Author's Note: I'm glad it seems like I may have helped at least a few people with my previous updates . Sending all the love and good vibes to everyone~
If anyone's been curious about my family from my previous author's notes- so far, they haven't gotten sick, to my knowledge. They're not taking Covid-19 seriously, like so many others though, so... we'll see. My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering right now, as a result of Covid-19, police brutality, and all the other terrifying things going on right now. My 'pep talk' chapter isn't the best, but I'll leave it up for anyone who might benefit from it.
Please, stay home when you can. Wear a mask. Social distance. Wash your hands.
Be kind, listen, and grow.
As always, thank you for the reviews, faves, and shares. I hope you enjoy the chapter~
Walking Cliché 55
S-Class Trials
May 25th, 11:00 AM
Makarov shot the flare into the sky, signaling the beginning of the first round.
All of the mages bolted from their spots, running to the obstacle course, and got on their hands and knees to crawl beneath the blanket of electrifying barbed wire. Laxus stood on the sidelines, causing stray bolts of lightning to almost hit the mages crawling through, with a sadistic smirk on his face. This was one of more clever and evil challenges that the guild master had thought of- it taught their mages that clothing does matter, while at the same time giving their thousands of spectators a good view.
Evergreen lost her dress by the end of the crawling portion, and Lucy was missing big pieces of her shirt. Gray, not surprisingly, stripped at the end willingly.
"Is this entire event going to be service shots?" Claire asked, on the verge of falling asleep. She was also tempted to just go home and sleep in her bed. The boy in her lap squirmed and laughed at the show before him, occasionally cheering for his dad, and although Claire didn't care if the boy saw nudity she did mind the vulgar comments from the other spectators.
The coliseum was packed full of people, though there was a VIP section for the guild master and whoever he wanted there. The entire structure had been built from natural magic in a park within Magnolia Town, and after a specific amount of time, the entire coliseum would disappear without a trace. Some of the support beams were obviously the trees, and some other small sections could be recognized as the original park.
"Not the entire event." Makarov chuckled with a grin and beer in his hand. "And it does have a practical use."
"As a wizard, if you're going to wear certain clothing you need to be aware of what you can do in them." Erza spoke nearby. "Although I don't agree with the guild master's public shaming technique, it is something for our wizards to consider."
"How about instead of public shaming, you guys set an example or help them find clothes that don't tear so quickly?" Claire asked them.
"If you've noticed, Lucy's clothing is much more durable than it used to be. Only portions of her back have holes from the barbed wire." Erza pointed out, and the group looked to the blond in question on the screen, who was currently stopping to yell at her partners while the other wizards ran past them. For the portion of the event, the obstacle course wound along the inside and outside wall of the coliseum, and they estimated it would take 20 minutes to complete.
"Poor Levy." Mira spoke nearby, and the group searched the screen to find the blue-haired mage, finding her hiding behind a bush and yelling at Gajeel. "Maybe she would have benefitted from shopping with Lucy."
"Is Elfman naked?" Claire asked.
"Damn it! That man could show a little shame!" The guild master yelled, outraged by the display. Elfman, covered head to toe in mud with not a single garment on him, was running full speed to the next section of the obstacle course. His sister was yelling at him to get some clothes on, while Kana openly gawked at the well-toned man running in front of her.
"Can we throw them some clothes? Please?" Claire requested, and the old man nodded.
"I'll do it. Elfman needs a lecture on modesty." Erza stated, and quickly left the room. The irony of her statement wasn't lost on anyone in the room, except perhaps the ten year old on Claire's lap.
As the fire woman's eyes drifted to a close again, she heard the crowd of spectators 'aww', and suspected that the requip mage had reclothed the wizards on the obstacle course. Despite Evergreen's initial loss of clothing, she was hardly deterred by it like the others, simply borrowing Fried's dark green coat to cover her undergarments. As a result, the two teams in the lead were the Thunder Legion and 'Team Ice', which was Gray, Juvia, and Loke.
Natsu, Lucy, and Happy were a close third with the Strauss siblings.
When Claire awoke from her nap, the individual matches were beginning, and she was informed that she would be fighting Gajeel's team that day. "What do you mean his entire team? I thought we were only fighting one-on-one?" She asked, glaring at the takeover mage.
"The guild master changed his mind. He thought it would give a more impressive show if it was the entire team fighting rather than individual fighting." Mira explained with a soft smile.
Right. This is to show off to the Ghoul Guild just how powerful we are. What a pain in the ass. Claire thought with an annoyed grunt.
"Mom's going to fight today? Why?" Michael asked, still sitting on her slightly numb lap.
"She's an S-Class mage of Fairy Tail, and the guild master asked her to do this. She'll be helping test our future S-Class mages." She explained with a soft voice.
Claire leaned forward to place a kiss on the side of his forehead, and then stood, stretching her arms towards the ceiling. "You're ready to fight today, right?" Laxus asked nearby.
"Of course I am. I just need to go change." She answered, continuing to stretch her arms to try and wake up.
"You've got 30 minutes to prepare." Mira informed her. "Once you're ready, you'll-"
"I know the drill." Claire waved off, yawning tiredly and then leaving the small booth.
1.
May 25th, 12:20 PM
"We're fighting Claire?" Levy asked with wide eyes, absolutely terrified by the idea.
"Relax, she's not going to go all out." Gajeel comforted, smirking at the short mage. He wasn't in the least surprised by the woman's reaction, considering the fire mage's reputation. Levy also had a history of refusing to fight her friends, and given her relationship to the woman, was almost predictable that she wouldn't want to fight.
"I can't fight her."
"Of course you can. Hell, you can literally just stand on the sidelines while I fight if you wanted. Your magic is mostly support magic, so-"
"No, I can't." The short mage shook her head roughly, closing her eyes and facing the ground. "I can't fight her."
"Come on, we've been over this, squirt. I know you hate fighting our friends, but this isn't something we just 'don't do'. If we refuse to fight, neither of us will make it to S-Class."
"I don't care about that." She choked, tears now falling to the ground.
"We only have 10 minutes." Pantherlily reminded them, and the iron mage cursed under his breath.
In the locker room, Claire yawned tiredly into her new mask. If she had her way she wouldn't be fighting today, but ultimately, she couldn't deny that it would be excellent practice for her new magic. Bickslow asked her not to use Figure Eyes until she had more practice, and even without that one spell she had so much more control over her souls that she was eager to try it out. With the seith mark she was able to control her souls without hurting them, and it gave her an incredible range of fighting options.
After all the times she fought in public arenas, she lost all of the nervousness that came with it. So long as she didn't need to speak, instead just fight her opponents, she would be fine.
The sound of crying met her ears, and upon recognizing the all too familiar sound from the night before, she sighed.
