Venturing Off (Private/Heero)

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

The city of Magnolia, home of the Fairy Tail Guild. Venturing off into this city was one of the most questionable moves made by the Nephalem in his endless journey. Out of all the locations and places in and out of Fiore he could have chosen, visiting Magnolia was seemingly the most pointless. There did not seem much for him to gain by visiting it, but in his own mind there was; some knowledge. He had only ever visited the city once or twice before, and even then he did not stay longer for more than a few hours. Thus, it seemed logical to him that a much more prolonged visit could entitle him to a larger understanding of the city's place within Fiore's country. Another thing that had engaged his interest was the new appointment of Fairy Tail's Guild Master. Though not confirming it for certain--quite yet anyway--there were rumors buzzing around that he easily picked up on like almost everything else. He had never met any of Fairy Tail's previous Guild Masters, as he had almost little to no interest in any other Guilds--especially after becoming a Guildless mage, but he figured that perhaps becoming acquainted or at least knowledgeable to them could work to an advantage towards himself in some way or another.

Thus, draped in a ragged and torn black cloak as he had been in the past few weeks of his travels, the raven haired red-eyed Guildless Mage came fourth into the city of Magnolia. Sunlight straight above him in the midday sky, the city was seemingly booming with activity and people from all around, highly sociable and friendly. A person dressed in a black cloak seemed to be a shady figure from the side or behind, but one glance at his face would tell a person otherwise: seemingly clueless. His face was questioning his surroundings, and he appeared more lost than he had ever been. His unfamiliarity with the area had caused him to get lost quite easily, and though not a very social person at all, he was forced to ask around the city for the location of Fairy Tail's Guild Hall. Not seeking to really enter the Guild or join it for that matter, he figured that perhaps a single glance at it could be sufficient enough to learn a thing or two about it. Despite his appearance, no one was really alarmed or reluctant to give the location, for if he were some kind of intruder, they had the confidence that Fairy Tail could hold their own any day.

"Heero Reyold". As he made his way to Magnolia's side of town that housed the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, the Nephalem stared up at the midday sky as he thought to himself out loud. "How peculiar... his name is Heero. But that last name...Reyold." Either he forgot it or deemed it unimportant, he could not tell exactly what, but there was a sense of familiarity to that last name that he could not quite put his finger on. "Where have I heard that last name before...?" Certainly it wasn't from Heero; he never met or heard of the guy until now, for that matter. Something people would consider shocking... but he didn't get around too much. Perhaps he could find out soon, and very soon at that. For he found himself nearing the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, to the point where it was coming into sight very soon of himself. "Time to see if he actually is a hero. Hahahah!"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Walking by himself for several more moments, the first kind of contact with Fairy Tail was about to be made by the Nephalem; certainly one he would never forget. No doubt his cloaked figure was shady, but he did not suspect it would be to the point where he would feel threatened for a moment. Spotting several strangers--two of them looking as if they were Rune Knights, he naturally made his way over to them to see if he could ask for any assistance needed. Instead he swiftly found himself met with weapons, forming an X right in front of him. Ceasing in his tracks, the hooded Nephalem gave a brief scowl at the two figures before they were ordered to retract their weapons. Given about ten seconds to say something, the hooded figure said nothing. Right now he did not know exactly what happened and why, and he felt the need for answers before he even spoke a word. Thus, all he had given Heero, the Chairman, and the two Rune Knights was a frown of red eyes beneath his cloak. Commented to be the silent type, the Nephalem saw no reason to protest, and instead kept silent and still.

What was unexpected, and finally got him to break the silence, was the fact that the blue haired one had guessed who he was. And in return, Deniel had taken a guess as well. This must be Heero... the thought occurred to him abruptly, and there seemed to be no doubt about it. With the silence breaking, so did the frown beneath his hood as he at last spoke. "You are correct." He briefly stated. The questioning about his sister had also gotten Deniel to recognize why he knew of Heero's last name: Alye. Remembering that she once told him her last name upon entering, it appeared as though the two were siblings...how peculiar. Ready to answer him in a flash, it seemed as though Fairy Tail's Guild Master was not keen on letting the Council know as well. He also appeared to be very...open about defying their will. Something that Deniel could very easily consider a bold move. Smirking in amusement beneath his hood, but also wondering if he would be caught in the middle of some kind of trouble, he watched as the Council member and Rune Knights scurried off, leaving Deniel and Heero behind. Staring at them for a moment, he would look back at Heero and nod as he removed his hood.

