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Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail. Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned something like that?

Beta Reader: volfwildman

"Greater Illusion: Symphonia of Blades"

As Bishop cast the spell a wave of magic filled the air before taking shape. Hundreds of swords appeared in the area. All the blades were different styles. From longswords, katanas, rapiers, sabers, short swords, claymores and more. For a second, they just floated in the air, scattered all around the place, before the moved. The sword started to move slowly as they seem to move in odd patterns like they were dancing to an unheard song.

Erza had no idea what to make of it. The spell had a lot of magic put into it but she really couldn't tell what was different about these illusions compared to her brother's normal ones. As the blades danced around her slowly, she was starting to think that this was all one big trick to stall for time.

While she took in the dancing blades, she noted one lazily making its way over to her. She idly moved out the way mostly just on instinct, but it wasn't enough as the blade slight passed through the side of her left leg. When it did Erza let out a gasp of pain.

She felt it! She felt the blade slice her flesh and even now the pain lingered. She looked down at disbelief at the spot her leg was in pain but there was no injury but the cutting pain refused to die down. She let out a far more audible gasp has in her distracted mindset she didn't notice another blade coming from behind her. It passed right through her stomach, leaving no physical evidence of it being there beside the cutting pain she was feeling.

After the pain from the second false blade, Erza notices that the blades were dancing much faster now and many of them were nearing her. She wasted no time as she started to dodge out of the way of the painful illusions. She soon found herself doing a dance of her own she flew all around the area as she kept dodging the utter bullet hell of dancing swords.

Unfortunately, with every passing second, the blades seem to move faster and faster and as a result, she started to feel the pain of small cuts being made on her body as the false swords just barely got their edges on her. It didn't help that the phantom pain from all the hits was starting to build up and causing her body to feel more and more tired as a result. The Requip mage knew she needed to end this before she took too much damage from the blades.

When she looked down, she was surprised to find that her Big Brother was still there, staring with a look of pure concentration at her and the surrounding swords. She quickly summoned a blunt weapon before throwing it at the Illusionist. Bishop's eyes only widened the slightest bit but other than that his expression remained unchanged as he slightly moved to the side and out of the way of the projectile.

'That's gotta be him.' thought Erza as she kept a side-eye on her opponent while dodging the increasingly swifter swords. 'He wouldn't have put in the effort to dodge if it was a fake and whatever this illusion is it looked like he put all his focus on to it.'

With her rushed thoughts concluded Erza decided she need to end this now as she ignored the swords and rushed forward towards her brother with her standard longsword ready. She gritted her teeth as she passed through many of the false blades on her way to her brother but know that if she could take him out it would be worth it.

Bishop's eyes widen even more this time as he started to backpedal away from the incoming mage, all the while keeping his concentrated look on her and the illusion. The action solidified the thought that this Bishop was real for the redhead. The back-peddling however only bought him a few seconds before Erza was upon him, ready to strike him and end this fight.

Erza gave a quick mental apology as she swung the blunt side of her blade with all her might at the side of Bishop's head. Only for the blade to pass through like nothing was there as the "Mirror Image" of Bishop disappeared into nothing.

Erza stood there for two more seconds. The first second was realizing that she had been tricked. The later second was her loudly gasping in pain as several illusionary swords descended on her from behind. Before any other blades could follow the first blades however Erza quickly jumped to the side and cast a spell.

"Flight Armor" In a flash Erza now had on very revealing cheetah printed armor. With her new armor on the redhead swiftly moved out of the way of more oncoming blades. With the speed boost from her armor, Erza was able to keep out of the reach of the dancing swords, if only for a little while.

Unfortunately, while the speed boost helped it only lasted for a little over a minute before all the blades' paces seem to finally start to catch up to the Requip mage's new speed. Soon she felt more and more of the pain of little cuts on her body as she tried to avoid. It didn't help that she seemed to start to slow down as well, the phantom pain and her tiredness started to catch up with her and it seemed like it would soon overcome her.

