Chapter 14: Second Battle: Fight of the two FairyTails

All the guilds stood still the commentator paused and then he said words that none of them expected to ever come into existence.

"WE HAVE FAIRYTAIL TEAM B – LAXUS DREYER & ERZA SCARLET VERSES…."

For some strange reason Lucy felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. She had this sinking feeling that was all too soon proven correct.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL AND SAYA DRAGNOIR OF FAIRYTAIL TEAM A! WHAT A MATCH UP! IT'S THE FIGHT OF THE TWO FAIRYTAILS!"

Natsu and Saya looked at Erza and Laxus both knowing that this would be a hell of a battle for them on both sides. Erza seemed irate though about having to face her guild mates in such a way – she had gone to argue against it but Natsu had grabbed her wrist. She turned to look at him as he shook his head at her and tilted his head in the direction of the shadows where she could make out guards. Knowing why he'd stopped her finally she relented and looked him over. She saw him as family, but not as an opponent standing in the way of victory. Her eyes softened when she looked at the two Dragon Slayers standing before her with their heads down.

"We can throw it right?" she asked.

"No…we cannot…" Natsu's calm and formal reply shocked her.

"Are you suggesting we fight each other?!" she declared.

Natsu turned on his heel and left with Saya beside him, but walking out of the arena as the competition was continued – they were done for now, Laxus was fighting one of Raven Tail's members today and tomorrow morning would be a fight between Natsu, Saya, Erza, and Laxus. Everyone was stunned, but at the moment most had other things to worry about. It was as they walked that Saya began talking to him, strategizing in their first language to keep from being heard. They heard footsteps as they reached the exit and the stairs that led them back to the booths. Lucy was standing there looking at Natsu as she shook her head and came to him, wrapping his arms around her he took a deep breath being grateful that her scent seemed to relax the tight trembling inside him.

Fight his comrades like this? He didn't want to – but there was no choice. Saya placed a hand on his shoulder and he nodded to her as they came back to the booth to watch Laxus's battle against Alexei. Apparently he was getting his tail handed to him, but Natsu and Saya both felt something was off much like Gajeel and Wendy. He looked down as he slumped to the ground and rested his head on his knees while thinking. Did this mean they would have to use that now? He hadn't planned on it for a while. As he internally broke down the situation the others were watching his behavior closely which he took great note of. Lucy came to him and he shook his head not knowing what to think right then.

Gray and Gajeel looked at him with Mirajane, Erza, and the others as well in curiosity. Natsu was acting as if he was panicking – if that was the case then it meant he was actually worried – which never happened. The red haired re-quip wizard began grasping at straws to find an answer to something, but she knew there wasn't one. Natsu was going to have to fight her and Laxus whether they liked it or not. Gray stepped over to him as Laxus knocked Alexei back some before being knocked around himself. The Fire Dragon Slayer looked pathetically disheartened and he didn't like that one bit.

"Does it bother you that badly? He asked.

"I'm just thinking is all…why? Got a problem with that ice princess?" he narrowed his eyes.

"You look pathetic like this – stand up," Gray stated. Natsu glared.

"I don't want to nor do I have to right now….besides…" the others glanced his way.

"Besides what?" he shrugged.

"Whatever happens I still have to honor what I said on day one – the second team of FairyTail is an enemy standing in the way and I'll treat them as such…gomen Erza…I don't really want to fight you or Laxus…Saya doesn't either…" the girl nodded.

"If we throw the match something might happen – good thing is Raven Tail will soon be nothing more than a bad memory," she stated.

"Saya? What do you mean?" she tilted her head, grinning from under her bangs.

"As I said….Raven Tail will soon be no more than a bad memory," her words echoed the end of the game.

"THE WIN GOES TO FAIRYTAIL TEAM B! LAXUS DREYER…HOWEVER!" everyone turned to see none other than the very person most never dreamed of seeing on the ground before Laxus.

"IVAN!" snapped Markarov.

"BECAUSE RAVEN TAIL'S GUILD MASTER COMPETED IN THE GAMES THEY ARE – DISQUALIFIED!" jaws dropped as Saya blew her bangs out of her eyes.

