Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Magma Dragon King! The S-Class Promotion Trials begin as the chosen travel from Fairy Tail to Hargeon and get on a boat to sail to Tenrou Island. What challenges await the eight S-Class hopefuls? Who did everyone pick as their partner? Will the trials proceed normally or will outside forces intervene?
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So, without further delay, please enjoy.
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Chapter 62 – Tenrou Island
A mid-size sailing ship cut through the sea from Hargeon port towards an unknown destination. The front sail had the Fairy Tail emblem magically applied to it as it was currently being rented to the guild for the duration of the S-Class Promotional Trials. While it was late autumn in Fiore—about to turn into winter, in fact—the further the ship traveled the hotter it got.
“It’s hot!” Lucy cried out as she lay back on a wicker chair on the deck of the ship. “It was almost winter earlier…where did this heat come from?!” She was down to nothing but a bikini and flip-flops and she was still sweating heavily. “I think I’m going to melt…”
Levy was fanning herself with a paper fan, sweat glistening on her skin. “Lucy, I wouldn’t go out wearing that.” She tried to playfully tease her friend about the somewhat skimpy bikini. Anything that took their mind off the heat would be welcome.
“In this area, the trade winds bring in hot air. It’s this temperature all year round.” Bisca said, her body just as revealed as Lucy’s in a red bikini with green edges, small drops of sweat trailing along her body and catching the sunlight. The way Alzack couldn’t pull his eyes away from her was blatant and clearly to Bisca’s liking as the two Guns Magic user’s were practically flirting despite the heat making them sweat.
“Juvia? Aren’t you hot wearing that?” Lisanna asked, wearing a white bikini and sipping a cold drink. She was one of the only ones not sweating, given that she was a Fire Dragon Slayer, heat didn’t bother her much at all.
Juvia was wearing a pair of shorts with a long navy blue top that stopped at her mid-thighs. The dark color should’ve been a heat magnet under the sun, but Juvia wasn’t sweating at all. “Juvia is not hot. But…” She glanced over at her partner for the Trials. “…Miss Ur seems to be.”
“I’m fine…” Ur waved off, even though she was sweating. The powerful Ice Mage had approached Juvia about partnering up, both to help the younger woman and to have a chance to truly test out her recovered magic power. The fact that it made Gray almost pout was just a very nice bonus! “Nothing a bit of ice doesn’t fix.” She said while lounging on a long chair made from a single large block of ice. The fact that Ur was in nothing but a black bikini while lying atop the ice made a few people shiver despite the heat.
“I’m cooking…” Gray groaned as he sweated under the sun while sitting on a block of ice completely naked.
Ur glanced over and balked. “Gray! Put on your swim trunks!” A wave of her hand covered Gray’s lower half in opaque ice. “Why you strip completely, I’ll never know.”
Gajeel staggered over towards where Loke was sitting in a wicker chair nearby Gray. “I’m gonna hurl…” The medicine from Porlyusica helped a lot, but they’d been on this boat for hours now.
Loke, having agreed to be Gray’s partner last year, raised his hands in front of him and gave Gajeel a strained smile. “Gajeel, could you move to the side of the ship?” He asked politely, clearly not wanting to be covered in vomit if the Iron Dragon Slayer couldn’t keep it down. The Celestial Spirit was dressed in a simple t-shirt with the word ‘Manage’ across the chest and long white pants, and was notably not sweating much at all either.
“Wendy won’t cast Troia…” Gajeel lamented as he leaned over the side of the ship.
“Well, she is on Mest’s team…” Loke pointed out the obvious conflict of interest it would cause for Wendy to help the other teams right now.
Evergreen, wearing a skimpy leopard-print bikini and fanning herself with her hand fan with the fur-lined edges, had an amused grin on her lips even as she sweated from the heat. “I don’t like this, we’re all about to be enemies, but we’re being so chummy right now.”
Elfman, leaning up against the mast next to Evergreen’s chair, was sweating heavily and down to only his loincloth. “So hot!” Evergreen looked over at him and began to fan him with a roll of her eyes. “Thanks…Ever…” He panted out, the small breeze feeling almost heavenly right now.
“We’re not competing yet, so it’s fine to be a little friendly, right?” Bickslow grinned at Evergreen from where he and Freed were sitting at a small table together. Both men fully dressed in their normal attire and not sweating at all thanks to a small square of magical script surrounding their table that glowed a faint blue.
“If you want to be friendly, share that Jutsu Shiki with all of us!” Evergreen snapped at her fellow Thunder God Tribe teammates.
Freed had the smallest of grins on his face. “We’re not currently on the same team, Evergreen, so you’ll have to tough it out for now.” This Jutsu Shiki was of his own creation and kept the enclosed area a set temperature so long as it was maintained with magic power. He and Bickslow were quite comfortable as they sipped drinks in a moderate temperature compared to the heat everyone else was under.
Wendy, wearing a bikini with horizontal white and sky-blue stripes, kept a gentle breeze swirling around her and Mest as the ship sailed onward. It wasn’t taxing on her magic power and even if it was, she could eat some air and recover easily. “Sorry guys, but I’ll cast Troia on the way back for you.” She told the other Dragon Slayers, even as she briefly looked a little green herself. “The medicine helps…but it tasted so bad.”
