Chapter Two:
AN: HOLY SMOKES! The response to this story has been incredible! Only one chapter in and I've gotten probably the biggest response I've had on any of my fan writing ever! You guys are awesome! You rock! I love you!
As a thank you I will be holding a competition, head over to "Children of Fairies" for the details!
"Why...why are they not out there?" Roman asked.
Everyone slowly shook their heads, also unsure as to why Fairy Tail's team had not appeared. Whispers and murmurs began to rustle through the crowd as the seal remained untouched.
"Um…" Chapati's voice came from over the screen. "It seems Fairy Tail is taking their sweet time."
"Well, they better hurry up," Yajima said. "If they haven't stepped onto their screen within five minutes they'll automatically be disqualified."
A countdown appeared on the screen, ticking down until Fairy Tail would be disqualified.
Silence fell over the crowd as the seconds passed one by one. Still, not a single Fairy Tail wizard appeared.
"Something's wrong," Farrah stated.
"You don't say?" Persephone questioned sarcastically.
"What could have happened to keep them for so long?" Storm wondered out loud, his voice quivering with fear.
"Nashi" Farrah shouted.
"On it!" Nashi answered as a red flame sparked in between her palms. She placed her hands on the ground and a whirlpool of fire appeared under the children. They all fell straight through it and out of sight. A few seconds later a second whirlpool appeared in the resort courtyard where all the other guilds were waiting.
A few of the other wizards seemed a bit shocked of a group of children suddenly raining from the sky but the kids themselves paid them no mind. Even from within the courtyard there was no sign of any Fairy Tail adults. Still, the clock kept counting down.
"What's keeping them?" Koree wondered out loud.
A sickening feeling hit everyone's gut. Something was very, very wrong. This wasn't like their parents at all! Farrah glanced at her fellow young wizards as she thought.
"Persephone and Storm, head back to our wing of the hotel. Something's happened to our parents, they might be hurt and they'll need Storm's Cleanse spell to heal them. Persephone, your archive is our best chance of getting to the bottom of whatever this is."
"Right," both children nodded before running off.
"Roman, go with them," Farrah added. "If someone did hurt them they might still be there. You'll have to protect Persephone and Storm while they try to help the adults."
Roman nodded before he ran off after his two friends.
"The rest of you, come with me," Farrah waved as she led them through the crowd of already positioned guilds.
"Where are we going?" Cato asked.
"We can't let Fairy Tail disqualified," Farrah answered as she stepped onto Fairy Tail's seal. "So, it looks like we're gonna have to do the pre-trials ourselves."
The other children glanced at each other. Was Farrah really suggesting THEY compete in the Grand Magic Games. They were kids! How were they supposed to beat all these seasoned adults?
Still, Benedict squared his shoulder and stepped onto the seal before glancing over his shoulder at the other three kids. "Well, ya coming?"
Nashi puffed her chest out as she stepped onto the seal. Koree hopped next to her, and finally Cato shuffled up behind his sister.
"Well...eh...looks like Fairy Tail has finally arrived to the party, but this is not the team we were expecting," Yajima stuttered.
"Those are just kids!" Chapati exclaimed. "But, according to the rule book anyone who bares the guild's mark and isn't the master may compete, so...I guess we're good to go. Let the pre-trials begin!"
A loud cacophony of trumpets and fanfare played as a familiar, short figure with a giant orange head appeared as a hologram in front of each seal.
"Good evening, pumpkins! Now, let's get this pre-trial started! But first, I need you guys to pick out who the strongest member of your team is!" Mato announced.
"Well, you and Benedict are the only ones who have actually been on jobs, so it's gotta be one of you," Cato said to Farrah.
"Definitely Farrah," Benedict answered.
"Yeah, sounds right," Nashi nodded.
"Hey, what about me!?" Koree lamented as Cato stepped up to the hologram.
"We pick Farrah."
Farrah blushed as Mato nodded.
"Okay, sounds good to me, pumpkin! Now, onto the game!"
Mato snapped his finger and Farrah gasped as the other four children disappeared from around her.
"Hey!" she shouted before shoving a finger in Mato's face. "What did you do? Bring them back!"
"Don't worry, pumpkins, your friends are safe," Mato assured the crowd of remaining wizards. It was only now that Farrah realized that each seal only had one wizard standing on it now.
