Back with the continuation
"speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
Natsu and Gray stood in front of Mard Geer, as the battle continues
"Karyu no Hoko!"
Natsu breath out a roar attack at Mard Geer who took to the sky
"like I let you!" Gray shouted as he took a deep breath
"Hyoma no! Gekiko!"
He then fired his ice breath attack at Mard Geer who dodged it
Mard Geer circled around Gray's breath attack. When he was far enough away, he held out his hand, concentrating dark energy into a sphere in his palm.
"Dea! Ygdrasill!"
A mass of intertwined wooden beams fell from the sphere and down towards Natsu and Gray.
Natsu and Gray clenched their fists as tightly as they could and unleashed a flurry of punches on the creation.
A fury of punches was sent flying at the wood that began to crack.
As pieces of the wood splintered in all directions, Gray froze it and then clenched his hands.
"Ice Make! Gungnir!"
A massive spear of ice erupted the ground to pierce the demon. Mard Geer narrowly avoided the point but quickly turned around when he heard that ice cracking.
He spun around, his eyes widening when he saw Natsu.
"He was inside the ice?!"
The dragon slayer gathered fire in his hands and slammed them together, generating a gigantic blaze.
"Karyu no Koen!"
The giant sphere of fire engulfs Mard Geer and sent him rocketing back to the ground with a horrendous crash, his body bouncing until it collided with a pile of rubble.
Natsu landed on the ground next to Gray. After a few seconds, Mard Geer rose from the dirt, opening his wings forcefully to dispel the debris and dust.
"still standing" Natsu said as he ignites his hands in black flames
"I must admit I have enjoyed this battle, human wizards!" Mard Geer pulled one of his wings over his body, using it as a cloak.
"Did you know that all magic was once one? But it eventually was split into all different kinds and classes of magic that we know today. It was then that Master END discovered a new way to utilize magic,He created Curse Power! A type of magic that draws its strength from negative emotions. Pain. Resentment. Hatred. Jealousy. Vengeance. The very essence of curse power was built upon life itself!"
"Cut the crap!" Gray interjected. "Even if that is true that's all in the past! The magic we use now is going keep us moving forward!"
"Foolish." Mard Geer thrust out his palm and a mass of dark fog crept towards the Fairy Tail wizards.
Natsu and Gray slowly backed towards one another. They were trapped.
"What is this stuff?" Gray said as he sees that it was like a black fog substance
Natsu looks at the fog as some were getting absorbed into his skin
The "fog" began to slither up their bodies, freezing them in place.
"I can't move!" Gray shouted as he was frozen at the spot
"There is no 'moving forward'!" Mard Geer proclaimed.
"Now descended into purgatory! Courtesy of the Ultimate curse made to dispose of Zeref himself!" Natsu and Gray began to feel their bodies erupt with pain.
"The recollection of death awaits…"
"Memento Mori!"
A tower of wailing sprits rose from the ground into the sky above with a deafening boom.
Natsu and Gray were trapped in the vortex while Mard Geer basked in the glory of his ultimate Curse.
"To murder, the immortal Zeref one must understand both concepts of life and death! Those who fall prey to Memento Mori are neither alive nor are they dead, they simply cease to be! Your fate leads to this moment! You will be obliterated into nothing…forever!"
The spirits dissipated and the rumbling stopped, leaving only a massive crater where Natsu and Gray once stood.
Mard Geer looked upon his handiwork with satisfaction, returning to this normal form.
"I have finally completed the ultimate curse." He mused.
"Now all that remains is for END's revival to begin and then… to kill Lord Zeref." He turned on his heel and began walking when his ears caught sound of a small rumbling.
He looked down in the crater, his eyes widening upon seeing a small hill in the middle.
When it burst open and the dust settled, Gray and Natsu were shown to be still alive, the former's skin almost completely black.
"Impossible…" the demon muttered.
Natsu looks at Gray's appearance as his eyes widen in shock "Gray…you"
"A partial demon transformation?!" Mard Geer shouted. "Is this another one of Silver's abilities that he bequeathed to you? How were you able survive my ultimate attack!"
Gray could feel his consciousness slipping away. "For the future…" he struggled to stay up right.
"This…was the only…the thing I could do…It's up to you now…Natsu…" Gray fell to the ground, leaving a stunned Natsu to carry on.
"Gray?"
