Back in the Fairy Tail guildhall, those who had fought and lost returned to get their injuries treated and rest. "Hold still please…" Mira said while tending to the injured such as Erza, Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow. "You all have it really bad….and Wendy's not back yet either, so you have to take it easy."
"Yeah…" Erza gave a slight nod before wincing in pain. She still couldn't believe how easily Sidney dealt with her at her strongest.
"Yeesh…" Cana said while glancing at everyone around. "You guys really don't look so good. What happened?"
"Sidney." Erza responded.
"I don't even know what happened…" Freed said while rubbing the back of his head. "Someone attacked us. We were able to win, and then there were more wizards that followed up after us. Gajeel and Levy went on ahead, which was the better choice."
"We managed to hold them off, though." Evergreen said with a proud grin. "But we aren't in a condition to be fighting. We knew we'd just slow them down."
"This Fight for Fiore business is really messing everyone up…" Max said while rubbing his head. "It's getting really dangerous outside…" Speaking of, when the doors opened Natsu and Gray both happened to limp inside, arguing with one another over something.
"Pfft, so what?!" Natsu growled. "You lost to Leon!? I beat him once, and I was beaten by a Wizard Saint! So I'm totally the stronger one!"
"You probably went down in one punch you liar!" Gray snarled before they both collapsed from their injuries, just lying on the guild floor in pain. "Ow…"
"Ouch…" Natsu grumbled.
"We have two more…" Alzack shook his head before going over with Warren to help up the two rivals, but the injured Juvia pushed past Alzack to help Gray. "You two are out too? That must mean some powerful wizards are taking part like we thought…"
"Yeah…" Natsu merely just gave a nod before looking around. "So is Wendy back yet? I could use some healing…"
"You idiot…" Gray grumbled. "If Wendy was here, she wouldn't have her magic! So we'd still be in the same position!"
"Oh…" Natsu coughed. "But wait…that must mean she's still out there then, kicking ass!"
"Presumably so…" Makarov said with a nod. "But I still worry; I fear that there are those who do not care about the meaning of such a young life…"
"Who else is still out there…?" Warren asked.
"Lucy, Wendy, Laxus, Gajeel and Levy are doing their own thing hunting down that madman…I don't think Cynthia has come back either so I assume she's still out there fighting too." Lisanna replied from the top of her head.
"Cynthia too…?" Natsu's eyes narrowed. It was a little odd for him since her scent vanished some time ago…but he wasn't worried he knew Cynthia could handle herself. "Either way…once I'm rested I'm going back out there!"
"Don't be rash, Natsu." Erza spoke. "We don't have magic, what are we going to do without it against those who still do?"
"So?" Natsu scoffed. "That's not gonna stop me from pounding that bastard's face in!"
"You just don't learn after anything, do you? Even with no magic you're still raring to go hit someone…" To that, Freed could only shake his head.
"It is Natsu…" Kinana remarked while cleaning off the bar. "But what are we going to do? I don't think this little farce of a 'tournament' won't be lasting much longer, it is the afternoon and it's been going on since morning…"
"Our only options right now are to wait." Erza said with a nod, making it sound as though they weren't given any other choice. "We still have plenty of threats out on the field."
It was then that the guild doors opened once again. Two familiar faces stepped inside: Doranbolt and Hisui. "Oh, good! You're here!"
"Princess?" Hisui's sudden arrival surprised Fairy Tail.
Doranbolt was looking around. He couldn't help but notice... "I don't see Wendy here."
"Would you please focus!?" Hisui didn't have the time for Doranbolt's antics. She quickly turned to Fairy Tail. "How many of you still have magic!?" She was looking towards the heavy hitters, but unfortunately they couldn't respond. "I see..."
"Did you have something in mind, Your Highness?" Makarov asked.
"I'm doing my part to end this charade as quickly as possible." Hisui explained. "I have been going around to other guilds, and reaching out to as many people to ask them not to fight. I do not want too many people playing into this random man's hands."
"You've been...doing what?" Romeo blinked at Hisui's initiative.
"This game is only successful so long as people continue to play it." Hisui said. "That is why I refuse to allow Fiore to crumble within itself. He's already gathering plenty of magic, but if we nip that in the bud, we can force him out of hiding sooner!"
"The Council has been working with her on this plan." Doranbolt added. "There are people who are fighting because they feel like they have to. But thanks to the Princess' words, and Lahar's runes, we have slowly been chipping away at the number of participants. As for those who have malicious intent...we arrest them on the spot."
"We need your help to convince people not to fight as well." Hisui said. "But...we are aware that the fighting is important as well. If he runs out of people to exploit before his allotted time is over..."
