So i am sorry for how long it took for me to get this chapter out, but since it was the beginning of a very important arc, i wanted to make it as good as it could be. I hope you all like how this arc is going, and after reading this chapter, if you want to see something happen, leave it in a review and i might put it in one of the chapters. I left the chapter on a cliffhanger of sorts, so hopefully you all would like that and not hate me for it. Anyways please enjoy this story and leave a review.
The next week was a very eventful one for the guild. Those that were participating in the trials, and their partners spent the week training. Mikoto had focused her efforts again at getting Touma better at fighting. They spent most of their time training in sword to sword combat. Touma was getting better, though learning when to switch from defensive to offensive was tricky for him. He was far better at fighting defensively, and combine a sword with his shield and his defenses were hard for even Mikoto to break through. His problems started when he needs to go on the offensive. Against magic and esper abilities, he relies too much on imagine breaker and his hand to hand capabilities. He forgets that if you force another on the defensive, you can force mistakes out of them. Instead he tries to straight beat them, so someone who thinks about advantages can cause him to make mistakes and turn his own offense against him. This is what Mikoto was spending the week trying to teach him, to have him use his advantages instead of disregarding them or relying on one advantage too much. During their training sessions Wendy had also joined them, and this was one of those times. Evidently Mest had asked her to be his partner, and so Wendy wanted to get better so she would be more of use to him then just a supporter. Currently it was just Wendy and Mikoto, since Touma was sitting down drinking water after his own training. Wendy was attacking with everything she had, though Mikoto easily defended against the magic attacks. Then Wendy started to increase her own speed and strength using her magic. This made it harder for Mikoto, as every kick or punch that Wendy now launched was almost too fast for Mikoto to defend against properly, almost. She dodged under a kick, grabbed Wendys leg and used her own momentum to throw her to the ground. Mikoto backs up to let Wendy get up.
"Okay that was good if not for one mistake. You over committed to the attack. You left yourself wide open and I took advantage of that. You must always plan for each attack to be countered or else you could get defeated in one move. If it seems like a fight is going to much in your favor, back off. They are probably trying to draw you in, and if you take the bait you will be easier to counter attack. Now try again, but try not to leave yourself open," Mikoto instructed. She knew this sounded tough, but its what Wendy needs to learn to get better. Thats when wendy surprises Mikoto. She took control of the air around them, swirling it around Mikoto in a vortex. The strength of the vortex was strong enough that it forced Mikoto to stay in one spot. Thats all that Wendy needed, as she leaped in using her sky dragon's wing slash attack. It collided with an off guard Mikoto, knocking her out of the vortex and onto her back. Wendy tried to capitalize on the momentary advantage and tried to attack Mikoto while she was down, but Mikoto used her ability to transport herself out of the way not a second too soon. They continued on like this for a little bit, then Touma joined back in. Mikoto had Touma and Wendy work together against her, and that seemed to work far more than she expected. Touma was more of a defensive fighter, while Wendy tended to attack too often. Working together they managed to cover for each others weakness. They continued like this till finally Mikoto called an end to the training. The rest of the day was uneventful, besides the fact that it was the last day till they had to leave to meet the master at the port. Those that were taking part in the trails made their final preparations then went to bed early so that they would be ready the next day. That morning it became apparent what the first challenge was going to be. At the docks it was blazing hot, so once everyone got on the ship and it had set sail. They all went and changed into some lighter clothes. Most of the participants changed into some kind of swimsuit. Mikotos outfit was the only one that was out of the ordinary, as she refused to take off the waistband that allowed her to teleport her HF blade to her side. She also refused to take off the bandana on her left arm that was covering up the strange markings. This made it a little of an awkward look with a swimsuit. As the guild fights to withstand the heat Mikoto walks up to the front of the ship, looking out over the ocean. Lucy notices that it seemed like Mikoto wasn't fazed by the heart and decided to ask why.
"Mikoto, why are you not drained by this heat?" Lucy asked.
