New Chapter! Finally back in the game with this story; sorry for the long delay on this.
Running right past the creatures she could feel their eyes on her as they started to make chase. Not looking back she jumped onto the roofs just managing to dodge a flame attack, she eyed the unusual black flames before turning back to what was in front of her. She was successful in guiding the shadow creatures away from the guild; her main priority being to take down the bull creature. She managed to lead them to the edge of Magnolia; Mavis halted to a stop, turning around and immediately began her counterattack. Breaking from the ground was a large serpent that wrapped itself around the bull biting into its neck. Ignoring all the other lesser creatures Mavis jumped onto her summoned serpent and climbed up forming a sword, she stabbed the bull in the head. The bull let out an ominous silent roar before shaking its head widely trying to fling Mavis off, but the strong grip of the serpent was keeping it at bay long enough for Mavis to grip her weapon and plunge the blade deeper into the monsters skull. The struggling stopped and the creature hit the ground dead, dissolving into nothingness. With the bull defeated Mavis landed back onto the ground with the serpent coiling around her defensively.
"You certainly learnt how to use your new power fast" Natsu commented. "I'd almost say I'm a little jealous" Mavis raised a brow; his voice was laced with a mixture of sincerity and sarcasm, which one he meant she honestly did not know. She peeked out looking at her surroundings, the number of monsters were growing; wherever the source was, she needed to stop it as soon as possible. Mavis commanded the serpent to sweep the ground clearing the area by flinging monsters away. Raising her hand she rained down waves of javelins piercing them. Jumping onto the roofs she glanced down at the scene, even more worried than she was before.
"They just keep on multiplying..." she mumbled. Natsu laughed which annoyed her.
"You should try wiping them out in one go"
"How is that going to help?" she exclaimed. "The moment I destroy one of them, two more pop up" she could almost see Natsu shrug at her.
"But don't you just want to see all those enemies get thrown around with your awesome power?" Mavis remained silent but face faulted at Natsu's absurd comment; she wanted to retort with a sarcastic comment but held back, she was starting to realize that spending time with Natsu has already influenced her way of speaking.
She looked at her serpent rampaging around, flinging monsters with its tail; however it was only seconds later did it stop moving, Mavis stared at it wondering what was wrong.
"Ah..." Natsu started. "The curtains finally rise"
"What do you mean?" Mavis questioned, but there was no need for an answer, the serpent just burst into a cloud of magical energy. The shadow creatures all stopped moving and the area below started to clear up. Mavis hopped down, the creatures backing away as she approached.
"Greetings" she heard, looking up her eyes widened as she stared at herself. "You look surprised" Mavis didn't respond immediately.
"You're the future me?" she questioned. The other Mavis tilted her head with a smirk.
"Good, at least I don't need to introduce myself; though to make things a little less confusing, you may call me Vermillion" Mavis was wary, there was an ominous aura emitting from Vermillion and she didn't like it; something far more evil than Ankhseram.
"What's the matter?" Vermillion asked. Mavis stepped back not answering; however the other her continued to move closer. "Surprised by what you will become?" she chuckled. "I would be surprised as well. To know that you will one day become this powerful" Mavis glared at her.
"That power is evil" the other her shrugged.
"I prefer the term evolution. You will no longer be the weak person you are now, you will evolve past the weak humans, you will grow to become the most powerful being in existence; even stronger than E.N.D" Mavis heard Natsu's muffled laugh obviously humored at the idea that she would become stronger than him. The other Mavis noticed her glare.
"You don't seem pleased... why?" she asked.
"You called human's weak; that is something I would never say" she was right, even with everything that has happened to her, she loved all life and would never demean them; Vermillion laughed.
"I once thought that, but you will soon realize that humans are nothing but trash" she moved closer. From a distance Mavis couldn't tell, but now with Vermillion close up she noticed that the future her was indeed taller and looked more mature than her current self.
"Ha! The future you is interesting" Natsu said. The other Mavis paused looking around.
"Natsu Dragneel" she called to the sky, a wide smile starting to form. "To think that the mighty demon himself would be here"
"Ha! No need for compliments. I am more intrigued by this transformation" he said.
"Oh?" Vermillion smiled. "Is that approval I hear?" Natsu laughed.
"Who knows; why don't you show me what you are capable of?" Mavis perked, not really liking what Natsu was implying; she turned to look at the other her and saw her smiling.
