Ace went to the infirmary Lucy was staying at, and sat on the bed next to her. She was still crying, but not sobbing. Ace took her hand with the guild mark. Hers was on the left, and Ace's was on his right wrist. "I wasted your points," she said in shame, not making eye contact.
"We still have one point. We're not completely out of the game. It's only the first day, after all," Ace said nicely. She asked if he was going to go watch the match. "Nah. I'll go back when our nakama are fighting next." She nodded, and still looked upset, but no more tears were coming.
"I'm sorry. We left you again," she said quietly.
"That time was different. I had Sabo and Marco to go to. I wasn't all alone. Though it did hurt I was rejected. At least I was able to train those three months. You brought out four spirits and then nearly did a huge spell. Training doesn't matter much, it seems." Lucy nodded. "Was the party worth it?" She shook her head this time.
Lucy took a deep breath. "We'll win. By the end, we'll win," she vowed. Ace grinned and agreed. "Even if our team loses, there's Sabo, Mira and Laxus. All three of them are S-Class wizards. They'll win this for us if we can't." Ace grinned.
"I don't plan on losing to my brother anymore," he said firmly. They waited in there, making small, insignificant talk, before Fairy Tail B team was starting. She was covered in little burns and bruises from her fight, and Poyrusica arrived when Ace was leaving. He said nothing, knowing she disliked people.
Ace walked through the halls, and came across Sting and his exceed. Ace passed by him, but Sting told him to wait. "You're not a dragon slayer. You're a liar."
"I'm my own type of dragon slayer. There's no real point in arguing."
"We would have heard about a fifth dragon slayer in Fairy Tail. Especially one like you. Where'd you get that power from over the seven years?" Ace couldn't say he went on small jobs, because he hadn't. He'd gone on a lot of expensive and well known jobs over his time at Fairy Tail, with both of his teams.
"I got it from a dragon."
"You got it from Acnologia, didn't you?" Sting accused. The exceed cat gasped. Ace turned around and looked exasperated. He told him that Acnologia had attempted to kill them all. So why would he give magic to a human? He had said nothing, just tried killing them all. "I don't belive you."
Ace said that was fine. "But even if I did get my magic from Acnologia, that would make me the strongest dragon slayer, wouldn't it?" Sting scowled, and Ace hurried back to the stands, hearing Sting huff and walk the other way. He was smart, but there was no point in spreading such a thing around. Even if it was true, there was still no point.
When Ace got back to his box, he was just in time to hear who was against who. Sabo versus Jura! A wizard saint!
"And we're to the last match!" Wow, the match between the one he left during and the last one must have been very short. "Sabo, one of the S-Class wizards of Fairy Tail, getting his title at just eleven years old, versus the wizard saint, Jura! I've also heard that Sabo is Ace's brother! Is he strong enough to keep up?!"
Ace smirked at this in amusement, but Sabo didn't seem upset. The crowd was genuinely shocked that Sabo became an S-Class wizard at eleven. Ace glanced at all the other guilds in their spots to watch, and saw various shocked expressions as well. Sabo was so cool, he hoped he put up a good fight with Jura.
The teen was targeted immediately by the wizard saint, and he dodged, pressing a red palm to the ground, letting loose a massive explosion that blanketed the entire ring. Once the smoke cleared, both Sabo and Jura stood there, perfectly fine. Jura looked at Sabo in approval. The last time they all saw one another after being brought home, he just proved that he was a nice man. Sabo wasn't facing someone that they all wanted gone. Jura had been an ally to them once.
He sent more rocks at Sabo, who put a white hand up and caused the rock to break against his forcefield. He turned his hand orange and pressed his own chest, enhancing his speed until he made it to Jura to attack, only for a rock wall to form. Sabo pressed a green hand to the wall, and sharp vines thrust through it and covered Jura, who fought them off with just his magic aura only.
Sabo looked happy, but not intensely excited. "So, you use various colors with your hands?" Jura asked. "It looks like I only need to go after those." Sabo didn't reply. He put a brown hand to the ground, and his own rock wall formed, with Jura breaking it apart, leaving the ground a mess of stones and dirt.
He formed a fist of rock, and nailed Sabo in the side. Sabo put a gold hand to his side, and the broken bones reformed. The commentators were going crazy over the amount of magic Sabo could use and how diverse. Literally colorful. Jura managed to lock both of Sabo's hands in stone.
