AN: Hi. Still here. Enjoy the chapter. It ended up going a completely different direction than I had planned at the end of the last one. Ah well.
Goku and Erza 2: Fairy vs Fae
For the members of Fairy Tail who had been trapped inside of the Edolas lacrima, it was as if no time had passed between Goku's warning and their return. For the entirety of their captivity, they might as well have been asleep. When they awoke, a number of their friends were just…gone.
"Lucy?" Cana murmured, twisting around the room in slow bewilderment.
A brief moment of panic spread throughout the building and suddenly everyone was on their feet and getting ready to charge out of the building. Their panic only grew worse when they looked outside and saw and completely different sky than what had just been over their head's moments before. It was impossible to tell just how much time had passed, but for the sun to be so high in the sky again, at the very least whatever took their comrades had a day's lead on them.
Before Fairy Tail managed to mobilize though, the doors burst open. Cana, who had been all of five seconds from blasting through the exit herself, suddenly found herself with an armful of extremely happy blonde. The perpetual drunk just barely managed to keep her feet under her at the surprise impact, but she just barely managed it. Urgent panic dulled to bewildered befuddlement, and a knot of tension eased from her back. It was quickly replaced with the feeling of all of the air being completely squeezed out of her lungs and her spine starting to pop, but at least there was progress.
"So, uh…Lu? Mind filling me in on what just happened? Or maybe easing up just a bit? I'm sure everyone else has a whole lot of questions…?" Cana glanced behind her to see if there was any help coming, but all of the faces in the room were aimed towards the door and filled with slack jawed surprise.
"Um…" Lisanna blinked at the number of people staring wide eyed at her and carefully reached down to grab her sister's arm. "Hi?" She squeaked. "Long time no see?"
As Lisanna squirmed under the sudden attention, Mirajane's own eyes were darting around the room. She found who she was looking for, took in the glistening eyes, the blubbering lip, and the shaking legs, and promptly grabbed onto her sister as well and subtly shifted herself to brace for impact.
"LISANNA!" Elfman roared from the back of the room. Half a dozen mages went flying across the room as the giant barreled his way to the door, completely ignoring everyone he trampled over on his mad dash to his sisters. Behind the two girls, Natsu and Gray wisely stepped out from directly behind the pair right before the Strauss siblings collided.
Laughter and shrieks filled the air as the two girls spun around through the air and landed on top of Elfman's giant chest in a massive hug. The youngest sibling helplessly started giggling and wrapped her arms around her elders to the best of her ability. Mirajane reached out as well, and at long last, the family finally felt whole.
Gray and Natsu quietly stepped around the pile on the ground and into the guild hall to begin filling in their friends what had happened in the other world, but none of the three even noticed. After all that happened, after being separated for so long, all they could feel now was a quiet, content bliss that rolled through their very souls.
They lay together for a long while, simply happy to bask in one another's presences. Eventually though, Lisanna couldn't help but to break the quiet. With a happy grin, she reached up and gave her brother's bicep a squeeze.
"So, when did this happen bro? Last I remember seeing you, you still hadn't even gotten rid of all the baby fat yet!" Lisanna teased. Elfman's grin turned sly, and with a quick heave he was up on his feet, and had balanced his sisters so that each on was sitting atop one of his biceps as flexed.
"Ah! As a man, I have dedicated myself to improving my body to its absolute limit! That way, I will be able to protect you no matter what!" The teen boasted. Perhaps later his mind would drift back to what had happened when she had disappeared in the first place, and perhaps later he would have to confront the last remnants head on. But now, with Lisanna's face practically glowing with laughter, the idea couldn't even enter his mind.
"So…" Mirajane said from her perch. "Should we head home? We have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm sure that the rest of the guild wouldn't mind waiting their turn for us." Elfman and Lisanna both twitched at the sudden reminder that they were in public. A light dusting of pink spread across Elfman's face while Lisanna laughed heartily and waved to the crowd.
"Yeah, I think we can get out of here." She said cheerfully. "Just one thing first. Has anyone else staked a claim while I was gone?" Lisanna asked her sister pointedly. Elfman scrunched up his brow in confusion, but Mirajane smirked.
"Unless something happened in the last half a day that I somehow completely missed, you should be all in the clear." Lisanna nodded gratefully and hopped down from her perch. In between steps, her features became more feline as she marched across the room.
Natsu didn't see her coming until her arms were around his neck.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing Lisanna?" The teen hopped back with a fierce blush on his face.
"Oh, just marking my scent and laying a claim." She said sweetly. "Letting everyone know that I'm back and that they can't move in anymore. Otherwise, they'll have to answer to her." Lisanna said, pointing at Mirajane.
"Oh my! You don't want to fight for your claim Lisanna?"
"Come on sis, I haven't been able to use my magic in years! Just until I'm back in shape?"
Mirajane rolled her eyes, but Lisanna caught the way her sister's lips twitched upwards.
"You're the best sis!" The animal girl cheered as her features dropped back down to a more humanoid appearance and she began to skip back towards her family.
"Wha-wait!" Natsu called after her, his hands rising to his neck. "What are you trying to claim?" his brow furrowed. "Is it my scarf?" he asked, clutching the cloth protectively. "if it is, you can't have it! It's mine…unless I die, in which case Happy has dibs, so you'll have to fight him for it."
"Oh Natsu, my poor sweet fire baby." Lisanna smiled. "It's nice to see you haven't changed. But no, not you scarf. I'm sure you can figure it out! Otherwise, go find gramps and tell them that Lisanna said that you need to have The Talk! Bye everyone, see you later!" Just as quickly as they had arrived, the Strauss siblings made their way out of the guild hall towards home. For the first time in years, the third setting the elder siblings always set could finally be used once again.
With emotions flying high throughout the guild hall, Goku's and Erza's absence meant unnoticed.
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"What about the Titania, Goku? We have had this conversation before and I have made my feelings on the matter clear."
Goku and Erza sat across from one another on a waist high boulder deep in the middle of the forest. Their clothing was still torn, dirtied and bloodied, and their wounds were still untreated. But with what he had learned, Goku's mind couldn't even consider the idea of waiting.
