Prologue
4 years later…
"You've got to be kidding me." The papers in a set of pale, shaking hands did not lie. The numbers were increasing. "This is the third scavenger group this week and everyone is either dead or missing?!"
The man cowered under the leader's anger. "I-I'm s-sorry m-miss but, the n-numbers don't lie. We haven't seen head or tails of the scavenger groups. I'm afraid they have been lost and we can't afford to loose anymore troops. We are already in the red zone as we speak." He fiddled his fingers nervously and unconsciously took a step away from the boss. Waves of anger radiated from her as her eyes scanned over the death tolls once more to check for any miscalculations.
Tanned hands slowly set the paper on a still-standing wooden table. "You are dismissed." The male sighed in relief and happily rushed out of the leader and her second in command's sight.
"I can't believe this! All three teams are either dead or missing. The odds are against us." The boss groaned, leaned forward and slumped onto one of the few intact tables they had left. "What am I going to do Bacchus? As the rebellion leader, I have to be strong for my people but, people are getting picked off left and right! We barely even have enough food and supplies for all of us."
"Come on Sof! It's not that bad." The second in command tried to cheer her up but failed miserably. "We only live underground in a series of connected tunnels under each of the major guilds, it could be worse… we could live inside a destroyed guild with fire eating away our flesh."
"…Not helping." The leader lifted her head from the table as stray red hairs dangled over her face. She tucked them behind her elf like ears and toyed with her single braid. A loud sigh escaped her heat chapped lips as she stared at the wood ceiling. Memories came back to haunt her.
'It's hard to believe four years have passed since D-day; the day of dragons. Ever since they arrived, we have been struggling for survival. My guess; over ninety percent of the world's population have perished in fire. When the dragons invaded our world, they destroyed it. Those oversized geckos turned the earth into their personal haven.'
"…What's the temperature outside?"
"40 Degrees Celsius; an odd cool day considering the temperature is normally fifty and above… why do you ask?"
"…We need supplies don't we?" The red head pushed herself up using the table as a support.
The drunken flacon knew where the conversation was going and he didn't like it. "You aren't going outside to forage for supplies while you're still injured. Look at your leg; it was almost completely torn off four years ago! Do you know how long that takes to heal?"
She was already halfway across the room. "Don't worry; it's almost healed." Her crimson eyes gazed sadly upon her casted foot. The plaster cast felt heavy and was incredibly itchy. "I'd say another year or so and I'll be good as new besides, my blood can make a protective cast around it so I don't mess up the healing process."
The second in command still didn't approve of his leader's choices. Just as he was about to stop her from venturing into the upper world, he weighed the pros and cons. The rebellion group members did need food, water and whatever they can scavenge from the burnt cities. Any sort of metal, wood or even charcoal could be used for something but, the primary concern right now was food and water.
Sofia was one of the few people who had been in the outside world more than ten times and survived. Others would have just been killed after five minutes in the flaming hot upper world.
The former Quatro Cerberus mage watched with expressionless eyes as his leader walked out of his sight. 'Besides, even if she does die, I'll take her place.' The thought made him feel much better.
"And by the way," Her head poked out from around the corner. "While I'm gone, check up on Rufus. I want a full report of his condition by the time I return." With that, she disappeared, leaving a groaning Bacchus to do her dirty work. He hated the psycho patient and never understood what she saw in him.
'I'd probably need to wear the heat proof suit today.' The teen leader unconsciously stepped into one of the walk-in-closets and pulled out a black crimson stained jumpsuit. The style looked almost exactly camo except with different colours to match the surrounding area.
When the dragons took over, they had to make 'slight' adjustments to the weather and area to suit their needs. Earth became warmer; average temperatures were fifty Degrees Celsius and above. Clean water was incredibly hard to find and was normally filled with toxins and decaying corpses. Almost everything humans built from houses to stores to shacks, the dragons burned them to the ground. Only extremists and cold bloods could survive on the fire bitten planet.
