Chapter 9
Mason's body began to adapt to the surge of magic energy. His body absorbing his aura and his eyes returning to their natural red color. "You know what makes me mad the most though. It's not that you went and betrayed all of us, or that you're keeping me from getting to Jellal. It's not even that I just had a disgusting meal because of you. It's because you made me eat from this tower. This place, it still gives me nightmares all these years later. Now I feel it coursing through every inch of my body."
Percival stood, it took him awhile but he was eventually able to adjust to his opponents power surge. "Ha! Well don't worry kid, you won't be feeling much of anything soon." The old mage grabbed two more blades, but these weren't throwing knives they were meant for close range combat. Blood red pain magic began to surge through the blades. "It's gonna take more than a power boost to bring me down." Percival charged.
Mason stood still, balling up a piece of his cloak in his hand.
"TAKE THIS!" Percival swung the knives forward and Mason made no move outside of a small smile.
CLANG! "What the?!" Percival stood confused as his knives were blocked by the long blade of a katana.
"So?" Mason said as his blade was charged with magic energy of his own giving it a vibrant purple aura. "Ready for round two?"
"Grrr! You're asking for it now boy!" Percival, being surprisingly nimble for an old man, did a backflip before rushing Mason again. CLANG! Mason once again blocked. "Grrrr… Don't think you can beat me hand to hand. My magic power is far beyond yours!"
In response Mason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Hffmmmphhmm…." He opened them up once more and that's when the games where over. "PHANTOM DRIVE!" Mason's Iris' turned bright purple and magic energy started pouring from his body. Then Mason vanished in thin air.
"What the!? AAHHH!" Percival shrieked in pain as a long slash mark appeared across his back as Mason reappeared holding his sword in a different position. "GAAAHHH!" Percival dropped to his knees. "You cut me! Is that how the council is teaching it now? Dirty tricks to win a fight?" Percival stood back up. "Well excuse me if I do things a little more old fashioned." Red energy exploded from every inch of the guild masters body. "You should be proud of yourself kid! It takes a special kind of wizard to make me go all-AHHGG!" Percival was cut short as Mason thrusted his blade into the cloud of magic energy stabbing him below the rib cage.
"Ughh…" Percival grabbed at his wound as he slowly stood up straight. "Heh heh…" He chuckled weakly. "Well I'll be damned, who coulda guessed one of you council boy scouts had it in ya. So what, you're just gonna let me bleed out?"
"Quit being a baby, that's not gonna kill you." Mason said harshly as he sheathed his sword. "Now leave, it's over for you."
"Sorry kid.. Your buddy up there is promising me and my associates literal mountains of jewel. It's gonna take more than a flesh wound to keep me from my paycheck." Percival climbed back to his feet. "We aren't done playing, I'm not letting you into that room as long as I can stand. And every second you're out here with me is another second off the countdown clock towards etherion doomsday." Percival slowly and weekly began to reach for another knife.
"Then I'll just have to put you down for good." Mason thrusted his palm forward and used an energy blast to knock the blade away, before firing another blast at his enemies chest.
"AAAHHHHGGGHHH!. Heheheh. Got another one in ya Agh!" Percival choked as Mason grabbed him by throat and lifted him back into the air.
"I told you, I don't have time for you…" More magic power began to fly from the Dragon slayers body as he prepared to finish the old man.
"AGGGHH… Give it your best shot." Percival said through his collapsing windpipe.
"Okay. DRAGON SLAYER SACRED ART! CURSED SOUL UNHOLY SURGE!" Mason's body was slowly consumed by a bright purple glow before.
KABOOM! A large explosion erupted from the top of the tower of heaven. Meanwhile the walls of the room were blackened with ash as a collapsed Percival laid unconscious on the ground. "Now stay down.." Mason turned away from the beaten wizard as his drive faded. He slowly scanned the room before making a puzzled expression. "Now… Which door was the right one again?..."
"Hey!..." Percival was still conscious and he called back once more. "We aren't done here yet!"
