Hi guys! It's me again with a new chapter!
Sorry it's been so long, as it turns out, writer's block and tests are a recipe for stagnation, so I haven't been able to get this chapter as soon as I wanted to.
But I have to say...WOW! 450 Faves and 591 Follows! I am SOOO HAPPY! Let's make 100+ reviews!
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Hope you all enjoy and constructive criticism is welcome!
I do not own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.
Chapter 6 - An Unexpected Journey
February, X775
Bahamut was standing in the snowy plain, with one arm outstretched and the other hand grasping it. His eyes were narrowed in concentration and his stance was wide.
A blue sphere formed in his outstretched palm and started to grow, with blue tendrils of energy coiling around it. Within seconds, it grew to twice the size of the young mage's head.
He then thrust his palm, and the sphere flew out into the plains. Three seconds later, a burst of energy in the distance appeared, confirming its impact.
Bahamut took a moment to readjust himself, before nodding in satisfaction and reinforcing his limbs. He began executing a series of moves and steps, leaving faint glowing blue trails in his wake.
All the while, Acnologia sat cross-legged on a nearby boulder, watching his adopted son train. As usual, his face showed no emotion, but on the inside, he was making observations.
It had been several months since Bahamut had liberated those slaves and performed his first human kill, and it appeared that the experience left quite a mark on his young protégé. He didn't speak as much as he used to and sometimes wouldn't talk at all unless he was asked a question. His curiosity and attentiveness still remained, but they had been dulled to the point where little emotion showed on the green-eyed mage's face.
At first, Acnologia thought nothing of it, assuming it was just a short phase until the speech he gave back in the forest finally sank in, so he allowed his son to sort the thoughts in his head by himself.
But it had reached a concerning point when Bahamut's brooding started to bleed over into his training.
It had happened at the beginning of December when the air had begun cooling and the occasional wisps of snow started to slowly float down from the heavens. Bahamut and Acnologia were in the middle of a spar, with the child being permitted to use all that he had learned up till that point, no holding back. The Dragon King had even fired a magic blast or two to keep the child on his toes.
Bahamut had utilized his words of advice from throughout the past half-year and was doing a good job keeping up with him – for someone of his skill level at least. They were a few minutes into the spar when his protégé had managed to dodge a barrage of punches from him and was about to deliver a powerful blow to his face. But as he charged up magic around his fist, his eye suddenly widened and his stance faltered.
That of course, was enough for Acnologia to send Bahamut sprawling into the cold white ground.
The child got up within a few seconds – impressive considering the force behind the blow – and was about to start again, but he froze once he saw the intensity of his father's gaze. It wasn't the usual emotionless stare he was used to receiving, for he saw a glimmer of emotion in those dark eyes – and it wasn't good.
The child gulped and tried to say something, but the words on his tongue were swallowed with each step the Dragon King took towards him until he stood right in front of his small frame. He slowly raised his head to meet his father's eyes with trepidation., only to flinch at the sheer intensity of the stare.
For a few moments, no sound was heard; only the soft blowing of the wind skirting along the snowy plains. But then…
"Why?"
It took every ounce of Bahamut's willpower not to flinch at the accusation behind the deep, emotionless voice of his father. He knew that he should've taken that hit – never show weakness to the enemy.
"I…It…"
But he couldn't help it; it was just like when he had killed that man. A fist through the chest. For a moment there he flashed back to that haunting sight; the bandit's empty gaze, his slack form, the blood that flowed down to the ground and covered his arms in a mass of gore and muscle-
"I'm…s-sorry…I should've taken that o-o-openin-ng…" he whispered in his timid voice as he tried to look back down, but he was frozen in place.
"Why didn't you?"
The insane part about all of this? He had compared his father to the bandit. His father, Acnologia, someone he knew to be powerful enough to not even get scratched by any attack from him. Not only that, but he was told that what he did wasn't wrong and that it was good that those men had died.
"I know I shouldn't have…it's just that…it was like that time…"
Acnologia said nothing, but he knew what the unspoken words were. He would normally berate his student for such a foolish line of thought, but just as he was about to, something nagged at the back of his mind.
'It will only make things worse.'
