Chapter 21: A Home At War

And here we go. Back at the events following chapter 1. You waited patiently but it is finally here. Let us return, once more, to the Battle of Fairy Tail. Chapter 21 is only the beginning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

A Home At War

Ichigo smiled as he began to recognise the area that stretched out ahead of him. The same trees, the same roads, the same lake, it was all just as he remembered it.

He glanced to the left slightly, already managing to pinpoint the direction his house was in. He would stop by later but he wanted to head to the guild first. He wanted to surprise Levy and Laxus and he hope they wouldn't be too mad at him. He was gone for three entire years after all.

He would also have to check in on the Master. Only the Master could induct new members into the guild and there were a few who wanted to join behind him right now.

Shinji had barely changed in the three years since they had met and, true to his character, was walking along the path casually like there wasn't anything in the world that could bother him. He still had one hand gripped tightly on the sheath of his Zanpaktou though which Shinji didn't even bother to wear on him. Instead he just carried it around in one hand. How he ever got the sheath back was a mystery since it was thrown away to the side every time Shinji drew his blade.

Toushirou meanwhile had what must have been a similar look to what he had when he had first joined Fairy Tail. Every so often, Toushirou would glance around in undisguised fascination, probably brought on from how long they had been at that training field for. Only he or Shinji ever made the trip to the nearest town and that was only because it was so far away that you needed to be good at Shunpo to get there in any small amount of time. And while Toushirou had made a lot of progress over the three years, Shunpo was coming a bit slower for the boy than it had for him and Shinji.

Of course that wasn't to say the boy wasn't good at other areas. In fact, he regularly showed how talented he was when it came to learning how to control his Magical Power or even suppress it completely. That was a talent that Shinji couldn't do because of the unique nature in his Magical Power and that applied to him as well. It seemed there were downsides to being a hybrid.

He wondered how everyone had been getting on over the years. He had only managed to grab the briefest of news from the local supply town, and even then it was old news.

The stuff he had recently though had caused a seed of panic to set in. At first it had been nothing but good news. For starters, he saw only one report on the damage Fairy Tail had caused recently compared to the old five page article he remembered. That had been surprising the first time he had seen it and it made him wonder how long that had been going on.

Then he had heard of the members themselves. Plenty of names filled his ears of their exploits, from tales of the Word Priestess to great battles from the Salamander. Not as much about Laxus as he would have expected but there was some talk about something called the Thunder God Tribe from Fairy Tail. He assumed it was a team of sorts but he wondered who was in it. He would say a Lightning Mage or two but then Team Shadow Gear had nothing to do with Plant, Solid Script, or High Speed Magic so it may not have been the case.

But then he had to hear word of some of the bad things that had happened. It hadn't been very long ago but Fairy Tail had been attacked. And he was away.

He couldn't blame himself for not knowing but he should have been there. Fairy Tail was his home, and he hadn't even been there when they could have needed him.

Phantom Lord was a name he had cursed for half an hour, hoping they had been defeated in the most humiliating way possible. But what was up with that guild anyway? Their base was a giant robot along with having a Jupiter Cannon and the capability to cast Abyss Break. How did they even manage that?

Still, it was lucky no one died in that war between the two guilds. It was said that the Phantom Lord Guild Master had launched an army of shades down on Magnolia and only the protection of Fairy Tail had kept the shades contained.

Then it had been ended by the Master himself with a Legendary Spell known as Fairy Law. It would possibly explain what he had felt recently. That had to be one of the most powerful Spells to exist for him to even be able to feel it at such a great distance.

The war may be over but he had a bone to pick with one of the old Phantom Lord members if he ever saw him. He didn't manage to get the name of whoever humiliated Levy like that but there couldn't be many Iron Dragon Slayers about. He would run into the guy eventually, hopefully somewhere with no witnesses. He wouldn't kill him, but the guy would end up wishing that he had.

"Hey Ichigo." Ichigo twisted his head towards Shinji. "That it?"

Ichigo looked in the direction that Shinji was gesturing in and smiled, stopping as he took in the view. There it was. Magnolia, just as when he left. Though the guild looked different from this distance. Ah, he remembered now. The news he heard said the guild hall had been destroyed. He had thought that might have been gossip but it looked like it was true.