His jet black hair came into view, and the rest of his almost-pale face, and the moment it did it seemed as though Heero was struggling with something. "So...rumors are true..." The Nephalem commented as he saw the marks appear on Heero's face, "The Hero of Magnolia possesses the power to slay a Devil." "The Hero of Magnolia" was something that Deniel had occasionally heard, and was the only form of identity he could match to Heero before now.

Being offered entrance to Fairy Tail's Guild Hall, he simply could not resist. A smirk growing across his face, he nodded; "Sure. I'd love some."

Fairy Tail's Guild Hall was certainly...interesting, to say the least. There were all kinds of Earthland species, all interacting, brawling, drinking, and speaking with each other. There were certainly more members than he had last remembered in Eclipse Soul, though that was fortunate. This many people had made him feel uncomfortable. No longer seeing the need to conceal his body, the Nephalem's cloak was opened up by his arms on the inside, revealing the steel grey shirt he wore underneath and cropped jet black trousers. Sitting beside Heero as his red eyes scanned the Guild Hall around him, he felt a tad bit uncomfortable. Certainly he did not expect it to by like this, but at the very least he found the company of Heero to be reassuring, for whatever reason. Accepting the offer of beer--not seeing the harm in drinking a little--he responded to Heero. "A journey of self discovery, I suppose." Deniel responded to Heero almost immediately. "Figure anything about myself, and about the world. Along the way I've also hoped to make new friends and Alliances. I'm not in a Guild anymore, but I do seek to ally myself with as my Legal Guilds as possible. And the Magic Council."

Thinking a little bit more, and giving Heero the chance to respond to himself, he continued on briefly to something else that was mentioned earlier. "About your sister...I don't know where she is. She is alive, and well. That I know. But shortly after returning to Eclipse Soul she...vanished again. I haven't the faintest idea where or why, but I do know she is alive." The girls returned with their drinks, to which Deniel very quickly snatched up and drank down in a flash. Attempting to change the subject, he was very curious about Heero; surprisingly enough he knew almost nothing about him.

"I don't know much about you or Fairy Tail, sorry to say. But I'm curious. Which number Guild Master are you? And how are the people around here?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Listening intently to the story Heero told him, the Nephalem had never been more curious. Their guild dated back all the way to the time of Zeref? Even before that? Zeref was not something that he knew much about--just like the rest of the world and the stories surrounding Fiore--but he did know that it was at least four hundred years ago. And what Heero said next said that the Guild was several thousand years old. "That's very interesting, indeed..." Deniel muttered beneath his breath, not interrupting Heero but still commenting about the entire story.

Guild Master Number 5, he was...Fairy Tail certainly had been through a lot more than Eclipse Soul's. As far as Deniel knew, he was the very second, unless someone preceded Zeno which he did not know of. The title of "Guild Master" was something that Deniel missed dearly, for just a wandering Guildless person did not seem so grand in comparison. Regardless, he made his decision, and he had to go with it. The rules and nature of Fairy Tail certainly had both similarities and differences to that of Eclipse Soul--and Deniel himself. Though not necessarily in a bad way. The only rule he would not be able to adapt to was the lack of killing an opponent. That was something that he had adjusted to for as long as he could remember fighting and winning. Of course, he never expressed that. He merely said: "Sounds very enticing! Got a lively bunch here!" Raising his drink up in approval, Deniel quickly bent himself backwards as he downed the rest of the drink in one movement. Satisfied with a nice sigh of approval, he let go of his mug and was about to say something joyous, until he noticed the relatively serious atmosphere that had quickly developed.


