Hamamelis Village

Nicholas groaned as he opened his eyes. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Ow, my head." He looked over to see Brianna whimpering as she woke up as well. "Where are we?" She asked grabbing her head. That's when he looked around to find them inside a icy cage.
"What the?" He asked before trying to stand up. He put his hands on the bars to pull himself up when he noticed the trees where moving past them. He looked down at the ground and realized it was moving too. 'How are we?'
"Stop moving up there!" A male voice shouted from behind the cage. "Those two are having a hard enough time carrying that thing with Ice-Perv on top of it, you criminal punks don't to be moving around!"
He turned around and ran to the other side of the cage. Looking out, he saw Natsu with Happy on his shoulder, Lucy and Suishou walking behind the cage at a brisk pace.
"What you say, ash-vac?!" A voice rang from on top of the cage, causing the people imprisoned to look up to the ceiling. Through the roof, they could make out a shirtless figure with his hands focused on a magic seal beneath him.
"Enough!" A female voice yelled from beneath them. "Natsu, Gray, now is not the time for your childish arguments!"
"Yes, Erza." Both responded in a fearful tone.
"So, you finally manage to beat us, huh Suishou?" Brianna taunted from the cage. "All it took was 7 years and a whole lot of wizards chasing after us."
"I'm not the one in a cage made of ice, am I?" Suishou responded.
"Not for long." Nicholas smirked as he pulled his fist back. "Earth Dragon Diamond Fist!" He quickly slammed his fist to the bar in front of him, before he felt a great amount of pain. "Yeeeeoooow!" He quickly pulled his back and gripped it tightly. "The hell? That ice should have shattered."
"Nice try." Gray yelled from atop the cage. "As long as I'm channeling magic into this spell, that ice ain't gonna break."
Nicholas let out a sigh of defeat as he looked down at Natsu. "So Salamander, where are we going? I don't know if you know this or not, but Era is in the other direction."
Natsu shrugged his shoulder and jerked his head back in Suishou's direction. "His idea. Something about 'making sure you can't hurt anyone anymore.' I just wanted to give you punks over to the Rune Nights."
"The hell is he talking about, Suishou?" Brianna asked, raising an eyebrow.
Suishou let a smirk grace his face as looked up to the captive wizards. "We're going home, Brianna. Allow me to explain."
2 Hours Ago
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked Suishou whilst clutching her stomach.
"These two have caused to much trouble and heartache to just simply be handed over to the Council." Suishou explained starring at the prone bodies of Brianna and Nicholas. "We need to make sure they can never again use their magic to harm the innocent."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Erza was fearing that her client plans to murder the ones who slaughtered his entire village.
Suishou turned on his heels and faced the group. "My village has a spell that can remove the ability to use magic from violent people. In order for it to work, though, it must be cast at the place where their biggest sin was committed. So, any ideas on how we are gonna get these two back to my village?"
Both captives looked shocked at Suishou's statement. Brianna's face soon turned to one of anger. She lunged forward and tried to grab him through the bars of the cell, but to no avail. "You have a lot of nerve taking us back there!"
"I said pipe down!" Erza yelled at the captives. "We're already at Mt. Hakobes base. You two don't have much longer to wait." She said before looking around. "The sun is starting to set. We should probably set up camp here."
With those words, Gray grunted in agreement and jumped off the cage. Erza looked over her shoulder to Astoroth who nodded. Quickly, they stepped out from underneath the cage. Without anything or anyone to hold it up, the cage fell to the ground, shattering from the impact.
"You could have warned us, you know!?" Brianna yelled out as she popped out from underneath the rubble.
"Shut up." Gray countered before entering his maker stance. "Ice-Make: Chain Cuffs!" From the seal created, two pairs of long chain hand cuffs launched out and clamped onto the criminals wrists. A third chain connected them to one in Grays hand. "Don't try anything funny, or else."
"Alright, we get it. You won." Nicholas nonchalantly responded. "No need to treat us like some animals."
"You two, over there." Erza ordered, pointing at a few trees nearby. "The rest of you, help me set up camp."
"Erza, we can't just leave those two criminal alone." Lucy reminded the red head. "What if they try to make a break for it?"
"It's alright." The group looked over to Natsu, who took the the chain out of Gray's hand. "I'll watch over them. I still gotta collect on the bet I made with Rockslide during our fight."
Natsu pulled on the chain, leading Nicholas and Brianna away from the group as Astoroth started a fire. Soon, Natsu found three small longs and sat down on one off them.
