Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon
Chapter 53
"Hey, look who's rejoined the living," Wakaba joked.
Elfman stood proudly and made a muscle as he reentered the main room. "Hey, it takes more than a little scratch to keep a real man down!"
"Still, you took a real beating from Nikolias," Gajeel said with a smirk.
Elfman strode into the hall with his arms crossed and chuckled. "I was just giving you an opportunity to beat him. Clearly it worked."
"Sorry to tell you that your heroics were wasted, Elfman, but we didn't beat him," Lucy said with a smile. "Mira was able to calm him down. That's the only reason we're still here. Nikolias was just too strong."
Natsu pumped his fist. "Now I really wanna fight Nikolias again once he gets back to normal!" He looked over to the Half-Dragon. "Whaddya say, Nikolias?"
Nikolias ignored Natsu as he devoured the plate of meats that Kinana had prepared for him. It was a towering heap of food that he had been working on since he and Lisanna arrived at the guild, which was around 12:00. Incredibly, the three-foot high mountain of raw and cooked meats was already nearing completion and it was barely past 3:00.
"I think his focus is elsewhere, Natsu," Happy said.
Natsu eyed the food. "I can't really blame him." He raised his hand and waved to Kinana. "Can I have what he's having?"
"Sorry, Natsu," Lisanna said. "I have to make sure that there's enough food for him to eat, so you can't have the same enormous helping as him."
Natsu pouted. "Man, why is he so lucky?"
"I'm just glad that he's back," Wendy said.
"Now we just have to hope that Mira and Gracie can convince the Magic Council to let him go," Lisanna said.
"What are the chances of that happening?" Laxus asked.
"Not too good, unfortunately," Levy said sadly. "They'll need one hell of an argument to come out on top."
"But this is Gracie we're talking about," Natsu said. "She can think up anything! There's nothing to worry about!"
Lucy smiled at Natsu. "You're right, Natsu. She's a master strategist, after all."
"Exactly my point," Natsu said with his signature grin.
"I wonder when they'll get back," Romeo said, his small arms behind his head as he leaned back in his chair.
Macao scratched his chin. "The meeting was at noon and it takes about two and a half hours to get to the Magic Council building. It's a little past 3:00 now, so they really should have been back by now. I mean, it was supposed to be a quick briefing."
Wakaba chuckled. "So in other words, Gracie probably raised hell."
Macao sighed. "Yeah, probably. Let's just hope that if she did, she made good use of it."
A growl from Nikolias caught everyone's attention. At first, they felt afraid that he was going to start rampaging, but once they saw that the growl was directed at a piece of meat that refused to tear, they couldn't help but laugh.
"I still can't get over how he looks," Cana said. "It's like he's a completely different person."
"Well Gracie did say that he was more dragon than human," Lucy recalled. "Apparently, underneath those clothes, he's pretty much completely covered in scales."
"Get out," Cana said. "Can we see?"
Lucy sweatdropped. "Not too sure Nikolias is going to let you strip him."
"I'm just glad he's relaxed and comfortable around us," Wendy said. "It's like nothing has changed."
"Only a lot has changed," Gray said. "It's gonna be pretty hard to forget everything that happened yesterday."
Nikolias was whipping around a thick, fatty slab of beef in his jaws when he suddenly stopped and stared at the wooden door. He dropped the meat and sat so that he could face the entrance. After that, he just waited motionlessly.
"What's he doing?" Romeo asked.
Lucy smiled. "I think it's pretty obvious. What else would make him act that way?"
As soon as Lucy said this, the doors to the guild flew open to reveal an ecstatic looking Gracie, Mira, Erza, and Makarov. Gracie's grin was so wide that it threatened to split her face in half. She gave everyone a wave. "Hey guys! We're back!"
"So how'd it go?" Macao asked.
"Like you even need to ask," Wakaba said. "Just look at their faces. That says it all."
"So you did it? You got Nikolias off the hook?" Warren asked.
Gracie laughed loudly and triumphantly with her hands on her hips. "What else would you expect from someone as amazing as me? Those Magic Council Heads had no chance against my keen intellect!"
"She was truly amazing," Erza said with a nod. "They couldn't possibly speak against the well thought out arguments that she presented."
