Chapter 25: The Sensei-Student Relationship

A/N: Whoo! Last chapter was one of my favorites for sure and thanks to brucie86, sashaXmafuyuFOREVER, and ken106348 for their reviews and to klm1095 for following and favoriting my story! Now onto battle number 3! Enjoy!

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Start of Battles (Warrod POV)

As soon as the walls are down I bolt out and head for the arena, not running very far to get there but still running towards the door in the middle with a three above it, and the name Padre there as well. "Warrod wait up. In the name of Love!" Richard yells but I ignore him and continue running with both Richard and Cobra behind me.

I finally enter the field and see it will be to both our advantages, as it has many different elements inside and, more specifically, more than enough plants to help my magic. I see a man standing there in the middle, eyes unreadable and a scar running down his face, a beard fully adorning his chin and jaw line. "Is that really you Esoj?" I ask my voice not having the usual playful tone to it, and I see him glare back at me.

His glare dissolves into a smug look and he smirks at me, saying, "The name's Padre now, but I'll let you call me that, Warrod-senpai. Kikiki!"

He begins doing his weird laugh and I look at like he's an idiot as I face palm, saying, "Gods, I taught you how to do so much and yet forgot to teach you how to laugh, ugh. It's hahaha, not kikikiki! Weirdo." I say, smirking at the last part as he pouts at me.

"Hey don't make fun of me more senpai, you already did enough of that for ten years. Please don't continue now. And oooh new guests! Welcome!" He said as Cobra and Richard enter the field.

"Damn old man for being one hundred twenty something you're really fast. One sec." He says as he begins to wheeze, already out of breath as is Richard.

"…Really senpai these two are supposed to help?" He asks mockingly as he cracks his neck.

'These two will get in the way, I need to fight Esoj unimpeded. Only one thing to do.' "Green Sleep Powder!" I yell and powder comes from my hand and lands on Richard and Cobra.

"Oi, what the he-he-hell…" Cobra began to say but was promptly knocked out by the powder as was Richard, and I turned and looked Esoj, ready to fight now.

(POV Change to Mavis)

"Oi, Mavis, Warrod's going off the plan. He knocked out his two companions. He intends to fight the boy alone." Yury said as he suddenly appeared before me but was still invisible to the rest, only Warrod, Precht and I could see him, the same going for Precht. I didn't want too many people seeing more than one ghost and Precht being a bad memory for many of them.

'Wait what did he just say, Warrod doing what…' "HE DID WHAT?!" I yelled and then made myself invisible for a moment so I could talk to Yury in peace and quiet. "He did what?!" I ask quieter as I saw that he was rubbing his temples from the pain my yelling caused him, this happened quite a bit when we were alive as well.

"Yeesh, yell louder next time. Don't actually do that I was being sarcastic. But yeah he used his sleep powder and knocked them out, he really wants to fight this kid on his own. I mean c'mon its Warrod we're talking about here, there's no way he would do something too stupid right?" He asked hopefully meaning he wanted me to give him a number.

"His odds of survival dropped thirty percent by doing that" I said and he looked shocked, and I had very little hopes that they would go back up.

(POV Change back to Warrod)

"Now that it's just the two of us let me ask you something, when did you stray off the path I set for you and begin this path of certain death? Because that is what you are doing, I know who you guys want to kill, that's why you guys are interested in Historie, and you guys plan to kill Zeref, right?" I asked as he looked at me, eyes serious now.

"Yes we do, he destroyed my home town while Nena and I were away training. This is for revenge for the good people of La Empieza and for my failure to protect them like I promised I would. I must do this and would have found a way to do it just me and Nena, this I swear, but we met up with Natsu a year ago after I had been looking for him to hear his story for four years. We met this day a year ago, the anniversary of his unjust and undeserved indictment of the crime he never committed. Today all wrongs will be righted." He said and charged at me, turning his fist into fire as I begin to dodge.

'Damn, I need to keep my distance for now.' "Green Cannon!" I yell and fire an unknown plant at him and he's hit by it, forced back a bit in surprise as he was mid charge when it hit. "Green Gun: Mandrake!" I yell as a mandrake shoots out from my hand and fly at him.