"He'll have no choice but to reveal himself!" Erza understood.
"I'm going as quickly as I can across the country to stop as many people from fighting. I need everyone's help for this. For those that have magic, you can subdue those that go against this. Can I trust your support, Fairy Tail?" Hisui asked.
"You got it!" Natsu said while cracking his knuckles. "I don't need magic to kick someone's ass!"
"Leave it to me!" Elfman spoke up.
"And in the meantime, we can rely on Laxus to finish things off for us!" Freed said with a confident nod. If anyone could defeat Hosonaga, it was definitely Laxus. "This plan does have a solid chance to work. There is a fundamental flaw with the way that man takes magic. Due to the way he's written the runes, they go down first before he takes someone's magic."
"With a loophole like that...!" Macao understood.
"Yes, it is possible to stop him from taking magic. But how do we convey this quickly." Freed stroked his chin.
"We've been working on that." Doranbolt said firmly. "Communication lacrima have had some difficulty stabilizing a connection because of him, but we've been able to get some out. Between that, and rapid word of mouth, we can bring Fiore's fighting to a stalemate while leaving the rest in the hands of others."
"Sounds like you've really thought this one through." Gray gave Hisui grin.
"O-Oh, it wasn't my idea alone..." Hisui rubbed her cheek sheepishly. "This was a joint effort between myself and the Council. Captains Odin, Layanna, Correll, and Fulbright are working their hardest as well."
"Then we will do our best." Erza said firmly. Luckily she always had one sword in hand. Even without magic, Erza Scarlet was still a frightening person. That was the one thing Hosonaga never accounted for...it was the mage. Not the magic.
"Mmm..." Mira placed a hand on her cheek while glancing around.
"Is something wrong, Sis?" Lisanna asked.
"Something feels off..." Mira said with a quiet, serious tone. She couldn't place her finger on it, but it did make her heart tense a little bit. "I hope I'm just worrying over nothing."
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Aira stumbled through the front doors of White Eclipse along with a few others; Waiston, Kuro, and Jaxon; just a few of the White Eclipse mages who ended up losing in Fight for Fiore and had to return home without magic. "Ugh…" The blonde groaned before collapsing to the floor.
"O-Oh…! We've got a few more coming back…!" Reiss shouted over to the infirmary before rushing over to help Aira up along with a few others. "Geez…you guys look terrible…"
"Now's not the time…" Jaxon scowled at Reiss' comment. How unfortunate that the main healer was also down and out. They would be recovering the old fashioned way… "Who's running the first aid?"
"Micaiah and a few others are in there doing her best; some of the kids are helping out too." Tyson replied. "C'mon, we'll help you in there." The Fusion Make Mage nodded before leading the way to the infirmary. Inside, Micaiah was taking a break, sitting on a chair while wiping some sweat from her forehead. "Oi, we got a few more for ya."
Micaiah glanced towards the injured veterans that limped into the room and took seats on the beds, letting out a minor sigh. "You guys all had it pretty rough too, huh…?" She then glanced towards Sophie, Anais, Saraya and Yaya. "Mind sticking around to help a little more?"
"Of course." Saraya gave a nod. "You've been doing so much work for the injured already…we don't want you to push yourself too much, Micaiah-chan." She then walked over to Kuro, managing a soft smile. "Are you okay?"
"Sore." Kuro replied, but he seemed sour about it; obviously because his magic was gone.
"I hope you don't mind me taking over the medical treatment…" Micaiah told Aira while holding a staff over her. "Now hold still…this isn't much, but it will get rid of any major injuries." A soft light emitted from the Healing staff to tend to Aira's wounds.
Aira sat up, wincing slowly while looking at Micaiah's face; it was clear the silver haired maiden was growing exhausted. "How long have you been at this? You should really rest. We'll be fine."
"No way, I'm fine." Micaiah shook her head. "I can keep this up for a while. Cygnus and Draco are fine too, but Sophie and Yaya helped a little bit with that too…"
"I don't understand why everyone is taking part in this event." Sophie stated plainly while using one of her own healing spells on the injured veterans. "It seems dangerous and rash."
"It's more than that." Aira shook her head. "We were fighting to keep a piece of ourselves and save the pieces of the others who lost them. Magic is very important to mages, and to have it stripped of you is terrible. Like right now…I could be helping heal all of you, but I can't…and I'm the one you all depend on to heal when things get bad…it was all I started with when I joined this place…"
"Magic is…a part of us…" Sophie repeated, tilting her head somewhat curiously. The little girl was a little infamous around the guild for having a blank expression as her only expression; it was a little strange honestly. "But you know…I don't think there are people that care so much about saving other people. There are some people who just want to fight and seriously hurt…and without magic, you'd become susceptible to these people…and if you didn't come back home, that would not be good. So I think it's stupid."
