A/N: Hmm... That expression. Let's just get to the point.
Brain Teaser: I was told this chapter can get confusing. The point of views alternate between the present and past. It is noticeable by the variations of the name Ophiuchus and Snakey. So when you see the name, 'Snakey', think of the present. When you read the name 'Ophiuchus', think of past.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
LIGHT CASTS A SHADOW
Chapter 14: SNAKEY THE SNAKE
Yukino took out the golden gate key with a black snake coiling around it. She took a deep breath. She wasn't alone. Her friends were here with her this time. She could do this. Yukino announced with feigned confidence as she pointed the key up to the sky, "Open—The 13th Gate! Gate of the Snake Charmer: Ophiuchus!"
When she came to a halt, everything went completely still. But there was something else present... a malevolent tension in the air. The sky turned dark and a deep pitched ding-dong noise hung in the air as it slowly reverbated throughout the area. It was coming.
"Erza-sama, Rogue-sama, get ready." Yukino tightly gripped her keys.
"Hn." The knight mage re-equipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Rogue nodded his head in a similar fashion.
Yukino's breathing became irregular and her trembles were getting worse. Rogue glanced at her in concern. Yukino was normally so composed, and yet the only time she had ever broken down in front of him was seven years ago. The calm passive mask she built was falling apart.
A portal appeared directly in front of them after a few seconds. Everyone readied their magic as a... purple garden snake(?) popped out from the vortex.
"Hi-Ya! I'm Snakey!" The cute little snake excitedly bounced up and down on the ground. "SNAKEY the SNAKE!" The adorable serpentine creature looked eagerly at the mages.
Snakey the Snake looked just like a purple garden snake, roughly around two feet in height. It wiggled its neck and curiously bobbed its crowned head at them. Everything about the tiny serpent was bursting with contagious ethusiasm. Erza just blinked in confusion.
This wasn't at all Rogue had expected. Erza looked down at the snake and
held out her hand to greet him, "Hello, my name is Yukino."
Ophiuchus looked at her curiously, before taking her hand with the end of his tail. "Gee, aren't you very polite?"
Yukino must have been easy to flatter because her face instantly turned red. How interesting. He hmm'd at her reaction, "You must have been the one to summon me correct?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Yukino!" He beamed brightly at her, flashing open the toothless gums of his mouth. "I hope that we'll become the best of friends!"
"Me too..." Yukino heaved a dreamy sigh and smiled. "I really hope we do."
"Don't worry, pal! It's just a feeling but," He winked, "I know we will
never let you harm Yukino ever again." Rogue growled.
Yukino hid behind him as his piercing red gaze poked at the cute snake. Snakey the Snake merely tilted his head in confusion. He inquisitively peered back at the dark haired dragonslayer. "Yukino, are these your friends?"
The celestial spirit mage immediately tensed, what little confidence she had gained immediately vanishing. She said nothing, not trusting her voice. Her gaze was downcast to the ground as she meekly nodded her head.
Snakey instantly perked up, "Ah, then you must be Rogue. No wonder you're so edgy!" Rogue's eye twitched as the snake's face warped into a sorrowful expression. "Golly, I would never think of harming another person, especially Yukino. In fact, we still haven't made our contract yet. How could you even accuse me of harming my own bestie?"
For a brief second, Erza lowered her guard. Maybe she was blushing, because all of a sudden her cheeks felt warm and she was feeling suddenly silly. It was beyond ridiculous, even for her, that they were having a conversation with an itty-bitty snake. How could something so adorable do those things to Yukino? Her voice betrayed her as she unconsciously voiced out her thoughts, "He's so...
cute!" Yukino awed at his adorableness.
Ophiuchus laughed, "Aw shucks, you're going to make me blush!"
The duo spent the night filled with useless, yet lighthearted conversations before dropping into a comfortable silence. The serpent mused at its new toy. The pathetic celestial mage was so endearingly stupid and kind almost to a fault. People like her in this world were practically asking to be hurt.
