Last time, in A Subtle Prophecy Amongst Chaos
Everyone has come together and that includes the Shark Empress and the rest of the guild. They had just entered the room of rituals when Acnologia attacked them and sent Chandra after them. Due to Chandra's magic cuffs, she has multiplied to an insane amount that was occupying everyone. Alice got fed up and directly attacked the black dragon. Anzu tried to distract the dragon but her tragic end was the result of her efforts. This seemed to be the final straw and Acnologia finally decided to pay attention to the fighting warriors. He dealt a devastating blow which was mostly blocked by Erza and Daniel, who had recently discovered his magic abilities. Hundreds of the rescue force was taken out, including Erza, Daniel, and Levy. Natsu, as courageous as ever, defied the probability of his odds and charged straight to Kotone. But did he make it?
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So cold…where did she go?
…
…
…
I hope she's okay….
Kotone stumbled to her knees, tripping over her own feet. She had been wandering aimlessly in her white valley of endless fog and mist. She let herself fall to her side and curled up into the fetal position, shivering. The only warm spot on her body was one of her fingertips and even then it was only slight.
She hadn't heard anything from the voice for a while. How long though? Weeks? Years? Decades? It felt like an eternity had passed since she had heard anything. Her lower lip found its way between her teeth and she slightly bit it to draw her attention away from the cold. Her breath, despite the fog, made noticeable little puffs in the freezing air. The puffs of steam made her want to smash her head against a wall, but instead she turned her head into the white ground and closed her eyes.
I am not a dragon. I will not be a dragon. I will be a humane dragon…
She heard a gasp and it was immediately followed by her own. She bolted upright and looked around, but her white abyss was slowly greying. She bent her stiff knees as she took a few steps, as if she knew which direction the gasp came from. She closed her eyes and listened, but she ended up having to resort to her eyesight. No magic.
She gasped and her knees went out from under her. She put her hands out in front of her, to try to brace herself for impact. Her hands hit the ground but the cold had gotten to her. She fell hard but rolled so she would lessen the amount of damage she received.
"Kotone!"
Her eyes flashed around, trying to find the source of the voice. She saw nothing. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Nothing in this snowy place was real. It was only a place the ritual had conjured to keep her in a safe place…
"Where are you?"
She closed her eyes, accepting the fact that nothing she did would ease her mind.
"Kanon! ...Kotone! Anyone?"
Kanon? Must be the name of the person I heard before…I'm tired…sleep…never waking up…I could die with my human half…then everyone will be able to accomplish things that will become legends for future generations…Makarov would like that for his kids…
"Kanon? Ka-Kotone! Are you okay? We got to get out of here! Everyone is fighting Acnologia and we need to get you out of here and to a safe place!"
A scorching hand grabbed her shoulder and she hissed in protest. The hand shook her and she swatted it away but her heart wasn't in it. She was just waiting at this point. Waiting for everything to be over, she was done.
"Kotone what's wrong? Are you too cold to move? You're freezing! We need to figure out how to get out of this place. Any ideas?"
Her eyes opened, but they were glazed over, not focusing on anything. Her limbs were slack and her breath evened out till she could have been mistaken as asleep.
"Kotone!" Natsu hovered over her and looked her in the eyes. What he saw didn't make the knot in his stomach relax. He picked her up and carried her on his back as he walked around, looking for an exit. He never stopped talking to her. He told her about everything that had happened since she left the in the meadow. How they met Kanon in the music box. How she had helped them. How they had named her. How she showed them the way. How they ran all night till they had caught up with her. How Daniel had figured out how to get into the caves. How they got split up and were so happy when they heard her talk to them in the tunnels. How they found the room with the levers. How they found the way to the ritual room. How they met up with everyone else. How the battle was going so far…
During his entire monologue, his concern grew with every word he spoke. Her breath on the back of his neck had his skin crawling. Her breath was cold…
"You got to talk with me here…ask me questions! Say something! Don't leave me hanging!" he said with a smile on his face, trying to hide his extreme distress.
He was met with silence, which gradually turned his expression into one of grim determination. He walked a little faster and focused on the task at hand. Even though the chasm was silent, he almost missed her sentence…
"…I'm glad that I get to be with a friend in the end, even if you're a figment of my imagination…"
He froze in his steps, shock and horror written all over his face. She didn't believe him.
