Chapter 27
Without Magic
Niebel moved his hand away from his left eye, but his vision wouldn't change: Chelia came at him from his right; Rogue glared at him from his left. What made it even more bizarre was the fact that his left eye was covered by the eyepatch.
Niebel evaded Chelia's punch far too late; her fist collided with Niebel's cheek so hard, the Imperial Guardian could taste blood in his mouth. As he fell, a hand immediately went to his wool cap so that it stayed on.
His eye throbbed again. This time, Niebel could see two people running at him, which confused him greatly. Through his right eye, he saw black wind surrounding Chelia's arms as she zeroed in on him. Niebel's covered left eye displayed Rogue vanishing into the shadows before he reappeared before him.
Before Niebel could decide how to dodge two different people—"Ah—AH-CHOO!" A violent gust picked up considerably, which stopped Chelia in her tracks and made Niebel keep a tighter grip on the cocoon and his hat. At the same time, a torrent hit Chelia directly, sweeping her away in the tide.
Niebel hurried to his feet and dusted himself off. After one last look to make sure Chelia was down, he held the cocoon closer to his body and booked it.
Unfortunately, he didn't take a good enough look. As the water cleared away, Chelia sputtered as she regained her bearings. "Who—?"
"If I may say one thing in our defense." Chelia turned around to see Avian extending his left arm towards the sky while Mizuno did the same with his right. "No one messes with Niebel—but us."
Clouds gathered over the entire war zone and darkened the sky. As it rumbled, rain began to pelt the game field and the competitors. Eventually, it rained so hard, it became nearly impossible to see anything. Even Chelia couldn't see Mizuno and Avian ditching the confrontation so they could pursue Niebel.
"Jigumo, take the lead!" Avian yelled through the rain.
"Yu-pez!" Out of nowhere, Jigumo chased after Niebel, throwing off his helmet in the process.
"Say..." Mizuno vaulted over a boulder with ease. "Do you think Sasori spoke ill of us earli-er!" he yelled as he landed on the heel of his boot and slipped. The water mage landed on the unforgiving wet grass.
"...I did not fall," Mizuno muttered as he stood up, the back of his coat covered in grass and a bit of mud. "The ground just needed a hug."
Sasori glowered at the heavy rainfall. "You just had to," he said accusingly.
Meanwhile, Glacia managed to help Dobengal to his feet by carefully getting one of his arms around her shoulders. From there, she walked him over to a canopied area and sat him against a tree.
"I don't get it," Chapati noticed. "Why would a mermaid help Lamia Scale?"
"We didn't need help from a mermaid," Ooba said in agreement. "However, that girl is the barrier that's keeping Rogue from murdering one of my members."
"...Why did you come here?" the ninja asked quietly so that the Lacrima Vision Camera couldn't pick it up. "Why would you? I'm the one who murdered you, for crying out loud."
The half-blinded girl gave him a look with her remaining eye that vaguely told him that he had done the opposite. Glacia stood up and pointed a finger, as if telling him to stay there. Dobengal could have scoffed at this action—after all, trying to get up even with her help was painful enough. But Glacia began to walk away from him—and towards Rogue.
"You're not thinking of taking Rogue on, are you?" Glacia nodded to his question without turning her head back, all while glaring at Rogue in displeasure. Her right hand rested on a strangely familiar pack near her right hip. How did she take it away from me? Dobengal thought as he looked at his side to find the pack no longer there. "But...even with my weapons...what can you do without magic?"
Glacia looked back and gave him an apologetic smile. She lifted her right arm and gave him an okay sign, like she was telling him that she would find a way.
"I don't get it," Arania said. "Why is one of our members helping him?"
"Putting that aside, she looks so familiar," Beth interjected. "She looks a lot like Niebel."
"But...the only person who's practically Niebel's clone...no, his original is..." Risley realized.
Glacia continued her path until she stood a few meters away from the Shadow Dragon Slayer.
A cruel, unfamiliar grin lined the possessed Rogue's mouth. "Do you really think a half-pint like you can stop me?"