"This pre-trial is called relay! Each of your friends have been transported and hidden at another seal somewhere in Crocus. Don't worry, they won't go anywhere. They can't! Not until you've freed them. The rules of the game are really simple. You'll each race to tag out your fellow guild member. Then together you'll both go to free your next team mate. And then the next. And finally the last. You'll then all race back here. The first eight guilds who have returned with all five team members will be allowed to compete in this year's Grand Magic Games! In twenty seconds you'll all be freed from your current seal and the game will begin! Here's a little hint, your first team mate is hidden somewhere in this resort."
A countdown appeared in the sky above the courtyard.
Well, at least they're okay, Farrah thought as she concentrated.
"Fifteen! Fourteen! Thirteen!"
This pretrial sounds easy, but I know all the wizards here have a ton more experience than we do, Farrah thought to herself.
"Twelve! Eleven!"
If we're going to make the cut we'll have to be at the top of our game. I need a head start…
Farrah took a deep breath in through her nose. She was a dragon slayer, so maybe she could smell where one of her friends was from here.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!"
Cato! Farrah picked up her brother's scent from somewhere behind her, though it was faint because it was mixed with…
"Seven! Six!"
….Bleach maybe? No, chlorine! And water!
"Five!"
He's near the pools! Farrah grinned.
"Four!"
Small charges of lightning began cakcling around Farrah's body.
"Three!"
Some of the other wizards gave her a frightened and concerned look as she bent over and set her hands on the ground, getting ready to bolt as soon as the seals were down.
"Two!"
Here we go! Farrah too a deep breath as the lightning around her intensified.
"One! Begin!"
ZOOM!
Farrah disappeared in a blast of lighting that shot through the resort, dipping and turning around buildings, corners, dodging carts and kiosks until she arrived at the pool area of the resort.
"Whoa! And with that electrifying start Fairy Tail's...erm…" Chapati grumbled. "Hang on, our lacrima's are still catching up on the team's new names...uh...ah, yes! Fairy Tail's Farrah Lee-Dreyar has put her guild in the lead with that spectacular start!"
"Not quite yet," Yajima stated. "She still has to find her team mate and tag him out of his seal."
Farrah ignored the two men's voices as she looked about the pool, brows furrowed in confusion. She knew Cato was here, she could smell him, but she couldn't see him or any other wizard anywhere.
There wasn't a soul at the pools to be seen. She couldn't even hear anyone.
"Weird," Farrah whispered. She took another sniff. His scent was much stronger than before, but still strangely mixed with-
"Wait a minute," Farrah sniffed again. Cato, water, and chlorine. All three scents mixed together. She ran to the edge of the pool and looked down. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
At the bottom of the massive pool, under ten feet of water, was the second batch of wizards trapped on seals. She couldn't tell which of them was Cato from up here, the water made it too blurry for her to clearly make out any faces. Besides, she couldn't tag him and free hi from the seal from up here.
Farrah sighed as she stood up and took a few steps back. She got a running start, took a deep breath in, and dove into the water.
"Oh, looks like Fairy Tail's Farrah Lee-Dreyar has already found our second batch of wizards!" Chapati announced. "But Titan Nose's Rosswald Tribbiani and Dullahan's Chrisack are quick on her heels!"
Farrah swam down towards the bottom of the pool. She could still make out Cato's scent, but it was hard to tell from which direction it was coming while under the water. As she reached the first seal, disappointed to see it wasn't Cato, she began swimming to the next seal. Two splashes came from above her. Farrah turned to see who had caught up with her when she felt a strong force slam into her and knock her away from the seals and into the open water.
"Oh! And Chrisack sends Farrah spinning with a wind attack!" Chapati shouted. "I guess you could say he...knocked the wind out of her?"
"I think that's the least of her problems," Yajima commented. "Seeing as it looks like Rosswald has her in his crosshairs!"
Farrah finally stopped spinning and shook her head to try and rid herself of her dizziness and get her bearings back. That wizard, whoever he was, would no doubt be back for more.
Twing!
Farrah turned to the noise and just barely missed an arrow shooting through the water. She turned towards the direction the bolt had come from. Rosswald held a crossbow he'd requipped up to his eye as he took aim and Farrah. He took another shot, but Farrah easily caught it and threw it back at him…
...which would have been impressive had she not missed. Rosswald ducked out of the way.
Another wind tornado blew through the water and pushed her and Rosswald further into the open waters, away from the seals, but not so far that she couldn't hear a voice calling her name.
"Farrah!"
She turned and finally spotted him. Cato was on a seal in the middle of the crowd of wizards, jumping up and down and wildly waving his hands over his head.
"Farrah! It's okay, we're protected in here!" he called.
