A/N: Alright, here we go! Chapter 2 of Great Blaze comin at ya! I decided to make a short Original Arc that happens 2 years before canon so you can all have a feel of how Naruto is going to be for the rest of the story. It'll be pretty short, maybe 2 chapters. 3 at the most, if things don't pan out the way I'm planning.
Man was I surprised at the amount of attention the first chapter got! It made me really happy knowing something I wrote on a whim got such a positive response, so I'd like to thank you all for that!
I'd like to take this time to reply to a few reviews or PM's I got from chapter 1.
1.) How old are Naruto and Flare in the first chapter? At the end of the Prologue, Naruto was 12 and Flare was 10.
2.) Why did you insert so many Oc's in the first chapter? Nobody in Chapter 1 was an OC. I understand that the anime hasn't covered Tartarus yet, but that is no excuse to rant and rave to me about how I'm ruining FT canon. The anonymous Ice mage was Silver for those of you who didn't get it. Everyone else, please do your research
3.) Naruto is too weak and Atlas Flame shouldn't have died so easily. Listen, the person Naruto fought in chapter 1, Silver, is somebody that Post Time-skip Gray had trouble fighting against and someone who froze Natsu completely solid in less than a second. Besides, Atlas Flame isn't dead. Just frozen solid. Once again, do your research before dumping hate on me.
Well, now that that's out of the way, please enjoy!
"Jayoku: Hotenjin. (Snake Wing: Crumbling Heaven Blade)." A five year old Kurama called out in a dull voice as he unleashed his attack on a generic looking lesser demon. The black and green column of energy completely engulfed his opponent before dissipating, leaving nothing but a few scattered ashes that drifted down to the stone floor, joining the dead bodies of dozens of other lesser demons that surrounded him.
The silver haired child was in a rocky field on the surface of Cube, Tartarus's floating Mobile Island. It was in the shape of its namesake and had several large wasteland-like outcroppings on its surface. It was currently floating in the sky over the ocean that separated Fiore from Caelum.
The space he was standing on was in fact on the underside of Cube, the exact opposite side of where Tartarus's castle was stationed. Looking up (or was it down?) he could see a large red patch had spread in the water before a gigantic Kraken floated to the surface with a hole that punched straight through its large body due to being caught in his attack.
Lowering his leg to the floor, the young boy turned around to look at Kyouka who seemed pleased with his performance if the slight smirk on her face was any indication.
"Good job Kurama-chan." She praised as she walked up to him "You're taking to the implanted information very quickly. You've already completed most of the basic Jormungandr techniques."
Looking up at her with a blank look in his green slit eyes, Kurama nodded and thanked her in his completely blank tone of voice. "Thank you Kyouka-sama."
Turning and walking towards a small building in the distance, the green haired demon woman motioned for him to follow. "Come, it is time for you to finally meet Meiou-sama. Hopefully we will be able to get permission for your first field test." She explained.
Following the older demon into the modest looking building, he silently observed his surroundings like he was taught to do even if he was in friendly territory. It was a small laboratory-like building with white tiled floors and white walls. It smelled of both blood and disinfectant, and had several rooms filled with various lab tables, chairs, books, chemicals, and the occasional body or two.
He couldn't see it but he knew that the large basement was separated into two rooms, one that was similar to Hell's Core that mass produced weak generic looking demons that were only used for his training or the odd invasion of a settlement that carried one of Zeref's books, and another well-furnished room which was where he lived, and sometimes Kyouka stayed with him whenever she had to stay here if she had any experiments going on that required an overnight stay.
This place was Kyouka's secondary lab where she conducted her more dangerous experiments and kept him separated from the other members of Tartarus… or more specifically the woman whose curse he had inherited, Kushina Uzumaki. It was also where Kyouka implanted the information about several of Kushina's techniques directly into his brain so he could utilize his curse better.
Walking towards the back of the building, he and Kyouka both stepped on to an archaic looking magic circle that glowed brightly before teleporting them straight into the throne room of Tartarus's castle. It was very large, as one would expect, with dark red curtains and banners that bore the dark guild's symbol on them hanging from the ceiling and several pillars that were strewn throughout the room. It was lit with several torches and candles that were burning in a dark orange light giving the entire room a very eerie feel to it. All in all, it was fit for someone who ran a guild of demons like Tartarus.
Sitting on a throne made of grey stone and lined with what looked to be deformed demonic bodies and several dark lacrima in the middle of the room was a handsome young man that looked to be in his early twenties. He had very shaggy black hair that he kept in a large high ponytail and bangs that went down to his shoulders. His half lidded dark red eyes spoke of slight amusement and seemed detached from the rest of the world.
He was wearing a black knee length jacket with tattered fringes and a white flame-like pattern all around the edges over a black high collared shirt with white accents, white pants with black straps at the ankle crossed in an X pattern and black dress shoes. He was leaning on his right arm while observing the both of them as they approached him.
This was Mard Geer, also known as the Underworld King, and the leader of the dark guild Tartarus.
Even though Kurama had little to no emotions, being in front of this man instantly put him on edge and triggered all of his danger senses at once. Not because of the amount of energy the Underworld King put out or possessed, in fact it was the exact opposite. No matter how hard he tried… the child could not sense anything from this man. All he felt was a void.
That made two possibilities… One, this man was able to mask all of his power so completely that nobody could sense him, something so hard to do that the amount of people in the world skilled enough to be able to do so could be counted on one hand. Or two… his power was so large and encompassing that it was outside of his current capacity to sense.
Both of those options terrified him equally.
"Kyouka" the man in front of them started. His voice was slightly deep and came out smooth yet demanded respect all the same. "What can I do for you today?" he asked.
"Meiou-sama" the demoness replied while bowing "I have come to inform you that it is time for Kurama's first field test."
"Ah, your little pet project you've been hiding from us." Mard Geer's eyes drifted to the small emotionless boy in front of him and studied him with something akin to amusement. "Kurama was it? He seems to have inherited your other pet's curse. How amusing… it is nice to meet you young one, my name is Mard Geer."
Seeing the silver haired child nod to him respectfully, he allowed a lazy smile to cross his face before he addressed Kyouka again. "Tell me, how far has he progressed?"
"While he has not been able to access it at this point in time, I have confirmed that Kurama does indeed have an Etherious form. He is also quite adept at the first stage of the Jormungandr. Just earlier he defeated 100 mass produced demons without injury. I have not yet added any human magic to his lessons, but I do know that his eternano container is quite large for someone his age."
