Fairy Tail: New Era
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, but if I did then I would do a full-out spin-off for Sabertooth where Yukino is in the center of an otome game simulation with some of the guys in Sabertooth! Honestly, this is a REALLY GOOD idea for a fanfic. However, at the moment, I'm occupied with making this one for now because these ideas deserve to come alive!
We left off last time with a few twists and some foreshadowing. Within the chaos, I made some things too ambiguous.
I'd like to clarify something about Delphinium's affiliation. I purposely put symbols and numbers in place of the number of characters that make up the guild name but some of the original characters were omitted. So, I readjusted them. The answer is definitely within your reach, but don't worry about it. Enjoy the ride.
As always, 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 9 ~ Deus Ex Machina
Within the boundary of purple flames, Ambrose let out an anguished cry. The cry of someone who relinquished their humanity out of hopelessness for the human race.
Romeo stood yards away from what became of the broken man. Venus flytraps and thorned rose vines slithered from out his Ambrose's modified botanical body. They hissed and meandered like hungry serpents. So life-like. So monstrous. Their desire to rip apart his flesh was pronounced by their vicious visage as if compensating for the shell of a man they sprung from.
"..."
The Fire Mage could not muster a word from his mouth. He stood in front of his foe with a mixture of pity and disbelief.
Before he started learning the Rainbow Fire spectrum from his sensei, Totomaru, young Romeo was fascinated by Magic, how it worked, and how people ingrained it into their daily lives. Being the son of a Fairy Tail wizard himself, Romeo idolized how magic brought people together. If not for magic, his life would have been different.
Seeing Ambrose in his current state reminded him that, for most of his life, he was blinded by the brighter side of magic. Organizations like Magistia Lacrima Company highlighted the existence of a sinister side; a level on par with the factions within the Baram Alliance.
"This is...nuts..." Romeo trembled internally, "Even though this guy is my enemy...he was a puppet, a test subject, an unwilling victim. I can't. This is wrong. Everything feels so wrong-"
Shinji's words to him and Wendy echoed in his mind.
"You two need to get a grip! Aria is back in the village protecting the village cats from that crazy witch girl. She even gave us this chance to take down Magistia. Despite all that, here you are hesitating about fighting our enemy!"
Romeo shook himself back into his senses. He breathed deeply before steeling himself, "Shinji is going to beat the living crap out of me after this job is over..."
Romeo fixed his eyes back at Ambrose's blood-red eye. With newfound confidence, Romeo challenged his opponent, "Even if you don't believe me, Ambrose. I'm sorry."
Ambrose grit his teeth in frustration as he slowly broke out of his shell, "Shut... the hell...up..."
"I won't...I'm sorry. It hurts me to disregard your past. It hurts me to fight you. But the pain that I feel from the doubts in my mind could never compare to the amount of crap you've dealt with. Never. If things were different, I wouldn't be fighting you. But right now we are enemies. Moreover..."
Romeo set his fists ablaze, "For the sake of my mission and the pride of my guild, I'll burn you!"
Angered by the Fairy Tail mage's resolve, Ambrose yelled before charging towards his foe.
"CLEARLY, YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING!"
In full fury, Ambrose commenced his onslaught. With fortified, wooden hands, he clawed at Romeo. The Fire Mage shifted from side to side evasively before countering back with a fist full of red flames.
"Haaah!"
The young Fire Mage's punch was nowhere near strong enough to displace Ambrose given the additional weight he acquired from activating Magistia's lacrima. However, a portion of the wood armor singed upon contact with Romeo's searing red flames. Noticing this, Romeo conjured more red flames on his other hand and projected it towards the arboreal beast in front of him.
"Red Vortex!"
A blast of spiraling, red flames consumed Ambrose. When Romeo's flames died out, Ambrose's wooden armor was thoroughly charred. He looked like a silhouette Romeo might have seen from afar under the low ambiance of Magnolia's street lights during nighttime. Yet, doubt panged at the back of his mind.
"No. It's too early to believe that did anything..."
His intuition was right on the money.
The lacrima implant on Ambrose's chest began to glow. The plant life within the vicinity began to go haywire. Thorned vines sprung from the ground, all lunging towards the Fire Mage. Romeo brandished his magic in defense, burning every vine that drew near him. While Romeo was occupied by the incessant spawning of vines, Ambrose's arborous armor regenerated. Once the wooden components and vines re-wrapped themselves firmly around his body, Ambrose fashioned the parts around his right arm into a spear-like attachment.
Ashes and smoke that arose from the countless, scorched vines obscured Romeo's field of vision.
"Crap...I can barely see anything," The Fire Mage squinted as his eyes slightly stung from the smoke.
From behind, Ambrose's figure, clouded in particulates, emerged from the smoke. As the particulates dissipated from his body, Ambrose pointed his spear-hand towards his intended target, diving down for the kill. Romeo, sensing a disturbance in his surroundings, turned around and pivoted in the nick of time.
"Shit! That was too close!"
A drop of sweat [and relief] flew off his forehead onto a yellow freesia trampled during the battle.
He barely avoided being skewered alive. Ambrose's spear penetrated the flowery ground after missing Romeo. The Fire Mage's skin momentarily turned blue before transitioning to a shade of red mixed with anger and embarrassment. His humiliation was the main contributor.
"Damn it! I'll get you for that!" The Fire Mage fumed before charging towards Ambrose with both hands set ablaze with red flames.
Ambrose jerked his head in Romeo's direction. His eyes flashed a renewed sinister, piercing red color.
Seeing those murderous eyes looking into his soul, caused Romeo to revert from aggression to hesitation. He skidded until he stopped.
"Crap. crap. crap."
Another bead of sweat slowly began to slide down Romeo's forehead. Momentarily, he contemplated distancing himself from Ambrose...
With one mighty tug, the Ambrose unearthed his spear-hand from the ground. Grass, dirt, and yellow freesia petals sprinkled off of his weaponized arm back into the earth. He pointed his other arm towards Romeo. Subsequently, all the vines from his back lunged towards him in an all-out pincher attack.
"CRAP!"
Valuing his survival, Romeo bent backward to avoid getting poked. His knees were bent so much, the boy's spine was parallel with the ground.
But Ambrose's vines did not stop there. After the pincher attack failed, Ambrose motioned his free hand outwards. As if following orders, the vines immediately lashed outwards. As Romeo was within the radius of their strike zone, one of the thorned vines whipped him and knocked him backward.
"Ack!"
While Romeo was sprawling in mid-air, Ambrose bounded towards him whilst motioning for his other vines with his free-hand to continue their thrashing.
"Vine Frenzy!"
The vines from Ambrose's back agilely meandered towards their prey before restraining him and flogging him. Just like when he was bound to the rose topiaries earlier, the vines twisted tightly around his limbs. The sharp thorns dug into his flesh. Acknowledging this pain, Romeo refused to let out his voice, thus gritting his teeth hard.
