Chapter 3: Encounter with The King.
'Have you met a guardian before? One of the so-called Gods?' Irene pondered. Truly, the wizard's world was plagued by unknown entities, there were wild beasts, demons, dragons, Gods and Monsters. There were curses unheard of, pain, death and destruction. And through it all, the humans have placed their fate in the "known".
But what they "know" cannot possibly be enough to eradicate the evils of the world.
The evil she created is even more devastating. This evil coursed through her veins, its existence driving joy and love away from her life. The evil of Dragon Slaying. She resembled a human, and thanks to her enchantment magic she smelt the part. She could walk into a crowd and would belong if she cared enough to, but "Human" she wasn't.
Her skin was impenetrable, tougher than the hardest of shields. Her vision was not impaired by distance. She was fearless, and her heart was almost empty. Truth be told, the evil of dragon slaying magic had left her a totally different being.
And yet, looking at the self-proclaimed king of Dragons, Irene couldn't help but feel that he landed at the shorter end of the stick.
Irene smiled, the breeze ruffling her hair. There was no use overextending her sense of smell, clearly the scent of blood filled the air. Blood, dread and death. Her path into the old world had been blocked, it meant nothing to her, but it meant everything for the Blond man she was travelling with.
Right behind the King of Dragons, through the runes and covers was a land where the Old ones resided. And over there were answers to questions that could heal Naruto.
Where was the Healer Dragon?
If you found yourself in immeasurable torment and pain and you wanted relief, there were so little doctors and healers around that could cure your plight. Perhaps you would get lucky.
But if you never did get lucky, then you would continue to exist to pain and live the rest of your life in resentment if you got lucky, otherwise, you'd just live-in sadness and hurt. But right past those covers and runes was the mention of a Dragon that could end all that suffering. A very elusive being that only scriptures of its feats detailed its existence and she hoped to get her hands on those scriptures.
Irene had been present on the battle field when Acnologia attacked and killed the Belserion Dragon but she was too immersed with fleeing to see a thing. But now, she stood face to face with the one creature whose insanely misplaced point of view contributed to Humanity's survival.
It was very clear that humanity would never attribute her survival to the efforts of the creation and utilization of Dragon Slaying Magic, but that was understandable because even she who was the creator of said magic didn't see it as anything other than a curse.
They were all cursed and Acnologia relished in that fact.
She gripped her staff tighter and continued to walk forward, there was no use turning back.
Perhaps if you found yourself in the path of an unforgiving beast, a monster whose first instinct was primarily focused around ripping out your insides, maybe then, you'd have to run, but Irene was a different type of creature.
If the King of Dragons was a monster that terrified other monsters, then she was "her" who birthed that Monster, The Mother of Dragon Slayers. If fate was ever on her side then today would be the day she found out.
She glanced at Naruto's form on her magical horse, unconscious as he was, his face was contorting into a pained frown. The beads of sweat rolling down his face had all but dried up, gone was the scorching heat that was present in the atmosphere earlier, it was cold now. The land was reacting to the presence of powerful entities.
"Acnologia sama" As the words left her mouth, Irene would feel a rise in the magical power emanating from the Dragon King.
Acnologia whispered something to himself and without even sparing a glance at Irene, he continued to walk forward, his and Irene's steps being the only sounds present in the world at that moment.
Acnologia.
The name brought fear to the hearts of men. There were those who believed that he existed and others who thought it was all made up. The belief in dragons had depreciated over time because dragons were no longer seen adorning the skies like they did hundreds of years ago.
Acnologia paused. He could feel something strange in the air. He had journeyed the world for hundreds of years seeking dragons and dragon slayers alike. The Deaths of thousands had only contributed to his insanity and thirst for the end of all Dragons, and yet, through that journey, he hadn't felt this sensation.
He glanced at the woman. Truly, he hadn't come across a mage more powerful, not since he came across the Black Wizard. But this was different, he couldn't tell what her powers were by merely looking at her. She concealed it so well. Nothing was revealing, but it wasn't her.
There was a man lying on the horses back, almost unclothed, pale yellow spiky short blond hair. Acnologia couldn't tell what he was feeling at this particular moment, was it simply curiosity?
