The Burning Chill
Things were completely silent, as everyone stared at the staff, that was once Erza Scarlet. Finally, Happy said something.
"Erza turned into a stick!" he asked. Everyone then started screaming over each other.
"What are we going to do now that our strongest member was turned into a stick?" Macao asked.
"That's the important thing?" Gray said, "Not that Erza's now an inanimate object?"
"Technically she's a staff, not a stick," Warren commented.
"I can't beat Erza like this!" Natsu said, "There's nothing fun about fighting a stick!"
"Enough!" Makarov yelled. Everyone was silenced immediately, as the Master came up, as he looked down over Erza.
"What happened to her?" Mirajane asked.
"I'll be honest, I have no idea what just happened," Makarov answered, "I've never seen this kind of magic before. But for now, nobody…." Natsu rather suddenly picked Erza up, looking over her.
"Natsu!"
"She looks kind of cool though," Natsu said, "And I bet…." He was silenced when a sword appeared, and held to his neck. Natsu, on rifle, dropped Erza, as she clattered to the ground.
"Was that…," he asked.
"Erza?" Mirajane asked. Makarov bent down, and picked her up.
"Erza, can you hear us?" he asked. The eyes of the staff glowed again.
"So she's still in there?" Elfman asked, "She's a real man!"
"Can you blink once for 'yes', and twice for 'no'?" Cana asked. Erza's eyes flashed once.
"Alright, at least now we can communicate," Makarov said, "Now we need to figure out how all of this happened."
"I'm going to go find Lucy and show her this!" Natsu said, as he ran out of the door to go find his pregnant girlfriend.
"Can you heal her Wendy?" Natsu asked.
"She can heal injuries, not curses," Carla answered.
"Should someone go get Porlyusica?" Levy asked.
"I've got an idea!" Happy said, as he flew to the closet, and pulled Klodoa out.
"The hell's going on, you stupid cat!" the staff demanded as Happy carried him out.
"Why are you bringing that guy out?" Natsu asked.
"Well, he's a stick like Erza," Happy said, "I figured he might know some stuff."
"First, I'm a staff, not a stick," Klodoa responded, "And second, its not like we have some kind secret code between us." He then looked at Erza.
"Oh, this sure sucks for you," he said.
"What do you mean?" Wendy asked.
"Hate to break it to you, but this girl has been cursed by a Furari Potentia," Klodoa said.
"Uh what now?" Kinana asked.
"Its a spell that allows someone to steal a person's magic power by turning the person in question into some kind of item, a pole arm apparently in this case," Klodoa explained.
"So how do we reverse it?" Levy asked.
"You can't," Klodoa answered, "Now that she's been transformed, she's at the complete beck and call of the person who concocted the potion. The only way to undo the effects, is for the caster to either to do it themselves. The alternative is of course killing the caster."
"How do you know about all of this?" Cana asked.
"What, you think I was always like this?" Klodoa asked, "I used to be a man until Brain turned me into this."
"You used to be a man?" Wendy asked.
"No I used to be a frog."
"Wow, you're a talking frog?" Happy asked.
"I was being sarcastic you stupid cat!" Klodoa snapped.
"What, if the same thing that happened to Erza happened to you, why can you talk?" Elfman demanded.
"Brain gave me the ability to speak," Klodoa answered.
"Well, we need to start investigating," Makarov said, "Let's retrace Erza's steps and see…"
"LUCY'S GONE!" Everyone turned to see a panicked Natsu standing in the doorway.
"What are you talking about?" Macao asked.
"I'VELOOKEDALLOVERTHETOWNANDICOULDN'TFINDLUCYANYWEHRE!" Natsu cried. He was silenced when he was slapped across the face by Makarov.
"Calm down boy!" Makarov said, "Now slow down and tell us what happened."
"I was going to look for Lucy, to show her what happened with Erza, but I couldn't find her!" Natsu explained, "I checked everywhere! Our house, the park, the salon! The church! Everywhere! Lucy's disappeared!" Everyone began muttering about the girl's disappearance.
