Hey, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. It took longer than I thought to plan out the final arc, but I did it, and now we can begin to wrap this story up. I'll stick with this story for a few chapters before returning to 'Our Shinigami Brother.'
Please enjoy!
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Harry sat back in a wooden chair, his head facing upward and arms dangling at his side. His body was limp with soreness. The battle with the dragons and fixing the damage at the end of the Grand Magic Games was taxing at best.
The dark-haired wizard wasn't the only one relaxing. The guild hall was filled with soft voices and dead weight. Harry could hear some members groan but ignored them because he had more right to complain than they did. His magic was tired from using it too much in 3 hours.
Death's master was grateful to be home. They returned to the guild by evening, so Harry looked forward to plopping face-first onto his soft, fluffy bed and wrapping himself in warm covers.
"What's with all this moaning and groaning?" Harry flopped his head down to see Makarov standing on the bar counter with a mug of booze in his hand. "I hope you all aren't too worn out because we have a race tomorrow." Harry allowed his head to fall backward again with an exhausted groan.
"What race?" asked Ron from Harry's left. He sat on his chair backward with his arm resting on the backrest. His head was lying on the folded arms, but with Makarov's announcement, he lifted his head and stared at the master in confusion.
His friend's words confused him. Harry lazily looked around the spacious room, seeing Ron, Hermione, Simon, and Kagura were the only ones who didn't know what Makarov was talking about.
The wizard sighed and sat up straighter, groaning as his spine popped. "Every year, Fairy Tail does a race," Harry said.
"It's something fun to do, but Master makes the loser do something embarrassing every time," said Levy.
"Why do the new guys not know of this?!" demanded Natsu, small flames leaking from his mouth as he glared at the older members who were still here for the past seven years.
Macao held his hands up as his face paled. "We tried! But after Twilight Ogre beat us down and took over Magnolia, we no longer had a way to continue our races," he explained.
"Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" said Makarov. "I want you all to head home and prepare for tomorrow. I will allow any means of winning except teleporting or leaving the path. If you fly, you stay low to the grown. Did you get all that? Good! Goodnight, my wonderful family!"
Castor woke Harry with an evil grin plastered on his face. The wizard asked the Malfoy descent why he had such a smirk, and Castor replied that he knew what the master had planned for the loser of the coming race. It made Harry nervous, and he wondered if he could back out. Knowing Makarov, however, Harry doubted it.
Now Harry stood outside the guild hall with the rest of Fairy Tail. He looked around at all those participating and noted how only the younger members were not among them. Looking toward the sideline, Harry spotted Castor and Romeo standing side by side with identical grins.
Harry felt a chill run up his spine, catching the attention of Lucy, who stood next to him.
"You okay, Harry?" she asked, looking in the direction Harry was facing. She raised an eyebrow at the two young teenagers' expressions. "Why are they grinning like madmen?"
Harry shook off the unease and turned to face Makarov. "Something tells me we're about to find out."
Makarov stood on a high platform, towering over all of them. He clapped his giant hands to gain everyone's attention. Once Fairy Tail and the townspeople turned their focus on him, Makarov began laying down the rules of the race.
"The goal is to go to the top of that mountain." He pointed to the nearest mountain that stood proud but not tall. "When you get there, you'll find red ribbons. You are to take one and bring it back. You can't take someone else's ribbon, or you will be disqualified. No teleporting, leaving the path, or flying higher than five feet will exist. Also, Harry, you can't turn into your giant snake form to take the ribbon. Not only is it too dangerous, but it's also cheating. With those rules in place, I'll now tell you the penalty for the loser. A photo shoot in the nude for Sorcerer's Weekly." Harry and Lucy paled in horror. With a quick glance, the wizard saw that everyone else joining the race had turned white as snow.
Harry snapped his head back to Makarov. "Wait, what do we get if we win?" he asked desperately.
Makarov hummed in thought for three seconds and then smiled innocently. "The winner won't have to deal with the embarrassment of the photo shoot," he said, showing teeth, making Fairy Tail silent as they processed their lack of reward. "With that, let the race BEGIN!"
"Accio: Broom!" Harry and Ron's voices were heard over the thundering footfalls. Harry jumped high to dodge his guildmates and latch onto his firebolt. He shot off like a speeding bullet with Fawkes and Ron hot on his tail.
The dark-haired wizard flew passed everyone except Jet. Harry knew the orange-haired man was fast, but he sped up so Harry couldn't pass him, shocking Death's master slightly. He didn't think Jet could keep up with his firebolt.
Harry pushed his broom to go faster, sharing 1st place with Jet. The two are neck and neck as they make it to the mountain. Since they had to go up, Jet began to slow down, giving Harry the lead. Harry thought he could slow down a little but thought better of it. If he did that, Jet might catch back up on the way down.
Suddenly, a boulder was in front of him. Harry quickly barrel-rolled to the left to dodge, but more boulders and sharp rocks surrounded him.
