A/N: Gosh darn it, ok, yes, I know, It's April. I didn't get to 50k by the end of March. It just wasn't ready yet. And speaking of not ready yet. . . yeah, that side quest I've hinted at? I've got, like, half (?) of it written. It probably needs another 10k-15k words. Don't hate me, but that means there likely won't be another chapter for a little while. I swear I'm not leaving you. I did the math today, and without all my little author's notes I've written 92,000 words of this monstrosity. Plus needing another ~15k for aforementioned side quest + filler moments. . . this thing might end up at 130k-150k by the Battle of the Seven Dragons (which is my planned ending point. . . not set in stone, but good god I needed to set some sort of boundary for my own sanity).
Housekeeping-
grumpypirate: Aw thank you! You're so sweet.
Tohka123: Thanks! I appreciate you reviewing so regularly!
nosserate: Aw yiss.
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: I'M SORRY. I know you were looking forward to Talia v. Hades, but it's one of my fave fights and I just couldn't bear to mess with perfection.
Guest: You. . . I just. . . for gods' sakes send me your email so we can just nerd out about mythology and books and FT and random crap. GAH. Side quest is gonna have a healthy dose of mythology in it, so I think you're gonna like it (but, again, it's gonna be a while). And there's definitely a chapter brought to you by way too many glasses of red wine and good tunes (. . . and that lemonade keeps getting less and less watered down, and the second-hand embarrassment of writing it is killing me). And so much dorkin'. All the dorkin'. You'll like the ending of this one.
Thanks, again, to everyone who reads my silliness. I love sharing this ridiculous story with you.
"Is this a freakin' joke?!" clamored the boys of the S-Class Trials.
"Nope. No joke. Now deal with it. After everything that's happened, I don't have any other choice but to cancel this year's trial," snapped the Master as Mira dutifully took preparation notes behind him. This was going to be an administrative nightmare.
"But we can still compete, come on!" whined Grey.
"Yeah! We've been through worse, so let us finish!" Natsu added.
"I ain't leavin' this island 'til I'm S-Class!" growled Gajeel, who had no right to any say on the matter.
"I don't want to cancel it, but try putting yourself in my shoes," griped the Master as he rubbed his budding headache.
"First a Councilmember manipulated our memories and snuck in, then Grimoire Heart interrupted everything—" Mira counted in her head. This damage control was going to be extensive.
"Yeah, when you consider all that, it really can't be helped," Levy added.
"C'mon!" exclaimed Gajeel, "Are you gonna take this crap lyin' down?!"
A pale fist slammed into his bandaged head and knocked him down into the earth. Talia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Hush that mouth of yours, metal-muncher, it isn't even your trial."
Grey groaned cartoonishly. "I wanted to become S-Class, dang it!"
"Don't even think about it, Natsu," snipped Talia as she watched the fire mage open his mouth, ready to complain, "Or I'll knock you so hard, your ears will be ringing for a week." He still protested, but a massive fist from Master into a tree had him clamming up in a hurry.
Across the glade, Laxus was still wrestling with the idea of Lisanna not being dead. Talia saw him out of the corner of her eye, patting the girl's head and pulling her cheeks like a toddler.
"You're real. Well I'm glad that's settled. So what's death like?"
"I wasn't dead! How rude!" she squawked back. Talia smiled and a slight giggle made its way up her throat.
"You've had your fun, Laxus, now don't pester the girl," admonished Evergreen.
"His perception is much sharper, he must've been training hard—we should learn from him," said Freed assuredly. Talia rolled her eyes again. Freed was one of the most intelligent men she knew, but his IQ dropped down to about 40 whenever Laxus was near. It was cute and silly, and it just made everything feel a bit more like home.
Life shuffled about the camp, an attempt at normalcy despite everything. The ship was anchored just offshore, and the plan was to head back to Magnolia in the morning to untangle the bureaucratic mess the guild would be in when they rejoined the rest of the world. Mira was already fussing over how to best handle the situation. Do you bring up the Council spy who illegally posed as a guild member and infiltrated their trial? Or do you bring up the dark guild attack first? How do you keep the Council from thinking Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart were linked in some way? How do you accuse the Council of abuse of power and then, in the same breath, ask for their help? It was a mess.
