"O-Oi…!? What the hell is happening!?" Gray shouted during the intense shaking. "How is an island having an earthquake!?"
"I don't think that's an earthquake…" Aira muttered while stumbling to keep her balance.
"Shit…don't tell me…" Gray grit his teeth before turning to Aira and Luke. "Keep Juvia out of trouble!" And with that he hurried off, leaving Aira and Luke with Juvia and the last few remaining soldiers.
"Hey, wait a second!" Luke shouted as Gray had the audacity to leave them. "Don't leave us with your clingy girlfriend!"
"Gray-sama!" Juvia reached out for him, only for her shoulder to act up. "Ngh…"
"You need to rest…" Aira said with a firm nod. "Don't worry…Luke and I can handle this."
"But…" Juvia began to protest, but found it useless. For now, she just nodded in agreement.
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"W-What…the hell…" Mii said while panting heavily, unable to believe what just occurred. Her body felt so strange, it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. "What did you do to me…?"
"Ah…We did not a thing to you, my dear…" Nasir said with a chuckle. "We simply used your power to activate the Scared Gem, which brought this lovely little island back to the surface. Once we finish things here, our dragons can go invade Ishgar, and then everything after will fall into place."
"How are you going to get across the ocean when you can't fly, smarty?" Mii questioned.
"You seem to forget who I am…" Nasir said while waving his arms forward, creating a powerful gust of wind that blew Mii into the wall. "I control the skies. I am a Sky Dragon, after all. With my wind, I can create a current for our dragons to glide across the ocean, it'll make it seem like we're flying. Both those are just the little details…it won't matter in the end."
"Oh..." Mii was staying in the wall, feeling exhausted after what happened to her. That did seem pretty bad.
"And we know exactly who you are." Nasir replied while staring at Mii. "The fact the Gem reacted to you tells us exactly what we need to know. YOU are The Chosen!" Mii didn't respond to that, she just glanced off to the side.
"All the pieces are almost in place, it's only a matter of time until everything happens…" Gaius grinned while sitting on his throne once again. "Dhegensea, it is almost time. I hope you are prepared.
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"Ha?!" Drake stopped attempting to chomp Takeru once the island fell into the ocean. "Well, how about that…guess The Chosen isn't made up after all…"
"Get off me!" Takeru used this distraction to land a Shadow Dragon's Claw onto the dragon; causing Drake to stand and stagger back with some blood dripping from his now cut cheek. "Serena, let's go!"
"R-Right!" With that, Takeru and Selene dipped into the shadows to escape the precarious situation.
"They escaped…" Venoma winced, rubbing her back.
"Damn, I was so close..." Drake said while rubbing his bloodied cheek. But there was a grin on his face. "If I couldn't get them, then I'll just move onto the other target."
"Crafty humans if I do say so myself…never intending to side with us, how cute. But it doesn't matter now; it's far too late to stop us…"
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"Hm…" The dragon Laxus and the Raijinshu were fighting suddenly halted the fight, reverting to his human form. He grinned towards the humans before waving a nonchalant hand. "I guess my time is up. That's a shame; I was really looking forward to finish you off…"
"What the hell happened?" Laxus questioned while breathing somewhat heavily. Squaring off with a dragon was not easy work, even for someone of his strength.
"The island's in the ocean, just off the coast of some unfortunate country. That'll be the first one the dragons invade once we finish off things here." The dragon responded with a widening grin. "The Dragon Raid will begin soon…"
"You must be foolish if you think we won't stop you before then…" Freed said with his sword at the ready.
"You won't have the chance. You've already walked right into our trap! In fact…things are going to heat up a little bit once Drake bites that one dragon slayer…"
"Who's he trying to bite…?" Evergreen's eyes narrowed.
"It wouldn't make any sense to bite a first or third generation dragon slayer…" The dragon spoke with a sly smile.
"What? Why doesn't it make sense?" Bickslow asked.
"Hahaha..." The dragon laughed, because he knew something they didn't. "Second generation dragon slayers are more vulnerable than those who were raised with dragons. And as far as I know, the only other second generation dragon slayer is standing right in front of me…so who does that leave, I wonder…?"
"….Bastard!" Laxus' eyes widened, he, along with the Raijinshu, knew exactly who this dragon was talking about. Deciding to waste no more time, Laxus threw his fist forward, a flying fist of lightning flying towards the enemy dragon. It exploded against his human form, and it knocked them out. He then turned to the Raijinshu. "We have to move, NOW!"
