The Guild Masters lounge was almost empty compared to the last time Harry was there. Everyone had been cleared out except for him, Ooba Babasaama, Goldmine, and a handful of their mages.
Goldmine had come alone. With Ooba were Jura, Sherria, and Sherria's older cousin Sherry. Harry had Dyst and Kageyama beside him. Finally, Meredy was sitting in a chair that had been dragged away from its table. Her bandages were pulled open, revealing the hand wound underneath. It was disappearing in front of their eyes as Sherria worked feverishly, dark purple light surrounding her hands and sweat across her skin.
"Dark mages in the Domus Flau," Goldmine said. "This has never happened before."
"It's preposterous! Are the Rune Knights for show?" Ooba said. "To think, they got close enough to attack the injured!"
"It's most troubling," Jura agreed. "Have you shared this news with more than those in this room, Master Harry?"
"I sent a message to every master that I know. Bob didn't respond," Harry said. "Jiemma ignored the message. As for Raven Tail and Mermaid Heel, I don't even know who the leader is. I did send Kagura a message. She said that she'll be on guard."
"What about the kingdom?" Goldmine asked.
"Last time I reported something to a Rune Knight, he turned out to be the criminal behind the whole gang." Harry sighed. "I know that was special circumstances. I figured it should be reported… I just wasn't sure who I was supposed to tell."
"I'll handle that, then," Goldmine said. "Once we're done here."
The light coming from Sherria's hands got brighter. She clenched her jaw.
"You're almost better," Sherria said, her voice strained. "Just a little bit more."
"Take your time." Meredy smiled. "I'm in no rush."
"Tough girl," Ooba said approvingly.
"I have a question," said Sherry. "You said the dark mages were going after Minerva? Why would they do that? Did they have a grudge against Sabertooth?"
"It's possible," Goldmine said. "Sabertooth spent years crushing as many dark guilds as anyone."
"As many as any of the legal guilds," Meredy said.
"Yes," Goldmine conceded. "There were those illegal dark mage hunters that wiped out more. All the same, Sabertooth has enemies."
"We might have been their target," Harry admitted.
"You mean they were targeting Fairy Tail by… attacking a Sabertooth mage?" Sherry asked. "I don't get it."
Jura was rubbing his chin, however. "A framing."
"Exactly," Harry said. "Everyone in Crocus watched Ultear and Minerva fight. Both of them were hospitalized. If Minerva was attacked while she was recovering, we'd be the ones with the most likely reason to take revenge."
"Would anyone buy that?" Sherry asked.
"If they had pulled it off and caused more chaos in the future, it could have looked really bad," Harry said. "The question is, if that's what their goal was, why would they take such a dangerous mission to target us?"
"Could it be revenge?" Jura asked.
"He's got a point," Goldmine said. "Sabertooth destroyed plenty of dark guilds. But after that tear you went on, Fairy Tail have been busiest."
"These men weren't from guilds we destroyed," Meredy said.
Sherria finally completed her healing spell, leaning back in her chair and sighing. Meredy stretched her fingers and clenched her fist, testing the motion. The lack of pain made her smile.
"They were from dark guilds that used to work under Oracion Seis," Meredy said. "Black Unicorn, Naked Mummy, Red Hood, and Harpuia. They're nothing special. What's worrying is that they're working together again."
"Perhaps they've formed an alliance," Jura said.
"They must have," Meredy said. "That's the issue. The only thing that can unite those knuckleheads is having someone above them calling the shots. Somebody gathered up the organizations without a leader and took control of them. Now, they're using them for something.
But what? The question was on everybody's minds. No one had an answer, not with the information they currently had, so the room stayed silent.
Goldmine pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against.
"I'll go first," he said. "Leave the Rune Knights to me. After that, I need to get back to my kids. Tomorrow's coming up fast."
Despite this drama, the tournament was still ongoing. Each day had its own event with a new set of points up for grabs. The race was ongoing.
Around the room, people started to rise and look toward the door. Jura and Ooba walked to the exit, while Sherry was right behind them. Before she left, Meredy bent down in front of Sherria.
"Thank you. You really helped me out."
"It was nothing!' Sherria squeaked.
Even though she held Meredy's hand while healing her, Sherria felt that Meredy was too close, scurrying around her in a nervous rush. She got her feet tangled, though, and would have fallen before she reached the door.
Instead of landing, Sherria froze partway to the ground. Her body was lifted and placed back on its feet. Dyst had his hand extended.
Sherria didn't thank him. She just stared at him. Jura and Ooba were outside already, while Sherry was waiting moderately impatiently in the doorway.
