I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry for delaying this chapter for about… what? Six months? Oh my God. I'm sorry! *wailed* My reason? Well, first, the finals and preparation for college. That one is over finally. I'm a college student now~~ yeay!

Ok, now, another reason, I was stuck really, really bad at writing chapter 19. Writer's block and all. So, instead of posting this chapter a few weeks earlier, it turned out that I should finish chapter 19 first before posting this new chapter. I'm sorry!

A big thanks for Kairaita, the beta-reader of this story. She helped me a lot with this chapter. Writing fighting scene is annoyingly hard. And believe me, before it being betaed, it was so horrible.

Also… Many many thanks for everyone who alert and favorite this story, especially the one who review. As cheesy as it is but I was getting fired up finding those alert in my mail. Thank you so much for the support~~ *jumping up and down*

Alright, now for the review…

BigTimeRush : I finally update. Cheers… Sorry for being late tho. But thank you for the review. Oh, Natsu? He would… he would… be patient… :)

luis014 : Hehe… cliffhanger, no? Here's the new one. Sorry for the lateness. Hope you can enjoy it and thank you for reviewing. About how Little Gray would be called after this? Hm… please wait the later chapter~~ *butprobablynot*wink*

Laila Yagami : Please welcome… Gray! *applause* hehe.. thank you… thank you… Yeah, you say it just now. I love you too for reading and reviewing this story. Thank you and enjoy~~

dreamscometrue : You'll see how he kick their asses later ;)

IcedSoulFairy : Wow... thank you for the great review~~ I'm still feeliing bad though making you wait for months. Sorry... ^^' I'm happy to hear you're enjoying this story. Thank you very much. I'll try my best :)

Rewinsan : Hehe... dapat sesuatu rupanya? *nudge nudge* Cliffhanger! Sometimes it's fun writing them but obviously annoying reading one. I know... I know.. lol. Why did hide his memories? Good question. I also wonder why... *playful smirk* Thanks for the review anyway~~

Junday : Ah... you'll never know how future mess around with you.. kekeke...

Miroh : I'm really grateful for having such a great beta-reader for this story and I'll always try to improve my English. I'll also be sad if my favorite character get killed in other fics. However, not in this one. Kekeke… I'm cruel~~ Thank you very much for sticking with this story…

Erie : Though it's late but… here's the update, please enjoy :)

Violentyetawesome : I'm updating it.. I'm updating it.. :)

mademoiselleRED : Hehehe… Death is the real angsty, so I like to kill the characters~~ *bring a knife to murder* lol. Kidding, kidding. Thanks for your review. I'll try my best :)

angel : Thank you… I update it :)

AsDarknessSpreads : Wow.. thanks for the reviews. I'm so happy. Hehehe… I can be cruel sometimes.. but, for the sake of the story. Yea, that's it :) And your guess about the plot has the right point. Don't worry…

Skdc8595 : Aww… thank you for both review and the understanding. Hope you like this chapter :)

Angel's Last Songs : Thank you for the review. Sorry you had to wait for 6 months. Really sorry :(

X3m King12 : Thank you. I'm glad you like it. Here's the update..

Pokecomic : Hahaha… it almost became a canon. But when reading that chapter, I got a strong feeling that Mashima-sensei was trolling us again :| Anyway, if it really happen (Gray died in the manga) then I planned to edit a few first chapters. Lol.

Ah, and a small note here. I'm sorry if it would probably be not as good as you're expecting. However, please enjoy..

***Fairy**Tail***

Disclaimer,

I do not own Fairy Tail and its characters

Chapter 18. Stellar Mage, Card Mage

*Previously on Once Again, Live*

"There're five, huh? Okay…" Roda sighed, looking as if he was slightly disappointed over something. "So, who will kindly 'welcome' them?"|| "Let us deal with these two while you go in and rescue Gray," Cana said, picking a card.|| Cornering himself in the dark room, Little Gray desperately hugged and buried his face in his knees, hoping it would decrease the pain.|| "That's okay, Wendy. At least we know where they're heading." Wendy's companion nodded, appreciating her effort before following the female Dragon Slayer.|| "Momma needs money so badly right now. You stay at Vangle city, how does that sound?"|| "I am Arian Clain."|| "The gate of Scorpio, I open thee!" Lucy swung her golden key…|| Cana squirmed, holding in the scream of pain as she was once again thrown a few meters away.|| The Fire Dragon Slayer sighed exasperatedly and laid the feline in a safe place before standing up and facing the second generation Shadow Dragon Slayer. "So I do really have to beat you into a pulp first."|| "I suppose I should be grateful that you cast your magic on this kid," Little Gray said flatly. "But, this is the magic that I died from, so excuse me if I'm not very happy about it being used."

