Just Misunderstood
Chapter 19
Death of Innocence
"Please you have to listen to us," Midnight said harshly, "We aren't here to hurt you, we are warning you," he stood in the center of the town, Lucy by his side. Mages surrounded them, fear and anger on their faces.
"We know exactly who you are, young man," an old man croaked, he held a large staff in his hands, "he sent you here, correct?"
"No, Brain has nothing to do with us being here, Nirvana has awakened, and is headed here to kill you all, Brain is dead but the command is the same unless we can stop it," Midnight said.
The group turned as a giant rumble shook the ground, Nirvana, a mere speck over the great valley, fell. Midnight sighed in relief, "They managed to stop it," he turned towards the chief, "We mean no harm, I'm not with Brain anymore, we are trying to undo what he has done, but now it is done. May the light guilds dwell here while they heal and regain their bearings," he bowed slightly, "We would all just like to go our separate ways and be on with our lives, and I believe they are meeting now, bringing the Sky Maiden of course."
The old man straightened up a bit, "Is Wendy okay?"
"A little shaken up I would suppose, but no visible injuries."
He released a sigh, "I'm glad she is safe, and yes, the light guilds and your other companions can stay for a very short period of time, but," his eyes burned with power, "I do not want to be involved if the council shows up, I am not covering for any of you."
"Thank you, sir," Lucy said, suddenly a fizzling sounded in both their heads, they touched their ears, activating archive, a breath of relief released from Lucy's mouth as Cobra's deep voice filled her head.
Cobra's face paled, "Killed? Was it Brain or-," Midnight cut him off.
"It was Brain, Zero didn't emerge."
Hibiki scoffed, "Now Cobra's connected."
"Zero? Who is Zero?"
Midnight glanced at Lucy, and he listened closely, "That's Brain's alter ego, he lives within him, and once Brain is defeated, he will emerge," Angel said slowly.
"What?" Erza started, "Why weren't we informed of this sooner?"
"Because, he wasn't just defeated, he was killed. Zero didn't have time to come out," Midnight whispered, his face grew hot and he looked away harshly.
"We got lucky," they heard Cobra sighed.
"I still killed my father, call that luck I guess," Midnight whispered angrily.
"Why are you fucking whispering?" Cobra hissed, "And where the hell is Lucy, isn't she with you?"
"I am here, we are trying to convince these people that we are not going to hurt them, and talking out loud to no one isn't going to help," Lucy whispered, her voice was monotone. She was about to explain that they could meet them there but Cobra spoke.
"Stupid to think that Brain's spell would break with his death," he grumbled.
"Yeah, she's fighting it though, but I don't think she will ever be truly free of it unless we can find a way to break it completely," Erza said.
Lucy heard the smile in his voice, "Oh well, good thing we found a way," she cocked her head, looking at Midnight in question, he shrugged.
Angel was the next to speak, "Hopefully anyway, I'll explain," they heard her inhale deeply before opening her mouth, "Leo went and spoke to the King, and asked fo-," she stopped. Lucy felt ice grip her spin, she heard the hisses of question from the other line as well, Cobra groaned loudly and Lucy began to shake.
"What's happening?" Midnight's distressed voice reached her ears. But with a breath of ice on his neck he knew. He heard a gasp of fear and he listened closely.
"Well, well, look who came back?" A deep venomous voice said, "Makes this easier for me."
They heard magic swell and then an explosion, static crackled within Archive. Lucy and Midnight heard Cobra growl one word before Archive was cut off, malice and hate laced the word, "Zero," the very name in such a tone brought chills up their spines once more. Midnight locked eyes with Lucy.
"We need to help," was Lucy's rushed response to silence.
He shook his head, "No, he's after you, he must be," he looked around.
"What is happening boy?" The old man asked.
"Zero is awake," he shook his head in frustration, "There is no time for this we need to go!" He grabbed Lucy and pulled her towards the closest town, which was still a few miles out.
"No," she huffed as she pulled away, "I'm not leaving them."