Glacia shook her head like she knew she had no chance against Rogue in this state. Her hands fixed her hat, which drooped over her only functional eye and her dead eye.
"'Your identity should be a little harder to discover if they think you're Niebel. So until we can use the fact that you're 'Glacia' as a weapon, we need to hide your ponytail and your voices.'"
"Are you trying to get Rogue back to his right mind like this?" Sherry wondered if Glacia and Niebel had taken her words to heart.
Yuka looked at Sherry. "Did you say something?"
Rogue lunged, prompting Glacia to hit the ground. She swung her right leg out and hit Rogue's ankle in mid-step. The Sabertooth mage fell forward, mud flew into the air. Glacia hurried to her feet as Rogue did the same, throwing off his tattered cape in the process.
Erza and Kagura faced off in the now rainy terrain, the crowd cheering wildly for the women.
"It's time we finished this, once and for all," Erza said.
Kagura charged directly towards the scarlet-haired female knight. "I will not hold back."
"Fine with me!" Erza blocked Kagura's strike; but to her surprise, Kagura used Archenemy to push back Erza's sword. The female knight was knocked off her feet; Erza performed a back flip and requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. "Pentagram Sword!"
Kagura avoided every slash until she was above Erza. "Blade of Resentment: Strong Form!" The Mermaid Heel mage dived, sending Erza crashing through the enormous crater created by Archenemy's ability.
Kagura followed Erza down into the crater. "Slashing Form!"
Erza crossed her arms as she requipped into her best defensive armor. "Adamantine—!" Kagura passed by Erza, blood spilling from underneath her broken armor. "Gwah!"
"No way!" Nab cried in utter shock.
Max pointed at the Lacrima Vision. "Jupiter didn't have a chance against that armor!"
Vijeeter stared open-mouthed. "That woman..."
"Hasn't even unsheathed her sword yet," Warren finished, sweating in fear.
"Overwhelming," Makarov breathed in amazement.
Erza hit the bottom of the pit hard, which didn't help her injuries underneath. "Ugh...uh..."
Kagura landed on her feet meters away from her adversary. "This is far from over."
"Gh..." Erza stood up and ran at her opponent. She requipped into her Flight Armor and sped towards Kagura with increased agility. "Sonic Claw!" A volley of strikes hit Kagura as Erza rushed past her, but the Mermaid Heel witch received no wounds. A second later, Erza was cut up once again, much to her confusion. How? she thought as she fell clutching her wounds while Kagura turned to face her. I didn't see her move!
Jet clutched his head in disbelief. "Erza took—"
"—the damage instead?" Droy finished, his mouth wide open.
"What the hell is that woman?" Macao shouted.
"To think there's a lady even more elite than Erza," Ren said.
Hibiki put a finger to his forehead as he closed his eyes. "Talk about something I did not see coming."
"Don't you think Kagura-san's overdoing it?" Beth asked.
"Nah, Kagura's tame compared to what Platina could do," Arania said.
"Say, if Platina and Kagura went at it, who would win?" Risley interjected.
They all fell silent. "Well..." Arania said slowly, as if she doubted her own words. "Kagura's an S-Class Wizard. Platina joined last month and she managed to defeat one of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers. Then again, Platina's non-human...so she's the only strongest nonhuman witch in the guild, making Kagura the strongest human."
"Unbelievable! After just one year, Kagura has now overwhelmed the famed Titania of Fairy Tail!" Chapati cried.
Erza requipped into her normal clothes. "Amazing...to think that there was someone as strong as you." She lifted her face, blood trailing down her left eye. "That power...is it fueled by your hatred...towards Jellal?"
The mention of his name struck a nerve in Kagura, which fueled her to angrily kick Erza's stomach. Erza crashed against the wall of the pit. Mud flew as Erza barely managed to stand up while Kagura walked steadily towards her, eyes flooded with hate. "I don't care how much you hate him...but don't drag Millianna into it!"
"It's of her own free will." Kagura swiped Erza with Archenemy, sending the female knight flying off to the side. "And to slaughter the man who killed our comrade...that is hers, too. That is the will of my entire guild."
