Phoenix

Summoning

"Don't be so reckless, Em. You don't wanna end up totally exhausted and useless."

Emi turned around, immediately recognizing the voice. It was him. And he was...alive? Her mouth hung open, as did the mouths of Laxus and Natsu.

"Wha--how did...what?"

"You can't count me out so easily. Jeez."

"But you--"

"Resting. Ya know, storing up the massive amounts of energy needed to do that spell? I was so exhausted I couldn't even move, and I think I passed out or something. I dunno."

"You weren't breathing," Emi defended.

"Really? Weird."

"This isn't funny! I thought..."

Sting gave a lopsided grin before playfully opening his arms for her. She wasted no time in going over to him. Lector landed on Sting's head, still crying from the overwhelming joy he felt.

"So are we using the spell? I'm ready to actually die now."

Emi smacked the back of his head and told Lector to go back to the group. Sting held his head in pain and laughed nervously. Wrath had made his way back over to them, clearly pissed off and seething.

"As much as I hate it, I do actually think we'll have to."

Sting smiled wide, giving her a quick kiss and turning so his back was against hers. They interlocked their hands together while they faced away from each other.

"You guys might wanna get back. Dragons and shit, ya know?"

"H-Huh?"

Laxus grabbed Natsu and dragged him to the tunnel. He grabbed Lucy and Wendy as well, bringing them all over to the main group on the other side.

"Why are you all over here? Shouldn't you be helping them?" Gajeel asked. "I only left because they needed me back here, so why're you all back here?"

"He's still really weak, Laxus. He needs help. He could barely stand on his own."

Laxus looked at his grandfather and explained that the two of them wanted them to leave. When he was asked why, Natsu stepped forward and answered for him, repeating Sting's words. Rogue gasped.

"What is it?"

"The spell they're gonna try, it's fatal."

"That's good right?" Cana pressed.

"It's a dragon summoning spell."

"Dragon? No way!" Lucy yelled, shocked.

"So what's so bad about that?" Gajeel asked.

Rufus decided to take over the explanation, saying, "It's a spell that is only able to be used by a dragon slayer and their mate. The bond shared needs to be unbreakable, and it comes at a cost."

"What do you mean?"

"The spell is nearly impossible to cast, and its success rate in hovering around zero percent. If they fail..."

"What?"

Rufus looked at Makarov seriously as he finished his explanation, "If they successfully cast the spell, a powerful dragon will appear. It's basically the guardian dragon, which is what the spell is called. If they fail...the weaker of the two will die."

"What? Why?"

"It's supposed to be to deter people from carelessly trying to summon the dragon. It's the same logic of why the Celestial Spirit King can only be summoned once through the sacrifice of a gold key. Sting would be the obvious weaker of them, so it would be him that dies if it fails."

Sting and Emi squeezed each other's hands before breathing in deeply.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Hey Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to make sure you knew that I love you."

Emi's grip on Sting's hands tightened.

"I love you too."

"Alright. Let's do this!"

They raised their interlocked hands up and chanted the incantation. White magic circles appeared above and below them, glowing brighter as they finished the incantation.

"Summoning: Guardian Dragon!"

The magic circles pulsed before shooting up to the sky. A blinding light exploded above the city of rubble. The light faded and they looked around. Nothing seemed to be happening.

"Did it not work?" Lucy asked.

"Well he's not dead, so it must've, right?" Erza quizzed.

They all watched in horror as Emi fell to her knees before completely collapsing on the ground.