An: Here it is! Hope you enjoy!
Draco POV
"Is it true what this humans says, Polaris is close to rising?"
"It is. I've already had one of her lackeys possess my key, until the idiot dropped it. She's up to her old tricks. Ordering the hunt and death of Celestial Spirit Mages and absorbing their power. How she was able to break the king's seal I don't know.
"You know how I feel about humans, they're the scum of Earthland, but this one is strange. I trust the ones with evil agendas more than I do this one. She is so full of love and acceptance that it seems almost too good to be true, like there is a catch. She doesn't even want us to call her master, saying we're her friends. Have you ever heard of such ridiculousness?"
Staying silent a moment, thinking back on my first master I smirked as I remembered the time when I wasn't wary of all humans. "Yes... I have a long time ago. It's not something that's generally practiced among Spirit Mages but that's neither here nor there. The only way we'll know if she is what she says she is to wait and see. But let me remind you she did protect you just now, when she could have let you get gnawed on by me until you were forced back into your key."
"Tch. You'd think you would have been happier to see me after all of these years."
"Not with you yapping about my size. You know the King took a portion of our powers from us. As I see that you are not in your preferred form I believe you understand my plight. It's not easy for me to hold this form for long periods so I stay in the smaller one most of the time to conserve my strength.
"Now about Polaris what are your intentions? Do you plan on sticking with the human until she reaches her then betray her or are you planning on joining her in the fight?"
"For a human she hasn't been that bad, but I've only been contracted to her for a couple of hours. Only time will tell, so until I've observed her more I reserve the right to change sides when the time comes."
Nodding I snuck a glance at the human giving her a curious look. From my experience any other Mage would be humming and hawing at being ignored and excluded for so long. But there she stood patiently waiting while quietly arguing with the leader of the Zodiac to let her stand at his side instead of behind him.
Clearing my throat to get their attention I made my decision. "I will make a contract with you human, and in exchange you will not attempt to harm these wyverns or their spawn." I said with a nod of my head towards the alcove I had exited earlier. "Do we have a deal?"
With one last desperate push she was able to come out from behind the lion and spoke. "Will you tell them to stop terrorizing the town? Actually every town? If they continue to do so I cannot guarantee that they will not be harmed." She said as her gaze softened at the sight of the wyvern young that were poking their head out from behind the wall. Looking to me for permission, she approached them and picked one up. The other that remained on the ground cried for their sister to be returned to them until they saw that the human meant no harm. After that they clamored around her feet vying for her attention. When their weight became too much for her and she fell backwards I prepared to intervene for her inevitable anger towards the babes. But her laughter halted my steps as I watched her let them crawl over her.
"She's not like your last masters, she is the exact opposite. Lucy risked her own life to save mine when I was close to disappearing after years of living on Earthland. She forced the Spirit King to appear and convinced him that I did not deserve to disappear for a mistake I had made. It's because of her I am here today, and that's why I'll always be here to protect her, whether she likes it or not. So keep that in mind you two when the time comes for you to truly pick what side you are on. It won't be just me you'll have to deal with it will be every single one of her spirits that will do everything possible to stop you if you choose to betray her at any moment. While you two have been banished, with your powers restricted we have had hundreds of years to grow stronger. We won't be so easily defeated this time around." The lion said before he joined the human, no Lucy, with the young.
Very strange indeed.
"Lucy." I waited until she gently pushed the children off of her to continue. "I will tell the wyverns that they should avoid humans and their settlements at all costs, but if they are attacked they will defend themselves and their home. That's the best I can do."
Forgetting her earlier wariness regarding me she approached me. "Will they listen to your command after you leave? Or will you have to issue it to them every so often?"
"I have lived among these caves since the beginning of my banishment. The wyverns arrived after the first fifty years, since then I have controlled them and taught them how to use what little brain they possess. After the first batch of wyverns passed and the new generation took over I haven't had to use my control over them, unless it was to protect them. So if I command it they will listen." Tilting my head up I released a roar, communicating the command and my goodbyes to them. The babes were the first to respond, with their tiny wails, and after a couple of minutes the rest of my den roared out their goodbyes too. "It is done." I said as I shrunk down to my more manageable size and hovered in the air above her.
Seeing the glint of my key she removed it from around my neck and thanked me.
"What days are you available?" She asked, as Corvus snorted. She got a weird look on her face when she looked towards the crow. "Oh yeah… uh… well I'll read about your powers after this, but the book doesn't tell me what the restrictions are, after the King limited them. Besides it being hard to maintain your regular form is there anything else I should know?"
Not answering her I tilted my head as a scent blew past my face. Snapping to her I blew out an annoyed breath. "Did you bring along more of your kind to attack the wyverns as you dealt with me human?"
"What no!" she said with her hands held up. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"There are two humans approaching this room along with two other creatures I cannot identify. And from the tense calls I'm getting from the wyvern they are about to attack-"
Looking to where she had been before she took off running, angrily screaming 'Rogue' and 'Sting', with Loke following close behind. I looked towards Corvus and we both shrugged as we went after her at a leisurely pace.
Rogue POV
"AHHH!"
I had just fallen asleep when that scream resonated through the air. Jerking awake I quickly stood up and went to Sting. Nudging him with my foot I kept my eyes in the direction of the scream. "Sting, Sting. Get your ass up. Didn't you hear that scream?"
"Your just dreaming Rogue, go back to sleep." He said sleepily, trying to slap my prodding foot away from him.
"CORVUS!"
At that Sting opened one eye and looked at me. Lazily he turned his head towards the sound and groaned. "Blondie."