Sabo swore greatly, but Ace knew it was a farce. Marco was smirking, too.
"Is Sabo down for the count?! He's been immobilized!" When Jura walked up to him to praise him, Sabo sighed, and started to say he surrendered before he took his boots off in one fell swoop and planted the soles of his feet on Jura's chest. The man was forced down to the ground with Sabo's gravity power, which was the hardest for him to use. Jura was crushed to the ground, and Ace kept his feet glowing, despite it being harder to use them than his hands.
The teen did a flip, and broke both wrists to get out of the hold before reversing the injury. He ran forward and pressed his hands down, crushing Jura even more under gravity. The man slammed his hand on the ground, telling Sabo to release it. The blonde did so, and jumped away.
He was sweating, but still standing. Jura stood, and admitted defeat. But he was smiling brightly at him, clearing impressed. "You'll become even stronger. I commend your performance," Jura said in a friendly voice. He shook hands with the exhausted Sabo. The crowd went crazy. As crazy as they had with Ace.
"And that concludes today's games! Are those brothers unstoppable?! We'll find out soon enough!" Ace jumped off of his area, landing on the arena dirt ground to help Sabo out. He was sweaty, but was able to walk on his own.
"You're so awesome. You made a wizard saint surrender!" Ace cheered, so proud of him. Sabo told him he'd been pretty cool, too. The older brother waved it off. It wasn't nearly as intense as Sabo's fight had been. His was only super flashy because he looked that way. "I bet nobody can figure out your magic, too. Maybe we're both mysteries, haha." Sabo looked at him with a fond smile. He swore they'd win. "Wanna go get something to eat? Find Marco, too. Though we have to stop by Lucy's room and tell her what happened."
The two walks to the infirmary, but met Jura walking down the hall as well. "That was an excellent performance, Sabo. I am still surprised. I won't be surprised if one day you become a wizard saint, too." Ace's brother's eyes went wide in shock. "I still can't figure out what your magic is, to be honest," Jura admitted. "But I look forward to seeing more of it."
"Ah, thank you so much. That means a lot to come from you," Sabo said, his eyes wide and bright in happiness and shock. Jura also praised Ace, and looked forward to seeing more of him, as well. Ace blushed and nodded. Then the wizard saint left. Both of them were shocked but extremely flattered by his words.
They went to tell Lucy all about it. Afterwards, they had a party at the bar, even if team A only had one point. Team B had eleven based on Sabo and Juvia's performances. Ace was so proud of his brother, and it was vice versa. Ace wondered who he'd battle with. He was excited! But he was worried he'd never catch up to Sabo.
Marco sat beside him rubbing his thigh under the table. He was mean and made Ace super sensitive to it. His face turned red, and he managed to push the hand away. He lost the hallucinated senses, and glared at Marco. "Sorry," the young man said, not sounding very apologetic.
-x-
Ace jerked awake, the only one to wake from it since Marco wasn't there tonight. He looked around frantically, seeing his friends were all in the room, sleeping. They all had to share a room, which was kind of annoying. Ace hurried to the bathroom attached to the room, and flicked the lights on after closing the door.
He looked at his face closely, pinching and pulling it. He had an awful dream. He watched as he destroyed Tenrou island, his own point of view from the one who nearly killed them all. Like he was watching from behind his eyes. Or that he had been Acnologia. He took a deep, calming breath. Looking up, he once again saw his normal face. Tanned skin and freckles. His hands were human hands, just like the rest of him was. But the dream was terrible. He hadn't had that one since when he was alone those seven years. He'd had that one constantly.
There was a small knock on the door, and he opened it to see Happy there, looking sleepy but also worried. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly. Ace said he just had a bad dream. "Want some fish? I don't have any, but I could get some." Ace smiled and shook his head. He was fine. He left the bathroom, turning the light off before opening the door.
Ace went back to bed, and Happy slept next to him. It was hard to believe Happy had ever mocked him for being useless. He was happy those days were far, far behind them.
When he woke up in the morning, he found he was exhausted. Even though he slept through the night after the bad dream, he had bags under his eyes. "Whoa, what happened to you?" Gray asked in surprise. Ace hadn't known they were there, and asked what he was talking about. "You look like you haven't slept for days."