Levy screamed at the sight of her, not expecting such a terrifying creature to be in the women's locker room. The red, black, and gold mask snarled at her menacing with not a hint of skin or hair from the person beneath. Her entire body was covered in matching guards and fabric.
Immediately, the fire mage removed her mask and made a face at her. "The fuck, Levy?" She asked, and rubbed her ear. The little mage's scream echoed in the small space.
"Levy, you alright?" Gajeel's voice came from the doorway.
"I-I'm fine!" She squeaked in response.
"Don't you need to get dressed for the fight?" Claire asked the blue-haired girl, realizing that she was still wearing the clothes from the obstacle course. The pink shirt was covered in mud, but some of the letters from their guild name poked through.
"I-I'm not f-fighting." She blushed, looking away and sitting down on the bench.
"Why the hell not?" The fire mage asked, and took a few steps closer to her.
"A-after l-last n-night… I-I…" She stammered, unable to finish her sentence.
"You betrayed me by handing me over to some guys to get your parents back. I've been screwed over for worse reasons." Claire stated bluntly, though it didn't ease the word mage's guilt. "Do you want to know the real reason that Makarov is making this event public?"
Levy's sobs quieted slightly, and she glanced up at the woman with big, watery hazel eyes. They reflected the same color as her one year old son.
"Because he wants to show the Ghoul Guild just how powerful our wizards are. This isn't just a test- it's a testament to just how powerful we are, and to make sure that people like the ones that took your parents don't even think about fucking with us again. If you fight today, you'll be sending a message- a message saying that if anyone even thinks about messing with your family, you'll destroy them." Claire explained, keeping her eyes locked with the word mage. "Fight for your son, and fight to show that you deserve that damn symbol on your back. Show me that you're not a sniveling coward that lets their friends die." For emphasis, she shoved the word mage's shoulder, causing an echo to bounce against the walls.
"… okay." Levy nodded, and wiped her eyes and nose on her arm.
"You better hurry, you don't have much time to get cleaned up." Claire stated as she walked away, picking up her mask again as she walked. The totems stacked in front of her locker came to life and followed her out of the room.
Bickslow, standing with his team in their observation room, yelled out in aggravation. "What the hell is wrong with them!?"
"What are you so freaked about?" Ever asked, sitting with her legs crossed lady like and filing her nails. She had already changed back into her normal clothes.
"Claire is fighting three-to-one in five minutes!" He exclaimed.
"Mommy could get hurt!" His babies chanted.
"She'll be fine." Ever said with a roll of her eyes. "You should be worried about yourself. You got hit three times in the obstacle course and lost us first place." She glared, recalling the event.
"Whatever, second place is still good, and it's not like it actually matters if we win or not."
"No, they're just observing to see who is S-Class material. You think the idiot that gets knocked over will get the promotion?"
"Yeah, Bickslow, you should think more often." Fried spoke absently from nearby.
"You're one to talk!" Evergreen accused. "You got hit more than he did, and it's a miracle that you won your match!"
"Not a miracle. My opponent was simply weak." He shrugged, and by his tone in voice, his teammates knew that he wasn't entirely there. He'd been spacey and out of it ever since they returned to Magnolia Town.
"He has a point. Elfman was all brawn and no brain- I don't even know why they chose to have them face off." Bickslow told her, and pouted looking back to the middle of the coliseum.
"Why aren't you two taking this more seriously?" She asked them. "It's like neither of you care if you get S-Class anymore."
"Ever, this is the fourth time that we've competed in the S-Class Trials." Fried explained. "Every other time it was interrupted, postponed, or we got disqualified because of Claire."
"Yeah, I'm kind of burned out." Bickslow admitted. "If it hadn't been for a stupid bird, I would have made S-Class with Claire." His babies whined sadly around him, all of them worried about the fire mage, and again the fairy woman rolled her eyes.
"What if baby Claire gets hurt?" Pappa asked.
"Don't say things like that! You'll make Daddy upset!" Another soul chastised, and both Ever and Fried looked up at him with wide eyes.
"'Baby Claire'?" They asked in unison, and the seith mage further sulked.
"The final match of the evening is about to begin!" Makarov announced into the speaker system, gaining a round of applause from the crowd.
"This match consists of Team Iron," Mirajane spoke next. "which is Levy Gardner," A loud round of applause, especially from Droy and Jet. "Gajeel Redfox," The applause turned to mostly 'boo's, to which the mage glared and sneered at them. Natsu laughed from his booth, having convinced a large portion of the crowd to 'boo' when his name came up. "And Pantherlily!" The crowd roared in applause for him, further annoying the dragonslayer.
Team Iron stood in the middle of the arena, slightly to the side, and waved to the crowds of people. They were all dressed in matching oranges and brown shades, and this time, Levy wore pants and a shirt instead of a dress.
"Their opponent is the powerful S-Class mage, The Dragon!" As she floated into the arena, donning her new fighting outfit, she got a mixed response from the crowd. Some of them cheered about how awesome the change was, some of them complained that she wasn't showing as much skin as the other women, and the rest just cheered for the fun of it.
"Shit," Gajeel cursed in surprise, watching apprehensively as the woman took her place 20 yards from them. She was balanced perfectly on one of her firey totems, all of which were new and matched her mask, and her two other babies giggled at her sides. "We're going to have to improvise a bit with this fight."
"I thought she was a melee fighter?" Pantherlily asked, trying to mask his nervousness.
"She's been switching to seith magic lately." Levy told them. "She'll probably use her 'babies' to distract us while she stays at a safe distance."
"So she'll fight like Bickslow, eh?" Gajeel asked. "That'll make things… annoying."
"It wouldn't be a test if there weren't any challenges or surprises." Claire teased, chuckling at the group. They were speaking in hushed voices, but of course, she could hear every word.
"When we start fighting, ignore the floating things and go straight for her." Levy told her partners, and they nodded.
"Unlike her boyfriend, she's not weak when you get closer. Be careful." Gajeel warned the Exceed, and he nodded. Both of them had spent most of their preparation time talking about tactics to fight the S-Class mage, and even when Gajeel was fighting against Gray, he thought about ways to fight the higher ranked mage.
"Begin!" Mirajane yelled out, and Claire's babies moved into action.
Siri and Riley instantly cheered and flew forward, zig-zagging and sending a barrage of attacks. The group instantly had to block, trying to avoid getting hit by their blasts and the totem bodies hitting the wizards themselves. Every time that the wooden bodies hit the wizards, they burned a small amount of their magic.
Through the chaos a tornado of wind burst from the group, and Claire easily went to the side to dodge his dragon roar. Her babies managed to avoid getting his as well, and the barriers protecting the spectators kicked in at the last second.
