☽ Under the Black Moon ☾

Soaring through the black night was a young white-haired girl, three orbs spinning around her like little stars, keeping her afloat as she made her way to her location. Something peculiar had happened today, the night had turned black. As though someone had painted everything black, even the seas had turned eerily dark. She could still feel her connection to the Starlight, but she couldn't see them and that unnerved her greatly. Arielle and Sebastian flew alongside her, the grey exceed bearing a set of white feathery wings, a contrast to the Fairies pink ones.

Nessa had received instruction to head to the Celestial Sanctum, a private island used by the alliance of the three guilds known as Fairy Tail, Silver Wolf and the West Fiore Trading Company. It was a beautiful place, barely touched. From the ruins of buildings and landforms that remained it was clear to see that something used to exist there, but whatever had was long gone. Nessa touched down on the ground, her orbs spread out around her. The others would be arriving soon, she would use her lights as both a signal to them. As well as a means of helping her see, Sebastian dropped to the ground, his wings dematerializing. Nessa was wearing her usual white outfit, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail and her white satchel on his hip, carrying the usual essentials.

"Well this is creepy," The exceed commented casually, Nessa glanced towards him with a  frown. "You think, you saw what this stuff did to Edward, this is dark magic we're dealing with here. Don't take this lightly Sebastian," She told him, she was on edge. The moment the world had turned dark, her teenage cousin had began to act strange, cruel and violently. He even went so far as to attack her. As a result, her Father had to use magic to restrain him, and word has been sent to Antoinette. Her aunt was away on work right now, so Nessa wasn't even sure if she was unaffected too. But to see her cousin act in such a way, she was agitated, she wanted to destroy whatever it was affecting him and return him to his normal state. Sebastian sighed, "Look Ness, the kid's going to be fine. The mages have got this, why do you think you so many are being sent out to handle this thing? Whatever it is, it doesn't stand a chance."  She knew he was trying to be reassuring, but it wasn't really helping, she was too anxious.

"I guess, I just don't have a good feeling about this. Be careful tonight okay, if the fighting gets rough, stay back and be prepared to take care of anyone should they get hurt." She instructed the creatures.  She looked around, wondering who would be the next to arrive.

The first to arrive after the trio was a woman with long black hair and horns, she looked familiar. As she introduced both herself and her pet, Nessa's memory returned. Of course the beach event, she felt a little bit awkward at there collection of it. What was supposed to be a normal alliance social had turned into a very drunken night for her. She just hoped she didn't have to face Johann anytime soon, the guy had practically been the cause of her inebriation and ergo had witnessed it in all it's humiliating glory. At least Aven didn't see me... She thought, trying to put a positive spin on it. It was her own fault, she shouldn't have tried to keep up with someone who was bizarrely good at handling their alcohol.

"I'm Nessa, the exceed here is Sebastian and the fairy is Arielle," The boys waved from behind her casually. Haraka's additional commented caused Nessa to sigh, "The powder had a strong effect on my eleven year old cousin, he's normally a soft-natured boy but tonight he was nasty and extremely violent." She admitted, the frustration clear in her tone. After restraining Edward, her father had goneout and collected a sample of the black powder. Before she could see if he'd made any progress, she had been called away to head to the Celestial Sanctum. At present, he was most likely still working away back in his lab, trying to figure out what the stuff was and how to reverse it's effects on Edward. "Me too," She replied to Haraka's last remark, sincerely meaning it.

The next person to arrive was Leona, Nessa recognised her from the beach event also. She smiled and offered her a wave. "Here comes Arcadia!" Sebastian said, Nessa looked up, recognising the Ice blue Wyrmling form as she landed. Nessa felt a sense of relief upon seeing her, at least she knew the younger mage was okay. She hadn't seen any of her other Fairy Tail mages tonight, so she didn't know if they had been affected or not. I hope Aven's okay. She thought, she'd been in such a rush, she hadn't been able to contact him. "Hey Arcadia, boy am I glad to see-" Nessa stopped mid-sentence, as during her greeting Arcadia shifted from her dragon form to her human form. Only she was different, very different. The girl who was normally a pretty young fourteen year old was now a child, a much younger child. "Whoa, you're all diddy Arcadia!" Sebastian exclaimed, practically saying Nessa's thoughts aloud. Arielle fluttered over to her, touching Arcadia's cheek softly. "Young Miss is not hurting," The Fairy informed them, "Rather, Miss grows stronger as we speak." Nessa nodded, at the moment she was torn between several trains of thought. The first being the fact that Arcadia had gone from being her regular state of cute to being super, unbelievably cute. Nessa had the intense urge to squeeze the child in a tight hug, there was also the desire to ask more questions. Was this due to the black powder or was this her body still adapting to that Dragon Lacrima?

