Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything aside from a few original characters. Also, there's an explanation down below that I took directly from the wiki of the series I got the idea from.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters…but a lot more angst and drama in this one. Those of you who read the original story (not that it was complete) should have an idea where this is going. But I changed it up a bit.
Enjoy!
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the third day of the Games!" Chapati shouted with yet another wig atop his bald scalp. "First on the agenda for today is an event that is actually a combination of two separate challenges. Therefore, each team will need to send out two participants for this event. Choose wisely!"
It took a few moments, but they did.
Chapati continued. "As there are admittedly a few unfair advantages that mages have and the non-mages don't, we will be testing both mental strength and physical or magical strength. Mato, can you please explain?"
"Of course, Kabo~!" the pumpkin mascot exclaimed cheerfully as a huge gray structure appeared, floating in the middle of the arena.
As he explained the point of this challenge, which the game organizers called Pandemonium, Erza Scarlet, who had been chosen for her team, nodded to Juvia, the other chosen participant for Team B.
She would take this one.
The redhead smiled slightly as the stick she drew projected a '1.'
That would be to her advantage.
"The second challenge is the one that will be testing your mental strength, ~Kabo." Mato explained. "Due to the nature of it, the participants will be in the Domas-Flau infirmary as it happens, ~Kabo."
"Why?" Lucy's eyes narrowed suspiciously, having been one of the chosen participants for Team A, and she wasn't alone.
"A simulation…" Mato frowned. "Participants will be injected with a serum that stimulates the amygdala and induces a hallucination. The brain's electrical activity is transmitted to a lacrima receiving the data, which will let us watch what's happening inside your pretty little heads, some of which might be memories that the serum pulled to the forefront. The simulations will test you in various ways. Loyalty, courage, and such. And the simulation will make it so that you don't realize that what's happening is fake or that you're being tested, so we'll see the real you."
"Is this serum safe?" Eve asked, glancing at Hibiki, who they had decided would be the one do it while Eve handled the strength portion.
"I'm not allowed to say anything more on the matter, ~Kabo." Mato shrugged. "But...probably."
That didn't exactly assure them.
It had been decided that Pandemonium and Sim would alternate turns, though Pandemonium was expected to last significantly longer due to the nature of the event, with each participant going more than once.
Yeah…that wasn't going to happen.
"In Pandemonium lay 100 monsters." Erza murmured to herself thoughtfully before her voice hardened. "I choose to challenge all of them!"
Jellal face-palmed at the declaration.
Of course she would.
He carefully hid his slight smile from Meredy's discerning eyes.
"Weird, it looks like it's bigger on the inside somehow." Gray commented.
"It looks like it's upside down." Lucy said, tilting her head to try and see if that was the case, causing Gray and a few others to do the same.
Natsu's cheeks bulged. "Just looking at it makes me want to blow chunks!"
From the side, Ultear raised an eyebrow, glancing at Meredy wryly. This was the guy who her adopted daughter had decided to try and have a relationship with?
"Do you think she can do it?" Wendy asked from her seat as a spectator after the monsters had appeared. "Even the weakest ones look pretty strong…"
"Don't ask me." Gray shrugged. "I don't know what goes on inside her head."
"I do." Natsu grinned. "This is nothing. She's got this."
"That's Natsu for you." Wendy giggled. "He never worries about anything, does he?"
'He's too worried about defeating Erza himself.' Gray thought, but didn't say aloud.
'There's that Fairy Tail recklessness.' Doranbolt thought with a smile. 'It would appear that those seven years on Tenrou Island didn't change them as much as I had feared.'
"Woah! I think she's trying to knock them all out at once!" Romeo said, wide-eyed as Erza requipped her Heaven's Wheel armor and the monsters found themselves under fire as she used Telekinesis to attack with her swords.
"Doubtful." Mavis commented. "I think she was using that attack to test the waters to see how her opponents measure up, so she can use their weaknesses."
"That's definitely it." Makarov agreed. "In that instant, she could immediately tell which Requip to use against which monster."
Indeed, over the next few minutes Erza used her Requip constantly, changing her armor and weapon(s) based on which kind of monster she was facing, using the elements they used against them.
"Look at that!" Chapati shouted. "Fifty monsters have already been defeated!"
"That's insane!" the Quatro Cerberus mage chosen for Pandemonium grumbled.
"Don't you mean wild?" Eve asked with a smile.
"Her style is quite effective, balance in both strength and finesse." Jura commented.
"Sho and Wally would love to see this!" Millianna said with a smile.
