Chapter 69 - Failures

Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul

Rift watched the scene unfold, but still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Amber and Shelly usually got along so well that he'd have sworn that they where sisters. Now, if he'd heard them right, they where about to fight each other. Seriously fight each other. He glanced down the road Geno had taken, debating weather he should try and catch up with him, or if he should stay here and monitor them. He couldn't remember Shelly ever even holding a sword before, let alone two of them, and Amber was definitely not in her right mind. He wanted to believe she didn't actually want to hurt Shelly, but things could move very quickly in a fight, and seeing as how they both had blades, a quick misstep could turn out very bad for either of them.

"Rift... A-are they really going to fight?" Asked Zeke, clutching at his shirt but not daring to take his teary eyes off them. "They're not, are they?"

"I... Don't know..." He shook his head slowly, scratching at the back of his neck. He knew very well he couldn't leave. The others could handle themselves, and one way or another he felt it best to stay put and make sure things didn't get out of hand. Or, more out of hand, at the very least. "And to think... I was supposed to be hanging out with my girlfriend tonight..."

A few agonizingly long seconds passed, until one of them finally made their move. It was surprising, and disheartening, to see that it was Amber who attacked first. She spun into a quick forward step, lifting her sword up to her shoulder, only to drive it down in a quick overhead chop.

Tightening his fist, Rift readied to intercept. He could stop her in an instant, create a thick metal wall between the two of them to stop the fight the instant it began. But his concentration broke when he saw Shelly step into the strike. She hit the side of Amber's blade with her own, altering its path only slightly, but just enough to twirl out of the way and slip behind her. Amber looked surprised as well, and she didn't even have time to look back at her before Shelly threw her shoulder into Amber's back. The surprise made the attack just effective enough to knock Amber stumbling forward a few steps, and she caught herself on one knee.

"Holy shit..." Rift gasped. How the hell had Shelly done that? Holding a sword is one thing, but that was a genuine defensive maneuver. When the hell had she learned to do that?

Amber appeared just as stunned as he was. She spun with a wide slashing motion, but Shelly was already well out of range. She rushed forward, bringing her sword level with her shoulder. Again, Shelly deflected the blade and gracefully spun out of the way, gently bumping the back of Amber's knee with her foot. Again, the force was just enough cause Amber to stumble, dropping to her knees and gritting her teeth in frustration.

She rested the tip of her sword in the sand, but Rift decided that he'd seen enough. He dropped to one knee and placed his palm in the sand, at which point a chain burst forth and coiled around Amber's sword. Both girls looked towards him, at which point he roast to his feet again. "OK, I think that's enough for-."

Amber's sword morphed, turning into an amorphous blob of metal just long enough to slip free of the chains, before reforming into a sword again. She took an aggressive step in Rift's direction, but stopped dead when Shelly skidded to a halt between them. Her expression softening, Amber turned and ran, heading down the nearest ally to her.

Shelly sprinted after, holding her swords backhanded now. She left so fast that Rift was left grabbing at thin air in his attempts to stop her. "Don't butt in!" She barked back at him, before taking off down the ally herself.

"Don't butt in?" He called back to her. "What the hell are you-?" She was gone before he could finish his sentence. Throwing up his arms in frustration, he grabbed Zeke and dashed after them. "Dammit, get back here!"

A great crash echoed through the streets. An upper floor of one of the larger buildings had begin to collapse, spilling smashed concrete out onto the street. Nico appeared in a flash, perched standing atop a flagpole of the next building over. He scanned over the growing dust cloud, spinning his sword over and over in his hand in anticipation.

Suddenly, a chunk of stone flew at him from the dust. He disappeared just as the projectile knocked the flagpole from it's mooring, reappearing on the roof of another, smaller, building not too far away. A large, black gorilla stood in the center of the street, winding up to throw another chunk of concrete his direction.

With a howl, the beast lobbed the stone over it's shoulder. Nico dove and rolled out of the way as the stone crashed into the side of the building, sending cracks shooting across the roof and causing the area around the impact to cave into the floor below.

When Nico stood up again, a great shadow loomed over him. He spun around to see the gorilla had morphed into a man-sized bat, and that it was already setting upon him. With it's wings silhouetted against the moon, one of it's sharply clawed feet extended towards him. He attempted a slash, but the foot grasped his wrist, and with a single flap of it's wings, pulled him off the floor.