Unfortunately, he also couldn't think of what he was supposed to say. Erza was headstrong, Erza was stubborn…Erza was proud. She wanted the power the Titania gave her so that she could protect her friends. She knew it was dangerous, but she believed she could control it and suggesting that she couldn't would just make her get all mad.
But he knew Erza, if she knew what the other Erza had told him about the Fae, about how the Titania was using her to get the world's magic… if he could make her understand that she was being used…
Goku squirmed, he was bad with words. He knew that the ones he needed existed, the other Erza had been very persuasive, but if he tried to just parrot them to Erza the words would come out garbled. If only his Erza could have been there when the other Erza told him everything…
Goku blinked, an idea forming in his head. He could picture the memory of what Knightwalker had told him so perfectly, if her could just show Erza that. He concentrated, shaping his ki around the images in his head. He raised a hand and placed it against Erza's forehead.
Goku closed his eyes and let the ki flow from his mind into his hand and into his friend. His eyes snapped open as he felt Erza go stiff, she was staring out at him between his fingers her face pale and he knew he had succeeded.
"No." Her voice cracked. "No, she lied to you. She was trying to hurt me- hurt us- after what we did to her home, she wanted to get a last shot in. She wanted to make me doubt myself, make me doubt you. It's all not true, they were just trying to manipulate you, that's all this is." Erza's pupils started to shrink, and her hand began to tremble. "It's not…it's not-"
For once, Goku managed to figure out exactly what he was supposed to do and pulled her into a tight hug. A muffled squeak escaped the Knight as she found her head buried in the crook of her friends' shoulder.
"I wouldn't tell you if I thought she was lying. She might be wrong, but she wasn't lying. You know how I feel about the Titania already, Erza. I think she's dangerous. But you need to find out whether or not she is actually on your side."
"…I need to talk to her. I need to confront her." Erza mumbled. "I have to hear it from her. I need to know exactly what's going on. What she's doing to me." Goku nodded immediately.
"Where is she?" He asked her.
"We don't need to go anywhere. I don't need to go anywhere. I just need to focus." Erza leaned back and sat on the rock with her legs tucked beneath her. "There's a connection to her in my mind. It's been there ever since I let her in and began to tap into the Fae power."
"So, you can call her out here then?"
"No. The connection, it will let me go into a space in my own mind where I can talk with her. Somewhat of a neutral ground for us to communicate I suppose. She's pulled me there a few times when I was sleeping to ask about how I've been using my abilities." Before, the connection had seemed completely benign to her. Just a way for her patron to contact her as needed and give advice. If Knightwalker was telling the truth though, it put that mental bridge into a far darker light.
"…I know that you can't follow me for this, but would you be willing to wait here for me. Please?"
"Course! Get in there and give her a piece of your mind for me too, yeah?" With a smile at his earnest grin, Erza closed her eyes and allowed the connection to drag her away.
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They stood in the middle of an alien forest. Orange trees with bright pink leaves surrounded them on all sides, the sky was green with blue clouds, and a sun that shined bright like a silver diamond hung high in the air. The air itself painted everything in a pale blue light, muting some of the bizarre colors and warping others. Erza's own clothing were different as well, her armor was gone in place of the tunic that appeared around her when she took on her own fae power. All of the metal that she normally wore had vanished, everything from the sword on her waist to the strap of her belt.
But if Erza was different, then that was nothing compared to how the Titania appeared. The fae woman's appearance had completely changed compared to their last meeting. Her hair was now in a silvery braid that trailed down past her waist, and her eyes had turned into a harsh electric blue. Her face looked like porcelain, with blue speckles trailing down straight from beneath her eyes and down her face onto her neck. Her clothing looked like finely intertwined vines, wrapping around her entire body down from the base of her neck down to her feet.
The being noticed Erza's confused gaze and shrugged carelessly.
"The fae are chaotic by nature, child. Things like appearance are hardly static for those such as us. We shift as we please and adapt as we see fit. We are beings of nature; change is entwined into our very existence."
"What else is tied into the existence of the fae?" Erza asked. "You know what I was just told, correct? The claims from the other version of me?"
"Of course. I may not monitor everything that you do, but anytime you tap into my power, or your emotions spike, I am your witness. That boy's technique was an intriguing one, most people with the ability to connect with minds are either telepathic or magical in origin. This was the first time that I have come across someone using Ki to produce that effect. Most impressive indeed."
"I did not come here to discuss his abilities." Erza said icily. "You know exactly what I want to know from you."
"I suppose that I do. Very well then. On a surface level, what the girl spoke of was accurate, however she is simply too ignorant of the full scope of the fae to see us as more than shady villains, laughing manically from our home world as her own loses power."
"Then what is happening?" Erza demanded.
"Do you know where the fae come from Erza?" The woman asked instead. "Fae are not born like any normal species. They cannot reproduce. Instead, the first fae selected beings that intrigued her, and offer them a chance to evolve. Those that she selected followed suit, and gradually built up a world of pure magic, one beyond the comprehension of the world you reside in. The heroine that saved Edolas from that long-forgotten threat? The one accused of selling out her planet?" The fae spread her porcelain arms. "She stands before you."
"Then the world that you are slowly killing is your own?" Erza's eyes narrowed, her hand reaching instinctively for a sword hilt that was not there.
"Yes," The fae's head nodded and the smirk became something more solemn. "Though the choice was not my own. I was merely offered the same thing that you were, great power in exchange for the ability to save my home. For you, this demon Piccolo will bring about a cataclysm just as great as the one that I was forced to confront while I still had my humanity. Like you, when I was confronted with the destruction of my home, I was given a choice. Surrender my humanity in its entirety, embrace the full power of the fae, and save my world from certain destruction, or try fruitlessly to battle against a threat beyond anything your planet can confront and die alongside everyone and everything."
"My guild—"
"Will die horribly. I know the level of opponent you are about to face, as well as the level of power your world can produce. There are threats roaming around your own world that are far beyond anything you can confront right now, beings that could crush you like so many ants should they choose to acknowledge your existence. These same threats, when they confront Piccolo, will fall. The simple fact is, nothing on your world can compete with the raw power of the world that the demon comes from.