***Fairy**Tail**

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but don't think you can get away alive after what you've done to Master Lagor." Pushing off the floor, Chagrain charged towards Little Gray, coming closer and closer. But the boy moved aside without even flinching, just in time to dodge Chagrain's incoming first directly at him, and stepped neatly behind the man who was stumbling as the force of his missed punch threw him forward.

"And who're you to judge?" Little Gray sneered mockingly. "Ice Make: Lance!" he shouted, and spears of ice shot forward, directly targeting the illusionist. They slammed into Chagrain, who cried out in pain and completely lost his balance.

Little Gray scoffed in contempt. "That's nothing to be crying about. Just be glad that since it's this little kid's body, it's not as strong as it could be," he said, waving his hand exasperatedly, then winced as he felt a stinging pain at his fingertips. Noticing that the cut from before hadn't been taken care of properly, he gingerly pressed his other hand to the cut and a thin layer of ice formed over the wound, stopping the flow of blood.

Chagrain stood up slowly, clearly offended by the last comment. The hit, no matter what, had been absolutely painful. "You're quite arrogant for a little one," the illusionist hissed. "But that was much too fast for a child with your level of ability."

"Who're you calling a child?" The boy frowned, narrowing his gaze. Chagrain raised an eyebrow confusedly.

"My name is Gray Fullbuster and I am—… I was a mage of Fairy Tail, five long years ago."

***Fairy**Tail***

Natsu opened his jaws to breathe out a Fire Dragon's Roar at his opponent, who did the same and mimicked his motions. Red and black magical energy collided in midair, skyrocketing the tension between the two Dragon Slayers. In no time, the attacks canceled each other out and Roda smirked before charging forward at a high speed, taking Natsu by surprise when he saw his opponent right in front of him with a raised fist at his face.

"Not wise to let your guard down, even in-between the shortest moments," Roda said smugly as he sent Natsu flying backwards.

'Damn, he's good,"Natsu cursed inwardly and wiped the blood from his freshly-cut lips.

"Tell me," Natsu hissed. "What are you gonna do to the boy?"

"Give me one good reason to answer."

In return, Natsu glared at his opponent, drawing his fists back. He really wasn't in the mood to play around right now, yet this Roda guy insisted on taking up valuable time.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you. Just don't glare at me like that," Roda huffed, leaping back as Natsu swung a fist at his face. He ducked under the blow without losing his breath, talking all the while as he aimed to kick Natsu's legs out from under him. "So, it just so happens that the boy has this unbelievably huge power in him. It's true that we only found out after 'that' incident though. Moreover, Lagor-sama's plans for him include selling him to a research center that specializes in doing these crazy experiments on our Special Case mages… Like that boy."

"Wait, what 'incident'?" Natsu paused in his assault and Roda immediately made use of the moment.

"I've said countless times to not let your guard down, haven't I?" Roda raised his arm in a gesture and the shadows around Natsu sprang to life, throwing him backwards until the Fire Dragon Slayer hit the wall behind him painfully hard. Natsu groaned in pain as Roda watched, leaving the question unanswered.

"Personally though, I can't agree with Lagor-sama on his current plan. It's too… plain. Having the boy under our control would be more interesting and useful," Roda muttered, making a disgruntled face that didn't go unnoticed by Natsu.

"So why don't you just talk about it with him and have everything settled?" Natsu asked sarcastically.

"I can't" Roda replied, ignoring the sarcasm. "I just can't disobey Lagor-sama. I… I owe him a big debt."

***Fairy**Tail***

"Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" Lucy summoned her spirit again.

"MOOOOO! I'll protect Lucy's sexy bodyyyyy!" Taurus roared.

"Don't say unnecessary things," Lucy sighed. "Now, would you like to fight that girl for me?" she pointed at Choir, who didn't flinch even knowing that she would face an opponent five times larger than her.

"Mooo… she's a cute girl. But for my sexy master, I'll beat her in no time!" Taurus cooed.

"But remember, Taurus. Her magic is in her voice. You'll have to be careful because it can't be depleted or avoided. She's weak in short-distance fights though, so I think it'll suit you just fine," Lucy added in a whisper.

"Mooo! I don't care whether you're a little girl or not. I'll beat you up for my Lucy's sake!" Taurus moved forward at a thunderous speed. In a blink, his giant axe slammed the ground where Choir stood a short while ago. And of course, aforementioned spot were already empty.

"Moo?" Taurus looked at the ground confusedly. He was sure that he had targeted his axe accurately, but where was the little girl?

"Taurus! Above!" Lucy yelled, and Taurus quickly looked up just to see his opponent land a hard kick on his face.