"Lanzallamas!" He yells and fire engulfs the mandrake as it barely makes it half way, 'Shit he can attack from medium distance now, I'll really have to keep my distance.' "Llama Trampa!" Fire shots out again as his flames form a net and nearly trap me, but I dodge and roll away before charging at him, putting on several layers of wood to protect myself on my front. 'No use, just going to fight him regularly.' I begin my attack and throw several punches at him, he dodges most of them before a right hook connects and hits him square in the jaw sending him flying into a rock. He gets up barely even feeling it and charges at me, turning his own hands into iron swords. 'When did he gain that much control to make rocks into iron by changing their composition?' I don't have time to reflect on it as he quickly begins his assault and cuts away at the wood on my body.

I try and put more layers of wood on me, but can't keep up with his speed and he finally cuts away the last layer before and he connects with his right hand, which is now a hammer. It sends me flying but I'm able to recover my balance and spin mid-air and stop my flight by landing on my feet on a wall. I grow roots from my feet so I can't fall and yell, "Green Cannon: Continuous!" As I repeat my attack from earlier but I fire off seven rounds at him. I watch as he uses his fists, which are swords again, and cuts all the plants down mid-flight, the last being cut into tiny little pieces of firewood, damn he was so precise with it. I come down, releasing the roots and I put on a full body layer of ironwood(*A/N) and I charge again. This time we trade blows, one of his hands iron, the other fire, and he lands a blow for every one I get, a true trade-off. We separate, as we realize no one won that exchange, and continue again, this time I'm able to land a clean hit to his kidney and another one to his liver. He doubles over in pain, but is quick to block my next attack and prevents me from even nicking him with an attack. He then quickly gets up and charges at me, this time he wins as he lands fire punch to my jaw and an uppercut that launches me back a bit. I look at him and see he's barely broken a sweat, 'Good he's still has a lot more to go like me. Time to turn up the heat here!

I put on another layer and yell, "Green Trees: Continuous!" and trees begin sprouting out of nowhere, one of which was under where he was and he is forced to jump up and dodge it. I use this chance and strike, yelling, "Green Gun: Venus Fly!" A venus flytrap sprouts out of nowhere and hit him. It begins to bite him and he is forced to burn the thing off and burn himself slightly as the venus flytrap had latched itself on very tightly. He was clearly in pain but did not show anything to betray how he felt.

"Tierra Escudo! Fierro Bastón!" He yelled as a shield from the ground and a staff from the iron on his hands appeared and he charged, crashing into me with his shield, which he used to push me back, forcing me into the path of his staff that came down and hit me in the side of the head, causing me stagger from the force a bit. Then he yelled, "Tierra Bloque!" His shield then morphed into a block of earth and, using his staff, sent it flying at me. I was unable to recover due to the speed and was hit dead on like it was some sort of freight train. I was sent flying back into the wall with the block crushing me momentarily until it's momentum had finally stopped and I was able to push it off of me.

I looked up and saw him running towards me again, and I put on another layer of ironwood and met him halfway, with a staff of ironwood in my hands and our staffs met and clashed, blocking each others attacks and landing only grazing blows as we separate for a moment before trading blows again. 'Man, he has gotten a lot stronger since I trained him last, but his fighting style overall is the same, well more or less, since now he can attack from all three ranges. Still I must not underestimate his pure strength, he might still kill me if I'm not careful. I'll have to use THAT technique…' I thought before I yelled, "Green Body Manipulation: Tree!"

(POV Change to Esoj/Padre)

'Uh-oh, he's using his body manipulation technique, that means we're getting serious. As long he doesn't use that technique I shouldn't have to do anything risky and/or dangerous to him… hopefully' I thought to myself as I watched as his body fully became a tree and his feet became stumps with roots, his hands connecting into branches, and his head losing any semblance to a head as it became very much like a tree's top. And he was ironwood now, his strongest wood and the wood that the hardest to cut.

I clutched my staff tightly and said to him, "Oh, serious now are we? I have only ever seen you use this in an actually tough battle, so I'm honored to be considered worthy of the technique. Now come let us dance some more! Fierro Espada!" I charged at him as the iron staff morphed into a sword, and using the sword I swung down at his left shoulder.