Nessa didn't get to ask, because following this the final member of their group arrive. In a rather loud and obviousl manner. Nessa flushed at the sight of Johann, Oh crap! Was her first thought, quickly looking away. However her embarrassment was short-lived, because his next response drew her attention back. That did not sound like Johann at all, there was a boom, causing her to look a the space behind him. Standing behind Johann was a menacing looking wolf, with burning candle's sticking out of it's body. Nessa held out her hand, a sword formulated in her palm, it seemed the fight as already starting. Nessa watched the older mages behaviour as he attacked the wolf, following her observations, realisation began to sink in. The powder had affected him too, although not in a bad way, he actually seemed quite friendly and playful. Nessa's flush gone, she looked at him with complete seriousness. "Mars, you in there?" She asked, wanting to check something. Would he also been affected or was it just Johann? They did exist in the same body after all.

"Er... Nessa" Sebastian began in an awkward tone, "You might wanna look behind you," Nessa frowned in confusion before glancing round, as she did, she was greeted with the face of a horrifying creature. Rows of teeth, no eyes and horns floating there, inches from her face. Nessa let out a loud scream, and fell back in a panic, scrambling backwards on the ground in fear. Sebastian jumped up, tackling the pumpkin creature. He dragged down to the ground, biting into it's face repeatedly, releasing a burst of ice magic. After a moment he glanced back, having killed the thing. "It's actually really weak..." He told her, Nessa's heart was racing, her face a picture of fear. The Exceed scowled at the sight of her, "Seriously Nessa, It doesn't even look like a ghost!" He barked in an annoyed voice. Nessa shot him a look, "It doesn't exactly look like a bunny either does it!" She snapped back at the cat. Arielle flew over to Nessa, his hands glowing softly he touched her forehead. She was filled with an instant sense of calm, her pulse slowed and her body relaxed. After a moment, she stood up.

"Thank you Arielle," She said, brushing the dirt off herself. More creatures began to pop up around them, the ground exploding and a few more wolves appeared too. She turned to look at the others. "Okay, let's take these things out. Probably best if we stick close together so that we can watched each others backs and don't end up surrounded." She offered, it wasn't exactly her taking charge. It was just that, aside from Arcadia and Johann she didn't know how they others fought. They didn't exactly have time to strategize or work out each others strengths. Winging it seemed like the only option, Nessa looked around, running forward she charged at a wolf. Swinging her sword at it, she quickly engaged herself she wasted no more time engaging herself in the fight.

Nessa frowned when Mars spoke, from what she had observed before. Mars was an excitable, playful and violent being. The response to her question did not reflect this, quite the opposite actually, he almost seemed shy and scared. Additionally Johann's continued behaviour of juvenile antics and childish speech clarified it all. They had both been affected by the moon's powder. She bit her lip, wondering how this would affect the fight. He had handled that wolf with no problems, but still, there was just an uncertainty about this situation. This meant he was in the same category as Leona and Haraka, she would not be able to predict his fighting style. The only one she would be familiar with was Arcadia. Nessa was momentarily distracted by Haraka's transformation into a man, however she didn't have time to respond due to the Monster Squash attack.

Her instruction had seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Johann point blank rejected it and Arcadia who had changed forms once again seemed to move away from the group for some reason. Nessa let out a frustrated growl, hoping this wasn't about to go horribly wrong. Finishing off the wolf in a  matter of minutes, it seemed it wasn't an especially strong creature. If these things were as weak as Sebastian said, it wouldn't take much to get rid of them. She noticed the rune bracelet appear on her hand, glancing over of Johann as he told them to have some fun. She grinned, at least he seemed to still have a decent control over his magic. She decided to save the rune bracelet for the time being, she knew just how much it amplified her magic. For the moment, she wanted to do a test of strength on these creatures first.

