Chapter 7

Old Friend and New Enemies

Wolf was walking towards his companions looking at each in turn as he took his place in the group. None would congratulate him knowing full well that Wolf wouldn't like taking second place. Instead the group changed the subject to the battle portion of the day.

"Looks like the first match is between Fairy Tail and Raven Tail" said Peacock.

"Should be interesting it's between that new girl Lucy and Flare." Said Dragon

"New Girl!?"

"Wasn't there when I was there" turning towards Peacock.

The match had begun and the women were going at one another. It wasn't as interesting as Dragon thought. Clearly the new girl was going to win especially with those celestial spirits against the hair wizard. Apparently this Lucy was a celestial wizard going by the cow man with the giant axe. However middle of the match Lucy stopped fighting, now to the crowd it seemed that she had just given up. None of the Exiles held that sentiment. They could hear the entire conversation between the two wizards.

"Looks like those Raven guys aren't going to fight fair. What should we do?" asked Peacock.

"Nothing." answered the Lion.

"Huh, why?" Peacock tilted his head towards the Lion.

"You heard the threat. That child over there is in danger a movement on our part will endanger her further better Lucy loses than anything happens to that child."

"Maybe you should have told Dragon that."

The Lion turned towards were Dragon was standing a second ago. Wondering just when he left and how the Lion had not noticed. "I hope he know what he's doing."

The Dragon was running through the arena tunnels to Fairy Tail's area. On the way he had run past Natsu who was also in the tunnels but Dragon rushed past him. He arrived in the balcony were the Fairy Tail guild was still cheering for Lucy. A few noticed the Dragon helmeted man and turned to question him. When Dragon gauntlets started to glow red he smashed his fist into the stoned floor. A piece of red hair could be seen burned up. Natsu rushed in behind him. Seeing what Dragon had done quickly turned to the arena.

"Now Lucy she safe!" yelling into the arena.

At that Lucy started to fight back. However, back at the Fairy Tail balcony several of the wizards were confronting the Dragon and his apparent attack. Dragon just turned away not bothering to explain himself. The other wizards were about to stop him when Natsu stepped forward and explained what had happen.

After the explanation several of the wizards thanked Dragon for what he had done for them. The Guild Master especially thanked him. There was tension in Dragon when the Guild Master went to shake his hand. Dragon quickly made his way out only to be stopped by Bisca and Alzack with their daughter Asuka.

"Now Asuka what do we say to those who help us." Alzack spoke to his daughter.

"Thank you, mister." Asuka beamed at Dragon apparently unafraid. "Hey why the helmet mister is you ugly?" Shocking both her parents who went straight into apology mode.

This brought a smile to Rion face. 'Brave kid, I still can't believe those two are together. Wouldn't be surprised if it was Bisca who was the one to ask Alzack.'

"Asuka don't be rude." Bisca told her daughter. "Ok Mommy."

"It's alright. Stay safe child." Was about to turn away when an idea popped into his head. "Maybe later you would like to play with some of our kids. I think you would get along"

"Really." Asuka seemed excited; there properly weren't too many kids her age in the guild. She turned to her mother. "Can I mommy?" Bisca was taken back a little she didn't really know this person and their guilds were in a competition with one another. The look in her daughters eyes at the prospect of playing with children her own age made her decision for her and her husband's support sealed it. "That sounds nice doesn't it Bisca." "Yeah it does. We can meet up after the games today."

Dragon turned to leave when gasps caught everyone's attention. There in the arena Lucy was laying on the ground apparently defeated. Raven Tail had won.

8 years ago

Rion was walking through the underground prison. He was looking for a safe place to sleep. The cannibals that hunted on the first level would attack anything they could find and Rion didn't want to fight them at least not with hunger draining his strength. 'Those bastards how can you treat people so inhumanly.' His stomach growled causing Rion to think back on what brought him here a week ago.

The warden had been beating on a prisoner and blood was getting everywhere. Rion couldn't take it anymore. He stepped in pulled the warden off and started punching the warden. Several guards responded and started wailing on Rion. The warden stopped them and said three words. "To the pit."

