Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything aside from a few OCs.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters.
Note: I haven't been able to reply to your guys' reviews like normal, getting an 'invalid message' warning, so if I need to reply I'll use the private messaging directly. Anyone having the same issue or know how to fix it?
Enjoy!
'Something isn't right…' Jellal thought to himself with a frown, eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed at the various mages from the other guilds in the Domas-Flau, dismissing the foreign visitors. After all, this was the first year they'd been allowed to witness and participate in the Games, so it couldn't be them that he and Ultear had been sensing over the past seven years. 'It's day two, and yet…'
Nothing.
As day two of the Games closed, five remained until that fateful day…
"You haven't sensed anything yet?" Erza asked.
"No, not yet." Jellal answered. "We usually sense a power reminiscent of Zeref at the Games, but for some reason…we've yet to sense it this year."
"Why do you think that is?" the Requip mage wondered.
"I'm not sure, but I can think of a number of possibilities." Jellal said thoughtfully. "Let's say a mage is the one responsible for this power. Well, they may not be attending the Games this year. Or they could be here in Crocus but they're not using that particular magic."
"Perhaps it could be someone in the tournament who hasn't had the chance to compete yet." Erza theorized.
"If it's from a device or a specific location, then that makes things slightly more complicated." Jellal said with a nod, acknowledging her point but continuing to answer her initial question. "Either the device hasn't been activated or there's some sort of filter that's preventing the magic power from leaking out."
"In any case," Erza said seriously. "The fact that you aren't sensing it means there's no reason for us to worry right now.
"I certainly hope that's true." Jellal said warily, not believing it in the slightest. "Either way. One of Crime Sorciere* will investigate the game organizers tomorrow. Which of us will depend on if any of us are called to participate."
Erza warned. "Be careful."
Jellal nodded in agreement. "That's one lesson I learned a long time ago."
"Don't push yourself too hard." Erza said with a soft smile.
"I won't." Jellal assured her, making sure that she couldn't see his matching smile, though he had a feeling that the redhead still knew it was there. "Goodnight, Erza."
"It's later than I thought it was." Erza said with a smile as she walked along the cobblestone road to the hotel Fairy Tail was staying in. "Surely the others have finished their partying by now."
"I finally found you!" a cheery voice called, and Erza turned to see a cloaked figure facing her.
"Who goes there?" she demanded, ready to Requip in an instant if she needed to.
"Well aren't you all rosy?" the figure giggled.
"You're…" Erza's eyes widened at the familiar term of address. "It's really you."
The figure removed her hood, revealing an older and more mature-looking Millianna…who had grown up with Jellal (and Erza up to a point) in the Tower of Heaven.
"It's been a while, Erzy-werzy!" the cat-lover said cheerfully.
"Millianna!" Erza called with a smile, catching her old friend as the now older woman jumped into her arms with a happy squeal.
"I missed you so much!" Millianna said.
"Oh, it's so good to see you." Erza agreed with a wide smile.
"Look at you, have you joined a guild?" Erza asked, clasping Millianna's hands with her own.
"Yeah!" Millianna answered, smiling slightly. Erza hadn't noticed? "I'm a member of Mermaid Heel!"
(AN: this time Millianna didn't hide beneath that cloak the entire time because Fairy Tail already knew she had joined Mermaid Heel and thought it would probably come up at some point. But it didn't, and Erza was too busy paying attention to other things to notice her at the coliseum.)
"What about Sho and Wally, did they join along with you?" Erza asked.
"Are you kidding me?" Millianna said. "We don't allow any boys in our guild, so they couldn't join if they wanted."
"Oh, I see." Erza said sheepishly.
"You'll be happy to know that they're out traveling the world." Millianna said, eyes closing. "I still talk to them every once in a while."
"That's good." Erza said, tearing up as she hugged her friend. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you, Millianna."
"Oh, Erzy-werzy!" Millianna teared up.
"Silly me. I was worried about you." Erza said with a watery laugh. "Please don't cry…"
"So are you!" Millianna teased, and the two girls laughed.
A few miles away, Bacchus was at the bar where the remaining Fairy Tail mages had decided (at Cana's suggestion) to celebrate the day's victories.
The Palm mage cackled.
"That's not half bad, you guys!" Bacchus laughed. "But let's try one more time! Your soul will always be?!"
"WILD!" Natsu and Happy shouted.
Gray would've joined in, but he was still pissed about the Quatro Cerberus' attempts to get Juvia in bed with him, even though the Water mage herself had brushed it off and forgiven the man already.
…To be clear, he was mad because it was a horrible, perverted bet penalty. Not for any other reason.
*whistles*
"Now that's the spirit!" Bacchus said approvingly. "You kids really know how to party, don't cha?"
