Colors of the Will 'o' The Wisps Chapter 7

As Gildarts followed Master Makarov through the secret underground staircase, he couldn’t help but think that this smelled like responsibility.

Being back was great, it was fun catching up with the guys, drinking with Macao and Wakaba. It was hard hearing how the guild had struggled and lost so much, but also heartening to see the spirit stay strong and learn of how they got it all back.

The homecoming party was one to go down in history, and it was great. Really. It was great.

Which made Gildarts seriously contemplate just leaving right now instead of following the Master further down. Master Makarov had waited for everybody else to fall asleep or go home before asking Gildarts to follow him.

Trusting Makarov like a father, Gildarts had naturally followed, but he had been expecting a small discussion about things. Maybe talk about Romeo and how reintegrating to the present would look like. Instead, Gildarts found himself learning secrets about the guildhall.

Secrecy equals responsibility and thus Gildarts was giving serious thought to running as the stairwell opened up to reveal a grand chamber with ornate doors. The cave walls were aged with glittering moss and glowing mold, giving the cave an almost fairytale look.

The doors were of electrum, glimmering in the ambient light of the flora. No knobs or levers were near, but the symmetrical split showed that it was meant to be open. All in all, it was the sort of secret that seemed timeless.

Which was why it was so surprising to find someone leaning on the door.

“Macao?” Makarov squinted in confusion, “What are you doing down here?”

“Waiting.”

Gildarts glared. He understood that the past seven years were rough, but seriously? First, the son, and now the father. When did the Conbolts become so flippant?

“You shouldn’t be here, Macao,” Makarov growled, hands clenching his staff in preparation for a fight. Following his Master’s cue, Gildarts prepared himself also. Was this another Ivankov situation? Gildarts really hoped not. He liked Macao even if he and his son had gotten a bit too big for their britches these past years, but if Macao became powermad like Master Makarov’s son, then… Well, Gildarts would defend the guild.

Contrary to both of their preparations for battle, Macao simply continued leaning against the ornate doors, lax as could be. In spite of being in front of two of the strongest in the guild, he took out a pack of cigarettes (Lucky Seven brand, Gildarts noted) and lit one.

Taking a puff, tapping off the ash, Macao raised an eyebrow, “Is this who you’re picking as the Fifth Master? Really, Makarov? I’ve been trying to hold my tongue on all sorts of things since you came back, but really? This is who you pick? Gildarts? He’s not responsible enough. The man didn’t even know who his daughter was for a decade.”

Gildarts clenched his fist, but didn’t… couldn’t say anything. Fuck. He knew he wasn’t responsible, and he was trying, damn it, but damned if Macao wasn’t right. Gildarts wasn’t the type that could be trusted to lead. Trust him to break things, to fight for the guild, but don’t… don’t trust him to care and nurture and… Gildarts hated Macao for speaking the truth so bluntly. He hated himself for not being able to deny it. Or even wanting to.

“This is reserved for Guildmasters,” Master Makarov stubbornly insisted.

“And was I not the Fourth Guildmaster of Fairy Tail, Makarov?”

“...This isn’t the same thing,” Makarov sighed. He loosened his grip and relaxed, consciously taking a step back from escalating.

“Isn’t it, Makarov?” Macao scowled, “I held the weight. I know the responsibility. That man looks as if he’s ready to run just from seeing this door.”

Gildarts had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming true.

“He’s strong,” Makarov returned.

“Not in the ways that count for a Guildmaster, Makarov,” Macao shook his head ruefully, “Gods know I wasn’t until I saw how much I had failed my son.”

Silence. What could they say? While he was honored that Makarov thought so highly of him, Gildarts knew he wasn’t good for the position of Guildmaster.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just pick up the pieces of what’s left and fix it. I’ve done it before; I don’t mind doing it again,” Macao waved his hand dismissively, his voice and tone being far too chipper for the bitter words he spewed, “More importantly, this is a secret people are willing to kill for. Why the fuck is it under the old guild hall?”