Ace stood up and then fell to the side, slamming his head into the wall. Though it didn't hurt him. "Ace!" Natsu shouted, and went to try and wake him up. His eyes were wide and unseeing. He was still alive, but clearly wasn't aware of what was going on. Natsu shouted to Happy to get Ace to the Master as soon as possible, since they were still in separate hotels.
Happy picked Ace up and flew him to the other one. It wasn't too far away, and he was holding onto Ace's shirt as he flew him over a few buildings. He set Ace down and then opened the door. "Master! Master, help!" Happy shouted, and other members saw Ace, slumped on the floor.
"What happened?!" Marco asked, hurrying over. Sabo came out, and then looked shocked when he saw Ace just laying there, eyes wide open. Happy explained he just woke up with bags under his eyes, and then he fell down suddenly. The Master heard the commotion and came hurrying out. He ran to Ace, and looked him over.
He pulled Ace's shirt completely off, and they saw all sorts of black dots. "He's got a magic infection." Nobody had heard of it but Mira, who looked alarmed. The others from team A came running in, all of them worried. The Master left the room, telling Sabo to get him somewhere warm. They noticed that his body was cold.
Sabo picked him up and brought him to the nearest room, kicking the door out, and laid Ace on the bed. It was Cana's room, and smelled like booze until Sabo created a gust of wind that blew the smell out the open door and into the hallway. Quickly, Porlyusica came in, and moved Sabo out of the way.
She looked impatient and annoyed that nobody had closed Ace's eyes for him, and she did. He pressed down on the dots, and when pressure was put on them, they flattened and spread further. She looked resigned, and everyone was panicking. "He will be okay." The Master came in with a huge cart of supplies, medical supplies. "He needs immediate treatment or he could lose his legs."
She got to work, forcing everyone out of the room. The Master was still inside, but completely silent, not even pacing to distract her. She took a few vials and sucked some into a syringe, and carefully pressed them into each little dot, and they turned a lighter shade of blue. "This one was the one who absorbed Acnologia's ethernano, right?"
"Yes." Her eyes narrowed, and she said they should have been removed a long time ago. "Mavis was with him. He was fine. Is he suddenly sick?" The healer said that Mavis hadn't had the kinds of supplies needed to treat him. What was best for him was staying trapped in that condition, his body not changing.
Each little dot of the black was treated, but they were still there, and slowly spreading. But she didn't seem alarmed by this, and told Makarov that what was spreading was the medication. "How can we treat him?" Master asked. "Is Acnologia's magic that bad for him? What about other dragon slayers?"
"There are no dragon slayers like Ace. I wouldn't even put him in the same category. I would claim him as a dragon child of some sort. And Acnologia isn't like the other childrens' dragons. They didn't put their magic inside them, but taught them how. The lacrima also entered in some are not made of pure dragon magic. But the dark dragon's magic isn't something that should be used recklessly. I didn't see it before, I should have done something then." The Master asked what would happen to him. "If he wasn't already made of fire, and had other magic, then he would be dead by now."
"Will he be alright?"
"Eventually. I'd give him eight weeks to heal. In bed rest only. He won't be able to participate in the Grand Magic Games further." Makarov looked saddened for him, but didn't protest. Not when it came to one of his kid's health. Ace woke up in the middle of this conversation. His eyes were ringed with bags so bad it looked like he could have been punched and sustained back eyes.
He said, "I'll be… okay. They'll win… without me." Then he fell back asleep. Makarov had tears in his eyes, and asked if he really would be alright.
The healer nodded. "I'll be doing daily treatment for him. He lives outside of the guild, correct?" Makarov nodded. "He should be moved to the guild where I can keep an eye on him while he heals. He could relapse and get sick, but it's unlikely with his unique body. But he should never use 'dragon slayer' magic again."
It wouldn't be a huge loss for him. Ace would rather have his fire than any dragon powers. Those seven years were wasted, but he was okay. He was strong before, he could be strong with just his fire again. The Master asked if he could still be allowed to absorb ethernon. He was surprised by hearing that would help him recover.
"As long as it's from his environment and not other people or animals." Ace developed a fever and needed medicine for that. She told the Master, "This will be how it is for eight weeks. Tell everyone he doesn't need stress and that they should keep the noise down. One visitor at a time, and nobody is to touch him."
