Chapter 12: Three Challengers

I'm ill and rushed to edit this so I'll make this brief. Enjoy chapter 12.

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

Protector Of The Fairies

Three Challengers

"Are we there yet?"

Cana glared at Mira as she asked the same question yet again. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Use your fortune cards or something. Tell us how far to go."

"I told you before, it doesn't work like that."

"Then make it."

Cana stopped and turned to face the girl in anger. "It doesn't work like that."

Mirajane smiled at managing to annoy the girl. "Are you sure? Maybe you just can't make it do it."

Cana's hands dropped down to where she had her cards before stopping, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She wouldn't do this. It wasn't something an S Class Mage would do so she wouldn't fall for Mira's tricks.

Mirajane's smile dropped slightly when she realised Cana wasn't falling for it. That was annoying. It would have been so much better if she could have weakened her opponents before the trials actually began.

Her reasoning for this stood behind her. Ichigo. The guy didn't interact with the rest of them much but he interacted with few people anyway. He was one of the few people Laxus wasn't a jerk with and he was one of the few S Class Candidates in the guild at the moment too.

She envied him in some ways. He had more Magic than most of the guild yet always seemed so in control. He never got those lectures from the Master when a new bill came in or a pile of complaints appeared. The Master wasn't particularly hard on her but almost everyone got in trouble in the guild with very few exceptions. If she hadn't met him, she would have called him a goody two shoes.

Erza had even confessed to her that she thought she was lucky to not have Ichigo in her S Class Trials. She viewed the orange haired boy as both a rival Mage and a mentor. He had given her the idea to learn the Magic she used now and to make it stronger, and he had even taking the time to help fix her mistakes all those years back.

Natsu even respected the guy. That was rare, and something he only seemed to have for the Master and Gildarts. She herself wanted to fight the guy sometimes, just to see how much she measured up against him.

Would she win this competition though? With Ichigo in it, she had her doubts. She wouldn't give up but she could only pray she didn't end up against him. If she did, she hoped he would underestimate her. A straight out fight wouldn't work in her favour.

Next to him like always was Levy. The girl had become a lot more confident than when she had joined the guild, most likely attributed to being around Ichigo so much. She never understood why the Master had looked so worried about her spending so much time around the guy because it looked like it had been worth it. Levy had made great strides forward. Hell, she would probably have the chance to become S Class in a few years time.

Levy never seemed to spend much time with Team Shadow Gear much anymore. She was always with the other members of Team Fairy, doing who knows what. Rumour was that they were training somewhere but only the Master knew where they were. Any time else could find them on missions.

Laxus was the only one missing from that trio at the moment. She never understood what united those three but it was something strong. They were always together, and Laxus acted like a different person while around them. At the guild on his own he was an arse, but with those guys he was kind and happy. It was a strange thing to observe.

She looked at her brother. She was glad she had someone familiar with her for the trials ahead. She was familiar with working with Elfman so that would make things easier. She had debated about bringing Lisanna instead since her sister could use a Full Body Take Over but decided against it in the end. Lisanna was too soft. She didn't like hurting people and so wouldn't be able to fight as well as Elfman could. And while Elfman couldn't use a Full Body Take Over, his Beast Soul was physically stronger than Lisanna's Animal Soul.

Cana had chosen to take a newcomer instead of someone familiar to her. A new guy called Mystogan. She didn't even know the guy existed originally until Cana introduced them before they left. Apparently she had tricked the guy into joining her with some kind of blackmail, but of what she had no idea of.

No one really knew what this guy even looked like. He was always covered from head to toe and even had mask to stop people seeing his face. It was really unnerving to not even know what one of their supposed allies look like.

Mystogan used some kind of Staff Magic it seemed. He had three of them on his back so he had to be good at using them, but she had no idea of what to expect from him. Staff Magic was a simple Magic to start off in but the more staffs you got, the harder the Magic became. Three staffs was already an achievement but it looked like the guy wasn't happy with only three as he would occasionally look back at the staffs unsatisfied.

