This chapter's song is Stronger Than You from Steven Universe.
The twenty minutes are up, and we're still waiting for Lucy to show. She's been in the infirmary with Laxus, being there for him while he got his injuries tended to.
Coming out of the doorway with him leaning on her, she sets him down next to the others in the team, and hurries down the stairs to the combat arena.
Once there, I smile as Jason announces the start of the match.
"Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail is going up against Morrigan! Go get her, Lucy!" he shows his support, then gulps and looks at my box. I don't turn my head or anything, and he hastily goes back to his duty as announcer.
Lucy and Morrigan face each other, Lucy in a sort-of crouch with her right hand on her keys, Morrigan standing calmly on the opposite side, not moving once since the match began.
Lucy finally has enough of the tense silence, and pulls up her keys, pulling out of the Celestial Spirit Realm, Leo and Taurus.
The two crack their knuckles menacingly, for them, and launch a barrage of attacks, which Morrigan dodges most of them, with ease and grace.
"Honestly, you people. Do you really think you can defeat me?" Morrigan taunts, not even moving too fast out of the way of their strikes.
Lucy, angered by this, pulls out yet another key, summoning Scorpio.
Immediately following a "YEE HAH!" there was a blast of Sand magic, hitting Morrigan, who groaned.
"Why don't I see this coming? This would be more useful." she says, accepting the blast and disappearing in the swirl of the Magical Sand.
Scorpio, Taurus, and Leo all stand still, until Morrigan runs out of the area for the spell, pulling up her magic and flinging it at her two melee combatants, sending the to the other side of the stadium, only narrowly missing their master. With Scorpio distracted, Morrigan kicks him in the face, and, using a bit of Wind Magic, launches him into the other wall. The spirits disappear, all of them apologizing except for Scorpio, who just grunts in pain.
Calmly landing on the ground, on her feet, no less, Morrigan brushes off the sand that managed to get on her black shirt and pants.
"Did you really think you could just beat me so easily?" she says, amusement glinting through her eyes and laughter bubbling off her lips.
A teeny bit of Wind Magic on her fingertips, she sends it Lucy's direction. It's not nearly enough to harm her, but it does lift up Lucy's skirt so everyone can see exactly what her complete outfit is.
"Oh, Lucy, today was not a good day for you to wear a loose top." Morrigan chuckles, and lifts up her arms for a spell of Wind. "Mini skirts and halter tops are slutty. Classy, not trashy is the way to go." (53)
I look over at Laxus' last known position, and find him leaning on the railing, actually bending it in his fury at not protecting his mate.
I'd feel bad for him, but I cannot feel that for someone who did the same to me, but for a much higher extent and effect.
Morrigan releases the magic, sending a Storm Shred spell, more powerful than anything she's faced from any mortal enemy (54), towards Lucy, who has almost no defense against it.
Through the wind, though, comes a huge shape, and once it clears the spell it's clear that it's Capricorn, with Virgo beside him. Looking past them, Lucy is encased in Horologium.
Morrigan smiles darkly, readying her magic, the wind already whipping around her as Wind Armor forms around her and clouds above in the sky start to form a dark fortress around the stadium.
Capricorn, however, doesn't let this stop him, and runs at her, swiping this way and that. Only the power of the Wind kept Morrigan from getting hit, though her reflexes are wonderful for being able to dodge them so quickly.
Virgo joins in on the fight, and, combining with Capricorn their strikes, are able to hit Morrigan, eventually shredding through the Wind Armor and doing a good deal of work on her clothes.
Finally, when it dissipates, Morrigan is pushed back by a combined physical hit from both of them, scowling at her torn clothing.
"You will not hurt our Princess!" they say, still ready to attack.
"Did you know that Ravens were once helpful to a Princess? But, once a single one of them failed in a task for the Sun Prince, all of them were burned black as a crisp. That's why ravens are black, because one of us was an idiot. However, I'm not stupid, so it must be your 'princess.' I'll take care of that for you." Morrigan says, her hands moving from covering her exposed skin on her stomach, where most of the ripped cloth used to be whole, and into a spell formation, hurling out gusts of wind to distract them while she prepared a larger spell.
