Chapter 29: Final Day of the Games!
"Lucy?" Itachi questioned with eyes of bewilderment, as the hooded figure he and Jellal had been following were none other than the celestial wizard Lucy. Lucy widened her eyes at started backing up while trembling a little. "Hey, what's wrong?" Itachi asked as he noticed the fear in Lucy's eyes.
"P-Please, back away…" Lucy uttered and Itachi looked even more confused, so did Jellal.
"Are you really Lucy?" Jellal asked with a narrowed gaze.
"Y-Yes…" Lucy replied, and Jellal looked towards Itachi to see if he could confirm it.
"There is no mistaking it, her energy is just like Lucy's, however her body is tainted by dark magic that resembles Zeref's energy. Most likely she touched something that had his energy from before, although she's not in any threatening danger from it." Itachi said as he analyzed Lucy with his sharingan. "Still, there are somethings that don't add up. How come you are here? Or rather, how come there are two Lucy's here?"
Lucy still looked wary of Itachi for some reason, and was still trembling. "I'm from the future…" Lucy replied to which both the young men widened their eyes a bit.
"That's not possible." Jellal said and narrowed his gaze at Lucy with suspicion.
"… I see, what else?" Itachi asked to which Jellal looked shocked that he just accepted it like that.
"You are surprisingly accepting of this…" Lucy uttered also looking shocked.
"When there are such things as alternate worlds and realms which were thought to be impossible. Time travel is also thought as impossible, but who's to say that it isn't real either." Itachi said and thought back on Edolas and Commander Itachi, and the War World of the Shinobi world, as well as his own original world. "Plus, the fact that there are two Lucy's here in this time, would make sense that one is either from the future like you claim to be. Or this is just a trick which Jellal seems to believe. I on the other hand will decide what I think once I hear your explanation, so go on." Itachi said.
"R-Right… I came here to prevent something terrible, and warn all of you…" Lucy replied and Itachi payed closer attention same with Jellal. "On July 7th, the day known as the Dragon Kings Festival… over 10,000 dragons will appear, and destroy the capital and the palace, thousands of lives will be lost."
This disturbing news caused the two young men to gain a look of shock. "Still, how did you get here?" Jellal questioned.
"Right, through something called the Eclipse gate, it is underground, underneath the palace. That is most likely what your group has been searching for during the games." Lucy replied to which Jellal looked to be in deep thought.
"Her story does make sense, although I still find it very hard to believe…" Jellal uttered while rubbing his chin.
"Still, it would be for the best to be ready for such an event. If her story is right then an army of dragons will arrive at the end of the games. Perhaps I should inform master Makarov. Then again, considering how powerful Acnologia was, I doubt there is much we can do against an army of dragons." Itachi wondered what he should do, should he inform Makarov about this? Or should he not? "I shall do some investigating on my own for a bit, determine if her story adds up or not. Then I shall inform master Makarov about this matter." Itachi declared and was about to leave.
"Wait, what ever you do, make sure you keep Erza and Mirajane safe!" Lucy warned to which Itachi raised his brow, and looked back at the so-called time traveler.
"What do you mean by that?" Itachi questioned, was something going to happen to them? Were they some of the people that were going to die.
"I-I can't really tell you why, but please make sure they are both safe." Lucy replied and she looked a bit frightened. "Just, please promise me Itachi…"
"Of course, I will protect them and everyone else. Everyone in Fairy Tail is my precious family after all." Itachi replied with a smile and vanished in a murder of crows. 'First I will need to find a way underground, luckily the perfect way in introduced it self during the games.' Itachi thought and the murder of crows flew towards the stadium.
The crows flew into the empty stadium, and down the hole created from Natsu and Gajeel's fight against Sting and Rogue. The crows flew in and flew down the mineshaft Gajeel fell into. 'If there is a mineshaft it must mean there is a long underground pathway here. Perhaps it might even lead underneath the palace.' Itachi thought and flew down the dark mines.
Itachi eventually arrived in a dark underground cave, he looked around and saw something that made him curious. He flew down and touched what looked to be a piece of bone. "These are, dragon bones…" Itachi said as he stood before remains of what looked to be in the shape of a dragon, considering Acnologia's structure. "This place is a graveyard… perhaps this means Lucy from the future was right…" Itachi uttered to himself and then he saw a green light emitting further into the cave. Itachi moved in closer and saw Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, Lucy, Happy, Charle, Pantherlily and Wendy whom was the one releasing the green light. "What are they up to?" Itachi questioned and decided to keep his distance.
Then suddenly some green energy gathered into one place, and a spectral green claw rose from this green energy, followed by wings and a dragon's head. It was the spirit of one of the dead dragons. It let out a roar which shocked Natsu and the others. The dragon then let out an amused laughter.
"Seeing that shocked look on human faces never gets old. My name is Zirconis, but I'm also known as the Jade Dragon. The spell you used to summon my soul belonged to Grandine, the Sky Dragon, yes? Where are you? Hm?" The dragon spirit then laid eyes on little Wendy whom was in deep concentration keeping the spell up. "Cute! This little Dragon Slayer summoned me?" Zirconis bent down closer to Wendy.
"Hey! Get away from Wendy!" Natsu shouted and went right up to the dragon's face.
"Forget it! I'm going to eat this girl."
"Bastard!" Natsu growled.
"I'm kidding, of course, you stupid species. Look! What can an astral body do?" Zirconis said as he poked his claw right through Natsu like a ghost, and he let out a mocking laughter at Natsu.
"What's up with this playful man…" Lucy uttered with a sweat drop.
"He's not a man. He's a dragon." Gray corrected.
"A dragon's soul, anyway…" Gajeel corrected.
"I am Zirconis, otherwise known as the Jade Dragon…"
"You already told us that!" Gray shouted.
"What happened here?" Charle questioned.
"There are a lot of dragon remains here." Happy said.
"We summoned your soul so we could learn the truth." Pantherlily said.
"I have nothing to say to humans. Go away!"
"I'm a cat!" Happy pointed out.
"Okay, then. It happened over 400 years ago."
"Your absolute rules are pretty loose." Gray sweat dropped and so did Itachi at how easily the dragon changes his mind.
"Dragons were once the rulers of this world. We thrived, flying through the air, racing across the land, and swimming in the sea. Everything in this world belonged to us. Humans were no more than our prey. But there was a foolish dragon who objected to our reign. That one spouted nonsense about building a world in which we could coexist with humans. Eventually, between the dragons who agreed and those who disagreed, a war began. I fought as one who disagreed."
"Huh, you… disagreed… then that means…" Lucy uttered with a hint of fear in her eyes.
"I have no fondness for humans. That is, unless we're talking about food." Zirconis said, and naturally that would be what one would think of dragons, that they viewed humans as nothing but food.
"What happened with the war?" Charle questioned, while neither of them had noticed Itachi whom was still listening from a distance.
"It heated up. The battles between dragon and dragon tore up the vast areas of land. Eventually, the dragons who were for coexistence devised a stupid strategy. They involved humans in the war by giving them Dragon Slayer magic which could destroy dragons."
"And that's the origin of Dragon Slayers?" Happy questioned.
"Dragon Slayers had tremendous power. Victory for the dragons who chose to coexist with humans was imminent. However, they had made one miscalculation. The Dragon Slayers, who had been given too much power, killed even the dragons who wished to live peacefully with them. And there was one man among the humans who bathed in the blood of too many dragons. I fear to even say that name. He continued to destroy dragons and bathe in their blood. Presently, his skin turned to scales, his teeth to fangs… He transformed himself into a dragon."