The fae shook her head and laughed, a sad and wild titter that bounced off the misshapen trees. "It is like a sleepy little moon thinking to outshine the sun it reflects. No, your world as it is now is doomed. But should you become a fae, you will gain access to the sum of all magic from your world. You shall become a demigod walking amongst mortals, and in doing so you will gain the strength to prevent your extinction. Those are the choices given to you, no more, and no less." With every word the fae spoke, Erza's expression grew colder.
"My. Guild. Won't. Fall." She ground out. "I don't care how powerful this demon is. We will go after him with everything we have. If we need someone from another world, then Goku already fits that role. If all you are offering me is a ruined world in exchange for a supposed chance at victory, then I will instead side with my family!"
"You misunderstand." the fae shook her head. "I do not want you to fall. If I thought that your guild could handle the coming threat without having to turn you into a fae, I would have never even tried to contact you. I do not particularly wish for your world to go through what mine did. But more importantly, I do not want you to have to go through what I did." the creature's eyes turned upward, taking on a somber look to them.
"I was like you, Erza. I was proud and certain in my power. It was only once I watched as everyone I cared for during my time as a human crushed and slaughtered that I learned the truth of my weakness." Erza blinked, her anger mixing with uncertainty as she listened to the fae's words. "It was only then that I gave in to the power and extracted my vengeance. Had I accepted it sooner, those I cared for would not have had to die in such a way. You do not have to go through that, for you have the power now. If you accept it, and truly make it your own, you will be able to stop Piccolo the instant he makes himself known and save your world in a matter of moments. None of those you care for will have to fall. The gradual loss of magic will be harsh, but it is not swift. Most of those you love will be long gone before they see any of the truly adverse effects. All things die one day, but they will still be able to live long, happy lives. Wouldn't you prefer that to dying violently in their prime?"
"…" Erza's face was set hard, clamping down on the emotions waring around within her mind.
"What of you then? If this enemy is truly so powerful that only a fae such as yourself could hope to win, why force me through this transformation? Why not confront the demon yourself and end the threat before it can harm any innocent?"
The Titania's face twisted into a scowl. "There are rules that I am required to follow, Erza. Rules set in place by the first of our kind" She said icily. "I am just over two centuries old, barely considered prepubescent amongst my kind. There are elder fae with far more power than I could hope to contend with, and they too are bound by these rules. Our kind cannot interfere with worlds without a stable connection to the fae realm. And such a connection can only be established through the will of one who dwells there. You, in this case." The creature crossed her arms.
"The only way I would be allowed to aide you here more so than just establishing a basic connection would be for you to completely transform into a fae and then invite me to help you in the defense of your world. If you wish to save your world and those you care for from total annihilation, becoming like me is still your best and only option."
"…You are being genuine." Erza said after a long moment. "You believe everything that you are saying. You truly think that my world will fall unless I accept your power."
"Can you offer another option? Your guild isn't strong enough. The rest of the guilds aren't. The strongest on your world aren't. How will you stop what is coming? If you don't want to be a fae, then answer me! What will you do?"
"If my strength is not enough now, then I will get stronger! I shall train myself into the ground and surpass him with my own power!"
"Not enough time." The fae answered simply. "Unless you have some rituals or magics that can boost your strength a hundredfold, it would take decades of training to reach his strength at the rate of improvement that can be expected from your world. What will you do?"
"I'll find something capable of sealing him away! That was how his old world dealt away with him, correct?" The Titania's reproachful look dropped and turned contemplative.
"…A possibility." She answered, her head tilting to one side. "But not reliable. Piccolo is well aware of the dangers of sealing and similar magics now, and he will not be invading your world alone. He has been trapped inside of the Dead Zone for a decade, and has been capable of making more children the entire time he has been trapped there. Flute was only one of them. In turn, each of them is capable of reproducing as well, and all of these demons will be working to protect Piccolo. Even if you should find magic capable of sealing him away, the rest of his kin would still wreak havoc on your world. So, again I ask. What. Will. You. Do?"
"…I don't know! I don't know how to battle this threat! I barely even understand what it is, let alone how to fight it! But I can't surrender my world's magic! Even if the price will not affect me or my friends, it would still fall on our children, on our grandchildren! I can't believe that the situation is as hopeless as you describe. We will get stronger, all of us! When the time comes, my guild, as well as all of the others around the world will face the threat together and prevail!" Erza closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath to calm herself.
"I appreciate the gravity of what you have told me," she said slowly. "And I do not begrudge you from making that decision when it was forced upon you, but I cannot do the same. I ask you, please severe our connection and allow me to challenge this threat on my own terms!"
For a long moment, the Titania was quiet. She just stared into Erza's eyes, her expression closed off beyond the knight's ability to read. After a while, she sighed and closed her long-fingered hands into fists.
"I see. I suppose it was unreasonable of me to expect you to fully understand things that are beyond you when they are only discussed in the abstract. Flute is still your only real experience with creatures like what is coming, and while it was powerful, it was still well within your ability to understand and defeat. If I want you to make a fully informed decision…I need to demonstrate just what is coming."
A nebula of power exploded off of the Titania, knocking Erza from her feet and sending her tumbling end over end across the ground. Erza came to a stop and gasped, feeling the weight of raw magic and power pressing her into the ground. She forced her arms beneath her and shoved herself to her knees, then to her feet as she jerked her head up to stare at the Fae. Her appearance didn't change in the slightest, but her composure completely changed. The dignified feel that she had been putting off, the feeling of one dedicated to the role of a diplomat had fallen away, revealing a blooded warrior underneath the mask. The aura dancing around her lit up the illusionary forest like it was consuming the land in wildfire. In the middle of the raging storm, the Titania stood completely still, unmoved by the chaos her aura was causing around her.
"This power…this is the level of what I was forced to face my own calamity with, at the very beginning of my transformation. While Piccolo has been beyond our ability to observe since he was sealed away, I can tell you that he likely would have defeated me in terms of raw strength had I fought him like this. His skill, unfortunately, I have no way of judging. However, this should be more than enough to demonstrate to you just how hopeless the battle you are dooming your world to would be. Come. Strike me with everything in your arsenal, besides the power that I have granted to you. All your armors, your swords, and your tricks. I will brush them all aside like flies, and then you shall understand. Once you see how helpless you are, you will accept my power without complaint. As much as you may dislike it, you will let me help you save your world." The fae demanded, her eyes hard. Erza met her gaze and gave an ultimatum of her own.
