"Well then, what is it that couldn't wait for later?"
Rustyrose stood with his back against the wall deep down the dark stairway to the arena, his arms crossed on his chest. He appeared to be irritated, as he watched the hooded figure before him strolling back and forth.
"Not yet." said Jellal. "Give me one more minute."
Rustyrose sighed exasperatedly. "I applaud your use of the...excitement in the arena as means to slip out, but that moment is bound to pass soon." he said.
"I know." snapped Jellal, weirdly stressed out. "While we're still waiting for a bit, I have a question for you. Why haven't you filled your former guildmate in on our matter?" he asked.
Rustyrose's eyes widened in gentle surprise. "Why does that matter to you?"
"It doesn't. Ultear wondered about it recently, hence me asking."
"Ah. Dear old Miss Ultear still has a soft spot for her old pawns?" Rusty asked sarcastically.
"She may, seeing how she's keeping me around." replied Jellal.
Rusty snorted. "I can always appreciate one making fun of their own traumas." he said and adjusted his glasses. "There is no particular reason. I could try talking to Zancrow, but that'd risk our entire plan. I wouldn't be able to silence him in time."
"You're okay with the way things are right now? It doesn't bother you?"
Rusty's expression changed to a gentle scowl. "Grimoire Heart was my home. I've always thought of my guild as family, believe it or not. I may have not shown it but the guild was everything to me. Of course it bothers me. I will never forgive Fairy Tail for this."
Jellal stopped pacing. "Forgive me, I meant no offense."
Rustyrose sighed and relaxed. "None taken. None of that matters now. I'd rather not jeopardize everything we've done thus far."
"Very well."
After a couple seconds a third figure climbed up the stairs, his white armor glimmering in the darkness. Rustyrose lowered his arms and walked closer, shocked.
"Is this a joke?" he asked.
Rickard Smith smiled under his messy, unclean beard. "You tell me." he said and turned to Jellal. "We have about two minutes before someone asks why a Council Captain walked into a stairway designated only for members of Raven Tail, so I suggest we speed it up a little."
"You brought Council here?" Rustyrose asked Jellal in an outrage. "Are you mad?"
"Relax. If I wanted to I would have captured the both of you already. Unlike my other peers I am a sold believer of cooperation between the two pillars of the magic world." Rickard raised his hands defensively. "If what Heavens tells me is true, then you've got something quite juicy for me."
"I told you not to call me that anymore." growled Jellal at the Captain and turned to Rustyrose. "He can be trusted. He's been helping me with a different matter for several months now and he's the man you should go to with your problem."
Rustyrose sighed in defeat and scratched his head. "Fine. Be it on your head if we fail." he said.
Erza staggered and dropped her blade, before being caught by a strong pair of hands. She smiled to herself after feeling the familiar material tickling her face and the calming smell digging deep into her nostrils.
"I did it." she said sheepishly, but tiredly.
Natsu grinned from ear to ear. "Yup. You did." he praised her and gently brought her to the ground. "You were awesome back there." he told her with a grin, which widened at her growing blush.
Wendy knelt beside them and started to focus her magic on Erza's poisoned cut, her magic digging deep into her body to rat it out. "You were amazing." she told the knight.
Erza grinned. "Thanks."
"This may take a moment, so I'm just going to focus on just the poison. I will continue on the balcony afterwards." said Wendy.
"Don't overdo it." told her Natsu. "Still got the fights left."
Wendy smirked. "If only I could eat whenever I wanted to..." she said slowly.
Natsu's eyes narrowed. "Yup, that's Cana talking." he said, not amused.
Wendy chuckled and continued to obliterate the poison in Erza's veins.
Up in Lamia Scale's stands Jura caressed his beard with a smile and nodded slowly. "Very impressive." he said. "To overcome adversity in such manner...as expected of Miss Scarlet."
"I don't want to imagine how many times she had to fight for her life." shivered Yuka.
Lyon smirked. "Experience is but one of the aspects that define a strong mage." he said.
Sherria said nothing. Instead, she carefully watched Wendy for a good minute, before curving her lips into a happy, but excited smirk. Lyon spotted this and looked down at Wendy, before smirking himself. Sorry, Gray, but this little dragon of yours has just been marked. Looks like things will get harder for you relatively soon.
After two more minutes Erza has finally managed to get back on her own two feet, her body less numb and stiff. The crowd has once again exploded in cheers, her old nickname being chanted by several sections of the arena.
Rorge looked around, clearly worried and uncomfortable. To his horror the entire row behind his guild's balcony was on Fairy Tail's side, their cheering almost deafening.
"This ain't good, Master." he told Ivan, who was sitting to his right. "At this rate-"
Ivan merely raised his hand and stopped the ginger from speaking any further. He was composed, his usual expression of a cold smirk with piercing, freezing eyes dosing his face. "It doesn't matter, Rorge. I have long squeezed out the last bits of use from what we've been doing the past seven years. We are now knees deep into our next step. This little charade makes no difference to us."
Rorge gulped. "You really think you'll be able to do it without anyone noticing?" he asked.
Ivan looked at him with confidence. "If we succeed it will not matter whether someone notices. We'll have all the means to fix this problem as well." he licked his lips.
Rorge used everything in his strength not to cringe at the sight. He may have been way too much into his Master's plans, but he surely did not enjoy seeing his methods, or signs of excitement over it.
"You know I'll follow you, Master." he said after a brief moment. As long as you don't drag me down from my current place in society, that is...
Natsu took Erza's arm and wrapped it around his neck. The crowd continued to chant Erza's unofficial title, which made him slightly nervous.
"It's okay, they'll stop soon." he told her. "Let's go upstairs and patch you up."
"No, it's fine." Erza said with a smile. She looked around with bright eyes, her smile deepening. "The way they say it at the moment...it's not so bad." she told him and allowed herself to be helped out of the arena, Wendy following them in suit.
The other participants, or at least some of them, saw her off with an applause, led by mostly Hibiki and Risley. Rocker gave a clap or two of his own, mostly because the knight was a known acquaintance of Bacchus. Orga simply grumbled to himself and Erigor spat onto the ground, clearly not impressed by Erza's performance.
"Well, then, let us proceed with the event!" proclaimed Kabo. "Leord, please enter the circle!"
The teenager did as he was told. Before he was transported he noticed his guild screaming at him from their stands, Ellia and Albert being the most active. Their cheers were supportive, but also full of trust and complete confidence. His eyes then wandered to his Master, who watched him with expectations written all over his face, however somewhere within there was pride, and most certainly not in Leord. He closed his eyes and released a deep sigh before vanishing from sight.
I wish you had stopped.
Upon opening his eyes he found himself in the exact same dungeon Erza was in just a few minutes ago. The ground was heavily damaged and it was difficult to walk around. In the darkness Leord could hear the beasts already shuffling all over the place, their scales clicking with each step.
"Raven Tail's Leord may not have to face as many monsters as Erza, but his request of 25 is still quite impressive!" Lola said whilst the monsters continued to surround the young mage.
"Even 25 is much more than what would be the recommended number for an average mage." nodded Yajima.
"This weird pattern created by Miss Scarlet may just end in tragedy." added Lahar.
Despite being surrounded Leord refused to move from his spot. His hands remained in the pockets of his hoodie, giving him a quite bold, cocky even appearance.
"Is this guy planning on fighting without using his hands?" ed someone in the crowd.
"He's as thin as a twig, the hell can this guy even do?" asked someone else.
Lucy tensed up, her hands clenching on her lap. Levy noticed this and leaned over to the blonde.
"Lu, you okay?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied with a small smile. "It's just...out of their whole guild none of us have yet seen what this guy can do. All we know is that he's strong enough to break an attack from Natsu with one hand."
Levy frowned. "Yeah, that can't be good."
Gajeel scoffed. "It ain't that hard." he said, his arms crossed on his chest.
