"Finally! I'm done!" Natsu sighed as he flopped backwards onto the sand on the beach. 'I've been taught fire magic that could kill a dragon and I've used it for cooking, drying clothes, fireworks, and now welding. I wonder how Igneel would react if he saw this?' Natsu thought as he looked at his handiwork. He spent the last two days using large pieces of metal from various places on the ship to fix or enforce its hull. While he did that Erza relaxed on the beach and Hisako played. Yup. Natsu got manual labor and they got vacation. Of course when, Natsu complained about this, Erza offered to make it up to him when they got home. And going by her seductive tone he knew what she meant.
"Good work Natsu." Erza sat down beside him.
"Thanks." Natsu flashed his trademark smile as he sat up. "So what now?"
"We'll set sail in a few hours and hope it went away. And if it attacks again we'll have to keep it away from the ship while we fight it. We'll also have to keep an eye out for the wizard controlling it. I doubt whoever it is will be to far away."
"So when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow. You can use the rest of the day to rest. We're both going to need it." Erza stated.
"Sounds good to me." Natsu laid back down and almost instantly fell asleep. Erza just looked down at him with a warm smile on her face.
"Goofball." Erza muttered as Natsu began challenging Gray to a fight in his sleep. She then leaned forward, dodged a sleeping punch, and gave him a kiss on his forehead. 'Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a fight.'Erza muttered inwardly, as she watched Hisako play in the water. 'But we can't afford to lose.'
____________________________________
"You ready?" Erza asked as she walked up beside Natsu, who was standing at the front of the ship and staring at the horizon.
"Hell yeah." Natsu replied as the ship started moving. They used the water and wind wizard to move the ship, it wasn't very fast, but it got the job done. Of course while the did that, the rest of the passengers, including Hisako were once again hiding in the ship.
The trip was uneventful for about thirty minutes, then storm clouds began to cover the sky and the water became more violent.
"Wait here." Erza ordered, as she left to go get something. She returned a few minutes later with multiple pieces of metal stacked together.
"What are those for?"
"It'll put the ship in danger if you fight on it again, so you'll use these as 'stepping stones' to fight on the water." Erza explained.
"Ok." Natsu shrugged. "As long as I get to fight, I'm good."
As Natsu and Erza waited, they both knew The Kraken was getting closer, as the sky became darker and the waters became more wild. And then it appeared, all of it this time. No longer it hid in the water, it brought it's whole body to the surface. Maybe it was a sign of respect or maybe it was trying to intimidate the two, either way it didn't matter.
The two parties just stared at each other as if they were daring the other to make the first move. Which Erza did by throwing the pieces of metal in the water. "Let's go." Erza said, as she requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and took flight. Natsu followed suit, by jumping onto one of the pieces of metal.
The stare off continued for a few more seconds, until both Natsu and Erza quickly went on the assault.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted.
"Empresses Hell Shot!" Erza stuck out her sword and launched a huge fireball. Both attacks hit simultaneously creating a cloud of smoke. They both waited for the smoke to clear, so they could see how much damage they did, but were forced to dodge as six tentacles, three from each side, swung at them horizontally. Natsu jumped up and reached out his hand, which was grabbed by Erza, who flew up quickly avoiding the tentacles. Erza then flipped in the air and used the momentum to throw Natsu at The Kraken.
"Fire Dragon's Talon!" Natsu's foot connected with right between The Kraken's eyes, causing it to roar in pain. Natsu jumped off of The Kraken and landed on a piece of floating metal and was instantly attacked by a torrent of water from behind, but Erza swooped down and blocked it with her sword. "Thanks." Natsu said.
"No problem." Erza replied, before The Kraken tried to smash them with its tentacles. Erza quickly flew to the side as Natsu jumped to another piece of metal, but The Kraken continued to try to smash them. 'We can't go on the offensive if we're to busy dodging these things.' Erza gritted her teeth as she cut through a tentacle, which of course healed.
'Where is that damn wizard at?!' Erza questioned inwardly, as she glanced around hoping to find something.
