A/N: This arc will probably only have about four chapters. I'm not planning on making it very long.
Enjoy!
CHAPTER EIGHT: SUN VILLAGE
A few days later, Orion, Aster, Kross, Helena, and Zane eventually made it to the Sun Village. However, when they arrived, they were met with a shocking sight. The whole village was coated in purple ice.
"Ice?" Helena questioned in shock. "Who would do something like this?"
"That's fine. Zane can just melt it with his magic, right?" Kross asked.
Zane touched the ice on the ground before standing back up and shaking his head. "No can do. If it was regular Ice Magic or even Dragon Slayer Magic, it would be no problem. But this... This is work of an Ice Devil Slayer." He replied.
"Devil Slayer?" Aster repeated.
"They're like Dragon Slayers and God Slayers, except they have the ability to slay Demons." Zane elaborated.
"I know what they are!" Aster exclaimed in irritation before sighing. "The question is, why would a Devil Slayer put an innocent town under ice?"
"Maybe the said Devil Slayer thought the Giants were Demons." Helena guessed, looking up at a Giant who was frozen.
"I just had a horrible thought." Kross spoke up, getting his guildmates attention. "With the whole town coated in ice, it's possible the Dragon Slayer Lacrima could be frozen to. Or worse, the person who did this took it."
"Don't say stuff like that! We can't give up hope that it's safe." Orion practically growled.
"We'll cover more ground if we split up." Aster suggested, making his guildmates nod in agreement as they went in separate directions.
Meanwhile, the four former Cursed Dragons members entered the Sun Village. "Whoever attacked this village, I absolutely love what they've done to the place." Daegon commented.
"Do you got anything, Daegon?" Rose questioned, knowing his smell was almost equal to a Dragon Slayer's.
"Yeah. The Black Sun members are here alright." Daegon responded before he turned towards Reina and Haruka. "Let's split up and take them down."
"Roger." Reina and Haruka said in unison.
Kross was scouting the outskirts of the village while Aster and Orion headed towards Atlas Flame's former cave. Helena and Zane scouted around the village. "How hard can it be to find one Dragon Slayer Lacrima?" Kross asked himself.
Unfortunately, very hard. As he came to find out.
He wasn't even sure why he had decided to tag along. He had no real connection to Sebastian and didn't really talk to him in the guild hall. There was only really one memory of him that stood out the most.
(Flashback)
"Say, Kross. Ever thought about becoming S-Class?" Sebastian asked randomly, sitting across from swordsman.
Kross raised an eyebrow. "What's with the sudden question?" He replied.
"Well, considering you always help Nox with his jobs, and most of his requests are S-Class, I just thought that-"
"I have no idea what you're assuming, but I'm telling you now it's not true."
"Christ, no need to get defensive!" Sebastian exclaimed before pouting.
"To answer your question, I have zero interest in becoming S-Class." Kross stated.
"Well," Sebastian hummed as he got up from the table. "if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me!"
(End Flashback)
"Chimerism Magic: Railgun!"
Blasts of magic came hurling at Kross, who didn't react on time as he soon crashed to the ground, coughing. "Not so smart to get distracted, Flashy-X." A voice soon spoke.
Kross sat up before looking up and spotting Daegon who changed his arm from a cannon back to normal. He took notice of the green Cursed Dragons guild emblem on his left shoulder, causing Kross to stand up in a defensive stance.
"You're from Cursed Dragons." Kross growled.
"Indeed I am." Daegon grinned.
"Doll Attack: Wood Doll!"
Helena suddenly gets attacked by a living tree as she quickly dodged. "Wow, I'm suprised you actually managed to dodge that!" Haruka exclaimed as Helena spotted the purple Cursed Dragons guild emblem located on her right breast.
"Should've known this was too easy!" Helena thinks to herself.
On the other side of the town, Zane ends up running into Reina, who took notice of the red Cursed Dragons emblem on the right side of her neck. "Out of all the Black Sun mages, I had to encounter the Fire God Slayer. My magic is useless against you." Reina commented.
"Glad that you're self aware." Zane got into a fighting stance. "I have no idea why you're here, but I guess I'll have to beat it out of you!"
Aster and Orion were looking around Atlas Flame's old cave. "Something wrong, Aster?" Orion asked as Aster was looking a little spaced out.
