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Fairy Tail: Twin Dragons' Roar, chapter 22

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Chapter 22: The difference between you and me    

    Phoebus lifted his arms high over his head, stretching his torso out. A low, pleased groan rumbled in his throat while a beaming smile split his face from ear to ear.
    “That was great!” he cheered. “Thanks for the meal, you guys!”
    Dia mimicked her brother’s gesture, sighing contentedly as she pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. The night air was a little chilly, so instead of using the long, gray piece of fabric as a sash, Dia had unfolded it and draped the satin around her shoulders.
    “I couldn’t agree more. That was some pretty good food they had over there.”
    Lucy laughed next to the Moon Dragon Slayer. “I still say that you should’ve let me pay for you and Phoebus, Di. You didn’t really eat that much compared to Natsu and Happy, so it’s not like I would’ve been breaking bank.”
    Dia shook her head. “Nonsense. I had plenty of Jewel with me to pick up our portion. Besides, my brother’s a complete pig.” The white-haired wizard shot a teasing grin at her twin, who smiled back cheerily, without a care in the world.
    The wizards were all still riding out the high from their great victory in the day’s competition. Good cheer was all around, bubbly and giddy and full of excitement. That’s how they felt. The whole guild was, even if they weren’t doing it all together.
    For example, to celebrate Natsu’s job well done in Chariot, he—along with Lucy, Wendy, the twins, and all of their respective Exceeds—decided to celebrate with a good meal. After all, that trek across the moving train cars had been no easy feat for the Fire Dragon Slayer. And even if he hadn’t come in first place, he still did good by beating out Sting and Gajeel. If that didn’t deserve some sort of reward, he didn’t know what did!
    “Still,” Wendy sighed. “It’s too bad that Rin couldn’t come along too.”
    Carla swished her tail as she shot her Dragon Slayer a wry glance. “Well, all things considered, Wendy…”
    That situation was more a trade-off than anything else. While Wendy had recovered splendidly (even with, apparently, a kidnapping incident perpetrated by those bastards over in Raven Tail) Rin had taken her place in the infirmary. His wounds weren’t incredibly numerous, but there was enough injury to warrant some time under Porlyusica’s care, just to be on the safe side. The Fairy Tail physician was a bit skeptical over the fact that the guild’s Shadow Fairy had resorted to harming himself in order to earn his victory. Even though the area on his stomach from the knife wound was healing alarmingly fast, she still wanted to keep him under observation for a little bit. As a result, Echo and Tsubasa were stationed as a pair of “guards” to help the Edolas woman keep an eye on him.
    How a talking bird and a little girl were able to keep a perfectly capable (and apparently incredibly stubborn) young man in bed was beyond Dia. But if it was keeping that dummy Rin put, she didn’t have any arguments.
    He might’ve won that match, but those tactics were absolutely ridiculous! I think he gave every single person watching a damn heart attack by jamming that knife in his stomach.
    Rin was strong, she’d give him that. But he was also a total idiot. That had been an unnecessary risk that wasn’t worth the scare it had given them all. Once he was back on his feet, she was going to have to punch him good for it.
    “Stupid…Hm?” Dia frowned as a couple of strange scents caught her nose. Something light and airy, almost like perfume, with a hint of rose, while the other smelt of more earthy tones and slightly metallic…
    “Huh?” Dia turned to see a slightly perplexed frown on Natsu’s face. “There’s someone in front of our lodging…”
    Wendy and the twins followed their fellow Dragon Slayer’s eyes to a spot located further down the street. The Honey Bone Inn was not too far away, but two silhouettes stood by the front door, highlighted by a nearby streetlight, were plainly visible. Both were female, but one was slightly shorter than the other, and much more familiar.
    Dia paused. She almost didn’t recognize the young woman out of her billowing, puffy blue-and-white robes. But as they drew closer, she knew it was hard to forget the pretty face and short white hair.
    So did her brother. “Isn’t that the girl from the Sabertooth guild? The one with the magic like Lucy?”
    The Celestial wizard wasn’t looking too good. Honestly, she looked positively troubled as the group of Fairies drew near. Dia caught a quick glimpse of a grimace on her face before she turned away. And if she wasn’t missing her mark, there was a certain degree of shame in her eyes as well.
    “You’re…Yukino, right?” Lucy cocked her head to the side as the other Celestial wizard nodded ever so slightly.
    The four Dragon Slayers, while confused over the appearance of the Sabertooth wizard’s appearance, turned their attention to the young woman accompanying her.
    “Who’re you???”
    The strange woman bristled visibly under the scrutiny of the Fairy Tail wizards. Straightening her back indignantly, she appeared even taller than her already considerable height of close to six feet tall. Piercing eyes of a light green color narrowed under the light of the street lamp while her mouth twisted into a scowl.
    No one had ever seen her before, they were sure of that. With short, fuchsia-colored hair falling around her face, she kept the top layers tucked under a dark green pageboy cap. The rest of her clothes consisted of a green-and-blue stripped tube top with a brown suede, fringed vest and a pair of light-wash denim shorts. Long black gloves went up her arms and she wore a loose dark blue, satin tie around her neck. The thick, rubber-soled heel of one black boot tapped impatiently against the ground while the matching boot stayed completely still.
