Chapter 15
Devil Slayer
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas
.:+:.
The bell chimed nearly painfully loud in the silence that seemed to engulf that icy, blood-ridden site of destruction, its tenor ringing off stone and snow and ice and water alike,
The words 'Idiots Calling' were slowly disappearing under the sticky crimson dripping down over and staining the cards face, the Call left untouched as it continued to ring, the puddle of scarlet liquid grew until the card was becoming submerged in it.
No one heard Lixue's voice calling one word, one name.
.:+:.
One Month Prior-
"Achoo!"
Hora winced, her eyes shut tight and hand held under her nose as she groaned, sniffing slightly as her eyes watered.
She stifled another sneeze only barely, her eyes narrowed to slits as she sniffed again.
".. What the hell....?" She grumbled,
'.... Do you have a cold, Horatia?' Lixue asked flatly,
"... I don't get colds." She muttered hotly,
'.... Who knows? You certainly spent the night in a freezing river, and a snow mound while soaking wet... And it was still snowing.' He replied flatly,
"... I haven't had a 'cold' since I was six." She grumbled, her movement through the snow and over the landscaping unhindered even as she held a hand to her mouth and nose. "..... My Magic doesn't leave room for colds, you know..."
But somehow she didn't sound convinced of herself, becuase though she physically didn't feel cold or anything... Maybe enough of it affected her like it would anyone else.... Besides, she'd been pretty emotionally and physically strained when she fell asleep. She still didn't feel 100% even now, she felt groggy and dizziness lingered even as she trudged her way through that icy white wilderness and further, not quite sure where she was going or why... She was just walking, it felt good to just move.
But the sneezing started up and she hated it already.
She honestly hadn't had anything remotely like a cold before Arden forced this Magic on top of her, thinking back...
...... The last time I got a cold, it was bad.... I had a fever and everything..... And Brother was worried, more so than I had ever seen him.
Her heart clenched painfully at the thought of it, the memory of him shuffling nervously in her room, unsure what to do and unsure if he should leave her alone or stay. He looked frustrated, like he wanted to do something to her rid of how awful she felt and yet he couldn't, and that just frustrated him more, and worried him too. It didn't make him feel better when their parents had said they could only wait it out. She remembered little of it, a lot of it was lost in a feverish haze... But she did remember waking up, with him asleep next to the bed, his head in his arms on top of it and fingers lightly wrapped about hers.
Hora's eyes narrowed, biting back at the ache in her heart and blinking furiously at the sting of tears coming up.
..... I miss you... All of you...
She took in a deep breath, shaking her head at herself in near agitation and pushing forward a bit faster. She was damp, and covered in flecks of snow ice and other things... She needed a village, town, some place. She needed to change, clean up, she felt dirty and gross and a night out in the snow hadn't helped.
She looked out across the snow ridden expanse of sheer nothing and sweatdropped,
..... Question is, is there even any place habitable out here...?
She sighed, before breaking off to sneeze again, loudly.
Hora groaned, huffing in agitation as she sniffed, she could feel her nose running a little.
".... Damn me...."
She'd been walking for most of the day, sneezing every five minutes and becoming increasingly infuriated with it. It was well into the evening and what little sun broke through the clouds overhead told her the sun was setting and she was exhausted again from walking all day... And still not a single town or village came into sight.
She supposed she wasn't all that surprised.....
Hora halted, her steps coming to a close as her head tilted slightly to the right, taking in a breath on instinct- only to grumble when she couldn't smell anything with how stuffed her nose was. She cursed herself and her apparent cold under her breath, before turning her attention not on her nose- but her ears.
She could hear water, some small tricking sound and splashing gently on what she would guess was fairly stagnant water. Her feet turned in the direction of the sound as she made her way into a small copse of willows and pines that started up toward a small mountain,
She smirked slightly, pushing through past the trunks of the trees as a clearing opened up to reveal a few, still pools of slightly steaming water tricking down the stony hillside and the mountain.
"Ah... Perfect." She hummed, stepping forward toward them and tilting her head this way and that for any new sounds that could spell danger or whatever... But it was all silent out here, still.
"This'll do just as well as a town." She murmured to herself,
'Outside of food, you mean.'
