Disclaimer: I own nothing nothing.
A/N: Not sure how many of you are familiar with it yet, but there is a character from the manga series Fairy Tail 100 year quest making an appearance in this chapter as I thought it fitting, considering how this story will deal with more family-oriented issues. That being said, that is in no way saying I personally like the series-I am still somewhat on the fence about it to be quite honest-but to those who would leave reviews just to bash on it. Don't bother, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, for now it's just the one character, not sure if I'll bring in another or not.
Enjoy!
Dissonance
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The first time Ignia met his so-called 'sister' she had been at the meager age of five, when she was barely able to pronounce her own name let alone their father's. Nevertheless Igneel had grinned that infuriatingly proud smile of his; proud of a mere human who had done nothing of worth. Ignia had sneered and turned away almost immediately, barely flicking his molten eyes down to look at the pinkette.
"So even her own brother does not want her?" he commented, the words tinged with the slightest bit of malice relishing in that simple fact. Her real family had abandoned her, this of course earned him his father's ire.
Ignia's appearance was that of a toned, muscular individual opposed to his father's abnormal size and crimson red scales, with his light-colored hair styled upwards and tinged on the ends with two longer strands framing his face. There were several tattoos covering his upper body, including a gathering of flame-like ones on his face, an image of the sun covering most of his left pectoral and some kind of tribal design running down his left arm. He wore loose-fitted pants with a fur-lining in the middle, dark-colored on the top and light-colored on the bottom.
"It is a complicated matter, as I have said before."
"I don't do complicated," was the flippant response given, accompanied by Ignia's signature smirk. He gave the tiny human one last look-over, ready to dismiss her completely.
'Why father wasted his time with her, I'll never understand,' Ignia thought disdainfully, recalling all the events that led to the here and now as he gazed down from a far-off secluded section of the forest, watching Natsuya's face light up while as she continued to converse with the newcomer—August, if he heard correctly. 'Interesting. And here I thought her family was dead.'
He watched them leave together; saw the way Natsuya paused with her head turning in his direction, but he didn't budge from his spot, knowing the distance was too great for her to actually see him standing there. A larger part of him doubted she would recognize him regardless, too young to hold onto anything concrete about his features.
Or so he thought.
~o~
Natsuya couldn't quite place the scent on the wind, only really focusing or caring about how similar it is to her father's, Igneel's.
She stopped just on the outskirts of the forest while following August, turning and sniffing a bit. It was only slightly different, carrying more of an underlying orchid/cinnamon mix to it. When she saw no source in sight however, she reluctantly dismissed the odd occurrence, hearing August calling out her name.
"So, you said you're my family right?" Natsuya began after a few more moments of silence between them. "Are you like, my grandpa then?"
Though August had been expecting such an inquiry it still made his left brow twitch just a little bit. Sometimes being the only one to know the truth had it's vices, but then again, he'd wished to at least wait until they were back in Alvarez and all gathered in one room to avoid the repetitive task of re-explaining everything.
Even he had his limits after all.
"All will be revealed once we have returned to Alvarez, though I can assure you that we are most certainly related by blood," he affirmed. Natsuya stared at him, blinking wide, innocent eyes.
"What's Alveerez?"
"Alvarez," August corrected patiently. "It is my home, and the place where the rest of our family is located."
Natsuya pondered this. A far-off memory she couldn't fully recall momentarily rising to the surface.
(Molten colored eyes peered into hers with an unspoken challenge she didn't quite understand followed by an unmistakable warmth that she didn't think was supposed to be there since they were strangers. And yet... at the same time, they weren't.)
Natsuya was quick to push the small little pang of something—pain, sadness, grief, she didn't know—further down into her gut before it could take root and grow. She walked with purpose now, a part of her clinging onto the hope that perhaps this relative of hers could help rid her of such puzzling thoughts. She felt like something somewhere was taunting her and she didn't like it.
"So, hey," she said as she caught up to August, smiling because she wasn't alone anymore. "When do we start training?" she asked, excited at the prospect of growing even stronger.
"Once we are back in Alvarez you will join the others for lessons, and then we will begin to schedule individual sessions soon after." August answered, pausing to look at her. "To be honest there is someone whom I wish to consult regarding the nature of your magic first, since they utilize the same kind of magic."
"Oh..." Natsuya blinked, looking confused at first then registered his words. "Wait, you know someone who uses dragon slaying magic too!?"
August let a rare smile cross his features. "She was the one who invented the art, actually."
"She… invented it?" Natsuya said in awe. "Cool! Hey, do you think she'd know how to find Igneel or Acnologia?"
