Day 2 of Ishgar's Strongest finally came to a close. It was only the second day of the tournament but there were plenty of stressful situations that took place. It was evening so the sun was setting on Crown City, leaving the precipitants to do whatever they pleased for the remainder of the day. Fiore's Team was gathered once again for the usual daily team meeting. Lucy let out a heavy sigh, slumping into a seat. "Today was…very eventful."
"At least we managed to get on the board." Minerva crossed her arms. She was still a little bitter about losing the event. "We're tied for 2nd with Alvarez and Bosco of all places."
"Things are about to get a lot more wild from now on." Bacchus said with a slight chuckle. "I didn't expect events and fights to have correlating scores, but that just makes things more interesting!"
"And dangerous." Lector added. "Imagine if a fight totals to 30 or even the max of 90 points. That event would be more than deciding factor."
"But we can thank Kagura-san for helping us stay in the game!" Sting turned to the bandaged Kagura, who simply nodded.
"Pergrande didn't budge an inch and we're still behind them." Natsu closed his eyes, thinking back to Mii's fight and the event that followed: his confrontation of Pergrande's King.
"Yeah, and that's what we need to talk about." Reve stared towards Natsu and Lucy. "You two need to stop acting on your own selfish desires." Considering this was coming from Reve of all people, they didn't take that well.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Natsu glared.
"Twice in two days, you," Reve pointed directly at Natsu. "Have gotten our team in trouble because you can't sit still for one damn second. You can't stand by and watch people lie in the grave's they dug for themselves." Reve was referring to both times Natsu intervened against the Pergrande Kingdom. First against Lucia when she burned away Erza's guild mark, and again when Ashnard was going to punish Mii for throwing her match. "You need to learn that your actions aren't the most important things around you."
"You know, it's pretty telling when Reve has to tell you this. You two are out of your minds." Luke shook his head. "You two put us at risk. If it happens a third time…"
Lucy knew they were right, she just hated that it was coming from Reve. Still, she shook her head and stood up from her seat. "We couldn't just stand there and let Mii get hurt like that! Even if she's our enemy right now, that doesn't change the fact that she was one of us! I had a few doubts before, but after she stepped in to protect us!" Lucy then remembered the scars on Mii's body.
"We're going to save her, one way or the other. Now that we know that Ashnard probably has something to do with her…!" Natsu began.
"I'm not going to be disqualified because the two of you can't keep your 'heroic' impulses under control. We're not here to be heroes. We're here to win. I'm here to win. And if winning involves letting you two bite the bullet because you can't sit still, then so be it. I was more than happy to cut you two from the team when Waltz glanced in our direction. I'm not going to be held accountable for the actions of any Fairy." The tension in the room grew. Reve made his priorities and stance extremely clear. He didn't care about anything else other than victory over the world. It irritated Natsu and Lucy the most since they could, unfortunately, understand where he was coming from.
"I hate to agree with him, but he's right." Kagura spoke. "I understand that you wish to save her. But you can't very well do that when we have no spot in the tournament, can we? I'd hate if all that hard work I did went to waste."
"Besides!" Sting held a reassuring smile. "We just have to win to save her, right? You're not alone, Natsu-san, Lucy-san. The rest of us are here to back you up."
"Well said, Sting." Minerva nodded in agreement.
"Now, isn't that just grand?" Zelos finally spoke out. He was listening to the conversation but waited for it to settle itself. "There's no need to worry, for I, Zelos the Great, shall step into the ring tomorrow to battle on our behalf! Erza-chan hasn't fully recovered yet, so we all must do our part."
"Considering the competition we're up against, this isn't a bad idea…" Luke did recall Zelos' strength. "That said, I wonder who we're gonna be up against tomorrow."
"We can worry about that later!" Bacchus said. There was no point in getting so worked up in something they didn't know about.
"Fair point." That's when Zelos began to walk off. "Well then, I think that calls this little team meeting to a close. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be spending the rest of my day wooing the women of Crown City~"
"I wish he'd stay put…" Lucy sighed.
Prometheus and Pandora stood before Ajeel, Makarov, and Eileen. Pandora held her arms over her chest, letting out a quiet sigh. "We are very disappointed in you." She said, shaking her head.
"I live to disappoint." Eileen responded, her reply oozing irony.
"I believe I already made it clear that I would not be some toy in your sick game." Makarov fired back. "You'd do better to release me and choose someone else as a participant!"
"Nah." Prometheus waved his hand dismissively. "I may not have a need for may not have a need for you specifically, but it's pretty fun watching your reactions when your kids are danger."
"I'm starting to wonder why I ever believed we were on the same side, once." Eileen sighed. Being toyed with like this truly aggravated her, yet she lacked the power to do anything about her position. Her best bet was finding some way to contact Emeraude, but that was unlikely.
"Hah. Getting chewed out." Ajeel chuckled.
"Why do you think you're here, Ajeel? You are the one with the most disappointing performance." Pandora's gaze shifted to Ajeel and be began to sweat. "You were the one who wanted to prove something to Emeraude, did you not? And yet, you were easily defeated by that other Spriggan. Rather humiliating, wasn't it?"