"Can you feel that?" she breathed. "A wind is coming…good bye my friend. Take care of Makarov for me…"
Natsu placed her on the ground and forced her to look at him. He held her face between his hands and his face was so close that the tip of his nose brushed hers.
"Kotone. I am real. Why would you think I wasn't? Everyone is out there fighting for you, dying for you! And you tell me that I'm not real, that I'm not really here to save you?"
Her eyes were half closed from the exhaustion of being so cold but she smiled warmly at him. She lifted her hand and weakly tipped his head down. She kissed his forehead and whispered to it,
"Silly, I'm already half dead. I'm hallucinating. I know this because look at my hands…"
He glanced at her hands and saw that her fingers were abnormally long and her nails were turning black and sharp.
"Acnologia failed. My plan worked. He won't get the power he wants. I made sure of that."
"ACK! Gawh!" Natsu yelped as his back felt like it was being torn apart. He blinked and saw Makarov holding part of the black dragon's tail, lessening the blow to Natsu.
What just happened? He thought to himself. I'm now back in the fight.
He crawled out of the hole in the wall he created when he was hit. Glaring, he growled at Acnologia.
Lucy watched as the rest of her comrades stood up, the ones that could, and counted. Natsu, Grey, Gajeel, Alice, Wendy, Makarov, the girl in cuffs, and 39 others, most of them from her guild, were still able to fight. Before the fight even started, there were so many that she couldn't count all of them in an hour.
She grew a spine and stood up, her hand on her keys. She was one of the people who had more than one Chandra fighting her though, she was beyond exhausted. She had called out three spirits already, but looking at the determined expressions of everyone else gave her strength. She whipped out a golden key and said,
"Leo the lion! I summon thee!"
A golden light appeared in front of her but it fizzled out as soon as it came. Lucy gawked at the empty space in front of her, but soon the empty space was filled with black spots. She fell to her knees and her hands shakily went to her head. They rubbed her eyes weakly and saw as everything in her vision wobbled. Her head met stone, or at least it would have. Gray had run over and caught her before she could injure herself further.
Gray grimaced at the sorry sight he was. His legs had black marks that resembled scorch marks and his hands were the same. He had barely gotten behind Erza and Daniel before Acnologia had fired what it was at them.
He tried to stand up again, and managed to twitch a finger. He had used everything he had to run across the room to catch Lucy before she received a concussion. He scowled at his unresponsive legs and tried willing them to move.
He scanned the room for Wendy and saw her standing off to his left. He opened his mouth to ask if she could help him, but the words froze on his lips when she saw the expression on her face. It horrified him for he had never seen such a scary face. It was a mix between panic and anger. Her mouth was slightly open but was set in a deep frown. Her eyes were as wide as they could be but her eyebrows knit together as she stared at a fixed point.
Gray felt his own eyes widen in surprise and looked for Alice, hoping she would be able to explain what was going on with Wendy. Alice was behind him and he almost gasped, she was wearing the same expression as she knelt on the ground. She didn't budge or give any indication that she noticed Gray's gawking. He quickly hunted for Natsu and Gajeel, but he wanted to scream and pull his hair out, if he had enough energy. They had the same expression and it was so unnerving that he felt sweat start to form on his forehead.
A drop slowly made its way down the side of his face. He desperately wanted to wipe it away, but he could only lean against the wall and watch, having pushed his limits farther than he ever had before. His vision started to un-focus and he had to force himself to blink and stay awake. There was no way he would pass out while everyone was still fighting.
But there was no fighting. Makarov and Acnologia had been staring each other down, neither making a move. It was only when Acnologia's head had whipped around to look at Kotone did Makarov sense that something was off.
Gajeel was the one to break the silence.
"What is that?" His whisper could hardly be called a whisper. He breathed his question, but the room was so quiet, that it echoed and bounced into everyone's ears.
Gray was confused, the only thing he could tell was off, was the horrifying expressions they wore. Other than that, nothing was surprising in his opinion.
"It's Kanon…" Natsu breathed back.
Wendy started shivering and Alice's lip quivered. Then Wendy's shivering became violent shaking as Gajeel broke out in a cold sweat. Natsu's eyes widened as understanding graced him with its hateful presence.
