Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Precious Reward

{LEXI'S POV}
I'm taken aback. Of all the possibilities I played out in my head, I never expected the queen to laugh at me. I'm honestly surprised I haven't been skewered.

"I do say I'm impressed. You're quite the clever detective. However, you've only been in this forest for less than half a day. The dryad have lived here for centuries. Did you really think we weren't aware of the bane wolves' diet?"

"Eh?"

"When I signed a contract with the creators of your game, they asked me to make it more of a challenge for you, more like in the storybook. So I had Lily go to your arena and tell you all a blatant lie. The bane wolves aren't our sworn enemies, Alexiane. They are our sworn allies. They protect us and this forest in exchange for a portion of our harvest. And they know not to actually harm you or your friends. That is the true purpose of the red cloaks."

"Huh?"

"Did you really think your gamemakers would allow you children to be put in any real danger? The wolves that chased you were not trying to harm you or my son. They were only trying to rescue him from you."

I flash back to the dryad, Daisy, who I thought was the prince's mother. She was actually telling me not to run and even tried to stop me from leaving.

"B-But I wasn't gonna hurt him!" I splutter.

"Indeed. And when you proved how desperate you were to save his life and return him to his mother, the wolves let you go. Did you not find it strange that such intelligent creatures would immediately jump on the fruit like that? They were playing you."

I flush.

"And then they followed you in the shadows, leading you here. You thought you were running away from them. But you were actually rather gullible to go exactly where they were guiding you."

My blush darkens. They played me like a fiddle.

The queen's expression softens. "Daisy is well. Due to your quick thinking, her life was spared. For that, you have my deepest thanks. I will give you a reward equal to the treasure that you saved."

She bows her head slightly. So does the entire royal guard. I wipe my hands on my shirt.

"No no no no no! Please stop! To me, life is the greatest treasure of all, so..." I trail off, realizing how sappy that sounds.

The queen's eyes dance with humor. "No, I insist."

She stands and nods to a servant nearby. They approach her holding a gilded box. The servant kneels next to the queen. The queen of the dryad opens the box. Inside is a golden Notch fruit, bigger than the ripe deep red ones. All the guards kneel.

Cradling the golden fruit, the queen walks up to me until we're face to face. She's really young, no older than nineteen years. I'm almost as tall as her.

"Alexiane Aella Dreyar."

"Hmm?!" I squeak. Words have left me.

"The dryad believe in an eye for an eye. You have saved a life and life is priceless. Therefore, you must be gifted a priceless treasure in return. This is a golden Notch fruit. A single tree will only produce one in it's lifetime, and they take 100 years to ripen to maturity. This is currently the only mature golden Notch fruit we dryad possess."

"Wha?!"

"As such, for your bravery and selflessness in rescuing Daisy as well as protecting my son from a perceived threat, I, Queen Hydrangea, present to you this golden Notch fruit as an equal exchange."

"Hwaaaaah?!" I splutter as the dryad queen places it gently into my cupped hands. It's heavy and warm.

"However," Queen Hydrangea continues. I just about have a brain aneurysm. There's more?!

"It was very clear in the contract I signed: no human would go too deeply into the forest and or into my palace. You have broken both of these clauses. As such, I must penalize your reward."

I breathe a sigh of relief, not bothering to resist as Queen Hydrangea promptly plucks the fruit out of my hands, returning it to it's gilded box.

"Therefore, instead of receiving a golden Notch, we will return the Notch fruit that you scattered in the forest as a means of escape."

A big wolf trots into the throne room. I recognize it as the one I kicked in the face. He's carrying my basket, with all the Notch fruit I got from the dryad inside. This isn't so bad. I can accept this.

"And three Notch fruit of equal or greater quality than those used to save Daisy and feed Fern."

"Heeeh?!" And once again, Queen Hydrangea blindsides me. I guess Fern is the name of my little buddy, the dryad prince.

Three Notch fruit are given to me. They're definitely better quality than the ones the old lady gave me.

"One more thing." Queen Hydrangea says, patting the head of the wolf who brought my picnic basket. "This fella seems to think that you're a great tag buddy. He'll bring you down the tree so you don't have to smear that nasty rotten stuff on your hands and feet again, in exchange for one teensy favor."

{NASHI'S POV}
Our entire guild has been tense since Lexi's last appearance on the lacrima. I'm sure she's fine, but the others are anxious.

I drum my fingers along the railing, clenching my other hand into a tighter fist.

Lexi's stronger than anyone in the audience realizes. She's terrified of magic yet she stayed with us. She persevered through years of panic attacks in the bathroom when she thought no one else was there. A few wolves are paltry compared to that.

"Only two minutes till noon! All of the contestants except for Lexi Dreyar have made it back to the array, but the young Fairy Tail wizard is nowhere to be seen! Will she be disqualified?!" Chapati yells.

Silence in the stands. Everyone waits with baited breath for Lexi to show herself.

And she does! Lexi comes barreling out of the dryad forest at full kilt. A roar arises from our box, my voice happily included.

And then a hundred bane wolves come crashing out of the forest behind Lexi.

"WHA-WHA-WHA-WHA-WHAT'S THIS?!" Chapati yells, panicking in his chair. "Hurry, start the array! Get them back!"

"Not without Lexi! She's not at the array yet!" I scream back, one pane of glass the only thing between my fireball and Chapati's wig.

"GO! GO! RUN!" People start screaming. Us. Her fans. The other guilds.

She's so close. The array begins to glow. The second Lexi steps on, the nearest wolf mere inches away, they disappear and reappear in the arena.

Lexi still has all her momentum and faceplants. The roar of everyone cheering is deafening.