Chapter 22: The Sleeping Demon Awakes

And here you go. I hope you are all excited for Christmas tomorrow. I am. Anyway, here is your weekly chapter. As always, enjoy and review. I enjoy reading every single one of them, and it is only thanks to all of you that I have reached over four hundred reviews. I never thought it would reach this high. Here's to the next milestone.

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

Protector Of The Fairies

The Sleeping Demon Awakes

Bickslow slowly opened his eyes as the death he had expected never happened. He had expected Dalk to have killed him already, stabbing him straight through the heart. It could have been a more drawn out process but he knew Dalk enough to know that she would give him a quick end in return for the battles he had given her.

So why was he still here? The answer was right in front of him. Ice. Lots of ice. Dalk couldn't even move anymore, frozen in a block of the element. He could see the shock on her face and he could see how close she had come to killing him too. Her arm was just a few millimetres away from his chest.

"I didn't expect her to actually try and kill you."

Bickslow looked towards his saviour. "You… saved me?"

Toushirou shrugged. "I didn't have a reason not to. It was partly my fault anyway. I would have frozen her originally and destroyed her but I had a feeling that wouldn't have been a good thing to do."

Bickslow was suddenly glad the boy hadn't destroyed Dalk when he had the chance. Dalk was hard to kill completely but with that much ice, it might have not made any difference. And the worst part was that if Dalk had died, he would have perished alongside her.

"It's part of the deal," Bickslow found himself explaining. It wasn't like he was telling the boy anything he didn't know already, and he was also kind of at the kid's mercy too. He had barely any Magic left and had no way to escape either.

"What deal?"

"A Doll is unique from my normal dolls. A Doll is… well… Maybe the best comparison is to your Zanpaktou."

"So it's like a piece of your soul then."

"Exactly. Until one of us dies, our souls are linked. Nothing can break it. The only difference is that she's perfectly fine if I die. She just returns to the equivalent of the Spirit World for Dolls. But if she dies, I die, and she still gets to go back to her home whether it is. They don't like doing that once they get a strong bond with someone though because there are a lot of them there and it takes a while to get picked again."

"So she's someone who matches your soul."

"Yes."

Toushirou seemed to accept the answer. "Good thing I didn't destroy it. I want you captured, not dead."

Captured? That didn't sound good to Bickslow. What did that kid want from him?

Toushirou pointed towards the frozen Doll. "Are you going to unsummon her or do I need to freeze her again when the ice eventually melts?"

Bickslow raised a hand towards Dalk and let his control over her reinforce with the last of the Magic he had left. It was enough to give her one command. To return.

The ice shattered as Dalk separated into hundreds of spheres before condensing down and down until only the original marble remained, resting in Bickslow's hand.

"I'll forgive you this time Dalk," Bickslow whispered, holding the marble close to him. "Just try not to make this a habit, okay?"

"It really is similar to a Zanpaktou in some regards," commented Toushirou as he observed the reaction Bickslow was having. "Though it is also a lot like Celestial Spirit Magic too."

"All Magic has roots to others in some way or another. Sometimes those links are small, but they still exist. My Magic could easily be derived from yours and that cheerleader's. Weaker in comparison but stronger in some aspects too."

Toushirou reached for the hilt of his sword before grabbing the crescent blade at the end and removed it. As it detached, Bickslow could see a chain on it, keeping the hilt and the blade connected to one another. Toushirou held the blade in one hand and then threw it at Bickslow.

Bickslow ducked under the blade's path only to find it never went the way it was thrown. Instead it curved around him until he was wrapped in chains. Ice immediately spread along the chain from the Zanpaktou and crawled away from the chain onto his body, trapping most of his body in a block of ice. His head was relatively free and so were his legs but his arms weren't. Some ice did creep up a bit and attach itself to his helmet.

The boy was smart. He still recognised the dangers of Figure Eyes, despite that there wouldn't be enough Magic for him to use it. With that ice in place, the helmet wouldn't be able to be removed easily. It would cause him to be noticed, which would mean he could be stopped before he finished.

Toushirou tugged on the chain slightly and Bickslow got the hint. Follow.