"Well you're one to talk!" Happy said cheerfully. "You are the party!"
Bacchus smirked, before glancing at the clock. "It's getting' pretty late. We should probably start getting back to our hotels soon."
He was about to continue, but was interrupted by Cana, who had snuck up from behind.
"I want a rematch!" the Card mage demanded, glaring at him dangerously.
This time she was sober, so she wasn't already drunk off her ass like their first encounter.
Bacchus cackled again. "You're on, sister!"
"Can I join in?" another voice asked from the doorway, and as one every mage in the room turned towards the speaker.
"SHURA!" Rin shouted excitedly, jumping over the table he'd been sitting at with Kozue and lunging to grab his old mentor in a hug.
This was the woman who had taught him the trick to controlling his blue fire when all of the other exorcists expected him to instinctually know how but didn't lift a finger to help, expecting him to masterfully use it when they wanted him to but keep it suppressed otherwise.
Shura Kirigakure, Upper-First Class Exorcist only a few ranks from the top of the hierarchy, grinned at the kid. "Eh, Okumura! Long time no see!"
Shura was Bacchus' age, twenty-eight years old, with long pink hair with yellow tips (bangs included) that resembled flames and pink eyes. She had a curvaceous figure (AN: but more realistic than females in most anime), with red tattoos on her abdomen and the space above her chest.
She wore a red and white bikini top, blue denim shorts, long white stockings, black boots that buckled at the top, and a white scarf around her neck tied into a bow.
Realizing that this woman was one of the Exorcists that Rin trusted, the Fairy Tail mages didn't make a fuss about her being there.
Not that they could, since it was a bar and they didn't own it.
"Sure!" Cana said with a grin.
"The more the merrier!" Bacchus snickered.
And the three alcoholics sat down at the bar, demanding the barman to supply them with the strongest stuff he had.
The man whimpered, hoping that his bar would still be standing by the time they left.
Meanwhile, Levy sat up from where she'd been sleeping at another table.
"So noisy…" the blunette sighed, before making her way towards her best (female) friend.
"Hey, Lu?" she said with a yawn.
Lucy turned towards her with a slight frown. "Levy! I'm sorry, we didn't mean to wake you…"
She'd been more focused on keeping fights from starting than keeping them quiet.
"No, I needed to wake up anyway." Levy assured her. "But…are you okay? You look kind of down."
Lucy winced. "…That Celestial Spirit mage from the Sabertooth guild."
Levy, and Wendy who had wandered over, misunderstood her meaning.
"You mean…Yukino, right?" Wendy asked.
"Yeah, she was really good." Levy said thoughtfully. "She had really strong spirits, and she even had that crazy thirteenth one, but she still managed to lose the match somehow."
"There are two things that worry me." Lucy admitted. "For one thing, she bet her life on that fight. I doubt Kagura will kill her, and she's honorable so she won't go too far with it, but all the same…"
"And the second thing?" Wendy asked worriedly.
Lucy bit her lip. "Rogue got in contact with Erik. He's worried Sabertooth's master won't take Yukino's loss well."
The two blunettes' eyes widened.
"Crap!" Levy hissed. "Did he say what was going to happen?"
"He wasn't sure himself." Lucy shook her head. "But apparently he'd seen people banished from the guild before, and it wasn't pretty. He's worried that that's going to happen to her, if not for the loss than for the life debt."
"What can we do?" Wendy whimpered slightly.
Lucy smiled reassuringly. "Erik went with Itachi and Rogue to convince Yukino not to go back to their hotel. They're in contact with Warren in order to keep me updated."
"And?" Levy asked.
"It took a lot of convincing, and Erik had to explain that he knows her sister to get her to trust him, but in the end Itachi sent one of his clones, making it look like her, back with Rogue."
"And?" Wendy repeated Levy's question.
"And now we wait." Lucy sighed. "Either way, the real Yukino won't get caught in the crossfire."
"Hey…" Rocker said, interrupting the girl's conversation. "I guess you guys' got some visitors. Uh, I guess you guys can go in…"
A moment later, two people entered…
Lamia Scale's Lyon Vastia and Chelia* Blendy.
Gray's face took on a horrified expression.
"Lyon!" Natsu greeted. "And…I think that's Sherry's cousin?"
"It's Chelia!" Wendy agreed. "Right?"
"Whatever it is, I have a feeling she's going to be a pain in the butt." Levy said with a slight sigh.
Far away on the other side of Crocus, the entirety of the Sabertooth guild had gathered.
"Your performance today was utterly pathetic, you miserable wretches." Jiemma growled at the dozens of mages in the crowd, but especially the team he had chosen to represent them. "Don't tell me you've forgotten why we stand above the other mage guilds in this competition. We don't look at the insects around us, we don't talk to them. We crush them underneath our feet. We're focused on something much greater than this tournament.
