A/N (^.^) This face can't even describe how I feel right now. :D…..XD...nope, still can't convey m feelings throw digitalized faces. I seriously got up and did a happy dance. I have the biggest grin on my face and spent a few days grinning like this. My family got seriously concerned with how happy I was, but when I explained to them what happened they patted me on the back and kept walking. It may not have been as important to them as it was to me, but I got a huge wave of favorites and story alerts over my delayed update. THIS MEANS PEOPLE ARE SPREADING THE WORD! I even got my first Author Alert! AND…I even got…. REVIEWS! SOOOO EXCITED!
Grey: Where am I during all this?
Miu: All in due time…
The night was cold. A fierce wind blew, not helping in the slightest. The stars twinkled and gave off a faint light on the black canvas, known as the sky. The stars were nothing in comparison to the moon. It was a lantern that shone its loving light on the streets and houses. The streets were quite as they usually were at night, and the houses were filled as they usually were at night…or were they not?
A young boy silently closed his window, looking his sister in the eye as he did so. Acceptance shone in her eyes as bright as the moon, loving but still gave off a feeling that someone wouldn't be able to reach her.
The boy tried to smile in order to reassure her, but he himself was taken over with anxiety. His smile was more for himself than his sister, but both knew that it didn't have any affect.
The boy nodded goodbye with grim determination as he dropped to the ground. The tree he used to safely land had waved its own goodbye as he sprinted into the empty streets and beyond, into the eerie forest.
The girl left behind watched his receding back, struggling to hold back her emotions. She didn't want her brother to worry about her. She took a deep breath and turned away from the window. She walked over the cold, wood flooring to the equally cold, wood door and opened it to step into the cold, wood hallway. Her breath formed a white cloud as she stood and waited patiently.
In the next room, a boy and a cat slept peacefully in their bed. No light filtered into their room, for there was no window. There was, however, a gasp as the boy bolted upright and hopped out of bed. The cat rubbed his eyes as he asked, "Natsu, what's wrong?"
Natsu walked to the door and said, "I have a feeling like something just happened."
"Just a feeling?" Happy grumbled. "If that's it then I'm going back to bed." As if to make a point, Happy bundled up in the blankets, making them inaccessible to anyone else.
Natsu glared at him, but opened the door to see Wendy and Alice walking past. The trio stopped, shared a look, and nodded. All understood. They looked down the hall to see a figure standing in a doorway. Natsu closed the door behind him as he joined the group in walking to the purple haired mage.
Anzu looked up at them and shook her head, "Daniel has already left, but before he left, he told me that you would probably come." She closed the door behind her and gave them a look that had the hair standing up on the back of their necks. She stood with her arms crossed and feet braced. "He also said that I shouldn't let you go on after him."
Wendy gulped as Natsu and Alice got into fighting stances. They soon brought their fists back to their sides after seeing Anzu smile and step to the side.
"To be exact, he said, 'They're most likely going to come see me since I'm on good terms with Kotone. Try to delay them.' As far as I'm concerned, I have delayed you by blocking your way," Anzu said, her soft smile slightly illuminated by the moon. "When you go, can you please make sure Daniel doesn't do anything stupid?"
Alice huffed and crossed her arms. Her smirk was familiar to Anzu, who recognized it as her "you-bet-I-can" or "you-doubt-my-abilities?" look.
Anzu noticeably relaxed as if a huge burden turned into feathers that floated away on the wind. She nodded her thanks to Alice and said, "Kotone is calling to Agnocolia by releasing inhuman amounts of magic frequently. Since you all are dragon slayers, Daniel said that the type of magic would be what woke you up and that you would be able to follow her trail easily."
The trio nodded and made their way towards the window at the end of the hall. The floor didn't creak under their soft steps and neither did the window as Alice slowly slid it open. Natsu hopped onto the chilling window sill, but he hardly noticed due to his fire magic.
Anzu cleared her throat, calling for their attention. When they froze, waiting to her to say what she had to say. Anzu quietly said, "Be safe." Then she turned around and opened her own quiet door. She slipped inside before any of them could reply and closed the door behind her.
They were silent, but of course, Alice was the one to break the silence, "Anzu must be really worried. She wouldn't have let us go if she thought that Daniel would come back okay." Alice, becoming impatient, pushed Natsu out the window. She looked out the window to watch him twitch on the ground, obviously not landing on his feet.
