Chapter 20

White Fire

Suddenly, Alu felt two delicate hands place themselves on each side of her head. She inhaled deeply and straighten herself up it caught her off guard. Aries looked behind her to see who had done this, and she gasped in relieved shock.

It was Aquarius.

"Your father isn't coming." Aquarius said to Alu. "But right now, this guy needs to be stopped, and you're the only one left who can fight him. I know you can do it, Alu. So I'll give you a hand."

"Aquarius, what are you gonna do?" Alu asked nervously.

"Just relax," Aquarius ordered, "this might feel weird, and may hurt a little."

"What?!" Alu shrieked. "Wait! What does that - ?!"

Before Alu could finish her sentence, Aquarius closed her eyes and concentrated. Alu couldn't see what was going on since the Water Spirit was behind her, but Aries could. Something underneath the right side of Aquarius's skirt began to glow a pure white light. The light then traveled up Aquarius's body and through her arms.

The moment they reached Aquarius's hands, Alu's eyes snapped wide open. She screamed in startled pain as the white power entered her body and slithered down her neck and into the center of her chest. It was like a stream of hot water had just entered her bloodstream and began to rush throughout the rest of her body. The moment it had reached her heart, it spread out across the rest of her until she began to glow like a star.

Alu's cry alerted Ivan and his lackeys, and they all turned their attention to the young girl. They all gave startled expressions when what was happening to her.

Rogue, Jellal, Sorano, and Eagle were in too much pain to take any notice of what was happening to Alu. Their awareness of the outside world was practically gone. All that they could process was the fact that their Magic Power was being drained from them fast.

Both Meldy and Violet also watched with shock. It was only now that they realized that Aquarius had moved away from them. They were so fixated on what Ivan was doing to their friends that they didn't realize the Water Spirit had made her way over to Alu until the girl suddenly screamed.

As this new power surged through Alu, images also began to quickly flash inside her mind.

A blond-haired woman in dirty rags tied up to a wooden stake, her face painted with fear, and her doe-brown eyes wide with terror.

An enormous lizard-like creature that was the color of poison blue. Its jaws opened wide and were closing in for a quick kill.

A crowd of people screaming and running away.

A familiar voice that said, "You're not getting a free meal this time! If you want these people, then you have to get past me! Just so you know, a fight with me is definitely going to scare the hell out of you!"

And lastly, the image of flames burning pure white.

Alu's consciousness flew back to her body, and she felt her strength returning. The emptiness of her Magic Power had suddenly vanished. What's more, it felt stronger than before.

At the same time, her world became one big haze.

Aquarius removed her hands.

"Listen up, you two," she ordered to both Alu and Aries, "once you've gotten everyone free, do that combo attack again. And this time, make it count."

Alu said nothing. She just rose to her feet as a strange, wispy white aura began to appear around her, ruffling her hair and cloths by some kind of wind that was only affecting her. For a second, Alu hung her head down, making her bangs hide her eyes in shadows.

Then she slowly lifted her face, revealing her eyes to be blazing bright, literally.

Ivan and the other Neo Zodiac Spirits paused when they saw Alu's change. One moment she was down on the ground in a weakened state. Now she was standing back up, tense and ready to fight. And her appearance had changed a little bit. Her eyes looked like they were glowing white, and her scowl was different than before. It wasn't wild and demonic like it had been before.

It was seriously deadly. And it was aimed at them.

Alu looked like herself, yet at the same time she didn't look like herself.

But no one had time to think about that for too long.

Alu bent forward a little bit, braced herself, then in a flash, she darted forward with such speed that she became a silvery blur. She moved so quickly that none of the Neo Zodiacs were able to track her movement and stop her.

The next thing Ivan knew, the tension in black tentacles suddenly snapped. He yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards into some bushes.

The severed ends of the tentacles that were attached to Jellal, Rogue, Sorano, and Eagle writhed for a moment before disappearing. The four wizards gasped as the sensation of their Magic being syphoned away from them stopped, and they all collapsed.