Staring in the same direction that Heero was, he noticed a strange.... cat--most likely an exceed--attempting to hold off a trio of hooded and cloaked figures. Claiming that they followed "him" here all the way to Phoenix Mountains, it was fairly obvious that they were referring to Deniel. Who they were, he did not know. Standing up just as Heero did, ready to defend himself, an unexpected turn of events occurred when the cat single-handedly defeated all three of them. Walking alongside Heero to them, Deniel brushed himself past both Heero and Garfield to one of the knocked out bodies. Removing his hood from over his head, the face was certainly not familiar. Observing any part of the body that he could for a Guild Mark, he couldn't find that either. "I haven't got the slightest clue who they are." Deniel stated before standing up and looking back down at them. "Most likely assassins or something. Fortunate your Exceed took care of them instead of me; else you'd have corpses rather than knocked out bodies. Still, I suspect that this isn't the last of them. It's probably best that we move away from the Guild or something. I know you and them could probably handle the bunch...but I wouldn't want to display any power here. You'd love to see the power of a Nephalem, wouldn't you? Or an angel? Perhaps a Devil?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

"Only I didn't..." Deniel responded to Heero, but also contemplated it himself. He hadn't made any enemies during his travels, surely. He mostly kept to himself. These individuals most likely enemies made long ago--if they were enemies at all. Turing his back away from them and starting to think on it himself, he took a few steps away until he heard the unified gasp of the Fairy Tail guild. Turning around in alarm with his hand right hand reaching for the left side of his waist, as if a weapon for there--which there was not--, the Nephalem stared up to see what were....angels! Surprisingly enough the Nephalem never bore witness to these creatures, for the only one he had ever met--and killed--was his mother Arianna the White Angel. His guard had dropped dramatically, no longer having his hand near his waist, and he listened to them intently. It was curious that they referred to her as the "Angel of Iceburg". Deniel knew his mother well, and knew that her official title was "The White Angel", Iceburg was never mentioned... Not to mention those other Angels and Gods in Heaven never knew of her presence in Iceberg. The Icecrown Citadel was her darkest secret. Something was not right. The Nephalem knew immediately that this was all a trick, but chose not to show it. He acted as if he were listening intently, when in reality he found himself deep within his mind.

Mom!

What?! What is it?

Any idea who these guys are?

Not the faintest idea, Deniel. They don't know I'm dead...rude.

Indeed, they don't. I smell a trap.

Be careful, Deniel. These are not angels.

Concluding the conversation in his mind with his mother, the Nephalem finished just as the three "angels" had as well. In a single flash of light all of them were off, leaving the Fairy Tail Guild alone along with Deniel. He turned away, momentarily, to face the Guild, and felt all eyes on him. "I am. Though I still have much to learn about dimensions, and the realms of Heaven and Hell. And if there are more out there. I cannot sense such things; I have never ventured beyond Earthland aside from Edolas. Though I do have an idea about what to do."

Turning his back to the crowd once more, the Nephalem's left arm extended out from its cloak, holding its palm open as if for an object to appear. From out of his shoulders, just at the gaps in his neck, came a swift gust of black mist straight into his palm. The mist morphed into a shape similar to a rod, before suddenly materializing and solidifying itself. In the hand of the Nephalem was now a jet black sheathed katana with a white hilt wrapped with gauze. Holding on to the blade with his right hand, and swiftly drawing it, Deniel created a cut across the air right in front of him. A moment of silence passed, and nothing happened. He spun the blade around in his hand, and sheathed it back inside of the scabbard. The moment the "Click" connected, and the blade was secured, a cut within the air appeared. Tearing open the very fabric of space and time right before them, a dimensional rift into blackness formed right in front of Deniel. Opening up like a tear in something, before the Fairy Tail Guild Hall was a small entrance into nothingness.

"A dimensional gap, I'm assuming..." Deniel began, as he held his hand out and put it through. "I suppose I'll call it Purgatory." Deniel stepped into the gap created, looking at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall and Heero behind him. "I'm assuming you're coming with me. Let's go. I'd rather see what this is all about as soon as I can."