For a few seconds, she debated going all out right then and then, even if this was a test, she felt that at this point she would need all her power to win. But before she could decide to go all out or not everything stopped. The swords which had been dancing in absurdly coordinated patterns at insane speeds just stopped. The fake weapons floated in the air for a second before fading into nothing.

Erza's surprise at the halted illusionary assault quickly ended as she heard loud panting and gasps from her right side. Upon turning she saw her Big Brother on one knee and hand as the other hand strongly grasped his head as an utterly pained expression as forced onto his face.

Bishop had reached his limit. He had never used a Greater Illusion for this long and the use of Mirror Image along with Vanish at the same time had taken an insane amount of focus and concentration to pull off. But now has both his brain and magic channels screamed at him for their overuse and he knew he was pretty much out of steam. It really didn't help that even now he was forcing himself to keep up one more illusion as well.

Erza let out a sigh of relief as she realized that her brother was at his limit and knew the battle was over. She still felt the phantom pain lingering on her body but it seemed to be slowly fading with the illusion over. She very slowly took a step towards him. Her eyes widen in surprise, she hadn't meant to take such a slow step. Another step provided the same result, it felt like her muscles were fighting against her.

When she looked down at herself, her eyes widened even further as she saw a dozen little cuts on her body. During her marathon of dodging she hadn't thought to check for any injuries, believing any pain she had been feeling was from the illusions rather than any actual injury. Bishop must have been inflicting small cuts on her throughout her time dodging on the ground. She quickly went through a list of poisons she knew her brother used and swiftly found one that matched what was happening to her right now.

"You used Stone Flesh on me." At Erza's words Bishop lifted his head slightly to look at his sibling. The pain from his channels had died down a little but the migraine pain in his brain refused to fade, still protesting him keeping up an illusion no matter how small it was.

"Ya...needed a backup...incase my illusion failed...to end this." He strained out the words.

Erza slowly nodded her head at his words before slowly raising her right hand and having a sword appear in a flash floating next to her, pointed at Bishop. "It was a good idea but I don't need to walk over to you to end this myself."

Despite the pain, Bishop let out a little chuckle at Erza's words much to the redhead's confusion. "Your right but the poison was for the advantage of someone else."

Erza face scrunched up in confusion for a second before her eyes widened in realization. In the heat of facing her Brother's illusion, she had forgotten something.

He wasn't the only one she was facing.

With his words said, Bishop finally released his last illusion much to the relief of his brain and channels. With the "Vanish" gone Erza felt an incredibly large amount of magic being used. Near twice as much as Bishop's Greater Illusion. Turning her head slowly to the side she saw her only sister, Cana, standing a good distance away with wind whirling around her. In her hand was five cards that were fanned out between her fingers and thumb, each brimming with element magic.

Fire, earth, water, air, and lightning energy was leaking out of the cards as Cana put all her effort into maintaining the powerful spell in her hands. Even with the tired look on her face, she let out a small grin as she looked towards Erza. "Guess I'll give you a fair warning to Sis. Your about to have a really bad time." With that said Cana funneled the five cards together and pulled back her arm, ready to launch her literally trump cards at the S-class mage.

Erza silently cursed as she prepared a spell of her own and with a flush of magic, it was cast. "Adamantine Armor" Erza heavy protective armor was on her once again. However, without the speed boost from her other armor, her body was all but immobile from the poison in her system. But luckily one of her shields was in the right place to block an attack from the Card mage, even then her armor should boost her natural magic and physical defense.

Cana ended up holding her arm back a little longer than necessary to allow her sister to put on her defensive armor, even if they were fighting, she didn't want her little sibling to be seriously hurt. But with the new armor on Cana throw her arm forward and released her most powerful spell.

"Royal Elemental Flush"

The second the cards left her hand they speed through the air thanks to the lightning element in them and impacted Erza's shield. Each card exploded into a vortex of elements as Erza was engulfed in the quintuple elemental twister. Even with her Adamantine Armor on and the Stone Flesh poison toughening her muscles up the pain the Requip mage felt was horrible.

