It was chaos.
The battle raged on, demons of enormous skill and strength clashing against all manner of magical beings - the resulting carnage extensive in its raw brutality. Giants crushed and stomped on their foes, ground shaking cries erupting from them when their comrades fell. The strigoi glided amongst the fray, inflicting sharp wounds on as many demons as they could, alongside their close friends, the trolls - who swung their trusty battle axes, chopping down the enemy as they would weeds in a muddy swamp. The elves fought alongside a few of the other light races and the human mages, wreaking deadly havoc amongst their demonic foes. Various other races of light and dark in the magical alliance army threw themselves into the battle with vigor, cleaving through their demon enemies in an almost desperate frenzy. Each race seemed more eager than the other to take out the opposition, to finally end the war that had haunted seven years of their lives.
The most desperate of all races, however, were the dragons.
They attacked with brutal ferocity, unforgiving and unrelenting in their clash with their demonic tormentors. Demon after demon suffered their ferocious wrath - their resurrection pointless, as the human demon slayers waited in the shadows, taking out every weakened demon on the field. In an awe-inspiring show of teamwork, dragons and humans worked together seamlessly to eliminate most of the enemy troops.
Although, none could match the cohesive forces of Absolute Zero and the Prince of Dragons.
Prince Gray had proven himself so skilled in his ice magic and the arcane art of demon slaying, that he had earned himself the title of Absolute Zero - the deadliest ice demon slayer on the battlefield. He eliminated target after target with lethal precision, always complementing the even deadlier dance of his fearsome commanding officer, the infamous Fire Dragon of Darkness, known as Natsu Dragneel by the many demons who had switched loyalty over to him.
Natsu was on fire.
Literally and figuratively. The demon-dragon hybrid was enveloped in brilliant crimson and black flames as he moved with an unearthly grace and precision amongst the demon contingents unlucky enough to stand in his way. He effortlessly downed thousands and thousands of demon troops, barely working up a sweat as he challenged the far more skilled and talented leaders of these troops, taking them down as well with feral gusto. And yet he fought with a sense of foreboding weighing heavy on his muscular shoulders, for his demon blood screamed a warning of danger… it sensed the approach of his ultimate test.
Acnologia was coming.
"You okay there, flame brain?!"
Gray's concerned words cut through his haze of ferocity, easily caught by his sharp dragon ears despite the chaotic sounds of battle surrounding them.
"He's coming, ice prick." Natsu snarled out through grit teeth, felling the demon general standing in his path with one brutal strike.
"Now?!" Gray ended his yelp with a string of colorful swears, felling both demon lieutenants that had attacked him with a graceful swipe of his demon slaying ice sword.
"Yea." Natsu paused, crouching down for a moment to rest his limbs as he took a few deep breaths to steady his racing heart and raging blood. "In the eastern quarter. Where my father and uncle are fighting. I'm gonna go there now. Alone."
Gray paused as well, gazing down at the hunched figure of his surrogate brother, for once not trying to hide the concern in his eyes.
"The bastard. He chooses mid-battle to attack you, when you've already half-worn yourself out. The fucking coward…"
Natsu barked out a laugh, straightening up and shooting his faithful lieutenant his famous brilliant grin.
"I'm still gonna kick his ass, Gray."
Gray smiled back, the action slowly turning into a taunting smirk.
"You better, Natsu. Or I'll kick yours." He paused, proceeding with his next words a little hesitantly. "You sure I can't come too…?"
"Nay." Natsu cut him off instantly. "You're General in my stead, remember? The magical alliance troops need you. No way is just defeating Acnologia gonna win this bloody war. By the time I cream him, you better have finished off the rest of these morons…"
"Huh. I'll be done way before you, flaming asshole."
"Icicle bastard."
With one parting grin at his best frenemy, the fearsome dragon snapped open his wings and launched into the air.
It was time.
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Elsewhere on the field, a magnificent and fearsome elf ducked and twirled, her deadly dance as beautiful as it was lethal as she struck down her foes in her demon take-over form. The inner glow that alerted her to her present sensing magic flared a warning signal so strong that the beautiful elfin maiden's graceful attack faltered. She leapt off her magical steed and fell to her knees, clutching her chest and slowing her breathing as she dug deeper into the magic that allowed her to see all at once.
