SSD: So sorry about keeping you all waiting! As I said before, this month is proving to be hectic…
Lucy: So long as you aren't giving up…and you better make this a decently long chapter!
SSD: I know, I know…I plan on it. Anyway, the character I had planned to introduce last chapter will make an appearance this chapter.
Lucy: Well quit making them wait and get to typing already!
SSD: Yes, ma'am!
Lucy: You all know the routine now, SSD owns nothing but her own characters.
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Chapter 33: Ice Witch
Laxus' eye twitched as he looked down at the two girls pressing into his sides. Lucy was on his left, head resting on his shoulder. This arrangement he didn't mind, not in the least, although it was a bit of a sufferance due to her hand laying on his chest and…
[Apparently Blondie is a snuggler in her sleep…] Laxus twitched slightly, trying to calm himself while glancing down at the leg thrown over his. On his other side was Kalia, just using his arm a pillow. Across from them, Cana was sprawled out on her seat, snoozing steadily. [At least she's sober and can't fuck things up too bad.]
The blonde man sighed and leaned his head back on the seat, arm curled around his girlfriend.
[Girlfriend…yeah, I like that…] He smirked and turned his gaze to the window. [Shouldn't be long now til we get there.]
Lucy yawned and stretched as the group stepped off the train. "Man…what a long train ride…"
Cana nodded, tamping her feet into her sandals better. "No kidding, I can't believe they wouldn't even give me a fricking drink."
Laxus snorted. "We don't need you getting drunk before we even start the mission. Anyway, the rail station to get to Shirotsume is on the other side of the town."
Cana's whine of, "But I DON'T get drunk!" went ignored.
Lucy blinked. "I thought Mt. Hakobe was between here and Shirotsume? The rail goes around it?"
The older lightning mage nodded. "Yeah, it skirts around the base. It's a longer ride, but it's quicker than going over the mountain itself. Once we head into Shirotsume, we need to make our way through the mountains into the old quarry where this "Witch" is holing herself up. Then we just take her into custody, probably with a fight, and the rest is history."
Kalia blinked. "Th-that sounds easy enough…"
Can huffed. "This'll be a breeze, especially since there's two S-Class candidates here, right, Kal?" She winked at the other girl.
Kalia blushed a bit and smiled, nodding in determination. "Right, let's take care of this Witch!"
Laxus smirked and reached over, ruffling his sister's hair. "I've been training you, you can handle a mission like this. Let's head over to the station and catch our train."
The girls nodded and followed his lead out.
A figure winced slightly as a harsh wind whistled through the cave entrance. They huddled closer to the fire, curling up to a large, oval egg bundled in ragged blankets. They sighed, feeling the heat radiating off of it and nuzzled the shell.
"It's alright, Mom…we'll be safe a while longer…I won't lose you a second time, and then we can find him…we'll be a family again, so please hurry up and come back…" Dark purple eyes opened and glanced out at the howling blizzard. "Please be safe…little brother…"
Another long train ride later and the group disembarked in Shirotsume. They followed up the trail and the girls started shivering as the temperature began to plummet.
"M-maybe w-we sh-should ch-change first?" Lucy shivered, teeth chattering as a chill wind ruffled past them.
Laxus sighed slightly in irritation, warm enough in his jacket. "Fine, there's a copse over there you girls can change in."
Lucy sighed in relief and huddled Cana and Kalia over to the group of trees. "Alright, Open, Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!"
The chime sounded and the maid spirit appeared with her arms full of folded up winter clothes. "Princess, I brought the garments you wanted. I hope they will satisfy you." The pinkette bowed and held out the stack of clothes.
The girls sighed in relief as they took the clothes and started getting dressed. Cana practically purred at the feel of the slightly fuzzy sweater she was given.
"It's so soft…and warm…"
Lucy smiled gratefully as she dressed in the cashmere sweater, thick leggings and snow boots. "Thanks for the help, Virgo. I'll call you went we stop for the night, alright?"
Virgo bowed. "Of course, Princess." Virgo blinked as Cana jumped Lucy, cupping the other girl's breasts with a slight squeeze.
