And a new chapter. Like I said before there will be many Touhou characters that will appear in this story but won't be the major characters, those are still reserved for the main Fairy Tail cast. Satori and Koishi are such characters, so unless by popular demand, they probably won't appear for a while after this arc. Tell me what you think
Leaping out of her old house as it was being crushed was the last thing Mavis thought she would be doing. Stumbling back onto her feat she started running again, she looked to her left and casually flying next to her was Satori with a humored expression, to her right was Koishi who looked like she was having the time of her life.
"Can't you do something to stop it?" she cried in gasps.
"We certainly can, however we would prefer if you took the lead" Satori replied. Glancing back at the approaching Dragon caused Mavis to almost freeze in fear again however it was Natsu's voice that broke her out of her trance.
"You should try attack it head on, remember this is your mind, you're free to do as you please" his advice caused her to stop, conjuring up a large salamander equal in size as the skeleton Dragon and sent it for the attack. The Dragon in response easily swiped it away with its sharp claws before launching its attack. Eyes shut tight Mavis braced for the attack but was surprised that none had come, peaking open her eye she found that a large stone hand had blocked the attack; turning around she saw Koishi holding her hand high.
"Just so you know Koishi is only able to accomplish such feats because she is inside your mind. Remember she can manipulate the subconscious meaning she can manipulate this world" Satori explained. "Though if I'd have to compare, my sister's ability is far more terrifying in the real world" Mavis didn't really know what to say only that she was glad that she had people like them to assist her.
"Yeah..." Natsu started. "I really don't think illusions are going to work here; the Dragon's mindless, it won't be swayed by them" Mavis agreed, but she only had two offensive spells and they both weren't really practical right now.
"Then I suppose Ms Vermillion that you use your illusions as a distraction while my sister brings it down" Satori suggested, clearly having read Mavis' mind. There was suddenly a barrage of water that pelted the Dragon, though it wasn't causing it any serious harm, Mavis could tell that the pellets were chipping away parts of the Dragon's bone.
"Oh? That's a new one Koishi, where did you learn that one?" Satori asked.
"Re-chan taught me a couple of weeks ago" Koishi responded, her voice still laced with glee. Mavis wanted to ask who she was talking about but decided now was not the right time; conjuring up another salamander along with two wyvern's; the salamander circled around while the two wyvern's took to the sky, and as intended the Dragon followed their movement's closely taking occasional jabs at them. Koishi took this chance and created a spike of stone to appear beneath the Dragon piercing it and keeping it place. The Dragon let out an ear piercing roar; Satori raised a brow with great interest.
"Curious" she whispered.
"What is it?" Natsu asked.
"I can hear a voice coming from the Dragon, a girl's to be exact" Mavis having heard this looked at the Dragon; could it be Zeria? Dispersing the illusions she ran towards the Dragon as it continued to flay around trying to free itself from the pike.
"Hey! Don't act so reckless!" Satori called out.
"Let her be" Natus said. "She knows what she must do, it would be best for us to try and provide the necessary support until she can accomplish it" Satori shrugged before speaking again.
"By the way Master, what exactly is this game you are playing with her?" Natsu wasn't really surprised by the question; in fact he was expecting someone like Satori to ask about it soon.
"We are playing a small game of conquest. Who can influence human's to their respective side more, demonification for us and humanification for Mavis; first to ten win's. Interesting don't you think?"
"Indeed it is, however we have a slight advantage don't you think"
"Oh? You think so?" he asked her genuinely interested in what Satori had to say, she nodded.
"After all, the human heart is filled with impurities" Natsu laughed.
"True, true, however this is what makes it interesting; Mavis, who is probably one of the few who possess a pure heart. I want to see how she goes about maintaining that purity" Satori smiled, a little impressed.
"To think that you could tell that she had a pure heart without my ability, you truly are good at judging someone's character" Natsu just laughed.
Mavis running straight for the Dragon was not without worries. If it really was Zeria's voice then she could only pray for her safety. She moved in closer.
"Zeria!" she screamed the name causing the Dragon to halt its movements before turning to her.
"Mavis?" and there it was, though the voice was not vocal, rather she heard her name spoken to her almost telepathically. "Please help me Mavis..."
"Zeria! Tell me what's wrong?" she was getting closer, but there was no response. In fact Satori who's eyes widened in realization when she heard a sinister laugh come from it screamed out.
