-Child of the Cosmos-
Lucy was terribly bored. It had been two weeks since her last lesson with the Zodiacs and she was convinced Leo was just toying with her now. She had been sitting at the edge of her bed for what seemed like an eternity glaring at the Portal that taunted her from the corner of her room. She huffed and kicked her legs back and forth.
Shoving herself off the bed she paced the small confines of her room. Chocolate eyes consistently being drawn back to the Portal. She skirted closer and closer to it, fingers brushing the rim of its cool surface. She had improved so much recently…surely she could have a small Viewing on her own. Shaking her head violently she propelled herself away from the Portal.
She fiddled with her ring, making certain it was shielding her power before conjuring a chair across from the Portal. Unable to help herself, she did a small dance of victory when the chair came into full resolution, exactly how she had imagined it. Her power had been growing steadily through her time with Leo and Virgo and she now had solid command over being able to materialize simple items just like Leo had so often during their lessons.
With a grin plastered across her face, Lucy plopped herself down in the chair, wriggling her bottom in an attempt to get comfortable. She sighed. The small triumph of the chair and the change in seating did nothing to abate the itch to View. She nibbled her bottom lip lightly and fiddled with a strand of her hair.
It couldn't hurt, could it?
Capitulating to the Portal she sighed again as she placed her hands on either side of the basin. She centered herself with the steady thrumming of the ring that pulsed through here, syncing her energies. She opened her eyes to a blinding nothingness, and concentrated on Fairy Tail.
The guild was back to normal. Laughter, brawls, a maze of pulsating activity as regular as a heartbeat. The spiky blonde haired mage who Lucy had identified as Yuri had his arm hooked around the shoulder of a beautiful young woman with short brown hair who was giggling happily as he regaled her with an animated story.
"Rita!" A drunken voice called out, and the brunettes head swiveled around. A raven haired man stumbled over, a flirtatious look in his eye. He waggled his eyebrows, but before he could open his mouth, a bolt of lightning struck him between the eyes, effectively putting him down for the count. The brown haired girl, Rita, wore an expression of shock, but Yuri merely pulled her closer and launched into another tale.
FLASH
Wait, what? Lucy's vision appeared scrambled. She hadn't lost control like this since she had first started Viewing. She focused and recognized Anna Heartfilia. Her hood was drawn and she was walking quickly, panic lining her face.
FLASH
No. Dread began to well up within Lucy. Something was wrong, she could feel something pulling her into Views, and this one she didn't recognize.
A flash of violent, maelstrom blue hair caught her eye as a figure stalked in to View. His body was tense, like a hunter preparing to pounce. Every movement outlined in agitated awareness. A non-human growl of irritation slid from his throat as he stumbled briefly in the darkness. A pulsating blue orb fluttered to life over his hand, illuminating his surroundings. Lucy wanted to scream. Bones, bones larger than she was were piled everywhere. In the center of the mound stood the open maw of a clean skull, gargantuan in size with teeth the length of a full grown man. The blue orb danced eerily around the space and Lucy realized it was a cave, she had seen one once while tracking the Dragons. The man prowled over to the skull and threw himself down in it, like a grisly throne.
Fear slammed through Lucy at his face. Green eyes burned in dark skin that was framed by long locks of wild hair. His face held a look of permanent disdain, haunted by a fierce wildness. Fluid blue markings seemed to glow across his skin. A large gaping wound slashed across his forehead, dripping a dark crimson mask over half of his features. With a weary sigh he looked at the orb aloft in his hand and it flickered to a light, airy, blue. He pressed the orb to the cut, and the skin knitted itself together leaving no trace. A brief look of relief flashed across his face and he inhaled deeply.
Everything about him changed. He bolted upright, unparalleled rage contorting his features.
"YOU!" His voice was like nails screeching across steel to Lucy's ears. Tears flew down her face and her body trembled. She fought desperately to withdraw from the View with no avail. He leaned forward sniffing the air fervently before locking eyes with Lucy. He eyes flew open and he screamed, a horrible, spiteful sound, the orb turning an unstable gold. Lucy panicked, she felt what she hadn't in months, a pulling sensation and she felt herself lurching forward into the View. She fought. Screaming she fought to maintain where she was when pain spliced her body. She had managed to stop, but she was halfway and agony filled her in waves. Her face and torso were stuck in Earthland, smells and feelings she had never had before overwhelmed her. Her arms frozen at her side she felt like she was being squeezed and cut in half all at the same time.
