Here's the next chapter! The Soren pairing poll is still up! I hope you all enjoy!
Natsu and Zale managed to catch up and find their friends' kidnappers, the hooded men carrying Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica.
"What do you think you're doing with them?!" Zale shouted at the abductors.
The kidnappers were panicking and now running.
"Hold it right there!" Natsu screamed as he ran faster.
"Isn't that the guy that wobbled in the race?!" One of the kidnappers questioned.
"I didn't know he could run so fast!" Another exclaimed.
One of the kidnappers turned around to face the Fairy Tail wizards chasing them. "Leave them to me." He cocked his guns.
He was immediately knocked to the ground by a powerful stream of black water shooting from Zale's arm.
"Out of our way!" Zale shouted.
Natsu ran past the downed man and before he could catch the kidnappers, something zipped past him. Within two seconds, invisible blades precisely sliced the hooded men so that Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica wouldn't be hit and the men weren't fatally wounded. As they fell to the ground, Soren appeared out of thin air in front of them and turned to them. Natsu caught Porlusica and Zale caught Wendy and Carla.
"Thanks, Soren." Zale said.
Soren didn't say anything until he walked up to them. "How are they?"
"Looks like all they did was knock 'em out." Natsu said.
"That's twice now you've saved our friends." Zale said. "… Wait a minute… What did you do with the…" Zale bolted back to the infirmary. "Natsu, you take care of Wendy and Carla until they get up!"
Zale went to the infirmary and saw that the food he gave Soren to hold was set down on one of the tables. The color left his face and he collapsed to his knees.
"… There go my meals for the rest of the week…" Zale weakly mumbled to himself.
"What's the big deal?" Soren appeared behind him and asked. "It's not like I set them on the ground."
"You… clearly don't understand the hygiene of medical facilities, do you?" Zale questioned.
Zale and Soren were back in the concessions line to repurchase the food Zale had bought earlier.
"Do I HAVE to be here?" Soren asked.
"Do you still want those grape chews?" Zale asked.
"… Yes…" Soren hesitantly replied.
Unfortunately, it didn't look like they would be able to get to the front of the line for a while.
"So…" Zale spoke up to break the silence. "Why did you challenge Lamia Scale last night?"
Soren looked away and refused to answer.
"Fine, then you can forget about your grape chews."
*He just HAD to take the last one…* Soren thought while gritting his teeth. "You know how I said I was just trying to fight a girl?"
"Is this one of those 'you're confused about your feelings, so you express it through picking on her' sort of thing?" Zale inquired.
"No!" Soren blurted out while his face was somewhat pink. He realized his reaction and turned his face away from Zale. "Even if it was, I wouldn't draw so much attention like that."
"Yeah, you don't seem like you…" Zale tried to think of what to say. "Enjoy… being around… people… Sorry I just said that."
"No, you're right. Aside from my dad, I don't like talking to people."
"What about your mom?"
Soren lowered his head. "My Mom died… about six years ago…"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
"She's… the one who taught me magic. When I was finally old enough to learn it, I was so excited… And she seemed so happy…" Soren began to sound like he was choking on the words that were trying to come out, but then he gulped and swallowed those words back in.
"Sir!" Another voice called out to them.
"Crap, we're up!" Zale exclaimed as he moved up in the line.
After repurchasing their snacks and delivering them to Fairy Tail members watching the games as spectators, Zale and Soren headed to where the former's participating friends were.
"Hey, guys. What did we miss?" Zale asked upon approaching Natsu's team.
The previous battled left Elfman heavily injured, but now that Wendy had recovered enough and their team was done for the day, she was allowed to take her place back on the team.
"Mira wiped the floor out there!" Natsu pumped his arms in excitement.
"Sounds like the old Mira's back…" Zale said. "Anyway, I brought someone by so another someone can thank him in person."
Zale nudged Soren toward Wendy until the two young teens were only a few feet away from each other.
"Wendy, this is Soren." Zale introduced him. "The boy who saved you twice now."
Wendy walked up to Soren, making him feel a little uncomfortable.
"So you're the one who saved me and Carla?" Wendy asked with a smile.
"Y… yeah…" Soren answered without looking away.
"Thank you very much!" Wendy bowed to him.
Soren appeared to be conflicted on what to say and just as he was about to speak up, there was an announcement from the commentators.
"The final match of the day will be Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi versus Sabertooth's Yukino Aguria! Once again we'll have a match between two beauties!"
Everyone looked back at the arena and saw two young women enter. One of them was the dark-haired woman in the blazer Zale saw the other day and the other had short white hair with a white tube dress and a white, feathery cape.
"GO GET 'EM, KAGURA!"
Zale heard a familiar voice among the cheers and searched the audience until he spotted Jayden sitting next to an aisle of stairs not far off from where he was standing.
"Hey, guys?" Zale turned back to the others. "I need to take Soren back to his father, so I'll be right back. He should be watching the games from here, right?" He looked toward Soren.
"Yeah." Soren answered simply.
"Then I'll see you all back at the lodge." Zale said before walking off with Soren.
Soren was quiet until they got out of earshot from the Fairy Tail wizards. "… My dad's the other way."
"Before I take you to your dad, there's someone I want to talk to." Zale stated.
They kept walking until they were standing right next to Jayden.
"Hi, Jayden." Zale greeted.
"Great… Him again…" Soren grumbled.
"Hm?" Jayden looked toward them and smiled. "Oh, hey! What brings you two here? The kid get himself in trouble again?"
"No, but it's a long story." Zale said before looking out at the arena. "Is that the lady you said you spar with?"
