Fiore Academy
Chapter 25 – Taken
Authors' Note – Hello everybody, sorry for the wait. Glad to bring to you another chapter, even if it's on the shorter side, and this will envelop the battle between Natsu and the others versus Hades… along with some aftermath stuff. So lay back, try to enjoy. Also, after I've completed this arc, I'll be taking a break from Fiore Academy for a little bit to write some more stuff for Fairy Tail, so though I've been coming up with ideas, I'd like to know what you guys would like to read, and please do so by leaving a review at the end of this chapter.
PS – This will be hot off the press since I've got to go to work and I want to upload it now… just cause… I'll edit it someday… but expect some mistakes.
"What was that just now?" Natsu asked mostly to himself as he carried Mirajane in his arms through the rubble of what was once his home.
"Sounded like some sort of crash… I wonder if that means a battle is going on" Mavis replied, having heard him, right beside him.
Natsu gritted his teeth; he wanted to find whoever did this to his home… and make them pay.
"What's… going on?" a soft voice asked near him.
Natsu looked down with a smile, looking happily into Mirajane eyes, open and shining their beautiful blue at him in confusion.
"It seems we're under attack… based on the nature of magical pressure I've been feeling, we're dealing with demons" Natsu replied, with a smile to let her know all was well.
At this Mirajane gave a start and began to look around at the ruins surrounding them… the ruins she soon figured out to be the Dragneel Estate.
"How did we survive?" Mirajane asked in shock.
"Though I loathe to say it, the Demon inside of Natsu helped us out" Mavis sneered.
After much argument from Natsu, Mirajane managed to stubbornly stand on her own two feet.
"What about the others?" Mirajane asked the two of them.
"We've seen no sign of them… but I'm sure they're all okay… and before you ask, the servants will be fine" Natsu began to assure her, then smiled, "They had all gone to their quarters, away from the Estate, long before the attack".
Mirajane nodded, "That's good news… for now I think we should find the other girls… and find Zeref as well".
Natsu nodded, and looked in the direction that the crash came from, "I have a feeling where Zeref will be right now… so we should make finding everyone else our priority; we've already gone over where the suite was… we found no sign of them".
"Though I did sense a different trace of magic there" Mavis spoke up, forcing the other two to turn to her.
"First I'm hearing it" Natsu replied, looking slightly angry and very much annoyed.
Mavis shrugged her shoulders, "I saw no need to tell you since it would've changed nothing; but if you must know, I sensed the use of time magic" Mavis looked toward the back of the Estate, "If I were to guess, Ultear Milkovic likely slowed down time, and carried everyone away from danger".
"If that's true, then she's stronger than I would've thought" Mirajane responded to that hypothesis.
"All the same, the trail of magic leads towards the rear courtyard; I recommend we head towards there now that we have a set goal in mind" Mavis replied.
Natsu sighed, "Why couldn't you have said all this earlier; we could've been with all of them by now".
"I say things that I feel like saying Natsu Dragneel" Mavis replied with an angry frown toward Natsu, "Not when a demon feels like it".
With those words, she set off toward the rear courtyard, leaving Natsu to exalt an exhausted sigh.
"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not a demon" Natsu muttered angrily, as Mirajane and himself set off after Mavis.
…
As time went by, the remaining girls who were saved by Ultear slowly woke up in a daze of confusion as to what had happened.
When Erza explained to all of them one at a time as they woke up individually, they all began to feel panic and fear; a Demon Lord was attacking the Estate? Where was Natsu?
When the last girl, Kagura woke up and learned of the situation, all the girls now stood in the courtyard, looking toward the ruined remains of the Estate, where somewhere in the darkness, lurked a Demon Lord.
"We're all awake, we all know what's going on… what's our next move?" Erza questioned aloud.
"We find Onii-chan; if what my mother says is right, then whatever the situation, we need to find him" Karen spoke up, with a set frown on her face.
"You're right; aside from his strength alone" Katherine said as she walked towards the Estate, with everyone subconsciously following, "His experience will be vital".
"Natsu has faced Demons before?" Ultear asked, coming along side Katherine.
Katherine nodded, "It's hard to explain, but… all possible heirs to the Dragneel Clan have to undergo something that is referred to as, 'The Baptism'".
"'The Baptism'?" Kagura asked; she had a feeling it wasn't something religious.
"When the heir turns fifteen years old" Katherine begins, "They are sent into the Blight on their own; no weapons or armour, only thin clothes and their magic" Katherine frowned then, "Then they must survive an entire month in a place known as the Blighted Pits, a wasteland filled with feral demons and corrupted creatures… fully armed squadrons of Knights from the order have been known to be eradicated there".
All the girls, except for Karen and Virgo, muttered in shock.
"He had no weapons? No help whatsoever?" Erza asked in complete shock.
