Last time, in "Conspiracy Against Oneself"…
Edo-Kotone discovered that each level of the music box was really just a part of Kotone's humanity. First level was Kotone's human emotions that took the shape of a rainbow sphere inside Daniel, which Edo-Kotone secretly ate after being told to do so by a message left by Kotone. Second was her human body, which hid Alice in the third level while it changed its appearance so it could pretend to be Alice. Edo-Kotone figured out it was a fraud, but had to use Kotone's magic in order to stop it. This ended up being fatal to the human spirit, and the body, now under the control of the human spirit, joined together with the spirit. Wendy opened the door to reality, skipping the third level since Edo-Kotone, now named Kanon, was the last 'bug'. They picked up the hidden Alice along the way, who heard a voice saying that seven was the magic number. What will happen next?
"GAWH!" Natsu gasped as he woke up and shot up to a sitting position. His hand went to his head as the sudden movement caused him to become dizzy. "Ugh," he moaned, "this is just as bad as being on a train…"
He looked around and saw the last bit of the sun disappear behind the mountains in the distance. He jumped up and noticed the sleeping figures around him.
"Guys get up! We slept the entire day!" he yelled as he shook Daniel.
Daniel stirred and waved the hands away from him as he rolled over to continue sleeping. Natsu frowned and grabbed Daniel by the collar of his shirt. He threw him onto Gajeel who woke up to growl at Daniel. Daniel sat up and rubbed his eyes as he yawned his salutations. Gajeel pushed Daniel off as he got up and stretched.
"Hmm, so what happened again?" he asked.
Wendy sat up, rubbing her eyes as she replied, "Kanon helped us get out of the music box and she said she wanted us to go save Kotone." She stood up, finally awake, "It's already so late. We should head out immediately. Is everyone up?"
Natsu's hands flew to the sides of his head, "We forgot Alice!"
"I'm right here ya Hot-head!" Alice yelled as she squirmed out from under Daniel, who was still half asleep. "Ugh, it always takes forever for him to get up…"
Alice stood up and dragged Daniel with her as she marched over to Wendy. Wendy fidgeted as Alice got right in her face declaring, "We need a rematch!"
Gajeel came over and whacked her in the head, causing her to drop Daniel and hold her head. "We don't have time for you to regain your pride! We need to figure out where Kotone is!"
Daniel's muffled voice came from bellow as he refused to use energy to move.
"What was that Scrawny?" Alice demanded, pulling him into a standing position.
Daniel held up the music box and his sleepy eyes just stared at the item in his hands.
"What's that gonna do?" Natsu asked as he poked it.
Daniel stood there for a moment before he reacted. He lifted the music box to eye level and turned around. He kept spinning every way until he came to a slow stop. Everyone waited for him to say something, but he just stood there, not budging in the slightest.
Alice sighed, "This might take a while…he's always like this in the mornings."
Natsu walked over to stand in front of Daniel, whose eyes were glazed over. Everyone returned to waiting patiently, until Natsu's flaming fist made direct contact with Daniel's face.
Jaws dropped as Daniel flew back ten feet. He sat up and watched as Natsu rotated his shoulders, warming up. "We don't have time for you to gradually wake up," Natsu said.
"I didn't think he knew words with more than two syllables…" Alice murmured, causing Gajeel to crack a smile.
Natsu glared at Alice as she fixed her ponytail. Daniel slowly stood up and started stretching. "Thanks Natsu," he said calmly as he walked over to him, "I needed that."
Natsu grinned, but was soon holding his face and howling in pain. "Doesn't mean that I'm not upset."
Daniel brought the music box back up to eye level and started turning around in the same fashion that he was before. He stopped in the same direction as before and his smile was that of pure joy as he claimed, "Kanon is amazing."
Natsu was done with his howling as the others cocked their eyebrows at Daniel's statement.
"Well, yes…But what makes you say that out of the blue?" Alice asked.
Daniel glanced at his nakama and then back at the object in his hand. He started walking, eyes glued to the music box.
Alice sighed and followed. Wendy and Gajeel soon followed, only after Gajeel started dragging Natsu behind him. Apparently, Natsu thought that they should start heading in the opposite direction Daniel was. Unfortunately for him, Daniel seemed to have a reason to start heading…who knows which direction? North? North-East? Somewhere in that general direction. Natsu said his gut was telling him West, but then he started walking south, losing his credibility.
Once Wendy and Gajeel had caught up with Alice and Daniel, Daniel was giggling like a little girl.
"Is he okay?" Wendy asked.
Alice sighed and dramatically flipped her pony tail as she glanced over at the Fairy Tail trio. "Unfortunately yes. In a minute or two he'll be forming complete sentences again."
Daniel's fist collided with Alice's jaw, causing her to stagger back a few yards. She glared at him as she rubbed her mouth.
"What is it? Punch Alice in the face day? You know I need this face so my fans don't throw a mutiny," she said as she threw a kick at his head. He ducked and continued walking as if nothing happened.
"You're lucky I'm still a little groggy from sleeping. You'd be flat on your back if I was at full strength. So, as I was doing earlier…" he trailed off as he continued walking, eyes glued to the music box.
Everyone followed silently as their eyes adjusted to the lack of light. The moon gleamed over them and unlike the rest of the world, they were ready to go. Full of energy as they were, they found themselves acting a little like Kanon, hoping from place to place. That little bit of spring to their steps would later prove useful when their journey into Kotone's humanity would either help them shine or drag them into despair.