"Are you kidding?" Orga grunted. "You're really impressed with this chick? She looks like she's gonna keel over."
"GO ERZA!" Natsu cheered.
"Is she gonna pull this off?" Gray wondered.
"She's exhausted, and the S-Class hasn't shown itself yet." Cana frowned.
The audience gasped in awe as Erza appeared to have been dealt a fight-finishing blow, only for the A-Class monster's arm to disintegrate, the redhead having used its strength against him by using the shield from her Adamantine armor.
"Titania cannot be stopped, folks!" Chapati shouted. "The monsters cannot keep up with her Requip! One by one even the most vicious monsters fall before her! She's taken hits and used up magic power but she keeps going!"
Day three of the Games…I'll never forget it. The miracle we witnessed! Despite her countless injuries, the fairy that should have fallen…soared. Titania, Queen of the fairies, triumphed! Like a scarlet rose blooming in full glory, sword in hand.
And you guys know the rest. And if you don't, I'm not going to spoil it entirely by giving a play-by-play of the rest of the battle.
"THAT. WAS. UNBELIEVABLE!" Chapati yelled. "Erza Scarlet defeats all one hundred monsters, and Fair Tail Team B sweeps up first place in an undisputed victory!"
The crowd went…wild.
"The crowd is going bananas!" Chapati laughed.
"I thought the suspense was going to kill me." Yajima sighed, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.
"I must say that was breathtaking!" Lahar, that day's guest judge, agreed.
'It took me a while, but…' Doranbolt thought to himself with a smile, tears pouring down his face. 'I can finally see it. The strength behind your recklessness.'
"What, you think that chick's awesome?!" Lector protested. "Orga would've beaten them all in ten seconds flat!"
"Her outfits look pretty awesome, though!" Frosch said quietly, causing Rogue's lips to quirk up into a small smile.
Lector was about to turn towards the green Exceed and give her (AN: I've decided in this story Frosch is a girl, since no one knows for sure) a piece of his mind, but caught the look Sting was giving him.
Remembering their conversation from earlier, Lector huffed, arms crossing.
Sting's own lips quirked a bit at his Exceed partner's petulance.
In the infirmary, Lucy and Juvia smiled proudly as they watched Erza stand proud before the audience.
Suddenly, both girls felt the prick of a needle, and both of them blacked out within seconds.
Juvia was first.
Unlikely as it was, Fairy Tail Team B's participants had both drawn a one.
Juvia choked as she was brought back to the Battle of Fairy Tail, where she and Cana had been caught in one of Freed's Jutsu Shiki traps.
Of course, she didn't remember it and thought that it was happening in real time.
Those lightning lacrima…body-link magic…danger…we need to stop them!
Exiting these runes are forbidden until one of you can no longer fight…
Juvia Lockser…you are and always will be a Phantom woman…who knows when she'll turn her sword against Fairy Tail again?
Laxus and the Thunder Legion, but Freed especially, since he was the one to say the words and put the two women in that situation, were horrified and wrecked with guilt.
Damn you, Freed! The Cana illusion swore.
I suppose there is nothing to be done. The real Juvia said quietly, transforming into her Water Body state. She whirled her body into a cyclone. Freed-san. Will you really fight the one who remains with honor?
I will never break my rules. Freed's illusion stated.
That's good to hear. Juvia's eyes sharpened as she prepared herself, forming herself into a more spherical shape.
Are you serious, Juvia?! Cana demanded. You'll just be playing into his—
Cana grunted as the sphere of water shot over her, bouncing against the walls of the warded area as Juvia propelled herself upwards.
It's no use! You can't get out no matter how high you go! Freed called.
If it takes being injured to open the path…if it's between my nakama or myself… Juvia said.
The lacrima?! Freed shouted, stunned.
Don't attack that! Cana screamed up at her.
Then Juvia will lead the way!
And she impacted with the lacrima, destroying it and managing to smile down at Cana before screaming in agony as far too much electricity than was safe wrecked her nerves.
Now…the runes…are unlocked… Juvia smiled tiredly.
What were you thinking?! Cana demanded after her friend had fallen back down to the ground.
Juvia's eyes watered. Juvia…wanted everyone to hurry and accept her…as a member of Fairy Tail…I love everyone…
You're already one of us! Cana cried. Being accepted? You're already nakama! You're a great Fairy Tail mage…
In the real world, Cana had tears pouring down her face, not realizing (not that she would have cared if she did) the speculative glances that she was getting.