Everyone looked shocked at hearing this revelation about Dragon Slayer magic. Itachi narrowed his gaze at hearing this. 'Does that mean that…' Itachi thought.
"That's what Dragon Slayer magic leads to. The dragons resting in peace here were all murdered by that man. Though human, he became the Dragon King. The Dragon King initiated another war. That was the Festival of the Dragon King. The king's name was Acnologia."
Itachi widened his eyes at what he heard, not that Acnologia used to be a human, he figured out that much before Zirconis revealed the name. Although the mentioning of the Dragon King festival, which was linked to what future Lucy was talking about.
"A dragon with pitch-black wings unlike any other dragon… He slaughtered most of the dragons." While Itachi was in his own thoughts the rest of the gang were surprised to hear that Acnologia used to be human. "That was 400 years ago. You people did this…" Zirconis then vanished in a flash of light.
"Hey!" Natsu shouted.
"He vanished." Gray said.
"You didn't tell us everything!" Gajeel shouted as the dragon soul vanished completely.
"That's it. All of the souls in this place have gone. They have gone on to the afterlife." Wendy said as the light around her died down. While Natsu and the others got over the fact that they could possibly turn into dragons, and learning of this history lesson. Itachi was about to leave to further investigate on the matter, when suddenly he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw a man with messy dark hair and a beard dressed in a silver armor.
"That's impossible." The man spoke.
"Who are you?" Wendy questioned as they all turned towards this knight.
"I overheard everything. Our research is in accord with historical fact. You people know about Zeref's Demons, don't you? Acnologia is similar to that. We believe that Zeref turned a Dragon Slayer into Acnologia." The man said and next to him stood Yukino, formerly of Sabertooth.
"Zeref did it?" Happy questioned.
"In other words, destroying Zeref, the root of all evil, will be the first step in subjugation of Acnologia." The man explained.
"Who are you?!" Gajeel questioned as he still hadn't introduced himself.
"Destroying Zeref?" Natsu questioned at the man's words.
"You're Yukino!" Lucy noticed the former celestial wizard of Sabertooth.
'What's going on? Why is the royal army getting involved?' Itachi thought, the situation was getting all the more complicated. With the possibility of an army of dragons attacking, the problem that Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy might one day turn into dragons, Zeref possibly being involved in all of this mess. Either way, Itachi was going to get to the bottom of this. He kept his presence hidden and kept on following them. 'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'
"I am Arcaidos, Captain of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knights, the kingdom of Fiore's military corps stationed in Crocus." The knight introduced himself to Natsu and the others.
"I am Yukino Agria, temporary sergeant of same corps." Yukino introduced herself.
"Why is such a big shot in the military here?" Gray questioned with a raised brow at the military Captain.
"Yukino… But you were…" Lucy looked surprised to see her fellow celestial wizard.
"Were a member of Sabertooth." Pantherlily finished.
"You said they kicked you out, right?" Happy asked.
"Yes, that is correct." Yukino replied.
"I'll explain. The power of a Celestial Spirit wizard was necessary to the secrecy of the operation. And so, I'm relying on the assistance of sergeant Yukino." Arcaidos said while sending Lucy a look, seemingly he needed Lucy for this as well.
"U-Um, what do you mean you needed the power of a Celestial Spirit wizard?" Wendy questioned.
"Wait a second! I'm lost here!" Natsu didn't seem to understand what was going on, and looked like he demanded answers. "Skip the annoying details! Just tell me what you want!"
"Natsu Dragneel, yes? Your previous event was a marvelous magic battle." Arcaidos complimented, although Natsu didn't care and stepped forward looking him straight in the eyes.
"I don't give a damn about that. I wanna know about this Celestial Spirit wizard is necessary business. If you got somethin' to say, spit it out!" Natsu seemed to have noticed the look Arcaidos sent Lucy earlier, and didn't seem to like it one bit.
'This is getting all the more intriguing, I should follow them.' Itachi thought and followed after them further into the cave. This was especially interesting considering they think this plan might defeat Zeref and Acnologia. Itachi followed them until they got back outside and reached the royal palace. What's more on the way they learned Arcaidos was the one who tried to kidnap Lucy but the soldiers took Wendy by mistake. Despite not seeming to mean any harm to Lucy, both Lucy and Natsu remained on guard.
Itachi slipped in through the palace's gates and followed them down a dark hallway. "The Grand Magic Games were camouflage to absorb a great quantity of wizards' magic power." Arcaidos revealed that every year they stole a little bit of magic power from wizards during the games. Which neither of them seemed to like the idea of. "Say what you want, but it was necessary for the plan." Arcaidos said as they stopped in front of a massive gigantic metallic gate.
"What is this?" Charle questioned as they all had a look of awe.
Itachi brought his hand up to his temple and his eyes twitched, like a repressed memory was making its way to the surface of his mind. 'Th-This gate… I remember it from somewhere… but… from where?' Itachi narrowed his eyes and looked at it closer with his sharingan. 'It has traces of Zeref's magic power on it… which means he must have used it at some point.' Itachi thought.
"Eclipse, the portal that will change the world." Arcaidos declared and Itachi widened his eyes, as this was the gate future Lucy claimed to have come from. "A great deal of magic power was required to construct it."
"Portal?" Lucy questioned.
"What the hell is it?" Natsu questioned.
"When the sun and the moon are in conjunction, the 12 keys will be used to open the door. When it's opened, the plan is to travel back 400 years in time and murder Zeref before he can become immortal. That is the Eclipse project." Arcaidos revealed and it was now all clear that future Lucy was telling the truth earlier.
'Wait, if they do that… then that means, I would never come to this world.' Itachi thought as Zeref was the reason he came to this world in the first place, if he was killed then Itachi would never have arrived into this world in the first place. 'But, that means that neither would Madara, Sasori, Kakuzu and whoever else was brought back… That might be for the best actually… although… that means I would never have met Mirajane or Erza or anyone from Fairy Tail.' Itachi thought as he was saddened by the idea.
"Lucy-sama, I've heard time flows differently between the Celestial Spirit World and our own." Yukino said to which Lucy nodded in responds. "The idea is to use the Celestial Spirit World's dimensional boundary line and the power of a Celestial Spirit Wizard to open this door."
"Originally, the plan called for the possible use of pseudo-Celestial Spirit magic in place of the real thing. But having a true Celestial Spirit Wizard and the 12 keys would guarantee the success of the project. I could say that aspect is indispensable. The sun and moon will overlap three days, hence, on July 7th. I would like your assistance, Lucy." Arcaidos asked, while Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy were taken a bit aback as this was the same day their dragons vanished.
"No, I won't." Lucy bluntly replied.
"Wh-What?" Arcaidos questioned taken aback at Lucy's responds. "This might be the only way to end Zeref and Acnologia, and you say no?!"
"I can't, and I won't!" Lucy said with fire burning in her eyes of determination.
"What do you mean?" Natsu questioned not following Lucy's way of thought.
"Don't you remember? Think back, think back on what Itachi told us after we returned from Tenrou Island." Lucy said causing most of them to widen their eyes having realized instantly what Lucy meant, while Natsu and Happy still looked confused.
Natsu then thought back on that day, Itachi showing them his past, most of what Natsu remembered from that day was that he was angry at Itachi. But then he remembered, Itachi was brought back to life by Zeref. Natsu widened his eyes and stepped in front of Lucy in a defensive manner as he growled at Arcaidos. "The answer is no pal! We won't lose any of our comrades!" Natsu declared much to Arcaidos confusion.
"W-What? Comrades? Are you saying you are siding with Zeref and Acnologia?!" Arcaidos glared daggers of anger at them.
