Chapter Twenty Six - Training, Part Two

Near the end of March, I felt that I had learned all I could about my elements. Most of what we spent time doing now was building up my stamina (which had gotten pretty high since all this training started, but there's no such thing as too much, in this case).

I was plenty proficient in Earth already, and (thanks to Corvus's and Phoenix's help), Pluto and Mars. I was also doing pretty decently in Neptune and Venus, as well. Now I spent time combining them, and practicing building up more strength.

During the fight with Gildarts, I managed to pull of Crack of the Earth by burning off six cards. I spent more time now lowering the number of cards, to as low as possible.

I've got it down to two.

As for the other elements…Venus and Pluto, I can do without any cards.

Neptune's and Mars's hardest spells are on about the same scale as Earth's, but even back then, it wasn't really an earthquake – otherwise all of Magnolia would be demolished.

But Neptune's Tsunami and Volcanic Eruption of Mars were definitely just as difficult.

I could do all of them (if I burn up a bunch of cards) but I can only just manage to complete them – I haven't actually mastered them.

And I also didn't want to become too reliant on the cards.

Another thing I spent time on was Unison Raids, between my own powers.

It wasn't a true Unison Raid – technically, a Unison Raid is two people resonating at the same frequency and combining their magics together.

Since I was the only one doing it, it wasn't really a Unison Raid, but since I was combining two different elements, it could (in some cases) be considered as such.

I first started by learning how to summon two different (or opposing elements) at the same time. This burned through my energy fairly quickly as well, but it was hardest summoning opposite elements. That being said, I spent the most time summoning Venus and Pluto together, followed by Mars and Neptune.

Without casting any of the actual spells, I would practice simply summoning the elements – an opposite in each hand. Shadows on my left hand, and light on my right.

I'm going to say right now – it. Was. Hard.

I thought doing Crack of the Earth was hard, but it wasn't.

Not compared to this.

Yeah, they were completely on different levels, but when it came to the strongest of the elemental spells, I could just put as much power as I wanted into it.

This was all about finesse.

"Breathe," Corvus said. "Keep them separate, and sustain them. There are two different elements in your hands; you need to redirect the flow of your magic to them."

Breathing heavily, I pushed my magic separately.

"Now try," Corvus said.

Slowly, I brought my two hands together.

The goal was to keep both of the elements separate – to stop them from merging.

I held them side by side, straining to keep them separated. My body was shaking and my muscles felt tense.

"Keep going," Corvus coached. "You've got it! Now hold it."

Sweat was pouring down my sides, and I felt faint, struggling to keep them separate.

And then it was too much.

The elements slammed together and I dropped my hold on them completely, collapsing to the ground.

"Eight seconds," Phoenix said. "Nice."

I had managed to keep to elements separate for eight seconds.

I could feel my magical container gasping, feeling like it was one of my leg muscles after I had run a marathon – which Corvus and Phoenix had made me do.

Despite working on the two elements like this, I still hadn't tried out any of the combination spells, though I assume I would in time – I just hoped it was easier.

"I feel like I'm going to turn into mush," I gasped.

"Oh, stop being a baby and get up," Corvus said.

"No. No, I will continue being a baby, and stay down," I said. "Because I am turning into mush, and I want to."

Corvus rolled his eyes.

"Phoenix…" I whined.

"No," he said.

Phoenix has refused to heal certain things. If I got really hurt while we were sparring (broken bones, for instance, or a sprained ankle) he would heal it. He would not heal sore muscles.

Jerk.

No, I mean…I understand why, and I had to build them on my own, but it hurt.

Since they started fighting me, and we started doing hand to hand, I literally feel like I'm just their punching bag.

So despite how horribly exhausted I felt when practicing magic, I still preferred it over the sparring.

"Water," I said.

Corvus threw a water bottle at me.

It hit me in the face.

"Owie…" I whined.

"Oh, stop being a baby, you're nineteen."

"I'm nine."

"You can't pick and choose how old you are depending on the situation," Corvus argued.

I groaned. "You guys are jerks."

And so we continued our odd cycle of life.

Practicing magic, practicing sparring, and other things.

