Chapter Thirteen:
"We're going to regret this, aren't we?" Persephone asked as she held Kyri on one hip and Luna on the other.
"Well, nothing we can do about it now," Meeko sighed. "Stupid star brain and his crazy sister are already in there."
"DON'T CALL ME STUPID, SNOWFLAKE!" Igneel shouted from where he and Layal stood in the middle of the arena, across from two Twilight Ogre wizards: Thiabault and Dob.
"HE CAN HEAR ME ALL THE WAY DOWN THERE!?" Meeko shouted.
"He's a dragon slayer, of course, he can," Persephone scoffed.
"Oh, I'm gonna-" Meeko huffed as he raced into the hallway to go to the lower level of the arena, no doubt to make jeers at Igneel from the press box.
Despite her scowl, Persephone was worried. It should be her out there, not Layla and Igneel. They were too young! Only eight and seven years old. They were going to get crushed!
But someone had to keep an eye on Luna…
Persephone glanced down at the black-headed baby that was clinging to her and whimpering. The poor thing may not have been able to understand what was going on, but she knew something was wrong.
"You'll be okay, Luna," Persephone whispered as she lightly bounced her. "We'll protect you."
Persephone then gasped. She felt something, a presence that was making her archive go nuts. She quickly looked about the Fairy Tail box for someone she could trust...but all the older children were nowhere to be seen. There were only…
"Why them?" Persephone groaned. "Minette, Eva, Von!"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Me?"
The Fernandez triplets all turned at the sounds of their names.
"Alright, I know you three can't walk ten steps without breaking something but try and real it in for a little while, okay?" Persephone asked as she walked towards them.
"Rude!" Eva exclaimed.
"But fair," Minette shrugged.
"Yeah...she's not exactly wrong…" Von scratched at the back of his head.
"Focus!" Persephone scolded as she set Kyri and Luna down in front of them. "Listen, I can't go into detail, but some of the people who took our parents want to hurt Luna."
"They what!?" Von shouted.
"Let me at 'em!" Minette held her fists up.
"No, no!" Persephone facepalmed. "I don't need you to go after them, I need you to stay here and guard Luna."
"Got it," Von said as he plopped down behind Luna, sitting cross-legged and pulling her into his lap. Eva and Minette stood on either side of him, hands held in a salute.
"Triplet bodyguard activated!" Minette declared.
"Shouldn't it be 'reporting for duty?'" Eva asked.
"Who's in charge here?" Minette challenged.
"Wait, since when have you been in charge?" Von asked.
"Because I'm older."
"By two minutes!" Eva shouted.
"Wait, two minutes older than you, or me?" Von asked.
"Me, you're still the wittle baby of the family, Vonnie-baby."
"Aw, man!"
Persephone sighed. "This is a terrible idea," she grumbled as she walked into the hallway. She stepped through the door just in time to see a blond-headed boy duck around the corner. Persephone took a deep breath as she followed after him.
She was scared. Very scared.
Carmen had already taken Roman out and had done a number on Nashi, both of whom were stronger than her, but they needed answers.
So, a screen conjured and ready, she followed after him.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Layla whimpered as the arena began to shift and change around her.
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea…"
"You said yourself if we didn't jump in here Fairy Tail would have gotten kicked out," Igneel answered.
"But how are we gonna beat them!" Layla shrieked as she pointed to the two tall men in front of them.
"They're grown-ups! And we're kids!"
"Easy," Igneel smiled as he began hopping up and down in place.
"EASY!? How is this going to be easy?" Layla asked.
"Me and your spirits will distract them and you do your magic-blocking thingy."
Layla just blinked as she stared at her younger brother. "Did you just have a good idea?"
"Hey, I can be smart when I want to be!" Igneel pouted.
The arena finally quit changing. On the Fairy Tail side was an ocean and beach. On the Twilight Ogre side was what looked like city ruins.
Layla fumbled through her keys, picking one out. All she had to do was get close enough to them to block their energy flow and they could win. She just had to do it before Igneel got hurt.
"Three. Two! ONE! BEGIN!"
"Heh, heh," Thiabault chuckled menacingly as he raised a mace in his hand. "This will be fun!"
