Chapter 18 : Taken
" I know you said something about a war..." Lucy gritted her teeth as she pulled on her whip with every thing she got, " But isn't this a bit too sudden?!"
Tenebre swept in with a deadly flourish and finished off the group of puppets Lucy's gathered with a mighty slash of her dual swords, she then threw a bolt of lightning and zapped a bunch of puppets coming up from behind Lucy, the said blond yelping up in shock when she felt the hair on her body stand on end from the static.
" Who cares about- Fire Dragon's Iron Fist! -that!" Natsu barreled through with a wide grin on his face as he sent puppets flying in all directions, " Let's bash these things back to where they belong!"
" YAR!" Those around his hollered back, replying in a similar manner as several more puppets got sent flying.
" 158!" Gray goaded in Natsu's face, coming back to back with the said person and grinned, " Yer losing, Flame Brain!"
" Fire Dragon's Roar!" The said person glared back triumphantly when he scorched the next wave of puppets, " Ha, 167!"
" Are the both of you seriously fighting with each other now?!"
The both of them froze and dropped the puppets in their hands, yelping and stomping their foots to the ground at attention as they saluted, " Nay ma'am!"
Titania marched through towards them, donning her Black Wing Armour, she slashed through the puppets like butter. But when she reached the duo, she grinned and shifted her weight to her right as she swept her swords in an arch in front of her, " But too bad boys, i've got 1034."
" What?!" They shouted at the same time, they glared at each other, then looked hesitantly at Erza, the glared back at each other and screamed," Hell no! i ain't letting either of ya beat me!"
" Oh boy." Lucy shook her head and thew another puppet at Loke to bash its head it as the two of them jumped back into the fray with renewed determination, " Here we go, again."
With a particularly bright flash of light from his Regulus Impact, which Lucy rolled her eyes at the no so subtle confession he spewed in the air in a blast of stars and sparks, he said, " Well, i do hope they don't enter Tenebre's war zone. May the Celestial Kind bless them if they do."
" Why-" Before Lucy finished her sentence, she dodged an incoming puppet and shot an accusing look in that direction, but quickly paled and laughed both nervously and in relief at the sight in front of her, " Boy am i glad i'm not on her bad side! And that we somehow managed to evacuate the citizens in time."
Which brings us to the front lines.
" Come and get a piece of me yer bastards!" Tenebre yelled, her mismatched eyes shining with a wild light as she swung her long katana around her, taunting those around her.
On cue, another blue bolt shot out from the fortress and slammed in front of her, delivering to her a fresh batch of puppets and a pudgy fat man.
" Oh yay." Gallus said with 'much enthusiasm', jumping back as he dodged several blasts of magic that spewed from the puppets porcelain hands, " More to egg on her sadistic side. I kinda feel bad for them now."
" Hey! Wha cha feeling bad for nei? They're our enemies nei!" The black haired woman beside him reprimanded sharply as she kicked back her right leg in one fluid movement, flinging back the puppets behind her away before leaping above Gallus by using his shoulders as a pivot and slamming her legs down onto another one of them, smashing its head in and shattering it completely.
" When she's in that mode, i feel bad for anything that in front of her." The snake zodiac deadpanned, releasing yet another decapitated puppet from his hands, adding it to his growing pile.
The horse zodiac used the time she had to twist off the head of the puppet in her arms to think about it, before admitting rather begrudgingly," True nei- Eagh!"
She screamed when Serpe suddenly appeared beside her.
" What? Snake got your tail?"
" More like my hoof nei!"
" Urm, this ain't a really good time to be fighting with each other..." Gallus said hesitantly, looking at the flaming auras slowly flaring out from the both of them.
" Yer have something to say about it Chicken/ Pin Head nei?!" The both of them snapped, their arms swinging backward to punch/ swipe back the puppets that snuck up behind them.
A tick mark appeared on Gallus's head, but the patient part of him as well as his pride refused to back down,
" But really, its not a good time to..."
They weren't listening, but continued to squabble among each other, while still kicking ass.
" Because of you i came in 7th!"
KICK!
" Well you were dumb enough not to notice me clinging to your hoof!"
" You scaly bastard!"
" Cowardly mare!"
