Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail
Invel stood with Gildarts and Dimaria in a rather destroyed-looking forest, just outside a small rural town in Fiore. The trees had been flattened, with claw marks digging into the ground around them. Gazing at the area, Invel could have immediately known without Gildarts that something monstrous had just been here. However, with Gildarts' story, he knew exactly what kind of monster had just come through here. This dragon was going to be stopped. Then, he could return to Alvarez with Dimaria and serve Emperor Spriggan just as he had promised to do.
Things had calmed slightly between their group since the train ride. Invel had realized it was best to let the subject of his relationship with Dimaria drop with Gildarts nearby, and the elder wizard seemed relieved to see the subject gone. Instead, they spoke of the attack instead. "Came at me right here…with all the trees, the dragon was at least slowed down for a second. That was what gave me the chance to at least try to run." He sighed, shaking his head. "My crush magic…couldn't get through his scales. I ended up using it on the nearby forest to try and send something flying towards the dragon to slow him down. I think all it really did was piss him off…but he seemed to not want to go near the town. It seemed odd…but I figure he's trying to keep a low profile, now that I know he actually was once a person."
Nodding, Invel crouched on the ground. Here, he could see what energy in the area matched that of the energy around Gildarts. Usually, tracking worked with scents, rather than magic. Invel was lucky to understand how to use such abilities to this degree to help. Before long, he found it. There was a feeling about Gildarts, an odd energy that almost made Invel think of an approaching hailstorm, filled with danger and something to be avoided, rather than moved towards. Still, Invel ignored such instincts. He had to be close. Without following the lead, he would return to the guild with nothing. All of their efforts to unite their allies would be wasted, and failure to stop this enemy would be his fault.
"This way. His energy has faded…but I can still locate it, if given time to focus." Gildarts nodded, while Dimaria smirked at him.
"Sounds like you really did learn some neat tricks in those mountains of yours." She placed a hand on her hip, an odd light in her eyes. "You think you could teach me sometime? I think it'd be pretty awesome to be able to track someone down by just the sensation of their magic power."
Smiling, Invel nodded. "Of course. Really, for a wizard of your skill, it would likely be simple to learn." He paused for a moment, stopping to focus again. Then, he nodded and turned slightly, continuing on their path. "It isn't all that different from sensing for magic approaching in the first place. However…you need to focus deeper on your surroundings. Auras often linger near people, but each spell leaves traces of energy in the air…always matching the aura of the one who cast the magic."
"I said sometime, not now." Dimaria rolled her eyes, but kept her smile. "Still…you seem to know a lot about it. Got a lot of strange monsters to track down in the mountains or something?"
"Hunting, mostly. It helps in finding animals that typically excel at camouflage in the white landscape."
She nodded, while Invel frowned in focus once more. Gildarts listened in, closing his eyes for a moment and seeming to try following Invel's advice. However, after a moment he shrugged and kept going, following the winter general's lead. "He's probably gone long away from here by now." Invel nodded, agreeing that it was likely the case. The trail in the forest seemed old, but it did not stop him from trying to follow it.
A slight snapping in the forest made Invel's head jerk to his left. He assumed it was an animal, but he knew it was best to be cautious. Following his gaze, Gildarts frowned and watched as someone actually began to move out from between the trees. Invel had actually been about to turn in his direction, but now the man stood in his way. He had tanned skin, and a long untamed mane of dark blue hair. "Looking for someone? Because you smell like someone I've been looking forward to seeing again…for a long time."
"Uh…sorta?" Gildarts shrugged, giving the man a smile. "We're wizards, out on a job. If you help us find our monster, we'll help you find this person of—"
"Get away from him!" Dimaria shouted, shoving Gildarts back in a rush. In an instant, she clicked her teeth and everything around them seemed to freeze completely. "Damn it…I should have thought to warn you…I didn't realize he could even—"
"Warn us about what?"
"Acnologia was a dragon slayer…who became a dragon. He can take on either form…and in his human form, his magic power is far weaker." With widening eyes, Invel gazed at the frozen man. That explained why the trail was so faint. This man was Acnologia. This man was the dragon he was tracking.
Taking a step back, Invel glanced at her. "I see. Then perhaps we should begin to—" Suddenly, the dragon slayer moved. None of them saw it coming, least of all Dimaria who had watched as the dragon slayer froze half-way stumbling away from them. His hand thrust forward, lashing out towards the time mage in an instant. With it, Invel saw firsthand how skilled this monster was at deception. With it, he saw talons pierce through Dimaria's stomach. With it, he saw the time mage fall.
Collapsing to her knees, Dimaria remained frozen, just as Invel did for a moment. Acnologia grinned viciously, twisting his arm as it remained imbedded inside of her, making the girl scream. Hearing that noise, Invel saw white. In fact, it was all he wanted to see. He didn't want to see her blood, the life draining away from her right in front of him. He didn't want to watch as the girl who promised to stay by his side, showing him new things, perished so quickly. He had hardly gotten the chance to speak with her about what would change. They hadn't even managed to enjoy any true time together, simply as companions rather than opposing elements of a war.
