Author's Note: It's been a minute. Thank you for all your support and patience :,)
Disclaimer(s): I do not own Fairy Tail. I do not own "Holy Shine". The song is sung by Daisy x Daisy and written by Hiroyuki Kouzu and Mika. Remember to give lots of love and credit to your musical artists and songwriters.
But if I did, I would do a Jellal side story featuring how him, Meredy, and Ultear formed Crime Sorciere and how they gained notoriety as an independent Guild. Redemption for previous bad guys would be interesting.
Please feel free to give me your constructive criticism, feedback, suggestions, etc. as they are all welcome. I love hearing back from folks.
Spells and attacks will be typed in bold. Thoughts, flashbacks, and emphasized phrases will be italicized.
Lamia Thanksgiving arc ~ Chapter 14 - Orochi's Fin ~
~Margaret Town~
Sunset soon transitioned into night. Daylight's bright, fiery gradient darkened into a beautiful deep blue dotted with stars. Tonight would bring something new. It was the night of Lamia Scale's Thanksgiving Parade!
Ambient radiance from the town's streetlights dimmed the star's distant glow. Crowds of people gathered around the streets as various floats made their route around the town before reaching the final destination - the Margaret amphitheater by the town's central park.
Shinji, Aria, and Carla stood in the crowd gathered by the amphitheater as the floats came in one-by one with excited expressions.
Decorated with emerald-green scales made from cardboard and bouquets of white daisies, the first float was dedicated to Lamia Scale. Standing on it was none other than Lamia Scale's current ace, Lyon Vastia. The silver-haired mage held two hands together before releasing a swarm of crystalline dragonflies. Dynamic Ice Make insects zipped around the audience before bursting into cerulean and turquoise sparkles that trickled to the ground.
"Hmph," with a motion of his hands, Lyon transfigured the Ice Magic residue into a different form.
Flocks of bunnies fashioned from ice formed at the townspeoples' feet. Children and adults alike fawned over Lyon's adorable creations.
"Awwww, they're so cute," Aria kneeled down at she locked eyes with one of Lyon's ice rabbits.
"Hmmm..." Carla too stared into the eyes of one of the Ice Make critters. Her reflection accurately portrayed her sullen discomfort from her earlier precognitive episode.
"Aria, your favorites are coming up soon, " Shinji reminded the pinkette,"And I know you wouldn't want to miss them."
"Sherry and Ren?" Aria jolted back up before rejoining Shinji. Carla quietly tagged along after her.
After a few floats and vehicles featuring Margaret Town's local bakeries, restaurants, police, and fire departments passed by. The second guild-based float appeared. The floats design had a blue base and featured it's two performers, Ren and Sherry, standing atop a fluffy, white cloud. Ren used his Air Magic to gather daisy chains and bouquets from the audience to make them float within spheres of air. The tanned member of the Trimen nodded to his magenta-haired spouse standing next to him. Sherry smiled. She waved her fingers conjuring a similar magenta magic circle in response.
Daisy chains and bouquets within the air bubbles merged before taking on a new shape. From the blizzard of daisies emerged a maiden of daisies with a flower crown of her own over green locks made from interwoven stems. The floral doll winked at the audience before flourishing wings with "feathers" made entirely of daisy petals. Sherry undulated her fingers as if she was pulling ten strings attached to a marionette. Accordingly, the winged daisy maiden would fly around the audience leaving a trail of falling petals in her wake.
"Ahhh, Sherry's magic is so pretty!" Aria fangirled.
"I guess it only looks pretty when she's not making dolls from rocks, mud, or trees," Carla retorted.
"You've seen Sherry in battle?" Aria was intrigued by Carla's words.
"Years ago, child. Years..." Carla briefly reminisced.
"Guys, check it out!" Shinji beckoned the two girls to pay attention to the upcoming float.
The float representing Fairy Tail was orange with golden statues. Every statue resembled the guild's ambiguous saying about fairies; "Do fairies have tails?"
Auric effigies of dainty, fairy-winged women with pointed tails lined a six-stepped staircase. A crimson, velvet carpet with gold embroidered designs and a trail of scattered daisy petals led to Romeo dressed in a black dress shirt, a maroon vest, matching slim, maroon slacks with black leather shoes. The Fire Mage conjured purple, blue, and red spherical flames that burst into fireworks above the crowd. He smiled nervously, "Geez, how the hell did I get myself into this mess?"
~Flashback Sequence: Lamia Scale Guild Hall~
"What do you mean one of us has to perform on the parade float?" Romeo, Aria, Shinji, and Carla exclaimed in unison in front of Master Babasama and Lyon.
"Tch! We can't just parade an empty guild float out the streets without any mages on it. Do I need to spin you all to make you pick a person?" Ooba Babasama threateningly motioned a finger in a circular motion in front of the four teen mages.
"Wait, how come you aren't trying to coerce Wendy into performing on the float?" Romeo pointed to the Sky Dragon Slayer.
"Um, haha...I get motion sick nowadays on moving objects," Wendy poked the tips of her index fingers together as she explained, "Wouldn't want to show Margaret what I look like puking my guts out."
"Wendy's also performing a little something-something with me at the amphitheater!" Sherria winked at the others.
"Eh?" Romeo and the others tilted their heads in curiosity at the Sky God Slayer and the Sky Dragon Slayer
" I can't tell you about it now. Otherwise, I'd ruin the fun," Sherria winked again as she clung to a shy Wendy's shoulders.
"Taking Wendy's predicament into account, one of you four should be delegated to perform," Lyon clarified, "I hope you lot can come to a proper consensus."
Imaginary lightning bolts flashed between Romeo, Shinji, Aria, and Carla.
"Next to a fire mage, a sword summoning Reequip mage, and a mysterious crystal mage, my magic is nowhere near as showy. I'd be a bad choice for the parade float," Carla reasoned.
"You could never go wrong turning into a cat girl for the audience," Aria sarcastically suggested, earning the Exceed's ire.
