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Chapter 8: Cynthia's World

(Que Fairy Tail OP)

Cynthia and Sherry crashed near the shore of the island. Cynthia immediately jumped out of the way when a tree turned into a horrific doll by Sherry's Marrionette magic. She has never seen magic like this before in Northern Ishgar. Cynthia pulled out her strongest Celestial spirit.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus."

From a golden light emerged Taurus. With one swing of his axe, he crushed the doll of Sherry's creation. Suddenly, he paused in his charge after Sherry. Taurus looked back at Cynthia with eyes glowing purple. He wouldn't listen to what Cynthia was saying and instead attacked Cynthia.

"You've made your own grave." said Sherry, moving her fingers in a certain dexterity, "I can control anything, even Celestial spirits."

"I'm," groaned Taurus, "sorry - Cynthia."

Cynthia didn't want to fight Taurus, and she doubted her Illusion magic could work on Celestial spirits. She was easily overwhelmed and pinned to the ground below Taurus. He raised his fists to pound upon Cynthia's face.

"Taurus!" cried Cynthia, "You've gotta fight it. Remember the promise you made me."

Taurus only had control of his voice, but his whole body moved by Sherry's will. She sneered from her vantage point.

"Make sure you aim a little low." commanded Sherry, "She is quite short."

Taurus managed to stop himself for a moment just from the shock at that comment; he knew full well of Cynthia's wrath. That feeling of dread in her eyes was replaced with a dark mood that put a shadow over her face.

"Yooou've shouldn't have done that." said Taurus.

"What!?" exclaimed Sherry, "Just smash her face in."

Taurus hammered down his arm, but just inches from Cynthia's face his hand suddenly ripped apart and bled the light of the Celestial realm. Cynthia got to her feet with a menacing motion in her feet.

"Close gate." said Cynthia, and Taurus disappeared.

Sherry couldn't even speak by how heavy the air was all of a sudden. The earth cracked under Cynthia's pressure. Magic surged around her body like a barrier.

"No one." snarled Cynthia, giving Sherry a death stare. "No one calls me short."

'What is this girl?' thought Sherry, 'Just with the pressure of her magic, she ripped that spirit's hand off. It's so immense she closed the gate without trying. I have to get a grip. For my Cold God.'

Cynthia's eyes flashed a brilliant white light, just like the last time she got mad. A magic circle spread out to encompass the shore. It was unlike anything Sherry had ever seen from Illusion magic. She clapped her hands together and they glowed with the magic circle.

"Mirror Flower, Water Moon."

"Rock Doll."

"Nothing" happened from Cynthia's spell and a rock giant smashed its fist onto Cynthia. Sherry laughed in victory, but it was nothing but false. Cynthia reappeared somehow, unscathed, behind Sherry.

"Your rock doll is nothing but dough." hissed Cynthia. When Sherry turned around, she wasn't there. She found Cynthia at the foot of the rock giant. With a single tap, the giant crumbled into dust. Sherry was in shock. She casted her magic, but nothing was working. It was like she didn't have magic at all.

"How?" said Sherry.

Cynthia's eyes stared down Sherry, coursing through her a fear that collapsed her knees. Suddenly, the ground gave away and she found herself falling in an endless scar in the earth. Sherry could only see Cynthia, somehow standing straight in the fall.

"What is this?" screamed Sherry, "What kind of magic is this?"

"There's a reason why I use Celestial magic more than my strengths." bellowed Cynthia across all of reality.

Sherry found herself back at shore looking back at Cynthia. Suddenly, the island rumbled and Cynthia disappeared again. She looked up to the sky and her heart wanted to stop. Cynthia somehow had grown to block out the sky and held the entire island in one palm.

"Simply put," bellowed Cynthia, "my Illusion magic is just too powerful that I feel pity using it at its full scale. For most of my life, Illusion magic came to me like breathing and eating. And it grew so powerful, no one can defeat me. Mirror Flower, Water Moon is actually the simple, yet most powerful spell I have. It allows me to control all five of your senses however I wish. It's all really simple if you have the genius mind for it."