He looked down at his son's green eyes and saw them glisten from the raw emotion swirling inside, like an emerald tempest. He saw sadness, frustration...and shame.
Taking a deep breath to try and calm himself, the Dragon King stared into his son's eyes and spoke with an iron tone.
"I will only say this once more and never again. It is not wrong to kill your enemies. You did the world a favor by slaying that filth. To spare them is to show weakness." He leaned down and lowered his voice, which made it all the more intimidating.
"Never show weakness."
He straightened himself and crossed his arms. "Do not let this happen again. Understood?"
The boy's eyes seemed to very slightly brighten at the (roundabout) confirmation but he was nonetheless very intimidated. As he should be. He nodded shakily in response.
"Good."
Acnologia looked at the sky for a moment, pondering something. "This round of training is over today. Tomorrow I expect double. I think that is an apt punishment."
With those words, he vanished in a blur of speed, leaving Bahamut all alone in the clearing.
Ever since then, Bahamut seemed to have taken in his father's assurance, and the faltering from his training didn't reoccur. Seeing how his progress remained steady, Acnologia had decided to finally teach him defence and attack against enemy mages.
The process was…difficult at first, since the dynamics of a magic battle were different than those of a close-combat fight, but Bahamut caught on rather quickly like he had with basic magic casting. He had studied the different forms of magic – Holder and Caster – a few branches of magic (he had not learned anything practical there), and he had learned a couple of basic spells. As of Acnologia's latest gauging of his abilities and the knowledge he had given him (via the spoken or written word), he estimated that Bahamut could handle a low-tier mage with ease, as well as some mid-tier mages, depending on what magic they used. It would take him a good while before he could begin handling high-caliber magic fights, but the Dragon King kept reminding himself to take one step at a time.
He was broken from his musing when he heard the sound of another magic blast exploding in the distance. Sure enough, Bahamut had his arm outstretched and a faint wisp of magic power blew from his palm.
He mentally chuckled at the satisfied smile on his son's face, probably thinking that he was king of the world with the power he possessed.
'Oh, little whelp, you are nothing more than a grain of sand on this vast beach. Perhaps a little jolt will remind you of that…'
Meanwhile, the young mage-in-training lightly panted as he felt his magic power slowly build up again. He was about to ask his father what he thought when he instinctively dodged to the side – just as the familiar outline of the Dragon King crashed beside him.
Even as Bahamut dodged, he had to drop down in hopes of avoiding his father's tail that swung at him. Then he had to try and dodge his claws. Yeah, this was a lot of dodging to do in less than half a second. Eventually, after another minute of attempting to doge over and over, Bahamut decided to let out a small blast of magic in hopes of getting some space between them. Unfortunately for him, Acnologia saw this and instead grabbed him with his teeth, then swung him into the tree line, leaving about a dozen trees lying on the ground as cushions for the young child.
"Enough. Now go out and hunt for an animal before coming back."
Bahamut nodded, then ran off into the woods in hopes of finding an animal to eat for dinner.
Eventually, February started to end, and March was coming with a bit warmer breezes, leading to Acnologia telling Bahamut to pack a bag with some clothes and fruit, as they were leaving. After doing as said, (with Bahamut not really questioning his father, just assuming that they were going into town for some supplies), Acnologia transformed into the Black Dragon in a flash of light. He lowered his arm down a little to pick up Bahamut in his open hand before flying off.
They flew southwest for a while, the landscape below them shifting into grasslands and forests, before Acnologia deemed them far enough, and landed in a forest, next to a cobblestone road. The Dragon King then let go of the young mage-in-training.
"You are to travel alone for a while so that you can gain enough skills in battle before you see me again. The next time we see each other, you should be able to hold up to me in a spar for thirty minutes."
Bahamut stared at his dragon father in shock, not believing what his father said. He thought it was a joke at first, maybe even a test, but the Dragon King's hard stare (which spoke volumes despite the blankness of those eyes) the deafening silence that followed made his heart drop with fear, sadness, and betrayal as tears welled up in his green eyes.
"W-why? D-did I do something wrong? A-am I not training hard enough?"
Acnologia cut him off with a shake of his snout. "All of that is irrelevant to this matter. Simply put, I have nothing more to teach you at this stage."