    Yep, no doubt about it. This girl was completely unfamiliar to them.
    “Pleased to meet you too,” she grumbled sarcastically. “Name’s Blair. Look, I’ve got places to be, and I promised Yukino here that I’d stick with her until her business with Lucy Heartfilia was concluded. So can we just get on with this already?”
    Well, someone’s in a rather bad mood, Dia thought acerbically. While not as foul-mouthed as him, the girl’s rough and somewhat surly attitude reminded her a lot of Gajeel when the Dragon Slayer was in one of his bad-tempered moods.
    Lucy blinked. “Huh? With me?”
    Yukino nodded once more and spoke, her voice oddly quiet. “Perhaps might we discuss this inside? If it’s not too much trouble, that is…”
    Not one to refuse a polite request, Lucy and Wendy were more than happy to usher the two women inside. The group managed to stampede up the stairs towards the room they all shared. Since Erza was out, who-knows-where and doing who-knows-what, and Hero had gotten dragged along with Juvia and Gray somewhere, they had the spacious room all to their selves for the time being. And it didn’t take long to get all situated around a small coffee table.
    “So what does Saber want from Lucy?” Natsu asked, his voice dripping with suspicion. Wendy and Phoebus went to reassure him while Yukino solemnly pulled something out of her pocket.
    “You might find this hard to understand,” she said. “Well…”
    Blair made a small “tch!” sound with her tongue, indicating a growing level of irritation. But oddly enough, contrary to her impatient and rude behavior, she reached out and put a gentle hand on the Celestial wizard’s shoulder.
    “Come on, Yukino,” she urged sternly. “Say what you have to say.”
    The white-haired girl nodded ever so slightly. Dia kept wondering about her. What was making her so upset? Seriously, by the resigned look drawn out on her face, one would think that she was about to go marching off to prison or something for a life conviction. Sure, every time Dia had seen the wizard at the Domus Flau, Yukino had been sported a calm and serious demeanor. Sometimes her expression looked downright dour and grim. But this was ridiculous!
    A small, metallic clinking sound caught her ear. Looking down, the Moon Dragon Slayer frowned at the sight of two, ornately decorated golden keys sitting side by side in the middle of the table.
    “The Pisces key and the Libra key…I’d like for Lucy-sama to take them.”
    Everyone—from Dragon Slayers, to Blair, to Lucy herself—stared at the wizard incredulously, almost like she had gone and sprouted a second head or something.
    Dia certainly didn’t get it. She wasn’t a Celestial wizard, but spending time around Lucy had taught her enough to understand the importance of those two golden keys. They were Zodiac Gate Keys—one of a kind Gate keys that were capable of calling for two of the twelve most powerful Celestial Spirits in the Celestial Realm. Lucy had the other remaining ten.
    But if these two Keys were that powerful, why would Yukino want to just give them away? Especially if she was a part of a guild that greatly valued strength as one of its core qualities?
    That just doesn’t make sense. Not one bit!
    “I can’t just take them!” Lucy protested. She was a wizard who valued connection and bonds with her Celestial Spirits. There had only ever been two cases as the exception, but she couldn’t really imagine someone just giving theirs away like that.
    But Yukino just went on and insisted. She stated that she knew that she wanted to give them to Lucy since the first day of the Games. The original plan, apparently, had been to give them away after the end of the tournament.
    “But…The tournament’s not over yet,” Natsu pointed out.
    Phoebus jumped in, “Yeah, why now? Won’t you need them?”
    Yukino shook her head. “It is to me. I guess Minerva-sama will replace me.”
    Blair scoffed. “That stuck up bitch? Well, I guess in that case, Sabertooth will have all of its ‘strongest’ members out on the board. Just wonderful. More opportunity to stroke their own egos…”
    Dia paused at the bitter, hate-filled note in the girl’s voice. Okay, so this Blair person had a past with Sabertooth?
    “But why would you have to be replaced?” Dia questioned. “You weren’t injured, were you?”
    Once again, Yukino shook her head. That, along with the flash of intense melancholy, was starting to become a regular thing, it would seem.
    “I am still too green,” she said. “I was only filling the seat for Minerva-sama, who was on a mission at the time.”
    Dia exchanged a curious glance with her brother. So Yukino wasn’t one of the guild’s five strongest wizards then. Odd, and slightly concerning, considering that even though she lost her match, the wizard had still been able to summon two Zodiac Spirits at the same time. And not only that, but she’d even managed to call out a supposedly mythological Thirteenth Zodiac Gate—a giant snake called “Ophiuchus”.
    That was impressive, even someone who’d been out of the loop for too long like either of the twins knew that…
    Wendy frowned and cocked her head to the side. “But why exactly? Don’t those Celestial Spirits mean a lot to you?”
    The Celestial wizard responded with another of her nods and a sad smile.