Still, being whipped by these vines was another story. Although each lashing was brief, they were done with such force and speed that the thorns started to shred his shirt and sting his flesh. Holding his voice down grew increasingly difficult as the thrashing grew increasingly relentless. Between floggings, he could make out Ambrose's figure approaching him with the tip of his spear-arm aimed at his body.
Still, he would not give in. He needed to think. The Fire Mage bit the front of his bottom lip, drawing a small stream of blood that slowly slid down his chin.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Fricking damn it hurts! But, I need to focus, or else I'm as good as dead! Romeo, use you're magic!"
Biting down deeper, Romeo pulled at his prickly restraints before burning them with fire summoned from his limbs. By the time he finally got a clearer picture of where Ambrose was, he realized that he was placed in another dire situation. Before Romeo could hit Ambrose with his flames, the Magistia puppet's spear-hand stabbed him in the left side of his gut.
A crimson liquid stained Ambrose's spear-hand and dribbled down the length of his arm.
Romeo's eyes widened while he yelled out in agony. He could not withstand letting out a cry when he was at the mercy of Ambrose's thorned vines, but this was the icing on the cake with the bloody cherry and sprinkles on top. Even though he was beginning to bleed to death, a perfect opportunity presented itself.
And it was trying to penetrate his internal organs.
"GAAGGGHH! I GOT YOU! Blast...Orange!"
Without realizing it, his fire-cloaked hands wrapped around Ambrose's spear-hand. On the menu today was a dose of explosive, orange fire.
Romeo's flames detonated in a bright flash. Both guys were sent flying in opposite directions. Being mostly protected from the recoil by his arboreal reconfiguration, Ambrose was able to regain his bearings with some ease. Sudden, searing pain radiated from his right hand. The wood and vine components that constructed Ambrose's spear attachment disintegrated in the orange detonation. Now exposed after being hit by the orange fire explosion, the skin on his right hand and arm was ravaged by severe burns.
Ambrose bit the bottom of his lips till he drew blood. His bloodshot irises glared out in Romeo's direction.
"Got lucky...you pesky fly."
~ Magistia Airship Cabin Crew~
Delphinium reverted back into her guise of a quiet, obedient secretary. Her light lilac locks fastened into a bun. Her visor covered her eyes again. The guild insignia on her hand concealed by red, leather gloves.
The faux operative turned on her communications lacrima tablet. After tapping in a few keys and scrolling through some files, she came across her objective document. With the touch of her fingers, she opened it. Delphinium's tablet cast a holographic image that showed the blueprints of the airship they were inside.
At first glance, this airship was just an ordinary triangle-shaped vessel. But, its triangular shape served a deeper purpose. Attached to each corner of the ship, were portal lacrimas engineered and manufactured by the company. Delphinium pulled out an attached document that summarized how the portal lacrima functioned next to the blueprint hologram. The portal lacrima was invented by Mr. Magius and his closest [and most sickly] associates from "observing" Mages who used Teleportation magic. Despite the substantial monetary gains Magius could have acquired from patenting this lacrima to governing bodies, he chose to keep their existence confidential because the method of acquisition was...unorthodox.
For the desired object to be transported from one location to the next, two portal lacrimas are needed; one for the starting point and one for the ending point. In the case of the operation, the Deus Ex Machina would be transported from one of the Magistia HQ warehouses to the target location in the vicinity of the Exceed Village. The dilemma in transporting larger objects is that more portal lacrimas are needed to work in tandem to create a larger portal. A total of six were needed to successfully transport Magistia's machine of destruction. Six lives were taken to make six portals. These portals would be used to transport a mechanized weapon that would slaughter more lives.
Unswayed by these truths, Delphinium shut down the two holograms and opened a new one. This final document contained the blueprints of Magius's latest magnum opus, the Deus Ex Machina. The last draft showed a large, humanoid machine. Surrounding the sketches of the finalized product were excerpts within textboxes connected to each major component explaining the purpose of its parts and its functionalities.
Not long ago, Delphinium gave the warehouse team the signal to activate their set of portal lacrimas. To set the airship as the Deus Ex Machina's destination point, one must activate a switch in the generator room to activate its set of portal lacrima. All Delphinium had to do was to notify Mr. Magius that she had sent the signal. Naturally, he would be the one to take the honors of flipping the switch. The lilac-haired enigma curled her lips in delight.
"The cards are playing into my hands with much ease. Now, to wait patiently..."
Promptly, she closed the holographic projections emitted from her communications tablet before walking out of the surveillance room.
She slipped into the shadows of the corridor leading to the generator room.
~Freesia Flower Fields/Within the Fire Boundary~
Whereas Ambrose was relatively okay, Romeo was a wreck. He lay in the yellow freesias. The loud ringing in his ears would not cease to irritate him. But that is only the natural consequence of being caught in your own point-blank explosion. Romeo's body was festered with countless cuts, scrapes, and small perforations from the thorns that poked into his flesh. The newest, most gruesome addition to the collection was the hole in the side of his gut. Blood slowly cascaded into the grass.
As soon as the ringing in his ears subsided, Romeo trembled as he quickly unbuttoned his shirt. Next, he clutched his wound tightly in hopes that adding pressure would be conducive to stop the bleeding. His breathing was shaky and his consciousness was beginning to slip. Confined within the boundaries of the purple flames, all Romeo could see as his sight swayed between consciousness and blacking out was the yellow freesias that grew in this forsaken meadow, the purple blaze that visually blocked out everything beyond it, and a fraction of the night sky.
"S-Shit. This is...*breathes* really bad...Wendy...I need help...I can't do this alone...I *breathes* c-can't..."
His thoughts went out to the Sky Dragon Slayer. His thoughts went out to the soothing feeling that occurred whenever she healed him. Having done that countless times, Romeo felt that Wendy's own presence made him feel safe; like a guardian angel by his side.
She was not next to him.
She would not be the one who could help him this time.
He needed to be his own anchor.
He knew full well this was his sole option.
" *breathes heavily* Goddamn it all!" Romeo exclaimed, conjuring blue flames from the hand over his gut wound.
"GAAAAAAHHHHGGggghhhhh!"
Romeo set the hand covering his wound with blue flames. The pain from the burning of the grievous wound hurt a lot at first, but the sensation vanished from the numbing effect of Romeo's cold, blue flames.
Having been trained by Totomaru-sensei to learn Rainbow Fire, Romeo grew accustomed to being burned. He also learned the many applications of each flame and fire in general.
Among them was cauterization.
In addition to closing the gap through burning, the cooling properties of the blue flames would lower the temperature of his blood cells; effectively stopping further blood loss. The soft, azure glow dimmed as the blue fire subsided. The wound was successfully closed.
Trembling and breathing shallowly, Romeo staggered as he got himself back on his feet. The Fire Mage smiled as he shakily clenched his fist.
"I don't know whether Totomaru-sensei would be either proud or reprimanding. But that really sucked."