"Maybe, but the rest of Raven took his word for granted when he called them off. He has to mean business." said Lucy and looked back at the screen.
The monsters continued to circle around Leord, who's yet to make a move himself.
"What's this guy doing?"
"Come on, do something!"
"You've got big shoes to fill, kid!"
The crowd was starting to get a little rowdy, still pumped after Erza's performance.
"It appears this contestant likes to take things a little slower!" pointed out Lola.
"This might very well be a part of a strategy we're not supposed to understand until the last moment." said Yajima.
Bakc in Raven Tail B's stands Jellal, back in his disguise, and Rustyrose climbed the stairs back up to join Zancrow and Arya.
"Hope you cleaned up your mess." Zancrow said to the two.
"Will you ever grow out of this petty immaturity?" sighed Rustyrose and adjusted his glasses.
"The fate of growing up has its goal line." boomed Arya. "Perhaps our friend reached his a long time ago."
Zancrow exhaled through his nose. "Not until you stop leaving me alone with this balloon here." he said.
Back in the dungeon the monsters have finally taken their first step. A group of 8 monsters pounced at Leord from all directions, their claws and teeth exposed and ready to dig into his flesh.
Within a split second all eight of them have been risen way up to the ceiling by thick spikes made out of earth growing out of the ground. The spikes were perfectly shaped, their sharp tips piercing right through the necks of all the monsters, killing them instantly. Leord's posture was unchanged, as he just stood in his spot, slouched.
The crowd exploded at the sudden change in action, while the guilds have taken interest in the very sudden sequence. Jura leaned on the railing of his balcony and watched the screen with great interest, which did not go unnoticed by Lyon.
"Did that get your curiosity?" he asked with a small smirk.
Jura smiled. "Indeed it did." he said.
"Did you see what happened?" blinked slowly Lucy.
Levy and Cana slowly shook their heads, just as confused. Gajeel, on the other hand. leaned forward and squinted his eyes at the screen.
"Barely." he said. He sounded more impressed than annoyed, an occurrence just as bizarre as it what was unfolding on the screen.
"Laxus." said shortly Makarov.
"Yeah." murmured the Dragon Slayer. "Things have just gotten worse."
Natsu stared at the screen, as Wendy continued to heal Erza behind him. His fists clenched on their own, accompanied by a weird tingling on his neck.
"What- Leord disposes of 8 monsters in just a second!" said Lola. "It appears each performance is better than the other!"
"I have no words." said nervously Lahar and fixed his collar.
Leord noticed more movement in the dark. He broke one of his pillars apart and used the debris to smash aside a single monster that tried to pounce him. The beast rolled on the ground, before being risen up by two hands made out of the floor. The hands clapped together, crushing the monster with ease.
Seven more monsters tried to ambush Leord from above, however the teenager manipulated his old spikes to branch out ot the sides and skewer the beasts in the air, killing them one by one. The branches were connected so neatly, that none of the corpses fell to the floor, as they simply remained dead in the air directly above the redhead.
As Lola continued to scream for the incredibly loud crowd, Leord snapped his head to the side and was met with a charging B-tier monster. The beast raised its giant paw and tried to crush the boy, only to be stopped by a thick wall that has risen before him. Leord then raised his right arm and touched the wall, which then started to slide forward with the monster plastered across its surface. The wall pushed it all the way to the biggest boulder in the area, successfully trapping it in-between the two surfaces. Leord then clenched his fist and made his wall grow out spikes, that easily penetrated the monster's scales and killed it on spot.
Four D-tiers tried to get a hit in while he was killing their stronger kin, however they were all stopped before they could reach him, all four of them stabbed underneath the chin by earth spikes, that pierced through their skulls and made their exit through their foreheads. The beasts slowly slid down their respective spikes, dead, as another B-tier tried its luck with the young mage, who split the ground beneath its paws apart. The beast fell down the hole and just before it could vanish it had its head crushed by the ground putting itself back together.
Only three monsters remained and the crowd could not be louder. The guilds have watched the spectacle carefully, some with fear, others with respect.
"We could definitely use someone like that in our guild." Minerva licked her lips.
"This guy is...scary." gulped Beth.
Risley, who was also on the edge, patted her back and gave her a nervous smile. "Do not worry! If it comes to it, Kagura will cut his creations with ease!"
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." said Kagura, much to her guild's shock. She watched the screen with great interest, both thrilled and unsettled.
Jura could not help but smile in excitement at the unfolding events.
"His control over earth is magnificent." he told Lyon. "Each mold is created with great timing and accuracy."
"It looks like he rarely makes something to use just once." added Lyon. "Each thing he creates has at least two uses and can be used for both offense and defense. The way he uses his magic...it's almost similar to-"
"-Your magic, Gray." said Mirajane and turned her head to look at him. "Obviously he's more advanced than you, but it looks like he's molding the ground to his will."
Gray narrowed his eyes. "No." he said flatly. "This is not Make Magic. He's more similar to Jura than me. He simply pulls these things out of nowhere and uses them accordingly."
Mira frowned. "Isn't that what you do?"
"No. I have to imagine what I want to make first, then activate my magic, combine the two and only then can I make something. But, for some reason, it feels like doesn't do that. He-"
"He creates an unformed mass first and then shapes it into something appropriate for the situation." chipped in Natsu.
Wendy looked at him nervously. "You can see that much?" she asked him, impressed.
"Yeah."
Leord heard foosteps behind him and blocked an incoming attack with a wall. Another monster attacked him from the front and, much like all the other monsters, has failed to reach the young mage. Leord clenched his fist and caught the monster's giant paw in a weirdly shaped wall made out of soil. He then snapped his fingers and caused both of his recent creations to grow spikes and penetrate the monsters in-between their scales, killing them.
"Just one monster remains!" announced Lola, now standing in his booth.
The remaining beast was a B-tier that pounced at Leord from the shadows. The teenager tried to skewer it with spikes but, much to his surprise, the beast slipped past them and entered his pocket, giving him the first glimpse of adversity since he entered the dungeon. Leord's face changed from bored to focus within a split second. He reached his right arm back and aimed it at the ground, before swiping it in the air towards the monster. The beast, who was just about to unleash its flames point-blank, has been forced to take a step back after being struck with something. Before it could fall to the ground its head has split into two and, as if in slow motion, the monster fell to the ground with a loud thud, dead. Leord lowered his arm and took a deep breath of relief.
The commentators, more confused than excited, needed a couple of seconds to process what just happened, and so has the crowd. As they cheered and celebrated, individual mages in the arena have watched the screen carefully with various emotions.
"That's it! That is the power of Raven Tail!" roared Albert to the crowd. "This is our ace!"
"Well done, shaggy!" yelled Ellia next to him. Svenar and Emilia cracked a smile of their own, unable to contain their joy any longer. The girl regained her composure after just a second, however.
Ivan stood up and clapped with a disgusting smile glued to his face, clearly proud of his subordinate.
"Hey, Rogue..." mumbled Sting. He sounded nervous.
"Yeah." grumbled the fellow Dragon Slayer. Neither of them could see what happened at the very end.
"Playing this annoying act will be even harder from now on." whispered Sting.
"Not here." hissed Rogue and turned an eye to look at Minerva. Luckily for them, she was too busy drooling at the screen, clearly planning on taking Leord to her side by all means necessary.
Jura clapped alongside the crowd without an ounce of care for his Master's scolding. Lyon smiled warmly at the older man - he hasn't seen him this excited in a long time.
"We are so lucky he did nothing back then in the woods." chuckled nervously Gray.
Erza, who has finally recovered enough to be able to operate on her own, has Requipped back into her guild uniform and walked up to her team. She watched the entire performance, lost in her own thoughts. "I must agree." she said after a moment. "However, there was more to this than what appeared to be seen."
Mirajane glanced at her. "So, you've noticed too, huh?"
"Noticed what?" asked Wendy.