Rion was dragged by his feet around the prison. Being pulled to a closed off room were two guards were position at the front. Rion was picked up and moved to the rooms' only feature. A hole it was large and had no visible bottom. "Well boy look at your future." With that Rion was pushed in. All he remembered was darkness and then smashing into some kind of black sand. It cushioned his fall but when he pulled himself up it stunk him. He quickly got up and searched his surroundings. He was in a massive underground cave. It wasn't as dark as he thought it was going to be but still hard to see.

"Welcome to your new home boy" yelled the warden from the crust of the hole. Rion looked up with a renewed sense of hatred for the Warden. Rion then looked around noticing that he wasn't alone.

A small group of men was starting to surround him. They looked ragged and dirty. Many of them sported scars and bruises. However what got Rion's attention was the fetish and bones that the groups were wearing. They were human bones from what Rion could see. A closer look the men's eyes were red rimmed and had a crazy look in their eyes. Rion backed away from the group of men unsure of what to do and that's when the warden spoke up.

"Well, look at your new neighbors. Seem like they want you for diner."

"What is wrong with them?" Rion was still backing up when he tripped over a rock, landing back in the black sand. He was panicking and scrapping for anything he could find to use as a weapon. The group of men was slowly staking forward readying crude rock weapons.

"This is what happens to fools who do not know their place. They get torn down little wizard."

Rion was backing away from the coming group. His hand brushed against a small rock the size of a baseball. He grabbed it and stood up holding the small rock high for all to see. The warden and the group of cannibals were perplexed at first by the rock and the sudden change in the wizard temperament. Than they started laughing at the wizard some were even falling to the ground but the most grating part of it all was the warden's laugh.

"KE KE KE poor wizard how many do you think you can kill before they sink their teeth into you? KE KE KE" The warden was rocking back and forth laughing furiously. So he never saw the rock Rion had picked up earlier, nailing him in face. The Warden stumbled and two of his guards tried to help him but only manage to push him into the pit and ended up being dragged along with him. They landed in between Rion and the group.

The group of cannibals quickly changed their target to the new meal in front of them. They descend on the warden and his guards with furious abandonment. The screams of the warden echoed throughout the cave as they were being torn apart. Rion watched in horror as he saw the depths of the depravity of men. In just a few seconds the warden and the two guards were little more than lumps of meat. The men tossed the meat around feeding on the bountiful feast that they had just received completely ignoring Rion.

We'll all accept one. A man rose from the group and walked over to Rion. He had grease black hair and a straggly beard which was red with bits of flesh in it. He didn't look like the rest of the malnutrition group. He looked well fed. He was bigger than the rest and well muscular. He wore only black torn pants and a pair of brownish boots. His chest was covered in scars and on his right bicep was a guild mark that looked like a jaw biting the world. He was currently carrying the warden's leg with him and was taking bites out of it. He stopped right in front of Rion and looked down. "Thanks for the meal kid." He then took out a crude knife from his back and looped off the warden's foot. "Here's your share." Then turned back to his group and walked away.

Rion's minds went blank and he just looked at the foot in front of him. Tear's started welling up in his eyes. "I'm sorry" he whispered to the foot of a man he no longer hated. Rion got up and left.

That was little less than a week ago and things had not improved much since then. He found himself inside one of the biggest caves systems he has ever seen. The place where the pit was found was as low as the ceiling got to the floor which was as high as a four store building. However, once you leave that area the cave opens up into a huge cavern. The ceiling reaches as high as some mountains Rion had climbed on, in the past. Not only that but the cave had its own ecosystem with plants Rion had never seen before. There was an actual river that passed through the cave. The next weird thing was the lighting system which came from apparently special rocks in the ceiling that brought light into the cave.

Rion had no idea how but it worked and it did make things visible, a little. What was more shocking than that was a town the size of Magnolia in the middle of all of this. This was where the majority of population of the underground prison lived. To Rion's displeasure he found out that there were several large cannibalistic groups that lived down there. They apparently occupied the majority of the city.

