Serpentine
Summary: A new dark guild is on the rise. Deciding to act quickly, The Council sent requests to cripple the rising threat before it can gain any strength. Fairy Tail sent Team Natsu to assist the council's request and soon face an unexpected enemy that could very well destroy the very foundations of the guild.
Author's Note: Hey guys! It's my third story (second since the real second one was a sequel.) I can't say how thrilled I am to share this new idea I have in mind. It took me that long to finalize how the story will proceed. There will be three Acts in this story, each with it's own plot that is overarching. Hope you'll enjoy this new story and HOPEFULLY I will no longer go on extended hiatuses. I do not own Fairy Tail.
Fairy War: Act I
Chapter 1: The Snake Coven
It was a fine day in the land of Fiore. At a forest just south of Crocus, Team Natsu was currently on a mission to hunt down several members of Snake Coven. They were wandering around the forest, looking for the cave where the Coven was currently residing.
"We've been going around in circles!" Lucy complained. "We've passed that tree numerous times now! Are you sure that cat knows where we're going?"
"Lucy, don't bother Happy." Natsu said, supporting his best friend. "Happy knows where the cave is!"
Lucy groaned in disapproval. On the other hand, Gray, Erza, Wendy and Carla were content with Happy leading them to the mission. The forest was thick and teeming with wildlife. It was very easy to hide and get lost within.
"Lucy, don't be too harsh on Happy." Wendy said. "I trust we'll be there soon."
Lucy sighed. She had no other choice but despite being lost, she was happy to have friends to be there with her. Suddenly, Happy landed and stopped.
"Happy, is something wrong?" Erza asked.
Happy didn't immediately reply but instead began to frantically look around.
"Happy?" Natsu asked.
"We're lost" Happy said.
"Just as I thought" Lucy whispered while Erza confronted Natsu on letting the cat lead them.
While Erza and Natsu were arguing on who should lead the group, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Happy and Carla were having a small picnic on their own.
"So, Gray how are things with Juvia recently?" Lucy asked.
"I'm curious too. Yesterday, I saw you two walking around Magnolia the whole afternoon." Wendy added.
Gray was getting nervous at the two female mages' questions.
"You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her" Happy chimed in, resulting in a frozen exceed at which Erza found amusing. Gray tried to react but stuttered with every word.
"It seems that Gray is unable to find the right words to describe his relationship with Juvia." Lucy added.
Natsu and Erza have calmed down and joined the others in the impromptu picnic. Erza sat beside Wendy while Natsu plopped next to Happy and Lucy. Erza took a slice of cake while Natsu grabbed the map from Happy and gave it to Lucy. Erza was enjoying a proper picnic without the distraction of bandits, mages and the Jigglejugs Gang.
"Why me?" Lucy asked, wondering why and how she will lead the group to the location of the cave.
"You have that compass penguin spirit." Natsu groaned, while grabbing a large bone of ham. "I'm sure he'll point us to the right direction." Natsu said before stuffing his mouth with the ham.
Lucy agreed and sighed. She hadn't thought of it earlier. At least they have this short picnic. They group enjoyed the food and the time to enjoy just with themselves without the rowdiness of the other guild members. As soon as they finished eating and resting because of Natsu taking a long nap, they packed up and helped load the stuff in Erza's carriage.
"Ok, Lucy. Where will we head to?" Erza asked.
Lucy grabbed Pyxis key from her pouch and said, "I open thee, gate of the compass, Pyxis."
The Celestial Spirit appeared and happily jumped upon being summoned.
"Pyxis, I need you to guide us to this point on the map." Lucy said, showing the penguin the location on the request.
The compass on top of the penguin's head began to spin. As the compass began to slow down, they heard a sharp hissing noise.
"What was that?" Wendy asked, trembling while hugging Carla tightly.
"It came from over there!" Gray pointed to the west of their position, a thick part of the forest.
"Do you think it was the Snake Coven?" Lucy asked as Natsu, Gray and Erza eyed the surroundings.
The hissing became more frequent and was more distinct from each other. It was surrounding the clearing in the forest they were in.
"Crap, we've been surrounded!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Wells, wells. Whats dos wes haves heres?" A thin man appeared. The man was extremely thin and wore black baggy pants, sandals and a waist-level sleeveless coat. His hair was tied up in a pony tail behind his head. His eyes were elliptical in shape, his mouth was wide and thin.
"Who the hell are you?" Gray said, throwing his jacket away and preparing to attack in case they decide to.
"Stand down, Gray. We're completely in the dark here. We may be outmanned." Erza commanded.
"Hell I care!" Natsu exclaimed, his fists already in flames and his mouth spewing fire.