"What about food? Water? Tools?" Hisui continued the questions.
"Nothing… not even shoes to be honest" Katherine answered, "Rags for clothes… and their magic, nothing else".
"It's a test of strength, though I don't agree with it" Karen voiced, looking angry.
"But he survived" Erza stated.
Katherine nodded, "Not just survived; you can't tell time in the Blight, so when the search parties went looking for Natsu after four weeks, they couldn't find him… it took them another month to find him".
"So he spent two months there?" Hisui asked, voicing the shocked thoughts of everyone else.
Katherine nodded as they all reached the ruins, "When they found him though, he was sitting atop a pile of demon corpses and corpses of creatures… the reports came back that not a single demon or creature dared come within a league of that location even today… they avoid from fear".
"Onii-chan was different for a while after that, very silent… but father said that was expected, and that he would recover quickly" Karen added in.
"So you see, though he has not faced a Demon Lord, he has killed more Demons than most within the Knights of the Red Cross can say" Katherine added, "And so, not just his strength, but his experience will be an asset".
After that, they all went silent; the girls couldn't believe the nature of the baptism.
They all searched in silence, until…
"Everyone… stay still!" Katherine barked, her eyes scanning the ruins.
"What's the matter?" Erza asked.
"I sense… something" Katherine answered as though she was unsure what was going on.
"Over here!" A panicked Ultear cried out.
Everyone looked over at Ultear and where she stared… a spot of ground, that was shifting.
"What the…?" Kagura spoke aloud, walking toward it, but was stopped by an outstretched arm from Katherine.
"Around us… look…" Katherine whispered harshly.
So they did… and noticed that all around, the ground was shifting... as though something was rising from the rubble.
"Survivors?" Hisui asked.
But at that, Virgo who stood beside her, produced two daggers from her sleeves, staring at the shifting ground.
"I think we know which Demon Lord we're dealing with now" Virgo said loudly.
"We do?" Erza asked the older woman.
"I think so as well, and it isn't good" Katherine agreed with Virgo.
"What do you mean? How can we tell?" Ultear asked, feeling panicked; her feeling was felt across all the girls, including the level headed Virgo.
"Hades, the Lord of Death" Katherine proclaimed, just as skeleton arms shot from the ground all around them. Each hand clasped a black jagged sword, and they all began to rise out from the ground; first the heads, then the other arms… then the bodies… the legs… until two dozen of them stood surrounding them.
"Skeletons are weak in video games… so surely…" Hisui voiced up.
"Forget the games!" Katherine barked, "Form a circle! Their fast and will attack your blind side… they're also a lot more difficult to kill than they look".
The girls gathered up in a circle, making sure there were no blindsides. They readied themselves; Ultear borrowed a pair of knives from Ultear, Erza and Kagura both held a katana, Hisui summoned her celestial sword, Katherine and Karen both wielded two swords each, constructed from their flames.
"We will win, but don't let your guard down for one second, otherwise you'll end up with a sword in your guts" Katherine ordered.
"HAI!" The girls responded.
But just as the Skeletons began to march towards them, the sky lit up as though the sun had risen to its noon peak.
The girls all looked up; a ball of red flame hovered in the sky, like a miniature sun. Then magic circles appeared around its surface. The next moment, smaller balls of flame shot from the circles, launching themselves like meteorites… straight toward the skeletons. Each meteor hit it's mark… each meteor brought a skeleton to ashes… with the last meteor and the last skeleton, the sun disappeared.
It all happened in less than three seconds.
"Glad to see you're all okay" a relieved voice called out, when all their ears stopped ringing.
The girls looked toward the source of the voice… and they all came out with smiles on their faces.
Standing on top of a heap of rubble, was Natsu grinning down at them, with Mirajane and Mavis standing behind him.
…
The battle had gone on for so long, Zeref could no longer tell how long ago it had begun.
He thought before he must look like a corpse… the way he looked now made that past image look as though it were full of life.
Time after time again, the great skeleton slashed at him with its mighty axe… each time he avoided it by but the breadth of a hair… each time as he struggled back to his feet, bone spears were launched at him… each time the number of spears he managed to deflect became fewer and far between.
He was now a pin cushion, or rather bone cushion, filled with bone spears… blood ran freely from him, cascading over his torn flesh. He gave a bitter laugh.
He had just been cleared for duty, having recovered from fatal wounds… only to end up in this mess of flesh and blood that was himself.
But something kept pushing him, some hidden force compelled him to dodge the next strike of the axe, to swing his sword to deflect as many bone spears as he could.
Above him, standing atop the great skeleton's head, was Hades, the Demon Lord of Death, smiling confidently down on him. Inside that smile Zeref knew, was hidden laughter… laughter and pity for the opponent the owner faced.
