Chapter 04: The Sky Enchantress
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
Wendy Marvell gaped in horrified shock, unable to do more as Christina went up in flames midair and slowly careened towards the woodsea.
*BOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The moment it crashed, the airship exploded from the impact, nearly knocking Wendy and Carla out of the sky from the shockwave. 'What happened? Was there...'
"Hibiki-san!" Wendy called down to the Trimens on the ground as she landed. "Was there anybody on the airship?!"
"No, it was flying unmanned!" Hibiki Lates shouted back before clenching his fist. "Still, how could they do this to Christina?"
Natsu Dragneel cautiously sniffed the air before grimacing. "Hey..."
"Yeah..." Gray Fullbuster shifted into a ready stance. "Somebody's coming! Get ready!"
Like demons walking out of hell, all six members of Oración Seis appeared from the hazy smoke of the crashed airship.
"S-So these guys are..." Lucy Heartfilia gasped. "Oración Seis!"
Brain scoffed after giving them all a cursory glance. "So the maggots went and swarmed..."
Angel smirked after casting a cursory glance around. "Looks like I beat them to you guys."
Brain nodded. "It seems that we left lasting impact on Bell, Jura and Ichiya if they didn't make it here."
Wendy's mind blanked out a bit while processing that.
Christina, their main plan had been destroyed. Bell-nii, along with two other S-Class Mages, had been supposedly defeated, although Bell-nii and Jura-san had probably escaped. But Angel had commented on reaching here first despite having been left behind by an escaping Bell-nii.
Where was Bell-nii right now?
"Carla..." Wendy whispered, her voice as still as the atmosphere right before a storm. "Our opponent is Angel."
"Fine, then." Carla let go, showing little surprise when Wendy suddenly dashed ahead and leapt high into the sky.
"[Sky Dragon's...]"
Cobra's eyes widened at the sight of Wendy inhaling an obscene amount of air. "H-Hey, all of you grab something-!"
"[...ROAR!]"
When Wendy exhaled, a veritable tornado slammed into the entire Dark Guild, blowing them away along with a significant chunk of the ground.
When the dust cleared, the only ones who hadn't been blown away were just Brain and Midnight, the latter somehow still asleep.
"Woah..." Lucy gaped.
"Ha! Natsu, your little sister's cooler than you!" Gray yelled as he charged forward. "She went and attacked first!"
"Of course, Wendy's awesome like that!" Natsu roared as he charged forward as well. "Time for me to show my stuff, too!"
Wendy paid little attention to them, her eyes solely fixed on the only female of Oración Seis.
"Oh? What's wrong?" Angel teased as she stood up, the bruises on her skin being the only proof that she'd just been literally blown away. "Are you angry at what I did to your guildmate?"
"Bell-nii's too strong to die to a weakling like you." Wendy shot back. "He was probably distracted by your chest or the like."
There. A twitch on her perfectly trimmed eyebrow. Looks like Bell's usual strategy of throwing off opponents could work here.
"Weakling, you say?" Angel whipped out a silver key from... somewhere. "Let's see who's the real weakling between us, brat! [Open up, Gate of the Chisel: Caelum]!"
A robotic-like sphere with a halo manifested before Angel, before taking a club-like form immediately and getting swung to counter the incoming fist.
"[Sky Dragon's Gale Fist!]"
Angel barely managed to not get blown away again, standing her ground as the compressed gust around Wendy's fist ground against Caelum until she relented and backed off. "Hah! Was that the best you could do?"
"...no. No, it wasn't. You are still part of an enemy group that required multiple S-Class Mages to fight." Wendy promptly took a strange stance. A stance which instantly distracted both Natsu and Carla from the battle they'd been fighting. "[Dragon Slayer's Secret Art!]"
The air around them swelled and burst with magical power.
"Hey, is that-?!"
"Wendy, don't do it!"
Natsu's distraction cost him as Racer smashed his boot into his face before getting roundhouse kicked to the side.
Carla, now having transformed into a girl with Wendy's build, barely flew away from the attack of softened earth that engulfed all members of both Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. 'I want to rebuke Wendy for using a Secret Dragon Slayer Art so soon, but these guys are pretty tough! Oh, where is Bell when you need him?!'
"[Requip: Lightning Empress Armor!]" Erza Scarlet leapt into the sky, now dressed in a blue and white armor with golden trimmings. Lightning crackled around her spear as she pointed at Cobra.
"I can hear you." Cobra smirked as he moved swiftly despite the weight of the huge purple snake coiled on his body, dodging the thunderbolts that slammed into the ground behind him.
