Hiusi's head felt fuzzy. She wandered the Palace hallways until the feeling passed. She had some questions. Turning to the nearest guard, she spoke up to grab his attention. "Ah, excuse me!" But there was no response. The guard practically ignored her existence and kept walking. This ticked off the Jade Princess and she huffed out. "Excuse me! Your princess is talking to you!"
That caught the guard's attention, if barely. The man stiffed up and turned to the Jade Princess, giving a firm salute. "I-I'm sorry my lady! I've been so preoccupied with Lady Emmeraude's request that I didn't see you there!"
"O-Oh? I suppose that's fair…" Hisui replied while furrowing her brows. Emmeraude's name automatically provided some sort of comfort for those that said it. The effect she had on people was strangely astounding. "Regardless…there is something I'd like to discuss with you."
"I'm sorry, Your Highness…but I really must attend to Lady Emmeraude's request. You understand, don't you?" The guard had an apologetic look on his face.
"Yes, I get it…" Hisui nodded. The guard then departed to do his duty. "That's another one that's pushed me aside. I do understand…but it's becoming very frequent and unsettling as of late. But I suppose it is for Emmeraude…" A heavy sigh passed her lips. It had been quite some time since she saw Arcadios as well…but there was no time to think about that. She was tasked with preparing things for the coming Grand Magic Games. "I can ask about that later…for now, I have some business to attend to." With doubt and questions remaining in her heart, she went off to continue the GMG preparations.
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Back in Seven, the Dealer crew was going through the remnants of their old base. The same one that King blew up in his attempt to kill everyone. They were all avoiding this for a while, but the time finally came to salvage what they could from the old building and move it to their current base of operations. Diamond sighed while standing in the area that used to be her room. "Do we have to be here? There's nothing left for us."
"That may be so…but perhaps is still something here we could use." Heartless pointed out. "Actually…there is something that I'm concerned about that slipped my mind at the time…"
"What do you mean…?" Strong said while scratching his head.
"Don't think about things too hard, you're too daft to understand it…" Jack fired the shot out of nowhere. Of course such a rude, yet true remark warranted a smack on the head from his older sister's scepter. "Ow…!"
"Play nice." Tia chided Jack. "Anyway…what are you looking for?"
"You all remember Little Queen, don't you?" Heartless asked.
"Of course. How could we forget? She was attached at the hip with you." Spade noted. "When you were investigating Fiore, she was with you, wasn't she?"
"Yes." Heartless nodded. "She grew too fascinated by Fiore. Fairy Tail. She thought their power of bonds was something worthwhile, but King found it weak. That is why she was shut down with a grave injury. But I did not want to give up on her. I watched over her recovery in the basement..."
"That's why you kept going down there..." Diamond crossed her arms. "The place did end with a pretty big explosion. I know the pod was sturdy, but..."
"I built it. So I know it's still functional. That was kind of the point." Spark said proudly.
"You want to reintroduce her to the world now that King is gone." Ace understood what Heartless' goal was. "She just wasn't ready to come out until then. Plus, we've only recently been getting back on our feet, too."
"It's a good time." Heartless spoke.
"What does she look like?" Spark asked. This was the first time he heard anything about Little Queen. Since he was held captive, there was not a lot of news that personally reached him. As such, he was curious about this lost and hidden member of Dealer.
"Mmm…She's a young girl…I'd say fourteen? She has purple hair and eyes…I taught her basic marital arts, and she's very curious about well, everything." Heartless nodded. She eventually found the double metal doors on the ground and proceeded to open them…only to have them fall apart. "Oh…it was only a matter of time until that happened." Shaking her head, the demon continued to stroll down into the hidden basement. After a few moments, Heartless came to what was supposed to be the resting spot for Little Queen…only for it to be completely empty. "Huh? But how can that be…?!"
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The nine-way free for all was one! Freed was surprisingly the first one to strike, darting across the field as his hand rested on his blades hilt. His first target was Mii! "Dark Ecriture: Nullify!" A violent shine permeated through his blade's sheath. Freed brandished the blade, slicing it across Mii's stomach.
"That was cute…but don't you remember who I am?" Mii said, not quite feeling the effects of Freed's plan; which is why his follow up slice actually had her cringing in pain after the fact. "Ow!? What the heck!?"
"I've temporally nullified your innate ability to block pain." Freed explained while leaping back. "You are now on the same playing field as all of us."
