How long has it been since I have been stuck in this endless void?
How long has it been since I was defeated by that brat who claims to be a dragon, yet has the body of a demon?
How long have I spent in this void, reflecting on my life, looking at everything I had done, and come to terms with it?
How long has it been since I stopped raging against the void, finally realizing that even my magic, something that had never failed me before, was useless in this place where neither could I bend space nor control time?
How long…..will I continue to float in this endless torment that I now understand is rightly deserved for someone like me?
I, a being that was once feared across the world, revered as the Dragon King, Dragon of Magic, and the Black dragon mentioned in the book of apocalypse written by one of the so-called God of Oracles.
I, a healer that was once revered throughout the hidden lands as the greatest at using Healing magic until the lands were destroyed by the very Dragon I trusted with my life, the vile Dragon whose name I bore with me for 400 years in hopes of tarnishing it with every vile deed I did so that he would forever be remembered as the monster he was.
I, one of the first Dragon Slayers in existence who lost his sanity and most of my memories after indulging in wanton destruction, driven mad by the very magic that I was supposed to use to protect mankind.
I, who now knows the kind of sins I have committed in this long life, who now realizes that once I shed my façade, the façade of all the titles and names I have accumulated, I have nothing to myself, not even a name that I could call my own.
I know not when I would be released from this prison I was placed in at the moment of my death at the hands of the young Dragneel, but I hope that I can still think for myself by that time.
I stirred awake from what I thought would be an eternal sleep to feel something that I had not felt in years?, Centuries?, Millennia? I don't know anymore.
I felt wind ruffle my long hair as the scent of blood permeated through the environment. In astonishment at this new development, I opened my eyes to find myself in a cave, not so different from the one I had back on Earthland, and I know for a fact that this is not Earthland. The magic in the air is dense but not as dense as it was back home, also the fact that the very essence of magic in the air carried some kind of a taint to it was a big sign that I was not in my homeworld.
I slowly rose from the ground to find myself garbed in the same clothes as I always had when I transformed into my human form. The thick cloak covering my form while black pants covered my legs. But even without opening my cloak, I could feel that I was still missing my arm that was torn away by that accursed Fire Dragon. Even after all the time I spend in the void that was my prison, my rage towards that Dragons had only calmed down by a small margin, but it was no longer the raging inferno that consume my reason, instead, the flames of rage were now contained in a furnace of patience and will I had discovered within me during the time I spend in the void. Now, the rage was fuel for me to channel my magic and use it for something aside from wanton destruction as I once used to.
Another thing I noticed was the fact that I could now feel things, something that I thought forever lost when I first transformed into a dragon after the overuse of my magic. The feeling of the wind on my skin and the breath of air I inhaled has never felt as invigorating as now.
I was distracted from my musing when I felt a sudden spike in power just outside of the cave followed by a massive earthquake.
It would seem that something is causing quite the ruckus out there, and judging by the sudden increase in the scent of blood, was causing massive deaths all around.
I slowly walked out of the cave, curious as to what was causing all that commotions as well as curious to see what this new world looked like.
But the moment I came out of the cave, what I saw was a scene that made my blood boil and only my newfound patience allowed me to stop myself from being blinded by my rage again.
BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!
DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE! DIVIDE!
Two dragons, one crimson red, and the other pure white fought fiercely among themselves, breaking the ground, rending the skies, and destroying everything around them as would be expected when a Dragon clashes with another Dragon.
It would look like even in another world, I would not be relieved from the terrible visage of a Dragon.
But soon, I detected other beings nearby, watching the clash of the two Dragons In the same manner as I was, but the feeling from these beings was not something I was familiar with.
I felt three separate groups present on the field, one group had a feeling of the element of light around them, similar to that of a Dragon of Light from my world, but the light I was feeling was less potent and much less versatile than that of a Dragon's light. If I had to guess, I would associate their essence to be similar to that of the creatures from my world that called themselves 'Gods'.
The Second group gave off a similar feeling to that of the first group, but there was something tainting their essence, instead of being pure light, I could also sense a small amount of darkness from them. Quite peculiar but not all that surprising since I have seen Dragons and Dragon Slayers utilize two opposing elements at the same time before.
The third group, however, gave me pause. This group was decidedly similar to that of the Demonic creatures of my world that called themselves Etherious. But just like the beings from the first group, their essence was weaker and lacked the same kind of all-encompassing disgusting feeling that was given off by all the Etherious.
