While Karna was contemplating his decision to use the Lacrima on Ultear, Fairy Tail was currently having their first meeting with the alliance against Oración Seis.
Their meeting went almost like it is canon except for the addition of Cana this time. So the Blue Pegasus members had an extra person to ensnare in their usual capture routine. But what they didn't account for was the bad mood Cana was in because of arguing with Karna. Plus, the additional anger from him going away for a few days for some kind of mission had made her anger reach a boiling point that even made the normally oblivious Erza careful around her.
"Hey beautiful lady, I heard you are alone, wanna go with me?" — Hundred Night Hibiki.
"I don't care much about you. But I want to make sure you only look at me." — Empty Night Ren.
"Can you please take care of me, Big Sis?" — Holy Night Eve.
Each of the trio of Blue Pegasus tried their signature moves based on the character they had chosen for themselves. But unlike the usual cases where the ladies at the receiving end either swoon or become shy—or sometimes get repulsed or run away—Cana replied with just a few words:
"Shut up or die."
The words were simple, but the intent behind them was not. When Ichiya and Jura came to the building halls, they were surprised to find the famous trio of Blue Pegasus shaking in their boots. Even Gray and Natsu seemed to be in the same boat as they were indirectly affected by how much Cana looked like Porlyusica when she berated the three Nights of Blue Pegasus.
But thankfully, after her attack on the members of Blue Pegasus, she actually looked refreshed, and the scary aura she had before had diminished greatly.
After that, the group met with the Lamia Scale members who were present within the building. Gray was surprised to find out that Leon had accompanied the members selected for this mission. He and Ur had found out that he had joined the guild with the members who had aided him in capturing the frozen Deliora. But they had decided to give him space until he decided to confront them himself. But currently, meeting each other right now had created an awkward atmosphere which was felt by all the members of the different guilds present there.
"Hello, everyone, sorry I'm late!!" Suddenly, a timid shout cut through the awkwardness, making everyone turn towards the newcomer who had arrived at the location.
"Oh man, you must be the beautiful member sent here by the Cait Shelter guild, correct?" Ichiya immediately recognized the newcomer.
But Wendy's sights were firmly locked on Natsu at the time, and she was unable to hear anything that Ichiya had said. Natsu too began to feel a bit weird as he felt that he had seen Wendy somewhere before.
"Hey, I think I've seen her somewhere before," Natsu muttered.
"Really? Where?" Gray asked.
"Uh… can't remember," Natsu said while shaking his head in confusion. Then he turned to Gray. "Hey, remember it for me, will ya?"
"How the hell does that work?!" Gray shouted back in surprise.
At the same time in the Dragon Soul Realm:
"Haha, finally the brats meet yet again after seven years," Igneel said with a smile as he and Grandine watched them.
"I still remember the time when Wendy kept on running after Natsu while calling him big brother. I hope she has a similar relationship this time as well," Grandine said, reminiscing about the past forgotten by their children.
"Hmm," Igneel grunted. But Grandine was able to find a trace of something else other than agreement in that grunt. Years of being companions made her receptive to his emotions like that.
"What are you thinking about, Igneel?"
"Grandine, how did the kids lose their memories while travelling through the Eclipse Gate, while we dragons inside them, as well as Anna Heartfilia, were able to hold on to our memories? Plus, why were the children sent to different parts of the world the moment they appeared?" Igneel asked the question that was plaguing his mind.
"How else? It was the side effects of the Eclipse Gate," Grandine replied immediately.
"Really? What specific side effect resulted in their memory erasure and separation?" Igneel asked again.
"What are you talking about, Igneel? Of course, it was…" Grandine paused in confusion. For a moment, she went through her memories, as she was one of the members who aided Zeref in the creation of that time-travelling artifact.
Her eyes widened as realization came to her.
"No, it can't be!!"
"Sorry to say, my friend, it is. We were all manipulated, and our memories tampered with before we exited into this century. The chances are the separation was also caused by it as well," Igneel said with a relaxed expression, which was the complete opposite of how they were supposed to react.
"How are you so calm, Igneel? Creatures of our level were manipulated easily. And seeing that there are no traces of any mental instability, the ones who did it are strong enough to surpass and subdue us easily. Does that not make you worried about it? And how did you figure it out?"
"Haha, everyone thinks that I'm just a brute that punches everything in my way without thinking it through. Makes it even easier to hide my capabilities and make my enemies underestimate me when they strike. I'm pretty sure the mental lock on you was stronger than what they put in my head.
They never would have expected that I have measures to ensure that my memories are not tampered with, and I use them regularly," Igneel said as he twisted his body into a more comfortable position.
A chill went through Grandine's spine. How could she have forgotten? Centuries before he was crowned as the king of the fire dragons—before he became strong enough to brute-force through every fight—Igneel, as a child, was known as the dragon who killed centuries-old dragons who were at least dozens of times stronger than him with his plans. His cunning and intelligence were so traumatizing that the other dragons made sure never to challenge him on his home turf, no matter how much weaker Igneel was compared to them.
'How much has he planned ahead? How many backups has he created within himself as contingencies for every possible problem?'
A/N- hope you like it and every 100 powerstone gets extra chapters of Jason.