Subdued Lightning [Private] (Chapter One)

A harsh voice called out as footsteps echoed towards a lone room that was dimly lit by a solid beam of pale moonlight. "You don't have to push...", a female voice muttered as the steps became gradually louder. "Silence!", the same harsh voice hissed. As the footsteps came to their loudest point and then stopped, the sound of keys rattling could be heard. When the lock on the door slipped off, the sound of rusty metal sliding across worn granite scrapped through everyone's ears. When the tortuous sound ceased, the harsh voice piped up once again.

"In". He said simply. The female didn't move. Instead, she retorted with a sly remark. "I'm guessing I won't be getting room service, huh?", she said. His response was a push into the cell that sent her tumbling to the floor. He stared her down for a moment as she did the same to him. Before he walked off, he said something that made her shake in her boots. Though she'd never admit that... "The only service you will get here is a funeral. And then, it's a maybe. Ta-ta for now!", he said before he let out a sadistic laugh that sent a chill down her spine.

Serene watched him walk away and as soon as he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, she stuck her tongue out at him. Yes, very brave of her. She sighed as she wiggled her way upright and looked at the figure that was knocked out across from her.

Heero...

Serene pulled against her handcuffs for a moment, certain that her physical strength wasn't nearly enough to get them off. Thankfully, she didn't need muscles..
The dark-haired girl closed her eyes as she projected a small ball in the air.
Serene brought her handcuffs up to the light and watched as the ball slid inside of it. Serene held the cuffs away from her person as she concentrated on that ball. She slowly made the ball expand, bending the old metal to it's breaking point, to where it snapped off easily. Serene let out a held breath as she then looked over to Heero. She got to her feet and wiped the dirt off of her hands before crawling over to Heero. She put a hand on his shoulder and whispered gently into his ear:

"Heero... Heero... You need to wake up!".

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Serene was honestly worried about her blueish haired friend. It didn't even look like he was breathing. What had these people done to him? Serene's heart began to beat rather quickly as she began to think that the worst had happened. That...that Heero was... She said his name one more time, letting out more tender emotions then she thought she had. The dark-haired girl watched his face once more, and fell back from his person as he suddenly sat up. Serene blushed lightly for a moment. She had been rather close to him.

Serene watched as he became aware of the situation. He looked like he wanted to get up, but he was still rather shaky. She rushed back over to him and placed a steady hand on his shoulder to keep him up. "Serene....what happened? You should've just escaped." He said this in a gruff voice, but Serene didn't really mind it. Consider all he'd been through, he deserved to be at least a bit upset. She placed a cool finger on his face to wipe some of the dirt off as she smiled towards him. "And leave you here? I'd rather trying Neko's cooking", she said as her little smile grew just a tad. She was trying to get him calm, but as memories flooded his brain, he flew into a rage and jumped up.

Hurt her? Why was he worried about her? Those thoughts were pushed into the back of her mind as she watched him fly to the iron bars of the cell and screech out that they were cowards. There goes the element of surprise...

Serene's mind raced at a mile a minute as she thought of what she could do. Her eyes skirted around the cell and then finally rested upon Heero. The dark-haired girl shot forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was shirtless, but she didn't think about it as she wrapped her cool hands and arms around his blazing chest and neck. "Heero...", she whispered faintly as she held on tight to his trembling body. He seemed to be trembling with rage. "You need to calm down, Heero. We have to get out of here, but this is not the way. They're only going to rush in here and overwhelm us then we'll be even worse off than we are now. They..they nabbed...". Her voice broke for a moment before she could find the strength to speak once again.

"They have Garfield".

"He rushed off after you, so I rushed off after him. He... flew right into a trap. I tried to get him out, but they caught me with my guard down. I'm...I'm sorry Heero. I..I wasn't strong enough...", she said lowly as a hot tear fell from her face and fell on his shoulder. Serene wiped the tear off his skin and rubbed her eyes. "They called him, "the Catalyst". I saw them take him to a tower across the island. It was the tallest tower. Look, I...I have a plan to get us out of here. I trust you with my life, Heero... Can you trust me with your?", she said as she let him go, her slightly wet eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

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Serene noticed something in Heero's eyes as he looked at her for a moment. She honestly had no idea what it was, but he had a...animalistic look in his eyes for a moment? It was probably a kind of savage rage because Garfield... Serene looked down as she thought back to the orange cat. She let him down. She let him get captured... It was her fault. Now she had to make it up to him. Here and now.