What was this unknown?
In an instant, Acnologia would appear to the horses right, his hand stretched out in an attempt to grasp the unknown, but in that same instant, with a reaction time just as great as his speed, Irene would grab his arm, a cunning smile ever present on her face.
'What is this woman?' Acnologia glared.
Before he could react, a giant red ball of menacing energy would be upon him prompting him to raise his other hand in defense. As it slammed into his outstretched hand, Acnologia would frown a little as the force of the attack would cause his feet to dig into the ground in a fight for dominance. Without dwelling on what just transpired, he would push back against the energy, dissipating it without even a care.
"A distraction" True to his words, Irene, the Horse and Naruto were no longer at his position. He could see them now maintaining a little distance.
"High Enchanter" Acnologia began. "I know what you are, but I do not know what 'he' is".
Irene smiled. She too didn't know exactly what the pale mystery was but evidently, she wasn't as curious as the King of Dragons. Why was that exactly?
"Do you feel threatened?" Irene questioned. Perhaps she was pushing her luck but she didn't care. Her intents were open for translation.
Acnologia simply chose not to reply with words, instead, his body would morph into a towering black dragon in less than a blink. The forest echoing his deep voice as he spoke and a black ball of energy forming in his mouth as his gaze settled on Irene.
"Threatened? No... But if you survived this, then I would be curious".
Irene's staff glowed red for a second, she showed no signs of fear as the impending danger stood before her, its troublesome nature leaving her to rapidly think of a way out. She had less than a second to come up with a procedure and she knew that the nature and brutality being displayed in this battle could change in an instant.
Currently, her enchantments were running wild, concealing her smell, true power and presence. Right now, she was only just a High Enchanter, a human and even if the Dragon King had morphed into a Dragon, he was not going all out at the moment.
But still, a dragon's roar was a dragon roar nonetheless. She could feel the world whiten a little as Acnologia's mouth began to open. Now was the time to act.
If she decided to let her dragon powers bubble to the surface, no doubt it would make the battle more sophisticated, but eventually, she would be overwhelmed by the Dragon's kings might. Another option was to go from a High Enchanter to a Master Enchanter, but in her human form that would leave her severely weakened after a few enchantments.
She needed a way out, and she had to continue in her human disguise to make it happen. Otherwise, even if she escaped in her Dragon form. the King of Dragons would realize who she was and chase her to the ends of the world just to erase her existence.
"How do we ….?" She paused as she realized an option was probably available to her, a quick glance at Naruto and she understood what she had to do.
"Master Enchanter Mode" Irene energy skyrocketed, a magical flare going off around her as she grimaced, her staff began to glow red, she placed on hand on Naruto's shoulder while using the other to grip the staff.
"Enchant" Irene whispered as she took a deep breath.
"Earth, Erect a shield to protect me from a dragons roar"; She glanced at Naruto, "Health, restore his life force".
As the words left her mouth, a menacing red column of earth would rise up from the ground, it's body glowing with thousands of enchantments. This was one of the strongest shields Irene could muster against the dragon kings roar in her human form, she hoped it would work.
In the blink of an eye, the ominous roar would leave Acnologia's mouth, slamming into Irene's earth shield. The very action throwing the Dragon King into feats of laughter. The sight amused him. The audacity of humans amused him. The thoughts of mere humans challenging a superior entity wasn't unheard of, but in this situation, it was laughable because no matter what, they couldn't even begin to understand the true terror that is his might.
Irene exhaled as she witnessed the clash from the other side, her shield was beginning to ware, truly a dragon's roar was powerful, and it didn't help that she was concentrating the other half of her powers to restore Naruto's health. Still the shield was not a complete waste as it provided her with enough time and true to that, she could feel Naruto's heart beat start to fasten to almost human levels. He was awake.
Before her shield gave way, she grabbed Naruto atop the horse, jumping over to the left at a remarkably frightening speed, she appeared meters away from the roar just in time to see it fully obliterate her shield and carve up a path of destruction.
