The Power of One Dream (A One Piece x Fairy Tail Story)

Part 13: Battle 6

(A/N: Warning: Laxus being a jerk to follow! Also a very long chapter. Please read to the end!!)

Laxus Dreyar emerged from the Magical doorway into a large chamber dimly lit by light peeping through openings in the chamber roof. Or one of several crumbling-stone-walled (albeit intricately decorated) spaces within a large dimly lit chamber. That was the first thing he noticed. The second was that he was standing on a relatively small, circular stone platform surrounded by water, one of several in the chamber linked by fine-carved stone bridges. Beyond the open roofless walls he could see a number of carved stone water channels coming out of the outermost walls high at the top of the chamber, or running along the opened walls around the spaces. A lot he noticed were carved in the shapes of Magical creatures, and a fair few in the general shapes of Dragons (Laxus smirks). By Laxus' guess, he was in an old-fashioned (and well used) cistern. Laxus would almost say he admired the fine craftsmanship of the architecture and attention to detail of the general decor, if not for the number of other carved channels in the shape of 'Manticore Sting's' gruesome namesake.

When a bright flash behind caught his attention, Laxus turned and found the doorway he had come through dissapatted into light particles, leaving nothing but damp air and the other side of the chamber behind him. 'No turning back then.' he thought grimly and left his platform. He walked calmly over a bridge connected to his platform, under the archway in the wall closest to him, and made his way to a larger stone platform in the centre of the chamber. A gentle current stirred the waters around the platform lined by many of the crumbling walls poking out above their surface. The current itself stirred from a large cascade filtering down from a larger duct close to the ceiling of the chamber, carved unmistakably in the shape of a Manticore. Literally the biggest eyesore he'd seen since coming here. For a moment there was no other movement in the chamber, and so Laxus waited.

Then another Magical doorway manifested at the opposite side of the platform. And a large figure stepped through. Laxus stared at the imposing figure he had seen but a moment ago, with his black (and white-streaked) hair in a bun, traditional orange oriental robes under a purple kimono and high-tread wooden sandals. And a look of astonishment on his jagged toothy-mawed face.

"Laxus Dreyar??" Jinbei asked aloud cautiously.

"Whaleshark-Guy??" Laxus replied with equal confusion.

At that point, the doorway behind Jinbei dissapatted just as Laxus' did. And just as with their respective comrades (though neither of the two knew that), a Magical light barrier quickly arose about halfway into the waters' radius up to the the ceiling of the chamber. And just as with their comrades, they heard the pre-recorded message of the heinous 'Head' giving them their ultimatum. When the echoes of the message finally ceased from the chamber, the sounds of free-flowing water all around them seemed almost defeaning.

"Well, guess there's nothing else for it..." Laxus broke the relative quiet with a cocky grin and a fist ground into an open hand. ".. If I gotta throw some punches to save the busty blonde then so be it-", "I would strongly advise against that!" Jinbei interrupted with a grim expression. "There is no question in my mind that us thinking there is no way forward except to regard each other as enemies is exactly what our TRUE enemy wants. And almost certainly they are putting our comrades through the same ordeal perhaps even as we speak. Our best chances of rescuing Nami AND Lucy remains to work together. But still.." Jinbei gave a weary sigh. "..If another gateway cannot be opened without one of us meeting the criteria set out by our enemy, then I willingly forf-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!!!" Laxus cried suddenly and angrily, giving the Fish-Man a serious scowl. "Don't you dare back out now after making such a big entrance in Magnolia. I didn't storm this place looking for a cop-out or to NOT get my knuckles bloodied!"