Arc of Cosmos (S class Exam)

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t40514-s-is-for-stellar

The summons had gone rather unusually fast. It had not been that long to Zachary that he had joined Fairy Tail, met Arkadia and discovered new friends and spirits as well. And a head member then called him into the guild office and told him it was time for his S-Class Exam. Zachary couldn't believe it as while he worked hard and studied hard in magic, he would be tested to be promoted so soon. He felt nervous as he entered the secret passage and entered the portal, with only the instructions of his senior to direct him what to do. Luckily, there was no rule about going without his trusty companion-- Astral. WIth Astral on his head, and Nyx on his shoulder, he entered the portal to Tenrou Island.

It was morning when he arrived, and the climate much warmer there than it was in Magnolia. The island must of been further south or so he estimated. It made him having a jacket pretty pointless in this climate so he swung it over and used it as a mat to sit on as he studied up.

The goal was to develop and master a brand new spell on the island, and return to show it. It was an odd exam for Zachary to do-- however, luckily he already had been working hard to find out a new form of magic he had recently discovered from a lost tome in Oak Town. A book that contained Lost Magic-- A Lost form of Astromancy.

WC: 254

Zachary sat in a grove of trees, a general cool spot hidden by the intense sun . His coat was sprawled below him as he had the book he carried on his lap. The spellbook was heavy but held the spells of the lost magic an ancient wizard had, who lived in the tower he found it in. Zachary had been slowly reading it in his spare time, reading many entries from channeling stars' power to a record of unheard of Celestial Spirits. It was a mix of many spells and notes that not all were clear to read.

As he read and tried to remember the spells, he heard the soft chuckles of his Star Fairy companion. Astral playfully chased the Spirit Flies that fluttered around and glowed. Finding its new friends, the star fairy flew and spun circles around with them in the warm sunlight. Weee! Astwal love funny lights! he cheered telepathicly.

Zachary glanced up at his pet with a smile, but then returned to the tome before him. In addition, Nyx the Wise Owl Spirit he had was perched on a nearby tree, observing Zachary. "Have you found anything yet sweetie?" the owl asked.

"It's very complicated spells, Professor Nyx," Zachary said to the owl, a fist supporting his chin and head as he thought and stared at the diagrams. "This seems extremely similar to Celestial Wizardry, but no keys. No mediums, but the caster itself. A ability type magic. I mean I wanted to learn magic like this for a while but this is crazy. Supposidly the goal is to somehow use these spells to channel space magic, but some of the diagrams on it are pretty intense." he explained.

Curious now, the owl softly flapped her wings and flew down to a rock next to Zachary, looking at the book too. "Sounds like a strong form of Astromancy. If I recall correctly, a renown wizard had a form of it called Heavenly Body Magic," Professor Nyx said.

"That's what I thought, too." Zachary turned to the next page, showing her a paticular spell that was a diagram-- and folded not into 2 pages, but one more due to a flap in the page, showing a wide diagram that seemed to encompass a wide area, with the caster in the center. The text itself was in an ancient language, and slowly Zachary was able to read its notes and details. "However, the names of these spells, the method to cast them, and their detailed effects are crazy, and not all related to what I know as Heavenly Body Magic. Some are completely different, and require specific bonds to constellations and star models. " The more Zachary explained the book, and how Nyx looked at it, the warier the owl felt about the book.

"The fact that you found this book that was locked and could only be unlocked with a Zodiac key, " the owl said with caution, "This may not be a magic easily mastered, or to take it likely. It could be dangerous-- as most Lost Magic is."

Zachary knew what she meant and respected it. However, as he looked at the book, the more he felt compelled to read. it was more information he had ever read pertaining to Astromancy than he ever seen. "Yeah, I know what you mean... but this is very compelling information on the topic. Besides, if I can use one of the spell's from this book that is advance enough, it may allow me to pass to S class. It's worth trying right? This way I am killing two birds with one stooooone...." Zachary looked up to see Nyx glaring at him with her big eyes, unblinking with irritation at the phrase Zachary said. Zachary held up his hands and looked to his winged spirit. "I'm sorry... you know, figure of speech..."

The owl sighed and let it go with a shake of her feathers.

Returning back to the thee-page diagram Zachary found, he looked at the details. According to the text and the diagram of it being cast, it was a form of an intriquit spell that allowed the caster to control 'stars' around him. It looked almost like a planetarium, or mobile in the design, with the caster in the center, his arms wide up to control the movement of the 'celestial bodies' above him. He soon read the details again, the title reading "Secret Art. Macrocosmos."

