Chapter 3: Darkness Magic
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— Dannis Martell —
"I don't know Makarov. The boy's case is a first, even for me."
The sound of an elderly woman's voice was what awoke him from unconsciousness as he blearily tried to make clear of his surroundings..
"It's certainly unique. A magic that controls and manipulates darkness. Very few could boast that capability." He heard Makarov saying to Porlyusica.
"But still, you don't think he's-"
"No. Very few magic is inherently dark Porlyusica. You should know this yourself. The only ones that are…are the ones that consume the user's lifeforce, involve a blood ritual, or have something to do with Zeref. None of the sort that happened to young Dannis. What worries me is that Darkness Magic is inherently demonic in nature. People who use them are those who usually learn them. It's very rare for someone to actually awaken Darkness Magic as their innate magic."
Dannis's heart contorted in a mix of fear and nervousness. Was his power truly that terrifying? To be compared to the greatest dark mage of all time? And Demonic..? What?
"Then I have no answers for you Makarov. The only thing I could think of that would cause his magic to act that way is trauma. He hasn't really had time to think about his new reality has he? His parents' deaths, his village razed to the ground. It's only been a day after all."
"No, no he hasn't." Makarov sighed, before continuing as his face gained a long look. "Do you know about the theory regarding how a mage awakens their magic, Porlyusica? A mage's natural magic takes form according to the mental state of the recipient at the time of the awakening. Their wants, their needs, their beliefs, their emotions. Perhaps his feeling of anger and loss combined with the need to push away his attackers made it so Darkness itself manifested."
"Makarov…you know what he will face when he grows up. Not many people would see it the way you and I do, especially regular citizens or even those old coots at the magic council." Porlyusica commented with a visibly concerned tone. "They'll think of him as a threat."
"I know, and that is why it is imperative for him to control this power. It won't be easy, but I've faith in him. He's a strong child. And besides, he's one of my children now. I would die before letting those council members get their hands on him."
A resounding silence was what followed Makarov's declaration.
That was all Dannis could hear before he fell back to blissful slumber.
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It was mid-afternoon the next day when he next woke up.
According to Porlyusica, it was mental trauma added with a sudden burst of raw magic that caused him to pass out.
At first, he was a little disgruntled at the fact his magic had only done him more harm than good, but it only made him more determined to find out the true power of his magic.
However, seeing as how it's a little dangerous to experiment by himself, Makarov came up with the idea to use a conduit for his magic. It was to prevent accidents from happening seeing as they still did not yet know the true nature of Dannis's magic.
Makarov said he had his suspicions, and Dannis assumed it had something to do with the whole darkness thing that he talked about with Porlyusica.
In any case, the master gifted him with a short blade that he got from the guild's storage and he immediately went to practice.
It helped since he literally had nothing else to do while he was in the guild, so he spent all his time practicing with his sword, experimenting with his magic, and spending time at the guild library.
Throughout his time in Fairy Tail, he also made friends with a bunch of the other members. It was even Wakaba himself that volunteered to take Dannis into his home and act as his foster guardian until a better arrangement could be made. Since he had nowhere else to stay, Dannis took him up on his offer.
Porlyusica would later regret this of course, as Dannis would later in life also take up smoking as a habit due to Wakaba's influence.
It was after the first week of training that he managed to gain some bit of control of his magic.
Dannis raised one hand as dark mist started emanating from his palm. The mist itself was black in color, but strangely outlined by a shade of purple.
"Woah…" Laxus awed with open curiosity as he tried prodding the mist with a finger. It floated around his finger like smoke.
They were sitting by one of the tables as they watched the guild brawl erupt for the fourth time that day.
"What is this?"
"I honestly have no clue." Dannis admitted. "But the master thinks that it has something to do with Darkness itself."
"Dark magic? Isn't that evil or something?"
"Darkness magic, not dark magic, there's a difference. Dark magic is magic that involves magical rituals that are usually nefarious in nature. Darkness Magic is a magic that utilizes the element of Darkness." Dannis explained, reciting the books of magic that he had read from the library and what he remembered from listening to Makarov's lectures.
"I see, so…not evil?"
"No." Dannis said as the dark mist dissipated into thin air.
"Alright then! Let me show you mine!" Laxus immediately cheered with an excited grin. He then fired a bolt of lightning at a random direction of the guild brawl, eliciting yelps of pain from those that were unfortunate enough to get hit by Laxus's magic.
"Lightning magic, huh?" Dannis questioned rhetorically. "That's pretty powerful magic if you use it right."
"Yep, definitely!" His friend commented with his head nodding excitedly. Dannis remembered Makarov saying once that Laxus's grandfather was a famous Lightning Mage. He must've been delighted for the chance to live up to his family name.
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It was around a month since they became friends that he and Laxus started to practice their magic together. During the month, he also took the chance to officially become part of the guild by stamping the guild mark on the back of his hand. He opted for the color to be black with a purple outline. The color that his magic takes form.
Dannis originally started his training by himself, with Wakaba and Master Makarov tutoring him from time to time. It also took him quite a while to make sense of his surroundings by only seeing with one eye. His sense of balance was off and he often mistakes his depth perception.
