The Lost Dragon (A Fairytail Fanfiction)

Chapter 139: The Sky Labyrinth (2)

Tsubaki's pov

Lucy opened the door that stood before us, I wasn't too surprised when I saw that the path before us was basically one long optical illusion. It made me feel a little bit sick but I brushed it off, keeping that to myself as I didn't want to worry anyone. As a stand-in, I didn't want to be the reason why we didn't win this challenge. I want to help our guild get back its reputation of being #1, we held that title for so long and I wasn't going to let Sabertooth take that from us, not when they are all jerks. Hopefully, Kai and Lisanna could figure out what happened to Wendy and Carla, they have to be somewhere in the capital. "What the heck?!" Lucy exclaimed, she stood beside me as Natsu stepped in front of us. "I'm gonna get dizzy just lookin' at it!" Gray muttered, standing behind me as he looked over my shoulder and down the path. "I can't even tell what's up or down..." Lucy said, "No matter! Let's go!" Natsu exclaimed, "Wait, Natsu! I don't think rushing ahead is a good idea." I crossed my arms, "But how long is this thing?!" Lucy questioned, "I honestly can't tell." I shook my head, trying not to feel sick. "Don't worry about that! The goal's at the end of it!" Natsu rushed past us to open another door, which led to a dead end and I acted quickly. I snapped my fingers, teleporting myself closer to Natsu, and caught him by the back of his shirt. "Wha...?!" Natsu exclaimed, I grunted lowly as I pulled him back onto the platform. "You damn idiot!" I smacked Natsu on the back of the head, making him wince, and put a hand on the spot I just hit. "Get a grip!" Gray snapped, "What's goin' on here?!" Natsu questioned, looking confused. "This is a labyrinth, all right." Erza started speaking, and all of us looked at her. "Come to think of it, he did say they're not responsible if anyone dies..." She added, putting a hand on her chin. "Meaning that if we fall off here, we'll plummet headfirst into Crocus?" Natsu asked, "Sounds like it," I nodded, "So we gotta choose our path carefully, huh?" Gray questioned, Erza nodded in response and it seemed Natsu didn't like the answer too much. "We'll never reach the goal looking downward! We need to focus eastward!" Natsu exclaimed. "Hmm. It might be prudent to take notes as we move along." Erza suggested, "I agree. We can keep track of where we've been in this labyrinth. It's going to be the only way we don't get turned around or lost in here." I brushed my hair behind my ear, looking at Erza. 

"Notes?"

"The path we've taken from our starting point, what locations we've passed... Progress will be difficult unless we know precisely where we are." Erza explained.

"Yeah, we can't afford to waste any time!" Gray exclaimed. 

"I get it. We're gonna map stuff out, huh?" Natsu looked at Erza, "You wanna take notes of this? There's no telling where anything is here!" Natsu threw his arms in the air dramatically, making me chuckle. "What about you, Natsu? Can't you smell the goal or anything else?" Lucy asked, "I can't smell much of anything." He shook his head, "What about you, Tsu? Anything?" She turned her attention onto me, I just shook my head and sighed. 

"This place is too twisted and turned upside down for me to smell anything related to the outside. All I can smell are the other people in here despite us not being anywhere near them. I have a feeling that it's because of the magic they cast on the labyrinth." I explained, crossing my arms. 

"Then that means the conditions are the same for every team," Gray concluded. 

