All Rights to Hiro Mashima
Chapter dedicated to Abdltf because I ruined your concentration in school, which wasn't my intention, all I wanted was some angst people!
BEWARE THE TIME SKIP!
Chapter 9: Azurite
Pure blue ray resonates completely with the third eye chakra and is the most potent psychic stone; Called the Stone of Heaven, believed to open Celestial Gateways; used by Greeks for its legendary healing powers
"It is time General Nova, you are needed on the front lines. The assault begins momentarily."
The young woman gives her partner a bitter smile, she hates that position and that moniker, she would much rather be called by her true name. Although Nova isn't too bad, it reminds her of her heritage and everything she has lost. "Of course General Titania. I knew this time would come. Are the troops ready? I will not start unless they are in place."
Deep brown eyes sparkle with something unknown, the woman's blood-red hair swishes are she plaits it away from her face then swipes double lines of deep blue under her eyes. The colour distinguishes that she belongs to Fairy Tail. She gracefully braids the blonde's hair to match her own and paints a double line of gold under her partner's tired chocolate orbs.
The gold is only donned by a single person on the battlefield. The only survivor of the cleansing of Astralis seven years before this particular battle.
Titania nods as Nova slips her golden armour on, last of all her helmet with a single five-pointed star stamped on the forehead in white. "They are ready and waiting for our command."
The blonde drops the formalities when she sees the crease between her friend's eyes. "What are you hiding Erza? What's happened? Is it Gray? Did he use his everlasting ice on something important again? Dammit, Fullbuster! When I get my hands on you…"
Erza waves away the questions and sighs. Her partner was always too perceptive. "Something has changed…that's why they are requesting you to lead. Your magic comes from the heavenly stars, a pure form of light."
"Why would they need my magic specifically?"
"Lucy…they have sent END. Your magic is the opposite, as far as anyone can tell."
Lucy's heart almost stops in her chest. END is only sent in when the black wizard needs something ground into dust and decimated. "What?! END? He's sending his most valuable asset into direct battle? END hasn't been seen nigh on two and a half years, and even then it was only a ghost who destroyed full battalions in a single swipe! No one has ever seen END's face. No one even knows if it is a male or female. All anyone ever says is that END is followed by black flames and destruction."
After Alvarez invaded and conquered Ignis nine years prior, the beginnings of war had started. The black wizard, also known as 'Emperor Spriggan,' and the twelve strongest mages he had collected had begun to try and conquer all the other Kingdoms. With Tartarus, the Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Phantom Lord backing the self-appointed ruler of the free world, the battles were long and gruelling. There was an endless stream of strong, capable opponents. Nix had fallen next, losing Ur to the demon Deliora while Silver had been possessed by the black wizard himself, adding the King of the Ice Province to his collection of demons. Gray had salvaged what he could but had lost his sister years later, while Lyon was a member of Lamia Scale.
Caeruleus had been decimated just months before Astralis being wiped off the map. King Jude had fought to the bitter end to save his treasures, but alas, it was not enough.
The only free standing Kingdom left in Fiore was Domus, still presided over by an ever stubborn King Makarov. Prince Laxus had left his bitchy teen years behind and now was one of the most powerful mages in the whole kingdom.
The black wizard had started by wiping out the royal family of Ignis, then enslaving all the rest of the Dragon Slayers and bent them to his will. Zeref had fallen…and Natsu, Natsu had been slaughtered, if the amount of blood left over was any indication. The enemy had loved to throw that information around, installing fear into the hearts of any who opposed them. Lucy didn't even know what had happened to Happy.
Erza nods slowly while guiding a still dumbfounded Lucy out of their tent. "We must hurry now, you know they won't wait forever for us to get there especially my lieutenant."
Snorting delicately, Lucy pushes her magic out into her hands, materialising a single broadsword comprised of golden light. It was deadly sharp and could cut through the toughest materials. "Gray is so hot headed, I can't believe he's an ice devil slayer of all things. I'll kick his ass into next week if he riles up the enemy before we even get there."
True to form, Erza only nods stoically. "It is a possibility."
-ooo-
The two Generals arrived at the front and had a very short conference with all the other leaders. The aptly named Monster, or Jura to his friends, from Lamia Scale, Ichiya from Blue Pegasus, Kagura Mikazuchi from Mermaid Heel, Bacchus from Quattro Cerberus, Minerva "Milady" Orland from Sabertooth, and the Thunder God himself also from Fairy Tail.
On the battlefield, their code names were used as much as possible. There were many 'Lucy's' in the world, but Nova was known in all the kingdoms as one of the most lethal, deadly smart mages. Her mind was just as formidable as her sword, which was comprised of pure magic. Her available reserves were vast, and her ability to quickly think and pull plans out of her butt from thin air brought her renown quickly. She moved up the ranks as fast as possible, becoming a General in four short years. As the only person left in Altaris, she donned the double gold lines in memory, as well as the star on her helmet, but technically belonged to Fairy Tail.
