68Edited on 1/8/16 because some errors were bugging me.
Riku: Now for part two of the prologue of what I hope will be one of the greatest fanfictions ever!
Precht: You've got a long way to go if you plan to pull that off.
Riku: I can try. Now, MAVIS! DISCLAIMER!
Mavis: Riku Uzumaki does not own Fairy Tail or Naruto. All lawyers that try to sue him will be subject to one of the attacks I know in this story's universe.
Warrod: Which one?
Mavis: Can't tell, that would be spoiling the surprise of what my main offensive Magic is.
Riku: Also, I would just like to warn my readers that the climax of this chapter will be stuffed full of badassery and suspense! Enjoy!
Prologue
Part Two
Challenging Fate
The Era of Shinobi was real. I should know that better than anyone else. I also know just how bloody it was, at least at the end of it. The Great Dragon Civil War also happened. They both ended the same way, nearly everyone died. The Shinju wiped out almost every last Shinobi, and Acnologia is determined to wipe out any dragons he may have missed, and will probably set his sights on everything alive someday. I shouldn't even be here, but here I am. Alive, and I'm going to keep living. I'll keep living until the dark shadows of my era are permanently erased from this comparatively peaceful world. The Era of Shinobi is over, the constant warfare is over, and the never-ending bloodshed has ended. I have freed myself from the Uchiha's control so that I can someday end their plans, and all it cost me was one of the two most precious treasures I ever had. The other one was lost to me soon after, lost to the curse of the Uchiha clan. I am empty now. I cannot age… I cannot die… I have not felt happiness in centuries. I doubt anything will ever make me truly smile again. Naruto… or any of your descendants… anyone that has inherited your gift… the ability to bring hope to the hopeless. The ability to make people believe again… will I ever see it again? Will I ever feel the warm light of hope again? – "Medic"
April, X686: Hargeon Port
Today was supposed to be just another boring day for a wandering pink haired woman in a hooded cloak. She was not supposed to notice a thirteen year old girl with an active, and quite frankly massive, chakra system walk past her with a trio to treasure hunters from Sylph Labyrinth. She was not supposed to notice vague similarities between the child and an old friend. She was not supposed to follow her and the lead treasure hunter when they went to a bar to gather intel and conceal herself in the shadows.
Unfortunately, she did. The end result of that was for her to bear witness to the beginning of the end of her life of monotony.
Xxx
Mavis was having the time of her life. For the first time since she lost her parents, she was traveling with people instead of by herself. Everything was starting to look more vibrant to her; she didn't care if the world was teetering on the edge of destruction. She was finally traveling with people, she felt like she finally has friends. Sure Precht, Warrod, and Yury might not feel the same way at the moment, but she planned to change that. She will worm her way into their hearts, and make sure they did not suffer the same fate other people that got close to her suffered.
While Mavis followed Precht into a bar she thought to herself, 'I have resolved myself to defying my visions of death. If I ever see any of them die in my visions, I will save them. I'm done sitting on the sidelines. I won't let anyone else I care about get killed, not when I can protect them!'
Mavis was snapped out of her thoughts when the shady looking bartender mentioned Blue Skull, the guild they were looking for being a mage guild, and then joined the conversation when he asked, "Can I interest you in some milk, miss?"
Mavis's response was to look up at him, which was difficult considering how she was as tall as the bar, and say, "No, we want information."
The bartender and patrons laughed and then told Precht to get lost, calling him a babysitter. This annoyed Precht to the point that he decided that their time would be better spent somewhere else. Mavis disagreed. She asked the bartender, "How do you know Blue Skull is a mage guild?"
That one question shut the bartender up; he even started to sweat a little. Mavis continued, "There are countless combat, merchant, and treasure hunting guilds in the country, and you singled out Blue Skull as a mage guild."
That one statement was enough for Precht to realize that there was more going on here than he was expecting. It was enough for him to stay and hear out the rest of what Mavis had to say, "This can only mean that you at least know of them."
The bartender stammered and tried to explain himself. However, he couldn't find a way to talk his way out of this situation, so he accepted a signal from one of his bar patrons that it was time to silence the kid and treasure hunter. They knew too much.
Precht, however, had already figured out what was going on. He kicked a bar patron that was about to slam a bar stool into his head away from him while grabbing Mavis under his right arm. He gave a thug that was coming at him with a broken bottle the same treatment, just with his right leg instead of his left. "Care to explain?" Precht asked.
The bartender didn't back down. He shouted, "He's just one guy! Kick his ass!"
Precht's response was to pull out a bladed chain from his concealed holster on his left arm and go to town on every bar thug in the room. He even grabbed a thug with his chain and used the thug to cause grievous harm with a body to any bar thug near them by spinning him in a circle. Precht announced, while still slapping bar thugs around with a chained thug, "I am he who dances with blades, and I do so at my leisure."
Mavis and her hidden observer silently agreed that Precht was probably the best chain fighter they have ever seen.
The bartender cursed out the treasure hunter before grinning and pulling on a rope that randomly descended from the ceiling. The rope pull triggered a mechanism under the floor that caused to floorboards around Precht and Mavis to flip, revealing a magic circle and creating a barrier around the two. The bartender unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and revealed the mark of Blue Skull on his upper chest.
Precht muttered, "So he really is a blue skull member" while Mavis narrowed her eyes at the bartender. Precht prepared to launch an attack at the bartender, but thought better of it when he said that stepping out of the magic circle would result in him and Mavis suffering a gory demise.
While the Blue Skull member revealed his guild's status as a dark guild and Precht snarked that he must be low in the guild's food chain, Mavis got on her hands and knees and examined the magic circle surrounding them. When Precht irritably demanded what she was doing, she responded, "This glyph is incorrect."
That comment garnered Precht and the bartender's undivided attention.
Mavis observed the error in the Magic Barrier and deduced, "This is a type of Barrier Formation Magic that uses rezon glyphs as its main constituent, but the glyph right here is a logue glyph. The two look similar so the mix-up is understandable." Mavis then got up, patted the floor dirt off her dress and haori, and approached the edge of the barrier, disregarding Precht's warnings, and hopped out of the magic circle completely unharmed. She then directed her attention at the bartender and said, "Because of that one error, the magic circle is completely useless, it cannot contain or harm anything. Rune Magic is a very precise art, so one error, no matter how small, is enough to completely ruin whatever you try to create."
Mavis spread her arms and announced, "I'm a mage too, by the way, and quite a prodigy. As you have probably figured out, I can use Rune Magic, though I've never used it offensively before. I can also summon things, and have a true offensive magic. So, how do you want to be intimidated into spilling your secrets?"
The bartender gathered his bearings and scoffed, "A little brat like you? A mage? Don't make me laugh!"
Mavis smiled, "Then a demonstration is in order! Come forth. From the stairs of heaven, fly thee down. Holy guardian beast. Heavenly Wolf!"
Suddenly, a massive wolf with flames erupting from its fur and small trees growing out of its paws appeared out of nowhere and glared down at the bartender, shocking the target, Precht, and any bar patrons that were still conscious. The only person that was not intimidated by the beast was Mavis's secret observer who simply thought to herself, 'Illusion Magic. One can make it look like a summoning when used properly, and it looks like she did just that. Not bad for a kid. I wonder what her offensive magic is…'
Mavis narrowed her eyes at the bartender and asked, "Where is Blue Skull's base? Speak. Now."
The bartender wet himself and caved in out of fear.
Xxx
Mavis's silent observer continued to follow her from the shadows. Watching as the girl explained how the wolf was just an illusion, a bluff, though she could have just blasted him through the bar's walls if she really wanted to. The only reason she didn't was because they needed him conscious. She then assumed a pose and announced, "We have located our targets! A town west from here called Magnolia!"
The observer almost smiled at the child's enthusiasm as she bounced around while her partner tried to keep up. Her energy reminded her observer of her old teammate. It was then that the observer decided that she was definitely going to keep a close eye on the girl. She was too interesting to not follow.
Three days later: Outskirts of Magnolia Town
Mavis's observer trailed the group of four all the way to the outskirts of Magnolia town. On the way there, she bore witness to the thirteen year old girl practicing a technique that she never thought she would see again.
The Rasengan.
It looked like she was still a long way from completing it, if the lack of progress on getting the rubber ball to shatter from the inside was anything to go by. It was only because her old teammate described the three step process that he had to do to learn the technique that she even knew what the little girl was doing.
