A Different Set of Keys
Chapter 4: Rock-a-Bye Spirits
Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor One Piece they belong to Mashima Hiro and Oda Eiichiro respectively
A/N: I've finally got a chance to write this again, lucky you guys. This should take about two chapters for the whole arc and you'll get to see two more spirits in this arc, one in this chapter and the other in the next. Yay, for you.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Demon/Dragon Talking"
'Demon/Dragon Thinking'
'Flashback'
Magic/Magic Item
Location/Time Change
Fairy Tail Guild
Lucy stood in front of the request board and hummed to herself as she examined the various jobs available. "Searching for a magical bracelet, removing a spell from a cursed stick, fortune telling using astrology, exterminating a devil on a volcano! There sure are a lot of different kinds of jobs." She muttered to herself.
"If you find any jobs that you want to take be sure to tell me since Master is out at the regular meeting." Mira reminded Lucy from behind the bar.
"Regular meeting?" Lucy repeated in confusion.
"It's a meeting between the various guild masters where they report about their guilds. It's kind of like the Council meetings… err, I guess it's confusing." Mira turned to a large mage in a white shirt and black pointed hat. "Reedus, can I borrow your Light Pen?"
Reedus nodded and handed a pen to Mira who then used it to draw in the air. Mira then explained the basics of the guild's government. There were basically three levels: Magic Council, guild master, and guild members. Guild masters were in charge of their guilds and informed the members of what the Council had decided on, as they had the most power over affairs of the magical worlds.
"I had no idea that guilds were that connected." Lucy said after Mira finished her explanation.
"They're very important." Mira agreed. "If you neglect the connections then…"
"The dark mages will come and get you." Natsu told Lucy in a dark and menacing tone while fire appeared on his hands.
The blonde mage gave out a shriek of fright and nearly jumped out of her stool. She whipped around and glared at Natsu the best she could while her heart pounded like a bass drum. "Don't scare me like that!" She shouted at Natsu and Happy, but did little to dissuade their laughter.
"What are you so scared of?" Natsu asked between his laughter.
"Lucy's a scaredy-cat." Happy laughed out.
"No I'm not!" She denied.
"The dark mages really do exist." Mira said after the trio had calmed down. "They belong to illegal guilds known as "dark guilds"."
"They don't follow the laws, so they're scary." Natsu said.
"They're more likely to recruit you than me." Lucy muttered, but Natsu seemed to find it amusing.
"Anyways, hurry up and pick a job." Natsu told her.
"We picked one last time without asking you, so you get to pick this time." Happy said.
"Forget it! Our partnership is over!" Lucy said in a huff. She couldn't believe that those two still thought that she would stay on their team after last time.
"Why?" Natsu and Happy asked in genuine confusion.
"Any blonde girl would have worked for the last job, wouldn't they?!" Lucy pointed out.
"What are you talking about?" Natsu said in confusion. "But you're right."
"SEE!" Lucy shouted.
"But we picked Lucy because she's a nice person." Natsu told her with a large smile.
Lucy had no way to respond to that and had to settle on pouting at him.
"You don't have to decide on a team just yet." Gray cut in, once again in his boxers. "You did a good job on your last job, so you'll probably get a lot of offers. You took out two mercenary guild members and a gorilla woman, that's amazing." He congratulated her.
"That was all Natsu." Lucy deadpanned.
Gray's attitude took an immediate flip and he grabbed Natsu by the collar and got into his face. "So that was you, bastard?"
"You got a problem with that?" Natsu sneered at him.
The two mages soon devolved into another one of their infamous fistfights that traversed the entire guild. While they were fighting, Ace slouched into the guild and immediately passed out on the bar, causing Lucy to sweatdrop at his actions.
"Why does he do that?" Lucy asked Mira.
"Ace is narcoleptic, he falls asleep all the time." Mira said. "The only time he can stay awake without fail is when he's fighting."
"That's inconvenient." Lucy said.
"You get used to it." Mira said as she placed a giant plate of food in front of Ace. Lucy then watched with a slack jaw as Ace began to eat in his sleep.
The ground began to shake and booming footsteps were heard in the guild. Many of the members froze in fear at the noise and began to panic. The only ones unaffected were Lucy, Mira, Ace, and Natsu and Gray's fight. "What's going on?" Lucy asked.
"It seems like Erza is returning." Anticipating her next question, Mira elaborated. "She tends to act like a disciplinary while around the guild and there have been some incidents in the past."
