Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Treasure Hunt

{LEXI'S POV}
Lighting strikes. Thunder booms.

"Yes. Let him fight. Release me faster. The fourth and fifth seals have fallen."

I wake up. My first thought is of Reiki—he was planning to compete in the challenge on the third day. In others words, today. But if he does...

I race downstairs and find my four teammates already eating breakfast. Mom's cooking at the stove. She looks up at me and smiles. "Morning sleepyhead. You were out like a light. I decided to leave you be since you had a rough day yester—"

Mom doesn't complete her thought, interrupted by me tackling Reiki out of his chair.

"Wha?!" Reiki yelps. A plate of scrambled eggs is sent flying as I end up sitting on his chest.

"You're awfully bold today." Storm quips.

"Reiki!" I shout.

"Lexi?" He responds calmly, arching an eyebrow.

"Let me take your place today. I want to compete in the third event." I cup my hands around my mouth so the others can't read my lips and mouth: Snake.

Reiki's eyes widen. His body tenses under mine, leaving me acutely aware of our position.

I flush and leap off him quickly. "I mean, err, I feel bad about giving up. I want to prove myself."

"We know you, Lexi. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone but yourself." Nashi says.

"That was... actually smart." Avery concedes, wearing a mockingly stunned expression.

"Whadd'ya mean actually?" Nashi flicks a spoonful of oatmeal in Avery's hair. "I'm always smart."

Avery responds by throwing a piece of bacon at Nashi, who chomps it out of the air. Avery gasps.

"Aunt Mira, Nashi stole my bacon." Avery tattles, sticking her tongue out at Nashi.

Nashi stands. "You threw it at me, you bag of bolts!"

"You threw oatmeal at me first, tarhead!"

"Oh it's on! We settle this now, you iron-chewing dentist's nightmare!"

Demonic aura emanates from the kitchen, shutting  both girls up right quick. Mom walks out, plate of pancakes in one hand and spatula menacingly in the other. Only Mom can make a 'Kiss the Cook' apron look designer and terrifying at the same time.

She smiles darkly. "You settle this after breakfast."

We spend the rest of breakfast musing what storybook the third event will be based on until Dad walks in and tells us we need to hurry or we'll be late.

When Mom tries to follow us, he pulls her back and obliges the apron.

"I'd like a baby brother." I tease in a singsong voice as I close the door, giving them some privacy.

Reiki and the others wish me luck as I split up from them, going down to the arena while they join the rest of the guild in our box.

There's nothing that screams 'game' in the arena. Instead, several giant lacrima-visions have been placed around for the audience.

"I was expecting Reiki Fernandes." I hear a female voice and turn around to see Mirror Orland. "Since he hasn't competed yet."

"I want to redeem myself." I explain, puffing out my chest and trying to stand a little taller.

She smiles and offers me a hand. "Let's have a good match... whatever it is."

I accept the older girl's offered hand. We shake.

"If you ask me," Hikaru Lates approaches us, "it looks like we're going to be transported someplace other than this arena. All the lacrima-visions are so the audience can still see us from that location."

"What makes you say that?" Edwin asks, following the sounds of our voices to join our little cluster.

Edwin certainly doesn't look very threatening, waving a cane back and forth in front of himself as he walks. He wears dark sunglasses over milk-white eyes. I still shouldn't underestimate him.

"I've analyzed the arena." Hikaru explains, nodding at Axis Link and Lynn Angel as they're the last to join us. "There's a transportation array in the center. I'll bet it's to take us to the location of the special event."

"Fun." I mutter, remembering the dirt tower of Tower Escape swallowing me up. At least I have some warning this time.

"Welcome to the third day's event-kabo!" We all look up at the sound of Mato-kun's voice. His pumpkin head is being projected on all of the lacrima. "Today's event is special! We got permission from the dryad queen to use her forest for our Treasure Hunt!"

The audience cheers.

A woman with pale green skin, dark green hair, and brown eyes appears on the screen. She wears a dress made out of orange day lily petals.

"I am Lily, advisor of the queen and the judge of this special event." She introduces herself, bowing. "As Mato-sama just said, the name of this event is Treasure Hunt. You are to find as much treasure in our forest as you can. The dryad forest contains unique trees which bear a rare and valuable fruit found nowhere else. We call it Notch fruit. It has many healing properties and is the sole source of food for the dryad. Notch fruit is green when unripe and deep red like this when fully ripe."

Lily holds up a fruit that looks like a juicy blueberry, but is the size of a grapefruit and color of an apple. As a demonstration she reveals her teeth, like a human set but the canines are much sharper, and bites the Notch fruit. The rare and valuable fruit immediately begins to shrivel until it looks like a huge red raisin. Lily sucked it dry like a vampire.

"Collect as many as you can, the more ripe the better. I will judge the fruit you collect when you return. You must reach the tree's canopy, for we dryad live in the treetops and we only allow rotten fruit to fall. Rotten fruit is worthless. Of course, we have a few rules that you must follow. You may not harm our forest or our people. You may not steal from our Notch fruit stores, as they feed our people during winter. Do not go too deep into the forest, where the queen's palace is; stay on the outskirts. When you are transported through the array, you will be provided with a cloak and a basket to collect your treasure. Keep them on you at all times. Many dryad are not used to and are uncomfortable with humans, but they have been informed of the situation and will allow you to pass."

Little Red Riding Hood. A storybook about a girl in a red cloak who has to traverse through a forest to get food to her grandmother's house. But Red had to get past the big bad wolf...

"One last thing," Lily continues, as if reading my mind. "You must avoid attracting the ire of the bane wolf queen, for she is the sworn enemy of the dryad. Her pack attacks our nurseries and mauls our young. Only the queen can speak, but the entire pack is intelligent, cunning, and wicked. The more treasure you accumulate, the greater the chance you will have to fight them off, if you are unlucky."

Four pairs of eyes fly to me as Mirror, Hikaru, Axis, and Lynn pin me as the unlucky one.

Fan-flipping-tastic.