Acnologia watched, his dragon form now replaced by his human appearance. He turned to the left where he had seen the woman flee to. She had performed a truly remarkable feat today; he couldn't say the same had been done by many others since even dragons found it hard to take his roars head on.
He took a step forward. His dragon form was overkill even for one remarkable as her and now he was simply curious. She was going through quite the effort to keep that mystery to herself. The air was saturated with magic now, justly, two powerful beings had come to blows here.
There was something else in the air and its presence was getting stronger.
Acnologia watched as Irene held the pale man's body close. He was starting to wake up.
Irene had Naruto's left arm around her shoulder, she supported his frame, preventing him from falling as he began stirring, the time she bought had paid off.
"Welcome back" Irene smiled, this was the second time she was healing him and both times it had taken remarkable amounts of her magic. Now more than earlier, it was definitely worth it, she didn't know of the powers he possessed but she hoped his earlier display of teleportation could be repeated.
Naruto opened his eyes, it felt like he had been dreaming. Yes, he had.
"Irene" Naruto whispered. He coughed a little as he tried to right his position and then his glowing blue eyes peeked into Irene's and she felt something she hadn't in a while.
Reassurance.
Even if she couldn't phantom a single scenario that they wouldn't be killed in a clash with Acnologia, she still felt like today wasn't the day she dies. And she could tell that much just by looking into those glowing blue eyes.
"Thank you for bringing me back" Naruto said to her. "I was trapped in my mind, in a faraway dream, a world that is only white, and I heard your name." Naruto paused. "I felt the scorching heat, I felt the dread and then I felt the cold." Naruto paused, setting his eyes on Acnologia. "And now I know that we are in danger".
"Yes, indeed you are" Acnologia replied before Irene could speak. He kept walking forward, "You have piqued my interest Humans". He continued only to stop when he got close enough, perhaps humanity would have something interesting to offer him after the destruction of all Dragons.
Until then.
The dragon kings smiled, a devilish grin adoring his face as he looked at Naruto. "I do not understand what you are but …" He took in a deep breath, his cheeks getting bigger and bigger as he charged up an even greater roar.
"Be gone"
The dragon king fired up an even more devasting roar, sending destruction deep into the earth and skies. One that would undoubtably be cataclysmic, a level of destruction that Irene would need to be in her Dragon form to survive.
She panicked, ready to become something more to ensure their survival until she felt a strange yellow energy begin to wrap around her body, Naruto's grip got tighter as he coughed and as the world around Irene became colored in white, their presence would fade away.
Acnologia continued his walk, the magic world could get weird sometimes, but never enough to throw him off balance because Afterall, he was the King of Kings. The Dragon King.
'Why have you come?' Irene heard a voice in her head.
She was in a white world, a part of her mind that she wasn't all too familiar with. This was her mind, the place where she really existed. She looked around noticing another presence in the corner of the room, "her".
She looked on; she saw herself. This was her humanity.
"Irene" She whispered.
This was her before she became the scarlet disaster, before she became a dragon, before she was trapped in a cage by her husband and most importantly, this was her before her heart grew cold.
"It has been so many years" Irene's inner soul spoke. "You've had a life of pain and destruction; you locked your true self away so you wouldn't feel anything. You let me remain trapped inside here. Perhaps you have come to take back your humanity?" She had such a hopeful look on her face.
These two beings were one and the same but different at the same time.
Irene's inner soul had a white dress on with her red hair flowing down past her shoulders, she had a gentle smile on her face as she regarded her other self but this gentleness was lost on Irene.
"This humanity you speak of is lacking" Irene spoke finally, a glare on her face. "You would have me suffer and continue to feel the longing of what I cannot have, how cruel. ".
"But you are here for a reason, are you not?" Her Humanity asked. Truly speaking, this was a part of her soul she had locked up and sealed away. At times she even contemplated if such a place existed, was she dreaming when she created these borders or was it indeed real?
And yet, here she stood.
"If you didn't bring me here, then how have I come to be here? "Irene asked.
Her humanity paused, staring at Irene for what seemed like the longest time before noticing a faint glow emanating from her body. She walked forward, coming closer to Irene.
"What is this energy?"