" Urm... guys...?" Gallus's eyebrows twitched, straining to keep his smile intact.
" Slit eyed!"
" Hair hazard!"
" Listen to me dammit!" Gallus snapped, making the both of them freeze in their positions, their fallen enemies flopping onto the ground.
" On no." They thought, laughing nervously at the the enraged Rooster Zodiac, whose spiky red hair was raised up in a similar version of that of a rooster's spiky red comb.
But whatever was about to burst out of his mouth was literally drowned out by a wave of arms, legs and disassembled puppet parts that came from behind him, burying him underneath.
An armored foot smashed through a puppets head, with her long katana on her shoulder and with most of her face hidden by her hair, blood dripping off her body and her blade.
" Scary, as expected of my master nei!" Cheval clasped her hands together as she stared adoringly at her with sparkling eyes.
Serpe simply thought, " Why does she have blood on her...?"
" Some of these puppets actually have blood bags in them, must be some kind of a sick joke from their creator." Tenebre answered, examining the red liquid dripping off her blade with interest.
" Someone get me out of here!" a muffled voice came from under the pile.
A huge magical circle appeared under a team of puppets in front of the twin brothers and they disappeared in a flash of light.
" We're going to be one of the last few teams to be sent down, so calm your tits bro." Shakal eyed his fidgeting brother. " Are you that excited to meet her?"
" Well i can't really say i'm not cause i am but i'm also not really exited but-"
" Hai hai, i understand nii-san."
Their attention was diverted away when they saw Dacne scuttle up to them as they reported in one dismembered voice,
" General Liberta. You are to be sent out now, along with General Tiamat's team."
" Why's that?" Tiamat marched over, a disapproving frown on her usually passive face," It's been barely a minute since the second wave's been sent out."
" We've just received news that they are already engaged in combat with the the Gatekeeper." The female half of Dacne explained, and the other half finished, " The first wave's completely obliterated."
" Is that so?" Tiamat didn't look surprised, or maybe she was just hiding it, " Let us depart then."
" She moving out that fast? That does not sound good, did something happen...?" Jackal thought, before the same teleportation circle appeared below his feet, and the next thing he knew he found himself in the center of the bloodied streets of Magnolia, a single armored figure stood on top of the pile of shattered, bloodied puppets, her blood stained black hair drifting in the wind as blood dripped off her blade as three other figures stood in front of her.
Jackal almost could not recognize her.
Tenebre's head lifted, revealing a single gold and black flecked silver eye looking coldly at them as her head cocked to the side.
She slashed her long katana down and pointed it at them, splattering the front row of puppets with crimson, the black blade glinting darkly against the dwindling light from the setting sun which casted shadows behind her body, looking eerily like a pair of wings.
" You're all a nuisance... "
Tenebre's look became deadly in the instant a bright blue light appeared in front of her body pile, swiping her sword down from her shoulders, the blood on it splattering in an arc in front of her, she pointed it at them.
" You're all a nuisance..."
Her silver eyes analysed her new opponents before requipped into Valkyrie armor, bolstering her defense and attack speed when she detected a strange magic wafting out from the two mages and the amplifying magic from the puppets.
" Surround her!" An authoritative looking blond shouted, just as a grey eyed man with waxed back purple hair dropped down from the roof a building and beside her.
" Foll-llo-ow u-up with t-the formation!" A very pale, blue lipped guy with blue hair stuttered/shouted, flinching back when the bald, pudgy man beside him scoffed scornfully and rolled his beady eyes at him.
Leaping away just as several purple tipped spears sprouted from her previous spot, Tenebre landed on flat ground below, only to find herself immediately surrounded in a strange circle formation,
The blond then barked out," Commence Plan Alpha! Grab the girl while the Guardian's occupied!"
Hearing this, Tenebre cursed herself for falling into a trap, but just then waves of nausea, fatigue, and visions of her deepest fears and her past suddenly flashed past her eyes and clouded her mind, disrupting her concentration as she tried to push them away.
She glared up in the direction where she felt the two magical presences from.
" Siren's Lullaby." Liberta magic, amplified by the lacrima's in the puppets around his, casted a concentrated mist around her, the sickeningly sweet voice beckoning to her from within attempting to lull her into a dream like state by inflicting her with a heavy sleep spell.