The new design wasn't too bad though. It had this castle like look to it in combination with a touch of the old feel, and it was much taller than the first too. There was even a bell tower from what he could see. There looked to be a bit of a fence around the area of the building so they must have expanded slightly.

He wondered how it looked inside. It still probably had the old bar to it as the main feature though it would most likely be bigger now. Considering what he remembered seeing in the brawls, a bigger room would help.

Something felt off though. He was returning about the time Fantasia was about to start. If he had gotten the date correct, it would be the next day or something like that. Hopefully he wasn't late to that as it would be a nice thing to see as he returned. But that didn't seem like it was it. There was this strange feel in the air. It felt like Magic, but it shouldn't be able to be sensed in the air normally like this. Was there something nearby?

Shinji walked up to him and nodded. Good. He was afraid he was the only one who had noticed it. It proved he wasn't imagining it. Reaching to the ground, he grabbed a lose bit of earth from the dirt path and threw it forward lightly.

All seemed fine for a moment before part of the dirt suddenly stopped against the air. In response to the action, purple runes flew upwards. It was for such a short time that he didn't even get time to read what the runes had said, and it was hard enough to translate them anyway unless you could find where the rules were shown. He glanced over towards the other two.

"Any of you get that?"

Both shook their heads. "Too fast," muttered Toushirou.

Ichigo frowned as he stared at the air ahead of him. Why were their runes here? He couldn't even see where they had been originally drawn so it meant that this wasn't someone of Makarov's Rune level skill. This was far more advanced, capable of hiding the position until the last moment. This was someone who had dedicated their Magic to the art.

Toushirou glanced upwards in confusion suddenly, his act drawing all of their gazes upwards. Toushirou asked the question they all wanted to say.

"What are those?"

From the ground, none of them could tell what they were exactly, but Ichigo could roughly guess. They were too spherical to not be some sort of Lacrima. But who brought them here? There were so many that they had to be storing a colossus amount of Magical Power in total. He didn't like it, especially with the way they were in a ring around Magnolia. And three hundred of them too. That had to be expensive and must have taken weeks to fill up all those Lacrima.

"What do you think those things are for?"

Shinji shrugged. "I'd say someone's planning something big. A large group like that with enough Magic in them could tear this town to shreds. Nothing would be left standing and with that barrier in place, I don't know if anyone can escape."

"I see then." Before anyone could stop him, Ichigo marched forward and passed through where the Rune wall had shown up.

"Hey!" Shinji protested, too late to reach out and stop Ichigo. However nothing seemed to happen except for the appearance of a smaller board. A counter on it ticked up by one while a title above it read just a few short words. Battle of Fairy Tail.

Ichigo glared at the Runes before they finally vanished, his anger not disappearing with it. Battle of Fairy Tail? What the hell was going on? Were they having a mini war or something?

He heard the sound of something hitting something before Shinji broke into laughter. Twisting his head round, he could see Toushirou rubbing his forehead in annoyance.

"Can't you guys get through?"

Shinji stopped laughing and walked up to where the Rune wall had shown up. "Maybe. These Runes looked to be working on a single Magical Signature sensor. I may be able to fool it for a moment, just enough time to get across. I can't say we can cross back over though as it looks more like it was designed to keep people in and not so much on keeping people out."

"Do it then."

Shinji placed a hand on Toushirou's shoulder before bringing up his other arm holding his Zanpaktou. He manoeuvred his clenched fist to his face before slowly gathering Magic to his hand and letting it spread to the area over his face.

Then he sudden brought his fist down sharply, the Hollow Mask appearing on his face. For a brief moment, Shinji's Magical Signature fluctuated, unsure whether it was meant to be that of a Shinigami's or that or a Hollow's.

That moment was all that Shinji needed to break through the barrier and pull Toushirou through behind him in the hole he had created before it could close up. Just in time too as the moment Toushirou landed on the other side was the moment where Shinji's Magical Signature finally settled, reaching that hybrid state between the two sides.

