Dragonheart
Chapter 3: Past Memories
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters involved except the members of Dragonheart.
Slicer watched the small magic display with Anna as his team made their way through the debris field of Sky Labyrinth. As he watched Albin and his team his mind drifted away from the scene, back to the months following his departure from Fairy Tail.
Slicer, much younger than his current self, was walking down a long dirt road, a small sack of belongings slung over his shoulder. His shoulder was still sore from where the Fairy Tail guild mark had been removed. He stopped to look up and check the sun's position in the sky.
"Still half a day yet." He said to himself before resuming his trek.
He didn't get much further before he heard screaming ahead, and lots of it. He dropped his sack and instinctively looked around, seeing black smoke rising in the distance he took off in a sprint towards it. Rounding a bend in the road he saw a small village was being attacked. Charging toward the town he saw a group of figures standing amidst the village streets with torches and weapons.
"Spectral Body."
Slicer's body became transparent as he disappeared into the ground beneath him. Unbeknownst to his targets who were laughing to themselves.
"The boss was right! This town was easy pickins'!" one of them laughed aloud.
"Yeah, with Fairy Tail too weak from that guild war this place was a cakewalk!" another answered.
Slicer appeared in a flash, his boot connected solidly with the first man's jaw sending him flying into the air, only to slam down a few feet away. He spread his legs out as he landed on one hand and spun himself kicking the remaining bandits away from him.
"Spectral Body."
He disappeared into the ground once again before the rest of his adversaries could regain their senses.
"What was that!?" one of them shouted.
"I don't see anything!" the second man shouted back.
Slicer appeared in a nearby alleyway, peeking around the corner he spotted one of the bandits with his back turned to the alley's entrance. He quickly turned the corner and crept forward before wrapping a hand around the man's mouth and torso, dragging him back into the dark alley one of the other bandits yelped in fear as his comrade disappeared. Slicer constricted his grip on the man causing him to pass out.
"There! It's in the alley!" The bandit shouted.
Slicer looked up as he heard heavy bootfalls approaching him. He stood and went to lean back against the wall.
"Spectral Body."
Phasing through the wall he looped around the block back into the street as the bandits approached their unconscious friend.
"What's doing this!?" the second bandit shouted looking at the remaining two.
They shrugged, and went to look around only to spot Slicer standing on the other side of the street.
"Banshee's Wail!" Slicer inhaled deeply as he recited the incantation, releasing his breath in a supersonic wave that forced the bandits to their knees as they covered their ears and dropped their weapons. The other two who hadn't spoken collapsed completely as the noise overwhelmed their senses, the one remaining bandit looked up as Slicer stopped his spell.
"Who-who are you!?" He shouted as Slicer calmly walked over to him, his glowing green eyes the only visible feature under the brim of his hat.
"Your worst nightmare." He answered as he picked the man up by the scruff of his shirt. He slammed him into the nearby wall and got in his face.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"We-we were raiding! This town was supposed to be getting a transport of money to Magnolia! We heard Fairy Tail was fighting with that other guild so we could get it easy! That's all I know I swear!"
Slicer held his gaze for a second. "How many more of you are there?"
"Five… including the boss! Who's a powerful mage!"
Slicer released the man so he slid to the ground in a heap.
"Fine then."
He turned and began to make his way deeper into the town, arriving in a large open square he saw most of the villagers were peering through windows and locked doors at the scene of five men loading sacks of coin into a cart.
"Almost done here boss." One of them said to a large figure.
He was a bare-chested man with rippling muscles wearing a brown leather jacket with fur trim and dark green pants, black boots covered his feet. He hefted a large black-steel mace on his shoulder.
"That's enough!" Slicer shouted so his voice echoed across the square.
The bandits all stopped and looked to see Slicer standing in the street. Then they began to laugh.
"One man? They send one man to stop all of us?" The leader asked between gasps of air.
"One man is all you require." Slicer said as he crouched low, putting his hand to the ground.
"Oh… intimidating. Isn't that right boys?" The leader looked to his men who nodded agreement as they recovered from their laughing fit.
Slicer just sighed and whispered "Spectral Body."
He disappeared into the street's surface which immediately put the bandits on guard as they closed back-to-back.