Chuckling a bit, Mard Geer once again studied Kurama. "Impressive… I think that does indeed warrant a little field test. Tell me little one, would you like to see the outside world?"
Kurama stared at the man on the throne before nodding. "…Yes."
The smile on the demon king's face grew a bit larger "That settles it then. It just so happens that I have located one of Lord Zeref's books not too long ago. Franmalth's book if my intuition is correct."
"Oh?" Kyouka responded with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Franmalth is quite a find Meiou-sama. He will be invaluable to us and our goals."
"Indeed he will. He was always so amusing." The black haired Etherious chuckled a bit. "Your test can be can be retrieving his book and bringing it back here. You can take Sayla along as well. Her core finished stabilizing a few days ago and she could use a little exercise."
"Thank you for the opportunity Meiou-sama." Kyouka said while bowing again. "I was planning to request bringing Sayla with us anyway, so this works in my favor."
"Indeed it does. You are dismissed." He said as he closed his eyes, allowing the demoness and her charge to turn and begin walking out of the room. "And young Kurama…" hearing his name the emotionless boy stopped and turned once more. Mard Geer slightly opened one of his eyes and smiled serenely, something which sent every one of the child's already flaring danger senses into overdrive. "I am expecting great things from you, please do not disappoint me. Good luck."
"… Of course Mard Geer-sama." He responded with a slight bow before catching up with Kyouka, the throne room's doors closing behind him.
As soon as he exited the room, Kurama let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Looking at his hand, he saw it trembling uncontrollably. Even though he was being raised to be an emotionless weapon, he was pretty sure that he had just experienced the sensation known as 'fear'.
The duo walked down the halls in silence before Kyouka spoke up. "You should consider yourself lucky Kurama-chan." The clawed woman told him. Sensing his confusion she looked at him out of the corner of her eye elaborated. "Meiou-sama was quite angry with your lack of respect. It was subtle, but there all the same. Make sure to bow properly and address him by his title and not his name the next time you are in front of him." She scolded lightly.
Seeing his nod, she brought her attention forward again and led him though the castle's hallways before coming to a large set of double doors. Pushing them open, the two walked into what appeared to be an enormous library filled to the brim with large bookshelves that were lined with books. In the center of the room was a long wooden table where the person they were looking for was sitting, reading a thick novel.
She looked to be about the same age as Kurama, with long black hair that went to the middle of her back and held back by a white headband, large upward pointed gold horns coming out of the sides of her head, black eyes and a circular symbol on her forehead. She had a white choker around her neck and was dressed in a mid-thigh length white kimono with an elaborate pink sakura blossom design on it, and white thigh high socks which left her toes and heel bare since she wore no shoes.
"Sayla" Kyouka called out, catching the attention of the younger demoness.
"Kyouka-sama" Sayla greeted respectfully with a slight bow after she stood up and put her book down. "What can I do for you?"
"Maou-sama has deemed you ready to go on your first mission. You are to come with me to retrieve one of our comrade's books."
Nodding, Sayla approached her before shifting her gaze to the blank faced boy standing to the side. Strangely enough, he seemed familiar… like she had known him for a long time, yet she was sure she had never met him before. Deciding to ask, she turned to Kyouka. "Who is this Kyouka-sama?"
"Ah, this is little Kurama-chan. He is the same age as you, so he to accompany us. This will be his first mission as well. Say hello Kurama-chan."
Observing the horned demoness in front of him and unknowingly feeling the same sense of familiarity that Sayla was, Kurama gave her a nod. "… Hello Sayla-san." He greeted, with her giving one back in turn.
Kyouka let a smirk cross her face as she watched the two interact. Hopefully they would work together well enough to become partners. Jormungandr, the Anti-Magic curse and Macro, the curse of Absolute Control… they covered each other's weaknesses well. Kushina was on to something when she kept the two of them close together when they were only months old, even if Sayla hadn't been completed at the time.
'These two children have the potential to become one of the most efficient pairs in Tartarus.' Her smirk widened at the thought.
She couldn't wait to observe their growth.
X782
"Damn tree hugging old man. Dumping his stupid dirty work on me… I don't even want to be in this damn country! "Go out and see the world! It'll be good for you! You might even make some friends!" Yeah fucking right! He's just a lazy ass!" Naruto grumbled as he walked through an arid wasteland. There was little vegetation around and the ground was dry and cracked from the lack of rain in the area.
Naruto had grown quite a bit in the three years since he met Warrod, now standing at the respectable height of 5'9" at the age of 15, a little above average for his age but not by much. He wore a long sleeved dark red shirt that was slightly tight on him instead of baggy like his old one and had no right sleeve, exposing his right arm and completely showing off his powerful lean muscles and the fact that he had a black ouroboros tattoo on his shoulder. His black shorts went to mid-calf length and were tied off at the ends by drawstrings so they weren't loose; he had red and black sneakers, and his mother's scarf, which was now thigh length.
The blonde's hair had grown out a bit so it was now to the middle of his shoulder blades, and had lost a bit of its spikiness, but still looked like a wild mess.
Stopping, the blonde shook in anger a bit before raising his arms to the air and yelled to the sky "GAAAAAH!" As if the surrounding area could hear his anger, a strong gust of wind blew, covering him from head to toe in sand and dust with some of it getting in his mouth making him cough and sputter as he spit it out. "I FUCKING HATE BOSCO!"
That's right; Naruto was currently in Bosco, the country directly southeast of Fiore, separated by the Worth Woodsea. Bosco is a mostly green country, full of dense forests and rolling grasslands with rich farmland and beautiful scenery. Even the towns were built with Nature in mind, being made up of nothing but organic materials that didn't damage the surrounding flora or fauna.
Unfortunately, the blonde half demon was nowhere near any of this.
No, he was sent to an area of Bosco that was opposite of Fiore, near the country of Stella which was full of wastelands that spread into about a third of Bosco territory. And even if he was in the better part of Bosco, why would he care? He was a fire mage god damn it! Sending him to a mostly forested place like Bosco was like begging him to accidentally burn down most of the damn country!
Anyway, getting back on track, the entire reason he was here was because his mentor Warrod had been hired by the king of Bosco and the Magic Council in Fiore to meet with a person Bosco's government hired and do a joint investigation on the murders of several thousand citizens in various towns and villages near the Bosco/Stella border.