"Oh, come on!" Harry shouted in annoyance. He twisted and spun around the rock formation. This dance of boulder dodging lasted three minutes when they cleared up. Harry could have cried in joy, but it was short-lived because thick pine trees took their place.
Harry weaved through the trees in a zigzag motion. As he drifted around a thick, tall oak tree, he saw a red and gold blur zoom passed him. If it weren't for his seeker's eyes, Harry would have missed the identification of his opponent. At first, he thought the blur was Jet again, but it turned out Fawkes was the one to shoot passed him with a trill and cackle ringing in his head.
The Master of Death sped through the rest of the trees, finding more rocks, but these held the ribbons Makarov spoke about. Fawkes grabbed his first before turning around to head back down. As the phoenix flew passed him, Harry saw him wink mockingly. Harry threw a death glare at his familiar, but sadly he didn't burst into flames.
Harry grabbed his ribbon before turning to catch up with the firebird. Just before he re-entered the forest, Jet ran by him.
'Was he that close to me the whole time?' Harry thought in shock but shook himself. He didn't have time to think about that right now. He needed to get down the mountain. 'Wait, why am I putting so much work into this? It's not like we win anything,' Harry mused with narrowed eyes.
He may not understand why he's putting his all into this race, but his instinct told him to. His gut was telling him to stay in the position he was in now, or else something would happen that could be the end for him.
Ten minutes later, Harry flew passed the finish line. Cheers were heard all around, and a laughing trill was heard above his head. The dark-haired wizard looked up to see Fawkes hovering over him.
{I win!} Fawkes said joyfully. {I always wondered if I was faster than that broom of yours. It brings me such happiness to know I am.}
Harry rolled his eyes at the old child that's his familiar before hopping off his broom. He turned to watch as Jet came in 3rd place. A minute later, Harry saw Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Gajeel heading for the finish line.
Harry felt dread but didn't know why at first. His friends weren't in last place, so they should be fine, right? His confusion cleared up when they all tripped and fell over each other. Gray was the one to stumble first, then Natsu tripped over him, and then Lucy tumbled over the dragon slayer. They all fell like dominos, creating a pile that Harry would have crashed into if he were behind them.
Everyone was silent, not sure how to react. Harry's mind was flooded with gales of laughter caused by Fawkes, who landed on his back and rolled on the ground while squawking.
Three seconds later, the whole of Fairy Tail charged passed the downed runners, who watched in stunned awe. Lucy was the first to snap out of it.
"What am I doing?! I don't want to be in last place!" she shouted, getting back up and running for the end.
Lucy's words snapped the rest of the fallen competitors out of their trance and got moving again. Harry watched as Lucy and Erza crossed the finish line, but Natsu, Gray, and Gejeel tied for last place.
"Well, that's everyone! Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel all came in last. So, you all know what that means," Mira said with an innocent smile, making her look like an angel to Harry, but the rest of Fairy Tail shivered while losing color in their face.
Makarov slowly approached the three males with a quiet chuckle and an uptilt of his lips. He didn't look up to meet their eyes yet, but when he did look up, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel took a jerky step back. "You will go to Sorcerer's Weekly tomorrow morning for your photo shoot. I'm sure a ton of women will drool over you," he told them, but muttered, "I was hoping it would have been one of the girls."
"What was that, Master?" asked Mira with a cheerful smile that promised evil.
"NOTHING!" Makarov exclaimed with sweat rolling down his cheeks and a wavering smile. "Now then! Let's all head back to the guild for dinner!" The crowd cheered, but those who ran groaned.
"Can we have water first?" someone asked, earning everyone a waterfall on their heads.
Everyone turned wide eyes toward Harry, who held the Elder Wand up with a smile that screamed innocent, but they knew there was mischief in it.
"You're welcome!" the wizard said childishly before running for the guildhall. His guildmates chased after him with war cries.
"How are you going to awaken him?"
"We'll use FACE to help open the book, but we need to get END away from his 'goody-goody light' guild and bring him home first."
Voldemort listened as Tartaros had their meeting. This was the first time he heard about END, making him wonder who he was and if he was dangerous to his goals. The Dark Lord also speculated if he could control him.
"Who is END?" Voldemort asked in his whispery-hissing voice.
Mard Geer turned his dark eyes toward the snake-like man with a dark, prideful smile. "END is Tartaros' true master: Ethereous Natsu Dragneel."
TBC
This is almost 2,000 words. It's been a while since I've done that. Also, Tartaros know Natsu is END. YAY!
Natsu: It's been a while since this story has been updated.
Zeref: But we're back now!
Voldemort: I'm going to kill you both.
Natsu: I'd like to see you try!
Harry: Normally, you're only trying to kill me. Did your list get bigger?
Enj/Dark: It would seem so. Zeref! ^-^
Zeref: Please review! XD