Igna's staff shook with effort as he poured a sick-green magic into the puppets, sweat seeping out from his pores and soaking his thick velvet robes, weighting his body down," Death Record."
Old record tapes shot out from the puppet's mouths and snapped around every limb possible on Tenebre's body, the magic extracted every possible scarring memory and reflecting back into Tenebre's with a startling clarity, as if watching the worst part of her lives flash before her eyes, again.
Sensing an opening, Antonio and Tiamat wasted no time launching the first wave of attacks,
" Wave 1!" They shouted together, water and fire sprouting from the magic circles from their fingers at the puppets in front of them, the puppets absorbed the blasts and magnified them, transferring it the the next line of puppets and the next till finally bursting out in a torrent of water and fire, magnified by at least a thousand times in power.
Blasting into Tenebre and the area around her into bits.
Not taking their chances, the two unleashed a second wave of attacks without mercy, followed with a third, fourth and finally the fifth.
Soon the area was nothing but a wasteland of dust and rubble, the ground charred to the point of disintegrating.
" Di-Did we g-g-get her?" Liberta said through his ragged breathing, squinting his eyes in an attempt to see past the heavy cloud of dust the billowed up from the carnage as he deactivated his spell.
He then felt someone breadth down in neck, " I can't believe they forgot about us."
Even before Liberta could even register his shock and turn around, a well aimed kick to his stomach sent him flying and crashing through the far wall of a building, the bricks of the fallen wall collapsing onto his unconscious body with a sickening crack and thud.
" No," This time, Tiamat had enough time to react, throwing her body to the side, saving herself by the hair's breadth from getting her head smashed in when a gleaming red staff came hurling down from behind her, the wielder then swung the staff to the side and hurled Antonia away in the other direction, sending him bowling through a group of puppets like they were nothing but pins.
The spiky red haired man then huffed, kicking up the staff to his shoulders, " I can't believe that they actually thought they could defeat Tenebre like that."
" Nei! How dare they look down on my master that way nei!" Cheval fumed, as she entered the area with her usual dramatic flair, using the puppet head's as her base, she entered a back layout, then leaping high in the air with a half twist, the metal plates on her tight fitting auburn full body leotard glinting like diamonds as she did before landing with a blast that took out every puppet, and Larga, within a meter radius from her.
" My master is the strongest mage i've ever had the pleasure of meeting nei!" She flipped her elbow length black hair back as she said this.
Serpe whistled, clapping his hands as he looked at the crater the chinese horse zodiac created, " Wow, Cheval, did you gain weight?"
" What did you say about my fabulous body nei?!"
" Guys..." Gallus pinched the bridge of his nose.
" I did not gain weight nei! Tell him, Master!"
All their eyes followed where Cheval looked up adoringly at, and saw a lone figure floating in mid air above them.
" You did not gain weight Cheval."
Her voice itself was enough to send shivers down the backs of the four generals as only her gleaming gold and black flecked silver eyes could be seen past her entire shadowed body.
" But it's about time i shave off the flesh from these pests."
" Seal D1, release."
Instantly, the magical aura around her spiked up to almost suffocating levels as the black half of her hair seeped over the silver half and a molten gold color melted over her eyes, the black flecks appearing a short while later.
A sudden gust of wind blew Tenebre's newly transformed hair away from her right shoulder, revealing the glowing red demon wing tattoos as one of the five segments, the one closest to her elbow, faded to dust, leaving four remaining spiky-feather imprints that were spread over her upper arm and her right shoulder blade.
" Yep, now i really feel bad for them." Serpe said, sensing one the demonic seals on his master's body unsealing, with the other two nodding almost immediately in agreement as they stared at the three remaining scattered mages, Tiamat, Antonio and Igna, with pity filled eyes as she allowed her body to be consumed by a shadow like armor.
The armor seemed to have a life of its own as it writhed on her skin like a live dark flame, covering her like a second skin with thick jagged patterns on her skin that framed her face, before extending downwards the side of her neck and onward to the rest of her body, her skin and her tattoos showing through the uncovered areas.
With golden eyes gleaming out from her shadowed face, she grinned darkly at her prey.