Heero came over to her and told her to start her plan. Serene nodded to him and grabbed his hand gently. She closed her eyes and took her free hand, placing it on his collar. A look of pure concentration appeared on her face as she shivered with power, the space between the two of them all too small. Her hair levitated for a moment as she squeezed hard on his magic collar, applying intense force in her hand to crush the magic-negating metal.

After a moment, the cold runic metal snapped and crumbled, the device falling off of his neck and landing on the floor. Serene staggered forward for a moment, her head accidentally landing on his chest. "S-Sorry... That was harder then I thought. T-Thankfully these idiots didn't know that I use magic. However, you'd think the collar would negate my magic as well, but for some reason it seems specifically attuned to your magic, Heero", she explained as she stood up straight again and pushed some hair from her eyes.

The sound of footsteps hitting stone alerted her to the fact that their guards were coming. Serene took Heero's hand again and whispered something. She pushed him into the darkest corner as the two of them became completely invisible. She pushed them away from the light because their shadows would have still been seen.

The guards rushed into the room only seconds later. "WHAT?! THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!", the first guard yelled. The man behind him, the one that had put Serene into the cell rushed forward and unlocked the door, stepping inside. "H-How?! The door was locked! He had on a inhibiting collar, and she was a normal girl! How could they have gotten out?!", he said, flabbergasted. The first guard hit the second guard on his head. "You idiot! She had a guild mark on her! That means she's a mage as well! She must use some kind of phasing magic, because their gone!", he said as he looked around. He grunted in anger and turned. "Come on", he said. "We have to alert the High Overseer and the High Reagent", he said as he disappeared below. The second guard nodded and followed.

Leaving the door to the cell wiiiiide open.


Serene rematerialised them both and smiled to Heero as she untangled herself from against him. "So far so good!", she said triumphantly.

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Deep and shaky breaths hissed gently from Serene's lips as she stood flattened against a tree trunk. She was scared. That was easy to recognize. The Dark Mages from before had sent some of their forces into the woods to try and flush her and Heero out, or to at least see if the pair was in there at all.

"Someone's coming", the words echoed in Serene's ears as Heero had said them, about ten minutes ago. She knew that because of his heightened senses he could hear things quite well, but she had no idea at just how fine-tuned it was. They couldn't risk a fight, no matter how much Heero wanted to. The two decided that they would stick to the shadows and make their way to the tower on foot for as long as they possibly could. Serene had cast a invisible force field around herself and Heero so they could move as undetected as possible. She had made the field's capable of being seen by those who had one, so she could see Heero and he could see her. It all seemed to be going quite well until Heero grabbed her wrist firmly and pulled her behind a rock.

He made a shushing motion with his fingers and pointed towards their left. Surely, there three dark mages armed with torches to light their path walking through the forestry.
"Once the ceremony is over, we'll be as strong as dragons!", one of the men called out in the stagnant night. Serene raised an eyebrow. That was odd... "Sh! The prisoners might hear you!", another said. "Speaking of them, did you get a look at that girl? Maaaan, I hope were the ones to find her! The things I'd do to that body...", the third man said. Serene shivered at the thought of any of those disgusting men touching her, let alone....

Serene was so effected by the man's comment, that she hadn't even noticed that she had moved up against Heero for comfort.

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So much for the silent approach.

Serene's side blazed where Heero had set his hands and arms not even three minutes ago. She didn't think much of it, but she did think much as whistles began sounding off all around them. Serene could tell by the sound and intensity of the whistling that the dark mages were using magical whistles that used the sound of other whistles to pinpoint the location of others. She could tell that they didn't have much time, if any at all. The girl ran forward, jumping over sticks and roots as she saw Heero beating a...corpse.

Serene's eyes closed as her blood ran cold. Killing. He...killed him. He..He didn't have to do that! The girl took a deep and stagnant breath for a moment as composed herself the best she could. The dirt covered girl raised her hand towards the living and dead men as a force field melded to life in her hand. She brought her arm back before she shoved it forward, sending sphere careening forth.

The ball flashed forward, rocketing towards Heero and the man. Heero's grip on the man slipped away as the sphere punched into the dead man's side which then sent him flying to the left. Serene moved over to Heero and caught one of his fists in the air, grabbing the blue-haired mage's wrist with surprising strength that one wouldn't think she could muster.

Ms. D'loro was full of surprises.

