Everyone finished regrouping in the center of the Sun Village and after some cordial greetings got back to work setting traps. Flare, it turned out, was a massive help in the effort, as she was able to point out some of the structural weaknesses in the town or direct them to spots that the Empire used as a means of attack in their initial invasion years ago.
Cana wasn't alone in setting the traps, either. Max and Laki worked with her to infuse her cards with their magic; Cana had, at her disposal, quicksand and bramble cards that would contain anyone. If they were particularly powerful they'd be able to break out, but at that point, Cana would know and the Fairies and Flare could launch into their attack.
With all the traps laid, Cana was at last able to rest. She set herself down in the plaza in front of the massive Eternal Flame that burned bright enough to fill the entire village with light. Max and Laki sat next to one another for a moment until Laki approached the Eternal Flame to study it, ever the curious one. Makarov set himself up next to her, but he was also sitting while he read over some of the ancient text scrawled at the base of its hearth.
Flare wrung her hands as she approached.
"I'm glad it still burns," she said. "Back then, nobody was able to put the flame out. The people who came to the village said it would take someone extra powerful to do it, someone like Zeref."
"Good thing he ain't around," Cana muttered.
She scanned their area. It was a horrible place for a fight. There were too many places to hide, too many spots where their enemies could creep in the shadows. Sure, most of them had magic that was effective at range, but the strength of their team was with Gramps, someone who, typically, fought up close.
Cana kept her hands together, letting the magic flow easily from her body. Stressed though she was, it did not prevent her from allowing her magic circuits to stay open and keep her abilities active. But, boy, did she wish she could have a drink. She hadn't had a good brew in weeks! It was goddamn torture.
"There's an old legend," Flare said, "that this flame used to be alive."
"Alive?" Max asked.
"Yes. A great creature wreathed in flame that would bring a burning warmth to the entire village. That it created the village as a means of curating life. This was a long, long time ago, though."
"Fascinating," Laki said, continuing to read the hearth. "A living flame."
"Its name is a bit of a lie, though," Flare said. "I remember it was brighter when I was younger. Warmer."
"Seems to be a running theme these days," Makarov said. "Yes, I also remember the flame as something a bit more lively. The Giants often enjoyed celebrations and festivities around it. Perhaps their presence has dwindled its potency. If what you say is true, then as much as the Flame created the village for the purpose of fostering life, it may be that same life that imbued the Flame with its eternal nature."
"So, not magic?" Cana asked.
"It is indeed magic, Cana," Makarov said. "Just the most ancient kind of magic there is: Love."
Cana pursed her lips. Love wasn't magic, love was…
An emotion, a force. It was what bound the members of Fairy Tail to one another, what bound Cana to her father despite…well, despite himself.
Laki stepped away from the hearth. "A living flame. What a remarkable idea."
The flame, emitting a dull roar, seemed to shift. Max stood up at once while Makarov remained calm and cocked an eyebrow. Cana jumped to her feet, summoning two cards to her hand. Flare stepped back, grabbing the long braid that slipped down her body.
The flame continued to move and writhe. Its once constant sound slowly changed to groaning until it began to dwindle and then burst to life, surging to even greater heights than before.
Wings fanned out from its side, and two fiery talons touched at the stone buildings before slinking back. A beaked head emerged and out from it burst a mighty roar that sent all but Makarov stumbling back.
"What the hell is that?" Max shouted.
"Can't you tell?" Makarov asked. "It's a dragon."
"A dragon?" Cana shouted.
Wait. A dragon all wrapped up in fire? Could it be Igneel, Natsu's dad?
"No way," Cana muttered. "A real dragon."
"Incredible," Laki whispered.
"So the legends are true," Flare said. Tears filled her eyes. "The flame lives."
The Eternal Flame shrunk down, the dragon squatting upon its perch in the hearth. Makarov stood in reverence for the incredible creature before them.
"I sense," it said, its voice rolling out from the body like wind from a mountain, "the presence of one who bears my flame. Is that you, little Flare?"
"Yes!" Flare shouted.
"You got your fire from the Eternal Flame? That's awesome!" Max exclaimed.
"A gift for one so frail and fragile in a world of giants," the Flame said. "It is good to see you home again, Flare. I wish not that our home be so empty."
Flare's exuberant expression faded. Cana reached over and squeezed her shoulder.
"I know," Flare said. "It's so hollow now."
