Fairy Tail Minus One Chapter 7: Nirvana
(Sorry for the delay, I had a bad case of writer's block for months, however, thanks to a new Beta Reader Certwolf68, we return to Arc two of the Irene Belserion chronicles. Previously we were going over the childhood of Irene getting a good idea of how Irene grew up, her early friendships with flagship characters in the plot and her parents reign as Monarchs of the Dragon Race and human race and the tragic fall of her parents and her development to overcome it and train with her foster parents which is her Aunt and Uncle.
This Newest Arc will be the journey of Irene as she begins her training as the Queen of Dragons within her Teenage years. The chapters will follow a Monster of the Day formula regarding the setup to the fights regarding Irene's journey as a character with a slight slice of life feel if a slice of life anime took place in the Middle Ages. The Dragons within the Dragon protection Squad would each get at least a chapter to shine and some development for the Dragons. Anyways without further delay, the start of Irene's Teenage years.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Fairy Tail is owned and created by Hiro Mashima, Koshindia Magazine, Funimation and A-1 Pictures. Please support the official release!
Present Day
Death's door
How long have I've been in this dark corridor of purgatory walking down the valley of death?It felt like 15 years have passed me entirely, almost as if I was reliving my entire life.
The fact I died at the hands of my own heart just made me realized that I can't blame Erza for being weak, for I myself was weak at one point...Correction, I was the weak one all this time. I used to be a much stronger person, once I crossed over to the other side, to evil, it's when I felt my power fade from me... I could no longer properly use the Hoshigami No Satsuki for my heart committed too much sin, making any strength increase I gained pointless for the true power I wield was repressed by the darkness from within.
I see the dark corridor of darkness as I walk down the dark corridor with the light at the end so dim and lacking. The Sea of darkness was appropriately fitting for that's what my heart became overtime, incapable of love and incapable of feeling love. As I walk towards the darkness I saw a path forming around my feet, the path guided me to a painting, the painting had a younger version of myself as a Teenager with Irene, Weisslogia, Skiadrum, Grandeeney, Metalicana, Zeusei, and Venomisky with a young Anna Heartfilia in it, that painting represented me in my younger days of being the Queen of Dragons. I went through the painting as if entering a portal and before I knew it, I was watching myself as a teenager again.
2 weeks after I've become queen.
May 11, X385
Before I knew it, 4 years passed by like nothing and it was the 4th anniversary of my parent's deaths. It was also my birthday this very day. I just turned 15 years old over 2 weeks ago. It felt like yesterday that I was merely a fragile little girl, when I woke up and looked in the mirror, what I saw was a young teenage girl who was now a foot taller than I once was with puberty starting to set in with my body being tan from the climate.
I walk out of my comfortable queen sized bed and toward my garden where I see the Dragons playing with the children guests that visit the castle and go towards the graves of mom and dad to talk with them as if they're still alive, it was something I would do from this point on but didn't get a chance in the previous two weeks due to the fact I was busy adapting to the new responsibilities as queen.
"Mother and Father, I'm terribly sorry for not being around the last 2 weeks. Trying to adapt being the queen of Dragonv, kept my schedule busy to the point I couldn't visit you guys often. Anyways, my aunt and uncles training was a success. On the final day before becoming queen, I was able to jog through the dry cold sand of dawn. My body had become so accustomed to running around the desert that I was able to reach Stairway City around the time the sun already rose and people were beginning to start work. I then began my jog up the Stairway to Heaven Ziggurat, withstanding strain on my legs. As for the dragon riding His speed was so fast, it was enough to cross the distance between Exodus and Stairway city in less than 10 seconds. It was tough maintaining hold on the rocketing speed of Edk, however, I was able to hold onto him and made the deliveries as expected within a few minutes.
After recovering a drink of water from the fountains at the town square, I went to confront my giant opponent once again within the arena. This is where the difference came in for me, if I could beat a Giant, I could beat a Dragon. Giants on average are roughly comparable to dragons by sheer virtue of size and power. The only thing Giants lacked was the ability to use Magic and giant like humans had their limits in terms of power. Once I defeated the Giant Warrior, it was when I was brought back here and had my Homecoming.'' I explained to my parents recalling what happened within the last 4 years as if it was merely a distant memory.
"It seems this has become your new routine, my queen." Grandpa Belserion said to me.
"Yep, it helps me cope with the fact they're not around to see me grow. I was explaining my adventures with my Aunt and Uncle and my training and how much it paid off. I also learned so much history within Middle Earthland as well such as the Great wall said to been constructed at the advent of the Old Zen Kingdom to repel an invasion of man-eating giants in which the remnants wall stood intact as a pilgrimage site for Zeniths around the world or the Dual of the Faith's Temple, a Temple and a Church for the religion of the Church of Aserkhmani and the Temple of Zen which stands as a peace symbol between the two religions. We even visited the kingdom of Egitto within an hour and a half run, where we saw the Great Dragon Pyramids. My uncle explained that the Chosen One helped the Zenith People escape the Eigittoans oppressive rule by parting the Scarlet Sea and a series of events lead to Zen being born." I explained to Grandpa sharing all the information about my adventures to the spirits of my parents.
"You've learned quite a lot in your travels within that region, haven't you?" Belserion said to me.
"I really miss that country already. I miss Uncle Fred, Aunt Asuka and my cousin Rena, however as queen I have to put my country first over family and stay strong for my country, so I can follow in my mother's footsteps. This sword I carry is a reminder of everything my mother and father fought for." replied to Belserion as I refer back to that day. I carried my mother's sword while wearing my father's crown as symbols of my parents will, the will to not only avenge my parents but to protect everything dear to me.
"You will see them again one day, but for now you're duties are to carry out the Dragonv legacy and attend the training of your ancestors. Are you ready for your first day of training?" Belserion asked me.
"I'm more than ready Belserion." I replied ready to take the next step in my training to make sure my mother and father's sacrifices weren't in vain.
