"_and the long awaited battle between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheeney!"

Nox was scowling. She didn't want her dragon slayers to fight her fight; Natsu and Gajeel were hers. The burning hatred that had come to life in her stomach ever since the Nirvana was destroyed had subsided to embers, but she knew how to rekindle that flame of hate.

Natsu Dragneel was going to burn in the pits of hell.

She saw Rogue and Sting enter the arena. She immediately smelled the fear that haunted their minds, despite them doing their best to hide it behind a facade of cockiness for Sting and calmness of Rogue. Nox's brow furrowed. What would they fear?

Tearing her eyes from the fierce battle that had started, Nox looked around the amphitheatre. She smelled blood, and quickly, her eyes shot back to the sandy arena. Natsu and Gajeel were on the floor. A slow smirked blossomed on her lips, but the two men shot back up, screaming in Fairy Tail's name that they fought for their nakama. Sting and Rogue were sent flying by an attack they did not expect, and Nox focused solely on the arena. She saw Sting's eyes turn to the Sabertooth stand, and his hands balled into fists he dug in the ground.

Nox looked in that direction, and her blood boiled.

Humans were greedy, humans were cruel. Humans did not respect life and freedom.

Otherwise, why would Frosch and Lector be stuck in a cage?

The hooded woman got up from her seat, nearby the stairs. She caught Sting looking at her, despair and pain in his eyes. Lector... she sent him a reassuring gaze, and disappeared in the dark opening.

He had to get back up. In the name of Lector. The Exceed needed him to win, otherwise he would get killed by the master. He needed to get his friend back.

Rogue hit the ground next to him. Both of them were down.

"_Fro...sch..."

So Rogue thought of his friend as well.

"_Frosch thinks Rogue-kun is the best! He will win!"

"_no, Sting-kun is better. Sting-kun will not lose to those stupid fairies."

Their heads shot to the side.

Next to the hooded woman were two little flying cats. Tears pooled in Rogue's eyes as Minerva and Yukino appeared there as well.

"_Frosch!"

Nox smiled at them from under her hood. The Dragon Slayer Duo closed their eyes, smiling softly. When they opened them again, they were steel hard.

They would win this fight.

Win and then leave Sabertooth.

.

He couldn't understand. Natsu could not possibly be that strong. Sting inhaled to do a dragon roar, when he felt a burning pain in his leg. Rogue next to him stumbled to the floor, an iron lance piercing his side.

No, the light dragon slayer thought. No. I cannot lose!"

The last thing he heard before slipping into darkness was the soft jingle of a bell.

.

She watched them, her only friends, falling to the floor unconscious. Nox saw red. She could not wait. The soft jingle of a bell drew a smirk on her lips. Light enveloped her. When Lector turned around, the hooded form was not there anymore.

.

A blinding light invaded the arena. Once it had faded, a hooded form was standing there.

"_you hurt my family, that ain't gonna go by me."

.

The amphitheatre had fallen silent at the apparition of this new opponent. Only the voice of the pumpkin man was heard, as he tried to explain what was going on:

"_it seems that Sting Eucliffe from Sabertooth was able to summon someone whilst falling! This has never been heard of before, but it looks like it is allowed by the rules! Could this hooded person be Nox, of Midnight Fear?!"

She stood there, her feet planted firmly on the ground. She was going to defend her family. Past and present. She took a step forward, her hood melting to silver in order to form an Armour. The now platinum hard cloak clung to her body, despite the hood having kept its consistence. A sneaky ray of sunlight showed her face was entirely covered in the same substance. Her lips parted, as her finger extended in Gajeel's direction;

"_sleep."

.

The Dragon slayer fell to the floor, knocked out. She turned to Dragneel. A smirk stretched her lips. Flame engulfed her opponent's body, as she said.

"_I can hear you."

He readied to send a roar, when she said;

"_roar of the fire dragon? How pathetic."

"_how... how do you know?" there was a feeling of déjà-vu Natsu did not like.

"_I can hear you. I can hear your thoughts."

"_I don't care! Roar of the fire dragon."

"_shield of the poison dragon."

.

Shock was written all over his figure.

"_what?! That Cobra man was THE poison dragon! How can you..."

"_are you going to stand there? Not fight?"

"_arrrrgh! By the secret technique of the Crimson Lotus! ROAR OF THE FIRE DRAGON!"

"_genesis zero!"

The dark vortex that sprouted from Nox's hands engulfed Natsu's flame, totally extinguishing it.

"_eat the soul and flame of my opponent."

Darkness surrounded the dragon slayer, as he once again tried to generate the golden flames that would eat the magic.

He found himself unable to, as the nightmares starting overwhelming him.

.

The poison Nox had injected into Natsu's body started giving the man illusions of pain, anguish and death as his own body was slowly starting to burn from the acid. The spell she had cast upon him had trapped the man inside a sphere of darkness that could not yet be broken. Leaving Natsu to his own fears, Nox turned to the other mages in the arena.

Gajeel was still asleep, as her order had not worn out yet. Sting and Rogue were on the floor, passed out. She slowly made her way to the two, as her hands started glowing.

"_heal."

In front of the bewildered eyes of the amphitheatre, the wounds, bruises and broken bones the two had suffered slowly started fading. Bones mended, skin grew over and blood was swept back into their system. After a few seconds, the two men were stirring. Rogue fell back into deep sleep straight away, having been in high pain due to the iron lance that pierced his stomach. Even though she had healed him, his mind had still token a toil and he would need a few hours of good sleep before waking up again. On the other hand, Sting had suffered high burns, which the skin mended very well, and he opened his eyes. Nox was immediately by his side.

"_hey." She whispered. He cracked a smile.

"_hey to you too..." his voice was raspy from the need of a drink, and he felt a bit sore. Nox summoned a water bottle from the side, and he gratefully drank from it.

"_not meaning to be rude, but what are you doing here?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"_you called me."

"_I didn't ring the bell though..."

"_you don't need the bell. You just have to call me in your mind strongly enough, and bell will tingle by itself."

She smiled at him, a genuine and cute smile.

"_now, sleep Sting. I have everything under control." She kissed his forehead as he fell backwards. She caught him at the last moment and gently laid him down onto the floor.

Rising up again, Nox turned to the shell of darkness that enveloped Natsu and with a wave of her hand dismissed it.

"_sleep." She commended, as the boy fell into slumber. She was left standing in the arena, as the pumpkin man shouted:

"_it seems that the Twin Dragon Slayers from Sabertooth won this duel, despite the mean being questionable. Sabertooth gains ten points!"

Nox saw Minerva shooting up from her seat, rushing to the stairway and appearing at the edge of the arena a few seconds later. Smiling under her hood, Nox motioned the woman over as she was lifting both men.

Shyly, which was rather rare from the War God Mage, she came forward to receive Rogue. The tiger extended her hands, slowly sliding her crush down the hooded woman's arms and into hers. She created a portal whilst hugging the man to her chest and stepped through it straight to the infirmary. Equally worried with her dragon slayer, Nox levitated the man and in a snap of her fingers, both of them were gone.