It's been about four hundred years since Ophiuchus was last summoned. It was amusing how people desperately sought him out for answers. Every time, he'd challenge his brand new toy to some sort of impossible challenge and then watch in giddy amusement at their destruction. Some people were fun to break. Few broke in extravagant, yet satisfying ways. He was interested to see which kind Yukino would turn out to be.
"Yukino?" He called.
"Yes, Snakey?"
"We're friends right?"
"Of course we are!" Yukino shyly smiled. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"Heh, sorry for sounding sorta silly." He hissed the 's' sounds with his practiced snake tongue. It made Yukino laugh at least.
Yukino needed a sprinkle of reassurance every now and then to finally ask him of her desires. All she did for now was spend time with him and try to get to know him better. However, they only spent times like this when she was sure they were absolutely alone, just like he requested. Her kindness not only confused him, but made him curious. This girl was very interesting.
"Snakey, I need to talk to you about something." Yukino sat straight up, looking resolved.
Ah, finally... Ophiuchus gazed at her in excitement. The moment of truth!
"...I need your power to help heal my friend. I did something terrible to him—something I deeply regret. Before, I was terrified of using your key. I was scared because the Serpent can represent the vices and evils of this world. Deceit, Trickery, Corruption..." When her voice trailed off, he rolled his eyes.
Then she began to look at him in a brighter, uplifting emotion that he experienced countless times. One that made him feel sickened and unusual in the sense. It was hope. "But the Serpent can also represent Healing: Medicine, Restoration, and Recovery... I believe that you are good. I ask that you would please lend me your power to help fix my mistakes. I want to make things right again."
"Of course, Yukino, of course! I'll do anything to help a friend in need," Ophiuchus exclaimed, giving Yukino a pat on the head. "And you're completely right. I am all those things."
"Wait..." She looked at him in shock. "What?"
This is going to be so much fun!
"But... before we start the contract, I'll have to perform a little test." His voice dropped the sugar and now dripped with venom, "I'm going to attack you. You're going to fight back. I must test your worthiness to be my contract-holder."
"Wh-What? We have to fight?!" Yukino jolted. Violence was never involved with discussing a pact, ever. "Snakey, I don't want to fight you," She backed away, instinctively grabbing hold of her keys.
"I know you don't, buddy," Ophiuchus said. He pouted, "But how am I ever supposed to test your power and will? Asking for my help comes with a lot responsibility, you know. I'm sure you were warned never to trust a snake."
"We dont have to fight!" She begged, "Please, don't do this. We... We're friends, aren't we?"
"Oh, Yukino. You silly girl... We're the best of friends!" Ophiuchus cackled in a high-pitched laughter. The celestial spirit mage flinched as his true colors were revealed. "Are you prepared to fight me like your life depends on it? Because guessss what?" He smiled, revealing a sharp set of fangs, "It ssssorta does."
Then he
transformed.
"Erza-sama, be careful!" Yukino warned, her face filled with horror. She was just a second too late.
Snakey the Snake was no longer an adorable purple garden snake. No. His face split open and he crawled out of his small serpentine body, which was discarded like a wrapper. Snakey was now a midnight-black — humongous snake-like creature towering over Erza like a skyscraper. The upper part of his new body was covered in a series of massive dark-blue scales with razor sharp edges.
Snakey immediately dove down at the re-equip mage, his metal jaws sporting massive blade-like teeth with jagged edges. With instantaneous reaction time, Erza unsheathed countless swords to parry the deadly fangs. Rogue punched at his eyes with conjured shadows. Snakey's reptilian pupil-less eyes seethed with demonic rage as he retreated and burrowed deep into the ground.
The three mages felt huge tremors in the ground as the almost mechanical serpent carved through the earth. Rogue and Erza guarded the celestial spirit mage, intently watching the ground for signs of the snake resurfacing. Yukino raised a golden gate key to the sky and chanted, "Open—Gate of the Heavenly Scales: Libra!"