".... Don't remind me, Lixue." She grumbled, though honestly her stomach was still in knots, food wasn't a pleasant thought.
She made her way up to the edge of the pool and pulled her bag off, dropping the key and the Calling Card inside of it before pulling out what spare clothes she had- and then slowly pulling the still damp and mud covered ones off.
The Markings appeared across her shoulder and stretched down her upper arm a bit as she stepped into the water- a soft hiss sounding on the air as steam began to filter from the surface in a thick cloud, warming the temperature a few dozen degrees more as she waded in. She settled down on a smooth boulder sunken under the surface, twisting around slightly to do her best to get a look at the wound running across her back from the North Wind Lieutenant. She couldn't see it outside of the hazy reflection bouncing back from the water's surface, but what she could make out from that was a thin, slightly red line that seemed mostly closed now... It hurt less, anyway.
Hora let out a weary sigh and let herself sink into the water until it reached just under her nose. She didn't feel as tired as she should have, given the interruption of the nightmare last night.... But sleeping out in the snow despite the cold, had been restful.... And she knew it was because she had fallen asleep listening to Lector, Frosch, Sting and Rogue talking. Just hearing them made her feel better, seeing them too.
"Achoo!"
She sneezed again, growling in agitation as she dunked her head under the steaming water.
Fuck this! I hate it!
She pulled up to the surface after a few moments, hoping the sneezing would shut up now that she was in the water itself and warmer.... Well, her surroundings were warmer, it made little difference to her.
Hora ran her fingers absentmindedly along the scar running up her wrist and toward her shoulder, her eyes closed and sitting in silence for a long, long while. She could still feel the flesh burning back together, and she shuddered slightly at it.
Lixue hadn't been helpful, when she suddenly woke up with this Magic in a city and town filled with nothing but death. He'd been.... Pissed, for lack of a better word, and she'd never really understood why.
Until now, anyway... That nightmare was a slapped together compilation of her own memory of the day, and Lixue's... Or more accurately, Lixue when he was within Arden.
And from what she was hearing... Lixue was pissed, he hated Arden for going after Deliora, and he hated him for forcing him into her. He'd been seething from the minute she and he had been bonded together, seething and full of rage toward Arden and all the shit he'd done.
And he didn't trust her, he didn't like her because he was afraid she'd end up just like Arden and turn evil like he did. And like so many others before him had.
Lixue had told her what her Magic was, why he was there and why she couldn't live without him. He told her what she could do, explained to her the basics, but he had never been anything but cold and distant. And for a long while she had really hated him, she still wasn't sure she particularly liked him- but now she understood better why he had acted as he always had.
Lixue had been so damned angry when Arden had transferred this Magic onto her, and Hora couldn't remember any time she had felt him angry- he was always so neutral, annoyed at times perhaps, but never angry... Never enraged. That wild nightmare and frenzied clashing of memory had shown her a Lixue that haf been damn near murderous in his emotion and thought, how he'd screamed and roared- demanding Arden just stop.
It didn't make up for the fact he'd let her think she was destined to destroy and kill... It didn't make up for the fact he'd only told her, and promised her that this Magic could and was mean for good- just recently. She'd been so afraid and hated herself for so long the assurances now did little... They helped, maybe, but it didn't make all the years of fear and guilt and worry just go away. It didn't reverse what happened, and it sure as hell didn't change the fact that she had been so young and scared and all alone for so long.
But she did appreciate being told, and she knew she had to do better- be better than Arden, do what he couldn't... Make this Magic and her life mean something good and not something bad.
Protect humans, and Slay the Demons and Devils that pray upon them.
...... And this Magic?
Hora bit the inside of her cheek, sweatdropping slightly.
It was so hard to control, it corrupted, put things in her head, made her want to kill..... It was a fate worse than death to have had this Magic thrust upon her. No one deserved to struggle under it, nor go through what she had when it transferred over to her.
.... This Magic had to end with her, she had to take it to her grave... Even of that meant taking Lixue with her.
She wondered if he knew of her plan, as it was- she had never been entirely sure just how much of her thoughts he was privy to, and the idea of how he would react had her a little nervous. But seeing how he had reacted to Arden passing the Magic on to her, she thought maybe he wouldn't be opposed to the plan..... Maybe.