Suddenly, I felt a fluctuation in space-time as a new figure materialized on the field and caused the fight between the two dragons to pause immediately, something that I could not blame them for.
This being took on the form of a human but I knew better, this was no human, underneath that façade of Flesh, blood, and bone, I can detect the massive surge of power, not magic, not curse, nor any other form of energy I could associate with anything. Just pure power.
If I had to compare, I would say that this being was strong enough to fight me one on one and has a 50% chance of killing me. I only say this because I do not know if I can absorb his power like I am used to absorbing any and all kinds of magic I come across. If I can absorb his power, then his chances of defeating me would fall to 30%, I would not be arrogant and say that he has no chance since I do not know his full abilities yet.
The being looked exhausted and hunched a little before he felt the growing auras of the two dragons and turned his face which held a bewildered expression towards the two. Clearly, he was not aiming to teleport into this place but too bad for him that he ended up in front of two rampaging Dragons.
The resulting battle was epic to say the least as four creatures from the third group that I had associated as a variant of Etherious rose into the air and together with the white being, fought the two dragons.
If it were my former self from before my imprisonment, I would have loved nothing more than to jump into the fray and kill the two dragons, along with the other creatures if they got in my way. But now that I have learned to control my rage, I felt strangely calm while my mind worked faster than I had ever thought, watching the beings and the dragons clash, observing their strengths and weaknesses, preparing strategies to face them if I even needed to face them. Is this what it felt like to be in complete control of yourself?.
I watched the battle continue in amusement, a good entertainment just after I somehow got out of my prison, but suddenly, I felt something, something small and insignificant, yet I could not take my senses off it.
I looked towards the source of the feeling and immediately understood what was happening.
A small distance away from the battle between the creatures of power, a small town was burning. No doubt the work of the two dragons if the Draconian magic I was feeling from the flames was anything to go by. Many creatures, including humanoids with animal appendages, bird-like humanoids, strange green creatures with plates on their heads, massive ape-like beings along with creatures with tusks and blue skin, and surprisingly, Humans, were fleeing from their home in the hopes of surviving what was undoubtedly some form of war.
Suddenly, my gaze was drawn towards a youngling with 9 foxlike tails and ears, squatting near a burning building, her knees drawn towards her chest while her hands covered her ears. Tears fell from the corners of her closed eyes while another youngling of the same race tried to make her get up and run with him. Without warning, one of the beams from the house she was squatting near fell and trapped the boy under the burning wood, the girl's eyes widened in terror as she gripped the boy's hand and tried to pull him out of the rubble, failing to do that, she tried to lift the boulder but her strength was not enough.
The image of the unconscious boy was suddenly replaced with that of a human child. Her Blond hair caked with fresh blood, her blue eyes open in terror and fading light. Her body slowly drowning in her own blood, all the while, five cruel beings that would never understand nor cared about human lives laughed in amusement.
One of the main reasons why I took up arms against Dragons before losing myself in my bloodlust and magic. A simple village girl that was torn from her happy life due to cruel creatures of power. One among countless lives I had failed to save before succumbing to my base instincts.
I stood up from my perch and called forth my magic, and for the first time since my fall, instead of reluctantly answering to my command, the power of the dragon gifted to me when I had joined the Dragon Slayer Corps during my youth answered my call eagerly as it once used to.
Perhaps it was not just my sanity and patience that I had regained in my imprisonment.
(POV Third-person)
Yasaka cried helplessly as she tried to lift the beam that was crushing her best friend uselessly.
It was only a few hours ago that her family along with her friend, Kurama's family were talking happily about the success of the new settlement they had made here for the Youkai and the Humans to coexist until suddenly they heard the news that the three factions of the Christian faith were going to fight nearby, causing the adults to panic and issue an evacuation of the town, but it was too late as the twin Heavenly Dragons had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, clashing fiercely while raining down fire and destruction everywhere. It only took a few minutes for the majority of the people in the town to die in the aftermath while those that were left tried to run away since the teleportation system that the Youkai had installed in the town was destroyed in the attack.
Yasaka had already lost her parents in the opening attack from the dragons while Kurama had also lost his parents and brother. Yasaka was so scared that she had covered her ears and sat down at the same place she was in shock and loss, this was what cause her best friend to be caught under the beam in the first place.
