"ZAAAAMMMM!!!!" yellow lightning blasted all over the canyon as two mages continued their vicious battle. Argentumias sat on a rocky outcropping in the distance as he watched Noiress and Laxus fight it out with vicious purpose.
"Seven Bladed Dance!!" Noiress swung her seven blades in a flurry of strikes too fast to catch with the naked eye as Laxus continued to jump back, his body surrounded in a powerful yellow electric aura.
"Come on!" said Laxus with a grin. "Surely you can do better then that! I thought it took Erza, Kagura, and Kanzaki together to beat you."
"Oh I assure you.." said Noiress with a malicious smile. "You haven't even begun to see anything yet..Falcon Strike!!"
All seven swords moved in a single stabbing strike as Laxus shot a lightning bolt from his fist. The blades drilled through the lightning like it was nothing and stabbed Laxus in the gut. Laxus leapt back, droplets of blood flying from his body.
"I have to say.." said Laxus. "You're pretty quick on your feet. But this fight won't go anywhere for you if all you can rely on is fancy footwork."
"You're quite right." said Noiress. "That's why I'm the one weilding these swords and not some daft idiot. Dance of The Iron Maiden!!"
Noiress threw her swords into the air and they shot at Laxus like bullets, turning and twisting in mid air to follow him like guided missles as he dodged the blades with increasing difficulty.
'From what I hear, you were barely able to defeat Gore Beastwalker." said Noiress. "But I'm on a whole different class then he is.."
Laxus instantly turned into a lightning bolt and shot between the guided blades till he was right behind Noiress. He materialized and kicked Noiress straight in the back, causing her to shoot into the side of the canyon in an explosion of electric power.
The dust blasted back as Noiress swiped it back with one arm, her body radiating intense magic power. she held out her multiple shadowy arms as well as her own and caught her blades in mid air as she dashed at Laxus in a burst of nearly unreadable speed.
"Don't be shy!" said Noiress gleefully as she hacked and slashed at Laxus's dodging figure. "Hit me with some more of that!"
"Hmph.." said Laxus as he continued to dodge Noiress. "Typical Hydra Head..interested in nothing but fighting."
Laxus engulfed a fist in lightning and punched Noiress straight in the side of the jaw...but this time, instead of being blasted back, Noiress powered through the blow and slashed some cuts onto Laxus's side.
Laxus pummeled and punched at Noiress, but for some reason, her speed and endurance seemed to have increased, and she dodged and powered through all of Laxus's blows, giving him some bleeding cuts as well.
Laxus engulfed himself in lightning and flew backwards, landing about 25 meters from Noiress. "Dang...what just happened?"
"Here's a little ability I didn't display during the Grand Magic Games." Said Noiress. "You see, the legendary hydra Eclipse who dwells within my blades likes to draw power from that of my enemies...so while your power ebs away, I get that much stronger. I didn't use this ability when I fought your little Erza because I thought toying with her would be fun...now I see underestimating you flapping fairies is not an option, I will use all my power to destroy you."
Laxus took the long black coat he wore and threw it off into the wind as his body crackled with energy. "You're welcome to try...can't gaurantee you'll succeed though."
Noiress smiled. "Oh this is going to be fun..."
In a blitz of flashes, Noiress dashed and jumped around Laxus, dealing a deadly graceful dance of attacks, further injuring him as he attempted to fend Noiress off with a series of powerful blows.
"ROAR OF THE THUNDER DRAGON!!" Laxus exhaled a tremendous beam of lightning at Noiress, The beam narrowly missed her and carved a massive gouge in the floor of the canyon. That's when Laxus saw it. Roots...all lining the underside of the ground he just tore apart, all of them with the same moldy diseased look that was exuding dark aura. "Th-this is.."
"How do you like Azuma and Plague's little masterpiece?" said Noiress. "I imagine half of Fiore is covered in these by now..by the day after tommorow...this country...no..this world will fall."
"Azuma.." said Laxus as an expression of dawning began to emerge. "He was one of the Purgatory 7 from Grimoire Heart."
"Yes..as you quite know, he has an unusual affinity with trees and wood." said Noiress. "His ability was quite useful once we applied Plague's power to it. Have ever heard of Plague..his power has quite the punch."
"What are you trying to do?"
"This world will be covered in an eternal sleep of darkness." said Noiress. "When that happens, your two worlds will be able to help each other no more...Dravis has already seen your two dimensions as a great threat. For the first time in the history of the multiverse, two dimensions of extreme differing quality actually work and ally themselves with each other, All the other worlds Dravis has conquered were isolated from each other...however your worlds are different...and that makes you the greatest threat."
"This eternal sleep.." said Laxus. "You plan on cutting our worlds off from each other...but that's impossible, the Rainbow Gateway is too powerful for anyone to shut."
But you don't understand.." said Noiress as an evil smile spread on her face. "We're not just sealing you off...we're putting your entire world to sleep...Plague's power under normal circumstances can only affect those within 45 kilometers. However with Azuma's roots spreading them through the whole continent...and the entire planet.."