"How brazen of you to suggest I would do such a thing!?" Carla rebutted the pinkette's horrendous idea.
Romeo and Shinji tried to hide their blushes at the idea. A thought cloud appeared above their heads of Carla's human form wearing a variety of outfits, ranging from maid costumes, beachwear, and school uniforms.
Carla glared daggers at the boys, "You two get your minds out the gutter this instant!"
"We're sorry, ma'am!" Romeo and Shinji immediately cow-towed before the angry, white-furred Exceed.
Getting up from his cow-tow, Romeo sighed in surrender, "For the sake of getting this over with, I guess I'll volunteer myself."
"Now that's the spirit, Romeo!" Lyon praised the Fire Mage, "But do be careful not to burn anything in the town."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I was taught pyrokinesis by my former sensei," Romeo juggled a few miniature, purple fireballs mid-air to prove his point.
He dispelled the purple flames before pointing an index finger at Lyon and Ooba Babasama, "You have my word that I won't pull off a Natsu-nii."
"Alright! Romeo-san is going to be performing!" Wendy cheered.
Aria and Shinji smiled at each other while Carla sighed in relief.
"Bet you can't wait to see him dress up for the occasion," Sherria suggested to Wendy.
"Eh? Dress up?" the Fire Mage deadpanned at the thought, "What's wrong with what I'm currently wearing?"
"Nah. We have to go shopping for something to make you look more dapper ASAP!" Sherria quickly grabbed Romeo's hand.
"Wait? Right no-AHHHHHH!"
Before Romeo completed his sentence, Sherria dashed out the door with him flailing in her wake.
Wendy, Shinji, Aria, Carla, and Lyon sweatdropped in tandem.
~Back to the Present Hour~
Following the motions of Romeo's hands, flaming orbs of different colors danced around the float before being launched to the sky. When the fireballs reached high enough altitude they burst into more fireworks. Romeo lifted a hand up with only his thumb and index finger pointed outward, showing the hand signal that most Fairy Tail mages show the crowds during the Fantasia Parades in Magnolia.
Peeking from behind the light blue curtains of the Margaret's amphitheater, a certain bluenette dressed in a white frilled dress with red bows blushed as she watched the dark, purple-haired male on his float, "Romeo-san, you look so cool."
The crowds of Margaret's townspeople cheered in response.
"So pretty..." Aria's was fascinating by the twinkling embers in the sky.
"Damn, he's a natural!" Shinji's eyes widened in amazement.
"Romeo did perform in last year's Fantasia parade," Carla smiled as she admired the multi-colored sparkles that lit up the sky, "His mastery of Rainbow Fire has improved significantly since a year ago."
"You know, I think he'd be really happy if you told him that yourself," Shinji grinned at Carla.
"That's a hard pass from me," Carla rejected the notion, "I wouldn't want to feed his ego the wrong way."
"Geez. This one's a tough nut to crack," the raven-haired mage and the pinkette sighed.
After the Fairy Tail float wowed the crowds, a towering, gray float resembling a castle with eight lime-green snakes assembled from cardboard wrapped around the height of the castle slowly cruised by. Only a few unrecognizable members of Orochi's Fin were stationed at the top of the castle, waving at the crowds below while waving black flags with the guild's insignia. This float moved noticeably slower than the others, as if something heavy was inside.
Carla gazed skeptically at the tall float, "Oddly enough, that guy with the freckles whom Romeo and I talked with during the banquet is not present on the float..."
Elsewhere in Margaret...
A serpentine, white-robed male in a marsh-green and bowl-cut flicked his tongue as he entered a dark alley amidst the backdrop of cheering townsfolk. As he turned into the shady corridor, he was greeted by a black-cloaked figure.
"Greetings, Little Snake," the figure's black lips curled as he waved a hand with black-polished nails at Orochi Head.
"Tsk...My name is Orochi Head. Not Little Snake," a small vein popped on his forehead through his bangs before attempting to change the subject, "More importantly...the float has been parading around the city without difficulty. It should soon be parked at the amphitheater next to the crowd. The main attraction should be set in position by then. It's up to you to make it work."
"Good to hear...I'll be sure to find a place from above to watch the carnage unfold," the cloaked man began to smile, "You best do your part and scram to the canyon in the west to enact the next part of the plan."
"Ugh...Fine, fine...I'll hurry up and send in the reinforcements," Orochi Head sweatdropped nervously, "Geez, I need to get away from this massive sadist creep!"
"Good luck~" the black-cloaked figure waved his minion off as Orochi Head scurried away as quick as possible.
Back to the Margaret Thanksgiving Parade
Once all floats were showcased across Margaret's main streets, they were soon stationed at the town's central park behind a pumped-up crowd gathered in front of the amphitheater. Onstage, Yuka was dressed in a cerulean tuxedo with a red bow tied around a white dress shirt. Like previous years, he would be the show's host.
Shinji and Aria stood within the crowd, eyeing the stage with anticipation for what's the come. Being too small in her natural state, Carla perched herself a top Aria's shoulders for a proper view of the last performance.
"Hey guys!" a certain well-dressed Fire Mage approached the swordsman and Teleportation mage.
"Romeo!" Aria and Shinji smiled as their dapper teammate found them in the crowd.
"I never knew you were so adept at performing in front of a crowd," Shinji complimented the Fire Mage, "I could never."
"The fireworks you made were so pretty! How did you do that?" Aria's eyes sparkled as she recounted the marvelous, polychromatic display created from Rainbow Fire Magic earlier.
"Oh that?" Romeo scratched the back of his head before demonstrating. He created a sphere of orange fire the size of a raindrop using his right hand. Holding his left hand below, he ignited a small purple fire. Waving his fingers, Romeo nonverbally enticed the violaceous flames below to rise and envelope the tiny orange orb.
"If I put a small concentration of my explosive orange flames as a core with other flames acting as an outer coating, I can craft fireworks of different colors when I detonate them."
