A/N: A small edit was made and changed the name of one OC. It was the same as a Canon Character so as to not create confusion I changed it. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything but Kuro Tenebris and any OC here.
The small rays of light entered the room Kuro was in. He muttered something before turning around. Mira regained her magic which was good. Very good. Now Fairy Tail had another strong mage to protect them. He smiled slightly at that. The rays of light crept towards his eyes. He scowled and got up.
He regretted doing so the next second.
"Kira? You there?"
"Barely…Lightning butt's light spell screwed up our link kid. I managed to keep it but it was close, really close."
"I should have been faster. I'm sorry."
"Bah, don't beat yourself up over it kid."
"Are you alright?" the old master asked from beside his bead.
"Besides the massive headache and the sore body, yeah. Just peachy." He sarcastically grunted. This hurt more than that time when he summoned Zetsubo.
"That's good." Makarov smirked before sighing "I would like to apologize." Kuro raised an eyebrow "For how I acted I mean. You had good intentions and also good results."
"Spare me the apologies." Kuro grunted and got up "I don't need them. What I need is for you to trust me. I know what I'm doing and you should respect that." He narrowed his eye at the old man who simply sighed and exited the room.
"Yes he's awake Mira." His voice could be heard from outside before the door opened and in stepped the white haired beauty.
"Hey." He nodded.
"Hey." She smiled and sat next to his bed. She had an apple with a small knife and a plate. She hummed lightly as she began peeling the apple "I should slap you." She eventually said.
"What for?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Going after Laxus…you barely woke up after…" she frowned "Anyway. After you wake up you decide to do the opposite of what Porlyusica said. You're gonna die from exhaustion at this rate."
He scoffed "Hardly. I'm fine Mira."
"You made me worry." She looked at him. Her eyes were boring into his lone one. He resisted wincing. He hurt her and he hated himself for it.
"Sorry…" he muttered before she handed him the peeled apple. He accepted and ate before he smiled slightly. She followed suite and grinned at him.
"You can make up to me on our date." She smirked.
"Eh?" he stopped eating.
"I got to five hundred. Remember?"
"Oh crud." He sighed and nodded "Fine. A promise is a promise. I'll take you out…next week? How does that sound?"
She nodded "Sounds great to me." She smiled and left. He groaned and crashed back down on the bed.
The Fantasia Parade was in full swing. Kuro scoffed as he watched the town folk happily cheering for the mages of Fairy Tail. Fools. All of them. They were this close to dying and they never once thought about it. He stood in an alley as Laxus walked up to him. He was bandaged and had a duffel bag over his shoulder. Kuro paid him no mind.
"Hey Kuro." He called out to him. The young man in question glanced at the blonde haired mage. Laxus took it as an incentive to keep talking "Hey look. I'm sorry about how I acted towards you and the other guild members."
Kuro scoffed and leaned on the wall "Now that you've been exiled do you finally get it?" he asked with a sneer "You had a loving family and you threw it away for what?" he growled.
Laxus looked down "I know I screwed up. I don't need you to rub it in." he sighed before chuckling "So Natsu beat you?"
"Hey, I'll have you know it was a team effort between him and Gajeel. And I also used Fairy Law. My magic got depleted real fast."
Kuro scoffed again before getting up and starting to go to the Fantasia Parade. He stopped "Hope you find yourself Laxus."
"Me too." Laxus sighed before widening his eyes. Kuro and the rest of the guild members had their right hands up in a symbol he created as a kid. He knew what the symbol meant. Tears fell from his eyes as he walked away. He was going to make things right again. He was!
As Kuro sat in the guild hall he couldn't help but look into his drink. He saw his face and scowled. He lost his eye and in turn gained something much better. He chuckled to himself at the irony of this. The master broke him out of his thoughts.
"Kuro. You along with Team Natsu are going to band together with members from other legal guilds to defeat Oracion Seis. You will also be accompanied by two independent mages."
"Oh? How come?" he said before downing the rest of his drink and turning to the short master.
"Right now you are our strongest member along with Erza." That was a simple reason but it was enough. Kuro sighed and got up before nodding. The master smiled and nodded before leaving. Looks like his date with Mira would have to wait. He looked at Mira. She smiled at him. She was okay with it, it seemed. He looked at Team Natsu. They were ready to go. He straightened his collar and the six members started walking.
