𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙨𝙩𝙛𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨
❛ ... ❜
◊
"Shadow Dragon's.... Roar!"
Rogue launched a beam of dark shadows at the dragon he was battling, pouring as much power as he could into the frontal attack.
The dragon laughed as his opponent's attack dispersed, unable to be held any longer.
Rogue panted heavily, attempting to maintain his dragon force. When he had been searching the city for a dragon which wasn't being taken care of he had walked straight into an attack from the small dragons which hatched from eggs dropped from the sky and was left with many injuries.
The shadows which emanated from him dispersed into the night air, his eternano reserves almost completely depleted.
"Rogue." Said the dragon. "You're much too weak to defeat a dragon. Why exhaust yourself any further?"
Rogue's gaze snapped from the ground to the dragon as he forced himself to stand upright.
"How do you know my name?!" the exhausted dragon slayer questioned.
"I was specifically instructed to spare your life." The dragon's breath came out misty in the cool night air.
"It's true, you know."
Rogue's attention turned to the source of the voice- his own shadow. It flickered strangely, as though it had a life of its own. A bright crescent in the shape of a mouth and one eye was located where its head was.
"What... are you?" the dark-haired mage asked, hesitantly.
"I am you. At least, I'm another version of your future. I am the darkness that always follows you, born from the darkness inside of your heart."
"S-shut up!" Rogue snarled, stamping his foot down on the shadow.
It laughed in an evil manner, amused by his fear.
"Shut up! You're lying, you're lying!" The shadow user insisted.
The dragon laughed at his terror, amused by his reaction. "You should stop fighting if you know what's good for you. You are the only human who will survive this onslaught, and in due time you will become the ruler of the world."
"What are you talking about?!" Rogue exclaimed. "I have no desire to rule the world! Who told you to spare me?"
"Who?" the dragon chuckled. "Why, you did, Rogue. You are the one who summoned us, we will destroy the world at your request so that you can rule over the wreckage... in seven years, you will hatch this plan and travel back in time."
"Ha..." the shadow dragon slayer closed his eyes. "I don't believe in this nonsense."
"But it's true..."
His eyes darted to the floor where the shadow had been, but it had disappeared.
Rogue began breathing heavily, panic overtaking his being. He couldn't be evil! He wouldn't ever hurt innocent people, and he didn't want to rule over the world!
So...
Why did he feel that what the shadow was saying was the truth?
"Look inside your heart. You cannot deny that it has been stained by darkness."
"What?" Rogue asked, turning to the dragon.
"Your heart will be stained by darkness."
Rogue glanced down, trying to make sense of what the shadow and the dragon were telling him. He would... be stained, by darkness?
"You have no choice in the matter. It is your fate, it is your destiny to live on and rule!"
Rogue clutched at his head, stumbling away from the dragon, his eyes screwed shut.
"It's not true!" he denied, collapsing to his knees. "It can't be true! You're lying!"
His mind was in turmoil, a flurry of worries and fears. His breathing sped up and he began hyperventilating, clutching his head – desperately searching for a way to deny their claims.
Why was this happening?
"Flame Phoenix's Screech!"
Rogue's head snapped up in surprise.
A certain dark-haired flame phoenix slayer leapt off a nearby roof, after having bombarded the dragon with a burst of red-hot flames. She took up a defensive stance in front of the shadow dragon slayer, who was surprised by her sudden entrance.
"Hey, you! Dragon! Leave the penguin alone!" Rose commanded, arms alight with flames.
"What are you doing here?" Rogue demanded.
"Isn't it obvious, penguin?" the phoenix slayer retorted, glancing back at him. "I'm helping you! I don't know what it is that's going on in that head of yours but if you die you're gonna leave Frosch all alone!"
'Frosch?'
"Ah, a little bird, eh?" the dragon mused. "What could one of your kind be doing here?"
"Are you stupid?" Rose hissed.
Both Rogue and the dragon reeled back, surprised by her blunt answer.
"I'm here to burn you to a crisp, you overgrown lizard!"
Rogue wasn't sure if she was human, considering the fact she had just called a creature with the power to destroy an entire country overnight, stupid.