"Being able to control different colored flames simultaneously...Is it me or did you get stronger, Conbolt-boy?" Carla questioned the Fire Mage.
"Casting the Rainbow Fire spell itself means I have to control all seven flames together. While I have been able to pull it off once, it was just dumb luck. I don't have the best control over it. But in my current stage...maybe I'll have better control over two colored flames at the same time," Romeo beamed with newfound elation.
"We better spar when we get back to Magnolia." Shinji lightly punched Romeo's shoulder, sharing equivalent anticipation.
"Two flames of different colors at the same time...and seven colors total..." Aria verbally computed, "That's like twenty-one possible combinations!"
"Well, not accounting for lack of compatibility between certain flame types..." Romeo slumped with disappointment.
"Chin up, Romeo," Carla scolded her teammate, "You should be proud of how far you've come."
"Carla..." Romeo was astounded that the female Exceed who usually makes verbal jabs and scoffs at his existence was actually praising him, let alone addressing him by his first name.
Shinji and Aria smiled as they exchanged optimistic glances, "It seems our words got to her somehow."
"Ahem. Mic test! Mic test!" Yuka spoke into the wireless microphone system, "Can you guys hear me?"
The audience cheered in response to the Wave Mage's query.
"Then I'll take that as a 'yes'. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude for the people of Margaret, our dear guests from other parts of Fiore, and guild ambassadors from Blue Pegasus, Fairy Tail, and Orochi's Fin for helping sponsor and partake in this event. Without further delay, I'd like to present the final performance of the night before we all wind down!"
The crowd grew louder with anticipation, voices of inquisition and uncertainty permeated the air.
"At ease. At ease. Let's give a round of applause for..The Sky Sisters!"
Yuka cleared the stage as the blue curtains rose, unveiling two girls dressed in short, frilled dresses with white angel wings attached to the back. Wendy wore a white dress with red bows to her neck and her twin tails. Sherria wore an identical blue dress with white ribbons tied in her hair. Both girls wore crowns made from daisies and held a microphone in each hand.
"Wendy..." Romeo blushed at the sight of Wendy dressed up like idol who came down from heaven.
A serene, 15 second introductory tune played from the loudspeakers set up across the stage, soothing the audience into a tranquil yet anticipatory mood. Forlorn riffs of guitar strings strung, signifying the intro was nearing its end. The Sky Dragon Slayer and the Sky God Slayer nodded to each other before taking a breath together. On cue, they harmonized:
(A/N: English translations may vary.)
I want to tell you right now~
That our hearts are connected~!
At "our hearts are connected" Wendy's eyes seemingly searched for someone in the crowd without trying to make it too obvious. Romeo sensing Wendy was looking for someone in the crowd felt the urge to call out her name but decided to watch on without causing a great disturbance. Although their eyes couldn't meet, she still maintained her smile for the audience.
As if struck by magic, the crowd went wild at this unfamiliar experience. Margaret being the small town it was, seldom hosted idols or major concerts like these before. The atmospheric serenity the two created solely from their singing voices felt like a serotonin-inducing enchantment. Wendy's and Sherria sang seraphically into their mics whilst swaying side to side, their frills flowed and their feathers from their costume wings ruffled in rebound with their motions.
I don't want to let go of this dream~
So I hugged it to never release it~
The scar hidden in the depths of my heart~
Cannot be reached by feelings~
In sync with the last stanza, Sherria and Wendy reached their hands out towards the audience. Wind magic manifested as gentle breezes swirled around the girls, sending a zephyr of daisies into the sky. White petals fluttered down to the audience like a precipitation of angel's feathers. Multiple sparklers on the stage went off. The audience's hype escalated with the addition of these unprecedented visual effects.
Don't look back on your trembling footsteps~
And take a step closer to tomorrow~!
I want to tell you right now~
That everything is okay, hold my hand~
Let's start again from here~
For the future that I wished for~!
Once more, the Sky Sisters extended their hands longingly towards the audience. With the song finished, the audience roared like never before. Wendy and Sherria smiled at the well-earned reception. They exchanged jubilant glances with one another before looking back to the crowd to take their bow. When Wendy recomposed herself from the bow, her eyes met with a certain Fire Mage's eye in the crowd.
"I finally found him!"
"Wendy..." Romeo gazed back earnestly at the Sky Dragon Slayer.
Not wanting to break the invisible line of sight that connected them, both maintained their stares. Despite the clamorous applause in the background, time felt like it slowed down for those two in this shared moment.
...
Soon after, the cheers became screams that shattered the sugar-sweet reverie.
A loud, inhumane roar bellowed from behind the crowd gathered in front of the amphitheater, silencing everyone. The tumultuous bellow came from within the confines of the towering cardboard castle that was Orochi Fin's float. That hidden something seemed to have awoken and was wreaking havoc for the sake of its release. Cardboard components that made the fake castle bended, expanded, then burst.
Unleashed was an azure-scaled reptilian beast with eight heads that stood 6 meters tall. Each head possessed tomato-red eyes with slit black pupils, flowy teal green manes, and a set of jagged teeth. Eight long necks branched from a common serpentine body. In addition to its eight menacing heads, the creature had two azure-scaled claws with long, blue nails that could skewer humans alive with one swipe. Oddly, the tail at the end of its snake like body was shaped like the blade of a sword.
The giant, eight-headed reptile scanned all the people in the audience like a predator examining its prey. Collectively, all eight heads flicker their purple tongues around their sharp teeth before vociferating. Fear elicited, townsfolk, visitors, and mages alike dispersed from the crowd in a cacophony of terror.
Wendy, Sherria, Yuka, and Lyon saw everything from the stage in shock. Contrasting her typical rough and rowdy exterior, Ooba was frothing mad. More wrinkles on her forehead folded over. She grinded her teeth hard enough for those nearby to hear, "Orochi...I knew I couldn't trust you...How dare you sully our town..."
