Sorry for the wait! A lot's been going on in my personal life, so I've got things to do. Nevertheless, here we are!
Enjoy!
Neptu shot up like a rocket out of bed, gasping for air as he did so. He quickly looked around in the darkness, only to discover he was indeed still in his rebuilt childhood bedroom.
He'd had a nightmare.
He could feel sweat dripping down his forehead, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. Neptu had, for the past few days, been experiencing vicious nightmares. What he saw varied, but it almost always ended the same way, with his death. He didn't have a clue why he was seeing these visions, but it bothered him greatly.
Silently stepping out of bed, Neptu moved towards his coat in the corner and reached into the pocket. He frowned as he took out the pack of cigarettes. He wasn't an avid smoker, but when he got particularly stressed out he found that it often calmed him down. A habit everyone he knew would chastise him for, so he kept quiet about it. Stepping out onto the balcony, Neptu used his magic to lit the cigarette and puffed on it, trying to calm his nerves so he could return to bed.
He'd only been home for a short time, but he was glad that he'd decided to come here after his defeat at Magnolia. As much as he hated Drakhosz for what he did and what it caused, he too was causing pain by continuing his quest. Despite what Gin had said to him, Neptu still found himself rocked by how many innocents, his own men and unlucky souls alike, he'd ordered to die. Perhaps that was what was keeping him up at night.
And yet, he knew that it wasn't. Every dream was different, but it always ended the same. He died. Defeated at Drakhosz's hands and left to die, Zynna murdering him in a blind rage, The Cross and Gin leaving him to die, the list went on and on. They all shared the same message with him as well.
"You're a disgrace to your families legacy. You're a Devil Slayer, and yet you have slayed no demons."
Neptu's grip on his balcony tightened as he recalled these dreams. They must have had some deeper meaning behind them, but as far as he could tell there wasn't much. Then again, he was pretty blind to a lot of things.
And then, he got an idea.
Swiftly putting his cigarette out and stepping back inside, Neptu threw on his clothes lazily and left his room. He walked as quietly as possible, but he didn't worry to much about waking others. From the sounds of things, many guild members were asleep. A few wandered the halls around him, but they only offered curious glances and small waves, gestures Neptu returned as kindly as possible.
Exiting the mansion, Neptu looked around to get his bearings.
Father always said my instincts would lead me too it...
Neptu looked around the grounds quietly, before his spine tingled as he watched a certain patch of the forest. Determined to find his destination, Neptu set out in that direction, leaving through the front gate. As soon as he did so, however, an owl landed on a tree stump ahead of him. The owl and Neptu stared at each other for a moment, before Neptu sighed.
"What do you want, Dharen?" He asked, stepping past the owl into the woods.
"Where do you think you're going?" His old friend asked, resuming his human form and walking after Neptu.
"I'm looking for something," Neptu replied, looking around the forest.
"What?" Dharen asked. "I know these woods, there's not much out here."
"It's nothing you'd know how to find." Dharen didn't say anything in response to this, but still trotted after Neptu. He was probably curious, which was understandable. No one outside Neptu's family would know what it was he was looking for.
Coming to a stop in a small clearing, Neptu looked down at the ground and smiled.
"We're here," he said. Dharen made a face.
"We are where?" He asked. Neptu gestured down to the earth beneath them. He kicked some moss out of the way, which revealed bright white stone beneath their feet. "What the hell? Stone?"
"Found it," Neptu said, undoing his necklace from around his neck. "My ancestral vault." Before Dharen could ask, Neptu bent down and swiped away more moss, revealing a indent in the stone. It was shaped like a fox head, the shape Neptu's necklace was. Neptu placed the necklace into the stone, and set it alight with magic.
The ground beneath both men began to tremble violently. Neptu regained his footing just in time to watch the ground shift from a flat surface into a cellar door, which clicked open from Neptu's necklace being in the indent. Picking up his family heirloom, Neptu turned to find Dharen awestruck.
"Surprised?" He asked. Dharen nodded weakly.
"You could say that," he said. "I've been mapping these woods for years, how the hell have I never seen this place?"
"It's not meant for someone outside my family to find it," Neptu replied. "So that isn't surprising to me." Together the two entered the open door and descended down the stairs. Neptu reached up and lit up braziers as they went so that they could see where they were going, and soon they found.
"Holy shit," Dharen breathed. Neptu smirked as he looked out over the bookshelves littered around the cave. Scrolls and assortments of ancient items were sprawled around the room.
"My ancestral vault," Neptu said, happy to see it was all still in one piece. "The amount of history in this room would make most researchers shit themselves."
"I can see why," Dharen replied. "There's so much down here." The two walked over to a table near the center of the cave, where a single scroll was stretched out across it. Neptu immediately recognised it as his family tree.