"Koishi! Stop that thing!" the Dragon at blinding speeds attempted to clamp its jaw down on Mavis. But just before it made contact a stone fist punched the Dragon's head away, Mavis who stumbled off her feet could only stare stunned at what just happened.
"Natsu Dragneel! How irritating that you would be here" Zeria's voice echoed from the Dragon's head.
"Zeria? What are you talking about?" Mavis asked.
"That isn't Zeria" Natsu told her. "But honestly Ankherseram, is taking control of a girl the best you've got these days?" Natsu sighed. "Oh how the great have fallen these days"
"And who would have thought that you of all people would help such a pathetic child." the voice was now distorted, it was a mix of Zeria's own and another.
"What did you do with Zeria?" Mavis demanded. Ankherseram laughed, the Dragon head turning to Mavis.
"What do you mean? Zeria was never alive to begin with" was its response. "She is nothing but a distant memory" Mavis glared at the Dragon.
"Yes, but she is my memory and I will not let you take her away" Ankherseram continued to laugh, the Dragon head floating before reattaching itself to its body.
"Hmm, I can see your resolve" it said before laughing once more. "Then come and show me how much you want to save her" eyes widened Mavis jumped to the side barely avoiding its claw. She knew her illusions would not be of help here. The more she thought about how to fight Ankherseram the more irritated she became. However a thought came over her when she looked at Satori who was smiling at her.
"Are you able to transfer my mind into the Dragon's?" she asked.
"I was waiting for you to ask" she replied. "Yes, I can, but once you're inside, you will be confronting Ankherseram itself" Mavis' eyes narrowed, her hands clenched, she was filled with determination.
"I'm ready to do what I must" nodding Satori turned to Koishi.
"Keep the Dragon busy while we do our work!" Koishi nodded in acknowledgement. Satori attention back to Mavis placed a hand on her forehead, her third eye floating up and looking at the Dragon. For Mavis the world suddenly went dark and when she opened her eyes once more she found herself in an empty void.
"Zeria!" she called but there was no answer. She looked around some more before noticing a strange blue glow coming from the distance. She approached it.
"Mavis..." she heard Zeria's voice. "You shouldn't be here!"
"What are you talking about! I've come to save you!" there was no answer, but the blue glow grew brighter, almost calling out to Mavis to get closer.
"You can't... I've been absorbed into Ankherseram, from here I can at least stop its influence over you" Mavis shook her head.
"I won't allow it! You've already saved me plenty of times! I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself again!" Mavis ran towards the glow. "I will be the one to protect you this time!" And within inches of the glow a massive scaled claw shot out and grabbed Mavis lifting her into the air. A loud maniacal laugh echoed in the darkness.
"So this is what drives you! Guilt!" the distorted voice of Ankherseram spoke again. "You wish to protect this memory because you feel guilty, how selfish"
"You're wrong!" Mavis screamed. "My drive to protect Zeria is because she is a precious friend!" a pair of green glowing eyes appeared before Mavis' eyes.
"Friend? Your past relationship with her could hardly be called friendship. Rather you created her to satisfy your thirst for companionship; disgusting." a goat like head formed "And don't forget your sin for playing god, do you think that saving Yuri Dreyar who was already marked for death was heroic? What makes you think that it would be fair to give one person life when many others had to face death without question?" Mavis paused, she couldn't answer; rather she didn't know how to answer. While at the same time she could feel a sense of coldness rise up her body.
"Enough!" Zeria called out from below, "I will not allow you to harm her any further!" Ankherseram stared down at Zeria and grinned.
"And the fake appears" Zeria glared harshly at the creature.
"I may be a fake but I still hold some of the real Zeria's essence" she turned her attention to Mavis, looking her in the eyes. "And I know that if the real Zeria was still alive she would have loved you like a sister; so do not lose faith Mavis, I know that everything you've been doing was from the kindness of your heart" Ankherseram lowered down eyes now focused on Zeria.
"Do you really think your words will change anything, this girl is fated to be doomed for damnation" but Zeria ignored it.
"Mavis you're stronger than this, I know you can overcome it" she continued to tell Mavis.
"But I can't..." Mavis mustered out.
"Don't you dare say you can't! I know you! You will do everything in your power to overcome any difficulty, you will try your best to help people in there need, I know that you would save anybody even if they were not your friend. So everything this thing says is nothing but lies, only to fault your heart! So stay strong!" Mavis regained some color in her face and Ankherseram noticed this, it raised a second claw swiping Zeria away. Mavis' eyes widened as she watched her friend get thrown aside. And then something within her cracked before bursting open.