A charming belly dancer with a pair of scales in each hand appeared from a portal, awaiting Yukino's command. "Please change the gravity of the earth to bring Snakey back up to the surface!"
Libra silently complied and thrust her scales into the ground. The earth stopped quaking and Snakey was forced back up to the surface, directly underneath the Sabertooth mages. The ground shattered and his jaws mechanically snapped open as Yukino and Rogue began falling to their deaths.
Yukino yelped—another gate key unceremoniously raised to the sky, "Pisces! Help!"
A ding-dong noise resounded as the pair of black and white fishes spiraled into the side of the serpent, tackling him away from the falling mages. Rogue grabbed Yukino by her waist and recoiled off the broken pieces of earth to land safely back onto the ground.
When Yukino was out of harm's way, Rogue immediately headed back into the battle with shadowy fists. Erza darted back and forth between the coils of Snakey's immense body to boost her momentum. "Dance, my blades," She said as a myriad of swords rapidly spun around her, clashing against the Serpent's
fangs, lingering dangerously close to her neck. All blood was drained from Yukino's face as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Scary. All of this was frightening. Judging from the wild gleam in his eye, Yukino could tell that the snake was savoring every moment of this.
"Wowza, you sure took quite a beating!" Ophiuchus winked. He reverted back to his original form, a cute little serpent coiled tightly around Yukino's torso, "Let me fix you up a bit, pal."
Ophiuchus drank in the sight of Yukino thrashing away in terror. If it wasn't for that damn Celestial King, he would have already ripped the poor girl to pieces. His gaze lingered on the black and blue marks on her skin. It wasn't often he used his healing magic. Yukino failed to struggle away from the approaching green light.
"Boop!" The tip of his tail gently made contact with her forehead. The bruises and deep scratches covering her body healed within seconds, "There, all better!"
Yukino grimaced. Her body stiffened, knowing better not to speak—not to retaliate from his grasp. He was impressed; this girl was learning fast!
"I like you, Yukino," Ophiuchus gazed deeply into her frightened orbs, "I'm not allowed to kill or permanently disfigure you; however, I can't say the same for the others. As long as you wield my key, I'll be with you forever." He watched as Yukino shuddered. "I wonder what your guildies will call you now. The 'Useless Flower' thing obviously won't work anymore, huh? Then how about... 'The girl with the Demon'. I mean, yikes! Has a nice ring to it, don'tcha think?" He added a cute wink. Yukino didn't even react. Good. Very good.
Ophiuchus seized her throat with his tail, forcing her to meet his gaze at eye level. The celestial mage scrabbled frantically as he restrained her easily. He needed to make sure she was paying attention; he had to get his message across.
"I have just one last for you to remember before I go. After all, you wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you? I need someone strong to be my master, so we'll be fighting like this every few nights to make you stronger... And if you ever tell another living soul about any of this,
I'LL KILL ALL YOUR FRIENDSSSS!"
Snakey let out a demonic shriek, causing everyone to cover their ears. He beat his tail against the ground, hoisting himself up into the sky. An insidious black energy guzzled inside his throat with an unsettling noise stirring in the background. The next moment it vanished.
Piercing black light. Everyone was suddenly flying through the air.
Yukino rubbed her head. The fall wasn't long, but it hurt so much. The sudden impact cleared her head enough for her to realize that she was blown away by the large-scale attack, along with everyone else. Rogue and Erza were laying scattered across the floor, and her celestial spirits were almost fading away completely. She got up to her knees and stared at everyone in horror.
"E-Everyone...!" Yukino rasped. "This is... n-no... it's just like before!" Her composure had crumbled. She was gasping heavily, her keys falling from her hands, completely forgetting about the looming threat behind her. The serpent was charging up another deadly attack in the gullet of his throat.
