A/N: Hey volks! Welcome to the last chapter of Lullaby/Galuna Arc! I Also have several new drawings up in my profile so check them out!
They are Dimaria and Irene, Prometheus version! And I've also added my attempt to recreate realistic Erza in 3D. Let me know what you guys think, and fave follow and review, and have a great day!
BTW! I've realized that I have a mistake on tagging the chapter number correctly! It's fixed now so it's good to go!
Beta Reading currently pending.
"Isn't that a demon from Tartarus?"
Irene questioned, pointing her index at the corpse. By that greenish texture of its skin, and how that humanoid figure deformed so unsightly made it quite obvious that the creature was a demon. However, she did not know why it was here, or how it got here. So, presumably, hence the recent activity that she and Natsu, rest of the group had taken, it had to be from Tartarus.
Because it was highly unlikely to meet a natural living demons, the chances were no greater than being struck by lightning. That, and she rarely got wrong. She was once the prime minister of Alveraz. She was always right…. Well, most of the time.
Guttural noises roared from below, and the demons began to climb the pillar. Brandish briskly dropped the rocky column that she raised, then crashed it down to earth, killing them instantly by the blunt impact.
She answered, twirling back to Irene,
"I don't know. I've been killing them for a while, but they seem to keep on coming be to no end."
Irene tilted her head.
"Keep on coming? Perhaps they are being produced? If they are, then they have to be from Tartarus."
Brandish scowled, looking back at the window.
"Do they manufacture their own demons?"
"From what I hear, to a certain extent."
Irene answered, taking a hint from her.
"I take it that you haven't figured out where they are coming from?"
The younger, short haired girl only nodded at her question. Upon her reply the enchantress raised her brows, realizing how silly her question was.
Of course, she didn't know the location, she seemed to be fixated on keeping the demons out while she was in slumber. The eldest mage spoke up, letting her lips to do smile on their own.
"Thank you, Brandish."
The said girl nodded once more, after giving her a thumb's up. Then suddenly the hull shook with an ominous growling noise, followed by a shattering noise from below. The demolisher's eye cast a slight concern before she gestured with her hand an upward flowing motion.
The ground below the ship skyrocketed, soaring through the air to keep the demons away. The demolisher hissed.
"I raised the platform to avoid any more of them coming near… but looks like some of them managed to get inside."
Irene broke the eye contact. It seemed Brandish was doing all she can within the set limits, yet there she was, staying in bed. Her face colored with embracement by the fact that she had been looked after by experienced mage. It should be her job to take care of them, not the other way around. Though in truth, lots of her ego died after the fate-changing incident.
'Suppose it was changing for everyone.'
The bottom line was, she refused to stand idle. If Brandish couldn't spot the sources, then someone had to. Killing them didn't seem to be a problem, but having no end of it was not so pleasant, even to her cruelty displayed during the war. Then there was a matter of her newly gained power. Hundreds of question arose, and it would not be a lie if she wanted to test them out.
She wiggled her toes again, trying to feel the senses back. And she didn't understand what, but the pain was unusually going away fast. Perhaps it was the effect of gaining that draconic energy? Little by little, she lifted her knees and moved them to the sides of the bed.
Her foot touched the wooden floor, her nerves nourishing the cold sensation below, she saw that she had no problem returning back to normal. Irene stretched her limbs and summoned her casual leather clothing, however, she had ditched her hat, as she found it cumbersome after the continuous travel. Then, she shifted her weight to her feet, carefully. She stumbled a bit and quickly grabbed the wall for support, but as the controls returned to her, everything became how it should be.
She stood up like there never was a pain on her lower half.
"Thank you for looking after us while we were recovering. I had a good rest. I suppose it's time to return my gratitude more properly."
She spoke as she stretched her body. Then she ran her fingers through her unbraided hair, getting loose of those tightened locks that her sleep had rendered.
"Besides, I am eager to test out something."
"Understood." Brandish answered. "but be careful. It seems like the intercourse with him did take a toll on you."
Irene was forced to blush without warning by her mention of her previous activity. When the ideas and memories flooded back, her mind was already surrendering to her past, cherishing the each and every second of it. Her face brighter than her rich tone of mercury-red hair, Irene looked away from Brandish while staring down at the ground, her hand grasping her heart and another holding on lower part of her stomach.
Her heart dashed a million miles, and her lips formed a content yet lewd smile. However all her love-struck greed only gained Brandish's deathly-cold stare, even more so when the scarlet girl whispered,
"Although he was scary and rough, I'd like to do it again…I don't mind if my body breaks."
The demolisher hissed.
"Just go die."
Irene tilted her head, still not catching what Brandish just said.
"Huh? Did you say something, Brandish?"
She shook her head swiftly, then pointed out,
"I'll stay here. I've told Natsu that I'll look after both of you while you are asleep… and Erza is still not awake."
The scarlet mage had felt it was more suitable for her to take care of Erza. But then she looked down on her hand, stretching it several times, feeling the foreign power surging from it. It probably wasn't a good idea to perform her any sort of destructive magic too close to her. Yet, it wasn't a good idea to use it any near the ship.
Then that set the course of her action, preparing herself for a flight. Brandish will do her job, then it was time to hers. Relieving of her work had to be done.
She asked,
"Brandish, you think you can take care of demons inside the ship?" The younger girl nodded, elder continued.
"Good. I'm heading out. I'm going to look for the source of these demons and finish them all at once."
"Understood." Brandish complied, and watched her leaving the ship by the corner of her eyes. Yet, she gazed fell back to sleeping Erza, turning into slits. She lips pouted a little.
"Tsk… I wanted to go out."
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Prometheus
Chapter 034 : Of Ice and Fire (Last chapter of Lullaby/Galuna Arc)
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Ultear felt her body once again, this time, feeling her heartbeat. She opened her eyes, and the cavern darkness surrounded her. That faint glow was gone, and the corpse of Deliora rested inside the pit where her iced mother was. She could make that out due to faint light of the moon above the. . Darkness smothered her, the lack of stimulus rendered her heart and lung to squeeze themselves tighter than a pressing of each top of clam. However, that was soon replaced by the soothing light of the orange gold- igneous aura from the center of the ground. A sound followed that crackling sound that echoed in the vast space of the cave. Next, to the fire, there was him.
Natsu Dragneel, tending the fire with his magic. Then her eyes traveled to his side. There was a piece of blanket and a mattress, between them, there was a woman. Ultear's tired and swollen eyes beamed in surprise and recognition. Her heart dashing millions of miles, she hastily rushed towards her with all four limbs, kicking the gravels and dirt behind.
"Mother!"
Natsu stopped his work and carried his keen jet coal like eyes at the violet girl. A smile spread on his lips as he watched the girl touching her mother's skin for a very long time. Her eyes began to swell as her fingers traced on her face. Then Ultear's entire body began to shake as her some of her hair strands began to stand. It all had happened before she lunged at her mother with open arms, hugging her tightly, digging her face into her mother's embrace.
His dark eyes dropped, and his smile faltered as he remembered his father. Well, the glimpse of him. At least this girl still recognized her. It made him question if whether his father Igneel can recognize him after 450 years… But above all, he wondered if he can recognize his father. Natsu had forgotten about him so much over the past years, yet he was still adamant on searching him. The question is, when?
His smile continued, but it no longer bore that satisfaction. It was a bittersweet smile.
Then he watched the girl cry into her mother's chest, her tears washing over the blanket that draped her. Ultear's voice miserably crackled, letting out hiccups in between. Yet she continued to cascade her burning salted water. Then her whispered echoed in the cave, in unison her cries, "You are real… you're here.."
It was as if she had exploded with emotions, and in some sense, it was truth. Natsu felt her incessant hurricane of joy and surprise, and he perceived her cries as encouragement and salvation of her past crimes. With a sigh, he walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Councilman, she needs rest…. And there are some things we need to discuss."
Ultear raised her eyes at him quizzically, her pinkish eyes swollen with all the tears that it had shed. Natsu added,
"It's about your mother."
She remained calm, waiting for him to continue. Yet occasional wet hiccups interrupted her silence.
"When I've pulled her out from the ice, things… were missing."
Her stomach content felt like it was rising up by that simple words. She breathed out, shooting herself up, grabbing Natsu by the collar. She glared right back at him with disbelief.