"Hell no! I don't like Zeref that much, but if he didn't live one of our friends would not be alive today! And I won't let you change that!" Natsu declared as he got ready for a fight, same with the others.
"You heard 'em!" Gray growled and released a cold breeze from his hand getting ready to fight.
"Get back creep." Gajeel growled at Arcaidos.
Itachi widened his eyes at this, and felt a sensation of happiness within his heart that he had comrades that cared so much for him. 'Fools… don't think about me… do what's right…' Itachi thought clenching his fist a little, thinking back on his time with everyone, the feeling of belonging, the feeling of warmth and love. '… Or perhaps… I'm the fool here…' Itachi smiled and leaped in between Natsu and the group and Arcaidos and Yukino. 'I don't want to forget the times I spent with them either… and I don't wish to lose my new family either.'
"You are…" Arcaidos widened his eyes.
""Itachi?!"" Natsu and the others questioned in unison.
"I've been watching you all for a while now… and I have to say, thank you everyone. Although this may be selfish of me to say," Itachi said as images of Erza, Master Makarov and Laxus, Gildarts and Cana, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy, Gajeel, Juvia, Elfman, Lisanna, the whole guild, and Mirajane giving him a warm loving smile all went through his mind. "I wish to keep my happiness, and stay with my new family."
"… Are you that friend they spoke about? What is your relationship to Zeref?" Arcaidos narrowed his gaze at Itachi.
"I'm not sure, all I know is that without him I wouldn't be standing here right now. I can understand the desire to end Zeref and Acnologia, but please let's find a different way to do that. Besides, who knows what might change. It is for the best to find a way to defeat them in this time, rather than going back in time." Itachi said to which Arcaidos twitched in anger.
"There is no other way, I must ask you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good." Arcaidos said.
"It would seem my life must be a cursed one indeed, because that would be the second time I would have to sacrifice myself for the greater good. I would give my life if it meant saving my friends and family, however only if there is no other way. You are speaking like you have tried everything to defeat Zeref and Acnologia. When in reality you just jumped on the first best solution that presented itself instead of searching for other methods." Itachi said to which Arcaidos growled in anger.
"Then do tell, what other method is there?!"
"That we will not know unless we look, but faith might be an answer. Faith that someone strong enough will come along and defeat them. Unlike your solution which might bring catastrophic changes to the world, for instant the dragons for co-existing with humanity might never have won the war without Acnologia, and humanity would be pray to the dragons to this day. Or like you said, you believe that Zeref is the responsibility for the creation of Acnologia, but that is just a theory of yours. What if that's not the case? What if Acnologia became a dragon from bathing in the blood of dragons like that dragon said? Your plan is filled with flaws, flaws which might make the world worse. If you are going to use this device, at least get information that is 100% accurate first." Itachi said and Arcaidos backed up a bit with his eyes widened.
Arcaidos was about to reply, although they were suddenly surrounded by the royal army. "What is this?!" Charle questioned.
"What the hell is going on?" Natsu growled.
"Surrender peacefully, Captain Arcaidos." A short little old man walked up through the hundreds of soldiers.
"Minister of Defense, what is the meaning of this?!" Arcaidos questioned.
"That is my line. Leaking details of a top secret plan and state military secrets to outsiders is abominable." The minister of defense said.
"They're not outsiders! You know this. These people have a crucial role to play in the success of the operation." Arcaidos protested.
"That's not a simple matter for you to arbitrarily decide on." The minister of defense replied.
"You're just opposed to the plan, aren't you?! I want you to stop this nonsense immediately!" Arcaidos demanded.
"Of course I'm opposed to it! Like this young man pointed out, changing history can bring unimaginable danger! Your plan is filled with flaws, boy! Arrest Captain Arcaidos on suspicion of treason! Arrest Yukino Agria and Lucy Heartfillia too! Throw everyone else out!"
""Yes, sir!""
"Wait, me too?!" Lucy questioned in bewilderment, what did she do that the others didn't?
"Jackasses! You're not getting' Lucy involved in this…" Natsu had flames coming out from his fist and was ready to attack.
"Don't! You mustn't use magic here!" Arcaidos warned when suddenly the gate absorbed Natsu's magic.
"What the?!" Natsu questioned as he felt himself getting weaker.
"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.
"Perhaps he didn't tell you. The Grand Magic Games is a system to steal a small amount of magic power from wizards and send it to Eclipse. If magic is activated this close to Eclipse, all of the person's magic power will be siphoned." The minister of defense said as Natsu fell to the ground. "Don't cause a fuss. Wizards who can't use magic are no threat to our kingdom." The guards directed their spears to the Fairy Tail wizards while grabbing Lucy and Yukino.
"Then, I'm safe." Itachi said as he flared up in a red aura and formed a spectral warrior that was the Susano'o. "For I do not use magic, I use chakra. Now, let Lucy and Yukino go." Itachi said as his friends all smirked, while the royal army looked a little afraid.
"What the… such power…" Arcaidos uttered while sweating a little from feeling this pressure. "This amount of pressure… it felt nothing like this back in the games… is this what it is like being close to him?" Arcaidos questioned.
"Lower down that warrior! Or else Fairy Tail will make an enemy of the royal army!" The minister of defense threatened.
"…" Itachi narrowed his gaze at the little man that was shaking despite keeping up a brave face.
"We don't give a crap! Fairy Tail will beat you to a pulp!" Gray declared.
"… Very well." Itachi said and deactivated the Susano'o. "I do not wish to tarnish Fairy Tail's name, nor do I wish for it to make an enemy of the royal army. However, I must kindly request that you explain why you are arresting Lucy." Itachi wasn't a fool, he knew he could defeat the knights in here by himself. However, he also knew that this may cause Fairy Tail trouble during the games. And this could be recognized as treason and Fairy Tail could risk being disbanded or branded as a dark guild.
"She is a crucial part of this Eclipse project, in order to make sure the gate cannot be opened we will keep her in a cell until the solar eclipse is over. I will not let Eclipse be activated at any cost." The minister of defense replied to which Itachi narrowed his gaze at the old man.
"… I see. We will take our leave then." Itachi said much to the others shock, Lucy was about to protest but Itachi sent her a look that said, that they would rescue her, Lucy noticed this and remained silent.
Once they reached to the outside of the palace, Wendy tended to the knocked out Natsu. "Bastard." Gajeel growled at the minister of defense.
"I want you to understand that this isn't my own will. It's all on behalf of the state. But I can give you one piece of advice. His majesty is fond of Fairy Tail. If you win the Grand Magic Games, I'll grant you an audience with the king. Knowing how kind he is, he may consider the matter of your friend's treatment. May you have grand magic battles." The royal army left them there alone.
"What the hell was that man?!" Gray glared at Itachi, demanding an answer like the others.
"If we had gone through with that, we would risk our place in the Grand Magic Games. Our guild may even be disbanded if they are able to brand this as treason. However, we are going to help Lucy. But first, we need to discuss this with the master." Itachi said, and they all understood his reasoning, and they especially liked the idea of rescuing Lucy.
They returned to the tavern where the rest of the Fairy Tail guild was and they explained the situation. "What?" Laxus questioned.
"Lucy was captured by the royal army?" Erza questioned.
"So, they involved her in a plan we know almost nothing about…" Makarov said as he sat on the bar counter with his legs crossed.
"In other words, what? Unless we win the Grand Magic Games, we won't get Lucy back?" Laxus questioned and it pretty much seemed like that was the case.
"Although I don't know if we can trust that, either." Gray said.
"Right." Juvia agreed.
"Who gives a crap about that?! I'm gonna rescue Lucy right now!" Natsu having recovered, was tied up so that he would not go and do anything rash.
