Chapter Six:

"Battle rounds are different this time," Roman grumbled. "Two wizards have to fight."

"I'm going with you," Benedict said.

"No, you're not," Farrah retorted. "Storm, c'mon, you're my partner for this fight."

"Wha-Eh?" Storm asked.

"YEAH! Go get 'em Storm!"

"AH!" Storm shouted as Charlie, the exceed kitten who hung around Storm the most, appeared seemingly out of nowhere and cheered in his ear.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that!?" Storm shouted at the kitten.

"Aw, I was just loosening you up," Charlie insisted before grabbing Storm by either cheek and shaking his head back and forth. "Now shake of that frown and put your game face on!"

"Stop it!" Storm waved his hands to shake Charlie off.

"Storm, let's go," Farrah called as she headed towards the arena.

"Um…okay…" Storm muttered as he stood and followed after Farrah, utterly confused. Why would Farrah want him?

Roman sighed as he watched them go, and pulled the blankets closer around him.

"Here," a soft voice called.

Roman peeked an eye out to see Bianca setting a glass of water on the bed stand next to him.

"I brought you some ice water. Hope it helps."

Roman slowly sat up and took the glass. "Thanks," he said as he took a sip.

Bianca smiled, then noticed the triplets watching longingly after Farrah and Storm as they walked to the arena.

"You can go watch them if you want, I'll stay with Roman," Bianca said.

"Thanks, Bi!" Eva cheered as she, Minette, and Von scampered off.

"Gee, thanks guys," Roman sighed, before turning back to his exceed in his lap. "You can go too, Maisie."

"No, I'm staying with Ro-Ro!" Maisie insisted, nuzzling closer to him. Roman smiled softly as he held her closer.

"Okay. Thanks," he then turned to Bianca. "And, thank you too. You didn't have to stay."

Bianca shrugged. "Eh, someone's gotta keep you out of trouble, you crazy ninja."

"Since when do I cause trouble?" Roman asked, slightly offended.

"Eh, you don't cause trouble. Trouble just seems to follow you," Bianca answered.

Roman sighed. "Yeah, you've got a point there." He laid back down and pulled the blankets to his chin. Bianca sat down in a chair next to his bed. The two didn't say anything else, but waited anxiously to hear how it went.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Are you crazy?" Benedict hissed as he followed after Farrah and Storm.

"Storm, go on ahead," Farrah said.

"Erm…'kay…" Storm shuffled along through the hall.

"Game face! Game Face!" Charlie cheered as he flew after Storm.

"Shut up!" Storm snapped as Farrah turned and faced Benedict.

"Whoever attacked Roman is probably still out there-" Benedict began.

"I know, that's why I asked Storm to come with me. He has cleanse and could heal us if something happens," Farrah answered.

"But he's a kid!" Benedict protested. "He can't protect you!"

"I don't need protecting," Farrah insisted.

"Just let me go with you," Benedict begged.

"No, I need you out here," Farrah said.

"Why?"

"Because I need you to look out for whoever did this to Roman," Farrah answered.

"Me? Why me? Persephone's an archive wizard, wouldn't she be a better-"

"Not if whoever cast that spell is smart," Farrah cut him off.

"I don't follow…" Benedict's eyes narrowed.

"We're in a tight, crowded arena," Farrah said. "If anyone had to yell or move around a lot to cast a spell someone would notice. That means whoever did this has probably mastered that spell to the point that they only have to whisper it to cast it."

Benedict nodded slowly. "Which means even with her archive it would be hard for Persephone to find them."

"But you're a sound wizard," Farrah nodded. "Surely you have spells that can pick up on whispers in a crowd."

"Yeah...I do…" Benedict nodded.

"See? I need you out here," Farrah repeated.

"But what if he or she casts that spell on you?"

Farrah smirked. "Oh, I'm counting on it."

"You what!?"

"I'm the strongest one here. Roman is the second strongest. Of course I'm going to be the next target."

"That's all the more reason why you shouldn't go!" Benedict shouted.

"That's why I have to."

"Farrah, I'm not going to let you use yourself as bait!" Benedict grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Let me? Who says I need your permission? Besides, I'm taking Stor-"

"But what if he can't save you?"

"I'm a tough girl. I can take it."

"That's not the point!"

"Whatever. I'm going in and you can't stop me!" Farrah shrugged Benedicts hands off her and began walking towards the arena again.

"Wait-" Benedict grabbed her by the arm.

"What?" Farrah sighed.

Benedict reached out and brushed his hand over her hair.

"Uh…" Farrah's eyes widened as he gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "Benedict...what...what are you…"

Benedict cupped the side of her face. Farrah's heart skipped a beat. She gasped, then crinkled her brow in confusion as Benedict set a hand over his own ear.

"Sound Magic, voice link," he whispered.

