Fracturing Skies DGM 791-204

by ShilaMazeri

People marked with the legendary Dark Sign have started to rise across the world, heralding the return of the Undead from the ancient stories about Lordran, a land that was once to the east of Xing on the Pacifica Continent, replaced with the more modern Noah's Ark. But with most of his memories gone, can Lavi recall his lost knowledge in time to save himself from going hollow?

3. Spell Introduction

8

Fracturing Skies v2

DGM 791-204

Dark Souls AU

Arc 1 The First Change

Chapter 3 Spell Introduction

Fracturing Skies

Conversation Guide

Note here that I am keeping the overall guide the same as the rest of the Fracturing Skies stories.

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Normal text.

Thinking.*feelings*

/*instincts*/

"Spoken out loud."

'Magic Weapon speaking. *feelings*'

'White Zangetsu speaking. (the true Zangetsu) *feelings*' This will also be how Soul Eater Weapons communicate with their wielder when in Weapon form.

'Old Man Zangetsu speaking. *feelings*' This will also be how Soul Eater Weapons communicate their feelings via their wavelengths. Meisters can communicate mentally with their Weapons in this manner as well.

'Junior's personas speaking when inside his mind. *feelings*' (I'll get into this in the story, but any 'voice' that is not in control but is inside his mind speaks this way. I'll tag each voice in a way so you all can understand what is going on, but there aren't enough bold/underline/italics combinations to make 49 separate ways of writing and this site doesn't allow for different fonts. Sorry)

'Werewolf 'mind' speaking.'

"Speaking a different language, but it is written in English."

Mental communication outside an imprint. *feelings*

Essence ribbon/Spirit ribbon sensing. *feelings*

'Essence Aura/Spiritual Pressure sensing. *feelings*'

"Imprint communication. *feelings*"

"Pack Link. *feelings*"

I think they are thinking this with their face. Also used for telepathic glimpses of information, like when one individual reads another's mind.

"Recalling what someone else said."

I am dwelling on what happened. *I am dwelling on how I felt.*

"I am recalling what I said."

I am recalling something I read to myself. Blood Memories are written this way. Recalling rumors I heard. *feelings from Blood Memories*

"I am reiterating what I read or heard about out loud. Blood Memories are talked about out loud this way. Rumors are shared this way." (rumors)

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION/ANNOUNCEMENTS

*"speaking through a communication device (NOT like nonverbal communication or announcements over an intercom"*

/copied words to pull the reader to the next scene, oftentimes used when having flashbacks that can distract from a current event. /

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Without further adieu, I do NOT own Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Avatar, Yu Yu Hakusho, Soul Eater, D Gray Man, nor anything in the Stargate universe (books, movies, and tv shows included). I do NOT own the world of Dark Souls, nor anything therein.

I ONLY own the characters from Chronicles of Seraphia, as well as my own twists to each of the original characters and timelines, and any OCs I add.

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I am marking this story with M for Mature.

There will be swearing, suicidal thoughts, torture and extreme blood and gore and other MATURE themes. This is NOT a complete list, just a heads up on some of the more common things in this particular story. There is a REASON that it is being marked M for MATURE. If you are squeamish, easily triggered, hate certain types of stories, etc. then you should MOVE ON.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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ARC 1: THE FIRST CHANGE

CHAPTER 3: SPELL INTRODUCTION

D GRAY MAN/DARK SOULS AU

Timeline: 791-204

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Lavi hadn't even fully contemplated his given options yet, but Nea's apparently playful suggestion struck a chord inside him. Something stuttered in his mind, the feel of a dagger hilt resting in his palm, blade pressed against his wrist. "Yeah," he muttered as he tried to focus on the fragmented image. The thought shattered as quickly as it came though, leaving him with no more information than he had initially gotten. It was frustrating, but maybe there was hope yet to remember what he had forgotten.

Hopefully.