This S Class Trial really looked like it was going to be a big one. Six strong Mages, three teams, and only one winner.

They had to keep going for now though. The Master had pointed them in a direction and told them to keep walking that way until the path split into three. From there, each team would go down a different path. One for Ichigo, one for her, and one for Cana.

What kind of task was up ahead for them? A battle of endurance like Erza had or perhaps a race like she heard Laxus had. It could even be a two part trial like it had been in other years. That could be best. It meant there was a good chance there wouldn't be an all out war between the teams.

Ichigo barged right past her. She was about to tell him off when she noticed her wasn't even paying attention to her. It was like he was in a trance of some kind. His gaze seemed locked on the horizon, waiting for something to appear.

She noticed Cana looked at him strangely along with everyone else. Even Levy seemed a bit confused about what was wrong with him, and she was his teammate.

"Ichigo?"

He didn't acknowledge her. She resisted the urge to smack him to get him to listen. He was just as likely to hurt her in reflex if she tried.

Levy quickly passed her in her attempts to catch up with Ichigo. She wasn't asking anything despite how curious she looked. How could she be so calm?

Ichigo turned his head and stopped suddenly. It was close. Something was almost within his grasp and he didn't even know what. Where was it? What was he searching for?

The urge had been getting stronger for over an hour now, calling to him, pleading for him to find it. The presence was like an old friend, welcoming him home, but at the same time begging for him to hurry up. He didn't understand. What was happening?

But finally. It was close. Very close. He broke out into a run, ignoring the calls of the others. He wasn't listening to them. The feeling was getting stronger and stronger. It was almost in front of him, he was sure of it.

He stopped at the edge of a cliff, staring across at the ground beyond. The others managed to catch up and joined him in silence. It was even greater than Levy described it.

He could see the giant walls of the Seireitei with four gigantic gates around the circular capital, each one positioned at four equally spaced points across the equally massive walls.

There were layers to the city from what he could see. Hundreds of buildings stretched throughout the Seireitei, walls dividing up areas and turning the whole place into a maze. For anyone who lived there though, they probably knew the way around like the back of their hand.

At the very centre of the great city was a large cliff connected to the tallest building through the Seireitei. It looked magnificent from a distance, and was likely to be even greater close up.

"Is this…"

"Yes." He understood what Levy was asking. This was what he had been chasing after too. That feeling, like he was being called home. It was here.

"Hey Ichigo."

The orange hair teen turned towards Mirajane. "What is it?"

Mira pointed at the area around them. "May want to focus on the task ahead instead of taking in the view."

Ichigo scowled but didn't say anything. Each sign had a different name on. One for each of the three candidates. And Gildarts should be right down his path.

Ichigo raised a hand in farewell as he started down his path. "I'm going on ahead. See you all at the end."

Mira scowled. "Like I'll let you take the lead. Come on little brother."

She dragged her brother down her marked path, leaving only Mystogan and Cana as the ones left at the cliff edge.

"So…"

Mystogan immediately turned and started walking down Cana's path. The girl sighed. This guy really was hard to talk to.

Protector Of The Fairies

Ichigo closed his eyes as he waited for Levy to catch up. He could definitely sense someone up ahead. Judging by the amount of Magic the person was emitting, it had to be Gildarts.

How had the Ace being doing? He hadn't seen him in a while, unluckily missing him whenever he went on a mission. The last time they met had been years back after that first Council mission. Did the guy remember him? Did he remember his claim?

The question was how he stood against the current Ace. Against Erza, he would have won easily. Against Laxus, it was a mixed situation. They were both tough but they knew neither one would really fight each other seriously. They had nothing to protect in their fights to force them to go against one another.

Gildarts was another matter. There was no one stronger than him in the entire guild, bar the Master. He was described as a tank and well so. He had gone on S Class Missions and come back without a scratch. The man's Magic could destroy everything in his path and that was even done by accident too.

In terms of raw Magical Power, he definitely had an advantage but Gildarts had just as much with far greater control over it that had been perfected to this degree over years of practice and hard work. He would be one of his toughest opponents by far.