    “They do. That’s why I want to give them to Lucy-sama, a Celestial wizard who I think is much stronger than me. And they will be better off this way.”
    Lucy continued to protest, but Yukino wouldn’t pay her any heed. Instead, she went on about something having to do with collecting all twelve Zodiac Keys together. Apparently, there weren’t many Celestial wizards left these days.
    Yukino believed that since Lucy was well-loved by Celestial Spirits, it only made sense that she should have all twelve Zodiacs, and carry on to “open the gate that would change the world”, whatever that meant.
    Honestly, none of it made much sense to Dia. Celestial magic was totally unfamiliar to her, so any and all inner workings, rules, and mythos revolving around it were practically a foreign language to her. But this was something that clearly meant a lot to Yukino, and it definitely troubled her.
    Sitting in the chair with her hands folded daintily in her lap, Yukino gave off a vibe that screamed shame, like there was more than just the thought of giving her keys away eating at her.
    At any rate, Lucy was adamant with her polite refusal. To her, Celestial magic was all about building trust between a Celestial wizard and their Spirits. So trading Keys just like that was out of the question.
    “Yeah!” Aglaia pounced and scrambled up onto the arm of Yukino’s chair. The little Exceed struck a pose, pointing her paw at the Saber. “You’re nice, unlike those other jerks in your guild, so I think your Spirits like you. I don’t think they would want to leave you alone, you know?”
    Dia nodded and reached down, scratching her feline friend behind the ear. “Aglaia’s right, Miss Yukino. Just because you think Lucy’s stronger than you, that doesn’t mean that those Zodiacs are better off without you.”
    “Friends ought to stick together, right?” Phoebus pointed out. “I mean, aren’t they your friends?”
    The white-haired young woman looked down at her hands, taking in all this information and appearing to process it. Whether or not she agreed with the others, Yukino Agria at least understood that she was at the losing end of an uphill argument. Lucy wasn’t going to back down from her position. No matter what she said, this girl wasn’t going to accept her Gate Keys.
    “I’m sorry to waste your time then,” she apologized. “Especially yours, Blair-sama. But I do hope that one day, the Twelve Zodiacs will be together again.”
    Lucy nodded and offered up a smile as the other Celestial wizard stood up and collected her Keys.
    “Hardly a waste of my time…” Blair shook her head as she pushed herself away from the wall she’d been leaning on, sporting a slight scowl. “C’mon. If you’re leaving, I’ll escort you.”
    Dia watched as the two girls made their exit. And as the one with the pinkish-purple hair closed the door to their room behind them, the Dragon Slayer couldn’t help but notice the particularly dark glint burning deep in her lime-colored eyes. It was something that puzzled and slightly alarmed Dia.
    She didn’t know much about Yukino Agria, but she knew even less about the strange woman she was with. And considering the expression she was sporting, it made Dia all the more anxious about just letting the Sabertooth wizard walk out with her.
    Don’t be ridiculous, the rational side of her brain chided. Even if she doesn’t look it, that girl’s a member of Sabertooth. That in of itself implies that she can handle herself in a pinch.
    Well, that’s true but…I still can’t help but feel anxious.

    Something had clearly been upsetting Yukino. The melancholic air surrounding the girl had practically been palpable, for one thing. And she had been sitting in that chair in a way that made Dia think she was trying to make herself appear smaller, invisible even. Her expressions had been gloomy and somber.
    If that wasn’t a sign that something was wrong, Dia would imitate the oh-so “esteemed” Gajeel and feast on her metal jewelry.
    So there was one obviously trouble girl and a visibly pissed off one wandering around the streets of Crocus in the wee hours of night.
    Yeah…Dia was pretty damn nervous about the affair…
    “Hey, where’re you going, Sis?” Phoebus cocked his head as he watched his twin head towards the door. Wendy, Lucy, and Carla had made their way into the bathroom, leaving the twins, Natsu, Happy, and Aglaia left in the room.
    Dia paused with her hand on the door handle. Well, just wandering off probably wouldn’t do…Glancing over her shoulder, she gave her brother a small, reassuring smile.
    “I just want to go check something real quick.”
    “You want me to come with you?”
    The Moon Dragon Slayer shook her head. She could already see her brother’s eyes start to droop a bit. For some reason, Phoebus had never been very good at staying up late. Maybe it had something to do with his Dragon Slayer magic, since he always seemed less energetic and weaker once the sun went down.
    “No, that’s fine, Phee. Go and get some sleep, okay?”
    Her brother didn’t look very convinced, and Dia felt a slight stab of guilt over making him worry. He always knew when something was upsetting her. Heck, the guy could practically read Dia like a book; she was so transparent to him.
    “Me and Happy will go with her, if that makes you feel any better.”
    Both twins turned and looked at Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer was already in the process of wrapping his scarf more securely around his neck as he walked up towards Dia. Happy and (unsurprisingly) Aglaia followed hot on his heels.
    “I kinda want to go do something too,” he explained. “So I’ll come along with her. Problem solved.”