"Master Ooba, what is that?" Lyon inquired.
"It's the guild's namesake. An Eight-Headed Orochi. Although nothing like dragons, these monsters are formidable in their own right. Each head is indicative of how much Magic Power and Magic Resistance it has. Eight is the maximum number of heads such a creature can possess..."
"Then that means-!" Yuke realized.
"Quiet Yuka," Lyon hushed the Wave Mage from saying the completed thought out loud, "We need to gather the guild to keep this thing at bay!"
From within the crowd, Romeo, Aria, Shinji, and Carla were too stunned to move.
"What the hell?" Romeo couldn't believe what he was seeing, "How does someone put a whole-ass Orochi into a parade float, let alone, actually get one?"
"This wasn't shown in my clairvoyance...What in heaven's name is going on here?" Carla was quaking in fear. With the sole exception of what she saw during the Grand Magic Games, her visions usually proceeded according to what is showcased. Nonetheless, not everything that transpires will be accounted for.
From the stage, Yuka nervously tried to uphold his announcer persona, "This is not a part of the show. I repeat. This is not a part for the show. Please evacuate the premises with your children, elders, and other loved ones immediately! If you are a mage of Lamia Scale, please help your fellow guild members in the efforts to limit intruder's movements."
Quick on his feet, Shinji briefly gave his piece to his friends before subduing the monster, "We don't have time to ponder! Right now, we have to take action or else the people here will get hurt!"
"I'll go with you, Shin-kun!" Aria conjured four crystalline knives in the interweb spaces of her hands as she followed the swordsman.
"Requip: Night Sky Cloak!"
In a flash of light, Shinji switched outfits from his usual attire into a long, black hooded overcoat with white linings and signature white star insignias. In one hand, he held a black katana with silvery-white edges. In the other hand, a white katana with obsidian black edges. Shinji and Aria vanished into the night as they bounded towards the Eight-Headed Orochi. Per Yuka's instructions, other mages from Lamia Scale soon joined the fray. They encircled the great beast, firing various magic spells to draw its attention away from the festival attendees.
"We should go too," Romeo said to Carla while casting his gaze at the draconic creature from afar.
"Romeo-san! Carla! Hold on!" A familiar voice resounded from within the crowd.
The Fire Mage and white cat turned around to see Wendy and Sherria hurrying towards them from the stage.
"Wendy, is this really the time child?" Carla was astounded by Wendy's halting words.
"Master Ooba told us that this creature is one of Orochi Fin's. She told us that there should be a beast tamer amongst their ranks who is controlling the damn thing," Sherria explained.
"Yikes. A Beast Tamer can control something of that power? That's insane!" Romeo was flabbergasted.
"A Beast Tamer...would this also explain the mob of monsters coming from the nearby canyon?" Carla recalled the foreboding images her clairvoyance bestowed her.
"I saw something related to this actually..." Carla spoke up, "And I only started seeing them after I saw the bowl-cut man from Orochi's Fin."
Wendy and Romeo's eyes widened in response to Carla's revelation.
"After seeing that dude that I was talking to? Yikes," Romeo slapped his face with a flat palm, "Do you think he's Orochi's resident beast tamer?"
"You saw something?" Sherria looked confused.
"What did you see Carla?" Wendy worriedly asked her friend.
"One of the things I saw in my vision was an army of 100,000 monsters heading towards the city from up there, "Carla pointed northward whilst explaining her foresight, "They were coming the gorge from up north."
"100,000?" Sherria, Romeo, and Wendy gasped.
"How do we fight 100,000 monsters and keep everyone safe?" Romeo grit his teeth in frustration.
"If a larger force is coming from up west, the beast tamer is most likely there. Away from people who might snuff him out," Carla theorized.
"Then if we intercept him while he's sending monsters in from north, we can kick the can on their plot!" Wendy concluded.
"Most likely," Carla activated her Aera before latching onto Wendy's shoulders as she lifted her into the air, "But do be on your guard. Orochi Fin's other members could be there."
"Of course," Wendy nodded as Carla flew northward.
"Wendy! I'm coming too~!" Sherria's voice trailed behind Carla and Wendy as they soared over Margaret's houses.
"Sherria?" Wendy glimpsed behind her, "Eh?"
Comically, Sherria's aerial mode of transportation was piggybacking on a Romeo who was using Red Carpet.
"Yo..." Romeo tried to play it cool as he bent over to accommodate the extra weight digging into his back.
"Wendy, I do not approve of your friendships with Sherria or Romeo anymore," Carla blankly told the Sky Dragon Slayer.
"I'm starting to see your point..." Wendy replied back blankly.
"W-W-Wendy, it's not what you think!" Romeo shook his head nervously.
"I'm sorry Wendy, this was the only way I could tag along with you," Sherria attempted to explain as her breasts dug deeper into Romeo's back.
"You're not making this any easier Sherria-san!" blood rushed to Romeo's face as he tried to keep his composure.
"Weird...my vision back at the guildhall showed me that Sherria would hitch a ride from Happy after stepping on Natsu's face. But right now, she's using Romeo as a taxicab instead. What is going on with these contradictions?"
~Magaret Town Central Park~
Eyeing the potential snacks surrounding, the Orochi's eight heads meandered towards the scattering people with jaws opened wide. With each mandible ajar, a magic circle of different colors appeared parallel to the openings.
"Everyone fall back! Each head of the Orochi can fire a different magic blast!" Lyon warned his fellow members. The spiky silvery haired mage held his fists together, "Ice Make: Snow Tiger!"
The Ice Make wizard crafted two large tigers from ice which bit into two of the Orochi's eight heads. The creature let out an anguished cry of pain before redirecting the aim of its remaining heads at Lyon's creations. The six heads blasted a combination of Fire Magic, Water Magic, Wind Magic, Lightning Magic, and Acid Magic at the rime tigers partially clamping down on two of its heads, utterly vaporizing them along with heads they secured themselves onto.
