A/N: Happy New Years! Glad to have had the response I got for the last chapter so her comes another one. I will admit, this is an OC chapter approaching the Battle of Fairy Tail in a different manner than most people seem to do, partially because I had trouble picturing how to have Sora participate in it. In any case, I hope what happens in this chapter is at least interesting and keeps you guys coming back for more. Now then, on to the reviews before we start.

Zoofan: Haha, glad you enjoyed it. Took some time and a lot of re-watching the episode and chapter it came from to properly word everything so I'm glad the effort paid off.

Piemaster981: Glad to both surprise and impress you. When I got to the part of the series where Gajeel defended Levy for the first time I have to admit that was the moment Gajeel became one of my favorite characters and I just had to reflect that in my story. Hope you enjoy what I came up with here.

pokeheroaadyn: Good to know the chapter was well received! Let me know how this one fairs too please.

After returning to the guild and seeing Juvia and Gajeel as new members of Fairy Tail, time passed normally for the usually energetic guild. Natsu still had some side effects from eating the Etherion for a while, but eventually got over most if it since Sora had filtered most of it before he consumed it, so he was now looking forward to eating all that he could when the festival rolled around. Meanwhile, all of Magnolia began to prepare for the annual festival to begin. Fairy Tail was even holding a Miss Fairy Tail contest to get everyone in the festive spirit, something Lucy really wanted to win for the prize so she could be safe from rent for half the year. And while everyone was busy having fun with the preparations for the festival… Sora was stuck slaving away in his basement.

"… Urgh, that's another one." He picked up the latest piece of jewelry from the table and moved to a small pile of wooden boxes. Inside had a good amount of cushioning, that he carefully placed the pendant in, before closing it. He then carried the box over to a table by the stairs up, upon which lay a series of other boxes of similar size, and some of the size to hold earrings, rings, and occasionally cuff-links. He then grabbed a clipboard that was hanging on the wall next to it and went down the list. "Okay, that takes care of the Special order for Ms Kariso the trader, wanting a good luck charm with a bird theme. Now today I have so far completed… 13 out of 21 orders…" Putting the clipboard back, he rubbed his face. "Man, so close to being done…"

Taking a break, Sora tiredly walked up the stairs of his new home in Magnolia. A good 30-minute walk away from the guild, or 5 minutes by water board, and the house itself was pretty standard to how the rest of the town looked. The living room had a couch and coffee table in front of a fireplace with a few chairs here and there on the carpeted floor. Connected to it, the kitchen had a clear view of it as the open doorway and a section of the wall gave access to it. The kitchen was setup similarly to his old hideout, but better appliances. There was even a kitchen island in the middle of it for preparing food, and a space for a dining table to comfortably eat meals.

The front door was next to the living room, so anyone who entered was right in sight of it, and the back door was connected to the kitchen. Down the hall from the door, several doors led to a closet, a bathroom, and a couple of spare rooms he didn't know what to do with yet, so he settled for using them for storage until he had a better idea. There was also the door that led to the basement, which he had turned into his own workshop complete with everything a jeweler and sculptor would need. To the side of the front door opposite of the living room and just above the basement stairs, a set of stairs led up to the second floor, where the master bedroom and a couple guest rooms were, as well as another bathroom.

Opening the door to the basement, Sora walked into the hall and yawned, five of the boxes from downstairs under his arm that he brought into the storage room next door and arranged them for easy organization, checking the labels he put on each box. He then looked at the stacks of boxes in this room, his efforts from the last 3 days of catching up with what piled up over his small vacation. "Man, give me a break people. I wasn't even gone that long!" A flashing light near the side of the door into the room caught his attention, and he placed his finger on the security lacrima that was there.

He used ones similar to this back at his old place, another kind of lacrima he created himself. A series of lacrima around his house would scan the area constantly, each having a subtle, yet long-lived amounts of magic in them to keep them active and unnoticeable. They record the approach of any lifeforms or magic that get close, and send the information to the ones he placed near the doors of each room. When he was home and someone or something they didn't recognize approached the area, they would flash white for anything normal and red for a potential threat, and he can read those recordings by using his magic to interact with them. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity as to who they said was there, he walked out of the storage room and walked towards the front door.