The Rune board that appeared before appeared once again, hesitating for a moment in what it was doing as the Runes paused midline. A decision was made a few seconds later when the counter decided to tick up two more. So it seemed however was in charge had decided to count Shinji and Toushirou as honourable Fairy Tail members, even if they didn't know who Shinji and Toushirou were. Someone must have been feeling generous today. That or they just wanted to cause some mayhem.

"So we're in too," said Shinji with a smirk. "Who're we hunting down?"

Ichigo frown again. "I don't know. This situation is too weird to understand what's going on. We need to find someone to tell us what's happening. Is this just a guild event, or is it something more."

Toushirou turned his head to the side, locked on to a position in the city. "I can sense two sources of fluctuating powers in Magnolia, most likely from a battle happening."

Toushirou turned again, this time to an area nearer the outskirts of the city. "It looks like one is happening over there too. It even feels like it could be the Rune Caster himself."

"Okay then," muttered Ichigo as he started walking. "You two split off and find out what's going on. I'm going to check out something."

"There's a third one too," Toushirou suddenly said. "It's-"

"I know where it is," interrupted Ichigo, not breaking his stride. "I'll deal with that one. You two handle the others."

Shinji smirked. "Should be fun. Come on squirt. Let's find out how strong this Fairy Tail guild is."

The two vanished with bursts of Shunpo, leaving Ichigo to walk forwards on his own.

He wished he had Toushirou's skill at Magical Detection but he wasn't brilliant at finding things that were too small. Of course, too small meant something different to him than it would to a normal person. His own Magic got in the way when trying to find people so the only ones he could find reliably were those he knew or those who had a massive presence like his own.

The battle he was heading to was the only one he could sense easily. The other two were too small to pinpoint, even if one was stronger than the other, but then again it could be because he wasn't familiar with who he was searching for. Laxus's Magic was easily recognisable and it seemed like his opponent was… Mystogan? Why was Laxus fighting Mystogan? The two had never interacted much before so why fight?

This was why he couldn't use Shunpo just yet to get there. He needed time to think this through and understand what he was sensing. Something was wrong with this situation, and he had to know what.

So he'd head there slowly for now. He'd observe everything as it went before pinpointing the one who was causing this. And then he would deal with them. He hoped it wouldn't take long though. He wanted to meet up with Laxus and Levy soon and he'd rather not have the reunion when there's an enemy about.

Protector Of The Fairies

Toushirou let himself sail over the heads of the civilians below as he sped through the air, too fast for them to work out if he was real or not. Right now, he had one objective to get to. The battlefield.

How long had the battle been going on for? While a battle between Mages could last a while, sometimes it was over quickly too. If he was lucky then the Mages would be almost evenly matched and would keep the fight going for a bit longer. If not, while he could always ask whoever was on the ground when he got there.

As he ran through the air, he let his senses spread out, everything within the city becoming clearer. He immediately removed the civilians from his search as he doubted they had been caught in any of this. They hadn't seemed worried he had observed as he flew over them so he could only assume that Fairy Tail wasn't trying to cause a panic. A battle royal in the city itself would likely cause that if no one tried to keep it quiet.

With the civilians removed from his scan of the city, he could see where the Mages were more clearly. A lot of them were stationary, likely from a defeat of some kind. If he had no luck here, he could always try one of them and get the info they might have.

There were some targets still moving though. There were the two he was heading to of course and Shinji had three where he was going to. Strike that actually, one of them just fell. His gaze caught the sudden blast of lightning from the sky as one of the Lacrima was destroyed. The timing was a bit to coincidental to not have been the cause. So these Lacrima were dangerous to destroy were they? They had to have a big purpose if they had a defence system like this one.

It looked like two more Mages were heading towards where Shinji was going, and they would get there before the Visored did too. The two newcomers were similar in what he could sense as well. Siblings? Or maybe they just had the same Magic type like when he had sensed Ichigo's Shinigami side.

Who else was left though? From what had to be the guild hall there were five presences, one of them like most of the Mages through the city. Two of them were similar like what he had sensed before but there was a unique trait to that feeling. It even felt familiar to him. Then you had the last two in the guild hall. The first had a smaller presence than the others while the second had a massive presence despite how well it was hidden. That had to be the Master. It was irregular in its consistence though so that didn't look good. Something had to be wrong.

