38Chapter 1 - Breath of Ruin
Written by LastationLover5000 and Demod20
The Apocalypse incarnate.
That's how it felt seeing the Black Winged Dragon up close. Every single Mage of Fairy Tail present felt the chill of terror rush up and down their spines. A nightmare had been attracted to the smell of battle on the Tenrō Island, their enemies -Black Grimoire- already long gone. Left at less than their best, the beast let loose a howl more powerful than a hurricane's gale.
All individuals standing by the beach of their founding master's home were varying stages of recovery. The azure etched wings of the avian headed creature raised upward and slammed down, causing the land mass to quake and the sea adjacent to billow back. The blistering air stung their bandaged bodies, forcing them to raise arms to protect their eyes from further harm.
But deep down, they knew it was a futile gesture.
"H-He's here!" Gildarts stuttered out, his prosthetic shaking in place and the wounds long since healed throbbed at the point of his last encounter with the fell beast. "Now...of all times...this is the worst!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Gajeel croaked out, his bandaged body already ebbing sweat as he soaked in the enormity of the creature mounted upon the isle's beach. "How are we supposed to fight that?!"
"You can't," The Ace of Fairy Tail replied, his eyes narrowing up at the vapor breath escaping the behemoth nightmare. "There's no escaping this…
"No…" Wendy Marvell despaired, falling to her knees as her skin paled and her eyes shrank at the sight of the monster turning its gaze towards her. "I'm...going...to die?"
"Everyone!" Makarov Dreyar yelled, stepping forward, and throwing an arm from his diminutive sized frame at the guild's best behind him. "Get back to safety! There is hope for escape yet!"
"Old man…" Laxus gasped out, his eyes widening at the small back of his dwarf of a grandfather's actions. "Don't tell me you're…?!"
"This is bullshit!" Natsu cried, slamming a fiery hand into a bandaged fist. "Gramps, let us help fight! This is why we have Slayer Magic! On your own you'll-"
"THERE IS NO TIME TO ARGUE! LIVES ARE ON THE LINE!"
Makarov's words, louder and harsher than expected, cut through any fighting spirit Dragneel had at his disposal. Stunned to the point of speechlessness, the light red haired man could only gawk as a massive silhouette grew in place to the lean bodied midget he once was. A colossus in size, he even matched the immense grim reaper in size, though the bandages remained over his now towering muscular figure; a reminder that this was likely his last act of Guild Master.
"NOW! EVERYONE!" Makarov bellowed, slamming his upper body into Acnologia, wrapping his around its bird-like neck and pushed him away from the rest. "LIVE! GROW OLD! LAUGH! AND DO NOT LET THIS OLD MAN'S DEATH BE IN VAIN!"
The Guild known for surviving together, through thick and thin, wept at this. Gildarts led the charge, hailing the timid and the uncertain behind him. Those that trailed behind were the terror stricken Wendy, led by the hand by her Exceed partner -Charle-. Ahead of her was the Salamander, eyes shut tight but tears never ceasing descent of his face. Laxus looked over his shoulder mournfully, knowing this would be the last time he'd see his grandfather.
And, as they disappeared out of sight, Makarov grinned.
Whether the beast could tell what he was feeling or not didn't matter. Seconds after he loosened his grip unconsciously, the Dragon lifted his body upward, deftly hoisting him off the ground while standing on its own hind legs.
"Hrrrrrrrrrrr!" Makarov grimaced between clenched teeth, eyes bulging as he felt himself flung around like a burlap sack. To and fro, his body whipped about, a streak of bandaged muscle and bruised skin.
Seeing this didn't work, the Winged Apocalypse slammed its talons into his unguarded sides, piercing his skin. Letting his arms slip as he let out a gurgling cry, the creature hissed with malicious glee. Thrashing him into the beach with the force of a bomb, a tidal wave erupted from the beach's seaside while splitting apart the sandy ground beneath them.
Bleeding between his teeth, Makarov couldn't suppress chuckles escaping his mouth up at the massive beast. The blank eyes of the avian shaped creature stared down, a damning light swirling within the back of its throat.