He was supposed to meet Bosco's representative in the second largest city in the country, the holy city of Hydrus, named after Bosco's goddess of water and fertility. The entire city was like a manmade oasis, with water flowing in abundance even though it was in the middle of a wasteland. From what he was told, they apparently pumped up fresh water from the enormous underground spring that it was built on top of.
This was supposed to be Warrod's job alone, seeing as anybody that could kill that many people in under a month would definitely be dangerous, and according to Bosco it was better to have too much firepower than not enough. But that damn old tree man just had to send him ahead under the guise of "scouting ahead" because he didn't feel like going himself! And the worst part was Naruto couldn't even refuse!
After Warrod had healed him up, and Naruto had told the old man what had happened to the Sun Village, he had taken it upon himself to help Naruto master his Jormungandr curse seeing as how he already had a good grip on his Dragon Slayer magic. It wasn't as hard as it should have been, seeing as the names and instructions of new techniques had seemingly popped into his head whenever he mastered one (at least the most recent dream revealed why that happened. It had been bothering him for a while).
Under Warrod's tutelage, his control over his demonic energy was now only slightly below that of his magic, and for that the shark-toothed blonde was eternally grateful. They had also found out that he only changed his appearance when he "switched" his primary energy source. That meant he could now use his Jormungandr techniques without going into his "Kurama" appearance as he called it since he was channeling more eternano than demonic energy.
The reverse is also true, if he channeled more demonic energy than eternano, he would take his "Kurama" traits. The drawback was, while using eternano as his primary, his curse wasn't nearly as strong as it could be, and in his demonic energy primary, his Dragon Slayer techniques wouldn't cause as much damage.
Now he had another problem… Warrod wouldn't let him leave! That damn old man went behind his back and had him officially registered as his apprentice with the magic council! And when Naruto asked who the hell Warrod thought he was well… the answer he got was surprising.
Flashback X780
"WHAAAAAAAT?!" A thirteen year old Naruto yelled out in a mix of surprise and rage. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO STAY?!" Embers started to appear around the pre-teen as his temper flared.
It has been a little over a year since Warrod has patched Naruto up and a few months since they started working on his Jormungandr. Naruto felt he was finally up to snuff and could continue his training by himself as he traveled around while looking for Flare, but when he tried to leave the old man had told him that he wasn't allowed to anymore.
"Geheheheheh," Warrod chuckled in the face of the blonde's anger. "You think you can just train under an old man for a year and then leave whenever you felt like it? It doesn't work that way my boy!" he stopped chuckling and wiped a tear from his eye. "Old people are selfish! You have potential Naruto, and I want to be the one to bring it out. Besides, I already registered you as my apprentice with the Magic Council! If you leave without my or their permission you'll probably get carted off to jail! The two of us are in this for the long haul now! Gahaha!" he finished with a silly laugh.
Taking a deep breath to calm down, Naruto grit his teeth before asking "And just who the hell do you think you are? Why would the Magic Counsel even care if I ditched a crazy old bozo like you anyway?"
"Eh? I never told you?" Warrod asked with a generally confused face. "I'm a Wizard Saint my boy! Warrod Sequen, 4th God of Ishgar at your service! I'm in charge of foreign affairs with other countries. That means I'm not just any "crazy old bozo"… I'm a super important crazy old bozo, Gahaha!"
That information made Naruto pause. This crazy old man was a member of the 10 Wizard Saints? And not just any Wizard Saint, but a God of Ishgar?! He remembered Atlas Flame mentioning something about the top four Wizard Saints during their academic lessons… apparently they were the four strongest people in Earthland. So strong in fact, that they weren't even considered human! And this fuddy-duddy old man was one of them? What in the actual fuck?!
The now revealed Wizard Saint took note of the look of shock on his reluctant apprentice's face before he became completely serious. "Now you understand the situation. I am a very important person and the Magic Council doesn't take a Wizard Saint, let alone a God of Ishgar taking an apprentice lightly. They won't accept you just walking away from this… chances are they'd most likely have you black-listed as a dark mage out of spite." Sighing, he continued on "besides, it's for your own good."
That last statement only made Naruto angry again, this time he was completely engulfed in orange flames, the intensity of which caused a few plants and flowers close to him catch fire due to their close proximity. "You selfish old mother fucker! You're basically holding me here against my will and then tell me that IT'S FOR MY OWN GOOD?!" By now the angry blond was breathing fire with each word he spoke. "FUCK YOU! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK, I'M NOT GOING TO-"
"If you leave now, you will either be kidnapped and experimented on or killed, be it by dark mages or the magic council itself."
"W-what?" Naruto stuttered out in surprise, that one sentence causing a dramatic shift in Naruto's mood. Even the blaze surrounding him shrank significantly.
"Even if only half, you are an Etherious demon my boy." Warrod started. "Even if your control has improved, and even if never use that curse of yours around people, you still leak out demonic energy like a faucet. Normal people and mages might never feel it, but the upper tier will sense it as soon as you get within 10 miles of their location."
Looking the 13 year old right in the eye, he continued "People will notice Naruto. They will investigate. Dark mages and Zeref worshippers will flock to you. Rune knights and light guilds will try to apprehend you. It will literally be you against the world, and no matter how far you run or how strong you think you are, you will eventually be cornered, defeated, and captured. And from there, it will be either experimentation… or death."
Clenching his eyes shut in frustration, Naruto yelled and slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a sizeable dent in the wood. "So what the hell am I supposed to do then?! Just sit here and twiddle my thumbs?! I have things to do god damn it! I can't afford to stay here for the rest of my life!"
"You mean looking for your friend Flare, yes?" Taking Naruto's silence as a confirmation he continued. "I haven't forgotten about that, and I'm not so heartless as to completely deny you your peace of mind. I've given her name and description to the magic council and they will have people on the lookout for her. After all, as long as I tell them she is important to me they will put everything they have into finding her. They can't afford to anger someone like me after all, gehehe."
The blond gave one last growl before giving in. "Fine. I'll stay. But only until I'm good enough to completely suppress my Etherious powers! And I expect to hear any and all updates involving Flare-chan, got it?!"
Giving the child a wide, toothless smile Warrod laughed "Of course my boy, of course."
And from there on, he stayed and learned under Warrod. He was deemed ready to go back into society about 6 months ago… but since then he had basically been the old man's damn whipping boy! Doing nothing but one job request from the council after another since his master was just a lazy old fart!