Quickly that smile faded when he found Ambrose's silhouette standing from afar. The red glint in his eyes could still be spotted.
The orange-haired assistant turned plant-monster-hybrid held out his charred right hand towards the Fire Mage as if to shame him for his course of action.
"Tch." Romeo clicked his tongue as he momentarily looked downward.
Ambrose tightened his blackened hand into a fist, "DEVOUR HIM! Flytrap Jungle!"
As if on command, five larger-than-life venus flytraps sprung from the ground behind Ambrose. Each flytrap monster bared a sharp, drool-covered set of teeth that looked longer than all Shinji's katanas. Getting caught in those would be like getting stabbed by a set of Shinji's blades.
"You have got to be kidding me! What does a dude have to do to catch a break?!" Romeo exclaimed in exasperation.
Ambrose motioned his burned right arm towards Romeo, "GO!"
"GROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!"
All five of his botanic beasts viciously roared out before burrowing into the dirt headfirst.
Alarmed by Ambrose's action, Romeo's desire to not get eaten alive screamed at him to take flight.
"Red Carpet!"
A cloud of red flames formed underneath Romeo's feet, enabling him to become airborne. As he lifted himself off the ground, Ambrose's plant collection burst from the earth beneath him and ascended towards the skies. The larger-than-life flytraps snapped at him with their deadly teeth, prompting the Fire Mage to make multiple sharp turns for the sake of keeping his limbs intact. Having established distance from the man-eating plants, Romeo steered himself around to approach them. Conjuring purple flames in his hands, his counterattack began.
"Purple Rope!"
A linear, rope-like flame of the indicated color shot from his hand and latched onto the nearest venus flytrap, tying its menacing mouth shut. The monstrous flytrap jerked its head in resistance upon being snared by the cohesive, purple flames. Using the force of the flytrap's resistive jerking motion, Romeo was projected centripetally towards another flytrap whose jaws opened wide for what seemed like incoming prey. Romeo grinned. The red flames that burned from his feet flared with greater intensity.
"I'm the one in control here! Eat this!"
At the last second, Romeo turned his hips and placed his legs in front. The red-hot flames from his feed incinerated the enemy flytrap monster. The first monster, whose head was used as a fulcrum for the Fire Mage's attack strategy diminished into ashes and charred biomass. Two more large flytraps approached him from behind. But Romeo's grin did not falter. Purple flames flickered from his hands.
"Purple Net!"
Before they could reach their intended target, Ambrose's flytraps were entangled in a broad lattice etched in purple flames. The two flytrap monsters struggled, expressing their sentience. But their flailing only spread the flames they were caught in faster, rendering them to ash.
"Whew...I think I could keep this up..." Romeo sighed to finally catch his breath for a moment.
The fight was not over.
Although soft, Ambrose's unsteady voice could be heard from above. The oval ruby-colored lacrima embedded on his chest shone so brightly, Romeo could tell Ambrose was going to pull out his show-stopper. A plethora of thorned vines shot from the ground around their caster. The vines converged, forming a ginormous, thorned drill that spiraled towards Romeo.
"Grand Thorn Pierce!"
"That's hella huge!" Romeo's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as Ambrose's vine-crafted destruction headed towards him.
"How the hell am I supposed to burn that?"
The Fire Mage shook his head and slapped his face to reset his focus. He grinned with determination.
"No. Romeo, stop hesitating...I WILL BURN THIS!"
The red flames beneath his feet flared up with even greater intensity. Soon, the red flames encompassed his whole body. Romeo's magic power was surging to a new height. Gathering the red flames that emanated from all over his body into the space between his palms, Romeo compressed the copious firepower he produced into an orb of bright red light. The magical energy compacted into this spherical flame was exponentially more intense than any of Romeo's spells involving orange fire detonations. In lieu of this fact, his body shook with instability. Barely espying Ambrose and the gargantuan vine-spear approaching him, Romeo mustered a fraction of seemingly limitless courage and determination to give his adversary a possible last warning.
"This is your goddamn last chance to stand down! CAUSE I SAID... I"M NOT GOING TO HOLD MYSELF BACK ANYMORE!"
The red flames that manifested from his magic power compressed into a glowing sphere within the space of his palms
"I'M ALL FIRED UP! AND I WILL BURN YOU! CRIMSON...HELLFIRE!"
Romeo's words were the signal. The sphere of concentrated heat energy was unleashed as a bright ray with a red tinge. The crimson ray zipped through the air and pierced through Ambrose's thorned structure as if it was a sheet of paper. As the blast incinerated through the composite vine, the components became undone as the connections between the myriad of vines were severed upon combusting.
As the ray got increasingly closer to the surface where Ambrose stood, he initially gritted his teeth in frustration. But alas, he sighed with resignation.
"Papi...I'm sorry...This is it for me."
Upon reaching the surface, an explosion occurred at the base of the gargantuan vine structure. Although not hit directly with the ray, Ambrose was caught in the crossfire. Destroying the base, thoroughly inhibited Ambrose's strongest spell from reaching Romeo. It all collapsed. Fiery vines rained from the sky. Before they could touch the ground, the flames that encompassed them rendered them into smoke and ashes that disappeared into the air.
Romeo, too, felt like his magic was at its limit. Just like the vines eaten by his flames, the Fire Mage was eaten by his wounds and magic depletion. His Red Carpet spell dismantled; the flames beneath his feet waned. He could barely think before slipping into unconsciousness.
"Wendy...everyone..."
He began to plummet into the dissipating, purple flame boundary.
Into the gentle embrace of the yellow freesia flowerbeds where, at long last, he would be found.
He blacked out shortly after hitting the ground.
...
Her sweet voice reached him through the void.
"Romeo-san..."
"Romeo-san..."
"Romeo-san...!"
The Fire Mage opened his eyes slowly.
"Wen...dy..."
Above him was Wendy, hovering her hands over his laying figure while casting a gentle, healing light onto his wounds. Across Wendy was Carla in her humanoid form. Her typical stern expression was replaced by one of concern. That concern switched to relief when she noticed Romeo drift back into consciousness.
"Wendy! He's awake!"
She turned to Romeo, giving him encouragement, "Stay with us, Conbolt-boy! I know you can pull through!"
"Car...la"
He could barely muster her name.
The bluenette pouted lowkey "Romeo-san, why are you saying her name first when I'm the one healing you..."
Carla sneered at her life-long friend, placing a finger on her lips teasingly, "Jealous?"
Wendy blushed, "Am not! Don't get the wrong idea, Carla!"
Romeo turned his head to face Wendy, struggling to form a smile with his face, "Thank you...Wen..dy"
Wendy heartfully grinned back at him. But her reciprocation of happiness shifted into concern when she noticed Romeo burned his own wound to stop the bleeding. Her breath hitched almost inaudibly at the sight. Still, as his caretaker, her instinct to avoid panicking kicked in.
"That looks bad! Romeo-san, what on earth happened?"