“Speaking of…” Mest looked between Wendy, Gajeel, Lisanna, and even Lucy, seeing all of them showing signs of motion sickness from time to time…though Gajeel was the worst and nearly constantly sick now. “Why aren’t Juvia and Levy sick?”
“We are.” Levy corrected Mest as she fanned herself while sitting at a table with Alzack and Bisca. “But Miss Porlyusica’s medicine cleared ours up…mostly.” She closed her eyes for a moment as if to regain her composure.
Juvia nodded once from where she was standing close to Ur. “Since we’re newer Dragon Slayers, our motion sickness hasn’t gotten as bad as the others yet. But we still have it.” She covered her mouth with one hand. “The medicine is strong enough to take care of it for the most part, but Juvia would prefer not to take it again.”
‘How horrible is that medicine?!’ Everyone else asked the same question in their minds.
“I think we’ll be there soon.” Alzack gave the Dragon Slayers a half-smile. “Try and hold on a bit longer…if you can.” He wiped away the sweat on his forehead, already down to just a pair of shorts himself.
Gajeel groaned from the side of the ship. “Screw off…”
Lucy leaned back in her wicker chair, her head and arms hanging over the backrest as she tried not to let the combination of heat and slight motion sickness get to her anymore than it already was. The position wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it took her mind off the motion sickness a bit.
“You look like you’re about to give Natsu a little treat Lucy~” Lisanna teased as she sat down in the chair closest to Lucy…after admiring her dragon sister’s sexy body, of course. That position unintentionally thrust Lucy’s chest out and made her large tits strain against her bikini top.
“Lisanna…!” Lucy whined out, her face flushing red as she recalled a very similar position that she’d seen her dragon sisters use before and realized that she was very much in the same position now. Natsu always did clearly enjoy thrusting into their open mouths in this position while his Mates eagerly allowed him to use their mouths and throats for his pleasure.
Lisanna giggled as she handed Lucy a cold drink. “Something to think about…” She sing-songed as Lucy sat up properly and took the drink from her. Lucy hadn’t experienced that particular ‘play’ with Natsu yet after all.
“Juvia would like to hear more.” Juvia said, her cheeks rosy red as she sat down with her dragon sisters. “Is that what Natsu-sama likes?” She’d happily explore new ways to enjoy intimacy with her Mate.
Wendy, who was able to hear the conversation thanks to her Dragon Slayer senses, blushed brightly and covered her cheeks as naughty images ran through her mind. Mest blinked as the cooling breeze faltered and when he looked at Wendy, saw his partner with her hands over her cheeks and what appeared to be steam rising from her head.
“Are you okay, Wendy?” Mest asked as he wondered what had made Wendy react like this.
“I’m fine!” Wendy declared and restarted the cooling breeze even as she looked down at the deck. She notably didn’t cover her ears the entire time that Lisanna, Juvia, and Lucy were talking though. Her face burned red for the rest of the voyage as she listened in.
About an hour later and Loke perked up, standing from his chair and leaning over the edge of the ship. “Land ho!” He called out to get everyone’s attention.
“Whoa!” Gray said as he stood next to his partner, seeing Tenrou Island for the first time.
“So we’ve arrived!” Evergreen looked very pleased at that as she gazed upon the island.
Elfman looked at Tenrou Island in surprise. “THAT’S TENROU ISLAND?!”
Alzack blinked at the shape of the island. “That’s one weird looking island.”
“There’s an island above the island?!” Bisca and Lucy exclaimed at the same time.
Gajeel was practically hanging over the side of the ship at this point, looking like he was about to throw up even as he looked at Tenrou Island.
“We’re almost there, Gajeel…” Levy rubbed his back softly to try and soothe him.
Tenrou Island stood alone in the middle of the sea, with no other islands visible in the surrounding area. It was a mid-sized island, not large, but too big to be called small. It was a rocky and steep island covered by lush vegetation. One side of the island was particular rocky, possessing large formations jutting outwards from the ground. One near the shore created a cliff overlooking the sea, a sea cave visible on the side, and the other was near the center of the island, below the towering, giant tree and created a pair of waterfalls falling down from it into a small lake below. The said titanic tree was easily the most distinctive element of the island with its gnarled, mildly curved trunk, that split into an uncountable number of large branches which sustained something that looked like a second, smaller island that was large, flat and seemingly composed of earth and crowded by a multitude of normal-sized trees to make a forest. The gargantuan tree possessed a multitude of equally large, curved and twisted roots, which at the base of the trunk sustained massive crystal spires that could be seen even at a distance.
“They say that…” Makarov spoke up from the higher deck, getting everyone’s attention. “…fairies once lived on this island.”
“Master?” Lucy looked up at Makarov curiously, the old man had mostly kept to himself during their voyage.
Makarov was sweating from the heat and wearing a red Hawaiian shirt with colorful Fairy Tail emblems and green palm leaves on it and blue shorts, but continued speaking. “And this is also the place where Fairy Tail’s first Master, Mavis Vermillion, now rests!”