"Such as…?"
"Natsu got beaten up for picking a fight with her, she beat up Gray when she found him walking around naked, and she beat Ace with his own staff after he fell asleep and ruined her strawberry cake." Mira listed.
Lucy paled after Mira finished. "That seems a little overkill doesn't it?"
"That's Erza!" Mira said with an out of place cheery smile.
At that moment, Erza walked through the door while holding a massive decorated horn. She was a beautiful young woman with long red hair, brown eyes, and a curvaceous figure hidden under a breastplate. She also wore greaves on her hands, a blue skirt, and knee-high brown boots. "I'm back." Erza announced with an accompanying boom from the horn as she put it down. "Is Master here?"
"Welcome back!" Mira happily greeted her. "Master is at the regular meeting."
"I see. In that case, I-" Whatever Erza was going to say was cut off when the still fighting Gray and Natsu crashed into her. The trio fell down into a giant pile of limbs and curses and caused the entire guild to tense up in anticipation.
"Oh, dear." Mira said with a hand over her mouth.
"Natsu. Gray." Erza said the two fighters' names in a foreboding tone that caused the two of them to leap to their feet and immediately act as if they were friends.
"H-hey, Erza." Gray shakily said. "We were just having a friendly little… spar! Just a spar. Right, Natsu?"
"Aye!" The pink haired mage said in agreement.
The two of them were sweating buckets and started to get even more nervous when they saw that she wasn't buying their excuse. They both cried out in fear and made to break for the exit only to be grabbed by Erza and held in front of her face. "What have I told you two about fighting?!" She demanded. The pair were only able to let out another scream before Erza beat them both into a black and blue pulp.
Ace chose that moment to wake with a snort. He blearily looked around for a moment before slamming his fist into his hand. "That's right! Guys! Erza's on her way back…" He trailed off when he turned around and saw that Erza was already there and standing above a defeated Natsu and Gray. "Never mind."
Erza shot a glare over at Ace and he suddenly found great interest in devouring his meal. She then moved her glare to the mages below her. "It is actually a good thing you idiots ran into me." Erza told them. "I found something disturbing on my last job, and since Master isn't here and it is an urgent matter, I need the two of you to come with me." Erza ignored the shocked faces and gasps around the guild. "You'll do it, right?" Erza took their lack of response as a sign that they agreed. "We leave tomorrow. I'll explain everything on the way." Gray and Natsu's protests did nothing, and with that Erza left.
"Erza, Natsu, and Gray." Mira listed with a stunned look on her face and a hand over her mouth. "This might be the strongest team Fairy Tail has ever had."
Lucy gaped at Mira in shock, never imagining that the three of them were that strong. She looked at the two who had gone back to arguing and the red haired woman who had just left. She knew about Natsu's strength, or at least thought she did. Just how powerful were they when they got serious?
Magnolia Train Station
"Why am I stuck on a team with you?" Natsu demanded from Gray.
"That's my line. If Erza needs help then I'm more than enough." Gray and Natsu were causing a scene while Happy and Lucy watched from a bench.
"Just pretend we don't know them." Lucy advised in embarrassment.
"Why'd you come with us, Lucy?" Happy asked while eating a fish.
"Because Mira said that Natsu and Gray were going to spend the entire time fighting if Erza isn't watching and she asked me to mediate."
"But you aren't doing your job." Happy noticed. Before Lucy could respond Erza arrived with an apology and a huge cart full of luggage. Natsu and Gray immediately started getting along and wrapped their arms around each other.
"It's best when you get along." Erza then noticed Lucy. "Who are you? I saw you at Fairy Tail yesterday but didn't get your name."
Lucy introduced herself with a bow. "I'm the new member, Lucy. Mira-san asked me to come along. I'll try to help as much as possible."
"You were the new member that the guild was talking about yesterday. I heard that you took down a gorilla mercenary yourself, good job." Erza congratulated her.
"That was Natsu and it wasn't a gorilla." Lucy dejectedly corrected her.
Erza acted as if she hadn't heard her. "The job might be risky, but I'm sure that you'll be fine." She reassured her.
"Risky!" Lucy yelped in surprise.
"I don't know what the job is about, but I'll help you on one condition." Natsu told the redhead.
"Idiot!" Gray insulted Natsu and then turned back to Erza with a nervous expression, afraid that she would be angry. "I'll work with you for free." He offered in order to alienate himself from Natsu.