    “I don’t think that quite solves the problem, Natsu,” Dia responded dryly with a bit of an eye roll added to it. “But…I guess that’s fine. I assume that you want to come too, Aglaia?”
    “Aye, sir!”
    Phoebus pouted. “How come Aggy gets to come but I don’t?”
    Laughing, Dia approached her brother and turned him around, pushing him towards one of the room’s many beds. “Because the last thing I need to worry about you wandering around, half-asleep. With your luck, you might walk into a light post or something and give yourself a concussion.”
    The blond twin laughed sheepishly and tugged at his bandana. His sister was probably right about that. Dia might be the sleep walker out of the two of them, but he didn’t even have to be completely dead to the world to get himself into trouble at night. Getting to bed now while he could still form a coherent thought was a better idea.
    He could already feel a yawn starting build up just thinking about it.
    “Aright,” he conceded. “But if you get into any trouble, send Aggy and I’ll come running…”
    Dia smiled and pulled her brother into a quick hug before wishing him goodnight. Once she was sure that her twin had settled himself on his bed (As Phoebus’ habit was to just remove his shirt and face plant onto a mattress, out like a light) she left with Natsu and their Exceed companions.
    As it turned out, Natsu decided that he needed to tell Yukino something, so he and Dia just put their noses together to sniff out their targets. Logically, that Blair girl would still be with Yukino, so finding them by tracking their scents killed two birds with one stone.
    And it was pretty easy too. The young woman hadn’t gotten very far—only a few blocks or so—before the Fairy Tail dragons caught up to them. Yukino was understandably puzzled, and Blair looked more disinterested than anything else.
    “What do you four want?” she asked boredly.
    Dia felt her temper spike slightly, a little jolt of ire at the hint of disdain in the other girl’s voice. Blair’s “Hate everything” attitude was already getting old and she hadn’t even known the girl for more than a half an hour…
    While the Moon Empress resisted the urge to bite back, Fairy Tail’s Salamander was taking a more friendly approach with Yukino. Flashing one of his ear-to-ear smiles, he offered up a quick apology, totally out of the blue.
    “You’re not a bad person.”
    “Huh?”
    Dia cast a startled glance towards her guild mate. What was this about…?
    That’s when Happy insisted on jumping in to chastise his Dragon Slayer partner. From the general gist of it, Natsu went ahead and made assumptions about the Celestial wizard based on his experiences with other members of her guild and automatically assumed she was one of the “bad guys”. But after actually talking with her back at the Inn, he came to realize that his assumption was totally wrong and wanted to apologize. So here he was…apologizing…
    “You chased me here just for this…?” Yukino trembled slightly, an action that caused Blair to move a bit closer. A dark aura started to surround the girl, filling the air with a sudden chill despite the summer night’s air.
    This little scene didn’t go unnoticed, especially by Natsu, who’d seen similar instances happen involving Erza or Mira and couldn’t help but cringe as a result. “Well, yeah. You looked so melancholy…I thought it was…because of something I said…?”
    With her head bowed, Yukino began to tremble even harder now. Dia’s worry rapidly escalated into alarm once she saw the other girl’s lower lip quiver. And was that water dripping down her cheeks…?!
    “Yukino! What’s wrong?!” Dia quickly closed the gap between her and the sobbing wizard just as the girl started to sink to her knees.
    With Blair’s help, she managed to keep Yukino from completely falling over. But as soon as Dia put her arms around her shoulders, the short-haired wizard covered her face with her hands and wept into the female Dragon Slayer’s chest. Alarm and panic rose up among the Fairy Tail wizard, especially in the utterly confused Solaris twin, who could only stare, wide-eyed, as the other white-haired girl began to sob uncontrollably.
    “I…I can’t take it anymore,” she gasped. “I…No one has ever cared about how I feel before!”
    In broken sentences in between wracking cries, Yukino explained that she had only joined the Sabertooth guild fairly recently. She’d always wanted to join it, but because of their astronomically high expectations, she’d only managed to accomplish this last year. But now, she wasn’t going to be able to return.
    “Huh?” Aglaia padded up and put her paws on the sobbing girl’s knees. “Why can’t you go back?”
    That’s what Dia and Natsu wanted to know as well. But it wasn’t Yukino who provided this answer. Rather, it came from the lips of one seething girl with fuchsia hair.
    “She got kicked out,” Blair spat venomously. “Because she lost to the wizard from Mermaid Heel.”
    Both Dragon Slayers gaped, astounded and speechless. And as Blair went on to explain what happened in place of Yukino, their shock was replaced by rage.
    Dia couldn’t believe it. How could a guild force one of their own members—a female wizard, at that—to strip naked in front of the entire guild? But not only that, but the poor thing was forced to remove her guild mark by herself, and then was chased out in that condition.
    Humiliated. Abandoned and betrayed by her own guild in such a way that Dia felt bile rise in the back of her throat at the mere thought of it. She could barely breathe as rage consumed her, closing her throat as her blood boiled and roared in her ears.
    Disgusted and furious, that’s how she felt.
    “Those bastards…” she growled.
