Chapter 25...
"You've certainly taken your time..Zancrow." A long, grey, bearded old man said as Zancrow approached him. The two were in a large, empty room. The old man was wearing a long dark cape, and sitting on a throne resting his head on one hand.
"What can I say Master Hades? The instructions in this thing were tedious." He said, and pulled out a book from his vest.
"It doesn't matter. Have you gotten the two hundred souls required to resurrect the devil?"
"Not quite. I still need one more."
"And why is that? Your instructions were clear." Hades said in a slightly irritated tone. "Mard and I have decided to let loose the fifth devil in this world. After three years of research and exploration we finally found one of Zeref's most deadliest demons, and we need to let it loose before the soul is no longer contained. After losing Deliora, we needed another calamity to take it's place."
"Yeah yeah, I got it under control." Zancrow waved his hand as if it was no big deal."Although, how come you never told me it was a Fire Devil?" He asked curiously.
"..Well I was hoping after the 200th one, the soul would posses you, and we wouldn't have to bother with anything else." He scoffed.
"Heh, damn, crafty geezer." Zancrow chuckled. "I assume this is also the reason you taught me Flame God Slayer Magic?" He asked with a smile.
"It's not like you to be so suspicious. I thought I trained you to follow orders?"
"You taught me how to kill. And I am really damn good at it." He boasted.
"Except for that incident awhile back." Hades interjected as Zancrow stopped and made a sound of surprise. "If I recall, you met someone who fought you to a draw. If you're going to claim you are good at what I taught you, then why was it when that buffoon Jose hired you to annihilate that village, you failed to kill all but one of them?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He was good. Very good. Almost as good as me." He said as he made a angered look. "He matched me move to move...he got better the more he fought me. It was like fighting myself." He remembered.
"Well this..wizard appears to have had the book all along. I was quite surprised when it showed up years after that dragon took it. I assumed it destroyed the soul, but I guess the dragon never figured out how too. We are very fortunate."
"That same guy from a year ago.." Zancrow began to say. "I'm gonna make him the last sacrifice, but not before I kill him with my own two hands after what he did to me."
"..It is true that strong mages would go a long way to strengthening the Meggido, but what if you die? If the soul escapes and goes into the body of someone weak, it will perish." Hades said in a concerned tone.
"Now see here's the thing, that guy and I use similar magic. He uses this blue, fire Dragon Slayer Magic. And my flames barely even burn him."
"Hmm.." Hades hummed, deep in thought. "If there is someone else who can withstand Meggido's flames..."
"All the more reason I get rid of him, right?" He said with grin and a tilt of his head.
"..Take Bluenote with you. I want to be sure he sees the job get done." Hades said as a dark figure approached.
"What?! Why do I gotta take someone with me?! You don't trust me to get the job done?!" Zancrow protested.
"No. Now go and get it over with." Hades said as the man came in to reveal himself.
"..Lets go." He said with a blank look.
"Grr! You better not get in my way asshole. That guy is MINE!" Zancrow threatened.
"Matser Hades!" A guard burst in like he was in a hurry. "We've detected several mages approaching the fortress!"
"Get to it you two." Hades ordered.
Elsewhere...
We find Natsu and the rest of the group traveling on the side of a mountain pass. It was rocky and jagged. Not to mention the thick fog that obstructed their view.
"Don't stray from the path. One misstep, and you'll be a red stain when you hit the ground." Natsu warned.
"H-how high are we?" Ultear asked.
"Hmm..last time it was about a five hundred foot drop."
"Well that's..not so bad." Mindy said in a reassured tone.
"But that was about an hour ago, so its probably twice that much from this high." Natsu put a hand on his chin trying to estimate the distance.
"Great." Mindy sighed.
"How close are we?" Ultear asked. She stopped to get some rocks out of her sandals.
"..." Natsu then stopped and stayed silent.
"I know I've been asking since this morni-"
"No, not that. I'm just trying to think." He then closed his eye and sat down. The others, as if on cue, decided to do the same and rest.
"Still, we have come a long way. I can't believe we've come this far." Mira said as she stretched.
"We've come quite a ways from Gracia. I hope Meredy is doing well keeping the guild under control." Erza noted.
"Indeed. You dumped quite a bit of work on her now that I think about it, Ultear." Kagura said, looking over at her guild master.
"Oh, its nothing she can't handle. Besides i'm sure we'll be back soon. Truth be told, I think this trip has done me good. I needed some time off." Ultear said as she smiled.
