Rosemary Village, a small and relatively quiet village that was out of the way of any major towns or cities. For this reason, Rosemary made for a good target for Dark Mages to attack, such as what was happening at this very moment.
The village had been attacked out of nowhere by Zeref Cultists, Dark Mages that worship the Black Wizard Zeref and sought to revive him. The cultists goal was to capture and enslave people from different villages and send them to the Tower of Heaven to force completion of its construction. Their most recent target being Rosemary Village, where they have already kidnapped several people and are now destroying the village to cover their tracks and rounding up any stragglers.
One such straggler was a seven-year-old girl who was coughing from the smoke of her village burning around her. The girl had shoulder length scarlet red hair, pale skin, and purple eyes.
This girl was Naru, no last name, and she is searching around for someone.
"Erza! Erza, where are you?!" Naru shouted, worried and fearful that she couldn't find her sister.
She didn't know where anyone was, having been separated from her sister and their friends, Simon and his little sister, Kagura.
Naru still couldn't believe this was happening, it had been just like every other day until suddenly Dark Mages started capturing people and destroying the village. She had been with Erza, Simon, and Kagura when the Dark Mages attacked and had gotten separated during the chaos. Now she's trying to find Erza but couldn't see anything through the smoke and flames.
"Hey there's another one!"
Naru paled when she saw three cultists seeing her and without hesitation she turned around and ran away from them. She didn't want to run and abandoned her sister and friends, but what could she do? She's just a kid who doesn't have any magic or knows how to fight, all she can do is run.
Running into the forest, Naru quickly climbed up a tree and hid herself from her pursuers. She heard their footsteps close by, making the girl shiver in fear at being discovered, but after a while she heard the steps fade away. Though she didn't climb down, still terrified of being discovered.
It made tears appear in Naru's eyes that she couldn't do anything, for all she knew Erza and the others could have been captured or killed and here she was hiding like a coward, instead of trying to do something.
At one moment, Naru thought she fell asleep and somehow stayed in the tree rather than fall out. But when she woke up, she saw the smoke was mostly gone and she could no longer see the glow of the fire. Slowly, Naru climbed out of the tree and ran back to her village only to be horrified at seeing it completely destroyed.
Walking around the wreckage, Naru looked around for any signs of anyone or if the Dark Mages were still here.
"Simon! Kagura! Erza!" Naru called out, hoping they had managed to escape as well.
But after searching the entirety of the destroyed village and finding no sign of her sister or friends, Naru's head fell as she wiped away the tears falling from her eyes. She didn't know if they were alive or dead, and now she was alone.
Five days had passed. Naru walked through the woods, not having any particular destination in mind, and an empty look in her eyes.
After seeing her home destroyed, along with not knowing what happened to her sister, either having been killed or captured, Naru had just left without looking back. She hasn't eaten or drank anything for several days, she tried hunting or foraging; but she didn't know how and thus simply kept walking.
Her entire body hurt from walking as well as lack of nourishment and sleep, given whenever she closed her eyes all she saw were the dead bodies of her sister and friends, all of them looking at her accusingly for running away like a coward.
I'm sorry. Naru thought, filled with sadness and self-loathing.
Though suddenly Naru heard footsteps coming towards her and soon a shadow was cast over her. Looking up, Naru gulped when she saw probably the most intimidating man she's even seen.
It was a muscular young man with long, dark blue colored hair. He carries a sharp gaze; his eyes were a blue color, along with having black circles around them. He is dark-skinned, and on his body, he had strange blue markings. His attire consisted of a high collared, black cloak possessing the same blue markings on his body, sharp claws around his neck, a sash around his waist, a gold arm ring tightened around his right upper arm, and baggy pants which are decorated with the same blue markings.
What terrified Naru was just how coldly he looked at her, like she was about as important as a speck of dust. He wasn't even glaring, just his mere presence and the magic he had radiating off of him made Naru feel like she was suffocating. Even if Naru wasn't a mage or trained to use or sense magic, she could just feel the power he contained.
Naru was unable to say or do anything, afraid that even the slightest movement would make the man lash out.
Acnologia regarded the little girl in front of him blankly. He had been resting in the nearby mountains, far away from humans and any other creatures, when he sensed something that made him immediately transform into his dragon form and take flight.
He sensed a Dragon or Dragon Slayer, and he was going to kill them.
But now seeing this girl now, he idly wondered if he had gotten rusty after isolating himself. As this girl was obviously no Dragon or Dragon Slayer. And yet he could still smell the scent of a Dragon on her and sense her magic was similar to a Dragon Slayers, but she clearly had no training in Dragon Slayer Magic or even seemed aware of it herself.
Though this didn't really concern Acnologia and he planned to just kill the girl, anyway, given he swore to eradicate all Dragons and Dragon Slayers. But something stopped him.
It wasn't pity for the girl's weak appearance, looking like little more than skin and bones, with dark circles under her eyes. Acnologia did smirk though when he saw the fear in her eyes, even in his less recognizable human form, he can still strike fear into humans. But yes, it wasn't pity that stopped Acnologia from killing her, he slaughtered thousands of men, women, and children in his four hundred years alive, what would matter, adding one more corpse to the pile. What stopped him though, was something that made his smirk widen.
The girl's potential. She clearly had a connection to Dragons, perhaps the child of a Dragon Slayer, and thus she'd be even stronger than other Dragon Slayers, given she was born with Dragon Slayer Magic. With the proper training she'd make for a powerful mage.
A mage powerful enough to finally give Acnologia the challenge he desires.