"Tornado." she yells out. She is lifted into the air by wind, spinning around, gaining more and more wind speed until her weather formation is unstoppable. The tornado starts moving forward, and I feel the breeze from here.
It scoops up both of Lucy's spirits, tossing them around and around, until it spits them out, making them shimmer into gold dust, going back to their realm. Continuing onward, the wind pulls in Horologium with Lucy inside of him.
Morrigan plays with the clock tower, smashing him into as many things as possible, before letting them fly out. Once on the ground, Horologium disappears, too much damage taken by the spirit.
The tornado dissipates, Morrigan gently setting herself on the ground, a fair amount of distance away from Lucy.
The Celestial Spirit Mage is panting, but stands, pulling out her whip in her right hand, and a key in her left.
"How many more things can you summon?" asks Morrigan, walking towards her opponent, a smug grin on her face.
"They aren't things!" she yells at her, and the Wind witch pauses, mockingly putting a hand over her heart and the other over her mouth.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! They're just things in the way for me beating you into a bloody pulp. Of course, silly me." she says, still smiling. "Just give up now, Lucy. It'll hurt you a whole lot less."
The burst of golden light illuminates the arena, Sagittarius appearing and knocking back four arrows at once, firing them at Morrigan.
A gust of wind knocks them off course, spinning them around, and pushing them back towards the Archer, who doesn't realize it in time, allowing himself to be hit and dissipate into golden dust.
Lucy, suitably angry, lashes out with her whip, only to have it returned to herself, hitting herself with her own whip.
"Aww, does that hurt?" Morrigan laughs, pushing a stinging wind towards Lucy, hurting her enough to make tears spring to her eyes.
Once more, she readies the spell Storm Shred, and sends it spinning in Lucy's direction, her laugh being heard over the sound of the screaming wind swirling around the arena.
The poor girl can't see for fear of getting pebbles in her eyes, and is hit with the Storm Shred spell, ripping apart any clothing but her bare essentials. (55)
"Boohoo, Lucy's fallen down. Let's see if she can get back up!" Morrigan calls out, the wind dying down a bit, but not enough to let anyone but her stand in it. Pulling back her leg, she slams it into Lucy's curled up figure, the leather boot hurting quite a bit with that power behind it.
The Celestial Mage cries out in pain, and Laxus is looking physically ill at this sight. (56)
Morrigan kicks her a few more times, before halting and stopping the wind's roars.
"I believe we have a winner!" calls out Jason, as Lucy can't seem to get back up.
Morrigan smiles wickedly, and chirps for Hugo, who obediently gives her her raven feather cloak and sits on her shoulder. "I knew this would happen. I foresaw it. You had no chance."
Morrigan walks back to her team's place, exiting the stadium and getting slapped with so many high fives it almost gives her wrist problems.
I smile, looking at the stadium's reaction. It's pretty split, but a decisive victory over each competitor with us winning each battle, is not easy to ignore. Some still have hope.
It will soon be crushed.
Up next is Natsu vs. Cobra, although Cobra isn't allowed to use Cubellios, nor Natsu able to use Happy. The pairing should be interesting, especially since Cobra is burning up for revenge against Natsu. (57)
"Is this going to interesting?" asks Bickslow, and I smirk, breaking my gaze from the arena where they are warming up.
"It will be extremely interesting." I say, and turn my head back to the battlefield.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Cobra. Natsu may have a lot of capacity for pain, but Cobra is a lot tougher than he was when he was beaten last. He hasn't failed a contract yet." I say confidently, but consider the odds carefully. Natsu has his Lightning-Fire Dragon Mode, and as good as Cobra is, that is a tough thing to beat.
The battle starts, and I watch, marking down any new moves that Natsu might have learned in the almost 16 years since I last fought him. It is imperative to remember what you might be fighting in the future, and I plan to be prepared for every contingency.
The battle starts, and I find it rather boring, no crazy mismatch grabbing my attention, no witty comments, just violence between two Dragon Slayers.
Rubble is created throughout the arena as the two hit each other into the walls of the stadium, shaking the seats of the audience and scaring more than a few people with their destructive behavior. (58)
The battle was actually over relatively quickly, not lasting very long as Cobra, after giving a feint attack, hit Natsu with a direct attack, poisoning him and leaving him unable to continue fighting. (59) Natsu's shriek of pain sounded for a long time, and the whimpers are still in hearing range of almost anyone.