"She's not entirely wrong…" Yaya shook her head. "BUT! It's easy! Somethings are worth the risk, isn't that right? So yeah it's dangerous, but you gotta do it to protect those you care about, right?"
"Guess she's got the idea…" Cygnus said with a pained chuckle before looking at Sophie. "You really gotta lighten up, kiddo."
"Hm…" Sophie mere paused before shrugging.
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"Seems like things are getting pretty rough out there…" Selene commented from the couch, but she had a frown on her lips. She was still worried about Takeru since he had yet to return after setting out.
"Just another idiot sending this country into chaos…." Heather remarked while keeping her nose in a magazine. She wasn't too interested in even trying to fight in Fight for Fiore and instead stayed home to not get involved. "It's surprises me how easy it is to get everyone to panic, it's a little irritating actually."
"Oh please…" Selene turned to Heather, giving the poison dragon slayer a sly smirk that almost lightened the atmosphere. "Aren't you at least worried about Revey?" The bluenette then playfully nudged her guildmate.
"…I don't know what you're talking about." Heather replied while keeping her nose in the magazine article. She wasn't going to dignify that tease with a response. "The man in charge of this 'event' doesn't know what he's doing. I'm not fighting because I'm not threatened by him in any way. I can imagine some others aren't either." She wasn't taking Hosonaga seriously, even with his threat of claiming all magic at the day's end.
"We've still got a few out there." Zalen remarked from a table, adjusting his glasses slightly. "Sidney, Luke, Reve, Tak, Leon, Kanade, and Roxy. I can't imagine this little fiasco lasting too much longer though…the day's more than half over. There can't be too many mages left around."
"Uh…guys…" Tyson pointed out the window. "I think we've got some company outside…and I don't think they're here for a little chat." The person he was referring to was none other than Evanee, who stood outside in the snow, and she didn't look like she was going to spend too much time waiting.
"What is she doing here…?" Reiss questioned before moving outside slyly to try and fight her. "Don't worry, I got this!" Reiss then charged Evanee with his fist pulled back. "Don't think I forgot about you!" The rookie swung and Evanee merely moved her body to the side to avoid it; she then slammed her own fist into Reiss' chest, sending him flying into one of the walls with comical stars circling around his head.
"Dumbass…" Tyson sighed while shaking his head.
"Reiss-sama…!" Anais could sense that her beloved was hurt and immediately rushed to his head, looking over the tall male for any injuries. He was just knocked out cold.
Idiot..." Mary said before walking downstairs standing at the now open doors, now speaking to Evanee. "What do you want? We're busy in here."
"I want your strongest mage out here now." Evanee demanded and it didn't look like she was taking no for an answer.
"Oh crap, she's here..." Waiston spoke with a sweat drop.
"Everyone's either busy or down…she has really inconvenient timing…" Tyson said while rubbing the back of his neck. "Rich boy over there definitely isn't one of the strongest here by any means."
"I heard that…!" Reiss awoke from his KO'ed state to yell at Tyson.
"I was hoping you would!" Tyson shot back.
"If he's not here, I'll just beat down everyone until he arrives. How does that sound?" Evanee then began to crack her knuckles. She needed to beat Sidney so she could make it to Hosonaga quickly. "One of you better at least be able to help me stretch, otherwise this will be a waste of my time."
"There won't be any need for that." Sidney appeared in a puff of smoke. The only damage on his person was still from his battle with Erza but he still seemed to be fine despite that. "I've been waiting to fight you for a while now anyway."
"There you are." Evanee huffed before shaking her head. "You just saved me from a boring time. I need to beat you so I can bring an end to this farce of a competition."
"I'm sure you're familiar with the tradition by now." Sidney stated. "Weaker opponent moves first."
.
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"Well, well…" Luke said while approaching Lucy, a grin plastered on his lips. "What do we have here…?"
"Luke…" Lucy rolled her eyes slowly before narrowing them. "I didn't expect to have to run into you here…"
"You should honestly be worried about that." Though he wasn't trying to toot his own horn here…Luke totally was. "Because we both know…that you've never beaten me. Not once…and you won't here."
Lucy grit her teeth, clenching her hand into a tight fist. Luke wasn't wrong…in the past he defeated her three times. They hadn't fought after that, they were close as of late, but now that was thrown out the window. Out of respect for each other there was going to be no holding back…and that worried Lucy. "That will change." Is all she had to say. She didn't have time to spend worrying about what would happen, she needed to get past Luke and save the magic of everyone who had fallen thus far; she did make a promise after all.