Erza slowly felt her consciousness flee her as the vortex continued to assault her. Maybe if she had not started so easily at the beginning or gone all out during Bishop's powerful illusion she might have won. But ultimately that wasn't her purpose. She was to test her siblings and has far as she was concerned, they passed.

The elemental vortex seemed to gather up into a sphere with her in the center. Even with her loss coming Erza couldn't help but smile. After who better to lose to then her older siblings right? And as the sphere exploded out into one last massive explosion Erza lost her consciousness.

(Bishop's POV)

I couldn't help but stare at the mini-nuke mushroom cloud that was in the middle of the room. What the hell had Cana put in that thing!? If it wasn't for the Adamantine Armor and Stone Flesh poison, I would have been concerned for Erza's safety right now.

I waited for the smoke to clear as I run my hand over the side of my head in a feeble attempt to dull some of the headache I had. I tensed up when I saw a figure in the middle of it still standing but once the smoke cleared it was clear that despite still standing Erza was very much unconscious. Guess her armor and my poison was enough to prevent her from falling.

After a few more seconds of staring at Erza just to make sure she was truly out I turned to Cana. "What the hell did you do? "Cana and I seemed to lightly shout this at the same time. We both looked surprised when the words were said together and for a moment, we just stood staring at each other before we both let a chuckle.

"Hehehe ahh it hurts to laugh." As I say those words, I hear a loud clang sound and look to see that the exit to the room was no longer blocked by a gate. "Come on Cana, let's get going. We can explain what we did along the way." She nodded her head as we both slowly shuffled our way to exit, neither of us had the energy to just properly walk right now.

As we walked Cana was the first to explain her spell. Apparently, it was something she had been working on since her first failed S-class trials. The basic idea was to use five different elemental energies and push them to their max point of power before refining said energy into each card. The refining part was what took about 5 minutes but apparently, when she had first made the spell it had taken her about 10 minutes so there had been improvement.

Next, it was my turn to explain what a Greater Illusion was. First, though I explained how I came to make it. It first began a good few years ago when I tried pumping my normal illusion full of magic, it didn't do too much but I found that if I focused more with the empowered illusion, I had a greater range of manipulation. I had been lazily throughout the years been experimenting with it until the Lisanna incident, at which point I started to go all out with the testing. Greater Illusions were the result.

It was a combination of two things, the first being a shit ton of magic and the second being an absolute shit-ton of focus and concentration. The first part hadn't been that bad, I had plenty of magic to spare, but the second part had forced me to refine my ability to control and manipulate the five senses to the uppermost limits and then some. The fact that I could use a Greater Illusion for so long along with three other normal illusions was an unexpected but painfully welcomed surprise.

Ultimately the main difference between normal Illusions and Greater Illusion was one thing though. Normal illusion worked by tricking the mind into believing something was real when it wasn't. Useful but like most tricks, when it was known it lost most of its potency. Which was the reason I made more area illusions, illusions that affect a certain area and the brain by proximity, then people illusions, illusions that directly mess with a person's brain, since area illusions couldn't be broken with the use of magic power flushing out their brain. What Greater Illusion did though was force the mind into believing.

Greater Illusion didn't really give the mind much chance to resist the illusion. It forces its way into the mind and promptly makes the brain believe everything about the illusion is real even if the brain and body still know it's an illusion. Inflicting pain was simply one of the new things available with these new types of illusions. Where a normal brain wouldn't be fooled by fake pain, a Greater Illusion forces the brain to think it's real and thus make the body's nerves react in a way that causes said pain.

Even the mind of a mage that had more magic resistance in it would be forced to believe if the spell was powerful enough. Symphonia of Blades was powerful enough even if it was one of the least powerful of the Greater Illusion I had developed. It took less focus and magic compared to the others which was probably the reason it had been the first one I had mastered while the others I was still having problems with.

That said pain was only one of many new things I could do now with Greater Illusions. Just need to put some more work in them to get everything ready.

It was after developing Greater Illusion when I realized why no one had done this before. The amount of magic needed would be far too much for most illusionist and the amount of time needed to get to the level needed for the focus and concentration was not worth it if you could spend that effort on another type of magic and get far better results faster. I had plenty of magic and since illusions were my only real option for mastering a type of magic neither of those requirements forced me away.