"Kill…meeee…" Natsu whined as the carriage bumped in a particular way. His motion sickness always amused Kuro. Natsu held so much power thanks to his Dragon Slaying magic and yet motion sickness was his ultimate weakness. He couldn't do anything while on any mode of transportation. He chuckled as Natsu spilled out his breakfast out of the carriage. He got up and loomed over Natsu. He knocked the poor boy into unconsciousness with a kick to the head.
Lucy sweat dropped at that as Kuro sat back down while arranging his sword on the ground. He sat with his legs spread and leaning on a box. He was an enigma to Lucy. Sure he was a good friend to those in Fairy Tail from what everyone was telling her but she didn't see him interact with anyone but Mira. She asked Mira about this. The barmaid simply smiled and told her 'It's just how he is. He may not look like it, but he cares a lot about everyone here. He went to great lengths to memorize everyone's names and looks. He said that's because he's a swordsman but he never told me how that's important.'
"Kuro?"she asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" he hummed and glanced at her.
"You're a swordsman right?" he nodded. What was the point of this? "What's the most important thing for one? Is it protecting people?"
He chuckled "Far from it. Swordsmen don't care much for that. We simply have honor and pride. We show that honor in fight to our opponent. We don't resolve to dirty tricks such as getting inside our opponent's head and insulting him. Of course. That is if we do respect their prowess." He shrugged.
"Okay…" she said and fished around for something "What's the worst thing that could happen to a swordsman?"
"…" he got really quiet at that. Erza, Gray and Happy leaned in to hear what he was going to say. He looked down "To be forgotten." He eventually sighed out "There is no greater disgrace than to not be remembered by time. It's as if we have lost all honor and have been reduced to common mercenaries." He spat "But that's a whole different story." He waved dismissively "It would not interest you." And with that the carriage got quiet once more.
"I can't trust these people…" Kuro thought as he saw the members of Blue Pegasus "I can't trust these people to fight…" he continued with a small sneer. He dodged the flying Ichya. The man flew right into the hand of another and froze instantly.
"Is this how we are greeted?" the younger man scowled "Lamia Scale deserves more respect than this!" he looked at them.
Kuro ignored the man and his companions. They had more magic power than the ones from Blue Pegasus but it wasn't something to brag about. That was until an older man arrived. Kuro smirked. One of the Ten Wizard Saints was here eh? This mission just got a whole lot more interesting.
"Kuro-san." Jura nodded "I see you are also here. When Makarov-dono reported that you were joining us I didn't believe him. I never thought you would have joined a guild."
"People change Jura." He said as he leaned on a pillar there.
"Is everyone here?"
"The mage from Cait Shelter and the two independent ones aren't here."
"Wait. Mage? As in only one?" Lucy asked. Hibiki nodded "How strong is that guy then?"
"We're about to find out." Kuro muttered as a blue haired girl ran in and tripped. Now he wouldn't have chuckled at a young girl's misfortune but the sound she made was simply too amusing. She got up and bowed slightly.
"Uhm…I'm Wendy Marvel. Pleased to meet everyone." She quivered while she spoke. She was nervous before a white cat, the same as Happy showed up "Carla!" the girl obviously knew the cat. She bowed down to the cat's level.
"You know you should not run child."
"I'm sorry but I thought we were going to be late."
Kuro widened his eyes as he sensed the girl's magic power. What was on the outside was easily lower than most of them. What was inside, dormant could easily dwarf his own. It was like Natsu's… and Gajeel's…She was a Dragon Slayer! He smirked as the girl thought she embarrassed herself. His ear twitched and he looked at the door. Someone was coming. He narrowed his one eye before he looked down. Wendy was there and smiling at him "Wow. You're Kuro Tenebris!" she was a fan. Stories about his selflessness reached even her secluded guild. She developed a sense of admiration towards the young man.
He nodded "C-Could I stay with you?" he raised an eyebrow "It's just…the others kinda weird me out…" she fiddled with her thumbs as he glanced at the ones from Blue Pegasus. No doubt they tried pampering her. Praising her for what she will be when she's older. He shook his head at that and she took it the wrong way. He grabbed her shoulder as she was about to leave and he motioned for a spot next to him. She smiled and sat there in blissful silence.
Kuro frowned. The footsteps were getting closer and closer until two figures entered. One was a girl, around Levy's height with pale blonde hair reaching her shoulders and dull blue eyes. Her clothing consisted of a split light blue dress with blue jeans and shoes. Over her shoulders she wore a very short fluffy coat of the same color as her dress. Over her head, she wore a red ribbon. She had an emotionless expression on her face.
