Enjoy the story!
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Chapter 1: Illusions
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Standing coolly while fuming inside was hard to pull off successfully, especially when the reason to be fuming would determine Erza's fate at the hands of the Magic Council. Her palms were sweating, but she wouldn't let them see that, so she kept them clasped over each other while standing at the podium; motionless.
Her brain decided to ignore everything they were saying; it was all bullshit anyway. They were reprimanding her for something that wasn't her fault. How was she supposed to know that the magical death flute would turn out to be a magical death behemoth? It wasn't even her who got so close to the Conference Hall of guild masters that the residual energy from the explosion destroyed the Hall.
It should've been Gray up there instead—or at least with her. But no, she was chosen as the scapegoat. She'd rather herself take the reprimanding over him though, as she would with any of her family. She loved him unconditionally and would rather take on all of the evils of the world rather than have them go after him or any of her loved ones.
"Erza Scarlet, member of the legal guild Fairy Tail, you are henceforth found innocent of all charges. We recognize the urgency of the situation and the fact that what you did was what was best within the moment. We will, however, require for you to be more conscious of your use of Magic next time, and repeated offenses will lead to liabilities that you will have to pay. Do you have any closing statements?"
She couldn't hold back the scowl that crept onto her face. She couldn't be held accountable for any damage caused—it would be impossible to not have collateral damage when dealing with threats that could wipe out whole cities in a single swoop. What kind of thought process led them to think such nonsense?
"No, that is all. Thank you for your time councilmen." Every lie that came out of her mouth felt like the regurgitation of alcohol, burning her throat on the way out. Her crimson hair framed her face as she walked away, only making her current demeanor more unapproachable to any who came across her.
Her normally chocolate-brown eyes seemed to get darker whenever she was filled with anger, and now was no exception. The combination and contrast of striking red and oppressive black made her a beautiful red death to come across.
She would leave back to her guild, ready to continue the 100-Years Quest that required her to eliminate The Black Dragon.
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His pink hair was easy to distinguish in a crowd, and his wide grin was difficult to describe as anything but contagious. It was uncommon to see someone so happy all the time, but it sure was a breath of fresh air for the disgruntled and generally poor people of Fiore.
However, now, he wasn't in Fiore, and his pink hair was covered by a black hood. His wide grin had been ditched for an expressionless facade that made sure others kept away from him not just physically but emotionally.
His change of pace was warranted, however, as he was the most dangerous and wanted being in all of Ishgar and the surrounding continents.
The Black Dragon in the Book of Apocalypse, they called him. A harbinger of death and destruction; a carrier of the greatest powers known to Earthland: the power of dragons. The sole survivor and holder of these powers—for he had slaughtered all others who shared this power; dragons and humans alike; indiscriminately.
He slithered his way across the mass amounts of rubble and destruction. Fires raged all around him, keeping the already-molten metals liquified. The scent of rotten flesh was overpowered by the huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic chemicals that filled his lungs. But he remained unaffected by the normally death-inducing climate.
The country of Bosco had, in one night, been completely razed of all life and wiped off the face of Ishgar. The leftover rubble was broken down enough that at the touch of a finger it would fall apart as dust.
"What the hell did they do. . ." He let the hood over his head slip off, carrying with it the rest of the cloak, revealing a mane of hair that reached his mid-back. The crimson robes around his body featured golden outlines that made him look regal, which made his overall appearance look messy as the hair didn't fit with what he was wearing.
He was also barefooted, which didn't help.
He sniffed the air, searching for any notable scents to see if anyone could be left alive. He doubted it, however.
As always, humans resort to killing each other to solve problems. The men are the at the same time the least appetizing and the most feral. They were probably the cause of this.
Oh be quiet Uriel, without all this massacre, how would they evolve to become better? Besides, it's always entertaining to watch their struggles.
What you think of as entertainment only shows how human you are at heart then, Azrael.