Farrah heard a soft tingling noise in her ear underneath Benedict's palm before he lowered his hands.

"Can you hear me?" Benedict asked.

It was a soft voice, barely a whisper, but Farrah heard it clear as day. She jumped. Even with her dragon slayer senses it shouldn't have been that clear.

"Y-yes…"

"Good," Benedict sighed in his normal voice. "At least now I can warn you if I find something."

"You know they'll think we're cheating if they figure out," Farrah grumbled.

"So don't get caught," Benedict smirked.

"Fine," Farrah nodded, then she turned and walked off towards the arena.

Benedict watched her go, his heart aching. She was a capable wizard, though. He had no reason to worry. But he couldn't help it.

He was so worried, in fact, he didn't notice another child and exceed standing behind him.

"I'm not going crazy, right, Willa?" Cato asked his furry friend, who shook her head.

"Oh, no, not at all," Willa smiled. "I hear wedding bells."

"Mm-hm," Cato nodded as he skipped up to Benedict and said: "I saw that."

Benedict jumped and turned to find Cato standing right behind him.

"Okay. So what? I'm just trying to help," Benedict answered.

"I'm not talking about that," Cato said, crossing his arms.

"Then what?" Benedict asked, head cocked to one side in question.

Cato just rolled his eyes as he walked off. "Mm-hm!"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"We're back, folks!" Chapati called. "And now it's time for the battle rounds!"

"Let's see who is fighting who," Yajima said as the guilds' names began scrambling across the board.

"Ah!" Chapati sighed as they finally rested in their final spots. "Looks like it's going to be Fairy Tail versus Blue Pegasus. Sabertooth versus Lamia Scale. Quatro Cerberus versus Twilight Ogre. And Mermaid Heel versus Phoenix Grave!"

"Well, guess we're going first," Storm sighed.

"Yup, let's go," Farrah slapped him on the back and headed into the arena, Storm following along behind her.

The crowd cheered as the two Fairy Tail wizards walked to the center of the arena. Farrah and Strom quickly noticed that there four lacrimas floating in a square around the center of the arena. The minute Fairy Tail's two tributes and Blue Pegasus' two met in the middle the Lacrima's began spinning wildly, pictures of different terrains zipping by.

"Hibiki and Jenny LatLates of Blue Pegasus versus Farrah Lee-Dreyar and Storm Fullbuster of Fairy Tail!" Chapati announced.

The Lacrimas finally stopped spinning. To the north, just behind Jenny and Hibiki, a dilapidated city scape appeared. The the south, just behind Farrah and Storm, a field of tall grass. The the east a forest, and to the west an ocean.

Farrah and Strom both took note of their surroundings, then nodded to one another.

"Aw, you're such cuties!" Jenny cooed at the sight of the children. "I almost feel bad about beating you."

"Don't worry," Farrah smirked. "You won't have to feel too bad because we're not gonna lose."

"Eh...right!" Storm tried to sound confident, but he was anything but.

"I like your spunk," Hibiki smiled. "Hopefully we won't break your spirits."

"Nah, you're the ones who are going to break," Farrah answered.

"Oh, I like her!" Jenny giggled.

All four wizards stretched a little before Chapati called: "Three, two, one, BEGIN!"

Farrah and Storm both began stepping backwards, slowly disappearing into the tall grass behind them. Hidden by the foliage, they were both able to use their respective magics to disappear to other places within the arena.

Hibiki and Jenny, however, didn't see Farrah's body disappear into a bolt of lightning, nor Storm's into a wave of water.

Unaware that their targets had disappeared, Jenny transformed into one of her machina forms that was equipped with a machine gun. She quickly used the gun to shred the grass to bits, clearing the entire field…

...only to find neither Storm nor Farrah were anywhere to be seen.

"Huh?" both she and Hibiki asked as they exchanged glances.

"LOOK OUT!" someone yelled from the crowd just as Hibiki and Jenny heard a cackling above their heads.

They both looked up just in time to see Farrah's body rematerialize from a lightning bolt and begin to drop down towards them, both of her hands clasped over her head. Hibiki gasped and pushed his wife aside, conjuring up and archive shield just as Farrah shouted:

"LIGHTNING DRAGON, JAW!"

She slammed both fists upon the shield. The impact fueled by lightning was enough to make the shield shatter. Hibiki tumbled onto his back. Farrah, however, used the momentum to somersault backwards, landing on her feet. Jenny, still in her machina form, began shooting at Farrah again.

Farrah ducked down, dodgin the rain of magic bullets before she disappeared into a bolt of lightning again. She zipped under Hibiki and Jenny's feet, knocking them off balance. She returned to normal just long enough to grab Jenny by the skirt, then she disappeared into lightning again, draggin Jenny along behind her. The speed and the shocking of the lightning was enough to force Jenny out of her machina form, but not before Farrah slammed her against Hibiki, sending the poor man flying towards the old city section of the arena. Farrah then tossed Jenny towards the ocean.

