I made a mistake in the last chapter, so I had to work around it a little. Also, I decided to place two fight scenes in each chapter, so updates will be every other week. Enjoy.
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How was he supposed to know that the rock was a Portkey? No mages knew what that even was if Romeo and Macoa's questioning was anything to go by. Castor sighed, catching the two males' attention and explaining what the rock was and what it did to land them in the middle of a forest.
"We're probably not far from Magnolia, but some Portkeys can land you miles from where you once were," Castor said with a shrug while looking around the trees, trying to see if enemies were near.
Romeo's startled yelp made Castor tense in preparation for an attack, but he put his guard up too late. Chains wrapped around his body and pulled him and Romeo away from a worried Macao. Castor landed on the soft, wet grass with an oof. He looked up to see what or who grabbed him and saw a green, cartoon-like demon with one eye in the upper middle of its round, spikey body.
Castor tried to reach for his wand but couldn't. The tips of his fingers brushed it, but that was as close as the chains would allow. Castor would use his telekinetic magic to bring the wand to his hand, but, for some annoying reason, the power had no effect on the magical stick.
While gritting his teeth, Castor looked around for something he could use to help free himself and Romeo but found Macao stepping closer to them. It was slow and cautious as if he was walking into a minefield.
"Don't move!" Castor cursed under his breath as the demon noticed the blue-haired man attempting to help them. "If you try to come closer or even attack me, I will kill these two small humans." That caused Macao to freeze where he stood as his eyes grew to match the size of baseballs. Worry lines covered the man's face, but Castor could swear he could hear Macao's heart threatening to beat out of his chest - or was that his own?
Castor shivered in fright and wondered what Harry would do. Using the explosion curse on the demon in the face seemed about right. That sounded nice. Now, if only he could grab his wand. The young mage knew he had to free himself first, so he resumed looking for an object to smash the cartoon-like demon in the head with.
"Now!" the demon said, bringing Castor's attention back to him. But the mage shook his head and tried to ignore him in favor of his mission. "I'm going to kill you and force these kids to watch!"
'WHAT?!' Castor thought in horror.
"I can imagine the looks on their face as I kill you. Kyoka would surely enjoy it!" The demon burst into a manic laugh. Castor locked eyes with Romeo, who shared his fear.
Castor mouthed to his friend to use fire, but the trembles of Romeo's body increased instead. Castor understood this, but they needed to free themselves so Macao could go all out.
As Castor tried to form a plan, pink smoke filled the area. Romeo didn't seem to notice, too busy watching the demon as he got ready to attack Macao. Castor wished his friend would calm down and see that they were saved.
"Huh, what's this?" the demon questioned, looking around at the smoke. Castor saw a disturbance in the smoke as it formed into fists and flew at the cartoon-like demon from all angles. The green monster grunted and gasped as the fist-like smoke slammed into his stomach. This caused the chains to loosen and free the two boys. Two more smoke hands reached out and grabbed Castor and Romeo by the backs of their collars, pulled them away from the enemy, and stood beside Wakaba.
"Sorry I'm late, Macao!" said Wakaba. "I heard this loudmouth and came running. It's a good thing, too. You boys ready to beat this guy?"
Macao grinned at his friend. "Just like old times, huh?" he said as he stood next to Wakaba, Castor, and Romeo.
"Darn it! Where did you come from?!" the demon shouted in rage as he snapped around and glared at Wakaba.
"I'd be more concerned about the smoke surrounding you!" said Wakaba as he controlled the smoke to create a tornado around the demon, who yelled and flew up into the air.
As Castor saw this, he whipped his wand out and aimed at the demon while telling Macao and Remeo his plan. "Use your fire! Smoke is flammable!" he shouted, casting a fire spell at the smoke tornado.
Romeo and Macao nodded and lifted their hands, shooting purple flames at the smoke trapping the demon.
Red and purple fire twisted together and exploded, drowning out the scream from the green demon. The four mages waited for the smoke to clear to see the damage they caused. Once the dust thinned, they saw that their enemy was gone.
"Where did he go?!" Romeo demanded, spinning in circles to view all around them.
Castor was looking around, too, but instead of seeing a green demon with one eye and stripes, he saw a head of pink hair followed by blue and black. On the black-haired wizard's shoulder was a red and gold bird. Flying next to the blue-haired mage was a white cat.
"Dad!" Castor called out, waving his hands to get Harry's attention.
"Castor, are you okay!?" Harry ran up and hugged him but quickly pulled him away and began checking his body searchingly.
"I'm fine," Castor said, grinning but frowned shortly after. "But the demon got away."
Harry looked around with narrowed eyes. "I don't think he's gone," he said. "His life force is still here, but I can't pinpoint it."
"So he's hiding?!" growled Natsu, looking ready for a fight.
"...No, Fawkes!" Harry shouted, ignoring Natsu's question and confusing the others.
"What did Fawkes say?" asked Macao.
Harry shook his head. "He offered to burn the area down, but that would lead to the forest ending in flames."
"You do remember I'm here, right?" asked Natsu. "I could just eat the flames before that happened." Fawkes looked at Harry with a smug look in his eyes.
Harry stayed silent for a minute, lost in thought. He looked around the area as if searching for the demon still. "Do what you want. This demon could just be waiting to kill us otherwise," he said before standing and walking deeper into the forest.
