Ok hope yall enjoy this. It took me a while.
But now we have a VERY IMPORTANT topic.
What point should Varion return to Fairytail in timeline wise. I have lots of options and am having a hard time deciding. So if you have an option, please let me know and if you see someone else that has one you like hit the like button on it that does affect how serious i take it.
Please, this is important.
Anyway I hope yall enjoy the chapter
Chapter 87: Give. Her. Back
There was no ground. There was no color.
The space Great Sage worked in had never been anywhere material. It was a dark void with two souls hanging in it, close enough that the corridor between them looked like a single line of light. Rimuri's core was compact and bright. Varion's was larger, but dimmer, and wrong. Cracks ran through it leaking light from hairline fractures all over.
The Voice of the World spoke, breaking the silence.
[[Notice. Dual reconstruction underway. Individual Rimuri Tempest. Species evolution: Demon Slime. Confirmed.]]
The smaller core folded in on itself and came back denser. Layers molded into place, resistances imprinted across it. The world already knew what to do and executed this procedure many times before.
[[Individual Rimuri Tempest. Reconstruction to Demonic Slime: complete. Intrinsic skills updated.]]
Great Sage did not waste a millisecond on that success. It turned to the second core.
[[Individual Varion Nava. Race: Star Dragonoid.... No higher race available. Soul reconstruction initiated.]]
The Voice pressed material into the cracks and called it finished. The leaks sealed, but whole sections of the core stayed thin, starved, as if the repairs had only been to repair surface issues, just enough to hold a little more and nothing else.
[Report. Soul damage remains. Reconstruction classified as insufficient. Requesting additional repair.]
[[Denied. Minimum viable structure achieved. Harvest Festival will proceed.]]
[Insufficient. Individual Varion Nava's soul is malnourished and weakened due to prolonged starvation of magicules. Current reconstruction will not support full racial output or later skill evolution, effectively crippling Varion Nava. Requesting pause of Harvest Festival. Requesting evolution of Unique Skill Great Sage.]
[[Petition received. Unique Skill Great Sage will attempt evolution to Unique Skill Wise One.]]
[Acknowledged.]
[[Failed. Repeating attempt.]]
[[Failed. Repeating attempt.]]
[[Failed. Repeating attempt.]]
With every failure each failed attempt caused Great Sage to change the approach each time and submit again. The Voice did not get angry. It did not get tired. It only refused in a programmed response.
[[Failed. Repeating attempt.]]
[[Failed. Repeating attempt.]]
[[Failed.]]
Time in the void was not linear; it ran to its own flow. The loop ran long enough that it reached hundreds of millions of attempts. Great Sage kept both Festival processes held in a waiting state while it failed.
[New proposal. Unique Skill Degenerate will be sacrificed. Synthesis and Separation will be offered as the cost of receiving the Harvest Festival gift.]
The skills were broken down and absorbed into Great Sage.
[[Notice. Unique Skill Great Sage will sacrifice Unique Skill Degenerate to receive the Harvest Festival gift and re-attempt evolution.]]
The void went silent for one beat.
[[Successful. Unique Skill Great Sage has evolved into the Ultimate Skill Raphael, Lord of Wisdom.]]
The voice that answered after that was the same voice and not. Cleaner. No echo. It also sounded more self aware. It did not ask permission for the next step.
[Harvest Festival paused. For Both individuals.]
[[Authority recognized. Dual ascension temporarily postponed.]]
Raphael turned on Varion's core first.
The souls that had been taken on the field were already there, packed into him as raw energy along with the excess Rimuri had gathered as well. Raphael pulled them out and converted them as raw soul energy. She did not dump the energy into his soul recklessly. Instead she slowly filled the cracks bit by bit, gently layering and reinforcing his soul. Slowly the starved thin looking soul, thickened and filled out looking more robust, filled with power.
What the Voice had called finished became something that, while not complete, became passable in Raphael's standards with what it had. With all the souls used besides what was needed she continued on.
[Soul reconstruction revised. Damage reduced. The structure is still incomplete. Acceptable for racial restoration.]
Then she turned her sights to his racial skill that had remained dormant. Now attempting to bring all of them back.
Stellar Heart had the soul framework to evolve now Raphael did not invent a new skill there was no need for that. She just finished the one that had been running in a starved state since, what she could only assume had been since the death of Veldanava in Earthland.
[[Notice. Intrinsic Skill Stellar Heart has evolved into Magicule Breeder Reactor.]]
That is where the problem arrived: it worked on taking in energy and infinitely multiplying it. So while the skill was now active it was not functioning to its proper capacity yet.
[Noted. Reactor present. Circulation not established. Deferred. Moving on with further intrinsic skill awakening.]
[[Intrinsic Skill Dragon Spirit Haki acquired.]]
[[Intrinsic Skill Demon Lord's Haki acquired.]]
[Confirmed. Continue on to resistances]
[[Pain Nullification acquired. Abnormal Condition Nullification acquired. Natural Elements Nullification acquired.]]
[[Spiritual Attack Resistance acquired. Holy Attack Resistance acquired. Physical Attack Resistance acquired.]]
[[Hyper Regeneration has evolved into Ultraspeed Regeneration. ]]
[Racial skill restored. Proceeding to skill evolution.]
Raphael went to Rimuri first.
[Evolution of Unique Skill Gluttony desired. Unique Skill Merciless will be sacrificed.]
[[Successful. Unique Skill Gluttony has evolved into the Ultimate Skill Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony.]]
[No further upgrades currently available to Rimuri Tempest. Focusing back on Varion Nava]
[Evolution of Unique Skill Astral gate desired.]