It was degrading in a way, how he was forced to be like an animal on a lead. What would Laxus say if he saw him now?

A board must have been shown somewhere, declaring his loss for the rest of the guild members still active to see. How embarrassing. He could have taken losing to the Cheerleader and Loke, but he lost to someone not even in the guild. How did the kid even get in through the barrier around Magnolia? And why did he feel the need to interfere in Fairy Tail matters?

Where was he being lead anyway? The kid, Toushirou he thought was the boy's name was, seemed to know where to go but it seemed awfully random. That was until they entered a building and found Lucy placed at the side in the corridor, hidden and out of sight in case anyone found her by accident.

So this was why Loke vanished with the girl and never came back with her. He hid her to make sure she would stay safe. A smart move with him bringing out a Doll. That resolve of the Cheerleader was admirable, because few Celestial Spirit Mages fought alongside their Spirits, but that was when you could physically compete with the enemy. She had the right idea against him but Dalk would have just resulted in her being injured, or worse. She could have easily died if she wasn't careful.

How did the kid know where to find her though? Did he find their battle like he found the girl, because he was sure as hell that Loke didn't say where he hid her to the kid. That was a unique ability the kid could use.

Sensing wasn't a very hard talent in practice. The tricky part so many people failed at was finding people you didn't know. Then there was managing to sort through all the energies you could feel too so that made things even harder. For a kid this young to track the girl like this, especially when she would have already been low on Magic, was nothing short of amazing. Was this why Shinigami were so feared? Because they did things that should have been impossible to most as easily as breathing?

Toushirou reached towards the girl and his hand lit up with a pale green energy. Bickslow saw a change in her immediately. After just a few moments, she already looked like she was recovering. He could even sense some of her Magic returning.

That wasn't how it normally worked. Magic returned to you naturally but this was going at a faster pace than normal.

At the same time, he noticed a bit of sweat appearing on Toushirou's face as he looked at the girl in intense concentration.

"Are you trying to heal her?"

"It's a method of Kidou we Shinigami can use, though the others suck at it. It's known as Kaidou. We use our Magical Power to encourage the restoration of the target's Magical Power, increasing the rate it recovers at. Once that happens, the second stage begins where we use their Magic with our own to increase the rate of healing. The more Magic someone has left, the quicker the process is. The better condition the person is in, the less time it takes to restore their Magical Power. It works either way."

"That's one useful technique to know."

"I know, trust me. The others would never get better if it wasn't for me."

"How many others of there are you?"

"A few."

So the kid was being cautious was he? Bickslow didn't blame him. The explanation on Kaidou was probably compensation for learning of how Dolls worked. Telling Bickslow how many people there were gave him potential information to pass on. After all, there was no way of knowing whether or not there were any surprises left.

A noise finally escaped from the blonde girl's mouth as she slowly began to regain consciousness. Toushirou took his palm away from her and the energy around it vanished, its job done.

The sight Lucy awoke to was a strange one. The same enemy she had fought before was trapped in a block of ice while the white haired kid that had helped them was standing by him, a sword lightly aimed towards Bickslow.

The first thing she did though was glance around. "Where's Loke? And Happy?"

That posed a question as Toushirou looked around too. What had happened to that blue cat? Had it vanished or something?

"Lucy," cried out a voice as a cat flew past them, a fish in its hands. "You're awake."

"Happy? Where did you go?"

Happy hid the fish behind his back. "Nowhere."

Toushirou sighed as he snapped his fingers, drawing the attention of the two before they ended up starting an argument.

"You are a member of Fairy Tail are you not?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. I'm new."

"That's good enough." Toushirou glanced over at Bickslow. "What's the deal with this guy?"

Everyone there felt their jaws drop in shock. "You mean you didn't even know what was going on when you stepped it?"

Toushirou shook his head. "There was a battle. I assumed I could get the information I needed from one side. I chose your side."

"How did you know I wasn't the good guy?" asked Bickslow.

Toushirou gave the man a quick look. "You were too creepy. You struck me as a bad guy instantly from the way you were acting."

"Aye," said Happy, adding in his own opinion.

"Now then," Toushirou muttered as he turned back towards Lucy, "I want to know what's happening here."