It was easy to stay in her human shape in the dark, but she had never really tried to stay in her dragon form before. It was proving to be extremely difficult, especially since in the next room over, there would be periodic grunts and cursing. In the end, Kotone gave up trying to fall asleep since when she closed her eyes, she almost immediately changed back, which Acnologia would disapprove of tremendously. She raised her ginormous head as quietly as she could, but she knew that her neighbor heard. It wasn't an issue though; the real problem was letting her father know. He would come barging in immediately to see what she was doing. He was the kind of monster who wanted to control everything in his child's life.
Kotone's head swung around to the entrance of her chambers. Her cave-like room had a huge opening that was big enough for her to walk through without having to squeeze like a snake being pushed through a hole. She carefully stood up and made snail like movements out of her cave. Once she was out, she continued down the rock hallway, coming to a stop in front of another rock opening. Inside, it had become deathly silent and she edged her way into the room.
It was extremely dark, so dark that a human would need a source of light in order to see their hand in front of their face. Being a dragon she had better night vision and she was also used to being blind. She made her way inside until she came to a sudden stop, noticing the magiced prisoner bars. Her nose hesitantly inched forward until it bumped the bars. She recoiled as pain shot through her, causing her to eye the faint lines of the bars.
"What do you want?" an icy voice said from the other side of the bars.
"Shh…hush dear child. He will hear you if you are too loud," Kotone replied.
"If you aren't the black dragon then who are you?" the icy voice said, only slightly quieter, but the edge in her voice was only more noticeable.
Kotone's frown went unnoticed in the darkness, but she decided to let it go. "Girl, please lower your voice. Both of us will get into trouble of Acnologia comes."
"Who. Are. You." the voice was finally a whisper, much to Kotone's satisfaction.
"I am a white dragon. My affinity is sound and I'm going to make sure you get out of here. One way or another I'm going to get you out. I promise," she murmured to the bars.
"You sound so confident, but you are a dragon. I don't trust dragons. Besides, if your magic is sound, then how come you didn't force me to be quiet?"
"I am forbidden the use of my magic until the day after tomorrow. Please trust me, what would you lose from trusting me? There are only three people here, us and Acnologia. Us versus Acnologia."
That seemed to peak her interests. "You're a dragon, so why are you against your own kind?"
Kotone paused before moving her head until it was parallel to the wall of bars. She inhaled as she pressed her face against the bars. She almost pulled away but instead she pushed even harder, causing the magic to react and slightly glow. It illuminated the room for a brief second before Kotone pulled away. The light was strong enough for the girl to get a good look at her, including the symbol of her guild on her neck. She moved her jaw, making sure she still had muscle control. Once she was sure, she said, "I wish to save my guild and their loved ones."
She was met with a moment of silence before there was a flash of light as she felt a small hand on her cheek. Its touch was soothing as it slid lightly over her scales. It was only for a moment, then the hand was pushed back and Kotone heard a grunt and a thud as a body hit the ground.
"Why did you do that? There's no need to hurt yourself," Kotone whispered.
Kotone could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "I felt like it, that's why I did it. I recognized that guild, Fairy Tail. I hear good things about that guild. Maybe a little wild, but good."
"Yes," Kotone murmured, "I wish that I could see my loved ones one more time."
"Why can't you see them anymore? Unlike me, you aren't behind bars."
"My cage isn't noticeable. Besides, if I leave now, then you won't be able to escape and you will die."
"What?"
"I told you that as long as I'm here you don't have to worry about it. So you just need to sit here and wait until it's safe for you to leave." Kotone's eyes fluttered and she felt her head touch the ground, not realizing her head had moved at all. The ground felt soft as she breathed evenly.
"Explain yourself!"
Kotone's eyes fluttered as a bright light hit her eyelids. She was so tired that she didn't even have the energy to block out the sudden light, so much brighter than before. She mentally cursed herself as she felt her body relax and the magic wash over her. The light on her eyes went out, her last lifeline to consciousness.
"Scrawny, enough of this! Where are you taking us?" Alice yelled as her foot got caught in another thorny bush.
Daniel giggled like a little school girl as he held up the music box. It was vibrating like crazy and with each step he took, it seemed to kick up a notch. He then held it in front of his face again as he continued walking, watching as he took each step. He carefully made sure that he was going in the right direction, where ever the music box was leading them.
"I wonder what it could mean…" Wendy pondered as she walked ahead of them, a little fast for her usual pace.
Gajeel huffed as he jumped over a small root. He continued walking as if nothing happened but scowled at Natsu who was doing cart wheels beside Wendy.
"Why have I never done this before?" he exclaimed. "This is so much fun!"
"Baka," Gajeel said, "you're going to get motion sickness soon."
"It's fine! Wendy fixed that for me!" he yelled back.
Daniel stopped suddenly and caused everyone to look back at him, confusion written all over their faces.
"Scrawny, why'd you stop? Don't tell me you started walking in the wrong direction," Alice said.
Daniel looked up from the music box and his face seemed to pale.
"Daniel your face is as white as the moon!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Guys," he said, "it stopped."
"What?" they chorused.
"The music box…it just stopped."
Alice ran over and smacked him on the head, "What did you do?"
"NOTHING! It just stopped!" Daniel retorted.