"All the world enveloped in twilight is hollow," the Flame said.
"So, you haven't been asleep?" Makarov asked.
"To be asleep and to be unaware, for one such as I, needn't be dissimilar," the Flame said. "I was resting, blissfully, into the next life."
"Next life?" Flare muttered.
Makarov nodded. Cana balled her fist.
No. No, come on. They awoke a sleeping dragon, one of the most powerful creatures in the world, only for it to go away just as soon as it got up? There had to be something they could do.
She stepped forward to ask for its help but Master Makarov spoke up.
"How long have you been here, dragon?" Makarov asked.
"Four hundred years," the Flame said. "Lived in harmony and joy with the Giants who sought life from my fire. I wished to bring peace to some part of the land after war and bloodshed marred so much of it."
"You speak of the war between dragons and humans," Makarov said. "The birth of Dragon Slayer magic."
"My mentor and I sought for peace between all but it was not to be, I'm afraid," the Flame said. "Things began to settle only because we began to dwindle and fade. Dragons vanished from this world, under the heel of the Apocalypse Dragon. Acnologia."
A chill ran through Cana, just as it clearly did between the others. Makarov balled his fist.
"I hid as a great flame, presenting myself as a bringer of life rather than a creature of it. Acnologia never thought twice. In that time, my master disappeared."
"Igneel vanished four hundred years ago?" Cana muttered. "How is that possible?"
"Maybe he came back a few years ago to be with Natsu," Laki said. "After all, it's not like any of us know where Natsu grew up. Maybe he found Igneel in a cave or something."
"You know Igneel?" the Flame asked.
"Yes," Makarov said. "He raised one of our own, Natsu, and taught him Fire Dragon Slayer magic. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to meet you."
The Flame thrummed. "Natsu. Yes. I know of him."
Cana's head spun. What? This guy hadn't seen Igneel for four hundred years but knew about Igneel and Natsu?
Well, he did say that he'd been asleep and aware, so, maybe word got around. Natsu wasn't the most subtle person in Fiore before the rise of the Twilight Empire.
"I am glad to meet his friends, regardless," the Flame said. "I want to give him a message. A warning. There is one yet in the world, beyond Acnologia, whom Igneel could not destroy. One who my master feared even more than Acnologia."
"More than Acnologia?" Cana echoed.
Something trembled in her hand. Her magic tingled. She checked over her shoulder.
"A demon, brewed from the pits of hell and stirred by the greatest and darkest reaches of human love," the Flame said. "E.N.D."
"I've not heard of this creature," Makarov said.
The village was calm, but something in Cana's magic was not. She knew what it would feel like if someone got by her traps. And that feeling wasthere,if only distant. She drew two more cards from her deck, specific ones. Max noticed Cana searching around. Sand swirled at his feet.
"Tell Natsu to beware of its presence," the Flame said. It thrummed again. "My time of rest draws near. The hour of twilight has snuffed out my light. Flare, it is in you that it shall be carried forth. Can I trust you to hold that light?"
Flare nodded with a waned smile on her face. "Of course."
"What's your name?" Laki shouted. "Your real name? You're not just a flame, you're a dragon! One of the last of your kind!"
The Flame chuckled. "No. Not the last. Not yet." The flame continued to fade, but Cana couldn't pay it any mind. "Atlas Flame. Friend of Igneel, and Natsu. And of you, wizards. Be kind to Flare and to each other. It is a gift forlorn by this world…"
Their voice moved into the wind and faded out, a small magic aura only catching around Flare as she held within her the last bits of an ancient dragon's spirit. She held her hands to her chest and nodded.
"Thank you for the life you gave us," Flare said. "And for the time that the Sun Village could stand."
"We will protect you and it, Flare, as best we can," Makarov said. "Though I do wish I had more time with Atlas Flame. This talk of E.N.D. and Natsu concerns me."
Cana leered. Max stepped up next to her.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
"Someone's here. But that's impossible. We'd know."
She twirled the card in her hand.
Something popped in the distance, then again, but this time as a boom. And again. And-
An explosion ruptured not far from them. Cana swung her arm up, a card flashing in her hand.
"Replacement!"
A magic circle formed around the Fairies and Flare and they quickly vanished just before an explosion could gather them all up. They reappeared mere feet away—Cana's magic wasn't so great as to be able to teleport anyone that far. Still, they avoided the explosion, as well as a barrage of dozens of bullets hailing from somewhere in the forest.
