[X784, Train to Magnolia]
— Dannis Martell —
In the next day when they began their travel back to Magnolia, everyone had noticed the underlying tension between him and Laxus.
Levy looked particularly uncomfortable as her head kept swinging from him to Laxus over and over. Natsu and Gajeel couldn't care less, hating the choice of using the train as their mode of transportation.
Lucy was confused, which was funny to see since she had zero context of whatever was happening. However, they kept their promise in silence. There was no doubt that the whole of Magnolia would feel them duking it out from the amounts of magic they'll be throwing, but at least they'll have a little bit of privacy in the beginning.
There was no doubt in his mind that many of the people in Fairy Tail would give anything to see a fight between him and Laxus. They were among the two, along with Mystogan, to very rarely participate in the ever present guild brawls.
Now that he thought about it, Erza and Mira also rarely join in now that they were S-Class mages. It makes sense really, had any of the S-Class mages participate, the guild building would no longer be standing.
Perhaps he should ask Freed and Evergreen to watch the perimeter when the fight starts? Neither Dannis nor Laxus had any interest in being showboats and being seen by the others. Especially to something as serious as this.
Bickslow was covered in bandages head to toe to the point he looked like a mummy. The worst of injuries had been curbed—thank Mavis—but Porlyusica had said that he wouldn't be doing any magic any time soon.
Erza's friends were all urged by Master Makarov to leave and keep their heads down. With the way things turned down in Era, there was no doubt that the Magic Council would be looking for scapegoats for the whole event. The former subordinates of Jellal fit the bill too well.
And wasn't that a surprise? Not only was Siegran a fake councillor and a thought projection to boot, Ultear was apparently another traitor who had nearly killed the other councillors as well as destroyed the guild building.
Apparently, it was only due to the efforts of Crust, the Rune Knight he had met a long time ago, that most of the councillors were saved.
Looks like the old rumours of having spies in the Council was the correct one. They just never expected the spies to be the Wizard Saints.
Dannis really needs to get stronger if that was the kind of enemy they'll be facing in the future.
The good news about all this was that Gajeel and Juvia had officially joined the guild. Makarov had welcomed them with open arms. While Gajeel still had many looking at him with suspicion, it was nothing that the Iron Dragon Slayer couldn't handle.
And yet seeing the lands pass by from the window, the green rolling hills and pastures, Dannis had to curb the feeling of excitement and apprehension warring in his body.
When was the last time that he and Laxus had fought side by side as allies? It all felt so natural. Trusting the Lightning Dragon Slayer to watch his back, while doing it in return. It was surreal.
And now they would test each other once more, something that filled him with anticipation.
After all, Laxus wasn't the only one needing answers. Dannis had plenty of demons to face as well.
…
The very next day, he and Laxus stood upon a clearing a good mile north of Lake Sciliora.
The very same clearing they used to train in a long time ago.
There was no need for more words, the both of them knew what to expect. There shall be no holding back, with the way things are, they'll be coming at each other with the intent to kill. Anything less wouldn't be enough.
"It's time to settle this, once and for all."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a massive dome-shaped barrier crackled to life around them. Mystogan's work, reinforced by Makarov and Mavis , ensured their power wouldn't obliterate Magnolia by accident. No bystanders. No distractions.
Only them.
Lightning and darkness stood across from one another—raw, elemental, unrestrained. One born of the storm, the other forged in the void. With an unspoken signal, they both charged.
Their strongest forms ignited instantly. There was no need to hold back.
Black tattoos surged along Dannis' face and arm like and a sharp hiss of shadowy mist curled from his figure. His pupils inverted into pale voids.
Across from him, scales emerged along Laxus' cheekbones, neck, and arms, crackling with draconic might. His aura flared golden and wrathful as Dragon Force awakened in full.
The scars they both held were opposite amongst one another. A clear vertical cut above Dannis' left eye and the lightning bolt scar over Laxus' right.
Fist met blade. Lightning met darkness.
The forest exploded into chaos as they collided in a blur.
Dannis swung his obsidian blade in a wide arc—Laxus leaned back instinctively, avoiding the strike. The blade suddenly extended, the darkness lengthening mid-swing that forced the Lightning Dragon Slayer to pivot. It grazed Laxus' cheek instead of his neck, slicing through strands of blond hair and drawing the first thin line of blood.
