Wishfull-star: ( ̄ω ̄)
The other groups taking place went out before them. Fairy Tail Tam A made it! They came in last place, and were booed a lot. Ace prepared himself to be booed as well. Though it wouldn't be personal, because nobody would know who he was. It was them, Quatro Cerberus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, and them.
Ace was sad he'd be against Mermaid Heel, who had helped him out of the goodness of their hearts, but they were opponents, and he wouldn't let personal feelings affect him. He had to be hard and professional. He couldn't be emotional and kind to enemies. When they walked out, Ace was sandwiched between Gajeel and Laxus, so he was hard to notice.
People were more in shock than booing them. Having two Fairy Tail teams didn't seem fair, until the commentator explained that each guild was able to submit two groups that year. So both Fairy Tail teams made it. Ace looked at the absolutely huge crowd on every side, and adjusted his clothes, making sure his pants were zipped up, and flattening his hair down.
He was just glad they weren't booed. Ace saw from the distance that Jura and Lyon were on the Lamia Scale team. Jura knew all about Ace. Crap. Hopefully he wouldn't spread it to the other teams. He'd be impossible to beat regardless. He heard and smelled the rest of the guild in the crowd cheering them.
Ace smiled brightly at them, and waved. Then he gaped when he saw Mavis there. The woman who'd done so much for Ace - for all of them. Ace hoped he didn't disappoint her. He was feeling insecure! Everyone else in the competition looked more confident than he was.
Natsu wasn't happy with team B, and threatened to beat them in the tournament. "It doesn't seem very fair to have Ace in it," Gray mumbled. Ace's face turned red. He really was valued! He felt valued and important! It made him smile. If everyone else had confidence in him, then he should, too.
But then attention was changed again, and Sabertooth walked out. Ace was unsurprised to see the two dragon slayers there. The blonde one, whose name he still didn't know, glared at him. There was a woman with white hair and a fancy outfit, a man dressed up very fancy, with a mask and feathered hat, and then a tough looking buff guy.
It seemed that Natsu hated them already, so he probably met them before. "Boo, Sabertooth! You're evil jerks!" Ace heard Sabo call, attuned to his guild mate's voices. Sabo and Marco especially. He looked up and saw both of them looking sour at the number one guild's contenders.
The rules finally came in, a big stone block with writing on it. Each day had an activity that one person was chosen to take part in, and then a battle. The battles were chosen by sponsors. So, they were personal. With nobody knowing who Ace was, he wondered who he'd be teamed up against. Hopefully nobody from Lamia Scale, though he'd gotten stronger since then.
Surprisingly, he saw Jura was smiling at him in an almost encouraging way. Probably seeing his nervousness, and knowing him more personally than others. He really did seem like a kind and honorable man. But Ace didn't want to go up against a wizard saint.
Back the rules, the winning person of a battle of each event would get ten points, with the last getting zero. A draw would be five points each. The activities, the contests, would have the winners ranked by performance. But the rules for each contest would be made after the people were chosen.
The first contest was called "Hidden". "I… I'm the smallest, I can hide better," Ace offered, voice shaking.
"I don't think it will just have to do with size, but I think you'll be the safest bet this time," Laxus said. It felt like he was the unofficial leader, definitely the strongest. Ace took a deep breath, and Mira wished him luck. He walked to the group of those taking part. He was smaller than all of them, the youngest. Though the girl from Mermaid Heel, who he didn't recognize, was only a little taller than he was.
Lyon and Gray were also taking place. Lyon hadn't been paying too much attention to Ace when they met, but Jura no doubt informed him of what he knew. Rufus, the fancy dressed man, was from Sabertooth. He looked down on Ace in a condescending way, but he looked at everyone in the group that way. A guy from Raven Tail was really creepy looking, but didn't look at Ace like he was anything special. Ace didn't know what to think of the guy from Quatro Cerberus.
Ace was the one looking the most nervous. "Don't fail now, little boy," Rufus said.
"Try not to embarrass your high class guild. We have nowhere to go but up," Ace said coolly. His voice didn't shake, and he was proud. Rufus's eye twitched, and Gray laughed about it.
