A Magi's Tale

by C.O.Y.L

Shirou Emiya is a third-rate Magus. His skills centered more on fighting than anything else. He is also altruistic, he would help as much as he could wherever he could. And sometimes that can cause misunderstandings. Guest reviews now moderated.

11. Dorma Anim: I

Disclaimer: The rights to both Fate/Stay Night and Fairy Tail belong to each of their respective companies. I am under no obligation to say that I own both, even though I wish I did.

Hmm, maybe I should tone down my brain some. I've got four, hear that? Four upcoming stories. Three of which are crossovers. From a Kara no Kyoukai and Another crossover, to a Blazblue and Fate/Stay Night crossover that doesn't feature Shirou (Though, a part of him is still there… sorta.) A Fate/Stay Night and Majikoi crossover (clichés, clichés everywhere! I'm looking at you Taiga.) And the last one is just Rise Before Dusk's newest chapter that I'm just too lazy to rewrite (I say rewrite because… remember the computer crash that deleted all my files? That included half of Rise Before Dusk's.) Add to the fact I found an Android app that lets me read light novels that are translated, schoolwork through the roof, and my laziness. Everything is gonna go slow… at least, in my terms.

You guys have no idea how lucky you are though. I've seen people update, and most of them just don't update weekly, heck, they update bi-monthly. I consider my readers lucky cause I try and get a chapter out every week. In the last year alone, I've written 50+ chapters for 3 different stories. That's a rather big feat, at least, in comparison to most other people… wait, do I write a chapter every week? Damn, that's a lot more than I accounted for really.

Guys, for the love of all that is good and holy. Stop mentioning that fic. I only keep mentioning that fic because you guys keep mentioning it. I'm making my opinion about it known so as to discourage people from mentioning it to me. But you guys just won't let it go and keep asking why I don't like it, or what's the problem with it. If you're really curious, PM me, don't review and ask. Review the story, not the writer's own personal feelings about somethings. I'll gladly tell you what I think of that story if you're all so interested.

Anyway, this chapter should be pretty heavy on the actiony parts. So you can all grab onto your seats and watch as Shirou and the rest of the Fairies try and deal with a dragon.

And regarding Ellen, no. It ain't a crush. Wendy has a crush on Shirou yes, but Ellen, not so much.

XxX

She woke up groggy and sore.

Not that she could find anything wrong with that though. She remembered that she had been fighting against Knightwalker, and had let her guard down and promptly gotten blindsided by a giant of a man that probably had more hair than necessary.

Maybe they should have kept Natsu, and let Lucy go with Mystogan and the others. Lucy was a strong mage, don't get her wrong. But she wasn't really a direct confrontation mage, her spirits did the fighting most of the time, and even though she had recently tried to fight alongside her spirits, she still had a long way to go before she would actually contribute to anything more than a distraction against more skilled opponents.

She propped her elbows on the stone floor, shaking her head as she tried to clear away the grogginess that was attributed to waking up after a battle. She looked around her, trying to determine where exactly she was and who exactly she was with.

She had turned her face to the right, and met face to face with Natsu.

Normally, this wouldn't have surprised her, but the fact that Natsu's face was just a few inches away from hers nearly gave her a heart attack.

But she didn't shriek, that would be unbecoming and out of character for her. No, Erza Scarlet did not shriek, she shouted and squealed, but she did not shriek.

She punched people, and while getting surprised, that was usually her first reaction.

She straightened up quickly, before she threw a hard right cross and hit Natsu square on the cheek, sending the pink-haired mage reeling back as her metal grieves added to the power behind the punch.

"Ow!" Natsu yelped as he held his cheek and fell to the floor. She blinked once, before she retracted her hand and put it to her side, all the while staring at the poor Dragon Slayer that had been subject to her punch.

"That hurt like hell Erza!" Natsu whined on the floor, before he turned around and glared at her. "Why'd you go and punch me for?!" Natsu demanded her, and she found that she couldn't help but shake her head.

"Sorry Natsu," She apologized as she held a hand up to her head. Her grogginess was gone, but she could still feel some bruises and aching bones that resulted from having fought Knightwalker. "You just surprised me is all." She finished lamely as she looked away from him.

She heard a laugh, and turned towards the owner. Gray was standing right beside Wendy and a half-conscious Lucy, and was currently bent over and pointing at Natsu while laughing. "D-did you guys see that? She just chucked him a punch and he fell over!"

"Wendy? What are you doing here?" She called out to the blue-haired girl, ignoring the coming fight between the two idiots that was sure to follow. She didn't have time to make them stop fighting, she needed answers.

"Erza, uhm…" Wendy looked down, seemingly unsure how to answer her question. "We um… We couldn't get to the Lacrima crystal."

What? "You couldn't?" She repeated, sitting up straighter even at the protest of her aching body. Why couldn't they? Did something happen? No, wait, Wendy was here, wherever here was, so of course something went wrong.

Wendy nodded her head at her, before the blue-haired girl looked down with sad eyes as she continued to mend some of Lucy's wounds. "I- I mean, we, were on our way to the crystal. But someone ambushed us with a… a weird cannon thing." Wendy's voice was lamenting, but she pressed on. "They took us by surprise, and they fired, they sucked our magic away, I-I couldn't do anything, we couldn't s-save anyone."

Her felt her eyes soften at seeing the young girl start sniffing, an obvious sign she was about to cry. "Wendy…" She began before she tried to stand.

"No!" She blinked at the sudden shout from the girl. She looked at Wendy, confused as to why she would suddenly shout. She saw Wendy blush, before she looked down at Lucy and mumbled the next few words. "You're still hurt, so you shouldn't strain yourself. I'll get to you next."

She smiled, the girl was shy yes. But she could be firm if she wanted to. She didn't doubt that in a few years, she would be both the nightmare and dreams of any boy.

"It's not your fault Wendy." She blinked as she turned around to face Natsu, who had been the one to speak up. "We couldn't know if an attack would come. We thought there wouldn't be one cause Mystogan was all secrety and chose to make Erza, Lucy, and Gajeel a distraction. We didn't know they would see right through us." The Dragon Slayer's words were wise, and she wasn't at all surprised that he spoke like that. Natsu had a way of cheering people up after all. But then she saw the sight the Dragon Slayer and the Ice Mage were in, and couldn't resist sighing. This was the position he was going to use to comfort someone? Really?

"Natsu…" Wendy whispered, looking up at Natsu. And even though the position was weird, with Natsu having gotten into a headlock battle with Gray, with one side trying to push the other down and vice versa, Wendy didn't seem to mind. She just looked up at Natsu and smiled before she nodded. "You're right."

She sighed again as he heard something crack from the two fighting mages. Right, time to clear up their fighting. "Natsu! Gray!" She knew this tone would scare both mages, and she was satisfied when both mages suddenly straightened themselves and threw their arms over their shoulders in a rather pathetic way of showing fake camaraderie.

"We're not fighting!" They both chorused together, looking at her while forcibly smiling to prevent their nervousness from showing.

She shook her head at their antics, before she turned back towards Wendy. "Natsu is right you know." She didn't know the exact story, but she could at least trust Natsu's judgment on these kinds of things. "I don't know the full story, but if you were taken by surprise, then you shouldn't say you couldn't do anything. You forced the enemy to come after you after all." That was the best advice she could give the girl.

"Yeah," A weak voice sounded. She looked over at Wendy's lap, where Lucy's head was resting on, and found the blonde awake and cognizant. "They're both right Wendy, you can't blame yourself for something you had no control over." Lucy smiled at Wendy, a strained, but otherwise sincere smile. "So hold your head up high, you're part of Fairy Tail aren't you?"

Wendy's smile broadened, before she nodded her head. "Okay!" She exclaimed before she renewed her looking over the blonde. She couldn't resist smiling as well, Fairy Tail, even after all these years being together with the members, she couldn't get used to the ease they used when cheering other people up. And she hoped she would never get used to it.

She looked away from Wendy and Lucy, purposely ignoring Natsu and Gray – who were both trying to subtly choke each other using the arms hung over their shoulders – and focused on the surroundings. She saw Gajeel a few feet away from their group looking towards a random direction, but she didn't see Mystogan.

"Where's Mystogan?" She asked to no one in particular. She would have thought the people that had captured them would place them all in a same cell or something, but from the surroundings, she wasn't in any cell whatsoever. She saw a hole on a wall a few feet away from them, but otherwise, nothing seemed strange… wait, was that the Dragon Chain Cannon?

"He's over there." Before she could scrutinize the cannon, she heard Gajeel speak before the Iron Dragon Slayer pointed towards the direction he was facing. She saw Mystogan a good distance away from them, looking up with his coat billowing as wind entered the room they were in. He appeared to be speaking, and when she looked up, she found the people he was speaking to.

"Is that… the king?" She asked, again to no one in particular.

"Yeah," Gajeel answered for her. "He's trying to get the king to step down so that Mystogan can take his place." She looked over at Gajeel, surprised at what he had said. Gajeel's reply to her questioning look was to shrug. "Not like our previous plans worked anyway." Well, that was true… but still, why was he speaking so brazenly when the King could just order his knights to- wait, where were the Knight Captains?

"Where are-" She began, but was cutoff as Gray answered for her.

"Knightwalker's fighting the other guy." Gajeel said hastily, confusing her even more. Other guy? What other guy?

