Chapter 5: Plan B & Etherion
He pulled himself up on the rocks, eyes narrowing at the two figures ahead of him. They were still peering at his sword interested. Now that he was approaching, he could see them in more detail. The burly with the huge silver hammer with a laughing skull on it also had huge muscles and almost no hair except for a large ringlet on the very top of his head. It seemed that almost all hair hair had opted to reside on his upper lip instead. He looked like some kind of circus strong man from a freak's show. What could his magic be, other than just brute strength? The key here, Riku considered, is that stupid hammer. He rubbed his jaw again. That shit hurt. He moved his eyes to the much more slender partner, with the leopard-printed onesie. If the burly one was a freak show strong man, this one certainly was the acrobat. His dark hair was average length, but seemed glued to his head with tiny ringlets, highlighting his deep set eyes. Maybe some kind of stretch magic, Riku considered.
The slender one handed the sword to the burly one, who tossed it on the ground and moved for his hammer.
Well, no time like the present to find out, considered Riku, taking his stance and calling, "Dark Dragon ROAR!"
The swirling black energy left Riku and rushed towards the two, who looked up surprised before being hit. The burly one, clutched his hammer, and slid a few feet, leaving drag marks from his hammer and feet starting position. The slender one seemed to be tossed by the roar, but then he somersaulted in midair and landed daintily on his feet. Not exactly the usual effect Riku earned from his roar. This was going to take more time than he really wanted. He wished Mystogan was here to just put them to sleep. Riku rolled his eyes at himself. Maybe I am relying on that skill too much.
"Another dragon slayer," grunted the burly man. "Did Jellal mention that to you, Zazel?"
"Not that I recall, Magnus," Zazel responded, rolling his shoulder back. "All he said was distract plan B, but don't kill him, just in case the other sacrifice doesn't make it past Ikaruga."
"What's Jellal planning," Riku interrupted. "And where is Erza?"
"He doesn't listen very well," observed Magnus. "Zazel just said she's fighting Ikaruga, though I've never seen someone face her & live to tell the tale." He pulled his hammer over his shoulder, swinging it around above his head. With a swift movement he brought it down hard on the earth, sending waves across the ground with such force that it seemed as if the land itself had turned to water. When the waves hit Riku, the vibrations seemed to jar up his legs into his very bones before throwing him back. Definitely need to get that stupid hammer, Riku thought as his teeth stopped chattering. His eyes darted to the sword again.
Goal 1: Get sword. Goal 2: destroy that stupid hammer. Goal 3: Go save Ezra.
Another wave of vibrations headed his way, this one with added force as they overlapped the ones before. Riku jumped over them, landing just a few feet away and right into the side kick of Zazel. That sent him careening into a rock, leaving a dent. He blinked and shook his head to clear it. It felt like a horse had kicked him!
Sure enough as he peered at Zazel, he saw his opponent's leg turning from a horse leg back into a human one. Great, he was fighting a freak show- a dude so strong he made the earth liquid and a guy who could change his parts into animals. Alright, re-evaluated Riku. Goal 1: Get rid of these assholes & get sword. Goal 2: Find and save Erza. Good.
Now that he had a plan, he felt a bit better. Of course, fights so rarely went as planned.
Magnus charged at him first, hammer pulled back. Riku had had enough of that impact for the day, so he muttered "Dark dragon scales." In seconds, dark scaled moved across his skin, hardening like the dark dragon he'd be raised by. Just to be sure he was safe, he grabbed to the top of the rock and pulled himself up, flipping himself on top of the boulders as the hammer slammed into the place his face has been moments before. Going for the money-maker was just rude. Crouching in his new spot, with a much closer target he called "Dark Dragon Blast!" A more focused strand of dark energy left his hands and hit Magnus straight on, making him stumble back and release his hammer as he covered his own face with a howl. The solitary blonde chunk of hair fell delicately from his head.
"Oh dear," Zazel observed, "He won't like that."
Riku leaped down and grasped the handles of the hammer, intending to throw the thing at Magnus before the man discovered he was completely bald, but Riku ran into an issue almost immediately. The hammer was too heavy to lift. In fact, even with his hands gripped tightly around the handle and all of his body weight forced forward, the hammer made no move. Instead, Riku's hands slipped off the handle and the force of his pull sent him flying towards Magnus, hands still grasped in fists as they came down across his shiny bald skull.
There was a distinct cracking sound, which made Riku's heart stop for a moment, before he realized that it wasn't from him. Leaping up he found that he was mostly unharmed but that Magnus, despite all his beefy muscles, seemed to be out for the count.
