When dawn broke through the trees, it was the quiet hiss of scales against dirt that had Erik jerking upright from where he had fallen asleep, blinking a bleary eye at his surroundings. As his mind caught up with his eye, and he let out a jaw cracking yawn, one hand reached down to brace himself...and froze when he felt rather large, smooth, scales under his palm.
He swore he could hear his body creaking like a hinge that badly needed oiling as he slowly turned and lifted his gaze to meet glowing green ones filled with amusement. Hearing a faint clicking sound, Erik was quick to spin around, letting out a startled yelp when the force of it had him going too far and sprawling over the long body of the snake that he had unknowingly curled up against the night before. Glowering with bared fangs, Erik turned his head only this time at another faint clicking sound, and found Lucy standing not too far away with her lacrima in her hands pointed directly at him. And her lips pressed suspiciously tight together.
Narrowing his eye at her further, he heard a choking sound next, and looked past Lucy to her soul dick of a boyfriend who was bent over slightly, hands braced on his knees as he watched them. Erik knew, he just knew, that Bix was choking on laughter at his expense, and he did not appreciate it.
Not. One. Bit.
Feeling his adopted brothers ire at the dark blue and black haired mage, Nathair smirked slightly, and keeping his eyes resting on Erik so as to not draw attention to himself, Nathair was quick to lash the end of his tail out, catching Bix's ankles, toppling him to the ground with a solid thud, and yelp that echoed around the clearing. His scowl quickly turned into a grin, and Erik shifted to his feet, running a gentle hand over the scales that he had been leaning on. Rolling his head on his shoulders, Erik turned to face Nathair once more, still cautious about his sudden appearance the night before.
"So. What do we do from here? Since you're the new comer." Erik asked, crossing his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes in speculation.
"I'm following your lead here, you're the one who's hearing that someone is in trouble."
"Yea but you can hear me apparently, so can you at least tell us if we're heading in the right direction?" Erik huffed, twisting his head one way then another, popping his neck to relieve some of the tension that had built up in it, and trying to ignore the pain starting to resonate in his head once more. Narrowing his eyes on the poison slayer, Nathair eased closer, lowering his head as he focused on Erik. It took a moment, but as soon as he was able to sort through the pain resonating in the dragons soul, and Eriks own, the tortured screaming pierced his skull and he recoiled quickly, shaking his head and hissing in discomfort, blinking, trying to get his bearings before staring at the man who shared his fathers magic in awe.
"I-is that what you've been hearing?" Nathair murmured, mind racing, and one of the few times cursing the magic that had permeated his egg from before hatching and growing up with the magic that made him so different. Blinking at the snake that was watching him in worry, Erik swallowed and nodded. "It's...it's going to get worse...that lacrima is helping right now...but the closer we get, the less it will...it's going to get worse...and there's more to this than we originally thought. Get moving, the three of you. I need to make a call, I'll catch up with you. I'm asking you to trust me, which I know is a lot." Nathair said firmly, turning and running his gaze over the surrounding area, trying to find a good spot that he could use to reach out to who he needed.
'Bix, I need you to listen to me, don't react, just act normal, but I need who to look at my soul. I'm going to let you see something that the others, especially Erik, aren't ready to know yet.' Nathair reached out, keeping his eyes narrowed and continuing to shift his eyes. He knew now he would have to reach out from here, but he needed them gone. He felt Bix minutely tense before getting an affirmative pulse of magic.
'Good. Take a look at my soul, at the other part of the magic that is a part of who I am. You'll know its signature very well, small world right? We need him here, you know who I'm talking about. I need you to get them going.' Nathair paused, ignoring the speculative looks he was getting from Erik, even as he saw Bix activate his eyes as they began to glow faintly. Turning his head to face Bix completely, he saw the seith mage pale significantly, and his jaw drop. 'So much for not reacting. Look, keep heading the direction you've been going in. I was able to figure out who the person looking for help is, but there's something wrong, she shouldn't be where she is. Now go, we're running out of time!'
With that said, Nathair shifted his gaze to Erik and Lucy who were watching them both closely, their own eyes moving between the two of them.
"There's no time to explain, the three of you need to get moving. We need to help the person reaching out, and Erik, I can tell you right now, yes it's your mate. I'll explain more about the mate thing later, but you have to go , now!" Nathair started to lunge at them, causing them to yelp and jump back to avoid falling.