Gray pointed up at Makarov. “What’s with those clothes?!”
“A man that was naked up until a moment ago has no right to ask that.” Ur lightly swatted Gray upside the head.
“Well, it’s hot.” Makarov said as he pulled out a white paper fan with a purple Fairy Tail emblem on it and began to fan himself. “Now, I shall reveal the nature of the first test.”
Wendy looked up at Makarov and tilted her head slightly. “The first test?”
“Pretty much every year, there are several different levels.” Mest told Wendy as he crossed his arms, sweat rolling down one side of his face.
Makarov pointed toward the island with his fan. “You see that stream of smoke rising up from the shore?” Indeed, there was a trail of smoke rising into the air from the beach now. “Your first order of business is to make your way there. Once you get there, eight paths will be waiting for you. You are only allowed to choose one path per pair. And the paths will look like this.” Makarov held his fan out to the side and a Light Magic display appeared to reveal a VERY simplified drawing of the paths labeled one through eight.
Path one led to Gildarts, while path two and three led to a picture of Natsu, path four led directly to Erza, paths five and six led to Cana, path seven was labeled ‘peace and quiet’ and bypassed the fights entirely, while path eight led to Mira. The large words ‘Fierce Battle’ were above the heads of Gildarts, Erza, and Mira, while ‘Battle’ was above Natsu and Cana’s images. Beyond the S-Class mages was a large oval that all the paths connected to labeled ‘First Test Passed!’ in large letters.
“Battle?” Alzack blinked at the way the first test was structured.
“You’ve got ‘fierce battle’ above Gildarts, Erza, and Mira…” Elfman pointed out. “Is that because those are one pair versus an S-Class?”
Ur pointed out the obvious best path through the first trial. “There’s a peaceful route that gives you an automatic pass.”
Makarov waved his fan towards the group, making them go silent. “Only the teams who have successfully completed their paths will pass the first test!” He pointed toward the light display again, specifically at the paths that led two teams into one battle against an S-Class. “Of the paths, the two ‘Battle’ routes are where two pairs will face off against one of our S-Class mages. Should one team member be eliminated from each pair, both teams fail. If one person from a pair is unable to continue while the other three are still able, the pair that person is from fails while the other pair continues on. However, if the four manage to defeat the S-Class, both pairs pass.”
“You might have a better chance just working together then.” Gray said thoughtfully, as he considered the options to pass in the four-on-one scenario.
“As you guessed, the ‘fierce battle’ paths require a pair to defeat an S-Class mage to move on. They are the toughest routes.” Makarov explained to the group of sixteen. “There is, of course, the single ‘peaceful’ path. The pair that takes it is given an automatic pass to the next test.” He pointed his fan at the group and raised his voice. “The aims of the first test are fighting power and luck!”
That got more than a few looks of shock and disbelief from the group. Along with a shared thought from just about everyone. ‘Did he just say…luck?’
Lucy looked at Lisanna with a smile. “The lucky path would be pretty nice, right?”
“The chances of picking it are eight-to-one though.” Lisanna didn’t look convinced that they’d be able to pick it from among the choices.
“So, in theory, everyone could pass the first test.” Evergreen mentioned as there was no surefire elimination of any team.
Elfman looked at her like she was crazy. “Who here has a chance of beating Gildarts or Erza?!” The less said about fighting Mira the better given he knew exactly how powerful his big sister was.
Levy sighed after looking over the paths again. “At worst, only one team passes.”
“Sounds like…fun.” Gajeel said, having to pause mid-sentence to steady himself and not risk throwing up.
Makarov raised his fan high into the air…or as high as his short stature would allow. “Now begin! The test starts now!”
The waves hitting the sides of the ship were the only sound for a moment.
“Huh?” Bickslow questioned the sudden start.
“Aren’t we still…way out at sea?” Loke asked as the distance to reach the shore had to be at least a kilometer.
Makarov only grinned as he went back to fanning himself.
“I see how it is!” Alzack realized as he and Bisca shot looks at each other and rushed towards the side of the ship.
“Let’s go, Al!” Bisca laughed as she and Alzack leapt upwards to clear the side of the ship.
Only to hit an invisible wall and fall back onto the deck.
Magical glyphs, Freed’s Jutsu Shiki, appeared all around the edge of the ship.
“Hey!” Elfman cried out, swinging around to look at Freed and Bickslow, but the two Thunder God Tribe members weren’t on the ship anymore.
Freed was flying over the water with his dark magic wings on his back. “Relax! It’s due to come down after I get my five minute head start!” He yelled back towards the ship.
Bickslow laughed as he flew atop his wooden totems. “You should’ve just left them all stuck in there for the whole test!”
“There wouldn’t have been a test then.” Freed countered with a grin as they flew towards the shore.
“Freed! You jerk!” Gray yelled out as he slammed his fist against the barrier.
Lisanna looked up at Makarov. “Master, is that allowed?”
Makarov sighed fondly at his ‘brats’ while fanning himself. “I mean, it’s not a race…”
“But couldn’t Freed set up Jutsu Shiki all over the island?” Juvia asked, recalling the trouble that the Script Magic had given them during the Battle of Fairy Tail.
