“This is all so messed up,” Gray said, shaking his head.
“I still say we should help.” Natsu grumbled.
“If you were dueling me would you want help?” Erza noted.
“No, but this is different,” Natsu answered.
All of them could see this was not a friendly duel like Fairy Tail might engage in. There was a dangerous undercurrent of blood lust here. And they weren’t the only ones who noticed it.
Diabolos watched the fight with palpable discomfort. Georg was their guild master. He was the surrogate father for many of them. But Arthur had given them hope. He had fought with them, and for them. Without him they wouldn’t have been able to bring the fight back to Silver Demon in the first place, and if it hadn’t been for him and Minerva even if they had won they’d have lost several; and that was ignoring who they had beaten alone, and only including who they had swept in to help.
The Fairy Tail mages were attracting looks, and grumbles because of their discussion. Though it was not all disagreement. “Yes. This is a mockery,” Skullion said.
“He shouldn’t have opposed the master like that,” Misaki stated.
“Somebody had to,” Minerva snapped back.
“Of course you’d take his side,” Misaki glared down towards the teenager, her face in a sharp snarl. “But don’t you understand the guild master is the guild master. You don’t just pretend that you know better.”
“He won, though,” Skullion said. “Georg couldn’t handle him in a fight, and what he was doing would have worked just as well, better even, against a dragon than this battle now.”
“But he’s still the guild master,” Kirin said. “Beating him in a fight doesn’t change…” He was going to say that, but Diabolos had always been a guild where standing came from strength. The Guild Master was the strongest. “... What we owe to him.”
“No, but it does give evidence he was right. If he can’t fight the Moon Dragon God what chance would we have of even helping?” Skullion posited.
“None at all.” The voice was one they didn’t recognize. At least not most of them. Minerva straightened, eyes going wide with a touch of fear. Orin swallowed dryly. Pax found himself sweating. Cullen’s hands squeezed tightly. Even Wendy stiffened. Only Taberius had a pleasant reaction, a smile beaming across his face.
The rest turned towards the voice with a look of curiosity and surprise. Selene stood behind them, the moon dragon god even if she wore a human shape at the moment. “From what I’ve seen of you in the last four months I suspect that only those two down there could force me to leave my human form. And at that point…” She paused, looking at Arthur. She knew he didn’t like her spying on his training. And it had seemed to be mostly meditation, or dealing with his Archive. Now she knew what he was really doing.
He had just transformed. His right arm was fully draconic, shining scales gleaming up where flesh should be. It went further too, reaching his legs, and the fleshy part of his left arm. It wasn’t full body, but it was Takeover Magic. He was using Takeover Magic to takeover a dragon. She’d never heard of it being done. And her first reaction was to feel a touch of actual fear. Dragon slayer magic was magic meant to fight dragons. Takeover magic was magic meant to dominate.
She had to admit, though. If there was any form of magic that could hope to actually defeat Acnologia it would be that. She sort of regretted that she’d been bringing together his enemies to try and get them to spur his growth into something more powerful and thus more useful. She didn’t know whether to kill him now out of self preservation, or to celebrate Acnologia’s doom.
She took a sip from the cup of sake she had been carrying when she appeared. Then she finished, “... They’d both die. Quickly at that.”
“You’re Selene, aren’t you?” Natsu said.
“Isn’t that obvious?” She answered.
“I have to ask you something,” He said as wind blew across the watchers. Georg had just roared, cutting a deep wound into one of the mountains and showing everyone there that they were not at a safe distance.
“Not now, you’re obstructing my view,” Selene said, sipping from her cup. As if for irony, a blinding light chose that moment to flash out from the fight, its brilliance leaving everyone looking in that direction - save Selene herself - flinching back and covering their eyes.
“But-” Natsu moved between her and the fight and suddenly he was gone.
Selene sighed and resumed watching for a few moments. There was a second blinding burst of light and she sighed. “Is that it? Still… It’s time to do what I came here for.”
She stepped forward, leaping, and half-flying, half-gliding towards the valley below the battle had taken place in.
“‘What you came here for’?” Kirin asked, watching her go as his eyes readjusted after that flashbomb.