Okay, that was enough. Gildarts stepped forward,“Hey, you need to respect the master. Just because--”

Faster than either of the two mages could react, Macao aimed a finger lit with purple flames at them, “Let’s take a step back now.”

Gildarts raised an eyebrow, “And what do you think that’s going to do against me?”

“Nothing,” Macao smirked, slowly changing h’s aim to point straight up, “but it’ll give the signal to Wakaba to blow the top off this place.”

Following the sightline, Gildarts and Makarov gaped at the runes layering the top of the ceiling trailing back over the gate. Gildarts was no expert in the finer arts of magic, but even he knew at a glance that these were explosive runes.

“Those runes are enough to blow the guildhall skyhigh,” Gildarts shouted, struggling to think of a way to stop the madman, “What are you doing?”

Macao choked. Affronted by the accusation “What!? No! We just got the guildhall back after seven years. No way am I blowing up all my hard work. No. That array is targeted at this fucking door.”

Well, fucking hunky-dory. That made Gildarts feel so much better. Okay, it did a bit. It was nice to know that Macao didn’t want to hurt his guildmates upstairs, but Gildarts also didn’t like the idea of standing inside a blast radius.

How could he stop this? Crush magic dismantled, but could he dismantle it fast enough? It was high, but a few jumps and-- No. Gildarts was fast, but he wasn’t faster than a magic bullet. Could he attack Macao directly? But what if he got the shot off anyways? Shit. What could--

“Why are you doing this?” Makarov asked, demeanor far calmer than Gildarts. Confused, Gildarts shuffled questioningly. Tapping his staff twice, Makarov motioned with the tip towards Macao, letting Gildarts see that the man had lowered his hand.

Oh. Master Makarov was stalling for time, doing that diplomacy thing. Gah. So lucky that the Master was here. This was why Gildarts wouldn’t be a good guildmaster. Without Master Makarov, Gildarts would’ve just started punching and probably made things worse.

“Remember what I said? That this is a secret people are willing to kill for, Gildarts? I’ve killed for it too. At this point, I think I deserve to know exactly what I’ve been helping hide. ”

“Bit arrogant of you, eh?” Gildarts scoffed. Maybe Macao wasn’t another Ivan, but damned if the self-righteousness wasn’t the same.

“It was seven years, damn you,” Macao roared, suddenly aiming his finger towards Gildarts, flame extinguished, “SEVEN YEARS where you were gone. Fairy Tail fell far from its glory days. We lost the guild hall, we lost our homes, we lost respect, we almost lost one another in those first years, but damned if I didn’t hold it together and damned if it didn’t work because we could all party once more in the old Guild Hall together again.”

“You lost the Guild Hall?” Gildarts whispered. He knew things got bad, but… not that bad. He didn’t even realize. Everything had seemed normal, but… What?

“And more,” Macao scowled, “Clawed it all back though, just in time for our reunion. You have no right to judge me for wanting answers. ”

Having stepped in front of Makarov, Gildarts settled for glaring at Macao. They were at an impasse, but if he could protect the Master from the initial blast, then… then… Gildarts didn’t know what would happen next, but he was sure Master Makarov could figure it out.

Just as suddenly though, the rage left Macao. Returning to aiming a lit finger at the ceiling, Macao wiped his face, “I’m sorry. Just… Got a lot of shit piled back.” Turning around and leaving his back open, Macao sighed, “I’m not like your son, Makarov.  Ivan Dreyar is a fucker and a bastard, and I guarded Fairy Tail’s secrets from him while you were gone.”

While Gildarts wanted to try and ambush, Master Makarov stepped around and forward to ask softly, “Did you kill him?”

“He’s alive,” Macao waved his free hand dismissively, the cigarette in between the two fingers drawing strange patterns as he did so. “Not for lack of trying on my part though. Fucker always was good at running.”

“Macao,” Makarov whispered, shocked at the casual admittance to the desire of murder, “What have you become?”