Irene followed her gaze and saw indeed that her form was shrouded by a faint yellow energy. She knew not what it was, but it held on a little bit of familiarity. It was strange, her timing felt misplaced. She was facing the dragon king, and now she was here.
"This i… "Her humanity placed a finger on Irene's lips, effectively prompting her to not bother with the explanation. It spoke instead, asking a question that Irene wouldn't know how to respond.
"Do you know what this means?", it continued, "This power is tranquility, it is pure. At the very depth of this energy is love and longing, protection and care." Irene didn't know what her caged humanity was going on about, it seemed pretty contempt sprouting nonsense, as always.
"This power revolves around everything you once stood for, ... Love" Irene was confused now, she didn't care about all the love nonsense, she was far more concerned with how she was forcefully shoved down into the depths of her mind.
"Do you not understand yet?" Her inner soul questioned? "This power is going to change everything; it's going to change you. I must warn you Irene, this power will continue to bring you down to the depths of your reality to confront me and reclaim your humanity".
Irene smiled, "You are wrong, I won't be brought down here any longer. Perhaps you have forgotten that I have the power to burry you deeper and deeper, as deep as possible. I am Irene, I am an enchanter. I have the power to not choose a life of misery".
"Then choose wisely Irene, but regardless of your choice, the output is no longer being determined by you." Her humanity smiled longingly, she began to caress Irene's cheek with a finger, "If you want to feel something, anything, then it is your choice. But if you want to remain alone then, you have to leave him. Otherwise, it will all come bubbling back to the surface. And … "
"It will hurt".
Irene frowned before turning her back on her humanity. Glowing rune symbols begin to appear all over the white walls, wrapping the room and its entirety as Irene walked forward with a hand placed against her stomach, rubbing her belly gently.
"I live with the pain of not being human every day, I live with pain I have caused myself; I did this to myself. Every day I think of reasons not to enchant myself to this child growing inside me and every day I come up with lesser reasons not to".
"I may have locked up most of my humanity but I am still Irene. I still feel pain, albeit to a lesser extent but pain nonetheless." She slowly began to ascend, her body floating upwards carefully as she looked back down at her humanity.
'You have a few answers to "our" predicament, and so do I, but... 'She paused in midflight, she had risen above the white room and now watched as it glowed with runes. The room began to sink into the darkness surrounding Irene's mind, its descent giving off a shrinking visage as it vanished, the result of Irene burying her humanity further.
"Remain buried and Keep your tales to yourself".
Irene was now in the darkness of her mind, a familiar feeling. Now it was time for her to wake up.
"Goodbye, Irene".
Irene opened her eyes. Gone was the threat of the Dragon King and the cold dark energy permeating the atmosphere that resulted from the clash of might and ego. It was strangely peaceful now, quiet and just like her humanity had described, there was indeed tranquility in the air.
Irene noticed that she was on her knees, she was no longer supporting Naruto's frame. Instead, he was nowhere in sight. She felt wobbly, her body was unused to such a form of transportation.
"Where is he?" Irene questioned herself, wandering where Naruto could be. She felt his presence close by, but she couldn't make out his form. She focused her gaze on her hand, holding off the dragon king while concealing her true strength was definitely a tale of legends, as it should be. It left her low on magic energy and in need of help.
Help
The very concept of being saved was over a hundred years too foreign.
She focused on her hands, waiting for the unease to clear off and then she pushed off, moving her knees and body until she was back on her feet.
Where was she? The question was pressing but the sight before her was more engaging?
Looking upwards, Irene could see Naruto's form. His arms open wide, his short blond hair waving gently as he floated above the ground, and behind him was the corpse of Zeref's monstrous demon that protruded from the land like a monument. That was the monster Naruto killed earlier.
She was intrigued by the sight. A bead of blood ran down Naruto's nostril prompting him to clean it with his bandaged arm. She hadn't expected him to be fully healed even with her earliest attempt, it was after all a procedure done in haste. But that spark had definitely reignited something in Naruto's body.
When he opened his eyes, Irene once again had the pleasure of seeing those glowing blue eyes. The axiom that described the eyes as the window to one's soul could probably be taken literal in this context.