"AUGH!" Jenny screamed as she flew threw the air. She didn't land in the ocean though. Instead it came up out of its place in the ground and met her half way, leaving a gigantic ditch behind. Jenny screeched, choking as the wall of water shot through the arena and carried her deep into the forest.

"Jenny!" Hibiki screeched as he watched his wife disappear into the woods along with the entire small ocean the lacrimas had created.

That little boy can control an entire lake's worth of ocean? Hibiki thought to himself, before the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"Lightning Dragon, Heavenward Halberd!"

"Archive shield!"

Hibiki's shield didn't shatter this time, but the attack forced him backwards, though, no matter how firmly her planted his feet. Two small trenches were left in the ground as Farrah's attack ended. Hibiki wasn't even sure if his shoes were still in one piece, he didn't have time to dwell on it, though.

"Force blast!" Hibiki shouted.

Farrah easily dodged the attack.

"Force blast!"

She dodged it again, looking almost bored.

"Force-No! Archive Shield!"

"Lightning Dragon, ROAR!"

From the stands, Benedict watched on as Hibiki's shield shattered and he flew through the air before skipping across the arena like a flat stone over the water.

"Neither of them have landed a single hit on her," he whispered under his breath as he watched Farrah bound to Hibiki and peg him in the jaw with a Lightning Dragon punch.

She made it look effortless, dodging each of Hibiki's attacks and countering with her own. It was almost as if she were performing a well-choreographed dance.

Benedict shook his head. He didn't need to be focusing on the fight, he needed to make sure whoever had attacked Roman wouldn't strike again. He shuffled to a semi-quiet area of the arena and whispered.

"Transcribe."

A dark green magic circle appeared in front of him. Words began buzzing across it, every word being spoken in the arena appearing in front of him. Benedict quickly, and skillfully scanned the transcriptions, but didn't find anything that looked like a harmful spell.

They were all compliments about Farrah.

"Whoa, she's good!"

"Look at her go!"

"Dang, I almost feel sorry for that Blue Pegasus guy."

"She's S class, right? She's gotta be S class with those moves!"

"Hang on, where is her partner?"

Jenny was wondering the same thing as the wall of water she'd been carried in finally dumped her in the middle of the woods. She coughed and gasped for breath as she pushed herself back onto her feet.

"Okay, that was just rotten!" she grumbled. "You kids are making me-"

She gasped as she turned around. A cyclone of water was headed straight for her. She bent backwards, barely dodging the attack, then stood up straight again.

She spotted him!

A young, blue-haired boy in the treetops. Changing back to her machina form she began shooting at him as he zipped through the treetops. He pushed off one of the trunks and somersaulted over her, his body turning to water, allowing the bullets to pass harmlessly through him. He landed behind Jenny and conjured two circles of water. The circles spun around him as he shot small jets towards her, calling out:

"Freeze!"

The jets turned to ice. Jenny held her arms up and blocked them. They shattered against her skin that had been turned to metal thanks to her form.

While she was distracted with the ice shards, a magic circle appeared under her.

"Water geyser!"

Jenny screeched as she was shot into the air.

"Freeze!" Storm called again. The geyser of water turned to ice, freezing Jenny inside. Jenny couldn't move, but thankfully she didn't have to in order to shoot the guns at her hands off. The bullets shattered the ice, but couldn't hurt Storm because he, once again, turned his body to water and let the bullets simply pass through him.

Jenny gritted her teeth and cranked her power up.

"MACHINA BULLET RAIN!"

No matter how many bullets she viciously shot at him, though, Storm remained unharmed. He simply stood there in his Water Body, and let the attack pass him by.

Then he disappeared.

"WHA-" Jenny gasped. "Oh, no! Did I evaporate him?"

"Nope," A small voice came from a puddly at her feet, that then shot upwards with a loud:

"WATER NEBULA!"

"AUGH! NOT AGAIN!" Jenny screamed as she was caught up in another gust of water.

Storm carried Jenny to the center of the arena.

Farrah took note, grabbed a rather dizzy and tired Hibiki by the scruff of his shirt and tossed him towards the water.

"Water geyser!" Another gust of water erupted under Hibiki's feet. Both of the vortexes shot towards one another, merging into one. Storm jumped away from the gigantic cyclone, turning back to his normal body.

"Alright Farrah, do it!" he called.

Farrah too a deep breath: "LIGHTNING DRAGON, ROAR!"

The lightning was only magnified as it hit the water. Both Hibiki and Jenny scratched as the two attacks merged and then exploded, leaving them burnt, shocked, and exhausted on the ground.