"M…missing?! What do you mean missing!"
She hastily pulled her hands away as well as retreating her stare. She stammered out.
"I..I mean, she's back… and if she's back then everything should be back, how can it not? It's part of her, and it should be, she's my mother and how can we ever go back to normal, I mean-"
She shut her mouth. She whispered,
"I'm… I'm sorry."
…what were missing?"
Her voice cracked at the end.
Natsu crouched down and motioned her mother's arm, which she couldn't see it because of the white blanket. Perplexed, but slowly getting the sense of it, she reached it out. She prepared for the worst. When she touched her arm, it just sunk right in. Ultear whispered,
"No… no…"
Then she went on to touch her other arm, her hand fell to the ground through the fabric and air. There was no flesh. Feeling more desperate and her heart trembling to the core, she rushed her hands to feel her mother's legs as well.
They weren't there. Ultear clenched her teeth tightly as her head fell to the ground. "Why…?"
He answered quietly, "It was the Moondrip. The spell had melted away part of her body. I couldn't recover it."
"So it was my fault…"
She exhaled, then inhaling sharply. She couldn't blame it on Meredy. After all, it was her whole had instructed her to perform that ritual. Ultear realized how foolish she was if she hadn't known about him, and the events that were knitted with that condemning Tartarus, her mother would have been completely lost… It was her fault, but there was nothing she could do to fix that. Then her deep magenta eyes raised to his. Still kneeled down by her mother's side, Ultear reached out and grabbed Natsu's leg. She spoke, her voice broken,
"But… but you can fix her right?"
Natsu didn't reply. She continued.
"You said… you can create and bend realities, right? You… you can fix her right?"
"I know… that I've done nothing right… and you've already given me so much, but please… I beg of you."
She weakly submitted her both hands to the ground followed by her forehead. Her voice trembled even further.
"Please… just… just this one more time. It doesn't have to be everything… just enough for her to live freely. If not for me, do it for her. I beg of you like this."
When he didn't speak, her heart sunk. Her fingers dug into the ground as she started to rise up. Perhaps she as asking too much from him. After all, having her mother back was her final destination, and he had done that just for her in a sake of her and her mother. What more could she ask from him if not she being arrogant?
Then, yet, he finally answered.
"Very well then."
A joy of expression flooded out of Ultear's system. Her head shot up and met his deep obsidian eyes with a hopeful look. Before she could open her lips, he held his palm, motioning her to stop.
"I will give her all limbs. However, there are terms. Should you agree, I will grant it."
The violet-magenta eyed girl nodded eagerly.
"One, I will not restore her biological arm, but with bionics, for I am more comfortable with it. Second, once the first term has been executed, you will promise to grant me every access to the council archive."
Grant every access to the council archive… it was an odd request, but there was nothing that she could do. She was the councilman, and the spy at once. She had been digging the council's archive, manipulating them discreetly. Thus, it was not a problem for her. The council was always too big of a place for dying old men to fill in their bottomless pockets. Simply put, it was a place for fools, and she would have no problem to add another ghost in their playground. Thus, the answer was yes.
She nodded fast.
"Yes. I can do that. I can…"
She trailed off as she realized it was a bargain, but a good kind. It was one the best kind of non-zero sum game. Although she had felt she was still coming short against him.
He nodded, and put forward his arm and cast his spell.
"Creation God's Acumen."
Natsu's keen eyes flashed with a golden light, and circles appeared around his arm together with Ultear's mother. From the circles, a razor thin lights beamed down to her skin, then observed into her body before glowing brightly. Then they reconstructed themselves on her skin in form of mesh, or a wireframe. Then it continued down, drawing the basic outline of her limbs, calculating where it starts and where it ends, and how it used to look like.
He moved his eyes side to sides, working out the inner mechanics of the limbs. To reduce the weight, he planned on using metal to a minimum, even if he used, it was a mesh of B2 steel-aluminum/nickel alloy, weaved with carbon nanotubes. Above it, he lay out the for the alternative choice for pistons and motors, that is, synthetic muscles. Although he lacked on biology, he did have a good sense of anatomy for constructing his own suits to fit his bodily structure. God Busters were the archetype, one of the strongest and lightest series suits that he had ever build, as they used the advanced form of similar actuator. Seeing that he had done the inner workings, he spoke,
"Creation God's Machina."
The particles around the circles dragged themselves into the layouts that glow gold, and once it entered, each of them gathered to their spot, turning into the material that constituted the whole thing. They rushed in like a sandstorm, then the outline was gone within a second, replaced with the physical objects. When the structures were formed, multiple non-metal plates materialized around it, neatly covering up the machines under.
Those were her new limbs. Each of them colored with white with several glowing blue bits here and there, and the plates literally glistened like a finely smoothed marble.
"There. She might have some problems with it in the beginning because it will be the first time those limbs picking up the commands."
"Also," Natsu added, "I'll have to monitor the limbs for first several days for calibrations and stability tests, so She'll stay with me for a while."
He made his way to the unconscious woman under the blanket. Ultear shouted,
"Wa..wait!"
Natsu glanced at her with his brows raised. The violet girl continued,
"I…I'd like to come as well. I need to take care of her… and when she wakes up, I'd like to be there."
The divine dragon cracked a soft smile. He nodded in understanding. "If that's the case, then it's fine by me."
She wanted to look after her parent, there was nothing wrong with that in his book.
Natsu crouched down to pick up the sleeping woman, but Ultear motioned again, catching his attention. He asked,
"Okay, what is it, this time?"
She gestured her mother's body, which he finally understood. "Oh. Right. She's naked…" Yes, it would be very problematic to carry around an unconscious naked woman. He pulled off his white shirt and handed over to the girl.
"Here, have her wear mine for now. We'll situate her with better clothing later."
She took it, but as soon as she touched the shirt, she was resorted to pinching her nose and holding the cloth with an edge of her finger. She whispered to herself. "It… it stinks…"
However, she wasn't in any position for to desire for more. Thus she took without much complaint, though she bore that terribly miserable and grieving eyes as she had put it on her mother, muttering "I'm sorry mother" for the entire time.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn't hear that. He just kept on looking for a place that would serve him as an exit. Then suddenly, his eyes shook wide as he felt a familiar surge of energy, followed by another one. Realizing that the power signature matched to Dimaria, he looked above at the ceiling than the wall, immediately picking up her location. However, it quickly faded into her usual regular form. Starting to become concerned about the immediate use of God form, he checked her pulses through magic.
He felt a sense of relief washing over his body as her magic flowed steadily.
'Of course, she's not the one to lose that easily.'
However, he could never tell the entire situation of her side. Although he doubted she would be in trouble, he wasn't the one with the omnipresent body, nor omniscience. He didn't know everything. Plus, he still required to regroup with her. He would be checking her as well while he's at it. Ultimately, it made him a little difference. Then he raised his brows.
'Since when did I started to care about her so much?'
Then when the second energy spike jabbed his senses, his face paled. It was not Dimaria, no. It was something that he begged to find.
He muttered.
"Igneel…?"
"No… no… that's… that's Irene…"
Color returned to his face as joy screamed out of his bust. He signed contently, looking at the sky where she was. He whispered to himself.
"Looks like she's finally awake. In many different ways, perhaps."
Ultear veered her eyes to Natsu, noticing his change of expressions. She asked,
"If you don't mind me… did something happened?"
Natsu responded with a nod.
"Yeah, something great just happened."
The questioning look still lingered on Ultear's gaze, not knowing what he meant. However her eyes fell back to her mother's sleeping face, then nervously avoided it. Natsu motioned, picking up her mother by his back.
"Come on. Let's head out."
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Irene scanned the ground from the sky, letting the wind gracefully glide over her skins and her body. The dense fauna beneath should have made the scanning difficult, but it wasn't. In fact, she could see the ground as if she was staring at it at a nose distance away. She could make out everything, even the tiny bits of grass.
Thus, finding the demon hoard was easier than walking through the park. Even more so when the large crater and charred ground centered on the forest. To be exact, the circular area that was once a forest. It only placed that didn't wood on them, but leftover structures, possibly done by the indigenous. Or, done by Tartarus perhaps.