The other figure was male with a tall build and purple coat with intricate white symbols on the back of it. The figure wore a white shirt with grey pants and a black belt along with brown combat boots. He had short wavy brown hair with dark green eyes. Tied to his belt was a sheathed katana. His eyes analyzed everyone in the room. Those eyes stopped on him.
"…"
"…"
"YOU?!" they both yelled and pointed at each other. The two reached for their weapons and prepared to fight. They glared at one another before their magic took their usual form. Kuro growled and the man followed. They dashed and two things happened.
One. Erza stopped Kuro.
Two. The girl stopped the man.
Erza held Kuro back while the girl…well she did something else.
"Ow. Ow. Ow!" Fukushu whined as the girl pulled on his ear…hard. She looked at him "Yeah he's the guy." She stared "Wha? No of course not." She raised an eyebrow, he blushed "No way I'm telling him that!" she tightened her hold on his ear "Ow. Okay fine." She let go and he cracked his neck.
Meanwhile Kuro freed himself from Erza's hold and glared at the red haired mage. She simply smiled at him before he sighed. Fukushu approached him while glaring at the ground "…Wanted to thank you…for helping save my sister." He muttered, his gaze never rising from the floor.
Kuro raised an eyebrow "I did no such thing."
"It was when we fought. Since you destroyed that guild, my sister was able to escape." He clarified.
"If you wouldn't have been so weak I wouldn't have needed to help her." He deadpanned at that.
"Oh you piece of…!" his sister coughed and he calmed down "How's the eye?" he smirked.
Kuro's left eyebrow twitched at that "Fine. Thanks for asking." He growled out before everyone calmed down.
"I'm Fukushu Laminas." He introduced himself before his sister stepped up.
"Hana Laminas." She spoke robotically.
"Well then seeing as we are all here how about we get down to business?" a member of Blue Pegasus asked while bringing up a screen of some sorts. Kuro recognized that magic as Archive magic. Useful for categorizing. Not so much in a fight.
He was silent as he watched them enumerate the enemies they were going to face. However, inside he was already making plans. He resisted the urge to smirk as Natsu ran off on his own and towards the presumed location of Oracion Seis. He frowned and followed everyone out. He briefly glanced at the Laminas siblings. The girl ran strategically while conserving her movement. She was on guard. She was prepared for everything. He smirked. The girl was smart. His eye trailed off to her right hand. It was covered by a glove and the sleeve of her short coat. He narrowed his eye. She was hiding something.
Her brother however was the opposite. Kuro could feel the blood thirst around the presumably older Laminas sibling. He, like the girl, was prepared though this was to enjoy the fight rather than to simply not be caught by surprise. He smirked. The man was like him. He briefly glanced at the sword he wielded. His right eye's scar burned and ached. He scowled, ignoring the annoyance.
The group stopped. Kuro looked up and frowned. The Magic Bomber Christina. He scowled. That was a tool. Nothing more. Like a sword. He didn't know why everyone was so impressed by it. Well except Hana. He couldn't read her emotions.
Their happiness was short lived as the craft came crashing down. Kuro scowled. Their enemies were here. He got on guard and so did the Laminas siblings. Seems they followed their instincts as well. Kuro held back and observed how the mage Cobra avoided all of Erza's attacks. He scowled as she was hit by her opponent's serpent. He smirked as he dashed towards him. The younger man barely had any time to react.
He ducked under the strike and smirked as Kuro stopped and glanced at him.
"…Those are some good plans you have. I like two and five the most." Cobra smirked at him. Kuro narrowed his eye before a clap was heard followed by a bright, blue light. An earth fist rose out of the ground and sent Cobra flying into the air. He looked and saw Hana crouched down with her hands on the ground. Was she the one who did that?
"Now sis!" Fukushu yelled and ran forward. He used the rising earth pillars as stepping stones to reach his target. Cobra's pet snake suddenly whisked its master away from Fukushu's slash. Cobra smirked once again but that was before Kuro kicked him into the ground and threw his snake back at him. Kuro gracefully landed back on the ground.
His victory was short lived as everyone else was defeated. He scowled as the Oracion Seis got away. He glared at the others there. He scoffed and muttered "Weak…" He glanced at Hana and Fukushu before nodding in recognition. Seems this group had some good fighters beside he and Erza.
Speaking of the red haired mage, she was currently on the ground and using Lucy's belt to stop the flow of her blood. The strike which Cobra's snake used held poison. She was smart.