Cruel laughter echoed around her and she flashed eyes back toward the man. He was slinking towards her, a wicked smile playing across his face. She writhed and the pain intensified tenfold. Shrieking wildly Lucy kicked and clawed hands that were uselessly suspended back in the Spirit Realm. She felt dangerously close to passing out as the pain peaked again.
Harsh fingers dug into the flesh of her face and she cried out as her neck was jerked upward, his face close to hers. Sheer terror flooded all conscious thought as he snarled at her.
"You can wear whatever face you want." He spat, "I know your scent anywhere." He tugged at her jaw and she felt his nails cut into her face. She screamed again and he laughed in chorus with her desperation. Her mind tried to cut past the pain, racing furiously.
In the Spirt Realm her finger swiveled the ring three times clockwise.
Power like she had never known broke like a dam, surging through her. Desperately she focused it at the man. With a blinding flash she channeled a roaring torrent towards the him and she felt his hand rip from her face and she ricocheted backwards, fully reentering the Celestial Spirit Realm.
Lucy sat panting as pain receded from her body. Shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked steadily back and forth. Sobs wracked her body and she felt exhaustion over coming her. With a last burst of consciousness she turned her ring twice counterclockwise before succumbing to the dark embrace of slumber.
The Spirit King was still deep in thought on his throne when he felt the burst of power. It was larger than he had ever felt from a single spirit and had a heartbreaking edge of familiarity. As quickly as it appeared it vanished and he turned heavy eyes to the South. He shook his head slowly. He knew his Old Friend had been sheltering a secret, but he had been unaware that this is what it was. Groaning at the headache this would surely produce, the Spirit King considered Traversing straight to Centaurus to sort this out. No. He frowned slightly, this would have to play out on its own.
With much effort, he reverted his thoughts back to the predicament with the Dragons, the nagging of an oncoming storm pulling at the back of his mind.
Anna gasped as she lost her footing and slid down a leafy bank. Scrambling back to her feet she continued to race through the dark landscape. Sharp fingers of tree branches scraped at her clothing and flesh as she tore blindly through the forest. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest and she scampered to a stop, dropping quickly to a crouch. She worked to quiet her breathing and perked her ears and her spirit tracking senses. Igneel and Atlas Flame were moving to the west, but she couldn't hear anything of Acnologia.
He had been hunting her relentlessly for the past few days, this was her fifth encounter and proving the most harrowing. She had stopped briefly to mask her scent, unfortunately in a thick pool of mud that was localized to the area. Acnologia's nose was his sharpest asset, successfully hindering its usefulness was the best chance Anna had for survival.
She withdrew into a nearby tangle of foliage, leaning gingerly on her knees and considering her options. Calling on one of her spirits was a no go, it would alert Acnologia of her position almost immediately. She couldn't out run him, she wouldn't hold out much longer.
Her hand instinctively fluttered first to her journal, the only thing she had been able to salvage out of her belongings, and then to her growing stomach. She closed her eyes, mind racing for a way out.
Heavy thrumming snapped them back open. The pulse of Dragon wings had become almost as familiar to her as her own heartbeat over the past couple of years. She reached out her senses only to find that Igneel and Atlas were still too far west for these wingbeats to belong to them. She cursed and flattened herself within the bushes as much as she could. Acnologia must have shifted form.
She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from shrieking as she felt the accumulation of Magic above her. It was absolutely immense, a blow from it could obliterate the entire forest she had taken refuge in. She couldn't help the tears that came. This made no sense. From reports she had gathered, Acnologia had been severely wounded in a scrape with Metalicana just a week prior, he disappeared for what felt like only a moment and now he seemed to be targeting her like he never had before.
The Power above her swelled even further and her mind raced. Urano Metria? Would she be able to cast it before he struck his devastating attack? Would it be enough? Resigning to what she figured would be her last stand she clasped her hands before her, beginning to summon the Magic necessary. Uncertainty pulled at her, with how unstable her pregnancy made her emotions, it was bound to wreak even greater havoc on her Magic.
No! The thought slammed against her so violently it almost knocked her off balance. New wingbeats entered the fray and a deafening clash echoed above her. Anna gaped up, diving to roll out of the way as massive figures came crashing through the trees. Moonlight glinted off of hard jade armored scales as the two Dragons thrashed through the underbrush. Anna gaped. Zirconis? The thought only flickered through her mind as she had to flee further from their destructive brawl. Acnologia's jaws snapped dangerously close to Anna.
GO! The thought messily flung at her surprised her once again. She paused, sadness welling through her. This was a battle she could not fight herself. With a final appeal to the heavens she turned and fled, Acnologia's roar chasing her as she ran.