But stopping once he saw something annoying.

[1 minute earlier…]

"So this is Sora's new place…" Lucy looked up at the two story house in question as the rest of the team was with her. "It looks nice!" The building not only had a nice exterior and lawn with a pair of Sakura trees, but it also faced the canal along with a few others that provided a splendid view. Lucy was honestly amazed that Sora was able to get his hands on such an incredible piece of property.

"Indeed." Erza appraised the place with a hand on her chin. Since the recent events at the tower, Erza finally felt comfortable enough to walk around without her armor on at all times, hence why she was now in her casual clothes. "It almost makes me want to acquire a place of my own and move out of Fairy Hills…"

"Maybe." Gray said, neutral about the whole thing. "That said, we're here to figure out what's keeping him, so we going or not?" That was the reason they showed up today. They haven't seen or really heard from Sora in the last few days, so they convinced Mira and Makarov to let them know where his new place was so they could check on him.

"Right, so what are you guys waiting for?!" Natsu said with a smile, already halfway through the living room window he had opened, Happy floating on the other side with a salute.

"Aye!"

"NATSU, HAPPY, USE THE DOOR!" Lucy was already sick of him breaking into her apartment, but did he really have to do that at other people's places too?!

"Ah, it's no big deal. We're friends!" Natsu's charismatic grin was turned fully to her.

So that made the impact to the back of his skull that much more painful and surprising as it had him falling out onto the lawn, as another impact rocked into Happy's back and shot him spinning out the window and into the trunk of one of the trees.

As Natsu cradled his head as he lay on the ground and Happy tried to regain his senses, the others looked about nervously as Sora leaned the upper part of his body out the window to glare at the two. "And it's BECAUSE we're friends, that I recommend you use the door LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! Or so help me Natsu the next time you do this, I'm strapping you to my board and we'll be doing laps around town for an entire day. And we won't even stop for food, I'll bring some with me. As for Happy, I'll just find the most delicious fish I can find and eat it in front of you, not letting you have a single piece as I savor it."

"Sora, you're evil…" Happy said in a daze from where he was stuck in the trunk, Lucy looking for a way to gingerly get him out of there.

As Gray tended to Natsu with ice to his head, Erza looked at Sora cautiously. "Was the force really necessary?"

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Sora rubbed his head. "Probably not. Sorry guys, just been a bit tired." Looking again, he saw Lucy now had a lucid Happy in her arms and Gray was helping Natsu stand. "Come on in. Through the door, please."

Closing the window, he went to the door and let them in, guiding them to the couch and chairs before heading into the kitchen. A minute later, he walked out with a plate of fish and a bowl of ruby flames, giving them to the wounded pair which gratefully accepted. "This is for maybe doing too much damage in irritation. Seriously though, just use the door next time?"

Natsu, having recovered more thanks to the flames, nodded in affirmation as he slurped it up, while the fish had knocked Happy out of his daze and he raised his paw in a salute. "Aye sir!"

Sora let out a small smile, before taking a sigh as he let out a sigh. "Alright then, this visit was a bit unexpected. What brings you guys here?"

"You haven't been to the guild in a while. We felt like something was wrong, so we came by to check on you." Erza said from the seat next to him, before taking a look at the interior with the others. "I must say, you really have found a nice place here."

"Thanks. Loke helped me find it back when I first got into town, the night before the war with Phantom happened. Has room for everything I might need."

"True. This is pretty spacious." Gray laid back in his chair, as everyone turned back to Sora. "Still, where have you been man? Even if most people don't take requests every time they come in, they don't usually hole themselves away like this."

Sora leaned back in the chair, letting out a deep sigh. "Been trying to catch up on commissions. That break we took, interrupted as it was, led to quite a few people sending requests while I was gone. I'm working to be done with the rest today, then ship everything out tomorrow."

"How many are there?" Lucy had an apprehensive look on her face while Sora looked up in thought.