He looked at Levy who stared at him confused. She had come a long way but he was afraid she would get hurt in this fight. Gildarts was bad at holding back according to Laxus and while he could handle it, Levy might not be able to. For all her skills, she still wasn't a potential S Class Mage yet, and that made all the difference in this battle.

Against Laxus, she would have been invaluable. That was why there were always teams of two. A potential S Class Mage would face tasks here meant to be tough for even S Class Mages and the extra person was meant to help give them the upper hand. That's what he had done when he helped Laxus, and here Levy would have broken their stalemate.

But Gildarts wasn't a normal S Class Mage. He was far beyond that.

"Levy." The girl nodded at him. "If I ask you to, stay back."

"But-"

"Levy."

She turned away from him and pouted. "Fine."

He patted her on the head to her annoyance. "Thanks."

She stared up at him. "Are you worried?"

"Yes." There was no point lying. If he needed her to get out of the way, she had to do it in a heartbeat. There could be no room for hesitation.

The two strode forward further into the path. Despite the challenges ahead, there was only one way to get to the end goal. They had to get past Gildarts.

Protector Of The Fairies

"So you're here," said Mira as she faced down her favourite rival. "Erza."

"Indeed." The girl in question was enveloped in light before it disappearing, changing the girl's armour. Instead of the usual Heart Kreuz one she had taken to wearing, it had been replaced with a large silver coloured metal skirt and breastplate, two pairs of metal wings attached to the back. Metal gauntlets covered her hands and arms while metal boots protected her feet.

Mirajane was very familiar with this particular armour. Heaven's Wheel Armour. It had some level of flight to it thanks to the wings and was good at facing a lot of opponents thanks to the amount of swords Erza could use while wearing it. That didn't mean for a second that it wouldn't be as effective against her.

"So we're starting already are we," she muttered softly. Like her opponent in front of her, she activated her Magic and transformed.

It always felt strange in Satan Soul. She was changing her entire body to become that of a Demon's, and it had freaked her out the first time she had done so.

A large crack in her face appeared along her right eye and similar ones appeared near her waist one each leg. Her hair went wild and jutted upwards while her ears extended and became pointer. Her canine teeth sharpened and from her forearms down to the ends of her hands, scales emerged. A fin extended off the forearms and connected to the gauntlets on her arms, claws at the end of them.

A tail formed from behind her and her clothes changed to other ones. Unlike Erza who did this with Requip, these clothes were part of the Demon itself. They came with the change.

The outfit formed was a skimpy one, exposing most of her stomach and back. High heeled thigh boots appeared on each leg and a spiky collar appeared at the top of her outfit, finished off with a pink cravat tie around her neck.

Wings extended from her back too. This was the reason Erza would have gone for an armour that could fly. Erza would have needed it so that she couldn't just take dominance of the sky and bombard her from above.

Her brother shivered next to her. She knew this form always scared him slightly. And why wouldn't it. She was channelling the power of a Demon through her body, and the Magic Demons used always had a taint to it.

Elfman held up his right arm and the familiar pattern of Take Over Spells appeared round it like it had done for her whole body. His arm changed as flesh became iron till what was left was an iron arm attached to her brother, the fist clenched.

They had gone hunting for a strong beast right after they heard that she had been nominated. Elfman had needed more strength so he would be able to help her since he couldn't manage a Full Body Take Over so they had gone searching. They had been in luck and discovered the Iron Bull that was terrorising travellers. Elfman had defeated it all on his own and had then gone on to record the Beast's body to his collection of Beasts.

Mira kicked off the ground, flying straight at Erza. The S Class Mage did the same, the two meeting in the middle of the field with a clash. Claw met sword as each fought for dominance.

Another sword flickered into existence and shot at Mirajane, the Demon girl being forced to fly higher to avoid the strike. Erza struck up with her twin swords only for Mira to bring her foot down on them and smash them into pieces.