Sofia slipped into the baggy garment, careful with her leg. She didn't want to make the injury any worse than it already was. Her sunlight deprived hands slid into a pair of black leather gloves and brought a ski mask over her eyes. The rebellion group didn't have the best supplies so she had to make do with what they had.
'Hopefully the ski mask will shield my eyes from the heat and light.' She deemed herself ready for the harsh climate of the outside world. She stopped in front of a trapdoor that led to the ruined guild hall of Blue Pegasus. None of her teammates were seen again after the dragons took over. She didn't even know if they were alive or dead!
'Enough of that!' Red hair swung from side to side as it's owner shook her head like a wet dog. 'Don't dwell on the past and remember the promise you made to Bacchus moments ago.' The leader closed her eyes in concentration as she redirected her body's blood flow towards her injured leg. Red blood cells clambered around the healing bone and flesh, forming a protective cast on the inside while redirecting more oxygen and glucose to rapidly regenerate muscle tissue.
She smiled at her handiwork and gave the casted leg a few twirls. The limb seemed to be functioning properly. 'Looks like it's time to venture onto the surface.' The slayer sucked in a deep breath, set the ski mask over her eyes and pushed open a small wooden wicket.
Almost immediately, a blast of heat assaulted her face and the smell of smoke punched her nose. "Oh god!" Her gloved hands rapidly flew to her nose and mouth, trying to bat away the smoke and heat. Thank god she wore the protective eye piece or else she might have gone blind. The smoke irritated her eyes as she climbed out of the underground base.
Her crimson eyes scanned the remains of the once beautiful guild. What used to be elaborately designed tapestries and mahogany wood chairs were reduced to nothing but ashes. Everything what was consumable by dragon fire was gone; burnt to a crisp. Not even glass cups were spared and those melt at 1500 Degrees Celsius.
'This is pathetically depressing.' The red head wasted no time in hauling whatever was salvageable back into the underground tunnels. She spotted a small piece of cloth that was, remarkably, untouched by the flames. Her hands dusted the soot off and held the cloth up to her face.
It seemed relatively clean and Sofia did need something to prevent her from collapsing of smoke inhalation.
The leader crawled out of the guild she once belonged to and planted her feet firmly on the outside world. Already, she felt the heat seep into her clothing and if that wasn't bad enough, a few dragons circled above her.
A silent gasp escaped her as she tried to flatten herself as close as she could to the jagged rocks and burnt ashes all stained with innocent blood. The red head slowly craned her neck to see what the dragons were up to after a minute of not paying attention to her.
She wished she could un-see what she just saw.
A horde of dragons… mating. Brightly coloured ones assaulted dull ones in mid air, sending the pair to tumble on the earth. Roars and screeches of pain or pleasure echoed through the slayer's ears.
'Crap! They are repopulating fast!' When the dragons were out of the air, either on the ground mating or searching around for a mate, Sofia rapidly scrambled to the closest cover she could find. Her heart was about to jump out of her chest as she took heavy breaths to try and calm down. She didn't want to become a dragon's next meal.
When the screeches died down, the red head's heart slowed down to it's steady beat. Sofia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and scanned the area for dragons. 'I have got to be more careful.' She picked up a handful of charcoal; excellent for purifying drinking water and some scrap metal. It wasn't much but it would have to do.
'I really wish I could've gotten some water. Our supplies are running dangerously low.' The god slayer sighed and trudged along the ash covered ground. The earth was different, redder than before. Every inch she walked upon was black, red or burning. Four years ago, Fiore had been green with lush vegetation and had houses as far as eye could see. People had set up villages and little shops selling all sorts of trinkets but now, it was just a deserted wasteland. No crops could grow due to the severe climate. The only green things for miles around were cacti plants and they only grew on the outskirts of town.
The red head saw something in the distance and squinted her eyes to get a better view. There, at the bottom of a hill, was a green plant. 'Cacti!' She thought excitedly and raced towards the prickly plant. She jumped over rocks and climbed over buildings with difficultly; her injured foot slowing her down.
