Chapter 10
Guardian of the North
"But..." Frosch wore a doubtful frown on his adorable face. "When Fro saw Mermaid-san today...her hair was short, not long."
"But it was long last night?" Sting asked, glancing at Rogue's door every now and then. Frosch nodded.
"She looked really pretty, too."
"She could have gotten a haircut," Lector suggested.
"But Fro can't understand why Mermaid-san would run away after Rogue saved her."
Now it was Sting's turn to frown. "Now that," he propped his feet up on the coffee table, "is weird."
Vóreia prepared to go to sleep, placing her journal back in the valise and reaching for something else when she suddenly realized—it was gone.
Oh...that's right...
Slumping, Vóreia sat on the bed she shared with Beth, remembering what she herself had done.
Why did I throw it away? she thought, regretting what she had done to it. Then she remembered exactly why she threw it away.
It was made by him.
Platina stared up at the sky while she leaned against the railing.
"Platina." The silver mage turned her head. Risley stood behind her with a worried look. "Even though I agree with you about Sabertooth... if I were you, I'd take Kagura's words to heart. She already has a handful with Arania...try not to bite off more than you can chew."
Platina nodded, walking back to the door. "Even if I choke...I'll find a vay to swallow it whole—"
Her pulse sped up violently. Sudden pains in her abdomen forced Platina to her knees and made her cough into her hands.
"Platina! Are you—" Platina removed her hands from her mouth. An odd purple substance covered her palms.
"Water," Platina rasped.
"Huh?"
"Just water will be fine," she restated.
"But—"
"Now."
With a doubtful look on her face, Risley went in and came out with a bottle of water. Platina snatched it out of her hands, twisted the cap open, and downed it in two gulps.
"Risley, I have a favor to ask you."
"Hm?"
"Can you take my place tomorrow?"
Risley nodded solemnly. "Of course I will."
"Thanks," Platina said, heading back to her room.
"Platina."
"Hm?" The silver mage turned her head back to Risley.
"Don't push yourself too hard."
The sun peeked through the window as the third day came upon them.
"Platina's not going out today?" Beth asked as she put her shoes on.
On cue, retching noises came from the bathroom, along with violent coughs. Those same sounds had continued nonstop throughout the night.
"She caught something horrible during the night," Risley explained as she fixed her hair. "I told her to take it easy.
Arania knocked on the door lightly. "Platina?" A groan was her only response. "We're gonna go on ahead. Try to get better, girl."
Inside, the toilet water seemed to have been replaced by purple dye. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she turned on the sink while the toilet flushed away its contents.
"Can't believe it," Platina spat as she came out of the bathroom to an empty room. "I mean, sure, but that doesn't give the scorpion asshole the right to poison me! I'm my own person!"
Platina took her sunglasses off, folding and placing them on her night stand. "So it started already, eh?"
She stared out her window in the direction where she knew Crocus Gardens would be. Suddenly, she sneered. "Sorry, but you'll have to do better than that. See if I care."
"The final score for Incognito!"
Lamia Scale 10P
Sabertooth 8P
Mermaid Heel 6P
Blue Pegasus 4P
Fairy Tail B 3P
Imperial Snow 2P
Fairy Tail A 1P
Quatro Cerberus 0P
"No offense, but it looks like Quatro Cerberus has no chance of winning this year," Chapati admitted.
"HEY!"
"Moving on, our first battle will be Quatro Cerberus' War Cry versus Blue Pegasus Ren Akatsuki!"
Ren shrugged. "Oh well. If I must."
"Remember, War Cry, your soul is always—wild!"
"Four!"
"Say..." Avian tapped the final remaining cloaked figure. "Did anyone see your face yesterday?"
"..."
"The code of silence is only valid as long as the hood stays on. The only way to bypass it is between Imperial Guardians."
Meanwhile, Ren was declared the winner of the match. Next to come up were Laxus and Jura.
"I won't be mad."
"...just two people—er, a guy and an Exceed," the short cloaked person said. "The cat ran into me...I think his name was Frosch?"
Frowning slightly, Avian's hand glowed blue. "Not another word," he warned gently. "Not until this—" The jester tapped the cloak. "—comes off."
"When's that?"
"The main event. And your opponent's a Dragon Slayer too. The—"
"There's no way Jura-san would ever lose," Lyon declared, wobbling slightly. Even though the spider venom had been negated, that didn't stop Ooba from spinning Lyon around.
"Tied! Fairy Tail B and Lamia Scale earn five points! And now...Sabertooth's Sting versus Mermaid Heel's Risley!"
"Then again...there's no way he could have ever tied."
"Tch...I'd hoped you'd be more of a challenge."
Sting hoisted Risley's beaten, unconscious body into the air, holding the gravity mage by the neck. No one cheered, the air was filled with a hushed silence. Except for most of Team Sabertooth, whose cruel laughters rang through the stadium.
"Wh-what...S-Sabertooth earns ten points! Risley...is she okay?"
"Risley!" Team Mermaid Heel poured into the arena as Sting released Risley. To add insult to injury, Sting delivered a swift kick to her gut, sending her flying to her team mates.
The gravity mage landed at her team's feet. Arania checked her friend's pulse. Weak...but it's still there...Arania glared at Sting, who stood back with a smug smirk. He really intended to kill her.