Berlesion has maintained the country as best as he could, spending the money on reconstruction and increasing the defense of the country to construct more walls and forts and spending more time training new recruits to prepare for the upcoming Dragon War which will happen in the next decade.
The country's trade routes have been alerted and damaged due to rouge Dark Dragon Tribe attacks and the fracturing alliances Dragonv had with its neighboring countries and kingdoms. The economy of Dragonv became stagnant, and people were struggling all over. Tensions between dragons and humans were also on the rise as mistrust formed. Reconstruction in some parts of Whitestone One was slowed down, because of sudden crime waves sweeping the country.
Without a true Dragon Queen or King, the country was weak and lacking in morale. 2 weeks passed since my homecoming and crowing as Queen of Dragonv, I became one of the youngest rulers within the history of the country and I felt as if I was put in charge of something, I've barely understood. I was too young to understand the economics of the country or planning of any sort. Belserion started to teach me the ropes of running the country.
I felt the weight of 40 million people resting on my shoulders, I felt the weight of over 5 million Dragons resting on my shoulders and the weight of hundreds of more millions on my shoulders, as the country of Dragonv is what protected humanity from the Dark Dragon Tribe. The death of my parents left a large void not only in my country but in my heart as well.
Because of the Dark Dragon Tribe, I never had a proper childhood and lost 4 years of psychological development and I had self-esteem issues as I felt as if I couldn't fill my parent's shoes. What's worse was the torture of my hormones, my breasts were starting to grow, starting at C Cups. I was becoming more emotional as puberty set in and I felt as if my bodies strength was being limited by my sex, and started to wear more conservative clothing to cover up my breasts so no pervert looked at them, I even put my hair in a long ponytail braid.
Belserion brought out the first training out from the getgo, a giant boulder the size of a house for me to lift. For him, it was like picking up a basketball in comparison to his massive hands.
"Your first step is to test if you can lift this massive boulder. It weighs 500 tons!Around the same weight as an average Dragon, considering you're now the queen of Dragons, you must be able to physically keep up with a Dragon," Belserion said to me.
"I got this, I was able to fight a Giant, this should be a cakewalk."I replied as I size up the boulder and attempt to lift it, however, the difference between the weight of a Giant Human and a Dragon was far greater than I imagined...I was unable to even budge the boulder even an inch off the ground. Despite all the strength I wield, nothing would bulge that boulder.
Again and again, I tried to move the rock, had not for the limits of the human stamina which would eventually not apply to me, that rock would've been sky high by now, and I wouldn't suffer such humiliation.
"It seems you're still not ready as of yet." Belserion said to me as I lie on the ground exhausted from trying to lift the boulder.
The next training was even harsher as it involved my reflexes as well. I was put up against Zeusei who would be testing my speed and reflexes, as the Lightning Dragon King. He can throw attacks moving at over 80km/sec, the speed of Lightning
"In order to achieve the rite of passage of Dragon Queen, you must be able to dodge even the fastest elements such as Lightning. A Dragon's average speed is just slightly below the speed of Lightning. If you can dodge Lightning, you can dodge any attack from a Dragon." Zeusei explained to me as he puts up his hand charging up a lightning bolt with his fingers.
"Fine come at me with your attack then!" I replied back to Zeusei prepared to dodge his lightning blast however before my body could even react, I was zapped by Lightning before I could properly move my body to react.
"OWWW!" I whined feeling like I got scorched by the sun despite having at best a mild sunburn injury.
"Your problem is that you use up too many movements, you would never achieve actual speed burdening yourself with unnecessary movements and clouding your mind with doubt. In other to achieve full speed, to exceed the speed of lightning, you must both be aware of your surroundings while clearing all mind of doubt." Zeusei explained to me as I try to brush off the near paralysis I suffered from that blast.
"Wait that makes no sense." I said to him confused.
"Eventually it would, at your current level, you're at best only the speed of a civilian class dragon-like Edk, you're barely at the speed to fight even C class Dragons much less someone of my level however when you can clear your mind of doubt while seeing head on..."Zeusei explained to me as he talks on before I felt a draft behind my back.
Before I knew it, Zeusei appeared behind me moving so fast that my eyes still saw him in front of me as his afterimage faded. It was so surreal, seeing a massive creature the size of a Whale move as if he was a flash of light.
"You can achieve true speed." Zeusei replied.
I was blown away by his speed, it was clear at this point that Zeusei was on a far higher caliber of speed than I could even comprehend.
The rest of the training was a blur to me but each of the results was very clear on how far I have gotten and how much further I need to go. Venomisky's training with stamina resistance went poorly.
"Now then try to withstand this poison." Venomisky said to me as he handed a small drop of poison from his massive claw.
"Why this test? Wouldn't you kill me?" I asked him terrified at the poison dripping from his claw.
"Don't worry, this won't be enough to kill you, even if it was, I can easily stop the is to test your stamina. I warn you unlike the rest, I won't be as gentle with you." Venomisky explained to me with his usual cold serious demeanor.
"Very well then, if mom can do it, I can do it too." I replied as I prepared to take the poison drop.
In mere seconds I was on the ground feeling the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. The poison Venomisky produced was more toxic than even the most poisonous snake or scorpion, even someone of my stamina was paralyzed and unable to move.
"AHHH!IT HURTS!" I whined in pain as the poison was starting to eat at me but before I took any damage Vemonsiky merely opened his mouth and absorbed the poison out sucking the air where the poison was on my body.
"I wasn't expecting you to be so weak-willed to succumb to poison so easily."Vemonisky said to me with his cold callous tone.
"Weak Willed? The Cariban Sand Scorpions weren't that poisonous and I was almost killed by a sting that left me bedridden for a full week. How was I supposed to expect something worse than that?" I said to him reeling from the pain of his poison.