It wasn’t the first time Arthur had fought with his Takeover Dragon Soul magic. But it was the most serious battle where he had used it, and the most thorough takeover he had used in battle with it.
It hadn’t been an easy battle. He’d finally took the plunge and bought Born to Bash, just for the little edge it would give him. And it was only a little edge. He’d already been learning to fight. But now he was at the same sort of level of unarmed combat skill as Natsu, and it came with a repertoire of how to use his magic with his blows; he’d not be as deadly unarmed as with a sword, but he wouldn’t be so reliant on a blade and use of his magic with the blade would hopefully be easier for him now.
The roar from Georg had surprised him somewhat. With that level of power in it, it really could have killed him if it had landed. Thankfully he had been able to dodge. Training to replicate that little laser-form trick Serena had used had paid off. It wasn’t really even relativistic speed, but it was fast enough that the real test was if his ability to change was fast enough.
He still hadn’t actually reverted to human shape. But had dropped down to see if Georg was breathing. There was the chance he was playing possum. But there was also the chance that he had taken a shining finger directly to the face and it had proven lethal. He hadn’t been trying to be lethal, but Georg had been growing less human and if Georg turned dragon he wasn’t ready to handle that. At least not non-lethally.
Still to his relief Georg was breathing.
“That’s the guild master you warned me about? I’m not sure I see how they could help you against Acnologia.”
Arthur didn’t need to look up to know it was Selene. “He’s strong enough to have an impact.” Except Acnologia took out Serena in a total curb stomp, and he wasn’t sure Georg was even as strong as Serena. Though Arthur had to wonder how that battle went down that way given how battles between both of them and Natsu had gone in the manga; he could hold his own against Acnologia, but a weaker copy of Serena had necessitated assistance.
Selene pursed her lips. It was obvious that she was considering if Arthur was right. Arthur was surprised to see her looking so unsure of herself. It wasn’t normal for her.
“Is everything alright? Did something happen?” He was a little surprised to see her in Earthland to be honest. And in a guild of dragon slayers… who were plotting to kill her.
“I wouldn’t call a guild of dragon slayers plotting my assassination alright.”
Arthur winced, casting his eye towards the watching guild. He could see people still standing, and even seemingly approaching. So she probably hadn’t killed them all.
“Don’t worry about it. I put an end to it,” Arthur said.
“You didn’t need to do that for me.”
“I did it for them.”
Selene laughed lightly, a laugh that started jovial enough but soon devolved into something more cruel. “I do have something I need to ask you, though.”
“What is it?”
“Who killed Kurnugi?”
Arthur froze. This question. This was not good. “Kurnugi?”
“The dragon whose magic the sword brat uses. Who killed him?”
“The sword brat was a mage before I ever even heard of Diabolos.”
Selene’s glare towards him was something to make his blood go cold. Arthur was beginning to overclock again; he had the feeling he needed to be thinking fast here.
“I guess I’ll just have to kill both of them just to be safe.” Selene said with a shrug
“It wasn’t him. He was a kid.”
“I thought he was before your time?”
“Yeah, but he’d been a mage for years before I got here. He’s too young to have fought a dragon himself beforehand.”
“Then who killed my son?”
Diabolos, and Team Natsu, were gathered by now.
“Ask them.”
“I guess I will,” She said, turning towards the dragon eaters with a dangerous look on her face before bringing a finger up to point at Suzaku. “Where did you get your dragon slayer magic? Who killed the dragon whose power you stole?”
Suzaku looked at Arthur and then at Selene. His hand had reflexively gone to the hilt of his sword. His first instinct was to fight, and Arthur was hoping he didn’t yield to it. He was still 5 years too early to have a chance at victory there even against Selene in her human form.
Moonlight butterflies explode about his scabbard, blowing his sword from his waist. “I asked you a question.”
“It was Georg,” Kirin said.
“See, was it that difficult?” Selene asked, and then she turned to Arthur. “I’ve got my second favor: kill Georg Reizen.”
“You think we’ll just stand here and let you kill our guild master?” Kirin spat out.
“I think that if I want him dead not one of you can stop me,” Selene said as a spherical portal launched from Selene’s hand growing to wrap around Kirin and he disappeared. “Arthur, if they try to stop you, kill them all too.”
