Gray storm clouds rolled through the sky, bringing with it the first peaks of summer for Crocus. The marketplace didn't seem to notice, even as the rain descended. Smells of fresh bread and hand-picked fruits became masked in the presence and dreariness of the scent that rain layered atop the burgeoning city. Drops pattered against the cobblestone streets, uneven in creation yet so dynamic in architecture.
Vendors began packing their things up or throwing tents over their small shops in front of much bigger apartments. Citizens covered up and ducked for cover, or sped their steps up to get to their next destination. Soldiers, in padded leather armor, stood tall in the rain, keeping a tight grip on their weapons.
Darton, the short gremlin of a man in charge of secrets, grumbled something to himself. He'd always hated the outside, despised common folk, and reveled in the luxury that being stuffed behind large fortress walls brought him. Servants were much harder to come by in a world of freedom, a world that his queen strove so hard to protect. He stepped up, to try and keep pace.
Rain would normally not mesh well with a woman who typically wore white, but in the summertime, Queen Hisui E. Fiore liked to change her wardrobe. Summer was a time for relaxation, a time where vacations could be had, where the world could relax. As such, regal attire could be thrown aside for something a bit more casual. Hisui still enjoyed her dresses, sewn of the finest fabrics in Ishgar, and wore one such today: a light blue dress, one that was mid-cut and not too tight, and with a skirt drooping down to just above her knees. Compared to normal, she felt quite modest.
Jade hair hung around her shoulders, soaking in water that still dripped down her rain-protecting cloak. This cloak was white, though she wore it more as custom than anything else. The white cloak symbolized her status as Queen.
Queen.
The word rebounded in Hisui's thoughts, bringing first a smile, then a frown, then a hardened expression of determination to her face. Rain slid down her soft cheeks. Not a few years ago she'd been a young naïve princess, eagerly awaiting, year-by-year, the arrival of all the wizarding guilds in her father's country to partake in the Grand Magic Games.
Having run her own, since her father stepped down and let her assume her destiny, she found it much more taxing upon her soul. Though, to be fair, this one was a bit more taxing for many reasons, namely the Eclipse project.
It'd been a few months since then, though. Hisui looked to one of the buildings, with woodwork and stone masons standing about talking with one another. It'd been an utter failure, and nearly brought about the end of the world. Hisui blinked away what may have just been irritation in her eye or actual tears.
She stopped, staring at the construction. Darton and her squadron of guards—Arcadios left behind at the castle to guard her father—continued for an extra step until the little man noticed Hisui. He growled.
"My Queen," he said. "Are we not to keep going?"
Hisui maintained her straight-backed posture, one that'd been drilled into her very being as she grew up under a stringent queen of a mother, and a responsible king of a father. The posture, firm and tight, reminded her of the confidence she needed to exhume as a queen. The recent Grand Magic Games swayed her, nearly broke her. Even worse, the state of the world at large seemed to be hanging on the edge of a knife. Still, if she could maintain this look, this stance, she could at least show people not to be afraid.
She could be powerful. She could be a proper queen. Hisui turned toward the construction and began walking down the street. The rain picked up, slamming own upon her. A small gale tried to blow the cloak off her shoulders but the chains on the cloak kept it in place.
A few pieces of wood fell over and nearly crashed atop her. Hisui didn't blink, or flinch, as the workers cried out to her. Instead, she reacted. She avoided one and caught the other at the end, scratching her hands some but nothing too bat. Darton screamed at the construction men, but Hisui helped them level the wood out on the floor.
"Jeez, that was awfully crazy of you," one of the workers said.
Hisui smiled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause concern." She glanced to the building; an apartment, one with a gaping hole in it. No doubt one brought on by the battle between Natsu and that future Dark Wizard. "I just wanted to see how things were coming along."
"Could be better." Hisui followed the voice to a gruff looking man, a wizard by the look of it, who sat beneath a large canopy. He stepped away from it and into the rain, approaching Hisui, who seemed quite small in comparison. "Whole neighborhood could be better. Weather's going to slow things down for days, by my count."
"Anything we can do to help?" Hisui asked.
The construction wizard looked from Hisui to Darton to the guards. "Looking to donate supplies or something?"
"Man-power," Hisui said.
"Who are you to give out soldiers as volunteers? No offense, but I don't take you for the commanding type, young lady."
"She is—!"
Hisui held a silencing hand up, one that could've silenced Darton faster than a boom of thunder. She never broke her line of sight from the construction wizard.
"The Queen of Fiore," Hisui said. "I can get anyone you want to help you. If things are going so poorly that you require major assistance, perhaps I can get the aid of some wizarding guilds that owe me a few favors. There are more than enough that I put in danger, but an equal amount that I also helped save. Not to mention we have a few prisons that require volunteer time as a part of their sentence; helping restore the city they once sought to destroy is fitting enough irony, isn't it?"
