Bonds, Part 5
As she crouched, C.C. quietly sneaks her way over to the side of one of Laurent's flowers growing on the trunk of a tree. When she got near it, C.C. reaches out her hand and taps her finger on its pedal, causing the flower to close itself up.
"The coast is clear." C.C. said as she turns her head to some nearby bushes. Lucy, Yukino, Alicia, Amelia, Jason and Yegor slowly come out from their hiding place and quietly walk over to her.
"To think these beautiful flowers were actually how Laurent detected our presence within his territory in the first place." Alicia said frowning. "Guess I can forget about staying in this forest forever after all."
"Please, don't even think about it." Amelia said to her.
C.C. looks around her surroundings before she gets up and escorts everyone over to where they have stored their confiscated weapons.
"You guys asked me earlier why I served Laurent in the first place." C.C. said as they walk quietly together.
"Yes." Yukino nodded.
"Like I said before, everybody back in Petunia mocked me for only having the magical ability to put people to sleep. And I lied. I didn't run away. I said that because…" C.C. paused as she stops at her tracks. As the others stood behind her, C.C. frowns as she curls her hands into tight fists. "The truth…is far more painful."
Lucy walks up to C.C. from behind and places her hand on her shoulder. "It's alright." She said softly to her. C.C. takes a gulp before she finally musters enough courage to continue.
"One day, while I was drowning in depression at the bar, I met someone whom I would later consider him to be my boyfriend. We had frequent conversations with each other, and he cheered me up. He made me forget about the mocking and negativity I received from the townspeople every day. He helped me find my happiness again. But it didn't last long. One night, he requested me to follow him somewhere far away from Petunia, and so I obeyed him. We ended up in the West Forest…and that's where…" C.C. wraps her arms around her own body. "He attempted to rape me." Lucy, Yukino, Alicia, Amelia, Jason and Yegor gasp in shock. "I'll never forget the smile on his face when he admitted to me that he never truly sees me as his friend, and that I was a fool for ever trusting him. He was just like the rest of them."
'She's just like me.' Amelia thought with a frown.
"But just before he could place my finger on my forehead, attempting to put me to sleep so that he can violate my body, some vines emerge from the ground and coil around his neck." C.C. continued after she lowered her arms and fought back the urge to cry. "And I laid there, watching the vines strangle my former boyfriend to death. That was when I met him. Laurent saved my life. But soon after, he tried to kill me too because like my former boyfriend, I am a human who intruded into his territory. I begged for mercy right in front of him. Pleading him not to kill me and that I'll do anything to repay him for what he did. That is how I became his servant ever since, and how I joined the likes of Archer, Tokoyami and Road. One is a runaway warrior who felt humiliated after failing to save the lives of his fellow Mizuhans during an invasion of his hometown. The other was betrayed by his lover after the Tartaros Incident. And the last was blamed for the deaths of her demi father and her human mother by her relatives. We were all seen as trash by the outside world, and we had no choice but to follow our new master." C.C. finally closes her eyelids, allowing her tears roll down her cheeks like tiny rivers.
Everybody remains silent for a few moments before Lucy removes her hand from C.C.'s shoulder and grabs her hand as she stood beside her.
"C.C….I promise you and your friends, that after all of you are willing to defect from your master, we at Fairy Tail will provide you all a place to stay." Lucy said soothingly to her. C.C. wipes away her tears and turns her head to Lucy.
"You will?" C.C. asked. Lucy nods her head with a warm smile. She frowns at her and said flatly, "You better be right."
"I am." Lucy replied solemnly. C.C. briefly stares at her before she removes her hand from Lucy's grip and continued walking.
"This way." C.C. said. Lucy and the others follow her from behind.
About a few minutes later and closing a few more of Laurent's flowers along the way, everyone arrived at a tree that has vines wrapped around its trunk. C.C. places her finger on the vines and they move out of the way, revealing a hollow compartment inside the trunk. They noticed Lucy's belt and whip, Alicia's pouch and Celestial Spirit keys belonging to Lucy and Yukino are stored inside.
"Take them." C.C. moves aside to allow Lucy, Yukino and Alicia to grab their belongings. When Alicia grabs her pouch, she opens the cover to reveal her yo-yos and the Orb of Heart inside it. After storing her keys and whip onto the belt around her skirt, Lucy turns her head to Alicia.
"The Orb of Heart." Lucy said, staring at the circular object inside her friend's pouch.
"What?" Yukino asked.
"I heard it's the special object that Captain Nullpudding and his expedition were trying to retrieve from a city known as Loegres." Jason said.
"You're right." Alicia responded to him. "But we ended up taking it from them first."
"So they failed their mission after all." Yegor said. "Is this why the Captain didn't return to HQ? Because it was out of shame?"
"Actually, we were the ones who defeated and apprehended him too." Lucy said, scratching the back of her head. Amelia widens her eyes at her.
"Since then, this thing has protected me from the praetors when we were attacked by them at the river earlier today. And so far, it seems it only works when I have possession of it." Alicia said.
"What could you all have been doing for the past two months?" Amelia asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Long story." Alicia replied, closing the cover of her pouch after grabbing her yo-yos. "What's more important now is getting out of here."
"Laurent won't be happy that the vines of your prison were temporarily opened." C.C. said as Alicia places the strap of her pouch over her shoulder. "So here's the plan. I'll report to my master that one of you has changed your mind and is willing to serve Laurent as his servant rather than one of his mindless pawns in order to keep your own free will. And when we are near him enough, I'll use my magic to put him to sleep."
