//------------------------------// // Still No Word: Part Two // Story: Spike the Fairy // by PonyJoel //------------------------------// Edolas 42 Days Ago Spidy and Windy dried their tears after crying for hours; Wendy and Coco explained the situation to Erza Knightwalker, and she's irate that her son, the one she saved from the streets, vanished into an off-world within a flash. Wendy and Erza ask Coco to babysit the kids to see Spike's laboratory and find traces, evidence, something worth noting to pinpoint locations where the magic got tethered to. Coco complies and tries to cheer Spidy and Windy for the best possible. She decides to draw funny pictures and tell tales of their dad's funniest misfortunes; Spidy and Windy laugh and start to believe that their father will return sooner than later. The Royal Soldiers are outside, on patrol, continuing where Spike Knightwalker left off with simple instructions for repairing solar panels all around the Royal City and the outskirts. They see Wendy and Erza Knightwalker hurrying to King Jellal's palace, longing to see what transpired more than ever. King Jellal sees the two entering the palace and rushing to Spike's laboratory; there will be much explanation when they see the remains of the mirror when it imploded hours ago. Wendy and Erza Knightwalker see the mirror Spike worked on in shambles with a distorted color sphere of green, purple, and black swirling in formation as a vortex. Much of Spike's research got shredded, making his notes hard to read and decipher. King Jellal walks by and hears Erza and Wendy weeping. He sighs deeply at the situation. "What... happened..?" Erza Knightwalker dries her tears. She turns to her king, awaiting an answer. "Coco tied Spike with rope so we could reel him in once he stepped inside the mirror. The moment he walked through, his experiment shattered within an instant. After Coco left, that sphere came, and we only see blurs." "Where did my beloved go?" Wendy turns to King Jellal. "We don't know. Our experts are unable to decode Spike's research. For now, all we can do is wait until he returns," King Jellal sadly answers. Wendy turns to the sphere and sits, hoping to see her husband soon. Edolas 35 Days Ago It's been a week since Spike Knightwalker vanished when his experiment imploded. Wendy stares at the sphere, hoping, begging, crying, pleading, and praying for Spike's safety and return; she misses her husband dearly while everyone else in the palace work strenuously to decode and replicate the mirror Spike built. So far, Erza Knightwalker and King Jellal have worked tirelessly without rest to bring Spike Knightwalker from whatever realm he stepped into. The kids are restless and have given up hope; Spidy and Windy blame King Jellal for sending their father into unknown territory. King Jellal steps into Spike's laboratory to check on Wendy. "Hello, Wendy." Wendy keeps her gaze on the sphere, not wanting to turn away. "Hey." "You should head home. We'll send Coco and the others to alert you of Spike's arrival," King Jellal says, hoping to send Wendy home to be with her family and cope together like a family. "Any luck on reconstructing Spike's mirror?" Wendy asks, diverting the topic to something else. "Spike's notes are hard to read and translate since the explosion. Do you know others that can help?" King Jellal knows who'll do the job but believes they'll reject the offer. "I do..," Wendy knows who can help; however, they are more likely to refuse. King Jellal walks up to Wendy. "Go to them. Seek their support. I'll continue to do my part in bringing Spike Knightwalker back home." Wendy smiles slightly and nods. She gets up and leaves the room after taking another glimpse of the sphere. "I'll come to get you if I must." Wendy decides to go home first and be with Spidy and Windy. They do need their mother, so they don't think she's gone too; it'll be overwhelming for the kids to endure loneliness with no one to love. She doesn't want Spidy and Windy to think their parents abandoned them. Wendy decides to go to the market first to buy food to cook for Spidy and Windy; she grabs many fruits, vegetables, and meat. She's looking for spices and herbs to make the food tastier when she inadvertently bumps into Lucy. "Watch it, you little-!" Lucy grabs Wendy's collar and raises her right fist, preparing to pound her face. She lets go instantly after seeing her friend for the first time in over a week. "Wendy!" Lucy