Although he always looked forward to the frequent trips to Era… or more specifically, he looked forward to seeing a certain member of the Magic Council. He could picture her now. Her long, silky black hair… the amazing shade of red lipstick on her full pouty lips… the tantalizing smell of her perfume… the booty. Oh sweet merciful god the booty.
God damn she was perfect.
He was forcefully thrown out of his musing when he noticed that he had somehow wandered into town while he was fantasizing… and he was standing in the middle of what seemed to be a jail cell. Wow, he must have been really out of it.
"Okaaay… how the hell did this happen?" Naruto questioned himself as he looked around. It seemed like a pretty standard prison. Stone walls, metal bars, the works.
The quality of the materials, while adequate enough to hold a civilian, was piss-poor when compared to the prisons in Fiore. Any mage worth their salt would be able to break out of here relatively easily. Hell, they didn't even cuff him! And there wasn't any magical restraint material anywhere.
Well to be fair, the amount of magic users in Bosco was significantly lower than the mage population in Fiore, which was considered the magic capital of the world. But still, this was one of the largest cities in the country! They should at least have some form of anti-magic confinement.
Spotting a guard wearing dark blue armor and holding a spear standing at the exit, he decided to get some answers. "Oi, guard guy. Any idea why the hell I'm in here? Or where here even is?"
The guard glared at him for a bit before answering in a clipped tone "You are in the holy city of Hydrus. You were arrested on the charge of public indecency and sexual assault."
Blinking, Naruto addressed the guard again. "Public indecency…? Wait, sexual assault?! How the hell did that happen?!"
"You were witnessed walking into the city with steam coming out of your ears whilst drooling fire along with making lewd hand motions and giggling suspiciously. When a nun came to ask if you needed assistance you repaid her kindness by groping her and whispering "The Booty" you fiend! To assault one of the holy maidens of the city in such a way is an affront to the water goddess herself!"
'A-ah… maybe I shouldn't fantasize about sexy women so much in the open… I'm still not used to keeping it inside my head yet' Naruto thought with a sweat drop 'Well, at least I made it to the city where I'm supposed to meet Bosco's agent.'
"So what now…?" he asked
"You have been branded a heretic and shall wait here until your trial in three days." The guard replied.
Well shit. Eh, it's not like he couldn't break out of here whenever he wanted. Yeah, it might cause some minor conflict with the locals and maybe Bosco's higher ups, but hey, not like he was the one who'd have to deal with it… Warrod would. He was the one in charge of foreign affairs after all. And this totally wasn't any kind of petty revenge over the fact that his master had this stupid job pushed on him.
Nope. Definitely not.
Hearing a yawn on the other side of the holding cell, the blonde turned to find another resident who had completely escaped his notice. He seemed to be about 18 or 19 and had straight black hair that was kind of messy and went down to right below his neck and framed his handsome face, reddish brown eyes and slightly pale skin.
He was wearing expensive looking clothes that consisted of a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a red cravat that was tucked into a black vest that was buttoned, black leather gloves, black dress pants, and black dress shoes with steel plating on the tips and heels.
"Eh?" the black haired young man yawned out while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "What's with all the noise?" spotting Naruto, he blinked in surprise before smiling widely "Oh awesome, a cellmate! What's up bro?!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"Uh… hey?" Naruto replied, a little put off at how excited this guy was to have company in prison. That only happened when they were either off their rocker, or they wanted an ass slave. He'd have to watch this guy… there was no way in hell he was going to be anybody's prison bitch.
"What're you in for new guy?" The fancily dressed teen asked.
"I… I'd rather not say." He spoke with a blush. He'd rather not let it get around that he groped a nun. "You?"
"Accidentally destroyed some super ancient holy relic or something like that. I don't see what was so important about it. Looked like an ugly statue to me." He shrugged. "Name's Vlad by the way. Vlad Tepes." He stuck his hand out to the younger male to take.
Grabbing it, the blond gave a firm shake. "Naruto, no last name. Nice to meet you Rad Teeth."
Sweat dropping at the horrible mispronunciation of his name, he tried again. "What? How did you even-? Never mind. It's pronounced Vlad Tepes."
"That's what I said… Grad Sheeps."
"Vlad Tepes."
"Sad Beeps?"
A tick mark appeared on Vlad's forehead. This kid was starting to piss him off. "Vlad Tepes!"
"Plaid Jeeps?"
Several more tick marks appeared. His left eyebrow started twitching and a throbbing vein made itself known on his temple "Vlad! Tepes!"
Pausing for a second, Naruto studied the young man across from him tentatively before speaking up again "Legend of Zelda's Sheik?"
"VLAD TEPES! MY NAME IS VLAD TEPES GOD DAMN IT! IT'S NOT THAT HARD!"
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
". . ."
"… M-main antagonist of the 1980's Crest Toothpaste commercial, The Cavity Creeps?"
Finally losing what was left of his temper, the older male jumped back a few feet to create some distance "OKAY THAT'S IT! I'M KICKING YOUR ASS!"
Jumping back a few paces himself, Naruto took a ready stance, although he looked a bit confused on why his cell mate was so enraged. "What's up with you, Crème Fraiche?"
Hearing another outrageously bad attempt at his name, Vlad pulled his foot back before kicking forward with significant force "BLOODY BLADE FANG!" he yelled out as viscous red liquid in the shape of an arc with multiple spikes sticking out of the front flew at Naruto at an amazing speed.
Sidestepping the attack easily, Naruto watched as it continued until it cut right through the cell bars behind him and incapacitated the guard. "Now that was uncalled for. But if you wanna play that way, then…" Igniting bottom of his left foot, the dragon slayer blasted off towards his opponent, reaching him in less than a second.
"Honoryu no Kagizume (Blaze Dragon's Claw!)!" Naruto yelled as he lashed out with a burning kick, which was dodged and created a large hole in the prison wall. A large shockwave shook the building as the wall came crashing down, startling the people outside.
"Heh, you're pretty strong kid." Vlad complimented as he observed the damage from the failed attack. Suddenly, two large cuts formed on his forearms before what appeared to a copious amount of blood flowed out and wrapped around his hands and forearms before hardening. "Let's see how you handle this! Bloody Armor!"