Alice then helped Wendy onto the sill and waited for her turn. As Wendy glided to the ground, hardly making a sound, Alice looked over her shoulder. The previously empty hallway was now littered with the residents that lived there. In front of the group was Chyoko and Anzu, all stood quietly. Alice's hand went up to her Empress Shark armband and she nodded to them. "I know," she began, "that I'm not part of the first generation of our organization. Nor am I a descendant of one. I don't see how it is fair that I get to go, while everyone else has to stay."
Chyoko separated from the group and joined Alice. Chyoko smiled as she put her rough hand on Alice's. Slowly, she brought Alice's hand to her face and her smile grew. Alice was surprised when Chyoko slid Alice's armband off and gave it to Anzu.
"But Oba-chan, what are you doing?" Alice asked, flustered.
Chyoko took Alice's hand from her face, only to place it on Alice's chest. "My dear, the reason you're going isn't because you're a member of the Empress Shark. You're going because you're a member of something much bigger. It's because of who and what you are, that you're going and not us." Chyoko rejoined her comrades and turned to say one final thing, "You and Daniel have your roles. We have ours. We will wait for the war and you will help the angel of death." Chyoko returned to smiling as she waved her goodbye, "We wish you the best of luck."
Alice held back tears as she saw her family give her thumbs ups, smiles, and waves of goodbyes. She hopped onto the sill to see Wendy tending to the bump on Natsu's head and she realized that she was standing on a line, a line of fates. That window sill, that cold, wooden window sill was literally and figuratively the door to her future. Behind her was the bliss life she had been living for most of her life, and in front of her, was her future, two dragon slayers and an eventful road. She glanced over her shoulder to see the reassuring smiles one last time, before she jumped into her life of unpredictable outcomes.
Daniel hid in a groove in the earth that was shielded with rocks. The wind caressed his face as he peaked over the rocks. All around him were trees, but a there were only a couple more in front of him before they faded into a field of grass that reached his shoulders. In the field, was a hill and on that hill sat Kotone.
Her cloak was gone and her make shift toga swayed in the wind, created by her sudden releases of intense magical power. Her short stature just emphasized how much magic she suppressed to a point where it was inhuman. Her silver hair had fallen out of its loose braid, causing her hair, grown over hundreds of years, to whip around in every direction.
Daniel sat mesmerized. He had never seen Kotone's hair out of its loose braid and he figured that she must have some kind of charm to make all that hair fit into her braid.
Daniel searched the sky for any sign of Agnocolia, but to his relief, it was as empty as it was the day before. He moved to get ready to sneak to a closer hiding place, but was stopped by a hand over his mouth.
Daniel was yanked back and he had a moment of panic before he realized whose hand it was. He ripped it off his face and whispered in the quietest voice, "Alice! What are you doing here?"
His reply was her holding a finger up to her lips as she motioned for the others to join them.
Daniel's eyes widened as three more people joined them. He gave Alice an outraged look as she smirked. "Even I know how to sneak up on you with the wind in our favor," she whispered back.
Daniel scowled as he took in the condition of his new team. Natsu and Wendy were dressed, but it was obvious that they did it in a hurry. The last new recruit was new to him and Daniel found himself staring.
Wendy whispered, "This is Gajeel, he woke up and separated from his group when he sensed Kotone's magic."
Daniel nodded his hello as he pointed over the rocks to Kotone. They all peaked over the rocks to see the misleading, child-sized body of Kotone. The breeze faded away with Kotone's magic and her hair came to a state of rest. Her head then looked up, but came back down in a way that they recognized as a sign of disappointment.
"What are you doing here?" her voice whispered in their ears. "I can hear you whispering and moving around. The breeze I create isn't strong enough to mask your sneezes Alice, Natsu."
Alice and Natsu looked at each other, guilty. Daniel rested his head on his hand. He was doing so well before they came.
"Don't think you were any better Daniel. I was prepared to blast you back if stepped into the field. You're not allowed to come any further. From where you are, Agnocolia won't be able to see or hear you, unless you do something stupid," Kotone whispered.
Daniel sighed in defeat as he stood up, not bothering to crouch anymore. He leaned on one of the rocks and tried to figure out what he was going to say. Unfortunately for him, Gajeel beat him to it.
