13 Minutes Until Solar Eclipse
Kia forced her eyelids open. She knew that voice. Even with the chains redirecting her magic flow, she could sense him somewhere up and back to her right. That was what she focused on, that familiar static like life force that wasn't that different from his sister's.
But she was the only one pleased by the intruder.
Without having to say a word, Demi vanished from Izai's side. The older male didn't even spare the Lightning Dragon Slayer a second glance, his attention turned back toward Kia and his own connection to the magic circle below them.
The disgruntled brunette reappeared on the balcony behind Laxus, a poison-make dagger already glistening in her hand. But it isn't that easy to sneak up on a Dragon Slayer.
Laxus tumbled forward, dropping down from the balcony with ease. He looked up to see the dagger soaring toward his face. Tilting his head to the side, it passed him as he watched its owner disappear. Sensing the sudden presence behind him again, he cloaked himself in lightning.
Demi hissed from the jolt of pain that raced up her arms as she jumped away from the blonde. He turned to face her as she shook the limbs, trying to regain feeling before slamming her hands together.
"Poison-Make: Poison Cannon!"
Maroon magic swirled between her hands before a large cylindrical form materialized. It's inside glowed before a headsized glob of poison shot toward Laxus. Bolts of lightning struck the ground through each attack, making them splatter before they could reach him. A concentration of his golden magic formed over his head.
"Raging Bolt!"
Demi tucked to the side, rolling away to keep herself from getting fried. Her cannon faded before she was on her feet again, slamming her hands into the ground.
"Poison-Make: Fountain!"
The ground under Laxus shook before cracking. A massive spray of liquid poison erupted like a new venomous geyser. A streak of lightning bounced around as Laxus shifted into his Lightning Body to dodge the lethal magic.
"Poison-Make: Blade Storm!"
A flurry of daggers shot from the maroon magic circle that appeared in front of Demi's palm, but none of her attacks made contact. A growl of frustration rolled in her throat, audible for only a moment before a wall behind her exploded.
They both paused to see what had caused the loud interruption to find two people flying through the new hole into the large courtyard. Nikolai rolled backward a few times before springing to his feet, sending chunks of the debris back toward Erza, who was still charging forward in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. The swords floating around her spun, knocking back most of the attack as she stayed trained on her target.
"Nikolai!" Demi roared, "Where the hell is everyone else?!"
"Dealing with the others!" was all he could yell back before Titania was in his face.
This answer was not what she wanted to hear. There was no reason that two of these Fairies should have been able to get this far into the castle. They shouldn't have been able to get this close to Izai.
"Poison-Make: Full Arsenal!" Demi threw her arms to her sides as six large cannons appeared on the ground around her. Each glowed, attacks flying through the air at the now stationary Lightning Dragon Slayer in rapid succession.
Suddenly, a coil of wind flashed through the open area from above. The brunette looked up, ready to yell at Meisha to deal with the lightning-wielding jerk in front of her, but scrowled instead. A girl with blue pigtails was jumping down from a balcony on the opposite end of the courtyard, a white winged cat holding onto the back of her dress. The wind spell was dissipating from her mouth while the rest of it finished crashing into Nikolai.
Wendy landed beside Erza, ready to help out. Demi was still processing the two new opponents, causing her to let out an audible groan of irritation when the next three ran out of one of the entrances. Natsu's eyes immediately locked onto his sister, who was still chained upright in the center of the platform.
"Kia!" He shouted before taking off, not paying any attention to the cautious blonde or Exceed he was leaving behind.
At the sound of her brother's voice, Kia bit at the inside of her cheek. She needed to stay awake. Izai hadn't moved from his place before her, though he had been stealing the occasional glance toward the fighting that was happening around them. Kia forced her neck to turn, the action feeling almost foreign with her body's natural energy flow still under the influence of the chains.
"Natsu..." his name came out barely above a whisper. The Fire Dragon Slayer could see her mouth moving, but was unable to hear her over the magic flying around him. The only thing he knew was that he was scared.
In all the years he could remember being with his sister, Natsu couldn't remember seeing his sister ever look frail. Her periodic issues with time sickness worried him, but for the most part she just looked like she was sleeping. Even when her magic system had imploded during their fight with the dragons, she had looked worn out but it didn't seem like anything that a good night's rest couldn't cure. Now he could see her discomfort. There was a dark stain that covered the lower half of her torso and he didn't need his nose to know that it was dried blood. Her hair was matted from being in Meisha's Storm magic and the preparations for the ritual weren't making things any better.