She had just witnessed, for the second time, one of the most extraordinary things she had ever seen one of her friends do.
So much courage…she wasn't sure she would have done the same, especially after her actions on Tenrou Island…
Her head snapped up.
Courage.
That was what this memory was meant to test.
She caught a glimpse of Gray's white, horror-stricken face as he heard Juvia's tortured screams (come to think of it, Laxus and Freed looked that way too, but with more guilt).
In any other situation she would have teased him about his obvious regard for Juvia, but not this time.
The Card Mage choked on her sobs as she saw Juvia fall however many stories back down to the ground.
When Juvia next opened her eyes, it was to see her friends being tortured by faceless creatures made from shadows.
Wait a minute…
Had Jose broken out of prison?!
He was the only one she had ever known to make such things.
She tried to reach for her friends, to start an attack, to do something, but found herself bound by thick chains.
The blunette tried to use her Water Body to get out of it, but her magic wasn't working.
Magic-nullifying cuffs?
Annoying to deal with, but not impossible.
She managed to free herself within a few moments, but her wrists ended up with deep and blood wounds from the metal, and she'd had to break both of her thumbs to get the cuffs off, since leaving even one of them on would mess with her magic.
Biting her lip to keep herself from crying out, she shook off the pain, focusing on her friends' agonized faces.
Quickly creating a water whip, she sliced through the shadows, but more and more of them kept forming.
Gajeel smirked as he watched his oldest friend make her way through the challenge.
Only Pantherlily and the Shrimp could see the worry in his eyes.
Juvia had a bit of a…fragile mentality from growing up as isolated and virtually unloved as she had, and he hoped that this wouldn't break her.
After a moment of thought, he scoffed.
He wasn't giving her enough credit.
She had been an S-Class mage, one of the Element Four, the most powerful team in Phantom Lord. She had been right there with them when they faced Grimoure Heart, and had been chosen for the Games.
Sometimes he forgot that, as fragile as she could be, she was also one of the strongest people he knew.
This wouldn't drag her down.
And a few projected memories later, Juvia's trial had ended.
Mato wheeled out a Magic Power Finder, which had been adjusted to measure purely physical attacks as well for the non-magic using participants, and the two groups continued on with the event.
Millianna was up first, attacking the lacrima with her binding, magic-negating tubes.
365.
"Without a benchmark to compare it to, we don't know if that's a high score or not." Chapati realized.
"We Rune Knights also use an MPF as a part of our training." Lahar mentioned. "This level is a high score. High enough to make someone a captain."
"Then that's impressive, isn't it?"
"Feelin' spiffy!" Millianna cheered.
Nobarly from Quatro Cerberus got a 124.
Underwhelming when you compared it to Millianna's score or the absolute devastation Erza had brought down on those monsters.
Izumo from the exorcist group was up next, and she summoned two medium-sized fox demons, which leapt towards the lacrima, earning her a 180.
The purple-haired girl shrugged, unbothered. Her strong point was her mind, not brute force.
Eve was up first, launching a heavy barrage of snow and getting a 450.
"Well, that's hardly surprising." Lahar smiled genuinely. "Eve Tearm was in training to become a Rune Knight before deciding to join Blue Pegasus instead. He was slated to become a Major when he officially joined, which is a rank above Captain."
Eve bowed and smiled awkwardly at the acknowledgment.
Obra of Raven Tail for a four.
Makarov's eyes narrowed suspiciously when he observed the calm expression on his former son's face, even as the redheaded Raven shouted at the masked man down on the arena floor.
Strength was everything to Ivan, so why wasn't he reacting badly to one of his 'subordinates' having the lowest score out of everyone?
"120mm Black Lightning Canon!" Orga intoned.
3825.
"O-over 3000?!" Chapati mumbled, shocked.
"TEN TIMES MY SCORE?!" Millianna shouted.
'I've never seen a score like that, not in all my time in the Corps!' Lahar thought to himself, eyes wide in shock and not a little awe.
"Alright, can Jura, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, surpass this score?" Chapati wondered. "He's got everyone's attention…"
"Jura-san will win, won't he?" Chelia asked worriedly.
"Of course. I'm more worried about something else." Lyon said with a smirk.
Chelia tilted her head curiously.
"Do you mind if I take this seriously?" Jura asked.
"Go right ahead, ~Kabo!" Mato agreed.
Jura concentrated, bringing his hands and forming a gesture as if he was praying.
"Rumbling Mt. Fuji!" the large man shouted.
The sight that followed made a few in the audience piss their pants.
