A/N: And the conclusion to this battle has come! Who will come out victorious?
The reception last chapter got made me absolutely flutter with joy :) I'm ecstatic you all enjoyed it. Hopefully this one is even better :D
Special thanks to my new beta, Conbolt is Fire, for helping me with this! He added some great stuff here!
(A/N: Chapter has been updated with grammatical fixes since original posting)
"Rufus, I need your help," Carla begged the teen, her desperate tone and attitude completely different from the aggressive one she just showed earlier. After her stare down with Jiemma ended, the Sabertooth master went back to his seat, thinking he scared off the white Exceed from pulling anything on Wendy. However, he was wrong, for Carla was simply just waiting for him to leave.
"Help with what?" the memory mage asked, confused.
"With Wendy," she answered, "I need you to restore her memories. And not just because of personal and moral reasons."
"I can't-"
"I had a vision and-"
"Carla, I can't-"
"If you don't restore them she'll-"
"Carla!" Rufus yelled, causing the Exceed to stop talking. "I can't restore them, even if I wanted to! What I did to her...it's unfixable. I made sure of it." he let out a sigh.
Carla took a few seconds to process his statement before clenching her fist hard enough to make her knuckles go purely white.
"I-I don't care if it's unfixable!" she yelled, tears forming in her eyes, "Find a way to make it fixable!"
The fusion of lightning and fire created a glow bright enough to light up the entire area surrounding Natsu and Wendy. Chills were sent throughout Wendy's entire body as she looked at the very form that was strong enough to defeat Jiemma himself that one night.
"Let's go!" Natsu yelled, jumping from where he was standing and charging straight at the girl with a speed unlike the one he had earlier.
The Fairy Tail wizard had eyes that glowed a bright red, locked right onto his target as thunder boomed around the entire arena. All he could think at the moment was how Laxus was laying somewhere in the arena's tunnel system unconscious, how Gajeel was unfairly sent outside the arena, and how Lucy was still in the infirmary.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's…"
Wendy snapped out of her scared state as she saw Natsu engulf his arm in the two elements he was using. She swiftly formed a wind barrier around herself for protection.
"Firing Hammer!"
Natsu's fist hit the barrier head-on, the explosion being diverted to go around the barrier's exterior, completely destroying Wendy's defense in the process.
"Holy shit…" was all Wendy could whisper as the huge blast blew her back many feet.
"Wendy's best defense was completely shattered after that one hit!" Chapati yelled in pure shock. "How strong has Natsu gotten with this new form?!"
Natsu jumped up and charged once more at Wendy, this time too fast for her to create a barrier, grabbing her by the head and throwing her across the arena, his throw accompanied by a stream of lightning and fire.
Wendy let out a quiet cry of pain from the burn, but managed to slightly heal herself before being nearly knocked out from the attack.
Propelling himself high into the air, Natsu sucked in all the lightning and fire around him and aimed his head right at the girl.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!" Natsu screamed as he released the massive sparking blast from his mouth, completely destroying the ground of Domus Flau. The earth itself shook as Natsu continued to make the floor crumble away. All of the arena was lit up in a glow of orange and yellow as the crowd was now forced to watch the battle on a lacrima vision screen.
The force sent the girl, along with Sting and Rogue's unconscious bodies that were on the floor, down the hole Natsu created.
The fans were going completely wild. Cheers and shouts were booming all over as the three commentators were now standing at the tips of their toes, trying to see what was going on.
"That was quite a breath attack!" Yajima said in pure awe.
"Indeed!" Mato agreed. "This is amazing!"
"Is this the end of the intense battle?" Chapati added as everyone looked for the place Wendy landed.
"No," Yajima answered the man. "Look at Natsu's face. That's not the face of someone who's just won. Nothing's over yet."
As usual, Yajima was right. Natsu's eyes were as hardened as ever. He knew nothing was over yet.
A bright glow was seen amidst the debris, revealing the girl's location as she healed herself from the blow.