"Mira!"
A tall, muscular elf with hair the same silvery white as hers approached her, his fearless brown-haired fiance on his heels, protecting him and Mirajane from their advancing enemy. The behemoth knelt next to his sister, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder.
"Mira? What did you see?"
"He has come… Acnologia. He approaches the Eastern Quarter. Natsu has sensed his presence, and is on his way to face him…"
Mira's head snapped up, her panicked gaze locking with her startled brother's.
"The demons know the end is nigh! Their ferocity will only increase from herein, until a victor emerges from the fight between Natsu and Acnologia! I cannot sense Lisanna…"
"She is safe, sister." Elfman frowned, throwing an uneasy glance at his lover, who returned it with a worried one of her own. "She fights alongside Freed and his human lover, along with the contingent of human mages from Pergrande…"
"NO!" Mira screamed, disregarding her brother's gentle words. "He's blocking me! The blasted high general of the demon army - Mard Geer! He's the foe Lisanna and the others are facing!"
With a battle cry so ferocious that it struck terror into the hearts of all those in the near vicinity, Mirajane, the recently coronated Queen of the Northern Elves, charged back into battle - desperately cleaving a path through the enemy lines towards her beloved sister.
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The dragon man strode purposefully onto the field, his sharp eyes taking in the scene before him. His pawns had played their part, and had almost served their most crucial purpose…
To retrieve his ultimate weapon.
Acnologia threw his head back, scenting the air as a familiar smell accosted him. With a fearsome grimace, the leader of the demons turned around, squaring his shoulders as he roughly pushed past a few of his demon subordinates.
"ACNOLOGIA!"
The threatening voice boomed across the battlefield, echoing in the hearts of the combatants.
The black scaled dragon, menacing in his half form, stood stock still - frowning at the figure approaching him from a distance. He hissed, his eyes taking on a slightly crimson tint, as his black scales stretched and strained with the tension flowing through his rugged half-form. He watched with narrowed eyes as the fast approaching draconic form soon reached him, the red flames enveloping the new arrival's body a testament to his fury.
"Igneel."
The imposing king of the Southern dragons stood tall and strong before his foe, his teeth grit as he smouldered with rage.
"You have fallen too far, oh black one. It is now my duty to fell you before you can cause anymore destruction…"
His opponent leered at him.
"And how do you think you will do that? You, who could not even protect your own precious child from his morbid fate… does Natsu know his current condition is your fault?"
"BASTARD! Don't you dare poison his mind with your twisted lies…"
"Lies?! If it were not for you and Grandine, my beloved and I would have escaped - by now we would be blissfully happy together! Your interference caused my misery! And I simply took my revenge… a revenge that you, oh incompetent fool, could not stop."
"If trusting a betraying bastard like you is considered incompetence, then I am indeed the king of fools! You were once akin to a brother to me, but now you are worse than my mortal enemy - you are the infidel who abducted and hurt my precious boy. For that, Acnologia, you will pay…"
With those final, snarled words, Igneel launched himself at his northern brethren, the flames of his rage reaching a fevered peak as the lines of his half-form shifted and shimmered. Before he reached his despised target, the magnificent king of the southern dragons had transformed into his full form - a huge, winged, and heavily-muscled draconic figure replacing the smaller version of just moments before. Acnologia stumbled back, his bitter snarl twisting into an enraged grimace as he too transformed into a hulking black beast in a matter of seconds - grappling with his foe the moment his transformation completed.
As the two enormous beasts collided, troops of both sides stopped for a moment to regard the aerial battle with awe and fear. When dragons took on their full forms, it inevitably meant that they were going to fight to the death. And given the legendary status of both combatants, the victor of the battle seemed impossible to predict - all waited with bated breath for the outcome.
Who would win? The current King of Alagesia? Or…
The disgraced ex-emperor of Selvaria?
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Natsu cursed, delivering blow after blow to the head of the demon army, trying his best to duck under his guard and deliver a lethal strike, but struggling to do so.