"That was a fluke!" Ajeel declared. "This stupid tournament is restricting me!"
"Is it?" Pandora tilted her head with slight curiosity. "Because if I recall correctly, Prometheus was even kind enough to grant you with some power mid fight…and it was still not enough."
"I just need one more chance!" Ajeel snarled. The condescending attitude that Julius had stuck with him. When the shoe was on the other foot, the arrogant sand mage couldn't stand it.
"One more chance? You had your chance." Prometheus; malicious grin then turned into a scowl. "We don't have the time to waste with failures. Unfortunately for you, Ajeel, I can replace you with the snap of my fingers. Just like this!" Before Ajeel could even react, Prometheus stabbed his hand into his chest, laughing manically while doing so.
"NO! NOT AGAAAAAAAIN!" Ajeel cried out as his physical form faded away, leaving nothing but burning wisp, his soul, within Prometheus' hand.
"Perhaps I'll call on you again when you're actually worth something. But as it stands now, you're not very entertaining." Prometheus shrugged and took Ajeel's soul within his being once again, leaving Eileen and Makarov in shock. They didn't realize that Prometheus could, and would do away with them on a whim if he was displeased with them. Their physical bodies were the only hope they had of conveying any message to who they needed!
"…So what's your next move?" Eileen questioned. Ice was thin, but she was bold enough to tread it. "The team requires 10 people, does it not? You've just done away with one."
"Replacement." Prometheus replied quickly, thinking to himself who would be the perfect replacement for Ajeel. "And I think I have the perfect one!" He then snapped his fingers and bright flash of light occurred, summoning another soul to take Ajeel's place! This soul had no immediate identity: they wore a tattered hood and blonde hair obscured her facial features. The only thing that could be made out of this person were the black and red lines covering a portion of her arm, and the red eyes to top it all off. "Ho? So that's the form they took…"
Pandora's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Prometheus, is that…?"
"It looks like it! What a surprise!" Prometheus laughed. "Why did I think of this in the first place! This is a waaaaay better idea than Ajeel!"
"Who…?" Makarov took a long look at the female before him. She looked too familiar. It was then he took a look at her left hand and…his eyes widened. "What…that can't be…!"
"Ssssssh." Prometheus suddenly silenced Makarov and Eileen for good measure. "This surprise is far too special to spoil! So we can't have either of you leaking the information. Now then…"
"W-What's happening…? Where am I…? I thought I…died with her…?" The woman looked around, lost and confused.
"You did." Pandora responded. "But you are alive, and in the body of the woman you bonded most strongly with before your death…well, I use the term 'alive' loosely. Your soul is only active due to Prometheus."
"Don't you want your revenge?" Prometheus circled the woman with a haunting smile. "Revenge on the woman that condemned you? Used you? Revenge on that former host of yours for abandoning you, despite keeping her alive? In the end, your existence was toyed with by the hands of those two women. You had no control over your life, but you can use your death to ruin theirs. Isn't that what you want the most…?" Prometheus leaned in, whispering into the woman's ear; whispering her name.
"…!" The woman's eyes widened as her name was said. She tightened her hold on her tattered cloak and nodded. "…I'll get my revenge…"
Natsu, Lucy, and Jellal went to go visit Erza, Happy and Hisui. Erza was still bedridden with injuries and the events of today made her wish her healing treatment wasn't subpar at best. When they stepped into the room, Lucy felt a cold shudder crawl up her spine. "…?"
"Are you all right?" Erza asked.
"Y-Yeah, just fine." Lucy waved a hand. "But how are you?"
"I've been better." Erza admitted.
"NATSUUU!" Happy clung to Natsu, tears streaming down his face. "That was so scary! You had me worried!" He was referring to his confrontation of Ashnard.
"Y-Yes…" Hisui placed a hand on her chest. "I thought my heart was going to burst. Even if I had been there, I feel as though I wouldn't have been able to stop you."
"I couldn't stand there and let Mii take that." Natsu replied. It was something only they would understand. Reve didn't know the half of it.
"But I was surprised to see that Mii stepped in to help you." Erza admitted. "I was very worried."
"I was surprised she could move despite all that pain she was going through…" Lucy rubbed her arm nervously. "That said…it sounded like she struck some kind of deal with Ashnard. I don't know what's going on between them, but Mii's on the losing end of that deal. She's been hurt so badly by things she can't control, which is exactly why we have to bring her home!"
"I believe that, too. If Mii didn't care, she wouldn't have stepped in." Erza said with a nod.
"I wonder if Emeraude knows anything." Hisui placed a hand on her cheek. Emeraude's position as Empress, and the current affairs between Fiore and Alvarez, made it difficult to talk with her. "I want to help Mii, too."
"We have to win the tournament to save both her and you." Despite the way the tournament was going so far, Natsu wasn't deterred. "And we'll do just that."
Emeraude felt an odd chill crawl up her spine. It disturbed her and she glanced around. Something was amiss. "…"
"Is everything all right?" Brandish asked. "You seem distracted."