Mason looked back over his shoulder, his eyes were cold, at this point he was completely overcome by his goal to reach Jellal and really didn't care anymore. "Enjoy the trip down."
With a telekinetic blast, Mason sent the old wizard out through the gaping hole in the at the very top of the tower. Without a second thought Mason turned back to the many doors in the giant room and took a deep whiff with his nose taking in the various scents of the tower. "Found you…"
(Magic Council Warship)
"Grrrr…." An ever-impatient Brosnan sat gritting her teeth as the colossal ship ever so slowly waded through the deep thick fog. "CAPTAIN HAMMER!" She called out for her second in command. "STATUS REPORT!"
"It's been almost half an hour and we don't seem to have made any forward progress. I fear the fog may be enchanted…But I already told you this sir... " Tyson replied in a tired tone.
"I know, I just hope that if I keep asking you the answer will eventually change. Ughhh…" Brosnan let out a bored sigh as she stared off into the cloudy horizon.
"Boss!..." The monotoned Amber tried her best to call down from her post, but her small voice made that hard. "I found something!..." Amber pointed her finger towards an unconscious floating percival.
"My god! Captain Percival!" Brosnan's eyes widened as she immediately recognized her former mentor. "Quick pull him in."
Brosnan, Tyson, and Amber took Percivals body to below deck and laid his body down on a bed. "Tyson, change his clothes. He's gonna freeze to death."
"Why do I?... Fine." The massive soldier began to remove his former allies' wet shirt.
"Boss I'm confused." Amber blurted out. "Who is this guy?"
"Oh yeah, you weren't around then were you?" Brosnan smiled, an extremely rare phenomenon. "This is Captain Percival, he was Head Captain before me. He was my mentor and he brought me into the Rune Knights. He was like a father to me."
"Ooohhhh…" Amber said without changing facial expressions. "But what is he doing here."
"That… Is a good question." Brosnan looked back as Tyson tended to the sleeping mage.
"I think I know." Tyson replied as he lifted up a piece of cloth, revealing Percivals chest and purple guild mark in the shape of a twisted laughing skull head. "He was hired. He's an assassin from the Death's Head Order. A Dark Mage."
"Well, you figured it out." The whole group jumped and turned to see that Percival had woken up and he was smiling at them from his bed. "Since you guys got the basic gist already I'll fill you guys in on the rest for old times sake. I'm not just a member of the Death's Head Order guild, I'm its master."
"What?!" Tyson jumped.
"Wh-what.." Brosnan stumbled backwards, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "But why?..."
"What can I say kid? A wizards gotta eat." Tyson sat up in his bed a disgustingly smug grin.
"No way… For money? You kill people for money? You… You're a traitor…" Brosnan began to shake as emotions started to build up inside.
"I don't really care what you think of me. Besides I shouldn't really be your top priority right now." The assassin commented, getting the room's attention. "Your boyfriend is on a bit of a rampage and he's in for a rude awakening when it comes to Lord Jellal. He's like no wizard I've ever seen before. He could beat that kid without so much as getting up from his seat. I'm almost certain that without backup he will die."
"I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself." Brosnan said coldly. "But regardless this is our mission not his, I'm going in. The rest of you tie up the traitor, make sure he doesn't escape. Or I'll have your heads."
"Oh I wouldn't be so hard on them if I was you." Percival spoke up again and when the captains looked back over he held a blade charged with grey magic energy. "None of you could've held me anyway." From the small glowing dagger an all encompassing smoke screen flooded through the entire room.
"ACK! ACK!... GODDAMNIT!" The smoke faded away and Percival had disappeared from his bed.
"Don't worry Boss. I can track him down." Amber said as she manifested her magic rifle and looked through the scope.
"Don't bother. He's more experienced than any of us, not even Tyson can match his cunning. We'll have to let him go… for now." Brosnan remained strong in her words, but her body shook with rage. "He was right though, we do have more important things to worry about like getting me onto that Tower."
"I hate to be the voice of negativity." Tyson spoke up. "But I don't think this boat is going to be able to maneuver this fog."