sees Wendy distraught. "What's the matter?" Wendy frowns and tears up. "It's Spike..," Wendy burst into tears. Lucy becomes agitated and cracks her knuckles. "What did that scumbag do to you?!" Lucy is ready to give Spike Knightwalker a deadly beating. "HE DIDN'T HARM ME, YOU STUPID BITCH!" Wendy shouts at Lucy angrily. She huffs and puffs after being fed up with her friends at the guild for holding onto the hatred of Spike Knightwalker. Lucy stands back a little after the outburst. She expected Spike Knightwalker to resort to going back to his sadism days and perform domestic and child abuse. "What happened then?" "He's gone!" Wendy cries in sadness. "His experiment blew, and he vanished." "YES!" Lucy does a fist-pump in excitement, knowing the world is free of Spike Knightwalker's tyranny. "That's karma for you!" Lucy laughs in triumph. Wendy slaps the shit out of Lucy for making a bold and yet, insulting remark. Despite doing simple jobs for the guild, Wendy's strength is on another level, leaving a handprint and bruise on Lucy's face. Wendy grabs Lucy's collar and pulls her close harshly. "Listen, you little shit! My husband, the man I love! The father of my children will return to me! You and the rest of the guild will help me bring him back!" Wendy's glare is terrorizing, similar to how Spike Knightwalker would behave during his sadism days when some sucker agitated him. Wendy's eyes are red with malice, and her teeth are razor-sharp. Lucy is sweating immensely from Wendy's glare and grasp. She messed with the wrong woman and now rues her decision. She complies to help Wendy by any means so she doesn't sustain any vicious, malicious injuries by her hands. The old saying is true, never mess with love. "I'll bring the kids to the guildhall in a day or two. I'll have my mother-in-law bring Spike Knightwalker's notes for Levy to debunk and recreate. If any dare to sabotage his research, I'll do to you all what my husband should have done years ago!" Wendy doesn't want the Fairy Tail guild to continue to hold their grudges and hopes they don't do anything foolish to Spidy and Windy's father. Edolas 33 Days Ago King Jellal had his Royal Soldiers deliver all of Spike's research, including the shattered glass from the mirror, to the Fairy Tail Guildhall. They got other matters to address about the recent solar mechanic failure. Without Spike Knightwalker's intellect about resolving the crisis, they'll have to undergo a study using Spike Knightwalker's blueprints and instructions. Wendy informs her mother-in-law that she'll be staying with the guild with Spidy and Windy for a week or so, depending on the guild's progress in restoring the mirror portal Spike built ages ago. Erza Knightwalker hugs Spidy and Windy before they leave; she's on night duty with the Royal Soldiers due to several attacks within the Royal City. Wendy gets in a taxi with Spidy and Windy. Wendy tells the taxi driver to take them to the Fairy Tail Guildhall in the forest region near the capital. The Fairy Tail Guildhall resembles a plant sprouting; inside has tree barks for walls, mushroom tables and seats, small trees acting like pillars and poles around, lanterns hanging on the ceiling and branches for lighting, a bar, job board at the corner of the room. Lastly, there's a pointless brawl in the center of the room. Wendy, Spidy, and Windy walk inside and see how lively the Fairy Tail Guild is for the first time; the kids wonder why their father can't work with them. Wendy tells the kids to hang with Natsu and Gray. Gray is wearing so many coats he looks like the bottom half of a snowman. He encourages the kids to jump on him like a trampoline. Many Fairy Tail Wizards have seen Spidy and Windy before and know how to entertain them; the problem is their father, Spike Knightwalker. Most of the guild resents Spike Knightwalker and still hasn't forgiven him. Juvia approaches Wendy. "Why?" Juvia gives a scornful stare at Wendy. "Why bring that monster back?" Unlike Lucy, who trembled earlier, Juvia is not afraid of confronting Wendy; about her husband. "I love him. He cares about me, the kids, even all of you!" Wendy shouts. The kids stop jumping and understand why their father can never be a Fairy Tail Wizard. "US?!" Everyone else said in unison. They are iffy about Spike Knightwalker's care of the Fairy Tail Guild. "Besides his kids and Erza Knightwalker, I'm the only one who understands him and show compassion. He refuses to let