Särakaotus

"A…. dragon?" Wendy murmured. Natsu's jaw would've been on the floor, if not for the goo that covered his mouth. So dragons still exist? he thought.

The dragon was indeed a sight to behold, but both Wendy and Natsu knew that something was not right. It's dark purple scales looked dull, its claws seemed blunt, and its wings were tattered. It looked like a being that once was truly magnificent, but had since fallen to decay.

"Over four hundred years ago, this beast appeared in the skies of Edolas, only to plummet to the ground," Byro explained, "It was weak, and vulnerable. It did not take long for people to realize the power it held within. A power we could claim for ourselves. We created this titanic device to harvest its magical energy. Its sustained this city on its own power for all this time. Using the dragon's power, we were able to create the Dragon Chain Cannon, along with many other great feats. The creature's name, is Särakaotus. Some also knew it as the 'Eclipse Dragon'."

"'Eclipse Dragon'?" Wendy asked. She quickly ran her memory. Grandeeney had told her about other dragons that Wendy would have to watch over. Admittedly, Wendy was quite long at the time, and wasn't always paying attention, but she did remember some names. Was "Särakaotus", or some kind of "Eclipse Dragon" among them?

"Yes, but 'Subject S', is far easier to say."

"How are you doing this?" Wendy asked, "There's no way any dragon would work with people as horrible as you!"

"Well, its not as if it had much of a choice. It was too weak to fight when we captured it, and hooked it up," Byro answered, "In addition, those tubes which extract its magic are also keeping it in a forced slumber. The creature has been sleeping for centuries."

"How could you do this to such a proud creature?" Wendy demanded. Natsu's eyes glowed angrily, and if he had been able to speak, he probably would've said the same thing, albeit with more profanity.

"Kegh! Kegh Kegh! Necessity is greater than even the Queen," Byro answered, "This dragon has been the lifeblood of our kingdom."

"Then why do you still need to steal magic? Why do you have to destroy guilds?"

"Well we can't have others wasting it, the power of Subject S may be vast, if not infinite, but you can never have too much. Besides, they only ever had magic by our good graces. They don't deserve it! Not to mention chasing guilds is quite entertaining!" Wendy looked up towards the dragon.

"Dragon!" she called, "Särakaotus! Please hear me! You have to still be in there somewhere!" However, the dragon remained completely still.

"Its been in that state for hundreds of years," Byro said, "You think your voice will awaken it after all this time. This creature is but a shell of what it once was. Glorious as it could've been, it isn't anything remotely like it now." Natsu was staring up at the dragon in silence. It had been so long since he'd seen a dragon, and he couldn't take his eyes off of it. Could it potentially know where Igneel and Grandeeney are? he thought.

"You're a monster," Wendy muttered, tears welling in her eyes.

"Again, necessity is what is most important," Byro said, "And that is ironic coming from you, seeing as your probably closer related to Subject S than you are to me."

"His name is Särakaotus!" Wendy snapped, "He's a dragon, not some tool!" Natsu let out an angry grunt. Byro just laughed.

"No, I'd say its a tool through and through," he said, "As you are to be." He then held up a large device to Wendy. Natsu roared in rage, though it wasn't very effective under the goo. His chest was glowing bright. The goo seemed to be restricting all of his magic power, but if it wasn't, he'd be raging in Dragon's Eye, if not Dragon Aspect.

"As your magic is being extracted, it will merge with that of Subject S. Take the combined power of three dragons, and with what we're about to do, we will truly have infinite magic!"

"What're you going to do?" Wendy demanded. Byro smirked darkly.

"I suppose there's no harm in knowing now," he said.

(down the hall)

Lucy and the Exceeds hurried down the hall, trying to find the way towards where the Dragon Slayers were being held. Lucy was being held by Happy, since she couldn't run with her swollen belly.

"Why would the humans turn on the Exceeds?" Lucy asked, "Aren't they angels?"

"Only in name," Carla answered, "But it doesn't matter what's going on. Its not our problem!"

"What's going to happen to Natsu and Wendy?" Happy asked.

"If those ministers from Extalia are to believed, their magic is going to be extracted," Carla answered, "And this'll have something to do with this 'Subject S'!" Suddenly, they were intercepted when a spear landed in front of them. Lucy recognized that spear.

"Erza!" she yelled, "Don't you have bigger problems than us!"

"Perhaps, but you're far too infuriating to let go," Erza answered. Suddenly, the spear glowed, and there was a sudden massive explosion, sending the group flying. Lucy twisted so that she landed on her back, holding tight onto her stomach.

"So you're still alive, huh?" Erza said as she and her soldiers approached, "Well, that's a feat in of itself." Suddenly, there was a massive screaming sound from down the hall. The group recognized that scream.