"Sky Dragon's-"
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Wendy's spell was cut off by a flame-covered punch that was followed by a bolt of lightning, sending her back even further as Natsu continued beating her down.
"This battle has turned completely one-sided!" Chapati announced as the entire crowd saw Wendy taking many hits from the Salamander. Every time he threw an attack, she managed to barely dodge before subsequently getting hit with another attack. For the first time in the battle, Wendy was bleeding, the blood slowly dripping from her mouth as she continued to get the wind knocked out of her by the boy wielding two elements.
"This isn't even a battle anymore," Yajima commented next to the man, "This is a beat down."
"Agreed…" Mato added.
"Rufus, please!"
Carla was in her biggest form of desperation, the girl holding the collar of Rufus's coat as she shed a few tears. She took a quick glance at the lacrima vision, seeing her best friend continuously fall down at the hands of Natsu Dragneel. "Please...help Wendy…"
"I...I can't, Carla. It's not possible…"
"You think I don't get that? If it wasn't as serious as this then I wouldn't push you so much...but…"
"Carla," Rufus whispered, "What did you see?"
Carla mumbled a few words for only Rufus to hear, resulting in the teen widening his eyes in pure shock. In less than a split second, both he and Carla bolted out of the balcony and began to make their way toward the bottom of the arena, ignoring both Orga and Minerva's shouts of confusion from behind them.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy cried out, releasing a tornado from her mouth, its size much smaller compared to the ones she was able to produce earlier that battle due to her loss of energy.
Natsu easily jumped over the roar, bring his fists up and forming two long streams of fire and lightning in them. As he began to go back down, he forcefully brought the two fists down to the ground, causing the streams of magic to follow, hitting the girl and disintegrating her roar.
'J-Just what is this guy capable of…?' Wendy's thoughts trailed off as she managed to back away far enough to catch her breath. Now mustering more of her depleting energy, Wendy created a wind barrier around the teen, chanting, "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Shattering Light: Sky Drill!"
A huge glowing beam of wind made its way toward Natsu. However, with complete ease, Natsu destroyed it with his flames and hit the girl back with a bolt of lightning.
'Even my Sky Drill?!' Wendy bit her lower lip as the pain from the lighting in her back surged through her. She was on her hands and knees as Natsu stood tall with waves of dragon slayer magic flowing off him. The crowd was in to it as they cheered at the incredible show of power.
"And Fairy Tail's Natsu Dragneel is quickly dominating this fight! He is incredible!" Chapati's booming voice blasted throughout the stadium and the crowd grew louder. Wendy gripped the ground beneath her until her knuckles turned white. Anger pumped through her veins from the thought of losing to the one she hated so much.
'Unbelievable...all of my training wasn't enough…I hate him...and I hate Fairy Tail so much!'
Red wind slowly began to swirl around her body, kicking up the dirt of the underground into violent tornado. 'I need it all...I need to unleash it...I need to unleash my anger...!' The red tornado quickly turned darker and darker until it grew into a blood red typhoon.
"Red winds again?" Natsu observed as he awaited the girl's next move. No...these winds were different than her other spell. They gave off a completely different vibe. This wasn't Dragon Slayer magic...this was like her Infinity Winds spell. This was pure wind magic.
"That wind...can no longer be called wind..." Mavis whispered in shock as she saw Wendy's shadowy figure slowly part the dark-red tornado. "It is…as red as blood..."
In the stands of Sabertooth, Jiemma cracked an evil grin. 'That's it...use the power I gave you. Use it all.'
5 Years Ago - X786 - 3 months after Wendy and Carla joined the guild
"'Red Wind'," Jiemma stood up from his chair in his office as he turned to Wendy. "It's an ancient spell utilized by powerful wind mages. Similar to your 'Hell's Winds', the wind around you turns red. However, this special type turns your wind into a force that is even more powerful than you could imagine."
"Is this a Dragon Slayer spell?"
The man shook his head. "No. But it's wind magic. You can still perform it after enough training."
"Not Dragon Slayer magic? How can I achieve it?" Wendy tilted her head, confused at the master's words.
