Chapter 56

Standing Still

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, Energy Magic and my Ideas

.:+:.

Chase POV

Shit...shit...!

"This is bad... This is really bad..." Chase hissed under his breath as he glanced down at Frea, who was leaning against him, unconscious and hardly breathing. A bead of sweat rolled down his face,

"What happens if an Energy Mage gets their magic Power stolen completely?" Moon asked quietly. He stole a glance down at Moon, to see her pale blue eyes wide in worry. "You wouldn't be freaking out like this if there wasn't something really wrong." Moon told him and looked at Frea, "She's in worse shape than Natsu is..."

"If her Magic was stolen completely... She could die..." Chase answered in a whisper and Moon stiffened at his words.

"N-no way..." Moon stuttered.

Chase didn't look back at Moon, instead he looked to Frea again. He couldn't feel any Magic Energy coming off of her, and it just made his heart pound. Frea always, always radiated with an extreme amount of Magic Energy. He knew normal Mages could feel that power from her, she was just that powerful.

But he was an Energy Mage, he was sensitive to it, and he had been around Frea so long, it was very unnerving not to feel that Power from her. He had gotten used to her Power, become familiar with it. Without feeling it, it didn't feel like her.

Chase shook his head and narrowed his eyes, because he couldn't feel her power, he was afraid it was all gone. His eyes closed as he concentrated solely on her, on Frea's Energy Signature.

For a minute, his heart started racing again when he could feel her Energy Signature getting weaker. But he let out a long low sigh of relief, when he found just a little. She still had a very small amount of Magic Energy left in her.

It wasn't all taken... Did she somehow gain Absolute Control over her Magic Energy before it could all be taken...?

He didn't know the answer, but it did make him a big calmer to know all of her Magic Power wasn't gone. But she was still in trouble, and he opened his eyes again.

Light blue light glowed around his hands, which were still placed on Frea's shoulders, and he channeled his own Magic into her. This was all he could do, try to help her out by giving her his own magic and try to make up for some of the Magic Energy that had been stolen from her.

He couldn't do a damn thing about the strain getting her Magic Energy ripped away from her body would cause. The shock and strain it would put on her body, could seriously be enough to kill her.

He sighed in relief when her breathing evened out and got stronger, along with her Energy Signature.

"What are you doing?" Moon asked.

"Giving her some of my Magic, its the best I can do." Chase replied. "From here, I don't know whether or not she'll be ok..." He murmured.

Moon looked at her paws at his words, he looked away from her.

"Natsu...?" He heard Wendy murmur from behind him and he glanced over. Natsu was out, and Gray was crouching beside him, Wendy had Natsu's head in her lap. She was trying to get him to wake up, but it would be awhile before he came to.

Lily and Carla walked up to himself and Moon, looking worriedly at Frea. "Will they be ok..?" Happy asked in a small voice from where he was beside Natsu.

"Natsu will be fine." Chase answered, and glanced at Frea. "I have no idea about Teach though..." He answered quietly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gajeel grunted out from behind him. "If Salamander would be fine, Silver sure as hell should be."

"Its different for her, me too. Normally, if any of you get all of your Magic Power stolen, you might pass out, be a little tired," He paused and looked to Wendy and Natsu, "You have the chance of getting Magic Deficiency Syndrome too, but other than that your fine." Chase explained, looking back to Frea. "For an Energy Mage, our lives are connected with our Magic Energy. If its taken away forcefully, its sort of like a part of you is being ripped away, and the shock might, and probably would kill you." He muttered.

Everything went silent at his words as the others let what he said sink in, then they began to fully understand the severity of what had happened to Frea.

At this point, he could only really say that she might be alright, if she woke up. But the condition she was in at the moment, didn't exactly make him believe that she would come to, anytime soon.

"Then when she had her Magic Power taken away..." Carla murmured. "It put her life in danger?"

"But... She can't die... She has to be ok..!" Wendy said a little frantically.

"And I won't die... Geez... You guys don't give me ... Enough credit..."

They all stiffened in shock, and Chase's head snapped down to see Frea's eyes half-way open. Moon placed a paw on Frea's arm, "Are you ok?" Moon asked her.

Frea chuckled a little, and winced harshly. "Yeah... I'll be fine... Stop looking so damn worried already..." She murmured, lips pulling into a smirk.

Chase shook his head at her, even like this, weak as hell and almost completely void of any Magic Power, she still had the heart to scold them a little.

But she was still pretty hurt, and Chase couldn't help but think; how on earth could she have ended up walking into this mess so easily?

You are such an idiot sometimes, Teach...

.:+:.

"What?"

"So Lucy has been arrested by the Kingdom?"

"And she was accused of being involved in some mysterious project?"