"Told you…hey Natsu? Can you help me? My bangs are killing me here," she said. The other nodded and came over to her before pinning her bangs to the side a bit. With just enough heat to his hand he styled her bangs away from her eyes and she smiled in relief.

"That better?" she grinned.

"Yup! Arigatou!" he nodded.

"Mondainai." Gajeel laughed.

They looked at him as he eyed the two over before pointing to Saya's bangs and then looking at Natsu before laughing some more. Natsu got what he was laughing at, since he'd stopped bothering to keep his bangs out of the way none of them had figured out how he'd done it – however, considering that he'd just done that for Saya it explained a lot.

"That's how you make that messy hair of yours behave? Really?" he asked laughing.

"What's so funny about it?" Gray stared at him.

"Why'd you stop?" Natsu shrugged.

"Waste of time if you ask me…" he looked at Laxus as he came up to the balcony.

"Ah, but really? Steam?" asked Gajeel.

"You do the math idiot! I don't exactly care I just got tired of my bangs being in my eyes all the time – I cut them just before I'd met Lucy." She paused.

"I noticed…your hair doesn't grow," she said. He flinched.

"It's a trick I learned from my mom – saved us a lot of time because we were always busy." Saya nodded.

"I just grew mine out, but Natsu's dad had kinda long hair…I mean it reached to just before his shoulders – but before that fight he cut it too," she stated ruffling Natsu's already messy rose colored hair.

"So…you must look like your dad huh?" Cana froze when the boy looked down.

"Yea…"

Lucy knew that it hurt to talk about it – he'd witnessed their deaths. But why did she feel like she was missing something important? Shaking her head she grabbed his hand as they left the arena to prepare for the following day. Saya had begun chatting with him as he too worked on an idea. There was a mention of something but Lucy decided to not think on it for now as they planned. Did Natsu plan on defeating them? She could only imagine what the unison raid really looked like since she had only seen it burst and nothing more. After a few moments of walking Saya paused and then shouted that she'd catch up with them later. Natsu had nodded as she ran off and he rolled his eyes at her.

She decided to begin talking as the others headed on back to the Inn while she dragged him around the town for a few hours to take his mind off things. It wasn't much more than talking and window shopping. But it seemed to make him feel better. Lucy had paused however when they'd shown up in front of a wedding shop and she paused to look at herself in the window – the wedding dress's reflection going over her own form just right. It looked older than the ones she'd seen, but it was still beautiful – something her mother would have liked.

With her mind wandering she almost didn't notice Natsu come behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. She looked at the dress again and then back to him as he smiled to her and she grabbed his hand before thinking to the few times that she'd come up with the insane idea of them being together, getting married, starting a family and she could only have then shook her head and ignored the sensation of pain when Lisanna returned and Natsu would give her that smile that once had been just for her. However, it had returned to being just hers again when they'd admitted their feelings for each other.

"When this mess is over…let's think about getting married okay?" she went quiet and still at his words.

"You mean that?" he smiled and it was cast into the reflection, his bangs hiding his eyes.

"Of course Luce…I wouldn't say it if I wasn't serious – Dragons mate for life…Slayers are like Dragons…we find one person and mate for life…"

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Lucy questioned.

"I'm asking…that you promise me you'll survive so I can marry you when it's over….when FairyTail is back to normal, when we're all happy again….when that person is dead…" Lucy looked down.

"You mean…" he nodded.

"Then we can get married, have a family…" she smiled.

"I'd like that….so it's a promise?" Lucy inquired this as she turned to face him.

"Yes….a promise that when it's over we can be together as a family."

Lucy leaned up and kissed him before wrapping her arms around his neck. When it's over – they can look forward to more – they can both be just guild wizards and not the ones standing between evil and the end of the world. As they headed back to the hotel Natsu felt himself sigh in recognition of the fact that in mere hours he would be facing Erza and Laxus. After getting back everyone ate dinner and celebrated another victory, and also hoped that the fight wouldn't change things before heading up to bed. None of them were much for talking as they all instantly fell asleep the moment their heads hit the pillows. It was as they slept Natsu opened his eyes knowing what was coming and deciding that it was insane, but undeniable.

