Chapter 65
Recognition
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic and my Ideas
.:+:.
Lucy stared down at the journal in her hands with wide eyes, hardly believing what she was reading. Happy was on her shoulder, eyes wide as he read the writing along with her. A small flame of hope flared up in her stomach, they had a chance!
Closing the journal with a snap, she glanced to Happy. "We need to get back to the Gate!" She told him firmly.
"Aye!" He agreed and she spun around holding the book to her chest as Happy held on to her, and she began to run toward the castle ahead of her.
This is what they needed! If Natsu couldn't take down the Future Rogue, this could get rid of both him, and the Dragons!
Though, she had the utmost faith in Natsu, but all the other Mages could only keep fighting for so long.
Her eyes narrowed a bit as she ran on, she had had a vision of herself earlier, finding the journal. She wondered what that had been about, but she didn't have time to wonder about it now.
She came to a dead stop when two silver streaks stretched across the ground, coming straight toward Happy and herself at an amazing speed. She jumped back a little in surprise, but a Magic Circle appeared under her feet, and the silver Magic began to rise up around both of them in soft waves.
"What is this?" Happy mumbled.
"I don't know..." She answered, clutching the journal to her chest as she stood frozen. Both of their eyes stretched wide when they felt the strength flow through their limbs, and the aches over their bodies start to fade away.
"Doesn't this look like... Frea's Magic?" Happy asked and Lucy nodded.
"Yeah, it does..." She murmured and smiled softly. "She's giving us strength..." She looked ahead with a determined smile. "Alright! Lets get to the castle as quick as we can!" She took off again and rounded corners. The part of the city she had landed in, wasn't hardly destroyed at all, and it was empty.
She quickly turned down a street and stumbled to a stop, eyes growing wide. She had walked right into a pack of Smaller Dragons, and the creatures turned toward her with menacing snarls. "Oh no!" Happy gasped. "We ran right into a band of monsters!"
"Don't worry Happy," Lucy told him and reached down to her Keys, "I have some Magic Power thanks to whatever Frea did." She grabbed one with one hand, still folding on tightly to the journal with the other. Her Zodiac Spirits were probably still drained after closing the Eclipse Gate earlier, so she only wanted to use a Spirit that still had power to spare.
"Open; Gate of the Sun Dragon," she swiped the key to the side in a line of orange. "Solana!" Lucy's eyes went wide upon summoning the Spirit, she couldn't believe what she felt. Wow... It hardly took any Magic Power to summon her...
The spirit appeared in a flickering of yellow and orange, and Solana looked to Lucy with a toothy smile.
"What's up?" She asked and Lucy blinked in shock, this having been the first time she had come to be face to face with the spirit while she had been conscious. Solana was tall, looked strong and kind, she was actually quite pretty, Lucy had to admit.
"I know we haven't had the chance to make an official contract, but we could use your help." Lucy told her and the red-head smiled.
"You got it."
In an instant, Solana had jumped forward and her clenched fist came down upon the top of one of the smaller Dragons and it fell to the ground, crumpled in a huge crater created by the force of Solana's hit. Solana turned her green gaze on the other ones and easily sidestepped out of the way of the blasts they sent her way. Lifting her hands to the sky, the night lit up with light for a split second. "Sun Dragon's Striking Rays!" Streaks of orange and yellow Magic streamed down as bombarded the Smaller Dragons, knocking most to the ground, while others managed to stay up.
Solana stared the creatures still left standing, down and bared her fangs. The smaller Dragons left over, seemed to sense they weren't going to win, because they ran off and didn't come back. Lucy sighed and let her eyes fall closed, that was a close call...
"Hey Little One, long time no see huh?!" Suddenly, Solana was right in front of her and had taken Happy from her shoulder, hugging the blue Exceed to her chest and smiling widely.
Happy looked surprised to have been grabbed so quickly, but he smiled cheekily after a moment, "Its great to see you Solana!" He told her happily.
Solana gave him a toothy grin, before looking toward Lucy and smiling. "By the way Lucy, there's no need for a contract. I'll be free to summon whenever you need me."
Lucy nodded a little, "Alright, and thank you for fighting those things off... And for protecting me during the Naval Battle."