"What is it?" Erza asked.
"When we get back I want you to fight me!" Natsu declared.
Lucy and Gray stared at Natsu as if he had grown a second head. "Do you have a death wish?" Gray hissed at him. "You got destroyed last time!"
"I'm different from back then." Natsu brushed him off.
Erza closed her eyes and gave a small smile. "You really have grown up." She remarked. "I accept."
Natsu was engulfed in flames as he cried out. "Now I'm all fired up! Let's do this!" He then ran onto the train while still on fire causing a panic until he put out his flames.
Erza turned back to the others. "Does anyone else want a fight?"
Lucy and Gray held up their hands and shook their hands in denial. Erza nodded and they all boarded the train and found their seats.
Later in the Train Car
"Ugh" Natsu dejectedly slumped over in his seat, once again struck by motion sickness. The entire team was sitting inside a booth with the girls on one side and the guys on the other.
"Man, Natsu, you suck." Gray told him as he tried to move away from him while staying in the booth.
"It still looks painful no matter how many times I see it." Lucy said in sympathy.
""I guess there's no other way," Erza said before patting the seat on her side. "Natsu, come sit by me." The Dragon Slayer swapped seats with Lucy and was now on Erza's side. Erza quickly punched Natsu in the stomach and knocked him out. "That should stop his pain."
No one was willing to argue with her after watching her do that. Lucy decided to change the subject. "I've only seen Natsu's magic before. What kind of magic do you use, Erza-san?" Lucy asked.
"Erza's magic is really pretty. When she uses it her enemies' blood goes everywhere." Happy told her while eating a fish.
"Not really. I think Gray's magic is much prettier." Erza surprised Gray with her compliment, getting him to demonstrate some of his magic. He put his right fist on his left palm and conjured a blue magical seal. When he moved his hands a Fairy Tail symbol made out of ice was revealed.
"Ice Make Magic." Gray stated. He then became serious as he turned to Erza. "Isn't it about time you told us what we're supposed to be doing?"
Erza nodded. "You're right, let me explain. We are going against the dark guild, Eisenwald. They are planning to cause havoc with a magic called Lullaby.
"Let me start from the beginning. On my way back from the last job I stopped at a mage bar in Onibus. A group of mages were there complaining about something that they couldn't get to because of a seal. Initially I thought it wasn't anything suspicious until I overheard the rest of the conversation. One of the mages said that he would get Lullaby back in three days and to tell Erigor. I didn't recognized the name at the time, but later I realized where I had heard of it before. Erigor, the ace of the dark guild Eisenwald who gained the nickname 'Shinigami' because he only took assassination missions."
Erza slammed her fist onto Natsu's head in anger. "I made a mistake. If I had recognized the name Erigor earlier I could have beaten their plans out of them."
"I see. You want to stop Eisenwald from doing something evil with Lullaby, but you can't handle the entire guild by yourself. So you asked us for help." Gray summarized.
"Yes, the plan is to head straight to Eisenwald."
"Sounds interesting." Gray said with a smile.
Next to him Lucy had broken out into a cold sweat at the mention of fighting a dark guild and had continued to get more terrified as the conversation went on and she grasped the full implications of what she had gotten into. "I should have stayed at the guild!" She moaned.
Onibus Station
Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Happy got off of the train and Lucy questioned Erza. "Where is Eisenwald's guild at?"
"I don't know. We are here to look for clues of their whereabouts."
Happy looked up from his fish to ask Erza a question of his own. "Where's Natsu?" All of the mages freeze in shock and looked back at the recently departed train as Happy voiced their thoughts. "And he's gone again."
"This is all my fault. I was too busy telling the story and forgot about him. Someone hit me." Erza hung her head in shame at her thoughtless actions.
"Let's focus on getting Natsu back." Lucy suggested to avoid anyone actually taking her up on that offer.
Erza walked up to the train station conductor and demanded that he stopped the train. She soon grew frustrated with his claims that they couldn't stop the train just because one of her friends didn't get off at the right stop. She noticed a lever on the wall nearby and pointed it out to Happy. "Happy."
"Aye!" The cat understood her unsaid order and pulled the lever that would forcibly stop the train.
Erza nodded in satisfaction before taking off to find a way for them to catch up with Natsu.
"This got out of hand." Lucy moaned.
"Indeed." Gray agreed with Lucy, unaware that he had once again stripped down to his boxers. Lucy however, noticed.