Lucy looked at Levy. “Levy, can you?”
Levy already had a magic pen out and was actively writing new glyphs into the set. “I’m already overwriting it!”
“Yeah!” Everyone stuck on the ship cheered.
Levy grinned at Gajeel and both of them jumped over the side of the boat. “But just for me and Gajeel!” She called out right before splashing into the sea.
“Gehee!” Gajeel chuckled as he dived into the sea and began to swim side-by-side with Levy towards the island.
“Levy!” Lucy nearly pressed her face up against the barrier.
“Sorry, Lucy!” Levy called back with a quick wave and a bright smile on her face before she continued swimming as fast as she could.
Bisca had both hands on the invisible barrier. “Those sneaky little…!”
Evergreen pulled out her own magic pen and began to write into the Jutsu Shiki as well.
“Evergreen?!” Elfman looked at her like she was amazing.
“I’ve worked with Freed for a long time. I can rewrite this level of Jutsu Shiki.” Evergreen smiled at Elfman, loving the way he was looking at her right now. “Now let’s go, Elfman!” She tossed the pen aside and leapt over the edge of the ship.
Elfman dived in right after her with a cheer. “Oh yeah! MAAANNN!!!”
The two splashed down into the sea and swam towards the island, trying to catch up to Levy and Gajeel ahead of them.
“Damn it!” Gray growled at being trapped.
“How long left?” Lisanna asked.
Ur, who found this entire situation amusing, estimated quickly and accurately. “About four minutes.”
Lucy blinked in surprise. “Levy rewrote that in less than a minute?!” During the Battle of Fairy Tail, Levy had only managed to understand the script of Freed’s Jutsu Shiki…but her friend had clearly mastered the form of Script Magic to some degree since then.
Everyone on the ship waited impatiently for the four minutes to be up, which became obvious as the invisible barrier became visible before bursting apart into floating glyphs that disappeared a second later.
“It’s down!” Bisca smiled as she and Alzack instantly jumped overboard and dove into the sea before swimming towards the island.
“Let’s go, Lucy!” Lisanna called out as she jumped over the edge and transformed. “Animal Soul: Dolphin!” Lisanna vanished into yellow squares of light and when they dispersed she slipped into the water almost seamlessly as a large dolphin. “Grab on!”
Lucy was already splashing into the water. “Right!” She swam over and grabbed onto Lisanna’s dorsal fin.
The two were shooting through the water a second later as Lisanna’s powerful tail propelled them swiftly through the small waves.
“Loke, here we go!” Gray charged towards the edge of the ship.
“Keep your swim trunks on!” Loek shouted at his partner when he saw Gray’s hands on the waistband of the shorts.
Gray made a slide of ice which he and Loke slid down. The instant that Gray’s foot touched the seawater, he cast another spell. “Ice Make: Floor!” The sea ahead of him froze over for about six meters.
Loke slid down the slide and then prepared to ‘skate’ along the path. “Huh?” He blinked when Gray stopped him. “What’re you…?” His question was answered when Gray’s magic power spiked just a bit and the platform of ice shattered off the side of the ship and propelled itself forward by creating more ice rapidly behind it. “Oh… I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Been practicing on making my static creations have some mobility.” Gray said with a grin as the ice behind his rough ice ‘boat’ fell apart as soon as the magic left it, filling the seawater with small chunks of ice that couldn’t support a person’s weight.
Ur watched Gray’s tactic with an approving smile. “Being clever today, I see.” She dropped down towards the sea and the moment before her feet touched the water, a perfectly shaped dinghy made of ice formed. Ur landed in the little boat and sat down, still in her bikini like the chill didn’t exist. “But he still has things to improve on.”
Juvia simply turned to water and became one with the sea. “Hold on tight.” She urged Ur before pushing the ice dinghy forward like it was a speedboat, throwing up a huge spray of water behind them. They easily overtook all of the swimmers, and Loke and Gray in only a few moments, arriving first after the three teams that had gotten a head start.
No one seemed to realize that both Mest and Wendy had simply disappeared from the ship the instant the Jutsu Shiki had come down.
“There’s a lot of ethernano coming up from the ground.” Ur mentioned the instant she stepped onto Tenrou Island.
“Yes there is. Juvia has never been to a place like this before.” Juvia marveled at the unique feeling that Tenrou island possessed.
The two women looked at the eight paths, and saw that four of them had magical barriers in front of them with a large ‘X’ across the red magical light. It made Ur tilt her head as she counted in her mind for a second.
“We should be the fourth group to get here…” Ur said to Juvia, looking at the four blocked paths.
Juvia blinked before counting off each pair as well. “Yes, you’re right. Did another pair beat us here without us noticing?”
Ur shook her head. “Not that I saw.” With a shrug, she looked at Juvia with a little smile. “So, you’re the test taker, which path do you want?”
“Juvia wants the path that takes her to Natsu-sama!” Juvia declared immediately and pointed to the path labeled ‘C’ since it correlated to the ‘3’ that had been on Makarov’s simplified display…and the path labeled ‘B’ had already been taken. “Let’s go!”