With the brief interlude of attacks, Claire let her giggling babies return to her side to assess how much damage they did. As the dust cleared, and even before since she could see souls, she saw that the only mage taken out was Pantherlily. Gajeel used himself as a shield to protect Levy, but the Exceed was now only 1.5 feet tall.
"Everyone okay?" The iron mage asked them.
"I'm not physically harmed, but I did lose a considerable amount of magic." Pantherlily explained, panting as he fell to one of his knees.
"How the hell did you lose magic?" He asked, blinking at him, and then looked back to the floating fire mage several yards away. After a moment, he cursed loudly, realizing what happened. "Fuck! No fair!"
"What?" Levy asked.
"Her fire magic has the ability to burn other people's magic. Every time those things hit us with their bodies, they probably burn our magic." He explained. "Shit, she's going to drain our magic before we even get the chance to attack."
"Tick tock, Team Iron." Claire spoke from her spot, and then yawned tiredly.
"Gajeel, we should do plan S." Levy told her partner, and the fire mage watched them curiously.
"Right. Will you be okay, Pantherlily?" Gajeel asked the short mage, and he nodded.
"Don't worry about me. Do whatever it takes to take her down."
Getting bored, the fire mage sent her babies forward again to do the same attack, hoping that she might be able to avoid actually fighting this round. Her babies were surprisingly affective.
Smoke erupted from the group and encased the entire field, rendering their sight useless. "Not a great plan, guys." Claire chuckled, easily dodging a pillar of iron sent at her from the group. She let out a surprised 'oof' as something struck her from the opposite side, and she quickly dodged other pillars of iron that rose from the ground at her. These aren't Gajeel's dragonslayer attacks, so I can't see them in this smoke. Damn.
Even with the smoke, she was still able to dodge almost every one of the jobs made in her direction. Everyone's magic had a small piece of their soul in it, so even though these weren't as bright as Gajeel's powerful attacks, they did have a faint glow from Levy's magic.
Their voices began echoing around her, trying to confuse her, and her babies echoed just as loudly. Having to dodge all of the attacks made her lose track of her opponents, but she hoped the chaos of this situation left them just as disoriented as she was. Her firey souls were like a glowing beacon for attacks, and one of her souls got hit by Gajeel's dragonslayer attack.
She sent her other soul to attack Gajeel while he was left vulnerable, effectively hitting him full force with a blast.
Unfortunately, Claire didn't expect a melee hit from another fighter until it was too late. She was so distracted with dodging the pillars of iron and locating Gajeel that she didn't dodge Levy's punch to her chest, and to her astonishment, it wasn't a normal hit.
Instead of her magic protecting her, Claire's entire body went completely numb in an instant. Her lungs stopped working. Her heart slowed.
It felt like the world froze as she fell backwards, falling as if in slow motion, and she felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her when her heart didn't beat again. The only way she knew that she hit the ground was how her vision changed, and for a moment, she just lay there completely disoriented.
Why can't I breathe? Did my heart stop!?
She stared with open eyes at the cloudy sky above her, watching the air begin to thin out.
"I can't believe we actually got her." Gajeel snickered, somewhere far away.
The edges of Claire's vision started to fade, and she felt the numbness spread through her brain. It was an odd feeling, and with the sudden stillness, it took much longer than it should have for her instincts to kick in.
She gasped for air as her body switched into 'fire mode', tearing the mask from her face and tossing it to the side. Her body shook as she transitioned into the fire state, and she quickly removed some of her more expensive guards. Shit, I told her to go all out, but damn. I didn't think she was going to try to use such lethal magic.
"What the hell kind of spell did you use?" Claire asked, sitting up and looking at the blue-haired mage. The triumphant smile fell from her face, replaced with that of terror and nervousness. No doubt she didn't expect the fire mage to actually turn into fire.
"It was a paralyzing spell." Gajeel answered as he walked over to the word mage. "Are we still fighting?"
A paralyzing spell?
"It would have worn off in about 5 minutes." Levy added.
It stopped my heart… does that mean that it stopped the baby's?
"The fight's over. Good job." Claire told them, and pushed herself to her feet. She had two of her souls unbind from their vessels on Siri, and then possess some of her gear so that she wouldn't further burn it. Her fire was already beginning to burn through her outfit.
"Wait, that's it?" Gajeel asked.
"Yep." Claire waved off as she walked to the exit, and although her disappearance confused some of the spectators, Mirajane nonetheless rolled with it and announced 'Team Iron's victory.
2.
May 25th, 7:30 PM
Claire was tired of these stupid meetings; especially the ones that revolved around her.
She just wanted to go home and sleep, but of course, that wouldn't be happening. The spell that Levy used on her had been extremely lethal and nearly killed Claire and her baby, and although it was disconcerting for the fire mage, she'd been told 'you should be dead' so many times that it lost its charm. She wanted to go home and sleep.
"Do you know why you're here, Levy?" Makarov asked the young girl. Currently, they were all situated in one of the many meeting rooms in the guild hall, though the current set up was more like an interrogation than anything. The S-Class mages and guild master were sitting on one side of a long table, along with Porlyusica next to the fire mage.
In front of them were three chairs, currently occupied by Team Iron.
"Not really." She admitted, fidgeting with her hands.
"I told her to fight her hardest, so she did. Can we just go home?" Claire asked, though of course, that didn't fly with the other people at the table.
"What is this about?" Gajeel asked, sitting up straight and eyeing the guild master.
"Levy used an extremely lethal attack today on a fellow guild member. It was dumb luck that she survived." Makarov explained.
"I wouldn't say 'dumb luck'. I think 'smart luck' is more accurate." Claire corrected, though before Laxus could tell her to shut up, Levy interjected.
"What are you talking about? I didn't use lethal magic on her." She spoke, slightly panicked, and everyone stopped to look at her.
"You used an advanced paralyzing spell to stop every organ in her body." Porlyusica explained. "When Claire shifted out of her fire form, I had to cancel the spell and restart her heart. If she'd waited another minute, she would have suffered irreparable brain damage."
The trio's eyes widened in surprise, Levy's locking on the healing mage while other two gaped at the word mage.
"Levy, what the hell!?" Gajeel yelled. "You were supposed to paralyze her, not kill her!"
"Th-that's not what I cast! It was just supposed to immobilize her for five minutes!" She defended, frantic.
"Porlyusica," Claire whispered to the healer. "Is it possible that I just had a weird reaction to the spell? It wouldn't be the first time."
"No, the spell worked as it was cast." She stated, seeming positive in her conclusion. Having no other theories on the matter, Claire shrugged, turning back to the arguing team. The other mages at the table watched their interactions carefully.