The green-eyed mage blinked a tear away in confusion. "W-what do you mean? You still haven't taught me how to transform into a dragon, o-or how to –"
"If you will allow me to finish…" the Dragon King growled. Bahamut gulped and stayed silent.
"Do you remember when I first started teaching you magic? When I sent a spark through your body and made you fall over?"
A bit upset about that embarrassing scenario, Bahamut nonetheless nodded.
"Good. In addition, do you remember what I taught you about ethernano and ethernano containers?" Another nod.
"Well, as it turns out…you don't have a container; at least, not the kind that I am familiar with."
"W-what do you mean?"
"You possess something that I have never seen before. Instead of a container that absorbs magic energy, you have a 'core' that both absorbs and generates magic energy. As such, your affinity for magic is higher than that of a regular beginner mage. Haven't you noticed that using magic was incredibly easy for you after a short while?"
Bahamut tilted his head and flashed back to when he first practiced magic. Looking back at it now, he realized he managed to first use Reinforcement in less time than it took him to first project magic.
"Hm. So you remember. It's good to know your memory is functioning well. When I sent that spark of magic into your body, your core clashed with my magic for a few seconds before adjusting itself. My hypothesis to that reaction is that the magic energy your 'core' generates is different than that of the magic found in this world, hence the pain you felt. Ever since then, you have been slowly adapting to the magic of this world every time you practiced."
Bahamut nodded once or twice during the lecture, to show that he was listening.
"But it's not enough. The magic I taught you is relatively basic and possesses no acute affinity – beginner's magic. Your 'core' needs to adjust properly to magic with some affinity to it before I can teach you the Arts of the Dragon Slayer, lest you die a horrific death. As such, I am sending you to learn magic on your own to help your 'core' adjust, and to make you stronger."
Bahamut nodded in response, seeing the wisdom in his father's words. Despite that, the torrent of emotions within him rose once more and the tears flowed freely as the situation fully hit him.
But who could blame him? His own father, the one who saved him from death, taught him how to be strong and was there for him when everyone else hated him or tried to kill him, was sending him away.
He didn't even know how long it would take. Days? Months? Years? How would he even go back?
Acnologia just looked at his adopted son with no emotion whatsoever. "It's for your own good whelp. If you paid attention to my lessons, then survival would be trivial for you."
The blunt words didn't exactly calm down his young protégé, but he didn't really care. The boy needed to learn about the world and anything that would make him a better challenge in the future was welcome in his eyes.
Through all the emotions, the green-eyed mage was able to remember the small present he had made sitting in his bag at his feet, which he seemed to have dropped after hearing his father's words. So just as the Black Dragon lifted his mighty wings, he called out:
"W-wait! I-I have something for y-you!"
The Dragon King paused as his son opened his bag. "R-remember when you sa-said that you didn't know your birthday? I-I made you a p-present. He-here!" He said as he managed to dig through his bag and find the small gift that he had planned to give his dad later on, but also while still trying to fight back the tears of betrayal that wanted to burn his eyes out.
Acnologia looked down and examined the object in his son's hands. It was a small carving of a crude dragon and a human, or at least a child. Most likely him and the young mage-in-training. The carving had the dragon curled partially around the young child in a way that a mother bear would her cubs. It was quite remarkable that the young child managed to carve something as detailed as this. It didn't have any precise detail; just the basic shapes, but still…
Also, the fact that this was supposed to be a birthday present to him from the young one, was a surprise as well. He didn't think that the child would care enough to give him a birthday, never mind that it was the day that he was leaving the child alone.
He looked at the carving for a few seconds before asking: "When did you make this?"
"I-I made in the past t-two m-m-months. W-when we w-went into town, I g-got a book that said h-how to d-do it."
To Acnologia, this was a surprise; he didn't remember the last time he had received a gift from anyone. It didn't have any actual use; just something to look at. Still, it was the last time he would be seeing the whelp for a while…
He kept staring at the carving before gently plucking it with his claw, careful not to damage it.
"Um…thank you. For this" he said as he stared at it in his clawed hands.
"Your-you're welcome."