Ur laughed as she followed after Juvia, the two entering the tunnel into the rocky island. A red barrier formed behind them once both were inside, blocking off the path for the next pair to reach the island.
The two women walked though the tunnel for a distance, noticing the glowing magical ‘spirit bugs’ that lit up the area. A pair of voices caught their attention and as they entered a large cavern, they spotted the other team.
“Yo!” Bickslow grinned at Ur and Juvia. “Took you a little while to get here.”
“We would’ve been faster if someone wasn’t a sneaky little cheater.” Ur smirked at Freed.
Freed nodded at the harmless barb. “Forgive me, my intention was to hopefully find the ‘peace and quiet’ route by being the first ones here.”
Juvia looked around the cavern. “That doesn’t seem to have worked out for you.” The only exit was covered by a thick wooden gate and another red magical barrier.
A banner overhead suddenly unfurled, the word ‘Battle’ on it.
“You got that right.” Cana grinned as she appeared in a wave of her magic cards, looking at the four that had chosen her two paths. “I’ll be stopping you four right here!”
“I see.” Freed readied his sword as his magic power spiked.
Bickslow laughed as his wooden totems floated around him. “Sounds like fun! Right babies?!”
“Fun! Fun!” The totems agreed with their little voices.
Ur exhaled and a frosted mist came from her breath. “Alcohol doesn’t freeze well…but I think I can manage.”
Juvia’s expression went flat as her magic power swelled and blanketed the cavern like the tide crashing onto the beach. “Please forgive Juvia for moving you, Cana. She will make it up to you when we get home.”
-On the ‘H’ Path-
“Oh my~” Mira giggled darkly as Elfman and Evergreen entered the cavern with a large hole in the ceiling allowing daylight to pour in. “It looks like big sister gets to play with her little brother and his girlfriend.”
Elfman and Evergreen both choked on their breath at that.
“We’re not dating!” Evergreen yelled while pointing at Mira.
“It just had to be big sis…” Elfman sighed before slapping his cheeks with both hands. “Right! Let’s do this man-to-man!” He let his magic power rise as he prepared to transform.
Evergreen whipped off her glasses and her eyes glowed. “I turned you to stone before, I can do it again!”
Mira only grinned widely as her magic power came crashing down onto the area. “I want you both to give it your best~” She said with a voice that was sweet, but with the most terrifying underlying demonic growl that either of them had ever heard.
-On the ‘E’ Path-
“We’ve been walking a while.” Gajeel mentioned as he sniffed the air, trying to get some idea of who they might be fighting.
“That could be a good thing.” Levy smiled at him as they walked around a set of cacti, the large tunnel was filled with small spots of sunlight pouring in and the odd cacti within the cave were growing in every spot where the sunlight touched. Anywhere the sunlight didn’t reach, moss and what looked like coral grew over the rocky area instead. “Maybe this is the ‘peace and quiet’ path?”
The two entered a large open area and looked around, not seeing anyone.
“Someone’s here…” Gajeel said as he sniffed the air and listened carefully.
Levy copied him, smelling the air brought in way more information than she’d ever been able to get before becoming a Dragon Slayer. Her hearing was much more acute as well, letting her hear the soft footsteps on the loose pebbles and rocky ground that made up the floor of the cavern. “Who is…it…” Levy trailed off, her eyes widening as their opponent stepped into the light.
“Yo, Levy!” Gildarts waved to the Script Mage with a grin on his face, but a serious look in his eyes. “Bad luck, huh?
“It’s all over…” Levy trembled slightly as she stared at Gildarts.
Gildarts narrowed his eyes. “You know I hate pulling my punches, right?”
Gajeel placed his hand on Levy’s shoulder. “What’re you giving up for?”
“B-But, Gajeel…” Levy tried to speak, to tell him why they had no chance.
“You’re a dragon, Levy.” Gajeel said while looking into her eyes, red meeting warm brown. “We don’t give up before we even try.” He leaned in and Levy blushed cutely as she thought he might kiss her right in front of Gildarts. “You’re so much stronger than you give yourself credit for, shrimp.” He teased her with a grin, but his red eyes conveyed nothing but belief, assurance, and affection.
Levy didn’t even realize when she’d stopped shaking, but her heart thumped in her chest and something like an instinct rumbled within her. “Right.” She placed her hand over Gajeel’s that was on her shoulder. “I’m not just a bookworm… I’m a mage! I’m an A-Class! I’m a Dragon Slayer!” Her magic power spiked higher than it had ever gone before, a red and purple aura surrounding her.
Gajeel smirked widely at Levy, raising his magic power to match her own, a green and silver aura forming around him. “That’s right!” They both turned to face Gildarts. “Let’s show this guy what a pair of dragons can do!”
Gildarts only smiled, seemingly amused, as he bore the brunt of Levy and Gajeel’s magic power whipping against him. ‘For all his tough as iron schtick…Gajeel’s rather good at motivating Levy. Guess that comes with being lovebirds.’ He mentally checked off the first line of his ‘list’ without changing his expression. “Alright then.” He raised his right arm in front of him. “Whenever you’re ready.”