The bat soared down the street a block, building up speed, before making an abrupt right turn and flinging Nico at a building. In the midst of his spastic tumbling through the air, Nico vanished in a flash of light, reappearing just behind the creature with his sword ready to strike. He landed in the monstrous bat's back and tried to drive his sword into it's head, but the beast flailed, causing him to miss. He left a shallow cut in the bat's shoulder, before the back of the bat's head collided with his face.

Nico kicked away from the beast, but just as he was about to teleport again, the bat spun around with lightning speed and lunged with it's fangs. Nico attempted to teleport away, and he did, but had brought the bat with him, it's fangs burred deep into the flesh of his leg. The bandaged man grunted, kicking with his other leg to loosen it's hold in him.

After a few attempts, it worked, the bat let go and Nico teleported again. The beast came down on a nearby roof, where it transformed into the black-haired youth who'd jumped him back in the plaza. "Aghhh..." Jak spit and stuck his tongue out, biting down on the sleeve of his coat to get the taste out of his mouth. "You taste like dead stuff too..."

Nico reappeared, perched on a gargoyle overlooking the boy as he spat bits of bandage and flesh out of his mouth. Despite not having said a word, the man gave a small smirk of amusement, before disappearing once again.

Geno ran through the sand filled streets, all the while dodging volleys of blood red spines that rained down on him. Ever since splitting off from the others at the intersection with the fountain, the man, Keel, as Amber called him, had been chasing him across the ruined city from the rooftops.

He'd been keeping his eyes open for higher vantage point to bring the battle into close range, but there was nothing to climb on. At least, nothing that wouldn't leave him totally exposed to attack. He'd tried on more than one occasion to dip into one of the buildings, but every time he tried his path would be blocked off by a barrage of Keel's blood spines blocking his path. He had to hand it to this guy through, it'd bean a long time since someone had been able to keep up with him physically. He silently commended him for that.

Finally, up ahead, he saw his ticket. A lamppost, or maybe it was a petrified tree? He'd seen plenty of both in his sprint through the city. Whatever it was, it had fallen over, and was propped up just so that it made the perfect ramp for him to run across.

Biting into his thumb, Geno drew a symbol on his bicep, and the broken broadsword formed into existence as he called. "Agrus!" He skidded in the sand, making a sharp turn and B-lining for the fallen pole. More red spines crashed at his heels, but they did no good. Geno was up to the first landing in just two seconds. He leaped to the roof, only to find a surprised, but still grinning Keel skidding to a halt.

Geno didn't give him the opportunity to counterattack, he flew forward and threw his arm into Keel's throat in a lariat, knocking the bandit onto his back. He tried to follow up with a kick, but Keel sprung off the floor and rolled away faster than lightning, like the attack to his neck had no effect on him. Geno was quicker still. He stepped into a powerful spinning back kick the moment Keel stood upright, knocking the man back once again. This too seemed to do nothing, as Keel rushed at him again the moment he found his footing.

Groaning in annoyance, Geno caught Agrus backhanded and swiped at the man. This warded Keel off, but only momentarily. More spines leapt from his wrists, which Geno dodge-rolled to avoid. Keel lunged at him, but Geno grabbed the collar of his poncho and threw his forehead into the man's nose, which broke with a gut-wrenching crack.

Keel stumbled back, holding his now crooked nose. A thick, black liquid dropped from both his nostrils, but still, Keel's grin persisted. "Damn... You're one hell of a brawler." He chuckled, violently cracking his nose straight once again. "I think I'm startin' ta' remember what fun feels like!"

Readying for another clash, Geno was caught completely off guard when Keel simply turned and ran. "Wait a damn-." Those where all the words he got out, before reaching for the chain hanging around his waist and lashing it after the man. The end of it struck Keel in the back of the head just as he made a jump to the next building, causing him to fall into the ally below. Geno ran to the edge, wondering weather or not to expect to see a body at the bottom.

Sure enough, there wasn't. Keel had eluded him. The footprints in the sand through, made a very good indication as to where he was going. Geno looped the end of his chain over a fallen pipe, and used it like a zipline to get back to the sand.

He followed the footprints, and the smell of rot, to a much wider road, with a grand, castle like structure before him. A large sign was strung between two more petrified trees, spelling out the word CASINO in broken, neon lights.

A sand filled moat around the property was his only obstruction, and the footprints led inside. "Oh yeah, sure... This doesn't look like a trap at all..." He grimaced, before slicing one of the petrified trees down and laying it across the empty mote. "Hope to hell Amber comes to her scenes by the time I'm done here..." He followed the footprints inside, out from the light of the blood moon overhead.