"So, are you gonna tell me or what?" Natsu asked as he pulled out a small snack bar from his bag. Carefully, he handed it over to Nicholas, only to have it slapped out of his hand.
"We don't need your pity." Nicholas looked with disdain at his dragon-slayer brother. "We got by just fine for seven years without any handouts, and we're not about to start taking any now."
"Really, cause it looks your friend disagrees." Natsu pointed behind Nicholas to Brianna, who had picked up the bar and was eating it quickly. Nicholas had his mouth opened in disbelief, and Brianna finally noticed the eyes on her.
"Wah?" She asked her friend. "No offense, but I can only take your berry soaked fish kabobs for so long. I need something else in my stomach."
Nicholas sighed as he walked over to a tree and sat down with his back to Natsu.
"So, what happened to your hair?" Natsu asked.
"We decided to dye it to avoid recognition." Brianna said finishing of the bar. "Unfortunately, some hunters found us at the river we were at, so we were forced to run while I was in mid dye. In our haste, we forgot to pick up the bottle, so now everyone knows about this." She finished, pointing at her hair.
Natsu sat down and dug through his bag. "Come on, dude." He pulled out another bar and offered it to Nicholas, but he just ignored it. "He doesn't like me much, does he?" Natsu leaned over and asked Brianna, who had sat down on another log and was given the other bar.
"Like you, no." She answered while ripping off the top half of the bars wrapper. "In fact, I'd be willing to say he down right hates you."
"Why?" Natsu raised an eyebrow at the females statement.
"Best guess is he just hates Fire Mages." Brianna said as she swallowed her new bite. "A few years ago, we ran into independent wizard, and he was a fire user. He burned down an entire town just to try and get us. I myself suffered first degree burns from his reckless behavior." She subconsciously rubbed her right wrist.
"Damn, I thought I was destructive." Natsu scratched his head.
"Yeah, well, that's what you have to deal with when you're on the run." Brianna said looking into the fire.
"Seriously, I don't know how you criminal types do this." Natsu spoke as he pulled out a bar for himself. "Being on the run, fearing for your lives, fighting all the time. You might be evil, but you've got some serious balls."
"We're not evil, you idiot!" Nicholas shouted from behind Natsu. "You're working with the evil ones."
"If that's true, then why do you guys have the job on you're head?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, genius!" Nicholas shouted back. "All you have to do is get to the council and you can create a job request! It doesn't matter what the truth is!" He moved from behind the tree and began trudging over to the fire.
"Give me one reason why I should believe you!" Natsu retorted before standing up.
"Are we, or are we not brothers by magic?" Nicholas grabbed Natsu by the vest and pulled him in. He then noticed the smirk on the pinkettes face. "What the hell are you smiling about?"
"I got you to talk to me, didn't I?" Natsu's grin grew as a look of shock grew on Nicholas' face.
"Alright, you fiery bastard." Nicholas let go of Natsu's vest and sat down next to Brianna. "What do you want?"
"I just wanna talk about your dragon." Natsu retook his seat. "What were they like? How'd you find them? What was their name?"
"His name is Arnighte, the earth dragon." Nicholas spoke as he stared into the fire. "He found me when I was just a little kid."
----July 6 X770
Arnighte awoke from his slumber inside his cave. His eyes were black with dark green pupils. His head was decorated in dark brown spikes that jutted backwards, protecting his pointed sienna ears. He yawned, revealing rows of white teeth.
He stretched his neck, revealing brown scales and a bronze colored underbelly. Three spikes jutted from his neck, pointing toward his head. A space between his neck and torso ended the spikes before more emerged from the body. Theses spikes ended when they reached the massive pair of brown wings, the pataguim a light brown.
The great beast lifted its front right foot. The claws were tan in color, two in the front, one in the back. From the heel came another spike, jutting towards the thigh. On its leg was another spike that pointed straight up. Behind each of the front legs was a spike that pointed towards the neck.
The back legs were identical to the front, but a spike came out in front of the legs and pointed towards the tail. The tail was about as long as the neck and head put together. It was also decorated in spikes, half pointed towards the body, half towards the tip of the tail. On the tip of the tail was four small spikes.
The wings opened wide once the dragon exited the cave before they folded back up. Arnighte walked into the woods, ready to hunt. He lowered his neck and flared his nostrils that rested above his mouth. He found a scent and a draconian smirk graced his face. Despite his massive size, he sprinted across the ground with surprising efficiently.
He reached the edge of the forest and stopped at the tree line. In the clearing before him was a pack of Forest Vulcans huddled around something.