"So much power and yet so weak". Irene wondered if his eyes glowed because of the sheer amount of power trapped in his body, after all, it was almost unheard of that a mere human could escape a dragon's roar in such close quarters.
She couldn't tell how much power he had, but she knew it would be unmatched in the realm of mortals but perhaps, like a volcano, the eruption cannot always be held back.
Humans were indeed fragile.
Naruto's pale skin made him look majestic and sick at the same time. "A gift and a curse" Irene muttered. She watched as Naruto moved his arm, he brought both hands to his face, staring at his open palm. He truly hadn't gotten the time to inspect his body since he arrived.
He noticed how pale his skin was, sure he had bandages tied around his left and right arm now, perhaps he was compensating for Sasuke's torn limb also, but overall, the appendage that was grown from the First Hokage's cells still felt like his.
Naruto coughed. He was weak and he was different.
He saw the world with more clarity now. His control on reality had slipped away temporarily but now it was more refined and imbued with understanding.
He simply understood more now. All his life he had steadily moved from level to level and each time he understood more about how the world worked. When he used the Rasengan successfully for the first time, he understood that even with overwhelming power, sometimes, it took two to create the needed balance for prosperity.
With Sage Mode, he learnt that life was all about balance. To attain a unique sense of purpose, one must be calm, he must move through the flow of life with tranquility. The Kyubi's Chakra mode thought him that one could find an ally and true friendship in the most unlikely of places.
These lessons were equally important in the making of who he is and while their underlying purpose had not always been clear to him, he was beginning to grasp more now. His final lesson had come as a gift in the form of the six paths yang power.
This was the gift that granted him the ability to grasp the very nature of chakra and to comprehend all universal things. It really did seem like the power to change things for better but he had never truly grasped the concept of understanding on such a scale until he absorbed the vast and wide amount of chakra that had been responsible for putting his body in shambles.
Things have become different for him.
Looking at Irene, he knew very well that if he stayed with her for even a little period of time, he would understand her plight.
The chakra he absorbed made him a God in a mortal body, overwhelmingly powerful but it had compromised his life force and vitality. He recalled when Obito absorbed an incomplete ten tails, even when he had a Rinnegan, he was unable to contain the power at first.
And when he gained control, he lost the power to a tug of war, an outcome which would never have been true if his body had properly adapted to the enormous amount of energy he absorbed. The same couldn't be done to Kaguya because she was a being that could absorb and maintain said power, it couldn't be ripped from her by a simple chakra tug of war, it had to be done with the six paths sealing jutsu.
Whether or not his body would become accustomed to the power was only relative to time. Irene seemed to hasten up the process, even if only by a little, she was able to bring him back. There was untold power flowing through his veins and he even felt as if his sight was more defined. But still, his body was still undergoing a healing process. He couldn't use much of the powers without suffering ridiculous setbacks.
His form began a slow descend, he declined gracefully till he stood in front of Irene.
She ignored Naruto's descend and chose instead to survey the land, the intricate seals that were engraved unto it told a story about Naruto's power and as she guessed earlier, Naruto's energy signature was closely tied to the land. The runes acted as a portal of sorts.
They couldn't really be called runes, but they were close enough.
She witnessed him teleport across the field to confront Zeref's demon and from there she guessed that he had abilities closely tied to Teleportation, that was why she used her powers to provide a healing effect to nudge him to regaining consciousness.
But she wasn't so sure if this was really classified as teleportation, because if it was true teleportation, then he would have teleported them to somewhere closer to their initial location. It would seem like his teleportation abilities were limited and tied to the rune like symbols that covered the land.
He could not teleport outside the borders of the markings, but anywhere inside of it was fair game. Irene extended her sensory range, feeling the entirety of Naruto's energy on the land and getting a raw sketch of how far his markings extended. She couldn't tell what had driven Naruto to mark the such a large area with runes but she guessed that during battle or preparation, he had been driven to marking the land.
The land could easily contain a small bustling city, and yet, it had been fully marked. It was such an impressive feat. Irene had gathered her thoughts, in conclusion, it was safe to say that the pale man had a truly fearsome ability for one that is human. Although his teleportation ability had boundaries, the speed at which it was operated was fearsome.