"You need to get angry."
At that, Carla scoffed in the background. "Oh, please," the Exceed walked up to them, "Wendy here can't hurt a fly."
Jiemma rolled his eyes at the cat, quickly disregarding her comment and looking back at the girl.
"That's...unfortunately true..." Wendy sighed.
"I know...but you're a Sabertooth wizard now, no?"
The girl nodded.
"And what does a Sabertooth wizard do?"
"Make the heavens roar...The earth boil...The seas silent..."
"And how do you think that happens?"
"Through anger..."
Present Day
Wendy's body came fully into view as blood red winds pulsed around her spiky pink hair like a heartbeat and her pink pupils seethed with a hatred that was so foreign to Natsu that he had to take a step back.
"I will finish you here...Natsu Dragneel!" Wendy charged forward and thrust her fist coated in her new wind right at his face. Natsu's lightning-charged body seemed to inhumanly react as he tilted his head away just at the moment it would have collided with his face. He felt the wind gust past him as her fist cut right by him.
Natsu's right hand sped to grab her extended arm but before it could reach his body was sent flying away from Wendy as a blood red wind slammed into his cheek. The surprise attack sent him tumbling away but he used his hands and legs to dig into the dirt to slow down his recoil.
'I thought I dodged that.' He wiped the blood from his mouth as he stood up. Wendy glared across the battlefield before she took in a deep breath and a dark red magic circle appeared in front of her.
"Red Wind: Vacuum Bullets!" Wendy exhaled several small blasts of dark red wind that spread out towards Natsu making it difficult to avoid as they covered a large area. As Natsu tracked the dark red bullets, they faded into nothing when they were halfway to him.
'They turned invisible?!' The first one cut him across the cheek before he realized he had to try and dodge with his enhanced reflexes. Another sliced across his shoulder as he leapt into the air and he watched the other bullets pierce the ground beneath him with enough force to shatter the ground into little chunks.
Natsu refused to let her relax for a moment so he fired flames out of his feet and dive bombed towards her at full speed. Wendy reared her head back before taking a deep breath.
"Red Wind: Vacuum Waves!" She exhaled several waves of dark red wind, rapidly moving her head in various directions to make them go at different angles.
Natsu followed their path with his eyes and just as they turned invisible he rolled in the air and watched with a serious look as a wave passed directly over his face and another brushed underneath him. He continued his roll and balanced himself out in the air before diving at her once more.
Wendy blew a giant gust into the ground to create a large smokescreen of dust, hoping to get out of his sight.
"You can't hide! Lightning Flame Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu's immense punch blasted away part of the dust blocking his view, causing Wendy's eyes widen at how close he was to hitting her. Natsu then scanned the dust cloud for her, setting his sights right in front of him as a whirling sound was quickly approaching.
Out of the smoke came a rock whizzing right towards him and as he instinctively bent backwards to dodge, he saw that it was surrounded in a large disk of invisible wind, allowing the girl to gain control over it. It flew past him and sliced clean through a larger rock that was behind him and flew nonstop until it lodged itself deep into the wall of the underground area behind him.
Natsu continued into a back flip to create some distance but now Wendy was on the attack as the dust was starting to settle. Wendy had a violently rotating red wind disk in one hand while she blew on another rock in her other hand and watched as it began to spin and form into another dark red disk. She threw the first one at him before following it up with the second one.
The two wind disks danced back and forth as they crossed the distance and quickly seemed to vanish. Natsu closed his eyes and focused only on the sound and, without opening his eyes, he leaned backwards and kicked the rock center of the first one causing it to go off course and curve away.
Natsu's eyes sharpened into slits right before he thrust out his hand and caught the second wave disk by its physical center. The wind was slicing his hand but he powered through the pain and spun his body. Once he fully rotated he threw it back at Wendy as strong as he could, making her attack his own.
