Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > River of the Night - Part 1
River of the Night - Part 1 (Chapter 7)
0 reviewsShe found him on the remains of a battlefield. Wrapped in the arms of a red haired woman as she lay on the ground struggling to hold on to the last remains of her life. He looked at her with blue e...
0Unrated
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto. If I did I would find some way to get Naruto out of Konoha and into Fairy Tail. As it is I shall make do.
Author's Note: Wow, I made a huge spelling mistake in that last chapter - soothing instead of something - fucking terrible. Anyway, I will be going on holiday for about ten days and there won't be any internet there. That means I won't be able to update this story. That's why this chapter came sooner then I normally update. Anyway I'll update as soon as I get back. Until then.
'Fishing' - Normal
'Fishing' - Spells
'Fishing' - Thoughts, Flashbacks and Dreams (Use logic to differentiate!)
Chapter 7:
What the fuck are this things!? he thought as he dodged out of the way of another humanoid like creature.
Don't get him wrong. It wasn't like they were difficult to dodge, it wasn't even like they were that difficult destroy. The biggest problem lay in the fact that he had no idea what they were. If he had to take wild guess he would say that they were once normal humans, mages perhaps. Given that they had some form of ripped clothing on their bodies that seemed to have torn with their expanding size. But, even if they'd once been human, its not what they were anymore.
Their bodies were about twice the size of a full grown man. Skin like a thick grey coat around their bodies with veins a stark white against the colour. Strong powerful jaws much like a wild animals attempted to snap and bite his neck. Their instincts guiding them to his jugular.
He honestly had no problem with killing them. At least he wouldn't if Makarov's rule didn't keep popping into his head. That annoying rule about not being allowed to kill. Valuing life and all that. Normally he wouldn't have problem with that, valuing life was important after all. But, surely it didn't extend to these monstrosities. Even if they had been human once.
He dodged another swipe and viciously cut the arm with his magically created claws. If he didn't start killing them then they would eventually overwhelm him given that they clearly had numbers on him.
Naruto looked into the eyes of one of them and saw nothing, but a mindless beast. Eyes blank in a mindless tune that told it to kill and destroy. What had caused it he wasn't sure. He suspected some sort of experimentation. Given what he'd recently learned about the place he wouldn't put it past them. Still, he wasn't go to live if this kept up. Makarov would have to understand. Even they'd been human they were monsters now.
He kicked the nearest one back, pushing the others with it to get some space. Gathering his magic he sucked in a deep breathe and whispered, "Yoruryū no Hōkō."
Placing both his hands in front of his mouth a dark magic circle swirled in front of them and he released his night magic in twisting mass of dark destruction that encompassed the entirety of the passageway as it cut through his enemies like death itself. The creatures falling to the ground as his magic forced them down. Feeling the magic lessening he slowly lowered his hands and surveyed the destruction with a frown. He hadn't meant it to do so much damage. It was the weakest of his dragon roars. His Tsukiryū no Hōkō being more powerful as well as his combination attack.
He was beginning to understand what his kaa-san meant about learning to temper the amount of magic he used in a spell. He was used to always going full out because the only opponent he'd ever had was a dragon. If he didn't go full out he'd be squished like a bug. Clearly he had to get used to the idea of not all of his opponents being that powerful. He had to get better at gauging their abilities.
Reaching up he habitually tugged on a piece of hair as he considered what had caused these human's to turn into mindless creatures that nearly resembled anything of their former selves. As he'd thought earlier experimentation was a strong possibility, but he couldn't be entirely sure about that. Jumping to conclusions just because he was pissed with the Council would get him nowhere.
Walking past their fallen bodies he considered the cause. Pausing at one of them he sent out his magic senses to see if he could find any kind of indication to what had happened. At first he sensed nothing out of the ordinary. The body seemed perfectly fine, if a bit on the dead side. Frowning he shook his head. It just couldn't be right, because if what he felt was correct then the person in front of him was a completely normal human. Which was completely impossible in this situation. Even if they'd once been human, even if he couldn't sense the reason for the change he should at least be able to sense something that indicated they weren't human. Even take-over magic left its clues.
He froze.
Take-over magic.
It was entirely possible, he hadn't been look for it. But, if he was right then going a bit deeper right there would mean…
He was right, though part of him wished he'd been wrong. It felt like take-over magic, but not. There was a wrongness about it. He was quite well versed in it being a user and as such he could feel the difference. This one felt different, far weaker then his own and probably any natural user of take-over magic. Still, that wasn't it. This magic it felt so… forced. Yes, it felt like it had been forced into his system and taken it over. Like a virus. But, it felt artificial at the same time, completely fake.