"Well let me see it!" Alice said as she ripped it out of Daniel's grasp.
She held it up to the moon light and examined it. She scowled and started shaking it. Almost immediately her face was met with a bunch of dust as her hands closed, full of dust. It slid between her fingers, into a pile of silver dust on the ground. Alice glanced up at Daniel, who was now paler than the moon, and watched as he fell to his knees. He gathered the dust but there was too much for him to hold all of it in his two hands. It spilled over and he could only watch in despair as the rest slipped through his fingers.
He glared up at Alice who was just as surprised as everyone else. Everyone had gathered around the dust and everything was silent. Just when they were about to snap under the silence, they heard a slight buzz.
They glanced down at the dust on the ground to see a vibrating mass. Slowly it started moving across the ground. It was like a snail, moving about a millimeter a minute, but soon it was a meter a second. They scrambled after the dust, almost tripping over their own feet.
They watched as it stopped at the base of a mountain. They caught their breath, but soon the dust jumped up and raced up the mountain.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" Gajeel asked.
Wendy feel to her knees, thoroughly exhausted. "I don't know…But I really hope that Kanon wasn't leading us in circles."
"Kanon wouldn't do that! She cares too much about Kotone to let her do this to herself!" Natsu exclaimed.
Daniel leaned against the mountain side, "He's right. Kanon's only family is Kotone. I think she'd do just about anything for her."
Alice quietly thought to herself, remembering what the little voice told her back in the music box. Seven was the lucky number. What the heck did that mean? Seven what? Seven kicks? Seven punches? Seven steps? Seven o' clock? Seven WHAT?
She walked over to the mountain and placed her hand against the rocky wall. Her head rested on the cool surface, knowing that they were supposed to do something. Seven. It kept coming to mind and she had no idea why.
"What was that?" Daniel asked her. She had been mumbling while in deep thought, but Daniel's question brought her attention back to the group.
"Seven. I was told to remember seven. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean though," she said.
Glancing back at the dirt wall in front of her, she noticed her hand was casting a slight shadow. Her eyes darted up to the sky and saw the sun start to peak out from behind a few hills in the distance.
"We've been running all night. We wasted so much time!" Alice yelled. Her hand pulled back and she threw it at the wall, causing a few particles of dirt to fall to the ground. "So much time…not much left…"
Warm…soft…smooth…
Kotone jumped as she realized she wasn't on the ground anymore. Her eyes opened and scanned her surroundings. She was still in her human form but she wasn't in the cave with the girl, instead she was in a cave bigger than her own. Still a little groggy, it took her a while to realize she was in Acnologia's room and her back was leaning against his neck. She went stiff…he had found her in her human form. To make it worse, he had found her in her human form outside of her room.
The girl! What happened to her? Is she alright? He didn't kill her right? I must make sure! Kotone thought.
She shifted her weight so she wasn't leaning against him, but that stirred him awake. She resisted the urge to gulp and look up at him with an obviously scared expression. She attempted to relax and breathe evenly as she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. The neck behind her moved and she heard his huge head rise from the straw bed.
There was a moment of silence that had her heart beating frantically, but in the end, he noticed her. "You don't fool me child, get up."
Kotone sat up and immediately changed back. Her head ducked low as she looked up at his angry expression.
"Why were you out of your room," his voice didn't indicate a question, more of a command.
Kotone's tail fidgeted as she said, "I was trying to sleep, but I found it incredibly difficult to try to sleep without almost changing back into my human form. So I was awake and I heard a sound from the room next to mine…It might have been a sneeze, but it sounded really funny so I went to check it out." Not exactly lies, but they weren't exactly the truth either. It could have been a sneeze Kotone heard, but she knew it was the grunts of someone trying to break something.
Acnologia nodded his head, accepting this as an excuse. "Very well," he said, "go back to that room and make sure she understands to not be a nuisance."
"I understand," Kotone said as she hurried out of the room.
She ran down the hall and skidded to a stop outside the prison and hurried inside. "Hello?" she called. Then in a lower voice, "Are you alright? He didn't do anything to you?" She peeked inside the bars to see the girl watching her intently.
Kotone returned the favor and took in her details. Brown hair and ocean blue eyes. She was still full of youth, but old enough to be respected by children. Her clothes were dirty, but from what Kotone could tell, she had a black, sleeveless top and grey pants. At the bottom of her shirt, there was a design of flames that would attract the eye when not caked in dirt. Her pants seemed to have been scorched since there were burn marks on the ends.
Kotone's eyes returned to staring the girl down, who puckered her lips in response. She stood up and walked over to the bars, millimeters away from the magical barrier. Kotone brought her head down to be on eye level with her. The girl stared into her eyes for a few minutes before grinning with a satisfied look on her face.
"You can disguise yourself as a human can't you?" the girl asked, crossing her arms. "I didn't get a good look at you last night, because that monster of a dragon came and took you away before I could see."
Kotone had flinched and cursed herself for it. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do. One moment you are a gigantic mass of shiny white scales and the next you are a small heap of flesh and silver hair." She turned back around and got close again, "So how do you do it?"
Kotone was so surprised that she almost changed back. She caught herself and thought about what the girl said before answering, "I will never tell. I will never let another like me exist. If I ever find someone like me, I will pick them out of the hands of the greedy dragon and prejudging humans." With that she lifted her head so she was at full height as she looked down on the girl. "Don't be foolish and chase after something you know nothing about."