She dropped his hand as her hand shook, her open hand immediately balling into a fist as magic circle appeared under them both, sending her hair flying upwards, dirt as well. The girl brought her left foot forward and her right foot back as she gestured upwards with her hands. Eerie light shown from the ground as a long and sleek forcefield melded up from the ground, lifting Serene and Heero off the ground.

Serene gestured towards the sky and the board followed her command. It rose into the air, high above the treeline. Serene looked around, seeing the tower where Garfield was in the distance. She turned the board in that direction and snapped her fingers. Straps that were attached to the board appeared over her and Heero's feet, holding them into place.

Serene thrusted forward with her arm and they shot forward like a streaking bullet. "Deflect anything coming at us with your lightning", she said over the wind. And just as she finished saying that, various blasts of a variety of elements shined forth from the forest floor. Serene banked left, skirting away from a fireball as they pushed forward.

The entire time, Serene never took her eyes off that damn tower.

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It all seemed to whiz by after a while...

Fire, ice, anything in the air around Serene became a blur as the two of them shot forward through the sky. Heero had heard her, and that's all she registered for the moment. She could hear the lightning cracks around her, and she saw countless projectiles get ripped from existence by the electric bolts. She banked left, right, upward, down, whenever she had to, but for the most part, Serene concentrated her eyes on that tower. It was all she could do.

She'd failed. Failed Garfield. She let him get taken because she was too weak.. She knew it, if she would have been strong enough to fight back... Serene's eyes hardened. She knew tears wouldn't save him. Only action would. She was prepared to do whatever it took to get him back...and these sadistic mages were going to feel her wrath if anything happened to him.

As her hair flew back, she heard Heero tell her to head into the nearest ash cloud whilst spinning. She didn't question him at all. "Tumble!", she called out as they began to spin rapidly. Serene closed her eyes as their momentum took over. They shot through the cloud at a insane speed, but what was odd was the sound that Serene heard from behind her. Kind of a... slurping sound? Again, Serene didn't question it.

She was on a vendetta.

Serene closed her fist, as if she was tightening the reins on a beast as the forcefield she was commanding righted itself in the air. Serene took a deep breath before she pushed forward with her arm, their speed only increasing as they neared closer and closer to the tower.

When they were a good 75 yards away from the structure, Serene began to tilt her hand upwards, the forcefield following suit. Serene flicked the index finger of her left hand forward and the straps over Heero's feet moved forward, bringing him up against her behind as the forcefield itself began to become more and more vertical in the air. Serene's electric blue eyes closed as the forcefield became a bullet shooting upwards, a streak shooting off behind them.

To the clouds....

Serene's eyes opened just as the clouds were in reach. By that time, the forcefield had began to lose speed gradually the higher it went. She opened a lithe hand to stroke the misty substance before gravity overcame her psionic control of the forcefield, sending the forcefield back to the earth. Serene, quick to action, allowed the back of the board to spin in circles as their descent gained speed. Heero, being quite close to her, could probably feel the amount of magic power she was mustering as her eyes closed once more.

All of a sudden, Serene's hand gripped closed once more. Sound and speed became one as the nose of the forcefield tipped down, cutting the air pressure like it was nothing. The sound of a speed barrier breaking expelled around the two Fairy Tail mages' ears as they rocketed towards the ground at an angle heading straight for the tower.

Serene and Heero could easily see that the immediate area around the tower was infested with dark mages. This probably would have worried a regular mage... definitely not a pissed off one from Fairy Tail, Fiore's rowdiest guild.

As they shot downwards at about a 45 degree angle, Serene raised her arms to either side of her letting loose the magic power she had been holding back. Two large brilliantly translucent magic circles appeared on either side of the forcefield they were riding. Heero's use of lightning earlier had given her an idea...

The forcefield they were riding began to widen as the magic circles spun along. Serene flicked her wrists upwards and the forcefield stopped widening, but two large lumps began to form on either side of the force-craft. "Force...!", she called out lowly, her voice seething with powerful anger as the lumps of force suddenly melded, contracted, and lengthened out into two large gunpits.

"GATLING GUN!"

.

As she called this out, she tilted her hands down. The force-craft tilted it's nose downward towards the enemy combatants. Mere seconds later, thousands of forcefield bullets ripped from the "guns", shredding into the dark mages. Serene smirked as a large amount of them fell, knocked out from the sheer concussive power of her forcefields.

Serene sent the force-craft down towards the ground, just barely above the dirt and bodies as they whizzed along, only about 50 feet away from the tower.

45...