Finally, that left the ones wandering around more. The battle he had sensed before was still going on and he could already feel how powerful the two combatants were. They had to be some of the strongest in the guild as few others showed that level of power. The last Mage he could sense looked to be running all over the place but the destination seemed to be getting closer and closer to the battle. If the Mage didn't know where to go yet, they would soon when they sensed the Magic as they got closer. Ichigo might have to break up a large battle royal when he gets there.

It seemed it was a hot spot as the Mages in the guild looked to be heading away from the guild, their destination in the same path as that battle. It was still unlikely they knew where it was and had just picked somewhere to head to but, as they got closer, there was no way they could miss the battle happening.

Why did Ichigo want to go there? Did Ichigo know one of them? If so, why not rush? It was hard to work out who was the enemy though and maybe Ichigo just didn't want to end up in a trap.

Or maybe he was afraid of what he would find there, despite how much he would want to deny it. There was no proof that this was done by Fairy Tail itself, but there wasn't any proof they didn't do it either.

He paused in his scan as he identified where he was reaching. He was close to the battlefield he had been sent to. And it was still going on luckily.

It was easy to spot the ones fighting. One of them in a kind of cross between cloth and armour with stripes going down the top of it. The Mage also had a pair of large shoulder pads and a hood that seemed to switch into a visor as it reached the Mage's eyes. Right now he looked like he was removing that part to reveal a head full of blue hair and a stick figure tattooed on his face. The moment he felt the build up in Magic around the Mage's eyes though was when he made sure to look away. He didn't want to have to deal with Eye Magic right now.

The other looked to be a blonde in a cheerleader's outfit with a whip at her side. A flying blue cat was with her which was unexpected and…

A third person? How had he missed that? It looked like he must have recently arrived but he should have noticed.

Ah, that was it. The man's Magic was very similar to the girl's, linked even. He must have overlooked it because it was more like an extension of the girl's Magic rather than a completely different Mage. These Mages all wore a lot of strange outfits though. This guy was wearing a black suit with sunglasses.

He supposed he shouldn't insult their fashion choices though. Ichigo and Shinji practically stuck with the same basic stuff they had three years ago, only changing to new clothes that were almost exact replicas when their old ones got too damaged. As for him, he had gone along for a similar style to Ichigo's though he preferred the black shirt he found to the white one and had switched out the colour of his trousers for blue ones. His odd part though was the white haori he always insisted on wearing along with the green sash across his chest that held his Zanpaktou to his back.

"Lion's Brilliance!"

Toushirou quickly shielded his eyes as the light blasted outwards, barely avoiding being blinded. As the light cleared, he saw the girl running towards the other Mage and firing the whip at him.

It was a good plan. She looked like she could do it too, except for what he could see. Around the Mage were five dolls but they were positioned oddly. It was like despite being blinded, the Mage could still see.

His theory was proved as the Mage managed to react in time to just get his arm caught in the whip. The man in the suit had two choices that he could see now. He could either attack the Mage while he was weakened, or save the girl who was getting pulling in very quickly.

The choice was made without hesitation. The girl was rescued before she even got close to the other Mage. He could just about hear their conversation from the distance he was at though he was surprised no one had noticed him yet, especially since his hair was pure white. Then again, they looked too focused on fighting to notice him at the moment.

"Are you okay Lucy?"

"I'm fine Loke. But how did he manage to dodge?"

So that was their names. It was helpful to know.

"I don't know," replied Loke, his gaze turning towards the other Mage. "Bickslow shouldn't have been able to see. It's why he didn't dodge completely. But how-"

"He could still see," Toushirou sudden called out to them, deciding it was time to reveal himself. "He got a glimpse through those dolls of his."

The entire group, well except for Bickslow but his dolls turned for him, looked up at him in surprise, either from his sudden appearance or that he was standing on air.

"Shinigami…"

Toushirou raised an eyebrow in surprise. So the man knew what he was from one glance. That was new. Normally people only realised when the sword you were using changed into something else.

"Loke, do you know him?"

Loke shook his head at Lucy's question. "No, but I recognise that Magic. Few people can walk along the air like that, and a Quincy wouldn't have been caught dead with a sword like that one. And trust me when I say that we would know if he was a Hollow."