It didn't stop Erza in the slightest. She had hundreds of swords like the one Mira broke and she proved it by summoning two new ones before Mira could take advantage of her weakness.

Mira was faster than she expected though. She shot past Erza's guard and placed her hands on the girl's chest. Sparks flickered along her hands and Erza's eyes widened in realisation.

Too late. A blast of electricity struck Erza head on and sent her tumbling to the ground. The girl started recovering immediately after being hit only to find herself grabbed by arms of dark energy and pulled straight back towards Mirajane.

Mirajane flew at her, Erza bringing up her swords to block the claws but missed the third attack. Mira used her momentum to flip herself and use her tail to send Erza flying back down to the ground.

Even when falling, Erza still managed to summon swords and fire them at Mira. The Demon girl hurriedly dodged a volley of swords, a few clipping her as they passed and drawing blood.

Mira froze, looking at the wounds. She and Erza had fought before, but never had an attack draw blood. Erza always kept her blades dulled.

"Dance my blades."

Mira spun round to look at Erza who had already summoned a circle of blades around her. Her expression had hardened and her eyes had gone cold. With a swipe of her swords, she sent the ring of blades flying at Mirajane.

Mira fly around the attack before she felt a pain ripple across her back. Acting on instinct, she dropped, the swords from the ring of blades sailing over her head.

She brought a hand to her back and felt the blood across it. It felt painful, and it took a lot to injure her skin to this extend. Erza wasn't holding back in the slightest. She was really aiming to kill her.

She didn't noticed Erza reading another set of blades. Before the S Class Mage could launch them though, a fist collided with her, sending her flying away.

"Sis!"

Mira looked down to see her younger brother. He looked like he had forced a leg transformation just to reach them. That was the downside about their aerial battle. Elfman could barely reach them to help.

"Snap out of it. This isn't my older sister in front of me."

She smiled. That was her little brother. Even if he couldn't join them in the sky, he still tried to help.

Enough worrying. So what if Erza was hitting harder. So what if the blades could cut her. She had the powers of a Demon, and she should start acting like one.

Bringing her hands together, an orb of darkness began to generate, sucking in energy from around her. This was her strongest Spell, and it hadn't failed her yet.

"Soul Extinction."

She saw Erza recognised it too and began to change armours.

It was too late though. Mira brought the orb forward and the energy blasted down at Erza, the S Class Mage being enveloped by the darkness.

Protector Of The Fairies

Cana dodged a strike of lightning and fired off a set of cards in retaliation. The cards lit on fire and flew towards Laxus who simply leaned to the side to dodge the attacks.

Mystogan appeared in front of Laxus in the form of mist, Laxus automatically hitting out. The attack sailed through and Mystogan reformed himself the moment Laxus passed through him. Gripping one of his staffs, he spun at Laxus and tried to smash the staff into the Mage's head.

Laxus dodged with his own high speed technique. Activating his Lightning Form, he escaped the attack before it could even connect.

Right in front of him, Cana held out two cards. One for heaven, the other for wind. She swiped at him and the effects of the cards combined, unleashing a massive wave of wind towards Laxus.

Instead of dodging the attack, Laxus fly right into it, continuing on through it and appearing in front of Cana with an enhanced lightning fist.

It connected with her and sent her flying back. She tried to move but found that he had paralysed her with that last strike.

She hated this. They had been at this cat and mouse game since the start of the fight, and Laxus didn't even look like he was getting serious any time soon. He had his headphones on and was listening to music, barely giving them the time of day. He focused more of Mystogan than her to her annoyance.

She could see that Mystogan was strong but wasn't she meant to be tested? She had launched plenty of strong attacks just to try and get his attention, despite how foolish she knew it was. Even if she failed, she wanted to be failed because of her, not because he found Mystogan more interesting to fight.

Laxus stood there, waiting for Mystogan to move. He would always dodge her attacks at first and wait till Mystogan attacked before he moved. Which was what the man was doing right now.

Mystogan swiped with one of his staffs as he jumped, causing a platform of earth to rise out of the ground to catch him. He stabbed the staff into the ground before making a sequence of hand signs.