"Nonsense! Don't be so arrogant, little bird!" the dragon hissed, enraged by her comment.
"Come at me!" she replied, adding to Rogue in a lower tone. "Don't you dare ever quote me on that or I'll burn you... climb up the building. I'll distract."
Still shaken, Rogue got to his feet. "What about you?" he whispered in a low voice.
"I'll be fine. Are you forgetting that I beat you, without using Phoenix Force?" Rose hissed back, adding the second part in with an arrogant tone and a smirk.
Deciding that arguing with her would be pointless, considering her stubbornness, Rogue clambered up the side of the building while Rose began to throw insults at the dragon, reinforcing her words with random balls of fire thrown at the dragon's face.
"I bet you still wet your nest, you scaly pile of-" Rogue decided to tune the phoenix slayer's jabs out, determining that whatever she was going to insult the dragon with would scar his mind.
'I swear she isn't normal.' He thought, perching himself at the top of the building behind a small rainwater tank filled with water. 'Insane, maybe?'
The phoenix slayer had tricked the dragon into turning around to face her with a few nimble movements, so now the creature's back was facing him.
"Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
Rogue leapt forward with a fist charged with magic power, dealing a massive hit to the back of the dragon's neck. Before it had time to react he used it's back as a foothold and leapt over it, landing a few metres away from Rose.
"Do you have any plan on how to deal with this guy?" he yelled.
"I was meant to come up with a plan?!"
Rogue paused, sending her an incredulous look. 'She's definitely insane.'
"Don't ignore me!"
The dragon emerged from the dust cloud, scowling at Rose and Rogue.
"It seems I'll have to take you away by force!" he announced, directing his words at the shadow dragon slayer. "there's no point wasting time fighting the little bird."
"I'm no bird!" Rose protested indignantly.
"Why the hell are you two just standing there?!"
All three fixated their attention on the rapidly approaching figure of the white dragon slayer, who grinned at the two mages cheekily.
"Sting? What are you doing here?!" Rogue exclaimed.
"I thought I'd drop by and save your butt's!" Sting replied, still sprinting towards them.
"Does it look like I need saving?" Rose scoffed, turning away from him with her arms crossed. "Besides, weren't you meant to be fighting a dragon?"
"Oh, I just figured I'd bring him with me!"
A massive hulking dragon smashed through the archway Sting had just crossed under, roaring in anger.
"You what?!" screamed Rogue, completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the gargantuan dragon racing after his teammate. He suddenly noticed how very similar Rose and Sting were- neither of them had a care in the world for rules.
"Don't worry, he's super slow!" the blond-haired dragon slayer attempted to reassure, coming to a halt beside the two other mages.
"We're a team, aren't we?" Sting asked Rogue. "Let's take them on together."
Rogue felt relieved, knowing his best friend would have his back. A small smile spread across his face.
The dragon's above them conversed, momentarily ignoring the reunion beneath them.
"Rose!"
All three mages turned, as Rogue recognised the small dragon lookalike from when he had confronted Rose during the Grand Magic Games.
"Cylene," Rose greeted, a relieved expression showing on her face.
The small reptile swooped through the air towards them, hovering in front of the flame phoenix slayer.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" Cylene hissed.
Rogue stifled his need to laugh at the instantly terrified expression which crept onto Rose's face as Cylene began ranting. This was the girl who had charged into battle against a dragon, without a plan.
"You just suddenly raced off yelling something about destroying something and then I get here and find you slacking off? Do you want me to confiscate that stash of candy you've been hoarding because so help me if you ever pull a stunt like that again I will make life a living hell for you!"
Both Sting and Rogue had to cover their mouths and hold their breath to stop themselves from laughing as Rose's face paled, Cylene lunging forward to tackle her.
"Shield me!" Rose demanded childishly, ducking behind the surprised dragon slayers.
"Um..." Rogue trailed off, confused about why she was so scared. His question was answered effectively as the breath was knocked out of his lungs, Cylene slamming into his chest. The dragon slayer stumbled, catching himself.
Sting cackled, apparently highly amused by the sequence of events which had just occurred.