The observer also noticed something else about the girl during the three days she spent watching her…
She was really desperate to make friends. Luckily, it appears that the treasure hunters she is traveling with are warming up to her. What she gleaned from the conversations she overheard taught her more about just what they were doing, and convinced her that they needed to succeed in their quest. She learned that the Shinju was sealed away upon the conclusion of the 4th Great Shinobi War, and that a vital component in the sealing known as the Tenrou Jade has been stolen and needed to be returned as quickly as possible. Failure to do so would result in the Shinju's release. This caused the observer to experience an emotion that she had not felt in a very long time. Fear. She was a remnant of the Era of Shinobi. She knew just how dangerous the Shinju was. By comparison, the Shinju made dragons look like sweet, cuddly, bunnies.
However, another thing that worried her was their destination. Magnolia Town is under the control of one of the more brutal dark guilds in Fiore, Blue Skull. Their leader, Geoffrey, is a powerful mage, feared for his mastery of Telekinesis and Dispel Magic.
She trailed behind them, out of sight, not willing to alert the four of her presence, and girded herself for the inevitable battle to come.
Xxx
When the quartet arrived in Magnolia Town, they did not like what they saw. In fact, they were horrified. The majority of the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and the town's biggest landmark, Kardia Cathedral, was dominated by a massive dragon skeleton comprised of blue bones. The group began to question if people even still lived in Magnolia Town, and that question was answered when an old man approached them and warned the group that they had best leave while they still can.
Yury saw fit to tell the old man that this is actually where they're supposed to be right now. The old man chose to inform the group, "This town is dead. Ever since the Blue Skull came-"
He never got to finish his sentence. Mavis shouted in warning, "Look out behind you!"
The warning was in vain. A magical bullet was blasted through the old man's belly from behind.
"Old man!?" "Hey!" "What happened!?" The treasure hunters cried out in worry as they rushed towards the old man while Mavis glared at a trio of dark mages that were jeering at their target. The one on the far right was holding a smoking staff in the air, clearly the one that fired the shot, and the one on the far left took aim at Mavis with his staff.
"Alrighty, I'mma aim for that kid next!" the dark mage announced.
The group noticed the crests the dark mages bore, Blue Skull, and readied themselves for battle. The dark mages jumped down from their perch, shouting a battle cry and blasting magical bullets at the group from their staffs.
The treasure hunters and Mavis scattered to avoid getting hit and then launched their counterattacks. Yury blasted his opponent away with a Crystal Bomb while announcing that each of them costs 500 Jewels. Money well spent. Precht dispatched his opponent by slapping him around with his bladed chain, and Warrod displayed his impressive physical strength by knocking his opponent out with one solid punch.
Yury took a moment to gloat about his victory over a dark mage, but was interrupted by the sound of an oncoming stampede. Mavis decided that this was her moment to step in and said, "There might be a lot of them, but they're still underlings. My Illusion Magic should be enough to chase them off."
Mavis raised her hands into the air and announced, "Come! Ancient Soldiers!"
Mavis's Illusion Magic did it's work and manifested as a legion of armored soldiers with helmets concealing their faces from view. The horde of dark mages immediately halted their advance, intimidated by the legion of soldiers that appeared out of nowhere.
Mavis made her demands, "We need to speak with your guild master. Now"
The dark mages talked amongst themselves, honestly unsure if they should give into a magical child's demands or stand their ground.
It was then that Blue Skull's goggle wearing guild master walked through the ranks of his guild and asked, "What's all the fuss about?"
Yury's response to the guild master actually showing up was a mix between shock and excitement. He did not expect the dark guild master to just reveal himself so quickly. Mavis, however, glared at guild master Geoffrey and said, "You stole something very important from Tenrou Island a few years ago. Return it. Now."
"And if I refuse?" Geoffrey asked.
"Then my legion and I will take it by force. You have no idea what kind of powers you have tampered with. The Tenrou Jade must be returned to where it belongs immediately." Mavis concluded.
Geoffrey scoffed, "With those troops?" He then turned and left, telling his mages to take them down. The dark mages hesitated, fearing the odds that they were facing, but the guild master reassured them by informing them that the soldiers were just illusions.
Mavis narrowed her eyes as Geoffrey cast Dispel Magic, causing her Ancient Soldiers to vanish. Mavis considered trying to fool them with a different kind of illusion by casting a Genjutsu on them since Dispel Magic only works on Magic based techniques, not Chakra based ones, but decided against it since the "gift" she received from her ancestor Minato left her chakra reserves a little difficult to control at the moment. The larger reserves were nice, but it came at the cost of her once finely tuned chakra control so Genjutsu would probably be beyond her reach from now on.
The dark mages unleashed a battle cry and charged while Precht gave the command to fall back and regroup. Unfortunately, escape would not come easily. The dark mages quickly surrounded the group, forcing them to fight their way out. Mavis weighed her options and decided to make use of her newly enlarged chakra reserves. She formed a clone seal and incanted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Twenty-five solid clones appeared in a puff of smoke and began to engage the dark mages in hand to hand combat. Mavis grimaced at the small number and thought, 'I didn't put enough Chakra into that one. I was aiming for fifty, but I guess I can work with this.'
Mavis ducked under a volley of magical bullets and prepared her next trick. White light began to gather in her right hand and she took aim at the nearest dark mage. However, her attention was diverted when Geoffrey grabbed a Crystal Bomb that Yury threw at him and sent it back. Mavis diverted her aim at Geoffrey's proximity and launched her orb of light above Geoffrey. When the orb suspended itself above Geoffrey, Mavis incanted, "Ray!" Causing the orb to disperse into multiple rays of deadly light that impacted any dark mages that tried to stick close to their guild master. The technique would have hit Geoffrey too, if he didn't cast a dispel field right before one of the deadly rays of light could hit him.
Geoffrey made an interesting observation that made him set his sights on Mavis. His dispel field did not force her clones to disperse; only physical force was proving to be capable of eliminating the clones. They appear to be both solid, and comprised of something other than Magic. Geoffrey realized that Mavis was a threat to him, and decided that he needed to eliminate her. He picked up a staff from one of his underlings and used it to fire a magical bullet at her.
Mavis however, was on her guard and deflected the bullet by backhanding it into the ground. She glared at Geoffrey and was about to retaliate, but then noticed both Yury and Precht were down, and Warrod was trying to retreat with them under his arms. Deciding that her friends took priority over the battle, Mavis decided to cover Warrod's escape. She bit into her thumb with one of her oddly elongated canine teeth and formed the hand seals necessary for the Summoning Technique. She slammed her hands on the ground and a puff of smoke enveloped the area.
Geoffrey tried to dispel this technique as well, only for his attempts to amount to nothing. The smoke cleared, and a toad half the size of a two story house in a green vest appeared with Mavis on its head. Mavis asked the toad, "Gamashiki, I need your help holding off these dark mages, can you do that?"
Gamashiki nodded, brandished a large spiked club, and brought it down on Geoffrey, forcing him to dive out of the way.
Mavis used this opportunity to make her own escape. She jumped off Gamashiki's head and landed on a rooftop. She then covered her friends' escape by firing rays of light from her hands at all dark mages that got in Warrod's way while chasing after him on the rooftops.
Gamashiki Reverse Summoned himself back to Mt. Myoboku when he saw that his summoner was out of harm's way. Geoffrey then called for his mages to stop chasing the mage and treasure hunters telling them that they are no longer a threat. While this happened, Mavis's cloaked observer took her leave, following the group that retreated.
Unbeknownst to all parties in the recent conflict, including Mavis's observer, there was one more person spectating the conflict. If it could even be called a person. A humanoid shadow observed the conclusion of the conflict, narrowing its solid yellow eyes at the descendant of Shinobi. It growled to itself, "I recognize you, child. You are the child of that Uzumaki I exterminated nine years ago. The Yellow Flash is not here to save you this time, and your protector, Northswain, is not here to protect you either. The Shinobi are all but extinct. You are just one of a handful that I still need to hunt down." The shadow noticed a quick blur of movement and recognized the Chakra signature of Madara's only successful deserter. "It looks like today is my lucky day. I have located not just a surviving Shinobi descendant, but also that deserter from Master Madara's Resurrected Shinobi Squad. Now I can succeed where I failed nine years ago, and reapply a control seal to that deserter at the same time! You have escaped me many times in the past, but your luck has run out, Sakura Haruno. You will not escape me this time."
Forest outside Magnolia
The atmosphere of the campground was one of depression and failure. Yury was unconscious and his chest was heavily bandaged while Warrod and Mavis watched over him. Precht was wounded too; he lost his right eye to one of Blue Skull's magical bullets.