"Mooo!" he roared in pain and covered his right eye with one of his palms. It was ordinarily impossible for Choir's kick to hurt the hard head of a zodiac spirit like Taurus, but it was a different story when the heel of her shoe hit him square on the eyes.

"Taurus, are you okay?!" Lucy shouted worriedly. The addressed rubbed his watery eyes before give his master a thumbs up.

"You, little girl, sure know how to play circus," Taurus grunted, annoyed, and swung his axe again towards Choir. It missed as she leaped back, but managed to slightly tear open the front of her dress.

"Hey, this is my favorite dress!" Choir pouted seeing the small tear on her purple dress. "I won't forgive you…" she whispered creepily, landing solidly yet elegantly on the ground. Taurus and Lucy both flinched at the girl's sudden change in demeanor, exuding an ominous aura.

'What's with this girl?'

Choir lifted her microphone and shrieked. Both Taurus and Lucy were surprised by the action. Choir was singing, but in a creepy way. Just like a banshee, and the sharp notes hit their eardrums hard and painfully.

"MOOOOOO!" Taurus roared painfully while covering his ears; his grand giant axe was long forgotten.

"TAURUS!" Lucy cried, scared seeing her spirit turn wild. In a panic Lucy then yelled out, forcefully closing the gate, "TAURUS! BACK TO THE SPIRIT REALM NOW!"

As the spirit disappeared into the light, Choir's singing stopped. Lucy sighed and relaxed. But it didn't last long because the next thing she knew was a stinging pain in her ears and she fell down onto the soil ground.

'What is this?! I can't stand!'Lucy cried out in her head. Her whole body shook, especially her legs, which could not move all of a sudden. And to her surprise, she felt some liquid trickling down her earlobes. It was blood.

"Seems like I broke your eardrums," said a strangely cheerful Choir. She nonchalantly walked towards the trembling blonde who was wiping her bloody ears in a panic. "Did you know? Ears play an important role in a person's balance. If it's disturbed… Well, I suppose you can see for yourself now."

'Damnit. Nothing I do has any effect!' Lucy cried inwardly, shaking angrily. 'A voice can't be avoided no matter what I do! And hers can't be block—' she blinked. Something clicked inside her head.

"Wait," Lucy slowly murmured as a realization hit her. "What if…" she quickly searched in her keys and found a certain key, smiling at it.

"I'm such an idiot for not relying on you since the beginning. I'm sorry," Lucy whispered softly, swinging the golden key. "Gate of the Ram, I open thee! Aries!"

***Fairy**Tail***

Cana threw her cards, summoning a great thunder that shot straight towards her opponent. She expected the electricity shot to hit her opponent directly and deal a great amount of damage, but it seemed that today wasn't her lucky day.

Where her opponent supposed to be, there was a large wall of stone instead. Cana cursed. Her opponent was quite fast for a body that big. And from the way he used his magic, she could tell that he was a monster.

Cana yelped but managed to jump in time when a piece of rock went flying toward her. However, she missed another piece that hit her hard and sent her flying meters away.

"How disappointing, for a mage of Fairy Tail," Granton grunted, yet unceasing with his attacks towards the young woman. The latter managed to land hands first so that her whole body didn't slam into the ground, and wasted no time retaliating. Cana expertly fished out several cards at once from the deck she had always memorized and activated them all, creating a combination of wind, fire, and water that aimed at the blind Granton. He flinched, feeling the attack graze his shoulders before he had been able to make any effort in protecting himself.

"You bitch!" he once again groaned. Now he was in pain. From afar Cana grinned in triumph before charging forward at full speed. When she felt close enough, Cana took out a card and sent it flying onto the ground.

"Slippery Iced Floor!"

And the soil turned into ice that made Granton suddenly lose his balance.

"I copied Gray's magic a little. Now, let's see how well that big body of yours handles the ground like this," Cana smirked, easily skating on the ice while her opponent was putting all his effort just to stand up straight. And of course, Cana would not allow him that opportunity as she jumped and gave Granton a hard kick in the head. He slipped and fell down completely, face first on the icy ground.

"Ha! Take that!" Cana cheered, landing gracefully on the melting ice.

"No, you should take this," Granton said with his face still pressed to the ground. He slammed his palms against the dirt and a large pillar of stone erupted up beneath Cana. Without any time to react, it crashed into her abdomen, sending her reeling.

"I've told you to stop playing around and be serious," Granton said monotonously.

"What? I am serious," she protested.

"No, you're not." Granton fixed his stance. "I know you keep a great power in you. Let it out, or I'll kill you for real."

It took Cana a moment to understand what her opponent meant before a smirk appeared on her face. "Ah, so you've found out?" she asked amusedly.

"Fairy Glitter."