It would be hard for Sabo and Marco to not even hold his hand. "Will he be unconscious the whole time?"
"This will be more uncomfortable than his previous times of healing. After the battle of Fairy Tail and Edolas. But he's strong in body and heart. I feel he will fully heal if he's given proper treatment and bedrest." The Master was so thankful, and left Ace to be treated as he went out the room into the crowded hallway and explained the situation.
Lisanna said, "And he trained so hard to be able to master that…" in a sad voice. The others looked like it was a loss, too. "But he'll still have his own magic, right?" Makarov nodded. It was due to his unique magic that he was treatable.
"Wendy, you will fill in for Ace." Romeo asked why they were still taking part. They needed to go home as soon as possible. "How do you think he'd feel if he was the reason we lost? If we packed up and left, he'd feel all the blame of it. We need to win without him. Understand?" All of their faces were set, vowing to win for Ace's sake more than their own reputation anymore.
-x-
Ace watched the games on the lacrima from his room. He was tired, and his eyes were foggy and blurry, but he was able to hear the commentary. He had a face mask on, just like Marco, who sat across the room. Ace wished he could hold his hand, but Porlyusica told him he couldn't touch anyone for now. It was lonely.
The competition that day made them look terrible. Fairy Tail team B was doing alright based on the previous day's fight between Sabo and the wizard saint. But his own group wasn't doing so well. And he was sad that the commentators kept mentioning that Ace was absent. Wendy was filling in, so that was fine. She was strong in her own way.
Ace started to cough, and Marco got up to get him some help. It was so embarrassing, and humbling. He thought too highly of himself, to be considered a dragon slayer. But, flying had been really fun. He'd miss it. He was just so happy he got to keep his fire magic. It was a bummer he couldn't do the games anymore, as he had enjoyed the first day a lot. He didn't even get to do his battle. If only he could have done his the first day!
The healer came in, and checked on Ace. "I'm okay. I just coughed," Ace said in a tired voice. He was so fragile to everyone, now. She took his mask off, since his whole body felt like lead. She saw he hadn't coughed anything up, and was left alone. "Thank you," Ace said, glad for any treatment, even if it was unnecessary. Eight weeks… that wasn't too bad. Only two months. Marco had Sabo to go on jobs with. His own group had Wendy to replace him. It should be fine. The woman healing him wasn't the nicest person, but Ace trusted his health with her.
She left, and the two continued to watch the games. "Heh… Maybe I won't get motion sickness anymore," Ace said, the mood in the room too miserable.
"You're perfect, dragon slayer or not," Marco said so fondly, but also sad. Ace smiled, and promised he'd get through this. He wouldn't be sick forever.
"I'll have to live at the guild for awhile, though. That won't be very fun," Ace sighed. "Will you stay with me?" Marco promised he'd follow him anywhere. "Thanks. You, too." They went back to paying attention to the dragon slayers running along a line of carriages, getting nauseous as they did so. Even Sting was there and barely moving.
But they lost, and both Fairy Tail teams got more than them. Both days, both activities, Fairy Tail - at least one team - trumped them. Ace would forever be proud of making the first impression that Fairy Tail was strong. It was just up to them to hold that up while Ace was out. He was just glad there was always someone to replace.
Ace wanted to pay attention to the battles in real time, but he was getting tired. It was a miracle he wasn't sleeping endlessly on a comfortable bed. But he was glad he wasn't. Not on bed sleep, just rest. Porlyusica was there a lot to check on him. Take his blood pressure often. He hated this, being so dependent on others. But also unable to interact. He never thought he'd crave a hug this much.
Closing his eyes, he drifted to sleep.
-x-
Ace was consuming a lot of ethernano from around them, as the whole city seemed to be flooded with magic energy. So he needed to be moved, but also not touch anything unsterile. Touching people was apparently a no-no because wizards naturally have magic bacteria, which Ace had never heard of, but trusted the woman. So, right now, Juvia had him in a ball of her water as they walked out of Crocus and to a place quickly made just for Ace. Built in a day. The inside was perfectly sterile and had never been touched by human hands. Gloves were worn at all times.
There was an ice cart beneath him in case Juvia dropped the water. When they got there and the bed was put down, along with all the medical equipment, Ace was able to activate his fire enough to dry himself off before being laid down. "Thanks, Juvia," Ace said. She smiled and said it was no problem.