After she had cut the tentacles, Alu slid to a halt and turned back to the battlefield. She stared down the Neo Zodiac Spirits.

"GET HER!" Ivan shouted, scrambling out of the bushes he had fallen into. "GET THE BRAT!"

The Neo Zodiacs instantly opened their command and all rushed toward Alu. The sakura-haired girl narrowed her eyes and braced herself. Just as they got within range, Alu back-flipped out of the way. Then on the rebound of her recovery, she shot towards them. This caused all of them to stop, as they expected her to try and get away from them.

In their hesitation, Alu took her chance to adjust her body to kick them each in the head. For a small person, Alu was surprisingly strong, especially in her legs. Her kicks were strong enough to make all of the Neo Zodiac Spirits stumbled back into each other. Neo Sagittarius collided with Neo Ophiuchus, who fell back into Neo Leo. Because their brains were jostled by the sudden attack the head, they were all disoriented. They all fell into a tangled heap on the ground.

As that happened, Neo Ophiuchus's syringe flew out of her grip and rolled along in the grass for a few feet before coming to a stop directly in front of Ivan.

While all that was going on, Meldy over to her fallen comrades to see the extent of their injuries. Violet flew closely behind her.

"Jellal!" Meldy cried. "Eagle! Sorano!"

"We're okay, Meldy!" Jellal answered, straining to get to his feet. "Help Alu!"

On that order, Meldy came to a halt and looked over at Alu. Alu remained silent as she turned to look over at the petunia-haired woman. Meldy blinked as Alu's stare sent a weird chill down her spine.

It was like Alu was almost possessed.

"Meldy!" Aries suddenly called out.

Meldy snapped out of her trance and turned towards the Celestial Spirit, who was running towards her.

"Aries!" Meldy said urgently. "Let's form a Sensory Link! With it, I can help you increase your power!"

"Alright!" Aries nodded. "Let's do it!"

Using her Maguilty Sense Magic, Meldy created a Sensory Link with Aries. Aries was enveloped in a pink light for a brief second. When the light disappeared, a glowing band with a heart in the center appeared around Aries wrist.

"Violet! Get the others out of the way!" Meldy commanded the purple Exceed.

"On it!" Violet replied as she reached Eagle, who was just starting to get up.

"I'll get the rest!" Aquarius yelled.

Using the Water Magic in her urn, Aquarius summoned forth a wave of water that rushed over to weakened wizards. As Violet pulled Eagle up into the air, Jellal, Rogue, and Sorano were swept up in the current. Surprisingly, it wasn't as violet as they were expecting. It wasn't exactly gentle, but none of them felt like their lives were in danger. Aquarius commanded her water to bring the three wizards away from the fight and around behind her.

As soon as the others were behind Aquarius, Aries and Meldy combined their Magic to create a giant Wool Bomb that enveloped all of the Neo Zodiac Spirits. Of course, all of them fought and struggled to get out of it, so Aries and Meldy had to use everything they had to keep the Wool Bomb from disappearing.

Seeing her chance, Alu slammed the palms of her hands together and fire erupted around her. However, her fire was different than before. When the wizards of Sabertooth and Crime Sorciére saw her flames, they all gasped.

"Alu's fire!" Violet suddenly exclaimed. "It turned WHITE!"

Indeed, Alu's fire had turned white. It was as white as a star. The heat coming from it was even hotter than before. It didn't affect Alu in anyway, but everyone else around her could feel the increase in heat and strength.

But Alu herself didn't seem to notice. All her focus was on what she was going to do next. She took in a deep breath of air and roared in a strong, loud voice,

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"

Brilliant white fire shot from Alu's mouth and hit the enormous Wool Bomb. This time, the explosions were larger than the one Alu and Aries had previously conjured. The light it gave off was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes. It seemed to reach up to the sky and shine as spectacularly as the moon itself.

