You guys seemed to like the first chapter well enough so here's a second! Please let me know of any inconsistencies or errors you might run across, I am more than willing to adjust and fix them.
If you're a newcomer, welcome!
Natsu's body fell to the floor limp and began to convulse before he opened his mouth to scream. The Dragon Slayers all, except for Acnologia, covered their sensitive ears and watched what happened to their friend and ally. No sooner had the sound ended did his body fall through the floor with no trace of any kind to be seen, they couldn't even smell him. Completely wiped away.
"Na-Natsu?" Wendy asked through a choked sob. Had her plan gotten Natsu killed?
"Oh that is just rich." Acnologia muttered to himself but they all heard.
"What did you do?" Laxus stepped forward with lightning sparking along his arms in an attempt to look intimidating but he knew it was a bluff. None of them stood a chance now, they just gave up all the magic they had to Natsu. He was their last hope and with him gone they had nothing left to give. The sparks were nothing more than a light zap from rubbing your socks on a carpet at this point with how low his magic was.
"Me? I didn't do anything. It was you all that did something but I don't care to waste my time with you all anymore." Acnologia vanished and instantly had poor Wendy held up by her throat.
"Let her go!" Gajeel roared before throwing a punch at the back of the King's head. Acnologia didn't even acknowledge that he had been hit, even though the punch would have easily sent even Erza tumbling a couple dozen yards.
Wendy's small hands clawed at the iron grip on her neck. She knew there was nothing she could do at this point and it was with tears spilling down her face and the guilt of thinking it was her fault Natsu vanished that Acnologia ended her life by snapping her neck like a twig.
The remaining five slayers stared on in shocked silence before they all roared at the same time, even Cobra couldn't stop himself from being pissed off beyond belief. With magic that none of them had they sent their roars at the King of dragons. Gajeel went into his Iron Shadow Dragon Mode and launched the strongest roar he had ever done, Sting in his White Shadow Dragon Mode doing the same. Rogue, Laxus and Cobra all combined their roars in tandem and watched with fury still etched on their features as the explosion of magic made the Ravines of Time tremble.
Seconds ticked away and the smoke began to shift as Acnologia stepped from the cloud of debris with minor scratches and scrapes along his forearm and torso, but otherwise unharmed. None of the slayers could believe their eyes and in the next moment Gajeel and Sting were headless. The others barely had time to register the sound of the blood spurting from the decapitated bodies before the same happened to them. Their limp bodies falling to the ground like rag dolls, their precious life blood spilling out helplessly. The reactions on their faces were unanimous, wide eyed and disbelieving. Without any magic left it was like child's play for Acnologia.
On the battlefield...
"Hurry everyone! Our window is small and we have to make this count!" A woman with red hair shouted out amongst the chaos. Mages running to and fro, shouting out spells, throwing everything they had at the monstrosity before them all. No matter what they threw at him though it all bounced off harmlessly, leaving more than a few mages hopeless and then dead within moments after.
"Do not falter! Fairy Tail will not fall this day! Fiore will not fall! Our time is now and we will survive this hour!" Erza did her best to inspire the remaining forces and it seemed to work as a new wave of spells came rushing at the dragon. While the attacks weren't causing any damage it didn't mean the dragon wasn't becoming annoyed with the unending barrage of pestering humans.
It was at this moment that Acnologia's mind and body became one again. The sky itself seemed to groan in protest as the magic coming off of the dragon increased ten fold. Mages left and right fell to their knees in despair, knowing there was no way to win.
"Acnologia!" Erza summoned forth every weapon in her arsenal, no less than a thousand swords, hammers, axes, spears and any other weapon you could imagine flashed into existence in the sky. With a roar of her own the scarlet haired mage launched her entire storage of weapons, hoping at least one would make its mark. A plethora of weapons were imbedded into the mighty beasts' side and dozens into a wing. A roar of anger was unleashed and the water on the shore was forced to recede at the sheer volume of the sound.