Nikolias bounded over to Mira, who immediately squatted to welcome the jubilant Half-Dragon. She giggled as he nuzzled her hands, his tail swishing happily and swiftly along the floor. "I'm back, Nikolias. I hope you didn't miss me too much."
He responded by dashing around her in a circle over and over again.
"That's a yes, by the way," Gracie said.
Mira laughed as she watched Nikolias run around her again and again. "Alright, alright! You're making me dizzy." Nikolias immediately stopped and sat in front of her, watching her with his golden eyes. "Did you eat a lot?"
Nikolias swiftly nodded his head.
"Did you behave?"
Another swift nod.
"I'm glad," she said as she stroked his face. He closed his eyes and nuzzled her hand while letting out a soft cry. She then stood up and smiled at Elfman. "I'm so glad to see you standing again, Elfman."
"Like I told these guys, it takes more than a little scratch to take me down," Elfman said.
"You got bitten," Gracie said matter-of-factly. "It wasn't gonna kill you, but it was more than a scratch."
"Whatever. You got what I meant," Elfman said.
"So no ill effects from having Niky's shadows inside of you?" Gracie asked.
"I feel great!" Elfman assured. "Like a real man!"
Gracie nodded. "Then everything worked out in the end for the most part. Now all that's left to do is wait for Niky to change back. Should be soon."
"Aw, does he have to change back?" Laki whined. "He's really cute like this."
"I know, he's like a little dog," Gracie said with a smile, "but as much as I think he's adorable like this, I want my Niky back."
"I guess you're right," Laki said.
"So I gotta ask," Natsu said, "what did you say to the Council to get Nikolias out?"
Gracie winked at him. "I proved to them that Niky needs to stay with us in case this ever happens again since Mira is the only one who can stop him."
"So you proved that Mira is the key?" Lucy summarized.
"Exactly," Gracie said with a nod as she admired her fingernails. "All in a day's work."
"I was a little afraid, though," Mira admitted. "Captain Caro tried really hard to keep Nikolias away from us."
Gracie huffed. "That little pumpkin head piece of shit. Why'd he have to be so persistent?"
Makarov sat at the bar. "I did some digging on this 5th Custody Enforcement Unit as soon as they arrived the other day. A lot of what they do is undocumented, but it would appear that they have never failed to apprehend or dispose of any target that they have been assigned to deal with—that is, until Nikolias."
"Wow, how'd you figure that out?" Gracie asked.
"An old friend of mine used to be in the Council. He explained the unit to me as well as told me where I could learn about them."
"So it sounds like Captain Caro didn't want any bad marks on his unit's sparkling record," Erza said.
"Most likely that was the case," Makarov said. "However, we can't ignore the fact that Nikolias' identity terrifies some people. They may act irrationally because of that."
"The sad truth," Gracie said.
Mira looked sadly at Nikolias, who had continued to eat his meat. "It's so unfair."
"Don't be sad, Mira," Gracie said. "He is used to it, after all. I'm just glad that he has so many friends now."
"You both do," Lucy added.
Gracie gave a big smile. "Yeah, that's true. Neither one of us had much luck in the friend department before we came here."
Suddenly, pained cries erupted from Nikolias. Everyone turned to see him writhing on the floor with his eyes squeezed shut as his body shook violently.
"What's happening to him?" Mira asked worriedly.
"Don't worry," Gracie assured. "He's just changing back."
"But he's in pain!" Lisanna said.
"The dragon side of him is being repressed, so it's a little painful," Gracie explained, "but he'll be completely fine."
Mira decided to listen to Gracie, but it was killing her to watch Nikolias act like this. His scaly head was scraping against the wooden floor, his tail was whipping about wildly, his wings were flapping weakly, and his sharp talons dug into and splintered the floorboards. His mouth was open as more and more pained cries escaped his throat.
However, slowly but surely, he was changing back. Everyone watched as the scales began to recede from his skin, starting from his fingertips and face and progressing towards the hidden skin beneath his clothes. His long, sharp fangs began to shrink back to the short, rounded human teeth he usually had. His talons began to shrink back to fingernails as his hands and feet returned to their usual form. His wings, tail, and bony head spikes slowly drew back within his body as his ears became visible once again. As time passed, the animalistic cries turned more and more into humanistic screams as Nikolias' body continued to change back.