"Very well. However, should I prove to impress you with my own strength, then you shall stand aside, let the bond between us fall, and let my guild rise to the challenge on our own!" She declared proudly. The Titania scoffed in response.
"Once more you misunderstand. This is not a test. I was not challenging you. I was simply making a statement." The end of her sentence was punctuated by a solid ball of magic shooting out and slamming into Erza's face.
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In the real world Goku had been sitting quietly besides Erza's body, patiently waiting for her to return. Occasionally, he felt strange burst of magic flow through her body, however so long as the peaceful expression remained on her face, he merely waited.
Then her nose cracked. Goku started at the sudden, violent sound and watched in disbelief as blood began to trail down her face.
Goku stared in surprise at the unexpected development for all of a second before he began to move.
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Only seconds into the battle, and Erza was already on her knees once more. Broken swords and scraps of ruined armor littered the battlefield. Erza was panting and bloodied in a soiled tunic, glaring balefully at the Titania. Her head hung low, and the blood stuck to the curtain of hair that covered her face. The fae woman still stood exactly where she had at the start of the battle, her cornea of energy just as potent as it had been at the beginning. The elder being stared at the teenage girl with a look that was just a step short of disdain, like she was staring down an uppity child that couldn't understand why it was being lectured.
"Well?" She asked. "Less than a minute, I've destroyed six sets of your armor with without moving. Your armory lays shattered. Do we truly need to continue this? Will you force me to break you?"
"Break me?" Erza panted. Her head tilted back up slowly, her white toothed smile standing out even more than usual with the crimson surrounding her face.
"All that has happened so far is that I have prepared the battlefield." The Titania's brow rose just as a piece of broken sword leapt off of the ground behind her and buried itself into the back of her thigh. The fae hissed in pain as the metal reacted with her magic began to boil her skin. She ripped the shard out and tossed it aside in a single motion, splashing the ground behind her in a trickle of her own steaming blood. The woman opened her mouth to snarl at the impudent teen, only for the words to die in her throat as the rest of the broken blades and armors began to lift off of the ground and surround her.
"…Well played." The Titania conceded with a sigh. "You remembered your own experiences with the weakness of my kind and set a trap based around it, using your own body as a way to bait me to lower my guard. An inspired trick to try and overcome a physically superior foe. A wasted trick though." With a flick of her wrist, a blast of pure magical energy exploded out of the fae, atomizing each and every one of the metal shards flying towards her body.
"Worthl-urk!" The woman's beratement was cut off before it could begin with a spike armored gauntlet to the spine. Erza stood behind her, her face a deadly calm as the purgatory armor sucked up the light around them. She twisted her fist slowly, digging the three spikes on her gauntlet into the fae's back. Steam flowed through the air as the Titania's skin decayed, filling the air with the sent of burned flesh.
Once more the Titania scoffed.
"You really don't understand what you fight against. While the weakness to metal can be crippling to a new fae, the greater the magic you have access too, the easier it is to brush aside wounds." A second burst of power exploded out of the fae woman. Erza's armor shattered off of her body as she was blown backwards. She slammed headfirst straight through a tree and dug a furrow into the ground as she rolled to a painful stop. The teen rolled up an came face to face with the Titania a mere inch away from her.
Without a care, the elder being turned to show her back to the mage, revealing perfectly smooth, unmarked skin. Then without even sparing the knight a glance, she snapped her fingers and called down a bolt of lightning. Erza howled as the electricity roared through her body, only just barely managing to stay conscious.
"Do you understand yet? Can we end this farce?" Another snap, and the ground beneath Erza exploded in a plume of molten Earth. Pure instincts and the Flame Empress Armor kept Erza on her feet, but before she could do anything yet another pulse of magic turned her armor to dust.
"Your magic is too tied to your tools. There is nothing that you can utilize once you are without them." The Titania said as she walked to stand over the staggered warrior. Erza roared in defiance and swung a fist with all her force. The blow connected, but the fae didn't even blink.
"Your tenacity at least, is quite impressive." The fae noted. As easily reached up, grabbed onto Erza's wrist and began to twist. "That you continue to stand and look me in the eye speaks well of your character. But pride will not save you from destruction. Only once you take the power to back up that attitude, you shall be quite the force to be reckoned with." Erza gasped in pain as the bones in her wrist started to strain and collapsed to her knees. The Titania continued to idly apply pressure, barely paying attention to what she was doing. "I take no pleasure in doing this to you. Understand that you made it necessary. To that end, is there anything else that you would like to try? Or have you had enough?" Erza's breath started to come out in sharp gasps as the fae applied more and more pressure, and her bone threatened to snap.
After a few moments, the Titania lessened the pressure just enough to give Erza a bit of relief, but nowhere close to enough for her to maneuver in any meaningful way.
"You should stop now Erza. The damage you are taking in here is being reflected onto your actual body to a lesser degree. I don't want to hurt you any more than absolutely necessary. We should…oh?" The fae's voice trailed off as the world around them began to shudder in and out of focus.
"Oh? Are you trying to change our location to somewhere you feel you have more of an advantage?" She asked curiously. "I wouldn't have expected you to have the focus to pull something off like this with where you stand right now." Slowly, the pressure began to worsen once more.
"Gah! Ah! Not me! Not me!" Erza cried as her nerves screamed out within her arm. The instant the denial left her lips, the fae dropped her to the ground, tilting her head curiously.
"We are in a mental link, Erza. It's just the two of us here." The old area had faded away completely now, and new a new environment began to fade in. Tall, narrow mountains covered in grass surrounded them on all sides. Small bamboo patches poked out of the ground in random intervals dotting the landscape. More importantly though, just a few feet away from where they stood was a little red and white hut that Erza had become quite familiar with.
"…I see. So, is this where you grew up then?" Erza asked softly. The fae's face scrunched up in question, only to notice that the words had not been directed at her…but behind her.
