I am so sorry! I'm travelling in Asia right now and before that I had a ski camp and I'd been super busy!
I have the chapter now though! I hope you enjoy it!
Things were not going very well for Natsu.
He was starting to wish that this battle would just end, soon. Not an hour earlier he'd been all fired up, ready to take a Dark Guild down, collect the reward money, convince them to walk home and go sleep in Lucy's bed. Maybe sneaking in a few meals along the way...
Unfortunately for him that did not seem likely to happen anytime soon, due to the crazy mage who seems to be hellbent on destroying him.
He was yanked out of his thoughts as several shards of ice sliced through the air beside him.
"Hey!" Natsu yelled as he swung his body sideways in order to avoid the incoming attacks. Ducking, he prepared his magic and leapt off the ground, propelling his body with his flames he crossed his arms over his chest and rocketed towards the girl.
"Fire Dragons Sword Horn!" Natsu yelled, feeling the magic flow through him.
His opponent, having not been expecting what looked like a fiery torpedo as an attack hastily threw up her arms and reinforced them with ice.
Natsu, having been expecting more of a defense had boosted the power of his attack significantly. The resulting collision shocked both of them as they obliterated one of the remaining walls and slammed down onto the grass outside. The girl rolled for a few meters and then leapt up, spinning around and blindly shooting off a few icy arrows behind her to see that Natsu had already gotten up and was staring at his scarf in shock. They were still as something stirred within Natsu. His expression darkened and his eyes narrowed, not leaving his scarf. This was not simply annoyance, it was clear that he was seriously pissed. Both mages were silent as his rage seemed to build, his expression growing darker with each moment and the look in his eyes getting scarier. The girl, had she had her full emotional capacities would have been likely been running away from him screaming. Flames ignited on his body, burning away the plants around him and smoke filled the air. His mouth twisting into a scowl, he took one end of his scarf in his hands and smoothed it down, exposing a clean slice that had almost cut straight through it. It had been caught in one of her attacks and was now hanging on by simply a few threads.
No words could describe the fury Natsu felt at that moment. Snarling at the girl, he launched himself towards her and delivered a hard punch to the side of her face, surprising her with his increased strength even though her face remained blank. Pain clouded her vision as she was hit again, she had no time to react.
Throwing herself backwards to avoid another punch she somersaulted and crouched low behind a fallen log before forming claws made of ice and quickly scaling a nearby tree, using the branches as footholds and reinforcing the branches with her magic. Natsu was in hot pursuit, literally, as he leapt up to the branches, cutting off her ascent with a roar of fire. Flipping off the tree she landed on her knees and slammed her hands down into the dirt, fingers splayed.
Frost spread outwards from her hands and froze the nearby ground as she concentrated her magic. The air grew cold as she shouted a spell.
"Freezing Mountain of the Ice Dragon," her voice rang out as Natsu leapt from the branches, ready to tackle her. Time seemed to still as she released a huge burst of magic, freezing the surrounding landscape. Suddenly a gigantic mountain of ice burst from the ground, scattering various rocks and dirt. Natsu's eyes widened in fear as he was swallowed by the mountain of ice along with the tree and a few unlucky birds who had not escaped.
Standing up the girl released a breath and swayed a bit, having lost quite a bit of magical energy. Feeling a burst of magical energy and heat she looked up to the ice mountain just in time to see it melt away into little streams. In the middle was a furious Natsu glaring at her.
"It appears I may have underestimated you," she said emotionlessly, closing her eyes and spreading her arms.
Releasing a breath, she tilted her head back and allowed the magic to cease powering her transformation. Her skin started to glow, giving off a eerie blue light and causing the air around her to freeze. Snow and ice sprinkled the ground around her as they were shook off of newly formed wings and a tail. The tail, much like a lizards, ended with a deadly shard of ice. Scales seemed to grow on certain parts of her skin, shiny scales made of ice that glinted in the sunlight not blocked by the smoke.
Her tail swished as fangs grew from her mouth and sharp icy fins grew from the sides of her head, parting her hair. Her fingers finished in long claws made of ice, her fingers spreading and unclenching to avoid stabbing her own hands.
