Ugh, guys I've already started the next part, and I teared up a bit while I was working on it, but there's going to be something really fun in it, I promise. I'm really excited about it. Really, really excited. I was hoping to be able to have something really good/ fun/ important happen in 50 and I have succeeded!
I had a lot of writing time today. This part has me on the edge of my seat, so every spare moment is going into this right now.
Savwafair: I've got something else in mind, but don't worry. It's going to be good.
***Remember, if you want the chance to make a request for something to be put in this story, please leave a review on Chapter 47.
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
"Something is wrong."
Virgo glanced over. "Why do you say that?"
"Instinct." Rogue began to spin as he looked around the hallway they were in. "We should-"
He was cut off as magic circles appeared below them and yanked them down.
Mao noticed as the demon hybrid at his side began to look around them with narrowed eyes. "What is it?"
"I don't know," Sting said, "but I have a feeling something bad is about to happen."
As he began to look around nervously, Mao pulled his robes closer to himself. "What do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure, but-"
Simultaneously, the pair were sucked into the floor as magic circles appeared at their feet.
"So, where to now?" Stier asked.
"This way." Ova led them to a door and the inside of it. "There's another door in here that's a bit of a shortcut to get to the stairs for the next level."
"I thought you said you didn't go into the rooms while you were here?"
"I didn't go into many, but it was faster to take-"
As the last of the circles appeared, Stier and Ova also vanished.
When they landed, hard, they opened their eyes to find that they were not alone. Around them appeared to be a total of six glass cages. In each of them was one of their comrades.
"Ova! Ova, are you okay?!" At one end, Mao was pressed up against the glass trying to see his mate.
"I'm fine, Mao. How are you?"
"I'm good. Sting kept a careful eye on me."
Sting didn't seem to hear him as he studied the space around himself. He was three cages away from the shorter blue man, but didn't join in on his conversation. When he realized there was nothing to see outside of the glass but blank walls and floor, he turned toward the other hybrid. "You okay Rogue?"
Rogue glared once more at his cage on the opposite end from Mao before responding. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm not sure how Virgo is doing, but we didn't die, so that's good."
Stier began to bang on the glass of his cage as he looked down at the other angel. "Virgo! Virgo, wake up!"
The pink haired angel didn't even stir as her name was shouted at, despite Stier being on just the other side of the glass.
Stier glared at Rogue. "What happened?"
"She used up too much magic. I think there's some sort of barrier that increases the amount of magic used when casting spells in here, and she just pushed herself too hard. If she rests, I'm fairly certain we'll be fine, but without her, I don't know how we're getting back."
"Not to mention how we're getting out of these cages," Sting added.
Stier gripped his axe with both hands and then swung at the glass. It surprised him when the glass didn't crack, but what surprised him more was that his axe bounced off of it and the surface seemed to ripple. "Looks like it's been reinforced somehow."
"That would be correct, good sir!" A voice rang out in the mostly empty room around them. "Those cages have been reinforced to hold up to the strength of angels, demons, dragons, and most certainly those weakling former employees of mine."
One of the walls began to slowly open, splitting in the middle as they pulled apart to reveal a large colosseum on the other side. It had high stone walls, tall pillars, both standing and broken, scattered around the space, and a sandy floor. There were dark patches all over the place, most likely from blood.
"Isn't it beautiful? I drew my inspiration for this place from the human world. Have any of you visited the colosseum in Rome? It's beautiful, and the stories about it moved me in ways I've never been moved before. I've created this place to be a perfect replica, down to the kind of stone used in the walls. It was difficult to get that much rock off the planet, but what can I say? I'm a likeable kind of guy."
"Zalanoon," both Sting and Rogue said at the same time.
"Ah, so you've heard of me. That's wonderful!"
Across the space, at least a hundred feet, maybe more, another portion of the wall had opened, revealing a balcony with a large chair, upon which sat a man clothed entirely in black. His skin was nearly an identical shade, and his hair fell down his shoulders in red waves. The burning fires in his eyes were unmistakable, even from this distance. When he smiled, the white of his teeth contrasted sharply with the rest of him.
Next to him stood two identical sized beings, both in dark red robes and holding staves that burned at the top with black fire.
"I had wondered if I was still talked about in the demon realm. I'm glad to know my story is still shared there, especially with the young ones. I'm flattered, honestly." The being stood and took a bow. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Zalanoon, and I will be your entertainer this evening. Well, not so much your entertainer as your… referee, let's say."
He sat back down and crossed his legs. He steepled his fingers and then leaned forward. "You see, I knew you'd be coming, and I'm rather bored waiting on all the blood to be collected from our dear little Heartfilia, so I decided that I'd like to use you all to have some fun. What do you say?"