Do not test me like that. My patience continues to thin with every insult of yours you pompous she-demon.
"For dragons who have known each other for longer than this country's been around, you two sure have yet to get used to each other." The two dragons kept hissing insults at each other in his head, with Uriel always making sure to maintain herself and keep cool. Azrael was quick to launch threats while she only pointed out the flaws in his words.
From his back sprouted black, feathery wings. He could sense the approaching storm of Mages and light guilds coming from Fiore. His beat his wings, taking off with a shockwave following him as the air around condensed, not having enough time to get out of the way. Natsu hadn't expected anyone to be able to trace him flying a kilometer above at Mach speeds, but suddenly a halberd pierced the air right beside him.
All he could see was a speck of red rapidly approaching faster than the halberd.
"Is that, no fucking way. . . Erza Scarl—" He suddenly twisted his body, contorting it to proportions that should've snapped his spine. He glanced at her face, taken back momentarily by her beauty since he had last seen her.
His wings swatted her away, making sure to not hurt her too much with the hit.
"Did you do this? Are you the Black Dragon? Answer me—" Her shouting was cut short as her vision became clear and she recognized Natsu's pink hair and facial features.
"N-Natsu?" In that moment, she absorbed the beauty he exhibited with the black wings outstretched behind him. He seemed a fallen angel to her. A beautiful and unavoidably magnetic one.
"Erza, what the hell are you doing here?" Last he knew, she was an emotion-stricken teenager at Fairy Tail who he had once thought he could fall in love with. Now, he saw her as a woman with so much magical prowess she could sense him from kilometers away.
Had it been that long already? Time was always stationary to him; to all others, it was a constant race they struggled to win.
"No, this isn't right. None of this is. How are you alive? Where have you been all this time? What are you doing here of all places and what are those things on your back?" Tears swelled in her eyes the more she took in his visage and felt his presence and smelled the scent she had grown intimately attached to at one point.
"Like you said, this isn't right. None of this is. I can't explain anything to you, I'm sorry. I'm glad to see the strong woman you've become now without me though. I can see why I once loved you after all this time. You look like an angel, you shouldn't be hanging around demons like me. So I'm sorry."
"You don't make that decision for me Natsu. You don't get to decide who I can and can't be with and what's good or bad for me. I'm tired of men thinking they can run everything—especially my life and how I live it. You will tell me everything!"
His mind was set ablaze. The voices of the five dragons in his head were drowned out by his own voice and emotions.
"It wasn't my fault. None of it was. But I don't regret anything and the shit I did. Everything is inconsequential in the end, Little Bird, even what you and I had is meaningless in the grand scheme of things." The use of her old nickname sparked a flame in Erza's soul, making her mindlessly fly towards Natsu and engulf him, drowning herself in the feeling of him once more.
"Don't say that. I know you don't mean any of that. It's just all the emotions at once. Please, don't say that. . ." The tears streamed steadily down her face. He broke in that instant.
"Erza. Stop crying. What did I say about me ever seeing someone make you cry again?" She looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. She smiled while she spoke. "You said you'd tear them apart."
"Yeah, but how am I gonna tear myself apart is the issue. You're putting me in a complicated position here." His smile illuminated the sky for her. It opened a dam of memories that flooded her brain like a tsunami. His humor never failed to hit the mark with her, and right now it was the most it had ever been needed.
"We're in a situation like this and you're off spouting nonsense? How did I ever fall for you? My adolescent decisions still baffle me."
"I see you kept that bad habit of insulting to cover up your affections."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a bad habit. And if anyone is covering anything up it's you. Answer my questions for real this time. Don't start acting like you don't care about anything like you used to." His expression quickly changed. He lowered his gaze, refusing to meet hers.
"If I told you you'd think I'm a monster."
"Natsu, nothing you could tell me would ever make me think that." She reached up and caressed his cheek, her hand moving down to touch the scar on his neck. She hadn't seen this one before. It looked almost like an animal bit him and left that there.