Cana leaped away, drawing another card from her deck. She'd seen the initial attacker just before the first explosion landed in the village and eradicated a huge sector of homes. She flung the card out, a heat-seeking missile that chased them out into the open before exploding.
A loud, wild laugh was all it drew from her opponent.
"You call that an explosion? Yeah right. Here, lemme show you how it's really—!"
A powerful blast slammed into the thing—it appeared to have feline ears and talons despite an otherwise human appearance—as several of the cards Cana used to protect the perimeter transformed and surged into him, sending him flying into another building.
Cana recalled the cards to her, sending them spiraling around her as they all flared with different magic colors and powers.
"I doubt this guy came alone," Cana said.
Another explosion rocked the scene, and this one was not far from Cana at all. She had to summon a great deal of willpower not to flinch at it.
The creature stepped forward, not a scratch or bruise on him. He rubbed away a bit of dirt, the only smear on their body.
"I'm gonna enjoy killing you," he said.
"Leave this place at once!" Flare shouted.
"Heh. Nah, don't think so. Not until I find the other rebels around here and wipe them out. Guess I'll start you with losers."
"Children, leave this one to me," Makarov said. "He is a Demon from Tartaros."
"You can tell?"
"You've got no magic power I can sense," Makarov said. He held his hands together. Light emanated out of them. "Therefore, I can only assume you use a different form of power, that of the Underworld."
"Wow old man," the creature said, "didn't think you'd figure it out. Didn't think any of you would know what Curse power was."
Curse? Cana wondered.
"Similar to magic, but wound through the powers of the underworld," Makarov said. "No wonder he evaded your traps, Cana. He doesn't have magic to trigger it."
"Name's Jackal," the Demon said, pointing to himself. "Make sure you tell your friends in Hell who sent you. I'm sure you'll see the others soon."
Cana steeled herself. Great. That meant the other Demons of Tartaros were on the move, probably targeting the other groups. If only they had Warren to spread—
A searing headache lanced through her, forcing her to buckle over. As she did so, Jackal sprung, and an explosion cratered the ground beneath them. Cana went flying back, slamming to the ground. Max found the strength to jump just in front of Laki and grab her so that, when they fell, she landed on him.
Jackal continued his attack.
"I told you, I'll destroy you first!" Jackal roared as he approached Cana.
She tried to move but couldn't, not while her head was filled with…sound. She tried to pull out a card but was so disoriented she couldn't tell which one she had. It didn't matter—whatever it was would help!
She slammed her hand on the card, activating it as a pulse of lightning shot forth and slammed into Jackal, sending him stumbling back.
The noise ceased, if only for a moment, as one of the traps triggered. A wizard was approaching, probably whoever it was that mentally assailed them. Cana drew another card, but before she could cast it, a bullet shot right through it, catching her across the finger, too.
Pain surged through her and the force of the shot knocked her back. A hail of bullets landed where she'd been as she dodged away. Max quickly put up a sand wall and blocked a few that were headed for himself and Laki.
"Enough!" Makarov roared and unleashed the magic power he'd been holding.
It was, in truth, a magnet, and all the wizards were yanked toward him. Jackal smiled, happy to see that all his targets were coming toward him.
Two other figures moved toward Makarov, drawn by his power. Two others that Cana hadn't seen in years, who had cold, heartless expressions, and wore the fine draperies of the Twilight Empire.
Faster than Cana could perceive, Bisca had a pistol at her side, aimed right at Makarov, who could only watch in horror as one of his dear children pulled a gun on him. Noise filled her mind.
Warren. It was Warren.
Max dove forward, punching Bisca across the face as Warren's mental attack continued. Jackal moved toward everyone, clumped together.
Makarov's plan was only a good one to draw out their hidden enemies, but Jackal wouldn't care if he took out all the Fairies, including those other two. Those…traitors.
"What are you—" Makarov started as Jackal's attack landed and scattered them.
Cana screamed and fell to the ground, a plume of smoke following after her. She crumpled to the ground, her arms splayed at her side, cards spilling around her.
Max somehow still stood while Laki helped get him away. It was as if he knew how to fight her.
As if they'd fought before. As if Bisca had hunted them before.
Makarov could only watch. Jackal strode by Makarov, stunned.
Some of his children had lived.