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flaming Blade!" Natsu shouted, as he blew away the three tentacles that tried to slam down on him. He then jumped on one and started making his way towards the body.
Erza saw Natsu running along a tentacle and decided to draw attention away from him. Erza pointed her sword forward and started shooting multiple bullet like fireballs at The Kraken's face, causing it to focus on her. It attacked by launching three torrents of water, which followed Erza as she flew around trying to dodge them.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu punched it, causing enough pain to make The Kraken release the attack it launched at Erza. "Fire Dragons Wing Atta-" Natsu was cut off when a geyser of water blasted him sky high. Natsu readjusted himself in the air and saw six torrents of water coming at him at all angles. 'Not good.' Natsu boosted himself with his fire launching him out of the way and landed on a piece of metal.
Meanwhile Erza was busy cutting down tentacle after tentacle, only for them to grow back, although she noticed that The Kraken heals slower from fire based attacks. Erza flew towards The Kraken stabbed it, then flew up the body dragging her sword along the way.
'Even if it can heal, enough pain could damage it mentally.' Erza thought as she dug her sword deeper and ignited it causing The Kraken to scream in pain. It quickly submerged itself under water, giving the couple a breather.
"Good one." Natsu complemented, as he landed close to Erza.
"Apparently not good enough." Erza replied, as a huge magic circle appeared on top of the water. Hundreds if not thousands of water bullets shot out of the water at an alarming rate. Erza stuck out her sword and made a shield of fire, while Natsu stayed where he was, using the piece of metal as a shield. Unfortunately they both didn't last long and the couple were bombarded relentlessly
"Crap this hurts." Natsu mumbled as he crossed his arms to guard himself.
'Gotta move quick.' Erza gritted her teeth in pain, before she swung her sword creating a wall of fire engulfing the whole area. Using the momentarily cease-fire Erza quickly swooped down and grabbed Natsu from behind and took flight upwards. The water bullets ate through the fire wall and once again showered the skies. Erza dodged quickly, doing her best to receive only minimal damage from the attack, while Natsu put his hands out making a circular shield of fire.
"Now what?!" Natsu shouted, as water bullets made it through his shield hitting him in the chest. 'It's like getting hit by a Vulcan.'
"Can you see anything?" Erza asked as she looked down hoping to spot the one controlling The Kraken.
"No. Nothing." Natsu grunted.
"Me neither." Erza replied, as she flew high enough so the water bullets couldn't reach them.
"Throw me." Natsu stated.
"What?" Erza questioned.
"I said throw me." Natsu reiterated.
"Alright." Erza started spinning around while holding onto Natsu by his arm. "Here we go!" Erza yelled, as she hurled Natsu down towards The Kraken.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu's body was engulfed in flames as he rocketed down at The Kraken. "Here I come you stupid squid!" Natsu shouted just before he slammed into The Kraken. The impact of the attack was so strong that a small shock wave reverberated throughout the surrounding sea. It also caused The Kraken to let out a loud roar of pain as he fell back into the water.
'That hurt.' Natsu moaned as he fell back and landed on a piece of metal.
'That had to hurt.' Erza thought as she flew down to check on Natsu. "How are feeling?" Erza questioned as she landed beside him.
"It feels like my head's splitting in half." Natsu moaned as he clutched said head.
"Here let me make it better." Erza leaned forward and kissed him on the head. "How about now?"
'Hell no!' Natsu shouted inwardly, but decided to keep that to himself. "Yeah it does."
'Wait a second. It does feel better.' Natsu blinked in surprise as he stood up. 'Weird.'
"Hey Erza do yo-" Natsu was cut off as he and Erza were both smacked by a tentacle. A scream of pain left their mouths as the both flew only to let out another one as they were once again smacked by a tentacle. As they flew to another waiting tentacle, Erza flipped to face it and slashed it in half. Her small victory was short lived though, as she was smacked once again from behind.
"Erza!" Natsu shouted as he was sent flying to the ship. Natsu yelled in pain as he made contact with the side of the ship, making a large dent in it. "Gotta get away from the ship." Natsu muttered as he boosted away from the ship and towards Erza.
