Author's Note: Sorry…It's been a LONG while. Thank you for all your support and patience. Time's arrow moves forward and so are we.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail...but if I did, I would have made Lucy's Scorpio x Aquarius Star Dress Mix look more original. Loved the mecha limbs. Maybe I would give her a cool slender body suit that would hug her figure instead of re-using the Aquarius Star Dress bikini. Also, I'd replace the Scorpio tail with some hover guns that fire sand magic and water magic respectively. But damn, Aquarius x Gemini looks amazing. 100 years quest is so cool. I also love that Erza's words have reached Jellal and he is seriously considering joining Fairy Tail.
Anyways, without further ado it's time for your automated voice messaging system :
Please feel free to give me your constructive, criticism, feedback, suggestions, etc. as they are all welcome. I love hearing back from you all.
Spells and attacks will be typed in bold font. Thoughts, flashbacks, and emphasized words or sentences will be italicized.
Enjoy the read :)
Exceed Hunter arc ~ Chapter 10 ~ Our Pride As Mages
From the bird's eye view that her wings bestowed her, Carla witnessed the full malevolence of the Deus Ex Machina's power. When the machine god's ray hit the isohedral barrier encasing the inhabitants of the Exceed Village, a bright flash cascaded the night stars. When the radiance dimmed, Carla felt her heart turn to stone and tears trailed from her eyes at the sight beyond.
"No...Mother...Aria...everyone..."
A tall tower of magenta, bifurcating crystal structures stood in place of the barrier that was struck. Everything has now happened in accordance with Chagotte's dreaded visions. Losing the strength to fly, Carla's Aera dissipated into magic particles before she began to plummet.
"Carla!" Wendy and Happy exclaimed as she traced the trajectory of her friends descending figure.
Immediately, the Exceed activated his wings to gently catch his feline friend before bringing her to the everyone at ground level who gathered around the two with concern.
The white-furred Exceed looked at everyone with great sorrow and tears in her eyes, "It happened. The village and everyone has been trapped inside."
Everyone's hearts collectively sunk in dead silence.
"No...it can't be," tears began to form in Wendy's eyes.
"Damnit, "Romeo cursed under his breath.
"My people..." Lily's was at a loss for words, for his sorrow was the heaviest at the loss of his people.
"Mom...Dad..." Happy wiped away his tears as images of Marl, Lucky, and the familial moments they shared in Edolas rewound in his mind.
Shinji's pupils narrowed as his sapphire irises became icier than usual. He felt like saying a lot of things now that he wasn't sure he would see Aria again.
But that moment of grief was cut short by something else's shrill cacophonous laughter.
"GEGEGEH," the words Deus Ex Machina echoed like a false, yet omnipresent god, "Those with magic touched by the Deus Ex Machina's light will be converted into lacrima. AND THERE IS NO REVERSING THE PROCESS! GEGEGEH!"
"OH WELL~WHAT"s DONE is DONE!" jested the annoying machine, before switching to a monotonous text-to-speech-like voice, "Target acquired. Commencing search for new Eternano source. Geh. Geh. Geh. Detecting...Detecting...Detecting..."
The annoying machine's head did a 360-degree pivot to scan the surrounding area before sternly halting its visual fields at the Fairy Tail Mages below it like unsightly, insignificant ants. While the words "Detecting" played like a broken record, the cannon arm attachment began to dimly glow.
"I don't like the look of this..." Happy casted a worried look.
"Ambrose? Papillon?, "Romeo couldn't help but dread the implications of the machine's ominous words, " What the hell is going on?"
"This is bad!" Ambrose's eyes widened for the umpteenth time, "Really bad."
"Could you kindly explain?" Wendy politely asked.
"After the Deus Ex Machina's lacrimization ray is fired, it needs time to recharge. When the ray is on cooldown, the Eternano imaging functions in the DEM's head cameras will scan the immediate area for outstanding Eternano sources to target."
Everyone collectively gulped. Wendy was took an extra gulp. Only a few years ago was her Second Origin activated.
"Ugh...you have got to be kidding me," Romeo groaned.
Happy interjected, to complete everyone's thoughts, "Then- that means..-
"Targets spotted. Charge rate increased," the Deus Ex Machina's monotonous voice underwent a static noise transition, reverting to its sinister, jesting voice, "YOU'RE NEXT~! CAN'T HAVE YOU GETTING IN MY WAY~!"
The Deus Ex Machina forebodingly raised its gigantic left arm towards the mages, then swung it down as to try and squash them.
Unfortunately for the late Magius, his machine was too slow as a cost for its immense durability. A large, red blade pierced the Deus Ex Machina's left hand though it's palm. That sword was held by none other than Pantherlily.
"My people..." Lily's sorrow was the deepest. After all, he spent the majority of his life with the Exceeds of Extalia. They were his beloved family before Fairy Tail. They were his roots. The panther-like Exceed snarled in justified rage as he twisted his Muscia Sword in the machine god's palm, " you...will pay!"