The beast raised its left claw and slammed into the ground, catching the attention of the green-furred monkeys. He raised his neck and released a massive roar, startling the Vulcans and causing them to flee. Where the mob of Vulcans once stood now laid a child, unconscious from an apparent beating.
'What is this child doing all alone?' Arnighte asked himself as he approached the injured youngling. Carefully, the dragon picked up the boy in his massive claw. He swung his tail around and placed the child on it before walking back to his cave.
An hour later, Arnighte reached his cave home. He placed the child on the ground and noticed the boys eyes wince, signaling the childs revival.
"Mommy?" The boy asked before his eyes completely opened.
"Hello there, young one." The dragon spoke, catching the child's attention.
"Ahhh!" The boy shot back til he hit the wall of the cave. "Please don't eat me!"
"Eat you?" The dragon laughed out. "You wouldn't be more than a snack to me, the great dragon Arnighte."
"Mommy, Daddy!" The boy cried out as he shut his eyes. "Help me! There's a monster!"
The beast lowered his head to look the child in the eye. "Is that really how you treat the one who saved your life?"
The boy opened his eyes, still shaking in fear. "Y-you saved me?"
"Tell me, why where you wondering around the woods by yourself." Arnighte asked.
"Well, me, mommy and daddy were taking a walk in the woods." The child explained. "They had take care of something, so they asked me to wait by that tree. But then those hairy men came and started hitting me. I cried and cried, but they never came back."
The dragon raised his claw and lifted the child's head. "Come on, let's get you home." The boys eyes began to fill with hope. "I've found the scents that matches yours, so I'm guessing that's your parents. Hop on."
The boy climbed on to the dragons neck and Arnighte took off into the air, following his nose. A few minutes passed and Arnighte found a clearing to land in. The kid climbed off and began running. Arnighte put his claw in front and blocked the path.
"Careful now." The dragon spoke. "You don't know the direction to go." The beast the began to walk in opposite direction. "Follow me." The boy did as asked and followed the dragon. A few steps later, the voices of two people came into earshot. The child almost ran threw the bushes, but Arnighte blocked it with his head. "Listen."
"I hope we did the the right thing." A feminine voice wondered.
"Of course we did." A male voice comforted the first one. "We can't afford a child right now. We had no choice but to leave him in the woods. I just hope that his end came quick and painless."
"Please, don't make me think about that." The female voice said. "Let's just go home." The sound of footsteps soon filled the air.
A deep, angry growl escaped the throat of Arnighte. The child's response wasn't as verbal. He dropped to his knees and began whimpering. His role complete, the dragon began to walk away from the clearing. He stopped when he felt something grab one of his tail spikes.
Arnighte looked behind him and saw the child holding his spike. "Please, take me with you." The child begged. "I-I have no where to go."
Arnighte let out a sigh. "Very well. I could use a student. However, if this is going to work, I need you to tell me your name. What is it?"
"My name is Nicholas." The now named child said. "My-my parents never told me my last name."
"Very well." Nicholas looked up at the dragon with hope. "From this moment forward, your name is Nicholas Boulton, son of Arnighte."
Nicholas smiled. "Thank you, dad." The new father-son pair walked out of the clearing.
"Wow." Natsu was shell shocked at the origin of the prisoner. "That's pretty depressing."
"Yeah, well, I try not to think about those two that much." Nicholas told Natsu. "Me and Arnighte lived together and then he disappeared seven years later."
"That must have been tough for you." Natsu stoked the fire as he thought about his own dragon's disappearance.
"Yeah, it was..." Nicholas retorted. "But I wouldn't expect you to understand. I've read about you whenever we managed to get a hold of a newspaper. All you do every do is destroy stuff and the public eats it up. You've never had to worry about where your next meal is coming from. I've bet you've never had a bad day in your life."
"You have no idea how wrong you are." Natsu told the criminals as he sighed when he remembered her face. "If I had just... I should have forced myself to go with them. Then she'd still be alive."
"One little friend doesn't compare to the only family you've ever know." Nicholas shot him down.
"Or your entire village." Brianna added.
"You mean the village that you killed?" Natsu told her as their eyes went wide. "That's right, Suishou told us the whole story. How this dude twisted you mind into killing your entire village, including your own father! So you don't get to- wha!" Natsu was tackled by Brianna, who then started to choke the fire dragon slayer.
"Shut up, shut up!" Brianna shouted as Natsu's face started to turn the color of Gray's hair. "You don't know a damn thing about my village! And you sure as hell don't know what happened that day!" She would have killed the man if Nicholas hadn't started to pull her off.
