A.N: Hey guys! As you can see, I haven't really been updating like I use to. It's just, Ive been having trouble finding that spark of intrest that I use to have. I know what I want to do, I just don't know how to put it. Anyhow, I might not continue, but I could like I am now :).
Happy New Year guys!
Stay safe. Have fun! Loves and hugs.
Enjoy~.
Chapter 53: Battle of Fairytail
Another shock of lightning and Kuma could have sworn she went blind again. Standing up on the table, the girl clenched her fist and snarled at the lightning mage. She was not pleased with her older brother. "Laxus-Kun?! What are you doing?! Did you drink to much again or have you finally gone off the deep in?!"
Natsu and Gray looked between Laxus and Kuma. Laxus in a purple shirt and tight black pants and Kuma in a purple knee length halter top dress. Kuma's snarl caused her nose to twitch every few seconds, which drew attention to her black nose stud. Laxus's easy smile seemed to cause her face to twitch more.
"Don't worry, Little Sister. Everything will be explained right now. I'm guessing everyone's wondering."
All the remaining members, whether foe, frozen or friend, tensed with either anxiousness or excitement. Suddenly, Fried Justine and Bixlow dropped down from no where. Kuma oddly thought about ninjas. Shaking her head, she wondered if Natsu's denseness was affecting her as well.
"It's pretty simple really. I'm sick and tired of the weaklings in Fairy Tail and I need a way to sort out the ones with actual power. And so this came along. The entire city of Magnolia is our playground for the day. If you defeat us, you win. Congrats to you. But that's only if."
The guild was deadly silent as they listned to Laxus's outrageous plan. Continuing his scheme explaining, he smiled deviously and looked around at the occupants of the room. "Of coarse every player needs their motivation! And so you have three hours or these girlies are going to be nothing but dust."
'Shit!' Gray cursed in his head, looking at one particular red head who was frozen in a confused expression.
"Nice and simple! That's just how I like it!" Natsu exclaimed, the one ever ready to fight. Laxus chuckled as the fire wizard charged his way.
"I must admit, you got the right attitude." Natsu jumped and set a fist on fire, preparing an attack when Laxus's smile grew. He continued his thoughts. "Although that attitude of yours is going to get you into a world of hurt. WHY DON'T YA SIT BACK DOWN?!"
Lightning struck and everyone looked away as Natsu got electrocuted. Kuma gasped, knowing from old training sessions exactly how that felt and softned the ground so when he fell it wouldn't hurt as much. Natsu groaned his thanks as Warren and Max rolled their eyes and complained.
"Laxus stop this immediately!" Gramps demanded and his grandson barked with laughter.
"SETTLE DOWN OLD MAN! LET THE BATTLE OF FAIRYTAIL BEGIN!"
"Uh oh."
Mystogan looked up at Moka with a quizzical expression on his face. The man was in his demonic form, purple bone straight hair falling into even deeper purple orbs.
"What is wrong?"
"I believe Laxus just blew a fuse." She muttered. She had been hoping to watch Kuma to see if her demonic energy was in check when she happened to stumble onto the previous scene. Staring at her lovely mirror, she raised a brow at her top general's actions. So he could be disloyal. This would hurt him in the long run. He might even loose his position and drop back down to a foot soldier, working his way back up the years he took to be on top.
Mystogan walked to Moka's side in the throne room and saw a surprising sight.
"Uncle Natsu! You ok? Why'd you stop?" Kuma exclaimed, perplexed. Natsu had been on one of his famous rampages and headed out the door, only for him to be pushed back.
"Runes," Mystogan thought out loud and cursed. Moka nodded her head in agreement.
"What the...? What are those things?" Natsu demanded, pointing at the red block like writing of the most likely, Fried Justine's handiwork. Kuma and Makarov stood up, both looking grim.
"Runes." Kuma muttered and her fist clenched. Makarov nodded and began to explain what they were. To simply put it they were barriers with special properties that were totally under the writers command. Natsu frowned and rubbed his head.
"So whoever has these wins the fight." He concluded and Kuma crossed her arms.
"You could say that in a way, but runes take time to write. So they would be useless in a one on one battle. But as you can see, there very dominant when set up as traps." Natsu nodded at his neice's confirmations.
Why was Mystogan proud she knew that? Moka snorted at her new guard and rolled her eyes with a smirk. He would be proud of something so measly as his daughter knowing some magic information other than her own. Didn't he know she studied magics for a past time? 'Well at 'least she use to before demon hunting became her new past time.' Moka thought sardonically.