She did a quick scan of the area, for every unattended squash monster and candle-wearing wolf she created a set of orbs. Until she was surround by a horde of starlight. With a flick of her wrist, the orbs shot out to their intended targets. Within a matter of minutes, the pumpkin-like creatures were exploding all over the area. The orbs smashing them to pieces. As for the wolves, they snapped and snarled at the oncoming orbs, unable to stop the burning balls of magic as they slammed into them. Nessa reached down and touched the ground with her free hand, shooting a burst of starlight into it. Straightening up, she began to walk along casually watching. As she did the ground underneath the attacking wolves would explode with magical light knocking them off their feet.

Nessa noted this and continued to walk along, leaving Sebastian to scramble with a passing wolf. The cat seemed to be having quite a bit of fun. She wasn't surprised, she didn't take him on jobs often, sometimes they were just too dangerous. But tonight she just couldn't leave him at home, he wanted to help and she wouldn't deny him nor Arielle that. Hearing Arcadia's call, Nessa watched as the squash creature whizzed towards her. She took a side step, and watched as it blew up in the face of a candle wolf she hadn't yet noticed. Nessa swung her sword down through the wolves spine, slicing through it. Before yanking her sword out, This can't be it... She thought, as she checked in on her companions.

Everyone seemed to be handling themselves well enough, she noticed a new monster in front of Johann. A combination of wolf and pumpkin, she watched for a moment, preparing a set of orbs to send his way should he need the assistance. She observed as Johann crushed them with ease. Nessa sighed, she was worrying for nothing. Then suddenly the area around the older mage exploded. She stumbled back from the shock of it, stopping herself from falling over, she straightening up. Her feet suddenly glowed with light, using this to amplify her speed she darted across to him, stopping front of him as he climbed to his feet. She almost went to heal him but watched as his wounds began to heal themselves. She shot him a look, "Geez, Johann are you ok?" She asked, them watched as his appearance began to change aswell. Hearing his remark she rolled her eyes, she called across to the others, "Watch the pumpkin wolf creatures, they explode when they die!" She shouted, hoped this advice would prevent anyone else getting hurt. She shot Johann a look of concern before moving back towards the group. She knew he could handle himself but still, at this rate he was going to either seriously hurt himself or accidentally hurt someone else in the process. She would just have to keep an eye out.

She spotted a group of Squash-bodied dogs running towards her. Throwing out her free palm, "Starlight Encasement." She called summoning one of her newest spells. At the same time she pulled the magic provided by Johann's rune bracelet. A cage of light fell from the sky, trapping the monsters before they could reach her. This should deal with them. She thought, the inside of the cage exploded in a combination of her Starlight and Fire. The monsters were blown to pieces and as their remains exploded, any damage was contained in the cage of light. The spell disappeared, leaving behind several broken carcasses and the distinct smelt of cooked pumpkin.

Nessa decided the only way she could cover the gaps on the fighting grounds was to summon more bodies, fortunately she knew just how to do that. Her eyes began to glow with light, and the symbol on the back of her neck began to glow with it."Tiphanae," She called, her voice sounding as thought several women were speaking at once, followed immediately by, "Elgorea,". The light from her eyes and the back of her neck faded as she awaited the arrival of her companions. The air around her began to pick up, a gust of wind whirling in front of her, in the small whirlwind appeared Tiphanae. The fair-haired Valkyrie turned to Nessa,  "Nessa Lux, No, Send Elgorea back!" She said in a panic, Nessa frowned in confusion. "What? Why?" She asked, in confusion. There was rumble beneath her, a crack appeared in the ground, spreading along quickly. Suddenly the earth exploded and whirling up through the ground came the red-head Valkyrie. Her large bat-like wings flapping in the air, "WAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!" The Valykrie cheered before a loud cackle, Nessa's eyes widened as the girl came crashing to the ground. "Thanks for the summon sweetie, those boring bitches had Arcturus, Lucinda and I restrained up there. Something about being out of control."  She said with a giggle. Nessa instantly recognised what had happened, the Valkyries had been affected too.

"You ARE out of control!" Tiphanae barked, "Nessa Lux, you must send her back." The girl who was normally a sweet and shy Valkyrie, shook her head and tutted, wagging the finger of her demonic arm. "Send me back and I'll kill all your little human friends first. Trust me, I'm fast enough to do it before you catch me. Come ooooooon, lemme just have some fun. You're hacking up monsters right? What better to kill a monster than a monster, or rather a demon." She followed this suggestion with a snicker, Nessa and Tiphanae exchanged looks. Nessa wasn't sure if this new Elgorea could be trusted, but she really didn't want to risk having to fight one friend in order to protect her other friends. "Fine, only the monsters I instruct you to fight, and once we finish this. You head back with Tiphanae calmly." She ordered firmly. Elgorea tilted her pretty face, offering her a wild grin.

