Jade Force
Chapter four: Nasuada
#Author note:
Here's a birthday present from me to you! Please don't forget to read and review!
Have I done a disclaimer at any point in stage? Well, Mashima and Oda are the masters, not me.
Aubrey was holding her ears, trying desperately to block the shrill squeals of her new guild mates.
"Are you really a Dragon Slayer?"
"Where did you learn that?!"
"That's a Lost Magic, how can you do that?"
"Girls, girls!" The Master finally called out, quieting them. "Let the poor girl breath!"
Cautiously, Aubrey removed her hands from her ears, looking around at the hundred odd women and girls before her. Taking in a deep breath, she declared, "I learnt my magic from my father, Quarterzine – the Jade Dragon!"
There were more murmurings, at that, until, finally, "Prove it."
The speaker was a large, heavily-muscled woman with skin some shades darker than Aubrey's own with dark brown ringlets that Aubrey was almost jealous of. "Metsuryū Mahou is said to be the most destructive and powerful of magicks. So let's see how you fare, brat. Prove your capabilities."
"Nasuada!" Risley exclaimed, moving forward.
"Aren't you the one who said not to underestimate her?" The hulking woman demanded.
"Yes, but –!" Risley began.
"I accept," Aubrey interrupted. Her green eyes were steely behind her glasses. "What are the terms?"
Nasuada raised her brows – this girl had guts. "There is a glen out the back of the guild. Behind that is an arena, which is where we'll do battle. We fight until one submits to the other."
An emotion flashed through Aubrey's eyes, too fast for Nasuada to recognise.
"What are the stakes, exactly?"
Nasuada raised her brows. "If I win, you leave, and you never associate your name with this guild. In the unlikely event that you win, then you may stay, and I'll accept that you are truly a Dragon Slayer."
Aubrey nodded once, holding out her hand, which, after a moment, Nasuada shook. Beneath the two of them, a greenish-white magic circle with a dragon's face in the centre opened with a sound similar to a gong. "The deal is struck!" Aubrey declared. "And that is the Truth of the matter – we are both bound by these words, and so, we will follow through with them!"
"What did you do?!" Nasuada snarled, grabbing the front of Aubrey's collar.
Aubrey looked at her levelly. "It is the Jade Dragon's job to make sure all deals struck are kept amongst the Nests. We struck a deal. And I am the Jade Dragon Slayer."
Nasuada shook for a moment, before letting go of Aubrey's jacket collar. That steady gaze from behind those green-tinted glasses… it was unnerving.
"You have ten minutes to prepare yourself, wench," She spat instead.
_ * . * . * _
"Are you ready?" The Master called from her box in the stadium that surrounded the arena, she and the Guild safe behind Magic Neutralising Barriers.
Both mages nodded curtly, eyeing each other.
Master sighed, before adding, "Then you may begin."
Aubrey settled into a ready stance and, to the shock of the audience, removed her glasses and closed her eyes.
"EH?!" The Mermaid Heel mages exclaimed.
"Are you stupid?" Nasuada whispered, before shaking her head, moving forward, charging her magic into her fists, and punching.
She missed; her magical power was released in a shock wave that caused the barriers to ripple with discharge. The force made the tassels on Aubrey's shoulder bands flutter wildly, but even so, Aubrey's eyes remained closed, her face serene.
Nasuada gritted her teeth, and aimed another powerful punch, followed by more increasingly stronger and faster shots. Not a single one hit Aubrey.
"Master?" Arania whispered by her elbow, clutching Aubrey's coat tightly. "What's going on? Has Aubrey-chan used something to make Nasuada miss? To do something like that, to our strongest S-Class wizard…!"
"Do you really think that?" The Master asked her quietly. "After all that talk of 'keeping the Truth'?" Her eyes never left the battle below.
Nasuada's most powerful attack so far, with all of the power of her shoulders and legs behind it, finally made an impression – previously, all of Aubrey's dodges had been so slight that only the Master had been able to see them. On this occasion though, she visibly swayed to her right, twisted, crouched, and kicked Nasuada off her feet, making the other Mermaids gasp in shock. Continuing her motion, she twisted up, having drawn breath the whole time, and releasing it once she faced Nasuada again, with a shout.
