Chapter 25: The First Fight

Edo-Juvia pulled her shirt tighter around her, trying to block out the cold, damp air in the cellar where they were locked up. She and Juvia had been placed here for a while now, ever since they were kidnapped. About two hours ago, the cellar door had opened, and to their shock and surprise, Gray and Edo-Gray were pushed in.

So now the four of them were sitting on the freezing cellar floor.

Edo-Gray noticed and walked over to Edo-Juvia. He took off one of his layers and wrapped it reverently around her.

"Thanks," whispered Edo-Juvia, for perhaps the first time appreciating Edo-Gray's many layers. He'd generously given up a few so that the girls could be warmer. Edo-Gray didn't even bother trying to offer a shirt to Gray.

"Don't thank me. I don't think I deserve it. Fullbuster and I were stupid enough to get caught, and if we hadn't, we'd have busted you guys out of here. Now it looks as if we're all stuck," Edo-Gray said quietly.

"Hey, don't worry," Edo-Juvia said, forcing a grin onto her face. She playfully punched Edo-Gray in the arm. "We've been in rougher spots than this. Remember the time we got stuck in the middle of the sea with a horde of outlawed Exceed pirates surrounding us?"

"Yeah. And the time we were being held captive by those creepy black market dealers. They tied us around a box full of grenades."

"Luckily it turned out that you had picked one of their pockets before hand and unlocked the lock. One more second, and we would've been dead meat," Edo-Juvia added. She smiled at Edo-Gray. "You've really learned a lot since I first met you."

"I have a good teacher," replied Edo-Gray.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while, pondering over their past experiences back in their home world.

Then they were startled out of their thoughts as Juvia and Gray stirred on the other end of the room.

Gray yawned and stretched. "Oi, that was the best nap I've had in ages," he remarked loudly.

"How can you act so nonchalant when we're stuck in this dump?" Edo-Juvia scolded.

Gray shrugged. "Must be the cold air. Not as cold as up in the mountains, but it's cold all the same." Gray smiled dreamily. Then to everyone's surprise, he spread his arms wide and shouted, "I love the cold!"

"Creep. What kind of answer is that? No one with a right mind would want to be freezing cold," Edo-Juvia said.

"Fine, then. I guess the harder the situation, the better I feel," Gray replied, dropping his arms.

"Exactly like Natsu Dragneel," Edo-Juvia murmured. She and Edo-Gray shared a sneaky look.

"Hey! Don't match me with that flame-brain!"

"Never," Juvia put in, tilting her head and smiling at Gray.

Gray blushed for a moment, then scowled and turned to his Edolas counterpart. Juvia looked at Edo-Juvia, and they both grinned despite the situation. Maybe Gray's indifference was catching on.

"So, how's the situation so far?"

"Someone came in about an hour ago and installed a sort of camera up there," Edo-Juvia reported. She hadn't taken any naps. Neither had Edo-Gray.

"Yeah," Edo-Gray said. "When he caught us looking at him, he turned and said, "One." He pointed to me. 'Two.' He pointed to Fullbuster. 'Three.' He pointed to Juvia. 'Four.' He pointed to, uh, Edo-Juvia. 'Nine.' He didn't point at anyone. Instead, he waved his hands to indicate the whole room. Then he walked away," Edo-Gray explained, puzzled.

"I'm pretty sure he was doing a head count or something," Edo-Juvia finished.

"Then why the nine?" Juvia wondered. Then her eyes widened. "You don't think-"

"Maybe. Fairy Tail is just the kind of guild to do anything to get their nakama back," Gray mused.

"Yes. Nakama is everything to us," Juvia said worriedly. "So that means five of our friends came to help us. Are they going to be kidnapped, too?"

"Well, the Cobras will probably try to kidnap them. But I'll bet the rescue team includes Erza and Natsu, at least. If they want to capture those two, they're going have a whole lot more trouble than they expected," Gray grinned.

The Juvias had explained what they knew so far about the Cobras, at least before they were kidnapped, so now both boys knew the name of their kidnappers.

"Erza and Natsu... I know that Erza's strong. Natsu is the one who is really wild and pretty powerful but his weakness is transportation, right?" Edo-Juvia asked.

"Yep," Gray confirmed.

Edo-Gray snickered. "Total opposite of our Natsu."

While those three chatted, Juvia sat down and tried to get some more sleep. As her mind drifted under its blanket, she thought, Everyone... it's up to you to rescue us from here. Good luck, nakama...!