"Yes. Why don't I show you what your future holds" Mavis summoning a sword was quick to block Vermillion's attack, however the impact was so powerful that it threw her a few blocks down crashing into a wall. Completely dazed Mavis crawled out writhing in pain, surprisingly however the pain was quick to subside; standing up she looked up watching Vermillion casually walk towards her. Quickly moving away Mavis conjured a spike of rock sending it towards her but it was instantly destroyed. Vermillion appeared in front of her grabbing her by the neck and lifted Mavis off the ground.
"I am a little disappointed" she said. "I would have expected the present me to put up a decent fight" Mavis struggling to breathe could not answer.
"I think you should give her a fair chance; it is quite obvious that she in inexperienced" Natsu said. The other Mavis pondered before dropping her and stepping back.
"Very well, I'll allow you three chances to attack. After that..." she paused forming a sinister smile. "Well you should know what happens after that" Mavis staggered back onto her feet.
"Don't take me lightly" she growled; the other her laughed.
"Oh I know what you are capable of. I am you after all" eyes narrowed, Mavis sent out a wave of fire that engulfed the other her, nothing, as if an invisible shield was protecting her.
"That's one" Stepping back she surrounded Vermillion with stone spikes before sending them striking the shield, they all shattered instantly.
"That's two" finally she created an energy sword made from pure magic and swung it against the shield, much to her surprise her sword did not break still retaining its shape.
"That's three" without a moments noticed Mavis was thrown into a wall by some mysterious force.
"Honestly I'm still disappointed, not even a scratch" Mavis grunting smiled which surprised Vermillion. "What are you smiling about?" she questioned.
"You can't possibly be my future self if you didn't realize what I was doing"
"Oh? Enlighten me" Mavis responded by chuckling and standing up.
"Not going to say" she formed another energy sword before charging in; she thrust her blade forward and as she predicted, it made a dent in her shield. Vermillion jumped back laughing.
"I see, you were testing the capabilities of my defense" Mavis pivoted on her heal and swung her blade against the shield once more, another dent. However Vermilllion wasn't going to allow Mavis to do as she pleased, catching Mavis' hand before her sword could hit, she spun her around and threw her across some buildings. Crash landing Mavis was quick to recover; she gritted her teeth before making her way to the ground. She needed a new approach; at her current strength, she would have no chance against the other her.
"Oh my, running away are you? How unsightly" Natsu commented.
"What I'm doing is called a tactical retreat. There is no sense in fighting against an enemy clearly out of my league without a plan" Mavis responded, though she felt something was wrong but just couldn't place it on what. She made her way down a flight of stairs into the back alley of the city.
"That future me... what is she?" she asked.
"What do you mean? She's the future you" Natsu answered.
"No, not that. There is more to this than you are telling me" Natsu remained silent, eager to listen to what Mavis had to say. "It is as if she is only one half of the whole".
"Ding, ding, ding!" Natsu exclaimed. "We have a winner!" Mavis stared into the sky, not amused. "You assume correctly Mavis; that other you, is but a possibility of what your future holds".
"Then what about the other half? What about the other possibility?" Mavis asked; however much to her displeasure the wall next to her exploded throwing her off her feet.
"My, my, there is no running away" Vermillion said walking through the hole. "If you're afraid, all you need to do is say it and I will let you go free" Mavis glared at her.
"Liar; letting me go is the last thing you want to do" the other her smiled stepping closer.
"I guess you caught me there" Vermillion moved in close to Mavis' face. "I suppose I will just go ahead and do what I must" thrusting a hand into Mavis' chest she poured all the evil energy into her. Mavis was gasping for air, the pain she was feeling was unbearable. Mavis knew that this was it; she would be corrupted by the evil and become Ankhseram's slave. However something was fighting back, she could feel a light within her forming; cracking open an eye she saw a third presence; unlike Vermillion this person was filled with light. The mysterious woman had gripped a hold of Vermillion's wrist pulling her hand out of Mavis.
"Look what we have here" Vermillion said staring into the eyes of a third Mavis. Natsu who was observing the scene couldn't help but smirk.
"So, the second half has appeared" he whispered to himself. Indeed, the third Mavis was a representation of all the good and justice in her heart, a future where she becomes the hero. Mavis could only stare between the two women, not knowing what to do. She however was feeling very weak, almost like she could fall out of consciousness in any second.
"Be banished like the demon you are" the third Mavis said to Vermillion who responded with a laugh.
"Oh, how despicable of me" she replied with sarcasm. "Why don't you force me into banishment" the third Mavis glared at her dark self before throwing her back through the hole and through a few buildings before chasing after her. Mavis could only watch as she drifted into deep slumber.