"Yes Captain, I'm well aware of that." The Head Captain turned back with a sinister smile plastered across her face. "That's why you're gonna throw me."
The hulking Tyson immediately went pale. "What…"
(Inside the tower, with Fairy Tail)
"Ughh! Gray, you're heavy!" A struggling blue cat cried out as he desperately began flapping his wings to stay airborne as he carried the shirtless mage down the shambling halls of the tower of heaven.
"Quit complaining, it's that idiots fault. If Natsu could just take care of himself then neither of us would be in this situation." Gray called back up to the cat. Then something caught the Ice Mage's eye. "Hey! I see the girls down their! Bring us down Happy!"
"Aye Sir!" The blue cat swooped down where the two met up with Lucy and Juvia but also Sho, Millianna and Wally.
"Woah! What the heck are these guys doing here!?" Gray took a battle stance as he stared down the once enemy wizards.
"Wait my love!" Juvia stood between Gray and the dark wizards. "They are no longer our enemies!"
"Huh? Seriously?" Grey returned to a normal stance as the other wizards bowed for forgiveness.
"Yeah, we're sorry." Millianna said as she and her friends continued to bow. "We though Jellal could take us to heaven, but we were wrong."
"Don't worry about it." Gray smiled prompting the dark wizards to lift their heads. "Anyway, we gotta get outta here. The council is about to drop an Etherion blast on our heads."
"Wait!" Lucy spoke up. "Where are Natsu and Erza?"
"I don't know about Erza, but Natsu and Simon are going after that Jellal guy." Happy spoke up for Gray.
"We can't just leave them!" Lucy cried back.
"Yeah, I agree…" Gray replied. "Let's go back for-"
BOOOMMM! CRASSHHH! The wall behind the wizards exploded into a cloud of smoke. From the plume of smoke the silhouette of a woman carrying a massive sword became visible, her eyes glowing a fierce golden yellow.
Eventually Brosnan emerged from the smoke and glared at the wizards. "You! Civilian wizards! Evacuate the tower at once!"
"Hey wait a second. Who the heck are you to tell us what to do."Gray said unwilling to back down.
"She appears to be a member of the Magic Council my love, look at the symbol on her chest." Juvia pointed out the blue insignia on Brosnan's body suit.
"Woah… She's beautiful." Lucy commented, causing her friends to look back at her with judgemental eyes.
"That wasn't a request." Brosnan slammed her giant sword down on the ground causing the entire tower to shake as she let out a bit of her power. "Leave NOW! There's a ship waiting for you that will take you to safety, but you must leave immediately. This is a Council Issue now."
"Right…" Lucy agreed followed by her friends nervously nodding their heads.
(With Mason)
WHOOSSH! Using telekinesis Mason forced open to large doors that led into another circular room. At the center was a massive blue crystal and decorating the walls were large open windows shaped almost like crosses.
"Well, well. Look who's here." A hooded man sat in a throne at the end of circular room. A few strands of blue hair could be seen through the hood as well as his sinister toothy grin. "The first of two Dragon Slayers and the first of two former prisoners. But the weakest of both of them."
Mason didn't respond to the taunting, he simply remained silent and stood motionless.
"In fact, you aren't even the strongest Rune Knight in the tower anymore." The hooded man jabbed again, but received no reaction from the Dragon Slayer. "But you want to fight me anyway, don't you?"
"Bingo." Mason said with a serious look in his eyes. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!"
Mason through both hands forward and from them a massive blast of energy erupted forward. "Hmmm.." Jellal stuck a single hand out and caught the blast before knocking it upwards blasting it through the ceiling above, he flipped his hood up to reveal his the sinister expression on his face. "And to think I expected a challenge from my dear old friend."
Jellal continued to taunt but Mason wasn't messing around. "PHANTOM DRAGON LANCE!" Mason cloaked himself in magic energy before rocketing forward towards the Dark Mage.
Jellal was effortlessly dodged the attack, causing mason to crash through the wall and out the top floor of the tower. "Great idea." The ever smug Jellal replied. "Let's take this outside." The blue haired wizard levitated out through the newly created hole after him. "Now where we… Huh?" Jellal looked around but Mason was nowhere to be seen.