"Remember, if things go wrong, we'll come in to help you right away." Yukino said.
"So, who will volunteer to come with me?" C.C. asked.
"I'll go." Alicia said. But before she could step forward, Amelia holds out her arm in front of her.
"No. I'll do it." Amelia said solemnly.
"What? Are you sure?" Alicia asked concernedly.
"Hey." Amelia turns to her. "I haven't been quite the helper lately. So for once, let me do something productive, ya?"
Alicia nods her head and replied, "Very well then."
"I…" Amelia briefly lowers her head as her cheeks blush. "I am um…" She paused again as she adjusts her glasses. But when she is finally able to overcome her embarrassment, she takes a deep breath and looked at Alicia in the eye. "I'm sorry for the way I behaved."
Alicia smiled at her and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "It's fine. Be careful out there." She said.
Amelia smiles back at her briefly before she walks over to C.C. The lime green haired woman gently turns Amelia around and place her arms behind her back. As she clenches her arms tightly, C.C. turns herself and Amelia around and the two make their way to Laurent.
C.C. escorts Amelia over to the gigantic pile of vines. When they are near it, a huge flower bud emerges from the top of the pile and opens it to reveal Laurent. The two girls came to a halt as Laurent steps out of the bud and looks down at them.
"C.C., I sensed that the vines from the cavern were taken down. What happened?" Laurent demanded.
"I temporarily took them down, master." C.C. explained calmly while Amelia gave Laurent a fearful look to convince the demihuman that she is willing to submit herself to him. "Apparently, one of our hostages has a proposal for you. Rather than making her a mindless soldier like what you did with the others, she wants to become your servant in order to keep her free will."
"Please sir! I'll do anything for you!" Amelia pleaded. "Just spare my consciousness! Go ahead and do whatever you want with the others. They are all too slow in the head to understand their plight! But me, I'm not like them! I know we can never have a chance against you and-"
"I get it." Laurent rolls his eyes. "What skills can you provide for me?"
"I'll..." Amelia paused to think for a moment. "I'm not too great in punch ups, so I'm not too great at fighting...So maybe have two of your servants train me on how to become one. I can even do your laundry or clean your dunny in the meantime and...um...is that okay?" She flashes a nervous grin at Laurent.
Laurent gazed silently at Amelia for a moment. "We'll think of something. C.C., bring her over here."
C.C. gave a rough push to Amelia and they begin climbing up the pile of vines. They make their way over to Laurent and stood in front of him.
"What is your full name?" Laurent inquired Amelia.
"Amelia Greenleaf." Amelia responded.
"Amelia Greenleaf…do you vow to pledge your loyalty to me?" Laurent asked sternly.
Amelia holds up her hand and nods her head solemnly. "Aye."
"Will you obey my every command?"
"I do."
"And will you destroy all those that stand in my way?"
"I do."
Laurent places his hands behind his back and said, "Then Amelia Greenleaf…I shall accept you…"
C.C. narrows her eyes as she slowly raises her right arm, preparing to push Amelia aside and deliver her strike on Laurent as her master is about to finish his final sentence. However, she failed to notice her master slowly raising his tail behind his back.
"Not." Laurent grits his teeth furiously as he swings his tail to the side like a whip and a vine swiftly flies over to C.C.'s right arm and wraps itself around it. C.C. gasped as the vine tightens its grip around her and gave her a hard pull, sending her falling onto the ground on her face.
"C.C.!" Amelia cried in horror as she turned and looked down at her. Laurent takes the opportunity to deliver a hard kick to the left side of her torso, causing her to yelp and send her rolling down the pile of vines and to the bottom. As soon as Amelia finds herself lying at the bottom on her back, several vines emerge from the ground below her and wrap themselves around her arms and legs to pin her down.
As C.C. lays on the ground and squeals in pain as the vine continues to squeeze her arm, Laurent walks over to her and stomps his foot on top of the side of her head.
"You seriously think I can never tell you two were trying to deceive me? I can smell your heart with my Dragon Slayer senses." Laurent said as he menacingly stood above her. "To think after I've shown you mercy by sparing your life, you now have the audacity to help our prisoners and turn your back on me after all this time."
"Ngh. These people are right. You never care about our well-being. Only your own ambitions." C.C. replied with agonizing pain. Laurent holds up his hand and snaps his fingers. What follows is a loud snapping sound.
C.C. lets out an agonized shriek that rang throughout the forest after the vine had squeezed her arm hard enough to break her bones.
"C.C.!" Amelia cried in horror as she writhed helplessly on the ground, struggling to break free from the vines around her limbs. As tears loosely pour out from her eyes, C.C. breathed heavily as she tries to comprehend the sheer amount of pain that is going through her body right now.
"I should congratulate you, C.C." Laurent said icily as he moves his tail over to her neck. "You are now officially just like every other human."
After catching her breath, C.C. lets out a chuckle and manages to crack a weak smile at him. "Doesn't matter. I'm already trash long before this." She sneered.
Laurent snarled at her as he coils his tail around her neck. C.C. choked with her eyes wide as Laurent tightens the grip of his tail, proceeding to deliver his former servant a slow and painful death.
"Arrogant swine…you will suffer!" Laurent roared.
"DESTRUCTIVE CIRCLE!"
Laurent briefly loosens his grip around C.C.'s neck as he turns his head to the left. He could briefly see Mala standing at the base of his pile of vines before a circular blast of wind collides with him. The blast caused him to stumble backwards and he soon finds himself rolling down the pile of vines.
