S-Class Trials, Day Two:
Boom! Clap!
Lucy jolted awake, only to be soaked by a down pour of rain.
"Oh, what the-" she turned to her side only to find Natsu gone. "Oh, great."
"My, my, my. Nasty weather, huh?" Laxus' voice came. She turned to find his thought projection standing in the middle of camp. All the candidates who were still in the running and their partners were there. All the S-class wizards, disqualified, and Laxus were gone though.
"Yeah, thanks to Cana I knew there'd be thunderstorms all day today and tomorrow," Laxus continued. "Which brings us to task two. About four miles due North, West, South, and East of you are four shelters. But just four. Your job is to find one, get in it, and hold it. The teams who are inside a shelter by the time the storm clears will go on to the next round. That means there will only four teams by the end of today. Good luck!"
"Let's go!" Bixslow shouted, grabbing Lisanna's hand and taking off.
"Let's go!" all the dolls repeated as they flew after them.
All the other candidates burst off as well.
"Come on!" Juvia said, running off, but Lucy stopped her.
"No, wait…" She held her arm in front of her friend, watching intently as all the other teams raced off.
"Lucy, what are you doing?" Juvia asked we need to go.
Lucy waited until everyone else was out of ear shot before answering. "Laxus said due North, South, East, and West. They have no way of knowing where those directions are. They're just scrambling to get out of the rain."
She pulled out a key. "Open, Gate of the Compass. Pyxis!"
"Pyx!" the little bird called as he appeared.
"Show us due North, South, East, and West little guy," Lucy said.
The little bird spirit nodded as he did so.
"See?" Lucy said. "None of them went in the exact direction they should have. No doubt they'll find a shelter eventually, but it'll be easier for us if we find one first and can hold it."
"Oh," Juvia nodded.
"No one went anywhere near due South, so lets go that way."
"Right."
"Okay, little guy, take us four miles from here," Lucy ordered.
"Pyxis. Pyxis. Pyxis," the little bird chanted as it led them along.
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"There she goes," Cana said as the card marked "Lucy" began moving along the map painted on the floor of the cabin she, Laxus, and the other S-Class wizards were bunking down in. "She's going South away from everyone else."
Natsu smiled as he watched. "Atta girl."
"Smart that one," Guildarts said, taking aswig from his bottle. "I got my money on her."
"I don't know," Gray said. "Freed's pretty sharp himself. I'll bet he's got some kind of strategy already planned."
"Doesn't look like it," Gajeel chuckled as he watched the card marked "Freed" wander along in a zig-zag pattern on the map. "Looks like he's just running like a maniac."
"Not as bad as Evergreen, look at her," Cana smirked. "Hopping from tree to tree, rock to rock, trying her best not to get wet! Ha! She'll never even make it to a shelter if she keeps this up."
BOOM! A loud clap of thunder shook the entire ground.
"Yeesh!" Natsu exclaimed. Hope the kids aren't too scared back home.
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BOOM!
Nashi sat straight up at the loud noise. As she looked about she heard rain hitting the roof of the Guild Hall.
"Oh," she grumbled, realizing it was a thunder storm, and then laid back down in her sleeping bag to go back to sleep. The clock at the end of the main room struck two. A crack of lightning shot across the sky outside the window of the main room, causing a shadow to cast over the room. Nashi sat up again. She turned to the window and saw a figure sitting upon it.
She gasped, scrambling rather clumsily to get out of her bag sleeping bag. Once she had she shouted:
"Eos!" conjuring up her wings so she could fly to the window, cackling crimson flames in her palms. "Who are you!?"
"Gah!" a familiar voice shouted as a six-year-old boy stumbled back, clinging to the window sill to keep himself from falling off. "Nashi!"
"Storm?"
"Duh!" the boy in questions said as he sat back up.
"What are you doing?"
"Watching the rain," he answered plainly.
"Why?"
"I like watching the rain."
"Why?"