He pushed himself up and sprinted back up the steps. He was stopped however, by Makarov's giant hand blocking the way.
"No boy. I may not know what's happening, but I know that no one should go near her at this time," he whispered.
Even taken the blind would know that something was happening. The atmosphere started to move. It was shifting and not in a good way. Kotone's skin was covered in white scales. Only her stomach, lower back, and head resembled skin. But the head was about to be taken over as well. Along her jaw, there was the faint outline of scales forming. Her hands were no longer hands. Her feet were no longer feet. Sharp talons had replaced her nails and her fingers were extended like her toes. On her feet there was the dragon trademark of having a toe on the back of the heel and her eyes had become golden with the elongated pupils.
Suddenly her chest bucked as if she was having a violent cough and she inhaled sharply. Her lower lip was caught in between her teeth as her fingers twitched. It only lasted for a moment before she froze, almost as if someone had hit pause. Her form pulsed as a faded shadow of herself expanded and dissolved into the cold night air.
Then, a sound that had all of their skins crawling, a blood curdling scream erupted from her, with her mouth tightly clamped on her lip. The scream was not from her.
Then, despite his own warning to Natsu, Makarov darted up the stones and grabbed her hand.
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"Awh!" she gasped. Her hand had become extremely warm. She held it to her face, but that only made her hand cold.
It had been at least a year since the apparition of Natsu had appeared and kept her company. She often wondered why it was Natsu of all people. If this abyss of nothingness really wanted to torture her, they would have sent her brother.
Unconsciously, her hand went to her neck, where she trusted that her guild tattoo still was. She smiled despite herself. She was happy she made him smile like that before she died.
It worked. It actually worked. After all those years of planning and waiting, they weren't spent in vain. She had accomplished her final goal: sabotage the ritual.
Her smile grew and she almost laughed. Her human self was under the impression that only it would be used and turned into magical power. But Kotone refused to let her be the only one to die. Her dragon soul would be great for magic power and definitely enough to give a healthy serving to every member of her guild.
This is when she barked a laugh. Stupid Acnologia. He didn't learn too much about this ritual. By dying, she would control who got the magic power and she was going to give it to Makarov, his guild, Chiyoko, and her organization. None for Acnologia, the sucker. Undoubtedly he would have found another sacrifice after her, but she made sure to take care of that too. If Makarov and his kids didn't take care of him, then she had a certain person who definitely would take up the job for her.
She sighed and her smile dimmed, the only drawback was that she would slowly turn into a dragon in this world. She wouldn't be able to walk and sleep as a human. She didn't really mind too much though, because no one was there to judge her. No one….
I will be a humane dragon…I will be a humane dragon…I will not lose my humanity in this world…
"BAKA!" A smack to her head had her eyes cracked open.
She glanced up but saw nothing.
"DOWN HERE YOU MORON! I'm not that tall!"
Kotone rolled her head around and glanced at the little form of Makarov. A smile danced on her lips as she closed her eyes and attempted to move her arms. She hadn't budged from the spot Natsu had left her at. She didn't have the strength to lift her heavy dragon hands and feet in this world. She probably wouldn't be able to move until her dragon arms and legs came.
She sighed and gave up any attempt to move. She opened her eyes and smiled at him lazily.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up."
His frown deepened and his face became a crimson red.
"You may be ancient but that gives you no right to act so casually in the middle of war!"
Her eyes squinted as she thought back to when Natsu was talking to her.
"Hmm," she said, "Natsu said something similar before. Something about you guys coming to rescue me. My hallucinations are nice. They tell me nice stories about how people cared. Too bad none of it is real. How can a dead person be rescued?"
She was met with another smack across her face. She slowly looked back at her polture geuste. Mean little bugger it was…
"Kotone! You are not dead! We ARE fighting for you! And I AM going to save you! You have hundreds, maybe thousands of more years to go! No way am I going to let such an influence on my guild disappear forever! I have maybe one or two more decades at most! You promised to become my successor and I'm going to hold you to that promise! Now get a hold of yourself and understand what I am saying!" he yelled in her face.
During some time in his ranting, he had grabbed her shoulders and was now shaking her. She felt the warmth from her hand spread up her arm and the fog started to lift.