WC: 743

Zachary spent almost an hour studying the spell, practicing the gestures in his mind and with his hands. It was a mix of words, visualization, and stances, especially this spell. He slowly began to see it clearer in his head, but it was a unique spell that had a multitude of effects, or channeled the other spells in the Arc of Cosmos magic differently. So he had to not just learn that one, but a few of the lesser ones too to make the primary one work. As he read, Nyx read the book too, while Astral, tired of chasing spirit flyes plopped on Zachary's head in a sleepy tone.

As the sun passed in the sky and the shadows of the trees changed. As Zachary studied a few more spells, Astral began to grow restless again. Letting out a soft yawn, Astral softly lifted off Zachary's head and began to float around the forest of Tenrou-- not too far away, but out of sight as Zachary's head was buried in the book.

The little star Fairy flew around the trees, taking in the sights of the golden forest, finding ruins and more spirit flies that he fluttered by with glee-- but soon he found something else. As he sat on a nearby branch of a large tree, another form of 'light' appeared before him. The cute star soon found small glows, far more brighter and bigger, able to see more humanoid figures and fluffy wings. More began to gather around Astral as the Star Fairy waved his little hands at them.

Ayee!!! Heeheehee! the star laughed as its new friends fluttered around mischievously.

As the strange fairies looked upon Astral, some of them whispered to one another. It appeared they were amused by the star critter, and spoke to one another. However, that jubilance changed as soon-- the fairies sparked unnaturally large grins, their eyes now a shade of black.

Astral gasped at the sight, and more of the little glowing fairies had the same looks on their face. Getting a bad feeling, Astral rose up-- and quickly flew away in fright.

AAAAYEEEEEE! he squealed and flew through the trees. He flew right back to where Zachary was. Nyx was almost asleep, her head tucked around her warm, white feathers. Zaaaaachaaawwwwyyy!! Astral cried in telepathy, voiceing his fright.

Nyx's head shot up with wide eyes and Zachary looked up from the book to find Astral flying through the trees towards him. A scared look was on his face as he screamed in his telepathic voice and flew right into his face.

PLOOOF!

Once again, Astral flew into a head-on collission, hugging Zachary's face and smothering him in a cute manner, though Zachary struggled to get him off. With a good series of muffled protests, Zachary reached up and pryed Astral off, gently holding him to not hurt the Star Fairy and let out a long needed breath. "GAH! Astral! What's gotten into you? What's wrong?" he asked.

WC: 499

Astral frantically waved his little arms, pointing to the forest in front of them, clearly having been scared by something. Zachary held on to his companion while Nyx flew upward, the owl now growing wary. They were warned there were dangers in Fairy Tail's Holy Ground. Still, things had been peaceful to this point.

The silence was all that echoed through the forest, along with the calm breeze from the sea. It was warm against them and all things seemed calm. Then, there was a strange 'whisper' on the air, like several small voices.

Then, like a sudden gale, the trees suddenly erupted with multiple specks of wild, moving glowing sparks. The sparks -- were the same fairies that scared Astral. However, there was a whole swarm like angry bees. For one reason or another, they were peeved and now flew towards Zachary with aggression.

"GAAAH! WHAT THE HELL?!" Zachary shouted, trying to cover his face from the onslaught of the glowing fairies that swarmed around them. The murmurs became full-on laughter, like that of vindictive children. These were the faries that he was warned about. They were small, but they were numerous, fast and bright to look at.

Nyx let out an owl's squawk as she quickly flew up and away, trying to avoid the storm of them, but before long they were encircling the entire area. "Zachary, be careful! These things are dangerous. Summon a Spirit and try to--"

"Bad-birdie-Bad-birdie!Bye-bye-bye-bye-birdie!" the voices chirped. They soon gathered into a massi-- then hurled themselves at Nyx. The owl gave an alarmed hoot, and was struck by them like a tide.

The impact was strong the owl went 'poof' right then and there, shattering into 'stardust' and returned back to the Celestial World.

"NYX!!" Zachary cried, but soon stopped as he felt the swarm around him again. They passed and each time they did, he felt a sting-- like a sharp laser that grazed him. His jacket began to singe as he kept Astral tight to his chest, protecting him. Looking around, he tried to find a gap in their swarming to run, to find some distance and safety from the swarm. Even if for a few minutes.

Despite the slashes and stings around his body, he took a breath, closed his eyes... and opened them, revealing the starry night in his eyes as he activated his Stargazer Eyes.

Each fairy and the mass of them looked like a rather bright and multi-colored nebula cloud, but the smaller patches of the cloud gave him some semblance of where to go. Anticipating the right moment, he quickly sprinted forward. He tucked his head low, seeing the 'constellations' of the terrain to guide him as he jumped forward out of the swarm and ran.