Maybe that was it. Some kind of magical infection. What could cause it to be so widespread though. He'd seen at least twenty of them so far which really didn't add up to an experimentation. They all looked exactly the same which indicated it was the same cause for all of them. If it had been experimentation there would have been a visual progress or difference in there forms and power levels. As it was they'd all been pretty similar. What could carry make something like that effect so many people.
There was the possibility of it being spread through fluid exchange, touch or air like some of the viruses he'd come across. Meaning it would have just required one experiment to break free and infect the rest. It might not be the cause though. While it was viable it didn't feel quite right and he'd always been told to trust his intuition. His intuition here said that wasn't the case. But, if wasn't then what the hell was.
Twirling a different strand of hair he continued past the body. Stalking down the passageway. A slight tingling at the edge of his sense brought about a pause though. What was that? he wondered.
It felt similar to…
Was that the cause perhaps? he considered. Turning down a different corridor he followed the direction the tingling sent him though he was careful to keep an eye out for anything else like the mutated creatures he'd just stumbled upon. Who knew what else was hiding in the strange building.
Entering another corridor he finally found what he'd been looking for. It had been several floors down from his original location and a few corridors down, but he'd finally got to the source of the odd magical tingle at the edge of his senses. And… it looked like a leak of some sort. There was a pipe, like a smaller one of the large red ones he'd seen protruding from the building. It looked like it had burst completely sending what looked like some sort of liquid flooding into the passageway. It was dried up now, and the pipe only occasionally leaked fresh liquid into the passageway.
Picking up the similarities his mind immediately made the link. It might have been because there were footsteps in the dried liquid that changed from normal sized human feet in shoes to clawed feet several times bigger. That meant it was probably a fast working infection that overpowered their base magic and forced their bodies into a transformation they should be incapable of doing. Now that he had an idea of the cause he needed to know what this liquid was and if it could happen again. Unfortunately he had to find the source of it if he wanted to do that. The liquid wasn't enough to go on.
Sniffing the air he took in the scent and began to follow it. His sense of smell good enough to keep track of it even if the trickle of liquid in the pipe was faint and a wall separated him from it.
Walking through the corridors he did his best not to let the place disturb him. On occasion though he couldn't help but check over his shoulder. The cold feeling of the magic in the area still disturbing him. Rubbing off the goosebumps on his arms he jumped over a gaping hole in the corridor and continued to track the scent.
It took longer then he'd expected, but eventually he came to a room the pipe disappeared into.
The doors had been bent and were near broken though they'd managed to stay locked closed. He wished who'd ever destroyed the place would have been kind enough to break them for him. Not that it would take much to break them off anyway. He was just being petty. Slotting his fingers between the sliding doors he yanked them open.
But, when the air from the inside the room was let free from its confines he fell to his knees as the smell of death and decay entered his senses. He choked and his eyes watered rapidly. Putting a hand over his nose and mouth in hopes of filtering out the air he took in the room. The he didn't have to look far before he found what he was looking for. A body, similar to the ones he'd seen before only larger, lay strapped to a large rock with chains strapping its body to the hard surface.
Holding his breath he sent out his sense towards the body, not daring to enter the place. Upon reaching the body he immediately noticed the difference between this one and the other ones. However this had been, they were the genuine article. A true take-over mage. The second thing he noticed was that they were dead. Not only had all the magic in their body been drained before their death, but they'd died in an excruciatingly slow way. Whatever they'd done to keep them in this form past magical exhaustion had been part of the reason they'd died. The other one being the broken pipe that was stabbed directly into their stomach.
They'd bled out and died slowly.
At least though he knew what had happened. Take-over magic was widely uncontrollable and if it was forced into the body of an adult mage then the beast would over take them completely. A child's body could adapt, but an adult would have no hope. It had forcefully degraded those people into nothing more then wild animals with not even a fifth of the power a usual take-over granted. In fact he'd guess they were weaker then they had been as human mages. The mindlessness of the beasts and the weakness of the take-over preventing real power.
Noticing a fallen clipboard near the body he steeled himself and forced himself to enter quickly. Grabbing it before he rushed out. Feeling his eyes tearing from the stench. Truly he hated his advanced senses right then.
Finally getting a bit of distance from the room he released his pent up air and sucked air that simply felt gloriously clean by comparison. Sighing in relief he looked down at the clipboard he'd managed to snag and quickly skimmed through the information. What he found wasn't pleasant.
Take-over magic was one that required an innate magical gift to use. To anyone else it was simply impossible. It also made the possessor more compatible with things like transformation magic due to the similarity. But, unlike transformation magic take-over magic could not be used without an innate talent. Their were few magics like that, but it was one of them. Even for people who possessed it as their innate magic it was difficult to use. Given that using it to it's full potential required you to beat the creature inside you that you sought to use. Not to physically beat. But, to be mentally stronger then the creature. It was either that or if yours was amiable you came to an agreement. He was unlucky on that front, it was one of the reason's he…
Don't think about that now Naruto, he silently admonished. You'll get distracted, then angry, then sad, then angry again. Bad combo.