    “That’s Sabertooth for you.” Blair shook her head and let out a short huff of a breath. Bending down, she helped Yukino back to her feet and put an arm around the shaking woman to steady her.
    “But dammit,” she snarled. “I thought they’d quit that sh*t…F*cking bastards…”
    Both girls were fuming, and understandably so. But for Natsu, one could say that his reaction to the unsettling news was more on the…explosive side.
    The wizard’s face morphed into an enraged glower, curled lips baring his long canines while one of the veins in his forehead stuck out. Both fists were clenched so hard that they shook like mad and Dia was sure that her guild mate would end up cutting his palms with his nails if he didn’t relax his fingers soon.
    But of course, the Dragon Slayer was true to his element when he got angry. It was a wonder how he hadn’t ignited himself yet, honestly.
    “I don’t know much about other guilds,” he rumbled, “But being a wizard, though you’re from another guild, I can imagine your pain…For being humiliated in public and being forced to erase your mark…”
    Dia nodded grimly. “I’m still new to this whole guild thing, but even I know that this isn’t right. What your ‘nakama’,” And she spat this word with so much venom that both Aglaia and Happy flinched, “did to you…It is unforgiveable!”
    Yukino peeked out from behind her hands, visibly astonished. The two Dragon Slayers from Fairy Tail stood together, side by side. They each sported a similar expression of vehement fury that could’ve sent armies running with their tails between their legs.
    This shocked the former Sabertooth wizard. Were these two—wizards from an “enemy” guild—really that concerned for her? Was that really possible? They didn’t even know her…
    “A guild that makes their fellow member cry,” Natsu proclaimed, “Doesn’t deserve to be called a guild at all!”
    Moving rather stiffly, Dia bent down and picked Aglaia up, settling the small Exceed on her shoulder. When she next spoke, her voice was cold and emotionless, with a steely edge to it.
    “You know, in light of everything that’s happened, I think it’s time we had a little…chat…with Sabertooth…”

    “Get out of my way!” Dia pulled her hands back, fingers spread and stretched wide. “Moon Dragon’s Lunar Rays!!”
    In one fluid motion, Dia sprung forward and released her long-ranged attack at a small cluster of sleepy Sabertooth wizards, sending them flying. Smirking, she dipped down and leaned forward. A second later, Natsu jumped. The Fire Dragon used Dia’s open back as a springboard to propel himself ahead, sending a flaming fist into the wizards that the female Slayer had already blasted.
    “Where the hell is your master?!?”
    After Yukino’s tearful explanation of her current situation, Blair had taken charge of matters by quickly escorting the white-haired woman down the street. She’d led her towards a small little building with an office in it that had actually still been open that late at night. After having a brief discussion with one of the people inside (a family friend, apparently) Yukino had been left there while Blair escorted the Fairy Tail wizards towards the high-class inn where the Sabertooth guild was currently residing.
    Which led into these current—if not extremely chaotic—events.
    Basically, they decided to raise all manners of Hell with the Sabers. Dia rationalized it as karmic retribution. They hurt Yukino…So she was gonna hurt them.
    Sure, she didn’t know Yukino personally. But knowing what happened to her was enough to make Dia angry. Abuse—in one form or another—was one of those things that just formed unifying bonds between victims. Dia ached for that girl, and that ache resonated with the part of her that howled and screamed for retribution whenever she encountered any kind of injustice.
    It was more than naïve, but Dia didn’t want other people to get hurt because she knew just how horrible it was.
    “I’m gonna beat the hell out of all of you!!” A slight shuffle caught her ear and Dia whirled around, slamming her fist into the stomach of a foolish Saber who thought it had been a smart idea to attack her from behind. As the wizard went flying, she let out a bark of a laugh.
    She could see why the Fairy Tail guild liked fighting so much. Maybe it was just the adrenaline talking, but Dia was seriously enjoying kicking these guys’ asses. The more she let loose and brawled, the more fun she was having.
    Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sudden rush of Sabertooth wizards come rushing down the hall towards them. After catching the familiar fluff of yellow hair, Dia shot an arrogant smirk towards a thoroughly shocked Sting. The White Dragon stood there, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He was stunned.
    While Natsu went on to challenge Sabertooth’s guild master—a hulking giant of a man with the beadiest eyes she’s ever seen—Dia went back to pummeling Sabers.
    One wizard came at her with some stone-based magic. “Oh, so not happening!” As the wizard lunged forward, Dia kicked off the ground. By slamming her foot down on her opponent’s outstretched wrist, she was able to fling herself up higher into the air, allowing her to focus her own magic in the center of her hands.
    “Moon Dragon’s Night Rave!”
    Clasping her hands together, the magic enveloped Dia in a bright, silver glow. With this spell active, her speed was dramatically increased. This let her quickly dive down on her perceived “enemies” and strike them all quickly, knocking them back with meticulously struck punches and kicks. The Sabers went flying in her wake, spurring the Dragon Slayer on with gusto.
    Well, that is until Dia raced past one wizard and didn’t hit him as hard as she’d intended. By failing to knock the Saber out, she opened herself up to some pretty swift payback on behalf of the other fallen wizards.