Irene initially planned to take Naruto to the "Old World", but they could no longer find any help there. The Dragon King was a step ahead of her it seemed, he had arrived before her and had undoubtably destroyed every draconic entity there.
There was a slight chance that clues to the Healer Dragon's whereabouts resided in the old world, but now she would never know so there was no need going on another trip. The number of entities she had estimated that would have the ability to speed up Naruto's recovery were dwindling down.
The Healer Dragon and The Sky Dragon.
Irene didn't know much about the original dragons, but those that survived the war were very elusive. Resting or dead, no one knew.
The Healer Dragon was perhaps the most elusive of all, it was the beast you heard about in tales. Almost a myth. During the time she spent co-existing with Dragons, she heard a few tales about its existence. It was mostly believed that the Healer Dragon appeared once every millennium and only those worthy and in need would notice its presence.
Scriptures of its appearance through time were detailed in the Old World and so she sought to gather as much information as she could from her journey but things never really happened as planned.
She once hoped that she would find the Healer Dragon, and maybe then, perhaps she would be healed of her cursed existence and become human again, but she gave up on thinking like that because of the many atrocities she had committed. There was no way she would be worth of the presence of such a being.
She looked at the pale man in front of her. She didn't know much about this man, but he was clearly in unmeasurable pain. Physically and worse, mentally. She couldn't tell who was worthy or not, but the journey to find the Life Dragon was worth it if taken with him.
"How do you feel?" Irene asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I feel fine, but I guess the majority of my strength will fade away soon, but regardless. I must thank you for what you have done for me" Naruto lips curled into a smile, as he bowed.
It felt weird for Irene. She believed that she was a greater entity but it still felt weird and wrong to see him bow.
"I am Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto "Naruto said while moving his right hand and using a finger to point at his forehead. A habit he acquired as a child, it felt weird not having his headband on.
Irene nodded. She had a question and it would help her to greater understand the man in front of her.
"I could have left you behind "Irene said to which Naruto nodded his head. He understood, he had been a little disappointing during their first introduction. He was still as weak as he was then, but he could hold his form a little better now.
"I have taken you across the lands to where no human should know" Irene continued. "I do not think much of humans but for some reason I decided to help you. You may be different, or the same, but before I continue helping you, I need you to follow me. I don't want your undying loyalty or whatever you have promised the Emperor"
"I simply want you to… "
"I understand, Irene" Naruto interjected.
"I have only one goal in this world and I may be hundreds of years too early or too late to encounter this goal" Naruto replied her.
Things were beginning to make sense to him. One was the fact that Lord Spriggan was able to penetrate deep into his subconscious and converse with him. That was a feat that would generally be impossible, even for one powerful and gifted as Sasuke, it would take a few hours of staring to achieve.
And yet The Emperor had supposedly been able to do it instantly.
It left room for uncertainties and questions and the only meaningful answer to this problem was that the Emperor had ample time to achieve the feat.
There was a lot of inconsistencies about Naruto's arrival and presence in the magic world. Perhaps it could not accurately be described it as a single event.
In a way, Lord Spriggan was the first being to notice his presence. And by knowing, he had attempted to communicate with Naruto over time. And he attempted this feat over and over and over the years, and the day he succeeded was when Naruto was at his weakest.
That was the day of his arrival in the magic world.
To put it simply, Naruto had been travelling through space and time all this while. It was safe to say that the moment he activated his teleportation jutsu and marked this world as a destination, at that point, his presence had been cemented on the land.
Then it also could be said that the teleportation jutsu itself took time to place him at this destination. In other words, he didn't leave Konoha a few hours ago, it could have been countless number of years ago, or even a few days ago. But regardless of that time he left and the time of his arrival and his discovery, there was a possibility that Hinata had arrived before him, or had not arrived at all.
His theory could be inconsistent, but it was the only argument that sensibly explained his weakened state and the absence of his Lover. While he had no way to be sure of the claim, there was one being that could back up his words.
Irene watched as Naruto took a deep breath; he was awake now. He should be awake also.
"Kurama …..."