"You truly are negligent woman aren't you?" Treya said, standing next to Wendy while slowly petting her head.
"Hey, dealing with all the sexual harassment, and meeting the budget requirements for a building full of woman is more taxing than you can think. And to top it all off, I get blamed half the time because some of the clients want to see Erza or Mira in some weird outfit for some weird, pervy reason." Ultear protested as she counted the reasons.
"...Sounds more like a brothel."
"Take that back!" Mira suddenly said angrily.
"I cannot ignore that comment." Kagura said as she narrowed her eyes at the dragon slayer. "We all have put our hearts into making Mermaid Heel to what it is today. You have no right to judge us."
"Then tell me. What's so great about a place that tries to exceed people's expectations?"
"What do you mean?" Erza asked with a narrowed look.
"If you truly gave you're heart into crafting that guild, then you should not care what other people think. Instead, you should only care about what your guild represents." Treya explained as the Mermaid Heel mages listened in. "You hope to show that a women's guild can outdo all the other countless one's? If that is your goal, then in the end, other people will only look at your guild as a women's guild."
"Why you-!"
"It's alright Mira." Ultear said trying to calm her down. "She's right. However.." Ultear then looked Treya straight in the eyes.
"At least we're trying to make a difference. And just like you said, what matters is what our guild, and guild mates represent. Maybe we are just a women's guild, but we are striving to be better than that." Treya just blinked and maintained her expression.
"...If that is what you think, then I guess it doesn't matter what I say." Treya said as she sat back to back with Natsu. "I just don't see why my Natsu is traveling with such hypocrites." She then turned her head away and faced the fog.
"You calling us liars?" Mira said as she walked up to her with an annoyed look."What is your problem? Why do you try to piss off everyone?"
"..." She stayed silent and ignored her as she just stared at the fog continuously.
"If you keep acting like that, no one is ever going to accept you."
"I don't care." Treya said in a quiet voice. "All I need is Natsu."
"You talk down to us, act like someone who's above us. But who's the one who is alone?" Treya then looked up at her.
"I'm not alone. Natsu accepts who I am. He doesn't fight for a side, he doesn't care about what people are. He believes that no-."
"Treya?" Natsu said in a calm voice. "Please stop." His tone sounded like a request than his usual cold tone with her.
"Hai." She said with acknowledgement.
"Hmph." Mira simply scoffed and went over by Mindy and sat down. She glanced at Natsu with a sad frown. "She probably knows him better than all of us. But..I know he has a caring side." She thought as she thought back to the moments they spent with each other.
"..Ok." Natsu said as he stood up. "I think that should have been enough time." Natsu said as he narrowed his eye at the fog.
"Time? For what?" Mindy asked.
"He should be around he-Mm!?" He then widened his eye. Treya copied him, as she sensed a presence approaching them.
"That psycho brought back up." Natsu said as he tensed up and glared at the two approaching silhouettes. Erza noticed how tense Natsu was acting, and was surprised at his lost in composure. Whoever was coming was probably strong.
"Well ain't this a treat~!" A voice familiar to Natsu said. "You saved me the trouble of me having to find you. Natsu." Zancrow came out with Bluenote.
"Zancrow." Natsu said in a cold tone.
"Make it fast." Bluenote said as he stood away from Zancrow.
"Yeah yeah, keep a lid on it. I want to enjoy this." Zancrow said with a smirk. "I don't know how the hell you managed to find Grimore Heart, but that saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down...You also seemed to know about this fog spell."
"The fog?" Wendy asked in confusion.
"Its actually a type of detection spell that we laid around here. Anyone who enters the fog, is broadcasting their magic directly to us. Although..it was weird their were several people showing up and not eight." Zancrow noted as he looked at Natsu with curiosity. They all looked at Natsu in surprise.
"He was waiting for him?" Kagura thought.
"Why didn't he tell us?" Ultear wondered.
"Enough screwing around, where's the Meggido book?" Natsu demanded.
"Slow down there slick, I got it right here." Zancrow said as he pulled it out.
"Hand it over." He said as he glared at him.
"Not so fast, you and I got a score to settle first." He said as he smirked and crossed his arms.
"I did not come all this way just to kick you're ass. Now HAND. IT. OVER." Natsu was sounding more demanding and colder by the second.
"You think i'm just gonna roll over and let you, and you're merry little band of cockroaches just up and leave? Don't tell me you've gotten stupider since the last time I saw you?" Zancrow shook his head slowly as he held the book.