"Just a little while longer, Niky," Gracie whispered. She remembered the first time she witnessed this transformation, which was after the last Dragon Feast incident. She badly wanted to ease his pain and help him, but with all of his thrashing, he was too dangerous to approach and far too distracted to hear her words. She now knew that there was nothing that could be done. He just had to endure it, even if it pained her and everyone else to watch.
"Why is it taking so long?" Mira asked. She wasn't sure how much more she could watch.
"It's an involuntary change, so it takes some time," Gracie explained. "Essentially, Niky is trying to fight his dragon side to become the dominant side again. It's literally the inverse of when Dragon Feast tries to take over. The harder the two sides fight, the longer it takes to change."
"Wait, there are two Nikoliases?" Gajeel asked.
Gracie shook her head. "No, there's only one. This is a battle of consciousness. Niky's mind has two halves; a human half and a dragon half."
"Oh yeah!" Natsu exclaimed. "He explained this to me a while ago. He said that his dragon brain was senses and instincts and his human brain was emotions."
Gracie nodded. "Right. Now, when Dragon Feast takes over, the dragon side of him, or the dragon half of his mind, tries to dominate based on the instinct that he's hungry and wants to feast endlessly. When Dragon Feast comes to an end and the dragon side is satisfied, the human side of him tries to regain control because once the dragon is satisfied, it no longer needs to be the dominant side."
"If it doesn't need to be the dominant side, then why are the two sides battling?" Lucy asked.
"The dragon still wants to be out and about, so it fights back," Gracie replied. "However, without that drive of strong hunger, the dragon side is weaker and Niky's emotions allow him to power through."
Gray scratched his head. "That's all very complicated."
"It's a weird situation," Gracie admitted, "but that's how it is."
Everyone watched as Nikolias became more and more human. After about another minute, Nikolias gave one final scream before collapsing on the ground, lying still while breathing heavily.
Mira ran to his side once he had calmed down. "Nikolias!"
Slowly, Nikolias pushed himself onto his hands and knees. His head hung low and his breathing was still rapid and heavy. However, he spoke no words.
Mira gently touched his back. "Nikolias, are you alright?"
Nikolias' body trembled under her touch. He then lifted his right hand up, made it into a fist, and slammed it into the ground. "Damn it!" he exclaimed. He then repeatedly punched the ground with enough force to crack the wood. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"
"Calm down, Niky," Gracie said. "Everything's okay now."
"Nothing's okay," Nikolias said as he punched the ground again. "I'm a fucking moron!"
Mira gently stroked his back. "Nikolias, it's alright."
Tears fell from Nikolias' eyes and stained the wood as he slowly stood up. Without looking at anyone, he made for the exit. "I need to be alone for a while," he said as he opened the door and let it swing closed behind him.
Mira felt her chest tighten. "Oh, Nikolias."
"Man, he wasn't like this the last time," Gracie said. "I guess that just shows how much more accepting of humans he is. It must be killing him that he ate innocent people."
"Is he going to be alright?" Lucy asked.
Gracie sighed. "You know, I'm actually not too sure."
Nikolias leaned against a tree, supporting his weight with his arm. His shoulders trembled as he continued to cry. "Damn it," he whispered as he wiped away the tears with his free arm. "Why'd it have to end up like this?"
When the change first began to happen, he had done everything he could to save the lives of the soldiers and anyone else who was in the building as well as avoid feeling the need to venture out of the building. But he had failed. Not only did he end up leaving the Magic Council building, but he had also devoured three men; one of them being Soyer. His heart broke for Soyer more so than for the other two only because he knew for sure that Soyer had a family.
And to make matters worse, his friends from Fairy Tail showed up to try and stop him. He remembered screaming deep within for them to run away, but he wasn't the dominant side. He could only watch as he fought and tried to eat his friends.
It was during this fight, though, that something very strange happened—something that Nikolias had never experienced before. Once he had wounded Caro and Laxus got the Captain to safety, his vision started to blur. Once that happened, he could no longer remember what had occurred from the moment Caro fell to the moment Mira snapped him out of his hungry rage. It was like a skip in time. However, based on what he saw afterwards, he knew one thing for sure.