It has been ages since she saw one of the water filled, nutritious plants and she intended to take full advantage. A dull blade hacked away the spikes and up rooted it. The plant weighed a good six pounds, enough to feed and water the rebellion group for at least a meal.
The god slayer headed back to base with her hand clenched tightly around the ash covered roots. She didn't want to loose the valuable resource no matter what, not even if a dragon attacked her.
Screech!
Sofia barely managed to leap out of the way as a gaping set of teeth snapped at her. The dragon took to the skies once more before it released a sulphuric flamethrower. White hot light burned her retinas and skin as she rapidly ducked into a pile of metal and leftover home bits.
She held her breath and made a cross over her heart. The god slayer was never really religious but if she were to die now, at least she would go to heaven. Tense seconds ticked by and the red head bravely or stupidly- depending on who you ask- poked her head out of her temporary shelter. No dragon breaths coming her way and in fact, no dragons to be seen.
Just to be on the safe side, she laid low for a few more minutes until she was sure the coast was clear. "Crap, the cactus is smoked." One look at the soot covered plant, which was still on fire; she knew that thing was done for. A low sigh of disappointment escaped her lips as she ripped off the only greenish piece untouched by flames and started her trek back to base.
Underneath a small mound of ash, a small white bump caught her attention. "Strange…" Her gloved hands brushed away the dirt in a few firm strokes to reveal an egg. Sofia's eyes bugged out of their sockets. The egg was huge compared to normal eggs. This one was at least the size of a small chair, if not larger.
'This would make a great feast!' Her hands rapidly went to work at unearthing her next meal. When she pulled it out of the mound, a rabid screech fell upon her sensitive ears. She didn't see what it was, she didn't have to. All she did was tuck the egg to her chest and run as fast as her injured leg could carry her.
The beast quickly gained speed and soon was side by side with the blood mage. It's powerful jaws snapped at her once more before another jet of fire spewed from the reptile's mouth.
"That is it!" Enough was enough. Instead of dodging the fire blast, Sofia raised the egg to act as a shield. Screw getting food, she just wanted to get out of there with her life!
The slayer tightly shut her eyes and waited for the fire to melt through the egg but it didn't. One eye slowly opened to see the egg repelling the blast with some sort of strange force field.
The mage was shell shocked. How could such a small egg block the impact from a giant flamethrower?! She was immediately shaken out of her thoughts when another ear-piercing roar shook her to her core. 'I'm outta here!' With the egg safely tucked into her chest once more, she took off into a sprint; the dragon circling in the sky, occasionally diving and throwing in a close range attack.
Relying on pure instinct alone, the red head nicked a finger with her teeth, allowing her blood to flow freely. It left a few drops of red here and there, more than enough to create her clones. Each of the droplets took form and kept the dragon at bay while their master escaped.
Sofia's short, heavy breaths were the only things heard in the underground base. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest from sheer exhaustion and her legs couldn't even hold up her weight, leading her to collapse butt first onto the cold floor.
Her leather bound hands held up the egg and her crimson eyes stared at the cream coat. Now that she had a closer look, she saw faint gold patterns adorning the oval. "…You got me into a lot of trouble today." The leader sighed and pushed herself back onto her feet. "What should I do with you? On one hand, I could make scrambled eggs," The white oval shook madly when the words came out of her mouth, as if saying, please don't eat me!
The god slayer nearly lost her grip. "Woah, ok then. No scrambled eggs from breakfast then…" The egg and girl were both silent for the rest of the walk.
Loud footsteps echoed behind her and the red head immediately knew who it was. "Bacchus, do you have the report on Rufus's condition?" The red head asked without turning around; the egg still tightly clutched in her arms.
"Yes, the papers are in his hospital room and what the hell are you holding?" Anyone could have seen that giant egg from a mile away and mistaken it for a boulder of sorts.