A blast of frigid air washed across the floor, forcing Axel to clamber atop one of the nearby machines to avoid the approaching wave of ice that came with it. This worked, but only for a moment. Ice began to envelop the machine, quickly creeping towards him. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Axel drew back and slammed both fists into the machine, unleashing a wave of electricity that blew the creeping ice away.

"Hey, watch yourselves!" Vax angrily called over his shoulder, watching the screen of his display flicker in response to the clash. "That's very important. Don't damage anything."

Siri nodded slightly, a thin wisp of mist leaving her skeletal mouth. "End... Quickly..."

"Lightning Dragon's Bolt!" A blast of electricity shot from Axel's hand. Siri cartwheeled out of the way, landing on all fours on top of a stack of cables. She slowly stood upright, with over a dozen fist sized blocks of ice forming in the air around her. With a wave of her hand, they launched at Axel, just as he unleashed another lightning bolt at her.

The two attacks hit simultaneously. Axel's lightning bolt hit Siri in the stomach, while one of Siri's blocks struck Axel in the shoulder. Recoiling, Axel lost his footing, stumbling off the machine he was standing on and tumbling down the side. He landed on his back, gasping in pain. The world was spinning around him, and he felt a large bump growing on the back of his head when he clutched at it.

Just as his vision cleared up, he saw Siri's skeletal face quickly approaching. She lunged at him with both hands, and he caught her by the wrists to keep her at bay. He slid until his back hit the wall, unable to regain his footing. "It's... Too cold..." Suddenly, Axel felt the blue woman's already cold skin grow colder. An icy glaze began to creep down her arms, and Axel felt his hands burn.

"Dammit!" He cursed, surging electricity into his opponent. Siri twitched and shook as the attack coerced through her, and Axel was able to shove her away. Smoke seeped from her skin, and it looked like she'd died on her feet. After a few deep breaths, Axel moved to get out of the corner he'd been backed into. She remained still, and Axel stepped out into the center of the room. "You!" He screamed, pointing at Vax still plucking away at his keyboard. "Tell me where Amber is!"

"I told you, boy..." He huffed, sounding like an encumbered parent. "I'm through conversing with you."

Axel gritted his teeth in frustration. He took a step towards him, when he felt a frigid breath on the back of his neck. He spun around just as Siri tackled him to the ground, her icy cold hands reaching for his face. He batted and swatted at her, and for the most part, kept her at bay. One of her hands landed on his forearm however, and he instantly felt a frigid cold sting.

"Get... Off!" He roared. "Lightning Dragon's Chain!" He reached up, launching a glowing magic chain form his hand. It shot through Siri's stomach and out her back, latching onto the wall on the other side of the room. Axele pushed himself up, and quickly began to shorten, dragging the two of them across the floor. They moved at an incredible speed, and half way across the room, Axel was able to get one leg between him and the ice mage and he kick Siri away.

She crashed against the wall, crushing a number of the seeker machine’s that had been silently observing the fight in the possess. Axel rolled a few times, landing on one knee and clutching at his forearm. There was a stinging, bright pink mark in the shape of a hand, and this skin was cold to the touch. From what he could remember of what Jaina told him, it looked like the beginnings of frostbite. If Siri only had him in her grip for a few seconds; he didn't want to think of what sort of damage she could have done of she had held on longer. Or if she'd been able to grab his neck or head.

Just as he thought about that, he glanced towards his opponent, who was shakily rising to her feet again. "Need to..." She breathed, looking over her shoulder at him. "Stop... Fighting..." Axel could barely believe what he was seeing. She had bits of debris jutting out of her back, and could swear that some of her ribs where poking through her skin. To top it all off, she'd been impaled by an inch-thick pipe just below her shoulder, which she jerkily tore herself from before spinning around.

"How... The hell?" Axel gasped in disbelief.

"She's dead." Vax said simply, occasionally glancing over his shoulder whenever they approached one of his machines. "My prototypes ended up being quite useful. Despite being failures, they work very well as vanguards. Unyielding stamina, no need to eat, or rest... Perfect solders, really." He sounded happy, almost joyful at the abominations he'd created, even as he returned to working at his console. "One or two lethal wounds won't bother them much anymore."