"Wendy…," Carla whispered.

"You bitch!" Lucy hissed, "What're you doing to Wendy?"

"We're taking her magic, as well as that of that overgrown salamander, and adding it to that of Subject S," Erza explained.

"For crying out loud!" Lucy snapped, "What is Subject S?!" Erza paused to think.

"Well, you're going to die anyway," she said, "So I'll tell you. Subject S is the code name for the dragon, Särakaotus." That caught the group off guard.

"There's a dragon here?" Happy asked.

"The dragon has been here since the time of my ancestors," Erza explained as she pulled the spear out of the ground, "Its been the essence of our kingdom. This spear, the Ten Commandments, was forged from one of its teeth by my great-grandfather's great-grandfather. It is through its power, that we've managed to conquer almost all of the world." There was another scream from down the hall. It was Wendy's scream again.

"Wendy!" Carla cried. The cries echoed across the hall, as tears began to stream down her face.

"Stop it please!" she begged. Lucy was going to cry as well, but suddenly a shoot of pain went through her belly. It was immense dread that she realized that it was a contraction, as a wet feeling began to go down her legs.

"No!" she cried, grabbing her stomach, "Not now!"

"What's wrong Lucy?" Happy asked.

"The baby's coming!" Lucy cried. That got everyone's attention.

"She's giving birth?" one soldier asked.

"I'm not trained for this!" another said. A third went up to Erza.

"Captain Knightwalker," he said, "If she's giving birth, shouldn't we…."

"NO!" Erza declared, as she heaved up her spear, "The girl must die!" Suddenly, Happy stood in front of her, holding up his hands.

"I won't let you hurt Carla, Lucy, or her baby!" he declared, "I'll protect them all!" Happy… Carla thought. Erza looked over Happy, and her teeth clenched.

(Flashback)

In a small house on the edge of the Royal City, a young Erza Knightwalker was playing in a small pond.

"Erza!" her mother called, "Come in please!"

"Coming, Mommy!" Erza answered, as she ran up to her house. However, when she got in, she noticed several Edolas soldiers. But she also noticed several large cats in armor. Exceed Royal Guards. But what Erza really noticed was her father, who was sitting on a chair, his face solemn.

"Mommy?" Erza asked.

"I'm sorry, baby," her mother said, "But mommy is going to have to go away for a little while."

"Go away, but why?" Her father had his fists clenched.

"Is this truly necessary?" he said, "This woman is of no true consequence."

"The Queen has spoken," an Exceed said. But he didn't say anything else after that.

"Goodbye Erza," the mother said as she rose to her feet, and stepped forward, "You promise not to take my daughter?"

"The decision is the Queen's," the Exceed said. He then held up his fist, and socked her in the face.

"Mommy!"

"Take her away!" the guard ordered.

"Mommy!" Erza cried, as she tried to reach for her mother, as she was dragged away by Exceed guards. The Edolas soldiers were all bowing before them, as Erza's crying father was holding her back.

"Be strong, Erza," was all her mother said as she briefly looked back, "I'll always be with you…"

(End Flashback)

After losing her mother, Erza had been taken in by her father. There, her father trained her how to fight, and bestowed the familiar heirloom, the Ten Commandments. He once told her that the greatest thing a warrior can have is conviction. And Erza found that conviction: destroy Extalia, and the Exceeds.

"Taste my vengeance," she said, as she began to bring her spear down on Happy.

Suddenly there was a large explosion from behind them. Everyone turned, and saw several soldiers being blasted away. Three figures appeared through the dust.

"You'd so readily kill an innocent child?" a familiar voice said, "That's beyond twisted." Lucy, cringing through another contraction, looked up.

"Our code in the guild is protect people," another voice said. One much more familiar voice. Erza heard that, and her eyes widened.

"That's… impossible," she said. Then the dust fully cleared, and revealed three people. Standing before everyone was Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, and Erza Scarlet. Erza Knightwalker just stared in utter shock.

"Another Captain Erza?!"

"And aren't those others Gray Surge and Juvia Amezo?!"

"No, those are the one's from Earthland!"

"You know, Juvia," Gray said as he stepped forward, "we've never actually got a chance to fight together before."

"Should we make this our first time?" Juvia asked, as she offered her hand.

"I'd say so," Gray answered with a smirk, "Now let's go!" With that, he and Juvia clasped hands, and launched forward.

"Freezing Torrent!" they said, as they thrust their hands forward. There was then a massive swirl of icy water, that blasted away all the soldiers. The only one to dodge was Knightwalker, who leapt into the air. But she didn't aim for Gray or Juvia. She aimed for Scarlet, bring down her spear. Once the spear and the sword collided, there was a burst of energy. But neither knight flinched.

"Erza vs Erza?" Lucy muttered, before crying out, as she felt another contraction.