Mira and Hiroto were strolling in a wide, pleasant field. The tall grass swayed gently in the gentle breeze, tickling Mira's legs. Hiroto looked calm, and Mira smiled at his faraway, dreamy gaze.

How... humane. He's much more relaxed than he was at the Arena.

Mira knelt and gently caressed the soft, delicate petals of an unfamiliar flower. The petals were black.

"That's a darkweed."

Mira was startled by Hiroto's sudden remark. His voice was softer than before.

"A... darkweed?"

"Yes, but it's not really a weed. Pardon the name. It's my flower... I made it up, using magic." Hiroto's voice was tinged with longing, and Mira caught a hint of sadness in his words.

"It's amazing. You made it up?"

"Yes. Using magic," Hiroto repeated.

"Magic... you can make flowers with ice magic?" Mira asked, surprised. "Isn't that impossible?"

"No... anyone can make their own plants by just taking a normal plant and passing your magic from your hands to the plant. Then when it grows and gets seeds, you get more. What you make reflects your own feelings, sort of represents who you are." Hiroto looked uncomfortable. "Let's keep going, alright?"

Mira nodded, and they kept walking, but all the while she wondered... "Reflects your own feelings and represents who you are"...? What kind of emotions, what kind of personality is Hiroto? What is Hiroto really like, to be able to make such a dark, beautiful flower... pretty on the outside but its petals are actually dark?

Then a thought struck her, and Mira gasped.

"Mira? Is everything alright?" Hiroto asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Mira lied quickly, covering up her new realization. She smiled up at Hiroto.

"Then we should hurry back to the Arena. An hour is nearly up," Hiroto said, smiling back.

He kept on walking, and Mira stayed behind.

She stared at the ice dragon slayer as he walked ahead of her. The truth about Hiroto's real personality became clearer. And darker. And...

Mira paused, then caught up to Hiroto. The two of them walked back to the Arena.

Hisss! Snap! Cr-rr-a-ack! Sounds of a magic fight erupted from the Arena. Mira turned to Hiroto in surprise. "Someone's already started?"

"Seems like it," Hiroto said, shrugging as if it was no big deal, but his eyes were dark, sharp and alert - reminding Mira of a wild cat.

They quickened their pace. Mira wanted to run, but Hiroto was still just walking, so she had to match his pace.

They swiftly ducked through a narrow opening and stopped abruptly.

"I-won't-believe-you!" Nori shrieked, slashing into the air with a forward motion of her arm. A horde of plants with flowered heads and open mouths with rows of sharp, gleaming teeth leapt forward at the same time.

Laxus skipped backwards and let loose a burst of lightning which exploded directly in front of the cavernous horde of plants. The plants, singed and smoking, sank quickly back into the earth.

"What in the name of Fiore-?!" Mira exclaimed.

"Typical Nori. She must have gotten irritated or bored or maybe both, and decided to start the fight sooner than decided." Fudge that Hiroto, he sounded amused. Mira shook her head.

Meanwhile, Nori and Laxus were still fighting.

"Fruit bomb!" Nori hissed, tossing her arm out in front of her. Instantly queer-looking plants burst forth from the ground. They had a big leaf for the top, and on the leaves appeared tiny fruits, one after another, which were continuously catapulted far off to where Laxus was standing.

"Lightning Body!" Laxus muttered, and Nori watched, gasping, as his entire body became a burning bolt of lightning. Laxus, in his lightning form, darted through the air, burning the deadly fruit as he touched it.

"Just give up, Nori. We both know I'll win," Laxus muttered gently as he zipped by Nori's ear.

Nori gave a small scream as she swiveled to meet the voice, but Laxus had already swooped away. "No! I-I-can't! I can't betray the Cobras. I have to win!" she called desperately.

"Nori... this isn't for the Cobras, is it? I've watched you. You don't care about the Cobras," Laxus said the next time he swerved by.

"What?! What are you talking about?!" Nori shouted, her face turning red.

"You really just care about..." Laxus passed briefly.

"About what?!"

"About Yori," Laxus answered, passing her again.

"Hey! Get back here, you-"

But Laxus had electrocuted away all the fruit bombs, and landed casually on a mound of grass on the other side of the Arena.

"Nori..." he began.