Wendy didn't panic, but was surprised to see her attack come back at her. As the wind disk grew closer she didn't move out of the way to dodge but instead, just as the sharp wind was about to touch her lips she simply sucked in the wind and ate it up as she caught the rock before it hit her between the eyes. Because Natsu had taken control over her attack, the wind was no longer hers, and she was able to eat it.
The girl then crushed the rock but before she could throw another at him, Natsu was right in front of her with his lighting flame fist pulled back.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Red Wind: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
Wendy compressed all of the dark red wind around her into a single, large crushing sphere of blood wind that covered her like a shield as Natsu's fist slammed head-on with it. Natsu's veins on his forehead bulged outward as the strain was hard on him while Wendy's sole focus was on holding her arms up and as she tried to rebuild the defensive sphere as quickly as Natsu was breaking through it.
He let out a mighty roar and, as his power surged, her sphere instantly dispersed into nothing, leaving Wendy open and lightly backpedaling from the recoil. Natsu lost his balance for a moment because he had thrown everything he had into that punch, but with a quick turn of his left foot and shift of his body weight he was now driving his still-ignited fist towards her face.
Wendy's hand shot out and grabbed his face. "Sky Dragon's Wave Wind-" Right before she could activate her spell directly onto his head a sudden whirling noise to her right caught her attention. The first wind disk that Natsu kicked away earlier had finally boomeranged around to create an elaborate delayed attack. Natsu broke out into a smirk that was hidden under Wendy's hand but she didn't bother as she let it fly right towards her.
'I'll just eat it like last time-!'
As she opened her mouth a thunderous open hand strike from Natsu slammed her jaw shut and while it felt like her teeth were crushed, the pain of her own wind disk slicing into her side was much worse. The hand that was once holding onto Natsu instinctively rushed to her quickly bleeding side.
But that left her wide open.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Claw!" Natsu spun on his hands and delivered a huge spinning kick into her right cheek. At the moment of contact it exploded violently and in slow motion her body rippled like jelly before she flew right through stone pillar after stone pillar until lodging deep into the cavern's wall.
Natsu slammed his other foot down into the ground and leaned his body back into a mighty roar. The ground began to crack as his body was surging with even more power. A lightning and fire aura exploded out and surrounded him as he was building up his strength.
Wendy slowly fell out of the wall and crawled a few feet with one hand on the large gash on her side. She slowly stood up and felt her anger subside in the face of such intense pain. Not even her self-healing could fix this. The blood red wind subsided around her and she felt a large part of her magic now used up while Natsu was blasting waves of wind around him from his growing magic levels alone. It was through sheer will alone that she was still in Dragon Force, the power it normally gave her now diminished.
'What's it gonna take to beat this guy?'
Wendy then saw Natsu's aura suddenly compress down to his arms as he charged one fist with fire and the other with lightning. Her eyes widened as she realized that the boy was looking to end everything now.
Natsu let out a shout as he channeled the rest of his energy, reaching into the Second Origin container he had unlocked before the Games and pulling out the rest of the power from it.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
'Is...Is he even human…?'
"Crimson Lotus!"
Wendy's eyes were met by Natsu's, the girl feeling fear spread all over her as she was too afraid and injured to even set up a defense against the incoming attack.
"Exploding Lightning Blade!"
Natsu swung his arms, creating a vortex of fire and lightning that charged right at his sole target. Wendy took a direct hit, the force so great that she was sent back far away from her original spot. The entire arena shook as the attack destroyed much of the underground cavern.
When she landed, Wendy's energy became so depleted that her body finally exited Dragon Force as she began to lose consciousness.
'I...can't lose…'
Wendy's fist tightened as she slammed it in the ground out of frustration.
'I can't lose, dammit!'
"That...that was kinda fun, don't you think?" Natsu innocently smiled, breathing heavily from exhaustion. He walked over to the girl, holding his arm out to help her up.
Wendy only kept looking at the ground in utter disappointment, ignoring Natsu as she continued slamming her fist into the ground.
Over the speakers, Chapati's voice could be heard by everyone. "What a fantastic fight!" the man yelled in excitement as the fans began to cheer loudly. "In the battle of 6 Dragon Slayers, the last one standing is Fairy Tail's Natsu Dragneel!"