"It stuck its own heads?" Lyon's eyes dilated with shock.
"Woof, maybe we can use that to our advantage," Toby brandished his newly polished green Mega Mega Jellyfish Claws.
"Moreover, that thing just cast six different types of magic simultaneously. Can my Wave really hold the fort against it?" Yuka of Lamia Scale was doubtful.
"Don't get your nickers too twisted! We got two down for now! Six more heads to go!" Toby consoled Yuka with a toothy grin.
When the blasts subsided, two headless stumps remained. Shortly thereafter, two of the Orochi's intact heads hovered over the two stubs. Opening their mouths, a light green magic circle from each orifice formed. A stream of viridescent light curved from the circles onto the headless stubs.
"What on earth is that thing doing now?" Lyon could not fathom the Orochi's tactics.
While two of the Orochi's heads focused their attention on the headless appendages, the four remnants opened their jaws wide to cast magic breaths at the Mages. Bolts of lightning, torrents of water, cyclones of wind and flame swept the park. Many of Lamia Scale's mages were sent sprawling from the havoc. The people in the crowd screamed at the encroaching cascade of doom.
"Forcefield!" Yuka held the flat of his palms out, casting a transparent, half-dome barrier that cordoned himself, Lyon, Toby, and the crowd behind from the onslaught.
When the tumult died down, the three found themselves in a scorched park with most of their guildmates down for the count.
"Nice timing, Yuka!" Lyon nodded to Yuka.
"Still, our numbers are running low..." the Wave Mage lamented their current predicament.
"Grrrrr...I'll show this overgrown reptile what's ruff! Have a taste of my newly buffed Super Paralysis Mega Mega Jellyfish Claw!" Toby growled as he charged towards the Orochi.
"Toby, be careful!" Lyon and Yuka cautioned their dog-faced friend.
As he enclosed upon the azure-scaled beast's hulking figure, Toby noticed the headless stubs from earlier regenerated as they basked in their respective luminous rivulets. Musculature, bones, vessels, nerves, and scales reassembled themselves under the guidance of the eerie light. In seconds, the two once-incapacitated heads were restored to their former glory.
"No way..." Lyon looked on in shock.
"Toby! Get out of there!" Yuka called out to his guildmate.
"Arf?" Toby whimpered as eight pairs of blood-red oculi loomed above him. Eight gaping open mouths lined with cuspidated fangs with eight magic circles aimed at Toby.
"Toby!" Lyon and Yuka shouted.
"Freezing Bloom!" three polycrystal daggers whizzed past Toby's caramel locks straight into the middle of three of the Orochi's foreheads. Upon coming contact with the scaled surface, the knives blossomed into crystal flowers that incased their targets. Toby glanced behind him, noticing one of Fairy Tail's mages threw the knives.
"Hey! You almost got me! Grrrrrr! " Toby's head tripled in size as he scolded Aria.
"Sorry, Mr. Dog Man," Aria quickly grabbed onto Toby's forearm, before pointing at the Orochi's other six heads. At her cue, Toby refocused his gaze onto the enemy. The six remaining heads held their aim at him intact. In an instant, they fired.
"Woof?" Toby exclaimed as he felt a rush of heat from being within the blast's proximity.
Before they could be obliterated, Aria teleported herself and Toby closer to Yuka and Lyon's position.
"Whew! That was close," Aria wiped some sweat off of her forehead, "We could have been fried there..."
"You can use Ice Magic?" Lyon looked at Aria, astounded.
"Not quite. The story's kinda long and we don't have time," Aria shrugged, before pleading to the Ice Make Mage with her palms pressed together,"Lyon-san, I need your help to keep the oversized reptile's heads in place. Unfortunately, I know I can't freeze them all,"
"Sounds like a solid plan to me," Lyon grinned, "Yuka, Toby, can you focus on evacuating the townsfolk and the injured for the time being?"
"Sir, yes sir," Yuka nodded, agreeing with their guild's ace.
"Grrooowwwwrrrr..." Toby moaned with teary eyes, "I wanted to show the overgrown lizard who's boss..."
"C'mon Toby, putting yourself in close quarters with that thing is too dangerous!" Yuka dragged a sobbing Toby as they departed the battle scene.
Lyon and Aria refocused their priority to the Orochi before them. Two of the heads used Fire Magic and Acid Magic to dismantle the crystal barriers around three of the other heads. Four heads opened their jaws at Lyon's and Aria's direction. A spiral of electricity, water, and gale advanced their way.
"Get behind me!" Lyon commanded Aria who promptly followed his command, "Ice Make: Shield!"
Lyon forged an icy shield shaped like a giant, concave lens with hexagonal lattices in the nick of time to block the attack. When the combined breath struck Lyon's shield, an orchestra of creaking and crackling sounds ensued. His frozen shield was slowly chipped away from the roiling elements.
"Shit," Lyon poured more of his magical energy into his shield to prolong its duration. He slightly angled his face at Aria, "I won't be able to hold on forever. Use this chance to strike them in my stead."
"Will do," Aria nodded as she ran out from behind the shield and charged towards the serpentine monster. Quickly, she conjured more crystal knives in the palms of her hands as she homed in on the towering reptile.
Noticing one of its prey was trying to attack it while the other was handling the brunt of its own assault, one of the attacking Orochi's heads deviated its breath's trajectory to target Aria. Volts of crackling electricity undulated at the pinkette faster than she could evade.
"Doll Attack: Rock Doll!"
Impeding the lightning, a large golem fashioned from gravel barricaded Aria.
"Aria-san!" a familiar, female voice called out to the pinkette from behind, "I got your back!"
Aria turned around and smiled at the sight of a magenta-haired woman holding up a rose-colored magic circle controlling the huge rock doll, "Sherry-san!"
"Keep going, Aria-san! Ren-san and I will try to keep as many heads occupied as possible!"
