Chapter 37: Keep Standing, Keep Fighting 1/2

Coursework all done, no lectures, it's a good day right now. So here you go. A nice slightly longer chapter. Wait a few weeks and you'll get some extra long ones. Also, I hope no one though last chapter was an April Fools thing. I was worried about that, what with releasing on that day. Stupid Tuesday being on that date.

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

Protector Of The Fairies

Keep Standing, Keep Fighting

Gray spread his hands out, daggers of ice forming and firing towards Midnight. At the same time Lyon acted himself, small birds forming and flying towards his enemy without the need for a command.

Midnight watched as the ice flew towards him and blinked. The moment the ice was about to reach him, it shot to the side and around him, not a single bit of ice even scratching him.

"Was that all you've got?"

"Not by a long shot."

Lyon raised his hands in a creation form above his head before swinging, tigers of ice appearing. Each of them ran towards Midnight as the birds that Lyon had previously created changed direction, all attacking Midnight at once from all directions.

Again, none of it seemed to phase Midnight as each attack missed him by a long shot, not anything able to get a grasp on him.

Midnight sighed in annoyance. Was this all the two Mages would do? He reached out with one of his hands and gripped a tiger by its neck. The tiger snapped at him but the teeth simply missed, bending around him as they tried to reach him.

With his other hand, he brought his fist down on the tiger, smashing it into pieces. He demolished the other tigers and birds with ease before some ice shot down by his side. He glanced at the ice sword that missed him, not worried in the slightest as he waved a fist straight at his attacker, a sharp blast of air cutting into Gray as he was flung backwards.

Gray rolled as he flew backwards, landing as safely as he could as he brought a hand up to his chest where the air blade had cut into him. Ice rapidly spread over the wound, freezing it shut before much blood could spill.

"Gray?"

"I'm okay," muttered Gray. "Barely hurt. I won't let him get me next time."

"Fine then," came the response. Lyon raised his hands once more as two small ice dragons began forming. Gray saw what Lyon was planning and jumped onto one of them as Lyon did the same, both dragons taking flight into the air.

Midnight smiled as both dragons flew towards him, raising a hand. "You're too close."

And the both dragons exploded outwards, the ice flying to the sides in weird distorted shapes. Gray and Lyon weren't one to take the surprise without reacting though, both jumping from the ice with one hand raised downwards, the other facing back behind them as they guided the remaining ice into a new slide form.

The two slid down, jumping off at the last moment and creating weapons of ice. Lyon formed a large long broadsword while Gray created an oversized hammer. Lyon swung first, attempting to make Midnight jump. Instead, Midnight smirked, the blade bending as it went to hit him and returning to normal as it slide past him.

Gray didn't stop his attack because of that however, instead raising the hammer up high and smashing it down against the Mage. Dust kicked up from the ground and they could see the earth cracking from the force of the blow.

"Did we-"

The ice shattered outwards, Midnight still wearing that same smirk on his face. And there wasn't a single mark on him.

"What!" Lyon glanced from Midnight to the remains of Gray's ice hammer. There was no way that Midnight should have come out of that unharmed. He had watched the Mage get hit, and Midnight had done nothing to defend himself. In fact he was still in the same pose as when the hammer had hit him. Did he even move at all to free himself?

That was worrying. If Midnight was using something without even moving, exactly how powerful was this man? To freely use Magic like that suggested a large degree of intense experience. Most Mages needed some form of movement half the time. Even Jura would make small moves when he acted, whether it was a shift in his stance to a step forward.

Or maybe Midnight was moving. Perhaps it was simply subtle movements that made his Magic work. They had already seen him raise his hand once to destroy their ice dragons so he must have needed it then. Distance could be a crucial factor in the man's powers.

If that was the case then it they couldn't fight him at a distance. Their attacks weren't fast enough to reach the man before whatever he did happened. While the man might be more effective at doing whatever he was doing at close range, they were more effective too.

And Midnight hadn't responded to his attacks the same way when he had overwhelmed the man. Perhaps numbers were the key. Still, they had to hurry. They had seen when Nirvana had fully been released not that long ago and couldn't afford to hang around the area they were in for too long.