"Erza, I. . ." He couldn't muster it out of him.
"Natsu, I don't care. You were and still are my best friend. I have so much love for you as a person you can't just take it all away with anything. Trust me." Her smile was intoxicating.
"The explosion never killed me. I caused it. I've been trying to get away from you this whole time. . .cleanse the world of its problems. But I'm not stable, Erzy. I'm not. I have these five voices in my head and they're all calling for blood and change. They want me to be judge, jury, and executioner." Everything he said slowly diminished her smile.
"What voices? Natsu you're not crazy, stop saying these things!" Her hands clung to his robes, pulling on him roughly.
"These aren't my own inner voices, Erza. The Five God Dragons live within me. I'm their vessel to this world. I am The Black Dragon."
Gray Fullbuster watched Erza's interactions with. . . Natsu?
There was no way.
His comrade, his best friend, his brother. He was alive and well.
The air around him screamed as it crystallized, unable to challenge his Magic.
"Natsu!"
Even from up in the clouds, the two of them could hear Gray's call, interrupting the moment in which Erza's world was turned upside down.
"Gray. . . You can't tell him about this. I don't know how he'll react. I'm still not sure how to react. I just know you're here and safe and we can talk about it later. I'm willing to give you a chance to come back into our lives, Natsu." His disbelief at the fact that she didn't instantaneously try to decapitate him left him speechless. All he could do was nod.
The two instantly dropped, reaching terminal velocity shortly after, the ground beneath them coming in fast. It was only at the last moment that their kinetic energy became zero right before hitting the ground. They landed softly.
"Gray, long time no see." He smiled weakly at his raven-haired comrade, unable to predict his actions. Gray stood motionless, his face emotionless as he just stared at Natsu.
Natsu couldn't react as he was embraced by Gray, his mind racing. He never expected this. He'd been prepared for Gray to toss and turn and swing at his face, but none of that came. He could only feel hot tears drip against his shoulder.
"Where the hell did you go?"
"Would you believe me if I told you it's a long story?"
"I'd be angry with you if it wasn't." The two clapped hands and embraced one more time, wide grins on both their faces.
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"My dearest brother, where have you gone off to now?" As far as the eye could see, there was death. An absolute, defeaning silence. All wildlife and greenery had been reduced to a grey mess. All buildings had been reduced to literal dust. What was previously the capital of Bosco was now a vast pile of dust whipped about by strong winds following the decimation of the country.
The country hadn't destroyed itself because of internal warring. It had destroyed itself in its final attempts at killing him.
"Even with all that power I doubt you'd be able to kill me still. You've yet to fully engulf yourself in the power of the Gods. Only that can kill me. Even this nation didn't have the necessary power to kill me with all of their weaponry aimed at me at once. What a shame, their architecture was something to marvel at." His hair black as midnight, his eyes much the same. His robes just like those of Natsu except black where his were crimson. His skin was several shades lighter than Natsu's.
The smile on his face was misleading. It seemed innocent and sad. Beneath it was a true demon. The Father of Demons. Whereas Natsu was The Black Dragon, he was The Black Wizard.
"This long and unavoidable life has become boring brother. I'm tired of seeing humanity destroy and rebuild itself. What I will start will be a one-sided genocide of all living beings in Earthland. I do wonder if you can stop me. If not, then you'll be one of the ones I kill too. See you soon, brother." In the air in front of him he could see Natsu clearly from an aerial view. He saw him exchanging hugs with Gray and Erza.
"What wonderful friends you have too. I love you so much brother. I'll take it all from you to make sure you don't hold back against me. This is my wish." He looked up into the sky, still smiling. A huge wave of Black Magic swept across the capital, completely vaporizing the leftovers of it. He would've vaporized the rest of the country, but it wasn't yet time for the battle between Humanity, the Immortal, and the Dragon God.