Despite bits of pebbles and dust crumbling from its constitution, Sherry's Rock Doll slowly enclosed on the Orochi before body slamming it. Sensing the encroaching danger nearby, the Orochi redirected their fire at their nearest adversary. Putting another damper on the resistance, the Fire and Acid Magic refocused their breath attacks at the craggy golem. The draconic being's attacks melted and chipped away at the Golem until it was reduced to a pile of rubble. Halting their breath attacks, the six heads of the Orochi honed their gaze upon a new target, Sherry.
Lyon's shield shattered shortly after the triple pronged attack subsided. Temporarily relieved, the silver-haired mage, watched as Sherry tried to stall the beast. His eyes widened, "Sherry!"
"Drat. My Rock Doll didn't last for long at all." Sherry cursed under her breath, "If only this foul thing wasn't being controlled, I could've put an end to this..."
"Aerial!"
Before the five Orochi heads opened their jaws to launch another breath attack, they were all imprisoned in clear, gaseous spheres. Within the anoxic chambers, the remaining six heads suffocated for air. Sherry, Aria, and Lyon looked to the voice that resounded from the right side of the park, "Ren-san!"
Five sky-blue magic circles floated parallel to the Blue Pegasus mage extended his hands. The Air magic user calmly respired as he tried to maintain his spell, "Look alive everyone! It can't use breath attacks when it can't take in too much oxygen!"
"Five heads at once? Ren-san is more powerful than the magazines let on," Aria smiled.
"Ren, dear, you are brilliant!" Sherry praised her husband.
"Thanks to everyone's struggles, I found the perfect moment. But it's not completely robbed of oxygen, so I can't snuff this asshole out," Ren maintained his focus as he laid out his synopsis, "Also I won't be able to hold Aerial up forever. Strike it while the iron's hot!"
"Heard you loud and clear!" Shinji, clad in his Night Sky Cloak, shot through the night like a shooting star. In an instance, he was in front of the Orochi. By command, the large beast uncoiled its long tail that safeguarded its core, flailing its blade-tipped appendage at the raven-haired swordsman.
"Tch." Shinji clicked his tongue at the erratic whipping pattern of the large reptile's tail. In an instant, Shinji rapidly shuffled around the variable lashings. Not once did he blink his icy sapphire eyes as he tried to ascertain a pattern. At some point, he rose both of his katanas. Whereas the black katana with the white edges became encompassed in shadow, the white katana with black edges radiated starshine. With the tail's motions grasped, Shinji began his counter.
"Day And Night!"
Shinji maneuvered his shadow and light-endowed blades swiftly to counter the varying paths of the Orochi's razor-sharp tail. Collisions upon collisions, the metallic chimes of the blades echoed like irregularly ringing bells. Despite his best efforts, Shinji was at a stalemate as the reptile put in its last efforts to fight.
Noticing his and Ren's efforts to hold the beast at bay, Sherry exchanged glances with Aria "Guess we have to be the back up."
"Shin-kun! Watch out!" Aria threw her crystal knives towards the Orochi's massive body, "Petal Burst!"
The blades turned shades from amethyst to ruby before they touched the Orochi's exposed body. Upon embezzling themselves into the beasts's thick azure hide, the rubrous florets exploded.
"Doll Attack: Mud Doll!"
From the loose earth rose a blob-like puppet that pressed onto two of the Orochi's, weighing it down just enough to give the swordsman below a better shot. In reaction to the sudden assault, the Orochi halted its tail, enabling Shinji to close in on two of the Orochi's heads.
Discarding his black sword, Shinji traced the body of the white sword with a white magic circle at the tips of his index and middle right fingers, "Bladesmith: Hoshigami!"
The white blade in his hand flashed as his base sword reconfigured into a stronger form- a radiant, platinum blade with a star-shaped collar. At full force, Shinji thrust his blade skyward from beneath two of the Orochi's heads.
"Midnight...STARRRRR!"
An eruption of celestial light ascended from the Hoshigami's blade, piercing through two of the fanged beast's heads and into the night, lopping them off. Hoshigami's enhancement dissipated, reverting the katana back to its original form. Shinji took a knee to the ground, "Crap, I feel like I'm halfway spent."
"Nice! Shinji!" Aria called out from afar.
"Wow, you Fairy Tail mages do not disappoint," Sherry smiled at the swordsman's success.
"To think that Gray and Juvia's fake lovechild would possess the Titania's magic and monstrous power," Lyon smirked,' Good grief, what a distasteful combination."
Still, there was no time to spare for any celebrations. The fight was far from over. Cracks within the three heads imprisoned by Aria's solid ether branched from one end to the other of the crystalline flowers, until the heads were released. The three newly liberated heads glared menacingly at Shinji.
"Hmph," Shinji readied his blades once more, "Tenacious one, aren't you?"
~Over The Ravine North of Margaret~
"Oh God..."
Sherria and the Fairy Tail mages frowned at the sight below them. Flying above the rocky slopes, they witnessed what seemed like a never-ending mob of monsters marching towards Margaret.
"This, at the very least, aligns with what I saw in my vision," Carla uttered, "If my intuition is correct, the one controlling them should be up ahead. Keep your eyes peeled and wits about you."
"It's kind of hard to find a person in this large crowd though..." Romeo countered, "But is it worth getting close at the risk of fighting all those monsters?"
"If we go to ground level, maybe I can sniff him out!" Wendy offered.
From Romeo's back, Sherria flashed a thumbs-up, "Nice. At the end of the day, a Dragon Slayer's nose more reliable than a regular one!"
"Let's not dawdle then. Romeo, let's descend now," Carla looked to the Fire Mage behind her, "Once we get down, don't hold back.
The Fire Mage nodded as he briefly glanced at Sherria who buried her chest into his upper back, "Hold on tight, Sherria...but not too tightly."
"Hey! I can't help it!" Sherria pouted flustery," If I could fly without help, I wou-AAAHHHHHH!"