She turned to a glowing blue fist to the face. The ki empowered punch detonated on impact, knocking her backwards a handful of steps before she could regain her balance. When the spots cleared from her eyes, it was to the sight of Goku standing tall within the imagined recreation of the first place he called home.
"Yeah, this is Mt. Paozu. It's been a really long time since I've seen this place." Goku said happily. It's nice to have a chance to visit, even if it's just for something like this." The Titania's head turned to the side slightly as she regarded the fighter's sudden appearance.
"You aren't a mental construct or a memory." She said frowning. "You are the real Son Goku. Tell me, how did you manage to connect yourself to this mindscape and join the battle?"
"Well, this kind of felt like an image training spar, so I just did that. Took me a while to figure out where I needed to go in here, but I'm pretty satisfied with the results."
"Image training? I can't say I've heard of that technique. At some point, I'd be very interested in picking your brain to see just what types of ki techniques you have developed." Humming to herself, the fae turned back towards Erza. "One thing you might wish to know is that Ki will be completely unaffected by the drain of your ascension. Goku will be unchanged, and if he has even the slightest bit of skill as an instructor, he opens the opportunity for your world to turn more towards those types of powers rather than magical ones. Does that change your opinion on the situation at all?"
"No." Erza said promptly. "And neither does the condition of my body. I will stand through this regardless. Goku, I shall properly explain things to you later, but for now please help me show the Titania the power of our guild!" Goku nodded mildly and turned to look the Titania over. The energy that she was putting off now, even just standing around out of combat was staggering. Even as his mind was racing through ways to combat her, his instincts began screaming out all on their own. In this mental world that he had thrown himself into, the subconscious ruled. Through that ruling, the sun began to set at an incredible speed. The sun rocketed down behind the horizon, and the air began to darken as what clouds there were began to pull away to revel a full moon.
BA-Bump! Ba-Bump!
"Hoh?" A gleam of genuine excitement flashed in the Titania's eyes as she beheld the Oozaru before her eyes slid back over towards Erza. That single moment of distraction was just enough time for Goku's gigantic form to slam an oversized fist into her body. The fae grunted in annoyance as she was launched skywards and straight through one of the mountain's dotting the horizon. She landed hard with her back on the rocks and carefully weighed her odds.
How long had it been since she'd had a chance to fight something interesting? A long-buried part of her longed to return and face this challenge. But… she was not here for enjoyment. Erza was the priority.
As the dust began to settle, Oozaru began to charge Ki in his mouth. Before he could even reach half power though, the fae struck first. A sphere of power flew off in the sky, quickly vanishing from view amongst the stars decorating the night.
A second later, the moon fell apart. The magic projectile fragmented the moon into hundreds of pieces, leaving a cloud of debris where the sphere had once been. The great monkey froze, its eyes staring up at the whole in the sky as it began to shrink. Goku's wits returned just in time to see the titania materialize in front of him. The fae uncurled her fingers and a sphere of solid magic blasted into Goku's throat. The martial artist collapsed to his knees even as Erza charging back in, swinging desperately with a glowing katana. The weapon easily broke on the fae's skin, and in the moment of surprise Erza experienced she had a fist buried into her gut and was thrown on top of the Goku's slowly recovering form.
"If you held hope that form could save your world, abandon it. The trigger is obvious and Piccolo will blow your moon out of the sky just as easily as I did. Once again, your own power here lacks what is necessary to save the world."
"That's not true." Erza gasped out from her place on the ground. "If he can fight at that level, even if it is just with the Oozaru, then that means it is possible for us to reach that power. Just the fact that it exists means that we can reach it! Our world can be saved without your power Titania! No matter how much you tell me otherwise, I won't change my mind!"
The fae stared down at the two fallen fighters glaring up at her. There was no yield in their eyes, not even from Goku who still wasn't even aware of the reason behind their fight.
The Titania sighed.
"I said before…I don't want to force you. I can't force you." She scoffed. "If you are really this stubborn, and you don't care how many people you are dooming, I can't stop you. So then…we have an impasse. You are too stubborn to live, yet I am too invested to allow you to die." The Titania looked down at her feet and sighed.
"If you are that determined to stick to your folly, then I shall see my connection to you stilled. I will not remove it, but you will not be able to access it either unless you open it fully and initiate the transformation. At the very least, I can hope that you will chose to accept my help when everything around you beings to crumple. When your friends are dead and dying, and your guild is left in ruins, call me. You can tell me to close the door, but I won't burn the bridge. Ask for the power, and even if the drain can't be performed quickly enough, I'll fuel your victory with my own power." Around the three figures, the mental world began to waver and fall away.
"Son Goku. That Dragon Ball that you carry. I know that you won't destroy it, so guard it with your life. As long as you have it, Piccolo will come for you. He will know that the balls exist on this world the moment he arrives here, and he will hunt for them to the ends of the earth."
As the world faded to black, Goku and Erza heard one final line.
"I really do hope that you two manage to survive this somehow. I really think that, had we met before I became what I am today, we would have been great friends."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Goku and Erza found themselves back in the forest, even more bloody than they had been when they had first arrived. The two sat side by side in silence for a few minutes before Erza turned to face Goku and raised an eyebrow.
Did he want to know the whole story?
Goku shrugged and held out a hand.
No, not particularly.
Erza grasped Goku's hand and the two managed to pull themselves back up onto their feet. The pair slipped their arms around one another's shoulders, bracing each other and steadying their feet.
"Cake for lunch?" Goku asked as the two started to make their way back towards the guild. Erza nodded tiredly.
"Strawberry."
S&DS&DS&DS&D
Levy stared at the enormous thing that towered over the ghost ship. It was like all those old fisherman stories of krakens and sea serpents rolled into one giant mountain of fish scales and lobster claws.
She was also keenly aware of just how ill equipped they were to fight such a thing. Team Shadowgear didn't really do giant monsters.
Where was Natsu when you needed him?
Well, no. Not Natsu, because they were on a boat. But where was Gray? Or Erza? Or Goku? They would be great at fighting on the ocean. Levy shook her head. Those weren't helpful thoughts. She needed to focus on who she did have.
