57Answer to previous riddle:
Bank
Lucy opened her eyes.
She grunted as the back of her head ached like it was hit by a ton of bricks. The brown-eyed girl blinked her eyes to clear the haze. A faint buzz echoed in her head. She felt goosebumps, it was cold although, she remembered it was summer? Huh...?
Where am I...?
She tried to remember the previous events... She was running, but she couldn't remember why?
Realization dawned in her eyes when-
Erza, Happy and Gray?
-Where are they?
Lucy checked her surroundings only to realize, she was back in the underground cave. She shivered again and used her hands to cover her body for warmth. Then noticed that the cave was unusually foggy from the last time.
She observed the thin ice, caging Deliora from the world. Lucy could only wonder, what would happen when such a demon is released. It appeared mythical to her, indeed it was a terrifyingly beautiful sight to behold. Its features are still in a fierce silent roar from ten years ago as if it was stopped in time. A dark creation from the book of Zeref.
The demon's eyes moved.
.
The blond thought she was imagining things and wanted to turn away and run out of this place. This place was creeping her out. But she saw, much to her horror that, the entrance was blocked. No, it was like...the opening was never there in the first place!
An eerie silence settled in the cave. It felt ominous. Granted, the girl wanted to be anywhere but there.
"Fishy~"
Lucy flinched when a strange high-pitched voice squeaked.
It seemed familiar.
"Happy!?"
No response.
"eeeek!?" Lucy felt a cool hand grab her wrist. She turned around, but no one was there. "H-huh? M-Maybe I'm imagining things again?" But the constant feeling of someone watching her never left. She felt herself unconsciously reaching for her keys...
.
.
.
she couldn't find them!
What! did someone steal them? but wh—
Lucy turned as she heard a fluttering sound of cloth.
Nothing.
Now it was getting scary for her. Without her keys, she can not summon her spirits! Her knees buckled under her weight.
"Hello there!"
The blond jumped in fright.
"Looking for these?" sneered the short masked man as he brought a bunch of keys in front of his face and jingled them.
"Give them back!" Lucy yelled at that man, cold sweat ran down her face as she realised, with horror— she was nothing without her keys.
" It's a pleasure to meet you," The masked, short man Zalty grinned.
Shards of broken ice littered the floor. The battlefield of the two pupils of Ur. The jagged ice pierced the smooth surface of the room, destroying its crystal-like radiance of the room. Not that it mattered since the whole room was made of ice.
In the midst of all this, Gray yelled out, "Lyon! I beg you to take your followers and leave this island."
"And if you won't then—" Gray's eyes were shadowed by his hairs. "I don't have a choice other then to use that spell."
For a moment, it was silent before a humourless laugh emitted from his opponent.
"Why do you find, a time like this to joke around Gray?"
"You don't even have the guts to call the spell's name." taunted the white-haired mage.
To some degree, it was true. Gray did not want to remember that day. But still, he has to hold his ground and stop his fellow from releasing mass destruction upon them. He must save Lyon from himself. Gray said nothing but began to activate the spell and warned, "Lyon, it's your last chance."
Lyon refused.
Then so be it. The half-naked mage smiled at his opponent before taking the stance his master took ten years ago. A blue magic circle appeared under Gray, legs spread apart and hand forward making a cross. Cracks appeared on Gray's body as he began the spell. "Lyon, this is the last chance,"
Lyon was shocked for a moment before he composed himself, "Heh, I never knew you could go to this extent to stop me,
"The chances of you succeeding the iced shell are Slim. It would be such a shame to lose your life just to stop me..."
The temperature dropped drastically and the air became heavy, the magic circle glowed a bright blue, "Ice-"
However, a tight fist rushed in and punched the dark-haired mage.
"Such a pain."
Gray gasped and spat some blood. WHa-who?
He has to end it. Desperation was evident in his features as he looked up at Natsu's annoyed face. It was clear that this unknown pink-haired wizard was angry and who won't be?
"Do you know the consequences of your actions?"
Gray knew what he was talking about, he could just think only about stopping Lyon. Silence.
The Pinkette sighed and began with an insightful glint, "Sacrificing Yourself... is the same as running away, you know."
There was a change in tone, a sad glint in Natsu's eyes, "Sometimes it can't be helped but right now, all I can see is a coward and a guilt-ridden man."
Gray stood there in a daze, his cheeks red from the punch. It was eerily quiet for a moment until it was pierced.
"Hehehehe, it appears my lord is quite busy at the moment."
said Zalty in amusement, as he appeared, "My lord, I took care of the leftovers, should I help you?"'
Angered, Gray yelled, "What do you mean by that!? tell me, you bastard!" What did he do!? What should I do!
"Very clever of you Zalty, no I can take care of him. You can make sure the ceremony goes undisturbed."
"As you wish..." bowed the masked man before he left singing.
"Gray you take care of Lyon, I am gonna see What the hell is wrong with that man?"
With that, Natsu walked away in pursuit of the masked man.
Once alone, the two former pupils begin their interrupted chat. Lyon mentioned, "I am not afraid of your threat, Gray.
