I do NOT own Fairy Tail and Shelter, sadly

Chapter 5: Oracion Seis

X784

"Ah crap…"

Rin grunted as she swiftly ran through the sparse foliage in the woods, her fur-trimmed boots noisily trampling over the fallen leaves, leaving crunched leaves in her wake.

"We're going to be late, aren't we?" She continued, asking her companion, who was just as equally tired and disgruntled as she was.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Wendy cried, apologizing for what seemed like the hundredth time today. She quickly caught up to Rin and matched her pace, quite obviously preparing an excuse for her apology.

"I was so nervous about the mission last night that I couldn't sleep at all!" She exclaimed, waving her hands around frantically.

Rin slowed down and took a few more steps before halting beside a tree. She rested her palm on the tree's rough bark, taking in deep breaths as beads of sweat rolled down her chin.

"Wendy.", Rin said softly. "It's normal for someone to feel nervous if they were assigned to a mission, especially to such a big mission like this." She continued, trying to reassure Wendy, who was leaning over her knees in exhaustion.

"Besides," Rin leaned on the tree as she gazed far into the distance. "I also felt really nervous last night, I had hardly slept as well." She chuckled as she admitted sheepishly.

After a while, Rin turned her head slightly to look at Wendy, who fell in silence. "Wendy, is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Rin-san!" Wendy shouted, startling Rin at her sudden outburst. "You didn't sleep!"

Rin stepped back in surprise. "Huh? I slept, of course…" she paused. "Wendy! You didn't sleep?"

"Oh, I uh…" Rin glared intensely at Wendy, who, in kind, avoided her glare.

Rin sighed, "Wendy, did even you sleep?" She asked, her voice part worry, part scold as she grabbed Wendy by the shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry…" Wendy apologized once more. "There's no need to worry though!" she said, puffing her chest out and putting both hands on her hips. "I cast an enchantment on myself to keep the drowsiness away!"

"Even if you say it proudly, it still isn't right…" Rin dryly remarked as she let go of Wendy's shoulder.

"I understand… and I'm sorry…" Wendy meekly apologized.

Rin sighed again. "Let's get a move on. We're already late as it is…" Rin stated as she started running.

"I hope they won't get angry at us." Wendy remarked, preparing herself to run once more.

Rin wryly chuckled. "If they won't, then Carla will." She said jokingly. She ran further ahead, leaving behind Wendy, who fell silent after hearing her words.

"C-Carla! Angry?!" Wendy exclaimed exasperatedly; a vision of an angry Carla entered her mind. She felt a mighty shiver run down her spine. "I'm going ahead!" She shouted, zipping past a shocked Rin.

"H-hey, wait!" Rin yelled as she ran after Wendy, but to no avail; Wendy simply ran faster. "Wendy! I was just joking!"

'-'

Rin ran fast behind Wendy. She didn't want to be the last to arrive, but the way it is now, she just might be. I hope they don't get too angry… She thought.

"I can see it!" Wendy shouted excitedly. Rin perked up at this and looked ahead.

"W-Woah." She remarked, staring dumbfoundedly at the humongous pink villa, its heart motifs a telltale sign of what to expect inside, and she had a slight feeling she will not like it. "I like pink, but this kinda hurts my eyes."

Rin blinked as Wendy passed through the open doors. "Ah." She just realized she was staring. She began to walk forward when suddenly, Wendy screamed in distress, a muffled thud following soon after.

"Uaagh!" Her gaze fell on Wendy, who tripped on… nothing.

"Wendy!" Rin exclaimed, quickly hurrying to her side.

"Oww…" Wendy softly muttered as she stood up with the help of Rin. She daintily brushed off the dirt that had clung to her dress.

"Wendy, are you alright?" Rin asked worriedly. Reflexively checking if she really was alright.

"Mhm." Wendy smiled as she nodded before facing the others in the room. "Um… We're sorry we're late." Wendy quietly said as she clasped her hands behind her subconsciously. "I'm Wendy, from Cait Shelter."

"And I'm Rin, also from Cait Shelter." Rin continued.

"It's nice to meet everyone!" Wendy shyly said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." Rin bowed beside her.

Silence filled the air as everyone else in the parlor stared at them silently. A blush grew steadily on Wendy's face in response to the attention she was receiving.

"Oh." A smooth deep voice called out. "What's this?" Rin's gaze fell on the auburn-haired man, who was looking at them meticulously, stroking his chin all the while.

"What are you little kiddies doing here?" The man continued as he suddenly struck a pose, clutching his white tuxedo in one hand and his forehead in another.