" To overcome great pain, you must fight against it with your willpower alone. What I gave you was merely a small drop of an average Poison Dragon Slayer. You're right, had not for your training in Zen, you would've died instantly along with any human that wasn't a Giant Warrior." Vemonisky explained to me as he picked me up showing some compassion, a rare sight considering his line of work.
"How am I supposed to overcome this torture?" I asked him struggling to breathe from near death exposure.
"To endure means finding the will to live, the will to fight and the will to protect your comrades. Stamina and durability aren't determined by mass, size or density of skin but with the strength of the soul. With that strength, you can survive anything." Vemonisky explained to me referring to the fact he was hardly the largest Dragon in the unit.
"Maybe I'll hold off training with this for a while, in all truthfulness, your training is more like torture." I replied too terrified to resume his training which was more torture than sparring.
Next came the test of my blade. Metalicana took me to test the cutting power of my blade using my skills.
"I have to cut swords?" I asked Metalicana.
"This to test your current level of skill with the blade. I want you to hit hat normal Iron blade with your strongest sword slash and then hit an Iron blade forged from my Iron Dragon Magic." Metalicana explained to me referring to the idea that I have to cut through iron to be a true swordsman.
"Very well then, I'll do it." I replied as I positioned myself and put my feet apart and try to cut the blade with the sword given to me, however, the blade barely budged at all with my natural strength.
"It seems you yet process the strength and skill to cut steel on its own with your natural swordsmanship. Try using your enchantment magic." Metalicana said to me giving me advice.
"Very well then. Arms" I chanted as I hit the sword with everything I got however despite my strength combined with magical power, it only made a small crack and dent in the other iron sword. "I was able to crack it."
"Now try my blade forged from iron Dragon Magic." he said to me.
"Okay, you can do this " I chanted as I hit the sword with everything I got however rather than dent the iron sword with my iron sword powered by Enchantment magic, the Iron sword I wielded snapped in half like a twig." No, not even a dent."
"See the difference, Iron Dragon Metal is roughly 10 times the density of normal iron. Attempting to cut Iron Dragon metal is akin to cutting through Diamond. Your mother at her prime could cut through even the strongest Iron Dragon Metal and defeated a legendary Iron Dragon Dark Dragon without using the Hoshigami No Satsuki." Metalicana explained to me.
"You're kidding, right?Was mother really that strong?" I asked him.
"Your mother was one of the kind, only you one day could ever rival her legendary strength." Metalicana answered.
"So how do I cut through Iron?" I asked Metalicana curious on how to do it.
"How would I know exactly, I'm not a swordsman by any stretch. however! Your mother had a saying, stating that in order to cut anything, you must cut nothing." Metalicana explained to me as he explains something he barely understands.
"That makes no sense, how can you cut iron if you can't cut anything?" I asked him curious to make sense of the riddle.
"Like I said, I personally wouldn't know, however considering you're the daughter of the greatest swordsman to ever exist, you would eventually come to recognize those words eventually."Metalicana replied he wasn't the most helpful of teachers I've had.
"I see, very well I'll find the answer to that." I responded as I resume attempting to cut Iron.
The next training was fighting within darkness or intense blinding light produced by Weisslogia and Skiadrum which was a test of senses, I failed that as well. I was unable to see their attacks coming as they attacked me through the blinding light and terrifying darkness.
"No fair! You keep blinding me, how am I supposed to fight without relying on my eyes to see?" I asked them.
"In order to truly reach the power to become the Queen of Dragons, you must not rely so heavily on the five senses." Weisslogia said to me. "There would be times in which you would be unable to see the enemy coming and might be ambushed. One misstep and it could be your life, especially when you're a human up against a dragon."
"Hence you must see without your eyes. Only then can you truly utilize the true extent of the blade passed down by your mother." Skiadrum replied.
"How do I see without using my eyes?" I asked them.
"To battle dragons, you must be aware that a Dragon uses his keen senses in battle and trains themselves to fight without even using the five senses, if you can do that, you would become queen of dragons." Weisslogia answered explaining the scale of my training.
"Well then, I'll just have to keep it up then right?" I replied to them as I began my fight against the Dragon Dou again.
The first day ended with me severely exhausted on the floor, worn out being pushed to my limits with not a single ounce of progress made in my training. In fact, it helped realize just far inferior I was to a Dragon. 4 years of training myself to my human limits, pass the powers of the vast majority of humans and yet in a single day, I didn't come close to matching even a Dragon merely toying with me...If I lacked the power to beat Dragons, I could never call myself Dragon Queen. The fact my mother had to go through all this would explain wonders why there wasn't a single human who can match her in combat.
2 weeks later
After a rough day of training, Grandeeney was attending to my injuries, bruises, and exhaustion within the infirmary in the castle where she put her healing magic to good use.
"How're things with you princess...I mean Queen." Grandeeney asked me.
"Terrible! My training is not going the way I wanted. I feel that I can't possibly live up to my mother, not like this." I answered Grandeeney in full doubt of my powers as a queen.
"Don't be so impatient Irene, it took your mother 12 years to become the women she was. You still have at least 10 years before the time calls to fight the Dark Dragon Tribe. No one said your training would be easy, after all, you're training against Dragons which are at a much higher level than an average human." Grandeeney explained to me.
"I don't get it, my blade can cut dragons, yet it's useless unless I have the speed and power to wield it properly. It's not just that, it's also the fact that I don't understand any of this, I feel so out of place on the throne. My mother and father keep coming back to me every time I sit on this throne. I feel like I'm not old enough to even comprehend this new power given to me. What's worse is the dreaded hormones in my body, it feels like it's inhabiting my power greatly." I explained to Grandeeney the angst I was experiencing. it wasn't made much better puberty was already in full swing and my body was undergoing its changes combined with the harsh changes.
"It seems that you're yet to handle the physical training from Dragons however you've learned quite a lot of spells since you left here. Perhaps you need a transition to training your power. I can be of such use for you if it helps. Tomorrow, come to my Oblast, I can help you adjust to the training better by improving your Enchantment magic. Once we get your Enchantment Magic skills up, you can get closer to achieving training, something that your mother could never do."Grandeeney suggested given I was much more into enhancement magic and magical spells than raw strength.