    Dia howled as a blast of magic energy exploded at her back. Like the Sabertooth wizards she’d quickly dispatched, the snowette went hurtling into one of the hallway walls. Stone and cement shattered and crumbled, creating a massive, gaping hole in the architecture. Dust exploded out in a hazy cloud.
    Sting snapped out of his shock and cursed vehemently. “What the hell?! Dia!”
    Natsu paused in the middle of his assault on Sabertooth master Jiemma. He hadn’t seen his guild mate go through the wall, but he had heard Sting’s shout. And when he followed everyone else’s line of sight, not even he could miss the new hole in the inn’s wall. Little flickers of bright flame lit up along the Dragon Slayer’s arms.
    “Dia!” Looking around, he narrowed his eyes murderously on the surrounding wizards. “Which one of you bast—”
    “Heh…Haha…KYAHAHAHA!!!!”
    That chilling, crazed laughter echoed ominously through the now-silent hallway. Wild and uncontrolled, it sent many a shiver down the spines of those who heard it. There was something dark and sinister about that howling laugh that reverberated like the screams of devils.
    Sting paled, perspiration breaking out on his forehead. He knew that laugh, and what it implicated. “Sh*t…”
    Small sounds—rocks and stone rattling—drifted out from the hole as the laughter got even louder. A figure emerged from the rubble, hunched over from her uncontrollable hyena-like laughter, arms wrapped around her sides and clutching the side of her head.
    Natsu frowned and took a tentative step forward. “Dia…?”
    The Moon Dragon Slayer’s head snapped up. A face-splitting grin broke out over her face while a trickle of crimson blood dripped down the side of her face from a cut on her forehead. The deep red was a stark contrast with the snow-white of Dia’s hair and the bright silver of the eye that it flowed around. A wild, manic glint lit up her face.
    But even stranger was the harsh, glaring silver light coming out of that eye. Dia’s golden eye seemed dull in comparison to the metallic-gray flames flickering around her other one, flames so bright and so dense that it appeared as if the entire socket was ablaze.
    The overall effect was haunting. And immensely disturbing.
    “Heheh…! Now that’s what I call fun!” Dia sniggered in a child-like manner. “I like this game…Let’s have more fun…!”
    In a flash, Dia was gone. Here one second, gone the next. No one could tell where she went, not even the three other Dragon Slayers with their superior sense of smell. It was like she’d completely vanished…
    “Wha?! AUGH!!!”
    A piercing scream broke through the air. All eyes turned towards the far end of the hallways, where a deep shadow had been cast in one of the corners. And deep within that shadow was Dia, holding one of the Saber wizards up by the neck. Her silver eye blazed erratically.
    The captive wizard screamed and writhed like a man possessed. After a few moments of struggling, his body went completely limp, like that of a doll’s, and Dia cast him aside, still laughing her head off.
    And then she was gone again, this time only to reappear in the middle of a small cluster of wizards. As soon as they all locked eyes with her, they too started to scream and wail, collapsing as a single unit.
    Dia laughed wildly as she repeated this. Some wizards were smart and tried to run away, but the crazed Dragon Slayer just caught them.
    Whatever this power was, whatever she was doing to these people, it was as effective as it was terrifying.
    The whole thing didn’t even last more than a minute before half of the Sabertooth wizards (and they were numerous, as it were) were down for the count; either unconscious or howling in terror. Their eyes were wide and brimming with fear, not even aware of anything around them. It was like Dia was making them see something that wasn’t even there, something so truly terrifying that it rendered them completely helpless. Petrified from fear.
    “Aw, come on,” Dia pouted. “You guys are no fun. No fun at all! I was hoping that since you’re supposed to be the ‘strongest’ guild, you’d be more of a challenge. This game isn’t fun if you just go dropping like flies right from the get-go!”
    Natsu balked, thoroughly astounded. Just what the hell was Dia doing to these guys? He’d never seen anything like it, and thanks to his track record, the Salamander had seen some pretty crazy stuff.
    “Dia, cut it out!” he shouted. “This isn’t what we came here for!!”
    The female Dragon Slayer stilled, turning her head towards her guild mate. With a childish tilt, she leveled that blazing silver eye directly at him. Natsu felt a shiver run down his spine staring at that silver haze.
    It was fear that he felt. Plain, simple, pure fear. Much like that time he faced off against Gildarts during the S-Class Exams. But unlike that time, he already knew how to deal with that fear, and wasn’t incapacitated by it.
    “But Natsu,” the Moon Empress whined. “I’m just giving these jerks what they deserve. They made poor Yuki feel bad, so I’m returning the favor. Fair’s fair, you know?”
    Once again, Natsu was flabbergasted. What the hell was going on? This was nothing like the Dia Solaris he’d come to know. What the hell was wrong with her?!
    As she seemed to ponder her thoughts, a small frown replaced the insane smile Dia had been sporting.
    “You know…I think this is still too light of a punishment. Waking nightmares are fun and all, but not near the kind of pain they deserve for what they did. Maybe I should…”
    “DIANA SOLARIS!”