He rolled his eyes, "Since when do you have an opinion? You don't care. That's the whole spell's purpose, to get you to not care," he snapped. She flinched back and shook her head, her hands went to her temples.
"I don't know," she sighed.
"Yeah, you're fighting the spell at least, it's not doing much though, you're weak. You won't be of any help until Cobra can break this spell."
Tears instantly filled her eyes, "He can't, the anchor, it's impossible."
Midnight grabbed her hand again and pulled her forward once more, "Yeah, yeah. The anchor. He's the anchor is he not?"
She shook her head, "He's not."
He stopped and turned towards her, "Then who is?"
She stopped and gazed into his gleaming red eyes, "Someone that can not be killed."
Midnight thought for a moment, about what Cobra said about finding a way, and then what Angel said about Leo's key. He smiled slightly, "Yeah, can't be killed huh?" He looked towards Nirvana's crash site to see flashes of color against the dark sky. He pulled her into a hug and his mouth pressed against her ear, a mere whisper. A few words and a smile crossed his face. She nodded slowly and wiped her cheeks, a deep breath leaving her. She closed her eyes and opened them a minute later, gold glowed brighter and there wasn't a single hint of brown. She gazed at him with lifeless eyes, and she pushed an orb of purple magic into his chest.
~JM~
Poison dripped onto Zero's face and he wailed in pain, he shot up, magic gathering around him and Cobra was thrown back into a tree, Erza came from the right swords collecting to all sides and launching towards Zero, flares of fire and wind cascading off of his skin. Scorpio and Aquarius were suddenly there, both shouting something about missing a date, but seeing that they were together it was okay, water and sand mixed into mud and attacked with Hoteye. But nothing could touch Zero, everything harmlessly falling to the sides with his magic. He laughed and Cobra came from behind, Cubellios' wings out and pulling her into the sky. Cobra wrapped his legs around Zero's neck and the snake charmer pulled him to the ground with his weight. Zero being the giant man he was fell hard, poison dripped from Cobra's hands as he tugged on Zero's neck. He rolled away, the large man kicking Cobra in the side as the smaller man latched onto his jacket with toxic fingers.
An iron sword pierced the skin of his arm and the growled, "That's it!" Green built up around him and shot outwards, throwing everyone back again, "You are nothing! You all are insects under my feet! I could kill you without even trying!"
"Then do it," Cobra spit out, he stood wiping his mouth. Zero growled as his eyes met Cobra's, they burned with such a purple ferocity. They lite up with power and a feral growl left his mouth, "I'm so sick of you! Why did you even want Nirvana? Why did you want to recruit children!? You used innocent children! For what?! Mindless torture? Easy pawns!? I lost everything! My mother! My father! My sister! I lost my home! My friends! Only to be locked in that fucking tower! Why did you need us!? I could have went home! To see my family again! But you took us and used your sick and twisted lies to make us believe this was for the best, tell me Zero! No that Brain is gone, keeping your horrible personality hidden, tell me, why did you take us? What was you damn goal?!" He screamed, poison dripping from his mouth, eyes glazing over.
Zero stood up straighter, his red beading eyes glaring down at Cobra, "You were easy prey, you had potential though, untapped power. I needed it to find Nirvana, you see it was my ancestors that created Nirvana, my ancestors that wanted to use its power to truly set a balance in this world, the powerful should have command over the weak. I wanted to use Nirvana to fulfill my family's dream. To take over this world and rule it. To exterminate the unworthy and let the powerful rise above. You could have been next to me, but you chose to side with the little bitch," he spit the words out like they had been Cobra's poison.
Cobra growled, "Why in the fucking name of God?" He wiped his mouth again, "Did you need Lucy?"