"He hasn't moved from his spot throughout the entire thing. Not even a single step." she said, her voice a weird mix of being both impressed and annoyed.
Wendy paled a little.
Erza walked up to Natsu, her eyes still on the screen. "Natsu, what do you think of-" she said, willing to hear his input. Her voice was choked in her throat upon seeing his face. His lips were curved in a wild grin, one she hasn't seen in a long time, his teeth bared. His eyes were lit up and glued to the screen. He looked genuinely excited, like a kid seeing a Christmas tree being put up.
Natsu knocked himself out of his trance and looked at Erza, his expression paling. "Did you say something?" he asked her.
After a breif moment Erza smiled and shook her head. "No, I haven't."
Back in Mermai'd stands Risley deflated on the railing. "I can't even try to be positive about this..." she moaned.
Kagura's grip on Archenemy increased. Arania noticed this and leaned over to the swordswoman. "You okay? You've been quiet for some time now."
"Well, she always it." sighed Risley. "Have you seen what happened at the end there?# she asked Kagura.
"No." she replied shortly. "What I am intrigued by is the wound on that monster's head." she said and pointed at the screen. "Look."
The women glanced back at the screen, as Leord was being teleported out of the dungeon. The last monster he had slayed was still in sight. Its head was split open, however, there was no blood beneath it. It almost looked like...
"Its wound is cauterized." said Kagura. "Whatever he did must have been the polar opposite of what he'd shown up until then."
"Isn't that one of those things that breathe fire?" pondered Beth. "Maybe that's why."
"Maybe." Kagura narrowed her eyes and watched Leord leave the arena with caution.
His face reverted back to its usual, tired look. He walked past other contestants, their eyes following him. Orga grumbled under his nose and readied himself for entry.
As Leord walked past Erigor, the Grim Reaper leaned in and whispered in the redhead's ear. "Must feel nice to be so free."
Unsure what said sentence was supposed to mean, Leord shot him a quick glance before resuming his walk back upstairs. He looked up at his Master, who gave him a pleased and proud smile. With shivers shaking him down to the very core, Leord felt his mood worsen as he stepped into the dark exit, seen off by the still loud crowd.
"All we have to do is deliver in the fights and we'll have a quiet evening!" said Svenar with joy.
"I can not wait to see which one of us will get a chance to get wild down there!" Albert pounded his chest.
Ellia sighed. "We all know you're hoping to have your name called out, at least try to be discreet about it." she said.
Emilia said nothing, instead hung up on Svenar's seemingly meaningless wish. A quiet evening...No guild, or place, for that matter, should treat such a trivial thing as a reward. Something like this should be as natural as breathing, and yet, things like that have always been a rare occurrence in this guild filled with troubled and broken individuals. So many different personalities and goals gathered in one place, and yet it still remained whole, without as much as a single crack. Were they held by their one common goal, no matter of its significance, that varied from one member to another? No, there's been something else, ever since the guild expansion a year ago. Since that day all of them have mentioned at least once or twice, that something felt off...
"Emilia?"
The woman snapped out of her trance and looked at Ellia, who's been talking to her for the better part of a minute now.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked and adjusted her glasses.
Ellia raised her eyebrow. "Are you feeling okay? I've been talking for like a minute now."
"Yes, I'm fine. I was just lost in thoughts." she said with a fake smile. "What was it you meant to tell me?"
Ellia sighed and relayed her thoughts one more time, although she made it a bit shorter. As the girls talked, Leord entered the balcony and immediately raised his hands.
"Before you say anything, please, do me a favor and keep it short." he said to Svenar and Albert.
Both men looked at each other and then back at Leord. "Good job." they said together and left it at that.
Leord nodded, thankful they kept it short, and joined them by the railing. He watched Orga disappear in the entrance to the dungeon, as the event continued.
Continuing the trend, Orga chose to face more than half of the remaining monsters and settled for 13, although not without greatly expressed annoyance. He chose to let out some of his pent up frustration by killing each monster one after another with his hands, instead of relying on his powerful ranged thunder attacks. It took him slightly below a minute to dispose of all the monsters, but he spent majority of said minute trying to find them in the maze of debris and Leord's creations.
"Sabertooth's Orga makes quick work of his challenge and secures 6 points for his guild!" said Lola, as the crowd cheered.
The God Slayer scoffed and left the arena in a bad mood.
"It appears tonight will not be a good night to drink on, either." chuckled Rufus.
Afterwards it was Risley's turn. She managed to lure her 7 monsters into one spot and trap them with her gravity magic, before swiftly defeating them one by one. Due ti her lack of firepower comparable to the previous participants, it took her a good few minutes to clear the challenge.
After that it was Erigor's turn. He unleashed a massive tornado made out of wind blades that shredded through the dungeon and instantly killed his 3 beasts. Despite impressing the other participants and the crowd with his strength, the man left the arena in a foul mood.
After that it was Toby's turn. His claws could not pierce the thicker armor of C-tier monsters and the battle turned into a ten minute long slugfest, which eventually killed all the hype built up to this point. After a very boring performance he'd finally managed to find openings in their scales to successfully paralyze them and clear the challenge. Neither the crowd nor the commentators had anything good to say about this performance.
"None of you shall speak of this. Ever." Obaba ordered her entire guild. No one had a single complaint.
Hibiki, despite his magic's non-combat nature, has managed to use his intelligence and trap his D-tier with his Archive. He conjured several tables that pinned its limbs down to the floor one by one, before creating one more that acted as a guillotine and decapitated the beast to earn his guild 1 point.
"Well done." clapped Ichiya.
"It may not be much, but he's proven to be a quick thinker." nodded Eve as he clapped along.
"Even though he had over 20 minutes to come up with a strategy." deadpanned Jenny, but clapped along as well.
Since there were no monsters to face left for Rocker, his guild has been awarded no points. He left the arena, red and embarrassed.
"Tough luck, Rocker!" cackled Bacchus. "You'll do better next time! Nothing you can do about it now!"
With the event over, the commentators announced a break and showcased the updated scoreboard.
Raven Tail A: 40 points
Lamia Scale: 30 points
Fairy Tail: 29 points
Sabertooth: 27 points
Mermaid Heel: 22 points
Blue Pegasus: 14 points
Raven Tail B: 14 points
Quatro Cerberus: 10 points
"Even if we change our score after the break he will not live down seeing our guild on 4th place." sighed Sting as he left his stands to go grab a bite.
Minerva chuckled. "As much as I enjoy these remarks of yours, I shall ask you to stop speaking about my father in such way. This will be my one and only time asking." she followed with a cold tone.
Sting said nothing, instead rolling his eyes to Rogue.
"We've risen to third place!" cheered Lucy and threw her hands up in the air.
"And it will only get better." said proudly Makarov. "Come on, let us meet up with the others."
Back with Raven Tail, Rorge whistled at the scoreboard. "We're still at first, but man if they ain't catching up to us." he shook his head.
"It matters not." said Ivan. "They can overthrow us if they wish, although I find it quite unlikely to happen. Tonight we shall move on to the next phase of our plan."
Rorge paled. "You're sure you want to go through with this?" he asked with faint fear in his voice.
"Every tree needs to bear fruit at some point. Tonight I shall pluck mine." said the Master and stood up from his seat. "I am quite curious to see how many of them have ripened, and how many will sadly need to be...composted." he added with a chilling smirk and left the area to meet up with his guild. Rorge remained in his seat, clearly afraid and conflicted. Regretting ever learning about his Master's dream, he followed him, his feet dragging behind him.
In the commentator booth Yajima jumped down his chair and proceeded to leave the room. "I shall use the cafeteria." he announced to his peers.
"Please be mindful of our timeframe! We are coming back in 20 minutes!" chirped Lola.
"I am aware, thank you." smiled softly the elder and opened the door. To his surprise he was met with a tall man clad in white armor.
"Rickard!" said Lahar and walked up to greet his friend. "I didn't know you were here today!"