    A flash of white light sped through the rubble and fallen wizards at a breath-taking pace. The Moon Dragon Slayer paused, not even flinching as Sting appeared in front of her, his face inches away from hers. Blue eyes burned furiously as they stared into her manic heterochromic ones.
    “Knock it off,” the White Dragon ordered. “Right now!”
    The white-haired woman blinked a few times, moving her head back into a straight position as she focused on the person in front of her.
    “Oh, hey Sting…Blondie. Killer bee. Bumblebee. Baby bro…” Dia narrowed her eyes scornfully. “You know, I ought give you a real good kick in the pants. I should! We finally see each other again in fourteen years, and you act like a total jerk to me and Phee! That’s not cool, you jerkface!”
    In a totally unexpected move, Dia pitched herself forward, slamming her forehead against the Sabertooth Dragon Slayer in the biggest headbutt in the history of full-throttle head injuries. Sting grunted and stumbled back, his hand flying up to the red mark already blossoming in the middle of his forehead.
    “What the hell, you crazy brat?!”
    Dia scoffed. “If anyone’s the brat, that’d be you. Now get out of my way, Bumblebee. I’ve still got a lot of tigers to declaw before the night’s through…”
    “Hmmm, I think we’ve had quite enough of that…”
    With this new voice came a new face on the scene. Standing not too far behind Natsu—just a few feet in front of Jiemma, actually—was a very pretty young woman with long, black hair pulled up into a somewhat complex updo. Green eyes glinted mischievously as painted lips pulled into a tight smile. Granted, her beauty was a bit marred by the hideous printed dress that she wore, featuring a Sabertooth tiger on the front.
    Dia, even in her crazed state, reacted to the newcomer with smart caution. “Who’s the bitch in the ugly dress???”
    If the crude remark fazed the new girl, she didn’t let on. In fact, she seemed to take it in stride; her smile stretching a bit further across her face and flashing a small bit of white tooth.
    “Minerva,” Jiemma growled. “Who told you to…”
    With fluid grace, Minerva Orlando smoothly cut her father off. “Of course, there is such a thing as ‘maintaining appearances’, you know. And as much as I admire a refusal to back down, there is an issue here if a member of Fairy Tail were to cut down a rival guild’s number of subordinates in half…”
    Which was true. Natsu understood Dia’s motives behind all of this, as crazy as her methods were. He was right with her. Guilds weren’t supposed to treat their members the way that they treated Yukino. So in terms of that kind of reasoning, he understood where she was coming from, at least.
    But if Dia kept things up the way she was going, the whole guild was going to get in trouble. This wasn’t like some of the guild wars Fairy Tail had gotten into in the past. This was a competition, with lots of rules and regulations and whatnot. And there was too much at stake to afford any screw ups.
    “But when it comes down to it, Sabertooth has its own reputation to uphold.” Minerva leaned forward slightly, setting her green-eyed gaze directly at Dia. “So how about it? Will you allow me to save some face here?”
    The Moon Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail tilted her head to the side, the glow covering her eye dimming slightly. She appeared confused, perplexed by the other woman’s offer. “Why should I care? Your rep doesn’t mean a thing to me.”
    Minerva had been smiling this entire time, but something in her face changed just then. That small changed from condescending and mischievous to smug, arrogant, and cunning. Like the cat who got the cream, or the spider who just found a nice juicy fly in her web…
    “Well then,” she purred. “How about a trade-off then? If you leave our inn, I’ll return these kittens to you, unharmed.”
    To Natsu and Dia’s confusion, Minerva lifted her hands up. A glowing light, some portal of sorts, appeared between her palms. It swirled and glowed brightly, if not a little ominous in nature. In an instant, two small shapes replaced the empty space there.
    “Let me go, you jerk!”
    “Sorry, Natsu…!”
    Natsu balked. “Happy! Aglaia!”
    Tied up together, Happy and Aglaia lay in the Saber woman’s arms, squished up against Minerva’s chest. Aglaia squirmed and hissed furiously, trying to snap at Minerva’s fingers as she held her hand threateningly over the two Exceed members of the guild.  Happy, in the meantime, wailed and wiggled.
    Dia froze, mouth a gaping hole that opened and snapped shut like a fish out of water. For a brief moment, the fire engulfing her eye actually extinguished to reveal an astonished, silver iris.
    But just as quickly as the light vanished, it returned in full blaze. A rage-filled, vengeful screech exploded from her lungs, shrill enough to shatter windows. The light in her eye burned and blazed a good two feet of flames while the corn-yellow ends of her snow-white hair lifted in the air. Dia’s canines elongated into wicked fangs while silvery white partners appeared on her skin around her eyes and down her arms.
    “You bitch!!!”
    Dia lunged forward—clawed hands outstretched—and would have taken a flying leap for Minerva’s throat if it weren’t for some fast reactions on Sting’s part. Fast than the blink of an eye, the White Dragon sent his fist straight into Dia’s stomach. The blow was swift and powerful, knocking the wind out of her instantly. She lost consciousness not long after that, crumpling helplessly into Sting’s awaiting arm.