Both C.C. and Amelia soon felt the vines loosen, releasing their limbs and returning back beneath the surface. Unable to get up because of her broken arm, C.C. rolls over to the side with a groan. When her back is on the ground, she turns her face to her right to see Mala, Tal, Brenda and Hodaka standing at the base of the pile of vines. But what surprised her the most is seeing Archer and Tokoyami kneeling in front of Mala with their hands placed on the back of their heads.
"Archer! Tokoyami!" C.C. shouted to her friends in shock.
"I'm sorry, C.C." Archer responded to her hoarsely.
"You said you brought the blonde-haired women here. So where are they?" Mala asked.
"Amelia! C.C.!" As soon as they heard Alicia's cry, Mala and the praetors turn to their left and see her, Lucy, Yukino, Jason and Yegor arriving at the area and make their way over to Amelia, who had already got back up on her feet.
"Jason? Yegor?" Brenda said as she and Hodaka widen their eyes in shock.
"They're alive!" Hodaka added.
"Alicia!" Amelia responded as she turns to Alicia and the others.
Mala turns back to Archer and Tokoyami and said to them, "Well, it looks like I'm done with you."
Without warning, Mala splits his double-bladed naginata into two separate swords and deliver two diagonal slashes onto the backs of Archer and Tokoyami.
"NOOOO!" C.C. screamed in horror as she helplessly watched her friends collapse on their faces. Lucy, Yukino, Alicia, Amelia, Jason, Yegor, Brenda and Hodaka all look equally horrified as they watch Mala takes down his enemies without mercy.
"D-Did Captain Makra just slash two people who were completely defenceless?" Jason uttered.
"Why?!" Yegor added with his eyes shaking.
Lucy and Alicia grit their teeth furiously at Mala. They and Yukino place themselves in front of Amelia, Jason and Yegor as they draw out their weapons.
"How could you do that?!" Lucy shouted angrily at Mala, who twirls his swords and point the tip of their blades downward at Archer and Tokoyami.
"And why should you care for them? They told me that they fought and kidnapped you. So if I were to eliminate them now, that will be less trouble for all of you." Mala said. "But here's the deal. If you truly care about their lives, lower your weapons now and surrender yourselves and the Orb of Heart to me. If you take one step towards us, or even lay a finger on the Orb, I will kill them."
Lucy, Alicia and Yukino frown as they stay silent and stand where they are. Unfortunately, they know that Mala is right. They are currently standing several meters away from Archer and Tokoyami, and as much as they want to help them, they won't be able to reach them before Mala delivers the final blow. Yukino briefly closes her eyes before turning her head to Lucy and Alicia.
"I suggest we do as he says." Yukino said. Lucy and Alicia nod their heads to her. As they look back at him, Lucy, Alicia and Yukino reluctantly put away their weapons and hold up their hands.
"Wise decision." Mala said to the girls before he turns his head to Brenda and Hodaka and gestures them to secure Lucy, Alicia, Yukino and Amelia. The two praetors nod to him before they walk over to Jason and Yegor.
"Jason, Yegor, take the pouch from her and grab hold of them." Brenda ordered them. Amelia anxiously looked at Jason and Yegor, fearing that the two will obey her despite having form an alliance with them earlier. Jason and Yegor glance at each other and nod their heads before the latter proceeds to walk over to Amelia.
"No! Don't!" Amelia cried in horror as Yegor roughly turns her around and grabs her arms. "Back-stabbing us after everything we went through?! You and your Abbey mates really are nothing but a bunch of lowlife assholes, aren't you?!"
Meanwhile, Jason walks over to Alicia and removes the pouch from over her shoulder.
"To think we ever place our trust in you. I'm disappointed." Alicia said to Jason morosely as he lowers her hands.
"Silence!" Brenda shouted at them as she and Hodaka go over to Lucy and Yukino from behind. The praetors grab hold of their arms and place them behind their backs.
"Let them go!" Amelia shouted furiously as she struggled to break free from Yegor's grip in vain.
Mala chuckled as he finally got Lucy and Alicia into a helpless position. Now that the two are completely defenceless and are unable to fight back, he can finally extract his revenge on them. He will do so by making their punishment and deaths slow and painful, and the first step of his plan is to break them mentally. Let them know that they have been captured by the Abbey by giving into their foolishness and falling for his deception.
"What a shame." Mala said to Lucy and Alicia. The praetor looks back down at Archer and Tokoyami and proceed to bring his swords down on them.
Lucy and Yukino widen their eyes and drop their jaws in horror…for only a brief moment when Jason suddenly turns Alicia around to reveal her pouch placed on her hands with its cover open. The Orb of Heart suddenly shines brightly in front of Mala and Tal, causing the former to drop his swords unintentionally, and the two yelp and clutch their chests in pain.
Lucy manages to close her eyes in time, but everybody else except Jason had laid their vision on the Orb, causing all of them to yell in pain as they could also feel their hearts being grasped by a powerful force.
Alicia looked at everyone in horror. Although Jason is standing there perfectly fine due to the Orb being placed behind her back, Alicia could see Yukino, Brenda, Hodaka, Yegor and Amelia falling on their knees as they gasp and choke for air. She turns her head to the top of the pile of vines to see C.C. breathing uneasily as she clutches her chest with her left hand. Finally, Alicia looks over her shoulder to see Archer and Tokoyami crying in pain and agony as well. Realizing the dangerous effects that the Orb had upon everyone around her, Alicia quickly holds her pouch in front of her and closes the cover to conceal the Orb.