Lucy examined the boy carefully. Should she trust him? She didn't know him and he did seem awfully young but he had done what she and Loke had struggled to do, and he had beaten Bickslow when he had gotten tougher than before.

There wasn't much choice in the end about what she could do. Any help had to be welcome and she doubted the kid was working for Laxus. If he was, he would have let Bickslow win. But she had to know a few things first.

"Who are you? And what happened to Loke? Then I'll answer your questions."

"Toushirou Hitsugaya. As for your Spirit, he took a bad hit and disappeared with a bright light. I assume that means he went back to the Spirit World to recover?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep. Spirits can't die very easily, and they regenerate fast when they go home. It can still take a while sometimes though, and it isn't like they don't feel the pain either. I'll need to thank Loke when I next see him for helping me out."

"I answered your questions, now you answer mine."

That was fair to Lucy, though it was strange to hear such a tone of voice from someone who looked only twelve or something. It was so straight forward and leader like.

"Well."

"Ah, so what did you want to know?"

"I said this already. What is happening here?"

"Before or after the battles started?"

Toushirou quickly made a note of that in his head. It seemed that all those inactive Mages had fallen because of battles, or defeats in this case because only those still running about were those that had kept winning.

"After," Toushirou quickly said, "but if something important happened before, add it in too."

Lucy brought a hand to her chin in thought. "Well it all started during this contest the guild was running for Miss Fairy Tail. A load of us took part and it was fine until Evergreen showed up."

"Who?"

"Evergreen. She's meant to be one of Laxus's bodyguards from what I've heard."

Laxus? Toushirou frowned. He had heard of a Laxus before from Ichigo, and it didn't sound good if the people Laxus had with him were doing stuff like this.

Bickslow let out a laugh. "I still can't believe how easily she caught all you lot. Even Erza and Mira fell for her trickery."

"Well why would they suspect her? She was a Fairy Tail Mage like all of us too."

"Continue," Toushirou said impatiently, cutting off any chances the two Mages had to argue. Lucy reluctantly gave up on her argument and continued the story.

"Anyway, it was at this point that Laxus, this S Class Mage in Fairy Tail, showed up with Bickslow and Freed, Laxus's other bodyguards, and declared that the Battle of Fairy Tail was beginning. I was stone at the time so I don't know as much as others but, from I learned afterwards, most of the Mages on our side were beaten by each other."

"And why were you wasting time fighting one another?"

Lucy glared at him angrily. "It's not like they wanted to. They got trapped in Runes and only one could proceed. They needed to win in order to keep searching."

"I see." Toushirou could see the strength in such a plan. It looked like there were at least four people involved on one side, and the other side was the entire guild of Fairy Tail. If you didn't do something drastic, you could still lose just from the sheer numbers. It would have also helped at removing most of the weaklings before they could even reach you, allowing you to save your strength for stronger enemies. "What happened next?"

"Erza managed to get free from the Spell she was trapped in and beat Evergreen. That set the rest of us free but caused Laxus to change his threat."

"So he was threatening you all to participate? What were the stakes?"

Lucy pointed at herself. "I was one of the original stakes. If the Spell Evergreen used on us hadn't been dispelled in time, we would have died. After we were free, Laxus sent out a new threat."

"The Lacrima."

Lucy nodded. "I'm guessing you noticed all of them around the city. They put the whole of Magnolia in danger too, not just Fairy Tail. He essentially took the whole town hostage."

"So how long do we have left?"

"I don't know," Lucy admitted. "But it's even hard to destroy the Lacrima in that time anyway. Destroy one and you get struck down by lightning. It was enough that one of us was taken down in one hit just from attacking one."

Toushirou quickly compared what he heard to the lightning strike he saw earlier. So someone had attacked another one then, as it had to have been after the event Lucy was talking about. Why would someone willing attack one after knowing the risks? The sheer number of them meant one was meaningless. If you wanted to make a difference, you needed to take many more down with you.

"Is that all?"

Lucy nodded. "I ran into Bickslow over there not long before you showed up. Thank you for that again."

Toushirou waved off her gratitude. "It wasn't a problem. I needed information anyway."