"I haven't seen this in years," he whispered, tracing his fingers over the paper. Generations upon generations of his family were displayed on this paper, some of which he'd never even heard of. His family was old, he knew that. But this old? He'd never even guessed.
"This thing goes back nearly five hundred years..." Dharen said, up near the top of it. "Your family sure is old."
"I know," Neptu said. "And one thing was always a constant. Something that all male members of my family had." Neptu raised his hand and lit it up with purple flames. "Devil Slaying magic. Course back then the title wasn't as fancy."
"What're we looking for, exactly?" Dharen asked. "There's who knows how much stuff here." Neptu frowned at this and turned to the bookshelves. He himself didn't know, but that's because he had no idea what was even wrong with him.
"I'm in need of guidance," he replied. "I was hoping someone in my family had some for me."
"Of what sort?" Neptu shrugged at this. He didn't have a clue what he was looking for.
He glanced back at the family tree, and he saw two faces that made him sad.
Gabros Skylancer
Juliet Skylancer
"You're a disgrace to your families legacy."
"I don't know," he replied. "All I know is that there'd better be something here."
Elizabeth yawned as she woke up, the sun shining in her face. This barely bothered her, she'd always been a morning person. Standing and stretching, she looked around the room that Zynna had given her. She smiled as she recalled yesterday's events, and that they had been asked if they wanted to stay. She hoped that Neptu and the others wanted too, because it seemed like a nice place to stay.
After getting dressed into the clothes she'd been left by someone, which consisted on jeans and a black t-shirt, Elizabeth stepped out of her room and walked down the halls, looking for the kitchen so she could find something to eat. The longer she walked around the more she noted that many of the members of The Hollows seemed to be in a panic. Many people looked distressed, and some even ran around frantically. The more she saw of this the more worried she got, and she switched her route to Zynna's study. She didn't know her way there flawlessly, but soon she found herself there. Several members were standing outside, also looked worried.
"What's going on?" She asked them as she reached them. The girl closest to her frowned at her.
"Lady Zynna is-"
"FUCK!" Elizabeth jumped as Zynna swore from inside the room, which was followed by a loud crash of something falling over. The girl winced at this.
"...Having a fit," she replied weakly. Elizabeth made a face before pushing past the girl and entering the study, being greeted by quite a sight.
Zynna had kicked over her desk, sending most of what lay atop it all over the place. Hyperion was meditating in the corner of the room, one eye open watching Zynna.
"I'm trying to help over here," He said. "Please allow me to work."
"Why?!" Zynna demanded angrily. "So you can tell me what I already know?!"
"What's going on around here?" Elizabeth asked, breaking into the conversation. "What's with everyone being freaked out." Zynna eyed Elizabeth closely for a second or two before she growled.
"He's gone," she said. "Neptu disappeared in the middle of the night. No one's seen him." Elizabeth felt her stomach do a flip at this. Neptu was gone? Why? Where could he have gone? "Did you know about this?"
"N-No!" Elizabeth said, starting to worry as well. Neptu had been rather distant the last little while, and now he had disappeared. Was he in danger? Elizabeth hoped not, she didn't want to be in danger anymore.
"We haven't seen Dharen this morning, either." Hyperion spoke up, still meditating. "I assume he is accompanying Neptu."
"Yeah sure," Zynna grumbled. "If you can't find them, where the hell could they be Hyperion?"
"He can't find them?" Elizabeth asked. Hyperion shook his head, looking a little depressed by this fact.
"I've scanned the forest in every direction," he said. "I haven't located them yet."
"How said they're in the forest?!" Zynna demanded. "That bastard probably ran off first chance he got! And I trusted him too! I swear to God if I find him I'm going to use our families ancient trapping technique so he can't get awa-!" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as Zynna stopped mid-sentence, facial expression going from livid to stunned.
"What?" Elizabeth asked. "What's wrong?" Zynna stayed silent for a moment before she grimaced and glowered angrily.
"Of fucking course," she hissed. "I'm so dumb." Zynna stormed towards the door before whirling on Hyperion and Elizabeth. "Find your people, Elizabeth. I know where that fucker disappeared to."
"Neptu! Wake up your idiot it's me!" Neptu snapped to life at this, noted he had Dharen by the collar of his shirt. He noted that he was sweaty and shivering, despite his fist being on fire. Dharen looked rather stunned, but Neptu felt no less confused. What was happening?
"What...What's going on?" Neptu asked. Dharen gulped.
"You feel asleep," he replied. "You starting having a nightmare, so I tried to wake up. You tried to attack me." Neptu sighed and sit back, grimacing as he did. He'd had another nightmare, only this time he'd tried to attack Dharen. Why? Why was this happening?
"This is so dumb..." He hissed. "I don't understand any of this."
"What exactly is happening?" Dharen asked. "From what I can see, your magic reacted to my touch. Your tattoo is over your face too." Neptu touched his face weakly, looked down at his right arm. The tattoo glowed lightly, and it traced farther up his arm than it should have.