Wendy and Mard Geer noticed something off going with Mavis' meditating form; it prompted Wendy to cast a protective barrier around her Master and her two guild mates. A mixture of dark and light energy started spewing from the girl; both Wendy and Mard got into a fighting stance ready to take on whatever is to come. Mavis' eyes suddenly shot open and the energy burst out throwing the two demons off their feet. Mavis stood up getting a good look around.
"This is new" Wendy whispered.
"It would seem this is the reason why Master requested us as damage control" Mard commented; much to his surprise however, Mavis immediately pounced onto him, throwing him into a wall; he felt her choking him and tried to pry her hands away, but Mavis' grip was surprisingly strong. Luckily Wendy came to his rescue tackling her off him. The two girls wrestled each other down, with Mavis trying to claw Wendy's eyes out. Mard recovered and summoned vines to strike Mavis; Wendy noticing this kicked her into a wall throwing Mavis off balance allowing the vines to wrap around her sealing away her movement.
"What ever happened, it seems it turned her into a wild animal" Wendy said through gasps. Mard nodded doing his best to maintain his hold on the girl. However he noticed an unusual amount of energy gather from within the girl; eyes widening he threw Mavis out of the cave just in time for the large amount of energy to explode destroying the vines, trees and ground.
"And what ever happened, just made our job a lot harder" Wendy added watching Mavis observing her own hands; unusual markings started forming as it consumed the right side of her body.
"It would seem that there is an internal conflict going on inside that girls head" Mard realized, his eyes turning to his Master then back to Mavis. "With Master still connected to her mind, killing her will trap the Master in her mind forever"
"So what do you suppose we do?" Wendy asked. Mard smirked.
"Beat her down into submission" Wendy chuckled.
"There's the sadism I haven't seen in a while" she said. The two approached Mavis, the mixture of energy wrapped around her; They were hesitant to attack without knowing what that energy was; but they needed to act. The two struck her down; Wendy sent out waves of sharp wind only for the attack to phase away and get absorbed into the girl; the same thing happened when Mard Geer summoned his plants to wrap around her; the vines crumbled away and its magic energy absorbed. They had to take a new approach; this time hand to hand combat; sadly it was something Wendy struggled with.
"Mard, I leave the fighting to you; I will support you from afar" she told her partner. Mard nodded suddenly feeling a burst of energy flowing through him; he looked back to Wendy who had enchanted him with her magic. He moved in close, with incredible speed striking Mavis in the stomach; he was caught off guard however when his attack did nothing, rather he felt his strength being zapped away. Mard had to separate himself from Mavis moving quickly he stood next to Wendy; he looked to his partner who nodded in confirmation; even physical strength was being absorbed. Wendy circled around sending out simple gusts of wind and as she guessed they were all absorbed. She signaled to Mard who nodded; the two simultaneously sent out a magic attack; Wendy another gust of wind and Mard with a simple thorn attack. Much to their delight only one of the two spells was absorbed. Mard's thorn spell being more lethal was absorbed by Mavis, while the gust of wind threw her off her feet.
"It would seem that she is only capable of absorbing one type of magic at a time" Mard said; he smiled summoning a bed of different plants; with the click of his fingers the plants shot out beams of fire, ice, wind and lightning. The bombardment forced Mavis to counter attack; she glared at the two and with a single sweep of her hand a shockwave of energy deflected the attack and threw the two demons away. Wendy struggled to her feet.
"This is going to be harder than we anticipated".
Mavis once again found herself in a different area. She looked around identifying it as a village that was burnt down. She looked up and noticed it was snowing. The village was void of any life and ruins everywhere, nothing was left standing; or so she thought; she heard a faint cry in the distance; she was quick to follow the voice. Making her way through the numerous fallen houses she came to a stop; her eyes widening at the scene; a little boy, probably around the age of ten sat cradling a little girl in his arms. The boy looked all too familiar to her, with his pink hair and sharp eyes; this was Natsu Dragneel; the girl also looked familiar, resembling Wendy Dragneel. The young Natsu was crying and didn't seem to have noticed her; Wendy however was unmoving and lay lifeless in the boys arms.
"Welcome Mavis" a familiar voice said from behind. Mavis swirled around coming face to face with E.N.D. Mavis looked back down at the crying boy.
"What is this place?" she asked; for once Natsu didn't reply with any sort of sarcasm, laugh or general mocking comments.
"It would seem that you have entered my memories".