Chapter 21

Scheming Avian

"I can't believe he has the nerve to do that again," Vóreia grumbled as Mirror Glacia assaulted Rogue. "He has brains, so why would he do that?"

"Unless...Mizuno's exploiting the feelings Glacia had for Rogue when she was alive," Lector said. "And the emotions he still has for her."

"Fro thinks so too!"

Mirajane waved a hand, smiling in her Satan Soul Take-Over form. "Hi, Jenny."

"Gah! Mira!" That was the last thing Jenny got to say before Mirajane struck her down.

Fairy Tail B 27P

Erza glanced at her surroundings. "Hm...There's no one here—"

"Erza, my darling~!" The female knight froze comically, shaking in her armor as Ichiya took in her scent with a deep whiff. "A beautiful perfume as always~!"

The scarlet-haired mage clenched a shaking fist. "Stay away from me!" she screamed, punching Ichiya high in the air.

"Men~!"

Fairy Tail A 47P

"Freeze!" Just as he did on the first day, Lyon froze Semmes where he stood.

Lamia Scale 43P

Sting approached Mermaid Heel's beacon, only to find Kagura guarding it. "Great, can't do that," he muttered.

11:05 A.M.

It was official: Mizuno's place on Rogue's hit list had moved up to number one. Then it was a tie between the ninja and the silver witch for number two.

Rogue moved out of the way as a bladed ice whip tried to lash him.

"You should be glad Niebel's not here!" Mizuno laughed as he sat down on a rock. "Put the Imperial Dragons together, they're unstoppable!"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer could only do so much while he was injured; dodging was one of them.

Glacia's left hand became scaly, complete with razor-edged claws. She swung her talons towards Rogue, who caught her wrist before it could slice him. The smaller of the Dragon Slayers struggled; Rogue twisted her wrist roughly, forcing her arm to return to normal. Glacia yelled out while her right hand pried at Rogue's to free her arm.

He didn't want to add to her injuries while her heart couldn't process. But a certain narcissist seemed to be enjoying himself watching him fight with Glacia.

"Uh-oh." Mizuno leaned forward, holding the whistle close to his mouth. "She's feeling pain, isn't she? Then again, it's nothing she can't handle."

Wait, Rogue thought. If Mizuno doesn't have the whistle—

"—He loses the means to control me," Glacia finished his thoughts.

"So that's your plan, huh!"

The cold tune played again and this time, Rogue was thrown across the wasteland. Glacia opened her hand, a snowflake hovering over it. A snowstorm flew towards him as she blew into her hand. The Shadow Dragon ducked into the shadows, into his domain.

"Hiding, huh?" Mizuno glanced at every shade he could find. "So where are you...?" His eyes finally landed on his feet, where a misshapen circle of darkness rested underneath. "Oh crap."

Mizuno jumped into the air, but a hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him down.

"So you want the whistle?" he gloated. "Over Glacia's dead body!"

"Kyah!"

"Our opponents just had to be women," Ren complained, sending an aerial shot at Beth, Risley, and Arania.

"The ladies won't forgive us," Eve sighed, using his Snow Magic.

"Hang on," Hibiki alerted. "There's someone coming to us."

"Me-ow~!" Millianna entered the fray. "Risley, can you still move?"

Risley nodded, confirming the cat woman's question.

"Then the three of you should get to the beacon. I'll take care of these guys~."

"But who are our reserves?" Beth asked.

Millianna winked. "We'll worry about that later."

"So you want the whistle? Over Glacia's dead body!" Mizuno put his lips to the instrument.

Glacia fell to her knees; a hand over her chest, another covering her mouth. It seemed she was struggling against the need to spit out her own blood and the will to not do so.

"Can you do anything better than toying with people?"

Mizuno dodged each of Rogue's assaults with great agility. "Toying with humans—that's Avian's speciality. I, however, indulge in emotions. Especially love."

Rogue brought his arm forward, his hand wrapped in shadows as he made a move for Mizuno's face. The Imperial Guardian of the South scrambled back for his life—and for his nose.

A sphere of water formed in his hand as liquid bullets shot towards Rogue. "Relentless Tears! Fitting name, no?" Mizuno added.

Before the water bullets hit, Rogue drew his katana and swung it at Mizuno, who pulled his head back. The blade's tip nearly slit his throat; but as the blade completed its arc, Mizuno's eyes widened in surprise. Rogue had cut the cord that attached Sasori's whistle around his neck.

Mizuno made a grab for the whistle; but in a downward movement of his sword, the whistle was sliced in half. A glowing blue light drifted out of the broken pieces of the whistle before floating away. Rogue watched the light's path as it flew towards Glacia—and passed her.

