Y'all, I am so stuck on Hunt and be Hunted. It's driving me crazy, so I'm staying with this story for now. If you have ideas for that story, I greatly would appreciate it.
In other news, I decided that I would take this time to add to the cliffhanger I left you with last night! For any of you who knew Zeref was the baddie, ten points to ya!
(SPOILER ALERT) For those of you who aren't up to date with the manga or for those of you who are going solely on the anime, if you don't like spoilers, I suggest that you don't read this chapter! Thou hast been warned.
Removed
Hollis ran a hand through his messy hair. In his hand were two things: a key to his dad's cell and a wallet with enough cash to get him out of this hell. As he sat in his quarters, a barren space with a bed, kitchenette with no silverware, and a toilet, Hollis cursed himself.
Damn it! He should be moving! He should be down there getting his father out of the slave quarters. Oryan Flight had risked everything for him. He didn't deserve to be the servant of nobleman scum like Gatlin. That was his father for crying out loud, but Hollis was thinking about leaving him in that cell because of a woman, a damned woman for Pheonix's sake!
His father's words rang in his ears, "Son, there are only two things that matter in this life: freedom and unconditional love. Fight for the first, and you will earn the second."
Oryan had fought for freedom. He'd been a slave for years upon years before finally meeting Hollis's mother. Elvra Jayd had been the love of his life. The two of them had adored each other unconditionally, meeting during a slave trade only to be purchased together. They'd fallen into a beautiful camaraderie, being assassins for the king, and had later eased into a love that was meant for the storybooks. When Elvra had gotten pregnant with Hollis, Oryan had challenged his owner for her freedom, but his master was a different man. Erianna Lancet's father had died by the time that Hollis had been conceived, and Oryan had to challenge Gatlin's father in order to get Elvra's freedom. He'd gotten her free, but only for the amount of time that it took for Hollis to be born. Then, Elvra had been caught in the crossfire between a runaway ship and the Lancet Navy. It'd all been a ploy, a way for Gatlin's father to show his ultimate authority over the choices of his property. Oryan had fought for freedom, earned his love, and had it crushed in his face.
As Hollis glared down at the money in his hands, he wondered how far he could make it off the mainland before the navy came after him too. His hands crushed the wallet. Hollis hissed, "Fight for freedom, Da? I'm just a coward trying to run away from my own people."
His head fell in his hands at his ultimatums. He had two of them. Run away from Lancet and risk death by Lancet Navy battleships or stay in Lancet and risk death by noblemen that want him dead for the magic he wields. Either way, he was likely going to die. If Adamine's boyfriends didn't pull through for her in the long run, Hollis might be the only one who could even rescue her.
At random a lightbulb went off in his head. Money was what ruled Lancet's mercenaries, and Hollis currently had enough to get out of this country. With a sneer in the direction of Gatlin's throne room, Hollis snickered, "Ya done goofed, boy-o."
Adamine braced her body against the wall of the dungeon when Zeref unveiled his face. This man was a plague. No matter how far she ran, no matter how many years passed by, he followed. He was death personified, and this Grim Reaper would not leave her alone.
With her nails digging trenches into the stone, Adamine snarled at the man who'd screwed up her life, Spyro's life, and every other mage in Lancet's life.
Even with his frail body, Spyro leaped in front of her. His chains scraped across the stone floor, and Vixen hovered right over the surface of his skin. Her haunting visage rippled like a rattlesnake's tail.
"Now, that's not a very nice way to meet someone after you've been apart a while," Zeref taunted. His lips formed a mocking grin.
"Why? Why work with Gatlin? Why come here at all?" Adamine tried to hiss. Her voice was shaky in fear, but she forced her head to stay up. She would cower, but she'd be damned if she didn't do it while staring him in the eye.
"To erase magic from this world. Has anyone ever told you about Face, a creation so powerful that it can suck the magic power straight from anyone or anything?" Zeref withdrew keys from his cloak. The key loudly slipped inside of the dungeon's lock, and as soon as she heard the lock of the door slide open, something unlocked inside of her as well.
Words that Adamine didn't create herself slipped from her lips. "I will never let that happen, Zeref," snarled a familiar voice. Adamine felt her body moving of its own accord, and despite the manacles that kept her from turning adamantine, she grew longer fangs and claws. "None of us will let that happen."
The grin on Zeref's face widened. He mentioned, "Without your body I doubt that there's much you can do to stop me."
The soul controlling Adamine stepped past Vixen and Spyro. With her chin raised and her lips snarling, Firmalione's voice explained, "You'd be amazed at what a soul can do without a body."
"We'll just have to see about that then. Won't we?"
A hand shot out in the darkness of the dungeon, wrapping around her face. Before Adamine could comprehend what was even going on with her own body, a shrill scream erupted from betwixt her pink lips. Her roaring body was out of the reach of Spyro's chained body. Not even Vixen's phantom body could reach out to grab the girl from the man's clutches.
With her hands chained behind her back, Adamine could do nothing but scream. Her entire body rejected the invasive power that felt like it was sucking the soul right out of her body. The column of her spine bent. Her mouth was so far open that it looked ready to rip.
