Chapter 26

The World Hates Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic, and Ideas

I think the world is out to get me.

Everything is getting crazy, and its happening more often now... First with Black Chimera, The Eclipse Gate, the Balance tipping, Aisha, the surprise S-Class Exam... And now this...

Did we even finish sealing the gate closed again...? ... Or have I been consumed at this point...? I can't remember... Damn it...

She was sitting alone in a dark space, too exhausted to move or even open her eyes. Her arms and legs hurt, even the slightest movement caused pain. Her body ached, she felt weak... As to be expected when you let a ghost use up all your Magic Energy...

She was starting to get fed up with this. She had never been one to enjoy getting into situations where she found herself hurt constantly, she was especially partial to passing out like this... She didn't like feeling weak, and however much she hated to admit it, she didn't like to lean on others for help.

Didn't Laxus say something like that...?

Either way, she wasn't looking forward to waking up, and in fact, she wasn't sure she could force herself to do so for some time, she was just too tired.

Assuming the whole Sealing thing actually worked... And I'm not actually dead...

Her mind lingered on that thought, she wondered if they had finished the Spell, if everyone was ok... She hoped they were...

The fragmented memory of seeing everyone on the grass while she was leaning against the cliff-face came to her, that must mean the Spell worked... And that must have been when she had blacked out, again. She hated that damn it,

The black around her grew thicker, her mind began to give way to it once more, until she couldn't think.

Ugh... Fuck...

"... What...?" Master Makarov whispered, eyes wide and sweatdropping. His eyes remained glued to the haggard looking Spirit Mage who had appeared before him, looking tired and grim.

The Guild Hall had been emptying slowly since night began to fall, to the point where only the main members remained in the darkening hall. He had been becoming increasingly worried, seeing as how the party that had left to find Frea had not yet returned.

He was seated on the bar, Jynx standing before him with Mira standing by and Gildarts seated in a stool beside him, while Mavis was sitting just next to him, looking shocked.

"The... Power of the One, they found it...?" Makarov asked lowly, Jynx nodded once. He just stared, he had heard of this power before of course, all Mages who knew anything about ancient Magic, or read a history book had seen it mentioned in some sort of way. But he had never believed he would hear of it being discovered for as long as he lived, nor thought it would have been released..

"Frea... She released it...?" He asked lowly, hardly able to believe the words were coming out of his mouth. First off, how Frea would even know how to do so was beyond him, and why she would do it was a different matter... He couldn't honestly believe Frea would even think to let loose something like that, if the legends on it were true...

"What is 'the Power of the One' exactly?" Mira asked, looking to Master for an answer.

"Its something I've only ever seen mentioned in old legends and very old History books." Master replied, "Its a power that was said to have brought upon great destruction and chaos during the earlier years of the world, a Magic that even history was afraid to record." He let out a low sigh. "Not much is known about it, other than what the stories tell. Some say its Evil, others sat it is good, all the records are vague and confusing." He glanced away from Mira toward Jynx. "But in every record, it was a Magic said to have the power to destroy the world, a Magic no one may control."

"Oh my..." Mira murmured.

"I hadn't believed it could be somewhere as obvious as the western forest, or that it could be found so easily." Master murmured. "Why would Frea even consider releasing such a power? I never thought even she wouldn't do something so reckless."

"She did not release it of her own accord." Jynx replied instantly. "Energy Dragon was not acting on her own, something took control of her, and forced her to open the tomb that Sealed away the Power of the One."

"Controlled?" Gildarts murmured, his interest peaked. "Frea?" Jynx nodded, "By what?"

"And how? Wouldn't Frea have been able to tell if she was being controlled? Or even Chase for that matter?" Mira asked.

"Even you should be able to sense if Frea was being controlled." Master said and Jynx sighed, sweatdropping slightly at the words.

"I know." She answered lowly, "I wasn't able to sense whatever it was that was controlling her, I don't know why, and I have no idea what it could have been..." She paused. "...but whatever it was, it wanted the Power of the One released, and it knew Energy Dragon was the only one who could let it free and break the Seal."

