For the sake of Mavis's peace of mind, Makarov decided to cut Rhodes off. "Isn't it about time you headed to the Council?"
"I can push it back a little. There's still something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"The Book of END."
Rhodes laid it out as efficiently as he could, the secrets he had uncovered, his own conclusions, the key points stripped down to what Makarov and Mavis actually needed to hear. Even so, it was a lot to get through, and by the time he finished his throat was dry.
Makarov and Mavis sat in silence, working through the weight of it.
Rhodes poured himself a glass of water and sat down.
After a long pause, Makarov spoke quietly. "You're saying Natsu's life is tied to that book? The same way the demons of Tartaros were tied to theirs?"
"To a degree, yes." Rhodes thought it over. "Though Natsu's situation is different. He wasn't created by Zeref from nothing, he was brought back from the dead. But the Super Living Link Magic on the book is real regardless."
"This is a serious problem," Makarov said, his voice heavier than usual.
He had no intention of examining the Book of END himself. Rhodes's understanding and judgment had long since earned his trust. The more pressing question was what to do about it.
Living Link Magic could generally be broken in one of two ways. The first was for the original caster to dissolve it willingly, the same principle as the key-holder system used in the FACE inheritance network. The second was to defeat the caster outright and let the magic collapse on its own, as had happened with Laxus's Thunder Palace.
Neither option looked viable here.
Zeref had no reason to come and undo the magic voluntarily. Beyond that, a spell of this scale and age may well have developed beyond his ability to consciously control, even if he did appear, releasing it might not be within his power. Defeating him ran into the same wall. And Zeref's death carried its own risk: if he died, the Book of END could vanish, and whatever that meant for Natsu went with it.
But Zeref was their enemy regardless. They would have to face him eventually.
Makarov rubbed his temples.
"First Master, any thoughts?"
Mavis looked distant. "I'm not sure," she murmured. "He once said the thing keeping him going was the hope of seeing his younger brother again. That brother is Natsu. But Zeref already encountered Natsu on Tenrou Island. So what is he holding onto now?"
As a fellow immortal, Mavis had always believed she understood Zeref better than anyone else could. The terror of potentially taking a life with a careless moment of warmth, the loneliness of keeping herself apart from crowds, the quiet pull toward ending it all, she had lived through every one of those things.
She had also carried the hope of redeeming him while seeking her own redemption.
Instead she had died, and her death seemed to have pushed him closer to the edge than he had ever been before.
She was no longer sure she understood him at all.
That thought brought a quiet ache with it. If even she couldn't reach him, who could?
She had first noticed the signs of paranoia and unraveling in Zeref not long after Makarov was born, back when she still walked beside him. Nearly a hundred years had passed since then. She could only imagine what those years had done to him.
"First Master?" Makarov called out, noticing she had gone somewhere else entirely. "First Master."
Mavis came back. "Sorry. Yes." She steadied herself. "Whatever the case, we have to stop Zeref. As for the Book of END, why not ask Hades?"
When it came to magic, Hades understood Zeref more deeply than almost anyone. He was the right person to ask.
"The last time I saw him was over two months ago, around the Tartaros situation." Rhodes turned it over. "I have no idea where he is now. I'll try going through Crime Sorcière."
Makarov and Mavis both nodded. "That's the best we can do for now."
Hades moved without leaving a trail. Ultear was the most likely person to have a way of reaching him.
By the time Rhodes came downstairs, Lucy and Levy were already waiting near the front desk. Mirajane was with them, the three of them mid-conversation. Levy's face was faintly flushed, though what exactly they had been discussing was anyone's guess.
Levy was the first to notice Rhodes, her eyes darting around in embarrassment. She jumped to her feet. "Rhodes, we're going to be late!"
Mirajane gave her a warm, unhurried smile. "You're in charge of attendance anyway. Sit down, we were just getting to the good part."
Lucy was already leaning back in her chair with her chin propped on one hand, grinning. "That's right, Levy. Keep going."
"Lucy! Why are you like this too? There's still so much to do at the Council, we really need to go!"
Levy seized Lucy by one wrist and Rhodes by the other and hauled them both out of the guild walking backward.
Rhodes glanced between them. "What were you all talking about just now?"
"Nothing," Levy said immediately.
Lucy's grin widened. She opened her mouth. "Actually, Levy was just saying..."
"Lucy!"
They bickered the rest of the way out, and Rhodes came away with no useful information whatsoever.
He waved back to Mirajane, gathered the two of them close, and they dissolved into streaks of blue light out of the guild.
Since the Council was no longer as short-staffed as it had once been, Mirajane, Evergreen, and Freed had all handed off their duties to other staff. Only Lucy and Levy still made the trip with Rhodes.
If he was being honest, Rhodes found both of them far too useful to give back.
They didn't seem to mind the work either, and had on more than one occasion floated the idea of dragging a Dragon Slayer or two to the Council for what they diplomatically called "rehabilitation." Even so, with the guild-wide training he had planned fast approaching, he intended to bring them home within the week.
The moment Rhodes stepped into Hyberion's office, before he could say a word, Hyberion looked up. "Good timing. There's something I need to discuss with you."
Rhodes dropped into the chair across the desk without ceremony. "What is it?"
Hyberion slid a publication across the desk toward him.
More precisely, it was a magazine. The Weekly Sorcerer, which Rhodes knew well. The cover featured a photoshoot of Jenny in a blue bikini with pink heart patterns, leaning forward with both hands running through her blonde hair, one eye closed in a playful wink.
Rhodes studied it for a respectful three seconds. "We're all working hard, and the Chairman is reading this on the clock?"
Hyberion, who had just taken a sip of milk, choked.
He recovered his composure with admirable speed, produced a handkerchief, dabbed his mouth, and said with great dignity, "The page I need you to look at has a dog-ear."
Something important, then. Rhodes opened the magazine. The dog-eared page was eighteen, but his attention snagged immediately on page seventeen.
Another photoshoot of Jenny. Pink bikini this time. Kneeling, body tilted slightly back, both hands held loosely in front of her chest in a way that suggested modesty while achieving the opposite effect.
Rhodes lowered the magazine and looked at Hyberion with quiet judgment. "Dog-earing pages while reading this kind of thing?"
Hyberion's grip on his goblet tightened. "What kind of man do you take me for? I'm not Maka.."
He stopped himself. Speaking ill of someone behind their back was not becoming of a gentleman. He set the goblet down, drew a measured breath, and said in a tone that was only slightly strained: "Turn to the next page."
He made a mental note to have words with whoever at that publishing house had decided, purely for advertising purposes, to run a photoshoot spread directly alongside the page he actually needed Rhodes to read. It had nearly cost him everything.
...
Stones