He had attacked and injured both Gracie and Elfman. The thought of it made his stomach turn. He kept flashing to the nightmare he had had a couple nights ago; his friends lying dead around a burning and broken Magnolia and Mira wishing to never see him again. He clenched his fists. How could she ever forgive him after what he did to Elfman? He felt so ashamed because of his actions that her touch made him uneasy. The touch that usually made his heart soar instead made it feel like it was being stabbed repeatedly. What if his dream continued to come true? What if Mira thought he was a monster now? Could he blame her? After all, he felt like a monster.
Nikolias held his arms out in front of him as he tried to stand on wobbly legs. He summoned his dragon talons on his right hand as he slowly moved them to his left forearm. "For the innocent lives that I took, for the families that I have hurt, for the blood that should have never been spilt, I am deeply sorry." He then dug a talon into his flesh and slowly made a shallow incision down the length of his forearm. Once he had finished, he removed the talon and made a fist as he watched the blood flow from his arm and drip into the grass. He watched and prayed for forgiveness as the wound slowly began to heal itself.
Once he had healed, he sat on the ground and stared at the afternoon sun, wishing the events of the past 24 hours would just disappear like they were a bad dream.
"Nikolias?"
Nikolias turned to see Mira and Gracie standing behind him. However, he couldn't bring himself to look at them; the sister that he had injured and the woman he loved who he had almost taken a brother from. He quickly turned back around to look at the sky. "I thought I said that I needed to be alone."
"Niky, you can't beat yourself up over this," Gracie said. "It's not your fault. They didn't listen to your warnings."
"How did you know I warned them?" he asked.
"Your trial was today," Mira explained. "After learning what had happened before we found you, we were able to remove your sentence."
Nikolias let his head hang. "You should have left my sentence alone."
"What?" Gracie shouted in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You wanted to be locked up for the rest of your life?"
"It's more than I deserve."
"Nikolias, how could you say that?" Mira asked.
"Just look at what I did," he replied. "How is freedom a just outcome?"
"Would you stop feeling so damn sorry for yourself?" Gracie shouted.
Nikolias gritted his teeth. She couldn't possibly understand. "Just shut up and leave me alone."
"I won't and I won't," Gracie said. "The fact that you think that you should be imprisoned is just bullshit. I thought you'd be thrilled to be back, but you're so caught up in self-pity that you won't allow yourself to be happy."
Nikolias leapt to his feet and glared at her with teary golden eyes. "DON'T YOU GET IT?" he shouted back. "THE SIGNS WERE THERE AND I IGNORED THEM!"
"What are you talking about?" Gracie asked.
Nikolias looked at his trembling hands. "The increased sense of smell, the intense aggression, the feeling like something was pounding on me from inside my head. All of those are signs of Dragon Feast. I've known that for over 800 years. All of those signs were present before this happened and yet, just because the signs were a little worse than usual, I didn't recognize them? Are you fucking kidding me!?" He thrust his arm to the side, punching the tree nearby and splintering the trunk. "How could I be so stupid?"
"So that's why you were floored by that dog guy and why you were so upset when Mira danced with that guy during the mission?" Gracie clarified.
"Yeah, that's why," Nikolias said. "Plus fleeting and painful headaches, so you can see why I'm pissed off at not seeing what was happening."
"But we didn't notice either," Gracie said, "so blame us some, okay? We're family. Let us shoulder some of the burden."
"How is that right?" Nikolias spat. "How is making all of you carry the weight of my actions fair? Besides, how would you know to recognize it? You've only seen it happen twice and no one else in Fairy Tail has seen it. This is all on me. This is my burden and mine alone. I killed three innocent men yesterday and I have to live with that for the rest of my life."
"But don't let that keep you from living your life," Gracie said calmly.
"And how do I do that?" Nikolias yelled. "One of those guards had a family! A loving wife and two daughters! He loved them all and I took him away from them! I destroyed that family's life yesterday and I'm just supposed to keep on living like it never happened?" He felt an intense wave of frustration wash over his body. He gripped the trunk of the tree with both hands and began slamming his head into the wood with as much strength as he could muster. "DAMN IT!"
Mira ran to his side. "Please stop, Nikolias! Hurting yourself won't do anything!" She gently touched his shoulder, but as soon as she did, Nikolias backed away. She stared dumbfounded at him. "Nikolias?"