8544.
Orga's jaw dropped.
That was over twice his score!
Ten times more than the cat chick wasn't a big deal considering her inferior magic, but his?!
"In a word, unsurprising." Erza, who hadn't bothered to stay in the infirmary, said with a smile.
"He's probably evenly matched with Gildarts…" Makarov murmured.
Raven stepped forward for her turn, eyes raging with fury.
She wasn't particularly close to Juvia, but the blunette was a Fairy Tail mage, and as such, she was not happy about what she had just gone through.
Well. She supposed there was a benefit of her powers getting stronger when she felt strong emotions…
"Azarath...Metrion…Zinthos…" she intoned, causing a huge black shape in the form of a raven with four glowing red eyes to spring up from her body. "NECRONOM HEZBEREK MORTIX!"
The raven shot towards the lacrima, and when it impacted the MPF was engulfed in black energy, trying to register the power as quickly as possible.
And then it exploded, shards falling everywhere around the contestants, most of whom were frozen in horrified awe.
"Shit…" Rin and Charlotte murmured, wide-eyed as they took in the fury in their fellow half-demon's eyes.
"Hope she gets a chance to calm down and isn't chosen for a battle." Rin said warily, with Charlotte nodding vehemently in agreement.
The purple-eyed girl didn't even look fatigued!
The other guilds groaned.
It just wasn't fair.
What was it about Fairy Tail that attracted powerhouses?
Gildarts Clive, Titania, the She-Demon, Toph Beifong, Juvia Lockser, 5 dragon slayers, 3 half-demons, 2 former Council members, 1 former Wizard Saint…and, what, technically seven of their members used magic that was formerly considered Lost (the dragon slayers, Meredy, and Ultear?
…It sounded like a fucked up version of the 12 Days of Christmas song.
Raven exhaled slowly, feeling her powers settle down a bit, before pulling up her legs into her meditation pose (some in the audience sweat-dropped as they realized that she was levitating), waiting for the ranking to be announced.
At this point the crowd was utterly exhausted.
The excitement and awe of the MPF, the anxiety, terror, and extreme sympathy from the simulation.
Constantly switching from one extreme to the other.
And now…it was Lucy Heartfilia's turn.
"Wait! Don't give up! I'll save you!" Lucy demanded.
Leo smiled sadly as he began to fade. "Give my regards to everyone at Fairy Tail…"
Lucy bit her lip, head down as she tried not to cry, before clenching her fists. "No!"
"Lucy…"
"I won't accept this!" Lucy looked up, glaring at her guildmate. "If you return to the Spirit World, your life-force will return really quickly! I'll make it so that you can return!"
"You can't do that." Leo disagreed. "The law is the law."
"But…this is wrong!" Lucy protested, shaking. "You didn't actually kill Karen! It was just an unfortunate accident!"
"Lucy…" Leo muttered helplessly.
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee!" Lucy said, hugging her friend. "Return Loke to the Spirit World! Open! Please! Open!"
"Lucy, that's enough…please stop." Leo said as she fell against him.
"I won't stop!" the blonde said, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "I can't stand by when a friend is disappearing before my eyes!"
A yellow/gold column of light surrounded the two as Lucy brought forth all of her magic power. "Gate of the Lion, I open thee!"
"Lucy, don't use so much magic power at once!" Leo demanded, eyes wide in fear. He didn't want to lose her like that.
"I said I'm going to save you, no matter what!" Lucy said, gritting her teeth. "I can force open the gate to the Spirit World…just watch!"
"Stop it!" Leo shouted, panicking.
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee! OPEN!"
"It won't open!" Leo shouted as lightning crackled around them, even more powerful than before. "Spirits who let their contacted owner die can't go back to the Spirit World!"
Lucy screamed.
"Please stop!" Leo cried. "You're starting to erode along with me! At this rate you'll disappear when I do!"
"You won't die!" Lucy shouted back. "I won't let you die…what's the point of magic to begin with if I can't use it to protect my friends?!"
"Stop it…" Leo cried, heart breaking. "Don't make my crime worse than it already is!"
"What crime?!" Lucy demanded. "If that's the rule of the Spirit World, then I'll change it!"
And then it happened.
The golden beams of light, the electricity flowing through the air…it all disappeared, and the paid where blown apart. The stars blurred slightly, beginning to make star trails as Leo and Lucy clung together in fear, and then through a portal…
"Is that…the Spirit King?!" Leo demanded, wide-eyed. "Why are you here?"