"Gray. How much time can you buy me?"

"As much as you need, and then extra."

"Good. I'll hold you to that."

As Lyon raised his hands into a creation stance, Gray rushed towards their enemy. Ice spread along his limbs as he clapped his hands together, his Ice Make Magic shaping the ice into sharp blades on the edge of his arms. Midnight actually raised an eyebrow as Gray nearer him, interested in what Gray was about to do.

The first blade came round as Gray swung his arm, the blade missing Midnight as it bend around the Mage without harming him. Gray spun on his heel, using the momentum to increase the speed his second strike came round at. Again it missed Midnight, not harming the Mage or even reaching him. Gray continued his assault till he reached the seventh strike before Midnight ducked under the swing, raising an arm under the blade with his palm outstretched. The blade exploded into pieces from inside, the ice scattered across the clearing and yet none hit Midnight still.

Gray snarled, the other blade of ice shattering. There was no point of continuing to keep it in place if it wouldn't even help him.

Midnight sudden raised a hand towards Gray, the black haired Mage reacting instantly. A hand shot up and a hastily constructed block of ice appeared between the two. Midnight smiled more sinisterly and Gray quickly learned why as he felt his clothes tightening around him, restraining his movements. His shirt reached up towards his neck, wrapping round it and making it hard to breathe. He couldn't even call for help.

He didn't need to however. Lyon raised his hands finally, a large force of ice constructs forming. Tigers, bears, wolves, eagles, panthers, and many more different animals were appearing rapidly. Midnight actually looked both surprised and impressed, releasing his hold on Gray as he dropped his arm back to his side. Gray gasped for breathe as his clothes released their hold on him, glancing at Lyon in surprise at all the constructs he had created.

"Ice Make: Zoo Rampage!"

Lyon took a deep breath, using the quick opportunity to shake off the exhaustion he was feeling from the large amount of Magic he had been forced to quickly channel. Midnight didn't even try and use the opportunity, instead waiting patiently with interest. It looked like the Dark Mage wanted to see what his attack would do, and that arrogance was going to play against him right now.

"Get him."

The constructs roared, all charging in at once at Midnight. They leaped and flew at the Mage from all sides, providing no opportunity for Midnight to escape from.

As the first animal came, Midnight grabbed it, spinning and throwing the animal towards one of the eagles attempting to attack him from a blind spot. At the same time a bear brought its claws down at Midnight only to bend around the Mage, Midnight not even registering the attack. Instead he attacked one of the lions that had snuck at him from one side, pinning it against the ground. He jumped onto the animal and used it as a springboard, leaping onto one of the eagles as he aimed a hand back at the lion below to cause it to shatter into pieces.

A swarm of birds joined him in pursuit, even as the eagle Midnight was riding on tried to throw him off. Midnight brought a sharp kick down on the eagle's neck, breaking off its head and causing it to begin falling out of the sky. The birds nearby tried to pull away but Midnight was already jumping towards them, grabbing them as he fell and either smashing them together if they were small enough or grabbing onto one of the bigger ones and repeating what he did with the eagle.

As the last bird fell, he landed softly on the ground, the earth bending inwards as he hit it before restoring back to its original position. A group of tigers took that opportunity to pounce at him but Midnight swung his arm towards them, a vortex of air grabbing the group and ripping them to pieces from the furious force the attack contained.

Midnight glanced back behind him as the remains of Lyon's creations slowly approached him. And then they settled for all attacking at once, leaving absolutely no room to escape or dodge from, even if one was destroyed in the process.

Not one of them hit Midnight. Midnight simply stood there as all the animals flew past him, some being destroyed from simply crashing into one another. A flew flicks with his hand and the last few shattered into pieces of ice, none left to challenge him.

Lyon's eyes widened as he took in everything he was seeing. All that Magic he used, the entire army he formed, it had all been useless. He could sense Midnight mocking him as he turned to smile at them, his eyes gloating of his invincibility.

That was madness. How could not one of his attacks hit? Why did they all miss in that last attack? Why were their attacks bending around the man?