Mystogan sighed, and transformed back into his human side, tying a bandanna across his face. He nodded at Moka and she shooed him off as though this was a regular thing. Rolling his eyes he began to head towards the guild through the wood way so students of Yokai could not detect him.
Thinking over the sudden change of events, his sudden 'father mode' sprung when he saw Kuma's dress. She never wore dresses, he realized dumbly. His eyes widened in shock and anger.
Who was she trying to impress?!
When Kuma tried walking through the barrier, she was also denied access to pass. She whined and felt her face, as though wrinkles would suddenly pop into her smooth porcelain skin.
"There's no way I'm over eighty years old! I'm to pretty to be that old!" She hollered, and whined again when Natsu snickered at her. "Oh no! No guys are gonna want me at senior aging!" Feeling a familiar sharp pain on the back of her head, Kuma growled and turned around angrily.
"OW!"
"Gi-hee!"
"One day, I will get revenge!" She screamed, jumping on Gajeel's back. Her mentor chuckled but ignored her, not really minding her on his back. Chewing on a metal spoon he got from Mira's counter, Kuma gagged and looked over at Makarov's shocked face.
"How long have you been here?!" Gramps demanded and the two quit their bickering.
"The whole time." They answered in unison before continuing their petty arguing.
"Enough! Gajeel, will you fight for the guild?!"
Seeing as though this was serious, Kuma got off of Gajeel and looked towards Natsu, who looked a bit…jealous? Thinking she was seeing things, she vaugely heard Gajeel agree before he, too, was denied access to leaving the guild. Kuma laughed at Natsu's teasing.
"Do I look eighty to you?!" Gajeel cried and Kuma nodded with a huge smile which earned a scowl.
"Twenty laps on Monday." He growled and she pouted.
"Damnit." She cursed, dreading the first day of training after a long weekend that was sure to come. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. Seeing it was Cobalt on FaceTime, she answered. "What's up with'cha babe?" Kuma answered and Cobalt appeared on the screen.
"Would you like to explain why I just saw Nab and Vijeer fighting on the bakery's roof?!" Cobalt cried, untying his school uniform's tie. Unlike Kuma, he did not ditch for the Fantasia's festivities simply because he was not in the mood for big crowds.
Neeya sat on Kuma's shoulder, fascinated that Cobalt was now in a box. Cobalt smiled at the kitty and winked and Kuma giggled at Neeya's astonishment. Going back to her friend, she shook her hair to the side and messed with her nose ring.
"Long story short, Laxus-Nii went crazy and to save all of the women in Fairy Tail, excluding myself, Fairy Tail's interlocked into one big tournament."
Cobalt sighed and stared into the laptop's version of Kuma with a deadpanned look.
"Although that was pretty dumbified, Im going to ask you to give me some more stupidity into that statement. Use references, for example." He inquired and Kuma rolled her eyes. Thinking about it, she got no where and sighed. Handing the phone over to Gajeel the man grunted and fixed it so now Cobalt was staring at the not so beautiful face of the one he thought of as 'dad'.
"Think of it as…" Gajeel began using some anime and cartoon refrences that Kuma had no idea of what to think about.
Cobalt blinked with a look of understanding. Yes, use cartoons or anime and everything would be understandable!
"OHHH! Ok! So Laxus wants to become the master of Fairy Tail?!"
"Precisely."
Cobalt rolled his eyes and started unbuttoning the schools button down. "Anything else I need to know?"
Gajeel turned the phone towards the women on stage, specifically more at Juvia, and Cobalt gaped. "We've only got about two hours and thirty five minutes to defeat the guy or everyone's turned to dust."
"Shit! Mum!" Anger swirled through the boy and he twisted the piercing on his ear to keep calm. Gajeel grunted and handed the phone back to Kuma. She had tied her hair up during Gajeel's little explanation.
"One more thing!"
"Oh Gawd, no more. I'm already about to throw the fuck up." Cobalt sarcasticlly begged, throwing on a simple blue t-shirt with a gold Fairy Tail emblem. The tattoo showing on his tone arm. Kuma smirked and looked to the left which showed Cobalt the doorway of the guild. She suddenly kicked it and runes sprung up.
"We can't get out." She said simply.
"Geez! This ain't no joke, is it?" He frowned and heard Happy announce another battle and its winner. Time remaining, two hours and twenty minutes.
"Be careful out there, Cobalt! I'll try my best to meet up with you. As soon as I get out of here." Kuma said and Cobalt nodded before they both logged off.
"I wanna fight!"