Solana shook her head, "Ah, don't thank me for that, Frea would have killed me if I hadn't helped you." She chuckled and Lucy blinked in surprise, not sure what she meant when she said Frea would be mad, how would they even know each other? Frea couldn't summon Celestial Spirits...
"How did you turn into a Celestial Spirit Solana?" Happy asked and she looked down at him, him being still hugged to Solana's chest, for a moment his eyes lingered on the large scar across her chest, but he didn't question it at the moment.
Solana tapped a finger on his nose and smiled, "Its a secret." She told him and he frowned a little. Solana switched her green eyes to Lucy, "Your heading to the castle right?"
"Yes." Lucy answered.
"Then I'll come with you, just in case you run into any more trouble on the way." Solana offered and Lucy smiled,
"Thanks, that would be great."
.:+:.
Naraka POV
Naraka came to a pause. The girl was still staring him down and he narrowed his eyes at her.
This human... She's barely able to stand and still she's defying me...
His mouth watered when the scent of her blood hit his nose, he couldn't help himself. Her blood was delicious, Energy Mage blood always was. He wanted more, and the only way he'd be able to get more, was to kill her. She had already proved she could get out of his Restriction Magic.
He could hardly believe she had broke through the Death Box so easily, and it surprised him even more that she managed to recreate the 'Death Lance' move with her own Magic so perfectly. A skill like that, to recreate your Magic to mimic another, was rare, very rare.
He had never come across an Energy Mage like this before, though granted she wasn't just an Energy Mage, she was a Dragon Slayer too. But even so, she was still basically an Energy Mage... None of the Energy Mages in his time were this strong, save a few.
He stiffened when she took in a deep breath, and raised her arms above her head, as her Magic started to rise up around her again.
So she still has a bit of Magic left...
Frea POV
Frea took in a deep breath as she lifted her arms above her head, closing her eyes and starting to concentrate. Her Magic began to rise up around her a little, and she sweatdropped when she realized she didn't have much left.
She was literally forcing herself to stay standing at this point in time, and she was getting more and more light headed. The bleeding in her shoulder and stomach had started to slow, but she lost so much already she was surprised she hadn't passed out yet.
Though, she was on the very edge of passing out at the moment.
Her entire body hurt, being the result of being pounded by small explosions inside the Death Box. Her clothes were in tatters, and she was covered in both blood and dirt. Blood dripped from the edge of her mouth, and her legs shook a little with the effort of staying standing.
Damn it... I've taken worse than this! This is nothing... I can't lose!
She was stubborn, and she was dead serious about beating Naraka. He posed a threat to Fiore, and everyone in it if she didn't take him down, and she wasn't about to let that happen.
But hell if she knew what to do, she was at a loss. So, she was going to improvise for now, until she figured out what to do exactly. Considering her Secret Art hadn't worked out as well as she thought it would, she was afraid of how much power it would really take to defeat Naraka, and she wasn't sure she actually had that power.
Oh well, here goes...
"Explosive Rain!" She yelled out, and the Magic Circle appeared above Naraka's head, letting loose hundreds of the compact little Energy Bombs down on top of him. Naraka let out a few grunts of pain, and Frea allowed herself a small smirk.
Despite the little damage she seemed to have done to Naraka this entire time, no one could miss the shattered scales all over his body, and even some of the missing shining black scales in some places over his body. She had managed to do some damage to him, and if she didn't say so herself, Naraka's Fighting Spirit seemed to be deteriorating as the fight dragged by.
The lightheadedness she had been feeling, suddenly strengthened and she swayed on her feet dangerously. As effective and powerful as that Spell was, it always took up more Magic Power than she liked. She scrunched her eyes closed and shook her head furiously when the darkness began to cloud the edges of her vision.
"Shit..." She growled, cracking one eye open. Both eyes snapped open to see Naraka's claws sweeping over the ground toward her, and she jumped up to avoid it. She ended up landing on his arm, and he threw her up into the air.
Moon was still down, and exhausted of any Magic Power, so the Exceed didn't have any chance of catching her.
But Naraka launched up into the air after her, and she missed his claws again, barely, to land on his back and almost fell off when he twisted in air to try and reach her. She crouched down, trying to hold on as he twisted around, trying to grab her, before he started to buck under her and squirm, and she was launched up again, this time heading toward the top of his head.
