Chapter Text
“Sting, what are you doing? The thief’s running away! Focus on the mission!” Rogue shouted.
“Hey, I’m not the one who’s not concentrating here! If you could just synchronize your moves with mine, then everything would be fine as usual!” he replied in the same tone. The truth was that things weren’t fine at all. The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth were having a hard time working together after their failed attempt to execute Unison Raid, which was something new for them. As long as they could remember themselves, they never had a problem with this specific move. In fact, that’s how they always got away from difficult situations, since it was a move that only a few people could achieve and they used it as an advantage. But, the last few days, things were different.
After they finally captured the thief and successfully turned him in, they decided to return to the guild and think about their next move. This thing with their coordination was going too far and it would be pure idiocy to ignore it more than they already did.
“Why don’t you guys go on a trip? Like vacation?” Minerva suggested, as she had started getting tired of all these complaints.
“Yeah, I guess she has a point. You’re really tired from all your work as a Guild Master and I’ve been going to a lot of missions lately. We probably need some rest, and everything will fall into place.” Rogue said and Sting nodded in agreement, although both of them knew that it wouldn’t be so simple.
“I can’t wait! Where would you like to go?” the white dragon slayer asked.
The two guys decided that a trip on the mountains would be their best option, as they would combine vacation with exercising and training. This would be their opportunity for a getaway, especially since they had to sort things out a bit, because of something had happened that distracted them. But, they never sat down to talk about it properly.
The incident happened exactly a week ago. They were at their apartment at night, as usual, watching a movie.
“Did you see that? She winked at him!” Sting almost shouted.
“Are you kidding me? She didn’t. She’s clueless that he likes her!” Rogue replied, even though he was secretly hoping that his friend’s theory was the right one.
“Well, I definitely insist that she did. I mean, look at her eyes, the way she looked at him and how he responded.” he continued.
“Oh do you mean like this?” Rogue wondered and tried to make fun of the white dragon slayer by winking at him. He posed and unintentionally closed his eye in an undoubtedly attractive way, even though he only had in mind to laugh.
“Hey! Stop making fun of me for wanting them to end up together!” Sting complained and tackled the shadow dragon slayer on the couch that they were sitting, making their faces barely touch and their eyes stare. It wasn’t clear who caused this, but the next moment their lips collided and their tongues were dancing in the rhythm of their kiss, which none of them tried to break. A few moments later, it was like the matter was forgotten, and the two mages went to sleep. And they never bothered to talk about it, no matter how badly they wanted to. This was going to be a hell of an interesting trip…
Chapter Text
The next day that they had packed their things, they left the city. They had decided to follow a pretty difficult route through the mountains, but this was exactly what they needed. Some solitude would most likely give them the answers they expected for both matters.
Honestly, it’s not exactly certain which matter bothered Sting more. He was definitely afraid of something wrong happening with his powers, but all he could think of was himself on top of Rogue’s well-shaped body and his lips touching his. He had to focus on his training, but how could he do that? His friend was always around, seducing him with every move! No wonder his powers were not functioning well, he was unable to concentrate.
“Sting, are you coming?” he suddenly heard a voice from ahead.
“Y-yeah! I was just looking at the view.” and what view…
They continued walking through the mountains, they met several beautiful sceneries, valleys, waterfalls, it sure was an amazing journey. But, despite all the training, their powers simply refused to form a Unison Raid. This strength was special to them, as it signified their bond. Every time they used it, they could only think of each other and how beautiful this is. Shadow and light. This was the key…
“Sting, would you like to take a break? I know how stressful this is and I think it’s best if we stopped for a while.” Rogue suggested.
“But we have to figure this out! It feels weird not to be able to fight alongside you. Don’t you get it? I…” he started talking when he noticed that his friend’s attention was somewhere else.
“Hey, look at this! There are some stairs here! I think we should check them out.” he said and grabbed his partner’s arm, who was thinking about what he could have said if it weren’t for those stairs.
“What are these stairs doing in the middle of nowhere?” Sting wondered.
“I have no idea, but they were hidden pretty well. I only saw them because I stumbled on a branch and moved the leaves on top of them. One thing is certain though, that someone took his precautions on hiding this place. There are traps everywhere…” it was obvious that Rogue had gotten serious about this.