"Honestly, I don't know." Sofia looked at the cream coloured oval nesting in her arms. "There is a high possibility that it is a dragon egg; I was chased and hunted down by one just today but-"
"-You were chased by a dragon?!" The drunken falcon's jaw dropped open and refused to close. See a dragon, fifty percent chance of keeping your head. Seen by a dragon, highly unlikely to live. Attacked by a dragon, you're dead. "How are you even alive?!"
The red head winced at the second in command's loudness. "Quiet down, it's not like I'm dead or injured… majorly." All around her body, burn marks scorched her jumpsuit and burned into her pale flesh. It wasn't something that a little rest and aloe wouldn't fix.
The male slowly recovered and shook his head, a light smile gracing his face. A low chuckle escaped his lips. "Only our leader can do something like that and survive." He ruffed up her hair playfully before walking back the way he came.
"You're a weird one Bacchus… but, you are useful." The blood mage walked in the opposite direction; towards the memory mage's room.
"Hmm…" She set the egg down on the unconscious man's bed as her crimson eyes scanned the official report. His condition hadn't seemed to progress; still the same as last time she checked.
"I still can't believe I kept you alive all this time." The slayer sat on the crisp white sheet, crumpling them. Her tired eyes locked onto the memory mage's face; it hadn't aged a day. "You know… in a different world and time, we might have actually become good friends. We are both intellectual and always seeking more power." She pulled the leather gloves off her hands and gently traced the curve of his cheek. His pale skin felt velvety under her calloused fingers.
"But you chose Sabertooth and I chose Blue Pegasus and it didn't end there. You were the brains behind the series of attacks on my sister. Your guild tried to kill her and over what? A small amount of fifty jewels stolen from Sting's wallet for charity. That, I can never forgive you for." Sofia took his arm and placed it near her mouth. Almost immediately, the smell of pumping blood assaulted her nostrils and her mouth began to water.
"Just one bite…" Razor sharp teeth sunk deep into the juicy vein, sucking the life blood out of the Saber. Small groans of discomfort fell deaf upon her ears as she pried the limb away. She couldn't take too much or Rufus might die in his comatose state.
"Interesting how many attacks you know." Slowly and delicately, she wiped the blood around her mouth off with a handkerchief. "… You will be a great asset for our cause in the future, so long as you snap out of your insanity. But, that's a small problem down the road of life and we'll fix it." The red head scooped up the egg and the official papers before she walked out the door without a backwards glance.
Sofia walked down the endless hallways until she reached her room. The door slowly opened. "Hopefully I won't have any paperwork tonight-" Her blood ran cold and her hand, not holding the dragon egg, clenched around the brass knob in a death grip.
A giant pile of papers sat on top her desk, waiting for her to get to them; almost mocking her. With every step she took away from the papers, they seemed to call out to her in a vicious mocking tone. 'Sofia… you know you want to finish us; just do it already.'
"No, at least, not right now. Maybe tomorrow." She told the inanimate objects. To any person who walked past her open door, they'd think their leader was starting to go insane; talking to papers.
A heavy sigh left her rosy lips. With the cream coloured egg safely on her bed, Sofia immediately grabbed a change of clothing and ran to the communal bathing rooms separated by gender.
The black and red jumpsuit came off quickly, followed by her shoes, gloves and finally, hair tie. The cold water felt nice against her tired body. After a day of being chased by a dragon, the only thing that could relax her was a shower.
A long and magnificent waterfall of red cascaded down her lean back. She ran her slender fingers through the river of red and sighed contently. It's been so long since she was able to do this. Normally, her hair was always tied up in a single braid to keep it away from her eyes but every once in a while, she'd let it go and wear it down, only in private though.
A small buzzer beeped and the water shut off. There was only five minutes of shower water per day and normally, people would take sponge baths. 'Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.' A white towel was wrapped around her body, immediately soaking up the water beads that clung to her skin.