The girl's eyes flashed a fierce red before she looked away, realizing her mistake. "Sorry."
"What is your name child?"
"I go by the Firebrand."
"That is a meaningless title to me. What is your name?"
The girl huffed before saying, "Chandra Nala'ar."
"I will remember Chandra, such a pretty name, unlike the Firebrand."
"Well what's your name oh mighty dragon of sound?"
Kotone noticed the lack of respect in the girl's voice, but chose to ignore it. "Kotone."
Chandra's ears picked that up and she smiled, "That's a pretty name."
"The black dragon gave it to me." With that, she left.
"Just…a little…higher!" Wendy yelled as she stood on top of their human pyramid. They had realized that the entrance into the mountain was above their heads, on the side of the mountain.
"I feel so stupid. Why did I think the number seven would help us?" Alice murmured to herself.
Daniel, who was next to her, replied, "It's because you're an idiot who doesn't know any better."
Alice forgot about holding up Wendy and tackled Daniel, causing them to fall off Natsu's and Gajeel's backs. Wendy fell with them, but luckily landed on Natsu and Gajeel, who cushioned her fall.
Alice and Daniel were wrestling until Gajeel came over and held them by the back of their shirts. He held them as far apart as he could, but they were still swinging at each other. "Now look who's wasting time."
The fighting died immediately. They looked guiltily at the ground as Gajeel set them down.
"Why is it so hard to get up there?" Natsu exclaimed.
No one was able to disagree with him. By now the sun was up and everyone else is the world would be waking up if they hadn't already. Gajeel glared at the opening in the mountain side, a good distance above them. His growl hung in the air long after he was silent. Every one of them were looking up at the entrance when Daniel started giggling uncontrollably. His giggles attracted weird looks from the others as he fell to his knees, overcome with laughter.
"What is it now Scrawny? Tell me how you figured out how to get up there!" Alice demanded, pulling him back onto his feet.
Alice was now on the receiving end of the weird looks and she shot an icy glare back at them. "What? He always starts acting this way whenever he gets a brilliant idea!"
They thought back to the time when Daniel was giggling like an idiot while holding up the music box.
Gajeel crossed his arms, "That's something Daniel would probably do. Seeing his indecisive nature it's only…"
"NO WAY! How are we gonna get up there?" Natsu exclaimed.
"DON'T INTERUPT ME!" Gajeel shouted.
Daniel's giggles calmed down but were still present. He looked up at the opening and said, "Hehe…I have rope haha…but it's not long enough hehe…to use with a grappling hook hehe…but it's long enough that if someone was down here haha…helping others reach the rope hehe…then it would work perfectly haha!"
Daniel walked up to the wall, kicked it, pawed at it, dragged his foot across it, and then backed up about ten paces from the wall of dirt. He knelt down in the runner's position and took a deep breath, the giggles subsiding as he got serious. He took another deep breath and when he looked up, his eyes were focused. If anything, they were slightly cold, just like how they were when he was making sure Kotone's guests would be taken care of properly in the Shark Empress' home.
He budged and then became a slight blur as he zoomed by and a few pieces of dirt fell from the wall.
"WHERE DID HE GO?" Natsu exclaimed, eyes bulging out of his head.
"What do you mean? You didn't just see him run up the wall?" Alice asked in a mocking manor. "Yo Scrawny! That was a close one!"
Daniel's head popped out from the entrance and a sheepish smile played across his face, "There was a soft spot on the wall! I had to do a fancy turn in order to keep going!"
Sure enough, halfway up the wall there was a missing chunk, this was probably why there were bits of dirt falling earlier.
Daniel looked around for something to tie the rope to and found a huge rock that would do the job. He tied a knot and tugged on the rope to make sure that it wouldn't slip. Then to double check, he used the rope to climb down, only to end up dangling a little under twice his height. He let go and jumped to the ground. He smiled in satisfaction. Only Wendy and Alice were smaller than him so he couldn't help them up, but Gajeel and Natsu were taller so they could.
"Why did you come down?" Natsu exclaimed.
"I told you my rope wouldn't be long enough, so there is going to have to be someone helping everyone up. And as you just saw, I can get up there without help. So now we have a system that will end up with everyone at the entrance. Now Gajeel, since you're the tallest, go help Wendy get on the rope," Daniel directed.
Gajeel hoisted Wendy up and she clung to the rope as she scrambled to the top. "Oh my…" Wendy panted, "That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I'm surprised I made it…"
Alice huffed, "What are you talking about! It's so easy!" Gajeel hoisted Alice up and she grabbed the rope with confidence. Her hands went up about a foot then she stopped. Her face was red as she attempted to climb her way up, but it was obvious that she was having issues.
"What was that about it being easy?" Gajeel mocked.
Alice's hand let go of the rope so she could shake it at Gajeel, but she lost her balance and slipped from the rope. Natsu caught her as she screamed that it was Gajeel's fault she fell.
Natsu put her down and she charged at Gajeel, holding her away with one hand that he had on her head.
"Let go you coward!" she yelled.
Gajeel only chuckled at her outraged expression, causing Daniel to face palm. "Guys…" he groaned, "we've already lost a lot of time figuring out how to get everyone up there. We don't want to waste anymore right?" They nodded and Alice crossed her arms, thoroughly embarrassed.