Rin's eye twitched slightly. Little… kiddies? She thought. This comment did not amuse her, not one bit. She was 5'4, for goodness sake! Plus, the man was way smaller than she and Wendy were!

After a while, a bald man with a tribal-like appearance and oddly shaped eyebrows turned around to face both parties. "And with this, all four guilds have gathered." He declared monotonously.

"Jura!" A spiky black-haired man interjected. "You're just going to continue?!" Said man sighed in disbelief as he stuffed his hands back into his orange jacket.

"Gray!" A white-haired man yelled angrily, pointing an indignant finger towards Gray. "We're not yet done here!" He continued, although Gray flippantly ignored him, and as a result, he was irked by Gray's dismissive reaction.

"How dare you ignore me, you bastard!" He furiously yelled.

Gray flinched before turning to face the white-haired man, a vein bulged on his temple. "Bastard?! What did you say, Lyon?!"

Lyon walked forward and grabbed the collar of the white shirt underneath Gray's orange jacket. "Do I need to repeat myself, stripper?" Gray, in response, grabbed Lyon's purple tunic beneath his white cuffed overcoat.

Both men bumped their heads against each other, lightning sparking from their eyes as they tried to overpower the other through brute force. "As if you're any better!" Gray refuted, gritting his teeth all the while.

"Ooh, fight! Fight! Fight!" A blue talking cat, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, began to chant in the background.

A spiky pink-haired man perked up this. "A fight? Count me in!" he declared, pumping his fists together in excitement.

A busty blond suddenly grabbed the man's patterned scarf roughly, choking the said man. "Natsu!" she yelled out loud as she grabbed more of the man's scarf. "I'm won't let you!" she continued, holding off Natsu by tying his scarf around a pillar to prevent him from joining the fight.

"Control yourself!" she continued. "Gray, your shirt is missing again!"

"Ah! My shirt, where did it go!"

"Ha, stupid stripper!"

A pink-haired woman watched the on-going commotion with heavy-lidded eyelids as she shook her head at their antics before turning towards Rin and Wendy. "But in all seriousness, sending only these girls for such a big mission, what is Cait Shelter thinking?"

"Oh?" All eyes stared at the newcomer. A little white feline with a pink bow entered the room. "They're not alone, you garish woman." The cat snidely said.

"Garish?" Rin sweatdropped and Wendy tilted her head in confusion. "That was very mean Carla…"

"Hmph!"

"Me? Garish?!" The woman muttered, "How cruel!"

"That's your problem Sherry?!" Lucy responded in kind.

"Ah, Carla, you came with us?" Wendy asked, surprised.

"Of course! I'd be far too worried about you two going, especially you, Wendy." Carla replied. She spotted a blue cat staring at her with hearts in his eyes and quickly looked away in disgust.

Rin sighed.

"Ah." The blue tomcat had found himself mesmerized by her. Clinging to Lucy's boot, he asked her a favor, "Hey, Lucy… Would you give her this fish of mine?"

Lucy stared at Happy for a moment before smirking. "Oh, what's this Happy?" She leaned closer to the blue male cat. "Are you in looooooooove!" She taunted.

"You're mimicking me!" Happy blatantly pointed out. "And you said it three times stronger than I usually do!"

"U-uhm…" Everyone's attention fell on Wendy once more. "I'm sorry, I can't fight at all…" She said nervously, "But I can use all kinds of support magic… S-so please, don't leave me out!" She was on the verge of crying. Everyone stared at her perplexingly.

Carla sighed. "Sheesh Wendy. That timid attitude of yours is why people look down on you!" she scolded.

"I-I'm sorry…" Wendy apologized.

"Quit apologizing!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Wendy apologized again, making Carla sigh heavily.

Rin approached Wendy. "Wendy, don't cry…" She patted her head softly.

"R-Rin-san…" Wendy hugged Rin and was about to cry once more. Rin sweatdropped.

"And you!" Carla jabbed her paw towards Rin. Rin flinched. "M-me?!" What did I do to deserve this… she thought. "Are one of the reasons why Wendy never got over it! You're way too soft on her!" Carla angrily said, setting her paws on her hips.

"E-eh… You're just way too hard on her…" Rin retorted. No, seriously, what did I do to deserve this…

A red-haired woman walked up to them. "I apologize. I was a bit taken aback at first, but it wasn't my intention." She explained. "I'm glad to have you with us, Wendy. You too, Rin." She politely added.

"Ah, no worries!" Rin replied in kind. "I'm glad to be able to work with you as well!"

Wendy stared at her in awe. "It's Erza-san! It's really her, Rin, Carla!"