"That's a brilliant idea, why didn't I think of it?If I used enchantment magic and work on it, I can ease it in into the training." I replied happily at the thought I can get some progress.
The Next Day
I went to Grandeeney on the back of Berlesion to the sub-kingdom Oblast of Wonderland. Above the frozen Siberian Wasteland was a vast kingdom of cloud islands that made up a total area the size of Fiore that formed a beautiful kingdom of white buildings and floating islands. It looked like something out of children's adventure storybook from the Gaerican Era. Humans rode around on flying animals as it was their only method of transportation downwards, and some humans used Dragons to fly them across the world.
I walked around a bit marveling the beauty of the sky kingdom under I reached the white palace of the Sky Monarchs when I came across Grandeeney with a human with her. She looked at least 2 years younger than me and was very mousy and petite like a Pre Teen girl but in spite that, she was the same age as me. She had short blue hair in a bob cut and wore a traditional tonga that the Sky humans wore within the kingdom.
"Ahh, you've come here to train Irene." Grandeeney said to me.
"Yes, I am Master Grandeeney. Who's the little girl with you ?"I answered.
"No need to be so formal, it's the one who serves you now." Grandeeney replied.
"Hey I'm not a little girl you know, I'm 15 years old." the girl replied offended by my comment.
"Whoa sorry about that, I just thought that you.." I said to her feeling bad I offended her.
"Not everyone can be a cow like you...Don't remind me of the fact I can't really grow any breast despite how much milk I drink." the young blue hair girl replied feeling on her flat chest.
"My apologies, anyways what is your name?"I asked her.
"I'm Lena Marvell.." the young girl answered.
"Marvell, you're from the Marvell family of the Cait Shelter Tribe, I heard rumors your family was working on a super weapon for the upcoming Dragon War. What brings you here? " I asked her with her annoyed at my interruption.
"You know for a princess, you really need to work on your manners and not interrupt me when I'm talking okay." Lena replied seemingly annoyed at my lack of tact.
"My apologies, it's just that I tend to interrupt people. I deeply apologize." I replied bowing my head in shame.
"Anyways wish to sparr for a bit? I like to see the legendary Dragon Queen in battle." Lena asked me seeming confident in battling me.
"Sure thing! You seem kinda strong." I replied as I drew my sword towards Lena.
"I see, let's see how tough you really are." Lena replied with a look of confidence in terms of battle.
My fight with Lena began here when I charged at her with my sword covering the distance at a rapid speed but before I can knock her down she summoned a shield of sand against me to block my attack.
"Sand?" I asked shocked to see sand around me.
"Like it, it's my Sand Magic!" Lena answered back as she manages to successfully block against my strike.
"You can block my sword strikes with your sand? Not bad but not good enough. Arms! " I responded as I came at her with an enhanced strike but then she countered with her own spell.
"Armor!" Lena countered as she blocked against my powerful slash as the sand completely absorbed all the slashing energy I threw at it.
"You know enchantment magic?" I asked her.
"Grandeeney sama taught me that recently, you're not the only prodigy here! Sand Rebellion!" Lena chanted as she sent a wave of sand knocking me back before I could even evade. She truly wasn't an ordinary opponent by any stretch.
"Such amazing magical skills, as expected from someone in Cait Shelter." I said commenting on her skills.
"Uh...It's not all that great! My mother could have done much better." Lena replied blushing.
"Feeling is mutual!" I replied as I readied myself for her, she's not an opponent I can take lightly in a fight.
Me and Lena kept up the battle going with my blade not coming close to contact with her. Every time I tried to get close she put up her sand defenses and even searching for openings I couldn't find my way in them. Worse her sand attacks were unnaturally fast, it took all my effort to avoid being ensnared in her attacks.
"Come on, is that all you got princess?" Lena said to me mocking me.
"You're tough, I'll admit that however, it's time I fought seriously."I replied back to her as prepared to go all out on her.
In an instant, I rocketed off at full speed dashing towards Lena moving at very high speeds, faster than Lena could follow. I came inches of hitting her with my blade multiple times however she barely blocked the blades. Lena launched her Sand Tendrils at me like arrows however I evaded the attacks with a side dash inches before they touched me and appeared behind Lena.
"She's fast!" Lena said shocked at my blinding speed.
"I got you now Enchantment Arms+ Vernier." I chanted as I went to strike her from behind with the blunt edge of my blade managing to seemingly connect with her and knocked her several meters with a well-placed strike to her upper back" Is that all you got?"I arrogantly taunted only to see her get back up.
"Not bad but try this! Sand Wave!" Lena chanted as she launches another massive wave of sand towards me. I manage to evade the attack and go for another strike to end the sparring match however Lena used her defense against me" Sand Wall+ Armor" she said as she stopped my attack inches from hitting her to knock her out cold" Got you now, you can't break my defenses regardless of how strong you are." Lena said mocking me thinking she had me beat however little she knew, I already had this battle won.
"Not bad I have you where I want you. Enchantment Arms+ Armor+ Vernier." I countered as I used the immense speed and momentum and my denser body combined with the raw power to shatter Lena's defenses and knock her down to the floor with the hilt of my blade.
"You're so strong, you're the second person who's ever defeated me in combat." Lena said to me clearly winded from the hilt connecting to the solar plexus earlier.
"I can say the same, I didn't think any human my age could match me after all the training I've done. Also, the second person to beat you? Who was the first?" I asked her questioning her.
"Anna Heartfilia!" Lena replied as she went from being aggressive in a fight to be very passive and little sisterly. She was an odd one, she had a split personality for sure. In combat, she was fairly confident and sure of herself yet outside of combat, she was a shy, innocent, cuddly little sister type.
"Anna? Wait you fought her before? Any reason you fought her?" I asked Lena.