"And I can see you, you bastard!" Natsu roared as he charged at Cobra with a blazing fist. "[Fire Dragon's...]"
'Another dragon slayer? Interesting!' Cobra cocked his own fist, the sleeve corroding away as his hand grew claws and scales. "[Poison Dragon's...]"
"[...Iron Fist!]" "[...Toxic Fist!]"
Explosive flames and poisonous miasma burst to life against each other, the clashing fists holding strong until they were forced to separate.
"Damnit!" Natsu twitched as he observed his numbing hand. "You're a dragon slayer, too?!"
"Damn right!" The smirk on Cobra's face didn't seem to show if he could feel the burn damage to his hand. "A much better version, that is!"
"Damn it!" Gray grimaced as he rubbed his chin from how hard Racer had just kicked him aside, only to gawk at the sight of Midnight still asleep in spite of the chaos. "You're still sleeping through all of this?! [Ice-Make: Lance!]"
Five lances of ice shot forward, fulling intended to pierce through Midnight. However, the moment they got within a meter of the sleeping Dark Mage's body, the lances bent unnaturally, swerving around to avoid Midnight and striking uselessly into the trees behind him.
"What was that just now?" Gray asked in surprise. "Did he just do something-?!"
"Stop that." Appearing out of nowhere, Racer smashed a fist into Gray's jaw before launching several more hits faster than the Molding Mage could react to. "Midnight's real scary when he wakes up cranky."
"[Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!]"
"[Doll Attack: Wood Doll!]"
"Clear away, Racer, yes!" Hoteye declared as he pointed forward, the earth liquefying as it rose to slam down on Gray, Lyon and Sherry, with Racer escaping out of range. "Even without love, money makes everything okay, yes!"
"Love is more important!" Sherry screamed even as they got buried.
Through out all of it, Brain idly watched the chaos before him with a smile... only to suddenly wince when one of the lines on his face faded away. "What?! Who-"
"[SHATTERING LIGHT: CAELUM TWISTER!]"
The area in which he'd last seen that little girl go after Angel suddenly exploded as a massive twister of Sky magic erupted into existence, ripping out chunks of earth and lifting everyone except Midnight into the air from the sheer power alone.
When it faded away, the air still tingled with the leftover energy... until it was broken by Angel's unconscious body slamming down before Cobra.
"What?! Angel!" Cobra held her up while Cubellios coiled protectively around them.
"Who did this?!" Racer was at their side in an instant.
The answer they got was Wendy slamming down from the sky, panting heavily as she glared at Angel before she turned to see the stunned gazes of her allies. "Hey... One down..."
"Wendy!" Carla and Natsu shouted as one when the bluenette suddenly fainted, the feline humanoid rushing to her owner's side. "Foolish girl! You don't have the stamina to use Secret Arts like Bell does!"
"How embarassing..." Gray grunted as he struggled to his feet. "To think that it was the little girl who beat her own opponent first...!"
"There's still five of them left!" Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Get ready to lose, you poison bastard!"
"You..." Ignoring the others, Brain slowly approached the unconscious Wendy. "You were more powerful than I thought to have defeated Angel on your own, but I suppose I should've as expected as much from the one Tsunami Disaster chose to accompany him to this mission. Sky Enchantress... Wendy Marvell!"
While Hibiki was the only one of the Allied Forces to recognize that alias, every conscious member of Oración Seis showed recognition to that name as well.
"It looks like we got a golden opportunity from this debacle." Brain pointed his staff, releasing tendrils of dark green magic that surged towards Wendy. "Come!"
"What do you think you're doing?!" Carla's wings unfurled as she soared into the sky, away from Brain's reach.
"Don't think you can get away!" At Brain's roar, his spell followed after them, almost about to ensnare the two-
"[Fire Dragon's Roar!]"
"[Virgo]!"
-only to derailed by Natsu's fiery breath attack while Lucy's Celestial Spirit maid dropkicked Brain right in the chest, sending flying back.
Brain growled as his head smashed against the ground before getting up. "Racer!"
"You got it!" Racer blitzed out of sight, reappearing right before Carla and Wendy several feet up in the sky. "Down, girls!"
With a vicious stomp, the two girls were sent spiralling towards Brain, who wasted no time in capturing them into a seprate space. "I have no more need for the rest of you worms. Begone! [Dark Rondo!]"
Brain's skull-headed staff glowed ominously before firing several beams of dark magic at the defeated mages.
"Princess!" Virgo grabbed Lucy, shifting so that she would take most of the damage.
Around her, the ones who could still move did the same for their weakened guildmates, with Hibiki and Ren protecting Eve while Lyon covered Sherry.
"[Iron Rock Wall!]"