Yes, that would be a much better idea. He'll train this girl to become a Dragon Slayer, one that'll surpass all others, and when she's learned everything he has to teach, once she reaches the peak of her power, then they will fight. It will be the challenge Acnologia craves, one that will finally push him to his limits, but if she proves to be unable to provide him a challenge then he'll just kill her, like he's done with all Dragons and Dragon Slayers he's encountered.
Either way, Acnologia wins.
His mind made up, Acnologia turned around and started walking away.
Naru unconsciously released the breath she had been holding when the man started leaving. Though she immediately froze when the man stopped and turned a little looking at her, before jerking his head, motioning her to follow him. Gulping, Naru ran up and began walking beside the man, while she didn't know him or his intentions, something told her if she didn't follow him, he'd just kill her and be on his merry way.
Naru sat in a clearing, nervously fiddling with her hands. She had been walking with the strange man for not even an hour when they stopped in a clearing where he told her to stay until he returned. Well he didn't actually say that, he just pointed at the ground and then walked off into the woods without looking to see if she actually did what he said.
It was already night and Naru was wondering if he'd just left her there. Though not a moment later, Naru heard footsteps and tensed up only to see it was the man, but she was shocked when she saw him carrying a large dead boar on his shoulder like it was nothing.
Wordlessly, he dropped the boar on the ground and, to Naru's amazement, created a large fireball in his hand and threw it at the boar. After a few moments, the man swiped his arm through the air and created a strong gust of wind that extinguished the flames, revealing the cooked boar.
"Eat." Acnologia commanded, sitting down and pulling off a chunk of meat and throwing it at Naru
Catching it Naru looked at it hesitantly, knowing she could get sick if the meat wasn't cooked all the way. But given she hasn't eaten in several days, Naru didn't really care and dug in.
It was bland, tasteless, and really bitter, but Naru didn't care since it was food either way.
"Tell me girl, what would you do if you could use magic?" Acnologia asked as Naru ate, causing her to stop momentarily as she looked at the man, thinking his question over.
What would I do… if I had magic? Naru thought while looking down sadly.
If she had magic, she would have protected her friends and sister from the Dark Mages. But she didn't and now for all she knew, Erza was dead, her twin sister.
Naru and Erza lived in Rosemary Village their entire lives, they never knew their parents, if they were alive, if they were dead, if they even wanted them. But that never got them down as they had each other, they were family no matter what. And now she was gone, her only family was taken from her.
All because of those damn Dark Mages! Naru thought, her sadness being replaced by anger as she thought about the ones who took everything from her.
They never did anything, the people of Rosemary were kind, and yet they were attacked and enslaved by those bastards! Her home, her friends, her sister, everything was taken from her!
All because they wanted to revive the Black Wizard, Zeref.
Clenching her fists, Naru looked up at Acnologia, who raised a brow intrigued by the anger in her gaze.
"If I had magic, I would hunt down and kill every single Dark Mage in the world. I would find every demon, artifact, anything related to the Black Wizard Zeref and destroy them all, until not even the memory of Zeref was left. Anyone that would seek to revive him, I will hunt them all down and kill them!" Naru swore with anger, lacing her words.
That was her goal now, to become strong enough to kill all Dark Mages, she'll do what the Guilds and Magic council refuse to do and wipe out the Dark Guilds from all of Earthland. She won't stop, she'll make sure that Dark Mages can never hurt innocent people again.
It'll be their turn to be afraid and beg for mercy. Mercy that she won't give.
And for those that worship Zeref, those that seek to revive him, she'll make them suffer a fate worse than death.
Acnologia's interest increased as he sensed the girl's anger and hatred, along with feeling her inner magic flare up. It made the Dragon King smirk, yes, this girl will definitely provide him the challenge he seeks.
Her anger will fuel her strength, even more so when he tells her the fact Zeref is alive and can't be killed. If she grows strong enough to be able to kill the immortal Black Wizard, then she will truly have proven herself a worthy challenger.
Perhaps even a worthy heir to my throne. Acnologia thought idly.
That is if she's able to kill him before he kills her.
With that Acnologia got up and sat against a tree, before closing his eyes.
"Eat and then go to sleep. We'll be starting your training at dawn." Acnologia said.
"Training?" Naru asked confused, Acnologia opening an eye to look at her in annoyance at the question.
"Yes, you say you'll wipe out all Dark Mages and all memories of the Black Wizard. I can give you power to do that. Now be quiet." Acnologia said, not planning to answer all the questions she asks.
This shocked Naru, this guy was going to train her, just like that? Naru wanted to ask why, what exactly made her so special that he's willing to train her?
Though, while she wanted to ask why, Naru thought it might be better to hold her tongue, since she had feeling this guy wasn't helping her out of the kindness of his heart.
For now, she'll accept the training and hope he'll actually make good on making her strong enough to wipe out all Dark Mages.
After eating more meat, Naru laid on the ground and after a while managed to fall asleep.
Twelve years have passed since Naru lost her sister and home, only to be found by Acnologia.
The next morning after she first met him, he started training her immediately, first unlocking her magic and then started training her in his Dragon Slayer Magic. His own type of Dragon Slayer Magic was also one of the most powerful, it was Ethernano Dragon Slayer Magic, Acnologia's element was magic itself.
Meaning that Acnologia could devour all types of magic rather than just a specific element, he could use every type of Dragon Slayer Magic, and could absorb the Ethernano from the atmosphere to use his attack. But what made Acnologia's magic truly dangerous, was the fact that it allowed him to reap the souls of Dragons he slain, not only killing them but taking their magic for his own.