"Where is Natsu?" Sting asked, just loud enough for the others to hear. "Why isn't he in one of these cells, too?"
"I have something I'd like you to see." Zalanoon stood up and walked forward a few paces. "Tell me, the two of you that are from the demon realm, have you ever heard of Genwior?"
I was right. Rogue didn't say anything, but as he looked at Sting, he caught the other hybrid's eyes widen and before he looked towards Rogue, too.
"As I suspected. To the rest of you, Genwior was a demon who used to live in the highest realm of the demon world. He was the human world's equivalent of a scientist. He used to spend his time creating potions with effects that weren't… let's just say they weren't typically accepted among the rest of my kind."
"He's dead!" Sting leaned forward on his glass cage. "He went too far and the demon kings killed him."
"Yes they did, and it's a shame isn't it? That demon was a genius. They even went so far as to destroy his research!" He tsked. "Can you believe that?" He turned to one of the beings behind him and a moment later they walked away.
"Well, the good news is, that last part was a lie."
"No." Rogue stepped forward. "They destroyed his work. Some of his potions made their way out into the realms, but his work was disposed of."
Zalanoon chuckled. "I'm afraid not, my friend."
"Don't call me your friend." Rogue felt his scales threatening to escape his skin. "Skiadrum helped to collect the potions that had been given out, and I know that he disposed of them." Well, most of them. He'd gotten into the dragon's stash one time, and he knew for a fact that none of the ones he'd saved had gone missing. He'd gotten into plenty of trouble, but he'd opened some of them before his father had caught him and asked about them later. One of them happened to be the one he'd just found in the lab.
"That he did." Zalanoon folded his hands in front of himself. "You can never underestimate a dragon's nose, and he did help in regathering many of them, you are correct about that, but I'm afraid you're wrong about the research." He smiled. "Oh come on. Is it really any surprise that the demon kings would keep that research to themselves? Of course they did! It was invaluable, even if it was, in their words, inhumane. They kept it because knowledge is power, no matter what that knowledge is."
"You're lying!" Sting yelled.
Zalanoon tsked again. "I think the dragon in you two is a bit too strong. I don't think you understand just how truly despicable demons can be. At any rate, you're about to see just how wrong you are. Do either of you know what the last potion was that Genwior created?"
Natsu isn't here, Rogue thought.
"The kings never told us." Sting crossed his arms. "Large groups of demons were attacked and killed out of nowhere, and once it was cleaned up, they just told us that he had been dealt with."
They know how to make that potion. Rogue's hands clenched into fists. What are they going to do with him?
"Let's just say that the potion made his demon test subjects… more true to themselves." Zalanoon glanced back as his man returned. "Would you like to see what that potion did?"
Oh no…
To their left, a portion of the wall opened up and as the lights overhead dimmed, a large creature entered through the new opening. It was huge, and despite some dragonlike features, was clearly a demon. Black skin and scales covered most of the creatures body, even his wings and horns. His nose was lengthened, much like a dragon's, and smoke rose steadily from his nose. The beast kept himself hunkered down as he searched the space around him, black shadows dancing off his body as he moved, helping to hide his body.
"Natsu…" Stier knelt down as Virgo finally stirred. "What did they do to him?"
"What are you talking about?" Stier asked.
"That's Natsu. That's his true form. Leo warned me what would happen if they…" She got up on her knees to look out the glass. "His scarf is missing. He needs his scarf to keep his inner monster at bay."
"It's worse than that," Rogue said. "The potion they used on him is forcing that monster out. I'm afraid even with his scarf, he'd still look like that."
"We need to help him." Virgo slowly got to her feet. "We need to save him. He's our only way to find Lucy without Leo here."
"Ah Virgo, it's so good to see you're back up again!" Zalanoon moved to sit in his seat. "Now that the audience is all awake, let's see who will get the first crack at our demon-dragon hybrid, shall we?"
"What is he talking about?" Even as Sting asked the question, lights appeared at the top of their cages, and then flashed as one light moved back and forth between them. After a while it slowed down, and when it stopped, it glowed a constant, dull green.
"How fitting," Zalanoon exclaimed, "that our first contestant is one of my former employees!"
Mao's eyes widened in terror as those words sank in. "What?" His voice was barely a whisper, barely loud enough to be heard, especially over the ruckus Ova began to make.
"Damn you Zalanoon, leave him alone! You know he's not good in a fight!"
"I think he just hasn't been given the proper chance to try." Zalanoon sighed. "I mean you're probably right, and it will most likely be a slaughter, but perhaps your little mate will be able to surprise us with something before he goes out."