"because of the fact that my followers will simply melt the ice with Moon Drip, making your sacrifice a waste." The white-haired mage had a smirk on his face.
Gray let his muscles relax. He simply cannot waste his energy arguing with Lyon. It was futile. He inhaled sharply, determination clear in his eyes.
"Do you know Lyon, Ur is alive?"
"Where is he?" Natsu murmured, although he knew where that disguised woman was, he played along just for the sake of it. He was too lazy to look for her and was not in the mood to play, hide and seek.
The pink-head punched an entrance into the demon's cave, "Tch, did he have to seal that entrance?" though he noticed a faint scent of the blond from earlier...
Huh?
He punched a crystal ball, breaking it into pieces. But the crystal ball returned to its former state and floated in the air. After a while, it disappeared without a sound.
"Ah, So you practice Arc of Time...Ain't it, woman?" Natsu can't bother to remember such names, why should he? But he can't overlook that she practices such a difficult and rare magic type. It amuses Natsu, how one can simple tamper with time. Zeref did research about Time magic...
There!
The pink head heard a startled gasp as he leapt forward and grabbed the masked man's face. A golden magic circle appeared that dispelled the disguising magic.
The short man glowed for a moment, and before Natsu stood a voluptuous woman in a short white Kimono.
"Wh-a- What? H-how did you do that!? It was an encrypted spell!" Cried out the woman with purple hair in shell shock. It was rare for Ultear to lose her composure like that.
Natsu's lips curved slightly, "I could do several other things...woman.
"Now, if you could tell me who and why are you here?"
"My...What a feisty young man," Ultear licked her lips in a lewd manner. Somehow, she managed to expose much more of her breast through her tight Kimono. "You wish to play~ don't you?" she said as she swayed her hips and walked toward her prey. Ultear knew she was an appealing woman, this trick has worked for her several times. Lure your prey into the lie that is life...Then grant them the truth in the form of death.
Snap!
Suddenly the cave glowed in golden light.
Ultear unexpectedly felt heavier than a moment ago. She looked down—Omitted, tried to look down.
All she saw was a round belly obstructing her view of the floor.
"W-what?" she gasped, but this time in sheer embarrassment.
Natsu had requiped her, her into a potato mascot costume!
"I must say, you look bearable now, " said the pink-haired wizard, solemnly nodding to himself.
"Now, I'm asking this again..." Natsu's face darken, "Who. and. why. are you here?" his tone held a warning and a threat, that, this was the last chance for her. "You know, I can easily get the truth out, but where's the fun?"
Ultear gulped, she still didn't know who this person was. At a glance, one would mistake him for a non-magic user. But that was just a farce, to fool people— Wizards like her. With how easily he dispelled her magic and changed her dress without even noticing, she knew he was not joking. She needed to know his identity and potential, she didn't know what the pink-head could do. Ultear realized that things are going to change from this point.
Should she tell everything or just bluff around?
Sighing she decided upon the latter, " My name is Milkovich..."
"I-I am also a vic-"
Natsu interrupted with narrowed eyes, "Now, aren't you funny, woman? stop with this lying and tell the truth," He held a finger on his lips in a thinking pose, "Or should I force it out? you won't like it though..."
Ultear sighed, there is no fooling around.
And thus she began to tell about how she wanted to revive her mother and joined Lyon's cult in hopes of bringing her back. She deliberately left out the part about Jellal and her future plans. But Ultear had a feeling that the pink-haired wizard knew she was hiding the majority of information.
After their chat, Natsu sighed, "Your mother can't be brought to life and you know that too."
Snap!
"You just move forward with your life and don't look back into the haunting past, it will ruin you," he told her as Ultear's clothes changed back to their former self.
The purple-haired woman stared at him silently, trying to unsolve this new wizard who captured her interest.
"Where is that Requip mage? that Red-head girl...what was her name..."
Ultear replied smoothly, "I don't know..."
Without a word, Natsu stepped toward and stood in front of her. He did the unexpected.
Flick.
He flicked Ultear on her forehead. "She is at the Tower of Heaven..." she answered in a daze, the Hypnotic magic working its way into her brain.
"And where is that?"
"...At..the center...center of the...sea urgh!"
"One last question..." Natsu held his index finger to emphasise his point. "Where is that blond girl and exc- cat?"
"I-in my...T-time dimen-sional cage..."
Ultear's eyes rolled back as she tumbled to the ground.
"Go sleep."
After a while, Natsu snapped his fingers and released Lucy and Happy from the time dimensional cage. It was a realm of pleasant memories repeating themselves accordingly both of them were sleeping peacefully.
"This is barely any fun..."
"Rooooooooaoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrr,"
"Wha-" Gray froze, just like the ice in that room. His knees buckled under his weight, as his worst nightmare repeated itself. There was no one to stop the chaos. He remembered that last smile Ur gave him. Deliora's roar shook the room, the ice shards vibrating with the sound.
He heard Lyon laughing as he lay on the icy floor. Gray could tell that his rival was not even in the condition to stand yet, he muttered about defeating and killing Deliora.
"I will be the one to kill Deliora...I will kill Deliora...I will surpass Ur...hahaha..." He kept on.
