Ok, starting up the next chapter! Please enjoy!
The mental signal had been sent and everyone was gathered in the dragons hangout, staring up at the stage, on which stood Master Dracoya.
"All of the guilds have arrived!" She announced.
The visiting mages all looked warily around, taking in their surrounding once again.
"Now, we all would first like to thank you for your cooperation during this time, you coming here without much question has saved us hours in which we can prepare."
Master Dracoya steeled her eyes, crossing her arms.
"Understand, please, that the dragon coming is no joke. No prank. No foolish overactive imaginations at play. We ARE about to be attacked, and we need to be prepared. For now, we shall base ourselves around the castle, and I will also go over some basic dragon weak points with our guests, now, all of you I've previously briefed, you may now leave."
In an instant, all of the Draconem Heart members, Jack, Cole, Zahn, and Jellal filed out of the room, leaving it empty.
The remaining wizards moved closer to the stage, and now that she was dealing with less people, Master Dracoya came down to stand before them, offstage.
"Jellal, your on watch, fly above the castle and keep lookout for the dragon."
Jellal nodded in agreement and left the room as well.
"You four..." She gestured to Jack, Cole, Romeo and Wendy.
"Unless absolutely necessary, you will be joining the Kylie and Asuka in the safe room underground."
"WHAT!?" Jack demanded in fury while Cole looked as though he'd already been expected getting removed from the battle and looked sadly to the side, and Wendy and Romeo looked shocked.
"You heard me." Master Dracoya said firmly.
"But, but..." Wendy stuttered.
"Master! C'mon! We gotta help! We aren't weaklings! Even chameleon here if useful sometimes!" Jack exclaimed, giving Cole a shove to the shoulder that was cloaked by his poncho.
"I don't think I'd be of much help anyway...but I still want to try." With growing confidence Cole stood up straighter and looked Master Dracoya in the eye.
"And I don't even belong to this guild, so you can't tell me what to do, I can fight the dragon if I want to!" Romeo cried out, pointing at his Fairy Tail guild mark.
Master Dracoya sighed deeply.
"And if and probably when I tell Zahn to levitate you out of the room?"
Zahn glanced at the four younger teens blandly, raising an eyebrow.
"Than we'll break out! We're all...wait how old are you guys?"
Romeo turned to Jack and Cole.
"Thirteen." Cole said.
"Fourteen." Jack said.
"Teenagers in the rebellious age!" Romeo finished.
Master Dracoya rolled her eyes.
"Oh, dear, this is going to be a long day..."
In the underground safe room.
"SCREW YOU ZAHN!" Jack shrieked as she banged on the door to the safe room.
"Look, I personally think you guys should be in the fight, especially since Wendy's a dragonslayer and Jack's one of the arc practicing wizards. But unlike that kid..."
Zahn pointed at Romeo, who shouted.
"My NAME is Romeo!"
"...I'm a member of this guild, I have to listen to what Master Dracoya says, and she just doesn't want you all hurt. So stay put!"
With that Zahn walked away from the safe room door.
"Jerk! What do you do now?"
Jacqueline demanded.
Wendy turned back to study the room.
It was lit by lacrima lamps on the walls, and had several cozy couches, four sets of bunk beds, and a large bookcase crammed with all manner of board games, cards, toys, books, and other things to keep them busy. On the far wall Wendy saw a door, and from the gentle cooling flow of air coming from it she could tell it was a cooler of some sort, most likely filled with food. On the way here, trapped in a gravity bubble with a furious Jack, she could tell the room was several hundred yards from the castle, it was beneath the forest and a sealed hatch lead outside.
Obviously this room had been designed to weather a siege out or escape a siege in.
"Well, there aren't any obvious exits and they are probably watching the door and hatch for us to leave out that way. They wouldn't lock us in in case we need to get away, but if we just leave that way, Zahn will float us right back." She said slowly as she walked in.
Kylie and Asuka were sitting on the floor playing a board game.
"Is the big dragon thingy here yet?" Asuka asked in a bored tone.
"No..."
That was when Cole suddenly staggered, groaning and clutching at his head as his clothes were flooded with black and blood red.