He glanced outside and could just about see the Lacrima in the sky. Could he destroy them all before he got taken down? Possibly, but that was a big risk. If he used Hyourinmaru, he might just be able to create a thick enough shield around himself to block the strikes, but if the attacks increased in power the more he destroyed then he could be in trouble. There was no way to know what would happen from destroying more of them.

The other choice was to move faster than they could strike him but he wasn't fast enough for that. Ichigo and Shinji might have been but that would have been with their Hollow Masks normally. Lightning travelled fast after all.

"Where is this Laxus?" There wasn't much choice. He would need to find this Laxus person and get them to shut down the Lacrima. It was the safest way possible to end this without anyone getting hurt, and he wouldn't have time to meet up with the others with this information right now.

Bickslow shock his head. "I wouldn't betray Laxus like that. I've said all I'm willing to say."

A blade quickly ended up by Bickslow's throat. "I'm sorry, would you like to rephrase that?"

Bickslow let out a harsh laugh. "A threat like that won't work. I was grateful that you saved my life but I won't betray Laxus. I took an oath of service. My Magic is at his disposal and I am not afraid to die in that line of duty."

"Besides," the man added as an after though, "aren't you doing the same?"

Toushirou hid his shock quickly. "What are you talking about?"

"Please. You're too young to be here on your own, and you were looking for information as well. If you were older I could believe that you could be the one in charge, especially with that voice of yours, but you're not at that stage yet. Someone sent you out here, and that's how you found me and why you are so keen on getting what you need."

Bickslow smiled under his helmet. "So do what you want. If our positions were reversed I can guarantee that you would be doing the exact same thing as I am."

Toushirou kept his gaze locked on the man before finally removing the sword from the man's throat. "You're right," he muttered to himself. "I wouldn't tell you where Ichigo was if our roles were reversed."

The words had meant to be quiet and to himself, but Bickslow still managed to pick them up. And under that helmet of the Mage's, eyes widened.

"Ichigo? Did you say Ichigo?"

Toushirou glared at him. "I did. Why?"

Bickslow looked positively ecstatic. "Why? It's great. Laxus is going to be overjoyed. Wait till your friend sees what Laxus has planned. He prepared it all for him after all."

Toushirou froze, desperately searching the man for any signs of lies. There wasn't any. And that was bad.

He turned and began pulling the Mage after him, Lucy hurrying after them. He didn't pay much attention though. He needed to find Ichigo before he found Laxus.

Thinking about it, there could only be one place where this Laxus could be. Ichigo had declared that he would be going to sort out the biggest battle himself. Why would he have been so adamant on it unless he had known who was there.

He wanted to leave Bickslow behind but he couldn't afford to do that. If the man was given too much time to recover, he could become a nuisance later on. It meant Shunpo would be out of the question as he was already focusing on keeping the Mage trapped in his ice.

That left rushing on foot, dragging the man behind him. If he didn't get to Ichigo before he made it to Laxus, he was afraid of what would happen.

Protector Of The Fairies

A smartly dressed man watched the two approaching Mages in distaste, flicking a bit of his long green hair out of his eyes. How dare Elfman try and reappear in front of one of them. That guy had lost and had no right to continue trying to do so.

His anger was hidden but it was obvious if you knew where to look. His hand had gripped tightly around his sword's hilt, ready to draw it in an instant.

The blade had been a present to him from Laxus a few months into his recruitment. It truly was a magnificent blade, forged from conductive Magical metals to an astonishing degree. It must have cost a fortune to have been made, and yet Laxus had given it to him as a sign of his faith in him, the one to lead the Thunder God Tribe. He had styled two strands of his hair into lightning bolts that night to show how happy it had made him.

It was a sign of Laxus's faith in him, and he particularly loved the Fairy Tail symbol the hilt had been carved into. A remainder of what they were aiming to do in a way, and a symbol that they fought for Fairy Tail's greater future.

Right now, he had found it easily enough to deal with Cana without using the blade much, but then her Card Magic wasn't much match for him. It was an inferior Magic to his, and something of that level would never even scratch him.