Shaking his head Naruto focused on the information he'd gained.
Apparently the people here were looking for a way to transfer the innate magic of one person into another by sucking it from their body and transferring it into another. From what he could glean though they'd failed on all accounts. Even if the children's bodies had adapted it had simply been for their magic to absurd the other magic instead of incorporating it into their system. Eventually that had failed to though because the children's bodies had become so overloaded beyond their capacity they'd died. All, but one.
Test Subject 3373.
His mind immediately flashed to the picture of the girl he'd seen earlier that day. That had been the same subject number they'd given her and yet he still had no name for the girl. Still they'd given reference to her and it was possible that what more information on her could be found in this room chamber they'd given reference to. He wouldn't have been so fixated on her if he didn't think she was of great importance.
Information on her being kept in the leaders room. Her being the only test subject that these tests had worked on. It all indicated she was central to this story in some way. Folding the paper he placed in his pocket with the photograph.
He needed to find out what happened to this girl.
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The closer he'd got to the room the more things seemed to be destroyed. Indicating that the destruction had originated from that place.
Climbing over several piles of rubble he pushed his way through a caved in passageway. A part of him that wasn't annoyed at having to make his way through such destruction actually marvelled at the amount of it. From the outside he'd clearly seen how bad the destruction was. The building looking like it had been collapsed near in half. But, even if he'd made his way through the top half of the fallen tower it hadn't been this bad. Sure he'd had to use the walls as the floor, but the destruction hadn't been so evident.
Now, getting closer to the source he found himself climbing on the ceiling instead of the floor. Having to sometimes blast his way through parts of caved in passageways that had offered no pathway for him to take. He'd even had to resort to Tsuki no kurai sokumen more often then he'd like simply because he'd wanted to avoid being crushed under unstable passageways.
Be the time he'd gotten to the written location he found himself covered in inordinate amount of dirt. He supposed it helped with camouflage, not that he really needed it, but it was useful nonetheless.
Shrugging to himself he entered the room through what appeared to be part passageway part giant hole in the wall. Slipping quietly into the passageway he used the shadows of the room to hide himself from any possible enemies though he had his magic readied to cast a spell if need be. Sticking to the shadows he checked his surroundings quickly, suddenly feeling grateful the dirt had dulled the almost luminous quality of his hair. It really was counterproductive to Margidda's teachings.
Glancing round the room he quickly noted that most of the place had been destroyed and very little remained of it's previous structure. From what he could glean it seemed as it there had previously been a large dugout at the centre of the room. Spanning several meters across and deep though it was now impressively filled rubble that looked as if it had caved in from the ceiling. Though part of it still remained in tact. He actually wished it wasn't because a magic that felt like brush with death was rolling off the statue.
He shivered.
Sensing no magical signatures in the room he slipped further inside though after his previous errors he was careful to keep his guard up. He sniffed the at the air to just to be sure there wasn't anyone in the room with him. The room seemed to smell like the rest of the place… at least at first. There was something, just a hint of something that smelt different from the cold death that lingered about the place.
It was an old smell, something that should have faded with time. However, it seemed to be lingering about the wires that hung from the sides of what was once the hole at the centre of the room. Moving closer he inspected the wires breathing in deeply as he took in the smell. Smells were something hard to forget and could often be ingrained into your subconscious without realising it. This one was… beautiful. He'd never thought to call a scent beautiful and yet it was. It smelt of roses and ice. Like a cold winters day in the mountains. It reminded him of the winter months in the moutons. He'd been trained to ignore the snow having grown up in a place that was often coated in ice during the winter months. It allowed him to appreciate its beauty more. This smell reminded him of that place. Of home and a feeling of nostalgia set in.
Yet, he could feel it had been tainted. The natural smell had been tainted by something dark and acrid. He felt upset that someone dare taint something so beautiful. Something so pure. He was aware it was irrational and only Margidda's training allowed him to keep his emotions in check. When he met Brain he was going to destroy the bastard. In fact if he met him now, he would destroy him. S-class mage or not.
Luckily for him though another group of take-over mutants had decided to hunt him down. Normally he preferred to avoid this confrontation if he could, but these creatures had clearly just offered themselves up as sacrifice. It was a large group too. Around thirty of them.
Grinning viscously as he took in his opponents he allowed his cold anger to flourish. Margidda would disapprove he was sure, but at the moment he wasn't sure he cared. He was going to destroy these mutts and then he was going to destroy this place. Wipe it from history so that now child ever had to undergo what this one had. He only wished he'd managed to find out her name.
