This chapter is dedicated to David Bowie.
I hope you're having fun rocking with Freddie Mercury and the rest. You've stepped through the door. You're floating in a most peculiar way, and the stars look very different today.
Have fun floating in a tin can. Planet Earth is blue and there is nothing you can do.
Love,
Hiraethe.
In a few words, Natsu felt like crap.
His whole body tingled from the effect of the explosion, and, for a second he understood why Gray hated the heat so much. It was ironic.
Zeroth had burned a man that was literally fire.
"...tsu, wake u-"
And would that voice shut the hell up? Seriously, if he managed to make it out alive from this, he would treat himself and the rest of his team (except Gray) to a nice long vacation. At Akame Resort. With all the nice hot springs and fluffy pillows and...
"Will you wake UP? Nats...,"
"Okay! Geez, I'm up, I'm up! Now will you stop all your yelling?" Natsu yelled at the voice, and he opened his eyes. The shapeless blobs slowly transformed into tangible silhouettes, and Lucy, the owner of the voice who had been annoying him, was kneeling over him in worry. They stared at each other for a while, until he felt her hug him tightly.
"You're alright," she said, breathing out heavily. "Thank GOODNESS." The celebratory mood was broken, however, when Amber approached them with her tiny hands covering her mouth.
"Oh, look, Zeroth! He actually survived!" she said, pointing a finger at the dragon slayer and laughing. "I guess you're weaker than you thought!" The dark mage shot her a warning glare,
approaching Natsu.
He flicked a beam in Natsu's direction, and, before he could react, the bomb once again exploded in his face. Lucy heard him let out an anguished cry, and she cringed inwardly. The sinking feeling in her chest increased, and it was all she could do to keep her food down.
"You shouldn't turn your back, Lucy."
Before Lucy could turn around, she felt a gigantic sword slice her back. Her legs collapsed under her, and she screamed in pain. Amber laughed, crossing her arms with a triumphant smile.
"Wow, they really are pathetic, Zeroth! They really can't stop rolling around on the floor!"
"I told you this would be easy," Zeroth responded. "And this is the strongest guild in Fiore? The future of magic seems pretty bleak." Lucy forced herself to stand up, her breath coming in quick spurts. She turned around to face Amber, her form trembling violently.
"You cut me?" Lucy asked, and Amber shook her head. Beside her, a figure materialized. While it stood on two legs, and it mimicked the human bone structure well, its body was clearly that of a monster.
"My name is Amber Rain," she said, "And these are my illusions."
"Aaahhh!"
Lucy's scream echoed through Natsu's brain. He pushed himself up, ignoring the clamoring pain in his legs. He grunted, swatting away the dust from his vision.
"...These are my illusions."
And then he saw it.
"Damn you!" Natsu said, anger rioting through his brain as he saw the huge gash that had driven itself into Lucy's back. "You gave her a wound while she wasn't looking? Not cool. That's like, breaking every single wizard code ever." Amber shrugged her shoulder's impassively, giving him a hard glare.
"I'm not interested in what is moral or not...I mean, we ARE a dark guild, remember. We're not freaking SAINTS," she said. Lucy gave him a sorrowful glance, smiling.
"Sorry Natsu, I wasn't paying attention. Let's just get back to fighting," Lucy said, turning to Happy. The blue exceed looked completely shaken from the situation, and she put a hand on his reassuringly.
"Yeah," he said. "You can do it Natsu, Lucy! I'll cheer you on!" Zeroth shot the cat a look of annoyance.
"Can we kill him too?" he asked Amber. He turned to Happy. "Yo, how strong are you? I hope you've been training." Happy nodded furiously at him.
"Yup, I have! I've trained and trained and trained...," he said, and smiled. "Natsu knows, right?" The dragon slayer nodded confidently.
"Yeah. The guy can reject FOOD now. I'd back off if I valued my life, man."
"Get on my level, explosion man!"