"She's a lot nicer than I had initially expected…" Carla said as Rin nodded in agreement.

"Hey, hey! Have you… heard of me before?" Happy asked. He inched closer to Carla, who, in response, inched twice as much away. "I'm Happy, the Necomander!" He bragged although it was such an obvious lie that even the newcomers caught on.

Carla glared briefly at the tomcat before snootily turning away.

"Guagh!" Happy stepped back a bit. "She's so shy~!" He said as he sighed dreamily.

"N-no, it looked more of like she blew you off." Lucy interjected, trying to make sure the tomcat won't misunderstand.

"It's not like you understand a woman's heart Lucy!" Happy retorted.

"Uh, I'm a woman though…" She deadpanned. "Whatever."

Jura and Ichiya continue to watch the others from a distance.

"Say, how should I describe those girl's parfum?" Ichiya asked. He paused for a brief moment before turning towards Jura. "It's definitely not something you can smell every day."

Jura glanced at Ichiya for a short time before looking back at the scene in front of them. "True, their magical power is something different from ours."

"They're both rather… peculiar should I say." Ichiya replied as he looked back at the others.

"It seems that Erza-dono had noticed as well." Jura remarked. How interesting.

"Those girls are going to grow into real babes after a couple of years." A dark-skinned male remarked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I think they're plenty cute already Ren." A blond guy replied, putting both hands behind his back in a slightly childish manner.

"They'll definitely be more beautiful when they grow up Eve!" Ren remarked, the blond-haired man now known as Eve nodded in agreement.

A brown-haired guy seemingly glided out of nowhere and held Wendy's hand. "Come this way, little Miss." He spoke in a charming voice.

Wendy flushed uncontrollably at the man and turned to Rin for help, who was frozen speechless.

Rin shook herself free from her stupor. "Oi." She pried Wendy away from his grip. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked, flashing him a slightly irritated smile.

The man blinked once, twice, before kneeling and grabbing Rin's hand as well. "Pardon me, Miss Rin, I, Hundred Night Hibiki, did not mean to forget you as well." The man said as he stood up and lead them towards a makeshift lounge.

Rin was once again left speechless.

;-;

"Would you like orange juice?" Eve asked Wendy.

Ren leaned back at his corner, eyeing Rin and Wendy. "Seriously, you're just too cute." He remarked, a slight blush visible on his face.

What's with this pervert? Rin shuddered as she subconsciously crept closer to Wendy.

"U-Umm… Uh…" Wendy stuttered; she was too embarrassed to even reply properly.

"What is with these men in heat?" Carla deadpanned.

Ichiya cleared his throat loudly. "We didn't come here to play around!" He shouted before posing. "Clean this up at once!"

""Right away, Ichiya-sama!"" A myriad of voices responded as the lounge was literally lifted and taken away.

"Men..."

"Wasn't it Master earlier?" Lucy mumbled. "They changed what they called him again." She continued, paying no mind as the man continued to do ridiculous poses.

"Well, you've got to admire their inconsistence…" Gray replied.

"Now that we're all here, I shall go ahead and explain the plan." Ichiya declared while posing on a lighted platform brought to him by the Trimens. "I shall start off with the place where the Oracion Seis are gathering…"

He paused for a dramatic effect.

"But first, I shall inspect the bathroom's parfum…"

Everyone except the Trimens sweatdropped, the latter applauding at their sensei.

"They changed it again…" Lucy said, apparently starting to get tired of this running gag.

"At this point, I'm not even going to comment anymore…" Gray said dryly. "Oi, don't go sniffing up the toilet!" He added as an afterthought.

Rin frowned a bit as she stared at the retreating form of Ichiya. Wendy seemed to sense Rin's discomfort. "Rin-san, is there a problem?"

"Hmm…" She continued to stare for a while at the door in which Ichiya had entered, before shaking her head at Wendy. "Nothing… It's nothing, sorry for worrying you Wendy. Just a bit uneasy."

"If you say so…"

After a few minutes, Ichiya returned, although the nagging feeling Rin felt never went away. She felt anxious and uneasy as she shifted from one foot to another. Something feels off, although I can't quite put a finger on it… Rin mused.

Wendy gave her a few more worried glances but did nothing else more than that. Ichiya cleared his throat, pulling Rin out of her musings as she shoved her thoughts at the back of her mind.

"A long, long time ago," Ichiya said, his voice somewhat serious. "ancient people sealed an extremely powerful magic spell inside the Worth Woodsea, called Nirvana!"

"Nirvana?" More than one asked.