"Please, anyone, Amaterasu-sama, help me, I already lost everything, I don't want to lose my friend!" she cried helplessly, hoping that her family's patron god would answer her plea.
Little did she know that with the twin dragons present, no God or Devil aside from the top 5 would dare to step foot on the battlefield, much less the Shinto Gods who were on a decline in the past few decades due to the merger of the southern court and the northern court and their collective dismissal towards religion.
But just because no God would help her does not mean that something else would not hear her plea.
Yasaka heard a rumbling as she looked up and terror filled her being, the entire building that they were near started to collapse as massive beams of supernatural wood started to fall on her.
Closing her eyes in fear, Yasaka screamed. But when she did not feel the pain that she was imagining, she slowly opened her eyes to see a stunning sight.
A creature that took on the shape of a man, because no way was she going to call this creature of absolute power a human, stood beside her, holding up the collapsed building with nothing but pure magic energy in a show of skill. The wind caused his long cloak to flutter and show the stump where his left arm was supposed to be. His entire body was covered in blue tribal markings that reminded her of the ancient human rituals that her mother taught about.
The being locked eyes with her, emotionless green slits bore into terrified golden orbs and he slowly moved his hand and the rubble fell to the side. Without averting his eyes, the being took a hold of the beam crushing her friend and lifted it effortlessly, and threw it away.
Yasaka watched fearfully as the being finally averted his green eyes from her and looked towards her unconscious friend. For a single moment, she saw hesitation in his eyes before they turned back to emotionless slits as he raised his arm towards Kurama
(POV MC)
I slowly raised my arm towards the unconscious boy, hesitation evident in my form.
What I was about to do is something that I had not done in at least 400 years not counting the eons I spent in my imprisonment. This would be the moment that I would know if I was truly capable of change, if I truly was back to being myself from before the Dragon Civil War.
Concentrating on my magic, I called forth an ability I had never used after drafting myself into the army to slay the Dragons. A power that had given me the moniker of 'The Doctor'.
And much to my surprise, I once again felt my magic jump at my command eagerly and a green glow radiated from my hand.
Torn flesh reknit itself, broken bones realigned, internal bleeding stopped as ruptured organs started to regenerate, skin healed and bruises vanished. Soon enough, all that was left in front of me was a healthy child.
"T-Thank you" I heard the voice of the little girl that was crying till now.
At least I don't have to think about having failed yet another child in my immortal life.
"What is your name, Child"
The girl hugging the boy jumped at my voice and tried to move back but was hindered when she realized that she was clutching the body of the boy to herself, she fearfully looked up at me and replied.
"Y-Yasaka, and this is Kurama"
I nodded and turned around to look at the situation.
It was already too late to save a lot of the people who were here, but at least I should be able to stop the flames in the town and provide ample time for them to escape from this place.
"E-Excuse me, M-May I know y-your name, s-sir?"
I looked down towards the little girl that looked up at me, terror still in her eyes due to my sheer presence, but I could also see a small amount of awe and curiosity behind those golden orbs.
Unknowingly, the girl had asked a question that I had been asking myself for the past few hours.
I am no longer Acnalogia, for that name died when the young Dragneel had killed my spiritual form in the space between times. Yet, I am also not worthy of using my old name as well, I lost that right when I lost myself to my power and bloodlust.
I now have no name to call my own, a basic privilege even the weakest of creatures has and yet denied to me due to my own actions.
'Do not forget, young one, no matter what happens, I will always care for you, for you are my chosen'
A gentle voice rose from my memories, one of the few found ones I had the fortune of preserving from being consumed by my rage.
A voice that belonged to a gentle Dragon that taught me my magic, a being that took me in when I was lost and I had nowhere to go, a being that taught me that there was more to life than just seeking revenge.
A being that was the first to fall under my cruel hands.
'You may have lost your reason in your bloodlust, you may have killed me, but I hope that the day comes when you are able to see the truth and stop being controlled by your ambitions'
Yes, there was once a time that I took the name of an accursed betrayer to drag his name through the mud and stain it forever, but the time has come for me to take on the name of another, one whom I regret having killed, the only being I could call my true friend.
A Dragon that was once my mother.
"I am the Dragon of Magic, Bahamut"