"And what craft does this guild of yours practice?" Scrimgeour knitted his eyebrows.
Gildarts blinked a couple of times. "Magic…" he eventually said. "What else would we practice?"
...
"I see… well…" Scrimgeour's gaze hardened. "Ever since those lights appeared in the skies there have been a lot of strange people cropping up all over the country. And just yesterday one of our towns was attacked and strange magic users with that self-same mark were spotted at the scene, but eluded us before we could question them about who they were. If they bear that same mark, that means you know them, correct?"
"Indeed it does."
"And are you aware of the damage they caused?" Fudge cried out. "Are you aware of how much work was required to put right the things that they did and keep up the Statute of Secrecy?"
"Well, that sounds like our friends sure enough," Levy sighed slightly. Honestly, sometimes it felt like she was pretty much the only one in the guild that didn't destroy things on a regular basis.
"Whoa, whoa, don't take it out on us, buddy," Gildarts raised his arms slightly. "It's not like we were there. And honestly, can you blame them for being a little confused? After all, we are from…" before he could finish the sentence he suddenly spotted Mavis waving at him out the corner of his eye and slowly shake her head. Gildarts got the message - these people were not aware that they were from another world and it was a subject that would have to be brought up delicately so he simply said, "…a strange place, with no idea how we got here."
"I am not your buddy," Fudge reddened slightly, but Scrimgeour started speaking again before he could go any further.
"Nevertheless, as you are apparently associates with these people we have to hold you accountable for their actions until such a time as we can find them ourselves. And we have no guarantee that everything you have thus far told us is the truth and I can definitely tell there's a few things you're not telling us. So… I suppose that means that you are our prisoners after all."
Levy groaned slightly and pressed a hand over her face. "Dear gosh, no matter what world we're in we just always seem to get in trouble with the authorities," she muttered.
Gildarts though raised a brow again, before giving a lopsided grin and spreading his arms out slightly. "Ah, come on, there's no need for that surely. We certainly don't mean any harm, and we really need to find our friends."
"I'm afraid that there is a need for it," Scrimgeour said primly. "We have to ensure national security, so I'm afraid just saying that you're not a threat is not going to cut it. And based on the kinds of things we've seen your friends doing, we cannot let you leave until we have no more questions for you and we're sure you've answered them all honestly. Please do not try to resist, or we will be forced to stun you and take you to a holding cell."
Gildarts exhaled in annoyance, glancing towards Mavis, who nodded at him.
"It's important that we get these people on our side if we can," Mavis told him. "It would be far less hassle for us if we could get on the side of this world's leaders. It's probably best if we just go along with this for now."
The C-Class mage heaved a great sigh and said, "Alright, alright, fine. We'll co-operate. Lead on and we'll follow."
Scrimgeour nodded and the Aurors quickly fanned out across the room to encircle the two Fairy Tail mages. Levy quickly drew closer to Gildarts, biting her lip a little nervously at this turn of events, but suddenly she felt a large hand grip her shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. She couldn't help but feel reassured by Gildarts' presence. Honestly, if you had to get stuck with someone in an alternate universe, Gildarts was probably one of the best people to be stuck with.
"Where are you taking them, Scrimgeour?" Fudge demanded immediately.
"I was planning on taking them up to Level Two, Minister," Scrimgeour replied. "To place them in the Holding Cells of the Auror Office."
"And you intend to question them there."
"Indeed."
"Well, I must insist on a change to that plan," Fudge coughed. "When word of this gets out I want people to know that I was personally involved with ensuring their safety. Take them to a holding room on Level Ten. I will be back soon, so do not question them until I get back."
Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose, but nodded, "Of course, Minister." And he led the group out of the door, the Aurors surrounding the two Fairy Tail mages they could actually see to guide them in the direction of the lifts. Gildarts walked with his hand still resting on Levy's shoulder as if he was some mother hen keeping a child under its wing, but as that thought occurred to him he grimaced again, feeling like his other arm should be holding Cana in a similar manner.
When they reached the holding cell and Scrimgeour directed them inside he said, "I must ask you to surrender your wands to us."
"Wands? We don't carry wands," Levy blinked. "I thought people only used wands in the old stories or something."
"Oh did you?" Scrimgeour raised a brow. "Well, I insist that you hand them over and if you do not then we will be forced to search you for them."
"Is that a fact?" Gildarts turned to face the rest of the Aurors, most of which cringed under his heavy gaze. "Well, go ahead and search us because we have nothing to hide but I warn you… if I see a single one of you trying to cop a feel of my companion here you will not like the outcome."
"EEK!" Levy squeaked, looking like she was trying to curl into a ball. "I'm not sure whether you saying that makes me more or less comfortable about the idea!"
"Erm, actually we were going to magically scan you. Not… give you a pat-down," Scrimgeour coughed.
"Ah, well that makes sense," Gildarts chuckled. "Well, get on with it then."
Eventually the two of them were left alone, the search having turned up empty of wands, though they had found Levy's Light Pen and her Gale-Force Reading Glasses, which she kept at all times in magical pockets on the inside of her dress. She bit her lip as she was handed them over reluctantly, but after that, the two of them were shut in the cell and none of the Aurors tried to speak to them. Most of them were dispatched back to their offices but a couple remained outside as guards.
And one of those dispatched was Kingsley. He exchanged a quick glance with the mostly invisible Mavis, who nodded at him, giving him a silent message to tell the others what had happened when he had the chance.
"Well," Levy sighed to herself. "I always hoped I'd be one of the very last members of the guild to find themselves locked in a cell by officials like this. But, I suppose that it was only a matter of time."
"If it helps, I could bust out of here any time I wanted," Gildarts tapped the wall with one finger, causing it to splinter slightly but speaking in a low voice so the Aurors outside wouldn't hear what he was saying. "This cell doesn't have any magical cancelling capabilities like those of the Council."
"That is because the people of this world are generally rendered unable to use most strong magic without the use of their wands," Mavis said as she stepped over to them. "They don't have the same type of magic we do. To put it in our terms, almost every magic is a Holder-type magic for them."
"Like Lu-chan with her keys. Well, that makes sense considering what we learned about the magic of Edolas." Levy nodded, before she remembered that she was actually talking to Mavis and gasped, "But hang on… how is it possible? How can… how can you be here?"
"Yes, I'd quite like to know the answer to that one too," Gildarts turned to face her. "I take it you're a ghost."
"Indeed I am. It's nice to see members of my guild who actually know who I am without me having to tell them."
"Oh, I know all about you," Levy's eyes were shining slightly. "I've read every book in the Fairy Tail library and every word about you that's in there, along with every picture."
"You must like reading then," Mavis beamed. "I loved reading when I was alive. I suppose I still do though I haven't got round to reading many new things since I passed away. But I grew up in a library before I founded the guild so reading was pretty much the only thing I had going for me for some time."
"I love reading too," Levy smiled. "I guess it was sparked by my parents. They were renowned archeologists you see, and they uncovered all kinds of ancient ruins and made their living translating ancient writings so I got into it really young too. I could already read Gheel by the time I was six…"
...
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