He shook his head. "Sorry, it's nothing. Just... I can't really imagine a younger Sebastian being taught magic by a Dragon." Aster admitted.
Orion chuckled. "Kinda hard to believe, huh?" He questioned as Aster hummed in agreement. "Hey. Sebastian's going to be okay. The quicker we find that Lacrima, the quicker we can head back to the guild."
"Are you trying to reassure me or yourself?"
"Both."
Out of nowhere, three blood orbs came shooting at Orion and Aster - in which they quickly dodged out of the way to avoid getting hit.
"That magic... I know it from anywhere." Orion noted.
The two of them spotted a very familiar black-haired woman with purple eyes, as well as her dark red Cursed Dragons emblem on her inner right forearm.
"You're the one that attacked Sebastian!" Aster exclaimed in anger.
"Well, well, what do you know. It seems you remember me." Rose smirked.
Aster was about to charge forward but Orion held his arm out, preventing him from going any further. "I know you're angry. Believe me, I am too. But we have to think this through. This is the woman who placed Sebastian into a comatose state. If we're not careful, she'll do the same to us." Orion told him.
"Okay." Aster muttered.
"I'm gonna have some fun with you two." Rose claimed.
Back at Black Sun...
Souta had come into the infirmary, getting Nox's attention. "Any changes?" He asked.
Nox sighed. "Well, the blood transfusion helped his vitals get back to normal. All that's left is retrieving that Lacrima and he'll be fine." He replied.
"Where's Romin? Thought he would be in here with you."
"Told him to go on a job request. He won't help Sebastian if he's constantly sitting here and worrying about him." Nox answered before looking at the sleeping Exceed at Sebastian's side. "I tried to get Raden to accompany him, but he refused."
Souta chuckled. "Yes, well, you know how Raden is when it comes to Sebastian." He said. Nox's mind trailed back to when he tracked down Sebastian's biological parents to know about his blood type.
(Flashback)
The door of the house opened once Nox knocked on it, revealing a middle-aged man. "Who're you?" The man slurred, obviously drunk.
Nox did his best to smile as he removed his glove and brought his right hand up, showing his gray Black Sun guild emblem. "My name is Nox Slypher, a wizard in Black Sun. Your son is a guildmate of mine." He introduced himself, pulling his hand down and placing his glove back on.
"So that lowly son of mine taught himself magic and joined a wizard guild, eh?"
"Yes." Nox responded. "You see, we just recently got out of a war with a dark guild. And unfortunately, one of their members drained Sebastian of his blood, leaving him in a comatose state. I came here to ask for his blood type."
"You ain't gettin' nothin' from me! Let the ungrateful brat die for all I care! I know how you guild wizards work. I give you something and you'll want something in return."
Nox had a tick mark appear on his head. "I don't care about money! All I care about is making sure my friend lives, you bastard!" He shouted in anger.
"Honey, please!" A middle-aged woman - Sebastian's mother, Nox guessed - ended up coming to the door. Nox noticed the huge black eye that was around her right eye. "I'm sorry about him. What is it you need?"
"I need Sebastian's blood type. It's urgent." Nox answered.
The woman nodded. "Alright." She said.
(End Flashback)
"Something on your mind, Nox?" Souta asked as Nox came back to reality.
"Sorry. I'm just thinking about Sebastian's biological parents. Do you know anything about them?" Nox questioned.
Souta hummed. "When you told me about the interaction, I did some digging. It turns out Kenneth James, Sebastian's father, is an alcoholic. He had beaten his wife in fits of anger, and his mother ended up abandoning her son at the front of the Sun Village because she couldn't take care of him."
"That makes sense." Nox said. "I could only guess we should keep quiet about this?"
Souta nodded. "It would be best that we don't tell Sebastian." He replied before taking his leave.
Nox looked back at Sebastian. "You've come a long way, my friend. I think your mother was proud of you when I told her about you." He thinks to himself.
"Orion, Aster, Kross, Zane, Helena... Please hurry with that Lacrima..."
A/N: So now you know a bit more about Sebastian's biological parents! Also, because of the Dragons habiting the Dragon Slayers bodies, Atlas did the same with Sebastian, so he didn't get frozen by Silver.
Thanks for reading!
~ Kaleb.