PEOPLE OBSERVE!
So many of you are pissed off that I killed Wendy, but, let me see, do dead people tickle the backs of their friend's necks with their breath!?
Geez, you need to read in more detail. Some of you caught me! Good job, you people who caught my sneaking! You people complaining about Wendy's death? Please continue into the next chapter, starting with Wendy coughing up blood.
Wendy started to spasm in Romeo's lap, twitching unnaturally before she rolled over and hacked up a huge amount of blood and vomit.
She groaned as she sat back, still spitting up mixtures of blood and spit, and clutched at her sore, forcibly healed side.
"Wha...happened?" She choked out as she rubbed her stomach.
"Wendy!"
Romeo dragged Wendy back into his lap and hugged her, not caring how weak she was, not caring how bloody and muddy and covered in filth she was.
She was his Wendy, and she was alive.
At the Draconem Heart clearing.
"Master! We're fighting a losing battle, here!" Cobra barked haughtily as he sprinted up to Master Dracoya.
The woman let a cool gaze drift over the dragon, it had fallen to Natsu and Gray's assault, only to rise again, as indestructible as ever.
"The guy's right, Master! What do we do?" Onyx demanded as he sprinted over.
Master Dracoya furrowed her brow, scowling suddenly.
"Get everyone clear of the dragon."
She ordered as she turned and marched back toward the castle with a swish of her red scaly dress.
"Yes ma'am!" Onyx shouted before turning and racing back into the fray.
"Rock Dragon diamond fist!" He barked, smashing a dragon spawn so hard
it's jaw snapped backwards and it collapsed to the ground.
"EVERYONE! GET AWAY FROM THE DRAGON! INTO THE CASTLE! MASTER DRACOYA HAS ORDERED A RETREAT!"
He wailed.
All the Draconem Heart wizards fell back instantly, sprinting for the drawbridge as ordered.
"No! It's not wild to retreat!" Bacchus cried angrily.
"Look out!" Orchid screamed when she saw something coming up behind the Quattro Cerberus wizard.
A clawed arm seized him around the waist, and he screamed as Shadowlogia lifted him up off of the ground.
"BACCHUS!" Several of the man's guild mates cried out in horror, charging toward the dragon to aid their leader.
Not before the dragon hurled the wizard into the air.
"WILD!" He yelled out one last time before he tumbled helplessly into the dragon's jaws.
The gnashing teeth slammed shut and everyone was frozen in terror.
"RETREAT!" Onyx ordered again, waving to several exceeds.
Four of the flying cats swooped down and seized the other Quattro Cerberus members, shooting off toward the castle and carrying them inside, they struggled the entire time, yelling out in choked grief.
"That monster just ate someone!" Another wizard screamed, and panic swept through the crowd of mages. Spells were flung with higher intensity, blasting away at the beast it it licked it's lips of it's recent meal.
"That didn't just happen...right?" Orchid stuttered in horror, backing away from the dragon as Cobra hurried
"Oh my god...Bacchus..." Cana moaned as Lucy grabbed her arm.
"Let's go!" She begged, dragging the drunkard toward the drawbridge, Loke and Aries bring up their rear, protecting the two women from the lingering dragon spawn.
Natsu narrowed his eyes. That dragon had just crossed the line, murdering a wizard that had done nothing wrong. Nothing to deserve what had happened to him.
He let out a fierce howl as he launched himself at the dragon.
"Natsu! No!" Onyx yelled, his throat clenching tight after the sight of Bacchus being devoured whole.
"COME BACK!" Orchid begged.
Natsu bombarded the dragon with wildly powerful attacks.
That is, until a sparkling, crackling energy whip wrapped around his waist and dragged him hard back down to earth.
Back into a pair of soft arms hugging him from behind.
"Natsu. Please." Lucy whispered, resting his head on Natsu's shoulder.
She'd left a distressed Cana in Loke and Aries's hands and came back for her former beloved partner.
Natsu gritted his teeth, his body shaking with fury.
"DAMMIT!" He screamed as he turned and ran, seizing Lucy by the hand.
Lucy retracted her whip and placed it back at his waist as they raced across the clearing and up the hill toward the drawbridge, legs burning.
The drawbridge slammed up once everyone was inside and Lucy instantly clung to Natsu, tears pouring freely down her face after what she'd just witnessed.
"Bacchus..." Cana sniffled, she sat on her knees on the floor of the entryway, her face buried in her hands.
"We have several incredibly powerful runes left. It'll take the dragon a while to break them down, they'll buy us time."
That was when a pained screech of the dragon echoed from outside.
"But...what?" Yuka mumbled.
"Everyone to the turrets!" Onyx ordered, and the army of wizards followed the flow of the ones who knew the castle well up the stairs. Cana having to be half carried after the lost of someone so dear to her.
"Oh my god." Lyon's voice carried over the crowd.
Everyone arrived at the top of the castle wall and were met with an incredible sight.
Through the driving downpour, they were able to make out the form of a golden and scarlet dragon aura wrestling Shadowlogia to the ground.
In the forest.
Wendy's eyes were bleary and unfocused, she was trembling and shivering heavily. Her stomach throbbed painfully and she couldn't even support her own weight. She often had to halt their painstakingly slow progress to turn her head and hurl what little was left in her stomach to the forest floor.
"I feel like I wish I was dead..." Wendy groaned, she was hugging herself and shivering heavily.
"Wendy...please don't say that." Romeo murmured, clutching at her arm tightly.
Cole had already offered his poncho, Jack her hoodie, and Romeo his scarf. She'd rejected them all, with the rain still coming heavily down, she'd not wanted any of her friends to catch cold.
Out of all of them, all three had insisted, and finally the blue haired girl had relented to allowing Jack to help her into her black and orange jacket, the only article out of all of their collective spare clothing that actually fit Wendy.
Wendy was now cuddled in the jacket and being carried in Romeo's arms. They were making their slow way back towards the hole which lead to the safe room. From their they could take the tunnel back to the castle, provided it hadn't collapsed or been overrun with dragon spawn yet.
They slogged through the muddy forest for a time in silence, other them Wendy's occasional bout of hacking coughs.
Romeo's healing had saved her life, brought her back from the dead, as a matter of fact. But it had cost her dearly in means of health. Her own healing magic could repair without causing the person being healed to feel any sort of aftershock in means of sickness or exhaustion.
Romeo was not a healing mage, but the extreme emotional stress he'd been under had caused her lost mage abilities to erupt. At that moment he could feel the fires inside him raging. He wasn't in control, already he'd felt fire beginning the manifest into physical form before he'd barely managed to quell it.
Romeo didn't feel like his magic was safe anymore.
He didn't feel like he was safe anymore.
Well, took me long enough. I went to my first anime con and just got home yesterday! I cosplayed as China from Hetalia and had a few friends as other characters, and we spent three whole days there. It took a big bite out of my writing time, as you can tell. Well, please favorite, please follow, please review! Thanks for reading!