go of his sins but strives for a better future. Without Spike Knightwalker, we wouldn't have solar-based weaponry that feels like magic, and we would be years behind in advancing technology! He'd even planted the guildhall here when all of you were tired of brutalizing him during the punishment!" "That's because he was obligated," Jet and Droy bitterly say. "No, he wasn't," Erza Knightwalker steps inside the guildhall. Everyone panics and gets sudden flashbacks of the Fairy Hunter. "What are you doing here, Erza?" Wendy is confused that her mother-in-law is in the guildhall. Erza smiles. "The kids forgot their clothes and toys for the week," She holds their belongings. "Ex-Ex-Explain!" Lucy demands with fright in her tone. She points at Erza, somewhat demanding an explanation. "King Jellal commanded my son to apologize publically for his cruelty and killing spree. He did so but knew it wasn't enough. My son had inside information on surviving wizards of other guilds, apologized to them, and allowed them to unleash their wrath. During his suffering, he had PTSD. A dark guild tormented my Spike when he was young. He was six when the Celestials first took him from an orphanage." Everyone, including Wendy, is silent. Spike didn't mention much about the reason behind his killing spree and hunting of dark guilds. Now it makes sense. He didn't want any youngling going through the torture and death from other wizards, wanting to obtain unspeakable power. In his demented mindset, Wendy sees Spike providing justice unlike any other; still, he's in the wrong for mercilessly killing innocents that did no wrong. Every Fairy Tail Wizard starts contemplating the reasoning behind Spike Knightwalker's action. A child enduring an endless nightmare would be the probable cause of going insane. It makes sense why Spike displayed such cruelty whenever he captured one of them; he'd never seen how good-minded wizards can do as a family until one presented herself. "My son has undergone many surgeries to undo the damages caused by the Celestials guild; none had succeeded due to a glaring issue. Spike's mentality due to the transition of the Celestials corrupted his mind. So, I had to take charge and tame him, train Spike to become an intelligent individual using his sadistic mind for other purposes. If I had not tamed Spike Knightwalker at the time, all of us would have perished. His mind would be so corruptible he would take the form of a demon and install fear in many. He'll cross boundaries no sane person would. He wouldn't care unless he completed a task. If that Spike could, he would have brought an apocalypse so wretched, he would rule over the ashes." "He can create a weapon that could slay us all?!" Every Fairy Tail Wizard, including Wendy, shouts in horror in unison. "Spike can turn anything into a devastating weapon. If any components are available, then we die. He's that brilliant." "Boy, I'm glad he's gone elsewhere!" Levy said with a sigh of relief. "Mind your tone, idiot!" Juvia and Wendy lividly express. Spidy and Windy now understand why their father screamed during the late nights back home; he was reliving the days of torture and sadness. Also, they now know why it's hard on their mother to go on epic jobs and adventures, with most of Fairy Tail detesting their dad. A slow, crept terror came to Wendy's mind when Erza finished her story about not taming Spike. "WE HAVE TO HURRY!" "Why, what's wrong?" Cana said while drinking a cup of tea. "Since Spike was tamed when Erza had him, what if something immoral were to break the shackles of his mind?" Wendy asks everyone. Erza and every Fairy Tail Wizard become pale and more afraid than ever; the idea of an untamed behemoth spreading carnage and destruction would bring decimation, catastrophe, and misery, and if Spike were to return as that unwavering demon, unstoppable with different technology that far exceeds anything he created or overpowered with magic power that overrides technology. Many probabilities come to everyone's mind. "Alright! We'll get Spike Knightwalker back. Only to prevent him from becoming far worse than a demon!" Levy shouts and starts reading his research. "Thanks," Erza Knightwalker turns to Wendy. "I'll inspect the progress and report to King Jellal; from time to time." "Sounds good. See you then," Wendy sighs happily, knowing that her friends will rebuild the mirror and analyze the shredded notes. Also, she'll reunite with her beloved.