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With the shaking of the castle being enough to throw Sidney off his focus and aim, it allowed Mirajane some reprieve to retreat, her body covered in bruises after the assault of tombstones. She panted heavily, knees quivering as she forced herself to stand up. "Ah…Ha…." Sidney was strong. Even the power of Halphas could barely keep up. Still,
"Oi, Mira, are you okay…!?" Cana rushed onto the scene, halting once spotting Sidney. "Ah, that bastard again."
"Sidney, we have a problem!" Zalen and Heather hurried towards the scene of the battle, both panting a little heavily. "The island…it's landed in the ocean!" Zalen shouted between breaths.
"Already…?" Sidney questioned before shaking his head. "I suppose I wasted too much time dealing with her." But he did tug at his scarf when he glanced at Mira. She was far stronger than he gave her credit for, and he could tell she was still holding out on him. No matter, we've more important issues to attend to now. Gaius is still in his throne room." Sidney turned to step forward, but halted. Gajeel and Leon crashed through the nearby wall, both still fighting each other, but now it was nothing more than a comical cloud of smoke. "…"
"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed worriedly while rushing from the hole the two created with Lily by her side.
"Gajeel?" Mira blinked.
"Enough." Sidney picked up Gajeel and Leon and tossed them to opposite sides of the room.
"Hey, we were in the middle of something, asshole!" Gajeel exclaimed in irritation.
"I was winning…" Leon huffed childishly.
"LIKE HELL!" Gajeel shouted back with a comical tick mark of irritation appearing on his forehead.
"What's going on!?" Lisanna yelled. She wanted to know some answers with all this confusion going about.
"Well..." Cygnus began while rubbing the back of his head. "Look, we were kind of playing along with the enemy!"
"Not a lot of time to explain…" Now Jaxon was on the scene, looking a little beat up from dealing with some soldiers. "I just think we better hurry and finish what we came here to do; otherwise the forecast isn't going to look that great…"
"Now, now…" Venoma waltzed into the room with a wide grin on her lips, acting as though she wasn't injured. "Where's the fun? Stay and chat a while, you are our honored guests, after all…"
"She's the one who poisoned the water…" Heather scowled. "I can tell, her scent is utterly disgusting…"
"Oh, now that's just rude…" Venoma actually felt offended by Heather's remark. "I'll have to teach you a little respect…"
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"I think we're getting closer to the throne room…" Cynthia said while looking around the hallway. "That strange power from earlier left a strong presence and it's getting more potent…"
"Stay on your guard, girls…" Carla warned. "Anything can happen at this point…"
"Mhm…" Wendy nodded, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings.
What they weren't looking at, though, was the ceiling, where Drake lay in wait. Once his sights were set on his target, he lunged down, maw open…and he bit right down on Cynthia's shoulder, causing her to let out a scream of pain. "AAAH!"
It all happened in slow motion. Wendy felt something shift the moment Drake lunged from the ceiling. "Cynthia!" Wendy turned immediately, eyes widening at Drake.
From the shadows, Takeru emerged again, kicking Drake in the face to get him off Cynthia who collapsed, while Selene appeared for support, creating a diamond wall between them and Drake. "Wendy, heal her NOW."
"R-Right…!" Wendy nodded, wasting no time in focusing her healing magic onto Cynthia's shoulder. "Please be okay…was that Drake…?"
"Yeah…" Selene nodded, now looking over at Cynthia in worry. "He wasn't on her for more than a few seconds, so she should be okay…" She said that, but Cynthia's face paled and her cheeks were red. Her breathing was heavy and it looked like she passed out.
"The bite marks closed…" Wendy said with a silent gulp.
"She's out cold…the shock must have been what got her…" Carla looked over Cynthia, letting out a sigh of relieve. Any longer and Dragonization would've occurred with her on the spot.
"Hey, you know you can't hide back there forever, right?" Drake said from the other side of the diamond wall. There were some loud thuds against it, as Drake was making an attempt to break down the wall. "She tasted pretty good, I might want another taste."