"How rude." Mii shrugged. "But you're working under the terrible misconception that I can't handle pain. Oh well. This should be fun!" Mii requipped Dragon Hadlar right off the bat, pulling it apart for the dual shotguns that shot off multiple bullets in all directions, making sure to catch everyone in her scope.
"Here it comes!" Gajeel allowed his iron scales to form around his body, softening the damage from the bullets that collided against his frame. "Tch!"
"These bullets…" Juvia's Water Body should have allowed the bullets to pass right through her…but the bullets were magical! One bullet exploded against her arm and she let out a cry of pain while staggering back. "H-Huh!?"
"Come on! I'm just shooting aimlessly!" Mii said with a yawn. Aside from Freed, Levy, and Gajeel, everyone else was having a difficult time finding a way to handle the bullets aside from blocking.
"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray threw his arms to the side, forming a shield of ice in front of his body. This provided ample protection from the bullets for the short time that he needed. "Ice Make: Geyser!" By placing his hands on the ground, Gray created a rising glacier of spiked ice to temporarily encase Mii and cease the bullet hail. "There, stay quiet for a bit."
As soon as Mii's bullet hail ended, Natsu ran up on Gray with a fiery right hook, smashing his fist into Gray's face to send him flying back. "Ha! Got you, Ice Princess!" And not too long after was Natsu smacked by Gajeel's arm which turned into an iron pole.
"Ha! Got you, Salamander!" Gajeel grinned.
Meanwhile, now that Mii was temporarily out of the fray, Juvia could focus on the girls. She had to assert her dominance as Gray's one true love and she couldn't let anyone stand in her way! "Juvia must eliminate all love rivals!"
"…She's got that scary look in her eyes again…" Cana said with a sweat drop. "How many times do we have to tell you!? We don't want Gray! He's all yours!"
"AND IT STAYS THAT WAY!" Juvia bellowed as her arm began to extend. Her irrational anger raised her body temperature and the water she produced was scalding hot! "Water Cane!" Juvia then began to whip her arm repeatedly at Lucy, Cana, and Levy.
"J-Juvia! Calm down!" Levy flailed her arms while trying to evade Juvia's furious whip lashings. The strikes she couldn't avoid left her in pain due to the scalding water Juvia's body was composed of. "Ow ow ow!"
"Calm down!" Cana ducked a strike from Juvia, flinging a card at the water mage. The card exploded and caused Juvia to take a few steps back, shrouding her sight with a cloud of smoke. "Geez!"
"I'm sorry…!" Levy's fingers quickly wrote the word 'Hole'. The word materialized and formed underneath Cana. She only noticed at the last second and narrowly jumped off to the side.
While all that was going on, Lucy took the liberty of entering her Star Dress: Sagittarius. With her bow and arrows at the ready, she pointed them up before letting them all fly. "Starry Heavens!" Golden streaks of light soared into the air in broad daylight. Nobody in their right mind could ignore such a set up. "Sorry guys, but I'm in this to win it!" The arrows then rained down on the arena ferociously, golden explosions occurring sporadically with each arrow that struck the ground.
Freed acted fast due to his self-interest and preservation. "Rune Magic: Nullify that attack!" With a horizontal swing of his blade, a wall of runes appeared to shield him from Lucy's attack while the others just had to deal with it. In that time he took the offensive once again; a bright violent shine appeared on his blade. "Dark Ecriture: Pain!" With another swing, purple characters flew from the blades, converging together in a gigantic purple beam! This beam collided with Lucy and sent her tumbling across the arena.
Cana was on the ground after Lucy's attack. But after seeing Freed put in work, a lightbulb came to mind. "Hey Freed! Remember this?" Cana flung one particular card at Freed's feet. That card then exploded into a mass of woman that hugged Freed tightly with no intentions of letting him go.
It was around that time that Mii was freed from the glacier. Truth be told she was trying to stay out of the fight as long as possible, but she couldn't hide forever in that cold prison. "Chilly…oh hey, hot girls! Are you trying to hide the good stuff from me!?"
"Is he gonna be okay…?" Levy inquired.
After a few seconds a 'snnk!' sound echoed through the air. Freed sliced through the illusion with ease this time and sheathed his blade. "I'm sorry…but that trick isn't going to work on me any longer. Although…the first time was just an act as well. Laxus is watching me this time so I cannot afford to fall to such a petty parlor trick." Oh…shots were being fired!