"His name is Shido Damien!" Natsu answered her unasked question. Shido Damien? Who was that? Another Knight Captain? "And the cat knight is up there with the king." Natsu then pointed towards another direction, towards the opposite end of the room, and when she turned towards it, she found the frozen form of Sugarboy. "And there's the weird armored guy pretty boy."

Well, that accounted to almost all of them, but still… who was Shido Damien?

"I think," A new voice sounded from another direction, and when she faced it, she was met with two forms of knights in the armor of the Edolas army. "You mean Sir Shirou Emiya." Shirou Emiya? The person that injured Gajeel? He was fighting Knightwalker?

"Ehh, whatever." Natsu's voice sounded dismissive. "He's a good guy, so his name isn't important. I'll just call him good guy... but he kills people, so does that make him a good guy?" Natsu's last statement made her look towards Natsu in alarm.

"He kills people?" She whispered her question, but Natsu heard nonetheless and nodded his head at her.

"Yeah, he killed a Knight Captain on his way here I think. I don't like that he did it, but I think I understand why. The Knight Captain would have killed his friends over there." Natsu pointed towards the two knights that were on the opposite end of his position.

"What are you on Flamebrain!" Gray shouted as he threw a fist and hit Natsu's head. "Killing's bad, no two shits about it!" Gray chastised the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Hey watch it!" Natsu ignored the chastisement and chose instead to get angry at Gray for hitting him. "And I know that! I just said I understand why he would do that! I never said I wasn't angry over it ice for brains!"

"Wanna repeat that asshole?!" Gray advanced and put his fists up. Natsu mirrored his action and pounded his head at Gray.

"You want some you prick?!" Natsu shouted back. She sighed, really, why couldn't they get along?

"Natsu! Gray!" She shouted again, wanting to diffuse the situation before it escalated. "No fighting!" Immediately after she said that, both men parted from their positions, but not before giving one another one last stink eye.

She shook her head. Now really wasn't the time.

"Sir Shirou isn't a bad person." She looked towards the two knights that were friends of the person called Shirou. She looked at the more petite one of the two, and found that it was a woman. "He knows that killing is wrong, and he doesn't want to kill anyone. He just wants to save everyone. That is why he is so chivalrous." The way the woman was saying it almost seemed worshipful, which was a little disconcerting.

"Indeed." The other knight agreed with a nod of his head. "Sir Shirou chooses to save everyone, even his enemies. But if his hands are forced, he can kill people."

Well, she can't say she didn't admire that kind of trait, wanting to save everyone. But still… why can't he hold back? Killing people means that they can't be saved anymore. Couldn't he talk to people? And- wait, didn't they say he was fighting Knightwalker?

She moved to stand, but Wendy's sharp voice stopped her from doing so. "Not yet Erza!" Wendy shouted at her, trying to get her to sit down on the ground and not move. But she wasn't deterred.

"Sorry," She apologized to Wendy, but made no move to obey her plead. "I have to stop them from killing each other." Knightwalker was an opponent openly ready to kill people, if she fought someone like that as well, then either one – if not both – would die.

She heard a snort, and turned towards the voice. It was Gajeel. "Don't bother." He told her, not taking his eyes off Mystogan. "Mystogan said to distract Knightwalker while he does his thing. That guy volunteered to be a distraction."

"Can he handle her?" She couldn't help but ask. Knightwalker was on the same level as her, and she had been hard-pressed to actually try and defeat the other redhead. She could understand defeating Gajeel, but… No, maybe she was being too presumptuous. She shook her head before anyone could answer her question. "Let me change the question. Will they both be alright?"

"They'll both be alright." She looked towards Natsu, who was strangely quiet all of a sudden. "I saw them fight, the Shido can handle himself, and he won't kill Knightwalker."

"How do you know that?" Despite the fact that this was Natsu she was talking to, she couldn't help but ask. There was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that told her that something could go wrong, and she remembered a book that once stated 'If something can go wrong, it will go wrong'. A little pessimistic, but she could understand the logic behind it.

Natsu just tilted his head at her, confused by her question. For a second, she thought he wouldn't answer, but then Natsu just shrugged his shoulders and pointed his chin at Mystogan. "Cause I trust Mystogan's judgment."

She allowed a small smile to appear on her face, before she sighed and sat back down on the ground. Really, of all the answers he could have given, he just gave the simplest one. "Alright then." She said as she sat down next to Wendy and Lucy. Her back turned from the hole in the wall, and facing towards Mystogan's form over the distance.

"So," She began, looking at Wendy and Lucy before giving them a questioning look. "What else is happening?" She asked.

Lucy tried to shrug, but was held down by the petite blue-haired girl. For a gentle and shy girl, Wendy could sure be pushy when she needed to. "Don't move Lucy." Wendy chastised as she continued to heal the blonde's injuries.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized immediately, giving the girl a small smile before moving her eyes towards hers. "I just woke up myself Erza. I have no idea what's happening at all."

"Mystogan's gonna try and usurp the king's throne, that other guy's fighting Knightwalker, nothing else." She heard Gajeel answer. "Don't know Mystogan's gonna do it, but he's making it happen." She looked over towards Mystogan, and saw that he was speaking again, this time gesturing through the air as he explained whatever it was he was saying. She then looked up, and saw the absolutely stoic face of the king looking down on his son. The man didn't hold any anger in his eyes, only disappointment, which was disconcerting really, it seemed like the king wasn't worried at all.

"Why do you suppose the king is calm?" She asked, not really sure if anyone will answer.

"Because the king has dealt with people claiming the throne before." She heard the female knight answer. "Did you not think someone else will try and get their hands for the throne? The reasons may differ, greed, power, and now for the people. But the end goal is the same, to take the throne from the king."

"The king has dealt with rebellions before," The male knight spoke up this time. "Most coming from the guilds that feel it is unjust for the capital to be full of magic and being used so freely, but the king quickly crushed these dissenters and quashed any rebellion. There is a reason we knights were easily able to subdue you." Who was he talking abou-

"Hey!" Natsu shouted, incensed. Oh, so it was Natsu she guessed. "I didn't have my magic then! Besides, I was using a cheap flamethrower that can't even handle getting used for battle!" Natsu gave an excuse, which only caused the knight to snort.

"From the reports and the rumors going around, you used up the lacrima crystal inside with just one sweep of it. Against the magic warded shields of the knights at that." She couldn't help but chuckle a little. Yeah, that sounded like Natsu.

"Oh sure, laugh it up Erza." Apparently her humor wasn't unheard as Natsu glared at her. The glare turned into a teasing look as he spoke up again. "You got your ass beat down by Knightwalker."

She snorted. "Yeah, and she's on the same level as me."

Natsu just grinned at her. "You wish, I bet I can take her down no problem." Natsu said as he puffed out his chest, causing the ice mage right next to him to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, sure you can. And I'm the queen of France!" Gray objected. Natsu just stared at Gray.

"What the hell is a 'France' Ice head?! You're delusional!" Natsu shouted as he butt heads with Gray again.

She sighed, couldn't they hold a conversation without devolving to fighting?

She was about to break it up, but then she felt a new presence move beside her. She looked to her left, and saw both Happy and Carla looking at Natsu and Gray as they fought. Huh, she didn't notice them both until now.

"Ugh," Apparently, Carla felt the same way as her and voiced out both of their frustrations for her. "Why can't those two stop fighting? We're about to figure out if we have to fight or not, and they're just going about it like it was an everyday matter."

Happy only laughed at Carla's words. "Well, that's Fairy Tail for you! Right Erza?"

She blinked at suddenly being called out, before she nodded her head. "Yeah… I guess it is." She couldn't deny that it really was Fairy Tail. Everyday they would start a fight in the guild, and everyday they expected to get bruises. It was rough, but it was Fairy Tail. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"This is madness." Carla rubbed her forehead as she saw both Gray and Natsu start trying to give each other a headlock. Again.

Again, Happy laughed at Carla's words. "Madness? This is Fairy Tail!" Happy exclaimed as Gray finally got a hold of Natsu and pushed him down.

She shook her head at the antics, before she turned to her right, where Lucy was still being mended by Wendy. "Oh geez, are those two at it again?" She looked down as Lucy started to turn towards the two fighting mages.

Surprisingly, Wendy allowed it. "That's just how they are." Wendy replied with a smile as she looked at Gray and Natsu. "Besides, at least they're friends right?"

Lucy huffed. "More like mortal enemies." Lucy then began to sit-up, earning a slight protest from Wendy. But Lucy only smiled reassuringly at the girl. "I'll be fine. You did a great job in healing me. I still feel a little sore, but nothing too severe."

Wendy looked unsure for a second, but then nodded her head. "Okay… but don't try standing." She warned Lucy, who only smiled at her and nodded her head.

"Looks like Mystogan's almost done though." Lucy pointed towards the prince. She looked towards him, and saw him making his way over towards them, a confident gait in his steps. She then looked up, towards the king, and found that his face had morphed from disappointment and outright annoyance. The other cats, especially the white-furred one, looked oddly satisfied. And only the knight right next to the king seemed miffed about what Mystogan had said, not even the cat-knight looked at all disturbed in the slightest. Whatever it was that Mystogan said, probably had enough sense in it to derail the king and impress the others.

"Well?" Gajeel spoke up, subtly asking Mystogan if what he did had worked. Mystogan replied with a shake of his head.

"My father refuses to see reason." Mystogan spoke up as he approached. "He still wishes for the destruction of the Exceed, as well as a continuation of his rule. And while I don't doubt my father is at least a honest king, he only sees what's best for those close to him." Mystogan stopped in front of their group, before he sighed in slight disappointment. "Either way, I've told the Exceed that the king doesn't have the second key, I trust them to at least not do anything rash, as we still have the means to free their soldiers in the first place."