He looked at the leather straps on his left wrist and took a deep breath before closing his eyes wanting to just momentarily forget what he had to do tomorrow and wish it away – Tenrou went well, Infinity clock never happened, he and Lucy were already together – her dad was happy for her! And still alive! They had children like Alzack and Bisca and everything was fine. He gave a weak smile knowing that it wasn't supposed to be that way. He frowned at all the insane time paradoxes he'd had to endure during his life – was this what he meant? When he did that to them? Was that why? He narrowed his eyes.

"Etherius…don't let me down m'kay…dad…." He thought while glancing at the rune.

Morning was utter hell he realized when he stood in the entry way of the arena with Saya at his side. Saya looked at him and he nodded before with one final breath he entered the arena with her at his side – memories flashed into his mind and he shook them away knowing it wasn't the time to reminisce. Standing on the other side was Erza and Laxus both looking a little smug – no doubt thinking they had the upper hand because they knew what magic they used. They knew Natsu and Saya pretty well by now, however what they didn't realize would be their down fall.

Even though they were comrades – Natsu and Saya didn't tell them everything about them. With their strategy in mind everyone was fairly sure of who the winners would be because Natsu and Saya said nothing about their own for good reasons, but what was about to happen made him feel guilty and even though Saya said they'd understand later he questioned if they really would. He looked at the two as they got prepared and Natsu looked down as Erza eyed him. No one was going to see this until time for it and he refused to bend under her gaze.

Eyes determined he looked back at her with an icy gaze that made her stare wide eyed while Saya looked at Laxus with a smile. Her eyes tinting deep blue with purple hints – he gaped before they prepared themselves for a fight. The crowds were tense, all of FairyTail was tense. Natsu closed his eyes, head bowed a bit as Saya kept hers closed.

"WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE THIRD DAY OF THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES! TODAY WE START WITH THE BATTLE OF THE TWO FAIRYTAILS!"

Crowds erupted but it was background noise to Natsu and Saya as they tried to think about how to go about this correctly – just jumping in would make it worse. They opened their eyes to look at each other before nodding as they kept their eyes on Erza and Laxus. Both were watching, but finding nothing that was giving anything away – they were both guarded which slightly concerned Erza because she had never seen it before.

"OUR COMPETITORS ARE FAIRYTAIL TEAM B'S – ERZA SCARLET AND LAXUS DREYER VERSES FAIRYTAIL TEAM A'S NATSU DRAGNEEL AND SAYA DRAGNOIR."

"Natsu…" shook his head to Erza who felt an ache in her chest.

"Just leave him be Erza – he's got something planned."

"I know…that's why I'm worried…he's never this guarded," she stated.

"Yea….things are gonna get interesting."

"ARE WE READY? COUNT DOWN! THREE!"

Silence from FairyTail.

"TWO!"

Tremors of heartbeats were heard by two Dragon Slayers.

"ONE BEGIN THE BATTLE!"

Natsu and Saya jumped as Erza came at them as did Laxus. Everyone shouted in surprise as the two dragon Slayers kept moving, not staying still for long. Lightning hit the ground and Erza came in swinging at Saya who kicked off from the ground like a dart. She flipped away and the two came at them at once. Both in sync cartwheeled out of the way and landed in a crouch before side rolling out of the way. Natsu blocked the lightening with his fire magic and Saya absorbed the attack with hers. As they hopped about the stadium blocking and dodging perfectly in sync most stared entranced by their movements. Natsu and Saya both were intune with one another to the point it looked more like they were dancing in a battle style rather than dodging attacks.