"Do you humans think you can make a fool of me?!" Mard Geer changed back to his Etherious form and sped towards Natsu before he got an uppercut by the dragon slayer himself
"What is this power?!" Mard Geer tried to recover but Natsu didn't let him as the man punches his fist at the demon's face
"BASTARD!" Natsu shouted out as his right hand turned into a black flaming claw and he uses it to punched the demon again before kicking him up to the sky
""a mere human!? A mere human can harm me!?"" Mard Geer was in a fury of punches by Natsu as the Dragon Slayer gives no mercy to the black demon ""not possible! No mortal can bring harm to an Etherious!""
Natsu's left hand turned red as it burns with crimson flames before he fired a point blank blast at Mard Geer and sends the demon flying to the ground
""he is no human! He is!"" Mard Geer looks at Natsu as the man no longer had human appearances rather inhuman ones
Glowing red eyes, appendages of that of a demon and pitch black wings of the night
"you are….E.-" Mard Geer spoke out but could not finished it
"Ankoku Bakuraijin!"
Natsu fired a torrent of flames and lightning that barrages Mard Geer and sends the demon crashing to the ground in a giant explosion
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
""This can't be!"" ""Kyôka…?!"".
""Be at ease…"" Kyôka's voice replied weakly to him
Natsu and Mard Geer fell to the ground, the demon taking much more damage than the dragon slayer. Gray slowly stand back up, the black markings on his skin were slowly shrinking away
"We did it…" Natsu said as his form was returning back to normal
"Not yet. I still have to get rid of END." Gray told Natsu
Natsu looks to the ice mage as he was walking to where the book lies at
"END was the one who made Tartaros, and it's also the ultimate volume in the Book of Zeref. We have to destroy it while we still have the chance" Gray said as he was about to grab the book but it suddenly disappeared before he could
"what!?" Gray exclaimed as he looks everywhere for it
"where did it!?" Gray looks around before feeling a tremor occurring as the land was trembling
"Is it Face?!" Natsu questioned.
"This is merely the beginning." Mard Geer said as he laid in the crater, defeated, but he still managed to boast about victory.
He chuckles before laughing ""E.N.D was never sealed….""
Mard Geer turns his head to look at Natsu as the man was looking away to see Face ""He is here""
With Erza
Erza gritted her teeth, the metallic taste of her dripping blood only adding onto the shame she felt for her failure. Barely able to move her body she could only glare at the alert above. "We didn't…make it in time…"
"Look there!" Lily pointed to the screen with bombs' locations. The exceeds watched as icons representing the Face Bombs began lighting up one by one.
"No…" Happy quaked.
Lector's little body also shook in fright at the sight of the alarms. "The bombs are detonating all over the continent…"
"Wh-what now?" Frosch fearfully questioned.
"Now?" Mirajane spoke up as she looks at the Face timer "All magic in Ishgal will vanish."
"It's the end of the magical world…" Minerva said
Makarov could hear the rumblings of the bomb's detonations all the way from the catacombs beneath Fairy Tail. He bowed his head in shame before the Lumen Histoire.
"I was just a few moments too late. I'm sorry, children."
Lucy lost her footing and fell to the ground with a hard thud.
"Lucy!" Lisanna called.
"it's weird," Lucy said as she tried to get up "I feel weak all the sudden"
"My speed is gone!" Jet blurted out.
Warren pressed his fingers to his temple and tried to read someone's - anyone's - thoughts. All he heard was silence. "I can't get in touch with anybody!"
"Do you think that means that Face…?" Droy frightfully implied.
Lisanna's clothes began disappearing but Doranbolt quickly covered her with his coat.
"T-thank you." She said with reddened cheeks.
"I was using my animal soul for clothes, but now I can't bring it back."
"The ethernanos have all thinned out." Doranbolt noticed.
"Then we must have not made it in time." Charla said.
"Oh no…" Wendy muttered.
The dragon slayers and Gray tried to move but their bodies were being drained of magic too quickly. Natsu managed to rise to his knees, his angered eyes aimed at the smirking Mard Geer.
"There is nothing you can do." The demon said. "Humanity is forever doomed!"
"not, it's not over yet" Natsu said before a large crash occurred near them as it was Acnologia
"Acnologia!?" Gray exclaimed as the copy of Natsu disappeared in the sky
Far away
Elsewhere the airship Christina fired its cannons at one of the Face bombs but was having no luck.
"That was the last of the cannons," Hibiki reported.
"We didn't even put a dent in that thing," Eve said.