"I am," Mikoto responds wiping her forehead of her sweat to show that she is being affected and continues, "Im just not going ot make a big deal out of it. I have too much on my mind to worry about what I can not control." that seemed to put Lucy off slightly, so the rest of the trip nobody directly asked Mikoto anything. Other than the heat, a few things stayed constant. Natsu got sick over being on a ship, gray kept trying to strip, much to Juvia's happiness and Lucy's displeasure. Finally Mikoto could see the Island on the horizon and she yells out, "I can see Tenrou Island!" This draws everyone to the front of the ship so that they could see, except for Natsu, who was still immobile. Sure enough the Tenrou tree could be seen over the horizon. Thats when Makarov walked out, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"I believe it is about Time I tell you all how this trail is going to go, " Makarov states. Wendy used her magic to alleviate Natsu of his motion sickness so that he could hear what Makarov had to say.
"The trail will consist of three parts. I am only going to explain the first part to all of you, then i will explain the next part to those that get past the first. Once you arrive on the island, there will be 9 paths, one for each team. There will be three paths that will bring you into confrontation with one of the current S-class mages. If you choose one of these routes and beat the S-class mage, you will move on. There will be four routes that will pit 2 teams against each other. The winner moves on to the next stage. There will be one route where you will have to face waves of Monsters. Once done you will be able to move onto the next stage. Then the last route is a serenity route, where you will not have to do any fighting at all. None of you will know which route is which, and after each route is chosen by a team it will be closed off to prevent anyone else from going down that route. Also there are no rules except do everything you can to move onto the next stage. Oh and by the way, the trail starts now!" Makarov announces. Mikoto acted quickly, realizing that Freed must have been prepared for this, she grabbed hold of Touma and jumped off the ship a second before He could activate his trapping spell. The second they hit the water, Mikoto activated her magic, summoning her wyverns, who then grabbed both her and Touma out of the water, and as long as Touma did not touch the wyvern that was now carrying him with his right hand, it would not desummon. The wyverns flew them quickly to the island, and once on the Island Mikoto desummoned them to conserve her magic energy. They quickly made it to the intersection for the 9 routes, and they choose route 2. While they traveled down that path, Mikoto began to believe that it was the serenity route, until they were ambushed by a group of monsters. She teleported her HF Blade in and proceeded to cut down the monsters. It was quickly apparent that since the monsters were created with magic, Touma's imagine breaker could completely negate them. That made the fight relatively easy, as wave after wave fell to Touma and Mikoto. Mikoto knew that how hard the battle was was not the problem, but how long it lasted. By the end of it they were worn out, so Mikoto guess that it had the intended effect that Makarov. Touma and Mikoto sat down to eat and rest while they waited for the rest of the participants to finish up. They could hear the battles going on, so after a little bit they got up and continued down their route. At the end of the route they meet up with Makarov, confirming that they were the first ones done. A second later Levy and Gajeel walked in, having gone down the serenity route, which seemed to piss off Gajeel.
"Well Gajeel and Levy, it seems like you had an easy time," Mikoto comments as they walked over. Gajeels only response was to grumble, but levy seemed willing to talk.
"Yeah we got the serenity route. What route did you get?" Levy asked back.
"We got the monster route. I didnt really have to do much, since the monsters were created by magic Toumas imagine breaker easily took them out. The only thing I had to do was keep out of his way," Mikoto explained.
"It seems like you had it just as easy then," Levy responded. It wasnt too much later that the rest of the participants that made it through the first part arrived. Cana and Lucy beat Freed and Brikslow, Natsu and Happy got past Gildarts, Gray and Loke got past Mest and Wendy, and Elfman and Evergreen got past Mirajane. It was funny learning how each group got past their foes, especially in the case of Evergreen and Elfman, and Gray and Loke. Mikoto could not train Wendy to get over her hate of sour things after all. That meant that Mest, Freed, and Juvia were eliminated.
"How did you get past Gildarts Natsu?" Mikoto asked, noticing how weirdly quite the dragonslayer was.
Natsu wasnt going to respond so happy answered for him.
"Gildarts kicked his butt. When Natsu learned to back down, Gildarts let him through. He said that was the lesson he wanted to teach, that knowing one's fears can make you stronger," Happy answered.
"Natsu backed out of a fight!1 Wow I never thought i would hear that," Lucy said in disbelief.