"Why would Frea be able to break the Seal?" Master asked.

"Because she knows the Dragon Language," Jynx answered simply. "The phrase to break the Seal was set in the Dragon Language, making her as the only one possibly able to open it, seeing as how none of the other Dragon Slayers can speak it."

"If this Magic was released, what happened to everyone?" Mira asked, Jynx had yet to mention what became of the group who had set out that morning.

"It began to consume them." Jynx replied evenly in a low, monotone voice. "It started to consume Energy Dragon, and would move on to the others, and then the rest of world." She caught the worried looks on their faces and shook her head slightly. "They are all relatively fine." Jynx assured.

"Relatively?" Mira whispered, looking even more worried at the words.

"Energy Dragon was wounded," Jynx murmured, voice dropping exponentially and eyes closing. "I couldn't Seal the Magic all on my own, Energy Dragon and I had to combine our Magics in order to succeed... The Power of the One had already partly consumed her, and when it was Sealed again she suffered damage and has been drained completely of Magic Energy from the effort of Sealing it." Jynx opened her eyes only to rest them on the floor. "I don't expect she'll be very happy when she wakes up... And I don't expect she'll wake up for some time either."

"She is alright though?" Master asked and Jynx nodded once.

"Seems like Frea's always the one gettin' hurt..." Gildarts mumbled, leaning against the bar counter. "She can't seem to catch a break..."

"No it doesn't seem that way... I feel a little bad for her..." Mira agreed quietly. "I'm worried about her too... If she keeps finding herself in situations like this, she may just end up...

"I know." Master cut Mira off quietly. "But Frea isn't one to keep herself from trouble, it doesn't matter what it is... She won't back down from fight nor challenge." He sighed. "I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to keep her from doing as she wishes..." Mirajane and Gildarts frowned, but they knew what the Old man said was relatively true.

Jynx looked to him for a moment, before looking away. Even if it gets her killed, Makarov...?

Frea blinked one eye open halfway, trying to let her fuzzy vision adjust to the darkness she found waiting for her. She had been aware of voices talking around her, though her ears were ringing slightly and she couldn't make them out very well.

She let her eye fall closed again, wincing slightly at the pain in her arms and legs, though it was nothing compared to how much pain she had been in before... Wendy must have healed me then... That meant...

"You guys are alive at least..." She mumbled under her breath, her senses clearing up just enough to realize she was being carried on someone's back, and the scent of Iron hit her nose. She could also faintly sense and smell everyone else around them,

"Hmm?" The rough voice of who was carrying her reached her ears, and she sighed slightly, feeling the surprise come off of him for a moment.

"Thanks... Gajeel..." She mumbled under her breath, wrapping her arms around his neck a little and placing her chin on his shoulder, faintly noticing her arms were wrapped in bandages. "... For carrying me..." She said slowly, not really liking that she couldn't walk on her own even if she tried.

"You're awake then, Silver?" He murmured, she could swear he smirked slightly. "Didn't think you'd be out for too long, not as long as the ghost thought anyway." he commented, the words intriguing her slightly. "Don't worry about it." He didn't get into the subject.

"Where are.. We..?" She asked slowly, still trying to get her eyes to adjust. Her vision was black at the edges and fuzzy still, it was rather annoying.

"We're almost to Magnolia." He replied quietly,

"Is everyone ok?" She asked quietly.

"Hmph, you should be more worried about yourself, Silver." He huffed back quietly, "... Yes, everyone besides you is fine." He gave an answer anyway, and she flinched slightly at the scolding tone of his voice.

"... Sorry..." She mumbled, eyes closing. "... Its my fault everything went to hell... As usual..."

"Don't apologize." He muttered. "And don't go blaming yourself like that," he added, sounding slightly irritated but more calm. "It doesn't sound like you."

Frea opened her eyes slightly, doesn't sound like me? What exactly does sound like me..?