However her next words…
"Cut off my arm! Before the poison gets further than this."
That was anything but smart.
Kuro sighed as most started arguing. He breathed in deeply "QUIET!" he roared and everyone shut up. Some birds flew away from the noise. He nodded a small 'thanks' before drawing his sword. He loomed over Erza.
"Wait a sec Kuro! You can't do this!" Gray yelled but he already swung once. Blood was spilled. He got on his knees and started sucking on the fresh wound before spitting out the infected blood. He did so for about a minute before the purple glow subsided considerably.
He got up and bandaged the arm.
"There we go. That should give you a few more hours at worst. A few days at best." He said "I never had that much training with poisons so I can't extract all of it." He shrugged "But I think I know someone who can. Isn't that right Carla?" he glanced at the cat.
"Yes. Wendy can do it. She's the Sky Dragon Slayer." Kuro smirked and looked up at the sky before scowling.
"You feel it too don't you?"
"Yeah. There's something coming."
"What are you going to do?"
"What I've always done. Protect my sister."
"Not always…"
The many voices of Horitsu muttered and he frowned. There was a time when they were much younger and in his opinion stupid. Their parents died and they turned to Alchemy and Dark Magic to bring them back. His sister was a prodigy in the rare science and he was extremely talented in Dark Magic. They combined their efforts to try to perform a Human Transmutation- a strictly forbidden act that even the most novice of alchemists knew not to perform. That damned act cost him his soul and his sister's right arm.
Something happened while he was in limbo and he was pulled back though now he had to share his body with Horitsu. A devil made from countless demons. His sister lost even more for that transmutation. Her magic power along with her intestines were stolen and thus could not process the nutrients in the food fully. She had to take weekly doses of vitamins and nutrients to live. It was a hassle but she would do all that in a heartbeat.
Fukushu knew they were both broken. His sister more than him. He was fine living like this. Horitsu never tried to take over saying that 'When you'll die, we'll take over. Simple as that. We have all the time in the world.' The nightmares were the only things he hated. His sister however, barely spoke. Where once was a childish, happy girl, was now a mature, cold young woman. Fukushu hated that. He was the one who proposed they do the Human Transmutation in the first place.
Kuro Tenebris showing up and helping them indirectly gave her something to look for. She saw Kuro as a role model of sorts. The two could see him broken as well. He was holding it all together for Fairy Tail's sake most likely but other than that there was nothing except his desire for revenge pushing him further. He was dead on the inside and Fukushu wondered if the other young man knew that.
His sister admired Kuro. He was strong and seemed to care for life all around him as long as they didn't cross him. She couldn't help but be thankful to the black wearing young man. After all he saved her and the only family she had left.
He himself respected the black haired swordsman simply for being just that, a swordsman. Honor amongst them was not to be walked on. He started respecting him ever since he accepted the challenge to end their little fight in a single strike.
In any case here they were now. An alchemist and a swordsman looking to make a living and perhaps set everything back to the way they were. Perhaps set things right…
Kuro scowled before shaking his head. Kira was nowhere to be seen…err heard. It had to be Fairy Law screwing up the darkness inside of him. He knew it. He frowned and set out towards Oracion Seis' magical signature.
"Hey Tenebris!" Fukushu called him "Where are you going?"
"Oracion Seis." He stopped "If we have time to mess around, we have time to finish the mission." Hana nodded to herself and got up. She staggered a bit and her brother helped her. She looked at him in thanks and he nodded. She and her brother walked beside Kuro. The young man seemed to understand and called out to the others "We'll go on ahead. You be careful."
The three stopped on a cliff as the massive building known as Nirvana rose up from the ground.
"Nirvana eh? There are some of us that have been affected by it. Do not lose yourself."
Fukushu nodded curtly before Kuro scoffed and jumped off. He plunged to the ground before turning over and propelling himself from the earth wall and climbing on a tree branch.
Fuksuhu was more direct… He jumped off and stuck his katana in the wall, slowing his descent before jumping and rolling to absorb the impact.
His sister clapped her hands and slammed them on the ground. A slide made of smooth earth appeared and she rode it down. She dusted her clothes and started walking.
"Stop staring at my sister Tenebris." Fukushu warned "She's not for you."
Kuro grunted before asking "What was that? Clearly not magic."
To the older sibling's surprise, Hana answered "Alchemy."