Lily grunted as he struggled to fend off against the weight of the machine god's heavy fist. The Deus Ex Machina's right arm was still dimly lit. Seizing the moment, Shinji reacted before everyone else. He flashed his icy blue eyes for a second at Romeo and Wendy as if beckoning them to take action as well before brandishing his black and white katana. The raven-haired swordsman bolted towards the left mechanical limb at ground level. He bounded over Lily and sprinted up the plated left arm, cutting up the machine god's forearm along the way.
"Target detected on left upper extremity. Reprioritizing threat," the machine god's monotonous voice filled the air.
"No hesitation at all...that guy is fast" Romeo admired his teammate, before stepping forward and setting his hands on fire, "Time to join the fray"
"Purple Rain!" Romeo cast a volley of purple fireballs that latched onto Deus Ex Machina's lower extremities and main body.
"GEH?! Damage detected to near the core. Reprioritizing protective measures."
Thanks to Romeo's onslaught, the machine god's strength in its left hand was diverted momentarily.
"GRAHHHH! Keep your eyes down here!" With a battle cry to lament his roots, Lily cleaved through the Deus Ex Machina's left palm.
"GEH!?" The Deus Ex Machina tilted its head in surprise and withdrew its left hand from the ground level to assess the damage done.
But in lifting its left arm towards his face, Shinji was given the leverage to pounce towards the visual fields on the head.
"Got your eyes," Shinji swiftly swung his black and white blade.
"EEK!" trying to save its sight, Deus Ex Machina swiveled its head just in time for Shinji's sword to miss its visual fields and strike its armored helmet.
Shinji's sword harshly recoiled upon hitting the densely armored section of the machine's posterior scalp.
The Deus Ex Machina's head swiveled back with its visual fields locked on Shinji, "HOW RUDE! YOU NEARLY BLINDED ME-ack!"
Shinji's black and white katana suddenly flew into one of the Machine God's eyes.
"Tch," Shinji clicked his tongue in dismay, "Only got one."
Using the recoil from the missed attempt, Shinji fell back and steadied his descent to the ground.
He shrugged at the others, void of much emotion, "Sorry, I guess I missed."
"No, that was impressive." Lily complemented his fellow swordsman's battle prowess. He then glanced at the Deus Ex Machina's cannon arm, which was still glowing eerily, "But that thing is still charging."
"REEEEEEE! A shriek of mechanical panic interrupted the air, before switching to monotone, "Target threats levels higher than projected. Calculating appropriate suppression measures...Re-calibrating visual fields and accelerating LR charge rate," another static noise transition blared from the machine god's intercom, " YOU LITTLE SHITS ARE SOO DEAD!
"This is not good." Ambrose clenched his teeth in distress.
Romeo concerned, turned to the now-former Magistia employee, "Ambrose, is there anything you can tell us about this pile of scrap metal that can help us stop it?"
"Of course, I'll make this quick," taking a deep breath, Ambrose summarized the crucial points of the DEM's blueprints from the project days, "The Deus Ex Machina one main weak point, the sentience lacrima or "heart" can be found in the heavily armored chest cavity. Remove it from the cavity and all operations cease. "
"Do you think my fire magic can melt through the steel?" Romeo snapped his right hand, with subsequent green flames, "As you kinda know, my green flames are corrosive."
"Mr. Conbolt, that is quite distasteful, " Ambrose shuddered at the Fire Mage whom he lost to earlier, "but the corrosion process would be too slow."
"We could tear it open. Corrosion not needed" Papillon stepped forward with uncharacteristic cockiness, putting a hand on Ambrose's shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Ambrose furrowed his eyes in confusion.
Then, the light bulb shone and subsequently shattered in his head. He turned to his dear friend, putting a hand one of his shoulders, "You can't mean-"
"I do." the purple-haired male replied as his purple irises turned red. He bridged an array of purple cards mid-air which morphed into amethystine moths with jagged teeth. The purple-haired man snapped his fingers. Subsequently the swarm of ravenous moths encircled the Deus Ex Machina's entire head.
"GEGEH!?" flabbergasted at first, another white transition caused the usual monotone voice to project from the intercom, "Visual fields completely blocked... Adjusting... Adjusting..."
Ambrose and Romeo looked at flipped version of Papillon shocked,"Phalene?"
"It's me! Your resident troublemaker just in time to tear that filthy, old bastard a new one~!" the Berserker personality displayed his usual crooked smile at everyone, before switching his diabolical gaze towards the Deus Ex Machina, "What better middle finger can I give to him at this point than running his best work AND company to the ground?"
Ambrose chuckled, " You're quite right."
"Ah. One more thing." Phalene remembered something, turned to the Fairy Tail Mages, "Oiii shitty brats from Fairy Tail...and cats too!"
Romeo, Wendy, Shinji, and the Exceeds stared blankly at their unorthodox ally, "This guy is really something else..."
"That's a way to get someone's attention, " Wendy faked a smile.
Shinji rolled his eyes and redirected his attention to the purple-haired maniac.
Phalene's lips curled, with a sarcastic smile, "Knowing Magius, he DEFINITELY sent some of his cronies to break into the target location. Destroying the Deus would still be a waste if they run off with the lacrima and make millions upon millions of Jewel out of it~!"
"Bastard!"