Again, it looked to be artificial, standing middle of the forest in circular form, with the ground severely charred. On the darkened soil, she could see the creatures dwelling clearer than staring at stars under crystal skies. Each of them was humanoid like she had encountered, the difference seemed to be their skins or the shape of the horn. Other than that, they were the same.
She could easily confirm that they were the hoard. She stopped herself in the air and gazed back the vertical earthen pillar. She frowned lightly.
'It's not far away… but from her point of view, it would be quite hard to spot…'
Then she shifted her eyes to her free hand, instilling some of her energy into it. She opened it, before firmly closing it. Slinging her staff to her back, she stretched out her another hand and let her hand glow with her magic. Both of them shined with bright red under the cold icy moon. She muttered to herself,
"The power of dragon… one of the great power that Natsu-sama possesses… to hold it in my hand."
More she repeated those words; more it became surreal. To be honest, she was still dumbfounded by the fact that she now held the same power, although it seemed to be working under lower caliber.
The power of dragon… By no means, she had none nor were one, and although she had a vast knowledge of them, including Acnologia, she had never known that one such being could grow so powerful. She had felt that for the first time when Natsu-sama transformed into a dragon.
That was when she was on opposing side. She remembered that trammel of herself. The majestic and prideful being, such as her, being hopelessly dwarfed in the presence of him, was not an easy thing to forget. If it weren't, then she wouldn't have followed him so easily.
Then to suddenly gain that power was simply more than a Christmas gift to a child. To her, it was a blessing upon blessing. It was such because she believed what Brandish told her, and it made sense too. It would be strange not to think that he wouldn't make her bear his child after all those sessions. In essence, he gave her two things at once.
She had to gulp down her pooling saliva to keep the heat down. She refocused onto her hands.
Irene felt her newly born draconic power surging through her, and she closed her eyes. She questioned.
'What if I can use this power to augment my magic? Is such a thing possible?'
She furrowed her eyebrows as she concentrated more. Searching for the root of the igneous power, and where they branched into. When she dug around her magic with within her, it came to realization fast that the magic wasn't entirely connected to her. It did blend to her own, not at the same time, not quite. It was more like a piece of puzzle attacked to the rest, hanging in there, but also can exist own its own.
This draconic magic that harmonized with her existed outside of her magic container, and it wasn't branched off to anything. It wasn't even connected to any of her magical nodes that transferred power to the user.
It was like learning the magic for the first time.
Everyone had the latent power to collect the ether-nanos, and once they learn to collect, they would grow a container in their body to store those energies for more effective usage. However, to collect them first, one had to learn how to channel them.
It was the same principle with dragon's magic. Although herself not familiar with using such, there was no difference in the method of adapting, albeit this one was million times more impulsive.
And if there was anything she excelled at, was magic. A grin stretched her lips as she invoked fire on both sides of her hands.
The once she had thought burning no longer affected her if anything it soothed her. She slowly, she raised the threshold, wondering how much she can hold before she attempted to reach her final goal. The fire around her hand had increased in size before they crept around her arm, then it encased her entire body.
She hurriedly shut down the magic inflows. Irene breathed in the air and briskly burst out flames at once. This time, the flames were much more stable. The flame changed its red color to blue, white in the core, and its rim turned into pinkish red. The changes of color were the result of her impeccable optimization, drawing out maximum energy with very little magic. It was just like normal fire, as bluer color meant it burned better.
"Looks like it's ready… shall I test its effectiveness?"
She briefly scanned anyone from the build who might be close to her, and thankfully, they seemed to on another side of the island. She could even feel Natsu's energy, and seeing that he was deep underground, away from the charred land below, she could relax and release the power.
Remembering his signature and most basic spell, she breathed in the air, then called upon the spell.
"Fire Dragon's ROAR"
A circle in a shape of dragon called upon, and from it, a massive torrent of detrimental heat and plasma erupted out before smashing down to earth with its mighty prowess. A circular heatwave exploded out from the falling igneous pillar, and it detonated around it, wreaking havoc on the area.
The air around it became opaque white, and the blazing wind thrashed around the impact zone, rooting off the trees and rocks alike. As the explosion grew, the orange light brightened the cold night like a second sun.
When the explosion was gone, the generated crater was bigger than before, and all that remained was a just collection of ash and thick black smoke that painted over the air. However, Irene furrowed her brow.
The once blue-ish fire turned red again.
'Perhaps the flame of the dragon is intrinsically red… maybe it's not something that I can force it into burn in more efficiently… but I released the same amount of magic and it was hotter. Why so?'
She pushed aside her question for now.
"Perhaps I had overdone a little."
Irene gazed at the ground, and indeed, her attack had made half the island annihilated. She could even see the water filling in from the sides.
"I suppose that calls for my next set of test."
And that was exactly what she attempted. She returned her concentration back to the dragon's magic and worked her way on connected them both. As they were already harmonized, and she had learned to use her dragon side, it was not a difficult task.
Her genius brain only took a minute or so to bridge them together. Then she ran through again, make sure that everything functioned properly. It was simple. It was drawing the raw energy of dragon and utilizing it to her more familiar form of magic, enchanting.
It was a new class of enchanting.
So far, in this world, there were several types of enchanting. Herself, was the High Enchanter, implying that she had the highest form of enchanting magic that existed on Earthland.
This new form, if her calculation was correct, it should overpower her past self by a significant margin. She believed that this would make her Continent One a mere joke, and even perhaps, Universe One and more.
Again, it was a new class of enchanting.
She called it, Master Enchant, if it didn't exist before, then it did now.
Irene pulled out her staff and prepared herself. The enchantress breathed in deep and stretched out her staff with both hands and channeled her magic.
It rushed in like a massive waterfall to her body, then to her staff. It almost felt like she was releasing more than she could, but nonetheless, she continued. She was about to witness a moment that will change her, and she was eager to see that.
Her arms ached, and the pain suddenly surged from the back. She clenched her teeth harder and let the magic continue to flow. When the pain spread to her front, then to her arm and hands, she glanced down.
She could not see what was going on due to her clothes, but her hand proved otherwise. Something… like a tattoo, but shining with intense magma color moved around on her skin, and it only seemed to be growing.
Then her eyes turned into slits, and her brown iris turned amber, before glowing in the bright orange light. Finally, she shouted out at the crater, releasing all her energy.
"DEUS DE VITA!"
Upon her shout, the dead and demolished ceased their death process by fire, and from by ashes by ashes, they returned to the soil, raising the platform and restoring what was once were on the island. From the raised earth, plants started to grow back again. The massive crater that sunk the island was gone now, replaced with lush of life.
It was an enchantment that created life by recycling the dead.
When everything returned, Irene promptly ceased majority of her energy and landed on the ground. She immediately took off her leather cloak and raised her shirt. Her eyes scanned the newly formed tattoo around her body. The lines that glowed in orange was now rested back on her skin, and it stretched from her hand to her arm, all the way to her back.
Perhaps it was another way around. She carefully traced down the tattoo. It wasn't a single line; rather it was made out of multiple sharp curves. It started out fragmented from her hands, then as it raised to her arm, the fragmented formed the shape collapsed into more singular form. From that point, the inner parts of the tattoo, mainly away from the edges, were emptied and replaced by intricate lines. Then they stretched all the way to her back.
Then she also noticed the markings on her shoulder, and it stopped just right on her left chest. She realized that it had a shape of a dragon. The entire tattoo was a dragon.
Without any reluctance, she threw away her combat boots and rolled up her pants. It was same as her other part of her body. Although it was her right side that had it, its shape significantly looking like a tail.
Irene rested her head on the wood, slightly dizzy after what just happened, but she was sure that some rest would take care of it. After all, she just did something significant after just waking up.
She closed her eyes and let out an un-lady like a yawn, stretching her limbs satisfyingly as well. The Enchantress, however, was not a fool to make herself too vulnerable. So before she closed her eyes, she made a quick enchantment throughout the environment around her, surrounding it with a powerful barrier.
Then she finally drifted away into sleep. A quick sleep she hoped. She was going to return to the ship and her sister. But a quick nap first. The moon was still up in the air anyways.
She whispered,
"Brandish…please look after my sister for few more minutes… hmmmm.."