"Wait, wait," Nalpudding, the creepy Raven Tail guy, said. "I get the rules, but I don't think it's fair to have two fairies participating. Even if one of them is a little child." Ace didn't show he was bothered by the remark. Being underestimated right now in the beginning was good! Maybe he shouldn't have angered Rufus, but he wouldn't be insulted like that and just take it.
When the pumpkin said they wouldn't change the rules, and the other contenders had no issues with two Fairy Tail members being there, the game began. A city was erected in the massive arena. It looked so real, and it was summoned by magic. "Whoa, cool," Ace muttered. Before he could think, he was teleported somewhere random in the city.
"The rules are simple! Everyone is it, and everyone is hiding! The contestants will not see what is on the lacrima projections! Contestants are to find their opponents somewhere in the city, and use any magic they like to attack. Regardless of how severe the attack, every attack will get one point!" That meant Ace's immunity wouldn't matter as long as someone hit him. Then suddenly, there were clones all around him. He smiled lightly. They all smelled fake. He would be able to find the real ones easily.
If someone hit a clone, they lost a point. "Now, let the game begin!"
Ace had to try something. It was easy to find someone with magic power in this place. The clones were not moving, they weren't living. Just dolls with no magic power. Ace risked losing a point, and moved to one of his clones, and secreted some magic inside it. He listened for the sound of a lost point, but didn't hear it.
He took a deep breath, and walked through the crowd, putting tiny traces of his magic into the fakes. Once he had a good amount out, he stayed still. He didn't move, didn't look anywhere. He kept his other senses open completely, filtering out the crowd, knowing the voices of his opponents and committing them to memory.
But he only had thirty minutes. He'd lie in wait. Immediately, there were lost points as the others attacked the magic clones. They were teleported to new places after every hit or point loss. Six lost points were made, and the commentators were confused about what happened. They also couldn't find Ace in the crowd. He blended in perfectly.
Ace smelled he real Nalpudding coming up behind him, and when he got close, Ace smacked him in the face, winning a point. "Oh! The first point goes to Ace! The underdog, the only child! But is he surprisingly strong?!"
He didn't smile, giving clones his magic again as he moved slowly. He hid again, and more people were getting his fakes. People would be hesitant with the real one this way. "Is little Ace putting his own magic into the fakes?!" That name kind of annoyed Ace. Well he'd prove them size and age didn't matter.
Beth, the Mermaid Heel girl went running past him, and Ace smacked her, earning another point. He kind of wanted to keep his dragon side secret for now. He was just looking smart right now. He continued to make fakes, amused thoroughly when people kept hitting his fakes, losing points until they just avoided findig Ace, which was also good for him, as he caught them by surprise.
"Little Ace isn't doing anything flashy, but he's racking up the most points here! Can anyone find the real one?!" Ace kept a grin off of his face, still looking blank. The Mermaid Heel girl came past him again, and he tripped her, then teleported somewhere else. He didn't want to, but he nabbed Gray, too.
Putting more and more magic into clones, he was setting perfect traps. Then Eve rained snow down on everyone. Ace was unaffected, as it was magic. The trick was to make the real ones shiver. But when Eve passed right by Ace, he smacked him, next. Ace was now up seven points. Nalpudding had two, and Gray was in negative points. The others were canceled out.
Then Eve got somebody, and Lyon caught two. Not Ace at all. It did seem they were more careful of him, but his magic clones were still throwing everyone off. He nabbed Gray again, and then Lyon. He stayed calm.
"Little Ace is unexpectedly climbing the ranks! But what's with Sabertooth's Rufus?! He hasn't moved at all!" Ace knew where he was without looking.
"I remember everything. I don't need to see," he heard Rufus say confidently. "Memory make…" That was his magic, he was planning an attack. "Night of falling stars!" Ace could hear and smell the magic coming, and jumped out of the way before it hit him. But it got everyone else but Nalpudding.
Ace heard him launch at Rufus, but miss. While they were both distracted, Ace was quite close, and shot up, landing a hit on Rufus, purposely grabbing his hat and he disappeared. "Oh! And Little Ace avoids and then takes out Rufus!"