"Please calm down, Natsu." Wendy pleaded.
"Relax will ya, Itachi said he had a plan for that." Gray said and looked over at Itachi same with everyone else.
"Well Itachi my boy, I trust that you know we can't act recklessly against the kingdom, even though they shouldn't be allowed to treat their citizens like that either. And if she is just a hostage kept until the Eclipse project is cancelled..." Makarov said.
"Of course, we will simply send a rescue team during the last competition of the games. While mostly everyone is distracted by this event, our rescue team will rescue Lucy from the palace. Even though they said we will get Lucy back if we win the games, we cannot be sure if they were telling the truth, so we need to take action just in case. We cannot afford to rush in recklessly, or else things would get more problematic. If we do this right, there shouldn't be a problem. But for now, we have to wait for the right moment." Itachi said and everyone nodded in agreement to his plan.
"I want to be on the rescue team." Natsu said as he broke free from the ropes with ease. "I will rescue Lucy." Natsu said with a fiery determination in his eyes.
Itachi smiled and nodded. "Very well, Natsu, Wendy, Mirajane, Happy, Charle and Pantherlily will be on the rescue team. Gray will take Natsu's place in the games."
"Why us?" Charle questioned.
"As you are Exceeds, you can fly them out if there is any danger, it will make it easier for them to infiltrate the palace." Itachi replied to which Charle nodded in understanding.
"It has been decided then. Itachi, Laxus, Erza, Gajeel and Gray will represent our guild for the last day of the games. Natsu, Mirajane, Wendy, Happy, Charle and Pantherlily will rescue Lucy during the final event. Any objections?" Makarov asked and no one said a word. "Good, dismissed." Makarov said and everyone went back to their own thing, although Itachi walked up to the dwarf master.
"Master, there is something I need to tell you." Itachi said to which Makarov raised a brow.
The final day of the Grand Magic Games
The sun was shining, and cheers from the stadium was heard as well as fireworks. "At last! At last, it's here! The final day of the wizards' passionate festival, the Grand Magic Games! Like it or not, only one guild will be victorious today!"
The announcer declared as the teams marched out to the stadium. First was Quatro Puppy whom were in sixth place. Followed by Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth, although Sabertooth's master was nowhere to be found neither was one of the two Exceeds of Sabertooth. And lastly Fairy Tail takes the field.
They were met with cheers, having regained their popularity compared to the first day. Although the audience were met with confusion as Natsu wasn't among them, and Gray had taken his place instead.
"Are you okay, sixth master?" Mavis looked over at Makarov whom looked slightly on the edge.
"I'm fine first master, I'm just excited to win the games that's all, and a little worried about Lucy." Makarov said although Mavis did not look convinced.
"You don't have to hide it, Itachi told me." Mavis said to which Makarov almost fell over.
"T-That brat… he should have said so… I'm sorry for lying like that, please forgive me." Makarov begged.
"It's fine." Mavis giggled a little. "Still, it seems we have a lot to worry about."
"Yeah…" Makarov nodded in agreement. 'An army of ten thousand dragons… Lucy coming from the future to warn us and try and stop it… I am uncertain if we can make it out of this…' Makarov thought while clenching his fists.
Itachi standing with his team also looked to be in deep thought. 'The Eclipse gate… I recognize it, but from where? My mind hurts every time I try and find the answer… What's happening to me?' Itachi thought as he brought his right hand up to his temple.
"Is everything alright, onii-san?" Erza questioned as the rest of the team looked at him, looking a little worried.
"I'm fine, just didn't get that much sleep last night." Itachi replied, and they all turned their focus back into the games, and the upcoming final event.
"All right! The Grand Magic Games have reached their climax at last! I'll announce the current standings. In last we have Quatro Puppy with 15 points! Tied for 4th place, Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale with 30 points! In third place, Mermaid Heel with 40 points! In second place, Sabertooth, with 44 points! And in first place, Fairy Tail! With 56 points! Show us your fighting skills! Your magic! And the bond you have with your comrades! The final day! A survival game in which everyone participates! Let the Grand Magic Games begin!"
The crowd went wild and fireworks were shot into the sky. "And for this final battle, the battlefield is the entire city of Crocus-kabo!"
"The members of each guild have already dispersed and are standing by."
"The teams run around town and if they encounter an enemy guild, a battle ensues. If an opponent loses consciousness or becomes unable to fight, the other side will gain one point."
"And each guild assigns one leader."
"Although the guilds don't know who the other guild leaders are-kabo!"
"If the leader is defeated, the other team gets five points. So, theoretically, the highest score could be 45 points. Every guild has a chance to win."
"Should the team stay together and fight or split up?"
"That depends on your strategy-kabo!"
"Listen. We have no choice but to win. To get Lucy back." Erza looked at her team whom all looked focused on the task at hand.
"I'm confident our little rescue team can pull this off, although…" Itachi said.
"We still can't put all our faith in that." Gajeel finished.
"Even so, we've got another motive for winning this thing." Gray said as he was burning with desire to beat up Rufus from Sabertooth.
"We gotta win for the guys in the guild who had it rough while we were gone those seven years." Laxus smirked as the signal for the start of the games shot up into the sky.
"Let's do this!" Erza said with determination in her voice.
""Right!""
And then to the audiences surprise the Fairy Tail members just stood there, they didn't move an inch. And they heard the call of their teammates telling them to move, although they didn't. While the other guilds rose in the ranks, and it didn't take long for Quatro Puppy to get wiped out.
'If the first master is right, and everything goes according to her calculations. Then we should be fine. However, I should keep an eye out should something get miscalculated.' Itachi thought as even he knew all those predictions from master Mavis were only predictions, and they could easily go wrong.
"Begin operation: Fairy Star!" Mavis called out to the Fairy Tail team, and they all rushed out to battle.
""Roger!"" And the audience cheered that Fairy Tail finally made a move.
"Everyone, spread out! please proceed to the next checkpoint." Mavis ordered and they all split up. "Now, there is about a 97% chance for Rufus of Sabertooth to make a move!"
Light waves of lightning energy flew through the sky, and towards the Fairy Tail members whom all easily dodged it, besides Laxus as it didn't deal any damage to him. "Seems everything is going fine so far." Itachi uttered as he moved towards his checkpoint.
"Because of those disordered thoughts there's a 68% chance Rufus will try to approach one of our members. While there's a 32% chance he will stay at his current location. Even so, it doesn't affect us one bit. Erza runs into an enemy, Gajeel eliminates enemies in the south." Mavis instructed, and Erza took out Jenny from Blue Pegasus, while Gajeel took out Eve and Ren, and Gray took out Hibiki.
"Mavis being the master Fairy Tactician, that attained multiple victories during wars, impressive." Itachi jumped around on the various roof tops. While Jura took out Ichiya, eliminating Blue Pegasus. And three of Mermaid Heel had already been taken out, as well as two from Lamia Scale. 'Still… ever since I saw the Eclipse gate… I've had this strange feeling… And whenever I think about it my head starts to hurt. What's going on?' Itachi thought as he felt his head starting to hurt immensely, Itachi stopped thinking about it and put his focus back in the game and the pain vanished.
"Now then…" Itachi jumped down to the side, and crashed in front of the surprised Sherria and Lyon from Lamia Scale. "I was supposed to go after Rufus, although, I promised Gray that he could deal with him instead. Sorry, first master." Itachi smiled, while Mavis pouted angrily in the gallery.
"Mmm, fine, but follow my plans from now on…" Mavis pouted cutely, while a nervous Makarov tried to calm her down.