Without thinking, Shinji grabbed Phalene's collar and pulling his remorseless red eyes towards his cold blue ones, "Why didn't you tell this us earlier?"
Phalene clicked his tongue, "It's complicated. You try living as two-people-in-one-body situationship. We don't really share memories, so Papillon and I knew Magius differently" Phalene closed the distance between him and Shinji, just enough to make the Requip mage really unnerved, "And my relationship with him was more...red."
"I can't with you, " Shinji scoffed as he released the purple-haired man.
He turned to Romeo and Wendy, before running along the path back to the Exceed Village, "I'll head off towards the village. I can't even stand the idea that some part of Aria might be used as a household appliance in the future!"
"I'm going with you!" Carla flew after the Sword Mage, holding back her tears, "If I can't save them, then the least I can do is protect their honor."
"Aye. Likewise." Happy bittersweetly chimed in as he flew after his fellow, white-furred Exceed.
"I'll go too," Ambrose joined in, " I rank above most of Magistia's corps staff. So maybe there is something I can do there."
Before Ambrose left, he turned to Phalene with an earnest look in his one good eye, "Phalene, please, stay safe."
"Getting sappy, aren't ya?" Phalene made a fake gag noise before casting his longtime friend a goofy smile with his pointy canines, "We'll be fine."
Ambrose smirked before turning the other way and leaving with Shinji and the younger Exceeds.
Phalene turned his carnal gaze towards the Deus Ex Machina. The swarm of purple moths he commanded to blind the machine god's view were still doing their job which bought everyone at ground level some time. The head would rotate and pivot, trying to keep the clouding moths away but to no avail. The incessant, monotonous words of "Adjusting...Adjusting..." became muffled.
Keeping Ambrose's words on the machine's components in mind, Phalene shifted his eyes between the two other focal points- the chest component containing the core and the right arm cannon which was still charging. He espied the right upper extremity attachment of the Deus - the Lacrimization Ray- which now glowed a shade a little brighter than before. The machine began to lift its dilapidated left hand towards the dark insect-filled cloud enshrouding its head.
"Shit," Phalene cursed. He turned to Romeo, Wendy, and Lily with glowered eyes directed at Romeo, "Oi Fire-Ass."
"What the hell is that nickname?" the Fire Mage cringed, as a vein transiently popped on his forehead, "Yes?"
"My moths can't block that thing's cams forever~."
"On it." Romeo sighed, as his hands ignited with purple flames, "I'll try to slow it down with some of these! Purple Net!"
The Flame Mage launched a purple flame orb at the gap between the Deus's left arm and the ground, linking the two but not being sufficient enough to halt the machine from its intended operation.
The Fire Mage smirked, "There's more where that came from! Purple Net!"
While Romeo continued to cast Purple Net, Lily readied his Musica Sword and Phalene drew more purple cards from his tattered sleeve. Behind them, Wendy glowed, casting a series of her enhancement spells.
"Arms x Vernier x Armor."
Phalene, Lily, and Romeo were bathed in soothing, viridescent light as they both felt their strength surge.
Phalene chuckled, "This is pretty rad, Pipsqueak."
"Much appreciated, Wendy," Lily expressed his gratitude to the Sky Sorceress.
Wendy nodded, "Go forth."
"Much obliged, " Lily readied his sword before activating his Aera and charging towards the enemy's right arm. Phalene and Romeo followed suit.
"Mothman Madness" Phalene snapped his fingers and turned another deck into luminous purple moths. Instead of charging towards the enemy, these moths formed a cloud around Phalene's hands, legs, back, eyes, and forehead. When the moths settled, Phalene had acquired additional enhancements of his own. His extremities were replaced with jagged, violet claws. His back was adorned with translucent, amethystine wings with glaring ruby oculus symbols. His eyes were covered with midnight-purple eyepiece resembling kaleidoscopic compound eyes. Attached to his forehead were two thick antenna. The antenna pointed at the other moths clouding the Deus's visual fields as if acting like a transmitter.
"Geez, a little early for a power-up arc don't you think?" Romeo jested at Phalene as he launched his last Purple Net at the Deus's left hand.
Phalene smirked, "This isn't the power-up arc. I was always a menace!"
With a flap of his wings, Phalene zipped towards the metal hand successfully ensnared by Romeo's sticky, violaceous flames. In a flash, he was a yard above the Deus's left arm. In another flash, the Deus's forearm was completely lopped off and crashed to the ground creating dust clouds. Phalene phased through the arm, then creepily crawled towards the chest cavity. His claws tightened into a jabbing stance, stabbing into the Deus's metal plating with greater anticipation as he approached its power source.
"Threat detected. Higher than expected threshold...Visual fields impaired...Switching to automated combat procedures..." the monotonous voice of the Deus echoed through the woods. The giant machine raised its left foot towards its chest to shield its core from Phalene before attempting to kick him away.
"Tch. Too soon." Phalene teased as he spread his wings to fly around the Deus's massive metal leg. He then latched onto the lower left leg.
On programmed instinct, the Deus raised its incompletely charged right arm at the mages. The light began to shine brighter, "Commencing firing of Lacrimization Ray at 37% capacity."
"Holy crap...you gotta be kidding me," Romeo could not articulate the right words.