" Wood-Make: The Dam of Shy Love!" Multiple weapon-shaped blocks of wood to erupted from the ground and impaled the puppets.
" Eat this! Sand Blast!" Max shouted, throwing a massive blast of sand at his targets, blasting those around them as well.
Multiple blasts of magic shot from hands, staffs and various magical objects from both sides, with makeshift barricades made from various tables and chairs scattered around the area in front of the guild.
" Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu scorched the puppets in front of him with gusto, before falling back to his position beside Lucy, constantly keeping an eye out for her even though he knew her spirits were with her.
Along with the fact that she's already looking especially pale and out of sorts even though she only summoned two spirits so far.
" Natsu, i'm leaving these guys to you!"
With a flick of her whip, Lucy flung a group of puppets in his direction, blasting them away with a quick, " Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!".
He then froze up and snapped his head at Lucy when he heard Loke's startled shout from across the battle field when he realized the puppets dragged him too far from his Lucy during the course of battle,
" Lucy, behind you!"
Time stood still for Natsu in that split second, and in a flash, he felt his body zip forward to her side as if moving in fast forward as he unleashed an attack on a level he's never achieved before. With both his magic and his emotions running on high, he roared, and for that one short moment, he momentarily entered Dragon Force when his eyes turned reptilian, red scales appeared on several sections of his skin,
" Fire Dragon's... BRILLIANT FLAME!"
Lucy's eyes widened in bewilderment when her surroundings were suddenly enveloped in a sea of flame, scorching every puppet within a meter radius from her, the flames licked at her skin and scorched her clothes, but strangely enough, did not scald her.
Her body swiveled sharply to look behind and she gasped, seeing the feral look in those familiar onyx eyes of what seemed to be her partner and the sudden draconic look he adopted.
" N-Natsu?" She asked hesitantly, reaching out to touch his cheek.
As soon as her skin came in contact with his, the heat died down in a instant, and so did the draconic features that cam with his Dragon Force. Natsu's flame died down and he seemed to come back to his senses, he looked down at Lucy and frowned at her fearful gaze,
" Are you okay Luce?"
She nodded, " Yeah, thanks to you."
" Ice-Make : Arrows!"
" Blumenblatt!"
A barrage of ice arrows and blades crashed in the area behind just as Grey and Erza skidded.
" Focus!" Erza snapped warningly, but her eyes held the slightest hint of humor, " Now's not the time to be sucking at each others faces!"
" What?!" The two of the blushed furiously.
" Get a room flame brain!" Grey shouted through the noise, smirking knowingly at the both of them.
Natsu glared at the half naked ice mage, " What was that dickface?"
The two butted heads, " You must be blind, it's either that or you think my dick is as handsome as my face."
" More like a wrinkly banana!" Natus smirked, " Must be because you strip too much Stripper!"
" Hey, don't insult my dick you ash-hole!"
" Got a problem with it, ice balls?!"
Lucy held Erza back just as her patience wore thin and was just about to bash their heads head in, and shook her head in amusement.
" Next time we have a major battle, i think we can just send them out during one of their fights." She said, gesturing to the puppets flying away like dust from the duo as they bickered.
Erza simply sighed.
" Demonic..."
Tenebre clapped her hands together in front of her and a huge black and red magic circle appeared behind her. Spreading her arms, a line of similar miniature magic circles formed out of her hands as she did, the magic circles whirling and spinning as she calibrated their trajectory.
"... Reckoning!"
The magic circles stopped moving abruptly and torrents of barbed black demon feathers immediately shot out from the magic circles facing the three, hurtling towards them at a blinding speed.
Tiamat and Antonio reacted immediately, dodging behind a wall of fallen puppets for cover. Igna, however, had no such luck with his size.
Half of his body didn't make it in time for cover and received the full brunt of the attack's piercing force. He screamed in agony, falling to his knees as reddish-black flesh fell in clumps off his body, the entire right side of his body started to rot and corrode, turning a sick shade of purple as the poison made its way through his system.
" How dare you mar my flawless body you- you- YOU MONSTER!" Igna clambered to his feet unsteadily using his staff for support, directing his hate filled gaze to the dark being above, " What you trying to do?!"