With these final words, the old dragon started flapping his wings, before taking off to find a new place to rest and hide until he decided to go searching for the young child in hopes of seeing growth in his powers.
Bahamut, however, watched his father fly off until he could no longer see the black and blue dragon. Then turned away to travel into the forest surrounding him with a single tear of betrayal fell from the corner of his eye, down his cheek.
A breeze hit the nape of his neck which made him look around. While the forest wasn't very big and the road nearby looked inviting, it did little to soothe the distress coursing through his veins.
He took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm himself. Crying wouldn't help him now. He looked down at his feet and the bag in his hands. He didn't have much on him; some gold coins, a pair of clothes that would last him a week or so and three apples.
'I won't last long with just these. I need to find a town or someplace to sit down and ask people.'
His mind made up, he lifted his bag with a sigh and walked to the road. 'What am I supposed to do now? Father told me to learn some magic on my own, but how do I do that? Where would I even begin to look?'
His eyes slightly narrowed at the thought of the Black Dragon. 'Why did he just leave me like that? Couldn't he have taught me himself?'
The young mage-in-training quickly shook his head, dispersing such thoughts about his father. 'No, he said that it would be trivial for me to survive and that it's for my own good. I can't think badly about him like that; he never said anything wrong before and…he believes in me. He wouldn't have put me here if he knew I couldn't survive on my own.'
The corners of his lips slightly curved upwards as his eyes gained a determined look. 'I won't let him down. I'll learn magic and I'll become strong. When he comes back for me to make me a dragon I'll show him what I can do!'
He was broken from his reverie when he felt the ground harden under his feet. He quickly looked down to see that he was now on the road.
The green-eyed mage looked to both directions of the road. To his dismay, there was nothing to indicate any signs of civilization or otherwise in any direction.
'It doesn't really matter then which way I go. Besides, it's a road. I should meet up with someone soon. But which way?'
Bahamut kept looking back and forth between the two roads before sighing as he pondered what to do. His eyes kept wandering until he saw a small branch lying in the grass, with a leaf at one end. At the sight of the severed tree limb, a thought came to his head.
He went over to pick the branch up and went back to where he stood. He then tossed the branch up in the air, which then landed on the road, the side with leaf pointing ahead. He looked up at the sun to see which way it pointed.
'…South-ish? Okay.'
His gaze fixed on the road in front of him, Bahamut began walking ahead, a goal in his mind and resolve in his heart…
-OBW-
A random inn, Clover Town, at the same time…
Clover Town was a cheery settlement located on the eastern border of Fiore. It was surrounded by forests and was known to the citizens of the country as the meeting place of the country's Magic Guilds. It was a rather safe city, thanks to its importance and geographical location, so the inhabitants had little fear of attack. At least from the outside.
In one of the town's inns, a group of people sat together around a table; they consisted of three males and two females, all adults. They were chattering animatedly while holding cups of drink, although the two females seemed to be the focus of the conversation.
"Are you two doing alright?" one of the males asked.
The first female, a woman with dark-blue hair and yellow eyes, nodded at the man and smiled at his concern. "Again, we're doing just fine, thank you."
The man raised his hands in a mock gesture of self-defence. "Just checking, just checking. It's just that you acted weird today at the shop."
"It's just some jitters from handling the new merchandise, don't worry."
The man gave her a slightly skeptical look, but nonetheless accepted the woman's reasoning.
The other woman – who shared the first one's blue hair but was shorter and had brown eyes – looked at her companion and slightly frowned. She sighed and said "Sister, you're a bad liar. You shake when you're troubled; You're doing it now with the cup."
The sister looked down at the cup in her hands and indeed saw it was shaking. She tried grasping it firmly and smiled at her younger sibling. "I'm fine, you don't need to worry."
"Sister, this won't disappear until you talk about it."
The mood around the table grew somber as the sister looked down at her cup again, this time with a frightened look in her eyes. The men noticed this and put down the drinks.
The elder sibling kept looking at her cup until the brown-eyed woman rubbed her arm with care. She looked up at her and saw the assuredness in her eyes.
She bit her lip. "It's just that…I-I still remember it. I can hear that vile laughter in the night. I still feel the chains around my neck when I doze off. I sometimes lie awake at night out of the fear that they may come back again."