Zero grinned, "She had so much raw strength, and by God, she was so emotionally wrecked. She was so easily swayed, I didn't even need a spell at first. She just wanted her family back, she was only going to use us to find Fairy Tail again, then she was going to drop us like trash. She had no intention of staying, you knew this when Magnolia returned, that's when I first implemented the spell, it wasn't hard. I anchored it on multiple things," he clasped his hands behind his back and paced slightly, a wide grin on his face, "To her memories of Fairy Tail, and that caused them to be distorted, not realizing they were right in front of her. It was also anchored to her lacrima, straight into the source of her dragon slaying magic, whenever she used a dragon magic, or spell, it would strengthen, and with the bloodlust of an actual dragon, she would lose some of her sanity, feeling nothing but pleasure when inflicting pain on others. And finally, it seems you have already figured this out, I put the rest of the spell on a person, someone she would never have to fight, for it would be impossible for her, it was almost coded into her brain to protect him at all costs. It was someone she trusted, maybe even loved…" He smiled maliciously at Cobra, "And it most certainly wasn't you. A spell this strong would have needed a strong connection, and I didn't even check with you two, I knew she could never love you, or even think of you anything but a monster. But then Leo worked out better than I thought, spirits can't die. So, the spell would never break. It was perfect. You are not smarter than me Cobra, you cannot break this spell. You might have destroyed Nirvana but with Lucillia I can still gain one thing."
Cobra shook with anger, every muscle fiber in his body trembling with rage. His eyes burned and he saw red, but he choked out a few more words, "What thing?"
Zero tossed his head back and laughed, "The Spirit World of course! I want the Spirit World! The power there is nothing like we have ever seen, the secrets there! Laying asleep, being tossed away! The King is a fool to not use them to conquer other worlds! He is weak!" He stepped forward and Angel stumbled forward as well.
"The King could kill you with a blink of an eye, you will never, ever obtain that power you so desperately desire!" She spit.
Zero laughed again, "Yes, Angel, my young Sorano, there is still so much you don't know about the Spirit World, Lucy has so much power there, the King would never give so much power to a stranger. He trusts her. I needed her to get to him, it would have been so easy."
Cobra growled and he lunged at Zero, his fist colliding with his face. Zero kicked him back as Erza sliced to his right, he grabbed her blade. His eyes dug into hers and he grinned, he grabbed her arm and threw her at Cobra who was coming back to his left. They clashed, ice and fire mixing with blades of iron and earth to fight Brain's counterpart. But nothing truly hurt him, he tossed aside attacks and merely blew away there best magic.
There was no way of beating him.
He was too powerful, and they needed Lucy or Midnight. Everyone was too wounded, Natsu had a deep gash on his eye, blood falling slowly over his face, he even swayed slightly, like he was dizzy. Erza breathed heavily, her body littered with little cuts and scrapes. The rest were exhausted and injured as well, they have barely slept in the past few days they were there and it was truly beginning to get to them.
And Zero was barely hurt, a few scratches here and there but other than that he was grinning like he had already won. After throwing aside Hoteye and dealing a seemingly fatal blow to his head, Zero set his eyes on Wendy, "Ah, you should be helpful," his hand reached out and the girl stumbled back, magic flurrying off her hands and she whimpered. His hand grazed her hair, and then it was frozen, ice came up from the ground and covered his hand and began to grow up his arm. He broke out of it easily, but another growth of cold enveloped his leg. Zero stumbled back slightly and growled, he reached down to break it but his hand was once again covered in ice, then his other hand, his other leg. He growled at Gray who slid up and laughed as he touched his chest.
Ice bloomed out and covered his chest, Zero hissed. "Foolish child."
Cobra heard magic swell once more but lunged forward in time to wrap his poisonous claw around Zero's neck. His magic stopped, "You are going to die here, you will not hurt any of us."
He scoffed, "You think you can kill me?"
Jura stepped up, he held his arm where a deep gash bled dramatically, "We can not kill him, he belongs at the prison, at the Capital. He deserves to suffer there for his crimes, it is not our place to kill him."
Cobra growled and tightened his grip on Zero's neck, "Damn fucking straight it isn't your place to kill him," he glared at Jura, "It's mine, I have every fucking right to kill him right here, I would feel nothing," he hissed.