She frowned, probably not the side of me that was willing to give up and let Salengoreath consume me, hmm?

She let out a sigh, smiling slightly. "Alright... Sorry." She murmured, smiling a little more when she heard him let out a huff at the answer. Her eyes fell closed again, instead she focused on the other voices.

Everyone was talking among themselves, most of it speculation about what happened, sometimes it was worried words about herself, she couldn't find any angry tones though... Not even from Aisha.

They all sounded a little ways off though, as if Gajeel was walking a ways behind the rest of the group. She gave up on trying to see everyone, her vision wasn't going to focus enough to do so, but she could hear them now the ringing had left her ears.

She was glad to hear them, hear that they were alright. The reason for leaving every year was to keep from dragging others into the messes she was sure to find herself in, but they followed anyway, and had almost died because she...

She sighed, because something took control of her, something she should have felt and didn't... And that something had wanted Salengoreath unleashed, but... Whatever it was, must have either been wanting to destroy the world... or thought it could control that Magic... Then why..? ... Why wouldn't it have taken control of Salengoreath the minute it was free, if that had been its intention? Instead of allowing it to grow and start to consume-

She stiffened slightly, had it wanted her to be consumed? Everyone else too? But why?

She banished the thoughts from her mind, not wanting to speculate about it now, she didn't have the energy to...

'You didn't kill that Demon, Girl. Shadow lives on in a different form... As do I.'

The memory flashed through her head suddenly, she flinched at it, becoming more tense and wrapping her arms around Gajeel's neck without noticing. Unwanted fear hit her, and she trembled for a moment, sweatdropping.

Chaitanya... Please... Be right... She can't be alive...

"Silver?" Gajeel asked lowly, glancing sideways at her, looking and sounding a little worried, having felt her tremble a little, and finding it extremely foreign. He hadn't ever seen her tremble before... And definitely not for something he could only tag as.. Fear.

"I... I'm fine..." Frea mumbled lowly, almost so low he couldn't hear it.

"You don't sound so fine." He replied evenly.

"I'm ok, just a bad feeling all the sudden, that's all." She replied, this time sounding a little more calm, he gave up on the subject, being able to tell she wasn't going to give up what she had been thinking so easily.

"If you say so..." He grumbled. Frea let out a soft sigh, thankful he wasn't going to pry,

Gajeel was never one to pry, she reminded herself. she rather liked that about him, and appreciated it, she herself didn't like being asked questions, and she knew Gajeel wasn't going to be the one to go demanding for them, especially from her. Especially considering he could easily tell when she wasn't ready to talk about some things.

Gajeel was much more intuitive on most things than people gave him credit for, to most he was a hot-head who never stopped to think, much like Natsu. And while the two of them were very similar, they were different.

Her mind flashed back to Jogenen, when she had gone on a mission with the Iron Dragon Slayer and Lily, that seemed like such a short time ago, and yet it was a long time since then... She liked that memory, because she knew she and Gajeel had gotten closer because of it. They had both discovered things about eachother that had made it easier to get along, and trust one another.

She would like to consider herself and Gajeel as good friends, and faintly wondered if he considered the same thing..?

She smiled a little, she was pretty sure he did... With that in mind, she let her thoughts fall away slowly until she had fallen into unconsciousness once more... And this time she wasn't expecting to wake up again any time soon.

Wind stirred the blades of grass over a large expanse of meadow stretching out for miles on end, the petals of multicolored flowers catching the air and floating through it lazily, before finally falling on the surface of a still lake set in the center of the glade.

On all sides of the meadow was surrounded by magnificent, large expanses of mountain that formed a small wall around the meadow and lake, keeping it sheltered from the world.

The moon shone down upon the lake, its glow shimmering in the ripples of the water as the petals landed.

Three spheres of Magic power floated above the surface of the water, each one casting its own light upon the water, clashing with eachother in an array of red, blue, and grey.

