Phoenix Storm || Fairy Tail [2]

➝ 𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐚

𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚
❛ 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘮 𝘪? ❜

◊

Rose's expression contorted into a displeased scowl as she witnessed the gathering the magic power in the blazing sky above them. The phoenix was drawing on the power of the mages surrounding it, siphoning their cumulated eternano into a delightful explosive cocktail that would wipe out the world as they knew it.

How lovely.

Every second spent not acting was a second the phoenix spent growing, its goal unhindered despite the interference of all of Fairy Tail's mages... she could feel it tugging at her, asking her to lend it her power, growing more and more impatient at her blatant refusal. Unlike the rest of her teammates, she was immune to the phoenix's will.

That didn't make it any less difficult to resist its call.

"Why won't you help me?"

Rose couldn't help but find it odd that the phoenix's voice was so calm and gentle. It was deceptive. She could sense its true intentions – the fact that it only wanted to guilt her into helping it. It could probably smell the blood on her. It knew what she'd done, and now that it'd been released, it could converse with her with ease.

"Betraying your own kind, are we? Didn't anyone tell you that monsters don't get happy endings?"

A coppery taste crept up her throat and lingered on her tongue. She felt like she was being squeezed dry of her energy – even the ridiculous concentration of energy in the air wasn't enough to support her spell. If this didn't work then she didn't have a contingency plan.

It was all or nothing.

"Damn chicken bastard..." Rose's lungs were straining to provide her with oxygen, and she just barely managed a breathy laugh. "Let's see how arrogant you'll be when I blast you into oblivion...!"

The magic circle was complete. Rose didn't actually remember half the runes she was supposed to use, but she'd managed to scramble her last three brain cells until they offered her some semblance of a complete spell. She had literally been out of practice for centuries, but that was beside the point.

Runes burning white with heat, Rose could see black dots clustering in the edges of her vision. She was, more likely than not, going to fall unconscious following this. Hopefully Erza wouldn't leave her laying about like a useless flesh puppet on the streets. More likely than not, the building they were on currently would collapse beneath the pressure of the spell.

"Phoenix Slayer's Secret Art," Rose gritted, "Final Verse."

There was silence.

Then the world went white.

And Rose was out like a light.

◊

"Where the hell am I?"

When Rose came to, she was seated comfortably in a wooden garden chair, arms crossed over her stomach, head lolling forward. It was as though she'd been in this strange field the entire time, dozing off... as if none of the phoenix fiasco had ever happened.

Carpeting the ground for as far as she could see were white flowers which vaguely resembled roses, fragrant and delicate. She could probably pick a direction and run that way for a lifetime before finding the end of the field. In fact, the only place not covered in flowers was the gentle grassy knoll she was seated at. Above her was the cloudless crimson sky, set aflame by a sun that couldn't be seen. A zephyr stirred the field and sent the petals dancing.