She sneezed again, her eyes watering at how it stung and she groaned in exasperation.
".... Damn it.... A cold....? Are you fucking kidding me......? Agh....."
'You're finally admitting you have one?' Lixue asked lightly,
"Shut up." She grumbled back hotly,
She was in the water for a long while longer, heating it up again as it cooled off and simply enjoying the stillness of it, and how peaceful it seemed around here. Her body relaxed more and more as she simply sat there, her eyes falling closed and her mind fading into silence as she stopped herself from thinking about anything in particular- she needed a little bit of just white sheer nothing in her head.
It was already dark by the time she moved out of the water and pulled clothes on- abandoning the ones she had been wearing previously for a tight-fit, dark long sleeve shirt that attached to her hands around her thumb and middle finger, with a collar, and long pants and her boots. She took a seat down on a boulder and pulled her bag into her lap as she started to comb her fingers through her hair, undoing the braid near the front of pulling the beads that held it together out. Once she's combed through it she braided it again, neater now and less messy- before curling that strand back into a small, choppy ponytail at the back of her head instead of letting her hair and it lay loose like normal.
Bling..
Her heart jumped, her eyes flashing in the dim as she immediately went to pull the Calling Card from her bag- 'Idiots Calling' inscribed upon the surface that shone dimly in the night around her.
She hesitated.
I have to tell them.... I have to. Everything.
Her hand moved to tap the card face and answer it, but she drew up short again, her eyes narrowing as it continued to ring softly.
But when it came to it? She hesitated damn it, she felt fear and uneasiness swirl in her core so brightly and she had to swallow against how sick it made her feel...,
She put the card back in her bag, sitting stiffly as she waited for the chiming to end and leave the call unanswered. Leaving it, telling herself one more day... One more day and she'd call them and she'd tell them.
Promise...,
Hora bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood, her finger tapping the card face almost aggressively as she cursed herself in her head.
Tell them, you have to, Hora you bloody coward..!
"Hora!" Their small smiles and cheerful voices on the other end made her stop biting down on her cheek, her eyes glittering as she offered a small smile back.
"Hey you guys." She murmured lightly, ".... how are you?"
"Fine!" The Exceeds grinned,
"We are alright," Rogue murmured with a small nod in her direction.
"Yeah, can't complain. Yukino made food today, and it was so good..!" Sting smiled, looking lost in the memory of it for half a second before he smiled gently Hora's way. "... How about you Hora? Did you sleep OK?"
She could see them watching her, their eyes passing over what little of her they could see through the screen and intent on seeing how awful she might have looked, how worn and how pale- as she had the night prior. But they didn't find it, she looked better, much better- she almost looked completely fine, if not for the subtle tenseness and even somberness they could see in her expression even as she smiled.
"Are you feeling better?" Rogue asked softly, Hora nodded.
"Yeah, I'm feeling alright... Sleep did me good, and a bath too, hehe.." She replied, they seemed a little relieved at the answer.
"Good." They mumbled in union, Hora sweatdropped.
..... Come on...
".... I actually.... I meant to talk to you guys about some things.... But with how tired I was last night, I didn't get the chance....." Hora started slowly, her free hand not holding the card curled uneasily around her stomach, hating how it knotted, even before she said anything really weighty. She took in a small, low breath, her eyes closing against it and missing the looks of concern and surprise that passed over their faces in the next second.
'..... Take it slow.' Lixue murmured softly, almost tenderly.... Damn it, even he knew how quickly she was getting worked up.
"..... It's important.... I just..... I don't really know where to start..."
You talked to Natsu so easily.... You can talk to them... You know you can....
Her motivational words in her own head were less motivational than she liked, or needed.
"...... I've.... I've figured a few things out lately.... And thought about them too, with what happened... With how I've been treating you guys all these years... And what friends are supposed to be to one another...... Things I knew, but I never really realized I was doing wrong..... And didn't understand why it was wrong until now...."
Until Fairy Tail... Natsu and Lucy... Strangers and yet...
"..... I've been an awful friend, the whole time.."
"Hora...!" Frosch mewed,
"That's not true!" Rogue told her quickly,
"You're the best friend any of us have ever had!" Lector and Sting said in unison.