"Do you have any idea what that is you are holding?" Natsu asked firmly as he pointed to the book.
"A Fire Devil. And a helluva one to, from what Master Hades has told me."
"So what? You're just going to let it loose?" Natsu asked sarcastically.
"That's the plan. And the best part is, I get to be the one who gets to use it." He said evilly.
"You're insane." Natsu said shaking his head in disbelief.
"Hey. You're the crazy one pal, i'm just the guy who's aiming to be crazier." He shrugged.
"What do you hope to accomplish by doing this?" Ultear asked as she came to Natsu's side.
"Hmm, destruction, death, chaos, whatever sinks you're boat." Zancrow thought out loud.
"There is a reason these devils were sealed away. You'd be wise to think why they were sealed away."
"I know, isn't it just a waste?" Zancrow said as he threw his arms up."All that darkness and hatred, building up from being kept in the dark for years on end, and unleashing it all in one moment. Doesn't it just excite you?" He seemed fascinated by the thought of it.
"This guy is insane." Mindy said in disbelief.
"...Whatever. I guess i'll just have to use an alternate form of persuasion." Natsu said as he walked up to Zancrow.
"What do you say we switch locations? Bluenote?" Zancrow than turned to Bluenote as he raised his hand up and the entire ground was rumbling.
"W-what the heck?!" Ultear exclaimed.
"The mountain is shaking! Is this his magic!?" Mindy wondered as they all tried to regain their balance. It felt like an earthquake.
"..Fall." Blue not simply said as the ground around them crumbled and Natsu fell into a deep pit that was covered up.
"Natsu!" They all were about to go in after him, but all of a sudden a cloud of flames got in their way. They were a dark purple, as Zancrow had a maniacal look in his eyes.
"Sorry ladies, but this is a private party! You can play with Bluenote until i'm finished with him. Although there probably won't be much left of you when he's done, HAhahaha!" Zancrow laughed as he dove down into the hole.
"That bastard." Treya hissed. All of a sudden, the ground then became covered as the rocks filled in the opening quickly. Bluenote then lowered his hand and it calmed.
"I'm sorry to say you won't be going anywhere." He said to the group.
"Stand aside you ol' geezer!" Mira said as she charged and transformed into her Satan form.
"..Fall." He said and suddenly Mira was sent crashing into the ground. She felt like she was being crushed by an enormous weight.
"W-what..the!?" She grunted.
"Gravity magic." Kagura said, recognizing the spell he was doing.
"You bastard..!" Mira said as she slowly pulled herself up.
"No use." Bluenote said as he waved his finger slightly, and the pressure increased. She was stuck on the ground and couldn't even budge.
"Hang on Mira! "Lightning Stream!" Mindy said as she shot a beam of lightning magic out of her hands and towards Bluenote.
"..." Bluenote just remained still and took the attack. As the lightning vanished after a moment of getting electrocuted, he just stood there unfazed. He then slowly shifted his eyes in her direction.
"Hm?" He simply hummed in confusion.
"No way..that didn't even make him flinch." Mindy said as she felt a cold drop of sweat. "Then try this! "Thunder Spear!" She then threw a large lightning bolt at him as he looked at it. He then raised his hand and then suddenly stopped it.
"He caught it!?" Carla exclaimed.
"..This is just pathetic." He sounded disappointed from such a weak attack. He then crushed the bolt with his hand as it disappeared.
"He should have at least been paralyzed...what the hell is this guy?" Mindy wondered in horror.
"All of you come at me. Taking you all on one by one is not satisfying." His figure was foreshadowed, and his eyes were glowing white. The magic pressure he was emitting was monstrous. It was making Ultear, Wendy, and Mindy tremble.
"Can you fly?" He asked in a dark tone.
"Wendy, Mindy. Stay back." Erza said as she walked up. "This man is a lot more powerful than he looks." She narrowed her eyes as she drew her sword. "Kagura. Help Mira."
"Hai." She nodded and her eye glowed slightly. All of a sudden the gravity holding Mira down was being lifted.
"Hm?" Bluenote was surprised that someone was using the same magic as him as he looked at Kagura with interest. "My gravity..no one can get up from it." He stated and held both his hands up and began pressing Mira further into the ground.
"GAAAHHH!" She shouted in pain.