Talia let her mind wander as her hands followed their little, repetitive tasks. Rolling the excess bandages that Erza had unwound in her fleeting idea of playing nurse. Re-folding blankets that lay askew. Adding another few pieces of firewood under the simmering stew pot. These were all things she had spent the last year doing, and it felt good to return to the rhythm of normalcy.
"Talia, do you have a moment?' came a steady voice behind her. Talia turned to see Erza, a pensive look on her face.
"Of course," Talia dropped the newly-folded blanket onto the pile of others, "What can I help you with?"
Erza looked back toward the rest of the guild, happily chatting and joking as if it was any other day.
"I want to lobby the Master to accept Laxus back into the guild," she said, her mind made up and voice resolute. Talia wasn't entirely sure where to start. She let out a sigh.
"I'm not sure how I can help," she said honestly, "I wasn't here for the Battle of Fairy Tail. I can't speak to what happened."
"Perhaps not," Erza replied, "but aside from the Thunder Legion, you know him best. Sure, he has his flaws, but he has a good heart. A Fairy Tail heart. He came when he was needed most—shouldn't that count for something?"
"Of course it should," replied an exasperated Talia, "But I'm not sure either Laxus or the Master think that this one instance is enough. You know how stubborn they both are." She ran her fingers irritatedly through her long hair. "If I could wave a magic wand and make everything go back to the way it was, I would, but I don't think it's my place. Those thick heads need to butt against each other for a while before they get some sense knocked into them."
"So you won't help me," replied Erza evenly. There was no malice in her words, she was simply weighing the balance.
"I didn't say that," said Talia, a slight snip at the edge of her voice. Of course she wanted Laxus reinstated, and the fact that he should be reinstated was obvious. But that didn't mean egos wouldn't trip things up. "Look, why don't we at least get home first? Give everyone a chance to sleep on it. I know Master will come around eventually, we just have to get the timing right."
Erza nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to speak to the Master—to put the idea in his head." She walked off resolutely into the woods.
Talia opened her mouth to say something against the action, but barely a sound came out before the other redhead was already paces away. She grumbled to herself. Put the idea into his head. As if he hasn't been thinking about it this whole time.
Laxus and the Master always had a rough relationship, or at least always from what Talia saw. They had apparently been closer when Laxus was a child, but by the time his teenage years set in and his father had made a proper mess of things—rocky was the polite way of putting it. They were so similar in their stubbornness and focus, that even the slightest misunderstanding would turn into them locking horns. Laxus grew out of it a bit, but he shifted his ire to a haughty disinterest. Whatever self-importance he scrambled together despite his own insecurities, he latched onto and used it as armor. Nothing could hurt him if it wasn't worth his time.
Talia sighed. One day they'll realize how much they mean to each other. She turned back to her tasks.
By the time Erza, Laxus, and the Master emerged from the edge of the glade, Talia had gotten the camp more or less back into a functional order. But none of the trio looked particularly happy or even comfortable. Laxus's shoulders were tight and his jaw was set. Erza looked like she was stuck in the middle of a puzzle and only to realize that she was missing pieces. The Master just seemed. . . fractious. His bushy brows were furrowed and his fists kept clenching and releasing with whatever was going through his mind. But rejoining his children, he put on a good face as the goofy leader of their rambunctious little group.
"Can't there be some other way to get back to Magnolia? I don't want to get on that death trap of a boat again," whined Natsu, the mere thought of being on the vessel making him look a bit squeamish.
"Well I ain't carrying your butt all the way home," snipped Happy, "You might not be as heavy as Lucy, but there's still no way I'd make it back carrying you. Especially with all the yummy fish I'm gonna catch tonight!" His eyes glinted hungrily and Talia thought she even saw a spot of drool make its way down the corner of his mouth.
"Lay off, cat!" snapped Lucy. Exasperations and jokes continued; a happy little snippet of normal life.
All the dragon slayers suddenly froze, their eyes wide.