"Hmmm. I did 27 orders yesterday and 25 the day before so… 73 in total with 8 to go?" Jaws dropped at that, Natsu's bowl falling onto the ground with the top falling out and falling to its side as the flames sputtered out, which Sora idly noted as something he was grateful for as he didn't want to change the carpeting just yet.

"… No offense, Sora…" Lucy managed to get out. "But how the hell are you making that many in only a few days?!"

He shrugged at her question. "Just that good. Efficiency and quality are things I take pride in. It's no different than putting together a puzzle with my supply stockpile, even if sometimes I need something specific made. Still, it's tiring me the hell out. If so many of these weren't express delivery requests, I would have paced myself some more. But apparently everyone wanted things such as necklaces, rings, earrings, etc., as soon as possible across the country." He moved a hand through his hair then. "Still, this is a bit much for 1 man to handle. May need to rethink my advertisement in the paper."

"Want some help?"

Sora quirked an eyebrow at Natsu's question. "No offense man, but you don't exactly strike me as the type of guy who would be good at this. Burning stuff to ashes is different from creating a piece of art like the stuff I've been making. Maybe you guys could hand me stuff while I worked at the desk so I'm not walking all over the place, but I don't know how much you could help actually making stuff."

Erza looked at him thoughtfully. "You said something about an ad?"

"Yeah, was using that to make sure my info was out there for whatever services people wanted from me. Even made sure a copy of it went out to some of my past clients to let them know the circumstances. Though that may have worked against me since they seem to have informed some of their friends and colleagues about me and my work. I'm going to need to change the info if I want to be comfortable enough to go on jobs more often."

"Why not just quit? You've already proved you're well enough off that you don't need the money." Gray was still shocked at how much Sora had funded the rebuilding of the guild hall, especially since Sora had said that it wouldn't be a large bit of his resources. Knowing that, he could easily say that Sora had no more need to acquire more money.

But that wasn't what Sora was thinking about. "It isn't about the money. Sure it's nice to be rewarded for my work, but it's somewhat become my hobby, as well as a way of training myself."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you told me before that when you were being trained in using Ice magic, you were made to strip to your underwear in the cold to get a feel for it, right? It gave you an understanding of how the ice looked and felt. The same applies to me." Sora raised a palm and created a sphere of crystal in his palm. "The more I work with crystals, the deeper my understanding of them goes. How they feel, how they look, how durable they are, how the light reflects off of them. All of this and more helps me to gain a better grasp on how my magic can grow and improve. After all, the essence of Maker Magic…" He then shared a grin of understanding with the ice mage as Gray finished the sentence.

"Is limited only by our imagination."

"Exactly. Besides, I never had a teacher like you to show me the ropes. This is one of the best ways for me to get better at using my magic."

"How is that going by the way?" Sora looked at Lucy for clarification, and she responded hesitantly. "I-I mean you're doing all this so you can…"

Understanding what she was getting at, he looked over to a small box in the corner of the room. Getting up, he walked over to and opened it, pulling out a small piece of crystal of similar color to the prisons that hold his family. Making sure the others could see it, he explained. "I was able to recreate a small piece of their prisons. While I'm away, I'll be using this to test what level of control I have, and whether or not it would be enough to release them. So far, even with 5 gem-types, I'm not strong enough to free them. But I won't let that stop me. I WILL get them out. Even if it takes me another ten years to do so." He then smiled softly. "But I don't think it'll take that long. Since meeting you guys I got 2 of those types almost too easily, even if the last one screwed up my control over all of them. It should only be a matter of time before I complete whatever requirements I need, and I am willing to wait as long as it takes."

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned in surprise, not having heard Erza get up and stand beside him, a firm and confident smile on her face. "And we will wait beside you, giving you whatever support we can for as long as you'll have it."

Staring at her for several moments, then looking back at the similar looks the others were giving. He then looked back at the crystal in his hand with a small smile on his face. "Thanks." He then returned the piece to the box and stretched his arms. "Alright, it should only take me a few more hours to finish the rest, so I should get back to work." Sending them a smile, he continued. "So, who wants to come down and chat while I work my magic?"