"Why do you fight? The war is over! Zeref has fallen, the demons no longer exist, the mighty Alvarez empire no longer plays a part in this, all the Dragon Slayers are no more, yet you all continue to resist!" The beast spoke and only then did every surviving mage truly know fear. While not everyone had known that he was fighting with the other slayers they did know who they all were.
"You lie! Not a single one of them would ever lose to a dragon." Erza boldly stated for all to hear. Shouts of agreement answered her claim.
"Stop spouting nonsense and understand that you have lost, or has humanity truly become so pathetic they do not even know when to quit a losing battle? Just accept that you will all die this day." Acnologia stared down upon the battlefield from his position in the air, seeming to be further looking down at the remaining forces before him.
"Satan Soul: Seilah!" Mira chanted and within moments had turned into her most recently-not to mention most powerful- acquired demon in her arsenal.
Her body shifted and changed as the soul of a devil began to show its own traits. Two large gold horns protruded from the sides of her head and pointed upwards. Her hair became long and dark purple, with a distinctive short, upward ponytail. Her outfit changed from the head down, a white band resting on her head, separating her hair, framing her bangs from the hair below the band. On her forehead a small circular symbol with a small dot in the inside and surrounded by several dots around the top. A tied, small white-colored strap manifested around her neck. A very revealing beige-colored leopard-printed kimono bearing decorative marks on the shoulders donned her new form. The kimono wrapped tightly around her torso with a thick yellow ribbon tied behind her back. To complete the transformation she now wore thigh-high socks that showed her heels and toes.
Most fell back from their position, letting the demoness take the forefront. There was a general unease from the troops looking on as the usual happy and helpful Mirajane vanished in a moment, but it wasn't hard to figure out what had triggered such events.
The demonic power radiating off of her was almost suffocating and it was made all the more apparent as to why a moment later. Erza could see the bodies of Lisanna and Elfman amongst the rubble from where Mira was walking from. They had been killed a while ago, MIra had heard her brother attempting to rescue Lisanna from one of Acnologia's strikes from before but the force was too much for either of them to handle. She had been too late to save her siblings… again.
"Fall to your knees." She simply commanded and before everyone's eyes the great dragon dropped from the skies and onto his knees, just as Mira had told him.
"Now return to your human form." Once again the dragon did as she commanded and without further adieu a massive wave of magic blasted outward from his body before Acnologia appeared on his knees in his human skin.
"You… how dare you… I-I am the King. To be giving commands to a being such as myself! I am willing to bet my immortality the gods are laughing their asses off at this one." He murmured before laughing out loud himself.
"Silence!" Erza appeared before the dragon in all her armoured glory. Her red hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back with the Fairy Tail emblem being displayed on her chest plate.
"Your slayers are dead and gone, this little trick you think has me under control will only last for so long. I have waited over 400 years for the day that I would be the last dragon and the day has finally come. I don't mind waiting a few more minutes before eradicating the rest of your pathetic guild. While your hatchlings did put up quite the fight and were able to entertain me for some time, I can't help but wonder how the rest of his guild will do." The rant he had initially set off on turned into his own musings and while partly intentional, he was genuinely surprised at the reactions he received.
"You lying bastard, of anyone to die here on this God forsaken day, the last one on that list would be Natsu. He would never fall to someone like you, no matter how powerful you are. That idiot is too stubborn to comprehend the thought of defeat. Not to mention the fact he had six other slayers with him, all of them together would be enough to defeat any dragon, even you." Gray walked up with ice covering most of his right side, stopping the blood loss from his earlier wounds. The anger in his eyes showed that he believed every word he had said.
This only made Acnologia chuckle darkly.
"Prostrate yourself." Mira commanded as the dragon suddenly slammed his forehead onto the ground where he continued to chuckle.
Tears were running down Mira's face now. Seeing their lifeless forms had fueled her into attacking Acnologia but now that she could think clearly once again her emotions of grief and despair were beginning to surface.