"What happened to your clothes?!"
Lucy never got her answer as Erza drove a magical four-wheeler up to the station exit. "Let's go."
Further Down the Tracks
The mages were closing on the still stopped train when they saw that it was starting to move again. Erza pumped more magic into the four-wheeler and closed the gap between them and the train. It was just in time as Natsu came crashing out of one of the train's windows. "Natsu?" She said in surprise.
On the roof, Gray was shocked by the appearance of his rival. "Why did you jump out of the window?" No answer was given due to Natsu's forehead slamming into his and causing the two to fall off the four-wheeler and hit the dirt.
The brakes squealed when Erza tried to force the four-wheeler to stop on a dime so she could check on her teammates. "Natsu, are you okay?"
"Aye." A disoriented Natsu responded with his default answer for Erza.
Gray groaned as he stood up while rubbing his forehead. "That hurt, jerk!"
Natsu leapt to his feet in anger. "Shut up! You left me behind. What the hell!?"
"At least you're unhurt." Erza placed an arm around Natsu before clanging his head off of her breastplate to give him her version of a hug.
"Ow, that hurt! And what do you mean, unhurt? I got into a fight with a weird guy on the train. He said he was from Eisenwald or something, whatever that means." Natsu complained.
Erza proceeded to slap Natsu. "YOU IDIOT! Eisenwald is the people we're after."
"This is the first I've heard of it," Natsu muttered while rubbing his stinging cheek.
"I just explained it. Listen when other people are talking." She lectured. "If he was on the train then we can still catch up to him. What does he look like?"
"Nothing special, but he did have this weird flute with a three-eyed skull on it." Lucy froze in fear at Natsu's description of the flute.
"Lucy, what's the matter?" He asked.
"I've heard of that flute. Lullaby, the curse song. Death Magic."
"Curse song? Like a magical song?" Gray asked, confused by her explanation.
"I've only read about them in books, but one of the forbidden magics is Death Curses, right?" Lucy checked.
Erza expanded on Lucy's words. "Yes, magic that sucks the life out of the person it is cast upon."
"Lullaby is even worse. Anyone who hears its song will be killed." This new information stunned the Fairy Tail mages for several seconds. After they recovered they all piled into the four-wheeler and Erza took off even faster than before.
Oshibana
The sound of screeching tires was heard as Erza drove like a maniac through Oshibana and probably broke several dozen traffic laws in the process of their mad dash to the train station.
"Erza, slow down!" Gray yelled from his precarious position atop the four-wheeler. "You're gonna burst the SE plug at this rate!"
"We don't have time to worry about that." She shouted back. "We need to stop Eisenwald before they kill anyone!"
"What if you run out of magic when we get there?" Gray shot back. "Then you won't be able to fight."
"I don't care. Worst case scenario I can just beat them with a stick. Besides," She said with a soft smile that Gray couldn't see. "We still have you and Natsu and that's enough."
Gray tched in annoyance, but was unable to come up with a good enough counter to change her mind.
Inside the cabin Natsu was lying in a pathetic heap on the seat opposite of Lucy and Happy. Happy turned to Lucy, "Lucy, I think there's something I'm supposed to tell you." He said.
Lucy curiously turned to Happy, "Really? What is it?"
"I forget. All I can remember is that it had something to do with you."
Natsu chose this moment to try and escape out of the window, forcing Lucy to grab him. "Stop, Natsu! You're going to fall out." Lucy tried in vain to haul the Dragon Slayer back inside.
Happy continued to wrack his brains for what he was supposed to tell Lucy while ignoring her plight. "If it wasn't Lucy is nauseating what else could it be? Lucy's weird? A fish? Delicious? Healthy? Weird? Weirdo?" He asked aloud.
"Why do you keep saying that I'm a weirdo?!" Lucy shouted at Happy while she struggled with the Dragon Slayer. Eventually she pulled him back in with a mighty heave that ended with Lucy pinned under Natsu. "Ugh." She groaned while trying to push him off with little success.
Oshibana Station
"Please stay back it's dangerous here." A station worker with a megaphone stood in front of the station shouting orders. "The station is temporarily closed due to a derailment. Please leave the premises." Erza walked up to the worker and put her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"Tell me, what is going on inside the station?" She demanded.
"Huh? Who are y-?" The station worker was unable to finish his question before Erza grew impatient with him and head-butted him unconscious. She continued to use this method with two more workers before she got an answer. Meanwhile, Lucy had slung Natsu over her shoulders and was carrying him piggyback style while she watched Erza's somewhat brutal methods.