"No promises." Itachi replied through the link, and looked at Sherria whom looked wary and got into a fighting stance. "Now then, shall we begin?" Itachi gave Sherria and Lyon a friendly smile whom returned it.
"Yay! I'm excited!" Sherria cheered cutely.
"Put your focus into it, he took down Jura with one attack during day one." Lyon warned and got into fighting position.
"I shall try and make this quick, I don't really like to fight. Hn?" Itachi noticed in the corner of his eye that Gray was getting a beating from Rufus whom used Orga's magic to attack Gray. Yet Gray kept standing. "Good luck, Gray." Itachi said and Lyon had a look that said the same, although he wasn't about to say it.
Ice Make: Ice Dragon!
Lyon made a snake like dragon out of ice, and Sherria inhaled her breath.
Sky God's: Bellow!
Sherria released a breath attack of black wind, and Itachi remained calm, and quickly formed a set of hand seals.
Fire Style: Inferno Fireball!
Itachi spitted out a massive ball of blazing fire merged with the black flames of Amaterasu. The blazing ball of fire and black fire, crashed into the black wind and overpowered it and crashed into Sherria in a fiery explosion, and Itachi quickly put out the black flames of Amaterasu. Itachi then leaped at the ice dragon with a blue sphere forming in his hand.
Rasengan!
Itachi destroyed the ice dragon, and then slammed the sphere into Lyon's gut sending him crashing into a building that turned to rubble. "H-He's too… strong…" Lyon uttered and fell unconscious.
Itachi then vanished at super speed and looked Sherria in the eyes. "Sleep." Itachi uttered and Sherria's eyes got heavier as she fell unconscious into sleep. Itachi earned his team two more points as Sherria and Lyon were knocked out. "Time to move on." Itachi leaped away at super speed, while watching the screen showing Gray and Rufus' battle, and how Gray overwhelmed Rufus by making ice faster than Rufus could keep up, and struck Rufus down with ice blades that froze him in a chunk of ice. Knocking Rufus out, and earning one more point for Fairy Tail. "Well done." Itachi smiled and moved on.
Itachi jumped onto the highest spot in the town and looked down, seeing energy signatures with his sharingan. "Out of the enemy, the ones remaining are… Jura, Minerva, Kagura, Sting, Rogue, Orga, and Millianna." Itachi looked around the town, and tried to pick out his next target. "It is like the first master said after all."
Flashback
Itachi was standing all alone with Mavis after the strategy planning with the rest of the team. "You are without a doubt different from the others. And without a doubt the strongest in our guild, possibly the entire continent. Dealing with the competitors shouldn't be any problem for you, regardless of who it is." Mavis informed Itachi.
"That might be true, although the enemy could have some problematic tricks up their sleeves." Itachi has never been one to underestimate his opponent, knowing power and strength wasn't everything.
"Indeed, that is a factor we must consider. Although with your ability you can easily find any enemy wherever you might be. So, if you wish you can fight whomever you like. Although I would very much like if you dealt with Rufus and Jura." Mavis informed to which Itachi shook his head.
"I have already decided to let Gray deal with him. However, should the chance come that he would lose, I shall take down Rufus. As for Jura, we'll see if no one else can take him down first." Itachi said to which Mavis sighed, and agreed to it.
Flashback end
"Now then… who should I pick?" Itachi spoke to himself as he looked through the various competitors. "Hn? What's this? Millianna vanished… and in her place is only Minerva. Yet her defeat wasn't announced… Minerva is planning something." Itachi narrowed his ice-cold glare, with his sharingan glowing bright red. "Target acquired."
Meanwhile, Erza had gotten to her position. 'According to the first master's strategy, I should run into that Saber woman here-' Erza thought and widened her eyes when unexpectedly Kagura attacked her from behind, and Erza blocked her strike, they then swung their weapons rapidly at each other as sparks flickered around them for each strike. 'She's strong…' Erza thought.
While in the gallery. "First master, what's going on? Erza's opponent was supposed to be that Minerva from Sabertooth?" Makarov looked confused while Mavis looked taken aback.
"So, even the first master, nicknames the Fairy Tactician, can miscalculate." Freed said and Bickslow and Evergreen, prevented him from speaking further by hushing him, and pointed at the first master.
"My calculation was… How?" Mavis began trembling and looked like she was about to cry.
"F-First master!" Makarov and the guild paled not sure what to do.
"I-I'm not crying! I'm not crying at all…" Mavis then began crying.
"I-Itachi! We need you! Itachi!" Makarov shouted out the name of the one man who had the ability to touch Mavis.
"This is your fault, Freed!" Evergreen scolded her teammate.
While, Erza and Kagura continued their duel, looking pretty evenly matched in their swordsmanship. Then out of a portal appeared Minerva, and grabbed both the woman by their faces sending them slamming to the sides. "Do you mind if I play, too?" Minerva smirked confidently, as three of the mightiest women in the games stood face to face.
"I don't care who my opponent is. I'll go right through you." Erza glared at Minerva, while Kagura glared at Erza.
"People have lost a lot of confidence in Sabertooth. Naturally, it goes without saying that your guild is responsible. Erza, Kagura. To prove to everyone that our guild is the strongest, I'm going to get rid of you together." Minerva declared and let out a purple aura.
"You talk a good game." Erza flared up in a red aura.
"No need for tedious talk, come." Kagura flared up in a blue aura.
Then suddenly someone came crashing down like a rocket between the three of them, whom all widened their eyes in shock. "You are up against two at once, huh? Need some assistant?" The figure was Itachi whom looked at the two opponents with a glare, while both Kagura and Minerva looked wary, well Minerva looked a little nervous.
"I don't really think I need it, but, might as well. Since you came all the way here, onii-san." Erza smiled friendly at her brother whom jumped to her side.
"Well, which one do you want to take on? Regardless of which one of us it is, I would say Minerva is in for a world of pain." Itachi said as he stretched his arms, and cracking his neck a little by bending it to the side.
"I would like to take on Minerva, if you wouldn't mind." Erza replied, to which Kagura sent her a glare.
"Hmm, alright then, I shall take on Kagura then." Itachi agreed to it and faced the ace of Mermaid Heel whom sent him a glare. While Minerva eyed Erza whom glared at her.
Neither of them spoke a word, and Erza charged at Minerva whom blocked her strike with a magic sphere, while Itachi charged at Kagura whom swung her sheeted katana at him, and Itachi widened his eyes as his sharingan rotated and when Kagura struck him, he turned into a murder of crows. The crows gathered into Itachi and threw kunai knifes with paper bomb tags. The whole area around them exploded in a massive cloud of smoke, as the ground beneath them cracked up.
Erza avoided a blast from Minerva, and slammed the end of the sword handle into her side, sending her flying. Minerva growled and chanted a few words, trapping not only Erza but Kagura and Itachi in a sphere bobble. She then kept chanting in some strange language.
Yagdo Rigora!
The area around them then exploded in a massive pillar of light. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Erza and Kagura with their clothing slightly torn, yet they were unharmed, while Itachi was surrounded by a red aura, and had zero injuries nor were his cloths torn.
Minerva noticed how little her magic affected the three of them and growled a little, before giving a cocky smirk. "I see. I certainly didn't expect you to make it this far. Well, two of you anyway. Titania… Erza Scarlet. Kagura Mikazuchi… and The Demon Eyes of Fairy Tail, Itachi Uchiha. We'll get nowhere at this rate-"
"Then how about you focus on your own opponent instead? Unless you want to lose already?" Itachi looked at Minerva with a raised brow, to which she twitched her eyes in anger.
"I am the mightiest of Sabertooth, the mightiest guild, don't you dare disrespect me!" Minerva growled in anger.