Everyone seemed to regard Mystogan's words carefully, even the bickering Gray and Natsu had stopped fighting and had turned towards the prince as he approached. For a few seconds, no one said anything, and then the silence was broken.

"So what do you plan to do now?" It was the male knight that spoke. "Obviously the king will not step down from his seat of power, and nothing you can say will stop that." The knight hit the nail in the head it seems, as she saw Mystogan scowl before closing his eyes in thought.

For a few seconds, Mystogan didn't say anything, but when he opened his eyes, there was conviction in them. Like he had come to a hard decision but would see it through to the end. "A coup d'état." He answered briskly.

"A coo-de-what?" Unsurprisingly, it was Natsu that asked that question. And if she was correct in her prediction, the next one that would speak up would be…

"Is that a type of chicken?" Happy continued, sounding confused as well. "I don't like chicken, I like fish!" The blue cat spoke up with excitement in his voice as if he would be given a chicken.

"No," She blinked as she looked over at Gajeel. "I think it's a type of plant. Err, Central Fiore I think."

She just stared blankly at them for a second, before she turned back towards Mystogan. "So when will this happen?" She asked, steering the conversation away from food.

"I've told the king we'd be coming back in force." Mystogan then grimaced. "I'll have to talk to the Fairy Tail guild of this world. I'm a part of it, but most of the people there don't care for the country if at all." She blinked, there was a Fairy Tail guild here?

Mystogan shook his head. "Regardless, our business here is done. We'll give the king a reprieve." Mystogan then turned towards Natsu. "Call him back. Hopefully he isn't knocked out… or worse."

She doubted that. From the way her guildmates were talking about the guy earlier, it would probably take a lot more to kill the guy then a tired Knight Captain.

Natsu grinned before he nodded his head. "Sure thing!" The Fire Dragon Slayer then turned towards Wendy. "Come on Wendy! Let's go!"

She heard the girl next to her shuffle a little in surprise. "M-me?" Wendy squeaked, her voice low. Natsu nodded his head, all the while his grin widening.

"Yeah! You like him don't you?" Oh, so Wendy has a little crush does she? That was cute.

"N-no I don't!" Wendy denied, though her voice quavered, suggesting she was trying to deny something embarrassing. She heard a sigh to her left, and saw Carla shaking her head muttering something under her breath. She didn't catch it, but she did manage to hear a bit of it, it sounded like 'honestly'.

"You don't?" Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Huh, thought you liked him or something. I do." She froze, wait… was Natsu…?

Before her mind began thinking of any of her BL novels, Natsu shook his head. "He's a good guy. I thought you would like him after he talked to us yesterday." O-oh… never mind. For a minute there, she thought Natsu was… She wasn't a pervert! She just… liked reading steamy romance novels… that sometimes involved boys on boys…

"O-oh." She heard Wendy sigh in relief. "W-well. Okay then. He might be injured, so the least I can do is heal him right? After he was so nice to us I mean." Wendy began to stand, making Natsu grin.

"Alright!" Natsu let out a whoop before he started walking towards the hole in the wall. "Come on Wendy. He might need help, and I'm just itching to fight Knightwalker since Erza couldn't beat her!" She felt her eyebrow twitch.

She watched as Wendy start walking over towards Natsu and the hole, before she let out a sigh. "That man…" She trailed as she watched Natsu's back.

"You can't blame him Erza." She heard Lucy say next to her. "He's a battle maniac. A good one at heart though." She nodded her head in agreement. Yeah, Lucy was right about that.

She turned back towards Mystogan. "What will the Exceed do?" She asked. She was bothered by this, the Exceed knew the king was trying to kill them all, to wipe them off the face of the planet. But they seemed content to just watch. She was no tactician, but it seemed like the Exceed were just waiting for a good chance to strike, to let their enemies fight each other, before they struck themselves.

"For now, nothing." Mystogan answered. From the corner of her sight, she could see both Natsu and Wendy waving to someone outside the hole. "Though after we start fighting, that is still up in the air. Hopefully, Lilly can stop them from doing something rash. But I still wonder…" Mystogan trailed off, not completing his sentence.

"Why don't me and Carla go?" She turned towards Happy, who had spoken up. "We can go to Extalia and we can try and talk to them! We can make sure they don't do anything bad!" Happy spoke with enthusiasm and conviction. She was surprised he would suggest that, but couldn't fault the logic the blue cat had given. Still…

"A promising plan," Mystogan complimented. Making Happy smile. "I'll see about it. But in the meantime, we have to-"

Mystogan stopped talking as the ground suddenly shook. At first, she thought it was an earthquake, before she remembered they were on a floating rock above the clouds. She looked behind Mystogan, and saw what was causing the localized quake. The ground was moving, shifting, splitting apart right next to the cannon. The cannon seemed not at all affected by the quake.

"I will not have dissenters and traitors in my ranks." She looked up as the voice of the king spoke up, heavy with anger and disappointment. She saw the king stand and make his way towards the edge of the railings. She also noticed that the three floating Exceeds were watching in fear as the knight that resembled Gray held them at sword point. The other knight, the one that blindsided her, was looking on, looking unsure as to what he should do.

She cast her gaze towards the ground again, and saw something rise from it. But when she saw the head, she realized just what it was.

A dragon knight made of silver steel.

A head of silver shone even in the darkened anteroom of the observatory. Bright enough to show the draconic head. Its jaws held sharp teeth, and even though the entirety of the head vaguely resembled that of a human's, it was everything but human. Its eyes shone, bright red and glaring, and it filled them all with dread.

The body came next, thick, silver, and bulky. The chest was large, incredibly so. It shone brighter than the head and filled the people seeing it with awe. On it's back, pinions of silver steel were folded, but did nothing to hide the fact that this human like dragon held pure power.

Athletic, that was what the thing was best described as. The legs were thick and plated, but were very much there as more than just protection. It could run, she guessed, faster than her flight armor. It could take massive strides, hop over entire cities as if they were hurdles, and kick down a mountain if given enough time.

"What… t-the hell is that thing?!" Gray spoke for everyone. His voice surprised and more than a little scared at seeing something so fearsome stand at full height in front of them.

The dragon's eyes flashed once more. This time brighter, before it started to hum. It was then she felt herself weakening. As if her magical energy was getting sucked out of her. She wasn't the only affected; the others were too, probably on a much higher scale than her.

She looked up, and stared at its full form. She couldn't see the king, but she knew the king had entered the thing when his voice came out distorted and contorted as the dragon's maw opened.

"I will nip this problem in the bud right now. After I take care of you anarchists, I will take the key and I will turn Extalia into a Lacrima. I will see to it personally that my kingdom will have magic that will last for millennia." The king spoke, but he spoke through the dragon's maw. It was distorted, deeper, baritone, and sounded so wrong.

The dragon knight's head moved, the blood red eyes shone even brighter, and then they felt the sheer power begin radiating from it.

It was… like nothing they had felt before. Deliora, Lullaby, they didn't feel like this. A demon's power was suffocating, it pulled at you, and threatened to overthrow your own presence. This wasn't a demon, no, it was something else entirely. The crushing aura of thing in front of them could only be from one thing and one thing only. A dragon, it's powerful crushing presence threatened to overwhelm their own. But...

This wasn't a dragon, it resembled one, but it wasn't one. Yet the power that seemed to radiate off it as it activated could only come from a dragon. The ancient mythical beasts that were said to be in hiding; that could destroy entire countries, which could level an entire city under its massive claws.

It was a dragon, but it was not. For it had the body that resembled a human.

It let loose a horrible howl. She covered her ears and cringed as the sheer volume of it shattered glass and cracked the ground beneath it. She could count the number of times she had ever felt fear, this one would be one of them.

The howling stopped, and when she looked up, she found the steel dragon's maw open, before light seemed to stream into it. No, not light, magical energy. She felt the ground shake, the air hum, and the fear that radiated as they all saw it start to power up.

"Natsu! Wendy!" She shouted as she stood immediately, ignoring her protesting body and grabbing Lucy's hand to pull the blonde with her.. They needed to move! To get away before it released the energy it was storing up!

Too late. She was too late. They were too late. Too late.

The dragon's maw snapped shut with a loud bang, before it craned its neck downwards. She was already running, towards Natsu and Wendy, she could see the others doing the same. Gray, Gajeel, even the two knights were running towards the hole, away from the dragon. They wouldn't make it; she knew they wouldn't make it.

"Rest in piece my son. Know that your sacrifice was unnecessary, but your love for your country will be remembered." The king's voice echoed, the air around them hummed. Finally, she heard the energy release from behind them. She raced for Natsu and Wendy, her armor changing, but she knew it would be too late to reach them.

"Teleportation!" She turned her head towards the voice, and saw Mystogan. He had a staff out, pointed to the ground. A magic circle began to appear on the ground they were running on. From the name of the spell, it sounded like Mystogan was going to teleport them away. Which would save their lives.

But as she saw the sigil brighten and take in power, she realized that it wouldn't reach Natsu and Wendy. She looked up and towards where the two had been, and saw them both jump outside, Natsu having turned his back and was covering Wendy with his own body.

But that wasn't all she saw, she also saw Knightwalker, and the man known as Shirou Emiya standing outside, aligned with the hole they were trying to run to. It took her a second, before she realized what would happen if they stood there. They were in the line of fire; they would get sundered by the dragon's attack.