"She doesn't have much use for people who don't answer right away, does she?" Lucy noticed with a sweatdrop on the back of her head.
"You're starting to understand her now." Gray answered with his arms crossed. He had somehow managed to lose everything but his boxers on the short walk from their four-wheeler to the front of the station.
Erza returned from getting the answers out of the station's staff by apparently absorbing the information with head-butts. "Eisenwald's inside. Let's go."
All the mages gave a cry of agreement and started to head into the station except for two of them.
"Wait, why am I in charge of Natsu?" Lucy cried while she supported the still sick mage.
She was promptly ignored and the mages walked into the station unhindered. Erza informed the others of what had happened. "A small military unit went in to try and stop Eisenwald earlier, but haven't returned yet."
They then came across those soldiers who were strewn about the station and stopped in shock. "They didn't stand a chance against an entire guild of mages." Erza muttered as she checked them all for a pulse. After determining that they were all alive, she nodded to the others and they gave a sigh of relief.
"The platform is just ahead, let's go!" Gray motioned towards the end of the hall and the mages broke into a sprint.
Once they made it to the platform they were greeted by a dark chuckle shared by the entirety of Eisenwald. "I knew you'd show up, Fairy Tail flies." A heavily tattooed man with a lean build, spiky silver hair, no shirt, and black pants with a ragged cloth tied around his waist said from his spot sitting on the train. In one hand he held a giant scythe that was crowned with a skull and in the other he spun the flute Natsu had described. "We've been waiting."
"You're Erigor, aren't you?" Erza said with a serious look in her eyes.
Lucy tried in vain to snap Natsu out of his motion sickness induced stupor. "Wake up, Natsu! It's time to work."
"It's no use. Natsu went from a train, to the four-wheeler, to you. It's a triple knockout combo." Happy informed Lucy.
"I'm considered transportation?!" Lucy shouted in indignation. "Wait, why didn't you carry him then?" Happy gave no response much to her ire.
A mage with black hair tied back into a spiky ponytail on top of his head scowled when he saw Natsu. "You damn flies. Because of you Erigor got mad at me!" At the sound of his voice Natsu's eyes snapped open.
"What are you planning to do with Lullaby?" Erza demanded of the dark guild. "Tell us and we may take it easy on you."
Erigor laughed and flew up to the station's speakers. "You don't know? What do train stations have?"
"He's flying!" Lucy stated in shock.
"He's using Wind Magic." Happy pointed out.
Erza was more focused on what Erigor was implying, "Are you planning to broadcast Lullaby?!" She was appalled at his plan and the deaths he would cause.
Erigor once again laughed at the Fairy Tail mages. "Thousands of nosy people are outside this station right now. Maybe if I were even to raise the volume the whole town might hear it. The Curse Song."
Erza's face was darkened in anger. "You would commit mass-murder on thousands of innocent people. Why?!" She questioned in a tone that made it clear that no answer she got would be able to justify that plan.
Erigor answered Erza's question with an evil grin full of joy and malice. "For cleansing. A cleansing of fools who flaunt their rights while living their lives. Unaware that some people have had those rights stolen. It is a sin to live obliviously in this unfair world. So the Shinigami has come to punish them."
"Your rights were taken away because you kept taking illegal jobs! How will this return your rights?!" Lucy yelled.
"We don't want rights. We want power! With that we can wipe the past clean and control our future."
"You're all idiots!"
"Too bad you flies will be unable to see the new age of darkness." The spiky haired mage said. He knelt down and sent out his shadow to attack Lucy.
She stepped back in fear of the sudden attack and would have been hit if Natsu hadn't burst to his feet and destroyed the shadow hand with a backhanded Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. "I knew I recognized that voice." He said before smirking at the mage. "Now we're on a real battleground, Kageyama." He told the mage.
The Fairy Tail mages faced-off with the dark guild members as the tension between them rose. "There sure are a lot of them." Natsu remarked in amusement.
"This is Fairy Tail's strongest team." Lucy bragged. "Prepare yourselves."
"I leave the rest to you." Erigor told his guild. "I have a flute to play." He rose higher into the air and twirled his scythe. "Show them the power of Eisenwald!" He ordered his guild before he left by flying through one of the station's windows.
