Ultear and Meredy were still in their cell in Crown Castle. Despite being prisoners with an execution date, they were still being treated well. It felt like an insult if one asked the both of them…which Cain was going to do. "So, ladies. I hope you're enjoying your stay."
"Not really." Meredy huffed. "It feels like a backhanded compliment in some way. Here's some nice treatment, too bad you're going to die soon." She rolled her eyes.
Cain shrugged. "You rather we treat you poorly? That's just rubbing salt in the wound. We Wizard Hunters don't exactly roll that way."
"Your hospitality warms my heart." Ultear rolled her eyes. "Our associate has realized our disappearance by now."
"Oh, you mean Jellal? Of course we know about that." Cain gave a knowing smile.
"Wh…how do you…?" Ultear began.
"Do not underestimate our intelligence network." The elemental hunter said smugly. "We've gathered intel on Fiore for a long time now, without even needing to be present the last two years. That is the mark of a Hunter. Our little mole has good use."
"A spy…who is it?" Ultear narrowed her eyes.
"Now why should I divulge that secret to you? You already know far more than you need to." Cain shook his head. "You should be thankful you still have your lives." With that said, Cain left. His daily duty of checking up on the prisoners was fulfilled.
"Ugh. We have to do something…" Ultear hated being trapped like a rat. But with no magic and no communication, they were completely isolated from the others. "Come on, Jellal…we're counting on you." It was all the two of them could do now.
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Joya's waterpark was buzzing with activity. There were still days before the final event began and everyone used that time how they pleased. Some people had their own agendas outside of just relaxing peacefully with the others. While conflict itself was prohibited by the rules, there was more than one way to cause trouble. Kagura was floating about in a secluded pool by herself. "I was tenser than I expected. This situation is still ridiculous…"
Kagura's peace didn't last for long. Daryan slipped into the water nearby and gave her a wave. "Yo, Kagura-chan!"
Kagura should've seen this coming. But she didn't exactly mind after she was finally able to defeat him. Instead she lifted her head up and nodded towards him. "I'm not surprised you're here. You probably heard I'd be here and raced on over."
Kagura was not wrong. "Well…yeah. I wanted to see you before things got hectic again, that's all. It's felt like relaxing hasn't exactly been easy since this tournament started. So I'm glad we have a little time to wind down a bit."
"I suppose I can relate to that." Kagura glanced off to the side. She had been stressed after learning the stipulation Fairy Tail was burdened with. A burden that was shared throughout the entire team, but the pressure was something she was used to. That's why she was able to move on confidently despite how close things were. "But don't get it wrong, Fiore is going to win this tournament. I'll strike you down again if I must."
"I won't take it easy on you either, Kagura-chan." Daryan flashed a confident smirk of his own. He then decided to lean in a bit closer… "Hey, can I ask you something important?"
"W-What…?" Kagura leaned back a bit. Not out of dislike or anything, she was just taken off guard by his sudden assertiveness.
"…Where's your guild mark?" Daryan then started to examine her body. "I don't think I've actually seen it on your body anywhere. So I was just curious…and I've seen all but like two places."
Kagura immediately palmed his face as Daryan spoke. "Don't worry about it. Or I'll throttle you."
"Ahaha…" Daryan just let out a quiet laugh. That was about the answer he expected, but the mystery was also enticing, so he wouldn't push that topic any further. "Okay, okay…can I ask a more serious question this time?"
"Choose your words wisely." Kagura warned.
"Can I relax with you for a little bit? Until you get sick of me anyway." The playful tone was gone; this was a more serious question.
Kagura's expression softened for just a moment. She furrowed her brows before leaning back to relax. "I wouldn't mind that, Daryan."
"Heh…good to hear." Daryan cracked a slight smile.
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Wendy, Cynthia, Alex, Carla, and Verona were taking this time to talk. There was a lot they had to discuss for various reasons. Wendy and Cynthia shared some food while Verona looked them over. "I must say, it's quite nice to see the both of you after so long. Tagging along with your little journey was so much fun!"
