Disclaimer: You know the drill… I do not own Fairy Tail, Devil May Cry or any of it's characters. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima and Devil May Cry belongs to Cashcom, I mean; Capcom.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
The capital of the Kingdom of Fiore, The Flower Blooming Capital; Crocus.
Once a year, this festival for mages is held…the great magic tournament. The city is overflowing with the mages of Fiore and its citizens. In the center of the city is the King of Fiore's palace; Mercurios. In the mountains to the west, the great magic tournament is being held at the Domus Flau.
And in the middle of town…
"Phew, we finally made it!"
Lucy, Wendy and Charle plummeted in the street because of exhaustion, asides from Erza who seemed perfectly fine.
"Geez, this is embarrassing for you." The scarlet hair mage disapproved of her teammates.
"Seriously Erza? We trained nonstop for the last few days without rest and expect us to be fine like you!?" Lucy was in disbelief.
"Actually, we stopped training yesterday since we had to come to the city and get registered…" Wendy stopped after seeing how Lucy was looking at her "I'll stay quiet now."
"Anyway where should we go now?" Charle voiced her question "This city is bigger than the one in Edolas."
While the girls looked around for anything remotely familiar to directions, someone familiar greeted them.
"Long time no see"
Turning around Lucy and the others smiled seeing Gray and Ur approaching them. "Gray! Ur! It's great to see you."
"Likewise" As they joined their group, Gray noticed someone absent "Where's Flame breath?"
Knowing who he was talking of, Erza replied; "Vergil took Natsu, Lisanna and Angel for an 'extensive training' of sorts. They should arrive soon."
Hearing this, Ur sighed "Damn, really wanted to see Vergil again. I even dressed up just for him" Ur referred to her new clothes she bought to impress the half devil.
"Not this again" Gray groaned at his teacher's habits. While this went down, Erza noticed something different in Gray; "How was your training?"
"Perfect" Gray's voice carried a new level of confidence as he sent a side look to Ur who nodded "Can't wait to show you the results of our 3 month training. How about yours?"
At the end of the question, Lucy and Wendy slumped down again while Erza's expression darkened "What's the matter?"
"Don't ask"
"There you are!" Gray and the others looked towards Makarov and his group, which consisted of team shadow gear, Alzack, Bisca and their daughter Asuka propped over the former Fairy Tail master's shoulders. "You guys finally made it."
"Master!"
While the Fairy Tail mages greeted each other, no one noticed a pink haired girl amongst the crowd of people keeping a close eye on them before she vanished from view.
Chapter 40: The Labyrinth in the Sky
"Did you hear that? Fairy Tail!"
Hearing this, the Fairy Tail mages focused their attention to the people talking about them.
"The weak little guild that's always claiming last place? Phahahahah."
Their laughter abruptly stopped by the cold glare Gray and Erza sent their way, but what really stopped them in their tracks was the malevolent aura emanating behind them.
"Oi…what did you just say?"
Turning around, both men shat a brick after seeing the look Natsu, Lisanna and Angel were giving them. The three of them just stood there in a serious manner, which further increased their panic "Well? We're waiting."
"N-Nothing s-sir! We-We were j-just joking around…"
"Get lost" Angel said, more like an order than a request.
Not waiting to be told twice, both losers ran like the wind while Natsu and the girls never lost track of them. Once they were long gone, Natsu's scowl changed into a smile as he greeted his friends "Hey there! Missed us?"
"Impressive" Erza marveled at the seriousness Natsu had demonstrated; in the past, the dragon slayer would throw a tantrum, but the way he handled things showed her he had come a long way from the impulsive mage he once was to the S-class mage he was now today.
"Let them laugh, we'll show them the true strength of Fairy Tail" Makarov added as an afterthought.
"So I don't have to hold it any longer?" Happy asked and then pointed at Jet and Droy and laughed.
"DON'T LOOK AT US AND LAUGH!"