A little later, as Sora was looking at the next item on the list, the others were looking around the basement in awe. "SO MUCH STUFF!" Natsu couldn't believe all the tools and boxes that had been put in the room. Despite the number of items that were gathered among the basement's tables, shelves, and floor, the place was still organized enough to accommodate the entire group as they looked about the place.

Sora meanwhile went to a clipboard hanging from a wall and inspected it. "Let's see, a sapphire necklace eh? Least this one looks simple and doesn't have any requested enchantments." Casting a glance around the room, he spotted what he was looking for. "Lucy, the shelf on your right in the middle. Bring the box over here. Gray, inside the box on the ground near your feet, second from the right of the group. Grab one from the middle." As he said this, he walked to a desk in the back and began to set things up.

Curious, Lucy and Gray checked the boxes mentioned, and each was surprised when Lucy looked in the small box to see a small pile of sapphires, and Gray found a series of silver chains set into different categories, as well as some ornaments with empty sockets. Lucy however was more so as she didn't know how to explain the sapphires. Bringing it over to Sora, she asked about it. "Oi, Sora! How do you have this many sapphires?!"

When Gray brought the designated chain over, he saw the number of sapphires as well and mirrored her surprise, the others doing the same when they came over to see. Sora just calmly placed the chain in the center of the table and spread it out, making sure it was indeed the one he wanted and that there were no problems with it. Satisfied, he grabbed one of the sapphires from the box and placed it near the largest socket in the necklace he was making, dropping the illusion on his eye as he examined it. "Yes, normally this many would be hard to come by. And while I might manage to pull it off with my funds, I wanted a more reliable means of getting a hold of crystals in case of shortages. So, I'm just using my own."

"HUH?! You're what?!"

"I'm making them myself from my magic." Sora said, as he took a hold of the sapphire and right before their eyes… molded it like clay. They watched transfixed as the clear piece of rock was being manipulated like a piece of putty. He made the once spherical crystal appear to look more flat and began to take a teardrop shape. "I make them myself, then use the ones I create as the materials. I can then use my magic to control the size, luster, and overall quality more easily than doing so with a natural one."

Gray looked over at the boxes that likely had more crystals. "But wouldn't they fade away over time? Without enough magic to sustain them, they ought to fade away as time passes."

"Normally, yes. But after setting them into the sockets I begin to remove the magic within them. If I do it right they become ordinary crystals, the process similar to removing water from something to preserve it. They become so natural looking that you could only tell by knowing what to look for. It's actually pretty similar to creating a Star Prism, and those things can last for centuries."

"Man, your magic is pretty awesome."

"Don't sell yourself short, man. I still can't do anything too complex without tiring myself out too much. You however can easily create whatever comes to mind with ease."

"Yeah, but my ice can't create light, fire, or wind like your crystals can."

"And right now my control over those abilities is damaged because I messed up somewhere trying to pick up that last one. Still have no idea if the issue was as simple as too many too fast, or just because of the nature of the element." Sora smirked at him. "So how about we say each of us has our perks and leave it at that?"

"Sounds good to me." Gray returned with his own smirk.

Sora nodded, before looking back to and inspecting the sapphire he was working with. Satisfied, he began to set the gem into the socket in the middle. "So, anything interesting going on recently?"

"Mostly just the preparations for the festival." Erza commented as everyone began to idly look through Sora's supplies, curious as to what else he was working with.

"Right, that. If I recall, the festival is hosted by the guild and one of the main events is the Fantasia Parade, right? You guys board floats and use your magic to entertain everyone."

"That sounds about right."

"There's also a beauty contest within the guild itself!" Lucy said in suppressed excitement. "The winner of the contest gets named Miss Fairy Tail and gets a big cash reward!"

Sora finished setting the gem and reached for another sapphire to put in one of the remaining two sockets. "Really? Huh. Are all the girls taking part?"

"Yeah! I really want to win it myself. I think I got a chance of beating Mira, though it will be tough."