Taberius stepped forward then, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. “Lady Selene, surely you jest. You cannot ask a man to k-” And like Kirin the exceed vanished
“No,” Arthur said.
Selene turned on him, night imposing itself instantly across the sky, a full moon hanging heavy and fat above. “No?”
“No. They are my guild.”
“You said you’d do anything I requested.”
“I said I would once. And I have. I never actually agreed to thrice. You altered the terms unilaterally there.”
Selene’s body changed, growing massive and scaled. In an instant she was in her true, draconic form, towering above the mages. The weaker among them fell to their knees, dropping down just from the sheer magical pressure.
Arthur requipped his black sword and already he could hear it singing for the dragon god’s blood. “I will not kill my guild. I’ll…” His voice broke. He wasn’t certain if he was bluffing or not. He could give in. He could do what she asked.
“You’ll what?” The contempt in her voice made him nauseous.
“I’ll die first. You want me to kill Georg, fine. But I won’t kill the guild, and you will listen to my argument for why it shouldn’t be done first.”
“So many conditions. Talk fast.”
“Does it even matter to you why Georg killed him? If Kurnugi had slaughtered a town would you spare Georg? If he had killed Georg’s family would you spare him? If he had been in the act of killing them would you spare Georg?”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“No. No. No. And again no. So kill him.”
“I’m not done,” Arthur growled.
“Go on then. I grow tired of this.” Team Natsu - which Arthur was realizing lacked Natsu - and Diabolos were positioning themselves between Georg and him, with Selene opposite of them.
“So it’s vengeance not justice. But if you kill him others will take vengeance. All you’re doing is propagating the cycle of vengeance. Oh you could kill Diabolos too. You could kill Team Natsu. But it wouldn’t change anything. You’ll be the dragon that killed the guild that protected people from dragons, proving just how necessary such protection was. And there will be someone else who comes along to take revenge. As long as the cycle of vengeance continues it will consume both sides. So stop it here. Prove to them that you are better than that. That you are not the monster they see you as. Show that you can end the bloodshed instead of just produce more of it.”
“Nice speech,” Selene yawned exaggeratedly. “But why should I be the one to end it? Let me take my vengeance and then they can end it.”
“Because you’re an adult. These are children. You won’t be dealing with reasonable adults. Even the oldest humans are children compared to you. You’ve lived centuries. You should be the mature and reasonable one, you can’t expect children to if the adult can’t. Prove that humanity does not have the monopoly on virtue.”
“Are you done yet?”
Arthur was shaking and trembling. He didn’t want to kill Georg.It would be a failure. Georg had… Georg had helped him. He’d never have gotten started without him. He owed Georg for that. Even if Georg had gone for the kill today. He wanted to save him. To pull the draconic cancer out of his soul, and show him how much Arthur himself was truly worth. He wanted to rub his nose in his failure. He wanted to see if those better moments he had shown were the real Georg and his rage and temper were just the damage of his partial dragonification, or if he really was a twisted fool.
And more he didn’t want to kill in cold blood. Georg wasn’t some monster going around killing and hurting people. He wasn’t Serena; Arthur didn’t think that Georg would come to threaten his life if he spared him. He wasn’t a true danger or threat to either of them, nor was he likely to make himself one that had to be dealt with through lethal force.
“Fine. I’ll do it. I’ll kill the guild master. But… I will remain in the guild, and I will do my duties for it.” Arthur was palming a silver key, summoning Caelum off a ways to the side.
“Fine,” Selene said.
“I just expect that Georg’s last job will be-” Arthur began, turning his back towards Selene. Caelum was playing spotter. He didn’t dare drop his guard to let her really strike at him where he couldn’t see. But he was moving towards Georg.
“I said fine,” Selene repeated, “I won’t make you kill him. I will prove that I am the adult here. But if any member of your guild tries to kill me it will be war. If they even act against me it will be war. And I expect their cooperation in dealing with the Dragon King and the other Dragon Gods.”
“You’ll have to take that up with the master,” Arthur said.
Selene laughed. “And if he disagrees?”