"Gotcha." Natsu said as he caught Erza after she was hit by another tentacle. They both fell into the ocean and Natsu quickly dragged a dazed Erza to a floating piece of metal. "You ok?"
"I'll be fine." Erza sat up ignoring the pain that ran through her body. "We won't last long if this continues. We have to find the wizard controlling it."
"I know." Natsu agreed as he grabbed his hair and pulled in frustration. "But I can't smell the bastard!" Natsu yelled, just before The Kraken resurfaced and stared down at them.
"Ready for round two?" Erza smirked as she stood up.
"Who are you talking too?" Natsu returned the smirk.
Worried.
That's what Hisako was feeling as she sat against a wall. She wasn't worried for herself. She was worried about her mama and papa. Even if Erza told her that they would be ok, she still worried. She wanted to help. Even if it was a little, she wanted to do something. After all she was a wizard to right? But she wasn't sure how. She couldn't help fight that thing, that was out of the question. So how?
She then remembered the conversation she overheard a few nights ago between her mama and papa. She didn't really understand what they were talking about, but she was able to understand that, that thing was being controlled by someone. And with that she bolted out of the room, with only the thought of helping her mama and papa.
Hisako had to fight to keep her balance as the surging wind blew furiously against her. And the rush of adrenaline that surged through her little body wore off as she saw The Kraken in all it's might. She watched as two small figures, Natsu and Erza, went on the defensive as The Kraken went on the attack. Seeing that prompted Hisako to look around hoping to find the one controlling The Kraken. And for the next five minutes she found nothing, until she followed a piece of metal that flew through the sky. But what really caught her attention was the fact that when the piece of metal landed on the water it seemed to disappear, as if it was hiding behind something. A few seconds later the piece of metal drifted into sight, now Hisako became really curious.
Normally a kid her age probably wouldn't think much of what she saw, but living on the streets forced her to question everything. What was that? How'd that happen? Is that what I was looking for? Those were questions that ran through her mind. With her suspicion raised Hisako contemplated how to answer her questions.
"I'm getting sick and tired of all this running." Natsu stated as he jumped to avoid another tentacle.
"It's not like we have much of a choice right now." Erza replied as she ducked under a swiping tentacle.
"Oh crap." Natsu said just before he was hit into the air and drilled by a torrent of water.
"Natsu!" Erza shouted and was immediately smashed between two tentacles, causing her to scream in pain.
Both Natsu and Erza fell and luckily landed on separate pieces of metal (saving them from having to struggle against drowning) as they recovered from the previous attack. They both groaned as they struggled to get to their feet as The Kraken stared down at them.
They were in a dire situation. The Kraken was on a whole 'nother level and they knew it. They couldn't help but feel belittled by the presence of the monster that towered over them. They needed to find the wizard and soon. As The Kraken slowly raised its tentacles to finish them off, the couple were mentally screaming at bodies to move.
'Move damn it! Move!' the screams continued while the tentacles came crashing down, only to stop mid way.
A sudden screeching noise rang through their ears as a ray like blast of sound flew through the air from the ship and hit what seemed to look like a bubble of water. After a few seconds the blast died down, but the damage was done. The bubble of water was torn apart and revealed a women standing on the water with a pissed of look on her face. She had long, aqua blue hair, wore a dark blue yukata. She could easily be described as attractive with her light skin and ample breast, which we on display since her yukata was half falling off. But what really caught their attention was the golden trident she was holding that looked like it belonged to a king, judging by the designs and jems that covered the weapon.
"Was that-" Natsu was cut off by Erza.
"Hisako? Yes."
"She's in-"
"Trouble? Oh yeah."
"But she just saved our asses." Natsu pointed out.
"She also put herself in extreme danger by coming out."
"(sigh) You're really strict."
"You just realized that?" Erza deadpanned.
"Whatever. So who gets who?"
"I'll deal with the little tramp over there and you hold off slimy until I can break that trident." Erza ordered.