Confusion hit him at the same time Mizuno's water bullets made contact, pushing him across the plateau. His sword bounced lightly on the grass behind him.

Glacia stopped coughing—but now she was trying to muffle her giggling. Mizuno clapped mockingly. "Rogue Cheney...You—are—one pathetically, gullible sap," he applauded.

Dread replaced confusion as Rogue glanced between Mizuno, Glacia, and the broken whistle. Behind him, someone else applauded. "Aw, is the performance over already?"

Rogue turned around to see Avian approaching the threesome with a smile on his masked face. In Rogue's eyes, he could have been a short purple-haired Rufus without the feathered hat.

"And Jigumo calls you the airhead. He fell for it; hook, line, and sinker!" Mizuno snickered.

"You two...What's going on?"

Avian chuckled lightly. "Mizuno has already told you of our individual fortes, yes? He toys with emotions, but humans are my expertise. Put us together, and we can put Sabertooth out of the sadism business." He stroked Glacia's head while Rogue wondered how exactly she rushed to Avian's side without him noticing. "But what surprised me the most was how easily you believed that this was the genuine."

"But...Her scent, her blood—"

Avian patted 'Glacia's' head; she faded away as green light while a small white object floated to the ground. The Imperial Guardian of the East caught it swiftly and held it out for Rogue to see. "Is this what you smelled?" In Avian's hand was a bundle of white hair held together by a blue ribbon spotted with dried blood.

Rogue could have sworn he heard laughter on the wind, sneering at him. He'd been duped and used for the Imperial Guardians' amusement.

"Give me a hair, some blood, even a doll; and I can give you a being so human, even a Dragon Slayer like you can't tell the difference. That is divine power of Personification Magic," the jester said.

"Every Imperial Guardian has a secondary ability," the Imperial Guardian of the South related. "And one other thing that connects them."

"And that is?" Rogue inquired, clenching his hands.

"You see, an S-Class Wizard of our guild doesn't just become an Imperial Guardian. They have to have...certain qualities," Avian explained. "Speed, intelligence, offense and defensive magic; but mostly, you need deception. An Imperial Guardian must be able to lie straight through their teeth without batting an eye."

"Ever heard of use and disuse?" Mizuno asked abruptly. "Whatever you don't use, you lose."

"Your point?"

As Avian approached Rogue's back, he picked up the Shadow Dragon Slayer's fallen sword. "What's the point of carrying that sword—" Mizuno continued while Avian plunged the sword through Rogue's back, piercing his abdomen cleanly.

"—when you never use it?" Avian finished, twisting the blade for good measure. Rogue choked on his blood again as he fell to his knees. Avian withdrew the sword from his body and tossed it aside. "This counts as a point for us, no?"

"...It would..." Rogue panted, placing a hand on a rock to steady himself. "But not if your opponent is still standing..."

"Oh, you're still alive?" Mizuno mused. Broken shards of a mirror hovered over his hand. "We'll just have to change that, won't we!"

Holding his bleeding stomach, Rogue moved away from the glass shard assault. He grabbed his katana while he was at it.

The wind picked up around Avian while water streams floated around Mizuno. "Destructive Monsoon of the Orient!" The Imperial Guardians yelled together.

An enormous flood carried everything on the hill away with the water, even Rogue and the boulders. After the monsoon faded, Mizuno rushed to the edge of the hill, scanning the field below. "No sign of him," he said.

"And our score hasn't changed at all," Avian added. "He's still alive...just barely."

"Yeah...that's a relief," Mizuno mumbled.

The Imperial Guardian of the East cocked his head at him. "You say something, Mizuno?"

"Think we were too cruel?" the water mage asked.

"Cruelty is a matter of perspective. On a scale of one to Sasori, we just missed Jigumo."

"Still, I kinda pity the guy." Mizuno shook his head. "We used Princess Glaciana against him...even if it was a cruel trick. But do you think we should have told him she is alive?"

"You told him that earlier," Avian interjected. "The question is, will he believe it now?"

"Yeah," he murmured. "Now that he knows what else you can do, he probably won't hold back if we tried to fool him again. But if he saw the actual genuine, even though she's back at the hotel—"

Mizuno's eyes widened in realization, and he began to laugh. "So that's your plan, isn't it, Sasori? Torture him by having him torture her!"

"It's a perfect, twisted version of the boy who cried wolf." Avian smiled sadistically. "We've tricked him over and over. Now if he sees the genuine, he won't hesitate to attack her. What better way to make the princess want to stay with us than being hurt by Rogue?"