Natsu from the outside watched the skeleton Dragon stumble before sensing a powerful magical energy radiating from Mavis' body, he smiled mischievously. Everything was going according to his plan. Satori who was observing everything that was happening inside the Dragon's head could only raise a brow a little concerned by what was going to happen next, but judging by her Master's silence, this was something that he expected to happen.
Breaking free from Ankherseram's grasp Mavis was able to create some distance between them, and as if something was telling her what to do, she conjured up two swords before dashing towards the creature. Ankherseram roared but Mavis was not intimidated rather she created two massive stone golems that tackled Ankherseram from both sides pinning it, the creature was able to free one of its claws but before it could attack the golem, Mavis jumped up and with both her swords decapitated its entire arm; there was no blood however, rather a trail of white smoke left the wound.
"Impossible!" Ankherseram screamed. Mavis didn't say anything; she proceeded to conjure up a large rhino that she sent ramming into the creature, its tusk rammed into the creature through the chest. Ankherseram over time, was able to overpower the two golems flinging them away before holding the rhino down, but that gave Mavis the necessary chance to jump off the back of the rhino and plunge both swords into Ankherseram's skull.
"What! This can't be happening" the creature gasped out; Mavis jumped away and dispersed all her creations. Ankherseram screamed out in pain trying to contain its wound.
"You stupid human! I won't allow for this! I the great Ankherseram will not be defeated by the likes of you!" The creature was slowly disappearing while screaming out in anger. Mavis looked around for Zeria's body and from the corner of her eye saw her slowly getting up; rushing to her side she inspected her injuries and was glad that there was nothing too severe.
"Are you alright?" she asked her. Zeria shook her head.
"I should be fine" she chuckled. "See I told you, you could do it" Mavis chuckled; she was glad that things had finally calmed down.
"Did you honestly think it was that easy?" Ankherseram's distorted voice suddenly echoed. Zeria's eyes widened when she saw a sharp claw approach Mavis' back. With the remainder of her strength she pushed Mavis away only for the claw to plunge through herself.
"Zeria!" Mavis screamed.
"Hmm, this works too" Ankherseram said before finally disappearing, the darkness faded. Mavis' eyes shot open and found herself back on Tenrou Island she looked around frantically, there was no Dragon but she did find what remains of it; Zeria. She ran to her side.
"Zeria!" Mavis cried, the girl turned to face her with a weak smile.
"What's with those tears?" she asked reaching up to wipe them away. "I told you didn't I. I wasn't going to let Ankherseram have you"
"Why? Why save me?" Mavis asked. Zeria let out a small laugh.
"Idiot, if you die, what do you think will happen to me?" she spoke the truth of course, if Mavis was to perish herself then Zeria her creation would perish along with her. "If I can at least save you, then I am content." Mavis as if realizing something gave her a weak smile.
"I can save you right? This is my mind; I can save you from this" Zeria shook her head.
"Ankherseram has taken away my essence, without it I will cease to exist in your mind; soon I will become a true memory"
"No... this can't be happening" Mavis whimpered. Zeria placed a hand on Mavis' cheek.
"Promise me one thing Mavis" she said, Mavis nodded furiously while tearing up. "Promise me that whatever is to happen from here on out, that the choices you make are from the bottom of your heart. Be true to yourself and be happy" Mavis nodded and Zeria smiled. "Good" she turned to look at the sky. "And Natsu was it?"
"Oh?" was the reply. "You know of me?"
"Not exactly but I heard Ankherseram curse your name a couple of times" Zeria responded.
"Is that right... So what is it you want from me?" Natsu asked.
"Watch over Mavis for me?" he chuckled.
"I'll do what I can" was his response.
"Thank You" she turned back to Mavis. "This is good bye then Mavis. I'm glad to have been able to call you my friend, I will always love you" her last words before disappearing. Mavis sat in utter silence. The Komeiji sisters stood a distance away allowing for the girl to mourn in silence. Minutes passed and the silence was as thick as ever, before Natsu decided to speak.
"Mavis... What do you intend to do now?" Mavis stood up when she turned around she gave the sisters a look of determination.
"I am going to stop Ankherseram, I will not allow it to do as it pleases". Natsu smiled approvingly; things were finally getting interesting.