Lucy looked up at Toushirou curiously. "Shinigami? Quincy? Hollow?" She obviously hadn't heard of any of those words, yet even she could tell them meant something important. Loke's reaction was an indication too.

Toushirou glanced at Bickslow as the man put his hood back on. "Are you sure you want to do that? You're putting away one of your strongest weapons."

The Mage laughed. "It's already proven it's a liability in this fight. That Spell won't work with my visor in the way. It's not any ordinary one after all."

Loke brought a fist up, ready to continue the fight. "You've lost Bickslow. I've already shown I can beat those dolls of yours easily."

Bickslow ignored him for a moment, taking in the new arrival properly. "How did you realise I could still see somewhat?"

"The dolls were positioned too oddly to not show you could see somehow. It was as if they were your eyes."

"Figure Eyes. Anyone that looks into my eyes becomes one of my dolls. But it works another way too. Any one of my dolls that still has a physical form can give me their view too. I'd admit it's not perfect but it gets the job done when I need it too. They make some brilliant reconnaissance units."

Bickslow grinned. "However don't expect that was all I had left. You may be a Shinigami but we were trained by Laxus, and he knew one of your types. He made sure to make us strong."

Reaching into his pocket, Bickslow pulled out a small metal marble. The marble instantly started multiplying and expanding until a large metal sphere was in its place. On the sphere itself was a strange form of marking.

"You may have beaten my dolls but I still have something left. Every Magic has a forbidden section of it, one where each Spell is not without risk. This is my one."

All the dolls suddenly fell to the floor and they could all tell the power that was maintaining them was going to this new one instead.

"You may have beaten my dolls but you won't beat a Doll."

Toushirou frowned. A Doll? What was the difference expect for that extra emphasis on the word? Or was a Doll something else? Why was this Spell a forbidden one?

"Zeige Dich: Dalk!"

The sphere multiple just like the marble did, however this time it did it far more rapidly and produced far much more metal than previous. Hundreds of tiny metal spheres filled the air before combining into a new form. First a body formed, then arms and legs with spiked ends, then the head. The end result was a humanoid woman who was currently smiling at them.

"What is it?" asked the Doll. "Do you need some help with something Bickslow?"

"Yes Dalk."

"See. I told you that you were pathetic, but I don't mind, really, because you always give me such interesting enemies to fight."

Dalk swung her arm forward, the limb separating into metal spheres and shooting towards them at alarming speeds. Loke and Lucy both jumped to the side while Toushirou vanished with Shunpo, reaching the ground to help them.

As he landed, the spheres that had missed altered their direction and shot straight at him. His hand reached for his sword and the sheath vanished, allowing him to pull the sword round quickly and slice through the first set of projectiles.

He didn't need to guard against the second set in the end. As the spheres approached, Loke was suddenly there, smashing through them with fists of light.

"Need a hand?"

Toushirou looked around quickly. "What happened to that girl? Lucy was it?"

Loke shook his head. "I can't let her continue. She is in no state to help any further. She already took a few hits earlier, and she isn't the type of Mage who can shrug those hits off. Combine that with how taxing Celestial Spirit Magic is means that she would have barely been able to last much longer before exhaustion kicked in."

"You're a Spirit aren't you?"

Loke nodded. "Leo the Lion, but I go by Loke of Fairy Tail at times too. And yourself?"

"Toushirou Hitsugaya, Shinigami."

A new wave of spheres were fired off at them but the quickly defended as they continued their conversation.

"You here to join Fairy Tail?"

"If I can. One of us is already a member here."

"The Master's good at accepting people who want to join. Just ask him when all this is over."

Toushirou flicked his sword to the side, slicing through some of the regenerated spheres. It seemed they could reappear themselves. That would be a pain to watch. The two shot to the side as all the ones they had destroyed shot at them, now fixed and just as deadly as before.

"What's going on here anyway?"

Loke shrugged. "How should I know? I just got here too."

"How are you even still here anyway? You're owner is out for the count."

"Trust. She believes in me, and I've had some experience forcing my way through the gate between worlds. I came here myself when I realised she was in danger, and I don't need to return until I can't sustain myself."