"It wasn't a lethal spell! I swear!" Levy cried out, looking to the fire mage. "I would never do that!"
"Levy, where did you get this spell exactly?" Erza asked her.
"I got it from a book."
"Before Claire, had you tested it on anyone before?"
"N-no, but-"
"Was it your first time using a spell from a book that interfered with the body's natural functions?" Porlyusica interrupted, and the blue-haired mage paused, blinking at her in confusion. "When you learn spells from books, you have to be especially careful with the ones that have a direct impact on a person's body. Even if you cast the spell perfectly, there are many factors to consider that aren't within the pages. Imbecile. I want you to show me exactly where you got that spell."
"O-of course. I'm so, so sorry Claire!" Levy cried out, and fell to her knees. Damn it, woman, stop crying.
"You're forgiven, now stop crying already. It's getting annoying."
"Bu-but h-how can you forgive me after today? After yesterday?"
"What happened yesterday?" Laxus asked, and the fire mage rolled her eyes. Will this ever end?
"I-I betrayed her-" Levy started to speak, but Claire interrupted.
"Her parents were taken hostage by a weak band of bandits, so she asked me to help her save them. They're safe, she's safe, I'm safe, she feels bad over what happened, can we just tell her not to do it again and go home?" She summarized rather quickly.
"Hostage?" Several of them questioned.
"They're in hiding for the time being on the off chance that the bandits go after them again. Levy feels guilty for the entire thing because she's a good person." Claire informed them, trying to avoid going into details of the event.
"Why didn't you tell us something like that?" Erza asked her, though the question was directed to both women.
"None of your business." Claire shrugged.
"When family of people in my guild are taken hostage, that is my business." Makarov told her, glaring at the young woman for speaking so non-chalantly. Despite her attempts to sweep it under the rug, the guild master didn't seem to be going for it, and her colleagues didn't seem content with the idea either. "I may have let you off the hook for what happened in Minstrel, but that's not going to be a regular thing, young lady. I'm responsible for the safety of everyone in my guild, and that includes you."
"Fine. Good luck getting any info from sniffles over there." She shrugged indifferently.
"Claire, I know you're tired, but could you take this a bit more seriously?" Laxus asked her.
"I'm the one she almost killed. If I don't think it's a big deal, why do you guys have to make it one?"
"Because she could have used that spell on someone else." Erza told her with a serious expression. "If she cast the spell on purpose, knowing the risks, that's one thing. If Levy is using magic irresponsibly, not knowing the risks, that makes her a huge liability. Imagine if she'd used that spell on any other member of our guild. Natsu, Gray, Levy- even Bickslow." She explained.
Claire grunted, sinking in her seat slightly and turning back to the word mage. She put her cheek in her hand, elbow resting against the arm of her chair, and contemplated her words. Damn it, she makes a good point. Even if Levy had used that spell on any of the other S-Ranked mages, she could have killed them. Mira is the only one with another form she could have switched to, to possibly avoid permanent damage.
She almost killed my baby because she fucked up a spell.
"Are you… okay?" Gajeel asked the fire woman awkwardly, causing her intense stare to shift to him.
"Yes. Thankfully." She added the second part, the tone of her voice indicating her sudden aggravation. He was one of the few people to know about her pregnancy.
He sighed in relief.
Once Levy's sobs had quieted, she was asked to recall what happened the previous day and the specific details of the spell she used on Claire. Luckily the word mage was smart enough to go with the fire mage's story, that she asked her to help rescue her parents, instead of the truth. Towards the end of her long-winded explanations, she was lectured thoroughly by the guild master and Erza, who were 'very disappointed' in her.
She was officially kicked out of the trials, permanently, and ordered to reveal all of her spells to Erza and whoever else they deemed necessary to determine the lethality of her spells.
"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" Gajeel asked them. "She's hardly the first mage in here to lose control of her magic or hurt another member of the guild. Technically, no harm was done."
"None of them used such a lethal spell by accident." The guild master defended.
"Guildarts has to have the entire town move just so that he won't hurt any of the residents." Gajeel pointed out. "At the very least, let her compete in the S-Class Trials in the future."
"My decision is final. I don't take lightly to anyone in my guild being harmed, and if that spell had been used on almost anyone else, it would have killed them."
"I know this is a bit selfish to ask," Pantherlily spoke up for the first time that evening. "But are Gajeel and I disqualified as well?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, Claire, and I hope that someday we can be friends again." Levy told her with a bow. Several minutes later after tying up a few more loose ends, the meeting finally ended. Laxus kept a hand on his sister's shoulder as they left, keeping her from swaying or falling over.
"Are you okay!?" Bickslow asked as he zoomed over, instantly wrapping his arms around her and spinning her away from the doorway of the meeting room. "Is everything okay!?"
"Everything is fine, honey." She replied instantly, trying to give the panicked man an assuring smile. His hands fluttered to the sides of her face, his gaze looking her body up and down for any sign of injury.
"What the hell happened? Why was there a huge meeting?"
"Riley should have explained that everything was okay." She told him.
"She also said that you almost died."
"Levy cast an extremely lethal spell on her." Laxus explained as he approached them. The other participants of the meeting were exited the room and walking past them. "She's been barred from ever taking the S-Class Trials ever again."
"Seriously?" Bickslow blinked in surprise. "Wait, Levy did that?" He asked in disbelief.
"It was a big surprise for all of us." He told him, and then lightly hit the back of Claire's head. "It was also a surprise that Claire went on a solo mission to save Levy's parents from a bunch of rogue bandits. What the hell are you thinking, doing that shit in your condition?"
"Well, I thought I was being a pretty awesome person." Claire told him, and stuck her tongue out at him childishly.
"What- why-" Bickslow asked, looking as if his brain was on the verge of exploding.
"Levy asked Claire to help save her parents. And this idiot agreed to do it without any other back up." Laxus informed him.
"Come on, I set up a protection barrier and literally let our babies do all the work. I straight up sat around in a wagon for 5 fucking hours."
"And don't think anyone missed those looks she was giving you as she talked. You two are hiding something about what happened." Laxus continued, and poked the woman's cheek accusatorily.
"Gramps was so pissed off that he would have kicked her out of the guild if we had. Now can we just go home?" Claire asked the man in front of her, pouting slightly. The seith mage gently pulled her forward to kiss her cheek, and nodded.
Makarov, nearby, watched the couple carefully as they left.
"What do you think?" He asked his grandson curiously.
"I think that whatever Levy did yesterday, it was to help her parents, and Claire empathized with her. I also think that Claire is juggling a lot of things at the moment and isn't thinking straight." Laxus told him, and the older man nodded thoughtfully. Team Iron had left as soon as the doors opened, so they didn't worry about them overhearing their conversation.