She barely got out a shout, before she felt weightlessness. The telltale sign she was on her way towards the other end of the teleportation spell.

A Magi's Tale

XxX

For some reason, dying didn't feel as bad as he thought it would. He wasn't weightless, he still had his memories, and probably his soul. He didn't feel like he was burning, and he didn't feel his arms as well…

And then he opened his eyes.

He looked down at his body, broken, mangled, skin sizzling as the air around them burned. He could no longer feel his arms because they were broken, battered, and while not completely severed, he couldn't move them.

He tried to sit up, to move, but his body protested and all the pain he couldn't feel before came crashing down onto him. His body ached, his breathing hitched, his heartbeat quickened, everything that was his body felt wrong. But… he was alive.

"Gu-ah." He managed to choke out with a breath. He tried to look up, towards where the column of fire had come from. But his body wouldn't even let him have that, as he felt pain as he craned his neck. He idly wondered how he was even alive, the Aias had broken, the four petals he had hastily Traced didn't hold, but he was strangely alive.

"W-why?" He heard a voice, behind him, right next to his ears. He tried to move his head, but couldn't, so he opted to remembering who the voice belonged to. It was familiar somehow… "Why?" The voice repeated, and then he realized who it was.

"W-why what?" He asked, unsure what the hell she was talking about. His voice was hoarse and weak, but there was still a semblance of life in it. He wouldn't be gurgling out a response anytime soon.

"Why did you… save me?" The voice asked, he would have shrugged his shoulders, but again, his body ached.

"I just p-pulled you b-behind m-me." Really, that was all he did. He pulled her behind him, and he Traced a bastardized Aias. He remembered telling her to run as the second or third wall broke, but everything seemed so foggy, especially with half his brain dealing with the pain.

"Not that!" What was she talking about now? And was she not aware she was talking right next to his ear? That shout made his ears ring. "Why did you turn around and cover me?!"

"I ha-ghk!" He gurgled a bit, before he managed to collect himself. Having his body mangled and broken made his breathing quicken, his lungs trying to take in as much oxygen as it can. He wasn't hyperventilating, not yet at least, but he was close to it. "I don't k-know what you're talking bout." His next few words were slurred, but it was still understandable.

"Your shield broke!" She shouted again, he suppressed a sigh… not that he needed to; his body wouldn't let him take unnecessary long breaths. Stop shouting next to my ears will you? "You jumped in front of me when it did! If I hadn't used my spear to divert the magical energy into it, you would be dead!"

"Don't remember." He gave her the honest answer. He didn't remember doing any of that. All he knew was that he closed his eyes as the last shield broke. He didn't remember throwing himself at Knightwalker to prevent her from getti- oh.

This was Saber all over again huh?

"Body moved on its own." He gave her the honest answer again. Like Saber, he hadn't thought, his body only moved on its own. He had managed to push Saber away from Berserker's killing slash, and had taken it for himself. Apparently, a similar event happened a few moments ago, this time, with a blast of magic fire.

"Your body- What the hell is wrong with you?!" He was pushed to the side, his body aching as it fell on the ground. But he managed to roll himself and face Knightwalker, who was no worse for wear then after they had fought. Only… her eyes were angry and sad at the same time.

"I've trained my body to take punishment!" She ranted as she stared at him, anger, confusion, and sadness in her eyes. "My spear would have diverted the power behind that blast! I would have survived!"

"Would you?" He asked, his voice hoarse. Knightwalker flinched, before she looked down and avoided his gaze.

Her silence was the answer, she wouldn't have survived.

Despite the pain his body was in, despite his heavy breathing and quickening heartbeat, he smiled. He smiled because he was happy. He had saved someone's life. Like he had saved Saber's against Berserker. Like Kiritsugu had saved his.

"Why are you smiling?!" Knightwalker looked up and saw his face, and if possible, her own morphed into that of a broken and defeated one. "Your body is half destroyed! Your arms are mangled! Why are you smiling when you're so close to dying!?"

"Because…" He heaved a breath. He felt his innate form of healing begin inside his body. Swords, swords were stitching together skin, bone, and muscles. He could hear them grind against each other. But that was only one part, they would reconnect the broken parts, but they couldn't heal them. That was beyond the scope of his healing factor, swords didn't heal after all. No, the swords would not heal, but reinforce his body.

The swords formed a makeshift support for his broken bones, they formed makeshift skin for his missing ones, and held together the slashed open arteries and veins and innards. He would need a doctor after this, but at least now he could move his arms.

And that was what he did; he raised his right arm, ignoring the protesting limb, and then pointed his right index finger towards Knightwalker, who was looking at him in a mixture of disgust, anger, and sadness. He realized the disgust was there because she probably saw his body stitching itself together; it was a disturbing sight to most people. "Because I saved your life." He finished with a hitch of his breath. His body was okay to move now. But as he tried to sit up, he heard the swords start grinding against each other inside his body, giving a horrifying screech as they did so.

Knightwalker looked like she wanted to question what that sound was, but ignored that question for another one. "Even at the cost of yours?" She asked, her voice low and sad.

He couldn't help it; he let out a small laugh. It was quick, and was nothing more than an amused 'ha!' but it was a laugh. A genuine one. "If I can't save lives, than mine is forfeit already."

He moved to stand, not bothering to wait for an answer from Knightwalker. He felt his knees buckle, and his elbows wobble, but he tried to anyway. Whatever that blast had been, it was obvious that wasn't the last of it.

"Let's move," He began as he stood up. He wobbled slightly, causing Knightwalker to move towards him, but he held himself together and righted himself before he fell. Now wasn't the time to fall flat on his face. "Whatever that attack was, it wasn't the last of it." He looked towards the hole again, seeing that it was marginally larger, and was charred. He could make out something inside of it, but it came out as nothing more than a blob to him.

"Dorma Anim…" He heard Knightwalker say behind him. He turned his head, and cringed as he felt it protest and gave out a horrifying screech. Before he opted to just turn his entire body, feet and all.

He raised an eyebrow, and even that small act caused his skin to grind. "Dorma Anim?" He asked, unsure what to make of the name.

Knightwalker nodded her head before she stood up, forgoing dusting herself of the dust on her body. "The Dragon Knight. A leviathan-class item that holds draconic power within its heart." Knightwalker's jaws clenched, and he saw her furrow her eyebrows. "That thing was banned by the king because it sucked in all the magic around it. Only the king can pilot the damn thing. Why is it activating now?"

He could give a good answer to that question. But held his tongue to ask another. "What exactly can it do?"

Knightwalker didn't turn to look at him, and only clenched her jaw tighter. "Besides suck in all the magic around its general area. It can nullify magic." That was… bad. "The king had said that if it should activate, Edolas will stand upon its enemies and win without falter." Knigthwalker paused, before she closed her eyes and shook her head. "Even at the cost of its own citizens lives."

He sighed. Right, the king was power hungry and was willing to sacrifice everyone for his goals. He knew this, but he was still annoyed he had agreed to help the king before. It seemed like the right idea at the time at least.

"What will you do now?" He asked the red-haired Knight Captain. And for a second, Knightwalker looked unsure. She looked ready to go back to the king, but was faltering. "What will you do?" He repeated, not waiting for her to think things over. They simply didn't have the time.

"I-" Knightwalker began but cut herself off. She closed her mouth and seemed to think her answer over, before she reopened them. "I'll talk to the king. I'm sure he's jus-"

"Just what? Trying to kill everyone in his way?" His voice was harsh, but it was the truth. This made Knightwalker flinch, and for a second, regret flickered in his mind. But he squashed that thought. There were no regrets. "Your king just tried to do that. And the result is us almost getting killed. If your spear wasn't here, and my shield wasn't here, that attack could have done a lot more damage than just the burnt grass and charred ground."

"I know that!" Knightwalker hissed at him, before she reeled back and clenched her hands into fists. "I know that." She repeated, weaker this time.

He shook his head; he wouldn't be getting an answer from Knightwalker soon. So he turned back towards the hole before he began walking towards it. "Whatever the case, that Dorma Anim thing can't be allowed to remain active if it sucks in the magic around it." Bad things usually happen when there were situations like that. Take Caster from the Grail War as an example. If she wasn't stopped, she might as well have sucked the entirety of Fuyuki and taken over the World.

"Are you crazy!?" He heard Knightwalker shout from behind him, before he felt her pull his arm back. He cringed as he felt the swords in his body grind against each other, but reigned in the pain as he stared at Knightwalker, who was giving him a half manic look of worry.

"What?" He asked, honestly annoyed. Knightwalker let go of his arm and stared at him as if he were indeed crazy.

"You can't take that thing!" She reasoned to him. "You're half-dead on your feet! That thing is immune to magic! It's also based on my father's magic and techniques!" That was new, but not at all surprising. Her father was Ignios, the Dragon Knight. Now he was fighting Dorma Anim, the Dragon Knight. Parallels really. "Just leave! I'll talk to the king."

He shook his head. "Mystogan tried to do that." He gestured towards the hole. "Then this happened." He gestured towards the charred ground. He then looked up at Knightwalker and locked eyes with her. "The king cannot be reasoned with anymore. Someone has to fight him."

Knightwalker growled. "And why should it be you?" She asked coldly. He answered by shrugging his shoulders.

"Because I'm in this to the end." He answered immediately. Idly, he remembered the first night in the Grail War. In all three timelines, he had made a pact with Saber, to fight until the end of it. Here he had no such promises; he wasn't even tied down, not anymore at least.

