Chaos VII
Erza guided Lucy and Happy through the forest into a small clearing just ahead of the temple. They were searching for Gray, who had long since run ahead of the group. Lucy tilted her head upon seeing the structure through the trees, matching the tilt of the ruins.
"Um, is it just me or does the temple look a little crooked?"
"What happened to it?" Happy asked, mimicking Lucy's motion.
"This must be Chaos's work. Who else would do something in such a destructive manner?"
"Remind me again why we need to be here? Clearly Natsu nor Gray need our help since they both left us in the dust." Lucy whined, flopping down onto the dirt.
"Yeah!" Happy floated onto Lucy's head.
Before Erza could respond, heavy bristling came from the surrounding forest. Erza was the first to react, kicking Lucy and Happy away as spinning blades rained down on the spot the pair sat moments earlier. A large brigade of masked fighters emerged from the bushes; weapons drawn.
"We've finally found you, Fairy Tail. We will not allow you to interfere in the Cold Emperor's plans!"
"Lyon's minions?" Lucy grabbed the whip from the side of her belt as Erza requipped a gleaming sword. And a battle broke out.
Meanwhile, Natsu exited the temple unsatisfied with the outcome of his fight against Lyon. He ran into Gray, who was sprinting towards the ruins at top speed.
"Chaos! What happened in there?"
"I defeated Lyon. He's alive though, don't worry. I just knocked some sense into him."
"Really?" Gray looked at Chaos with disbelief. How does he do this so easily? Gray looked at the tilted ruins in front of them and frowned. "Lyon's not gonna stop, Chaos. The minute he has enough strength to stand he'll be right back with his lackeys and Deliora will be freed. Ur will die." Natsu looked back at the crumbling structure and frowned.
"She's not dead?" The dragon slayer raised a brow. His icy companion shook his head.
"After I made the stupidest mistake of my life and challenged Deliora, my master used Iced Shell to seal him away. A spell that turns the castor's body into an unmeltable ice, trapping their opponent in a cold, eternal prison."
"Interesting. Ah, that might change things..." Chaos replied. Suddenly the ground below them began to tremble, the temple beside them reverting to its original upright position. "Shit."
The ice and fire mages rushed back into the temple. Lyon was up and angry, Zalty having returned to his side.
"Let us begin the Moon Drip Ceremony, Cold Emperor."
"I can't tell if this move is bold or cocky. You fixed the temple?"
"An opportunity I had to take while the great Chaos Dragon was preengaged." Zalty snickered as he teleported himself and Lyon out of the ruins.
"Lyon..." Gray clenched his fist.
"Come on, Fullbuster." Natsu shot off in a direction as Gray hastily trailed.
"You know where they went?"
"I've got a good nose," Natsu shrugged. "And the small one smells like a Boscan whore."
"Huh."
"Cancer!" Lucy shouted, grabbing a golden key. The crab-man materialized and struck down a wave of soldiers.
"This seems suspiciously easy," Erza observed. "Are there no wizards among this group?"
The two Fairy Tail mages and their furry companion easily managed to wipe out the small army. The few mages who had hidden in the force were no match for the great Titania, and Lucy's spirits had no trouble mowing down any persistent stragglers.
Even Happy was a bit of a menace, dropping rotten fish on unsuspecting enemies and snickering as he did so.
The calm after the storm didn't last long, however. Before the trio could plan their next move, the ground began to tremble.
"What's happening?"
"This can't be good." Erza drew her sword as a deafening roar sounded throughout the island. Lucy and Happy dropped to the ground immediately, hands flying over their ears. Erza glared in the direction of the commotion.
"What the hell was that?"
Natsu and Gray burst into the cave just in time to see the last drop of moon drip fall.
"What did you do?!" Gray shouted.
"Fuck- who's doing the ceremony?" Natsu seethed, having completely forgotten the missing dog-man.
"Hahaha, you're too late Fairy Tail. The time is upon-" Zalty was cut off by a flaming fist to the jaw and was sent spiraling into the stone wall of the cave.