"We aim to stun the heavens, to raze the ground beneath us, and silence the raging seas. For you see that is the Sabertooth way." Jiemma finished. "Now…Orga."
"Sir." The green-haired man stepped forward.
"That display in the second event was…disappointing, to say the least."
"Yes, Master Jiemma." Orga bowed. "I will ensure that it never happens again."
"See to it that it doesn't." Jiemma hissed as Orga stepped back, already planning to do some very intensive training. "Sting."
"Sir." The blonde said quietly, taking a step forward.
"I've decided to give you one more chance to redeem yourself." The guild master told him. "I don't ever want to see such a pitiful display from you again. Even if it still wasn't as bad as Orga's performance."
Not when you already knew about the blonde's motion-sickness, at least. Orga's failure had been far more surprising.
"Thank you, Master Jiemma." Sting said, eyes closed as he bowed his head. "I'll do my best to live up to your expectations."
Jiemma's eyes flashed. "Yukino…"
The white-haired figure stepped forward, quickly saying "Yes sir!"
"There is no excuse for what happened in your match." Jiemma continued. "Do you realize what you have done?"
"Yes sir." she confirmed quietly. "Please forgive me. I have lost to an opponent from a lesser guild."
Under the Henge technique, Itachi's clone nearly hissed at having to say such words.
"I brought shame to Sabertooth." Yukino continued. "I've tarnished our good name."
The disguised clone was careful not to react as a bunch of grapes was thrown at 'her' head, glad that the original Itachi had had the foresight to use more chakra so that 'Yukino' wouldn't disperse at the hit.
"That's not what I'm talking about!" Jiemma growled as Lector and Frosch's eyes watered. "You chose to bet your life on the battle and you lost. Even worse you let your enemy show mercy on you and your guild. You are an embarrassment to Sabertooth."
The rest of Team Sabertooth looked down, including Rogue, whose fist clenched from beneath his cloak.
He knew that this wasn't the real Yukino, but to think that this is what she would have faced, and that she had only been spared that fate because Fairy Tail was 'showing mercy'…he wondered what Jiemma would think about his own interactions with the 'enemy' guild.
"Yes." The Yukino clone said, eye closing as grape juice dripped down her face. "I am fully prepared to accept any punishment you feel is appropriate. Sir."
"Good girl." Jiemma said darkly. "Then you will throw it all away."
The clone's eyes furrowed for a moment, not sure what he meant, and Rogue face-palmed.
He'd forgotten to mention that part.
Well, he was surprised that the charade had lasted this far.
Expecting the duplicity to be discovered, Rogue was surprised when Jiemma's eyes glinted in satisfaction and he ordered Yukino to remove her guild mark.
The clone did so, actually using a Henge to adjust the illusion.
A moment later, Jiemma dismissed 'her,' and the clone walked outside of the inn only to dispel a moment later, memories going back to the original Itachi.
The other Sabertooth mage's were still inside, confused.
Yukino hadn't stripped like Jiemma had demanded. He had stopped her before she could even move to do so, and acted like she already had.
What had just happened?
None of them but Rogue knew that it hadn't been the real Yukino, much less that Itachi had used his clan dōjutsu, the Sharingan, in order to cast a Genjutsu illusion on Jiemma to show the old power-hungry bastard what he expected to see, therefore sparing Yukino the humiliation of anyone seeing what she looked like naked. After all, even if the clone wasn't really her, the physical appearance was exactly the same.
The Shadow Dragon Slayer stared at the display, completely baffled.
He knew for a fact that this wasn't really Yukino, but a clone of Fairy Tail's resident ninja under a strong illusion. But he'd gotten her mannerisms down so perfectly…
Creepy.
Back where Yukino was waiting with Erik and the real Itachi, the latter turned to her as the memories from his Shadow Clone came to him.
He looked into the Celestial Spirit mage's pleading eyes, and shook his head.
Tears poured down from the young woman's face, but she swallowed and nodded, bringing her hand up to remove her guild mark for real.
She was no longer a member of Sabertooth.
The only silver linings were finding out that at least one person from that guild gave a damn about what happened to her (Rogue was the last person she would have expected that from, but she appreciated it all the same) and finding out that her sister Sorano was alive, though the Poison Dragon Slayer was being worriedly silent on the circumstances of how he knew the older of the Aguria siblings.
Please review! Any constructive criticism, or plot lines that I'm forgetting or seem to have forgotten?
*Remember, Crime Sorciere is a team in Fairy Tail now, not an independent guild.
*I know it's apparently Sherria, not Chelia like most people apparently thought it was, but I'm sticking with Chelia. Helps differentiate her from her cousin Sherry.