Several cylindrical pillars of stone suddenly surged from the ground to guard the downed mages, successfully saving them.
"Just barely in time." Jura Neekis sighed in relief, locking eyes with Brain.
*BOOOM!*
Beside him, something slammed into the ground hard enough to break it. When the dust cleared, it revealed Bell April with his boot firmly holding down a defeated Racer. "I don't see Wendy or Carla."
"Jura-sama!" Sherry exclaimed in relief.
"Bell-san!" Lucy gasped in surprise, being carried bridal style by Virgo. "You two are okay!"
"Aniki!" Natsu roared. "That tattoed bastard captured Wendy and Carla!"
'What?!' Bell's eyes instantly narrowed in on Brain. "Release them right now!"
"Who are you make such a request of me?" Brain growled, his magical power seeping into the air and darkening the atmosphere.
"You seem to be mistaking my order for a request." Bell's voice sounded less human and more like if the rumbling of an approaching tsunami could speak in words as the very humidity in the air supercharged from his aura. "Release them. Now."
"Do as Bell-dono says and your punishment shall be just as swift." Jura stood at Bell's side, his own magical power sending tremors through the ground.
"You bastard..." Racer struggled against the leg easily pinning him to the ground. "Don't think you can order us around-"
Without taking his eyes off Brain, Bell's foot shifted upwards from Racer's chest to his neck and sharply pressed down.
*CRACK!*
Racer's body went limp.
"Racer!" Cobra roared in rage. "You bastard!"
"Damnit!" Brain twitched as another of the lines on his face disappeared. "We don't have to deal with you yet! Hoteye!"
At that command, a wave of liquefied earth was sent towards them-
"[Sea Dragon's Riptide!]"
"[Iron Rock Fist!]"
-only to instantly blown away by Bell and Jura's spells. However, when the diversion had still served it's purpose in distracting them from their escape.
"They got us..." Ren grimaced as he got up.
"We could barely do a thing against them...!" Eve clenched his fist in frustration. "Now, they've gone and taken one of the few people who actually hurt them..."
"I'm glad you're safe, Jura-san." Lyon winced as he grabbed his shoulder.
"No... It was quite a close call." Jura gestured at Bell and Ichiya, the latter having just arrived. "It was thanks to Bell-dono's unconventional plan that we escaped that Angel woman. After learning of our plans, she made the bold move of ambushing us S-Class Mages initially. It's only thanks to Ichiya-dono's {Painkiller Parfum} that we're all able to numb the pain of our wounds."
"Natsu, are you alright?" Bell asked of his little brother, the pinkette grimacing in shame as he glared at the ground, both of them unminding of Ichiya as he started to release more {Painkiller Parfum}. "Tell me what happened from your view."
"...those bastards crashed that bomber thing before appearing before us." Natsu started off. "We were barely able to do anything against them. While Wendy defeated the only girl there with a Secret Dragon Slayer Art-"
"She immediately fainted after, right?" Bell sighed whle Jura approached Erza for her own debriefing. "Wendy doesn't have the stamina for those yet. Continue."
"I faced off against Cobra bastard- Hey!" Natsu suddenly grabbed Bell's shirt. "Is Cobra our brother, too?! He called himself the Poison Dragon Slayer!"
"We don't have any siblings beyond the ones I told you of." Bell assured him. "Cobra must have had a dragon lacrima implanted into him."
"Like Laxus, huh..." Natsu frowned. "Well after that, their boss called Wendy Sky Enchanter or something... and he just took her...!"
Natsu punched the ground in frustration, not responding to Lucy's awkward pat on his back as his fist cracked the stone. "I just met and remembered my little sister again in years and I couldn't save her...!"
"What bullshit are you spouting?" Ignoring Natsu's confused squak, Bell took a deep sniff of the air and searched for Wendy and Carla's scents. "Instead of wallowing about, I'm going to go save our little sister and her cat. Now, are you going to whine there on your knees, or are you going to follow me?"
"...what kind of question is that?!" Natsu got to his feet, fists and mouth ablaze. "Of course, I'm coming with you!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered in agreement. "I'm going to help save Carla!"
"He's totally fallen for her..." Shaking her head at Happy, Lucy sighed before giving a thumbs up. "Well, count me in, too."
"Don't forget about me." Gray playfully punched Natsu's shoulder. "I ain't going to rest until I figure out what that Midnight guy did to my attack, anyways."
"Count us in as well." Hibiki approached them. "Considering Brain's significant effort in capturing her, he most likely needs her for an essential part of his plans."