"I dunno," he shurgged, leaning his face in his hands. Nashi arched an eyebrow at him before deciding to sit down next to him.
"You know my Mommy used to make it rain all the time?" Storm asked.
"Really?" Nashi said.
"Yeah. She said everywhere she went she brought rain with her and she could never do anything to stop it until she met my Daddy. She says true love broke the spell, or something like that."
"That's kinda sweet," Nashi smiled.
"Yeah, but she doesn't like rain anymore," Storm said. "She thinks it's gloomy. I think it's kinda cool to watch."
"Why's that?" Nshi asked.
"I dunno, I mean, it's water falling from the sky with bright lightning and loud thunder. Don't you think it's kinda cool?"
"Eh, a little bit, but I wouldn't sit and watch it all day," Nashi shrugged. "But I'm not a water wizard."
"Eh, I guess that's true," Storm said.
Nashi placed her hand on the glass, looking at the rain droplets collected agaist it. "Can you make them move around?"
"Sure, watch," Storm said as he began tracing along on the window panes. All the raindrops followed his finger, creating a line of water that danced and spun and twirled to his bidding.
"That's so cool!" Nashi cheered. "Can you make a picture with it?"
"Even better, watch," Storm said, smiling as he scribbled on the pain, collecting the water droplets into letters to spell out-
"Hey, that's my name!" Nashi giggled as she pointed.
"Uh-huh," Storm nodded. "And here's mine," he began tracing his on the window.
Nashi watched on with fascination. "Can you do Layla and Igneel's?"
"I would but I dunno how to spell them," Storm admitted bashfully.
"That's okay. What else can you spell?"
Before he could answer a whimpering sound came from behind them. They turned to find Layla tossing back and forth in her sleeping bag, next to Nashi's now empty one. She suddenly gasped and sat up, looking about frantically, cowering when another thunder clap came.
"Nashi?" she asked. "Nashi!"
Nashi hopped down from the window sill, using her wings to soften the fall and raced towards her sister.
"Nashi! Nashi!" Layla kept screaming, big tears running down her face. Nashi plopped down next to her, holding out her arms to her. Layla quickly crawled out of her slipping bag, accidentally kicking Igneel (who was sleeping next to her) in the process. Igneel lifted his head, blinking to clear the fuzziness of sleep as Layla climbed into Nashi's lap, burying her face against her shoulder as she cried.
"Sh, it's okay, Layla. It was just a bad dream," Nashi whispered as she patted Layla's back.
Igneel sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
Boom! Clap!
"Ah!" Igneel jumped.
A lightning bolt cracked across the sky.
"AH!" the little boy shrieked again, scampering to Nashi's side. He almost knocked Layla out of Nashi's lap as he climbed up and clung to her nightgown, trembling and whimpering.
"It's okay, Igneel," Nashi said, putting an arm around him. "It's just lightning."
"Ah go boom!" Igneel shouted, eyes wide, throwing his arms in the air for emphasis. Another clap of thunder roared overhead. Igneel jumped and clung to Nashi again, whimpering loudly as he trembled.
"Scawy!" he shuddered.
"Aw, it's okay," Nashi asured him, patting his back. "The thunder and lightning can't get you in here, Igneel."
"You sure, Nashi?" Layla asked, also trembling.
"I'm sure," she promised.
Another thunder clap came, making the two younger Dragneel children jump.
"Scawy boom!" Igneel whimpered.
"I want Mommy and Daddy!" Layla wailed.
"They'll be back soon," Nashi said.
"Today?" Layla asked.
"No, not today."
"Den when?" Layla whined. "Dey been gone since foreva!"
"In a few days," Nashi answer. "Don't worry. They'll come back as soon as they can. They just gotta wait on Mommy to finish her test."
"But herw test is taking foreva!" Layla whined.
Nashi was about to say something, when a loud, whiny voice, cut her off.
"Quiet! I twying to get my beauty west!" Lorelle shouted.