“Are we really going to investigate this temple? Because it’s definitely a temple. I mean, look at these carvings on the walls, they sure have a meaning.” the white dragon slayer asked.
“I have a weird feeling on this. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m pretty sure that this temple has a lot to tell us.” the shadow dragon slayer replied.
“I know that I shouldn’t be worried, but what has gotten into you? It’s usually me who doesn’t get restrained when facing the unknown. Are you okay?” Sting expressed his concern.
“You’re right, you shouldn’t be worried. I just think that we need to discover as many things as we can here, and this adventure, as you call it, will probably help us with that.” he replied.
“Well, I can’t help but be worried, because we still can’t do our Unison Raid no matter how badly we train. We’ve never been like this and you know it.” the white mage almost shouted.
“Wow… If I didn’t know you as much as I do I’d dare to say that you want to protect me from something. Who am I kidding though?” Rogue said and smirked.
You’re closer than you think.
Chapter Text
The stairs led to a dark underground path that forced the two mages light a torch. The carvings on the walls multiplied as they proceeded, and they almost seemed like they were moving. It was an unusual sight for both of them, so they walked with care. They didn’t know what they were going to find, so it was best to be prepared.
“Watch it! Why aren’t you paying attention to the path in front of you? You seem off today.” Rogue shouted, as his friend tripped and fell.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me and be careful yourself.” he replied and kept going, while trying to hide his smile. He decided that this is not what he should be thinking about, so he started looking at the carvings instead. They were pretty interesting, actually. They depicted several mages performing several moves that he had never witnessed before, but all of them had one thing in common. They were various forms of Unison Raid, the magic that combines the powers of two mages.
“Rogue, I found what we were looking for…” he said.
“I know. I guess I was right to come here on vacation.” he smirked.
“I have no right to complain now. But, we still have to search the meaning of these carvings. I know that they depict moves, but how can we use them? Are they even safe to use? Because I’ve never heard of anyone using anything similar and that’s definitely strange. Don’t you agree?” Sting expressed his thoughts on this matter.
“I definitely agree that there’s something not going well here, but that doesn’t mean it only has one possible outcome. Anything could happen, either good or bad, so stop worrying!” Rogue was unusually optimistic. It was like the way they reacted had changed to the exact opposite of what it usually is and no one seemed to notice.
They continued examining the walls of this dark tunnel, while moving forward. They wanted to reach the end of this long, ancient corridor, as it would lead them straight into their desired answers. It was almost too good to be true, but this wasn’t enough to stop them from proceeding. The darkness awaits.
Their path only got thinner as they moved forward. That made them come closer and closer as time passed, which was exhausting for both of them. The heat was unbearable after some point, but all they could do was keep going, until they reached what seemed to be the end of their road. It was something that resembled a ritual room, where sacrifices took place and evil spells were first used among humans. Of course, all this information came from the carvings, but Sting was right to feel uneasy about this sudden sense of curiosity that Rogue was now showing. This ancient magic spells were only used for inhuman purposes that hurt people.
“Hey, Sting, you have to take a look at this.” Rogue said, definitely shocked by what was lying right in front of him.
“I’m not sure if this is what we need. Do you see all these brutalities that took place here? I can tell you for certain that this is way above what we can handle.” he replied to his partner.
“But this is the spell that will give us the chance to perform Unison Raid again! Don’t you see? Those people that were previously here may have done a lot of things that we wouldn’t even come near, yet this is exactly what we were looking for. This could only be a terrible coincidence, but I don’t believe in such things. It’s here for a reason, and we have to use it.” the shadow dragon slayer suggested with an irrational passion in his words that Sting had never seen before.
Chapter Text
The Twin Dragons of Sabertooth finally decided to take what this place had to offer without the dark side of it. They would learn whatever seemed helpful for their issue and then they would leave and never look back. This place had to stay away from the public, the powers it withheld were too strong for the world to handle. And that was actually pretty obvious at the dragon slayers, since they were having trouble executing their spell, even though they’re both experienced mages.
“So, this is supposed to be the way you execute this. Can you do it?” Sting asked Rogue, who looked kind of emotionally unstable that day.
“Yes, of course. Let’s do this.” he replied and took a deep breath.
“You’re not going to do anything. Don’t move!” someone shouted. He was standing at the back of the room, so the guys couldn’t see him. Wait, there’s someone else who knows about this place? Sting thought, obviously worried at the threat that was now facing them. Because, this person definitely knew the secrets of this temple and he was probably ready to use them in a fight.