Kuma was shocked at Neeya's outburst. Looking down at her cat, everyone had their attention on her. Kuma smiled and bent down to talk to her. "You can fight with me when we get out of here."
"But I want to fight now!"
And then the most intresting thing happened.
Neeya grew.
She grew and grew untill she was at least Gajeel's height. She had a feminine like stance and her legs were tall and lean and she had actually arms, not stubs. Though she still had paws. Neeya smiled at Kuma's shocked expression and held her arms out in a mock model pose.
"You like?"
Kuma saw that it was still her cat's voice and smiled. That was all that mattered. It was still her. "I do like! My cat's awesome! Since when could you do that?!"
Natsu and Gajeel gawked at the purple cat, Happy crying about how he couldn't do that. Kuma stood and she was now shorter than Neeya. At least at her lower chest.
"Since my time at the Tower of Heaven. Jellal even trained me for a little bit so I know how to fight! Usually I use daggers though." Even talking about the past, Neeya said it with a child-like innocence. Kuma nodded and sighed.
"All right. I guess you can go, but stay with Cobalt! I don't want anyone touching my cat!" Neeya nodded and with a powerful gust of wind with her bigger wings, the cat was off.
"What the hell…?"
"Hi Cobalt!"
"Neeya?!" Cobalt was just running through the town in search of Laxus when a shadow casted over his head. When he looked up he had saw Neeya in her grown glory. "What in the hell happened to you?" He demanded and the cat giggled.
"I don't know! I was born this way! Well I was born being able to do this. Kuma said I had to stay with you." She explained in a childish rush, feline eyes twinkling in glee. Cobalt had to be, by far, her second favorite person. He always cut up her strawberries and he always made sure she had a hug at least once everyday! Other than Kuma, Cobalt was the nicest person ever. She hardly believed it when Kuma said that the two were once enemies. Now, those two were inseprable. More than guard and princess, they were friends.
Cobalt sighed but smiled and flicked blue hair from his hair. "I suppose. C'mon! Lets go check the fields."
Her melodic humming ceased to a soft halt when her grandfather spoke.
"There's only four left."
Kuma looked over to Master Makarov with a sad smile. It hadn't clicked yet for the guild master had it?
Gajeel and Natsu continued to bicker, Kuma watching in amusement. Honestly, she thought fire and ice were suppose to clash— not fire and iron. Besides, was there not a poem titled Fire and Ice by an epic poet? The thought slipped her mind as the girl stood and began making random beats and noises with the tables and her voice.
"What are you doing, child?"
Kuma looked down at Makarov Dreyar, her amythest eyes wanting to look away from the elder man. She had suddenly thought of a plan, her vampiric self calling her an idiot for not realizing it sooner.
"Why hadnt I thought of this sooner? I could just dive deep underground! Alright then, see ya losers."
Makarov's mouth dropped open in protest. "Now wait a second young lady—!"
Too late. Kuma had already went under.
"Found you!"
Laxus looked up and smiled.
"Well, if it isn't my adorable little sister? Are you here to keep me company?" He joked and Kuma scowled. Cracking her fingers she began walking inside the church, Kardia Cathedral, a little ways towards Laxus. He stood up to meet her halfway. The two were a few feet from each other, staring the other down.
"We've only got six minutes until the thunder palace activates. Are you ready to see how selfish your precious master is? He's ready to see all of these people die."
Kuma clenched her fists and glanced over at the runes clock. He was right, six minutes left. "Don't worry about that. Worry about how big my float will be next year, because when I win your going to be the one building it!"
"And when I win, I'll get rid of this stupid parade once and for all!"
They were interrupted by the sound of the church's bell and a swish of fabric. Kuma hadn't even notice the vibrations under her feet. Turning around, she blinked at who she saw in broad daylight.
"Papa?"
"Ahh. Hey, Mystogan." Laxus greeted casually as he walked inside the cathedral. Mystogan looked over at Kuma and motioned with his head for her to get out of the way. Kuma frowned and crossed her arms, cocking her hip in an attitude.
"Make me. I got here first."
Mystogan glared and grit his teeth. Reaching up for a staff, Kuma shuttered and put her hands up in a sign of surrender. "Alright alright!" she muttered. Quickly walking towards the nearest column she leaned against it and saw Laxus smirking at her, most likely wanting to laugh. In response she flipped him off and began playing with her nose stud.
"You sure do have a reign on your brat. So you've decided to join the tournament?" Laxus decided and Mystogan rose a brow. He literally went off the deep end, huh?