His eyes widen further and he fell to his knees once again, both of his blood and grime soiled hands came up to claw at his face as he yammered in paranoia, " Wait, wait, you're trying to drive me away from Master Pheles! Like this, i can't show my face in front of Pheles-sama anymore!"
" Wait, then someone else will take my place." He then paused, his nails biting down into his skin, " Someone else..."
His madness filled eyes searched the ravaged landscape, and when he finally found the subject of his horror, he grinned, the sinews and muscles of his face showing as the skin corroded away as his mind somehow put two and two together, " I see.. I SEE IT NOW!"
He swung his hands wildly as he pointed at the two accusingly, " The two of you, i should have known! The both of you are working together! You traitor!"
" I have to right the wrongs." He mumbled to himself, " I have to redeem myself!"
" Die you disgusting fiend!"
He threw himself in the direction of the two, barreling towards them like a unsteady elephant with a crazed grin on his disintegrating face, his glowing hands reaching greedily towards them as he screamed shrilly, " Breaking Point-"
But before he could finish casting his spell, true to his words, his entire broke down on the spot, crumbling in a heap of dust, and all that was left were a pile of spikes feathers, before they too faded into dust.
" She's a monster alright." Tiamat finally said, " Killing an opponent's mind, a truly frightening skill."
" Damn, he's one hell of a noisy fucker!" Tenebre drawled, smirking at the heap of dust, " But i'm afraid you are wrong my little bitch."
" His magic burned him from inside out, i didn't really have to do anything. He was already dead to begin with." She twirled a strand of hair with a finger, then looking dully at the two of them, " Pity, and here i was thinking i could kill all three of you in one shot."
" Oh well, That means more fun for me!" She then chirped brightly.
" Damned Lady of Ragnarok..." Antonio glowered darkly, not anticipating this change of events to his plans, his eyes darted to Tiamat just as he readied to dart from the area.
" Now where do you think you are going, Mr Cursed Soul number one?" Tenebre said in a sing-song voice, " You ain't going to run away from me now, not when i've yet to have my fun!"
" But i do wonder whose idea was it to name me after my weapon?" She thought out loud to herself, she then grinned, her right hand reached out into blank space, going through a ripple in space.
" Say, do you want to see the real Ragnarok?"
Pulling out a huge double-sided spear that glinted dull grey and gold, she held it close her body and caressed it, before turning her prefatory gaze to Antonio, grinning widely as she licked the edge of the spear before spinning the spear around her body, almost as if she were dancing a whirling dance of death, and she made a sharp descend.
It sates itself on the life-blood of fated men,
She slashed and stabbed, grinning as blood splattered over her hands as Antonio's attempts to defend himself failed miserably.
paints red the homes with crimson gore.
Tiamat tried to help, but she was flung away with a swift stroke, Tenebre so focused on her kill, she didn't even realized she did that during her onslaught of attacks.
Black the sun's beams in the summers that follow,
As a last resort, Antonio poured all his remaining magical reserves into one last attack.
weathers all the treacherous.
" Flame's Blight!" The flame bolt shot out from his hand and shot Tenebre in her chest, the residue flames sparking off her skin like fireworks and scorching the fallen puppets around her.
" Tis her blade. Harbinger of the End, Ragnarok." Serpe finished as Antonio fell.
Slashing her spear down, she dusted the flames off her, " That's it? I'm disappointed."
Squatting down to the man, she examined him, and for that moment, it seemed as if some of her angelic side resurfaced.
" Why do you torment the two so? What good will it bring you to separate soul bound mates?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Antonio snapped. A barrage of images barreled through his head in breakneck speed and something crackled within him. A huge blast of magic erupted from his body, creating a crater around him as his body shook uncontrollably, unable to adapt to the sudden release of magic spiraling through his veins.
" GRAHH!" Antonio screamed, catching Tenebre by surprise by the sudden surge of dark magic in his body, leaving a gap in her normally impeccable defenses.
Dashing forward in an instant, the two mysterious figures hiding in the shadows finally revealed themselves, one standing protectively in front of her, the other with a hand forward as a three layered white-tinted red magic circle shield with arcane otherworldly letters scattered round the circle formed in front of it, protecting the two behind him.