"I think the real question here is," he said, "what are you doing here?"
Kotone looked over at them and visibly sighed. They couldn't hear her sigh, but the rise and fall of her shoulders made it obvious. She gathered up her hair and pulled it over one shoulder. It dragged on the ground, but she ran her fingers through the part that she could. "Young ones these days, you must repeat everything you say in order for them to remember anything. I don't want anyone to die because of me."
"You have a lot of hair…" Natsu commented.
Alice whacked him for his stupidity in the serious situation. Kotone smiled at the change in subject. "I never really thought of cutting it before. I never seemed to have the time or supplies to cut it."
Daniel couldn't hold it in any longer. He didn't understand how they could be talking about hair at such a moment. "Kotone, are you saying that all we can do is watch as Agnocolia takes you away? I can't accept this. I don't think anyone here will accept it."
Kotone released her hair and started walking down the hill. "You don't have much choice in the matter. Listen to me, all of you. I have to go. If I do anything besides go with him, someone will get hurt. I refuse to let the happen for a girl who shouldn't be able to converse with humans." She stopped at the end of the hill, a good couple of meters away from the others. Her magical pressure had pushed the grass on the hill down, so the others could kind of see her. Only her head was visible. "Now be quite, and don't be stupid and come out of hiding. He's here."
Sure enough, the sound of wings flapping filled the air. And even more of the grass was crushed under the tremendous gusts of air. Then the gusts stopped and everything was silent. Natsu was just about to ask Kotone what happened, when Agnocolia, in all his glory, landed with an extreme amount of speed. One moment there was silence...then there was a boom as the earth shook and he was suddenly there.
Agnocolia folded his wings neatly to his back and swung his massive head around so he could behold his rebelling child. His mouth curved down as he immediately became disappointed.
"Why," he asked, "are you in that form? You know I despise your mother's race."
Kotone nodded in understanding but stood there, hesitating as she felt the eyes of her hidden group on her back.
Agnocolia sensed her hesitation and demanded to know what was stopping her. She shifted her weight as she said, "It's been a while since I was in my other form. I don't think I'm ready."
Wendy heard this and her eyes widened as she read between the lines. She glanced at Natsu and Gajeel who returned her nervous look.
"I don't care. Unless you plan to walk away from me, I'm going to require you to be in your proper form," Agnocolia boomed. To emphasize his point, his tail swung behind him, knocking down a row of trees.
Kotone watched the trees fall and heard their screams of protest. She couldn't suppress her flinch as Agnocolia flung his tail over more of the innocent trees. She waited for him to settle down before she reached for her shoulder to unclip her make shift toga.
Taking this as their cue, Natsu and Wendy covered the mouths of Daniel and Alice with their hands. Gajeel continued to look over the rocks, but his hand was off to the side ready to give the signal. Alice and Daniel struggled at first, but when a white light came bursting from over the rocks, they settled down. Soon the white light faded and Gajeel slowly beckoned them forward. Daniel and Alice tried to get up, but Natsu and Wendy held strong. They looked Daniel and Alice in the eyes, showing how serious they were as they slowly lifted their hands off their mouths. They then brought their index fingers to their own mouths in the universal sign to be quiet.
Daniel gave them a confused look as he sat up and almost yelled in shock, if it wasn't for Natsu who slammed his hands back on Daniel's mouth. Alice watched this happen in wonder, but was overcome with curiosity. She sat up and peaked over the rocks. Wendy watched nervously as Alice's face paled.
Before them was the unmistakable dragon of Kotone. Her silver scales shined in the moonlight like polished glass. The belly was as black as black could get, along with the threatening claws. The wings were covered with a sea of constantly moving feathers, which upon closer inspection looked as if they were vibrating. The soft curves of the deceitfully graceful face gave the dragon a sense of dignity and honor that demanded respect.
This being Wendy's second time seeing Kotone's other form, she noticed many more features that had escaped her eye. The eyes that were previously amber color had become more intense and had flakes of red in them. Down her back ran black and red feathers that occasionally vibrated like her wings.
