Chapter 11: Takeover

I'm about to say no when I feel this unusual stir inside me. As if a million spiders run around in my stomach. It's an awful sensation.

Although I don't make a sound, the ruler of the Tower gasps in wonderment. 'Fascinating. It's asleep. Yet you are awake?'

'What are you talking about? Are you Acnologia?'

In a swift motion the ruler steps towards me and is just inches away from my face. 'Zeref will be so pleased with the outcome.'

That name does ring a bell. I know it all too well. The people in Bordertown thought he ruled the forest I emerged from. They nearly set my house on fire because they thought I was possessed by him.

But I've never heard of Acnologia.

'Wait,' I say then, 'what are you saying? Do you know what's happening to me?'

'I have my suspicions,' the ruler of the Tower says mysteriously, 'but at the same time I have no idea. I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves.'

He steps away from me and instead extends a gloved hand, palm facing upwards. He mumbles a spell and instantly a ball of energy appears. Not just any energy; it's so dark it looks like a shadow. It's pulsing, as if it's alive.

And the smell. That delicious smell. I'm certain I will lose my mind if I don't do something. I might as well die right here.

'What is that?' I say, drool dripping from my chin as I move closer.

The ruler of the Tower grins. 'Dark magic.'

It's not enough. My fingers are tingling. I pull the balls of fabric blocking my nostrils out, and let everything in. It burns and it feels so good.

'Go on,' the ruler of the Tower says, 'take a bite.'

Suddenly my back hurts. And my shoulders, and my arms, and my legs and my torso. All my muscles ache, but they feel stronger too. My body is changing. And still drool is dripping from my chin.

I jump, dashing towards the extended hand, and devour the darkness.

Next, I'm moving. My feet aren't touching the ground, but I'm moving. From far away, I hear the ruler cackling maniacally.

Just faintly I sense I'm going down, deeper into the ground, and then back up again, towards the floor level of the Tower. After a while I see light emerge, a tiny stripe of light underneath a door. With just a flick of my pinky finger the wood shatters into a million pieces, and then I'm in a hallway.

My body, whatever it looks like now, is gasping, drooling, but somehow my mind is completely calm. As if I know precisely what's happening. Something akin to muscle memory has taken control.

Then I lunge and sink my teeth into the nearest wall. The feeling of being there, inside that Tower in my current form, is almost indescribable; it's like you're in a house made of your favorite candy and your stomach is a bottomless pit that you need to fill.

I don't know how, but stone after stone is crushed between my teeth. I have claws, fangs, maybe even wings. And I feel strong. All that nausea from before was absolutely worth it.

I'm awakened from whatever spell this is by an explosion somewhere on the same floor. My mind immediately shifts to Fairy Tail. Those awful mages, the strawberry smelling one, that blue haired imbecile, the loud fire breather and that half naked freak that told me I was in the way.

I breathe in, locate their scents. They're close.

I take one last bite out of the wall and start running again, on all fours I think. The explosions become louder and I hear shouting too.

The small corridor opens up to a big hall. There's a staircase going around against the walls, I see several masked men with spears and flying creatures with no eyes and sharp teeth. They've surrounded the Fairy Tail mages, who stand in a circle, backs towards each other. The Celestial mage has called forth a spirit, the Dragon Slayer has fire around his fists, the water mage has some kind of shield up and the half naked freak has frost at his fingers, ready to attack.

The Celestial mage, the strawberry smelling one, is by far the most annoying. I will kill that one first.

Some of the masked warriors notice me and point their spears at me. Some form of lightning shoots from the end of it. Before it hits me I open my mouth and snap it shut, swallowing the light. It burns in my throat and isn't nearly as delicious as the walls, but it makes me feel powerful.

Just a snap of my jaw. Do you see this, you Ice Make weakling?

A masked warrior lunges at me, jumping off the back of a flying creature, one of my claws moves and I think he's split in half. I hear gasps all around and I sense movement. The other warriors turn their attention from the mages to me.

They shout orders to one another as they surround me with their spears and flying creatures. For the Fairy Tail mages this would be the perfect time to escape, but instead they stay and watch.

It all happens in a blur kind of. I'm just mowing. I bite and claw and only see parts of bodies and hear the beginnings of screams before I cut them off. There's blood, I know that. Gallons of it. And none of it belongs to myself.

The closer I get to the mages, the stronger the strawberry smell becomes, and the more agitated I get. I can imagine separating her head from her neck, I see it clearly.

When I'm only a few paces away, a sound pierces through the insanity. A scream not like the others. It's not coming from someone afraid to die, like the masked warriors when they realize they can't win from me. It's much deeper than that. I recognize it faintly, not by the voice but by its meaning. I scream like that in my dreams.

I look at the Fairy Tail mages and see the one who told me to go home looking straight at me. He's not just afraid, he's furious. Hungry. As if he's just seconds away from destroying me. I'm pretty sure he's not strong enough to do that, but he will try his hardest.

Amidst the chaos I hear a single word from his lips: 'Deliora.'

I've never heard it before and it doesn't scare me. But the way he says it does.

In that moment of weakness, I'm zapped by one of the spears and lose my footing. I slam into the ground and my strength wavers. The reality of what's happening hits me. I can't fight anymore. I have to get out of here.

I get back up, all fours again. Instead of turning back, I go forward, heading for the opposite hallway, the one the others probably used to get here. When I run past Gray, time seems to slow down. Everything moves elongated and heavy, as if through water.

Gray's eyes follow me and seem to look right through the monster form, at me. He hates what he sees. He hates me.

Then I notice he's moving his arms strangely, and icicles start forming in his palms. He's about to shoot an attack spell.

Time moves normally again. In this hall, I'm out in the open. I won't get to the other hallway in time before the spell hits. I fasten my pace and try anticipating where it will land, if I need to duck or jump.

But before Gray can launch it, someone pushes him, robbing him of his focus. To my surprise, it's Natsu.

I reach the hallway safely and manage to look back at the last second before disappearing back into the darkness. Natsu is standing in front of Gray, placing himself between the ice magic and me.

'What are you doing?!' Gray shouts at Natsu.

'That's not Deliora,' Natsu answers calmly, as if Gray's just an angry child, 'it's something else.'

From this point on, I can't see them anymore. The hallway surrounds me, I keep going, but with my sharp ears I still hear their conversation clearly.

'I don't care!' Gray screams at the top of his lungs, his voice nearly squeals. 'You feel it, right? It's the same magic!'

'Maybe,' Natsu says, still strangely calm, 'but it looks more like a dragon than a demon. If it's the first, that means it's my job.'

No way.

'Screw you!' Gray screams back, but he doesn't argue further. Perhaps somewhere he does realize I'm not this Deliora he thinks of. I'm something worse.

I try to block out any other sounds coming from that hall. A sudden patch of red passes in the corridor, aside from that there's nothing and no one else here.

Though my body is still filled with energy, my mind is exhausted. All I can think is: I made the one person I like in this world as terrified of me as I am of the monsters in my dreams.