"Sounds good to me." Natsu said as Erza started to fly to the enemy.
"Oh Natsu." Erza called out. "Here's a little present." Erza shot a fireball at him, which he happily sucked up.
"All right! I'm fired up now!" Natsu roared as fire erupted from his body taking the shape of a dragon. "Let's go you stupid squid! Fire Dragon's Roar!" after the attack, Natsu immediately jumped high in the air and continued his attack. "Fire Dragon's Talon!" Natsu brought his foot down on The Kraken.
The second Natsu landed on one of his make shift stepping stones he was immediately attacked by half of dozen torrents of water. Natsu reacted quickly by jumping out of the way, only for a tentacle made of water to grab his leg out of mid air and slammed him down on the water. He was then flung into the air and was bombarded with hundreds of water bullets.
Natsu thought fighting The Kraken before was tough, but fighting it with its full and undivided attention on you was a bitch. And that was made perfectly clear by feeling of hundreds of tiny, yet very painful, water bullets. Couldn't this thing think of something new? Natsu was then abruptly smacked by a tentacle sending him bouncing of the surface of the water.
'Erza's gonna have to hurry up.' Natsu thought before he was dragged underwater. 'Son of a bitch!'
Erza flew away from Natsu and towards the blue haired wizard. She then requipped into her Sea Empress Armor and stood a top of the water. They glared at each other for a few seconds, but Erza squashed her anger. She knew she needed to remain calm to beat this opponent, after all she couldn't be a push over if she was able to control The Kraken.
"It's hard to belief a wizard like yourself would be dating a worthless man like Natsu Dragneel."
The bitch was going down. No one talks about her Natsu like that and gets away with it. No one.
"Jealous that you can't get a man of your own?" first she would insult her then she'd beat the crap out of her
"Unlike you I have standards." the women sneered. As much fun as this little pissing match was, Erza had business to take care of.
"Who are you and what reason would you have for attacking our cruise ship?" Erza asked. She wasn't sure why most dark wizards she fought were so eager to reveal their plans, but Erza wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"The name is Ren and my reasons for attacking this ship is none of your damn business!" ok say she was smarter then your average dark wizard.
Still a bitch though.
"Well then Ren, prepare yourself." Erza warned as she readied her sword, causing Ren ready her trident. The both glared at each other for a few seconds until they charged at each other. Erza's swings and Ren's stabs were nothing but a blur as they both parried and countered each other for a good minute. Erza dropped to a crouched position and snapped a kick at Ren's knee, but Ren flipped forward at the perfect time, rendering the kick all but powerless, and brought a heel drop kick down on Erza. Erza quickly rolled out of the way, used one of her hands to push out of the roll, and swung her sword sending a arching slash of water in the shape of a 'C' at Ren.
Ren quickly swung her trident up causing a wall of water to not only shield from Erza's attack, but from her view also. The wall of water died down and revealed that Ren was no longer there, causing Erza to look in all directions, but it was to avail.
'Where'd she go?' Erza's question was answered, when Ren came flying out of the water. Erza's eyes widened as a trident came shooting out of the water aimed directly at her face. Erza reacted quickly by jumping away barely dodging the trident by mere inches. While Erza was in the air, Ren jabbed her trident at Erza causing multiple three sets of water spikes to fly at Erza. Erza parried the attacks and landed on the water only to have Ren right on her stabbing her trident forward. Erza brought up her sword and used it to redirect the attack, causing the sword and trident to slide across each other, sending sparks flying. They then jumped away from each other giving them some space.
The second they landed on the water they darted at each other once again. Their weapons clashed as they zoomed pass each other only to turn around and do it again. The two women looked like nothing but blurs as they clashed time and time again. Their little jousting match came to an end when Erza's sword locked in between two of the trident's spikes. Erza and Ren glared at each other as they tried to push the other back, but to no avail.
"Not bad, for a woman stupid enough to date that worthless man."
THE BITCH WAS GOING DOWN!