"What is it with you fuckers and monologuing?"
"This is it. I've finally won. After all these years, transporting Deliora from Brago, gathering allies and knowledge. It has finally paid off. Three years alone of concentrating moon power, thank you for your noble sacrifice, Galuna!" Lyon rejoiced as he directed a cluster of ice shards towards his childhood partner.
"You wasted three years of your life on this pointless crap? That's a new level of stupid!" Gray blocked Lyon's attack with an icy shield, both spells cancelling the other out.
"Pointless crap? How dare you? What have you done differently, spending ten years playing house in some guild?" Lyon got back into ice-make stance, waiting for an opening on his opponent.
Agh, talk about dramatic. Natsu thought. The two ice-makers battled tenaciously in front of the emerging monster as the dragon slayer troubleshooted the situation. Deliora's icy prison was melting quickly, and everyone around him was an idiot. Zalty was out cold, and surely Gray had enough will to overpower his already injured opponent. But what of the demon?
Lyon was getting angrier with every blow. His attacks had gone from strategic placements to blindly firing away. Gray easily deflected every strike with an ice wall, sending Lyon into a bigger fit of rage.
"Why won't you let me do what needs to be done?!"
"I put my faith in what Ur told us, Lyon..."
"In the western countries, there are a ton of wizards stronger than me. Maybe one day you'll see for yourselves."
"I went west! And I found Fairy Tail. I found out what Ur said was right, there are a ton of wizards stronger than her."
"I'm sorry, boy. I don't think I can help you. Iced Shell is based on the will of its castor. That will is absolute, and an outsider cannot melt the ice."
"Seriously? You have all these strong wizards and you're telling me not one can free my master?"
"There may be plenty ways... but if you were to melt that ice, you'd be killing her. Why don't you join my guild? We'll give you a place to stay."
"You could've been there with me, Lyon. We could've grown stronger and surpassed Ur the right way, together! The fact that you'd kill her without hesitation for some twisted superiority complex-prompted fantasy makes me sick."
"Say what you want, I don't care! My entire life has led me to this moment. The moment where I will kill Deliora, surpassing Ur once and for all!"
"You're sick!" The ground began to tremble, and both mages halted.
"Sorry to interrupt this reconciliation, but Deliora's free." Natsu sighed and pointed at the monster as it let out an earsplitting roar.
"Yes!"
"No!"
Time seemed to halt as the room watched the monster begin to pull itself out of it's remaining confinements. Lyon slowly rose to his feet, a manic grin spreading across his face but doing little to mask the wild amounts of fear in his eyes. The commotion seemed to awake Zalty as well, as the small man sat up on the floor. Natsu couldn't get a read on his emotions.
Then there was Gray. Natsu's focus shifted just in time to see his junior get into a stance he didn't recognize. But the surge in magic energy was evident in the area, and it sure as hell wasn't coming from the Cold Emperor, who remained paralyzed.
"I will seal Deliora." Gray spoke as icy mist began to rise around him. Every nerve inside Natsu shook as a cold blue magic seal appeared beneath Gray, and he spoke the words of a spell Natsu had only recently heard of. "Iced Shell."
The cavern went black. All became silent. The cold air thinned, and the mist began to part.
Mist? No, steam.
Visibility was restored to reveal one Chaos Dragon standing in front of his guildmate, covered in flame as he held the ice user's arm, effectively cancelling the spell.
"Chaos!" Gray shouted, dropping to punch the floor in a fit of anger.
"Are you stupid?" Natsu asked, checking the symptoms of frostbite on his hand.
"Are you? You just ruined the one chance we had at stopping this!"
"How's dying gonna settle it? This is a demon of Zeref. He can resurrect. You're gonna kill yourself for nothing and ruin the reparation of our guild."
"You- "
"Lord… Zeref…" The demon spoke slowly. Everything froze.
A/N
hey lol
