Blood Moon

Prologue

A woman strode gracefully across the uneven cobblestone road; her cloak covered her face and dragged across the ground behind her. She walked on the edge of shadows, as though she was pushing the sun back and bringing the shadows with her. The towns' people left on the streets rushed into their homes, barricading the doors with tables and dressers as quickly as possible, before ushering their families into their cellars.

The woman smiled as the stench of fear filled the square. She stood in front of the town hall, and in front of her stood a small, trembling band of men with torches and pitchforks shaking. One man caught her eye: he stood in front of the rest, and had a strong defiant stare across his young face. His raven hair was short and stood up in the front, his chin covered with stubble and clenched tight.

She continued to walk forward, then stopped a man's length away from him. He stood a few steps higher than her, and glared down at the woman in disgust. He thrust his torch towards her, but she did not flinch.

"Get the fuck out of our town, you blood sucking demon," his voice was low, almost a growl. He was pissed that she didn't flinch, so with his arm still out he moved forward a step – but she still did not move.

The light from the flame lit up half her face, and he was shocked to see a seemingly gentle smile across her lips. She pushed the torch away from her, and drew her hood back; letting her long blonde hair fall free. The smile didn't leave her face as she tilted her head to the side.

"That's no way to treat a woman, Silver," her voice was soft, but when she opened her eyes they were black as the darkest night. Her smile fell, and an angered expression crossed her features as the black in her eyes shrunk to slit pupils, surrounded by red. "You should be grateful that I didn't slaughter your entire village a hundred years ago, when your grandfather appealed to me one villager a week," The softness was gone, replaced by a harsh voice that had many of the men behind him fall to their knees in fright.

The woman let out a laugh, revealing her longer-than-average canines. The crystalline sound froze Silver with fear; the sound could have been beautiful if it hadn't come from such a monster.

"I am not my grandfather, the weak man should have killed you long ago!" he yelled, angered by her simply bringing the old man up.

"Why do you think he made this deal with me kid? If he could have killed me he would have, but he couldn't. Rather than seeing his village burn he struck the deal with me, one that rather pleased me, saving me from so much travelling," she sighed and pretended to take notice in her nails, "I've finally been able to settle down, and I'd be so disappointed if I had to burn this village now and go find myself a new one,"

"I don't care, you're a demon and should return to hell where you came from!" he was getting more agitated the more the woman spoke.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong kid. I'm not a demon, and I'm not from hell. I was born human in Fiore, and had my life stripped from me, forced into immortality at a price. An immortality that has come from hell, an immortality that I have made solely my own,"

Silver's eyes widened in surprise when she raised her eyes to him, no longer black or red, but human and a light brown that made his heart thump slightly. For a moment she looked so innocent, so pure – with no fangs or hint of evil about her.

"This is what I was, Silver…" her appearance reverted back, "And this is what I am now, and I am no longer ashamed of what I am. For the first 300 years I wandered the land, trying to find a way to turn rid myself of this curse. But then, 200 years ago, I finally found the joys in being able to wipe out an entire kingdom, the joy in not dying, and I finally saw this curse, was actually a blessing," she flung back her cape, revealing her long black dress embroidered with blood red accents, "I am no demon, Silver Fullbuster. Those spells you spent a life time trying to perfect, will not work on me because they are for demons!"

She flung her arms out to the side, and tilted her head back, a loud terrifying laugh emanated from her lips, making even Silver step back.

He watched in horror as the shadows around him lifted from the ground, forming into shadow demons with terrifying red, purple or blue eyes. Her laughing continued as the moon above them turned blood red, and the screams of the villagers assaulted his ears. He turned to his men, only to find that they had already been murdered viciously – decapitated, ripped apart and defiled.

Panic ripped through his being as he whipped around, hearing the sound of a crying baby close by and his heart stopped as he saw a smaller demon holding a baby up to the woman. A baby he recognized as his own son.

"NO!" he yelled, pushing his terrified legs to move him towards her, "No don't touch my son!"

His movements were stopped as a demon rose up from the ground in front of him; it raised its long-clawed hand and swiped down at Silver, one claw catching above his eye and ripping down his face. Blood filled his vision as he fell to the ground, and the world spun as he raised his head, blinking most of the blood out of his vision, he watched in horror as his son was now in her hands. She stood in front of him, a calm smile on her face. The sound of his beating heart drowned out the sound of the people dying around him as he watched her place a kiss on his son's forehead before she turned to the large demon that had attacked him.