As they headed towards the registration booth, Levy filled them in on the rules of the tournament;
"In the great magic games each guild will select 5 mages to represent them as competitors."
"Natsu, Erza and Gray I understand but, me and Wendy?" Lucy pointed to herself and Wendy "shouldn't we pick someone else like Laxus or Gajeel?"
"They haven't returned yet" Makarov replied, getting a worried look from them.
"Master decided according to the strength of the members currently here, so let's give it all we got!" Erza said to encourage Wendy and Lucy while Makarov murmured:
"If we really wanted to take this thing seriously we should have gone with Laxus, Vergil, Mira or Ur"
"WE HEARD THAT!"
"If that's the case then why not add Ur-san instead?" Wendy motioned to the wizard saint next to her. "She would definitely be a better choice than me?"
"Pass" Ur said in a heartbeat "Id rather watch the tournament instead, besides, It's the new generation's time to shine."
"Lazy too much?"
Gray's words earned him a punch to the gut from Ur.
"Respect your teacher!"
"A-Aye!"
Snickering, Natsu said "You're wiped, snow princess"
"It's pronounced whipped, you retard!"
"Then you admit it! Pervert stripper!"
"Look who's talking!" Gray pointed to Natsu's wife and Angel, and immediately regretted his actions by the vibe he was getting from the girls.
"There goes the maturity they showed" Erza and the others groaned. After a few moments, and multiple apologies from Gray, she asked; "By the way, where's Vergil?"
"Oh! We didn't tell you, didn't we?" Lisanna was the one to answer "He said there was something he needed to take care of, and said he'll be back soon."
"That's strange"
Now it was turn for Angel to ask: "What about Master?" seeing Makarov raise an eyebrow, she added "Master Gildarts, I mean."
"See for yourself" Makarov pointed to the games registry booths where Gildarts was arguing with the people in charge.
"What do you mean it's against the rules!?"
"Sir, please calm down! We told you already:" The female receptionist tried to reason with Gildarts "The guild master can't participate. It's clearly stated in rule 34. It wouldn't be ethical or fair for him to compete, after all."
Knowing she was right, Gildarts walked away defeated when he spotted his mages, specifically Makarov, and an idea formed in his head: "If the guild master can't participate, then I'll just…."
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"
"A dark magic presence is felt each year at the grand magic games."
Remembering the words he shared with Erza and her team, Jellal admired the blooming capital in the distance as it came in view. "We are almost there."
"The others must be there already" Mystogan stood next to him while their third companion merely watched the city with disinterest.
"If you ask me, going into the city will get us a lot of unwanted attention."
"We are not going to reveal ourselves, not yet anyway"
Jellal's words didn't alleviate his worries "Are we going to risk capture for what might and might not be a dark presence and whatnot?"
"Remember what it implies to join Crime Sorciere." Jellal addressed him "The risk is something we must take to redeem ourselves Cobra, you should know as well as I do."
The Former Oracion seis now Crime sorciere mage wanted to argue some more, but what Jellal said was part of the bargain he made with them for their help in evading the authorities. Begrudged, the poison dragon slayer agreed with him. "Fine."
Trying to dispel the mood, Mystogan changed topic: "Ultear and Meredy must already be inside the capital. Try to keep a low profile while you're there." As Mystogan was about to leave, Jellal stopped him.
"Mystogan, before you go; are you going to participate in the tournament?"
"Yes…as a matter of fact I am." Jellal's question took him by surprise "Why do you ask?"
"Because there's a favor I need from you."
Since the first task of the tournament was not due until midnight, the members of Fairy Tail went their separate ways to kill time and explore the city.
As Gray walked around the city he spotted someone familiar nearby and decided to investigate. Entering a deserted alley he found a cloaked figure leaning on a wall, but even when the person was disguised he knew who it was:
"Ultear, what's the matter?"