Daniel walked over to Alice and crouched in front of her "Climb on," he commanded. Her face was like a tomato as she climbed onto his back. Gajeel lifted them up with ease and Daniel started climbing up the rope like a monkey, a slow one with a huge bunch of bananas.
"Idiot," Alice mumbled.
"Thanks, what a great name for the guy who is literally sweeping you off your feet and carrying you to your destination," Daniel grumbled.
"Scrawny I was talking about myself. What the heck was I thinking? Seven, it's a stupid number," she said into his back.
"Well," Daniel thought aloud, "you say that you heard this voice tell you that seven was a lucky number while you were in the music box right?"
She nodded.
"Well then that was probably Kanon. I trust Kanon as much as I trust the Shark Empress. If she told you to remember the number seven, then maybe she was thinking that seven will be helpful for something else. Don't doubt her before she's had a chance to prove herself."
Daniel's hands reached the opening of the cave and Wendy came over to help pull him up. Alice crawled over Daniel as he clung to the edge. Seeing that Alice was up there, Daniel started making his way down. Alice crawled over to the edge and looked down at Daniel, "Daniel!"
Daniel looked up, "What is it?"
She turned red like a tomato again and said, "I'm only saying thank you because you're in the organization! And only because I can't have one of my suitors do it for me right now!"
"Well golly! Thank you sooooo much for lowering yourself to the same level as everyone else in this world!" Daniel said sarcastically.
Daniel then stood as a stool for Natsu and Gajeel, who climbed up rather quickly after Natsu figured out how to untangle himself. Daniel had to repeat his wall climbing technique, but, since the soft spot on the wall was already weak from the first time he climbed up there, he barely made it. Natsu had to be held by his feet in order to catch Daniel's flailing hands.
Daniel grinned up at them before looking at the huge mound of dirt on the ground. The hole in the mountain looked like the mound of dirt on the ground would never be able to fill. Daniel was pulled up and then they walked inside the cave.
It was dark and no light could reach the depths of the cave. Natsu's fist lit up and he led the way down the corridor.
"Is she going to be quite from now on?"
"I handled it."
"Good. She is such a nuisance. It's good that you decided to participate or else she would be my only option. I will take much joy in killing her."
Kotone glanced at him before looking out the hole to the outside. It was a nice, warm day and the sun shined into the room they were in, a very large room that could fit a good twenty dragons.
A little cloud danced in the sky, perfect weather for draining someone's magical power. She sighed and looked at the side of the mountain. The mountain curved in a slight "U" shape so she could see part of the mountain side from the hole that she was standing at. What she saw made her scales stand up.
"Are you cold? Maybe you should go sun bath outside."
"I'll do just that." Her wings spread out as she was about to take flight, but Acnologia's next words stopped her in her tracks.
"Remember to come back. Who knows what will happen if my sacrifice disappears?"
She nodded, "Yes father." She took flight and went straight to the back entrance. They were gone, already a good ways inside. She wouldn't be able to find them.
"BAKA!" she yelled into the cave. She stomped around and tore at the walls of the cave. Her temper tantrum was noticed and she heard running feet. She waited, hoping they'd be able to find their way back and out. But it was not meant to be, for she heard them cursing as they realized that they ran in a circle. No doubt any noise she made would make it sound like she was in every direction.
She sighed, "You shouldn't have come. I'll make sure that by the time he finds you, he won't kill you."
She was met by silence, then an out brake of footsteps. More cursing followed until Daniel yelled, "You shouldn't have come-ome-ome-ome! No one wants you to end up alone-one-one-one-one!"
"Idiot, I'd rather be alone than live knowing that my selfishness is the reason why hundreds of people lost their lives!" she yelled back.
"How would we live knowing that we did nothing to help you-ou-ou? You are a member of Fairy Tail-ail-ail! And Fairy Tail always stands as a whole because we are stronger together than we are apart-art-art-art-art!" Natsu yelled back.
Kotone leaned against the wall and felt the cold wall cool down her hot face. Water droplets fell to the cave floor. Her wings drooped and grazed the floor, leaving light feathery patterns in the dirt.
Dang it! she thought. She's back and she led them here, which explains why I'm more emotional than normal. Why did she change her mind? She pondered for a moment but she figured it out in moments. They changed her mind. I hoped they would make her want to help me save them even more! Dang it!
"Natsu…look after Makarov for me," she said tearfully as she turned around and took off.
The wind felt good against her hot face. It more effective than cold water for her as she shook the last tears away fiercely. She needed to calm down, to focus on the task at hand. She had a plan, but now there were so many factors she didn't account for that she needed to rethink everything. She flew in circles overhead the "mountain". It was originally a mountain, but Acnologia formed it to his liking and now it stood at half its original height. And it has steep sides now, so steep that the lair could be considered a cliff.
But she needed to focus, not look at scenery. She flew for a while longer until she realized that she was never going to be able to rethink her entire plan before it was time for the ritual. Natsu and the others being trapped by their inability to navigate the tunnels wouldn't change her plan in the slightest. They were basically taken care of. They wouldn't be able to interfere now, right?
She flew back inside, to Acnologia and realized she had spent hours flying.
"It's past noon. Look at what you miss out on when you try to blend in with the maggots. Soon you won't have to worry about missing out any more," he rumbled.