Then an explosion snapped her away from the sleep. Explosion with energy that she was all too familiar with. Her eyes shot open and glanced where the sudden energy fluctuated. Her brows furrowed as she reached out for her cloak. It came from the ship and that fire…
Irene voiced out,
"Erza?"
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"I guess that take cares of demon problem."
Brandish spoke, watching the flame laying destruction to the place, then she sweats dropped.
"Though she's over compensating… a little too much…"
She returned her attention back to Erza, yet her thoughts still lingered on Irene. She remembered none of the fire attributes that Irene just exhibited just now. To add that she now had slit eyes, it only confirmed what Natsu had spoken.
Irene now had a dragon inside, or was she the dragon now?
Brandish hand grasped tightly on the red metallic rod that he gave. It wouldn't be long until Erza wakes up, and seeing what Irene could do, it only made her more defensive.
Irene may have controlled such power, but that didn't mean Erza could. While they are blood-related, the elder's power was colossal compared to her younger sister. There was a chance that Erza couldn't handle such power properly.
Perhaps Natsu was right. He had all the rights to worry about them, and he also showed uncertainty, which only added to the fact that Erza might nod wield the same outcome.
Brandish prepared herself, holding the rod tighter. She didn't know what it was. Natsu never told her so. She growled,
"Bastard…at least tell me what this is…"
It wasn't long until she felt the heat coming from the bed. Erza's body began to move, but something wasn't right. Brandish couldn't tell how but she could not ignore that foreboding feeling that suffocated the air.
The scarlet haired girl's hand reached out for air, before dropping to the side. Her fingers curled into the sheet, grasping tightly as her skin began to perspire. Her entire body began to shake, before screaming out, eyes snapping wide open.
"Gah!"
Brandish took a step back, her brows furrowing deeply in concern.
"Erza?"
The said girl curled into a tight ball, before lashing out violently. Her teeth clenched and saliva drooled out from the side of her mouth. Her eyes rolled to the side, where Brandish spoke. Erza tried to say something, but no words escaped her throat, and all she could do was to fight the pain. Brandish ran, and held Erza's hand tightly. Gulping down the fear of the worst, she steeled her face, and spoke,
"Erza, fight it."
She wasn't sure if that was right expression, but that was all she could give. Irene seemed to do the same. Erza's brows knitted up as her cheeks raised to her eyes. She squinted as tear spouted from them, and her teeth clenched even further.
Suddenly, she threw Brandish to the sides as she screamed out of pain. The demolisher quickly recovered and returned to her. When she did, she was forced to retreat. Fire blazed everywhere in erza's proximity. It was as if she was fire.
The fire carried to the bed, and Erza tried to get out of it. She stumbled to the ground, but she fell like a rag doll. The Scarlet girl threw her hands on her head, trying to cope the pain, but it was no use as it only intensified.
Brandish took a step back even further and watched Erza's body glowing brighter than before. The entire hull shook, and the heat radiated from her was painfully strong. It felt like her skin was being peeled off by standing near. Her eyes shot wide when orange light beamed through Erza's eyes, turning them into slits.
Then the bikini clad girl lost her footing when the pillar started to shake.
'This… this has to stop!' then holding the rod with two hands, she slammed it on the floor. Just then, Erza's flame detonated, engulfing everything in her inferno.
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Brandish fell. She felt from the sky. She felt the blade-like wind roared by her ear, glazing off from her skin. The cloak she wore burnt out, holes and remaining fire gnawing up the rest. The ashes that fire left behind soared upward. Soon, she remained nothing but her dark bikini. Despite that lethal heat, it didn't burn her. Not even a single skin remained untouched from the fire, if anything, it was her long cloak that somehow caught fire.
She glanced at the rod that he gave. It had transformed, and its shape no longer a rod, but some blaster… but it looked too simple to be called as a weapon. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was certain that it did block her from the fire. At the end of the odd looking barrel( it had none, but did that two guiding rods for the projectile to fly) there was a holographic shell made out of blue hexagons.
On its middle, there seemed to be some sort of aiming system, and a big font that read "No Dragon Energy Detected."
'Some sort of inhibitor?'
Her iris narrowed in by those words, and mercurially, she rolled in the air and brought up the earth to her foot. She landed swiftly by her experienced senses and commanded the ground to go up further, where she initially was.
Up in the sky, though the smoke, Erza stood with her both hands covering her forehead.
Brandish felt pity for her. She almost thrashed like an animal. Then again, what she was putting down was no longer Erza, but a dragon that has lost control.
Brandish screamed,
"Fight it, ERZA!"
The howling of scarlet girl ceased, and her head slowly raised towards her. The demolisher gasped slightly by her looks.
The Titania, younger sister of Irene and supposedly Natsu's favorite girl had changed. The slits, at least they seemed to retain some form of consciousness. This time, her iris was gone, only left with the bright orange cornea. Her fangs seemed to grow even larger, and what was worse that the part of her skin was replaced with red scales. Then from her back, a pair of wings made of fire spread.
Brandish had minimum knowledge of what dragon's power could do, but she could feel its power… and did not look very friendly.
Erza screamed, and breathed in the air, before unleashing it. The massive beam that exploded out of her mouth barreled towards Brandish, and she did not hesitate to bring her shield up. Then she shouted,
"Command-T: Reduction!"
The torrent of fire shrunk to a minuscule shot that didn't reach her shield. Erza, however, only growled further before charging at her. Brandish's eye snapped wide and jumped off the platform. The dragon girl's claw pierced through the pillar, and it crumbled from the top like a shattered lego.
Brandish fell again. However, she brought her device forward and aimed it at Erza. The aiming system beeped for a moment before locking onto her. She fired promptly. In the end, a disk-like projectile shot out with a powerful electricity, and it recoiled on her shoulder hard. Which, she took it unreadily.
She had feared she had missed the shot, however, when the disk flew right at her despite the off trajectory. The demolisher hoped that it somehow had to affect her, but when Erza smashed it with her burning fist, the hope shattered with it.
Brandish cursed, wishing that Dimaria was here.
"That gorilla is always gone when I need her the most…"
Then turning herself in the air, she landed as she raised another platform from the ground. Erza breathed once again, striking her ground immediately when the detonation occurred, the demolisher had no option to leave it again, jumping down as she consecutively raised the pillars. Every pillar she raised another explosion followed.
Eventually, she reached the ground, and she had nowhere else to go down. She turned back and quickly aimed back at Erza. The dragon girl didn't seem to care what it was as it continued to lunge at her.
The aim locked, and she fired once again, hoping to hit the mark. Yet, Titania destroyed it once again with a single slash. Brandish screamed out,
"Erza! Get hold of yourself!"
It fell on deaf girl's ears. The dragoness landed on the ground, and the soil crumbled around it, creating a wave of crater around her. Then she dashed at Brandish without a second to spare. Erza's claw burned with fire once again, and she smashed it against the former spriggan. She urgently raised the device to block it. Although the shield canceled out her attack, the blunt force directly traveled to her arm, which made her throw back in force.
Rolling on the ground, she jumped back expertly to land back on her feet. 'That force is literally scaring me… It's almost like a real dragon was punching at me…I can't continue directly like this. I need to do something…'
The demolisher glanced at the ground, and briskly raised the pillars side to side, attempting to trap Erza. However, even that seemed fruitless when she mercilessly smashed them with beastly strength. Then in a blink of an eye, the dragoness slammed the ground and burst forward at her. Brandish gritted her teeth as she prepped to defend herself. Erza approached, and when she smashed into the barrier, the demolisher instantly pivoted around, letting the dragon girl hurl pass her, and striking the ground. The land exploded upon her attack, and she swiftly turned before calling upon her breath.
Realizing that what she was doing, Demolisher pushed the ground up, and shouted,
"Command-T! Increase!"
The thin wall's size rushed its increase and density. When the fire breath met, it shook violently, its soil and rock started to melt by the heat. The remaining water that remained in it evaporated within a second, and the dirt and sand that were stuck between the rock glowed in vicious red, before turning into orange-white, dropping down to the ground in a liquid form.
Then the rocks began to sizzle. Slowly and slowly, the center of the wall became red, and like lava, it drooled down to the ground. The flamed continued, and eventually, it burst out from the other end, Forcing Brandish to raise another platform to protect herself.