After Heero entered, the gap behind them closed, and they were not in the dimensional gap. Though it seemed like there was nothingness, there was still ground to walk on, though they could not see even that. Deniel took a few hesitant steps forward before turning it into a full on sprint ahead of himself. He began to run, swiftly as to get out of the seemingly infinite place. There were no walls, no objects, no ceiling, and no floor. Yet they walked and ran as if there were a floor, and there were echoes in their steps as if there were a ceiling.

Far ahead of them, almost like the end of the tunnel, was a light. And when Deniel and Heero exited the dimension into the light, it seemed as though they were in Heaven, Paradise. Except one thing was off. As they were greeted by "Angels", the Nephalem took a quick whiff of the air, which carried the stench of deception and..."Fire...I smell fire."

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Something was off, there was no doubt about it. Though Deniel could never quite place his finger on what exactly it was. Even his mother could not suspect that there was anything out of the ordinary. As Deniel followed just behind Heero, with a few meters separating the two as he ran, he once again spoke to her about it within his mind.

Mother...is this--

A section I have never visited, but yes.

But then...what exactly is wrong?

I don't know, Deniel. But be careful.

Concluding the thoughts with his mother for now, Deniel focused back on what was ahead of them. And then Heero and himself found the source of the burning scent. An enormous tree ahead of them--in which Heero called Yggdrasil. An interesting name, something that Deniel had never heard of before. He wondered why he and Heero were brought to this place; of course Deniel was the one that opened up the portal, but he had no idea where exactly he would end up. Something probably guided them here... but for what reason? "Something isn't right." Deniel said to himself and to Heero, and although they could have started to near the tree in a matter of minutes with their speed, something caused him to halt. Of course it was his own will, but there was something about the tree that caused Deniel to stop in his tracks.

His heels sliding on the clouds, he stopped and stared with narrow eyes at the suspicious tree. "Why...why here?"

"We can answer that." Behind Deniel and Heero boomed a mighty and strong voice, lowering itself down to their level. As Deniel suddenly turned around, he saw before him, he saw six...angels! Not hooded like the ones that they met back at the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, these angels were all covered in armor just like warriors. There were two of them in the front, and four in the back, two for each side. The four in the back seemed to have armor that was all the same color and shape, as well as the same weapons. Grey armor with white capes and feathered wings sticking out of their backs, wielding spears. The two in the front seemed to have bigger stature, and much thicker armor. On each of their backs were four wings, rather than two, and each were crowned with halos atop their helmets. The one on the left had armor of a dark blue shade in some areas, and his choice of weapon was a two handed broadsword. The right one had much more orange looking shades in areas, and on his back was a very large two handed hammer--a hammer of justice. The one in the blue stepped forward.

"Deniel Decayuss Thormun, your power has grown far beyond that of any other Nephalem in history. Your very existence could threaten your world, and any other's."

"Heero Reyold, you have grown far too strong to be considered a mortal man. You cannot be allowed to exist."

"Therefore, to make sure neither of your lives are completely wasted, we will kill you both and feed your blood to the world tree!"

Both of them drew their weapons, and so did their guards behind them. Deniel stood still momentarily, gazing at all six of them without a movement. There was a fierce look in his eyes, before he proclaimed, "Very well!" Deniel reached for the neck portion of his cloak, and threw the whole thing up straight into the sky. His clothes underneath were completely revealed, and in his hand he held on to the katana in which he used to cut the dimension to this open again. The red eyes of Deniel flared blue, as an ominous blue glow suddenly surrounded his body.

In just a few moments, the glow surrounding Deniel morphed itself into a white armor. Covering his entire body from head to toe, with blue orbs on several locations of his limbs, and black softer portions that allowed his limbs to be moved, he awakened as the White Angel. Golden lenses in front of his eyes flared, as if activating itself. There were two katanas instead of one, and this time they were white, with one of each on Deniel's waist area. He drew the both of them, and pointed each of them at the one in the more bluish armor, challenging him first. "Come and get me! I'll show you the true power of the White Angel!"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

There was a moment of silence...and then the fight began. Deniel took a much more head-first approach straight into the midst of it, taking on three of them at the same time. As the fight became a sudden surge of chaos, Deniel kept his focus on the one with the blue armor, as Heero seemed to be fine with the one wielding the war hammer. Wielding his twin white katanas with excessive skill and accuracy, he managed to cut down the weaker foes in a matter of seconds, slicing through their armor and then hitting them with the back of the blades so that he may work towards beating them up and knocking them out rather than cutting them and killing them.