That was all Farrah needed to hear. Rosswald began swimming towards her, a clubrequipping in his hands. She clasped both of her hands together over her head, waiting until Rosswald was right on top of her, and then she brought it down.
"Lightning dragon jaw!" she shouted. Shots of lightning burst from her fists. Rosswald convulsed and shouted as the lightning spread through the water and shocked Chrisack, causing him to convulse too, right before he reached his teammates seal to free him.
"Oh! Double K.O. Fairy Tail's Farrah Lee-Dreyar!" Chapati announced.
"Yikes! That's gotta sting!" Yajima cas Farrah swam back to the bottom of the pool and tagged the shield surrounding Cato. It immediately disappeared, barely giving him enough time to hold his breath. Farrah grabbed his hands and the two swam to the surface. The both gasped in a breath before Cato raised a hand and called:
"Memory make, ice net!"
Two nets of ice splashed out from the water, carrying Rosswald and Chrisack whom Cato set on the side of the pool as he and Farrah climbed out.
"Good job, pumpkins!"
Both Dreyar children looked up to see a hologram of Mato again.
"Seems you're a bit wet, maybe you should dry off?"
"Dry off?" Farrah asked as the hologram disappeared. "What kind of a clue was that! Dry off?"
"Laundromat maybe?" Cato asked. "They have dryers."
"Is there one nearby?" Farrah wondered.
Cato closed his eyes. He'd glanced at a map of the area around the resort a few times since arriving yesterday.
"Photographic memory, activate," he said as images of the maps ran through his mind. "Yup, there's one nearby. It's a few blocks east from the front gate."
"Let's go," Farrah said as she and Cato stood up and took off.
The cobblestone in front of them buckled and sent them flying onto their backs.
"Ah!" they both yelled as they tumbled over each other.
Farrah sat up, only to be knocked back over by a brick to the face.
"Earth make, brick storm!" an older woman with just a few gray hairs called, conjuring several bricks towards the Dreyar Children.
"Memory make, wood splinter!" Cato declared. Large stakes made of wood shot towards the bricks, shattering them midair. Earth and dust filled the air.
"Lightning dragon, Heavenward Halberd!" Farrah shouted.
A column of lightning hit the woman in the chest and knocked her backwards.
"Let's go!" Cato shouted as he ran off. Farrah chased after him, leaning forward to overtake him and put herself at the front to protect her younger brother. For a while they were able to move without any resistant. Then, as they were making their way through the various restaurants, arcades, and casinos at the front of the resort, Farrah could hear a series of feet running towards them from behind a particular casino with a parrot on top. Farrah pumped her legs faster, jumped around the corner of the casino and yelled:
"Lightning dragon, Roar!"
A group of about four wizards were launched into the air as bursts of lightning flew out of Farrah's mouth.
Farrah began to descend from her jump and somersaulted to the ground. Cato ran to catch up to her when he noticed something moving in his peripheral. A wizard was standing in a restaurant balcony, writing some sort of charm from the looks of it.
"Memory make, evil explosion!" Cato shouted as he ran to guard his sister's back. A black and purple helix formed around Cato's hand and he pointed it to the balcony. The wizard bounced against the ceiling of balcony and then collapsed to the floor.
"Oh, that's gonna come back to haunt him in the morning!" Yajima called.
"So far 23 guilds have passed the first step of the pre-trials," Chapati announced. "And three have made it through the second!"
"Three?" Farrah exclaimed as she grabbed Cato's hand. "C'mon, bro, we've gotta go! There are people ahead of us!"
The two raced towards the front gate.
As they reached it a figure jumped down from the top and blocked them. The two smirked at first, confident they could take him on...until her began multiplying.
"Cloning, huh?" Farrah asked as they kept running towards the gate. "Cato, how's your cloning spell?"
"Not good enough to take on that!" Cato exclaimed.
"Okay, how far have you come along on memorizing Uncle Jellal's meteor?"
"Far enough to get me where I need to go."
"Then try to keep up!" Farrah grinned as she disappeared into a bolt of lightning and zipped past the clones.
"Memory make, Meteor!" Cato shouted. Starry magic surrounded him and he took off at top speed after his sister. The opposing wizard and his clones tried to catch them, but they were too fast.
"Wowee!" Chapati called. "I must say, I was a bit worried when kids showed up to compete for Fairy Tail, but so far these two are really holding their own!"
"Well, they are the children of Laxus and Mirajane Dreyar," Yajima said. "The guild's master and one of their S class wizards."
"Seem to be regular chips of the old block, then!"