"That's a lie, you are good Cobra, you have good in you, use this as an opportunity to show it, he isn't worth it."
Cobra shook his head, and his grip loosened, Zero's smile widened with triumph and he headbutted Cobra, he flinched back and held his head in pain, "What the fu-,"
The words had barely left his mouth before gold magic exploded around them, Cobra was thrown back and he was damn near sick of it. He sprang up, his eyes searching widely for Zero. And he found him, still being held where he left him. But now black ribbons of magic were ripping out of the ground to hold him in place, and he looked up to see toned thighs were now wrapped around his neck, golden hair flowing around them, the smell of her in the air. "Sorry to interrupt, but we couldn't let you screw this up," Midnight's smooth voice reached his ears. Cobra's smile widened as he went to hug Midnight, they had only done this a few times in their life, only when words couldn't truly convey what was needed. And he held Midnight tight, his eyes closed tightly and he spoke against his shoulder.
"Thank you for saving her, thank you for being okay, thank you for choosing us."
Midnight stood there shocked, his arms down to his sides, he smiled slightly and shook his head, wrapping his arms around Cobra and hugging him back, "It was barely a choice."
(The next part is fairly graphic, it isn't too bad in my opinion, but if you are easily grossed out or if bloody scenes really make you uncomfortable I suggest skipping the rest of the chapter, I will have a little summary at the beginning of the next chapter for the people that don't want to read the rest. :D)
A strangled sound of pain drew his attention to the girl his mind was full of these days. Lucy's hands were on either side of Zero's head, her eyes glowing a brilliant gold, she looked at him, her face completely void of emotion. It was like they had taken steps backward, Cobra thought for sure that after she had dropped them in Magnolia and defied Brain it would have weakened. They had even said she was fighting it, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Zero's eyes were closed as he groaned in pain, golden magic glittered around Lucy's hands and on his skin. Red blotches of burn appeared across his face.
"Lucy?" He whispered slowly.
She looked at him again, and leaned back, with the terrible crack of bone breaking her hands touched the ground and Zero was ripped from the confides Midnight had created. Zero screamed as his hand was shattered and his leg was bent in half. Lucy hurled him back and rolled on to the ground, Zero flew into a tree. His leg bleeding and he sat up, fear apparent in his eyes.
Lucy took slow steps towards him, and he pushed his back into the tree, trying to get away from her, she leaned down. Her glowing eyes lifeless, and that image would haunt him, long after he was dead. The forest seemed to darken, dark purple casting a dark and evil gleam on the trees. Purple and gold magic slowly seeped from her and flittered to him slowly, and as it touched his skin every molecule was pulled into the spirit world, he screamed in pain as he was ripped apart, muscle fibers and bones ripping and breaking. Blood and organs sprayed out as the magic moved up his body, fluids of all type bursting on and around Lucy. Screams filled the air and they didn't stop. Bile filled Gray's mouth and he leaned away, emptying his stomach on the ground, Erza shielded Wendy with her body, keeping her from the sight.
Cobra rushed forward, "Lucy sto-," but with one last nasty wail, all that remained of Brain and Zero was the top half of a bloody skull.
Blood covered her body, splatters and drips staining her clothes. She leaned back and wiped her face. She turned to face Cobra and he stepped back. He looked to Midnight, and he shook his head as he wiped his face as well.
"I-I… I told her to stop fighting, to use her full strength, to show… no feeling, I didn't think, I'm sorr-," he stopped as Cobra held up his hand. His face unreadable.
He stalked forward, and Lucy fully turned to him. He stopped in front of her, and she looked up at him. Then from open eyes, tears fell. Golden pools of water fell down her emotionless face, mixing with blood and dripping down her chin. Cobra choked and he pulled her into a tight hug, he held her and didn't care that blood was soaking into his clothes. He held her so tight, and salty tears dripped onto her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.
I do not own Fairy Tail.