The only time she ever saw a cauterized wound was when Porlyrusica practiced on patients who were bleeding profusely. But even cauterization was ill-advised because it was extremely painful to the patients without anesthetics.
"Focus. Romeo successfully cauterized the wound, but cauterization alone will not do. I need to treat the burned tissue."
Wendy sighed before turning to her wounded teammate with a bittersweet grin. She placed a hand over his forehead and raked her fingers into his dark purple locks. Wendy gently brushed them to the side.
"You fought hard Romeo-san..." Wendy ran her fingers through his hair repetitively, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you when you probably needed me the most."
Romeo looked at her. He could tell from her doleful tone that she was holding back from crying for him. Being a healer was stressful beyond the fathoming of those without expertise in the field. Holding up the lives of everyone on your team or your guild is a huge responsibility of mental strenuosity. For a young girl like Wendy to take part in bearing that cross was inconceivable.
He caught her hand with his and brought it to his cheek. He smiled at her with kind eyes, "Don't be. You've always been there for me. You're here for me right now. Don't ever be sorry to me, Wendy Marvell."
Wendy really felt the waterworks just dying to flow out of her system. She bit her bottom lip to stop herself.
"Romeo-san... I'll be sure to patch you up completely!"
"I know you will."
With a sweet smile on her face, the Sky Dragon Slayer withdrew her hand from Romeo's and focused her healing magic onto Romeo's burn scar. The tissue encompassing the wound immediately progressed in healing, the scar slowly vanished. While casting her refurbishing light over her teammate, Wendy smiled as her mind relished in contemplation.
"Thank you, Romeo-san. Thank you for being there for me after what happened with Tartarus..."
Carla looked on at the scene with a happy sigh.
"*sigh* Conbolt-boy is really something, huh..."
Below her were Lily, reduced to his original small cat form, and Happy.
"Do those two...liiiiiiike each other?" Happy giggled as he placed his blue paws over his mouth.
"They're too young for that!" Carla squeaked in dismay.
"Afraid to let a bird leave the nest?" Lily gave Carla a teasing grin.
"Chronologically speaking, I would be the baby bird," Carla responded.
Lily smirked as he looked at the white-haired cat-girl, "It doesn't seem that way to me."
"Hmph," Carla folded her arms and looked away from Lily, "I can't help it...Ah!"
Her fellow Exceed guildmates turned to her with concern.
"Carla!" Happy exclaimed.
"Are you alright?" Lily asked.
Carla felt a sudden panging in her head. Her premonition was acting up again. The vision of the giant, mechanical humanoid firing a deadly, magic ray towards the Exceed Village. The last fragment of Chagotte's vision played over as if to emphasize that the threat upon her peoples' village still remained. When Carla snapped out of her alternate consciousness, she turned to Lily and Happy.
"I'm fine...but the village...it won't be..."
Forlornly, she turned her head to the night horizon.
Faraway, a triangular ship camouflaged into the night was closing in on the barrier formed around the Exceed Village.
~Magistia Airship Generator Room~
Dim, purple lighting emitted a foreboding atmosphere in the spacious, quiet generator room. Lilac hues cast small radiance upon an aisle of fuel tanks, metal gears, and electrical equipment. Pipes and wires ran from machines into the walls, floors, and ceiling, forming a steampunk labyrinth vital towards the ship's functions. Past the aisles of potential electrocution and flammability lay the starring piece of the operation behind a giant, fortified glass tubule.
Floating within the sanction of the glass was a spherical crystal. In contrast with the lacrima used by most of society, this one was peculiar; it was more alive. It throbbed just like a human heart. At the climax of every heartbeat, sharp spines popped out from the lacrima before retracting. The ebb and flow of its shape with every throb indicated an underlying instability. Attached to the base of the glass tubing, was fastened a machine with a keyboard and a lever.
The generator door was abruptly opened, killing the silence.
At the sudden noise, the lacrimal heart reverted into a dormant state, withdrawing its spikes.
Drunken to excess, an intoxicated Mr. Magius staggered into the room with a bottle of wine in one hand.
"ALAS! *hic* The time *hic* has arrived! Ha! hA! haaaAA *hic* haAHh!"
His excited bellow resounded through every corner in the room.
Inebriated, he swayed from side to side as he made his way towards the contained lacrimal heart. A foot before reaching the control panel, he toppled over. The bottle of wine flew into the air and shattered upon hitting the floor.
"Magius...*hic* You've really *hic*...outdone yourself..."
Regaining his bearings, Magius eyed the glass vessel that contained the heart of his magnum opus. Once he was back on his feet, he drunkenly dashed towards the large tube, pressing his face flat against the glass. As if noticing his presence, the life-like lacrima inside the glass tubing, halted as if it, too, feared the barbaric human looking at it. Smirking, Magius withdrew his face and switched his attention to the control panel attached to the large tubing. Without haste, his fingers were tapping fervently against the keys on the panel as if typing a code. In a few minutes, he stopped.
"I believe *hic* that should do it..."
With the code inputted into the machine, Magius grasped the lever firmly with his right hand.
And then it was severed.
Red sprayed from where his hand was now missing. The pain knocked him out of his stupor 100%.
"AAaaaaaahHHHhh! IT HURTS!"
The old man clutched his handless arm as he screamed in agony. But in drunken unbalance, he fell backward.
"Ha." A feminine voice sarcastically jested, "Shouldn't a man in your line of work know better than to celebrate when it's too early?"
As Magius's back was on the ground, he able to catch a glimpse of his assailant's visor.
" How dare you harm your boss! You bit-OOOOOOOOWWW!"
Before he could cuss her out, she stepped on his left collar bone. The sharp part of her red heel, dug dangerously close to his jugular.
"I dare you to finish that sentence, filth."
"Tch..."
Overindulged with decades of privilege, Magius hated having the lower hand. But, his privilege always provided him with bargaining trips. Assuring himself he could weasel his way out, he began his plea, "What do you want? Jewel? I could give you billions lots of Jewel. As a bonus, I could let you off the hook if you don't kill me...AAAAaaaaAAAaaAAGggGGGggggHHHHHHHGGGGggGHH!"
Her heel dug into the old man's collarbone until it snapped. Delphinium's lips curled in satisfaction.
Magius's wails of agony would not stop, "AAAAaaagggGGGGHhhh, YoU wEncH, iT HuRtS!"
"So sorry for the paltry inconvenience, Theodoreeeee," Delphinium acerbically replied as she continued to apply pressure to the broken bone, "But I must ask...How many innocent lives have you denied mercy to when they begged you for it?"
The old man went silent. There were no bargaining chips in his possession that could compensate for the lives he quashed. Lowered to his rightful place, all he could do was beg hypocritically for the very thing he didn't deserve.
"P-Pl-Pl-Plea-Please, h-have some merc-c-cy on me-e-e..."
She rose her heel from the Magius's crushed collarbone.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhGGgggh-!"