"But what about you?!" Erik demanded, managing to plant his feet. He didn't know what was happening, but his instincts were going nuts, and the feeling in the pit of his stomach was making him nauseous. He had felt Nathair slam further walls up around his thoughts, and he had known he and Bix were having a silent conversation, from the way Bix had paled to a sheet white.
"I'll catch up, I can promise you that, just go!"
"But our things!" Lucy stammered, trying to figure out what was going on. Hissing in frustration, Nathair swung his head back to Bix, using the card he hadn't wanted to play, but there wasn't time.
'Bix, you know who I am now, who my parents are, so you know that I know who you and your family are. Bickslow, it's Xally, you have to go, NOW!'
The strangled whimper that escaped him at that point had Erik and Lucy's full attention, not knowing what to do, until he sprinted past them, grabbing their arms and dragging them with him, pulling yelps and curses.
"Lucy, send Virgo for our things, we have to get to Bosco and fast!" Bix snarled, drawing on his babies to gather in front of them and they began to flow, sending out shots of energy to clear the path in front of them of any obstacles. He took the lead, running ahead of them, not bothering to look back at the increase of magic that was coming from behind them.
Erik, however, had no issues looking back over his shoulder, just in time to see what appeared to be a rip in space appear, with a dark blue dragon head appearing in the opening before a bend in the path cut them off. After that Erik turned his gaze back to the path in front of him, questions flooding his mind at what he had seen. There was something bigger than he knew of happening, and he had a feeling that the soul he was hearing was going to at some point be at the center of it all.
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Back at the clearing Nathair curled up on himself and uttered the spell he had been taught before he left, watching as a swirl of magic appeared before him and cleared, showing him a moment of blue sky, green trees, and vibrant flowers. Taking a deep breath, he knew there was no way to really brace against the news that he was about to give his parents.
"Nathair? Son, what are you doing, you know this was to be used only in emergencies." A deep voice gently admonished as a dragon with maroon scales appeared, and bright green eyes appeared in the clear space.
"Venenum stop, of course he knows, so surely there's an emergency." A gentle feminine reprimanded even as Venenum ducked from view with a wince.
"Sorry my love."
"It's not me you have to apologize to, it's Nathair, but I'm sure that can wait until later. Now, Nathair, darling, what's the matter? Have you run into any trouble? You know you can come back if you need to and go back to looking for the your fathers lacrima later."
"Mother, father, please, I must hurry. I found the lacrima, it's actually in a Fairy Tail mage."
"Ooh I've heard good things about them, and I think their mages might be on par with White Sea when it comes to looks for their mages." Venenum hummed, his voice sounding rather intrigued. "And they're good mages, so that's a double plus..."
Sighing, Nathair shook his head at his mother, eyes imploring to let him finish. There was the sound of a yelp and then silence, and not once did his mother silver eyes leave his.
"I've quieted your father young one, now tell me, what's happening?"
"As I said, I've found the lacrima in a Fairy Tail mage, his name is Erik Vivas. He is also a sound mage, can hear souls. He's traveling right now, tracking down a soul that has, quite literally been driving him to the brink of actual insanity with it's tormented screams. I'm going to be going with them to help find the mage. But it's become a bit more complicated than we thought it would be."
"Oh dear...he's going to need help after this...and how is it complicated?"
"In an attempt to help him, I focused in on him, and the soul crying out for help. Mother...I was pulled into the soul, it's desperate for help. I was able to find out the area she's in, and get an idea as to what's been happening but...she's calling out for her family. One of which is already on their way to her, I sent him ahead with Erik and a celestial spirit mage, Lucy Heartfilia."
"Wait, did you say Lucy Heartfilia?" Large silver eyes blinked in shock.
"Yes I did, but mother, there's more. I don't know exactly what is happening, but it's Xally, mother. It was Bickslow with Erik who I sent ahead. I told them to get to the border as quickly as they could, and I'd meet up with them.
"Bickslow? Xally? As in Pradesh?" The whispered words had Nathair gulping, knowing that the anger that was sure to take over his mother would have many woodland creatures running for cover.