The two Dreyar children stopped and appeared back to their normal selves outside of the laundromat. They glanced at each other and nodded. Lightning crackled around one of Farrah's fists.
"Memory make, Fire," Cato said and a flame appeared around his just before Farrah kicked the door down. The two raced in back to back, ready to take on any ambush that may be awaiting them.
They weren't met by an attack, though, but instead a rather loud voice shouting: "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"Nashi?" Cato asked as he ran to a running dryer. A blur of pink hair spun around and around inside it as Nashi answered.
"Cato? CATO! SAVE ME CATO! THAT JERK BACCUS TURNED IT ON BEFORE HE LEFT!"
"Oh, that's just cruel and unusual," Farrah cringed.
"YEAH, NO KIDDING, GET ME OUT!" Nashi shouted from where she was still spinning at furrying speeds.
Cato grabbed the handle of the dryer door, retroactively breaking the seal over it as he did so, and opened it.
Nashi shot out, projected by the speed of the dryer and landed right into a pile of dirty laundry.
"Nashi!" both Dreyar children shouted as they ran to her.
"Ugh," Nashi groaned from under the pile of clothes. "No I know how the dragon slayers feel. Gergh! Hiccup!"
Farrah and Cato began digging through the clothes, quickly finding Nashi and helping her up by her hands.
"Gah!" They both exclaimed as she stood up, revealing her hair to have been poofed up into a large pink cloud over her head.
"What?" Nashi asked groggily.
"Pfft! Nice hair!" Farrah snickered.
"Do I wanna know?" Nashi grumbled as she turned to Cato.
"Probably not," Cato answered. "Memory make, Water."
An orb of water appeared over Nashi's head before dropping down on her, wetting her hair back to normal, but also splashing her in the process.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," Cato cringed.
"Oh, you're a fire wizard, dry yourself off," Farrah huffed. "We gotta go find Koree and Benedict."
"Right-o, pumpkin!"
All three children jumped as a hologram of Mato appeared behind them.
"And after all these chores, maybe you should go out for a spin!"
"I ALREADY DID, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Nashi shouted as the hologram disappeared.
"I don't think he was talking about the dryers," Cato said.
"Probably not," Farrah agreed as she stroked her chin. "Hm. After all these chores...so probably something fun…"
"And spin?" Cato pondered.
"Please stop saying that word, my tummy is still in knots," Nashi groaned.
"Oh! I'll bet it's either the merry go round or ferris wheel at the fair!" Farrah snapped her fingers.
"Or the tea cups," Cato added.
"All of these are just making me feel worse," Nashi grumbled.
"Welcome to my world," Farrah sniffed as she led the two younger children towards the door. "I just hope Koree's not the one that got sent-"
"Needle-blast!"
Just as Farrah opened the door dozens of blue and purple needle like projectiles flew in, cutting her arms and legs and forcing her to jump back.
"Farrah!" Cato shouted as he ran to his sister's aid.
Two wizards barrelled through the doors, hands raised as they rushed to the Fairy Tail kids.
"Rhea!" Nashi shouted, clapping her hands together. Pink flames covered hers, Cato's, and Farrah's bodies. The minute the two opposing wizards touched them they recoiled, yelping in pain.
"Oh, that's hot! That's very hot!"
"It burns!"
"Thea's Fury!" Nashi declared, two sparkling, crimson flames bursting from her palms. They struck either wizard in the chest, sending them out the door and into the air before the flames burst like fireworks and sent them flying all the higher.
"Farrah!" Cato called again as the pink flames covering them disappeared. Farrah cringed as she stood up, but smiled at her little brother.
"I'm alright, let's go!" She turned to Nashi. "How are you feeling? You've already used Styx quite a few times tonight, you still feeling-"
"Psh! Please!" Nashi grinned. "I've perfected that spell now, it ain't giving me anymore fits."
She conjured up three whirlpools that transported them right to the center of the now abandoned fair.
"Alright," Farrah nodded. "Cato, go check the merry-go round. Nashi, the ferris wheel. I'll check the tea cups, meet back up here."
"Right," the two younger children nodded. Farrah was about to run off when Nashi said.
"Wait!"
"What is it?" Farrah asked.
Nashi put a hand over one of her eyes. "Thea's sight."
Sparkling red flames encircled her right eyes, as well as Cato and Farrah's.
"Now we can see whatever the other two are. It will make it easier for us to keep up with one another."
"Sweet!" Farrah smiled. "Alright, let's go!"
The three split up and ran in their respective directions.
It didn't take long for Farrah to reach the tea cups. There was no one in sight.