There was a surge of flame-like blue energy on the blades of the White Angel, quickly manifesting themselves into orbs on the very tips of the blades. Aiming his two blades straight at the incapacitated weaker angels, the two orbs launched themselves straight for the at enormous speeds, hitting them in less then a second. And as they came into contact with the two angels, the orbs each detonated in enormous spherical explosions that generated a storm of wind and clouds with the mere force of its detonation. A blue glow enveloped the whole battlefield as they exploded, and briefly outshone the glow of the burning tree of Yggdrasil. As the light and energy from these detonating orbs faded, the bodies of the two angels he defeated were bruised and crisped, knocked out but certainly not dead.

Before he could even be satisfied with himself at his knock out, he swiftly parried the greatsword of the angel using both of his katanas. He turned to face them, and both of them got into a massive fight using their blades. With each cut shaping the clouds and generating gusts of wind from the sheer force of them, they seemed to be equally matched. Deniel's twin blades were swift and true, but the wielding of the broadsword by the angel seemed to be equivalent. "Innocence!" In between one of the parries made by Deniel, he charged up Holy Energy on both of his blades, and then the next cut unleashed by it also gave way to an enormous crescent shaped cut made of the same blue energy from the explosion. Dodging the first three, there were still more, and the angel was eventually hit by one. So powerful was the force of his blade and its crescent slash that the angel was sent barreling backwards. Chasing after him and having their swords collide with each other once more, Deniel, underneath his helmet, gave out a snarl of frustration. His opponent was tough, and it would possibly take him quite a while to beat him unless he tried his absolute hardest.

Though from out of no where, Heero gave him assistance by snatching away the greatsword of his opponent, giving Deniel a clear opening. "Take this!" Unleashing a combination of slashes upon the angel in front of him, Deniel successfully managed to pierce through his armor and cause the parts in which his swords collided with to be ripped to pieces like cutting through butter, while only lightly harming the individual underneath. Sending him flying with a jab of his sword, Deniel quickly chased after him, until actually catching up to him and slamming him down on the ground before he actually fell to natural gravity. He had his sword right at his throat, coated in Holy Energy so that it could decapitate him at a moment's notice. "You heard Heero... talk."

Looking up at Deniel, with one part of his helmet shattered and cracked so his blue eyes showed underneath and a bit of his blonde hair spilled out...he answered him. "The world tree...." he began, "Is dying." Deniel's sword did not budge one bit. In fact, he brought the blade closer to his throat so that he may be threatened to say more. "It is perhaps the works of Hell. But...something is draining the power of the world tree. Much more so than that Dragon ever did. He never posed a threat. But this...this is causing it to die. And one way we could bring it back would be by spilling your blood on it..." Deniel began to ponder it a bit more, but he did not move his blade. In fact, he further questioned him.

"If you know what the source is, why not stop it?"

"A full scale invasion would never work..." the Angel Heero had by the throat answered, though struggled with the pressure. "It could threaten the very existence of us all. That is why neither side has done so. We both know the dangers. It is why our war is fought on a small scale..."

Thinking further on it, Deniel slowly started to retract the blade away from the angel's throat. "Heero, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Notes

"A wanderer isn't always lost."

Raising his blade up away from Gabriel's neck, and letting the Holy Energy fade away in the wind as if they were specks of dust attached to his sword, he sheathed both of his katanas and figured the fight to be over. Just as Heero assisted Michael in standing up, Deniel gave Gabriel a helping hand. Since the battle had been over, Deniel's helmet manually removed itself by contracting into smaller pieces before storing itself inside of the neck area of its armor. Underneath his helmet, Deniel's skin was much more pale than it had been before, complete with white hair and glowing blue eyes. "Sorry, Deniel...but a wonderful fight!" The two bumped fists with each other, having their armors clash together upon doing so.

