Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Undisclosed Location.

July 3, x790.

Having left Crocus at the end of the conclusion of the Grand Magic Games' third day, Itachi and Kisame continued to run until just before sunset. While making sure they were not being tracked, unfortunately, they were unable to detect the wizard following them from the sky. So, once they reached their destination, they checked one more time that no one was following them before entering a shallow cave.

"How do you think Pain will react to our information, Itachi?" Kisame asked curiously while taking a seat on a stone bed that had been carved out of the cave's wall.

"I'm not sure." Itachi replied while shaking his head lightly. "But with the disappearances of both Zetsu and Toby, I would think he'll be cautious."

"Yeah, we haven't seen either of them since they left to investigate the Nine-Tails' situation in Magnolia.

"There's no point speculating." Itachi said. "Let's just give him our report and see what happens."

With Kisame nodding in agreement, he and Itachi began to circulate their magic power into the rings they wore. Then, they both fell into a trance, as their consciousnesses had been sent elsewhere. Unfortunately, that meant that they were unaware of the person who walked into the cave.

"Interesting form of communication." The newcomer, Irene, said as she approached the bed Itachi was sitting on. She then leaned forward to get a better look at the ring where his magic power was flowing. "The [Enchantments] on these rings are rather interesting, as well. I'd like to get a hold of one of them to look at them in more detail. But I can't blow this kid's cover. Alfonzo said he was a spy. And until the rest of his group, the Akatsuki, I think, is dealt with, he shouldn't be exposed."

Irene then leaned back and tapped Belserion, her [Soul Armament], onto Itachi's ring. She then used her extensive magical knowledge to tap into the ongoing communication without giving herself away.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Undisclosed Location.

A few moments earlier, Itachi's and Kisame's [Projections] appeared on the tips of the fingers of the massive Gedo Mazo statue. However, they were not the only one's present, as there were six other [Projections] standing on the tips of the statues other fingers.

"What took the two of you so long?" A hunched over figure asked in an impatient tone. "You kept me waiting, and I hate waiting."

"Come on, Sasori, my man." A blond man with hair covering the right side of his face said in a mocking tone. "Don't let these two bother you. They're just not as good as everyone thinks."

While he spoke, although his words sounded like they were targeting both Itachi and Kisame, the blond man was staring directly into Itachi's Sharingan. Luckily, because these were only [Projections], he did not have to fear falling prey to Itachi's [Genjutsu].

Instead of rising to the blond man's provocation, Itachi turned his gaze towards the orange-haired man with purple eyes who stood at the center of the group, the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain. At the same time, Irene succeeded in tapping into this meeting, completely undetected by any of the eight rogue shinobi.

"Hey! Don't you ignore me!" The blond man shouted agitatedly. "Or do you want me to give you a personal demonstration of my art?"

"Such an idiot." A green-eyed man with red sclerae muttered in an annoyed tone. "And I thought you were the dumbest one here, Hidan."

"What did you say?" A silver-haired man, Hidan, asked angrily. "I'll sacrifice you to Lord Jashin."

'They aren't particularly cohesive, are they?' Irene thought to herself while listening to the bickering between the members of Akatsuki. 'Well, that would make defeating them much easier if they ever decided to attack us. Still, knowing when or where they will attack would be nice to set up some preparations.'

"Enough!" Pain said in an authoritative tone. Then, when all the bickering stopped, he turned his gaze to meet eyes with Itachi. "What have you found out, Itachi?"

"It would seem the wizards of the Legal Guilds have gotten much stronger than we projected. "I have yet to understand why that is, though."

'Oh, that probably has something to do with Alfonzo's upgrades to their training facilities.' Irene thought to herself. 'But they have no way of knowing that. Unless they intend to break into their guild halls. But from what I can tell so far, they're too arrogant to even consider that. And that's weird for a bunch of supposed ninjas.'

In fact, Irene was wrong about that. The Akatsuki was quite familiar with infiltration missions. However, that was usually left to Zetsu. But since he disappeared over a year ago, their infiltrations have rendered much less information than they were used to receiving.

"Then, you would suggest not attacking on the rest day of the Grand Magic Games, correct?" Pain asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"That's right." Itachi replied. "I wouldn't try to attack after the Games have ended, either. At least, not while the other wizards are around."

"OH! It sounds like Itachi is afraid." The blond man said in a mocking tone. "I guess you're not as much of a genius as everyone thought, huh?"

"I'd rather not lose any more members." Itachi said coldly as he cut his eyes in the blond's direction.

"That sounds like an excuse from a weakling to me." The blond said arrogantly.

"And you lost to and still lose to this weakling." Itachi shot back without changing his expression or tone.

"What did you say!?" The blond asked in an enraged tone.

"I said this once before, enough!" Pain said, cutting off the bickering between Itachi and the blond man. "As for Itachi's suggestion. I can understand where he is coming from. Even if we are all quite powerful, there are dozens of wizards in the capital at the moment with S-Class power. It would be fool-hardy to rush in head first. We will set the attack to retrieve the Nine-Tails from Fairy Tail shortly after they return to Magnolia. I expect everyone to be ready to move out when I give the order."

"Understood." x 7

"Dismissed." Pain said before cutting off his [Projection].