"What are you getting weak Salamander?!" Gajeel taunted.
"Shut up!" Natsu exclaims, the fire returning to his eyes. Before anything could happen, Makarov stepped forward to explain the next part of the challenge.
"This next part sounds simple enough, but it is far from it. You need to find the first masters grave site. Where it is and how to get there I will not tell you. Also be on your guard, there may be creatures laying around that will try to attack you," Makarov explains.
"Okay so some questions. Can we use are magic against the others to get an advantage?" Mikoto asks. When Makarov nods his head she asks her last question. "Can we start now?"
"Yes you can," Makarov says. The moment after he finished speaking, Mikoto activated her magic, summoning in a huge variety of creatures. She summoned in her Raptors, along with wolves and other small land animals. She also summoned in Pteranodons to search from the air. Her final summon was a Carnotaurus, to be used as a destroyer to fight any creature on the island. Once all the creatures were summoned, she let them go and search. She almost stumbled to the ground from the huge strain being put on her body.
"Stupid move Mikoto. Yeah your summons will give you a better chance of finding the grave site, but i bet your magic wont last long enough to find it," Makarov states in disapproval, having expected better out of Mikoto. But what she does next surprises everyone. She transformed to level 6, immediately gaining her energy back.
"This is my plan. Yes the massive number of summons is draining my energy, but I can hold out longer using level 6. Level 6 constantly replenishes all energy inside of me, including magic. That means that as long as I hold my level 6 form, I can keep using my magic at its fullest power. I will have no problem finding the grave now," Mikoto explained. With that explanation, the rest of the guild realized that they needed to act or they will lose. They all take off running, trying to beat Mikotos summons to the Grave site. Once everyone had left except Mikoto, Touma and Makarov, Makarov turned to the pair in front of him.
"Was it really smart for you to use this form to keep up your magic?" He asked.
Mikoto only shrugs her shoulders and responds, "I don't know, and won't know will tomorrow. Truthfully this is the first time Im trying it." Before Makarov could say anything else, Mikoto took off running, forcing Touma to follow her. The first bit of the search was uneventful to say the least. Nobody was finding the grave and Mikoto and Touma did not encounter any monsters, most likely thanks to the carno running around. Then finally one of her raptors found the grave entrance, and Mikoto mentally noted where it was at. Touma and here were about to go there when a black cloud appeared out of the forest. That jolted both of their memories on what was supposed to happen here.
Touma was the first to speak, "That was zeref. Natsu just saved Evergreens and Elfman's lives."
"Yeah which means that Grimoire heart is about to arrive," Mikoto realized. Just as she finished saying that, a flare pops up into the air, announcing an attack by an enemy. That meant that Gajeel had already beat Kawazu and Yomazu. That also meant that the rest of the guild was about to be attacked. Mikoto immediately transformed out of Level 6 and desummoned all her summons. She was going to need all her energy for fighting.
"Touma! Go find Evergreen and Elfman, help them in any way you can. I'm going to help Lisanna and Mirajane!" Mikoto says, about to take off. She was stopped suddenly when Touma grabbed her arm to turn her around. In that split second he leaned down and kisses her. They stayed like that for a bit until Touma pulled back and says, "That's to remind you to come back to me."
"I will always come back to you Touma," Mikoto responds then takes off. Around the Island, the fights were switching back and forth. Wendy, carla, and Pantherlily had managed to escape Azuma without being taken out because of Wendys increases strength. On the other side of things, Makarov got defeated by Master Hades PRetty easily. Mikoto ran as fast as she could, hping to get to the campsite before Azuma did. But her hope was soon taken away when she ran into a group of 10 minor Grimoire Heart members. She slowed to a stop in front of them, eyeing them cautiously.
"Well look what we found here boys, a young little fairy all alone," The leader of the group says commenting on Mikotos age. The others started laughing and another continued, " and she looks like she was in a hurry. Maybe she got scared when she heard we were attacking." The others laughed even more at this, to the point where they thoroughly pissed Mikoto off.
"Okay I have had enough. Either you all get out of my way, or else i will KILL you," Mikoto threatened, not moving a muscle except for lifting her head up to show here eyes that were filled with darkness.
