A/N: Chapter 54 of Fairy Tail: Earth and Phantom. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
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Chapter 54: Crime Sorciere
Seaside Beach...
"How did we wind up in this mess..."
"Our precious training time...
"3 months...just like that..."
"What are we going to do..." After coming back from the Celestial realm the group huddled in a gloomy depressing state, not an once of energy flowed through their bodies.
"Princess...I have a suggestion." Virgo said as she presented herself in front of them. However because she didn't feel like talking to the spirit Lucy tied her up and stacked cement blocks on her thighs as punishment. "Princess, please give me a more harsher punishment."
"The Great Magic tournament is in just 5 days!" Droy said as he chewed through a piece of watermelon.
"We haven't increased our magic power at all!" Jet said.
"I guess we have no choice but to let other people compete this time..." Levy said with sadness as Juvia released a sigh.
"Mmmmgh!" Erza roared as she stood up, the fire within her started to burn within her stomach. "We can still make it if we start now! We're gonna have a 5-day crash training from hell! Every one of you better get ready! There won't even be time to sleep!" At that every single mage released a groan of fear. Suddenly a pigeon from above landed on her head, lifting its leg to show them that it has a note.
"To Fairy Tail..." Lexi unfolded the note and proceeded to read, "Come to the suspension bridge deep in the west woods." Following the instructions the group wondered till they found the broken bridge. Thinking that it was a prank, a bright light suddenly enveloped the area and the bridge repaired itself. They continued walking when they were approached by three cloaked figures.
"Thank you for coming." The leader spoke, his voice caused Erza to freeze up and the others to stare as they started to remove their hoods. "...Fairy Tail."
"Jellal." Erza spoke as the others continued to gap at them.
"You haven't changed a bit, Erza..." The blue-haired mage replied, "So, I'm sure you've all heard about my jailbreak by now?"
"Yeah." She replied as she remember Bisca telling her about it.
"Though, to be honest..." He looked to the side, a bit upset at the whole situation, "it's not what I had planned."
"Melody and I broke him out." Ultear spoke up.
"I didn't do anything." Melody commented. "You did it all by yourself...well mostly, Ultear." After the whole incident with Tenrou Island the former members of Grimoire Heart decided to break Jellal out of prison and together they formed a guild of their own: Crime Sorciere. Jellal explained that there was this weird sensation that he keeps feeling during events and wants the gang to help him track it down by means of entering the games.
"As compensation for helping us," Ultear held up a glass ball, "with my new improved Time Arc...I can raise the level of your ability. A power up...I guess it's fine to think of it that way, but it's a bit different. Every mage has something like a container inside them that determines the limits of their magical power. In the case that the container becomes emptied, the Ethernano from the atmosphere enters the body...after a while, the container is returned to normal." She drew a little diagram on the ground as she was explaining, "But...recent studies have identified a part of that container inside each mage that isn't normally used. A dormant potential power inside of everyone...Second Origin. My Time Arc can evolve your containers so that they're capable of using Second Origin. In other words, it will give a giant boost to your magical power, even more than any of the training you've done until now." The gang cheered though they did tense up when she spoke about 'pain greater than the wildest imagination'. However the one person who didn't look as excited was Erza and she was looking at Jellal with a not-so-happy look.
The next day...
And so Ultear used her power to slowly strengthen the Fairy Tail mages. Natsu was the first one and seeing how he was trembling from the pain had some of the others doubting. In fact, Droy and Jet left because they didn't want to go through the excruciating pain. Juvia also opted to take Gray out on a date but he refused, saying that he wanted to unlock the Second Origin and gain a little more power.
"It's not easy drawing out someone's potential." She said as she watched Natsu's progress, the boy writhing on the ground with some weird markings all over his body. Urging the others to quit stalling, she made them go through the routine and soon everyone was on the floor moaning and groaning, unable to move a single muscle otherwise they would cry out.
"Do you think this will actually work?" Lexi asked her when it was her turn, a skeptical frown upon her face.
"...do you trust me?" The woman asked.
"Honestly...no." was the response. "I mean...we just met."
"Well...can't help you there." Ultear frowned a bit. "What is that around your neck?"
"Oh this?" Lexi held up the necklace for her to see. "It was a gift that Natsu gave to me in celebration of our return as well as the birthdays we'd probably celebrate if we aged seven years." Ultear's eyes widened with surprise as she held the object in her own hand.
"Where exactly did he get this?" She asked, looking at it at all angles. Nothing could escape her hawk-like gaze.
"Don't know, don't care. Can I have it back now?" Lexi held her hand out.
"A word of warning," Ultear frowned as she handed the stone back. "what you have there should be discarded as quickly as you can. Nothing good will come out of it if you hold on to it."
"Then are you saying I should eat it or what?" She stared at the stone. "Because when Natsu ate it he got super sick."