"Hmm, she is rather beautiful… If just beauty was enough, she might win it hands down. Though contests like that are also about popularity, so Erza might be able to win it too."

Erza looked at him curiously from where she was inspecting his ruby stash. "You really think so?"

"You are the Titania, Queen of the Fairies, aren't you? And Mira already told me how the both of you used to be rivals." He then looked up and smirked at her. "Which I STILL can't believe with how I only know the current version of Mira. So this could even be a way to rehash any old grudges you to might have against each other, or even just a bit of fun."

Erza smirked from amusement at the thought, slightly missing the days of having a rival like Mira was. "Perhaps that would be fun."

"Ah, Sora! You got Emeralds too!" Happy was up on the shelf the sapphires had come from, going through another box and pulling out an emerald.

"Yup. Got other types as well. Can't use them in my magic, but I was able to get a few real emeralds to look at, before recreating my own emeralds. Did the same with other types of gems, so I can do just about any kind of crystal as needed."

"Wow. Your magic really does have it made." Natsu commented as he was rifling through a box of accessories without jewels.

"Perhaps, but I'd rather figure out what the other types can do as soon as I can. Emerald really has me curious since I thought that one would be wind, so I was really surprised when I got that with Zircon instead."

Erza then cast a gaze back up the stairs. "Hm, it occurs to me that we never threw you a housewarming party, now that you've officially moved in."

"Good thing too, seeing as I still haven't finished personalizing the place. Maybe we can set something up after the festival. Until then, I'll focus on what I can do at the moment." As he began to set a third piece, they all continued to chat idly. After he finished a piece, he would ask the others to grab what he needed, and they wound up speeding up the process. As they reached the last item on the list, Sora looked at it in slight surprise. "Hm? This is…"

"What do you mean you're going out of town?!" Sora grinned sheepishly with a small box under his arm at the looks being sent his way by the entirety of Team Natsu, surprised that he was leaving so close to the festival. They were at the train station, having helped him send out the completed items to where they were intended. When he said they were done, despite him having one more item in hand, they had asked about it and got the response he gave them.

"Well, the request itself was apparently time-sensitive, and there are only a few days left to deal with it. While a little strange that they wanted me to deliver it myself, I'll just deal with it really quick before the festival starts. I should still be back in time to see Fairy Tail's parade at the latest, and this gives me a good chance to get some solo experience doing a job."

"I still think you should take someone with you." Erza said with a frown as she crossed her arms.

"If I did, it would be one of you guys. As for why I won't," He pointed at the two girls. "both of you are participants in the beauty contest, and are liable to miss it if you come along," He pointed at Gray. "you will probably wind up bringing someone along unintentionally that could make things difficult," Not responding to the confused look on the ice mage's face, he then pointed at Natsu. "and you're likely to make something burn or break with your track record."

Sora then brought his arm to his side as the other one kept a safe hold on the box. "Guys, relax. It's a simple job delivering a piece of my work. I can handle something like this easily and quickly if I go on my own."

"Are you sure you want to leave so close to the festival?" Lucy asked, looks of uncertainty on her and the others' faces.

But Sora just smiled at them. "I'm sure. This will be done before you guys know it! The town of Amarylis isn't too far away, so I still have plenty of time to get back before the festival. Be sure to prepare a picture for whoever wins the contest if I don't make it back before then."

After spending a bit more time convincing the others and telling them they'd see him soon, Sora was on the train heading to Amarylis, where the commission had come from. It was close to noon when he arrived, and he went straight to find the address he was given.

The town gave off a somewhat nostalgic feeling, each building looking old yet well taken care of, showing that the town has definitely been around a while. The old-fashioned style of the buildings had Sora smiling from the aesthetic feeling they gave off, but was distracted from it by the looks of the people. Everyone seemed to go about their day as normally as they could, but an underlying sense of unease and fear seemed to permeate throughout the people. Frowning in worry, Sora walked cautiously around as he tried to discern what was going on.