"What would they be hiding, though?" Makarov wondered aloud.
"I don't know, but I intend to find out." Erza spoke. "That entire meeting was unnerving."
3.
May 25th, 11:30 PM
Bickslow sat with his upper body propped on one of her arms, laying on his side, while his free hand caressed the sleeping woman's cheek.
As soon as they got home, Claire told him everything that happened. She summarized a little, since she was so tired, and fell asleep immediately afterwards. The seith mage had tried to stay calm and composed the entire time, quietly listening to her retell the events from the past two days, and found himself torn between angry and depressed.
Levy tried to kill her, twice, and Claire wasn't bothered in the slightest about it. Bickslow wanted to kill that little bookworm.
He'd nearly had a heart attack when he saw Claire's body plummet to the ground earlier that day. After just explaining her pregnancy to his team, they were just as terrified when she fell off of her soul after taking the hit. If it wasn't for the barrier between them and the arena, they would have jumped after her to see if she was alright.
"Your mommy is an adrenaline junkie, yes she is," Bickslow whispered in a baby voice and gently petted the woman's stomach. He leaned down and placed a kiss just above her naval, and then lifted her shirt to do it again. She was only three weeks along and the soul hadn't formed yet.
"I'm not an adrenaline junkie." Claire mumbled, half asleep.
"Then you should tell your grandfather about 'little us' so that he doesn't pressure you into fighting again."
"I thought we were going to wait until after the Trials."
"I don't want you taking more unnecessary risks."
"Same goes for you. Get some sleep, you have a big day ahead of you." She grumbled, and turned away from him tiredly.
A rapid knock came from the door, and both of them gave a heavy sigh.
4.
May 26th, 8:30 AM
Michael slept on the woman's back as they entered the guild hall, Bickslow walking next to them, and their babies floating dutifully behind them. None of them got much sleep last night, between Bickslow over thinking the past few days and Michael's crying for half the night from constant nightmares.
"Honey, where are you going?" Claire asked the man as he immediately turned to walk in a direction, and to her dismay, he didn't answer. Instead she looked in the direction he was going, and realized that he was going to the little word mage by the bar.
"That's so unfair that they did that!" Lucy told the young mage. "I can't believe you were banned for life! I mean, after all the things that Natsu has done-"
"She should have been kicked out of the guild for what she did." Bickslow announced as he approached the small group, his fiancé tailing close behind.
"Bixy, leave her alone. She's already been punished over what happened." Claire told him. "Just let it go."
"Figure Eyes." He cast, causing his eyes beneath his visor to glow a beautiful green, and a matching glow emanated from Levy's hazel eyes. "Under my spell you can't lie to me. Did you try to kill Claire yesterday?"
"No." Levy responded, devoid of emotion, as if in a trance.
"Bickslow, is this really necessary?" Lucy asked, but he ignored her.
"Did you know just how lethal your spell was when you cast it on Claire?"
"No. The spell was supposed to render her immobile for 5 minutes with no side effects." Levy answered.
"Did you think those bandits would kill her when you handed her over to them?"
"I tried to not think about that. I hoped that after saving my parents, I could get help in rescuing her."
"But you knew that they could kill her."
"Yes."
"Bixy, calm down and come have breakfast with us." Claire requested, taking his hand and leaning into his arm. After another moment of staring at the woman, his eyes glowing green, he finally canceled the spell.
"If you ever hurt her again, I'll kill you." Bickslow threatened, and after a few more seconds of giving her a threatening glare, finally conceded to his fiancé's pushes. The trio and their babies walked away in a group, and the small group of wizards around Levy stared at her with confused and curious eyes.
"I-I'm s-sorry." Levy choked, and quickly ran out of the mess hall.
After setting Michael on the table next to Bickslow, Claire punched him in the arm. "What that really necessary?"
"She almost killed my unborn child twice. Of course it was fucking necessary." He retorted, narrowing his eyes from behind the visor. "I should have kicked her ass."
"She fucked up and feels terrible about it. She didn't need you making a scene of it."
"Good morning to you too, guys." Laxus said sarcastically, and taking a sip from his tea. He sent death glares in both of their directions, hating their obnoxious squabbling so early in the morning, and the other two members of their team weren't thrilled about either.
"What happened, anyway? We heard Levy was disqualified from the trials?" Evergreen asked with sparkling eyes, obviously itching to find out the gossip.
"She messed up a spell, it's no big deal. Everyone is overreacting." Claire told her.
"She stopped your heart!" Bickslow exclaimed, exasperatedly. "It was a big deal! It was a huge deal!"
"Yeah, because you've never cast a spell incorrectly." She told him sarcastically.
"Of course I have, but it didn't cost anyone their life."
"Neither did Levy's mistake."
"You are so unbelievably naive, stupid, ignorant-"
"Stop fightiiiiing!" Michael screamed at the top of his lungs, and both parents stopped to look at him, realizing that the boy was in tears. Bickslow cursed under his breath, picked up the boy under his armpits, and hoisted him on his hip. As the seith mage left the mess hall with the crying child, the Thunder Legion sat there awkwardly, staring at the retreating form.
"I don't think I've ever seen you two argue so much." Fried commented.
She sighed, rubbing her temples softly. The noise level in the mess hall was pretty high that morning, considering the gossip over what transpired yesterday and the excited energy for the trials today. "We didn't get much sleep. Michael was up for half the night crying about me dying."
"Isn't he a little old for that?" Ever asked curiously. "He seems to cry a lot for his age."
"He found his birth dad floating dead in the bathtub with a needle in his arm, and ever since the last S-Class trials when we were separated in the attack, he gets freaked out whenever we're separated for too long."
"Poor kid."
5.
May 26th, 11:30 AM
Today was the paint challenge.
Every team had a bucket of paint. When a person touched the paint their countdown of 5 minutes started. Every time that they touched someone's skin from another team with paint, they'd lose one minute while the other person gained one.
Whoever gets a '0', touching 5 people within a minute, get a mystery prize.
"This was her favorite event, wasn't it?" Erza asked the lightning mage, referring to the sleeping blond nearby. Claire had fallen asleep, again, in that chair with the ten year old on her lap, but this time he was sleeping, too.
"I'm not waking her up." Laxus scoffed.
"Did you learn anything else about what happened the other day?" Erza asked the man. "I heard snippets about Bickslow's run in with Levy this morning, but nothing consistent."
"A weak group of bandits ransomed Levy's parents, asking for some money and Claire as payment. Levy handed both of them over, and since the bad guys were so easy to take down, Claire didn't want to make a big issue of it."
"So Levy handed her over to enemy hands." Erza summarized, and the man nodded. Makarov and Mira were currently closer to the arena, out of earshot, and the only other people in the room were sleeping. "How weak were they?"