Naraka's eyes looked up toward her as she began falling again, and he smirked, he had her in his reach now. Frea narrowed her eyes and extended an arm,
"Energy Force!" She shouted, her hand slamming down on the top of Naraka's head as she came down again, and he suddenly was launched back down toward the ground by an extremely powerful amount of force pushing down on him, the source coming from Frea's hand, that was pressed against the top of his head for a split second, before he was forced toward the ground so suddenly.
Naraka POV
It felt like a giant fist had swing down from the sky and pounded down on top of him, but she had only placed her hand on him, one hand at that!
Naraka hit the ground, shattering it more, and letting out a roar of pain, falling onto his stomach, his head hitting the ground, and tail lying limp behind him along with his wings falling loosely at his sides. The force of him hitting the earth caused it to shake, and Moon and Rified were thrown away when a wave of sheer force hit them.
How in the hell could she have been able to knock him down from the sky?!
Frea landed on him again and slid off toward the ground, but instead of landing on her feet, she ended up hitting the ground and rolling a few times, until she came to a halt, lying on her side.
Her body shook with the heavy breaths she took in, and sweat poured down her face. Her blood hit the ground around her as she lay there, only a few feet away from Naraka's face. She was covered in several wounds and dust and dirt mixed in with the blood in several various places around her body, her hair having come out of its hold from the ribbon she had tied around to keep her hair back. That ribbon hit the ground in front of her as she fell off of Naraka, surprisingly free of the damage the rest of her clothes had sustained.
Naraka looked down at her, so close to his nose that his breath stirred her clothes and hair as he breathed. She was right there, right in front of him. All he would need to do was move his head forward a bit, and he could swallow her whole.
But he didn't move, instead he just stared at her, silent.
He was done with this, done with the fighting. He still couldn't believe any human was this powerful, she had managed to wound him... Though he still had enough strength to get up and keep fighting, if he wanted to.
But he didn't want to.
No, he didn't have any interest in finishing this fight with her, he had seen enough. She was strong, determined... He would give her that at least.
Too bad you wouldn't be able to do it... Enogora Magion... You can't defeat a Dragon, not like you are now... Even if you are a Dragon Slayer...
His breathed out again, and one of her eyes cracked open to look up at him. It was odd, he thought, her eyes; a bright silver color he had never seen before. "You have heart, and strength..." he murmured. "No human has ever wounded me like this before." He frowned a little, "This fight is over Enogora Magion... It is not often you get to meet someone who can do this to a Dragon... I am giving up the battle only because I respect the fact that you are indeed strong." He let out a sigh and his eyes closed for a moment.
"Dragair Slajur..." He murmured. "... Such power... I understand why we will lose now..." He opened his eyes to look down at her again. Her eyes had closed again, and he narrowed his own at her.
"Enogora Dragair Slajur." He muttered, and she cracked a silver eye open to look at him again. "Understand this, you did not win this fight." He growled. "No matter how much power you had, you could not defeat me. I stopped this fight willingly, that is the only reason your not going to be killed."
Suddenly, Magic started to spiral up around his body and he snickered. "Looks like I must return to my time." He muttered.
"You... You said 'just like her'... Earlier... What did you mean...?" The human huffed out, voice low. Naraka blinked at the question, expression remaining neutral.
"You were trained by Chaitanya were you not?" He asked, as his body began to fade, and she muttered a low 'yes'. "Your a lot like her, that what I meant..." He murmured. "... Your not like any of the Enogora Magion's in my time... Your-" his voice was cut off when he disappeared suddenly, and the world around them was engulfed in light for a moment.
No One POV
When it cleared, the buildings and ground around them had been mostly repaired from what it had been, just about nothing but rubble. Time started to repair itself, but it could only do so much, it had been broken to much already.
This left the wizards that had her fighting, still wounded, time not being able to fully rewind what had happened to them, though some of their wounds did disappear as time was fixed, they were not healed completely. The Future Rogue was sent back along with the Dragons, the Eclipse Gate having been destroyed by Natsu as he ran into it with the Future Rogue under his flaming fist.
The Wizards and Rune knights fighting in the city all came to a stop, and collapsed, panting, glad for the battle to finally be over.