Ace dropped down and ran back into the crowd to hide. "Can anyone best his strategy?!" Ace had left the hat at the spot, as holding it would be a dead give away. Ace heard Rufus again, and he knew which one was Ace, who ran, dodging his attacks without turning around. Ace decided to attack, but before either of them got a point, the timer ran out.
The rankings were Ace with 18 points, Rufus with eleven, Raven Tail with eight, Lamia Scale with six, Blue Pegasus had three, Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus both with negative one, and Fairy Tail Team A with negative two. Yikes. Ace was a far lead.
"A shocking upset, the unknown underdog Ace wins over all, including Rufus of Sabertooth! Quite the difference between both Fairy Tail teams!" Ace felt bad for Gray. Ace could hear people actually cheering for him, but still booing Gray for his terrible results. Maybe nobody wanted to bully a kid. Who knows? He was just so relieved he didn't fail! And he didn't expose his dragon self at all!
The city disappeared, and Ace saw all of the glaring contestants. They hated Ace. Even Gray was furious. Rufus was looking at Ace in a cold, calculating way. His magic had something to do with his memory. He had no memory of Ace using his dragon form. This was fun! He made a good start for his team!
Relief and confidence flooded into him.
It was time for the battles, everyone returning to their places in the stands. Mira hugged Ace, and Laxus and Gajeel were grinning at him. "Good job, Ace," Laxus praised. "You were smart and didn't even show your true power." Ace was baffled by the compliment, but gladly took it. "Gave us a good start."
"Geehee," Gajeel laughed. Ace looked to the side and saw the Sabertooth dragon slayers looking at him in hate, too. Rufus didn't look as angry as they were. He was a better sport about it. Ace got a drink of water, and leaned forward in his seat when Lucy was against the Raven Tail woman. She looked a bit crazed, with long red hair in two braids. She really did look unhinged.
Lucy unleashed multiple celestial spirits, which were so interesting, and was winning at first, even cutting Flare's hair into bits to free her. But then, Lucy was caught around the ankles with the hair and thrown around. Ace winced at it, knowing it had to hurt to be slammed to the ground.
Ace could easily hear them speaking, and with Flare's hair drilling through the ground. What strong hair that was. But he heard and saw the gesture to Asuka, Alzack and Bisca's daughter. There was hair next to her. A threat. If Ace got there, maybe he could be fast enough to make it so Lucy was able to fight back!
Ace jumped on the siding and sprinted across the stadium to the Fairy Tail spot, and yanked on the hair sticking out of the ground. It was hot, but he had his hand covered in black scales. He cut it with his talons. "Asuka, are you okay?" Ace asked. Everyone there were surprised by the hair, having been too distracted to notice it.
She nodded. Ace grinned, and held the hair up to signal Lucy to fight, which she did, and was about to unleash an attack with Gemini, who copied her. Ace didn't train with them, so he wasn't sure what to expect. He was focusing on Raven Tail and Sabertooth, not being surprised if they cheated.
Ace wasn't watching the match. He was watching Raven Tail now. They were already cheating with how Flare held Asuka hostage. He heard a mutter of, "do it." Ace took off his shoe and shot it forward at them, knocking it into the nearest one to the side. While he was distracted, nothing happened, and Lucy's spell unleashed her super spell, planets and stars appearing, and it hit Flare, giving Lucy the win.
The Master of Raven Tail looked at Ace in anger and hatred. They were going to try something! Man, Ace was creating enemies left and right. Now he didn't have a boot. Sabo copied his left one so Ace had another one. "What happened?"
"Raven Tail was going to do something to interfere. And Flare was holding Asuka hostage with her hair." The Master laughed and was proud of Ace, as was Mavis. Ace blushed at the praise, and then returned to their area. Gajeel asked what happened, and Ace said he stopped some cheating.
"Nice."
The next battles were interesting, but he wasn't as invested. But Ace, unfortunately, was first in the battle. "I'm not ready," Ace said frantically.