Removing her cloak Ultear said: "I forgot to give you something." Before he could ask what it was Gray got his answer when he felt her soft lips over his own. "A good luck kiss."
"Only one?" Giving her a smirk he added: "I'll need more than one since I won't see you until I win the tournament."
"Aren't you a cocky mage" with a lustful stare she blushed by what she said next: "after you win we'll do the rest."
Gray liked her plan. Kissing her again he whispered to her: "Why wait till then?"
"Nuh huh!" She playfully said no with her finger "That way we'll have something to look on to for when we celebrate your victory."
"You're killing me." Gray whimpered, but it was pointless to try and dissuade her.
"In the meantime, take me on a date" Ultear's request was accompanied by her hand massaging his naked abs "Pretty please?"
In the three months they spent training, Gray realized Ultear always gets her way, no matter what. "You already know I can't say no to you."
"Not that you're complaining" Ultear replied. "Just put your shirt back on. We might get too much attention if you don't."
"Again!?" Gray realized she was right "I really need to stop doing that."
"You don't see me complaining."
Vergil walked without opposition through the streets of the city; while in the past people would freak at the sight of a man with a katana strapped to his side, in a world filled with all sorts of mages a person wielding a sword was noting out of the ordinary. Everywhere he looked, people milled about their business without giving him a second glance (asides the ones that avoided him seeing the scowl on his face) and for things like this, the half devil was grateful.
Thinking little of his cold demeanor, a pretty flower girl approached him: "Would you like a flower sir? It's only one Jewel."
"No." Vergil said almost instinctively, scaring the girl, but stopped for a moment as her face awoke distant memories…
A lifetime ago, a younger Vergil went to a city called Fortuna, in hopes of learning more about his father after hearing tales of how Sparda saved the city in the past, but after searching the castle in the top of Lamina Peak and finding nothing of interest, the half devil decided to leave when he spotted a common sight on the city at night.
Human nature.
Three men forcing a young girl into a dark alley while the girl's screams were left unanswered, or ignored, by anyone that could hear her. Vergil was one of those that would turn a deaf ear to her pleas, and so decided this wasn't his problem.
"HELP ME!"
Humans were lower than trash to him, after all. Why would he care for one more raped girl?
"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"
"Shut up!" A hard slap quieted the girl's cries while another fastened a gag on her mouth to keep her quiet. With their prey at their mercy, the first guy started reaching under her dress. "You'll be begging for more once I'm done with you."
"Let her go."
The trio of thugs stopped and turned around to see Vergil. Even when something about him scared them, they found their courage and spoke:
"Get lost! This doesn't concern you!"
"You are right; this does not concern me." A voice in the back of his head said to him, but still, Vergil refused to leave. "Let her go…or I will kill you."
The men laughed at him while the girl struggled against her captors "Get lost, asshole!" Drawing a knife to emphasize his threat, the first one; an obese man, pointed it towards Vergil. "Or else you'll be the one to…"
Whatever he was about to say was forgotten when the pain of his right hand being severed reached his brain. The man had little time to mourn his bloody stump when his head followed the same path his missing hand just took.
Seeing what Vergil was capable of, the remaining would-be rapists released the girl and made a run for it, but only made it so far before Yamato ended their pathetic existence.
"Weak humans" with one swipe, Yamato was free of the blood coating the blade. The girl was so shocked by what she just witnessed, that she forgot to remove the gag from her mouth until Vergil started leaving. "Mhph…Wait!"
The half devil stopped but didn't even turn to look at her. The girl knew she should freak out after seeing 3 men getting killed before her eyes, but right now she couldn't care less about their gruesome fate and focused only in her savior.
"T-Thank you. If it wasn't for you I'd be dead."
Vergil remained silent after hearing her gratitude for him, seeing he wasn't going to speak, she said "My name is…"
Without warning, Vegil vanished from view, leaving her alone in the middle of the alley. Her disappointment of his departure quickly morphed into realization of what had transpired here moments ago and hastily made her exit, but not before grabbing her flower basket and running back home. Unknown to her, Vergil kept a close eye on her from his position on top of the buildings until she was in the safety of her own house.