"You'll be able to put everyone within the reach of whoever this Plague guy is..." said Laxus. "Taking us all down into whatever your eternal dark sleep is.."
"Bingo..now you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this." said Noiress.
"Well, because you think that you'll be able to kill me before anyone finds out." Growled Laxus as his body began to eminate more lightning in rage.
"No..actually I'm telling you this because it's already too late." said Noiress. "The infection is already spreading...and there's nothing you can do to stop it.."
As if on cue, the roots lining the ground began to glow with a sinister black light..in the distance, Laxus could see a dark pitch blackness spreading across the sky and the entire area around it...like a dark black wave of pure darkness...shutting out all light as it moved closer. as the darkness consumed the trees and the clouds, Laxus saw birds drop out of the sky and deer curl up in the grass and close their eyes wearilly.
"The infection will speed up enough to cover the entire continent including the Rainbow Gateway by the day after tommorow." said Noiress. "You won't die...but nothing will move...nothing will even stir...it will be a world of everlasting sleep..."
"You evil little..."
"So long Laxus Dreyar.." said Noiress as Argentumias walked over next to her. "It was a pleasure meeting you while you were awake. My, I sure hope Railgun reaches the Gate of Entry before she is caught in the infection too.....hehehehe...it's much more entertaining to watch Zeref kill someone.."
As Noiress spoke, a pool of extremely reflective liquid opened up behind her and the wild black haired man known as Zvesda of the Dark Mirrors rose out of the mirror water. (Wow..long time since he's turned up.) In a burst of swirling reflective liquid, Noiress and the other two dissapeared while the darkness bore down on Laxus.
It looks like this is it for me...Laxus thought. That means that it's up to you now... Laxus shouted out the only hope of everything that mattered into the air. "MIKOTO!!!"
And all that was left was blackness...
Mikoto woke with a start, all around the small tent, thunder and rain could be heard as a devestating howling wind blew through. Had that been real? Had she actually seen Laxus fall to some unending darkness...no...it couldn't be...it had to be a dream..just a dream.
Mikoto looked over where she saw Natsu, Lucy, Maverick, Elli and Happy sleeping peacefully. Of course Nicole was outside on watch....but in this weather?
Mikoto peaked out the tent flap and saw Nicole sitting crosslegged all calm and serene as rain pounded on her head.
"She'll be fine...her training sessions are much harsher then this." Maverick had woken up, and was sitting next to Mikoto.
"Really?" said Mikoto. "What kind of super training did she go through?"
"She actually lived on Mt. Hakobe for 3 years on nothing but her magic and ingenuity. 7 years ago, she was known as the phantom of Mt. Hakobe."
"I heard about that!" said Mikoto. "Before the whole Tenrou Island incident, Levy and the Shadow Gear team went to take down the phantom as a job request...they never found it...I think the phantom was stealing food and supplies from weary travellers."
"That was Nicole alright." said Maverick "Sometimes she got tired of surviving on nothing but vulcan meat. But the those three years on that icy mountain honed her ability to endure much...except swimming..for some reason she never could learn to swim."
"Hmm.." Mikoto opened the flap and walked out into the terrible weather without a second thought. around 3 months ago, she had gone through similar training with Laxus. Laxus and her had trecked into the desert and endured the harsh environment...Laxus would constantly drill her on her battle and survival techniques..
"Laxus.." Mikoto murmured. It didn't help that it was thundering...with every flash of lightning, she could practically see Laxus's face in her mind. Alot of Fairy Tail members had their own mentor at one point or another. Natsu had Igneel, Gray had Ul, and Lucy had her mother. For Mikoto, Laxus had been that mentor.
After the Rainbow Gateway had formed, Laxus had come into the hospital while Mikoto was still recovering from her battle with Dravis. After a talk, Laxus offered to help train Mikoto to help her use the Dragon Slayer power she was still having difficulty controlling.
"But before we go doing this.." said Laxus. "There's just one condition I wanna set first."
"And what's that?" Mikoto asked.
"I want you to have a code." said Laxus. "A rule to live by."
"Code?"
"An Ethos...every warrior large and small as one." said Laxus. "Without that code, the warrior has nothing to fight for...but with an Ethos...you become even more powerful then the greatest storm." said Laxus. "With this training we're going to go through, you'll need that code..or you'll eat dirt.. so what is your Ethos?"
Mikoto still remembered the answer she had given that day...the answer she would take to her heart every time she trained or fought with an enemy.
"I will live for my all of you....my family..that is my Ethos."
Mikoto remembered all of this with a heart that slowly got heavier and heavier...She knew now that it had not been an ordinary dream she had seen...the day after tomorrow...was when all of Fiore would fall to darkness. And in the dream, Mikoto thought she could see something in Laxus's eyes as he shouted her name...as if he knew she was watching.
Mikoto felt so out of it now that she couldn't even feel the intense rain pounding on her back. She sat down next to Nicole who looked at her with interest.
"So..you have been trained in endurance as well?" Nicole asked.