Settled on a small clean cut island of cool stone in the middle of the lake rest a massive opalescent Dragon tucked halfway into a small overhang of the stone, half of its body shadowed by the rock. The Dragon's deep purple eyes were locked upon the three spheres of Magic, lips drawn back in a slight snarl and eyes narrowed, looking tense.

The Dragon's scales were scratched and cracked upon various places on its body, looking much more haggard than it had in centuries. Its head lift up to its full height, the long thin neck stretched all the way, and claws curling into the stone underneath. Still a very powerful and foreboding figure despite its rough appearance.

"Your daughter is getting into quite a bit of trouble." A calm and serene voice bounced from around the light blue Magic Sphere.

"Indeed, if this continues, she's going to end up dead." The second, a deep and rough voice filtered out from around the grey sphere.

The dragon bristled, its lips curling more,

"And then others will end up dead too." The third and final sphere, the red one, spoke. Again a deep voice but not as rough as the second.

"How dare you three come into my domain and spout such things?!" The dragon roared, her once calm and gentle voice risen to an extremely angry and powerful one. a voice that shook the water. "Do you not think I know this already?! Do you think I don't take into account all that has happened, and all that will?! What would you have me do?!" The dragon roared, slamming a clawed hand down onto the stone and making it shake along with the water surrounding them even more. "I have sat by and watched as she comes close to death over and over, I've been forced to spectate as she gets hurt and wounded!"

"As have we all." The first voice said gently,

"This is different, Grandeeny!" The dragon snapped back at the light blue orb seething with fury. The dragon's purple gaze swept across every single orb in turn, "Yes, your children have been hurt before, they have fought for their lives on many occasion, but it is not the same." The dragon growled. "None of your children have been targeted, mine has. She's being targeted by some ancient evil I know nothing of, an ancient evil that can control her." The dragons eyes closed and its claws dug into the ground, "An ancient evil even I am unable to sense when it comes near, nor am I able to banish it... I fear worse things are coming for her... And for everyone else..."

For a moment there was complete silence as the voices on the other sides of the Magic Spheres that what the dragon had said over.

"Even you cannot sense its presence?" The rough voice of the grey orb asked slowly. The dragon shook its head,

"Perhaps you've grown too old," the voice from the red Sphere huffed. "Your power may have waned after these centuries, you look rather ragged... Chaitanya."

"Forget not your place, Igneel." The dragon growled back, it's fire returning instantly. "It is true, I have several centuries on my plate before you, but age has done nothing but make me wiser. I am still as powerful as I always was, perhaps even more so." She growled lowly, "Next time you wish to speak ill of me, make sure you can defend your words."

"You dare to say I cannot defend my words?!" The third voice, Igneel, roared.

"I dare," Chaitanya hissed. "When was the last time you were able to hold a flame to me, Igneel?" She growled and the voice died in a fit of grumbling.

"Chaitanya." The second voice to have spoke, said at length. "You believe worse things will come? What do you expect to happen?"

"I do not know." Chaitanya replied softly. "But I will say this; there is no doubt in my mind every single one your children will have a part to play in what comes next... There will be nothing we can do but watch disaster unfold." Chaintanya bowed her head slightly, "And disaster will strike, should Frea fail to keep things in Balance within the world... And her own life."

"You do not think... There is a chance Wendy...?" The first, Grandeeny asked slowly.

"And Gajeel...?" The second voice murmured.

"Natsu as well...?" Igneel breathed.

Chaitanya lift her head to look to the stars above her, eyes narrowed. "Yes... Igneel, Grandeeny, Metallicana... If things become worse for Frea then they already are, I have no doubt the rest of the Dragon Slayers will be brought into the conflict." She sighed, "Just know this... I know for fact, Frea will happily give herself for your children without second thought should it come to that..." Chaitanya closed her eyes, ears pressing against her head.

"That is exactly what I'm afraid she will do."

Alright! New Chappy Up! It's not super long this time around, but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway! As always, thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews guys! It means a lot! Thank you for sticking with me this entire time!

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