Chapter Three: The Unveiling
It took a while to convince all of Fairy Tail that Alyssa's new 'boyfriend' wasn't her boyfriend, but merely a 'random idiot she found while she was out on a job.' Aidan didn't really appreciate the description he was given, but it sure beat being catcalled by older folk and getting glares of embarrassment and anger from the short, red-eyed Dragon Slayer. He was sitting by the bar, rubbing his head in agony. How in the world are these guys the strongest wizard guild? he wondered. Aidan felt others staring at him, and it sent chills down his spine. He wasn't used to being the center of attention, hell he wasn't even used to hanging around other people! He swallowed nervously, anxiety starting to overwhelm him.
Aidan tensed as he felt a hand roughly grip his shoulder. Oh please God, don't let it be- "Hey shit bag, why aren't you gone yet? Do you want me to pin you to the wall with my chainsaw sword?" Aidan turned his head slowly and beheld Gajeel Redfox, who looked as though he was imagining gutting Aidan like sushi. Oh, fuck my life... Aidan attempted a smile, which probably only pissed Gajeel off even more. "Hello, Mr. Redfox. Wendy told me to stay until my wounds heal, so I can't leave just yet." Gajeel glared at him with so much malice that Aidan could swear his eyes were just glowing red dots. "You better heal before I lose my patience, you little fuck nugget. Otherwise, you'll be nothing but an eviscerated pile of flesh when I'm through with you. Geehee." This guild is full of fucking psychos! Aidan panicked.
"Now Gajeel, treat him with kindness. After all, you started being a Fairy Tail wizard not long after almost murdering Levy, right?" a sweet voice interjected. Gajeel whipped around to face the speaker, an evident snarl emulating from his throat. "Who fucking said tha-" He stopped abruptly as he faced the newcomer. Aidan, not knowing who it was, leaned to the side to see who it was. A woman with white hair and startling blue eyes smiled at the two of them. Aidan heard Gajeel gulp, and watched in disbelief as he slowly retreated from the newcomer, who was still doing nothing but smiling at him. Then, without saying a word, Gajeel all but sped out of the guild hall, into the afternoon sun. Aidan looked back at the woman, who just giggled and muttered "Oh my."
"Um, so thanks for saving me, miss." Aidan decided to greet this woman with great respect. Anyone who scares the shit out of someone like Gajeel isn't someone I'd fuck with. he thought to himself. At least she seems nice, though. The stranger extended her hand towards him. "My name's Mirajane Dreyar, but you can just call me Mira. It's nice to meet you." Aidan smiled, and shook her hand. "Likewise. My name's Aidan Heller. So, why did Gajeel react like that when you talked to him?" he asked. She laughed softly. "Why, because he knows better than to cross me!" she giggled again, and Aidan began to subconsciously retreat from her. "Um, so why did you protect me from him, anyways? You don't even know me." She gazed at him, her sky blue eyes gleaming with amusement. "Well, because you and Alyssa are my new favorite ship!"
Aidan could feel an actual sweatdrop materialize upon his forehead. "What does that mean?" She opened her mouth to answer, then hesitated. "Never mind. It would spoil the fun if I told you know, so you'll have to figure it out on your own!" Aidan's face was twisted into one of exasperation, and his patience was running out. Mira tilted her head at him, as though she was curious of something. "So, Aidan..." He snapped back to attention, giving Mira his full attention, even though he had a bad feeling in his gut. "Do you want to join Fairy Tail? We would love to have you, you know." Aidan's intuition was right. Painful memories assaulted him within his mind, overwhelming him with grief and guilt. "Are you okay, Aidan?" Mira asked, noticing the look of anguish that appeared upon his face.