“Depends how and to what. He’s old enough I expect him to behave like an adult.” Arthur said.
Selene smirked a little there. “... I can accept that.”
Natsu, Kirin, and Tabby reappeared in front of Selene. They were inside of Diabolos’s guild hall. “See, I didn’t harm either of them.” The Moon Dragon God was back to her human form. She looked at them.
Kirin’s head shot about, looking for the coffin he carried with him as a form of emotional security. It was Suzaku who grabbed his shoulder before he could actually consider fighting Selene.
Tabby was not as easily stopped. “Lady Selene, I must lodge protest ag-” He had stepped forward, but a glare from Selene was enough to silence him again, stepping back and swallowing dryly.
“So this pink haired boy is Igneel’s human plaything,” Selene said moving her head to look at Natsu.
“You know Igneel?” Natsu said. “Where is he? What happened to him?”
“Knew. The last I heard anything about him was hundreds of years ago,” She said.
“Hundreds of years ago?”
“Yes. He’d taken in a human child,” Selene’s tone was bored and dismissive.
“What happened to him after that?” Natsu urged, pressing forward till he was nearly on her.
“Sleep.” Selene’s hand rose and waved and Natsu slumped down and forward against her, his eyes sliding shut.
“What was that for?” Gray asked, stepping forward.
Selene’s hand rose, a small moon-like orb of energy forming in her palm and expanding outwards to envelop her, Arthur, and Natsu.
In a moment they were in Edolas. “I guess it’s time for a teaching moment. A dragon’s magic isn’t just elemental manipulation,” She said. “There’s at least a piece of Igneel in this boy. I can feel it. And before I decide what to tell him I ought to at least get the Fire Dragon King’s opinion. He was great once, I owe some respect to the position he held back then.”
Arthur nodded a little dumbly, and began to open his Archive turning it fully to a record and observation mode.
And then Selene began to work. She closed her eyes, and turned her focus seemingly completely away from him. If he wanted to he could have murdered her right then. But she’d spared the guild. She’d even spared Georg. If he wasn’t going to kill the asshole in cold blood, he wasn’t going to kill Selene in cold blood. Even the points, more than most things would still give him, wasn’t enough to motivate it. She was more useful to him alive, than less than 200 points were.
He felt shame for even considering it. But the temptation was still there. But… he’d known her for months and worked with her. And while he was pissed at her at the moment; she had yielded. She had given in.
Besides this might be something important for him to learn. Much of it was something Arthur couldn’t observe directly. But it wasn’t too unlike his attempts at dealing with his own dragon seed via Takeover. A piece of her soul entered Natsu. And it communicated with another external soul within him. It was soul manipulation magic meant to work with the souls of dragons. If she was willing to actually teach him this, it might be the last thing he needed to be able to fix dragonification.
And then she raised her head and opened her eyes. “That was enlightening.” She said. “I knew dragon souls were far sturdier than human ones, but to try something like that. Let’s return to Earthland. I should tell Grandeeney's child as well.”
“And what do you have to say?”
“You’ll find out.”
Arthur would not be there for her explanation; at least not the start of it. Georg was waking up - Wendy had healed him - and it was thought that it was best if Arthur explained things about Selene to him personally.
“You let that creature into my guildhall?” Georg summed it up.
“She could have killed you. I couldn’t have stopped her,” Arthur wasn’t certain about that. But he really didn’t want to have to test that. And it’d be risky at best. A risk he’d not have taken. Fighting Selene when she was ready and able was… Unless she did something stupid like choose to fight a fight she knew she’d lose she’d not lose. And Arthur didn’t have anything so dangerous that his obtaining it would ensure she’d lose eventually to get her to fight him like that now to undermine him for others.
“Well now I can stop-” Arthur’s territory magic slammed into Georg and pressed him to the ground.
“You couldn’t beat me when I was holding back. Even when you nearly became a dragon yourself because of fighting too hard. If I can’t stop her, all you trying would do is give her the justification to destroy the entire guild. If you try it, I will kill you myself.” He let his black sword appear once more, and held it with the tip only separated from Georg’s throat by the very barrier he was holding Georg down with.