***Fairy**Tail***

"What are you babbling about? A mage of Fairy Tail five years ago? I doubt you were even born yet," Chagrain snapped, and Gray simply smirked.

"Chagrain! What are you waiting for?! I don't care who he was or what he's talking about. We need him!" Lagor shouted from the other side of the room. He had managed to stand up and also wanted to participate in game to catch the boy.

"Oh, shut the hell up, old man," Gray rolled his eyes, making a movement. With a flash, a large hammer of ice hit Lagor square on the head, causing him to lose consciousness completely. "Letting him sleep for a while won't hurt, I suppose." He turned his attention back to Chagrain, who gulped seeing Gray's action.

"Who are you?" Chagrain asked carefully yet rudely. "You're not the boy."

"I've told you," Gray indignantly sighed. "I am Gray Fullbuster. And I was a mage of Fairy Tail."

Chagrain could only stare. He, more or less, could grasp what was going on. However, he still could not believe it.

"…and you're possessing the boy?" he asked again. The little kid hummed in response.

"Something like that. But not exactly. More like… I'm trapped here."

"Since when?"

"Since the very beginning,"

Gray smirked upon seeing Chagrain's speechlessness.

"If so, then what happened half a year ago in Vangle is reasonable. That was not the boy's work. It was yours."

"You mean when I made my escape from that pathetic jail of yours? Yes, right," Taking a step forward, Gray inwardly chuckled when his opponent instead stepped backward cautiously.

Chagrain fixed his stance. When it came to actual combat, his skills were less than impressive. But now, he had to at least try.

***Fairy**Tail***

"Um, err… I'll do my best." Aries appeared with a poof of smoke and stuttering her usual words.

"Aries, glad you're here. Now, gate of the Lion, Leo!" Lucy swung another key and after the glimmering light, Loke appeared.

"I'm at your service, my princess," Loke smirked, glad that he was finally called for the fight.

"Loke, I want you to attack that girl while Aries backs you up. Her magic is her voice and I think Aries can do something about it," Lucy commanded. Her spirits nodded in understanding.

"I- I'll do my best," Aries said.

Loke moved first, followed by Aries. The lion spirit ran after Choir as his hands glowed with a golden light. "I'm sorry, miss. I'm not in the habit of attacking pretty girls like you, but my master's wish is my command," he winked flirtatiously. Choir snorted in disgust and lifted her microphone.

"Loke, be careful! She's going to use her magic!" Lucy yelled in warning. Loke hummed in acknowledgement and glanced at Aries behind him who nodded, understanding Loke's signal.

"Wool Wall!" A big pink wall made of wool appeared around Loke, creating a boundary between him and the little girl. Choir couldn't see anything behind the wall for it was too big, but she just let out a snort, mocking her opponents' strategy.

"You're really stupid, huh?" she said. "No matter how big the barrier you put up is, you won't be able to block my voice. It can be heard through even the smallest openings." Choir began to sing her lullaby again. When the wall started crumbling down, she expected to see the spirits fast asleep and smirked in victory, watching the wall disappear.

But the smirk soon faded down when she saw Loke still standing straight and completely awake.

"W- What?!"

"Seems like you're not paying enough attention to Aries's wall," Loke smirked. "It's made of wool. And you know, this kind of material has the ability to block voices."

Choir stared at him in disbelief for a brief second, seemingly lost for words. "Tsk. Don't be so proud after managing to sabotage one of my attacks. I have plenty more." And with that she screamed.

Loke and Aries flinched while Lucy, who had anticipated the move, covered her ears. However, not one of them seemed affected by the magic; no one even collapsed. Suspicion and worry ran down Choir's spine.

"What have you done?" she hissed, coughing slightly.

"You do have a rather interesting voice. I can already imagine what would happen if that kind of sound actually hit my eardrums," Loke praised.

"I called Aries especially because her magic is producing wool. You should know this, right? Wool, more or less like cotton, can protect our ears from overly loud voices like yours. In other words, your magic won't be affecting us," Lucy explained with a sly grin and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, showing the pink wool that had been stuffed in. Loke and Aries did the same. "It was just a guess at first, but your magic is useless if your opponent can't hear you, right? Ah, I'm such a genius."

Choir narrowed her eyes. This would be a disadvantage for her, now that her main magic would not do anything in this situation. Letting out another cough, she praised sarcastically, "Right, genius. But do you think that such a small amount of cotton will help? I just need to increase the volume of my voice, and the effect will be doubled, or even tripled. In other words, that flimsy protection won't last long."

Lucy looked at Choir strangely, making the latter a bit uncomfortable, before speaking, "No, you won't." She took the cotton from her ears. "You won't use that magic again, or at least try to increase the volume and whatever."