" Are you alright Tenebre?!" One of the twins shouted, his hand supporting his brother with magic, enforcing the barrier that's blocking off Antonio's attack.
He turned his head back, red eyes met demon gold, Tenebre's eyes widened in recognition,
" You!" She screeched accusingly, making the both of them wince painfully as her voice reached octaves capable of breaking glass, jabbing a finger at the one closest to her, recognising him from the clearing not long ago, " No wonder you look so goddamn fucking familiar!"
"What the in the worlds are you doing here you two royal fuckers?!"
" You're not supposed to be here! Fuck that, how the hell did you even get here on Earthland and why the fuck are the two of you wearing that?!"
Managing to look both relieved and terrified at the same time, Jackal said,
" I- urm- i'll explain later, right now we have to stop Pheles before he gets the Heartfilia descendant!"
" Wait- WHAT?!" She screeched once again, her voice going even higher, shattering several windows,
" Dude, chill would ya?! I'm trying to concentrate here!" Shakal snapped back at them, his hands quivering with effort as he held back a drastically changed Antonio, his barrier holding back his sinister flame, the two opposing forces ravaging the land surrounding them with an overwhelming force.
" How the hell did you even-" Tenebre stopped herself, " Wait, is that why you're wearing that? You've been undercover? Are you that unknown, annoyingly untraceable sender?"
" Urm, yeah, that was me." Jackal hesitated for a moment before replying,
" Ah ah, i had a hunch it was the both of you all along."
Tenebre got jarred out of her thoughts at looked shell shocked at the man as he appeared in flash of blue, never anticipating that fact that he would make an appearance in the flesh.
Pheles smirked knowingly as he walked towards them with a white hooded figure following close behind him.
Snapping his fingers, a bunch of chains erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the semi-conscious Tiamat and Antonio, who was snarling and struggling violently against the bonds.
" And ruining all my efforts in imbuing my magic into these pawns of mine, you've not change a bit, my little toublemaker Tenebre?"
" Don't soil my name with your fucking filthy mouth, Pheles." Tenebre spat venomously.
" In your more demonic form aren't cha? That should explain your rather... foul language, as well as your appearance hmm?" He ignored her comment, " Ah, i'm straying from my mission, see you soon, Little Tene."
He disappeared in a flash, along with that mysterious woman.
" Mission?" Tenebre's then gasped in horror when her mind reached a conclusion just as a roar from the direction of the guild answered her.
" Lucy!"
She immediately sank into the ground in a shadowy mass and shadow traveled in the direction of the guild, dragging her spirits and the twins along with her, desperately hoping that she's not too late.
" You bastard! Let Lucy go!"
Natsu attacked Pheles, infuriated by the annoyingly smug smile on Pheles face as he dodged his attacks with ease while holding onto Lucy's unconscious body.
" What the hell did you do to her?!"
" Oh, i just put her to sleep for a few minutes. No need for you to be worried, dragon boy." Pheles sighed dramatically, " After all, i need her."
" Let her go!" Natsu roared, throwing a flaming punch.
" Oh i will."
Pheles simply let go of Lucy's body, Natsu lunged at her, but she disappeared into a swirling vortex that suddenly opened up from below her, the dragonslayer grabbing at nothing but thin air as he crashed and tumbled away.
" See you soon, Son of Igneel."
In that instant Pheles stepped into the vortex, Tenebre burst out from the ground in a eruption of shadows.
" Lucy!" She screamed, looking around wildly but only to find them half teleported from their spot not far from Natsu.
The last thing she saw, was the mocking grin on Madonna's face as the light hit her face when she tilted her head back slightly.
And they were gone.
Stunned silent, Tenebre went pasty white just as Natsu and the rest of the guild went silent as all the puppets suddenly froze and crumbled to the ground, as of they had their string ripped from their backs.
" That fucking-"
" BITCH!" Tenebre spat out venomously, cutting off Natsu, " Why didn't i fucking realise this sooner?!"
Scanning the area, she instantly targeted one specific member,
" You there! " Warren flinched as he felt her dagger like glare, " Telepathic Mage Warren!"
Warren slowly turned his head back warily, " Yes, that's me...?'