He lifted his head to look at her, and her breath caught. His azure blue eyes were full of turmoil. Aidan turned his back to her, and began to walk out of the guild. "Sorry, but I think I have to pass." he choked out, tears streaking down his face as he continued to walk through the doorway of the guild. He could faintly hear Wendy call out to him, telling him to return until his wounds healed, but he couldn't care less. "Ice Make: Barrier!" he heard a man shout, and a wall of ice erected itself in front of his path. Aidan continued to trudge ahead, completely unfazed by the resistance Fairy Tail was putting up. "Requip." he whispered. A white magic circle blazed to life at his feet, and he placed a hand upon the ice. Suddenly, the entire barricade of ice collapsed into miniature cubes. There were gasps, and even more yelling as Aidan walked away, but he ignored them all. He knew that Fairy Tail was full of good people, but that was exactly why he had to stay away from them. I won't let anyone else I care for get hurt by me. He thought to himself. Never again. With that in mind, he steeled himself to the cries of Fairy Tail behind him, and continued back to his forest of isolation; of exile.
Suddenly, Aidan felt a familiar presence approaching from behind, and nimbly dodged whoever it was at the last second. He spotted pink hair, and a scale-like scarf as the person shot past him, and crashed into a nearby building. A wall of dust swirled to life around the attacker, but Aidan could see a shadow with red eyes glaring at him from within it. Aidan sighed, knowing full well that this was about to get ugly. He faced the menacing opponent, who was grinning widely. "Nice to meet ya." the pink-haired man called out to Aidan. "My name's Natsu Dragneel, what's yours?" Aidan visibly paled upon hearing that name. The Natsu Dragneel? Shit, this is gonna be harder than I thought... Natsu narrowed his eyes. "No answer, huh? That's okay, but answer this: Why are you running?" Aidan's mind was too busy trying to formulate an efficient plan to answer.
Natsu sighed, then positioned himself into a battle pose. "Well, whatever the case, Wendy wants you back, and so does Mira. I'm not about to let those two down. Especially Mira." Aidan noticed Natsu slightly shivered at that last sentence. So Gajeel isn't the only one who's scared of her. Huh. Aidan thought. Natsu chuckled at him, which snapped Aidan out of his train of thought. "My daughter told me that you can use Lightning Flame Dragon magic, but I want to see it for myself." As he said that, his body began to emit a cloak of fire and lightning. "All right, here goes!" Natsu exclaimed, his cheeks enlarging to the size of bowling balls. "Lightning Flame Dragon Roar!" he bellowed, and a torrent of destruction spewed towards Aidan, who only sighed.
Raising his hand, he spoke. "Requip. Fairy Shield." As a yellow magic circle enlarged below his feet, a barrier of energy with the Fairy Tail insignia emblazed upon it shimmered into existence before him. Natsu's attack, upon hitting it, was simply absorbed into the shield and flickered off. Natsu growled and pointed at Aidan, who still was protected by his barrier. "Hey buddy, I thought we were using Lightning Flame Dragon magic only! That's cheating, using a spell like that! Are you a coward or something?!" Aidan once again sweatdropped. I didn't agree to that, you just shouted that to me before hearing my answer! Dear God, is this guy really an adult? He acts as though he's still a child! As Natsu continued to rant towards him, he decided to just,ignore him and trudged forward.
"Hey pal, I'm not done with you just yet!" Natsu proclaimed, and charged Aidan from behind. OMFG, this guy just doesn't quit, huh? Well then, if that's the case... Aidan turned to face Natsu. He raised his palm towards him, and a yellow circle appeared on the floor right in front of Natsu. Once Natsu placed his foot upon it, Aidan shouted "Fairy Shield!" once more. Natsu was too late in moving forward, and became trapped in a cage of the same yellow energy as Aidan's shield. "Hey, what's the big idea here?! Let me out and fight me, you liar!" Aidan just ignored Natsu's cries, and continued to march ahead. Seriously, what the fuck's wrong with these people. Aidan deadpanned.