-The ‘D’ Path-
“I didn’t know Tenrou Island had ruins like this!” Lisanna said as she and Lucy walked through a corridor with strange stone statues on the walls that looked sort of like tiki masks.
“How long has this island been sacred to Fairy Tail?” Lucy asked as she ran her hand over the stone wall as she walked. The stones had been smoothed perfectly, not a trace of roughness against her palm.
The two turned left at the next corner in the corridor, because the right path and collapsed completely and buried the passageway in earth and rock a long time ago. Both kept their ears sharp and sniffed the air every few seconds to try and find their way. Because of this, both stopped in their tracks at the next split in the ruins.
Lucy looked concerned at the scent she had caught. “Well, not who I was expecting.”
Lisanna nodded in agreement. “Could be worse, I suppose. At least we know what to expect.”
The two took the right path and followed the familiar scent until they entered a massive chamber with an incredibly high ceiling. The walls all lined with stone statues of strange, yet simplistic design that might’ve been depicting people.
“Do you believe that you’re ready to become S-Class, Lisanna?” Erza asked her dragon sister, her eyes firm and her stance resolute and unmoving.
“I’m willing to prove it!” Lisanna declared as she flared up, her magic power igniting into a controlled blaze around her.
Lucy placed her left hand on her key ring and kept herself as relaxed as possible to be able to move swiftly. If she wanted to be a helpful partner to Lisanna, then she needed to be able to react to whatever Erza opened with, whether it be with her Celestial Dragon Slayer magic or her by summoning one of her Spirit friends. “I’ve got your back, Lisanna!”
Erza nodded, a small smile on her lips. “Very good. Then I won’t hold back!” Her body was engulfed in bright light for a moment, and when it dispersed her attire had changed. The familiar armor was predominantly dark red in color, but also had orange and black pieces, with the orange parts stylized like flames and the other pieces being reminiscent of dragon limbs. The breastplate lacked pauldrons, revealing Erza's shoulders, and extended down to cover her body, with an orange metal part covering her breasts and another one circling her waist like a belt. The black under cloth covered her body like a one piece swimsuit, and the same material made up the stockings beneath her greaves that stopped at her lower thighs. The orange and red gauntlets sported prominent decoration, along with small claw-like protrusions on the hands. The matching greaves were shaped like dragon talons and ended in orange-colored knee guards. While donning this particular armor, Erza's hair was tied into a pair of high, long twin tails by black clips that resembled dragon horns.
“Flame Empress Armor.” Lisanna knew that was coming. The armor’s magical property cut the power of Fire Magic in half.
A flash of light and a sword appeared in each of Erza’s hands. The one in her right hand appeared to be made of crystal and the hand guard was in the shape of two symmetrical fins centered by a green jewel. The blade of the sword was a faint shade of green with three protrusions shaping the blade, giving it a wavy design. The sword had navy-colored lines along the blade's center that faintly glowed a translucent blue.
“Sea Empress Sword!” Erza declared of her first blade which she pointed at Lisanna. The second sword was much simpler in design, featuring a pitch-black blade that was almost like a black line had been drawn on the air. The guard was a perfect circle of equally pitch dark metal. “Abyss Eater.” Erza named the blade in her left hand and raised it horizontally in a guard position. The Sea Empress Sword could conjure mass amounts of water to douse Lisanna’s flames. The Abyss Eater devoured Light Magic and emitted Darkness Magic in greater proportion to how much it had consumed. “Come at me!”
Lisanna was a blur of flames as she crashed foot first with Erza, an explosion of flames engulfing the redhead.
Lucy circled around as fast as she could, light emanating from her arms. “Star Arms: Aries!” Thick wool wrist ruffles appeared on Lucy’s arms, connected to black sleeves that went up to mid-bicep. An equally floofy wool band appeared around Lucy’s neck and two large brown hair clips in the shape of ram horns materialized to put some of Lucy’s blonde locks into cute little pigtails on either side of her head. “Wool Bomb!” She launched a fist-sized ball of wool at were Erza had been before the explosion.
Erza hadn’t moved from Lisanna’s initial kick, her Sea Empress Sword letting off steam as it had conjured a wall of water to block the flames. The Abyss Eater sliced the Wool Bomb in two, only for it to explode into a huge cloud of thick fluff that nearly buried Erza. “Tricky…” She commented, only to slash her way free as fast as she could when she saw Lisanna inhale deeply.
“Fire Dragon’s Roar!” Lisanna bellowed out and the conflagration turned the wool into a massive bonfire in an instant, forcing Erza back while spinning her Sea Empress Sword to conjure water in an effort to block the flames, steam hissing and filling the air.
-The ‘F’ and ‘G’ Path-
“Huh?” Gray and Alzack looked at each other as soon as Alzack and Bisca entered the cavern that Gray and Loke had been waiting in.
“Looks like our paths connected.” Bisca said while looking around the brightly lit area, the multiple holes in the ceiling were each large enough for a person to walk through if they had been on the ground. The entire cavern was well lit and the scent of the sea still reached this area.
Loke glanced around, not seeing anyone. “Isn’t this a battle path then? Where’s the S-Class that we’re supposed to be fighting?”