"Not on my watch!"
Lily swung his mighty Musica Sword from beneath the Lacrimization Ray. Lily's blade had dulled from strenuous usage, rendering the Musica Sword a blunt force object. Nonetheless, Lilys enhanced strength enabled him to alter the ray's its trajectory skyward.
"Fire," The Deus blankly reverberated.
Without haste, a small but lightning-quick neon blue ray shot form the cannon arm's orifice into the sky. Although the ray was not being fired at maximum output, the surrounding land momentarily trembled at its might. The trees briefly swayed. The ground shook. Pebbles, dust, grass, and dirt flew everywhere. Romeo and Wendy had to cover their eyes. The moths surrounding the Deus's visual fields too were blown away by the power of the Lacrimization Ray.
The moment the trembling stopped, the Deus switched back to its more sentient personality, "Visuals restored 50%. Commencing Advanced Combatant Suppression. Accelerating LR Charge Rate by 50%... YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU RATS GEGEGEH."
The Deus began recharging its right arm, neon blue light gradually building up around the metal extremity.
"Lily-" Wendy expressed her worry for her comrade.
Scanning the immediate area, the Deus lifted its mechanical right leg at Lily and attempted to smash him.
"Hmmph. Too slow." Lily easily maneuvered around the large metallic limb with Aera.
"GEHGEHGEH! DON't GeT cOCky, now~!" with a metallic whirring noise, the armored components of the right leg detached unveiling an array of hidden artillery. With the visual cams 50% unblocked, the Deus's minor weapons could fire at targets within its limited sight.
The cannons incessantly spat magic bullets at the Lily.
On instinct, Lily shielded most of his body behind his Musica Sword. Countless bullets would clink as they came into contact the body of his broadsword as he flew higher to avoid their range. That did not stop some bullets from grazing the parts of his body that they could reach.
"Grrrh.." Lily grit his teeth with the occasional stings from different attacks to his unprotected peripheries.
"Don't worry Lily, cover is coming," Wendy called out to the older Exceed.
"And make it double!" Romeo added.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy gathered the air around her into her lungs and let it rush towards the
"Red Vortex!" Romeo conjured red hot flames with both of his hands and waved them forward.
Wendy's spiraling winds and Romeo's crimson flames danced together, fusing into a fiery tornado that incinerated the Deus's artillery attached to its interior right leg.
"GEH?! THIS CAN'T BE?!" another shrill shriek from the machine split everyone's ears, as it withdrew its singed and vulnerable right leg away from the Fairy Tail Mages.
"A Unison Raid. Well I'll be darned." Lily smiled at the two young mages at the ground level.
"Nice!" Romeo and Wendy nodded at each other, before refocusing on their ginormous enemy.
Wendy gathered wind around herself, while Romeo gathered green flames around his person. The Fire Mage turned to the Sky Dragon Slayer, "Our magics are pretty compatible. Shall we hit him with another one?"
"Let's end it," Wendy calmly agreed with her partner.
Romeo pointed at the Deus Ex Machina's chest component.
"We only get one shot, let's aim for the core at the center this time."
Sensing the magic power before, the Deus locked its attention at the Mages who dealt the critical blow to its lower right limb. The reticles on its visual interface detected immense Magic Power from the bluenette standing next to the Fire Mage."
"Target has larger pool of Eternano than local targets. Increasing Charge Rate by 75%."
The Deus pointed its Lacrimation Ray at the two mages below. The neon blue light emanating from the machine god's barrel pointed at the two mages.
~Near the Exceed Village, Above the Sea of Trees~
Dawn was trickling into the sky's canvas. The scattered white dots and the dark blue veil subsided as the sun rose in the horizon, creating a gradient between dark blue, purple, to pink. A crystal tower in the distance glistened like a palace from a fairy tale as it stood out from the surrounding forest, but the machinations behind its formation overshadowed any physical beauty it possessed.
Gliding miles above the sea of trees, Carla and Happy respectively carried Shinji and Ambrose as they encroached where the village once stood. They looked on sorrowfully as they grew closer the magenta lacrimal tower, "History sometimes has cruel ways of repeating itself...Mother, I cannot express how deeply sorry I am. That I couldn't spend more time with you after meeting you."
Shinji, too, bit his lips as his worries consumed him, "Aria..."
Breaking the dead quiet, Ambrose cleared his throat, "Ahem. Apologies. I word if I may."
Carla and Shinji maintained their silence. Their silence, albeit justified, only made Ambrose more reluctant to speak as he knew his part in creating the circumstances they saw below.
Happy barely mustered to undo his frown "Aye..."
"Thank you," Ambrose proceeded with what he needed to address, "With the size of the lacrimal vein being what it is, we can expect a handful of excavation devices and personnel needed to use them. And maybe, Delphinium."
At the unfamiliar name, Shinji furrowed a brow and glanced at the former Magistia operative, "Delphinium, who is that?"
"Magius's secretary and a genius at engineering weapons that use lacrima. She created the Insecta Deck that Papillon uses and she also oversaw much of the DEM's creation."
"Oh great, another one," Carla groaned in amusement.