She looked around and saw a small pebble. She hastily picked it up and apologized.
"Sorry, Erza… but you give me no choice."
Like a pitcher, she threw with all the momentum she had, and it soared through the air. Then she chanted out her spell.
"Command-T, Increase!"
The pebble grew mercurially in size to a boulder, then to a size of a meteor in a matter of seconds. The dragoness watched the colossal weaponized pebble flying at her. Upon the impact, Erza started to gain energy.
It was the last thing Brandish confirmed when the makeshift meteor hit.
What she next saw made her jaw drop to the floor. Erza's hand stretched forward. From the ground, an eruption screamed out like a volcano. The ground shattered around it, before sinking down to hell beneath. The crevasses that were formed leaked out a deathly orange light and heat, and when the meteor struck, it gnawed through it, before the pillar of destruction entirely engulfing it.
Like that, the rock size of a large mesa was annihilated without a trace left behind.
Brandish narrowed her eyes as the powerful heatwave struck her frame, and was forced to bring the shield up further to let the air cool for herself to breathe. Through the narrowed vision, and despite the lights being distorted by the heat rising from the ground, she could make out Erza.
She walked towards her like nothing had happened.
But then, a familiar screamed shouted from her back.
"Deus Calamitatis!"
Red circles materialized on all sides of Erza, and hundreds of hands emerged, each of them glowing with hexed energy. Then they all sieged at her limbs. She screamed and attempted to break free, but harder she shook tighter it became. Brandish whipped her head around to see her rescuer. She shouted,
"Irene!"
Irene shouted back.
"Whatever you were trying to do, do it now!"
She promptly nodded and lifted the mechanism and focused on Erza. Upon the locking indication, she pulled the trigger. The disk flew right to dragoness's neck, and it unfolded around it before the mechanisms worked itself to tighten the bond. After several mechanical noises, the effect started to take in place.
The scales that grew around her began to retreat back to her skin, and those vengeful orange eyes faded back to her usual form. Lastly, the pair of blazing wings vanished into the air.
Watching her sister returning, Irene released her magic and quickly rushed to her, draping her naked body with her cloak. She helped Erza to stand, letting her lean next to her, but as she was tired due to changes, she didn't have much power before she collapsed to the ground as well.
However, she still had the power to do it gracefully. She asked, placing the younger's head on her collar,
"Erza… are you okay?"
The girl didn't reply for a second, finally mustering up her force, she nodded silently. Then she spoke,
"I'm sorry…for causing such a mess…"
Brandish sighed deeply from the back, dropping machine to the floor. The elder patted her head, soothing her down.
"It's alright. It's over now."
However, Erza couldn't get over it. She had to explain to them that it wasn't intentional. She didn't even know the cause of her action. That sudden lust of blood, she didn't why, but it felt like she was reduced to a mindless animal.
She hated it. She hated every second of it, and all of them made her just wanted to break down to tears. Erza didn't realize she was such a weak person.
"I don't know why I did it… I don't know… it felt like it wasn't me…"
Her voice cracked up at the end. "I'm so sorry."
Irene hugged her tighter. "Everything is okay now. You don't have to be sorry."
The demolisher, watching the scene from the back shifted back and forth uncomfortably. It had felt like she shouldn't interrupt their moment. However, feeling the need to calm her down somehow, she approached Erza, and also gave her a hug. She then firmly grabbed her shoulder, gaining her attention. She lifted her meekly head with tear starting to swell in her eyes.
It made herself question whether if this was the same girl who wrecked chaos just a minute ago. She mentally whispered. 'She just needs a neko neko headband and would be perfect…' Shaking off her cat fetish, she reassured her,
"Hey, nobody got hurt. For now, we need you to recover. Okay?"
Erza gave her a nod and pulled herself away. Irene sighed as she lay back, her arms supporting behind. She motioned to Brandish with her head.
"I would assume that this will be resting?"
Brandish replied.
"Yeah… it seems."
Then everything became quiet, and all three gazed their eyes at the shoreline. Watching at the deformation of the ground, what's left to be pillars still standing here and there, and finding peace in their mind by the reflection of the moonlight to the sea.
The short haired girl finally added after the serenity.
"I hope nothing crazier happen soon. We had too much for a single day."
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Ultear observed the thing with her eyes narrowed to slits. Then she stepped to the side and narrowed her eyes even further. Her brows even knitted to center at her concentration. Unsatisfied, she trotted to the back, but she could not make sense of it.
She had thought she had gotten used to his... godly powers, but apparently, she wasn't. The one that was so intently staring at was one of those things.
The things that she could not understand. Still not getting a single answer that she wanted, she trotted back to the front again, scanning everything that she sees.
It was a mirror...? But she knew that it wasn't. It was flat like a mirror, but that was all that resembled. At the edges, the circular object glowed in bright gold, like his magic, but what it had inside was almost like a lacrima screen or some sort. It had completely different scene resting on its surface... and him. Ultear carefully placed her finger in, and its surface rippled like how water would. Shocked, she redrew it back her sides.
Then suddenly, he shouted, startling her heart to almost enter an arrest.
"Councilman! Are you coming or not?!"
He seemed to be frustrated, shouting with that hint of annoyance at the end. He added watching her hesitate.
"If you aren't coming then I'm taking your mom!"
Ultear didn't notice it first, but upon hearing his claim, she realized how strange that actually sounded. He seemed to notice it too. He shouted from the other side.
"Uhh... That's not what I meant! I'm definitely not taking your mom! I mean I'm taking her AWAY-" He emphasized it, -for medical and technical examination!"
Everything became silent. Ultear sweat dropped, and that, she even started to feel cold although she wasn't affected by it. He shouted again.
"That came out wrong—Hey! If you keep making me imagining things like that, that means your mind is in the gutter!"
Her eyes narrowed back by his lameness, wondering with difficulty to figure out how on earth this man was the same man that she used to know by? She whispered aloud.
"I think you're only one here with the perverted mind..."
"Anyways, if you are not coming, then you know what's going to happen!"
He growled out angrily. Ultear shouted back, standing back up and dusting her battle suit.
"Dragneel-dono, please just give me a moment!"
She gulped down her pooling saliva and pushed her hand into the... mirror thing. Then she let her entire body enter. It felt like she was walking through a waterfall, except it was static. It would be more accurate if she described it as, transcending feel, or walking through a thin sheet of water, but that wouldn't be realistic... though she wasn't sure what was and what wasn't.
He was the one who messes up everything ultimately.
In a few seconds, she was stepping in a different place. It seemed to be that she was still on the same island, so she assumed it was a different part of the place. Then she looked back and watched the circular mirror-like object vanishing into the air. She questioned.
"What was that?"
He answered casually, but he was already walking ahead, not looking back to catch her distressful eyes.
"An inter-dimensional space tear that can be used as teleportation gate by ripping the fabric of space and stabilizing each tear with ether-nano diffused dark matter."
Ultear stared at him with blank looks, her eyes turned into a pair of black buttons. Natsu added.
"It's a portal."
"Ah. I see."
When she answered, his attention was already elsewhere. Then he asked a rather blunt question.
"Councilman, What kind of magic do you use?"
Ultear flickered her eyes, unsure of his motive.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Just answer." His authoritative voice returned, and by it, she did not hesitate a second.
"I use time magic...and... ice as well."
Finding his sudden change of tone strange, she raised her brow, but that was cut short when he pointed at the unlit forest in front. She couldn't help to recoil by its unsightliness. It wasn't the forest itself, but what dwelled in it. She muttered,
"What...what an unsightly creatures... could they be the undead?"
Natsu only furrowed his brows further.
"No. They aren't undead. They are demons."
She questioned.
"Demons?"
She knew that this island was inhabited by demon villagers... and she knew that Moondrip could affect their mind, but she never realized it was this severe. It had seemed they lost their consciousness and acting out of their instinct. They just stood there, glaring at empty air with their soulless gray eyes Their skin was malformed, and even the younger one's skin seems to droop unnaturally. She muttered.
"What happened to them?"
Natsu didn't reply to her question. However, he just commanded.
"We need to clear them out before they get to us."
Ultear had no problem with that but didn't like the fact that he was keeping something from her. Whatever happened, he seemed to know. However, knowing that prying information from his is essentially hopeless, she followed his rules.