"What…are you sayin' you let Lucy and I win back then!?" Cana asked, furious at the notion.
"I didn't feed adequate enough back then." Freed admitted. Wings then sprouted from his shoulder blades due to his Wings spell. The rune mage then lunged at Cana, prepared to show just how serious he was!
However… a certain Iron Dragon had an objection! "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" Gajeel's arm morphed into an iron spike which he stabbed into the area. This prompted multiple iron spikes to rise from the arena sporadically, leaving everyone to fend for themselves.
Funnily enough, in Levy's attempt to dodge, the back of her shirt was caught on a rising spike and she was left dangling in the air a little bit. Was that intentional? "Gajeel! That's not funny!"
"Giehehe…" Gajeel seemed to think otherwise.
"Man, you guys really go all out huh?" Mii asked…and it was Natsu who was in her face, aiming fiery swing after fiery swing at her face! Mii's dodging was graceful, but she did notice that each of Natsu's punches did make her step back. "You know, it's really rude to approach a lady without saying anything!"
Mii's boot smashed against Natsu's stomach. Such an impact had the wind escape Natsu's gut and he was thrown into an iron spike, letting out a groan of pain in the process. "Guh…that hurt…" He admitted, temporarily stunned from Mii's kick.
Seeing Natsu down, Gajeel saw this as the perfect chance to take him out! Gajeel inhaled audibly, metallic shrapnel forming around his mouth in a small vortex. "Iron Dragon's Roar!" Exhaling, Gajeel unleashed a vortex of iron towards the downed Natsu. Unfortunately for Kurogane, Natsu had enough energy to dive out of the way. That left Levy in the path of the roar's destruction.
"Eeep!" Levy quickly pried herself from the spike that had her shirt stuck and dove to the ground, allowing the roar to pass over her.
"Damn! He moved!" Gajeel growled.
"You almost hit me!" Levy huffed. Even though they were in a competition she was still upset. So upset, in fact, that she swung her purse at Gajeel's face. Never underestimate the almighty purse. The impact left Gajeel stunned and he staggered a few steps backwards before…falling off of the arena and into the sand. He was out. "…W-What did I just do!?"
"Gajeel's out." Laxus had to refrain from laughing to keep a professional face. But that grin on his lips said everything.
"Wow…of all the ways to go…that was the most unexpected one. The short one's got some muscle after all!" Mii said with a laugh.
"I guess we could call that irony…" Lucy shrugged. She was hanging around Luke too much and his bad puns were really rubbing off her.
Everyone was stunned at Levy for taking out Gajeel. Nobody was going to believe that back home. But Juvia was going to take advantage of this silence and pointed her hands at Levy's back. "Water Beam." From her hands, a powerful, high pressurized beam of water shot forth towards Levy! It flew past everyone else and struck Levy in the back, knocking her off without much of a fight.
"Waaaaaah!" Levy cried out before landing right on top of Gajeel. "Ooof…." Totally not an awkward landing or anything.
"That's two down! Seven left!" Mii was keeping track. Right after she spoke, multiple lances of ice crashed into her back repeatedly. "Owowowowowowow stop that!" She turned to Gray. "That's annoying!"
"Man, she didn't even budge…" Gray muttered. "Then I'll just turn it up…" Gray smacked his fist into his palm once again and pulled his arms apart. A cannon completely composed of ice materialized on his shoulders. "Ice Make: Cannon!" One click of the trigger and a massive blast of ice was sent barreling towards Mii! The recoil was so strong Gray barely managed to keep his feet on the ground!
"Ugh…fine, I'll play along too…" A bright white light shone around Mii. Her rainbow angelic wings sprouted from her back and she used them as cover for Gray's attack. The icy explosion was indeed powerful, but Mii's wings were capable of handling the chill without getting frozen.
"She's going to be an issue…let's get rid of her quickly! Gate of the Scorpion! Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Scorpio! Taurus!" A golden light emitted from both golden keys, releasing the two Zodiac spirits.
"We are!" Scorpio exclaimed while pointing his stinger forward. "Sand Buster!"
"Mooo!" Taurus bellowed. Just as Scorpio released his funnel of sand, Taurus wrapped it around his axe for a fearsome combo! The mighty bull then rushed towards Mii, who saw this coming a mile away.