The force of the impact even sent Aries and Meldy flying backwards. Luckily, Aquarius was able to break their landings with her Water Magic. Violet and Eagle were sent tumbling in the air over the treetops of the forest for a few yards, both of them yelling and screaming out of reaction.

At the same time, the anguishing cries of Neo Leo, Neo Sagittarius, and Neo Ophiuchus could be heard. They immediately faded away as the Dark Spirits were destroyed by the blast, leaving behind only chard shikigami dolls.

However, what no one noticed didn't was Ivan look at Neo Ophiuchus syringe in front of him. As Ivan stared at the oversized medical instrument, he spotted something attached to it. Thinking quickly, he hunched down for a moment and snatched the something off of the needle. As soon as he did, the syringe vanished.

Then he vanished into the shadow of the trees.

After the effects of the explosion faded away, the only thing everyone could do was stare.

Alu stood tall, her face still stern and full of determination. Then it changed into stunned and she drew in a sharp breath of air. The glowing whiteness faded from her eyes, returning them to normal. Alu froze for a second.

Suddenly, she felt her energy drain again, and her whole world faded. The silvery fire around her disappeared, and she fell backwards onto the grass. There, she laid flat on her back, her eyes closed.

As soon as they saw Alu fall, Aries and Meldy quickly got to their feet and ran over to her. By the time they reach her, the others had managed to recover and hurried over to join them. At the same time, Violet and Eagle came flying back.

"Alu, are you okay?!" Aries cried, almost in a panic.

Meldy examined Alu's vital signs. She first placed an ear on the girl's chest to check for a heartbeat. When she found one, she then brought her face close to Alu's mouth.

"Meldy." Jellal whispered with concern.

"It's alright, she's alive." Meldy said, sitting up look at the others with a small smile.

"That's a relief." Eagle replied, exhaling deeply.

"We can't rest easy yet." Rogue interjected. "We have to find Ivan now."

"Too late." Sorano said, casting her gaze down with regret. "By now, he's probably gotten away."

Rogue paused for a second when he heard that. He then sniffed the air to catch a whiff of Ivan's scent in hopes that he could still pursue him.

"Don't, Rogue." Jellal warned. "I understand how you feel, but even if we could catch up with him, none of us can take him on right now."

Rogue grimaced, realizing that Jellal was right. As much as he hated to admit it, that Soul Stealing Curse had left him weakened. He barely had any Magic Power left, as did the others who had the same thing happen to them.

In this state, he wouldn't be able to fight Ivan.

"Damn it!" he clenched. "He still has Yukino's soul! He's using her power! He's hurting her!"

For a moment, Rogue recalled that moment when Ivan had him locked in the binds of his Curse. As his Magic was being drained, he could hear Yukino calling out to him.

/

As Rogue world began to waver between fading out and trying to stay solid, he found himself suspended in what looked like a pocket of space that was slowly turning into a sickly green color.

"Rogue!"

That familiar voice made Rogue jolt in shock and turn around quickly. What he saw made his heart first leap for joy, but then immediately drop down into his stomach with dread.

Yukino was floating in the limbo about several yards away from him. She was still dressed in the cloths she usually wore, and her whole body was glowing a brilliant blue. Her eyes were wide, clearly showing that she was terrified and in agony. They also showed that she was crying out of regret and despair.

"Yukino!"

"Rogue, I-I'm sorry! I don't want to hurt you, but I have no control!"

"This isn't your fault, Yukino!" Rogue assured. "I'll get you out of here! Take my hand!"

"No!" Yukino pleaded. "Please, you have to stay away! Ivan will get you, too!"

"I won't leave you here!" Rogue declared, fighting to reach the woman in front of him. "Everyone at Sabertooth is waiting for you! Your sister, too! I promise I'm gonna get you out of here!"

"Please, Rogue!" Yukino cried. "You mustn't!"

But Rogue was determined. He fought against the strain to get to Yukino. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to her. He was going to save her.