She placed her hand forward, and her lacrima ball materialized, before shooting itself to the hoard of a demon. Then it multiplied, hitting all of them like a scatter cannon. It was a simple job. She turned back to him, hoping that he would explain the least of the situation. However, perhaps she hoped for something that wouldn't happen.
"Let's keep a move on. We need to regroup with the rest."
She questioned.
"The rest?"
This time, he nodded.
"Yes. The rest. They are waiting for me."
Ultear was starting to get nervous a little.
"Are they... on this island?" Natsu nodded again. "Even the Fullbuster?"
The dragon sighed, remembering that he was the cause of this family problem. "I understand your desire for revenge but try not to kill him."
She grabbed her head, and her eyes rested on her mother again. She was here now. For her, that's all that mattered. For her sake, she was willing to suppress her resent towards him, but that still didn't justify for the sin that he had to commit. After the solace that bloomed while she visited her past, she understood her mother's decision to take him under her wing. When she lost her, she must have been lonely all alone. Ultear understood that feeling. The yearning to meet the same blood, she had been feeling it for a decade.
Thus, she was at least willing to give him a chance to explain himself. Although it was reluctant. Ultimately, he was the one who killed her mother.
"I won't. In fact, I think I am quite lucky to meet my mother's pupil."
Natsu questioned.
"How so?"
"He is, after all, my mother's pupil." She glanced back at her mother.
"My mother must have seen something great in him… without me, he was her legacy I suppose."
Then her eyes rested on Natsu before she broke the contact.
"So, I'll talk to him. See if I can understand."
Natsu only stared back at her, observing and trying to read her emotions. Unable to get anything, he looked away from her, finally breaking the gaze. Then he stared off to where Dimaria was, and as he had expected, she was close by.
Even better, she and her gang were heading to his location. He spoke up to Ultear.
"They are here."
Her rich red eyes raised and made him wonder a little, once again hoping to catch what she was thinking, but then she furrowed her thin brows slightly.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Nothing." He patted his hand on her shoulder. By his sudden touch, she unintendedly held in the air.
"I'll leave you to him, then… and I probably should leave your mother as well." He crouched down and rested her on her back, before standing back. "Well, I suppose that's it. Wait here, I'll go get him."
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Natsu walked in the forest, watching his steps not to step on the bloody carcasses. It didn't take long for him to spot Dimaria. From his position, it looked like she was the one who was leading the team, the rest hanging behind like some lost soldier returning from battle. Laxus, who was the closest, was still a woman. His brow raised at his… her state in a rather remarkable manner. Though the magic was indeed, not meant to yield such result, it had seemed that it's affecting duration was longer than he had anticipated.
He wondered why the most useless things were the one that showed the best performance. Then he gazed back to Dimaria, her armor's surface particularly clean despite the traces of blood on them. There was, indeed, some dirt painted over it, but it seemed to taken no damage. The blood didn't seem like her own as well, judging by her usual sarcastic face that was ridden. Then his eyes fell on what's behind her back, but with the majority of it covered by her body, he could only tell her that Dimaria was carrying something.
Lastly, there was Gray and Lucy. He didn't see anything different about them, though still greatly disliking Gray. He called out to his student/lower classman.
"Dimaria! Over here!"
Her response followed promptly.
"Senpai!"
She began to run, before stopping in front of him. She shouted her eyes never leaving his half naked form, "I missed you so much, senpai! Can I have a pat on my head?"
Natsu remembered asking why he suddenly cared so much about Dimaria… he was rethinking that again. He shook his head.
"Not happening."
She pouted, before approaching even closer, closing into his face.
"Then, senpai, Kissu~~~!"
He pushed her away with his hand on her face. Dimaria stomped the ground angrily. "Senpai! Please consider me as your woman!"
Still grabbing her by her face and pushing away as far as he can, he called out to Gray.
"Hey you, fucking ice prick!"
That caught his immediate attention. Gray hissed, barking like a dog as he approached him.
"What the heck is your problem?! Why are you cussing out on me!"
Natsu motioned to his back with his chin.
"You were the one who made this mess, now go. There's someone you need to meet."
He ceased his anger almost like a switch turning off. He stood there knitting his brows up, yet his pale face is still red like someone had scorched him with fire.
"What? Who is he?"
"It's she, not he. Now go. She's waiting for you."
Gray shot him a stare, but Natsu shrugged it off. He wasn't sure if that was supposed to be threatening, but it seemed like something he can just ignore. Natsu watched him heading to where he pointed, then seeing that he followed, he turned his attention to Dimaria, then to the rest. He did so by letting go of her face.
He questioned.
"Dimaria, who's that behind you?"
The said blonde spriggan glanced back and smiled. She twirled around and bent forward like as if she was showcasing a newly bought backpack.
"Oh, this?" Her lips stretched to bottom of her eyes, her eyes flickering like a child in a candy world,
"This is my new squishy—no I mean this is Meredy!"
Natsu raised his brow and folded his arms, giving her a miserable look. Dimaria face went a little pale, understanding what he means. Immediately dropping her antic, she rested the girl next to the tree.
"This is Meredy."
Her voice was now sounding more professional this time.
"She's from this organization called Seven Kins of Purgatory. Whether it is a guild or some government is unclear, but she seemed to be related to Gray's past. She specifically told us that she is here to avenge a woman named, Ultear. The woman we've met in the station… Do you remember her, senpai?"
Natsu nodded and smiled at the irony.
"Yeah, and I just met her… in fact, Gray is heading out to her."
The armored blonde questioned.
"Do you think that's a good idea? Their relationship doesn't seem to be peachy-peachy."
The dragon replied.
"He'll live. But, Mari, do you think she has relevance to this… Seven Kins of Purgatory?"
She crossed her arms.
"Senpai, if she is related to this girl, then she ought to be in same organization… besides, we've just met another one… and guess what, senpai?"
"Hmm?"
Dimaria's lips grew wide again.
"He's a god slayer."
Natsu asked, certainly intrigued by new knowledge.
"Was he the reason why you had to resort to your take-over magic?"
She shook her head. "No, that was just for show off. He couldn't even scratch the armor." Then she blinked slowly, catching the Natsu's thought behind.
"Wait a minute…" she muttered while her golden eyes locked tightly on Natsu's.
"You were worried about me, Senpai?!" that caught Natsu by surprised. Unprepared by her shout, he quickly looked away with a light dust of pink smearing into his cheeks.
"Sh..shut up. I wasn't worried about you... And next time, don't use your God form like that."
Dimaria rolled out her tongue, giving him a silly look.
"I get it, you big tsundere senpai!"
Natsu looked up to the sky and sighed deeply, whispering inside, 'Oh no… suddenly I don't wanna live anymore…' Then from the back, Lucy who had been staying awfully quiet finally spoke up.
"Uh, guys?"
It was Natsu who responded first, which Dimaria took great offense to. "What is it, Lucy?"
She pointed at the demon, her face fear stricken by their horrendous look. "Are… aren't they from the village?"
Laxus walked closer to examine the corpses, he confirmed.
"Yeah… they are from the village… what happened to them?"
Natsu didn't speak a word, only staring at it with steeled eyes. Lucy proposed,
"Maybe it's those Purgatory guys… I can't think of who would do this…"
Then from the back, Dimaria's eyes flashed momentarily, before staring back at her senpai. She spoke in a whisper, her brows climbing up in deep concern.
"Senpai…"
He turned around and whispered back, letting the other two blondes to imagine the situation.
"You've seen it, didn't you? The Eye of Chronos…" It was not a question, and Dimaria nodded. Then she spoke,
"Senpai, what have you done?"
Natsu never saw this side of her, the serious undertone that made her determined and uptight. He knew that he'd done something wrong. She continued.
"That memory wipe thing seemed to have done just more than erasing memories... and I fear for the aftermath that might hold our legs down. If these demons are part of the country…"
Natsu finished the sentence,
"The authorities won't be so idle."
Dimaria nodded, "Perhaps we should be more careful from now on…" However, her serious tone died after, and her lips spread like a fox. "…or perhaps we can try to pull some strings. Ultimately, it wasn't you who killed them."