For the following days, Vergil kept a close eye on her during the day while she sold her flowers and at night while she returned to her home, all the time wondering what compelled him to do this for this petite Human girl. This human girl with short brown hair and blue eyes that he couldn't stop thinking about…
"Are you ok sir?"
Vergil awoke from his memories and returned to the present to find the flower girl from before. Reaching into his coat pocket, he withdrew a Jewel bill and handed it to her in exchange for a white flower.
"S-Sir I don't have change for this!" The girl pointed to the 10,000 Jewel bill, but when she looked for him, Vergil was already gone.
In the solitude of a rooftop, Vergil inspected the flower wondering what could have been if he had only taken a different path back then.
As Gray and Ultear walked around the city, Gray knew her words were right.
"Can't believe its working"
"Told ya" Ultear snuggled to his arm "There are so many people in the city that no one will recognize me."
"Maybe not recognize, but…" The male population certainly eyed Ultear in a way it pissed him. Even with her cloak, Ultear's figure was the desire of men and envy of women that laid eyes on her. Deciding that if he couldn't do anything to stop their lecherous stares, at least he could show them she was out of their reach. Circling an arm around her, Gray pulled her a bit closer to him and sent a winning smirk at all the angry male population.
"Gray, are you sure it was the right choice?" Ultear's question was about the time he rejected the idea of infusing the ice lacryma to boost his magic "The magic of the lacryma could seriously come in handy if this dark presence decides to act in the grand games."
"I'm certain of it" Was Gray's answer "Besides, the absolute zero magic we learned will suffice for the tournament."
"Don't get cocky, remember?" Ultear reprimanded him "Say, why don't we get something to eat?"
As Gray was answering, Juvia appeared before them: "Gray-sama"
"Juvia! Why are you here?"
"I came to the city and cheer for you" While Juvia acted kindly to Gray, the water mage acted like Ultear was not there at all.
"Just what I needed" Ultear narrowed her eyes at the intruding water mage, while Juvia did the same. Ignorant of the tension between Juvia and Ultear, Gray listened as Juvia stole Ultear's idea.
"Gray sama, why don't we get something to eat?"
As Ultear was about to speak her mind, Lyon stepped in.
"That's a great idea!"
Popping between Gray and Juvia, Lyon wrapped an arm around her "I know a fantastic place just around the corner."
"Hey! Where are you taking her you bastard?" Gray demanded.
"I don't see what the problem is? You're already with Ultear." Lyon motioned to Ultear who until now had remained silent. "In fact, why don't we make a bet; if Lamia Scale defeats Fairy Tail in the grand magic games, then Juvia must join our guild!"
"Are you crazy?" Gray asked incredulously "There's no way we'll bet something like that! Besides; what do we get if we win"
"You get Juvia back" Lyon replied as if it was the most logical thing.
"She was ours to begin with!"
"DON'T BET ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT HERE!" Juvia screamed as her thoughts somehow turned to Gray and Lyon flirting with each other "GRAY-SAMA TELL ME THE TRUTH; ARE YOU INTERESTED IN LYON?"
"Are you crazy!?" Gray and Lyon asked at the same time, both equally disgusted by the images popping in Juvia's head.
While they were discussing, Ultear was getting more conscious about Juvia; the water mage was a sight of beauty for any man that laid eyes on her, with that dress she carried an aura of innocence, while at the same time her cleavage left a good view of her round-well formed tits that screamed sensuality. In short; the water mage could have any man she wanted wrapped around her finger, unfortunately for Ultear, the man she wanted was Gray.
"Are you alright Ultear? You kinda spaced there for a bit."
"Fine" before Gray could ask more, Ultear said "Sorry, I need to go, Jellal and Meredy are probably waiting for me."
