Chapter 38: The Dragon King Arrives

I change POV's a lot in this chapter, and this chapter on gets significantly darker. Fair warning to you readers.

NATSU POV

I hope Yaseika's alright.

Sting and I fought together, letting out roars and attacks, taking down enemy after enemy. They didn't stand a chance against us, even the demons that had come with the second wave. Even as I fought though, I was thinking about what she had told me before things went bad:

You must not use that spell until the Black Dragon has been taken care of.

I felt the power on my arm tingle, especially as I allowed my gaze to rise to face Zeref, who hadn't reacted to nearly anything that has been happening this whole time. Instead, he was simply staring down intently at the guild hall. He remained on his airship and I knew, if I wanted to, I could easily use my fire to fly up there and fight him. But her words made me feel uneasy. Something in the command she had given me felt different. It was almost like if I did defeat Zeref before Acnologia was defeated, something tremendously horrible would happen.

So, I complied with her command, for the time being. But if Zeref came down here himself looking for a fight. I would gladly give it to him. He made it sound as though I was important to him, the last time he spoke to me. I don't understand it, and I feel like he knows something that I don't. And I don't like it.

However, as a result of not going after him, I was still going pretty strong magic wise. However, it wasn't all that difficult to find fire at this point, something that didn't sit well with me. Fires were lit as a result of explosions from magic attacks, and the enemy themselves sometimes were made out of fire or something, so it was easy to refuel. But things aren't going so well all around.

The guild hall itself was still standing, and the enemy hadn't infiltrated yet, but we were slowly losing ground. The demons that had appeared with this second wave of enemy was causing a lot more problems than anticipated. We were being forced back, towards the guild hall, towards Fairy Heart.

Where were the reinforcements? We needed them now more than ever. As much as I was still going strong, I knew that things weren't going so well with the others. I wanted to help, but I couldn't be everywhere at once.

It was early evening and the battle still went on. Sting and I had separated at some point and now I was alone. I was exhausted and my body was begging for even a moment's rest. Fighting constantly was putting a strain on my body, even though I wasn't really injured. Though, I could smell a lot of tears and a lot of blood that had been spilled. I didn't know for sure who it belonged to, but I hoped that it wasn't that of my friends. I hadn't seen Lucy, Yaseika, or the others since Blaze attacked. I silently hoped that they were alright. I needed for them all to be alright. If something happened to them…I didn't think I would be able to handle it.

Just then, a deafening boom came from very close nearby, the shockwave from the explosion forcing me airborne. I managed to land on my feet, but when I looked up, my heart completely stopped in my chest.

The guild hall had been completely destroyed.

Shambles of the foundation remained, smoldering with the last remnants of the attack that had annihilated the entire structure. The emblem that had once stood proudly at the top of the hall now lay on the ground, cut cleanly in half. People were getting up inside the ruins, covered in soot and holding themselves, clearly trying to nurse wounds received from the explosive attack. I looked back towards the enemy to see that they had stopped advancing. Instead, a message appeared in the air, "Because I am feeling generous, you have one hour. One hour to gather your wounded and dead and rest."

The words made me more confused than ever, but I didn't really care. The people that had been inside of the guild hall needed help. Immediately. I rushed over towards one of the figures that I recognized as Wendy, coughing violently, struggling to breathe. Carla was nearby, unconscious and barely breathing. I gasped, "What happened?"

Wendy had difficultly speaking before she croaked, "We were all here in the infirmary, resting up. Kinana and I were running around, providing as much care as we could. I had just gotten back to where Yaseika was resting and she woke up quickly, gasping something about an explosion. She had just leapt out of bed towards Rogue and Lucy when the whole building blew." She began to cry, "Is it really gone? The guild hall?"

I could barely speak myself as I was in shock, but I nodded blankly. Wendy began to wail and she collapsed into my arms, letting all of her grief out. I could feel emotional pain of my own, all of the despair welling up inside of me like a storm before it transformed into anger.

Zeref.

He did this.

He destroyed the place that I called home.