"A big hammer and a dagger sounds good," Lavi agreed after a moment of contemplation, watching in awe as Nea pulled a hammer and dagger out of seemingly nowhere, the weapons appearing as if pulled from another dimension. He couldn't help but to blink repeatedly, questioning the sight before him. It was impossible. There was no way that Nea had that on him without it being obvious. Any yet…

And yet, it appeared to be no less true. The white-haired boy handed him his requested weapons. The hammer was heavy, but he thought he'd be able to use it with two hands. Tucking the dagger into the waistband of his pants, he then watched as Kanda proceeded through the white fog, the action making it disappear into nothing. Lavi's brows furrowed in confusion as he slowly trailed behind Nea, who crossed the plank without even caring to look down or test the boards. He wondered if the other boy was just crazy or didn't care about his own wellbeing.

Stepping warily, he tested the plank stretching between the rundown buildings with carefully applied pressure, prepared to jump backwards if need be in the event that it gave way. Nea watched him with thinly veiled amusement while Lenalee followed behind Kanda, not sparing him more than a quick glance before disappearing through the doorway the swordsman had just passed through. No one else seemed concerned about the board and it felt stable enough, so he stepped across it quickly, nearly running the short jaunt and making Nea chuckle.

They followed shortly behind Lenalee, stepping into the building previously obscured via fog. It was in a state of disrepair (much like the rest of this place, he was quickly discovering), filled with barrels and parts of fallen stonework on the lefthand side, the walls themselves coming down since they had been built. A stone stairway was immediately in front of the doorway, stretching upwards a few feet between making a sharp lefthand turn to a partial loft above and another doorway. He didn't know why it made him think of bombed out buildings and war-torn streets, but the comparison rose in his mind and clung to him.

He followed Nea up the stairs to the upper doorway and then up another set that proceeded beyond it that led out of the building, their procession coming to a halt shortly thereafter with Kanda holding up the group. Lavi touched Allen's shoulder, feeling the two identities switch like static in the air, and asked with a low voice, "What's going on?"

Allen glanced back at him, quirking his lips. "Just watch."

Kanda took a step forward, then another. After the third, Lavi couldn't see him anymore from his place further down the steps, but he heard a gust of wind buffet the building, followed immediately by the sight of what appeared to be a large, red dragon landing on the walkway (that was kinda hard to miss even as far back as he was). He heard stone creak and groan under the sudden enormous weight before the beast flew away with a thunderous flap of its wings, disappearing from sight before he could scramble outside to track it. He ignored Kanda's sputtered protest as he shoved the other man aside in his haste to see, looking back at Allen with wide eyes when it was apparent that he had missed its departure.

"What was that?!"

"Heads up!" Kanda shouted just before a body hit Lavi from behind, staggering him. For a moment, he thought that maybe Lenalee had somehow stumbled into him (which didn't make sense because, from what he had seen so far, she was practically grace personified, but he was grasping at straws), but she was beside Allen in front of him. The next thing he felt was searing pain lance through his shoulder, the sensation of a sharpened blade tearing into his flesh lighting up his nerves. Putrid breath ghosted over his face, paired with an inhuman growl. He shouted in pain and surprise, both emotions warring equally as he noted how his body didn't respond how he had expected it to.

He shouldn't be able to move his right arm right now. With how much it hurt and how deeply the pain had penetrated, he was certain that his muscles and tendons should have been severed. However, he could still clench his hand into a fist, could still react on instinct, pulling the dagger from his waistband before thrusting it under his armpit. An incoherent grunt of pain was his reward, the weight leaving his back a moment later.

He spun around to see Kanda thrust his sword forward, impaling a humanoid creature (presumably the one he had stabbed, based on how close it was). Its eyes were pitch black with no color to see, the irises fully blended into the darkened sclera. Lavi noted that there seemed to be no recognition in its blank gaze, no realization that it had been stabbed. It flailed weakly before slumping, what little life it still had finally giving out from its injuries.

