Natsu and Gray hesitated. Natsu watched for Arkadios, who strode over to the double doors and started to push them shut. Cana and Juvia were clear of any residual damage that would occur. Natsu and Gray were braced, ready to pounce on Harloc if he made any sudden moves. Natsu didn't want to make this flashy, he wanted to make this quick.
"Don't underestimate him, Natsu, Gray!" Hisue called out.
"Nah, don't worry about us," Natsu said.
"Wanna make a game of this?" Gray asked. "Whoever takes him out first wins?"
"Sounds fair to me," Natsu said. "Need a head-start?"
"I'll let you soften him up for me," Gray said.
Natsu's flames roared in his hands. Harloc remained stoic, his arms behind his back, a calm expression on his face. That smug look…he knew something. He was hiding something. Natsu would just have to hit this guy soft enough so he could talk afterward.
"The power of Titanfall, huh?" Natsu asked. "Well let's see how it stands up to the power of Fairy Tail! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
Natsu blasted forward. Flames shot from his feet, jetting him across the throne room. The heat from his flames burnt the banners around him to a crisp. He was upon Harloc in no time.
Harloc glanced up at Natsu and Natsu felt a sudden wave of cold. Something locked in his body and his chest seized. The flames in his hands vanished and the warmth in his body was gone, completely.
"What was that?" Harloc asked. Natsu landed behind him. "What spell?"
Natsu reached for his magic, but, there was a barrier between his will and his actual magic. Natsu swung at Harloc, who blocked it without even looking.
"They always attack so preemptively when this happens," he murmured. He spun around, decking Natsu across the face.
The blow knocked Natsu back, sending him airborne a few feet. Blood gushed from his broken nose. Natsu's head slammed back against the marble and stars exploded into his vision. He sucked in a breath from his mouth. Harloc half-turned to face him.
"Get up," he said. "Or is the might of Fairy Tail truly that of a bleeding mess on the floor?"
"You shut your mouth!" Gray roared. Half of his body was shadow and his eyes glowed a malicious purple. He rammed his hands down toward Harloc with an ice sword.
Harloc chuckled and looked back to Gray. The ice didn't just melt, it dissipated into little bits of dust before Gray could hit Harloc with it. Harloc caught Gray's hands, punched him in the gut, and threw him across the way into a pillar.
Natsu took his chance. He bolted for Harloc and blood sprayed from his nose across his chest. He tensed the muscles in his arms and lunged forward. Harloc blocked with a hand, turning to face Natsu. Natsu swung up with his leg. Harloc caught his leg and slammed Natsu onto the ground next to him as easily as a piece of clothing.
Natsu tried to roll away but Harloc still gripped his leg. Natsu twisted free, although it felt more like he let Natsu go. Natsu sprawled on the ground and pushed himself back up. Harloc turned and was now facing both of them. Gray got back up. His eyes were back to their normal color and there wasn't a hint of Demon-Slayer magic about him.
"Indeed, without your magic you're quite useless," Harloc said. "Compared to true, raw strength that is."
"We're just warming up," Gray said. "Let's kill this guy, Natsu."
"Agreed," Natsu said, and waited a second while Gray charged him. Natsu joined him, and the two leapt at Harloc together.
Harloc swept underneath both of them. Natsu and Gray had the perception to dodge away from his kick. Natsu landed first and launched a flurry of blows against Harloc, who blocked most and caught Natsu's final fist. He yanked Natsu close and elbowed Natsu in the temple. What was once a vision partly-filled with stars was now flooded with them. Natsu stumbled back and received one final kick to the chest that completely knocked the wind out of him.
He couldn't see what happened to Gray, but heard another grunt and a body hit the floor. Blackness took control of Natsu's vision, and then he fell to into numbness.
Cana watched, wide-eyed and mouth agape, as Natsu and Gray hit the ground at the same time, and this Harloc asshole had barely been touched. She couldn't say a word before Juvia exploded in a torrent, quite literally, of rage.
"You'll drown for hurting my Gray!" she roared, and her voice was much deeper, almost demonic.