"No, it can't—" Gajeel started, but couldn't seem to finish. Talia could feel his heartbeat racing in his chest. There was only one emotion that made a person's heart beat that hard and that fast: terror.
Talia looked from Gajeel to Laxus to Natsu. They were all frozen, eyes unfocused and pulses wild. "Guys, what's wrong? What do you—" the question disintegrated on her tongue and her mouth went dry. She heard it, too. No, that was wrong. She didn't hear it. She felt it, deep and wild in her bones. Her eyes widened and her breath caught. "Is that really a . . . ?"
"A dragon." Natsu's voice wavered. They all looked to the eastern skyline. The clouds began to shudder from the force of his wings, and a monstrous black claw ripped through the bottom of a shredded nimbus.
"We need to get to the ships! Now!" Talia at first didn't even register that it was Gildarts's voice. She had never heard him this grave.
Two beats of his wings and he was almost on top of the island. Everyone was frozen. The first gust of wind hit Tenrou hard—it howled across the rocks, and trees bent to the point of splinters to get away from the onslaught. Talia could feel her magic restoring from the sound, but it was the smallest of silver linings. And then the wind hit her.
She bent her knees and dug her heels into the ground, arms guarding her upper body. She skidded backwards and slammed into a large, warm mass. She felt a muscled arm wrap around her waist and an extra shoulder over her own cut through the battering wind.
Laxus. She looked up at him, startled. His gaze never faltered from the dragon.
Acnologia roared toward the heavens and it took her breath away. Her eyes widened at the sheer force of it. Waves of sound buffeted and battered her; the power she gleaned was exhilarating and terrifying—she thought she was going to tear in half from the force of it. She vaguely felt Laxus's arm tighten around her. Her whole body tensed from the shock of the sound waves, and she barely kept her feet.
"Did nobody hear me?" Gildarts bellowed, "We need to get off this island! We can't fight this. Please, just trust me and run!" Everyone haphazardly stumbled to their feet. Nobody could take their eyes off the dragon.
"Seriously?!" Exclaimed Gajeel.
"A real dragon?" Wendy's voice cut through Talia's daze. It was so small, and every note was flooded with fear.
"So there are still dragons alive after all. . ." Natsu whispered to himself. He was terrified, but there was hope. Here, before him, was a dragon. Dragons weren't gone. Which means Igneel was still out there.
Acnologia landed on Tenrou, and the island quaked beneath him.
With all four feet on the ground, he glanced over the group with uncaring eyes. Without a thought, he opened his maw and roared at the vermin before him. His voice carved a trench in the earth where they stood; rock, sand, and anything that was once upon them went flying. He watched lazily as the humans were scattered by the force of the blast.
Everyone was thrown back by the shockwave. Natsu skidded and slid, but somehow never lost his feet. Laxus gritted his teeth and held Talia tighter as they were pushed backwards. He could feel the power of the roar pounding through every bone, muscle, and organ in his body. If Acnologia's roar reverberated through him this much, he couldn't imagine what Talia felt. She had only just regained her feet before this attack, and the force of this roar took them clear out again. He could feel her entire body shaking.
"Stay with me, Talia," he growled, his lips inches from her ear. The last thing they needed was her overloaded and out of commission against this monster. He gripped her tighter and jumped to a deep-rooted rock just out of the direct path of the roar.
Gildarts held a protective arm over his daughter as she was blown back against him.
"What is that monster?" Cana stuttered.
"There's no time to be scared." Gildarts called out. Most everyone was in a state of mental and physical disarray. Erza had called out a sword and cleaved the ground in two to slow her skid. Lucy was back on the ground, dusty and shaking violently. "We have to get off this island."
Everyone who had been knocked down started to stagger to their feet, the able helping the injured as much as they could. Everyone was already bruised and exhausted from both the exam as well as Grimoire Heart's attack, and magic was running dangerously low.
Wendy was so confused. Dragons were kind. They were gentle. Whether it was her Grandina, Natsu's Igneel, or Gajeel's Metalicana, she had only ever imagined a dragon's warmth and kindness. Hiding under their wings in the rain, gripping scales tight as they raced through the sky, sleeping tucked into a crook in the warmth of their massive bodies. Not. . . this.