Mavis soon left to get some water, leaving the two conscious and one unconscious men to their own devices. They talked about how they needed a doctor, but they had no means of getting one due to the only town in a few miles being occupied by Blue Skull.
As Mavis gathered water for her and her friends, her observer decided that it was time to make her presence known. The woman asked, "You appear to be lost in thought. Does it have anything to do with what happened in Magnolia?"
Mavis turned around in surprise, dropping the bucket she was carrying. Nobody had ever succeeded in sneaking up on her due to her highly attuned senses, so she knew that this was a person that she absolutely needed to take seriously. "Were you following my friends and me?"
"Yes, sorry about that, but I noticed something interesting about you that I felt I needed to investigate." The mysterious woman said.
"What is it that you noticed about me? I'll admit that I'm a prodigy with Magic. I'm not ashamed about that, but other than that, I'm just a normal girl."
The woman said, "I'll elaborate on my findings then, you can create solid clones that Dispel Magic cannot affect, and you summoned a toad from Mt. Myoboku. Most people would just consider that unique Magic, but I know better. No matter how unique the Magic might be, Dispel Magic would still negate or at least weaken whatever you cast. That could only mean that what you performed back in Magnolia, excluding the Light spells, was not Magic. You are a very unique person, Mavis. There are not many people left in the world that can use Chakra, and even fewer can use both Chakra and Magic."
Mavis was now very curious about this stranger. There were not many people in the world that still believed in the existence of Chakra, and even fewer could recognize it. Mavis asked, "Who are you? How did you know that the toad I summoned was from Mt. Myoboku? No, better yet, how do you even know about Mt. Myoboku?"
The woman gave Mavis a rueful smile, removed her hood to reveal her long pink hair that reached the middle of her back, green eyes, and blue diamond mark on her forehead and said, "Sorry, how rude of me to not introduce myself. You may call me, Medic. I've thrown my real name away a long time ago. The only thing left of me is my occupation in the world. You don't have anything to fear from me, I'm a healer, not a fighter… though I can fight if I absolutely have to. As for how I know about the toads. An old friend of mine was a toad summoner a long time ago."
Mavis was now very curious. Her ancestor, Minato, was proof enough that there were a few living remnants of the Era of Shinobi running around. Even if Minato may not technically count as a 'living' remnant, and now this "Medic" was implying that she was alive in that era as well. There's nothing else she could have been implying. The last toad summoner before her was Naruto Uzumaki, and he has not been active since the conclusion of the Era of Shinobi.
Medic could see the gears turning in Mavis's head and gave a knowing smile, 'This girl has a sharp mind. It looks like she's already figured out that I'm a lot older than I look. Until now, there has not been a toad summoner since Naruto, so she's probably already figured out that I'm a Shinobi, or at least I once was.'
Mavis decided to test a theory that she formed in her head and asked, [If you were alive back during that era, did you ever encounter the Shinju?]
Medic smirked approvingly, Mavis's shift to speaking in Shinobiese being all the proof she needed to know that Mavis had figured out what she was, [Yes, I helped fight it.]
Mavis asked, [Are all the stories about its power accurate?]
Medic sighed, [No, it's even more powerful than what the stories tell. When you were talking to your friends while traveling to Magnolia you talked about the Shinju, what is its connection to the Tenrou Jade? Why are you fighting Blue Skull?]
Mavis switched back to the modern language and answered, "The Tenrou Jade is what is known as a Chakra Transfer Gem. It is a vital component in the Shinju's sealing and transfer process between its sealing grounds and future eternal prison. Blue Skull stole it while its guardian was busy investigating one of the Magic Council's shadier projects. If the Tenrou Jade is not returned by the end of the month, the seal will completely fall apart along with the transfer process regardless of my ancestor's efforts to hold the seal together by himself."
Medic's eyes widened in shock, the decision that her friend came to after she was forced to leave him dawned her, "So that's the path that he chose. He sealed himself away to keep the Shinju from causing any more destruction…" Then a part of Mavis's explanation captured Medic's attention, "Wait, ancestor? Who's holding the seal together in place of the Tenrou Jade?"
"Minato Namikaze. Would you know him better as the Fourth Hokage?" Mavis asked.
Mavis's statement threw Medic for a loop, 'She's descended from the Fourth Hokage? Wait… Naruto once mentioned right before the war that he was the Fourth's son, so that would make her Naruto's descendant. This explains why I'm seeing a few similarities between the two of them… though this girl is WAY smarter than him.' Medic sighed and said, "I can't say I ever knew him, but I did know of him. He was one of Konoha's greatest heroes and feared by his enemies as the Yellow Flash."
Mavis started to get gleefully aggressive with her questions, now knowing that her new acquaintance is a treasure trove of ancient knowledge that she might never find anywhere else, "What was it like at the end of the Era of Shinobi? How did it end?"
Medic answered, "I grew up during the era's last brief period of peace, so my childhood was probably not much different from what an average girl would experience today. Some kids were mean to me, but I made a friend that I sometimes got into fights with over boys. When I became a Shinobi, I was put on a team with Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki under a Sensei named Kakashi Hatake. It was three years after I became a Shinobi that everything changed. A criminal organization called Akatsuki hunted down and captured the Tailed Beasts in an object known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. We fought back, and I personally took down one of them myself, but it was when only two of them were left when things got bad. The leader of the remaining two claimed to be Madara Uchiha and declared war on the entire Shinobi world in an attempt to capture the only two Tailed Beasts he had yet to obtain, the Eight Tails and the Nine Tails, and he was well enough prepared to show that he was not joking around. The war hit its climax when the Akatsuki's collaborator, a man named Kabuto Yakushi used a technique called the Impure World Resurrection to revive the real Madara Uchiha as an undead warrior, and the man that was just pretending to be Madara managed to revive the Shinju without absorbing the Eight and Nine Tails into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. That was when everything truly went to hell, my sensei, Kakashi, and the fake Madara were warped away by the fake Madara's Space-Time technique and never returned, and then Madara lost control of the Shinju. It managed to get a hold of the Eight Tails' living container, its Jinchuriki, absorbed its power, and went berserk, creating cataclysms that spread across the entire continent. It became a natural disaster so terrible that it probably had a higher death toll than any single war could ever hope to accomplish. I don't really know what happened after that. I barely managed to survive long enough to see Naruto launch his last ditch effort to stop the Shinju. I don't know what happened after that, but the stories I heard, and the current situation tell me that he sealed the beast within himself to save the world."
Mavis listened to Medic's story with rapt attention. She hung onto her every word and already had a new question lined up, "From the sound of things, you didn't survive the war. How are you here now?"
"Madara managed to escape the carnage, and it turns out that all the events that resulted in that war were orchestrated by him from beyond the grave. Since his resurrection left him immortal, he used his infinite amount of time to come up with a new way to continue his 'Moon's Eye Plan'. It was around the year X350 that I returned to the picture. When Magic rose to prominence, Madara learned how to tap into Magic and delved into the Black Arts. He used a branch of the Black Arts called Living Magic to give himself an unaging, but alive, body. He then proceeded to use the Impure World Resurrection technique to do the same a few people he managed to get a DNA sample of. I was one of those people. He then imprisoned us with a control seal that forced us to obey his commands. I managed to break free sometime later, but I'd rather not talk about the events surrounding that time."
Mavis took a moment to digest this information. The Shinju was not the only dark shadow of the past that she'll have to contend with. So long as Madara lurked in the shadows, the threat of the Shinju's release will always loom on the horizon. Mavis asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"
Medic smiled. It was probably the first genuine smile she ever experienced in centuries, "Because you've inherited a gift from my old teammate, your ancestor, and I'm not talking about the Nine-Tails." Mavis's eyes widened in surprise when Medic said that. "There was always just something about him that made people want to put their faith in him."
A deep voice echoed in Mavis's head, "She's not wrong. That knucklehead may be an idiot, but he's a charismatic idiot. He even managed to get ME to let go of my hatred and put my faith in him."
Mavis pointed at Medic and stammered out, "H-how did you find out about Kurama?! All Precht, Warrod, and Yury know is that Minato gave me a Chakra based "gift" that would allow me to resist getting possessed by the Tenrou Jade. How did you know that gift was the Nine Tails?"