Her voice had become broken as her sister kept rubbing her arm. The men had grim looks on their faces, with one of them gripping his cup tightly with rage.
"Sister, it's going to be alright. You're safe now, all of them are safe. Didn't you say that yourself?"
The taller woman let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, at least I'd like to think so. I sure hope they all managed to find their way home." A smile slowly started to grow on her face.
A grin crept across the second man's face as he noticed the woman's expression. "Ha, you're thinking about them again, are you?"
The woman snapped her head up and looked at him with a noticeable blush. The third man let out a chuckle of his own.
"Yeah, you've told us all about how you were saved by the 'mysterious little boy' and the stranger."
"The tall, dark, handsome and muscular stranger –"
"Flying in and kicking that bastard's ass all the way to the ocean –"
"Large black cloak, long and flowing blue hair with piercing eyes –"
"And those rippling tattoos!" the men all called out before laughing with mirth, as the woman's blush slowly grew. She tried to make them stop, only for them to take another chug of their drink and resume laughing.
"Did he wear a necklace of red teeth?"
The group around the table stopped their short bout of merriment as their eyes turned to the source of the voice. Sitting next to a neighboring table was a young man with short dark hair and black eyes, wearing a high-collared black robe with golden trims, along with a white toga wrapped around his midsection. He held a cup in his hand and was looking down at it, examining the liquid. A walking stick was leaning next to him.
The group blinked at the young man in confusion. Was he there before?
"Did he have a necklace of red teeth?"
The tall woman guessed that he was asking her, so she replied. "Um…maybe? I…I think so. It was a bit too dark to see but I think he had one."
"Were his tattoos blue and looked like fire or waves? Did he have dark skin?"
"Y-yes, he did."
The young man's eyes narrowed slightly before muttering something under his breath. The group watched as he rubbed his chin before blinking and seeing a brief look of confusion flash across his face.
He turned to face them and asked. "What was that you said about a little boy?"
The woman scratched her chin in thought. "W-well, he was short, looked rather young. He had black hair and round glasses. I think he had green eyes…no I'm sure of it. I saw them very clearly."
"Did the tall stranger talk to the boy or anything of the sort?"
"Y-yes, he said something to him, but I couldn't hear. Then he snapped his fingers and the lock broke and we got out of the…" her voice trailed off as her eyes widened with fright and began shivering again. Her sister rubbed her shoulder once more while the first man patted her knee in a calming motion.
The young man looked at the group without a trace of emotion, although when he spoke, his voice had a tinge of softness to it, as if he had an understanding of the situation.
"Did the tall stranger look something like this?"
He pulled out a pencil and a slip of paper before scribbling on it and showing it to the woman. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears that had threatened to slip and looked down at the paper.
"Y-yes, it's him."
The stranger put the paper in between his toga and pulled something out. He laid it on the table where it was revealed to be a shiny gold coin.
"I apologize for any trouble I may have caused. If you will excuse me, I have to go now."
With those words, he walked back to the table, took the walking stick in his hand and headed out the door. When he left the building, he started to walk quickly towards the town limits, all the while keeping a calm, yet troubled look on his face.
'This is very…interesting and troubling news. I had thought him to have more patience than that. Besides, last I checked he hates humans. Looks like I have a little investigation on my part.'
The young man looked up at the sky, his grip on his stick like iron.
'What caused this change? Why the sudden interest?
What are you up to…
Dragon King Acnologia?'
What did you all think? A bit cold of Acnologia, I know, but that's just how he is, and he did state previously (albeit to himself) that he couldn't teach him DS Magic until he got used to Earthland Magic.
The carving is something that will have value in the story, and it will help Acno's character development. (I watched God of War 2018 walkthroughs, it kind of rubbed off...What? Kratos and Acnologia are similar...kind of...)
Bahamut is left to train on his own! I wonder where he will go now...
I will be trying to crank out more chapters quickly, but I am entering a tough period of my life - namely mandatory conscription - but no way in the seven hells am I giving up on any of my stories! I promise you that much!
I have a poll on this story regarding Bahamut and our favorite destructive guild mages of Fiore, so go to my profile and vote!
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