From all around Laxus, purple waves of energy shot up and tried to grab him. Laxus must have realised the threat and spun round on the spot, firing off a ring of lightning around him to neutralise the attack.

The S Class Mage finished his turn and faced Mystogan, lightning in his hands. A large bolt shot out and flew at Mystogan.

The Staff Mage was ready for it. With the other two staffs placed by him in the ground, he ran through some hand signs and a Three Layered Magic Circle appeared.

"Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water."

The lightning hit the Magic Circles and changed direction, colliding with Laxus in surprise.

"Did it get him?"

A laugh filled the clearing. "Really? You though that would be enough? My own attack? I'm disappointed Mystogan."

Cana had enough. In one hand, she brought out all the cards she would need for an icicle spell. In her other hand was the card for one of her strongest Spells.

Throwing the single card first, it landed right by Laxus.

"The Prayer's Fountain."

Laxus looked at the card in shock before large volumes of water shot out of the card in all directions. The other cards were swiped, releasing a volley of icicles at the water. The icicles hit the water and instead of passing through, they shattered and the ice spread, now spears of ice in place of the water.

Cana smiled as the attacks reached Laxus. She did it.

Protector Of The Fairies

"So where is he?"

Ichigo looked around the area. They had come to another cliff like the previous one except this one lacked the same view. Below the cliff was a massive stretch of land, almost barren.

The path they had followed ended here though so they had to be close. The man's Magical Power was easy to identify but it was hard to place. They had to be on the right path but where did they go now? Down?

Ichigo looked down the cliff. It seemed like it would be a wide open space that would be extremely effective for him to use. Kidou and Getsuga Tenshou could all be used at long range. Why would Gildarts choose such a place if he didn't have to? The man's Crash Magic was more effective at closer ranges. A cave or a forest would have been better. Even at the top of this cliff would have been better.

Wait. This cliff was a perfect place for the battle to take place. His eyes scanned the trees around them before stopping on one of them. A patch of a dark cape flowed out of place in the darkness and then clapping started.

Gildarts walked out towards the two. "You actually worked it out much quicker than I expected. I thought you would have blindly gone down to the ground below. It would have worked much more effectively for you."

"This is a trial for S Class Mages. I can't always choose where I fight."

Gildarts smiled. "That's exactly part of the mentality you will need. The battlefield is chosen by the one who gets there first, not the stronger Wizard. In this case, you have the disadvantage in both strength and location."

Ichigo raised a hand to his Zanpaktou and pulled it out of its sheathe. "You say that like it's already over. I don't lose hope because of small things like that."

He looked over at Levy who nodded. The girl put her hand to her back and pulled out her staff. He was glad she had already taken subtle precautions when Gildarts appeared. She already had the Spells cast to allow her easy mobility.

"Well?" Gildarts stared them down. "I'm waiting."

Ichigo shot towards the man in a burst of Shunpo. He reappeared in their sight with his sword swinging at the S Class Mage.

Gildarts ducked under the strike and stuck upwards, his hand connecting with Ichigo's shirt. He grabbed and flung the teen over his shoulder, aiming for one of the trees.

Ichigo grabbed at the air, using his momentum to flip himself upwards. At the same time, he brought his sword back down.

Again, Gildarts dodged it, leaning to the side this time and aiming to strike at Ichigo's wrist.

Before he could connect, the word 'Guard' appeared. In the moment it took to destroy the word with his Crash Magic, Ichigo had already recovered.

Gildarts looked over at Levy, seeing the girl ready to cast any other Spells needed to help. He wasn't sure how things were going with the other candidates' exams but he hoped that they had similar teamwork. The girl wasn't trying to interfere when she wasn't needed with the battle, allowing Ichigo to be the frontline fighter for the two, yet provided the support he needed when he ran into trouble to keep him safe. And she was fast enough to provide that extra moment for Ichigo to escape too.