She was unable to fight him now though. He wasn't sure what she had been about to try near the end when she tried to shift into a strange stance but he wasn't willing to let her use it. Something told him that Cana had been about to do something to him that he hadn't thought she would have been capable of.

He would deny it but, for that one moment looking at her, he had believed that he would have lost.

Like he was Laxus's disciple, Cana was Levy's. It wasn't very widely known, if anyone knew it at all, but Laxus had been told by the girl himself. And the moment he had seen that sign, he had known it wasn't good. Levy may have been weaker than Laxus but she had grown a lot from her initial state from what he had heard. And one to one teaching from her had a chance to have surpassed the experience he got from Laxus's one to three teaching.

Part of him wondered what the girl would have done though. Both were disciples of an original member of Team Fairy, and he couldn't help but want to fight her. It was rare he had that kind of drive like some of the others in the guild but it did exist. It was just reserved for the rare few.

Still, he had a mission to do. He couldn't indulge right now no matter how much he wanted to. He had to win and keep winning to maintain the Runes around the city. And the more he took down, the more Mages that Laxus didn't have to deal with.

So he had finished it in an instant. He had drawn his sword faster than she could react and had swiped out at the air in front of him, the runes for pain appearing and shooting out towards her. She almost dodged them but it was obvious that she hadn't been completely ready yet as they got her in a glancing blow. That was enough.

The pain that rippled through her body had to have been enormous. He had increased the intensity as high as possible to make her unable to fight in any good condition. It had been far more draining that a normal one but he was already recovering with the short break to catch his breath. And at least she couldn't fight any longer.

This was his greatest strength. He was good at Jutsu Shiki but that came out from his main branch of Letter Magic. He had heard about Levy's Solid Script Magic and, while it was impressive with what she could do, he wasn't suited for that style. The girl was more imaginative which was why Solid Script was so powerful for her.

He wasn't like that. He couldn't see the word for fire and not make it become a stream or blast of fire. Levy could do anything with that word from what he had seen, from making it dance around her to even splitting it up and using it to light candles.

Instead, he stuck to what his personality said about him. He had always found rules and laws to give him stability and strength when he had been younger. Orders, conditions, if it was structured he could understand it all.

That had led him to his Magic of choice. Dark Écriture. It was a Letter Magic all about specifics but made up for the lack of imagination with faster speed and less need for focus on having to alter the affects of certain words. It was a pure combat style of Letter Magic. And by linking it to his eye, it had only increased in power. He usually used his fingers to create the runes but he could do it with his sword as he did with Cana. It was rare he would use his sword though, as he reserved it for only those who could challenge him.

He barely paid attention as Elfman started attacking him, dodging the man's strikes and sheathing his sword. It wasn't needed against such a weak foe. What was this man even thinking, trying to take him on alone? If he couldn't even beat Evergreen then what chance did he believe he had?

Did he think he could prevail despite his own injuries? He was an idiot. That could work when you had the power to back up that claim, and Elfman didn't have much power left after fighting and losing against Evergreen.

Why wouldn't the man listen to his pleas? Perhaps he wasn't phrasing his words well enough or perhaps his attitude was too cold when he spoke. But still, why couldn't Elfman just back down already. He didn't want to fight someone who was already defeated yet refused to accept it. It would only end in unnecessary pain for the idiot fighting him.

It was a shame. He still had a job to do, and he needed this fool out of the way. And he still had to obey Laxus's orders.

"I'm sorry about this," he muttered, more for his own wellbeing than Elfman's. With a slash of his hand, runes flew and attached themselves to Elfman. "Dark Écriture: Pain."

The effect was instantaneous. It looked like it was even close to the effect it had shown on Cana, though that might have been more due to how little strength Elfman had left. He didn't let up though.

"Dark Écriture: Fear."

More screams, yet he wasn't done. He wanted the anger and pity he felt for the man out of his system.

"Dark Écriture: Suffering."

The pain got even worse, Elfman falling to the ground while Freed stood over him. Freed could only sigh at the sight. "Maybe it would be better if I just killed you. I can't stand the sight of such one sided affairs. You can't even withstand this level of torture and yet you thought you had the right to challenge me?"