"Careful boys. This one's a mage." The Leader said as he hefted his mace off his shoulder and into his hands.
Slicer exited the ground in an alley on the opposite side of the square, the wreckage of the escort wagon blocking his sight of the bandits.
"Damn. They closed ranks faster than I thought they would… how do I get them apart." He muttered to himself.
At that moment he saw something that immediately put him on edge, a long boy was charging towards the bandits hefting a sword.
"The damn fool." He said to himself as he launched forward towards the group of criminals.
"Boss!" one of the bandits shouted as he saw the boy step out of a nearby house and charge.
"I've got him." The leader stepped forward and lifted his mace up high above his head.
The boy, seeing the weapon rise faltered and tripped, landing on his chest as his sword clattered away. He looked up to see the weapon continue to rise and block out the sun. His eyes wetted with tears as he realized he was going to die here.
Then something happened: The figure he'd seen appear in the street a moment ago slammed into one of the bandits sending the man sprawling into his leader who staggered at the weight and dropped his weapon. Slicer reached out and grasped the weapon's handle.
"Spectral grasp!"
His magic flooded into the weapon and it became transparent as it phased through the ground, only the small bit he'd managed to grab remaining visible in the street's cobblestones.
He sighed and looked to the boy.
"Get out of here!"
The boy flinched at his sudden order, and remained frozen in place out of fear.
"Didn't you hear me? I said move!" Slicer shouted at him again, but the boy's eyes widened as he saw two of the bandits leap to attack Slicer from behind.
"Look out!" He managed to shout.
Slicer spun on the spot and ducked both of his attackers, holding out his hands with stiff fingers.
"Claws of the Ghost Dragon!"
Two purple, spectral, clawed hands appeared over his own as he spun in place, three large gashes appeared on the bandit's chests where he slashed them open. They fell to the ground grasping at their wounds.
The boy watched as Slicer stood fully and looked to the remaining bandit who cowered for a moment before throwing his weapon down and running for his life.
"You brat!" The leader shouted as he regained his footing.
Slicer looked toward him, the purple claws still shimmering on his fingers.
"Make a fool of me and my men will you?" he asked as he lifted his hand.
"Crashing wave!"
He slammed his fist into the ground sending a building wave of stone at Slicer and the boy. He dispelled his claws and grabbed the boy.
"Spectral Body." He and the boy disappeared into the ground as the spell crashed harmlessly into the wagons, tipping over the bandit's and further damaging the escort.
"Damn!" the leader shouted as he looked around.
Slicer re-emerged with the boy in the same alley as before, he dropped the kid and slumped against the wall.
"Mister, are you alright?" he asked.
Slicer nodded as he panted for breath.
"I'm running low on magic power… I have to finish this quickly."
He looked to the boy who's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
"Stay here." Slicer told him, pointing down at the ground.
The boy nodded this time and Slicer recited his incantation again as he disappeared into the ground. He reappeared in the street behind the Leader, taking the man by surprise as he launched himself from the ground and slammed into him.
The bandit leader was sent flying, landing next to his wounded comrades as Slicer landed, hunched over using one of his arms to support himself on his knee.
The leader looked up at him with a growl as he scrambled to his feet, taking note of his stance the leader grinned.
"Getting tired are we? Makes sense with magic like yours that you'd use up too much magic power too quickly."
Slicer shook his head and straightened his stance. "I've got plenty left to defeat you."
"Is that so?" The leader asked as he lifted his fist above his head again.
"Crashing Wave!"
Slamming his fist into the pavement another wave of stone began to hurtle towards Slicer who leapt to the side to dodge the attack.
"That's enough of this." He said as he inhaled.
The leader was caught off guard, not knowing what Slicer planned to do.
"Roar of the Ghost Dragon!"
In a single breath Slicer released a torrent of spirits that engulfed the leader and his men. Spirits of past victims of the spell flew past them and tore at their very souls, the leader, his eyes wide with fear, looked around for a way out before everything went black and he collapsed to his knees.
Slicer stopped roaring and stood for a moment before collapsing. After a minute some of the townspeople exited their homes to see the bandit leader was unconscious and a strange blue orb was floating just outside his mouth, the same for his companions.