"Deal."

The moment that Johann referred to her as 'Nessie', she froze, the blood draining from her face. She gulped, looking away, it had been a long time since someone had called her that. Yet still, somehow the nickname sent a cold chill down her spine regardless. It really shouldn't have, Rex was a thing of the past. But still, as she moved away from the highly-spirited rune mage, she felt shaken, like her confidence was momentarily knocked. What was to follow this didn't help as when she prepared to summon another set of orbs, Nessa felt a wave of cold magic fall over her. She felt her magic pull back, the sword of light fizzled away, her magic retreating and seeking refuge inside her away from the cold. Was someone attacking her? Ice magic was her weakness after all.

She glanced around, only to realised that Arcadia was nearby, currently activating her Dragon force. Nessa quickly realised that this was why she was avoiding staying too close, Nessa moved away hastily. Not wanting the magic to dull her abilities anymore. Nessa flexed her fingers, trying to coax her magic back out. It would creep forward but weaker and more dulled. It would take a little time before it was back to it's full force. She heard Arcadia's comment, and looked over at her. She offered the girl a smile, not wanting to let on how much the Ice magic had affected her. At some point she should let Arcadia know that the little Dragon Slayers magic was the key weakness to her own. But she would save that for a time where it wouldn't make her feel guilty. "I'm fine, don't worry about it. Should've just brought a jacket," She commented with a laugh.

Nessa looked over at Elgorea who had darted away excitedly and was currently skewering wolves with her spear like she was making a kebab stick. "She's mega trippin'," She replied to Arcadia, using the girls terms, "But it's this black power, once we figure out a way to get rid of it, she should hopefully go back to normal." She said, hoping this was the case. She didn't actually have a clue, she was just trying to be optimistic in a very crappy situation. With her magic dulled, both Johann and Elgorea becoming wild cards and no end to the monsters in sight, things weren't looking great.  

At this point the earth began to rumble, "Oh, what now?" She groaned, looking around to see the next emerging monstrosity. Nessa and Tiphanae darted back out of the way, as the giant plant erupted from the ground. A creepy looking thing with ten heads, all of which carved into with eerie expression. Nessa realised that Arcadia was too close and called out, "Arcadia watch out!" She watched as Arcadia dodged the first vine, only to be taken out by the second, the poor girl slammed to the ground hard. Nessa stopped, it was the first time she had ever seen Arcadia hurt in a fight. The sheer sight of it was enough to send the girl into a moment of shock. Between her nephew being turned into an aggressive savage, and now seeing her best friend hurt by one of the monsters belonging to this black night. Whatever it was holding back Nessa's rage snapped.

Sebastian who had finished fighting his wolf approached cautiously, "Nessa...?" he asked, sensing the sudden change in the girl. Slowly the Starlight Maiden's face contorted in rage, her eyes turned black and the air around her began to omit a dark demonic aura. The flowers at her feet would wilt and all nearby lifeforce would be absorbed into the girl. Tiphanae grabbed her chest with a pained expression, having been standing too close to Nessa. The Valkyrie unravelled her white wings and shot up into the sky away from the girl. "Do not approach her, she is not herself." The Wind Valkyrie warned, Nessa began to walk forward. Her gaze transfixed on the monster in front of her, her magic returning to her. As the monster sent out a vine, Nessa would flick out her hand, sending an array of orbs at the vine. Deflecting it's hit from her. She jumped up into the air, landing on the body of the creature. Orbs appeared around her, suddenly spinning around her body in a whirlwind of light. She would proceed to pummel the creature relentlessly, the sounds of beastly growls and snarls could be heard coming from her. The monster would send a vine her way, only to have it fly back off of the Starlight Storm around her. Nessa reached forward and grabbed a head. Taking her Starlight covered fist, she proceeded to punch one of the heads repeatedly in the face. The burning seeds were repelled by the light tornado around her, eventually the head gave way to her fist. Crushed under it's continual magical impact. Following this several vines would reach out to attack her, some broke through the whirlwind, wrapping themselves around her throat. Nessa didn't react to this, she was busy scaling her way up the creature to the next head. Determined to kill it.