Rogue scowled at his teammate, turning to Cylene.
"Sorry!" the small crystal-scaled dragon whimpered, moving away with wide eyes. "I am Cylene. A Pygmy Ice Wyvern. I apologize if Rose here has caused you any inconvenience."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!"
Rogue smirked. "Oh, she's awful. She ran right in here and started screaming at the dragon. She didn't even have a plan."
Cylene's head snapped to Rose who cowered behind Rogue. Her eyes would have looked like flaming pits of death if she wasn't an ice wyvern.
"Traitor!" Rose hissed at Rogue.
"Rose!" Cylene scolded. "What have I told you about talking to strange dragons?!"
The stubborn phoenix slayer pouted, muttering something under her breath. Sting smiled, finding it refreshing that the two were so carefree even when battling in a life or death situation – compared to Sabretooth, which had been serious all the time.
By then, the two dragons had finished arguing.
They both lunged forward, roaring.
"Cylene! Let's do that!"
"Right!"
Cylene raced to Rose's side whilst Sting and Rogue took on defensive stances, standing back to back.
Rogue watched out of the corner of his eye as the wyvern-mage duo somehow got onto the roof of the building he had just been on, side by side.
"Rogue! Sting! Get out of the way!" Rose yelled.
The two immediately ran out of the way of the impeding dragons, sticking together to attract the dragon's attention.
"Ice Breath!" Cylene called. A laser-like beam shot from her opened mouth and raced toward the two dragons', highly concentrated ice magic.
"Flame Phoenix's Screech!"
"A Unison Raid?" Rogue questioned. Both he and Sting leapt away from the dragons onto the safety of the roof. "Is that even possible with two different species?"
The fire-ice beam split into two identical rays and hit the dragon's, causing a massive cloud of dust to rise.
"...Never mind."
"Ha, you think that could defeat us?!"
With a flap of their wings, the dragons blew away the dust, only for them to reel backwards in surprise as Sting and Rogue leapt at them from the roof- their fists wreathed in light and shadows.
They attacked the dragon's, their elements streaking through the air to strike their opponents. Both mages then retreated, Sting leaping onto another building whilst Rogue dissolved into shadows.
However, before they could make another move or attack, the dragons began to glow a golden colour.
"What the hell?" Rose questioned, perched on the very edge of the roof.
They noticed that the dragons seemed confused too, so it couldn't have been an attack.
Slowly, the light grew brighter until it completely engulfed the dragons and dissolved into sparkles which also faded into the air.
"So, uh... was that us?" questioned Sting.
"No... I think that they were returned to their own time," Rose murmured. She leapt off the roof to join them on the ground. "And not a moment too soon,"
She promptly fell backwards, causing both Sting and Rogue to panic until they realised she had done it intentionally. Cylene landed beside them, sighing at the phoenix slayers lack of urgency.
"You should check the surroundings before resting," the wyvern scolded.
"Meh." Rose grunted in reply.
The twin dragons followed the girl's example, Sting sitting down on a large chunk of rubble, whilst Rogue sat down where he was standing.
"Man, that was totally pathetic." Sting grumbled.
"And we call ourselves dragon slayers. What a joke." Rogue agreed.
Sting sighed. "Just goes to show how tough those things are."
They both glanced over at the Fairy Tail member for her input.
Rose shrugged. "Don't look at me. If you didn't notice, I'm a phoenix slayer, not a dragon slayer."
"What happened to the phoenixes?" Sting questioned curiously.
"Well, some of them have been sealed away in artefacts, and the rest are in hiding or have faded."
"... faded?"
"They lose the will to live and cease to exist. Sort of depressing topic to talk about..." Rose sighed, tugging her muffler up over her mouth and closing her eyes. Her hands were crossed behind her head, acting as a pillow.
"..."
"Rose?" Sting questioned.
There was a silence, followed by a soft snicker from Cylene.
"She's asleep."
All three who were still awake shared a laugh at the girl's antics, before finally, the air was still once again.
"For some reason, I feel like this wasn't a victory."
Rogue turned to his friend, smiling.
"But it is one. We protected our friends, didn't we?"
Sting smiled.
"Yeah."