Firefall || Fairy Tail

28 : w h a t . c a n n o t . b e . t a k e n

Izai's steely gray eyes twinkled as he stared into the flickering silver flame resting in his palm. The power that existed in that small ember was enough to send waves of energy through him every time it licked at his skin. Nearly everyone else stared at the silver blazing in his hand, but a few hadn't made it that far.

"Kia..." Natsu mumbled his sister's name as his eyes began to sting. The fresh smell of her blood was cutting through the thick stench of sulphur that had been overpowering his nose since he had set foot inside the dormant volcano. A crimson pool had formed under Kia, slowly expanding. Natsu's heart raced faster and faster. "Kia! Sis! KIA!"

His fists bounced off the barrier that still rose from the edges of the magic circle that covered the platform. Lucy stood frozen, tears spilling from her eyes as her hands covered her open mouth. Erza had managed a few steps closer to the center of the open area, forcing herself to look away from the man and the stolen flame as she tried to find a kink in the barrier. They needed to get Wendy into Kia immediately. She silently prayed that the pair of Exceeds were on their way back with Levy.

Gray unknowingly tightened his grip on Amber's shoulder as the dark-haired mage held his other wrist tightly, both glued to the scene before them. Wendy had even paused in her exam of the Blood mage as she tried to remember what breathing was. Like Natsu, she and Laxus were picking up whiffs of Kia's blood on the air. The Lightning Dragon Slayer's fists were clenched at his side as he gauged where the barrier ended above them. He squinted, trying to figure out if it stopped at the opening of the crater or it was really stretching all the way to the aligned bodies in the sky like it appeared.

Pure wonder and triumph shone on Izai's face as he tilted his head back, lifting his hands to the sky, presenting the flame to the solar eclipse itself.

"From the flame I hold,

Bring forth the majesty of rebirth,

The master of life and death,

Of the pure inferno of reincarnation."

His voice rang out, the excitement slipping into his tone. The flame itself grew as the magic from the ritual fueled the mythical force of life he held. His eyes remained glued to it, the beating of his own heart synchronizing with its flickers. This was it.

"May the silver ignite life,

In this castle of ashes,

Where the legend began,

And shall rise again."

||~x~||

Everything was blurry, the light from the magic circle under her making it even harder to focus. The world had gone silent around her. Kia couldn't even hear Natsu's frantic yelling or his fists trying to break down the magic that was keeping him away from her.

It all felt so... peaceful.

Her body ached for the relaxation, for that release.

"What do you think you're doing just lying there?" The deep voice broke through her silence, "I don't remember raising any quitters."

Through the haze, Kia could have sworn she saw a large red mass sitting up on the other end of the courtyard. She couldn't make out any details, but there was no mistaking that voice.

"I'm not quitting," a young girl answered directly in her ear. "I'm just catching my breath."

"Could have fooled me."