Fawkes snapped his head around and breathed fire everywhere within 100 feet. Natsu waited for ten seconds before sucking in the flames.
Castor looked at Harry questioningly. His dad answered his unspoken question. "I don't feel his life force anymore, but that could mean he ran off before the flames consumed our surroundings or he burned up." Castor nodded and continued to follow Harry, everyone else tailing behind them.
"Where are we going?" asked Wakaba.
"I sense Elfman and Lisanna this way, fighting another demon. If we hurry, we can give them a hand," Harry replied.
"Hopefully, I finally have a chance to kick some real major butt!" exclaimed Natsu while punching a fist into his other palm.
"Lisanna, what out!" Lisanna heeded her brother's warning and used her feathered wings to fly higher, away from the poisonous black water and the demon lurking within. The two siblings found themselves in a vast ditch the size of a football field after they touched a rock. The trench had been filled with the black water they were trying to avoid, but the demon controlling it would jump out, attempting to drag them down.
Lisanna transformed her arms into wings when she and Elfman appeared, preventing her from falling into the murky lake; however, her brother wasn't so lucky. Elfman crashed into the water but quickly resurfaced and coughed out the black liquid. Lisanna used her bird-like feet to snatch her brother out of the water and fly high, missing the attack from the shadow she saw approaching Elfman.
She quickly noted that Elfman had been coughing a lot and wheezing. Her brother told her the water was poisonous when she asked him if he was okay. Lisanna prevented going near the water ever since.
"How are we supposed to get this guy when he keeps hiding in that poison bath?" Lisanna questioned, dodging another attack from the purple-skinned, sharp, blade-like chin demon.
"We wait until he jumps out, and then you throw me at him!" said Elfman, transforming into Beast Soul.
"Are you nuts?!" Lisanna shouted in concern. "You could land in the water again if I do that!"
"We don't have much…choice," Elfman coughed, but his eyes stayed on the speeding shadow.
Lisanna bit her lip, hating that her brother was right. But… 'He'll get sicker if he keeps falling in,' she thought.
The demon jumped out of the water with his claws raised. Lisanna closed her eyes and hardened her resolve before she threw Elfman at their opponent. The two collided in midair. Elfman flipped them and kicked the demon back into the water with blood spraying from the newly formed gash on the demon's face. As her brother's feet hit the water, Lisanna dived quickly and caught him, keeping him from falling in completely.
A furious roar came from behind Lisanna, causing her eyes to widen and her body to jerk to the side. The demon flew past them with his claws reaching out. As he passed the siblings, he glared at them with murderous intent.
Lisanna flapped her wings to propel herself and her brother higher while the demon dove down and returned to the water.
"Did that demon look different to you?" asked Elfman, a cough escaping him at the end of his sentence.
Now that Lisanna thought about it, the demon did look different. Before, their opponent had purplish, fish-like skin, but now the skin looked like steel. The white-haired mage couldn't think more about her observation because the demon jumped out of the poisonous water again.
The demon aimed for Lisanna's legs, leaving her with the difficult decision to drop her brother and fly higher to dodge the attack. As Lisanna let go, Elfman grabbed hold of the enemy. He punched the demon's face, but it had no effect. The monster grinned and slashed his claws down Elfman's chest, earning a cry of pain from Elfman and a worried cry from Lisanna.
"ELFMAN!" Lisanna folded her wings and threw the upper half of her body down. She dived with her eyes locked onto her brother. She had to get to him before he fell into the water and got sicker.
Since she was paying attention to Elfman, she failed to notice the demon attacking from the side before it was too late. With a mad smirk full of sharp teeth, the monster punched Lisanna in the head. She cried out and joined her brother in the black lake below.
Lisanna held her breath with her eyes closed tightly, causing her lungs to burn from lack of oxygen.
Eyes opened to look up toward the surface. The sun was shining, but its bright rays dimmed the further Lisanna sunk. She knew she had to transform into a different animal, one with fins, but her mind wasn't working right. She tried to swim with her feather-covered arms, trying to return to the air above, but the sunlight was getting further and further away.
Lisanna felt her heart pound in her chest, causing it to hurt more. She had to get out of the water, but was the sun fading because she was sinking or because of her panic? The pressure in her lungs felt like the organ was going to implode. She needed to take a breath… now!
Against her better judgment, Lisanna sucked in the water instead of air like her lungs demanded. She attempted to cough but only succeeded in sucking in more water. The feeling of panic began to fade along with her fight response. Her body felt cold and limp as she watched the hopeful sun leave.
Before her consciousness faded to total darkness, Lisanna felt the water current become powerful and swish around her. A second later, she felt the cold air hit her wet skin. Gravity pulled her down, but instead of hitting the unforgiving ground, she was caught in warm, strong arms.
Lisanna heard someone faintly call out her name. She thought it was Elfman, but her eyes couldn't make anything out of the person holding her except for the blurry pink atop their head. Her eyes closed, too heavy to keep them open any longer. So she allowed the muffled voice of her savor to bring peace to her mind and let sleep claim her.
TBC
Some of the demons may be out of character, but oh well.
Natsu: Saved! :D
Harry: Good thing we got there when we did.
Voldy: *pouting* -_-
Zeref: Is Franmalth dead?
Enj/Dark: I don't know. I don't really have any plans for him. So I'll let the reader decide if they want to see him again. Anyway, it's your turn.
Zeref: Please review!