When I was finishing my explanation Cana and I finally came to the exit of the tunnel we had been in. Over the course of the walk, we had slightly regained our energy and could now walk properly. Once out we came to what looks like a large outing on a side of a small mountain. I saw the other tunnel exits that lead here as well off to the side. There appeared to be a mountain path leading up here and next to the trail was a bus with the Fairy Tail logo on it.

Leaning against the bus was the Guild Master and next to him were four other figures. As we moved closer, we finally saw the other people who had passed the test. A Very excited Natsu seemed to be next to a calmer Max. So those two had passed.

As we were almost there the Guild Master turned to look at us with surprise on his face before he spoke. "Well, it looks like you two made it past Erza. Impressive, it's been a good few years since someone made it past one of the S-class battle rooms."

Cana seemed to stand up a bit straighter at the praise as the Master walked over to the side and continued, "Ok can go stand by Natsu and Max. Bishop, you go to the sidelines with Happy and Warren. We can begin the third trial once everyone is in place."

I gave a slightly surprised look towards Makarov as I moved to the sideline. "Is no one else passing to the third trial?" Makarov shook his head no before talking, "Nope. Wan got unlucky and choose the auto loss tunnel. Macao ended up facing Natsu in one of the battle rooms." I couldn't help but grimace at hearing that, the fire mage going against the mage that ate fire, not a good matchup for Macau even with Wakaba there for support.

"And Freed ended up in the other S-class battle room against Laxus. Freed ended up trying to pump himself up for about 2 minutes just to fight Laxus before my grandson finally had enough and just sucker-punched him into unconsciousness, Bickslow pretty much surrendered afterward."

In all honesty, I'm surprised Laxus even allowed Freed two minutes. Guess the guy did have a soft spot for his little Thunder Tribe after all.

With all that said Makarov looked towards the three remaining participants. He seemed to build up the tension a bit by waiting for a few seconds before speaking. "You three have done this Guild proud by making it so far but unfortunately only one of you can become S-class, that's assuming one of you can pass this last trial." Makarov straighten up before giving each of the mages a serious look and continuing.

"The first trial tested how fast you can move around an unfamiliar terrain to get to a goal, along with a few obstacles to overcome as well. The second trial tested your luck, which is unfortunately always a factor in a job, no matter how skilled the mage and your fighting skills as well. Now, this final trial is a test of the mind! I shall tell you all a riddle, the first one to answer it correctly becomes S-class if you get it wrong you fail though so be careful. Are you all ready?"

As the three nods, I can't help but give the Master a raised eyebrow. Just a riddle? I figured that the last trial would be mental test but I thought it would be more like a scavenger hunt or even an actual paper and pencil test. But a simple riddle? Why not I guess, he is the Master after all.

The Guild Master waited for a few seconds as he eyed the three before speaking once more. "Ok then. Here is the riddle. What is one thing but made of many, each part is strong but together it is nearly unstoppable, and no matter how far the parts are from each other they are always together."

Before either, Cana or Max could even start thinking Natsu spoke up. "That's easy Gramps. It's fire! It's one thing but made up of little sparks, bring it all together and you have an unstoppable inferno and a fire can be all over the pace but still a part of an inferno." At Natsu's words, Makarov let out a little chuckle.

"Not bad Lad but unfortunately that not it. Please go to the side." Natsu looked angry for a second before he simply slumped down and let out a sad sigh before heading over here where Happy started to pat him on the back. Cana and Max shared a look before both seemed to start thinking over the riddle.

Really? That such a simple riddle! How can neither of them know the answer?! I look over towards Cana and can't help but let out a disappointed sigh at her struggling look.

After about two minutes Max spoke up. "Is it magic? I think that works with the riddle." Makarov let out a little hum before shaking his head no. "Good guess their lad but nope. Over to the side please." Max let out a sigh before shrugging his shoulders and moving over toward us.