"Hang on!" Natsu yelled, "I'm coming!"
"I don't think so!"
Laxus turned back to the brunette he had been fighting as the almost feral command left her lips. Demi's eyes were set on the sprinting pink-haired male before she disappeared.
"Natsu!" Laxus yelled, trying to warn him, but there was no way he could slow himself down to do anything about the incoming attack.
But the poison dagger didn't reach him. Instead, Demi appeared beside him, but bounced off the magical wall that materialized in-between her and her target. She followed the magic trail from the spell, her eyes finding the panting female who was standing about ten feet behind the blonde male she had just been fighting. Demi's rage grew. There was no reason for any of this. She would just have to take care of everything herself. Her aura grew darker as the courtyard itself dimmed.
Overheard, the moon had just begun passing in front of the sun. The solar eclipse was beginning.
"Sis!" Over the shock from Demi's attempted attack and Amber's arrival, Natsu resumed his charge for the platform.
Izai lifted his arms out beside him, palms to the sky as the magic circle below him and Kia began to glow brighter. Just as Natsu jumped to land on the platform, a shimmering white wall rose from the outer ring of the circle. A light groan escaped him as Natsu rolled backward across the ashen ground. His onyx eyes snapped up his sister again before he rammed into the newly formed barrier.
"The time is nearly upon us." Izai finally spoke, everyone pausing to hear what the man had to say. "Demi, Nikolai, don't let me down."
The dark-haired male wiped some of the blood from his brow, "Yes, Master."
"I won't fail, Izai." Demi's wicked grin returned as she vanished again. Laxus wasted no time flaring up his lightning as Amber reactivated her Blood Guard spell. Lucy fell into place next to Erza and Wendy, a golden key already in hand.
"Happy!"
The blue Exceed flew over to his buddy as Natsu continued beating against the magic keeping him away from his sister. He didn't even look up as he continued, "I need you to go and find Levy. She might know how to take down this barrier."
"Aye, sir!" Happy saluted as he took off over the castle.
Carla was hot on his heels, "I'll help you!"
Natsu was aware of the magic clashing behind him, but he paid it no mind. Amber wasn't as lucky as a maroon dagger collided with her blood shield as Demi appeared beside her. The brunette was annoyed that Amber had been able to anticipate her attack, but she wasn't stopping until all of these pesky fairies were laid out on the ground.
"Did you miss me so much that you came to find me?" her eyes shined with a hit of madness.
Amber pushed her back, "Thought I would return your kindness."
The Blood mage swiped her hand through the air, "Blood Wave."
Demi teleported back to avoid the blades of crimson, but immediately went back in for a second attempt.
"Lightning Dragon Roar."
Her hair stood on end as she was barely able to dodge Laxus' attack. Turning back, she slammed her hands together, "Poison-Make: Blade Storm!"
The torrent of blades went for the two mages, fanning out further than the last time. But not far enough to hit the one that had been waiting for his chance to strike.
There was a blur as Gray jumped from behind the archway Demi had her back to. A vague jingling sound echoed from that hall as he landed off to her side. Now aware of the new opponent, the brunette began to spin in order to make her attack span wide enough to include him, but Gray didn't give her enough time.
The vague jingle turned into clanging as he flicked the chain in his hand like a whip, wrapping the other end around Demi's wrists. The maroon magic circle at her fingertips faded, her spell tampering off with the new micropulse that came from the magic resistant chain. She strained her arms, pulling her wrists apart as quickly as she could, but she wasn't faster than Gray.
"Ice-Make: Freeze!"
The links binding her limbs instantly froze over, stopping her hope of breaking free. Demi focused her magic, pulling what she could to the surface away from the chains. She couldn't teleport like this, but that wasn't the magic that made her deadly.
A maroon aura seemed to seep from her pores, faintly sizzling against her skin. An evil chuckle sounded through her smirk, her words still calm and controlled, "I won't let you interfere with our dream."
Much like how Gray's magic could freeze the area directly around him, the ash and bits of stone at Demi's feet began to wither and fizzle out of existence. The radius around her grew as she poured more and more of her magic out of her body, the raw patches of her skin growing with it.
"I will end you all here!"
With another push, a poisonous pulse of magic spread out over their half of the courtyard. Demi knew that she wouldn't hit Izai or the Phoenix Slayer with the ritual's barrier raised. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, but she held them in. They weren't from the pain of her own magic eating away at her being, it was that she wouldn't get to see the miracle that she and Izai had worked so hard for all these years. Two decades of their lives had led to this day and she wasn't going to let these Fairies ruin it. She wouldn't let them near him or the ritual.