“Harder, sadly,” Macao turned around, smirking with a coldness born out of determined desperation, “It’s fine if you’re soft, Makarov. Fairy Tail always was a soft guild, and that’s why I love it. But when the chips are down, I’m more than willing to pull the trigger.”

“What did you do?” Gildarts couldn’t help but ask. This was… This was different. There was no doubt in his mind that in a fight, Macao would lose… but Gildarts didn’t think he would win either.

And… And Gildarts didn’t think he wanted to fight Macao anymore. He felt… so stupid. So stupid for thinking that Macao wanted power when he was just… feral. Feral was the right word here.

Looking up, Macao sighed as took another puff, “...I guarded Fairy Tail’s secrets. When the Council started skulking around, I chased them off. I went into debt tying the Council up in court, and when that failed, I learned what temperature teeth burn at.”

“...You’ve changed,” Makarov murmured.

Macao chuckled darkly, “That’s what happens when time passes by. You change. You haven’t changed at all though. For better or for worse.”

A long silence fell, a cold and dangerous equilibrium coming into stalemate. Neither side wanted to push, neither wanted to break something so surprisingly fragile, but… for a crack to be healed, a bridge had to be tossed.

“What do you want?” Master Makarove eventually broke the silence.

Shaking his head, Macao answered with a weight born of weariness, “I don’t want power, I can tell you that much. I don’t want fame or riches or any of that shit. I’m not Ivan. I just… I want answers, Makarov. I want to know whether Fairy Tail really is the guild my son loves. Whether it’s a guild I can still love. Whether all the sins these past seven years were worth it.”

“There’s no going back once you know,” Makarov warned.

“...My son died to Zeref, you know.”

“What?” Gildarts asked. That was a… hell of a thing to claim. Hell of a thing to say all of a suddenin response to this whole… thing going on right now.

“Craziest thing. I know,” Macao shrugged, “Romeo was wandering outside the city. Well, he ran away more like it because everything was shit back then. Spent an entire day searching for him and I had to punch a Vulcan dead when I finally did.”

“That doesn’t mean Zeref was there,” Makarov frowned.

“Vulcans don’t dig graves for children. They don’t leave magic that feels like death’s scorn. They don’t leave tales of demons and curses and gods on my child’s tongue.”

Gildarts blinked. That was… Wow. That was more hoity-toity than expected. Macao was supposed to be a gentleman rogue, yeah, but… wow. Leaning into the gentleman.

“You’ve grown more eloquent,” Makarov said.

“I had to learn to fight in a different way, Makarov,”

“Not Master anymore?”

“I’ve been debating on whether I can trust you ever since I found out how many secrets this guild has.”

Gildarts wanted to say something in Makarov’s defense, but the Master simply held up a fist when he took a step forward.

Macao sighed, a deep one that spoke of depths of weariness unknown as he tried one more time to plea, “You know, those flames of Romeo showed off yesterday? Everybody calls them Fiamme Dell'Arcobaleno. Flames of the Rainbow. Want to know what he calls them?”

Quiet.

“Dying WIll Flames. He died to obtain that power, and then he used those flames to drag the Wisps of Fairy Tail kicking and screaming out of the mud five years back. Nowhere near the top, but hey. At least, we have some respect. At least you people had a home to come back to.”

Like father, like son. Gildarts thought it was just Romeo who got angry, but… Macao too? Different types. Where the son burned hot, the father burnt cold. Either way, the Conbolts had a way to make words scorch the soul.

“Me? Wakaba? Us old geezers? We knew Fairy Tail had secrets. We just never knew it was the kind of secrets that caused immortal dark wizards to come skulking around, have the Magic Council to pour bodies into the Earth to find out our secrets; we didn’t know and we’re tired of not knowing.” Macao sighed with steel and pointed his finger back up, finger lighting with purple flare, “One way or another, I’m going to know exactly what Fairy Tail is here and now.”