"Calm down everyone," Makarov said, "We'll figure this out."
"Do you think that this might have something to do with Erza turning into a staff?" Kinana asked.
"More than likely," Makarov said.
"Do you know anything?" Happy asked Klodoa.
"Yes," Klodoa said, before cackling, "But I won't tell you!" He was then grabbed by Natsu, whose chest was glowing.
"Tell me," he ordered, "Or you'll be lucky if there's still ash after all."
"You won't kill me!" Klodoa said, as he began to shake slightly, "You… you need me!"
"Try me." Natsu's body then began to steam, as his eye slowed. Finally, Klodoa gave in.
"Alright!" he said, "I have a theory, but there's a chance it might not be true!"
"Its better than nothing," Gray said.
"There's a dark lord by the name of Frieze, though lots of people probably know him as the 'Burning Chill'," Klodoa said, "He's a thrall of Grimoire Heart, but maybe after the fall of the Oracion Seis, he wants to establish himself as their replacement. If I remember correctly, he was always rather obsessed by the Furari Potentia. He may have been the one to give it to the red head. I don't know if he had anything to do with the blonde's disappearance though. And before you ask, yes, I know where his lair is."
"Well, its a start," Cana said.
"Alright! Where is it?!" Natsu demanded.
(with Lucy)
Lucy stirred, as she opened her eyes. Instinctively, her hands went to her stomach, where her baby was. After feeling nothing out of the ordinary, she let out a sigh of relief. Lucy then looked around, noticing she was sitting in one kid of otherwise dark prison cell, but was offset by the queen-sized, bright pink bed she was lying. The last thing she remembered was running home to get her things, when something hit her, and she blacked out.
"Took you long enough." Lucy looked around, and saw a woman with short green hair sitting in the corner, staring at her.
"Were you watching me while I sleep?" Lucy asked, "That's creepy! And what the hell am I doing here?! Where am I!"
"You are in my master's lair," the woman answered, "And now that you're awake, my master will see you now."
"Yeah, and I'll certainly go with you for this," Lucy said sarcastically, "Have a taste of…." She then felt around her person.
"Oh yeah, we took your keys," the woman said, as she stood up, "Now come along quietly, before I decide to forcefully drag you there."
"Screw you!" Lucy said.
"Alright then, I guess you'll be coming by force then," the woman said. Lucy was abruptly knocked in the back of the head by some force, knocking her out again.
When she came to, she was sitting on a stone pedestal. Looking around, Lucy saw what would've been a beautiful green lawn surrounding the pedestal, if not for the snakes slithering around. They were primarily red, save for strange red markings around their eyes.
"I know what you're thinking." Lucy turned, to see a man sitting a throne, which she was at the foot of. The man was tall, with sharp features. He had short, slicked hair, that was split down the middle. The right was bright red, the left was dark blue. His eyes were also different colors, the left also being dark blue, and the right also being red. On his left ear was an earring that resembled a snowflake, and on his right, was one that resembled a flame. He wore some kind fight armor, that was split down the middle between black and white.
"Those are blood snakes," the man explained, "One drop of venom is powerful enough to kill a whole battalion of men."
"Who are you?!"
"My apologies, I was rude," the man said, as he cleared his throat, and stood up, "My name is Frieze." Lucy paused, she felt like she heard that name before.
"Aren't you one of those dark lords, or whatever?" she asked.
"You've actually done research, eh? Good, I don't have to explain as much to you," Frieze said, "And the answer is yes. I'm a dark lord, in control of a total of ten dark guilds. But I imagine that number climbing in due time." Lucy put an instinctive hand on her stomach.
"What do you want with me?" she demanded.
"Not a thing."
"Yeah, that's completely believable," Lucy said, glaring harder, "Again, what do you want from me?"
"And again, not a thing," Frieze answered, "You have nothing I want."