"Hey, that's not very nice!" Mii shouted while swiftly evading Taurus' fearsome axe strikes. She was caught by the upward swung and sent soaring high into the air. She recovered and used her wings to stay airborne. "Ooof…that cow packs a punch. When is this spell gonna wear off!?" Mii groaned before lifting one hand into the air. She was preparing some kind of attack…and not many could reach her in her position. Besides, Lucy was keeping them busy down below anyway.
Cana was hit hard by the Sandstorm Axe. She tumbled along the arena before coming to a halt, throwing three cards down in a triangle pattern. "Thunder Arrow!" The combination of cards and their positioning was important. A strong bolt of lightning in the shape of an arrow dropped from above, impacting the arena with a strong discharge that paralyzed everyone for a few seconds. Lucy returned her spirits to avoid any further injury to them. Cana was still pissed at Freed for his reveal earlier, so she focused on him and threw a card at his face that was set to explode. The card did as intended, however Freed managed to put up a barrier around his body at the last second. "What now!?"
"Jutsu Shinki…" Freed explained before letting the barrier down.
"Now yer tickin' me off…" Cana grumbled.
Meanwhile, Natsu was actually squaring off against…Juvia! That's right! To Juvia, Natsu was a threat in Gray securing S Class, and she wanted to do everything she could to help Gray even if it meant getting out herself! We all know Juvia wouldn't dare lay a finger on Gray if she could help it, so this was her alternative. Juv aimed watery punches at Natsu's body while the Salamander countered with fiery punches of his own. The collision of water and fire created steam surrounding the two. Juvia allowed water to surround the lower half of her body in a vicious whirlpool shape. "Water Jigsaw!" Juvia moved in on Natsu who had little choice but to defend against such an attack. Juvia was managing to push Natsu back as well!
"Gnk…" Natsu grit his teeth, attempting to hold his ground. Flames erupted around his arms, using the clash of elements to evaporate the water. Natsu just had to hold on for a few more seconds until the water around Juvia completely evaporated and left her exposed, where he finally responded with a solid strike to Juvia's chest to knock her away. "Geez! You don't give up!" Natsu allowed flames to explode around his body and he pushed off, preparing his Sword Horn technique to follow up…however he didn't get very far as a wall of ice impeded his progress before he could start. Natsu crashed against the wall and held his had in agony. "Agh! Gray you bastard!"
"Gray-sama covered for Juvia!" Juvia had hearts in her eyes. "How heroic!"
"N-No, I…" Gray wasn't going to be explaining his way out of this one.
"Wait, did Mii ever come back down!?" Lucy was just now noticing the lack of obnoxious commentary. She hadn't been stated to be out either, so…
"I'm glad to see you've all finally taken an interest in Mii!" Mii shouted from above. She had all of her preparations ready. "I'm gonna warn you…this one miiiiiight sting a bit. But you guys should be fine. Judgement!" There was a twinkle in the sky above. It was too early for any stars to be shining in the sky. That twinkle in the sky was actually a gigantic pillar of light that rained down from the heavens. The massive size caught everyone off guard as the pillar crashed into the arena, causing the very ground to tremble violently.
"O-Oh my…." Mira had to cover her eyes from such blinding light.
"….I was unaware she could do that…" Erza muttered. Was Mii holding back when they fought on the Isle?
Juvia, Cana, and Freed were all knocked off due to Mii's sheer magical prowess. They were out in an instant; all of them riddled with wounds form the Judgement attack. Natsu, Gray, and Lucy were the only ones still standing, and barely at that! Lucy was holding onto her mark ridden arm, gripping it tightly from the cheer agony she felt. Mii's holy magic seemed to be extremely effective on Lucy in some way. "A-Agh…w-what was that…?"
"D-Damn…" Gray was on a knee, exhaling heavily. He refused to believe that Mii could just casually launch an attack like that without an repercussions…yet once she landed, she didn't show any signs of exhaustion.
"Wow! You guys are tough! I'm glad it didn't take you out!" Before Mii could finish, Natsu slammed his fiery skull into Mii's abdomen. The impact of the Sword Horn caused her to tumble violently along the ground before coming to a halt, grimacing in pain from the strike. "Ouch…you know, if you're going to violently thrust yourself at me, the least you could do is take me to dinner first. I have standards….! Oh man…you're not looking so hot are you?"