"Yep, and she's no pushover." Jayden replied.
"As you all know, Kagura's strength makes her not only the most powerful wizard in Mermaid Heel, but always ranks near the top of Sorcerer Weekly's Strongest Female Wizards lists!" Chapati stated.
"She's that strong, huh?" Soren spoke.
"Facing her, in her debut match, is Yukino!" Chapati continued commentating. "Even though she's new, as a member of Sabertooth we expect overwhelming power!"
The gong was struck to signal the battle to begin.
*That girl might be with Sabertooth…* Zale thought and then looked at Jayden. *If Kagura's strength is anything like Jayden's, the timer might end before the match does.*
When Zale's mind came back to Earthland, he saw that the whole stadium became quiet.
"W-what did I miss?" Zale asked.
"You know how the other fighters made bets in today's fights?" Jayden asked.
"… No." Zale answered. "I was off getting snacks for my friends and dealing with kidnappers."
"Well, the first one… I don't remember." Jayden said. "Must not've been important. For the second, Quatro Cerberus now has to be called 'Quatro Puppy'. Then the loser of the fight between the pinup models has to pose for a nude photo-shoot in the next Sorcerer Weekly."
Zale slapped his palm against his face while Soren looked away from them to hide his reddened face.
"And now these two… are betting their lives." Jayden finished.
They then saw Yukino pull out a golden key.
"This is insane!" Zale said. "So the loser is going to die?!"
"I hope not…" Soren responded. "A game's not worth dying over…"
"Open, Gate of the Paired Fish!" Yukino shouted as her key began to glow.
"That's… Celestial Magic!" Zale exclaimed.
"PISCES!"
Two large fish, one white and one black, appeared out of thin air and lunged at Kagura. She jumped up and easily avoided the haphazard attack, but Yukino had just pulled out another golden key.
"Open, Gate of the Heavenly Scales! Libra!"
A tanned, dark-haired woman wearing a green belly dancer's outfit and carrying half of a scale in each of her hands appeared in front of Yukino.
"Libra, change the target's gravity." Yukino commanded.
"As you wish!" Libra replied.
An intense gravitational pull forced Kagura to the ground to the point where she could barely keep standing.
"Pisces!" Yukino signaled the fish spirits.
The two giant fish lunged at Kagura again, but at the last second she managed to break free from the gravity and jumped away from Pisces.
"How'd she break out of that?!" Soren exclaimed quietly.
"There's no way she could…" Zale then placed his finger on his chin for a second and instantly realized the reason. "Unless she specializes in Gravity Magic!"
"Correct!" Jayden said. "Kagura's not only a powerful swordswoman, but the most adept in Gravity Magic!"
"Ohh… Right, she hasn't even drawn her sword yet." Zale said.
"She won't need to… No… More like she doesn't want to…"
"Hm?" Zale looked at Jayden in confusion.
"But that's a story for another time!" Jayden smiled off.
"You are so carefree, aren't you?" Zale murmured to himself.
"Will you force me to open it?" Yukino asked. "The thirteenth gate?"
"'Thirteenth'?" Zale questioned. "I thought there were only twelve Zodiac keys!"
"This is an omen of very bad luck." Yukino said as she readied the black key.
Kagura dashed toward Yukino. "From the moment I was born, I never relied on luck. All is the result of one's own decisions!"
"Open! Gate of the Snake Charmer!"
"I guide myself towards my own fate!" Kagura claimed.
"Ophiuchus!"
A huge, mechanical black snake appeared above Yukino and lunged at Kagura.
"Vengeance Sword: Archenemy…"
In one swift motion, the serpent was sliced into pieces despite Kagura's sword remaining sheathed leaving everyone staring in shock.
"Besheathed Longsword Technique!"
*Her sword wasn't even drawn!* Zale thought with awe and terror on his face. *And Jayden frequently fights this woman?!*
Kagura then appeared in front of Yukino, ready to strike her down.
"No…" Yukino gasped in fear.
"Your bet was ill considered." Kagura stated.
Without unsheathing her sword, Kagura delivered one powerful slash to Yukino and the Sabertooth mage fell backwards to the ground, her clothes and skin still intact.
"Even mermaids feed on tiger meat." Kagura said.
Everyone in the stadium stared at the combatants, except for Jayden who just smiled. However, the person more in shock over this outcome was Yukino.
"Th… Th-th…" Chapati could barely speak at first. "The match… is over… And the winner is… Mermaid Heel's Kagura Mikazuchi!"
"Unbelievable…" Zale said in a low voice.
"That Sabertooth girl was strong…" Jayden spoke. "But Kagura was much stronger…"
"She might even be as powerful as Erza…" Zale said.
"Wait, you said you were in Sabertooth but left, right? Did you know that girl?" Zale asked.
"Yeah, I also said there was only one decent person in that guild. She's that one person… but now there probably won't be any."
"What do you mean?" Soren inquired.
"If you're a member of Sabertooth and you fail, even once, you're forced to strip down in front of the entire guild, remove your guild mark and leave." Jayden answered.
"That's horrible!" Zale held his hand over his mouth. "No wonder you left. Shouldn't we help her?"
"There's nothing we can do at this point." Jayden stood up. "Anyway, I'm gonna go congratulate Kagura on her victory. Later."
Jayden walked away with a good chunk of the audience as Zale remembered something.
"Soren, we should take you to your father. He's probably worried about you."
Soren continued staring down at the fallen and crying Yukino in the arena. "… I'm sorry…" He mumbled inaudibly before walking with Zale.
A/N: Done! I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!