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Gray thought he had died. Even worse, he had thought he was in some sort of heaven. If he was alive, then he must have hallucinating things. His legs lost their balance, and he fell to his knees like a dying dog. He thought he had lost all of his nerves in the lower region of his body. His feet felt cold although he couldn't feel them. Then he felt his blood rushing away from his face, his pale face now painted with sickening ashen color.
He raised both hands, even them, were arduous, taking too much vigor from his energy. Such thing, he didn't know it was possible. Yet, the condition of his body did not matter to what he was seeing in front of her.
It was like the fate itself was playing a joke on him, and by it, he felt nauseous, and even fear struck. That was only a part of an iceberg of his storming emotions.
He couldn't opt for his feeling, and all it felt like they were driving him insane. However, at the moment of infinite time of his staring, he managed to speak one word.
"U…Ur?"
His mind was in the past, and in the present at the same time, while wondering what that pink bastard had in his mind, and staring at, who was once his everything. It was simply blood chilling. Then it made him ask, 'Did he know?' then followed by 'Why is Ur here?'
Gray remembered his ability to change the reality. Could this be it?
But then, that didn't answer why there was two of them. One laying on the grassy floor, one crouching at her, caressing her others face. He couldn't quite make out the former's limb due to the blanket around her, and the shadows of trees didn't help. But he couldn't help to ask if they were just people who resembled her? Questions only flooded his mind.
Then the latter spoke up, ceasing her movement. "You are here."
The male ice mage didn't respond to her, only his eyes fixed onto her dumbfoundedly. She rose up, and her eyes raised above to meet his dark pair of clouded orbs.
"Gray Fullbuster… Pupil of my mother."
Gray choked out, his jaw falling down robotically yet his face remained unchanged like a wooden soldier, and his entire body still as billboard poster.
"Mother…You…?"
His words were unwilling to take flight, although perhaps, they never formulated in the first place. And the woman didn't seem to bother his chilling numb.
"I am Ultear. Ultear Milkovich. Ur's daughter."
It was like a tank smashing through building blocks, and them pummeling his head. He arranged his face, but his muscles didn't move an inch. He stopped and drew in a sharp breath, trying to shake down the bewitched sensation.
"I remember you, you… you are her."
Yet, when she cut right to the point, it made his mind stumble back.
"Because of you, my mother had to make her sacrifice, and because of that... I despise you."
She growled, her red eyes brighter by the second passed by, and the paleness of the moon only added to that effect. To Gray, it was like a pale goddess of the moon was playing her wicked tale, calling it fate. It was a scary thing that how the past return to face him in all of these times. Perhaps she was willing to call that as a fate too.
Then she added.
"And yet… you have forgotten about it, didn't you? While I had to live every day under the torment."
Gray finally responded, blood pumping back to his heart,
"You are wrong."
His voice raised little bit further.
"I've never once forgotten about her."
Then his eyes fell to Ur, his eyes starting to water. "We've all missed her… and I never got to amend for what she had done for me."
Ultear was starting to lose her mind. She shouted, veins appearing on the side of her neck, yet her eyes telling the otherwise.
"Then, why didn't you?! I spent my entire life trying to get her back! Things that I've done! The blood on my hands! What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU-"
Her voice cut short worrying that she might wake up her mother. She calmed her breathe by inhaling the night's air deeply. She brushed her gathering tears away. Gray responded.
"I'm sorry… but that was something that I couldn't do."
Ultear retorted.
"Bullshit!
"I tried to find a way, you know. I couldn't do it from where I stood. But I realized that she wouldn't want that." Gray responded despite her visible anger and hatred.
Ultear hissed, tightening her grips urgently, "What are you talking about?!"
"She wouldn't have wanted us to get blood on our hands for her. She always told us to live for ourselves, so that we can dream onto our future to its fullest."
Then he added after a short silence.
"So, I'm sorry. It wasn't something I could do… but I guess that doesn't matter anymore because she's here. You've got her back. Your mother."
Ultear couldn't find her words. Her grip loosened and her eyes faltered until they couldn't fix on to his anymore. Instead, they fell down to her mother's sleeping eyes. She opened her lips.
"In some way… it wasn't me who've returned her."
Gray had a feeling that he knew the answer. He asked. "Was it him?"
Ultear caught his meaning immediately.
"Yes… it was him."
Her eyes raised. "But I think I know now why she favored you so greatly." However, the Fairy Tail mage's head shook. "No. She never favored anyone. She told us that she loved us all."
She closed her eyes, and opened back again, noticing that Gray was gazing to her mother, she did the same. The moon was shining brighter than it used to be as if it was meant to be. For a moment, they couldn't see anything except her mother and his mentor. Ultear decided to accept his words and found another side of peace of her mind. And to Gray, everything seemed to wrap around, and he felt the knots of each other's pain undoing themselves, freeing them so gracefully. He didn't know what but he felt so light, and seemed Ultear was feeling similar. Like as if they could grow a pair of wings and fly to the heaven and touch the gods. She whispered finally.
"I suppose we'll get to know pretty soon."
It seemed like the omen of halcyon times would continue.
But Gray spoke, pinching his nose.
"Man, where's this strange smell coming from?"
The girl slapped her forehead, too embarrassed to answer.
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When the pillar of fire was seen from the other side of the island, Natsu knew that it was Irene once again. Seeing the debris and tree falling off from the sky, he discharged the barrier, barricading less experienced mages from the harm. Laxus shouted, unsure whether he should be pissed off or be glad.
"Since when did you started to care about me?"
Natsu replied, not even returning the gaze.
"I still don't care, Luxanna. I tried to protect Lucy, but you happened to be inside it."
Laxus growled from the back. "Why you…" However, Dimaria walked up to Natsu, cutting off what the dragon slayer was trying to say.
"Senpai, what was that?"
"It was Irene… and seems like she's doing just fine." The dragon replied while donning a content smile.
"Are you sure she's doing fine…?" She asked, and he gave a firm nod in reply. "Brandish said she can take care of it. She has all my trust!"
Dimaria couldn't help to drop a large sweat. "I think you are giving little more than what you compensate…"
He turned back and motioned them to follow. Dimaria obeyed in response and picked up Meredy before trailed closely behind. As they walked to where Gray went, the lightning dragon slayer gave Lucy a hand, which she took it gracefully. He looked away in annoyance, but they walked together nonetheless, following the pink haired man without questioning.
Lucy's eye drooped over, before snapping wide open. She whispered,
"Laxus…"
He raised his brows in response.
"I'm… I'm beat."
Laxus scoffed, still not facing her. "You're sleepy despite what just happened?" "No… I mean, my leg hurts."
He glanced at her, and he briefly met her brown eyes, before breaking away. He growled, lowering his body.
"Come on. Get on my back."
Lucy's eye opened little wider. "Huh?" However, Laxus's voice became more unstable as he kept motioned her.
"Tsk… hurry up!" Lucy just kept on staring at him. Although he somehow turned a woman, it seemed he was still Laxus after all. She wondered why he was so uptight most of the time, and when she saw him like this, it made her forget all that.
She proceeded to rest herself on his back, her arms hugging his neck like a scarf and dug her nose into his shoulder blade. His body seemed to tense up for a moment, but he ignored it. She felt the body lifting up as she was carried into the forest, following Natsu and Dimaria.
Her eyes fell a little by the warmth but gazed at the pink haired man and his armored follower. She whispered inside. 'They look like a couple…' Then she closed her eyes, finishing her thoughts.
'I wonder if Laxus and I can be one…'
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That following night, everyone centered around the campfire. The red and orange light flickered, illuminating the area just enough for them to provide that comfort. The sound of crackling filled in the air like the perfume of a goddess, pouring the warmth and that ambient sensation to the world. Then the sounds of the ocean washing up onto the shore followed in suite, sometimes, filling in the emptiness that fire rarely created, or coming together in a perfect lullaby.
Everyone slept in the comfort that Lullaby brought. Almost everyone. All but Natsu. He was still wide awake, unaffected by the fatigue, he was the only one who watched the wave washing up on the shore. At this angle, he could see the mainland glistening with yellow lights. It was faint, only visible to dragon's eye.