"Poison-Make: Direct Annihilation!"
Ash was kicked up around the courtyard from the force of Demi's spell. They all shielded their eyes, holding their breath in hopes of not inhaling the ash or the wave of poison on the air. Those on the other side of the courtyard paused their own fight, eyes wide with fear from feeling the malice that had radiated from that spell. Natsu had been the closest, covering the lower half of his face with his scarf.
"Gray! Amber! Laxus!" he shouted, hoping for any type of response as the dust settled.
Two points of red shimmered through the fading haze. Laxus looked over to the other bubble where Gray stared just as amazed at Amber. The Blood mage's eyes were hidden behind her bangs as she panted, her arms extended forward as she finally let her magic fade.
She peeked up to see that Demi was no longer standing between them. She was gone.
Knowing that the threat was over, she finally gave into the exhaustion that clutched at her. Her eyes slid closed as she tipped backward.
"Amber!" Gray called out to her as he stepped forward to catch her. He leaned her against his leg as he knelt down, "Hey! Answer me!"
"Just...out of...magic...." her words trailed out between her ragged breathing. "Tired and...really...sore..."
He gave her shoulder a light squeeze as Amber rested her head against his arm. Neither mage cared as Gray got comfortable not to disturb her. Noting how Gray's body had relaxed, Laxus let himself turn to the other group across the courtyard.
Wendy was running over to check on Amber as Erza, Lucy, and Scorpio stood ready to continue their battle with Nikolai, but he was frozen. His dark eyes rested on the dark stain on the ground that marked where Demi had been standing not long before. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the brunette would be willing to go that far for their Master and the dream that they had shared together. It made him think: how far would he go for his guildmaster? Would he be willing to end himself like that?
He had joined Fire Bird after Izai had approached him with Demi and Meisha. The older man had spoken so highly of the rebirth of one of the most majestic creatures in history. They would become the saviors of the beast that could grant immortality. As amazing as all that had sounded, Nikolai had only gone along to curb his boredom. But as time went on, he found that he had a place in the guild. He was good with his magic and it earned him respect. For the first time in his life, he had earned praise for what he could do, not just someone needing a hitman. He had gained something to protect, instead of kill.
His gaze shifted toward Master Izai. The graying man had his eyes closed, but he appeared undisturbed. Anger filled Nikolai's chest, there was no way that he hadn't realized what Demi was doing. The man hadn't tried to stop her and now it almost seemed like he didn't care. His prize was at hand, but Nikolai would have thought he would have at least acknowledged the woman who had served at his side as his right hand and closest friend for over twenty years.
Nikolai waved his hand toward Erza and Lucy, the two preparing to dodge the new barrage, but nothing came. The circles across Erza's body pulsed in light for a moment before they crumbled from her skin. She stared at the male as he turned, heading for one of the archways.
"Where are you going?"
He paused, peering over his shoulder, "To check on the others."
The Fairy Tail wizards resisted the urge to go after him, but they also knew there was no need to, not after they had all witnessed Demi's final act.
"From the coils of eternity,
Beckon forth the untainted flame,"
Izai's voice rang out over the quiet courtyard, his palms slowly lifting higher. The magic circle under his feet grew brighter. Those outside it turned to the sky, seeing that the moon had found its place directing in front of the sun.
"As the servant of ashes,
I plead from the scattered remains,"
Kia's mouth opened as she felt the air leave her body. The controlling pull from the chains had shifted rapidly. It no longer redirected the flow of her energy through her and the pillars, instead pushing it all tightly in her chest. She clenched her fists as she tried to find the strength to break free. Words tried to pass her lips, but they were inaudible over Izai's chanting and the shouting that had suddenly erupted from her guildmates and family.
"Bestow upon me the gift,
That will alight your wings once again."
Natsu's entire being stopped, forgetting how to function in that second as he watched Izai shove his hand into Kia just below her ribs. Her body jerked from the force, a gasp escaping her. Her onyx eyes locked with steely gray orbs before shifting down to where his hand was in time to see him pulling it free from her body, in his palm rest a flickering flame the color of mercury.
Kia's vision blurred as she felt as if all the warmth in the world had vanished. The glow from the circle flared once more as the chains around her arms evaporated into nothing. The other Fairy Tail members could only watch in horror as she toppled forward onto the platform, unmoving.