Silence befell the alleyway, though was compensated fast enough by the increased sound of rain. Another wind blew through and sent a chill down Hisui's body, but she stood tall. She blinked away water from her eyes and flicked her hair back. It was slick and heavier, and a much darker green than normal.
"She's mighty prettier than anyone ever said," one of the workers said, at just the opportune moment when the rain died down a bit. Some of the other workers clamped their hands over his mouth.
"You're a handsome lot yourselves," Hisui said, smiling, making sure her cheeks were red. One of the construction workers dropped on the spot.
Hisui redirected her attention to the construction wizard, who fell to one knee and took Hisui's hand in his own. He kissed her knuckles. Hisui blushed. It was too much, far too much, but she couldn't deny him this. Never in a thousand years would this man have dreamed of meeting the Queen of Fiore. The same went for the rest of these commoners.
Hisui felt a little bitterness wash over her mind at the thought. That was Darton, or Arcadios, speaking through her.
The man released her hand and Hisui prompted him to rise.
"Send word to my advisor, Darton," Hisui said. "Give him explicit details of what you require, in terms of supplies or of men. Be honest with the crown, and the crown will be honest with you. Understand?"
"Understood, my Queen," the construction wizard said. He bowed, and the others followed. Hisui simply nodded, and touched the crown of his head.
"Then have a blessed day, my friends," Hisui said.
She turned and started out of the alley. Darton waited until they were gone from earshot, despite the cover of rain, to slink closer to her.
"That may have been a grave mistake," Darton said. "We have enough to tend with on our own, with problems far more consequential than mere peasant folk."
"If we don't have people to support us, then we have nothing," Hisui said.
"We do, but that is our current problem," Darton said. "Fairy Tail is disbanded. Rumors run wild that the new Emperor in Alvarrez seeks war, and nobody knows where Acnologia has gone. People are still afraid of you for what happened with the Eclipse Project."
Hisui leered down to Darton. "What would you have me do to mend this fear, then?" She purposefully ignored the other topics: the disbandment of Fairy Tail was tragic, indeed, but her reports claimed that most members were doing well, with Lucy, in particular, landing her dream job at Sorcerer's Weekly. That new Emperor business was useless, and Acnologia being on the run had been the same for the last four hundred years.
"Show them your force," Darton said. "That we are capable of defending Fiore from any such challenge that encroaches."
"Yes, show these people who fear the end of days that we have magnificent military might," Hisui said, shaking her head. "How foolish."
"It is what your father would have done," Darton said.
"My father was king in times of peace, my dear advisor, not in times of war such as we find ourselves," Hisui said. "He was a king of the people, and I find that I must be a similar queen if we are to come out of this all the stronger. People are afraid, people believe they are weaker now than they have ever been. It's simply not true."
Hisui noticed a small cart to the side of the road and rushed over to it. She helped the driver pick it up and his young son fixed the wheel. Hisui smiled to the young man, who didn't recognize her, but simply thanked her.
"We must help all that we can," Hisui said. "If we don't show them that we love them, that they are one of us, how can we grow stronger?"
"They aren't one of us," Darton said. "That is the folly of your logic. Not all can be saved, Hisui. Your father understood this. He worked with the Magic Council on this, as you should. With the support of the Council we can avoid tragedies like Tartaros or the Oracion Seis; we can snuff them out before they ever crop up."
Hisui wanted to speak, but a sound resonated through the city that made her stop, immediately. A loud banging sound, followed in quick succession by another.
"The warning bells?" Darton asked.
"No," Hisui said, turning toward the magnificent castle standing tall and proud behind them, at the heart of the city. "That's the bells of welcoming. For royalty. But who…who is here?"
"We must return at once," Darton said. "Men, move out!"
"Yes, sir!"
Hisui kept her hood down and unclipped her cloak, then ripped free her shoes, tossing them to the boy and his father with the cart. Those would be sold at a high price.
Darton cried out for her when she sprinted ahead. She almost slipped a few times running up a hill, but maintained her balance. Rain crashed about her, and thunder rolled and boomed low overhead. Gray clouds engulfed the entirety of the city, swirling in specifically around the castle, and near the stadium.
She pumped her arms and legs harder than ever. Exhaustion claimed her lungs quicker than anticipated. How long had they been walking through the city? Had it truly been all afternoon? The humidity and pushes from the wind brought upon more exertion than she'd anticipated. Hisui swiped sweat and rain from her brow, then slowed just a bit to tie her hair up into a ponytail. She still jogged while she moved, and several commoners along the side of the road noticed and pointed to her.
Hisui waved when she could but could not sacrifice a moment to return to the castle. She arrived at the side-gates, the small entrance that was only for exits or entrances for the king or queen. She slid to a halt at the gate and the guard captain opened the heaven iron door for her. He met her on the other side.