“I’m still the guild master,” Georg growled.
“Doesn’t matter.” Arthur answered.
“You disloyal piece of-”
“Disobedience isn’t always disloyalty, you senile old monster,” Arthur snapped. “Do you want her to kill Suzaku, Misaki, Kirin, Kiria, Skullion, Madmole, Orin, Pax, Cullen, Nebaru, Dai-”
“I get it,” Georg snapped. “You don’t have to list out the entire guild.”
“You killed her son. She didn’t kill you despite that. You go and try and kill her, even if the guild would survive. And you’re not the hero of the people. You’re the monster that’s carrying on a war that serves no purpose except to kill more people. She’s helping Edolas. She’s not hurting anyone. And right now there’s reason to think she won’t.”
Georg glared at him. And then looked down at his hand. It was scaled. He had come within mere seconds of going too far. If Arthur hadn’t knocked him out.
“And if you think she will in the future, throwing away the best resource to stop her isn’t the way to go about it. Help your children grow. Teach them. Train them. Make them strong. You don’t have to kill her in your lifetime.”
Georg wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about his hand. Just how close he was to becoming a dragon. He laughed then, a hollow, regret filled laugh. “You might as well have let her kill me,” He said.
“Because I won’t let you kill her?”
“Because I’m going to become one of the monsters I’ve spent my life fighting.”
“I still think I can find a cure.”
Georg laughed again, that same, nihilistic roar of self-mockery. “You don’t understand how close I am. If I fight again I’m through. Apparently I can’t be trusted to make decisions, and I was never half as strong as I thought I was to begin with. Everything I’ve done was a waste.”
“I’d not say that. The guild shows more than a little promise.”
Georg scowled. “I won’t pick a fight. But I’m going to stay here till that thing is gone. And you, you get out of my face. I don’t really want to deal with your reek right now.” He lay back down then, no longer straining against the Territory barrier. Arthur turned and left the room.
“Good bye, Georg. Rest. Sleep.” He shook his head as he spoke, and he left his nikora behind to watch over the guild master.
“What happened?” Natsu asked as he woke up.
“I put you to sleep to learn something,” Selene said. “I had to get you to tell me where Igneel was”
Natsu’s look was one of confusion. “But I don’t know where he is, that’s why I’m looking for him.”
“He’s inside of you.” Selene said.
“So Natsu ate him?” Happy suggested.
“No,” Selene said.
“How could he be inside of me? He’s a lot bigger than me,” Natsu protested.
Selene sighed again. “He was wounded in a fight, his soul itself damaged. But a dragon’s soul is a resilient thing, so he abandoned his physical form and transferred his soul into you to give it time to heal.”
“Eh?” Natsu said.
“His soul is hidden inside of you, and he’s healing. When he’s healed he’ll return. Why he didn’t tell you this beforehand I can’t say. But little by little he’s healing to fight his old enemy again.”
“Where is he in me?”
“In your spiritual place. It’s not a physical existence.”
“What?”
Selene sighed. She began trying to explain it all to Natsu. Diabolos and the Fairy Tail mages slowly gathered around her as she tried different explanations. Sometimes Wraith interjected and discussed some elements of dragon souls and spirit-based magic. Arthur had returned by the end, and Suzaku and Misaki left to see to Georg - Kirin, haunted by the soul of the dragon he had consumed stayed to listen and learn.
“To summarize, though. If you want to meet Igneel again, all you need is to wait and remain safe. But if you want to actually spend time with him, and not have him throw away his life in a suicidal battle, again, you’ll need to kill his enemy first. And for that… well you don’t have a chance as you currently are.”
“So I just have to get stronger,” Natsu’s determination was clear, fire whipping around his fists.
“Much stronger,” Selene said. “But I may be able to help. There’s another world, one called Elentear. It has magical power in vast abundance, and should you go there you may be able to grow stronger more quickly. You too, Wendy. If you want to see your parents again, I can help you. But you’d both owe me.” Selene grinned. She knew she had them over a barrel. But she wouldn’t ask anything too bad. The children weren’t useful.
