Chapter 97
Looming Danger
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic"
Flashback
Location / Date / Time Skip
The open space was an absolute shock to the group as the smoke cleared. "The Eternal Flame has vanished…" Lucy mumbled in shock.
"No, no!" Flare shouted in horror.
"The moment the Flame was frozen, it was extinguished?" Carla asked in shock.
"Did I mess up somewhere?" Gray asked himself. "Is there no way we can save the giants now?"
"The Eternal Flame has been burning for hundreds of years." Flare mumbled in shock. "The village… it won't survive this, will it?"
"No, it's not over!" Wendy shouted, shocking everyone. "I can sense a strong magical presence from the alter. Look there!"
She pointed into the mist and everyone looked in to see a small alter in the center of the crater. In it was a small flame, just barely clinging to life. "That's all that's left?" Happy asked.
"Natsu's fire can bring it back to life!" Wendy shouted.
"You mean pinky?" Flare asked before she looked to the sky.
"NATSU!" Lucy shouted as he punted the creature.
"I hear ya loud and clear!" He said, jumping off the beasts back. The creature twisted and dived at him, only for the Slayer to spin and move to the side. Grabbing the tail, Natsu pulled with all his might and threw it to the ground. The eye started glowing before a beam shot out of it, hitting him.
"NATSU!" Laki jumped at the beast as it turned, the beam still firing. It tore through the ground as it made its way towards a frozen giant. "Not gonna happen!" Her Bark Shield slammed into the side of the beast, throwing the aim off and only hitting the spear. "Let's do this!" Laki leaned back and let Natsu jump off her arm.
He punched the beast down and it crashed into the alter. "Every fire needs kindling!" Laki said as she fired off her Splinter Shot, pinning the wings and tails down.
"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu shouted as he slammed his hands together and blasted the beast. Fireball after fireball peppered the beast before a final blast exploded, blasting everyone back.
Flare looked up and tears started falling from her eyes. "The Eternal Flame… It's returned!"
"That voice…" Natsu said as Happy and Rose caught him and Laki in the air. "So it was you all along."
"No way…" Gray mumbled as Wendy dropped to her knees, gripping her hands.
"Has it been four hundred years, child of Igneel?" Atlas Flame, the Eternal Flame itself, asked.
"One of the dragons that came out of the Eclipse Gate…" Lucy whispered in fear.
"It should have gone back 400 years." Carla declared.
"400 years… yes…" The dragon nodded. "For four hundred years, I have continued to burn strong…"
"So you're still alive, uncle…" Natsu smiled.
"It's been a while, sir." Laki added.
"Alive? No, that's not entirely correct." The dragon replied.
"What you're seeing is a form brought forth from my Milky Way spell." Wendy replied from the center of her spell.
"I am no longer of this world." Atlas Flame declared. "But that is something from the distant past."
"I don't think he's firing on all cylinders." Gray whispered.
"My memory… it's a bit jumbled…" Atlas Flame mumbled.
"It's probably from the ice." Wendy guessed. "At its core, the residual thought may be based on strong will, but it's still very fragile magic. Being frozen in Ice Magic for so long, parts of his memory have been damaged."
"Ice… yes." The dragon bellowed. "This world is covered in ice."
"Are you talking about the village?" Natsu asked.
"Please, tell us what happened." Flare begged.
"I mistook him for someone else…" The Atlas Flame mumbled. "A single human changed the world to ice…"
The entire group stared in shock of the statement. "All this was done by an Ice Wizard!?" Gray asked in shock.
"That man… he thought I was a demon…" The spirit explained. "He froze the entire village to eradicate me… an exorcist mage… A Devil Slayer." Everyone could put together what that meant for the magic. "It's all a bit foggy… I am. What was I?"
"You are the guardian of this village! The flame of the giants!" Flare shouted before dropping into a bow. "I beg of you! Shine your light upon this village once more! Please save this village!"
"…Yes…" The dragon mumbled. "My name is Atlas Flame. I created this village… Its misfortune is my pain… Its sorrows are my tears. I am the linger spirit of the great dragon… I shall set this village free. I am the Fire Dragon Atlas Flame! The guardian dragon of this village!"