Kuro searched his memory about that. He could vaguely remember that Kira told him something about it but it never interested him. She continued as she saw him try to remember about it "It's a science. Equivalent exchange." She muttered but it was enough.
"Alchemy. The long lost science of Transmutation which is essentially understanding, decomposing and recomposing matter. Sounds good on paper I know but it ain't all powerful like me. It's impossible to create something out of nothing. If you want to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. You also can't create organic matter from inorganic matter. Basically it's the law of Equivalent Exchange. In accordance with this law, there is a taboo amongst alchemists. Human Transmuation is strictly forbidden. I mean what would be as valuable as a human soul?"
He remembered that. He nodded at her and briefly glanced at her right hand. She saw him stare and put it behind her back. He tilted his head before scoffing and ignoring the gesture. If she wanted to talk about it then she was going to. Not like he could force her.
The rest of the ride to Nirvana was made in silence. The three reached the massive, moving building as the sun was setting. Kuro looked at the building and sighed. How were they going to destroy that? Judging by Fukushu's look he had no idea either.
"Lacrimas." Hana muttered which sparked an idea to form inside his head. He looked at the six legs and the center of the building. They had to be powered by something. Fukushu had the same idea. The two swordsmen smirked and jumped off the cliff, followed by Hana. As soon as they landed on Nirvana Kuro widened his eye. This feeling…It was familiar…
"Kid? You felt it too?" Kira suddenly spoke.
"Glad to see you're up and about."
"Yeah. Had to recover after Fairy Law hit you."
"This has to be an illusion…There's no way she can be here!" He scowled and started running to the center of the building. He was followed by the other and he smirked. A bright flame engulfed the now starry sky. Seems Natsu and the other made it here. Good. They would prove to be a good distraction.
No way.
There was simply no logical way for this.
She was dead.
He saw her die!
He saw her get mutilated!
He buried her!
His Mother couldn't be alive…
And yet here she was.
"Mother?" he asked out loud. The lookalike stood in the center of the room, operating some sort of machine. She stopped and slowly turned to meet him. He frowned. Half of her face was rotting.
"…" the lookalike didn't speak. It simply tilted its head in confusion. It turned back to the machine and pressed a button. The suspended black coffin started to shake before a young man burst out of it. He had short red hair with two black spikes jutting out of the top of his head and red eyes. He wore a red coat with black pants and red boots. Strapped to his back was a bow and around his neck was a whistle of some kind.
"Back to the land of the living… Feels good to be back!" he yelled and stretched before abruptly stopping and looking at Kuro and the other two. He sniffed once "Oh. You have his scent on you." He frowned "Thought he died out." He muttered before looking at the lookalike of his mother "Shall we go?" he asked. The figure nodded before wings burst out of the young man's back. They were black and leathery.
Kuro shot once but the bullet was stopped by the man's hand. The bullet was between his fingers "Not a very nice thing to do you know?" he said with a smile "I'm guessing you want to fight." He rubbed his shoulders and cracked his neck "I'm a bit rusty so bear with me mkay?" he said before dashing at Kuro. A clap was heard and the earth rose to knock him away. He looked at Hana and nodded. She followed before she and her brother got to work. If he was any other person he would be impressed by their teamwork. Still. People needed to work together like this. Especially if they were siblings.
His eye widened before he dodged the lookalike of his mother's attack. He back flipped away before dashing forward and slashing. It remained emotionless as it blocked the attack. Sparks flew as the cursed blade clashed against the figure's scales. He scoffed. He just had to fight harder!
And so he did. The two became black blurs as they clashed along the room. Cuts appeared over the walls along with small, fist sized holes. The two struck once and a massive explosion of magical power was felt. A single body flew from the smoke of the blast.
"Tenebris!" Fukushu yelled while looking at him. Big mistake on his part.
The winged devil smirked and aimed at him. He and his sister made sure not to give him easy targets but his respect for Kuro got in the way. He wanted to make sure the other swordsman was alright and now he was going to pay for it.
His opponent laughed as he launched his arrow and hit Fukushu. Or that would have happened had his sister not blocked the shot with her right arm. To her credit, she only slightly winced. Her right arm was a fake one but it still hurt. Her hand bled before she looked at her brother. She smiled slightly before fainting.
"No…" he muttered as she fell.
The devil cackled before kicking him right into Kuro.
The two hosts didn't say anything as they got up.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Tenebris?"
"If it's to kill them then yeah. I do." Kuro reached for his eye patch.
"Exactly." Fukushu snarled and drew his blade, summoning Horitsu's power.