Rickard Smith shook the man's hand and smiled. "Since I'm home I figured I'd use the chance to its fullest. I've missed the past five Games, after all." he laughed.
"I see." said Lahar. "But why are you here? This is a place for commentators."
"Oh, well, I figured I'd keep Mr. Yajima some company. We've gotten quite close with one another over the months." said the man.
Yajima said nothing, instead focused on Rickard's eyes, that desperately looked like they were trying to relay a message.
"Yes, of course." said the elder after a short moment. "I can always appreciate the company."
"Then it's settled!" Rickard clapped his hands. "I'll see you two later, I definitely want to be in here for a while when they duke it out down there!" he said to the other two.
"Of course, it'd be a pleasure!" said happily Lola.
"Until then." nodded Lahar.
Rickard and Yajima left the room. As soon as the door behind their back closed their moods dropped significantly.
"Will this become a daily occurrence now?" asked Yajima.
"I apologize, but until the matter is resolved, yes." replied the captain.
Yajima's expression grew grim as the two walked down the hallway. "Is it close?" he asked.
"No, but he, or rather it, is around." said Rickard. "With so many mages in both the guilds and the crowd alike it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact source. I suspect after the last incident they've gotten much more cautious."
"May I suggest-"
"No, I will not let you act as bait. The risk is too high."
Yajima sighed. "Very well. May I at least ask, despite knowing your stubborn nature, why you haven't filled Lahar in?" he asked. "Even someone like you needs help from time to time.."
Rickard waited with his reply until they passed the group of young mages standing by the candy booth. "His Division doesn't deal with this, mine does. And I have requested some outside help, believe it or not." he added, clearly insulted. "But even with that I have too much on my head. I've just learned something big and I need to divide my attention to this, too."
The men have entered the common area, which was full of people. They continued to walk through, their eyes open for anything.
"I see you take this task quite seriously." said slowly Yajima, as he looked around the area. There must have been a few dozen soldiers bearing Rickard's insignia on their chestplate in this area alone, all carefully watching for anything suspicious.
"Self-appointed task. No one except other Sages and Org know about this." said Rickard.
"May I ask why?"
"If everyone knew about Tartaros the country would get loud, if not because of our soldiers marching through the country, then because of press. It took us years to regain the trust of our people, I don't want to lose it again."
"What about the other Sages?"
"As you most certainly know, they are attending a week-long meeting that you ditched to be here. They are safe there."
"And what happens when the meeting comes to an end?"
"I've prepared for that. They shall be silently escorted to our private hideouts, you included. You shall leave with me first thing after the Games end. And speaking of help, here it is."
Yajima looked forward. Before him stood a very familiar figure clad in a very familiar cloak and hood, his blue hair sticking out like a sore thumb.
"I am quite certain I've told your help, that the next time we met I'd make sure they were put back where they belong." said coldly Yajima.
Rickard awkwardly cleared his throat. "Yes, I know, but he's proven to be very useful." he said. "Speaking of help, it was told not to look suspicious." added Rickard with annoyance. "I told my men to look for someone who looks just like you, you dingus. Do you want to go back to jail, Heavens?"
Jellal glanced to the side. A few soldiers tried to drill a hole in his head by staring at him, the grip on their weapons increasing. If it wasn't for his company he most definitely would have been approached by now.
"I apologize. It's hard to get proper clothes, since it's me we're talking about here." he said sarcastically. "And stop calling me that."
Rickard exhaled through his nose. "You found anything?"
Jellal shook his head. "No, but we've secured the area. The more people aware of the danger, the smaller chance they will act. Nothing should happen anytime soon."
Rickard remained silent and waited for the group of women led by a long-haired girl with a sword to pass by. "Good. I'll station some of my men by the booth, just in case. Mr. Yajima, please lead to the cafeteria, I don't know my way around. And you, stay out of trouble and for God's sake lose that hood. Channel your inner fashion designer and come up with something less suspicious." he pointed his finger at Jellal. "Got that, Jellal?" he asked, putting pressure on the man's name.
"Yes. And thank you for that." he said with a weak nod and left the area, passing the girls on his way, as the other two took off to the cafeteria.
Risley blinked and turned around, confused. "Kagura, are you okay?"
The swordswoman stared into the distance, pale. She slowly turned around and locked her gaze on the back of the hooded figure walking away. The hand she's been holding Archenemy with was shaking. There was no way she misheard, or imagined the sound of that name.
"Kagura?" asked concerned Beth. "We'll be late!"
After a brief while Kagura bit her lip and, using all her willpower, turned back around to her guildmates. "Yes, I am fine. Let us go." she said, although she sounded shaken. She passed by her worried friends, her thoughts racing like crazy.
In the different wing of the arena Fairy Tail has managed to meet in full glory. Lucy and Levy ran up to hug Erza, who groaned at their squeeze.
"You were great!" chirped Lucy. "I was so worried at the end! But you pulled through, like you always do!"
"That really was something." grinned Cana. "I love how you screwed everyone over."
"Spectacular." nodded Freed.
"Thank you, everyone." smiled Erza and kindly pushed the girls off of her. She still felt very sore. "I know I should feel ashamed, but truthfully, I don't really care." she grinned at Cana. Mirajane patted her back, proud of her rival.
"That was a job well done." praised Makarov. "Let's continue our pace in battle!" he ordered to the cheering guild.
After 20 minutes the break has come to an end and everyone was back in their seats. The anticipation and excitement were both high.
Just like Rickard said, the commentator booth was now guarded, much to Lola's confusion. Lahar said nothing, but had his suspicions. He'd shoot his friend a look every now and then across the room.
"Welcome back! We shall take right where we left off!" said cheerily Lola. "Our first battle of the day is..."
The letter on the screen rolled around, before settling down.
Blue Pegasus, Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki
vs.
Quatro Cerberus, Rocker
"All right, I'm going to take a nap." yawned Svenar and sat down by the wall.
"Make sure not to wake up." said Ellia to the already sleeping man.
"What do you think?" Gray asked Erza as they watched both men made their way to the center.
"Tough to say." she pondered. "I've yet to see what this Rocker person can do, however, Ichiya is quite a capable mage. For the most part." she added under her breath upon receiving a doubtful glance from Gray.
"He did help us stop Oracion Seiss." mentioned Wendy.
"I guess." sighed Gray and looked back at the arena, now slightly more excited.
Rocker snickered and stared the shorter man down, confident. "Just remember, you can always give up." he told Ichiya.
"Thank you for the reminder." said the man and took a couple steps back to allow the match to begin.
A couple more seconds the bell has been rung and Rocker instantly took on the offense. His legs started to spin like a drill and soon he dug his way underneath the arena.
"There it is! Rocker's Rock Magic! He can change his body into rocks and use them accordingly to his will!" explained Lola.
"It appears he wishes to ambush his opponent instead of challenging him head-on." pointed out Yajima.
"He does have the element of surprise based on the fact we've yet to see his abilities in the Games." added Lahar.
Ichiya frowned and looked around the arena.
"Men..." he muttered. "Quite a situation to put me in..."
"You never know what might happen with these clowns." said Gajeel. "For all we know they will somehow knock each other out."
"Or drag it out for 30 minutes." sighed Lucy.
"Despite the common belief Ichiya is no idiot." said Laxus to the both of them. "This fight may end sooner than we expect."
Rocker continued to drill his way underneath the arena. He'd go up and down to try and get a reaction out of Ichiya that he could then use to his own advantage, however, Ichiya stood his ground.
He reached into the back pocket of his suit and pulled out several bottles filled with perfume. He then walked up to the closest crack in the ground and poured them all down the crack, before putting them back in his pocket and walking aside.
A scream of pain and discomfort escaped the cracked ground, as Rocker jumped out. His skin was covered in a rash that quickly turned into black blisters and his skin was slowly turning dry. His eyes were teary, red and puffed out. He fell to the ground, no longer utilizing his magic, and turned to Ichiya in his agony.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" he choked out to Ichiya.