"Why are you doing this?!" she cried toward the dragon. Everyone stared in horror as the monstrous black beast turned its deadened gaze upon her. "Why won't you answer me?" He just stared, fangs exposed and maw dripping.
Natsu, having taken the center-brunt of the roar, finally came to a halt and looked up to find Makarov standing in front of him. "Gramps—"
"Get to the ship!" the Master snapped. His body expanded and grew until he was even bigger than the dragon. His broad shoulders threw a massive shadow over every guild member, no matter how far they had been thrown. He took a step toward the dragon and wrapped his arms around its neck. Acnologia hissed and twisted in his grasp, felling trees with his writhing as his deadly tail snapped back and forth.
Talia was in a different place than she remembered. And she was held up in something's crushing grip. Her body trembling, the sound waves still bounced through every fiber of her being. She needed them to settle before they could be useful. She took a steadying breath and let it out slowly. The pressure holding her eased, letting her find her own feet once again. The strong heartbeat at her back felt familiar and comforting, it helped her focus and channel the buzzing in her veins.
Laxus was frozen at the sight of Makarov putting a dragon in a headlock. Hope, worry, and terror all vied for prevalence in his mind. He had a hold on the dragon, for now. What happened when that hold was broken? He felt Talia step out of his grasp, her magic emanating erratically. He glanced at her for a moment—she was shaking, but stable. She could hold her own.
Talia glared at Acnologia as she watched her Master wrestle the dragon. He was hurt. This advantage was momentary. She looked around at her guildmates, everyone seemed to feel the same—they recognized the danger, but hope was growing ever more palpable.
Makarov was having a hard time holding the dragon. The more it wriggled and writhed in his grip, the more he knew he would lose this fight, and soon. "Are you going to ignore your Master's orders, even to the end?! GO!" he bellowed to his children. They had to move. Whatever he was to give, it would all be worth it if they just moved.
The fragile sense of hope and budding courage they had shattered. To the end. Erza and Gray screamed and pleaded for Makarov to stop, to let them help. To please, just let them do something, anything. But hearing their Master struggle against the beast, they swallowed their cries.
Laxus clenched his fist. He was fighting so hard not to let the tears fall. After all of the horrible things he'd done and all the repentance he had searched for, to finally come back and lose everything. He reached out, clasped Talia's hand, and dragged her away from the fight. With his other hand, he grabbed Natsu by the scarf and pulled them both into retreat. He needed to follow this wish. He needed to believe in his Grandfather, just this once.
Seeing Laxus turn, the rest of the guild followed in a silence broken by footfalls and sobs. Talia's feet pounded the earth as she sprinted next to Laxus, his hand still clutching hers desperately.
The fairy's time was up. Acnologia twisted his massive neck free and reared up on his hind legs. He brought his massive weight down into the skull of the over-inflated vermin before him. Makarov staggered back, and Acnologia pounced, throwing him to the ground. He raised a blackened claw and brought it down into Makarov's bandaged chest. Flesh tore and bones cracked.
Talia stopped abruptly. She knew that sound. Her heels dug into the dirt and she ripped her hand out of Laxus's grip. She turned in horror and saw the dragon standing over her Master, fangs bared in a grotesque smile. A pink and white dot flashed back to the fight, scrambling up the inky black and blue scales. Somehow Natsu had gotten out of Laxus's death grip as well. She could barely hear him, but his tone carried more than the words:
"Gimme back. . . Gramps!"
In that moment, all her fear turned to anger. No. Not here. Not like this. Not to my family. She heard everyone else skid to a stop to look back at the dragon and his new, pink-haired nuisance.
Laxus stopped a stride after he felt Talia's hand leave his. He met her eyes, but they weren't hers anymore. Her eyes were red. Life-blood red. Rich and deep and livid. They both turned heel and sprinted back to the fight.
"I'll get Gramps," Laxus barked as they ran and watched Acnologia try to shake Natsu off his massive arm. "Everyone, whatever magic you have left, we've only got one shot."
"No," snapped Talia. Her voice was deeper, older, and it echoed through his bones, "We have more than that," she looked back at Laxus, eyes holding his, "Together we stand."