She smiled slightly, shaking her head at them. "... Thank you... But it's true... I've been doing the whole 'friend' thing really, really wrong ever since I met you four." she settled then with a form stare that kept them from arguing it further, she could tell they were about to and they grimaced slightly. "... Let me explain, alright?"
They glanced between each other warily, before nodding at her softly. Hora took another low, deep breath to try and settle her slightly elevated heart rate.
".... I've been keeping so many things from all of you for so long, a lot of things I should have told you a long time ago.... Things you probably deserve to know about me, with how long we have known eachother." Hora said softly, her eyes flashing.
".... I've been hiding things because I was afraid of how you would look at me when you knew, or how you'd worry, or how things would change... I was afraid that if you saw how messed up and wrong I am that I would lose you. You four are the best things about my life, and I couldn't imagine not having you..... I never wanted to hurt you, or scare you off and I sure as hell didn't want you to fuss or worry about me."
They blinked and she bit the inside of her cheek, they stayed quiet though, like she asked.
.:+:.
She smiled nervously, "... I'm... sorry," Hora mumbled, her voice dropping as Lucy blinked in slight surprise at the words. ".... really... I didn't want to worry you guys if I didn't have to... guess I mucked up on that anyway... so really... I'm sorry to worry you like this..." Her hand moved to rub the back of her neck a little self-consciously. ".... to be honest.... I didn't know you would be as worried as you are...."
"Of course I am!" Lucy snapped, catching Hora entirely off guard, and making her flinch backward at the sudden harshness in the blonde. "You're my friend! Of course I'm worried if you're feeling sick or getting hurt!"
"... friend...?" Hora breathed, the word appearing not on part of that damned voice, but in the blonde.
"Friends tell eachother when something's wrong, got it?!" Lucy hissed, looking agitated now. "Friend's keep an eye on eachother and always work to make sure the other is alright. Friends talk to eachother when something's bothering them, or isn't right, and friends always stick together- no matter what! And they don't keep secrets from eachother when those secrets can end up hurting you or someone else!" Lucy's brown gaze flashed, her expression pulling into something so steady and so serious. "Even if you're afraid of worrying someone else! Friends are supposed to worry about eachother, that keeps them alive! And if you let other people know how you're feeling that gives them a chance to help you! Friends are supposed to help eachother, no matter what, Hora!"
.:+:.
"... I..... I thought being your friend meant making sure I never worried you, or made you deal with me... I've kept it all to myself for so long, its gotten near impossible to admit anything at all....." Her hand curled tighter around her stomach when it knotted painfully, "..... I don't know how to let people in, or lean on them and I thought it was better than way.... And for it I've never given you guys the chance to be there for me like you want to... I'm sorry. You deserve better than that.... And I realize it now."
.:+:.
"..... is not that I can't, Natsu." Hora murmured, ".... I remember what Lucy said, and I understand what it's meant to mean... and I want to live up to it too. But I can't with you... not with you, right now. I have to do better," She smiled slightly, "I've been friends with the same four people for near a decade, Salamander- and in all that time I have never once told them I'm a Devil Slayer. Not once." Natsu blinked in clear surprise,
"I have known you for three days and I fessed up in seconds." Hora told him, shaking her head a little as she sighed. "... there is a problem with that. Because it's not like I don't trust them, I trust them with my life. And yet in eight years I have literally told them nothing about me. Not my Magic, not what it does to me, not how I truly feel... none of it. I always thought I was their best friend, I care for them, I love them...... I let them lean on me and I helped them through everything, but I never let them help me... I never let them know me. The real me.... I've been too afraid of losing them and how they might react to ever open up. I've kept them at arms length for so freaking long.... and they deserve better than that from me."
Natsu's expression softened slightly, his anger and annoyance nearly fading into nothing as Hora tilted her head back, smiling a little ruefully up at the stars and the indigo-black.
"This whole time I thought I was being such a great friend.... but what Lucy, and what you said, it looks like I've been mucking up the 'friend' bit the entire time. It just took meeting you guys to really start to see it....." Hora mumbled softly, her eyes flashing.
.:+:.
Hora let out a slightly shuddering breath as she cursed herself in her head for the way her chest tightened, the way her heart pound and her words felt like they started to shake.