"Wow, Luce! You're really growing up here, I think you're even bigger than me now!" Cana momentarily enjoyed the bit of heaven she experienced.
Lucy's eyes bugged and she shrieked, flailing her arms as she tried pulling the sweater down to fully cover herself. "Cana! Stop that!" Her face flushed beet red.
Laxus blinked, drawn to the clearing by Lucy's shrieking. "Everything alr-…." He stared, rooted to the lacy bra that was covered by…Laxus growled lowly and glared at Cana. "Quit fooling around and finish dressing. And quit molesting MY Blondie." He stalked over and picked Lucy up from Cana's groping hands.
Lucy blushed in mortification, realizing Laxus has seen her in-[Oh God…he practically saw me topless!]
Cana pouted and grumbled as they began the trek up the mountains, Kalia sweatdropping as she followed along behind the group.
Virgo shook her head and headed back to the spirit world, working up various punishment plans for the one who assaulted her Princess.
Laxus glared at Cana and set Lucy back down, giving her the chance to fix her sweater. "Alright, let's get moving, it'll take us a couple days to get to the quarry."
They nodded and followed after him.
A raven head shot up, looking sharply over at a staff laying against the cave wall. The metal weapon shook violently, the rings on it jangling in sharp tones that were almost painful. They reluctantly left the warmth the egg provided and grabbed the staff, ceasing the shaking.
"Intruders…Don't worry, Mom, I'll take care of them. Your rebirth won't be interrupted." The slim hand gripped the staff tightly, frost lightly covering over the gleaming metal. A cloak swished around them as they turned, heading for the exit, looking back briefly. "Please don't come out until I get back, I want to be here when you're reborn." Raven hair flowed over the cloak, tinting a faint dark blue as the fading light struck the strands.
Laxus looked around warily, a slight warning on the wintry air. He held his arm out to stop Lucy from going forward anymore.
The blonde blinked and looked up. "What is it? Are we there already?"
The other two also tensed, feeling the slight charge. "I don't think we're alone, Lucy…"
Laxus growled. "Come out of hiding already!"
A rich, feminine voiced answered back to them. "I have no wish to harm you, intruders. Leave at once!"
Kalia and Cana settled into ready stances, Lucy's hand going to her whip while Cana pulled out her cards.
"We were hired to take a Witch into custody, I'm taking that it's you?" Laxus' eyes darted around, trying to spot the source of the voice. The wind was whirling around too much, not letting him get a chance to catch her scent.
Lucy held her arm up in front of her eyes as a strong gust of wind blew snow up in a flurry. "Kalia! Can't you do anything about this wind?"
The brunette girl shook her head. "No, this is a natural wind! Even if I could eat it, it wouldn't take care of the source!"
CLANG! CLING!
The four looked up as a harsh jangle rang in the air and a silhouette passed over them. A dark cloak fluttered behind the Witch, raven hair twisting wildly in the whipping winds. Floating just away from her hands were two metal staffs, one of which had four metal rings around the loop of the staff's head, a pale blue gem resting in the hollow. The other was of similar design, only minus the rings and the gem was a dark onyx. Hidden below the cloak, revealed in short glimpses was a dark blue ruffled skirt, slit and pulled slightly to the side, revealing her leg. Her top was a low cut peasant blouse in a near white-blue. She glared down at them from the Cliffside.
Lucy blinked, looking closely at the Witch. [Something about her…looks familiar? But I'm sure I haven't seen her before.] Her eyes widened and they were sent scattering as a magic circle appeared beneath the group.
"I'm warning you all to leave!" More circles sprouted up, encircling the other magic circle. "Shadow Spire!" Darkness erupted up from the constructs of light, spiraling out in a tower shape. The other circles clung to the dark energy and then shot out horizontal spirals, launching at the Fairy Tail mages.
Lucy jumped out of the way, rolling under one of the spires. "Is this Shadow Make?!"
Laxus grit his teeth as he was forced to dodge. "No, see those staffs? She's channeling her magic through them, kinda like Mystogan does."
Lucy nodded. "I see…so if we get rid of the staffs…"
Kalia looked up in determination. "We neutralize her attacks."