Cracking his knuckles he flared his magic as the beasts circled him.
"Come one beasties, show me what you got!"
Yes, Margidda would definitely have disapproved.
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"So, you completed the mission?" asked the man who once again hid his face in the shadows of his hat.
"Yes," he replied going through every effort possible to keep his face relaxed and neutral. Even clenching his jaw would be a dead give away of his feelings towards the man and that place.
"Everything destroyed."
"Like it never existed, just as you ordered," he answered.
"Did you managed to find out what happened there?" he inquired.
Taking a deep breathe Naruto explained. "It would appear that they had been conducting experiments that the council would have disapproved of" - at least he hoped they would have disapproved - "and had the leader had decided it best he keep these to himself giving you only simple reports without detail."
"And these experiments were?"
"Originally it appeared they were aiming to force one innate magic into another. However, this endeavour seemed to fail leaving all subjects dead. All, but one that is. Instead of incorporating a new innate magic into the subjects system it seemed to expand their magical containers. At least in the case of the children. The adults or subjects beyond puberty seemed to die or be taken over by the innate magic forced upon them. Turning into nothing, but mindless beasts. However, the-"
"You killed them correct."
Naruto nodded stiffly. It was bad enough he had to talk so much, but interrupting him made it worse.
"Good, carry on then."
"They changed tactics. Instead of trying to incorporate innate magic into individuals they took the ability to expand a persons magical container instead. But, it only worked on one subject. Born with too much magic her magical container it seemed the experiments succeeded on her," he explained.
"Fascinating, and a name?"
He resisted gripping the photograph in his pocket tightly. "No name was given."
"Pity," he murmured.
Naruto contemplate smashing the guy's head into the wall, but held back. He'd probably be unsuccessful anyway. Given the difference in their power level.
"Did you happen to find why communication stopped."
"When I arrived the building seemed to have been destroyed in several places. My investigation indicates it was caused from the inside out, not the other way around. There was no evidence to indicate it, but I think one of their test subjects did it." It went unspoken which test subject he meant.
"Good, you are dismissed. Collect your reward from the servant outside the door."
Bowing stiffly Naruto made his way out the room. "And boy," he stopped with his hand on the handle. "Don't try tell anyone about this, you know the consequences of a magical oath after all."
Indeed he did, though he'd be searching for a way out as soon as he go the chance. Even if he couldn't bring the acts of the council to light, he refused to keep himself bound by an oath. An oath that went against his nature. Nonetheless he nodded his head in agreement and submission. "Yes sir," he murmured.
"Good boy, off you go then."
He bristled at being treated like nothing more then a common pet, but did his best to shake it off. It wouldn't do to attack a council member.
Closing the door behind him he frowned. He needed to find a way to could remove and find out who that girl in the picture is.
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Translation:
This is probably not exact so I apologise. I sort of had to use a round about way to match the words to the ones used by the other dragon slayers in the anime. Using the most direct form of saying it doesn't work. It comes out all wrong. So, this was the best I could come up with.
Tsukiryū no Hōkō - Moon Dragon's Roar
Yoruryū no Hōkō - Night Dragon's Roar
Tsuki no kurai sokumen - Dark side of the Moon
Author's Note:
I'm sure you all know who that girl was. Not that hard to figure out. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to save her, but that would make the story boring wouldn't it. It also wouldn't mesh with the time frame so I didn't go for it. However, she will be an important factor in his life. I haven't yet decided if I want to use Mirajane or Ultear as the pairing. But, this mission was given to Naruto for the possibility of it being Ultear. I've set a list bellow of why I didn't chose Erza. Between Ultear and Mirajane it's a tough chose because they're both equally awesome. I'll probably pick one though, but I thought I'd let you know a harem with those two is a possibility if only a small one - like tiny minute - I'm more likely to pick. I'm not actually sure if pairing him with just two girls even counts as a harem though. Either way harem is unlikely in the end.
Erza: I didn't want to pick Erza because she has a bit of a thing for Jellal. She'd also quite a common choice in pairings which isn't that much of a surprise given her looks and prominence in the series. She also has the whole red hair like his mom thing which makes her a popular choice. However, I think that making Naruto a dragon slayer is unoriginal enough. I didn't want to take it further. Maybe I'll make them date or something, but it won't be final pairing.
Harem: I don't really want to do a harem. I'm fine with incorporating various anime cliches into my writing style, but I'm not sure if I could write a harem. It might detract from the story which is really something I want to avoid. However, I have stated that if I can't pick between Mirajane and Ultear that it's possible I'll chose it. However, it's likely I'll pick one rather then go for it.