Cobra smugly walked out of the arena, as the rest of the team congratulated him on his victory, with Orion calling for a bar night, 'regardless of what happens the rest of the day.'
I chuckle slightly at their antics, and then still at the next match.
"The next match is between the Wizard Saint Jura and Ortelloth!" Jason squeaks into the loudspeaker, and the contestants emerge, Ortelloth dressed in loose clothing, exposing a previous guild mark from a Dark Guild that was destroyed by her when she left it. It's right between her breasts, and the top angles itself in a triangle that stops just by her belly button. The sleeves extend past her hands, hiding them from view, and the dip for the 'v' can actually be smaller, the unzipped material that could cover her shoulders much more completely flopping over onto the tops of the sleeves.
Her sarong rides up a bit, held up by a belt in a slight dip, bending like her body and pointing downwards. Two metal circles, composed of smaller ones, are around her mid calves, the only adornment on her legs. Her hair is in a circle on the back of her head, hanging down. It's kept together with the same type of metal that's on her legs. On her ears are elven jewellery, making her ears appear pointed. Half of her face is hidden behind her hair, a beautiful dark brown that shimmers in the sunlight.
Jura steps out of the opposite ends, his beard looking mildly singed and his robes looking much the same, although his hands are actually quite burnt.
"Go!" Jason calls out.
Jura wastes no time, conjuring up a block of earth and sending it Ortelloth's way. She stops it with a wave of her arm, heating it up with just a touch and sending it back at the Saint.
He attempts to control it, but finds it much more difficult than before, the deed impossible actually. The man dives out of the way before it hits him, instead hitting the wall behind him and shaking the foundations of the arena.
"If the contestants keep using such force on the walls, the whole stadium might collapse spontaneously before this Games is over." I mutter, and Bickslow nods in agreement before he can stop himself.
I shake off the thought and turn my attention back to the fight between basic forces of nature here.
Jura's attempting to talk to her. This should be interesting. "You seem like a formidable opponent. What is your magic?"
Ortelloth responds by extending her power into the ground below her, sending Jura flying with but a thought, her magic making the once steady earth here erupt like a volcano. Jura comes back down, and hits her with a block of earth like a club.
She jumps back, attempting to find purchase and doing so. Using her magic, she forces him back to an unsteady place, where the earth itself is bubbling and rumbling unlike it should be. Jura looks at her, and speaks. "I've done this dance before, with Hot-eye. You have nothing on him."
"I am Ortelloth, and you will fear my name before this battle is over." my Sister speaks evenly, and douses him in molten hot lava, erupting under her magic, the very earth beneath his very feet.
The man breaks out once it's cool, which is expected, though it allows Ortelloth some time to create golems for keeping him busy.
Molten lava golems keep him busy as he summons blocks of earth to defend himself, each being melted through by the heat of the beings. Gathering her magic up in a bundle, Ortelloth releases it into the atmosphere, a magical sphere placing itself around the arena completely. (60) With that, she fills up the sphere with molten lava and magma, the heat not allowing any of it to cool into stone or earth for Jura to use.
The golems disappear into the lava from whence they came, and Jura finally realizes what's happening. Desperately, he tries to use some of it, and, to an extent, he succeeds, but Ortelloth is immune to any kind of heat, a byproduct of her Eruption magic.
Several moments after Jura disappears beneath the molten rock, Ortelloth dissipates the spell, releasing it back into the earth and returning most of it to normal, but keeping Jura in a small sphere of lava still.
Five minutes later, she releases it, and Jura tumbles out of the magical prison, alive, but just barely, thanks to Ortelloth.
"The Wizard Saint Jura is down!" announces Jason, who is no longer shocked at my people winning.
As they shouldn't be.
Five more battles to go, and the crowd has yet to tire of them. Next up is Bacchus vs. Midnight.
Obviously, the drunkard that is Cana's favorite drinking buddy (61) is no match for Midnight, who merely reflected all of his attacks with perfect ease. Palm Magic is not the best tactic against someone with Reflection Magic.
