So in a landslide of votes, you guys think Nashi would win. Personally, unless it was life or death, I'd have to give it to Drake. He's just more experienced and has that OP sound magic.
Enjoy!
Drake didn't particularly like swamps. The muggy atmosphere, the water constantly getting in his boots, the fact that the fuse on his temper got extremely short when he was hot, it was a recipe for disaster.
"See anything yet?" He asked Asuka, whom was leading currently. Drake counted his lucky stars he'd already shed his shirt, because it'd be killing him right now.
"Nothing that says,' hey, you're final clue is around here!' Or anything like that." She replied. "You hear anything?"
"I've already told you all I can hear is the wildlife, remember?"
"Alright, Mavis, no need to snap at me!"
"...Whatever." Drake ignored Asuka's exasperated sigh and observed his surroundings, wondering which of these murky swamps was the one Juvia and Meredy had fought was sure he could sense it if they got close enough, but no such luck yet.
"Did you hear me?"
"What?" Asuka sighed again at Drake's inability to listen.
"I said I think it's right over there, across this swamp." Drake followed her finger and spotted the small patch of land amidst the water, on which rested what they were looking for.
"How do we get to it exactly?" He asked. "It's across the water."
"Easy." Drake was about to ask what easy meant until he felt Asuka's hand connect with his back, sending him into the water on his face. He flailed around for a bit before he managed to get on all fours, glaring at Asuka. "What?" She asked innocently.
"You're lucky I was really sweaty." He informed her. "Or I'd be a lot more irritated." She rolled her eyes bemusedly at his words.
"Whatever, just go and get our clue." Drake stood and nodded, wading through the water towards the small rock and knelt down at it, picking the paper up and unfolding it, putting the puzzle piece in his pocket. "Well?"
"The final piece of the puzzle that will lead you to your final location if at the grave of the first."
"Mavis' grave?" Asuka asked.
"It would appear so, yeah." Drake said, standing. "Although I don't know where it is."
"I do, don't worry." Asuka said as he walked back to her. "It's somewhere in the mountain area where the first test was."
"How do you know?" Drake asked, causing the girl to snicker.
"Aunt Cana is terrible at keeping secrets when she's drunk." She replied, and Drake chuckled at the thought of the hammered Cana telling Asuka the location. "Although the exact location comes down to you."
"I have to bounce my hearing off of the walls to find it, I know." Drake said. "I'll pick up less wildlife in there, and I'll find it easily."
"Well come on!" Asuka shouted, beginning to run towards the caves. "We have to get there first!"
"Who said we'll be there first?" He asked, picking up his own pace to keep up with her. Asuka didn't reply, only kept speeding up, forcing Drake to do so as well. the riddles hadn't been that hard, but it did pit his competitive spirit through the roof. "Well, let's hope we're there first."
"See anything yet?"
"No, nothing in here." Elise sighed as Sammy exited the house and sighed. "I'm sure it's here somewhere."
"Positive?"
"Yes, completely." Elise frowned and looked out across the village, pondering where exactly they should be looking. She could sense the magical power from the area, confirming there had been some form of struggle, but where had their clue been placed?
"Check over there." She instructed Sammy, pointing over to a different house. "See if it's in there." Doing as he was told, Sammy watched him disappear ito the house with a sigh. The longer they spent here the more likely it was they were losing, and she was not losing. Deciding to start looking around herself, Elise walked to the far end of the village and looked around, still not spotting anything significant. Muttering curses to herself, she walked along the edge and inspected the long drop to the ground belong, wondering if maybe the wind had taken their clue into the valley. Shaking he head to clear the oncoming paranoia, Elise looked to the right and spotted a small outcropping. Sitting on the outcropping was a slip of paper stabbed through the center with a blade embedded to the ground, presumably to keep it from blowing away as Elise had worried about. Jogging over to it, Elise observed it from afar, pondering just how weak the outcropping was.
"Elise?" She heard Sammy coming up behind her, but she ignored his call for her attention. "Did you find it?" All Elise did was point ahead, and Sammy made a surprised sound. "That ledge looks really unstable."
"Yeah." Elise agreed, taking a step forward. This caused Sammy to grab her shoulders and pull her back.
"Did you not hear me?" He demanded. "That's too dangerous, just extend your arm and get it!"
"Ugh, this is why people say you're no fun." Elise informed him, stretching. Extending her arm with iron, Elise grasped the paper in between her fingers tips, and then made to grab the puzzle piece. Retracting her arm, Elise unfolded the clue and read it out loud, "The final piece of the puzzle that will lead you to your final location if at the grave of the first."
"Grave of the first..." Sammy said. "that would mean it's at Mavis' grave, but where is that?"
"No idea." Elise replied. "Ugh, of course we'd get this one!"
"Don't starting complaining, let's go." Elise mumbled to herself angrily as she followed Sammy away from the ledge and out of the village. This pretty much guaranteed their failure, neither had any inclination as to where to go to find Mavis' grave. She had no idea where he was leading her either, but the problem meant it didn't really matter where they were going either. "Any ideas?" he asked, breaking her out of her rage induced stupor.
"No, not at all." She replied. "Which means we've lost."
"...Normally I'd try and say we could still win, but I agree." They slid down a small hill and landed near some bushes. Elise was about to suggest sitting own and giving up when she heard a branch snap to the left of them.
"Get down!" She shouted, tackling Sammy to the ground and covering his mouth with her hand before he could shout in protest. Peeking between the branches of the bush, Elise watched as Asuka sprinted left to right in front of them, looking over her shoulder.
"Come on Drake! It's over here!"
"Are you sure?!" the Dragon Slayer complained as he appeared. "I get the feeling you don't know where you're going."