"Again, still weird to think you were just rooming with my sister in her own body." Alex said with a sweat drop, dipping her legs into the water. "But I'm glad you all got along so well."
"It was a bit weird…" Cynthia admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm glad you finally have your own body again, though." And she was glad to not have to share with anyone either.
Carla pointed at Verona. There was a question she had to ask now that Verona couldn't avoid the subject. "How did you end up inside of Cynthia anyway? And how do you have your own body?"
"Oh, that?" Verona clasped her hands together. "Well…it's a very long story and I don't want to bore you. But I'll say that Cynthia and dear Rose were the key to setting me free! And then I was pushed out of Cynthia's body by Eileen. But then…" She glanced to Wendy. "Are you okay, little Wendy? The Grim Reaper really went after you earlier."
Wendy rubbed her arm. "I have to admit, it was a little scary. I didn't think I'd be on his radar for any reason. But I also wasn't worried since everyone was so quick to defend me. Just don't have any idea why he attacked me so suddenly."
"She used Wendy to avoid the subject again…" Carla thought to herself.
"Don't worry, we won't let that jerk hurt you." Alex said playfully. She was then interrupted by a splash of water, causing her to stop her actions entirely. "Wh…?"
"Hehe…" It was Cynthia. There was a mischievous grin on her lips. "C'mon, we're in a water park. Did you really think I wasn't gonna splash y-" She was suddenly stopped when she was splashed! But it wasn't Alex.
"Got you." Wendy said with her own snicker. Even if she was a well behaved young lady, Cynthia's influence on her was pretty strong. And before Cynthia could say anything again, Alex finally got involved and splashed the both of them.
"Too easy!" Alex stuck her tongue out. With that a splash fight began, the three girls playfully pushing water onto one another, laughing all the while.
Verona and Gaia watched on with slight grins. "They've sure grown up nicely." Gaia said with her smile softening. They sure came a long way from how they used to be.
"Ow…" Cynthia rubbed her arm. It felt like something poked her. "Who did it?"
"Not me!" Wendy and Alex exclaimed.
But then Wendy was the next one to recoil a bit. "Ow…! Alex…?"
"What?" Alex shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what it was they were talking about.
Cynthia and Wendy looked at one another and nodded. "GET HER!" And then they jumped Alex, all three of them laughing all the while. Despite the brief confusion they were using this time to have some fun, which they all needed after the stress the tournament brought.
That was close….Jacob almost got a face full of Verona. Her swimsuit made it very difficult for him to approach without having to close his eyes. But the stealthy Spriggan was able to complete one part of his current mission. Much like with Little Queen and Natsu before, he was able to jab a needle into Wendy and Cynthia to extract Sophie's magic from them. "Just a few more…" Gray, Erza, Lucy, Mii, and Hisui…not to mention that little bit Lucia stole. His list was quite large, but it helped most of if not all the targets he sought were lingering in this same water park.
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Natsu and Gray stood next to each other, arms crossed while looking at Erza. Erza was finally having the chance to relax but they knew more than anyone how difficult it was for her to be at ease. The two of them couldn't help but stare at the burn mark on her arm where her guild mark once was. "So…what are you going to do?" Gray asked Natsu.
"Kick their ass of course." Natsu replied immediately. "I couldn't stand that look on her face. The rules were the only thing keeping me from putting her down!"
"I know." Gray was actually on the same page with Natsu for once. Though they often argued about the most miniscule things, when it came to Erza, they were on the same page. "They think they can get away with what they did. We can't let them think they can walk all over us anymore. We owe it to her to try…" He thought back to the Alvarez war when he fought Natsu, or rather, END. Erza stopped them both with tears in her eyes, the moment that made them realize their mistake. He still thought about it even now. "Natsu…"
"I know." Natsu gave a firm nod. While he was serious, he also had a confident grin on his lips. "We're not gonna lose."
"You better not. Or I'll kick your ass." Gray scoffed. And just like that, that's all it took to get them to start fighting again.