The head really was graceful. It was sleek, almost like a snake's, but elongated like a horse's. The tail was quite puzzling though. In fact, Wendy almost gasped when she realized why it seemed so odd. The feathers that ran down her back went to the end of her tail, but they got thinner and thinner, until they went single file down the tail. As they got thinner, they also seemed to get hard. Then the tip of the tail had a black tip that could only be compared with metal.
Softly, Gajeel whispered, "She's a walking instrument…the red on black looks like a piano."
Wendy nodded her agreement as Natsu scratched his head, wondering what they were talking about. Alice had helped Daniel up and both were gawking at the sight before them.
Daniel was extremely taken off guard at his friend's secret. He had no idea she was a dragon. The story she told Chiyo way back when said that she grew up thinking that she was a dragon, not that she actually was a dragon. He was surprised and most importantly, scared. All he was thinking was, Dragon…Dragons are destructive creatures. Kotone is a destructive creature… It was then that he glanced at Natsu and saw his furious expression. Natsu wanted more than anything to rush out there and beat the crud out of Agnocolia. Daniel was confused on why Natsu would want to help someone, let alone a dragon, he barely knew. He then turned to Alice and was dumbstruck at her own expression; it was a mirror of Natsu's. He faced Kotone again, beholding the dragon in front of him. He saw her eyes glace back at them before they focused on Agnocolia again, but it was more than enough for Daniel to realize how stupid he was being.
This was Kotone he was thinking about. She was worried for their safety and is willing to die for them. So what if she was a dragon? She was still Kotone and he was a fool for forgetting that.
His head met rock as Alice wacked him in the back of the head. "Thanks," he whispered, "I needed that."
Alice nodded and murmured back, "I noticed the panicked look on your face. I forgot you aren't used to seeing dragons and figured you would need some reassurance."
Daniel nodded and lifted his head to watch the scene in front of him. He must have missed something because Kotone was backing up slowly.
"They're just some bugs. There's no need to pay them any attention," she said soothingly.
Agnocolia sniffed in their direction, "But why are there four dragon slayers among them?"
Kotone's ginormous tailed moved till it was a protective barrier in front of the rocks. "They're just four chameleons among insects. That's all they're good for, copying our magic."
He growled his agreement as he stretched out his wings. "Let's go."
Kotone turned to look at her comrades one more time. Their eye's showed rage and shock as she said, "Very well."
Natsu and Alice burst out from behind the rocks, yelling their protests as Gajeel, Wendy, and Daniel all tried to hold them back. Natsu punched Gajeel in the jaw and broke free from Wendy's grasp. He ran at Angocolia, fists aflame. He jumped, ready to hit Agnocolia in the head, only to be saved by Gajeel pulling him down as feathers rained all around them.
Natsu's head whipped around to see Kotone's wings fully stretched out, her sea of feathers shifting on them. "Don't try that again Natsu."
Natsu grinded his teeth and got up, prepared to fight again. Gajeel hit him on the head, causing Natsu to yelp and glare at him. "What do you think you're doing?" he yelled.
Gajeel brought a finger up to his lips and then pointed at the feathers around them. Each was half their height and the edges shook violently. Natsu watched as the shaking slowly faded away. "What the heck?" he asked, causing them to shake all over again, but again, it slowly faded away.
Natsu averted his attention back to Agnocolia and his anger spiked again. He pointed an accusing finger and took a deep breath to start his speech. "Hey! Listen to me! What you're doing is-" He was tackled to the ground by Alice, Daniel and Wendy hanging onto her legs.
Alice glared at Agnocolia and began her own speech, though she was tired from wrestling with Wendy and Daniel. "We, we are not insects. OR chameleons! You think you're superior to us because you're intelligent? News flash! So are we! Not to mention, the last time I checked you're considered an endangered species! Unlike us humans! We're flourishing and prosperous! You are ugh…my head…" Alice stopped her lecture and grabbed her head. Her head was ringing and her vision was becoming blurred.
The same thing was happening to Wendy, Daniel, Natsu, and Gajeel. Daniel came to his knees, covering his ears and hyperventilating. Gajeel and Natsu didn't cover their ears in time and was hit with a full blast of the ringing. Gajeel fell hard and Wendy foolishly uncovered her ears to help him. Her eyes rolled up as she passed out. Alice demanded to know what was happening, only to be met with an amplified ringing. She dropped and Daniel was the only one left. He looked up to see Kotone watching him.
