Rose woke up to the sound of leaves ruffling when the wind passed by them, the birds chirping and the water running through the river banks to keep their travel around the world. Even when she could feel like she was outside, the beautiful blue sky was covered by large roots arching into the shape of a cave. The brunette sat down taking in the place where she was with her golden eyes, her hands brushed the soft bright green grass underneath her with a smile making its way on her lips, she recognized that place, after so many years she was finally back - she was finally back home.
The brunette stood up enjoying when her bare feet made contact with the grassy surface for the first time and ran outside. The sudden bright light blinded her for just a second before she could see the place where she grew up, the place that held the best memories of her childhood. Rose looked around with the biggest smile she had ever had in the past years, her cheek hurting for not being used to such expression. She hoped to see two large creatures laying on the ground, both of them waiting for her to start their training or going for a flight. However, her smile vanished when she didn't see any of them, instead there was a woman giving her back to her. Her long soft white hair flew with the wind, large golden horns curling backward at the end and her large white feathery wings with golden light accentuating the edge of each feather.
"Our meeting wasn't supposed to happen, not just yet. However, due to the circumstances, we don't have much time." The woman said before turning around, she was wearing a long, flowing white dress wrapped by a ribbon and band around the waist, featuring long loose sleeves and a low-cut chest. When her golden ones met with her golden ones, Rose felt like time stopped in front of her, those eyes were very familiar that made her heart skip a beat. She felt something rolling down her cheek, and brought her hand to wipe the tears away, still confused as to why she was crying for seeing a person she had never seen before. However, she couldn't stop the strange but welcoming warmth of being home, her home.
"Who are you?" Rose asked, her voice just below a whisper.
The woman warmly smiled at her. "You already know who I am, but where is the fun in giving you an answer right away?" She said while using a playful tone of voice at the end. "Now... I need you to listen carefully." She added, her tone turning into a serious one. "I made the mistake of making a deal with someone too dangerous, back then I didn't know the consequences of my actions until it was too late. He asked me to use my magic to create a powerful sealing spell, one that could seal away the demon side of his greatest creation. Tartaros is trying to break the seal and anything that could be a threat to this demon." Her eyes softened, feeling guilty for putting Rose in such a situation. "After we noticed that that man kept an eye on you after the seal was created believing if anything did happen to me you'll be the only one capable of breaking it when it was necessary. It was already too late for us to realize the danger you were in. So we decided to use a spell to protect you, one that would activate when you were close to him or anything related to him. However, it would only activate when his creations were in their true form or using a certain amount of magic, so you could run away from them. Things started to get worse over time, so I made a spell that would put half of my life force into you in case something like this happened... I couldn't leave you on your own and face the consequences of something that is not your fault. Tartaros are trying to break the seal, and there are only two ways to do it but I'm afraid I don't know what measures they'll take. That is why your friend Erik kept warning you."
Rose was confused, she still didn't know who the woman in front of her was but she talked like she knew her all her life. "What do you mean? Everyone keeps telling me to stay away, that I'm in danger, that I should run away. But I can't do that..." She tightened both of her fists, she wasn't a selfish person, she wasn't going to leave Fairy Tail on their own, no when they were already involved. There were people who needed her, she needed to be there for him. "Even when your warnings scared me, I can't leave my family, my friends alone on this one... because that is not who I am. So why not stop with the clues and the guessing games and tell me why I should be so afraid?"
The woman chuckled and smiled at her. Even after many years some things didn't change on her, it was true that Rose might have become more timid and shy compared to the carefree person she used to be. However, she was always honest and talked her mind out whenever she got tired or frustrated with something. "Stubborn as ever..." She said with her smile never leaving her delicate features. The sound of something shattering got both of their attention, making them look up to the sky. It was starting to break just like pieces of glass, a view that made the woman sigh and look back at the brunette this time with worry, sadness, even love. "Seems like our time has been cut short." She said with a tiny smile. "No matter what happens next, remember we will always love you and be there with you even if you can't see us, a part of us will always be there with you." She said with a soft tone of voice while lifting her arm, some part of her arm showing when her long sleeves moved down revealing a hand with white scales and sharp nails like claws. "Right here." She said while making a crossing sign on the left side of her chest. She got closer, now standing in front of the brunette and used the same hand to softly caress Rose's cheek. The brunette - to her own surprise - didn't flinch or pull away from her touch, instead she leaned in, just like she had been waiting for so long to feel that again. "You have grown into a strong and beautiful woman. We are very proud of you, my little spark."