"What the hell is it supposed to be?" Ren questioned.
"What are we going to do, Mr. Ichiya?" Jenny asked worriedly.
"Hmmm." The leader of the Tri-Mens pondered.
"We have bigger things to worry about." Hibiki interrupted. "Our magical fuel is depleting fast, we won't be able to stay in the air much longer!"
"So it has come to this…" Ichiya uttered. He had given in to defeat.
"Get away!" A voice shouted to Jenny. The blonde turned her head quickly at the voice.
"Who was that?"
Eve saw something approaching from behind the ship at a frightening speed.
"What's that?!" he pointed.
Ichiya took notice of the object. "Evasive action!" he ordered.
The UFO pierced through the Face bomb, crumbling it to pieces as it zoomed past the Christina.
"What was that just now?!" Ichiya exclaimed.
"A bird?" Jenny offered. She wondered if the creature that destroyed the bomb was the one that had spoken to her.
Wendy and her group watched the destruction of the bomb from below. The unidentified beast had moved too fast for the others to see, but Wendy managed to catch a brief glimpse of shimmering white scales. "Grandeeney?"
"The icons are changing." Happy said in disbelief. One after another Xs began appearing over the Face icons, signifying their destruction at the claws of these mysterious sky creatures.
"What's happening?" Erza wondered.
Gajeel was on his knees. The pain in his gut had returned while Levy tend to him.
"Gajeel, what's wrong?" Levy asked.
"Metalicana."
Just as Gajeel uttered his name the Iron Dragon destroyed another Face bomb.
The other dragon slayers felt the same sensations as Gajeel did.
"Weisslogia?" Sting muttered when he saw his foster father flying up above. "It can't be…I killed him."
"Does that mean Skiadrum is out there as well?" Rogue questioned. He too had seen the dragon that had raised him.
"there is still hope" Natsu said as a giant red dragon flies over him and was flying at high speed towards the face bombs
Fairy Tail and their allies all looked up at the once thought dead beasts.
Some breathed sighs of relief, others cried tears of joy, and some had no idea what to think. Mard Geer stewed in his anger and shock.
"It's a miracle." Wendy wept.
"This is awesome!" Natsu exclaimed in awe.
FACE
SIGNAL
LOST
"All the lights are gone!" Lector shouted happily.
"But why?" Frosch asked.
"Is there a need to ask why?" Lily grinned.
"You're right." Mirajane smiled in relief. "Face is no longer active. We should be thankful."
Even Erza found herself smiling in solace. "It's over."
Wendy wiped her tears away as her friends all cheered. "The dragons…" she smiled.
"They wiped out all of the bombs from the continent." Gajeel smirked.
Everyone exclaimed in happiness and relief, the long battle was finally over. Mard Geer was still shocked.
"Defeat…?" he muttered.
"So…" Sting teared up, he quickly wiped them away. "Weisslogia was alive all along?"
"Yes." A voice spoke as the red dragon landed near Natsu who looks to him. "As were Skiadrum, Metalicana, and Grandeeney. We were living inside of you Dragon Slayers ever since we disappeared on July 7th, X777. To be more accurate we used a secret technique that allowed us to lie dormant within your bodies."
"That must have been that feeling in our chests from earlier!" Rogue reasoned. "That was you dragons awakening from within us!"
"It was." Igneel nodded.
"and how did you do that?" Natsu asked his father while looking away
Igneel briefly grinned at Natsu's ignorance before answering him.
"We did so for two reasons: the first was so you all would not turn into dragons as Acnologia did."
The human's eyes widened as Igneel nodded
"Hundreds of years ago during the Dragon Civil War, Acnologia was one of the first Dragon Slayers to ever exist. He initially fought for the side of coexistence between humans and dragons along with myself and the others, but soon he and his comrades became power-hungry. They then began ruthlessly killing dragons one after another. Soon Acnologia was corrupted by his own power, and turned into the beast that threatens you today."
"A dragon civil war?" Rogue repeated.
"I had no idea," Sting said.
"The other reason we chose to lie dormant within you is-"Igneel was interrupted by Acnologia rising again.
"he still has strength in him?!" Natsu shouted as he was about to go after Acnologia but Igneel beat him to it
"Igneel!" Natsu yelled.
"I'll finish him off!" Igneel shouted out
Igneel and Acnologia resumed their battle high above. Their ferocious roars echoing throughout the land.