The questions went around the room steadily, they were back in the Sun Bar, having made their way back after what happened. Mira, Gray, Gajeel, Wendy, Juvia, Chase, Erza, and Wendy all stood assembled in front of Master, who was sitting on a table facing them. Laxus was leaning up against a wall as he listened to what happened, arms crossed over his chest, face serious.

Lily, Carla, and Happy were standing around Master as well, all of them staying silent thus far.

Frea was seated up on a table that had been pushed up against the wall, her back resting against it and one knee propped up with her arm resting on it, head resting against the wall too as she listened with half-closed eyes.

Moon was seated next to Frea, staying quiet, but clearly looking back and forth at Frea to make sure she was ok. Next to Moon, Jynx was sitting on the edge of the table quietly, hands folded in her lap and eyes closed as she listened to what was said around her, the ghost girl had showed up not long after they had made it back the Sun Bar.

"So in other words, we can only get Lucy back if we win the Grand Magic Games?" Laxus asked in a gruff voice.

"Of course, we're not even sure we can trust their word." Gray pointed out.

"WHO CARES ABOUT THAT?! I'M GOING TO SAVE HER NOW!"

The tenseness was momentarily broken by the furious outburst from Natsu, who was seated on the floor, and tied to one of the beams supporting the inn, just so he couldn't move and try to do anything stupid.

"Please calm down Natsu." Wendy said quietly with a nervous smile, crouching down beside the struggling Fire Dragon Slayer.

"Our opponent is the king." Carla reminded him.

"What do you expect to do, Natsu?" Chase asked him lowly. "There is no way you can just rush in to Castle, and take Lucy back so easily. You would need a plan, and a very good one at that."

"But storming into the castle probably wouldn't be our best course of action either." Moon put in quietly.

"Master." Erza murmured, glancing at the old man sitting on top of the table.

"Hmm... We cannot act rashly, since we're against the King... On the other hand, they cannot treat the citizens roughly... They're probably using Lucy as a hostage until the Eclipse Project is completely put to an end." Master told them.

"...I still don't get it. Why would they let us go after we learned top secret information?" Gajeel asked lowly.

"Maybe they want to use us as witnesses to condemn Arcadios in the future." Lily suggested grimly.

"Still, we could very easily spread that top secret information." Carla put in.

"Maybe they realized they can't hide it much longer." Erza suggested.

"If they had captured us, no one would've known about it." Gray murmured.

"That's true, so it doesn't make any sense that they wouldn't have just arrested you too." Mira murmured.

"Its more complicated than that." They all glanced over as Frea spoke up, it was a little surprising to hear her talking, considering she hadn't said a word since they got here.

They could all tell she was weaker than they could ever remember seeing her be, and exhaustion was starting to weigh her down too. Having been informed of what could happen more the often if an Energy Mage's Magic Energy is stolen, they understood why she was like this now.

And even if the others didn't notice it, with the exception of Chase, Frea was in an unbelievable amount of pain. Her entire body burned with fire every time she moved, even just a little, and it was all because that part of her; that most of her Magic Energy, had been ripped away from her body.

It hurt to move, but she was rather good at hiding her pain. But she did notice that Jynx seemed to sense her pain, and Moon was attentive enough to notice it too, though neither of them said anything.

Chase could literally feel the pain rolling off of his old mentor in steady waves, and whenever she moved, he could feel the pain coming off of her get stronger. He sweatdropped a little as he glanced her way, Frea was strong, resilient... Hell, she should have probably been dead, or even unconscious right now, but she was awake, with just enough strength to stay that way.

The thing that shocked him the most, is just how fast Frea had managed to gain Complete Control of her Magic Energy before it was all taken. She couldn't have had more than a few seconds...

"What do you mean?" Happy asked.

"Lets look at it this way." Frea murmured. She lifted the arm that wasn't resting on her knee, and gestured toward Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel. "You three, are all participants in the Games." She murmured. "It would be a bit suspicious if you didn't show up tomorrow for the competition." She explained.

"Energy Dragon is right." Jynx murmured. "The Games are very important to all people in Fiore, especially the King. Your absence would be noticed, and questioned, if you were to be arrested now."

"With that in mind, the only real threat, as the Kingdom sees it, is Lucy." Frea continued. "That's why, along with the fact that you three are participants, that the rest of us weren't arrested as well."

Chase sighed silently and a small round ball of his light blue Energy Magic appeared in his hand, and he tossed it Frea's way. "Here Teach." He murmured.

Frea caught the magic in her hand, stifling a wince for moving to catch it, and put it in her mouth, chewing. She smiled inwardly at the small amount of strength it gave her, and the great taste of his magic.

"Thanks.." She mumbled quietly, and he just nodded at her.

"... The Kingdom probably doesn't want a Wizards Guild as its enemy." Juvia murmured.

"To us, its not very rational to arrest her." Erza put in, "But to the Kingdom, they probably think its just." She growled.