"If I'm not dead, then how come I've spent years and years in here?"
Makarov looked at her with confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when her head fell on his shoulder and rested there.
"You're warm…I missed you."
They were silent for a moment, just enjoying each other's company.
"You know, I was crushed when I realized you had run away…" Makarov said, breaking the silence.
Kotone sniffed and whispered,
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come back, but I was selfish. I really wanted to see you one last time before I died."
He hugged her and felt her warm up as he felt a chill crawl up his back.
"I'm glad you did. We got to share yet another happy memory."
Kotone's arms had miraculously found enough strength that she hugged him back and gripped his cape that he always wore when he went to battle.
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you enough to stay with you when I left you with Mavis."
"I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to go track you down."
"You're the only family I ever had. I wish I was able to tell you how much you meant to me when I came back."
"You're telling me now aren't you?"
"Yes. *sniff* I wish I had more time, but the room…it's becoming black…"
"Kotone?"
"*sniff* Yeah?"
"Would you still become the guild master if you could?"
She hiccupped a laugh and wiped the tears from her eyes as she nodded.
"It means so much to you, of course I would do everything I could for the guild!"
Makarov smiled and patted her on the back.
"Kotone?"
"Yes?"
"I regret nothing."
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"Ssssss!" Kotone hissed. Her back was on fire, not to mention the back of her arms and a part of her stomach. Her clamped eyes cracked up and she saw an arm wrapped around her. She lifted her head and saw Gajeel looking down at her with confusion in his eyes.
He looked back up, at something in front of them, and Kotone saw him visibly pale under the moonlight.
Moonlight? Where's the fog?
"What's going on? Where am I? Am I finally dead?" she asked, hysteria creeping into her voice.
She looked around and saw the bodies of hundreds of people lined up against the walls. The ones that were still alive were badly beaten up and hardly standing, if at all. Chunks of rock were strewn across the room, red stains were splattered everywhere.
She examined the room with horror, she found herself on the verge of vomiting when she noticed Acnologia standing next to the altar. It was obvious he was outraged. He was looking up at the altar, shaking with suppressed anger.
Following his gaze, she looked up.
Few people in the room heard it, the sound of shattering. Something had forced an invisible icy hand down her throat and was tearing her from the inside out. She was numb, focused on the image in front of her.
"Stop."
Gajeel's commanding voice brought her attention to the fact that she was weakly trying to claw her way out of Gajeel's grasp. She looked down at his arms and saw how torn up they had become, due to her recent claws. There was a quiet plop as she found her tears falling onto his bleeding arms.
She looked back up and saw the shimmering form of Makarov under the moonlight.
"No!" she said through her quite sobbing. "NO! LET ME GO!"
She pounded his arms and kicked his stomach with her returning strength. He struggled to hold onto her, with her pushing against his face and hitting his new wounds. His hand slipped and she squeezed her way out of his arms.
She tried to run up the steps, but wobbled every now and then. She made her way up, frantically. Gajeel had given up trying to stop her. For they all knew it was too late.
Tears leaving tracks on her face, Kotone scrambled for the top. The second she reached it, her hand flew out to grab Makarov, but her hand passed through his shimmering body. She fell to her knees and looked up at the smiling golden image of her brother.
Her hand lifted one last time, her feral claws a wicked reminder of what happens during the ritual. The tip of her claw touched the image, but immediately retracted when a burst of golden dust flew out in every direction.
It floated on a nonexistent wind that carried it over the entire room. A thin layer of weightless dust settled on everyone. Gray and Natsu started sneezing immediately, but more dust landed on them, replacing the layer they had lost.
The golden dust glowed a brilliant light that could be considered white, before dying down to its original golden state.
Kotone watched the dust fall into her open hands and brought the dust rich hands to her chest as her sobs shook her body. She glanced up and saw her father glaring her down from a corner of the room, a spotless corner of the room.
She watched as the dust above him fell to the ground, flowing over him without ever touching him. It was as if they were the north end of the magnets, repelling each other.
Kotone felt her hands warm up and brought them to her face. The dust glowed softly and she looked around to see what was happening to the dust falling around the room. She felt her mouth open in wonder as the dust stopped mid-air, glowing a gentle yellow.