Clenching and unclenching his fist, Gildarts barely twitched to charge before Macao flicked away the spent cigarette and pulled out a glass tablet from behind his back. Immediately, Gildarts froze in place, wary of the new tool.

“Sorry, Wakaba’s been listening in this whole time, Gildarts,” Macao smiled wryly, idly waving what must have been an extremely compact communication Lacrima, ”Even if you take me out, he’ll activate it from his side. This secret will be known. Whether just us or for everyone, that’s for Makarov to decide. If it helps, I want it to stay quiet. Let the adults be the only ones stressed.”

As silence reigned, Gildarts found that didn’t know what to think, let alone say. Was Macao the bad guy here? For wanting answers? It was easy for himself to say to just trust the guild, but Macao had acted upon that trust, guarding the secrets of the guild unyiedingly and just… Gildarts wanted to hate Macao for putting Master Makarov in this position, but he honestly couldn’t say he wouldn’t want answers after seven years of not knowing.

“...Who else is listening in?” Master Makarov suddenly asked.

“Just Wakaba.”

“Call him down. You both deserve to know what you’ve been guarding.”

“Master?” Gildarts whispered.

“It seems Romeo was right in more ways than one,” Master Makarov sighed, shaking his head ruefully, “It seems that you really did hold the guild together in more ways than I had acknowledged. Thank you.”

Nodding once in acknowledgement, Macao lifted that strange glass tablet to his face and spoke. “Enenra. This is Onibi. Veil is lifting, join us now. Over.”

…Codenames? Wasn’t that a bit childish? Gildarts refrained from voicing such thoughts aloud since it seemed practiced and rehearsed, but… Damn. They made it look cool and professional.

Message sent, all three waited tensely.

Then they waited patiently.

They they just waited.

“...So is he coming?” Gildarts eventually asked.

Macao somehow made the act of shifting in boredom look badass as he deadpanned, “It’s a long walk down.”

“Oh, right,” Gildarts trailed off, only mildly jealous at how Macao was pulling off the cape and making boredom look cool.

They waited a bit longer.

Fully aware that they had been close to coming to blows, Gildarts caved into the boredom and attempted small-talk, “So, how you’ve been?”

Silence.

“Okay,” Macao eventually answered.

“That’s good,” GIldarts acknowledged.

And then it was back to silence. Awful, awkward silence.

Finally, mercifully, a trail of smoke slipped into the room and coalesced into a pompadour that slowly grew a man. Puffing a smoky circle, Wakaba raised a hand in greeting, “Sup.” He then took a stance, albeit a casual one with his hands in his pockets, next to Macao and side-whispered, “id you do the super-intense thing again, Macao?”

“No.” Macao grunted, glaring intensely

Wakaba raised an eyebrow.

Macao closed his eyes and sigh, “Fine, yes.”

“Like father, like son, I guess,” Wakaba shrugged, his lackadaisical nature surprisingly help loosening the tense mood, “You better clean up before we open up the door though.”

A quick snap of the fingers, and Macao easily and quickly dismissed all of the runes. “It’s clear.”

“New trick with the smoke magic, Wakaba?” Gildarts said, trying to jump in on the easygoing nature of Wakaba. Gildarts was not used to being this serious with guildmates, and Wakaba was a breath of fresh-air compared to the mood just now.

Wakaba chuckled, “Eeyup! Since Macao’s kid decided to upend and revolutionize a whole subsection of fire magic, I figured I’d try my hand at it. Why manipulate smoke when I can become the smoke, eh?” Tracing a smoke ring in the air with a slowly dissipating finger, Wakaba coalesced the smoke back into a finger to snap, “ It’s not much, but it’s a neat little trick for fights.”

“Makes you hard to hit?” Gildarts guessed, already guessing at the utility. He was fairly certain that he could still beat Wakaba, but it’d be a lot harder trying to [Crush] smoke.

Priming two finger-guns, Wakaba mock-fired with a grin, “Got it in one.”