"I won't let you!" Kagura's eyes then glowed again, this time she held her hands in front of her and was trying to lift the gravity from Mira. "This gravity...is nothing!" She clenched her teeth as she was grunting in defiance. She then canceled out the gravity Mira was under. Mira then widened her eyes and immediately got up and and held a hand up towards him. "Evil Explosion!" She shouted as she blasted dark magic at Bluenote. He quickly held his arms up and blocked the blast, engulfing him in smoke. Mira landed next to Kagura and the others.
"Thanks." She expressed her gratitude to the swordswomen.
"No..problem." Kagura was breathing hard. She just barely was able to stop the gravity Bluenote was controlling.
"My gravity..was stopped? Me!?" He exclaimed in surprise.
"Sorry pal, but Kagura's Gravity magic isn't something to take lightly." Ultear smiled as she summoned her crystal ball.
"Look, Captain Bluenote is up there!" A soldier shouted. A large group arrived behind the mages encircling them.
"Looks like we got company." Mindy said.
"Lets hold em' off. Erza and Kagura will take care of this guy." Mira said as she pounded her fist.
"Lets go guys!" Ultear shouted as she summoned more crystal balls.
"Lets go!" Mindy declared as she charged lightning in her hands. Treya was speculating and just blinked. She then sighed and turned to a group of soldiers surrounding her.
"I won't forgive anyone who gets in Natsu's, or my way." She stated coldly. She then formed bluish crystals on her arms in the shape of long blades. She then readied herself as she thought. "I'll be there soon..Natsu."
Below ground...
Natsu was in a large cavern with open space. He must have fell nearly to the bottom. He was eyeing Zancrow as he and him were in a stare down.
"I'm surprised. Anyone who tried to get here died before they even got close to the guild." Zancrow had to admit.
"You gonna keep jawing or are we going to get started?" Natsu said in a bored tone.
"Hahaha, you'er right! It's not like me to ask first and kill later. I just got one last thing to say.." He then got in a stance. "..I win either way. If you die, I win. If I die, I still win."
"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked annoyed.
"Who knows~? But lets get this party started!" He then erupted into flames.
"Hoh? You got stronger." Natsu noticed the flames were more hotter than the last time. "But that's not enough." He said as he also erupted into flames.
"Any last words?" He taunted.
"Just three." Natsu then got in to a fighting stance. "You're going down." The two then charged and jumped at each other. Their fists collided as the ground shook from the impact. Natsu then kicked Zancrow away from him. He landed and skidded back as Natsu inhaled.
"Azure Dragon's Roar!" He then let loose a large stream of flames as they headed for Zancrow.
"Flame God's Bellow!" A large fire ball was shot from his mouth as it collided with Natsu's roar attack. It was a bright explosion that kicked up smoke. Natsu charged right towards Zancrow. The two were exchanging punches, each one taking a hit, only to return it with a fist of their own. Zancrow punched Natsu in the face and kicked him in the stomach. Natsu shouted in pain, but he slammed his foot down to hold him in place. He then got on the offense and slammed his fist into Zancrow's face. He then spun around and kicked him on the side of his head. That sent Zancrow flying into rock formation, making him crash into it.
"Eryyaah!" He shouted in defiance, and erupted out of the debris. He shot forward and ignited his fist. "Flame God's Blazing Fist!" He punched Natsu as Natsu blocked it with his forearms and skidded back.
"Azure Dragon's Burning Knuckle!" Natsu then formed a large flaming fist and shot it towards Zancrow. It hit him and sent him flying through a thin wall of rocks. He grunted and got up.
"Flame God's Death Scythe!" He then moved his arms slowly in a circular fashion and formed a giant scythe of flames. He then swiped it towards Natsu, as Natsu jumped to dodge. When he landed back on the ground, the rocks behind him were sliced clean in half. He looked back at Zancrow and made a glare as he stretched his arms out.
"With the flames of destruction on my right hand, and the flames of destruction on my left hand.."
Zancrow smirked. He decided to rise to the challenge and began chanting his own spell. "When you burn down the west, and when you down the east..."
"The two became one and the one became..
"God's breath!
"Azure Dragon's..
"Flame God's...
"Raging Inferno!"
"Kagutsuchi!" They both unleashed massive fire balls with seemingly equal power as the flames raged against one another. Natsu was narrowing his eye, focusing on trying to overpower Zancrows attack. Zancrow just had the same crazy grin he had since the start of the fight. Natsu decided to give his attack more power as he grunted and added more magic to his attack.
"Grr!" Zancrow growled. He was losing his footing and slowly slid back. But he wasn't one to give up that easily. He then inhaled.