Sherry smiled. "So it's just Illusion magic. I can-"

Suddenly, reality instantly transformed yet again. Sherry found herself underwater with an unbreakable surface. Her body refused to breathe in the "water". Cynthia stood over her on the surface of the endless sea.

"You misunderstand." bellowed Cynthia, "My magic isn't some hypnosis. You're very body bends to my will to your deepest instinct. It's quite sickening that I can make one's body kill themselves. I can't even call this Illusion magic because of how overpowering it is. All I can say is once you're under this spell - you're in my world where I am god."

Reality blinked again and Sherry found herself back on Galuna Island. She was completely terrified and her first instinct was to run. Something latched onto her arm. She looked down and wanted to scream when a black bone of a hand sprouted from the ground. More came from the earth as black skeletons locked her down. Even if it was an Illusion, it felt too real for Sherry to resist.

"I've lowered the spell just a little." said Cynthia, a killer's menace in her voice, "You called me short and that is - unforgivable!"

Cynthia's left eye turned black as night with a silver pupil to contrast with the brilliant light in her right eye. Her left hand and fingers crackled with a dark energy that sent chills through Sherry.

"This is no Illusion magic." hissed Cynthia, "It's a brand of dark and destruction magic I was seemingly born with like my Illusion magic, but only I can use it. I don't know what it is, I hardly use it, yet I can't seem to 'unlearn' it, if you get what I mean. I still don't have a name for these spells, but I assure you at minimal power they are quite deadly."

It was like Cynthia's face was divided in two. While the right side of her face was in a blinding brilliance of white light of the heavens, her left side was shadowed by that dark eye and the left side of her lips curved upwards. It was holy wrath and vile darkness melded into one.

"What are you!?" exclaimed Sherry, "What are you, you monster?!"

Cynthia's left hand moved to make six purple magic circles that formed a pentagram. It spun in Cynthia's left hand, surging with black magics unseen in this world. Sherry was cut off from the world as black space formed a tall box around her. The pressure it released riled the air and turned stone into dust. Cynthia's power, for just a moment, could be felt all across the island. When the box disappeared, Sherry had bloody slashes all across her body, but still barely alive. Cynthia took her leave, her hair whipping back like a cape.

"Don't." said Cynthia. The giant rodent leaped at Cynthia to avenge Sherry, but Cynthia responded with a giant's arm to its face. Cynthia had only used that magic by accident whenever she got angry, and couldn't do so at will. She wanted to master that kind of magic so she wouldn't be so short. "Fuck. With me."

Her arm shrank to normal size as Cynthia calmed down. Her happy, cute demeanor returned to her and that immense pressure in the air calmed down within her.

"I'm surprised you have the same magic as Master Makarov."

Cynthia turned around with a common demeanor, "It's not like I can use it on purpose-"

Her eyes went wide and Cynthia lost all color when she found Erza standing right before her. Those eyes of Erza's shot out a fear that no human on this earth possessed. A drawn out squeal of fear left Cynthia's mouth.

'Oh crap, Erza's gonna kill me for stealing the S-Class quest.' thought Cynthia, 'Lucy, please save me.'

"Cynthia, you must know why I'm here." said Erza.

"To take us back to the guild." squeaked Cynthia, clapping her hands together innocently, "Promise you won't hurt me?"

"Hey, Cynthia." called Happy, arriving on the scene, "I'm glad you're ok-"

Happy stopped midsentence and his body moved to soar to the horizon as far away from Erza as possible. Before he even got a few meters, Erza caught the cat by the tail. Cynthia shook on the spot as that terror in Erza's eyes intensified.

"You'll be lucky if you make it out with your lives." threatened Erza.


Morning struck Gray awake. He found himself in bandages on his left arm and torso. He sighed in relief when he discovered no one bothered taking away the "bandages" on Gray's right arm. His injuries weren't so bad that he could walk normally and Gray could tell that he was healing fast. Hopefully, fast enough to beat Lyon. As he looked around, Gray couldn't believe that he had the audacity to destroy the whole village.