"Tch, I forgot you could do that." Laxus pulled back and growled, touching the cut. "That damn sword of yours is annoying."
In a blink, Laxus surged forward in a straight line, becoming a bolt of man-shaped lightning, right fist cocked back
"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"
Despite his lightning-enhanced speed, the movement was too telegraphed for Dannis to fall for it. A dome of darkness appeared around him that caught the blow and diffused it in a brilliant burst of sparks. But Laxus punched through, shattering the dome like fragile glass. Dannis instantly stabbed his sword through the breach.
Laxus had moved even quicker, jumping up and remaining in the air as he unleashed a Lightning Dragon's Roar, which was quickly swallowed by a small black hole and refilling Dannis' used reserves.
In response, the Dark Swordsman unleashed a flurry of Avidya Slashes. Dozens of streaks of cutting darkness sliced across the battlefield. Laxus danced between them in rapid arcs, the blows he dodged shattering trees and scarring the ground.
That was fine. Those slashes were never meant to hit, only to buy time. Dannis clenched his fist. Shadows wrapped around his limbs, hardening into samurai armor that ended in the claw-like fingers. Black mist flew freely from his form as an aura of gloom filled the clearing.
"Come Laxus."
With a loud roar, Laxus jumped up and raised his clenched fist into the air. lightning coalescing into a glowing sphere above his fist.
"Raging bolt!"
"Getsuga Tensho!"
The massive spear of lightning that fell from the heavens was met with an arc of Darkness so dark and heavy it nearly absorbed all the light around them. The explosion shook the barrier itself, the edges of the clearing scorched clean. Smoke and raw magic churned through the air like a hurricane.
Dannis charged through it. His blade extended with each swing, destroying most trees that surrounded the clearing as Laxus zipped around his attacks.
Laxus grinned. He was enjoying this. And truth be told, so was Dannis.
Suddenly, Laxus twisted in mid-flight, changing his flight pattern at an impossible angle despite his speed. A strike to his sternum sent Dannis back. His armor cracked, but held. He slid across the clearing, carving furrows into the earth. Laxus was already there, throwing the next punch.
Dannis raised his blade and met it with a clang. They went on and on, blow for blow, a blade of dark steel and a fist of thunder.
…
"Hey Gramps. Who's that?" Laxus asked, catching Makarov's attention away from the mug of alcohol in his hand.
"Hm? Oh, that's a kid I brought back to the guild yesterday. How about the two of you make friends with each other?"
…
A laugh tore out of Laxus' throat as he punched Dannis straight in the chest, sending him flying back. He held both hands back before throwing them forward.
"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"
…
"Hi, my name is Laxus Dreyar. What's yours?"
The boy then looked back up at him, and shook his hand slowly.
"Dannis. Dannis Martell." The boy, now named Dannis, introduced himself. Laxus smiled at the apparent successful introductions.
"Let's be friends!" Laxus announced.
…
Dannis recovered quickly, throwing up a quick black hole that swallowed the spear of lightning. A reapplication of the same black hole, but reversed, had sent the remains he absorbed back to the Lightning Dragon Slayer, who received a face full of his own lightning.
…
Dannis raised one hand as dark mist started emanating from his palm. The mist itself was black in color, but strangely outlined by a shade of purple.
"Woah…" Laxus awed with open curiosity as he tried prodding the mist with a finger. It floated around his finger like smoke.
They were sitting by one of the tables as they watched the guild brawl erupt for the fourth time that day.
"What is this?"
"I honestly have no clue." Dannis admitted. "But the master thinks that it has something to do with Darkness itself."
"Dark magic? Isn't that evil or something?"
"Darkness magic, not dark magic, there's a difference. Dark magic is magic that involves magical rituals that are usually nefarious in nature. Darkness Magic is a magic that utilizes the element of Darkness." Dannis explained, reciting the books of magic that he had read from the library and what he remembered from listening to Makarov's lectures.
"I see, so…not evil?"
"No." Dannis said as the dark mist dissipated into thin air.