"If you bring down the Thunder Palace right now, we maybe able to convince the citizens that it was all part of the festival." Mystogan mused, always the peaceful one who tried to solve problems with no fighting. Laxus was not amused though and held up his hands in a questioning gesture.
"Is that really why you came back? Give me a break! Your looking for a piece of the action. You want to know who the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail is: you or me."
Kuma watched on in shock. Was he serious right now? So his ego was the reason she almost lost her mom to Evergreen's spell?
"Don't be so quick to rule out Erza." Mystogan grunted and Laxus laughed. Kuma blew a breath out, trying to stay calm and grounded.
"Sure the girl's got spunk! But I think we can both agree that we are stronger."
"Your ego is suffocating me." Kuma yelled and Laxus continued to laugh.
"If you think she's weak your either blind or more ignorant than I thought." Mystogan stated, his dark drawl making Kuma a little sleepy.
"Nothing against her. I just think that we are stronger."
Kuma growled and forced herself to stay where she was. Just because she knew her father used illusions, did not make them any less scary. Something about them made her feel unsafe. Which was ridiculous because he was her father! He would never intentionally hurt her. Right? Why was she thinking about this now? She did not know, it was more of a questioning stage after Zeref's recent visit. Somehow all of his comments twisted into some form of truth. The sudden shaking of the earth snapped her out of thought.
"Five Layer Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"
"Your a bit slow on the uptake!"
Laxus transformed into a burst of lightning and evaded Mystogan's attack while unfortunately, the silent man was hit. The lightning had no effect on Mystogan, he bounced right back up. Kuma sighed in relief, and leaned against the pillar.
"Please be careful, Papa." She whispered worridely, while playing with her nose ring.
Mystogan slightly nodded in her direction, letting her know he heard and that he would. Sure she disobeyed him— A LOT— but in the end they were father and daughter. He helped her become an S-Class wizard. He dried up her tears when she was seven and scolded her when she wrecked her grades at school. No matter what, she was important to him and he liked to think he was as important to her in an equal way. Though lately he's been having a foreboding feeling about THAT.
Laxus chuckled at his mini victory and rose a brow when he heard two voices in perfect unison yell out, "Here you are!" One feminine and one of an annoying flame brain.
"Momma! Uncle N!"
Erza looked over at her daughter's position. "So you already made it here, huh? I should have known. You are the earth." Refraining from sighing in relief, she looked around and spotted the cloaked from head to toe figure.
"Who's that?" Natsu questioned, forgetting about the time he met Mystogan during Kuma's rescue mission. Erza blinked in surprise.
"Don't you remember? That's Mystogan."
Mystogan's eyes widened tremendously. No! He wasn't in his demon form and did not have time to transform, not that this was a place that he could actually do it. They were in a church! No wonder Laxus chose this place! Mystogan doubted Kuma and Cobalt knew, but you physically could not transform in a religious building. It was not painful to step inside like all literature said, but it did weaken a demon's power to the brink of being gone.
Mystogan only had one thought as he shied himself behind his arm a bit too late. 'Ah, shit.'
Lightning ripped through the air and turned the illusion mage's mask into nothing but that. An illusion. Though the person who stood before Kuma HAD to have been a figment of her dumbass imagination. She was already dreaming up Zeref! Maybe she was dreaming up…him. But no. The spiky blue hair was real. The pale skin. The chiseled jaw, hazel eyes and red birthmark under his left eye were all real. Jellal stood there in person, looking just as conflicted as the rest of them were, excluding Laxus. He took a deep breath and his jaw clenched when he saw Erza cry; his fist relaxed in defeat when Kuma slammed her back against the pillar in shock.
"J-Jellal…?" Erza whispered in pure shock.
"So…wait a minute... Daddy.. is really Jellal?!" Kuma couldn't breathe, nor could she see straight. Did Moka know about this?! She had to have, otherwise he wouldn't have been christened as a guard. Her chest rose and fell steadily, Kuma trying to calm herself.
Mystogan looked at Erza with a pleading look, "I'm not your friend Jellal. I do know of him but… I'm not him." He then looked over at his daughter and sighed shakily, "Please, forgive me. I must be going."
"Papa, wait!" Kuma yelled, snapping out of her trance but he was gone. Wait…could she still call him that? It slipped so easily from her lips.
Natsu scratched his head, "Well, that made my brain hurt. I can't think about that right now! Alright, Erza, Kuma! You ready to stop this guy?"
Both mother and daughter were distracted, minds carried into a diffrent place. The ground directly under Kuma began shaking. Natsu grew worried. "Hey, Guys!"
They were both drawn back into reality by lightning bolts.