Zeroth's fist twitched in annoyance. "Nevermind, Amber, I'm killing him now."
"What? The jealousy in this man is insane!" Happy said, horror spreading on his face. Natsu shrugged, putting a hand on Happy shoulder.
"Don't worry, Happy. He's just upset that he can't do all the awesome things you can," Natsu reassured.
"That is NOT TRUE! I can refuse food ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!"
"Liar," Lucy whispered, and the three chuckled. Amber spawned a few more illusions,the smile on her face nowhere to be seen.
"You were wrong to piss us off," Amber said. "You don't know what's coming for you."
"..."
"..."
"Bring out the food, boys."
"Sky Dragon's Claw!"
Wendy lifted her legs and swung them down at Vala Maria, a battle cry uttered from her lips. Large winds headed towards the dark mage, yet, with a simple extension of the arm, the spell was diverted from its original course.
"Divine Deflect," she said, a smirk on her lips. The dragon slayer's eyes were wide with surprise. Carla's eyes drifted to the magic bomb, wringing her hands nervously.
"Come on Wendy, we don't have much time," she said. "You need to finish her off in thirty minutes, or...," The sentence was not finished, nor did it need to be. The emptiness in the air was proof enough of the consequences that would follow.
"You're weak for a dragon slayer. Where is-what's his name-Nasty?"Vala Maria asked, and, when it was evident she was waiting for an answer, Wendy responded.
"His name is Natsu."
"Like I give a damn. Where is he?"
"He's fighting the higher ups. Because he is no use for someone as weak as you," Wendy retorted. Val shot her an angry glare, holding her hands together. A blinding white beam gathered in the center of her palms.
"Guardian Explosion!" she cried, throwing the ball at Wendy.
"Armor!"
The explosion fizzled away. Vala Maria trembled in rage, and she muttered some things, but Wendy wasn't listening. She stared at the bomb, and suddenly, something in her head clicked.
"Wait...,"
"I guess we're stuck with each other."
Gray snorted at Seraphim's words, brushing a few raven strands from his face.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, his right arm starting to glow. "I don't know about the others, but I've increased my power tenfold since Fairy Tail disbanded." Seraphim nodded, and, to his surprise, a tattoo materialized onto her arm.
He reminded himself to breath.
"W-where...," he started, but choked. The mark looked similar to his own, yet, somehow, the pattern was different. It had little wings and halos on it, and was outlined in clear black ink. The colour vanished from his face.
"What?" she asked. She looked down at her tattoo, and smirked. "Oh. You don't know." She approached him slowly, her shoes thudding on the floor like tiny gunshots resounding in the air.
"I'm an ice angel slayer," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Gray Fullbuster."
"Magnet."
Erza's eyes widened as she felt herself being drawn to Mercury against her will, struggling in vain to remove herself from his spell. The leader smirked, clenching his fists with a knowing smile.
"I'm afraid you picked the wrong partner, Titania," he announced. "I have Magnetism Magic, see. Anything metal is automatically drawn to my grasp." He waits for a look of despair to emerge on her face, yet, when none comes, he takes a step back.
"Ready to give up?"
"No," Erza said, and she transformed into her bandaged top and embroidered red pants. Her hair is tied up out of her face, and she is giving Mercury an absolutely despicable look.
"That's okay," she said. "I don't need my armor to fight."
That's what a certain ice mage taught me.
Sorry for being late guys. I really have no excuse for this one.
For some reason, the Gray/Seraphim conversation was very hard to write. Not that I don't like them both (because you all know that Gray is my FAVORITE), but simply, the writing juices would not floweth forth. Also, I don't believe you all know this, but as much as I love Wendy, I hate hate HATE writing her. Is it because she is too perfect to be described in words? Probably...
Also, did you all watch Fairy Tail Zero? I have to say, the animation, while it started out pretty crappy, transformed into something really good. And I'm in love with the opening. Anyway, until the next chapter!
~Hiraethe
