Last time in "Blue Moons Aren't Rare":
After the dragon slayers, plus Daniel, woke up from the dream, Kanon used the music box to lead the group to Acnologia's lair. They then got lost and split into groups, somehow ending up with all the dragon slayers together and Daniel by himself. Alice's clue, the number 7, came handy as they navigated the tunnels. They ended up in a secret room and discovered maps of the lair. They then proceeded to run to where Kotone was, but were interrupted by a wild sound.
Kotone met a girl named Chandra, who was going to be used for the ritual if Kotone refused, and promises to get her out. Kotone also saw the group enter the lair and tried to stop them from entering the complex tunnels. She was too late, but Kanon had rejoined her body and Kotone felt her human half's emotion come into play. She was later summoned by Acnologia to take part in the ritual, making sure Chandra tagged along just in case anything happened. The last thing that was mentioned was that Kotone was enamored by the moon and that was all she was aware of.
…
"Where am I?"
…
"Hello?"
…
There was white everywhere. It was hard to breathe. Everything ached.
"Anyone?"
…
…
…
…
"Kotone?" a hesitant voice called.
"Hello? Who are you! Where are you?"
"Kotone are you here? Where are you Kotone? I'm scared…"
"I'm right here! Can you hear me?"
"Help me, I'm scared. My hands and feet hurt really bad…Kotone?"
"Can you hear me?"
"I don't want to die yet…Kotone? Where are you?"
"I don't know! Can you hear me? Say 'yes' if you can hear me!"
"Help me…My hands! MY HANDS!"
"ARE YOU OKAY? Where are you?"
"!"
…..
"Natsu! Wendy! Gajeel! Alice! Where have you guys been?" Erza yelled.
"Trying to stop Kotone! How did you find this place?" Gajeel yelled.
"Daniel and Anzu led us here! You remember Anzu right?" Lucy yelled her reply.
"The psychic type mage?" Natsu asked.
"She's something like that! Basically, when we noticed you were at the Shark Empress, we sent Happy to go retrieve the rest of our group. It's a good thing they were already on their way to the lake because they covered a lot of ground. Once they caught up, Anzu was able to follow Daniel and Alice since she has the strongest bonds with them. But once we got to the lair, Daniel and Alice split off in two directions. So Anzu started talking with Daniel telepathically. She said Daniel was lost so we started following Alice. Master got impatient with Anzu and yelled for her to go faster. But then we ended up almost running you guys over," Lucy yelled.
The thundering of feet was so loud. They could hardly hear each other, yelling right into their ears. Anzu was now leading the way, map in her hands. Unlike the dragon slayers, Fairy Tail and the Shark Empress brought plenty of torches. Anzu was very good at reading the map. She expertly led them down the correct tunnels, the masses of people behind her sounded like a herd of elephants playing trumpets.
It was no surprise that he was ready for them.
"GET BACK!" Anzu yelled as Acnologia growled at them.
"Insignificant pests! You are all beneath our level! Nuisance!" he called. "Deal with them! Be grateful you will be serving a cause greater than yourself!"
Chandra's hair flared as her eyes blazed, her hands shaking as her handcuffs pulled her forward. She glared at the black dragon as she was dragged across the room. Anzu held back the surging crowd behind her, scared of angering the black dragon any further.
"I didn't think he would be in the room of the ritual…" she said, eyeing the dragon.
"What did you think?" Daniel yelled at her, forcing his way past. He came to a sudden stop as he dodged a fist. "What are you doing?" He yelled at Chandra.
"I'm sorry!" Her hair calmed down and her eyes returned to their natural blue color. "It's the shackles!"
"Shut up vermin!" Acnologia yelled, turning to face the humans. "It seems I must soil my own hands this time. You can send a bee to stop another, but it can't take down the hive."
Daniel fended off Chandra, hands and feet blurring with the fast movements. Natsu finally pushed Anzu out of the way and immediately looked at the top of the pyramid. There stood Kotone, her pupils seemed to be the size of the top of a tack compared to the amount of white showing around her eyes. As much white as there was, it only highlighted the red that was starting to form. Her hands and feet were as big as her head and seemed to be extremely pale. Her mouth was open and there was a distinct yelp that came from it, causing everyone who had forced their way into the room after Natsu to look at her. Her mouth stretched open as far as if could go, but it seemed to not be enough since her jaw was shaking. Her teeth were slowly pushing their way out of her gums. They became extremely sharp and Kotone's squeaks of suppressed pain seemed to be amplified in the now silent room. Her panting and shivering was scratching at their ears as her eyes began to water.
Makarov was silent as he watched. Natsu was shocked and horrified. Wendy was heartbroken. Daniel was furious. Chiyoko had to look away as she hid her own tears. These were the reactions that everyone else expressed. Some covered their mouths. Some bit their lip. Some slowly prepared to fight.
"!"