Then his eye turned to the girls, who were all sleeping in their own weird ways. Brandish was sleeping on her little platform that she raised, and Dimaria… was sleeping on her armor that was unlocked flatly on the floor. Her snore and saliva decorated her look most decadently. He never thought one could use his armor like that. Next, to her, there was Lucy, who was the most normal person that he thought there was, sleeping inside a sleeping bag like that… though he wondered how she got it. Ultear was sleeping separately with her mother, and he understood her, feeling uneasy with his gangs… especially Irene.
When he turned his eyes to Irene and Erza, he freaked out a little. It was like a dark two creatures glaring at him with fire underneath. But then, he realized that they were still awake. Perhaps they were staring at him in the first place. He didn't know. He had lots of things going on in his mind.
He gave them a little wave. Both of them stood up before sitting next to him side by side. Irene spoke first, followed by Natsu.
"Natsu-sama."
"Onii-chan."
He raised his arms and rested them on their shoulder while his fingers touched their velvety cheeks. Natsu began to caress them gently, stroking their smooth skin lovingly. He whispered, his gaze staring at ocean still. "I was worried."
Irene teased while resting her head on his shoulder.
"No, you were not."
Natsu smiled back at her, gazing into her brown eyes. "and I was excited as well."
Irene playfully smacked his chest before returning to his embrace. Natsu grinned at her before turning attention to Erza, then to her collar. He asked, his brows furrowing a little.
"Erza, how are you feeling?"
Her hand raised to the large metallic choker on her neck, playing it with her finger. "I'm feeling better but…"
Natsu whispered back. "But?"
"I'm scared." Erza dug herself further into his chest, shaking a little.
"How so?"
The younger girl's brown eye raised, all of her dragon attributes gone. They glistened like a pair of finely refined amber. "when I woke up… I suddenly went…"
Natsu already knew what she was talking about, but this was what he feared as well. He had watched Irene control her dragon self expertly already having mastery in her magic. However Erza was a different story. He thought to himself, 'She must've gone out of control… it would only explain this inhibitor collar on her neck...'
Although he knew, he couldn't tell the exact severity of her condition as the inhibitor suppressed her dragon magic. He couldn't risk taking off as well while everyone was gathered. So he decided to ask.
"Erza, what happened? Can you remember?"
The girl nodded weakly and arranged herself out his chest. She hummed in thoughts, closing her eyes and putting her hand on her chin. "Hm… Onii-chan, hmm, yeah. The first thing I saw was fire."
Natsu tilted his head. That didn't really explain anything. "Then? What happened?"
Then the girl spread her arms up in the air, her brows frowning with seriousness.
"Then it went, Kapooooosh~~~!"
The Prime Dragon couldn't help to let out a nervous chuckle. She continued making her gestures.
"And then it went, BOOM! And I was like, shoosh, then next thing I saw was this collar!"
Irene snapped. "They don't explain anything, Erza!"
Erza growled out, smashing her hand into the sand angrily. "How dare you, sister!" While she was throwing her anger out, Irene decided to explain to Natsu.
"Natsu-sama. I didn't see everything, but I think I can explain a bit of what I saw."
He nodded, allowing her to continue while patting Erza's head, calming her down instantly.
"When I approached her, she had red scales covering the majority of her body…and had wings made out of the fire. It was distinct and stood out even though I was far away… and the power she displayed was immense. I almost doubted it was my sister."
Every description struck Natsu's mind like a truck. His eyes shaken, he broke his gaze from Irene and returned to Erza, who was staring at him back with wide puppy like eyes. He whispered like he had lost his soul. Then his hand dropped from her head like a machine before cupping her jaw, his fingers clamping both sides of her cheeks.
"Did you…"
Erza responded, feeling the weight of the situation. Natsu continued.
"Did you just unlock your Dragon Force?"
It seemed much severe than he thought. It was a miracle that her body withstand that much force at once. His body shook a little, for a first time, and for a long time, feeling the fear. He didn't want to lose Erza. To him, she was one of those things that brought calmness to his mind. Losing her would be like losing his father again.
However, he quickly regained his composer. He knew there was a solution. There was always a solution despite how grim or terrible the situation is.
He started to count his options. First one was to use his magic to get rid of the presence of dragon inside her. However, it was something that he would never do. He could not risk another terrible accident, he couldn't let her become like those demons. If he did, then he would never forgive himself. The second was to upgrade the collar to suppress it even further. Yet it was a solution that didn't seem to appeal all that much.
Which lead to the last option. He spoke. Grabbing Erza by her hands.
"Erza, how would you like to be a Fire Dragon Slayer?"
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"Fire dragon slayer?" She whispered back, before whispering back again.
.
She blinked, she had trailed her big brother/ lover figure, but still, her head was locked on what he said last night, her heart beating as she was half confused and half excited. Then a voice shouted from the below.
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.
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"Senpai! I've got it!"
The powerful ray of orange, purple morning sun beamed down to the island as Dimaria shouted out from the bottom of the ocean. What was once an ocean, to be precise. She stood on the silky and muddy ground, not inside of depth of water. Instead, they stood aside like a gargantuan wall, splitting aside to create a path for her to pick up what they have come for.
Even to add her benefits, the ocean floor was raised to match the ground level, courtesy of both Irene and Brandish. However, if that wasn't enough, she didn't even have to walk on the muddy surface, as Natsu had thought her how to use the propulsion capabilities of her suit.
She literally just had to fly there and pick it up, which she did it without breaking a sweat. She repeated, shaking it side to side,
"Senpai! Irene! I have it on my hands!"
Irene's eye had glowed in delight before she flew down to the ground, literally snatching the gem from her hands. She looked it to the sun, letting the light reflect its dark surface, make it glimmer with its odd beauty.
Yet she frowned. "Are you sure this is the right one?" She asked Dimaria,
"I'm not picking up any energy from it." Then she casted her spell over the stone, red energy scanning to see if she had missed any. Dimaria scoffed, crossing her arms.
"Whatever." Then she waved at Natsu, beaming a smile at him.
"Senpai! Are you gonna come down and see it?"
Natsu answered back,
"No, it's alright. I can see it from here just fine!" Which was true, and he didn't need a scope to see it clearly. But however, he shouted back, remembering the promise he made.
"Actually, I'll be down in a sec!" He then patted Erza on her shoulder, smiling, "Erza, wanna go and see it? You were supposed to be our supervisor in this test." The Scarlet stared at him for a moment, question marks flying out of her heads, then she chirped out, remembering the test.
"Oh! Oh.. onii-chan.. I almost forgot. Sure, take me with you."
Natsu nodded and playfully picked her up by her legs, before carrying her like a bride. Erza squirmed at his sudden movement, blushing like a school girl once again. Her eyes yet fell to his neck, not able to make a proper eye contact. Like that, he walked over the surface. Erza wasn't sure if he was teasing her by putting her in inescapable position for so long.
It was like her heart was about to burst… but she smiled, cherishing the moment. When they arrived, he still didn't let her go. Catching some predatory stares from two other girls. Sweating a little, he put her down, catching their jealousy instantly.
He spoke. "Come on… don't be like that. Let's put that aside for now and see the gem."
Irene walked over and jumped on his chest, forcing him to hold her not to fall. Then he realized he was holding her just like Erza. She then handed over the gem by rubbing it on his chest. Natsu fought back the blush desperately, trying to keep his cool as best as he can.
He opted for moving on with the topic, putting Irene down. He held the gem closely and inspected it.
"So… this is the 'Well of the Dead?'"
All the girls nodded other than Erza. Natsu returned to his eyes to the gem but rested them back to Erza. He questioned.
"So… are we a pass?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. You have to take it back to the guild… and let me see… we still have two days left, excluding today."
Irene commented.
"That's more than enough time. Despite all the detours, I guess we did it, isn't that right, Natsu-sama?"
He nodded, then he briefly shot a gaze that only the spriggans knew. Both Irene and Dimaria caught his meaning and frowned before brightening up back again. Dimaria threw her hands on her head, walking off to the shore like nothing happened. She spoke unsarcastically loud, "Ah, ha ha! I wonder what my squishy- I mean, Meredy is doing?"
And Irene suddenly started to grab Erza's cheeks and started to squish them. The re-equip mage stared at them with stupefied expression, having a zero clue what's going on. Then she started to complain at her sister for treating her like a kid.
While the chaos broke loose, Natsu whispered.
"Zeref, hang in there just a little longer."