"Big talk coming from someone who was shaking a few days ago." Itachi referred to two days ago when Minerva tortured Lucy and Itachi unleashed his power in anger, to which Minerva trembled in fear over. "Also, at this rate you will lose." Itachi said as Minerva was kicked in the sides by Erza, Erza was about to charge.
"Hold it!" Minerva summoned forth a sphere, that contained a bruised and beaten up Millianna, causing the three of them to widen their eyes. "I caught a little kitten."
""Millianna!"" Erza and Kagura shouted in unison.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Erza questioned with a frown at Minerva.
"Can you see this girl suffering? I'm stealing her magic even now in that space. Relax. I'm not using her as a hostage to make you give in." Minerva smirked as Millianna grunted in pain, Kagura and Erza both glared daggers at Minerva. "That's it. That's the expression I wanted to see."
"…" Itachi analyzed the sphere containing Millianna with his sharingan. Itachi then widened his eyes and Minerva raised her brow as Itachi, Erza and Kagura exploded in a murder of crows.
"What?" Minerva widened her eyes as the sky turned red. The crows flew around Minerva and turned into shuriken that stabbed all over her body. "AAARRGGGHH!" Minerva screamed in pain as her blood dripped from the stab wounds. "What is this?! An illusion?!"
"You feel victim during our conversation after that failed attack you pulled on us. I knew you had Millianna from the start, I was just waiting for you to bring her forth. Knowing your kind, you couldn't help but brag about it. Don't worry, I won't defeat you with this illusion. Erza will be the one to take you down." Itachi's voice echoed around the space, then the crows vanished and the sky turned back to normal, the shurikens stabbed over Minerva's body and the wounds vanished as well. And in front of her were Erza, Kagura and Itachi holding Millianna's unconscious body. "Seems your magic knocked her out, that means you get the point for defeating her then." Itachi gently put Millianna down, and then turned around to face Kagura.
Kagura had wide eyes and looked at Itachi with a confused expression, before getting her head in the game and reading her sheeted sword. "Why did you save her?" Kagura questioned with a narrowed gaze.
"She's an old friend of my little sister. It's only natural that I would help her." Itachi replied with a stoic expression.
"That's not what I meant." Kagura said as she meant the fact that, why would someone associating themselves with Jellal help someone against him.
"I know." Itachi replied, to which Kagura leaped at him with her sheeted sword ready. Itachi jumped back to avoid the strike, although the shockwave from her strike charged towards him, Itachi barely managed to avoid the shockwave as it destroyed a pillar.
While Erza fought against Minerva, whom blocked all of Erza's strikes, and teleported from place to place around the area they were fighting. While from the screens it showed that Gajeel was about to fight against Rogue, while Laxus was standing face to face with Orga.
"Looks like things are getting started." Itachi said as he saw the screens, he then avoided a slice attack from Kagura, Kagura swiftly turned around and raised her sheeted katana, and swung it down on Itachi whom tried to block it with a kunai that got cut in half. Itachi leaped back as his clothing was cut around the wrist.
Itachi narrowed his gaze and jumped back, as he was flying back, the gravity increased around him and he was pushed down into the ground. A crater formed beneath Itachi's feet whom widened his eyes a bit at this pressure. Kagura increased the pressure and Itachi almost fell to his knees but remained standing.
At the gallery, the Fairy Tail members widened their eyes. "Her magic… is able to push Itachi?" Romeo questioned with wide eyes of disbelief that was shared by all the others.
"Itachi is all but a human, his strength and power may be extraordinary. Proof of that is that he hasn't fallen on his knees. However, even he can be pushed if the gravity is strong enough." Makarov said with a narrowed gaze as he didn't look worried.
Back in the battle, Itachi caught Kagura's sword as she swung it down on him, the crater expanded beneath Itachi's feet from the pressure. Itachi flinched a little as the force from the blade was so powerful. "I assume this is about Jellal? That expression you had that day made it all to clear." Itachi said referring to the day Kagura saw Itachi with Jellal whom was dressed up as Mystogan, being unmasked.
Kagura glared with rage and growled as she increased the pressure, causing the whole area to shake, and even Erza and Minerva struggled to remain standing, as they fell on their knees. While as Itachi was able to stand, although the ground beneath him shattered and they fell downwards. "You bastard…! You and Erza betrayed Millianna!" Kagura shouted and charged at Itachi, whom didn't show much trouble standing in this gravity.
Itachi barely managed to dodge a thrust from the end of the sheeted sword, directed at his head. Although he was able to stand, his speed was certainly slowed down. As quickly as he could he delivered a kick to Kagura's gut sending her flying back. He then formed a set of hand seals.
Fire Style: Fireball!
Itachi spitted out a blazing ball of fire towards Kagura, whom slammed her sheeted sword into the fireball sending it flying sideways. She then slowed Itachi down by increasing the gravity around him, and leaped towards him at super speed. In that moment as she was about to slam her sword into him, her eyes flared with anger and hatred and for a moment for Itachi, Kagura's image was replaced with an image of kid Sasuke charging at him with his chidori, causing Itachi to hesitate. She then swung her Archenemy sword right into his sides sending him flying into a pillar that broke in half.
"I can understand Millianna's anger towards Jellal, especially since she is unaware of the truth. But what about you?" Itachi picked himself back up and dusted some rubble away from his right shoulder. Kagura glared at him and charged once again, she delivered a kick which Itachi caught and tossed her to the side.
"I'm sure you know… Jellal, that man… killed Simon, my big brother!" Kagura shouted to which Itachi and Erza whom was fighting Minerva widened their eyes. Itachi thought back on the tall man he met during the Tower of Heaven incident, and how when he tried to protect Erza but failed due to his illness, Simon jumped in front of them and gave his life. "We lived a peaceful life, in Rosemary village back when we were mere children. Although that peace did not last, when those child kidnappers took my brother away. I searched for years, years to find any information about my brother, and where he was. I grew my strength for the sole purpose of rescuing him. But then, I ran into Millianna and some others from the Tower… and found out, that after years of imprisonment, being tortured, having been stripped from his freedom, Simon was killed by Jellal. That's when I made a vow, to keep Archenemy sealed until the day to slay Jellal arrived!" Kagura declared with her eyes burning with desire for revenge.
Itachi looked down with a saddened expression. "That day… the day your brother died. I saw it happen, Millianna wasn't there. It was only me, Erza, Simon and Jellal. Jellal had been manipulated by what he thought was the ghost of Zeref, his mind was twisted. And after seeing him bring such pain to Erza, I fought him. However…" Itachi looked Kagura in the eyes with his sharingan rotating.
The space around Kagura changed and she was in the Tower of Heaven, and in front of her was a laughing Jellal charging up an attack, while Itachi stood in front of an injured Erza while covering them with his Susano'o. "What is this?" Kagura questioned.
"My memories." Itachi replied. Kagura then watched Jellal fire off that attack at Itachi and Erza, and then Itachi fell to his knees and coughed up blood. "Back then I had a terminal illness, I still thought I could defeat Jellal despite that…" Itachi said as the Susano'o around him began to fade. And then just in time, Simon jumped in and took the hit.
Kagura's body was shaking, trembling upon seeing this image. He brother fell on his back, slowly dying, and Erza rushed to his side. Simon being thankful that he was able to save Erza's life as he died in the arms of the woman he loved. Erza then crying her heart out, and Itachi defeating Jellal later and destroying the tower.
They then returned back to the real world. "Jellal was being manipulated and controlled, he may have dealt the attack that killed Simon… Although, Simon died because I overestimated my own abilities and limitations. Simon died because of me." Itachi said with a saddened look on his face, and Kagura gripped the handle of her Archenemy, while trembling, her eyes turning watery, gritting her teeth in anger.