The wrath of Juvia soared at Harloc, who chuckled and glanced up at her. The waters disintegrated just as Gray's ice had, and Juvia flung, unwillingly, toward Harloc.
Cana snatched a pair of cards from her side. "Not her."
She flung the cards at Juvia. Harloc chuckled and caught the cards with one hand, and with his free hand punched a falling, powerless Juvia straight in the gut. She gasped and puked up more water before falling limply to the side.
Harloc crumpled the cards in his hand. "More magic, and more things that simply won't work. I thought you'd be more perceptive, Ms. Clive."
"My name's Cana, you idiot," Cana said, and had more cards in her hand quickly. "And I've got more where that came from."
"Do you though?" Harloc asked, folding his arms behind his back.
Cana glanced at the cards, and almost dropped them from her startle. They were completely black, without any magical insignias and no glow about them. Cana scowled and put them back. She felt her own magic getting drained completely as well, as it appeared to have happened with Natsu and Gray.
He stole magic, that much was obvious; or, maybe, he blocked it off? But to do so in such a short amount of time was incredible. Natsu and Gray had oceans of magic power, and this guy could shut that down in an instant, with what, just a look?
"Who are you, really?" Cana asked. "You're way too strong to be some loser from a guild nobody's heard of until recently."
"Every strong guild starts quiet, Cana," Harloc said. She felt ice in her veins when he said her name. "Fairy Tail did. Mavis Vermillion became a source of pure magic in the world and yet if you'd asked anyone within the first few years around the continent who she was nobody would know. Besides, I haven't walked the lands of Ishgar in quite some time."
"So you're from Alikitasia?" Cana asked. "Some Alvarrez enthusiast?"
"I can appreciate what Zeref wanted but no," Harloc said. "I come from another land, a land you've never been to." He nudged Gray with his foot. "This one has. As has Natsu, here. We used to have some incredibly powerful mages there, but, it would seem time was against our side."
Cana stopped from making another assumption. He was leading her on, trying to make her seem less intelligent.
"Then what do you want here?" Cana asked.
"To complete my plans," Harloc said.
"You came to the wrong place for that," Cana said.
"Two of the strongest wizards in Ishgar lay unconscious at my feet and yet you have the gall to say such a thing?" Harloc said. He grinned. "You do have your father's blood, the heir to a Guild Master for sure."
"You seem to like taking dower powerful wizards," Cana said. Magic that could stop someone dead in their tracks? Master Makarov had been an old man, perhaps his magic was the only thing keeping him going, and someone that could stop that would have the power to kill him without anyone knowing.
"But not assassinating Guild Masters," Harloc said. "I know who did it, who killed your Master Makarov. And I helped him do it."
"You bastard!" Cana exclaimed, and reached for her cards.
Harloc held a hand up but Cana didn't care. Screw this guy. She whipped out a hand and try as she might, as much as she resisted, she couldn't summon her magic for the cards.
"Fine," she grunted, and cast the cards away to aim her hand squarely at Harloc. "Then'll I blow you out of Crocus."
"Good luck," Harloc said. He started walking toward her.
Cana pushed the edges of the barrier blocking her from her magic. She could feel the purity of Fairy Glitter spilling throughout her body, and her willpower was soaring to new levels. She wanted nothing more than to blast this guy off the face of the continent. Harloc continued toward her, and with each step his malevolent grin grew.
"Agh!" Cana exclaimed, and threw her fist forward. Harloc caught it with ease.
"The power of Fairy Tail," he said, and upper-cut Cana. She was out before she hit the floor.
Sonya dropped to both knees. Her hair cascaded down around her, despite her best efforts at tying it up. In front of her, Wendy hardly seemed fazed. Lucy and Carla watched from the sidelines, while Tyla stood nearby with her healing herbs. Alli was, of course, nowhere to be seen. Sonya balled her fists and pushed herself up. Did she think she was better than this, that Sonya was still beneath her?
Sonya felt her magic rushing through her body once more. Wendy held her stance at the ready.