"I'm fine." Emeraude replied while shaking her head.
"We apologize for our screw up earlier, Your Majesty." Ken said with a bow.
"It is all right, Ken, G." Emeraude said with a nod. "In the end, we gathered some important information about the other countries. We still have 3 days so I'm not worried. I know your talents and abilities will lead us to sweep every fight. The events are important as well, but I know they aren't entirely your forte and that you are above such things. Regardless, thank you all for participating nonetheless."
"Anything for you, Your Majesty." Julius gave a respectful bow.
"The events of earlier were pretty crazy, though…" Jacob said while adjusting his glove. "They're still just as reckless as before."
"King Ashnard is a fool." Emeraude scoffed. "Making such a big spectacle just to flex his 'superiority' over everyone. Even now I can hardly believe that we share the same bloodline."
"In all fairness, Your Majesty…" Alice began. "I wouldn't have even guessed considering how vastly different you two look. You're green, he's red…his family looks red, too…"
"Mother." Emeraude turned to Emerald. "When will you tell me how you and that man met? I know you and I know that even if he is the King, you've far too much self-respect and dignity to ever consider sleeping a man like that. He cares nothing of the people who suffer under the weight of oppression and leaves those in the slums to die, just like he did to us." Emeraude couldn't fathom it. She was simply asking her mother how her own existence came to be, because after being around Ashnard for so long, she did not understand it. No one did, really.
Emerald looked away, rubbing her arm. "I'm sorry, Em." The mother shook her head. "I'll tell you one day. But I can tell you that he wasn't always like this."
Sigh. It was the same answer all over again. Shaking her head, Emeraude turned to the Spriggan. "We'll be increasing our efforts starting tomorrow. Being behind Pergrande and tied with Fiore puts a sour taste in my mouth."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Spriggan all said in agreement. If Emeraude wanted their best and more, then it was their duty to ensure that they won. After all, Emerald and Hisui's lives were on the line, and for Emeraude, the Spriggan would fight. Not just out of obligation, but because they truly wanted to aid their Empress. That was the one effect Emeraude had on people loyal to her: they cared about her wishes just as much as she cared about their happiness.
Still…Emeraude was bothered by one thing. Something she just couldn't quite explain. She wouldn't mention this aloud, but it caused her stomach to turn a bit. A storm was coming…
After the team meeting dispersed, Sting found himself walking through Crown City with his hands in his pockets. He was thinking back to the event and his complete failure. Snarling, he suddenly punched a wall in frustration. "Damn it." Another shortcoming. He had been chosen to compete in this tournament, but so far he felt like he wasn't pulling any weight. Kagura was the sole reason Fiore was on the board so far and it frustrated him.
"Sting-kun…" Lector was with him, and was a little upset that he couldn't offer words of advice or encouragement. He tried, but Sting wasn't listening.
"Hey."
"Huh?" Sting whipped around, not noticing anyone at first. He then looked down, seeing Edna in front of him. She was very short, about half his size, so he didn't notice her immediately. "Edna-san?"
"Sting, right?" Edna looked up at Sting with that aloof expression of hers.
"Yeah-" As soon as Sting answered, Edna kicked him in the shin. "OW!" It was hard to tell if it was forceful or not, but Edna was still a dragon, so Sting was holding his knee while bouncing on his unharmed leg. "What was that for!?"
"GAH! STING-KUN!" Lector's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Sting was attacked!
"For letting my brother's powers go to waste in that event." Edna's aloof expression suddenly turned into a glare. She was usually so distant and lazy, but there was a hint of anger in her stare.
"Your brother…" Sting didn't forget. Eizen, the Silver Dragon. Back on the Isle, Eizen had to be killed and once he was, he let Sting have his power.
"My brother entrusted you with his strength. As his sister, I have to see to it that you don't let his spirit die." Edna huffed before turning around. "You're the only person who can keep him alive…"
"Edna-san…" Sting clenched his hand into a fist. "I promise you that I've been using his power. There hasn't been a day that I don't think about his words. Your blood bond, I won't…"
The woman shook her head. "We weren't related by blood. Our magic is vastly different, didn't you notice? I was alone shortly after I was born, but he found me and raised me like his own sister. He even gave me a name. That's why I…"
Sting placed a hand on Edna's shoulder. "Then I'll make sure that your bond won't die. You can count on me."
"Yeah!" Lector jumped up. "Sting-kun's gonna fight one of these days and show everyone what Sabertooth can really do!"
Edna managed a small smile, but Sting and Lector couldn't see it. Instead she started to walk off slowly. "Fine then. I'll…be counting on you." She then yawned as she departed. This encounter took far too much energy from someone so lazy.
Zelos wandered through a back alley of Crown City, coming to a halt once he rounded the corner. As soon as he did, he saw Lucia waiting for him. The woman turned her head, giving the double agent a slight smile. "Ah, there you are. I was hoping you'd show up."
"Anything for you, Lucia-chan." Zelos said with a wink. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
.
.
Next Time: Day 3 Begins.