"A mixture of Dehydration Perfume, Rash Perfume, and Sewer Perfume." said stoically Ichiya and adjusted his suit. "Based on your condition you must have been in very close proximity when I poured it out. The effective range is roughly 5 meters. Quite frankly I did not expect to defeat you with this mixture, however, I shall take this victory without a second thought."
Rocker groaned in pain and slowly tapped the ground, forfeiting the match. Ichiya struck one of his signature poses and took in the crowd's, as well as his guild's celebration.
"What a dangerous man! Blue Pegasus' Ichiya defeats Rocker within just a minute!" boomed Lola.
"Wake up, moron." Ellia kicked Svenar's boot, effectively waking him up. "You missed a good show."
"Told you." said Laxus to now bitter Gajeel.
"As expected, Master's fighting experience is unlike any other." nodded Hibiki.
"Remind me never to annoy him again." Gray said to Erza, who merely nodded.
Quatro Cerberus remained quiet, but gave their fallen brother a silent sign of respect. He weakly gave them a thumbs-up from his stretcher, before losing consciousness from the pain of his rash.
Once the arena has been cleared of any remaining perfume the letters rolled again to reveal the second match.
Sabertooth, Rufus Lore
vs.
Raven Tail B, Sieg
The sound of Ultear's hand slapping her forehead echoed over Crocus. She slid it down her face and looked into her orb with disbelief.
"I am lost for words." she breathed out. "I've told him so many times this would happen! And now he will blow his cover and ruin everything we've worked for!"
"He won't! He knows he can't do that!" Meredy tried to calm her down. "He will figure something out, you'll see!"
Ultear sighed. "He better. Because this may very well be the end of everything we've accomplished thus far."
Jellal walked down the arena, sweaty and nervous. He was well aware of this risk the moment he decided to do this, but wished with all his heart it never actually came to be. Now he had to fight and do it convincingly in front of at least a dozen people well aware of both his abilities and identity. He quickly shot a look at Fairy Tail's stands, his eyes meeting Erza's. She did not express anything out of the ordinary, but gave him a small nod.
Back with Mermaid Hell, Kagura gripped Archenemy and glued her eyes to Jellal's hooded frame. So did her hooded friend.
"This guy..." growled Gray at the sight of Rufus, who has just joined Jellal in the arena. His one-sided sense of rivalry made his blood boil, the pain from when he was struck by the man's magic still well imprinted in his memory.
"Let us hope Rufus manages to come back victorious." said Minerva to her guild. "There may yet be a way to save our face." The Slayers said nothing.
"I look forward to memorizing your moves." Rufus said to Jellal with a smile. The hooded man said nothing in return.
As Kabo clapped his hands and ran off, the bell has been rung. Neither man made any sudden moves, both of them still standing still.
"Waiting for me to make the first move?" asked Rufus with amusement. "Are you that afraid of my magic?"
Having received no reply once again, Rufus decided to take the bait. He touched his right temple with his fingers and conjured several blades behind his back, before sending them Jellal's way.
Jellal shifted his pivot and, without exerting himself too much, managed to easily evade every single one of them, which left Rufus slightly taken back. Taking it as a challenge, the man focused his mind again and created more blades, which this time came out from the ground. Jellal jumped out of their way just as easily, however, just when he was about to land on the ground a giant sword pierced its way out right at him. Clicking his tongue in irritation, Jellal's body emitted a green light, before he vanished from Rufus' sight completely.
The man blinked in shock and jumped back just in time to avoid having his head smashed by a kick thrown by Jellal from behind. His green energy was already gone, but the strike was still powerful, as Rufus could tell by the intense wind caused by the kick. He landed a few meters away and quickly tapped his temple, ready to attack.
"I...can not say I could see what happened." said truthfully Lola. "Sieg managed to get Rufus' back within a blink of an eye! What speed!"
Yajima said nothing, instead gritting his teeth gently. Behind him Rickard dragged his hand across his face.
Back in Lamia's stands, Jura leaned over the railing yet again, this time more troubled than excited. He watched Jellal with a deep frown, lost in his thoughts.
"You are awfully fast." Rufus said. "You almost managed to catch me."
More like let you evade. thought sourly Jellal. He knew how easy this fight would have been if he didn't have to hold back his magic so much. It was a mistake to infiltrate Raven's ranks with borrowed magic.
Seeing no other way, Jellal decided to settle on this ability and hopefully make his loss, or win, convincing enough to not be pursued, or have his cover blown. Being Raven's member was his only way to remain this close to the arena and potentially ambushing Tartaros.
Jellal clapped his hands and conjured several mirrors around both himself and Rufus. He then ran into one of them and slipped in, his trace and magic power gone.
"Now this is an interesting ability." said Yajima in an attempt to drive the attention from Jellal's previous trick. "It appears Sieg is a user of Mirror Magic."
"Very basic, but also very efficient in the right hands." added Lahar. Luckily he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary,
Rufus looked around, confused. This is clearly different from what he did prior. Am I being mocked? Or was that green light a part of this magic trick? he thought. "A clever trick, however, you are still far too green to challenge a real magician." he said with a smirk.
Just as Jellal slipped out of one of the mirrors and tried to attack Rufus he was met with a wall of flames, that consumed him point-blank. He grit his teeth and pierced through the wall, his clothes catching fire. As he tried to extinguish them, Rufus aided him with a giant wall of water that swallowed both him and his mirrors, breaking them upon impact. The water circled around the arena a few times, trapping Jellal in an endless whirlpool while Rufus stood tall on a pillar he created for himself.
As he spun around in the water, more annoyed than hurt, Jellal tried to use the remains of one of his mirrors to escape, only to slip right through it. Confused, he looked at Rufus through the water, who smiled at him dearly and let go of his temple. The mirrors turned out to be one of his creations, his real mirrors long washed away to the back of the arena.
"I've memorized your mirrors the second you have summoned them." he said proudly and tapped his temple yet again, this time both at once. The water dispelled and the ground started to violently shake.
MEMORY MAKE: BLACK LIGHTNING ICE LAKE!
The ground turned into ice swords coated in black lightning that spread all over the arena. Jellal, who was doomed to fall in, managed to position himself in a way that allowed him to avoid being skewered, but could not prevent being shocked. He groaned in pain from the lightning coursing throughout his body and tried to jump out, only to have his leg coated in ice. Stuck in this place, Jellal looked at Rufus with immense anger in his eyes. His gaze managed to meet Rufus' eyes, whose heart skipped a beat upon the pressure of the glare.
Jellal aimed his finger at Rufus and released a green beam that was so quick only a few people managed to catch it. The beam just barely avoided Rufus' face, barely scratching his left cheek, due to the ice yanking on Jellal's leg, which threw his aim off.
Rufus lost his focus, which allowed Jellal to break out of the ice and jump out to safety. He summoned more mirrors and jumped into one of them.
Rufus, who has regained his composure, touched his temples once again. His body started to produce an orange aura, which then broke into several beams that shot up into the sky. They then started to circled around, almost as if in search of a target.
"Prolonging this battle will only cause more stress." he said. "Now that I have fully memorized your breathing, footsteps, magic, and base speed, I shall finish you in one swift move."
Jellal jumped out of one of the mirrors he conjured on the shaft of Rufus' pillar and jumped up to strike his back. As soon as he stepped out the beams stopped circling around the arena and launched themselves at the man, whose eyes widened in surprise.
MEMORY MAKE: A NIGHT OF FALLING STARS!
Jellal grunted in pain upon being struck by a dozen beams of lightning at once. He limply fell to the ground like a doll with its strings cut. He looked up at Rufus from underneath his hood, clearly annoyed and was just about to get up before a thought formed in his mind. This was it, this was his way out.
