I would like to thank the people who leave reviews for giving me their feedback. Like I said, you don't have to leave them unless you feel like it, but I appreciate it when you do. I would also like to commemorate this chapter in honor of July 7, the same day the dragons disappeared and Lucy's mother died (connection or coincidence?). Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
At the Mermaid Heel guild hall, Jason was waking up from his rest and looked outside the window to see the full moon shining brightly. He then looked to the other side of his bed to see Milliana standing over him which caused her to stand up straight and wave her arms frantically.
"Uh, this-this isn't what it looks like!" Milliana stammered.
"Milliana?" Jason asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Um… Kagura asked me to stay here to protect you in case those nasty wolfies attack you again." She lied.
"Is she asleep?"
"Actually, she went out to find out the reason why you were attacked."
Jason felt up the bandages over his wounds and sat up. "Well, thank you very much."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find her and tell her not to worry about me." Jason said before he turned to look at Milliana and smiled. "I'm not the type to make the same mistake twice."
*He's so cool!* Milliana thought, looking at Jason with sparkly eyes.
Back in the forest, Blaise and Kagura were confronting Luna, who had used her Take Over Magic to transform herself into a werewolf.
"Refresh my memory." Luna said. "Who is this 'Jason', again? I never bother to remember the names of humans."
Kagura's glare intensified. "He's the wind wizard you attacked earlier today."
Luna tapped the side of her head for a second. "Oh, I know who you're talking about now. I must commend you, Blaise, for raising such powerful wizards in your guild. He's the first person to ever escape one of my sneak attacks and live to tell the tale. The others either died before they could get away or lose their limbs and die from the blood loss."
"Kagura…" Blaise whispered. "There is no margin for error in this fight. Even the smallest mistake could lead to either one of us getting killed."
"… The same goes for her." Kagura said.
Suddenly, Luna appeared behind both women and tried to swipe at them with her arms. Blaise and Kagura jumped out of the way and dodged the attack, but Luna ended up striking a boulder and smashed it to pieces with just one blow. Just as soon as Kagura regained her footing, Luna appeared behind her and tried to strike at her again, but Kagura back flipped out of the way and next to Blaise.
"That Take Over has increased her strength and speed significantly." Blaise said. "And with the full moon out, her powers are at legendary levels."
"Then we'll just have to keep her down." Kagura said as she tried to cast a Gravity Change on Luna.
Before Kagura could finish casting the spell, Luna disappeared and reappeared next to Blaise. Luna then kicked Blaise in the ribs, right into Kagura and sent them both crashing into the side of the cliff. Luna charged right for the two women while they were down.
"You're through!" Luna said.
"Phoenix Dome!"
A large dome of fire appeared around Blaise and Kagura and stopped Luna in her tracks before she could strike them. Blaise and Kagura took this opportunity to get back on their feet and examine their situation.
"This shield only lasts about five minutes." Blaise said. "We need to think of a plan. Nggh!"
Blaise winced in pain and clutched her left ribcage.
"If only she didn't move so fast, I could keep her pinned with my Gravity Change." Kagura said. "For now, we should focus on trying to find a way to keep her still… Blaise, are you able to pass through these flames?"
"Only the caster and their magic are allowed to enter or leave as they please." Blaise said. "So yes, I can."
Sakura had finished healing Kuroko's wounds with her Forest Magic.
"Thanks, Sakura." Kuroko said.
"We should head back to the others." Flora said.
Sakura was then sniffing the air and stood up.
"Sakura, what is it?" Flora asked.
There was a rustling in the bushes that startled Kuroko and Flora.
"Please don't let it be another wolf man." Flora said.
Out of the bushes came Jason.
"Jason?!" Sakura gasped.
"Aren't you supposed to be resting back at Mermaid Heel?!" Flora asked.
"I'd explain, but there's no time for that now." Jason said. "Please, just heal me up."
"You don't need healing!" Flora said. "… Okay you do, but right now you need to rest."
"Sorry, but there's something I have to do." Jason said. "Heal me and I'll explain later."
A few minutes have passed and Luna was simply prowling around the outside of the dome, waiting for the barrier to vanish. Just as the top of the barrier vanished, Luna was ready to pounce to through the hole.
"Phoenix Gust!"
A massive wind of flames had crashed into Luna and she was sent flying backwards while receiving a large number of burns across her body. Just then, Kagura had jumped up out of the top of the dome of flames and aimed her sheathed sword directly at Luna.
"Strong Form!"
Kagura adapted a stabbing stance in midair and delivered a powerful jab with her sheathed sword to Luna's chest. The impact from the jab sent Luna crashing into the ground as Kagura gracefully landed on her feet and Blaise walked over to her, still clutching onto her ribcage.
"Heheheh…"
Blaise and Kagura looked back at where Luna had landed only to see Luna, burned and bruised from the previous assault appear right in front of Kagura. Luna tried to swipe at Kagura, but Kagura blocked the attack with her sheathed sword and the force of it caused Luna and Kagura to skid backwards several meters.
"Kagura!" Blaise shouted.
Luna came rushing in toward Kagura, ready to strike her once again when suddenly a gust of wind had knocked Luna away and into the side of a mountain. Blaise looked toward where the attack came from and saw Jason with wind swirling around his hand.
"How the hell did you recover from my wolves' attack?!" Luna asked.
"Jason, what are you-" Blaise tried to ask.
"Save it for later, Master!" Jason interrupted her. "Take her out while you have the chance!"