She slowly stood up, her endless tears temporarily on hold. She stood there, lost in the beauty of powerful magic. A small smile came to her face and she looked down at the others, seeing their reaction mimic hers. Her smile grew and she knew that the worst was over.
She opened her mouth and took in a deep breath, calming herself. She exhaled but stopped halfway through. Her smile fell and she grasped her throat. She coughed but couldn't breathe. Her claws scratched at her throat as her eyes watered.
Seeing this, Wendy tried to run up the stairs to help her. She had to pull herself up each step, making her extremely tired, but she pushed on. Once she had reached the top, she saw a golden sphere of sparkling flakes spinning rapidly around Kotone. Every once in a while, a gap in the sphere would show Kotone kneeling on the floor, her hands on her throat as her hair whipped around her head in wild circles.
"Kotone!" Wendy yelled. She watched as the rest of the dust scattered in the room crawled past her and joined the sphere. Wendy's reply was another round of coughing that could be heard over the rustling of the golden flakes.
"I'm going to come in now! Just hold on!" Wendy yelled. She shuffled toward the sphere, the wind pushed her hair back and her cloths fluttered. The closer she got the stronger the wind. When she got close enough to touch the sphere, she hesitated, knowing it would hurt to touch the gold dust. She swallowed her fear and pushed against the wind. She reached out, trying to reach Kotone. The she was just about to touch the sphere when she was blown off the altar completely. She yelled out as she flew, but was caught by Alice and they slid across the room. Alice hissed as her skin slid across the rough surface, but was thankful she caught Wendy when the girl rushed to heal her.
Gray watched Alice being healed and frowned at his sorry state. The golden dust had numbed him and he could actually flex his hand. Maybe in a little while he could move his arms. But the dust that had settled on him was gone, flowing toward Kotone. He glanced up to see that the gold sphere had thickened and was practically a solid wall by this point.
"Wendy," he said.
"Gray!" Wendy exclaimed, "I didn't see you before! Are you okay?"
"I will be, but what is that?"
Wendy looked up and gasped, bringing attention to herself. Natsu, Gajeel, and Alice all looked her way. She pointed at the altar and their surprise was voiced.
"What is that?" Natsu yelled.
The golden sphere was just noticed by the three, but what surprised Wendy was that it was turning white, no silver. Before it was solid gold but the gold was being overwhelmed by the silver. In fact it was no a ball of swirling silver with a gold flake here and there.
"I don't know Natsu. I don't know…" Wendy murmured.
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I can't breathe…
Her throat and back hurt, aching even more with every second that passed. Her vision was pitch black and the air was still.
She hissed, knees burning like a thousand suns. She wanted to scream, but had no air for screaming. Her ears rang as she felt the cold floor on her side.
Kotone?
Who is it? She thought, as if answering a door.
Kotone, I'm tired.
Same here.
Kotone, I think I'm dying.
Same here.
Kotone, I'm serious.
Same here.
Kotone, I'm scared!
Same here.
Kotone! Can all you say is 'Same here'?
Do you have to start ever sentence with my name and follow it with a complaint?
Kotone, a different voice spoke.
Makarov!
Kotone, I need you to listen to me.
Of course, but why did-
There's no time for that. Kotone I don't have a lot of power left after healing everyone.
Everyone?
Everyone. I tried to help you and Kanon-
Kanon?
That would be me! Nastu told you he named me, remember? the other voice interjected.
Oh, that's right…
Kotone, you were in there for too long and Kanon was already starting to be turned to magic energy when I pulled you out. She's not going to make it.
So I'm going to join Makarov and make sure this never happens again. Since he's already healed everyone and did what we were planning to do, I can focus on you and only you.
I was going to die with you Kanon.
Yes I know. Two people were going to die tonight no matter what happened. You couldn't prevent either of us dying even if you wanted to.
Yes I could have. Makarov didn't have to die.
Baka! I would have died in a couple of years anyways!
Kotone, I'm not going to lie to you now. Because Makarov has given everyone all the magic they can handle, if I give the part of my life force they have a possibility of dying.
They were silent for a moment, waiting for her answer.
I see, she thought, you guys still need a host…the only other options are me and Acnologia.
Yes…
If I accept both of you, I'm going to lose my human body.
Yes…
This is so messed up. All of this. Nothing is working out liked I planned for the past couple of centuries! Dang it!