"From what I can tell, just as she described in the meeting. She put up a barrier around her and Levy, then used two of her souls to dispose of them."
"And she didn't bring it up in the meeting because she didn't want Levy kicked out of the guild."
"You know how the guild master is when it comes to his 'children'."
"He can also be very forgiving with those that are forthcoming. Since this is Levy's first offense, she probably wouldn't have gotten in too harsh of trouble. He'll probably overturn his ruling for the exams next year."
"If Levy was kicked out of the guild," Claire spoke, gaining their attention. "Then she'd lose our protection and she'd be fair game to the Ghoul Guild. I'm tired of seeing good people die." She said mid-yawn, and careful not to wake the boy in her arms.
"You had noble intentions, but it's not right to lie to the guild master." Erza told her.
"Neither is killing two of your brothers in cold blood for the greater good." The fire mage spoke indifferently, shifting slightly to get comfortable, and closed her eyes again. Technically she didn't kill either of them, but these two didn't know that, and why not use it to get out of trouble?
Neither mage said anything, looking back to the trials in awkward silence.
6.
May 26th, 12:30 PM
Bickslow was actually excited about his upcoming match.
He wasn't stupid to think that he could win against Erza Scarlet, Queen Titania of Fairy Tail, but he was excited to show off his strength. After this morning he was looking forward to a fight that he wouldn't need to hold back in.
The main downside to this fight is that he knew Erza had been researching his magic specifically, which meant she would probably use some fighting tactics she had been planning to use against the Ghoul Guild. Not to mention she recently bought specific seith mage garb during their visit with the Soul Circus, which meant that she likely had a 'seith armor', or whatever, that was perfectly designed to counter his magic.
In an abstract way, Bickslow and Erza had very similar styles of fighting. When it came down to it, they were excellent at finding their enemy's weakness, exploiting it, and taking them down quickly.
Well, Bickslow liked to play a little, but against stronger opponents he could be serious. Usually.
"This should be an interesting match." Erza told him with a nod.
"Indeed." Bickslow replied with a grin.
Erza's body glowed, changing to another outfit, and after a few seconds she was dressed in a new fighting uniform. Not surprisingly, it consisted of mostly black guards and material he'd seen her purchase at the Soul Circus. The guards would dampen the blow from his babies attacks and the mask would keep any dust or other foreign objects from getting in her eyes. Unlike most of her armors, this was much less flashy or flattering, instead making her look like a ninja with a yellow mask on.
Bickslow hopped up on two of his souls, and at the very instant that Mira finished saying 'begin', they both erupted into action. The field instantly began encased with smoke, and at the same time Erza ran forward towards him. Hiding to the side of the field, he made his babies run rampant within the smoke, using his handmade vessels. Instead of his usual totems, he had multiple soft vessels strung together with lights on them. Even though this made them slower, it also made them more distracting and difficult to hit.
But then, the grin fell from his face when Poppo unbound beneath him and sent him falling to the ground, along with all of his other souls. What the hell? A spell disruptor? I thought Claire only made them for herself and Romeo?
Bickslow expertly dodged a fist aimed for him, and realized that the smoke was beginning to clear.
Rebinding his souls to the objects, he quickly dodged all of the attacks from Erza and got into the air, narrowly avoiding getting hit. "How the hell did you unbind my souls?" Bickslow asked, thoroughly annoyed.
"A little device I picked up at the Soul Circus." Erza said with a smirk, and to Bickslow's terror, the soul beneath him unbound again.
There was no way to dodge Erza's attack as he fell, only block, which still sent him flying into the coliseum wall and causing a major crack to appear from top to bottom. A round of 'ooh's erupted from the audience, not making the seith mage feel any better. Well, I'm fucked.
Nonetheless, he bound his souls again and attacked her quickly, and she unfortunately dodged every attack and repeated the unbinding process. As Bickslow climbed out of the hole in the wall, he eyed the requip mage that got closer.
The damn mask on her face prevented him from using Figure Eyes on her.
This sucked.
"You're a great seith mage, Bickslow, but I'd recommend learning some magic outside of it." She spoke, slowly walking towards him. Then, one of his souls got closer to her, and he got an idea.
"I guess you're right, specializing in one magic has its drawbacks." Bickslow spoke, watching her carefully as his soul discretely possessed the small clasp on the back of her head. When the mask inched down, another soul possessed the mask itself and sent it flying forward at Bickslow, narrowly missing his head. Her eyes instantly flickered to his, and that's all he needed to cast Figure Eyes on her. "On the other hand, it also has its benefits."
Keeping a tight hold on her, he wasted no time in binding his souls to their usual totems and attacking her with everything he had. He braced himself against the wind backlash of the amount of power her poured into the attack, his feet skidding against the ground but not letting him topple over.
After a few moments, he stopped his attacks, having nearly run out of magic. He frowned, sensing that she was still standing and didn't actually retain much damage. Either that armor worked tons better than he thought, or she was just a tough cookie.
Probably both.
Once the smoke cleared, he blinked in surprise, seeing that most of the armor had been blown away in the attack. Clothing stayed in contact in a very few, lucky places. Most of her skin was burned or bruised.
"Uh… sorry about your clothes, Erza." Bickslow said awkwardly, and still using the last of his magic to keep her still. "I'm out of magic, and I can tell that you were barely affected, so you obviously win."
As he canceled his spell, he also caused his vessels to disappear. There was no point in having them out when he didn't have enough magic to bind them.
"I'm impressed, Bickslow." Erza stated with a soft smile, and used her magic to change into her usual armor. "Good match." She said, and walked over to shake hands. He grinned, accepted the invitation, and internally cringed at the steel hard grip.
7.
May 26th, 1:00 PM
"How the hell are you still standing?" Claire asked the red head, watching the bandaged woman take a seat near her. Despite the S-Class mage's attempt, the pain she felt became obvious in her facial features, and the fire mage grinned. "Figure Eyes is a bitch of a spell." Claire chuckled with a grin.
"It has a great tactical advantage, that's for sure." Erza commented. "Do you two know when the next event will start?"
"Another half hour." Laxus told her.
"What the hell is happening in a half hour?" Claire asked.
"… did you seriously forget?" He asked, eyes wide. "You have one job, Claire,"
"I have, like, fifty jobs, so fuck you. What the hell did I forget to do?"
"You're part of the 'maze' round." He told her. "While they're running around in the dark, you're supposed to have your souls fly around and mess with them. Or whatever."
"No one told me about any of that."
"I told you about it last night."
"No you didn't."
"Yes, I did. I told you right… after…" Laxus trailed off, staring off into space as he thought about it.
"Ha!"