His shoulders trembled as another round of tears began to fall. "How can you be so kind to me, Mira?" he whispered.
"What do you mean?" Mira asked.
Nikolias looked up at her, tears rolling down his cheeks and into the crimson-stained grass. "After what I did to Elfman, how do you not hate me?"
Mira took a step forward. "Nikolias, I could never hate you," she assured. "Besides, Elfman is fine."
Nikolias shook his head as he stepped away again. "I don't even remember doing it. I have no memory of attacking Elfman or Gracie, but I saw him in the hospital bed. I sensed my shadows inside of his body. I tried to kill him and I don't even remember."
"But you didn't so don't let it bother you," Mira said.
Memories of his nightmare flashed through his mind again, this time just of a dead Elfman and Mira's tears. He felt his chest tighten. Everything about that dream had come true. He had no memory of doing any damage. He had killed people. He had attacked and injured Elfman and Gracie. "It's all just like that dream," he said softly.
"The nightmare you had a couple nights ago?" Mira asked. "Is that what has you so upset?"
"I killed everyone. I burned Magnolia to the ground and I didn't even remember doing it. Everyone in Fairy Tail was dead. I killed them because they tried to stop me. You were crying over Elfman's body, Mira." He stopped as he stared down at his shaking hands. "You said that you never wanted to see me again."
Mira's heart broke. "But Nikolias, that was just a dream, nothing more. I never want to be apart from you. Please believe me."
"How can I after what I did?" he asked. "I attacked your brother. You should hate me." He balled his hands into fists. "I truly am a monster."
Mira closed the gap between them in less than a second. She lifted his head with one hand and, once their eyes met, she slapped him across the face with her other hand.
Nikolias' eyes went wide. She had just slapped him. He slowly turned his head to look back at Mira, only to see that tears were falling uncontrollably from her eyes. "Mira…"
"Don't you dare!" she said angrily. "Don't you dare call yourself that! You are no monster, Nikolias. You are a wonderful person and don't you forget it. What happened yesterday is unfortunate, but it's not who you are. Do you hear me?"
Nikolias just stared at the woman he loved, unable to formulate words. He hated seeing her cry like this and he was the one who had done it to her. But what amazed him more was that she didn't hate him. She didn't think he was a monster. After what he did, she still wanted to be with him. Heavier tears began to fall as his throat tightened. "Mira," he rasped before wrapping his arms tightly around her and burying his face in her neck. "I'm so sorry."
Tears streamed down her face as she returned the embrace. "Please don't be so hard on yourself. You need to remember, Nikolias, that you will never be alone. Everyone in Fairy Tail loves you and will support you when you need help. You will always have Gracie by your side. And you will always have me. I will always be there for you, Nikolias, no matter what happens. I'm right here next to you and I'm not going anywhere." She squeezed him tighter. "I love you so much, so please don't question that ever again."
"I won't," he promised. "I love you more than anything, Mira. I'd do anything for you."
Gracie sighed as she watched the sobbing couple embrace each other. She wiped away a tear that threatened to fall. "I guess it's finally all over now. We can go back to how things used to be." She turned to look at the afternoon sun and smiled. "Our family is complete once more."
The next day, the rain came. It was a rather heavy downpour, so everyone opted to stay inside of the guild hall instead of doing missions. The only two not present were Nikolias and Mira.
Lucy huddled into Natsu's warm body. "It's really coming down out there."
Natsu wrapped his arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Man, I really wanted to do a mission today. I'm itching for a good fight."
Lucy sighed. "Such a one track mind."
Natsu looked around. "Maybe I could challenge Nikolias. Where is he?"
"I don't think challenging Nikolias inside is a good idea…or challenging him at all, for that matter," Lucy said as she, too, looked around. "It doesn't look like he's here, though."
Natsu groaned and saw Gracie sitting at the bar and laughing with Erza and Kinana. "Hey, Gracie, where's Nikolias?"
Gracie leaned back on her stool until she was parallel with the floor. She looked at Natsu, even though he looked upside-down. "He went to the funeral service for the Magic Council's Rune Knights today. Mira went with him."
"I didn't know he was going to that," Gray said as he walked over to the group.