Rose slowly opened her golden eyes with tears welling in them. "Mama..." She quietly said. Luminous smiled down at her daughter while her body started to banish into sparkles of lights. The brunette held onto the hand that was on her cheek and slightly shook her head. "No... don't leave me, no again." She said with a shaking tone of voice and her grip tightening like it would prevent her mother from vanishing but it didn't. Luminous completely disappeared leaving Rose staring at the spot in front of her where she used to be, she slowly caressed the cheek where her hand once was.
"It's time for you to wake up..." Luminous' voice traveled as a message through the wind before everything around the brunette disappeared into thin air, leaving her alone in a void of darkness.
Water was thrown to the unconscious body that was attached against the wall by shackles on both of her wrist above her head and ankles. She slowly lifted her head, still feeling the same effects of dizziness she had before losing consciousness. Rose slowly opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times trying to take the blur coating her vision to go away.
"Finally I got you to wake up!" Someone exclaimed. "I can't believe Mard Geer made me look after you and without being able to torture you." A frustrated sigh was heard in the room. Rose looked around the room trying to find a familiar face but she only saw one person she didn't recognize at all. He was a short, round, humanoid creature, with just one eye under a helmet he dons, which hid the rest of his upper face. Even if he sounded irritated every time he spoke, he wore a cheerful and grinning expression most of the time. He also had a necklace and various paintings around his neck. Along with his helmet, his shoulders were protected by shoulder plates. He was holding a rod, which he was using to help him support himself. His arms colors changed between yellow and red in a striped form, and long pants that matched the pattern of his arms.
"Where are they...?" Rose whispered.
The humanoid used his rod to lift her chin. "Speak up, I can't hear you." He said,
"Where are my friends? Where are they?" The brunette asked a little louder while staring at the creature with cold stone eyes.
"Ooh!" He chuckled. "Those two are probably receiving the best hospitality that we have here." He said with a large smirk.
Rose released her lightning in a threatening way while glaring at the creature in front of her. "If you-"
"You what?" He playfully cut her off. "It's not like you can go anywhere." He said before laughing at her. "Even if you manage to escape I doubt you'll be able to leave this place." The humanoid creature said while caressing Rose's cheek with this rod. He hit her with it in the same place making her face turn to the other side. "At least not alive." He hysterically laughed at his own comment.
The only large double door in the room opened, a young man with long wavy dark purple hair reaching his shoulder and the majority of it tied up into a long high ponytail. He was holding a book between his chest and left arm. When Rose's golden eyes landed on the book, her left eye started to slightly throb in pain. Behind him followed someone that Rose recognized in an instant, the same girl she encountered with Laxus and the Thunder Legion - Madeleine. "I see you are enjoying the company of our special guest, Franmalth." He said with a velvety tone of voice and a smirk adorning his lips. He stood in front of her taking in the girl tied up to the wall. He heard a lot about her but he was expecting someone more tough than the girl he was looking at that moment. "We finally met." He finally said. "I'm Mard Geer, current Master of Tartaros, but I'm guessing you already knew that." He leaned closer and held her chin between two of his fingers making the brunette look into his black eyes. "After all, I heard you had been snooping around, am I right?" He asked her with a lower tone of voice.
Rose only stared at his eyes, not daring to speak a word to the man. She was just in front of Tartaros' Master, the person leading whatever plot they had in mind and she was part of it. However, she never showed any sign of weakness or fear while holding their stares, a battle between a predator and prey. One where the prey wasn't easy to get. Mard Geer's smirk grew wider when he noticed that the brunette wasn't intimidated by him. He turned around, walked down to a large chair made out of bones and skulls and took a seat on it with one of his legs over the other. He leaned his body slightly to the left side supporting his elbow on the armchair while resting his cheek on the palm of his hand. His black eyes turned to see at the youngest demon of the group, she was fidgeting on her own feet while watching with anticipation at the brunette.
"How are we going to do this?" He wondered while tapping his index finger against the book. "Which one you prefer... the easy or the hard way."
"It won't matter what I choose, you'll probably get what you want." Rose said with her voice showing no emotion.
Mard Geer laughed under his breath with her words. "You are right..." He said before pausing a little bit. "Perhaps we can reach an agreement, your decision could change the fate of others."
Rose looked down to the floor with a frown, his words sounded promising but she couldn't trust him. "What makes you think I'll make a deal with you?" She said without moving her eyes away from the floor.