"Together we fall," he met, resolve settling. Their old fighting quip for when they got into tough spots—he hadn't heard it in so long, and it felt right in his ears once again. I'll have your back, you have mine. Together we stand, together we fall. That was his partner.
The air around her shimmered and vibrated silver, humming tighter around her body until she was entirely enveloped as she ran. Enormous wings shattered the silver encasement—black and feathered, iridescent shimmering greens and purples as they caught the light. The silver envelopment withered in her momentum. Her hair flew out behind her as she ran, her arms and legs now painted black. A deep v of pale skin showed from the top of her shoulders, between the connection of the wings, and down her spine to the small of her back. Her black Fairy Tail mark flickered out from the base of her neck as her hair caught the wind.
"I'll get his attention, then everyone hit him at once," she instructed, "Dragon slayers with Exceed," she called, "on me." Laxus caught her eye—a wicked smile spread across her face, eyes shining with power and adrenaline.
"And Laxus—" he felt his determination solidify. He would follow her into any battle. Her wings opened fully and snapped closed, rocketing her forward—"Bring me thunder!"
Talia could feel anger boiling beneath her skin, searing every tendon and sinew as she flew. In the back of her mind she knew she should be angry, but she was surprised at just how livid she actually was. The thought was fleeting, however, as it was cast aside by an overwhelming mantra:
HOW DARE YOU.
YOU COME TO MY HOME.
INTERUPPT MY RITUAL.
THREATEN MY FAMILY.
GET. OUT.
Acnologia hadn't even noticed the group's change of direction. He was preoccupied with the tiny pink nuisance that wouldn't release his arm. He shook it with annoyance, as one would a stray leaf.
Talia's wings carried her a short distance from his head. She hovered in the air, great black wings beating hard to hold her place. She could feel Morrigan's presence—an odd shimmer and warmth just behind the eyes—they would fight this together. Anger burned through her veins, bleeding through from the Morrigan. Talia wasn't sure where this hatred came from, but she was more than happy for the help.
She closed her eyes and took a breath as she reached out with her left hand toward the dragon, fingers outstretched. Her eyes snapped open, fixated on Acnologia's gaping maw. She clenched her outstretched hand, and a massive black magic circle appeared in front of her. She pulled her elbow back hard, and held the great, silvery tether between her and the dragon.
"Swallowed Screams," she hissed, and gritted her teeth. Round two, here we go.
Acnologia stopped his swatting. His dead white eyes looked around almost frantically as his mouth opened and closed back and forth, saliva dripping from between his massive teeth, but no air moved down his windpipe. He slammed his claws to the earth in anger, the island broke beneath him and trees uprooted in his fury. His head and neck whipped back and forth, trying to free himself of his binds.
Talia heaved against the dragon as he wrestled for his breath; it was taking most of her strength to keep the spell intact. She could feel her control slipping. She would just have to push through with even more power. He was getting angrier by the second, and she wasn't done with him yet. She stretched out her right hand toward the beast, and another massive, black magic circle appeared beside the first: "Pandemonium."
Wisps of silver began to swirl around the dragon's head. Dancing and humming and spinning ever more rapidly. Acnologia shook his head violently, trying to escape the cacophony that the sphere wreaked on his ears. There was just noise. Noise everywhere, from every direction, and the sheer pressure of it was throwing off his balance and blurring his vision. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, he couldn't even think.
The rest of Fairy Tail kept running toward the beach.
"Is she actually. . . holding off a dragon single-handedly?" Lucy sputtered, eyes wide as stumbled in the sand. Freed caught her before she fell once again.
"Not for long. She had almost exhausted her control-time in her previous fights—" he pulled her back into a jog and squinted worriedly at the small black figure in the sky—"I can feel her power becoming unfocused."
"What does that even mean?" she squawked.
"Do you honestly think Natsu is the only one with power outbursts?" They didn't have much time. The huge, black magic circles in front of Talia were starting to falter. "With as much raw sound energy she uses, what do you think happens when she loses control of it?" They were almost in range of the dragon again.
"She's as destructive as Natsu?"