And then her eyes opened. One was completely normal, no difference from before, but the other eye which was made of ice was now glowing brightly.
Natsu stood agape, thoroughly dumbstruck at her change.
"Is that your Dragonforce?" he asked, beginning to feel quite scared as she glared at him, he recalled how his enemies had looked at him when he entered his Dragonforce and suddenly pitied them.
"This is my natural appearance, I have ceased my transformation that allowed me to appear human, prepare to die," she said, raising her arms and preparing to cast a spell.
They knew as soon as the voice reached their ears that the master of Reaper's Eye had found them. Not surprising really, they had made quite a bit of noise during the fight, loud noises which would have carried quite far through the tunnels.
The Fairy Tail mages glared at the man, each of them seething in fury as he calmly stepped towards them. One step at a time he grew closer to the unconscious girl and the little group, reaching out his hand he held his palm out towards them, spreading his fingers and curling them inwards. The three felt a tug in their chest and prepared to retaliate, leaping up from their crouched positions. He opened his mouth.
The Fairy Tail mages eyes widened and they stopped moving as a dark figure with glowing red eyes reached her armored hand and grasped his neck firmly. His eyes bulged comically and he began gasping for air and clawing the hand holding him up. He kicked back and nearly broke his foot on her metal boots.
"Release everyone that you are holding captive with your magic," Erza commanded, her voice cold.
Frantic, he nodded and began agreeing silently. His eyes glowed with a dark purplish light for a moment and then he finally lost consciousness and fell limply from her hand. The Titania stepped into the open, glancing down at the shocked Fairy Tail wizards and nodding to herself as she saw the unconscious mage.
"I apologize for not catching him sooner, though I see you had the situation under control," she remarked, walking towards them and kneeling down beside the girl. Glancing at the group she asked a silent question.
"Her name is Twifox apparently, we used one of Wendy's spells to release her mind and body from his control," Lucy spoke up.
"What magic does she use?" Erza asked, hoping to confirm her suspicions.
"We think it's Earth Dragonslayer, but we don't know anything else really. Her magic lets her tunnel, like Virgo, but it's different and more powerful," Gray said, indicating the maze of tunnels around them.
"We don't really know why she looks like that either, it isn't her Dragonforce though because she wouldn't be able to sustain it while unconscious," Wendy said.
"Very well, we should inform the client that the job is completed," Erza said, turning away and walking back through the tunnel leading back to the surface.
Gray picked up the girl bridal style, following behind Erza. Lucy had the master of Reapers Eye being carried by Virgo, Wendy eyeing the bruises on his neck nervously.
When they finally reached the end of the tunnel there was a collective sigh of relief. One at a time, they climbed out of the tunnel.
Launching herself into the air, the girl flapped once, twice and then a third before she finally attacked Natsu, who was yelling for Happy.
"Ice Dragon's Roar," she yelled, a cyclone of ice and snow shooting from her mouth, freezing the rest of the clearing as it followed the target who was sprinting away from it wildly.
"Happy! Kinda need you here Buddy!" he shouted, taking cover behind a frozen log.
"Natsu!" Happy yelled, shooting out of the sky and grabbing him, flying off just as quickly.
"Thanks Happy," Natsu yelled over the wind, scanning the skies for a glimpse of the girl.
Happy finally stopped, hovering in the air while Natsu searched. His face twisted in confusion as they waited.
"Where the hell is she?" Natsu asked, growing impatient.
"Hey Natsu, I don't think my Aera can hold any longer!" Happy warned, frantic.
"Just a bit longer Buddy, see if you can get closer to the ground," the fire Dragonslayer responded, looking north.
"Natsu! I can't hold it anymore!" Happy said, dragging Natsu downwards as rapidly as he could while his wings flickered out of existence. They lasted for just a few seconds longer before they completely failed.
With a startled yelp they plummeted, dread filled them as they realized that they were too far away from the ground to survive without sustaining major injury. Natsu tried to use his fire but found he had little magic left.