Behind it making a slow approach down another short flight of stairs at the end of the roughly twenty-foot-long cobblestone crosswalk was a swarm of ten more of the things, all wielding daggers and sharing blank looks as they meandered closer. The stairs looked to open onto a larger, flatter area, and in the distance, Lavi noted three hollows standing on another raised spot, shooting down at them with what looked like crossbows. It was a wonder they hadn't been shot yet, but then he watched as each bolt struck the raised stone walls around the upper arena, wondering if that was why Kanda hadn't charged ahead at the first sight of danger. If it was, then it was either brilliant foresight or exceptional situational awareness and tactics. If it wasn't, then maybe he had read Kanda wrong.

Pulling out the hammer Nea had gifted him, he resolved himself to killing the mindless horde. There was nothing human left of them, all traces of individuality having long since been lost. These were no longer people, and this wasn't murder. It could almost be characterized as mercy killing. Glancing to his left, Kanda was kicking the dead hollow off his blade, so Lavi stepped in front of him, lowering his hammer into a two-handed stance before him. Without a word, Lenalee darted past on his right, running along the edge of the walkway, black boots flashing green. He watched, mesmerized, as she launched herself into the air, landing behind the three archers in the distance.

The horde shambled closer without much intelligence aiding their behavior, and Lavi tested their stupidity, slamming his hammer down on one and flattening it to the ground. As he pulled the hammer head back, it groaned on the ground, arm reaching out with shaky movements, before stilling. The others didn't even seem to notice, shuffling closer, and while he had felt the slight pull in his right shoulder, it no longer hurt and didn't hinder his actions.

I guess that's one plus to being here…

Despite the lack of pain, however, he realized that he was still injured. That hadn't miraculously healed, and it was something he was going to have to keep track of. If he wasn't careful, he had the feeling that building up wounds would eventually catch up to him, and that could only be bad.

With a frown of concentration, he swung his hammer to the left and then the right, bowling over the hollows with ease. But while he had easily knocked them down, they were getting back up, unsteadily standing on their feet. Swinging again, he thought he had struck Kanda instead, only to see him duck under the hammerhead with a curse. Behind him, Nea laughed.

"Sorry!" Lavi apologized, flustered by the near miss even as he brought the hammer around again. The third strike seemed to be the ending attack, the hollows remaining pancaked on the ground.

"Why the fuck are you only standing back and laughing, Shortstack?!" Kanda snapped, but instead of the gripe being aimed at him (which he had expected since his swing nearly took the swordsman's head off), it was aimed at Allen.

Nea responded with a cheeky grin that Lavi turned around just quick enough to see, saying, "But what would be the fun in that?" Golden eyes glanced at Lavi. "You're pretty good with that thing," he started, ignoring Kanda grinding his teeth and stomping away, "But try this, too." He offered Lavi a leather fingerless glove. Golden eyes flickered silver momentarily, Allen yelling at Kanda's departing form, "My name is Allen, BaKanda!" before Nea returned to the foreground.

Kanda didn't bother replying.

Lavi took the glove after slinging his hammer to rest on his back while smothering his amusement at the trio's antics, looking it over but not finding anything visually unusual. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Just giving me one glove?" Despite his instincts bristling at Nea's presence, he found himself settling just slightly. He didn't know if it was the continued kindness or the golden-eyed identity's attitude, but he was starting to get accustomed to Nea. The other persona's inherent danger still thrummed in the air like humidity, but it was quickly becoming a reassuring presence.

Nea smirked. "It's a pyromancer's flame." The white-haired boy pulled on an identical glove, sparking a flame in his palm. Lavi slid his own on, frowning when nothing happened.

Allen returned to the foreground, golden eyes shifting silver. "Here, I'll teach you two pyromancies and how to wield them. If you decide that you like fire magic, then I can show you more."

The 'teaching moment' was short and sweet and took place in the area immediately beneath where the three archers had camped out since it was a larger space to practice in. Lavi was surprised that there really wasn't anything to it. Activating the flame was as simple as dragging his fingernails over the material in the palm and dousing the fire was done by clenching his fist. Then, Allen showed him how to manipulate the flames. The first attack, named Combustion, was a close-range burst of fire. The second attack, named Fireball, was exactly that, a ball of flame that could be thrown a short distance.

