Yay, new chapter! Enjoy, guys!
DISCLAIMER: I do nt own Fairy Tail, that privilege goes to Hiro Mashima. I only own this story and the original characters within.
Chapter 8: Ashes to Ashes
"Moon Dragon's Lunar Rays!"
Dia brought her hands together, focusing magic at her palms and firing it out in slender arks speeding through the air. But as the spell raced towards Dia's target, the thief leapt out of the way, prompting a scowl on the part of the Dragon Slayer. Her opponent lifted her arm up, preparing her own counter attack.
"Ash Flower!" The female thief swung her sword—a silver katana wrapped in red ribbon—in a downward slash. A cloud of ash exploded from the tip of the blade and headed straight towards Dia. The snowette growled low in her throat, turning a front flip to dodge the burning dust.
"You were a fool to come after me by yourself, brat." The thief flipped strands of steel-gray hair over her shoulder, staring with cold yellow eyes. Reaching under the collar of her dingy travelling cloak, pale fingers pulled a thin silver chain out. Dia's scowl deepened when she caught sight of the glowing, silver-white lacrima hanging from the chain by a simple silver frame. Her mother's—Lumina's—Moon Lacrima.
"Is this little bauble really that important to you?"
Dia twitched. That lacrima was NOT some little bauble. "You tell me. You're the one that attacked my home to steal it…"
The thief replaced the lacrima with a disinterested sigh. "A job is a job. And this one requested two special lacrima from an out-of-the-way island, no questions asked. And honestly, I couldn't care less what you think or have to say. The fact of the matter is you're in my way…"
The mysterious woman leapt forward, sword raised to slash at Dia. The female Dragon Slayer rolled to the side, releasing a blast of moonlight at her opponent's side. As much as she hated to admit it, the woman was right. It was incredibly stupid of Dia to rush off on her own.
…
She had been partnered up with two other girls from that wizard guild, the redheaded Requip mage Erza Scarlet, and the blonde Celestial mage Lucy Heartphilia. Dia hadn't exactly been happy about that. She would have been content either on her own or teamed up with her brother. But for the sake of this mission, she would keep her mouth shut. She decided to put up with this situation until the Moon was back in the hands of the village. Then that would be that.
I don't want anything to do with guild wizards, she thought. When you mix wizard guilds and me together, all you get is trouble…
When all the "teams" went down their assigned pathways, Dia kept to the back of hers, silent and only replying to questions with a nod or shake of her head. Aglaia remained perched on top of her head, eagerly chatting away with the two other girls.
The little cat had always been like that. Aglaia had been around ever since Dia found her as a child, newly hatched from an egg. Oddly enough, the little feline had picked up on Phoebus' happy-go-lucky attitude, the opposite of Dia's silent and introverted personality. Aglaia liked meeting new people and making friends and unlike Dia, she was comfortable around just about everyone.
"So Dia…what were your dragons like?" It was the only thing she could think to ask, hoping to break the ice with the silent girl, but Lucy squeaked when Dia's cold eyes fixed on her. Squirming under her intense gaze, the blonde hid quickly behind Erza, peeking warily over the redhead's shoulder. The Moon Dragon Slayer had quickly dropped her gaze back onto the ground and stared her feet.
Dia bit her lower lip. She wasn't keen on the idea of talking about her parents. She still had a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions to sort through. So much was swimming in her head that it was hard to think straight. She felt betrayed. Abandoned. Torn. Helios and Lumina vanished without a trace. How could they leave without even telling her or Phoebus? Not only that, but instead of her dragon parents being gone just for a few days, it had been a whole fourteen years. And the fact that all of the dragons disappeared just made her confused and pissed off. Every single one of them, even the dragons who had human children to take care of. Gone.
Natsu and Wendy, they must have been little kids when Igneel and Grandine vanished. How could they do that to them? How could Mother and Father do that to us? Dia didn't know what was going on, and she hated it.
"Helios and Lumina…were very kind. Lumina was patient and gentle and Helios was very strong, if not a little hard-headed…Despite the fact that my brother and I are humans, they accepted us as their own…"
"Yup!" Aglaia cried happily. "They never once tried to eat me when Dia found me."
"Although, Father never really approved of trespassers on the island." Dia looked back up, a blank stare fixed onto her face. "Natsu and Wendy might have gotten through with no trouble, as the children of other dragons, but the rest of you…Well, Father would have tried to roast you if he caught a whiff of your scents."
"WHAT?!" Lucy shrieked. "Why would he do that?"