She had two dragon slayers, although she was pretty sure Gajeel couldn't swim and Wendy… actually she wasn't totally sure what Wendy could do…
Oh! She had Juvia!... who had…brought the monster to the surface. Hopefully she had a good reason for that. Levy squinted; she could barely make of out the miniaturized mage sitting astride the creature's head. Juvia was throwing her hands around wildly and geysers of water were spouting from the still water of the ocean and twisting towards the monster, so it looked like she was attacking the monster.
But something was wrong. Levy had personally seen Juvia slice through steel with a handful of water, but the giant geysers just splashed harmlessly against the creature's hide, as though Juvia was releasing the spell at the last second.
The creature lunged forward, a wall of flesh and reeking fish and Levy was pretty sure it was going to crush them all right there and then.
"Forward!" she heard Ishmael scream, and she was thrown backward off her feet as the ship zipped forward as though something beneath the water was pushing it along. The leviathan crashed into nothing but empty water.
"What?" Levy blinked from her place on the deck, her mind momentarily thrown from the situation. "But ships with sails can't…" she shook her head. "Right, it's a ghost ship." She shook her head and scrambled to her feet. Now was not the time for thinking. Ishmael might be dead, but all the people he had abducted weren't. They needed to protect them.
"Droy!" she shouted, pulling out her light pen—she was really missing her phoenix feather quill right now, a stick of plastic and metal just didn't gave the same sense of comfort compared to the feather of a mystical firebird that could summon waves of fire—"How are those plants coming?"
"All set," he answered, throwing a last few handfuls of seeds overboard. "Give me some light!"
"Solid Script!" Levy shouted, as the sea monster's head poked out of the waves and loomed over them. "SUNLIGHT!" her pen flashed and the word shot into monster's face and exploded as its definition took effect. The monster shrieked, the eyes that weren't harpooned rolling ferociously as a white film spread over them.
"Plant magic!" Droy screamed, thrusting his hands out: "KELP ENWALLED!" the surface of the sea frothed and turned green as hundreds of slimy-looking tendrils of seaweed burst to life. They flowed over the monstrous creature, wrapping around claws, spikes and fins, tying together whatever they could.
Blinded, and under the sudden entrapment, the creature floundered in the water, flopping down heavily before it could slam onto them. Levy was under no illusions that the plants would hold it for long, but that's not what they needed.
"Gajeel!" She shouted. "Do the dragon slayer thing!" Gajeel pulled a half-eaten harpoon away from his mouth and threw back his head.
"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!" A whirlwind of shrapnel shot through the air, shredding claws, seaweed and tentacles to ribbons as it slammed into the creature's side. It lurched backward with a hiss like a fizzling mountain.
Levy gave a worried frown. That had been a powerful attack, but the creature was just so massive, Gajeel might as well have been going at a rhino with a pocketknife.
Half a dozen fresh tentacles rose out of the water, unhindered by plants or iron and slammed down between it and the ship, sending up an enormous wave of water that threatened to swamp them. Levy's hand shot up, but her mind blanked, she couldn't think of a word that would stop the wave; if the ship capsized, that thing would devour them all.
Then a stream of water shot out from the wave, racing ahead and splashing onto the deck before her. The water swirled and reformed into Juvia who threw up her hands and the wave froze, then reversed direction, surging back into the monster's face.
"Have I mentioned how glad Juvia is our friend?" Jet asked, clinging to the ship's railing and looking sick.
"Nothing Juvia Is doing is working!" Juvia shrieked, stomping her foot on the deck. "Why is it not dying when Juvia kills it!"
"Because it has eaten the sea." Ishmael said, rising out of the deck beside them, making Juvia whirl around.
"Ishmael!" Levy demanded, "What is this thing?"
"I told you. It is the Old Man of the Sea." The ghost answered. "Oceanus the Titan. Lord of the deep waves, risen from the depths to reclaim what was once his." He waved a hand over the stilled waters. "How can the ocean possibly hurt him, when he has eaten its heart?"
"You keep saying that." Levy said hurriedly, the monster was busy at the moment, blinding ripping at the countless strands of seaweed entrapping it. "What exactly do you mean by it ate the ocean? What specifically happened?"
"It devoured Lluv'ia's vessel, and with it, her power."
Why did the dead always have to be so cryptically unhelpful? "What does that—" Levy paused. Lluv'ia… she'd heard that name recently. Hadn't the mayor mentioned something about it… "The old sea goddess? Do you mean it ate her shrine?"
"More than that." Pearly lines of silver were running down the ghost's cheeks as he glared at the flailing monster. "She slept within the statue. Now she is trapped within it, and the sea itself mourns her loss." The spectral fast twisted into a rictus of rage. "From my watery grave I heard its lament and clawed my way back to the surface. I will see it freed." He spun away. "First mate!" he roared. "Are the bomb harpoons ready?" a bulky person with a pair of binoculars and a tourist hat saluted. "Then take aim and fire! You can hardly miss! I shall man the forward cannon." The ghost shrunk into the floor.
"So…" Gajeel grunted, stomping over to them. "That guy is insane. How the fuck can an ocean be sad? It's just a bunch of water."
"So are we, for the most part." Levy answered, turning to stare at the monstrosity in the waves. It had nearly torn all the seaweed from its body and no doubt would start focusing on crushing them very soon. She wasn't sure if she believed the story about an ancient goddess, but something unnatural was definitely happening.
"He's telling the truth." Juvia declared, stomping her foot. "When Juvia touched the ocean, she heard it calling for help." Levy blinked, now that she thought about it, Juvia had started acting strange when she'd dove into the ocean to look for clues about the missing shrine… "The cries for help are coming from that thing." Juvia went on, jabbing a finger at the creature. "That is how Juvia found it. She has tried to drown and boil it, but Juvia's magic is not working when she tries to hurt it. SoSo, she dragged it to the surface in the hope that you all could assist her."
The miniaturized water mage turned towards them and Levy realized she was crying. "Juvia can still hear the ocean. Juvia wants to help it, but doesn't know what to do!" She wailed.
Levy looked at the creature, the film over its eyes was fading, the stalks swiveling around in their direction. It began to move towards them, like an iceberg set to crash down on them.