The demons' leader faked a sigh of disappointment while shaking his head. "I was really expecting you to be smarter than this, Lumière." He made eye contact with Madeleine and nodded at her. "You already know what to do." His words made the girl smile mischievously toward the brunette.
She brightly smiled at her master, happy that she finally would have the entertainment she was waiting for so long. Madeleine had been holding back every time she met Rose right in the open, she could go with her Master's wishes right there and there, just to speed up the plan. However, Mard Geer didn't want to rush things, he preferred to wait for the right time. "I had been waiting to do this!" She squealed. "After all, this is what my lord created me for." She said with a giggle. Madeleine lifted her right arm and started mumbling words that Rose didn't understand.
"A little piece of advice..." Mard Geer trailed off, getting the brunette's attention. "Do not fight back, it would just make things more painful for you. On the other hand, it would make a wonderful show for me to watch." He said with the smirk never leaving his lips.
"What-" Rose was cut off when she felt a sharp pain coming from her chest left side, air got cut on her throat making breathing harder than it should be. She could feel something acid running through her bloodstream - boiling and burning her from inside. A strangle scream escaped her lips - she had never felt something so painful before - it was eating her alive.
Mard Geer had a look of pleasure, satisfied for what he was looking at. "Franmalth... could you bring the mirror? It is not fun if only the three are enjoying the show." The humanoid only laughed and went to fetch what his Master requested. The room was only filled by the groans that the brunette made trying no to scream anymore in front of them, she not only felt pain, but also felt her magic being slowly drained away from her. It felt the same way as it happened with her while her light magic was exposed to the fuchsia pollen created by Madeleine's magic.
"Have you found it yet?" Mard Geer asked, looking away from the brunette and looking at the young demon.
Madeleine responded with a humming sound. "It's been years since I played with her but I can still feel the seed inside of her." She said with her head tilted to the side and a wicked smirk on her lips.
"Wh-What are you talking about?" Rose asked between her teeth.
"Huh?" Mard Geer looked at her with curiosity. "So it's true, you really don't remember crossing paths with us before." He smirked even more when he noticed the look of confusion on the brunette. "I must say... It was the most chaotic and fun thing I had ever seen, the screams, the blood, the destruction created by you was amazing." He laughed. "I must say... I prefer that side of you, you'll fit perfectly in our ranks."
Rose didn't know what to do, if believe what he was saying was true. She knew herself and she wasn't the type to hurt anyone. The mention of them meeting before didn't ring a bell on her head, if she did cross paths with them she would have remembered - but it still made sense with her memory lost.
"Apparently once the flower is removed from the host, they lose complete memory of what they did while they were under my curse." Madeleine explained to the man sitting on his throne.
He sighed while shaking his head. "It would have been splendid to see that side of yours again, right Madeleine?" He asked before looking back at the white haired girl with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Even when it was so little time, it was really fun." She enthusiastically said with a big smile. "I found it!" She exclaimed.
"Wait... Don't do anything, not just yet. I want her to see everything." Mard Geer said.
Madeleine pouted at the idea of waiting more time, she was looking forward to that day. The fact that Mard Geer had waited for so long to start his plan was a waste of time. She wanted to finally meet their real Master E.N.D and their Lord Zeref. When the current Master informed them that it was time to take action, she was one of the most excited compared to the other demons.
The large double door opened once again revealing Franmalth carrying a body length mirror. He put the reflecting object in front of the dual dragon slayer. She was still wearing the same outfit as before except for her jacket and boots - she looked like a total mess. Her golden eyes caught a glimpse of her body, especially her left side. Her skin has golden ancient marks all over it, glowing at it brightest. Half of her face on the same side was covered with the same marking and the white part of her eye changed to black. Rose had never seen herself like that - she didn't recognize the person in front of her.
It only took a nod from the man sitting on the large chair for Madeleine to flick her hand. Rose started screaming her lungs out with the unbelievable pain she was going through - it was even worse than before. She felt something growing, spreading inside of her, releasing a substance that felt like it was tearing her bloodstream apart. The golden marks on her body started to take more part of her skin while the ones that were there from the beginning started to turn into a dark purple, slowly going up from her feet making its way to the rest.
"What are you doing to me?!" Rose exclaimed through the pain. She felt like a thousand needles were rapidly stabbing her on her most sensitive spots.