"Don't shout so loudly…Dragons are territorial," Dia said, like it was painfully obvious. "This island is our home, and as dragons, Mother and Father were always fiercely protective of their territory and the creatures living here. It's why they were considered the guardians of this island…But now they're gone, and those thieves came…"
I will destroy them…They will pay for what they've done…
Trespassing on the island. Attacking part of her home. Bringing harm to the villagers that had given her and her brother so much over the years. Desecrating the village's sacred temple with their presence. And stealing from her mother and father while they weren't there to stop it.
It infuriated her…
Moonlight shimmered around Dia's body, pulsing in time with her gray eye, which glowed fiercely. The air around her buzzed with intense energy that even Erza stepped back and regarded the white-haired Dragon Slayer cautiously. It wasn't any surprise really, Dragon Slayers were known to be incredibly powerful, and if anyone knew that, it was the wizards of Fairy Tail. But this was different.
The power Dia conjured up was more intense, raw, totally different from the magic pressure Natsu, Gajeel, or even Laxus could summon up when they got serious. It felt far greater than the aura surrounding her appeared with a wild, animal-like flair to it. But there was something about this power that put the mighty Erza Scarlet on edge. Dia's magic had an ominous taint to it, something dark and foreboding that tried to push everything else away from the young woman. It was like Dia's magic had a mind of its own and was trying to intimidate her. Although Erza's mind recognized that there was no real reason for it, she still felt cold fear run down her spine and she shivered.
There was just something not right about Dia's magic. It felt off. Erza immediately recalled memories of her past. Jellal losing his mind and taking over the Tower of Heaven, threatening to kill their friends if Erza ever returned. And that confrontation years later, where she and Natsu fought against her old friend.
Jellal, possessed by an evil spirit, driving him insane.
Madness. That was it. While Dia didn't give off the impression of being possessed, the aura of madness clung to her, oozing out like slime and surrounding the girl like a fog. It was pure insanity, simple as that.
The girl's eyes clouded over, glazed by a far off look that Erza wasn't sure what was going through her mind. But she got the impression that this power, whatever it was, wasn't directed at her and Lucy. Even so, the Requip wizard was on her guard.
"Dia…DIA!" The girl in question started as a furry tail slapped down on her face. Like a flash of lightning, the aura around her disappeared, taking the ominous feelings of fear and insanity with it. Dia blinked up at her Exceed with blank, doll-like eyes.
"Are…Are you okay?" Lucy's hand reached tentatively for the other's girl's hand. Dia flinched away from the outstretched fingers, face guarded and expressionless as she turned her head away. Her golden bangs draped across her face, hiding it from the worried glances cast her way.
"It's…nothing."
"It didn't seem like nothing," Erza stated, more wary than ever. Was Dia even aware of the strange aura she had cast out just seconds before? Erza didn't know if she could trust this female Dragon Slayer. While her twin and her Exceed partner seemed kind enough, this girl stood apart from them. Dia's strange power made her a wild card, and her distant behavior made it uncertain whether she could be an ally or not.
Dia stiffened. "It's nothing. I just…!"
The snowette tensed, head cocked to the side slightly, as if she was listening for some sound the others couldn't hear. Aglaia cried out as Dia jerked forward suddenly, tumbling off the snowette's head. Her wings saved her from a dusty fall, but she looked up at her human partner worriedly. Dia pushed her way past Erza and Lucy, running down a dark tunnel without a second glance back.
"Dia!"
"Come back!"
"Diana!"
…
And that's how Dia managed to get herself into this latest mess.
"Ah!" The white-haired Dragon Slayer recoiled, screaming as a cloud of ash burned her leg. Dipping down, Dia sent a wild punch, smashing a moonlight-enforced fist into the side of the thief's knee. The other girl grunted and slid away, catching Dia's arm with the edge of her blade. A thin layer of ash coating the sword sent a jolt of searing pain through her limb.
"You'll pay for that! Moon Dragon's Nightingale Palm!" Thrusting an open palm forward, Dia sent a swirling blast of silvery light at the thief, blowing away the ash and sending the other woman back a few feet. Springing up and ignoring the searing pain in her thigh, Dia clapped both her hands together. "Moon Dragon's Tsukihana no Mai!"
Hundreds of little flecks of moonlight exploded from Dia's fingertips, swirling like a cyclone of silver petals.
"Ashen Rose!"
The thief let loose a cloud of ash that hit Dia's spell dead on, causing a powerful blast that knocked the Dragon Slayer off her feet. She came crashing down on her injured leg, screaming as she fell into a pile of smoldering ash left over from a previous spell. The burning soot seared into her side, aggravating the burn on her leg further and adding new ones to her body. Dia pushed herself away and rolled onto her back, hands gripping her injured side tightly as pain spread through her body.
