Normal POV
Standing in front of the group was none other than Igneel, Grandine, Metalicana, Weisslogia and Skiadrum. "Igneel..." Natsu breathed. Wendy looked on the verge of tears, while Gajeel, Sting and Rogue were speechless. "But...I watched you die!" Natsu exclaimed. "Die? Or disappear? Because as I recall, his body, along with the others, faded away." Lucy stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "None of us ever died! Our bodies were sent back here. We would have died, if Lucy wasn't there to open our gates." Grandine explained. "Your gates?" Gajeel asked. "Every dragon has a gate. Each one can only be opened by their dragon or by a celestial dragon or slayer. Lucy just so happens to be one." Metalicana replied. "Luce is a celestial dragon slayer?" Natsu asked.
Before anyone could reply Natsu was sent flying into a nearby tree. Everyone turned to see Lucy's leg aflame and in position. "I'm a lot of things pyro! And stop calling me Luce!" Lucy shouted. She sighed, took a deep breath, and leaned on Igneel's wing. "As far as dragons and slayers go, in all technicality I'm what's known as an elemental dragon and dragon slayer. First generation, no lacrama. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't have to train for it." Lucy said. "Why'd you kick me Lucy?" Natsu grumbled. "I would have done it back in the Death Room, but I promised Igneel I'd hold off until he got to see it. Besides, we have more important things to discus. Don't we Makarov?" Lucy said harshly. "R-right." Makarov replied.
Lucy's POV
I led everyone (excluding the dragons) to one of the gathering rooms inside of the palace. There was a large rectangular table in the center, surrounded by chairs. On either side of the room small couches lined the walls, and directly at the back there was a large window to view the Dragon's Domain from. Once everyone was seated we began. "We need your help." Makarov said. I nearly burst out laughing. "You need my help? But why would you need the help of a weakling, especially one that you personally removed from your guild?" I asked. The mages cringed at my words. "Perhaps I should rephrase. Earthland needs your help." He said. When he saw that he had my attention, he continued. "Someone is using some kind of dark magic to drive people to attack one another." The Spartoi members visibly froze. "What's his name?" I asked. "It's just a rumor, but they say 'he' goes by the name 'Demon of Insanity'." McGarden answered. I stood up and began pacing around.
"What does he look like?" I asked. "No one has ever managed to get close enough for the specifics, but 'he' keeps himself wrapped in bandage-like scarfs with eyes on them." Rogue said. I stopped pacing and glanced at Maka, who nodded. "You've gotten yourselves in real deep this time Makarov. You're not fighting a demon. You're going up against Asura. And there is no dark magic, there is only madness." I said. "Madness?" McGarden asked. "Asura is a kishin, an embodiment of madness." Kid explained. "But how is he in Earthland? I thought Maka killed him." I asked. "Its possible that at the moment Maka punched him he was pulled into Earthland by a portal similar to the one that brought you here." Stein said. "Wait, back up. You mean to tell me that you assumed he was dead because you punched him? It takes more than that to kill someone!" Sting exclaimed.
"None of us could see his soul, there was no body, and the madness disappeared! You got any other methods to tell if something is dead? Because I'm all ears!" Maka retorted, slamming her hands on the table as she stood up. "You can see souls? What kind of magic do you use?" Bickslow asked. "Its not magic, its Soul Perception! I'm not a witch!" Maka exclaimed. "I've never heard of magic like that." McGarden said. "Again, its not magic!" Soul shouted. "If its not magic than what is it?" Strauss asked. "Its the ability to see and and feel the presence of souls, a rare gift among humans." Kid explained. "You say that like your not human." Scarlet pointed out. "That's because he's not! Kid's a Grim Reaper, just like Lucy!" Patty exclaimed. Everyone went silent. "How can he be a Grim Reaper too?" Fullbuster asked. "Because he's my brother. Weren't you paying attention Fullbuster?" I asked. "But you look nothing alike! You two are as different as day and night!" Dragneel shouted. "You have no idea how much of a hypocrite you are." I mumbled. Sadly, he heard me. "Why would I be a hypocrite?" He asked. "When the time comes, I'll tell. As for Kid, he took after dad, with the exception of eye color. I took after mom, but the eye color is just the weapon blood showing." I said. "Weapon blood?" Scarlet asked, getting excited. "Not that kind of weapon blood Scarlet. Remember when I said I was a Death Scythe? Dragneel do me a favor and stand in front of me. I promise I won't bite." He reluctantly stood in front of me.
Natsu's POV
Lucy transformed into a scythe, landing in my hands. The handle was black, and had carvings of the zodiac signs carved into the design. The blade was gold and silver. I spun her and sliced through the air with ease and accuracy I didn't know I had. "How is this even possible?" Erza asked. "The ability to transform into the weapon of your soul. Not as rare as Soul Perception, but not very common either. Those who have this gift are born with it, and come to the DWMA to learn to control their abilities at will." The guy with the screw in his head explained. I think Luce said his name was Stein.