Bell frowned. "Wendy's greatest repertoire involves healing, though. I mean, I can heal, too, but while my Sea Magic focuses more on regeneration, Wendy's Sky Magic can straight up cure afflictions as well..."
"In any case, this simply means that our elimination mission now involves a rescue." Jura declared. "We must depart at once!"
The Allied Forces roared as one, determined to defeat Oración Seis and save their youngest member.
Oración Seis HQ, Worth Woodsea, Fiore X784
Deep in the Worth Woodsea, Oración Seis had taken one of the ancient now abandoned towns in it as their base of operations. This was where Brain dumped Carla and an unconscious Wendy after arriving back with his subordinates.
"Wake up." Brain kicked into Wendy's stomach, painfully awakening the girl.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Carla snarled as she tried to swipe at Brain, only for him to easily grab her face and slam her head into the ground hard enough to crack it.
"Carla!"
"Brain, who's this girl?" Cobra asked whle Cubellios gingerly set down Angel's injured body. "Does she have something to do with Nirvana?"
"Doesn't look like it to me." Angel weakly commented. "Unless we're talking about her ancient style clothing?"
"I see!" Hoteye palmed his fist while Midnight slept beside him. "We're ransoming her, yes?!"
"Is cash all you ever think about?" Cobra deadpanned.
Hoteye seemed to shine with fervent belief. "As long as you have money, even love can be bought, yes!"
"I seriously doubt that."
"This girl is a known mage known for her Sky Magic." Brain revealed. "In other words, the Lost Magic version of modern Healing Magic. The afflictions that the Sky Enchantress is unable to cure can easily be counted on one hand."
"Lost Magic...?" Angel exclaimed. "Hey, if she's a healer..."
"Yes, Angel. After she heals you, we will resurrect him!"
"Resurrect... who?" Carla struggled to ask.
"I don't know who you want me to heal..." Wendy slowly got to her feet, inhaling sharply as the air picked up around her. "But I'm not helping any of you dark mages!"
"Oh, you will. You will indeed." Brain stated, completely undaunted by her bravado. After researching Dragon Slayer Magic in general and seeing her in action, he knew for a fact that Wendy's stamina was nowhere near recovered enough for anything beyond basic spells so soon after using a Secret Dragon Slayer Art, especially when one considered her age. "You will resurrect him for us."
"I see." Cobra hummed in realization. "If we resurrect him, Nirvana's as good as found. Is that what you're thinking Brain?"
"Cobra, Hoteye... Continue to search for Nirvana." Brain gave his orders. "As soon as Wendy finishes healing Angel, she will join you."
Wendy bared her teeth, wishing for once that she had the fangs her brothers had grown. "Did I not just tell you that I'm not heali-"
"[Abyssal Pit.]"
Carla screamed in panic when a magic circle appeared beneath her and started to drag her down with arms of dark magic. "No!"
"Carla!" Wendy grabbed Carla's arm, trying and failing to pull her free. "Let her go!"
"Why should I?" Brain was heartless with his reply. "Because of you and Tsunami Disaster, I lost two of my valuable subordinates, one permanently. Now I need to deal with an incomplete {Six Prayers} spell until I can reinstall it. I can at least commend your side on killing someone as strong as Racer, but that just incites me to repay the favor!"
The tendrils grabbing Carla squeezed tighter, causing the girl to suddenly revert back to her cat form only to be grabbed even tighter than before.
"Well? Heal both Angel and the one I tell you to, and I promise you that both of you will be left unharmed." Brain looked at where he had kicked the girl. "Well. Unharmed any further."
"...I understand." Wendy moved to make herself look non-threatening. "I'll heal the people you want me to heal as long as you keep your word. However, if you break it..."
Wendy's round pupils became slitted for an instant. "I'll make sure you regret it."
"Hey, hey, I actually felt chills from that." Cobra chuckled.
"That isn't a laughing matter, Cobra." Angel hugged herself when she remembered her 'fight' against Wendy. "She's a monster in the form of a little girl!"
"That's only natural." Brain smiled in an unsettling manner as Wendy began to treat Angel. "Unlike Cobra, this child learned her magic directly from a beast that could be called a living sentient natural disaster. I'd be sorely disappointed if she didn't threaten me as such, especially if Tsunami Disaster and Salamander are truly her brothers. Such a thing just wouldn't be the golden standard."
"Tell me, Brain." Carla spoke up, refusing to falter when Brain turned to glare down at her. "What kind of magic is Nirvana?"
"...I guess I can reward that bravery of yours." Brain's smirk grew wide. "Nirvana... is a Lost Magic that switches Darkness for Light and Light for Darkness."
"Darkness? Light?" Carla murmured. "I don't understand at all..."