Shortly after, Deniel crossed his arms and observed the following events before him unfold, with the two of them being surrounded by a swarm of angels, some wearing armor while others not. In any other scenario his hands would have started to reach for his katanas once more, though angels weren't really prone to lie, so he was able to trust them in knowing they wouldn't gang up on him or Heero. A third archangel...whose name was Raphael. How interesting. He offered his sword for both Deniel and Heero to draw their blood on, and willing to still compromise and still give them what they wanted, Deniel nodded. Holding out one of his arms, his armor temporarily deconstructed itself in the area in which he would be cut, since attempting to cut through his armor would prove to be quite an arduous task. Once enough blood had been drawn, his armor reconstructed itself around his arm area, with himself looking as though nothing had happened before.

He crossed his arms over his chest once again, and observed the result of the World Tree's reaction to both his blood and Heero's. It was quite a miraculous and astounding sight, enough for Deniel to give it a pair of wide eyes and an impressed nod. Gabriel even went as far as to calling Deniel brother, something he wasn't really sure about reacting to. He never really associated himself among the divine, whether it be angels or demons. He always considered himself a mortal, and lived within mortal men. Just....having the power of the divine. He was so conflicted with his thought that the next few moments of murmurs with the angels was ones that he was unable to pay attention to. A self-reflective moment came upon him, as his surroundings seemingly became mere shadows within his own mind. Was he a mortal? A divine? Something in between?

Snapping himself back into the threads of reality, the topic of them once again needing the blood of Deniel and Heero once again came to the field. It was an interesting question, not to mention Deniel wondered exactly what caused this in the first place. Obviously Hell was to blame, but Deniel had his doubts that something came here directly to poison it. Almost if...

"Brothers!" Deniel's voice triumphed over all arguing angels, and suddenly the arguments ceased. All eyes were suddenly on the White Angel, who gazed around him in every direction before speaking once more. "We all know someone or something from Hell is to blame. However, I have my doubts that Lucifer himself would risk coming here to poison the world tree. Though I do have a solution: a machine of some kind. An intention. Or...perhaps a spell. Regardless of what it is, they must have figured out something down there that could remotely drain the power of the World Tree. So unless Heero and I go down there now...this will just happen again." There were whispers among them once again, and the three archangels stepped forward to them. "Are you certain about this? If you descend into Hell and take on Lucifer, there is no guarantee you will ever return. It will only be the both of you."

Only nodding, the White Angel also shrugged. "He is much older than Heero and I. There is no doubt that he's stronger. Perhaps even the two of us combined would only have a chance of greatly weakening him...I'm not entirely sure about killing him. Though  I don't think that we need to defeat him." There were even more whispers among them. "Then what it is you plan to do." Looking at Heero for a moment, Deniel stared back at the angels and cracked his knuckles from underneath his armor. "Hold him off long enough to smash his little thing that's draining this World Tree into a million pieces."

"What about getting there? We have no way to offer."

Deniel turned his back to all of them, and began to walk away several paces. "You said it yourself: Lucifer is like me. So...I guess it's worth a shot." Deniel took both of his sheathed katanas, with their scabbards, off from their secure spots at his waist. He held both of them in front of him by the hilt, and suddenly both of them began to glow a dark red color. Opposite of their sky blue glow earlier, he merged both blades together within his hands, and the next moment he was carrying an enormous demonic broadsword, with flesh covering the metal that was not a part of the sharp end of the blade. An angel wielding a demonic sword...it was quite a sight to behold, or even disgust to some. "Now then...let's go to Hell!" Holding up the monstrous broadsword just above his head, the White Angel brought it crashing down as far as he could, and as he did so, there was a tearing sound. Cutting between the fabric of space, time, and dimensions, the sword he called Armageddon backed with his angelic and demonic power managed to cut a temporary hole in the dimensional gap, one that was similar to the one earlier, but would lead to a different location. Far beyond this dimensional gap was the fiery domain known as Hell. The Inferno. Or anything that a person could call it...

Stepping in to the gap, the White Angel beckoned Heero to follow. "Let's kick some ass."

Notes