Dyst and Sherria held an impromptu staring contest. Unlike when Meredy thanked her, Sherria wasn't anxious. She showed no sign of looking away.
"Hey," Dyst said. "Why'd you help us?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you hate me, don't you? And Meredy is from my guild. You came here and healed her, even though it was hard. You're not getting anything in return. I don't get it."
Sherria pursed her lips. Her expression was different than any Harry had seen on her young face before. Her lips drew flat and her eyes filled with what might've been pity.
"I healed her because I'm the one who could," Sherria said. "It was the right thing to do. I hope that if I ever need help, other people will help me for the same reason. Because that's what it means to be a good person. If that doesn't make sense to you, then I won't be able to explain it."
"Sherria!" Ooba shouted.
"Coming, Master!"
When Sherria had run outside, Kageyama said, "She's a wise girl."
"A good kid," Meredy agreed.
Harry was paying attention to Dyst. The young white-haired mage had his brow folded. His head was cocked to the side about an inch, still looking where Sherria had been. Harry could practically see her words bouncing around his head.
Harry clapped, startling Dyst and getting the attention of the other two.
"We're no good to anybody standing here," he said. "Let's get going."
O-O-O
The next morning came without any kind of excitement. Goldmine reported the situation just like he promised to, resulting in a Rune Knight captain paying the guild a visit to take Meredy's statement. The Domus Flau had additional security the following day, but by the time Harry and the guild had taken their seats it was as if nothing changed.
Kageyama was their representative today. The only other empty seat was Ultear's, who had remained overnight in the care of tournament officials. From what Harry heard, it was the same for Minerva. The damage they'd taken was beyond a simple Episkey or the other field-healing spells Harry had in his arsenal. Ultear was due to be released in the afternoon after this event.
By now, people were beginning to adjust to the routine of the games. First the arena morphed into the setting for the latest event, then the competitors would enter and get an introduction, then Mato would explain the rules. He didn't always dance around between the competitors. Some days, like today, he gave the crowd a rundown from an announcer's booth located amongst the seats.
It was going to be a capture-the-flag match. There were no teams. Flags on eight foot polls were passed around, one per competitor, each stitched with the logo of their respective guilds. They were each given one-seventh of today's arena — a forest of thick trees divided into sections by neat hedges taller than a person — where they would hide their own flag. If their flag was stolen and taken back to an enemy's territory, they were thereby eliminated. The winner would be whomever was last standing, or the competitor possessing the most flags if there were multiple people left after thirty minutes.
While Harry listened as all this was explained, his attention was on Dyst.
"Something on your mind?" Harry asked.
The young mage had moved from the higher seats to sit in the front row today. He was occupying the space left by Ultear. Even though he was the designated alternate, it wasn't as if he had to swap in yet. Ultear would make a full recovery by later that day.
The event began. Kageyama's flag was swallowed by the shadow of a tree and vanished. He ran toward enemy territory.
"I'm fine," Dyst said. He was watching the event more closely than he'd watched the previous rounds, and yet, it felt like he was barely seeing it.
"I know that your body's alright. I want to know why you're making such a thoughtful face," Harry said. "Did you come up with a plan to leave a better legacy? Maybe you're thinking about what the material your first statue should be made of?"
"No, it's not that," Dyst said distractedly.
"Then are you thinking about what Sherria said?"
Finally, Dyst jerked in his seat. He looked at his guild master warily. "How'd you know?"
"Just a hunch. You made a really funny face after she left."
Swathes of forest were disappearing in blasts of black lightning. Orga was competing again from Sabertooth again, searching for the flag of Mermaid Heel's competitor. Anyone from a team could compete in two different events. Battle days were counted separately, so one mage could appear three times. There had been hints that the finale might be something special, too, that could bump that total to four.
Dyst held his hands up, squeezing the air and staring at his fingers. "She made it seem so simple. What did she say? If I don't get it, then she can't explain it to me. Well, I've been thinking a lot. It feels like I almost get it. Just, not quite."
"Well, tell me where you're having trouble."
A Quatro Cerberus mage with a dog-themed cloak and tears pouring from his eyes fought back and forth against a busty blond woman, who was wearing some kind of red armor that showed a lot of skin. The woman was a member of Blue Pegasus, which was quite a curveball considering their other members. She kicked the crying mage in the face and sent him flying back, before racing off to search for his flag.