Erza couldn't take it anymore. What was this chicks problem? She was probably just trying to piss her off and it was working. Erza really was starting to regret doing that stupid interview a while back. And she was REALLY starting to regret saying in said interview how pissed of she gets when girls come on to Natsu or insult him. But in her defense she never thought that dark wizards read Sorcery's Weekly. She figured they had their own version.
To break their little stalemate Ren attempted to strip Erza of her sword by twisting her trident to the right. Erza countered by cartwheeling with the sword and launching a left roundhouse kick the second she landed. Ren brought up her arm to block the kick and was sent flying from the power behind it.
'Fuck she's strong.' Ren thought. It was like if a regular person got hit by an elephant. That was the only way Ren could describe the force behind the kick. As Ren picked herself up she looked up and saw Erza coming down towards her with her sword ready to strike.
As Erza was in the air she gathered water to her sword and swung down at Ren. Ren quickly brought up her trident to block the water slice and was sent sliding back. Erza kept on the offensive and continued to swing at her from multiple angles. Ren quickly backpedaled as she was barely block Erza's strikes. Erza suddenly changed her fighting style to fencing, catching Ren off guard, which resulted in a cut to the side of her abdomen.
'Damn.' Ren cursed before she flipped over Erza and jumped away from her the second she landed. Erza raised her eyebrow when she saw Ren cover her wound in water then turned the water to ice.
'She can use Ice Magic too? No. If that trident is as powerful as I suspect, she might be able to control water in all its forms.' Erza quickly concluded. And her theory was proven right when Ren swung her trident causing ice spikes to fly at Erza. She blocked the spikes with her sword, but they were followed up by thin razor edged ice saucers. Erza turned to the side letting the first two pass her, from the front and the back and did a cartwheel jump over another one that would've surely cut her in half. As one foot touched the water she brought the other down heel first on the center of another saucer shattering it. Erza then spun and swung her sword sending a water a sharp arc of water, then followed up with twelve more arcs.
Ren gracefully ducked, spun, front flipped, and then started a series of cartwheeling flips ranging from sideways forward, and backwards. (A/N: Picture what a cat burglar does when they break in a room full of lasers.)
'She's good.' Erza commented, as Ren finished dodging her attacks.
"Not bad Titania. Looks like I'll have to take you more seriously." after Ren said that she lifted up her trident and it began to grow, temporarily blinding Erza. When Erza's vision cleared she saw Ren surrounded by a bubble of water with tentacles made of water growing out of it.
'Great. I thought I was all done with those things.' Erza sighed. Then suddenly the tentacles darted towards her ready to impale her. Erza reacted quickly by slamming her sword in the water, causing a small explosion of water to send her flying in the air. Erza stuck out her sword as she fell on top of the bubble, allowing her to get some penetration, but as she got closer to Ren she felt herself lose momentum. Eventually, Erza was sent flying out of the water bubble and into the air, where the tentacles went after her. She flip uncontrollable through the air and was only able to twist her body slightly as the two tentacles drilled into her sides. Luckily for her she was able to avoid a fatal wound. Erza winced as she landed on one knee, she had to suppress the urge to clutch her sides, not wanting to leave herself open to an attack.
'Got her!' Ren smirked.
'Damn! I'll have to repay her for this.' Erza stood back up, ignoring the pain from her wounds. 'But how do I get to her?' Erza contemplated as she observed the water bubble that protected Ren. 'There's an idea.'
Erza quickly dashed forward cutting down a few tentacles that came straight towards her. She then spun cutting two more that flanked her from both sides, then jumped over the water bubble twisting and turning as she dodged multiple tentacles in the air. As she was landing on the other side Erza stuck her sword into the water bubble and tore into it as she came down. When Erza landed she swung her sword down sending a sharp arc of water through the tear she made.
'Fuck!' Ren was barely able to move to the side as the water arc tore by her. 'So that's her plan. Make a tear in the bubble and then use the opening to attack me directly.' Ren sneered as Erza ran around the bubble, flipped over a whipping tentacle and slashed down diagonally at the bubble then spun and launched another water arc. Ren barely had time to turn and lean backwards letting it pass by her face by a few centimeters. Ren gulped as she realized how close she was to getting her face cut right off.