"This...is a good end...for a Master...eh, First?" Makarov grated out, eyes closing as an overcast of pure silver began to overtake his face. "I am content. I lived a full life and I saved my family. I couldn't ask for a more noble finale-"
Interrupting his line of thought came a sudden explosion of fire cracking against the side of Acnologia's head. It didn't so much as budge him, but the Dragon did cease its swelling magic it was preparing to use on the massive old man. Craning its neck up, it'd see a bandaged figure ebbing flames.
And he wasn't alone.
"Gramps!" Natsu crowed out with a raised, infernal fist. "We can't leave without you!"
"No, you fools!" Makarov croaked out with panicked eyes. "I am not worth it! Leave now while you still-!"
"Master!" Erza Scarlet cried out, raising a sword towards him. "I seem to recall *every* Mage of Fairy Tail has value. Or did you forget what we did to Phantom Lord for Lucy?"
"We aren't leaving you behind, Old Man," Laxus proclaimed his body igniting into a fierce mantle of lightning. "Don't like it? Then I guess we're all banished from the Guild! And that means we don't have to listen to stupid orders like leaving you behind!"
"E-Everyone…" Makarov stammered as his eyes began to water.
Acnologia released a damning howl towards the returning quarry it had set out to kill. Despite the earlier terrifying scream, a just as mighty cacophony of cries was returned. Dozens of mages leaped into the fray on their master's behalf, releasing hundreds of magical explosions of all kinds across its scaled body.
The devil swung its arms around, swatting at his foes like hands to gnats. While some were thrown back by the force of its clawed limbs, others more tenacious appeared.
Gildarts landed a punch to one arm with his prosthetic, leading to Laxus flying headbutt into its exposed jaw to make it meet up. Following that, the two most powerful men of Fairy Tail drew back their legs and sent a shattering blast of white and yellow energy to send it scraping over the sea away from the island.
"Vernier!" Wendy chanted, using what magic she had to boost Laxus, Gajeel, Natsu and herself. "Ille Vernier!"
After the second enchantment was used, the four Slayers swiftly took to the edge of the beach. While the beast snarled at the continuous bombardment of elements, weapons and other miscellaneous spells, its blank eyes fixated on the enhanced four Slayers. Through its pupiless gaze it's reflected the colors of their aura, their chests swelling with energy…
...and then, a massive torrent of power cutting a swathe through the ocean towards it.
Combined, it detonated with the force of a bomb that would have leveled the island. A tumultuous rolling sphere of burning, electrified, razor filled wind pushed back the body of water and dented it to the shallower part of the seaside floor.
The light caused many on looking and fighting mages to cover their eyes, wincing at it. The shockwave that came after even brought some of them off their feet, while others barely standing still despite it all.
But, a whooshing blur of black threw back the glare of light and water even further. Outstretched arms and curled talons revealed a gaping mouth that let loose a voice something akin to a gurgle and a howl. It became evident what it was when Gildarts gkared ahead with a knowing look.
"He's laughing at us…" He spoke lowly. "Just like I thought. This didn't even faze him…"
"D-Dammit!" Natsu swore aloud, heaving heavily from the exertion along with the other mages standing defiantly on their feet. "I put all I had into it...and he didn't even budge?"
"What's the point of us being Slayers if we can't even dent one lousy Dragon?!" Gajeel growled out with balled fists at his side, indicating his indignation.
Before Wendy's horrified gaze, she saw the Black Winged Apocalypse lunge straight towards the sky. High above the island, where none could reach they'd see a second Sun glaring down at then; which they soon realized was just the shine of their imminent enemy's magic about to be released.
As a feeling of dread was about to commence, Lucy held out a hand for Natsu to hold despite the current predicament. With water in her eyes, and a sad smile, she spoke with nothing but love for her friend.
"Let's go home, Natsu."
Smiling back, somberly, the Salamander took her hand into his and nodded with a simple, "Yeah."
Endeared through this act of mutual kinship, Erza took hold of Natsu's other hand. Linked in soon by Gray, Juvia and then Levy with Gajeel, a circle of united love for each other replaced the dread that was festering within them. It ended with Wendy, grabbing Charle's paw and reaching around to another's when her eyes looked up-
And she faltered in reaching for the last hand.
What she saw was no longer a swirling ball of light but a curling pair of wings within a inferno. The center of it she could make out as a ghastly wave of death, all screaming out to her inevitable demise. Grimly staring down at her the young Slayer shook in place and couldn't hear her Exceed trying to shake her out of her own self imposed paralysis of shock.