"But, what about dinner…"
"Go with them" Ultear pointed to Juvia and Lyon and then marched away from Gray. The ice mage tried to follow her but Ultear quickly vanished between the crowd of people, besides, he couldn't leave Juvia alone with that asshole Lyon, so he returned with them.
Lyon shook his head at him "Gray, you really are an idiot."
As Ultear made her way back to her team, she kept thinking about the age difference between herself and Gray. Sure, she knew Gray didn't mind about it, but knowing how Juvia was closer to his age, put a shroud of doubt in her.
As for Natsu and his wife, the couple decided to visit the center of the capital and marvel at the various wonders it had to offer. Of course, Angel Happy and Lucy tagged along.
The blond mage admired the beautiful flowers that lined the streets "Now I see why they call it the blooming capital city"
"Third wheel Lucy" Happy snickered at the celestial mage.
"I'M SO NOT!" The celestial mage was fast in her defense to later point to Angel "And you need to learn how to count, there are five of us here."
"He does have a point" Angel cut in "you COULD give me and Natsu-kun some time alone."
"Aren't you forgetting someone" Lisanna narrowed her eyes on Angel "Like his wife?"
"Oh! You can also leave if you want, Lisanna."
Natsu laughed halfheartedly at their antics when the word FIGHT caught his attention. Without waiting for them, Natsu left the girls and Happy and sprinted to see what the commotion was all about.
"Hold up Natsu!" Lucy's words were ignored by the slayer while she wondered; "All the guilds in Fiore are here, right? Who would start a fight during the festival?"
In the middle of the street, Sting, Rogue and their exceeds stood triumphantly over some random mages: "Who wants more?"
"What a joke" Lester poked one with a stick while Fro agreed with him.
"Fro thinks so too"
All around them, the people murmured as they recognized them: "Those are the twin dragon slayers from Sabertooth."
"Sabertooth?" Natsu popped from below the spectators.
"Nekos!" Happy exclaimed as he saw Fro and Lector.
The two dragonslayers from Sabertooth gasped when they recognized him "Natsu Dragneel!"
"Huh!?" Natsu looked up at them "How do you know about me?"
"So, what Rufus said was true; Fairy Tail returned after all." Sting said as he started laughing "Don't tell me you're here to participate in the grand magic games?"
Natsu didn't like the mocking tone of Sting, but replied anyway "Yes we are! And we are going to win it!"
At this, Sting started laughing out loud, even Rogue cracked a smile. "I highly doubt that. Even with that sword you have, a first generation dragon slayer is no match for us"
"What do you mean?" Natsu looked from Rogue to Sting for an answer.
"I used to look up to you, but you were defeated by Acnologia." Sting sneered at Natsu "What use is a dragon slayer that can't beat a dragon."
"We, on the other hand, would be able to defeat it." Rogue added "After all, we are true dragon slayers."
"True dragon slayers…" Natsu pondered on his words.
"Allow me to explain" The furry cat Lector, if Natsu recalled correctly, started saying: "First generation dragon slayers are those who are trained by a real dragon, such as your case and Gajeel-kun, while a second generation dragon slayer is someone that obtained his dragon slayer abilities through the use of a dragon lacryma, like Laxus-kun and Cobra-kun."
"Natsu!"
Lisanna called out as she made her way through the people around them. While Sting didn't give her a second glance, Rogue almost confused her for Yukino. The shadow dragon slayer paid no attention to her or Lucy, who really caught his attention was the girl with long platinum hair all dressed in white. There was something about her that seemed…'familiar' somehow.
Ignoring the girl calling for Natsu, Lector continued "Sting and Rogue, however, are hybrids of sorts; they were trained by dragon slayers but also possess a dragon lacryma inside them, making them real dragon slayers. Third generation dragon slayers!"
Digesting what he had just been told, Natsu asked "Does…does that mean you also lost your dragons on the year 777?"