"I rather not talk about it, it brings me too much trauma I'm trying to recover from." Lena answered looking sad.
"What happened, something gone wrong?" I asked her.
"I'm the sole survivor of the Nirviti Kingdom massacre. I'm all that's left of the tribe, all that's left of my race." Lena replied looking sad at what occurred.
"All that's left? That's impossible! Mother always talked about the legendary Cait Shelter Tribe and the Nrivit Native Firoans who for what I heard were fierce warriors said to be unconquered even by the Crocus Empire " I explained to her surprised that a mighty warrior race that remained isolated for centuries were effortlessly wiped out, not even dragons could wipe them out but I was very curious to learn how Anna and the Heartfilia's played a role in this.
"Wait, what happened? Why would Anna and Victor go along exterminating your people?" I asked her horrified at the thought my best friend might've done something so horrible.
"You have it and Victor saved the last remaining people, in fact, we were the ones destroying ourselves alongside an insurrectionist group in the Zentopia Church." Lena answered giving me a sigh of relief that the Heartfilia's didn't have a twisted change of heart, however, I was still horrified to learn this.
"What happened? What lead to all this?"I asked her only for Grandeendy to intervene.
"I can tell you, it's because of their Super Weapon Nirvana. Had not for my intervention, the Super Weapon would have destroyed all of Ishgal. Sadly the only one I can save is her, the rest were all lost to Nirvana." Grandeeney explained to me with a somber tone.
"I don't understand, one weapon could do that to an entire race of warriors? Mother always told me that the Nrvit were such fierce warriors that they would commit Kamikaze to take out a Dragon's insides from within. Hell part of what helped us in the last Dragon War was the Cait Shelter Suicide Division, a brave race of daredevil mages with immense power who would risk getting eaten by Dragons only to attack the soft internal organs inside and destroy them from within. How did one weapon wipe out a race that mighty?" I said to Grandeeney shocked to learn such a mighty warrior race was defeated so easily by one weapon.
"It's simple, the race of Nirvit turned on each other and wiped itself from existence thanks to Nirvana. I've seen the atrocities first hand. I was the former Princess of the of the Nirvits with Worth Woodsea being north of even Rosemary and towards the Boundary Forest. Being the furthest northeastern mountains outside the Mount Zonia region and towards the border of Bosco and Seven, we were an unconquered tribe known for powerful mages. We rarely got involved in warfare and preferred to be neutral and only fought in self-defense against any invading tribes but the Dragon War was a grand exception to that rule for our way of life was threatened by the Dark Dragon Tribe.
My father died before I was even born. He was a Legendary hero king of the Nirvit Wendell Marvell of the Marvell Clan of the Nirvits. He was a legendary Earth Mage who could part mountains and create canyons with his mastery of Earth Magic. He died in the final battle of the Dragon War killing an A-Class Dragon using a sacrificial spell within the Dragon known as Square of Self-Destruction." Lena explained to me about the history of her now extinct race.
"Square of Self-Destruction?" I asked her shocked to learn that's a spell that I never heard about.
"A spell that is an ancient secret within the Nirvit Race that as used by the Cait Shelter Elders as an absolute last resort. My Father was the last one to use the spell to kill a Dark Tribe Dragon terrorizing our village. It turns all the magical power in the body into a large bomb. It's said to be capable of killing a dragon if said person enters the belly of the dragon at the cost of one's life." Lena explained to me talking about the dark history of her spell.
"That's insane!" I said shocked at the fact such a sacrifice had to happen.
"After he died my Grandfather Roubal took over in the place of my father and was king again to fill in the void of my father's death until I became of age. Anyways I was born several months later raised by my mother Lala on November 23, X369." Lena explained to me.
"So you're technically older than me by six months?" I asked Lena.
"Don't remind me! Anyways stop interrupting my flashbacks." Lena replied not happy I brought up the fact I was slightly younger yet much more developed.
"As I was saying, I grew up under my mother's tutelage. At the time of Age 6, i was taught magic and had to train hard to become a mage to live up to my father's legacy as the great protector of the Nirvit Race however the absence of a powerful ruler didn't escape the notice of the Fioran Royal government or the Zentopian Church who sought the Mineral rich lands of our people." Lena explained to me about what started the downfall of Cait Shelter.
"Mineral Rich Lands? Sorry for interrupting so much! It's a tick I can't control." I said apologizing for my constant interruptions.
"It's alright, I'm glad you ask. We have a very rare mineral which develops Lachrima we call the Holy Crystals, said to contain vast reserves of Ehterano within them. You're mothers alliance with Fiore and the relations between Dragonv's Royal Family and Fiore's Royal Family kept the Nirvit Race safe, that is until the tragedy in Dragonv." Len said to me bringing up things I rather wish I've forgotten.
"I still feel the burdens of that tragedy to this day." I replied with a somber tone as if listening to Lena's tragic story wasn't bad enough, I had to be reminded of my parent's death.
"Your mother's mere presence influenced politics on a global scale, no human would ever hope to challenge that power in any shape or form. When she died, one of the 5 princes of Fiore took over in a violent coup and with the backing of Zentopia established the Holy Kingdom of Fiore." Lena explained to me referring to what was occurring.
"Violent Coup? What you mean violent?" I asked her.
"Prince Martin Geertin Fiore took the throne impatient of his father not passing away. Having mastered Nature Magic, he was able to kill all 5 of his brothers and the king of Fiore and with a powerful Coup." Grandeeney interjected explaining more of what happened.
"No, those people were close with Father! Just what I need more people in my family dying." I replied being closer to breaking down in tears.
"Princess Sabre who is now the Queen was the only survivor of Prince Martin's massacre thanks to Victor Heartfilia saving her. He had the backing of the Zentopian Establishment tired of Victor's modernization of the Church but he never cared for the Zentopian establishment personally, he was a power-hungry prince who simply wanted what he believed to be his birthright to rule."