Easily dodging the red coated fist that was aimed towards his face, the blonde teen groaned a bit before covering his nose. "Ugh" he grunted while blocking a follow-up kick with his shin "Are you actually using real blood? It reeks." Yeah, draconically enhanced senses were cool, but damn if they didn't suck sometimes. Plus, this guy's blood smelled off somehow. It really made his head spin.
"Hey man, don't go knocking the Blood Magic okay?!" Vlad growled as he lashed out with a sweep kick which was jumped over, and was forced to block another flaming kick from a still airborne Naruto with his armored hands, the force of which sent him skidding through the hole in the wall and out into the streets.
'Okay, this kid is a lot stronger than I assumed.' Vlad thought as he watched his opponent walk out of the building as well with his hands in his pockets and a bored look on his face. Looking down at the palm of his hand, he saw a decent sized crack in his armor, which was impressive seeing as it was only just a bit weaker than iron. 'Just goes to show how big the world really is if a kid like him could be this strong.'
Naruto himself was also observing his opponent. 'This guy's armor is the real deal. I put a good amount of force into that kick and it only cracked it.' His eyes narrowed a bit as he saw the crack glow a bit before sealing shut, leaving the armor good as new. 'And it's self-repairing as well. Oh joy'
He turned his attention to the black haired teens face 'And Fad isn't too bad himself. He has no real fighting style, but his instincts are top notch. His speed and reaction time aren't bad either, even though he seems like more of a ranged fighter than a balanced one like me. I haven't really done anything but counter so far, but he's keeping me on my toes.' taking a deep breath, the half-demon gathered his orange flames into she shape of a ball in the palm of his right hand. 'Alright, let's see how he does on defense.'
"Honoryu no Kagero (Blaze Dragon's Heat Haze)." tossing his hand forward, the small ball in the teen's palm transformed into a thick stream of fire that shot forwards at an impressive speed. An explosion of dust and embers kicked up at Vlad's location, but Naruto was already in motion.
Running forward, Naruto jumped above the smokescreen and took a deep breath, his chest puffing out slightly. "Honoryu no Hoko (Blaze Dragon's Roar)!" Just as his flames were about to incinerate everything inside the dust cloud, he was forced to stop his attack and lean his entire upper body backwards at an awkward angle to avoid a Bloody Blade Fang that had completely cut through his roar and sliced off a few strands of hair.
Turning his awkward dodge into a backflip, the blue eyed mage landed back on the ground, the smoke clearing to show a half-dome shaped shield of blood that had blocked his Kagero.
Jumping out from behind his cover, Vlad rolled before jumping to his feet and aiming his now fingers at Naruto in a gun gesture, showing that his armor and gloves were both gone. "Bloody Bullets!" He called out as the tips of his fingers opened and blood pooled out in spheres the size of ping pong balls before firing.
They only made it about half way before they were shot out of the air by bullets of fire, the techniques cancelling each other out. Naruto chuckled and aimed at Vlad with his own finger guns, his fingers ignited. "Honoryu no Higan (Blaze Dragon's Fire Gun). Looks like we're going to have an old fashioned shootout, eh Brad?"
"Looks like it." The older teen responded, this time ignoring the way the blond mispronounced his name.
Both of them stared at their opponent for what seemed like an eternity, before as one they both started running in the same direction parallel to each other, firing dozens of bullets, taking care to dodge as many as they could without slowing down and shooting any they couldn't out of the air. The mobile shootout caused any of the city's inhabitants that were brave enough to stay and watch the two of them fight to scatter and take cover, so as not to get caught in the crossfire.
The shooting match took the two all the way down the main street of the city, leaving holes in the buildings where the blood bullets pierced, or small craters in the fire bullet's case before Vlad decided to step it up and aim all ten of his fingers at once with his bullets shrinking to the size of small marbles.
"Take this!" he shouted angrily before he started firing ten bullets a second, each one going several times faster than before due to the decreased size.
Naruto cursed, knowing he couldn't dodge that many at once. He decided to turn and run down a dead-end side street using evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit. Running in a zigzag pattern, he jumped up on the wall at the end of the street before pushing off and twirling in the air so he was now facing Vlad once again.
"Honoryu no Taika (Blaze Dragon's Conflagration)!" He called out while waving both his arms in a wide arc. A crescent of flames hung in mid-air for a second before turning into an enormous amount of needle-like sparks which sped forward and met each blood bullet shot for shot.
A large gout of bright orange fire then erupted from the bottom of Naruto's foot, propelling him forward while simultaneously sending him into a series of front flips that brought him all the way back to his opponent. Turning his final flip into a flaming axe kick that shattered Vlad's hastily thrown up guard, Naruto followed up with a knee to the stomach and a devastating right hook that sent the other combatant flying before skidding on the ground.
"And it looks like first blood is mine Pad." The half-demon taunted at his downed opponent while chuckling at his unintended pun.
Vlad slowly stood up, anger apparent on his face as he coughed up some blood. Lifting his left hand, the veins on the back of his hand started to bulge excessively as he covered them with his right palm, then started charging magic into them. "Alright kid, you're really starting to piss me off so..." He growled out. "I'm going to finish this in one attack." Pulling his palm away from the back of his other hand, he revealed that a scythe-like blade of blood was starting to form in between them. "Be sure not to blink, or you'll miss it."
Raising his eyebrow Naruto felt the impressive buildup of energy before giving Vlad a feral grin. "Alright then, if you want to start breaking out the big guns…" Holding both of his arms out if front of him with his palms facing each other, he started gathering flames in a perfect sphere that was two feet in diameter before slowly condensing it to half of its original size. This caused the core of the technique to turn bright blue and heat waves to become visible around the blonde's form "I guess I can humor you."
"Blood Magic Ultimate Technique…"
"Honoryu Ougi (Blaze Dragon's Secret Technique)…"
"Crow Claw: Invisible Black!"
"Enkai: Goenkyu (Flame Commandment: Great Blaze Ball)!"
Finishing his charge first, Naruto shot his orb of flame at Vlad, the attack expanding until it was several times its original size. In response, Vlad released his blade, the buildup and quick draw of Vlad's technique created several flying blades made of air pressure.
Invisible Black cut through Goenkyu multiple times, splitting it into several fireballs that went off course with only one hitting the Blood Magic user directly in the chest and blowing up. The rest of them diverged radically, passing by the intended target and raining down on the buildings behind him, each one of them causing a huge explosion that incinerated everything that was caught up in them.