"I was able to connect with Bix, I recognized him immediately from your stories. I told him who I was, and who was calling out. I only figured out who it was because she was calling out to everyone in the family. I don't know how, but she was able to pull me through to her, and I was able to look out through her eyes for a split moment. She was in front of some type of reflective surface. She's surrounded by children, and I saw some of her memories. I don't know where exactly she is, but I know the area. It's Pergrande, she was captured by Pergrande, and they're in Bosco." Nathair rushed out, and for a moment he feared that her anger would make it past the opening between them. As it was, when his mothers eyes lightened further, he cringed, and was glad that his father was mated to her as it was the only thing keeping him from getting harmed.
He watched as she took a couple of deep breaths, before ducking out of view. Blinking, he saw his father ease into view with a worried look, ducking as various things started flying by him. A bush. A heavy chest. A crown. A throne. Another crown. A couple of heavy books that Venenum was quick to catch. Another slightly larger throne.
"Uh...Do I-" Nathair stopped when Venenum quickly shook his head and ducked back out of view, his mother appearing once more. Then Nathair quickly ducked as something small and silver looking flew through the opening and nearly ended up hitting him in the head. Hearing a slight tinktink as it hit the ground, he looked down, blinking at the key and the familiar design at the top of it.
"Why are you giving me dad's key?" Nathair asked blankly.
"You have a member of the Heartfilia line with you, who is a celestial mage. He has heard about her, and wants her to have his key. Hurry and get back to them, they're going to need all they help they can get with getting Xally back, and give the celestial mage his key. Honestly you'll probably end up getting drowned in happy tears as soon as you give it to her. Keep up posted on what's going on, but go, they can't move as fast as you can fly, help them get to Xally."
"Mother...there's one other thing."
"What's that?"
"Xally is...well...Xally is Erik's mate. And I don't know how much longer she has before her soul breaks, and I don't know that's going to effect Erik."
"Oh well isn't that just wonderful...dammit! Get to them, get them to Bosco, follow her souls call, and help them. Bix is probably already reaching out to his family for assistance."
"What about the two of you?"
"It's not time for us to reveal ourselves yet, but if absolutely needed, we may be able to help. Now go, keep in touch as you can, it's obvious there's more going on then expected."
"Alright. I miss you both."
"Oh darling, we miss you too. You'll see us again soon enough. Now go."
"Yes mother, see you soon." With that Nathair closed the viewing window and quickly scooped up the key on the ground with the tip of his tail, tucking it behind one of his scales and wedging it into place. Giving himself a quick shake, he stretched out his wings, and with a powerful surge, shot into the air, heading in the same direction as the others, looking for an opening that would allow him to duck down and scoop them up as well. He wanted to believe that they were over thinking everything, but the feeling he had told him that was far from the case.
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He was pushing himself, he knew he was, and while there was a small part of him was worried about the ban for seith mages in Bosco, the moment he had heard one of his sisters names come from thatt giant snake, the fear he felt for her far outweighed any fear he had for himself. His lungs were aching, his legs burning, and eyes itching with the tears he refused to let fall. There were so many possibilities of what had happened, none of them were good, if what Nathair said was true. He could hear Erik and Lucy not too far behind him, racing against the clock to reach the border of Bosco.
If it was his sister Xally, if it was her soul screaming out for help, but hadn't tried to reach out mentally for Kaleb, there was only so many things Bix could think of that would drive Xally not to do that. But he didn't waste much time dwelling on that, knowing he would have a harder time focusing if he did. Instead, he tapped into the mental link that was shared just within his family, not caring how frantic it came across to them.
'KALEB! Kaleb I know you can hear me!' Bix shouted mentally, never slowing his sprinting pace, promising those following him that he would find some way to make all of this sprinting up to them.
'Bix? Bix, what's going on?' Kalebs voice was quick to respond, worry and confusion clear in his mental voice.
'I need you to link me with everyone except for Xally, it'll explain everything!' Adding another mark to the growing list of times that Bix was grateful that Kaleb was able to do something like this.
'Alright, done, what's going on Bix?' Kaleb asked again.
'Bix? Son, what's happening?' Arman's voice sounded loud and clear through Bix's head, and he swallowed hard. He could only imagine how his father was going to take this bit of news.
'Whoa, family meeting much? A little warning would've been nice ya know!' Vander snarked, followed by a sigh.
'Shut it, all of you!' Bix shouted into the link, causing what few mutters were happening to cut off.
'Bickslow, what's going on?' Arman asked again into the silence, voice braced and calm.