"Beauty rest?" Bianca asked, clearly not being familiar with the term.
"Uh-huh. I need sleep so I can stay pwetty!" Lorelle huffed, arms crossed.
"Oh, well, you gonna have to sleep for lots of days!" Bianca sniffed.
Nashi clapped a hand to her mouth to keep herself from laughing.
"That wasn't very nice, Bianca," Roman said as he sat up.
"Ugh! Is evewy one awake?" Lorelle scoffed. "See what you two did? You woke evewy one up!"
"We di'n't mean to," Layla whimpered.
"You two shouldn't even sleep here!" Lorelle declared. "You still babies!"
"And you only three, but you still sleep here," Bianca said.
"Yeah, because three means I a big girl!"
"No you're not!" Bianca argued. "Three's little!"
"No, I not little!" Lorelle insisted. "I big!"
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am!"
"She's not going to give up," Storm sighed as he hopped down from the window sill and joined the other kids. "Best way to deal with Bianca is to just stop arguing with her."
Bianca stuck her tongue out at Storm, and he stuck his out back.
"You all makin' me mad!" Lorelle declared, arms crossed. "I just wanna sweep!"
"So sleep!" Nashi shouted.
"I can't! You all too loud!"
"You're being the loudest of all of us," Nashi said.
"No I not! Those two babies are!" she pointed to Layla and Igneel.
"They weren't that loud," Roman said. "I mean, they were loud, but you're louder!"
"I am not!"
"Everyone just stop!" Farrah groaned as she sat up. "All of you stop talking and go back to sleep. Nashi, just let Layla and Igneel sleep with you so they won't be so scared."
"Okay," Nashi nodded as she held her sleeping bag open. "C'mon guys."
Layla and Igneel crawled inside, Nashi after them. It was a tight squeeze but they made it work.
"There, now go back to sleep," Farrah said, collapsing back against her pillow.
"I stiww don't wike sweeping wit' babies!" Lorelle grumbled.
"You are a baby," Farrah said. "Now go to sleep."
"No I not! I a-" Lorelle's voice suddenly got very quiet. Everyone looked up to find Lorelle trapped in a translucent cube of blue and green screens. Lorelle's mouth was still going, obviously shouting in protest as she beat against the screens.
"You're welcome," Persephone grumbled, pulling her blankets over her face to go to sleep.
"Persephone, I don't know if that-"
"It's okay, she won't get hot," Koree said. "Persephone's put me in those before."
"Why…?" Farrah arched an eyebrow.
"Usually to make sure I don't get the last cookie," Koree said. "But she did it once because I told Mommy she was the one who-"
Fwoom. A screen cube appeared around Koree. No one could hear her, but they could read her lips as she shouted:
"OH, COME ON!"
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Boom! Clap!
Lucy shuddered as she rubbed her arms to try to keep herself warm. Juvia had tried to use her magic to keep the rain from tearing at them, she really had, but there was only so much she could do in a downpour so thick it was hard to see ten feet in front of you. Therefore, Lucy was soaked, and since Pyxis was still walking, they clearly hadn't reached the South Shelter yet.
Where's Natsu when you need him? She grumbled to herself, thinking how nice it would be to be able to warm up around one of his flames right about now.
"Pyxis!" the little bird cheered loudly. Lucy looked up through the rain. There was nothing but rocks around them.
"This is four miles due South?" she asked. "But it can't be! There's supposed to be a shelter here, there's nothing!"
"Pyxis?" the little bird shrugged before disappearing.
"Wait, no! Don't go!" Lucy shouted, jumping towards him to stop him. She didn't reach him fast enough, though, and face planted in the mud. "UGH!"
"Now what?" Juvia asked. "It doesn't look like there's a shelter anywhere near here."
"Did we do something wrong?" Lucy asked.
"Maybe, I can't see how though," Juvia pondered. "The instructions were pretty straight forward."
