Ah, so nice to see you guys enjoyed the last chapter! I'm sure you'll love this one too!
Enjoy!
It was warm.
That was the first thing that came to Nashi's mind as she plunged head first into the Etherion. She settled near the center as her body attempted to float her back to the surface.
It's like water...
She could see the magic flowing around her in a weak current. Looking left and right only allowed her to see flashing colors.
I don't have time for this...I need to eat it.
Nashi opened her mouth and inhaled, the Etherion quickly filling her mouth. She swallowed, and opened her mouth again. It tasted like nothing, almost like she was breathing pure air. As soon as the second gulp of Etherion entered her system, Nashi could feel her body twitching from the magic.
Holy shit, this is...!
Nashi's eyes widened.
"GGGAAAAAAHHHH!" Nashi grabbed her head and writhed in pain as her body rejected the Etherion. "AH...AAAHHHHH!
I can't...This can't be the end.
Nashi slowly opened her mouth and swallowed again. She did it again, and again, and again. Slowly, a light red glow surrounded her limited vision, and the pain intensified.
Please...I don't care what happens to me...Just let me protect those I love!
Nashi's vision faded as the Etherion started to shake violently around her.
Drake paced back and forth as everyone else spoke quietly aboard the Christina. He wasn't focusing on any of that though, he kept his gaze glued on the city in front of them. So far it had been quiet, which he both liked and hated. He needed a sign, something, anything, that could tell him if Nashi was okay. he stopped for a moment and stared at the door. He seriously contemplated sprinting through that door and going to find her, but he knew he wouldn't make it far.
"At least for now, we should..." Simon's sentence was cut off as the Christina began to shake. Drake's eyes darted back to the city, but it was shaking as well. Everyone else was losing their balance, and Mami whipped around to look at Ken.
"What the hell was that Ken?!" She demanded. Ken was already typing rapidly at his Archive before Mami's sentence was finished.
"Major magic spikes..." ken murmured. "Tremors...What the hell?"
"What?" Damien asked.
"It's coming from one concentrated area." Ken whispered as the visuals of his Archive zoned in.
"Is the cannon exploding?" Damien demanded, body tense with anticipation.
"No...No, it's too small of an area or it to be the cannon." Ken replied.
"How can you tell with the magic proof walls?" Ultear asked.
"The tremors from before must've destroyed some of it's effectiveness." ken said weakly, continuing to tap. "It's...Oh my God."
"...What?" Drake whispered. Ken slowly turned and stared at them, wide eyed.
"The magic is coming from a human shaped figure."
Apocalypse stared down at the swirling vat of Etherion with a frown.
"Well I guess that's it." He said to himself. "There's literally no way she's going to survive that." Sighing, he turned on his heel and walked away from the vat. "And I was so ready to wave her lifeless body around like a flag...Oh well. I suppose this prevents her from being used as the Olympians puppet. I guess I should..." Apocalypse stopped as the chamber began to shake. Before long, it started shaking much more violently.
"What the hell?" He demanded, tripping as he turned around and looked at the Etherion. His eyes widened as they landed on the source of the problem.
In the center of the Etherion, a strong red glow was emanating from something.
From someone.
"No fucking way." Apocalypse hissed. "There's no way she...!"
BOOM!
Apocalypse was thrown back by an explosive wave of magic. His back hit the wall and he landed on his face.
"Fuck!" he shouted, getting to his feet and rubbing his back. "What in the name of God was that?" Apocalypse looked back at the Etherion, to find the surface swirling violently. The red glow had faded from the vat, and slowly the Etherion stopped it's violent spinning as well. Apocalypse smiled.
"Oh, I get it." He said with a laugh. "That was little Nashi Dragneel exploding from the Etherion. I get it. Although, I suppose I should be surprised that the Etherion didn't explode right here right no...!"
A hand appeared on the edge of the vat and grabbed it tightly.
Apocalypse stared down at the hand as another one appeared next to it, also latching onto the edge.
"No way in fucking hell..." he whispered. The muscles in the hand contracted as they pulled up the dead weight beneath them. First came the arms, where more muscles moved to pull the body up.
The pink haired girl's head appeared as she threw herself over the edge of the vat, panting heavily.
"...So you survived." Apocalypse finally found his words. "I guess I should've expected that from someone with power like yours. So what the hell was that you just did?" He got no response, and he frowned. "What? Got a problem, Nashi?"
"..." Again no response came, only labored panting. Apocalypse frowned as the cannon prepared to fire.
"I suppose you've given up now that you've failed, huh?" He asked. "Well no matter, I suppose..."
She was standing up.
Apocalypse stared at her figure as she stood up, still panting.
There's literally no fucking way she had the energy to pull herself up, let alone stand!
But Nashi Dragneel defied the basic understanding of how much damage the human body could withstand and stood. Apocalypse smiled.
"I did say I loved it when my prey fights back." he said with a laugh. "Let's see just how much strength you have left!" Snapping his fingers, a rapture circle appeared on Nashi's stomach and started to glow.