“Enough joking around,” Makarov’s voice cut in, “This is a serious matter that only Macao seems to understand.”

Gildarts rubbed his head guiltily, but Wakaba only puffed with an idle smirk. Taking measure of all the participants, Makarov had a grave frown as he stated, “Remember that this is to be kept secret.”

Wakaba chuckled, “Can’t be harder than the bodies.”

Ignoring that morbid joke, Makarov turned on his heel. Stepping forward to place two hands on the door, Makarov channeled mana through them and into the magical gears and leylines engraved and hidden.

Shining fairy-white, the doors opened.

For a moment, all four stood in awe, simply basking in the roiling aura of Lumen Etoile. The shimmering light refracted by the crystals of purest Etherano; for a brief moment, there was a moment of silence as leaders of Fairy Tail and their most trusted paid their respects to Fairy Tail’s greatest secret.

Then, dragging a hand down his face, Macao sighed, “Why do we have the dead body of a loli in our basement?”

“It is not some dead loli’s body!” Makarov snapped, barely restraining himself from hitting Macao, “It’s the First Master’s body!”

“Doesn’t make it better,” Wakaba interjected. He took a bracing puff from his pipe, “Actually, I think it makes it worse. Makes us seem like a cult.”

Makarov looked to Gildarts, eyes all but begging for help. Gildarts carefully looked to the side and ignored the soft cough of despair from the Master. While he could feel the barely contained power emanating from the First’s body encased in the crystalline Etherano, it was kind of fucked up to have a dead girl’s body in the guild’s basement.

“It only sort of looks like a cult?” Gildarts tried, “I mean we don’t hold a secret ritual for it, right?”

“No, we do not hold a secret ritual for it,” Master Makarov didn’t quite stamp a foot, but it was a near thing. “Because we are not a cult.”

“Then why do we have it?” Wakaba asked. GIldarts was glad Wakaba asked, because he was too afraid to ask himself.

“Are you--” Makarov pinched his nose, “Do you want to have a ritual for it?”

“I mean…” Wakaba cut in, “If we’re just going to keep something in the basement, we should try and use it at least? It’s kind of like acrappy China tea set otherwise. Look, but never use.”

“The First Master is NOT a crappy China tea set!”

“Whelp, I’ve seen enough,” Macao sighed, “I’ve got to ask though. Why is she naked?”

Another question that Gildarts was also too afraid to ask but was glad somebody else did.

“I don’t know! She was like that when I learned about this! Can’t exactly break open the crystal and dress her up now can I!?” Makarov grumbled, closing the doors, “This was supposed to be all dramatic, and we would all pay respects to the First Master, but instead I get you yokels judging me.”

“I feel perfectly in my rights to judge you,” Macao said.

“Judge the Second then! He’s the one who dumped this on me!”

“THades! The guy who turned evil and literally betrayed us? Why are we keeping anything from him!” Gildarts exclaimed, the thud of the doors jostling him out of his numb acceptance, “We have a dead loli body in our basement because of him!”

Starting up the stairs and the long hike back up, Wakaba nodded in agreement, “I’m not comfortable with having dead loli bodies in our basement. Especially if they’re from evil turncoats.”

“Seconded.” Macao echoed.

“Thirded,” Gildarts nodded, feeling a strange connection to the two now. He supposed knowing about the dead loli body under the guild would do that to you.

Following the three, Makarov sighed, “I’m not happy about it either, but it’s the First Master’s body.”

“Then build her a statue or something,” Macao grunted.

“Or a mausoleum,” Wakaba suggested.

Whirling around, Makarov gestured silently and angrily, hands and arms trying to mime the idea of largness like a… Like a giant crystal. ….That would make it hard to bury the First Master, wouldn’t it.

“...Right, right. Giant crystal.”

Nodding at their understanding, Makarov turned and continued onward up the steps, sighing, “It’s also our final weapon.”

“What? So it’s like etherion or something?” Gildarts joked, “Oh, no! We’re doomed! Quick! Fire the Loli-laser!”