"GRAHH!" Natsu yelled as he pulled against the binds, managing to break them, and jumping to his feet. "STOP BLABBERING, LET'S GO SAVE HER!"

SMASH

The floor shattered and caved in a little as Master's now enlarged fist came down on Natsu in an instant, smashing the Fire Dragon into the floor.

"Cool down." Master ordered. "They've got a member of our family, it's no time to celebrate. I'm sure we're all thinking the same." Master began, his eyes closing for a minute. "Considering our opponent, this time we cannot just attack them, without thinking about the consequences." His eyes opened as his face darkened, eyes narrowed and burning with anger.

"But here at Fairy Tail, we're not cowards either. "

.:+:.

"Welcome everyone to the sixth day of the Grand Magic Games! Today should prove to be an exciting event, I hope your all ready!"

The voice of the announcer rang out across the arena, and immediately a ton of noise rose up from the crowds of people in the stands.

"Today our guest judge will be, the Grand Magic Games' own Mascot!"

"Its good to be here, kabo~"

Frea glanced up toward the box where the judges were slowly, before looking away and closing her eyes, letting out a long sigh.

This should be interesting...

She was sitting cross-legged on top of the stone railing, hands resting in her lap and head tilted down. Sleep had done her some good, but she still felt like shit.

Her body still ached with pain when she moved, and she felt tired, really tired. Not even half of her Magic Power had come back yet, and lets not forget she hadn't been up to full power before she got her Magic Energy stolen either...

Even if she felt like crap still, there was no way she was missing the Games today, she had to see what would happen.

Considering she wasn't feeling great, she had only bothered to put on a pair of short jean shorts, a black sleeveless tank top, and simple black cloth shoes. The cloak from Virgo was tied around her neck loosely, and she had pulled back some of her hair, tying the ribbon she had gotten from the same spirit, in a head band fashion, though her bangs and some of her hair stayed free of the ribbon.

Moon was sitting next to her on the right, eyes closed and expression neutral. Chase was standing on Moon's other side, while Jynx was seated quietly on her left, eyes fixed on the Arena. Beside Jynx, Mavis was sitting next to her, and Master sat on Mavis' other side.

"Now for the standings! In 6th place, the hound renamed the Puppy, Quatro Puppy!"

Team Quatro Puppy stepped out into the arena, arms raised, looking very pumped up.

"In 5th, Blue Pegasus!"

Jenny, Hibiki, Ren Ichiya and Eve came out into the Arena.

"In 4th, Lamia Scale!"

Lamia Scale came out calmly, and Frea watched silently.

"In 3rd, Mermaid Heel!"

Mermaid Heel came out slowly, everyone besides Kagura looked to be excited, Kagura was just wearing a slight scowl on her face.

"Now! The Guild who had been top for years, can they reclaim their title?" The announcer exclaimed. "In 2nd, SaberTooth!"

SaberTooth walked out, some of them wearing different attire than usual and every single one of them frowning.

The crowds roared louder for them then they had for the other Guilds already announced.

"They look different..."

"Huh? The cats that were cheering for SaberTooth..." Frea glanced up as she heard the very small voice over the roar of the crowds. It interested her, so she picked up on it despite the noise. She glanced over in the general direction it had come from, "One of them is missing..."

Frea swept her gaze over to where SaberTooth was assembled, and her eyes narrowed. There was an Exceed missing... The smaller of the two, dressed up in the frog suit was standing on the railing, looking very downcast as it stood alone.

Her head tilted a little, where did the other one go?

"Don't worry Lector... I'll win, and I'll save you..."

This time her head snapped down into the Arena, and she blinked in surprise to realize it was Sting that she heard murmur the words under his breath.

Something's not right...

"The Guild that was considered the strongest in Fiore had made its comeback! Here comes FAIRY TAIL!"

The crowds went ballistic at the announcement, and Team Fairy Tail came out.

"They seem to have change their numbers!"

Laxus, Erza, Gray, Gajeel and Juvia walked out.

"How come Natsu isn't here?!"

"Maybe something happened?"

A flurry of questions and disappointed comments came from hundreds of people in the stands. They had all been looking forward to seeing Natsu fight again, especially after his victory against Rogue and Sting.

"Juvia! Do your best in place of Natsu!" Cana and Kinana yelled out.

"Gray! Show them your a real MAN! Elfman shouted.

"ERZAAAA!" Jet and Droy shouted out, arms hooked around each others shoulders, wide grins spread across their faces.

"Gajeel, beat em' all!" Macao and Wakaba shouted in unison.

"LAXUS! Show them how strong you really are!" The Thunder God Tribe shouted together, louder than all the rest, Frea literally winced at just how loud they were.

"You've thought about this quite a lot, 6th." Frea glanced sideways out of the corner of her eyes when she heard Mavis speak. Master nodded slowly and sighed heavily,

"In the end, this was the only way. If we win the games, we might be able to get Lucy back lawfully." He murmured. "However, since we cannot trust their word completly, we cannot fight with only one strategy."