Delphinium aligned her heel with the base of Magius's chin and violently clamped his mouth shut with one swift motion. A small stream of blood trickled from the side of the wicked, old man's mouth.
"Silence. Your pain is irrelevant. Do me a favor and avoid making such a spectacle out of yourself..."
As the lightning in the room generator room flickered between black and purple, Delphinium's eyes glinted wickedly through her visor.
~Out Of The Woods~
Papillon jolted awake only to find himself in an unfamiliar setting. He could not recall how he ended up by the exit of these woods so late into the night. Neither could he fathom why he was there in the first place.
"What on Earthland am I doing here?!" the purple-haired gentleman's breathing grew rapid as he panicked over the gap in his memories. Such was the burden of harboring a separate identity in a single vessel.
After repetitively turning his head to scan his surroundings, Papillon felt a surge of immense pain around his left shoulder area, "Ack!"
Quickly, he clutched the place where the pain radiated with his right arm, only to notice it was securely dressed with medical wrappings and that his left arm was secured in a sling made from the bloodied rags of his button-up.
"...Huh? When did this happen?"
"You're awake," a stern, yet concerned voice emanated from in front of him.
Papillon shifted his attention to the direction of the voice to see a raven-haired stranger dressed in an open, night-colored trenchcoat aestheticized with white lines and star motifs. He lowered his eyes to see the stranger carried a jet-black katana. The sharp, white edge of the blade shone menacingly at him.
At the sight of the weapon, Papillon panicked, "Hyehhh!"
Shinji sweatdropped as he dispelled the weapon back into space, "Well crap, this guy really does have different personalities. The way he's acting now is nothing like the way he was acting before..."
Nervously, he smiled as he tried to calm his former-adversary down, "Sorry about that. I come in peace...See, I'm unarmed now."
Noticing this, Papillon took a deep breath before ceasing his hysterics, "I'm sorry as well..."
Papillon lowered his head in slight embarrassment. While looking down, he noticed a black guild mark on Shinji's left oblique through the opening of his coat- the mark of Fairy Tail. Now realizing a fraction of the predicament, he rose his head once again to the raven-haired swordsman, "Um...Perhaps by chance, are you with Romeo-san and Wendy-san?"
Shinji's nervous smile was replaced by a more genuine one. He nodded in affirmation, "I do. We're teammates. Before you-or I guess the other you-and I fought, they begged me not to go too hard on you."
Papillon chuckled, "Haha, sorry. Thank you for bringing me back to my senses. The number of things I regret doing has far gone past a tolerable point."
"I hardly deserve thanks for that. I was afraid I might have gone too far." Shinji clicked his tongue. He shook his head before looking back at Papillon, "Moreover, you shouldn't blame yourself for those actions. You weren't in total control when you were in that state. Even though you were a handful, I'm just glad I was able to patch you up properly...and that you're alright."
"Huh?" the Magistia employee looked at the mage in disbelief.
Most of the people Papillon came across in his early life leered at him with the same disdain reserved for monsters due to the nature of his magic. The only exceptions were Ambrose and Mr. Magius. Ambrose indiscriminately embraced Phalene's existence in spite of his destructive capacities, becoming the first person to actually accept him- the key to his inner peace in the dusk where butterfly and moth intersect. Mr. Magius also accepted Phalene but for reasons, the memory gap between consciousnesses could not fill. Now here was someone entirely new, who faced Phalene's full wrath yet stood unafraid of him upon reawaking, in fact, showing regard for his life.
"Are you sure you're not afraid of me? Aren't I abominable? Aberrant?"
"No. I've seen scarier people in my guild," the aura around Shinji turned a tad dismal as he recalled the everyday shenanigans in Fairy Tail's guildhall and the intense training sessions with Erza, "Yep, you're neither weird nor scary."
Papillon smiled as he looked into Shinji's eyes with newfound admiration.
"Thanks, I guess? That's sort of a relief. But I do have a few questions I need to ask you."
"Likewise, I'll answer everything I can if you're willing to do the same," Shinji replied.
The raven-haired male shifted his gaze to the hills. The blinking lights of the Magistia Airship could be seen afar inside the night horizon, "We could talk while we head up. We need to hurry."
"Right," Papillon nodded as he struggled to get back up on his feet using his only viable arm to lift himself off the ground.
"Let me help you up. It's the least I can do."
Shinji kneeled down next to Papillon and lifted his right hand over his shoulder. He assisted the injured Papillon up and never let him go as they trekked up the hills towards the airship's silhouette.
~Freesia Flower Fields/Within the Fire Boundary~
Carla looked up at the approaching aircraft in fear for the future of her people. The others did the same.
Although most of the vehicle's shape was obscured by the dark of night, the minute periods at which the lights on the airship blinked momentarily exposed its visage. Intellectual as she was, Carla found something that piqued her interest.
"Wendy...Romeo...There's something odd about that ship..."
"You're just figuring that out now?" Happy interjected.
A vein popped on Carla's forehead, "Would you mind, male cat?"
"Cut her some slack," Lily chided the younger Exceed," I think there's something more specific she had in mind,"
"Sorry..." Happy sombrely shrunk into the background.
"What did you find, Carla?" Wendy, having known Carla's insights were almost unsurpassed, felt her long-time companion was onto something.
"Notice that the only lights that blink occupy the corners of the ship...there's something suspicious about that..."
Romeo, Happy, and Lily simultaneously faceplanted.
Carla furrowed her eyebrows in irritation, "Ugh! You guys, I'm being serious here!"
"I did have your back when Happy was throwing shade at you earlier, but now even I'm having my own doubts," Lily sweatdropped.
"See what I mean!" the once dole atmosphere that hovered around Happy dissipated.
"Guys, don't be mean...Carla's intuitions are normally on point. " Wendy
"Sorry Carla, it's just that those lights are the only thing we can see," Romeo glanced at the approaching aircraft before facing the white-furred Exceed "Either way, it's the only lead we have. Let's fly up to get a closer look. We'll decide our course of action after."
"Hmph..." Carla looked away from Romeo, before spreading her wings and latching onto Wendy, "Took you buffoons long enough to agree with me. Let's hurry now."
"Aye sir!" Happy promptly activated his Aera and attached himself to Romeo.
With Happy and Carla carrying Romeo and Wendy respectively, all three Exceeds began their flight towards the source of their problems and solutions.
...
Right as they were about to depart the ground, familiar vines sprung from underneath them, tangling all members of the team and dragging them into the grass.
"Ack...What now?!" Lily yelled.
"I'm stuck!" Happy winced.
"We're all stuck!" Carla retorted.
Romeo cursed under his breath, "Crap, not again..."
The Fire Mage summoned flames from his hands to free both him and his comrades from their ensnarement. All five of them stood up and ready to fight the culprit lurking towards them. What they saw chilled their spines...