It was with this power that Acnologia was known as the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse and the Dragon of Magic.
Anyway, that had been the only easy day of training, every other following day was torture and agony filled.
Acnologia proved to be a slave driver, not taking it easy on her at all as he showed her how to perform his magic. He only showed her an attack once and then told her he wouldn't show her another until he felt she could perform it at an adequate level; by his standards, mind you. It'd take weeks, sometimes even months, for her to master a spell and for Acnologia to teach her a new one.
Besides training her in his magic, Acnologia also physically trained Naru, given she also needed a strong body. This is where Acnologia truly showed his sadistic side; every morning at sunrise, he came up and had her do a thousand sit ups, pushups, pull ups, and run a hundred laps. Though she never once complained about the hellish training, knowing each night she went to sleep, her body screaming at her to stop, she knew it was another day closer to achieving her goal.
A goal that now included hunting down and killing Zeref, after Acnologia told her that the Black Wizard was still alive and immortal. This only fueled Naru's anger, that Zeref was alive and hiding somewhere, while Dark Mages kill and enslave people in his name.
Once she deals with all the Dark Mages and Zeref's demons, then she'll kill Zeref as well; even if he's immortal, she'll find a way to kill him.
Acnologia also didn't make it a secret that he's only training her to provide him a challenge and that if she failed to give him a good fight, he won't hesitate to kill her. This didn't really affect Naru, it only gave her another reason to become the strongest.
Naru also became skilled at hunting and trap-making, these weren't things that Acnologia taught her, but they were necessary in order to eat. Given how Acnologia told her if she wanted to eat then she'll have to do it herself, he had only done so when they met as it'd be counter-productive if she wasn't at her best when her training started.
After eight years, shortly after she turned fifteen, Naru had finally completed her training under Acnologia. She learned and mastered all his attacks both for his Ethernano Dragon Slayer Magic along with other types of Dragon Slayer Magic. With her training done, Acnologia had left Naru on her own.
Since then, for the past four years, Naru has hunted down Dark Guilds and wiped them all out, not hesitating in killing all members. They all tried fighting her, thinking they could defeat a lone mage, but they soon learned she wasn't an ordinary mage. Some of the Dark Mages, after seeing her tear apart their comrades, tried running but she easily hunted them down and killed them. A few even tried begging for mercy, only to die like all the rest.
She kept good on her desire of killing all Dark Mages, she took an especially sadistic pleasure in killing those that worshipped Zeref. Their screams were music to her ears.
Though her actions haven't gone unnoticed, with Rune Knights having tried to apprehend her and bring her before the Magic Council to answer for the Dark Guilds she's wiped out. Naru of course didn't do this, not wanting to waste her time with fools that only sit around all day and act like they're important. She didn't kill the Rune Knights, merely crippled them when they tried forcing her to go.
This proved to be a mistake, deciding to cripple them instead of killing them, as not even a week later she had been labelled a Dark Mage herself. That nearly made Naru want to go and slaughter the Magic Council for daring to throw her in with the same type of people who use magic for their own gain. She's the one who's wiping out Dark Mages and keeping people safe. The only reason she didn't is because they honestly weren't worth her time, if they wanted to make her the villain then it's a path she'll gladly follow.
Besides it's not like anyone has seen her face before, no one alive anyway. They also didn't know her name and instead gave her a title, "Rose, the Dragon Princess." Based on her hair color and magic.
Currently Naru was in Hargeon Town, having sensed a Dark Mage that was located there. That was something else being an Ethernano Dragon Slayer granted her, being able to sense "evil" aura within people along with the darkness in people. It made hunting Dark Mages easier, along with being able to replenish her power by devouring "evil" aura.
Naru has also grown and matured in the past twelve years. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, her scarlet hair had grown out to her waist, and she had a narrow and voluptuous figure. Her attire consisted of a black sleeveless mini dress that hugged her large bosom with a white collar and a red tie, a red belt that had a red side skirt cover, long black socks and black boots, red gauntlets and black gloves.
She also had a sharp gaze like Acnologia that helped to ward off anyone that tried approaching her.
Sniffing the air, Naru growled as she smelled the Dark Mage. Following the scent led her to the docks and a large yacht. Sensing the Dark Mage on the ship made Naru grimace, the one downside of Dragon Slayer Magic was the motion sickness.
Stepping onto the ship, Naru groaned and steady herself on the railing, even if the ship wasn't moving, she still felt sick just by being on it. Another downside, the stronger the Dragon Slayer, the worse the motion sickness.
A small price to pay, to have the power to wipe out Dark Mages.
Once she managed to calm down her stomach, she searched the ship for the Dark Mages, having sensed more than one, she went down to the lower sections. Reaching the lower floors, Naru found something that pissed her off beyond all measure.
It was a group of Dark Mages with cages scattered around the room. What pissed Naru off was the cages were filled with young girls.
Slavers. Naru thought enraged.
These were the Dark Mages she hated the most, just as much as Zeref Worshipers, as it was these types of Dark Mages that took her sister from her. Before she was just going to kill them quickly, but now, they're going to suffer.
Summoning a black cloak and a white faceless mask that had red tear-markings below, as well as above, the eyes from a Requip space to hide her identity, Naru ignited her arms with crimson red fire, finally catching the attention of the Dark Mages.
"Inferno Dragon Iron Claw!" Naru said, swiping her flame covered hand at the Dark Mages unleashing claw shaped flames.