She was classed as a rogue and lumped in with others like her kind, including the Crash Mage Gildarts who had a proclivity for accidentally destroying buildings, and Mystogan, the King of the Edolas Kingdom who was the last of his people. Just as Lucy was. Lucy preferred to work alone and usually did stealth missions or planning with their tactician Levy McGarden, so seeing her on the actual field of battle was cause for alarm, especially when she stood in full view for everyone to see, side by side with the Titania and the Thunder God and his personal guard.
They were bringing out the big guns for the inevitable clash.
General Nova stood within the circle of her peers, laying out a plan for the fight, hoping that this would minimise the loss of life that was to come.
No one could help it, everyone was drawn in when Nova spoke, like moths to a flame. They watched her precise movements and hand motions, understanding her simple but well thought out plan easily enough.
While most troops were dressed in the same armour but used a variety of weapons, the upper-class fighters were a strange group. Many of them didn't wear armour – Gray chose not to wear any clothes at all – while some like Erza and Lucy were covered head to toe. Most had extensive training in melee combat, as well as a wide range of weapons, but all had their particular tastes. Some like Laxus, Gray, and Jura used only their fists and their elements, while Nova and Erza relied heavily on their swords. Lucy was partial to her whip on her left hip and used her spirits only when needed unless they were Leo and Virgo who had a habit of just popping out whenever.
However, there was a single thing that all mages knew about the mysterious Nova – she refused to talk about her past, and none by Laxus and King Makarov knew that she was of royal blood – was that she carried around a single short sword on her right hip everywhere she went, no matter the circumstances. She had yet to draw it in battle, and not a single person had ever seen it, except the pommel and the crossguard. The gigantic stone that was set in it sometimes pulsed with unseen magic, though the warmth could be felt even from a distance.
None were permitted to touch it, save herself and the spirits she had contracts with.
She was truly an enigma.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
All Generals shook their heads, ready for action. Before anyone could say another word, a horn blew in the distance. The mages present entered battle mode as a single unit and took their places to lead their own troops into the fray.
At the front of the mass of people, Lucy stood tall, head held high as the enemy started to appear in a straggling line over the hill top.
Leo and Virgo stepped out of their gates and stood behind their summoner, ready for her Que.
Nova only had eyes for the mysterious END, which she had yet to see. Did someone lie? Was END not coming to this battle? Should she have stayed with Levy and directed their troops from behind or lead a covert mission to obtain new information from behind enemy lines?
A ripple broke the ranks of dark mages and demons alike, and a single, tall, well-muscled figure stepped out, and she could hear the collective gasp sound behind her. They were all finally looking at the elusive END, who was clearly a male.
Standing at nearly six and a half feet, END had black horns curling out of his forehead while ebony, tattered wings spread out behind him. He was engulfed in deep black flames that chaotically licked at his body. It was hard to see what colour his hair was from this distance, but she thought it might be silver.
Tattoos that looked similar to Gray's when he used his Devil Slaying Magic crawled up one of his arms while gleaming white talons tipped his oversized deadly hands. Blood red eyes gleamed out of the darkness his magic created.
He was terrifying.
But, Lucy looked END right in the eyes, her pride not allowing her to drop his gaze, and saw something that she never thought she would see from the leader of the Etherious Army, a tiredness that she knew her eyes held as well shone out for all to see. A need for the war to end.
She could think on this later, for now, she needed to focus on her enemies who were starting to creep out from behind the dark guild lackeys. All the controlled Dragon Slayers – as seen with their solid red eyes – the demons of Tartarus, Cobra and Brain of the Oracion Seis, Master Hades and a sneering Ultear from Grimoire Heart – once alleys turned vicious enemies, Shinigami Erigor the ace of Eisenwald and lastly Jose Porla flanked by his own lieutenants nicknamed 'The Element Four.'
Lucy was glad to see the brilliant blue hair of Juvia Lockser, a deep undercover agent and fiancé of Gray Fullbuster. That meant that she was still alive and unharmed. For now.
Although, nothing could keep her away from her 'darling Gray' after all. A pesky war wouldn't stop her from going back to him.
END motioned with his hands for the cannon fodder to begin their assault.
Lucy smiled tightly, the grim set of her lips twisted her pretty face into one of utter concentration, although no one could see it. Her full golden helmet obscured her features entirely. Most people only knew she was female after she spoke, although they must have their suspicions. Her chest was rather on the large side giving her chest plate an obvious shape.
Thrusting her sword forward, she signals the start of their charge.
"And so it begins."
-ooo-
It was complete chaos.