There was a percussion of booms and another volley of harpoons shot out towards the creature. Several tentacles shot upwards, shielding the creature's eyes. The harpoons either stuck in the rubbery flesh or bounced off the chitinous shell. Then the harpoons exploded, making the monster lurch backward—although Levy was pretty sure it was more in surprise than pain.
"Levy." Jet said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "What's the plan?" She blinked e everyone was looking at her, even Gajeel. Right, she was the leader. Time to step up. She took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's assume the story Ishmael told us is true. If the statue it ate is making it more powerful, then we should probably try to get it out."
"So what?" Gajeel demanded. "We hit it in the gut and hope it hacks it up?" the dragon slayer snorted. "I can't even tell where the thing's stomach is. Where am I supposed to hit it?"
"Juvia knows what to do!" the mage was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It will be in the beast's stomach, if she goes down its throat, she should be able to find it."
"Ex-fucking-cuse me?" Gajeel whirled on her. "You are not feeding yourself to that thing."
"Oh yes Juvia is!" she shot back, stamping her foot like a twelve-year-old throwing a tantrum. "She has to. You can't hear the ocean calling for help, Juvia can." She bit her lip. "The sea has always been a friend to Juvia, even when she didn't have anyone else. Juvia wants to help it." She shook her head. "Juvia is indestructible, she can do this!"
"Alright, fine." Levy said. "Then let's do it. While you're doing that, it's up to the rest of us to keep it occupied."
Juvia hesitated. "Will the rest of you be alright without Juvia here to protect you?"
"Of course we will." Levy grinned. "We're Fairies, planning to be a distraction. I almost feel sorry for it."
"Alright." The water mage nodded, grinning back.. "Juvia is off, then." Her body melted into a stream of water and shot overboard.
Levy nodded and turned to the rest. "Alright team, our job is to keep it distracted. Time to do what Fairies do best."
Her team grinned at her, even Gajeel was smirking. "What's the plan, boss?" Jet asked.
Levy held up her pen and wrote the word PAPERCUT in large letters, then added the word HANDLE in much smaller print next to it. "Jet, take this. Run over there and start smacking its eyes."
"Levy," Jet laughed, grabbing the word HANDLE and turning towards the railing. "You are diabolical." His legs glowed and he vanished in a blur.
Levy turned away. "Droy? Got more seeds?"
"Only land plants, boss."
"That's fine. Do what you can."
"On it."
Levy felt something tugging on her shirt and turned. Wendy was standing behind her, Carla floating behind her looking for all the world like she wanted to grab the girl and fly far away from here. "Miss Levy," Wendy said. "I'm full and ready to go."
"Alright…" Levy paused. "Um, what can your powers actually do?"
"I can do a dragon's roar. But," The girl shuffled her feet. "I saw Gajeel do that so I'm not sure that will be very helpful. Most of my magic is support or healing."
"Right, white mage." Levy nodded. "Could you buff Gajeel's attacks?"
"Um…" Wendy nodded.
"Alright, do that. Gajeel?"
"Yeah?"
"You're a dragon slayer. Pretend that thing is a dragon and do what comes naturally… also, try not to hit Jet." She added.
"Fine." He grumbled, turning to Wendy. "Come on, Brat, show me what you can do."
"Watch your tongue when you speak to Wendy!" Carla hissed. Gajeel looked at her, completely unimpressed.
The creature was swimming towards them, again. Countless tentacles were rising from the sea like a forest growing from nowhere. How many of those did the stupid thing have? Levy hurried to the stern, her mind flicking through any spells that could be useful. She could try to slap the word SLOW or STOP on it, but she wasn't sure how effective it would be on something that big.
Then Levy saw Ishmael already standing at the ship's stern. The ghost raised one hand to his mouth and pointed his glowing trident at the sea monster. He let out a piercing whistle. For a moment nothing happened, then the ocean surged upwards as something burst from the water. An enormous white shape crashed into the creature, knocking it backward.
Levy blinked, it was an enormous whale, its skin white as snow and marked with countless scars. The whale thrashed, sinking its teeth into a mass of tentacles and viciously ripping them off. The monster recoiled—the whale was only about a third it's size, but it was thrashing so wildly that the monster's tentacles seemed to be having trouble finding purchase. She could also see a make out a brown blur zipping around the monster's face—Jet was having fun.
Then the kraken threw back its head and roared. The smoothed surface of the ocean roiled, and a geyser of water erupted into the air and curved, slamming into the whale's head with a meaty slap. The whale jerked, stunned by the blow and countless tentacles grabbed the whale and threw it off. It surged towards them its maw opening wide enough to swallow the ship whole.
Out of the corner of her eye, Levy saw Gajeel step forward. Wendy was behind him, her cheeks puffed up as she breathed out whorls of white energy that flowed over the Iron Dragon slayer. Gajeel cracked his neck and raised one hand, a bar of silver metal formed in it, elongating and splitting into three points.
Gajeel smirked at the mountain of teeth and claws baring down at them and pulled his arm back.
"IRON DRAGON'S TRIDENT!" he screamed, throwing the weapon. Levy felt a rush of air across her face as the trident shot passed and she was pretty sure she felt the deck jerk backward slightly under her feet.
The trident whistled into the open maw and slammed into the back of its throat. The creature's roar cut off and it tumbled backward, its body half lifting out of the water from the force of the blow.
"Damn." Gajeel declared, flexing his fingers as white wisps of smoke drifted off them. He glanced back at Wendy. "Not bad, brat. Not bad."
Wendy smiled uncertainly.
But, as Levy watched, the monster reared upright again. "You've gotta be fucking with me!" Gajeel groaned, he raised his hand and another trident formed in it. "Wendy, give me another hit."
"Wait." Levy said, holding up a hand. The monster was convulsing, whipping its head back and forth. Then a geyser of water vomited out of its mouth and shot toward the ship.
The water crashed down on the ship, drenching everything and reeking of rotten fish.
Levy gagged staggering back under the weight of the stench and then she heard a thump as something solid landed on the deck. She looked around, eyes streaming.
It was a statue of a woman, clad in pearls and scales, rising out of a cresting wave. Juvia was clinging to it, her tiny arms wrapped around the woman's neck.