"I meant to do that," Riku assured Mystogan, before remembering that Mystogan wasn't there. Instead Zazel responded in a tone of indignation.
"His one strand of hair and then his honor? Fairy Tail has no manners!"
He lunged towards Riku so quickly that Riku barely moved out of the way in time. He saw the shining of the sword ahead. He looked behind him, seeing Zazel turning to restart his charge. I need that sword, Riku thought pushing himself to move as quickly as possible towards the sword.
Behind him was the sound of rage from Zazel.
His legs were aching from the sprint.
He could hear the wind whistling in his ears.
He was so close to the sword's handle!
He was reaching out to grab it.
His fingers touched the very top of it when he felt himself being pulled back into Zazel's embrace. An Embrace that was suddenly smothering.
"I can take any animal's qualities," Zazel cooed as Riku gasped for air that couldn't fill his lung. "Strength of a gorilla, constraints of a pythons, legs of a cheetah or horse. Don't worry, we'll make it fast. Pass out now and you won't even feel when the Etherion blast hits the tower. You'll feel nothing but sweet darkness just like all your friends on this miserable island."
Riku's vision was getting blurry. Etherion? Why does that sound familiar? His eyes were rolling up to the sky. He could see a blurry image of runes above them, layered on top of one another. He closed his eyes from lack of oxygen.
A fifteen year old Erza was in a library surrounding by book. Soft snores were coming from her mouth with both eyes closed, scarlet hair falling across her face. Riku approached. He'd never been to this part of the guild, but Mira had said Erza was here and the guildhall was too noisy for him anyway. "She's been there for hours," Mira had scoffed. Riku had thanked the demon-girl with a slight wave.
Now here she was, using some old book as a pillow. Riku peered closed. The pictures of this page, only half visible under Erza's head, had a diagram with four runes, which were impossible to translate.
"Riku!"
With a heavy thunk Erza's head ran right into Riku's jaw, making him bite down on his tongue painfully. He stifled a string of curse words and moved away from her apologetic face quickly.
"Oh no," She said moved towards him, though he turned his face away to hide his pained look. "Are you alright? I think I fell asleep. I'm so sorry."
She placed her hands on his face, turning it forcibly towards her to inspect him. Without her asking, he stuck out his tongue for her to see.
"It looks fine," she told him.
"I know that," he snapped, pulling his tongue back protectively. "What are you looking at anyway."
"Just magic council information," she said seriously. She motioned him to the book."I was looking up the R-systems originally, but then I got distracted by this Etherion. It's rumored to have been made by the magic council to to be a 'cross-dimensional destruction Magic that is capable of destroying nations,' or at least that's what the book says."
"The council has this," Riku said peering at the passage Erza was pointing to. "And their publishing books about it?"
"Oh, I don't know if the council knows about this book," Erza said guiltily. "Master said not to mention it outside of this room."
"So why are you telling me," asked Riku, blinking at her.
Erza's cheeks flushed as red as her hair and she slammed the book closed. Riku would have been startled, but he was momentarily distracted by the breeze the slamming book created, sending some of Erza's loose hairs flutter dramatically.
"I don't know, Riku," she snapped. "What did you need any way?"
Now it was Riku's turn to flush. "I-I-I don't know! Just looking for you!"
Riku's blue eyes snapped open and caught sight of the runes in the sky again. Without much thought he channeled as much magical power as he could into his hand. With a grunt, he brought it up and across Zazel's grip, focusing as much energy as possible on his Dark Dragon-slayer Claw. Zazel released him, crying out in pain as the shape of a dark claw appeared in the air, slashing at him viciously. Riku hit the ground on all fours, but only had time to gasp for one long breath before he lunged towards his sword again. This time his hand grasped around it and as Zazel charged towards him again. Riku turned and called "DARK DRAGON SLASH!"
A powerful black twister appeared from the sword, hit Zazel head on, and sent him flying away into the ocean waves where Riku had been thrown before.
Riku let his whole body fall back against the ground, feeling the sweet feeling of oxygen moving in and out of his lungs. The tower loomed eerily above him and above that was the Etherion waiting to fire. Riku looked at the very top of the tower. That was where he'd find Erza, he was sure. If there was going to be a sacrifice, it'd be there. He had to find her fast because he was running out of time. That Etherion might shoot at any second.
He took a final inhale of breathe before sitting up and tucking the sword securely onto his back. Now how was he going to get there?
Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!
Thanks Tempest for the first review!