"Let him go." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pried her hand off of Natsu's neck. "He's not worth it. It's our final night alive, so let's not ruin it with bloodshed."
"I don't know about alive, but this is your last free night." Natsu told them, gasping for air. "After this ritual or whatever he called it, you two are gonna go away for a long time."
"There's not going to be a ritual, you idiot." Nicholas told him. "Those two are just gonna kill us, and then they will kill you lot. I'll prove it to you."
----The Next Day
A Path Halfway up Mount Hakobe
"How much farther do we have to go?" Lucy complained as the group walked along the path to Suishou's village.
"Only a few more minutes, Lucy." Astoroth told her as he followed Suishou.
"Well, I for one can't wait until these two are behind bars." Gray said as he tugged on the chain holding Nicholas and Brianna. "Come on, creeps."
"You guys are certifiable cretins, you know that right?" Nicholas said as he was jerked forward due to Gray's tug.
"Hey, Erza, what's a cretin?" Happy asked from Natsu's shoulder.
"It's a moron." Erza explained to the cat. "Someone filled with useless, trivial information."
"Let's hear it straight from the horse's mouth!" Brianna shouted for all to hear.
"Ha-ha." Ezra laughed sarcastically as she Requiped a sword and pointed it at the bound female. "If you won't about lose all of your wizard ability, I would gut you like a fish." The others Fairy Tail wizards looked at her, know that she probably wasn't lying.
"Well, here we are." Suishou declared as he rounded the corner of the path.
The others followed suit and as they rounded the corner, they were taken back by what was before them. Destroyed buildings that showed signs of fire. Skeletons scattered the ground, some with skulls missing, others were charred black. In the center of the town was a giant bell, upside down, crushing what appeared to be a child's skeleton.
Brianna ran to the end of her chain before falling to her knees in front of a large skeleton with a hole in its ribs where the heart would be. Nicholas walked up to her and hung his head as he looked at the skeleton.
"Who was this victim?" Erza asked as she walked over to the two.
"My father." Brianna gritted through her teeth.
"Come on, drop that fake anger act." Gray said as he pulled the chain holding the two.
"That's it!" Nicholas brought his head back for his roar attack, but Gray put his hand on the dragon slayers mouth, creating a thick mask of ice.
"Well, at least we won't have to listen to him for a while." Erza stated as she examined the village remains.
"Can we please get this ritual thing over with, please?" Lucy asked, nervous about her current surroundings. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Hey, this was my home." Suishou pointed out to her. "Still, I agree. It's not as beautiful as it once was."
"No thanks to you!" Brianna got out before Gray did the same he did to Nicholas to her. "Mim muh mhh mo mo mtht? (Did you have to do that?)."
"No, but I don't want to have to hear you screaming during this." Gray told her.
"Alright, let's get started." Suishou declared as he grabbed a burnt stick and began, from inside out, drawing an intricate magical seal in the snow. Once he finished, the seal began to glow in a purple aura. It erupted in a bright light and when it faded, a large black cauldron had manifested itself.
"So, how exactly does this ritual thing work?" Natsu asked, finally breaking his silence.
"We put our hands on this cauldron and channel our specific magic into it." Suishou explained. "The magic will manifest into a large amount of liquid ethernano. As we lower these two in the cauldron, I chant an ancient language which activates the ethernano and drains them of their powers."
"Sounds easy enough." Erza said as she walked up to the cauldron and placed her hands don it. The others followed suit and together they all channeled their respective magics. Each wizard glowed in their respective auras as the cauldron began to fill with magic energy. Suishou began to chant in an ancient laungue which turned the energy turned into a blue liquid substance.
"Well, now for the easy part." Astoroth took off the ground with the ice chain in his hands, raising the two criminals of ground. As he slowly lowered the chain down, the two criminals began to squirm, trying to break free from their icy cuffs. Once their feet were submerged, Astoroth smirked and let go of the chain, letting them both fall into the liquid and the chain followed them.
"What the hell?" Gray asked. "How are we suppose to get them out now?!"
"That's just it, Gray." Suishou said, slowly turning around to face the group of Fairy Tail wizards. "We're not going to get them out."
"Oni X!" Astoroth brought his hands up in an X formation and swung them, launching a black X energy wave at the wizards. The group jumped out of the way out of the attack, which struck the ground, blasting away all the snow.
"What are you doing?" Erza shouted in anger.