"So there was a civil war in Fiore when I was gone?Why wasn't I told this?" I asked ranting about the fact I was kept in the dark all this time.
"You had enough problems with losing your parents. The last thing we need is you getting sucked into these affairs my dear queen. You wouldn't been enough to stop the evil prince Martin in your current state either way." Grandeendy stated.
"How bad was Prince Martin?" I asked Lena.
"Prince Martin was a man with a black heart and a cold, calculating was a manipulative chess master who kept his cool and planned all his actions. His power was above most humans with the exception of Victor Heartfilia, the one man he could never hope to match hence he used the resentment and division in the Clergy to handle Victor Heartfilia. He was also pure evil. Victor Heartfilia along with the surviving Royal Guard and the young Princess Sabre then took refuge within Nirvit having been driven out of Fiore, they also came to warn about Martin's plans against the Nirvit Tribe." Lena explained to me as I was in for another emotional rollercoaster.
3 years ago
Lena's POV
I was merely 12 years old in my village doing my Earth Magic Training using a magic my mother trained me to use. That's when I say Anna Heartfilia and Victor Heartfilia heading the village with his surviving Clerical remnants bringing along several children, among them was Princess Sabre. Grandpa Roubaul was shocked to more familiar with, Sand Magic, the magic taught by my mother Lala. I inherited my blue hair from her while my father had brown hair. It was when I saw Jade Leona carrying her heavily injured husband. Grandpa was shocked to see Victor in a bad shape.
"Victor?What in the world happened to you?" Grandpa Roubaul asked shocked to see someone as powerful as Victor in such a shape.
"It's Prince Martin, he's taken over the kingdom and found out about our project Nirvana or at least caught wind of it." Victor answered notably out of breath.
"This isn't good. I knew something wasn't right with that boy. That doesn't explain how you're so heavily injured."Grandpa Roubaul stated.
"The 12 Disciplines of Zentopia did this to me, as powerful as I am, fighting Martin along with Legion Corp Commander Brad Mason at the same time didn't work out as planned. Besides, I had to protect the princes at all cost. I barely made it out alive." Victor explained to my Grandpa managing to shrug off his pretty serious wounds.
"12 Disciplines?You went against 12 Anti Mages at once?" Grandpa Roubaul asked him with his eyes widening.
"Tried to, wasn't easy at all, thanks to my wife and some of the surviving members of my own until, we made it out alive. Now I'm an exiled Pope without a country or Church." Victor replied talking with grandpa.
"We need to contact the kingdom of Zen and Dragonv." Grandpa Roubaul stated hoping someone would answer us.
"I'm afraid it would do us no good, all trade routes are blocked off and the Prince is too cunning to allow us to get back up. We have to fight back now or rather we need to lay low and finish the weapon and use it when the time is right. It's the only way we have any shot at taking back Fiore." Victor said to Roubal.
"Very well then, we have to hide further in the mountains to make it possible."Grandpa Roubaul replied.
Present Day
"So Victor and the Heartfilia family were exiled?" I asked Lena.
"Since your mother's death 4 years ago, the world was scrambling to develop a way to combat dragons. Grandpa came up with an invention that was beyond mad but made sense, a mobile walking mountain, one capable of crushing Dragons with overwhelming force." Lena explained to me about the craziest thing I've ever heard.
"Walking Mountains? That's insanity!" I shouted thinking about the absurdity of a walking mountain.
"Roubaul and Victor Heartfilia made a deal to construct the most powerful weapon known to man, Nirvana. The thing would serve two purposes, the purpose of combating the might of Dragons to protect people from the Dark Dragon Tribe and changing people's hearts to light using Holy Magic Lacrimas to power the device." Lena explained to me about the ingenious plan to potentially end the Dragon War before it began.
"How big was this Nirvana?" I asked her curious to know more.
"We built this over the Ancient city of Nivene." Lena replied.
"You mean that massive ancient city?THAT'S OVER 5 SQUARE MILES WIDE! How did you achieve that?" I asked shocked to learn that was even possible.
"Grandpa was one of the most powerful mages of his time, in fact, he was the one who showed Victor Heartfilia the ropes, hence the close proximity and trust between their Nirvit Tribe and the Heartfilia Clan. By Turning people's hearts, it was a great potential deterrent to potential future conflicts, it also was built to be a 6 legged mobile walker in which it carried the 5 square miles ancient city meant to fight off Dragons in which the core of the city fired an Anti Magic Laser, enough to easily destroy a mountain range fully charged. In other words, not a dragon or human alive could stand up to Nirvana. It took us a year to finish that project." Lena explained more about the Nirvana project.
"Whoa, to think something like that could be achieved within a year. Your grandfather is quite the genius." I explained to Lena.
"Indeed he was, in fact, the construction of Nirvana proved to be a success. Nirvana was deployed into the Capital of Crocus in which we cast the Holy Magic. The results were a success, we crushed the Civil War raging for a year within a single day. Victor Heartfilia killed the despotic Prince Martin and the surviving Clergy fought and defeated the resisting forces. The deployment of the superweapon was a success or so we thought. .Martin wanted that weapon for himself and his purposes, for that reason Fiore had a massive civil war between the higher Clergy who opposed Victor Heartfilia and Victor Heartfilia's more liberal church teachings, Victor Heartfilia protected the Nivits from the growing imperialistic nature of the Zentopian Old guard who wished to conquer our people and force us into accepting Zentopian teachings. Thankfully between our Warrior race's combat skills, Nirvana and Victor's skills we stopped the insurrection, however, the Civil War was not the end of our struggle." Lena explained to me about how the coup ended.
"End of your struggle?" I asked her.
"Unfortunately, the weapon is gone for good and for good reason. For every dark heart that was turn good, a light heart was turned bad. We had returned Nirvana to our native lands, however, it was our biggest mistake. The Residual energy overtime was slowly causing us to change into violent beings and conflicts were starting to break out as a result." Lena said to me explaining how the beginning of the end of her race occurred.