He would pay.

Then I became aware of the screams of other guild members. One of the ones that was clearest to me was Jet wailing inconsolably towards the sky. Lying half on the ground and half in his arms was Droy, his eyes glazed over, unseeing, unreacting. His body was badly scarred with burns, almost to the point of unrecognition. He appeared to also be missing one of his limbs, although I couldn't tell for sure, as a cloth was draped over him shortly afterwards, much to Jet's despairing rage.

It was then a fear hit me and I took Wendy out of my arms, to hold her in front of me, and as calmly as I could, I asked, "Wendy. Where is Lucy?" Wendy looked up at me in confusion at first, before something shifted in her eyes to turn into shock and fear. I asked again, losing some of the calmness from before, "Wendy. Where are they? Rogue? Yaseika? Lucy?"

Wendy began to hiccup as she spoke, "I don't know." More tears fell down her face. She cried, "I don't know."

She wouldn't be able to talk to me in this condition. Reluctantly, I let her go, telling her to go and help where she could. I stood, calling out names with as much volume as I could. Yaseika. Rogue. Lucy. Happy. I couldn't smell any of them, the burning odor of the building shrouding everything. As I was searching, I saw many others that had been caught badly in the explosion. Bisca was unconscious, sporting a pretty nasty head wound while Alzack was at her side, lying down on the ground, his eyes closed. They weren't dead, but they weren't doing too well. Cana waved off Wakaba, who was trying to bandage her abdomen, where a large gash was present. Macao was quietly crying as another cloth was draped over somebody else with, I think…purple hair. It was only after a few moments that I recognized it as Kinana, the young woman who worked with us as a barmaid. With each person I saw, the more I panicked. With each passing second, I became more sure of the worst case scenario. I thought I was going to lose it until I thought I heard somebody say my name. I turned towards the sound, only to see a sight I was sure to never forget.

Lucy was unconscious, her head hanging limply and lolling around on her neck as she was being held by two people: Yaseika and Rogue. Yaseika looked completely unharmed, while Rogue definitely looked worse for wear. I rushed over towards them, as I watched Rogue stumble under carrying his own weight and half-supporting Lucy. I managed to catch and support him until he could look at me clearly.

He asked, his words slightly slurred, "Natsu?"

I cursed and said, "Rogue! What the hell happened to you?"

He looked up at me, one of his eyes almost swollen shut. He growled, but his voice wasn't quite steady, "It was an ambush. We were all sitting ducks, just wrapped up all in one place, waiting for something to come to us."

I didn't get it, "Huh? What do you mean?"

A soft voice spoke, "It means Natsu…" the voice stopped speaking to cough several times before I looked down to see that it was in fact Lucy speaking. She said, "Those airships. They knew that injured people were in here. We had no means of protecting ourselves from a sudden aerial attack. Yaseika managed to say something early enough for it to not be as bad as it could have been but…" she looked around, wincing, seeing everything that I had seen before. She began sob slightly, "She managed to protect me and Rogue, but look at Fairy Tail. Our family. It's hurt. It hurts."

Yaseika didn't to seem to have anything to say. Instead, she was staring blankly at one section of destroyed wall. She finally spoke, "We must go. The time to fight again comes soon."

ROGUE POV

I agreed that it was time to fight back in the name of the destroyed guild hall, but I was overall hesitant. Even Natsu, who usually goes off fighting without thinking of consequences hesitated. The guild hall is gone. Fairy Heart is just underneath us. There are many more wounded and dead. Fairy Tail wouldn't be able to handle another onslaught of attacks. It would fall if this continued. Fairy Heart would be taken by Zeref and the dark forces would win.

Still, I figured that we had to try. Otherwise the world would fall into chaos and darkness.

I tried to let Lucy down, letting her weight off my shoulders when she flinched and whimpered in pain. I looked down at her feet to see that she was now barefoot, most likely a result of the explosion. Her left leg in particular was almost dyed in crimson. While none of the cuts were that deep, it would cause discomfort. Also, because we had let her down barefoot, her feet landed squarely in a pile of finely cut glass and splinters of wood.