Kotone, you might be able to keep parts of your human body…
It's fine. There's no longer a need to comfort me. The world is just out to get me.
We're really sorry…
It's fine. Is the reason I can't breathe…is it because you guys have already started to fuse with me?
Yes.
Very well. I will be a humane dragon.
Kotone, Natsu says Igneel was a very nice dragon. Maybe it's just Acnologia who is a terrible dragon.
I pray this is the case.
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Their eyes were glued to the sphere, including Acnologia's. His eyes were filled with hatred, knowing that his plan was falling apart. He knew something was wrong. His daughter was too obedient. She was a firecracker as a kid, but she grew up away from him, so he assumed that her change in nature was due to his lack of supervision.
How wrong he was.
Gajeel and Natsu stood with Alice and Wendy, all standing around Gray and Lucy, who had woken up.
"So what is that again?" she asked, still too tired to stand up.
"We don't know, but Kotone is in the middle of it," Gajeel replied.
They watched the sphere swirl faster and fast, shrink and shrink. But when it became small enough to see Kotone, they were happy yet confused.
She had gotten to her feet and was breathing in, no, eating the sliver-gold sphere. Her chest slowly grew as the sphere slowly shrunk. As she ate, two golden locks sprouted from her temples. The two lock were a sharp contrast to her silver hair, they grew till they were as long as the silver and then grew a little more. The scales on her body moved and shifted. They moved over her mouth, just below her nose. They shifted and became even more noticeable, each dimly shinning in the moonlight. Her small body looked as if she was a little girl with a snake's skin, as white as a black page that was waiting to be written, save her guild mark on her neck. It was a black beauty mark on her silver skin.
The sphere was shrinking every second. Soon it was a sliver of silver and disappeared in her mouth. She slumped and took in a deep breath, gasping for air.
She turned and glared at Acnologia, who returned the favor. Her voice boomed.
"Is everyone alright?" She said this looking at her father, but it was addressed to the remaining dragon slayers.
"I think we've been better," Alice replied, witty as ever.
Kotone's frown melted away and one of the corners of her mouth rose slightly in response.
"Dad," she began, "I think you have some things you want to discuss with me."
His low growl echoed as it gradually became louder. Kotone didn't bother to hide her smirk as his growl turned into a full out roar. Stones and pebbles rattled on the floor as he roared, shaking the ground. Mid-roar, the room became deadly silent again. Acnologia's mouth was still open and the stones still rattled.
Kotone started shaking. Wendy took a step forward, worried, but stopped. Kotone's mouth was formed in a smile as she laughed, silently.
Wendy's head whipped to the side and she turned to see everyone else looking at each other as well.
"…!...!...!" Wendy exclaimed. Her hand flew to her mouth as no sound came out. She glanced at the others, who were either trying to scream or were holding their mouths as well. Wendy felt chills run down her back as she realized what was happening. It was like she had put a mute on life.
They turned their attention back to Kotone in time to see her dart straight into Acnologia's chest. They flew into the wall, creating a hole in the wall. Acnologia quickly recovered and swung at her with his huge claws, but she was too fast. She was on his other hand, shredding it with her own as he swung. Once he saw what she was doing he tried to bite her, but she was already behind him.
Unfortunately, Kotone could only be ahead of the ancient creature for so long until he started predicting her movements. His tail came and smacked her across the room. She brought her hands down to the floor as she flew, trying to slow down, but she only rolled and crashed into the wall, making another hole.
She staggered out of it, glaring. The next thing the dragon slayers saw was Kotone clawing at Acnologia's eyes. She flipped off of his head, landing smoothly on the altar.
Then for a moment, everything was frozen. Then both blurred and merged together, becoming one blob of blurs. There would be flashes of dark magic and sudden ear piercing noises. Then Kotone ended up on the ground and Acnologia was on the stones of the altar.
Kotone drew her long hair over her shoulder and it dragged on the floor in front of her. A smile played on her lips as she stepped on her hair and slid her foot away, causing the hair to become tight strands. She placed a hand on the tight strands and weaved her clawed hands along the strings, careful not to cut it.
Gajeel immediately understood what she was doing, being the excellent musician that he was. He glanced at Acnologia, who seemed to be waiting for Kotone to make her move.