"We've had a carpenter on-call for a while," Mira chimed, catching up to them. "But that Swallowed Screams is one of her hardest spells to control. The circle is already phasing-" she was right: even from this distance, they could see the circles begin to flicker and crack as Talia held fast against the dragon.
"Wait, what's 'Swallowed Screams'?"
"She folded sound waves into a seal and shoved it down his throat," Mira said flatly, "but keeping that seal in place requires her to constantly physically tether it down—like bottling a tsunami and sealing it with your thumb. Except in this case, she's tethered to a dragon."
Makarov had been thrown aside by the dragon's tail in his flailing, but somehow Natsu was still hanging on.
"Hurry!" spat Talia from above. She grit her teeth and dropped her head forward, eyes pinched shut in concentration and against the growing pain. "I can't hold him. You all have to hit him—hard."
Laxus found his mark and held it—right in front of his fallen Grandfather. If anything was going to touch the Old Man again, it would have to go through him and his lightning first.
"Hey morons!" he bellowed, as the rest of the guild readied their magic, "All the power you have! Anybody who says 'I don't have any more than this', I'll personally kick your ass!"
Acnologia reared his head to the sky and roared, the beam of destruction headed to the stars. The blast shattered both of Talia's spells and knocked her backwards a good distance. Her arms fell to her sides and her wings faltered, dropping her ten feet before she caught herself again. Her breathing was fast and ragged—now she really had just one shot left. It wouldn't matter if she could replenish her magic if her body was past its limit. She could see all of Fairy Tail about to strike from the beach, and the Dragon Slayers fast approaching her position. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.
The blast from the beach was exquisite. She could hear the echoes of the spellcasters—Heaven's Wheel. Ice-Make Lance. Water Nebula. Solid Script: Fire. Evil Explosion. Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun. All wrapped up and focused within Laxus's lightning. The blast area encased the dragon entirely, and for a moment there was a wonderful idea of hope.
And then the smoke cleared: Acnologia had barely moved. Talia gritted her teeth. One shot left.
Wendy, Natsu, and Gajeel floated next to Talia, white and black Exceed wings and small colorful ears popped out from behind the backs of each. She straightened, stretching up to her full height, and winced at her ever-growing count of injuries.
"Unison breath attacks. All of you. On the count of three—aim for the underbelly base of his neck." They all nodded.
Talia opened her great, black wings to their full breadth and brought them swiftly together, speeding her toward their foe. The Dragon Slayers and Exceed were close behind. When they were back in range, it was time to act.
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Iron Dragon Roar. Sky Dragon Roar. Fire Dragon Roar.
Talia reached for everything she had left. She spread her arms wide and opened her chest to the sun, head tilted back. She could feel the humming through every part of her body, from fingertips, up through the soft skin of her inner wrists. It danced along the sides of her ribcage, tickling as it built intensity. The air around her thrummed in silvery pulsations—it begged to be released, but no, not yet. Give me everything. The feathers at her back shook with the vibrations, and she closed her eyes. She could feel the Morrigan, just under the surface of her consciousness, pulling the sounds of the world around her closer and closer until it felt like her skin would shred from the inside out if she didn't release them.
Now.
She had never done a breath attack before. It didn't have a name; it was older than names. Her red eyes opened, fixated on the inky black dragon before her. She took a deep breath, feeling all the humming, bubbling, rumbling under her skin spiral into her chest. A massive black magic circle appeared in front of her—the diameter was easily thrice her height—and she barely registered the three ravens twisted into the script.
And then she couldn't hold it any longer: she screamed.
Wind and steel and flame twisted into a massive, catastrophic beam of energy. But it was dwarfed by Talia's silver attack. The blasts hit Acnologia exactly where intended, and the dragon was twisted and catapulted backwards by the force.
Out of the corner of Talia's eye, she saw the black and blue mass behind her. She couldn't form the words fast enough. Turning in the air, she threw her arm behind her, toward the dragon slayers. A sound wave hit the three and their Exceeds, causing them to careen backwards through the air, tumbling head over heel until their wings fumbled enough to remember which way was up. Gajeel and Natsu spun back to bark their irritation at the black-winged mage, but found the air before them empty. She was gone.