August tensed a bit at the mention of the Apocalypse dragon, knowing for a fact people rarely went purposely looking for him. Curious, he decided to ask one of the questions weighing heavily on his mind. "Perhaps… but first, how about you tell me how it is you and he became so close? Dragons themselves are believed to be solitary creatures—yet you claim to have befriended two already."
"Huh?" Natsuya looked a little dumbfounded. "What are you talking about? I didn't befriend anybody, I've been with Igneel for as long as I can remember, he's my dad and he-argh!" She clutched her head thinking back on her time with Igneel when a sharp pain cut her off just as she began to recall another being who was similar in appearance and smell. The memories became more blurred and murky.
"Are you alright?" August inquired, observing her with a twinge of concern.
"I… y-yeah. Uncle Acnologia, well… he doesn't actually like it when I call him that..." her expression seemed to drop a bit, shoulders slumping. "To be honest, I don't really know why he showed up to help me; he came not too long after Igneel. He hit me and yelled a lot though, but..."
"But…?" August repeated, arching a questioning brow.
Natsuya fidgeted some, looking more put out, uncomfortable even. She avoided his eyes for a few moments before speaking in a tone only barely above that of a whisper. "I didn't want to be alone anymore. To stick around, he said my smell reminded him of someone he once knew," she shifted from one foot to the other. "Sorry, my memories are kind of fuzzy right now."
"I see," August said after a beat of silence. 'Could someone have cast magic on her in order to alter her memories perhaps? If so, then for what purpose?' he pondered, unsure of whether or not his own father could have been the culprit. "No matter, for now we should hurry back to Alvarez," he relented eventually. "There are mages there who share a strong affinity with various types of magic, I'm almost certain one of them can shed some light on your predicament." Natsuya smiled a bit more, nodding.
"By the way," Natsuya began once they started walking again, "What kind of food do they have there? Anything good?"
~o~
Ajeel Lamur wasn't really having the time of his life. Studying was plain stupid—he'd told his grandfather as much—even more so with August gone off to who knows where. It ended in another heated argument.
They'd been arguing a lot since coming to the capital, Ajeel pondered. He hated it here anyway, he much preferred the deserts back home surrounded by sand as far as the eye could see; at least the sand never yelled at him. 'Stupid magical theory,' he thought trying hard to focus on the beginning paragraph, getting about halfway before tossing the damn thing aside.
"Arrgh! Why would I need such useless stuff anyway!?"
Infuriated he pulled at his wild, chocolate-colored hair, messing it up even more so than usual. He wasn't bothered by the warmer than usual weather going around, often at times forgoing a shirt even in cases of extreme cold, wearing a simple pair of baggy brown-colored trousers. His complexion was a lot more tan than most of the others, alluding to his different heritage at times.
"Tch!" He picked up a nearby rock, tossing it. The wild light in his eyes dimming some as he watched it skip along the surface of the pond, heaving out a sigh when it finally sank.
"I hate this place," he muttered, already in the process of picking up another rock.
"Oh, surely it isn't that bad here?" A sing-song voice interrupted, startling Ajeel and making him jump… falling right into the pond.
"Dammit Dimaria!" Ajeel hissed, glaring daggers at the blonde woman who only smiled back. "Stop sneaking up on me!"
"Aw, but it's so much fun seeing you react-"
"Last time I fell off a building," he deadpanned, not at all amused.
"Exactly."
The two held each others stare, with Ajeel's left brow twitching ever so slightly, wanting nothing more than to throttle the one standing before him. Only he tried that just last week and it resulted in a trip to the emergency room, so he bit his tongue…
'Just this once.' he thought trying to wring the water out of his pants at the very least.
"What do you want anyway?" he asked instead, knowing neither of them considered the other a friend. Hell, he was pretty sure none of the other spriggans were his friends at the moment. It didn't matter that most of them were around the same age.
"I'm looking for the prince," she announced and Ajeel only blinked. A beat of silence, then…
"He's not in his room, I checked." She supplied, answering his un-asked question, expression turning serious. "And the emperor wishes to avoid another 'incident'."
"Maybe he shouldn't lock himself in a tower then," Ajeel quipped. It was more so just for the sole purpose of antagonizing her really than a shot at the emperor himself, or even Larcade. But the KI Dimaria directed at him shut up any kind of snide remark he was going to follow up with, making his skin crawl.
"Just shut up and help me look for him," she ordered.
Ajeel bit down hard on the inside of his cheek, the blonde's cold, commanding stare reminding him of another—"There is no such thing as happiness. Not for you, Ajeel"—clutching at the ugly scar that marred the flesh of his right shoulder, hidden by clean white wrappings. Dimaria noticed this, losing her harsher look in favor of a more calm one. She opened her mouth to apologize, only for it to be a second too late.