"Finally! I knew I'd see your magic again, witch." Acnologia ripped his hand out from her body, letting her sag to the ground, unmoving with blank eyes. The air around them grew colder, while Gildarts remained stunned, staring at Acnologia as if prepared to flee. "I thought of a way to stop you…really, it was simple. I merely had to learn time magic along with all the others I already knew. Then, bide my time…bide my time so I could take away your useless and pathetic life! This is the fate you deserve, for taking away what was mine! This is the fate of the world, when they all remember who it is they were meant to follow…but first, I will start it with that black wizard who helped to create my prison in the first place!"
No. Invel shuddered, his eyes dark and almost empty. Still, he saw white. Why could he not see anything else? He heard the shouts. He had heard her screams. Why block out this, when he needed to be prepared to fight. "Kid, what…what the hell kind of storm is this?" Invel heard a shout, coming from his other ally. He didn't even bother glancing towards the man.
"Leave." He walked forward, barely feeling the muscles in his legs flex. He was numb. Fitting, he supposed, for one who lived in a world of eternal winter. White blinded Dimaria from sight, but he knew she was there. Or more accurately, he knew she was not there. Acnologia made sure of that, and now, Invel was going to make him suffer for it.
He heard faint footsteps as Gildarts began to retreat, stopping after a few moments. "Invel, get the hell away from him!"
Looking up, Invel stared calmly into the cold calculating gaze of a power hungry dragon slayer. Wind picked up speed, whipping the creature's hair around in the growing winter storm. "And I told you to leave." He was still keeping that odd numbness inside. Now was not the time for emotion, after all. Or was it? Oddly, this felt like emotion. This feeling of having something torn from his insides, wrenched forcefully from his existence to the point where he felt hollow…it did not feel like his usual calm self. However, it was calm enough for battle. He would always be calm enough for such a thing.
Eventually, he heard footsteps again, while the dragon slayer did nothing to stop the other wizard from leaving. "You think I cannot stop this? Magic like this…is nothing more than a snack to me."
Invel remembered her words. I always hated the cold. Perhaps others did too. The chill he always felt inside when others feared him and shunned him, he focused on letting that out. Cold is like fire. Let him burn, then. Invel would let his magic burn as this beast attempted to swallow it whole, a magic that was not meant to exist within anyone other than himself. I think I'm starting to like the cold. He gritted his teeth together, letting out a harsh scream. The snow picked up, temperature dropping to new lows. The odd slurping noise he had begun to hear from the dragon slayer slowed, turning into an odd coughing noise.
"What…this…it…" Acnologia choked again, lifting his gaze with a glare. "You…goddamn wizard! You are not even fit to be considered a threat, yet you think to challenge me like this? I will destroy you…"
Invel saw, or more accurately sensed, the change beginning in Acnologia. Magic built around him, slowly spiraling around his body in a dark magic circle. It glowed, a dark blue color flashing on the ground. However, Invel glanced up and locked eyes with him. "No. You destroyed the world she sought to create…the world we were going to begin making our own. Now…I will take away your world. I will give you a glimpse of what you should have felt within her magic…in a far more painful form. You should have accepted frozen time, Dragon. True ice…being truly frozen is a far weaker state…where even the weakest of weapons can completely shatter everything you are."
Freezing people was normally easy, however, Acnologia was no normal human being. When the cold did not act fast enough, Invel called upon a different spell to at least delay the transformation. "Foolish…you cannot…" Acnologia broke off suddenly, as a collar of ice formed around his neck. With every motion, it seemed to move slightly, but he frowned at it for a moment. "What…this….my…" He touched his head, staggering back. The magic circle that had just begun to be activated faded away, without even transforming the monster.
"Freeze…just as she wished for you to do." Ice began to coat his legs, spreading throughout the monster's body. The white raged on, blowing through Invel's hair and whipping around the edges of his long coat. Once the ice had completely consumed the monster, Invel closed his eyes and looked away, slowly closing his hand into a fist. Once his fingers curled into his palm, a shattering noise echoed throughout the sky, the entire ice figure of Acnologia breaking under the control of his magic. "And shatter…just as you've forced me to do as well." Suddenly, everything around him felt blurry. Invel could not feel his legs, and whatever energy had driven him this far vanished. He fell to the ground, now coated in a deep layer of snow. Rolling onto his back, he breathed heavily, feeling the tears finally begin to fall. Beside him, Dimaria lay still, without even the slightest hint of fog indicating her breath remained. The one who froze the world by his side was gone, and now, he would be completely alone once again, with no one left to fight by his side for a foolish impossible dream.
So, I will admit, I have a tendency to downplay Acnologia's strength sometimes. It just seems too unreasonable in canon, so I try to make it a bit more...workable in my stories. Basically, I've gone with the idea that since even Gray gets cold around Invel's snow, the same would be true for Acnologia...and took that a bit further here. There is still a bit more left to come, since we do still have Zeref's curse to deal with! Feel free to review and tell me what you think!