"Never heard of it before."

Ren looked at each one of them carefully before speaking up, gaining everyone's attention. "In fact, the destruction caused by it is so powerful that the ancients had to seal it." More than a few of them shuddered at the thought of it.

"Although, we don't know what kind of magic it is." Eve said, shrugging his shoulders for emphasis.

"Destruction Magic?"

"Uhh… I'm starting to feel sick just by thinking of it…"

"It seems that Oracion Seis gathered in the Worth Woodsea to get Nirvana." Hibiki concluded.

"And in order for us to stop them, we will attack Oracion Seis!" Ichiya and the Trimens declared.

"Our numbers surpass theirs, with us having 12 and they 6." Ren said. "But we mustn't underestimate them."

"For they are extremely powerful." Hibiki continued. He stuffed his left hand in his pocket as he snapped his fingers on the other, summoning his archive magic.

"Archive? That's impressive." Jura noted as a bunch of screens flickered to life.

Each screen showed a figure of 6 people. Are they… members of Oracion Seis? Rin thought.

The first screen showed a man with spiky maroon-colored hair. A wicked sharp-toothed grin was etched on his face. "This man," Hibiki pointed out. "Is known as Cobra, a dangerous mage who controls poisonous snakes."

"Man, what a slanty-eyed freak!" Natsu commented.

""Like your any different!"" Both Gray and Lyon said, giving Natsu an incredulous look.

The next screen showed a tall, long-faced man. His blond hair was styled in a spiky mohawk "This man is Racer, and he's thought to use speed magic." Hibiki continued.

"Is this what they call 'hate at first sight'?" Gray said with Lyon humming along to his statement.

"A wizard who is willing to do anything for money," Hibiki continued as the screen flashed an androgynous-looking man with a blocky body and sharp angles. He has long wavy orange-colored hair. "Hot Eye of the Heavenly Eye."

"For money?" Sherry said in disgust.

Jura scrunched his eyebrows at him. "Despicable."

Rin felt disgusted at the man. He's willing to kill for money?! Rin thought exasperatedly. I feel sick just by looking at him…

The next screen flashed a busty white-haired female. "The woman who is said to peer into your heart, Angel."

"Uh… I think I might be naturally weak against someone like that." Lucy dreadfully said.

The next one flashed a sleeping black-haired man, sitting on top of a flying rug. "Nothing much is known about this man, except that he's called Midnight."

"He seems tough." Rin muttered. Erza averted her eyes from the screen and looked at Rin. "Why do you think so?" she asked.

Rin kept her gaze on the man. "I'm not exactly sure why though," She replied. "But he's giving me the chills."

"Then we better keep an eye out for him." Erza stated as she looked back at the screen. Rin nodded along in agreement.

The last screen flashed a dark-skinned white-haired man. He wielded a skull staff adorned with tribal decorations. "This man who appears to be their leader is known as Brain." Hibiki said. "All of them are powerful enough to easily decimate a guild each." He continued as the screens disappeared. He looked at everyone grimly. "That's why we'll have to use our numbers to our advantage."

"Um… I think it might be best if you didn't include me…" Lucy shakily said.

"I-I'm not a very good fighter!" Wendy exclaimed in fear. Carla sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

Wendy turned to Rin for help. Rin smiled at her. "Well, we can't back out now…" she replied.

"Say, what should we do?" Happy asked, scooting closer to Carla. "They aren't including us." In response, Carla flew away and landed on top of Rin's head. The blue cat left them alone dejectedly.

"Fear not, for our plan does not simply involve fighting!" Ichiya reassured, noticing the grim expressions evident on everyone's faces, except for maybe a few. "All we have to do is find their base of operations."

Everyone immediately paid attention.

"They have a temporary base of operations somewhere in the woods." Eve said, smiling.

"And all we have to do is gather them all up in their base and shoot them down!" Ichiya declared.

"Uhm…" Rin asked, "Ichiya-san, how are we exactly going to do that?"

Ichiya pointed up. Everyone looked up and stared through the glass ceiling. They all gasped in amazement as a floating blimp passed over them. It's most noticeable feature, a giant lacrima cannon, gleamed under the sunlight. "With the aid of Christina, Blue Pegasus' pride and joy, we shall wipe their base from the face of this world!"

"A magical bomber?!"

"We'll use that against people?" Lucy asked, trembling at the thought of it.

"It just goes to show how powerful they are!" Jura replied. His face sported a serious look as he declared, "Brace yourselves!" He turned to everyone else. "If we get into battle, do not fight alone under any circumstances! Make sure you always have someone by your side at all times!" Everyone except Natsu nodded their heads at this.