" Call back all of Fairy Tail immediately. Bring all the wounded into the infirmary. And tell all to collect as many of these black glass shards as possible."
She opened her palm to reveal a carefully wrapped black glass shard, making sure not to come in contact with it.
Carrying out her order without another word for even he could sense the urgency of the situation, it was not long when members of Fairy Tail came rushing back, with wounded and black shards in hand.
" And you," Tenebre barked at Natsu who was still trying to get past her, but failing to even move an inch, " stop struggling and get in there."
" Fuck off." He growled, his battered fatigue body moving purely by determination. " I'm going after that bastard."
Tenebre fixed him a steely glare, " As much as i want to do so as well, do you even know where the fuck he is? No. So shut the hell up and get in there or i'll fucking throw you in."
" And what the hell is your problem?!" Natsu finally snapped, his fury fueled outburst gathering the attention of everyone around the them, " You appear outta nowhere, Lucy starts having weird dreams, and this bastard comes down from who know what that is in the sky and takes my mate away from me!"
He rounded onto Tenebre, " I've just about enough with all your secrets and stuff. We're family, and we don't keep secrets from each other."
Soon enough, Tenebre found herself being surrounded by the 'family', all their weary but curious eyes trained onto her as they willed her to speak.
" But first, please do something about your appearance," Makarov piped in, eyeing her one-fifth demonic transformation and her shadow armor, " I'm sure even without it you'd still be able to creep people out."
Tenebre half glared at the short man, but then as she accessed the damage done to the members and the area, she decided against talking back to him.
" Seal A1, release."
Enveloped in a warm, soft white-yellow light, she returned back to her normal self as her newly released angelic seal balanced out the released demonic seal.
She then turn in a full circle to look at all the the members, " I apologise for keeping so many things from all of you, and i guess Natsu is right, i shouldn't have kept these secrets from all of you especially since they concern Lucy."
" I guess it's about time i came clean. But before that..."
Tenebre's eyes sought out another member of the guild from the croud, it wasn't too hard to spot him though, given his rather large size.
" Plant Mage Droy!"
The said man jumped up in shock, his hair bouncing comically, pointing to himself in disbelieve, " Me?"
" Can you grow a willow tree here?" Tenebre gestured to the spot she stood at.
Droy fumbled through his pockets as he strode forward with an confused expression, " I guess? What for?"
" Just do it, Droy." Makarov prompted.
The black haired man nodded uncertainly, squatting down as he nudged a speed into the soil.
" Plant Magic : Willow Plant!"
Almost immediately, the ground rumbled slightly and a fully grown willow tree erupted from the spot.
Tenebre nodded approvingly, " Thank you, Droy."
Placing a hand on the tree's trunk, she infused the plant with a healing magic similar to Wendy's, and soon the entire tree was glowing a pale greenish blue, its glowing branches dancing slightly in the breeze.
" I guess as i explain the current situation, we can heal up as well." Tenebre rubbed the back of her head as she said this, looking away guilty.
" And then after we decide on a team. We're going on a trip."
" Trip? What trip?" Wendy inquired, looking up at the tree in awe.
Tenebre simply grimaced as she said," You're finally going to see your dragons."
The sound of chains rattling rang through the entire round hall as an unconscious body hovered over the rune covered ground, her arms tied above her body by dark shadowy chains that slithered around her pale skin.
Directly below her, a magic seal of a four pointed star with a circle in the center, encircled with four sets of three diamonds at each gap of the star, the four center diamonds bigger than the rest, engraved in gold on the black glass that seemed neither solid nor liquid. The surface rippling with every drip of the slowly melting golden lacrimas levitating from each small diamond engraving.
" I look forward to seeing what little Tenebre and her pets will do." Pheles grinned as he admired his handiwork from his position, not noticing the cheshire-cat smile growing on Madonna's face,
" For they only have 7 hours to save their beloved princess."
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Time Left : 7 Hours
AN : My eyes feel like lead.
I'm in desperate need of coffee.
Or caramel. It's the next best thing next to coffee. Oh sweet coffee.
And maybe reviews from my beloved readers.
I really hate exams.
Ja Ne!
~KanaeHitomi~