But she felt the fire burning brighter in her heart and she took in a breath, her blue eyes glittering and steel-like as she settled them with a steady, unwavering stare.
She had to keep talking, if she stopped now she wasn't sure she could pick back up- she had to just push forward. And for it her voice rose a little, and a little steadier too.
"Now listen up and listen well!" She said firmly, earning slightly stunned looks at the change tone and sudden.... Conviction.
"I am going to do better. I'm gonna be better, be a better friend and I am going to stop hiding things from you. I am going to do my best to open up, and explain everything. It's going to take some time to get used to it all the way, but I will be better." Hora said firmly, her voice clear and strong. She was so wrapped up in her words and just getting them out she did not notice how her stomach had knotted tighter.
"And I will see you again at Grand Magic Games. I will be there to watch you go head to head with Fairy Tail and Lamia and I will be there to cheer you all on. I'm going to be there, to see you, laugh with you, brawl and work with you- I am going to let you in, let you know who I really am and help you understand what I have been hiding for so long and why. I'm gonna come back, I'm going to win out here against North Wind and everything it has to throw at me- I am coming back."
.:+:.
She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move.... Everything was falling away into a chasm with no bottom. She couldn't even feel the stickiness of her own blood on her skin.
She was suffocating
.:+:.
One Month Prior-
Sting, Lector, Frosch and Rogue just watched, utterly still and all their eyes fixed on Hora and that fire burning in her eyes on the other end of the Calling Card. The steadiness in her voice and in her soul so suddenly, the sheer drive.
It was.... It was new. Something in Hora had changed, in her was some burning passion they hadn't ever seen before and they were awed.
She had looked so pale and frail the night before and now they saw absolutely none of it. No amount of weakness and no amount of pain or fear- not a single shred. That girl that had boarded the train on a suicide mission, left them behind days after being nearly killed, so broken and afraid and so closed off- that Hora they had parted with and hardly recognized was gone.
They had never seen her so steadfast, nor more willing- genuine
"I will come back. I am going to win, Jiemma might have sent me out here on my own on a dangerous mission- but he sent me." Hora's eyes flashed as her free hand clenched into a fist, a small, nearly deadly smirk appearing on her face.
"The Council wants North Wind gone and their Demon of Zeref slain." Hora growled, she saw the fear and shock appear on their faces at the news- it was the first they had heard of any demon.
"And they've sent Fiore's only Devil Slayer to do it- Neveleous doesn't stand a chance against me."
Their eyes went wide, sweatdropping all four of them as they stared.
D... Devil Slayer...?!
.:+:.
'....h..... Hor.....atia.....!'
She couldn't hear Lixue anymore, not his voice... Not how terrified he sounded.
.:+:.
One Month Prior-
"...h-Hor...a...?!"
"Did you.... You said Devil Slayer....?!"
"... Y...you use Slayer Magic....?!"
"Since when...?! How the hell didn't we know...?!"
"Devil Slaying Magic is a real thing....?! Like Dragon Slaying....?!"
"That's the first thing I'm fessing up on.... I've never told you what my Magic is exactly, because I hate it..... But there you go."
"H...ha...?"
"... Y... You're not... Kidding....?"
"I'm the Fire Devil Slayer. And I'm out here to slay a Demon."
They couldn't say anything, they just stared- eyes wide and reeling. Hora let out a small breath- only to end up sneezing, loudly.
"Achoo!"
She sniffed, her expression pulling into a scowl.
"Damn this cold!" She snapped,
"...HEH?!"
"SINCE WHEN DO YOU GET COLDS, HORA?!"
.:+:.
Her body wouldn't move anymore. She willed her hand to move toward the Card, but it didn't work.
Everything was just numb..... Empty.
.:+:.
One week prior-
"... Hora.... I...... Well...." Rogue mumbled uncertainly from the other end of the card. She could see the same uncertainty and stunned looks on their faces- very similar to the ones they had worn when she had told them what her Magic really was.
They'd been stunned, and confused and a little miffed- that she had never said anything. But most of all... They didn't even know. It was just a shock, really- Slayer Magic was rare in its own and close to their hearts seeing as they were Slayers themselves, but Devil Slaying?
That was something unheard of to them, they couldn't imagine Devil Slayers at all- and yet it turned out they had known and worked with one for near a decade without realizing it.