And the memory continued.
From the Celestial Spirit World, pretty much every celestial spirit was watching Lucy's trials through a special screen that their king had conjured.
Ares teared up, crying silently as she held the Lion spirit in a vice grip, Leo (or Loke as he now liked to be called) hugging her reassuringly.
If not for her master, she would have lost her best friend…the person she loved.
Yukino nearly fainted in shock as Lucy opened a gate to the Celestial Spirit World without a key, and felt lightheaded when the King, of all spirits, came through.
She had been sad there for a while, thinking that Lucy's attempts to save her friend, Leo, were in vain…only for the blonde mage to literally do the impossible. And then to summon what Yukino realized were all of the other spirits contracted to her at the same time, and still survive to tell the tale?
Still, if any Celestial Spirit mage was to have that kind of power, she was glad that it was Lucy.
She didn't even want to think about the fact that the blonde had practically gotten up in the King's face and made her demands and accusations without caring that the King was probably one of the most powerful beings in existence.
'Big brass ones…she has them.' Thought almost every single person in the audience.
'How manly!' Elfman shouted internally.
From far away, a certain Black Mage watched through the eyes of one of his demons, the one that he had planted in Raven Tail to spy on Ivan Dreyar's actions.
'Oh my…' Zeref raised an eyebrow, impressed at the young woman's power. 'Interesting…you certainly do your ancestors, Anna Heartfilia especially, proud.'
He felt a twinge of regret, recalling his actions on Tenrou Island, but tried to shake them off.
After all, if the world rejected him, why shouldn't he reject the world?
Lucy shot up with a gasp, noticing immediately that she was in the middle of a forest.
'Where am I?' she wondered, gaze sharpening as she tried to remember how she had gotten here.
Her mind drew a blank.
The blonde stood up slowly, taking stock of her surroundings and listening careful for any enemies.
Hearing nothing, she sighed, taking out Pyxis' key so she could at least get her bearings, since the trees were so high and thick that she couldn't tell from the position of the sun.
However, before she could call for the spirit, she heard a strangled scream coming from somewhere ahead of her.
Without a second's hesitation, she started running as quickly as she could in the direction of the scream. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it…
A few minutes later, Lucy burst into a clearing, only to find a faceless mannequin hanging from one of the trees.
Her eyes widened, breath catching in her throat as she noticed the black Fairy Tail emblem on its chest.
Silently, she Requipped her Fleuve d' Toiles and Capricorn's key. He was the fastest of her spirits, and if someone was in trouble, she needed him to get that person away quickly.
Or…she tried to Requip them. But nothing happened.
'What?!' her eyes widened, realizing that she wasn't able to use her magic.
Still…her normal whip wasn't in her pocket dimension, but on her belt, so she still had a weapon.
A moment later, she heard a twig snap behind her, and immediately spun around, launching an attack with her whip as she jumped away from the spot she'd been standing on.
"Your spirits are unable to help you…" a raspy, disembodied voice whispered, seeming to come from all around her.
"You're the one who blocked my magic?" she bit out, gritting her teeth.
All those years of training to the breaking point and even having to go to the hospital from straining herself too hard, only for her magic to be beyond her when she needed it.
"Oh yes." The voice answered giddily. "It's more fun that way, you see."
A figure suddenly appeared in front of her. It was tall, at least seven feat, and completely black. Was it made from shadows?
"My name is Phobos." The figure announced, before Lucy saw another figure in her peripheral vision. It was exactly the same as the first.
"And I am Deimos." The second figured hissed as the two converged on her.
Raven, uncharacteristically, let out a quiet gasp.
"What's wrong?" Meredy asked nervously.
Levy swallowed, chalk white. "Phobos and Deimos are the Greek gods of panic and terror."
"But…they aren't real, right?" Romeo asked, biting his lip nervously.
"That does not matter." Juvia said, appearing in the doorway with the others who had been visiting her. She was still mentally and emotionally weak from her own test, but she couldn't stand being apart from the people that the serum had caused her to think were in danger. "The serum is limited only by her imagination."
There was silence as they all digested that information.
"Shit." Natsu muttered with a pained groan. "Damn it, Lucy! Why did you have to be an author, of all things?!"
Lucy dodged, weaving in and out of the trees as the two figures tried to capture her.
"Enough!" one of them hissed, and Lucy instantly found herself paralyzed, bound in tubes similar to the ones Millianna used.
"Let the fun begin!" the other figure hissed.
Lucy groaned painfully as she was thrown into a tree before the tubes moved to tie her to it.
