Dragon's Requiem

That's No Chimera

(Burst of artistic juices had brought you a second chapter in one day! This is pry a one time miracle, but I'm happy.)

          I march off with Levy and the other nurses to the medical tents, rubbing the back of my hand. I have Cassian in this backpack and the rations in a cloth parcel. I lie to the other nurses who ask me why I have it, telling them that it has extra supplies for if Levy's magic drains too much, as the other nurses with us are non-magic users. They nod and go one their way as I stow Cassian in his little nook, again, with the rations. When I return to the group, I nod at Levy. She knows the plan.

          We begin the morning by cleaning a few wounds and changing bandages. Nothing too stressful. I get to take another look at the guy with the bite mark in his shoulder. I as him how it happened, but he can barely remember. He says a soldier with eyes like Pluto and Vulcan meshed as one came at him out of the air. He swears he saw wings on him, as well. He had managed to block the first attack, but that only made the soldier angrier and it attacked him like the monster it was.

          "Jupiter help us all," one of the nurses mutters, staring at the man. I look at her and watch her step out of the tent for a moment and come back after a moment, more composed. I stay silent, helping Levy with mixing salves and listening to his story.

          "Son of a bitch bit straight through my chainmail. I've never seen anything like it. Fangs like a lion, power of the gods... Whoever came up with the idea that a chimera is an animal was wrong. It's no lion, snake, goat hybrid. It's a soldier that shines like the sun and fights like death is his to command." With this, the man falls silent and leaves, once his bandage is tied.

          Levy looks at me as we clean up some supplies and whispers, "Are you sure you still want to go out there? What if you run into this 'Chimera'?"

          "Then I will fight him. I will do what it takes to bring Natsu home. Don't get me wrong, I'm scared, but I know I can do this. I'm a member of Fairy Tail, after all." I hold up  my hand to her and show her the bright pink mark on the back of my hand.

          "Where did you get that, Lu?" Levy asks, astonished at the fact that I know have the legion mark. 

          "Master Makarov called for me, this morning. He gave me the choice and I accepted. I'm a part of the legion, now." Levy launches at me and envelopes me in a bear hug. I was worried that she'd be upset and tell me that I was being stupid for showing any involvement with the military. 

          "Congratulations, Lucy! You're really one of us, now!" hollers Levy. The other nurses join in cheering. Non-magic nurses can't going legions, like we can, but they all seem to belong to their own groups, in the camp. Some wizards pick on them when they give themselves names, like Cait Shelter, but they're mostly left alone. Never mess with the people who might be in charge of saving your life, one day.

          When the sun has risen above the horizon, the troops begin marching to the battle field. I look at Levy and nod. Once the injured soldiers start coming back to camp, I will disappear in the chaos. Therefore, once the first soldiers come back from the field, launching the tent into chaos, Levy pretends to send me out for more aloe and I head back to the place where I've hidden Cassian and the supplies. To keep from being spotted on the way out, Virgo quickly and quietly digs us to the edge of camp and disappears. I sneak along the edges of tents and shrubbery and out of sight of anyone that could have noticed me.

          However, I am frozen in place by the sound of, "And where do you think you are going?" I turn to see the man form Master Makarov's meeting, Master Eucliffe. He's leaning against a boulder with a smirk on his face. What do I tell him? What to I tell a captain and superior officer what I'm doing when I'm sneaking away from camp?

          "I, uh... I was just taking Cassian for a walk to... clear my head and feed him." I bounce Cassian's backpack and he babbles a little. The blond shakes his head with a snicker, standing up straight.

          "No... No, I don't think that's it. See, I know about you and your little situation, Lucy. Natsu was a good soldier, if a bit undisciplined, and we all felt his loss, especially on the field. By law, I can send an untrained, defenseless civilian out to the battlefield," he chides. I look at the ground and prepare to be taken back to camp. I open my mouth to defend my case, however. But Eucliffe holds up a hand to stop me. 

"However, I see no defenseless civilians, around here." The captain points at my hand and nods. I stare at him for a moment, shocked and get out a single, "What?", because there is no way that he is actually letting me go. He laughs and turns to go.

          "Unless someone asks, I don't know anything about where you went. Bring Natsu home for us." And with that Master Eucliffe walks back into camp and disappears into his tent. I stand there, dumbfounded. I look back and forth just to make sure that there is no one else around that I can't see. With no one else stopping me, I turn and begin the walk.

          I begin following the tacks of the Roman soldiers from the safety of the surrounding shrubbery and landscape. Every time I spot someone coming back, I duck out of sight and rock Cassian to keep him quiet, which is anything but a challenge. He's always been so quiet. If he's anything like his father, that'll change. But he stays quiet, occasionally babbling or whining for food or to be cleaned. I've been luck enough to keep him from crying, but he almost never does, anyways.

          Within a few minutes, the edge of the battlefield is visible and I can hear the sounds of clashing metal and men shouting. I see Erza fighting with some demon against a very unprepared group of wizards. There's a hulking beast smashing its way through the field and multicolored bursts of fire sprouting in different areas. Dust being kicked up in large clouds and magic, weapons, and projectiles are flying everywhere. I can only imagine what it must be like in there. 

          As I draw nearer to the battle, I duck into a set of ruins that lies a few yards away. The old building is nothing but a few remaining hole filled walls and a dirt floor. There is blood and drag marks in the dirt, implying that there was either a fight, here, or that this is where someone died. I don't like the sound of either. However, there are scratches on the walls like an animal was fought, in here. Nothing is burned, though, ruling out the option that it was Chimera.

          My stomach has been rumbling for the last few minutes and I need to keep up my strength if I'm going to be looking for Natsu. So,I take a moment to grab an apple from my bag. I sit in a corner on the floor and hold Cassian in my lap. He babbles a little and insists on holding my hand. He's such a little mama's boy. My quiet soldatino.

           "We're getting closer, Cassian," I say, softly. "Pretty soon, we'll have Natsu back. You're going to love your dad as much as I do. And he's going to be so happy to finally meet you and go home. That way we can go yell at your uncle Gray for letting him wander off." Cassian looks at me and just babbles his soft little cooing. I know he doesn't understand me, yet, but he's the best listener I've ever met.

          Suddenly, a shadow cuts or peace short as it darts overhead at breakneck speeds. I hear the beating of wings, like a large bird, but I only hear it once. I scramble to my feet, only to see what remains of the shadow disappear into another set of ruins, close to me. Carefully, move from where I sat with Cassian and put him back in his pack. I swiftly leave the small section of ruin, heading away from the shadow. I can only hope that this is Mira's demon soul and not Chimera. The soldier said that it looked like it had wings, but I don't want to stay and find out.

          I dodge through the labyrinth of the ruins until I can once again see the battle raging. I duck behind a pillar and peak back at where I came from. I've been able to hear scraping and footsteps for the last few minutes and I'm prepared to stand my ground. I grab Leo's key, prepared to call on him, but nothing comes. I can feel a magic presence growing stronger, though. It's powerful and not holding anything back from me sensing it.

          I'm startled by a noise behind me, a sharp crack of stone on stone, but before I can turn around to see my attacker, I'm struck in the back of the head. I feel myself falling forwards and onto my stomach. I'm met at eye level with a pair of black boots covered in blood and look up into the silhouette of a man. This, I know, is Chimera, because even with the glare of the sun obstructing his face, I can see the outline of his bat-like wings and the dark red glow of his eyes. And those eyes are the last thing I see, before I pass out.