"You hid inside the humans to prevent them from becoming dragons?" Acnologia questioned in his rage.
"What are you trying to accomplish, Acnologia?!" Igneel interrogated.
"are you that afraid of END returning?! Leave the humans be!"
"You think me afraid of a mere demon?! What rubbish! I am the king of the dragons! Acnologia! There is nothing in this world I fear!"
"You yourself were born a human!" Igneel countered.
"I will not allow Natsu and the other dragon slayers to become like you!"
"Whether they become like me or not is of no consequence! The only thing in this world I desire is destruction!"
The dragons clashed as their battle rages in the night sky
with Natsu
"he's not going to win on his own!" Natsu shouted as he sprouted out his wings and then took of to the sky to help his father
Acnologia whipped his tail against the right side of Igneel's face, sending the Fire Dragon spiraling down to the ground below. He chased down Igneel and landed on him, digging his sharpened claws into fire dragon's belly.
"Destruction!" The black dragon repeated over and over as he slash and scraped away at Igneel's body. "Destruction!"
Igneel roared in agony.
"Is this all the power you can muster, King of the Fire Dragons?!"
Igneel smirked at Acnologia, blood trailing from his mouth to the ground.
"Well I did just wake up from a very long nap."
Acnologia was not amused by Igneel's defiance. He resumed tearing into him.
""Natsu!"" Igneel called.
Natsu perked up at his name. "Igneel?!"
""There are still things that I must tell you.""
Natsu flies off to the distance, leaving behind his friends.
"hold on! I'm coming!"
"I already explained why we dragon slayers were lying dormant in the bodies of you dragon slayers, but not fully. It was to prevent you from becoming dragons, but when we left, we created defenses to prevent that from ever happening. Because that process is such a long one, we were unable to leave sooner. No matter how much we wanted to. The other reason was so we could defeat Acnologia once and for all.""
Natsu could see the two dragons in the distance and sped up.
"Don't worry, Igneel! I'm almost there!"
""No! Stay back! Do not come here, Natsu! Acnologia is much stronger than I anticipated! I do not want you to face him!""
"I don't care! I'm the one who is going to defeat that monster! Me!"
Igneel grinned and clutched Acnologia's talons in his own. He pushed him off and the two dragons took to the sky again.
""I've waited for this moment for ages. The chance to finish Acnologia with my own talons!""
"Igneel!" Natsu tried to follow up to the sky but a huge gust of wind prevents him from doing so
"damnit!" Natsu flies off course as he looks up and sees something that horrified him
Igneel had a gaping hole on his side as the Fire Dragon had ripped off the black dragon's left arm with his teeth.
"What's going on?" Erza questioned in shock.
"Natsu…" Igneel uttered with a small smile.
"I'm sorry that I lied to you of my death, I'm sorry that I left you like this, but I watched you become so strong. You even managed to gain a family of your own. I'm so proud."
"so, please, choose who you are"
Acnologia turned and unleashed a final breath attack against the fallen Igneel.
"The days I spent with you was among the happiest of my life. You gave me the strength that comes from loving someone."
The ball of energy encompassed Igneel, erupting in a massive explosion. Natsu could not believe his eyes. Tears began to stream down his face as he cried out.
"IGNEEL!"
"So the dragons saved us…" Makarov said. "It seems I just couldn't do it after all. I didn't have the courage to use Lumen Histoire."
"Perhaps that is for the best."
Makarov looked forward, watching as Master Mavis walked towards him. She stopped and stood next to him. "It simply means that the time for its use has not come yet."
"I suppose so." Makarov turned around and faced Lumen Historie.
Fairy Tail and their gathered allies stood in front of the dragons in wonder. It was quite the sight to see, for all them, but none more so than the dragon slayers themselves.
"Grandeeney!" Wendy chirped through misted eyes.
"Thanks to Igneel's efforts, along with the determination of all of you gathered here, Acnologia has been turned away." The sky dragon smiled to them
"This is pretty awesome!" Jet exclaimed. "With these dragons here I feel like we could do anything!"
"You got that right!" Droy added.
"You guys destroyed all the Face bombs?" Max questioned as he was still having trouble believing what he saw in front of him was real.
"You did very well too, Wendy." Grandeeney praised. "You destroyed one of the bombs all on your own."
Wendy picked up Charla and held her. "Charla and I did it together."
Metalicana looked at Gajeel for a few moments before leaning his head towards him.