Mard Geer was no ordinary enemy.
Granted, that normally would not have prevented the impatient Prince of Dragons from obliterating the fool, but in those particular circumstances Natsu was at a handicap - he was trying to preserve his strength. Contrary to his usual tactic of 'go hard or go home', he was exercising restraint and trying to incapacitate the wily demon with the least amount of energy possible. He still had to fight Acnologia after all, and he had already used up far more magic power than he had intended too before that crucial battle. However, his slippery foe was not making his resolve easy. Acnologia's right-hand demon was proving to be a pain in the ass, and Natsu was sorely tempted to just fry the bastard to a crisp and be on his way.
Then again - Mira would give him hell if he did. She was on her way - from what she had shared with him through her freaky present sensing skills - and boy was she pissed at old Mardi. The idiot had tried to take out Lisanna, after all. It had been fortunate that Natsu had been flying over them around the time the bastard had attacked her. He had quickly detoured from his goal and alighted to come to her aid. He noted with chagrin how she had been cordoned off from her companions - Freed and an unfamiliar human mage were battling their own formidable demon foes with a desperate edge, frantic to reach Lisanna and come to her aid. Natsu suddenly whipped his head to the side, letting out a sigh of relief as he tried, yet again, to deliver an incapacitating blow to his enemy. He reigned in his wandering thoughts, snapping his attention completely back to his target, as he tried to tune out the frantic and worried words that assaulted his ears as Mirajane finally found her sister just a few meters behind him.
"Lisanna!"
The elf girl struggled to sit up from the prone position she had slumped into the moment Natsu had intervened in her fight. Mira fell to her knees in front of her sister, reaching out a trembling hand to touch her sibling's face - one that Lisanna weakly swatted away.
"Get up, dear one! You can't give up now… He's on the battlefield! That wretched Acnologia! It's now or never!"
Lisanna blinked away her tears, a lump in her throat arising unbidden as she gazed into her sister's concerned baby blue orbs.
"I… I'm too weak, Mira. D-don't let me hold you back… Please, you and brother must keep fighting…"
Lisanna could feel more of her strength receding, the deadly attacks that had been leveled at her almost too much for her weakened frame to overcome.
"NOT UNTIL YOU GET UP! LISANNA!"
Mira's voice was frantic with fear and grief. She grabbed her sister by the shoulders, trying to shake her back to full strength, desperate to see her darling sister's eyes burn once again with the gentle determination to protect those who could not fight for themselves. She almost did not feel the featherlite, hesitant touch on her own shoulder.
"Easy there, cousin. Let Lisanna rest - she has faced a traumatizing foe, she needs a few moments to recover…"
Mirajane ignored Freed's consoling words, continuing to stare at her sister's dull, lifeless expression.
"Please, Lisanna… I can't fight without knowing you will be okay… that you will at least protect yourself and get out of this war alive… My dearest heart…"
"I've got her."
A helmeted, tall, muscular man crouched beside the elven Queen, the only part of his face visible the soft, encouraging smile lighting up his visage. He gazed at the beautiful, trembling elven Princess on the ground, his deep voice soothing as he rumbled out a few playful words.
"Hey Lis. Remember me? Your cousin Freed introduced us just a few short moons ago… Best damn day of my life…"
The fair haired maiden finally looked up, gazing at his helmet intensely as if she could see past the metal contraption to his mesmerizing eyes within.
"B-Bixlow?"
The helmeted mage nodded, sweeping the elf-maiden into his arms, the motion gentle yet firm.
"Aye. Thank God you recognized me - else your sister here would probably have skinned me alive for this."
The human mage chuckled, his grip on the elf maiden tightening as Lisanna let out a soft giggle of her own. The smiling pair seemed oblivious to the surprised yet shrewd look upon the elven Queen's face, as Mira gracefully rose from her spot on the ground.
"Well, well. Looks like we'll have plenty of reasons to get to know each other better once this war is over... err... Bixlow."
Bixlow nodded, his expression turning solemn as he turned to face the fearsome elf warrior.
"Get back in there, oh Queen of the Northern Elves. They need you. Don't worry about your sister. I swear on my life to protect her. You have my word as the dark mage of souls, Laxus' right-hand man."