"Well, I guess they're not-"
Click!
Boom!
Farrah felt a hot blast to her right side before being knocked back against the white, picket fence surrounding the ride.
"YEE-HAW!" someone shouted. Farrah looked up as the ride clicked on. Three of the eight teacups were occupied by a wan in a large, brimmed hat, and a bandanna over their mouths.
"Whatcha gonna do now, Fairy Tail?" one of them asked as the ride began to tilt to the left while spinning.
"We in a ride full of locomotion! You ain't gonna stand a chance up here with us!"
Another shot of fire headed towards Farrah. She leapt out of the way and somersaulted back to her feet.
Well, he was right. Being a dragon slayer, she would be rendered useless on that ride.
Still, that didn't mean she couldn't win.
The giant ice cream cone in the middle of the ride wasn't spinning. It was just the center point, a nice cover for the power force. Which happened to have...Farrah did a backflip onto the picket fence, landing effortlessly upon it despite it being a thin landing point.
Another shot ran out, but this time Farrah blocked it with a loud:
"Lightning dragon, iron fist!"
Flames and lightning merged into one before exploding to high heaven. Farrah jumped right into the explosion, using them momentum to leap to the icecream cone. It didn't take her long to find the door to the power source. She ripped it open and was met by the power lacrima the ride ran on.
"Hey, hey! How'd you?" one of the opposing wizards asked before Farrah said:
"Lightning Dragon, Roar!"
The extra power boost sent the lacrima into overdrive, and by extension the ride. The teacup began spinning at dizzying speeds, moving so fast they were a blur.
"EEEEEEEYYYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the wizards in the big hats shouted as the teacups flew off the ride, soared through the air, and then crashed to the pavement surrounding the ride.
"Oops!" Farrah cringed. "I might have over done that one…"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
A cheery little tune played as Cato approached the merry-go round. He didn't see any wizards trapped in seals amongst the brightly painted horses. Still, better to double check. Cato jumped the fence and then hopped onto the merry-go round. He walked about a bit, checking to see if there was anyone hiding there. There wasn't.
He was about to leave when he heard a:
"Neigh!"
"Huh?" Cato turned around to find one of the horses walking towards him, eyes glowing red.
"Uh-oh," Cato squeaked as two more horse's eyes began glowing red.
"Yikes!"
One of the horses reared up to stomp on Cato. He jumped out of the way and slipped off his feet. He nearly slid right off the merry-go round and had to catch himself on one of the support rods at the outer edge of the carousel.
A menacing neigh came over him. He looked up and shuttered to see one of the horses raising a hoof to stomp on his head. He let go of the rod and let himself fall to the pavement. He crashed and rolled with a loud:
"Oof!"
"Neigh!"
Cato stood up to his feet to see the three horses jumping off the carousel and stomping towards him.
He placed a fist against his palm and said.
"Memory make, Ice hammer!"
A hammer of ice appeared over one of the horses and crashed down on top of it, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces. The other two, however, charged towards him at top speed.
"Memory make, wind breaker!" Cato shouted. A slice gust of wind caught the horses and pushed them back, stopping them in their charge. While the horses were temporarily subdued Cato looked about to try and figure out where the person who enchanted them might be hiding. As he glanced about he noticed a bit of movement from behind a trash can.
Pointing a finger at it her declared: "Memory Make, Raging Bolt!"
The trashcan exploded into an aura of lightning. Two young women screeched as they were shocked from the blast. By then the wind had stopped and the horses began charging again.
"Memory Make, stone wall!" A wall of stone separated him from the horses. The resounding CRASH! Told him that they had been unable to stop before shattering against the wall.
"Phew!" Cato sighed before concentrating on his one glowing eye. All he could see from Farrah's perspective was the pavement as she ran along. Nothing on her side. From Nashi's perspective he could see the towering from on the ferris wheel. She'd at least reached her destination. It didn't look like she'd had time to look at it, though.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Nashi looked up at the Ferris wheel as she approached it. It was dark, and hard to see what was inside each of the massive cars. Nashi ran to the car at the bottom of the wheel. Inside were about five wizards trapped in seals.
"Gotcha!" Nashi smiled. "Well...almost…" she didn't recognize any of the wizards in the first car.
She stepped back and said: "Eos!"
Fiery wings sprouted from her back. She flew to the next car hanging slightly above the ground and, when not recognizing anyone, flew to the next.
The ferris wheel suddenly kicked on.
"Whoa!" Nashi backed up to keep from being crushed by one of the cars.
Fwoosh!