Medic chuckled at Mavis's spaz moment, reminded of Naruto's spaz moments and answered, "I learned how to sense Chakra over the last few centuries. I might never be able to sense Chakra as well as a natural sensor, but my senses were still finely tuned enough to notice that you have a secondary source of Chakra flowing through you. Only Jinchuriki have a secondary Chakra source. Also, I've felt the Nine Tails' Chakra before when Naruto used it during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. That's how I recognized the presence of the Nine Tails' Chakra. Now, are you planning on telling me about how the Nine Tails is supposed to help you resist getting possessed by the Tenrou Jade? How could it even do that?"
Mavis petulantly answered, "His name is Kurama. Please call him by his name, not his title."
Medic nodded apologetically.
Mavis continued, "As for the Tenrou Jade. It was something Minato discovered one time when he touched the jade by accident. He felt a malevolent presence invade his mind and attempt to take over. It might have succeeded if he didn't have Kurama's Yin half sealed within him. That's why Minato extracted Kurama's Yang half from the Shinju's sealing chamber and sealed him in me. Having an extra mind in the same body makes possession from an outside force nearly impossible because it would be one mind battling against two for dominance."
Medic sighed sadly, "I can see why being a Jinchuriki is necessary for your success in this mission, but I can't help but feel sad for you. Jinchuriki have never lived easy lives back during the Era of Shinobi. Some villages treated them as ultimate weapons, and others loathed their very existence, only tolerating them as a living war deterrent. Being the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails was one of Naruto's greatest sources of pain for most of his life. You can't really back out of this now, but are you sure you can handle this?"
Kurama quipped in Mavis's head, "She's not wrong."
'Maybe, but I can handle it. It's not like being a Jinchuriki is a bad thing. For one, I'll never have to be alone again. You'll always be with me, right, Kurama?'
"I don't really have a choice at this point, but you're not the worst person to be sealed inside of."
"I can handle it." Mavis responded with a bright smile. "Kurama and I get along just fine, and I can feel in my heart that Precht, Warrod, and Yury won't think differently of me when I finally tell them."
Medic sighed, "Speaking of them, how exactly do you plan on keeping them alive when you face off with Blue Skull again? If they're as good friends as you say they are, then they won't just let you confront Blue Skull alone. Yury nearly died from having one of his bombs thrown back at him and Precht lost an eye. They might not be so lucky next time."
Mavis closed her eyes in thought, trying to come up with a plan of action. She had a month left to return the Tenrou Jade to the Shinju's seal to prevent its revival, and that's thinking optimistically. Precht, Warrod, and Yury were good fighters, but Blue Skull had Magic on its side. What they needed was a little something extra to add to their arsenal, something that would allow them to fight the dark mages on equal footing. Mavis returned her intelligent gaze to Medic and asked, "How much do you know about Magical Theory?"
Medic blinked and answered, "A lot actually, my firstborn son was an even bigger prodigy than you when it came to Magic. I never bothered to learn how to use Magic myself, but I did learn enough to know how to teach people how to use it by skimming through some of his textbooks. Why? What are you planning?"
Mavis grinned mischievously, "My plan starts with you doing exactly what your name implies…"
Xxx
A week passed after Mavis's meeting with Medic. Medic used the first day to heal Precht and Yury's wounds, though Precht's eye proved to be unsalvageable. The second day was spent with Medic explaining Magical Theory to the three treasure hunters, how to awaken their inherent Magic, should they possess the ability to use it, and how to use it. The following week was spent teaching the treasure hunters-turned mages how to control their Magic.
Yury, unsurprisingly, had an inherent affinity for Lighting Magic. It was fitting due to his love for flashy things.
Precht had an affinity for multiple kinds of Magic, but settled on two that would be the most time efficient for him to learn at the moment before trying to branch out. He spent the week mastering Chain Magic and Bullet Magic. Chain Magic since he already knows how to use chains, except the magical ones that he can now create bend to his will instead of the will of physics, and Bullet Magic because all he has to do to use it is charge his Magic at his fingertips, aim, and fire.
Warrod's was much more interesting. His inherent magic was Green Magic, the ability to manipulate nature. Medic took the time to explain that while Green Magic is not inherently offensive, it can be if Warrod gets imaginative enough with his abilities.
Mavis spent the majority of week focusing on mastering the technique that her ancestor Minato explained and showed to her with a Shadow Clone. The Rasengan. She managed to shatter the rubber ball on the fifth day after some advice from Medic, who had seen the Rasengan enough times to know that the Chakra needed to create the Rasengan needed to be incredibly dense and focused. Unfortunately, the final step of putting steps one and two together eluded Mavis for the remainder of the week. She concluded that her Chakra was still too difficult to control at the moment for her to have the necessary Chakra control needed to create a complete Rasengan. She'll have to wait until after her body has fully acclimated to Kurama's Chakra for her to master the Rasengan.
It was after she mastered the second step of the Rasengan that she investigated the state of Magnolia town. She did not like what she saw. Blue Skull forced the villagers to pay unreasonable taxes, and food was distributed in small numbers, causing many people to starve. This resulted in Mavis having a prophetic nightmare the following night. This one was different from the ones that have been haunting her every other night, however. This one had nothing to do with the Shinju. In it, she saw the citizens of Magnolia town slowly starving to death, and occasionally being publicly executed. She also noticed that the Tenrou Jade was gone in that dream. Mavis rationalized that it was a vision of a future where they succeeded in stealing the Tenrou Jade and returning it to the Shinju's sealing grounds, but did not defeat Blue Skull.
The vision on top of what she saw in Magnolia Town made her realize that she wanted to focus on more than just her mission to retrieve the Tenrou Jade. She wanted to save Magnolia Town. When she informed her friends about her decision, Yury was not enthused.
Flashback
"Huh? You wanna free the town?" Yury asked.
Mavis answered, "Yes, I can't just sit back and watch them suffer."
Yury was not amused, "No way, count me out if you're planning on being some hero. Our job is to sneak into Blue Skull, steal the Tenrou Jade, and put it back where it belongs. Taking down an entire dark guild is not a part of that job description!"
Precht disagreed, "Yury, we've obtained Magic so that we could fight them on even ground. Now is the time for us to use it."
Yury wasted no time getting in Precht's face and shouted, "Don't get all cocky with me just because you're Medic's favorite student! We're amateurs that haven't even been using Magic for a full week! They're a few hundred professionals!"
Warrod snarked, "So you're afraid of getting your ass kicked?"
Yury took offense to that, but Warrod continued before he could say anything, "We've seen a lot of towns like this before. There was nothing we could have done back then, but now we do have the means to make a difference. Tell me, don't you think that we should at least give it a shot?"
Yury had no response to that, and Medic broke the brief silence by saying, "I don't really care one way or the other what happens to Magnolia. If you want to help, I'll join in. If you'd rather focus on your mission, I'll do what I can to help there too. I don't really care how we get the Tenrou Jade back to where it belongs, just so long as it is returned before it's too late. So, what'll it be, Mavis?"
Mavis closed her eyes in thought and formulated a plan, asking her partner, Kurama, for second opinions on her plan before finally opening her eyes and announcing, "I've come up with a plan."
Flashback End
That was three days ago. According to the information Mavis gathered while investigating the town, Geoffrey occasionally goes hunting in the mountains north of Magnolia. The group used this opportunity to attack the guild while its master was away, and neutralize the guild master at the same time. The group split into two teams; Precht, Yury, and Medic were responsible for seizing the guild hall of Kardia Cathedral and capturing every dark mage they could. Which was surprisingly more time consuming than difficult as Yury was expecting, which went to prove that mooks with Magic were still just mooks when their opponents were fighting them on a level playing field.
Warrod's job was to lead Geoffrey to Mavis, where she would spring a trap that she had prepared for Blue Skull's master. Once Geoffrey was incapacitated, Warrod and Mavis would reunite with the rest of the group and make a final push to rid Magnolia Town of the Blue Skull dark guild. Then Mavis would take the Tenrou Jade back to its rightful place as she is the only one capable of doing so.
Geoffrey immediately noticed something was wrong right before Warrod commanded the trees themselves to assault him, his mount, and the few underlings that he brought with him. Luckily for the underlings, the assault was just to grab their attention. Geoffrey demanded that Warrod reveal himself, and Warrod was all too happy to comply.
"We've captured your base in Kardia Cathedral. All the treasure in it is now ours." Warrod gloated.
Geoffrey recognized Warrod and said, "Oh, so you've learned how to use Magic. Does this mean you're here for revenge?"