"Getting rid of the witnesses." Suishou stated as a large magic seal appeared beneath him. "Crystal Constructs!" Small cracks appeared on the seal before clawed, crystal hands emerged. Little by little, the multiple crystal golems arose out of the seal, some with two heads, some with multiple arms. Suishou snapped his fingers, and the golems began lumbering over to the group.
"Living Nightmare!" Astoroth shouted as a black mist surrounded his body as it snaked towards the corpses the littered the ground. The mist surrounded the bodies before it sunk into the bones. The skeletons began to move as they rose to their bony feet. The ones still with skulls began to glow from their eye sockets. The resurrected villagers joined the golems and surrounded the Fairy Tail wizards.
"Why are you doing this?" Erza asked as she Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, and launched swords at the oncoming army.
"Because we no longer need you!" Astoroth answered her as he gathered his magic above him. "Hellfire Blast!" The demon launched a massive orb of black energy.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray shouted as he created a flower style shield that blocked the attack. He then brought his hands together in his maker stance. "Ice-Make: Lance!" He launched a dozen frozen lances at the mob, wiping out golems and skeletons.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull. Taurus!" Lucy waved the respective key in the air and summoned the Minotaur. "Help us!" The spirit nodded and unsheathed its massive axe and swung it, taking out numerous skeletons.
"Damn it!" Natsu punched a golem with a flaming fist, cracking its gem skull. "We've been played. They used us." He said as he backed up into the circle that the mob was forcing the Fairy Tail wizards into.
"I'm impressed, Salamander." Suishou told the wizard as the mindless horde inched closer. "The dumbest one of you figured it out. But it doesn't matter; this village will be your graves. But don't worry, we'll tell your guild that you all died nobly sacrificing yourselves to take out two deadly criminals!" Suishou laughed like a madman as the creatures finally over came the wizards.
"So Suishou, our deal is complete." Astoroth landed near his partner. "You know what I want now."
"Just a little longer, kay?" Suishou asked his demonic accomplice. "I did just promise to tell their guild how they died."
"Now!" Both turned to the cauldron to see a massive plume of liquid magic shoot high into the sky. When the plume fell, it revealed Brianna in her Harpy Form, clutching Nicholas in her talon feet, both looking relatively unharmed.
Brianna smirked before releasing Nicholas from her grasp. As he fell, he brought his arms out to his side. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" He chanted as a massive magic seal emerged from his back that hovered in the air. "Gaia's Revenge: Stalactite Rain!" The seal glowed in a brown aura before it launched hundreds of the icicle-shaped rocks at the horde, wiping out a large amount of the force.
Nicholas grabbed one of the falling rocks that landed between the remaining forces and the mob that encompassed the Fairy Tail wizards. "Sorry, Suishou." Nicholas said sarcastically. "This time, we finally have you outnumbered."
"Wing Wind!" Brianna flapped her wings and created a small hurricane above the mob. The wind picked up the mob and flung both the golems and skeletons into the surrounding mountains, causing them to shatter.
"Looks like I owe you guys one." Natsu panted as he dropped to his knee. "You were right."
"Told ya." Brianna landed next to Nicholas and returned to her normal form. "They were never gonna let you guys live."
"What are you talking about, Natsu?" Erza asked still in her Heavens Wheel Armor.
"We talked last night." Natsu explained. "About our pasts, our dragons. And then they told me something interesting."
Last Night
"How you gonna prove it?" Natsu asked.
"Simple." Nicholas told him. "If he crafts a massive magic seal in the ground and a black caldron rises out of the seal, he has no intention of letting any of us live. But there is a weakness in the spell. If someone who pools their magic into the caldron believes that the culprits are innocent, the the spell won't work."
"How do I know this isn't some plan to trick me?" Natsu asked.
"Cause you really have to believe that their innocent." Brianna stated.
"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?" Natsu laid down on the log and fell to sleep.
"And why didn't you tell us this when we woke up?" Gray asked annoyed.
"Would you have believe me, ice-prick?" Natsu retorted.
"Enough, you two!" Erza ordered the two. "So, I take it that you two are really innocent?"
"Yep." Brianna nodded before pointing to Suishou. "That bastard over there is the one who slaughtered the entire village! He was jealous of how much time me and Nicholas were spending together when he arrived. He also feared his place as apprentice would be taken from him, as it is given to the most magicly gifted child in the village."
"Why would he care about that?" Lucy asked
"Cause that's the child that will wed the Chiefs child." Brianna explained to the Fairy Tail group. "So, he broke our villages most sacred rule and struck a deal with a demon, boosting his own power. The two killed everyone in the village, including my father..."