He experimented more as he followed Allen up the stairs leading to where the archers had fired down at them. There was an entrance into a stone building to the left that could be reached via crossing another set of planks stretched over an abyss. There was also a long walkway leading over the tops of other buildings below (that drop was a killer from the looks of it), which led toward another room on the far side. He was guessing that that room connected to the area opposite the expanse in front of them, overlooked by five hollows that were simply standing there on the scaffolding and watching them. Lenalee was standing where the dead archers had crumpled, waiting while Kanda was nowhere to be found.

A glance back the way they came revealed that Kanda was taking another route, brutally hacking down a group of four spear wielders turtling behind shields. It was off to the left when looking down, another cobblestone flat bridge reaching over to connect the two buildings. Seeing the route that they had traveled thus far from this angle let Lavi see how there were multiple buildings built on top of each other. They weren't merely multi-story complexes. It was like one set of homes was the foundation for the ones above them, each layer's roofs connected to the others through various stone walkways, some of which continued as pathways linking different zones while others were merely dead ends.

Glancing over to watch Kanda circling the group, seemingly waiting for an opening, Lavi asked, "Is he going to be fine on his own?" He quickly found that his concern was unwarranted when Kanda struck lightning fast, each hollow falling to a quick backstab that the others were either unable to or too stupid to try and interrupt. With the four humanoids dead, Kanda proceeded to slash apart a pile of boxes nearest to where Lavi was watching from above, disappearing from sight as he did so. Lavi caught sight of a darkened hole and wondered if there was a hidden staircase there and why it would have been covered like that.

Lenalee followed his line of sight and hummed thoughtfully, "He might be going to stock up on some supplies." Lavi furrowed his brows in confusion. The girl continued, "There's a merchant down there. He sells some weapons and armor and also a few utility items."

"He sells things? How are you supposed to buy anything?" As far as Lavi had seen thus far, it wasn't like there was any kind of money floating around. This place was shaping up to be quite the hellhole, without even a safe zone to retreat to. He had no idea what was in store for him the longer he stuck around, but he was highly tempted to ask for directions to leave.

Lenalee had an uncomfortable look cross her face, but after worrying her lip for a moment, she chose to answer, "Every undead has a number of souls they release when they die. Those souls go to the one that kills them, and since we all travel together, a smaller portion goes to the rest of us." In the distance, Lavi heard a twang and the sounds of fighting, but before he could ask what was going on, Lenalee said, "Wait a moment and you'll see what I mean."

It didn't take long before a white, nearly translucent, wisp floated his way and sunk into his skin. And while the appearance was shocking (and a little unnerving), it didn't hurt or feel like anything more than a soft breeze against his body. A few more approached moments later and then Kanda was walking up the path they had entered the area from, covered in blood but otherwise appearing no worse off. Lavi didn't know how he had missed the wisps before. Now that he knew what he was looking for, it was all too easy to spot them.

"What the fuck are you all standing around for?" the swordsman demanded once he caught up to them.

"I was just telling Lavi about soul acquisition," Lenalee replied.

"Tch, we don't have time to stand around. We need to get moving," Kanda retorted. He then walked to the beginning of the bridge, pulled out a bow, and started shooting at the hollows above that began throwing bombs as he approached. Lavi watched him methodically kill the five hollows with headshots before he took off running down the bridge. Lenalee ran after him, dark boots trailing lines of green fire.

Allen gestured for Lavi to go ahead, and while the pair slowly trudged after the others, Lavi asked in a low voice over his shoulder, "Why didn't Lenalee just hop over the gap and take care of those guys? I've seen her fly through the air a lot further than that." On the other side of the gap, Kanda exited past a stack of boxes leaning against the wall, tossing him a glare (did he hear what I asked?) before he entered the building opposite Allen and Lavi (on the other side of the gap). Lenalee took the stairs past where Kanda entered, leaping out of sight, seemingly oblivious.