"Where I grew up, life is full of transactions," Dyst said. "No one in our village had anything extra. You put in work or you starve. If you get sick, you better work, because no one is going to feed you. They'll starve if they do it for free. I learned magic and I got so strong, I thought I was a god. That's when I headed to Crocus. When I got here, I found out it was the same way, just bigger. There were still transactions everywhere."
Yuka Suzuki, the blue-haired mage from Lyon's team in Lamia Scale, had infiltrated Orga's territory while the fearsome mage wasn't there. His stealthy approach was turning to frustration as he failed to turn up any sign of a flag. That made sense. Orga had strapped his flag to his back and was carrying it with him, daring anyone to steal it, knowing that he could lose if anyone so much as got their hand around it, since he was carrying the prize into enemy territory.
"I was wrong about being a god," Dyst said. "I'm just an above average mage. Everything else was right. Hydra Shadow treated me well as long as I cleared out anyone who came looking for them. Once I failed, they let go of me. That was the transaction we had. Even you were completing a transaction, Master. You were getting paid to destroy our guild. For money and fame, you took down Gust and got rid of them."
"But Sherria helped us without getting anything back."
"She talked about helping people just because you can," Dyst said. "It sounds nice. But what happens if nobody helps you when you're the one who needs it, because you kept helping everyone else?"
Harry scratched the side of his head. Warcry from Quatro Cerberus was still chasing after Jenny Realight, the beautiful Blue Pegasus mage. They both drew up short and shouted in anger when the PA system announced they were both eliminated. While they fought, their flags had been taken, stolen away as if the shadows swallowed them whole.
"Sherria would probably tell you that wouldn't happen," Harry said. "She would say people are too kind for that."
"What do you think, Master?"
"Well, helping is good," Harry said. "I like to help people. Maybe it's better to say that I have a hard time ignoring people who're in trouble. I'm well aware not everyone is like me. There will be plenty of people who don't help you when you're in trouble." Harry gazed around the arena, taking in the multitude of faces, amongst whom were more than a few clients who once came to Fairy Tail to have their troubles solved. Harry looked back at Dyst, smiling. "I just like to believe that some people will be different. There'll always be other people like me."
Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear had worked sleepless nights to put Fairy Tail's name on the map again. Jura came to them without having to, giving them an opportunity just because he wanted to see them take it. Fairy Tail's past deeds had brought Totomaru and Kageyama to them. Harry smiled as he watched the flags of Raven Tail and Mermaid Heel appear in Fairy Tail's area, eliminating two more rivals. Sometimes, good deeds came back around.
"So we should help people, because they could help us back," Dyst said. "I understand that. It's a kind of transaction. The payment is just delayed."
"Sometimes, it works out that way. But I would help someone even if I knew they couldn't pay me back."
The troubled look came back, just as it had cleared up. "Why?" Dyst asked.
Harry just looked at him. He stayed silent, holding a staring contest not unlike the one Dyst had with Sherria.
"You'll need to find that answer on your own." Harry tapped Dyst's chest. "It'll be in here."
Slowly, Dyst tucked his chin against his neck, looking at the place where Harry touched him. He was lost in thought for a good five minutes. By then, Orga had devastated Lamia Scale's section. With a triumphant grunt, he pulled Yuka's flag out of the burnt remnants of a tree, holding it aloft. He ran with frightening speed for his size, planting his flag in his own territory, eliminating Yuka.
"Who's next?" Orga roared.
It might as well have been a rhetorical question. There was only one other competitor in the match. Half of the time was now gone.
Dyst stood up. Without paying attention to the ongoing match, he strode away. When he reached the staircase, he turned left and went down, climbing deeper into the arena.
A few of the others noticed him go, although just as many were enraptured by the match.
Yukino leaned toward Harry from the seat behind him. "Where is Dyst going?"
"To ask a favor, I think," Harry said.
Orga wedged the flag he had stolen deep into the ground, burying it so that it would take considerable strength to pull it out. Then, with his own flag still fixed on his back, he began to stomp through the forest. His destination was obvious. There was only one part of the arena worth visiting.
The different sections allotted to each member were pie-shaped, with the narrowest point of each wedge being in the middle. Orga eradicated a section of the dividing hedge, standing on the threshold of Kageyama's home turf.
"You've been busy!" Orga said. "I imagine you've got plenty of flags in there, don't ya? It sure would be a shame if something happened to them."
He clashed his fists against each other. Black sparks appeared around his knuckles.
"That man's magic is quite strong," Jellal said.
Considering who that was coming from, Harry considered it a high compliment.
Orga sucked in a deep breath. He put his hands out, one on top and the other on the bottom, with his palms facing each other.
