So, I remember saying that I would not upload a new story until Dragon Myth was finished, but I lied. Summer has had the exact opposite effect on me. I'm more lazy now and I have not felt any inspiration. Anyways, here is the story!
I am accepting OCs so feel free to send them to me by any means necessary! This is an AU story and all the important details will be explained in the prologue! Thanks, and please review! Enjoy.
"The world is now a dark place. It is gritty and cruel. It does not forgive failure and it kills those who do not conform to its beliefs. However, this world was not always this way. This world used to be far greater than the current world. The old world had hopes for the future, but they were crushed by the foolish actions of one man: Natsu Dragneel.
It was he who turned the Watch of Time! It was he who gave into the temptation of the darkness! The lives of millions have been taken away because of his foolishness! There is no future for this kind of world. The world will become stagnant and it will waste away under the oppression we now face. Whatever it takes, the world must change, and soon." – Chief Editor of the Fiore Daily (executed)
These words were true. The world had changed rapidly and it was not a good change. The skies darkened, ash rained from the sky, entire villages disappeared off the face of the earth, and worst of all, people lost their freedom. History had been rewritten by a fool who had tried to turn back time and bring back his beloved. Now, the people of Fiore were ruled over by a tyrant, Julius Silence. Under his oppression Fiore had turned struggled to survive. Many cities were ruins of what they had once been and only the capitol of Crocus was truly beautiful. However, there was hope. Outside of Fiore were many tribes, living their own way of life. The tribes were small, but they held onto their way of life. These tribes paid tribute to Fiore, the kingdom that held the largest piece of land.
There had been a peace among the tribes and Fiore, but that peace was about to be shattered by the ambition of a tyrannical king.
Crocus, the Wizard's Palace
It was early in the morning in the capitol of Fiore, Crocus. The soft sunlight shone over the incredible marble buildings located throughout the city. The kingdom's richest people lived here, enjoying all sorts of luxury. Beyond the gates of the capitol, were what the people of Crocus called "uncivilized land". The city itself was beautiful, but it was the Wizard's Palace that gave the city such a legendary status.
The palace had once been a tiny hut that a wizard once lived in. According to legend, the wizard grew so powerful over his long life that he was able to acquire great power and eventually made himself the king of the surrounding land. Nobody could challenge his power, so they submitted to his rule. The hut grew into a magnificent palace over the years, made of white marble. It was in this magnificent palace that the king and his generals took care of their work.
The days were supposed to be peaceful since the Dark Days, but the work of an ambitious man always results in death and destruction.
"Aha! Hello there! Please, take a seat at the table! I made breakfast myself!"
The sleepy figures of many armored and decorated individuals filled the dining hall. It was much too early to do anything productive, but it was King Julius' style to conclude all work in the early morning. The dining hall was filled up by a long table piled high with food. The sunlight eliminated the need for candles and torches so the group of individuals ate in the daylight. On the walls stood huge portraits of previous kings and queens, the current king's portrait located at the head of the table where an elaborately carved chair sat.
The king observed his most trusted generals and officials with a keen eye. He placed loyalty to the crown above all else and he had the incredible ability of telling if someone was disloyal or not. The king smiled slightly as he saw the scene before him. Breakfast was fine, but he had important matters to finish up before anything else happened. The king reached into his robe and pulled out a small piece of a yellowed map and looked at it with his dark brown eyes. It was of the tribe, Ostia. Reassured by the piece of map paper, the king stood up and clapped his hands.
Immediately all eyes went to the king. Julius smiled as he sat back down, all eating and discussion stopped. The air was tense as the king looked across the table. He nodded in satisfaction and sat back in his chair and brought his hands together.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, today is the day of my greatest plan for this magnificent country! I propose that we cleanse the barbarian tribes that lie outside of our borders."
…
Colonel Wendy had to admit the king was handsome. Everybody knew the king was out of bounds for courtship, but still. She was honestly surprised that she had been invited to such a meeting so early in the morning. She had recently been promoted and had never seen the king before. But seeing him stand just a few feet from her, wearing his sleepwear of green silk and red silk scarves, he was incredible. The king composed himself in a manner that as almost godlike. His black hair was perfectly parted and his eyes were warm as he spoke to the guests. Wendy sucked in a breath. Would the king be delivering some sort of speech?
