Uhhh heyyy. Sorry it's been basically a year since I've last updated, but I'm not dead! Life has been pretty crazy for a number of reasons, but its kinda settled down right now so I'll hopefully be updating a little more. Enjoy :3
Daryun P.O.V.
A few hours later, there's a knock on the door to their hotel room. Daryun stands up and opens the door, immediately putting a finger to his lips, signalling his want for the guest's quietness. Said guest nods, although looking curious, and starts speaking.
"Hello, Daryun. The guild is going down to the bar to celebrate the win we got. Master wanted me to come and get you." The guest whispers. Daryun nods his thanks.
"We will be down momentarily. Thank you for receiving us." The guest nods and turns around to leave, and Daryun shuts the door quietly. Natsu looks at him curiously. "A guild mate, I assume, just came by to inform us that Master Makarov is hosting a celebration at the 'bar' and would like us to go. I shall wake His Highness so that we can go down." Natsu nods and stands up, Happy hovering over his shoulder and Erza behind him.
"We'll meet you both down there." She says, going in front of Natsu to lead the way. Daryun walks over to Arslan's bed and shakes him lightly, waking up the slumbering Prince. Arslan opens his eyes groggily, making a sleepy sound.
"We are wanted down at the bar for celebration." Daryun explains. Arslan nods and slides out of bed, leaning against Daryun as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Okay." He says, walking towards the door, becoming more and more awake as the seconds tick by. Daryun follows after him, and in a couple of minutes, they reach the bar. It was, surprisingly, relatively quiet. Natsu and Gray hadn't started fighting yet, but it was only a matter of time. Daryun guided Arslan over to the bar and sat him down, sitting down next to him.
"What can I get for you two?" The bartender asks.
"Could I have a strawberry smoothie, please?" Arslan asks.
"Alright, and for you?"
"The same, please." Daryun answers.
"Of course." The bartender leaves, coming back after only a couple seconds with their drinks. She places them down on the bar and leaves, leaving the two wizards alone. Arslan sips at his smoothie happily, smile become more amused as the sounds of Gray and Natsu finally noticing each other reaches his ears.
"Those two are going to get in trouble if they keep that up." Daryun sighs, shaking his head.
"I'm sure they'll be alright as long as they don't do anything too bad." Arslan giggles.
"Of course, but you know those two."
"Yea, you're right. Something's going to happen." As soon as Arslan says that, Natsu and Gray use their magic and end up freezing Happy and frying his fish, sending both the fish and Happy flying. Happy lands safe on the ground, but his fish…. Erza grits her teeth and stands up, marching over to the two boys.
"Uh oh." Arslan mumbles, taking another sip of his smoothie. Erza grabs both Gray and Natsu by their hair.
"Enough!" She exclaims, slamming their heads together. Arslan winces in sympathy, letting out a quiet 'ooooh.'
"I'm sure they deserved it. They'll be alright, Your Highness." Daryun says, comforting his Prince.
"Hopefully. That looked like it hurt."
"It probably did, but Erza wouldn't do anything that would permanently damage her teammates. Hopefully." Arslan huffs. The door opening makes Daryun's attention switch from Erza's angry assault to the door. He's surprised to see Gajeel walk in.
"Man, I'm finally back. Talk about annoying." Gajeel says.
"Welcome back!" Arslan greets him.
"Thanks." Gajeel replies, scanning over the occupants in the bar.
"Where were you all this time?" Happy asks, flying next to the no longer fighting Natsu.
"Yeah! Why'd you skip out on our match?" Natsu asks.
"Oh, geez." Gray says, face-palming.
"Do I hafta remind you I crash landed behind the coliseum 'cause you acted crazy during the fight?!" Gajeel exclaims, getting close into Natsu's face.
"Huh? Is that true?" Natsu turns and asks Gray.
"You seriously forgot until just now?" Gray responds, a slightly concerned look on his face.
"That must've been rough!"
"You act like you weren't involved!"
"Well, whatever. Anyways, follow me, Salamander. I've got something I want to show ya.' Gajeel says. "Wendy, you come too." Gajeel leaves, Natsu and Wendy following after him. Gray doesn't even hesitate before trailing after the three dragon slayers.
"Hey, I wanna come too!" Lucy exclaims. She sighs and walks after them, stopping by Arslan and Daryun.
"You guys should come too. It'll be fun, come on!" She grabs onto Arslan's arm and pulls him up, bringing him with her and out the door. Daryun follows close behind them, keeping a close eye on Arslan.
"What exactly is down here, Mr. Gajeel?" Wendy asks, looking around the cave Gajeel had led them too.
"Just be quiet and follow me." He replies, not even looking back at her.
"Why'd you only bring us?" Natsu asks.
"Does this have something to do with Dragon Slayers?" Happy wonders.
"Probably." Lily replies.
"Not that it's kept the gawkers away, though." Carla sighs, arms crossed in front of her.
"Excuse us for being gawkers." Gray speaks.
"We can't help that we're curious!" Lucy says.
"Lucy told me to come along, but if you want us to leave we can." Arslan says. Carla sighs.