'Kaleb, I need you to share my memories, starting about ten minutes ago, and for the love of all that is good and holy, keep comments to yourself after, we need to plan!' Bix snapped, starting to pant. He knew he was pushing himself too hard, but his drive to see his family safe was more important to him He felt the tap of power into his memories, and pushed what he had seen with Nathair to the forefront of his mind, making it easier to access. He heard the gasps of shock, the curses of mounting anger, and then he heard the anguished roars from two dragon slayers realizing their family, their kin, was in trouble.
'Bix, where are you?' Arman demanded, the growl in his voice causing the rest of his family to shiver. Arman may have been an Ambassador for Bosco, a peacekeeper, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to bring down the might of Bosco on anyone who dared to go against them.
'I'm on my way to the Fiore border, I'm getting to Bosco as quickly as I can, but it's still going to take us-shit!' Bix mentally cursed even as he yelped when he found himself getting flung into the air by a rather blunt nose, but years of practice kicked in, and he tucked himself mid-air, seeing the flying body of Nathair below him. He was quick to adjust his body and managed to land on Nathairs rather wide back, legs hooking around the front of his gliding wings to keep himself in place.
'Bix?! Bickslow!' Overlapping worried voices echoed through his head, and Bix winced for a moment before managing to respond.
'I'm alright, I'm alright, Lucy, Erik and I just got picked up, literally, by Nathair. We're heading for the border of Fiore, but I don't know how long it's going to take to get to Bosco, it's going to be about a week at least unless someone can come get us!' Bix cursed at how long it would take to get to Bosco, and how hard it was to hold onto the rather slick scales under himself.
'Hope you don't mind if I cut in, but I can get us there faster.' Nathair projected into Bix's mind, his mental voice being easily picked up on the family link.
'Bix? Who was that?!' Kaleb demanded, not being able to see through his brothers eyes for whatever reason at the moment.
'That's Nathair, sorry Kaleb, flying right now, little hard on the eyes with no barriers to protect against the wind!' Bix explained keeping his eyes squeezed shut.
'Nathair, you said you can get them here faster?' Arman spoke up, bringing the shocked mutters to a stop again.
'Yes but I need you to trust that I'll get them there in one piece, because the way I'm going to make it happen is going to cut the connection until we get there.' Nathair confirmed, moving at a much faster speed then the mages had been managing when running on the ground.
'Alright, do you know how to get here?' Arman asked, and from the tone of his voice, Bix could tell that he was already working on getting things together for help from the knights of Immaculate Light, and from White Sea mages.
'Mostly. Bix's memories are what's going to help the most, so for now, we'll see you when we get there. I'd advise heading that way now actually, for anyone who isn't already there.' Nathair explained.
'Any idea on how long you think you'll be?' Kaleb asked quickly, and Bix knew, he just knew that Kaleb was walking with his assistant Thane to his office, where his departure wouldn't draw too much speculate.
'Uh from here? Ten to twenty minutes? At the most?' Nathair hummed in thought for a moment.
'Wait, wha-' Was many of their confused responses.
'Gotta go!' With that Nathair cut the connection between Bix and the family himself, feeling the shock and confusion coming from his rider.
"Alright ladies and gents, please keep your arms, legs, hands, feet, and head inside of the ride at all times, oh and hold on tight!" Nathair called out, before taking in a deep breath, and as soon as he felt his riders hunker down closer to his back, he released the air he took in as a type of sound wave, watching as it spun into a opening similar to what he had used earlier to contact his parents, only much larger.
"Ok, hold on tight, close your eyes, and press down as close to me as you can. And no matter what happens, don't open your eyes, keep them shut!" Nathair called out, and after he received affirmative sounds, he gave a quick couple of testing flaps of his wings, eyes the darkness beyond the opening. Tapping into Bix's memories, and bringing to the forefront of his mind all of the stories he had been told about the Pradesh family, he focused on the back porch, the family porch, the welcoming front door, the elegant structure, the sound and smells of the house being so close to the grass sea. He took Bix's memories and layered them over what he had, building the picture further in his mind.
It felt like it took precious minutes, but as he watched the opening in front of him closely, he saw the same place appear in front of them, and with a victorious grin, he dove into the opening, tucking his wings close, and ignoring the screams that erupted from those he carried. A moment later the opening closed as they disappeared into it, and the magical pressure that had been building up around that spot dispersed, leaving the area calm once more.