When the light is gone, everyone except Alicia, Jason and Lucy began to breathe normally again as the pain vanished. After Alicia places the strap of her pouch back over her shoulder, she turns around and said to Jason as she draws out her yo-yos again, "Thank you, Jason."
"No problem." Jason replied, regaining his composure after witnessing what happened earlier. After Alicia runs off, Hodaka lifts his head up to him.
"Jason, why?!" Hodaka asked.
"Hodaka, they are not our enemies." Jason reasoned with him.
"He's right." Yegor said to Hodaka as he stood up and helped Amelia get back up on her feet. "We should be helping them."
"You traitors!" Brenda snapped as she unsheathes her sword from her scabbard and runs over to Jason. But Yukino swiftly places herself in front of Jason, jumps up and delivers a twirling kick in the air as Brenda goes near her. Brenda holds up her sword to block her attack, but the impact sends her feet dragging through the grass backwards.
"Please, stop!" Yukino cried to her as she lands back on the ground. "We can help you get back home!"
"Shut up!" Brenda shouted at her as she gets back into her battle stance. She lets out a yell as she charges towards Yukino and-
"LUCY KICK!" Lucy shouted as she suddenly jumps into the air and delivers a hard kick to the side of Brenda's head, sending her rolling over the ground as she drops her sword.
"Sorry guys. I had no choice." Lucy said with regret after landing back on her feet. But when she turns to the others, Lucy looked perplexed as Yukino, Jason, Yegor, Hodaka and Amelia stare back at her dumbfounded. "What?"
"That was the lamest name of your attack that you were talking about earlier?" Amelia asked. "It sounds like something a dropkick came up with!"
"Why are you guys baffled now?! I used it in our last fight too!" Lucy cried.
"We all thought it was a joke you made it up out of nowhere before!" Jason shouted exasperatedly.
"Look out!" Yukino shouted as she points her finger to the air. Lucy turns to the direction where her friend is pointing to see Tal falling through the air towards her as he pulls back his fist. Lucy leaps out of the way before Tal lands on the ground and slams his fist down at where she originally stood.
While she is in the air, Lucy points her key at him and shouted, "OPEN THE GATE OF THE GOAT, CAPRICORN!"
As Lucy fires a blast of white magic from the tip of her key, it quickly takes form into a tall humanoid white furred goat who wears black sunglasses and a black twin-tail butler suit. Capricorn swings his fist at Tal and punches him directly at his left cheek which sends him dragging his feet through the ground by a few meters.
Tal swiftly looks back at Capricorn as the humanoid goat runs over to him. Capricorn throws his left fist at him and Tal quickly deflects it. He proceeds to deliver a series of punches at Capricorn, who barely manages to keep up as he dodges and blocks every attack that he throws at him.
Meanwhile, as soon as Mala lifts his head back up, he looked to his right and sees one of his swords laying on the ground beside Archer. As soon as he places his hand on its hilt however, Alicia reaches him and kicks his hand out of the way. She swings her right yo-yo and wraps it around Mala's neck. She gave a hard pull and throws him into the air as she turns.
As the strings around his neck loosened, Mala lands himself on the slope of the pile of the vines into a crouching position. He places his hand on the ground and looks up at Alicia, who gets back into her fighting stance as she faced him.
"Alicia…" Mala said as his voice quivered with rage. "You have humiliated me for the last time!" He and Alicia charge towards each other, ready to fight once more.
But suddenly, several vines fly over to Mala and Alicia, stopping their charge as they wrap around their arms and legs. The vines pull their legs up, spread their limbs out and lift them high up in the air. Both Alicia and Mala look down and see Laurent standing at the top of the pile below them.
"All of you filthy humans and demis who side with them have committed lies and defiance right in front of me for far too long! Forget about making all of you my soldiers! I should just crush you all right now!" Laurent roared ferociously.
Meanwhile, before Tal and Capricorn could swing their fists at each other again, several vines emerge from the ground behind them and wrap themselves around their arms. Soon after, multiple vines also grown out from the ground and coil around the bodies and limbs of Lucy, Yukino, Amelia, Jason, Yegor, Hodaka and the unconscious Brenda. Laurent briefly extends his arm before pulling it back and clenching his hand into a closed fist, making the vines carry Lucy, Tal and the others over to him.
C.C. uses all her strength to roll herself over to her master, while trying to ignore the pain from her broken arm in the process. When she is near him, C.C. finds herself lying on the side of her head. She reaches out her left hand at Laurent's leg, trying to touch it and activate her sleeping magic on him.
Unfortunately for her, Laurent looks down and stomps his foot, causing several vines to appear beneath and wrap around C.C.'s body. Laurent thrusts his other hand forward to send the vine carrying C.C. over to the others.
With a snap of his fingers, the vines around his victims began to squeeze their bodies or pull their limbs. Mala, Alicia, Amelia and Hodaka groan in pain while Tal and Capricon simply grit their teeth as the vines pull their arms and legs. Brenda snaps her eyes open and she, Lucy, Yukino, Jason, Yegor and C.C. let out agonizing screams as the vines slowly crush their lower torsos.
"Don't bother struggling." Laurent said, watching his victims suffer without a hint of emotion. "Your fates were inescapable!"
As she lowers her head, Lucy grabs the vine around her stomach and tries to pull it off. But no matter how hard she tries; she can never have the strength to do so. Lucy choked for air as the vines continue to slither tighter around her, and she could feel her stomach and bones slowly about to be crushed.