"So Claire, you're supposed to proctor the maze round in 25 minutes." He told her, and stepped forward, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to her feet.
8.
May 26th, 1:45 PM
Bickslow yawned tiredly, wishing that this was over. He had little to no magic left after that fight with Erza, and like he and Fried explained to Evergreen, the excitement for these trials were snuffed out about three trials ago. Fighting Erza was likely the only thing that would really be challenging or interesting this time around.
He couldn't imagine how bored Kana must be- that would make this her 9th attempt at the trials.
There was a dark, ominous and artificial cloud above them. All five of the groups were gathered in the middle of the field, and everyone was still donning the paint from earlier that day. It wouldn't be gone for another day or so.
"AAAAH, I just want to be S-Class already!" Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Same here, dude." Bickslow yawned loudly. They'd been standing around for 15 minutes, waiting whatever was supposed to start to happen already. Mira made an announcement five minutes ago saying that there were some 'technical difficulties, and your patience will be appreciated'.
"Why don't we just have a battle royal, here and now, and whoever's left standing will be the new S-Class wizards!?" Natsu suggested, trying to rile up his colleagues.
Before any of them could inform him of how stupid that idea was, the odd ball of black smoke fell and consumed the group of wizards. They were all emerged into darkness, and for a moment, they were all stunned into silence.
Then, several torches lit up around them, and the familiar dragon mask became illuminated. "Howdy y'all. Sorry for the wait." Claire greeted with a wave.
"Where are we?" Lucy asked.
"You haven't moved at all. However, the arena is now a maze. Your goal is to reach one of the ten exits within 30 minutes. If you fail to reach one of these exits in time, you won't be allowed to participate in the rounds tomorrow."
"What!? Come on Lucy, let's go!" Natsu yelled, and grabbed Lucy's wrist as he bolted for one of the doorways around them. The group was currently standing in the middle of a circular room, and along the wall, were 6 different doorways. After the screams of the three mages echoed through the hallway, the door they took closed behind them.
"Idiots." Kana commented.
Claire coughed, regaining their attention again. "The timer hasn't started, so their head start could help or deter them. Now, as you've noticed, there are (or were) 6 doorways here. One of them doesn't lead to any exit at all, and whoever chooses it is… well, that's pretty easy to figure out." Claire explained with a shrug. "Once a door closes, it never reopens. The doors in this maze close at random times, so it's wise to be swift but avoid getting separated from your team. If any one from your team doesn't make it to an exit by the 30 minutes, everyone in that team loses. At every junction there is a cryptic map, and if you can figure it out fast enough, it can be useful for you."
"Is there a way to avoid choosing the door that doesn't have an exit?" Fried asked.
"Not that I know of. You'll have to get creative on that one."
"When does the timer start?" Gray asked.
"Right… now." Claire replied, tapping her wrist when she said 'now'. "May the force be with you."
"We've got a 17% chance of choosing a path with no exit." Fried announced.
"Shit, you guys have any ideas on which path to choose?" Loke asked his teammates.
"Easy, I'll just use my souls to figure out which paths have exits." Bickslow announced to his team, letting his tongue hang out as he snickered. "Maybe I'll even find the ones that have multiple exits. This challenge will be a synch."
"Claire, can multiple groups go through one door?" Lisanna asked.
"You can do whatever the hell you want." Claire shrugged. "Aside from breaking the walls down. You really don't want to know what happens when you try that."
Suddenly, as if on cue, the screams of Natsu's group echoed through the arena, and the group snickered.
"Guess they found out what happens." Bickslow cackled.
"I say that we chance it and run for it." Elfman told his group.
"Good news, everyone. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy have just exited the maze." Claire announced, to which the wizards nearly fell over in disbelief.
"WHAT!?"
"That's it, we're going! Come on!" Elfman yelled, and grabbed both of his teammates as he bolted into a sprint, running into a doorway at random.
"Guys." Bickslow whispered to his group, and nodded discretely to one of the doors. As they started walking to it, Gray knocked them over in his bolt for that door, his comrades behind him.
The seith mage cackled in laughter as the door closed.
"So easy!" He said between laughs, but then when one of the remaining doors closed at random, he stopped.
"She said that the doors close at random, idiots! If we don't choose one, we're screwed!" Ever screeched at him.
There were only two doors left, and 6 people in the room.
"It doesn't matter which one we choose, since the one that Gray ran into was the one without exits." Bickslow snickered. "That was the only one they confirmed didn't have one. You guys can choose which one we take."
"Did Natsu really make it to the exit?" Gajeel asked the masked woman.
"What do you think?" She asked, and with their heightened hearing, could hear the man in question screaming in the distance.
"See you later, sweetie. Stay out of trouble." Bickslow told the woman as his group walked to one of the doors, and she waved back, watching it close. Now it was just Gajeel, Pantherlily, and Claire.
"How are you getting out of here?" Gajeel asked her.
"There's an exit in the ceiling that'll open up once the doors close." She answered with a shrug.
"Are we allowed to use that? Wouldn't that be cheating?" Pantherlily asked.
"It counts as one of the exits. You can use it if you want, or take the difficult route like the others. It's your choice."
"Why didn't you mention this option to the others?" Gajeel asked.
"They didn't ask. Also, even though all doors that close remain closed, once all of the doors in the maze have closed, ten exits open in the route that starts with no exits. Our guild master is pretty evil."
"I'd say you're pretty evil, too." The iron mage snickered, and crossed his arms before leaning against one of the walls.
"I was supposed to be cryptic. No one asked if any exits opened up elsewhere."
"Why weren't you cryptic with us?" Pantherlily asked curiously.
"If my team hadn't been so quick to leave, I might have let them have the easy way out, too." She explained, and yawned tiredly.
28 minutes left
"Mother fucker! Damn it, Ever!" Bickslow yelled in frustration, and the fairy woman jumped back in alarm, not expected the loud accusation.
"What did I do?" She asked. The trio were stopped in front of a map on the wall, and Fried was studying the cryptic symbols.
"I left one of my souls in the main room, just in case. If we had stayed there, we could have left with Gajeel through the damn ceiling and avoided all of this! And the stupid door I tricked Gray into taking is going to have 10 exits by the end of this!"
"Are you serious!?" Both of his teammates exclaimed.
9.
May 26th, 2:20 PM
"Natsu and Lucy hadn't made it out of the maze, you liar!" Elfman yelled at the fire woman, who sat calmly on the ground with her legs criss-crossed beneath her. After exiting the maze with Gajeel and Pantherlily, the trio ate lunch on the edge of the arena, just outside the exits of the maze.
Only half of them made it out by the 30 minute mark.
"What the hell was with that stupid test!? We didn't get to fight anyone, and it was super boring!" Natsu exclaimed in dismay.