"Just try to control it, Sonya," Wendy said. It'd been like the fifth time she said that. Sonya tried but the power just lashed out at her. The Stellanium around them all glowed up and a magic beam launched from her hands. Wendy batted it aside and Sonya felt her body heave forward. She couldn't stop it this time, and almost fell into it.
Carla and Tyla rushed to her side. Sonya breathed through her nose and wiped her mouth with her training gi. The air around them was cold, too cold for Sonya to be wearing just a gi, but she didn't care. It was proper training attire, and it was helping her absorb her magic.
Her hands touching the Stellanium ground made her instantly feel better, refilling her body with the magic she had no grasp over. Sonya shut her eyes and let a pair of tears trickle down the side of her face before Tyla and Carla helped get her up and straighten her back. Sonya wiped dirt from her chest and managed back to her feet.
With her bare feet she felt the power of the Stellanium coursing through her still, getting her back up to full power.
"Not done yet," she said, once again. Her body swayed in the breeze. Sonya tied her hair up behind her head and then let her hands drop, filling up with the crystalline magic.
"Good," Wendy said. "Come at me again, then. Concentrate."
Sonya kept her eyes shut and focused not just one the environment, but what was inside her. Of the storm brewing within her.
It raged on for the last four days, with little control. Sonya only made as much progress as figuring out what was causing her magical stirs and then how to release it from her body, but hadn't quite gotten around to wrangling it yet.
It was the Stellanium. Of course it was. Sonya had been exposed to it for centuries and now, without Animus to fill her body and support her weakened Life Magic, something had to fill that magical gap. The natural minerals around that practically breathed magic filled that up nice and well; not to mention Animus had been a dragon partly composed of Stellanium.
Even then, though Lucy, Carla, and Wendy weren't entirely sure what sort of magic Sonya was using. Could it be just some basic sort of magic, or was there something to it? Carla promised to study Sonya, and indeed, Sonya had noticed. Carla had several pages of notes written down already based upon Sonya's reactions to physical and mental tests.
She'd been put through quite the ringer. She was tested against Lucy, the Celestial Spirits, the elements of Stellanium themselves, and now, Wendy, one of Fairy Tail's fiercest warriors and most powerful wizards. Sonya hadn't adjusted well to any of these tests. The test of Stellanium—sealing herself in a tower purely made of the substance to try and absorb it—nearly killed her, but, in a refreshing way. Sonya almost felt as it were a painful, but right, connection. That she belonged with it, and that the substance belonged with her. It could just be shared energy, but, Sonya informed Carla to keep an eye on it.
Sonya could still feel the magic washing inside her, clashing like waves within her core. Wendy tried to impart the wisdom her dragon, Grandeeney, gave her when she was developing the higher forms of magic: Not letting the power of the magic overwhelm the power of the will. Magic was mostly a mental struggle, of knowing how much power to output with any given spell. Since Sonya's magic was unique to her, and didn't technically have any spells, it would be up to her how to release magic at the proper bursts for her to craft it into something more, something beautiful. Something magical.
She turned her feet and opened her hands up to Wendy. Blue sparks flittered from her hand. A small blast released from her hands.
"Control, Sonya!" Lucy exclaimed.
Sonya cocked her head and another slight beam was let loose, but she didn't feel a sudden wave of exhaustion from it. Will and mind, fighting together to quell the natural rage and confusion of magic within her.
Sonya focused on her core, and on her composure. How had she composed herself when Animus was within her, begging to break free? Turning himself into an illusion and breaking free wasn't an entirely common act; Sonya didn't have control of it all the time, but she could control it. This was no dragon, this was just some crystal energy. It didn't have a soul or will of its own; Sonya had the will, therefore, she would have the control!
An aura flared around her. Sonya kept her eyes closed. She locked off part of her power, feeling similar to tensing one muscle and letting one go lax. Her left hand stopped sparking, and as she wanted, her right hand remained normal. Not a dragon, just crystals. No soul, so she was in control!
"Let's give this a name, shall we?" Sonya asked, opening her eyes as the sparks in her hand started to form into a star-like shape. "Stella's Star!"