Kuro did the same, the black and red aura surrounding him as he took off of his eye patch.
"Let's do this."
"Yeah!"
The two dashed at their opponents. The winged devil blinked before being sent outside by two fists. The two swordsmen turned to the other figure before they dashed at it. Kuro kneeled before kicking it into the air. Fukushu jumped using Kuro's back as a springboard to reach the figure before slashing at it once. It bled making both of them smirk. Fukushu then spun around before grabbing and throwing it towards Kuro. The black haired man smirked as he kicked it into a wall. The other swordsman growled and impaled his sword in the roof before using it to dash at the figure. He slashed once and destroyed the wall there along with cutting the figure in two.
It screeched before exploding in a burst of black smoke and being whisked away by the air current from the hole in the wall.
The two smirked at that. They worked rather well in a team.
"Gah…" Kuro grunted suddenly and Fukushu widened his eyes as the young man got impaled on a wall by an arrow. Kuro growled in pain as he tried to free himself but the arrow simply burnt him. What was that stuff made off anyway?! He hissed as he touched it again.
"Well then. That should do you in." The devil giggled as the whole room began shaking. Nirvana was collapsing "I'd love to stay and play but your friends smell pretty delicious!" He laughed before flying away.
"Tenebris!" Fukushu yelled and went over to him "You alright?"
"I got an arrow in my shoulder that won't come out, I'm stuck to a wall by said arrow and the arrow burns like a- GYA!" he yelled as Fukushu tried to pull the arrow out "Warn me next time!" he yelled.
"Geez. I'm thinking of leaving you here." Fukushu chuckled.
"Screw you." Kuro grunted before sighing "Look. At this rate none of us will escape. Grab your sister and get the hell out of here."
"But-"
"But nothing. Just do it Laminas!" The other swordsman frowned before nodding and leaving with his unconscious sister.
Kuro sighed as he tried to pull the arrow out again.
"Why do I always end up being impaled by something?" he sighed as he looked at the falling rubble "Heh." He scoffed "Still, had a good run. Saved people, protected someone for a change. I couldn't kill the bastard but hey, you can't win them all can you?"
"I hate him!"
"Don't hate your father Kuro-chan! You're a lot like him you know that? You're ambitious like him! Still you look a lot like me so that's what counts! Being ambitious is what I love the most about you, son of mine!"
"Am…bitious…" He grunted.
"Am…bitious…!"He growled.
"Ambitious!"he yelled and grabbed the arrow.
"AMBITIOUS!" he roared and pulled with all of his might.
"That's right!" He yelled in his head "I can't give up. Not until that bastard lies in the ground! That's right!"
"I." he managed to pull out a portion of it "AM." He struggled with the last few centimeters "AN AVENGER!" he roared and tore the arrow out. Blood splattered on the nearby ground and walls as he panted. Now that he took a better look at the arrow he could see it was made out of pure light. Dammit, Kira's only true weakness and in turn one of his.
He growled as his skin cracked, showing a scarlet color. He hissed and gave out a roar before jumping through the roof.
The winged devil smirked as he took aim from above the humans. He prepared his arrows, intending to take them all out
in a single strike. He never intended to be sent crashing down into the ground "What the?!" he yelled before he freed himself from the inhuman grip. A growl was heard from the dust cloud as intricate right lines glowed red. Two larger red points seemed to glare at the devil.
"YOU!" the being roared as the dust settled "DEAD!" the male being growled as the glowing intensified.
"Oh man. This really sucks. I'm so due for a power up!" the winged devil whined before he got punched into the air. The air leaving his lungs as the onslaught of attacks continued. After a few seconds he had enough and blocked what would be a fatal sword strike.
"Is that Kuro?" Lucy asked.
Erza narrowed her eyes. She saw that form before. If it was anything like last time…
Fukushu's skin was crawling. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to run. Kuro was emanating so much killing intent that it wasn't even funny. He was supposed to be a master at that technique and yet here was Kuro doing it without even trying!
"You're…Just like him!" the devil laughed "So much power! You're not human?!" it wasn't a question.
Kuro roared before pushing harder. The devil smirked as the blade cracked. It seemed to resonate with Kuro as the black haired man's form got even more demonic. His cracked skin turned into black scales and from his tail bone a tail sprung out. The tail was black and serrated with ridges on the top portion of it and it had a sharp pointed tip. With his newly developed appendage, Kuro quickly found an opening. He struck with his new tail and hit his opponent.