'No! This...this can't happen! I can't let this happen!'
"A truly splendid performance on both sides," Yajima added.
'No...I can still fight...! I can still...'
"With this win, Fairy Tail gains the lead, earning 10 poin-"
"NO!" Wendy's voice screamed at the top of her Dragon lungs, echoing throughout the entire building of Domus Flau and shutting everyone up as wind began blowing everywhere in the arena. The girl willed herself back into Dragon Force as her magic power suddenly rose up again.
A wind barrier swiftly placed itself around the arena, blowing any loose items away and into the barrier itself.
The crowd looked to the screen, where it could be seen that Wendy got back up and wanted to continue this fight.
"Wendy…" Natsu trailed off in worry, seeing the rage in the girl's eyes, a rage so strong that it even surpassed the one he had just earlier.
"Winds of the great sky," Wendy began to chant the all-too-familiar spell.
"Don't tell me…" Makarov became speechless as the entire guild recognized Wendy's spell right away.
"I call upon thee."
"Rufus, we don't have much time!" Carla said to the teen as the two stood at the ledge that separated the crowd from the arena.
With his eyes glowing a bright gold, Rufus told the girl, "I'm trying my best...but her mind seems to be shutting me out. I can't even get ahold of her memories."
"Oh no…"
"It's probably going take another memory mage to at least get into her head without being shut out by her self-healing ability," he informed Carla.
"I may be able to help," a new voice entered the area, causing Carla to turn around and see who it belonged to.
"Doranbolt?" Carla recognized him right away. The man was in his Council uniform, walking rather quickly over to them.
"How the hell does she have this much power remaining?" Orga wondered, in as much shock as the rest of the people in the arena.
However, Minerva next to him was completely unfazed by Wendy's next move, simply replying, "This is the strongest power a mage can have. Not some enchantment or magic container boost. She let her emotions completely take over her actions. With only anger and frustration fueling her, she can finally defeat the only other mage in this arena who has such an ability. She can finally defeat Natsu Dragneel."
"Do it," Jiemma mumbled from his seat, anger radiating off of him in massive amounts. "Redeem yourself from that sorry excuse of a fight."
"Shine your light upon this world."
Natsu stood still, frozen in fear as he heard the winds howling around the entire arena. 'Why...Why am I scared?' he silently asked himself.
Natsu Dragneel was no stranger to fear, especially after his experience on Tenrou Island. There, he learned that fear made him know what his weakness was, and how it therefore made him stronger.
But how come this fear felt like he was getting weaker?
"Infinity Winds!"
Wendy's eyes shot open, magic circles placing themselves over her pink irises as the spell became activated. The very spell that, according to the MPF, was on the same level as the top 5 wizards of the 10 Wizard Saints.
No one in the crowd said a single word, the entire arena just engulfed in the sound of wind blasts coming out of the barrier and straight toward Natsu.
A single drop of sweat rolled down the Fire Dragon's cheek.
'I...lose…' was all Natsu could think as the blasts came within mere inches from him.
His vision began to go white as the wind came closer and closer toward him. Every person in the stadium was on the edge of their seats as the boy prepared to take the attack head-on.
And suddenly, everything went silent.
"If Wendy doesn't get her memories back, she'll kill Natsu…" Carla's words repeated themselves in Rufus's head as he and Doranbolt combined their memory magic to get to Wendy's mind and prevent the vision that Carla saw earlier that day.
When she told Rufus that and the two began to make their way toward the ground floor of the arena, he looked into the Exceed's memories to see the vision she had earlier.
In Carla's vision, once the dust settled, the girl could see a collapsed and bloody Natsu laying lifeless on the arena floor with Wendy just a few feet from him, her face expressionless. Games officials and Fairy Tail members were quickly making their way down the huge hole, hoping to get to Natsu quickly.
Carla also heard the screams of terror and fright that many people, especially the children in the stands, were making. She could see tears falling onto the ground and actually feel Natsu's life drift away from them all.