Both Carla, who held Wendy, and Romeo, whom Sherria clung onto, swooped downwards into a section in the middle of the monster army. Coming down with a fiery crash, their landing blew away a horde of controlled beasts. From inside the smoke, their resistance began.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Sky God's Bellow!"
Squalls of draconic winds and godly, black winds spiraled through multiple rows of sandbeasts, orcs, and dire wolves, sending all in their paths sprawling away. Following the ruckus, all standing monsters in the area turned their attention towards them.
"It seems the beast tamer can tell we are here," Carla watched as the beasts adjusted their attention to them, "Still, it's a shame, we let some slip through the cracks."
"Geez, what am I even doing here?" Romeo sighed as he gazed upon the might of the Sky Dragon and God Slayers.
"Wendy!" Carla called out to the bluenette as she fluttered over the others with her wings.
"Yes?" Wendy answered.
"Don't get distracted child. That beast tamer scoundrel should be around here somewhere. If you could track his scent for us, that would be most helpful."
"Right!" Wendy affirmed as she sniffed the air. The Sky Dragon Slayer's eyes widened, "Hmmm...he's actually quite close!"
"Good work. What direction did you find him?"
"A few meters north!" Wendy pointed at the road ahead of them, "But he's surrounded himself with tougher monsters."
"Those beasts are nothing that you guys can't handle," Carla smirked as her entire body glowed in a pinkish light. When the light faded, Carla transformed into her human form. Subsequently, she released her feline claws before heading north, "Leave the tamer to me."
"Let's make this a competition!" Romeo set his hands ablaze with orange flames as he followed Carla's lead, "Whoever kicks his ass first gets a free soda!"
"Oh, you're on!" Sherria and Wendy accepted his challenge before proceeding.
A pack of twenty dire wolves rapidly sprinted towards them from the left flank. To their right, seven sandbeasts abruptly popped out from underneath the earth. Taking note of the sand beasts, Romeo concentrated his orange flames into orbs that drifted over both of his open palms. Joining the orbs over his head, he combined the separate round fireballs into a conglomerate luminosity before unleashing their full might onto the two beasts.
"Brilliant Orange!"
A, orange, spherical explosion knocked by the two sandbeasts before they could scream as well as more monsters approaching from up ahead.
Sensing the grey-hided dire wolves bearing their fangs from the back, Sherria did a quick 180 pivot before sacking them with a spiral of sable winds from her hands and legs, " Sky God's Dance!"
The pack of feral dogs cried as they we sent flying from the Sky God Slayer's powerful winds, slamming into the additional reinforcements coming from behind.
"He's growing desperate if he's sending extra cavalry to flank us!" Sherria shared her observation.
"He also must have a clear line of sight us from wherever the heck he is," Romeo mentioned.
"I smell him up ahead!" Wendy fixed her gaze to an infantry of muscular orcs surrounding a lime-scaled Wyvern with brown leather reigns and a saddle. Riding the saddle was the dark-freckled mage with the marsh-green bowl-cut whom Romeo and Carla shared an amicable chat with at the Lamia Scale Guild Hall - Orochi Head.
"It really is him..." Romeo scowled at reality, "And to think just hours ago he was so chipper about how his guild was helping out big time with the festival."
"I guess people don't turn new leaves over so easily," Sherria glowered alongside the Fire Mage, "Sabotaging the parade as sponsors and ambassadors was such a cheap move."
Orochi Head, no longer playing the aforementioned role, displayed his true colors. Irately, he narrowed his amber eyes at the mages down south. Orochi Head's tongue flicked in typical snake-like fashion, "How the hell did you runts even think to show up here?"
"I don't know," Romeo shrugged before turning to Carla, "What kind of drugs are you on?"
"Ehhhh? Carla?" Wendy and Sherria cast exaggeratedly stunned looks at their prim and proper Exceed friend.
"That was below par, you arse!" Carla glared daggers at Romeo who chuckled in response.
"Tsk, tsk..." Orochi Head clicked his forked tongue, "Whatever your methods were, it doesn't necessitate the right ends."
"I could say the same for you!" Carla dashed towards the beast tamer with her sharpened claws readied.
"Orcs! Attack!" Orochi Head reached into a pocket and brandished a whip at the beasts. Following the crackling of his whip, the orcs charged towards Carla with raised fists and clubs. Orochi Head then pulled the reins on his wyvern mount. With a few flaps of its wings, the wyvern took to the air to distance itself from its adversaries.
"Carla!" Wendy cautioned her dear friend.
"Don't underestimate me, Wendy!" the white furred Exceed felt something mysterious well up inside of her. Carla's eyes transiently flickered gold.
An old, foreign voice echoed in her mind, "How fascinating. You've made this power your own, cat."
Both of them invoked a spell assembled from an ancient language from another dimension together, "Thairis Aer."
Instantly, she felt she knew how the monsters would attack and discerned one of many paths she could take to reach the bowl-cut thug. The trajectories of her enemy's and ally's attacks felt overlayed on top of the present moment without converging. Countless possible routes that could achieve the same desired outcome presented themselves to her.
All she had to do was make it happen.
"The first one will try to punch me from above. The second one will try to sweep me from the left with its bat. Lastly..."
As her clairvoyant projections became reality, Carla side-stepped left from the first orc's impending fist. Noticing the second orc extending its wooden club out to left, she slid forward on her knees while ducking backwards. The club forcefully whooshed above her sending a rush of air that bristled over her snowy locks. using her forward momentum, Carla pushed her upper body to get her palms flat on the ground to push off of it. Arching her back, Carla lifted her legs as she launched herself into the second orc's face with both of her legs conjoined like a piercing spear.
"No way...this freaking cat's got moves," Orochi Head sweatdropped in surprise.
"Damn, Carla's gonna get that soda..." Romeo was amazed at his teammate. He smiled as he lit his right hand with purple flames as he espied the third of the orcs coming in bound towards Carla who was hovering in air after kicking the second orc square in the nares, "Guess we can't let her efforts go to waste! Purple Rope!"