He would do what he did to Cana, sparing the man's life. He wasn't going to be a killer unless Laxus ordered it from him, and Laxus hadn't suggested once that anyone should die. Laxus hated some members and wanted them to suffer and there were many he would kick from the guild, yet Laxus had never said anything about killing them. In a way, it was the only loyalty he could see left that Laxus had currently to this Fairy Tail outside of Levy and this Ichigo person, and the one with Levy was shaky in the first place with her refusing to help with Laxus's plans.

He slashed out with his hand, another burst of pain spreading through Elfman which caused the man to fall to the ground. Elfman wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, that much was certain. Now to deal with-

He almost jumped out of his skin at what he felt. He couldn't see it yet but he could feel a foul Magical Power, almost right behind him. He slowly turned, his face showing the fear he felt as he took in the sight before him. It was Mira.

He had planned to deal with her quickly and peacefully. She wasn't a threat, not after her sister's death. That had broken something in the girl and she had turned into this lovable waitress that was kind to everyone, never getting angry at people except when they really deserved it. Then you felt horrible because she was so sweet and you made her mad.

But this wasn't that sweet Mirajane. He could see the massive seal of Magic above Mira, her appearance already starting to change to resemble the Magic he was sensing. But she couldn't… She wasn't meant to… It was impossible.

But it wasn't. Laxus had warned them that, while she wasn't a proper threat currently, she still had the potential to be. She had once been the Demon of Fairy Tail, a Take Over Mage specialising in Demons. But after Lisanna's death, she hadn't been able to use it. Not once, and he was certain that she would have tried a few times. She had been reverted to a powerless girl.

But now she was awakening. She was activating a Take Over Spell from sheer will and Magical Power. But what provided the drive for this? Why was she managing to transform now of all times? After Lisanna's death…

What had his fight with Elfman looked like to her? When Elfman collapsed, and if she had heard of him saying about death, could she have made the assumption that he had killed her brother? If the death on one sibling broke her ability to use Magic, then the assumed death of the other was fixing it.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting in fear, the transformation ended. And there she was. Satan Soul. It was just as terrifying as he had expected. But something was wrong. It felt weaker than it should have been.

Ah. This was why Laxus had assured him that if the worst were to happen, she could be taken down more easily. Mirajane had stopped using Magic for two years, and she had just forced a transformation from sheer will and Magical Power. That was bound to take a toll on her large reserves, and the lack of usage had probably weakened some of her control over her Spells. They would be weaker than her S Class self, and that was all he needed to still have a chance. He couldn't beat the Demon, but he could beat Mira. That much he was certain of.

He let his hand reach for his sword and slowly drew it from his sheath. He wasn't a fool. To beat her, he still needed to go at full strength. He made a subtle motion with his hand for runes to latch onto him, creating wings of pure runes sprouting from his back. With this, the skies weren't hers alone, and he would be much faster and agile than before.

But was it enough? He was still dealing with a Demon Take Over here. He couldn't rely simply on the basic powers his Magic had. He had to dip further into them. He had to head into forbidden territory.

He placed a hand against his chest and took a deep breath. "Dark Écriture: Darkness."

His form changed suddenly, the top of his clothes blasting off as Magic exploded outwards from it. His muscles enhanced while fur grew onto his arms and legs. His hair flew around wildly and horns sprouted from his head and extended backwards.

This was it. He couldn't go any higher. He had some of the powers a Demon had access to and had a far greater physical strength than he normally would be capable of. He had nothing left if this failed. He could only hope it was enough.

Mira made the first move, flinging herself towards him at breakneck speeds. Those wings of hers were no joke and it already showed the amount of physical power she had despite being weakened.

Yet he could dodge it. He dodged the first strike, then the second, then the third. The fourth got him but that was okay as he dodged the next four. Was he really able to surpass her speed currently?

He shot backwards, pretending to flee while he led her away. He wanted to try something, and he wanted to be a bit further away from everyone else when he did so. He was indulging here, he knew, but he wanted to test himself against the Demon's weakened state. He wanted to see how far he had progressed over the years.

This was enough he thought to himself as he pulled to a stop as he reached an isolated patch of land. He turned round to see Mira flying towards him, yet she was still slower than him it seemed. It would take her a few moments to reach him.