7 Years Ago
A young Nicholas, Brianna, and her father, stood in the center of the burning village. In front of them, a six year old Suishou was standing atop of a fresh corpse that he had just killed. Behind him, a fire smoldered where the doctors hut once stood.
"Wh-What have you done, Suishou?!" Chief Greenhawk asked, a mix of shock and anger.
"I've proven myself." Suishou smirked as he looked at the three survivors. "I've proven that I am the most magicly gifted child in the entire child in this whole damn village."
"You had nothing to prove to anyone!" Nicholas shouted.
"Of course you would say that." Suishou sneered. "You want me nice and weak so you can take my apprentice position for yourself and then take my place by Brianna's side. Well, that's not gonna happen now."
A winged figure emerged from the smoke and held up his clawed hands. A black mist left his claws and wormed its way over to the trio. Once at the feet, the mist latched onto them and held them in place. The ones around Nicholas latched onto his hands and bound them behind his back. 
A magic seal appeared in Suishou's hand and as it faded, a small purple dagger was left. 
"Don't worry, Nicholas." Suishou twirled the dagger in his hand. "I'm not going to kill you just yet. After all, there all things far worse then death!"
Suishou quickly launched over to the Brianna. He quickly brought the dagger back and then forward, intent on stabbing her in her heart.
"Stop!" Nicholas shouted. "Leave her alone!"
Inches form her chest, Suishou stopped. He calmly pulled back his dagger back and walked over to immobile boy. Once in front of him, Suishou smiled a twisted grin. He raised the dagger into the air and slowly dragged it across Nicholas' face, drawing blood from across his lips.
Nicholas could taste the blood in his mouth as he cried out in pain. Once the dagger left his face, he dropped his face, watching the drops of blood hit the snow. Suishou grabbed his face and raised it so they could each other in the eyes. "Oh, don't be scared. I've got bigger plans for you." He raised his hands and snapped his finger.
The figure then shot forward and tackled Chief Greenhawk into the building behind him. The impact cause the building to collapse on top of them.
"Daddy!" Brianna shouted in horror, unable to move to look at the destruction. The rubble began to move, revaling the demon with his clawed hand in the chiefs chest.
The demon retracted its claw and let the man fall before walking over to Suishou. "Why not just kill these two?" The demon asked.
"I want them to live with the fact that they failed to protect the chief." Suishou sneered. "Let the failure soak in for a few years. Let's go, Astoroth. There's nothing left here for us."
A snake creature left Astoroth's arm, forming a hook that Suishou grabbed onto. The two flew away, leaving two children still bound by the demons magic. Once a distance away, the mist left their feet.
Nicholas grasped his face, trying to stop the blood flow. Brianna fell to her knees and began crying. Her whole village, her friends and family laid dead around her and she could do nothing about it.
"B-Brianna..." Both children were taken out of their thoughts by a faint voice coming from the debris behind them. They rushed over to the destroyed building. In its center was Chief Greenhawk, with a hole in his chest.
"Daddy..." Brianna kneeled down and grasped her fathers hand.
"My daughter..." He raised his other hand and brushed her hair. "I'm so sorry. I won't be able to see you grow up into the strong woman I know you'll be." He coughed, covering the sides of his mouth with blood. "I hope you can forgive me."
Brianna nodded as tears fell from her eyes. "I do. Its not your fault." More tears fell as his hand slipped out of her grasp. "Please, dad. Don't die."
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay anymore." The chief gasped as much air as he could before he looked over to Nicholas. "Nicholas, please, look after my daughter... Don't let any harm come to her... That is... My final wish..." With that final request, the last air left his lungs and he closed his eyes, permanently.
"Daddy..." Brianna nudged her fathers shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Come on, daddy. Get up. We have to go."
"Brianna." Nicholas walked over, the blood finally stopped dripping from his face. "H-he's dead..." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and instantly she wrapped around him and began crying. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his shoulder. As the fires died down around them, the two children, the only survivors of the massacre of Hamamelis Village, comforted each other.
"Of course, it wasn't easy surviving." Brianna finished before glaring at the horde and the masters behind it. "Those two got to the council before us and feed them the bullshit story that we killed the village. Ever since then, we've been on the run."
"Well, don't worry." Suishou looked at the six wizards. "I won't repeat that mistake again. Get them!" The monsters charged forward, aimed at killing the opposition. "Leave the Dragon Slayers. I wanna kill them myself."
"So that's how you want it?" Natsu cracked his knuckles as the mob drew closer. "Now I'm fired up."