"Why are the genius's always using their smarts for bad deeds?" Happy groaned as he recounted previous antagonists he encountered like Hades.
"I can't give a legitimate answer," Ambrose tried to give everyone a sliver of hope, "But with me there, maybe I can call off the operations."
"I doubt that," Shinji debated, "After the troubles your company went through to turn the villagers into lacrima. I doubt they would halt the main objective just because of some orders from a higher brass. Also we have Exceeds with us...how could they not be suspicious of us?"
Ambrose slumped, crestfallen, "Fair point...I'm sorry."
With a fraction of the clearing in site, the Exceed dropped off their human cargo in front of the devastating results of the Lacrimization Ray. Happy and Carla inactivated their wings and landed on the ground. Scanning the tall, branching crystalline structure that towered above them, she felt her intestines tie themselves into knots. In the distance, she could hear the very thing they were anticipating - the sound of tries rolling in the dirt and the clanking of armored vehicles approaching the site.
"They're coming..." Carla warned everyone.
"I could hear them too, " Happy added.
Ambrose with his tattered clothes and burns was truly spent from him brawl with Romeo. Ambrose bit his lips, as he looked at Shinji with his one intact eye, "With the way I am, I don't think I'll be of much help."
"No worries," Shinji sighed, before smiling, "This opportunity to let loose is hard to come by."
Carla turned to her teammate with a vein in her forehead, "Shinji! Don't be too reckless!"
Happy sweatdropped as he spread his wings again and inched towards the direction they came from, "Maybe we should fly back to Wendy and the others?"
As Happy flew up, he sniffed something that made him feel woozy then collapse in a squiggly motion, "Something smells...weird..."
"Happy!" Carla and Shinji.
Before they knew it, the air was permeated with a purple mist.
" Everyone! Cover your mouths and noses!" Ambrose quickly instructed. But in opening his airways to give the warning, the orange-haired man increased his susceptibility to the perilous mists. He collapsed to one knee as his sense of exhaustion was exacerbated.
The sounds of Magistia's excavation vehicles grew louder. Inevitably, they were surrounded by multiple armored bulldozers and armored cars with artillery attachments. From one of the armored cars, a visored woman with light lavender locks stepped out and walked towards them. With each step, her magenta heeled boots menacingly clacked against the ground. Her right hand was covered with a magenta glove. That same gloved hand held the matching glove that normally covers the left. As she drew closer, it was apparent that her left hand was raised with a black magic circle hovering over the tips of her fingers.
Shinji and Carla's eyes widened but they could not open their airways, but their thoughts were united, "She's using Black Magic!"
"I know you're in a hurry to stop us from doing the deed, "she pursed her lips into a sweet, yet sickly smile, "but my Master requires this batch to be collected. Furthermore, I've been given orders to dispatch anyone who gets in the way."
"Del...phinium..." Ambrose could barely muster his words.
The visored woman shifted her gaze to her co-worker, "Oh, poor Ambi...you look spent. Maybe you should try getting some paid time off."
She extended her opened left hand towards him, the Black Magic circle foreshadowing something cruel. The circle flashed as it grew larger, "Black Viper!"
Amidst the purple smoke, a black-scaled serpent with shiny red eyes wriggled out from Delphinium's magic circle and lunged at Ambrose.
Without hesitation, Shinji reequipped a sword in his left arm and slashed through the snake before it could hurt anyone.
"Oh...you can move well for someone who is in my poison fragrance," Delphinium furled her lips into a grin.
"Okay, I'll stop feigning ignorance."
Shinji dropped his left arm. Carla glanced at the Sword Mage in surprise.
"Wow, people with resistance to poisons like you are a rare find. Who trained you?"
"None of your business," the raven-haired mage glared at his adversary with his icy blue eyes.
"Requip! Fuujin Armament!" in a flash of light, Shinji switched from his Night Sky Cloak into a new armor. His upper half was furnished with a sleeveless, forest-colored leathered hoodie hugged his toned figure. His shoulder guards matched the hoodie in hue but had black leather straps which wrapped around the biceps. Green leather vambraces protected the posterior aspects of his forearms. A pair of green gloves fortified with minute metallic armor over knuckles covered his hands. His lower half was clothed with a black compression pants that ran all the way to his feet. Emerald armor formed around his shins and feet. A black mask with a dark green colored filter shielded his airways. The drawstrings of hoodie were different colors, the left string was dark teal and the one to the right was sable. Both were tied together as a mizuhiki knot with a silver circular clasp of a mitsudomoe holding them together. (A/N: Tomoe are basically the Japanese "comma" symbol. Futatsudomoe have two commas. Essentially, the signature blade is curved on both ends, but the edges point in opposite directions. And the grip in the middle is connectable at the ends).
Upon finishing his reequip, Shinji waved his hands. Subsequently, three curved, double-sided emerald blades that resembled futatsudomoe materialized with an immense gust of wind that blew away the poison mist.
Delphinium whistled, as she conjured another black magic circle, "Fancy show. But can we cut the theatrics already?"