Chandra was suddenly overwhelmed by Daniel's fast punches and kicks. He kicked her legs under her and she could do nothing but pray she wasn't trampled to death by the hundreds of feet that poured past her.
Makarov's brilliant yellow magic flared as he grew to his giant size. He charged Acnologia head on, but the black dragon was still bigger than him. Makarov was empowered by his desire to save his sister, which easily made up for his slight loss in stature.
Natsu charged at the pyramid, followed by the Shark Empress and his guild. His fists were aflame as he charged, only to be knocked back into the mob of people.
"It's too late maggots!" Acnologia said, throwing Makarov away like a rag. "It won't stop until the last of her human magic is drained!"
Everyone froze. Alice's face paled, "You BAKA! You IDIOT! You MONSTER!" She ran at him, water swirling around her hands. "Crystal Lotus: Tsunami of the Water Dragon!"
The water around her hands surged and she swung her hands together as if the water were weights. Her hands clasped each other and with obvious effort, she twisted her hands until one hand was on top of the other. This seemed to be the trigger for the water took off at 1000 miles an hour. Acnologia slipped and fell into the current of water, carrying him to the other side of the room. He collided with the wall with an audible 'thunk'. The water still buffeted him, making him a sitting duck. Makarov jumped and his fist connected with Acnologia's cheek as Alice's water died down.
Alice swayed and was caught by Anzu. "When's the last time you had water?"
Alice blinked, "A long time."
"You should know better. That takes up a lot of magic. Now you are practically useless."
Alice pushed her away and staggered a few feet toward Acnologia, "You BAKA! Kotone's human half doesn't have any magic!" She swayed again but caught herself. She only had enough energy to glare at the intimidating black dragon, but she put her all into it.
Acnologia seemed to look at the little girl in front of him in a new light. He stood up, surprise written all over his face, and turned to leave. He suddenly stopped and his tail swung at Alice. She fell to the ground to dodge and when she heard the crack of stone breaking, she looked up to see his tail a good ways into the stone wall. He removed his tail and Alice heard this terrible wailing sound. She couldn't be sure if it was herself or someone else, but she saw Daniel running past her.
Frozen as she was, Alice felt numb as she found herself on her feet, only barely acknowledging that fact. She saw the object she was staring at become bigger and move around in her field of vision. Little did she know she was moving towards Daniel and the object she was staring at.
She felt pain on her face…it took her the longest second of her life to realize Daniel had punched her. She found herself on the ground, a dull ringing in her ears. She slowly came back to her feet, looking at the crushed Daniel as he fell to his knees, his sister in his arms. Anzu's hair had the remains stones and dust in it. Her face had scratches all over it; a slash on her forehead was bleeding badly. Her clothes, torn and ripped beyond recognition, were also drenched in blood, undoubtedly from other wounds on her body.
"Daniel," Alice whispered, "I'm sorry."
He didn't respond.
"If I hadn't dodged…"
Alice fell to her knees, silent as she felt the icy arrow of guilt penetrate her heart.
Suddenly Alice and Daniel were crowded over the 21 year old woman. They strained to hear, in case their eyes deceived them.
A hoarse voice, barely audible said, "…It was my fault…I was trying to use my magic to get him to leave…" Anzu's purple eyes cracked open and stared at the two kids over her. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over as she said, "It…was aimed at me…I wasn't fast enough…Daniel…Alice…Shark Empress…Fairy Tail…only a dragon can slay another dragon…" With that, she sighed and coughed. She became still, eyes closed, hands in Daniel's.
Alice felt a tear run down her face and she quickly licked it off. She glanced at Daniel, worried for her friend. She slowly lifted her hand, it was shaking terribly. She swallowed her tear and placed her hand gently on his shoulder.
Alice was thrown back and landed on Grey, who was in the middle of fighting. Alice looked up and realized everyone had been fighting during Anzu's last moments. There were thousands of Chandras. At least one for every person fighting, some were even fighting two. All of them were only using martial arts and a sad expression was on all of their faces. The magic chains in her hands and feet were glowing, probably the cause for the multiple Chandras.
She looked back at Daniel and felt her heart stop. Daniel's hands were fisted and shaking, cracks could be heard throughout the room and ceased all the fighting. Everyone stopped and glanced at the glowing boy. The air around him shone a deep royal purple as stones in the floor rose out of the ground. He held out his hand and a white spark blinded the people. As eyes cleared, they saw a magnificent sword with a wicked curve flash in the moonlight and Daniel was wearing spiked shoulder pads and scary looking gloves. He had a deep purple chest plate on and black pants tucked into a knight's boots.
"Interesting…" Erza murmured, into the dead silence.
Daniel glared at the black dragon, who eyed him curiously. Daniel was fast, immediately he was in midair, eye to eye with Acnologia. He brought the sword down, but was much slower than he would have liked. The dragon simply brought a claw up and blocked the blade. Daniel bounced off, but was caught by Erza.
"Daniel correct?" She yelled over the now resumed fighting. "You have equip magic!"