The others were making movements getting up. Erza and Rogue were still alive, but Yukino couldn't see past her terror. She was reliving the moments of the one-sided massacre against the snake. Everyone was going to die and it was all her fault. The panicked look in her eyes was certain that history was going to repeat itself. Her gaze desperately cast over her only friends, her eyes desperately begging for someone—anyone to help.
But nobody came.
Even with the combined efforts of Erza, Rogue, and her spirit companions, it still wasn't enough. If she just kept matters to herself and suffered alone, everyone wouldn't be in danger right now. Snakey focused the growing energy in his throat into the huge sphere expanding in his mouth.
"You idiot!" A sharp cry bellowed. "Get out of the way!"
A quick red blur dashed within her sight. A red cat flew towards her — wings outstretched — as Snakey released the blast. Yukino continued to stand frozen in place, panicking even as Lector was barreling towards her. Her eyes flickered towards his for a split second. The look in his eyes was determined.
.
.
.
The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. Yukino tumbled out of the blast radius as Libra motioned her scales to soften her impact. Everyone's eyes were on her and Lector. Erza was currently clashing against the snake. Rogue leapt back up to his feet and shouted something to them, but the sound of her pounding heartbeat drowned it all out.
Pisces were doing their best rebounding against Snakey the Snake to divert attention away from their mistress. Erza re-equipped into a sash covering her chest and a red hakama for pants. She virtually donned no armor as she completely abandoned defense and focused primarily on attacking. She slashed repeatedly at Snakey's hard scales with a pair of katanas to no avail.
"Yukino, snap out of it!" Rogue yelled, as he dodged another attack from the snake.
Yukino carried Lector within her arms... the exceed's left wing was completely vaporized by the blast. "Lector..." She was shaking her head, as if denying everything that had happened would suddenly make all the bad things disappear. "Wh-Why..."
"Gravity Change!" Libra's angry yell was heard in the background as she assisted the pair of fishes slamming against the demon snake. Erza slashed at the base of his head, earning another bloodthirsty roar.
"M-Make the contract," Lector's voice came out like a whisper. His throat burned like fire, but he tried again. "Make the contract, Yukino. I'll be fine!"
Yukino gave a wide-eyed stare, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You...!"
"We make the heavens roar, the earth boil, and the sea silent. You are not a useless flower—You are a Sabertooth wizard!" He shouted fiercely. He took a deep breath, "Right now I believe in you, so finish the pact!"
"I-I will." She swallowed. She would do this. For the sake of everyone who believed in her. For Rogue, who had hovered by her side since the very beginning. For Erza, who desperately longed for Lucy's return. For Lector, who risked himself to protect her.
For Sting.
"Haha... Just don't make me regret... saving your sorry butt..." Lector closed his eyes. She looked down at the crippled exceed in her arms. His remaining wing faded away as his magic dissipated. An unbridled emotion began stirring wildly in her chest. Rage.
"He was protecting you, Yukino!" Rogue called, avoiding another attack. "Don't let his effort go to waste. You're not alone this time. We can do this!"
"...Ophiuchus." She said under her breath, setting Lector gently onto the ground. Her eyes were ablaze and shined with a newfound confidence. She stood up, no longer shaking, and pulled out the gate key with the black serpent coiling around it. Yukino pointed it towards the giant snake.
"You. Will. Lend me. YOUR POWER!"
A/N: The flower has truly bloomed.
I was inspired by the writing style of Ayu Ohseki's fic: Strange Places, with the cool shifts in PoVs. I wanted to try it out, so hopefully it turned out well.
Snakey the Snake is my new favorite character! Ssssnake-ity, snake, snake, SNAKE! Does he even count as an OC? I have no idea. What do you think of him? I wanted to try making spirit contracts like those the summon spirits battles in Tales of Symphonia, and this monster sort of happened. Whoops.
Next Chapter: Answers