"Hehehe already losing your grip? And here I expected more, but I suppose you can't help but be brought to tears over your younger brother and sister lying dead." The heavy sarcasm was easily detected in his words. Acnologia was clearly able to smell the resemblance, no need for continuing a pointless game of cat and mouse.
"Shut your mouth!" The demon roared and the dragon was forced to stop talking.
"Mira, we need to know what has happened to Natsu and the others, let him speak, if only for a short while." Erza tried to compromise with her grieving friend. They had all lost friends and family today, time for mourning would be for later.
"Answer all questions with the truth and nothing but the truth, if you try to lie you will tear your beating heart out of your chest." The command was straightforward enough and Acnologia smiled at the threat.
"Where have Natsu and the other slayers gone?" Erza pushed the question.
"Dragneel was sucked into the Ravines of Time and taken who knows where or even when, but he's as good as dead after I'm done with this continent." The words spewed from the dragons mouth without his permission and his annoyance of the white-haired witch before him grew.
"And the rest of the slayers?" Erza's brow twitched at having to ask again.
At this point emergency rescues were taking place in the background, triage for the more severely wounded occurred but the death toll was still growing. More and more bodies were pulled from buildings as mages who had been ripped apart and thrown every which direction by Acnologia's onslaught of attacks were attempted to be found. There was so much grief and loss of hope, but retrieving the bodies at the very least allowed for a proper burial. The mages only knew that the control Mira had on the dragon would not last forever, anyone they could find had to be quick and efficient or else leave their corpse to be turned to ash in the battle to come.
The damage even up to this point of the war was on another scale entirely. Whole streets shredded to pieces under his claws, new trenches that stretched on for miles from his breath, giant chasms from just landing on the ground. Acnologia's mindless attacks were devastating enough on their own, with his mind now merged, there would be no telling of the destruction if he defeated them all.
"I broke the little one's neck and the rest are lying headless in the Ravines of Time, that is if they weren't taken like your pink haired buddy." Onlookers clenched their fists in shame. Wendy was dead, along with Gajeel, Laxus, Sting, Rogue, and Cobra. And there was nothing they could do to help Natsu.
"Anymore questions?" Acnologia's laughter made the ground shake yet again. It unnerved those around to no end the confidence he radiated.
"Erza… there is an option left, the possibility of it working is almost zero but… with my Satan Soul, the chance is real." Mira stared deep into Erza's eyes. No words were spoken as a silent conversation was held between the two once rivals and now friends. Erza blinked and nodded in understanding before smiling to Mirajane with approval.
Before before anyone could move Mira shouted a final command, "Throw me into the Ravines of Time!" And in the next moment Mira was literally being hoisted by the Dragon Kingand forcefully flung into the sky above. When it looked like she was about to reach the apex of her flight Mira broke through the darkened clouds as if it were a window. Shards of the gray and white and blue sky fell to the ground and splintered into nothingness as the body of Mirajane was sucked into the Ravines of Time.
"Well I didn't see that one coming." The King shrugged and looked back to the rest of the mage forces before him.
"No, it was the only way we could win this war." And before Acnologia could move, Mest had done the singular most difficult thing in his whole life. He teleported everyone around the dragon over fifty miles away, well almost everyone. All who remained at the site of Hargeon consisted of Gray, Erza, and Gildarts. A far cry from the hundreds of mages they had with them just moments before. In the time that Mira and Erza had kept Acnologia busy, any survivors and bodies of the deceased had been removed from the rubble and taken to a small group with the remainder of the forces of Fiore. The time to move was now, if they were to keep casualties to a minimum then this was their best shot to not let it drop anymore than the three mages left on the battlegrounds.
"What do you think you are doing? This country will fall and this continent will crumble. There is nothing you can do to stop me, I am going to find that last slayer and kill him. If you think that soul stealing witch has a chance in hell of getting to him before I do then I think you have forgotten your place in the food chain." His tone left no room for misinterpretation, he fully intended to end all life on Ishgar.