"Don't worry. Just do your best. You already got us a lot of points today! If you lose, don't feel so bad! It's just the start, after all," Mira said firmly. Ace nodded. He was against Sabertooth again. Not Rufus, but the big buff guy. He didn't know what kind of magic he used, but Olga didn't know Ace's either. He showed only that he could put his magic into other things.
Ace was breathing quickly when he made it to the stadium floor. "Oh! How will Ace do against Olga, one of Sabertooth's strongest!?"
The other commentator said, "We knew very little about Ace. I've never heard his name before, so he's definitely an unknown figure. It also means he doesn't cause destruction like much of Fairy Tail used to. It should be interesting to see how he fights, as we saw very little of his magic during Hidden."
Olga was smirking at Ace, much, much bigger than he was. And buffer. Ace looked harmless, but everyone knew he was smart. He at least had that. He wasn't totally useless. Even Gray seemed more useless than Ace, which was so weird. Ace swallowed thickly.
"Don't worry, I'll make it fast," Olga said condescendingly. Ace didn't know his magic, and it wasn't said. So it was inconvenient for him. But immediately, before Ace could dodge, he was caught in a ball of black lightning. It did hurt, but it didn't do nearly enough damage to knock him out of the battle. It just singed his clothing.
Once the black lightning dissipated, Ace still just stood there, perfectly fine. Olga's jaw dropped, and Ace gave a shaky, relieved smile. But the Sabertooth wizard did another attack, and Ace was unharmed.
"What?! What is this?! Little Ace hasn't been affected by not one, but two of Olga's attacks! What is going on?!" Ace knew he wasn't strong enough to knock Olga out with his bare hands. And he didn't want to reveal his magic too much. Well, not his magic, but his dragon power. He heard Gajeel tell him to use his training and go all out.
Ace set his face, and tossed his boots, making his feet and hands into dragon form, his wings tearing through his shirt. The crowd gasped, and Ace's heart was pounding in his ears by now. He shot forward, and Olga attempted to hit him with lightning again, but it did nothing. Ace slammed his leg into his face, scratching across his cheeks. When he was punched away, Ace rolled a few times but got back up and went again. When it was clear he was doing no real damage, and he wasn't strong enough, he decided to let Olga waste all his magic power on him.
It had only been ten minutes, he had twenty more. Ace was afraid to let everyone know he could turn into a dragon. He wasn't brave enough to do that. Olga outputted blast after blast on him. Ace's hair started to frizz from them.
"What are you doing, runt?! Show what you've got!" Gajeel shouted.
"You can do it Ace!" Makarov called. Ace finally took a deep breath and shifted into his dragon form, which was bigger than Olga was. The crowd gasped, and the commentators had nothing to say. Ace flew forward and body slammed Olga into the wall, crushing him against it. He was out like a light, and Ace changed back, thankful that he wasn't naked.
That would have been worse than losing spectacularly. Everyone was speechless, and Ace stood kind of awkwardly before the crowd erupted in cheers. "And not so little Ace had now cemented himself as the ultimate winner for today!" the louder commentator shouted. "Defeating two of Sabertooth's members! The ultimate guild is off to a bad start, while the true underdogs are well on their way!"
"Ace has given them a good head start, but the others will need to keep up the rest of the week. We'll see what happens then." It was the last fight. Ace had wobbly legs as he made his way out of the stadium and into the halls and then up the stairs to his friends, not his team. Marco and Sabo hugged him tightly, congratulating him about how cool he was.
"I still want to do little jobs with you both, though," he said. "I'm so tired," he sighed. The Master said he was very proud of Ace's strength and intelligence today. Ace had gotten his battle over with on the first day! He didn't need to worry all week about it! Oh, he was so relieved. He was glad he helped Lucy with her match in some way when she was in trouble.
When the crowd filtered out of the stadium, and the Fairy Tail group was all together, they congratulated Ace, while Gray was still irate with him. But Makarov was serious when he said, "We will not allow Ace to go anywhere by himself. I don't mean Marco and Sabo. Laxus, I want you to be his guard. He's angered two powerful guilds in one day." Ace didn't complain, but was a little scared. Was he in big danger? Would he be cursed again? Laxus nodded once, and Ace and his friends stuck by his side.