"Open, Gate of the Rose!" Layla called. "Fyllo!"
A woman made of rose petals appeared, and thorny vines grew out of the ground under Thiabault, twisting around him and pulling him down.
"What the-" he shouted, raising his mace to crush the vines, only to have another set of vines wrap around his mace and pluck it from his hands.
"I don't think so, Ugly," Fyllo said, before turning to Layla. "Here's your chance, cutie!"
Layla ran towards Thiabault, eyes squinting to try and sense where a major pathway was so she could block it. Before she could reach him, though, Thiabault called:
"Oni attack!"
A tiny green creature with a barbed tail and horns popping out its head appeared in front of her.
"Snack time!" the little devil cheered as it gnashed its teeth at her.
"Eek!" Layla screeched as she began running away.
"Run, girl!" Fyllo shouted, conjuring up more thorny vines to try and catch the little devil, but it was too fast.
Unaware of his sister's dilemma, Igneel charged straight towards Dob, fist raised as he yelled: "Celestial Dragon, Crushing Fist!"
A burst of starry magical energy shined around his fist.
Unfortunately, the attack didn't land because Dob grabbed Igneel by the wrist and tossed him into a crumbling building behind him.
"Yipe! OUCH!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Carmen shoved his hands into his pocket, head ducked as he shuffled down the hallway. At least they'd won the fight, he and Georgiana gave it all they had and it had paid off. That should satisfy Elena for now and keep her off their backs...for now.
But thanks to Tate's big mouth Elena had found out that-
Carmen suddenly stopped midstep and picked his head up. "Ugh, will you Fairies just mind your own business."
Persephone just kept walking towards him. "What were you doing sniffing around our turf?" she asked.
Carmen turned towards her, a deep frown on his face. "What makes you think I'll tell you that?"
Persephone's mouth curled into a half-grin. Carmen still had a bit of fight in him, but his magic energy was running low. The fight with Nashi and then the battle round had really taken it out of him. That made her chances of facing him much better.
"Well, I'd start talking if I were you. So far you've hurt Roman, Nashi, and Layla, so I'm already pretty pissed off at you."
"Is that supposed to scare me?" Carmen scoffed.
"It should."
"Tch. Just do me a favor and leave me alone," Carmen muttered as he turned to walk off.
Persephone only nodded in confidence. He knew he was low on energy too, that's why he was trying to walk off without a fight.
Well, she wasn't going to let that happen.
"Archive cube!" she called.
A series of giant screens appeared around her and Carmen, trapping them in a gigantic cube.
"You've got to be kidding me," Carmen grumbled.
"Listen, pal, you've taken our parents away and hurt three of us already. If you think we're just gonna let you walk off after that you're dead wrong. I'm not letting you leave this box until I get some answers!" Persephone declared as two screens appeared in her hands. She squeezed her fingers into fists, shattering both screens, the sharp pieces floating all around her.
"This just isn't my day," Carmen grumbled as he got ready to dodge.
Persephone raised her hands and shouted: "ARCHIVE CHAOS!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"AAAHHHH!" Layla screamed as the Oni continued to chase after her. "Don't eat me! You wouldn't like me! You don't know where I've been!"
"Oh, my, poor little munchkin" Bob called as he, Chapati, andYajimanarrated the fight. "She just can't seem to shake that nasty Oni!"
"She'll have to get rid of it at some point though if she wants a chance of winning this round," Chapati added.
Layla pumped her legs all the faster, ducking into a dilapidated building. Inside she saw a twisted and broken iron rod. She raced to it, picked it up, and turned around. The Oni jumped towards her as she swung the rod at it, hitting it square in the head. The Oni groaned as it slumped to the ground and disappeared.
"Phew!" Layla sighed in relief, then felt a vibration from her keys. "Oh, no! Fyllo!" she gasped as she ran out of the building, peeking outside just in time to see Fyllo disappear in a glittering ball of yellow light.
"Sorry, cutie!"
Thibault, mace back in hand and free from Fyllo's thorns stood to his feet. "Now where's that little brat?"