As I said, sparring was the worst – jumping all over the place to dodge fists and kicks and to get in the right position to hit back. And then it turned into the 'Let's Beat the Shit Out of Elle!' game.

We haven't done full on magical battles – we couldn't, not without someone supplying Phoenix's or Corvus's power. If they were to try to actively use their power in a full on fight, after being out so long, they'd probably end up back in the Spirit World immediately.

"We're going to play a new game," Corvus said one day, a few days before April.

Great.

"Yeah? What are the rules?"

"You need to run," Phoenix said happily. "And we get to chase you."

"And this is helping me…how?" I asked.

"You're going to use your power. The whole island is our gameboard," Corvus said.

"You know the jungles here a filled with monsters, right?" I asked.

"Exactly!" Phoenix said happily.

"I hate you guys," I muttered.

"We'll give you a head start!" Phoenix continued happily.

"We suggest you go now," Corvus said. "We'll come after you after we reach ten."

"One," Phoenix said.

"Two," Corvus said.

"Fuck!" I yelled, jumping into the shadows and moving away as quickly as possible.

When I was sure I was on the other side of the island, I left the shadows, looking around warily.

Corvus could follow me through the shadows, so I had to be careful.

I quickly doubled back and made my way in a different direction.

"You have to do better than that, Elle!" Phoenix sang.

Fuck, they were close.

I took off running again.

I didn't understand this game. They didn't tell me how I could win, and they didn't tell me what would happen when I lost.

Jerks.

They were probably just doing this because they wanted to mix things up and mess with me.

Be nice, Elle, they've been lonely spirits for most of their lives.

Ugh, shut up.

"Elle!" Corvus shouted. "We're gaining on you."

Ahh, shit.

I took off again and ran through some bushes until I came to a stop.

"No…way…" I breathed in shock.

I had been so busy planning what happened before the series started, I almost forgot what happened in the actual story.

Like who else was on Tenrou Island.

"Stay back, please! I don't want to hurt you!" Zeref cried, holding out a hand.

His black magic went off, and killed the trees around him, though I was luckily far away enough from the blast.

I wonder, was I impervious to black magic?

Now is not the time to find out, Elle!

"Don't worry, I won't come any closer!" I called. "My name is Elle."

"H-hello," Zeref said quietly. "I didn't realize that there was someone else on the island, otherwise I wouldn't have come."

"No, it's fine," I said. "I'm sure Mavis would have been fine with you coming to the island."

"M-Mavis?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, this is Fairy Tail's holy ground. She's our founder, and I believe she even met you. Isn't that right, Zeref?"

His eyes filled with tears. "Mavis…"

Oh, fuck, he's crying now.

Generally, I can deal with crying. But because of his damn curse I can't even hug him.

Ahhhhhhh, this was frustrating.

"Hey, don't worry, Zeref, everything is fine."

There was some rustling behind me, and Corvus and Phoenix entered the clearing. "Elle, you're supposed to be run-"

They paused upon seeing Zeref.

"This is supposed to be Fairy Tail's island," Corvus said coldly. "You do not bear the insignia. What are you doing here?"

"Corvus, stop it."

I turned to Phoenix. I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I had to try. "Phoenix...can you heal curses?"

"Sometimes," he said, his eyes narrowing. "Why?"

"This is Zeref. He carries the Curse of Contradiction."

Phoenix's eyes widened and he looked at Zeref. "What did you do to anger Anhkseram?"

Zeref gave a dry chuckle. "A lot."

"Do you think you could do it?" I asked Phoenix.

He shrugged. "I've only been called out once, remember? I've never had a chance to try. But I'm willing to."

"To do what?" Zeref asked.

Phoenix walked past me and moved closer to Zeref.

"No, stay back!" Zeref yelled.

Phoenix ignored him and moved closer, holding out a hand and putting it on Zeref's shoulder. He closed his eyes and breathed in, before he began to glow.

My eyes widened. Was it really working?

This could solve most of our problems.

I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

All of a sudden, Phoenix gave a gasp of pain, and a rush of blackness raced up his arm, before he combusted back to the Spirit Realm.

"Phoenix!" I yelled, before turning to Corvus, who was shocked. "Corvus, go check on him!"

"What about-" he started.

"I'll be fine!" I yelled. "Go!"