Warrod smirked, "Nah, I don't care about revenge…"
Warrod trailed off on purpose, giving a Blue Skull underling time to let Geoffrey know that Magnolia Town was on fire. He then used this moment to make his escape. Geoffrey ordered his underlings to pursue Warrod while he raced back to Magnolia. However, he and his mount came to an abrupt halt half a mile outside the town. Geoffrey tried to move, and tried to nullify whatever what paralyzing him with his Dispel Magic, only for it to do nothing but reveal that Magnolia Town was not really on fire. Geoffrey looked down and noticed that an array of black runes had spread across his body, and he did not recognize any of the symbols.
"The Shinobi Art of Sealing: Fuinjutsu. I'm sure you've already found out that your Dispel Magic is useless against it. That's because there is no Magic in it for you to Dispel." Mavis explained as she appeared before Geoffrey.
Geoffrey growled at Mavis in anger, "You again! What are you? This is the third technique you've used that my Magic has failed to dispel. What is this? What are you?
Mavis explained, "I am a descendant of the ancient Shinobi. You could not dispel my Shadow Clones, summoned toad, and this seal because they were called forth by a power called Chakra, not Magic. As such, your Dispel Magic had no effect because Dispel Magic only affects Magic, not Chakra. Since you do not have a Chakra system capable of molding Chakra, you will be stuck here for the next 3 hours. Now if you'll excuse me, I must retrieve the Tenrou Jade."
Geoffrey suddenly became fearful and warned Mavis about the true nature of the Tenrou Jade. Mavis brushed him off and informed him that she already knew that and has already taken the necessary precautions to resist the evil force resting in the gem.
Kardia Cathedral
Mavis and Warrod met up with the rest of the group and found Medic tending to the few cuts and bruises that Precht and Yury received from battling Blue Skull's underlings. Medic nodded at Mavis and jerked her head towards the Tenrou Jade, resting on an alter in the back of the cathedral. Mavis approached the Jade, only for it to surprise everyone in the room by floating into the air of its own accord and releasing a terrifying amount of malevolent energy. Then a voice reverberated throughout the cathedral in ancient Shinobiese, the voice of a very hateful woman.
[YOU! I recognize you! Mana! You will pay for destroying all I worked so hard to achieve! I will exterminate you! You and everyone you have associated yourself with! I shall exterminate you all!]
Yury covered his ears to block out the incredibly loud voice and asked, "Mavis, do you have any idea what this voice is saying?"
Mavis responded, "Just the standard evil spirit stuff. Blaming me for whatever made her become evil and declarations of mass murder. Though she got my name wrong, so I guess I must look like someone the Shinju really hates."
The Tenrou Jade rose further into the air, beyond Mavis's reach when she tried to make a grab for it. It exited the Cathedral through an opening in the roof and perched itself on the forehead of the dragon statue that Blue Skull named itself after. The group rushed outside to pursue the possessed gem and froze in shock of what the gem was doing. Flesh was growing on the dragon effigy, and the skeletal wings began to grow a membrane strong enough to allow it flight once more. Blue scales emerged from the skeleton's new flesh while tan scales covered its underbelly and vertically slitted yellow eyes appeared in its eye sockets. The revived dragon raised its head skyward, exhaled a massive gout of azure flames into the sky and announced, "I have returned from the abyss of death! I am the Lord of Blue Flames! I am Tiamat!"
Tiamat looked down at the group of five, revealing the Tenrou Jade embedded in his forehead, and pointed at the group, "You five… you shall be my first victims! I have not eaten in so long, so the five of you should be a decent appetizer before I feast on this town!"
Every single person in the town immediately began to evacuate in a panic. The group responded with varying emotions ranging from fear to grim resolve. Yury was the first to speak and fearfully squeaked, "We need to run. Now!"
"Where exactly can we run to? That's a freaking dragon for crying out loud! Is it even possible to escape?" Warrod responded.
"I cannot retreat" Mavis quietly said as she surprised Precht, Yury, and Warrod by actually walking toward Tiamat. Medic already had a good idea of what was going through Mavis's head. They needed to retrieve the Tenrou Jade to prevent the return of a beast far more powerful than this dragon. There was too much at stake for her to run away.
Yury grabbed Mavis by the shoulder and tried pull her back, "Now's not the time for heroics, Mavis! That's a real live dragon! We need to get out of here while we still can!"
Mavis shrugged off Yury's grip and responded while Tiamat watched patiently, waiting for his meals to redirect their attention back to it, "I know what we're up against. Which is why I want you, Precht, and Warrod to get the townspeople as far away from here as you can. I will not run from this fight. The world is doomed if I cannot return the Tenrou Jade to where it belongs. If I am to do that, I must defeat this dragon!"
Precht joined in, "Then let us help you! We'd stand a much better chance together than you would by yourself!"
Mavis shook her head, "If this was a normal fight, you would be correct, but this is far from normal. If dragons are as strong as the legends said, then the three of you would not last five seconds against it, even if you did work together."
Warrod asked, "Then what makes you think you would do any better?"
Mavis directed her attention towards Tiamat and continued her walk towards the Lord of Blue Flames, "Because my offensive Magic was made for this."
The group heard the sound of a massive impact and saw that Medic was now crouched in the middle of a crater with her fist in the ground. They also saw a humanoid figure composed completely of shadows standing at the edge of the crater. Medic and the figure glared at each other with clear hostility visible on both sides before Medic launched a series of physical strikes, leaving small craters in her wake with every strike that hit the ground, that forced the shadow being to retreat into the cathedral.
It was then that Tiamat lost his patience and shouted, "Stop ignoring me!"
Tiamat punctuated his statement by breathing a massive stream of blue fire that the four teenagers could not hope to dodge. Then Mavis did something that left Precht, Yury, and Warrod dumbfounded. She inhaled through her mouth and began to eat the flames as the attack redirected itself into Mavis's mouth. The treasure hunters continued to hear slurping sounds come from Mavis as she continued to eat the flames until the attack ended. She then surprised her friends again, including the dragon, by opening her mouth and unleashing a massive beam of white light just as large as Tiamat's breath attack while shouting, "Divine Dragon's Roar!"
The attack slammed into Tiamat dead on in the face and knocked him onto his back. Mavis turned to her friends briefly and said, "My offensive magic is a Lost Magic known as Divine Dragon Slayer Magic. I don't want to see any of you get hurt, and I'm the only one among us that is capable of fighting a dragon with any hope of success. Please, let me handle this!"
The three hesitated for a moment before Precht solemnly said, "Don't die, Mavis"
Mavis nodded, "I won't." She then started to tear up, "I have too much to live for. I can't afford to die now that I finally have friends."
Tiamat got back onto his four feet as Mavis's friends left to help evacuate the townspeople. Mavis gave Tiamat her undivided attention as he growled in irritation, "A Dragon Slayer… that explains your confidence in the face of a dragon, but no matter. Your next attack will only have your puny power backing it up. I will not give you another opportunity to borrow some of my power. You will face your grim fate alone!"
Mavis dodged Tiamat's charging attack with a Chakra enhanced leap, accidentally channeling too much, launching herself higher into the air than she wanted. She mentally asked, 'Kurama, how much longer will I have to wait until my Chakra has fully adjusted to yours and stabilizes? I won't last long against Tiamat without your help and my Chakra being unpredictable.'
"Thirty minutes. Surely you can last that long against something you've been trained to slay, right?" Kurama responded.
'I can manage for that long' Mavis thought to Kurama as she prepared a flying axe kick.
Tiamat flapped his wings and prepared to pursue Mavis, only for her flying axe kick infused with Divine Dragon Slayer Magic to hit its mark at the back of his neck as Mavis shouted, "Divine Dragon's Holy Fang!"
The impact forced Tiamat back to the ground, but more irritated him than hurt him. Tiamat attempted to grab Mavis with his right claw, but she batted it away with a Magic infused fist as she descended to the ground while incanting, "Divine Dragon's Exalted Fist!"
Tiamat grunted with irritation and attempted to ram and impale Mavis with the small horn on his nose, but narrowly missed when Mavis dodged with another Chakra enhanced leap to her left, this time accidentally channeling too little Chakra into her jump. Tiamat capitalized on the closeness and his size and leaned his neck and head to the right as quickly as he could, smacking Mavis away with the right side of his head.
Mavis landed with a thud and quickly flipped back onto her bare feet as Tiamat charged her. She thought to Kurama as she narrowly dodged Tiamat's charge and countered with another Exalted Fist, 'How much longer?'
"Twenty-nine minutes."