"We're going to play a game." Deimos murmured. "That mannequin over there is going to turn into one of your little friends." He spat out the last word in disgust.
"We're going to torture you." Phobos added. "And if you scream or cry out, we will inflict the pain on your guild mate in your place."
"NO!" about three fourths of Fairy Tail screamed in horror.
"You can't actually die in this, right?" Gajeel said, looking uncharacteristically nervous.
"I sincerely hope not." Jellal muttered, pale as a ghost.
"What?!" Laxus growled, panicking even more at their commentary.
Sure, he was more calm than he used to be, but this was his girlfriend they were talking about!
"Bunny Girl…has a high pain tolerance." Gajeel winced, gripping the ledge painfully as he remembered why he knew that. "And as we saw with her memory involving Simba (AN: hehe), she'll die before putting any of the people she cares about in danger. They're not going to be able to break her…and that's just going to make them try harder."
The two systematically tortured the Celestial Spirit mage, attacking her physically and magically as the dummy cycled through her friends' appearances to give her 'incentive' not to scream.
Her spirits, her friends, the kids in the guild…
Of course, that made her all the more determined.
She didn't make a sound throughout the entire thing, eyes glazed over as she blocked out the taunts and tried to stay conscious.
After all, they hadn't said what they'd do if she wasn't awake for them to 'play' with.
"Final round!" Phobos cheered. "You die!"
Lucy cringed weakly, barely able to move from the beating she had endured.
She was covered in injuries. Second and third degree burns, long gashed caused by a whip littered her back (they'd released her from the tree) deep enough that the bone was showing. The small patched of her skin that weren't burned and blistered were covered in bruises. Her eyes were swollen shut, and her nose broken and bloody.
"And the best part is that Fairy Tail will die with you!" Deimos hissed sadistically. "A magical guild is so thoroughly connected, it's rather easy to use Maguilty Sense to our advantage…"
Meredy screamed in horror.
As if it wasn't bad enough that Lucy was going through this, but for her magic to be a part of it!?
'Forgive me, Lucy.' She thought, tears pouring down her face. 'If you had never met me, you wouldn't know about my magic and they wouldn't have been able to use it against you.'
She was about to turn and leave, but felt a hand on her wrist, stopping her.
The pinkette paused, turning to see that Erik had stopped her.
"Oi, you know damn well she would never blame you for this." Erik said with a scowl, glaring at her with one eye. "Will you be able to look her in the eye if you're too scared to watch?"
Meredy faltered, weak at the knees as Erik gently pushed her towards Natsu, who, of course, had heard everything, and had an interesting mix of approval (for Erik reassuring Meredy) and anger (that he'd dealt a low blow like that), which made him look constipated.
The female pinkette giggled at his expression, hiccupping slightly as Natsu wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.
Fairy Tail is what you always wanted!"
"People who care about you!"
"Who won't use you like your father did!"
"Who would go to the end of the earth for you—"
"—like you would do for them!"
"DO SOMETHING!" the pair roared in unison.
Lucy screamed, clutching her head, before putting her hand to her guild mark and wiping it away.
Deimos and Phobos watched in satisfaction.
"Congratulations." Phobos said emotionlessly. "Your friends will live to see another day."
"However, we cannot say the same for you." Deimos said with a smirk.
Lucy glanced at the mannequin to see that it had disappeared, and her last thought was that her friends were safe.
The world faded to black.
As the serum started to bring Lucy back to consciousness, one thing was for sure. The mages of Fairy Tail (and a few other guilds and the general public besides) would be having words with whatever idiot(s) thought that a mind-altering serum was a good idea!
Please review! :)
Uh, Lucy waking up and rankings for this part will be at the start of next chapter. I just want to get this posted already so I can eat dinner.
Sorry this chapter took so long.
There's three reasons for that.
Laziness.
This is a fairly long chapter.
I've been watching a few more anime series lately, and then burying myself deep in reading fanfiction and browsing fan art for them. I would absolutely recommend Seraph to the End (I think of it as kind of a mix of Attack on Titan and Blue Exorcist, but that's probably a really bad comparison) and Assassination Classroom, both of which are still being made, though Seraph to the End hasn't started its second season yet while Assassination Classroom is coming out with new episodes currently. I also watched Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They (?), which was entertaining, but I'm pretty sure it's over even though they left it at a cliffhanger. Not much fanfiction out there for it either, unfortunately. I couldn't even find it on Archive Your Own, which is a bummer, because I like the characters.