"I—" Erza coughed violently as blood threatened to come out through her mouth. "I can...understand the grudge you have against that ex-saber. But what reason do you have to hold a grudge against Jellal?"
Kagura paused, which made Erza look at her and wonder why she was hesitating to answer. But when she finally spoke, "You were well familiar with him, as was Millianna. Simon—the man killed by Jellal—is my older brother."
Erza's eyes widened at Kagura's revelation. Simon's sister!
"A strange sense of déjà vu, wouldn't you agree?" Kagura guessed without emotion in her voice, her eyes closed. "Just like how the fact that Glacia had a little brother surprised everyone on the third day, this astonishes you."
"We lived in poverty as orphans...but we were content just as we were," she continued. "But even the brightest light has no chance against darkness. The child hunt separated us sixteen years ago. I managed to escape and spent every waking moment searching for him. And fate arranged for me to meet Millianna. She told me about his death." Erza began to shake from her emotions turmoiling inside. "He worked as a slave for Jellal, only to be cruelly murdered by him. My vision has been shrouded in darkness ever since." Kagura's grip on Archenemy tightened. "This blade exists to deliver judgement on those who have done wrong on those I hold dear...and on myself. Until I drown this blade in Jellal's blood and the blood of the man who murdered Glacia, my hatred will not rest."
"Millianna wasn't even there when Simon died," Erza said as she got back up onto her knees. "Natsu and I...Jellal and Simon, too...We were the only ones present during that battle. Millianna doesn't even know the true details, so to say that Jellal murdered Simon is only half the truth. No, Simon's real killer...is me," she finished with tearful eyes.
Kagura's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "You would go that far," she gritted, shaking, "to protect that scum?"
"No," Erza said firmly, though her own voice shook with her body. "That is the truth. Simon died to protect me."
Kagura shook uncontrollably as a hand rested on her hilt, wanting to draw it out.
"Kagura!"
"She's gonna do it?"
"Kagura, you must not unsheathe your sword!"
"Kagura, don't!" Vóreia screamed. But the members of Mermaid Heel wasted their breath by yelling at the Lacrima Vision.
Tears welled up in Kagura's eyes as images of her brother flashed through her mind. "If this is your idea of a joke, you chose a rather convenient moment. What's next? Are you going to tell me that you killed Glacia, and not that ex-saber?"
"...And if I said yes?" Erza murmured quietly.
Wrong move.
Tears spilled over as she remembered Simon and Glacia's smiling faces, giving her resolve. Kagura let out a battle cry as she unsheathed Archenemy, the blade gleaming brilliantly as it was removed from the sheath.
"KAGURA!"
Whether it was meant as a joke or not, to hear this woman mock her late comrade was an insult. Erza hung her head as a single tear fell. "I'm sorry." The crowd covered their eyes as Kagura swung her sword; a huge slash split the entire field as the blade completed its arc.
Jura pointed two fingers at Laxus, and two stone pillars rose beneath his feet. "Wah!" Laxus yelled as she was lifted from the ground. He jumped off the pillars and prepared his own spell. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" A crackling halberd made of lightning flew towards Jura, who raised a pillar to defend himself. The earthen pillar exploded on contact. Using his lightning to propel himself, Laxus darted towards Jura. the Wizard Saint moved his right arm out to block Laxus' punch, but just as he raised two fingers to cast a spell, a huge slash tore up the ground underneath them. The creation of the new crevasse and the loss of steady ground caused the two wizards to fall in. But Jura, as an earth user, created a platform that protruded from the chasm's walls for him to stand on.
Glacia evaded a Shadow Dragon's Claw narrowly, but without magic, she was powerless against Rogue. She looked around wildly, unable to find her opponent.
"Right here," his voice said from under. Glacia spun on her heel as Rogue sent her flying back, planting her face first in the mud.
Meanwhile, Niebel ran as far as he could, trying to catch his breath but unable to do so as Jigumo still gave pursuit. A large chasm opened up on his right, which almost made him fall in. Niebel caught himself in time, but he lost his grip on the cocoon. The woven shell rolled away from him, prompting him to follow after. He slid across the wet ground to reach the cocoon in time, but a boot planted itself firmly on top of Niebel's hand, which rested on the cocoon.