The heat suddenly rose and blasted the humans in the face as his spirit started to fade. "I remember it all… The most vile dark magic from the books of Zeref… E.N.D.… 400 hundred years ago, Igneel was unable to destroy E.N.D.…"
The heat blasted the entire village and the frozen beings were instantly thawed, much to their confusion. The giants guarding the flame turned as the flame blazed. "Atlas Flame's residual memories have totally vanished…" Wendy mumbled.
"To think he'd be able to muster that much power with what little spirit he had left." Lucy said with a smile.
"E.N.D. is the dark magic Igneel was trying to destroy?" Natsu asked Laki. "First time I'm hearing about this."
"Same here." She replied.
A frozen wind whipped around a decimated village, a lone figure sat down on his knees. "Lord Silver…" A masked being said, stepping up from behind. "We have received an order from headquarters."
"I'm paying my respects. Let me be." The man said back.
"This time all the members of the Nine Demon Gates have been summoned to meet." The masked man nervously said. "So please comply with the summons, Ice Demon Slayer Silver."
"Relax. There's no need to crap your pants." The slayer replied as he stood up. "It's not like I eat you or anything. The only thing I eat are the souls of demons."
Sun Village
Natsu laughed on the head of a giant who did the same, enjoying the irony of the situation. "We were saved by small people." He chuckled.
"We're just happy you're back to normal." Gray replied in front of a large plate of food.
"What happened to this village?" Erza asked, back to her normal body.
"Apparently, a Devil Slayer attacked the village." Laki explained. "They tried to defend themselves, but then they ended up in that frozen state."
"The Eternal Flame…" Lucy mumbled. "This person came here to defeat Atlas Flame thinking he was a Devil?"
"So this whole thing could have been caused by a mistake?" Erza asked. "Quite complex."
"Can we just focus on finding the ring, now?" Laki asked, making one giant perk up.
"You know, there is something I feel stuck on my foot." He raised his foot and found the ring stuck in the crevasses, smooshed to hell and back. "Oops."
"Don't worry. We giants are the finest craftsmen in the land." The one under Natsu chuckled. "Give us some time and we will make an even better ring."
"I'd rather just have the same ring." She replied.
Wendy glanced over and found Gray in deep thought. "Is something wrong?"
"That giant from Succubus Eye said something." He replied. "The Gate to Hell is opened now."
"Tartaros!?" Erxa asked, scaring Lucy.
"That slayer probably came from Tartaros." Gray surmised. "And Succubus Eye is probably a subordinate guild. They might have ordered them to protect the village."
"You mean he might have frozen the village for another reason?" Wendy asked.
"Who cares, we did our job!" Natsu cheered.
The others cheered and smiled before Lucy looked around. "By the way, where's Flare?" A strand of red hair caught attention and she found her hiding behind a tree. "Why are you hiding?"
"FLARE!" The giants stood up and knocked Natsu off his head. "Where are you Flare?"
"Come on… it's been a while after all." She said, pulling on Flare's arm.
"I left this village." The redhead replied. "I left without saying anything."
"Don't worry, they're not angry." Lucy turned just in time to see a giant staring down at them. "…maybe…"
"Are you really Flare?"
"It's been a long time."
"You grew up. Though not as much as us."
One giant pushed through the crowd and looked down at the girl. "How was the outside world?"
Flare hung her head in shame before answering. "I-it was fun, but also hard."
The giants smiled as did the others before the same giant lean down. "That's the same wherever you go, as long as you're alive. No matter if you leave of stay, this is your home. So we just want to tell you something. Welcome back, daughter."
Tears welled up in her eyes before she hung her head. "I'm home!" Tears fell from her eyes and she joined the party, which lasted all night.
Succubus Eye Guildhall
Minerva stared in shock and horror of the damage done to her new guild. "What's going on!? Where is everyone?" She walked over a strange paper figure and picked it up. "What is this?"
"A person." A voice from behind called out, scaring Minerva into turning. "My power strengthens humans. However, if they are too weak or unworthy of this power, they end up like that."
"Who are you!?" Minerva shouted as the figure came into view.
"I am Kyouka." The being said, revealing bird like features on her hands, feet and head. "One of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros."
'Tartaros!?' Minerva was in a panic as the female walked closer. "You didn't have to go this far just because one village was taken back!"
"What are you talking about?" Kyouka asked in confusion. "I know nothing about that."
'Was that mission something Silver decided on his own?' Minerva asked herself.
"I already said that I was just here to make these humans stronger." The being replied. "Very soon, a large-scale strategy will be set in motion. I came here because our master ordered me to gather soldiers."