But there was one thing that made Shirou Emiya want to keep going, to see it through to the end. And that was the reason why he was still here, still fighting, even if half his body had been charred, his arms broken, his organs slashed by the sheer force of the blast. It was the reason he was still fighting, half-dead on his feet, with nothing but swords holding up his body. It was encoded into his very being, the reason he was reborn from the flames of that fire.

And that was to save, to save as many people as possible. Even at the cost of people misunderstanding his words, misunderstanding his actions, his intentions.

For a second, Knightwalker didn't say anything. But that second passed, and then Knightwalker sighed. "I don't know whether I should admire, or be exasperated at your hardheadedness." Knightwalker told him with a slight smile.

He shrugged, an act that caused even more discomfort in his body. "Why not both?"

Knightwalker chuckled at his answer. "Indeed, why not?" Knightwalker's face then turned into something grim. "I won't pretend anymore that my king is within reason. But…" She paused, eyeing him warily. "You should stay out of this fight. You'll just die."

His answer was swift and immediate. "No. I'm fighting." Yeah, you really shouldn't tell him he shouldn't fight. Half the reason why he had been so close to dying in the Grail War was because he chose to fight battles that were beyond him anyway.

Knightwalker sighed again. This time, in exasperation. "I had a feeling you would say that." She walked forward until she was right next to him. "I'll have to keep you in check then. You're not dying if I can help you."

He stared at her, and for a second, he didn't say anything. Finally, his mouth came faster than his mind, and he spoke up. "You're betraying your king?" He asked, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Yeah." Knightwalker nodded her head. She then turned towards him, giving him a half-smirk. "I have a personal policy of not letting someone who attacked me live. Whether this was intentional or not."

He looked at her and felt one of his eyebrows raise in confusion. "What about me?" He asked the obvious question.

Knightwalker shrugged at him. "You're a special case." He looked at her questioningly. She turned towards him and smirked. "You attacked me with my father's ideal. Well, half his ideal. Now you're half-past dead. That means I don't have to kill you anymore." He scrunched his face up at that logic.

"And the other Erza?" He asked, remembering the other person that had probably attacked her.

Knightwalker just shook her head. "Can't rightly kill her." She began. "We're too evenly matched for us to kill each other. And I was ordered by my king to subdue them and bring them to him." Knightwalker paused, before she added. "Well, former king anyway."

He shook his head. "You said you admired your father." He began, remembering Knightwalker's own words. "He was the best knight, the one that followed his king's orders to the end. You wanted to surpass him." He listed out the reasons why helping him was a bad idea for her. "If you help me now, that would be turning your back on all those things." This was true; he didn't want anyone helping him. Especially if the person helping them will lose their lives and their ideals just to help him. He almost suffered a fate like that, losing his own ideals for the truth of following them. He didn't want anyone suffering the same fate as he did, the despair, the anger for himself, for Archer. Everything.

Knigthwalker's answer surprised him. Perhaps a little too much as he felt his eyes widen as he stared at her. "My father lacked the heart to betray his king, and took his own life because his king ordered his death." Knightwalker began before she faced forward. "I am better than my father. He couldn't fight for what he believed in was right to the end. I will surpass him by fighting for what I believe in until the end."

He could feel a slight smile appear on his face. "Well, can't really argue with that." He stepped forward with Knightwalker, before he noticed something. "And you can't fight without a weapon."

Knightwalker scoffed at him. "Please. I've fought people with nothing but my bare hands before." Emphasizing her point, she threw a quick jab forward, before she reeled her hand back in and settled into a boxing orthodox stance. "I can fight without my spear."

He just stared at her blankly. "Even against a dragon knight?" Yeah… no way was he going to allow Knightwalker to fight without something.

Before Knightwalker could respond to his question, he held out his hand and closed his eyes. "Trace On." He muttered his aria as he called for the weapon that would be in Knightwalker's hands.

He called for it, and in the next second, it was in his hands. The spear that Knightwalker used appeared in blue motes of light. He stared at it as it formed, scrutinized it in its entirety. He noticed Knightwalker reaching for it, and then he quickly dismissed it. Making Knightwalker's hand reel back in surprise.

"What?" He heard her mutter. But he ignored it and instead focused once more. "Trace On." Again he spoke his aria, calling for another weapon.

This one wasn't the weapon of Knightwalker, this was no longer the spear that could change shape, that could change the way it could be wielded. No, this was now just a spear. Its shaft was made of steel, thick and shone bright white, but it was not unwieldy and unsightly. The end of the spear held a single steel speartip, sharp, shining, and oozing light as it seemed to drain the air around it. The light bled out of the tip, and into wisps of light around the spear, encircling it and giving it power.

In some iterations of the legends, Saint George wielded a sword and slew a dragon. In other versions, Saint George wielded a spear of light, a spear that had managed to strike a dragon's heart and drain it of its power. This was his spear, this was Ascalon: The Spear that Rends Dragon Hearts.

"Here." He held out his hand to give Knightwalker the thick dragon killing spear. Who only stared at is in surprise and weariness. He wasn't exactly sure if this spear could help fight against the thing that was inside that observatory. But at the very least, this was something much more true to the original than his first try of Tracing Knightwalker's spear.

Tentatively, Knightwalker reached out for the spear before she grasped it in her hand. She examined it for a second, feeling the weight of it, observing the light that escaped the tip of its end, and generally just scrutinizing the Noble Phantasm.

"What is it?" She asked him as she finally placed it to her side. He stared at it for a second, before he answered.

"Ascalon." He began. "The Spear that Rends Dragon Hearts." He paused as he looked up at Knightwalker's face. "It's not the original. But it's as close as you're going to get."

Knightwalker's face scrunched up. "While I admit this is a very beautiful and powerful spear." She complimented it as she cast a quick look towards it before she looked back up at him. "I still would prefer my own spear."

He shook his head. "It would only hinder you." He answered her. But as Knightwalker scowled, he continued. "The weapons in my armory, they aren't the original. I can replicate a weapon, even to feel real for most other people. But one thing I can't do is fool the person that wielded it in the first place." He explained. "If I Traced your spear for you, it'll feel wrong for you. There would be some minute details that would probably cause you to slip, stumble, or fall. I can't replicate something to perfection. I can only replicate it to what I think should be perfect." This was true. If he copied Gae Bolg and gave it to Lancer of his war, he'd probably laugh, break it in two, before proceeding to shove the original into his heart just to let him feel the original. That or he'd compliment him for giving him a copy that's so close, before he would still snap it in half and tell him that it's not even close. Close but not close. Yeah, that would probably be what Lancer would say.

There was no rule that said an imitation couldn't beat the original. But in the case of Heroic Spirits and their Noble Phantasms, the original will always come out on top. Because they had mastered it, a copy couldn't hold the same weight.

Knightwalker was placated at his explanation. "Alright then." She began as she faced forward towards the observatory.

"Hey guys!" A new voice shouted from their side. They both turned towards it, and saw Natsu and Wendy running over towards them. Natsu was a little charred from the back, but otherwise, looking fine. Wendy was unscathed at all.

The two Fairy Tail members finally reached them, and upon catching their breath, looked up at both him and Knightwalker. He noticed how both Fairy Tail members' eyes instantly locked onto his rather mangled form.

Wendy let out a gasp as she put a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock and alarm at seeing his body. While the other guy, Natsu, stared at him with gritted teeth and barely contained anger at giving him a once over.

He waved them both off, an action that caused confusion to them both. "I'll be fine." He assured them. Honestly, having a half-burnt body, with broken arms, and slashed organs wasn't the most deadly of injuries for him. Sure the organs were damaged, but they could still work, his arms were broken, but he could set them back and support them with swords, and his skin was burned and charred, but swords could replace his skin for now. No, these injuries were nothing to be alarmed about.

Now, if his heart was pierced, his body (almost) cut in half, and his lungs having exploded from sheer force as Ea blindsided him, then that was something to worry about. Though, in those cases, he never really had anything to worry about, since Rin and more importantly, Saber's sheath were implanted within him.

"Wait!" Wendy moved up to his side, and though the girl's eyes were wide and shaking, she reached up towards him and pulled him towards her. Immediately after, he felt the wind around them begin to circulate the area. "Let me heal you first."

He felt himself getting calmed by the soothing wind. It was like a beach breeze really, Fuyuki City had a beach, a costal city like that, how could it not have one? He used to go there after Kiritsugu died, just to clear his head. He wasn't sad that his father died. No, he couldn't be sad after seeing him die with a smile on his face. But he was melancholic for awhile after that. He used to go down to the pier to just clear his head, letting the ocean breeze go past his face as he closed his eyes.

So it was almost regretful that he pulled his hand away from Wendy, despite the girl's protests. "Sorry," He apologized to her. "But healing me now will have more detrimental effects than anything. My body is being supported by my healing factor, and if you heal me now without them leaving, it might permanently set the things in my bones." Having swords as bones wasn't a good thing. He needed a doctor yes, a healing doctor. But that was after his swords receded. If he was healed right now, the swords would most likely set permanently due to his body having healed over the things. And if that wasn't the case, when the swords disappeared while his body had healed themselves over it, he would have excess tissue and excess space in his body.

"B-but…" Wendy tried to protest again. She looked up at him, concern etched onto her face. He let out a small smile, before he bent down to her level. The swords within him grinded themselves against each other, and created another set of creaking sounds much like that of a nail on a chalkboard. This surprised the two newcomers, but he was used to it, and most likely Knightwalker too.