Mira nodded solemnly.
"You know I'll kill you if anything happens to her, right?!"
Bixlow broke out a brilliant and roguish grin.
"Aye. And I like my helmet too much to wish to lose my head, dear Mira."
Mira smiled. With a friendly wink at the pair, Mira finally turned around to face her foe, pushing the straining Prince of Dragons unceremoniously aside as she eagerly took his place.
"Be on your way, Natsu. This battle belongs to me."
With a relieved sigh, Natsu immediately took to the skies once more, only throwing a single mystified glance in Bixlow and Lisanna's direction as he departed. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the friendly curiosity and the myriad thoughts that threatened to arise from that route of thinking. He had to once more focus on the crucial battle he was about to engage in. With a fierce roar, he let his opponent know he was coming, now able to make out the enemy's massive, black, full-form in the distance, as the ex-Emperor grappled with an impressive dragon foe who looked like…
Was that his father?
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Igneel let out yet another of his ferocious, blood-curdling roars. He could sense the multitudes of magical beings on the ground beneath him quake from sheer fear - whether they were his allies or his enemies. But the one he was directing the vicious attack at seemed unperturbed.
Acnologia seemed invincible.
But Igneel refused to let that shake him. His once-friend was certainly not as unbeatable as he seemed - Igneel's keen eyes could make out the way his northern brethren favoured his right side, and struggled a little to keep himself upright in the air. Some of Igneel's attacks had landed true, and though not nearly as effective as he had expected, they had done some damage to the unrelenting bastard he faced.
Igneel, on the other hand, was a little worse for wear.
Cuts and bruises criss-crossed his underbelly, and a few deep gashes even adorned the thick hide of his back. His left leg ached from a particularly nasty hold, and one eye was considerably blackened - showing quite obviously against his deep red scales. The pain and the wounds were not what concerned Igneel, however, for he had not been naive enough to believe he would get out of a fight with this formidable foe without some scratches to show for it. No, Igneel was far more concerned about the magic his opponent had been using during their battle so far. There was a decidedly unstable and foreign element to Acnologia's magic that made Igneel extremely uneasy… Something about the black dragon before him unnerved him immensely.
"I am done playing games, Igneel"
The former ruler of Selvaria hissed out venomously, as he swiftly retreated a bit from an extremely confused and tense Igneel.
"What the fuck do you mean, you…?"
Igneel halted in his tracks, frozen in mid-air as he took in the black swirling mist that had suddenly arisen around his massive foe. He watched with dread and horror as Acnologia's already black hide began to be peppered with even darker, intricate, midnight-hued designs, stretching all over his massive form.
With a truly vicious smirk, Acnologia lunged.
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Natsu watched in horror as the world around him seemed to move in slow motion. Acnologia lunged at his father, the gruesome patterns decorating his entire body proof of just how far the former ruler of Selvaria had fallen.
He had embraced demon blood.
It was that demon strength hidden within him that Acnologia called upon then. In one vicious strike, he ripped off Igneel's right arm and wing. Natsu watched in numb disbelief as the mutilated form of his father fell from the skies into the churning ocean below.
A fury unlike one Natsu had ever known before enveloped him. With a cry so savage that even the dragons on the field shuddered in dread, the Prince of Dragons launched himself at the black beast. They met in a deafening clash of claws and wings, Natsu having transformed into his full form in the blink of an eye. The crimson-scaled dragon dug deep, calling upon his own inner demon blood to fight his formidable foe. A smattering of black markings began coating his bright scarlet hide, the harsh lines and splotches exuding dangerous, unstable magic. Acnologia's eyes widened and a hint of greed glistened in them as he observed Natsu's changes.
"Ahhh. You have obviously adapted even better than I to the blood transfusion - despite the fact that you continue to reject that part of yourself. Just look at the magical power oozing from those markings, as hideous as they are…"
"SHUT UP!" Natsu roared, charging the black behemoth who quickly swerved around in mid air to avoid the blow.
"Don't be like that, my little weapon! I worked so hard on you - would it not be natural for me to be curious about the results?"