"She's not even trying to protect herself!" Tiphanae said, "What is this thing that has taken control over her?" Elgorea landed next to the fair-haired Valkyrie, an amused look on her face."A demonic curse, I can practically taste it coming off her. Real strong and nasty, Kinda bad ass really, " The redhead remarked casually. Tiphanae looked at her in bewilderment, suddenly fluttering amongst them, was Arielle "I can save miss, but we must get her away from the beast first." He squeaked, Tiphanae nodded. Flapping her white wings, "Elgorea come!" She ordered, the redhead pondered for a moment before shrugging. "Sure, What the hell!" The two Valkyries leapt into the air, reaching Nessa in a matter of moment.  Tiphanae flew in front of her, pointing her sword at her. "Move back Nessa Lux," She barked, Nessa hissed at her, taking a swipe at the sword. Elgorea swiftly swooped under Nessa's arm, wrapping her demonic arm around her waist. Pushing past the storm of light so she could hold her, she kicked off of the monster, dragging her back to where they others were stood. Together the two Valkyries attempted to pin the possessed girl to the ground. It wasn't easy, the girl fought furiously, clawing and snarling at them.

Arielle flew over to them, stopping above her.  Nessa stopped struggling, her black eyes meeting those of the Fae's. "Miss, It is I, Arielle," He said trying to get close to her. Suddenly, Nessa managed to pull one of her arms free, her hand shot out, clutching the Fairy tightly, she squeezed. Arielle yelled out in pain, Sebastian leapt forward, held back by Tiphanae, who did not want him to get hurt also. "Nessa don't! That's Arielle, That's your friend!" He cried desperately. However his words did not reach her as she began to squeeze tighter. The fae wriggled in her grip for a moment, reached out, touching her clenched fist softly before he began to glow. His Tranquillity magic seeping into her, slowly the demonic aura subsided. Her eyes returned to their natural violet colour and her angry snarl faded. Nessa blinked for a moment, before realising what she was doing. She gasped letting go of Arielle, "Oh no, Oh no, It happened again, Oh god. Oh Arielle, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." Tears began to stream down her face, she buried her head in her hands and sobbed.

Nessa sat there sobbing for several moments, the sadness within growing to almost overwhelming proportions. Sebastian approached, climbing up Nessa's lap, "Ness, It's okay. Your back now, and that's what matters." Nessa's body shook, still not able to calm down. Arielle flew closer, pressing his small body against Nessa's cheek in a light hug. "Please Miss, I am okay, please don't cry." He said softly. Nessa who had buried her hands in her hands, wiped away the tears that had drenched her cheeks. She looked at Arielle with pink, puffy eyes. She could see the bruises already forming on his small body, his squashed wings struggling to stay in flight. More tears streamed down her cheeks as she look at him. I did that...

She reached up slowly, her hands glowing with magic. She gently placed her index finger on his chest. Her Starlight flowing out of her, sending a waving of healing magic over him. After a moment, his bruises faded and his wings straightened out. She reached back and brushed away more of her tears. Sniffling a little and clearing her throat, "I knew this thing was bad but...I never... I had no idea... I'm so sorry Arielle. I would never intentionally hurt you... whatever it is, this ...horrible thing that is inside me. I need to get it out, before I hurt anyone else." She told him. Whilst Tiphanae, Sebastian and Arielle were all listening to her with a Sympathetic ear, Elgorea, still under the influence of the Black Powder rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, are we done? Can I go slice that thing up now?" She said, as she jutted her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the giant Vine Monster the others were facing. As Nessa's gaze fell over the beast, it was then that she caught Johann staring at her. His gaze was cold, threatening, and enough to send a chill down her spine. She glanced down, unable to meet his gaze anymore, He must think so little of me now... She thought, the sting of disappointment growing on top of the already mounting anguish she was feeling. She had shown him a terrible side to her, a side that she had hoped no one would ever see. The only person who had seen her behave this way was Markus, and now all these people knew. They all knew what a monster she really was.

The sound of Arcadia's voice pulled her out of the slump she was sinking into, she glanced back up, realising that Arcadia was now back in her Dragon form. She's right.... She slowly clambered to her feet. "Come on guys, let's lend them a hand." She said, walking over slowly. Elgorea and Tiphanae jumped ahead, slashing at the thing with their magical weapons. Sebastian would claw and scratch at it's vines, releasing his bursts of Ice Magic as he did so. Nessa summoned several orbs around her, taking a shaky breath, she steadied her resolve. Then with a wave of her hands she began smashing her orbs into the thing, carefully working in sync with the others to bring down the beast. Hoping to bring this awful night to an end.