Makarov told him that they already made the order for the eye prosthetic, and it'll be coming soon. Dannis honestly couldn't wait for that day to come.
Laxus himself had always trained behind closed doors with his dad, so Dannis is actually quite eager to see how capable Laxus really is.
Gildarts happened to be around, so they roped him in as referee since Makarov made it very clear that adult supervision is needed whenever they want to spar. Which Dannis still finds a bit weird. They already deal with fights and guild brawls on an everyday basis, how is sparring any different?
By chance, it was also the first time Dannis had been introduced to Gildarts. The man was an utter goofball, which honestly endeared him a lot to Dannis, but the one thing that anyone would tell you whenever they ask about Gildarts was his strength.
His immense magic power just oozed out of him that even Dannis's rudimentary sensing skills could pick up on it. The guy was just so powerful and destructive that the city had to design a contingency and move the entire city whenever he came back to the guild.
Right now, he's acting as the judge of the fight between him and Laxus.
Dannis moved forward as he drew up his practice blade and swung it upwards, Laxus jumping back just barely enough as the edge of the wooden sword passed by mere centimeters away from his nose.
Laxus immediately pulled his hands back before unleashing a torrent of sparks from his fingers.
Dannis simply raised a hand coated with Darkness magic and slapped the lightning away.
"Come on! That's just cheating!"
Dannis just smirked. "Is that all you got Laxus? Don't tell me you're tired already?"
Laxus visibly grit his teeth as he tried his best to catch his breath. They've been at it for half an hour and already signs of fatigue are showing.
Not like he's any better.
"Alright kids, timeout."
Gildarts forcefully stepped in as he separated them both. Dannis and Laxus could only heave air as they got their breathing under control.
"What the hell is your magic made of?!" Laxus exclaimed as the two of them leaned against a tree with Gildarts standing by the side. "How could you just slap my lightning like that?!"
"It's something I figured out after hearing the story of my accident in the guild. Remember the thing with Macao's magic? Apparently my magic has the ability to absorb or nullify other people's magic as well." Dannis said with a small smile. He's had trouble identifying his magic with something positive after everything that's happened. He's honestly just glad that he found something about his magic that he could be proud of.
However, he hadn't managed to replicate the feat of absorbing other people's magic. That bit with Macao was purely accidental. He's working hard on replicating it of course, but right now he's content with the ability to slap away other people's attacks.
The fact that the act of it annoys the hell out people is just a plus.
Of course, it wasn't all powerful. Someone with strong enough magic power could either overload or just break through the absorption. But Dannis didn't see the need to share that tidbit of information with anyone as of yet.
"That's some unique magic you got there." Gildarts mused as he joined them by sitting and leaning on the same tree. "Although rare, I've seen my fair share of Darkness magic users, but not many could do the things you do. Usually the ones who practice them are devils and demons though."
Dannis just huffed as he crossed his arms. "Doesn't matter who else uses them. Darkness magic is incredible. It's one of the most versatile pieces of magic I've ever seen. The amount of things I could do with it is insane."
"Pfft, yeah right." Laxus scoffed, "All you did was take away a little bit of my magic. All you'd be is a glorified vacuum cleaner."
Dannis then narrowed his eyes. "You wanna go, bastard?"
"Bring it on, you sorry excuse of a swordsman."
'Oohh, he'll regret that.'
"Now, now, you two. Let's not-"
Gildarts words went unheard as the two boys began channeling their magic.
"Hah!"
Laxus charged ahead, lightning covering his fist as he threw it forward.
Enacting the lesson that Makarov imparted to him a month ago, Dannis channeled his magic towards the training sword. A black sheen covered the entirety of the blade, the wood cracking from the pressure, dark mist pouring out of the sword.
"Thunder fist!"
"Dark Cloaked Blade!"
Gildarts raised an arm to block the winds that emanated from the clash. He narrowed his eyes as the smoke started to clear.
Both Laxus and Dannis could be seen laying against the ground. Dannis holding on to the hilt of his broken training sword. A small crater formed where they clashed will all the grass around them singed and burned.
Gildarts immediately went in to check up on them, only to sigh in relief as they both groaned in pain.
"How's…that…sparky?" Dannis said as he panted in exhaustion.
"Okay…you win. This time." Laxus's eye twitched as he forced those words out. It was obvious that just talking pained him a great deal.
Gildarts just sighed good naturedly at the two monsters in the making. Seriously, they were only what? 8? And they're already capable of causing this much destruction. He could only imagine the type of shenanigans these two would eventually cook up when they're older. It's times like these that only strengthens his conviction to never take up the mantle of Guild Master.
'Good luck master.' Gildarts gave a deep chuckle as he picked up both the troublemakers like a sack of potatoes and brought them back to the guild.
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AN: Just a chapter regarding Dannis's early life in Fairy Tail.
Plot will pick up in the next chapter, Dannis will go on his first ever mission. Stay tuned!
For anyone wondering, Dannis's Darkness Magic will take aspects from Blackbeard's gravitational darkness, Yami's sword attacks and absorption techniques, along with Haki from One Piece and a few bits of Asta's anti magic.
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