"Eek!" Layla squeaked as she ran off to find another hiding place. At least, that was her original plan. Mid run she pivoted on her heel and headed right back to the Twilight Ogre side of the arena, catching everyone off guard.
"Wait, she's running right back towards him!" Chapati shouted.
"Careful, you little darling!" Bob called.
"What is she thinking?" Yajima all but screamed.
Layla didn't listen to them, instead, she charged straight onto the beach and towards the water. "Please make it there first, please make it there first!" she begged as she kept running.
"There you are!" Thibault shouted as he swung his mace at her. Layla barely ducked in time and slid the rest of the way into the water.
"Open, gate of the river, Zelos!" she shouted.
A gush of water shot Thibault in the chest as a creature with the upper body of a man and the lower body of a sea horse appeared next to Layla in the water.
Thibault coughed and spattered as Zelos continued shooting water at him.
"Now's your chance, go!" Zelos called to Layla.
"Okay," Layla said as she plodded through the water and back to the beach. Once she got to the sand she ran to Thibault and struck his ankle with the side of her hand.
Thibault rolled his head back and laughed. "What was that supposed to do? Oni-" he stopped suddenly and looked down at himself. "Uh...Oni...Oni...wait a second…"
"Wha-I say, do you sense that, Bob?" Yajima asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Yaji-boy! I barely believe it myself! Seems like the little munchkin has managed to disrupt Thibault's magic energy flow! Who knows how long it's going to take that hunk to get his magic attacks back!"
"Incredible!" Chapati cheered as the crowd went wild. Layla could hear some of the spectators shouting through the applause.
"That little girl can block magic energy?"
"So cool!"
"Man, Fairy Tail's so wicked that even the kids are super strong!"
Layla sighed in relief. That was one down...or so she thought…
"Well," Thibault said with a wicked smile as he lifted his mace. "Good thing I still have this!"
"Wait, that's not magic!?" Layla screamed as Thibault swung the mace at her.
"Layla!" Zelos shouted, jumping in front of her and taking the blow.
"Zelos!" Layla screeched.
"Layla, run!" Zelos said before disappearing in a golden light.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Oof!" Carmen grunted as jumped out of the way of another one of Persephone's attacks. He stood to his feet, shouting: "Maguilty Sodom!"
A series of shining blue swords shot straight towards Persephone.
"Archive, Shield Absorption!" Persephone said, a screen appearing in front of her and absorbing Carmen's attacks.
"Cute," Carmen sniffed. "But that shield can't protect you forever. Maguilty rays!"
Just as with the swords, the golden rays shooting from Carmen's palm just absorbed themselves into Persephone's shield.
"Maguilty Sodom!" more swords headed towards her, but once again disappeared within her shield. This time, however, Persephone did something that Carmen wasn't expecting. She laughed.
"What's up with you?" Carmen panted, the toll of his very long day starting to bear on him. "Maguilty ray!"
Persephone grinned as her shield absorbed the final attack, then she looked up at Carmen and a devilish gleam in her eye. "Carmen, Carmen, Carmen. You just messed up big time!"
Carmen took a step back before Persephone shouted:
"Archive, redirect!"
All of the swords and rays Carmen had thrown at Persephone suddenly came flying out of her shield and straight towards him.
"Wha-" Carmen gasped as he jumped out of the way. As he dodged the sword absorbed through the walls of Persephone's cube. Carmen gulped and turned back to Persephone, who had one hand on a wall of her cube.
"Archive Redirect, Cube Formation!" she said. The rays and swords flew out from all walls of the cube, right at Carmen.
"Wha-AUGH!" Carmen screamed as he tried to dodge but to no avail this time. The swords, his own swords, cut through his clothes and sliced at his skin. The rays burned him, leaving stinging blisters.
"Augh-Maguilty Force Field!" he whimpered, a pink film growing over his skin. It was weak, he was at his very limit of magic energy. But now, maybe, he could just wait her out.
Persephone, however, had other ideas:
"Archive, redirecting CHAOS!" She screeched, slamming her fist into the wall of the cube, shattering the entire thing. Carmen could only scream as his swords, rays, and now billions of shards of archive screens headed straight towards him in a massive wave.