Having realized it must have looked convincing enough, Jellal remained motionless on the ground for enough time to allow Kabo to examine him up close and cross his hands to signalize the end of the match.
The crowd exploded in cheers as Rufus gracefully lowered himself to the ground and tipped his hat to them. He then looked at Jellal, who was already on his feet. He angrily watched the man effortlessly dust himself off and adjust his hood. He could not piece it together, but the sensation of being toyed with burned Rufus deeply.
Before he could speak to his opponent, Jellal turned around and walked out of the arena in silence.
"Man, as expected of Saber! They really are the best!" said someone in the crowd above Fairy Tail.
Lucy glanced up with a weird mix of emotions on her face. "If only they knew..." she said.
"Well, I guess better Saber than Raven." shrugged Cana. "Still, that was really weird."
"I guess it's pretty clear at least a dozen more people know about this guy now." said annoyed Laxus, his eyes on Jura, as well as a couple Council officials sitting in the arena.
Erza massaged the bridge of her nose, clearly annoyed. Gray, on the other hand, was grinning like a kid on a Christmas Eve.
"The hell you smirking for?" Mirajane arched her eyebrow. "The guy you hate won."
"Yeah, but did you see that look on his face?" he asked. "He knows he was being played with. I gotta thank that guy after this is over."
"If you get a chance." threw in Natsu. "He's probably not gonna come here again after this."
"Indeed." sighed Erza. She glanced to her right, where Mermaid's stands were. Her eyes widened a little at the expression of pure hatred written all over Kagura's face, who was now being held back by her own team. Unsure what to make of this the redhead averted her gaze back to Natsu, who has just asked her a , however, as she was answering him her thoughts still lingered on what she just witnessed.
Jellal joined his team in the stands. Zancrow threw him an annoyed look. "How was a weakling like you even allowed to join?" he scoffed.
"Maybe he knows something he shouldn't have." chipped in Erigor and caressed his scythe. "Everyone has dirt under their nails, perhaps he happens to know Ivan's." he said and licked his lips. "I'd kill to learn it, personally."
Jellal remained quiet and leaned his back on a wall, as he was slowly preparing himself for the earful he was going to get in the evening.
Rufus joined his team with a very foul mood. As they congratulated him, he merely gave them an awkward bow and positioned himself next to Orga, who was also annoyed.
"Today's not our day, huh?" asked the giant.
"It appears the stars are not aligned for us on this day, no." agreed the Maker.
Once the staff managed to clear out Rufus' ice the scoreboard rolled yet again. Once it settled down several individuals held their breath from excitement.
Fairy Tail, Wendy Marvell
vs.
Lamia Scale, Sherria Blendy
Wendy paled. She looked at her team, desperate for last minute advice. Instead of doing that they all smiled at her with pride and confidence.
"You can do this." told her Mira and tousled her hair. "You're tougher than you think you are."
"You're the toughest little girl in this arena." said Gray with a grin.
Erza smiled and knelt down to Wendy's eye level. "I've heard from Lucy and Cana how hard you've worked these past few months. I have no doubt you will be amazing down there." she said.
"As long as you practiced what we did, you'll be good." added Natsu, "Kick her ass."
Although still terrified, Wendy took a deep breath. The words of her friends gave her a little bit of courage. "I will." she announced before running off.
"Nervous?" Cana asked Carla with a smirk. The Exceed was seated with Pantherlily and Levy, borrowing the girl's right shoulder.
"Of course I am." she said bluntly. "But I am also confident in her skills."
Cana grinned. "Damn right you are!" she said with pride. "She kicked our asses all the time!"
"Is that really something to be proud of?" deadpanned Juvia.
Lucy simply watched Wendy walk across the arena with a smile. Cana spoke for the both of them.
"Stay focused." Lyon said to Sherria." She may not be famous for fighting, but underestimating her may cost you the fight."
"I know." groaned Sherria and pushed his face aside. She then looked at her team. "Well, I'm off!" she announced cheerfully and ran down the stairs.
"Was that peptalk really necessary?" asked Yuka.
Lyon smirked. "No. This will not be competitive at all." he stated and leaned over the railing. "I feel sorry for you, Gray. You are about to lost yet another member."
"Perhaps taking your own advice would not be the worst course of action." said amused Jura, only to be ignored.
Both girls met at the arena. While Wendy was nervous, Sherria oozed with excitement over the match-up after having been pumped up since the day started.
As the girls met face to face and had rules explained to them, their eyes met for the first time. Sherria smiled widely and tilted her head to the side.
"Hey!" she said cheerfully.
"Hello." replied shyly Wendy.
"What a polite match we have gotten ourselves into!" chirped Lola.
"It is always a pleasurable sight to watch two respectful mages face each other." nodded Yajima with a smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you! I hope you give me your best, Wendy!" Sherria clenched her fists.
"Likewise!" said Wendy and bent her knees.
The bell rung and both girls jumped back to make some distance. Wendy took a deep relaxing breath and focused her magic at the heel of her foot. A bubble of air formed under her foot which she then kicked to gain a boost in speed and quickly close the gap between her and Sherria.
The pink-haired girl blinked in shock and watched Wendy blitz right past her, only to lose balance and fall over to the ground.
"Ow..." moaned Wendy and massaged her head.
Carla sighed tiredly while Cana and Lucy laughed.
"You sure you want to laugh?" asked seriously Gajeel.
The girls stopped laughing just in time to see Sherria attempt to kick downed Wendy, who managed to jump out of the way with barely any time to spare. She landed a few meters away and exhaled deeply.
"You surprised me!" praised her Sherria and straightened herself. "You would have had me if you were more precise!"
Wendy smiled. "I know." she said. I didn't get to practice this too much before we had to come back...I should not use it so recklessly. she thought, but then had an insane idea.
"So, you use wind, huh?" Sherria asked, more interested in talking than fighting.
"I may use wind, but I'm a Sky Dragon Slayer." said Wendy and bent her knees again.
Sherria smirked. "You said it." she whispered.
Wendy repeated the move from before and, just like back then, messed up her precision and blitzed past Sherria. This time, however, she didn't fall over and turned on her heel to repeat the move. She did this a couple more times, however each time she did so she came closer to actually hitting Sherria, who was forced to move out of the way of the last two.
"What is she trying to accomplish?" frowned Levy. "Even if she gets it right the other girl will know how to go around it."
Gajeel watched the fight with his hand over his mouth. His eyes were picking something out, but he only had a split second to see it. Regardless of that, he was certain there was more to Wendy's behavior than plain stubbornness.
"Wendy is trying to catch Sherria with her speed, but it's clearly not working! Perhaps it is time for a new strategy?" wondered Lola.
"You know, if something isn't working there isn't much sense in doing it again." said confused Sherria and turned around to look at Wendy.
Wendy smirked and straightened herself up. She then took a deep breath and unleashed her magic while raising her hands high above her head.
Sherria looked around in shock as magic circles started to appear one after another around her, effectively trapping her in a weird pattern of light-blue circles. She tried to jump out of the way, but each circle started to produce wind strong enough to keep her in check.
"I may be clumsy, but I can turn it into a weapon if I try hard enough!" said Wendy and clapped her hands together. The wind started to become stronger and stronger, merging and growing both taller and faster. Before she could react Sherria felt terror at the bottom of her stomach, one that made her freeze.
SECRET DRAGON SLAYER'S ARTS: HURRICANE ANEMOI!
Sherria cried out in agony as her body was being shredded by a giant hurricane. The arena was filled with objects flying all over the place, as Wendy's spell caused havoc and destruction in the arena.
"What the hell is that spell?!" yelled Gray. He tried to see through the gap in his guard, but even that proved to be difficult. "When and how did she even come up with it?!"
"What strength! Who could suspect this much power to reside in such a tiny body?!" Lola tried to commentate through the noise of the wind.
After a couple more seconds the wind settled down. A giant cloud of dust and trash circled around a few more times, before subduing as well. Once it has, it revealed the sorry state the arena was in, filled with cuts and missing chunks of the ground.