Serene snapped her fingers once more, and the nose of the force-craft began to expand. It started to push backwards and outward at the same time, turning into a sort of cone.

34...

Serene leaned back into Heero as a secondary forcefield appeared under them, lifting them off the speeding force-craft.

23...

Serene smirked as the force-craft smashed into the last line of the dark mages, smacking them around lazily as it shot towards the tower.

12...

"Force Battering Ram!", Serene called out.

Zero.

The forcefield impacted against the side of the tower, breaking right through the stone walls of the structure, sending a shake through the entire foundation. The two Fairy Tail mages landed quite safely on the ground as the secondary forcefield gently touched the ground. Serene politely unwrapped her arms from around Heero and took a step away from him as she wiped sweat from her brow. Looking around, she could see stragglers of the large dark mage group conversing around them. About 15 of the approximate 75 that had been there. Serene looked to Heero with a firm look in her eyes.

"Go get Garfield. These goons are mine. Force Armor!", she said before a magic circle appeared under her feet, her armor beginning to wrap around her legs.

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As the armor finished forming around Serene's body, she opened her eyes. Her light blue eyes were as hard as rocks as she looked at the ground, her fists shaking gently. She had suppressed her anger for so long... She'd done it for Heero, but now that he was gone...

She was cutting loose.

"Oi, oi, girly! You should just giv- urk!", was all the closest guy could say before Serene jumped at him with amazing speed, her armored-fist distorting his face. He flew backwards about ten feet before falling on the ground, the dust flinging around him. He wasn't getting back up.

"W-Wow! Get her boys!", another said. Serene didn't move a muscle as four of the mages rushed her at once. Their staffs crossed, letting off a cracking sound. Serene however had jumped into the air. She jumped over the mages heads and sailed over to the edge of the clearing. Behind her, Serene could hear reinforcements. She had to hold them off as long as she could...

Serene faced the men coming towards her as she outstretched her hands. Her armor shimmered for a moment before she erected a long forcefield in each hand. In her mind, she shaped the forcefields into swords. Taking a deep breath, the girl then rushed forward to meet her opponents. Swords met staffs and cleaved straight through them. The frontal assaulting mages that had weapons fell back as their weapons were useless now.

"Crap! How are we supposed to beat her!? She can make armor and weapons appear in midair!", one of the men said. One of the mages smirked. "We don't have to. The reinforcements are here!", he said with a cackle. Serene's blood ran cold as she turned around slightly. Sure enough, mages were pouring from the trees. She'd ran out of time...

Serene jumped into the air once more. She materialized a disk under her feet as she let her armor fall. While the lot of these mages were more powerful than her, she was not giving up yet. If anything, she was much faster than them, and she planned on using that to her advantage.

The girl rocketed forward and landed inside the tower that she had broken into. She touched down on the ground gently, her disk disappearing. It was time.. She was going to have to put every last bit of magic power into this attack. There was a horde out there, and it was just her and Heero...

Heero... Garfield... I'm sorry.

Serene closed her eyes as her arms spread wide. She could hear them. She could hear them coming, their taunts, their jeers, their footsteps. They had no idea...

"Force Style: One Hundred Circle Strike Barrage!", she called out as she began to float in the air, her hair flying around randomly. Just as the spell said, one hundred translucent magic circles appeared in the air in front of Serene and the tower, all facing the mob.

Serene called out in pain, her form staggering in the air a bit before she righted herself. This spell took enormous strain on Serene's body, but she didn't care. She had to do this. The magic circles in the air all suddenly pulsated at one time. "Attack!", she called out.

From the circles, thousands upon thousands of spheres rocketed out, turning into spears as they whizzed through the air. They began digging into the bodies of the dark mages, ripping many to shreds from just where they happened. Tears flowed from Serene's face as she hung in the air, her hair covering her face.

Two minutes later, it was was over. Many of the mages lay there dead, spears in and through them. However, many more were getting back up. Injured but not defeated.

They should have stayed down...

Serene's body shook as she bit her lip, the tears flowing only harder. "Expand", she whispered simply. What happened next was...horrifying. The spears began to not only grow longer, but wider, tearing through the bodies of the dark mages, killing them slowly. Serene's ears were flooded with the last cries many of those men made. The last cries they would ever make.

Serene, far past her limit, fell to the ground, her breathing so shallow that it didn't look like she was breathing at all. All that death... Serene shuddered ever so slightly. All that death that she caused. They were all dead...

"I'm sorry...", she whispered before the whole world faded into black.

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