He looked straight into the girl's eyes. "Thanks for worrying. But I'll be fine." He assured her as he pat her on the shoulder. "I'm pretty tough. You just worry about healing your friends, okay?" He finished before he stood up and straightened himself. Though not without catching another glimpse of the worry filled eyes of Wendy.

It struck him then, Wendy wasn't just worried about him because they needed his help. No, he was worried about him because that was how she was. The shy girl was empathizing with him. He guessed if she was given a chance, she would heal her enemies just as soon as she would heal her allies.

He shook his head. "You're a nice girl Wendy." He said as he looked forward. "Don't ever let anything change that about you. Even if your friends betray you, if your ideals betray you, or even if the world comes crashing down on you." He spoke with a passion. He didn't want to see Wendy lose herself just because her ideals, her friends, or her entire world comes crashing down onto her. He had the same thing happen to him, though the part about his friends betraying him wasn't true.

"Hey." He heard Natsu call out to him, and he turned to face the pink-haired man. Natsu stared at him with an unreadable expression, before he scowled. "I kinda understand what you're trying to say. And I agree with you." Natsu then raised his left fist and punched his right hand with it in a show of force. He raised an eyebrow at that, why the sudden show of force? "But if you ever say that Wendy's friends'll betray her. Then you and I are gonna have a long talk with our fists, got it? Fairy Tail won't ever betray each other. If the world comes crashing down on one of our family, then we'll hold it up with them. You got that?" Natsu finished with a sly grin.

He blinked at the words Natsu threw at him. Before he felt his own smile appearing on his face. He nodded his head. "Got it." Before he turned around and faced the observatory once more.

To his side, he heard Knightwalker sigh. "I'll never understand what it means when you protect your family members." Knightwalker admitted. He cast a quick look towards her, and she only shook her head. "If you're so worried about them, then make them train so you don't have to worry about them. What's the point of helping them after that?"

"I don't know about training them," He heard Natsu begin to answer and turned towards him. "But even the strongest of us need help sometimes. Look at Mystogan – err – Jellal. He's one of our strongest members and he asked for help." Natsu explained.

Knightwalker only snorted at that. "The prince is weak. He's always been weak." Knightwalker raised Ascalon and then pointed it forward, towards the observatory. "If he couldn't even stop his father from whatever it was he felt was wrong, then he shouldn't drag others into the problem."

He raised an eyebrow. And once again, his mouth moved quicker than his thoughts. "Kinda hypocritical don't you think?" He muttered, but was heard by both Natsu and Knightwalker.

He caught sight of Knightwalker's flushed face. "S-shut up!" Knightwalker snapped at him. He felt a smile tug on his lips.

"Hypo-what?" Natsu asked, confused. "Is that a type of fish?" He… didn't know how to answer that question, was he being serious? "And don't wave that spear around! That thing's giving me the creeps. Just what is that?"

He could almost feel Knightwalker's vindictive smirk. "Ascalon," She began, before he heard her twirl the spear and then point it at Natsu. "The Spear that Rends Dragon Hearts." She repeated the name of the Noble Phantasm much like he had a few minutes prior. "I don't exactly know if it'll work on a real dragon… wanna help me find out Fairy Tail Dragon Slayer?"

"Hell no!" He heard Natsu yelp before he heard the man shuffle to his left. "You keep that damn thing away from me ya hear?!" Why was he so scared? Shouldn't he want one like that? He was a Dragon Slayer right?

He had been so engrossed with talking with Knightwalker, Natsu, and Wendy. That he had almost forgotten what was awaiting them in the observatory.

Unfortunately for them, the thing that awaited them came to them instead.

Another loud roar pierced the air around them, screeching, ear piercing, and terrifying. Before it was followed by a loud crash, as the walls to the observatory came crashing down. He looked towards the observatory, and finally saw what they were supposed to go against.

If he had to use a word to describe the Dorma Anim, it would be bulky. Bulky, but extremely dangerous. And as the large metallic dragon knight stopped just fifteen meters from them, the wall it had just went through crumbling down behind it. He wondered if he had enough energy in himself to fight it.

The thought was immediately washed away. "Trace On." He muttered. Of course he had enough energy. And even if he didn't, even if his body was half broken, he would use the parts that weren't broken. If he couldn't use any part of his body, he would use the parts that weren't there.

"Knightwalker!" He heard the king's distorted voice come out of the metallic dragon knight. "Why do you stand with a traitor and a fairy? Have you betrayed me like your father betrayed mine?"

As two familiar set of curved swords appeared in both his hands, he heard Knightwalker's answer… which was to charge forward with all her might.

He blinked as Knightwalker's form appeared in his vision, before he heard another set of feet running forward. He then saw Natsu's own form, charging with a half-manic grin on his face, shouting all the while he charged.

As Knightwalker met the dragon knight, he watched as she darted in and threw the spear forward, causing a slight wound to appear on the metallic dragon's lower leg. Well, it seems like his magic worked on the thing at least.

"I'll fight too." He blinked as he looked down to his left. Where Wendy was standing with a determined look on her face. He was about to say she should stay out of this, but she spoke up, cutting him off.

"I'm a Dragon Slayer." She was? Well… damn. They started out young here didn't they? Not like he could talk though, since he started trying to become a magus at age ten. "I may not be as strong as Natsu or Gajeel, but I was trained to slay dragons." He could hear the conviction in Wendy's voice, and felt his own argument dying as she stepped forward. "So I'll fight. If my friends can't, then I will for them. That's the Fairy Tail way."

He felt a smile tug on his lips. You have to admire these kinds of people really. "Support us from the rear." He said out loud as he stepped forward, past Wendy. "We'll need you to heal us as we fight it. We can't risk you in the middle of the fighting; you're our only chance if we want to get this thing turned to scrap." He didn't know if the dragons they were used to were the same as his. But he wouldn't be taking chances. It was better to overestimate an opponent then underestimate them.

"Got it!" He heard Wendy agree with him. He didn't respond beyond darting forward, Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands as he raised them above his head before Reinforcing his body with prana. He felt his arms strengthen, the bones in them harden, and the swords within them strengthen. He was at the Metallic Dragon Knight's foot in two seconds, before he brought down both Kanshou and Bakuya to slash at the metallic appendage.

They shattered immediately. He cursed, he had sorely underestimated the thickness and the hardness of the thing's armor. He threw himself backwards as the Dragon Knight's foot lashed out against him. It barely brushed his body, before he landed on his back. He watched as the raised foot came down towards him, but he wasn't idle. He twisted his body and rolled to the side, barely avoiding getting squashed by the foot.

"Trace On!" Another set of Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands, this time slightly Altered in their composition. And even before they fully finished forming, he was already on his feet and slashing against the foot that had almost squashed him.

This time, instead of outright getting shattered, the swords managed to cause a slight gash that appeared lengthwise on the mechanical dragon's foot. He didn't think it would do much, since the dragon knight thing was mechanical and thus couldn't feel pain. But he did manage to scratch it.

The difference between this set of Kanshou and Bakuya wasn't much. It was only slightly Altered after all. The main materials that formed Kanshou and Bakuya was a steel alloy. A steel alloy mixed in with the literal blood, sweat, and tears of a blacksmith forced by his king to make the most beautiful swords he had ever seen. So it was almost regrettable that he had to Alter the sword.

Alteration, when applied to objects around him, he could turn them into something else. A sword could turn into a heavy dagger, an axe into a spear. He could even turn a table into a couch if he wanted to. But although Alteration was in between Projection and Reinforcement, that didn't mean he couldn't Alter something as he was Tracing it. Nine Lives Blade Works was an Altered version of Shooting Hundred Heads, and even Knightwalker's spear, the one he had Traced to show her his magecraft, was an Altered version of it.

Yes, he could Alter things while in the Tracing process. He had done so with nothing but a large wooden stick, Altering it to turn into a bastardized version of Archer's bow during his, Saber's, and Rin's fight against Berserker. And while he didn't outright Trace a stick, he had actually managed to record it after it turned into a bow.

So now he had managed something else, that instead of having a steel alloy mixed in with the body of a human being, Bakuya was now a sword of steel and Ivory alloy mixed in with a human's body. And while Ivory itself wasn't a metal, even if it couldn't theoretically be used as an alloy, he had just done so. And it yielded better results.

Kanshou was very much the same. Steel mixed in with Obsidian. The thought of Ebony being what made the other part of it never crossed his mind. Ebony was made of wood, and a wooden sword would do him no good here.

He jumped back, not waiting for a retaliation strike that would surely come from the hulking monstrosity all four of them were fighting. He was vaguely aware that Natsu had taken to punching the thing with flaming fists and had even slashed at it with two whips made of fire. And although the attacks had made the metallic dragon stumble a bit, it was still standing.

Knightwalker was no different. He looked up and saw Knightwalker slashing and piercing the different parts of the mecha dragon. Slash and puncture wounds appeared where she struck, but most, if not all, of them were superficial at best. Doing nothing that would stop the dragon itself from functioning.

It was with dawning horror he realized, they wouldn't be able to stop this thing. Not with the attacks they threw at it now.

"Is this it?" As if reading his thoughts, the king's garbled voice echoed around the open courtyard outside the observatory. His tone was mocking and scathing even though it was demented and contorted. "Is this all you have? The Fairies I'm not so surprised with. But Knightwalker and Emiya. I expected better from you both." The king's voice sounded disappointed. Before a sigh escaped the dragon's maw, sounding extremely out of place for the giant mechanical thing. "Allow me my counterattack."