Kagura let out a scream of anger and sorrow as she drew her Archenemy sword and swung it towards Itachi's neck. The power of her sword was strong enough to cut off the top of various buildings that faced the shockwave, and reduce them to rubble in a blinding flash of light. The dust around Itachi cleared and revealed a spectral skeleton hand protecting Itachi, although the hand was about to crack, then the spectral skelton hand broke into tiny pieces. Itachi quickly jumped back and Kagura leaped at him, swinging her Archenemy once more sending an even more powerful shockwave.
The Susano'o grew around Itachi turning into a half-body humanoid that shielded Itachi from the blast. "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to kill me. There are people I have to stay alive for." Itachi replied as Mira, Erza and the whole Fairy Tail guild came to mind. Kagura was just lashing out in anger, sooner or later she was bound to calm down. "If I had let you kill me, you would have regretted it for the rest of your life. What's more, the pain in your heart would not go away, it wouldn't go away if you killed Jellal. And it certainly wouldn't bring your brother back or bring you peace."
"Shut up!" Kagura screamed in anger and charged at Itachi.
"Revenge won't bring you anything but more pain, the void in your heart will keep growing, and growing, before you know it you might even turn your blade on your comrades." Itachi formed the Yata mirror and blocked every strike. Kagura increased the gravity around him to slow him down, and attacked him from behind.
"I told you to shut up!" Kagura raised her blade and sliced Itachi's Susano'o from behind making a cut, Kagura leaped towards the cut before it closed itself up, and stabbed her blade through sending a shockwave crashing into Itachi.
Meanwhile, Erza was blasted by a barrage fire of spheres from Minerva, whom smirked confidently while she also had space spheres around Erza sending shockwave blasts into Erza as well caging her in. "Time for you to accept defeat, Titania Erza Scarlet." Minerva chuckled darkly and kept up the barrage fire as Erza screamed in pain, as her Heaven's Wheel Armor was torn apart. "It's over." Minerva blasted Erza once more, although this time it got deflected. "What the?"
Erza requiped into her Armadura Fairy armor and charged up a red aura around her. "Ethernano Blade!" Erza charged at Minerva, using the new force in her blades to cut through the barrage fire of magic spheres from Minerva, and deflect the shockwaves sent through space around her.
"Damn you!" Minerva growled and sent a barrage fire of magical spheres at Erza whom charged up a green energy blast at the tip of her blade, that merged with the red aura. "N-No! I-Impossible! I'm the strongest!" Minerva started to look afraid as Erza was closing in and all her attacks just bounced off from Erza's energy.
Fairy Burst!
Erza charged into Minerva causing a powerful explosion, and Minerva with most of her clothing torn was sent flying. "Argh!" Minerva screamed in pain and was sent crashing through a building.
"That's for Lucy." Erza gained revenge for her friend, and redirected her attention to Kagura and Itachi. Erza leaped down between them and Kagura stopped attacking.
"Get out of my way!" Kagura growled.
"I can't, by doing this you will bring me the same pain you feel! This man is my brother! If you kill him… I will kill you!" Erza glared at Kagura whom widened her eyes and her bloodlust faded. "I remember you… I remember you from back then… how you escaped while Simon didn't." Erza said to which Kagura widened her eyes a bit. "Like you and Simon I am from Rosemary village as well!" Erza said to which Kagura recalled what happened herself as she took a closer look at Erza's face.
"Y-You… you're that girl who… who saved me…" Kagura uttered as tears formed in her eyes.
"Simon used to talk about you all the time… He hoped that you were still alive… so did I." Erza said to which brought tears to both their eyes.
Itachi stood behind Erza, and placed his hand on her shoulder and walked past her to face Kagura. "Simon sacrificed himself to save Erza and me, just like I showed you. If you want to hate me, that's fine, if you still wish to kill me then so be it. I won't hold it against you. But let me just say this, revenge will never bring you happiness… I've seen people walk down the path of revenge before, my little brother was one of them, and I didn't help him. Ultimately all I did was fill him with hatred, he turned into a criminal. I ask you, to make your decision wisely." Itachi said and Kagura widened her eyes upon hearing this, and from how Erza looked it seemed the story of Itachi's little brother was true also.
"… I… I…" Kagura's body trembled as she wasn't sure what to do.
"Erza Scarlet! Our battle isn't over!" A battered and bruised Minerva arrived and sent what she had left of magic power to blast all three of them, although the blast looked like it was about to hit Kagura. Itachi leaped in front of the blast, in the same fashion Simon did in the Tower of Heaven, and took it head on, tearing up his cloths a bit and bruising him a little.
"You never learn, do you." Itachi narrowed his gaze at Minerva, and vanished at super speed, and appeared right in front of her looking her in the eyes with his sharingan.
The space around Minerva changed, and everyone vanished. "Where did they go?!" Minerva growled.
"Minerva…" The voice and the growl of an all to familiar voice was heard, she turned around and widened her eyes in horror.
"F-Father… no… you… your dead…!" Minerva trembled as her father walked closer to her.
"You weakling!" Jiemma growled and Minerva started screaming in horror.
Minerva screamed and fell over, while her body trembled. "Enjoy your nightmare." Itachi said as his eyes returned to their normal shade of black, and he walked over to Erza and Kagura. "Sorry, what were you about to say?" Itachi looked at Kagura whom started at him with awe.
"I… I give up, I've lost this match." Kagura admitted defeat and fell to her knees, and her eyes showed no intent of wanting to kill Itachi anymore as the bloodlust also vanished.
Itachi placed his hand on the top of her head. "I'm certain your brother, would have been proud to see how strong you have become." Itachi gave her a warm friendly smile and for a moment in Kagura's eyes, an image of Simon flashed before her eyes. Itachi and Erza then proceeded to walk away, leaving Kagura.
"W-Wait I-" Kagura turned around and was about to call out to them.
"If you have something to say, let it wait until after the games. After that I will listen to whatever you have to say." Itachi gave a wave, and Erza gave her a friendly smile and embraced the unconscious Millianna in a hug before moving on, although, something was stuck inside her coat. "Hn?" Itachi reached in the coat and pulled out the Exceed named Lector from Sabertooth. "If I'm not mistaken… this is Sting's comrade?"
"Y-Yes, he must have been trapped in Minerva's dimension like Millianna." Erza said looking over at the unconscious Minerva. "But for what purpose?"
"Guess we'll have to ask Sting when we find him." Itachi replied, and they moved on, while Itachi carried the unconscious Lector.
During Itachi and Erza's battle with Kagura and Minerva, Orga had been defeated by Jura, and after a long enduring battle Laxus was able to defeat Jura, and Gajeel had defeated Rogue and achieved a new form, Iron Shadow Dragon Mode. The only enemy that remained, was Sting, although it hardly mattered, fact was that there was no way Sabertooth could catch up with Fairy Tail anymore in terms of points. The sun was setting, and Fairy Tail's victory was near. "Let's go to the final checkpoint." Itachi said and Erza nodded.
Itachi and Erza gathered up with Gray whom looked mildly injured, a heavily injured Laxus whom was still standing, and a slight heavily injured Gajeel. "Guess it's over." Laxus said knowing there was no way for Sabertooth to pass their point score.
"Seems like it." Itachi said, when suddenly he turned to the side to see a growling Sting. "Sting-"
"You! Because of you! I won't get Lector back! You bastard!" Sting charged with his fist emitting light, while tears ran down from his eyes. Itachi avoided the punch, and threw a powerful punch into Sting's gut, making him vomit out blood.