Cana nodded. "Right!"
The Witch glared and jerked her ringed staff at them, a pale blue circle appearing in front of it. "Blizzard Assault!"
A flurry of snow blasted from the circle, heading straight at Laxus. Laxus narrowed his eyes and reared his head back, lightning crackling in his mouth.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!"
The burst of lightning tore through the blizzard, zagging in the air as it headed towards the staffs. The Witch held her hands up, clearly not touching the rods and crossed her arms, purple eyes narrowed in a glare. A shell appeared, behind the staffs and the Roar struck the rods, lightning flowing over the protective shell.
Kalia dashed around, jumping on several rocks to boost herself up the rock face. She leapt up and moved her head back as she charged up her own roar.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!"
The Witch turned, eyes widening in surprise. She quickly slashed her arm towards Kalia, the blue gemmed staff jumping to her hand. She grit her teeth slightly from the lingering pain as the shell was dispelled before the rest of Laxus' attack could wear off. A different blue circle appeared.
"Blizzard Barrage!"
Hail and icicles tore through the lightning attack that was much weaker in comparison to Laxus'. Kalia gave a short scream as she was thrown off the cliffside.
"Kalia!" Cana cried out and threw three cards at the Witch, a look of fury in her eyes. "Summon Lightning!"
The Witch somersaulted, twisting midair to dodge the attack. She landed and turned to glare down at Cana. "I don't want to hurt you…but you leave me no choice!" She aimed her staff again and, before Cana knew it, she was enshrouded in darkness and screaming in pain.
Lucy tensed at hearing both screams, wincing slightly as a streak of lightning flew past her to catch Kalia.
Laxus growled lowly as he jumped back up to the cliff and set Kalia down. He pat her head. "You alright?"
Kalia nodded. "Yeah…I didn't think she'd be this strong…" She looked over in worry at the dark dome covering Cana, what appeared to be black lightning arcing over the shell. "Cana…we need to stop that attack."
Laxus narrowed grey eyes at her, watching the Witch turn her attention back to them. "She isn't…but something's driving her to be. Help out the Drunk, I'll keep her attention on me."
Kalia nodded and swiftly began jumping back down the cliff to help Cana.
Lucy clenched her fist and changed her whip's form to the river of stars, lashing out to an old piece of machinery. "I'm not out of this fight, either!" She shortened the whip and shot up, landing to be level with the other fighters. She rested a hand over her keys and nodded. "It's an Ice Witch…so…Open, Gate of the Celestial Ice Dragon, Ur!"
The spirit world chimes sounded and Ur opened her eyes, flexing her rose shaped wings. "Looks like I get to actually fight this time…" She smiled at Lucy before turning her attention fully to the Witch. "Time to get serious." She settled into a stance.
"Ice Make…Rose!" Ur thrust her hands forward as icy vines twist up from the snow-covered ground, roses and long, thin thorns sprouting from them. The vines quickly rushed forward and across, tearing up dirt and snow in their wake towards the Witch.
"What?" Purple eyes widened and she tried jumping back, only to meet a crackling punch from Laxus. A scream tore from her as she was sent hurtling over the edge and smacked into the other side of the valley. She coughed as she fell out of the crater left in her impact. A crack split upwards from the center of the crater.
The Witch gasped as she looked up. "No…no!" She forced herself up and grasped the staff with the black gem.
Laxus frowned. "That should've taken her out…"
Lucy looked over, then shifted her gaze to Ur. "Ur, go after her!"
Ur nodded and leapt off the edge, wings flaring out as she flew at the Witch. The Witch grit her teeth as a black mist formed under her, a path forming up high to a barely visible cave. "Get back! I won't let you…Mom!" She began jumping up, landing on the clouds that dissipate beneath her once she leaves.
Ur blinked, confused. "Mom? What…?" She paused in her confusion, hovering as she watched the girl stumble up and into the cave where the crack in the wall was beginning to run through.
Lucy frowned slightly, not knowing why Ur wasn't following. "Ur! What's going on?!"