"I would have asked you nicely to remove the seal myself, but where is the fun in that?" Mard Geer responded while using his fingers to brush the cover of the book he was carrying with him. "But I'm more of the type to take what I want when I want." He smirked at her. "The moment those markings are completely changed, Madeleine will be able to extract the original magic responsible for sealing our Master away from this world." He hissed, his smirk disappearing for the first time on his last words. "So why don't you just stop struggling, so we can all be over with this?" He asked, more like demanded of her. The brunette bit her bottom lip to prevent the screams coming out of her mouth and desperately shook her head. She couldn't just give up that easily, if she did that meant they would win - they would accomplish their goal. Mard Geer frowned, he hated it when people didn't follow his orders. "Madeleine, do not hold back." He coldly said.
"I never planned to." She responded with a big smile. She closed her lifted hand into a fist, with that simple move she made the pain a thousand times worse, just like her bones were being crushed into pieces. Rose tightly closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks. She closed her hands into fists, digging her own nails through her one flesh trying to keep her mind away from the excruciating pain.
Mard Geer smirked once again when he noticed the brunette struggling under the torture Madeleine was making her going through. "After all this is over, I can't wait to see how that pathetic guild of yours would react when they see what we had done to four of their members..." He wondered with a small chuckle.
Suddenly, the sound of an explosion took over the place, making the building shake a little bit. It caught all their attention - including Madeleine - which made her stop from what she was doing. They all looked away from the dual dragon slayer and their gazed drop on the big pair of doors. Rose was heavily breathing but still felt a wave of relief when she didn't feel her body breaking into pieces anymore.
Franmalth looked around and huffed when he noticed neither Mard Geer or Madeleine were moving an inch. "I'll go check that out." He said a little annoyed that he was going to miss seeing the famous Lumière go down with his own eyes.
The man sitting on the throne lazily moved his eyes back to where Rose was. "Shall we continue? It is quite rude to not pay attention to our guests." He cockily said.
"How about we speed this up?" Madeleine mumbled before starting to chant the same incoherent words as before under her breath. She moved her fingers making two vines to grow out of the ground on each side of her, the tip of them split into four for parts revealing something like a needle dripping a purple liquid, a drop fell to the ground and evaporated with a hissing sound once it touched the ground. Rose started to move around, her eyes wide open with panic written on them. Madeleine and Mard Geer laughed at her sudden reaction, enjoying the scene in front of them. "Don't worry, it's just going to burn a little bit." She said with a fake sweet tone of voice.
Rose loudly gasped when both vines attached into each side of her neck, the needle being forcefully stabbed into her neck, injecting the substance inside of her. Her golden eyes dilated, her heart started to race against her chest and the burning sensation came back again like it not only wanted to burn her inside out but also her soul. She could feel her magic being taken faster than before, she was starting to feel numb - her body was giving up even when she wanted to still fight back. Even when she was fighting on her own, she could still feel something inside of her struggling against whatever the younger demon was doing. She lifted her head a little just to see her body in the mirror, it was already full with those ancient markings most of them tainted into a dark purple. Blood started to stream down her cheek and nose, feeling a slight sting on the skin the crimson liquid touched.
Mard Geer smirked while putting the book over his lap and taping it with excitement. "Finally, the day has come. I'm not only going to free our Master from his slumber but I'll also make the last bit of pure magic disappear before it gets in the way."
"I thought we were using it to free our Master..." Madeleine asked, a little confused but still kept doing her job.
"It won't be necessary since we already have face for that." He commented before sighing. "However, there are a few things to take care of before we activate it. For example, getting rid of our special guest. She would be a threat for our Master and we can't have her around, at least not with that thing inside of her. Even in a world without magic she'll be able to use her light magic, and we don't want that, right?" He said before looking back down to the book on his lap and then looking back at the struggling dragon slayer in front of him with a wicked smile. "Master, it is about to start..." He started saying more to himself. "Darkness will flow out of Hades' door. The darkness of Hades will cover the light of the entire world."
Minutes had passed and Rose was already on the verge of dropping everything, her body couldn't handle anymore of what she was going through. It was too much for her to take. She was so lost, her mind already sedated with the substance, not able to focus on herself anymore, that she didn't hear the door opening or the woman with very distinct characteristics walking in joining them in the room. She was of average height and weight, with a very large chest and an extremely curvy hourglass type of body. She was wearing a skin tight suit that emphasized her chest, revealed her tights and partially exposed her buttlocks. Her shoulder and arms were hidden by a long, striped jacket with flaring sleeves, a high and gapping collar that completely hid her neck. The sleeves covered most of her hands, which took the form of sharp and scaly talons, while a thick pair of bands wrapped around her tights, stopping where a similar set of bird-like feet began. She was also wearing a helmet, an accessory that covered most of her face, except for her eyes and mouth. From the sides of the helmet, two long wings-like pieces of hair stuck out, curving out around her face. Her hair fell from the back of the helmet as well going down until reaching her lower back, and it also had a large gem sitting on top of her forehead.