    “Dia!” Aglaia screamed as Natsu prepared to surge towards them.
    “For goodness sake…All of you, knock it off!”
    A hush fell over the hall. Everyone who was still conscious looked around for the source of the new voice, only to find shock and amazement once they got their answer. Minerva, confronted by a thin blade pressed up against her neck, froze. A cocky, condescending smile still stuck to her face, however.
    “Well, well, well…I haven’t seen you in quite a while, Blair. How have you been?”
    Whispers rose to a dull roar in the room.
    “Blair…? As in…Little Blair…?”
    “Blair Cromwell? Is that really her??”
    “Can’t believe she’d show her face around here again…Not after what happened…”
    “Who’d of thought…Girl’s got guts after all.”
    Blair Cromwell, the brim of her pageboy cap pulled low over her forehead, stared blankly back at the woman. The fuchsia-haired girl stood just behind Minerva, one hand clamped down on the other woman’s threatening hand while her other hand gripped the handle of a small black katana tightly, the blade pressed up against the bare skin of the Saber wizard’s throat.
    “Not much actually,” she replied in a bored manner. “How’s it goin’ being the Queen of the Bitches?”
    Minerva actually had the guts to laugh with a sharp-bladed weapon at her neck. “Still sore I see.”
    Blair responded by pressed her sword deeper into Minerva’s jugular. “You know, it’s been a long night. I’m tired and in no mood to deal with all of this crap. Just give me the felines before I have to ruin your pretty little dress, will you?”
    This made the Sabertooth princess laugh even harder. “I find it hard to believe that someone like you could possibly do any damage on me. But I don’t see why we can’t reach an agreement. Take them.”
    Like the clever little brat she was, Minerva spread her arms out. In doing so, she callously released the restrained pair of Exceed, who screamed as they fell through the air.
    Blair released her sword and the Saber woman with a curse so she could make a dive for them. Luckily, she was able to catch Happy and Aglaia before they could get hurt. Once she was satisfied that the two felines hadn’t been harmed, Blair straightened up and started walking away.
    “Hey, Dragneel…” Natsu stiffened when the sword-wielding young woman drew near him. “Grab your guild mate and let’s blow this place, alright?”
    Natsu nodded and as the two made their way down the hallway, he snatched Dia’s limp body away from Sting as they walked by. The two Dragon Slayers exchanged cold glares as Natsu hefted his fellow Fairy up into his arms.
    “We won’t lose to the likes of you guys,” he declared. “And you won’t surpass us either…If you’re a guild, take care of your nakama. That’s all I have to say.”
    With his piece said and done, the Salamander made his timely exit, leaving Blair behind him. The girl made quick work of the rope binding the two Exceeds together and let them scamper off after their Dragons.
    “You know,” she said softly. “Even though this guild wasn’t the most famous in the past, it really was a good one…Being the strongest won’t make you the best, and certainly not for long.”
Blair turned just at the doorway, looking over her shoulder with sad green eyes that swept over the faces of the Sabertooth wizards.
    “People make mistakes. It’s just part of being human and everyone does it. You guys aren’t the exception. One of these days, Sabertooth is going to fail. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Fairy Tail turns out to be the guild to prove it…Oh, and Minerva?”
    With a flourish faster than the eye could follow, Blair swung her sword up in the air, cutting a wide arc from floor to ceiling. A wave of black—shadows—flew away from the blade, almost like a massive wave of black ink.
    Minerva didn’t move a muscle as the shadows flew at her. Instead, she stood by and allowed it to slice right through the skirt of her dress. Shreds of dark fabric scattered on the ground, baring her upper thigh.
    She didn’t even flinch.
    Blair twirled her sword and placed it in the empty sheath hanging by her side. The weapon then disappeared with a burst of black light. “I’m not the same girl that you pricks kicked out,” she snarled. “The difference between us is that I know what true strength really is.”
    And as Blair Cromwell—former member of the Sabertooth guild, and Crocus’ famous lone wizard known as “The Flash Fang”—stalked away, another thought registered in her brain.
    And that’s the difference between you clods and Fairy Tail too. It’s about time someone kicked your fat asses off of that throne you’re so proud of…
Hero: *sweats and steps away from Dia* Wha...What the hell was that...?
Dia: *scratches her cheek* Uh...My Lunatic mode...? ^^;
Phoebus: Yeesh. It can get real crazy if Sis goes Lunatic on someone. Good thing Sting stopped her when she did.
Light: You're still going to punch him for punching Dia, aren't you...
Phoebus: Yup.
Blair: And this is why I'm not a part of the Fairy Tail guild...

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Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. This story and its original characters belong to me.
© 2015 - 2024 LightandDarkHeart
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ChaosPhantom444's avatar
Phantom: Why are girls so scary when they are angry?
Crystal:  Because guys like you do stupid things to make us angry.
Phantom:  What stupid things?
Crystal: Where do I even begin?  *Rolls her eyes*