"Fairy Tail... Fairy Tail... come play with us! the fairy voices cried, and soon began to pursue after him.

Zachary ran through the trees as fast as he could, jumping over roots and rocks in his way as he kept Astral tight to his chest. The little star fairy was clinging to his shirt, and while he was a fairy too by definition, they these were certainly not as kind as he was.

He didn't have time to summon a spirit, and summoning one wouldn't do him any good to protect him from multiple, small targets that could attack from any direction. As he ran, he realized there was only one thing he could do... He had to use that spell.

Up ahead, he soon found a wide clearing within the trees, reaching far. As he ran into the grassy patch, the swarm of fairies busted through the canopy of trees and began to circle overhead, as if to form a halo of their movement and lights growing brighter. Astral looked up with concern, seeing the fairies getting ready to attack.

Zachawy... Astwal scawed... the star said, floating beside Zachary, clinging now to his shoulder when Zachary let go.

But Zachary skidded to a stop in the clearing and looked up, his eyes still showing the starry blackness in his corneas. Another breath came as he extended his arms before him, and focused. He pictured it, and with the aid of his Stargazer eyes... he actually could see it. Specks of light, stars all around him. He pictured them connected to them, gazing upon him and awaiting his movement. His word. As he focused, a magic circle appeared below him in the shape of a bright, yellow, celestial star.

The fairies became more aggitated as they saw the circle, sensing the casting of powerful magic. In a wide arch of his arms, Zachary made a wide circle-- and ended with his arms crossed, similar to some wizards knew as the stance for "Iced Shell". With it, the circle grew in size and brightness.

"Arc of Cosmos Secret Art..." Zachary shouted aloud, finishing the final preparation for the spell. A glow of brilliant yellow light radiated off Zachary. With a final cry, he threw his arms apart, casting his magic all around him. "... Macro... COSMOS!!"

A sudden pulse of his magic shot outward around him-- and turned into the form of multiple beams of light that zig-zagged in all directions in the clearing.

WC: 875

With Zachary's casting of magic, several beams of light shot outward from him, and began to zig-zag through the air like an intricate web. Dozens of points of light were made as the beams bounced around, and after a moment, the lights began to fade to reveal the 'joints' of the beams to appear something solid. Stars. Five-point stars that looked like something from a mobile, almost childlike save for a small red jewel in the center. However, there were dozens of them as they were spread out all across the clearing and in the air. As the light faded, Zachary with his arms cast out, he watched with awe as the star-shaped objects levitated in the air around him, making him feel like he was in the very center of a man-made universe.

No longer clinging to Zachary, Astral now floated beside him and looked in amazement and wonder at the star-shaped objects Zachary created with his magic. Oooooooohhh... Astral cooed in his telepathic speak, looking around at the stars and no longer in fear of the rabbid fairies. He soon grew a cherubic smile and waved his little hands in glee. Pweety spell! Pwetty spell!

Zachary felt a small strain on his mind and body. It was as if the stars weighed him down to keep the spell going, as he felt it draw and almost linked to his own magic power. But he didn't have much time to consider the side-effects of this spell. The chatter of the fairies soon grew louder as they saw the new spell active before them, somewhat annoyed by the presence of so many objects in the air-space around them. It was then they clustered into bits of light again and flew out towards Zachary once more.

He barely thought the thought. He raised a hand and a cluster of the stars moved. At that moment, lasers shot from the center of the five stars that moved, each positioned around the fairy clusters. As if to intercept, the lasers struck, detering the enemy away with a cry of surprise and pain.

His eyes went wide with realization. The star's acted to his whim, moved when he wished. Even with the simplest thought. Though his legs felt like lead now, heavy and stiff, the stars moved almost instinctively. He soon began to move his wrist and fingers, in a rotating, whirling motion slowly. At that moment, the stationary stars that floated around him began to move. They began to form orbits around him, circling the space which they stayed in. Zachary couldn't contain the smile on his face as he looked at them, swirling around him. It gave him a feeling of wonder and inspiration that excited him, and even empowered his stars further. Even Astral began to fly around Zachary, giddy at the magical mobile.

"No-fair-no-fair! " the vicious fairies cried as they swarmed overhead, more light gathering to the swarm of them. They began to glow brighter and brighter, till they released a large laser bolt upon Zachary, poised for Zachary's position. He couldn't move. Zachary tried to dodge but his legs felt heavy. He merely braced his arms...

... and in that moment the stars formed around him. He only thought the 'shield', and the stars created points of light between them-- forming a pyramid of light interconnected to each star that made it. The laser blast struck the barrier, causing it to shake, but it held. Zachary couldn't believe how intuitive and versatile this spell was. It formed not only omnidirectional attacks, but gave a full 360-degree defense!

