Dico walked at a snail's pace, every one of his senses felt finely tuned. He observed the space around him carefully. He, along with Titania and Kain were combing the forest for any sign of Fairy Tail Wizards. The day he's been dreaming of has finally arrived!
"I can't wait to use my little babies on them." The Dark wizard nearly cackled, pulling out an off white voodoo doll. "They won't know what hit them!"
Scarlett glanced between the two she was with. She unfortunately got the short end of the stick. The group she was with had been tasked with finding 'Remi', or Lucy as she knew her. Dico was a crazed man, driven by an obsession. Titania thought the Drip had a lot to do with that. It's changed him so much in the short time she's been with Grimoire Heart.
Dico was originally driven by the fact that his home was invaded. He felt violated by the men that came in and took 'his' property and killed his friends. It's sense devolved into finding and killing a very close friend of hers, who has become the sole reason that everything has gone wrong in his life.
Erza was going to do everything she could to keep this monster away from his friends. Thankfully, she knew where Mavis' Grave was. With that information, all she had to do was walk around the island away from everyone else. Tenrou was large enough it was possible, and even likely that they'll never cross paths. Maybe, just maybe, her plan would work.
While their main goal was to find the grave of Fairy Tail's first master. This was the top priority of the Guild Master. Whomever finds the grave first and alerts Hades gets an automatic promotion.
The eradication of the other members would serve to help promote anyone else. The person with the most kills, also will be seeing a step up the ladder.
Eradicating the strongest members of Fairy Tail came first to most of the dark wizards. Their true intentions became clear once they were away from the Headmaster of the Guild. Even most of the Seven Kin were going out on a 'hunting spree', as they put it.
The thought made Titania sick. However, her strongest comrades were on this island today. If anyone was going to overcome this, it would be them.
"Did you hear that?" The tattooed wizard questioned, causing the group to freeze in their tracks. Dico moved forward slowly. He walked to the southeast a few paces before he hid behind a bush, peering through the treeline. Only a few meters away were three wizards walking together, along with a gray cat.
"Looks like we've got company." The dark wizard cackled as he gestured to the rest of the group to follow. "Four perfect targets straight ahead." His eyes became fixated on the brunette ahead of them. While it was hard to see her features, he was adamant that was the girl that he crossed paths with. Dico's blood began to rush through his body.
"That's her…" He growled.
Scarlett got a closer look. "Are you sure? All brunette's look alike to me." Shrugging, the wizard looked in Dico's direction. "Besides, we might as well get a closer look and introduce ourselves."
"I like what she's thinkin'." Kain chuckled darkly as he stood, rushing out quickly to their prey.
Gildarts' eyes turned heart-shaped as he praised his daughter. "You did so good in the first round, sweetheart!"
"Your magic power is truly incredible!" He continued, reaching out to hug the brunette.
"You've only known you're a dad for what, a few hours?" Cana rolled her eyes and shrugged off the gesture. The group continued to walk around Tenrou Island. Mirajane, as well as Canna's partner, Pantherlily, were joined with the father and daughter.
"Wait… If the two of you are S-Class wizards…" Lily began. "Why are you sticking around?"
"Oooh, harsh kitty." Canna chuckled, imitating scratching with her 'claws'.
"What do you mean?" Mira raised a brow as she loomed at the Exceed.
"As much as I'm enjoying the company, the two of you clearly know what we're looking for. How do we know you're not trying to sidetrack us from the actual mission at hand?"
The oldest wizard in the group started to laugh. "Nah. It's much more fun watching you search for something that's in plain sight."
"In plain sight? I haven't seen a damn thing out here except the trees and the random birds that keep squawking." Canna yelled.
"I-I don't mean to upset you sweetie." Gildarts' tone changed in the blink of an eye. "I just meant that we've just been here for the journey."
Mira continued where he left off, chuckling at the little exchange. "While you haven't been close to your objective, we've just been enjoying your company. My plan isn't to detour you from finding the Grave, nor do I intend to help you find it. We're just along for the ride." The she-demon grinned.
After hearing what they had to say, the card mage shrugged as she continued to walk. "I guess that's fine. Come on, Lily. We're gonna kick this Promotion's butt!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Dico laughed maniacally from behind them.
The group of wizards stopped in their tracks, turning around to see the three Grimoire Heart Members. As Mirajane took a closer look, she recognized one of them as Kain from the Seven Kin. The one with tattoo's she could only assume was Dico, the one after Lucy. Gray's description sounded a little far fetched at first. Now that she was looking at the lanky man in front of her, Mira knew this was the right guy.
"Just what in the hell are you doing here?" Gildarts piped up, stepping forward. "This is private property. No trespassers allowed."
Scarlett took a deep breath. Out of all the members they could've run into, it had to be one of the strongest of Fairy Tail. If he saw them as a threat, it was likely none of them would escape alive.
Dico was about to snap back at the older wizard. However, Titania took the reins instead.
"We're just here to play a little game." The red haired wizard chuckled darkly.
Gildarts stopped in his tracks, immediately recognizing the voice of the woman in front of him. Master said she was on a mission… Damn that old geezer for not filling me in…
"Let's get them, stop wasting my time!" Dico screamed as he ran into action.
Before the tattooed wizard was a quarter of the way to them, Mirajane was already in action. She pulled the signal flare out, tossing it as high as she could. This distracted them long enough for Canna to use her magic.