From the island, the air attacks were staggering in their power. They hit the dragon with such force that everyone felt the echoes of the impact in their own bodies. The shockwave battered the island; anyone standing was forced to their knees, if they kept their feet at all. Trees within half a mile were flattened. Stones cracked and fell from their cliffsides. Everyone was exhausted and drained, but the feats today were exhilarating.
Everyone's breath caught. They watched as Acnologia was thrown backwards by the attacks. Maybe this was it. They actually held their own against a dragon and lived to tell the tale. Maybe their fairy tale wasn't over yet, and if their luck was especially good, they might even make out with a happy ending.
No.
Laxus saw Acnologia's tail the same time Talia did—just a breadth of a moment too late. He bellowed her name in a desperate, feeble attempt of warning, and watched as the other dragon slayers were thrown out of the way by one of her sound waves. But she hadn't moved from the line of fire.
The dragon's tail bludgeoned her with the point-blank force of a falling meteor. It rocketed her back down to earth at an ungodly speed. Laxus watched, helpless, as her magic disintegrated into silver strands as she fell. Her fall felt like an eternity, but it barely lasted a heartbeat. Both she and Acnologia hit the island at the same time.
Tenrou shook under the onslaught, a distant cliff caved in on top of the dragon where he fell—shuddering with each boulder lost from the hillside. Talia crashed into a granite outcropping just over the tree line. Before even cognizant, Laxus felt his lightning crackle around him and teleported to where she fell.
The rock had split and crumbled a thousand times over. Laxus stumbled over the wreckage, his vision not quite focused. His head snapped back and forth, haphazardly searching for some sign of life, some sign of her. Please no. Not again. No, no. Not again. He scrambled up the debris, grasping at the jagged rocks with shaky hands and shoving them aside. The stones reflected broken red bricks in his mind's eye. Another pile he dug through. Another time he lost her. But that one had pieces of her and her life—torn photographs and shards of broken furniture-strewn all throughout it. This was cold and uniform and unyielding.
His own blood thundered in his ears, and he might've thought he was dreaming save for the stones working to shred his hands. All he could think was:
Not again.
Please, no.
Not again.
He had worked so hard to better himself. He had come so far. He had just gotten his partner back. And now he was digging through rubble to find her again. His breath was fast and heavy. He had to find her.
He abruptly stopped digging. A heartbeat. He was sure of it. He stayed absolutely still, trying to hear it again.
There! Ten feet above him, fifteen feet to the left. He clamored to the point and dug even faster. Rocks clattered down the broken hillside, and sweat soaked the back of his rust-colored shirt as he worked under the hot sun. Farther and farther he dug, pausing only to listen for more heartbeats. He was close, he could practically feel it.
He was right. More shattered stone pushed aside revealed a dirty, pale arm, and he followed it—clearing the largest rocks away from her body. He could hear her breathing shallowly, painfully, but he didn't think she was conscious. He carefully moved the rest of the rubble off and repositioned himself behind her. Carefully, he hooked his elbows under her arms and pulled her up against his chest, lifting her out of the crumbling cliff side. Her body shuddered from the sudden movement and her breath hitched, quickly devolving into coughs that racked her body. Red droplets landed on the dusty grey stones with every rasp. She was limp in his arms.
He repositioned her—one arm under the bend in her knees, the other supporting her back, and her head bowed into his chest. The coughing had subsided, but her breathing was shallow and ragged. Her blue and white polka-dotted swimsuit hung off of her in tatters. He had nothing to cover her with, all he could do was hold her closer to his chest. Now was not the time to worry about modesty. He held her close and teleported back to her guildmates.
Lightning cracked and thunder rumbled as Laxus appeared before the group. Mira gasped at the sight of the limp woman in his arms and called Wendy to them. Laxus looked toward where the dragon fell, the light of Wendy's magic working on the worst of Talia's injuries.
"So what now?" he ground out. Everyone was battered and exhausted numerous times over. There was no way they'd be able to beat the dragon, and he doubted they'd have time to escape.