Before Aidan could make it out of Magnolia, he sensed three entities, no six inbound. He turned to face them, but saw no one. Then he looked up. Alyssa, Emma and Darius hovered before him,and white feathery wings seemed to be sprouting from their backs. No, Aidan thought, quickly catching on. The other three energy signatures must be latched to their backs. They dropped to the ground, and then three cats appeared from behind them. What the...are those cats? With wings?! Aidan's left eye began to twitch, and he began to seriously question his sanity. While he drowned in his inner confusion, the trio conversed shortly with the winged felines, who nodded and flew into the air. They then turned to face Aidan, but fell silent once they saw his expression.
"Um, guys?" Emma said. "I think we just broke Aidan." Aidan, upon hearing this, straightened his thoughts, and regained his composure. "No, no. You just unnerved me, that's all." He swept all of them with a piercing gaze. "I'm assuming you're here to bring me back as well." Darius nodded apologetically. Aidan noticed Alyssa was glaring at him, and quickly shifted his gaze to Emma, who was fidgeting and looking everywhere but him. Oh geez... Aidan thought. "So, are we gonna fight, because if we're not then I'll just-" Aidan didn't get to finish that sentence because Alyssa had attacked him with her fists, which were covered in metal scales. "Just shut up already!" she screamed, obviously angry about something. Emma and Darius looked at each other and shrugged. Then they both shot forward to join Alyssa in her battle against Aidan.
To their surprise, however, Aidan dodged and parried each one of their blows, requiping between his stored magical powers at high speeds. Then, Alyssa's right fist finally hit its mark, scoring a hit on his face. Alyssa gripped his face tightly, and placed her left hand upon her right arm. "Iron Dragon Grip Strike!" she shouted, and Aidan was instantly engulfed in a maelstrom of metal particles. Alyssa smirked, thinking it was all over. Emma sighed in relief, wiping sweat off her brow. "Man,that was a tough fight." Suddenly a light shimmered into existence upon the ground and they all became paralyzed. "What's this?" Alyssa voiced her inner thoughts. "Solid Seal." a voice answered her. Incredulous, she turned to her hand, which was still holding Aidan within her Grip Strike.
Suddenly, the raging storm of metal dispersed and Aidan was revealed to be unharmed in any way, although Alyssa's hand was still gripping his cheek as though he was a baby. Judging from his facial expression, it seemed like he didn't really like that, but he paid it no heed as he continued speaking. "You're all standing in my sealing circle. I modified this one so that you won't take any physical damage, but you will still feel pain." Looking at Alyssa, he said "I don't want to hurt any of you, but I need to end this quickly. Therefore, I'll knock you all out with this one attack." He curled his two index fingers, and touched both knuckles down to the ground. Then, he raised his right arm upwards, while his left arm remained down. The sky above Magnolia turned dark, and menacing. "This is...True Heavenly Body magic!" Emma squeaked, astonished at the sight of it. "Sema!" Aidan bellowed.
A hole opened in the sky, and a flaming meteor shot out of it, towards the three teen Dragon Slayers. "Farewell! I hope we meet again, on more friendly terms." Aidan called out to them, shouting to be heard over the growing roar of the approaching meteor. Once it impacted the sealing circle, an explosion occurred, the flames spiraling into the sky as a pillar since the explosion was held within the perimeter of the sealing circle. Aidan smiled sadly, then turned around to walk away but paused as he heard a familiar sound. Don't tell me... Aidan spun around in time to see the explosion be absorbed by Emma, who grinned. "That was some tasty fire, Aidan. However, I think we're going to have to end this fight." Alyssa and Darius fanned out to either side of Emma, and Aidan sensed tremendous magical energy emitting from the trio.
"Let's do it!" Emma called out. Then all three of them puffed their cheeks out. "Fire Dragon..." "Lightning Dragon..." "Iron Dragon..." they shouted, and Aidan's hair began to rise from all the energy that the three Dragon Slayers were expelling. "ROAR!" they screamed, and three elemental beams of destruction escaped from their mouths, combining into one. A triple unison raid, huh? Aidan thought, unfazed by the display of power in front of him. If I wasn't who I am, I probably would be scared shitless. However... Aidan held his head high towards the approaching attack. When it was almost about to hit him, he opened his mouth. Then, he ate the magic. The three teens looked shocked as he absorbed the entire attack into him. "How?" Alyssa asked breathlessly.