Bodies and weapons were flying and swinging through the air that was tainted with the smell of freshly spilt blood.
Lucy's first battle when she was nineteen had been an eye opener for her. Fighting didn't happen in orderly manners, and everyone clashed in a scramble of metal and sharpness and limbs. There were no straight lines that could distinctly show where the enemy was compared to their allies.
Sometimes it was hard to distinguish between friend and foe, especially at night.
Nova cut a path through the incoming enemies, preferring to incapacitate her opponents than outright kill if it could be helped. Utilising the power of Cancer the Giant Crab was the easiest way for this to happen. Their side would take those still left alive at the end of the battle into prison and wring them of all their information. Makarov deemed at the beginning of the conflict that all those captured during the war would spend their days in prison camps situated all over Domus, creating weapons and the like for the troops to use. They would be rehabilitated and treated fairly.
After all, some of their enemies were only their enemies due to terrible circumstances.
A single, petrified youth, no older than fifteen swung a dented sword at Lucy in a fit of desperation. She easily disarmed him without the need of her weapons, using a single sharp punch to his sternum that left him gasping for air, his sword dropping to the ground. This was just the reason she didn't like to kill people. She knew that if given a choice, this young man wouldn't be trying to slice her head off. He should be living his life somewhere else, chasing girls and pulling harmless pranks. Not in the middle of a heated assault.
Nova points her sword at his neck as his eyes stopped blinking to look at her in absolute fear. "Surrender yourself, if you do, you will not be gravely injured and will return with us to Domus when this is all over."
The boy drops his shoulders in defeat, tears of relief pour unbidden out of his eyes and down his dirt-stained cheeks. "I surrender myself."
"Thank you. I promise you will have a better life this way."
He only nods a single time and closes his eyes, knowing what will come next. "Thank you…General Nova."
She hits the boy's head once with her gauntleted fist, and he drops like a rock onto the ground.
Lucy continues on without a backwards glance.
A voice, deep and jarring, sounds from beside her stopping her in her tracks.
"You are something else, Nova. Knocking him out instead of slaughtering the poor boy? I don't think anyone else would give him the mercy or the choice whether or not to die."
Turning slowly on the spot, her hand hovering over the handle of her whip while Leo and Virgo step back into defensive postures. "I give everyone I meet on the battlefield the same choice. It is up to them whether or not they take my offer. It isn't often that I meet an enemy that chooses death. Every life is precious in my eyes."
She had been preparing herself for her confrontation with END, but Lucy didn't think that she would be having an outright conversation with him. It was…intriguing if nothing else.
His eyes were inquisitive and sharp, their bright red boring into her own. "Tell me, do you kill those who choose death?"
"No, I never kill if I can help it. It leaves stains on the soul that can never be scrubbed out. Even though I try not to, my own soul is so damaged already, a few black marks would hardly make any difference."
"Why?" He truly seemed curious. He had cocked his head to the side, the action so innocent it grabbed at Lucy's heart for a traitorous moment.
"I lost my whole family when I was young. My mother first, then my best friends, then my father. Gone. This pointless war had taken more than I was ever willing to give." Lucy was surprised that she was telling END things that she had never uttered to another person, even Erza. What was it about this demon that got her to open up?
His claws click as he pondered on her answer, his deep eyes showing a strange look of understanding. "I see. Well, I think we are the same in that respect. I lost most of my memories, but can remember only a few things from my past, a flash of gold here and there…sometimes just the feeling of flying. Emperor Spriggan assures me that this is what I was born to do. Lead this army until all fall before him." His sarcastic reply to her story takes her off guard. A single taloned hand grips the front of his tunic as if for comfort, the gesture stirring something in Lucy's mind for a moment.
So quietly that she almost missed it, END muttered almost to himself. "I don't really believe him anymore, this war…I don't believe in it."
Lucy stiffened, this is news. If END is having doubts about the war, then there was a possibility of turning him into an information source at the very least. "END…why do you fight?"
"Because I am forced to, I woke up ten years ago with no memories, captive and alone in the dark. The Emperor told me this is what I had been doing, so I continued to do so. Why do you?"
"It is my duty. I must defend my people."
A sigh ruffles his ash-white hair, its tips stained with blood and blackened by the demon ichor that also dripped off his claws. It seemed that his journey towards her was also eventful, although she doubted that he had left many alive.
Lucy extends her golden sword towards END, a half-hearted prelude to the fight that was inescapable. "Shall we begin?"
"…Yes." He seems almost reluctant.
Sprinting towards each other with enhanced speeds, Lucy flanked by her spirits and END's wings folded in to boost his aerodynamics, they clash in a flurry of swipes and jabs, both trying to bring the fight to a close as fast as possible. Neither wished for this to drag out.