Alzack had both hands on his pistols, ready to quick draw at any second. “It might be Cana… I feel like Natsu would’ve come out swinging the instant Bisca and I walked in, you know?”
“That sounds right.” Loke agreed with a laugh.
Bisca was ready to use her Requip magic as soon as she had a target. “Maybe… But isn’t this black rock we’re standing on basalt? You know, the stuff that forms from lava being rapidly cooled by seawater?”
Gray glanced down at the rock they were standing on. “Huh, I think it is.” He reached down and brushed his fingers over the black stone. “There’s a little bit of obsidian here too.” He saw the small flakes sticking to his fingertips and blew them off with his breath.
The basalt suddenly glowed red hot and all four of them scrambled off of it and onto larger rocks as smoke wafter off the hot volcanic stone. A banner overhead unfurled with the word ‘Battle’ on it and gray looked around the cavern.
“Get out here, lava for brains!” Gray yelled out, his heart beating powerfully and a wide grin forming on his face.
“Sorry, sorry!” Natsu stepped out from behind a large boulder near the metal gate and red magic barrier that blocked the only way out of the cavern. “I got bored waiting and fell asleep.” He walked on the glowing basalt as if it were no more than regular dirt. “Anyway…” He punched his right fist into his left palm and flames erupted while the ground shook slightly. “I’m all fired up! Bring it on!”
“Guns Magic: Water Shot!” Alzack was the fastest to the draw, both of his pistols out and firing from the hip before anyone else could so much as shift their stance. Two bullets of water hit Natsu’s hastily raised guard and exploded into massive bursts of water than knocked the Magma Dragon Slayer backwards in large clouds of water and steam.
Bisca leapt to the next large rock and held out her hands. “The Gunner!” A glow of light and a sniper rifle was in her hands which she aimed at Natsu, looking through the scope to lock onto her target. “Heavy Round!” The bullet was fired and Natsu bent backwards to avoid it in a display of flexibility. The round cratered the ground where it hit, throwing up dust and rock fragments into the air. “Damn, didn’t know Natsu was so flexible!”
“Ice Make: Floor!” Gray stomped onto the hot basalt and froze it over so rapidly that the black stone cracked loudly shattering parts of the ice and letting small spouts of steam erupt from the clashing temperatures. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, flame brain!” He had an almost wild grin on his face as the air around him filled with a frigid mist. “Beating you down will make becoming S-Class all the better!”
Natsu charged out of the steam clouds that had surrounded him with his fist cocked back. “Just try it, icicle dick!” Lava erupted from his cocked back fist as he threw it forward.
“Ice Make: Fist!” Gray placed his hands together, just as Ur had taught him, and focused his magic power and his mind onto his construction. A massive fist of dark blue ice formed in front of Gray and rocketed at Natsu.
Crack
BOOM
Ice construct met lava fist and the thermal shock cracked it, before the force behind each spell exploded. The fist that was larger than a person was nothing more than rapidly melting ice shards, while Natsu had been staggered back about a meter.
“Regulus Impact!” Loke came down on Natsu like a meteor, his fist encased in a blinding radiant golden light in the shape of a lion’s head.
BAM
Natsu pivoted to dodge, letting the spell destroy the ground where he’d been standing as he moved to take Loke’s back. “Magma Dragon’s Claw!” His burning hot, lava-covered hand slashed at Loke’s back.
“Water Shot!” Four bullets hit Natsu at nearly the same time and exploded into large amounts of water that steamed and sizzled against his spell and shoved Loke away with their force, keeping the Celestial Spirit out of danger.
“This is getting fun!” Natsu declared with a wide grin, his fangs visible as an intense heat haze rolled off his body. “Let’s kick it up a bit!”
Bisca, who had retreated to a further distance to make the best of her accurate sniper fire, grimaced at those words. “Not sure I like the sound of that!” She fired another ‘Heavy Round’ at Natsu.
Natsu moved, flames erupting from his feet to send him blurring straight at Gray, leaving Bisca’s spell to crater the ground where he’d stood a fraction of a second before. “Magma Dragon’s Erupting Fist!” He threw his lava-coated fist forward.
“Ice Make: Geyser!” Gray unleashed a massive spire of ice straight at Natsu.
Heat met cold in another intense thermal clash that shook the air and rattled the cavern.
-The ‘A’ Path-
“Haha! Looks like I chose right this year!” Mest declared as he and Wendy walked through the underground cave tunnel without being accosted. “You’re a lucky charm, Miss Sky Priestess!”
Wendy smiled at the, rather eccentric, man and waved off his words. “I’m not sure about that. But it’s lucky that we picked the ‘peace and quiet’ route by chance.” Considering that Carla had been rather insistent that she not participate at all, this was probably the best outcome.
Unseen by Wendy, as Mest was walking in front of her, the man smiled in an unsettling way as he continued following the tunnel towards the next part of the trials, heading further into the secret island of Fairy Tail.