His force field broke, leaving him at the mercy of Persephone's attack, which left him a shuddering and bloody mess. He barely even noticed Persephone drawing closer to him until she placed a finger on his brow.
"Well, well, well," she mused as another screen materialized in front of Carmen, with the writing: "Subject's Magic Energy Levels are at a Critical Low."
"You're all out," Persephone grinned.
Carmen hung his head, a whimper escaping him.
"Now," Persephone slammed her fist on the floor, the billions of screen shards still laying about, jumping to life and pointing right at Carmen. "Talk!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Ugh!" Igneel grumbled as he pushed himself up onto his feet.
"C' mere you little brat!" Dob shouted as he reached for Igneel.
"Uh, oh!" Igneel said as he somersaulted out of Dob's way.
"C'mere!" Dob chased after Igneel, still reaching for him.
Igneel just kept cartwheeling away. After about the fourth cartwheel, though, he got an idea and shouted: "Celestial Dragon, Claw!"
Starry magic appeared around Igneel's feet and he kicked Dob right in the chin, sending him flying backward.
"Oh, ho! Sweet!" Igneel cheered.
"Ergh," Dob grumbled as he pushed himself up to his feet.
"Uh, oh!" Igneel squeaked.
"Sleepiness Shadow!" Dob shouted as he snapped his finger. A shadow headed straight towards Igneel. Igneel jumped out of its way, though a bit of the shadow did lightly brush against him. Still, Igneel just laughed.
"Sleep magic? C'mon! My mommy has tried o use that on me hundreds of times and it never-" Igneel's knees suddenly began to buckle and his eyebrows droop. "That' sh shtronger than what mommy usesh."
Igneel continued grumbling to himself as he began stumbling about. "Oh, wowie! Why is everything spinning?"
"C'mere," Dob said as he reached towards Igneel, almost grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt. Igneel, however slapped his hand away.
"Hey, handsh of the merchandishe."
"Kid would you stand still so I can get rid of you!"
"No, no, I don't think I will," Igneel continued babbling as he raised his fist. "Cele-YAWN! Celestial Dragon fist!"
A sparkling light appeared around his hand and he slammed it into Dob's gut, sending him flying backward.
"And that'sh, what you get, you-you-Wowie! Everything's still spinning!"
"Get in the water, you idiot!" a voice shouted from the sidelines.
"Meeko?" Igneel asked dumbly. "Aw, heck, Meeko! Shut yer fat mouth and stop hollerin' at me. I'm fine!"
"The water!" Meeko kept yelling from Fairy Tail's dugout. "Jump in the water so it will wake you up!"
"There'sh water?" Igneel asked groggily as he turned around and looked at the makeshift ocean on Twilight Ogre's side. "Oh, yeah! Water!"
Igneel began to walk in a wobbly, and uncoordinated way towards the water.
Dob, meanwhile, recovered from the punch to the gut, stood to his feet, and began to run after the still woozy Igneel.
"Get back here!"
"Oh, sh, ssssshhhhhuuuuuusssssshhhhh yer mouth," Igneel said, holding a finger to his mouth as he kept waddling towards the water.
"Come here, you drunk brat!"
"I'm not drunk. I sh shleepy, no thanksh to you!"
"Get over here so I can put you all the way to sleep!"
"Oh, really?" Igneel stopped on his lopsided march to the water and turned to face Dob. "Y'know what I say to that? I say, YAWN, I say-uh- Celestial Dragon Roar!"
The roar was not as big as Igneel's usual roars, but it was enough to knock Dob back on his back.
"And a roar!" Igneel yawned, sending out a tiny sparkle for good measure. "Now what was I doin'? Oh, yeah, water…"
From the sidelines, Meeko just facepalmed and shook his head. "Dang it, Igneel!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Carmen sniffled as he drew himself into a tight ball.
"Talk!" Persephone said again.
"About, what?" Carmen asked.
"Where did you take our parents? Why do you keep trying to hurt us? What do you want with Luna?"
"Luna?" Carmen gasped, lifting his head. Persephone took a step back. She wasn't expecting that soft smile from Carmen. Nor his teary eyes.