More obsidian serpents lunged from out of her magic circle, darting towards Shinji in masse. Unfazed, the Shinji extended his left hand forward as if commanding his curved blades to counter. The lustrous green futatsudomoe spiraled like shuriken, shredding Delphinium's snakes into ashen confetti. In that brief second of repose, Shinji eyed the only other person who wasn't incapacitated, "Carla, get Happy out of here as soon as possible. these guys will capture you if I get knocked down."
"Understood," Carla activated her wings, grabbed Happy with her tail, and flew towards the dense woods for cover.
Noticing this Delphinium gestured to the armored tanks to fire at Carla, "After them, don't leave any possible assets behind."
One armored tanks readied their cannon to take aim at the fleeing, white-furred Exceed.
Inside the tank, one of the Magistian soldiers gave his superior his verdict, "Target locked, ma'am. Commencing fir-"
Shinji, of course, was not going to let that slide, "Not so fast! Storm Hanetachi!"
Heeding their command, the spinning futatsudomoe became imbued with Wind Magic. They zipped through the armored tank's barrel leaving an explosion in their wake.
"Gahh" Some of the Magistian grunts were sent flying.
But Shinji did not stop there. He held a hand over the third futatsudomoe blades that hovered near him.
"Sword Multiplication"
Six more emerald futatsudomoe blades materialized. Shinji gestured his hands towards Delphinium. The lavender-locked femme fatale only expressed her amusement, "Wow."
"You're screwed, dogs of Magius. Storm Hanetachi: Wind Weaver Matrix!"
The doubled-sided blades rapidly spun, becoming circular, wind-cloaked sawblades that zoomed towards Delphinium from various angles. She slid and evaded them with ease and grace. "Hmmph...too easy..."
Precisely, it was too easy. Delphinium realized she was not the intended target. The armored cars and excavation vehicles were. Although she did not genuinely care for anyone at the company. She still could not abandon the role she was required to play," Men, Evacua-!"
Shinji's blades were too quick. The stormy sawblades made simple work of the armored cars, tanks, and bulldozers. A series of explosions sent scraps of metal vehicle components, rubble, and personnel flying in the background. With the excavation devices incapacitated, no one can siphon the lacrima vein. At least not for a while. With one objective completed, Shinji could face the other without the unnecessary clutter.
Delphinium looked on at Shinji with more amusement than irritation, "Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all."
Eight wind-laced sawblades returned to Shinji's side. Immediately, they stopped spinning and dismantled into sixteen individual one-sided blades. The individual blades formed a rotating circle that hovered parallel to Shinji's back and began to phosphoresce. A Wind Magic circle appeared behind Shinji's back. The Sword Mage began to hover above the ground, gathering wind at his feet.
He held the ninth futatsudomoe in his hand. Using his hands, he screwed the top blade of the futatsudomoe so that the edges of the tomoe were on the same side forming a bow. While holding the adjoined grip in his left hand, Shinji fashioned a luminous, jade string that connected the tips of the blades. Drawing the string back, an arrow made from Wind Magic came into being. Shinji locked his aim at his enemy.
"I'm just getting started."
Delphinium curled her lips into a smile. Her eyes shimmered sinisterly from behind her visor, as two black magic circles floated around her hands, "Interesting. Then, entertain me for a bit. Won't you?"
~Back to the Deus Ex Machina~
"Target has larger pool of Eternano than local targets. Increasing Charge Rate by 75%."
The Deus pointed its Lacrimation Ray at the two mages below. The neon blue light emanating from the machine god's barrel pointed at the two mages. With each passing second, the light from the barrel grew brighter. Wendy and Romeo looked up at the apathetic machine god, her wind and his flames engaging in an intertwining dance.
"Romeo, this is too dangerous..." Wendy scolded Romeo, "We might not be able to land a hit without getting shot ourselves."
"You're not wrong," the strategist in Romeo agreed with the bluenette,"but we might not get a better chance like this. Like, Shinji told us. We have to stop hesitating. Trust me? "
He held out a hand towards Wendy.
Romeo's onyx eyes looked into Wendy's with confidence. Her heart almost skipped a beat. She thought what they were doing was crazy and would most definitely get them killed, but there was so much more at stake other.
She reached out but started to withdraw her hand back to her chest.
While the machine's reticles were locked on the mages who were attempting another Unison Raid, Lily and Phalene seized the chance to strike. Lily eyed the Lacrimization Ray from the air. He eyed his Musica Sword, which was already reduced to a blunt force weapon after cleaving the Magistia Airship in two. Now, it was riddled with dents and scratches.
"You've seen better days..." he looked bittersweet at his sword, then returned his attention to the Deus's eyes. He chuckled.
Shinji's black sword was still lodged in one of the Deus's eye-like cameras, meaning the machine was only operating on half of its visual capacity. Although his Musica Sword could not cleanly cleave through the machine god's head. He might be able to help his nakama by lodging it into the other eye. With newfound determination, Lily spread his wings and descended towards the Deus Ex Machina's intact camera.
The black furred Exceed bellowed for his friends below to hear his prayer, "Romeo, Wendy! I'll buy you some time!"
"Lily.." Wendy looked up at her friend. Lily was the strongest Exceed she knew. His swordsmanship was on par with Erza and Shinji's. Even with a battered weapon and the possibility that the countless friends he made from his homeland may be gone, he did not hesitate put his life on the line.