The culprit, who was half-charred beyond recognition, staggered as he approached the members of Fairy Tail. His breathing was strained from inhaling too much smoke and ash. The once-wooden components of his transformation were ashen. Slowly, they disintegrated revealing reddened skin covered with a series of second-degree burns. His once-fancy, white business attire was beset in char marks and in tatters. His pink dress shirt sported fewer burn marks than his blazer and pants; relatively unchanged from when it was first burned. The right side of his face was burned more seriously due to more exposure. His right eye was closed but a small stream of blood trickled down from it. The ruby-like lacrimal implant partially embedded in his chest glowed faintly.
Ambrose opened his right eyelid. The empty socket staring back at his adversaries was a horrific, unforgiving void.
Even without the eye in his socket, Romeo could tell Ambrose's animosity was directed mostly at him.
Struggling to speak, Ambrose opened his mouth, "...can't...let you...pass..."
"My lord...what on earth happened to him?" Carla was horrified.
Romeo's heart sunk into the abyss. He was a fool for forgetting about Ambrose. He was a fool for thinking Ambrose would cease his pursuit after being defeated. Even if striking him down was necessary because they needed to save the Exceed, this was just too cruel. Romeo's heart ached for Ambrose's and Papillon's situation. After he finally decided not to hesitate, the consequences of his actions came back to bite him. His heart shattered when he saw the aftermath. Barely breathing, he made a single almost inaudible effort to speak.
"S-Stop..."
None but Wendy could hear Romeo's utterances. The Sky Dragon Slayer turned to her partner with utmost curiosity, "Romeo-san?"
But Ambrose refused to give in,"...have to...s-save...Papi..."
Now shaking uncontrollably, Romeo was on the verge of losing his composure, "Ambrose, stop...if you push yourself anymore, you might..."
"Sh-Shut...up...All you do is...get...in my way!"
Upon raising his voice, Ambrose began to cough, hack, and wheeze uncontrollably. Seeing him in this state, caused the guilt constricting Romeo's heart and conscience to grow tighter.
"This is someone I don't want to fight. Even though that bastard Magius is mostly at fault for experimenting and manipulating him, I still played my part. But as much I hate it, I made a promise not to hesitate. Especially when my hesitation could cost all the lives of a civilization."
Regaining himself, Romeo took a deep breath. Steeling his resolve, he turned to Wendy.
"Wendy..."
The bluenette turned to him, "Romeo...san?"
"In our fight earlier, this guy really gave it his all, the lacrima attached to his body was Mr. Magius's doing. I'm also hugely at fault for recklessly using my magic. I don't want to fight him. I don't hurt anymore. Please, help me save him."
"Of course, Romeo-san," Wendy smiled, "I can heal his wounds, but right now he's hostile. If you can fend off his attacks, I can knock him out swiftly. Then, I can heal him while he's unconscious."
"What about the airship?" Happy pointed out.
"It's quite obvious," Carla smirked, "We can't just sit around and do nothing."
Lily enlargened to his full size, "Romeo, Wendy, Team Exceed will handle this!"
The Sky Dragon Slayer looked back at Pantherlily, Happy, and Carla with resuscitated confidence, "We'll give you to best opening we can!"
Wendy held out a hand towards all her teammates conjuring a shining, light-blue magic circle, "Fast winds that run the heavens...Vernier!"
Wendy, Romeo, and the Exceeds were imbued with the light of Wendy's magic.
"Woah, I feel as light as feather, "Happy exclaimed with joy.
"Vernier is a Sky Dragon Slayer enchantment that enhances speed." Carla explained, spreading her wings "Now let's make good use of it before wears out male cat!"
Quickly, the three Exceeds streaked into the night sky like three shooting stars on crash-course with the airship as their intended target.
"No...you...*hack* don't.." Ambrose barely able to contain his coughing waved his ringed hand.
A soiree of thorny rose-vines ascended from the ground and undulated towards the directions of the mages.
But Romeo was faster.
"Purple Net!"
A lattice network of purple flames blocked the trajectory of Ambrose's roses. Those that touched the net, blackened and quickly withered to ash. When the first wave of roses cleared up, Romeo could see Ambrose covering his airways as he waved his ringed hand again, "Damn...you...*cough*"
On cue, two monster-sized Venous flytraps arose from the earth and meandered towards Romeo with the intent of eating him. Unwavering, Romeo leaped forward. He ignited his hands with green flames and sliced through the botanic creations like a knife cutting butter. The corrosiveness of the green flames caused the giant flytraps to melt.
Provoked by Romeo's tenacity, Ambrose waved his ring-adorned hand once more...the reddish glow from the lacrima on the ring glowed brighter. The remnants of liquifying flytraps melded together as if they were ingredients mixed in a blender. The product was a larger, two-headed flytrap monster with a plethora of vines at its base.
"No time for hesitation..." Romeo grit his teeth as he refused to yield as well. While midair, he conjured small orange flames from his feet. The small explosion launched himself towards the verdant beast. He clasped his fire-coated hands together causing the emerald flames to converge into the shape of an oni's skull. As if the skull possessed a life of its own, it opened its jaws agape for the incoming meal; displaying a full set of fiery teeth awaiting the chance to bite.
"ENVY...EATERRRRR!"
The enflamed vector of the oni aggressively clamped its jaws onto the dual-headed flytrap, simultaneously burning, melting, and smoking it to oblivion. The final plant-based minion was decimated, leaving its caster exposed. Romeo landed on the grass, the traces of his fire magic gradually disappeared. Ambrose, still hacking away within the smoke and ash, raised his ring finger once more in an attempt to continue fighting. But Romeo knew he mustn't deliver the finishing blow.
"Wendy, now!"
Wendy darted right behind Ambrose before he could take further action.
Surprised, Ambrose widened his eyes, "...no."
"I'm sorry. I need you to rest for a bit. Otherwise, I can't heal you."
Confusion painted itself on his face,"...what?"
Without haste, she knocked the back of his head with a karate chop. At long last, his pursuit ceased. Ambrose collapsed. Wendy caught the orange-haired man as he fell. Gently, she lay his body back-down and cast the light of her healing magic onto him. Romeo kneeled down on the other side of Ambrose's body, he looked to Wendy, "Will he be okay?"
"I didn't put up with years of scolding from Porlyrusica-san for nothing," Wendy commented, "See for yourself."
Under the Sky Dragon's rejuvenating light, all the burns that scarred Ambrose's skin tissue began to subside. Romeo witnessed the miracle of Wendy's healing magic in awe, "Woah..."
When the light faded, Ambrose's body was restored to an unharmed state. Still, Wendy sighed, dolefully.
"What's wrong Wendy?" Romeo asked.
The bluenette shook her head, some tears trickled from her cheek, "This was all I could do. I can't restore his missing eye. Neither can I do anything about this lacrima wired to his body...How horrible...For someone to treat their employees like test subjects. I can't fully understand why someone would do such a thing..."
Romeo sighed but smiled sweetly, "I feel the same way. Magius is one sick man."
Wendy wiped away her tears, she smiled back at Romeo, "When we find him, let's kick his butt."