"Why do you persist? Even if you win by some twisted form of fate… not even fate will save you from those wounds" Hades laughed down on him.
"I may be a dead man walking… but every second I buy with this life of mine, is precious to those I care about" Zeref muttered in reply through a mouthful of his own blood.
"Pointless… if a Captain cannot defeat me" Hades smirked, "How can anyone expect the younger brother of that Captain to succeed where the elder did not?"
"Because he's stronger than me!" Zeref yelled out angrily, and Hades flinched; Zeref's eyes certainly had to be red.
"With or without the power of Demon's blood" Zeref gasped out, no less angry but much more quietly, "He is still the greatest member of our clan to have ever lived, even if he doesn't know it yet".
Hades lost his smirk, twisting it into a sneer, "Power that is hidden even to the user if useless… as he is now, he cannot defeat me!"
"He is not alone!" Zeref continued to rebel, "Even should I fall, others with great potential stand by him… together, they will defeat you".
"Enough of this nonsense!" Hades cried out, "What difference does it make when you're too dead to bear witness to any of it! What you proclaim is but a pipe dream… a fool's vision!"
"Then I die a fool!" Zeref shouted defiantly.
"Then die!" Hades screamed, his fury and anger replacing his cold and sneering demeanor that was his norm entirely.
The skeleton raised its axe yet again, this time turning the face of it, so that the face would act as a bat.
Zeref knew he no longer had the strength or the will, to dodge this strike.
I'm sorry… Natsu…
…
Natsu looked down at the scene before him, those who cared for gathered together. He smiled, happy knowing they were still alive, and unhurt discounting bruises.
He leapt down in long strides, to meet them.
The first to reach him when he got to their level, was Karen who weeped uncontrollably; tears of happiness, Natsu was glad to see.
After her, the others crowded, all proclaiming their happiness to see him… all except Ultear, who stood off to one side coolly.
When everyone had calmed down, Natsu looked at Ultear, who appeared to be looking everywhere but where he was.
Natsu smiled as he broke through the girls and reached her.
"From what Mavis says, it's thanks to you that everyone is safe" Natsu says to her, smiling.
Ultear no longer had a reason to not look at Natsu, but when she did, she did so defensively.
"I only did what anyone would've done if they could" Ultear mumbled.
"Still though… thank you" Natsu said, giving her one of his trademark grins.
At these words and that smile, Ultear couldn't help but let a blush creep onto her face. When she realised her mistake, she turned her face away angrily, unable to stop the blush from leaving her face.
Natsu sensed that she felt uneasy, so he decided that for now, what he had said was enough… and instead, directed everything to the main matter at hand.
"I'm not sure how much any of you know… but it appears we're dealing with Demons, not humans" Natsu called out to them all,
By their unsurprised faces, he guessed they already knew.
"To be precise Natsu" Katherine answered back after a short silence, "Only one Demon".
At this, Natsu frowned, "Then based off how much pressure I've been feeling… we're dealing with Demon Lord… and guessing by what we've seen" he looked at the ground, where piles of ashes, ashes that had once been the skeletons, were laid in neat piles, "We're dealing with the Lord of Death, Hades".
"That would be my deduction as well" Katherine replied, confirming Natsu's thoughts.
"It doesn't matter, because with Onii-chan's help, we'll beat whatever it is" Karen spoke up, which was met with smiles from everyone… except for Natsu, Katherine, Virgo… and Mavis.
Before Katherine could speak up, it was Mavis who got there first.
"Don't be such a fool as to think this will be easy… likely as not we'll all lose" Mavis responded coldly.
"Then what do you suggest we do? Fight thinking we're going to lose?" Erza demanded of the lithe girl, who along with Mirajane, had walked down the pile of rubble to meet with everyone.
"I said nothing of the sort" Mavis replied sharply, "I only say this so that you all may realise that it isn't as easy as you all think it is".
Before anyone else could retort, Natsu stalled them all, "She's right; a Demon Lord is not something to take lightly".
They all turned to him; they then all realised that if Natsu said it, then it had to be a sure thing… especially after what most of them had heard from Katherine.
"Thank you Natsu" Katherine thanked her step-son.
Natsu nodded to her, and turned to address everyone, "Now that is out of the way, we need to meet up with Zeref… we'll need his help".
"You know where he is?" Katherine asked him. At that, Natsu turned toward the front of the Estate, where he had heard that loud crash earlier.
"I do… but he's alone, and fighting Hades" Natsu replied, to which everyone gave audible gasps of shock.
"We must meet with him then, he'll likely be in bad shape" Katherine said, heading towards the front of the Estate.
"There will be no need for that!" a soft voice echoed in the air.
Everyone turning around, confused as to where the voice came from, the voice called out again, "Over here!"
When that was said, they all saw it, at the front of the Estate, reaching out from the fog that still surrounded the Estate… a large skeletal arms, making a gesture as though it were throwing something. It was.