"Kick my ass!? You're not even on the team! Don't talk like you could beat me!" Natsu and Gray were head to head. It didn't help that they were actually in water, too. So one side of the water was boiling hot, while the other was ice cold. Luckily no one was stupid enough to actually be in the water at the same time as these two rivals, but the fact still remained.
There was one person who saw this interaction a bit differently, though. Juvia was watching from around the corner. She'd been keeping herself hidden all this time but she just couldn't anymore. She thought this intense staredown between Natsu and Gray would lead to some type of forbidden love she didn't want to think about. Not when Gray told her that her body was his! So…" GRAY-SAMA!" She lunged forward, latching onto Gray.
"Wh..!? Ow! Juvia!" Gray's eyes widened. Juvia latched onto him pretty hard, it felt like he was pricked by something nearby. But it was just her. "Juvia!? What are you doing here!?"
"Oh, hey Juvia." Natsu waved. He was not surprised by this at all.
"Juvia followed Gray-sama here!" She said, comical hearts flowing around her.
"…You two have fun with that." Natsu was not going to be a part of this. There was something he had to do since a certain person was here. He was going to take this chance while they were all in the same place.
"Juvia is on a mission. But I had to see Gray-sama first." Juvia nods, looking up at Gray lovingly. He didn't try and pry her off, so she was gladly clinging to him.
"A mission? All the way out here?" Gray was confused.
Juvia nodded. The lovestruck expression she had slowly became more serious. "Mhm. Gajeel-kun and I are investigating Zelos."
"Huh?" Gray was confused. "What about Zelos?"
"Gajeel-kun wanted to make sure he wasn't fishy…he just joined the guild after all." Juvia explained. "And we've found out that he might be hiding something after all."
"Really? But…" Gray took a look over to the left. There was Zelos flirting with some women casually. "It's Zelos. Sure he's a bit weird, but he hasn't done anything bad. I also heard he got kidnapped at one point in the tournament by the Hunters."
"He did…? But that's so strange…" Juvia narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Because in our investigation, Gajeel-kun and I found out that he was spotted with Yumia and Yukia of the Wizard Hunters before in Magnolia…"
"Wha…?" Gray whipped around again to stare at Zelos. "But…that doesn't make sense. Why would he…?"
"Juvia doesn't know, but Gajeel-kun and I resolved to get to the bottom of it." She said firmly. "On top of that, he knows something about Mii he's not telling us…! Emeraude knows it too, I think. I caught them talking the other day…I didn't want to tell anyone on the team because they don't need that sort of distraction."
"I get it…" Gray was now a bit suspicious as well. "I don't want to mistrust a guild mate, especially since he has done his fair share for Fairy Tail…but if he knows something that can help us with Mii, he needs to talk." Gray took a step forward but…he also couldn't move, Juvia wasn't letting him go. "Er…Juvia…?"
"Yes, Gray-sama?" She blinked up at him, still refusing to let up. If Gray was going to walk he was going to have to do it with her attached to him.
"…I'll talk to him later." Clearly Gray wasn't getting out of this vice grip anytime soon. But he took one last glance at Erza. Lucia managed to defeat both him and her, mocking them all the while. He knew the Wizard Hunter would get the rug pulled out from her sooner or later. "When it really matters, we don't lose…get ready, Wizard Hunters…"
Jacob continued to do work. He managed to get Gray before Juvia tackled him. Things were working out well for the assassin, taking three marks in only a few minutes. Mii, Hisui, Erza, Lucy, and Lucia remained. He could get the rest if he was slick enough… "A few more…"
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After getting some ample distance from Ichiya and his annoying attempts to flirt with her. Dealing with that man was more mentally exhausting than she expected. But before she could even fully relax again, there was another presence encroaching on her personal space. "Go away." She said in the most unfriendly tone possible.
It was Natsu. He stood to the right of her chair with his arms crossed. Despite Emeraude's tone he was not going to budge. After what happened with Lucy the other day, he had one thing on his mind and she was the only one who had the answers he sought. "We're talking whether you like it or not."
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Next Time: Relaxation, Part 3