Erza yelled as Natsu swapped places with Saya and they zipped across the area in seconds – getting behind them. Laxus stared as Natsu was suddenly face to face with him and the boy's eyes went blood red before he again vanished. The two of them swung together and the attack finally caught them and hit them into the next wall. Laxus grinned and Erza smiled as the two Dragon Slayers hit the ground seemingly down for the count. The arena grew quiet before in a mere second later Natsu had dragged himself to his feet, Saya gripped his hand and he helped her up. Both standing they stood arms out, almost as if they weren't will.

"Are they giving up? With just one hit?!" asked Lucy.

"No, they're playing with them." They looked to Gajeel.

"What do you mean?" asked Mira.

"They're doing just that playing with them….look…they're both smiling."

Sure enough both were looking up grinning those smiles that suited demons. Erza prepared for a battle as did Laxus. They both came at them and traded off – hitting them with their magic before being thrown back. Natsu flipped mid-air and looked at the two of them before eyeing Saya who skidded back and threw her arms out, everyone stared as Natsu kept the two of them busy while Saya closed her eyes – the crowd was questioning whether or not she was preparing something and they soon got their answer when she swung out the arm that had the three leather band bracelets on the wrist.

"NATSU! IDO HIDARI!" She shouted to him and he bolted left.

The firs band, the green leather one with old world imprints upon it glowed its color and flashed. In seconds, before her was a tome made of old green leather and parchment paper. Lucy and Levy eyed the book in wonder as she rose a hand up and out and Natsu blocked both Erza and Laxus from getting to her.

"ARCHIVE OF MY RIGHT - CHAPTER OF THE LOST – AWAKEN! PIPER OF LOST SOULS!" the book flipped its pages and landed on an image that glowed.

Seconds later a man in black garments stood there with an old fashioned hat upon his head, a mask, and a flute in his hand. He twirled it and tipped his hat to Saya who pointed her finger to Natsu.

"ASSIST – REDEEM!" he nodded and the sound of flute music filled the stadium.

Everyone stared as Natsu's flames shot gold and he grinned viciously. Laxus was sent flying and Erza rolled to the side having just managed to dodge it as Laxus hit the other wall with a sharp crack. He looked at Natsu who grinned at him, his eyes red as he flipped back and everyone was left silent as Laxus forced himself up. The piper tipped his hat and Natsu gave him a wave to thank you as Saya rose her hands up

"WHAT IS THAT?! I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE!" called Yajima.

"COOL, COOL, COOL! WHAT A CHICK!" Natsu blocked Erza's attack and Laxus looked at the girl.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fighting you…oh…and kicking your ass…." She rolled her eyes.

"How so?" Laxus questioned.

"Like this….CHAPTER OF FORESTS! AWAKEN – LITTLE RED!"

A little girl with a red hood on came from nowhere and the crowd stared. Lucy's heart leapt into her throat as she recognized the character as the girl's feet hit the ground she opened her eyes and screamed before jumping up, red cloak acting like extending whips and hitting at Laxus every way he went.

"Levy….that's…Grimm's Fairy Tales!" Lucy said in shock.

"I know…what is this?!"

Erza smacked Natsu back and Laxus destroyed Little Red – she screeched when she was destroyed and the piper vanished into dust when they had gotten him. Both went for Saya and Natsu turned skidding to a halt behind them. Saya kept them busy with her Dragon Slayer magic and then there was a flash of heat. All eyes were on Natsu who stood there with three fire rings around his left hand, his eyes cold and the wind moving about as a black book appeared in front of him.

"Saya isn't the only one…sorry…" their eyes grew wide. Left out outstretched still surrounded by fire for extra protection he smirked.

"ARCHIVIST OF MY LEFT – CHAPTER OF SORROWS – RISE….ANUBIS!" a black jackal appeared surrounded by flames.

Laxus stared in horror at the creature as it shot flames of – which Natsu took advantage of. His entire body became circled by blue flames, cold but menacing as they watched him move to stand beside the jackal. Saya had pulled out a white lion from her brown book as they stood there between two Dragon Slayers and two clearly spirits that happened to be beasts Laxus and Erza could only feel terror and rage as they realized that both of them had trapped them by making them believe they had the upper hand.

"Natsu…" he smirked, eyes blood colored.