"…I propose that we cleanse the barbarian tribes that lie outside of our borders."
That shattered the silence and Wendy's ears were instantly filled with the voices of at least a dozen people all clamoring at once. Some were voices of disapproval, some were absolutely thrilled with the idea. Colonel Wendy herself was a bit conflicted. She shrank into her seat, feeling out of place while the king simply sat in his seat, hands together and taking in the opinions of all those at the meeting. However, one voice caught the attention of the king.
"That is genocide!"
The talking almost instantly died down at the sound of outrage that came from a huge man in full armor. He was tall, ginger haired, and had muscles twice the size of the strongest man Wendy had ever seen. His face was twisted in disapproval as the king turned towards the huge man in armor.
"General Gildartz, what is your issue with the topic to call it 'genocide'?" the king asked as he leaned forward in his seat, seeming eager to hear his response.
The general clenched his fists and grit his teeth as he faced the king, his gaze fierce. All the other guests had grown quiet as the huge man spoke, the general obviously trying to control himself.
"The barbarians are human beings too, your excellency! Cleansing them would be genocide! These people have women and children as well! Killing them is an act of genocide! We can not simply kill them all of just because of conflicts in the past or whatever grudge your excellency holds for them!" the general explained, getting nods from a few of the guests.
Another guest stood up, fists clenched as well. It was a woman, blue hair tied in a ponytail, and wearing light armor. She seemed to be angry as well, pointing a finger directly at the king.
"I may not always agree with Gildartz, but I have another complaint as well! Our battalion may not be able to handle stuff like this! Sure, burning down a village or two is not as bad as it sounds, but killing of an entire tribe of people in one go? That would severely traumatize our soldiers!" the blue haired woman shouted angrily, getting a few more nods from the guests.
The king nodded his head to the two opinions and finally looked at Gildartz, a gleam in the king's dark brown eyes. Wendy peaked over at the king, not wanting to draw attention to herself as she had never spoken with royalty or anything of the sort. Also, she was afraid the king would uncover her tribal heritage. She was afraid of what might happen if she spoke out against the king.
"Gildartz, my old friend, does this make your hardened soul soften? You have braved many battles and have killed many people to defend this country, and you have proven yourself to be a mighty warrior. Because of this, I am putting you on the frontlines of the cleansing. Congratulations!" the king said as everyone began clapping uneasily.
The king turned his eyes to the blue haired woman and they narrowed. The blue haired woman didn't even flinch as the king started to speak.
"It is strange to hear you speaking out against me, General Levy. You were one of my greatest supporters during my bid for the throne. However, on your issue with the soldiers' sanity, you are a general of the Fairy Tail Battalion! You are the most elite soldiers of the entire kingdom. If you can not handle trauma like this, how can you call yourself one of the elite? Surely your battalion is the most efficient battalion of the entire army? Can you not protect your title as a member of the elite in the face of such a trivial task?" the king asked, his voice smooth and sweet like honey.
General Levy seemed to be defeated by the king's words and just grunted as she sat back down along with Gildartz. The king nodded and clapped his hands again, all the other guests rising. Wendy didn't dare look at the king as she stood.
"That concludes our business for the entire day. It begins in the next few hours so please do get ready."
And with that, the guests left the dining room, ordered to carry out genocide against several tribes of people.
Ostian Primary Settlement, a few hours later
Ostia was one of the tribes that lay outside of Fiore's borders. They were a large tribe with over thirty thousand members. Amose Keel was one of them. He was a blacksmith's apprentice and he lived near the chieftain's house. Currently, Amose was sitting outside of his workshop, staking a break from working. The blacksmith's shop was not exactly the biggest building in the settlement, but it was like home for Amose. Amose was enjoying his break and he waved to some of his friends passing by.
