Chapter 15: Fire's Heat and Arctic's Chill

Beth woke up to snores. Looking around sleepily, she noticed the others were asleep as well. The second thing she noticed was that Siprix was curled against her back, and the indent in the sand from his original spot. He mumbled in his sleep.

Beth tried to shift away a bit, but the water mage scooted over too. Hearing his slow breathing, she guessed he was still asleep. She rolled over so that she was facing him. This time he didn't move.

Might as well try to get back to sleep she thought. She snuggled into the sand, and closed her eyes. A minute later she heard a noise other than snores. Well there goes that. Looking up, she saw Erza rousing. Beth sat up.

"Hey," Erza said when she noticed Beth was up. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like a log," Beth replied. "You?"

"I've slept in weirder places." They sat in silence for a bit and Beth pick up a watermelon before slicing it up with a knife made from her razor leaves. She handed one to Erza, who took it and they started eating. After a few minutes, Natsu and Happy also woke up and took some watermelon slices.

"So what do you think we should do now?" Natsu asked.

"Find some way to get out of here," Erza said. Lucy shifted and woke up. The blonde also accepted a slice from Beth she was offered.

"Do you have any spirits that could help us with this Lucy?" Happy asked.

Lucy thought for a minute. "Well, there's Aquarius, but knowing her she'd just keep us here or send us further from land than we already are. I guess Virgo could help, but I'm not sure how well sand would hold up in a tunnel."

"I could support it," Beth said.

"That could work, but I'll be the one who supports it. You've done enough" Gray said, sitting up. He too took some watermelon. "What about him?" he gestured towards Siprix, who was still curled up asleep.

"Wake him up," Happy said.

"He needs to rest," Erza said. "If he doesn't wake up soon, then we take him with us regardless. It wouldn't be fair to him to leave him behind."

"Or to get up sooner than he should," Lucy said.

"Do we have anymore peppers?" Natsu asked. Beth tossed him one that was next to her.

"So how long do we wait?" Gray asked.

"Until Natsu stops eating all the peppers," Happy said.

"They're good and hot!" Natsu said in self defense.

Beth smiles slyly. "I have something hotter than that," she offered. Natsu held out his hand.

Beth grew a decent sized pepper with bright red coloration and was shaped slightly like a fire. She handed it to the fire mage, who took a big bite. His eyes shot wide open.

"Whoa! This has some kick!" he said. Beth couldn't believe her eyes.

"How are you? What?" She paused to get her thought together. "How are you able to withstand that?"

"I don't know," he replied taking another bite. "What's the point?"

"That's a Hell's Pepper," Beth started to explain. "It's the hottest plant out there. Forest Dragon Slayers use it as a psychological punishment for its spiciness is so hot that it convinces the person it's used on that they're walking through the hottest fire out there."

"What can't your magic do?" Lucy asked.

"A lot," Beth replied. "We've Just been in the right situations."

"Anything cold?" Gray asked. Beth eyed him, unsure, but grew and gave him a light blue colored berry.

"Wow. This is colder than ice!" he said. "It's even making me feel chills."

"Nilfheim Berry. The opposition to the Hell's Pepper," Beth said.

"What's the commotion?" Siprix said sleepily, rolling over to face the others without getting up.

"Just trying extremely flavorful foods while waiting for you to get up," Erza said.

"I'll try them," Siprix said, not having heard Beth's explications. She grew tiny versions and gave the pepper to Siprix first.

"Be careful," she said. "You're going to regret this." Siprix popped the fiery food into his mouth.

And he recoiled. "What the heck?!" He screamed then. Beth shoved the berry into his hand, and he ate It quickly. His body relaxed and Siprix fell onto the floor. "I'm never doing that again."

"You never have to," Beth said.

"Was that how you were expecting me to react?" Natsu asked. Beth nodded.

"Talk about a wake up call," Happy said.

Beth wood up and bent over the shocked water mage. "Think you're ready to go?"

"Ye-yeah, just give me a minute," he said shakily. He stood up after a minute, and nearly fell down again.

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"Not anymore."

"Well we should try to get out of here fast. Get your things and let's go," Erza said. The others nodded. They put on their flippers and algae, Siprix grabbing one on too when he got dizzy trying to use his magic. Then Lucy summoned Virgo.

"What are your wishes madam?" the purple haired spirit asked.

"Can you dig us a tunnel out from under here?" Lucy asked. "There is water on the outside, so you know."

"Of course," Virgo said with a bow. She started spinning like a super fast top and started burrowing into the ground. She popped back out a minute later soaking wet. "The way is clear madam."

"Thanks Virgo," Lucy said before closing the gate. They put on their lily pads and jumped in.

The tunnel held up even without Beth's plants. It was pitch black, the only way they knew they reached water was the splashes of the others. They swam for a bit, Beth making sure Siprix didn't fall behind, before the tunnel lightened and they reached the exit. The grinned excitedly at each other, and went for the surface. It took them a while from the ocean floor, but they eventually made it.

"Yes!" Beth cheered when they broke the surface.

"We did it!" Lucy shouted.

"The sun's setting!? Natsu and Happy yelled.

"No, it's nearly risen," Erza corrected them.

"Now which way is shore?" Gray asked. They stopped cheering and looked around.

"There," Siprix said looking at the horizon. The others turned and saw the back of the guild hall off in the distance.

"The guild!" they shouted.

They took off towards home.

Hey they finally made it out! Wonder what the next adventure will be, huh? Well we'll find out soon enough. Have a good weekend everyone. Go get 'em tigers!

-ThinMintE