Ajeel was gone. Disappearing like sand in the wind.
~o~
Reading was the best means of escaping from an otherwise harsh reality for Larcade. And if given the choice, he would do it far from the confines of his room where he felt more like a prisoner with each passing day. He'd developed a bad habit of sneaking out often, getting craftier after each failed attempt especially after coming to the realization that anyone other than August had no idea where to find him.
The path Larcade had taken through the meadow was as visible as any trail in a fresh snowfall. The tall grasses, inflexible in their dryness were flattened from the far hedgerow to the canopy of woodland leaves where he now sat drinking in the shade, a book propped on his lap. The wild flowers were a cacophony of color on the fading green; purple thistles, blue cornflowers, red poppies and tall asters with their yellow centers. There was no coordination like the displays in town, just a free-for-all choreographed by the wind.
He was busily pouring himself into the pages, soft strands of blonde hair catching the slivers of sunlight peeking through the leaves overhead, humming softly as he flipped a page. The old, weathered tome easily fell apart at the very seams, but Larcede didn't mind, recalling how his father had mentioned it in passing as one of his mother's all-time favorites. He could understand the appeal really, fairies were such fascinating creatures!
In his younger years he had often indulged in fantasizing about what it would be like to actually meet one, over the years coming to the realization they simply didn't exist. Still, he liked knowing he still had a piece of his mother somewhere in the stories she once read.
"I hope August comes back soon..." he sighed to himself, feeling a tad dejected the elder male wasn't present to catch him and bring him back. Truthfully, it was probably the closest anyone's ever gotten in terms of playing a game with him and so he missed it.
'Even father avoids me, especially after that one time...' His grip on the cover ends of the book tightened, the wind picking up around him the tiniest amount. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his mind, disrupting his focus oblivious to how his eyes momentarily glowed a bright, vivid orange-"Argh! Not this again!"
He grinds his teeth together, desperate to hold out until the surge of pain went away, clutching his head trying to block the loud buzzing noise in his ears like every other time. And like every other time the feeling faded, leaving him drained and unable to move, falling listless to the ground with small tendrils of pure, raw magical energy seeping from his body.
The surrounding air becoming thick with ether-nano.
~o~
Natsuya didn't immediately recognize where she was. It took a few moments for her to realize she was back in the forest where August had found her, only now August was gone. The wide plains of grass seemed to stretch farther now. It was nighttime. The air with thick with the presence of ether-nano and heat—swelteringblazinglyhot kind of heat; like an inferno.
"You're being deceived," a harsh voice spoke from behind her.
She jumped and whirled around catching the lingering scent on the wind, recognizing it as-
"Igneel!?"
The person she saw wasn't Igneel, but a human boy. Or, well, man; in fact he seemed vaguely familiar somehow but she wasn't sure why. She didn't think she knew anyone with so many tattoos along their body with eyes like fire. He had light-colored hair going upward with the ends tinged and a large cross-shaped pendant hanging around his neck with three triangular earrings on each ear.
The stranger smirked slowly unfolding their arms, looking her over carefully.
"I see you're still as slow as ever. Not really a surprise though," she blinked and he was in front of her. His two index fingers poking her in the head almost knocking her back onto her bum before she managed to steady herself.
She blushed, more than a little miffed at being treated so poorly by a complete stranger. "H-hey! What's the big idea, huh? Y-you wanna fight!?"
The newcomer stared at her for what felt like a long while before smirking, showing off his sharp canines and making her shiver in fear at the feral-looking grin on his face. "Sure, too bad at your current level it wouldn't be much of a fight. Now once you get stronger, well..."
BAM!
Natsuya yelped, losing her balance and falling, scrambling back as a molten fist embedded itself into what was once the forest floor, turning it into a sea of fire. As if presenting an artistic masterpiece, the stranger held up his hands in an almost grandiose fashion, still grinning.
"W-w-what are you-"
"Remember this name girl, so they can put it on your tombstone later on; My name is Ignia, the true child of Igneel."
Natsuya stood at her full height, not even reaching what must have been his knees feeling like a little leaf caught in a very big wind. His next words freezing her little heart.
"I intend to bury you."
She woke up with an ear-piercing scream. The patrons of the hotel she and August were at rushed to see what the commotion was about as August did the same. She refused to let anyone other than August see her cry however, not wanting to come off as weak.
Acnologia had taught her that much at least, that weakness was something she couldn't afford to have.
Review.
Question: What do you guys think of Ignia? What do you think Ignia meant by his warning?