"My queen, what's going on?"
"I was hoping you would know, guard-captain," Hisui said. She shivered. "Why have the welcoming bells rung?"
He pursed his lips and shrugged.
Hisui nodded. "Fortify the outer walls, I want nobody else exiting this castle. Have someone claim your post and send a message to get anyone you can spare to guard the graveyard below." She grabbed the captain's breastplate. "At all costs."
He nodded and she released him, then sprinted down the path once again. She blurred through the castle, going immediately to the one place she had to check first before going to her father's room.
Lightning whipped nearby and some of the glass on the walls cracked. Guards rushed about all around her, no doubt not really recognizing her as her makeup had run clean from her face and she wasn't in her normal, regal attire.
Hisui swung open the throne room doors just as a guard's body dropped in front of her. She balled her fists and took another step.
The doors sealed shut behind her. Someone sighed up ahead. All the candles in the room were out, leaving the faint light of rainy daylight to pour in from some of the nearby windows. Water dripped off of Hisui's skin and dress while she approached.
A shadow, with small blue lines running along his body and dark blue hair matting his head that ran wildly down most of his back, stood behind the now-broken throne of Fiore. Dozens of guards were scattered around the room, though Arcadios was not one of them.
"You're a wizard," Hisui said. Better to lead with assumptions before anything else.
"I may have once been." The voice was cold, dark, and tired. "Now I am become my own enemy. I recalled this place housing something for me, a memory, a moment that would reveal to me what I am to do, but…"
The blue-haired wizard turned. His cloak covered most of his body, save for his arms…or, in his case, just one arm. He glowered to Hisui with dark blue eyes.
"All I find is death. Death of kings." Hisui shuddered, but continued her slow approach. "And death of magic." He looked to his hand. Blue sparks leapt free before he closed his fist around them, and it was gone. "But this is my quest, this is my purpose?"
"Who are you, friend?" Hisui said. "You look haggard, worn. Perhaps we can help you. The Kingdom of Fiore will always aid its friends."
The blue-haired man grimaced. "What is a pathetic young girl like yourself to do to the one true king of this world?"
"The Queen of Fiore can do a lot to a haggard man such as yourself," Hisui said. "What king dresses in such rags, what king attacks another queen's men?"
"The Dragon King, Acnologia. One who does not take kindly to these remarks, girl."
Hisui stopped. Rain continued to slam atop the roof of the castle. Acnologia stepped around the throne, tossing his cloak back to reveal his full torso, scarred and muscular, as well as just the one arm he had. His hair cast back with the cloak.
"What are you doing here, Acnologia?" Hisui asked.
This couldn't be him. Acnologia was a dragon, a massive black dragon that bred destruction and left nothing in his wake. Perhaps this man was an acolyte of Acnologia, one who worshipped the self-proclaimed Dragon King.
"I sought answers," Acnologia said. "To a life of suffering, a life of destruction. But it would seem that these answers are gone from me now."
The graveyard. No, this one was definitely not Acnologia. Acnologia would know—would remember!—that he killed all those dragons years ago. No human could live this long, it was simply impossible.
Still, Hisui faced a major problem. She glanced to the guard nearest her, who had a lance in his cold, unmoving hands. She had to get the jump on this Dark Wizard, and fast. If he were skilled enough to take down this many guards, her only chance was to get an attack, however dishonorable, in against him.
"Destroyed by the power of space time," Acnologia said. He chuckled, and the low rumble filled the room like a roll of thunder. He cupped his face into his hand, and Hisui knelt, gripping the weapon. "Destroyed by other dragons. More dragons, taken from me before I could continue my mission! Now only eight remain, but they are mere paltry."
"You can't kill them," Hisui said. "Not the ones I know."
"You know no dragons," Acnologia said. "Only pretenders."
Hisui stood with the weapon. Acnologia moved his hand, and Hisui reacted. She cast the lance across the room with all of her force, even throwing herself into it. She hit the ground and rolled, watching as the lance streaked across the way, on a direct path for Acnologia's chest. A sudden blur blocked it and shattered the lance.
No, not a blur. Hisui remained on her knees, her head bowed, as fear gripped her. A wing, a great dragon wing, grew from his back and, in an instant, shattered the lance as if it were merely a part of the air.
"Futile and pathetic," Acnologia said. "You called yourself a queen, yet here you are, groveling before me."
"Why are you here?" Hisui exclaimed.
"I wanted to remember what it felt like," Acnologia said. "This place, this castle, there is something here that I wanted to see, but I can no longer. I wanted to remember the rush, the excitement, the beginning of the end." His voice dropped and he glanced to the throne behind him. "Yet there remains nothing there anymore. Just weakness."