"Is that her name?" he asked in a hushed voice. "Luna?"
Persephone's frown deepened and the archive shards drew closer to Carmen. "What do you want with Luna?"
"Nothing," Carmen answered.
"Oh, c'mon! You expect me to believe that?" Persephone snapped.
"No, really, nothing!" Carmen said. "I...I want nothing from her. I just…"
The tears began falling from his eyes and down his cheeks. "I never knew...what happened to her...I never knew where she went after Elena…" he shuddered, drawing himself back into a tight ball.
"I just want to make sure she's okay…"
Persephone cocked her head to one side. "But you hurt her. You performed a sensory link between you and her while Nashi-"
"I wanted to make sure it was really her. And I...I didn't want anyone else getting suspicious."
"Huh?" Persephone cocked her head to one side.
"Everyone knows my little sister is the one Elena lost. So they all think I care about her, and I do," Carmen sniffled. "That's why I had to hurt her. They wouldn't suspect she was my sister if I hurt her-"
"She's not your sister!" Persephone snapped. "She's Nashi's! Nashi would never have hurt her the way you did!"
"Hurting her then is better than Elena finding her and taking her!" Carmen shouted.
"If Elena's so bad why don't you leave?" Persephone asked.
"I can't!" Carmen shouted. "Don't you get it? I can't leave! I have to say! I have to do what she says! I have to fight you!"
Persephone just stared, stunned, as Carmen's bottom lip trembled.
"Or she'll kill me."
Persephone stared hard at Carmen. Should she believe him? What if this was just one big ploy to.
Persephone sighed, knelt in front of Carmen, and reached towards him again.
Carmen flinched, closing his eyes, only to open them when he felt no attack. Instead, Persephone set a hand on his face.
"Say it again," Persephone ordered as she conjured up another screen.
"Wha-"
"Say it again."
Carmen just stared at her. Was this a trick?
"C'mon, man! I haven't got all day!" Persephone snapped.
"Okay, uh, I have to do what Elena says or she'll kill me."
Green letters spelling the word "TRUTH" appeared on Persephone's screen.
Persephone sighed and the screen disappeared.
"See?" Carmen said. "I don't really want to hurt any of you, but if I don't she'll either kill me or one of the others."
Persephone frowned as she thought. "No, you don't."
"What do you mean?"
"We can help you," Persephone said.
Carmen sighed as he stood to his feet. "No, you can't…"
"We can protect you!" Persephone declared as she stood up after him. "Carmen, if you can help us get our parents back, then Fairy Tail can help you. We can get you away from Elena. We can make sure she never hurts you or any of the others again!"
Carmen shook his head. "No. No, you can't," and with that, he turned and ran off.
"Carmen!" Persephone chased after him. Carmen turned a corner. Persephone followed, only to be caught up in a crowd.
"Carmen!" Persephone shouted, but there was no answer. She searched through the crowd, but to no avail. Carmen was gone…
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
SPLASH!
Igneel all but faceplanted into the water. He lay there for a few seconds. Then shot right back up onto his feet.
"Oh, wow, that's a lot better!" he cheered as he shook the water out of his eyes and hair. "Now, where's my enemy?"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"Layla?" Igneel turned to find Layla racing through the broken-down city, Thirbault chasing after her, swinging his mace.
"AH!" Layla squealed as a bit of brick wall exploded over her head, shattered by Thirbault's mace.
"Bad, bad, bad, this is bad!" she cried as she slid into a broken-down building. She climbed up several flights of wobbly, broke down steps until she reached the roof of the building. She looked around her. There was another rooftop just a bit away. She took two steps back, got a running start, and jumped.
The crowd gasped as Layla went airborne, and then sighed when she safely made the landing.
"Oof!" Layla grunted as she slid onto the roof of the second building. She turned and looked back to where she'd just jumped from. Though she couldn't see him, she could hear Thibault running up the steps after her, mainly because he was screaming:
"Where'd you go, you little twerp!"
"Open, Gate of the Lamp! Misbah!" Layla shouted as she ran to the second building's steps and raced down them.
Misbah appeared and with her a puff of red smoke.