Hearing that affirmation from Lily, gave Wendy the extra confidence boost she needed.
Wendy took Romeo's hand in hers.
Connected as if they were one, Romeo's green flames and Wendy's gales became an intense, chartreuse inferno around them.
In the meantime, Phalene continued to jab his claws into the Deus's left leg as he crawled towards its core. The violet antennae attached to his forehead twitched with greater fervor as the Lacrimization Ray charged closer to its full capacity. His real eyes inside the compound lenses he created shimmered blood red. He noticed Lily was increasing his velocity towards the Deus's eye. Phalene smiled a crooked smile, "Damn, so these are Fairy Tail Mages."
"GEGEH!? WHAT ON EARTH?" the Deus, too felt panicked, as it detected increased magic levels from its intended targets. Another white noise flicked it's intercoms into its default toneless computations, "Target(s) magic levels increasing above intended threshold...Increasing Charging Rate to 97 perce-"
"ORAAAHHHH!" Lily launched his enlarged Musica Sword like a javelin. The giant, red blade shattered through the visual device's lens, lodging itself into the Deus Ex Machina's right socket.
Panicking red lights went off in the chest cavity of the Deus, the sentience lacrima
"WARNING. Visual disturbances detected. Targets no longer in site. LR Charging suspended," with another static transition, the machine shrieked alternating between its calculating monotone and sentient tones. as the light in the in the Lacrimization Ray diminished, "GGGGGGG...YOu R-RA-Visual disturbance detected-I'LL GET YOU FOR- LR Charging suspended-OVERIDE! FIRE WITHOUT COMPLETE CHARGE!
At the words, "Override" the sentience lacrima inside the chest cavity. Those ominous words stopped everyone in their tracks. Even the sentience lacrima wondered how on Earthland it knew the proper command.
"Overriding original directive. Fire at 99% completed charge."
Another ray of sinister blue light shot from the cannon towards the two mages.
"Shit," Lily cursed under his breath.
"This is it." Phalene pounced onto the Deus's metal chest cavity with his amethystine wings at full span. His blood red eyes glinted through his kaleidoscopic visor as if he could see the sentience lacrima through it.
"Haaaaa...!" Romeo and Wendy extended their enjoined hands towards the Lacrimization Ray itself. A mighty wave wind of corrosive flames rushed towards the Deus and collided with the radiance of the Lacrimization Ray. The impact of the two formidable forces caused the ground to shake and the trees to stir once more. Lily who was midair at the time the blasts collided, grit his teeth as he was blown back into the bushes.
Everything the ray touches turns into lacrima. Normally, that would be the case. Romeo's other flames [with maybe the exception of red flames] would have immediately been frozen into products that could be used to light people's stoves all throughout Ishgar's lacrima-dependent towns. The Lacrimization Ray's mechanism is to halt the flow of Eternano particles similar to way lowering the temperature of water to freezing point turns it into ice. Colliding against Fire Magic was a bad match. Furthermore, the corrosive nature of Romeo's green flame and Wendy's tumultuous winds made it harder to freeze the flames.
While the Deus was fixated on firing its death ray at the two mages. Phalene went to town on the walls surrounding the chest cavity, relatively slashing his sharpened, violet claws over the armored metal plate, "Heheheheheh...C'mon! C'mon! C'MOOON!"
As his chipping speed picked up, what started as sparks and metal pieces scattered like night festival sparklers became large, dented chunks that fell to the ground in multiple clangs. With his Berserker strength, he make quick work of the armor layers,"C'MON, C'MON, C'MOOOOONNNN!"
"URAAAAHHH!" with another powerful swipe, the purple-haired man made a deep enough gash partially expose the interior of the chest. A large scrap of shrapnel flew into the sky, loudly crashing into the woods moments later.
Despite the red lights blaring nonstop in the chest cavity's core container, the sentience lacrima only panicked after a wave of fresh air washed over it. The sentience lacrima looked up at the deranged, purple moth man grasping for it with a clawed hand.
"GOTCHU NOW..." Phalene growled as he imagined Mr. Magius was in the cockpit and that his heart was in place where the sentience lacrima was.
"AH-" A final nail-scratching shriek was emitted from the Deus Ex Machina's vocal intercoms before the sentience lacrima was yanked out from the chest cavity. With the source of power removed, the machine god was now rendered a useless husk. The Lacrimization Ray's intensity decreased at a rapid rate, enabling Romeo and Wendy's whirling flames prevailed.
Phalene yelled back to his allies as he took a leap into the air with the sentience lacrima clutched tightly around his claws, "Get em! FAIRY TAIL!"
Watching from above, Lily smiled with satisfaction.
"HAAAAA!" Romeo and Wendy held their extended hands forward with greater determination.
Spiraling green flames rushed forth, consuming the Deus's Lacrimization Ray in its melting embrace. At full wingspan, Phalene hovered over the blast of wind of fire. His tightened his grip around the sentience lacrima, causing it to crack a little. Flashbacks of Magius's cruelty, the innumerable atrocious things Phalene was forced to do, and lastly a vision of a lifeless Ambrose as he clutched the lacrimal attachment inserted into his chest flipped through like pages of a worn-out photo album. Phalene's memories, traumas, and hopes flooded into Papillon. one of his irises turned purple while the other remained red. Two people spoke as one, "After this, you can't hurt anyone, anymore!"