"VANISHING FIST!" Suddenly Mason appeared in front of Jellal and struck him with a powerful uppercut, sending him flying higher into the sky. "PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!" Mason sent an energy ball after him causing a large explosion.
"GAAAHHH!" Jellal let out a grunt followed by a blast of golden energy that drilled through the cloud of smoke, but Mason blocked the attack with a magic barrier. "Well, I'll give you credit. You aren't as weak as I thought you were. I might even enjoy myself while killing you."
"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Mason finally changed expression to a signature cocky smile. "Besides. You haven't seen anything yet. PHANTOM DRIVE!" Mason's eyes turned a bright purple and his hair stood up and began to dance along with the surge of magic power that began to course through the wizards body. "DRAGON SLAYER FORBIDDEN ART! REAPERS CLAWS!" The magic power that had been pouring out of Mason's body now began to convene at his hand, robbing him of the vicious purple aura but creating a twin set of three fingered claws made of condensed magic energy. One of claws started bending towards Mason prompting Jellal to attack. "Well buddy, it's your move."
"If you wish… HHYYYAAAHHHH!" Jellal responded with another energy blast, three times the size of the last one.
"HAAAAHHH!" Mason thrusted his claw forward and slashed the golden energy to pieces, then with his other claw fired three identical energy blasts at his foe.
Jellal blocked this attack the same way he had done to Mason's earlier energy attack, just as the Dragon Slayer planned. "PHANTOM DRAGON ROAR!" A funnel of purple phantoms erupted from Mason's mouth and flew directly at Jellal.
"Heh." Jellal smirked as his body was surrounded by golden light, before he suddenly vanished like an afterimage.
"Huh?" Mason felt a presence behind him and quickly turned to find Jellal. "So fast…"
"Scorch my enemy Flame of Rebuke!" A vibrant golden flame jumped from Jellal's palm onto Mason quickly consuming him.
"AAGGHH!" Mason yelled in pain. "These Flames, they're stronger than Natsu's!" Mason screamed.
"That's unfortunate for you isn't it?" Jellal grinned maniacally as he watched the Dragon Slayer burn. "If I remember correctly, Phantom Magic is met with its Achilles Heel when it comes to Light and Fire magic. I may not be an expert in light magic but right now you're suffering the effects of one of the most powerful fire spells in existence! Now take this!" Jellal kicked the Dragon Slayer in the stomach with enough force to send him crashing back into his throne room which Jellal followed suit.
"You know what I find sad." Jellal continued to taunt as his feet tapped the ground as he landed, standing over the still burning Mason. "I expected as much from Erza, maybe even Salamander, but not from you. Truly a disappointment. You may have dished out some powerful spells, but none of them were cast with a single ounce of killing intent. You marched through my tower, through my guards, and even one of my elite hired soldiers to make our little reunion happen I had hoped you'd make things a little more interesting."
"That's because I never forgot.." Mason said weakly as flames danced over his body. "We're friends Jellal, you were my best friend… You were the first friend I ever had, I'm going to save you."
"Hah.. Haha.. HAHAHAHAH!" Jellal began to laugh uncontrollably. "This is hilarious. I thought I knew you pretty well, but you never struck me as the sentimental type, but I suppose that explains a lot even more than you know. If you truly wanted to be friends then you wouldn't have abandoned the tower all those years ago, but unfortunately for you that's when our friendship ended. I'll let you on another bit of information for old times sake, there is none of the me you knew left to save." Jellal bent down to whisper that last point into the burning Mason's ear.
WHOOSH! Suddenly a broadsword flew through the air and landed between the two mages, startling Jellal and causing his focus to waiver, freeing Mason from the flames.
Mason looked up to find Erza standing at the doorway, her hair up in a ponytail and her chest bound by bandages. "Good to hear." She said raising her Katana and taking a combat stance. "If there's nothing left to save than I won't make the mistake of trying."
(End)