"Flame God's Bellow!" He shot another large fireball into his Kagutsuchi making it more larger and powerful.
"Teh!" Natsu scoffed. He thought this power struggle was pointless and decided to jump out of the way. When he stopped fighting back, a massive fiery explosion happened and the god flames pushed his attack toward one end of the large cave. It exploded with a bluish light in the distance. Natsu landed back down and kept his eye on Zancrow.
"Not bad for a warm up." He said as he popped his neck.
"Bullshit, I know you're fighting with everything you got." Natsu scoffed as he crossed his arms.
"You sure about that? In that case, how 'bout I show you a little something I learned over the year~?" He said as a dark-purple magic circle appeared under his feet.
"Enchantment: God's Blessing." He then became surrounded by a purple aura. A visible purple outline could be seen on his body as he smirked more. "With this, i'm going to kill ya'!" He declared.
"You can pull any spell out of your ass for all I care. If you think you can beat me, then do it." He said coldly making Zancrow irritated.
"Stop talking like you're all hot shit!" He then shot at Natsu at a speed he wasn't ready for and punched Natsu through another wall in the cave. He then smiled. He was getting confident.
"Damn, that one actually stung." Natsu said as he felt his aching jaw. He looked back at Zancrow and noticed the magic power swirling around him. "Ok..that's new." He then grunted and got up.
"I'm not the same I was before. I'm three times more then the mage I was back then!" He stated grimly. "I'm disappointed. I thought I'd be able to enjoy this fight." He smirked.
"Just keep talking." Natsu narrowed his eye then got into a fighting stance.
"Ok then i'll say this. You're even weaker than before."
"Really? What makes you say that? Not that I particularly care."
"When I fought you, you actually were enjoying it. You were just like me, going for the kill in each blow. But now.." He then made a cold look, but kept his grin. "You've been made into a bitch, by bitches, Hahaaha" He laughed silently.
"I assure you, I am no one's bitch, and I don't plan on being one." He said as he lit his hands on fire.
"Where's you're enjoyment then? You had a darker look in your eye back then. I hardly even recognize you now."
"It wasn't enjoyment you saw in me back then." Natsu said as he narrowed his eye. "That was just me, fighting for my life. "Azure Dragon's.." He then held his hands up and was condensing the flames in his hand into a ball. "..Rapid Bomber!" The ball then began shooting out many blasts of fire balls that exploded on impact. Zancrow was getting pounded by the attack as he flared up in his own flames, and shielded himself from most of the blue, fiery explosions.
"Flame God's Aegis!" He then summoned dark-purple magic circles around him that protected him from the attack.
"Azure Dragon's Scorching Javelin!" Natsu then rocketed toward Zancrow's shield of magic circles, and collided with them. The circles then began cracking from the blue flames, much to Zancrow's surprise.
"Flame God's..."Zancrow extended his arms outward to his sides and began forming jaw-like flames in his hands. Natsu made a sound of surprise. ".Supper!" He slammed Natsu into the flames enveloping him.
"GAaaahhh!" Natsu screamed in pain.
"YOU"RE JUST A BITCH NATSU! JUST LIKE YOU'RE DRAGON WAS! I bet that overgrown newt was just as weak as you we-"
"AZURE DRAGON'S BLAST WAVE!" Natsu then opened his eye and was furious at the remark Zancrow gave him. He clapped his hands together, and flames formed around his body then erupted outward, sending the god slayer's flames away from him, as well as Zancrow flying upward into another level of the cavern. Zancrow crashed through the cave and hit a wall, crashing into it.
"GAH!" He yelped in pain and saliva came flying out of his mouth. He then fell to his knees on the ground. His expression was no longer happy looking, but filled with surprise at the dragon slayer's sudden attack.
"What the fuck!? That was so sudden I didn't even see it coming! How did he put that much power out so suddenly?!" He wondered furiously. Natsu then jumped up and landed on the same level of the cavern Zancrow was on. He had the most intimidating glare anyone had ever seen. The area around his eye was darkened, and his eye was was about as firm as steel.
"..Heheh, there you are~." Zancrow said with a smirk. He recognized that look. It was the one he was waiting for.
"Ok you prick...I'm gonna knock you're fuckin' head in~." Natsu said in a dark tone, with a maniacal look. He then flared up with more magic power, and was ready to go at it again.
Just wanted to post one before I went hunting! Read/Review/Vote!
Laters!