"No! I'm not going to listen! Yori wouldn't lie to me! Yori... he's..." the little girl whispered desperately.

"Nori..." came a quiet voice.

Mira and Hiroto turned to see Yori walking in, with Natsu close behind him.

"Yori!" the girl said, eyes lighting up with hope. "Tell him you wouldn't. Tell him it's all true!"

"Nori," Yori said quietly. "I'm sorry." He glanced at Hiroto, who was standing with Mira at the edge of the Arena.

Mira watched as Hiroto gave a little nod of his chin.

Yori continued, "Orders are orders. The Boss told me to do it... you wouldn't have joined unless we said something about revenge, and since Fairy Tail was part of our plan... it just worked. We had to do it. I'm... I'm sorry."

"Yori..." the girl whispered, sinking to her knees.

Laxus walked toward them and knelt beside her, putting one hand on her shoulder. She was crying, her shoulders shaking.

Yori walked back to Natsu, Hiroto and Mira, his footsteps lagging. He looked extremely depressed. Natsu patted him on the back.

"Nori," Laxus said softly.

The little girl looked up with wide, glistening eyes.

"Why? I did all this, and Yori - Yori lied to me. All this time it was for the Cobras. I'll bet he didn't even really want me here at all," she whispered miserably.

Laxus didn't say anything. What could he say anyway? That Yori was a bad guy and Nori should come and join Fairy Tail or something?

Fudge, why am I thinking of making her betray the Cobras in a time like this? Fairies... I am a Fairy Tail member, and first I need to comfort Nori, then the whole Cobras business can be settled. Nori first.

"I thought he trusted me. I thought he wanted me. I thought that the Cobras was where I belonged! Dreyar..."

"Huh?"

"I... what should I do?"

"Um... what do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

Nori looked down at the earth, her tears falling freely. The ground greedily soaked up her tears, just as the Cobras had been soaking her talents and abilities for their own gain.

"Whirl-wings," Nori said suddenly.

Laxus watched with shock as the air around them swirled with a luminescent golden whirl of magic. A huge, powerful wind blow from every side, and suddenly Laxus felt himself being lifted into the air.

He turned to see Nori with a grim, determined look on her face.

Poor girl. She's experienced more angst in the past hour than normal people would in a lifetime.

"Almost there," Nori said softly.

"Almost where?"

"You'll see."

Laxus glanced at Nori, then smiled. "Okay."

"Whoa, a flying golden whirlwind!" Natsu exclaimed, grinning.

"Whirl-wings," clarified Yori, gasping. He turned to Hiroto with a panicked look on his face. "Hiroto, look! Nori, she-"

"Let her go," Hiroto said indifferently. "It's fine."

"No! I can't!" Yori pleaded. "We can't just let her go. I-We need her!"

Natsu pulled Yori back. "Yori, calm down."

"That's right. The Cobras aren't big on nakama. It's nothing to us," Hiroto said coldly.

"But-" Yori fell backwards with a pained expression. He fell silent, his eyes drawn to his feet.

Natsu rolled his hands into tight fists. Nakama, worth nothing? I wanna pound this brat to bits! Nakama is everything. Nakama is what we're fighting for right now!

"Yori..." Natsu began.

"I'm fine! I don't care about Nori! My priority is the Cobras. Just please leave me alone!" Yori stammered, stumbling backwards.

Natsu stared at Yori. The Cobras have obviously brainwashed their members. When this is over, I'm gonna find the Boss and pound her to the dust...

Speaking of "the Boss", the intercom suddenly crackled to life.

"Hiiiii, everyone! This is Mei again, the Boss. Since fight number one just ended, let's start with fight number two. I see that Ran and the Titania aren't here yet. Any volunteers?" came the sing-song voice of Mei.

"I'll go."

"What?! Yori?" Natsu turned to the white-haired boy.

Yori nodded, averting his eyes from Natsu.

"...Fine. Sure. Whatever. I don't care," Mei said, although the slight shock was obvious.

"...Yori," Natsu said.

"What?"

"If I win, I want you to do something for me."

"Do what?"

"I'll tell you when I win."

"..." Yori glanced at Natsu curiously, but Natsu had already taken his position at the other end of the Arena.

"Ready..." Mei said gleefully.

Yori walked to a place where he felt comfortable to start.

"Set..."

He closed his eyes and concentrated, letting the magic swell up inside him.

"Go!"

The white-haired boy opened his eyes and attacked.