"Then why did you kidnap me?" Lucy demanded, "Once my guild finds out about this, there's going to be hell to pay. And when my boyfriend gets here. Oh, you better hope he's not the first to find you!" Frieze didn't seem that intimidated, instead, he just grinned darkly. It was a grin Lucy didn't like.
"My utmost congratulations with your coming child," he said. Lucy paled, as it dawned on her.
"Wait," she muttered, "You don't mean…"
"The children of mages generally aren't born with the particular skill of their parents," Frieze explained, as he held up two fingers, "But there are two exceptions to that rule. Those two exceptions are Dragon Slayers, and Celestial Spirit Wielders. Both of those magics are very internal, going down to the very core of one's body; its a part of your entire being. A child born to one of them is likely going to possess a greater potential for such a magic. But the child of both type, will be a forced to be reckoned with upon its reach to adulthood." Lucy tried to back up, but then remembered the blood snakes. She covered her stomach.
"So that's why you want my baby?" she asked, "You want to use him."
"Yes, but probably in a more literal sense than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"Ever hear of the Furari Potentia? A concoction that turns people into magic tools?" Frieze inquired. The answer was "no", but Lucy was too terrified of the prospect to care.
"Once your child is born, I will have it ingest the potion," the dark lord further explained, "It will turn into my newest tool. And all the power that dwells within that child will belong to me."
"No way in hell!" Lucy said, as she tried to get on her feet, on for Frieze to snap his fingers. Several large spears of ice appeared at Lucy's throat.
"Well, I'm afraid you're not going to have much choice in the matter," he explained, "I'll be taking that baby one way or another."
"Newsflash, buddy," Lucy said, "I'm only two months pregnant. Hell, I'm not even showing yet! You're kinda early!"
"That's not an issue," Frieze said.
"What do you mean…," Lucy began before pausing, "Wait you meant to tell me…."
"Magic truly is spectacular," Frieze said, grinning, "Some spells can bring people back from oblivion, others allow people to summon immortal beings from a realm of stars, and there are even spells that allow someone to accelerate the pregnancy of a woman. Relax, this spell has been used before, it won't affect your baby. What it will do, is make your body go through the remaining six months of pregnancy. Think of it as being a void where time passes faster." Frieze jumped to the long, as the snakes around him seemed to spontaneously combust, as the walked down the lawn, and out of the circle. He then snapped his fingers again. Several men approached the pedestal, forming a circle around the lawn. They then held up their hands, and began to murmur some form of chant.
Lucy suddenly began to feel herself hovering up. She looked towards the ceiling, noticing the opening in the sky. But circling around the opening, were six statues of woman, with glowing orbs on their stomachs, their hands outreached. Upon looking closer, Lucy saw that all the statues seemed to be made out of lacrima.
"Let the ritual begin," Frieze said. The statues hands then glowed, as magic energy came out of their palms, and encompassed Lucy. Suddenly, it as if someone had simply turned her off, as she closed her eyes and fell into a deep trance.
"How long will this take?" Frieze asked. One of the performers, who was rather short and hunched over, looked up.
"From this point, till birth? Half a day at the least."
"You may not have that time, Agora," Frieze explained, "Do it faster."
"That might not be possible, my Lord," Agora answered.
"Then make it a possibility," Frieze responded, as he strolled down the cavern hall, folding his arms behind his back.
During this, Lucy remained her trance, as the magic swallow her body. Save us… Natsu…
Note: Keep something in mind. That being that I don't foresee this arc being particularly long. I heard people say that a child of mages shouldn't be necessarily born with the magic of the parents. But I think it makes for a more interesting story if they at least have the basics. I tried to give an explanation for it.
Let me also say that Frieze is one of my favorite OCs. However, he's not the same character as the one for EOTBD, with reasons that will be explained as things progress. One example, is that he's not Ul's brother in this version, and reviving her is obviously not his goal. Likewise, this version of Agora isn't interested in betraying Frieze.