Frea POV
Frea winced harshly as she remained lying on the ground, eyes closed and panting heavily. She was aware time was trying to fix itself, the buildings and ground around her repaired themselves, looking only to be damaged by the fighting from the tournament that had been going on in the city not long ago.
She also felt that some of the smaller wounds around her body had gone away, though most stayed, and whatever the changing of time had done, it didn't make her feel any better.
Time's too screwed up... It can't fix itself completely...
She clenched her jaw as pain swept over her again, going in steady waves. But despite the pain she was in, despite the exhaustion... She was mad, well... More disappointed.
"Tch..." She growled, jaw clenching harder.
How pathetic am I...? A Dragon Slayer who couldn't even take down one damn Dragon... I had one job damn it..! And I couldn't even do it...!
She stiffened as a considerably large wave of pain washed over her, and she felt more blood drip down from the edge of her mouth. Look at her... She was heavily wounded...no matter how hard she had fought, she still hadn't been able to beat Naraka, and she had gotten hurt this badly...
Damn it...
"Frea?!"
That was Moon's voice, she knew it for sure, and it sounded like Rified had called her name at the same time, though she wasn't listening very well at the moment. She felt a paw place itself softly on her arm, and could hear heavy breathing, beside her own. "Frea?" Moon asked, and she didn't miss the worry in it.
But she didn't have the energy to even say anything, or open her eyes, she was just to tired...
No One POV
"Looks like she's out..." Rified murmured, crouching down beside the heavily wounded and bleeding Dragon Slayer on the ground in front of him. Moon was standing beside him, a paw placed on Frea's arm lightly, pale blue eyes wide with worry.
"Has anyone... Ever told you that.. Your voice is really annoying...?" Frea huffed out, not bothering to open her eyes.
Both Moon and Rified's eyes widened in shock to hear her talk. They would have expected her to be awake after all of that, seriously... She was covered in blood and dirt, wounds, bruises... Her clothes were destroyed, her hair falling around her face loosely.
She looked half-dead to be honest, and they had never believed she would be awake after all of that.
Rified blinked a few times, before he finally processed what she said, and he sweatdropped. Annoying? She didn't really mean that... Did she?
Moon however was a bit relieved by it, Frea had enough energy to insult Rified at least, that put her mind at ease a bit more.
"Are you ok?" Rified asked quietly,
"What the hell... Do you think?" She huffed and he sweatdropped a bit more. Ok, that was a stupid question, she was clearly not 'alright'.
"Do you think you can stand up?" Moon asked gently, and at last on of Frea's eyes opened to look the Exceed's way. For a minute their eyes met, and they said nothing, before Frea sighed and let the eye close again.
"Maybe..." She mumbled, trying to push herself up, and wincing harshly. She managed to sit up, but when she tried to stand up, she failed miserably. She almost fell over again, but Rified quickly steadied her as he stood up as well, and let her lean on him until she was ready to start moving.
One of Frea's arms draped over Rified's shoulders as they started forward slowly, the man taking small steps so he would rush her too much. Moon picked up the ribbon that had fallen from Frea's hair up, and followed after the two, constantly looking up at Frea.
Rified looked to Frea with narrowed eyes, sweatdropping. He wasn't going to complain, but Frea was practically putting all her weight on him, she didn't have enough strength to even stand up on her own. Her head was hanging a little, and her eyes were only open halfway. Her movements were slow and unsteady, and she was clearly in a lot of pain just moving at all. If he hadn't been there, she would have fallen over already.
A few times they came to a pause when Frea's legs seemed to give out, and they took a minute until she was ok to go on more. Both Rified and Moon were becoming increasingly worried as they headed through the city, having no clue as to where to go, other than the place they had started, the central square. Frea was weakening fast, and they weren't sure how much farther she could go before passing out.
Rified stumbled a bit, tripping over a piece of rubble he hadn't seen coming, and the stumble caused Frea to let out a harsh wince of pain, eyes closing and jaw clenching. They stopped again and he looked toward her, "Sorry, that was my fault.." He murmured and she opened one eye to give him a sideways glance. She was breathing heavily, sweat dripping down her face.
"Its fine... Just... Thanks, for helping me out..." She murmured and he blinked. She looked away toward the ground, "This is really pathetic... I can't believe I managed to get hurt like this..."