"Do you remember what I told you about space here being warped?" Allen questioned back. Lavi nodded as they entered the room at the end of the walkway. There were four dead bodies lying haphazardly about, the corpses twitching occasionally even after death. It would have made him nervous except that Allen was paying them no mind. In front of him and slightly to his left was a closed steel door and set into the wall to his left was a doorway leading out to the buildings underneath the scaffolds where the hollows had thrown bombs from.

While Allen continued speaking, he tried to open the door to no avail. Giving up, Lavi turned to face Allen, watching Kanda leave the other building and proceeding up the set of stairs on the other side, the sounds of fighting echoing faintly in the room. "Well, there are a lot of places like that here. While we can see other areas of the burg, they aren't actually accessible anymore. A lot of them have fallen through the cracks of space, and while we can see them, their appearances are more like mirages. And because those places don't truly exist anymore, Lenalee can't leap over them. Her Dark Boots—that's the name of her shoes, and they're actually a weapon she can attack with—only allow her to fly in space that still exists."

"Her boots are a weapon?" Lavi asked incredulous, following Allen from the room when the white-haired boy beckoned him to.

Silver eyes shifted gold as Nea replied, "Yes, one of my dear relatives created special weapons to combat demons. It's called Innocence. But the material was nearly as finicky as he was. It could only be wielded to its full potential by those people the weapons themselves chose. Finding people willing to accommodate the whims of a non-sentient thing was equally challenging." He hummed to himself, a contemplative look crossing his face. "I think there's only a few of those weapons left in the world now."

"So, you and your family are demon hunters, then?" Lavi inquired, trying to wrap his head around what Nea had said. He had mentioned family, so, did that mean it was also Allen's family, or did he mean adoptive family? And if he had a life elsewhere, why was he here of all places? This certainly wasn't a very friendly environment. His thoughts drifted to what little he remembered of Bookman, and he hoped that the old man was okay somewhere.

Nea stilled, golden eyes narrowing as he stared at Lavi. In that moment, he didn't look particularly friendly, the dangerous aura around him nearly tripling, prompting Lavi to take a step back. All the silver drained from his irises and in a low voice, Nea growled, "No, and despite what we told Kanda earlier, you actually have a high likelihood of going hollow on us. I don't think I'm going to waste the time explaining my situation here to someone that, in high probability, will die and go fully insane the first time he faces a demon."

Lavi grit his teeth in frustration before he snapped back, "Then why don't you kill me then? Or, better yet, show me how the fuck to leave this place?!" He didn't have a death wish, but a lack of explanation and now the threat of violence from someone he had thought cared caused him to react without thinking, to speak without considering his words more carefully. Kanda had accused him before of being close to going hollow, probably referencing a process wherein he would become nothing more than another mindless aggressive humanoid shambling around, but he didn't feel any different than he thought he should, lack of memories notwithstanding.

"Leaving this place is impossible." Lavi filed that response away for later.

"Fine, then why bother helping me? You and Allen have been teaching me shit this whole time. Why stop now?!" He was yelling now, feeling desperate. He still didn't want to die. He wanted to find Bookman and figure out just what was going on and how he had gotten here. He was determined to learn the reason, even if that goal looked nigh impossible at the moment. Reaching over his shoulder, he grasped the handle of his hammer, the hammer Nea had given him. "You know what? You don't have to bother teaching me anything anymore. I'll figure it out on my own. I'll find the old man. I refuse to give up! If you want to try and kill me, then get it over with so I can move on."

Nea grinned.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

So, this chapter took me all fricking week to write. And it wasn't like it was hard, I just kept getting distracted with other things. Before I knew it, it was Thursday. So, sorry for the delay.

I made a few changes to the magic system. Instead of there being a limited number of uses, I'm having that be infinite. And spells that are learned are accessible at any time, no need to 'attune' things either. While that's a fine mechanic for the game to have, I didn't feel that it would work very well in how this story is going.