He then heard the sounds of things breaking. Following it to its source, he saw a group of people wearing cloaks tossing over some food stalls, all but one of them covering their heads with a cloak. The one who's face he could see was a woman with a malicious look on her face, one side of her face bald and the other having long, dark pink hair. She stood back as her friends tossed over some street stalls as some of her people took food, money, and trinkets, a few others standing by her side.

Sora saw as someone tried to protect their things, only for the woman to smirk as she pointed at him, and the man went rigid as his arms were brought to his sides. As she moved her hand, the man was lifted and slammed into a wall, Sora surprised as he didn't feel any magic being activated.

"That's what you get for going against me!" The woman boasted arrogantly, not giving the man a second glance as other civilians helped him up. "I have more power in my finger than any of you can fathom! None of you can stand a chance against my authority!"

"That so?" She turned her head towards the new voice, seeing Sora as he walked up to them calmly. "Gotta say, telekinesis is pretty interesting. Don't see a lot of magic that can do that very often."

Her cronies quit looting to look at the newcomer, the woman looking at him with a raised brow and a confident smile. "Thanks for the compliment. I take great pride in my power." One of the cloaked individuals turned their head towards her at that, but quickly turned it back.

"Who said it was a compliment?" Her smirk dropped at that, as Sora smirked at her. "I only compliment people if I think they deserve it. So far, I see no reason to commend you on anything, other than being a right bitch."

She downright glared with a snarl at that. "You dare?!" She then raised her hand and created a magic circle, making purple chains erupt from the ground under Sora's feet, binding him and making him struggle. "No one, and I mean NO ONE, defies me, Jagora!"

Sora looked at her with a strained smile. "Jagora, huh? Gotta say, that name of yours isn't very terrifying. Sounds like something a child would name a pet!"

She seethed at this, before pointing at him, and an invisible force wrapped around him before he was lifted in the air. As she flailed her arm about, he was thrown into walls, slammed against the buildings, and otherwise treated like a rag-doll. Soon, he was lifted high up, and she threw her hand downwards, Sora slamming into the ground with incredible force that threw up a dust cloud.

Jagora looked at the dust with satisfaction. "Hehehe, that'll teach you what happens when you mess with me!" But her eyes changed to surprise with the rest of her group as the cloud cleared, and instead of a bruised and battered Sora, they saw a few hunks of crystal with her binding chains around them as they slowly dissipated. "Huh?"

"You're right, that did teach me a few things." She then rounded towards an alleyway in the direction he had come from, and Sora stepped out from the shadows, not a scratch on him. "Like how easily taunted you are."

Jagora stared him down with a glare. "So… You must be a mage."

"And you are a crazy gang leader who happened to cross my path. So, will this be going the easy way…" Crystal gauntlets and greaves then formed on him as he took a battle stance, having hidden the piece he was bringing in the alley. "Or the hard way?"

"… Finally…" With a malicious smile, she flung both her arms out, and several items on the street lifted up into the air. "Finally, someone I can REALLY test myself with!" Moving her arms forward, the objects flung towards Sora, with more picking up and following them as Sora bashed and kicked them away. When she thought he was properly distracted, she aimed a palm to the ground, a chain shooting up and wrapping around her upper arm. She then pulled the rest of the apparently 20-foot-long chain and whipped it at Sora, who just noticed in time to create a wall of crystal to block its path.

It bought him enough time to be shocked as it shattered his construct with ease and be able to get out of the way as its momentum was reduced.

As the flurry of objects halted, Jagora looked at Sora like a predator. "Do keep this interesting, will you? My magic breaking chain hasn't had many opportunities to be used effectively."

"So that's what it was…" Sora wasn't sure how else she'd be able to shatter his crystals so easily. Looking around, he noticed that enough people had cleared for him to be willing to turn things up a notch, and switched his gauntlets to being one of ruby, and the other of zircon. Holding the palms out to her and her cronies, he unleashed a swirling vortex of fire and wind at them all, catching her off guard as the flames hid them from sight. Sora kept it up for a few more seconds before letting it stop, preparing himself for whatever was left once the flames died down and hoping he hadn't done Natsu-level destruction.