"Let's just keep moving! We can't let the other teams beat us to the finish line." Natsu said, I grabbed the back of his shirt to make sure that he didn't run ahead again. He shouldn't be so reckless while we are in here, not with the possibility of him falling to his death in this place. "Slow down there, Natsu. We don't need you running off again and falling off a platform." I stated, making Lucy sweatdrop as Natsu looked back at me. "Oh come on, Tsu. That's not gonna happen again. It was one time." He smiled at me, waving his hand dismissively. "And one time is enough." I quirked an eyebrow at him, "Let's get moving." With that said, the five of us set off through the labyrinth to find the exit. As we continued moving, I started to feel slightly more sick which didn't go unnoticed by Erza. I walked beside her, helping her map out the Labyrinth as Lucy and Gray also helped us make marks on the map. Natsu kept his eye out for the other teams, that way we weren't caught off guard." East is that way." Erza pointed out, looking down at the compass. "This maze is hard to map out..." Gray said, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, nothing really stands out from the rest." In the distance, I heard arguing coming from nearby which meant that there was another guild not too far from where we were. "Hey. Erza." Natsu started, he seemed to notice it as well and looked back at Erza and I. "Yes. I heard it, too." Erza nodded, "Same here... We're definitely close to another guild." I sniffed the air, pushing the sick feeling down. 

"You're the one who said it was this way!" 

"Don't blame it on me!" We continued walking, only to come across another guild standing not too far from our platform. The guild insignia looked very familiar, all of us watching the guildmates argue amongst themselves. I'm glad that we weren't them right now, especially because it seemed that they were not paying attention to the fact that there are more guilds around here. "Whatever. All I know is we passed here before." The first guy said, "Right?! That's what I'm saying!" The third person agreed, "Let's just get moving! We're running out of time! Come to think of it... A bunch of other guilds are running around here, too." One of them looked up and tapped the rest of us guild members, the first one making eye contact with me. "Oh, man. You gotta be kidding me." Natsu muttered, "Those ugly mugs... Fairy Tail?!" They all shouted, I cracked my knuckles and stretched out my arms. 

"This has to be a joke!" 

"It's them!" Erza exclaimed, "This is Twilight Ogre, the same guild that had been harassing the rest of our guild when we were stuck on Tenrou Island for seven years. I remember that Erza and Mira returned the favor by dishing out serious punishment when we got back, but it seems that they still want to make fun of our guild as a whole." I glared at the five guild members standing before us, "I see your guild's as shoddy as ever." Erza didn't like that comment but she kept her temper in check, although, I was very different. "Lame!" I growled, balling my fists as I tried to keep my cool. "Surprised to see you in the tournament." The second guy said, crossing his arms. The way that they looked down on us only served to piss me off even more, "That's our line. You're the eternally-last-place guild." Natsu stated, "Fairy Tail's different this year!" Gray added, crossing his arms. When I looked at him some of my anger started to melt away when I noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, I still have to figure out how he loses his clothes so fast.

"Yeah? How do you figure?" 

"Wait, hold on! We're going to fight right here?!" Lucy panicked, "Ha! We are free to use magic, without restriction!" Natsu smirked, "You're goin' down right here and now!" He added, I smirked and rolled my neck around getting ready to fight. "These guys just never learn." A Twilight Ogre guild member stated, he looked way too confident for my liking. "I'm fired up!" Natsu exclaimed, pounding his fists together. "We're seriously gonna fight?!" Lucy didn't think this was a good idea but Natsu, Gray, and I didn't care about that at the moment. We were free to use magic and if that meant, we could use it to knock off the other teams then that's exactly what we're going to do. "The fewer the rivals, the better." I said, stepping forward. "Well, yeah, but still..." Lucy trailed off, I think that she figured that we were going to back down. "I definitely can't wait to get payback for the shit they put our guild mates through while we were away." I stated, one of the Twilight Ogre guild members gulped when I said that. "Pulverize 'em!" One of the guys shouted, "It's payback time!" Natsu, Gray, and I charged ahead and started fighting with Twilight Ogre, "Our focus is on taking down Sabertooth!" Natsu shouted, "And being #1 in Fiore!" I punched Thibault in the stomach, making him fly back but he quickly stopped himself. He launched himself at me but I jumped over him, kicked him in the back which made him stumble, and threw a large fireball at him. He and I continued fighting before I managed to eliminate him and another guild member. The three of us easily knocked off the opposing guild, making me very happy as I high-fived Gray and Natsu.