Mavis thought to herself as she braced herself for another round with Tiamat, 'This is going to be a long twenty-nine minutes…'
Xxx
Precht helped an old lady get back on her feet while Yury and Warrod aided the townspeople as well. Precht looked back and saw Tiamat get hit in the face by a large ray of light, forcing him to reel backwards before retaliating by slamming his front legs into the ground.
Precht thought as he helped the elderly woman get to safety, 'There has to be a way for us to help Mavis. Dragon Slayer or not, she's still a thirteen year old girl. A tough girl, but still a little girl. I believe that she can hold her own against Tiamat, but it doesn't change how I feel. There has to be some way we can help…'
Precht watched as Tiamat chased Mavis into the woods behind Kardia Cathedral and got an idea.
"Warrod! Yury!" Precht shouted to his friends as he escorted the elderly lady to the town gates.
"What?" They both asked as they helped calm down and escort townspeople as far away from the battle between dragon and Dragon Slayer as possible.
"We're going back to help Mavis as soon as this area is cleared!"
"Right!" Was their unified response. They didn't need to say anything more than that because they were all thinking the same thing.
'You called us your friends, Mavis, and as your friends, we don't want you to get hurt either. We will fight this dragon together.'
Xxx
Medic missed smashing the moving shadow's face in again and avoided its counterattack by jumping away from its attempt to grab her face. She questioned the shadow, "Why are you here, Black Zetsu?"
Black Zetsu spread its arms and responded, "To ensure the Shinju's release, of course. After all, I am the one that orchestrated the Tenrou Jade's theft. However, since you and that Shinobi descendant are here too, your capture and her death have been added to my to-do list. Getting those two tasks done will give me great pleasure due to your repeated escapes from me over the past few centuries, and the Yellow Flash narrowly saving that child from death by my hand nine years ago."
Medic narrowed her eyes and spat out, "So you're the one that murdered Mavis's parents!"
Black Zetsu gave Medic a jagged toothed grin and preened, "Correct. It was only her mother that truly needed to die, her maiden name being Uzumaki being proof enough of that. Technically, her father didn't need to die, but he knew too much, so I killed him just to make sure he'd keep quiet." Black Zetsu then frowned and ranted, "I would have killed the girl then too if that damned Fourth Hokage hadn't been passing through at the time. Not that she'd remember that part since she was unconscious at the time. I would have just killed her the next time I tracked her down, but as it turns out, the Yellow Flash left her in the care of the thrice damned Divine Dragon Northswain! He watched over her like a mother hen and made sure I could never get anywhere near striking distance of her. Not that I'm surprised, given her uncanny resemblance to Mana, the only other student he ever taught his magic too. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a distant descendant of her or even her reincarnation. Both are possible considering her foresight ability."
Medic took a step back and thought, 'Mana? That's what the spirit in the Tenrou Jade called Mavis.' She then narrowed her eyes and asked, "Why are you hunting down Shinobi descendants?"
Black Zetsu grinned again and explained, "Isn't it obvious? It's what Master Madara ordered me to do. Not that you would remember him giving me that order. He gave that order to me a century before he used the Impure World Resurrection on you, Sakura Haruno."
Medic growled and glared at Black Zetsu, "Don't call me that. I've thrown that name away."
Black Zetsu chuckled malevolently, "Then would you prefer that thin disguise surname that you gave yourself when you-" Black Zetsu was cut off by a blast of compressed air that sent him flying through a wall and out of the cathedral.
Medic returned her extended fist to her side and snarled to herself, "I'm going to enjoy reducing him to a greasy smear on my fist far more than I should."
Medic pursued Black Zetsu, determined to put an end to the abomination.
Magnolia Forest: Half a mile away from Kardia Cathedral
'Kurama, how much time?'
"Three minutes, and I must say that you are doing much better than I expected you to. You've managed to keep that overgrown lizard from landing a completely solid hit on you the entire time. Those dodging lessons you told me about must really be paying off." Kurama said as Mavis jumped out of the way of an open mouthed charge, forcing Tiamat to bite into a tree. However, Tiamat used the tree as a weapon and started swinging it at Mavis by shaking his head, eventually landing a solid hit on Mavis with the tree. Luckily, she minimized the damage by curling up into a ball to protect her face and torso, only suffering from a few stick cuts to her arms and legs and blunt force trauma from the impact and landing.
Kurama said, "Whoops, looks like I jinxed her. You alright, kid?"
Mavis mentally slurred, 'Did anyone get the number of that birch?'
"I think it was an oak" Kurama joked in response.
'Thank you' Mavis dazedly replied.
"You're welcome, now snap out of it! You've got an incoming dragon at 12 o'clock!" Kurama mentally slapped her back to her senses just in time for her to jump onto the trunk of the tree Tiamat was swinging at her and put her right hand in a knife hand position.
'I haven't had much of a chance to practice this one, but it's my only shot at getting rid of this tree!' Mavis channeled her Dragon Slayer Magic into her hand and manifested it as a sharp white blade of light. She was thrown from the tree trunk as the blade formed since she could not cling to the tree with her Chakra and use Magic at the same time. Mavis landed on her feet and braced herself for Tiamat's next swing. When it came, she cleaved through the section that was about to hit her and incanted, "Divine Dragon's Sacred Sword!"
Tiamat swung again and was met with the same result. He then got one last use out of the tree by spitting what was left of the trunk at Mavis, which she cleaved in to so that the two halves would land behind her in two pieces instead of on her. Mavis then made use of her acrobatics to slash at Tiamat in a confusing pattern, forcing him to back away and dodge to the best of his ability. Which was not easy considering his size, and his size proved to be his undoing when Mavis showed Tiamat just how sharp the Divine Dragon's Sacred Sword is by slashing him across his forehead just below the Tenrou Jade, cutting through the scales as if they were flesh and drawing blood.
Tiamat thrashed in pain and threw Mavis into a bush. He glared down at her as she removed herself from the foliage and assumed a defensive position. Tiamat acknowledged Mavis as an actual threat and asked, "You call yourself the Divine Dragon Slayer, correct? Who taught you this Magic?"
"Northswain, the Divine Dragon" was Mavis's response.
"Northswain, eh? How did you run into that old fossil? He's an extreme isolationist that doesn't even associate with his own kind, much less humans. The only way anyone could ever hope to find him would be to happen upon him by accident, or if he seeks you out."
"I woke up on his mountain after my parents were killed. I don't know how I got there." Mavis answered as she created another Divine Dragon's Sacred Sword.
"I see, so it was by accident. Since you have proven that hold the supreme Dragon Slayer Magic, I shall engage you as if you were a serious threat to my life. Underestimating a student of the one powerful enough to be known as the 'God of all Dragons' would be foolish."
'Kurama! I could really use a stable chakra system and your help right about now!' Mavis mentally yelled as Tiamat took flight in preparation of a dive bomb attack
Kurama's reply was, "Just a few more seconds."
Tiamat descended from the skies at high speeds at Mavis as she prepared to perform a dodging slash.
"Three!" Kurama counted.
Tiamat bit down on air and passed Mavis, using the shockwave of his flying pass to blow Mavis out of his way, thwarting her counterattack.
"Two!"
Tiamat turned and prepared a second dive bomb run.
"One!"
Mavis felt her formerly chaotic Chakra reserves settle down and channeled her Chakra into her feet. She launched herself into the air and completely avoided Tiamat's dive bomb run and the shockwave. Tiamat then made to pluck her out of the air, but was stopped by a black high speed humanoid projectile hitting him in the side of the face. This jarred his focus and knocked him out of the sky while Mavis had a graceful landing.
Mavis turned in the direction the projectile came from and saw Medic running towards her. Mavis met her halfway and said, "Medic! I'm so glad you're alright!"
Medic smiled and said, "It's good to see that you've been holding yourself together too. Even if you look like you lost a fight with a wood chipper."
Mavis noticed the condition of her clothes and put a sheepish look on her face. She then shifted her focus back on Tiamat and noticed that the black humanoid that Medic used as an impromptu cannonball was vanishing into the ground until it eventually vanished completely while Tiamat regained his bearings.
Mavis asked, "What was that?"
Medic answered, "Black Zetsu, believe me when I say that you'll want a piece of it just as much as I do when I tell you about its more recent exploits."
Mavis nodded and prepared to renew her assault on Tiamat when another surprise happened. The trees sprung to life and pinned him to the ground. Then magical chains burst from the ground to add to the restraints holding Tiamat down. Mavis looked to the source of the new magical output and was shocked when she saw Warrod, Precht, and Yury.