Cana had a worried look on her face before she once again put on a struggling look as she thought over the riddle. After another minute passed Makarov spoke up, "Would you like some advice Lass?" Said person gave the Master an odd look before speaking, "Wouldn't that be unfair Master?"

The Guild Master just gave a shrug and said, "I said some advice, not a hint." Cana seemed to think it over for a second before nodding. "Two heads are better than one." Cana gave the Master a surprised look before looking over at me then back to the Master with a raised eyebrow.

"Never said you couldn't ask for help from your partner, did I?" Makarov gave Cana a sly look before putting on a neutral once more face. Cana let out an annoyed sigh before looking towards me once again with a somewhat expecting look.

"Family." I say with a dry tone, "The answer is Family. It like the most obvious answer. The Guild Master gives a speech about it every other week. I mean really." Cana looked a bit surprised before looking over towards Makarov who was keeping up a rather solid poker face right now.

After a few seconds, Cana spoke. "Family. That's my answer."

Makarov just stood there staring at Cana for a few seconds before looking down. "Cana." The Guild Master said as said person was slowing going pale at the thought that she had just failed. But before Cana could go completely white Makarov looked up with a grin.

"Congratulations, your right. You are now an S-class mage."

Cana's eyes widen to a comedic amount as she just stared at the Master with her mouth just hanging open. Before she could say anything Nastu all but tackled her with a hug and started to cheer as Happy, Max and Warren all walked over to her as well and started to congratulate her as she finally snapped out of it and started to cheer along with her brother.

I just kept standing in place, letting the others celebrate while I just stood by content to be there. Makarov started walking towards me and was soon standing beside me as he too looked over the small celebration.

"Good job their Lad. Guessing the riddle and all." I just shrug, "Like I said it was an easy riddle." "For you maybe. Everyone else had didn't have an easy time." I once again just shrug and continue to look onwards.

After a few seconds, Makarov started walking towards the bus but I stopped him before he could go far. "Master, a quick question. Why haven't I been selected for the trials? Not to be arrogant or anything but I feel like I have the skill at this point."

Makarov chuckled a little before looking back towards me. "Your right Lad. You got enough skill with those little illusions of yours to be selected. In fact, you were considered for this and the last trials. But in the end, I didn't think you were ready."

The Master turned his gaze to the horizon where the sun would soon be falling towards. "There's more to be an S-class mage in Fairy Tail then power or skill. You must know what it means to be a Fairy Tail mage. You must understand what we stand for. A few years ago, I let Laxus participate in the trials even though I knew he didn't understand. I thought he would fail and get a better understanding but instead, he passed and became an S-class mage and because of that he now fully believes in his 'little strength above all' philosophy. It's my biggest regret as the master of this guild and as his grandfather. I refused to let it happen again."

He looked back to me with a proud look on his face. "I thought you didn't understand either. Maybe more than you did before joining but still not quite there. I was obviously wrong and I'm quite happy I was. Keep up the great work Lad and come next year you'll find yourself in the trials again. This time as a participant." And with that said, he walked towards the bus and got into the magically powered vehicle.

As I stared at the bus, I felt something odd swell up in my chest. That swelling seemed to redouble as I looked back towards the little celebration, at the smiling face of Cana. It was like satisfaction but warmer and softer. Was this… was this pure unfiltered happiness?

It felt nothing like the filtered and dialed down version I was used to feeling. It was rather over welling really. Like a nice but intense campfire heat falling upon my body.

As I continued to look towards my siblings, I felt my small smile spread into a full one. I just stood there and happily stared at Fairy Tail's new S-class mage.

I could get used to this feeling.

(Alice Vern's POV)

I smiled as I sat to the side of the party that Fairy Tail was throwing. Even if it was an hour past sunset, they still wanted to celebrate the end of the S-class trials. They had decided this time to have it on the beaches of Magnolia with several bonfires place all around as the mages dance and got food and drink from one of the serving tables set up on the sides. Even a few normal town citizens had joined in and having a great time.