A burst of fire, not of her own making, shot past Nashi's head.
She turned and looked down at the ground behind her. A tall, skinny man conjured up a wall of fire and pointed it at her.
"Really?" Nashi muttered, unimpressed. Just before the fire hit her, she raised a hand and it stopped.
"What the-" the tall, skinny man said as he tried to push his flame upon the young girl. His face blanched when he quickly realized he was no longer able to control the fire. Nashi waved her arms in a circle around her head, whipping the fire behind her and sending it back at her opponent.
"WAH!" the man shouted as he was all but crushed by his own flame.
Nashi smirked at her work and then turned back to the ferris wheel just in time to hear a voice calling:
"Nashi, help me! I'm dying!"
Nashi followed the voice to the car at the very top of the ferris wheel. She flew to it, opened the door, and stepped inside. Once again, there were five wizards trapped in seals inside, one of which was.
"Oh, it would be you to get sent here," Nashi sighed as she watched Koree quivering in the floor.
"Get me out, I'm dying!" Koree whined as she clutched her stomach.
Nashi walked towards Koree, holding her hand out to break the seal when she felt a jerk on her head.
A beefy wizard covered in scars grabbed Nashi by her hair and lifted her into the air. He held her out in front of his face and smirked.
"So Fairy Tail's sendin' pip squeaks to fight for 'em."
Nashi just narrowed her eyes and gave her fingers a snap. Crimson flames sparkled around his head before exploding. He collapsed onto his back, but Nashi gracefully landed on her feet…
...before noticing her reflection in the car window.
"Ew!" she shuddered at the absolute mess that was her hair. Frowning she ran her fingers through it to try and comb out the tangles and smooth the poofiness.
"Seriously? No? C'mon, I'm dying!" Koree whined.
Nashi ignored her as she kept messing with her hair, and then noticed something heading straight towards her.
A rather muscular woman jumped straight through the window, shattering it. She punched Nashi square in the face, knocking her slightly off balance. The woman went to strike again, but Nashi crossed her arms in front of her face to guard it. The force of the blow did force her to jump back slightly though. Undeterred, she called:
"Iapetus!"
Black flames oozed from her finger tips, swirling until they had crafted two scimitars in her hands. She grinned as the woman went to swing for her again. She ducked the blow and then brought her fiery weapons up, slashing her arms. The woman stumbled out of shock and pain, but still managed to grab Nashi around the waist and tuck her under her arm.
"No, you don't!" she grumbled.
Nashi frowned as she kicked and squirmed in the womans grip. With no luck she huffed a sigh, grabbed onto the woman's large fingers with one hand, and placed the other right in front of her.
"Thea's fury!"
An exploding, crimson flames shot out from Nashi's open palm. The momentum of the attack pushed her back, forcing her out of the woman's grip. However, because Nashi still had a hold on the woman's hand, she twisted her opponents arm behind her back.
"Ouch!" the woman yelled.
Nashi's feet landed against the wall of the car. She grinned menacingly. She had not been expecting that, but it worked in her advantage. The woman reached back with her free hand to try and swat Nashi away. Nashi grabbed onto the woman's hand.
"Iapetus!" she called again. A fiery black chain wrapped around the woman's wrists. Bracing herself between the wall and the woman's now bound wrists, Nashi walked up the wall, pulling the woman's arms up with her. Once she neared the ceiling she launched herself into the air, somersaulting over the woman's head, holding the end of the chain in her hand. She gave the chain a good tug as gravity pulled her to the floor, flipping the woman off her feet and onto her back.
A sound similar to that of a dying whale escaped the woman's throat as the chain disappeared. Nashi blew a strand of hair out of her face and turned to Koree, the fire burning around one of her eyes glowing brighter.
"I got her guys," she said as the man she'd fought earlier groaned, reached out, and tapped the seal holding his and the woman's friend. The seal gone, the now third opponent charged to Nashi. Nashi turned to him, catching a glimpse of not just him, but the other two wizards, now strangely back on their feet, before the fire around her eye went out. She could barely hear Cato and Farrah screaming for her to look out before she ended the spell.
Nashi ducked a punch from the third opponent, then rolled out of the way of the woman, and then slid between the first man's legs.
"Iapetus!" she called again. A fiery, black hammer appeared in her hands, almost the same size as her. Nonetheless, she swung it with incredible ease. The hammer smashed into the three wizards and slammed them into the back wall of the car. The three beefy wizards pushed themselves back up onto their feet, only to have black, burning chains wrap around their bodies and tied them all together.