Or at least that's what he thought.
His enemy actually blocked the strike before flying upwards and shooting an arrow. Kuro stood there motionless as the arrow approached his head. He tilted his head at the last second, making the arrow miss and explode behind him. His body twitched erratically as he glared at the winged devil.
"I'd love to stay and play more but I got places to destroy, people to kill." He fluttered his wings "Cya around Kuro!" he laughed sadistically as he flew off.
"Who was that?" Gray asked.
Fukushu was the one who answered "He was an enemy. Simple as that."
"Hey Kuro you okay?" Natsu asked as he put his hand on his shoulder. Kuro's twitching stopped before his new tail waved erratically.
Natsu blinked.
One inch.
One more inch and Natsu would have died.
Kuro snarled as he slowly turned back to normal. His tail however, remained as did his sharpened teeth. He growled before sheathing his weapon. It needed time to repair itself. It was a magical weapon after all.
He panted as he fell down. Kira's power was getting harder to control.
"The more you use it, the more you lose yourself." Kira reminded him. He grunted in acknowledgement before getting up and cracking his neck while closing his right eye. That fight was an eye opener at least. Staying with Fairy Tail would make him softer.
Still.
He didn't know what was more important.
Mira?
Or his goal?
He scowled and his new tail rose up in anger. He shook his head and sighed.
It was obvious.
His tail brushed his head slightly.
"So…why do I have a tail?"
"It's gotta be my power kid." Kira shrugged "It's not really going to mess with ya, trust me. In fact it's gonna help you. I'll teach you how to use it so you can be as cool as me!"
He resisted the urge to chuckle at that.
"What do you plan to do now Kuro?"
He narrowed his open eye. Kira rarely used his real name. Whenever he did, he was serious.
"I'm starting to become a danger…But I can't just leave Mira…"
"Well…There's no telling if they will accept you like this anyway. You're barely human anymore." Kira's words made him turn to gauge his fellow guild members' reaction. All of them were slightly scared. Even the others from different guilds were afraid of him. Wendy was the one who innocently came up to him.
"Kuro-san?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"T-Thank you!" she said shyly while hugging him. His tail tensed at the contact but he relaxed into the small hug. She released him and he noticed someone different.
"Who are you?" he asked the blue haired man. He said nothing as everyone quieted down.
"He's…a friend." Erza said with a nod. The way she said that perked Kuro's curiosity. She said that more to herself than to him. He shrugged before Fukushu started talking to him.
"Tenebris." The one calling him walked near him "Mind if I ask you something?" he questioned, his sister by his side.
"You just did." Kuro smirked "But go ahead."
"C-Can we uhh…" he hated asking for help!
"Can we come with you?" His sister thankfully came to his aid as she woke up.
"Suit yourself." Kuro shrugged before a field of runes appeared around them. He scowled and looked around "What is the meaning of this!" he yelled as footsteps could be heard.
"My, my. I thought we would only find Oracion Seis here. Yet here you are Kuro Tenebris." He recognized that voice as Lahar an officer in the council's army.
"Release us Lahar." Fukushu growled out. Seems he knew the officer as well "All of us here contributed to Oracion Seis' defeat. So how about you be a good dog of the military and play dead?" he snarled at that.
"…" Lahar was silent before he explained why they were here. They wanted to take the member of Oracion Seis who supposedly helped them. He went willingly with them. Kuro scoffed. He should have fought to not go. He just sacrificed his freedom.
"How about you let us out now?" Fukushu grunted. Kuro could see a faint hint of anger on Hana's childlike face.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that. Not until we have captured our true objective. A man more dangerous than all of Oracion Seis. A man who ordered the firing of the Etherion Cannon, truly black of heart. Jellal Fernandes." He smirked somewhat sadistically "And of course, not until we grab our bonus, Kuro Tenebris."
He frowned. If he resisted now, he would cause trouble for Fairy Tail, not to mention Mira.
"You want to come with me?" he looked at the two siblings. They nodded "Then follow my lead."
The rune field was down, he and Jellal walked towards the caravan of Rune Knights. He looked at Jellal who was glancing down. He smirked as the cuffs were strapped to his wrists.
"What's so funny Tenebris?" Lahar questioned.
"You want to keep Fairy Tail safe? Then you know what has to happen."
