Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
September 2, x786.
By the time Retsu released her [Bankai], Elicia and Cana had left the town on foot. Before they could reach the battlefield, however, they were stopped by a green-haired woman on the way.
"Brandish… So, you're finally showing your true colors, huh?" Cana asked as she stopped in front of Brandish.
"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case." Brandish said, looking like she'd rather not be there.
"So, why have you been trying to befriend us?" Elicia asked curiously.
Despite her question, Elicia had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Thanks to her meta knowledge, she knew Brandish was a member of the Spriggan 12 of the Alvarez Empire, after all.
"Sorry, that's not something I can tell you, for now." Brandish replied with a shrug. "But why don't you make this easy for all of us? Just come along with me. I don't wanna hurt any of you."
In spite of her mission, the months Brandish spent in Magnolia caused her to form some genuine friendships with the people living in Alfonzo's mansion. So, she would rather not harm any of her new friends if possible.
"The feeling is mutual, Brandish." Cana said as she reached into the card pouch that was her [Soul Armament], Hoyle. "Unfortunately…"
"We have no intension of going anywhere." Elicia said, finishing Cana's sentence. "And the fact that you wanna take us away from our home makes it even less likely to happen."
"*Sigh* I kinda expected that." Brandish replied, sounding even more reluctant to fight with her friends. A moment later, however, she put on a resolute expression. "Unfortunately, that's not an option. But you should be happy. Alfonzo will be coming along with you, as well."
Hearing that, both Elicia and Cana narrowed their eyes dangerously.
"Are you saying your true target is Fonzie?" Elicia asked as she lowered her head, causing her bangs to cover her eyes.
"*Sigh* That was a bad move, Brandish?" Cana said as she stepped back, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
Brandish, on the other hand, was thoroughly confused by the change in Elicia's atmosphere. On top of that, she was confused by Cana's words. Even more confusing was the fact that she was feeling a sense of danger from Elicia.
'What's going on?' Brandish asked herself in confusion. 'Back when I fought her the first time, I didn't feel anything like this.'
"[Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]." Elicia chanted quietly as she held up her left wrist.
In the next instant, Brandish's eyes opened wide when she felt Elicia's magic power spike to a level that surpassed her own. Additionally, she did not know what to make of the glow that surrounded Elicia's wrist band before engulfing her hands.
Finally, she had no idea what to make of the golden scales that covered Elicia's previously glowing hands, once the glow faded.
"What is that?" Brandish asked in a dumbfounded tone. "And why have you grown so strong all of a sudden?"
"Maybe I'll tell you later." Elicia said in a cold tone. Then, she raised her head, making eye contact with Brandish, who stepped back after seeing the emotionless gaze Elicia was giving her. "But let me work off some of this negativity first, 'kay? I don't really like it when people target my Fonzie, you know?"
"Geez, Lici." Cana said while fighting the impulse to pull a bottle of booze from her [Storage Card]. "You know he's not just yours. We're all going to marry him eventually."
Smiling wryly, Elicia glanced at Cana. Then, she shook her head and returned her focus back to Brandish.
"You know that's not what I meant, Cana." Elicia said without changing her tone.
In response, Cana stuck out her tongue with a smile. Still, she had no intension of butting into Elicia's fight. So, the only other thing she could do was shoot a look filled with pity towards Brandish.
Brandish, on the other hand, frowned at the fact that she seemed to be underestimated. Despite the fact that Elicia was now a little more powerful than she was thanks to the boost in strength, she had no doubt that a temporary boost was incapable of defeating her, who had worked hard to increase her magic power over the years.
Bending down to pick up a stone on the side of the road, Brandish tossed it up and down a few times to get a feel for its weight. Then, without warning, she threw it at Elicia and Cana with all her might. And because of her strength, the stone was moving at close to the speed of sound.
"[Command T: Expansion]." Brandish chanted shortly after the stone left her hand.
In the next instant, the stone, which was no bigger than Brandish's fist, rapidly increased in size as it approached the ladies of Fairy Tail. By the time it finished growing, the stone was the size of Alfonzo and Elicia's first mansion.
"Yeah, that seems like cheating." Cana muttered as she reached into Hoyle and pulled out a handful of cards.
Instead of responding, Elicia had already ejected a pair of scales, connected to her hands with her [Thread Magic], from each hand. And despite the speed at which the large boulder was moving, or maybe because of its speed, Elicia's scales, which transformed into needles, pierced straight through it. At the same time, Elicia ducked under it, letting it pass over her.
Then, before Cana could cast a spell to destroy the boulder to stop it from damaging Magnolia, she heard Elicia's voice.
"[Buttonhole Stitching]." Elicia chanted as her needles and threads doubled back through the boulder before tying off the threads like a button attached to a piece of clothing, stopping its forward momentum in the process.
"What?" Brandish exclaimed in disbelief.
Then, before Brandish could process what she was seeing, Elicia, now with her back facing brandish, quickly spun on her heels. AS a result, the large boulder was swung in an arch. On top of that, Elicia had lengthened the threads while she was spinning. As a result, it would slam into Brandish's side if it was not stopped.
"[Command T: Reduction]." Brandish chanted as she snapped out of her state of disbelief.
As a result of her spell, the boulder, which was the size of a mansion, shrank to the size of a grain of sand. Then, Brandish drew the dagger that she carried and sliced the threads that did not shrink with the boulder.
"How are these threads still intact after being reduced by my magic?" Brandish asked as she flourished her dagger.
"That's a secret." Elicia said as she appeared to Brandish's right. "Maybe you'll find out one day."