"Oh really? You would kill all of us?! Even if you could you wouldn't. You are a fairy tail mage and it is against your guild's rules to kill people," The leader says cockily. The others in the group noticed the look that Mikoto had, thought it was far too late for any of them to do anything about it. Mikoto teleported her HF Blade to her side, and in one second, she cut down all of the others except for the leader. As he stood their with Mikoto now behind him, realizing what just happened, Mikoto says, "I am not a normal Fairy Tail member."
"Please, Im sorry, spare me!" The man pleaded, trying to run away. Before he could even move 10 feet, Mikoto used her speed and cut him down in an instant. Mikoto then sheathed her sword and took of running to the campsite once again. As she approached she could hear a fight, and from the distance she could see Lisanna stuck in some kind of tree bomb. Mikoto knew that she had barely any time to react, so she made the decision she thought would be the best one. She activated her magic, Summoning her Rex while she was running. The creature was summoned in running with her, causing the ground to shake with each of its footsteps. This drew the attention of Mirajane, Azuma and Lisanna as they watched Mikoto burst through the tree line with a Rex chasing after her. With only 10 seconds left on the bombs timer, Mikoto gives the rex its order through her thoughts.
Destroy the Bomb
The Rex leaped forward grabbing the tree bomb and thus Lisanna in its jaws. It the wrenched its head upwards, ripping the bomb out of the ground. Now its jaws began to bury its teeth into the bomb, much to the panic of Lisanna and Mirajane.
"Mikoto! What is it doing!?" Mirajane exclaims in panic, trying to rush towards her sister. But Mikoto blocks her way and responds quickly to explain, "Mira stop! The rex has the ability to drain the magic from anything it bites onto. Its bite is saving her from the bomb. It is taking away all the magic energy in the bomb!" As if to prove her point, the timer of the bomb went to zero, but then the timer disappeared and the bomb disintegrated. Once that was done the rex dropped an unconscious but unhurt Lisanna gently to the ground. As Mira ran to her sister's side, Mikoto stood between them and Azuma. The rex also walked forward so that it now stood over Mikoto. She glared at Azuma and said, "Mira, take Lisanna away from here. Meet up with the rest of the guild. I know you dont have enough energy left to fight this man." Mira understood the situation and tried to do as Mikoto suggested, but a huge wall of tree was created to block their path.
"I will not let the she devil escape without us finding out which one of us is stronger!" Azuma exclaimed. Before he could do anything else however, Mikoto created many magic circles around him while yelling out, "I am you opponent now Azuma! And I will not lose to you!" That statement lies right at the heart of the conflict of the two guilds as the Railgun of Fairy Tail is about to take on Azuma of the Seven sins of Purgatory.
I'm just a step away
I'm just a breath away
Losin' my faith today
(Fallin' off the edge today)
I am just a man
Not superhuman
(I'm not superhuman)
Someone save me from the hate
It's just another war
Just another family torn
(Falling from my faith today)
Just a step from the edge
Just another day in the world we live
I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero (save me now)
I need a hero to save my life
A hero'll save me (just in time)
I've gotta fight today
To live another day
Speakin' my mind today
(My voice will be heard today)
I've gotta make a stand
But I am just a man
(I'm not superhuman)
My voice will be heard today
It's just another war
Just another family torn
(My voice will be heard today)
It's just another kill
The countdown begins to destroy ourselves
I need a hero to save me now
I need a hero (save me now)
I need a hero to save my life
A hero'll save me (just in time)
I need a hero to save my life
I need a hero just in time
Save me just in time
Save me just in time
Who's gonna fight for what's right
Who's gonna help us survive
We're in the fight of our lives
(And we're not ready to die)
Who's gonna fight for the weak
Who's gonna make 'em believe
I've got a hero (I've got a hero)
Livin' in me
I'm gonna fight for what's right
Today I'm speaking my mind
And if it kills me tonight
(I will be ready to die)`
A hero's gonna save me just in time`
I need a hero (save me now)`
A hero'll save me (just in time)`
I need a hero`
Who's gonna help us survive`
Who's gonna make 'em believe
I need a hero
I need a hero
A hero's gonna save me just in time