Sorry that list was so long, but I felt like you my readers needed to know the reasons for my choice or potential choices. Please review and let me know what you think! You've been really helpful with ideas and opinions.
Author's Note: Wow, I made a huge spelling mistake in that last chapter - soothing instead of something - fucking terrible. Anyway, I will be going on holiday for about ten days and there won't be any internet there. That means I won't be able to update this story. That's why this chapter came sooner then I normally update. Anyway I'll update as soon as I get back. Until then.
'Fishing' - Normal
'Fishing' - Spells
'Fishing' - Thoughts, Flashbacks and Dreams (Use logic to differentiate!)
Chapter 7:
What the fuck are this things!? he thought as he dodged out of the way of another humanoid like creature.
Don't get him wrong. It wasn't like they were difficult to dodge, it wasn't even like they were that difficult destroy. The biggest problem lay in the fact that he had no idea what they were. If he had to take wild guess he would say that they were once normal humans, mages perhaps. Given that they had some form of ripped clothing on their bodies that seemed to have torn with their expanding size. But, even if they'd once been human, its not what they were anymore.
Their bodies were about twice the size of a full grown man. Skin like a thick grey coat around their bodies with veins a stark white against the colour. Strong powerful jaws much like a wild animals attempted to snap and bite his neck. Their instincts guiding them to his jugular.
He honestly had no problem with killing them. At least he wouldn't if Makarov's rule didn't keep popping into his head. That annoying rule about not being allowed to kill. Valuing life and all that. Normally he wouldn't have problem with that, valuing life was important after all. But, surely it didn't extend to these monstrosities. Even if they had been human once.
He dodged another swipe and viciously cut the arm with his magically created claws. If he didn't start killing them then they would eventually overwhelm him given that they clearly had numbers on him.
Naruto looked into the eyes of one of them and saw nothing, but a mindless beast. Eyes blank in a mindless tune that told it to kill and destroy. What had caused it he wasn't sure. He suspected some sort of experimentation. Given what he'd recently learned about the place he wouldn't put it past them. Still, he wasn't go to live if this kept up. Makarov would have to understand. Even they'd been human they were monsters now.
He kicked the nearest one back, pushing the others with it to get some space. Gathering his magic he sucked in a deep breathe and whispered, "Yoruryū no Hōkō."
Placing both his hands in front of his mouth a dark magic circle swirled in front of them and he released his night magic in twisting mass of dark destruction that encompassed the entirety of the passageway as it cut through his enemies like death itself. The creatures falling to the ground as his magic forced them down. Feeling the magic lessening he slowly lowered his hands and surveyed the destruction with a frown. He hadn't meant it to do so much damage. It was the weakest of his dragon roars. His Tsukiryū no Hōkō being more powerful as well as his combination attack.
He was beginning to understand what his kaa-san meant about learning to temper the amount of magic he used in a spell. He was used to always going full out because the only opponent he'd ever had was a dragon. If he didn't go full out he'd be squished like a bug. Clearly he had to get used to the idea of not all of his opponents being that powerful. He had to get better at gauging their abilities.
Reaching up he habitually tugged on a piece of hair as he considered what had caused these human's to turn into mindless creatures that nearly resembled anything of their former selves. As he'd thought earlier experimentation was a strong possibility, but he couldn't be entirely sure about that. Jumping to conclusions just because he was pissed with the Council would get him nowhere.
Walking past their fallen bodies he considered the cause. Pausing at one of them he sent out his magic senses to see if he could find any kind of indication to what had happened. At first he sensed nothing out of the ordinary. The body seemed perfectly fine, if a bit on the dead side. Frowning he shook his head. It just couldn't be right, because if what he felt was correct then the person in front of him was a completely normal human. Which was completely impossible in this situation. Even if they'd once been human, even if he couldn't sense the reason for the change he should at least be able to sense something that indicated they weren't human. Even take-over magic left its clues.
He froze.
Take-over magic.
It was entirely possible, he hadn't been look for it. But, if he was right then going a bit deeper right there would mean…
He was right, though part of him wished he'd been wrong. It felt like take-over magic, but not. There was a wrongness about it. He was quite well versed in it being a user and as such he could feel the difference. This one felt different, far weaker then his own and probably any natural user of take-over magic. Still, that wasn't it. This magic it felt so… forced. Yes, it felt like it had been forced into his system and taken it over. Like a virus. But, it felt artificial at the same time, completely fake.
Maybe that was it. Some kind of magical infection. What could cause it to be so widespread though. He'd seen at least twenty of them so far which really didn't add up to an experimentation. They all looked exactly the same which indicated it was the same cause for all of them. If it had been experimentation there would have been a visual progress or difference in there forms and power levels. As it was they'd all been pretty similar. What could carry make something like that effect so many people.