The monster gave a pained roar and moved towards them once more.
Then Levy saw the statue's eyes began to glow and, along with them, Juvia's eyes turned silvery white like pearls in dark waters. The tiny mage thrust out her hand and a geyser of water erupted beneath the lunging monstrosity, slamming into it from behind and pushing it down.
Water streamed from the statue and flowed into Juvia, wrapping around her and gently lifting her from her perch. They wrapped around the water mage like a suit of shimmering silver and then seemed to flow into her. There was a flash of light, and then Juvia's feet touched down onto the deck.
She was bigger now, Levy realized. The water mage had finally returned to her original size. She was dressed in a gown of iridescent fish scales that flashed every color of the rainbow. Levy glanced past the mage and realized the dress mirrored the one carved onto the statue.
"My Lady." Ishmael breathed reverently, stepping out in front of her and bowing low.
Juvia looked at the ghost and smiled. Then she raised a hand and the ocean surged to follow her command. Tendrils of water wrapped around the thrashing monster and began to lift it upwards. It rose higher and higher, until its body was pulled completely out of the water, held suspended over the ship in a bubble of water like some kind of gargantuan fishy Christmas ornament. Levy stared, now that she could see the whole thing, she could understand why none of their spells seemed to do much to seriously hurt it. It had to be at least ten times the size of the ship.
But suspended in the air like it was, its limbs flailing uselessly, it didn't seem so threatening.
Juvia stared up at the creature for a moment and sneered like a haughty queen looking down at a mouse that dared to invade her bedchambers. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
At once, the bubble holding the monster began to boil, the water hissing and roiling so much as to obscure its prisoner from view. All Levy could make out was a blurry, thrashing shape. Then, after a minute had passed, the thrashing slowed down, then grew still.
Juvia waved a hand dismissively and the bubble floated off, touching down into the water and gently sinking from sight without a splash.
Then everything was quiet.
"My Lady." Ishmael murmured, looking up at Juvia reverently with a wide smile on his face. Juvia looked at him and smiled. She bent down and pressed her lips to his forehead.
The ghost let out a sigh and seamed to fade away. His trident clattered to the deck.
Juvia turned to look at them, a serene smile on her face, she nodded to them all and the glow faded from her eyes as she blinked.
"W-what?" Juvia asked, pressing her hand to her forehead. "What happened to Juvia? She went inside, and it was all smelly and… what is Juvia wearing?" she blinked down at the dress of pearls and scales.
Before anyone could answer, the ship beneath their feet lurched. Levy looked around, the ghostly glow that had surrounded most of the ghost ship was fading and bits of timber were beginning to fall off and sink. All around her, the abducted people were shaking their heads and looking around.
"No time!" Levy said, raising her light pen and writing a boat into existence. "Come on guys, we need to get everyone onto the boat. Juvia, you need to carry everyone here to shore."
Juvia looked at her, then nodded. Tendrils of water rose out of the ocean and wrapped around the bewildered townsfolk and tourists and depositing them, dripping but unharmed, onto the raft.
"Yo, boss." Levy turned and saw Jet standing behind her, he was panting lightly and he was soaked, but he looked unharmed. "Um… I'm not if I believe what I just saw. But I think we won?"
"Yeah." Levy smiled. "I think so too."
S&DS&DS&DS&D
"So," Jet said, shoving another pretzel into his mouth and crunching it as the carriage rumbled. "We went to save people from a ghost, found the ghost, got attacked by a sea monster, rescued a statue from the monster's belly, Juvia became a goddess, killed the monster, put the ghost to rest, and saved all the people?"
"One for the books." Droy agreed, snatching the bag of pretzels out of Jet's hands and fishing around in it. He glanced across the carriage. "So Juvia," he said, shoving a pretzel into his mouth. "How did it feel to be a goddess?"
"Juvia can't remember." She huffed, "All she remembers is diving down the monster's throat and following the sound of a voice. She found the voice and hauled it back the way she came. After that, the next thing Juvia remembers is waking up on the sinking ship wearing this dress." She gestured to herself and the glimmering blue-green garment of scales, stretching out her legs.
"You know, you could have gotten something else to wear in the town before we left."
"She could have." Juvia agreed. "But Juvia rather likes it. It makes her feel powerful."
"Yeah," Jet nodded. "I can see that."
"You look very pretty, Miss Juvia." Wendy said, she was sitting next to the water mage, clutching Carla and looking happy.
"Thank you, Wendy." Juvia smiled.
"Yeah," Droy grinned. "Wait till Gray gets a load of you." He laughed as the woman turned red and began to splutter.
"So, Wendy," Levy said, looking up from the phoenix chick in her lap—it was getting bigger by the day; she'd need to get a bigger bag. "What did you think of your first mission as a member of Fairy Tail?"
"You people are reckless, dangerous hooligans." Carla declared.
"I liked it a lot." Wendy answered.
The cat's head whipped around to glare at her and the girl shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Carla. But it was exciting, we never really did anything like this when we were part of Cait Shelter." She turned to Levy. "Are all of your missions like this?"
"Nah." Levy smiled. "Some of them actually get pretty crazy."
Wendy's eyes went wide and Levy laughed.
"Still can't believe Gajeel kept that ghost captain's trident." Jet commented, glancing up to the roof of the carriage. "I mean, like, what's he gonna do with it? Eat it?"
"Who knows." Droy shrugged. "I just know I'm not about to try to take it away from him."
"True, true. He probably would have thrown a tantrum." Something thumped against the roof.
"I can hear you, idiots!" Gajeel's voice grumbled in through the window.
"Sorry, buddy." Jet called up. "Just having some fun."
"I could literally nail you to a tree and leave you for dead and there is nothing you could do to stop me."
"I think he had fun too." Jet commented, making Droy nearly choke on a pretzel.
Levy smiled. All things considered, the mission had gone well. But she couldn't wait to get back to the guild and hear what had happened in her absence.
She wondered if they'd had as crazy a time as they'd had?
S&DS&DS&DS&D
S&D: and that's my pirate adventure. Except there weren't actually any pirates. Only ghosts, goddesses, and gargantuan sea monsters. Yay.
Hope you all enjoyed, I had fun writing it.