Wingless Descent

Soul of Iron
"Haaah...haaah..." Gajeel caught his breath, surrounded by a pile of unconscious demons, beaten to a pulp by him and Mira, with help from Levy as well "That's all...Mi-..." Suddenly, Gajeel fell on his knee, feeling a great dread, clutching his heart "...? W-...What...?" He looked back, but all he saw was the same thing, dragons destroying each other, the town, and fire and destruction "Urgh...!".

"Be careful!" Levy helped Gajeel get back up on his feet "What's wrong?".

"I don't..." Gajeel shook his head, looking at Mira "Mira, we need to find Lucy. It's best if you fly. You'll have a better chance that way.".

"But what about you two?" Mira asked Gajeel, obviously concerned for him and Levy.

"We'll be fine. Just go. Lucy mustn't be left alone in this situation!" Gajeel told Mira, who nodded in response, albeit somewhat reluctant, instantly accessing her Satan Soul form, flying off into the sky in search of Lucy. "Haah...Dammit. Levy, let's go to the evacuation center.".

"...Right." Levy nodded, albeit finding Gajeel's condition to be a problem in the near future "Are you sure you're alright? Did the demons do anything to you?".

"No, it's alright. I just..." Before Gajeel could finish, a dragon landed behind the two. Four legged, with silver scales, glowing red eyes, as well as spikes runing down its back, its teeth appearing like blades, and its wings being wide and shimmering with light.

"Metalicana's child." The dragon spoke, chuckling "The foul iron's so-called..."son". Hehehe. I have found something truly...breath taking.".

"Shit!" Gajeel quickly pushed Levy behind him, preparing to battle the silver dragon.

"Hahaha, you intend on fighting?" The silver dragon smiled maliciously, absolutely delighted with Gajeel. Breathing in, as if to take in the scent, the silver dragon leaned its head down to Gajeel "A human trained for the sole purpose of being a dragon's executioner. The hunter of dragons. Oh, how I enjoy the idea." The silver dragon snickered "You are nothing like him, however.".

"Him...? Do you mean...?".

"No, not...him." The silver dragon frowned upon mentioning a certain dragon of black, even being somewhat disgusted, refusing to utter the name "I am talking about someone far more powerful than any of you so-called "Dragon Slayers" could ever hope to be.".

"...Why are you not killing us?" Gajeel pondered the dragon, still on guard regardless.

"Hmph." The silver dragon, sat down on its legs, staring at Gajeel "Because a talk, amidst the cries of war and the bloody skies, is most riveting and fun." The silver dragon said.

"...".

"Confused still? Well, this is an oppurtunity for you. Ask this age old behemoth of the skies a question that is on your mind." The silver dragon casually offered Gajeel, awaiting his response.

"...Question...?" Gajeel thought for a moment, before looking at the silver dragon with a look of determination "I want to know...the truth...".

"Truth? Whatever it is you desire to know of the good dragon's plan, I cannot s-...".

"Not that! I want to know the actual truth!" Gajeel gritted his teeth, because he knew he'd regret knowing the truth "Does a dragon slayer truly have the chance to kill a fucking dragon?!" He snapped, remembering well how powerless he was when he finally got the chance to fight a dragon, back at the first tragedy.

"...No." The silver dragon replied with honesty "A human can never hope to kill a dragon. A human can never hope to kill a God. You humans...are the strongest and weakest. You uncovered the secrets of the world, molded it, but regardless, the world is far more powerful than you can ever hope to be. Sooner or later, a force far greater than even a God shall come down upon you...and you will beg for mercy." The silver dragon grinned, standing back up "Does it upset you to find out you're essentially a doomed race? I am no simple dragon, mind you, I have lived long enough to understand you humans! You are always the cause that triggers the murderous effect that goes against your very existence.".

"...I see..." Gajeel sat down, as if having lost all hope "No point then in fighting you...I'll just lose and die...!".

"Exactly." The silver dragon replied "You are smarter than most humans.".

"Gajeel..." Levy simply stared at Gajeel in despair, finding it hard to believe he'd lose hope so easily "You can't just surrender like that!".

"I can! I've been in this before...we had greater numbers and yet we still...".

"Fell like insects. Oh, I remember." The silver dragon said, catching the attention of the two mages "Shocked? I was there when I executed your friends, when I destroyed and ruined your dearest city. I tore down everything you held dear. With a simple roar...I broke your hope to tiny pieces, and revealed a layer of despair!".

"...You...!" Gajeel gritted his teeth, punching the ground in his irritation.

"And you lived. I am truly shocked. But now...I'll finish what I started.".

"Gajeel, don't just give up like that! You're stronger, you can...!".

"Good night! Metalicana's child!" The silver dragon openned his massive maw, as a bright white light began gathering "I shall be your executioner! And you shall be...my easiest prey!".

"No." Suddenly, the silver dragon's roar, a white beam of brilliant light, missed. It overshot into the sky, hitting a dragon, erupting into a large blinding explosion, almost looking like the sun, despite the rain and cloudy weather, trapping several dragons within it. And as Gajeel raised his head up, saw a large spear of metal piercing the silver dragon.