"Oi!" the first of them said, before realizing that the chains were coated with crimson sparkles. The sparkles exploded, causing shock waves of burning little stabs all over their body. They all screamed, but were not given anytime to recover after the explosions stopped because a firey, black scythe swung down between them and caught the chain.
Nashi used another of Thea's Fury Flames to give herself enough momentum to launch the three wizards over her head and out the shattered window the woman had come through earlier.
The three squealed as the fell and crashed to the ground, right at the feet of Cato and Farrah wha had been racing to help their friend. Both Dreyar children blinked in surprise as the ferris wheel in front of them came to a stop.
They ran to the now parked car, ready to fight whoever else may have come to fight Nashi, but were surprised to find her perfectly fine, and groaning and shuddering Koree thrown over her shoulder.
"Hi, guys!" Nashi said merrily as she sauntered out of the car, dumped Koree at Farrah's feet, and swaggered down the steps. She stopped at the bottom, realizing she was alone, and turned back to her three, slightly surprised team mates.
"C'mon, let's go," she said plainly.
"Well, not sure what we expected," Cato murmured as Farrah helped Koree to her feet and they joined Nashi at the bottom of the steps.
"Well, looks like you're on the last round, pumpkins!" Mato's voice called as his hologram appeared again. "Guess you better race back to the finish line so you can come out on top!"
"But...we don't have all our team mates yet…" Farrah said. "We can't go back to the beginning without Benedict."
"You sure about that?" Nashi asked.
"Yes, those are the-" Farrah turned to the younger girl who had a ring of fire around her eye again.
Nashi waved her hand and the fire appeared around the other three's eyes. They all then, were able to see through, what they assumed, was Benedict's eyes.
And he was staring at a series of five seals in the courtyard that read "FINISH!"
"He's...back in the courtyard…" Farrah mused. "That doesn't make sense, that's where I started, wouldn't I have seen him?"
"Why are the seals so much smaller than before?" Koree asked.
The children all focused on Benedict's vision again. "Yeah, you're right, they do look smaller," Cato nodded just as Benedict moved his head.
He looked about him and revealed he was on a flat, concrete slab, with several broadcast and power lacrima stations surrounding him.
"Wait, he's not in the courtyard!" Farrah exclaimed. "'So you can come out on top,' he's on top of one of the buildings!"
"Alright, let's go!"
The children all scampered off, heading back to the resort. Of course they were all very aware of the fact that Benedict had seen only five finish seals, no eight. Three teams had already completed the pre-trials! They had to hurry if they were going to qualify.
They managed to make it back to the resort without any resistance. That was a good sign, the majority of the guilds weren't heading back, so they were still ahead, but not by much as now only three seals remained.
"Alright, we're back! Now where do we start looking?" Cato wondered once they'd reach the courtyard. "We've got one, two, four, eight, TWENTY possible buildings he could be on!"
"Koree, you smell anything?" Farrah asked.
"Yeah, I think he's on that one," Koree said, pointing to a rather tall building.
"Me too," Farrah nodded.
"I'll check," Nashi said as she called her wings back and took off towards the top of the building. Within a few seconds Thea's Sight was activated again and the other three saw Benedict standing in the seal…
...right before something hit Nashi right in the head and broke her concentration.
"Nashi!" Koree shouted.
"Let's go, Cato!" Farrah ordered.
"Memory make, light stairs!" Cato shouted. A set of glistening white steps appeared, leading right up to the top of the building. As they neared the top they could here Benedict shouting:
"Tag me out! Tag me out!"
"I'm a bit busy right now!" Nashi answered.
"Tag me out and I can help you!" Benedict yelled again.
"Easier said than done!"
The other three finally reached the top to find Nashi fighting off a group of four wizards, all who appeared to have shadow magic of some type because no matter what she did she couldn't get a hit on them.
"Memory make, Holy Light!" Cato called as a bright light burned in between his palms. The light all but eliminated any shadows surrounding them, making their opponents magic null and void.
The opponents all turned in shock towards the boy.
Farrah took the opportunity to race to Benedict's seal and tagged him free.
"Concussion!" Benedict shouted. Four black orbs appeared around their opponents heads, followed by a low, booming, crushing noise that knocked them all unconscious instantly.
"Alright, we're all here, let's go!" Nashi shouted. She conjured up another Syx portal and transported her and her friends to one of the remaining seals…
...only to have them land on another guild's team's heads.
"Ouch!"
"Oi!"
"No you don't!"
"This is our seal!"
"We was 'ere first!"