"We'll stay here." Selene nodded. "The throne room should be up ahead…if you made your way through you could probably make it…"
"B-But Cynthia…" Wendy began, but she felt Carla tug at her skirt, meaning they should go. "Okay…"
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The ceiling above the throne room collapsed, causing Gaius and Nasir to leap away from the falling debris. Erza appeared from the ceiling with her Purgatory mace at the ready; she glanced at Mii and Makarov, glaring towards Gaius, only to notice Nasir. "Nasir, what is the meaning of this?"
"Looks like our third visitor has arrived…" Gaius said while dusting his hands off. Suddenly, both sides of the walls blew open; Gray on one side and Wendy and Carla on the other, all three of them sliding towards Erza in the middle.
"We made it!" Wendy grinned.
"Oi…" Mii let out a slight sigh of relief as the cavalry arrived. "A little too late, don't you think?"
"About time, this has been going on for too long anyway…" Gray said with a smirk. "But they're still not here…" Glancing towards Nasir, he wore the same quizzical expression Erza, Wendy, and Carla bore at the sight.
"Now that we're all here…" Gaius began, but the ground beneath him started to rumble violently. "What…I thought we were done with tremors…"
Before anything else could happen, an eruption of orange flames occurred under Gaius and Nasir, consuming them both briefly. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy leapt from the hole Natsu created in the ground, landing right next to the others. "Finally, we're out of the damn cave!" Natsu grinned, though he was currently oblivious to the situation.
"About time you made it, Flame Brain!" Gray smirked.
"I'm glad to see you're alright…" Erza said with a soft smile.
"Me too…" Lucy said with a soft laugh before finally assessing the situation. "Wait…what's going on here…"
"If we're done with the interruptions…" Gaius said while dusting himself off from Natsu's flames. "Allow me to explain everything. You see, I am Gaius, and this here is Nasir, my second in command. We've secretly been working together to ensure this island belongs to me, as the ruler Dhegensea is the true evil. I'm sure you've seen the captives in his prison in the castle? Those are innocent dragons who have been Dragonized by him; he forced Drake to do it. He claims he wishes for peace, but really he just wishes to rule the humans with an iron fist!"
"You can stop right there…" Mii coughed, glaring towards Gaius. "When you just told me the opposite, you liar! And nobody lies better than Mii!"
"Really not helping your credibility here...!" Lucy shouted comically.
"Tch…" Gaius then shrugged, his tricks not working. "Either way…thanks to Mii, the Scared Gem has been restored and the Isle is now in the ocean where it will create the pathway to us ruling…"
"I don't think so!" Natsu said while pounding one fist into an open palm. "We're gonna stop you."
"That's a negative…" Nasir stepped forward, and with a simple swipe of his arm, an incredibly powerful gust of wind blew everyone away, causing them to harshly hit the wall.
"Ugh…" The injured Makarov grunted once hitting the wall, groaning as he attempted to stand. "This Nasir…why would you betray your king…?"
"Dhegensea was never once my King." Nasir replied with a grin before swiping his arms again, creating another powerful hurricane meant to rip through the Fairy Tail wizards. "He is a coward who refuses to act! Why would I follow a dragon that refuses to use his power the way it was intended! Dragons are the strongest creatures in this land, yet he will sit idly by and do nothing! Just as he's done for the last 400 years, all because of fate!"
Erza attempted to challenge Nasir by changing into her Wind God armor, two swords in hand. With these blades, she cut through the wind with high speed and ease, closing the gap between herself and Nasir aiming to slice his chest. "But what about Ena, or Kurthnaga!? Aren't they your kin!?"
"Ha!" Nasir laughed at Erza's statement, leaning away from her slashes and retaliated with a powerful kick to her stomach imbued with wind that came with a powerful push back, sending Erza sprawling across the floor. "My Kin? Please, don't be so ridiculous! They're just offspring to that old fossil! At least there was one sibling who had the right idea, but Dhegensea banished him for it!"
"How could you…" Lucy began with a heart broken expression.
"You bastard!" Gray shouted while slamming his fist into his palm. "Ice Make: Cannon!" A large cannon of ice formed on his shoulders, resting there snugly while Gray took aim, unleashing a massive burst of ice towards Nasir.
Nasir brought up his forearm, blocking the explosive burst of ice. It stung a little but with a quick flex he was able to shatter the ice. "Wing Slash." Nasir swiped both arms down, sending a massive hurricane of wind in Gray and Lucy's direction. The hurricane tore apart Gray and Lucy and sent them crashing into the floor.