“More like…” Makarov struggled for the right words, “Mega-etherion?”

Gildarts stubbed his toe a step. Hopping and hobbling to keep pace with the others, he groaned, “I was joking, Master. Please tell me you were joking.”

“If anything, I was understating it.”

“...Wow, so we have a loli-shaped mega-etherion in our basement. We figured the secret was dangerous, but apocalyptic?” Wakaba tilted his back to laugh, just a hint of panic tinging the undertones. Elbowing his partner-in-crime, he chuckled, “At least, we protected something useful, eh, Macao?”

“I suppose. We are taking this to our graves and beyond,” Macao stated, resolutely keeping his gaze forward and upwards. He really had changed, Gildarts noted, just a bit sad. Seven years really hardened a man, huh?.

“I’m glad that you see the importance,” Makarov smiled, happy at the maturit.

“Beyond fucking over the council, it also just sounds horrible to admit that we’ve kept a dead loli in our basement,” Wakaba pointed out before taking another puff.

“It is the First Master’s body!” Master Makarov grumbled, “Nothing to be ashamed about.

“The first Master’s dead body,!” Wakaba refuted, “That’s like the first thing you check if a Guild’s going cult is if they have a dead body in the basement. At least you haven’t tried telling us that she talks to you and gives you orders.” He puffed and then frowned, “She doesn’t do that, right?”

“No,” Makarov grumbled, indicating quite clearly that he didn’t want to speak of this any more.

Silence reigned just for a bit.

“The First Master’s dead body,” Wakaba suddenly chuckled, “Surrounded in crystals and sealed behind a door to be displayed like Fine China.”

Makarov sighed.

“The First Master’s naked dead body,” Macao cut in, letting in a rusty but still immature humor, “Preserved and waiting like the finest of wines.

Makarov groaned, “You’re making this sound much worse than it actually is.”

“The First Master’s naked dead loli body,” Gildarts couldn’t help but cut in, “Exuding power and aura. Resting until the day the Guild needs her once more as the prophecy foretold!”

“Gildarts!?” Makarov asked, scandalized and betrayed.

“Hey, I’m glad you trust me that much,” Gildarts put two hands up in the air in surrender, ”But I’m not going to be guildmaster. I’m doing my best to destroy any and all expectations right now.”

Not even bothering to act ashamed of his plan, Makarov complained, “Then how will I retire!?”

Macao sighed theatrically, “While I feel vaguely insulted that you didn’t even consider me after my distinguished seven years of service, I’m going to cut in here and say that I’m retiring as Guildmaster. Maybe Wakaba?”

Wakaba shook his head and crossed his arms, “I was your assistant. I know the work and paperwork behind such an honor. Absolutely not.”

Gildarts raised his hand, “I vote Makarov.”

“I vote Makarov.” Wakaba raised his hand.

“I vote not Makarov!” Makarov shouted.

Then, unexpectedly serious, Macao raised his hand, “I vote Makarov with the caveat that me and Wakaba are held on as assistants.”

Gildarts cocked his head, “While I’m all for that, why add that caveat?”

“Because Fairy Tail’s changed and you two don’t know how much. Worst comes to worst, I don’t want a repeat of the Battle of Fairy Tail where it's the old guard versus the new guard.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Fairy Tail’s got smaller but that only made us more… What’s the word?”

“Intense?” Gildarts suggested. Yeah, that summed up Macao’s changes best. He was intense. His son more so if last night was anything to go by.”

“Yes,” Macao nodded with a smile, “We’re much more intense.”

“Like I said, can’t be that bad.” Gildarts shrugged dismissively.

“I was ready to blow us all up just now,” Macao reminded.

How’d he forget that? Gildarts winced, “...Good point.”

“Agreed,” Makarov sighed, “You have to help with the damn paperwork.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

In unison, the three responsible ones sighed while Gildarts fist-bumped the air.

No idea how, but responsibility successfully dodged.