"You're so sure about that?" Choir mocked, though Lucy was sure she saw the younger girl flinch.

"I am," the blonde mage replied calmly. "It was just a brief observation, but I'm sure of it." Choir raised an eyebrow as Lucy continued. "Your magic affects your vocal cords. The overly high notes are too much for them to bear, and if you use it too often, there's no way they won't be strained. I can tell from the way you reacted after you used your magic."

"Reacted?" Choir frowned.

"You coughed," Lucy simply said. "And I read somewhere that that kind of cough is the kind that happens when there's something wrong with your throat."

"I see," Choir finally said after a long pause. "It was that noticeable, huh? That you could find the weakness of my magic so easily. But so what? What if I were to say that I don't care what happens to my voice?"

"You wouldn't let that happen." Lucy narrowed her eyes. "That's a stupid thing to do. And you're not the type of person who would do such a stupid thing. What would you do without your magic?"

The atmosphere turned tense, even more so than before. Both females only stared at each other sharply, leaving the two celestial spirits who exchanged glances in nervousness.

"Good. Genius." Choir broke the silence and threw her microphone to the ground as if it meant nothing. "You're right. Continuing to use this magic would only hurt me, which is a stupid thing to do. And I'm not that stupid." Lucy looked cautiously between the younger girl and her spirits who were waiting for her command.

"But that doesn't mean I'll let myself lose!" Choir shouted, and a magic circle flashed in front of her. Lucy and Loke blinked in shock, having not expected the little girl to have move techniques in store, but didn't let their defense waver.

"What kind of attack now?" Lucy asked quietly. And her question was immediately answered when she, Loke and Aries suddenly flew backward, as if something large had hit them.

"Wha-?" Loke gasped, trying to get up. "I didn't even see anything!"

"Did no one ever teach you to keep your voice down?" Choir said amusedly. Once more, the magic circle appeared and Loke and Lucy were hit again, though with less power than before. "Do you know what a voice really is?"

"What a voice really is?" Lucy repeated in a whisper before sinking into her thoughts.

"Waves." Loke narrowed his eyes.

"You're smart, mister Lion," Choir smirked. "Yeah, waves. Sound waves. My magic can also convert sound into waves that hurt just as much as physical attacks."

"I see. And it's also invisible. So troublesome," Lucy mumbled, standing up finally. "But that doesn't mean we'll let ourselves lose either!"

***Fairy**Tail***

Cana dodged her opponent's attack quite well. But it became too much that she already lost her stamina, stumbling backwards after eluding another one of Granton's massive attacks.

"I heard that Fairy Tail's first master granted one of her mages one of the three strongest magics in your guild. I know that mage is you."

"Are you sure you want me to use that against you? It destroyed the council's MPF once," Cana teased.

"I can manage it," Granton replied bluntly. Cana rolled her eyes, annoyed.

'Fairy Glitter costs a lot of my magical energy. I should use it at the right time,' Cana thought. She glanced around and her eyes met Lucy, who was facing her own opponent meters away. 'Besides, I can't risk hitting Lucy. The gap between us is way too close.' Without thinking any further, Cana dashed toward the nearby woods. "You want your Fairy Glitter? Then come after me!" she shouted as she took off at a high speed.

Granton grunted but followed right away. He moved the ground beneath him so it became like an elevator. Cana was a bit taken aback seeing how fast the walking-boulder went. It only motivated her to run faster.

Putting too much concentration on his boulders, Granton lost track of Cana even with his sensitivity to movements that made up for his blindness. He focused harder, attempting to feel for any tremor through his feet and any sound through his ears, dismissing his boulders. Strangely, there were absolutely no suspicious movements, but his ears did catch a soft sound. Wind?

And then he felt a strong magical power concentrated at one point.

"FAIRY GLITTER!"

'Oh, shit.'

***Fairy**Tail***

She had to think hard. Invisible attacks weren't easy to deal with, and Lucy scowled even as she and her spirits were hit by the stupid waves over and over again. They didn't cause much damage, but they couldn't fight against it.

"You're just fooling around with us, aren't you?" Lucy asked, glaring. Choir looked at her in confusion before smiling slyly.

"Uh huh. It's just a little fun," she said loudly, and a second later, Lucy was thrown backwards harshly.

"KYAA!" Lucy gasped in surprise at the sudden power. Choir smirked even wider.

"You know it's rude to be loud, right?" A magic circle appeared, and Lucy was thrown back even harder.

"Princess!" Loke yelped.

"You too, Mister," Choir said bluntly and converted Loke's voice into the invisible wave.