Then again, what else would you expect from them when they fought together regularly, or at least from what he had heard. Mirajane and Elfman would hopefully have similar teamwork unless it got taken to a level where it would be dangerous to interfere. As for Cana and Mystogan, he hoped they could work together. They would have a hard time otherwise.

He blinked as he saw a flash of light heading right at him and did something he hadn't planned to do. He moved.

The Getsuga Tenshou blasted straight past where he had been standing, leaving a scar along the ground. He already knew he didn't want to be hit by an attack like that.

He looked towards Ichigo. When had the boy released his Zanpaktou? A large trench knife rested in his hands now.

Damn. He lost focus again. That was something he should have been watching out for and he doubted he could just dodge without moving now. That last attack just proved it. He would have to fight a little more seriously.

Ichigo tensed as he saw Gildarts bring his hands up, ready to respond to attacks. It looked like the Ace viewed them with more cautiousness now. It would be much harder to try something like that again. He would be looking out for their tricks.

Still, they couldn't lose hope. There was no way they could stop here.

"Getsuga Tenshou."

His sword swung, the arc of energy flying at Gildarts. He knew that the man should be able to stop it and he was proved right. Gildarts raised a hand towards the energy and a net like pattern appeared across the Getsuga Tenshou. The energy then split into cubes which Gildarts could easily bypass with a few steps.

Gildarts turned back at watched the cubes impact on the ground, each still managing to inflict some damage to the ground. "I'm impressed. When a Spell is disassembled like this, it doesn't normally have much power if it hits something. I guess that speaks for how much power that attack of yours has doesn't it."

Gildarts faced him again. "Now come on. Let me see how far you can push me."

Ichigo vanished in another burst of Shunpo, reappearing in front of Gildarts. The man swung at him with his fist only for Ichigo to disappear in another burst of Shunpo. This time, he appeared right where the fist had just been, out of reach of that strike.

Gildarts was still fast though. He brought his knee up as Ichigo brought his sword down, amplifying the force he used with his Crash Magic. The force was enough to send Ichigo tumbling back. Any chance he had to make use of it was wasted when a hole appeared right under his foot.

The word Levy used disappeared not long after he got his foot out but once again, his opportunity had been wasted. He laughed. He couldn't believe how many mistakes he was making. They must have planned this. He was focusing so much on Ichigo that he forgot she was there. They were really making him work for this, far more than he had expected.

Wait. She moved. Whatever she was doing was fast but he could see her. She moved right next to Ichigo. Why? She was running support wasn't she?

Ichigo and Levy looked at each other and nodded. A signal passed through the two and both weapons found themselves stabbed into the ground. They clasped a hand of the other and Gildarts watched as their Magic Power increased.

Were they… No. They weren't. They couldn't be. But right in front of his eyes, the two of them were attempting to perform a Unison Raid.

How? It wasn't like their Magic types were similar. They didn't have similar elements. It should be impossible unless…

The word for Fire appeared in the air in front of them and he could see Ichigo place a palm on the word.

"Hadou Number 58: Tenran."

Air expanded from the teen's palm and shot outwards, quickly forming a tornado of wind. At the same time, fire shot out of the 'Fire' word in the air and fused with the wind. Now, instead of a tornado to deal with, he had a storm of flames.

So that's how they got around it. It wasn't a natural Unison Raid but they had managed to sink their Magic enough to link the Spells to one another in a way that resembled a Unison Raid. It must have taken them hours of work just to get the timing down and to sync the Magic required from each other.

Gildarts braced himself and raised a palm. He wasn't going to be able to simply blow this attack away. He could easily break the Spell but at the same time, he could end up separating it back down to wind and fire. He wouldn't have enough time to avoid the wind then, and considering the power in Ichigo's own attacks, it would still have a lot of power left if he just disassembled it.

The attack hit and sent him flying back, his feet dragging along the ground. Despite all that, he kept himself upright, his Crash Magic dispersing most of the attack's damage. He slid further and further before he finally came to a stop.