Luna tried to get up, but Kagura had used her Gravity Change to keep her pinned to the ground and she couldn't move.
"Blaise, now!" Kagura shouted.
Blaise gathered the remainder of her magic energy, crossed her arms and formed a red magic circle underneath Luna's body.
"… Phoenix Eruption!"
A blazing inferno of lava shot out from the magic circle and completely engulfed Luna.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Luna screamed in pain.
When the flames and lava died down, Luna was charred and reverted back to her human form as she fell to the ground.
"N… no…" Luna groaned. "How… could I lose… on the night of a full moon?"
"Luna…" Blaise said as she walked up to her former friend's injured body.
"I… will kill you…" Luna muttered. "Even if it takes me until the end of time, I will kill you! You and your guild!" She then looked at Kagura. "And yours!"
"Luna…" Blaise said as she knelt down to Luna. "Even now you refuse to accept that this is reality. It might be cruel, but it's also filled with joy and happiness. I succeeded because I accepted reality and you lost because you continue to reject it. Do you see that now, Luna? Will you stop acting like a wild animal lashing out at a world you don't know?"
"… Go fuck yourself." Luna answered before losing consciousness.
Blaise's expression became sad as tried to stand up. She was about to fall, but Jason managed to catch her and help her up.
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to consider it in prison." Blaise said. "Right now I should attend to my guild mates."
"I'll take her to the Rune Knights." Kagura said.
"Thanks, Kagura." Blaise said.
"And thanks again for patching me up earlier." Jason said.
"It's no problem at all." Kagura said. "I'm just glad that you're okay, Jason."
Kagura grabbed Luna and walked away, leaving Blaise and Jason alone.
"… Jason, why did you come back here knowing you were injured?" Blaise asked.
"Kagura went out to find out why I was attacked when she and her guild have already done enough for me." Jason replied. "On the way here, I came across Sakura and she healed me. I'll take you to her right away."
Jason started walking Blaise further into the forest.
After Kagura handed Luna to the Rune Knights, she returned to the Mermaid Heel guild hall to be greeted by Milliana.
"Kagura-chan, is Jason okay?" Milliana asked with a worried expression. "He went out looking for you last night!"
"He's fine, Milliana." Kagura answered with a small smile. "He's on his way back home with his guild mates. I'm just glad he's okay."
"… You liiiiiike him."
"… I'm going to bed." Kagura said stoically as she walked away.
November 14, X790
Everyone had returned to the guild hall and Sakura was healing Blaise's broken ribcage.
"Wow, whoever this Luna person was must have been pretty strong." Sakura said.
"It took me, Kagura and Jason to beat her." Blaise said. "If he hadn't come when he did, who knows what might have happened."
"You sound like a regular hero, Jason." Flora said, flying right next to Jason. "No wonder you're such a hit with the ladies."
"I am NOT!" Jason said.
"Suuuure." Flora said sarcastically. "You just keep thinking that."
Over by the counter at the bar, Heart was giving Melody, Frost and Cole their official guild marks. Melody had her guild mark placed on her left hand and colored pink, Frost had hers placed on the shoulder plate on her back and colored white while Cole had his guild mark placed on his back and colored black.
"You're now official members of the Phoenix Dawn guild." Heart said.
"I thought there would be more big-busted women here." Cole said. "… Oh well." He then flew into Frost's chest again. "Frost and Melody are good enough for me."
Melody began to walk away and up the stairs.
"Melody, where are you going?" Frost asked.
"… To apologize." Melody answered without turning around or stopping.
She continued walking until she reached the guild's infirmary and entered. Upon entering, she was met with a hostile glare from Hikari, who was sitting next to Spiral's cot as he was sitting up against a propped up pillow.
"… What do you want?" Hikari asked, leering at Melody.
Melody didn't say anything and walked toward them.
"Get away from him!" Hikari shouted as she stood up and got between Melody and Spiral. "Haven't you done enough harm to him?!"
Melody simply showed Hikari her new Phoenix Dawn guild mark.
"Don't pull that crap on me!" Hikari shouted. "You probably just painted that on your hand to trick us!"
Melody dropped her hand and just stood where she was without showing any sort of emotion. Hikari gritted her teeth, clenched her fists and punched Melody in the jaw.
"Hikari." Spiral said.
Hikari turned to look at Spiral.
"… Just let her say what she wants to say." Spiral said.
Hikari reluctantly moved away from Melody and back to her seat next to Spiral.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for attacking you and your friends earlier." Melody said. "Frost and I… were different people at that moment, but your Guild Master convinced us to change our ways and join her guild. I know it's too late to apologize, but it's better to be late than never."
"… Now that you're our guild mate, I guess I have no choice but to accept your apology." Spiral chuckled with a big grin on his face.
"That's good to hear." Melody said. "I should take my leave so Frost and I can find a place to stay."
Melody left the infirmary and headed down the hallway.
"Just because Spiral and Master Blaise forgive you…" A voice spoke from behind Melody.
Melody didn't have to turn around to know that it was Hikari standing outside the infirmary door.
"That doesn't mean I have." Hikari said, continuing to glare at the back of Melody's head.
Her glare was so intense Melody could feel it even though she wasn't facing her.
"I swear if you EVER try to hurt Spiral again, I will not hesitate to kill you." Hikari said.
"… I understand." Melody said before continuing to walk down the hallway. "I promise to keep my hands away from that boyfriend of yours."
A/N: That ends the current arc! It wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but whatever. I don't want any pointless filler unless I feel it can actually progress a character's development. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for next time!