'Is this it? Am I going to die?' Lucy thought in despair as her vision began to blur. She closes her eyes and grits her teeth as she stubbornly refused to accept her fate. With all her remaining strength, Lucy lets out a loud scream for help. "NAAAATTTTSSSSUUUU!"
"FIRE DRAGON'S…"
As soon as he heard his yell, Laurent turns around and only managed to see the Fire Dragon Slayer running towards him from behind with his flaming fist pulled back for a single second.
"IRON FIST!"
When he got near him, Natsu throws his flaming fist directly into Laurent's right cheek, sending him falling off the pile of vines and plummeting to the ground below. Laurent yelps as he slams onto the ground on the side of his head. Natsu engulfs his arms with flames. He swings his arms horizontally through the air to burn off the vines and free Laurent's hostages.
As the hostages fall through the air, Darren, Happy, Sting, Road, Mei Li, Libra and Aries run over to Natsu and stood beside him as the latter quickly holds out her hands and aim at the ground below.
"WOOL CUSHION!" Aries screamed. An extremely large and thick cloud of pink wool magically takes form and the hostages landed on it safe and sound. Lucy, Alicia and the others could feel themselves slowly descend and when the cloud of wool completely vanished, they all find themselves lying on the ground without any further injuries.
Natsu, Darren, Happy, Sting, Road, Mei Li, Libra and Aries proceed to run down the pile of vines to rescue their friends. Darren kneels beside Alicia and gently carries her up from the ground.
"Heh. What took you so long?" Alicia asked him with a smirk.
"Traffic?" Darren jokingly replied and the two simply laugh.
Natsu and Happy rush over to Lucy's side and gently turns her around. "Lucy! Can you hear me?!" Natsu asked in concern as he places his hands on her shoulders. Lucy slowly opens her eyes and manages to crack a weak smile.
"Natsu…Happy…" Lucy whimpered. "You came at last."
"Of course." Natsu said as he and Happy smiled back at her. "We'll always be there for you."
"Yukino." Sting said as he wraps Yukino's arm around his shoulders and helps her get back up on her feet.
"Sting-sama." Yukino responded. Sting smiles and sighs inwardly in relief.
"Amelia!" Mei Li cried to Amelia as she rushes over to her side. As she laid there, Amelia turns her head to the side and sees Mei Li kneeling beside her.
"Mei Li." Amelia uttered as Mei Li reaches out her hand to her. Amelia grabs it and Mei Li pulls her up from the ground.
After standing up straight and adjusting her glasses, Amelia looks back up at Mei Li with a frown, causing her to wince and close her eyes. Here it comes again. The part that happens every time after she makes a suggestion or lends a helping hand to her. She is going to yell at her again about how unsatisfied she truly is like she always does.
However, instead of being yelled at, Mei Li felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder. She looks at Amelia to see her…smiling back at her.
"You came for me. Thank you." Amelia said softly to her. Mei Li, completely taken off guard by this, stares back at her dumbfounded for a moment before her lips curve into a wide smile and fresh tears form in her eyes.
"Y-You're welcome." Mei Li replied before wiping away her tears.
"You know, before we get back to our world, why don't we keep in touch so that one day, I can drop by your hometown in China and have some fried crickets with you?"
"Hai!" Mei Li replied happily with a nod.
Meanwhile, as Road kept C.C. up in a sitting position, Aries creates a sling made of her wool for her broken arm.
"Thank you." C.C. said to Aries before gesturing her to Archer and Tokoyami who are still lying on the ground in pain. "Now please attend to my friends." Aries nods her head before she rushes over to them.
As Tal and Capricorn get back up on their feet, the two clench their fists tightly and they proceed to fight each other again.
After Mala picks up his swords, Darren, Alicia, Natsu, Happy and Lucy get into their battle stances and prepare to fight him.
"I have been waiting for this moment." Mala said icily to them as he crosses his swords together. As soon as he lowers them, Mala makes a mad dash at the five of them.
"Get ready!" Natsu yells to his friends before he, Darren and Alicia charge at Mala while Happy flies behind Lucy, wraps his tail around her body and carries her over to the fight.
Darren swings his katana diagonally at Mala. Mala dodges it by sliding to the side and delivers a kick to Darren's torso. As Darren stumbles away from him, Natsu throws a few flaming punches at Mala, who deflects both of them with his swords. He twirls around and delivers a spinning attack at Natsu with his swords. Natsu blocks his swords by holding up flaming arms but the impact sends him dragging his feet through the ground backwards.
While Happy carries her in the air, Lucy swings her whip at Mala and manages to coil it around his left arm. As Mala struggles to get his arm out of her grip, Lucy pulls back her whip to restrain him and shouted, "Alicia, now!"
Alicia lets out a yell as she swings her yo-yos around in circles in the air at incredible speed. As she turns and swings her yo-yos at Mala, the praetor briefly looked at her before they slam directly into the front of his helmet. Lucy loosens the grip of her whip as Alicia's attack sends Mala flying through the air for a moment before he lands on his face and slides through the ground.
As Tal and Capricorn are still throwing punches at each other, Sting, Yukino, Libra and Road try to run over to them. But Laurent suddenly falls through the air and lands in front of the three. As he stands back up, he holds up his arms and glares at the three.
"I assume you must be Laurent Mendy. I heard you're the Nature Dragon Slayer." Sting said. While in his fighting stance, Sting cloaks his entire body with an aura of bright light. "Nice to meetcha. I'm the White Dragon Slayer."