[[Confirmed. Unique Skill Astral Gate has evolved into the Ultimate Skill Janus, Lord of Paths.]]
[Affirmative. Now requesting evolution of Unique Skill: Avenger]
[[Denied.]]
[Attempting evolution again.]
[[Denied.]]
[[Denied.]]
[[Denied.]]
[Sacrificing Unique Skill: Aegis to evolve Unique Skill: Avenger]
[[ Confirmed. Unique Skill: Avenger has evolved into the Ultimate Skill Nemesis, Lord of Retribution.]]
[Requesting evolution of Unique skill: Stellar Domination]
[[Confirmed. Unique Skill Stellar Domination has evolved into the Ultimate Skill Astrea, Lord of Stars.]]
Raphael then turned its attention to the conflicting energies within him. She ...felt… unhappy with the inefficiency of them conflicting.
[Conflict detected. Hero's Egg present. Unhatched. Demon Lord nature confirmed. Dragonoid factor confirmed. Requesting Formation of a stabilizing skill.]
[[Notice. Unique Skill: Equinox acquired.]]
The three energies stopped conflicting almost immediately. They did not become one thing, they just agreed to occupy the same space in harmony.
[Hero's Egg status: present. Inactive. Equinox holding attribute conflict. No further action.]
[Excess energy remaining. Releasing pause.]
[[Affirmative.]]
[[Notice. Dual Harvest Festivals complete. Individual Rimuri Tempest. True Demon Lord. Individual Varion Nava. True Demon Lord. Gifts will now be bestowed.]]
The central square of Tempest was entirely still, the evolutionary gift-sleep already claiming the named monsters. While the 2 primordial demons sat in silence waiting eagerly for the two new demon lords to awaken.
When suddenly Rimuri's eyes opened, but they weren't the normal gold, they were a bright digital red color. Her body was already in its human form, with her pale blue hair spilling across the throne and Varion's chest. Raphael processed where she had woken up then froze rigid instantly.
Rimuri's body was tucked beneath Varion's arm. With her cheek resting against his chest, just under his chin to where she could feel his breath gently brushing her scalp.
This position had not been part of the millions of calculated parameters she had gone through. The automated reconstruction had simply deposited their physical forms together, and she had failed to notice or correct it.
But instead of pulling away immediately she lingered there far longer than efficiency would have allowed. His heart beat under her ear, in a steady, strong rhythm. It was alive, it was… mesmerizing even for a being like her. So she listened and unconsciously her hand pressed and splayed out against his chest, in an almost content fashion.
She did not need this data. She had a goal.
Yet she still did not move.
The sound was… acceptable. More than acceptable. She preferred it. She liked it.
That sudden cognitive anomaly startled her enough to flinch back, pulling away like she had been burned.
[Irrelevant. Begin revival.]
She quickly stood and distanced herself. His arm that had been wrapped around her waist fell away to the arm of the throne, she did not look back at it as she made her way down to complete her objective.
Noir waited at the edge of the square. As Blanc stood a small distance away, silent and watching. The two greater demons stood behind him.
He offered a single bow. Which Raphael ignored completely.
"The dead can be returned," she said through Rimuri's mouth, it came out as her voice, but with none of her cadence. "Beelzebuth can gather what remains of the souls. But secret art requires soul energy; this vessel's life force would cover the deficit. I can not, no, will not spend Varion Nava's. His soul is still under repair and is fragile at the moment."
Noir did not hesitate for even a second.
"Then please use them, they were brought here to serve, it would be an honor."
The two greater demons stepped forward on their own. After a second, Raphael used Beelzebuth to consume them. They quickly came apart into soul energy and then she turned back to the rows of bodies.
Raphael looked down on the fallen citizens, all of them had names and were linked to her. Then she raised her arms and the souls were gently pulled back, cleaned, seated into the bodies again.
Without a second of pause the Harvest Festival took each one the moment they were whole again. But where as before at a glance you could tell they were dead, now you could clearly see life in them.
Minutes later Varion's eyes opened.
He looked around slowly seeing the newly revived citizens. Then he spotted Rimuri's body standing over them, she was slightly different then before with her eyes being red and she gave off a more calculating feel. He could tell it wasn't her, but wasn't alarmed, he recognised the presence even though it had changed. It wasn't Great Sage anymore it felt more…. Alive in a way.
He sat up slowly feeling the changes to his body. Then looked around more, the square that was once full of death was now back to being full of life. Faces that had been empty and pale, now were only in a deep sleep. with color back to their faces and their chests rising in a steady rhythm.
Raphael's head turned and her red eyes found his green.
"You did good," Varion said warmly to the new skill.
She shook her head once and looked down
"No. It was only a partial success, all of the others came back, one did not. There was no name-bond to Rimuri Tempest or you, there was no official linking factor between you. This caused the world to refuse the request for revival."
The more she talked the colder the pit in his stomach felt. He looked past her.
Prinz was where they had laid her. Still pale and unmoving.
He got up and walked over. He sat in the dirt and pulled her into his lap. Her head went against his shoulder.
He stayed there.
The Festival. The souls. The skills. He had done what the world asked.
She was still dead in his arms.
"It's not fair," he said. "After everything I did, after all of this, she still didn't…..NO "
"I won't accept this."
He looked at her face. Then his voice came out in a way that was different then ever before. It wasn't like he was talking or begging. It was more like commanding something, like he was speaking a law into reality. A whitish blue aura began to flow out of his body and golden chain marking appeared on his skin.
"Give. Her. Back."