"What? If we're a guild full of two-faced bastards, we might as well act like it," Sting sneered. "Hey, we warned you. You should be glad she's even alive."
"Uh-oh! It looks like Mermaid Heel and Sabertooth are about to have a go at it!"
"You—!"
Kagura held out an arm to stop Arania. "Indeed, we brought this fight to you. And we have every intention of ending it. Your warning has been recieved. And here's ours to you: Your days of glory are at an end."
Bandaged to the point where she almost resembled a mummy, Risley lay on the bed of the infirmary. An attending nurse sighed in relief. "Your friend is out of the danger zone. But we can't let her out just yet."
Beth let out a breath. "Thank goodness."
"Kagura?" Millianna glanced at the swordswoman carefully.
"I'm going to have a word with Platina later," Kagura said. "But for now..."
A Lacrima Vision appeared next to Risley's bed. "Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen, but let's move on to the final match of the day! Fairy Tail A's Wendy Marvell versus Imperial Snow's—um, I don't know how to pronounce that, sorry—Imperial Snow's Glacien?"
Five heads shot up in the infirmary at the name. "Glacien?" Arania repeated.
"Glacien?" The rest of Team Lamia Scale glanced at their ninja, who was supposed to be their intel on info concerning Imperial Snow. But Dobengal was trying not to look at the Lacrima Vision or the battle in the arena.
"You know who that is?" Lyon guessed.
"Glacien?" Vóreia watched the hooded figure enter the arena. She shook uncontrollably. "It can't be..."
Wendy and Glacien approached each other, meeting at the center of the ring. "Nice to meet you," Wendy greeted.
"..." Glacien simply nodded. With the cloak covering their entire body, and since the voice was unknown, there was no way to tell if Glacien was a boy or a girl.
"Oi! Can't you talk for even one second!" Natsu called down.
"Natsu." Erza pulled Natsu down, nearly bonking his head on the railing.
"Gah!"
"Coincidence, Rogue?" Sting glanced at his partner, who had moved away from his seat. "Glacia, Glacien?"
"..." I know it's you, but I won't say anything, Rogue thought as "Glacien" stood back. But...I don't mean to complain...why are you back?
"They know they can remove the cloak now," Mizuno pointed out. After his nose was put back into place, the mirror mage was left a bit more careful of his actions.
"And where's the fun in that?" Avian pulled out two cards from his shirt sleeve. One had two dragons painted on a coat of arms. The other had a silvery line in the middle, cutting a half circle at the top of the page down the middle, creating two quarters of a circle. The left quarter appeared to have a prominent golden crown surrounding it: the sun. Occupying the same half of the page was a cheerful child leaning against the line.
The other half wasn't as bright: the quarter was surrounded by a silvery veil and stars—the moon. Also leaning against the line was a child, but this one seemed a bit more serious than its counterpart.
"The Two Dragons," Avian noted in surprise, turning the card this way and that. "That card is self explanatory. But the Mirror...interesting..."
"Right, the time limit is thirty minutes!" Mato held up three fingers. "First to surrender or fall loses, and remember, murder is not an option!" The referee glared at the stands occupied by Sabertooth.
Some members of Sabertooth snickered.
"And begin!" The gong was struck.
Wendy took in a deep breath. Doing so, she also caught a familiar scent from her opponent. One that she recognized from last year. But now wasn't the time to think about it. "Arms, Vernier! Enchant!"
"..." Glacien tilted their head slightly. Though Glacien's face was obscured by the hood, it was obvious they were impressed by Wendy's magic.
Wendy moved her right arm in a clawing motion. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
"Oh! Wendy-tan makes the first move!" Chapati exclaimed.
"..." Glacien leapt into the air, avoiding the wind fang. Their right hand came out, but it wasn't a good indicator as to their gender.
The right hand opened up, with several snowflakes hovering over the palm. Glacien blew into their hand, and a horizontal blizzard flew towards Wendy, who jumped higher than normal, being the Sky Dragon Slayer.
"..." Glacien put their hands together, a ball of blue light circulating between them. As their arms surged forward, sharp icicles of different sizes soared, pelting and slicing Wendy's skin.
"Hey, that spell!" Lyon shouted.
"Wendy!"
"I'm okay! But..." Wendy landed back on the ground while Glacien hovered a few inches. "Who are you?"
"...?" Glacien tilted their head in a confused manner.
"What's Wendy doing?" Lucy wondered.
"Oh? Has the little girl figured it out?" Mizuno said curiously.
"It's been a year—and I barely knew her— but I can still remember what she smelled like—and you smell just like her," Wendy continued. "Mint, the air after a snowfall, and mountains."
By now, Team Mermaid Heel returned from the infirmary and were focused on Wendy's words.
"And that icicle spell earlier...she used that too." Wendy then stared at the spot where she knew Glacien's eyes would be under the cloak. "Glacia...that's your real name, isn't it?"
The remainder of Team Imperial Snow had strange smiles on their faces.
All eyes stared at the combatants in the arena.
Glacien simply stood back, silent as the grave. A corner of their mouth twitched.
Have any of you ever played Pokémon? Do you know what Will of the Elite Four looks like in HeartGold/SoulSilver? Well, that's what Avian looks like.