"Yeah…" Lucy's brow crinkled. "Maybe too straighforward. Maybe we missed something…"
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"Aw, man, she's right on top of it!" Gajeel shouted, pointing to Lucy's card.
"Think she'll figure it out?" Erza asked, arms crossed as she watched on.
"Sure she will," Cana said, sipping out of her flask. "It's Lucy. She's sharp. She'll figure it out."
"At least she's not having to battle someone out while trying to solve the riddle," Guildarts said, pointing to where Freed and Azuka's cards lay side by side over the East Shelter, the word "Battling!" written under their names.
"Who ya think's gonna win?" Gray asked.
"Well, Freed will figure it out before Azuka and Alzack do," Levy mused. "Whether or not he and Laki will be able to shake them long enough to get inside will be the question."
"Not to mention, Azuka's probably keepin' a sharp eye on him," Gajeel said. "If she's smart she'll let him figure it out and then sweep in and take it before he can."
"Hm," Guildarts nodded. "With their shooting skills once they got inside it would be almost impossible to get them out. You'd get peppered with bullets if you tried."
"Same with Freed though," Laxus pointed out. "Once he gets inside allhe's gotta do is write a dark ecriture barrier and ain't no one getting in."
Shwoom!
Everyone turned to see Romeo's card change from blue to purple as it hovered over the North Shelter.
"Ha! Look at that! Romeo got in one first!" Gray cheered.
"Yeah, but can he keep it?" Cana asked, pointing to Lisanna's card. "Lisanna and Bixslow are gonna come up on them here in a minute."
"Oh, this is exciting!" Erza cheered.
As everyone else was engaged in the fight between Azuka and Freed, and the soon-to-be battle between Romeo and Lisanna, Natsu kept staring at Lucy's card. So far, though, Lucy's card was still blue.
"C'mon, Luce," he muttered, brows furrowed.
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"Due North, South, West, and East...4 miles…" Lucy muttered as she paced back and forth, shivering from the cold. There had to be something she was missing! But what?"
"...4 miles...4 shelters…" her eyes suddenly widened. "Wait!"
"What?" Juvia asked.
"Due," Lucy said. "Due! That's it!"
"Huh?" Juvia cocked her head to one side.
"Due has a double meaning," Lucy explained. "It means exact, like in due South, due North, due East, and due West. But it can also mean a certain time something needs to be completed by. Like a due date."
"Okay, but how does that help us?" Juvia asks. "We already know when we have to be in the shelter, before the storms end some time tomorrow."
"Hm…" Lucy chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Due date? Due Date? Deadlines...Timeline...Time. Time? Time. Time! TIME!"
She looked about her, wildly, face broken out in a smile.
"Time! Juvia, look at these rocks!"
"Eh?" Juvia glanced about her, confused.
"See how there's twelve? And see how they're all evenly spaced out in a circle?"
"Yes…" Juvia nodded slowly.
"It's a clock! Time!" Lucy glanced about her again, pointing to a certain one just behind them. "That's where Pyxis stopped, so that must be the one due South, making it twelve. Which makes that 1, and that 2, 3, 4. A-ha!"
Lucy walked towards the four o-clock rock.
"Is there something important about four?" Juvia asked.
"Yeah, think about it," Lucy said. "Four directions, four shelters, four miles, four teams left by the end of the task. Four o'clock must be our way inside. Juvia, hit this rock with a water slicer!"
"O...kay?" Juvia's brow furrowed, but she did what she was told. "Water Slicer!"
As soon as the spell hit the rock, it began to glow and move aside, revealing a trap door.
"Yes!" Lucy cheered. "We found it!"
"Oh, wow!" Juvia gasped, she and Lucy racing forward to pull the door open. As soon as they had dropped inside the door closed and they could hear the rock moving back in place. A light lacrima turned on, revaling a snug room with two bunks, and heat lacrima, a stack of towels, and a box of food.