"Do you ever stop talking…?" Lucy groaned while trying to take aim with her bow once again, this time aiming for Mii. Her vision was blurry and unfocused. She fired an arrow, but the aim was horribly off and whizzed past Mii's head and off into the distance. "Ngh…" Lucy then just…collapsed on the spot, her Star Dress fading away as she fell unconscious.
"Oof…I hope we're still roommates after this…" Mii said with an awkward smile. "So…Mii…Gray…Natsu…you guys sure you're not done yet?"
"I ain't gonna lose to you!" Natsu roared while fire and lightning exploded around his body. The Lightning Flame Dragon had no intentions of losing right here!
"Same here…I'm going to be the one to win this…" Gray's Devil Slaying tattoo formed along his body, followed by a chilling wind around his being. Both Natsu and Gray were on opposite sides of Mii and it looked like they had no intentions of letting her win. "You two sure know how to single a lady out…"
Natsu ran slowly, gradually picking up speed while rearing his arm back. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Fire and lightning surged around his fists in a vicious wild pyre and he swung his arm directly at Mii. Gray followed suit with his Devil Slaying Ice, aiming to slam his fist into her face for a potential knock out while she could still feel pain. A vicious explosion of ice, fire, and lightning ensued that formed a gigantic cloud of smoke in the middle of the arena.
"…" Makarov remained silently after such a collision. The dust was beginning to settle around the source of the explosion.
Mii caught both of Natsu and Gray's fists with her own hands, stopping the two before they truly had the chance to strike her. One hand was severely burnt while the other was nearly completely frozen. Of course it hurt, but she'd had worse in her time. Natsu and Gray were completely exhausted after her Judgement and that was clearly their final attack. "Good attempt guys…but you're done." She then pulled the two together and smashed their heads against one another roughly. It was a little overkill, but it was more than enough to render the both of them unconscious. Mii was the only one left standing.
"Well…I suppose that settles it." Makarov cleared his throat. "Fairy Tail's newest S class is Mii Koryuji!"
"…WAIT WHAT?!" Mii blinked. She completely forgot what was at stake during this battle.
"She's got more combat sense than I thought…" Laxus admitted.
"It appears…I underestimated her." Freed sat in the sand.
"You did fine." Laxus reassured Freed.
Lucy regained consciousness, groaning softly. "Ugh…geez…"
"Man…I didn't want to actually win…" Mii sat at the edge of the arena and pouted. Such a strange girl she was…
"Mii won?" Lucy tilted her head. After an attack like that it wasn't hard to believe it. "That girl is something else…"
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A little later in the evening at Lucy place, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Cynthia, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel, Zelos (much to everyone's chagrin) and all the Exceeds gathered at her place to congratulate Mii for becoming an S class. Mii just groaned and laid on the couch on her stomach. "You guys are making such a big deal out of nothing! It's just a title."
"You could at least sound a little proud of it…" Gray grumbled. He and Natsu were both bitter that they were unable to win, so they were sulking in the corner.
"Congrats on the ranking, Mii-san!" Wendy said while lifting a cup in the air.
"Yeah, good job! You honestly don't fit the role through…" Cynthia said.
"No kidding…" Mii rubbed the back of her neck.
"I think its fitting. A strong title for a strong lady~" Zelos hummed.
"Who invited you again?" Levy asked while tilting her head.
"Ooooh, your words wound me Levy-chan!" Zelos exclaimed, very dramatically.
"You two act so alike, it's unsettling…" Carla remarked.
"I am NOTHING like him!" Mii actually felt offended at that statement.
"Just embrace it, Mii-chan. We're two peas in a pod." Zelos winked and Mii just felt extremely unsettled.
"Anyway…starting tomorrow, we'll go over the S-class procedures." Erza told Mii with a nod. "You've worked hard today, all of you." She said to those present who participated. "If you keep things up, we'll definitely win the Games this time."
"Yeah!" Natsu could finally grin to that. "Those White Eclipse bastards won't be able to stay looking down on us once we kick their asses!"
"That feud is STILL going on…? Give it a rest…" Mii groaned. She then sat up immediately when a thought hit her. "Wait…being an S class means I have to be responsible now…THIS WAS A TRAP WASN'T IT!?" No one responded immediately. However Mii's sudden outburst did leave everyone laughing.
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Next Time: Prepare For The Games!