A villager led Gray to a tent where his comrades waited for him. She thanked Natsu and Lucy for saving the village. When he went through the hanging cloth, his heart almost stopped to find Erza of all people with dark eyes of death. Cynthia and Happy were at her side, tied up and crying.

"Cynthia has told me everything." said Erza, "You were sent here to stop these fools. Frankly, I'm disappointed."

"Where are Natsu and Lucy?" Gray asked.

"That's something we all want to know." said Erza.

"The last time we saw them." added Cynthia, "They fought the Cold Emperor's lackeys. We haven't seen them since."

"Okay." ordered Erza, "We're going to search for the two, then head back to the guild immediately."

"There's no way that's gonna happen." said Gray, raising his voice, "After what we've seen, not even Lucy is gonna want to leave. I'm not leaving."

"We cannot break the rules of the guild." replied Erza, "That's why I was sent here."

"What are rules," cried Gray, "if there are innocent people dying?! You may be strict, but you're anything but heartless. The master never taught you that."

Erza's eyes gave a cold that exceeded Gray's ice magic. She summoned a sword and pointed it at Gray.

"Don't you dare," growled Erza, "bring up Master Makarov. Not after-"

To everyone's surprise, Gray took the blade and put it to his chest right where his Fairy Tail emblem was. His hand was steady and there was no fear in Gray's eyes.

"Yeah, I get it." said Gray, "The master's mad at us. But I don't think he would let us just abandon people in need. There are rules that we must follow, but there are things we must do no matter what. Not because the rules say so. Because it's the right thing to do. That's what the master taught me, and you can't stop me."

Erza's hand shook; the very first sign of hesitance. Even her death glare was shaking down. But Gray's character was harder than steel. He was prepared to die for the sake of the villagers right then and there.

"WELL!?" yelled Gray, his right eye flashing red, "AREN'T YOU GONNA FOLLOW THE GUILD'S 'RULES', ABANDON THESE VILLAGERS, AND RUN ME THROUGH?! GO AHEAD, BECAUSE I'LL GLADLY DIE AS A FAIRY TAIL WIZARD. ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, ERZA?!"

Erza's arm wavered and fell to her side. Gray walked passed her without any hesitance in his step.

"I'm seeing this through to the end." said Gray as he left through the tent.

Erza's sword hand shook. Cynthia and Happy's hearts pumped with fear as her death gaze turned on them. She swung her sword in a flash and the rope bindings broke.

"We'll deal with the immediate threat for now." said Erza. "But you're still going to face punishment."

"Aye, ma'am." whimpered Cynthia and Happy.


Lucy and Natsu had the greatest plan both of them have ever come up with: destroy the pillars and tilt the temple. In the end, dumb or not, fire slayers think alike. Lucy couldn't help but grin away as she destroyed everything in sight.

"This is fun." laughed Lucy.

"I know." agreed Natsu, "Who knew purposefully destroying stuff is so much fun?"

'Natsu,' thought Lucy, 'I can't believe it, but you're a complete genius.'

They breathed fire through the roof and caught the scent of three. Two of them were Tobi and Lyon, but the other was in a mask with a strange scent of a woman instead of a man.

"Insolent fools." cried Lyon, "Who do you think you are to challenge a god?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "A god? Do you have a few screws loose?"

"You're the one who beat Gray." said Natsu, firing feet through his feet and Lucy close behind, "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn."

Natsu rammed his head into Lyon, but turned out to be an ice clone. Lucy struck the humanoid with one punch, but when she turned around the masked man was gone.

"Ice Make: Eagle."

Lyon launched a wave of ice eagles to strike Natsu.

"Fire Dragon's Roar."

"Fire Demon's Rage."

While Natsu lowered himself to the ground with his roar, Lucy blasted Lyon with her breath attack. Lyon blocked with a simple wall of ice, but there was something strange about it. The ice was pitch black.

"Black ice?" wondered Lucy.

"So you're the Dragon Slayer and the Demon Slayer I've heard so much about." said Lyon, "You're magic is quite impressive, but with the power that I have it is nothing. Defeating you will be mere child's play, as well as defeating Deliora."

"You want to defeat Deliora?" said Natsu, "That's why you went through all this crazy nonsense. But that thing looks half dead as it is."