Ichigo and Levy tried not to show their disappointment. Their attack hadn't worked. Not only did Gildarts not even looked harmed, but it hadn't pushed him far enough. They had managed to push him to the very edge of the cliff but it hadn't gotten him far enough to fall off. That could have bought them the time they needed to create a plan or even fight him at longer range.

There was no way they would get the chance now. Gildarts wouldn't take any more risks. He had already been caught off guard twice by them and a third time would be tricky.

"Hey." Ichigo looked towards Levy. "Did you ever finish that new Spell you were learning?"

Ichigo frowned. "The one I kept failing with?"

"Yeah."

Ichigo shook his head. "I can cast it but I can't aim well enough."

"Leave that to me. I'll make sure it hits for you."

Levy grabbed her staff and ran at Gildarts. The man didn't do anything, allowing her to jump right over him and fall down the cliff. He wasn't sure if they were setting something else up but he was too interested now. He wanted to see what tricks these two had left for him.

"So what's now? You've tried to surprise me with your Shikai. You've tried a Unison Raid. What can you have left now?"

Ichigo raised his sword horizontally. "Watch closely. This time, we will reach you."

A yellow orb generated in front of the blade's edge before widening across the entire blade.

"Hadou Number 32: Oukasen."

The yellow energy exploded outwards at an arc towards Gildarts. The man held out his hand and allowed his Disassembly Magic to cut it to pieces, the excess energy flying past him. He noticed too late that Ichigo was smiling.

"Bakudou Number 61: Rikujoukourou."

The light that was passing him froze before switching directions, six thin beams of light forming from them and crashing into his midsection. Gildarts stared at the Spell in shock. The teen used the first Spell knowing he would disperse it and planned accordingly. If he had cast this Bakudou of his normally, he could have avoided it or destroyed it. By forming it from the light around him though, light that he had deemed harmless, he had been unable to react in time and had been caught in the trap.

Now where had the teen gone? He had vanished again with that movement technique. What was his new plan?

"Getsuga Tenshou."

Gildarts felt his blood freeze. His eyes turned to the source of the noise and he saw Ichigo's attack already in motion. This was bad. That attack was powerful, and while he knew he could come out of it relatively unharmed, it would still hurt a lot. He tried to move his arms but they wouldn't respond. He tried to dodge but he couldn't move.

The Spell. It must be the cause of this. He had thought it was something to suppress him but it actually stopped all movement. But still, something seemed off.

The attack smashed down but it didn't hit him surprisingly. It cut into the ground just in front of him. The ground collapsed under his feet and he fell, falling down towards the earth below.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring."

So that was the plan. Instead of a one off attack, they wanted to get a better area to fight in instead. That attack just then had proved that it could cut through the ground easily, so by cutting into the cliff, it weakened where he was standing and made the edge collapse.

"Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm."

The first strike distracted him. The second bound him. The third moved him into position. And the fourth?

"The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!"

He struggled as he tried to break the Spell holding him. All of this wouldn't be for nothing. The next attack would be one of the strongest. He didn't want to be unable to move when it came.

"Hadou Number 63: Raikouhou."

He saw it just before it launched. A sphere of electrical lightning, generated in Ichigo's palm. It grew to the side of the teen's hand and when Ichigo finished off the command, it fired.

It was strange though. The attack, while he could tell it was dreadfully power, looked too uncontrollable at the moment. All that, and it would miss.

The lightning suddenly straightened from its wild state and flew at him at alarming speeds. His eyes snapped to the ground. Levy. Where did the girl go?

She waved at him from a distance on the ground and he saw what was below him. Her staff.

She could manipulate words and make them into what they literally said. The word 'Iron' became iron. She could go as far as to enhance items with those words. So if that staff was below him, and the lightning was straightening towards him…

A lightning rod. Genius. If the attack couldn't hit him normally, make sure it had no path to go except through him. He let a large smile appear on his face. They got him good.

The attack smashed into him and they could see no more through the dust as Gildarts crashed into the ground below.

Protector Of The Fairies

Did you like it? Hope you did. Lots of battles this week.

Not much to say this week alongside the fact that I'm ill. I hate illnesses.

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