Alarmed at the proximity of Elicia's voice, Brandish instinctively ducked. And that turned out to be the right move, as a foot swept past the spot where her head used to be. Despite the close call, however, Brandish stood up as she threw a punch at Elicia's unprotected back.
Usually, Brandish would have stabbed her dagger towards her opponent. However, as previously mentioned, Brandish did not want to hurt the people she had come to see as friends during her stay in Magnolia.
Despite Brandish's consideration, Elicia was unconcerned. Once her kick missed, she shot her threads into the ground before retracting them. At the same time, she straightened her body before spreading her legs in a split. As a result, she ended up standing on her hands with Brandish's arm shooting past her spread legs.
In the next instant, Elicia closed her legs around Brandish's arm. Then, she pushed off the ground towards Brandish's left. As a result, Brandish left arm was thrown to the outside of her body with Elicia clinging to it.
Then, once Brandish started losing her balance thanks to the unintended swing, Elicia shot her threads towards Brandish's right wrist before pulling it behind her once the threads were securely wrapped around it.
'Damn, she's better than I expected.' Brandish thought to herself as she was in the process of being immobilized. 'Still, that's not enough to take down a member of the Spriggan 12.'
"[Command T: Expansion]." Brandish chanted as her body began to grow.
Before Brandish could grow too much, however, Elicia unwrapped her legs from around Brandish's left arm. Then, using the threads wrapped around her right wrist, Elicia allowed herself to swing around Brandish's body. At the same time, she allowed the threads looped around Brandish's wrist to lengthen, as well. She did not want her threads to either, snap or cut off Brandish's hand, after all.
Once again surprised by Elicia's unorthodox fighting style, Brandish was not in time to react to the vibrating threads that wrapped around her dagger before cutting it apart. Nor was she ready for Elicia, who swung around to the front of her body before kicking her in the face.
*Bang!*
"Sorry about that." Elicia said as she used Brandish's face as a springboard to create distance between the two.
Brandish, on the other hand, had grown quite a bit by the time Elicia's kick landed. So, instead of being sent flying, she stumbled back a few steps. Before she could regain her bearings, however, Elicia landed on the ground.
In the next instant, Elicia, with her threads still wrapped around Brandish's right wrist, made a quick spin before whipping her arms over her head. As a result, Brandish was pulled off her feet before being slammed into the ground.
*Boom!*
"Gah!" Brandish groaned as the air escaped her lungs.
Now lying on her back after being thrown onto the ground violently, Brandish raised her head, intending to stand up. However, before she could do so, she caught sight of Elicia, who was standing on her left shoulder.
*Bang!*
"Argh~~~~~~~~~~!" Brandish screamed in pain.
Before Brandish could react, Elicia, with a long golden needle extending from the knuckle of her middle finger, threw a punch into a nerve cluster, causing Brandish to lose feeling in her left arm. As a result, Brandish's left arm went limp. Then, Elicia appeared on her right shoulder and repeated the process.
At that moment, Gildarts, Ur, and Tsunade finally left the town. And when they did, they were surprised to see Cana standing to the side with her arms crossed and shaking her head. At the same time, they noticed Elicia flashing all over Brandish's body and throwing punches at the immobilized, green-haired wizard, who was screaming due to excruciating pain.
Exchanging glances, the three experienced wizards approached Cana with confusion in their eyes.
"Cana, Sweetheart, what's going on here?" Gildarts asked once he was close to Cana.
"Oh, Dad." Cana said after recognizing the voice and looking back over her shoulder. She then continued after turning her attention back to Elicia and Brandish. "It's you. Well, as you can see, Lici is just finishing up."
"Yeah, but why is she being so vicious?" Tsunade asked curiously. "I mean, the places where she is hitting and poking that girl with that big needle are meant to immobilize, and I get that. But if she hit her in a slightly different spot, she wouldn't be screaming like that."
Glancing at Tsunade for a moment, Cana once again shook her head before returning her attention to Elicia and Brandish.
"Because she said her, and Irene's target was Fonzie." Cana said nonchalantly.
While Tsunade was confused, Gildarts and Ur wore expressions of enlightenment.
"Well, I guess she brought this on herself." Ur replied with a shrug. "Anyway, Cana, we'll leave things here to you and Lici. Just don't let her go overboard. We still need to pump this girl for information."
"Got it." Cana replied with a shrug. "Besides, I don't think Lici will leave any permanent damage… I think. I mean, she likes Brandish."
Nodding in response, Ur started running towards the large magic power signatures she could feel in the distance. A moment later, Gildarts followed her after hugging his daughter briefly. Meanwhile, Tsunade only looked on in disbelief. Disbelief at seeing the sweet and cheerful Elicia torturing her enemy.
"Don't think about it too much, Master Tsunade." Cana said after noticing Tsunade's expression. "Lici has always been really protective of Alfonzo. And that got even worse after what she and Yoruichi did last year."
Turning her head in Cana's direction, Tsunade was once again surprised. From what she could remember, Cana was the one who hated Yoruichi the most after that incident. However, all she could see was nonchalance in Cana's expression.
Eventually, Tsunade shook her head, deciding that it was none of her business. Then, she once again looked at Elicia, who was standing over Brandish, who was unconscious and back to her normal size before running to catch up with Gildarts and Ur.
"Well… I heard that Cana would be the next to get married." Tsunade muttered to herself as she ran. "I guess a lot of her insecurities disappeared because of that."
With that, Gildarts, Ur, and Tsunade disappeared into the distance while Elicia and Cana secured the prisoner before returning to the guild hall.