The boy who Slicer had saved exited the alley and rushed to Slicer's side.
"Mister! Are you ok?" He asked as he shook the young mage.
Slicer stirred and barely opened his eyes. Looking up he saw the brown-haired youth from before.
"Get…" he began
"You won sir!" The boy told him with a smile.
Slicer didn't hear him though as unconsciousness gripped him once again.
Slicer stirred and opened his eyes slowly to find himself on a bed, his clothes folded neatly on a chair beside it. Two windows on opposite ends of the room were opened and the curtains were flapping quietly in the wind. He sat up and looked around, the room was bare save for a table and two chairs near the door. He looked down at himself and saw that he was naked from the waist up.
"What happened?" he asked himself quietly.
Just then the door opened and the boy who he'd saved entered with a folded up blanket.
"Oh! You're awake!" He shouted happily.
"Yeah… what happened after I passed out?" Slicer asked him.
"Well… after you blacked out a squad of rune knights showed up and arrested the bandits. They were going to arrest you too if the townspeople didn't step in and explain you defended us and the wagon. They let us take you inside and told us how to treat you. Apparently you were out of magic power?"
Slicer nodded as he threw his legs out over the side of the bed and stood, his vision swam for a moment but he stood firm as it subsided. Reaching for his shirt on the chair he began to redress.
"Are you leaving?" the boy asked.
Slicer nodded, but he could tell the boy wanted to say something. He finished buttoning up his shirt and threw on his cloak before grabbing his hat off the back of the chair. Once he was sure everything was in place he looked around.
"Did anyone bring my bag in from outside town?"
The boy nodded and reached around the end of the bed and produced Slicer's sack.
"The rune knights brought it with them when they came into town."
He nodded and took it from the boy. Shouldering the bag he began to make his way toward the door.
"Wait!" The boy called to him.
Slicer turned and gave him a half-glance, quietly waiting for him to continue.
"Can… can I come with you?" he asked.
Slicer was taken aback by the request.
"Don't you have a family here?" he asked, pointing downstairs with his finger.
"No… I'm an orphan. The townhead lets me stay with him as a courtesy to my parents, but after seeing you fight. I… I want to be a mage like you!"
Slicer looked at the boy, the determined look in his eyes reminded him of something, but he couldn't remember, but he did remember what it was like to grow up an orphan living on the good graces of others.
He sighed. "Fine, you can come along if the town head says ok."
"He already agreed." A man said as he entered the room from around the corner.
Slicer looked to the newcomer and saw it was a middle-aged man with a bald head and white-gray hair surrounding it, and a matching beard.
"I take it you're the town head?" Slicer asked.
The man nodded. "Thank you for saving us stranger, if you hadn't shown up when you did I don't know what those bandits would've done."
"The Rune Knights were already on the way, they wouldn't have gotten far. I just delayed them long enough." Slicer answered back.
The Elder seemed to nod in agreement. "Either way, you stepped in when you didn't have to, and you have my thanks."
"So you're ok with the boy coming with me?"
The Elder nodded again. "Yes, he's expressed interest in you ever since he first saw you standing up to those bandits."
Slicer turned to look at the boy who smiled at him.
"Fine, I'll take him along. But if things get too tough, or you complain even once I'll bring you straight back here. Do you understand?" he asked.
The boy nodded and rushed off to go gather his things.
"Thank you for agreeing stranger, I know you didn't have to, but I think the life of a mage would do him good. His parents were mages you know."
Slicer nodded, "Best he learn from someone who can teach him how to handle his magic at least. I'll find him a suitable tutor when he figures out what magic he can use."
"Thank you sir, your kindness knows no bounds."
An hour later Slicer and the boy were travelling down the road away from the village, the boy now had a large backpack strapped to his back. They had been travelling in silence for some time when spoke up.
"Sir… can I ask you your name?"
"Slicer… Slicer Celest. Yours?"
"Albin. Albin Yerion." He answered.
"Albin… not a bad name." He said to the boy.
"Master Slicer, Look!" Anna's voice cut through Slicer's memory and brought him back to the present.
She was pointing at the viewscreen and he looked up to spot his team facing down another, filled with familiar faces.
"Time to see how well they handle themselves." He said to her.