Nashi didn't even move.
Apocalypse watched as the girl remained completely still until the circle died away. And then, before he could find words to voice his shock, Nashi slowly looked up.
Her eyes glowed bright blue.
Apocalypse watched as the magic in the very air began to drift towards the girl.
Her lower arms grew bright red and her hands grew charcoal black.
Her head glowed as well, and two horns made of pure fire protruded from her head.
She slowly tilted her head to the side, bright blue gaze not leaving Apocalypse. She slowly took a step forward.
And Apocalypse a step back.
He didn't know what the hell this was, but every fiber of his being told him to run away. However, he had the heart to laugh weakly.
"I don't know what you are," He hissed, pulling out the remaining ether-nano grenade. "But I'm not going to run from you!" he threw the grenade, and it landed square in front of the girls figure, and detonated. Apocalypse smiled as the small explosion sent shrapnel everywhere.
When the dust faded, Nashi still stood. Apocalypse gaped as the girl slowly raised her hand and looked at it. On the back of her hand was a cut, probably from the rocks thrown up by the explosion. Apocalypse watched as the cut glowed a multitude of different colors, and closed.
She was fine.
"Wha...What the hell are you?!" Apocalypse shouted. Nashi stepped forward again, and this time Apocalypse was frozen by fear. As she reached him, she stood in front of him quietly before reaching forward and placing a hand on his chest.
BOOM!
With an explosive force rivaled only by the fury of the Gods, Apocalypse flew at lightning speed backwards and through several walls. Landing on a piece of rubble and feeling his spine bend at an angle it was never supposed to, Apocalypse realized something.
Whatever was happening, he didn't stand a chance.
It didn't take an idiot to know something was seriously wrong, Drake could see everyone had tensed up at Ken's words.
"What's the shape of the body?" Elise demanded,asking what everyone wanted to know. Ken shook his head.
" I can't tell, but it's certainly human." He replied.
"Do you think...?" Taro started, the most obvious of questions on his lips.
"We don't know." Simon answered. "I'm not exactly sure I should hope it is, either." Drake slowly looked down at the ground as the others theorized. What could the human shaped object giving of all of that magic power be? Was it Apocalypse? Nashi?
A third entity?
he didn't know, but the longer he sat around on his ass the less he liked it. He wanted to find Nashi and get away, but he didn't know how.
Ken did say the magic proof barriers had been weakened...No, I'm putting myself in danger going back to the city...But if I can't save her, what sort of best friend am I?
Zeus had not taken his eyes off of the screen since the battle had begun. He was also very impressed with Nashi Dragneel's capability to survive, it was far beyond what he had assumed up to that point. She had survived a minor Etherion blast, another few rounds of punishment, and had almost succeeded in taking out the cannon while in a near dead state. Impressive as all hell.
But none of that mattered anymore. And as Nashi Dragneel lifted herself from the Etherion vat, grew a pair of horns and magic gathered in her arms, he smiled to himself.
"It appears as if your attempt at betrayal as failed, Apocalypse." He said with a smile as Nashi blew the torturer away. "Or rather, it does not matter that you even tried. It would seem that Nashi Dragneel has..."
It had been a long day for Lucy. On top of her idiot husband starting a brawl with Gray in the middle of the guild and causing a huge mess, she was going through a lot of stress because of the baby and everything else. Not to mention her daughter was out their somewhere, probably risking her life as per usual. At the moment though, she and Natsu were just walking through Magnolia.
"It was Gray's fault." Natsu grumbled, rubbing the slap mark on his face. Lucy turned to glower at him.
"I don't care who started it, I want you to grow up!" Lucy shouted, making him flinch. "Seriously Natsu, do you see Nashi and Ultear fighting all the time?!"
"Well...No."
"Don't you find it a bit sad your seventeen year old daughter doesn't do that? That you're still the one doing this shit?" Natsu made a contemplative face at these words, and shrugged.
"Not really something I find myself concerned about." He replied. "I'll do what I want, and Nashi does what she wants. What's the problem?" Lucy sighed and although she knew arguing with Natsu wasn't going to get her anywhere, she sometimes held hope he wasn't that big of an idiot.
She was always proven wrong, it seemed.
"That's exactly the problem, Natsu." She scolded as she rubbed her forehead. "The fact that you can't see the problem with..."
Thump.
Lucy raised an eyebrow at the odd sound. Looking around for the source, she found nothing.
"Did you hear that, Natsu?" She asked, getting no response. "Natsu?...Natsu?!"
Natsu was convulsing on the ground, his body twitching. Lucy dropped to her knees next to him and shook him.
"Natsu?! What's wrong?!" he didn't reply, just made strange sounds as he shook violently. "Natsu!" Slowly but surely, Natsu raised his head, looking over at Lucy weakly.
"It's Nashi." he croaked. Lucy raised an eyebrow at this.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with Nashi?!"
"...She's awake."
A shorter chapter today, but I think you guys will appreciate that in turn for all the development today. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get eight for the awakening!