And today she had explained more of what she found- about North Wind and the Key and what she planned. She told them about Eider and she told them about The Demon of Zeref- and though every word made them more worried, she didn't lie. She was done with that, they deserved to know what was going on- and now they did. Her explanation came packed with assurance and promise she would be fine and she would be winning, mind you- but she could see how scared and concerned they were regardless.
It was a small mercy they were on the other end of the continent, otherwise she was fairly sure they'd have said screw it to training and come all the way out here instead. And she couldn't have that- this was her job and she had to do it, alone.
They'd been calling more often the last few weeks, though it was wearing down on the end of their last month of training and they needed to dive into it- they still called as often as they could. Feverishly almost, always checking her the minute her image came up on the card face, always looking to see if there were wounds or signs of something going on- and then they would ask.
Hora had been updating them on where she was and what she was doing or had been doing for the day. Which consisted of battle planning now, preparations for when she would launch her assault on North Wind and face the thing that had her nightmares growing worse by the day. It was two months and a week now, from when she left Saber on this job, and she felt the pressure on- her body was growing tense, her Magic flaring in reaction to the anticipation- her Magic knew it was close, close to the day she would find herself before that Beast, and be fighting to slay it once and for all. It lusted for it, relentlessly- and she had to hold it back.
"..... I still hate this." Rogue admitted quietly, "... Your plan sounds fine... And I know you're strong, and a Devil Slayer facing what your Magic is meant for...... but an entire Guild and a Demon of Zeref on your own is too much."
"... We're worried, Atia." Frosch and Lector mewed softly,
"You don't even know what you're walking into. You have no idea what the layout of the North Wind Guild is, or even what the Demon can do." Sting grumbled, ".... There's so much you're gonna be walking into blind..."
".... I can't believe Master would send you all alone..." Rogue growled, though the edge in his voice made Hora blink. "Devil Slayer or not, you shouldn't be on this mission alone.. It's insane."
".... I know you're all concerned." Hora replied softly, "... And I get that assuring you I'm going to be alright means very little. None of this is ideal, and you're right... Its a little insane."
They sweatdropped at that.
".... But I've never had this much control over my Magoc before. For the first time I'm not afraid of using it, and that just makes me stronger." Hora murmured, "I can use my Devil Slayer Magic at full capacity for the first time, and it will be more than enough to handle one Demon of Zeref, regardless of everything else."
She had to refrain from saying all of her Magic was at full capacity, that would be a lie... She heard Lixue growl at the thought.
"I promised you I was going to come back." She added softly, "And I intend to keep it, you know."
They stiffened, their eyes glittering slightly.
Their worry was she might never come back- and if she did, in what shape? In their minds flashed the image of her being beaten half to death and bloody and broken after Jiemma had thrown her around the Guild like a toy, and their hearts dropped to their feet.
And what if the only thing of her that came back, came in the hands of the Magic Council? In nothing but a box with a lid?
Rogue's eyes snapped shut as he imagined it, his fangs grinding down on one another as he hissed under his breath.
He was so agitated and worked up that having Hora assure them over and over was wearing on his nerves more and more. From the way Sting's shoulders had gone rigid beside him he imagined that the White Dragon Slayer probably felt the same way,
".... You're coming back in one piece, right?" Sting growled, his tone flinty and harsher than was needed. Hora stiffened slightly, her eyes flashing in surprise at the harsh question.
"You're not gonna come back worse than before? You're not coming back seriously injured?" Rogue asked next, Hora let out a breath as he moved her attention between their stony gazes for a few moments.
"You're gonna do what you can to stay as safe as possible, yeah?" They asked lowly,
"... Yeah, I'm coming back in one piece. Kinda have to be, to properly cheer you on at the Games."
.:+:.
The card-face went black, the chiming of the bell cutting off to sheer silence, drowning now in the sticky scarlet pool of blood.
Nothing stirred, no noise, no sound... Everything was deathly still.
Can a Devil Slayer be slain by a Demon twice....?
I.... I was supposed... To go back.....
.:+:.
Lots of Breaks in this, and a bit shorter than usual- but it sets up to dump right into the next Chapter, action packed and brutal.
I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!
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