The Valkyrie (Rogue Cheney Love Story)

Chapter 28

"This island sure is beautiful," Erza speaks up.

"It really is," Says Kiba, nodding. "It was peaceful too. At least, until Neridah and her Northern Wolves gang members showed up."

"Hey, the Chief will tell them all the details," Stella reprimands him. "Let him handle it."

I blink my eyes as we pass by a huge rose quartz crystal statue of a beautiful woman in the center of the village. I pause as I get a good look at her face. She appears sad.

"Hey, what is it, Viv?" Gray asks as he notices I'm not following them. My teammates and our escorts come over to me.

"Who's this woman?" I ask.

Stella answers, "That's Yuki Sapphire. She was one of the first Wielders of the Crystallite."

"What happened to her?" Wendy asks curiously.

"There's a cost to all Lost Magic's. Crystallite is no exception," Kiba tells us. "The Chief will tell you all the details, but Yuki's Crystallite reacted to her emotions of sadness and loneliness. The crystal particles seeped into her skin and transformed her body into crystal."

Stella finishes, "She's now known among our people as The Crystal Tear."

"That's such a sad story," Lucy murmurs.

"It isn't just a story," Kiba insists. "It actually happened! It's become a legend on Kyoshi Islabd and only our people know of it."

"Well, whatever. Let's get going already," Says Natsu impatiently. My teammates continue ahead but I linger a moment longer, gazing up at the sad woman.

I then turn and hurry after my teammates.

We soon arrive at a large house. We gaze at it in awe.

"It's huge!" Natsu exclaims.

"It's like a mansion," Wendy inputs.

My teammates and I follow Kiba and Stella inside to a large sitting room where a very short man, about the same height as Makarov, is sitting with a beautiful brown haired girl.

"Chief Hajime," Kiba states, "The wizards from the Fairy Tail guild have arrived for the job request you sent."

"Excellent. You may wait outside," The old Chief tells them. They bow and leave while Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, Charlele and I sit opposite the Chief and his daughter. "I'm so glad you could come. Our island is in desperate need of your help. This is my daughter, Suki."

"It's nice to meet you," The pretty brunette says. She has chin length hair and brown eyes.

"Likewise," I say, smiling.

Erza says, "Tell us more of what you know about the Crystallite, Neridah and the mercenaries she hired."

Hajime nods his head. "Hm. Very well. Your job is to retrieve an ancient and powerful magic item called Crystallite that was created by my ancestor. He had no magic, but the Crystallite allows anyone without magic to gain it and use it at a basic level. Advanced spells could be learned with extensive training. And it turned him into a super strong and flexible being."

We were stunned by this. "Any magic?" I echo.

"That type of magic exists?" Asks Charlele.

"Yes. But it cannot give the user Dragon Slayer Magic or any other type of Lost Magic. There's a huge downside to overusing it. Most users who use Crystalite magic have to learn quickly how to control their feelings to stop themselves from creating too much magic in their bloodstream as it can cause the Crystal to expand and take over the user's body or make them go berserk making them forget what is friend and foe and have no power over the things that happen almost like they are a monster.

"It is this that creates a dangerous monster that users have no control of and instead can only watch as their body and the crystal does things without the user's consent and control. Berserk is said to be completely unstoppable, their power and rage so strong that users are said to die before even seeing the form. The user's appearance does gain minor changes. The user's canine teeth sharpen into what can look like vampire fangs and their eyes glow a dangerous pink colour. Their face also seems to be covered in darkness, hiding all the former inviting appearance of the user in a dark shadow. It is this form that makes everyone believe that the user has turned into a monster and in theory, they have. 

"The user is freed from this form when the user can no longer use the magic from the crystal or the user controls their emotions but most cannot. This is mainly because a user either enjoys the pleasure of destroying everything in their path or is wrapped in sadness and despair as they inhumanely kill people they love or care about. Everyone while berserk looks the same, the difference being their eyes and aura. It is this reason that going berserk is like losing yourself to people. 

"The most known flaw of Crystalite is that of turning into the crystal itself. This also happens when the user is having negative emotions - more so, sadness, loneliness and disappointment - but also if the user overuses the crystal. It is almost like the user overheats the crystal. With this, they enter the Crystallization state. The crystal digs into the user's body and expands itself through the veins, creating large crystals with help from the user's blood and the ethernano in the air. This causes the user great pain and stops all magic use in this state. After about three hours of pain, the user finally transforms into a giant human crystal. These crystals stay like this for the rest of its lifetime - unless someone destroys it of course. If another user wished to use this crystal they would have to chip off the crystal with a chisel and another tool but they would be technically chipping away the former user's body.

"The pain is said to be worst than death itself.

"Crystalite is one of the most powerful magic in the times of old. The plan was to be able to create these crystals that absorb ethernano in the air and allow a user to make it their own. This allowed non-mages to be able to use magic. Crystalite - like all forms of magic - works on feelings. A magic user must have the determination to use magic to make it happen in the first place. Since Crystalite is an artificial magic it had to get close to one's heart to be able to feel the user. 

"If a user dies with a crystal, the crystal is said to be lost forever.

"When the Magic Council got wind of the Crystallite creation, they ordered that all Crystallites be destroyed. All but one were destroyed. The last Crystallite was sealed away in Kyoshi Temple, never to be seen or used again. Until six years ago, when a woman named Neridah arrived on the island with three members of the Northern Wolves guild—a mercenary guild. She desired the Crystallite and hired a Seal Breaking wizard to get it for her.

"Neridah has only recently been attacking Kyoshi Island in the past seven months! Please, I'm asking you to retrieve it before that witch causes anymore harm to my people!" Hajime vows his head as my mind spins with all this information.

"You bet we will get it back for you, old man!" Natsu tells him.

"Just leave it to us," Gray adds.

"By the way, Sir," I interrupt as he was thanking us, causing him and the others to swivel their heads to me. "On our way here, we passed by a crystal statue of a woman known as Yuki Sapphire. I was wondering if you might be able to tell us more?"

He turns serious as he says, "Ah, yes. It's such a tragic tale. That woman was once a user of Crystallite. However, when the Crystallites were being destroyed, the villagers feared she would become a Berserk as well and go on a rampage. This caused her to feel sadness and loneliness—so much do that the crystal she had dug into her flesh and spread through her bloodstream. It eventually crystallised Yuki and turned her into a crystal statue in the center of the village. She has since become known as The Crystal Tear."

"That's so sad," Says Lucy.

"This magic is actually kind of terrifying," Gray says wearily.

"That's why you must get it back at all costs!" Hajime tells us.

I stand up as I say determinedly, "We will! Count on it!"

"Thank you. Kiba and Stella shall escort you to your inn," Hajime says gratefully.

"Good luck," Suki adds.