-Rest Area-
A large tent and an equally large canopy had been erected on the island from thick timbers and colorful cloth. The canopy was mostly orange with green circles and trim on the edges, creating a nice shady space beneath it with tables and chairs that looked to be roughly hewn from the same trees the timbers had been taken from. The tent was mostly white cloth with a thick green cloth over the top of it that was decorated along the edges with alternating stripes of orange and red. Within it were cots for lying down and recovering or simply sleeping.
“I think that’s everything.” Panther Lily said as he shrank down to his normal form now that all of the setup had been completed.
“Aye, sir!” Happy cheered as he tied off the last knot to the stake in the ground that kept up one of the corners of the large tent.
Carla said nothing, her eyes seemingly staring into the middle distance.
The three Exceed had volunteered to help with the S-Class Promotional Trials by providing transportation, in Happy’s case, construction knowledge, in Panther Lily’s case, and general assistance from Carla. Happy had been the only one that would’ve come initially, but Carla had practically voluntold Panther Lily while also volunteering herself.
“Carla? You okay?” Happy asked as he approached his crush.
“Hm?” Carla blinked and looked over at Happy. “I’m fine.” She said swiftly before turning away from him.
Panther Lily walked over with a small smile. “Is it that foresight of yours?”
Carla shot him a look, but sighed as she looked up at the sky. “I’m not sure. I can’t actually control it much…” As long as she could remember, Carla had gotten brief flashes of insight into events that had yet to happen. Sometimes mundane things only a few moments away, other times events that didn’t happen for days or even a week. “It’s a fragmented.”
Happy walked around so that he could look at Carla with a reassuring smile. “This test gave you a bad feeling, right?”
“Something like that.” Carla admitted, still trying to piece together the things she’d seen and the feelings she’d felt. It was like a dream that you just couldn’t quite remember…but she recalled fear, anger, pain, and then an overwhelming terror as blackness took over the faces of everyone she knew that would be on Tenrou Island.
Panther Lily, seeing that Carla was getting lost in her own head again, brought up something that had been bothering him since the announcement of the people selected to take the trials. “I’m more concerned about this Mest fellow.”
Carla looked towards Panter Lily so fast that Happy winced and held his own neck in phantom pain. “What do you mean? I thought he was rather odd myself when he came and asked Wendy to be his partner.”
“Mystogan is supposed to be a reclusive mage that even puts the guild to sleep every time that he comes around, right?” Panther lily asked Happy since the blue Exceed had been at Fairy Tail his whole life.
Happy nodded twice. “Aye, that’s just how Mystogan is!”
Panther Lily nodded in understanding. “If that’s the case…why would he ever take on a disciple?”
Happy blinked at that and opened his mouth…but slowly closed it as he couldn’t think of an answer.
“What are you saying?” Carla asked, some worry creeping into her voice.
“Happy, can you tell me who Mest’s partner was for the trials last year?” Panther Lily asked, knowing that Happy had a very good memory and was often the one to remind Natsu of who certain mages in Fiore were, both famous ones from other guilds as well as Dark Mages.
“Hmm, it was…” Happy thought about Mest and who he’d partnered up with last year. “…I think…” He looked upwards, as if trying to see into his own head to recall the memory. “I can’t remember.” He admitted, looking confused. “But Mest did well last year, almost made it to S-Class. Why can’t I remember what he did or who he did it with?” A lot of his family were S-Class, he heard everything about the trials each year…he should know all of this.
Carla took a step closer to Panther Lily, her eyes widening a bit at Happy being unable to recall Mest’s accomplishments from last years S-Class promotional Trials. “Lily, what are you getting at? Is there something wrong with Mest? Is Wendy in danger?!”
Panther Lily held up one hand to stall a stream of questions. “This is unsupported wild conjecture, but…” His eyes were serious as he looked at Carla and Happy. “This man, Mest…is he really a member of the guild?”
-End Chapter-
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The battles have begun for the S-Class Promotional Trials!
Levy and Gajeel vs Gildarts!
Ur, Juvia, Freed, and Bickslow vs Cana!
Lisanna and Lucy vs Erza!
Gray, Loke, Alzack, and Bisca vs Natsu!
Elfman and Evergreen vs Mira!
Things are about to rumble on Tenrou Island!
Mest and Wendy end up choosing the ‘peace and quiet’ path! That’s lucky!
The Exceed didn’t sneak onto the island this time, they volunteered to help out in whatever way they could, such as transportation and building the Rest Area. But it was still mostly done at Carla’s insistence as a strange bit of foresight plagues her.
But while the Exceed talk, Panther Lily, who has only been with Fairy Tail for a short time, wonders about Mest and how he’s supposedly a disciple of Mystogan, the recluse of Fairy Tail that doesn’t even let most of the Guild ever see his face. A few questions about Mest starts to unravel things as Panther Lily certainly CAN’T recall anything about Mest since he wasn’t at Fairy Tail last year. But Happy has been there his entire life and should remember just how ‘well’ Mest did in last year’s S-Class trials…only to find out that he can’t recall anything of real detail about the event.
Something isn’t adding up here.
Meanwhile, Carla’s premonition is pain, anger, fear and then overwhelming terror? What’s the blackness that covers everyone’s faces?
Is something horrible about to happen?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!