"Wait so the device was turning the people violent and against each other?" I asked her.
"Nirvana only affected hearts within a certain radius of the ancient city, at least 10km away. The Nirvirt Race engaged in a bloody conflict against each other as morality flipped on its head. However overtime with the weapon semi-active, it was eventually spreading its influence further and further until everyone in Fiore was murdering another." Lena explained to me about the bloodshed caused by the influence of Nirvana.
"It was that out of hand?" I asked her horrified at the thought such a weapon had so much power.
"It was so bad, even Dragonv was experiencing the influence of Nirvana. Nirvana was gaining a mind of its own. With the rare crystal energy, it was growing stronger and more sentient as a being due to the Holy Crystals absorbing Ehterano from starlight, it became powerful enough to seek to destroy darkness everywhere. Victor Heartfilia, a man of incorruptible morality with his most elite monks and Cardinals were forced to storm into Nirvana and kill everyone corrupted by the accursed Magic who was leading the charge." Lena said to me as tears formed in her eyes thinking about the bloodshed.
"Wasn't there another way?" I asked her horrified at what I heard.
"By the time Nirvana launched its full-scale assault on Fiore, the mighty Nirvit race was at near extinction already after a year of killings. We went from several tens of thousands to merely 100 in a single year and there was no known way to reverse the effects at the time." Lena explained to me regarding the genocide of the Nirvirt.
"Couldn't you destroy it?" I asked her shouting.
"Nirvana was virtually indestructible, having the density of the scales of Dragons, it took everything Victor Heartfilia got to damage it and when he did, it regenerated from the damage." Lena explained to me looking down thinking about the power of the weapon.
"Even my own strength wasn't enough to destroy the monster itself."Grandeeney replied.
"To destroy it, him and his most powerful warriors were forced to destroy the Six Lacrima and defeat my father Roubaul. I was under the influence as well but his daughter Anna Heartfilia defeated me in combat and broke the control. With Nirvana destroyed, the city of Nivrene and all the people inhabiting the city were dead as well as the entire Nirvirt Race, what prevented the destruction of Fiore was the quick Inverteriton of Grandeeney who held off the monstrous city long enough for Victor to destroy its core." Lena explained to me as she's very close to breaking down in tears but I hugged her and maintained my hug on her as tears were coming down our eyes.
"So you and your grandpa remained?That's very sad. I thought I was one with the bad luck but to lose an entire tribe of people?"I said to her as me and Lena were crying.
"Victor Heartfilia expressed guilt and sadness for the loss of the Nirvit Race that he was close the superweapon that could've helped fight the Dragons was no longer in commission, In fact, He sealed the Magic of Nirvana away, completely erasing the existence of the city ever existing so no one could find the city. He also made sure it was impossible to reactivate the spell hoping the seal would last hundreds of years and by then all memory of this weapon would be lost in time. As for how I ended up here, post Civil War, Fiore began reconstruction and with no city or kingdom and being the last of the Nirvirt Race, I was taken by Grandeeney and I was given refuge within this sky kingdom." Lena explained to me.
"What about your grandpa?" I asked her.
"When I returned, I learned that he passed away at age 70. He died of a broken heart, having lost his wife and all his children. The destruction of the Nirvit Race was his breaking point. Victor Heartfilia covered for his mistake, making Roubaul a National Hero who saved the country." Lena explained to me as we hugged each other.
"Dying to protect a whole country?I know how it's like to lose my parents to that. Your grandpa was a brave man. We're both more alike than we thought"I said to her hugging her.
"I just wish there was a way to see my friends and family again, I feel so alone, so sad."Lena said to me as she broke down crying. Knowing her pain, I hugged her close to me, she was like the sister I never had in my who understood the hardships and the pain of loss that I did, if not much better.
"You're not alone Lena, you have me and you have Dragonv as your new family. I know you're feeling, it's always sad to part with the people you love...however your companions are here to ease your sadness." I said to her as she cried on my shoulder and tears come down my eyes.
"You two are like long lost sisters you never had." Grandeeney said to us as she was moved by our bond, however, We were then interrupted by news from a Sky Dragon Soldier to make a special report to Grandeeney about what would prove to be a very tough challenge in my life, a challenge that would define me for the rest of my life.
" Lady Grandeeney. We got news about the whereabouts of that defecting Traitor Zincorsis is at." the Sky Dragon said to Grandeeney.
"I see, where are his whereabouts ?" I asked the Dragon.
"Somewhere within the country of Fiore." the Sky Dragon answered.
"That disgusting lowlife, very well then, thanks for the intelligence report, you can go now." Grandeeney said to her dragon grunt as he flies off.
Grandeeney then turned to me and Lena to talk with us directly.
"Irene, this would be the first test of your life, you must defeat the defector Dragon Zincorsis and bring him to me alive or dead." Grandeeney explained to me.
"Defeat a dragon? But how! I'm not strong enough. I don't even think I'm fit to rule the kingdom yet. Everything is so difficult, especially with this puberty thing." I replied lacking confidence in beating a dragon.
"Every person your age goes through something like this, it's even harder for women given most parts of the world don't even acknowledge the fact a woman can be as powerful as a man could, however, you need to have confidence in yourself and your abilities. I believe you can do this." Grandeeney explained to me.
"I was hoping to train with you, how can I capture a Dragon at my rate?" I asked Grandeeney.
"While it's true you might not be entirely ready, it's best you try. At your current level, you're merely a Civilian Class Dragon in terms of strength, with the Hoshigami No Satsuki you can kill at least a C Class Dragon in battle if you put your confidence into it. Zincorsis is merely a low tier C Class Dragon, I'm confident that you can beat him. consider this your first training session."Grandeeney explained to me confident I could actually do this.
"Capture a Dragon? But I can barely lift a massive stone! a Dragon seems way out of my league in terms of capturing." I asked Grandeeney not confident I could fight a dragon at my current state.