But by then it was already happening.
A pillar of silver roared below from Acnologia's gaping mouth. Streaming down into the center of the isle, an overwhelming dome of erasing energy bore fruit from its epicenter. Doubling and even tripling the size of the four Slayer combined breath spell, any hint of the best of Fairy Tail existing was soon dispelled.
The island and its inhabitants were gone, with only the rolling tides acknowledging the space that was once present.
Howling, the devil split the heavens with the might of its voice. Distant spectators of the Magic Council would see its behemoth silhouette soon lurch and then spirit away into the horizon; leaving the once sacred birth of Fairy Tail in complete oblivion.
The force of the explosion from Acnologia knocked Wendy Marvell out cold. Her body was lifeless, floating in the churning currents of ocean, still being rocked by the strength of Acnologia's breath attack. Clinging to the girl for dear life was the diminutive form of Charle, who had been protected by Wendy's small body. The tiny Exceed struggled to keep herself and her friend afloat; from every direction, she could see only water — massive waves rising high, blocking her sight of the horizon.
Charle was beginning to feel terrified; they'd escaped Acnologia only to be fighting against the immense power of the ocean.
The massive waves pushed Wendy's unconscious body and Charle to and fro, the Exceed helpless against the force of the ocean. Acnologia's strength was something to be feared. His breath attack, and its resulting destruction, had created an effect on the nearby waters that could only be compared to a severe storm. Sweeping upwards, the waves crashed down, dragging Charle and Wendy underneath the frigid blackness. Charle struggled upward, forcing herself to fight against her own body and drag Wendy back to the surface. Bobbing her head upwards, she gasped for air, searching desperately for anything to use as support.
Nothing.
She began to panic again.
How do I get out of this...? thought Charle desperately. I can't let Wendy die out here. If there's no one here to protect her...then I will! Her small eyes, fighting the sting of the salt water, continued their desperate search; once again, she came up empty. The surge lifted Charle and Wendy up high, before dropping them again, merely reaffirming the power of the ocean and their own powerlessness.
After what seemed like hours of seeing nothing and getting nowhere, Charle pooled together her magical power; from her back, she sprouted feathery, angelic wings, a magic common to all Exceed. Water churned around Charle, separate from the swirling waves and crashing surges. With immense effort, the small cat-like creature pulled Wendy out of the ocean, rushing high into the sky at the fastest speed she could manage. Free from the waves, Charle took only a moment to take in the sky, before searching the horizon. There was nothing but endless sea; merely taking to the heavens had improved their situation only marginally.
Wendy...I will protect you...so just hold on...! Charle focused entirely on the Aera magic she was generating. Max Speed! With as much effort as Charle could, she tore across the ocean. White and blue became a blur for the small Exceed; she knew she was taking a risk. Expending all of her magic like this in the hopes of finding somewhere dry? It was almost impossible, but Fairy Tail banked on impossible odds, and she would not let Wendy die here.
Had she been flying for minutes? Hours? Had it been a day? Charle didn't know but she pushed on, even as her wings began to flicker and fade. In her eyes, something mixed in with the colours of blue and white. The faded hues of blue and green? Charle slowed to a stop, her wings vanishing at this exact unfortunate moment. She hurtled towards the ocean again, keeping a tight hold on Wendy; the stinging cold of the ocean familiar at this point. However, to their fortune, Acnologia's attack had not reached here, and the water was calm.
"I...see it..." she spluttered between coughs of salt water. And so she did. It looked like a small island. Was it inhabited? She had no idea, but it was close enough to swim towards. The Exceed paddled there, desperately keeping Wendy's head above the water level as she swam. It took an excessive amount of effort, but with the ocean calm, Charle was able to pull herself and Wendy onto the shore of the island. Surveying the island, she saw that it was ridiculously small, and uninhabited.
Exhausted, the Exceed laid an ear towards Wendy's chest; she was breathing, but it was ragged and shallow. Worried, Charle placed her paws on the young girl's diaphragm and pushed. Forcefully and repetitively, she pushed, until Wendy's body gave a jerk, a cough, and water spurted from her mouth. Her breathing steadied itself, and Wendy slept. Charle breathed a sigh of relief, and collapsed by Wendy's side.
"We're...alive..."