"Niebel, Niebel, Niebel," Jigumo tsked, shaking his head. If only you would understand that we're doing this for the greater good." He grabbed the cocoon and lifted it off the ground; doing so, he unintentionally also helped Niebel up.
Niebel glowered at Jigumo as the older Imperial Guardian lifted the cocoon until it was high above his head; Niebel dangled several inches off the ground, making it so that he met Jigumo eye-to-eye. "Niebel, the princess would have died either way. Even if Dobengal hadn't killed her, this kind of magic would have eaten her from the inside."
Niebel, however, chose to respond by planting his feet on Jigumo's chest. Then he proceeded to yank the cocoon towards himself. Jigumo nearly laughed, but he shrugged casually. "If that's how you wanna play then—Tug-o-war!" The Imperial Guardians engaged in a bizarre game of tugging and pulling, each male with his own ideas—
It was then that Niebel noticed what was going on behind the Imperial Guardian of the West. Rogue lunged for Glacia, who struggled to get up, her back to him as she wiped mud away from her eyes. Panic flooded the boy's inner being as he glanced between Jigumo, the cocoon, and Glacia's life in danger at the bottom of the hill. Niebel closed his eyes as he made his resolve. His feet clambered up Jigumo's chest and used the older male's shoulders to vault himself downhill.
"Ouch," Jigumo grumbled. "Say sorry afterwards, will ya?" He grinned as he dusted off the cocoon, the heat that radiated from it a blessing in the cold, unforgiving rain. "On the other hand, it's just like Sasori predicted. Niebel would throw away the entire world for—wait a sec." Jigumo scrutinized the woven shell carefully. "You're not supposed to be anything but cold." His fingers traced along the walls until his nails dug into a slit that he knew never belonged there. Upon closer inspection, Jigumo discovered a discreet incision made along the outer shell. He pulled the sliced strands aside; the contents were enough to make the spider master tremble in fury. "Niebel Glacien..."
"Jigumo, what's the—whoa!" Mizuno slipped for the second time during the game, his face flushed from exposure to the coldness of his own rain.
"Something wrong?" Avian asked, treading lightly. With his back turned to them, Jigumo used a finger to motion them closer. The Imperial Guardians of the South and East glanced at each other before they decided to approach the spider master cautiously. Avian peered into the cocoon and shook his head. "Oh dear..."
Instead of the Dragon Lacrima they all expected, the cocoon was loaded with multiple Explosive Lacrima. All that was needed to set them off was one good throw and a hard collision.
"Niebel!" Jigumo roared as he hurled the cocoon bomb towards Niebel's retreating figure.
'You idiot!' Sasori yelled into his head, though he could have shouted to him from the top of the cliff. 'I told you not to kill Niebel!'
Rogue's arm was only seconds away from Glacia, who turned to see it flying for her face. Niebel arrived just in time to push Glacia out of the way, only for Rogue to swipe his hat hard enough to nearly loosen it. Concurrently, the cocoon bomb landed several feet away from the two, but the explosion that followed was enough to send his hat flying off completely.
No, not his.
Niebel pivoted on 'his' toes as a tail of white hair that protruded from the back of 'his' head met 'his' eyesight. Utter shock painted itself on 'Niebel's' face.
Not just the people in the general area, but the entire audience gaped open-mouthed, eyes wide open, at the sight of 'Niebel'.
"What the hell?!" Jigumo screamed as he clutched his head.
"The imperial is really a girl!" Chapati yelled in astonishment. "But...if she's not Niebel...then who is that mermaid?"
'Glacia' rolled across the mud; as she stopped, she looked at Dobengal apologetically. Her eyes and facial structure became rounder; her eye shade darkened until he was staring at a pair of royal blue eyes. "Sorry," she said, her voice not quite her own. "We're really sorry, Dobengal," Niebel apologized with his own voice.
"Niebel was the mermaid this whole time!" Chapati cried in utter disbelief.
"What's going on?" Mizuno cried, looking from where 'Glacia'—who was now replaced by Niebel—once sat, to 'Niebel'.