He wasn't bothered when they wanted to go sight seeing. But Sabertooth was there. The two dragon slayers. They were staring at him with wide eyes, of shock but also hostility. Their parents were dragons, too. Maybe they wanted to know if Ace knew where they were. Laxus asked, "What do you want?"
"What is your magic," the blonde asked.
"None of your business," Ace said coolly.
"You cheated somehow, didn't you?"
"Big bad Sabertooth is accusing a child of cheating because you lost?" Sabo asked in a curious voice. "That sounds kind of embarrassing for your reputation." Laxus looked serious, but Ace could see a tiny smile. "You hurt old man Woopslap. We're not going easy on you ever. Get used to losing to us." Sabo's voice was hard and cold now.
An Exceed by the blonde, who he heard his name was "Sting-kun". "Don't worry, Sting-kun. We'll show them some cheating doesn't affect the first day. Get off your high horse. Sabertooth is the strongest guild in Fiore! You'll see!" The cat sounded very convinced by his own words.
"Fro thinks so, too!" the other Exceed, wearing a frog suit, said. Ace wasn't afraid to admit he found this exceed adorable. Sting and the other and their two exceeds left. Ace heard them grumbling about him. Ace let out a deep breath.
"Maybe I shouldn't have participated. I don't want a reputation and for people to hate me," he said. Marco told him he did wonderful, and to not let other intimidate him.
"You've come too far and been through too much to be scared of them all. Besides, we'll all protect you," the older blonde said firmly. Ace smiled and thanked him. The four tried to sight see, but everywhere Ace went, people were swarming him and complimenting him on his performance and magic. Ace smiled awkwardly to it all, thanking them for their kindness. By dinner time, he wanted to go back to the hotel and away from all the craziness. He was more annoyed now than flattered.
Laxus took them back wordlessly, and the three boys sat on the bed. "This is annoying. I wanna go home."
"You'll get more used to it. You can't flake out, now," Sabo replied lightly.
"I know, I won't! Doesn't mean I don't want to go home," Ace said. "I don't want people after me. I don't want to be cursed again." Laxus was listening and said they wouldn't let that happen again. Even though he was gone for all of it. So he must have heard second hand about it from somebody else. Ace didn't respond.
They ordered room service for dinner, the window wide open. Ace could hear all the cheering and excitement from outside. "I'm tired."
"You sure do complain a lot," Marco mumbled. "You should be proud of your performance today. You made us look really good. Made the more weak, unknown members of our guild seem like they have great potential." Ace didn't think about it that way. Laxus told him he didn't need to compete again, since he did his fill today. But he had to stick around.
"You're a fan favorite, now. You'll look like a flake and disappoint everyone if you drop out or are replaced by someone else." Ace felt guilty for complaining about it all. He should be happy about it. But he was tired, and until now, didn't really realize he was more of an introvert than an extrovert. He'd rather go home or the guild and just quietly watch others or talk lightly with his friends.
At least he now knew something new about himself. So there was that. Eventually, everyone returned to the hotel room, and went to bed. Sabo and Marco left for the night, and Ace was left awake in bed, wondering if everything would be okay. He regretted turning into a dragon today. But he couldn't do anything about it now but not show it again.
To be honest, he was much more proud of himself for his strategy in Hidden, winning the most points while tricking everyone else into doing worse. But he had a huge boost in confidence in himself from today, and that was definitely a welcome feeling.
-x-
"What are you glaring at?" Mira asked, seeing Ace scowling across the stadium with his arms crossed. "I know Gajeel is doing poorly, but you aren't usually this angry." Ace was glaring down what was clearly an illusion, clearly targeting him, since it was a blurry dragon. It wasn't even that good of an illusion, and he was clearly the only one seeing it.
"Someone has made a poorly crafted illusion, taunting me. Across the stadium, on the other side." Mira turned around, and both she and Laxus looked surprised. But they saw nothing. It was only for Ace. "It's not even that good, why would I fall for it?" It was his dragon father that he didn't have a good look at. So the illusion had to bring out someone important or something out of the person it was aimed at. But the quality was terrible mostly because of Ace's own realization his memory was crappy.