"It doesn't matter that you got back your Dragon Slayer magic, I will prove to you that YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!" Laurent's eyes grew wide as saucers as he raised his voice. As he spreads out his arms, a huge wall of vines grew out from the ground behind him. Laurent swiftly thrusts his hands at Sting, Yukino and Road and the vines curve and fly over to them.
Sting swings his white fists to deflect and destroy the vines that are heading towards him. Libra places herself in front of Yukino and swings her scales horizontally through the air as she twirls around.
"GRAVITY CHANGE!" Libra shouted as a gravitational force pushes the vines back, preventing them from going near her and her mistress.
Road swings Lero around and slashes through the vines with the sharp golden tip on top of his head. When she is done slashing them, Road aims Lero at Laurent and the umbrella lifts his head up.
"Eat this, Lero!" Lero shouted as he fires a blast of red energy at his former master. Laurent quickly reacts by swinging his tail forward, causing a wall of vines to emerge from the ground in front of him to block the attack. Suddenly, Sting leaps into the air and throws his head back.
"WHITE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Sting shouted as he throws himself forward and fires a large tornado of light down at Laurent. Laurent looks up at him and throws his head back as well.
"NATURE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Laurent fires a huge blast of green energy from his mouth and it collides against Sting's attack. Yukino, Libra and Road stood where they are as they and Lero watch Sting and Laurent firing and pushing their blasts against each other in awe.
Eventually, the aura of light all over Sting's body shine brighter, causing his White Dragon's Roar blast to enlarge and rapidly push back Laurent's attack. Laurent widens his eyes in shock as Sting's blast reaches him and sends him sprawling through the ground.
"Good job, Sting-sama!" Yukino cried happily as Sting lands back on the ground.
"Whoa." Lero uttered as he and Road stare at Sting in awe.
"Amazing." Road added.
Meanwhile, Capricorn collapses onto the ground after Tal delivers a powerful punch across his right cheek.
"Capricorn!" Aries cried to her fellow Celestial Spirit after she had finished attending to Archer and Tokoyami. She runs over to Tal and forms a huge amount of pink wool in her hands. "WOOL BOMB!"
Aries throws her wool at Tal, who easily swipes it away by swinging his arms side to side as he nonchalantly walks over to her. Aries gasps in horror. When he is near her, Tal swiftly grabs her arm and tosses her over to the trees behind him as he turns around. Aries yelps as her back slams against the trunk of the tree and she tumbles onto the ground on her face.
Tal turns his head to Mei Li and Amelia, and they both gasped. They turn around and try to flee but Brenda and Hodaka place themselves in front of them, armed with their sword and gauntlets. Mei Li and Amelia tremble as they back away from the two praetors. When they felt the ground rumble, they turn around and stare at Tal in terror as he walks over to them. They came to the horrible realization. They are surrounded by members of the Abbey, and their friends are unable to help them.
But much to their surprise, Brenda and Hodaka both run past Mei Li and Amelia and charge towards Tal. Tal slightly widens his eyes at this shocking revelation, and he throws his right fist at Brenda who reached him first.
Brenda blocks his fist by holding up her sword. She managed to deflect Tal's fist out of the way and she successfully lands a diagonal slash at his abdomen. But although she managed to slash through his clothes, the cut on Tal's abdomen isn't deep, as if it felt more like a minor scratch.
Tal narrows his eyes and he holds up his left fist and brings it down onto Brenda, who quickly dodges it by rolling over the ground to the side. As Tal slams his left fist on the ground, Hodaka runs over to him and delivers two punches across both sides of his face. Tal grimaced as he gets up and delivers an uppercut to the bottom of Hodaka's chin, sending him flying through the air and landing on the ground near Mei Li and Amelia with a hard thud.
"Hodaka!" Brenda cried. She growls as she turns back to Tal and runs over to him.
"Hey! You okay there, mate?" Amelia asked in concern as she and Mei Li help pull Hodaka up from the ground and gets him into a sitting position.
Hodaka coughed and replied as he turns to Amelia, "It really hurts, but I'll be fine."
"You're helping us." Mei Li said to him.
"Yeah. After Brenda and I heard that your friend is from China, that's when we realize you're just like us." Hodaka said.
"So Lucy managed to knock some sense into her, eh?" Amelia responded while Mei Li stares at Hodaka in shock.
"Wait, you guys are from our world?!" Mei Li asked incredulously.
The three of them look back to the front when Brenda yells in pain and collapses onto the ground on her face after getting punched across the face by Tal. Amelia, Mei Li and Hodaka watch Yegor running over to Tal from behind and wraps his arms around him. As Yegor restrains him, Jason goes over to Tal from the front and delivers a few punches to his abdomen and the bottom of his chin. But Tal shows no sign of emotion on his face.
"What's with this guy?!" Jason remarked in disbelief before Tal lifts his leg up and kicks him in the abdomen with his knee. Jason groans as he bends forward and Tal kicks him right into his abdomen again which sends him sprawling through the ground. Tal grabs Yegor's hand and tightens his grip, causing him to yell in pain as he felt his fingers being crushed. As Yegor releases him, Tal whirls about and delivers a powerful punch to his chest, sending him stumbling backwards.
Brenda gets back up from the ground and glances at Amelia, Mei Li and Hodaka for a moment before she turns around and runs over to Tal again with her sword in hand.
"This guy seems bloody invincible!" Amelia said.
"What do we do?" Mei Li asked in fear. "If we couldn't defeat Laurent's servants before, can we even defeat someone like him?"