Aidan lowered his head and sighed. I guess I should tell them. They deserve it for treating me, a stranger, kindly. He looked up at them, his face full of sadness. "Remember when I told you all that my magic consisted of me copying other people's magic? Well, that wasn't the entire truth." Alyssa smirked. "I knew you were lying! No one can copy other magic!" Aidan turned to face solely her. "Actually, that part was true." Her face flushed. "What I lied to you about is that copying magic isn't my full power, only a part of it. A benefit, if you will." Darius gazed at him, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "So what weren't you telling us, Aidan? What were you hiding?" Aidan looked at him, and actually flashed him a genuine smile, which is something Aidan rarely did throughout his life.
"Why don't I show you? Consider it me paying your kindness back. However..." Aidan focused in the ground below them, and another modified sealing circle glowed. Then, he looked back up to them. "Alright, here goes." he stated, and all three braced for his attack. Aidan closed his eyes, and exhaled. Then, he opened his mouth wide, and began to inhale. Suddenly, Alyssa felt as though her magic power was being forcibly drained from her body. Her eyesight became blurry due to the quick draining of her magic. She growled at the painful sensation, and looked down to see a funnel of pure magical energy protruding from her stomach. She blinked, trying to clear her hazy eyesight, and traced the funnel to Aidan, where it seemed to enter his mouth...wait a minute. His mouth?!
She turned her head, and saw that Emma and Darius were being drained of their magic energy as well. Once she felt as though her magical containers were completely empty, the pain stopped, and she fell to one knee and gasped for breath. She attempted to stand, but didn't have the strength to, and fell back down to her knee. Aidan quickly finished consuming Emma and Darius' magic energy as well, and soon all three teens were gagging on the floor, struggling to regain some strength. Aidan looked down at them in pity, which pissed Alyssa off. She mustered enough strength to rise back to her feet, to which Aidan looked straight at her. He bowed his head out of respect. Then, he said "This is it."
His cheeks puffed out, and it finally dawned upon Alyssa on what Aidan's type of magic really was. "Etherion Dragon..." Aidan bellowed. Emma's breath was caught in her throat. Darius stared at Aidan in a mixture of fear and astonishment. "This is going to be very interesting..." he mumbled out. Alyssa simply braced herself for the impact, knowing that there was nothing she could do now. Not without her magic power. "Roar!" Aidan screamed, and a massive blue beam of concentrated pure magic energy, also known as ether-nano, completely obliterated every state of matter between Aidan and the trio. Once it hit its targets, a massive pillar of blue smoke could be seen miles away from Magnolia. As the dust cleared, Aidan caught sight of Fairy Tail's three teen Dragon Slayers knocked out, thankfully with minor scratches.
He turned to leave Magnolia, a sad smile on his face. "Trust me, this is for the best. I'm sorry." Aidan continued to trudge forward. However, once he rounded the next corner, a frying pan impacted into his face, and Aidan dropped to the floor and saw little flying cats zoom around his head. The last thing he remembered before waking up again was a woman with white hair and in a red dress. She looked down to him and giggled lightly. "Oh dear." was all she said before Aidan finally lost consciousness.
So there's my third chapter! Shoutout to OpticalRings for helping me w/ my writing! I'll try to implement those tips into my future chapters! To Tigertyker 7, here's a list as you requested.
Aidan Heller- Parents unknown; Etherion Dragon Slayer
Alyssa C. Redfox- Gajeel and Levy; Iron Dragon Slayer
Emma Dragneel- Natsu and Lucy; Fire Dragon Slayer
Darius M. Dreyar- Laxus and Mira; Lightning Dragon Slayer
I'll be adding even more , so stay tuned for more (if you actually like it)
As always, please feel free to leave reviews, be it positive or negative. I promise I'll read every single one. I might also start another FT fic, so stay tuned if you want to read that one as well. Until then, I'll see you all later! :)