Random areas of the Worth Woodsea, Fiore X784
Meanwhile, the Allied Forces had charged into the woodsea, each splitting up to cover more ground while making sure that they kept in touch with each other using Hibiki's magic.
Group A consisted of Bell, Natsu and Happy. This group was focused on tracking down Wendy's scent.
Group B consisted of Jura, Lyon and Sherry.
Group C consisted of Erza, Gray and Lucy.
Group D consisted of Ren and Eve.
These three groups spread out through the woodsea for the main purpose of finding Oracion Seis, being aware to send signals if they succeeded or ran into Wendy first.
Group E consisted of Hibiki and Ichiya, the last two having stayed behind to see if they could fix some of the damage to Christina.
"Say, Wendy's element is air, right?" Natsu asked in curiosity as he ran after Bell. "What does air taste like when she's eating it?"
"Is that any different from breathing?" Happy wondered.
"I actually asked her that once." Bell huffed as he and Natsu leapt over a large root, Happy easily flying over it. "She said that it's like taking a deep breath with only her mouth. If she ever wants to eat her element, all I know that it becomes way harder to breathe near her."
"Whoa, for real?" Natsu's eyes sparkled, before suddenly coming to a halt as Bell stopped too, holding out his arms in caution as they all stared at the trees before them.
Black miasma had saturated everything before them, blackening the trees, ground and the very air itself. The trees didn't seem to have any difference beyond a change of color, but everyone with a functional survival instinct instantly decided not to cross into that patch of darkness.
"All in favor of finding another way around?" Bell raised his hand.
"Aye."
"Aye."
Just as the three turned about, they stopped when they registered multiple enemies surrounding them, with what seemed like the leaders approaching them.
"Zatou-nii-san, they said it's 'cause of Nirvana, right?" Gatou of Naked Mummy asked.
"It's just that terrible a magic!" Zatou of Naked Mmmy cackled in agreement, his laugh sounding monkey-like. "The earth itself is dying, Gatou-nii-san!"
Hooting filled the air as many members of the Dark Guild began to appear in the trees, all of them even more monkey-like than their leaders.
"Ah, we're surrounded." Happy realized, not that worried considering his company.
"Hahahahaha!" Natsu burst out laughing. "They're all monkeys! Did someone curse them or something?! Or is it their theme or something?!"
"Ah, how unfortunate for them." Bell flexed his hand as water started to manifest around it. "Naked Mummy was listed as one of the many Dark Guilds working for Oracion Seis. I can interrogate them while beating out some stress!"
Natsu swung his flaming forearm enthusiastically. "Wait for us, Wendy, Carla!"
Group D, Worth Woodsea, Fiore X784
At the same time, Ren and Eve had been surrounded by another Dark Guild known as Black Unicorn. Similar to Naked Mummy, they all seemed to have a theme regarding their name, being dressed like high school delinquents while having their hair styled to look like unicorn horns.
Group B, Worth Woodsea, Fiore X784
Similarly, the guild members of Lamia Scale had been surrounded by a Dark Guild as well. This time, their enemies all hid their features underneath red hoods, just like their Dark Guild name.
Oración Seis HQ, Worth Woodsea, Fiore X784
"Now then..." Brain gestured to his left, using his spare hand to summon a massive orb of golden light. "This is quite difficult to rely on since Racer is no longer here to simply get it for me- Ah, there it is."
Brain wrenched his hand back, causing the golden orb to disappear and drop a massive t-shaped coffin with chains all over it while it kept dripping with a strange liquid. "Now, then, Wendy... You're going to heal this man for me, just as you promised. Although, I'm quite sure you would have done so even if you didn't promise to."
Brain snapped his fingers, causing the chains to unlock and retract into the coffin. Once the chains were gone, the colored glass of the coffin slowly disappeared, revealing an unconscious man within it.
Being chained and sealed very securely within the coffin, the man possessed blue hair, a tattoo over his right eye and several bluish 'cracks' all over his body, which Wendy could smell were actually severe spots saturated with Ethernano.
But none of all that mattered to Wendy, because her eyes were fixed on the very familiar face.
"This is Jellal Fernades, cat. Or as most of the public knew him, Siegrain." Brain explained for the obviously confused Carla. "He had at one time infiltrated the Council, along with becoming a top-level Wizard Saint. In other words, he's someone who knows Nirvana's location. But to young Wendy here..."
"Jellal..."
"...this man is simply the one who saved your life, did he not?"
"H-How do you even know of that?" Wendy whispered.
"Silence is golden." Brain mockingly placed a finger against his lips. "Now then... get to work."
KingVessel: Done! Till next time.