"No! I won't let you!"
"Won't let me?" Zalanoon threw his head back and laughed. "And what do you think you're going to do to stop me?"
Ova looked over at his mate, then down at where Natsu was still hiding amongst his shadows. Determination shone in his eyes as he stood up straight and looked back at his former boss. "I volunteer. Send me in instead."
"Oooo, I wasn't expecting that." Zalanoon cocked his head. "Perhaps that could be fun. No wait, wait, wait, I can do one better!" A matching green light began to glow above Ova as well. "How about we send both of you in together?"
Sting slammed against his glass with his hands. "Zalanoon, that's stupid! Send me in instead!"
"Sting, you idiot!" Rogue yelled. "Natsu's not in his right mind, he won't hold back!"
The blond ignored his friend."If you want a fight, send someone in there that can actually fight. If you send those two, it'll be a slaughter. Where's the entertainment in that?"
"You can't count out the value of a good slaughter," Zalanoon countered. "We have to work up to the good part of the show. Where's the fun if the climax is at the beginning?"
"Send me in Zalanoon," Ova argued, "but leave Mao out of this. Please. I'll do anything you ask. I'll fight him with my hands tied behind my back if you want, just don't send Mao in!"
Zalanoon hummed a little. "Hands tied behind your back, hm?"
Mao slammed his hands against the glass. "Ova, take that back! You can't possible win like that!"
"I'll fight him anyway you want. Whatever way will entertain you most." Ova's voice grew thick with tears. "Please just keep Mao out of it."
"NO! Stop it, Ova!" Mao looked towards Sting. "Please. Please, he doesn't stand a chance, fight in his place!"
Zalanoon's voice cut through the Leezar's words. "I accept." The light in Mao's prison went out and the floor of Ova's cage began to descend.
"NOOO! No, Zalanoon, please!" Mao desperately banged against the glass surrounding him. "Please, let him go! Don't send him in there!"
"Mao."
The Leezar looked over as his mate continued to sink into the floor. Ova smiled at Mao, tears noticeably welling up in his eyes. Before he completely disappeared, he opened his mouth to speak. "It's my job to protect you, remember?" He swallowed down his tears before he could finish speaking. "I love you, Mao."
A plate slid in place to seal off the cage once more and Mao began to cry in earnest.
The others watched on, not sure how to comfort him, when they all saw the ball of shadows that was Natsu suddenly disappear inside the colosseum. "Where did he go?" Stier asked.
"He's hunting," Virgo whispered.
"How is using the shadows?" Rogue asked.
"It's not the shadows he's using," the pink haired angel answered as she searched the space below. "It's the power he received from his demon mother. She was one of the cruelest demons to ever live. Her malice is the reason he wears the scarf, because without it, he has trouble controlling this version of himself. It overpowers his dragon side."
"Who was his mother?" Stier asked.
Virgo didn't look away from the field. "Once upon a time, the demon kings had a queen amongst them, do you remember?"
"Yeah, the queen was head of the nightmare demons. She was banished when the others of her kind were." Stier's eyes went wide. "You don't mean that, do you? That was his mother?"
Virgo nodded. "It was an accident on Igneel's part and calculated on hers."
"That's impossible," Sting said. "The nightmare queen never had any children."
"She hid it, but she definitely did." Virgo nodded ahead of her. "In this form, Natsu is stronger than anyone in the demon realm, possibly even the kings. Igneel knew he'd grow up strong, with both his strength and her cunning combined, so he made the scarf that keeps this portion of him at bay, and raised him to be better than his demon parts."
"How do you know that?" Stier asked. "I've heard rumors of his maternity, but Igneel has always been quiet about who the mother is."
"The king told me, after Loke was taken. He needed to make sure I understood the importance of him keeping that scarf. He warned me to be more aware around other demons, since they can sense how truly potent the magic in the scarf is."
"And sense it I did," Zalanoon interrupted. He reached into a pocket of his long black robe and pulled out a small ball of white. "The magic in this thing is incredible, and I have some rather elaborate plans for it, once I've finished the lot of you off and returned the realms to what they once were." He reached above him to hang the scarf from a hook on a nearby pillar.
"Now that our first contestant is ready, shall we begin?"
Mao's wailing grew louder as another door opened on the far right side of the space. Ova walked out, his back straight and head held up high. There was a mask of some sort wrapped around his head, obscuring his eyes. He stumbled a little when he tripped over a rock, but he didn't show any fear as he entered the ring.
Zalanoon chuckled as the door slid closed, and then raised his hand.
"Aaaaaand… start."