Romeo chuckled, "I'd be down to do that."
"Heyyy! Romeo! Wendy!"
A familiar voice echoed across the freesia field. The two switched their attention to the direction it came from. It was Shinji holding Papillon's arm over his shoulder. The raven-haired swordsman smiled, happy to see his teammates still in one piece. Papillon was also happy to be reunited with the acquaintances he made earlier in the day, but his expression changes when he saw the person resting beside them.
"Ambrose..."
And then...
Papillon kneeled beside Ambrose's resting body. Seeing his best friend like this caused mixed emotions to run in circles in his mind, but he knew things were starting to change for the better. He softly held Ambrose's right hand in his. Warmth still exuded from his being. There was no need to worry. Papillon turned to Romeo and Wendy, a sad smile on his face, "Thank you for stopping Ambrose...and for healing wounds. I'm glad he didn't lose himself in trying to protect me. All those years must have weighed heavily on him."
"No problem, we wouldn't be mages of Fairy Tail if we couldn't save people," Wendy smiled before glancing disapprovingly at Romeo and Shinji, "I can't say the same about these two though."
"I deserved that..." Romeo sweatdropped while lowering his head.
"Hey, I did this guy's wrappings," Shinji frowned at Wendy jokingly, before looking away in humiliation, "At least, I didn't take things too far as Erza-sensei would."
"Oh? Should I personally tell her you said that?" Wendy cutely placed a finger over her lips.
"Uh, No-No-No. Please don't send me to my grave," Shinji bowed his head, overwhelmed with the thought of his sensei's fury.
"Still...I wonder how Carla and other Exceeds are doing," Wendy observed the airship in the distance.
~Outside the Magistia Airship, X many feet above the ground, Y many miles away from the Exceed Village~
Team Exceed was on the move! As Carla, Happy, and Lily came closer to the airship, the outline of the craft's structure became more clear. Carla, sure she was onto something, squinted her eyes. Her focus was on the flashing lights in the vehicle's three corners. One was located at the nose. Two were placed on the tailplanes. Upon closer inspection, she could see the scintillations were emitted from lacrima contained in pyramidal, transparent containers.
"There they are. This is what makes those lights so odd. Why use lacrima as a light source when Lightning lacrima can be used to provide electricity?" Carla addressed the male Exceeds flying beside her, "I couldn't specify at first because I wasn't entirely sure. But now...I absolutely sure."
"Guess you were onto something after all..." Happy blankly stated.
"I'm always onto something!"
"Alright, Carla. You were right and we were wrong..." Lily apologized, "What do you suggest we do?"
"Do what we do best," Carla smugly smiled, "Destroy them. No...destroy the whole ship."
Happy saluted,"Aye si-!"
"No, not you, male cat," Carla interrupted her subordinate, "I meant Lily."
"Eh?"
"Gehehe," Lily flew past Happy, as he stole his thunder, "Leave this to me."
"But I'm dependable too," Happy sulked.
The black-furred Exceed brandished his Musica Sword. The mahogany blade subsequently expanded to its full length.
"Here goes!" heaving his chest, Lily raised the gigantic sword over his shoulder and swung," HAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Lily's almighty weapon crashed through the aircraft with ease, almost perfectly bisecting the vessel. Slowly the two parts of the plane began to drift apart.
"You did it!" Carla and Happy cheered for the most powerful member of Team Exceed.
After usage, the Musica Sword began to shrink back to its more portable state. Lily, too, reverted from his Battle Mode to his smaller form. He smiled at his comrades with pride that he played a role in defending their people, "We did it."
~ Aboard the Magistia Airship~
"Emergency! Emergency! Terminal damage to the main fuselage! Terminal damage to the main fuselage!"
Red lights flashed aboard the ship's interior as the system's AI monotonously rang through the intercom. The ship rumbled as it slowly split apart after the sound of object grating against the vessel's steel stopped. Still, the soldiers in the crew cabin were not alarmed. Remember, they too are puppets on a string...
As for the ones who weren't...
"Ah!"
The sudden attack on the plane induced a rumbling sensation on the inside. Delphinium lost her balance, falling back onto...the keyboard. After regaining her balance, she noticed her hand had inadvertently pulled down the lever- the activation lever. The heart-like lacrima kept behind the glass pane entered the first stage of its active state. Countless spines protruded out from the heart. They stabbing the glass confinement incessantly, even causing it to crack.
The lavender-locked woman looked light-heartedly at this outcome, "Hmmm...well this sucks. Not for me, but..."
She turned her head to the corpse in the room, "It's such a shame you couldn't see your magnum opus come into fruition..."
The crystalline spikes of the special lacrima steadily penetrated through the glass. Seeing this, Delphinium knew it was her cue to leave. Nonchalantly, she walked out of the room, even stepping over the old man's dead body as she made her way to the exit. Before leaving she looked back, she removed her visor and crushed it. The shards of translucent lens sprinkled onto the floor. She undid her hair, letting it flow free. Her icy eyes apathetically stared at the corporate pig's husk.
"It was real pain working undercover at your place. The pay was good, though..." from her gloves, she produced three cards, "But your assets will be useful."
The spikes on the lacrimal heart began to attach to the metallic ceiling, floor, and the machines in the generator room. One of the spikes attached jabbed into the corpse. Magius's body began to crystallize, eventually conjoining with the lacrima. Upon consuming Magius, the lacrima pulsated in satisfaction. The glass confinement shattered as the core crystal expanded its spicules. Free at last, the lacrima maneuvered itself around the generator room by extending and withdrawing its tendrils on the objects in the room.
The lacrimal core reconfigured itself, acquiring two crystal eyes and a wicked smile, chattering its shard-like teeth in devilish humor.
~Freesia Field~
"We did iiiiiiit!" Happy gleefully shouted for victory as he and the other two Exceed descended towards their friends on the ground.
The blue cat flew into Romeo's arms for a hug.
"Nice job out there!"
"Sheesh! You did nothing! Lily was the one who split the ship into two..." Carla scolded her fellow Exceed.
"There there, "Wendy hugged Carla in appreciation, "You helped out too."
Shinji fist-pumped Lily who landed on his shoulder, "I didn't know that you could tear apart a whole aircraft."
"You'd be surprised to see what other things I could cut up with this bad boy, " Lily beamed as he caressed his Musica Sword.
"Is it...all over?" Papillon pondered with much uncertainty.
Carla looked up at the sky, dawn was now breaking through the eventide. A radiant sun peaked over the edge of the world, cascading everything in its unconditional warmth. Cotton-candy clouds covered the sky's canvas.
The airship dismantled as it split in half. Rubble from the Magistian vessel rained from the sky. No longer did the lacrima on the three corners flicker.
"According to my vision, this would've been the place where that dastardly machine appeared. Naturally, if the airship is connected to it, destroying it would prevent the horrible outcome..." lost in thoughts, Carla faced Papillon, "I hope so."
