"Shadow Recall is a rare form of magic. Forbidden magic. No one's seen it in years because the effects are so devastating. With one wave of your hand you can condemn an entire city to death."
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"What does that mean Erza?" Lucy stuttered nervously, noticing how her friend had paled at just the name of the magic.
"Shadow Recall is one of the worst forms of magic out there, and is so dangerous that those who wield it usually spiral into insanity, with disastrous results. It is the act of taking another's shadow, or even a whole city's shadow, killing all who live there almost immediately.
Without a shadow we become untied to this world, we cease to exist, but for the shadows. All who are 'Recalled' disappear completely – obliterated, gone forever – and the few who survive can only coexist with darkness. You can never return to the light. It is a fate worse than death. And he just cast that spell on us."
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Gray made a noise in the back of his throat, half between a yell and a scream of frustration.
He started forward, but as he opened his mouth – to verbally abuse this guy and demand his shadow back no doubt – he was cut off by the man in the soul-wreathed cloak.
"Very smart Erza. Very smart. I knew you'd figure it out. Now, before our.. relationship.. is clouded with judgement and demands for recompense, I think introductions are in order. My name is Asinath, and I am here to propose you a deal."
Before either Natsu or Gray could so much as take a breath to yell Erza stood forward, hair splaying out behind her in the wind's cool touch, mouth tight and grim.
"Asinath, I beseech you", her voice was pleasant enough, to the outsider, but Natsu, Gray and Lucy – even though her anger wasn't directed at them – instinctively took several steps back.
A safety precaution.
"Return us our shadows and let us go on our way, or, I swear upon my Guild and all I hold dear, we will raze your 'guild' to the ground and you will weep and your beloved dark abandon you as you realize you have entered a war you cannot win."
He simply smiled, for all they could see was his strong jaw and smirking mouth, and two sharp glints for eyes.
"Well, Fairy Tail, as you can see, you're not really in the place to be making demands. Because, as our friend here forgot to mention, that you will cease to exist at the break of dawn – light and dark cannot coexist. But, if you can beat the strongest guild in all of Earthland, I will return you're shadows to you and you will be pronounced the strongest guild of Earthland."
"Is this all this is?" Gray suddenly piped up; normally void voice angered and cold.
"You've killed countless people just so you can prove yourself as the strongest guild in Fiore? How pathetic."
Asinath's smile turned cold.
"So", he said, his cloak dripping shadows down his back to his feet, which were obscured and wreathed by black smoke.
"War it is."
Without warning, he leapt.
He jumped high over their heads, black form obscuring the stars lighting up the inky strip of night sky behind him, stretched like a silken banner across the horizon.
He landed in the midst of them, and there was a breath of silence, a collective gasp, before the stone cracked beneath his feet, sending out ripples of shockwaves that sent them flying backwards, flattening the town in one blow.
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Erza managed to catch the branch of a weeping willow as she was whiplashed past, using her momentum to spin herself around in a tight flip to land on the sturdy branch. She was amazed at how far she'd flown – she was on the outskirts of town.
Or what was the town.
It was now entirely flattened, buildings now nothing but white smears in uniform rings around the centre of the town – the only building still standing was the massive hall were they first encountered Asinath. It must be their guild hall.
She hoped like hell Gray, Natsu and Lucy had been thrown as far as her, and had escaped the damage that now shattered the picturesque landscape.
I have to find them. They could be injured, or being attacked-
Her thoughts were broken off by the massive ball of flame the erupted from the other side of town, accompanied by shrill shouts and copious amounts of smoke.
Despite herself she smiled, relieved that Natsu was ok.
I need to meet up with the others again. The only way we can stand even the slightest chance against this guild is together!
She jumped down from the tree, landing with a muffled thump on the ground.
The wind ruffled her casual blue skirt, and she noticed it was getting colder as the night drew on.
She started the walk back into town, black boots crushing the already weary grass underfoot, and as she walked she surveyed the damage.
The town was decimated.
Houses turned to rubble and ground cracked like the desert in need of rain. The river still ran on, but now with several large bits of debris causing the water to swirl in evasive moments around the large chunks of rock that stood high like pinnacles.