"Lucy!" Juvia said, as she ran over to her.

"We got to get her to Wendy!" Carla said, "She may not be able to do anything with child birth, but she may be able to do something to help."

"Go ahead you two!" Scarlet called back, "Protect Lucy!" After freezing the goo off, Gray picked Lucy up.

"Let's go Juvia!" he said. In another time, Juvia would've shouted at Lucy, but this was now, and Juvia was willing to do it herself. With that, the group ran down the hall, as the two Erzas clashed.

(down the hall)

"You three were the only ones in the plaza?" Happy asked. He and the others were running down the hall towards the cavern where their Dragon Slayers are supposed to be being held.

"Yeah," Juvia answered, "That giant lacrima was just Erza, Gray and myself."

"Then how'd you get out of it?" Happy asked.

"Gajeel helped us," Gray answered.

"Gajeel's here?" Lucy asked, still in Gray's arm, holding tight to her stomach.

"So is Levy."

"That's right!" Carla said, "Gajeel is a Dragon Slayer too! That means the Anima didn't work on him!"

"Mystogan then sent him up here too," Gray explained, "From the looks of things, Dragon Slaying magics able to undo what happened to those turned to lacrima."

"Really?" Carla asked, "Wendy and Natsu can turn the others back to normal?"

"Carla and I know where the lacrima is!" Happy said.

"Really?" Gray asked.

"Aye!"

"Gajeel's tearing up the entire city!" Juvia said, "You have to go find him!"

"Aye ma'am!" Happy said as he flew away, as the others kept on running.

Eventually, they came up to a large door, which Juvia blasted open with her water. Byro had managed to slip away by the time the group arrived, finding both Natsu and Wendy unconscious. But what they actually noticed first, was the massive dragon that was suspended from the ceiling.

"Is that a…," Juvia began.

"There really is a dragon down here," Happy murmured.

"Hate to ruin the sense of awe, but giving birth here!" Lucy snapped.

"Oh yeah!" After removing the chains, the Dragon Slayers flopped to the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, "Put me down Gray!" Gray was inclined to protest, but still gently set Lucy down beside Natsu. The blonde cupped her boyfriend's face.

"Natsu!" she said, "wake up!"

"Wendy!" Carla said, as she jumped to her friend, "Please forgive me!"

"Come on flame brain!" Gray said, "You got to get back up!"

"Have they taken any X-Balls?" Juvia asked.

"What?" Carla asked. Juvia pulled out a small vial of red balls.

"Those were the balls that Natsu and Wendy took when they got here!" Carla said.

"Well that removes that as an issue," Gray said, "But they're still unconscious." Lucy snuggled up to Natsu, as she let out a gasp from a contraction.

"Come on you big idiot," she said softly, "You've got to get up. I need you now more than ever. its coming. Our baby. You're about to be a father." Suddenly, Natsu's chest lit up like a furnace, as he grabbed Lucy's hand, and his eyes opened wide.

"Natsu!" Gray and Juvia said in unison, as they smiled.

"Lucy," he said, as he stroked Lucy's face, and then looked at her stomach, "Our kid is coming?" Lucy just nodded. Natsu clenched his fists, as he rose to his feet.

"You guys are here to?" he asked, looking at Gray and Juvia, "How'd you get here?"

"Its a long story," Juvia said.

"And you're welcome for saving you," Gray said. He half-expected Natsu to leap at them, but the Dragon Slayer didn't.

"We've got to end this now," he said. Right then, Wendy started to get wake up as well.

"Wendy!" Carla cried happily.

"Carla?" Wendy asked weakly, "You're alright?"

"I'm so sorry!" Carla cried, hugging Wendy's chest.

"We have to do something!" Wendy said, "The Royal Army…. they're going to use the lacrima as a bomb! They're going to kill all our friends!"

"What?!" everyone save Natsu asked in surprise.

"By funneling our magic, as well as that of Särakaotus, into the Dragon Chain Cannon, they're going to smash the island with the lacrima into Extalia! Then it will cause eternal magic to rain down on Edolas!" As the news was setting in, Natsu looked up at the dragon.

"I'm going to wake up Särakaotus!" Natsu said firmly.

Note: Well, a lot is coming up now. The thing about Lucy's status as pregnant, she can't really fight. So I decided to have her give birth now. Don't worry about Lucy being removed from the story, she's not

I decided to give Knightwalker a more personal story about the Exceeds. Why it all happened will be explained further on. I also decided to split up Scarlet and Knightwalker's fight to the next chapter, since If figured it deserves more.

"Särakaotus" comes from the Estonian word for "eclipse".

Be sure to review.

On an unrelated note, having recently caught up with RWBY (which I highly recommend), I'm going to start working on a story for it.