WC: 599

The more that Zachary countered and guarded, the more the fairies began to become agitated and grow fiercer. They became one single blob of energy, and began to change. Astra looked in awe as the 'light' became a large creature. A 'fairy' mixed with some kind of ogre with an oddly cherubic face. Zachary's face skewed at the sight, seeing what he could only presume was 'ugly' by design. "Well, this isn't good..." Zachary groaned.

The unified, large 'fairy' took a step forward, becoming like a large monster. However, as it made its way forward, raising a large fist to try and smash it into Zachary, his mind raced. The stars began to move faster. He couldn't likely shield the attack indefinitely, but what if he bound its movements. With so many stars around, even some extremely close as it lumbered towards him, they could hinder its movements.

Zachary raised a hand up towards the monster fairy and concentrated. "Connect!! " he commanded. Just as the fairy was to bring down its arm-- beams of light crisscrossed across Zachary's vision, one of the lights stopping the fist by catching its arm.  More beams shot from each star around where the target was, but instead... they didn't burn, but become solid and formed all around it. They looked like a mess of a constellation, the beams interconnecting each star as it tied it up. The creature was now completely tied up, stuck by the surrounding 'net' of stars.

It was then that Zachary gripped his hand and pulled hard, a gesture which the stars replied to in kind. The stars suddenly moved, tightening the net of light  around the creature, pulling against its arms and legs till the momentum threw it off balance...

... CRASH!!

The giant fairy monster went tumbling down on its back, stuck with the beams of light restraining its movements. It struggled and pulled but each star interconnected held fast due to their number.

Instinct soon took over as Zachary rose his hand up high, as if he knew what the spell could do even though all that it was, was pure inspiration. with this spell, it was only limited to his own imagination.

At that moment, a cluster of the stars rose up high and began to circle above the fairy monster. They spun faster and faster, soon becoming a halo of light in the air with a charging surge in the center-- aimed right for the monster.

"FIRE!!" Zachary cried, throwing his hand down.

At that instance, the halo of stars flashed-- and a wide beam of celestial light came flashing down upon the target. The fairy gave a cry as the light eclipsed its form, followed by a rather large explosion.

The impact of the celestial laser blast caused a gust of hot air that washed over Zachary, Astral and through the trees around them. The resulting flash was fast, but in its place was a large crater left in the soil. The fairy monster was still there, the other stars withdrawn from the laser impact. However, it didn't move... and slowly began to become smaller specks of fairy lights once more.

Zachary kept his guard up, afraid the fairies would reconstitute themselves for some form of counter attack, but soon a cheerful giggle filled the air around them.

"Hahaha! Was-fun-was-fun! Fairy Tail Wizard is strong-strong!" the voices chattered. The smaller faries began to fly in a more warm and leisurely manner, making both Zachary and Astral look around confused.

It took Zachary a moment, but then he tried to talk to them. "UM... sorry, but can I presume, you guys were just playing with us...?" he asked.

"Play-play! Was-fun-was-fun! Fairy Tail Wizards make great-play-mates." the fairies said in odd, chattery unison.

As Zachary felt a bit more relaxed, his nerves unwound with it, so did his spell. The magic circle faded below him, and the stars slowly vanished one by one back into small shimmers of light. Exhausted by the fright and the spell, Zachary fell to his knees with a sigh, recovering. Astral flew over to Zachary in concern, looking up at his face as he caught his breath.

"Now I know why Lost Magic... is nothing to take lightly..." Zachary breathed, feeling his limbs a bit numb and wobbly. Astral reached up and patted Zachary's cheek, the little star fairy concerned about Zachary in his present state.

The chatter of the fairies continued, but there was no longer a hint of impish intent or impulse. More like pure children enjoying themselves. "Thank you, Fairy Tail wizard. We have fun and you won our game! Good-game!" they chattered in odd turns. "We had fun. Take-prize-prize back to your home. Proof you played well." the fairies said.

As they chattered, gentler lights radiated off the fairies, like a flurry of light that flew off the winds and pooled before Zachary. They gathered, much like they did the monster, but it was smaller as it landed. Before Zachary it glowed, and revealed an object before him. A stone tablet is no bigger than the spellbook he had taken with him. Though made of stone, it was thin enough that it could be lifted up. The scrypt on it was a form of language he could only presume was 'fey' .

"Thank you for the games! See you soon, Fairy Tail Wizard Zachary..." the fairies chirped, and soon began to flutter back into the forest...

WC: 911
TWC: 3881