The Witch ran into the cave, stumbling as she clutched her stomach and fell over the egg. "Mom…I need to get you out of here…it isn't safe…Mom…"
The egg shook and a crack split the shell. The Witch blinked. "…Mom?"
Ur flew back to the group, a frown on her face. "I'm…not sure. She said something about her mother…but I didn't smell anyone else nearby."
Laxus narrowed his eyes. "…her mother?" He turned his gaze to the rock wall, wincing slightly as it began crumbling. "…I may have overdone it, that Witch is surprisingly tough to last through that."
Lucy cringed. "She's trying to protect her mother out here? Ur, go after her and get them out of that cave before it crumbles!"
Ur nodded. "Bring out, well…nevermind, you probably should've changed Igneel before we came on this mission, I can only carry out one of them." She spread her wings and took off, powder snow drifting in her wake.
The Witch held onto the egg tighter, closing her eyes as she tried to pick it up. She bit back a cry of pain as her ribs screamed at her, preventing her from lifting it. Her eyes opened, stiffening as she saw the ground shift and start to crumble at the entrance. "Mom…I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough…to get to him…I'm sorry!" She squeezed her eyes shut again, tearfully. "Mom…I couldn't even keep you safe until your rebirth…"
She missed the shadow at the entrance.
Ur blinked, seeing an egg and the Witch, not the two people she had expected. She darted forward and grabbed the Witch. "Hold onto your egg, I'll get you out of here."
The Witch blinked, looking over. "I…can't…my ribs…I don't have the strength. Please…take her and go, I need…to save her…" She coughed, blood spitting up as she moved away, slumping over. She caressed the egg and gently pushed it to Ur. "Save her…go!"
Ur blinked and picked up the surprisingly heavy egg. "Oof…I'll come back, I promise." She nodded to her and soared out, heading back to Lucy.
The Witch closed her eyes, smiling. "Mom…I saved you…you can…go find him. Gray…" [The brother…I never got to really meet…] The ground swallowed her up, caving in.
Ur looked back, hearing out loud rumble and her eyes widened. "No!" She shifted her grip on the oval shape nearly half her size.
"Virgo!"
The group waited expectantly, Lucy biting her lip and hoping that Virgo had managed to get to the Witch in time. Laxus bolted Lucy down to the quarry's base level, Ur flying right beside them with the egg. A hole opened up in front of them, the maid spirit spiraling out of it. In her arms was the Witch, unconscious.
Lucy blinked as Virgo set her down, the Witch's bangs falling away to the side. "…She does look familiar…"
Ur set the egg down. "She kind of reminds me of Gray, they have the same cheekbones and hair color, the same nose too."
Laxus took a sniff. "They both smell like ice, probably because of their magic."
Kalia ran up to the Witch and set her hands over her, glowing. "She's hurt really bad…most of her ribs are fractured or broken…three pinched nerves in her spine due to spinal fractures…internal bleeding from the initial impact…I, this is way beyond my current ability. I'm too scared to even try with her in this condition as there's a large chance that I could kill her…"
Lucy clenched her fists. "…" […I need to find Phoenix…] "Is there anything else that we could do? There has to be a way to save her."
The four of them thought hard, trying to figure out if there even was a way possible. Kalia blinked and clapped her hands.
"I got it!"
Lucy, Cana and Laxus looked at her. "What?"
Kalia looked at Virgo. "Can you take others to the spirit world with you?"
Virgo blinked. "Yes, it's highly frowned upon though. I see, you wish me to take this girl to the spirit world until you return to Fairy Tail where she can be healed. Correct?"
Kalia nodded. "Exactly!"
Crack. Crack.
The group blinked and turned, looking at the egg that was now rocking and jumping slightly. Glowing purple fractures emerged over the egg. The Witch shifted, groaning slightly as she opened her eyes.
"Mom…" She grit her teeth and tried sitting up.
Cana gently pushed her back down. "Please don't move, you're really hurt and need to lay down so you don't strain yourself even more."
Virgo bowed. "I will return shortly, she will need clothing from the spirit world in order to survive the trip." She disappeared with a faint pop of smoke.