"Hisuiryū no Hokou!"
Thousands of brilliant jade shards shot from her mouth straight for Nasuada, just as she was jumping back on her feet. The breath attack took her in the chest and flung her back into the barriers.
Aubrey was still semi crouched where she'd started, ears facing where Nasuada had landed, eyes still shut. Nasuada got up with a snarl.
"Hisui no Hakari," Aubrey said quietly, green scales racing up and over every visible bit of skin.
Nasuada launched herself forward, kicking and swinging, her limbs a blur. Aubrey's dodges were now visible to the other guild members, as she ducked and weaved, always exactly where Nasuada's shots weren't. It was almost as if she knew just where Nasuada was going to strike before she actually did! But that must just be fanciful thoughts on they, the audience's, part, surely?
Aubrey could tell that Nasuada's stamina was on par with, perhaps even greater than, her own. So waiting for Nasuada to tire might not be the best way to victory. From what she understood from the crowd's murmuring before, Nasuada was one of their S-Class wizards – one of the strongest mages in the guild, after the Master. Simply predicting where the shots would go and dodging them, Aubrey wasn't going to win this way. She would have to start using her higher spells.
Of course, it did help that she could 'see' what Nasuada would do before she did it.
Finally sick of her shots missing, Nasuada jumped back a few paces and punched the ground with a grim smile. See if you can dodge this, wench!
Aubrey's face had creased in a frown seconds before Nasuada had jumped backwards, and just before she punched the ground, Aubrey had given a small jump herself, landing in a crouch just as the first tremor had shot through the ground, lifting her back up and into the air, concentrating her magic.
Of course, with her extra sense open for the battle, Aubrey wasn't just seeing Nasuada's next move – she was hearing the voices of the future.
A dragon's lungs to breath fire… A young someone whispered in her ear as she drew in a deep breath, launching another roar at Nasuada. Although, of course, her breath was full of jade shards, not fire.
A dragon's scales to dissolve fire… Her jade scales shielded her from the debris and deflected shards that her roar had stirred up.
Landing on the ground lightly, she rushed at Nasuada, for the first time in this battle taking the offensive. A dragon's claws to wrap in flames… Though the vicious claws she lashed out with through the clearing dust from her last attack were made of sharp semi-precious stone.
A magic that transforms your own body parts into those of a dragon's…
"Hisuiryū no Yokugeki!" She slashed her arms up and over, sending spiralling, glittering shards of jade towards Nasuada, who only just managed to dodge, taken aback by the sudden change in Aubrey's demeanour.
Metsuryū no Mahou!
Aubrey ran in behind her attack, her jade scales protecting her from her own shards, more jade covering her right arm and left elbow, creating large points. "Hisuiryū no Nanarenbu!" Nasuada didn't see her shoot from the dust until suddenly she was there with, what seemed to Nasuada, multiple green swords swinging straight for her.
Managing to recover, Nasuada landed a blow on one of the swords, causing it to shatter; it didn't seem to sway Aubrey, who just twisted quickly, lashing out with the elbow blade from the opposite arm, catching Nasuada across the nose, before Aubrey danced backwards, crouching again, a new magic circle opening beneath her feet.
"Metsuryū Ougi! Hikari no Hashira!" A large pentagonal spire made entirely of jade shot up from beneath Nasuada's feet, growing some thirty feet straight into the air, with Nasuada trapped in the centre.
"Be judged by the Truth," Aubrey declared quietly as the pillar begin to glow, opening her eyes and replacing her glasses. "Let your lies be your binding."
The stadium was quiet.
"Well," The Master called down finally. "Where would you like your Guild Mark?"
Translation:
Hisuiryū no Yokugeki – Jade Dragon's Wingslash
Hisuiryū no Nanarenbu – Jade Dragon's Seven Slice Dance
Metsuryū Ougi – Dragon Slayer's Secret Art
Hikari no Hashira – Pillar of Light
Author's Note:
Guys, I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to make the Master look etc – please, ANY and ALL suggestions are welcomed.
Also, can anybody guess who the 'young someone' from before was? XD
Last one, for those who've read chapter 415 *gross sobbing*, don't worry, it's not going to have too big of an effect on the storyline, but we'll cross that bridge later.