"Your little attempts at keeping me locked down." He chuckled before jumping over the man who put the cuffs on him. He strangled the man with the cuffs he had on before breaking his neck and letting him fall "Be merciless." He quickly slipped out of the cuffs during the chaos he created and took out his magnum. He pointed at an officer and shot. His whole head exploded "You'll have to break that one rule of yours to never kill innocents." He glanced at the two siblings. They got the message and started helping him. The three ran.
"KURO!" Erza yelled and he stopped on the top of the hill. He turned around to look at her.
"They'll hate you. They'll shun you. They'll despise you."
"WHY?" she yelled at him.
"But you can take it. You're stronger than all of them. You won't break."
"I wanted to get stronger but Fairy Tail just made me weaker!"
"I got stronger. Thank you."
"Hate me Scarlet!"
"Forgive me."
"I sever my bonds with all of you!"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't come after me!"
"Remember me."
"You all are dead to me! Mira too!"
"I'll never forget about you!"
"See you around!"
"Stay strong."
And with that the three people were gone.
Erza looked down.
"What the hell was that!?" Natsu yelled "We gotta go after him!"
"Could Nirvana's magic have affected him?"
Erza smiled slightly.
No.
He was protecting them.
His right hand's index finger kept twitching as he yelled at them. If he was captured like this, then Fairy Tail would lose face. But if he would act as a criminal that tricked them, then they wouldn't be held responsible. It was a necessary evil. Or at least that's what he thought. Master would have protected him.
Nevertheless the deed is done. All she could now was hope that this mess would get sorted out and he could come back some day. Mira would be devastated if he didn't come back.
As the three people ran, Kuro never looked back though he was worried. Was he too brash? Should he have thought of an alternative? He shook his head. What's done is done now. He just had to keep moving forward, just he always did. He looked at the two siblings and spoke up "I hope you know we will be hunted down by the council." He stated.
"So?" Hana said.
"What sis said. We were already being hunted by them while we were working for that guild so it's not something foreign to us."
"Why did you want to come with me anyway?" he asked as they passed by the Caith Shelter guild.
"It's no secret you want to kill a demon or something." Fukushu said as rain started falling harshly. They didn't stop.
"So?"
"We're looking for something. The Philosopher's Stone. It's a special artifact that can amplify Alchemy. With it we can bypass the law of Equivalent Exchange and get back what was lost."
Kuro simply nodded. He wasn't one to judge someone's goals.
"And we think that the demon has something to do with it."
He nodded once again before they ran faster in the rain.
"Was that really how Kuro-san is?" Wendy asked. They went to her guild and were resting there. Everyone was sleeping except for her and the ones from Fairy Tail.
"No!" Natsu yelled. It was a miracle he didn't wake anyone up. He was hit on the head by Erza immediately after that.
"Quiet Natsu. Some people are trying to rest."
"Sorry." He whined as he cradled his head. Gray laughed at him and the two argued silently. Erza ignored them and answered Wendy's question.
"Yes he does act like that. He's loyal to Fairy Tail. That's why he had to do that." She quickly explained why he did just that before everyone finally slept.
With the winged devil.
He finally landed. He was exhausted after both the fight and flight. He yawned before a voice alerted him "Ah. Orion my little brother. I take it the doll could not return with you?"
"Nope, big bro. It kinda got destroyed while fighting."
"I see." The voice hummed as it and Orion walked into a large castle "Your room is the same as before. I trust you can find it?"
"Of course." Orion smirked and began walking "Hey Maou?" the voice hummed "Thanks for getting me back here." He smiled at the pure darkness flowing around him.
"It was my pleasure Orion." The darkness seemed to smile.
"So. Back to business. What do you need me for?"
"You have met a Kuro Tenebris did you not?"
"Yep. Super strong too. By the way. Why does he smell like him?"
"That's because he's his host." The darkness made a motion for Orion to follow it. They stopped at a wall with something scribbled on it "This is a prophecy, my young brother."
Orion quickly read over it.
"Child of light, bearer of the dark, born as a human, raised as a devil. Cursed blade in hand, dual being, he will fight for what he believes. He might reach his goal, he may fail. The devil lord shall fear this being. Beware of the Destroyer, or the Defender."
"Wow. I take it Kuro's this Destroyer?"
"Yes. That's why we have to kill him or recruit him."
"Let's get to it then." He smirked.
The darkness nodded at that.
Chapter preview:
"We have a lead."
"To what?"
"The Stone."
"Belial…The Demons must be in a sorry state to make him a lord."
"Lord?"
"Well then lad. You oka-Son?"
"You…"
"Ohhh! Daddy issues!"