"N-no…Mom…I can't miss…her rebirth…" She tried rolling over and reached for the egg. "Mom…" Kalia kept her held down.
"Please, I'm sure your mom is fine, you need to rest." She tried to urge her.
"Mrrrrrrrr…" The egg cracked open and the Fairy Tail mages gawked at what was in front of them.
Purple eyes, the same shade as the Witch's opened up, but were slitted…reptilian. Black scales covered the four legged body as scrawny wings flapped, the fluid lining from the shell causing the membrane to stick together.
Cana rubbed her eyes, pinched herself, and turned to Lucy. "Please slap me, I think I'm hallucinating."
Lucy stared, absently fulfilling the request. "If you are, then I think we all are…"
Laxus' eyes widened as his jaw dropped. "Is that…is that a…that's a fucking dragon…"
Said infantile dragon sneezed and rubbed their nose against their foreleg. It turned towards Laxus and blew a ring of darkness at him. Laxus glared back at the black creature.
"Damn lizard…"
The dragonling snorted. "Who are you calling a "lizard"?"
Laxus, Lucy, and Cana blinked, staring at the clearly feminine dragon. Kalia focused her attention on the Witch.
The dragon looked over at the struggling girl. "Seiryu…silly girl, I would have been fine."
Lucy gulped. "So…you really are her mother?"
She sat on her haunches, getting a better control of the new body. Seiryu stilled, hearing her mother's voice had a calming effect on her. "I am, or was. When I was human, at least." She sighed. "My name…is Getsuga Fullbuster." The girls gasped.
Lucy stared at Getsuga. "You're…you're Gray's mother?"
"Mom…you're awake…" Seiryu weakly tried to move her head for a better look.
Virgo chose that moment to return and start carefully changing her into the spirit world clothes she brought.
Getsuga looked over at her daughter. "I'm here, little dragon." She glanced back up to Lucy. "Yes, I do have a son named Gray. Judging by the fact you reacted that way at hearing my own name, you must be close to him."
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, he's part of our guild and one of my good friends."
Cana smirked and knelt behind Kalia, tossing an arm around her shoulders. "And Kalia's boooooyfriiiiiend." She snickered as the girl turned a cherry red.
Laxus twitched and growled threateningly. "Over my dead body…"
Kalia hung her head in despair.
Getsuga sighed and smiled as much as a dragon could. "That's good. I was worried…that he might've chased after Deliora or closed himself off afterwards... He's too much like his father in that aspect…or myself." She turned her eyes to Seiryu. "You're probably wondering how I ended up becoming a dragon, hm?"
Lucy sweatdropped. "Yeah…"
Laxus straightened. "Yeah, normal people don't just change into dragons."
Getsuga snorted. "You would be right…if that normal person didn't happen to be a Dragon Slayer as well."
Lucy tensed. "You were a Dragon Slayer?"
Getsuga nodded. "I ran into this old dragon called Skiadrum in my youth, he took me in and taught me after I had run away from my own family." Lucy blinked in alarm. [Skiadrum?!] "He warned me not to use my Slayer Magic too often, said there was a drawback if I did. Of course, with such arrogance of a child I thought nothing of the warning and left on my way. I eventually reconciled with my family, joined a guild, met Silver…I was almost to SS-Rank when Deliora came to our town…"
Lucy blinked. "Wait, I know this part…but wasn't Seiryu with you?"
Getsuga shook her head. "No, she was having problems channeling her magic, even trying Slayer magic wasn't working so I had sent her to my family to figure out why. They're experts in Magic Theory so I thought they'd be able to help her. Gray was still really too young for travel at the time."
"Wow…you were going for SS-Rank even while being a mother?" Lucy gaped.
Getsuga nodded. "Nothing was going to stop me."
Ur smiled. "If you want, I can tell you some stories of when I had Gray under my tutelage. You aren't the only one who went up against Deliora."
Getsuga raised a brow. "Oh? And you taught my son? Silver had wanted to teach him Devil Slayer, it's similar to Dragon Slayer but-"
"Good for killing demons, we know. One of our guildmates was able to use Lightning Devil Slayer Magic." Laxus crossed his arms. "He left a journal behind for his kids that shows how to train in it. Popsicle's been borrowing it as far as I know."