They first saw it as a black speck flying toward them… but as it flew closer to them, their eyes widened; it was a person.
However, it wasn't until with a meaty thump as it landed on the ground in front of them, that it sunk in who that person was.
Even then it took a few seconds to recognise the person entirely.
His body had so many holes in it, blood both fresh and old stained his clothing everywhere, the fresh blood already making a small pool beneath him.
His hair matted with blood… his skin torn away and ragged and bloody.
It looked as though someone had spent a lot of time in the butcher's… cutting up whatever this was.
"Zeref" Natsu's voiced nearly died as he said his brother's name.
It couldn't be… Zeref couldn't be…
That's when the screaming started, first with Karen, closely followed by most of the girls. Ultear simply emptied her stomach on the spot, and Virgo, for all her experience, looked as though she might do the same.
Only Natsu, Katherine and Mavis seemed calm… though Natsu's mind was a raging torrent of emotions.
Hatred. Denial. Grief. Confusion. Desperation…
Hatred. Denial. Grief. Confusion. Desperation…
Hatred. Denial. Grief. Confusion. Desperation…
It continued over and over, a never ending cycle of uncontrollable emotions building within him.
Then, flying through the air, through the fog and land deftly atop one of the walls that still stood not far from them… a small boy smiled down at them, with pure white hair and menacing black eyes.
"It looks like I broke him, but you were going to go looking for him… don't say I didn't give you what you want" Hades laughed at them.
Natsu looked up, his onyx eyes blazing with anger, the glare enough to surprise Hades with fear as he nearly fell of the wall he stood. After struggling to regain his balance, it took only a moment for Hades to regain his composure.
"Relax; despite how he looks, he's still alive, though I cannot fathom why" Hades sneered at them.
At those words, everyone stopped with their reactions and looked at Zeref; sure enough, his chest still rose and fell with breath.
If he was breathing, then he was still somehow alive.
"The seal is keeping him alive" Katherine spoke up. When everyone, including Hades, looked at her in surprise, she continued, "He is the Keeper of Natsu's Demon Seal… his life force was used to help create it, so… Zeref cannot die as long as the seal is in place".
Breathing a sigh of relief, Natsu turned back to Hades, "First of all, provide first aid to Zeref please Katherine and Karen, watch her back".
"Right" Karen and Katherine replied, quickly getting to the job at hand.
"Next, can I presume you are Hades, the Lord of Death?" Natsu questioned the boy.
"Why yes, I am" Hades replied with a smirk, "I'm also the one who did your brother in so wonderfully, in case you're too dense to realise that".
Natsu ignored his antagonism, and instead continued, "Erza, it looks like those holes in Zeref were made from spears; based on what I know of Demons, and who we're up against… I'd wager those were made by bone spears, something that Hades can likely conjure up at will and launch as projectiles".
"What about it?" Erza asked as she stepped up beside him, reequipping.
"I want you to block those spears" Natsu ordered as she finished reequipping. It was the same armour as the day they first met, and around her, dozens of identical swords hovered in a rotating circle.
"You got it" Erza replies.
"Hisui" Natsu says, as to the front of the Estate the large form of the Skeleton began making its way toward them, "Summon one of your golems or a bunch of them, as many as you can… stop that Skeleton Giant in its tracks".
"You got it" Hisui replies, holding three glowing Emerald keys.
"Kagura, Mirajane, Ultear and Virgo… assist me in whatever way you see fit as I take point" Natsu continued his orders.
"You got it" all the girls replied at his command.
"Are you all done?" Hades sneered at them, "Plans are good and all… but you won't win".
Natsu looked up, with the girls at his back, "We'll see about that".
Hades smiled, "You fool".
…
As the morning sun slowly rose above the Horizon, Mirajane slowly rose herself up from the rubble of the Dragneel Estate.
Looking around her, she could only see the still forms of everyone; they were not dead… simply unconscious she knew.
But a cold reminder spoke in her ear as she realised that two were missing… one hurt her for sure… the other, brought tears cascading down her eyes as she stared at the rising sun spitefully.
"Natsu… Ultear… where has he taken you?" Mirajane cried.
The battle was a loss… Natsu and Ultear, were taken by Hades.
Authors' Note – I'm mean… I'm an asshole… I know… sorry. At the top I said this chapter would include the battle itself, but that'll be the next chapter. The next chapter will start off with the battle, and will continue with the aftermath… I just wanted to get you guys psyched for this chapter.
As I mentioned above, when this ARC ends (around chapter 35 to 40) I'll be taking a break from Fiore Academy to write something else and I'd like to know what you guys would like to read from. Let me know by leaving a review, and while you're at it, please be sure to let me know what you thought about this chapter. Anyway, that's all for now.