The settlement was home to a large number of Ostians and they were all taken care of by the chieftain, Macao. Amose sighed as he thought about when he would be finally be able to take his own apprentice. He was seventeen, a year below the age when he became a man. He was well built from working in the blacksmith's shop, had short brown hair, and dark brown eyes like everybody else.
"Hey Amose. Hello?"
Amose snapped out of his daydream. He almost fell off the chair he was sitting on when he saw the face of his best friend, Romeo. The black haired boy laughed at Amose's surprise and Amose rubbed his head.
"Come on, Romeo. You know that's not funny." complained Amose as Romeo helped him stand.
"Yeah, I know. I just can't help it because you always space out." laughed Romeo.
Amose was about to counter when suddenly a member of their tribe ran past, looking frantic. He waved the two of to him and pointed towards the meeting area for the settlement. The man looked frightened as he spoke to Romeo and Amose.
"Romeo, your father is down by the meeting area with a few others! Something is happening at the meeting area with some outsiders and I don't like it! Hurry!" shouted the man as he ran towards the meeting area.
Romeo and Amose looked at each other and shrugged. Surely there couldn't be anything serious happening? The two friends took off running after the man, hoping nothing bad was about to happen.
Meeting Area
A group of people had made a semicircle around the entrance to the settlement. Romeo and Amose managed to push through the group of people to see that Macao was at the head of the semicircle in a furious argument with a woman with blue hair tied into a ponytail. She was accompanied by several soldiers wearing armor and carrying swords in scabbards. The woman was armored as well, but not as heavily.
"I am commanding you to leave this settlement!" shouted Macao as the people behind him echoed his words.
The blue woman just smirked and shook her head. The soldiers behind her chuckled.
"You have no authority over me. Your land belongs to us now. You all are to be exterminated in the name of his excellency and the honor of the Fairy Tail battalion!" snarled the woman as the soldiers drew swords, charging into the crowd, cutting through the crowd.
Screams filled the air as the unarmed civilians started to run. Macao and Romeo ran directly into the fray, ready to defend their people. Amose ran. He was no warrior. He was a blacksmith's apprentice for crying out loud! So he ran back to the shop, grabbing a hammer for protection. It wasn't long until he heard the sounds of someone walking into the store. Amose remained hidden in the backroom, trying not to breath. The sounds left the shop, and Amose peaked from around the corner to see a single soldier standing in front of the shop, back turned.
That was when rage overtook Amose. He saw several buildings on fire and people were being chased through the streets, being cut down! He gripped the hammer tightly and he silently made his way towards the front of the store. When he was close enough, he swung the hammer into the soldier's helmet, the metal helmet being crushed under the force of the powerful hammer. Blood spilled onto the floor as Amose fell onto the ground at the sight of the dead soldier lying in front of him. The hammer was thrown away as Amose cried out from the ground. He had just killed someone!
"Romeo! Macao! Somebody help me, please!" Amose cried out as he struggled to stand, trying to be calm.
He saw several soldiers point towards him and Amose was instantly struck with fear. Had they seen him kill their comrade? Amose took off running, struggling to keep his emotions from overtaking him.
"It wasn't me! I didn't do it!" wailed Amose as he ran from the settlement, eventually encountering thick woods.
The blacksmith's apprentice continued to run, trying to ignore the mental wound he had just inflicted upon himself. He was now a murderer. The thick woods were dark and scary and Amose felt like his sanity was being torn apart when he turned in a new direction, tripped on a root and fell down a slight drop. Amose lay there for what seemed like a few hours and just cried. While he was crying, he heard something moving in the dark woods. Amose started to become scared again. What was it? A bear, a wolf, a soldier ready to cut his head off? Amose decided to scream at the top of his lungs, losing control.
"Stay back whatever you are! I'm a murderer!" screamed Amose, desperate to be left alone and safe.
There was a slight chuckle and then a voice from the dark woods.
"Well, then we have a lot in common. I'm a murderer too. You might know me, Natsu Dragneel ring any bells?"
There you go. This was the first chapter of my next big project. If you find this interesting, review, send in OCs, favorite, alert, whatever you want to do. I hope you enjoyed this and please send in an OC if you want. See you all next time! FF