However he merely let it hit and stop in his shoulder, not moving. I tried to ply it loose but was unable to, and I was forced to abandon it as he punched me in the gut and I was sent flying the other way. I landed with a thud, landing in a tree, and thought to myself, 'It's no use up close anymore, his armor is way too tough now. I'll have to keep some distance between us.' "Irrupción Volcán!" Hot lava came shooting out of the ground but did so at an angle so it would shoot out at him, and he was forced to retreat a bit more as he had began to close the gap between us. As he retreated I yelled, "!" and a lightning bolt shot down from the roof and missed him only by centimeters as was rolling out of the way, "Rayo del Zeus: Tormenta!" lightning now was coming now every few seconds and was striking wherever he was standing. I watched apprehensively until finally one hit him and I saw my chance. I charged in and got as close as possible crouching low, before yelling, "Ponche de Acero!" my fists becoming pure steel and I landed a vicious right uppercut to where his kidney was, sending him flying before I chased after him. I reached him and swung upwards, my fists still steel and I sent him straight up this time. I followed him and when I reached him I elbowed him in the back, putting my full force behind the elbow, and a few bones cracked as he was sent flying to the ground.

I watched as he landed with the loudest crash I had ever heard and a massive, the size matching a dragon if they had been the one to crash, crater formed where he landed. 'Uh, maybe a bit much but ok!'

I said, "Lana Nubes!" and clouds formed beneath me and caught me as I fell from a long ways up, almost touching the roof that was approximately equivalent to a hundred story skyscraper. I finally reached the ground and looked around and wondered, 'Where is he, he's definitely not dead I would have felt something. The bond between sensei and student is strong and it is said that one could feel when the other had died. So since I haven't felt that yet he's obviously alive.'

As if on cue, senpai walked out of the crater but was visibly hurt, 'Man, I really did a number on him this time.' Then in saw him do something that made me visibly pale.

(POV Change back to Warrod)

I walk out of the crater and know I can't take any more damage even close to that or it's over. 'I'll have to use THAT technique. It may be forbidden by the council, but I must end this threat that I failed to stop. Mavis, Yury, Precht, this may very well be my final battle, so please be ready for me!' I thought as I mustered all of my remaining magical power, "Green: Creator!"

(POV Change back to Esoj/Padre)

'OH SHIT! He used the creator technique! This is bad, I can't let him touch me or else I'll become a plant! FOREVER!' I watched as his body returned to normal, except for his fingers, which radiated a vibrant green and were the most beautiful things that one could ever see. They were like plants, each and every one of them a different one and were all most likely plants that had only existed at the dawn of man, each just as beautiful as the last. I had never been more terrified of plants ever before in my life.

"You know what this technique does right, Esoj? This technique will turn you into a plant if I can touch you with my fingers, at which point you will die. I'm sorry it's come to this and I wish there was another way, you know how I feel about killing. But you have forced my hand…" I see him pause and choke up a bit, and then I see the tears falling from his eyes. "The bond between sensei and student is sacred and is very difficult to break, some say that only death can do it. I promise that once you are dead, I will never forget you and try and make sure you are a tree, so that I may visit you and keep your memory alive. Please forgive me, and I promise to watch after Nena."

"AND for our son? E.J. or Esoj Jr., he's only five years old," 'Five years, six months, one week, two days, ten hours, and ten minutes if my math is correct but who's counting?' "Will you watch after him as well?" I ask pointedly and prepare myself as well as this will be the final exchange of blows, as only one will stand after this.

"Yes." He replied and continues to cry for me and for his belief that he had failed me in some way.

"Warrod-senpai, know this. I do not in any way blame you for something or feel you have failed me, and nor should you. You did your very best and raised not just me, but Nena as well and did a job that would be considered to be the job of the century, you taught us to read and write Japanese, to be respectful, to eat right, to behave like normal people, you taught us the meaning of living life the right way, so do not be sad. If you believe we are wrong in what we are doing then know it's no ones fault but our own. Senpai, I love you like a father and will always do so. So come! Let us finish this!" I say and get into my fighting stance.