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll be proud when you see him."
Sharp white teeth glinted from the smile. "Thank you."
Virgo nodded. "I am done. I shall take Seiryu to the spirit world now."
Seiryu began struggling some. "No…Mom is-"
Getsuga leaned down and nuzzled her daughter's hand. "I'm fine. Get some rest and we can go to Gray together."
Seiryu gave her mother a pitiful look. "But…I want to…stay by your side…"
"We'll have plenty of time for that later. For now, you are far too injured to be transported normally." Getsuga looked up at Virgo. "Please take care of my daughter."
Virgo nodded and knelt down, placing her hand on Seiryu's arm. "She will be fine. Please do not struggle or I cannot guarantee your wellbeing."
Seiryu blinked. "Wait, but you just said-" Virgo whisked them off to the spirit world.
Laxus stared at the dragon deadpan. "Yeah…I don't think the train's going to take a dragon on board, even in a baby stage."
Said dragon glared up. "Hmph, they'll just have no choice. Or I'll cling to the roof. Nothing's going to keep me from my son, you hear me." She snorted. "You didn't even let me finish my explanation on why I'm a dragon right now."
Lucy shook her head. "Actually…Metalicana told us. The Dragon Slayer Magic…turns you into a Dragon if you overuse it because humans aren't meant to take on such traits without penalty. Although, there is a way to prevent, I'm not sure on the exact details."
Getsuga blinked. "There is? Huh, oh well. I doubt it would've helped when I was up against Deliora of all beings."
Lucy smiled. "So…we'll all be heading to Fairy Tail together. You'll both love it there, I promise. Thanks for the help, Ur, I'll call you when we get to the guild."
Ur nods and disappeared, Virgo having left long ago.
Laxus twitched. "…you're going to make me smuggle a dragon onto the train, aren't you?"
Lucy looked up at him pleading, ignoring Kalia's giggles and Cana's laughter behind her. "Please? Besides, my dad owns the railways, remember?"
The lighting mage's head hung. "…fine…" He twitched, looking at the group that gained one more female and a dragon. [This is so fucked up…I'm so whipped, it's not even funny…hmmmm, Lucy in leath-] He twitched as the dragon chortled and looked at him knowingly, a sly spark in the purple eyes.
"You really should control those urges, boy, I can smell it."
Laxus twitched violently and flicked the lizard off, earning a laugh. Getsuga just worked out how to get walking while on all fours and with extra appendages. […this is going to be a looong ride home…if we don't get kicked off the train because of the lizard first…]
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SSD: And done! I wanted this to be longer but…I go in early and need to get some sleep. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Lucy: WAIT! Gray's mom…is a dragon?
SSD: Yeah? It's never said that there weren't any Slayers in the 400 years since Acnologia's creation, just that it became a Lost Art. Lost Art just means that it dwindled down in use so there was probably only a handful of users at a time. Besides, I need this for a future plot that I have in the works!
Laxus: …flame brain is going to flip…
Lucy: No kidding…
SSD: Anyway, review, favorite, follow, I enjoy all your feedback! I'll see you all next time, bye!
Lucy: You know…I wonder how many readers thought that it was an Exceed egg?
Laxus: *shrug*
SSD: Whew, sorry guys, but thanks to Lizz Cold 790, a huge, major, GLARING error was brought to my attention…I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN CANA! I knew that there was another member to the team, but in my exhausted mind I plugged in Wendy instead of Cana and went from there. So…I had to rewrite quite a lot of the chapter. So sorry about the mistake, but this week is going to be super hectic…you probably won't see another chapter until Monday or Tuesday, I work a double on Sunday and Saturday is the day after my store gets audited so….Ugh…horrible week. That and I simply don't have the energy for another chapter this late because the guy who was supposed to work with me on my shift called in and it was busy as all hell URGH! Anyway, see you all next week. Wait…I may write a little one-shot for the couples that are/will be established in this story for Valentine's Day. Later!