Daniel quirked a brow at her and listened to her as she told him to follow her lead. They were an amazing duo, complimenting each other's style of fighting. This may have been Daniel's first time using magic, but he was an expert in fighting. They were able to put up a great fight for the dragon, but in the end, he got the upper hand.
Acnologia knocked all of them away like flies. Makarov was furious that he couldn't even occupy the dragon long enough for him to give Makarov a second look.
"You vex me mortals!" he yelled. He raised his head and opened his mouth. A black, menacing sphere formed.
"Daniel!" Erza yelled. "Try to equip into defense armor! Purely defense!"
Erza transformed into adamantine armor and Daniel closed his eyes concentrating. When he opened his eyes, he saw himself covered with a knight's armor but on his arms were two halves of a ginormous shield, on the front was a purple lion with purple roses entwined within the lion's mane. He put his shield-clad arms together to complete the shield and waited for further instructions.
"EVERYBODY!" Erza yelled. "Get behind us!"
The rush of people scrambling for cover was deafening but what came next would make the feet pale in comparison. There was a blinding light and all was silent. Everyone discovered they were suddenly on their backs and disoriented. Natsu sat up and saw Daniel and Erza scratched up, pieces of their armor still attached but the majority scattered around the room. Natsu crawled over to them and tried shaking them awake. He even tapped their faces, but he got no response.
Wendy scrambled over as well and hurriedly placed her fingers on their necks. She froze and her eyes widened. She jabbed her fingers into their necks, hard enough to probably leave a bruise. Finally, after a minute, she took her fingers away. They shook as she tried to wipe her tears, but was surprised when Alice came over and hugged her, wiping her tears away for her. Alice licked the tears off her fingers, but ended up having to stop and wipe away a few stray tears that left tracks on her own face.
There were sudden cries of shock and horror as the bodies of the people who didn't make it were found. Lucy shook, watching as Levy was carried out of the way by Jet and Droy, her own tears spilling uncontrollably. Her hand went to her eyes as if she was trying to force the tears to stop. The numbers kept piling up. Their numbers dwindling.
"Fools. I don't see why you fight since it is too late to do anything. The ritual has already begun and it won't stop until a soul has been drained," Acnologia growled.
Natsu's fist slammed into the ground and his eyes were filled with determination as he growled right back at the dragon, "I don't see why you had to use Kotone of all people!"
"Insolent vermin! You dare question me? I don't have to answer you at all," Acnologia said, effectively dismissing Natsu and he turned to watch Kotone's obvious pain.
Natsu grinded his teeth, extremely angered. He felt his hands ball into fists and heard the sound of knuckles popping. He roared, fire erupting all around him. He shot up and raced to the jagged pyramid. Again he was met by that invisible wall, but he was prepared for its repelling nature and muscled his way through it. He sprinted up the broken stone slabs, seeing Acnologia's tail start to swing at him out of the corner of his eye. He kept running. He ran as fast as he could, but he saw the tail. It was going to hit him. He sprinted even faster, if that was even humanly possible. He could see her small body, almost…there! He was so close Kotone's freezing body was radiating its cold aura all over his hand. The extreme cold was so intense that Natsu's fiery aura died out, leaving his body unprotected. His fingers were millimeters away from hers.
The tail, he glanced at it, it was millimeters away from his face.
…..
A/N Not as long but everyone is finally there and the Empress Shark's war has started! Just in case you didn't understand what they meant when they said they have been waiting for the war. I actually had this done within three days of my last chapter but I didn't have a chance to re-read it due to essays and auditions for adv choir. Unfortunately for me, being the nice person I am, I had convinced 14 other people to try out for adv choir, lessening my chances of getting in. After the auditions, we found out the next day who got in. I did not. And then, to add salt to the wound, the teacher for the class said I would have gotten in, but there were other people who just harmonized better than I did. Those people were the kids I had convinced to audition….Yay for me….
Due to practicing for the auditions, I lost a lot of opportunities and a lot of people who told me to not try out are mocking me for my stupidity. So, that's really the reason why I didn't have the spirit to proof-read this chapter for a while.
Enough about me! I'm glad my Royal Loyal Readers have stuck with me this far! I'm extremely happy that we have new members as well! A couple of my buddies found out that I had an account on here and immediately demanded for a link XD! Made my day slightly better. I estimate around 3 more chapters. Give or take a few.
Now for reviews!
Edward the Pure Okay! I promise not to make Gajeel look bad…for now! No XD! I never planned on making Gajeel look bad. I actually have a lot of respect for him and admire his attitude towards his comrades. Also Thanks about the info of the number 7! I really couldn't think very well and still can't at the moment due to only 3 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours…
TheOrangeNeko It's fine! As you saw, I didn't really get this chapter up as fast as I could have…. Thanks for the confidence boost about the OCs. That really means a lot to me since I am using your OC.
So my Royal Loyal Readers, until further notice…I leave you with this cliffhanger. Until next time!