On Naruto's end, he ended up getting dozens of deep gashes on his body, the ones that didn't get him slicing through the buildings behind him. Even the air pressure from the slashes carried on, creating hundreds of gouges on several subsequent buildings as well, resulting in some buildings completely falling apart.
After their attacks died down, both of their panting forms were revealed. Vlad's shirt and vest were gone and his chest was badly burned and bleeding, while Naruto's clothes were in tatters and blood leaked from his numerous cut wounds. Blue eyes stared into wine red before narrowing as the both of them tensed up. The two teens then ran forward, Naruto igniting his fist and Vlad covering his in his Bloody Armor. Both released a devastating battle cry and lashed out with their respective punches, resulting in a cross-counter…
And as one they both flopped over unconscious.
Pain.
That was the first thing Naruto felt when he regained consciousness. Even though he could tell that most of his cuts were now little more than flesh wounds due to his demonically enhanced healing, he still felt the full effects of his opponent's attack. What did he call it? Invisible Black or something like that?
Invisible was right. He had the enhanced sight of both a dragon slayer and (to a lesser extent) a demon and even he could just barely make out a blur. Plus that thing had cut right through his Goenkyu like child's play. Not something too many people could boast about. He had to hand it to the Blood Magic user, that last attack was one hell of a doozy. He was sure that if anyone other than him took that head on, they'd either be out cold still or have bled out while unconscious.
Groaning and sitting up, he finally noticed the situation he was in. He and Vlad, who seems to have also just awoken, were currently surrounded on all sides by what looked like every armored guard in the city of Hydrus, and behind them were hundreds of irate citizens that looked ready to tear them apart.
The guards were also pointing very sharp looking lances at them.
Oh. Well shit.
"H-hey everyone." He stuttered out while raising his hands to show he meant no harm as he slowly climbed to his feet. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the black haired teen was copying his movements. "What's with all the hostility?"
One of the guards, who he assumed was the captain due to the gold accents on his armor, spoke up. "Be silent! The two of you have destroyed out wonderful city and have most likely brought the fury of the goddess upon us!" Destroyed the city? What did he mean- oh.
Looking past the mob, he could see that one half of the city looked like it had been through a blender; every building within eyesight had multiple gouges and slash marks that went right through them. Some were even cut into multiple pieces.
The other half on the other hand, looked like it had been paid a visit directly from the sun. Billowing plumes of smoke could be seen, and debris and ashes were scattered everywhere. He could even see that some parts of the stone houses had melted right through from the heat.
"The two of you shall answer for your crimes!" the guard captain shouted getting a universal murmur of agreement from everybody around him. "You shall both be publicly executed immediately!"
"Hey kid." Naruto turned when he heard Vlad whisper to him "What the hell are we going to do now?!"
"Don't panic." He whispered back. "I have a plan. Just follow my lead." Seeing Vlad's slight nod, he decided to get started.
"You fiend!" Naruto yelled in an overly dramatic voice. "How DARE you bring destruction to this holy city of Hydrus?!"
"What? Me?!" Vlad exclaimed in an equally dramatic voice "It was you who destroyed the city of the great goddess! Guards, arrest this heretic!"
"Trying to pin your dastardly crimes on me?" slapping the slightly taller teen on the cheek, he discreetly looked to the side to see that the guards and citizens were talking confusedly among themselves, confused at the new happenings, although the captain was still watching them intently. "You insult my honor!"
"First you falsely accuse me of your crimes and now you strike me?!" Vlad yelled, sounding accosted. "Have at you!"
For the next minute the crowd of people watched incredulously as the two teens kept slapping each other back and forth. Just what the hell was going on here?
"Okay that's it!" Naruto yelled turning his hand back in a fist. "I have grown tired of you, vermin!"
"And I, you!" Vlad responded making his own fist. "It is time to answer for your crimes!"
Both of them pulled their fists back as far as they'd go, then launching them forward with extreme force… before suddenly turning, their fists both hitting the guard captain in the face. The impact immediately knocked him unconscious while sending him flying through the crowd. "TIME TO GO!" they both shouted at the same time, both running like death was on their heels towards the exit of the city, the stunned guards gathering themselves and giving chase.
Looking behind them, Naruto cursed before looking to his fleeing companion. "Hey, you got anything that could hold them off?" he god a shake of the head in response
"I'm out of magic energy! I used most of it in that last move! Man, I don't want to go to jail! Pretty guys like me always end up being someone's bitch!" he cried, anime tears now running down his face.
"W-what? Dude we were just in jail a few hours ago! It was only us!" the blonde replied incredulously. Seeing a pointed look thrown his way, Naruto grew a tick mark on his forehead. "I DON'T ROLL THAT WAY YOU IDIOT! Just forget it, I'll take care of them!"
Jumping in the air, all of the fingers on his left hand burst into flames before he waved it in a sweeping motion. "Honoryu no Enjomo (Blaze Dragon's Flaming Net)!" A large ring of fire suddenly appeared around their pursuers, trapping them in one place, lest they want to be burned.
Needless to say, with nobody to chase after them the two teens made a clean getaway.
A few hours and several dozen miles away, we find the two resting in a cave hidden in the side of a rocky outcropping. Both had changed into new clothes seeing as Naruto looked like he had been mauled by a wild animal and Vlad looked like he had been on a date with an incinerator. They were sitting around a fire that the blonde had started and eating some provisions they each had packed.
"So you're from Fiore huh? What're you doing this far into Bosco?" Vlad asked with a mouth full of food.
"Well, I was supposed to be meeting someone from the Bosconian capital to help with the murders that have been happening around here. But seeing as how we just destroyed the city I was supposed to meet them in, that most likely won't be happening." He shook his head in annoyance "And this is an important mission so I can't just go back home for no good eson either." Seeing his companion looking at him with wide eyes, he decided to ask. "What's with you?"
"No way! I was sent here to look for a representative from Fiore! I'm the guy Bosco sent!" he shouted.
Naruto studied him for a bit, looking up and down his form with extreme scrutiny before turning his head to the left and sighing despondently. "I know Bosco doesn't have many magically capable people but I was at least hoping they'd send someone strong…"
"Oi! I'm sitting right here blondie!" Vlad shouted "And what do you mean "send someone strong"?! I went toe to toe with you and we ended up in a draw! I even cut through that so called "Secret Technique" of yours with no problem!"