"Come on, Natsu." Nicholas glowed as his Scales spell coated his body. "Let's teach these two what happens when you mess with two dragons." The two then jumped over the crowd and towards the two evildoers.
The mob charged the other wizards and readied their claws to strike. But wizards were ready this time.
Erza quickly sliced the head off one of the golems before backing away and summoned a few dozen swords. "Scattered Petals!" The swords launched at the mob, wiping out skeleton and golem alike.
"Ice-Make: Saucer!" Gray crafted a frozen disk, which began spinning rapidly. Gray shifted his hands and the blade turned sideways. The blade then launched from its static position and sliced through multiple enemies.
"Take-Over: Minotaur!" Brianna chanted as her body glowed. The glow died quickly, revealing her new form.
Her feet had been replaced by grey hoofs and muscular brown furred legs. Her lower body was covered by a tan battle skirt. From under the skirt came a black leather strap that split at her navel. It curved up her body til it reached her boobs, which where covered by a metal chest piece, topped by more leather.
Her arms where covered by overlapping layers of leather and metal, and her left shoulder was covered by a metal shoulder guard. At her shoulders, her skin was replaced again by brown fur, which led up her neck. Her ears where new atop her head and her nose was like a cows, with a bronze ring pierced in it. Her hair went down to the back of her neck, with a few strands flowing between her eyes.
Brianna charged at the mob, her left shoulder leading. She crashed through dozens of enemies before turning around and running back to the center, breaking even more. She returned to the center before kicking one of the golems in the body, causing it to shatter. She then noticed Taurus starring at her with a shocked look.
Intantly, the cow mans eyes were replaced by hearts. "I think I'm in love!"
"Get your head out of your ass, spirit boy!" Brianna ran past the gawking spirit and punched a skeleton sneaking up behind him.
"A cow after my oown heart." Taurus picked up his axe and spun it above his head. "Rampage!" The spirit struck the ground with the blade, creating a shockwave that traveled in a straight line, wiping out foe after foe.
"You do know I'm not a real cow, right?" Brianna asked as they stood back to back.
"What are you- ooff." Taurus turned to face her, only to be beaten by a golem from behind. "Sorry, Lucy. Bye, sexy cow lady." Taurus waved as he faded back to the spirit world.
"How do you deal with that cow?" Brianna asked Lucy as she fiddled with her keys.
"Hey, I'm just glad he's hitting on someone other than me." Lucy answered. Finding the key she needs, she pulled it of her key ring before raising it into the air. "Open, Gate of the Archer - Sagittarius!" The key glowed before the horse coustumed archer appeared. "Fire away!"
"As you wish, milady!" The archer drew an arrow back and fired. The arrow pierced a golem's skull, causing it to collapse. The spirit repeated the process, mostly firing multiply arrows at once.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed his flaming fist into Astoroth's face, knocking the demon into the snow.
"Your death will not be quick, Dragneel." Astoroth unfolded his wing and took to the sky, only to have Natsu jump up and grab his foot, trying to keep the demon grounded. "Let go of me! Vile Breath!" A dark mist escaped his mouth, assaulting the dragon slayer with its evil aura.
"Earth Dragon Diamond Fist!" Nicholas punched Suishou into an old building.
"How dare you!" Suishou pulled himself out of the building with an angry look on his face. "Gemstone Armor!" A magic seal appeared beneath him and glowed. The glowed died, revealing his body covered in multicolored crystals. The arm guards had purple spikes jutting out towards his elbows.
"The story of us end now, dirt boy!" Suishou charged forward with his fist back, ready to strike.
"I couldn't agree more!" Nicholas mimicked his foes actions, as his foot was heavily coated in brown stone. "Earth Dragon Talon!" Nicholas was a little faster and struck first, hitting his opponent in the head.
"Why you..." Suishou created a magic seal in front of him. "Raw Diamond Storm!" The carbon shards flew towards Nicholas, who stood fast as the shards struck him, but couldn't penetrate his scales. "Take this! Ruby Blast!" 
A new seal appeared beneath Nicholas and trapped him in a cocoon of the red gem. Suishou snapped his fingers and the gem blew up, Nicholas at its center. The smoke cleared, revealing a downed Nicholas.
Suishou smirked as he approached his downed foe, as a green seal appeared in front of him. "Jade Slicer!" A green scythe materialized in his hand, and he gripped it tightly before raising it above his head. "This is where you die!" He swung the scythe, intent on slicing the head open.