Unless… Was that the man's Magic? To bend things? But then what did he do to Gray?

"You're distorting things."

Gray was the one who actually spoke up in the end, glaring at Midnight whose smile had only gotten bigger at being found out. "I knew it."

The dots quickly clicked in Lyon's mind. Distorting the air could cause those sharp blades to appear, distorting the ice as it came to hit him would allow it to miss, distorting the air would grant a soft landing, and distorting someone's clothes would cause them to attack their wearer.

But why did he use his hands for some things and not for others? Was it simplicity? No, it had to be another reason.

That was it. He had worked it out. He glanced at Gray and saw the Mage give him a nod. Good. They were on the same page with what the man's Magic was capable of. Now all they had to do was use it against the man, and then find a way past his defences.

Before anyone else could move, light lit up the area from above. They all abandoned fighting for a moment as they stared up at the bright flames in the sky before they formed a gate of some kind. It was a few moments later when transparent dark green light shot across the sky, enclosing them all within a cube of it.

"What… What is this?" muttered Gray, staring into the sky. "Lyon? Do you know what this is?"

"Not a clue," came the reply. Lyon glanced at the barrier they were trapped within, his eyes scanning the edges of it and seeing how far it enclosed. "Ah. It must be the last of the Shinigami. Now that Nirvana has been released I guess it counts as an emergency and that it needs to be contained."

"Someone dares to defy Father?" Midnight's smile disappeared, changing to an ugly snarl. "How dare they. I'll rip them apart and force this pathetic barrier to fall."

"Not while we're here you won't," said Gray. "You aren't going anywhere."

"You think you will stop me? No matter, it doesn't affect anything either way. I'm sure Father is already there dealing with the trash."

Lyon's eyes widened, glancing back at the barrier. Looking closely he could see small fluctuations in the walls of energy, almost unstable in appearance. That meant trouble. If the Shinigami was holding the barrier in place, could they even fight if someone came close enough to them?

He looked towards Gray but Gray had already beaten him to it. "Go."

Lyon glanced at Midnight and then back to Gray. "Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine. Just get out of here. Warn the others."

Lyon took one more look at the two before turning and running off. He paused for one moment to shout back at his friend. "Don't die. You hear me? Ur will never forgive you if you end up dying to someone like this."

"I don't plan to. Now get out of here."

Midnight watched as Lyon left, turning the rest of his sole attention towards Gray. "Was that wise for you? You haven't even scratched me, and yet you believe you can beat me alone? Your friend would have stood a greater chance that you would."

"He'll be fine. He's faster than I am, especially as he can create an eagle or something to move about on if he wants to. We need speed now to stop Brain."

Midnight laughed. It started more of a chuckle before breaking down into something more hysterical. "That's a good one. You won't beat Father. None of you can. He's planned for this for a long time. It's far too late to stop any of us now."

Glancing behind him, Midnight smiled at the giant form of Nirvana. "Look at it. That is our prize. No one can take it away from Father."

"What? You don't think it is yours too?"

"Not at all. I don't care about Nirvana personally. But Father wants it, and I live to serve Father."

"You're messed up there, you know that?"

"You would never understand." Midnight turned back to face Gray, a sinister smile back on his face. "So what will you do now? Can you at least give me something funny to watch?"

"I'll do more than that. I've worked it all out."

"Ah. My Reflector Magic. Yes, you said you'd worked out about its distorting abilities."

"I've done more than that." The smirk vanished from Midnight's face, the Dark Mage watched Gray carefully. "I've worked out the little limitations it has. And you're completely out of luck now."

Gray reached towards his shirt before he pulled it off in one swift move. He did the same with his trousers, leaving him in just his underwear. Midnight frowned at the actions, especially when Gray raised one finger. "So what? You stripped."

"Nice try."

Midnight scowled, even as Gray continued talking.

"When you strangled me with my clothes, I noticed how it was the fabric that was moving, but it never got any longer. And after working out you could distort things, it only made sense that you distorted my clothes to attack me. So all I had to do was to get rid of the excess before fighting you. You could always use it on me still, but how much can you do with just my underwear?"