"I don't have enough time to write a rune barrier, I can already see the dragon rising from the wreckage," answered Freed, his jaw tight.
"We could use script magic," chimed Levy, "Freed, I'll need your help, but maybe we can get some sort of shield up before he comes back."
"All right," said Mira to the group, "everyone focus the rest of your magic power on Levy and Freed! Whatever you have left."
Laxus felt Talia stir in his arms and he looked down at her frail form. He watched as her green eyes slowly opened, her focus lagging and fuzzy. "Hey," he said softly, "welcome back." He didn't realize how worried he was until he saw her eyes open. The lead in his bones lightened, and his breathing eased. She looked up at him, green eyes hazy but mostly aware, and nodded weakly.
"Come on," Mira ordered as the dragon's anger reverberated in the distance, "Everyone hold hands. We'll need anything we can get."
Laxus took them toward the quickly-forming circle of mages and stood next to his grandfather. Talia looked over her shoulder at their Master and extended her left arm weakly toward him. Makarov's eyes watered at the sight of both her pitiful state and the warm, determined eyes of his grandson. Laxus nodded to him and Makarov took her hand. Freed joined them on Laxus's right side and put a hand on the lightning mage's shoulder.
Acnologia was skyborne again, his great black and blue wings beating him steadily higher into the sky.
The circle of mages hummed with magic, gold and warm to the touch. This was it. One last shot, one last defense. The air shimmered around them, glowing bright as a sunbeam.
Together we stand.
Together we fall.
And then they were gone.
The sun was bright behind her eyelids all of a sudden, like someone had thrown open the curtains in the middle of the day. Talia scrunched her eyes closed and tried to bury back into her pillow. It was soft and warm and it was the first night she hadn't had a nightmare or ill-dream in a long time.
And then It breathed.
Talia squeaked in surprise, and her eyes snapped wide as she jumped back off what she thought was her pillow. Her body screamed at her for the sudden movement—her breath gave a high-pitched yip of pain and she groaned, curling into herself and arms wrapping around her sides. A whimper left her mouth before she could quell it. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but was too distracted by pain to understand what—or who—it was.
Laxus suddenly felt cold, like the blanket had fallen off the bed. His blue eyes opened groggily, the sand of sleep still in the corners and dusting his eyelashes. He groaned and sat up, bringing his left hand to rub his eye. This wasn't his bedroom; this wasn't even his hou—ACNOLOGIA! The memory jolted him awake and his eyes shot open, looking around frantically. But there was no dragon.
The leaves above flittered together in the breeze, and the sunlight danced along the grass as it filtered through the branches. Half-forgotten voices rode the wind: memories of conversation snippets or a cheer in the background. Birds chirped in the trees and somewhere; a few bushes in, a ferret skittered under dry leaves.
"Talia—" he moved toward her hunched form and laid a warm hand on her back, "—are you ok?" She nodded and took in a long, slow breath. Her hand came up and flipped her long hair back, away from her face. She took another steadying breath before catching his concerned eye.
"I'm ok. I think. . . I think I can walk."
Laxus sat back on his heels to give her space. It was only then that he noticed—
"Crap!" shrieked Talia and covered her almost-bare chest with her arms. A scarlet flush found its way to her chest, neck, and cheeks. She was so embarrassed, she almost matched her hair. In the fight, her swimsuit had been all but shredded completely. Whatever was left looked like it had every right to give way any moment.
Laxus threw his head back and laughed. Relief flooded him: he couldn't stop it. They survived the dragon. They were alive. He had a chance to return to his family. And the woman he had just carried in his arms was embarrassed about her post-battle state of undress. It was stupid and hilarious and ridiculous. His sides began to stitch and his breath hiccupped in his laughter.
Talia watched him devolve into giggles with utter confusion.
What was he-? Is he laughing at-? But the longer she watched him, the more she felt her own laughter bubble up in her throat. They made it. They were alive. They survived Acnologia.
Oh what a lovely little thing I've made, I wonder what would happen if I just. . . *crack*
I like the Joss Whedon method: "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke." So. . . yeah, we're gonna end the April Fool's Day chapter with a laugh. I feel like we all probably need it.