She nodded and apologized for taking so long, before she left to go to her room. On the way there, again she heard muffled sounds while passing her neighbor. She went inside to investigate and saw that Chandra was trying to break free again.
"I told you I would get you out of here. You don't need to risk your life trying to escape," Kotone whispered.
"You're here! I was hoping you'd come!" Chandra exclaimed.
"Not so loudly…"
"Oh! Right, sorry. Listen, I know there are other people in the tunnels," she whispered excitedly. "How do you plan on getting them out as well? Helping one escape is pretty risky, but I heard a couple of voices. I'd guess around four other people besides me need help."
"Five, that is if they didn't leave any one behind on the way here...How did you know there were others?"
"I heard them! This rock right here…" she motioned to a boulder, "can be moved and I can hear the tunnels."
"What made you want to move that behemoth of a rock?"
"It was an accident. I got tired of sitting so I stood up and walked around, but I guess I was more tired than I thought I was because I fell onto the bars which zapped me. I got angry and hit the rock out of frustration. When it moved I could hear you calling them 'baka'."
Kotone's head jerked back in surprise. "Did you hear anything else?"
"I would be lying if I said no."
They were quite for a moment. Both felt awkward in the huge cave. The light that flittered into Chandra's cage was slowly dimming, but neither seemed to notice. After the longest minute of her life, Chandra cleared her throat, causing Kotone to look at her.
"They really care about you…"
"They really care about Makarov."
"I don't think so. They care about you and your well-being. Do they know you're a dragon?"
"Yes."
"Do they know you disguise yourself as a human?"
"Yes."
"I see."
Another awkward silence fell upon them. Chandra had the urge to put her palm on the top of her other hand and wiggle her thumbs, saying 'awkward turtle.' But she stopped herself, seeing how inappropriate that would be in the situation.
"Um, so…" she mumbled.
Kotone watched her curiously, "Yes child? Anymore questions?"
"Why do you care about them?"
Chandra was uncertain about asking. She didn't want to cross any lines the dragon had drawn. But when she mustered up all the courage she had, she looked up at the silver dragon. All her doubts faded away as she saw the dragon's face soften and give her a heart-warming smile. She found herself smiling in response. It was contagious; it was like they were smiling because they shared a secret. But Chandra understood. The dragon before her didn't need to say anything.
"You love them don't you?" she asked, her grin grew.
Kotone's soft smile looked at little sad, but she said, "I've known some of them since before they were born. I've been watching them all this time. They are like my own children and I intend to protect them like a mother."
"Love is a funny thing isn't it?"
"It…it is a human emotion that cannot be replicated or faked."
"It's a little hard to explain."
"Extremely."
"I don't mean to change the subject so suddenly, but when are you getting me out of here? If not soon then I can figure out a way on my own. I don't like being dependent on a dragon."
"Soon child. You will be out by tomorrow." She turned to leave but was stopped by a sudden rise in the temperature and was temporarily blinded by a bright light.
"And I bet tomorrow you'll say you'll get me out by the next day! You dragons are so predictable! And what's with all this crud about me being a child? You're younger than me! I saw you're fake human form and you were definitely a child then! What do you use it for? To trick poor humans into giving you food and inviting you into their homes?"
Kotone turned to see Chandra banging her fists against the bars. Her hair was a bright red color and her eyes matched, not to mention she suddenly had a slight tan now. Kotone examined her for a second and then she started shaking. She turned her head away really fast so Chandra couldn't see her expression.
"Ha! Look at that! You really are a child! What? Scared I figured you out?"
Kotone's shaking increased. She couldn't take it, she broke down. "BWA HA HA HA!" She started bursting with laughter, confusing Chandra. She fell to the ground laughing and she was using her wings to try to fan her heated face. "HA HA HA! Look who is really the childish one! Getting all upset because I called you a child! Young- no I mean…Dear, I'm over 500 years old. That is considered to still be a child for dragons. It is true I have matured more than you ever will, but you still have a long way to go before you can be considered an adult by human standards!"
Chandra huffed, not before paling slightly after hearing how old the dragon was. "I'm 18 and considered to be a legal adult in Fiore!"
"You may be legally an adult, but maturely you aren't."
She left Chandra beet red like her hair and eyes with embarrassment.
Kotone looked out of the lair, the sun was setting. She only had an hour or two left of possessing a human soul. She sighed, realizing how the day went by so fast. But she smiled, slightly satisfied. She had experienced all the strongest human emotions in one day. First she had anger and sadness when she was talking with Natsu and the others. Then she had fear as she tried to rethink her plan. Next she felt surprise, happiness, love, proud, and she even laughed while talking with Chandra.
What more could she ask for? In one day, she had felt all these things, and for that, she was grateful. She watched as the sun disappeared and the moon rise. The second blue moon of the year…
Blue moons aren't really that rare. A blue moon will appear every two or three years and two blue moons in one year happen about four times in a century. The old ones must have used this quite often. There would be enough time to find the perfect sacrifice in between each double blue moon. I wonder how Acnologia came across the ritual. It should have been buried with the old ones. It's also probably why they were always so powerful. Kotone thought, watching the moon.
"Change back."
Kotone was brought out of her trance, "what was that?'
"You need to change into your human form so I can figure out when to stop the ritual. Once your human skin has disintegrated and all that is left is your dragon form, I will stop the ritual."