"Precht! Warrod! Yury! What are you three doing here?!" Mavis demanded in surprise.
"Yury responded, "We're your friends, right? Did you really think that we'd just sit back and let you fight a dragon by yourself?"
Warrod added, "The townspeople are a safe distance away from here, so there's no need for us to stay on the sidelines anymore!"
Precht finished, with his hands planted on the ground, "We'll distract and restrain Tiamat, you just focus on pulling the Tenrou Jade out of its skull."
"You guys…" Mavis whispered as she smiled and teared up, touched by their devotion to her. Medic stood next to her and put a hand on the girl's shoulder.
Medic mused, "When people see someone working harder than them, they feel the need to work twice as hard to outdo the one inspiring them. That's just part of what makes people who they are."
Mavis's friends all smiled at her, filling her with warmth and happiness. She gained a confident smirk and declared, "Right! It's time to slay a dragon!"
Tiamat broke through his restraints with a roar of exertion and moved to glare at the newcomers, only to find Yury balancing on a tree branch in his face with his arms outstretched in front of him. Yury incanted, "Lightning Flash!"
Lightning sprung from Yury's hands and flashed before Tiamat's eyes at point blank range, blinding the dragon.
While Tiamat roared in shock, trees and chains began to restrain him again while Mavis leaped up to Tiamat's head and grabbed the Tenrou Jade. With a shout of exertion, she pulled it out of its place on Tiamat's head.
However, the fight would not end that easily. The Tenrou Jade had a mind of its own. It flared its malevolent chakra, forcing Mavis to briefly see images of a life that did not belong to her, forced its way out of Mavis's grip, and levitated itself back onto Tiamat's forehead.
Tiamat thrashed in rage, throwing Mavis off his head. His vision returned and prepared to retaliate. However, he was interrupted by a searing pain flaring up just below his neck.
Medic leaped and landed a Chakra enhanced punch just below Tiamat's. She shouted in exertion, "SHANNARO!" and used her punch to launch Tiamat out of his restraints and an impressive quarter mile away from the group.
Mavis, Precht, Yury, and Warrod all stared at Medic in dumb shock as she congratulated herself, "Yep, I've still got it!"
Her self-congratulations were interrupted by Tiamat's roar of rage, which garnered the attention of everything in a mile radius. Mavis then leaped in front of Medic and intercepted a massive wall of blue flames, eating the fire and taking in its power.
Mavis was about to return fire with the power she took in when she heard Kurama's voice, "Wait, instead of using that power to return fire, try absorbing it. I have a theory about Dragon Slayers that I want to confirm."
Mavis followed Kurama's advice as Tiamat approached from the air and added the absorbed flames to her supply of energy, unknowingly mixing the Ethernano taken in from the flames with her physical and spiritual energies. Her physical features began to change slightly, some of her skin was covered by aquamarine scales, her green eyes developed a slit pupil, and her hair color changed from blond to a shimmering white.
Tiamat attempted to flatten Mavis with a dive bomb punch but was shocked when Mavis responded with equal force. "Divine Dragon's Exalted Fist!"
Tiamat was pushed back into the air as Mavis skidded across the ground. Kurama grinned in Mavis's mindscape and said, "Looks like my theory was right. Dragon Slayers can subconsciously control Natural Energy when it is drawn in and internalized."
'Wait, are you saying that I'm in Sage Mode right now?!' Mavis thought at Kurama.
"Technically, yes. Though I believe the Dragon Slayer term for it would be called Dragonforce."
Mavis took a moment to take stock of her new power while Tiamat took care to avoid Medic and the restraining chains and trees that tried to recapture him. She could feel the Ethernano intermingling with her Chakra perfectly and could channel both at the same time. Her chakra control also saw astonishing improvement as she attempted to form a Rasengan and performed the final step with no difficulty. Mavis grinned and said, "I could get used to this."
Mavis used her newfound power to leap into the air and got in Tiamat's face with a blur of movement. She channeled her Dragon Slayer Magic into her Rasengan and it grew slightly and began to shine with a brilliant white light, nearly blinding Tiamat. Mavis slammed her new attack into Tiamat right between the eyes and announced, "Dragon Sage Art: Divine Dragon's Spiraling Gem!"
The force of the attack launched Tiamat back down to the ground with painfully jarring force and left the dragon dazed. Warrod and Precht capitalized on this to restrain the dragon once more.
Mavis heard Kurama advise her, "We'll need to destroy that dragon completely before we can take the Tenrou Jade, and considering how durable that overgrown lizard is, you'll need to put everything you have into your strongest attack and hit him with everything you've got. Hold nothing back!"
Mavis nodded and shouted, "Guys I need you to restrain Tiamat with all you have! I need time to prepare something!"
"Right!" Was the response she got from her friends.
Mavis took a deep breath and her hands began to glow with power. She entered a stance with her left foot forward and her right foot was planted behind her for support as she held her arms in front of her with her left hand above her right. She then moved her hands to her side right above her right hip and a brilliant orb of white light appeared between her hands. She incanted, "Now, with all I have… Dragon Sage Secret Art…"
Tiamat tried to break free from his restraints, but before he could, Medic descended on him with a flying axe kick and shouted, "Heaven Kick of Pain!" The heel drop painfully forced Tiamat back into the ground and formed a crater.
The orb of white light grew brighter and larger in Mavis's hands as she channeled more of her power into it.
Tiamat sensed the amount of power Mavis was outputting and thrashed violently. With a display of strength that even Tiamat did not know he had, he broke through his restraints and glared down at Mavis. Tiamat knew that he had to end this now and breathed a massive stream of blue fire at Mavis, and she responded in kind by thrusting the orb of light in front of her with her right hand on top of her left while shouting, "DIVINE WRATH!" Launching a massive beam of light to meet Tiamat's wave of blue flames.
The two powers clashed halfway between the two forces. Dragon and Dragon Slayer clashed their wills against each other and poured more power into their attacks as Medic, Precht, Yury, and Warrod stood clear of the blast zone. Unfortunately, after a minute of clashing, Mavis's beam began to lose ground. Precht, Warrod, and Yury began to distract Tiamat again out of concern for their friend. Precht and Warrod tried to divert Tiamat's aim with their chains and trees while Yury did everything within his power to blind Tiamat. Unfortunately, their efforts amounted to nothing. Tiamat had closed his eyes to avoid getting blinded again and focused all of its considerable strength towards his attack and was not going to let anything distract him or divert the course of his attack.
While the boys focused on Tiamat, Medic got behind Mavis and began to use her Mystic Palm technique on her. Infusing some of her Chakra into Mavis and renewing her strength. This combined effort was enough to get Mavis to push Tiamat's flames back to the halfway point of the clash. It was then that Kurama's voice echoed through Mavis's mind, and Medic's due to her Chakra being connected to Mavis's for the moment, "Mavis, I'm about to add my power to your attack. I need you to brace yourself for a wave of pain. Your Chakra may have finally adjusted to my presence, but your body is still not used to my power." Kurama then directed his attention to Medic, aware of her presence, "And you, Sakura, or whatever you're calling yourself these days. I need you to numb her pain receptors as much as you can. I'm going to give this girl the final push she needs to finish this fight."
Mavis closed her eyes and tensed in barely numbed pain as a dense golden aura surrounded her body. Kurama's power then influenced the Divine Wrath beam by changing its color from shimmering white to a brilliant gold. Mavis belted out a cry of exertion and pain as she channeled her's and Kurama's power into her attack. The Divine Wrath beam quickly began to overtake Tiamat's blue flames and soon broke through and crashed into him.
Tiamat roared in pain as the attack enveloped him and tore him apart piece by piece until all that remained was the Tenrou Jade as it fell to the ground.
Mavis staggered and fell back into Medic's arms as Precht, Warrod, and Yury ran to her. She passed out right when they came within arm's reach.
Later at night… over forty eight hours later… at sea
Mavis awoke a few hours later… feeling absolutely miserable. She opened her eyes and noticed that it was night, and felt the ground under her shifting gently as if she were on a boat at sea. Then she smelled saltwater and realized that she really was at sea. Mavis drunkenly tried to stand up, only to fall over and nearly puke her guts out. The sound of Kurama laughing all nine of his tails off at her suffering was not helpful at all as her eyes went comically white with discomfort as she clumsily reached for the rails. Sweet relief from her motion sickness lied just beyond those rails.
Unfortunately, Medic had different plans for her and laid her back down on the wooden floor and examined her. "Huh, it appears she's suffering from motion sickness."