Papillon smiled at the white-furred Exceed. He switched his glance to Ambrose who seemed sound asleep. At this point, a bandage was wrapped around his misisng eye to guard it against infection.
"Ambrose...We're finally free..."
As if Papillon's voice was the key, the orange-haired man awoke. Papillon lost his breath temporarily when he saw Ambrose's eye was missing, but his happiness overrode his worries. Tears dribbled from his eyes.
"Papi..." Ambrose's voice sounded as if he woke up from a peaceful sleep, "What are...you doing here?"
"It's a rather long story..." Papillon wiped his tears away, "Are you alright?"
Ambrose smiled, until he noticed, the Fairy Tail mages within close proximity. Struggling to get up, he still wanted to protect Papillon from his enemies, "Papi, get behind me..." he shifted glances between Romeo, Wendy, and Shinji, "Is it me or are there more of them now?"
Papillon pinched Ambrose's cheeks, " Wait just a moment! These guys helped me and they patched you up after you used that thing...Don't attack them. They're not our real enemies..."
"Wwet gwoh off mweee, Bwapiii..."
Immediately, Papillon released his fingers, before folding his hands in his lap, "Ah, sorry."
Ambrose glared at Romeo, Wendy, and Shinji. His doll-like expression seemed like a thing of the past. The orange-haired man fumbled his lips before breaking his silence, "If it's true that you helped Papi and got rid of my scars, then..." he avoided eye contacted and lowkey blushed, "you have my thanks...and I'm sorry for the trouble I caused..."
"Eh?" Romeo blanked out, before turning to Shinji, "Is this what you call a tsun-"
"Rude much," Shinji bonked Romeo on the head before he completed that sentence.
Wendy politely bowed to the orange-haired man, "I'm sorry too. I was able to heal your burns from your fight with Romeo. But I couldn't help you with your eye."
Romeo bowed down too, "I could tell you had your reasons for giving it your all in our fight...I'm sorry for being the reason you lost your eye."
Ambrose patted Romeo's messy, dark-purple hair, "You weren't the reason I lost my eye. I was. Who knew activating the implant Magius forced into me had such consequences? No one but him."
The last traces of guilt that shackled his heart vanished. A small smiled formed on Romeo's face as he lifted his head, a feeling of weightlessness made him feel like he could soar.
"!"
It was then Shinji felt a grave disturbance in the atmospheric ether. He jerked his head to the vicinity of the falling airship.
"Guys...this is bad" the young swordsman alerted the others, to which they turned around and witnessed another worrying sight. Romeo put himself in front of the rest of the group.
Concurrently, all three cornerstones from the ship were glowing more fervently than they were before. They were all shaking as any lacrima in an unstable state would do. Something was energizing them to catalyst a reaction.
Romeo quickly conjured his purple flames, "Everyone! Stay behind me! Purple Net: Protective Formation!"
A semi-sphere with a burning, purple lattice pattern enveloped the group.
Without a moment's repose, they burst in a deafening explosion. The force of the explosion caused rubble, mechanical parts, and shrapnel from the ship to disperse everywhere, graduating from a gentle drizzle to a violent shower. When the ship's pieces crashed into the surface, dirt, grass, and yellow freesia petals were kicked up into the air. Romeo's spell could only block larger objects from flattening the team. Dust from the dust clouds seeped through the gaps of the fiery latticework with ease, causing everyone to shield their eyes as best they could. Furthermore, it was as if something was blowing the dust towards them...or way from the intended location.
The three portal lacrima produced three separate wormholes. These wormholes expelled what was being shoved through them, including air; hence the feeling of a strong gust of wind. The goal components exported through the portals were all gigantic, robotic components: mechanical legs that could crush anyone with the misfortune of being beneath them, an armor-plated body to shield the vital organs, a mecha head with cameras to view one's surroundings, and robotic arms that doubled as weapons.
Crawling its way into the armor-plated body, was the spiky lacrimal heart. After absorbing the remaining lives on the ship, it grew larger in size. Wickedly it chattered its crystalline teeth as it entered the body, "AT LONG LAST, GEGEGEGEGEGEGEH!"
From the core, the lacrimal-heart luminesced. In response, the other parts of the puzzle magnetically connected to the core...
Delphinium was right. Magius was not alive to witness his magnum opus come to life. But he was dead enough to be apart of it...and at the core of it no less.
When the dust cleared, Romeo dispelled his purple net. The rubble that latched onto the sticky net gave way as the embers faded.
When Carla opened her eyes, her heart stopped.
"No...it can't be...Even with premonition, I couldn't..."
Towering yards above them was a god-like machine. Armored platings over the arms, thighs, legs, and main body displayed a polished, silvery sheen. It provided a stark contrast from the black-coloring that coated the pistons that made up the limbs and joints. The head of the mech looked like a knight's helmets. Its eyes and the black-coated joints glowed neon blue.
"Carla..." Wendy turned to her Exceed partner, "Was this the machine you saw in your vision?"
The white Exceed was at a loss for words. Having the power to witness possibilities did not necessarily mean that could alter them.
"The sentience lacrima..." Ambrose shuddered, "...has now been integrated into the Deus Ex Machina..."
"Deus Ex Machina..." Papillon trembled with equivalent fear.
"It's huge. Larger than that airship!" Lily grit his teeth.
"H-How are we gonna defeat this thing?" Happy pondered aloud nervously.
Shinji stood silently. Maintaining composure was particularly challenging at the moment.
Romeo didn't know what to do next either.
Without noticing the ant-like humans beneath it, the Deus Ex Machina picked up a large Ether concentration from afar. Past the ruined flower fields, shrouded by the forest, was where the intended target lay still trapped in Wanda's barrier. The parts of the machine being's right arm reconfigured into its weaponized form, the gears spinning and switching like clockwork. Its final form was a cannon. Black vein-like tubules from the main body connected to the arm-cannon. Neon blue phosphorescence, ether, flowed into the cannon providing it the energy need to annihilate.
"Nooooooo!"
Recklessly, she flew at maximum capacity towards the machine that would kill her race. The death flags Carla had been aware of rang in her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She knew all too well what would happen next.
"Carlaaaaa!" Wendy and the others yelled out to her as they ran behind her.
All too late...
The magic light around the cannon converged into a light blue ray aimed straight for the Exceed Village. Queen Chagotte, Martam, Mejeer, Mysdroy, Muganto, and Aria. The thought of all them turning into crystal lacrima for eternity rose to the surface when a sinister ray of light was fired from its arm.
Happily. Ever. Never. Again.
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Wait a minute! There's more!
Next Chapter: Our Pride As Mages
As always, please feel free to give me your constructive criticism, feedback, suggestions, etc. but don't be a meanie about it. The option to be nice is always there. If you're not nice, Aria will spill the tea about your dirtiest secret.
Aria: *heehees* in frozen lacrima
Author: *whistles in embarrassment* Nevermind that. Carla will scold you instead.
Carla: *scowling in human-form* Sheesh! What a pain!