"Very well." She changed into her human form and the only barrier between herself and the cold wind was her extremely long hair. It dragged on the floor and she wrapped it around herself so it could act as a sort of dress. She sneezed and followed Acnologia down the hall.
He stopped in front of Chandra's prison and told Kotone to get her out. She walked inside, taking three times as long to cross the room on her small human legs. She reached the bars and she breathed on them, her breath fogging up the metal bars. They creaked for a moment and the huge gate of a door opened.
Chandra eyed her suspiciously as she crept toward the door. Her hair was back to its original brown color and her eyes, blue.
"Acnologia wants you to come with us to the ritual. Probably to remind me that if I run away, he can still use you," Kotone said.
Chandra exited the prison and saw her hands have a bluish light around them, along with her feet. "Aww…..Why?" she whined.
"He'd kill you if you try anything. I'm doing this to ensure that you won't do anything stupid before I get you out."
She walked out, without waiting for Chandra to follow. She'd have to follow even if she didn't want to. The magic handcuffs would drag her.
"She's been taken care of," she said to Acnologia.
He huffed his approval and continued walking at a slow pace so Kotone could keep up. It was obvious that it bothered him to walk so slowly. He picked her up and put her on his head before picking up his speed. She grabbed desperately onto his head, hoping she wouldn't fall off. He's been unusually kind to her lately.
First he doesn't kill Natsu and the others when he realized they were listening to their conversation back in the forest by the Shark Empress. Then he lets me have my own room. Then when he finds out that I was sneaking out of my room, he brings me to his own room to keep me warm. Then he lets me fly around outside without escorting me. Then he's putting me on his head, of all places…He's trying to get me to stay after the ritual!
Kotone was silent as he slowed down and came to a stop in front of the ritual site. It was a flat surface that had a pile of circular slabs of stone in the center. Each slab was slightly smaller than the one bellow it, so one could easily climb to the top. The ceiling was gone and the moon looked extra big in the black sky. The stars seemed to have disappeared, since there was no sign of them.
Chandra walked in and her handcuffs brought her to the far side of the room, where she waited patiently…almost. Her eyes were flashing and Kotone could hear her knuckles popping in protest, a sign of her anger.
"Please stand here," Acnologia said, lowering his head to the top of the pyramid of circles, where she noticed that the light was strongest.
She stood obediently and looked to the black dragon for further instructions.
"Wait for a moment. The ritual starts when the moon is directly overhead."
She nodded and shivered against the wind.
"Well we obviously aren't going to find her like this! Just try to find an exit!" Alice barked.
"Yes, yes…" the boys chorused.
They had been walking down the tunnel and then it branched off in three different ways. They chose to split up into three groups and keep exploring. Natsu and Alice took the left tunnel and Daniel and Wendy took the right tunnel. Gajeel chose dead center and marched off on his own. It wasn't until they were all a good ways in when they heard Kotone yell at them. They scrambled to find their way back, but they didn't notice how after every turn in the path, their tunnel had join with another one. So they had to guess which way to take on their way back, only getting them more confused and disoriented.
Alice had gotten lost with Natsu and ran smack into Gajeel. Now, if Wendy hadn't gotten separated from Daniel, they were in two groups now.
"How are we supposed to find anyone like this?" Alice whined.
"I want to know if Wendy's and Daniel's torches are still working, mine sure didn't," he growled at Natsu.
"It's not my fault you dropped it when you ran into Alice!" Natsu exclaimed.
They started arguing, completely forgetting that Alice was there. They continued walking like this for hours, Alice complaining and Natsu and Gajeel arguing.
Then they stopped, listening…..
…
…
…
…
…
"What was that?" Alice whispered.
Natsu motioned for them to be quite as he slowly put out his flaming hand.
…
…
…
…
…
Tsh…
…
Tsh-tsh…
…
…
…
Tsh-tsh-tsh-thsh-thud-thud-thud-thud-ACK!-owie…
…
…
Smack! Ouch…
…
"Is that Wendy?" Gajeel murmured.
…
AHHHH! Thud-thud-thud-thu-ud-thud-plop…
Natsu's finger showed some light as they leaned down to see the thing that had fallen behind them. Messy blue hair and blue eyes met theirs.
"I'm so happy I found you guys!" Wendy exclaimed as she ran over to them, her hands and knees bruised and scratched up.
"You okay Wendy?" Natsu asked.
"Daniel heard Kotone and ran off with the torch. I couldn't keep up with him and got lost."
"SCRAWNY!" Alice yelled, as if he could hear her. "HOW DARE YOU LEAVE A GIRL TO FEND FOR HERSELF!"
"Alice you said your feet hurt, do you want a ride?" Natsu asked.
"I can walk by myself I don't need help!"
Gajeel just started laughing and they continued on their way.
Wendy started healing herself, now that she knew where to heal. Natsu took the lead again, with his fist blazing into the darkness. Gajeel was right behind him, refusing to let the salamander to completely take the lead. Alice made up the back, complaining all the way.
"Hey guys, looks like there is another fork in the road," Natsu said, coming to a stop.
The number of tunnels was astounding. There were more tunnels than people. Alice counted the number of tunnels.
1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10
"Ten tunnels guys. There are only four of us. It's no use splitting up though since Natsu is the only one with a source of light. We'd probably get lost again if we split up," Alice declared.
"I agree. So which tunnel are we taking?" Gajeel asked.