"So this is what she did that one time in the mountains." deduced Cana. Upon feeling several ing looks on the back of her head, she nervously turned. "A couple days before we left for Crocus she left for a few hours. We then spotted something happening in the distance, but we assumed it was some beasts fighting over food or something like that."
"Turns out it was Wendy." added Lucy with pride in her voice.
Erigor, who became slightly more interested in the fight upon seeing one of the girls use magic similar to his, whistled quietly to himself.
Wendy panted heavily, clearly spent from the spell. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and observed Sherria's motionless body. Her clothes were a mess and she was cut in countless spots all over her body. She wasn't moving at all, which made Wendy worried she may have accidentally killed her opponent.
"Sherria!" Lyon called out to his teammate in despair. "Get up, Sherria!"
"She might be done down there." said nervously Yuka.
Kabo quickly ran across the arena and took a look at the downed girl. Just when he was about to proclaim the end of the match, Sherria opened her eyes and jumped to her feet with a giggle.
Wendy watched in shock as Sherria's wounds healed anc closed themselves with a weird particle aura surrounding them.
"Man, you almost had me!" snickered Sherria and dusted her torn clothes off. Wendy was too taken back to reply.
"What am I watching?" Makarov's eyes widened. Not just him, everyone was surprised in one way or another.
"What's this?! Sherria is fine! Was Wendy's attack ineffective?!" wondered Lola.
Lyon took the deepest sigh of relief in his recent memory. He straightened himself and smiled at Sherria. "Talk about scaring us." he said.
"Even if she hadn't managed to get up we would be in no position to blame her." said Jura. "That spell was certainly powerful enough to defeat Sherria."
"No kidding." said Lyon and glanced at Wendy. He could hardly see her as the girl he had gotten to meet all those years ago.
"How can she just stand up after that?!" asked distressed Gray. "And what's wrong with her body?"
"Looks like that guy from Raven." Mira narrowed her eyes. "But slightly different."
"And Wendy." added Erza.
Natsu frowned and leaned over the railing, clearly upset.
"You okay, man?" frowned Gray.
"Yeah." mumbled Natsu. "I just sense a familiar feeling from that chick. Like I know this magic..."
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, we just said it."
He shook his head. "No, it's different from that."
Sherria finished healing her wounds and took a deep breath. "Looks like I'm all done! That was really well done, Wendy! A bit more power and I wouldn't be able to get up!" she praised her opponent with a smile.
Wendy blinked slowly and put up a fighting stance. "Then I'll just do better next time!"
"Hold it!" Sherria held her hand up. "You had your turn! Now it's my time!"
"That's not how it works." said Wendy and kicked the ground to dash at Sherria. The girl smirked and instantly her aura changed.
"I'm afraid it does." she said, her voice becoming slightly menacing.
The older girl unleashed her magic, which was enough to stop Wendy's charge. She readied herself in anticipation of an attack, but none came just yet. Sherria took a deep breath and puffed her chest and cheeks out while leaning her torso back, a motion well too familiar for Wendy and several other mages in the arena.
SKY GOD'S BELLOW!
A torrent of black wind cut through the arena and swallowed Wendy whole. The girl cried out in pain and tried to protect herself best to her ability, but it came with great difficulty.
"Black wind?" frowned Erigor. Next to him Zancrow ran up to the railing and took a closer look at Sherria, before grinning with excitement. "Another one, huh?"
Lyon smiled smugly to himself. "A dragon can never hope to best a god." he said.
"When you say it like that it sounds even dumber than it should." told him Yuka, much to Lyon's embarrassment. Toby's snickering and Jura's chuckle only added more salt to the injury.
"Oh, that's why." Natsu groaned to himself.
"Another God Slayer? What is this, a festival or something?" asked Gajeel with a frown.
"Can you really complain with all those Dragon Slayers from Sabertooth present in the Games?" asked him Laxus.
"Dragon Slayers I can handle." said truthfully Gajeel. "Those black pricks, not so much. Salamander told me what happened when he met one."
"And I flattened the very same one he faced. Magic math doesn't apply like that." said Laxus. This seemed to appease Gajeel.
"Looks like Wendy has a very tough challenge in front of her." said worried Erza. "What do you think?" she asked Natsu.
He sighed. "I don't know." he said truthfully. "There's something about our magics that just doesn't click. When I fought that guy from Grimoire, even though I was faster, stronger and had higher magic I still couldn't put a dent on him. Even now I can barely do it."
"Lovely." said Gray.
"And yet Wendy almost beat her with her attack." pointed out Mira. "Maybe you should have bombed him like she did." she teased Natsu with a smirk.
"He ate anything bigger than my punches, okay?" Natsu snapped, annoyed. Mira took a step back with a shit eating grin.
"One slays dragons, the other gods. Maybe there's a hierarchy of some sorts?" asked Erza.
"Well, they do say dragons were created by gods, so who knows." sighed Gray. "Maybe whenever these two battle it's like a child going against its creator."
"Maybe." said Mira and then turned to Natsu, now serious. "But here's where it gets interesting. Laxus told me he ragdolled the guy who beat you on Tenrou, and that he didn't have the issues you had. Personally I'd put you both around the same level, so unless you shit the bed you should have done the same."
Natsu looked at her, slightly annoyed. "I may have had...issues back then, but trust me, they were purely mental. Even with that thing in me broken I felt just fine. Besides, I did manage to find a way around and pummel him a bit."
"Maybe it applies to mirror matches." shrugged Gray. "You know, fire and fire, wind and wind."
"If that's the case, then Wendy is in deep trouble." said Erza and looked back at the arena.
Wendy emerged from the dust cloud, ragged and cut, but still relatively fine. Sherria grinned at the sight, clearly impressed.
"You enchanted yourself just before my Bellow reached you, is that right?" she asked.
Wendy exhaled loudly. "Yes." she said. "But it was barely enough. You really are strong, I could tell when you took my Arts like it was nothing..."
"Oh, stop it!" Sherria waved her hand. "I told you, if you controlled it a bit better I wouldn't be able to get back up!"
"So you say." said Wendy and took a deep breath, before sucking the surrounding air in.
"Oh, I've always wanted to do it with someone!" said Sherria and mimicked Wendy, as both girls sucked the air out of the arena.
"Is it me orhas it become harder to breathe?" asked confused Lola.
"It appears both of these young ladies utilize the Lost Magic of wind." said curious Yajima. "By consuming air they can replenish both their stamina and magic."
After a long minute both girls stopped eating, full and ready for action. Wendy bent her knees and charged at Sherria, her mind full of thoughts. She jumped in the air and spun around, before throwing a wind enhanced kick at the older girl.
SKY DRAGON'S TALON!
Sherria raised her right forearm and blocked the headkick with a smile on her face. Wendy landed on the ground and spun around before throwing another kick, one that Sherrie jumped away from. She then dashed in herself and managed to land a hit on Wendy's face. The girl grit her teeth and struck Sherria in the stomach, which caught her by surprise. The girls then threw a right hook respectively and as their fists collided they both jumped back to catch a break.
Wendy chased after Sherria and threw several combinations at her, all of them blocked or evaded. Sherria ducked under yet another wind enhanced headkick and kicked her in the stomach. Wendy slid back on the hells of her feet with a pained face and watched as Sherria quickly closed the distance between them and readied a punch.
Wendy swiftly dodged the punch, which surprised Sherria, and shaped her right hand like a claw, before slashing it across her face.
SKY DRAGON'S CLAW!
Sherria gasped as her head was dragged back from the strike. She took a couple awkward steps to avoid falling on her back and regained her composure a couple feet away. She leaned back and sent Wendy a quick smile, her face completely rid of any injuries.
"That was a sharp one." she praised and in a second closed the distance to kick Wendy in the stomach, which sent the girl flying back. This time she didn't stay on her feet and rolled on the ground before coming to a halt a few meters away. She clutched her stomach in a fetal position, unable to breathe.