"Hey, which one of us knows where her grave is again?" Asuka demanded, making Elise's eyes widen. they were looking for Mavis' grave too? Did that mean the final clue was all the same?
"You do, if you could get us back to the starting caves." Drake replied, pocketing his hands. Elise tried to shift to get a more comfortable position, and a twig beneath her snapped. This in turn alerted Drake, who whirled. "Who's there?" He demanded. Elise sighed and stood up, revealing herself.
"You're losing your touch, Drake." She told him. "It took you until I snapped a twig for you to hear me."
"What the hell are you doing back there, Elise?" Drake demanded.
"Eavesdropping." She replied, reaching down and picking Sammy up. "Turns out you guys know how to get to Mavis' grave, and we need to go there." Asuka made a confused face.
"It's your final clue too?" She asked.
"Yeah, it is." Sammy said. The four remained silent for a moment.
Until Asuka and Drake bolted away.
"Chase them!" Elise shouted, Sammy nodding and actually keeping pace with her. Together the two of them kept of Asuka and Drake's tail, following them right to the grave of the first.
"Alright Dragneel, we're here, do you're creepy thing." Nashi ignored Rocky's comment about the area and stepped into the center of the dead area again, feeling calm once more. Not even Rocky's insults would anger her at the moment. "Hurry this up, I hate watching you do that."
"Let me enjoy creeping you out, Rocky." Nashi replied, not giving him any look as she approached the clue and puzzle piece. Picking it up slowly, she read the clue and frowned. "Mavis' grave, maybe?" She asked, tossing it to Rocky, who read it as well.
"Seems to be, not sure what else firsts grave could mean."
"Alright! Progress. Now we just need to find Mavis' grave, and get our final piece!"
"Except we have no idea where the hell that is." Rocky replied. Nashi now realized Rocky had a point, a glaring hole in their plan. Where was the grave? As if on cue to her question, an explosion rocked in the distance, making her jump in surprise. Turning, more explosions rocked in the distance, and Rocky sighed. "I think the others ran into each other."
"Come on, let's go!" She replied, breaking into a sprint into the woods and towards the explosions. It didn't take them long to find the source, as just when they got close to one of them,, she spotted Drake and Asuka sprinting away, and before she could ask any questions, iron spears came from no where towards the pair.
"just tell me where the grave is!" Elise shouted, running in from the side, Sammy close behind.
"Not a chance!" Drake replied angrily. "Go to hell, Elise!" Drakes response got him even more spears, and he yelped. "Where is it, Asuka?!"
"Over here!" the gun mage shouted. "Come on, we'll lose them in the caves!"
"Aright!"
"Their in the caves, Elise!" Sammy shouted, referring to the area of the first exam.
"Get them!" the iron dragon shouted in reply, tailing after the two.
This of course left Nashi and Rocky standing on their small ledge in total shock.
"What just happened?" Rocky finally asked, and Nashi shrugged weakly.
"I honestly, couldn't tell you, Rocky." She replied. "But Elise was shouting about a grave, which means Asuka and Drake know where it is!" it took a moments stare at each other for them to slide down the ledge and run for the cave full speed, having to use Nashi's sense of smell to track down the other contestants.
Drake had to make split second decisions with his hearing to get himself and Asuka to Mavis' grave and also to try and give Elise the slip. Asuka blowing a hole in the wall had revealed many interconnected tunnels, and Drake'shearing allowed him to bounce sound waves off of walls and map out several turns in advance, giving him a better chance of losing Elise.
"Over here!" he shouted, blowing another hole in the wall beside them. Asuka followed him, and they took three more random turns before Drake mapped out more twists.
"Do you think we lost them?" Asuka asked, panting.
"No, it's Elise." he replied. "She won't give up, not when we're so close."
"I think we lost..." Asuka was cut off as the wall in front of them exploded, and Rocky of all people appeared in front of them. He laid eyes on them and the widened.
"Dragneel, over here!" He shouted to Nashi, who's footsteps could be heard running towards them.
"Come on!" Drake shouted, running past the earth mage and to the right, hearing the other pair running right behind them. Drake could sense the magical power from the grave, and he knew they were close. Just as they took a left, Elise and Sammy appeared in there path.
"Over there!" Elise shouted, dragging Sammy down the hall with her until he regained his own footing. This forced Drake to make another hole in the wall and run through it, everyone else in close pursuit.
"There's no losing them, not with Nashi and Elise's senses!" Asuka shouted, Drake acknowledging her with a nod.
He could see the exit shining light right at them.
"We're there!" he shouted, alerting everyone to this fact. Everyone sped up and tried to get in first, making the small tunnel incredibly crowded.
Everyone got stuck in the entrance to the grave, glaring at each other as they all tried to squeeze through at once. After a moment, they were able to get free and sprinted towards the final piece of the puzzle resting in front of the grave. No one spoke, there was no time for such luxuries. Making a grab for the three pieces all at once.
This only got them all in a pile up.
"Get off me, Nashi!"
"You're sitting on my leg, Rocky!"
"Stop elbowing me in the face, Asuka!"
"I can't breathe, Elise!"
"You're breaking my arm, Drake!"
"You're dead weight, Sammy!" Comments like these persisted until the pile up dissolved into the teams trying to figure out the puzzle, piecing it together multiple different ways and trying to discern the image in created on their final goal. It was Drake who spoke first.
"Hey, isn't that..."
"It is..." Elise replied.
"It's the.." Everyone looked at each other, and then at the exit. As one, everyone broke into a sprint.
"It's the base of the Tenrou Tree!"
We're nearing the end of this arc, which make me excited for End of the World, because I know you guys will love it as much as I do. Anyway, your question today is:
Damien vs. Terra, who wins?
Keep in mind we haven't seen the full extent of what Terra can do, so don't sell her short because Damien is a main character.
I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get ten!