He gave me one last look, and nodded, before disappearing.

"I'm….I'm sorry about your friend," Zeref said, crying.

"Phoenix is a Celestial Spirit," I said. "He should be okay."

He's the fourth strongest Celestial Spirit to exist (not including the Spirit King). He has to be fine.

Yeah. Yeah. He'll be fine.

Corvus appeared next to me. "Phoenix will eventually be alright, but he will probably have to rest in the Spirit World for a while, maybe a week; possibly a year or two for you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad he's fine."

"I…I'm sorry, I'll leave this island…"

"No!" I yelled.

I hadn't even realized what came to my mind, but I had to ask.

"Please, I stay here for over another month. Teach me magic!"

"But…my curse…"

"I know that you've taught others magic before," I said.

And look at the results – Mavis, with the Fairy Spells; Precht, as Master Hades; Warrod, as the Fourth Wizard Saint; and Yuri – who might not be there anymore, but look at his son. Makarov is a Wizard Saint, too.

"Please, teach me magic," I begged. "I won't get too close, I promise!"

"Are you insane?" Corvus hissed.

"Please," I continued, ignoring the spirit.

Slowly, Zeref nodded, before smiling. "Alright. If you really wish so…I'll teach you magic."

Staying a few yards away, we walked back to the library.

I couldn't help remembering how powerful the group was after Zeref taught them magic. Especially Warrod, making a huge fucking tree grow out of nothing.

This would be hard, I was sure of it, but I was here to train.

So I'd train.

Corvus was not happy that I was training with Zeref.

He spent all the time he could watching us, making sure that Zeref came no closer than a certain distance.

It was sweet, but kind of annoying.

Mostly sweet though; until this life, I've never had anyone protective of me.

"How did you know my name?" Zeref asked, as I held five elements floating around my head. Each one was in the shape of a tight sphere, trying to practice control; tiny balls of light, shadow, water, earth and fire.

"Hmm?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed.

"When we first met, you knew my name," he said. "And about Mavis."

"Oh. Well, I'm from another universe," I said.

"Another universe?" he asked.

"Mmmhmm," I said. "You see, in that universe, there's something called String Theory, where a universe exists for every possible reality."

My hands tightened – I'd already been holding the balls like this for several seconds, and now it was starting to get difficult.

"And this is another reality?" he asked.

"Yep," I said. "I chose this reality for a series of reasons, but mostly for my guild."

"Fairy Tail?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "I was in the system in my other life, and I didn't have anyone. I was alone. Fairy Tail has always been about family, and I wanted that. I wanted people who would fight for me; hell, I wanted someone to fight for. I didn't even have that, before. So I chose here, I decided to learn the most powerful magic I could, and get as strong as I could to protect my family."

Zeref was quiet, before he said, "I have a brother, you know."

"Actually, I do," I said quietly. "You know of the plan to bring them to the future, right?"

"The dragon slayers? Yes."

"The Eclipse door will be opened in less than five years," I said. "Natsu will end up joining Fairy Tail. If you stay in a specific place, I can send you pictures of him growing up, if you'd like."

Zeref said nothing.

I opened my eyes.

And…he was crying. Again.

Dammit.

"It sounds like a wonderful place," he said, crying. "Fairy Tail."

"It is," I said.

"I wish I could join," he said. "That I didn't have this curse and that I could join at Natsu's side."

I mentally snickered as I pictured Makarov telling the Magic Council that the Black Wizard Zeref was joining Fairy Tail.

"Maybe someday you can," I said. "There's a huge library here; when I'm gone, I suggest you research. I'll look into it on my end."

He smiled softly. "Thank you, Elle. And your concentration is letting up."

Looking at my spheres, I could see them start to misshapen, as if they were melting ice cream. Quickly, I focused my power into them and perfected them into nice, perfect spheres.

"There you go," Zeref said.

"Would you mind, staying on the island?" I asked.

"I suppose not," Zeref said. "I will stay."

I smiled. "Awesome!"

My concentration broke because of my excitement, and I was hit by a bunch of flying, misshapen spheres.

"Dammit!"

Elle returns home after this; these two were the training chapters. The next chapter should be up sometime tomorrow.