Natsu immediately took her from us then, carrying her in his arms. He looked pissed at us, but otherwise completely ignored our presence. He began to ask her questions, was she in pain? Was she in discomfort? He talked to her earnestly, and in the middle of it all, she looked up at him and the look in her eyes took my breath away. She looked at him with hope, happiness, and…maybe love?

That would make sense after all, since Lucy was Natsu's mate. I've known ever since I first met them. After Natsu's reaction to Minerva's attacks, as well as what had happened following the Grand Magic Games, that much was obvious. Clearly they were not yet aware of this however, as Natsu would have probably killed me just now if he had known. But thinking of them made me look over at Yaseika, who was staring blankly at the ruins of what used to be the proud guild of Fairy Tail. Would she ever be able to look at me the same way Lucy looks at Natsu someday? I didn't know.

YASEIKA POV

I know what I have to do.

I know what I have to do.

I have a plan to kill the Black Dragon. It means that I can finally complete my task. Erza won't have to use that arrow on him. But she will need to use it to kill a wild dragon.

I didn't hear his voice over the wind, but I could hear other things now, things that I've avoided hearing for so many years. Mourning. Sobbing. Despairing over the loss of those they call their loved ones. It all took me back to the time period that Blaze had resurfaced in my mind through his mental attack.

I closed my eye and flinched as images and memories of towns burning, people screaming echoed through my mind. I remembered their looks of terror as they realized what I was doing to them. Ankhseram holding his hand above me, cursing me for my foolishness and greed. Warning me of the future to come. Then at the beginning of it all, I saw Striker standing alone, his expression morphing into that of happiness at my presence. He ran towards me and I felt joy for a brief moment. I reached out, to pet his soft fur, to bring him as a companion, but the moment that I touched him, a bolt of black exited my fingertips and entered Striker's body, causing him to collapse in a silent death…

I snapped my eye open again. I can't be thinking about moments of the past now. I have to focus.

Just then, I could hear the enemy rallying themselves up again and I was confused, but then I only listened for a moment before recognizing what was happening. I could hear more voices from all sides of here, all of them triumphantly calling out guild hall names: Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, Crime Sorcière, etc. These were the people that Natsu and the others had needed only a little while ago.

I could see Natsu and Rogue relax slightly as they realized that the new people outside were not our enemy, but our…allies. The people outside may be their friends, but they certainly aren't mine. They and everybody around me are merely pawns, people I can manipulate towards finishing my goals. I will not have anybody I can call a friend.

Although, I suppose the one person I considered a friend was that ghost, Mavis. She was currently standing tall near the entrance, well, now more an archway than an entrance, trying to get people's morale up. I felt something very violent inside of me react when she revealed that she once loved Zeref. How can she possibly love somebody like him? He has killed. He is mad.

But couldn't I say the same about myself?

While I have not been alive as long as he has, the number of lives I have taken is…disturbing. Even now, I can feel my mind in constant conflict with itself. I am slowly going mad. The carnage I have caused…it destroys my sense of sanity. What is true sanity at this point anyways? Aren't we all at least a little bit mad?

Perhaps that is why I will not allow myself to love or to be loved. I don't deserve it.

Just then, as the fight restarted outside, I heard a very faint voice from far away. He whispered promises of destruction and death. I felt my eye dilate in response and I dashed towards the open area of the battle. It was time. I would face him now.

LUCY POV

I watched Yaseika run off somewhere, and it was only a few moments later that I felt Natsu tense. He laid me down on a nearby post and I gasped as faint pain laced itself through my lower body. I looked up at him only to find my breath taken away at his intense expression. While there was a look of determination, the fear that was present in his whole demeanor reminded me of when…

"No way." I gasped. The last time Natsu looked this panicked, it was right before…

I heard the noise outside rise to a dull roar. I could hear somebody outside, Lyon I think, shout about some kind of new enemy, one no one had ever seen before.