Gildarts stepped forward and cracked the knuckles he still had on his real hand. The look in his eyes was of utmost clarity and seriousness, there would be no form of toying around.
"I don't like how just cause you beat me once means you finished me off, I'm still standing and I am not letting you get anywhere near Natsu or the rest of my guild." A man among men stood tall and solid in his belief that he would protect what he cared about but he knew more than anyone that in this moment they were nothing more than a suicide squad while the rest of the survivors did all they could to flee.
Acnologia knew exactly where they were too. Just about fifty miles to the North East were the remaining forces of the guilds of Fiore, many being tended to and attempting to regain some sense of sanity in the time granted to them. They didn't know they had already run the clock down to zero.
"Your demon is no longer here children, and without her you are even more powerless than you were before. Let's see how you struggle." Waves of magic radiated from the body of Acnologia, his visage completely hidden by the wall of dark magic he exuded. Despite the cold sweat across their foreheads they stared dead into the abyss of swirling magic with defiance and hope that Mira would be able to bring Natsu and everyone else back with to, in an ideal world, save the day. Too bad this wasn't an ideal world.
Acnologia's massive form burst from the torrent of magic and unleashed an earth shaking roar. In the next moment he was taking in a deep breath of air and the remaining mages on the ground prepared for the breath attack. But he wasn't aiming for them. His head angled upwards and the buildup of magic power released from his mouth in an explosion of power that sent his opponents below flying backwards. The volume and power alone was enough to force them to their knees, they were still very worn out from their previous battles against some of their toughest opponents to have ever come to Fiore. And to then have to come face to face with the single most terrifying creature they could even imagine in that moment, well it sure seemed like they weren't in the favor of the gods that day. The roar of magical power soared into the distance and beyond. There was an ominous glow in the distance as a dome of light continued expanding, further churning the seas and making the very earth tremble. They were all too far away to clearly see the true spread of damage that could have followed one of the Dragon King's roars, but the gesture itself of unleashing such an attack didn't sit right with a certain scarlet haired knight.
"What purpose did that serve?!" Erza shouted up to the Dragon Kingand received no response from him, instead choosing to stay where he was. Just glancing into those white pupil less eyes was chilling on its own, but now there was a clear smirk on his maw, and that unnerved her more than she thought possible. She was about to continue to press him for answers but Gildarts metallic arm in front of her stopped her in her tracks. Not to mention the sheer wave of rage he was aiming right at Acnologia. Erza had to pause a moment, unsure of what Gildarts had pieced together that she hadn't. There were several veins bulging across his forehead and his eyes were solely focused on the dragon, his focus was truly terrifying in its right.
"Mest took the others that way, but how did he know?" The confusion and anger in his question almost broke Erza's heart. Cana was taken away with the rest of the wounded forces to keep her safe, and now it just seemed like they were all wiped out. The realization crashed into Erza in that moment and she choked on a sob that threatened to escape her lips, a single tear escaped before her composure was returned to that of a general and her sight trained on the beast in front of them.
Gray felt his heart strings ache, he knew what that roar was meant to do yet he couldn't do a damn thing! Gramps, Macao, Romeo, Juvia, everyone! And Gray's emotions got the better of him. Gildarts none the better as he charged in right next to him. Both raced forward at great speed, Gray splitting off to give Acnologia two targets instead of one, everywhere the ice mage went the very air chilled and the surrounding terrain became encased in ice. He may not have Dragon Slayer Magic but he did have Demon Slaying Magic from his father and while he didn't exactly know if it would work on a dragon, he sure as hell hoped it would rock his shit. His whole right side went dark blue coming up to his neck and covering half of his chest in a vertical split down his body, the demon slayer tattoo on his forearm turning white and his hair straightening and spiking up more.