"Sorry!" all the kids shouted as they quickly stood to their feets and scampered to the seal right next to it. They could see several other groups heading to the remaining two seals, and all pumped their legs as fast as they could to make it!
"And, oh, it's a race to the finish line, who are our last two guilds going to be…" Chapati shouted.
The five children all but dove onto one of the remaining seals. The word "FINISH!" that had been floating over the seal disappeared and the Fairy Tail emblem replaced it.
"INCREDIBLE! WHAT A HEART STOPPER!" Chapati cheered.
"Well, ladies and gents we have our eight guilds!" Yajima announced.
"We did it!" Farrah sighed.
"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Koree danced and she fist bumped over her head.
"Took you guys long enough," Benedict grumbled.
"Do you wanna know?" Nashi narrowed her eyes at the older boy. "I mean, do you really wanna know what I've been through tonight? I WAS TRAPPED IN A RUNNING DRYER, THANK YOU!"
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, here are the pre-trial results!" Chapati announced. "In first place we have, your home-grown wizards, SABERTOOTH!"
"In second place we have the always second but never winners, Lamia Scale!" Yajima said. "Maybe they can win it all this year!"
"Not if our third place, Quatro Cerberus has anything to say about it," Chapati answered. "And that also goes for our fourth place, another staple of the games, the ever stylish Blue Pegasus!"
"And in fifth place we have the lovely ladies of Mermaid Heel!" Yajima announced.
"And, Yajima, looks like your prediction may be correct, because in sixth place we have the underdogs Twilight Ogre!"
All of the children felt a chill as they turned to the seal they'd first stumbled onto. They were so occupied with getting to a still open seal they didn't realize that the guild they'd fallen onto had, indeed, been one of Fairy Tail's oldest rivals, Twilight Ogre.
Nashi immediately recognized three of the men standing in the seal. They were the three who'd tried to kidnap her when she was about six. She shuddered slightly as Cato and Koree each put a protective hand on her shoulders and glared at them.
"And even though they got off to a slow start, crowd favorites Fairy Tail have still managed to make the cut with seventh!" Chapati said.
"Not as strong a start as we're used to for Fairy Tail, but they're usual front runners weren't present tonight. Hopefully whatever is ailing them will be taken care of quickly," Yajima stated.
"And finally, in eighth place, another underdog! It's been a while since Phoenix Grave has competed, but looks like they're working on a comeback this year!"
Benedict gasped as he turned and looked behind him. Sure enough his old guild was there, and apparently they'd noticed him too. They were all glaring at him, especially the man in the middle: his uncle, Micah.
Benedict's father, Mace, the former guild master of Phoenix Grave had been sent to jail for abusing him, his mother, and his two younger sisters. His vicious acid attack that finally led to his arrest had nearly killed Benedict. Myers, his father's older brother, had taken over as Guild Master after Mace's imprisonment. But there was nothing preventing the youngest brother, Micah, from playing in the games.
Micah grinned ear to ear as he gestured from his eyes to Benedict, letting him know he was watching him. Benedict shuddered again. A strong arm went around his shoulders as Farrah stepped to his side, eyes narrow as she glared at Micah who just smirked in return.
"Well, that's it for tonight, folks! Be sure to come back tomorrow for the first day of the 25th Grand Magic Games!"
"So long!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"So...do you guys think we'll be in trouble, or…" Cato wondered as he and the other four wandered back to Fairy Tail's designated wing of the resort.
"Well, they'll know for sure we snuck out this time, so probably," Farrah muttered.
"But we got Fairy Tail into the games!" Nashi insisted.
"Yeah, but we're still probably dead," Benedict grumbled.
"I should have gotten Sephy to write down my last will and condiments before she left," Koree lamented.
"'Testament,' Koree," Cato sighed. "Condiments are sauces you get on the side of foods."
"Well, I'd like a last few of those before I die, too," Koree said.
The five children opened to door leading out of the stairwell, ready for a royal chew-out.
Instead they were met by a very frightened looking Storm, Roman, and Persephone.
"Guys…" Farrah's voice wavered.
"What's wrong?" Nashi asked. "Are our parents okay?"
"We...we don't know," Roman said.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Benedict asked.
"They're gone," Persephone answered.
"Gone?" Cato cocked his head to one side. "Like, out to eat? Or-"
"No," Persephone shook her head. "They're gone. They're not here."
"So...where are they?" Farrah asked.
"We don't know!" Persephone shouted, tears brimming her eyes. "We don't know! I don't know! I've been scanning every corner of this wing and can't find a trace of 'em! That's why they're gone!"