The flames crashed into the Dark Mages leaving painful third degree burns on their bodies. The lucky ones died moments after, the unlucky ones were currently screaming in agony.
"You! You're gonna pay for attacking Bora of Prominence! Prominence Whip!" Bora shouted, creating a Magic Seal that released a number of curved fiery beams of purple fire that launched towards Naru with each beam branching off in a different direction to strike at her from different angles
Naru only gave them a glance before holding up her hand and pulled the purple fire towards her. The fire gathered in her hand and then to the shock of Bora, the flames were being absorbed through the mouth of her mask, she ate the fire.
"Wh-What?!" Bora shouted in shock at seeing her eat the fire, all while Naru smirked, since she had some runes placed on her mask to allow any magic to harmlessly pass harmlessly through the lower part of it, straight to and out of her mouth.
"Your flames taste bitter. Now be burned by hellfire, trash. Inferno Dragon's…" Naru started as she leaned her head back before throwing her head forward unleashing a torrent of flames.
"…ROAR!"
Bora only had a second to scream in agony before his entire body was reduced to ash, along with the rest of the Dark Mages that were still breathing.
Cutting off her attack, Naru smirked when she saw nothing was left.
Inferno Dragon Slayer Magic was one of the styles of Dragon Slayer Magic that Acnologia had taught her. Unlike normal Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, an Inferno Dragon Slayer's flames burn much hotter and anything or anyone that touches them are guaranteed to be burned to ash. While their deaths may have been quick, they certainly weren't painless as the split second before they were turned to ash, every single cell in their bodies was being burned.
Turning to the girls still trapped in cages, Naru saw most of them shivering in fear of her, understandable given her attire and that she did just burn several people alive, without a shred of guilt.
"Titanium Dragon Sword." Naru said, turning her arm into a titanium sword with spikes that began rotating like a chainsaw.
Swiping her arm, Naru destroyed the cages, while getting a few screams of surprise.
"All of you go." Naru ordered, with the girls being more than happy to get off the ship.
Once all the girls were gone, Naru took off her cloak and mask before leaving the ship as well, stopping once she reached the dock and turned towards the ship.
Now just one thing left to do. Naru thought.
Opening her mouth, Naru began devouring the Ethernano in the air.
"Apocalypse Dragon's… ROAR!" Naru said while unleashing a blast of pure magic that eradicated the ship and cut a path through the sea.
Once the ship was completely destroyed, Naru stopped her roar and turned to leave, satisfied at having eliminated a few more Dark Mages. However as she left, Naru heard one of the girls she saved call out to her.
"Thank you Titania!"
Naru continued walking since they were far enough away to not really make out what she actually looked like. Though, she did raise a brow, not sure why she said that or thinks she's this "Titania" person.
Who the hell is Titania? Naru wondered.
Erza sighed in relief as she entered the guildhall. She's happy to be back, since the latest job she took was to take care of several giant monsters that proved to be stronger than they looked.
She planned to rest for a few days before going out on another job.
And having plenty of strawberry cheesecake. Erza thought with her mouth-watering at the thought of having her favorite food.
Walking up to the bar counter, Erza saw Mirajane reading Sorcerer Weekly.
"Hey Mira. What're you reading?" Erza asked as she took a seat, causing Mira to lower the magazine with a worried expression for some reason.
"You." Answered Mira.
"Me?" Asked Erza, confused since she's sure she hadn't given an interview nor really done anything to warrant an article written about her.
"Well not you specifically, but you should see yourself." Mira replied as she handed the magazine to Erza.
Now curious of what exactly was in the magazine, Erza opened it to the page that Mirajane was reading and frowned. And with each word, Erza's frown deepened.
It was about a woman who had a similar hair to her who is suspected of being the new Dark Mage, Fenris, and was seen using what looks like Fire Dragon Slayer Magic to kill a group of Dark Mage Slave Traders.
If this is someone's attempt to frame me as Fenris, then they're doing a rather poor job. Erza thought, given how Natsu is the Fire Dragon Slayer, not her.
Even then, they got the description and color of the flames wrong, as Natsu doesn't use crimson fire.
Though as Erza continued reading, a foreboding thought came to her. The vague description of Fenris did make it sound like she did look incredibly similar to Erza, given the girls that she saved from the Dark Mages had said they only saw scarlet-colored hair. And Erza knew only one other person who had the same shade of hair as her.
Could Fenris be… Naru? Erza thought, worried at the idea of her twin sister being the Dark Mage Slayer.
When she had been captured and sent to the Tower of Heaven, Erza had tried finding her sister among the other slaves and was relieved when she didn't find her, meaning she managed to escape. That was what she always told herself every day, that Naru managed to escape, as the other option was that she was dead and Erza refused to believe she was dead.
After her escape from the tower and joined Fairy Tail, every time Erza went out on a job, she'd ask people in other towns if they've seen Naru, but never getting any good news. She's even asked Master Makarov to ask the other Guild Leaders during their meetings if Naru has joined any of their guilds or seen her. But after years of searching, Erza still hasn't found a lead to her sister.
She refused to believe that Naru was dead, call it a twin bond or whatever, but Erza knew she was still alive, and she won't stop searching no matter what.
But it could be possible that the reason Erza has never been able to find her is because Naru is… Fenris?
Erza immediately shook her head of those thought.
No. It's not impossible, Naru would never do the things Fenris has done. Erza thought, knowing the type of person her sister is and she isn't a killer
Erza swore, she will find her sister and see for herself that Naru is not Fenris. Then afterwards, maybe she'll be able to join Erza in Fairy Tail.