Wendy waited for someone to say something, so Natsu blurted out, "THIS ONE!" and started marching to the first tunnel. Alice crossed her arms and huffed her protests, something nagging at the back of her head.
Everyone followed Natsu into the tunnel and all was silent again, a little too quiet for Natsu and Gajeel. They started arguing again, annoying the heck out of Alice.
"SHUT UP!" She ran over and grabbed Natsu's shirt. "Follow me! We're going down the wrong tunnel." She spun on her heel and marched all the way back, making everyone follow Natsu's light.
They ended up back at the beginning of the tunnel and Alice kept walking. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7. She turned down into tunnel number 7 and kept walking.
"How are you so sure it's this tunnel?" Wendy asked.
"Kanon told me."
She kept marching until the tunnel opened up into a corridor. She kept walking though. First cave…second cave…third cave…She kept going until she walked into the seventh cave. She kept walking.
"Where are we going?" asked Natsu.
"Daniel was right. I just needed to wait and gave her a chance. The seventh tunnel into the seventh cave down the seventh hallway into the seventh room…the seventh torch!" She picked up the seventh torch on the way and a secret door opened. "Yes!" They walked into a room with a panel of controls, something you wouldn't expect to see in a dragon's lair. Above the controls was a huge screen that was showing a pure blue color. "Let's see, the seventh lever…" She pulled the seventh lever and the screen blinked on. There was Kotone, shivering while standing on a circular platform.
"There she is!" Wendy exclaimed, touching the screen.
A list of options appeared on the screen and the seventh option: Lower Altar.
Alice tapped it on the screen and the list disappeared. They watched Kotone shiver until something dawned on them.
"Why is she in her human form?" Gajeel asked.
"It must be for the ritual…" Wendy murmured.
"Wait, what's happening?" Alice asked.
Kotone had stumbled while on the platform. She fell to her knees and looked around wildly. The platform started moving down and Alice paled. "Kotone is standing on the altar…"
Wendy gasped and held onto Alice, who returned the favor. She looked for the flame head but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Natsu?"
Gajeel looked, "Don't tell me he ran off only to get lost again!"
"Found them!" a voice yelled.
Natsu came into the secret room holding a bunch of rolled up paper. He dropped them on the floor and searched for a second. His hand flew up and he was holding a single roll of paper. "A MAP!"
Everyone stood up and helped Natsu unroll the map. It showed what tunnels to take and short cuts. Not to mention, how to get to the "room of sacrifice." They bolted from that room like it was on fire. They ran as fast as they could, their throats were burning, but they didn't stop. But in the end, they froze.
"Puff-huff-what-huff-was-that?" Wendy asked, panting.
They heard screaming, no, more like roaring, echoing in the tunnels.
"Is that…is that Gramps?" Natsu asked.
"What's happening?" Kotone asked as the pyramid started moving under her.
"I don't know! This isn't part of the ritual!" Acnologia yelled, frustrated. "It's okay! I'll fix it!" He ran out of the room for a moment and everything calmed. He walked inside, victorious.
Kotone shakily came to her feet and looked at the destruction. Some of the stones were broken and others were tilted.
"Are you okay Daughter?" he asked, bringing his head back up to her.
She nodded and looked up, the moon was directly overhead. She felt her core start to feel numb and the moon filled her vision. She could hear a faint rumble of noise, but it was soon drowned out by her heart pulsing in her ears.
A/N there! I'm so excited right now. I'm on vacation in Las Vegas, but while being stuck in the hotel room, I decided to write this! Longest chapter yet! I'm so happy that the time has come! Next chapter is gonna be action packed, filled with excitement! I can't wait! It makes me smile just thinking about it! But then I start crying, realizing it's almost over…maybe I can write a sequel….
ALSO! Longest chapter yet guys! I don't think the next chapter will be as long, but we shall see...
REVIEWS!
keisha. latumahina I'm so happy you liked it! I never really thought of doing pairs though. If you had any preferences then I could attempt writing a pairing, but no guarantees that it will live up to your standards.
Edward The Pure I'm so happy that you cleared up the misunderstanding about your character! I had a lot of fun using her in this chapter! I hope I portrayed her correctly. You're going to be seeing her in the next chapter definitely. I have big plans for her! *rubs hands in creepy manor and laughs evilly* No she's going to kick butt. Also 'Seven' has been answered. Seventh tunnel, seventh cave, seventh hallway, seventh room, seventh torch, seventh lever, and seventh option. Seven Sevens. Seven is such a symbolic number. It's used so often that people sometimes don't realize it at first. You have one of my friends at school to thank for the number seven. I said to yell out a random number and the first number yelled out was seven. Though the second number was eight and I was really tempted to use it…perfectly symmetrical in every way….But seriously, there are the seven deadly sins and if you get three sevens in a row in the slot machine…you know what happens. Seven is considered to be the number to represent wealth and evil. Probably a bunch of other stuff as well, but I can't really think of anything else at the moment. Kind of jet lagged…
TheOrangeNeko I'm glad you noticed! I tried to make it obvious for you because I wanted you to feel special knowing something before anyone else probably did! I hope you can't wait for the next chapter because I can't either!
UNTIL NEXT TIME MY ROYAL LOYAL READERS!
Gajeel: Still not a freaking anime…
Miu: Still can make you look like a total chicken in the climax…