That was enough to set up properly. He brought up his sword's hilt to his chest and aimed the point of the blade up high. It was a style he liked, similar to a fencing style he had once seen. He would swipe for words but he liked to have another variant too. If the swipes were power, then his lunges were speed.

"Dark Écriture: Destruction."

He shot the sword out towards Mira as she reached him, the point aimed right at her stomach. The blast that followed was too fast for her to dodge, especially when she was already moving too fast. Her speed had been turned against her and she was forced to take the full blunt of the attack.

Freed let a smile appear on his face. Yes, he could do this. The smoke cleared and he could see that attack had hurt Mira. He could actually wound her like this. He could win against her.

That was his thoughts until he saw her bring her hands to the side, an orb of darkness generated between the two. That attack wasn't anything to joke about. He had to stop it before-

The attack shattered in Mira's hands, and he could see the shock on her face. So it wasn't just that her attacks would be weaker, but it also applied to some of her stronger techniques. She had been out of practice of Magic for so long that she couldn't get the Spell right. It was the kind of error that would perhaps take a week to fix and then it would be fine, but she didn't have a week at the moment. He wasn't waiting that long.

He shot forward, this time slashing at her. She caught the blade and he could see her wince but was surprised when she gripped the blade tighter. Her other hand pressed against his chest and lightning flickered from it.

"Evil Spark."

He ripped the blade from her grip and saw her snarl in pain but he didn't escape unharmed either. Lightning flickered across his skin for a few moments and he could feel the pain his nerves were feeling from such a strike. It was very unpleasant to experience.

It had to have been one of the other Demon Spells she could use. Demons always had tricky Magic to deal with as they weren't creatures of power as much as others but rather were so feared because of how deadly some of their powers were. Evil Spark for instance had attacked every nerve in his body at once. Even Laxus's lightning didn't strike that many that quickly.

He could deal with that Spell though, and it didn't even look like Mira could manage it too many more times either. Her Take Over had to have a limit as well. Inactivity would have again caused her to be able to maintain the form less than if she had been using it regularly. Much less in fact.

Either way, his victory was assured. Perhaps after this he should deal with some of the others for Laxus. Perhaps Natsu or Gajeel, as he wasn't keen on the thought of fighting Erza. She was still S Class Level, and he wasn't as strong as her yet. And Mystogan was fighting Laxus anyway so that only left the Dragon Slayers.

Well there was Levy but he wasn't keen on fighting her. Laxus could get mad at him later if he attacked her. If he retaliated from her attacks, that would be fine within reason, but attacking her first was a huge no.

This was the end for the Mira though. He rushed forward, using his wings to propel himself even faster than before towards the female Mage. In one fluid movement, he lunged forward, his sword brimming with Magic ready to be expelled.

"Dark Écriture: Destruction."

He struck and the energy blasted out. It wasn't the result he expected to happen though. The smoke hadn't cleared yet but he heard the words clearly, and he knew it wasn't coming from Mira.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything here."

Protector Of The Fairies

Chapter 22 is here. The result of Toushirou's battle, a hint to why Laxus still caused the battle of Fairy Tail, and the start of the next battle. What did you guys think?

Now for Mira fans, she is weaker right now for a reason. Two years of inactivity. She knows what to do but she is out of practice by a huge amount. It is this gap that allows Freed to take the lead, his power currently superior to hers. And while Mira can get back up to her previous level, she needs more time to get reacquainted with her powers, time she doesn't have right now.

And, as a Christmas present, here is a very short omake. It's literally a few lines or something:

Levy opened her eyes suddenly as a noise woke her from her slumber. Something was nearby. But what?

A ringing sound filled the air along with a cry of Ho Ho Ho, but where was it. Opening her window, she saw the source. A white haired boy dressed in red and white in what seemed to be a red sleigh.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Christmas Shinigami," said the boy. "Merry Christmas. Now onwards Rudolf. Let your bright orange hair guide my sleigh."

Ichigo glared at Toushirou. "I swear, I'm going to kill you once this is all over."

So what did you think? Short but Christmas themed.

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