When the smoke died down, he saw that four of her ten cronies had stepped in front of her, each holding a rod that projected a magic circle to act as a barrier, the rest hanging behind them with a smug Jagora. Seeing this, Sora grit his teeth. "You're not just a petty gang, are you?"

"Allow me to formally introduce myself." Jagora mocked bowed to him as she spoke smugly. "I am Jagora, of the Dark Guild Laughing Coffin. And this town," She then looked at him with the face of someone who knew they were at the top. "belongs to me!"

"Dark Guild, huh?" Sora was now feeling a bit nervous. He came simply to deliver a piece of his work to someone who asked for it. Now he's staring at a group of people from a Dark Guild?! He then took a few moments to carefully look at each member, seeing most of them holding a device of some sort. 'Hm, looks like they mostly rely on their tools, so that makes them small fry. Should be simple if I actually try. The problem will be the rest.' He turned his gaze to the three beside Jagora, each without an item. Two of them had grins on their faces similar to Jagora's, while the third stayed behind her as their hood obscured most of their face, seeing only the mouth as it was set into a neutral line, neither a frown or a smile. 'They likely have their own magic, just a matter of finding out what it is and how I can counter it. I'll need to be cautious…'

"Alright boys! Take him down!" The seven with devices then began to take shots at Sora, firing magic bullets out of the rods as he formed a shield on his arm and ran to dodge them, blocking what he could. At one point he jumped and set his hand as if he were about to finger flick them, a small purple pellet forming between the thumb and finger he was flicking with. He then fired the pellet at one of the goons, hitting the device they were holding and destroying it, making the grunt cry out in shock as he pulled his hands away. He kept this up a little longer and managed to destroy two more devices, before Jagora got impatient. She made a gesture and the two grinning cronies began to get involved, the third one staying behind her and maintaining a neutral stance.

Standing behind the device users, one of them clasped his hands together, before placing both of them on the ground, their magic causing the very earth to shift. Next thing Sora knew, an earthen fist was rising up from the ground that he barely guarded against, sending him straight into the air. The second one then created a lance of fire and hurled it at Sora, who let it hit while he channeled Ruby through his heart. As he fell smoking from the attack, the gang had a small cheer at their apparent success.

Sora however, as he lay there, started to gather his magic, knowing just how much he'd need for this next spell. As one came by to see what he had on him, he swiftly struck them in the gut, before standing up and kicking them back into the others, sending three to the ground with him, before unleashing the spell he had in mind.

"Crystal Make, Diamond Storm!" Since first creating the technique, he was able to determine how to mold the magic to do exactly the amount of damage he wanted. And since this spell was not element dependent, he hadn't lost the ability to control it when he gained Zircon. Now, it was like a harsh hailstorm of small crystals that rained down on all nine of the previously confident troublemakers, and making them run for cover as the hits already began to leave sizeable bruises.

Jagora grunted, before tapping her foot a few times, catching the attention of the grunt behind her, before raised her palm out in front of her. A few seconds later, the crystals Sora was releasing were impacting against an invisible barrier. Narrowing his eyes at what he saw, he ended the spell and looked over at Jagora. "Looks like if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!"

Raising a brow, he watched as the others parted way and she once again prepared her chain-whip. Responding, Sora created a sword, making both the sword and the shield as densely paced as he could, hoping that the extra mass would make it that much harder for Jagora to break them with her chains. Preparing his eye, he reengaged with Jagora, the extra amount of crystals helping like he thought it would as the shield would resist the chain far better than his earlier wall had, and used it to bash her chain away to throw her off balance so he can launch a real attack at her on occasion. After dodging another swipe, he felt something on his leg and became unable to move from that spot. When he returned his attention to Jagora, the chain was already bearing down on him, and bringing up his shield and sword as all he had time for, the chain destroying both and the gauntlets on his arms as the sensation went away and he was thrown back into a wall.

As he recovered and recreated his gauntlets, he grinned at them all. "So THAT'S what's going on."