Rose couldn't hear anything that the mystery woman and Mard Geer were talking about. Whatever Madeleine was doing to her, not only was giving her excruciating pain but also was messing up with all her senses. Rose weakly lifted her head to look at herself in the mirror, the marking on her body was already dark purple except the fingers of her right hand.
"How much longer for it to be done?" Mard Geer asked the white haired demon.
Madeleine tilted her head while licking her lips forming a smirk after. "Almost done."
Mard Geer chuckled, with a devilish glint on his dark eyes. "Good..." He trailed off with a small smirk. "Because we have some unexpected guests. I think I should give them a welcoming present after all."
"Can you hear me?!" The familiar voice of a man resonated in her mind, someone she had known for years.
"Warren..." "Warren?" She weakly whispered at the same time the ice mage loudly asked overpowering Rose's voice.
"I can hear you." Erza responded next with a little struggle while speaking. "Did something happen?" She asked.
"Mira is okay. She is here with us." Warren said through the telepathic link he created between Fairy Tail members.
"Sorry for making you worry." Mirajane softly said. "Anyone had seen Rose? Is she with any of you?"
"I'm here..." She quietly said but she didn't get any response back. Instead, Rose felt the needles on her neck going a little deeper than before and releasing more of that substance that they produce. It didn't take longer for Rose to feel a stabbing pain coming from her heart and everything inside of her was boiling with her only visible skin turning red and a dark purple smoke started to come out of her pores. Rose couldn't feel her own light magic, not even the golden markings on her hand were there, everything was gone. The dark purple ancient marking started to shine while a large black magic circle appeared underneath her and a strong gust of wind started to swirl around her making her hair float upward with it while screaming out in pain. She felt like they were tearing her limbs apart.
Mard Geer laughed, happy to see that his plan was going like he expected. The hand that he was using to rest his cheek, he lifted two fingers to his temple using his own abilities to interfere with the telepathic link between the guild. "Wizarding link Fairy Tail, right?" He asked with a sinister smirk adorning her lips.
"Who are you bastard?!" A member from the guild exclaimed.
"I'm King of Hades, Mard Geer." He responded to their question without any hesitation. "Also don't need to worry about your comrade, she is in good hands right now." He added before opening his own link and transmitting Rose's scream of agony for the guild to hear.
"What the hell are you doing to her?!" Natsu angrily exclaimed. "I swear I'm going to kill you when I find you!" He threatened.
The threats coming front he fire dragon slayer didn't faze the demon, he just kept his calm while his dark eyes were buried on the brunette. Everyone started to call out her name but Mard Geer cut the link between the brunette and her guild. She wasn't able to respond to them even if she wanted to. He hummed when he noticed beads of golden light started to accumulate into a large sphere in front of Rose. "Even the most beautiful roses lose their petals at some point, just like every light also loses its brightness." He hummed before chuckling at the angry threats coming from Fairy Tail. "But you don't need to remember that, since any of you have no tomorrow." He said before cutting the telepathic link between them. Mard Geer lazily moved his hand to the side. "Alegria." He murmured, words that once left his lips the building started to shake underneath them.
The last bead of light was extracted out of Rose's body and the sphere started to change into the same woman she saw in her dream. Luminous. Another black magic circle appeared underneath Luminous creating a dark crystal cage around her. The wall where Rose was chained up, it started to change into something soft starting to suck her in from behind.
"Mama..." Rose quietly called out for her mother.
Luminous turned around to see her daughter and sweetly smiled at her. "Everything is going to be alright." She softly said before the crystal shrunk and floated away going to Mard Geer's free hand.
The demon stood up from this chair and started to walk his way out of the room with Madeleine following behind him. He wickedly smiles while observing the crystal with interest. "Finally, one problem out of the way. Her sacrifice is going to be for the greater good." He said with his steps getting quieter once the door was closed behind him - leaving Rose by herself.
Rose felt like nothing - she felt empty - like they took a part of her, one she needed with her even if she only knew was there until that moment. It was like a part of her that kept her in the right state of mind was taken away from her. Rose hung her head low, defeated with wide eyes open staring at nothing but the red flesh that the ground had turned into, she was too weak to fight back the same flesh that swallowed her whole into another prison. To Rose, she felt like it was the end of everything - the end of herself.