"T-this is so dangerous! Why did master make me come here!" Lucy said while trembling like a leaf in the wind. Wendy shakily nodded her head in agreement.

"My goodness, please stop acting so pitifully!" Carla shouted.

Rin groaned. "Ah, my stomach's starting to hurt…" She clutched her stomach as she grimaced in pain.

"Rin!" Carla shouted. "You're supposed to set a good example for Wendy!"

"No, seriously, I have a terrible feeling at this." Rin muttered lowly as she used Wendy as a support to stand up straighter. This terrible feeling, I've had it since earlier… This isn't normal. At all.

"Okay! I'm all fired up!" Natsu declared as he pumped his fiery fists together in excitement. After Jura dismissed them, he turned around and punched through the door and sprinted off into the distance. "I'm coming for ya, Oracion Seis!" He loudly declared.

"Natsu!"

"Damn, we can't let Fairy Tail get all the good fights!" Lyon heatedly said. "Sherry, let's go!" He continued. He ran ahead as Sherry followed close behind him.

"Lyon! Sherry!" Jura frowned as he tried to stop them, albeit futilely.

Rin watched as the others began to chase after Natsu, leaving Rin and Jura alone. Jura stared at the retreating forms of the others before he looked at Rin. "Miss Rin… Why did you stay here?"

It took a few seconds before Rin answered. "Well, you did say that we should never be alone at all times." Rin faced Jura. "I was simply following instructions."

Jura sighed. "Ichiya-dono is here with me." He turned around to face Ichiya. "Isn't that right Ichi-"

All of a sudden, a white fog enveloped the room, obscuring their vision. Jura and Rin turned around and backed towards the exit, only to feel their backs touch a cold stone wall.

They both began to cough in agony. "Fools… you should've hightailed out of here with the rest of your teammates when you've got the chance." Ichiya's voice bit out.

"What're you- *cough cough Ichiya-dono!" Jura rasped out, as he felt his strength drain for every passing second. He then widened his eyes when he realized that this man, was not Ichiya. "You're not Ichiya-dono, are you?" he asked, trying to keep his shaky voice in check.

"Fools." The imposter chuckled slightly as he waved around an empty vial. "Although this man is a mega pervert, his magic is very useful."

Jura collapsed on the ground, coughing all the while. "Damn it, we've been had…"

Rin coughed even more as she felt beads of sweat roll down her chin. She furrowed her eyebrows as she squinted at the faint stature of the stout man. "How long…" she rasped out. The Ichiya imposter looked at her questioningly. "How long, since you've gotten to Ichiya-san?"

"How long?" The imposter repeated. "Hmm, oh! When he had to sniff up the bathroom's parfum." The imposter shuddered as they recalled the events. "Seriously though, this man's a pervert!"

Rin tried her best to focus on the figure in front of her as her hearing was reduced. It was replaced with an uncomfortable ringing, and it made her head hurt.

Black crept at the edges of her vision as she squinted, struggling even more for every passing second. She then collapsed on the ground, unable to move anymore as she tuned out everything the rambling imposter said.

Unable to move her head, she glanced at Jura from the bottom of her vision. The man was in the same position as she was, on the ground, unmoving.

She glanced back at the figure who seemed a lot bigger now. Did he move towards me? Rin tried to focus as the imposter looked at her, a fleeting look of agony and discomfort flashed through his face, before morphing into a neutral one. He then stood up and disappeared into the fog.

Rin tried to call for help, but only stuttered breaths escaped her mouth.

This whole ordeal only lasted for a few minutes, but it had felt like an eternity for Rin. Seconds passed painstakingly slow. Worry welled in her heart as she realized she wouldn't be there for Wendy and Carla if something bad had happened to them. It had only been a few minutes in, and she and Jura are out already. She felt like laughing, but she coughed painfully instead.

Wendy… Carla… were her last thoughts before the overwhelming need for sleep took over her body.

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! Clover here!

Sorry for not posting these past few months, I have been very busy. So, I want to make it up by presenting you lot with an extra-long chapter! (I don't know about you, but this took a long time to put together.)

The original reason why I wasn't able to post some chapters was that I was stuck in a rut. I was having some troubles with how could I make this all move smoothly, without forcing it ya know. I hope this chapter doesn't sound too forced.

So hey, doesn't Carla like, shout too much?

You might be wondering, what're Rin's powers like?

Anyway, I hope you had fun reading this story! Cause I had a lot of fun making it! Reviews would be very much appreciated!

Have a happy and merry Christmas! ( ' W ' )