"Is means nos harms." The man hissed. "Wes overheards yours wordss ands cames tos helps yous."
"Help us?" Erza asked. "How, exactly will you help us?"
Erza requiped 2 of her swords, just in case, as more and more people appeared from the forest.
"Titanias iss so wises. Fairys Tailss' outnumbereds ands wes ares a darks guilds. Thes Snakes Covens wills makes easys works ofs Fairys Tails." The man boastfully remarked.
The Fairy Tail mages were slowly moving back to each other. They were vastly outnumbered and blind on how powerful Snake Coven was. Based on the intelligence they were provided, Snake Coven is a relatively new dark guild but quickly built its reputation using deceit, stealth and cunning. The Council, decided to act quickly and sent a job request to various guilds to cripple Snake Coven by attacking several known hideouts of the members of the guild.
"So, who are you?" Lucy asked.
"Mys names iss Savus" the man replied, bowing for respect.
"Savus or Savu? You really should work on your speech." Carla said, crossing her arm.
"He's just trying to be a snake, Carla." Wendy whispered.
"Sos, wills yous joins uss insides?" Savu asked, paving his hand behind them.
"What should we do, Erza? Should we listen to these snake creeps?" Lucy asked, getting worried of their fate.
Erza just eyed the situation. They can fight but who knows how much magic and how many of them are there.
"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU SNAKES! FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"
A stream of flames erupted out of Natsu's mouth, startling Savu and disoriented several members of the Coven.
"About damn time. Ice Make: Lance"
Icicles spewed out and cleared a path behind them as the Coven members dodged the attack.
"Now's our chance! Natsu! Gray! Cover our retreat!"
"Retreat?!" Natsu and Gray were shocked to hear those words out of Erza. They were expecting Erza to join their attacks but she mistook it as a distraction.
"Let's not waste any…" Erza said before a long tail grabbed her by the neck.
"ERZA!" Wendy exclaimed.
"I open thee, Gate of the Crab, Canc…" Lucy tried to summon cancer but her mouth was covered by a green colored slime, much to her disgust. Lucy tried her best to remove the slime but it was sticking to her. Another green slime hit Lucy, this time it sealed her hands, further preventing her to help.
Soon, Erza was wrapped entirely by a snake's body but, to her shock, found out it has the upper body of a man. "A mage?" much to Erza's surprise. The mage tightened his grip and was slowly crushing Erza.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Wes weres gracious tos yous Fairiess buts tos launchs ans attacks? Ass yous cans sees, wes Snakes Covens ares mages toos. Don'ts forgets." Savu reminded them of who they were dealing with.
Savu ordered them to carry the female mages. Wendy, hugging Carla tightly, was too scared to fight against the Coven after witnessing how they easily incapacitated Erza and Lucy. Happy, Natsu and Gray were fighting the mages, in hopes of rescuing their female comrades.
"Viperss, deals withs thes otherss." Savu ordered.
Three mages, one male and two females went off towards the remaining Fairy Tail mages.
Savu and the rest of his guildmates, carried Erza, Lucy, Wendy and Carla back to their cave hideout. Savu smiled upon seeing the captured mages. He joined his guildmates back to their hideout.
(Natsu, Gray and Happy)
"Gray! Where's Lucy, Erza and Wendy?" Natsu wondered. He blocked a punch from a member of the Snake Coven and threw him towards three more.
"We got separated." Gray replied, slashing both Ice Swords at the opponent before blocking the claws of another.
"Natsu! I saw them take Lucy and the others to the cave there!" Happy shouted, trying to evade the various magic beams shooting at him.
Natsu grinned. Their hideout has been discovered. They just have to find a way to finish these off. Natsu backed towards Gray and saw them completely surrounded.
"We have to rescue Lucy, Erza, Wendy and Carla. But first, let's show these mages that they shouldn't be messing with Fairy Tail." Natsu boasted.
Suddenly, Gray began cooling the air around them and Natsu lit up his fists. The Snake Coven mages slowly approached the cornered mages.
"Hey Natsu, I think these mages think they got the upper hand here." Gray smiled. The air keeps on getting cooler. Their breaths were now visible except for Natsu.
Natsu grinned. His flaming fists burst even hotter. He slammed them together and leapt. Gray quickly positioned his hands and quickly touched the ground.
"Ice Make: Geyser"
Ice formed in front of Gray and moved in a wide arc forward before bursting upward. It hit all of the mages in front of Gray.
"Fire Dragon's Roar"
From above, a breath of fire lashed out behind Gray, quickly dispatching the mages below.
"These guys are too strong!" A mage shouted in fear.
"They're inhuman!" Another mage commented.