"And Gray-sama will appreciate it, too!" she cheered. "Juvia must get back, the matches are starting again." Ace wished her good luck. At least there was a window in this, so he could see the lights of the city. Much to Ace's misery, nobody was allowed in the room. At least, no wizards. Which eliminated everyone in Ace's life. Everyone but Thatch, but he was back home. Ace could sure do with him being there.
He couldn't even have a lacrima crystal in there to tell him what was going on. He hated being alone. This sucked. All he had to pass the time was look out the window at the places he couldn't go. Luckily, he was able to make himself pass the time by sleeping. He'd find out how things went later.
-x-
Ace coughed, moving his arm to cover his mouth. It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, and he couldn't breathe. He was scared, and felt like he was choking on nothing. The door was suddenly thrown wide open. "Get him out, get him away!" Porlyusica shouted. Ace was panicked, no idea what was going on.
He just couldn't breath, a mask was shoved on his face as Elfman grabbed him, not gently. It did hurt, but more like a stinging feeling. What was the most uncomfortable was inside, he knew. Where Elfman touched him, pain was there. He was over the shoulder of Elfman as he sprinted away from the city
Looking behind, he saw a bright shining light from the middle of the city. It was night time. What one earth happened?! His eyes were wide, and masked mouth wide in shock. The whole air started to burn him, but getting away was helping. Elfman was fast, but Jet would have been faster to get away.
Ace felt the burn on his face as more magic was released. He didn't remember ever being burnt before, but it hurt pretty bad. He actually hadn't been in pain for a long time. Not true pain. He shut his eyes tightly, and was thrown over a ditch right as a blast of magic passed over where he'd been.
Even if it didn't touch him directly, it was still in the air, and was causing him to seize. He also was in pain from being tossed into a ditch. Elfman hurried down, with Porlyusica behind him with her equipment.
"Wh-What happ-pp-ppened?" he stuttered out. What caused that huge of a magic reaction? What burnt him? He'd never seen an output of magic that strong since Acnologia, and he didn't feel it then. But this time it was painful and debilitating.
Elfman said, "The Eclipse Gate is open!" Ace had no idea what that meant. "A magical doorway powered by celestial energy. It's supposed to take down 100,000 dragons that will be coming here!" he explained, actually doing a decent job. Even as Ace twitched, his jaw dropped open. More dragons?! One was already enough! Ace wanted nothing to do with dragons anymore! Unless they were his friends, but not real dragons!
Elfman was much more gentle in picking Ace up this time. "I'm sorry for tossing you," he apologized sincerely. Ace said it was fine, he hadn't meant to hurt him.
"We need to get him sterile as soon as possible," the healer ordered. But where? If he couldn't go into the city, where else would they go? And Eflman's skin was still burning Ace. He felt miserable, but didn't want to worry his friend and the woman treating him for no price. Ace really was helpless and broken. Still over seven weeks left. It would be a long, long month and a half.
The sterile room was some random house they commandeered, and Ace was laid on clean blankets on the floor. It was kind of immoral, as Elfman scared them away with his takeover form. Then Elfman was kicked out of the room, and a charm was made to keep the airflow clean. Who knew how far that massive amount of energy stretched? He couldt see anything out of the window, and didn't feel anything other than the pain he entered the house in. The air outside wasn't hurting him.
"Honestly, why would they let out that much magic all at once?" Porlyusica asked in annoyance. "They didn't even tell the entire city to evacuate, some of us got no warning!" she vented, mostly to herself. Ace hoped his friends and family were okay. It had only been three days, and he missed his boyfriend and brother so much it hurt.
Later, he learned that there were indeed dragons, but nothing went to plan. Those in charge were tricked into opening the gate, only for it to connect to 400 years ago, when dragons lived, and planned to let them out and take over this time. It wasn't a good plan for many reasons. Ace looked at the ceiling with a sigh.
Why did bad things happen to good people? How many people had gotten hurt by this? Anyone killed? Surely. He was worried over his friends a lot. If they were okay, since they were up against dragons! Were they all as strong as Acnologia? If so, Crocus should be nothing but ash. But Ace hadn't heard the explosion that had haunted his dreams for months during the blank seven years.