This guy...
Gray sighed and locked his rival inside an ice cage, just in case. He ran toward the exit, ignoring Lyon's cries to kill Deliora.
Crack!
Natus turned and saw that the ice prison was starting to crack as the purple moon drip fell on the demon.
Crack!
"Rooooooooaoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrr,"
The green demon roared, warning the world about its revival. Its green scally skin broke from its restraints as the ice melted gradually from its upper body. Deliora's canines prodded out from its mouth in a fierce snarl before it roared again.
"Would you shut up," Natsu snapped lazily, his pinkie in one ear to clear the dirt, "Do you really have to be so loud...?" Such loud noises were like a curse for a Dragon Slayer's sensitive ears, but they could control their hearing power if necessary. Like now.
Suddenly, he heard another shriek behind him and sighed.
It was Lucy, and she seems to be awake and aware of where she was—
"Wha- Where- Whe..." Lucy suddenly woke you and started mumbling before, "Huh?... Gaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"
—Or not...
"Aaaaaaaaaaaah," Another muffled shrill voice yelled, it was the blue cat, Happy. At that time, Natsu decided that this was not a good day for his ears.
He again screeched, " Gwet owff mwe, Luigi, itz like I'm gweting crushed by a rowck," Then did they notice that Lucy was lying on top of Happy. And the little blue cat was being crushed to death from the sheer weight of the said 'rock'.
"I'm not a ROCK!" Lucy got up.
"Rooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrr" the ice encasing Deliora had disappeared during his short distraction. The Demon of Destruction stood all high and mighty on his feet. Its jagged, dark green scales were wet from the melted ice and green reptilian eyes stared intensely at yellow ones. The pink-haired (young?) man stared back. There was a brief flicker of recognition in Deliora's eyes
The ceremony was completed.
Eyeing the demon and behind him to the powerless due to wizards, their magic power was drained from the Time-Dimensional Cage. Natsu contemplated fighting and fleeing. He chose the former, Of course. began, "You two, get out of this cave as soon as possible...I will be—"
"The one to deal with Deliora." Gray declared as he burst open the cave entrance. Lucy gasped upon seeing the ice mage in an injured state and ran toward the said mage. The ice mage ignored her and made his way to the front in the knee-high water. The water rippled as his knees were shaking.
Gray crossed his arms in front of him and spread his legs in a stance. In a voice of bewilderment, Lucy asked, "Gray?"
A blue magic circle appeared and glowed around Gray, "I HAVE TO DO THIS- THIS IS THE ONLY WAY!"
The ice mage began the activation of the iced shell.
'Adolescent brat', It was odd for the pink-head to use such a term. Time and time again, he had preached about NOT playing with his life to the ice mage, although it proved futile. He sighed and noticed somewhere along the way that Lyon came into the cave and was muttering incoherently about defeating Deliora.
Brats. His father, Igneel used to call him that. Thinking about Igneel brought his childhood-
"Rooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr,"
Natsu glared at the demon of destruction and Gray, half annoyed. Before he could go and yank the stupid ice mage-
I will destroy you Dragneel! Rrrrr.
Natsu blinked.
"W-wha was that?" Lucy squeaked out.
"Wa-was that..." Gray guessed with a panicked look. He was already on the verge of collapsing but stood just for the sake of the spell.
"Indeed, it was Deliora's telepathic communication ability." Natsu narrowed his eyes, A challenge huh? His lips curved into a smirk and his yellow eyes glowed slightly.
"Everyone get out of here,"
Not surprisingly, the first to protest was Lyon, "I...will...defeat it...I will...s-stay her-re...," it was a pitiful sight, to say the least. Neither of the ice mages wanted to leave.
Snap!
All the mages vanished into thin air because they were teleported somewhere safe by Natsu.
Somewhere in Fiore. Year - X458
In the history of Fiore, the years between X450 and X460 are considered the darkest decade of black magic or black cult. There had been a major rise in the use of black arts. Although the king's rule was absolute, he and his army factions were not magic users. The kingdom was in huge chaos and was on the verge of falling.
Every street was littered with the blood of an endless number of living sacrifices, whether human or animal, to revive their sole god. Zeref.
Magical guilds never existed in that century. Therefore mages used to work in groups or cults. It all started when people and mages discovered some archives and writings of death magic. They began practising it to escape the inevitable Death.
In a few months, several groups of black mages stated that to gain immortality they had to commit the greatest sin: Living sacrifices.
Crazed mages began attacking peaceful settlements. The women and children suffered the most. The men of the household were sacrificed, women raped and abused, and children lived like cattle or slaves.
The people begged the king for help, but what could he do? he was helpless as the people.
The idea of escaping death was unheard of. But all tried and tried and tried...
Until one day, someone had discovered a book. Not just any book. The book of a demon with strange writings and, spells and, enchantments which no one could read. The book belonged to Zeref. It was one of the demonic books which Zeref wrote.
The book was titled: Deliora of Destruction.
And that's a wrap. [Worrd count: 3050]
Riddle of this week:
A man dies of old age on his 25 birthday. How is this possible?
Peace~