"Oh, thank goodness," Lucy sighed as she turned the heat lacrima on and held her hands out to it. She sighed as the warmth soothed her shivering body. She reached for her keys.
"Open, gate of the Twins, Gemini!"
"Piddy, piddy!" the two dolls said as they appear.
"I need you two to be on stand by," Lucy explained. "If someone comes up, change into me and lead them off course, got it?"
"Piddy," the two dolls nodded before heading outside.
"Here," Juvia said, handing Lucy a blanket from one of the beds.
"Thanks," Lucy said, taking it and wrapping it around herself. "Well, hard part's over. Now we've just gotta wait it out and hope no one kicks us out."
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Schwoom!
Lucy's card changed to purple.
"Yes!" Natsu fist pumped.
"Told ya' she'd figure it out," Cana grinned. "And there's no one anywhere near her, so it might be smooth sailing from here on out for her."
"Can't say the same for Romeo," Guildarts said, pointing to where Lisanna and Bixslow had caught up to Romeo and Wendy.
"Well, they ain't fighting yet, so clearly Lisanna hasn't figured out how to get inside," Gray stated.
A few seconds later the words "Battling!" appeared under Romeo and Lisanna's names.
"Woop, never mind, there they go!" Gray cheered.
"Hm," Erza rubbed her chin. "An evenly matched battle. Who will rise victorious?"
"Here," Cana reached into her pocket. "I'm putting 500 jewel on Lisanna. Who else?"
"550 on Romeo," Guildarts said, throwing them money on the pile Cana started.
"700 on Lisanna!" Gajeel said. "And I'll bet she'll have him out of there before sundown!"
"750 says before noon!" Erza tossed her money into the pile.
Natsu grinned evilly as he reached into his pocket. "900 says she'll get him out of there in an hour."
"Ooohhh…" everyone murmured as Natsu began to lay his money down, he however stopped, and held a finger up.
"But!" he added. "Romeo's then gonna go and steal the west shelter before Evergreen and Bisca ever get to it."
"Oh, ho! Gutsy! I like it," Cana grinned, rubbing her hands.
"Well, then, 1,000 says she gets him out in the hour and he never gets back in one," Gray said, tossing his money down.
"Oh, it's on!" Natsu glared playfully at him.
"That hour is staring now!" Cana declared, tossing a clock card onto the ground. Everyone watched on eagerly as the hour ticked down. Once 45 minutes was up Romeo's card changed back to blue and Lisanna's turned purple.
"Whoo!" Natsu cheered as Cana, Guildarts, Gajeel, and Erza groaned.
"Now we've just gotta see if he makes it to the West shelter before Evergreen does," Gray smirked.
"Oh, we will," Natsu grinned back.
"What is Evergreen even doing?" Cana asked, pointed to the woman in question's card. "She's been going in the same circle for the past two hours."
"Does she even realize she's just going around, and around, and around," Mirajane wondered.
"Probably not," Laxus answered. "She's probably too pissed about her hair and clothes getting ruined to notice."
"Oh, I wish I could listen in on her and Bisca right now," Levy chuckled. "Bisca must be so done with Evergreen at this point."
"Wish granted!" Cana smirked, reaching over to tap Evergreen's card.
"...tellin' ya, we're going in circles!" Bisca's voice vibrated through the card.
"Don't be ridiculous! I know exactly where we're going!"
"We've passed that there rock five times now!"
"Nonsense, we're in a quarry. There are rocks everywhere!"
"One's shaped like Happy eating a fish?"
"Hmph. I though it looked like Carla sipping on tea."
"So you do acknowledge you ain't got a bloomin' clue where we're going!?"
"I do too!"
"Please, you're so turned around now you barely know your nostril from your bootie hole!"
By now all of the S-Class wizards were in stitches with laughter.
"Oh, this is gold!" Cana slapped her thigh.
"Yeah, not lookin' so good for you, Brain Freeze," Natsu chortled.