"Sorry boys. Better luck next time." She told them, not missing the angry glares from her own team.
"Why the hell did you let Gajeel take the stupid secret entrance, but not us!?" Bickslow asked loudly.
"I would have if you stayed longer." She shrugged. "Congratulations to the Thunder Legion, Team Iron, and Team Ice on completing this round. You get to participate in the game tomorrow. Yippie."
"Uuuugh, that's totally not fair!" Natsu yelled.
"Natsu, it's your fault for running in so quickly." Lucy scolded.
"I have to agree, Natsu." Happy added.
10.
May 26th, 8:20 PM
"Are you seriously still mad at me?" Claire asked after watching the male angrily throw his mask and guards to the ground. He'd been unusually silent for the entire way home, and with Michael with them, she didn't want to risk asking him about it until they were home. The ten year old was currently asleep in his own room.
"You let Gajeel of all people cheat!" Bickslow yelled.
"He didn't cheat. He asked the right question and he was the last person there. If your group had been there when he asked, I would have let you guys take that route, too."
"You could have hinted to us to stay, or something!"
"Can you stop yelling?" She requested, and watched him take one of his guards from the floor and chuck it at the wall, putting a hole in it. "Nice."
"Will you shut up!?" He screamed.
Calmly, she put her hands in her pockets, and stood by the bed. She was still in her fighting outfit, the non-melted one, with her mask resting peacefully on the nightstand. For a moment, Bickslow breathed hard and glared at her, his jaw clenching and unclenching.
It reminded her of their trip to the beach together almost two years ago, and how he reacted to his niece and nephews being taken away. He almost hit her.
Bickslow seemed to make the same realization that she did, and within an instant, he changed. He let out a shaky sigh, turning away from her, and tried to calm himself down. Instead of walking over to help him calm down, she instead gave him space as she went over to the dresser to get her pajamas. She would rather sleep in the nude, but with Michael having so many nightmares, that was a luxury she would have to live without.
When she had taken her shirt off and prepared to put on another one, a gentle hand on her arm stopped her. His warm hands grazed her hips, slowly moving up and down her waist, and he moved to stand in front of her.
"I'm sorry for yelling." He apologized, and brushed the tip of his nose against hers.
"It's okay. I'm sorry for worrying you." She told him softly, glad to have her cuddly Bixy back.
11.
May 27th, 11:30 AM
"Again?" Claire whined from her seat, not wanting to get up. She was comfy, and she didn't want to deal with an upset Michael again.
"Laxus was supposed to fight today, but he called in sick this morning. Erza is proctoring the games, but she's too injured from yesterday to fight."
"Why can't Mira do it?"
"She's busy announcing the events." He explained, and after a moment, the fire woman sighed. She'd already sat out for most of the trials, so fighting for 10 minutes wasn't too much of a hassle.
"Fine. I'll fight again. Am I fighting one person or three?"
"Just one. Lucy."
A little over an hour later, Claire found herself on the battlefield once again, although this time she was a little excited. Lucy was one of her favorite people, and considering how clumsy her souls were, this fight was more likely to be amusing than serious. Claire was looking forward to a fun, non-serious fight with her friend.
As Claire floated to the arena, she chuckled as she watched the blond gulp, intimidated by the fire woman's presence. Claire had been worried that she wouldn't like this 'mask thing', but she got an odd amount of pleasure seeing her opponents tremble in fear just by the sight of it. It was like having her old hair back, except this had a much bigger impact.
"Begin." Mira told them.
Lucy started the match much quicker than Claire would have thought, summoning two of her spirits at once. Virgo and Sagittarius appeared, and Virgo quickly disappeared under the ground while Sagittarius aimed his bow at her.
"Sagittarius, shoot her out of the sky!"
"What do you plan to do when I fall, hmm?" Claire asked, and after the archer shot one of his arrows for his shoulder, a gasp of awe echoed through the crowd. Lucy took a step back. "I learned how to fight from a lightning mage. You're going to have to do better than that."
"Ah! Your arrows!" Lucy screamed, pointing at the spirit's back. He turned, startled by the statement and cried out in alarm. His arrows were burning to dust, and despite his attempts to put them out, he failed. Accepting that he was no use anymore, he disappeared, leaving a panicked Lucy. "I summon Mercury!" Lucy announced, and the fire mage tilted her head to the side curiously. Her sex spirit?
The spirit in question appeared, clad in a rather beautiful decadent skirt and jewelry. He looked to be a male belly dancer, and definitely wasn't bad to look at. "I'm guessing that you're trying to find some time, Lucy goosey?"
"Maybe."
"If you need the time to vamp up your attack, I don't mind taking a breather. The point of this is to show off how strong you are, and under normal circumstances, you would have a team to help you distract your enemy." It's not a bad view, either. Damn, he can move those hips.
"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked her, and the fire mage shrugged.
"Can't complain."
The blonde gave a nervous and confused look to her spirit, who continued doing a sensual belly dance, and after a few more seconds frowned slightly.
"Is something wrong?" Claire asked curiously. "How are you feeling?"
"Why isn't it working!?" Lucy whispered loudly to her spirit.
"Perhaps she has a stronger mind than you thought." He whispered back.
"If it's not working, then all you're doing is dancing!?" Lucy yelled in aggravation. Her spirit shrugged, continuing to dance, and Claire found herself glad that her brother was sick today. "Warren said that she's vulnerable to mind attacks, so it should be working!"
Warren hasn't been around me since my little upgrade. I should probably avoid him in the future.
"Not that I'm not enjoying the show, but I've been floating around for long enough. Time to play, babies." Claire told two of her souls, and made a small gesture with her hand to send them flying forward. The celestial mage visibly paled and tried to run, only succeeding in getting knocked over.
When Virgo reappeared on the surface, Lucy looked up at her hopefully, and Claire watched with interest to see what her plan had been.
"My apologies, Princess, but there is no water spring below this coliseum."
"What!? You've got to be kidding me!?"
"Ooh, bad luck for Lucy," Mirajane spoke into the speakers. "for this event, the underground stream she apparently planned to use had been redirected to make this structure more stable. Sorry Lucey."
"You were really banking on summoning Aquarius, huh?" Claire asked, feeling bad for the blond. If her intel hadn't been so outdated, this would have been a more interesting match.
"It's not over yet! Scorpio, I summon you!" Lucy announced, summoning yet another spirit.
Siri and Riley started attacking her and her spirits again, and with them combining their magic burning attacks with their blasts, Scorpio barely got the chance to fire one shot before Lucy was out of magic. Claire knew that her grandfather probably wouldn't be too happy with how the match turned out, but the fire mage gave Lucy more than enough time to prepare her attack and she was tired of waiting.