Maybe I could even teach her how to use magic, maybe she can use a style of Requip like me. Erza thought, while smiling at the idea of doing jobs with her sister and introducing her to the guild.
Naru frowned as she sneezed again.
Someone must be talking about me. Naru thought before shrugging and going back to her meal.
Currently, Naru was in a bar in a small town. While Naru doesn't drink, preferring to keep her mind clear, they were great places to pick up information as long as you know what to look for and focus on what's being said around you.
Naru looked up as she sensed some Dark Mages entering the bar. The only thing stopping her from killing them when she saw them was that she wanted to hear if they were part of a Dark Guild that she could exterminate. Focusing on what the Dark Mages were saying, Naru heard them whispering/bragging about their plans to attack the Guild Leaders with something called Lullaby.
Lullaby, another of the Black Wizard's demons. Naru thought while smiling darkly.
Not only will she be able to exterminate more Dark Mages, but also get her hands on another of Zeref's Demons. She's managed to track down and kill a few Etherious, but not before learning everything they knew, whether it be anything regarding Zeref's location, the location of other Etherious, anything that may prove useful. Then afterwards, she'd killed them.
Unfortunately, all the Etherious she's killed were only low-level weaklings, none of the stronger ones, so she didn't get anything really useful. But Lullaby, that was one of the stronger Etherious, so it should likely to know more about Zeref.
Seeing the Dark Mages leaving, Naru quickly paid for her food and drink before following after them. Seeing them walk down an alley, Naru smirked as she followed them while the shadows Fenris up, blocking anyone from seeing what was about to happen.
So, Eisenwald is planning to use the Lullaby to kill the Guild Masters during their meeting. And they're rendezvousing at Oshibana Station. Naru thought as she exited the alley, while wiping blood off her hands and face with a piece of cloth she ripped off one of the Dark Mages's jackets.
Behind her were the mutilated bodies of the Dark Mages, most of their fingers and toes had been torn off, a few internal organs removed, nothing that'd kill them, and expressions of agony forever etched into their faces.
Once she had what she needed, Naru made sure to kill them slowly, given the fact the bastards were planning to use Lullaby, who's magic kills anyone who hears it, and likely kill dozens of innocent people. They forfeited their lives the moment they agreed to commit mass genocide.
Shit, I'm gonna have to take a train. Naru thought as she hated riding on trains, thanks to her motion sickness.
Now for the first time since she became a Dragon Slayer, did Naru wish she had wings.
Knowing there's nothing she could do about it, Naru left the town to head for the nearest train station.
Erigor smirked as he and the rest of the Eisenwald Guild entered Oshibana Station. It was easy enough dealing with the Rune Knights, now they just had to wait for Kageyama to arrive with the Lullaby.
Then we'll deal with those flies at the meeting, and anyone else that gets in our way will hear the melody of death. Erigor thought, eager to eliminate the Guild Masters and then the Magic Council.
Though he frowned when they reached the tracks and saw a person wearing a red cloak and white mask sitting on top of a train.
"What's this, a lost little fly." Erigor said smirking, as the person stood up and grabbed their cloak.
"Not a fly…" Said Naru, tossing her cloak into the air, distracting the Dark Mage long enough.
"… a dragon! Ice Dragon's Blizzard!" Naru said while summoning a magic circle that unleashed a blast of freezing cold ice and wind at the Dark Mages.
They had no time to escape, with only Erigor managing to fly up high enough to avoid the attack, and yet he still felt the temperature plunge into the negatives. When the miniature blizzard vanished, Erigor was shocked to see all his guild mates on the ground with their skin now deathly blue, but what shocked him was that on some of them he saw… burns!
How, how could they be burned by ice?! Thought Erigor as he looked on in shock and horror at the corpses of his men.
"And now it's just you, me, and ice so cold it burns." Naru said, jumping off the train as an icy aura surrounded her.
Gritting his teeth Erigor, began spinning his scythe, generating a wind tunnel.
"Storm Mail!" Erigor said, creating a magic circle as wind currents surrounded his body like armor.
He's using one of his trump cards right away, knowing this wasn't an opponent to take lightly.
"You think a little wind is going to save your worthless life?" Naru asked, smirking.
"Laugh all you want, but with my Storm Mail, I'll show you what happens to those that cross the Death God. Storm Shred!" Said Erigor, launching several blades of wind at Naru.
"I'm quaking in my boots. Ice Dragon's Ice Beam!" Said Naru, jumping up over the wind blades while cupping her hands and creating a pale blue ball, before firing a beam of ice at Erigor.
Erigor didn't bother dodging, knowing that his Storm Mail would protect him, and smirked when it did just that. Though he frowned when he saw Naru was still smirking.
"Expand." Naru stated.
Immediately the end of her Ice Beam exploded into several ice spikes that shot straight through Erigor's Storm Mail much to his shock and pain as the spikes impaled him. Losing his concentration, Erigor's Storm Mail vanished and Naru took her chance.
"Ice Dragon's… ROAR!" Naru roared, unleashing a blast of icy wind.
Erigor raised his arms in an attempt to protect himself, but it was in vain as he was overcome by the cold and encased in a block of ice. The ice block fell to the ground where it shattered into thousands of pieces.
"Hmph, good riddance." Naru muttered.
Going over to the bodies, Naru searched through them to see if any of them had Lullaby on them. Though her attention was drawn to a train that pulled into the station with only one guy coming out.