"Alright then! Let me show you mine!" Laxus immediately cheered with an excited grin. He then fired a bolt of lightning at a random direction of the guild brawl, eliciting yelps of pain from those that were unfortunate enough to get hit by Laxus's magic.
"Lightning magic, huh?" Dannis questioned rhetorically. "That's pretty powerful magic if you use it right."
"Yep, definitely!" His friend commented with his head nodding excitedly. Dannis remembered Makarov saying once that Laxus's great grandfather was a famous Lightning Mage. He must've been delighted for the chance to live up to his family name.
…
Laxus roared as he charged forward once more. Dannis reacted and sent a quick thrust with his blade that Laxus deftly sidestepped. Hardening his hands with lightning, Laxus grabbed the outstretched blade and wrenched it back, Dannis' body following the movement as he jerked forward.
Laxus' forehead met Dannis as lightning scales and dark armor warred for superiority. Dannis' knee flew up and hit him square in the stomach. With a beastly growl, Laxus punched back and hit him in the jaw. Dannis returned it with sharpened gauntlets that clawed at his face.
…
Dannis then looked down on the ground as he sat by a tree that Laxus was leaning on. "Master helped me bury them and accompanied me the entire time I was grieving. He's a great man, your grandfather. I only hope to be half the man he is when I grow up."
"You will be." Laxus suddenly proclaimed.
"Huh?"
"I won't even pretend to know what it is you're going through, but I promise to always help whenever I can." Laxus said with a confident smirk as he raised an arm for Dannis to grab.
Dannis did just that with a resounding clap as Laxus pulled him up, their hands still connected. "Let's make a promise then, to always help and protect those who need it whenever we can. To never turn our backs on each other no matter what."
Dannis couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. It was a simple gesture, but one that meant a great deal to him.
"It's a promise."
…
Dannis recovered first and performed a smooth spin with his sword that Laxus blocked with his scaled forearm. The blade dug half an inch deep before Laxus's other arm thundered forward and grabbed Dannis by the face and slammed him to the ground, splitting the ground beneath them that caused spider web-like cracks to appear. Laxus joined his hands together and imbued it with a large amount of his magic before bringing it down to Dannis.
"Lightning Dragon's Jaw!"
Before they hit, Wraiths burst from Dannis' shadow, binding Laxus' arms. A single point of black light formed in Dannis' palm.
"Void Burst!"
…
"Here, this is for you."
He said to Laxus as they lounged around in his room. They had planned on getting each other presents for this year's Christmas. After getting the gift from Wakaba, Dannis decided to name his new sword Obsidian, after the black stone.
"Go ahead, open it up."
Laxus opened up his gift to see a large brown cloak with light brown fur trimming around the neck and the sleeves' edges. His wide eyes and smile told Dannis that he loved it. Laxus draped it over his shoulders like a cape, and Dannis could already tell he loved that look.
Funnily enough, Laxus got Dannis something similar.
"A coat?"
"Yeah, I chose black since that's your favorite color. Funny how we both thought the same thing, huh?"
He looked at the coat, it was a long sleeved black coat highlighted with gold stripes on the collar and the body. He looked back up at Laxus before looking back down before they laughed together.
…
The explosion launched Laxus through the air, colliding with one of the few trees still standing. He growled, shaking the splinters off. The coat on his back was torn to shreds.
Electricity once more bubbled up in his throat before he threw it forward, unleashing another roar that tore up the area.
Dannis instinctively knew that the power behind this one was too much for a black hole to absorb. So he readied his blade, sharpened with darkness and powered by the lingering souls, and cut the lightning roar in two.
…
"I've decided!" Laxus suddenly proclaimed and stopped walking forward, prompting Dannis to stop in his tracks as well.
The both of them were on their way to the town. Their plan was to learn more about the details of the job before eventually going to find the smugglers themselves. Laxus then turned to face the sky with a determined gleam in his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I'm going to be the next master of Fairy Tail!"
Laxus steadied his nervous breathing as he took a peek in Dannis's direction. He really hoped that he wouldn't laugh at him for having such a childish dream.
To his surprise and relief. Dannis merely looked at Laxus with a small smirk on his face as he patted Laxus on the back.
"That's a great dream to have Laxus. I hope it becomes true one day. I'm sure you have what it takes to inherit the position from the Master."