'Damn. What can I do to defeat this little girl?' Lucy cursed inwardly, watching Loke being thrown backwards like her. Silently, Aries surprisingly dashed toward Choir and used her Wool Bomb to attack. Choir dodged it unfortunately, and instead made use of the explosion's sound to be converted into a powerful wave. Aries yelped when her body hit the ground a few meters away.

"That was not a wise thing to do, Miss-… err, Sheep," Choir smiled smugly.

'Her magic actually isn't that special,' Lucy thought. 'But she uses her brain so that she can turn that ordinary magic into something invincible. Not to mention, her agility.' She sighed and sat up. 'Maybe I underestimated her a bit. I should use my brain, too.'

Loke tried again, running towards the girl with determination in his eyes and his fist glowing with light, his shoes making loud thudding sounds against the hard ground. Choir simply smirked again, waving her hand to make a magic circle appear. Seconds later, Loke was again thrown backwards off his feet.

"Loke!" Aries hurriedly approached Loke and helped him stand.

"Shit. She attacked my feet this time," the lion spirit grumbled.

Lucy watched their interaction, observing. Something was amiss, she thought, and Lucy closed her eyes, frowning as she thought. She tried to remember every little thing that had happened during her fight with Choir, hoping to find even a tiny hint, noting how Choir had used her magic with random amounts of power; sometimes the magic hit hard, and sometimes it was just a small jolt. Had it been intentional or not?

Then it clicked in her mind.

Lucy stood up. She wanted to try something, walking towards Loke so slowly, trying to not make too much sound while observing Choir's posture. The latter seemed annoyed and nervous by Lucy's attitude. Lucy let a small smirk curve her lips as she crouched beside Loke and whispered, "It's okay Loke, Aries. You can go back to the spirit realm now."

Loke and Aries looked at her flabbergasted. "What?" he said.

"I rated her ability a bit too high. I'm not underestimating her, but I alone am enough."

"But, princess, she is very... clever!"

"Then I will use my brain too," Lucy smiled and swung Aries and Leo's keys. "Thanks guys. Now, forced gate closure!"

Loke was about to protest, but he had been disintegrated into light.

"You dismissed your spirits?" Choir asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes. I can fight just fine, and I'm enough by myself," Lucy said cheerily. "I realized that I depend on my spirits a bit too much and… I don't need these," she added, throwing her boots onto the ground. Choir narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Fine. Whatever," Choir spat. "Go on, then."

She made her steps as light, as quiet as possible, despite the difficulty she would have if she tried to run. Fleuve d'étoiles was gripped in her hand. The atmosphere turned eerily silent, with no sound but the very soft one of Lucy's barefooted steps. Unease swept through Choir.

"WHAT ARE YOU SCHEMING?!" the voice mage suddenly yelled. Lucy abruptly stopped and lifted her arms to shield herself when another purple magic circle appeared in front of Choir. A great pressure made Lucy stumble a little, but she had been ready for the brunt of it. Smirking a little in triumph, Lucy darted forward and swung her magic whip, not giving Choir any chance to prepare any new attacks as she accurately lashed the whip around Choir's leg. The little girl gasped when Lucy pulled the whip, causing Choir to fall backwards on her butt.

"A little punishment for a naughty kid like you," Lucy said amusedly, grinning.

"YO—" Choir was about to snap but she gasped because Lucy tugged the whip rather harshly.

"Oh no you won't," she rolled her eyes. "If you dare to throw me using that magic of yours, then you'll be dragged along since my whip is rather special. It can't be cut so easily. I can also extend the length as far as I want."

Choir stared at her angrily. "I guess you found the weakness of my magic, then?"

"It was hard at first," Lucy admitted. "You were smart enough to make us think your magic was flawless. But I also realized that I was panicking too much to use my brain and analyze the whole situation carefully enough."

"Your magic isn't flawless. Rather, it has a few rather large ones. First, your lullaby or any songs you use are useless if people can't hear it. As you can see, I only had to stuff my ears with something and it didn't affect me," Lucy grinned. "Second, that high-pitched scream can't be used often. And I guess you've reached your limit for now. You won't use it again unless you want to tear your vocal cords, which is the most important thing for your voice magic, right?"

"You talk too much," Choir snorted mockingly. The latter just shook her head.

"I'm just saying what I know," Lucy sighed. "And your trick with converting sound into waves was troublesome at first, but I finally figured out how it works. Your waves can't form without sound, and the power of the wave depends on the loudness of the sound it was converted. That's why I decided to fight barefoot, because my boots made too loud of a sound when I was running. It also explains why you attacked us with varying amounts of power; sometimes it was strong, sometimes it was weak. And one last thing, the power of your waves decreases slowly. Like ripples in water, slowly becoming smaller and smaller, right?"