"You still have that nasty glare." The dragon remarked with a smirk.
"You shut up!" Gajeel snapped.
Sting and Rogue looked to their dragons with much more surprise and suspicion than the others.
"I killed you." Sting said to Weisslogia.
Rogue looked to Skiadrum. "So did I. I watched you die with my own eyes."
Weisslogia smirked knowingly and tapped his claw against the side of his head
"We dragons have the ability to change human's memories however we see fit."
"we wanted to give you the memory as well the experience of killing a dragon since you are dragon slayers."
"Though that is not to say that we are actually alive…"
Sting raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"We're already dead." Grandeeney revealed.
Wendy's spirits fell. "What?"
"Long ago Acnologia used a dragon slayer spell that expelled our souls from our bodies. That is the other reason we laid dormant inside you, not just to prevent you from becoming dragons like Acnologia, but to extend our own lives as well.
"But now that we have left your bodies we cannot return, and we will soon fade away from this world. I hope you understand why we could not reveal ourselves sooner. We had to wait for the right moment to strike."
"But, Grandeeney…"
"Not even Igneel could defeat Acnologia, but he used the last of his strength to deal a harrowing blow to the black dragon. Humans, please do not let this tarnish the legacy of the Fire Dragon King. He was the bravest of all of us. There were none that loved humans more than he."
Everyone began talking amongst themselves about their thoughts on the dragon's revelations.
"We haven't told you as much as we would like, but that will have to suffice for now." Grandeeney said.
"it is time for us to depart," Skiadrum said as the dragons' body glowed
"No!" Wendy refused. "Please don't leave me again, Grandeeney!"
The sky dragon bent down to Wendy as she smiled to her
"Though there will be many more dangers that lie ahead of you, I know you'll make it through all of them just fine. There is no need for you to worry."
"But I-"Wendy's protests were cut short when Gajeel placed his hand on her head.
"We have to be strong. We can't send them off with sad looks on our faces." He grinned. He felt the same way she did.
"You're right." Wendy accepted. She sniffed and looked back to Grandeeney with a smile.
Levy stood next to her with a smile of her own. The other wizards looked at the dragons with hints of sadness as the beasts spread their wings and began ascending into the sky.
"There was once a time when humans and dragons were enemies." Grandeeney said.
"We fought and we hated one another viscously, but that is in the distant past. Now, both your kind and mine have come together in friendship. The world is reaching the end of the age of dragons, soon the world will be left in the hands of you humans."
The dragons soared higher into the sky, their bodies beginning to glow.
"Four hundred years ago our two races formed a compact: The Magna Carta! Because of it, we will watch over you all forever-more!"
A tower of light rose from the ground and the dragons began fading away.
"Grandeeney!" Wendy cried out.
"I love you, Wendy." The sky dragon smiled before disappearing.
"you still have that Nasty Glare," Metalicana said.
"Are those really your last words?!" Gajeel yelled as he watched Metalicana disappear
"Dammit…" Gajeel said with a grin and a teary falling down his eye
"Thank you, Weisslogia." Sting said.
"Skiadrum." Rogue added.
The pillar of light could be seen all the way in Magnolia, captivating all that looked upon it. Master Makarov looked upon the light, a pang of regret in his heart.
"I'm glad they came to help when they did."
"yeah"
Everyone watches as the sky was filled with the shining particles of light
With Natsu
Natsu was on his hands and knees next to Igneel's body, tears pouring from his eyes.
"dad" Natsu muttered out as he punched the ground
"it's not fair…it's not fair!" Natsu shouted out as he gritted his teeth in anger "we've just meet again…..and you just leave me again!"
Natsu punched the ground again and again as he felt so helpless
"I got married….i have two daughters…I wanted them to meet you!...yet, you leave me again!"
"Natsu…." Igneel's voice spoke out to Natsu as the man's eyes widen a bit
"I am always with you." Igneel said to his son. "I always have been, and I always will be. So show me, Natsu. Show me how you will grow even more to protect your friends and family"
Igneel started to disappear as the Fire Dragon ascends to the heaven
Natsu nodded a bit as he was still crying to his father
"I will! I will!" Natsu shouted out as he continues to cry before feeling arms wrapping around his waist
It was Ultear, and she was there for Natsu
Natsu continued to cry out his heart as Ultear continues to comfort him
At long last, the battle was over
That's a wrap!
Sorry for it to be like this
Bye bye