The unharmed members of the Snake Coven quickly ran away, fearing another powerful attack.
"Happy! Lead us to where they took Lucy." Natsu ordered.
"Aye sir!"
Happy led Gray and Natsu towards the cave hideout of Snake Coven but were stopped by three mages.
"Step out of the way if you don't want to get hurt." Gray said, walking by two of them.
The large man glared at Gray and grabbed him by the shoulder. He wore a blue skull cap, covering most of his brown unruly hair. He was dark skinned and scaly, by the looks of it. He wore a tattered blue sleeveless shirt, showing his well ripped arms and white pants with black shoes.
"Don't try to disrespect Sev here. He may be unable to talk but he's quite the man of action." The smaller man said. The smaller man wore a black tank top along with black pants. He was barefoot and had military style haircut. His eyes were uneven in size, the right one was slightly bigger than the left.
Sev then pushed Gray back towards Natsu and the woman laughed. Gray glared at Sev while Natsu looked at the female mage. The woman wore an elaborate dress, it was gold and her long golden locks were touching the ground. She had a red headband that stood out. Her dress was split in the sides, showing her shapely legs and the silver high heeled shoes. She wore gloves that matched her dress and were elbow length.
"That woman looks like she's going to a ball." Happy commented.
"My, my the cat can talk and fly." The woman commented, with a slight hint of surprise. She eyed Gray and Natsu, especially Natsu.
"Hmmmm…" the woman said sexily, sensually licking her lips.
Gray, Natsu and Happy could only stand as the three mages blocked their path. Natsu was weirded out by the look on the female mage.
"Psst. Gray. Why is that woman looking at me like that?" Natsu whispered.
Gray ignored Natsu's question, instead tried to assess the situation.
"She liiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you" Happy teased.
"Sev, Rorkafella deal with the guy in boxers. I'll HANDLE Pinky here." The woman said, slowly approaching Natsu.
Natsu and Gray entered into their battle stance. Rorkafella immediately dashed towards Gray which Gray dodged left but hit Sev. Gray was shocked.
"How the hell did he get here so fast?!" Gray wondered as Sev grabbed his right wrist and spun him around like a towel.
Rorkafella signaled Sev to throw the dizzy Gray up. Sev obliged and hurled Gray up. Rorkafella raised his hands, palms facing upward and aimed at Gray.
"Solar Beam"
A ball of bright light appeared around Rorkafella's palms and then shot up towards Gray. Gray had to react, quickly as the beam approached him.
"Ice Make: Shield"
A shield of ice appeared between Gray and the solar beam but it was quickly shattered and Gray barely avoided getting hit by shifting to his left.
"Ice Make: Lance"
Sev glared at Gray and thrust his palm upward towards the icicles rushing towards them. The icicles hit an invisible barrier and quickly shattered. Gray landed in front of them and quickly stripped off his jacket.
"Why did you strip?" Rorkafella wondered.
"You're no cannon fodder. It's time to get serious." Gray said.
(Natsu and Happy)
Natsu slowly moved back as the weird and mysterious woman slowly approached Natsu.
"C'mere pretty boy" the woman huskily said while enticing Natsu to approach her.
Natsu was nervous. He didn't know what to do to this woman.
"F…Fire Dragon's Roar"
The woman jumped away as Natsu ran towards Gray.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Natsu shouted as he grabbed Gray away from his opponents.
"What are you doing, Natsu?" Gray asked, angry at him for taking him away from his fight.
Happy led the panicking Natsu towards the entrance of the cave. As soon as they entered, Natsu regained his composure.
"What the hell was that for, flame head?!" Gray frustratingly asked Natsu.
"I felt that woman's magic. It made me panic. My thoughts were muddled and for the first time, I was unable to fight back." Natsu admitted.
"That woman scared you?" Gray teased.
"THAT'S NOT IT!" Natsu responded, flames spewing from his mouth.
"We'll deal with that later, right now we have to find the others." Happy chimed in, reminding Gray and Natsu that Lucy, Erza, Wendy and Carla are in the hands of Snake Coven.
The cave was dimly lit and had two separate passages probably dug up by mages. Natsu tried to make out a scent similar to Lucy's since he's very familiar with hers but he couldn't. They had to make up a plan. Time was short and who knows how long before they come up behind them.
"Let's split up." Gray suggested.
"Split up? But Gray, how am I supposed to defend myself?" Happy asked.
"Happy, go with Natsu. We need to move silently as possible without alerting the entire Snake Coven that we are here. It's good that they haven't shown up yet." Gray said.
"Who hasn't show up yet?" A familiar voice asked.
To be continued…
Reviews are welcome :D