Choir gave no comment to Lucy's long speech a first. Finally, she let out a long breath and let herself lay on the ground in surrender.

"If I screamed right now and converted it into a wave, it would be enough to knock you unconscious," she said flatly, yet from the way she stared blankly at the black sky, Lucy doubted Choir's words.

"Probably. But I can't imagine you would do it."

The younger girl snorted. "Right. I've lost already. None of my magic tricks will work on you anymore, and it's impossible for me to win against you in a physical battle," she sighed sadly, stretching her arms out in defeat. "Not to mention my lack of magical power. Now go on. Give me your hardest punch. Knock me out and go into the building."

"Why are you with them, anyway?" Lucy asked, referring to the Vangle group.

"Why should I tell you? What business is it of yours?" Choir replied angrily.

"I just think that your current job doesn't fit you. It's too harsh and, dare I say, dirty for you."

Choir rolled her eyes. "Dirty, huh?"

"You're so young and no doubt have talent. In addition, with your sharp mind and magic combined, you could be a great mage and get a much better job."

"Do you think I even have a choice?!" Choir snapped angrily, sitting up at the process. "You know nothing about me! So just SHUT UP!"

For a moment, neither of them spoke, not even realizing that the building was slowly appearing behind them from the magic being broken. Their eyes met in a stare, Lucy's filled with pity and Choir's with anger.

"My life was perfect back then. My family, they had everything. I was like a princess in a golden castle," Choir paused. Lucy gazed up, finding the younger girl's story was similar to hers. "But those bastards got into our house and took everything, killing my family in process, taking away my perfect life. Damn it!"

Lucy just stood there, waiting for Choir to continue.

"I survived because of Lagor. He found me under the debris of my burned house. I don't even know how I got there, but I suspect my mother's magic was behind that. Stupid woman, didn't even use it to save herself." There was a drop, just a small one, falling quickly, but Lucy was sure it was a tear. It did nothing but make her pity the girl more. "Lagor saw the potential in my magic and invited me to join him in Vangle. After years under his care, how can I just forget and betray him?!"

Again, silence. Choir was too angry to talk and probably was drowned in her own memory while Lucy was a bit confused as to what she should say.

"I think you've paid him back enough," the blonde stated surprisingly firmly. Choir looked up, startled. "You're young and you have your own choice. Someone like Lagor can't force you to do anything no matter what kind of good deeds he's done for you. You've done a lot of things for him already, haven't you?"

"You're so sure of yourself," Choir hissed. "You have no idea how many things he's done for me and how little I've done for him in return. Are you making me out to be some ungrateful brat?!"

"Look at me!" Lucy commanded impatiently. Her face was suddenly right in front of Choir's, making the voice mage startled. Warm-chocolate eyes stared deeply into the purplish ones. "Do you even want this? Do you even want to do it?"

The words shot through her heart. Lucy was right. Did she even want to? But…

Seeing the hesitation, Lucy sighed and straightened herself. "You must be confused. But, just think about it thoroughly."

"Yeah…" the younger whispered finally. Her eyes started to close. "I will."

"You looked tired," Lucy commented.

"I can't sleep in that gross building," Choir furrowed her eyebrows in disgust. "Let me sleep… for a while, please…" and she finally drifted into slumber.

Lucy smiled seeing the sleeping face of the younger girl, relieved. Finally her fight was over, for now. Until she heard a loud explosive sound in the woods nearby. Cana was still battling.

***Fairy**Tail***

"FAIRY GLITTER!"

Granton heard the yell and the famous Fairy Tail's spell was casted. The overly-bright light illuminated the surroundings, creating a big explosion, but Cana concentrated the energy at one point.

Cana was standing on a tree branch, having somehow managed to use her wind elemental card to send her there silently so that Granton couldn't detect where she was. She narrowed her eyes, trying to find her target, and her eyes landed on a silhouette. But it was something different.

"What the hell?!" she shrieked, canceling the spell. As the light vanished and the dust cleared, Cana could see what she was aiming at earlier. She expected to see Granton's giant body lying unconscious but it turned out to be a big dome of rock. It was protecting what was inside, Granton himself.

"Damn it!" she cursed, jumping down from the tree to get a closer look. But she had made a wrong move because at the same time her feet hit the ground, something emerged beneath her, hitting her square on the chin and sending her flying backwards before her back was slammed against a tree. Cana coughed out blood.

"Such a great power." She heard Granton's voice from the dome. Instantly, the dome shattered, creating a hole that showed the magic caster inside. "But not as great as I expect it to be. Is it all you have? So disappointing."

"So arrogant," Cana grunted. Her head was a bit dizzy, probably because of the impact with the tree behind. Not good.