She brought her head up next to him and he tried to focus through his blurred vision. She opened her mouth and gave him a dog-like lick. "Daniel," she said, "Sound is carried over water."
His eyes widened in understanding. He gasped as the ringing got louder and louder, until everything went black.
Kotone looked back at Agnocolia to see his disapproving watch. "You didn't kill them," he said, upset.
"Do you go out of your way to step on a worm?"
"No, I suppose not. Let's go, I'm tired of being delayed."
"One more thing…" She swung her tail through the feather scattered on the ground, cutting them all in half.
Agnocolia growled at her act of kindness, knowing that the feathers were useless and couldn't amplify sound anymore. Kotone smiled inwardly, knowing her friends were safe.
Then they took off, leaving all of the humans behind.
Gajeel and Natsu were the first to wake up. The grass field was now mowed down and the feathers were gone.
Natsu was mumbling about how stupid this situation was when he realized something. He spun around the face Gajeel, who had woken up everyone else. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "Did she ever say what she was going to do?"
Gajeel stood up and scanned their surrounds, "No. All she said was that she was going with him."
"I thought that meant that she was giving up her freedom," Alice said.
Gajeel walked a little ways toward the hill, until he was right where Kotone had stood. He knelt down and picked up a familiar item. "She might have wanted him to believe that," he said.
Wendy stood and stretched, "But seeing recent events, she's cleverer than we gave her credit for. Who knows, she could have wanted us to believe that she was giving up her freedom but is really turning into a dragon."
That jolted Daniel awake, "Wait a minute, turn into a dragon? What are you talking about?"
"Her mother was pregnant with Kotone when she stumbled upon Agnocolia. He cursed her and Kotone was going to be born as a dragon in an egg. But, her mom cracked the egg and Kotone was given a human soul. But she still developed into a dragon, causing her to have a dragon soul as well. This is why Agnocolia wants to get rid of her human soul in the ritual," Gajeel explained.
"How do you know all that stuff about souls? I thought it made the curse incomplete when her mom cracked the egg," Natsu said.
Gajeel held up the item he found, "I think this would be the source. Does this seem familiar? It looks like the flute that played the lullaby back in Edolas."
Sure enough, it was the same flute that wasn't a cylinder, but more like a cube.
Alice came over and took it out of Gajeel's hand, who growled at her lack of manners. She brought it over to Daniel who inspected it with her.
"So, I'm assuming that she wants us to listen to the lullaby again," Wendy said.
Natsu and Gajeel nodded their agreement and the three of them watched the other two kids tinker with the flute.
Daniel saw something flash on the flute and he asked, "What was that?"
"What was what?" Alice asked. She watched as Daniel poked a spot on the flute. A soft bell started playing and then it was joined by a violin. Natsu's hand slipped into Alice's and Wendy's into Daniel's.
Wendy's soft smile was the last thing everyone saw before they drifted off to sleep again.
A/N IT'S UP! Oh aren't I clever? You still don't know what's happening!
Natsu: Why do I always get interrupted? *punches in the face* ALSO! I find it extremely annoying that I have no idea what the heck is going on!
Miu: *caressing her cheek* Sorry, didn't really think of that…but you do know that Kotone has something else up her sleeve…
Natsu: That's why I'm so upset! Nothing happens in this story without there being a twist!
Gajeel: Well I'm glad I at least got some screen time…
Miu: ANYWAYS! The poll will still be up until next chapter because I made this chapter unclear on what is going to happen. YYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY REVIEW TIME!
AquaMiyuki Thank You for the review and letting me use Anzu! Don't worry, she's gonna be big later on.
Edward The Pure Edward. Edward you are an angel sent from above! Of course you can call me Ms. Miu. You can call me anything you want! I'm making this up when I say that I was so happy that I squealed like a little girl when I saw your review. Then, when you reviewed for a second time, I was up and dancing. Third review, I was blasting Don't Stop Believing. For you, I will make an exception. I would love to see/hear of your OC. But see here, I feel bad because I haven't read your entire story. My computer must not like how I'm always on it because it wouldn't let me go on the internet until this morning. Forgive me, I promise that I will continue reading your story soon. I can't this weekend because I have finals all next week and I need to study and get ready. Forgive me you majestic being, right now I'm your number one fan.