I was just happy to sit on the side and observe. As my eyes roamed the lit-up beach I saw my children. Natsu and Gray were of course together and have a rather active discussion on the trials from what I can hear of it. I couldn't help but giggle at the two, Gray had said he would no longer be friends with Natsu because of not choosing him has a partner but the second the two brothers saw each other they are interacting like nothing had happened.

I also saw my other children sitting on a repurposed log set to the side of a bonfire. Cana and Erza were also having an active conversation but unlike my two sons, I couldn't hear them. But most of my attention was on my oldest, my little Bishop who was sitting beside them.

And the thing that really drew my attention was the smile on his face. Not the far too wide one he got from me or the small one that he would occasionally wear but a full and happy smile that was even wider thanks to the scar on his left cheek.

I wasn't as airheaded as most people thought. I did have a full education plus four years in a university where I studied cooking. I just like putting on a little act for fun and to mess with people. I knew something had been off with my first child. Not just his incredible intelligence but his rather lacking emotions as well.

At first, I didn't put too much thought in it. It didn't seem to bother him so I left it alone but after the death of my sweet Derek, I became more and more concerned. I wanted to do something but didn't know what to do to help my little boy. I guess that Kathrine dying was a blessing in disguise.

I had grown up in Magnolia along with my cousin Kathrine. The two of us had been as close had sisters really. We did everything together. It was only when my parents died in an accident that I decided to use the insurance money from their death to make a life for myself outside of Magnolia. After saying my goodbyes, I went to the university of Fiore to learn to cook.

There I meet Derek. He had been the only one to help me when I dropped my school supplies and as a thank you, I took him out for lunch, we found that we like having lunch and decide to meet up again for dinner. The rest was history.

He was such a sweet man. Always willing to help others even if it cost him. It was ultimately that kindness that got him killed at work but even now I couldn't bring myself to hate it. We got married once we both graduated and moved into the town of Kingston where we had Bishop.

Even after all those years, I kept in contact with Kathrine. I could always expect a letter once a week from her. Or I could until almost a month went by without one and just as I thought about going to go visit her to make sure everything was ok, I got word of her death. She had been suffering from an illness she had refused to tell me about and died in her sleep.

When I learned about her leaving me everything, I decide to take a chance. Even then I still remembered my home town. I remembered the sounds of the ocean and the people on the street. But most of all I remembered Fairy Tail. I remember how close they were. I remember how they always seemed happy. How they were one big family.

I might have been a little forceful in getting Bishop to join them but I couldn't bring myself to regret it. Not when I got many more wonderful children from it. Not when I saw Bishop grow into such a wonderful young man. Not when I see him smiling happily next to his siblings.

He truly was his father's son. He had not just inherited his looks from Derek but that amazing kindness as well. He just hid it under that layer of coldness. But right now, that coldness was nowhere to be seen and for a second, I swore I saw Derek sitting right there, conversing with his adopted daughters with a smile on his. The same kind smile that I had fallen in love with. The smile that Bishop had inherited as well.

No, I didn't regret it at all.

AN: And so ends the little S-Class trials arc. One more chapter just to rush to the beginning of Canon. Now as for the chapter itself, Erza ultimately loss but I feel like I did it in a realistic way. Cana is now S-Class and we got to some back story for Bishop's mom. I was debating on if I wanted to have some kind of secret backstory for her but I felt that a simple happy one would work best here. Also, we get the first taste of Greater Illusions, like it says in the chapter their more powerful illusions that force the brain into believing things like pain. The spell you saw was simply a little taste of them and I hope to really show them off in the future. For those of you asking for Tsukuyomi level illusions, I do plan for Bishop to get to that level but that a good way into the story. They will come and will be a major trump card but I'm afraid you'll have to wait.

Thanks once again to volfwildman for being a Beta. Also a big thanks to Minipa for pointing out the Grammar errors that I have spent a few hours this week fixing. And another thanks to TehStorm for his review and for being the closest to guessing what Greater Illusions were.

Look at the swinging pocket watch. You feel very sleepy, oh so sleepy. When I snap my fingers you will fall asleep. *Snap* Now when I snap them again you will wake up and leave a review for this story...and give me twenty bucks too. *Snap*

Have a great day.

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