"It's Professor Stein to you! And stop calling me that!" A voice in the my head yelled. What was that? "The 'voice in your head' is me! You know, the weapon you're currently holding in your hands? The reason you can hear me is because of the Soul Resonance. It would seem you can match your wavelength with mine." Lucy said. Wavelength? "Your Soul Wavelength. In short, its like Unison Raid. My soul is connected to yours while you hold me, creating a resonance link. My only question is how can I resonate with you? I may have the natural ability to adjust my wavelength to fit others, but you don't. And last time I checked, you hate me."
Lucy transformed back. "And who said that?" I asked, pointing a finger at her. "If I remember correctly, you did. Back to the present, I think we can all assume that the portal you came here in is now closed, correct Makarov?" Lucy asked. Gramps nodded. "Well then until we can settle all this, and open another portal, you all are staying here." Lucy said. "Why do we have to stay here?" Erza asked. Lucy sighed. "Because you're mages." She replied. "And that means what?" Gray asked. "It means," the silver haired guy said, "That you can't use your magic in the DWMA. People will think you're witches, and then try to kill you." Lucy's group nodded in unison. "That explains all the attacks." Gajeel mumbled.
"As I'm sure you've already picked up, magic in this world is a taboo in a way. Most people who possess magic use it for dark purposes, and have been classified as witches. A select few choose not to use magic and live as normal humans, or in some cases students of the DWMA. Unless, of course, we count Blair; who, and I quote, is 'just a cat with a lot of magical power'. The odd thing is that up until we discovered your world magic users were almost always female." The blonde explained. "So unless you would like to be hunted for souls you don't have, I suggest you stay here." Lucy said. "Besides, the dragons will keep you in line. But try not to break anything while I'm gone, I have to take them home." She added.
A Few Hours Later, Lucy's POV
After giving Father a full report and stopping at the house I was back in the Dragon's Domain. I was now wearing a black spaghetti strap dress the stopped above the knees and a pair of black flats. I decided to leave my hair down, which now reached just above my ankles. I made my way towards the library, only to find that others where already there. Wendy from the looks of it had long since fallen asleep at one of the tables with her head resting on an open book. Carla was asleep on her lap, and Gajeel was snoring quietly next to her. Levy was attempting to decipher books in several different languages. Her eyebrows were furrowed, notebook and pen in hand scribbling notes down then crossing them out. She probably didn't notice me come in.
"It says, 'Hercules was said to be the son of Zeus, the Greek god of lightning. He was raised as a mortal by humans.' This was written in Greek, a very difficult language to translate that was forgotten long ago. Not many people can read it Levy." Said girl jumped, dropping the stack of books she was holding. I began picking them up, muttering the languages they were written in. "German, Japanese, Roman, Hebrew, Egyptian, Latin, Mandarin Chinese? That's one of the most difficult languages in the world to master!" I exclaimed. "But yet you can read them." Levy mumbled. "Levy dragons have the natural ability to pick up new languages as soon as they hear a few phrases. Not to mention I've met people who specialize in speaking dead languages, and traveled to almost every continent on this planet! You've only been here for a few days. What are you trying to accomplish anyways?" I asked. "I was trying to find something on Asura. So far, I've got nothing." Levy replied, sitting down at the table and opening another book.
"You're not going to find anything in any books. No one ever knew much about him, due to the fact that dad kept his existence a secret." I said, pushing Levy's book closed and sitting next to her. "How do you keep something like that a secret?" She asked. I sighed. "Long ago, Asura was a meister who worked alongside father and a few others with his weapon partner. Eventually he began eating the souls of humans, thus falling into madness. He even ate his weapon." Levy gasped. "He became the first Kishin, and his soul spread madness across the earth. In order to stop him, father made a bag from Asura's skin, and sealed his bones inside. In order to keep Asura hidden, and prevent the creation of any other kishins, father created the DWMA, a school for students to learn how to kill kishin eggs as weapons and meisters. Asura was forgotten with time, and the students of the DWMA continued to collect kishin and witch souls to create Death Scythes." I answered. "I thought you said people were born with the ability to transform into Death Scythes, not create them." Levy pointed out. "This can be a little confusing. People are born with the ability to transform into weapons, but to become a Death Scythe, a personal weapon of Lord Death, you have to collect the souls of 99 kishin eggs and one witch. It may seem simple, but the reality is that meisters and weapons alike have died trying to attain the rank. Including Spirit and I, there are only nine total." I explained.
"Putting that aside, its getting late. Do you know where Wendy's staying?" I asked, picking her up carefully so I wouldn't wake her or Carla. "She's staying with the girls from team Natsu." Levy replied, trying to shake Gajeel awake. "By the way, your hair is really long!" Levy said. "Thanks?" I replied, using my nose to track down Wendy's room.