And they'd been Broken into the Twilight Empire.
Cana got up, rising despite the trembling in her legs. Despite Warren's voice in her head telling her to get up and die like the fool she was. She would be the first of all the other Fairies who decided to come back to die at their hands.
She let out a long breath while her hair tumbled down her sides and Max and Laki cried out to Bisca while Jackal blasted them aside. She could hardly hear herself. She could barely feel her magic.
But she stood anyway. She drew her cards anyway.
"Warren," she said, "cut the shit. Leave Jackal to me."
He ignored her. That wasn't his mission. He was sent to help kill her, and he'd see it through, like a good agent of the Twilight Empire. Bisca too.
"I'm sorry," Makarov muttered. He glanced at Cana. "I can't fight them."
"Then we'll leave you last, old man," Jackal said. "So you can watch the rest of them struggle!"
He dove at them, but a flaming whip smacked him aside. A surging heat emerged next to a struggling Cana.
"I told you to leave," Flare said. "Now, you're gonna pay!"
Jackal recovered and went back on the offensive. Cana moved on instinct, letting her magic listen to the magic of the cards. She didn't need her mind to fight, she only needed her will, the very same that'd been drained from Makarov.
Within the village of dead giants, Cana fought alongside their final remaining heir. She didn't pretend to hope.
All she could do was move forward.
Sonya stood at the doorway to the Emperor's private chambers. They were once hers, before his vanishing. Two Oni guards flanked her to keep watch. She rested her hand on the door with no handle or knobs, no entry save for the password that was locked from her memory.
"Do you miss him?"
The voice wasn't surprising. She stood a little straighter, but couldn't answer.
"Or do you miss what you were?"
"What I am."
She did turn to face August this time. The Oni were gone. It was just the two of them in the corridor of darkness.
"I am still Empress."
"Queen.
"Empress, August. A missing Emperor does not bereave me the title I am owed."
August was, without a doubt, the most powerful figure in the Twilight Empire. Possibly all of Earth land. She doubted any other kingdom had a wizard with his pedigree and power. With a snap of his finger and just a few seconds of time, all of Crocus could be incinerated.
She knew about Ars Magia, the incineration magic that, supposedly, could level a country. Yet she also knew its price: August's very body. Perhaps, in some way or another, he could live. Tartaros, she knew, had the ability to maintain its Etherious in Hell's Core, making them a near-invincible opponent against anyone without that knowledge. If he didn't have so much pride, August would probably have a hand in something like that, too.
Sonya's title gave her meaning over him, but August's natural abilities gave him the sway to challenge her. He never dared to do this while Zeref was around. He deferred to Zeref all the time. To be fair, Zeref was more powerful than even August. He was the All-Wizard, the defier of Law.
For some reason, he wanted to wed Sonya, queen of a tiny nation whose calling card was brilliant crystals: stellium.
"If I may be blunt," August said, "you being here makes no difference to the ebb and flow of the Empire. We move and operate seamlessly without you, Sonya. Why do you linger?"
"Because I swore myself to it," Sonya said, not believing a word out of her mouth. "And because I—for the first time in my life, I had power. Absolute power. As Empress, I could watch nations grovel at our feet as we bullied our way into negotiations and trade."
"You had that power in Stella until we came along," August said.
Sonya touched a hand to her chest, reaching for her soul. Animus laughed at her.
"But greater power is, indeed, fantastic," August said. "I imagine even Animus balked at the presence of Zeref."
It was true. Damn him for seeing right through her. Animus wanted a relationship with Zeref for his power and secrets. For the power to defeat Acn—
Her head buzzed.
For the power to be the greatest dragon the world, unfortunately, would never know of. Zeref once whispered that he could separate Sonya and Animus, but there was a risk with that. What would Sonya be without her dragon, and what would that dragon do when loose?
"I have that power still," she said, but her voice was soft.
August stepped forward. "Let others perceive it as such. But I will take care of the Empire for now, Sonya. I have set things in motion to ensure that you will be an unchallenged Empress for decades to come. Do not interfere." His body began to fade—not into mist, but into the colors of the room itself. "And do not let your curiosity wander."
His voice vanished. Sonya was alone.
No.
Never alone.
Animus continued to laugh at her but did not make a play to take over her body. Not this time.
It was better to let Sonya sit at the doors of a place where she once ruled the world and grovel, like the scared little girl in that cave long, long ago.