Chapter 10 face your fears to save your peers.
Erza and gray walked through what seemed to be endless corridors.
"Erza take a look at this" gray said whilst pointing at the wall in front of him. Erza acknowledged gray and her gaze met where his finger was pointing.
Gray and Erza both stared at the painting on the wall of a man walking through a door and moments later being brought to his knees covering his head in fear.
"What do you think this means Erza?" Gray questioned.
"I'm not sure I can't read this language." The armoured and the ice wizard journeyed on further but were forced to come to a halt.
There in front of them was a cross road one going left and the other right.
"Let's split up it's the only way to find those flames quicker. Natsu's life hangs in the balance".
"Gotcha let's go". Gray went down the left pathway whilst Erza took the right. Gray noticed a purple line appear behind him.
"Crap Runes!" Gray read the conditions; in order to proceed further you must prove yourself both strong minded and willed. Gray proceeded onward but all of a sudden came to a stop. As he gazed in front of him in shock.
"UL?!"
Erza travelled onward after passing the runes. What did they mean strong willed and minded Erza thought to herself only for her thoughts to be interrupted by a blinding light. Erza now became petrified when she saw where she was.
"It can't be. No not here!"
"So you've finally returned erza?" A huge sense of fear chilled down her very spine at the sound of that voice. She spun round to find the source of the voice.
"Jellal?!"
Elfman and Lisanna had also been forced to split up. Elfman protested at first saying that a real man has to stay and protect his sister but she soon made him let her go after reasoning they would find the flames quicker.
Elfman ran off down the corridor yelling "A Real man isn't afraid of danger!"
Lisanna sighed and carried on.
Runes appeared right in front of her saying do you have the strength to protect your loved ones? Lisanna ran on ahead fearing the worst. She saw ahead a muscular man with pink hair, a black jacket and a white scarf around his neck.
"Natsu?" What Lisanna saw next upset her greatly.
"Lisanna run!" She became flooded with emotion as she saw her boyfriend be stabbed and kicked to the floor. She experienced a painful sense of Déjà vu. As she gazed upon those sinister red eyes and that malicious grin. Lisanna charged the silhouette in anger.
Elfman was worried about Lisanna but he had faith in his little sister. All of a sudden runes appeared in front of him which read are you strong enough to defeat yourself? Elfman was puzzled at the riddle until he was attacked by a muscular figure the same as himself.
"Hey real men don't do sneak attacks!" At the point Elfman prepared for battle transforming his arm into the arm of a beast.
"Take over beast arm!"
"UL your dead?!" Ul hit gray over the head as she did when he was younger and her disciple.
"Don't call your teacher dead!"
"Now gray show me what you can do! Ice make rose garden!" Hundreds of ice encrusted flowers rushed towards sending him flying and ripping his shirt.
"Ice make lance!" Gray countered sending several spears at his teacher.
"Ice make shield!" Within an instant, Ul animated a shield to deflect the ice.
"Ice make spinning lily!" Flowers infused with ice hurtled towards gray.
"Ice make Hammer!" Gray destroyed the ice make magic.
"Okay time to get serious!" In an instant Gray threw off his ripped shirt.
Meanwhile, Erza was a nightmare from her own past.
"Jellal?!"
"Erza i told you if you returned I would kill you."
"Requip!" Erza's whole body illuminated as she began her transformation. She spun round and charged her opponent flying into the air.
"Blumenblatt!" 50 swords rained down from the skies above and tried to complete their task of piercing through Jellal. Jellal merely smirked.
"Meteor!" As quick as a flash, jellal's entire body glew yellow enabling him to travel at the speed of light giving him the ability to avoid erza's attack with ease. Jellal now he had evaded erza's swords flew straight into the back of erza with a flying side kick. Sending her down to the earth. Almost being crushed into the ground.
However, Erza wasn't called an S class mage for nothing she quickly recovered from the attack and requipped into her soaring armour.
She was now dressed in a leopard bra and skirt equipped with dual swords. Erza sliced with all her might at Jellal determined to strike him down now her speed had increased. However, once again jellal's speed had increased allowing him to get behind erza.
"Heaven palm!" Jellal grabbed his arm with his other hand and straightened his palm. Then in an instant a ball of heavenly magic shot out at erza right in the back sending her down to the ground.
"This is the end erza! Altaris" Jellal raised his hands above his head and created a small obsidian orb. Growing in size rapidly.
"Perish beneath Zeref Erza Scarlet!"
"Damn requip! Adamantine armour!" Erza was now equipped in a suit of armour covered in spikes with a massive shield. Erza braced herself for impact combining both halves of the shield to defend against the death ball.
Meanwhile... Levy and Mirajane were walking through the hallway until they came across ancient language on the wall.
"I'll translate it." Wasting no time levy proved her deciphering skills were second to none.
"I've solved it! It reads beware of the labyrinth of nightmares, choose the right way and you wont be killed by spears. But if you shall choose wrong prepare to fight your greatest fears!"
"Levy I'm worried about the others"
"Me too Mirajane but we have to keep moving and find the flames of emporium."
Back in the trials of nightmares.
Lisanna charged her opponent with her eyes infuse with rage.
"Take over bird soul!" Lisanna swiped at Nero with her sharp, fierce talons but was not fast enough to have them caught by the ice dragon slayer bringing her down to the ground. Lisanna wasn't going to give up so easily she was too angry to care about fear.
"Take over tigress form." Lisanna's speed increased dramatically allowing her to catch her opponent off guard scratching him and in the process, shredding various parts of his arm.
"How dare you touch me! Begone pest! Ice dragon's roar!" A beam of jagged ice fired towards Lisanna!
However, thanks to her agility she dove to the side avoiding the death blast. Lisanna was nevertheless hit by Nero's next attack.
"Ice dragon's diamond fist" a diamond ice fist hit Lisanna in the stomach sending her crashing to her knees.
"Pathetic you really think you can defeat me!" Lisanna whimpered in pain but remembered something Natsu did for her.
"Natsu don't you dare close your eyes! Don't do it!"
"Lisanna come here I have something to give you" Natsu reached for Lisanna's hand and surrounded it with his dragon force golden flames. Strangely it didn't burn at all it felt comfortably warm. Unfortunately this was all his power he used to stay conscious causing him to pass out.
"Natsu! Natsu!" Lisanna stood on her feet and clenched her fists in anger.
"I can't lose! I have to save Natsu! "Take over!" Nero gazed in bewilderment as he sensed the tremendous magic power originating from the young girl. All of a sudden Lisanna began to be surrounded by flames and her very appearance started to change. Her innocent blue eyes changed to a dark green, her little feet became encrusted by scales hardening them. Her hands shape shifted into scaly claws. Wings sprouted out her back of a dark blood red colour. A long scaly black and red tail. And her torso transformed into black scaly body armour.
"Take over dragon soul!"