With difficulty, the remaining three of us stumbled outside to see that the entire environment appeared as though a natural disaster had whipped through the area. Much of the wildlife that had surrounded the guild hall had been destroyed, many of the buildings demolished. The sky was a deep crimson blended with orange, as the sun lowered in the sky. Ashes were ever-present in the air and the world seemed to turn gray. The once beautiful city of Magnolia had once again reverted back to the state it was in following the Tartaros incident.

Still, what shocked us the most was that both the light guilds and the enemy were both retreating in the wake of an unfamiliar person. This person had cascading white hair, reminiscent of Gajeel's, his skin covered in blue foreign patterns. His torso was mostly uncovered, only a black cloak covering part of him. A necklace with blue teeth hung from his neck, giving his appearance a more native wile look. What was the most shocking though were his eyes. They were a piercing blue, paler than I had ever seen before.

He took a single step forward and Natsu immediately stiffened and snarled, pulling me behind him. The other dragon slayers likewise reacted. Sting crouched low to the ground, his eyes focused upon this stranger. Wendy looked terrified, but she clearly was trying to be strong. Gajeel pulled Levy behind him, his larger body thoroughly protected her own petite one. Cobra and Laxus looked furious and each went into a fighting stance. Rogue's eyes simply flickered over towards where Yaseika was standing, who hadn't reacted at all. Only recently do I realize the meaning behind his gaze. Before the guild hall blew up, he had further explained to me his feelings for Yaseika. He talked about how they were similar, with regards to their own personal dark sides, and how he wanted nothing more to help her. When he had finished speaking, I didn't have the heart to tell him what I knew. That Yaseika, the girl he loved, might go mad and rampage as a dragon. That she might die.

Natsu's eyes had dilated, rage filling them more than I had ever seen before. Flames seemed to be flickering behind his dark eyes and his body began to heat up.

He growled, so low that I could barely hear him, "That's him. That's Acnologia."

I let out a gasp. This…this was Acnologia? I thought…I thought…he was a dragon?

Natsu took a protective crouch in front of me and said, "He might not look like it, but that's him. I don't ever forget a smell."

I looked past him towards the person that was called Acnologia, only to see him staring at us lazily. He murmured, "Only eight." Huh? What does that mean? "Only eight dragon slayers remain until the complete and utter annihilation of dragons." He pointed towards Yaseika, who was standing nearby, her expression unreadable and he declared, "You shall be the first to die."

Her hair was now covering her entire face, so I had no idea what she could be thinking. She merely acknowledged his words by pulling off her bracelet, the band transforming into the slender bow, a black tipped arrow notched and ready to fire. She murmured, possibly to us or possibly to herself, "I will kill you. This is the one promise I will keep. I will kill you." She raised her head up and I gasped. I had never seen her so angry before, but what shocked me was her eye. It was shifting between colors. Purple. Yellow. Red. Those colors flickered in her eye before turned a dark orange, a seemingly perfect combination of those three colors. A roar ripping from her throat, she wildly lunged towards Acnologia, who had made no movements up until Yaseika attacked.

It felt as though a shock jolted its way through my entire body. This was it. This was what the Book of Requirement was talking about. This is what Carla saw in her vision. Then I remembered what happened towards the end of the vision, END rising from his book. Whatever happened in Carla's vision is beginning to come true. We have to stop it. We have to change the future that is to come, or we are all going to die!

So there's still "one" more major secret that remains to be told about Yaseika. If you are clever enough, you may already know what I'm referring to. I have given many hints, both in this chapter and throughout the story as to what the final part of Yaseika. I have also made reference to what may happen at the conclusion of this story. But if you don't get it, don't worry. I will give a full explanation Part 2 in a few chapters.

I also still plan to do the multiple chapter ending options. I'll make it clear when the different endings start. There are still a couple of chapters left before that happens.

So I hope you enjoyed this installment. How will Yaseika fare against Acnologia? Will Lucy and the others be able to avert fate? Will RoguexYaseika become canon in my story? Tune in next week to find out in the next chapter of "The Fire Dragon Heiress".