"Well, don't leave our presence. It's not too surprising someone is targeting you," Laxus said bluntly. It didn't make Ace feel good. And he was annoyed with the audience. When it was time to pick who would take part in that day's contest, the crowd kept chanting his name. He wasn't going to do more than one competition if he could help it.
Not only did he not want too much attention, but he'd rather quit while he was ahead instead of undoing all his success by failing at another event. But it was also annoying that Gajeel and Natsu were doing so, so poorly at this. They were on a long line of chariots, and they were all racing along it.
But the two dragon slayers, along with Sting who was taking part, were too nauseous to really do anything. They were pitiful, and Ace wished they had both done fantastic so he wouldn't have stood out too much. Having the rest of the guild perform spectacularly would have let him fizzle away at least a little bit.
He could see there were flags with just his name on it. It was… surprisingly frustrating. And Ace didn't like the feeling of anger or annoyance or frustration. It was unpleasant. He'd rather just be sitting and watching in the stadium with his friends, cheering on his guild. But he was lonely, and cranky.
"Your attitude is starting to annoy me, Ace," Laxus said honestly. Ace slumped, and apologized.
"Don't be mad at Ace, you have to understand how he feels."
"Doesn't mean it's not annoying. He should be glad to help out the guild with all he can. Go above and beyond to repair our reputation." Mira look frustrated, and Ace felt ashamed. Was he a bad family member for feeling this way? He just didn't like the mass attention. But at least it was something good. He wasn't paid attention to for failing.
Ace's face went white when the illusion turned into his captor, the man who cursed him. He smirked at Ace, and he shrunk back in his seat. "What is it now?"
"The illusion turned into the guy who- who tortured and cursed me," Ace said quietly. Mira told him the Master obliterated the man, and that it truly was just an illusion. "It still scares me…" he mumbled. The former S-class wizard took Ace's hand, and said they'd be there. It was only a few days, and then they could go back home, and Ace coud resume the little jobs.
"Yeah…" Ace said quietly.
Sting was being quite obnoxious, and questioned why Natsu and Gajeel were trying so hard when it always seemed the old Fairy Tail -pre Tenrou timeskip- didn't care what they looked like to everyone else. "It's for my friends! For seven years… all that time… they waited for us! It was hard on them… they had - urp - sad times. They got humiliated, but they just endured it! They kept protecting the guild! It's for my friends! I want to show them… that Fairy Tail will live on! That's why I gotta move forward!" Natsu shouted.
Tears gathered in Ace's eyes. How could he act like this was a burden, when he was trying to erase their shame and humiliation? Show them all that Fairy Tail was back! And that nobody was going to let anyone hurt them again! Ace felt fire inside him to keep doing this, and do it right. It wasn't a burden. Maybe it was frustrating, but there was a reason to endure it! This was nothing compared to what everyone else went through.
"I'm sorry. I won't complain anymore," Ace said quietly.
"Natsu has a way with words. That's surprising," Laxus commented with a grin. Mira wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement. Both dragon slayers from their guild made it at the same time, tying for second to last, earning one point each. Every point mattered, and Sting clearly didn't see that, despite his guild being wiped on the floor before. He was cocky, and probably really did believe that Ace cheated.
"I have to use the bathroom," Ace said awkwardly. "This is embarrassing." He had to be escorted to pee. Laxus took him, and it was indeed embarrassing. As they walked, someone came up behind them, but he only saw it, he didn't hear or smell it. It was the dark wizard that hurt Ace. It was the illusion again.
Ace snapped. "What is the point of showing me illusions?! I know it's not real!" Laxus turned around but saw nothing. Then the man, still in cloak and hiding his gross looking face, was behind him, and solid. He grabbed Ace around the throat, and Ace turned around to slash at him with a dragon claw, but he was gone.
He was panicked now. He'd really felt him grab him. Was he real? He was there again, like a shadow, and pressed his hand over Ace's eye. The black magic circle formed there, and he lost vision again. "No! Stop it!"