"And with that Fairy Tail wins a shocking win!" Chapati calls. "Literally...uh...can someone go make sure Hibiki and Jenny are okay…?"

Farrah let out a small sigh as she held her hand down for Storm to high-five.

"Ergh," Jenny groaned as she stood to her feet. "You kids are vicious."

"Erm...I think we might have over done it…" Storm whispered to Farrah.

"Yeah...maybe…" Farrah groaned, awkwardly rubbing at the back of her neck.

"Nice job," Jenny smiled, giving a thumbs up.

"Indeed," Hibiki moaned as he stood to his feet. "I can see why your parents trusted you to compete."

Trusted?

"Heh. Yeah," Farrah lied before she and Storm turned to walk back to the dugout, both ignoring the cheers going on around them. They weren't even that invested in the cheers coming for the crowd waiting for them in the dugout, consisting of the rest of the Birthday Gang and their exceeds, minus Roman and Maisie that was.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Nashi cheered as they returned. "You guys killed it out there!"

"Thanks," Storm smiled, blushing slightly.

Farrah, however, ignored them as she walked to find Benedict. She didn't have to look for long. She found him bounding down the steps from the stands to the dug out to meet her.

"Anything?" she asked.

"No, guess whoever attacked Roman decided to lay low," he answered.

"Hm," Farrah pondered. "Guess it makes sense. Too many attacks and other people would start getting suspicious."

"Guess so," Benedict said, crossing his arms. "I'll still keep an eye out, though. Or, y'know, ear."

"Did you just make a joke?" Farrah asked, a small smile on her lips. "Mr. Stoic Stick in the Mud has a sense of humor?"

"Don't get used to it," Benedict grumbled as the next fight was announced. All the other children who'd been hanging around in the dugout rushed to watch, Benedict and Farrah stayed put, though, still having a bit to talk about.

"Guess I'll need to bring someone else with me to see what my grandfather has figured out, though, if you're going to stay here."

"Eh! No, no, I can still go with you," Benedict insisted.

"You can't be in two places at once," Farrah sighed. "Besides, maybe it's best if you don't go."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Benedict's eyes narrowed.

"I mean, now that your dad has seen you…"

Benedict shuddered slightly but shook his head. "No. No, it's fine."

"You're lying," Farrah said plainly.

"Well, I mean, it's not like I can hide from him forever," Benedict crossed his arms. "Besides, it's not safe for you to go alone."

"I know, I'll just take someone else."

"Like who?"

"Cato."

"You think that's a good idea?" Benedict asked. "I mean, you're already on your grandfather's radar. You really want to put Cato in his cross hairs too?"

Farrah sighed. "That's true. Um...Nashi?"

"There isn't going to be a jail left with the two of you together," Benedict grumbled.

"Hey! We can have self control!" Farrah snapped.

Benedict just stared at her.

"On rare occasions."

Benedict arched an eyebrow.

"Alright, well, I can on rare occasions. Her, maybe not. But she's scared enough of me she'll listen if I tell her no fighting."

"Are you sure?" Benedict asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Farrah nodded.

Benedict sighed. "Okay, fine. But I'm keeping that link spell on you, and if anything happens-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know you worry wart," Farrah smirked as she patted him on the shoulder and then walked off to tell Nashi the plan.

"Mm-hm!"

Benedict turned to find Cato staring at him, arms crossed, eyebrow arched.

"What are you looking at?" Benedict asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Cato said innocently as he walked towards his sister, who was talking to Nashi.

"Aw, man!" Nashi was complaining. "So I can't watch the next round?"

"Do you want to find our parents or not?" Farrah asked.

Nashi hung her head. "Yeah, I guess."

"So I need you to go with me. My grandfather's the only lead we've got right now and I don't feel comfortable going alone."

Nashi sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll go with ya'."

"I'll go too," Fin offered, flying up and landing on Nashi's shoulder.

"Thanks," Farrah sighed, not noticing her little brother approaching them.

Cato smoothly sauntered to Farrah's side and in a calm voice asked: "So...you and Benedict have been hanging out a lot recently."

"He wants to find out what happened to our parents as much as I do," Farrah answered. "And with his brand of magic he's been a big help."

"And that's all?" Cato asked smuggly.

Farrah turned to him, a slight frown on her face. "What are you getting at, bro?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Cato smirked before sauntering off, softly singing under his breath: "Farrah and Benedict, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-"

"I can hear you, you little twerp, and that's not what's going on!" Farrah shouted as she chased after Cato. Cato took off running, Willa flying above him, yelling:

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Farrah with a baby carriage!"

Nashi and Finn just watched on.

"So...did I miss something?" Fin asked.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Nashi asked.

"Noticed what?" Fin frowned in confusion.

Nashi just rolled her eyes. "Good, grief, kitty. It's not like there haven't been signs for the past year or two."

"Signs of what?"