At the same time, Irene also cut off her connection with the magic Akatsuki was using to communicate. Then, she quickly left the cave where Itachi and Kisame were hiding before returning to Crocus to share what she learned with the guild.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

Meanwhile, in one of the most luxurious hotels in the city, other than the Sixth Sense Hotel, the members of Sabertooth, having kicked out all the hotel staff, were gathered in the hotel's lobby.

At the back of the lobby, where a staircase led to a landing before splitting to either side and continuing up to the second floor, Jiemma, sitting on a throne on said landing, was looking down at the five members of Team Sabertooth.

Jiemma was a tall, elderly man with an extremely muscular physique with long grey hair pulled back and neatly tied into a braid that ended below the middle of his back. He also had a mustache and beard of matching color. And while the mustache was styled neatly, the beard and sideburns connected to his hair were rather unkempt, with spiky strands jutting out in all directions. Jiemma also had a strange set of eyes, which had white irises, no pupils, and black sclerae.

As for his attire, Jiemma's clothing, like his daughter's, had an eastern feel to it. However, instead of Chinese inspired, Jiemma's clothing was Japanese inspired, as his clothing consisted of what appeared to be a red kimono with white trim that ended just below his hips, a pair of brown pants, and black boots. Also, his Sabertooth guild mark was located in the center of his forehead.

"Minerva, Rufus." Jiemma said. "The two of you have done well today. This is what I expect from members of my guild, the strongest guild."

"Thank you, Father/Master." Minerva and Rufus replied in unison while bowing their heads deferentially.

Jiemma then shifted his gaze from Rufus and his daughter to Sting and Orga.

"As for the two of you, I am choosing Sting to participate in tomorrow's event." Jiemma continued. "Failure will not be tolerated, understood?"

"I Understand, Master." Sting replied while straightening his back.

"Very well." Jiemma said as he let his gaze sweep over the rest of Team Sabertooth. "Then, prepare yourselves for tomorrow. Dismissed."

With that, Jiemma stood from his seat. Then, he walked up the stairs to his left without looking at anyone or speaking another word. Shortly afterwards, the other members of Sabertooth also began to disperse, leaving the members of Team Sabertooth standing in the center of the hotel lobby.

"Hey, Sting, are you okay?" An Exceed with mostly dark red fur, except for on his snout, belly, paws, and the tip of his tail, which were pink in color, and black eyes wearing a blue vest asked while flying over to join with Sting. "You gotta be under a lot of pressure right now."

"Frosch thinks so, too." A green Exceed with large, round black eyes wearing a black-spotted, pink suit that resembled a poison dart frog added while flying towards Rogue. "Do you think you can win, Sting?"

"Of course he can, Frosch." the red Exceed shot back before landing on Sting's right shoulder. "Tell 'em, Sting."

"That's right, Lector." Sting replied with a wide smile. "Sabertooth is the strongest, and I'll prove it tomorrow."

"See, I told you, Frosch." The red Exceed, Lector, said with is arms crossed while looking at the green Exceed, Frosch, with a hint of smugness in his gaze.

"Frosch thinks so, too." Frosch said with a happy-go-lucky smile.

"I think you should be careful tomorrow, Sting." Rufus said cautiously.

"Why, do you know something about tomorrow's event, Rufus?" Rogue asked in a flat tone. "There won't be any more vehicles tomorrow, will there?"

When the word vehicle was mentioned, Sting paled visibly.

"No, I doubt it." Rufus replied. His expression then turned solemn as he continued in an equally solemn tone. "But I think there is a good chance that Alfonzo Marcus and the other aces of the guilds will enter tomorrow's event."

Hearing that, Sting, Rogue, Minerva, and Lector put on solemn expressions. Meanwhile, Orga began to shudder from the phantom pain left behind by the healed injuries from his match with Alfonzo. Frosch, on the other hand, only tilted his head in confusion.

*Smack!*

"Good!" Sting said, punching his right fist into his left palm after getting himself together. "I'll take revenge for Orga."

"No, you won't." Minerva cut in quickly. "You will focus on winning tomorrow's event. That's the only thing that matters."

Hearing that, not only Sting, but Rogue, Rufus, Orga, and Lector looked at Minerva with shock. Frosch, on the other hand, kept his lightly confused and happy-go-lucky expression while tilting his head to the other side.

"What do you mean, Princess?" Sting asked in disbelief.

"I mean exactly what I said." Minerva replied in a no-nonsense tone. "We can worry about avenging Orga during the Grand Magic Game event on the last day. But if we don't win tomorrow's event, it won't matter even if we do."

'Not that there's a chance you'd be able to take him on alone.' Minerva thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Sting clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, causing Lector to look at him with a worried gaze. A few moments later, however, he relaxed. Then, he took a deep breath before making eye contact with Minerva.

"I understand." Sting said in a solemn tone. "I'll win tomorrow's event. That way, we should be able to get enough points to win the whole competition if we win the Battle Round and get enough points during the Grand Magic Game."

"Good." Minerva said with a nod of her head. "I'm glad you understand. Now, go and get some rest. You'll need to be well-rested to win against that monster tomorrow."

Nodding in response, Sting and the others were surprised when Minerva turned around and walked towards the hotel's front entrance.

"Hey, where are you going, Princess?" Rogue asked curiously.

"Just to take a walk." Minerva replied without stopping or turning around. "I need to clear my head a bit. There's a lot to think about if we want to win, after all."

While Minerva continued to walk away and eventually left the hotel, Sting, Rogue, Rufus, and Orga exchanged glances, not knowing what to do or say before they eventually went off to get some rest.