Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 109 - A Royal Morning

Being so high up invited a gentle, natural breeze to sway over the balcony. Hisui gently stepped outside one of the many gathering rooms and slipped out as the sun began to show itself along the distant horizon. She rested her hands on the stone railing. Her hair, still wet from the shower, rested on her bare back, as she'd opted for a more comfortable outfit for the day.

Stars still shown over the Alikitasian sky. The sky seemed richer, more open, and inviting to the celestial bodies above.

Hisui felt the tinge of exhaustion creeping up along the edges of her consciousness, but it faded away just as fast. She'd slept for perhaps three hours or so, until at last she woke and wouldn't fall back asleep. That was hours ago at this point, and rather than continue grappling with whether or not to go back to sleep, she simply got ready for the day. A shower, some breakfast she whipped up for herself, and then a little bit of time to herself and—

"City's huge, isn't it?"

"Natsu!"

Hisui's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. The Fire Dragon Slayer sat on the edge of the balcony, completely invisible to her eye. Had she thought him a gargoyle or statue? He was so still. It was so uncharacteristic of him.

"Sorry," he said with a wry grin. "Couldn't sleep."

"Oh." Hisui took a breath. "Sorry to hear it."

"Well, looks like you can't either."

"Not much, no. Too much to think about, plan for."

"Oh, yeah, that's true."

Hisui shifted so she faced Natsu more comfortably. He sat the same way, with his legs swaying over the open air. They were so high up that the air was hard to breathe. The palace was much larger than Mercurius, probably about double the size. Zeref probably found Mercurius quite stuffy and overcrowded in comparison.

She often wondered what he'd done with the place, how he'd changed it. When she escaped Crocus, she didn't have time to prance around and take in the sights. She had to run, plain and simple.

"I suspect that's not why you're up, though," Hisui said.

Natsu shook his head. "Not really. I'm not too worried about all the plans and stuff. I'm just ready to get back to Fiore and start kicking ass. You tell me where to go."

"I like the attitude. What is it, then? Sounds like you're not worried about the fighting either. Not with the training I've heard you had."

Natsu examined his hands, which he curled into fists. Little sparks crackled around his knuckles.

"You're right. I'm not all that worried about the fighting. I'm stronger, way stronger, than when we fought Tartaros. It's something else. Not sure if you heard about it."

"E.N.D."

"Yeah. That. In her free time, Lucy was able to do some digging about it. Then she and Levy met up when she left me, Gildarts, and Cana. Did some more work. She hasn't fully caught me up on it, but there are all sorts of legends and stuff about E.N.D. The crazy part is how some of those go back hundreds of years."

"Could be prophecies," Hisui said.

"Yeah, could be. But it's all bad news. And the scary part is, it's real."

Hisui moved over and hopped onto the railing next to Natsu. The sun continued its slow ascent.

"Real? Like you are E.N.D."

"I am a demon, yeah. I don't know what that means, but if it's anything like those other Etherious or what happened to Mirajane, I do know it's bad news. And it's coming."