And with those words, he heard humming as something powered up.

"Get back!" He shouted. His instincts telling him that whatever was coming, they needed to step away from it. Far away from it.

His instincts were both right and wrong. Both Knightwalker and Natsu had followed his directions, with Natsu stopping by Wendy to pick her up before continuing to run away from the menacing dragon. And they had garnered a considerable distance away from the thing, before he heard metal clank against metal.

He saw what happened, the dragon's chest opened to reveal pods lodged inside it. He immediately recognized what it was, and cursed himself. Of all the times they could have shown something modern, it had to be now, and it had to be a rapid-fire rocket launcher.

"Everyone get behind a wall!" He shouted hastily as he dove for a wall, rolling behind it as he heard the sounds of rockets launching. He couldn't look towards the others, as the explosions started happening a few seconds later; some were close, while some were far, but they rocked the ground and shook the wall he was leaning on. He had to move aside as a particularly close rocket had hit a few meters to the side, and had created a hole where even more rockets streamed into the hall the wall he was leaning on had hidden.

He stepped out into open ground, not risking his life in staying in one place, before he started running. Circling around the dragon knight as rocket after rocket exploded on the ground, in the air, and even on each other as he ran.

A close rocket exploded right in front of him, and he was buffeted debris that came from the ground. He also stopped, only for a second, but that second was precious.

He looked up, and saw two rockets coming towards him at insane speeds. He cursed, he couldn't dodge them, even if he was uninjured. His body was too weak to take them, he would die, he would die if they hit him.

He was saved from certain doom however, as two swords suddenly struck both rockets in midair and caused them both to explode just a few feet above him. He didn't waste anytime, he full on sprinted forward, towards the dragon knight, Kanshou and Bakuya poised to strike. He was already out in the open, why not just go forward and towards the enemy? They couldn't right fire their rockets at themselves anyway.

He reached the dragon's foot quickly and without problems, the rockets exploding around him as each one was pierced by sword after sword. He was at the foot in five seconds, and had slashed at it with Kanshou. The black blade embedded itself into the dragon's foot, before he ran forward, letting Kanshou open a gash on the mechanical foot and sending sparks flying everywhere. He idly wondered how his magic seemed to work on this supposedly magic immune dragon, before he was brought back up to reality as the dragon's other foot swung towards him.

His momentary lapse in thought cost him, the foot hit him square on the chest, instantly shattering three of his floating ribs, and caving in his sternum. He was dragged through the air as the foot continued its arc, sending him flying through the air with only Bakuya in his hands as he was forced to let go of Kanshou as he was dragged forward.

He didn't spin through the air, and he landed with rather painfully on his back, rolling on the ground as he finally stopped right next to a crater and rolled down the center of it. He was vaguely aware the rockets had stopped firing and exploding, he vaguely heard the king's voice shouting in the dragon's demented voice, but he was too busy writhing on the ground as his own healing factor tried to heal his broken bones and caved sternum.

"Sir Shirou!" He heard a familiar voice, was that Wendy's? Shout as two sets of footsteps began running down the crater he was in. He opened one eye, and even though he wanted to groan in pain, he forced himself to speak.

"That… w-wasn't a very smart move." Hindsight was twenty-twenty. He shouldn't have charged in like that, no plan whatsoever. That wasn't how he did things. Still, he justified himself that it was the only logical thing to do. He was given a chance to advance, and he took it. Maybe attacking head-on was bad, but he was also opportunistic. He shouldn't have underestimated that mechanical dragon in the first place.

"Hang on, let me heal you." He heard Wendy say to him. He raised his hand to argue, to stop her from healing him as his own healing factor took place, but another voice cut him off.

"Just shut up will ya?" It was Natsu's voice. He then knew who the other person was, the blur with a head full of pink was the brash Fairy Tail member. "You're hurt; we need you at full power if we wanna take that thing down. So shut up and let Wendy heal you, alright?" The words formed a question, but the tone suggested a declaration.

He couldn't help but smile a little. He then let his own innate healing factor slow. He couldn't outright stop it from healing him, but he could slow it enough for Wendy to work with it. Since his healing factor was more or less just first-aid that held his body together instead of outright healing him. "Alright," He agreed with a nod of his head. He could make out Wendy smiling at him for a second, before she focused on the task of healing him.

He could feel the air around them begin swirling and becoming wind. The wind took on the smell of the ocean, relaxing and calming. He then started to feel his sternum inflating, his ribs healing, and his general chest area start feeling outright better.

It wasn't as fast as his swords, but it was a hell of a lot more comfortable. He could feel the broken ribs in his chest actually begin to regrow, the caved sternum begin to inflate as air filled it. He was surprised that air was so versatile for this world, for Wendy's magic. If it could heal like this, what else could it do? Wind was the most damaging element in his world, but here, it seemed like wind was something that could heal and destroy.

He sucked in a breath of air as his lungs to inflate, no longer being held down by his caved sternum. His broken ribs were still sore, and were still mending, but they were regrowing. He sat up, ignoring the protests that came from Wendy. "Sorry," He apologized to the small pre-teen girl. "But I can't wait around for my whole body to heal. I can fight like this." At his words, his own healing factor took over, swords began to encroach around his ribs and lengthened them to what their original length was, only instead of bone, the rest of the ribs were formed with swords.

"But-!" Wendy continued to argue, but he shook his head. It was nice that Wendy was so concerned about his health. But if he wasn't fighting, his health would be the least of his problems.

He stood up, rolling his shoulders as he did so. Weirdly, Bakuya was still in his right hand, and he only then realized that his own reflexes with using the twin swords were so honed that he wouldn't let them go even if he was flung through the air and rolled on the ground multiple times.

"You okay to fight?" Natsu asked him, eyes locking with his.

He craned his neck to both sides, satisfied that they weren't stiff, before he nodded at Natsu. "I'll be fine. We have to fight anyway." That was true, they needed to fight, if not, who knows what the king'll do.

Natsu nodded his head at him in return. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted as a shout from above them echoed around the crater. "Natsu! Wendy!"

The voice was familiar, but at the same time, not. It was Knightwalker's voice, but the concern it held for both Natsu and Wendy sounded foreign and out of character for Knightwalker. So when he turned around, he wasn't too surprised to see Knightwalker's face, but with a different posture and look in her eyes.

This was the other Erza. Scarlet if he remembered correctly.

The Fairy Tail mage was wearing some kind of black armor that reminded him of a bat. Complete with bat wings on the back and a large buster sword comprised of the same material as the armor she wore. He analyzed the sword, and recorded it into his Blade Works. It wasn't anything special, but it was hard. Extremely so, hard enough to knock a building over if hit with enough force.

"Erza!" Natsu waved at the woman before he ran over towards her. A bright grin on his face as he did so. "So you were the one that threw those swords?"

He saw Erza nod at Natsu. "Yes," She confirmed, before turning towards him. "That was certainly courageous, charging in like that. But it wasn't the best of ideas."

He grimaced. "I know." His voice came out colder than he thought. But it wasn't at all paid attention to as Erza only nodded her head at him.

"At least you know and won't repeat the same mistake." Erza said. She then turned back towards Natsu and Wendy. "We have to move. Mystogan has given us a rundown on what exactly that thing is." He didn't need to think about what she was talking about. And judging from the tone in her voice, it was clear she was a little disconcerted about what exactly it was. "It's best if we retreat and think up a new plan."

He frowned, her voice had turned hard and uncompromising. Like she expected someone to say n- "No." Well, looks like he was right. Natsu shook his head at Erza, who let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Natsu-" She began, sounding like she was about to explain why they should run.

Natsu however, was having none of it. "I don't care what it is Erza." He spoke, serious and completely resolute. "If that king is left alone like this, who knows what'll happen!"

He agreed to that completely. "You know what it does right?" He asked Erza, who turned towards him and nodded her head. He responded with his own nod. "Then you know that leaving it alone is the worst thing we can do."

Erza however, only shook her head at him. "Regardless, we lack the means to damage it." She explained, and while he could refute that easily, he allowed her to continue. "It is better if we double back and think of a plan to-"

"Will you listen to yourself Erza?!" He blinked at the furious tone Natsu had taken. He wasn't the only one surprised, as even Erza and Wendy took a step back at the sheer anger they could feel radiating from the Dragon Slayer.

Erza however, regained her composure and took a step forward. "Natsu, don't argue with m-" Erza's tone was unflinching and uncompromising. But Natsu didn't care, he just interrupted her again.

"You're saying you just want to watch that thing rampage around here?!" Natsu's half-asked half-shouted. Erza grimaced a little, but didn't say anything as Natsu continued. "If we don't stop that thing, who knows what'll happen! We can't just sit back and think! We don't have time!"

Erza grit her teeth. "You think I don't know that Natsu?!" She responded angrily. Natsu didn't flinch away as Erza locked eyes with him. "I want to stop that thing as much as you do, but I know that we won't be able to damage it much less destroy it! Fighting that thing is a fool's errand without a plan!"

He shook his head as he stepped forward. "We don't have time to argue." He spoke coldly, ignoring the hot looks he got from both Natsu and Erza for interrupting them. He then turned towards Erza. "Take your guild members and go." He began. Surprising the scarlet-haired woman as she furrowed her eyebrows at his words. "I'll fight the thing and destroy it." He stated, seriously.