She pushed her hand forward, and instead of a full-on beam, just the star shape flew toward Wendy. Sonya yanked her arm back and let more magic loose. The star expanded and Sonya closed her fist, cutting off the magic. The star exploded in front of Wendy.
Wendy scooted back to the edge of their training area, blocking the blast entirely as Sony had wanted. Sonya lowered her arm, and tensed her legs to stop her from moving forward. The Stellanium at her feet refueled her body quickly.
"Way to go, Queen Sonya!" Tyla exclaimed.
Sonya smiled and her mind slipped for a second, letting her ego get the better of her. Magic shot free of both her hands, and the force knocked her back. She slammed onto her butt and laid back on the ground. She tried to laugh off the pain.
Carla approached her first. She knelt down, smiling, blocking the sun from Sonya's eyes.
"My Queen," Carla said. "I do believe you're ready to have control of your magic."
"What do you mean?" Sonya asked.
"I think I've figured out the one thing you're missing from becoming an incredible wizard," Carla said. "Do you trust us enough to do it?"
Sonya sat up, with Tyla's help. Lucy and Wendy were both approaching, smiling and giving Sonya some praise. The queen looked to her trembling hands, then clenched them into fists and nodded.
"Of course," Sonya said. "It's what you're here for, after all."
Cana came to, and it felt like only seconds since Harloc clocked her and left her for dead in the throne room. She sat up, but woozily eased her way back onto her elbows. A light pitter-patter of footsteps rushed up to her, and she felt a furry little hand patting her back.
"Easy, Cana," Happy said. "Don't sit up too fast or you'll hurt your head."
Cana glanced about, regaining her vision. "Harloc?"
"Gone," Happy said. "He said he'd be leaving Crocus now that he has everything he wanted."
"Has?" Cana asked. "What'd he take?"
"The valuable information that he can just walk into the Queen of Fiore's throne room and not even Fairy Tail can stop him," Hisue said.
She was over by Arkadios, who, with Hisue, was tending to Natsu, Gray, and Juvia. They'd been propped up against the wall. Mustn't have been too long then, if they weren't put away in an infirmary just yet.
"Did you know him, Hisue?" Cana asked. She rested her hand atop her head.
"We'd met only once before this exchange," Hisue said. "Though it's also one I'd like to forget. He came after he threatened Arkadios's family, and then decided it would be wise to threaten me and my ailing father. He and three other wizards stormed the castle alone and defeated everyone, including the Death Squad, with incredible ease. He said he'd be waiting for you to arrive and wanted to keep you all suspicious with a lavish entrance, to have you on guard and at the ready for something to happen."
"He was that confident, huh?" Cana asked.
Hisue got up and strode toward Cana. Cana blushed. Even in stress, Hisue retained her regal looks. How'd this chick manage that? Cana felt a dryness in her throat. She needed a drink after all this…an entire barrel would do her something nice.
"He didn't reveal much of his plans," Hisue said. "But told me that it was a wizard in white that killed your master."
"A wizard in white?" Cana echoed.
Hisue laid Cana down and laid on both of her knees. Cana's head rested against the steps up to the throne itself. Hisue laid a wet, warm pad along Cana's forehead.
"Yes," Hisue said. She looked away from Cana and folded her hands on her lap. Happy sat down between them, but couldn't take his eyes off of Natsu. "And they've apparently been allies for quite some time, apparently since their time together in Edolas."
Cana blinked and shook her head. "Edolas? You said Edolas?"
"The alternate Earth-land, yes," Hisue said. "I don't know how they got here, or why they would actually choose to leave, but we aren't in much of a situation to get specific answers. All we've been left to do is speculate."
Cana shifted to rest her head a bit easily as it started pounding. "You've got to be kidding me. Frigging Edolas, of all places."
"You've been?" Hisue asked.
"I was a giant lacrima along with most of my guild," Cana said. "But I heard it was a real pain in the ass. I can only hope that my experience with the place this time is a little better." She felt some vomit form in her mouth while her body still settled down. "Not off to the greatest of starts, though." Cana felt the dryness in her throat. She looked to Hisue, all beautiful and innocent and regal. "Say, you got anything to drink around here, Queenie? I need a beer."