Gracie sighed as she sat back up. "Yeah, once he heard about it in town yesterday, nothing could change his mind. He wanted to go and pay his respects."
"That's probably going to be very hard on him," Erza said.
"That's what Mira's for," Gracie said. "She'll help him through this."
"Still, I can admire his decision to attend the service," Erza said.
"When will they be back?" Natsu asked.
Gracie hummed as she tapped her chin. "Pretty soon, I'd think. The service was earlier this morning."
As if on cue, the door to the guild opened, allowing the howling winds to blow some rain water inside. The door quickly shut behind the lone person. The visitor pulled down their hood to reveal a familiar head of white hair.
"Hey Mira!" Gracie called out. "How'd it go?"
Mira took off her rain jacket, hung it on a hook, put her umbrella by the door, and walked over to the group. "It was a lovely service despite the weather."
"Where's Nikolias?" Erza asked.
Mira sighed. "He went home."
"Why? What happened?" Lucy asked.
"After the bodies were buried, Nikolias was approached by a mother and her two children," Mira explained. "I'm not sure how she knew who he was, but the mother asked if he was the Half-Dragon responsible for killing her husband. He said that he was and then the woman struck him."
"What'd he do after that?" Gray asked.
Mira lowered her gaze. "He just kept his eyes fixed on the ground and remained motionless. All he did was utter a soft apology." She looked up. "He told me afterwards that he could smell Soyer on them, so they must be his wife and daughters."
"Poor Niky," Gracie said. "Was he in bad shape?"
"He cried, but he held himself together well, all things considered," Mira said. "He was tired afterwards, so he went to take a nap."
"Well I hope that he's okay," Gracie said. "In the end, attending may not have been the best idea ever."
Nikolias lay sprawled out on the bed that he and Mira shared, staring at the ceiling. The events of the funeral service were playing over and over in his head. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking about it.
The conversation that he had with Soyer's wife was weighing even heavier on him, though.
"Excuse me," a middle aged woman said as she approached him. She was dressed in all black with a black raincoat over her clothes. On either side of her stood a solemn looking young girl, one of whom was holding a large black umbrella over all three of their heads.
"What can I do for you?" Nikolias asked. He was standing off to the side of the service with Mira's arm linked with his and an umbrella clutched in his hand to keep them dry.
"Are you the Half-Dragon responsible for killing my husband?" she asked. Her voice was trembling as she fought back the urge to break down and cry.
Nikolias gave a slow nod. "I am."
The woman swiftly lifted a hand and struck him across the face. "What did he do to deserve this fate?" she asked.
Nikolias didn't meet her gaze. He hadn't moved his head from where it ended up after the strike. "Nothing. Your husband was a wonderful man. I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I don't need your apologies," she spat. "It won't change anything."
"I know."
The woman held her daughters close while she looked at Mira. "You should distance yourself from this thing. Heaven knows when he'll turn on you and eat you as well." With that, she turned swiftly and hurried her daughters away from their father's murderer.
Mira made to go after the woman, but Nikolias held her close. "Nikolias…"
"It's okay," he said softly.
"But she called you…"
"She's upset and rightfully so. I could smell Soyer on them. They must be his family. Let her grieve. Let her hate me. It's fine."
Mira hugged Nikolias. "Alright."
He hugged her back. "Thanks for being here with me, Mira."
"Of course. I'm happy to be here by your side always and forever."
Nikolias closed his eyes and sighed. It had been a long couple of days, but one thing was for sure; he was glad that he went to the funeral service. If he hadn't been approached by Soyer's wife, he probably would have played that scenario in his head over and over again, trying to discern what would happen. But now he knew and now he felt a strange sense of closure. He still felt extremely guilty for what he had done, but he now knew that he could keep living his life. With Mira, Gracie, and everyone else in Fairy Tail, he could get through this.
With a smile, he leapt off of the bed and stretched. "Well, I guess I should be getting to the guild. What I wouldn't give for some of Mira's cooking right now." He bolted down the stairs and out the front door, not caring to grab a rain jacket or umbrella. He was fine with the rain hitting his bare skin because to him, the rain was washing away the pain and sorrow and anger from the past few days and letting him start anew, surrounded by the people who loved him.
