Rogue and the rest of the villagers came out to help with the battle. Gajeel saw Rogue and said, "Ryos. About time you guys all came back!" Rogue retorted, "I couldn't let you guys have all of the fun." The brand new dragon slayers were helping, as well. Sousuke yelled, "Earth Dragon's Roar!" Explosions rumbled across the ground in front of the enemy. Jack commanded, "Sky Dragon's Roar!" A huge funnel cloud erupted from Jack's mouth, blowing a number of the guards back. Jack and Sousuke grinned at one another.
Behind a nearby mountain, Lucy and Yukino pulled out their keys for Draco. Yukino asked, "Are you ready?" Lucy answered, "No, but we need to do this. Let's get this over with." Yukino and Lucy recited in unison, "I am linked to the path to the world of the Celestial Spirits, now! O, spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate!" They crossed their keys together in the air. They both commanded, "I call the Gate of the Dragon, Draco!" Both of them felt a huge rush of power being sucked out of them. Yukino got so weakened, she fell to her knees. Sting immediately flew over to protect his mate. He helped her up. Natsu soared over to Lucy to stabilize her, as well.
An enormous dragon showed up in front of them. The dragon stretched his neck. He said to the ladies, "Hello, I have heard quite a bit about you two, Lucy Heartfilia and Yukino Agria. It is nice to finally meet you, although I'm sorry it's under unfortunate circumstances. Thank you for calling me. I needed to stretch my neck anyways. Being in that formation can put such a crick in your neck, especially when it's twisted and curled." Lucy and Yukino smiled. Lucy said, "Thank you for coming. I know it's rare to leave the Celestial Realm." Draco remarked, "I can't believe I have to destroy this cult again. What a pain!" Yukino replied, "We still appreciate you doing this. We're hoping you can stop the fighting without violence." Draco grinned at both Lucy and Yukino with his sharp teeth, and promised, "I'll try."
Draco walked from behind the mountains into full view of the battleground. He observed the battle still raging in front of him. Draco thunderously roared, "Enough!" Many people covered their ears from the ear drum-shattering sound of his voice. Everyone stopped and stared. In front of the crowd, an imposing dragon with a very long neck stood before them. The dragon worshipers were in awe. Even Sabertooth's and Fairy Tail's mages were stunned. The brand new dragon slayers stared up at Draco, dumbfounded. Gray whispered to Gajeel, "Did you know Lucy could call a dragon?" Gajeel answered, "I'm just as surprised as you are." Rufus commented, "I'm pretty impressed with Lucy and Yukino. It looks like they intend to fix this peacefully." Orga just stood with his mouth open. Rogue stared silently, wide-eyed. Happy and Lector floated down. Lector exclaimed, "That's a real dragon!" Happy said, "Wow! He looks different than the dragons that walked through the Eclipse Gate. His neck is really long!" The dragon observed Natsu assisting Lucy with staying on her feet and Sting carrying Yukino in his arms. He assured, "I promise not to make this last long." Lucy and Yukino weakly nodded. He turned back to the crowd.
He announced, "My name is Draco, the dragon. I understand there seems to be a religion called Draco's Sons." The crowd murmured things like "Draco is real!" and "He's here! Is it for the 10 year anniversary of the ritual?" and "Well, Quincy did promise this year the ritual would be special." Draco let the questions and comments die down. Draco demanded, "Who is the priest in charge of this organization?" The crowd stepped aside to allow Quincy through. Quincy's white robes floated on the ground, as he marched proudly up to the formidable beast. He thought, 'This is amazing! Ten years of sacrifices, and we meet the actual Draco.' The crowd of dragon worshipers went silent, but they were all smiling at their perceived achievement.
Quincy nervously stammered, "It is such an honor to meet you! I knew if we were faithful followers, we would receive this reward. We have done everything you've asked. I am so grateful to see that 10 years of our efforts have been successful!" Draco sneered at Quincy in disgust, "When did I ask for you to torture, kidnap, and murder in MY name?" Quincy balked. 'Why isn't he happy? There must be a mistake,' he uneasily thought. People in the crowd muttered to each other nervously.
Quincy responded, "Our ancestors dutifully wrote all of your laws and rituals down in the holy book. We've followed everything faithfully." Draco growled angrily, "Those people made up their own rituals and laws and then attributed them to me. They were desperate fools that assumed doing these ridiculous rituals would pacify the marauding dragons. Your ancestors killed far more people than my dragon brethren did. I can assure you I never asked for something so despicable. To those in the crowd assuming I'm here as a reward for your efforts, you're wrong. The only reason I'm here is because two quite powerful Celestial maidens called me forth, so I could admonish you." There was an audible gasp from the dragon worshipers. The crowd grew restless. Quincy adamantly repeated, "But, we are just doing the same thing our ancestors did!"