Sighing once again Naruto looked Vlad in the eyes. "That was nowhere near my best. I didn't want to burn the entire city down… although that's kind of a moot point now." He drawled out. "And besides, I'm guessing that Invisible Black is the strongest technique in your arsenal right?" he received a nod. "Well out of the four attacks that fall under the Enkai category, Goenkyu is the weakest. I was holding back the entire time, idiot."
Vlad just stared at him, a little put off that a kid four years younger than him could boast something like that. 'To think that I'm actually this outclassed. That Goenkyu technique was the real deal. I only got hit by a small part of it and barely healed.' bringing his hand to his chest, he could feel that there were only light burns under his shirt instead of the scorched flesh there was before. 'If I had taken the entire thing head on, even someone with my… condition would be hard pressed to get back up from that.'
While he was by no means the strongest person in Bosco, Vlad knew for a fact that he was well above average. He was one of the countries few S-class mages after all, and the king had trusted him enough to send him on an important assignment like this one, which could potentially affect the rest of the country. Even though he had been holding back a bit in that fight as well, Invisible Black was truly his strongest trump card... and now some kid from Fiore comes and tanks it like nothing and returns fire with something that could have potentially killed him. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he knew he would have lost if the blonde had either gone full throttle from the start or used his secret technique a bit earlier.
That just goes to show how large the gap in quality between Fiore and Bosco's mages really was.
"So Vlad" Naruto started, drawing the red eyed teens attention again. "What're the specifics of this assignment anyway? I was only told the basics by my master before he sent me off on my own."
"Ah, right." Clearing his throat he was about to start before something caught his attention. "Wait a minute… you called me Vlad!"
"Well duh, it is your name isn't it?"
"Then what the hell was all that stuff about calling be the wrong name back in Hydrus?!" he shouted.
"Eh? That? I was just bored and wanted to mess with you."
". . ."
". . ."
"… I don't like you." He deadpanned to the younger teen who just waved him off. "Anyway, as you know a string of murders along the border of Bosco and Stella has brought up concerns. The populations of entire villages and some small towns have been turning up dead leaving nothing behind but their dried up husks in the streets. Our job was to investigate these happenings and bring it back to the capital who would then assign a combat team to finish the job, but it was changed at the last minute. It's now a full on extermination mission."
"Extermination, huh?" Naruto mumbled. "If it was changed then that means they already figured out what's been causing the murders and where they're hiding." Getting a nod, he continued. "If that's so then why not send the combat team? We're supposed to be the investigation team, right? Why are we still here?"
"We did send the combat team. They were two of our strongest S-class mages. They… they never came back." Vlad responded as he clenched his fists.
"… Did you know them?"
"Yeah. Their names were Byron and Seraphim. They helped me out a few years back, when I ran away from home and was in a pretty tough spot... but now…" Vlad closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"… I'm sorry for your loss then." It was silent for a bit before he spoke again "Is that why you took this mission? So you could get revenge for them?"
"No… even if this was for revenge, they wouldn't want that." He shook his head. "The reason they sent me was because I'm sort of an expert on what's been happening."
Now that just confused Naruto. "How so?"
"Well, something like this has happened before in Bosco's history. About 300 years ago, when Bosco was still named Transylvania, the country was in the middle of an extremely bloody civil war. The forces of the king of the old royal lineage, who the people were trying to overthrow, found a book that contained an immense power. When the old king heard of it, he tried to absorb that power into himself."
"Did it work?" Naruto asked. Normally he wasn't one for backstory like this, but this looked like it was shaping up to be one of those problems he couldn't just punch into submission without knowing a bit about it.
"Only partially. It did grant him immense power, but it also twisted his mind and soul beyond recognition. He went out and personally slaughtered every soldier who opposed him, rounded up all of the citizens that supported them, and then he publicly executed them… by draining all of their blood leaving behind nothing but dried up corpses. The book transformed him into what everyone today knows as a vampire. The very first one, with his direct descendants becoming vampires as well. And with every person he fed from, his strength grew more and more… until eventually he became too powerful to stop by conventional means. He started entire crusades and conquests and because of his power, nobody could stop him. And with the founding of his new dictatorship, he changed his name to Dracula."
"He was eventually confronted by an extremely powerful holy woman named Veronica Boscosha lon Hellsing about 100 years later. She defeated him and sealed his body away in an unknown tomb. It was an impressive feat, seeing as the old king had consumed the blood of over 100,000 people by that point in time. Her line then took the throne with the old king's family being scattered to the winds. The country was then renamed Bosco by the citizens out of gratitude. We thought all records of that event had been erased but…"
"It looks like you weren't thorough enough." Naruto finished for him. "Someone is trying to recreate that circumstance, and with the amount of bodies already piled up it looks like we have our work cut out for us."
"Yeah" Vlad nodded.
"So… other than the history lesson, why would the current king consider you an expert on this?"
Vlad flinched back a bit, looking like he was debating something before he gave a resigned sigh. "Because… the old king's name was Vladimir Dracul Transylvia bon Tepes… and he was my great-great grandfather, who I was named after."
There was a pregnant silence in the cave, the only sound coming from the crackling of the fire. "I see… so they gave this assignment you because it's most likely someone in your family doing this and the Bosconian higher ups want you to prove your loyalty by getting rid of the threat."
"Yeah… Even though I ran away from home years ago and pledged myself to the king, I'm still under suspicion. Byron and Seraphim… they were the ones who saved me from dying on the streets. They trained me. Gave me a home. Even put their own positions on the line to vouch for me when I gave my oath to the Hellsing royal line… but since they died the way they did…"
"Your bosses think you set them up, is that it?" all Naruto got in return was a sigh. "Well, do you have any idea who could be behind this?"
Vlad was silent for a moment before speaking up. "My father, Alistair Dracul Transylvia gran Tepes. He and I are the only two people of the original Tepes clan left, so we're the only ones who can be called true pureblood vampires. Before I left I remember him mentioning there being five mixed bloods alive somewhere, but two of them were off the grid, so he couldn't contact them. It's been years since then though, so I'm not sure if he ever found them. Even then, the mixed bloods never inherited my ancestor's powers like my father and I did."
"Your Blood Magic…?" the blonde asked.
"That's right. Blood Magic is part of the Vampirism. It allows anybody with it to use eternano to control and shape their blood both internally and externally, along with giving us a minor healing factor." Huh, well that explained how he healed so fast. It didn't seem to be as good as the healing factor Naruto inherited from his Etherious half, but it was still better than the average person.