Laxus couldn't keep the smile off his face even if he tried. His best friend had acknowledged his dream!
"Really?"
"I mean it." Dannis commented as he took out a map to make sure they were on the right track to the village.
Laxus smiled even wider.
"It's a promise then!" He pointed a finger to Dannis. "I will be the guild master! And when I do, you're gonna takeover Gildarts and be my Ace!"
Dannis smirk turned into an amused smile. "Hmm, I don't know…"
"What?! You don't expect me to run the guild by myself did you?! You have to help me!" Laxus exclaimed as he put his hands on his hips and scowled at Dan.
His best friend merely snorted and continued to walk forward as he put away the map and folded his arms behind his head. "But being the Ace of the guild sounds so troublesome. Too many responsibilities. I won't have time to read my books anymore."
"Oh please, with your obsession of reading three books a day, you'd finish reading every book in the world by the time I become master." Laxus scoffed. "How you managed to even do that, I still have no idea."
"Trade secret." Dannis's trademark smirk widened before it turned into a curious frown. "But still, running a guild is gonna be hard if it's just the two of us."
Laxus caught up to Dan as he scrunched up his face in thought. An idea sparked in his mind and Laxus slammed his fist into an opened palm.
"Then let's form a team! It'll be easier to run the guild if we have a team to help us! We can recruit more members later on! Then we can aim to be the strongest team in the guild!"
"Hmm, that's an idea." Dannis admitted with a tilt of his head. "It'll be nice training and experience for you to be the next guild master too. If you prove yourself capable of leading a team, I'm sure the Master will take it into consideration when he chooses his successor."
"So, how about it? Will you be my Ace?" Laxus asked eagerly.
Dannis smiled back as he held up a fist that Laxus reciprocated.
"Of course I will, Master Laxus."
…
They met once more in the center of the clearing, his sword collided with Laxus' right fist that produced a massive shockwave that rippled out from the impact and destroyed the vicinity, shattering every pebble and loose stone that were on the ground.
A quick twirl of Obsidian had a cut appear on Laxus' shoulder, but he made Dannis pay for that move as Laxus did a one inch punch that connected with Dannis ribs.
…
"They're going to leave the docks soon, Laxus! None of us will be able to do anything if they reach open water!"
"They're too far! None of our attacks can reach them!"
My mind began racing a mile a minute trying to think up a solution. Realistically, there was nothing I could do. Most of my attacks are close to medium range at best and Laxus doesn't have anything that could go that far.
"What if we combine our powers? You have more range than I do, if I can enhance your magic, will your attacks reach them?" I asked my partner, reaching the only conclusion I could think of.
"You mean something like a Unison Raid? But that isn't something that can be easily achieved Danny! Remember what happened last time?!"
"We don't have a choice! What about the kidnapped people huh? What's gonna happen to them if we don't do this?! If we can't stop the smugglers, who else will?!"
Laxus visibly clenched his teeth and clicked his tongue.
"Let's do it!"
Without further ado, the two of us stood side by side as we combined our magic as one. I channeled my pure darkness as Laxus called upon the dragon within him, something only possible due to Ivan's implanted Lacrima.
Lightning crackled in Laxus's palm before it formed into a large lightning bolt. I pumped my magic in as the lightning turned black and sparks crinkled through our raised arms. Blinding black light shined as we roared into the sky.
"Unison Raid: Lightning Dragon's Black Halberd!"
…
Just as they roared back then, they roared now. Laxus lunged forward and Dannis met him halfway, darkness pouring from his blade as Laxus' lightning surged around his arms.
Their collision shook the heavens, letting out a burst of magic that cracked the dome of protection around them before it fell apart.
…
AN: I might have gone a little overboard with the flashbacks, but I really wanted to portray whatever emotions both are having without outright saying it. Every clash was accompanied by memories of days long past, and even though this was written from Dannis' perspective, Laxus shared every bit of emotion as Dannis did.
If you look back, each and every one of these scenes were ones that I had written in the earlier chapters.
Next chapter shall be the last of this saga, where I tie up all loose ends and we enter the next arc which I'm really excited about.
Just for a bit of a teaser, Gildarts is coming back, and he's not bringing back good news.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Cheers!