Trees rushed past Calder as he dodged the small blades Gajeel threw at him. He burst through the treeline in sight of the ocean and smirked. Creating a tendril of water, he used it to wrap around Gajeel's ankle and trip him. With a shout Gajeel lost his footing and Calder spun to prepare his next attack with the help of the ocean water. The Roar from Gajeel cause Calder to dodge and lose concentration growling in frustration at Gajeel's smirk.
If only he couldn't do that breath attack
Gajeel let out a gargled yell. The water around his ankle had moved and wrapped itself around his face, cutting off his breath. Meeting panicked eyes Calder yelled.
"No! No no no no no!" Frantically Calder pulled on the magic trying to get it to release it's hold. When the water splashed onto the ground Gajeel fell to his knees as gasped in air. Panting Calder looked down at his hands.
Before the two could really comprehend what happened a dragon's roar reached their ears. Cordelia and Metalicana were upon them shortly after.
"What happened?" Calder flinched, Metalicana's voice was harsh but Calder could hear the undertone of worry. He tried to answer but the words caught in his throat.
Gajeel coughed up some water and took a deep breath. Calder couldn't look away. All he could think was what could have happened. What if I couldn't stop it? What happened?
"Sweetling?" Cordelia's soothing voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Quickly he looked up into her green eyes, his own eyes watering a voice wavering.
"I didn't want it to happen." The words seemed to fall from his mouth; once starting he was unable to stop, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry. Sorry. I-I-I don't know what happened." Calder fumbled over the words as he looked up at the two dragons, pleading for them to understand.
Now that he had looked away from Gajeel he found he couldn't bring himself to look back.
"We were sparing." At Gajeel's pained voice Calder's mouth snapped shut. "Calder tripped me with a vine of water, and I Roared at him to force him to dodge instead of continuing his attack." He paused for a second, shaking his head. "As he dodged the attack the water began to cover my face; I couldn't breath. I could hear Calder panicking and he released the magic. Then you guys showed up."
Metalicana growled while Cordelia sighed and wrapped herself around Calder. "I hoped this wouldn't happen." She nuzzled his cheek, "Why did the water cover his face Calder?"
"I was just thinking how much easier it would be if Gajeel couldn't do his Roar." Calder was looking right at Metalicana, "I didn't want to stop his breathing. I swear!"
"We know." Cordelia started, "It's a side effect of how you hold your magic."
Calder tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"A portion of your magic flows freely around yourself."
"As such your magic as no idea how to behave properly." Metalicana interrupted. He was still eying Gajeel carefully, but the older dragon slayer seemed more interested in the conversation. Cordelia sent the black dragon a quick glare before continuing.
"You have more magic than you should at your age. Or more correct, you had more magic than you should have, it has evened out to what it should be now. Most magical children are born with a small magical core that grows with them. This way they can't use their magic while they're still too young to understand it. The standard age to start showing signs of magic is 3-5."
"You weren't born with a larger than normal core. It looks as though something happened which cause your body to access more magic than your core could contain. Instead of the magic leaving it clinged to you like a protective layer.
Calder thought back to a story his sister would tell him, "Emily told me that when I was a toddler I used my magic to save my brother Dustin. She said since then I looked different from the rest of the family."
Smiling Cordelia nodded, "That is the type of situation that could cause an early use of magic. Since this magic couldn't be contained in your core it needed an outlet, changing your appearance would be something consistent it could channel into. I knew soon we would need to start your training to fix the problem."
Flinching Calder looked at Cordelia in fear, "Why does it need to be fixed? Can't I just teach it not to hurt people?"
Cordelia shook her head lowering to be eye level with her charge, "Calder magic doesn't have a conscience. It acts within its power to please its wielder if not under control. Regardless on what your wishes may really be, it will follow the shortest and simplest path the achieve the heart of your desire as you saw today." She eyed Gajeel causing Calder to look down in shame.
"We don't know how all of this will affect you in the future. Your situation is unique, if unchecked your magic can kill others or even yourself. Your core is finally large enough to hold all of your magic. Once we return home we will start.
~~A New Life~~
As Cordelia left to scout the ocean over the first couple of days back home Calder settled himself in his favorite spot in the cavern. It's a small alcove partially hidden in the corner. It had a shallow pool of water that comes to Calder's waist when he sits comfortably against the wall. Here is lets himself relax and begins to slow his breathing to start meditating. He had started meditating early with Cordelia to help him feel how his magic moves as he uses it.
In. Calder focuses on the cold damp wall against his back. The feeling of the water around him. The humid air he's breathing in.
Out. Slowly he begins feeling his way to his magical core. Once this was the hardest part of meditating for him, but it has almost become second nature. He lets thoughts pass through his mind as they appear, sinking deeper and deeper.
In. Deep in his mind Calder finds himself in front of his core. His magic reaches out for him in a familiar and comforting way. It's warm, like his birth mother's hugs. He let's himself bask in the feeling for a moment.
Out. For the first time Calder focuses more on the feeling of this loose magic. It feels like love. It feels like protection. It feels like it would kill for him if he asked. Briefly he feels fear for his magic, but it quickly passes. His magic is apart of him, nothing to fear. There is a devotion there that has nothing controlling it. Calder can understand how this can be dangerous.