"No, it's alright. You're already here so there's no point in you going all the way back." She says.
"This is the place." Gajeel says suddenly, stopping his walking.
"What is this?!" Wendy asks.
"What the…" Gray trails off.
"Animal bones?" Lucy asks.
"Dragon bones." Natsu answers, hesitant. "It's a dragon graveyard…"
"These are all dragon bones?"Happy says.
"There's so many!" Carla exclaims.
"I guess this proves the existence of dragons." Lily says, observing the bones in front of them.
"What is this place?" Gray asks.
"How should I know?" Gajeel replies.
"What's the deal? Why are there so many dragons?" Natsu asks, looking around. A worried look is planted on his face.
"Something must've happened here." Lucy says.
"Who knows, maybe Igneel's in here too." Happy says rather glumly.
"Happy!" Carla exclaims.
"Oh! Sorry…" Happy trails off, covering his mouth.
"No, he ain't here." Natsu says.
"It's been fourteen years since our dragons disappeared. But I'd say these bones are much older than that." Gajeel says.
"Oh! Milky Way!" Wendy mumbles suddenly.
"What's the matter, Wendy?" Lucy asks.
"Milky Way! It's one of the secret Dragon Slayer arts Ms. Porlyusica taught me." She says. "'Hear the voices of the dragon spirits that lead to the River of Heaven'. I just assumed it was an attack spell, but maybe it was referring to this. Milky Way might be a spell for hearing the voices of dragons that have become spirits."
"What?" Gajeel asks.
"You mean..?" Natsu trails off.
"If we listen to the voices of these dragons, we might find out what happened here, and what happened to our own missing dragons." Wendy says. "I need something to draw with. Like a stick." As if her words were a command, everyone started looking around for a stick for Wendy to draw with.
"Found one!" Arslan exclaims, pulling out a long stick about his height.
"Thank you, Wendy says, grabbing the stick from Arslan's hands. She walks to the middle of the cave and starts digging symbols into the ground, creating a sigil for her spell.
"Just as I thought." She says as she finishes writing. "I got these characters wrong because I had assumed it was an attack spell."
"A magic circle?" Lucy asks.
"What are you doing, Wendy?" Natsu asks.
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Carla says.
"This is the Milky Way spell." Happy answers.
"Please step back a little, everyone." Wendy says, moving the stick away and going to the center of the circle. "O wandering dragon spirits, may your voices reach me. Milky Way!" She raises her arms up to the sky and a shimmering green light bursts from the circle, following her arms up to the ceiling.
"Oh, wow!" Arslan exclaims, watching the light burst across the ceiling.
"It's so pretty!" Lucy exclaims. Little specks of the green light start to fly around, getting closer to the bones.
"The bones!" Daryun says, watching the mounds of bone carefully.
"Are you sure about this, Wendy?" Gray asks.
"I'm searching for a dragon spirit. The residual thought energy here is very old and weak…" Her eyes widen in surprise and she trails off. "I found one!" She presses her hands together and the green light starts swirling above her.
"Whoa!" Gajeel exclaims.
"Is that the spirit?!" Lily asks.
"Wendy?" Happy asks, concerned.
"She seems to be concentrating." Carla says. A hand comes from the green vortex, reaching down to Wendy.
"Holy Mithra!" Daryun exclaims, pushing Arslan behind him gently and summoning his weapon. Arslan peaks out from behind him, watching as a large, green dragon emerges from the vortex. The dragon roars at them, effectively scaring them all, and then starts laughing.
"The look of surprise upon humans' faces never ceases to amuse me." The dragon says, smiling dangerously at them. He receives blank stares back, and Daryun lowers his weapon slightly. Arslan steps out from behind him, tilting his head curiously at the dragon.
"So this is what a dragon looks like…" He mumbles.
"My name is Zirconis. I was also known as the Jade Dragon. I'm impressed that you have evoked my spirit. You used the Sky Dragon Grandeeney's art, I presume? Where are you?" The dragon looks around, as if trying to find said Grandeeney. Finally, he spots Wendy kneeling down in front of him. "Oh, how adorable! So it was this tiny Dragon Slayer who woke me?" He lowers his head, looking at Wendy curiously.
"Hey, you! Get away from Wendy!" Natsu exclaims, raising a fist and marching up to the dragon spirit.
"No! I shall eat her!" Zirconis says, extending his head out to Natsu.
"Why, you…!"
"I'm obviously joking. You're such a foolish species." Zirconis pokes a finger through Natsu, sliding through his chest as if through air. "See? I can't even lay a finger on you in spirit form." Natsu fumes while Zirconis laughs.
"You…" Natsu sounds as if he's holding himself back from yelling at the dragon.
"What's with this crazy person?" Lucy asks.
"He's a dragon, not a person." Gray says.
"Or at least the spirit of one." Gajeel adds.
"He could just be poking fun. It seems like he's been dead for a long time and hasn't spoken to anyone since then." Arslan points out.
"Uh, what happened here?" Carla asks, catching Zirconis' attention.
"There are all these dragon corpses here…" Happy says.
"We woke your spirit to learn what happened to them." Pantherlily continues.