"Shut up Flame for Brains," Gray glared. "She's gotta get her barings back at some point. Besides, no guarantee Wendy and Romeo will head west now that-"
"Woop, there they go!" Gajeel shouted, pointing as Romeo's card headed west.
"WHAT!?" Gray screeched as Natsu busted out laughing.
"I told you they'd head west!"
"How'd you know?" Gray asked. "Did you get Cana to foretell it for ya?"
"Nah," Natsu shook his head. "He's got Wendy with him. She's a dragon Slayer. She's able to hear Freed and Azuka going at from there, so she'll know their best bet is to head away from the fighting towards the west shelter and hope for the best."
"C'mon, Evergreen! Get a grip!" Gray shouted at the card, but it was to no avail. Evergreen kept going in the same circle she had been as Romeo and Wendy headed west. After about an hour and a half Romeo's card changed to purple over the west shelter.
"Noooooo!" Gray covered his face and wailed as Natsu gathered up the pile of jewel.
"Thank you, kindly!" he smirked as he stuffed it in his pockets.
"Man, Freed and Azuka are still going at it!" Laxus exclaimed as he watched on. "They're gonna kill each other before either of them can make it in."
Fwoom!
Freed's card changed to purple.
"Welp, there you go!" Gajeel said. "Guess we got our four teams, unless Azuka or Evergreen can kick someone out before tomorrow afternoon."
"I think you can count Evergreen out," Cana muttered. "She's still going in that same circle."
"Honestly, this is just humiliating at this point," Erza grumbled. "She should be ashamed!"
"Oh, hold on! Hold on!" Cana held up her hands. "Lookee there! Evergreen's changed her course. She's back in the game guys!"
"About time," Laxus rolled his eyes.
"Uh-oh, she's headed south, Lucy might need to watch out," Mirajane said.
"Nah, Lucy's got this," Natsu said confidently, though deep down he was a bit nervous.
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"Ugh!" Evergreen grumbled as she pulled her foot out of a mud puddle. "And these are new shoes, too."
"Why'd you bring new shoes on the S-Class trials?" Bisca groaned. "Should've known we'd be walking a lot!"
"But in mud and muck!"
"How'd you get nominated, again?"
"Silence, you! I did not come here to be insulted!"
"So where do you usually go?"
"Sh!" Evergreen held up a hand. "Look ahead."
Bisca squinted to see through the curtain of rain. Ahead was a curvacious blond dressed in rather tight shorts, a tank top, and a pink leather jacket. "Lucy? Why's she just standing there?"
"She must be standing guard of one of the shelters," Evergreen whispered. Lucy looked about a little while longer then began to walk off.
"There, she must be going back now!" Evergreen hissed. "Let's follow her!"
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"Well, hey, hey, hey, hey! She walked right past it!" Guildarts exclaimed as Evergreen's card passed by the south shelter.
Everyone busted out laughing.
"So humiliating," Erza grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Natsu smirked as he watched on. He had know way of knowing for certain, but he was pretty sure this was the result of a trick set up by Lucy.
"Whatcha smiling so wide for, there, Natsu?" Cana nudged him in the shoulder.
"Nothin'," he answered, still staring at Lucy's card.
"Aw, you ain't proud of you're wifey at all, are ya?" Cana batted her eye-lashes teasingly.
"'Course I'm proud of her. She's killin' it out there," he grinned.
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"Well, goodness, how far out is this shelter?" Evergreen wondered out loud as she and Bisca continued following Lucy.
"Hm," Bisca frowned. "I could be wrong, but I'm starting to think-"
Poof!
Lucy vanished and was replaced by two floating dolls.
"I hate being right sometimes," Bisca grumbled.
"What!?" Evergreen shouted. "That was one of her spirits!"
"Piddy!" the two dolls said before morphing and transforming into.
"Nashi?" Bisca arched an eyebrow.