There was the possibility of it being spread through fluid exchange, touch or air like some of the viruses he'd come across. Meaning it would have just required one experiment to break free and infect the rest. It might not be the cause though. While it was viable it didn't feel quite right and he'd always been told to trust his intuition. His intuition here said that wasn't the case. But, if wasn't then what the hell was.
Twirling a different strand of hair he continued past the body. Stalking down the passageway. A slight tingling at the edge of his sense brought about a pause though. What was that? he wondered.
It felt similar to…
Was that the cause perhaps? he considered. Turning down a different corridor he followed the direction the tingling sent him though he was careful to keep an eye out for anything else like the mutated creatures he'd just stumbled upon. Who knew what else was hiding in the strange building.
Entering another corridor he finally found what he'd been looking for. It had been several floors down from his original location and a few corridors down, but he'd finally got to the source of the odd magical tingle at the edge of his senses. And… it looked like a leak of some sort. There was a pipe, like a smaller one of the large red ones he'd seen protruding from the building. It looked like it had burst completely sending what looked like some sort of liquid flooding into the passageway. It was dried up now, and the pipe only occasionally leaked fresh liquid into the passageway.
Picking up the similarities his mind immediately made the link. It might have been because there were footsteps in the dried liquid that changed from normal sized human feet in shoes to clawed feet several times bigger. That meant it was probably a fast working infection that overpowered their base magic and forced their bodies into a transformation they should be incapable of doing. Now that he had an idea of the cause he needed to know what this liquid was and if it could happen again. Unfortunately he had to find the source of it if he wanted to do that. The liquid wasn't enough to go on.
Sniffing the air he took in the scent and began to follow it. His sense of smell good enough to keep track of it even if the trickle of liquid in the pipe was faint and a wall separated him from it.
Walking through the corridors he did his best not to let the place disturb him. On occasion though he couldn't help but check over his shoulder. The cold feeling of the magic in the area still disturbing him. Rubbing off the goosebumps on his arms he jumped over a gaping hole in the corridor and continued to track the scent.
It took longer then he'd expected, but eventually he came to a room the pipe disappeared into.
The doors had been bent and were near broken though they'd managed to stay locked closed. He wished who'd ever destroyed the place would have been kind enough to break them for him. Not that it would take much to break them off anyway. He was just being petty. Slotting his fingers between the sliding doors he yanked them open.
But, when the air from the inside the room was let free from its confines he fell to his knees as the smell of death and decay entered his senses. He choked and his eyes watered rapidly. Putting a hand over his nose and mouth in hopes of filtering out the air he took in the room. The he didn't have to look far before he found what he was looking for. A body, similar to the ones he'd seen before only larger, lay strapped to a large rock with chains strapping its body to the hard surface.
Holding his breath he sent out his sense towards the body, not daring to enter the place. Upon reaching the body he immediately noticed the difference between this one and the other ones. However this had been, they were the genuine article. A true take-over mage. The second thing he noticed was that they were dead. Not only had all the magic in their body been drained before their death, but they'd died in an excruciatingly slow way. Whatever they'd done to keep them in this form past magical exhaustion had been part of the reason they'd died. The other one being the broken pipe that was stabbed directly into their stomach.
They'd bled out and died slowly.
At least though he knew what had happened. Take-over magic was widely uncontrollable and if it was forced into the body of an adult mage then the beast would over take them completely. A child's body could adapt, but an adult would have no hope. It had forcefully degraded those people into nothing more then wild animals with not even a fifth of the power a usual take-over granted. In fact he'd guess they were weaker then they had been as human mages. The mindlessness of the beasts and the weakness of the take-over preventing real power.
Noticing a fallen clipboard near the body he steeled himself and forced himself to enter quickly. Grabbing it before he rushed out. Feeling his eyes tearing from the stench. Truly he hated his advanced senses right then.
Finally getting a bit of distance from the room he released his pent up air and sucked air that simply felt gloriously clean by comparison. Sighing in relief he looked down at the clipboard he'd managed to snag and quickly skimmed through the information. What he found wasn't pleasant.
Take-over magic was one that required an innate magical gift to use. To anyone else it was simply impossible. It also made the possessor more compatible with things like transformation magic due to the similarity. But, unlike transformation magic take-over magic could not be used without an innate talent. Their were few magics like that, but it was one of them. Even for people who possessed it as their innate magic it was difficult to use. Given that using it to it's full potential required you to beat the creature inside you that you sought to use. Not to physically beat. But, to be mentally stronger then the creature. It was either that or if yours was amiable you came to an agreement. He was unlucky on that front, it was one of the reason's he…
Don't think about that now Naruto, he silently admonished. You'll get distracted, then angry, then sad, then angry again. Bad combo.