He heard a ting and looked up to find his scythe stuck in the ground. "Aw, shit!" Suishou pulled his scythe out of the ground and began moving around the ground randomly. "He can't get me if I'm moving around."
"Earth Dragon Quake!" Suishou thought wrong as Nicholas popped out of the ground and grabbed Suishou, pulling him into the air. Once at the maximum height his spell would allow him to reach, Nicholas let go of his foe before grabbing him by the chest.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" His body glowed in a brown aura as the two fell to the ground. "Gaia's Revenge: Meteor Impact!" The two hit the ground with the force of a meteor strike, shaking the whole mountainside.
The golems collapsed into crystal heaps as the dust from the impact settled, revealing Suishou laying on the ground, his magic armor having been destroyed by the impact. Nicholas stood above him, panting as he ran over to help Natsu.
"If you hold on any longer, you will die!" Astoroth stated before continuing his spell.
"I don't care!" Natsu roared back. "You two killed a whole village, chased those two for seven years, tricked us into doing your dirty work, tried to kill me and my friends. I won't let you get away!" Natsu then noticed the attack had stopped.
"Well said, Natsu." Nicholas had grabbed Astoroth by the throat, directing his attack upwards. "Now for some real justice."
Natsu smirked as he knew what to do. "Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu raised his flaming foot and crashed it into Astoroth's stomach. The demon gasped as the air left his body, canceling his dark spell.
"Earth Dragon Chains!" Nicholas turned his right hand into brown chains, which then wrapped around the demon, completely immobilizing him. "Salamander, end this! Earth Dragon Pillar!" Nicholas slammed his foot into the ground, creating a pillar underneath the pinkette that rose him above the battlefield.
"Got it!" Natsu quickly jumped off the pillar and ignited his fists. "With the flames on my right hand, and the flames on my left. Put the two together and this is what you get! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" He crafted a large fireball above his head before flinging it at Astoroth.
The fireball hit the mountain, obliterating the side they were fighting on. The skeletons lost their power, collapsing back into the ground. The other wizards would have been blown of the mountain, had Erza not Requipped into her Adamantine Armor and blocked the force while the others hid behind her.
Erza moved her shields out of the way so they could see what happened. The remains of the village had been destroyed by Natsu's spell. In the center of the crater left behind, Astoroth laid defeated. Natsu was panting and Nicholas was still smoking from his scales, the chain having been destroyed by the impact.
"One thing left to do." Nicholas deactivated his Scale spell and grabbed Astoroth by the arm, and then walked over to Suishou and grabbed his arm. He dragged the two over to the other wizards and threw Suishou in front of them, before throwing the demon onto his partner. "So, what now?"
"Now, the four of you will come with me." All the wizards looked over to the corner turn and saw a platoon of Rune Knights appear.
"You can't put these two away!" Natsu shouted at the commander while pointing at Nicholas and Brianna. "They were framed!"
"They saved our lives after we tried to ruin theirs." Erza pleaded as she Requipped back into her normal armor. "Please, I beg you, don't put them away. You can't do this!"
"Calm down." The captain raised his hand to cease the complaints. "We not going to take those two away. Suishou called us last night to pickup some criminals, but when we got here, we overheard the whole thing. A confession from the person who posted the job has complicated the whole issue. So, we request that the two involved accompany us to the council, so we can straighten this issue out."
"I didn't realize that was protocol." Gray spoke up.
"It isn't." The captain replied. "But I'll be damned if I gonna put innocent people into the prison system." The captain snapped his fingers, and a prison cart was pulled up from the rear. Two guards put cuffs on Suishou before picking him up, and two guards did the same to Astoroth. "What do you say? Wanna come with us?"
"Sure, might as well make sure you guys get it right this time." Nicholas shrugged his shoulders before he and Brianna began walking over to the carriage.
"Wait!" Both turned around to see Natsu running up to them. "Are you sure you guys you wanna do this?"
"It has to be done." Nicholas told the pinkette. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll meet again." He held out a fist and Natsu smirked before he bumped back.
"Let's go." The captain ordered his men to pull out. "Hey, can you two keep an eye on the cuffed guys?" He asked Nicholas and Brianna. The answer was a double nod and the two climbed into the cart. The cart lurched forward as the platoon left the mountain side.
"So, I guess that means we won't be getting that reward then?" Lucy asked dejected. "There goes my rent money."
"Don't worry, Lucy." Natsu offered her a hand up. "The second we get back, we'll go on another job."
"I think I say one with a decent reward before we left." Erza began explaining the job as the group walked down the mountain, back to the guild hall.