"But even we purebloods have nothing but a watered down version of Dracula's original magic, although that can be rectified by drinking the blood of other people. Alistair's body count is a little above 8,000 seeing as he only targeted small settlements, bit it's enough to at least bring him up to the lowest point of Vladimir's proficiency."
Well shit, this was shaping up to be a damn troublesome mission. A super powered vampire who may or may not have anywhere between three and five allies and most likely wants to overthrow the royal line of Bosco? Yeah, he definitely couldn't fail this job. Man, why did Warrod have to be so damn lazy? If that crazy old bozo had just come here in the first place like he was supposed to then this would all be over in like, half a second!
Sighing internally at the unfairness of the world, Naruto turned to his partner. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow we can begin our search for Alistair." Not waiting for an answer, he laid down on his side and extinguished the fire. Even though he said he was going to rest, the half-demon decided to think on a part of Vlad's story that had bothered him.
'He said that his ancestor got all his power from a book… could it be one of those books?' he thought, flashing back to the few dreams he had involving Tartarus, one of which involved a few lessons Kyouka had given him about the books left behind by Zeref. 'No, that'd be impossible. All of Zeref's books contain either demons or scriptures. I know a few of them had a few of his darker spells recorded, but nothing that could physically change someone into something like a Vampire… maybe I'm just overthinking things?' Seeing as that line of thought was getting him nowhere, he decided to give up and go to sleep.
He was sure that his life would be getting pretty hectic in the immediate future. He needed to be well rested for the things to come.
Sitting upon a throne of white gold and red velvet was a shadowy figure. Nothing but their form could be shown, which was undoubtedly masculine and their eyes which were glowing pure red shone with amusement as they swirled what seemed to be fresh blood in a champagne glass.
In front of the shadowy figure were three more, two of feminine build with the third being very large and muscular. All three of them had pupils that were sinister red with pitch black slits in the middle and seemed to glow in the darkness of the room.
"Well, my friends" the man sitting on the throne started. "It seems that the false king has decided to make his move. He has sent more people after our trail, and has even stooped so low as to bring in outside help from Fiore."
The shadow on the far left spoke in a soft, feminine voice which was so light one would have to strain to hear it. "Forgive me my lord, but does this really require a meeting? We all know that anybody they send would not be strong enough to defeat us."
"Marianne is right." This time the male spoke from his position on the far right. "We utterly obliterated the last two and they were supposed to be part of the top brass. I say let them come. I will enjoy ripping them apart and feeding on their blood."
The man on the throne chuckled once more. "Normally I would be happy to oblige you Theodorus, but this time they sent someone you are all quite familiar with." Waving his hand, a cloud of bright red mist swirled into existence before showing the three the sleeping forms of Vlad and Naruto.
"Oya," the middle figure spoke, unlike the first female she sounded entrancing and seductive. "It seems like the little boya is still alive after all." She licked her lips sensually before talking again. "He has grown up to be all nice and handsome too, and his cute friend doesn't look too bad either. I wonder if they would like to play with this Onee-chan. Oh, I can't wait to-"
Marianne cut her off before she could continue. "Nobody wants to know what kind of depraved things you like to do to young boys, Ingrid" her tone of voice, while still unnaturally quiet, managed to convey how disgusted she felt.
"Ara, ara…" The now named Ingrid smirked at Marianne as her power flared and her scalera started to turn black. "Would you like to take their place little girl?"
Marianne flared her own powers in response, her scalera also turning black. "If you think you can handle it, old hag."
"That's quite enough." Their leader spoke in a no nonsense tone. "Now is not the time for your petty squabbles. The promised time is close at hand. The clan of Tepes shall rise once more, and it all depends on Vlad. I don't care how you do it, but you must bring him before me. Alive." He stressed the last part while looking directly at Theodorus.
"And the cute little blonde with him?" Ingrid inquired.
"Do with him what you wish. It is of no consequence to me." He told her waving his hand. "You are dismissed. I want Vlad before me by the time of the next new moon."
Marianne, Ingrid, and Theodorus all bowed deeply before speaking simultaneously. "Yes, Lord Alistair."
As the three of them walked out, Alistair took a sip of blood from his glass before looking back at the projection of his son and the mage from Fiore before dispelling it with a smirk.
All of the pieces were almost in place.
A/N: And finally Chapter 2 is finished! final word count is just above 10,000 words. It's kind of weird y'know, some parts of this were easy to write and others were unnaturally hard lol. Before anybody asks, No i did not make up the countries of Bosco or Stella. If you go onto the Fairy Tail wiki and look up Earthland in the search bar, you will see both of those countries on the map.
The Bloody Bosco arc has been kicked off! Why did I decide to base my OA in Bosco? Because I'm kind of disappointed that Hiro Mashima went through the entire process of making an entire map of Earthland complete with the names of each country, yet refuses to go to any of them! That's kind of dumb, y'know. He should have just made Fiore into one big continent if he was going to keep the story in one place!
For those of you who will no doubt ask, yes Vlad is indeed my OC and no he will not appear later in the story. Well, he might if there is enough want from the fans to bring him back but he won't be playing a big part outside of this arc.
Speaking of Vlad, his Blood Magic will be based off of the different Branches of Sin from the series Deadman Wonderland, which some of you undoubtedly caught as soon as I used Invisible Black. You will see more of that in the next chapter so look forward to that.
How did you guys like the fight? I wanted it to be a bit short, seeing as how it was supposed to be a slight teaser, but still. At this point in time, going full out Naruto would be just below Canon Laxus in strength and before you all start complaining that "OH NARUTO IS WEAK BECAUSE HE LOST AND BLAH BLAH BLAH" I already said that he was holding back, and he wasn't expecting someone like Vlad to have a move as strong as Invisible Black.
How was the comedy in this chapter? The whole name mispronunciation thing was kind of thrown in on a whim at the last second so I don't know if it was good or not. Naruto won't be doing it all the time, but every now and then he will do it to mess with someone just for the heck of it. Oh and for those of you who are curious about whether or not Ultear will be in the harem... eh, I'm not sure. Right now he only has a small crush based on his physical attraction to her. He is in the middle of puberty after all.
Please read and review. If you have any questions, comments, or even suggestions I'll gladly hear you out through a PM. I tend to reply to everyone fairly quickly and sometimes I'll even contact someone on my own if their feedback interests me enough.
Until next time!
~SilentFang