And after seeing that, Rufus declared that he and Doranbolt absolutely cannot fail their objective now. Not just for Wendy's sake. For the sake of saving a life.
"It'll take too long to replace the artificial memories in her mind. We're gonna have to just try and show her the real ones and see if it'll convince her." Rufus explained the situation to Doranbolt.
"Got it," the Council worker nodded back.
As the two memory mages continued to battle their way through to Wendy's mind, blasts of wind began to shoot out from the wind barrier, going right past the trio on the ground as Wendy finished casting her ultimate spell.
"We don't have much time…" Carla observed, "Please…"
"We got a connection!" Doranbolt and Rufus said simultaneously, causing Carla to sigh in pure relief as her prayers were answered.
'What...what is this feeling?'
The comet-like blasts of wind immediately fell to the ground, disappearing along with the wind barrier as the arena was met with silence once more, the roaring from the winds now vanished.
Images flashed in Wendy's head all at one moment, disrupting her concentration as her spell was interrupted.
The first thing she saw was her 12 year-old self, tripping and falling onto the ground in her blue and yellow striped dress. And when she got up, she saw mages from different guilds: Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and….Fairy Tail. She saw a group of four mages: a red-haired woman with armor on, a blonde girl with a whip and keys attached to her belt, a dark-haired boy without a shirt, and a pink-haired boy with a scale-like scarf wrapped around his neck. The group was accompanied by a blue Exceed, one just like Carla.
The next thing she saw was Cait Shelter's illusion magic wearing off, seeing all of her comrades slowly disappear into nothingness as her and Carla cried their hearts out. Feeling a comforting hand on her shoulder, she turned to face the same red-haired woman from before. All the woman said were six simple words...
"Come with us...to Fairy Tail."
After that, a whole flood of flashbacks washed through her mind, seeing many adventures with that same group of people she just saw. The adventures were full of smiles, tears, and everything in between.
It all happened in an instant. Just a few seconds ago, Wendy Marvell was full of hatred. And now, she was full of...confusion.
The girl grabbed onto the top of her head, stepping back as she repeated over and over, "What is this?"
The grasp she had on her head got tighter and tighter as more images flowed into her head. The memories she was receiving now collided with the ones that she had thought to be real, creating a whirlwind of problems within her.
It was like a puzzle. Before, Rufus had simply taken out some pieces and created his own, rearranging and changing the other pieces so that his would fit into the puzzle perfectly. And now, he couldn't take out those pieces. All he and Doranbolt could do was try and force the old pieces back in, and doing so was no easy process.
"Get out…" the girl whispered. "Get out of my head…"
"O-Oi...are you okay?" Natsu asked in worry. His body, however, refused to move, still trembling and frozen from the fear he had just a few moments ago.
"Yajima-san," Chapati in his seat turned to the old man, "What is going on?"
"I...I'm not sure…"
"Get out…" Wendy continued to mumble as she backed all the way into a wall and used it as support to keep her up.
On the floor near Natsu, the unconscious body of Sting Eucliffe began to slowly move, while Rogue's was still knocked out cold.
'What's...going on…?' the blond looked around, slowly taking in his surroundings. He then saw Wendy, up against the wall, hearing her whisper 'Get out' over and over again.
"Wen...dy…" he forced himself up onto his feet. With only one eye open and blood dripping down his head, the teen limped his way toward the girl, ignoring the pain his body was giving him from Laxus's attack earlier in the battle.
And when he was just a few feet away from the girl, the Sky Dragon Slayer began to shout.
"Get out! Get out of my head!" she repeated herself once more.
"Wendy…"
A gust of wind passed between the two, knocking the injured Sting over as he grunted in pain.
"GET OUT!"
Sting looked up at the lacrima vision that the Games' officials had placed near them, seeing that the camera was now pointed at Rufus, Doranbolt, and Carla. Both Rufus and Doranbolt had golden eyes and fingers placed on their temples while the human Carla was looking down the hole in the ground worriedly.