The Next Morning
The sound of sniffling woke Charle. Rubbing her eyes with her paws, she looked around and saw Wendy, huddled a short distance away. She was hugging her legs, her body shaking; it was obvious she was crying. Charle got up, shaking sand out her fur and walking over Wendy. Tentatively, she reached towards the girl's knee; at contact, Wendy jerked away, raising her head to reveal reddened eyes where tears were flowing freely.
"C-Charle?"
"Wendy..." Charle could only mutter her companion's name, not knowing what to say. It took her as a great surprise when Wendy pulled her into her arms, still sobbing hysterically. Charle was flabbergasted, muttering incomprehensible words. The Exceed was unable to get a proper word out of herself, or to get Wendy to say anything beyond unintelligible blubbering. "It's alright, Wendy..." Charle reached up to stroke Wendy's azure coloured hair.
"It's not...!" Wendy wailed. "We...we left everyone...everyone died back there...!" She was shuddering violently, her sobs increasing. "What have we done...Charle...? Lucy...Natsu...Erza...everyone..."
"I know..." The tears began to well up in Charle's eyes as well; she'd spent so much time the previous day trying to save Wendy that she hadn't had the time to properly address the fact that their comrades and their guild had gone up in a blinding flash of light. At this point, she would give anything even to hear an "Aye sir!" from Happy, just to hear that familiar voice that was always there. The two of them began to cry in unison, and their wails filled the silence of the otherwise tiny island. They cried without shame, and without stopping, mourning their lost comrades with all of their heart.
Hiccuping, Wendy finally spoke. "W-What do we do now...? Where a-are we, Charle?"
"I-I don't know..." replied Charle, realising for the first time that she truly had no idea where she'd taken them. "I was so...desperate to get you somewhere safe...t-that I just flew." She rubbed Wendy's eyes, wiping the tears away, and using her tail to accomplish the same for herself. "B-But...I'd think that everyone would w-want us to live..." The shaking from their sobbing hadn't subsided, but the tears has finally ceased. Her voice was becoming stronger. "We should get back to Fiore...and tell everyone what happened. We can't afford to just sit here."
Wendy nodded slowly. "Y-You're right..." She knew this, but she desperately wanted to keep crying. She felt like it was her fault that everyone had died. She let go. When everyone stood their ground against that dragon, she had let go. Wendy wasn't there with everyone when Acnologia had dealt the finishing blow, and at the expense of everyone else's lives, she'd survived. "We can't...dishonour everyone's memories like this." The young Dragon Slayer forced herself to her feet, Charle still in her arms.
"Alright...Charle!" Her voice was still weak, and she looked shaky. "We're...going to head ho..!" Unprompted, Wendy fell back towards the ground, dizziness overtaking her. Exhaustion and a lack of food and water had overtaken her. Quickly, Wendy's world went black.
A/N:
Demod20: So this was a spur-of-the-moment kind of story idea I struck up with my co-author. When he came to it with me, I realized how much untapped story potential there is in the middle of a timeskip; especially when so much happens but we only scrape the surface with it. With Wendy being in the center of it, now Fairy Tail has a chance of being more than just "the rest of the characters that aren't Main Characters,". With Wendy at its center, they can grow, improve and help flesh out the rest of the world while developing in their own way. Who knows where we can take this ambitious story, far into the future? I'm genuinely excited to see what other people think as I've only written One Shots and a halfhearted serious/parody story that was a Crossover; nothing truly to this extent. Can't wait to see your thoughts in the comments below, and to write more for you all to read!
LastationLover5: Now this is an oddity, and it makes me wonder where my life is going. I'm writing what is going to become a longterm Fairy Tail fanfic. Y'all can blame a good friend of mine for suggesting this idea to me, as I love Wendy Marvell — she is my favourite character in all of Fairy Tail — and he jokingly suggested that I write a fic like this. Little did he know, I have no free time but I do have a partner in crime willing to help make this damn thing work. So this is the first chapter of what is going to become a Wendy-centric fanfic that covers the seven years of Fairy Tail being missing, and perhaps even more, as Wendy fights to protect her guild's reputation and accept the loss of her friends! We'll also see more of the side characters now that the Spotlight Stealing Squad is gone. We'll see you all soon, hope you guys can't wait for the next chapter!
