Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Meeting The Snake

{REIKI'S POV}
Lexi looks... so happy as we train in my memory. She hasn't truly smiled like that since I don't even know when. As much as she fears magic, she still loves it. Not being able to stand near something she loves has caused Lexi to hate herself. And somewhere along the way, she stopped truly smiling.

Lexi shoots another bolt of lightning at me. I deflect it off my blade and the bolt bounces, arcing deeper into the underbrush. There's a loud cracking sound that causes Lexi and me to wince.

"What'd ya break this time?" I groan.

"Me?" Lexi huffs indignantly. "You're the one who made it fly off in a weird direction! Come on Reiki, let's go check it out!"

Lexi grabs younger me's hand and pulls me deeper into the East Forest. I'm compelled to follow the memory. It's all overgrown and shadowy here, completely opposite the sunny field we practiced in.

"Just how much force did you put into that lightning?" I complain. "It flew far!"

"Oh, quiet you." Lexi retorts, puffing out her cheeks and blushing in embarrassment.

Finally, we find the poor tree Lexi's lightning turned to charcoal. It was growing on the edge of a steep incline, before we blasted it. The tree snapped horizontally and splintered. It's all burnt black now.

We peer down the incline curiously.

"Have you ever been here before?" Lexi asks.

"No." I answer honestly. "I've never been this deep into the East Forest."

Lexi's smile brightens. I don't like that twinkle in her eye. "Hey Reiki, let's explore a little further. I wanna see what's down there."

I roll my eyes. "And if there's a Gorian nest?"

"Then we'll beat 'em up and send 'em packing like we always do." Lexi's grin turns teasing. "Come on, scaredy-cat. You're just afraid of getting lost. But not to worry! As soon as I realized we were entering a place I didn't recognize, I started marking trees along our path with Raikiru."

Lexi puffs up her chest in pride, revealing a small blade of electricity on her finger. Lighting cut.

"I'm not a scaredy-cat!" I protest, marching past her towards the incline. "Just watch me!"

I jump down, landing on a tree growing sideways out of the incline. I jump to another tree then another as Lexi follows behind. We make it to the bottom easily, Lexi landing on her feet next to me.

The atmosphere changes. Here, there's only one ray of sunlight shining through the thick canopy. It illuminates a circle of grass about 10 feet in diameter. A simple swirl is carved onto the ground, and a smooth stone rests the dead center of the spiral.

Seven circles are carved into the base of the rock, with a faded character written in ink on each: 倨 (pride); 欲 (greed); 怒気 (wrath); 羨望 (envy); 誘惑 (lust); 飽食 (gluttony); and 怠惰 (sloth).

As I study the stone, Lexi kneels and studies the swirling pattern. Two lines that taper into a point on the outside and coil around till they disappear underneath the stone.

"It's like a sleeping snake." Lexi notes, skiming her fingers across grooves in the spiral that imitate a snake's scales. "This point is it's tail, so maybe the head is stuck under the rock?"

"Let's see." On a whim, I try to lift the stone but it weighs like a billion pounds. It doesn't even budge.

Ah well, it's probably here for a reason anyway. Maybe we should leave well-enough alone.

Lexi sees my failure at lifting the stone and scrambles over eagerly. "Oh oh, my turn!"

I scoff. "No way you'll be able to—"

My mouth drops open as Lexi easily lifts the rock with one hand. What almost broke my back might as well be a feather for all the trouble it causes her.

Lexi raises an suspicious eyebrow at me. "Reiki, are you actually really weak?"

"Shut up!" I retort, blushing.

The ground shifts under our feet, causing us both to look down. The spiral was indeed a snake; now it's moving. Opaque gray smog seeps out from the crevices, forming a body that uncoils and rises.

Lexi throws the stone back at the snake's head, but it shatters. An explosion of air, light, and sound blasts us away from each other.

Lexi is thrown against a tree on the opposite side of the open clearing, dazed but unharmed. I take quick inventory, and I'm pleased to note that I still have all four limbs and no serious stone shrapnel injury.

Between us, the snake's smoggy form continues to grow in height and width. It's as wide around as a bus and already much taller than the Kardia Cathedral. And it doesn't look real; it looks like a shadow, an illusion created by the undulating mist.

However, the overwhelming magic power emanating from the snake's entire being is definitely not an illusion. It's oppressive to the point where I'm not sure if I want to prostrate myself or hide.

Rather than a physical body, it's almost like the snake is made of condensed magic power.

The snake hisses.

"Freedom." A raspy voice pierces my mind like a magic bullet. My head aches at the intrusion. From the way Lexi clutches her head, she hears it too.

Maybe the snake won't notice us? I mean, it's friggin' huge and we're tinier than ants in comparison. Plus, we've been really silent since it woke. Aside from, you know, throwing a boulder at its head. Though that did zero damage to the snake in the long run.

"Are you the bugs that freed me from that burdensome seal?" The voice is focused on me, not Lexi, which is a small relief. It's raspy voice is more painful with its attention fully on me rather than when it was just thinking aloud.

I play dead.

"I can sense your rapidly beating heart, mortal. Did you free me? Or shall I make you my snack before devouring this world and it's magic?"

Well that didn't work.

Hopefully it doesn't deem us worth the effort to kill. Slowly, I nod. "W-We did, maybe. Who are you?"

Blue lightning crackles in his smoky body. The snake emanates pride along with unfathomable quantities of magic power. "Usually I don't converse with appetizers. However, as I'm in a good mood, I will humor you mortals. I am Apophis, eternal king of chaos and lighting. Devourer of worlds."