"Enough dodging already!" screamed Dalk as she charged in at them. The Doll was surprisingly fast for something that should have been so heavy. Toushirou sliced through her other arm as she lunged at them but was forced to disappear with Shunpo as that same arm became pellets of metal and bombarded his previous location. Loke wasn't so lucky and was hit by a few before he finally managed to know the others back with a big blast of light.

It looked like it had taken a toll on him though. His breathing was heavier than before and his arms weren't raised as high as before. Another few hits and Toushirou doubted Loke would be able to stay in their world much long.

"I'm running out of time," shouted Loke as he dodged another strike and ignored the calls that followed, all either asking or demanding him to stay still.

Toushirou flicked the blade around as he cut down another volley. He needed a break, just for a second. That would be enough. But while he could get away, he would leave Loke as the sole target for that one moment. And it didn't sit well with him to let the Spirit be the bait. He may have to swallow that thought though.

Something else bothered him. Before, when he had actually focused on sensing those dolls, he hadn't sensed much expect some ambient Magic. But this Doll was different, and by a lot too. Not only was it sentient, but it had a fair amount of free will too. But its Magic was just like with Lucy and Loke due to their bond as Mage and Spirit. No, it was beyond that even. The Magic wasn't just linked slightly, but completely instead. The Doll was more of an extension of Bickslow will than his Magic.

Something like that was dangerous too. It was like the bond between a Shinigami and a Zanpaktou Spirit, however this one summoned the recipient to fight for them. If the Doll was destroyed, what would happen to Bickslow? If it had been like a Celestial Spirit bond it would have been fine, but this was meant to be a Forbidden Spell. Why was it forbidden? What was the cost from using it?

He wished he had more time but this was getting annoying to deal with, and they would get nowhere if they continued to just dodge. They needed to go on the offensive and finish this, once and for all.

"Loke," Toushirou called out. "I need a moment of freedom."

Loke understand immediately what he was asking. "I can handle it. You're sure this time will help?"

"Positive. I understand what kind of enemy we are facing now, and I am the worst choice for this Doll to face."

The rings on Loke's fingers glowed intensively and Toushirou could feel the energy in that attack without even needing to try at all. Loke looked at him confidently. "I will get you the time you need then, so long as you promise me that no harm shall befall Lucy. I won't forgive you if something happens to her."

"I promise."

"Good." Loke smirked as he brought back his arms and shot towards Dalk. "You want a piece of me then? I've stopped running away so let's see who's stronger. Spirit or Doll."

Dalk let out a laugh. "Excellent. Face me then."

The metal spheres shot back towards Dalk and formed one long lance instead of two arms. As Loke reached her, she shot forward at a speed she hadn't shown before, plunging the sphere straight through Loke's chest.

Loke felt the pain and could already sense that his time was up. He would be forced to return to the Spirit World whether he liked it or not in a moment. But that was all the time he needed. He swore to get Toushirou that time after all.

Gripping the lance he was held on, he pulled it further into his body, pulling Dalk closer. Dalk realised too later what he had planned and before she could escape, he punched forward with all the energy he had left, two lions of light connecting dead on against her.

"Regulus… Impact…"

That was it for Loke and he vanished in a flash of light, returning home to the Spirit World. Bickslow watched the scene carefully. What had Loke planned to do? Dalk was already regenerating so that end attack had done nothing. Had he been trying to buy time or something?

Wait... Where was the kid? Damn it. He let him out of his sight for a moment and that was the worst thing to happen when facing a Shinigami. He could be charging up a powerful Kidou Spell by now or…

Oh no.

He found the kid easily enough now. The boy had no need to hide so instead just stood there in the air, mocking him.

This was bad. Dalk couldn't regenerate in time to stop him. Loke had separated her into two many pieces for her to be able to make it, and it already looked like the boy was ready.

There had been one thing Laxus had stressed more urgently than anything in the world if they ended up ever having to face a Shinigami. More important than being careful, more important than letting them out of your sight. One thing resided above the rest, and Bickslow remembered it clearly as Toushirou raised his sword up high.

Never, under any circumstances, allow a Shinigami to release their Zanpaktou.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens: Hyourinmaru."

So that was what Loke had done. He had bought enough time for this kid to gather the energy required to release his Zanpaktou. Still, it didn't mean it was over yet. It just made things a hell of a lot harder. He could still win. He had been trained by Laxus after all. He wouldn't bow down so easily.