As she drew closer she could hear yelling, and another explosion rang out across the still.
By now she was running.
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Gray was pissed.
The shock of the impact had thrown him to the northern end of town, and he'd barely picked himself up from the ground before they were upon him.
Swathed in darkness and bearing shadows they attacked.
He had to leap out of the way of a bolt of concentrated.. shadows?
"Ice make, Sword!"
A large double edged blade flowed down his right arm, forming a raggedly sharp sword that contracted to his hand, made of angry intent and murderous gaze.
Thick spikes ran up and down its length, and it was a light blue that reflected the jewel in his crucifix, and the sharp gazes of the mages that surrounded him.
He guessed there were probably fifteen or so, hidden in dark cloaks that fell to the ground in ragged folds of shadow, hiding everything but their hands.
They leapt at the same time, Gray leaping forward to meet them front on.
With a surprise dulled over years of 'oh, shit!' he realized that he was no longer wearing his plain white t-shirt, clothed only in his low jeans and belt, boots and crucifix.
Shit, again?
Nimbly, swiftly, dodging and weaving, as though it were a fine art, he deftly blocked attack after attack, sending men crumpling to the ground left and right, until only three remained.
His breath was ragged in his chest and he could hear his pulse racing in his ears.
Ice littered the ground around him, sharp spikes illuminating the light of the stars above, several with men trapped or pinned underneath or inside of.
The one on the left leapt suddenly, and Gray simply leaned to the right, already feeling fatigue working its way into his weary bones.
His attention was caught, however, as, almost in slow motion, the man's fist skimmed his jaw and carried on past his line of sight, and he caught sight of his guild mark.
That cost him, because, as he assessed his guild mark he felt a punch work its way past his defences and crash against his ribs, supercharged by dark energy.
Ouch.
The guild mark was, almost in irony, beautiful. An intricate circlet around the man's thin wrist, all coiled spirals and fine smoke etchings, illustrating a city being consumed by shadows, caught up in the wind.
Even as he felt another punch to his stomach he kept his eyes on that mark. He could have sworn he saw the smoke pulse and writhe, the city line burn.
He was being beaten down, and with fierce determination he struggled back, ice shattering and reforming around the shattered ground that had become a battlefield.
They traded blow for blow, and he felt grim satisfaction as he saw his ice pierce one of their sides, only to feel his own side, left vulnerable for just one second, be set ablaze by a small ball of dark energy, matter impossibly spiked, as it drove itself into his flesh.
He was bleeding from numerous cuts and scrapes along his torso and arms. A particularly bad cut above his left eye showered his world in red as it bled into his eye.
Another concentrated ball skimmed his upper arm, ripping the flesh and sending rivulets of blood down his arm in waves.
Note to self. Avoid small flying balls of pain.
When he narrowly avoided having his back flayed open by one of them taking a cheap shot he got tired of being respectable.
Time to fight dirty.
"Ice make, statues!" (Pretty sure that's not an actual thing, but hush you :P)
Numerous animals sprung from the ground, rabbits and wolves, cats and dogs, all surrounding them in a bizarre scene, like something out of the Ice Queen's garden (Narnia, but ice instead of stone).
"What the..?" One of the men muttered under his breath, slowing backing through the weird sight.
His voice was cut off, though, when Gray stepped out from behind a particularly large statue of a white tiger and placed both his hands on the man's temples, quietly muttering the ice-make under his breath.
The man fell, head first, with a clunk to the ground, shocked face frozen in the large ball of ice that surrounded his face.
His comrade looked up at the noise, just in time to get a fist to the face.
He fell to the ground, where he was instantly bound by large restraints of ice, pinning his squirming body in place.
Gray stepped closer, intent on answers, only to stop short at a yell and a disturbance behind him.
He turned in time to see a jet of flame hit the man who had been sneaking up behind Gray, large ball of dark matter forming between his hands with a sizzle, sending him crashing through several statues behind him. He slumped to the ground with a groan.
He stood there, clothes torn and blood-stained, torso all but ripped to shreds and grinned full-force at Gray.
"Admit it", Natsu said with a cocky smirk. "You love me."