"Bastard! Don't think I'm not getting you back for what you did to Wendy!" Natsu came in from above, both arms wrapped in a wildfire of flames. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Throwing his arms forward in a clockwise rotation, a massive sweep of flames aimed to consume Nasir. The sky dragon brought up his arms and blocked the hit, feeling his skin scorched from the heat of Natsu's flames and because it was Dragon Slayer magic.
"Sky Claw." Not missing a beat, Nasir slashed at Natsu, catching the fire dragon in the side and sent him into the ground.
"Natsu!" Happy exclaimed in worry.
"Shit…" Mii grunted, still feeling exhausted from the process Gaius put her through. "I can barely move..."
"This isn't good…" Carla began, only to glance at Wendy who had fear in her eyes. Carla recalled Wendy being defeated by Nasir in one strike, so it was no surprise for her to be feeling afraid now. "Wendy! Snap out of it…!" Carla urged.
"I…" Wendy paused, unable to shake the sensation off her. She totally froze once Nasir glanced in her direction.
"Heh…" Nasir chuckled before holding his palms up, a gray mist secreting from his hands. "Now have a little dose of my specialty. This little mist is something dragons can withstand easily…as for humans…that's a different story…"
"Wha…" Natsu started to get up, but the mist spread into the room quickly, causing him to cough. "W-What is this…?" It burned his lungs just to speak.
"I-It hurts…" Lucy put her hands around her throat as she struggled to talk, practically writhing around the floor in pain.
"I-I can't breathe…" Makarov groaned.
"This is…" Erza gripped her throat tightly, trying to find some way to soothe her burning lungs.
"Humans aren't meant to inhale this mist…it contains impurities they cannot handle. Dragons, however…this mist is refreshing…" Nasir chuckled while watching everyone struggle to breathe.
"I-If only I could…purify the air somehow…" Wendy thought, but she was quickly coming up with nothing.
"Leave them…alone…" Cynthia wandered into the throne room from one of the holes in the walls, hunched over while looking absolutely terrible. Even though she got immediate treatment from Drake's bite, she still felt dizzy.
"Cynthia…!?" Wendy exclaimed with difficulty.
"What is she doing…?" Mii questioned.
"She's not collapsing?" Gaius thought.
"Wendy…" Cynthia glanced towards Wendy with a small smile, heaving heavily. "This is your element…you can't let that dragon beat you…we have to win…so that's why…" Cynthia then began to inhale the mist that was in the room, using the special lungs a dragon slayer contained to her full advantage.
"W-wait, Cynthia stop…!" Wendy pleaded.
Cynthia didn't listen. She inhaled all of the mist, leaving nothing but pure air in the room. Of course it was a bad idea to inhale it all, as she instantly fell forward, but there was a smile on her face. "Don't worry…I'll be okay…just use the air…and roar…"
"You…" Anger crossed Nasir's expression. Before Cynthia could fully fall over, he grabbed the female by her arm and harshly slammed her into the ground; a loud cracking sound occurred as he broke Cynthia's arm with ease, which caused her to pass out; Takeru and Selene arrived on the scene shortly after, pausing to take in the sight before them.
"CYNTHIA!" The Fairy Tail mages exclaimed while they were still recovering from the mist exiting their system.
Wendy just remained silent with widened eyes. Cynthia once again risked everything to ensure they could win…and the air was clean, pure…Wendy's shocked expression quickly turned into one of determination. The air began to flow in a different direction, causing everyone's attention to turn. "You're a traitor with no heart…and you've hurt my friends and family…" As Wendy spoke, her hair and eyes turned pink, and clear crystalized scales began to appear around her wrists, ankles and shoulder blades. Dragon Force.
"You insolent child…" Nasir turned to face Wendy. "You think the air is your weapon? Your mastery of it pales in comparison to a dragon's…" Before he could finish speaking, Wendy was already in front of him with her incredible speed, slamming her fist into his face. Not only was there a strong wind behind her attack, but Wendy also added the Omega Flames from her Dual mode into it as well. The result was a crimson twister of wind. The power caught everyone off guard as Nasir hit the wall. "AGH...!?" Nasir fell forward, coughing a few times from Wendy's might.
Wendy looked towards Nasir, her pink eyes burning with determination. "I control the air in this space."
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Next Time: To End The War!