"Just end this game already," Granton said, a hint of boredom clear in his voice. He moved quickly, so quickly that Cana didn't have time to react to the dark brown magic circle appearing beneath her feet after Granton slammed his palms onto the ground.

"GAH!" she shouted when her body was suddenly squeezed by two slices of giant, hard rock from both sides. "What are you doing?!" Cana yelled frantically, especially when the rocks sandwiching her squeezed tighter every second.

"This battle isn't funny anymore," Granton shrugged. "So I just plan to squeeze you dead. Don't worry, it won't hurt too much. I can hurry it up, if you'd like."

"Have you lost your mind?!" Cana yelled angrily but flinched when the rocks pressed against her tighter. 'Damn it. This won't work. I need to get out of here fast!' she said inwardly, trying to be calm and inspect her surroundings. She was trapped between two tough rocks without the capability to move her body. She had to find a way to destroy them without hurting herself and setting her free. But, what?

Cana looked around, and suddenly turned her attention to a tree. Seeing its roots gave her an idea, and she immediately struggled to dig for her cards inside of her pocket. Fortunately, she managed to slip out a handful of them and flipped through the cards nervously, hoping to find the right one before it was too late.

"Gotcha!" Cana shouted in triumph, knowing she had gotten the card she desired. However, she had to act fast because it was already getting hard to breathe. "This card better do its job. My life is depending on it here!" And with that, she activated the card.

"Your efforts are fruitless," Granton said calmly. Though he couldn't see it with his eyes, he could tell or at least figure out what his opponent had done through the tremor he felt. But he didn't care now. "That rock can't be destroyed, no matter how strong the impact is," he added. Cana only smirked.

Granton raised an eyebrow, confused. But suddenly, he was surprised upon feeling cracks being slowly created in the rock sandwiching Cana. The cracks were small but spreading fast, and he couldn't pinpoint what the cause was until he felt it.

"A plant?!" Granton exclaimed in disbelief. In the time he was busy being dumbstruck by Cana's strategy, the plant had done its job quickly, creating many cracks that weakened the rock and made it easy for Cana to break through it with a single punch.

"They're small, but surprisingly strong. Especially in order to break the rock, don't you agree?" Cana smirked despite her breathing being heavy.

"I agree that you're out of breath right now," the Earth-element mage said bluntly.

Cana ignored it. Instead, she charged forward despite her lungs protesting the action. She had been chosen as a candidate for becoming an S-class mage for a reason. Her stamina and speed even when she was almost out of energy proved it. Pulling out another bunch of cards in a flash, Cana threw them all towards Granton at once, who reacted quickly by summoning a wall of rock in front of him to block the explosive cards. But the sound of the explosions were deafening and the tremors were too powerful for even Granton to sense, rendering him to a state really almost like total blindness, even for a moment; being unable to hear or feel the earth's tremors properly made him panic slightly.

"Where are you?" Granton said slowly, listening to the quietness after the explosions stopped and the ground stopped shaking. He couldn't feel Cana's presence anywhere, sending anxiety down his spine.

"I'm here."

The call startled Granton sharply because it came from behind. Without thinking, he turned around to attack and fell right into Cana's trap. The ground beneath him had become slippery with ice under his notice. He lost his balance just as Cana aimed her fist and a ring of blinding light he couldn't see surrounded him completely.

***Fairy**Tail***

"And I thought he was smart enough to not fall for the same trick a second time," Cana sighed. She lay on the ground, sweaty and panting, while the unconscious Granton was a few meters away. He looked pretty messed up after being hit directly with one of Fairy Tail's three strongest spells. Cana still almost couldn't believe it though, that the simple—and dare she say, 'childish'—tactic she had used had worked against Granton who could sense movements so well.

She had used the explosions as a distraction, unsure if they would be sufficient, but it had just been a spontaneous thought that passed through her mind. When the explosion occurred and Granton panicked, Cana had used her wind element card to help her land on Granton's back and the slippery iced floor card again to trap him as well, noticing that Granton had needed his hands to use magic. So long as Cana could keep Granton's hands occupied, then she could prevent him from manipulating the rocks, even for a second, and it had been enough for Cana to cast Fairy Glitter directly at her target.

Breathing out contently, Cana was satisfied with this battle, though completely drained of magical energy and her whole body full of cuts and bruises. She couldn't even move anymore, let alone fight now.

"Sorry Natsu, Lucy. I'll leave the rest to you," she mumbled, staring up at the starry skies.

***Fairy**Tail***

That was it. What do you think. I know you must be disappointed since Gray didn't appear a lot and the chapter you were waiting for the freaking 6 months only focused on Lucy's and Cana's fight. I'm so sorry… But the fights are important. Sorry…. X(

I only wish you all could enjoy it… :)