"That's because that stone has magic that doesn't...uh go well with his body. Sure it has Fire magic but it also has other magic materials...now are you ready?" Ultear looked at her with an annoyed look on her face. "We haven't got all day." Looking from the stone to her and back to the stone again, Lexi made up her mind and popped the stone in her mouth. Grinding it up with her teeth, she swallowed it.
"Okay...I'm-!" Suddenly she clutched her chest, hunching over as pain elapsed from her chest. She fell to her side as it continued, this unbearable throbbing deep within her.
"Now!" Ultear did some kind of weird magic moves with her hands and symbols appeared along the dragon slayer's body. Opening her eyes, Ultear saw that they glowed blue and she could see that Lexi was struggling to control these unusual feelings and new urges.
"Uuuugh! Uuuughhhhh..." Growling through the excruciating pain as well as the pain coming from her chest, she forced herself to sit in a meditative pose and focus on breathing. Closing her eyes, she tried to block everything and anything the best she could. Soon everything became dark, the sound of the others in pain faded away.
Inside Lexi's subconscious mind...
Welcome. Lexi's eyes snapped open and she found herself floating in white space. Looking up she saw a yellow dragon and a purple dragon looking at her, awaiting for her to say something.
You're...She breathed as she got to her feet. Where am I...?
We finally meet, Lexi...in spirit... The purple dragon hissed softly. How does it feel to be inside your own mind?
...quite spacious...was the response. I never thought it would be this...plain though.
Well, you didn't really fill your head up with too much things. The yellow dragon laughed. Which is a great thing because I'm sure we wouldn't be able to fit.
Does anyone else know you two exists? Lexi asked. You know? Out there?
Not recently...nope, no one. The yellow dragon grinned.
You forgot that silver-haired woman who trespassed into our territory when we were having our...uh...little dispute. The purple dragon said with a hint of irritation. Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you, I swear your memory is getting worse and worse every day. You know, I have a feeling that she blabbed about us to that scarlet-haired woman.
A silver-haired woman? Intrigued Lexi shifted her focus towards him. What was her name?
Uhh...hmmmm...At this the serpent coiled around himself as he pondered the answer. I'm pretty sure she didn't introduce herself. If memory serves me right she has one older brother and one younger sister with the...uh Take Over magic? Or was it Satan-something magic? I can't remember.
And you said I have a pretty terrible memory? The yellow dragon sneered.
At least I remembered more than you. Hmph! Came the harsh reply.
Oh, you met Mira then. Lexi smiled. Did you tell you anything special? Before either one of them could respond, a bright light appeared above them and she held out her hands to catch the ball of light. Looking at it closely she could see little bits of light blue swirling around the center. What's this?
It's the reason why we're here. We sensed a change in the winds after you ate that stone and pulled you here. But we have noticed that...for the better this magic can help deal with that...little problem you experienced back on Tenrou. The yellow dragon said.
Little problem? Lexi asked.
You know those head-aches you kept having? The purple dragon asked and she nodded her head. Well now you won't have to worry about it. Slowly he wrapped his body around her, looming over her like a shadow. I heard a little bit of what that raven-haired woman was saying so we...he gestured to the yellow dragon, thought this might work in our favor.
How so? Lexi asked.
You have two containers within you correct? One being dormant yadda yadda yadda. After that battle with Azuma back on the island we realized that that one container had split in half. That's why our magic couldn't work together but could work separately. The purple dragon summed it up well as he indicated a yawn with his claws.
Then how do we do this? Lexi looked at the ball of light in her hands. I'm quite confused here on how this ball of light could help us.
You don't have to do anything. The yellow dragon spoke as he placed his talon on the ball followed by the purple dragon who placed his own claw on top of his companion's talon. Just believe. Nodding her head in agreement, the ball shined brighter until it enveloped them.
Back to the real world...
"This is...unbelievable!" Ultear uttered as she watched within her crystal ball. "Her powers...they're fusing at an exponential rate!" A faint glowing aura surrounded the dragon slayer as she focus through the pain, her eyebrows creased in deep concentration. Sweat slowly rolled down her face and dripped down her chin, staining her shirt. Smiling at the progresses she observed from the other members, she excused herself.
"Thanks to you, they won't be moving anywhere anytime soon." Erza chuckled as she heard the moans and groans through the walls of the cabin. Shaking her head, she bid the three of them farewell since Jellal said that his guild shouldn't stick around for long periods of time.
"See you...hope to see you again, Erza." Jellal said as he pulled his hood up, smiling goodbye to his best friend.
"Good bye!" Melody said as she waved.
"Say hi to everyone for me." Ultear added. "Take care of Gray, please." Smiling back, Erza watched as the three disappeared before making her way down to the beach. Releasing a sigh of mild irritation she blushed as she remembered sharing a kiss with Jellal and smiled. Deciding it was somehow okay to poke fun at Erza's love life, Happy drew a broken heart in the sand with his tail twitching with laughter. In response, she kicked him so hard that he went flying straight to the moon.
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