Gray slammed his fist into his palm and yelled with everything he had in that moment, "ICE DEVIL: ARCANE LANCE!" And from his fist shot forth a glacier of snow and ice that washed over the port town of Hargeon. Ships in the bay and the water freezing instantly, the clouds in the sky dropping thousands of feet in seconds due to the sheer pressure drop. There was now a fine mist in the air as the mountain of ice stood tall and solid, the dark figure of Acnologia appearing to be trapped inside securely in place. It was a strange sight for sure, a giant marble of ice placed on top of a singular tower(or rather mountain) of ice, no that wasn't quite right. It was a monstrous lance piercing through the sphere, and the trapped Acnologia was left motionless and wide open.
"Gildarts now!" The veteran mage was already on the move, having launched himself hundreds of feet into the air above the Arcane Lance and the frozen dragon. He slammed his open palm down onto the giant sphere of ice. With a roar of defiance he unleashed the last of his power into that final blast of Crash Magic.
"ENDLESS COLLAPSE!" And the tower of ice from Gray's magic was no more, completely crushed into the ground by Gildarts' attack. The snow and wind that blew back from the initial release had Gray and Erza covering their eyes, but their senses were as sharp as ever. If they had the luxury to look around then they would have noticed the squarely flattened town. It had been entirely reduced to a barren landscape with massive fissures all spreading from the point of origin, that being where the body of Acnologia was presumed to be lying after the combo from Gray and Gildarts, but it wasn't over yet.
"REQUIP! NAKAGAMI ARMOR! INTERSTELLAR SLASH!" Erza's might of her slash sent a shockwave through the air as a crescent of light carved its way to the epicenter of the attacks, cleaving another fissure into the already wartorn land. The collision was solid and made all three mages hopeful that there was a way for them to win, at least that was the thought until Acnologia's hulking form came walking out of the cloud of debris. Now here was where the three Fairy Tail mages had to take a second to make sure that their eyes weren't deceiving them.
Now don't be mistaken, Acnologia was a god among beasts and dragons, and even impervious to practically any attack. He was more than confident that even a seasoned Dragon Slayer wouldn't stand a chance, as proven from the earlier battle between him and the slayers. Still, he found his head in a daze, his joints aching and his back more sore than it had been in he couldn't even remember how long. This was interesting, this was fascinating, these humans were actually hurting him! He couldn't stop the uproar of laughter that bellowed from him and shook the ground beneath the mages feet slightly.
"You humans have grit and guts, I like that. For that I'll be sure to leave not even your bones behind. But you still forget… you're not Dragon Slayers." And then the dragon's form had instantly vanished and in the cloud of confusion he appeared directly next to Gray, no longer in his dragon form and plowed his fist straight into the ice mage's gut, blowing out his organs and spinal column from the incredible force behind the blow. Erza's eyes widened in realization, fury, and a coldness that scared even her. She summoned a trusty katana and readied herself. Pouring her years of sword practice into this one moment, the hundreds upon hundreds of hours spent training honed into this one strike to decide if she would live in the next moment.
The two passed each other and then Erza's arms were falling to the ground, both having been severed at the shoulders. She didn't scream, she instead turned back to her opponent and summoned another katana to her mouth and bit down deep into the wrapped handle.
"You think I'm done without my arms? You should learn to finish off your prey you stupid beast!" She spit through the sword in her mouth and ran forward with every intention to kill the Dragon Kiing, and this time she really didn't know what happened as her vision went dark and the next thing she knew she was floating away in that same white dress she had seen herself in all those years ago. Way back when Jellal had sacrificed her to the Tower of Heaven in an attempt to revive Zeref, back when Natsu saved her life.
And with the barest vestiges of her memory she saw the world burning around her as her head lay on the ground of the crumpled town of Hargeon, tears streaming from her eyes as they stared ahead at the nothingness.
Here is the second chapter to my first FanFiction! Love it? Hate it? Hate me? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you guys next time.
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Published on 10 November, 2020