Siri slapped her hand onto the floor, unleashing another wave of ice towards Axel. Groaning in annoyance, Axel turned and ran. He could absolutely win in a ranged fight, so that's what he'd do. "Lightning Dragon's Spear!" He spun around and unleashed a barrage of lightning arrows with a wave of his hand. A wall of ice jumped up between them, but Axel turned away before watching the outcome of the clash. He had a plan in mind, and that was just the start of it. "Lightning Dragon's Horn!"

He heard the sound of crashing ice and crackling lightning, but he surrounded himself in electricity and launched himself into the air. He rose up almost three stories, grabbing and dangling off a pipe on the wall. He looked back to find Siri following after him, standing atop a rapidly growing pillar of ice. A spear of ice grew in her hands, and she jumped at him as soon as she was close enough.

Axel kicked away from the wall, leaping into the empty center of the room and avoiding her strike by mere inches. He took a deep breath as he began to fall, building up magic in the back of his throat. "Lightning Dragon's..." One or two mortal wounds where one thing. But at this close a range, this next attack would be much more than that. "Roar!"

The entire room lit up momentarily. Siri turned her head just quick enough to see a great blue light coming at her, exploding forth from Axel's gaping maw. The massive lightning bolt enveloped her, blasting out of the building and high into the night sky. "You're... Warm." Siri made no action, she barely had enough time to say her last words before simply burning away into nothing in an instant.

Soon the lightning faded, leaving the room once again illuminated by Vax's glowing machinery. Axel's hands failed to find any friction on the cold metal pipes he grabbed at to catch himself, and he crashed to the ground hard. He gasped as the air was forced from his lungs, but he quickly rolled over and tried to stand up regardless. His chest burned, and he could feel the sick popping sound of his back cracking when he stood up straight, but he had to be ready. Ready to take on his next opponent. When he looked up, he found Vax had yet to leave his display. However, he wasn't facing it anymore, his featureless mask was fixated on him.

They stared at each other a moment, which Axel was appreciative of because it gave him the time to catch his breath again. Vax tilted his head towards the hole in the ceiling, observing the red moon looming in the sky. "That... Spell, just now..." He mumbled. "You, remind me of a dragon."

Axel tightened his fists. "What's that mean?"

"Dragons..." He mused, as if Axel hadn't heard him the first time. "Beings of incredible power, capable of incredible things. You remind me of one I met... On a small island to the south of here, It must've been sixteen years ago now... A lightning dragon, now that i think about it." He paused rubbing the chin of his mask. All the same, Axel gasped in disbelief. He wasn't bluffing, was he? That seemed like an odd thought to have, seeing as how his story was painfully familiar to him. Vax hummed a moment longer, finally shaking his head. "Well, I say sixteen years... But I've honestly lost track of how long ago it was... I am very old you see... The years have begun to blend together..."

"You met a dragon?" Axel caught himself. Why was he asking this? He was supposed to be here for Amber, why was he tripping up now? Despite this, his curiosity got the better of him. Vax's story just too familiar to him to be a bluff. "What was his name?"

"I couldn't say..." Something had changed in Vax now. He was no longer fixated on his machines, or whatever he was doing with his console. Axel had his full attention now, like he had when they first met. "He appeared to be as an old man at first... But, oh... The power he held." He began to chuckle, gently brushing his hand over one of the pipes leading between his console and the spire. "The magic he contained... With his help, I moved my plan ahead by decades and-.”

"What was his name!?" Axel screamed.

Vax stopped chuckling, seemingly surprised by Axel's outburst. "It's slipped my mind..." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "It was long, hard to say... Not one like you or I would have." He pondered further, tapping absentmindedly on the cheek of his mask. "I think it started with a J..."

"Jelonghoul..." Axel gasped, losing all the color in his face. Vax looked at him, and even despite his mask, Axel could tell he was surprised. "Your smell... I remember you. You where on the bridge that day. The day Jelonghoul disappeared."

"Bridge..." Vax mumbled again. "Above the river. Yes... The old man in the cart had a boy with him that day... And a cat with wings..." Vax stumbled backwards, clasping his hand over the glowing visor of his mask as he began to laugh. "What did you say your name was again, boy?"

"Axel..." He answered out of instinct, his mind racing with thoughts. "I'm Axel Dawngrave, Dragon Slayer of Blazing Soul." He took a sharp breath to calm himself, and he began to feel the anger from before boiling in the pit of his stomach. "And Jelonghoul was the one who raised me."

Next Chapter – Chapter 70 - Tale of a Dragon