"Not exactly" Sting said and then Rogue added "why don't we tell him."
Adopting a dark expression, they told him the truth: "The dragons that taught us their magic…we killed them in order to become true dragon slayers."
Lucy, Lisanna, Angel and Happy gasped at their words. Sting smirked seeing their reactions, but froze when he felt the tremendous killing intent coming from Natsu.
"You…YOU KILLED YOUR PARENTS!" Natsu trembled in rage while a dark red aura emanated from him. For a moment, the two members of Sabertooth thought Natsu was going to fight them but to their surprise (and relief), the pink haired slayer turned around and left the area.
"Natsu…" Lisanna could see her husband fighting to control his urge to beat the ever-living crap out of them.
"Let's go." Without another word, the Fairy Tail mages started leaving.
Sting's fear quickly dissipated and yelled "That's right! Just walk away you phony…"
"Sting, that's enough!" Rogue stopped his teammate before he said more "Let him go."
"Not here" Both twin dragon slayers barely registered Natsu's words, but the next ones they clearly heard them: "We'll settle things in the tournament!"
As the Fairy tail mages left, an almost foreign feeling crawled all over Sting, a feeling he had not felt in quite some time.
Excitement
Back at the lodging/
"Where were you guys?" Mere minutes before midnight, Erza reprimanded her teammates for arriving late.
"Lost track of time" Gray said, recalling how he failed to find Ultear in the city.
"Got lost in the city" Natsu replied, wondering how Sting and Rogue could be so cruel as to kill their own adoptive parents.
"I had an errand to make"
"Lucy's a liar" Happy snickered before Lucy squashed him with her foot.
When it was Lisanna's turn, Erza turn to look at her as if waiting for an answer: "I'm not going to participate in the tournament, so…" Seeing Erza's stare intensify, Lisanna quickly changed her answer "Got lost with Natsu."
Satisfied, Erza cut them some slack when she noticed one member was still missing: "Where's Wendy?"
"It's quite late for her to be out at night." Happy shared his thoughts.
"Is Wendy doing things she shouldn't?" Lucy's imagination quickly envisioned a leather clad Wendy and Charle taking over the streets "She's too young to do that!"
"Seriously?" Gray asked Lucy "What drugs are you on?"
The whereabouts of Wendy were paused when a buff Elfman entered their room to bring them some snacks. "Hey guys, ready for the first task?"
"What the heck happen to you?" Natsu asked him seeing the extreme change in Elfman.
"I know, right?" Elfman said, referring not to his exaggerated muscles, but to his sideburns "It's manly!"
"Hey Elfman, by any chance have you seen Wendy?"
"Now that you mention it…she hasn't arrived to our lodging" Elfman's reply worried Erza.
"We should go look for her" Natsu jumped from where he was sitting and before he ran off, Gray stopped him.
"We should stay here until we learn what the first task is about."
As if on cue, the clock chimed when it was midnight. "Speaking of; I wonder what will it be?"
For a few minutes, the Fairy Tail mages waited for something to happen until they started hearing a loud voice.
"TO THE PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES, GOOD MORNING! IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE PARTICIPATING TEAMS FROM 117 TO 8, WE SHALL NOW BEGIN A PRELIMINARY EVENT!"
"Preliminary! No one mentioned anything about that!"
"What's that huge thing?"
"A 3d magic projector"
"Giant pumpkin!" Happy pointed to the man wearing a pumpkin head.
The other guild teams were ready to begin the first task, but with one member short, the team from Fairy tail was in distress.
"THE PRELIMINARY RULES ARE SIMPLE!" The pumpkin man announced while a large part of the city started changing, much to their surprise "YOU WILL ALL NOW COMPETE WITH EACH OTHER! THE FIRST 8 TEAMS TO FINISH WILL QUALIFY FOR THE MAIN EVENT! YOUR LODGINGS WILL BE THE STARTING POINT FOR THIS EVENT!"