Suddenly, something that looked like a bolt of lightning shot from nowhere and struck Yukino. The white-haired woman screamed out in pain. At the same time, her blue light began to fade a bit.

Rogue realized with horror that it must be Ivan stealing Yukino's Celestial Magic. She was suffering right in front of him. Seeing her in pain made Rogue feel like he was experiencing the same agony that she was.

It was too much to bear! He had to make it stop! He had to save her!

"JUST TAKE MY HAND!" the Shadow Dragon Slayer commanded. "PLEASE!"

In pain, and desperate, Yukino obey out of instinct and reached for Rogue. Their hands were just within centimeters of each other, and getting closer by the second. The closer they got, the more hopeful Rogue became.

Finally, they were within range. With one final effort, Rogue reach other for Yukino's hand…

Suddenly, Rogue felt himself fly backwards as fast as a Magic Bullet.

"ROGUE!" Yukino screeched.

All Rogue could do was watch helplessly as Yukino grew rapidly smaller and disappear altogether. The limbo around him vanished, and his consciousness slammed right back into his physical body.

The Curse that had ensnared him had been severed.

Dazed and distraught, Rogue fell to the ground, exhausted and out of Magic Power.

/

Seeing the Shadow Dragon Slayer in emotional agony, Eagle walked over and reach up to place a hand on his shoulder. Rogue felt the gesture and looked down at the scarlet-haired boy.

"We'll get Yukino's soul back." Eagle said confidently. "Now that we know who stole it, we can figure out what to do. But I promise you, Rogue," Eagle turned to look the white-haired Angel Wizard, "and you too, Sorano, we'll save Yukino."

Sorano narrowed her eyes sadly before giving a slow nod. Rogue just turned away in silence.

"In the meantime, we should rest up." Jellal ordered. "We should also get Alu somewhere safe. I don't know how it's going to be before she wakes up."

"Our campsite's not too far from here." Aries said. "Why don't we head back there?"

"Good idea." Meldy replied. "We can regroup there."

"You guys go on ahead." Rogue said. "I need to go back and get Frosch."

"Right," Jellal nodded, "just follow our scent and meet up with us as soon as you can."

Rogue acknowledged the order and immediately set out to find his Exceed partner. As he did, Jellal knelt down, and with Meldy and Aries helping, hoisted the unconscious Alu up onto his back. Once he had gotten a secure hold on her, he and the other followed Aries as she led them back to their campsite.

As they walked, Eagle said,

"I gotta admit, what Alu did was amazing. But I've never seen her fight that way before. It was like she was a different person. Well, partially anyway."

"Not to mention, her Magic changed." Sorano pointed out. "Couldn't you feel it? It was more intense and powerful than before."

"Not by much, but still it was impressive." Jellal said. "We were just lucky she powered up in time to save us. That said, I wonder what could've happened."

Aries turned around to look at the others and opened her mouth to explain to the wizards what happened. However, a sharp gesture from Aquarius caught her eye. The Water Spirit was in the back of the group, so Aries had to look past the others to see her, and only she could see her. Aries saw that Aquarius was looking at her with a stern expression, and had her index finger up to her mouth. When Aquarius saw that she had gotten the Golden Ram Spirit's attention, she silently shook her head in a warning manner.

Aries immediately understood the message and closed her mouth again, swallowing back the words she was about to say. She turned back around and continued to lead the group.

However, that silent message between the two Spirits didn't go completely unnoticed. Both Meldy and Violet managed to catch a glimpse of it. Since the two of them were side-by-side, they exchanged confused glances for second. Then they both nodded, understanding that they should probably keep what happened to themselves as well. They didn't know what was going on, and didn't fully understand what happened to Alu back there either; but they both had a feeling that it was important, and secret.

Still, Violet couldn't help but look over at Alu with curiosity.

Just what did Aquarius do to Alu? What could've possibly happened to give Alu a huge boost in power all of a sudden?

More importantly, what could've happened to make her flames change to white?