"Erigor, I have the Lullaby, but we have Fai—" Kageyama said only to stop in his tracks, while looking on in horror and fear when he saw the frozen and dead bodies of his guildmates.
His fear only increased when he saw Naru, stepping back when he recognized her.
"R-Rose!" Kageyama squeaked out, terrified at seeing the Dark Mage Slayer.
"So, my reputation precedes me." Naru said as she stood up, taking notice of the flute he was holding.
"Give me the Lullaby and maybe I'll consider killing you quickly." Naru said, with Kageyama stumbling back and holding the flute up.
"St-stay back! Come any closer and I swear that I'll use it!" Kageyama said, shaking in fear, as Naru simply scoffed at his threat.
"Hate to tell you dumbass, but if you use that, you'll die too." Said Naru as she rolled her eyes at how stupid these people were to not notice the writing on the wall.
"Wh-what?" Asked Kageyama.
"That's right, Lullaby kills anyone who hears it, including the user." Naru answered, smirking.
Kageyama was horrified by this realization, they had all been under the belief that the user was protected from Lullaby's curse. But that means their plan to kill the Guild Masters wouldn't have mattered, as they would have died as well!
Though his moment of hesitation was all Naru needed.
"Ice Dragon's Ice Claws!" Naru said as her hands were covered in large claws of ice.
Kageyama had no time to react before Naru stabbed her claws into his chest, before viciously ripping his body in half.
Dismissing the Ice Claws, Naru picked up Lullaby and smirked.
"Now to find out what you know about Zeref." Naru said before preparing to leave.
But before she could leave, the doors burst open showing three people and a… flying cat?
Naru looked at the people, two boys and a girl. One of the boys had pink hair and from what Naru could smell, he reeked of fire and dragons, the other boy wasn't wearing a shirt for some reason and smelled like ice.
But it was the girl that made Naru's eyes widen in shock.
It was like looking in a mirror, the only difference being their eyes and clothes, but Naru knew who it was.
"Erza." Naru whispered, shocked at seeing her sister again and overjoyed to see she was alive.
"You?! Are you the one who did this?!" Erza demanded as she glared at Naru; while Gray, Natsu, and Happy looked at the bodies of the deceased Dark Mages in a mix of shock and horror. Gray especially, given they were killed by Ice Magic and it made him swallow his vomit at seeing the more lethal side of Ice Magic
Naru didn't respond, still in shock at seeing her sister.
"I won't ask again! Are you the one who killed these people?!" Said Erza, while summoning one of her swords.
Naru looked at the Dark Mages she'd just killed and went back to her sister, before laughing bitterly.
"I had… always dreamed of seeing you again, now here you are after all these years. But I had hoped it would be under better conditions… Erza." Said Naru as she reached up and removed her mask.
Now it was Erza's turn to be stunned into silence when she saw the woman's face, one identical to her own.
"Ru-Naru? Is that you?" Erza asked, not wanting to believe that it was her lost sister.
"Yeah, it's me. Hey sis." Naru said with a shaky smile.
Looking from her sister to the frozen corpses, a feeling of dread washed over her.
"You're… you're Fenris, aren't you?" Erza asked, hoping that the answer was no.
"Yes." Naru confirmed.
Erza lost her grip on her sword, looking at her sister with tears falling from her left eye, as she was no longer able to cry from her right one, thanks to it being artificial.
She was happy to have finally found her sister again, but to see that she is in fact Fenris and surrounded by dead bodies. It hurt worse than Jellal's betrayal.
Erza wanted to deny it, that it was all lies, but the proof was staring her right in the face.
Her sister was a Dark Mage.
Natsu and Gray saw the pain on Erza's face, before glaring at the Dark Mage. The two stepped forward with fire and ice encased in their hands, respectively. They may not know what's going on, but what they did know was this girl was a Dark Mage and that she was hurting Erza emotionally, and they aren't going to let anyone hurt their friend. But before they could attack her, they were stopped by Erza blocking them with her arms.
"Natsu, Gray, don't. I need to… ask my sister some questions." Erza said before stepping forward, while Natsu and Gray looked at her in shock.
"Your sister?!" Natsu exclaimed, while looking between Erza and Naru.
"Oh man, I didn't know Erza had an evil twin!" Said Happy with a stunned and confused expression.
Naru looked at Natsu with a raised eyebrow, before looking at her sister.
"I'm surprised that you have a Dragon Slayer as a comrade. Much less that one is still alive in this era." Naru said, given the fact she'd have thought all Dragon Slayers were dead.
This got Natsu's attention as he remembered that Fenris, or rather Naru, is also a Dragon Slayer.
"Who's your dragon parent? Where are they now? Do you know where Igneel is?" Natsu questioned.
While he didn't want to ask a Dark Mage for help, he also wanted to find Igneel.
"Igneel? The Fire Dragon King? I'm surprised he's still alive after all this time." Naru stated, feeling a bit surprised at this bit of information.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Demanded Natsu, both confused and worried about what that could mean for his foster father.
It was then Naru decided to drop the bomb on them for just who she was.
"Simple, my father is the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia." Naru revealed, shocking the three mages to hear she was trained by the Black Dragon himself.
"But don't get the wrong idea, I only call him my father out of courtesy for raising and teaching me. I don't see him as a father and he didn't see me as a daughter; in fact, he told me straight to my face that he'd kill me if I didn't meet his expectations." Naru said, while shrugging nonchalantly.
She was never really bothered by that as Acnologia was only training her so he could fight her in the future, plus she was glad to have the strength to kill Zeref. There was no familial love between them, she only called him "father" out of respect for his strength.