From his right hand, Romeo sent a fiery, purple whip at the tall beast's head, coating it with sticky flames. The beast wailed as it tried patting the charring flames off of its head. With the glue-like nature of Romeo's purple flames, the third orc only succeeded in spreading the fire to its hands.
"As expected, Romeo!" Carla cheered her teammate's predictable helpfulness.
Casting Aera, Carla spread out a pair of white, angelic wings. Promptly, she eyed the mage on the flying reptile before accelerating towards them with her claws ready, "Haaaaaaaahhh!"
"Tsk, I won't be outdone by a lowly animal!" Orochi Fin cracked his whip on his Wyvern. On command, the winged creature tried to smack Carla off course with its hard, scaly tail.
Still, the female Exceed proved to fast. She zipped past the creature's tail and homed at the dark-freckled mage with raised claws.
"I'm not an animal! I'm an Exceed of Fairy Tail!" Carla flourished her nails cutting the leather reigns and the whip. Orochi Head was scratched across his chest and face.
"Guh! Why you...!" The freckled villain clenched a fist as he tried his fight back.
His efforts were to no avail. Carla had foreseen his every move. She immediately ducked as the fist flew over her head, then tackled him off of the flying wyvern.
"Daaaaaamnit!" Orochi Head cried out at he fell.
"Wendy! Sherria! Now!" Carla called out to the Sky Dragon Slayer and the Sky God Slayer.
"Right!" both of the teen mages gathered roiling gales around their arms.
"Sky Dragon's..."
"Sky God's..."
"Wing Slash!"
"Boreas!"
The two winds coalesced into a raging cyclone that swallowed the Orochi Fin mage whole.
"Ahhhhhh!" Orochi Head yelped as he was buffeted at all angles by the enveloping winds. Soon, the twin cyclone spat the conniving mage onto the rocks, knocking him near cold.
With their tamer taken down, the beasts regained their sentience and scurried off in various directions. All of them avoided the city. Noticing they achieved their desired result, Wendy, Sherria, and Romeo cheered.
"Alright!" Romeo pumped a fist into the air, "I guess I owe everyone a soda now!"
"Yay! I know a great place we can all go after this blows over!" Sherria high-fived Romeo.
"Honestly, we have to give most of the credit to Carla." Wendy smiled as Carla gradually landed.
"Those were some serious slick moves out there!" Sherria beamed wondrously at the Exceed, "You're dodging skills are amazing!"
Upon landing, Carla began to pant in exhaustion. While she appreciated the praise, she could not forget that strange voice that resounded in her head nor the experiences she felt after reciting that odd spell, "I know my Precognition has acting up lately, but this is unchartered territory."
"You okay Carla?" Wendy voiced her concern.
"I-I'm fine *huff*, my head just hurts a little," Carla clutched her forehead before wearing a smile to put the others at ease, "We just dispatched Orochi's beast tamer. This should mean the eight-headed beast back in Margaret's central park should come to its senses too."
"Ssksksksksksksks...HAHAHAAHAA!," the fallen Orochi Head's sudden cackles grimly polluted the air.
"What's so funny, punk?" Romeo irately furrowed a brow at the enemy strewn on the rocks with scratches and bruises.
"Who said I was the only beast tamer?"
Alarms blared inside the four mages at his mocking truth. Wendy, Sherria, and Romeo looked at the bowl-cut mage with widened eyes. Unnerved by her shattered corollary, Carla came to a new realization.
"Shite. We've been bested."
~Overlooking Margaret's Central Park~
On the roof of a tall building that gave those perched atop a view of the entire central park, stood the mysterious man who met with Orochi earlier. His black lips curled in delight at the countless screams and panic he witnessed. But his smile soon contorted into a frown when the eight-headed menace under his bidding was now struggling against the multitude of mages fighting against it.
From above, he analyzed each of the remaining fighters. Yuka and the sock-loving mutt were helping the vulnerable townsfolk evacuate while Lyon was holding the rear end. Sherry and Aria cast their magic to keep the remaining heads of the Orochi busy while Shinji- the one who just took out two of the Orochi's heads was trying to temporarily withdraw.
"No, no. These people are all a waste of my time..." the cloaked male said in a raspy voice.
His main focus was on Ren, the Air Magic user, who had five of the Orochi's heads locked in his oxygen-depriving chambers.
"This one is proving to be the biggest thorn on my side..."
The black-cloaked man jumped down from the rooftop into a dark alley. His fluttering robes revealed he wore a black, skintight body suit that covered his olive skin from the neck all the way to his toes. His lower half was covered with pants that were a murky green until the mid-thighs. The design past the mid thighs were a sandy yellow with brown leather tassels attached to the wide hems of the pants. the body suit encapsulated his hands, but left holes for his fingers to breath the air. His hands were adorned with solid, purple cuffs.
Kurohebi, the former Raven Tail wizard, locked his obsidian slit pupils at Ren. His black lips curled in a vile grin.
"If I can strike him down, the tables will surely turn. Then even more chaos will ensue!"
Next Chapter: Third Party Lurkers
...
...
The Orochi, namesake of the Orochi's Fin, has been released upon Margaret to sabotage the Thanksgiving Festival. But rather than being under the control of Orochi Head, it is under the control of Raven's former Mimic mage, Kurohebi. Furthermore, Carla's Precognition is rapidly evolving but not without glitching in the process. This time it seems her visions proved more erroneous than usual.
As always, please feel free to give me your constructive criticism, feedback, etc. but please don't be too harsh with me. If you're rude, Kurohebi will rip one of your socks, leaving you with a mismatched pair! Oh no~!
Kurohebi: *shreds Toby's other sock in sadistic pleasure* Ehehehehehe!
Author: *jaws dropping* Nah, you can't do Mr. Dog Man extra dirty like that!
Toby: *whimpers with beady anime eyes* WRRRROOOOOOO! My other sock!