"Why would she have her spirit turn into-" Evergreen wondered as this mimic of Nashi placed a hand on the ground and cried out…
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"I know Lorelle was probably being rude," Jellal said as he knelt in front of Persephone. "But that doesn't mean you can just trap her in an archive box."
Persephone crossed her arms and pouted. "I just wanted to sleep is all."
"If things were really that bad you should have come and gotten on of the adults," Jellal continued explaining. That had been quite the sight when he, Kinana, and Makarov went to wake the children for breakfast. Both Koree and Lorelle had been trapped in cubes made from Archive screens. While Koree had fallen asleep, Lorelle was in a full blown temper-tantrum when they got in there.
Even three hours removed from the incident, Lorelle was still pouting, erupting into screams whenever anyone asked her to take a nap since she didn't sleep much last night.
"Snack time!" Kinana called, carrying a tray of cookies to a table.
All the children cheered as they ran towards her. All but three, a very particular three.
"Roman?" Jellal asked. "Where are your brother and sisters?"
Roman looked about and shrugged.
Jellal stood up and began to walk about the mainroom of the Guild Hall.
"Minette, Eva, Von?" he called, checking under a table.
"Daddy, look at us!" a tiny voice called from the second story. Jellal turned and shouted in fear to find all three triplets balancing on the railing of the second story overlooking the mainroom.
"What are you three doing?" he shouted. "You could fall!"
"No we won't!" Even giggled.
"Yeah, we gots good bawance!" Minette added.
Von opened his mouth to say something, but his face tightened up and his nose crinkled as he let out an "Ah-Ah-AH-ACHOO!"
His sneeze was enough to knock him, and to startle his sisters, off balance. They waved their tiny arms to regain it, but all slipped off the railing, plummetting to the bottom floor.
"No!" Jellal shouted, racing towards them. He knew in his mind he wouldn't get there in time to catch them, but he still raced forward, barely noticing when Nashi jumped up on the table, holding her arm out.
"STYX!" she shouted.
Swoosh!
What looked like a firey whirlpool appeared under the triplets. The three toddlers feel into it and then they, and the whirlpool, disappeared.
"Gah! Where'd they go!?" Jellal shouted.
Swoosh!
Another whirlpool appeared behind him and the triplets tumbled out of it and onto the floor at his feet.
"Whoa!" Von exclaimed as the whirlpool disappeared.
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"Styx!" Gemini in the shape of Nashi shouted.
A whirlpool of fire appeared under Bisca and Evergreen. The two women barely had a chance to shout before being sucked into it. Everything around them was smokey, and red, and hot. Until all of a sudden they fell and hit the ground.
"What in tarnation was that?!" Bisca asked, rubbing her head.
"I have no idea!" Evergreen groaned. "I've never seen that spell in all my-YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"
Bisca looked up at Evergreen's shriek to find-
"We're back where we started?"
"ERGH!" Evergreen pulled at her hair. "Oh, that was a dirty trick! I hope that spirit used up all it's magic energy because of it!"
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Ting!
Lucy looked down at her keys to see Gemini's glowing.
"Uh-oh, Gemini had to go back," she said as she held her keys up, sorting through them.
"Were they beaten?' Juvia asked.
"No," Lucy shook her head as she took in the message from the key. "Let's just say they turned into Nashi and used one of her newer spells. One she's still getting a grasp on."
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"Children!" Jellal gasped in relief as he fell to his knees and gathered the triplets into his arms, holding them close.
"Are they okay?" Roman asked, running to his father's side.
"They're fine," Jellal said, before setting the three toddlers down and wagging his finger at them. "And don't you three ever do anything like that ever again!"
"We sowwy Da-"
Plunk!
"Oh my goodness!"
Jellal looked over his shoulder and gasped when he found that Nashi had fallen off the table and into the floor.
Unconcious.
Kinana ran to her side as frightened gasps and shouts rang through the crowd of children.
"Nashi!" she shouted, pulling the little girl into her arms.
