Demon Departure - Phoenix Dragneel

Dark Aura

As usual, missions were posted on the board in Fairytail and today Natsu and Gray decided to go together. Erza had a hand in putting this little team together as she thought it would do them a whole world of good to work together for once. Interestingly, the mission that intrigued them the most was to take down the Akuma guild on the outskirts of Magnolia.

(Time skip)

Running through the deserted corridors, uncertain of the guilds whereabouts within the guildhall, Natsu and Gray decided to split up. "Gray if we take half of the building each we'll find them in no time, just shout if you need help." Natsu shouts while pointing towards the direction he would be going in. Unbeknown to them, Phoenix, masked in the darkness of the shadows, had been planning her attack on the ice wizard.

Six years of being tortured, drained and injected with pure evil had caused Phoenix to completely lose all memory of her brother and fellow guild members. The once innocent little girl, unable to master her fire magic had been transformed into an evil 4th generation dragon slayer. Ankhseram magic was possibly the darkest form of magic there was, draining the powers of any it encountered and depriving them of oxygen. Lacrima had been implanted into Phoenix's hip the day she was kidnapped, the ice and fire combining to create white lightning, the temperature able to burn through even steel. Murder and destruction were Phoenix's main goals and now the prey had arrived she could complete her orders from the master.

Gray's POV

Wandering aimlessly, I kept my senses alert incase of an ambush but something didn't seem right about this place. Light had not shine upon this guildhall in many years and the air was thick with slick inky darkness. For some reason, this place felt familiarly dangerous, as though I'd been here before.

Black smoke engulfed the room, devouring light from ever corner and blinding Gray completely. Darkness overwhelmed his senses, sending him into a state of panic in which he couldn't quite use his ice maker magic. Footsteps echoed behind, slicing through the air like Erza's swords and causing Gray to spin around on his heels. Unexpectedly, a girl no taller than Natsu, appeared dressed head to toe in black and prickled with piercings. Her hair, as black as night camouflaged against the darkness, began to glow a kaleidoscopic white.

Gray's POV

Suddenly, the slick dark aura disappeared and a flash of lightning crackled above my head sending shivers down my spine. This girl was part of the Akuma guild without a doubt, but her face seemed familiar, she looked like... Phoenix! Before I even had chance to create an ice wall, several arrows of searing white lightning shot towards me, piercing the flesh of my stomach and arms. The pain was unbearable, the temperature continuously rising, boiling my insides. However, I could counteract the heat with my ice magic, able to defeat the attack, coming away with only a few scratches.

A menacing glint in her eyes and a smirk playing on her lips, the girl tilted her head back and let out a loud sadistic laugh. "Silly boy, that was just my warm up, of course you aren't harmed! Now prepare for a world of pain Gray!" That voice belonged to my best friend, I knew it, but she must of forgotten who I was. What had they done to her? She was so innocent and she know she has been completely taken over by evil.

In an instance, I was pinned to the wall behind me, a hand grasped tightly around my throat. Her face contorted into rage and her eyes, once green, infused with the black magic and became like dark tunnels. Looking at the tunnelled orbs, an icy blast raced through my veins, colder than anything I had ever experienced before. Oxygen was being taken from me, my body was convulsing violently and ice spears began to slash open my skin from the inside.

Blood splattered against the walls, while she stared unfazed at my apparent pain. A loud crash resonated through the room, as the door came crashing down.

Natsu's POV

Screams erupted from the left corridor where Gray had been, alerting me and sending me flying in that direction. Had he found the guild members or was he hurt? I was unsure of either answer but still I ran forward.

Thick black ink oozed beneath the door, signalling an evil presence so I flew myself at the door taking it down in one hit. There laid on the floor in a pool of his own blood was Gray, pale and barely conscious. Meters away a young girl, entirely in black, stood with a grin evident on her red stained lips. "Who the fuck are you and what have you done to Gray?" I growled while creating a flaming ball in my hand. Anger rising, "I don't care who you are, but if you hurt my friends I will destroy you!"

A small laugh emitted from her mouth, and in that moment I launched myself at her in pure rage. Pissing me off was not a good idea, because I could easily take down a little girl even if she did have dark magic within her. "Natsu st-stop! That's Phoenix, she can't remember any of us but it's her! Look at her f-face!" Groaned Gray while clutching his stomach in pain. Gray's comment knocked me off course, because I hadn't heard that name in 3 years!

My baby sister couldn't remember me and she has tried to kill her best friend. Winding rapidly around my torso, Phoenix unleashed a powerful binding ankhseram curse, draining every last drop of my magic. Hope was lost as both me and Gray were out cold, a now evil wizard lurking above our unconscious figures.