He swung his hand and the exertion of his force alone destroyed the throne, casting splinters all along the back wall. Hisui balled her fists and shut her eyes. There was nobody in Crocus, possibly all of Fiore, that could stand up this monster. This was Acnologia, the one who destroyed Tenrou Island, who nearly killed all of Fairy Tail.
Who created all those skeletons below the castle.
"I wanted to attend the Dragon Festival, but it would seem I am still too early for it," Acnologia said. "Hundreds of years have impaired my sense of time. I hardly realized it was soon to be summertime." He harrumphed. "My prey is not here. I must leave now to destroy them."
"So that's it?" Hisui asked, her voice coming with a squeak. "You come here, assault my men, destroy my throne, and leave?"
"It is as a true king does," Acnologia said. "A true king destroys what lay before him."
"What, to show dominance?" Hisui asked, rearing her head up. She rose to her feet, though her trembling legs gave little support. "No! A true monarch, a true leader, is a friend to their people. They don't make them afraid, they give them hope! You're just a monster, someone who wants to destroy everything. That doesn't make you a king, it makes you a demon."
"There is no difference," Acnologia said. "You are too weak and naïve to realize this. True rulers make sacrifices for their own power."
"For the power of their kingdom," Hisui said, and balled her fists. "And they are always ready to make the ultimate sacrifice."
Hisui slammed her hands together, swelling magic power from around her. A glowing red and gold aura formed around her, and her jade eyes glared across the throne room to Acnologia, who did not move.
"I will give all my magic, I will give my life, to stop you, Acnologia," Hisui said. "To show you what it means to be a true queen!"
Acnologia did not move again, or make any indication for making one. Hisui focused her power, and roared. Just before she could begin an incantation, though, a burst of wind caught up to her and she felt one massive hand cup both of hers and her magic was gone, absorbed somehow, in an instant.
Hisui's entire body locked. Acnologia stood before her, his blue eyes piercing the fabric of her soul. But yet she stood. Her body loosed, and she wrenched her hands free just as he started to speak, and crashed her fist against the side of his face.
Her wrist snapped against the pure power and strength of his body, but she didn't care. Red-hot rage filled her, and she went for another strike, and this time it hit Acnologia square in the chest and did nothing. She sighed.
"Darn," she muttered.
Acnologia clamped his fingers under her chin and raised her face to meet his eyes. She didn't break eye contact.
"You would make a good queen for me," Acnologia said. "You're brave, despite your youth. I won't destroy you until I've killed all the others. Then you and I will rule Ishgar together."
"You'll rule nothing," Hisui said.
"I rule everything," Acnologia said.
He let go of her and she pushed away from him. Acnologia didn't grin, but she did. He raised an eyebrow, and Hisui slammed on the end of the lance that'd been broken. The spear slice across his leg and Hisui charged him, ramming Acnologia with her shoulder and sent him stumbling into the window. It broke upon impact and he tumbled free.
Hisui just made it to the window when a blue explosion rocked the castle and blue mist soared up around her, stopping the rain for a moment. Hisui swatted some of the mist away, and watched as a massive black and blue dragon cut across the Crocus sky, raining blue fire upon the Dragon Festival stadium before continuing along.
"You'll rule nothing," Hisui said again. "Because you aren't a king. Just a monster."
The guards came to her when Acnologia left. The rest of the day came to be a blur for her. She was bathed by her handmaidens, who reprimanded her foolishness for taking on Acnologia while also remaining soaked in clothing that could've made her ill. She was fed and tended to for the wounds that she did not have.
When night fell and the rain stopped, a knock came to her door. She opened it tenderly, as weariness had claimed her from all the commotion, and her father stood in the doorway.
He merely held his arms out and she felt into them, but she did not cry.
"What you did was the most ridiculous thing you could have ever thought," he said. She stood, rolling her shoulders into her queen-like stance.
"It was the right thing to do, father," Hisui said. "It was what I had to do."
"I know," he said. "And that is why you are the queen. That is why you will lead us all to a better tomorrow, my sweet daughter."
Hisui blushed, and smiled. "That's not the only reason, father."
She told him about the people she'd helped, and they talked through most of the night before the old man finally fell asleep. Hisui used his rest as an excuse to sneak out of the castle the next day, alone, in a plain brown robe and black cloak. She slid through the streets with ease, eyeing the sky for any rainclouds. Small white wisps chugged across the sky.
Hisui passed a particularly happy father and son, with a magnificent new cart, about a half-hour into her walk before coming to an alley under construction again. She glanced and saw that there was double the amount of men there than yesterday.
Sun shone against her back and Hisui turned to face the clear blue sky beyond Crocus, to where Acnologia had flown, to where her friends were.
"You can't beat this, Acnologia," Hisui said. "After all, it's hard to be a king if you don't have a kingdom."
She saw his face in his mind's eye, and rather than feel that grip of fear, she instead moved forward, through Crocus, through her city, to meet with her citizens. Her friends.