Ena stared out the castle window into the distance where Fairy Tail had gone to assist White Eclipse and fight against Gaius. The longer she stared into the horizon, the more she felt as though there was something terribly wrong occurring. "Erza-senpai…Fairy Tail…please be okay…"
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Gaius sat on his throne, grinning at all the sounds of battle occurring within the castle. Just from that he could tell that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse were clashing within or outside the walls. "Ha…" The want to be dragon king chuckled heartily, pleased with his work. "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" He wasn't talking to himself; he was talking TO someone else.
"Yes…" Nasir stood beside Gaius' throne, giving a nod. He held in his hand the other half of the Scared Jem. "Dhegensea will get what he deserves. It's only a matter of time before the pieces all fit into place…and these humans are going to ensure that it happens."
"Now then…where's that special visitor you mentioned?" Gaius questioned while turning to face Nasir. "They are coming, yes?"
"Yes…" Nasir nodded with a small grin stretching along his lips. "
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CRASH! Laxus found himself flying backwards after an impact from the fire dragon's tail. "Ugh..!" With a grunt, the slayer flipped and slid across the ground on his heels. Something was certainly broken after such a blow, but Laxus wasn't going to let a simple broken bone slow him down.
"Have you had enough, human?" The dragon questioned with a condescending grin plastered on its lips, fangs bearing as though he was looking at his next snack. "Or shall I continue to loosen up those muscles of yours? It'll allow for easy digestion…"
"Tch…" Laxus grunted, using the back of his hand to wipe away some blood dripping from his mouth. "The only thing you'll be eatin' is this dirt here.
"That's cute…humans trying to act like the bigger creatures when pinned down…" The dragon chuckled…and shortly after a bolt of lightning dropped down from the sky, smiting the dragons. "GGGHHH…!" The dragon grunted in slight pain before the bolt dispersed. Even after being stricken by lightning, it couldn't help but grin, "Oh…? So, that's what pain feels like…interesting. I didn't realize dragon slayers nowadays could actually begin to live up to their names…but even so, dragons are far superior…"
"Still going on about that nonsense?" Laxus didn't seem fazed.
"Perhaps you can think about that while I make a roast from your corpse!" Inhaling briefly, the dragon then threw its head forward, unleashing a vicious funnel of flames in his direction.
"Rune Magic, nullify that attack!" Freed stepped forward, swiping his sword to create a barrier of runes before Laxus. It wasn't strong enough to completely stave off the entire dragon's roar, but it shattered leaving the Raijinshu with the last brunt of it. "Agh…." Freed scoffed before glancing at Laxus.
"Took you long enough…" Laxus replied with a slight grin. "Needed someone to make sure the old man and the others made it there in one piece…"
"I knew you wouldn't kick us out of a fight like this even if your life depended on it, kyahaha…" Bickslow chuckled while standing atop his wooden dolls.
"Plus, we'd never leave you behind!" Evergreen said while fanning herself gently.
"Great, even more morsels for supper…" The dragon grinned towards the four mages, licking its lips.
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Just outside the castle walls: Wendy and Cynthia vs. Kuro and Waiston.
"Why are you on the bad guy's side!?" Wendy asked with wind wrapping around her arms, preparing to fight if necessary.
"We could be asking the same question to you!" Kuro exclaimed; it was clear fighting wasn't the only route, but the tension in the air was too high and anything could set the flames of combat ablaze.
"That Gaius told us some stuff, and unless you want to be on the right side, you'd stop fighting for a second and listen yourself," Waiston said with a small scowl, though it didn't really matter to him. He'd fight Wendy and Cynthia anyway.
"Dhegensea told us that Gaius would try to trick us onto his side…I guess even with the warning you were still fooled…" Cynthia commented.
"I wonder how that happened…" Carla muttered.
"What warning…?" Kuro tilted his head curiously. "We didn't…"
"Don't listen to them, Kuro," Waiston grinned. "They're just trying to mess with you." As soon as he said that, he turned to the two girls and opened his mouth, unleashing the Frozen Dragon's Roar, a funnel of sharp ice chucks now racing towards Cynthia and Wendy.
"W-Wait!" Wendy exclaimed before leaping to the side, not quite prepared to fight.
"No use, Wendy, they're already attacking!" Cynthia responded before throwing her head forward, unleashing her Omega Fire Dragon's Roar towards the Eclipse Pair.
"Nice try, kid!" Waiston stepped on the ground, creating a large glacier that formed in front of him, protecting Kuro and himself from Cynthia's roar.
Kuro then hopped on top of the glacier with his fist in his palm, a red magic seal appearing before him. "Fire Make: Spears!" From the seal, multiple spears of fire shot out towards Cynthia and Wendy, each one threatening to impale the two girls with their high speeds.