Gray held up a second finger before continuing. "Furthermore, why did you stop when Lyon prepared his attack? If you could distort things, couldn't you have continued with my as he attacked you? That solved another mystery about your Magic. You can use your Magic in two places. Around you, or away from you. But you can only use your ability in one of them. That's why you said that Lyon and I were too close. Because we were both close enough to the radius of the distorted area that you moved toward us."

Midnight stared at Gray before he laughed once more. "That's it? You know how it works? Don't be ridiculous. You couldn't touch me before, and this won't let you touch me now."

"I know," said Gray. "I already knew that. But I have two things here. The first is that your Magic won't affect me. If it did, we could have been killed from the start with ease. The human body is something your Magic won't distort."

Gray turned his head to the side, glancing at the direction where Lyon had gone. "And the second thing I have is that Lyon's gone."

"Your friend was the only one of you that might have stood a chance when I was weaker. How exactly can you do better? Out of both of the disciples of Ur, I can see who the better Ice Make Magic was."

Instead of taking offense to it, Gray just gave Midnight a sad smile. "I already know that. I can only use Static Ice Make Magic, but Lyon got so good that he could make Dynamic Ice Make Magic. He breathes life into what he makes, something I can't even comprehend how to accomplish."

"Then how can you win?"

"Because I've got my own talent." Gray smirked, clenching a fist and bringing it in front of his face. "I've met many different Ice Magic Users in the world, and everyone chooses something to focus on in the end. Like how you can't master every Magic, you can't always master every aspect of a branch too. You choose what works best, what you have the most talent for. I'm no exception. It just took me a long time to work out what my true strength was."

Gray brought his fist back down, keeping an eye on Midnight as the Mage listened. That arrogance was going to be the man's downfall, especially as he doubted the man had noticed he was gathering Magic as he spoke. Or maybe he did and just didn't care to stop him. Still, he needed some more time. So he kept talking.

"Take Ichigo's friend for starters. I didn't see it for myself but I heard of what he could do. He could create large amounts of ice with a mere swing of his blade, and that is something rare I'll tell you that. I can generate a fair amount myself but he must have at least tripled that amount, and he's about twelve or something. That's impressive."

Gray gestured at where Lyon had gone. "I've told you about Lyon. His speciality was breathing life into his Magic. Ur was a bit between me and Lyon, but with her own twist. A lot of the people who saw her fight would have seen roses and flowers of ice in her attacks. The truth is that it's because her speciality was in what could only be described as Organic Ice Make Magic."

Midnight raised an eyebrow. "Organic Ice Make Magic?"

"Yep. Half her attacks were like plants in a way, but it didn't have to be plants. When I made a foolish mistake, she came to save me. When I woke up, she was still fighting, one of her legs missing. So she had created one out of ice. And I'm sure you know that just a normal construct of ice would be nothing more than a crutch. She was moving freely with this, as if it was connected to all her nerves as a real leg."

Gray smirked as he saw the interest in Midnight's eyes. Feed them some information like that and everyone would fall for it with ease. It helps that it was all true, but it wasn't like it was a secret or anything. Ur wouldn't be the first to have used Ice Magic as she did.

"But what was my strength? I only found out a few years ago when I was helping Natsu. My power was never in the quantity of ice I could produce, or in the power or uniqueness the constructs had. And it wasn't about it being special too. It was something so simple, and yet so complex."

"Then show me," said Midnight, an almost urgent tone in his voice with his eyes widen in excitement. "You've been building up Magic for a while now. SHOW ME!"

"I was already going to do that." Gray reached down to the ground and placed both palms against the ground. "Ice Make: Ice Age."

And then everything froze, Midnight only surviving due to his Magic reflecting the frozen ground away from him on instinct. His eyes widened as he spun round, taking in everything that had happened. The trees, the ground, it was all frozen solid, a small layer of ice covering them all. And he could swear it hadn't stopped in just their area too.

"This is my speciality. I was always good at freezing stuff with my Magic, but I never went into it at all. I focused on my imagination with Ice Make, and now the two of them can work in perfect unison."