Jagora furrowed her eyes at that. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your magic. I knew something was off about it." Sora stood up tall as he looked at her. "Chains are one thing, but telekinesis has nothing to do with them, no matter how you think of it. Especially since I couldn't feel any magic activating. But if it was already active, then no wonder I'd never notice it. And unfortunately for you…" He then looked right at the individual in the back, whose mouth opened slightly in surprise. "I can 'see' the magic you're using if I try, instead of Jagora taking credit for it herself. She's just telling you what to do and ordering to keep it subtle so she wouldn't get caught, making her seem more powerful than she actually is. Am I right?"

Jagora turned to the person in anger, but they disregarded the fury aimed at them to smirk at Sora under the hood, and a man's voice responded. "Very impressive. Few can see them when I don't want them to be seen." He then started taking a few steps forward, addressing Jagora and the others. "Hey. It may not be my place to say so, but it would probably be best if you went back to the hideout. This guy is no joke of a mage like some of you. I reckon he's even part of a guild."

Jagora glared at the both of them as the rest of her goons formed around her. "And you?"

"You know me. We have an arrangement, and someone needs to hold him back while you get out of here. Besides…" Tossing off the cloak, Sora was met by a svelte man who wore black leather armor, with teeth that were slightly pointed. "I need to stretch my arms a bit, and this guy ought to be perfect for it." Sora meanwhile was staring right at the man, seeing something else that shocked him, before his attention was taken up by the 8 spectral arms that appeared from his back, each one a mass of dark red energy and ended with skeletal hands as red as blood. Each hand had an eye symbol on the palm with pointed fingertips and was about twice the size of a normal hand, and Sora even recognized them as the same appendages that were being disguised as telekinesis.

"Tch. Fine then, but you know what'll happen if you're late reporting in!"

"Believe me, I am painfully aware." Jagora didn't even give him a second glance, as she gathered her people and Sora stared at the figure before him.

"Hmm. This is… confusing."

"How so? That a member of a dark guild would cover their comrades?"

"Actually… I was referring to what I see now that see you." At their raised brow, Sora elaborated. "Occasionally, I seem to see the true nature of something. And looking at you… It's like seeing the night sky, but without a single star in sight… Nothing but blackness…"

Hearing his words, they actually adopted a face of shock, even the arms freezing all motion as he heard the description. After a few moments, his face became one of dark anger. "Now, you're through." The arms then curled into fists and rushed at Sora, who was quickly put on the defensive from the onslaught of attacks. All the while, the figure themselves didn't move an inch. "Who the hell are you? First you show up with nearly no warning, then you see something you shouldn't have. Now why are you here?!"

"Believe me, I don't really want to be here either!" Sora had just blocked a pair of fists with a shield while dodging the rest, noting that they were apparently stronger now that they were no longer hidden. "I was just trying to complete a side job before a festival started up when I chanced on you guys!"

"A side job?"

"I fashion crystals as well, and sell jewelry with them." A mace he formed batted another hand that tried to grab him while the shield fended off another.

The aggressor however furrowed his brow and placed a normal hand on his chin in thought. "Crystals? Jewelry? Where have I heard those recently…" After a few seconds, he looked back at Sora who was still fending off attacks and looking for a way past to attack the figure himself. "Oi, what was your name?"

"Huh? Sora of Fairy Tail!"

"Fairy Tail…" After thinking it over a bit, his eyes widened as he realized what he was trying to remember, before looking back in the direction the others had gone. "Looks like they're already gone. Maybe…" He then looked back at Sora, a grin on his face. "Looks like the chance has finally arrived!" All the arms then pulled back, and Sora watched in worry as they then turned into a pair of massive hands from the 8 as they reared back, Sora bracing himself for the attack to come.

A/N: And that concludes this chapter. This arc is honestly one I was looking forward to for quite a while as it gives me a reason to play around with another kind of magic that I had thought about around the same time I had first come up with Crystal Magic and before I got the idea to write this story. And as a bonus it gives us a look into Sora's private life and how he could handle a job on his own. I hope what I have come up with here draws you guys in and keeps you coming for more, so please let me now what you think with either Reviews or PMs. With that, I bid you all adieu. Until next time!

Happy New Years!