"I have nothing to tell you humans! Begone!" Zirconis demands.
"I'm a cat." Happy points out, raising a hand.
"Ah, yes." Zirconis doesn't seem to even pause and think about that before continuing. "It happened over 400 years ago."
"Talk about having loose personal rules." Gray mumbles. Arslan laughs a little.
"Well, it's helping us in this case so we can let it slide, right?" He says. Gray sighs.
"I suppose we can." They turn back to listen to Zirconis' story.
"Dragonkind once ruled this world. We freely and prosperously soared through the skies, raced over the land, and crossed the seas. Everything in this world belonged to dragonkind. Humans were nothing but food to us. But there was a foolish dragon who disagreed with dragonkind's supremacy. It spouted nonsense about creating a world in which we could coexist with humans. Some dragons agreed with this, and some didn't. And between them…. War erupted. I fought on the opposing side."
"Huh? The opposing side? Meaning…" Lucy trails off.
"I am not fond of humans. I do like them as food, however." Zirconis says, sounding satisfied.
"You're chatting with your food! Ha ha!" Natsu laughs, teasing the dragon.
"Hey, you! Stuff like that ticks me off!" Zirconis exclaims, staring down at Natsu.
"So, what became of this war?" Carla asks, moving the conversation back to the point. Zirconis clears his throat.
"Both sides were evenly matched. The fighting between dragons tore many lands asunder. Eventually the dragons supporting coexistence came up with a foolish granted humans magic that could kill dragons - Dragon Slayer Magic - and had them join the war."
"Is that how Dragon Slayers first came about?" Happy asks.
"Mm." Zirconis hums, confirming Happy's question. "The Dragon Slayers possessed immeasurable power. Victory seemed certain for the dragons who sided with human coexistence. However, that's when the unforeseen happened. The overly-powered Dragon Slayers also began to kill the dragons who had desired to coexist with humans. Among these humans was one man who had been bathed in too much dragon blood. Just saying his name aloud is frightening. The man continued to slay countless dragons and soak in their blood. Eventually, his skin turned to scales, his teeth turned to fangs, and he became an actual dragon himself."
"A human… turned into a dragon?" Lucy asks, horrified.
"That is the fate that Dragon Slayer magic confers." Natsu and Gajeel swallow nervously. "The dragons you see here were exterminated by that man as well. Despite being human, the man became king of the dragons. The war the Dragon King gave rise to was called the Dragon King Festival. And the king's name was… Acnologia. A dragon - and yet not a dragon - with wings of darkness." The name gets a reaction from each of the guild members.
"Acnologia.." Lucy mumbles.
"You know the dragon?" Daryun asks, facing her sharply.
"We faced that dragon on Tenrou Island, Fairy Tail's sacred ground. But it was far too powerful for us. We were no match for it at all!"
"That thing used to be human?" Gray asks.
"That's insane!" Gajeel exclaims.
"It was by his hand that most of the dragons were killed off. This was all 400 years ago." Zirconis starts disappearing, particles coming off of his spirit form and fluttering away. "You and I have-" He can't finish speaking before he's gone, spirit no longer able to hold on.
"Hey!" Natsu exclaims.
"He disappeared!" Gray says, surprised.
"We still got more to ask you!" Gajeel says, pointing up to where Zirconis' spirit just was. The light from Wendy's magic circle dulls until it's gone, leaving Wendy kneeling in the circle.
"Wendy!" Happy and Carla exclaim, running up to her.
"It's no use. His thought energy has completely faded away. I suppose he's 'attained enlightenment' as they say in the East." She says.
"He's finally passed on, then. After 400 years, it must be a relief." Arslan says. "It would just be cruel to try to talk to him again after he's finally been able to rest."
"Of course, Your Highness. It doesn't look like anyone here would be able to talk to him again anyway. Wendy was the only one who could, and she can't call on his spirit anymore." Daryun says. Arslan gives him a light smile.
"Good. He deserves to rest."
"Well, this situation has gotten a lot bigger now." Gray says.
"Too big!" Lucy exclaims.
"Using too much Dragon Slayer magic… will turn us into real dragons?!" Natsu yells, turning around to face Gajeel, panicked.
"That's no good!" Gajeel says.
"What should we do?!" Wendy asks, tears pricking her eyes.
"That's not likely." It's not a voice Daryun recognizes. He steps slightly in front of Arslan, raising his spear.
"Who's there?" He demands. The person walks closer, stepping into view.
"We took the liberty of eavesdropping. It appears out research is in agreement with historical fact." They say.
"We?" Arslan mumbles.
"Tell me, are you familiar with the demons of the Book of Zeref?" The person pauses, letting everyone think about it. "Acnologia is akin to them. It's theorized that Zeref turned a Dragon Slayer into Acnologia."
"Zeref did?!" Happy asks, shock evident in his tone.
"That makes subduing Zeref, the source of its creation, the first step in conquering Acnologia." A white haired girl comes up next to him as he speaks.
"Who the hell are you?!" Gajeel exclaims.
"Defeat Zeref?" Natsu asks.
"Oh!" Lucy says. "Are you… Yukino?!"