Shaking his head Naruto focused on the information he'd gained.
Apparently the people here were looking for a way to transfer the innate magic of one person into another by sucking it from their body and transferring it into another. From what he could glean though they'd failed on all accounts. Even if the children's bodies had adapted it had simply been for their magic to absurd the other magic instead of incorporating it into their system. Eventually that had failed to though because the children's bodies had become so overloaded beyond their capacity they'd died. All, but one.
Test Subject 3373.
His mind immediately flashed to the picture of the girl he'd seen earlier that day. That had been the same subject number they'd given her and yet he still had no name for the girl. Still they'd given reference to her and it was possible that what more information on her could be found in this room chamber they'd given reference to. He wouldn't have been so fixated on her if he didn't think she was of great importance.
Information on her being kept in the leaders room. Her being the only test subject that these tests had worked on. It all indicated she was central to this story in some way. Folding the paper he placed in his pocket with the photograph.
He needed to find out what happened to this girl.
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The closer he'd got to the room the more things seemed to be destroyed. Indicating that the destruction had originated from that place.
Climbing over several piles of rubble he pushed his way through a caved in passageway. A part of him that wasn't annoyed at having to make his way through such destruction actually marvelled at the amount of it. From the outside he'd clearly seen how bad the destruction was. The building looking like it had been collapsed near in half. But, even if he'd made his way through the top half of the fallen tower it hadn't been this bad. Sure he'd had to use the walls as the floor, but the destruction hadn't been so evident.
Now, getting closer to the source he found himself climbing on the ceiling instead of the floor. Having to sometimes blast his way through parts of caved in passageways that had offered no pathway for him to take. He'd even had to resort to Tsuki no kurai sokumen more often then he'd like simply because he'd wanted to avoid being crushed under unstable passageways.
Be the time he'd gotten to the written location he found himself covered in inordinate amount of dirt. He supposed it helped with camouflage, not that he really needed it, but it was useful nonetheless.
Shrugging to himself he entered the room through what appeared to be part passageway part giant hole in the wall. Slipping quietly into the passageway he used the shadows of the room to hide himself from any possible enemies though he had his magic readied to cast a spell if need be. Sticking to the shadows he checked his surroundings quickly, suddenly feeling grateful the dirt had dulled the almost luminous quality of his hair. It really was counterproductive to Margidda's teachings.
Glancing round the room he quickly noted that most of the place had been destroyed and very little remained of it's previous structure. From what he could glean it seemed as it there had previously been a large dugout at the centre of the room. Spanning several meters across and deep though it was now impressively filled rubble that looked as if it had caved in from the ceiling. Though part of it still remained in tact. He actually wished it wasn't because a magic that felt like brush with death was rolling off the statue.
He shivered.
Sensing no magical signatures in the room he slipped further inside though after his previous errors he was careful to keep his guard up. He sniffed the at the air to just to be sure there wasn't anyone in the room with him. The room seemed to smell like the rest of the place… at least at first. There was something, just a hint of something that smelt different from the cold death that lingered about the place.
It was an old smell, something that should have faded with time. However, it seemed to be lingering about the wires that hung from the sides of what was once the hole at the centre of the room. Moving closer he inspected the wires breathing in deeply as he took in the smell. Smells were something hard to forget and could often be ingrained into your subconscious without realising it. This one was… beautiful. He'd never thought to call a scent beautiful and yet it was. It smelt of roses and ice. Like a cold winters day in the mountains. It reminded him of the winter months in the moutons. He'd been trained to ignore the snow having grown up in a place that was often coated in ice during the winter months. It allowed him to appreciate its beauty more. This smell reminded him of that place. Of home and a feeling of nostalgia set in.
Yet, he could feel it had been tainted. The natural smell had been tainted by something dark and acrid. He felt upset that someone dare taint something so beautiful. Something so pure. He was aware it was irrational and only Margidda's training allowed him to keep his emotions in check. When he met Brain he was going to destroy the bastard. In fact if he met him now, he would destroy him. S-class mage or not.
Luckily for him though another group of take-over mutants had decided to hunt him down. Normally he preferred to avoid this confrontation if he could, but these creatures had clearly just offered themselves up as sacrifice. It was a large group too. Around thirty of them.
Grinning viscously as he took in his opponents he allowed his cold anger to flourish. Margidda would disapprove he was sure, but at the moment he wasn't sure he cared. He was going to destroy these mutts and then he was going to destroy this place. Wipe it from history so that now child ever had to undergo what this one had. He only wished he'd managed to find out her name.
Cracking his knuckles he flared his magic as the beasts circled him.