"Huh?"
"I'm the only one I've ever seen besides Juvia to walk into such an intense tropical storm."
"...Nicole..Laxus is gone.."
Nicole's eyes widened. "What?!"
"He's not dead...but..." Mikoto explained what she had seen in her dream.
Nicole looked solemn at the end of the explanation, it was a strange scene, watching the two calm battle hardened girls sitting outside in a seemingly endless raging storm.
"We'll have to move quickly and get to the Gate of Entry before the darkness completely spreads over." said Nicole. "However...how we'll make it back to the Rainbow Gateway in time after we get to the Gate of Entry...we'll need a miracle."
"I don't know.." said Mikoto. "The Gate of Entry is as the name suggests, some sort of gate right? And the other gates are in my world. What if..the Gate of Entry will actually send us back?"
"It's a possibility." said Nicole. "Does Elanis have anything to say on it?"
"She hasn't been very talkative lately.." said Mikoto. "She's there..just...I don't know."
"Ancient dieties like her have to abide by certain rules." said Nicole. "It makes sense that she wouldn't be allowed to help you in some situations. It explains why Dravis bothers to gather up an army even though once he reaches full strength, no force or weapon rivals him."
"Still." said Mikoto. "It bothers me."
Nicole nodded. "In that case...there is one other you could ask...your mother Thundaarix."
"I don't know how to contact her." Mikoto said. "Hope told me she left the island three weeks ago on some sort of mission to meet Igneel about something..I haven't been able to make any contact since."
"There exists a technique that all Dragon Borns have within them." said Nicole. "It is a deep link that exists between the blood of the Dragon Born and his or her dragon parent. By using this link, you can speak to a Dragon parent and they could do the same.."
"Have you ever used this technique?"
"Once, about 3 days after I joined Fairy Tail.." said Nicole with a dark look. "It wasn't exactly a pleasent conversation."
Mikoto could imagine..it was Phasmaticana who had a deep grudge against Thundaarix because Mikoto turned out to be the child of prophecy instead of Nicole. Phasmaticana probably hadn't acted so nice when she found out that instead of killing Mikoto, Nicole had befriended her.
"You don't need to worry about her." said Nicole. "She's reached the end of her time...dragons aren't immortal. Phasmaticana is dying...she'll be dead probably by the end of the month.."
Without waiting for answer from Mikoto, Nicole put a hand on Mikoto's chestnut hair. "Now...calm yourself..try and concentrate only on your pure instinct..it may take a bit with all the rain..but it should come naturally to you."
Mikoto closed her eyes and did what Nicole said. She was surprised with how easily she was able to block out the rain and thunder. For a moment it felt like she was going down a long tunnel. Then...a soft voice hit her inner mind. A voice that exuded comfort and warmth.
"Dear daughter.." said Thundaarix. "I am gladdened to feel your presence...are you well?
"Mom...hi.." Mikoto felt a little awkward. She didn't exactly talk to Thundaarix every single day. "I don't know if you don't know this already...but this world is.."
"Yes...I already know of the infection being spread by the one known as Plague...unfortunately there is no way to stop it..."
"I need to know if the Gate of Entry will take us back to my world.."
"It will, but it is only a temporary gateway. Once the other 3 gates are active, it will shut down after 5 minutes...permeanantly."
"....."
"I sense your mind is troubled....what is it daughter?"
"D-did...did you know I was going to die in the end...?"
"...I hoped with all my heart that fate might be averted....but..."
"It's alright." Mikoto said. "You don't have to explain...I know it's probably a little late to be asking about this....but have you thought about that other thing I asked you about?"
"...yes...and I agree, it would be best...but what shall I tell your father and other mother?"
"Tell them.." said Mikoto as she felt tears pour down her face. "That the years they raised me were the best of my life...and that I love them....and...tell them I said goodbye.."
"You are brave daughter.." said Thundaarix. "You are truly a great one among both humans and dragons...."
There was a long sigh as the connection broke, and Mikoto found herself gasping as she burst back into the large rain storm.
"Easy.." said Nicole. "It has a bit of a disorienting affect to it."
After Mikoto talked to Nicole for a bit...the rain began to die down as the clouds split and a bit of light began to peek through.
"So...once we pass through the gate...that will be it.." said Nicole. "We'll be on our own."
"Yeah." said Mikoto.
"So this other matter that you asked Thundaarix to attend to.." said Nicole. "What was it?"
" thought my new baby sis should inherit some dragon power..."
Nicole blinked for a second, not understanding what Mikoto was saying..then. "Wait...little...sister? Not clones....actual little...sister?"
"Yes..My mom...my human mom is..erm...well before the whole Edolas thing...Mom and Dad had a little bit of time Paras...and yeah."
Nicole just looked dumbstruck. "Does anyone else..?"
"No.."
"Will you tell them?"
"....I've gotta.."
"A baby..." said Nicole as if she couldn't quite believe it . "An actual baby."
Mikoto nodded. "Yeah...just think...my family's gotten huge."