Her words barely registered in his mind as she told the demon to kill him, and then make sure there wasn't a single living soul left. His only focus was his son, on legs shaky from loss of blood he stood up and faced the demon.

Letting out a loud roar the demon moved towards him, raising its hand for a killing blow. Silver let out his own yell as he focused all of his being into a spell that could wipe out all the demons in the village. He just hoped he could cast it before the demon got to him. Just as the demon lowered his arm, Silver felt an explosion of magic leave his body. The white light blinded him, deafened him, and stripped away his feeling. Then everything went black.

The woman stood in a small hut far from the burning village. She no longer wore her black dress, instead it was now burning in the fire and she had changed into a simple pair of men's pants and a large t-shirt. It was not custom for a woman to wears men's clothes from the time when she was a child, but she did not care anymore. Her face no longer held the soulless black eyes, or the red and black eyes, but once again bore the light brown eyes of a human. Her fangs were retracted, and she had her long blonde hair pulled into a braid that came down across her right shoulder.

She smiled – a genuine soft smile – at the young boy she held in her hands. His raven black hair resembled the man she had taken him from, but that did not matter and she felt no remorse. He was a beautiful baby, and she would raise him as hers. Where her heart used to beat, she could feel a twist in her chest – and if her heart still beat, it would be beating heavy now with love.

Silver opened his eyes to find sunlight filtering through the ash-filled sky above him. A pain shot through the left side of his forehead, making him grit his teeth and shut his eyes in pain. He rolled over, and slowly opened his right eye, the village was flattened around him – there was nothing left except the bodies of dead men, women, and children, and smoldering houses. Tears sprung to his eyes, his village had been destroyed because his naïve belief that he could rid his family and friends of the foe that plagued them since before he was born. Pulling himself to his feet, he remembered that his son had been taken by the monster that had left him with no home. A cry of anguish left his mouth as he took off running to his home, hoping against the odds that his wife was still alive. When he came to the place that his house once stood, the last bit of rational thought in his mind warned him that she could not have survived. He fell to his knees in front of his home, weeping like a child. As much as he wanted to pin 100% of the blame on the monstrous woman, he knew that if he hadn't tried to stand up to her his wife and son would still be here and safe.

He was startled by a hand settling gently on his shoulder.

"Silver…it wasn't your fault," he almost didn't recognize the voice, and looked up to see the older man looking down at him, sorrow in his eyes.

"You only did what you thought was right, even if it turned out wrong. All I ask is that you bring our son home," a woman spoke to his other side, and his eyes widened at the sound of his wife's voice.

"Am…am I dead?" his voice cracked in horror at the possibility of having died casting such a spell – even though he knew the consequences.

"No son, you are not dead, you are just dreaming," his father spoke again.

"We come to you to give you the spirit and power that you need, darling," his wife smiled at him.

He stood then, and pulled his wife into a hug knowing that it was the last time he'd ever be able to do so. Then turned to his father, and gave him a hug as well.

"I'm sorry father, I wish I said something else the last time I saw you,"

"I know you didn't mean it son, but that is not important right now. Right now, we are here to give you something, something that you need,"

"Look here darling,"

He turned to his wife, and saw she held a glowing ball of light in her hands.

"What is that?" he questioned as she moved towards him, raising the ball to eye level.

"Ice Demon-slayer magic," his father said

"What?"

"Ice Demon-slayer magic, darling. It is the magic based off what you have studied your entire life. With this, you can store large amounts of magic inside you, then replenish the store by pulling it from the air around you. Even though there is already magic with-in you, this will increase it greatly. Making spells like the one you cast last night, as easy as the snap of your fingers. Children all around the world are being born now with greater magic in them than any generation before – your son is one of them,"

"Magic will become a normality with this generation, Silver, and you will be the one to guide them against the growing forces of hell itself – lead by the woman who terrorized our village,"

"Use this darling, and bring your son home to fight against her,"

His wife pressed the glowing orb against his chest then, sending excruciating pain throughout his body. He yelled loudly, and continued to yell and thrash and clutch his chest until the pain suddenly stopped. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was back on the ground in the middle of what used to be town square. This time, he didn't go running to his old home, nor did he flinch at the pain on his forehead. This time, he rose from the ashes, and feeling the magic coursing through his veins he made a promise to himself, that he would vanquish the woman who destroyed his life.

The year is X767, the date is July 1. It has been 1 year since the destruction of the small village far north of the Heartfilia Estate. The small town the estate resides on the edges of rejoices in the birth of Layla Heartfilia's first child, a beautiful daughter with blonde hair, and light brown eyes.