"As for your question, it's surprising if Igneel is still alive, considering Acnologia was the one responsible for the extinction of the Dragons and Dragon Slayers because you see, amongst all the different forms of Dragon Slayer Magic, Acnologia's was by far the most dangerous. The reason being he didn't just kill Dragons, he took their very souls, meaning even if by some chance they managed to escape him, they'd soon die without their soul." Naru said, much to their horror at learning of a type of magic that can take away souls.
"Th-then that means… that Igneel… he's…" Natsu said unable to finish, while Naru nodded.
"Igneel, at full strength, was one of the few Dragons that could rival and kill Acnologia, so of course he was one of the first to lose his soul." Naru said, feeling sorry for the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, whose head was hung low, as she knew what it was like to lose a loved one.
"That's why it's surprising to learn that Igneel was still alive for the past four hundred years, even more so that he was able to hide from Acnologia and train a Dragon Slayer. But by now, there's no doubt he's dead." Said Naru as she felt a certain amount of respect for the Fire Dragon King.
Not many can say they survived battling Acnologia and managed to avoid him for four hundred years. A shame he's already dead, as she would have liked to slay him personally as a way to prepare for fighting Acnologia.
"You said Acnologia was the reason why Dragons and Dragon Slayers became extinct four hundred years ago. Then why would he bother training you?" Gray asked, not seeing the logic of wiping out Dragon Slayers only to then make one himself.
"That's the kicker, isn't it?" Naru said rhetorically, before looking at her sister.
"Apparently one of our parents was a Dragon Slayer themselves, giving us a strong affinity for Dragon Slayer Magic. Acnologia sensed this in me and decided to train me in the hope that I would provide him the challenge he's desired for so long, thanks to our own draconian heritage." Naru revealed, shocking them once again.
"One of our parents… was a Dragon Slayer?" Erza asked in complete and total shock, given this is the first thing she's learned anything about their parents.
Though Erza quickly shook off her shock at all the revelations that she had learned in less than an hour, knowing she needed to get back to the matter at hand. The dead Dark Mages and Naru, currently holding Lullaby.
"Naru, why did you kill these people? And what are you going to do with Lullaby?" Erza questioned, while hoping that Naru didn't plan to use the flute herself.
Looking back at the frozen corpses, Naru scoffed.
"If you mean the trash, then they had it coming. As far as I'm concerned, the only good Dark Mage is a dead one, especially those that worship Zeref. They all deserve to be wiped out and that's exactly what I'm doing, all Dark Mages and anything related to Zeref will be destroyed until not even the memory of the Black Wizard remains." Naru said.
"But, they're human beings! You could have turned them in, and they would have been sent to jail! Killing people isn't right!" Erza argued.
"They stopped being people the moment they became Dark Mages and planned to use Lullaby to kill dozens of innocents! And don't think I can't tell what those Zeref Worshipers did to you, I can sense that artificial eye in your head. And if they aren't already dead, trust me, once I get my hands on them, I'll have them begging for something as sweet as death! In fact, you should be right here next to me, helping me wipe out these bastards!" Naru said enraged.
She had been able to see the difference between Erza's artificial eye and her real one. It wasn't hard for Naru to figure out how she lost it, those Zeref Worshippers took her eye! Naru will take a special kind of pleasure in torturing the bastards that hurt her sister.
This made a cold realization wash over Erza as she realized why Naru was like this. Rosemary Village was destroyed by Zeref Worshipers, Erza and Simon had both been captured, while Naru was able to escape, but was completely alone. Erza also doubted that being raised by Acnologia, someone who no-doubtfully encouraged Naru's vendetta to make her stronger, helped matters. Losing her home, her friends and sister, and then being taken in and raised by someone like Acnologia, Erza really isn't surprised that this was the path Naru went down.
And that could have been me as well. Erza thought, while realizing she could have turned out just like Naru had, if things had been even slightly different.
If it hadn't been for Rob and her friends in the tower, Erza was sure that she would have gone down the same path as Naru. It made Erza all the more thankful for her friends and comrades keeping her out of the darkness, and now she had to do the same for her sister.
"Naru, this won't change what happened to us. Killing Dark Mages, it won't bring back our village or our friends." Erza said, with Naru nodding in agreement.
"You're right, it won't change what happened. But at least this way I'm making sure it never happens again and besides, you can't deny that you haven't thought about it." Naru said while looking at Erza with a knowing stare. A stare that Erza couldn't bring herself to meet out of shame, since what Naru said was true. There were indeed moments, especially early on, where she was tempted to kill Dark Mages, especially slavers and Zeref worshippers.
It was at that moment Natsu made his presence known and jumped into the air with a flame-covered fist.
"I have heard enough out of you! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu roared, while Naru jumped out of the way as Natsu slammed his fist into the ground, leaving a crater.
"If you wanna take out Dark Mages, then fine! But I'm not going to listen to your crap about going down to their level!" Natsu said with a fiery expression as he ran at Naru, who scoffed at his words.
"Then you're a fool. Look at what that kind of thinking has accomplished, nothing! The Magic Council doesn't give a damn about the world, as long as they can keep their illusion of power over the Legal Guilds, those same guilds that do nothing to take care of the problem. What you think, just because you beat up some Dark Mages and ship them off to prison, they'll suddenly reform and become good?" Naru demanded while dodging all of Natsu's attacks.