Loke suddenly showed up, using his own magic. He shouted, "You're right! Your ancestors did the same thing. The were doing these horrific rituals hoping it would appease the dragons. The dragons were indifferent to your ancestors' beliefs. However, we Celestial Spirits were quite offended you claimed Draco demanded this. I remember having to destroy your religion, because so many women and men died over the course of 100 years. I vaguely remember your ancestors sacrificing up to three people per year: two dragon slayers and a virgin girl. In the past, every one of those sacrifices was voluntary. You demanded far more sacrifices per year than the previous generations. You had to use trickery and kidnapping to accomplish your goals." Quincy defended, "We used more sacrifices as an extra incentive to stop the dragons from coming back." Loke said, "So killing more people was an extra incentive? They are people, not your sick entertainment! Draco, tell these people what you really want."
Draco decreed, "I demand you cease your operations immediately. If I hear of you doing this so-called ritual, I will come though the gate with my own magic and destroy you myself. You will also let all of your prisoners go. You are never to kill anyone in my name. I find all of your actions disgusting. You have sullied my name, offended the Celestial realm, and besmirched dragons in general."
Quincy's face turned red with rage. He thought, 'I've been a true believer. I've thrown away my morals for this religion! Now, the god we've worshiped for years is informing us all those sacrifices were for nothing?' He was in disbelief. He noticed Rufus holding the projector. He hissed, "I knew it! See that man with the mask there? He has a projector. The dragon isn't real! You're just watching a projection!" Draco blew fire on the cave walls, singeing Quincy's coat and hair and burning the walls. The crowd screamed and panicked; they could feel the heat emanating off of the walls. Quincy yelped and backed away, as Draco marched toward him. Draco mocked, "Oh, I'm not real, huh?" Draco put his face intimidatingly in front of Quincy and taunted, "How about I give you a better taste of my fire? Then you will feel how real I am." Many of worshipers were screaming and panicking.
Draco growled, "Silence!" The crowd went quiet. Many of the worshipers got on their hands and knees to bow at Draco's feet. Draco picked Quincy by the back of his white cloak with the tips of his claws. Quincy shivered and cried out as Draco put Quincy right in front of his enormous sharp teeth. Draco demanded, "I want you to promise you'll never do this ritual ever again." Quincy sputtered, "I-I promise I won't do it again." Draco stared intensely at the crowd, commanding, "You all will promise not to do this, as well. Promise!" The people in the crowd nodded and said, "Yes! We promise! We're sorry!"
Draco looked back at Lucy and Yukino barely keeping conscious. He commented, "Hmm. It looks likes I'm absorbing a lot of magical energy from you ladies. I will not be much longer." He turned to the people, cowering in fear and bowing. "You will honor your promise. There are huge consequences for breaking a promise with a Celestial Spirit. Are you aware of that?" The people shook their heads no.
He mentioned, "All you need to do is ask a Celestial mage what the consequences are. I would not advise you to go against my will. Speaking of Celestial mages, those two maidens who called me forth are Lucy and Yukino. I heard from Leo the Lion, that you intended to sacrifice them. Lucy and Yukino are known throughout the Celestial Realm for their kindness to their spirits. Had you done that in my name, the Celestial King likely would have come to the Earth Realm himself to destroy you. Taking Lucy's and Yukino's lives would have been considered the ultimate sin. They have a special place in the Celestial Realm for their many good deeds involving Celestial spirits." Loke added, "One of those good deeds was Lucy convincing the Celestial King to save my life. These two are some of the most powerful Celestial maidens we've ever seen. And you planned to kill them for your despicable ritual." Draco glared down at the crowd of dragon worshipers. He continued, "You all should be gracious to those two maidens. If they both hadn't asked me to do this peacefully, I would have snuffed out all of your lives. " Many of the dragon worshipers looked astonished. A couple of them peed in fear.
"I will take my leave now," Draco said, as he bowed his head to Lucy and Yukino. He spoke softly, "Lucy, Yukino. I have heard you both are benevolent to your spirits. I am pleased I got to meet those who care so much about us in the Celestial Realm." Lucy and Yukino weakly hugged Draco's snout. Lucy said, "We're honored to meet you, too. I'm sorry we had to meet like this." Yukino nodded and responded, "I hope we can see you again another time, hopefully under more positive circumstances. It's not everyday that we can meet a dragon, especially one so friendly!" Draco smiled, showing off his sharp fangs. He saw Natsu and Sting holding Lucy and Yukino. He laughed heartily and mused, "It looks like you already have quite friendly relations with dragons. I will have to see you both at a different time. I look forward to it." He blew fire in the air, which led to a night sky full of stars. Everyone was astounded at the beautiful sight. Then a cloud of smoke surrounded Draco and he went back to the Celestial Realm. Lucy and Yukino immediately passed out in Natsu's and Sting's arms, respectively. Sting and Natsu used their wings and flew away somewhere with their mates.
Author's Note: Hi, it's Lisian38. I hope you guys are all enjoying my story so far. It's almost done! I hope my Draco character is seen as terrifying and elegant at the same time. He's pretty much how I assume a Celestial Dragon would be. Please, give me constructive criticisms. I know I'm pretty inexperienced as a writer, so it's good to hear any feedback: good or bad. Thank you for supporting my story!