"Lightning God's… Charged… Particle Cannon!"
A blast tore through the arena. Black lightning completely engulfed the seventh of the arena where Orga was aiming. For the first time since Jellal's first Sema, the — repaired — barrier flared to life, showing itself from the stress of absorbing Orga's blast. While it never gave the slightest hint of breaking, the raw power the barrier's appearance spoke of was highly impressive.
The trees, forest, and hedge in that area were all gone. Although Kageyama had stashed his stolen flags out of sight, that hadn't spared them from the blast. They must have been made of some sort of special material. While the trees had vanished without a trace, the flags remained visible for a few moments, before the charred material gave out and they crumbled into dust.
"Is it over?" Yukino asked. "He just destroyed Kageyama's flag!"
"No," Jellal said. "One was missing."
"You mean…?"
"Kageyama's flag is somewhere else," Harry said. "He hid it in someone else's territory."
Harry hadn't seen him do it. Then again, he had mostly been focusing on Dyst. For some reason, since the moment that he stepped into the arena, Harry had harbored the feeling that Kageyama wouldn't lose.
Orga looked around. He wasn't sure what to do now. Kageyama wasn't coming out, the flags were gone, and he had no more targets to wield his power against.
"I guess I win," Orga said.
He sounded disappointed about the anticlimax.
He was only halfway back to his territory when he saw something that made his eyes widen. A figure shrouded in black was running through the forest, carrying Lamia Scale's flag.
"You little thief!" In spite of the accusation, Orga sounded quite happy. "Come and face me!"
Kageyama turned, avoiding him, heading for Fairy Tail territory again.
"No you don't! Lightning God's Cloud foot!"
Sparks appeared around Orga's ankles. He ran forward and looked almost like he was skating. His speed had doubled compared to earlier. Within seconds, he was looming above Kageyama's darting figure.
"Lightning God's Thunder Fist!"
He struck the ground with an enhanced punch. Kageyama had nimbly ducked to the side. Orga's fist cratered the earth, with a shockwave blowing Kageyama forward. He rolled through the landing and kept running. Seconds later, he crossed into the charred earth left by Orga's ultimate attack. Kageyama planted the stolen flag in Fairy Tail Territory.
"Did you think that would be enough?" Orga bellowed. "If you have a new flag, I'll destroy that one too!"
With his movement spell, Orga caught up with Kageyama a second time. He put his hands together and swung downward, clubbing the ground. There was no named spell this time, just a lightning-fueled blow that shattered this flag as completely as the first four.
The attack didn't stop there. A boom! passed through the arena, like thunder sounding right in the ear of those watching. It was a powerful attack. Kageyama looked sure to be caught up in its effects.
Harry's eyes caught the moment he changed. It had happened just before Orga's attack made contact with the ground. Kageyama's skin changed until he had the complexion of one of the shadows he always wielded. He was partially transparent to the eye. The only time Harry had seen Kageyama like that was when he stole Mary's ring during the entrance test. Harry looked sideways, spotting where Raven Tail was sitting, and tapped his wand against his glasses. His vision was enhanced as if looking through binoculars. When he found Mary, she was scowling.
Not even Harry was sure the extent of what Kageyama could do when he was like this. There was only one trait that was impossible to forget.
His speed.
Back then, Kageyama had taken Mary's ring so fast she failed to realize she'd been robbed.
Today, he got behind Orga while the Sabertooth mage was still grinning in satisfaction at the power of his own attack.
Orga never got the chance to notice a weight missing against his back. Kageyama planted Sabertooth's flag in the charred ground.
"Sabertooth is eliminated!" Mato roared. "Fairy Tail are the winners!"
O-O-O
Ultear was leaning against the wall that her bed was beside. Her smile at Fairy Tail's victory turned into a sigh as she looked away from the room's television, gazing up at the white ceiling. She was going mad. The doctors had raised such a fuss, keeping her this long in such a boring space. The first few hours had gotten all of her moping out. Now she was just bored. She had done missions in worse condition than this during her time in Grimoire Heart. If they tried to keep her for another hour for some test or another disgusting healing potion, she would be leaving through the doctors if she had to.
The door swung open. Ultear turned her head to see who it was, her chin still pointed up from her ceiling-gazing.
"Dyst?" Ultear asked.
The strange young man Harry dragged back from Crocus marched into her room. When he got close to her bed, he dropped to his knees. A moment later he'd prostrated himself, bowing to her with his palms on the floor.
"Please," Dyst said, "allow me to take your place!"