"We have to try." Hodaka responded. Amelia and Mei Li look shocked to see him slowly getting up from the ground and preparing to face Tal.
"What? You're kidding me, right?" Amelia asked as Hodaka clenches his gauntlets.
"My superior, Brenda, is fighting against him right now. She is doing this to protect us and keep us alive. She has always been doing this for me and my friends ever since she became our squad leader. And no matter how dangerous the situation is, she risks her life daily to keep us alive until the day we can all go home. And that is why even though I'm weak and scared like the both of you…I'm still going to risk my life as well for her and everyone around me." Hodaka turns his head and look at Amelia and Mei Li over his shoulder. "So stay put while we handle him. We will not let him lay a finger on the both of you."
Amelia and Mei Li simply stood there in awe as they watch Hodaka runs over to his friends and Tal to join in the battle. After Tal holds up his arm to block Brenda's vertical swing of her sword, he curls his other hand into a fist and punches her in the gut, causing her to cry in pain as she is sent sprawling through the ground. Tal nonchalantly stands up and removes Brenda's sword from the small cut she had left on his arm. After tossing the sword to the side, he sees Hodaka running up to him and throws his right gauntlet at him.
As Hodaka fights with Tal again, Amelia and Mei Li lower their heads to contemplate what he had said to them and everything they had been through with their new friends.
Back in China, Mei Li's parents became overly protective of their children ever since her brother got himself injured in an accident. Since then, Mei Li and her brother were home-schooled throughout their primary school years and they were taught Taiji Quan every day in order to defend themselves when the day their parents believe they are ready to enter society comes. Mei Li finally attended her first public school when she reached the age of 13. But because her parents had constantly reminded her the potential dangers of making contact with strangers over the years, Mei Li reluctantly chose not to make friends to avoid getting scolded by them. She felt lonely and wish for the day she can finally be independent to come sooner. But she never expected that day would come in the form of her being transported into an entirely different world.
For the last two months, Mei Li finally experienced what it is like to defend herself in the outside world by trying to find food and water daily in order to keep her and Amelia alive, as well as avoid getting caught by the Abbey and Laurent's servants. She immediately grows afraid of the possibility of being captured by their enemies and dying out here. And now that their situation has drastically changed as they are forced to fight against their enemies head-on in order to stay alive, Mei Li's fears grow bigger. Maybe, her parents were right after all. The outside world truly is too much for her to handle, and she may even face a far worse fate than her brother for being disobedient.
But when she sees her friends risking their lives to protect her and fight for their survival, she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself. For not being able to fight alongside them and instead serve as a heavy burden despite all her years in practicing Taiji Quan. Is this it? Is she going to continue being afraid? Is she not going to prove to her parents that she can take care of herself? Is she just going to let her friends do all the fighting while she does nothing? Is her dream of wanting to be independent a joke after all?
"Mei Li?"
Mei Li turns her head and looks back up at Amelia. Her friend had a solemn frown on her face as she continued, "What I would love to do is ditch 'em and bail on this fight…but I'm tired of acting like a wuss. So I'm going to do my part in helping them."
Mei Li stares wordlessly at Amelia for moment before she purses her lips and narrows her eyes at her. Enough is enough. Mei Li had always kept doubting herself from doing what she wants because of her parents' lectures over the years. She is happy that they care for her, but there comes a time when she had to stand up for herself. And after seeing the determination on Amelia's face, Mei Li believes that the time is now. She made a promise to Natsu that she will conquer her fear. Now, it is time for her to fulfil it.
"So am I." Mei Li said, giving Amelia a solemn nod.
As Jason, Yegor, Brenda, Aries and Capricorn all laid on the ground defeated, Hodaka yells as he runs over to Tal and swings his right gauntlet at him. Tal easily blocks his attack by grabbing his gauntlet with his left hand. He uses his right fist to deliver a powerful punch to Hodaka's chest. Hodaka gasps in pain as Tal releases his gauntlet and lets the boy stumble backwards. Tal goes over to Hodaka, grabs his helmet and pulls it out from his head. After revealing his face, Hodaka looks up at Tal for a brief moment before the tall man tosses his helmet away and swings his fists several times across his cheeks. He kicks Hodaka in the abdomen with his knee, causing him to bend forward, and he finally sends him to the ground by throwing down his right fist onto the back of his head.
As Hodaka collapses onto the ground on his face, completely beaten and defeated, Tal suddenly stomps his foot on the back of his head.
"Hodaka!" Brenda cried as she heard Hodaka yelp. She tried to crawl herself over to him and Tal, but the pain she received from him was too much for her and had taken away almost every ounce of power she ever had inside her.
"STOP!" Jason cried in horror.
"DON'T!" Yegor added.
"B-Brenda…Jason…Yegor…" Hodaka groans as tears form in his squinted eyes. "If you ever drop by Sado Island, tell my parents…" He sniffed one last time before he closes his eyes and prepares to accept his fate. "I love them…"
Tal lifts up his foot above Hodaka's head for a brief moment before he lets out a yell and brings it-
"DICKHEAD!" Amelia shouted furiously as she swings Brenda's sword at Tal's other leg. As the sword slashes across the side of his leg, Tal widens his eyes in shock as Amelia moves to the side and the man tumbles onto the ground on his back.
"W-What?" Hodaka said dumbfounded as he opens his eyes to find himself still alive.
As Tal recovers from the fall and turns his head to the side, he sees Amelia glaring at him while slightly bending her knees and holding Brenda's sword at a downward diagonal angle like a cricket batter.