"Now is the best chance, because everyone is too busy watching the Games. Even we should be busy cheering on or own team, normally... Behind the scenes, an extra team is going to save Lucy. Basically it's a strategy that uses two fronts... I leave it to those brats!"

Frea glanced back toward the Arena and let her eyes close. She would be on that rescue team, if she hadn't gotten her Magic Energy ripped away yesterday...

"The sixth day of the Grand Magic Games begins now! The battlefield will be the entire city of Crocus! The members of each Guild have already been scattered. You will run around the city and when you meet an enemy, a fight will start. If an enemy loses consciousness, or is unable to fight, your Guild will automatically get a point for their defeat." The announcer began to explain what today's competition would be, and Frea glanced down to see that everyone who had been in the Arena was gone, and Lacrima vision came up.

"Each Guild will also decide on a Team Leader, but the other Guilds won't know who it is. If you defeat the Leader of another Guild, your team will earn five points. Basically, the highest amount of points you can earn is 45. Everyone has a chance to win, and every team will have different strategies. Some may decide to stick together, others may split up. Who will come out on top? The Games Starts Now!"

A gong was rung and the competition began, the crowds quieted down some as they settled in to watch the Lacrima Vision.

As expected, most of the teams separated. Some moved away in groups of two, others in groups of three. Most of SaberTooth's members went alone.

Frea moved her eyes over to the Screen showing Fairy Tail's movement, and her eyes narrowed.

"W-What?! Team Fairy Tail is standing still with their eyes closed?!" The announcer shouted, and murmuring broke out among the crowds.

"What the hell are they doing?!" Master Makarov shouted, jumping to his feet, fists clenched.

"What's going on?" Levy murmured.

"No idea..." Cana muttered.

"First come first served!" Warren and Sam yelled out.

"Hurry up and get them!" Several other Fairy Tail members yelled out behind her. Frea tilted her head slightly as she watched the five participants for the slightest movements. Still, they did not move.

What the hell are they doing...?

"Well... Fairy Tail's odd behavior is curious, but in the meantime, somebody has already met the enemy! Lamia Scale +1!"

Blue Pegasus gained one point, "The scores are changing, and still Fairy Tail has not moved!"

What in the hell?! This doesn't make any sense...

Frea's eyes snapped to the left she heard Jynx let out a low chuckle, and a small smile was spread across the ghosts face, her eyes closed.

"You don't seem at all worried about this." Frea murmured and Jynx looked her way, red eyes glittering with amusement.

"I have no need to be worried." Jynx replied calmly, voice low enough that only Frea would hear her above the roaring of the crowds, and the shouting Fairy Tail Mages behind them.

"And why is that?" Frea asked her. Jynx gave her a smirk in return,

"I believe that I told you Mavis was a very good tactician back on Tenrou, did I not?" Jynx answered and Frea narrowed her eyes at the Spirit Mage, then glanced away to look at Mavis. Mavis was watching silently, face neutral and eyes locked on the Lacrima Vision Screens, not moving.

Frea smirked a little herself when she recognized the very look Mavis had on her face, and she looked away. Now she understood...

Lamia Scale +2

"Sting has defeated the Team Leader of Quatro Puppy! SaberTooth earns 5 points! Turn around, SaberTooth is now in first place again!" The Announcer's voice rang out around the arena.

"AARRRRGGGHHHHHH!" Master let out a shout at the announcement.

Mermaid Heel +2

Lamia Scale +2

"The numbers are moving so fast its confusing, but Fairy Tail still hasn't moved!"

"What are they doing?! We must save Lucy!" Master Makarov shouted out in frustration.

"...That's why we must keep calm... In these past four days I recorded the enemy's battle skills, magic, mental and action patterns. I memorized them all and based on that I simulated countless fights." Mavis spoke up suddenly and all eyes turned on her.

"First... what do you...?" Romeo murmured.

"I predicted the enemies victories and movements... this is all my foretelling. I already told the team the strategy. To lead our comrades to victory, that is my fight." Mavis said gravely. Frea smiled as she glanced over, she could almost see the countless predictions and strategies running through Mavis' head through the ghost's eyes.

"Strategy of the Fairy Of The Stars, GO!" Mavis ordered as she jumped to her feet, pointing a finger right at the screen. In an instant, all eyes of Team Fairy Tail snapped open and they raced forward.

"Yeah!" They yelled out in response.

"Fairy Tail is moving!"

Frea smiled at Master Makarov's face, he was staring at Mavis in utter shock, so were many of the others who stood around them. Jynx was just watching the competition with an amused smirk on her face. Frea had heard stories about this, about what Mavis had been called a very long time ago.

Mavis, The Fairy Tactician.