Before them, a staircase formed using parts of the environment. "A path!"
"FEEL FREE TO USE ANY MAGIC YOU DESIRE! THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS! BUT IF NOT ALL FIVE MEMBERS FROM YOUR TEAM MAKE IT, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED! AND ONE MORE THING; WE TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYONE THAT LOSES HIS LIFE IN THE LABYRINTH!"
"Labyrinth" Natsu looked up into the sky to witness the gigantic sphere that was formed.
"THE GREAT MAGIC GAMES PRELIMINARY EVENT! THE SKY LABYRINTH HAS BEGUN!"
"What are we going to do? We're one member short in our team" Lucy said, referring to Wendy. "We need all five of us to win this event!"
"If you're missing one member, then…" Elfman started saying.
"Lisanna!" Erza addressed the take over mage "You'll take Wendy's spot in the team!"
"Me?" Lisanna pointed to herself while Elfman looked down.
"…or she can fill the gap."
Not waiting for her answer, Erza grabbed hold of her and dragged her along with the team to start the first task.
"Elfman! In the meantime look for Wendy! You too Happy!"
"OK! Good luck" Happy yelled while Elfman weakly gave them a thumbs up.
As the team approached the entrance, Gray said: "That's the labyrinth's entrance"
"No" Natsu corrected him "That's the entrance to become the top guild of Fiore!"
"TEAM FAIRY TAIL! LET'S GO!"
"WHERE DO WE GO!?"
After looking around for a few moments, the team was at a loss on where to go.
"We should head to the east" Erza announced "that's where the games grounds are located."
"Leave it to me!" Lucy drew a celestial key "Open the gate of the compass: Pyxis!"
In a puff of smoke, the silver key spirit of the compass appeared; a red dressed bird with a compass on top of its head, act followed by the spirit and Lucy pointing east.
"Good job." Erza complimented them.
"So, you brought a compass?" the guys asked, making Lucy and Pyxis crouch in a corner.
After navigating through the labyrinth for a while, the Fairy tail mages were still lost when they stumbled upon another team.
"Looky here! We never expected to have revenge so soon" the mages from Twilight ogre attacked them "Payback time!"
"Fuck off!" Natsu, Lisanna and Gray easily dispatched the attacking mages. Once the last twilight mage was out, a map fell from him.
"Look!" Erza showed them the map as an idea popped in her head "I think we just found out a way to win this task."
One by one, different teams were mercilessly beaten by the Fairy tail team to obtain whatever map they could find.
"Karyu no tekken!"
"Flame sphere!"
"Ice make: hammer!"
"I'll take that." Erza, dressed as a dominatrix, took a map from another team. Not that the mage minded by the expression on his face.
"Congratulations!" The pumpkin man clapped as team Natsu arrived at the finish line. "You finished the preliminary round."
"Was there any doubt." Natsu exclaimed "I bet we got first place!"
"Nope! You came in the No. 6 spot." The pumpkin man ignored their shocked faces "Sixth place is quite good, after all!"
"So you wanna join Fairy tail, miss…?"
"Rose" The pink hair girl answered Makarov's question. The best plan to change the future was making sure that Fairy Tail survived, and what better way to accomplish it than to be as close to them to ensure their survival.
Standing before him, memories of her youth flashed before her eyes…
"Higher, Oji-san, higher!" A five year old Rose laughed happily as an equally happy Makarov tossed her up and down in a playful manner. "I wanna reach the sky!"
"Ok then! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Makarov's welcome into the guild returned her to the present. Extending his hand, Makarov was not disappointed when Rose shook it in return.
As Rose and Makarov played, her parents arrived at the guild: "Oi! Rose-chan, we're back!"
"Momma! Pappa!"
That was only a few years before that happened, her Oji-san died not long after that, followed by her parents, Erza, Lucy, Gray oji-san, until only Ultear oba-chan was left. But now that she was here there was no way in hell she was going to let history repeat itself.