"STAY LOST. FOREVER!" they hurled the heart of Magius's grand scale creation into the pyres.
Unknown to all [except Delphinium], Magius's consciousness was fused with the sentience lacrima. In his true final moments, he let out an inaudible scream as he felt his soul withering in the stream of chthonic flames. No one would hear him. And no one would miss him.
Romeo and Wendy's Unison Raid subsided. The objects in its path were completely disintegrated without a trace. Panting from exhaustion, Romeo looked at Wendy with a small smile. The Sky Dragon Slayer, in turn, smiled right back at the Fire Mage.
"We did it."
"Yeah."
Tired, the two young mages simultaneously collapsed as the figures of Lily and Phalene descended towards them.
~ A few miles from the Exceed Village~
Panicking, Carla flew within the shroud the woods with an unconscious Happy in tow. Per Shinji's orders, she was trying to get as far as possible from the fight with the Magistia Company. She looked down at the blue-furred with worry, "Hang in there, Male Cat..."
Despite her mildly poisoned comrade on her person, her mind was in disarray, "Every part of my mother's premonition came true. And now...we are left with the unknown. Even if we ward off Magistia and the Deus, what are we left with. What will happen when the Magic Council arrives?"
Carla felt her head and chest throb with each negative thought added to the stockpile.
Suddenly, a soothing, familiar voice invaded her mental space, dispelling her doubts.
"Do not fret, child. Come this way."
Carla's eyes widened as she recognized this voice. Following the voice in her head that could only connect to her this way, the white-furred glided and ebbed past numerous trees. Happy's knocked out figure swayed from side to side with the occasional whiplash. Carla felt she was going around in circles inside a woodland labyrinth. But the echoing voice in her mind was one that she could trust.
"You're nearly there dear."
Carla flew into a smaller clearing with multiple berry bushes and an inconspicuously large tree stump in the middle. She set Happy down before landing and dissipating her wings. As she settled down, noticed something shaking in the bushes nearby. Emerging from one of those bushes was a familiar face that shocked Carla. A trembling black and white furred Exceed with a round rectangular body clad in a black coat, yellow slacks, and small brown leather boots. After all these years, he still had his habit of waving his paw nonstop.
"Nadi-san!" Carla's eyes widened in relief.
Nadi, the Minister of State back in Extalia, trembled in caution as he spoke, "Miss Carla...you weren't followed were you?"
"One of my teammates stopped anyone from tracking me down," she answered. Still, something was nagging her, "But you weren't the one who called me here..."
"No, I was."
The same soothing voice that guided Carla to this location spoke up from further behind Nadi. The figures of Queen Shagotte and the Four Elders stepped out of the bushes. Behind them was a pinkette with red-eyes who grinned nervously as she felt so out of place here.
"Mother!"
Without thinking, Carla ran past Nadi and into Chagotte's arms. Chagotte tumbled back as Carla put her weigh on her but maintained balance so as not to fall to the floor.
Muganto of the Four Elders smiled at Chagotte, "One of your lifelong wishes has come true, Chagotte."
Endearingly, the queen stroked the back of her daughter's head with one of her soft white paws, "Mother...that has a nice ring to it."
Carla sniffled into her mother's chest, "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"What about me!?" Nadi kept his minor discontent to himself, and shed tears of joy with everyone else while waving his paw, "Still, this moment is too precious
At the heartwarming site, the other Exceeds hiding in the bushes appeared, cheering for the queen's reunion with her daughter.
"Wait a minute!' Carla pulled away from her mother's tender embrace and rapidly shifted her eyes between her mother, Nadi, and each of the Four Elders, before locking eyes with her mother, "How on earth are you all not frozen?"
All the Exceeds fixed their gaze at Aria, prompting Carla to do the same.
Aria sweatdropped and nervously greeted her teammate, "Hi Carla~"
Carla, realizing Aria was there all along, heavily blushed upon recounting her crybaby display and briefly looked away from her comrade. After regaining her composure, Carla looked into Aria's ruby eyes again in spite of the mild pink tinge around her cheeks, "Care to explain why everyone is looking at you?"
Aria uncomfortably giggled while wrapping a strand of her pink locks around her left index finger, "It's not a long story...but it is an enlightening one."
Next Chapter: Live And Let Live
Sorry, sorry, sorry for these delays. Thank you kindly for your support and encouragement for me to keep up the story. With this next chapter, the Exceed Hunter arc will end. I plan to write one or two small, slice-of-life chapters before I start the next arc. Stay tuned.
As always, please feel free to give me your constructive criticism, feedback, suggestions, etc. but don't be unnecessarily cruel. Kindness is a choice and let's try our utmost to use it when we can. If you're rude, Queen Chagotte will tell you an ominous truth that will transpire in the future.
Chagotte: *giving all-seeing psychic vibes* My premonition shows me
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That your car insurance will go up! (ooooooh~)
Author: *shudders* Now that's dreadful.