A darkness like death had reached inside of her skull. The black force made a wicked haze all around Adam. Even with the manacles on her body, she changed to shimmering diamond.
Large spikes erupted from her spine, shredding her clothing. Her dragon attributes burst forth after being sealed away so long. Horns curved back from her skull, and lastly, her angelic looking dragon wings tore from their fleshy seal.
Once her dragon body was revealed, Adamine stared on in horror as it was ripped away from her. Unwanted tears tumbled down her face at the agony. With wide eyes she watched her soul get pulled back with every inch Zeref forced his grasp on her spirit backwards.
Her scream never faltered. It reached the agonized wail of a tormented dragon when her soul was only hanging by the waist.
Zeref had his fist wrapped around Adam's soul's throat. The soul was large and grey. The further he pulled it out, the more it resembled her mother, her dragon mother. When Zeref tore her soul out of her from the root, the dragon-like humanoid howled, "ADAMINE!"
Mina's eyes lost their light at that moment. Suddenly, her knees could no longer support her. She felt cold. She felt weak. She felt like she was dying. Zeref's smug grin was the last thing she saw before she tumbled head first against the stones.
Bickslow's head jerked in the direction of Gatlin's estate when a sharp pain stabbed him straight through the skull. The power of the sensation rocked him on his feet, and suddenly he couldn't stand on both legs. Sinking to one knee, he gaped to the cobblestone.
Something warm and wet ran down from his forehead. Beads of crimson dripped downwards to splash against a puddle in the damp streets.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Bickslow knew his friends were calling to him. He felt hands on his shoulders, and he heard words in his ears. But, for some reason… he could only stare. A pain so deep, so dark, had ripped right into his forehead. He felt cold, hollow even.
The only thought he could process was "Mina." Her name left his lips on a faint whisper.
When Winry's hands clutched at the sides of his face, he could feel her prowling through his soul. Her lips parted on a breath at the faint green line that stretched out like a single string on a spider web in the direction of Adamine. When she recognized that it connected to the Third Eye of his soul, she hissed, "Adamine's been hurt."
"Where is she?" Laxus snarled. He got down to help his friend up, but Winry shook her head.
"No. He's injured too. He and Adamine are connected," she explained, letting Bix catch his breath.
"Connected? What do you mean connected? We have to get to Mina!"
"I know that! Trust me. I do, but anything you do to Bickslow is going to be felt by Adamine now. Their souls m-"
Bickslow's hand shot out to cover his sister's mouth. He gave a slow shake of his head to shut her up when she gave a muffled complaint. There was no way he was going to admit to the Raijinshuu and Master Laxus that he and Adamine had connected their souls together. Especially not when he didn't know how his master would handle the news. Win and Tori might not know it, but Bickslow knew Laxus liked Adam as more than a comrade.
Using Laxus's arm as a brace, Bickslow got himself standing up back on two feet. "I know where she's at, and I know she's not alone. I swear if that bastard's doing something to her right now…" His eyes flared emerald before he forced himself to calm down.
Guards were all over the place. If Bickslow's new memories served correctly, they would skewer him on sight with those swords if they saw a hint of magic.
Unnaturally serious, Catori stepped in front of the group. She explained, "It's late. We can't stay out in the streets else the guards will start questioning us. Let's get a room at an inn tonight and prepare for the ambush. There's nothing we can do for Mina right now."
"Nothing we can do!" Black Pearl roared. "If she's in danger, I want her out of there-" Catori leaped hastily over to the chibi canine and shoved her hand over her muzzle.
"Shut up! This isn't Fiore. Cause a scene, and you'll die here." Her blue eyes cut over to where Evergreen's lips were parted on a hiss. Catori's hand slipped from Pearl's face like she was just giving the canine a tender embrace, and when a guard strolled suspiciously by, her blue eyes flared crimson. "Fuck off," she commanded to his soul. Like a good puppet, the man kept on walking.
On a calmer note, Winry added, "The streets completely clear out at twelve o' clock. Anyone caught out after then is considered a demon or a witch and killed on contact. Either that or exorcised…"
Freed stated, "What exactly do you mean by exorcised? We aren't demons. How can they do that?" He took a step, trying to get everyone to follow his lead when more guards began to take note of their suspicious behavior this late at night.
Catori slipped happily enough beside him. Despite her flirty exterior, she lowly explained, "As we said before, mages that specialize in magic removal are viewed as priests. If you've ever seen a mage after getting his magic removed, he'll be completely different. A zombie really. They suck out our magic and sell us as slaves. If Adamine gets her magic taken away, she'll be the exact same. No one even knows how to cure it. We just have to pray she's still got her slayer magic if we want to see our Adamine."
Suddenly cold, Bickslow reached up to the blood that had appeared on his forehead. A lot of a person's soul and magic was welled up right there. If he'd felt that because of Adamine, did that mean that she'd gotten her magic stolen?
Aaaaaand, cut! That's all folks for tonight. I'm on vacation, so I'll be posting often. I hope to keep you entertained!