Knowing he would catch up to me, I sprinted in that direction. Dodging branches and rocks as I went pushing myself to go faster. Coming to a stop in a space that was bathed in her scent I looked around for any signs of her. I found an indent in the ground where she must have been resting and then nothing. Again her scent ended suddenly, with no trace of it exiting this area anywhere. Frustrated I kicked at the dirt and headed to the location of the wyverns. Glancing up the cliff I gawked at it, not believing Lucy would be insane enough to climb this on her own. Of course she climbed it; it's the only way to get to the dragon.
Looking back into the forest I saw Sting skid to a stop and think the same thing I did when I had seen the cliff. He looked from me to the cliff several times before he released another groan and came to my side. "If she's supposed to be one of the sanest of her guild I don't know if I can handle the rest of them." I muttered to him.
Only getting a nod in response we looked to Frosch and Lector, without saying a word they sprouted wings and flew us to the entrance of the cave. "Thanks." I said to Frosch with a pat on her head. "You and Lector stay close, but if fighting starts I want you to avoid it as best as you can."
"Fro understands."
With a sudden flash of light Sting's body was covered in light. Leading the way he headed towards the path that had the most distinctive scent. The cave was dry and surprisingly well kept for the home of wyverns. Each den we had encountered before had been littered with bones and smelled of death and other pleasantries. But this one had no bones to speak from what I saw and the smell of death was very faint, as if they had been somehow blocking the scent from spreading though the entire place.
"Rogue doesn't this seem odd to you?"
"Yeah, they're too organized. Did the mayor say if there was anything special about the wyverns?" I whispered.
"No, just that they stole the jewels and livestock…"
Rolling my eyes at his back I spoke, "you didn't think stealing jewels was odd or special about them?!"
"It must have slipped my mind. I was too busy trying to smooth things over from your blunder with the maid."
At that I remained quiet, still thankful for what he had done. We continued down the path for another twenty minutes, unhappy that we hadn't found Lucy or any indication that she was here. Feeling the ground shake and hearing roars that weren't coming from Sting I pointed to a hole in the wall telling Fro and Lector to go in there. While they hid Sting and I stood there waiting to face whatever was coming our way. Before they came into view the shaking ground stopped and the roars ceased. Listening to them, there was a tinge of sadness in them, almost as if they were saying goodbye to one of their own.
Looking down the cave I spotted several wyverns clustered together before they saw us. When they spotted us from down the path they started growling again and looking us over. They obviously hadn't been expecting to find us in their home from the way they were grunting at each other and looking at us. Once they got over their general confusion they took a tentative step forward, watching for our reactions.
As usual the my hot headed partner who was ready and willing for any fight didn't see that there was something wrong with this picture and flared his power in anticipation. They must have taken that as a threat because the next thing I know they are charging at us.
Preparing myself for a fight, I watched in terror as Frosch left the safety of her hiding spot, dragging Lector out as well since he has a hold on her costume. Watching her take off into one of the other paths of the cave, I grabbed Sting and moved to follow her, but stopped when Lucy stepped out with both Frosch and Lector in her arms.
Lucy! Thank God she's safe.
With the exceeds still in her arms Lucy ran in front of us and turned her back to the threat. "The mission is over." She said gasping for breath. "There is no need to fight."
"What do you mean Blondie the threat is right there, behind you. The job is far from over." Sting huffed as he tried to bypass her.
"No seriously. They won't bother the town anymore, or any humans, as long as they aren't threatened or in danger."
During out trek here I had thought of so many things I wanted to say to her, yell at her but now that we finally found her I wasn't sure what to say. We had parted on bad terms and I wasn't sure if I would ever see her again, whether she died from her idiotic need to charge into danger or returned back to her guild.
Sting and Lucy kept arguing over whether the mission was over or not, Sting arguing for the sake of arguing, because he knew that he wasn't going to get to fight the wyverns, at least not with Lucy around. Each time he took a step to the side to charge past her, she would too, effectively blocking his way.
So busy watching them I didn't notice the mini-dragon or crow man who appeared. Seeing the way they both looked at Lucy, I growled. The crow man was looking at her in annoyance, and looked like he would like nothing better to strangle her, while the mini-dragon observed passively.
Instead of letting their childish squabble continue I stepped in between them and intervened, pushing Sting away, and halting Lucy with my hand on her arm. At the contact we both blushed and pulled away from each other. Coughing to cover my blush, I spoke. "Why don't you explain to us why we don't need to attack the wyverns, Lucy?"
"Oh, okay." she said looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "Draco has been here for a while with the wyverns. Because of that he has been able to teach them, so these wyverns are smarter than the normal ones. Draco and I were able to come to an agreement and he has issued an order for them to stop terrorizing the town, and any human who is not trying to harm them or take away their territory."
Sting looked to where Draco was and sweat dropped. "That's supposed to be the dragon that is causing so much trouble for the town? Are you sure that thing is even a dragon?"
I couldn't berate him for his jibes, because I had the same train of thought flowing through my head. After living with an actual dragon and training with him, it was kind of hard to believe that the mini-dragon, that was barely bigger than Frosch could actually be the Celestial Dragon. "Sting does have a point. We both grew up with dragons, seeing 'Draco' it's hard to believe he is a real dragon. No offense, it's just that you don't have any horns and you're so…tiny."
"Hey! Don't pick on my spirit Rogue; you don't know anything about him or what he's been through." Lucy said angrily, stepping in front of her spirit.
Finally able to get a good look at her, now that she wasn't dancing around with Sting, I was relieved to see that she wasn't injured. I started to express my relief at her safety until I saw her guild mark on the back of her hand and my previous anger rushed back in full force. Barely able to contain it I grunted and grabbed Sting by the back of his clothes and headed away from the wyverns.
"We'll meet you outside of the mayor's house at sunrise; if you aren't there we're going to take the reward for ourselves." Sting yelled as I drug him away.
An: Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Please and thank you!
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