Mavis then heard Yury say, "What? How? She travelled to Tenrou Island just fine by herself, and she seemed perfectly fine travelling to Hargeon Port with us by boat. Why's she suffering from it now?"
Yury's word's jogged Mavis's memory and she felt around for her haori while doing everything within her power to keep the bile rising up her throat from reaching her mouth. She found that Medic had set her haori up as a pillow for her to rest her head on and found the scroll she kept in one of its hidden pockets and shakily presented it to Medic while cutely groaning in discomfort.
Medic examined the scroll and tried to decipher the individual seals that she saw written in it. Unfortunately, Mavis was much more well versed in Fuinjutsu than Medic, so she had to show the seals to the motion sick Dragon Slayer until Mavis shakily pointed to the one she was looking for and motioned for Medic to apply it to her arm. When she did so, Mavis swallowed the bile that was threatening to spill out of her mouth and let out a sigh of relief and disgust for the taste of bile that now inhabited her mouth.
Medic said, "Well, I guess we now know how she's able to stand transportation despite having motion sickness."
Mavis nodded and stood up, "The only thing I hate about my anti motion sickness seal is that I have to reapply it every time I have to use transportation."
Mavis finally took stock of her surroundings and noticed that the boat she was on was the same motorboat that she traveled to Hargeon Port in with Precht, Warrod, and Yury. She then panicked and rapidly asked, "How long have I been out? What happened to Magnolia? Where's the Tenrou Jade?"
The girl's friends spent a good five minutes calming her down and answering her questions. Medic answered the first one, "You've been out for nearly fifty hours because your last attack made you suffer from Chakra Exhaustion. I've been taking care of you ever since while Precht, Warrod, and Yury took care of the people of Magnolia."
Yury continued for Medic, "Yeah, which was fun by the way. They were really grateful to us since we freed them from Blue Skull. Though that gratefulness towards us kinda turned into hero worship for you when we told them that you were the one slayed Tiamat."
Precht finished by holding up a wooden box, "As for the Tenrou Jade, I picked it up with a shovel and put it in this box. I figured that it would be a simple, but effective way to carry the Tenrou Jade without touching it."
Mavis nodded, understanding Precht's logic. She then asked, "How did we get here so fast? The hike from Hargeon to Magnolia lasted three days."
Warrod answered over the hum of the lacrima powered motor he was steering, "The townspeople gave us horses to ride back to Hargeon when we explained that we needed to return the Tenrou Jade to where it belongs as quickly as possible. Thankfully, they didn't ask questions so that cut down on how much time it took to get this far."
Yury sighed and reclined against the inside of the boat's bow, "We can finally rest easy now. We're almost to Tenrou Island, and with plenty of time to spare."
Mavis nodded, "Yes, so long as the visions my foresight showed me hold true and our timetable doesn't accelerate, we still have a few days before the Shinju's release."
Yury cheered, "Then I say we all take a well deserved rest! If anyone's earned it, it's us considering how be booked it here straight from Magnolia without resting… well, everyone except you, Mavis. You were out like a light for the entire trip!"
Everyone got a much needed laugh from Yury's statement and Mavis took it all in good humor. Unfortunately, Yury's statement about them finally being able to rest easy jinxed them. Mavis sensed a spike of malevolent energy in the direction of Tenrou Island and noticed the ominous storm clouds looming only in that direction. The energy then began to rapidly fluctuate. Things only got more ominous when the wooden box Precht put the Tenrou Jade in began to rattle, forcing the person closest to it at the moment, Medic, to firmly hold it shut. The more Mavis focused on the energy spike, the more her head began to hurt until her eyes glazed over, she broke out in a cold sweat, and then she screamed in pain and fell down.
"Mavis!" her friends called out as Precht caught her. Mavis didn't stay down long and jolted back up, eyes wide with horror. Yury grabbed Mavis's shoulders and asked remembering some of her previous episodes earlier during their journey, "What happened? Was it your foresight again?"
Mavis nodded numbly and shakily asked, "Yury, I-I need you to answer two questions for me. Where is the moon right now, and what phase is it in?"
Yury searched the sky and saw that it was full and still low in the sky. It was probably only nine o'clock. "It's still low in the sky and it's a full moon."
Mavis's eyes widened even further and gasped in horror as fearful tears freely streamed down her face. "We… we're almost out of time."
Everyone looked at Mavis in shock and horror. Precht asked, "But I thought we still had a few days?"
Mavis shakily shook her head, "Our timetable has accelerated. In my vision… the Shinju broke free during the night of the full moon, when the moon reached its peak in the night sky… midnight… we need to move faster NOW! We don't have a few days to get there anymore! We only have a few hours!"
That was all the prompting Warrod needed to push the boat's lacrima motor to its limit and speed the boat across the water at its maximum speed. Warrod, Precht, and Yury remembered the very brief memory of the Shinju's might that Minato showed them back when they first visited Tenrou Island. Mavis was constantly haunted by visions of the monster's release, and Medic actually fought it before. Nobody on the boat wanted to meet the Shinju face-to-face tonight.
Tenrou Island: 15 minutes to doomsday
All five members of the group raced through Tenrou Island's forest. Precht, Yury, and Warrod trailed behind Mavis and Medic as they raced across the treetops. Mavis made the mistake of looking up and saw the moon peeking through the storm clouds. It was almost at its peak. Urgency drove Mavis to push Chakra into her feet and recklessly leaped across the treetops faster than ever, holding the box containing the Tenrou Jade in a death grip against her chest. She could feel the gem doing everything within its power to break free of its confinement, but Mavis held firm and sped across the treetops, ignoring the howling winds, the boom of thunder and the crash of lightning that plagued the island.
Mavis spotted the entrance to the sealing chamber with minutes to spare and bolted through the caves with Medic right behind her. The two females entered the room of the seal and were horrified by how fragile it now looked. To Mavis, it was a literal nightmare come true, a nightmare that she refused see play out. She had resolved herself to overcome her visions, she refused to allow her nightmares come to pass.
Mavis shouted, "Ancestor! Minato! I'm back! I've brought the Transfer Gem! The Tenrou Jade!"
Minato turned his head slightly, his hands still planted firmly on the seal, and said with urgency in his voice, "Place it in the space between my hands, hurry, I can't hold it back for much longer!"
Mavis opened the box and snatched the Tenrou Jade out of the air as it tried to escape. That was where things went from terrible to near hopeless. Mavis screamed in pain as the Tenrou Jade radiated rancid black Chakra and tried to possess her. She could feel Kurama's Chakra doing its job by ejecting the foreign Chakra from her body as quickly as it entered, but as it passed through, Mavis saw brief glimpses of another person's life. In it, she saw an era of bloody war. Two women fighting to end those wars, one wielding the gift of Chakra, and the other with the gift of Magic. What surprised Mavis was that the woman using Magic looked like an older version of herself. 'Mana?' she wondered as the name came to her. She then saw flashes of the relationship between the women going sour. then finally, she saw them turn on each other and battle to the death. She heard muffled voices calling out something. It became clearer and clearer until she realized that her undead ancestor and Medic where calling out to her.
Mavis snapped back to reality with her right hand in excruciating pain, but still holding the Tenrou Jade in a death grip. She refused to let the Transfer Gem escape. Mavis staggered up to Minato and reached up to return the gem to its rightful place, drowning out the furious cries of a hateful woman,[NO! NOT WHEN I'M SO CLOSE! I'M SO CLOSE TO FREEDOM! DAMN YOU MANA! DAMN YOU TO HELL!]
The Tenrou Jade slipped snugly into its place in the seal and the array reconnected itself to the Transfer Gem, locking it in place and restoring the seal to full power. Minato backed away and caught Mavis as she fell backwards with a sigh of relief and smile on her face.
She had finally defeated fate. Mavis Vermilion had finally changed the future.
Xxx
Precht, Warrod, and Yury reached the entrance to the sealing chamber just in time for the weather to settle down. The oppressive malevolent presence that they felt radiating from the island was gone, locked behind its seal once more. The second they saw Mavis, Medic, and Minato walk out of the sealing chamber with smiles on their faces, they knew that it was over.
They won.
Riku: That's it for part two of the prologue. This took longer than I expected. I was hoping to get part three out on Christmas, but it looks like I waited too long to get started with this. So I will just have to revise my statement and say that I will get the last part of this prologue arc out before New Year's Day ends.
Minato: Are you sure you can keep that promise?
Riku: So long as the next chapter isn't a monster chapter like this one? Yeah, I think I can.