"Come one beasties, show me what you got!"
Yes, Margidda would definitely have disapproved.
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"So, you completed the mission?" asked the man who once again hid his face in the shadows of his hat.
"Yes," he replied going through every effort possible to keep his face relaxed and neutral. Even clenching his jaw would be a dead give away of his feelings towards the man and that place.
"Everything destroyed."
"Like it never existed, just as you ordered," he answered.
"Did you managed to find out what happened there?" he inquired.
Taking a deep breathe Naruto explained. "It would appear that they had been conducting experiments that the council would have disapproved of" - at least he hoped they would have disapproved - "and had the leader had decided it best he keep these to himself giving you only simple reports without detail."
"And these experiments were?"
"Originally it appeared they were aiming to force one innate magic into another. However, this endeavour seemed to fail leaving all subjects dead. All, but one that is. Instead of incorporating a new innate magic into the subjects system it seemed to expand their magical containers. At least in the case of the children. The adults or subjects beyond puberty seemed to die or be taken over by the innate magic forced upon them. Turning into nothing, but mindless beasts. However, the-"
"You killed them correct."
Naruto nodded stiffly. It was bad enough he had to talk so much, but interrupting him made it worse.
"Good, carry on then."
"They changed tactics. Instead of trying to incorporate innate magic into individuals they took the ability to expand a persons magical container instead. But, it only worked on one subject. Born with too much magic her magical container it seemed the experiments succeeded on her," he explained.
"Fascinating, and a name?"
He resisted gripping the photograph in his pocket tightly. "No name was given."
"Pity," he murmured.
Naruto contemplate smashing the guy's head into the wall, but held back. He'd probably be unsuccessful anyway. Given the difference in their power level.
"Did you happen to find why communication stopped."
"When I arrived the building seemed to have been destroyed in several places. My investigation indicates it was caused from the inside out, not the other way around. There was no evidence to indicate it, but I think one of their test subjects did it." It went unspoken which test subject he meant.
"Good, you are dismissed. Collect your reward from the servant outside the door."
Bowing stiffly Naruto made his way out the room. "And boy," he stopped with his hand on the handle. "Don't try tell anyone about this, you know the consequences of a magical oath after all."
Indeed he did, though he'd be searching for a way out as soon as he go the chance. Even if he couldn't bring the acts of the council to light, he refused to keep himself bound by an oath. An oath that went against his nature. Nonetheless he nodded his head in agreement and submission. "Yes sir," he murmured.
"Good boy, off you go then."
He bristled at being treated like nothing more then a common pet, but did his best to shake it off. It wouldn't do to attack a council member.
Closing the door behind him he frowned. He needed to find a way to could remove and find out who that girl in the picture is.
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Translation:
This is probably not exact so I apologise. I sort of had to use a round about way to match the words to the ones used by the other dragon slayers in the anime. Using the most direct form of saying it doesn't work. It comes out all wrong. So, this was the best I could come up with.
Tsukiryū no Hōkō - Moon Dragon's Roar
Yoruryū no Hōkō - Night Dragon's Roar
Tsuki no kurai sokumen - Dark side of the Moon
Author's Note:
I'm sure you all know who that girl was. Not that hard to figure out. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to save her, but that would make the story boring wouldn't it. It also wouldn't mesh with the time frame so I didn't go for it. However, she will be an important factor in his life. I haven't yet decided if I want to use Mirajane or Ultear as the pairing. But, this mission was given to Naruto for the possibility of it being Ultear. I've set a list bellow of why I didn't chose Erza. Between Ultear and Mirajane it's a tough chose because they're both equally awesome. I'll probably pick one though, but I thought I'd let you know a harem with those two is a possibility if only a small one - like tiny minute - I'm more likely to pick. I'm not actually sure if pairing him with just two girls even counts as a harem though. Either way harem is unlikely in the end.
Erza: I didn't want to pick Erza because she has a bit of a thing for Jellal. She'd also quite a common choice in pairings which isn't that much of a surprise given her looks and prominence in the series. She also has the whole red hair like his mom thing which makes her a popular choice. However, I think that making Naruto a dragon slayer is unoriginal enough. I didn't want to take it further. Maybe I'll make them date or something, but it won't be final pairing.
Harem: I don't really want to do a harem. I'm fine with incorporating various anime cliches into my writing style, but I'm not sure if I could write a harem. It might detract from the story which is really something I want to avoid. However, I have stated that if I can't pick between Mirajane and Ultear that it's possible I'll chose it. However, it's likely I'll pick one rather then go for it.
Sorry that list was so long, but I felt like you my readers needed to know the reasons for my choice or potential choices. Please review and let me know what you think! You've been really helpful with ideas and opinions.
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