"I-...Impossible...you...Me-...Metalicana...!!!" The silver dragon roared, as many more metallic spikes pierced the silver dragon, riddling him with holes and tearing the creature to pieces, as a large, metallic dragon emerged, extending its wings, and looking back down at Gajeel.

"...Metalicana..." Gajeel said, awestruck by the presence of his father before him "Wha-...What is...?".

"Son...Gajeel..." Metalicana turned to Gajeel, appearing angered, gritting his enormous teeth "What the hell are you doing?! You damn brat! Giving up so easily like that?!" Metalicana scolded his son, digging his claws into the earth "Why would you do such a foolish thing?!".

"..." Gajeel stared at his father for a solid minute, before snapping back into reality "Wait, hold up! What the fuck is going on?! Where did you suddenly...!?".

"Grr...!" Metalicana turned his head, seeing several dragons flying down towards him "Damn, they caught my scent!" Metalicana growled, turning his back to Gajeel "Listen to me, Gajeel!" Flying up towards the dragons, Metalicana roared, blasting through the dragons flying at him, clashing into them, quickly becoming surrounding by savage behemoths trying to shred into him "I am sorry!" Shouting, Metalicana potruded metallic spikes from his body, stabbing several of the dragons, freeing himself, and bringing down several dragons "I never wanted to leave you behind, but I had no choice!".

"Shut up, traitor!" One of the dragons flew behind Metalicana, attempting to rip open the iron dragon's neck, but at the moment he dug his teeth into his neck, the dragon's fangs broke, barely denting the mighty dragon's scales, immediately being struck with his heavy tail, crashing down.

"I did for your own favour, I swear that to you! Up until now, I've resided within your body as a soul, giving your body a dragonic anti-body, to prevent you from becoming a dragon! Preventing you from achieving the dragon's power!" Metalicana hastily explained himself, quickly dodging the assaults of several dragons, but was eventually being horded by them, causing him to fall back down due to their weight holding him down "Urgh...!!!".

"Traitor!" The dragons shouted "Filth!" They repeated "You helped the humans against your own brothers!" At once, the dragons roared, the collective roars colliding into a singular explosion, tearing through the metallic hide, causing blood to spill onto the ground.

"Get off!" In an instant, a large tower of metal shot high into the sky, tearing through the dragons, spikes potruding and stabbing them, tearing them, killing the dragons. The battles between two dragons is vicious, but between someone such as Metalicana, they were like footsoldiers facing a far more skilled soldier. "Gaj-...!" Before he could finish, a dragon thrusted its claws through Metalicana's stomach, tearing completely through "GAAAAH...!!!".

"Dad!" Gajeel shouted, quickly getting up, about to head towards his father.

"Stay back!" Metalicana stopped his son, as spikes potruded from his back, tearing the dragon's arm off, his legs bent, struggling to stand as he spit blood "Gajeel...I was wrong...preventing the power of the dragon...was a mistake...He was right..." Metalicana limped to his son, extending his arm to him "You need this power...to fight and win!".

"Kill the traitor!" Dragons quickly swarmed around the three, charging their roars "Annhilate the poison human!" All the roars shot towards the three.

"Enough...!!!" Metalicana roared, a bright blinding light seemingly deflecting the roars. As it cleared, the dragons were all staked on metallic spikes, all coming from Metalicana's own body, as his feet dug into the ground, keeping him in place, while the roars were deflected by the spikes striking the roars directly before killing the dragons.

"Wait...Metalicana, you need help! You're...!".

"I'm going to die anyway...I have already died..." Metalicana lightly tapped Gajeel's chest "I'm sorry. I truly am." Metalicana coughed, his body beginning to glow and rip apart "I...terminate the anti-bodies in the end...for this power to save you...I was so...so wrong...the idea...of preventing you from achieving the power of the dragon...forgive me...".

"Dad...don't leave just yet! I haven't seen you in so long! I just want...".

"Are you crying...?" Metalicana asked his son, as Gajeel quickly wiped his tears, as if in denial "Hehe...you've grown up...All I can say to you now...beside an apology...is that I...am so proud of what a man you became...son...Don't...die." Metalicana said, his voice weakening, as his body went limp, vanishing into a stream of pure energy, vanishing completely.

"..." Gajeel simply stared on, as everything other metallic construct created by Metalicana began to vanish as well "Metalicana...you bastard...Even when you're here you have no time...".

"Gajeel..." Levy meekly called to him "Are...are you okay...?".

Gajeel sighed "Crying isn't good for me. I could rust my eyes!" Gajeel quickly turned to Levy, picking her up, and placing her over his shoulder "And we can't waste any time!".

"Eh?! Gajeel, what are you...?!".

"We're leaving!" Gajeel shouted, quickly charging through hordes of oncoming demons, literally forcing his way through "Metalicana gave us this opening! I won't make his death be in vain!" Cutting through the oncoming demonic hordes, Gajeel fired his dragon's roar, completely obliterating the demons, and leaving a clear path "He said not to die, so I don't intend on dying, or letting anyone else dear to me die today!".