"This is looking bad." said Mira.
Wendy managed to get back on her feet, still clutching her stomach. Sherria looked at her, worried. "You know, I'm not a fan of violence. I'd rather spread love and care wherever I go, and there is no love in a one-sided fight. Please, give up."
Wendy grit her teeth. "I don't need your pity." she said. "I didn't train this hard just to give up that easily. Come at me with everything you have!" she yelled and charged at surprised Sherria.
"That's the spirit!" yelled Lucy. "Show her what you can do, Wendy!"
"That's right!" yelled the rest of the guild. "Get her!"
Wendy retracted her arm and punched Sherria's face, who took a step back from the impact. She quickly regained her focus and punched back, only to be blocked. Wendy pushed Sherria's arm aside and kicked her right thigh, before following with a right hook.
Sherria retaliated with a torrent of black wind that blew Wendy away and gently cut her face. She bravely shook it off and answered with her own wind, their colors mixing and creating a small tornado in the center of the arena. Both girls exchanged hits in its eye, with Sherria slowly coming on top in exchanges. Unlike Wendy she received little to no damage from being struck and that allowed her to be more confident with her strikes.
Wendy jumped high in the air and tried to use her wind to attack Sherria, who blasted her away with hers in return. Wendy slid on the ground and looked up, but her opponent was nowhere to be found. Her senses cried out in danger and she raised her arms just in time to block an axe kick from Sherria. The ground beneath Wendy cracked from the strike and the girl grunted in pain.
"Your wind can't harm me!" said Sherria, her voice dancing on the verge of despair. "Please, you must give up!"
Wendy grit her teeth and blasted her away. Sherria landed gracefully on the ground and sighed tiredly, very close to giving up on reasoning.
"Why is she even trying? Just run over the kid and be done with it." Orga shook his head. So far he was disappointed in the fellow God Slayer.
"I'll give you one more warning." said Sherria, this time more harshly. "Give up. I don't want to hurt you more than I have to."
Wendy puffed her chest out and launched a Roar. The torrent hit Sherria directly and pushed her back even further, but dealt no new damage.
"This is my answer." said the Dragon Slayer with a grin.
Sherria sighed through her nose and bent her knees. Her eyes have become more fierce and focused, rid of the previous friendliness. She dashed at Wendy with great speed, her black wind flowing behind her like a flag. She struck at Wendy, who jumped out of the way into the air. As she came down she retracted her right arm and threw a punch at Sherria, who decided not to even bother with dodging it.
Something that cost her dearly.
The girl watched her own blood fly in the air with a shocked expression on her face, as Wendy's fist pushed her head back and caused her to stagger, her lip cut and bleeding. Sherria slowly looked at Wendy with a face full of questions, however, instead of answers she was met with a boot to her stomach that pushed her back and stole the wind from her lungs. Gasping for air, Sherria grabbed her stomach and buckled over, confused and hurting.
"We've got ourselves a fight!" boomed Lola to the pumped up crowd. "Wendy strikes back and pays her opponent back!"
"What are you doing, Sherria?!" yelled Lyon.
"It appears things have changed." said Jura.
"That's it, Wendy!" yelled Gray and Mira.
"Looks like she found a way around." said happily Erza. "Just like you did."
Natsu grinned from ear to ear. "Yup. After all, she watched me do it." he said.
Sherria wiped her mouth and straightened herself. "What did you do?" she asked. "There was no wind behind those attacks."
Wendy said nothing. Instead, she allowed her enchanted body speak for itself, their writings glowing stronger than usual.
"That's because I stopped using it." she said. "I have converted my magic into pure strength and enhanced it with Arms and Vernier, my enchantments."
"And that lets you cross the line between our magics?" asked the God Slayer. She sounded more impressed than upset.
"Yes." said Wendy and readied her stance. "With this I can beat you!"
Sherria raised a wall of wind in front of herself to stop Wendy from getting to her. The girl ran around it and tried to kick Sherria from behind, but missed by just an inch. Sherria blasted Wendy away with her wind straight into the wall and closed it around Wendy, trapping her in a cage of raging currents and winds.
Wendy cried out in pain from the several new cuts she obtained, but grit her teeth and dispelled the black wind with her own magic combined with her brute strength. She then charged at Sherria and clawed at her arm, this time successfully cutting her skin, even if shallowly. The God Slayer retaliated with a point-blank Bellow that failed to capture Wendy, who dodged it. She spun in the air and threw a kick at Sherria, who barely managed to block it. Both girls jumped back to catch a breath and allow the arena to become fee of the stray currents of wind.
The older girl caught her breath and smiled at Wendy the widest her lips could permit. "Not, this is a good fight!" she said with joy.
Wendy panted, but smiled back. She'd be lying if she said she was not enjoying herself, too. "Yes!" she said cheerfully.
"What is Sherria doing?!" questioned enraged Obaba as she watched the girls engage once again. "She can end this whenever she wants to! What is the meaning of this charade?!"
"Perhaps the thirst for a challenge is stronger than her desire to please her guild." said Jura with a smile.
Lyon gave him a short look and smiled. The Wizard Saint was watching the fight with sparks in his eyes, his fists most likely clenched in the sleeves of his robe.
"Maybe it's not so bad." he said after a short while and looked back at the girls, who once again collided their fists.
Wendy was pushed back with a grimace. Her strategy was working, but at a great tax. Her magic was decaying much quicker than usual and it was showing. She circled around a black tornado and tried to dash, only to be caught by a blast of wind that pushed her back even further.
Sherria took over attacking and charged at Wendy. She was in a much better shape and closed the distance in an instant, ready for anything Wendy could potentially throw at her.
SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!
In a moment of surprise, Wendy took the seal off her wind and blasted Sherria in the face with a torrent of wind, effectively pushing her away. Sherria groaned and dispelled the Roar with her wind, only to be hit with a second one, one which pushed her all the way to the boundaries of the arena.
"Are you sure you can keep going this?" she asked from behind her raised arms with more concern in her voice than teasing. She was rid of any injuries.
Wendy said nothing, instead enchanting herself once again and resuming to be on the move, however, while she did so she also continued to suck the air in. Whatever magic she spent, she'd regain it after a second.
"Even air has its limit, you know!" said Sherria and tried to catch Wendy with a couple of wind blades, all of them avoided.
The battle continued as it has for the past ten minutes. Wendy would switch between relying on her wind and enchantments, while Sherria tried to catch her with her spells. As the girls fought the arena would slowly become harder to be in, as both girls consistently consumed the air to even the odds. Both of their guilds, as well as the crowd and commentators loudly cheered for their favorites, the noise carrying over the city of Crocus. After 18 more minutes it was so hard to breathe some people started to pass out in the crowd.
Wendy panted heavily, cut, bruised and exhausted. Sherria, on the other hand, was simply tired, whatever injuries Wendy inflicted upon her long healed.
"Do it now, Sherria!" ordered Obaba. "She will fall with just a push! Finish her!"
"What do you think I've been trying to do?" asked Sherria under her breath. She was in awe of Wendy's toughness and will to fight. "Why do you try so hard?" she asked and ignored her Master's orders, well aware that there was only a couple seconds left in the match.
Wendy took a couple seconds to answer, her breathing all over the place. "Because I want to change." she said weakly. "I don't want to be protected forever. I'm not afraid to stand up to a challenge!"
Sherria grinned. "Now this is love!" she said with excitement as the bell rung once again, signalizing the end of the match.
As the crowd and Fairy Tail cheered, both girls collapsed to their knees and smiled at one another. They may have just spent the last 30 minutes as enemies, but both were sure of one thing.
That they have just obtained a very unique friend.
End of Chapter 42. To be continued in Chapter 43: Day Four: Collided Paths
I might be updating this later on to fix any errors and misspelled words.