"You were fighting a Dragon." He pointed out and she nodded a little.
"A Death Dragon." Moon put in, "That seems to be sort of... Opposite your own Magic, in a way." The Exceed murmured. Frea glanced down at her and just stayed silent for a minute.
".. I suppose it is.." She mumbled after awhile.
"Honestly, I'm amazed your still awake." Rified told her. "And I'm amazed that you did so well against Naraka." He said and Frea blinked, "You were great, I've never seen anything like what you did." He gave her a small smile. "Think about it, you were already drained before the battle even started..."
"He's right Frea." Moon spoke up. "You were already weakened from being drained by the Eclipse Gate."
"Then you spent a lot of Magic Energy shielding everyone when Atlas Flame showed up." Rified continued. "You even held up inside of one of Naraka's Breath Attacks."
"And you cast that Spell." Moon finished. "You kept fighting no matter how hard, how hurt, or how exhausted you were. You did wonderfully based on everything that happened, and everything you did."
Frea looked between the two for a minute, lost for words. They were both giving her small smiles, and she tried to process what they said. At last, she let out a low sigh and smiled herself. "Thanks. I suppose your both right..." She closed her eyes for a moment. "You two did great too."
Moon and Rified blushed a little from the praise, Frea hardly ever praised anyone, and when she did, it was worth something.
Opening her eyes again, Frea managed to stand up a little straighter, and lift her head a little higher, taking some of her weight off of Rified. "Lets go," she murmured, with that, they headed off again, this time traveling a little faster.
.:+:.
Chase POV
"Anyone seen Frea, Moon or Rified yet?" Cana called out around her from where she was sitting on the ground, several other people sitting down around her, trying to catch their breath.
Most of the fighting wizards had begun to meet back up in the City Square after the fight had concluded. As to be expected, everyone was hurt in some way, others more than some, but thankfully no one was in critical condition.
They supposed they had to thank that on the fact that some of their wounds had disappeared when time was altered, again. And, the other thing, that Spell that had been cast on them, the one that gave them strength.
As the Fairy Tail members sat among each other, many eyes turned to Chase who was still standing, eyes closed and breathing slowly. "Are you completely sure that, that Spell was Frea?" Jet and Droy asked simultaneously and Chase didn't open his eyes.
"Yes." Chase answered quietly.
"But... Everyone here says that the same thing happened to them with the silver Magic..." Alzack murmured, glancing around at the wizards from other Guilds who all confirmed that they had been affected by that silver Magic.
"Wouldn't that mean... That she somehow cast her spell on everyone in the city?" Levy asked with wide eyes. "Is that even possible?"
"Yeah, it's possible." Chases replied and finally opened his eyes, resting them on Levy. Everyone around him stiffened in shock, "And yes, she cast that Spell on everyone fighting against the Dragon's within the city." He sweatdropped a little and frowned. "But she really is so stupid for doing it... Who the hell knows how much Magic Energy it took, it certainly wasn't some small amount..."
"Why would she risk casting such a spell if it would take so much out of her?"
All their eyes turned to see Gray walking through the crowd, with Juvia and Lyon following. Chelia wasn't with them, she was probably somewhere in the crowd, healing injuries as best as she could. It was Lyon who asked the question, and Chase sighed.
"She probably has her reasons... She always has some reason for doing stupid shit..." He muttered. He was a little surprised at the fact that the question had come from Lyon. As far as he knew, Frea really don't know anyone in other Guilds. Frea wasn't very social around people who weren't in the Fairy Tail, in fact he wasn't sure if half the wizards here that weren't in Fairy Tail, even knew her name.
Though... I suppose a few people know her name now because Yajima announced it to everyone when she jumped in to fight RavenTail with Laxus...
Chase let his eyes fall closed as rubbed the back of his neck, sweatdropping. He's be lying of he said he wasn't worried about Frea, and he wished he knew where she was, so he could make sure she was ok.
"Holy shit..."
His eyes snapped open the minute he felt a tense silence had spread out around the Guilds, and he sweatdropped more at the comment coming from the Mages. His jaw dropped a little, and his eyes went wide when he lay eyes on what everyone else was staring at.