"You're killing soldiers instead of gathering them!" Minerva shouted back. "Are you stupid!?"
"We don't need soldiers that cannot get stronger." Kyouka replied before an idea crossed her mind. "What about you?"
She stepped forward and Minerva flinched in fear. "No! Stop! Get away!" A glow hit her and she screamed in pain.
The Next Day
Random Swamp
"Did he have to send us over a massive swamp?" Lucy complained before tripping over a root.
Laki caught her friend and helped her up. "This is probably why he sent us there by vine." She chuckled.
"How much longer until we get there?" Gray asked in annoyance.
Natsu and Wendy sniffed the air at the same time. "Soon. A lot of plants are coming from that direction." Natsu replied. "So shut up and keep walking."
Lucy glanced back at where Sun Village was before Erza tapped her shoulder. "Flare is home now. I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Yeah." The blonde nodded before the group continued the trek.
Hours Later
Warrod's House
The Wizard Saint laughed as the group finished reporting their mission. "I knew sending you was the right decision!" He chuckled. "Nice work."
"It was a piece of cake." Natsu chuckled, earning an elbow from his fiancé.
"I'm just pleased that we finished Warrod request without any further incident." Erza added.
"Hey, what happened to those 'treasure hunters'?" Gray questioned Lucy.
"We sent them all flying." Lucy chuckled.
"It really surprised us that Tartaros was involved." Wendy added.
"Well, I wouldn't worry about them." Warrod replied. "Let the council handle them. More importantly, there's still the matter of your payment."
Night
Lucy sighed as she dropped into the hot springs water. "This is nice."
"What a lovely view as well." Erza added.
"They say this hot spring brings out your natural beauty as well." Carla told Wendy.
"I guess we know where Laki is going before the wedding." Rose chuckled.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." The bride-to-be said back. "Natsu, did you hear that?"
"Loud and clear." Natsu shouted from the other side of the spiked wooden wall Laki set up.
"You are so whipped." Gray chuckled.
"Watch it!" Natsu warned, the water starting to heat up.
Later
The group stood around a pyre burned, cooking their food. "Spending time guild mates like you has me feeling all nostalgic." Warrod chuckled.
"That's sweet, but since are we guild-mates?" Lucy chuckled in confusion.
"Wait, you didn't know." He replied in surprise. "Just like Mavis, I'm one of the founding members of Fairy Tail." Warrod declared, showing off the guild mark on his arm.
All nine members stared in shock before Lucy put two and two together. "That's why the master was so nervous…"
"Is it safe to assume that is the reason you requested Natsu and Gray?" Erza asked.
"Pretty much." He replied. "When you all entered my home, I caught a whiff of the guild's nostalgia. You young fairies have made my heart skip a beat. The peace that Mavis sings about, you lot will be the ones to protect it. Comrade isn't simple a word, comrade are about heart. It is the unconditional trust in your partners. Lean on them, and they will lean on you."
"Wait, does that mean you're even older than Gramps?" Natsu asked. "Then you must know something about E.N.D."
"E.N.D.?" Warrod repeated.
"It's got something to do with Zeref's book of demons." The pinkette explained. "My dad tried to defeat it or something."
"The books of Zeref… Another unsettling word." Warrod mumbled. "I wish I could help, but I know very little myself. But when you mentioned Tartaros, I remembered something. We know next to nothing about the true form of their guild. Not their base of operations, their members, or even their actual numbers.
"But the people who have seen their meetings swear those gathered are worshiping demons. There is a prophecy among the Four Gods of Ishgar. Take it for what it's worth, it's possible they have a book of Zeref in their possession."
"Damn it! You don't know where it is!" Natsu cursed before he started throwing punches. "When I find them, I'll make them spit it out! I'll give them some of this! And that!"
"Uh… Natsu…" Gray mumbled, pointing downward.
Natsu followed the finger and looked down, seeing Erza face first on the ground. Backing away in horror, Natsu could only watch as Erza stood up and walked over to him, murder in her eyes. "After the wedding, you're dead." She warned before walking away, missing Natsu passing out into Laki's arms.
And with this, Sun Village is wrapped up nicely. I feel happy for Flare, which I didn't think would EVER happen when she was first introduced. She actually creeped me (and everyone else) out. And I also felt scared for Minerva, no lie. Not much left to say, so see ya next time.
Beta read by General Feng Xiang