“Who are you? What do you want from us?” Rogue asked the stranger who was threatening them.
“Well, I’m Kuroi, the person who keeps people away from this place. As for what I want, that’s simple. I want to kill you.” he replied to the confused mages.
“Wait. What are you talking about?”, Sting was speechless. He had no idea of what was going on, or what he needed to do in this situation. Whenever there was an enemy they had to face, they always had a reason to fight. At least they knew why they were attacked.
“Oh, didn’t I make myself clear? You have trespassed our holy land and you have seen our secrets. That’s why my only option is to kill you. I guess you’ve already understood the importance of this temple, haven’t you?” Kuroi informed them.
“Yes, you could say that we’ve seen things that we didn’t like.” the shadow dragon slayer said.
“Then why were you about to use them? I just saw you preparing for a very specific kind of Unison Raid. Do you even know in what conditions this move was formed? Or, why the people who created it were fighting? You seem like the type of people who are against the darkness, so let’s make it clear. These moves were created to kill.” the enemy continued his explanation. This was something irrational for the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth. Why was he talking about all this? He wanted to kill them, so what was his goal?
“I understand that you know a lot about this kind of power, am I right?” Rogue wondered.
“Yes, in fact I do. Are you sure this is the last thing you want to hear before you die?” Kuroi asked with a smirk.
What’s happening with Rogue? His eyes are darker than usual. Talk to me…
Chapter Text
“Yes, that’s exactly what I want to hear.” Rogue was losing his mind along with every control of his actions. This was something that Sting had never witnessed before. There was no reason for his friend to be interested into killing spells, as he never wanted to hurt people, even though he seemed like it.
“Well, then I have no choice but to tell you. This is a kind of dark magic that was created by a few followers of the black wizard Zeref, about three hundred years ago. It turned out to be extremely powerful, and eventually it got its own will. The people that knew about it understood that this power is too strong to be free among humans, so they decided to restrain it and only use parts of it when needed. The only way they could do that is lock it in a place where no one would ever find it, besides those who deserved it. In other words, this temple that you are both standing at is alive.” Kuroi explained, making the white dragon slayer confused.
“Wait, you just said that this was a protected place that can only be found by certain people. Then how did we come here?” he asked.
“I shall assume that your friend was the one who stumbled at the stairs of the entrance, right? And, you’ve noticed that his eyes are different, just like his behavior. Am I right?” the man made him feel uneasy with all these questions.
“Where are you taking this?” Sting said angrily.
“Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed. Your friend has been chosen, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Everything was set at the moment he stopped cooperating with you. This power is only mastered when the chosen one rejects his old magic, and that’s already been done.” He admitted and laughed with the reaction of the dragon slayer.
“Rogue, don’t listen to him. You’ll be fine! Just hang in there!” Sting shouted to his friend.
“You don’t need to worry about me, I am already more than fine. The closer I come to the source of this power, the more I can feel it running through my veins. So this is what they call strength…” the shadow dragon slayer wondered.
“Now, you’re not useful to us in any way. I guess I’ll have to imprison you before your execution, as there could still be something you could help us with. A good slave can always come in hand. Rogue, can you lead your friend to the cage?” Kuroi said and Rogue immediately rushed to fulfill his command. This magic was destroying him rapidly.
I have to stall them. I need the time to figure this out. I need a solution! Sting decided not to fight, because he would be fighting against his best friend. Was he really his friend? All he could do was examine this temple during his stay there and find something, anything! Who would have expected that the answer would be into his own prison?
Chapter Text
The white dragon slayer spent hours in the cage that he was locked in trying to figure out this puzzle. From his experience, there was nothing, not even the black magic of Zeref that was irreversible. He couldn’t come up with anything, as he didn’t have the slightest hint of how this magic worked, except… Yes! That’s it!
It had taken him too long to realize that he was being held inside a living temple. This entire building would be both the source of ignorance and knowledge. Everything that he had witnessed with his own eyes was a clue that could be used to fight against this darkness that was taking over Rogue. But, he only had one chance and he had to make it count. He had no time to lose.
“The guard informed me that you have something to defend yourself with.” Kuroi said, awakening Sting, who had fallen asleep because of his mental exhaustion. It wasn’t exactly entertaining to watch your best friend’s reason disappear.