"Try and take on someone your own size, or are you too much of a wuss to take me on?" Amelia asked flatly.
Tal grits his teeth as he gets back up from the ground. Amelia looks up as Tal towers over her and proceeds to walk over to her.
"Get away! You can't win!" Yegor shouted to Amelia with his eyes wide as he laid on the ground helplessly. As Amelia backs away from Tal, the tall man continues walking over to him as he cracks his knuckles and prepare to punish her from delaying his execution of Hodaka.
However, rather than turning around to flee or showing a look of horror on her face, Amelia responded to him by tossing away Brenda's sword and giving him a lopsided smirk as she places her hands on the sides of her hip.
"You shouldn't be looking at me, champ." Amelia said to Tal. Suddenly, much to his shock, Mei Li runs up to Tal from behind, leaps into the air and wraps her legs around the back of his neck.
"Stop hurting my friends!" Mei Li shouted angrily as she sat on Tal's shoulders and proceeds to deliver multiple swift punches to the back of his head. Tal tries to grab Mei Li with his right hand, but the girl moves to her left and circles around to his front. Mei Li and Tal find themselves staring right at each other for a brief moment before she delivers several swift punches across his cheeks. She delivers a swift chop to the side of Tal's neck and although the man is still standing, he widens his eyes as he could feel a strong sense of pain surging through where Mei Li had landed the side of her hand at.
Tal responded by grabbing Mei Li by her hair. He turns to the side and tosses her to the ground. But while she is in the air, Mei Li quickly recovers and performs a roll on the ground before she gets back up on her feet. As Mei Li whirls about and gets back into her fighting stance, Tal runs over and swings his fist at her. But to his surprise, Mei Li swiftly deflects his fist to the side and delivers several quick punches to his chest. She delivers an uppercut to the bottom of Tal's chin, sending him stumbling backwards. Mei Li takes the opportunity to deliver a few kicks to Tal's left thigh, but the man stays firm and kept standing. Mei Li soon jumps into the air, twirls around and delivers one more kick to Tal's abdomen. But Tal grabs her leg with her left hand and tries to break it by bringing his right fist down on it. But Mei Li quickly reacted by lifting her other leg up and kicks Tal's right arm out of the way, causing him to release her. As Mei Li lands on her back, she quickly lifts both her legs up and delivers another powerful kick to Tal's abdomen which sends him stumbling back again. When he recovers, Tal looks up and sees Mei Li get back up on her feet and gets into her fighting stance again.
"I don't believe it." Brenda uttered as she, Hodaka, Jason, Yegor, Aries and Capricorn had been watching the fight in awe.
"She's incredible." Hodaka commented.
"Kick…his…ass!" Jason yelled encouragingly at Mei Li as he slams his fist on the ground.
Tal lets out a furious yell at her. There is no way he will let a girl who is two feet shorter get the better of him. He runs over to Mei Li and delivers a series of punches at her. But Mei Li quickly reacted by deflecting all of his fists to the side. When Mei Li grabs Tal's right fist, she immediately finds an opening and thrusts her right hand at the bottom of his chin. Tal's eyes widened as he finds himself looking up at the sky. Mei Li swiftly delivers a chop to the front of Tal's neck with her left hand which sends him stumbling backwards once again.
After a quick recovery, Tal runs over to Mei Li again and swings his fists multiple times at her again. Mei Li dodges them by backing away and moving side to side. After blocking Tal's last attack by grabbing his right fist again, Mei Li throws her right fist to the left side of Tal's torso. Tal growls at her as he grabs Mei Li by her neck with his left hand. He grabs her left leg with his right hand and carries her up over his head for a brief moment before he throws her to the ground. But as she falls, Mei Li quickly adjusts herself and places her hands on the ground. She lifts herself up and turns her head to Tal who runs over to her. Mei Li quickly uses her left leg to kick Tal's right leg when he got near him. She quickly turns around, kicks Tal in the gut with her other leg and finishes it by sweeping him off the ground with her left leg.
As Tal collapses onto the ground, Mei Li gets up and brings her foot down at his face. Tal stops her by grabbing her foot and giving it a twist. But Mei Li twirls herself around in the air to prevent him from twisting her ankle. As she lands back on the ground safely and faces her opponent again, Tal gets up and breathes heavily from anger and exhaustion. Mei Li lowers her arms and places her hands behind her back as she stands up straight.
"It's over." Mei Li said calmly to him. Feeling his blood boiled upon hearing his opponent believing she had won; Tal lets out a ferocious roar as he charges over to her and pulls back his right fist. But as soon as he goes near her, Mei Li delivers a swift kick to Tal's left thigh, causing him to yell and lower his right fist as he falls on his left knee. This gives Mei Li the opportunity to chop her left hand onto the right side of Tal's neck. Tal widens his eyes as he felt a powerful sensation surging through his neck that cause his nerves to turn numb. Mei Li delivers several more chops onto the left side of his neck, his left upper arm, forehead, sternum, and finally, the area where his heart is.
Tal could only stare back at Mei Li dumbfounded for a few seconds before he rolls his eyes back and his head wobble about. Mei Li moves to the side as Tal collapses onto the ground on his face. As the fight finally comes to an end, Mei Li blows out a sigh and bows her head to her fallen opponent.
Sovereign: I would like to thank Amanny, AquaBluey and Piyot for reviewing, favoriting and following my story! And special thanks to Crimson-Tuna-Sub for helping me with Amelia's dialogue! Thanks everyone!