But Igneel’s faction? Before he had been wounded Igneel had been the strongest dragon other than Acnologia to survive the Dragon King Festival; more powerful at that time than any of the Dragon Gods had been. The others varied, but they were each strong. Selene honestly would have preferred that they stay dead, but she wasn’t lying when she said they would throw their lives away in a suicidal fight.
But they were strong enough that the five of them together could perhaps kill Acnologia. Maybe even have a survivor or two of the battle. And even if they failed, Acnologia would be left with permanent wounds. They would change the balance of power, and it would favor her.
And if Igneel did survive Acnologia, he and Ignia were certain to finish their old argument. Ignia had grown substantially since Igneel had disappeared. He might be stronger than Igneel now. But not so strong he could fight his father without serious injury. And then she could finally be rid of Ignia.
So she’d help hasten their revival. Of course she wasn’t telling the dragon children that the goal wasn’t actually to get them strong enough to kill Acnologia, and merely to quicken their adoptive parents’ final sacrifice. They didn’t need to know that.
“But going to Elentear would mean leaving Fairy Tail behind…” Natsu said.
“Only for a time. No one is asking you to renounce your membership. But as long as the dragon king lives I don’t dare travel to and from Fiore.”
“I… I’ll have to think about it.” Natsu said, his indecision sounding out in the wavering tone of his voice. It was a chance at seeing Igneel again, but he’d be away from his family potentially for years.
“I will be leaving soon enough. Though I’m sure Arthur could transport you if you could convince him. And on that matter. Arthur. What do you think you were doing in Ishgar?”
“I just had to go get Wendy so I traveled south with my teleportation magic,” he said, stepping back a bit. His fear of Selene’s wrath was cut off a bit by the knowledge that if she was that pissed about it she’d have acted on it already. Unless she had only found out since the truce was called?
“He noticed,” She said. Arthur’s heart dropped. He had taught Acnologia to access the multiverse. “And he followed you back. Mercphobia had to give out the warning call for the first time in over a century. You drew him back to Guiltina.”
Arthur felt relieved. He had already known Acnologia noticed the return trip, and, if she was talking about that, presumably she wasn’t talking about his use of interdimensional transit to go south.
“What’s the problem with that?” Arthur asked.
Selene rolled her eyes. “Besides that I had to answer an emergency call to arms alongside the other Dragon Gods? Any time that call is made it might end up in the fight that kills me.”
Arthur couldn’t look her in the eye at that point. He felt guilty and that was the honest truth.
“Especially when two of the dragon gods don’t arrive. Aldoron I knew was playing village somewhere, but it seems Vierres has decided to turn himself into an alchemist guild. I thought you might want to know; Gold Owl is a dragon.”
There was a sudden chorus of questions. Selene didn’t answer them, but kept her focus on her ‘knight’. “It might be useful information. Oh, and Arthur, don’t even think of leading Acnologia back here again. Now, if my nose doesn’t deceive me, I think dinner is ready.”
After supper, Arthur found himself talking to the other Dark Dragon Slayer Knights.
Georg had announced his retirement as Guild Master. He could no longer even serve as an active member of the guild in combat, and his judgment was in question. He had given the guild a suicidal order. He could no longer act as Guild Master.
Besides Diabolos was a guild ruled by strength. That had always been the rule of Diabolos. Strength made the rules. By beating him, Arthur had fundamentally undermined his authority. Even if the guild would still follow him as its founder and their effective father, Georg refused to remain as guild master. His decisions as such would be second guessed forevermore.
Whether he had understood that was what he was doing or not, Arthur had taken that from him. And that meant, by right of conquest, it was Arthur’s job now.
He tried to refuse. He tried to point out how he had too many other responsibilities. How he had to find the cure. And for that he’d have to continue working with Selene because she was - right now - his best option. How he was fundamentally too feckless for the job.
The argument went on well into the night.
It was three days later when Team Natsu went back to Fiore. Natsu and Wendy had affairs to set in order. Lisanna stayed behind. Arthur had promised to show her around Guiltina. And while his new responsibilities would limit his ability to, they’d also require him to travel it to learn about the situation with certain regions. She’d not be staying forever, but a month or two wasn’t out of the question. It’d give her a chance to see how the Edolas version of her family were doing.