The words pierced Natsu's haze of rage, as he too swerved in mid air, hovering a few meters away but pausing his assault to regard Acnologia venomously.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
A slow, evil grin crept up on the black dragons face.
"Oh, this is priceless. Your parents did not tell you… The fools. You are in for a treat then… It twas me who abducted you that fateful night, little dragon, and injected you with demon blood. I would have honed you into the superb weapon you are truly meant to be, if only that meddling human mage and the blasted high fairy of the stars had not interfered…"
"Y-you what? I-It was you?!"
If Acnologia had thought he had witnessed Natsu's rage before, it was nothing compared to the torrent of black and crimson flames that erupted from the younger dragon's frame in that moment. Natsu's fury peaked as he attacked his foe with ravenous vigor, an almost demon-like expression of rage etched on his face. Acnologia stumbled back in the sky, struggling under the onslaught of blows. Natsu rained them on his foe relentlessly, his fury adding to his already insanely strong magic.
But he was still no match for a seasoned warrior like Acnologia.
The black scaled dragon used the momentum from Natsu's attacks to return steady blows of his own. As the pair twisted and twirled in a deadly dance high in the reddening skies, Natsu could feel his initial surge of strength receding, whilst Acnologia's power remained steady and strong. The Prince of Dragons knew he had to end the battle, and end it soon, if he was to have any hope of victory. He pushed his magic to its limit, trying his best to overcome his dark foe, but Acnologia met his every blow, only showing a slight strain from the battle that was nearly exhausting Natsu.
Natsu needed a miracle.
"Are you done, little dragon?" Acnologia taunted, his dark eyes glittering with evil glee. "I have come with the express purpose of re-capturing you - you are essential to my master plan, after all…"
Acnologia stopped abruptly, staring at a spot on Natsu's forearm. Natsu followed his gaze with a frown, an involuntary gasp escaping him when his eyes fell on the tiny gold ornament still attached to his magically expanded wrist band.
It glowed with a warm and fierce golden light, so bright that Acnologia hissed in discomfort and jerked his face to the side. A familiar scent of stardust and sunflowers accosted Natsu's senses, as he continued to stare at the miniscule pendant in wonder and awe. He could hear a single whispered word that reverberated in his head.
"Natsu…"
That voice, familiar yet mysterious, was like a dollop of pure sunshine in his weary, broken body. He could feel his entire being re-energize as he turned back to his foe with a new fire in his eyes - one with a golden tinge…
For the first time since he had entered the battlefield, for the first time in a very long time - Acnologia felt fear.
They clashed once again, grappling with vigor and venom as each tried to maim the other. But this time, Natsu could feel a lightness in his system, an alien magic in his veins, one that kept him brisk and alert and able to easily counter each and every one of the older warrior dragon's attacks. At a crucial point in the fight, Natsu took in a deep breath, intent on delivering as damaging a blow as he could. With vigor, he released his fire breath, startled to see his flames take on a beautiful, pure-golden hue…
The flames roasted Acnologia.
Natsu stared in shock as his enemy writhed and screamed amidst the golden flames. It was well nigh impossible to kill a fellow dragon with flames - at most, a strong fire dragon could cause damage to an enemy dragon's hide. The obvious torment that those fierce flames caused his foe completely mystified the Prince of the Dragons as he watched his enemy burn. When the fire finally dissipated, Natsu watched in disbelieving horror as the charred, unmoving form of his foe fell to the raging waters below.
…
How the heck had he produced those golden flames?!
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Many many miles away, in the Kingdom of Pergrande, a fair maiden with hair the color of sunshine stood out on her balcony. She clutched the balustrade with a white-knuckled grip, as her entire form trembled with each deep, shuddering breath she inhaled of the cool night air. She forced her bleary eyes open to gaze at the stars - they were always a calming element after she had nightmares. And this particular nightmare had been both terrifying and intense… and so damn realistic…
The maiden's focus on the celestial forms was so great, that she failed to notice the faint glow her skin was emitting. As she continued to study the heavens, her luscious lips parted and a single word fell from them in a soft, breathy sigh.
"Natsu…"