When Thirbault appeared onto the roof, he was blinded by the red cloud.
"Ack! What the-Okay, very funny you little brat!" he began swinging his mace around, not realizing Layla wasn't even in that building anymore. In fact, she had climbed down all the stairs of the second building and was safely back on the ground, Misbah right behind her. She glanced up at the rooftops, let out a small squeak of fear at the sight of Thibault, and raced off.
"Come here, you-AUGH!" Thibault screamed as he stepped right off the roof and plummeted towards the ground. He landed with a loud thump.
"UGH!" Thibault groaned as he stood to his feet, just in time to see a blond-headed little girl round the corner of the street in front of him. "There you-OW!"
Thibault took one step forward and then collapsed onto his face again as he felt an explosion from behind his skull.
"What the-" He started to get up, looking over his shoulder to see an Orange-headed boy running towards him.
"Celestial Dragon, Wing Attack!"
"OUCH!"
The attack hit Thibault in the back and sent him careening into the wall of a nearby building. He groaned and turned around just in time for his face to be attacked by Igneel, who jumped up wrapped, his legs around his neck, and began punching him in the face with shimmering, star-like fists.
"DON'T! TOUCH! MY! SISTER!"
Thibault finally managed to grab Igneel by the hair, yanking him off and throwing him to the ground.
"Oof!" Igneel grunted as he bounced off the ground.
Thibault raised his mace to strike, then went cross-eyed, fell to his knees, and fainted.
"AND TWILIGHT OGRES THIBAULT IS DOWN!" Chapati announced.
"WOO-HOO!" Igneel cheered.
"That just leaves Dob," Yajima said.
"Oh, right," Igneel grumbled. "That jer-OH NO! LAYLA!"
Igneel took off, trying to find his sister.
Layla, meanwhile, had made it back to the beach, Misbah still in tow. She panted as she leaned against her knees and tried to catch her breath. She heard the announcement and sighed in relief.
"So we only have one-"
"Look out!" Misbah cried as she grabbed Layla and moved her out of the way of an angrily running Dob.
"Sleep magi-"
"HIYA!" Misbah let Layla go and then kicked Dob in the face.
"Ouch!" He groaned as he took a step back, nursing a bloody nose.
"Get 'im, short stack!" Misbah shouted.
Layla jumped forward, jabbing two fingers into Dob's torso just below his ribcage.
"Woop! There goes Dob's magic for the next few hours!" Yajima announced.
Dob just stood there, flustered. "Well...I...uh...guess I don't need magic to beat up a little kid!"
"Not on my watch, meathead!" Misbah said, standing in front of Layla and assuming a fight pose. Layla glanced around for something to help her fight, then spotted something coming towards them.
"Misbah, duck!" She shouted, hitting the beach and dragging her spirit down with her as a voice called out:
"CELESTIAL DRAGON ROAR!"
Igneel's attack flew over Layla and Misbah and hit Dob straight in the chest. With no sleep magic to inhibit him, he was able to push Dob right into the water with his roar.
As Igneel continued roaring at Dob, Layla glanced around her, looking for a weapon of some sort. She found a bit of driftwood, crawled to it, and picked it up.
Igneel's attack ended and Dob began climbing out of the water.
"You think that's gonna take me down, you little-"
CRACK!
As Dob began stomping towards Igneel, Layla ran up behind him and broke the driftwood over his head.
"-Okay, nevermind," Dob muttered as he went cross-eyed and collapsed onto the beach.
"AND THAT'S THE MATCH!" Chapati shouted. "FAIRY TAIL WINS!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
"We did it?" Layla asked.
"WE DID IT!" Igneel shouted, tackle-hugging his sister.
"That...actually wasn't as bad as I thought," Layla grinned.
"Yeah, well, the fact that these two guys were kinda dumb probably helped," Igneel shrugged, still hugging Layla.
"Like you got room to talk, Star-Breath!" Meeko shouted from the dug-out.
"Oh, yeah!?" Igneel shouted back. "Let's see you get out here and try it!"
Layla just giggled as she looked back at the dugout, then her brow furrowed. "Hey, where's Nashi?"