"...Teach..." He murmured. "What the hell happened...?!" He gasped, coming to a stop right in front of the three who had just appeared the square. He couldn't believe this, he had never expected her to look like this!
They had come in, Frea was leaning heavily against Rified. She was covered in blood, her clothes were destroyed, her skin bruised and cut all over. Her stomach and and shoulder were covered in an insane amount of dark sticky blood and her hair fell around her face, having been knocked out of the headband style it had been in. Blood was dripping down from the edge of her mouth and she glanced up at him, one eye shut and the other halfway closed a she gave him a weary smile.
"I fought a Dragon, what did you think was going to happen..?" She asked quietly.
"...But, to end up like this...?" He murmured.
"You should have seen it." Rified spoke up, and Chase looked his way. "Considering how strong that Dragon was, I would say she did pretty well."
Chase blinked a few times, but then frowned a bit. Screw the fact that it was a Dragon she fought with, she shouldn't have gotten this hurt!
"Still... Teach, you told me to be careful and your the one that ended up like this?" Chase continued, deciding to ignore what Rified said. "You really ought to be more careful..."
Frea let out a heavy sigh and straightened up a bit, removing her arm from around Rified's shoulder, who let her go a little reluctantly. Everyone stiffened a little when she rocked a bit, but she steadied herself and opened both eyes, fixing him with a stare, face neutral.
"I'm fine." She murmured and he fixed her with a stern glare.
"Bull-shit." He growled. "Have you seen yourself lately?" He asked and she looked away toward her feet, hair overshadowing her eyes. "You have a really bad habit of over-doing things, Teach." He murmured. "That Spell-"
"Shut up kid." Frea told him quietly, cutting him off and he blinked.
"But-"
He broke off when Frea suddenly took a step forward and pulled him toward her quickly, her arms wrapping around his neck and she placed her chin over his shoulder. He froze, unable to process the sudden action, Frea never hugged people... At least not as far as he knew.
Everyone else was rather shocked at the action as well, and they just stared with wide-eyes. Frea's eyes remained closed as she tightened her grip around him,
"Don't you ever, scare me like that again..." She told him quietly, low enough only he heard. His eyes widened more when she spoke, before he let his eyes close too.
So she had felt it... She had felt him die...
Somewhere on the inside he had known she would, though he sort of wished she hadn't. He could only imagine what it felt like to have someone you know die, especially if you were an Energy Mage.
He had felt a few people die before he had... Though it hadn't been very clear, having been shot in the chest like he had been.
Good thing time rewound huh? Otherwise I'd be gone now...
His eyes opened a little, why would she have risked using such a Spell earlier? He knew all to well that anything of that size and magnitude, would have drained her Magic Energy down to nothing...
So why would she use it when she was fighting such a foe as a Dragon? It was risky, even for her...
His eyes opened a little more when his thought clicked together, and he sweatdropped a little more.
"... That Spell..." He murmured.
"You got it." Frea murmured, "I have a good reason for everything I do... Even if it seems like a stupid idea..." She smiled a little, "You really oughta know me better by now." She pulled away and gave him a toothy grin, keeping her hands hooked behind his neck for a moment.
Chase smiled back and sighed, "Yeah... I suppose I should..." He agreed, and she let her arms fall away, and she let out a low sigh, still smiling. Her blood was smeared across his shirt from her stomach and shoulder and he frowned again, realizing she was still bleeding.
Frea sank toward the ground to sit on her heels as she let out a long breath, and immediately everyone around her stiffened when she sat down so suddenly. They looked down at her worriedly, but she was still smiling a little and Chase shook his head at her. Moon walked over to Frea and sat down with her.
"You really ought to get looked at." He murmured. "Those wounds look pretty deep." Frea nodded a little.
"Yeah I will, later." She murmured and looked past him at everyone in the Guild, even a few people in the other Guilds were looking her way with interest. "And... I promise I'll explain what I did, later." She murmured.
Everyone sighed and looked away, not looking at all pleased with having to wait for an answer. Frea just smiled a little more at their disappointed expressions.
Chase remained standing in front of her, arms crossed over his chest and a semi-worried expression pulled across his face. He sighed and sweatdropped, letting his eye close for a moment.
You really do work to hard... Teach...