"Defeating it," said Lucy, "won't prove anything. It'll just bring more death and destruction.

Lyon twitched an eye. "Apparently, words can't get through your skulls. I'll just show you. Cold God's Bellow."

Natsu and Lucy were shocked as Lyon breathed a wave of black ice after them. They responded with their own flames, but the heat was no match for the divine cold. It was just with sheer durability that Lucy and Natsu withstood the blast.

"Did he just breath ice?" exclaimed Lucy, "I know it's not fire, but that's kind of our shtick."

"Yes." answered Lyon, a black mist surrounding him and freezing the whole room, "Both of our magics are similar since they are derived from the beings to slay them. Like they say, fight fire with fire. For me, it is fight a god with god. That is my Cold God Slayer magic, and it is on a completely different level from you."

"I don't care what you're deal is." said Natsu, wiping his lip, "You're hurting a lot of innocent people, and Lucy and I are going to beat you down for that. So just give up."

"As if a god will give a dragon and demon such satisfaction." replied Lyon.

Natsu and Lucy smiled and ignited their fists in their fires. "Then you're asking for a world of hurt."

The wall beside cracked and shattered apart and Gray stepped into the room. He was still wrapped in bandages to cover his injuries.

"Gray!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Leave Lyon to me." said Gray, "Don't argue with me."

"No way, man." argued Natsu, "You already lost to him once."

"It won't happen again." said Gray, taking his stand before Lyon.

Gray made a certain stance where he crossed his arms. The air around blew with an intense chill more than the divine ice around them. Through the icy winds, Lucy and Natsu noticed that Gray's skin was cracking like ice.

"You wouldn't." said Lyon, "You wouldn't dare use iced shell. You're not brave enough to spend you're life."

Spend his life?! Lucy knew exactly what Gray was going for. He was going to use the same magic spell that his master used to seal Deliora away. Her foot was ready to boost her forward with speed to punch Gray for being an idiot, but Natsu had the same idea but was faster than Lucy.

"Get to the back of the line, pal." said Natsu.

"Back of what line!?" said Gray, grabbing Natsu by his scarf, "I don't care. I'm ready to die to settle the score with Lyon."

Natsu grabbed Gray by his arm and gave him a dragon's glare. "Oh yeah, and how's dying going to settle it? It looks you're running away instead."

Before their fight could start, the temple was rumbling. More accurately, it was fixing itself and getting back on its original placement. Even Lucy was ticked off after all that effort getting it tilted. The masked one, by the name of Zalti, came in and informed that he had somehow fixed the temple.

"That weirdo fixed the temple?" blurted Gray.

"And after all that trouble trying to bring it down?!" exclaimed Lucy/Natsu in rage. Apparently when fire slayers are in the same of mind, they tend to speak in sync. Zalti sprinted away, laughing. "Get back here and tell us how you fixed the temple, you son of a bitch!?"

Gray and Lyon were left to themselves. Even now, Gray's first instinct wasn't to fight his childhood rival, but to somehow save him from this path. He let down his guard, and Lyon raised an eyebrow.

"Just forget about Deliaura." Gray demanded.

"Begging, are we?" said Lyon.

"Lyon," said Gray, approaching Lyon, "there's something you have to know. Ur - is still alive. She's alive as the ice that seals Deliora away. All this time, you've been trying to kill our master."

Lyon's eyes went wide with "shock". As he walked over to Gray, he continued, "There's no reason to go through with. Ur's-"

It was all an act. Lyon stretched a smile as his hands produced a black mist, and impaled Gray's side with a protrusion of ice. As Gray went to his knees, Lyon held him to lean to his ear.

"Of course I know that ice is Ur." said Lyon, "What's a human's life to a god?"

Gray couldn't believe it. Lyon knew and went through with the whole thing without a second thought. The Lyon Gray knew wasn't there, replaced by some madman desperate to prove his strength. He made a resolve, one he never thought to use even before meeting Ur. There was no excuse to let this charade go through.


How will Gray defeat a God Slayer immune to his ice magic? Stay in touch. Leave a review if you like the story.