Sherry recalled her own words to the 'twins' back at their lodgings. "'Your identity should be a little harder to discover if they think you're Niebel. So until we can use the fact that you're 'Glacia' as a weapon, we need to hide your ponytail and your voices.'"
"It seems," Sasori muttered angrily, "that we were the victims of an identity prank."
"I think that all of us here had the misfortune of falling for an identity prank," Yajima admitted.
"But who was that imperial's double?" Ooba questioned.
"Well, there is one person who could possibly act as Niebel's twin," Yajima said. "I believe on the third day, we mistook Niebel for his older sister."
"But...it can't be!" Vóreia cried, tears fell openly. "It couldn't be...They couldn't have..."
"Do you think it's her?" Lector asked quietly.
Frosch stuck his paw into the air. "Fro thinks it's Mermaid-san! She has to be!"
How the hell did I not see this? Sasori thought to himself. I was so focused on Niebel that I ignored Glacia, all because she wasn't a threat without magic. Niebel would fight against the entire world to keep her safe, but Glacia would never put him in harm's way, so they switched! Glacia knew that Niebel made pinky promises, but she forgot that he was right-handed! If I ignore that trivial issue, such plan could only be described as the work of a pure genius! But if both of them radiated magic— The scorpion master's eyes narrowed as he glowered at the scene below. —Then Glacia has the Dragon Lacrima.
"Rogue?" the real Glacia asked.
The Shadow Dragon Slayer's mouth curled, his eyes displayed cold fury and disgust. "Tell me, does Mizuno even know when to quit?" he questioned her.
"What—?" SMACK! Glacia skidded across the wet terrain, holding her bruised cheek. She looked at Rogue in the eye, only to find them filled with contempt. "Rogue, what happened?"
"On the other hand, you guys got him good," Sasori praised as the remainder of the Imperial Guardians teleported to where he sat.
"He thinks you're a decoy created by either Mizuno and Avian," Dobengal explained, wincing as he shifted.
"What did those idiots do to you this time?"
"Ah-choo!" Both Avian and Mizuno sneezed.
"No," Niebel disagreed. "Not them." He pointed towards Rogue. "I don't think you can reverse what they did, Sissy. Rogue..."
"He's not in his right mind," the ninja said. "He's been possessed. Also, Mizuno and Avian fooled him to the point that he's convinced that—"
"That I'm just a copy to play tricks with him. So what will it take to convince him?" Glacia stood up. "What if...I were the one to engage him?"
Sasori raised his eyebrows. "Well, this became interesting."
"Sissy, you can't!" Niebel exclaimed as Glacia walked away from where he and Dobengal rested. "You don't have magic anymore—"
Glacia looked and smiled, holding a familiar hip pack. "Who said I was going in unarmed?"
"You won't have a chance like this!" the ninja pleaded, trying but failing to stand so he could stop her. "Rogue is one of Sabertooth's five elite wizards. You've watched what Minerva did with Fairy Tail; what do you think Rogue can do to you?"
"He can't," Glacia said quietly. She looked up at the sky longingly. "As long as light exists, so must darkness. And where there is darkness, there is also light. So if what possessed Rogue is his darkness...then I'll help him overcome that."
"Sissy!" Niebel yelled at the girl who took him in as her brother. He ran after her, mist surrounding his body entirely. If she won't listen to me...or even Dobengal...Then maybe she'll listen to Kagura! he thought. The pillar of mist stopped before it faded. Where Niebel stood, Kagura now took his place.
"Glacia!" Niebel shouted with Kagura's commanding voice. "You've already done enough! You don't have to do this!" Glacia halted, which made Niebel think that he managed to win her over. "I'll handle Rogue!" he continued in Kagura's voice. "Stop this nonsense right now!"
Glacia turned back and met 'Kagura's' eyes. "Thank you...and I'm sorry, Niebel," she said. "But...leave this to Sissy, okay?"
'Kagura's' face morphed into one of defeat. With a pop, Niebel returned to his true appearance. "But...Even with a bag of weapons..." he whispered sadly. "What can you do without magic?"