Vicious Memories
"Lucy!" Mira shouted, as she witnessed a bright explosion, one that could only be produced by Regulus. She quickly flew onto the scene, landing down in a small crater, looking around, as her eyes widened in horror "...L-...Lucy...?" What she had witnessed, was a scene of murder. Torn demon bodies all around, their blood filled the streets, plastered on the walls and buildings, pieces everywhere.

And there was Lucy, breathing heavily, in the form of a golden beast, a lion with a brilliant mane, a hulking, brutish werelion, whose fur is stained with the blood of seemingly hundreds of demons, her hands completely covered in blood, as a demon tried squirming away. But Lucy simply stepped on its back, denying it escape "No..." Her voice was gargly and deep, no longer having any remnants of the blonde girl, only a monster "You get no escape." Crushing the demon's back and breaking its spine with her foot, Lucy turned to face Mira.

"Lucy..." Mira exited her Satan Soul form, walking up to her, giving a warm smile to her friend "Alright, that's enough, let's g-...".

"You...lied..." Lucy said coldly in a low tone.

"...Wha-...?"

"You lied!!!" Lucy suddenly shouted, releasing a roar as well, echoing through the empty streets "You said...the nightmares...were nothing! You said they were all just the result of eating candy before sleeping! You said it meant nothing!!!" Lucy breathed in, crouching down on all four like an animal "I remember.".

Mira's eyes quickly widened in fear, realizing what Lucy meant "W-...Wait, Lucy! Listen, I was only trying to...".

"To what?! Protect me?! From what?!" Lucy literally gargled like a beast, roaring and huffing, the rain barely washing the blood off her fur "To protect me from remembering the people who saved me?! My friends?! My family?!".

"I...Lucy...you were just...too happy, I didn't...If you remembered it all...I was afraid that smile of yours would die..." Due to the rain washing over her, it would be difficult to tell Mira was tearing up "I'm sorry, Lucy! I wanted to tell you so many times! I really did, but I was scared!".

"Scared..." Lucy sat down, looking down, seemingly having calmed down "...I'm cold...".

"I know." Mira walked closer to Lucy, placing her hand on Lucy's "I'm cold too." Mira comforted Lucy, warmly smiling to her "Let's go home...Turn back to normal and let me see you smile again.".

"...Tell me...everything when we get home...please..." Lucy asked Mira, at this point sounding simply heartbroken and exhausted.

"I will, I promise..." Mira said to Lucy, smiling, and in a flash of light, Lucy returned to normal, however, Mira quickly freaked out for a simple reason, Lucy was naked, in the middle of a raining cold weather no less. "L-...Lucy!" Blushing, Mira quickly carried Lucy up in her arms, bridal-style, activating her Satan Soul Sitri spell, emitting a warm aura to keep Lucy from freezing "We need to get you clothes quick!" Mira said to Lucy, extending her wings as she flew up high in a hurry.

"Eh?" Lucy looked down, realizing she was naked "Oh...I forgot this happens.".

"You can't just forget this kind of stuff!" Mira scolded Lucy "What if someone sees you?! What if you catch a cold?!" Mira sounded like a worrysome mother towards Lucy.

"...Hehehe." Lucy giggled, as she stuck closer against Mira "You're very warm...".

"Ah wait!" Mira quickly realized something "Summon Virgo, she'll get you clothes!".

"Oh, right, she kinda does that!" Lucy remembered that was sort've of a thing.

Mira quickly flew into a building, away from the rain, giving Lucy the chance to summon Virgo.

After getting a new set of clothing from the ever so generous pink haired maid, warm ones even, a blue coat with a star-like pattern akin to random astronomical objects, as well as blue comfy pants against the cold "Thanks Virgo...".

"Anytime, Princess." Virgo said, tilting her head "No punishment, I assume...?".

"No, sorry. Busy." Lucy dismissed Virgo, who nodded and vanished back to her world, as Lucy waved goodbye to her.

"Now, we should head out again. Gotta catch up to Gajeel and the others. Leave the city quick." Mira said to Lucy, still in her Sitri form.

"Wait, are everyone else okay?! Like Amon? And Gajeel? And Amon!".

"Calm down, I've seen Gajeel and Levy. They'll be fine." Mira reassured Lucy "And I'm sure Amon and the others are fine as we-...Oh, no..." Mira suddenly remembered a crucial detail.

"But...Amon is...".

"Hospitalized..." Both Mira and Lucy realized this "And his students...! We have to find them both!".

"Right!" Lucy nodded "Let's g-...! What's that?" Lucy stopped midway, being distracting by a preculiar sight. She pointed out the window, as she saw on top of a rooftop, Azazel, holding Hisui by her arm, forcing her to stand out in the rain.

"What...? Is that the Queen?!" Mira recognized Hisui by her jade hair, she seemed injured, her arm limp, missing her crown, her armor being stripped off her, leaving her with nothing but the rags underneath the armor.