Once she got over her near faceless experience Ren turned and glared at a smirking Erza. Erza rolled to the right as a tentacle came from above and then back-flipped to dodge one from behind and cut it before she landed. After she landed she made a quick dash towards the bubble and once again made a tear in it by making a quick jab, followed by another one that sent a water attack that looked like a spear. This time Erza was able to get a hit on her, although it was only a cut on her cheek, but it was good confidence booster for Erza.
For the next few minutes that process repeated itself. Ren would attack with her tentacles and Erza would either gracefully dodge or swiftly cut them down, before she would launch a counterattack. But eventually Erza decided to put her real plan into action, which she started it out by jumping away from Ren, causing the tentacles to fly towards her. As they came closer Erza swung her sword up creating a wall of water to shield her from Ren's line of sight. Ren's eyes opened wide when she saw that Erza wasn't there anymore. Her shock rose once more when she felt a hand wrap around her foot and pull her down into the ocean.
That was what Erza had planned out. A plan within a plan. Her real objective was to keep Ren on her toes with dodging Erza's attacks and that would draw away from the only place Erza could get to her, from below. And now they were under water which was even ground for them.
As Erza pulled Ren down, she swung her sword with her other hand, forcing Ren to block it with her trident. Erza then kicked her in the stomach sending her flying through the water. Erza quickly circled around and kicked her in the back not allowing Ren time to recover. But Ren anticipated the next kick and countered with an elbow to Erza's jaw, which was followed by a stab to the face. Fortunately for Erza she was able to move her head to the side avoiding an unpleasant death, unfortunately she was kneed in the stomach sending her flying out of the water.
Erza struggled to get the air back in her lungs and keep her stomach content in her stomach as she flew through the air before she ungracefully splashed into the water. All the momentum Erza was getting from pulling Ren out of that water bubble was quickly halted and reversed with that quick counter Ren pulled off and she wasn't going let it go to waste. She took the offensive and refused to let up.
"Time to finish this Titania!" Ren screamed as she dashed towards Erza, who was struggling to her feet.
"Not good."
'Not good.' Natsu thought as he hid in a underwater crevasse that was (luckily for him) just big enough for him to fit, but small enough that The Kraken's tentacles couldn't get to deep into the crevasse. 'I can only stay down here for so long.' Natsu pushed himself deeper just to enough to get out of reach of a probing tentacle.
'Now what?' Natsu questioned as he gazed at The Kraken floating above him, until he felt something that drew his attention away.
Pain.
Sharp burning pain screamed through his left shoulder forcing Natsu to cover his mouth with his free hand keeping the air in his lungs from escaping. He turned his head and saw a Great White Shark biting into his shoulder.
'Get the fuck off me!' Natsu punched the shark right on the nose tearing it from his shoulder. Natsu held onto his bleeding shoulder as he glared at the recovering shark, only to see something strange. The shark's eyes were glowing bright blue, he also could sense magic coming from it.
'The hell?' Natsu then turned his attention back to The Kraken and noticed it's eyes were glowing the same color. 'What?! It can control fish too?! Well that's great. I need to get back to the surface soon, I'm running out of air. But first things first. I have to deal with this over grown fish.' the shark dashed towards Natsu who quickly swam up and punched it's spine breaking it.
'Crap my shoulder burns.' Natsu winced as he clutched his shoulder. 'What the hell?' Natsu was taken by surprise when a tentacle wrapped around him and pulled him out of the crevasse. The Kraken pulled him in front of it and stared at Natsu for a few seconds. 'What the hell is this fucker looking at?!' Natsu then released a bubbled scream as The Kraken started to squeeze Natsu.
'Can't breath.' very quickly everything was starting to go black for Natsu. The air escaped his lungs in the form of bubbles and none was going to go back in. 'Damn it. It can't end here. I can't leave them. Erza. Hisako...I can't.' everything went completely dark for Natsu and his body went limp.
'Hehehehehe.' the dark laughter echoed through Natsu's mind.