Gajeel smirked, seeing that Acnologia didn't understand how she had already made her move. He used his magic to turn his hand into an iron pillar and his other hand became covered with an iron case, making his fingers wicked sharp. He dragged his claws down his pillar, pleased with his creativity.
Kotone's fingers fumbled, it went unnoticed by Acnologia, but Gajeel was looking for a sign and he got it. He nudged Alice and showed her what he was doing. She smiled and nudged Wendy, showing her what Gajeel was doing. She smiled and nudged Natsu, showing him what Gajeel was doing. Natsu scratched his head and shrugged. Wendy continued doing charades with Natsu in the muted room as Alice got her own idea.
She placed her hands on the floor and took a deep, silent breath. She focused and felt her mouth become extremely dry. Her tongue felt like sand paper in her mouth and she blink several times, trying to regain moisture to her eyes.
This uses so much water. I'm going to be seriously dehydrated after this…
She watched as water flooded from her hands and slowly started to spread. It reached to corners of the room and she watched as the water level rose. Soon the water level barely touched the top of her hands and she stood up, but immediately collapsed. She sat on her rear as stars danced in her eyes.
Gajeel looked down at her, questioning.
She smiled back, conveying that she was alright.
Gajeel gave her an approving look as he glanced at the struggling hothead. Wendy was still trying to explain what they were doing, but Natsu was getting frustrated and his mouth opened in that familiar way of his, yelling. Wendy smiled and gave him a thumbs up before filling her lungs with air. She brought her hand to her mouth and blew.
Create sound Natsu. That's all we can do for now, Wendy thought.
Kotone's hands were nimble and her smile was deadly. Suddenly she pulled her hands away and lifted her foot from her hair. She flipped hair over her shoulder, a great length of it wet and dragging in the water. Her lips pulled back into a smile, showing her dragon teeth, sharp and wicked. She smiled at her father, glaring her down.
His growl suddenly took over the entire room, along with screaming metal, ear splitting whistling, and yelling, all being carried over water. The room was no longer muted.
The dragon slayers stopped, watching. The growl finally quieting down, but the black dragon realized the absence of noise too late. He suddenly came alert and was watching carefully, backing up unnoticeably.
Kotone's smile made sense to him now. He opened his wings, ready to launch if push came to shove.
Wendy saw and directed the air to blow with Kotone, aiding her in whatever she was preparing to do.
Kotone seemed giddy; she lifted her hands from her sides, holding them out. Her teeth opened and the air left her body. She inhaled and her smile grew. The first word was a whisper but her second word could be described by the actual word.
"…sonic BOOM!"
Her arms clashed together as her hands smacked in a clap. The floor around her feet exploded like there was dynamite planted under the surface. The explosions ran straight to Acnologia, the floor below him blew up and he was launched onto the wall. Wendy's air came into effect, amplifying Kotone's attack. Acnologia was held against the wall, being pummeled by the waves upon waves of sound, blasting him. The waves just kept coming and were sped up by the air.
Kotone released her hands and the buffeting stopped. He fell to the ground and Kotone was standing on him before he could catch his breath. She stomped on his neck, right at the spot where the head connected with the neck, effectively controlling his air supply.
"What's the matter Dad? You seem extraordinarily weak, even for you. But that's because of the ritual, right? I know Daddy. I know your secret," she said, adding pressure to his neck. He squirmed and tried to shift his head to get more air, but she just added pressure. He weakly tried to growl but it sounded more like a whine.
"I know Dad. I know why the ritual had to be today. It's why the old ones are called the old ones. They turned bad. They became warped. Once a dragon becomes warped, they are no longer immortal. So they used their twisted ways to create this horrid ritual that you set up. A ritual that can extend life. This had nothing to do with power. It was all about you regaining your immortality. But you baka, it doesn't work like that, does it? You figured that out a long, long time ago. Before you met my mom. I bet you were sleeping in that meadow on purpose, waiting for someone, anyone to show up. Then when it was my mom, you couldn't have been more excited. You had your sacrifice and one that would happily be your sacrifice for the next time. I bet you were so happy. You realized that you were dying even though the ritual made you immortal again. You were immortal. You lived for hundreds of more years. But then it started to wear off. You realized you would have to keep doing the ritual in order to stay immortal. Sorry, but the next double blue moon is about 30 years. As to why you couldn't do it any sooner was because you have to wait 1000 years in between each ritual and you need a human with extraordinary magical power. Hard to find a willing victim isn't it?"