'What the hell is going o-'
Before he could even finish his thoughts, Sting saw Wendy's body go unconscious as her mind finally gave in to its inner turmoil. With his quick reflexes, Sting swiftly got up and caught the girl, holding her knocked out body in his arms as the entire arena was still silent.
After a few long moments, the sound of a throat being cleared was heard through the speakers, shattering the silence.
"Um…" Chapati trailed off, his tone no longer excited. "I'm not quite sure what happened down there...but...Natsu Dragneel is the last one standing. After approximately 45 minutes, the winner of this battle is Fairy Tail."
Fairy Tail +10
No one clapped. No one cheered. No one made a single sound. Everyone just kept their eyes glued onto the screen as the camera now pointed at Sting holding Wendy.
Natsu, now fully recovered from his fear, had a single look on his face. His eyes were black and his hair created a shadow over the entire top half of his face. Veins were popping out everywhere over his body as he looked up the hole. There was only one man who would do this to Wendy. One man with enough power to be able to.
"JIIIIEEEEEEMMAAAAA!" Natsu broke the silence, crying out the man's name with an animalistic howl. As if on cue, the camera on the screen switched to the view of the obviously upset Sabertooth master. All Jiemma could do was stare, his magical aura so strong and scary that it caused the other seats around him to be cleared from their previous occupants.
The fourth day of the annual Grand Magic Games came to a close. As Wendy was rushed to the infirmary, where Porlyusica has volunteered to take care of the girl, Fairy Tail enjoyed its rather...odd victory.
The first thing that members of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth (except for Minerva and Jiemma) did was burst into the infirmary, quickly overcrowding it as everyone wanted to see what happened to Wendy.
The other 5 Dragon Slayers had injuries that were much easier to heal, the worst being Sting and Rogue's burns from the electrocution Laxus gave them.
With both Doranbolt and Rufus constantly trying to fix the girl's mind, Porlyusica subsequently kicked out everyone else, save for her inseparable partner, Carla.
"I'm not leaving her," Sting immediately argued with Rogue right behind him, nodding along with him. "I refuse to."
"Right now, you can't do anything for her," Porlyusica told the boy. "You're just going to be a distraction to Doranbolt and Rufus."
"I don't care. I'm not leaving this room until she's okay again."
"It will take a lot of time to properly reconstruct her memories," Rufus told the boy. "It is very easy to manipulate and destroy memories, but it is unexplainably hard to fix them."
"I'll wait as long as I have to."
"You have a tournament to participate in," the old lady argued back.
"Screw the Games," Sting said without thought. "Compared to Wendy's condition, they're useless!"
And it was at that moment that Jiemma's hanging influence over Sting completely shattered. Just a few hours ago, Sting's number one priority was to win the Games for the sake of the pride in the guild. Now, he was actually showing care and concern for his comrades, a feeling he had tried so hard to forget.
Rogue placed his hand on Sting's shoulder, holding back the boy who looked just about ready to hit something.
"Let's just do what she says, Sting. Besides, I'm sure Master wants to see us soon."
Sting reluctantly agreed with the boy, the two walking out of the room to let the two memory wizards focus.
Meanwhile, outside the arena, Future Rogue and Yukino were walking down the street, making their way back to the palace to discuss with Hisui their plans regarding what Future Rogue called 'the Eclipse Gate'.
'Natsu Dragneel…' Future Rogue's thoughts began. 'It seems you have escaped destiny today. However, regardless of today's results, you are still fated to die. Just as Wendy is fated to kill.'
As the Games begin to come to its close, fate begins to play its role in this story...
A/N: So Natsu Dragneel is the last one standing, but what will come of Wendy?
Again, special thanks to Conbolt is Fire!
And sorry for the wait...I had a busy Independence Day weekend...
I wonder if you guys caught on to my subtle foreshadowing from ch 16 when Wendy used Infinity Winds for the first time...I didn't want to make it obvious that she was going to use it again lol
If you read all the author's notes, add ";!" to the end of your review please ^-^ I like knowing who reads these.