"Sky Dragon's…ROAR!" Wendy inhaled briefly before opening her mouth, expelling a powerful tornado that was strong enough to not only blow Kuro and Waiston away, but extinguish the incoming spears as well. "Ah…" No time to relax, as a red magic seal appeared under the two girls even as Kuro was out of sight. "Ah!"
"Watch out!" Cynthia shoved Wendy out of harm's way just as the flames erupted. These flames were powerful and did cause burn marks to appear on her skin,but Cynthia ingested the flames before they ended up posing too much of a problem. "Ew…tasted a little sour…"
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Castle Foyer: Gajeel vs. Leon.
Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily made their way inside Gaius' castle from a side entrance Gajeel made with his roar. Unfortunately, the carefree Leon Shi had been anticipating someone to arrive, though he wasn't sure from where. As soon as Gajeel made the hole, Leon leapt forward with an acid covered fist, aiming to slam it into Gajeel's chest, but the iron slayer blocked the hit with ease…but the acid burns were something else. It was time for a rematch. "Tch…you two stay back!" Gajeel ordered while lunging forward, allowing his arm to morph into an iron pole. "Iron Dragon's Club!"
"I really don't want to fight…" Leon spoke while leaping into the air, entering his Acid Drive. He landed on Gajeel's extended arm, quickly darting along it to close the distance between them; Leon then swung his acid coated foot at the back of Gajeel's head, sending the opposition staggering before hitting the floor. "But it seems you won't listen, so I have no choice. So this time, I'll make sure you're the only one that goes down."
"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed in worry.
"He'll be fine…" Lily reassured Levy with a nod.
"Agh…" His arm was in pain from the acid burns, along with the back of his head. Even so, Gajeel stood up, allowing his iron scales to form on his body, giving Leon a smirk. "Gihehe…you may have gotten by narrowly last time, but I'm not going to let you get the better of me a second time!" Gajeel slammed his fist into the ground, allowing it to morph into an iron pole once again, only this time. "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" A green magic seal appeared under the floor, causing multiple iron lances to violently shoot up from the ground, catching Leon off guard.
"Guh!?" Leon grunted, feeling some of the iron lances pierce through him, though most of them corroded into nothing due to the acidic aura around his being. "Wow, that was impressive…" Leon shook off the damage as best he could before inhaling. "Acid Dragon's…WAVE!" Opening his mouth, an enormous wave of acid flew out, corroding everything in its path as it raced towards Gajeel.
"Shit…!" Gajeel knew this was going to be unavoidable for the most part, but he did have an idea in mind. Pulling his arm from the ground, now allowing it to take the shape of a rotating blade, the iron slayer pulled his arm back. "Iron Dragon's Sword!" With an overhead slash, Gajeel attempted to slash through the acidic wave, growling slightly in pain from the acid eating away at his iron scales.
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Juvia and Gray were standing back to back, surrounded by a few of Gaius' men in their human forms. The hallway was large so it opted for more movement than the standard narrow pathway, but that didn't mean they had much room to maneuver with the numbers against them. "At least we didn't get one of those Eclipse idiots…" Gray muttered.
"We shouldn't be wasting time with them…" Juvia frowned while glancing at the soldiers surrounding them. "Natsu-san and Love Rival should've been back by now; hopefully nothing happened to them…"
"They'll be fine," Gray reassured before sliding into his Ice Make stance. "For now, let's focus on breaking through. Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Throwing his arms forward, the ice maker released multiple spears of ice that struck multiple soldiers, only it managed to force them into a stagger instead of flying back. "Bulky bastards…"
"Water Slicer!" A sea blue seal appeared before Juvia after she swiped her hand, sending multiple scythes of water towards the soldiers, only to get the same result. "Ah..!? It had no effect…!?"
"These are dragons, humans…" A tall female with purple hair stepped forward, clad in a rather revealing robe which showed her hips and almost revealed her large bosom. Her eyes were just as purple as her hair, and she grinned towards Juvia and Gray. "Unless you've the power to kill dragons outright, you're just gonna scratch them…" The soldiers saluted to the female before lining up against the walls. "Venoma, serving under our next king, Gaius…"
"You're the one who poisoned the water!" Juvia snarled, hand clenching into a tight fist.
"Oh, yes, that water supply…" Venoma giggled before waving a dismissive hand. "Those subjects will be dead within a few hours…"
"You…" Juvia couldn't handle it and lunged forward, claws of water appearing on her hands. "Water Claw!" Once close, Juvia furiously slashed at Venoma, aiming to cut her down right there.
"Sigh…" Venoma shook her head, swaying her body left and right to avoid Juvia's attack. She then brought up one hand, covered in a purple poisonous aura and backhanded Juvia's shoulder, causing Juvia to fly back and hit the ground.
"Juvia!" Gray rushed over to Juvia to see if she was alright. The poison corroded some of Juvia's coat and her shoulder was now slightly purple from Venoma's poison. "..!"