"Ace, Ace! Calm down, it's not actually happening, there's nothing there!" Laxus insisted at the screaming Ace as his head split. How did Laxus not see it happening?! He was right there! Ace finally passed out, and Laxus grabbed him in his arms, looking very disturbed. He could no doubt hear the laughing down the hall as he hurried Ace to the infirmary. It was a miracle Ace didn't wet himself in his panic.
When Ace woke up, he was in a bed. He jerked up, and sobbed about being cursed again. Porlyusica was beside him, and told him to calm down. "It's an illusion, Ace. Nothing happened to you. You were not cursed again, and you can see our of your left eye," she said, though she didn't sound impatient. Wendy was on the bed beside him, looking concerned. Elfman was also in the room, bandaged up. Ace missed his fight, then. And probably missed his own team's match, since they went by so fast. None of them had used up the thirty minutes so far.
"B-but, I felt him! He touched my eye, and I felt it and couldn't see! I can't see!"
"That's because you're believing it! I understand that it was something very traumatic that happened to you. But you responding to the illusion only strengthened it, Ace. You have to believe it was false, or you'll really think its real and so it will be real."
Ace was terrified, and no matter how much he tried, he still believed it was real. He was cursing himself. "Stay in here for now. Freed put runes around the room so nobody else can get in," the woman said. The woman that saved him when he was little and was a victim to his own dragon body. He trusted her, had trusted her magic medicine for years.
Even if he no longer used it, he trusted her words. He searched his mind for that voice that would no doubt be taunting him, punishing him for getting rid of the curse, for killing him. But nothing happened. Ace's vision slowly came back, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. Porylusica looked at him in pity.
"Ace-san," Wendy said sadly. He would be embarrassed later. That man, he didn't know his name, still haunted him, even from the grave. Get played right into whoever cast the illusion's hands. He was humiliated, but he couldn't bring himself to be mad at himself. He knew his trauma was valid, everyone had told him that.
And it clearly wasn't gone from him. Ace didn't know when it would leave, when he would heal completely. And he was very upset with that. The boy had thought he moved on, but he was wrong.
Marco came to the door, and was let in. Wendy quickly said only those with the Fairy Tail mark could enter so he didn't panic over the runes not working right. "Ace, are you okay?" he asked in worry, Sabo hurrying in after. Ace was so embarrassed.
"I'm… okay. I got caught in an illusion," Ace said in shame. "It felt really real. It's cause I got upset." Marco and Sabo looked sad, but not pity. The younger blonde said it wasn't odd for him to still have trauma. "How'd you know what it was about?"
Marco said, "You're holding your left eye." Ace hadn't realized, and put his hand down. They couldn't have a real heart to heart with a bunch of people in there. Ace sighed, and confessed that he was ashamed. And he had to pee, but he didn't say that. He stayed in there awhile to calm down until the games were over for that day. Mira won. Elfman, too. They weren't doing too bad.
When they left, Laxus was guard again. He really didn't seem too bothered. He didn't show pity on Ace for seeing his melt down. While he wished he hadn't been there, he was glad he was. Something bad could have happened to him if he was unconscious alone.
They went to a bar, and Makarov was angry about what happened to Ace. Very angry. Ace tried to convince him he was fine, but the Master was still worried and didn't fully believe him, not that that was surprising. Ace was still subdued, and looking all around him. "I still want to participate in the games," he said firmly.
"I didn't say you couldn't. But you need to realize that the man is dead. Not even his ashes remain." Ace looked down in shame, and nodded. Gray pat his back, drunk it seemed. It was awkward. He was glad when he walked away to challenge Natsu. Mira offered to take him back to the hotel room, seeing he was exhausted, despite not taking part in anything today.
Ace was thankful and they left. While they heading back, Sting saw them. "Heh, heard about your little melt down in the hallway. Screaming about something that wasn't there. You sure are 'tough' aren't you?"
The two ignored him, though the words stung. Ace went straight to bed after changing into pajamas. He was ashamed, and still a bit afraid. Irrationally afraid. Logically, he knew it was all fake, it was all an illusion. But it manipulated his emotions perfectly. How stupid.