It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…Just like, just like back then!
Dazed by the pain, Dia inwardly cursed herself. She was a complete, utter fool. Why did she think she could handle this on her own? Spending so much time inside the lacrima had made her skills rusty, her body slow. And she knew the thieves were no pushovers, the fact that they managed to overwhelm Hestia was proof enough. The village's head priestess was one of the strongest mages one the island.
Idiot. Fool. Diana, you absolute moron!
Her mental rants were cut short when something cold and sharp slid underneath her chin. Gold and silver eyes glanced down and saw the glint of steel through the pain-induced tears. Standing above her, holding the sword against her neck, was the female thief.
"So this is the extent of your strength, Dragon Slayer?" she sneered. "Pathetic. You aren't even worthy of such a title."
Dia grit her teeth, voice coming out in a snarl. "Shut up…Who do you think you are?!"
Reaching up, the woman pushed the hood down from her head, letting her steel-gray hair loose and fan out around her shoulders, framing a sharply angled face. Dull yellow eyes stared down at Dia and she could make out the top of a guild mark on the woman's pale neck.
"Kyria of the Succubus Eye guild." The dark wizard pressed down ever so slightly on her sword, its blade nicking the skin of Dia's neck. She could feel a drop of blood roll down the side of her neck where it fell into her hair.
Kyria seemed to focus on that small drop of crimson against snow white hair, her yellow eyes warming up by the tiniest of fractions with sadistic delight. A twisted smirk tugged at the woman's thin lips.
"How fitting that this would happen," Kyria chuckled darkly. "I've heard stories of you, the Dragon Slayer of the Moon. People called you 'The Moon Empress', a proud, cold queen who pushed everyone away from her. A wizard as unattainable as the moon in the night sky. You have always been alone. It's only fitting that you should die alone as well."
In one swift motion, Kyria lifted her sword up, replacing the blade with her booted foot. Dia choked as the heavy rubber sole pressed down against her throat, blocking her airway. The Succubus Eye wizard kept her stony gaze on the younger wizard as she raised her sword high in the air, blade aimed to pierce her heart.
N-No! It can't end like this…I won't let it!
The Moon Dragon Slayer refused to just lie down and die, she was too damn proud to give up. Damn it, she was Diana Solaris, daughter of Helios and Lumina, the King and Queen of the Cosmos! She was the Moon Empress! There was no way she was going to let everything end like this.
"You…won't win!" Dia gathered up her magical energy for one of the simplest—but most effective—spell in her repertoire. She felt her magic pulse through her body, a faint silver glow surrounding her. Her vision became tinted by the same silver haze and Dia figured it was her gray eye glowing. She never did understand it; her silver eye always glowed when she cast her magic. It was the same with Phoebus (although in his case, her brother's gold eye glowed).
"…Goodbye." As the Ash wizard thrust her katana down, Dia released the power she had brought together with a cry.
"Moon Dragon's Lunar Pulse!"
Moonlight exploded around Dia, creating a blinding flash of light that illuminated the entire cave and the surrounding tunnels. Kyria, whose blade had been centimeters away from Dia's chest, staggered as the light left her stunned, throwing an arm across her eyes to keep from going blind.
It left her wide open. But before Dia had a chance to move, a male voice shouted out.
"Regulus Impact!"
Just as the light from Dia's spell died down, a smaller one slammed into Kyria, knocking the dark wizard clear across the area. The woman smashed into a wall, cracking it on impact and dropping to her knees.
A pair of strong arms gently lifted Dia into a sitting position and she was confronted by a handsome young man wearing a black suit with a wild mane of bronzy orange hair. The man flashed a dazzling smile, eyes shining brightly from behind a pair of sunglasses. A ring sparkled brightly on one of his fingers, pulsing with the same magic as the light that had saved her.
Was it…him? Who is this guy?
"Looks like I made it just in time," he said. "It would be a tragedy to see such a beautiful queen struck down right in front of us."
"'Us'?" Dia blinked, disoriented from her spell's blinding flash. She had acted on a quick impulse in choosing her spell, but she had neglected to close her eyes as it was activated. Thanks to her training over the years, Dia had built up a resistance to bright lights. But even though she couldn't become blind from moonlight, that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
"Loke, now's not the time for flirting!"
Dia and the man called "Loke" turned around to see Lucy and Erza running up to them. A shimmering gold key was held in Lucy's hand, while Erza donned a strange-looking set of armor. It barely covered her upper body, but had silver gauntlets for her arms, and a wide, poufy hoop skirt. Two swords were clutched in the Requip mage's hands, but there were a few more blades floating independently around her. Erza's famous Heaven's Wheel armor.