He wipes away his tears with his sleeve and looks at me with a new resolve and his jaw set. He puts his hands into the stance that I just put myself in and we wait a moment before we both charge. I turn my hands into steel swords, and move in, the seconds and feet separating us seeming like they would stretch on forever. But they don't and we finally meet at the middle of the field. He swings his right hand out at me and I dodge it, and then swing my left hand up and cut off his arm just above the elbow. I see out of the corner of my eye his other hand coming in for a punch and I duck underneath it and swing my right sword up, cutting of the other arm before my body does the full combination of the move and I don't even fully register what happens. When I finally break out of my haze I say quietly, "N-n-no… senpai I'm so sorry. Senpai!" I yell but see his eyes dimming, as I look at him, with my left sword sticking into his chest and the end pointing out the other side, blood gushing out. The rumors were right, when either the master or the student dies, the other feels it, and boy did I feel it.

(POV Change to Mavis)

I watch as the scoreboard lights up, it's lights brighter than before. 'Maybe it's lighting up so brightly since the last fight only ended a few moments ago…' the lights turn into a manageable shade of their colors and I look on in horror.

"MAVIS! Warrod he…shit so you know now. Come on! He's not quite dead yet so let's go and get him, Precht's already there so we're the only two left out here." Yury says as I nod and take his hand he had stretched out to me.

I float away with him, my eyes never leaving the board and I read it one last time to make sure it really says what I think it did. It does: Winner: Padre. Score: 3-0. Death Count: 1.

(Inside the arena now)

I float in and see Precht there next to Warrod, with his pupil over him, crying silently and apologizing to his sensei. I walk over and hear what are likely Warrod's last words, "Do not cry Esoj, you did what you thought must be done for the preservation… of your dreams… Hey have I ever asked you… Do… Fairies… have…tails…" the last part was a mere whisper as he took in his last breath and died, joining his friends in the after life.

"Warrod… I'm sorry! I'm sorry that another one of my plans killed you! I should have never learned so much information on strategies! Curse my mind! They always end up killing people! First Zeira, then Yury, Precht going crazy, many of the guild members, even myself, and now…you my dear friend." I begin to cry as Yury pulls me close and hugs me.

"Don't beat yourself up Mavis, I did this to myself." I hear Warrod's voice and I look and see him as a ghost already, "If I had stuck to the plan and fought with those two young bloods, then I probably could have won. Although maybe not he didn't go all out until end, I could tell because his speed and level of manipulation spiked at the end, but still I brought this upon myself. I'm sorry for doing this, I got selfish today and ruined a solid plan. I just wanted to right at least one wrong, one of my failings, and I did. So please forgive me and stop crying." He asked as I looked up at him and we exchanged soft smiles. "Hey let's sing that song that you always used to sing, you know the one about Fairy Tail?"

"Of course I know it, and yes. Let's sing it." I say as I stand up from Yury's arms.

"There will be painful times… sad times…I will be with you through thick and thin… You are never alone… The hopes we carry are matched by the number stars twinkling in the sky, the rustling of the wind on our bodies are premonitions for what's to come tomorrow… now let us take a stroll, to the melody from the song of Fairies…" We all sang and when we finished we looked at each other and smiled at each other.

"Come, we have a counter attack plan to formulate, right Mavis?" Warrod asked as our faces quickly went sour and shy-like.

"Ummmm, about that… no one's won yet, Erza and Jellal lost, as did Lyon and Jura. You were the one that just lasted as it stands as the third longest. The plan is in shambles and there really is no chance to change it, so yeah we are going to lose this time." I said quickly and float off, dragging Yury along with me.

"EHHHH!" was Warrod's only audible response as he quickly followed after me, and the four founders of Fairy Tail were off together, on yet another adventure and journey. The only difference this time being, that all four of us were dead.

A/N: Score is now: Ronin 3 – Fairy Tail 0. What a sad chapter to write as I found Warrod to be an enigma that intrigued me, but this battle had to end like this for the sake of the plot. Also none of the moves used here were canon and are totally my own creation, not Hiro's. And have you guys read Fairy Tail Zero? If not go do it it's by the writer of Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima, and is about the four founders and that girl Zeira that was mentioned and is making me think that my interpretation on Mavis and Yury's relationship was spot on. It's a good overall read and is actually kinda funny, so you should check it out! The Death count is at one now, so do you think we'll reach the over under of three or will we pass it, or will we not even reach it? Let me know what you think, as I love hearing feedback of any sorts! SO PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! ADIOS!