Racer is eager for his fight, mainly because it's up against Lyon, one of the people who was responsible for beating him when he was part of the Oracien Seis, like Cobra was eager to beat up Natsu. New tricks have made Racer into a good Brother, though his arrogance is still a small problem. It doesn't matter as long as he gets the job done and the client satisfied, the victim dead. As a matter of fact, he's very good at bypassing security systems and forces, getting into places within a blink of an eye, out in the same, if not less time.
Up against Lyon, Racer takes his revenge against the squirt, taking him down easily, definitely compared to before. This time he doesn't have Gray to help him, and without Gray's help, he's a goner. Before he joined us, too, Racer could have whipped Lyon, but when they joined forces, Gray and Lyon, it was a bit much. Now, however, it is easier to take down the little shrimp, no matter how powerful he might be now.
Racer walks away smugly from the battle with his head held high, while Lyon twitches on the ground in pain.
Jason speaks over the microphone, "Eve vs. Erigor is up next, folks! Stick around to see the show as the Trimen's snowiest member battles it out with the previous Death God of Eisenwald!"
I chuckle behind my hand as Eve whoops Erigor's ass in the arena.
"Don't Morrigan and Erigor use basically the same magic?" Bickslow asks beside me.
"More or less, yes. The difference is that Morrigan has more magical aptitude and training is a top priority for her, while Erigor's is usually just to complete contracts and stay ahead of normal mages, which he's done quite well, but he's not exceptional. Besides, Eve is actually quite powerful. Not many can pull off a Snow Sunder spell and still be breathing."
My Mate looks at me, something akin to shock on his face. Surprise, that's it.
"What?" I ask, looking at him.
"I've never heard you bad mouthing your own people before."
"It's not bad mouthing; I'm stating facts. Erigor is a good Brother, but he isn't anywhere near Morrigan's level." I state, and look at the aftermath. Two fights are left, and the next one is starting just now.
Five minutes later, Rustyrose is lying on the ground barely moving after being beaten by Jenny.
Her Machina Soul is very powerful, and she got in the first shot because she used her Transformation magic to distract him.
Bickslow can't stop laughing at his former enemy. He was the reason that Rustyrose fell on Tenrou Island, and I can't blame him. First off, the matchup really favored Rustyrose, and instead, he fell within the first five minutes. Secondly, he got beaten with minimal difficulty by Jenny, who didn't even break a sweat.
Wow. I'm glad this day is almost over. Only Flare Corona and Vidaldus are left.
Somehow, Vidaldus wins. Still not sure how that happened, but I think it has something to do with him making Flare his Succubus and convincing her to give up. She's fine, as is he, but he still wins.
That's the last battle of the day. Jason announces the next challenge will take place tomorrow to determine the battles for the day, but now it's over for the day.
We leave the box, and find an angry Nightshade on the doorstep. "I thought I would be competing today." she growls out, and I sigh, not wanting to deal with this.
"No, you will compete tomorrow. Satisfied?" I reply, and she grumpily turns away, walking down the steps to join the rest of the team for drinking, to both Killian's memory and their victories. (62)
"Who was that?" Bickslow asks, his brow furrowed as if he's trying to determine who that is.
I ignore the question, leading the way towards the palace again, where we will be staying until tomorrow morning, to return to the games, cheering on whomever we choose.
If I can survive this awkward silence, that is.
53- I feel slightly bad about this- Lucy is a nice person, from what I've heard, even nicknamed the 'Light of Fairy Tail.' But you can't deny that, even now, she dresses rather... eh. Actually, if she likes to, go ahead. 54- Probably. 55- No girl should ever be naked in front of an audience, especially during a battle. 56- Then again, he looks physically ill anyway, after the battle he just fought. 57- Natsu beat Cobra when he was still with the Oracion Seis. It wasn't pretty. 58- It is, however, mostly Natsu's. He misses several times and injures himself more than once. 59- Cobra got fangs over the years, making him ideal for assassinations that need to happen covertly and quickly. It also helps that he can make them just painful- modifying poison that enters his body is something he can do subconsciously now. Any poison that has ever entered his body can be recalled. 60- Not including the stands, thankfully. 61- And possibly more. 62- Erigor and Rustyrose will undoubtedly be drowning their sorrows together. Hopefully with just drink, but I don't care. They won't be distractible since they won't be competing from now on.