"Lucy, Erza…" As the two Fairy Tail wizards approached, Dia struggled to her feet.
"Hey, you're hurt pretty badly!" Lucy exclaimed. "Please, try not to move so much!"
"N-No, I'm fine…"
"DIA!" A ball of red fluff launched itself from Erza's shoulder and Aglaia buried her face against her human partner's chest, tears pouring down her face. "I-I was so w-worried about y-you!"
Immediately, a wave of guilt poured through Dia. She hadn't meant to worry Aglaia, who looked up to Dia as an older sister figure. Holding her Exceed tight, she murmured apology after apology.
The Fairy Tail wizards (and Loke) took one look at the burns spread across Dia's side and turned furious, loathing glares to the Ash wizard pulling herself up. Erza gripped her swords tightly in her fists.
"First you attack and rob a village, now you dare to hurt one of our friends?" Her brown eyes narrowed dangerously. "You shall pay for this."
"Harming any lady is really…unforgiveable." Loke pushed his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose.
Dia stared up at them in wonder. "Guys…But why?"
Lucy grinned brightly, tossing Loke's Gate key in her hand. "What do you mean 'Why'? Like Erza said, you're a friend. And Fairy Tail is always there to help our friends!"
Dia blinked, not believing what she saw. A flash, a fragment of a memory long forgotten. A different face overshadowed Lucy's, but smiling that same exactly smile. But why? Why did this seem familiar?
"What…?"
The three advanced on the lone wizard of Succubus Eye. Cornered, Kyria held her sword in front of her offensively, clouds of ash rising up around her.
"Tch, Titania Erza and a Zodiac Spirit, bad odds." She stepped back further against the wall. "Mark my words, Fairy Tail. This won't be the last you've seen of us! Ashen Cloud!"
With a wave off her hand, the ash engulfed Kyria, swirling around her like a smoke bomb. Erza threw one of her swords into the cloud, only to hear the dull clang of steel embedding itself into stone. Loke stood protectively in front of his summoner, his ring "Regulus" glowing, as the ash cloud raced out of the cave into one of the tunnels leading back outside. Kyria was nowhere to be seen, but a small object was left in her place.
Erza picked up the chain and examined the small, marble-like crystal hanging from it. It was almost hard to believe such a tiny little trinket could cause so much of a fuss, but Erza knew better. Like the Lullaby flute, objects with magical power could look harmless enough. But looks can be deceiving.
The red-haired wizard turned and approached Dia, a triumphant smile gracing her lips as she presented the Moon to the other girl. Dia accepted it with a shaking hand, but held it close to her heart the moment her fingers touched the lacrima's smooth surface.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you so much!"
Lucy smiled warmly, kneeling by the snowette's side to pull one of Dia's arms across her shoulders. "Let's head back to the village. Maybe one of the other groups found the Sun. they could be waiting for us."
Tucking the precious crystal into her bag, Dia allowed Lucy to help her to her feet, burnt leg trembling as she hissed in pain. Loke sidled up o the two girls.
"Here. I've got her, Lucy." Quickly, and carefully, the Celestial Spirit lifted Dia up, making sure her burns didn't brush against his hands or the fabric of his suit. Aglaia, who had been briefly introduced to the Leader of the Zodiac Spirits before their sudden entrance, sat on the Lion's shoulder close to Dia.
"Hopefully Wendy is at the village now," the red-furred Exceed mewed anxiously. "Either that, or Hestia has some of her burn balm…"
"It's nothing." Dia lied. "Really, it doesn't hurt as much as it looks."
Judging from the looks on the others' faces, no one was buying it. Heck, Dia wasn't buying it. The burn ran along the side of her leg, from just below her hip to half-way down her calf. Part of her ribcage had been burned as well, although not as badly as her leg, where the skin was lobster red. Dia liked to think that it was her Dragon Slayer magic that had prevented her injuries from becoming worse. After all, a Dragon Slayer generally had a more durable body meant for using their magic but also eating their respective elements. So Dia was sure that she could bounce back easily from this without having to rely too heavily on Sky magic.
As the group made their way back above ground, Dia closed her eyes and forced her body to relax.
Never in a million years did I think I'd actually be cooperating with a wizard guild, not after what happened. Fourteen years of sleeping, I must be going soft…
Regardless of her feelings on the situation, Dia knew one thing for sure. Life was never going to be the same.
And there we go, both Lacrima have been recovered, and the identities of the mysterious thieves have been revealed! (sort of...) And this may not be the last time we see these two Succubus Eye wizards.
Well, let me know what you think. I love the feedback! Bye!