"Card Magic! Vanish!" The brunette yelled, flashing a blue card. The group vanished before Grimoire Heart's eyes.
Kain stood there in awe. "Wow… I wasn't expecting that."
"Let the chase begin…" Dico had a crazed look in his eye before he disappeared as well.
There are so many people here…
Hours have passed since the beginning of the second phase of the Trial. During this time, A young woman walked along a dirt path on Tenrou Island. She was bare footed.
It'd been a long time since anyone's been on the island. She contemplated. It was visited annually around this time of year for the Fairy Tail S-Class Promotions.
However, those weren't the only beings on the island.
"So many new energies…" The young girl contemplated, a serious look on her features. A gust of wind ruffled her white and blue dress. "I wonder what's going on?"
Mavis could sense the magic power of those around her. Several of them were malicious, while most of them she recognized as members of her Guild Family. Were those other members here to do harm to Fairy Tail?
The First Master was going to do everything in her power to stop them! She could sense Makarov's magic power nearby. If she was able to warn him about the intruders, they would be able to put a stop to them!
Running as fast as her bare feet would take her, Mavis made quick work of the dirt path. Hopefully she could reach her objective before anything terrible were to happen.
Just to the south of the young woman, four wizards were having a hell of a time.
"We've been walking in circles!"
Natsu and the gang have been walking around for miles in an attempt to locate the Grave of Fairy Tail's First Master. The island was dense with trees and all kinds of wildlife. The Dragon Slayer was becoming impatient. Every land marker looked the same. This made sense considering they were in a dense forest.
"Master did say that it would be hard to find.." Wendy reminded Natsu. "Who knows if we ever will.."
"Now's not the time to think like that, child." Carla pointed out. "However, it may help if we spread out a little more. I mean this is supposed to be a competition afterall between Lucy and Natsu."
The pink haired wizard shook his head. "We're in this together, guys. I'm not going to become an S-Class without my friends."
Lucy couldn't help the feeling of immense gratitude that began to flow from her. She looked at her partner with a huge grin on her face. Most of us wouldn't be here without his help in the first place.
"Does anyone know what exactly we're looking for?" The white Exceed questioned. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's possible we've already passed it if we don't know what it looks like."
"Unfortunately the only ones that know what it looks like and where it is, are the Master and the S-Class Mages. The Fire Dragon Slayer groaned. "And none of them would give us even a tiny hint!"
"They did that for a reason, flame brain." Gray chuckled. "It'd make the promotion a hell of a lot easier if we already knew what we were looking for."
Attempting to think logically, the Celestial Mage pondered. "It's obviously going to be marked by something."
"Probably a large stone." Carla interjected. The group nodded in agreement.
"It's also going to be covered up by magic…" Lucy sighed, feeling slightly dejected. It was a shame that Freed didn't make it through. He would've been extremely helpful in finding enchantments in the environment.
"This doesn't make it impossible." Gray pondered. "If we work together, odds are that we'll find a solution."
"Gray's right!" Wendy smiled. "Anything's possible when we work together."
The group of wizards continued to walk through the dense forest. Sounds of leaves rustling, and some small animals could be heard around them. Ahead of the wizards, an opening in the forest could be seen. Hopefully once they got away from the thick trees, they'd have a better chance of finding their objective. Each of them picked up their pace, nearly running as they made it to a large clearing.
Slowing their pace to a near crawl, the wizards glanced across the open area. As they made it to the edge, they stopped before the sunlight could touch their bodies. The Fire Dragon Slayer placed his arm out, warning everyone to stay behind him. Not wanting to be exposed to the enemy, the group decided to wait in the shadows.
"I don't see anything." Gray commented as he continued to watch.
"The smell in the air changed." Natsu mentioned as he looked to the Northeast. He stood right behind his partner, Lucy, in a protective stance. "It came from that direction." The Fire Dragon Slayer pointed.
"Are you sure it's not one of us?" Happy questions.
"I would've recognized the scent." The Dragon Slayer commented. "These I've never smelled before.
"I noticed it too." Wendy mentioned. She closed her eyes to enhance her other senses. As she listened, the Sky Dragon Slayer heard footsteps across the clearing. "There's a small group walking in this direction. Maybe two or three people."
"If we head this way." Carla pointed. "We may be able to dodge them, as long as we stay concealed in the trees."
"Sounds like a plan." Natsu agreed. The group slowly walked along the treeline, staying a few feet into the thick forest to avoid being seen. Although they had the signal flares, setting one off would alert the group closest to them. They couldn't afford to do this, especially since the Celestial Mage's safety was the Dragon Slayer's top priority.
Suddenly a bright shining light popped into the sky from the edge of the island. The pink haired wizard pulled Lucy into his chest, wrapping his arms around her protectively. All the others continued to observe the dark wizards across the clearing. From the moment the signal flare went off, they began walking in the direction of its source. Natsu thought it'd be safe to assume that all of the other dark wizards would be joining them.
"Let's go back the way we came, we'll be able to lose them in the forest." The Dragon Slayer commented.
"But, what about finding-" Lucy was cut off by her partner.
"All I care about is making sure you're safe." The pink haired wizard was adamant.
"Wendy and I will hang back from the two of you, keeping a perimeter." Gray mentioned, looking towards the young wizard.
"Sounds good." The Sky Dragon Slayer nodded in affirmation, smiling at the couple in front of her.
"We should get moving before we run into anyone else." Carla said at a whisper.