"Oji- san…" Seeing him alive and well before her made Rose happier than she ever had, but she skillfully hid it behind a mask of indifference. "Thank you, Makarov-sama."
"Makarov will suffice, my dear" the aging master patted her hand "Now then, time to give you your guild mark."
Since Mira was not here at the moment, Levy took it to herself to bring the guild stamp "What color would you like your guild mark, Rose?"
"White" Rose said without hesitation "Like mother's stamp…"
"Ok!" Levy merrily got the color "Now tell me where you want it?"
"On my left shoulder" As Levy made to stamp her, Rose grabbed the stamp from her hands "Allow me"
In a flash she raised her left sleeve and, before anyone could see, she stamped the seal above the one she already had. Her movements were so fast, almost no one was able to see her guild mark, asides Makarov, but he decided to leave it at that.
"Well then, let me officially welcome you to Fairy Tail!" Levy and the guild members present welcomed her and started a celebration in her honor (even when it was past midnight).
Outside, Natsu and his team were heading back to the lodging in low spirits when they spotted Vergil waiting for them.
"Vergil, you're back" Lisanna was the first to greet him.
"Lisanna" Vergil nodded to Erza and the others in courtesy "I take it you won the first task?"
"Yeah but…" Lucy looked down in shame. "We almost didn't make it."
After explaining how they barely reached sixth place, Vergil said "In a task involving time, arriving first is crucial. However, this was not about coming in first but of qualifying for the main event. You did good."
Were they hearing right? Was Vergil complimenting them? Allowing a smile to form, the team was grateful for the pick me up speech.
"Thanks Vergil."
"However..." Vergil focused on Natsu "I expect nothing but the best from you, Dragneel. I did train you myself after all."
"And there's the Vergil I know" Natsu thought.
Back at the lodging, the celebration was still going on. Although Rose was not a fan of parties like this, she learned from Levy valuable differences between their timelines; like Gildarts being the new master of Fairy Tail, to Ur's return and Mystogan staying with the guild. What caused these changes was unknown to Rose, but it didn't matter as long as Fairy Tail survived.
"And a few months back we celebrated a wedding between…" Levy was beginning to say when team Natsu arrived.
"Oi! We're back!"
"Dad!" There, on the entrance, a younger version of her father greeted them. The mask of indifference she so carefully created to hide her identity slowly crumbled as tears threatened to fall. She was slowly recognizing his companions when her eyes landed on the figure in the back.
"How did you do?" Makarov asked the group. Just as Natsu was about to tell them, Rose pointed at the man in the back.
"You!" A symbol flashed on Rose's back and a claymore materialized in her hands. The Fairy tail mages were dumbstruck when her long pink hair changed to platinum, but what really took them by surprise was when she directed her attack on Vergil.
"DIE SPARDAAA!"
A.N.
Cliffhanger ahead!
I feel this chapter included more GrayTear than the main paring (Natsu x Lisanna) but for those up to date with the manga will know that this arc has a shocking moment for Ultear, so I decided to indulge some more into their relationship before that moment comes. As for Ultear, I am still undecided about her father's identity; people think it's Silver, but I have another character from another anime that might fill the gap. Anyway, it's still too early to say for sure.
There are a few things I intentionally left out of this chapter; like Angel's problem with the demon keys (which was saved for a future chapter) or Wendy getting attacked by Raven's Tail (I didn't include that since it stays the same as in the anime and manga). Also; Someone asked about what sword will Dante use since Natsu has Rebellion, well...you'll find out eventually, but Dmc fans might already have an idea (and it's not the DmC version of Rebellion, since Rose has that one)
Once again, forgive my late update, but sometimes things get caught up in the way that stop me from writing, not to mention the dreaded writer's block. All i can say is please bear with me, I'll update as soon as I can.
Until next update!
Demonwithasoul