarely found any opportunity to tease her sister, and maybe it was good. A swift and justified chop struck the top of her head and sent her face right into her bowl of delicious ice-cream.

"Sorana, don't hit your sister. How can you abuse something so adorable." Micah appeared beside Yukino in a flash of light. He carefully raised her head out of the bowl and saw the tears running down her face. "SORANA! Look what you did!"

With an expression perfectly reflecting her, 'I don't care' nature she looked at Micah and said completely stoically. "Ask why she is crying."

"Huh?" Micah only looked down at Yukino for answers. "Are you hurt? Should I blow, where does it hurt?" Rufus used to do that at the spots where the neighbourhood bullies hit him.

"M...My ice-cream. It's ruined! And this was my favourite bowl..." The utter despair exhibited in her expression as she looked at the cracked bowl must have been ripped straight from a comedy sketch.

"I WAS ACTUALLY WORRIED!" He dropped her head down into the bowl again and scuffed angrily, "Drown in it for all I care."

"Okay people, calm it down. Let's get back to the issue. There is no question of us staying. Where you're going, we're going. That is non-negotiable. If she can't use them, what do we do?" Richard asked as he cracked another egg in the pan.

"I got an idea about that. The rogue mages we fought, one of them had pretty interesting magic I was interested in. But, since I have my {light} I don't really need it. It's telekinesis. I think it would be highly useful and super powerful if trained vigorously and properly."

"Telekinesis? What about my keys? Where would they go?"

"How about the guild. We have another Celestial mage. Otherwise, we could keep them as part of the organization. But, I think they should be utilized for the betterment of the world. And Fairy Tail should be able to make good use of them."

"I suppose." Sorana took out on of her keys before placing it on the table. "I can already imagine the conversation. Plus, how are we going to explain why we are just giving away this many powerful golden keys. Even if I am choosing another route to go in, who would just give away these keys?"

"Hm, seeing as Makarov knows of your status, it wouldn't be too weird if you said you have the ability to cross dimensions. Spirits do just that, so just explain it like that. Say you have a similar ability and that the keys would be destroyed if they were taken along."

Micah imagined Makarov's expression already and chuckled. "In his mind, my status is basically the same as a god. Whatever I say, I am pretty sure he is gonna accept it because gods are supposed to be able to do anything, right?" He bit into one of the eggs on his plate. "If you explain it to your spirits and deal with your contracts, I'll deal with Makarov." He looked at Sorana with his mouth full of egg.

"Sounds good. I do wonder how the spirits will react to this. Should be an interesting conversation." Sorana wasn't happy about this, but she swore she would follow him anywhere, and she would do anything to keep to that promise.

"HOLD UP!" Yukino suddenly yelled out. "I just caught up! You can travel to other worlds? Also, THERE ARE OTHER WORLDS?!" She had jumped over the table and sat on all four on the table right in front of Micah. "Are you lying?" She grabbed his cheeks hard and almost made him spit the eggs out on her face.

"No, and we also need to discuss what magic you want to use." He cupped her red cheek carefully after removing her hands. "Nothing world-destroying!" He said smoothly. He didn't want his followers having the power to destroy worlds, in his opinion, none should have that, not him, not anyone.

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