As the feathers on his headdress were dyed scarlet he collapsed, and not thinking and standing the closest, Romeo seized his arm to stop him from falling. His bare arm.
Wendy and Jack winced, waiting for Cole to scream and Romeo to hurl himself backwards from the sudden transfer of flare magic into the mage.
To their great surprise he lifted the semi-conscious transfer wizard up and dragged him towards the bunks.
"Well don't just stand there, help me!" He grunted, Cole was his size and weight, maybe even a bit heavier, and definitely several inches taller.
After getting over their amazement, Jack and Wendy leapt forward and lifted his legs, helping him into the bunk as Asuka and Kylie scrambled up from the floor.
"Is he ok!?" Asuka asked frantically, peeking over the edge of the bed at Cole, who was writhing with pain on the bunk.
He forced his now onyx black eyes open, gasping.
"It's...not coming...it's..."
His eyes were clamped shut.
"Here."
Cole tried to calm himself but his body wouldn't settle, he continued quaking and twitching, his breathing never settling as Wendy began to work her magic, attempting to flush the evil energy away like she'd down before.
Yet this time, it had no effect, she tried, pushing her magic hard into her friend's trembling body, but nothing happened.
Wendy's eyes filled rapidly with hopelessness as Cole's teeth gritted in pain and he shook hard, tears fighting out from behind his tightly shut eyes.
"Too...much...I can't..." He gasped.
Suddenly, his eyes flew wide open, tears were free to cascade down his cheeks as he widened his eyes.
They weren't onyx anymore, they were bloody scarlet.
"MOVE!" He screamed.
Jack reacted quickly, seizing Wendy by the arm and Kylie by the scruff of her polka dot jacket, dragging them away from the bed as Romeo snatched up Asuka and backed away.
Cole's scream, and those who knew him well felt as though their hearts were being torn at when they heard it.
He roared, it appeared similar to Rogue's roar attack, only difference was it was so large it demolished the entire ceiling and burst out into the sky above. A tornado of black magic energy swirled, darkening the very air in the room and sucking so violently at the ones inside that their braced feet were sliding toward the pull.
The entire time Cole never stopped screaming.
Finally, the vortex thinned out and settled down, leaving Cole, lying still as death on the bunk, beneath a six foot diameter hole he'd blasted through ten feet of rock and earth and out into the forest.
"Cole!" Wendy cried out, she and Jack sprinting forward.
"Say something! Wake up, chameleon!" Jack demanded.
Cole's eyes opened instantly.
He stared straight up and said nothing, he was still dyed in reds and blacks.
"Cole?" Wendy asked timidly.
"My god..." He croaked, sitting up and leaning back on one arm.
"Your ok!" Wendy was so relieved she hugged him.
Yet again, everyone winced, waiting for the scream and the absorption.
Nothing happened.
Cole's eyes were wide as he stared straight ahead at the wall, feeling Wendy's skin against his and waiting for the flood of sky magic, yet it never came.
"First Romeo, now you...I've never touched two people in a row without absorbing at least once. This can't be..."
Wendy released him but left one hand on his exposed, guild marked shoulder.
Still no absorption.
She finally broke the connection and stepped back, astonished.
"Never once have you touched two people in a row?" Jack asked skeptically.
Cole seemed to consider it.
"Once. I was at a train station and got shoved around by the crowds, but I didn't absorb even though I knew I'd hit two wizards, but the third time I did absorb, and that was a really bad scene."
Jack steeled her gaze, and took one step forward, and put her hand on Coles exposed shoulder.
Cole winced himself this time, Jack was powerful, this was going to hurt.
Nothing.
"What happened?" Cole murmured as Jack stepped back.
"That's three people who've touched you and you haven't absorbed their power. Something about Shadowlogia's power must be interfering with your abilities. Well, great, for the time being Cole can touch people, as for now."
Jack turned her head upwards to see the sky had clouded heavily over, she could hear the distant sounds of combat.
"We got work to do."
A little short, but we're getting there, I'm going to be following the kids around for a lot of the dragon attack, but I'll be bopping in with some of the other wizards as well! So please favorite, please follow, please review! Thanks!