He foot had unconsciously been putting more pressure on his neck as she talked. Acnologia's hand twitched as he tried to lift it, but he was at his limit.
"Keep your hand down. I'm not done yet. I would have to guess that I'm around 650 years old. I lost count," she spoke to herself.
"674," he said, his voice hoarse.
"How thoughtful, you remember how old I am. Probably needed to in order to keep track of how much longer you needed to wait. The problem with having to wait is that, you can't keep a human sacrifice for safe keepings. They die within a century. So you need to find one with plenty of magic, willing, and within the time period allotted. That's why I was perfect. I've lived 674 years and am still young, I have plenty of magic, and I would have been willing if you managed to keep me ignorant."
She picked up her foot and Acnologia inhaled sweet, sweet air. She replaced her foot on his jaw and forced his head to the side. She leaned on her foot and looked him in the eye, her hair flowing around his neck. The golden locks emphasized her hateful, golden gaze.
"Unfortunately…you didn't," she whispered, looking him in the eye. "I don't want anyone to end up like me. Or like Kanon and Makarov."
She fisted her hand and pulled her elbow back so her fist was parallel with her head. Vibrations radiated off of her fist and is was so compacted that it looked like a heat wave. She watched as his eyes widened and he started squirming again. His claws scratched the ground and his tail twitched back and forth. In a desperate attempt of defense, he tried to lift his head to bite her, but he only succeeded in wiggling his head under her foot and snapping his mouth like a fish out of water.
She put more pressure on her foot and looked him in the eye.
"Goodbye Acnologia." She lifted her arm a little higher.
"STOP," a commanding voice echoed through the lair.
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A/N Okay guys. I don't know if you guys are really attached to this story like I am but I honestly had to stop writing for a week once I got to the part where Makarov and Kotone were saying their goodbyes when Makarov switched places with her. A few tears escaped my control and I couldn't continue. Though when I read it, I'm perfectly fine. Maybe I was caught up in the moment when I was writing it.
Reviews!
keisha. latumahina Thanks! I'm glad you like it so much!
Edward the Pure Sorry the last chapter was shorter than the rest. But this one is pretty long right? I had more time to write, even though I should be studying for finals! Also, WHY ARE YOU SO OBSERVANT! Hahaha jk jk jk! You noticed that something was off with Acnologia when I wanted it to be a surprise that he was basically dying…Oh well. The levers and stuff were supposed to be explained in this chapter but I didn't get around to it so in the next chapter you'll see why those were there. Another note, thanks for the support, but I got to admit, it honestly sucks how the people I convinced to try out now sing whenever they see me. They keep telling me they are serenading me for helping them, but it always makes me feel terrible when I know that voice was chose over mine…Well I got next year to try out. Being a junior trying out will give me seniority because I would be trying out for my senior year. But that just means I have to put up with another year of trying to harmonize with freshmen who are only doing it to get the required Arts credits in order to graduate…That's what infuriates me about reg. choir! They don't care! Some can't even sing! Oh well, suck it up Miu. It's just another year of experience that will further your chances of getting in next year. Anyways, thanks. Your story is as great as always.
TheOrangeNeko I wish you could have seen me when I read your review. I literally fell out of my chair and I think if someone came in and saw me, they would have seen a girl with her eyes bugging out of her head and glued to the computer screen as she peeked over her desk. Really, you are telling me that I am doing a better job with your character than you are? That, that gave me mixed feelings. I was so happy but at the same time I thought you were lying to make me feel better. But thank you, made my day. Also thanks for your support too. You guys made me feel better and I was able to write this chapter.
Tsuki. Raven Oh my goodness! Thank you! I feel honored! Did I update soon enough? Well, thank you for reviewing.
Thanks! Unitl next time my Loyal Royal Readers! Also before I forget. Give a big warm welcome to the newest member of our family, Alice Harkey! She is my amazing beta that helped me edit this chapter! She has an awesome FF going on right now called, The Dragon Masters. Pretty cool right? Go check it out!
So, without further ado, Miu signing out.