For a second, Erza looked unsure, but then that second passed and she shook her head. "If we're going, you're coming with us." Erza frowned as she seemed to remember something. "Knightwalker too."

He shook his head at her. "I doubt Knightwalker will be willing to retreat." He began. "And I'm not either. If I don't stop this thing right here and now, and it continues to rampage, it'll keep sucking up the magic around it. It has to be stopped here and now." He wouldn't budge on this, no matter what, he'll keep fighting.

Natsu turned towards him, a grim smile on his lips as he nodded his head at him. "Yeah," Natsu spoke, causing Erza's eyes to shift back towards the Dragon Slayer. "Sorry Erza, I'm really scared of you, but I'm not budging about this, not one bit."

Erza looked like she was about to say something, but was cut-off as Wendy spoke up this time. "S-sorry Erza." The girl apologized. He heard her from behind him, and he realized the girl had walked towards his back and used him as a slight buffer from Erza. "B-but I'm fighting too. I can't let them fight alone."

Erza's gaze seemed to soften a little as she stared at Wendy. But it quickly hardened and turned into a reprimanding one. He was surprised as he felt Wendy grip the back of his shirt, her fists balling the fabric as she hid behind his back. He was mildly uncomfortable at the closeness, but recognized a plea for help when he saw one.

He shifted a little to block Erza's gaze towards Wendy. Before he spoke up. "Sorry," He apologized to her. She was being made to look the bad guy here, but honestly, Erza didn't look like she cared. There was a bigger problem and she acknowledged that. She needed to be firm in this case, but she was failing in telling her guild mates to retreat simply because both were as hardheaded as her. "But it seems like you're outvoted." That was a lame line, he almost felt like reaching up and smacking his face with his hand as it finally digested. But it was the truth. Three to one, Erza couldn't do anything about this. One was half naked with just his pants on and a tattoo of sorts on his chest. And the other was someone with a scowl and multiple piercing all over his face.

"You sound like an old woman. Whatever happened to punch first ask questions later?" The half-naked one spoke, a smirk appearing on his lips as he jumped down into the crater. He was followed by the other three shortly.

"Gray, Gajeel." Erza spoke both their names sounding slightly surprised. "I thought I told you two to stay with Mystogan."

"We put him someplace safe." The half-naked one – Gray – countered. "He's fluttering in and out of consciousness, but he's otherwise fine."

"You just left him alone?" Erza's voice was incredulous, and more than a little angry. Gray shrugged his shoulders, seemingly undisturbed by Erza's tone.

"He asked us to." That seemed to mollify Erza somewhat, as she stared at Gray in surprise. "He told us to stop the Dorma Anim, to help his country. He was sorta loopy for a while there, but we kinda got the jist of what exactly he wanted us to do." Gray paused before he shrugged. "'Sides, Lucy and those two knights are with'em. Lucy's a little loopy as well from the Teleportation, but otherwise, they're all safe and hidden."

He saw Gajeel snort right beside Gray. "I don't think we can misinterpret Mystogan's words. If you did, you'd be denser than Natsu."

Gray bristled. "I resent that!" He chortled as he turned a glare towards Gajeel.

Fortunately, before anything could come of the shouting, Natsu interrupted. "You're being weird Erza." He voiced out, his voice cutting through the chatter around them. He heard the sound of metal clashing against metal above the crater, and he remembered that Knightwalker was still fighting up there. "You don't normally think things through, you just go in most of the time, like me."

He shifted a little, and opened his mouth to speak. But was stopped from doing so by Erza. "We have to think here Natsu." She voiced, her tone imploring. "That mechanical dragon is immune to magic, it can suck in magic as well. If we don't think a good plan to-"

"Here's a good plan." Natsu interrupted as he stepped forward towards Erza. They locked eyes with each other, and he could practically see the defiance in Natsu's eyes as he stared at the scarlet-haired woman. "We go up there, and we destroy that thing. It's a dragon, so we dragon slayers can take it. You stay back and let us do the work."

"Like hell we'll let you do that." Gray shouted before Erza could say anything. Natsu and Erza turned towards the man, before Gray spoke up again. "We're fighting, whether you like it or not Flamebrain, Erza. And as much as I hate admitting this, Natsu's part of Fairy Tail too! I'll be damned if he kicks the buckets and I'm not the one that does it!"

He watched as the Dragon Slayer and the half-naked man started to argue, before he let out a sigh while shaking his head. "I'm going." He stated, his words cutting through the air and making everyone turn towards him. He shifted a little at the attention, before he shook his head and continued on. "This isn't something to think about. Either we put a stop to that thing rampaging, or we sit back and watch as it destroys its surroundings. I don't have to think about this to answer; I know what I'm going to do." He finished as he turned around and started to trudge up the crater.

He reached the top of the crater and pulled himself up. Before he turned and looked down from above. He saw almost all of the mages inside the crater were looking at him. He thought of what else to say to them, but only shook his head again. There was nothing left to say. So he just turned around, and locked onto the Dorma Anim.

"Trace On," He reached for two familiar swords. But he also knew this wouldn't be enough. Kanshou and Bakuya Altered could probably give light wounds to the mechanical beast, but it wouldn't do any good. It felt no pain, and he doubted if his slashing could actually do anything other than give it a few nicks. Even Knightwalker, who he saw was still engaging the dragon like a she were some kind of human fly, drifting up and around the dragon as she stung with Ascalon, didn't do much damage aside from light pierce wounds and slash marks.

But he didn't care. He couldn't care. He wouldn't care. If Kanshou and Bakuya couldn't work, he'd just imagine something that will. If his body broke down, he'd use the parts that weren't broken. If everything was lost, if he couldn't think of anything in his Blade Works to defeat it, if his entire body lay broken and mangled, he'd just imagine a weapon that can defeat it. He'd use the parts that weren't there.

These were his thoughts every time he went into battle. These were the things he imagined himself doing as he fought, using parts that didn't belong to him, using weapons that should be impossible. He always, always, entered into battle expecting he would die. Die, but never lose. Die, but never win.

"I Am the Bone of My Sword." The words rolled through his mouth like oil. He wouldn't use Unlimited Blade Works here. That would take too long, and his body wouldn't be able to handle the strain of using that much Prana. But what he could do, was force his World to manifest bit by bit into the world around him.

And that was what he was going to do.

"Steel is My Body, and Fire is my Blood." The world shifted. Swords, spears, axes, hammers appeared in his mind. From the deeper recesses of the Blade Works they surfaced. The image of Kanshou and Bakuya strengthened as he understood them deeper, in a more intimate level. Like they were naked in front of his eyes.

He watched as Knightwalker shifted up, down, left and right of the Dorma Anim. The spear in her hands doing meager damage. He understood why it was only doing superficial damage. He understood, and that was the reason why he knew what he should do next.

The Dorma Anim let loose a howl. A howl that pierced the air, the rumbled the ground it walked upon, that sucked in the magic around it. Grass withered under the dragon, and for a moment, Knightwalker faltered. That moment gave him a good look of the flickering image of Ascalon as the magic was sucked around the Dragon Knight.

He frowned, right, he needed to end this in one stroke. Or at least, he needed someone to follow up and end it in the next one.

Ascalon was a weapon that sucked in a dragon's power. That made the power of the dragon the wielder's own. And that was what he was going to use.

He focused on the Dragon, on the mechanical knight that was inspired by Knightwalker's father. Before he closed and his eyes and took a deep breath. Three seconds to inhale, and three seconds to exhale.

When he finished, he charged forward, Kanshou and Bakuya readying for their next – and hopefully – last strike.

XxX

Note, I have not proofread this to my liking yet. It's fine right now, but forgive any glaring mistakes. I'm in a rush here.

Cutting this in two. Too long. Broke my cardinal rule of a long chapter.

Again folks, I keep mentioning the story that I heavily dislike because you guys keep mentioning it in your reviews. I'll stop mentioning it if you guys will. I've made my opinion about it known to discourage you guys from mentioning it, but some of you guys don't get it and some even waste a review to ask why I don't like it. That's something you PM guys, not Review a story on.

Anyway, Erza is being OOC here. I know, but that's just for this chapter. I won't justify it, simply because I have a perfectly reasonable explanation explained in the story itself. If you guys don't notice it, I'll ask you to read again. If you still don't get it, PM me any of your questions and I'll answer it.

Aside from that, what do you guys think? Is this first part good or bad? Tell me what you liked and disliked so that I can go over these things and improve my writing.

And by the way. I'll be posting a one-shot in the next few hours after this. A DxD and Fate oneshot. Hopefully it doesn't start something as this was made without the intention of doing anything but express my opinion on what Shirou would do with an Asia that wants to start drinking.

Edit: So many people telling me to go to the wiki for facts. Just... wow. Wiki for facts. Yeah, not happening. Partially Tracing something happened. Shirou partially Traced Rho Aias in Hollow Atraxia. Four petals. Four, freaking, petals. Archer blew through those four petals with one Hrunting. And by the way, Nine Lives Blade Works? That was Altered. Shirou couldn't possibly have Traced Nine Lives: Shooting Hundred Heads. He had to Alter it to make it work for his body.

I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. I know a lot about the Nasuverse. I get sources from the games and official magazines. I go on Beast's lair and ask. I don't go on the wiki and immediately take what it says there as the truth. I research. This is getting annoying, especially since most of these reviewers are just people anonymously reviewing.

And Hollow Atraxia is not for the LOLZ!. It actually happened. Go find it.

Anyways, I'm out. Peace!