"Dalk," he said as he turned to his Doll. Dalk looked up at him, finally finished regenerating to her original form.

"Yes?"

"Destroy him."

"WITH PLEASURE!"

Dalk launched herself at Toushirou, not holding back in the slightest. He felt sorry for the boy but it was too late now. They had come too far to fail, and you couldn't fight a Shinigami if you lacked the determination to win. They were simply too strong naturally that you would fall if you lacked the resolve.

He had it. He would make Laxus the Guild Master, and he had pledged to do just that with his life. There was no backing down, no retreating, no hesitation. He would not lose here. He couldn't afford to.

But why was the kid just standing there? He couldn't be that arrogant to believe he didn't even need to dodge just because he had activated Shikai did he? Why didn't he move?

The blade was a strange one anyway. The blade had actually extended a bit, making it even bigger compared to the boy than it already was, and the end of the hilt had gained a crescent blade of some kind, almost like part of a moon. It gave nothing away to what this Zanpaktou could do.

The other thing he couldn't help but realise was that it was cold. Much colder than it should have been. And it was darker too. Where had all those clouds come from? And why was it snowing all of a sudden? Unless…

"DALK! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Too late," said Toushirou as he swung the blade, a Dragon made of ice shooting off from the blade and flying straight into Dalk. The Doll was powerless to stop it and fell to the ground when Toushirou finally allowed the ice construct to break apart.

Bickslow looked at Toushirou in shock. That wasn't just any ice construct the boy had made. It had been ice that had moved and followed the caster's will. Gray's power over ice wasn't anywhere close to what this boy was capable of, and he looked like he was about twelve.

"It was unfortunate that I was sent to fight you," said Toushirou as he descended towards Bickslow. "My Zanpaktou is probably one of the strongest Ice Type Zanpaktou, if not the strongest, to have ever existed. It's over."

Bickslow wanted to try and deny the boy's statement. It had to be a bluff. But the power it had just shown hadn't been a lie. It had affected the weather itself and had created a massive Dragon of ice with just a swing of the boy's sword. And those words the boy had said must have taken a while to figure out. Why else make that claim if it really was true."

"I…"

"What's wrong Bickslow?"

Bickslow froze, turning slowly towards the fallen form of his Doll.

"Are you afraid? You've gotten weaker."

What? Had he already run out of time? A quick check confirmed it. He was almost out of Magic, and now came the part that made this Spell a forbidden one.

"SO NOW YOU'RE MINE!"

Even in her frozen state, Dalk still proved to be fast, lunging for him faster than he knew he could stop her. He knew the risks though. Until the Mage and the Doll managed to form a strong bond, their relationship was that of Master and Servant. He fed Dalk Magic, and in return she fought for him. But when you had nothing left to give, they had no reason to obey you anymore, and would decide to kill you instead.

He didn't bother trying to run. He wouldn't get away. He had chosen to put his life on the line for Laxus, and he would pay it gladly. He was just sorry he would never see Laxus become the Guild Master. Laxus had wanted to change the guild so much.

There was a slash, and then silence.

Protector Of The Fairies

First chapter of the Battle of Fairy Tail and things are already getting serious. Toushirou verses Bickslow. What did you guys think? I got some inspiration from the Bount Arc and how many of you thought of the possibility for that to exist here? Of dolls and Dolls?

I loved writing this scene. Toushirou got his first moment to shine and even Bickslow got to be awesome here. Sorry about Lucy but she is still learning and Bickslow has been training for this at a much more advanced pace than in canon. Loke is still too loyal to her to leave unless he knows she is safe and I hope I kept him in character.

In other news, I've gotten to the end of the final battle of this arc and should be writing the last chapter for the arc now. This arc lasts until chapter 27 and Laxus has a big fight planned. This is what many of you have waiting for since the start of the story after all.

Now Fairy Tail last week it seems but Bleach came out early. Not too bad, though I can see the main reason that Quincy is so tough. It's like a Starrk and Lilynette relationship in a way as his power seems to come from his 'Fan' and he draws strength from him. Take the fan away, and he is weakened.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.