"Next time wait until someone is done speaking." Itachi scolded and held out the unconscious Lector. "I believe this is your comrade? I found him after Minerva was defeated." Itachi handed Lector over to Sting whom fell on his knees. "Do you still want to fight? In that case I am up for it." Itachi said as he released a powerful blue aura of his chakra, that flared beautifully under the full moon. "Well?"
Sting felt Itachi's power and started shaking a little. "Heh, I give up…" Sting smiled as he held Lector while shaking.
"It's officially over! The winner of the Grand Magic Games! Is Fairy Tail!" The announcer declared as fireworks shot up into the sky, and cheers from the stadium were heard all the way over to the town.
Lector opened his eyes and cried when he saw Sting, to which Sting did the same, as they called out each other's names. The Grand Magic Games were over, Fairy Tail won with 78 points, Sabertooth came in second with 50 points, Mermaid Heel came in third with 43 points, Lamia Scale came in fourth with 40 points, Blue Pegasus came in fifth with 32 points, and Quatro Puppy came in last with 15 points.
Meanwhile, underground, Natsu and his team have rescued Lucy, Yukino and Arcaidos. And at the moment they were standing before an open door with future Lucy standing in their path, crying tears at seeing Natsu's face, told them that she was from the future and passed out. Natsu then carried her on his back out of there. And then future Lucy gave the same explanation she gave Itachi and Jellal. Only adding that she was in prisoned during the attack.
And naturally, Natsu and the others were left stunned. "Over 10,000 dragons…" Mira uttered looking a little nervous remembering their encounter with Acnologia, which did not go that well.
"Oh my gosh!" Happy looked like he was about to freak out.
"Maybe it has something to do with the dragon graveyard?" Wendy questioned.
"I don't know." Charle replied.
It's unfathomable." Pantherlily said and had a nervous sweat.
"Anyway, we gotta prepare! We're going to war!" Natsu declared, being the only one among them willing to fight.
"That's impossible!" Happy shouted with fear.
"You mean, you all believe me?" Future Lucy asked with slight disbelief.
"Is it a lie?!" Natsu questioned.
"No! But… I didn't think anyone would believe something like this… Well… some of you." Future Lucy uttered the last part remembering when she told Itachi whom decided to have faith in her words.
"Why would we doubt your words, Lucy?" Natsu questioned with a serious gaze, bringing a smile on future Lucy's face.
"That's kind of pathetic future me. Have more faith in your friends!" Lucy said with a smile, although this whole situation still creeped her out a bit.
"I'm scolding myself?! But your right…"
Charle then widened her eyes, remembering her vision of the palace falling, and Lucy singing, no she wasn't singing, she was crying and shouting. "Hey, what happened to us in the palace when the dragons came?" The moment Charle asked that, future Lucy got silent and looked sad.
"M-Maybe we…" Wendy uttered although she didn't want it to be true.
"…d-died." Natsu finished.
"No… we… died…" Happy was trembling with tears in his eyes.
"I don't remember how many days passed. When I came to, I remembered Eclipse. I didn't know how to activate it, but I opened the gate by instinct. And then I ended up here in the past. On July 4th." Future Lucy explained.
"But that's very recent." Loke whom was summoned during a battle, and was still with the group said.
"Can the Eclipse only travel a few days to the past?" Mira questioned.
"But the plan was to go back 400 years in the past and defeat Zeref…" Wendy said sounding a little confused.
"I don't know. Part of it was broken, so maybe that's why." Future Lucy said and then remembered why she went to find them. "There are Lacrimas placed all throughout the city to film the Grand Magic Games. I want you to go underground to meet up with Jellal and his comrades."
"Jellal?" Natsu questioned.
"I've already told him everything. I'm sure he's planning some sort of strategy. I'm sorry… I didn't come from the future with an answer. I don't know how to keep all of this from happening. I'm really sorry. It's like, why did I come here? Until today, I didn't know what to do, so I just wandered around the city." Future Lucy apologized feeling useless over not being able to do anything.
"Nah, we'll do somethin'." Natsu walked up to future Lucy and placed his forehead up against hers. "Thank you. You're doin' this for our future." Natsu said to which future Lucy started to cry. "I swear we'll change the future."
"Thank you…" Lucy cried.
"Future Lucy… can I ask you something?" Mirajane asked.
"Uh? S-Sure…" Future Lucy uttered looking a little surprised.
"What happens to Itachi?" Mira asked with concern in her voice, she was concerned for her siblings and guild mates, but considering how strong Itachi is, it seems unlikely that he would die that easily to her.
Future Lucy widened her eyes, and began to tremble a little. "I-Itachi… H-He…"
"H-He dies… doesn't he?" Mira questioned with a saddened look on her face at just the thought.
"I-I don't know what to say… just make sure, that you stay alive and stay by his side same with Erza." Future Lucy uttered while shaking and trembling. 'I can't… I can't let that happen…' Future Lucy thought as a shadowed image of a strange human-like looking figure with blades for arms, cutting through dragon after dragon, killing even escaping mages from guilds in the process.
Meanwhile, sitting in the top of one of the statues in the arena, was none other than the Black Wizard Zeref. He had a calm relaxed smile on his face, yet his eyes lacked emotions. On his shoulder was the little imp creature that was Obra from Team Raven Tail. "An army of over 10,000 dragons huh? Heh, with the Eclipse that might actually happen." Zeref smiled and looked at the imp creature on his shoulder. "Which makes this the perfect opportunity to see if he can control that power. You know what to do." Zeref said to which the imp let out a creepy little laughter.
That's the end for now!
The Grand Magic Games have ended, now onto the Eclipse arc! Why does Itachi remember the Eclipse gate? And from where? What's with that image Future Lucy thought of in the end? You will have to read the future chapters to find out!
Also, just in case, I hope everyone understands the reason Kagura was able to put up a fight like that against Itachi, was for following reasons, he was holding back, he wanted some information from her, and that is pretty much it.
And the reason Itachi didn't fight Minerva himself, was because I thought it would be more interesting if he fought Kagura instead, seeing as he probably blames himself for Simon's death and such. But I also wanted Minerva to get a demonstration as to why she shouldn't oppose Itachi, so I had him put her in a nightmare torture with his sharingan instead.
Now, what did you guys think? I tried to make some changes seeing as the games would have gone differently if Itachi was there and stuff. Tell me what you think of it in the reviews.
Leave a review!
-Later!
(respond to reviews)
Mathew5641: Mira might collect that prize somewhere near the end of this story, maybe during a said 1-year time skip. And wheter or not it's a curse mark… wait and see.
zubhanwc3: Well, now you know! Also, hmm seems like a mystery, oh well it doesn't really matter everyone has their own preference.
digreg: … Perhaps, or perhaps not.
Mr. Haziq: I'm looking forward to writing this arc myself.
Ita1412: Thanks, hope you liked the changes.
Sandi091000: Thanks!
Classy Uchiha: Thanks!
E.N.D.83: Thanks!
Malevors: Thanks! And at this point, Itachi is a little stronger than God Serena with his dragon slayer lacrimas, and yes, there will be fights in the future where he will need to go all out.
Kelmoria: Thanks! And now you know.
seant5054: I will consider it.
Ultimatrix bearer: Thanks!
Akytsu Forzen: Thanks, although sorry I won't include Obito, I've already decided not to add any more Naruto characters. The only ones will be Madara, Kisame, Kakuzu and Sasori.
Red Raven 007: Thanks!
Kh fan: Who knows, read to find out! Although I will say this, although Madara might have some good in him thanks to Ur, his goals may still clash with Itachi's which will cause conflict.
sao for life: Thanks!