"Na'sissy?" Igneel called, bottom lip quivering as he toddled towards her, Layla by his side.
Jellal scooped the triplets into his arms and raced to Nashi, setting his children down to check for any signs of something wrong on the Dragneel girl, setting a finger on either side of her neck to check her vitals.
"What happened?" he asked Kinana.
"I don't know," she answered. "She cast that spell and then just passed out."
"Nashi?" Layla asked, setting a hand on her big sister's forehead.
"Layla, do you know what that spell was?" Kinana asked.
"Uh-huh. Dat Styx," Layla nodded. "Nashi use it and she can make magic doows and move people fwom hewe to dewe supa fast!"
"Yes, it does appear to be a teleportation spell of some sort," Jellal nodded as he took her fingers from Nashi's neck. Her pulse felt fine, but her magic energy was very low. "Those require a lot of focus and concentration to perform. Especially for one so young. How many people does she usually move around with Styx, Layla?"
"I dunno. It new," Layla answered.
"Hm," Jellal nodded. "She's probably never used it to move more than one person before. Until now that is. And she's probably never had to cast it so quickly either."
"Is she okay?" Kinana asked, eyes still frantic.
"She seems alright," Jellal nodded. "I think she simply over-exherted herself."
"With one spell?" Kinana's brow furrowed.
"Teleportation spells are incredibly complex, and they require a lot of magic energy. Some wizards have trained their whole lives in order to acquire a teleportaion spell and have failed, " Jellal explained. "Of course I don't know the specifics of how this Styx spell works, but the fact she was able to move my three from there, to there, in the matter of a split second is incredbily impressive! Especially given her age."
"Hm," Kinana looked down at the sleeping girl in her arms. "I guess that's the power of Titan Fire magic."
"Indeed," Jellal nodded, taking Nashi from Kinana. "She's got quite the impressive magic aresenal. But even Titan wizards can drain themselves of magic power. Therefore, I think it best if we simply let Nashi rest for a little while."
He carried her to one of the back rooms with a bed and set her upon it.
As he was turning to leave her heard a soft voice calling:
"Uncle Jellal?"
"Yes, Nashi?" he asked, turning to her.
She had one eye opened slightly as she looked at him.
"Are Minette, Eva, and Von okay?"
He smiled as he walked back to her bed and knelt next to it.
"Yes, they're fine. Thank you for saving them."
Nashi sighed in relief. "That's good."
"Are you okay?"
"Uh-huh. Just really tired."
"Have you ever moved three people using that spell before, Nashi?" he asked.
Nashi shook her head. "No. I haven't moved any people, just my toys."
"You've never used that spell on a living being until today?" his eyes widened in shock. "Well, no wonder you passed out!"
"Uncle Jellal?"
"Yes, Nashi?"
"I'm really hungry, can I have an extra cookie?"
Jellal chuckled. "After today I think you've certainly earned a few extra sweets."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Hold up!" Gray blinked. "How come Evergreen went from there, to there?"
"Cana, are your cards defective?" Gajeel asked.
"You calling my daughter's magic weak?" Guildarts crossed his arms.
"No, I'm just sayin-"
"Nah, not the card's fault," Cana said, scratching her head. "I guess Evergreen just zipped back to the starting point."
"How and why?" Gray asked just as Natsu began snickering and chuckling like an idiot.
"I dunno," Cana shrugged as she glanced over at Natsu. "But I think someone does…"
"Long story," Natsu chortled.
"Well, Evergreen's back at square one, and Azuka ain't moved in about an hour, so I think you've got time to tell it."
"Not sure what she's doing," Mirajane murmured, pointing to Azuka.
"Probably waiting until nightfall in the hopes that one of the groups aleady in a shelter will fall asleep," Erza guessed.
"Well, then, yeah, you've got time," Gray said. "Fill me in please!"
"Okay, okay, so last week while I was playing with Nashi…"