"That was only a harmless little taste of my poison…" Venoma blew her hand, giving a sly grin. "But I can do this with something infected with my poison…" Snapping her fingers, Juvia's shoulder lit up before exploding violently; the poison within was gone but it was the cause of the explosion.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Juvia screamed in pain; it felt as though her shoulder was torn apart. Not even Water Body could save her since it was already within her.
"You bastard!" Gray shouted while standing up, placing his fist in his palm. "I'll show you what happens when you mess with my comrades. Ice Make: Devil's Lance!" Now infusing his Devil Slaying into his Ice Make for a more powerful effect, Gray arms were thrown forward to release frozen lances in Venoma's direction.
"Human, please…" Venoma turned and began walking away, allowing one of her soldiers to take the blow. "I have more pressing matters to deal with…"
As Venoma began walking away, Juvia slowly brought herself to her feet, left arm dangling like the useless limb it now was. "Juvia…won't let you walk away…!" Even as she said that, the soldiers began surrounding Gray and Juvia once again.
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"Ah…" Amidst all the fighting, Mii was sneaking around the castle in attempt to get to the throne room. The fighting didn't concern her and she had more pressing matters to attend to. Unfortunately for her, she had to hide behind a pillar in the room leading to the throne room, for Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna were standing before Sidney Castle, White Eclipse's ace. "Shit…how did they move in so quickly? They're good…"
Mirajane stepped forward with a small frown on her lips. "Sidney, we don't have to fight."
"We don't." Sidney admitted, but his short reply meant that there was more to it than that. "You're on the wrong side."
"That's impossible…" Lisanna remarked.
"A Man of a dragon wouldn't lie to us!" Elfman exclaimed.
"That's where you're wrong," Sidney responded. "Gaius is in the right. We were all being fooled by Dhegensea from the very beginning."
"Enough…" Mira put her arm out, preventing Elfman or Lisanna from stepping forward. "Ena believes in her father…he has to reason to lie to her or us. She also has faith that we're working together to stop this war, not fight each other in it." Soon, a magic seal appeared above Mira and she entered her Satan Soul takeover.
"Do you truly intend to fight?" Sidney questioned, meaning he wasn't going to hold back if Mirajane wanted to do this.
"Let us pass." Mirajane demanded, but Sidney's silent stare told Mira he wasn't going to. "Very well…I suppose this will make things slightly even after what you did to Natsu a while ago…" With that, Mirajane lunged forward, aiming a punch towards Sidney's chest, which was easily blocked; she retreated for a mere second before attempting a high kick to Sidney's head, which was also blocked with ease.
"The Eclipse punishment? I'd forgotten…" Sidney responded as though it wasn't even that important.
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"Switch targets!" Natsu yelled at Lucy before gunning for Laura, his speed catching the woman off guard. "Iron Fist!" Slam! Natsu's fiery fist hit Laura in the gut, causing her to double over; "And Fire Dragon's Claw!" Swinging his foot in a roundhouse motion, slamming it right into Laura's temple, causing her to tumble over along the rocky ground.
"Agh…" Laura groaned, shaking her head gently while trying to recover from Natsu's attack. "Pink haired little…" Before she could finish, she glanced in Natsu's direction only to see the Salamander threw his hand forward, unleashing a massive beam of heat and flame in her direction. "Ah..!" The blonde crossed her arms, letting out a minor shriek of pain as the flames consumed her.
"If it's a battle of strength he wants…" Lucy grinned while reaching for a key, knowing just who to summon. "Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" With that call and a bell chime, the powerful axe wielding Taurus appeared, letting out a loud moo!
"You think a little cow is strong enough to contend with me?" The idea almost made Lex chuckle; he then dashed forward with his axe-blade raised high, preparing to bring it down on Taurus, but Taurus countered with his own axe, the two entering a deadlock, sparks flying from the collision of the weapons. "What…!?"
"Taurus has the most strength out of all the other spirits…" Lucy cleared Lex's confusion with a wide grin.
"Now, how about you get MOOOOOOOOOving!" Taurus shouted while pushing Lex back, causing the bulky male to stagger. "MOOOO!" Taurus brought his axe down to the ground, sending a shockwave that damaged Lex and knocked him down to his feet.
"Nice job, Taurus!" Lucy grinned before leaping forward, now taking her turn in the action and swung her leg at Lex's face, Star Dress: Taurus amplifying her physical strength tenfold, so it was more than enough to send Lex flying back. "The two of us can handle him!"
"Ugh…" Laura shook her head again while recovering from Natsu's wave of fire. Before she knew it, he was on her once again. "..!"
"Secret Art! Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" One punch after the other, Natsu began unleashing rapid high powered fiery blows all aimed for various spots on Laura's body, the attack coming in so fast she had no time to react. Natsu finished off his brutal combo with a fierce uppercut with so much strength it sent Laura flying into the rocky wall.