"You think so?" Luke responded while quirking a brow. He'd seen what Lucy can do and it was better than previous, but even he was unsure if that would be enough for her to defeat him now. "Very well…let's find out, shall we?"
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Meanwhile, elsewhere, Kanade was just finishing off her fight. She downed her poor opponent, but there was a bit of a crazed grin on her lips; she had more than enough of fighting weaker mages and needed a fight that was worth the adrenaline pumping through her system. In the next instant she plunged her hand through a nearby tree, ripping off some bark and taking it into her mouth. "WHITE ECLIPSE OR SECOND PLACE!"
"Well…" The Client was not expecting such an end to this bout, however he didn't really have any complaints; he did enjoy the thrill some people were put in due to his little game. "It seems Kanade has won this bout!" But he realized something. A lot of the fighting in Fiore was stopping. People were refusing to fight, and he could feel the runes he placed being removed! At this rate, he was going to run out of time before Fiore did. So he was going to have to change his approach and fast. "There aren't too many mages left, but I've got all the magic…I can only wonder how this is going to turn out!"
.
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Blues and Juvia were hiding out in a cave. The flow of the river led them there, and they were out of sight and out of mind from Hosonaga. They were resting against the wall, recovering after their fight. "Whew...that was close." Blues said with a small sigh. It was thanks to his quick thinking that they were able to escape.
"Blues-san..." Juvia placed a hand on her side. "You saved Juvia. Thank you." If it weren't for him, they wouldn't have magic right now.
"It's nothing...I honestly didn't think it would work." Blues admitted with a small laugh. "But I'm glad I was able to help you."
There was a moment of silence between them, before Juvia spoke up again. "Did you really mean all those things you said? That you were jealous...?"
"Yeah..." Blues admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "You've figured out what your magic is a long time ago, I assume. When I watched you fight, and when I fought you, I could tell that your magic is full of love. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use my magic. It's one of the reasons I felt like I had to beat you, because I feel like your use of your magic is stronger than mine."
"Blues-san..." Juvia was stunned at his words.
"Water is an ever changing current." Blues looked to the river, watching the flow of it. "But yours is constant. You make it strong. That sort of pure water does make me jealous. And I felt like I had to protect it. It was the least I could do. You've got such a strong heart, Juvia."
Juvia remained silent for a moment. Eventually, she came to smile. "You are strong too, Blues-san. Juvia knows that what happened on the Isle was a lot to take in, but you're still, fighting for the sake of your friend and dragon, yes? That takes a special kind of strength. That too, is love."
"Hah..." Blues looked to Juvia, only to see her smiling at him. In that moment, he realized something. And with some mild embarrassment, he glanced off to the side again. "Thanks, Juvia. Maybe we can still work together and do something about this situation."
"Of course!" Juvia said while balling her hands into fists. She was determined to do something to help everyone. "Juvia would be happy to lend you a hand! We make a good match with our magic. BUT!" She suddenly shouted, which startled Blues. "Do not get the wrong idea about this partnership! Juvia's heart belongs to the one and only Gray-sama, and that won't change! So don't think you can steal her away just because of the shared elemental affinity!" She had to draw that line.
"I-I uh, okay..." Blues rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't gonna try anything." And with a declaration like that, he wasn't going to now either. Oh well... "A-Anyway! I think I have an idea. If we can get the jump on that guy, we can..."
.
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Jellal had a trail of unconscious mages behind him, his hood still covering his face. Once he found a safe place, he sat down and activated his lacrima communicator, contacting Meredy and Ultear who both had some damage marks on them. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're fine…" Meredy said with a nod. "We've only been fighting unless confronted. We still can't seem to find where this guy is located, though."
"As for the others?" Jellal questioned.
"They've been fighting to their hearts' content…" Ultear replied with a roll of her eyes. "None of them have been taken out yet. But I'm sure they'll return before too long. I know they're not trying to lose their magic. Have you heard what the Council has been doing? Supposedly, the Princess and the Council are working together to curb as much of the fighting as possible."
"When they do that, it means it could drag that man out of hiding sooner than he was prepared for." Meredy added. "In that case, we might be able to strike him...but this also means we have to watch out for the Council. I don't think they have any problems arresting us regardless if we're on their side or not."
"I see…." Jellal nodded before standing back up. "I'm going to continue to fight to see if I can run into this man. Though people may not appreciate who it is that restores their magic, I can at least be one step closer to repentance…"
"Please be careful, Jellal." Meredy pleaded.
The heavenly saint gave a slight nod. "I will be. You two stay safe as well." With that, he turned off the communicator off and continued to walk. He had some injuries but he wasn't going to let that slow him down, he had a job to do.
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Next Time: All or Nothing.