After the water was wrung from her hair, she slipped into her night clothes and silently walked out of the shower room. Her bare feet were silent against the cold concrete. "Now that was relaxing." Her un-gloved hand touched the brass knob. It felt warm. 'Odd, a doorknob shouldn't be warm.' She shrugged and pushed the door open to reveal her room on fire.
Sofia stood there for a moment with an expressionless face before she closed the door and inhaled a deep breath. "That did not just happen; my room is not on fire. I'm just imagining things from stress." She repeated at least three times before she twisted the even warmer knob and opened the door once more.
Everything was still on fire.
3…2…1…
"My room is on fire!" Sofia's eyes bulged out of their sockets as they surveyed the burning room. "What do I do?! What do I do?!" She ran around and panicked like a headless chicken, drawing the attention of anyone in the general facility.
"What is going on?!" A half naked Gray stood behind the red head. His eyes widened as he saw the fire eat up everything. "Oh crap! Where is Juvia when you need her?!" Both he and the water mage were survivors of the dragon attacks and joined the rebellion not long after the winged reptiles took out Fairy Tail. There were a few other surviving mages but they either went their separate ways or were supporting cast members that don't play a major part in this story.
Suddenly the ground began to shake and a growing dust cloud came towards them at incredible speed. "What the-"
"-Gray sama!" The crazy stalker water mage tackled the ice mage to the floor and clung onto him like he was her favourite doll. "Juvia is here just like Gray sama said!" She rubbed her cheek against him like a cat. The brunette couldn't help but thrash and scream; he was desperate to get away from the crazy stalker pinning him to the ground.
"Get off me!"
"No! Juvia loves Gray sama! Juvia wants to be with Gray sama forever!"
The weight of a human disappeared from the ice mage's chest and he greedily gulped lung full's of air.
"Now Juvia…" The younger mage held up the older one by the scruff of her neck. "There is a reason why you are here." She struggled to reach her beloved Gray from the firm hold of the monster. Sofia rolled her eyes in response. "If you haven't noticed yet…" The water mage felt her body whipped around like a rag doll before she was stopped in front of the burning room. Her eyes widened.
"My room is on fire!" Sofia screamed into the water mage's ears and abruptly dropped her once she let out an ear piercing scream.
"J-Juvia will get straight to work!" Clear liquid flowed through the mage's fingers and formed into a sphere. "Water Nebula-"
"-No don't!" Too late. The sphere of water blasted through one of the support beams of the room. Though it did put out the fire, a smokescreen was created and a section of the wall caved in.
The red head waved the grey gas away from her face, coughing ever so slightly. "Great, just great." The sarcastic words flowed smoothly out of her mouth. "Not only have you almost crushed Gray- again, but you've shot down a major support pillar and soaked everything in my room." By now, the entire compound had awoken and came to see what the commotion was about.
"J-Juvia is sorry leader. Juvia w-was just so happy to see Gray sama." The blue haired woman bowed low. Her head hung in shame. "Juvia will receive any punishment you see fit leader." Just as Sofia was about to slap her across the face, a tiny sound emerged from the smoke cleared room.
Dozens of heads turned in unison to stare at the creature on the burnt bed. White reptilian body with a gold outline around the perimeter of the wings, eyes and tail. Small little scales dotted it's hide which will grow to dinner plate size once it reaches adulthood. The creature made a small roar, opening it's jaws for the humans to glimpse at it's pearly whites.
The mages stood shell shocked. They couldn't believe what was right in front of their eyes; a new hatched dragon. If trained right, it could be a valuable asset to the rebellion group but if left on it's own, it can cause havoc like all the dragons before it.
Sofia was the first one to snap out of her shocked state. Her crimson eyes scanned the dragon and her people a few times over before she decided. With her back towards the scaly reptile, she faced the mages and uttered six words they would never forget.
"So… who's up for dragon tonight?"
Why is Sofia less violent and her character is more like Aster's? Good question. When someone you love or are close to, dies, many humans tend to take on a few characteristics of the dead person as a way of appeasement. Think Final Fantasy: Crisis Core ending.
Storm Caleum