"Together!" Lucy exclaimed while rearing her fist back along with Taurus. The two together landed a powerful unison punch on Lex with such strength that it sent him flying into the same wall Laura slammed into, causing his weight to crush Laura as a result. "Natsu!"
"Finish them!" Happy yelled from the sidelines.
"On it!" Natsu jumped forward with two large flames appearing within his hands; he held his hands up over his head, creating a much larger blaze than the Dazzling one he used prior. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Throwing his hands forward, launching the enormous sphere of flame towards the pair, watching as it crashed directly onto the white robed duo, causing a massive explosion that shook the underground cavern. Afterwards, Natsu landed with a satisfied grin. "Looks like they weren't so tough after all."
"We did it!" Lucy grinned before high fiving Natsu, completely forgetting that they weren't on the best of terms when they started this fight.
"I wouldn't be so sure…" Laura remarked as the dust cleared. Her robed was charred and her body was covered in bruises and burn marks, but the scary part was she was looking like nothing happened. "Now that we've got an idea of what you can do…Lex, please…power up."
"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Lex screamed and his red aura from before becoming more prominent than last time; the smoke instantly cleared and the force of Lex's aura caused Natsu and Lucy to slide back from the sheer strength. He then rushed towards Lucy and Taurus with his axe-blade at the ready, swinging it at the pair quickly.
"Lucy-san, watch out!" Taurus instantly put himself in harm's way to protect Lucy. Lex's strength was so much Taurus was defeated in one shot, causing him to return to the Spirit World.
"Taurus, no!" Lucy cried, though her time to mourn was limited as Lex quickly kicked her back, his strength causing her to literally fly across the ground before landing roughly on her stomach.
"Lucy!" Natsu prepared to assist Lucy, but Lex grabbed the back of his scarf and threw him into the ground with such force he bounced up a little; Lex then swung the blunt side of his blade up at Natsu's chest, sending the Salamander soaring until he hit the ceiling of the cave. "Gah!" Scowling, Natsu quickly recovered an aimed to come down with an Iron Fist, which landed…but it had no effect on Lex this time. "W-What…my punch!?"
"DIE!" Lex then shifted his body, using his blade to slam Natsu into the ground, causing an explosion on impact.
"NATSU!" Happy yelled in worry, attempting to run over to his partner's side, but Lex's aura was so powerful Happy couldn't even get close. "W-What are you…!?"
"Ugh…" Lucy shook her head, looking over to see Natsu's predicament. "Natsu…hold on…"
"You should be worried about yourself, sweet heart…" Laura snapped her fingers, causing multiple chains of lightning to appear around Lucy. Before Lucy could even move these chains wrapped around her and lifted her into the air, sending powerful volts through her system. "Wanna scream for me!?" And Lucy did just that, the pain of the constricting lightning causing her to let out an agonized scream of pain while she struggled to free herself, but to no avail.
"LUCY!" Natsu attempted to push himself up and help Lucy, but Lex's foot was placed firmly on his back and there was no way he was getting up with such a heavy weight on him. "GAH!? LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!"
"No." Lex responded while looking at Laura slowly draining the life out of Lucy. "You will lie here and watch your comrade die."
"NO!" Happy flew forward, attempting to break Laura's concentration by running into her, but she wasn't having it. Her hands were still free so she threw some lightning daggers at Happy to keep him at bay, and it worked. One hit his wing and sent a powerful shock through his system, causing him to fall onto the ground with a dazed look.
"Oh, her screams are wonderful…" Laura practically shivered from Lucy's screaming, which gradually began to die down with each passing second until her head hung over, hair creating a shade over her eyes. She stopped moving completely. "Oh…she's done already…?" Laura sighed and snapped her fingers once again, causing her to drop Lucy onto the ground, lifeless. "Such a disappointment…those were the best screams I've heard in a while…"
"L-Lucy…" Natsu's eyes widened as Lucy didn't respond; she didn't move, she didn't breathe…
"N-no…" Happy's eyes began to water.
It all looked like it was over…
Thumpthump.
Lucy's eyes slowly opened, still retaining the lifeless look. A pulse occurred within her body, and her eyes briefly shone a cerise shade. A black and red aura briefly surrounded her body before she began to lift herself up, almost as if nothing even happened. There was a voice in her head, but it was hard to make out.
"W-What the hell!?" Laura's eyes widened as Lucy stood up. "She's still alive!?"
"L-Lucy…?" Happy called out, but it seemed as though she didn't hear her…or anything for that matter.
"Is that Lucy…" Natsu questioned internally. It didn't seem like it…
"Retribution…" Lucy spoke in a monotonous tone towards both Lex and Laura.
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Next Time: Purification