“Yes, I do. I would like to keep my life, even if that means I have to be a slave here. I’ve already seen how many of you there are, as well as the power you withhold. Therefore, it’s best for me to do as you say, and in return I get to keep my life and a decent place to live.” Sting was desperate, but he needed to keep his act together and negotiate. There was no room for mistakes.
“Well, I have talked about it with the others and you could definitely be of use to us, starting now. Your duty will be to clean this place carefully, away from the walls. The other prisoners will show you what you have to do.” The black wizard informed Sting, who tried not to show signs of relief, as his plan would be ruined. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. You will have your powers removed in six hours from now. We can’t risk having you walking around like this, can we?” This was the finishing strike for the white dragon slayer. His powers were the last thing he had to remind him what he’s struggling for. If he lost that, it would be the end.
He was now with a co-prisoner, learning more about his duties. Of course, his attention was a little further, at the walls of this temple that would show him the way. The carvings were the soul of these ruins, he was convinced. There was no other way. As he was cleaning the floor, his eyes met a few magical combinations that had nothing to do with the other ones. He couldn’t quite place what they meant, but they sure seemed familiar. The way these people seemed to move was as if they were…dancing?
I’ve seen this before, it was at the movie we watched just a week ago! But what does this have to do with Rogue? It’s obvious that this is different from everything here and that it is helpful in our situation, although I cannot see a way that this can actually be beneficial. Except… This is not any kind of dance, it’s a memory! Yes! I have to awaken his memories to bring him back!
Chapter Text
Sting was seemingly dealing with his duties as a prisoner, but in fact he was trying to figure out a way to bring Rogue back. There was no doubt that his memories were the key, but he needed a strong, powerful reminder of his old life, preferably something that he would be willing to fight for. But what caused Rogue’s feelings to ignite more than anything else in this world?
The white dragon slayer was lost in his thoughts once more, trapped in the effort to solve this puzzle. It took him too long to realize that the time limit was going to end soon. He would find himself powerless against his enemy, unable to protect his soulmate. And Rogue would be consumed by despair.
Kuroi appeared, along with the soulless body that used to belong to Rogue. His reassuring look was gone, and so had his caring heart. The lifeless expression on his face was all it took for Sting to confirm that he had to act on his own, since he wasn’t going to have help from his friend.
“I see you’re doing well with the other prisoners. That’s good, useful.” Kuroi awakened him from his thoughts. Then, he ordered Rogue, who had become one of his soldiers, to tie him up and lead him to a certain room. As soon as he walked through the door, panic surged throughout his body, because his eyes met an extremely surreal machine. It consisted of a chair, where the victim sat, with cables coming out of it and leading to a huge tank. Later, he realized that this tank was full of the magic that this organization had stolen from their prisoners.
He found himself shouting with terror overflowing his voice, but his cries were in vain. Rogue couldn’t hear him, and there wasn’t anyone around that could help. Two guards kept him restrained, while Rogue made the necessary preparations for the machine to work. He was the one in charge for tying him up, making sure that everything would go smoothly. That was Sting’s torture, to watch his beloved take away his magic. The entire concept was as if it had come out of a nightmare.
Everything was set, and the former shadow dragon slayer was taking care of the final issues before the extraction. There was no turning back.
“Rogue, listen to me. I know how we can solve this, but you have to pay attention to me.” The dark mage kept performing his task expressionless, approaching the white dragon slayer’s eyes. Sting hoped that he remembered something, but his empty look discouraged him. It’s now or never. “I love you. What I’m doing might be pointless, but I’m about to lose my powers forever and we’ll definitely lose the chance to perform a Unison Raid again. So, before our lives are destroyed, I want to do something one last time.” Rogue’s expression hadn’t changed. He hadn’t moved throughout Sting’s speech and kept looking at him disgracefully.
Suddenly, the short distance between them stopped existing. The white dragon slayer stretched his neck and reached Rogue’s lips. He didn’t want to believe that this situation was irreversible, but he wanted this kiss to be his last memory if his plan didn’t work.
SamuraiKanda on Chapter 1 Sat 31 Dec 2016 03:25AM UTC
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Killjoy_shipper on Chapter 1 Sat 31 Dec 2016 11:03AM UTC
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