They fell, Natsu grabbing Happy and holding him close, cradling him, hoping to shield him from the impact as he had done with Lucy.
They were about 20 meters up, Natsu guessed as he grit his teeth. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.
It came as a great shock to them when instead of slamming into the cold hard ground and possibly breaking every bone in his body, he instead was torn from his descent and pulled up into a pair of arms.
"Are you alright?" a familiar voice yelled, causing Natsu to open his eyes. At first he was staring into the sky, but then he looked up and realized that the same girl who had been trying to kill him had just saved him. She looked different though, he noted, her eyes were warmer and softer. She also seemed less tense, her wings flapping steadily, the air vibrated with every wing beat as she struggled to hold the three of them aloft.
"Why did you save us?" Natsu asked slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being in the enemies grasp.
"It was my fault you were put in that position," she said, scanning the sky for the telltale plume of smoke indicating the wreck that was the guild.
"Yeah but we were fighting, you tried to kill me!" Natsu shouted indignantly.
"Yeah!" Happy piped up, having been in a state of shock.
"Me and Twifox were being controlled by the master of Reapers Eye, have been for several years. We are in Fairy Tails debt for freeing us," she said solemnly. Natsu's eyes widened in realization an he realized that there was a questions that's been nagging at him since she caught him and Happy.
"Who exactly are you?" he asked, looking up, he saw a wide smile spread across her face.
"Glacialis, but call me Ali, and I'm the Ice Dragonslayer."
To say they were shocked when they saw the destruction was an understatement to say the least.
The landscape looked like a war zone, there were small fires burning all over and certain parts were completely burnt away. There were fallen logs everywhere, shards of ice sticking out of nearly every tree visible and even from the ground. Puddles littered the clearing, spreading outwards from a circle of burnt grass and mud.
"What the hell happened here?!" Gray yelled in shock. Nobody responded as they noticed the clearing was significantly larger than before. Behind them, the remains of the guildhall crashed to the ground, scattering stones and broken furniture. The sign rolled away down the hill, shattering on a lump of ice protruding from the charred earth.
"Oh Mavis... Please tell me we won't have to pay for this," Lucy said, coughing in the smoky air.
"I think we're good Lucy-san, it was a dark guild after all," Wendy said, watching the building crumble.
"We need to find Natsu," Erza said, searching the area. Behind them, a groan came from the ground, where Gray had set Twifox down away from the debris.
"Are you feeling alright?" Lucy asked once they realized she was awake. The Dragonslayer sat up and stretched, before squinting into the sky, she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and pointed.
"They're coming," she said, before yawning and curling back into a ball, promptly falling asleep. The Fairy Tail mages stared dumbstruck, similar thoughts running through their heads. Did she just fall back asleep? She woke up just for that?
"Hey guys!" A loud and familiar voice shouted before something heavy landed on the ground in front of them.
"Natsu! You're alright!" Lucy said happily. Natsu grinned at them as they smiled in relief. Suddenly, a large gust of wind blew down from above. Snapping their heads up, they saw a girl with icy blue wings and a tail plummet from the sky and land in a crouch on the ground in front of them. Standing up, she brushed some dirt from her shorts and glared at Natsu.
"What on Earthland were you thinking!? You could have died after I'd gone through all the trouble to save you! I could have let you plummet to your death!" she said, tail swishing furiously behind her.
"I wouldn't die from that, don't worry. Guys! This is-" he was cut off by the girl who they recognized as the Ice Dragonslayer whom Natsu had been fighting.
"I can introduce myself Fire-Breath, go take care of those fires before they set the rest of the forest on fire," she ordered, she flashed her fangs at him when he hesitated but ultimately the prospect of food enticed him to run off. Gray was laughing in the background, already feeling like he would enjoy her company immensely. She turned around and smiled.
"Hello! I'm Glacialis, but call me Ali. You wouldn't happen to have seen my friend Twifox around have you?"
I hope you enjoyed it! Please review if you have the time and constructive criticism is always welcome.
(Of course my ego always needs feeding... :P)
Arigatou!
-Seren