"I've...Been having nightmares," Neptu explained. "They've been happening since I gave up being a hunter. They all end the same way, I die." Dharen hummed at this.
"Well, it certainly sounds connected to your magic," He said. "I think we should grab some scrolls and head back. The others are probably worried about us. We did kind of disappear in the middle of the night." Neptu knew he was right, and the last thing he wanted to do was piss of Zynna already.
"Alright, I'll grab some and we'll-"
"YOU ASSHOLE!" Neptu jumped backwards and looked towards the stairwell entrance, where the voice had come from. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was Zynna, Xeros, Elizabeth and Hyperion. There was also a man standing there in a blue hooded jacket that Neptu didn't know.
"Z-Zynna?" He asked weakly. "W-What're you doing here?"
"Me?!" Zynna shouted, still sounding angry. "What're YOU doing here?! Why the hell did you disappear in the middle of the night?! You worried us!" Neptu frowned.
"Sorry," he replied. "But I had a feeling that this place might help me with-"
"And you!" Zynna shouted, brandishing a finger at Dharen, who paled. "Why the hell did you come with him?! And not tell me?!"
"S-Sorry Zynna," Dharen replied weakly, playing with his hands. "I didn't think of it."
"Stop yelling, Zynna." Xeros said, arms crossed but a smile on his face. "They're okay, that's what matters."
"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed, smiling at Neptu. "At least he didn't run off." Zynna huffed at this and crossed her arms, still looking pretty pissed. Neptu couldn't blame her, the vault was probably the last place she'd thought to think. So he'd probably stressed her out to where she was at anyway.
"What're you doing down here anyway?" Zynna asked, sounding calmer than before. "Can't imagine why you came down here."
"Like I was saying, I was looking for a solution to my problem. I only hope I find one."
"Problem?" Zynna and Elizabeth asked at the same time, sharing a glance. It was odd, but Neptu ignored it.
"I'm having nightmares," Neptu said, looking down at the scrolls rolled up in his hands. "And my magic seems to be reacting to them. I was hoping that there might be some answers here."
"How long has that been going on?" Elizabeth asked. Neptu shrugged.
"When did we leave Magnolia?" He asked. Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"Seriously?!" She demanded. "You've been having trouble sleeping for that long? Why don't you ever speak up?!" Neptu made a face at this. Elizabeth had been acting very strange since Magnolia. She was usually calm and quiet, but she'd been loud and bold since the battle against Fairy Tail. Was it the real her? The one that she'd hidden from him all those years?
"The true extent of the problem only became apparent a few minutes ago," Neptu said quietly. "Stop yelling." Elizabeth now looked a little pissed as well, so it seemed to be a special skill Neptu had to piss off those close to him. Elizabeth walked closer and snatched a scroll from him, opening it and making a face.
"How do you understand this?" She asked. "It's missing words and whole sentences."
"Our magic reacts to it," Zynna answered from beside Xeros and Hyperion at the stairs. "Only Skylancers can read them." Elizabeth made a face.
"Tight nit family secrets galore huh..." She muttered, giving Neptu the scroll back. Xeros cleared his throat.
"Let us discuss this back at the mansion," he said. "We will find a solution to Neptu's problem there. Other than that, Neptu, Zynna and I have been meaning to ask you something." Neptu raised an eyebrow at this and looked over at Elizabeth, who eyed him back just as carefully.
"What is it?" Neptu asked, putting the scrolls he planned on taking back with him in a box.
"Who is Gin?" Zynna asked, making Neptu freeze in his tracks. "The kids sets off all my warning signals, but I haven't said anything until now. Who is he? Why is he travelling with you?" Neptu didn't reply right away, casting a wary glance at Elizabeth. She stared back for a second or two before nodding curtly. Neptu sighed and turned back to face them.
"He was our last target. He got some backup from a wizard guild called Fairy Tail, and a little war started. As I'm sure you can guess, we lost. I was going to be killed by a girl in that guild when Gin saved my life. Gin...He forced me to rethink how I looked at things. He wasn't a monster, just an unlucky kid burdened with a curse he had no control over."
"Last target?" Zynna asked, eyes wide. "He's a demon?" Neptu chuckled weakly at this.
"He's a Demon Lord takeover wizard," he answered. Silence fell over the room, and Neptu looked up to see Zynna, Xeros and Hyperion's faces had drained of all colour.
"Did..." Zynna started, looking terrified. "Did you say Demon Lord?" Neptu frowned.
"Yes. I did." Xeros looked back at the stairs that lead to the surface. The man in the blue finally reacted in some way.
He was flexing his fists and gritting his teeth.
"Then I'm afraid we have a problem." Xeros said.
I think that's a good place for today. I'll be sure to update more frequently from here. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!