"You won't do it alone, Lena would assist you." Grandeeney replied much to my shock.
"No offense but I doubt magic could help given our opponent is a Dragon." I asked her.
" But I can help slow him down. As someone who has trained by my father in the use of Sand Magic, I process the ultimate defense within the Nirvirt Race despite my young age with my sand magic idle for capturing people as well as blocking attacks. I Might not be able to harm dragons but doesn't me I can't restrain them if you weaken them bad enough. I might not be helpful in a direct flight much but I'll try to assist you as much as you can my lady." Lena explained to me as she was confident she can help me capture this dragon.
"I see, it's always good to have an enchanter on your my question is, who is this Zincrosis guy and why you want him so badly?" I asked my Dragon stepmother.
"ZIncorsis is one of the most infamous sex criminals in the Dragonv Kingdom. For over 200 years, he evaded capture and committed various crimes against women both human and 's committed over 1,000 murders and rapes of Dragons and killed countless female humans." Grandeeney explained to me about his appalling crimes.
"Humans?But dragons are way too big for dragons to you know.." I asked her wondering how Zirconis could even sexually assault humans
"One of the common ways he sexually assaults and kills humans is stripped them naked with his sinister magic and use charm magic to arouse the human prey and then devour them alive for his twisted Voyeuristic pleasure. He targets women, especially young women who are virgins." Grandeeney explained to me.
"How is it that you couldn't find him?This monster committed so many atrocities!Surely he should've been easy to find." I asked her.
"Zirconis is very cunning, being well over 1,000 years old he's more experienced than any dragon that served in the Dragon Royal Army however he was always a weak-willed and lazy dragon who never rose up the ranks. We found out that he was killing and devouring humans using sex trafficking rings as his food source however before we can capture him, he was able to escape and evade our capture." Grandeeney explained to me about the danger of Zirconis.
"And yet you expect me to somehow find him ? if Dragon Senses can't find him, what thinks a mere human can find this elusive criminal ?" I asked her wondering what she's getting me into.
"I have faith that you would be able to find him, with two prodigies in a team, nothing is impossible between the two of you. Given you two have been taught enchantment magic, you can easily dispel his charm magic and evade his ability to strip dignity from people, however, be very careful. Zirconis has powerful magic capable of stripping dignity as well as powerful Sky Dragon Magic, you must be careful not to drop your guard once or you're deadly power is that he can invoke your worst memories on you, this makes him a very deadly opponent and how he evaded capture for those many years." Grandeeney explained to me warning me about the immense power of Zirconis.
"I see, well, in that case, I won't let you down." I replied vowing to bring that monster to justice.
"We should get going my queen!" Lena said to me within her more timid tone.
"Don't be so formal, just call me Irene!" I replied as a large sky dragon resembling an eagle appears to land on the ground.
"Shaka!" Lena said to the large Eagle looking Dragon.
"Shaka?This is the first time I've met him!" I said to Grandeeney.
"He's a new B rank Dragon who recently went up the ranks. He would be escorting you guys to Fiore. He would be observing your progress and if you're not capable of beating Zirconis, he would step in and defeat your opponent for you." Grandeeney said to me ensuring my safety.
"Thanks, I guess we can do this." I started having some confidence in it.
"Skaka, fly these two to Fiore and monitor their progress. If these two can't win, sweep in and help assist them." Grandeeney commanded.
"Right!" Shaka replied as he lies down for us to climb his back and to fly on him.
It was at this point were my adventure truly began and when I would become the true queen of Dragons. Zirconis would be the very first Dragon I fought on the road to becoming Queen of Dragons but far from the last. At the time, he was my most powerful and toughest opponent ever, far eclipsing that of the Giants or any human opponent I've fought however compared to the Dark Dragon Tribe, he was nothing. If the Dark Dragon Tribe was as weak as Zirconis and all the dragons I fought prior to the Dragon King Festival, I never would've been forced to make the biggest mistake ever...Dragon Slayer Magic.
To be Continued
(A/N: Yep the adventure and road to Dragon Queen begin for Irene with her newest ally Lena Marvell assisting. As you can tell already from the personality, characteristics and even appearance, Lena Marvell is the biological mother of Wendy Marvell of Fairy Tail and is a very important side character and friend of Irene Belserion. Unsurprisingly like Erenjack, she would eventually become a First Generation Dragon Slayer and that power would be inherited through Wendy and Wendy would become the student of Grandeeney when Irene eventually invents Dragon Slayer powers but that's to be expected.
As for the Nirvit Tribe, they get a good amount of development within this chapter considering they're the backstory of Wendy's past and we needed to develop a conflict that would result in them developing a Super Weapon such as Nirvana and put the events of Nirvana's destruction at the same time as canon timeline X384.
As Prince Martin, take a wild guess on who he's based on. I'll give you a hint, this isn't the last time you're going to be seeing this douchebag for sure and as I mention, this was more than merely a throwaway character in a backstory but I won't give away my intentions on what I'll do with him just yet.
As for Irene's Training, yet it's going to get even tougher overtime because after all she has to be pretty strong to even last 5 seconds against merely fodder tier Dragons who in canon were able to shrug off attacks from Kagura who can destroy a whole city with an unsheathed Archenemy and even badasses like Jura and Erza couldn't do jackshit against and even Dragon Slayers can barely scratch.
And speaking of Fodder Dragons, Enter Zirconis yep he's not going to be the last of the Fodder Dragons Irene fights either but he's definitely the first one given he's easily the weakest of the Dragons in canon and keep in mind he tanked a direct punch from Satan Soul Sitri Mirajane first time skip which is superior to Erza PTS who can destroy a small Island with her clash with Knightwalker, needless to say, Irene is in for a fight of her life up against this dragon. As for character and backstory briefly touched up here, Zirconis is the Grand Fisher of the Dragons, while nowhere as personal with Irene as Grand Fisher and Ichigo, he serves the same effect, a Dragon who evaded capture for over 200 years )