"Sorry Erza…no allies are before me…"

Lucy felt bile rise in her throat as she watched the two Dragon Slayers send out the spirits and right beside them used their other magic, the books still present as they were fighting. The white lion and the jackal looking like they were from opposite worlds, Natsu's blue flames, Saya's white particles as they landed several harsh wounds and attacks upon Erza and Laxus who just about could no longer stand. Lucy looked at the others who were just as astounded until the spirits were suddenly knocked away by one of Erza's stronger attacks.

"ENOUGH! YOU'RE BOTH DRAGON SLAYERS FIGHT US AS SUCH!" she snapped. Natsu looked to Saya.

"Guess they shouldn't have asked huh?" he said.

"Suppose not…shall we?" he tilted his head to her.

"Naturally," he answered.

Laxus and Erza stared them down as they brought the hands together – the charms darkened or glinted and they braced themselves. The two of them closed their eyes and two rings appeared just before them. One white the other black – it was as this happened that Gray felt himself shake.

"This is bad…what are they doing?!" at that time a blonde girl came before them standing on the end of the balcony.

"It's nothing wrong…this magic is perfectly legal and is actually light based magic – no worries. It's quite old though…my I almost forgot it – pay attention children," Mavis said smiling.

Natsu looked at them as did Saya both hands still up in the air as they let the magic circles appear and spread to be under them as well. In seconds a small spark appeared from them.

"GATHER, STORMS OF JUDGMENT – WE BECKON THEE…" All noise vanished and Erza and Laxus stared at them as their joined hands came forward.

"COME CARITAS!" Saya's voice was echoing and doubled – sounding ethereal. Lucy stared transfixed at the white light, and then at the black one that covered Natsu, his hair and clothes floating slight like Saya's.

"RISE AVARITIA!" his voice sounded the same, and it sent chills through people as the two forms rose from the circles.

A female in white with matching hair and her hands clutched to her chest. She was all purity and innocence – and then they looked to the second one. Black clothes and hair, a hand over her face. They both opened their eyes to show them blank, white or black it didn't matter – there was no other recognition. Erza felt herself tremble as she looked at the one Natsu controlled and the one that Saya held it was like a vision of some sorts. A vision of heaven and hell. The two kept their hands together, up in the air as the spirits did the same watching them.

"Laxus…." He felt his body shake.

"I…"

"TWINING FATES, JUDGMENT OF THE AGE!" the two spirits came chest to chest, clutching both their hands together, and they realized that Natsu and Saya were the same way. Laxus and Erza prepared to block.

"No way…is this…" Gray stared horror upon him in realization.

"This is their…"

"UNISON RAID!"

There was a blast of black and white energy, particles of metal and fire spiraled through it and hit Erza and Laxus square in the centers – there was no way to block it and they knew that when they were sent flying, cartwheeling into the wall across the arena that they had just lost. Erza weakly looked at Natsu who now was surrounded by fire while Saya's body was surrounded particles of metal.

"ITS OVER! THE WINNER IS FAIRYTAIL TEAM A – NATSU DRAGNEEL AND SAYA DRAGNOIR WITH A GRAND TOTAL OF 27 POINTS FOR THEIR TEAM!..."

Erza and Laxus laid on the ground unmoving and wounded. Natsu and Saya had run to check up on them. But knowing they may have over done it just a bit. The others were quick to gather themselves towards the exit when they saw master Markarov heading down with Lucy, Gray, and a few others to help out. But as they did fear rose in them because they didn't understand, and they weren't sure what had just happened with their two friends.

Because it wasn't supposed to be that way – they weren't supposed to be that way.

{Chapter 14: The Second Battle: Fight of the Two FairyTails? – END}

Author's Note:…uh…hehehe…..yea that's kind of an explanation for the next chapter…sorry…

Thanks to my reviewers.

NEXT TIME…

{Answers, that's all everyone wanted was answers – but did he really have them? Did anyone really have them? Natsu and Saya face some rather hard issues that may cause more pain than any of them realized.

Chapter 15: Tomes & Games}

Arigatou Nakamas!