Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Ophidian Slayers

{LEXI'S POV}
Am I inside Apophis? I can't see anything. Have I been dissolved by his stomach acid already? I wasn't expecting my death to be painless.

"Reiki!" I gasp, sitting up. Without me, Reiki is in trouble. Our unison raid won't hold up and his magic will start to destroy his human shell again.

My body doesn't hurt anymore, though I realize I'm dissolving. Starting at my fingertips, little flecks of me are floating into the beyond, sparkles of magic Lexi dust sloughing off and merging with Apophis. This body is actually just human-shaped magic power trapping a conscious. Once my magic power source runs dry, I imagine I'll die.

My fingertips are a quarter gone. I guess I'm grateful that there's no pain, probably something to do with the fact that I'm not inside my human body. Apophis and I are sentient lumps of solid magic power, and I'm simply becoming part of him.

I have to get back to Reiki. I can't let him face Apophis by himself. I refuse to let Reiki die too.

I take a tentative step forward. I'm on a very smooth slope, which I follow up. It gradually gets steeper the closer I get to Apophis's heart.

Does Apophis even have a heart? So far he's just been a hollow tube. Distracted, my foot slips on the smooth surface and I faceplant. My face sinks into Apophis's body. My eyes are open—and I see.

The hatching of a snake, born from the chaos of a failing world. All alone, he looks up and sees death and destruction. Blue lightning burns the sky and grey mist swirls in eddies along the ground.

The little snake is hungry. So he eats. And he grows. And when there's nothing left in this world to eat, the snake swims into the sky and enters a new world.

History repeats itself. The snake enters a world, slaughters its inhabitants, and gorges himself. An empty tube, wanting to be full.

Boredom.

The snake knows no other life. Occasionally mortals manage to seal his wrath, but it's merely a temporary distraction. A few years and he breaks free.

Eat. Destroy. Fight. Eat.

The snake enters Earthland and meets a girl with long flowing white-blonde hair. A break in the cycle of eternal life. Affection. Betrayal. Sealed beneath stone, heart and head crushed.

Reiki and I were the first mortals who had the potential to destroy him, and we bound our fates to his; me by unsealing him and Reiki by using his own body to reseal him. The snake craves entertainment. He doesn't want to fall back into the same boring eternal cycle of eating and destroying.

Based on what Apophis did to mortals of other worlds in his memories, he was lenient with us. Nice, I daresay. He wants the same outcome we do. That revelation shocks my system to my core.

Apophis wants to die.

The hair on the back of my neck stands up. I jerk my face out of the rampant magic power. A sword pierces through, stopping inches from my nose.

Reiki. He's okay. He's still fighting.

Reiki pulls out his sword and for a second I see him; he looks like crap. He's far more banged up than I was, because he's fighting alone.

Reiki's body contorts at a weird angle and I can practically hear ribs popping as Apophis's tail whips him out of view. The hole heals, occluding my vision. Why did Reiki attack instead of dodging that blow?! Why isn't he defending himself?!

Because that's the same thing I would do if I thought Reiki was dead; avenge him and join him.

I have to get back to Reiki. I have to protect Reiki. My arms are gone up to my elbows. That makes climbing much harder, but I crawl my way up to where Apophis's heart should be. I'll tear him apart from the inside for what he's doing to Reiki.

Instead of Apophis's heart, I find my body. My broken human shell, glowing yellow cracks up to my elbows. The tips of my blonde hair are now electric blue. My eyes are the same light cyan color.

Excellent. I sit up and am immediately reminded of why I was so glad to not be in pain.

A sword stabs through Apophis's scales again. Reiki's still alive. That's good. Keep fighting. I don't want to make the cracks worse, but I swallow back blood and force myself to move for Reiki.

I wonder if I can use magic in here? I try it and find that it's incredibly easy. This is the first time our affinity for each other benefits me.

Lighting crackles over my skin. It's blue. A side effect of being bathed in Apophis's chaotic energy—I've been handed a free power up.

I channel all the lightning I can from outside to me. Outside, I sense that dozens of blue lightning bolts have simultaneously struck Apophis, making him thrash and wail. I'm tossed around inside.

Reiki's swords penetrate Apophis's scales once more. This time I stick my cracked arm through the opening so it doesn't heal immediately.

I claw at the hole, forcing it bigger as I shock Apophis's insides repeatedly. Reiki and I attack from both sides with desperation and reckless abandon. It's all or nothing, either we die here or Apophis does.

The great snake stops moving. One final shudder moves through his body as the accumulated damage adds up. And then Apophis falls.

I claw at the sword hole with greater intensity, widening it. Freedom is so close I can taste it.

Suddenly a hand is grabbing mine, cutting at the scales from the outside. I finally pull myself free. It's so bright. I squint until my eyes adjust.

Reiki sits on his knees, staring at me in awe. Tears well up in his eyes and trail down his cheeks. He's sobbing. When has Reiki ever looked so broken?

"Lexi... you're alive?" His voice cracks.

I sob with him. "We're alive, Reiki!"

We hug each other tightly. As we do, Apophis's body fades away, some of it mixing into the magic power of the world. It's finally over.

My eyes feel heavy. If we pass out now, we're probably never going to wake up. Reiki and I fall into blissful unconsciousness...