In. Stealing himself Calder begins to pull this magic under his control. For a second, he can feel it resisting but he pushes forward a wish for it to listen to him. As it lost it's fight the magic seemed to grow sorrowful. He tries to express that he wasn't ungrateful or angry, but being able to control would make him stronger.
Out. The loose magic wrapped itself around him tighter. It filled him with the strongest feeling of love he had ever experienced in his young life. Almost in tears Calder helped funnel the free magic back into his core. As it left there remained a promise that the magic would be there when he needed it.
In. It was an odd feeling of being both stronger yet more exposed than Calder had ever felt. He pushed on until he was secure in the knowledge that his magic would stay unless he permitted otherwise.
Out. Calder let himself focus on the world around him once again to see a pair of green eyes staring back from his reflection in the water.
Calder was both shocked and happy with his new look. He could see more of his birth family in him than ever before. Dark hair that reminded him of his sister when she came home after playing in the rain. Green eyes that matched his brothers.
Before he could think much more on the changes a wave of exhaustion hit him. He felt as though he had just spent a day fighting and training with Gajeel. Without his express permission Calder fell into a deep sleep to recover from his, unknown to him, six hours working with his magic.
~~A New Life~~
When Calder awoke it was to the disappointed face of Cordelia looking down at him. Calder turned his head to avoid her gaze, "How was scouting?"
Cordelia huffed in anger and growled, "Don't try and distract me child. What is your first rule when it comes to your training?"
"Don't mess with magic without you or Metalicana around in case something happens." Came the whispered reply.
"And what did you do the instant I trusted you alone?"
"I just wanted to see what you meant when you said my magic wasn't contained!" Calder looked up at the dragon with wide green eyes.
"Yes." Cordelia brought her head down to Calder's level, "And if that was all you did there wouldn't be a problem. But you didn't just look, did you?"
"Nothing went wrong!" Pouted Calder, "I'm fine."
"You're lucky." She corrected, "Do you know why I never brought up the issue with your magic before?" Calder shook his head. "Because if anything went wrong your magic could've killed you for trying to contain it." Pausing to let her words sink in, Calder thought of his magic initial reaction of betrayal.
"I told you magic doesn't think like you or I. If it at all felt as though you didn't really want it contained it could have lashed out. You could have been seriously hurt and without me here you would have died. That's if it didn't feel wronged and outright kill you!"
Taking a deep breath to calm herself Cordelia continued, "As it is you've been asleep for about two days. Do you know how worried I was when I felt you pass out from exhaustion? I thought you were attacked! And I return home unable to wake you."
Calder looked down into his lap during Cordelia's lecture. As she ended, he could hear the worry and fear in her voice. Looking up to meet her eyes he noticed unshed tears, "I'm sorry mum. I just..." he paused and took a deep breath, "I just wanted to try and understand what you told me. Then it just felt natural to try and put it back, it's where it belonged."
He thought of his magic wrapping tighter in the beginning before shaking his head. "No, I knew where it belonged, but it didn't believe me at first. It could have gone wrong and I should have waited and thought everything through first. I'm so so sorry Delia."
Cordelia looked down at the child she had grown to love over the last two years and sighed. "You have always been very intuitive with your magic." Slowly she wrapped her body around Calder in a warm embrace, "Just promise me you'll be careful my son, I could bear to lose you."
Relaxing into her Calder smiled, "I promise."
~~A New Life~~
Over the next three years the bond between Calder and Cordelia continued to grow. The pair could now work in sync and accomplish amazing feats together. During a thunderstorm lighting started a forest fire not far from the beach where the dragons brought their slayers together. In tandem the sea serpent and the dragon slayer rose with the ocean and directed water to put out the growing flames. The pair slept for a solid 12 hours afterwards but it was proof of their bond and power.
Gajeel and Calder had also grown as close as brothers. It was with pride that Gajeel showed the younger slayer some new tricks. He also cheered when Calder accomplished this on his own. He had laughed when Calder had shown off his new looks, the two now looking like they were truly related. Calder also strived to keep up with Gajeel, pushing himself hard as to not fall behind. Their fights grew longer and their teamwork unmatched.
Cordelia and Metalicana watched over their charges after a long day of training. "Are you sure of this plan of Igneel's?"
Metalicana looked at the ancient serpent at the question, "We have to do something. The humans are getting more violent by the day and we're losing our power."
"I know." Cordelia drew closer to the grumpy dragon, "But what if something goes wrong? I don't know that I trust this celestial mage. And we have to trust her line to uphold the deal."
"The kids will have each other if things go wrong." Seeing that Cordelia was about to interrupt he growled, "Even if they are separated, they'll find each other eventually."
Cordelia made herself settle again, "We have a year before everything is ready." She smirked at Metalicana, "Let's make sure our kids are ready for anything. The future won't know what hit them."
"Gihihi." Metalicana laughed softly as to not wake the dragon slayers. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Sleep finally came to the pair. Over the next year they would push and train the young ones harder than ever. As the day came to travel into the future, they silently hoped they had done enough.