Normally she would have just killed anyone that attacks her, but considering the brat's her sister's comrade, she'll let just him tire himself out, not wanting to hurt her sister any more than she already has, even if unintentionally. Besides, she didn't have Acnologia's hatred of Dragons and Dragon Slayers; her anger was strictly reserved for Dark Mages, Etherious, Zeref, and anyone who hurts her sister.
Though as she continued avoiding Natsu's attacks, Naru started noticing… something about him. Narrowing her eyes, Naru looked at Natsu closely and focused her senses. Getting a feeling for his Ethernano, Naru looked more deeply inside him.
After a moment, Naru's eyes widened in anger at what she sensed.
"Fire Dragon's Wi—GAH!" Natsu said, preparing another attack when suddenly Naru wrapped her right hand around his throat and started choking him.
"Demon!" Naru hissed in complete and total rage.
That's what she sensed about Natsu, his Ethernano, it felt the same as all the Etherious she's encountered, and Lullaby's as well. He was one of Zeref's demons, and he dared to be around her sister!
"Inferno Dragon's Breakdown Fist!" Naru exclaimed, while gathering a large amount of crimson fire around her fist and smashed it into Natsu's chest, sending him flying into the wall.
"Natsu!" Happy cried out in worry for his friend and adoptive father.
Erza and Gray were also shocked at the sudden assault and quickly got between Naru and Natsu.
"What're you doing?!" Erza demanded, wanting to know why her sister suddenly attacked Natsu like that.
"I'm killing another of Zeref's demons!" Naru roared with her arms being coated in flames.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Sure, Natsu's an idiot and a flame brain, but he's not a demon!" Gray said.
"Screw… you… stripper…" Natsu groaned, while pulling himself out of the wall.
"Yes, he is! I can sense it; my Dragon Slayer Magic lets me sense Ethernano. And I've encountered enough Etherious to be able to sense one and he reeks of being an Etherious! Just like Lullaby!" Naru retorted while glaring at Natsu.
"Well how do you know it isn't the Lullaby you're sensing?! You've had it with you this entire time!" Said Erza, as she wasn't willing to believe that Natsu of all people is a demon.
"My senses are never wrong. I know a demon when I sense it, and that is a demon!" Naru growled while jabbing a finger at Natsu.
"Maybe he doesn't remember, maybe his powers are sealed; but he was created by Zeref and he'll die like all the rest." Said Naru.
"That… that… no… that doesn't… I can't be…" Natsu said with his eyes wide open and holding his head.
It wasn't possible that he was a demon created by Zeref, he was raised by Igneel, he's grown up and aged like a human, he's not a demon, he's not!
But… but… but what if Naru was right? What if he was a demon, but his memories and powers are sealed? He doesn't remember anything from his life before meeting Igneel, does that mean he's been a demon this entire time?
Then if it was true… then who even was he anymore?!
"Even if that's true, then Natsu shouldn't be judged for anything he might have done before having his memories sealed. He's a Fairy Tail Wizard and deserves a chance to find out who he is, himself." Erza said, not willing to turn her back on Natsu and allow him to be killed because of who he might have been.
"This is your last warning Erza, move or I'll move you." Naru said in a tone that made it clear that she won't argue on this matter.
"Naru please, if there's any part of you that still cares about me as your sister, then please don't kill Natsu." Erza pleaded, not wanting to be forced to have to choose between her comrade and her sister.
She just found her; she didn't want to lose her again.
Looking at her sister's pleading eyes made Naru clench her fists, contemplating just jumping over her and quickly killing Natsu. But, Naru didn't want to hurt her twin.
"Fine, he gets to live." Naru said while extinguishing her flames, causing Erza to sigh in relief.
"Thank—"
"On the condition that if he relapses back into his true nature and becomes like the rest of the Etherious, then you will be the one to kill him." Naru added, with Erza looking at her in both shock and hurt that she'd force an ultimatum like that on her.
"I-I-I, I can't kill my comrade." Erza said.
"Swear it now, Erza! Swear on your pride and honor as a swordswoman that should he ever become like the rest of his brethren, you will kill him. Because if you don't agree right now, I will kill him, and believe me, I've made sure that every Etherious I've gotten my hands on has died screaming in pain. The choice is yours Erza, a swift and painless death by your hands or a slow and painful one by mine." Naru said, though her heart did clench at how hurt and betrayed Erza looked right now.
She didn't want to force this choice on Erza, but Naru wasn't going to risk her sister's safety just because they were comrades. He may look human, act human, but on the inside, he is a demon.
"I… I… I swear it." Erza said in resignation.
Nodding once, Naru went to leave, picking up her mask and cloak along the way, but stopped and looked at Erza.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that it had to come to this Erza. But I already had to deal with the pain of losing you once, I won't go through it again, even if you end up hating me." Naru said, before leaving the station as tears began leaking out of her eyes.
She'd rather have Erza alive and hate her, than dead. Even if the idea of Erza hating her made Naru feel like her heart was being torn to shreds.
Once she was gone, the three Fairy Tail Mages left as well, none of them saying anything or even knowing what to say.
Erza was silent over the fact that she just reunited with her sister, but not in the way that she wanted, and that she was Fenris. Natsu's head was hung low, his mind filled with thoughts of who or what he was, did Igneel know and was that why he left, and did he always know. And Gray, he was walking away from Natsu, looking at him like he was the plague, finding it hard to accept that for years he's been around and associating with one of Zeref's demons, the same creature as Deliora, the monster that destroyed his home.
"So uh, Erza has a sister!" Happy declared, trying to cheer the others up and keep his own mood high, only to see he failed.