Luckily, He also found out that there was another level below them that the people called The Forest. Apparently there were animals and creatures that you could eat down there. Only problem was that many of them could in turn eat you if you weren't careful enough.

Rion had already tried once and that nearly ended him. The creature he tried to hunt looked like a messed up bunny. It had all the characteristics of a bunny except for three major differences. One it was the size of a German Shepard. Two it had spinal bones protruding from out its back and final was the rows of jagged fangs that filled its mouth. Rion tried to kill it with a rock spear he found. But the thing had bit the shaft of the spear in half so Rion had to run. Only thing was it was fast and nearly caught him but luckily another hunter had appeared and the creature switched to him. Rion tried to help fight the bunny from hell but the thing had ripped off the other man's head before Rion could do anything.

After that Rion had stayed away from "The Forest". Rion would have to figure out what to eat and soon. "Grumble" Rion's stomach said as if on Que, patting his stomach Rion started again to look around for something to eat. He was so focused on his stomach he never noticed the shadow following him.

Present day

Lucy lay on the ground utterly defeated. She had lost to a woman who had used despicable methods on her. One who had threaten one of her Guild mate's child and she could not beat her. She felt utterly hopeless. That was when the manic red hair wizard walks over to her. She stood over her "Looks like I ripped this little fairies wing off, hehehehe." She took one last look at the celestial wizard and walked away.

From up on the Fairy Tail balcony the guild watched over Lucy. Dragon stood with them watching the lone wizard in the arena. Only thing was she wasn't alone anymore, Natsu had arrived to help Lucy up. Dragon looked around wondering when Natsu had left. Natsu was holding Lucy and walking her back to the team's balcony.

'Well, will you look at that? When did you get into girls? Heh Looks like blondes are your thing.' Dragon feeling like he was not needed anymore turned to leave. That was when he noticed a young woman in front of him. She had blonde hair and wore a white satin dress with bare feet. Her most noticeable feature was a pair of white wings in her hair. She barley came up to Rion's chest. However something felt weird about her like she wasn't really there. She felt like one of the spirits Rion had fought in the underworld war.

She walked right up to him examining him with those blue eyes of her. She than placed a hand on Rion's chest. "Makorva, what do you know about these Exiles." The old man turned to the young woman. "Nothing first Master, they are a mysterious guild and they've only been around a few years." Dragon was on alert when he heard Makarov say "First Master". Dragon recalled that the First Master of Fairy Tail was a woman named Mavis but she's been dead for many years. This woman couldn't be that person. Dragon was looking down at her in astonishment and worry, which both guild masters noticed.

"First Master can he see you?" Makarov was watching the dragon helmeted man intently. "That's impossible only those with our guild insignia can see me." She too was watching Dragon intently wondering the same thing Makarov. 'Who is this man?' That's when Dragon started kneeling down drawing closer to Mavis. She by instinct backs away from Dragon but Dragon moved even closer raise his hand to her face. She had a slight blush on her face when his hand was just a few inches from her face.

At the last second however Dragon reached past Mavis towards the floor. At this time the rest of the guild was watching Dragon. He got up and held his hand out too little Asuka. She reached for the item in Dragon's palm and pulled out a small toy gun. "Thank you Mister." She beamed at Dragon. "No problem Asuka, now don't go leaving your toys around. That's a good way to lose them and you don't want to lose your toys, right." "Ok, Mister." "Alright take care."

"Bye Mister." With that Dragon walked towards the stairs back down into the tunnels.

Makarov watched Dragon leave with a nagging thought in his head. 'He just looked like he saw Mavis, right?' Trying hard to think of how that wouldn't be the case and in the end decide ding that the truth would come out eventual. He then proceeded to turn back to his guild ready to get on with the games. Down in the tunnels Dragon made his way back to his team's balcony alone with his thoughts.

'By the gods that was Mavis. But how and why?' He then stopped and looked back down the tunnels. 'I've seen crazy things in my time but I've never seen the dead comeback …..And it be anything but trouble.' Dragon had to decide what to do with this information and soon but right now all he wanted was to get back to his brothers and finish the day.