"Natsu, Gray, the two of you go after Erigor. If you work together you will be able to beat 'The Shinigami'." Erza turned to the two mages who were currently engaged in another one of their glaring contests. "Are you listening to me?"
The pair suddenly became friends again at Erza's words. "Aye!" They called out in harmony.
"Then go!"
Natsu and Gray quickly left to chase after Erigor. As Eisenwald watched them run away they realized that they were going after Erigor and one of them conjured up shadowy threads and started to chase after them. "I, Rayule-sama, will take them down."
"I'm coming too. That bastard has to pay!" Kageyama put his hand on the ground forming a gold and black magical seal, before he disappeared into his own shadow.
The Eisenwald guild members started chuckling among themselves. "What can two girls do against an entire guild? Try to fight and we'll pluck your wings 'Fairies'." One of the members taunted.
"Try insulting Fairy Tail again and you won't live to see tomorrow!" Was Erza's response.
"So what, you're a magical swordsman. We have a ton of those on our side." Eisenwald's swordsmen charged Erza unaware of the terrible mistake they were making. Erza charged through the swordsmen defeating them easily. Some of the mages tried ranged magic, but Erza requipped a spear and defeated them also. Next, she requipped to twin swords as she continued to effortlessly cut down the Eisenwald members.
"Now she is using twin swords. Her requipping is so fast." One of the members commented.
Lucy stared in shock as Erza handed the Eisenwald mages their asses on a silver platter. "Amazing."
"That's Erza." Happy said. He then proceed to explain Erza's magic to Lucy, "Most swordsmen only requip their weapons when they fight, but Erza can also requip magical armor while she fights from her pocket dimension. That's her requip magic, The Knight."
Lucy pulled out Brook's key and held it in front of her. "Open, Cabin of the Musician. Brook!"
An incredibly tall skeleton walked out of the light and rested on his purple cane. He had a top hat with a crown on the brim on his large black afro, heart-shaped sunglasses on his skull over a large crack a feather boa over a the top of a fancy suit, and red orange pants with white flowers on them. "What kind of song do you want today, Lucy-san?"
"Hey, that girl's a necromancer!" One of the dark mages shouted. "What's she doing in a legal guild?"
"No I'm not!" Lucy shouted in frustration. Why did everyone assume that when she summoned Brook even if they saw her perform the summoning? She turned back to her spirit. "I need a battle march today."
"Of course." Brook said while pulling out a sword from his cane with as serious a look as a skeleton could wear. "But first…" He turned back to her. "May I see your panties?"
Sadly, Brook never got an answer when a hammer was slammed into his head and he was sent crashing into the ground by Erza. Lucy screamed in panic when she saw Brook get blindsided. "Lucy, are you okay?" Erza asked, misattributing her scream. "I heard one of them say "necromancer" and thought that you might need assistance."
"That was one of my spirits!" Lucy informed her with a shout. She then ran over to Brook and started to shake his shoulder. "Brook, are you okay?" She asked in concern.
"It appears that I am unable to perform today." He said before dispelling in a blue light.
"I'm sorry that I attacked you spirit." Erza apologized. "You can hit me later, after I finish them off." She told her before she started to glow.
Lucy then saw Erza's magic in action when she changed into an armor that appeared to be made nearly entirely of individual blades, had a pair of large wings, small breastplate, a long skirt, and a set of gauntlets, boots, and a neck guard all with a feather design. The dark mages ogled Erza's new look and didn't respond as she rose into the air. Multiple blades appeared around her and started to spin. "Dance, my blades!" She called out. The swords took off and hit most of the mages and defeated them in one blow. "Circle Sword!"
Only two Eisenwald members remained a black haired and whiskered mage and a fat green haired one. The one with black hair and whiskers gathered magic in his hands before charging Erza. "You bitch! You have to deal with me now!"
His companion tried to call him back, but was too late. "Wait, there's no doubt. She is the strongest woman in Fairy Tail, 'Titania, Queen of the Fairies' Erza." While he was talking Erza effortlessly defeated the man he was trying to warn.
The mage realized that he was the only Eisenwald member left and chose the smart move to run from the platform and fled down the corridor. Erza requipped back to her normal armor and noticed his escape attempt. "He might be heading to Erigor. Lucy go after him." She ordered.
"Eh. Me?" Lucy asked in confusion. Erza just one-shotted most of the mages, she should have been able to take down one overweight mage that was trying to escape on foot.
Erza glared at Lucy with a dark glint to her eyes. "Please."
"I'm going!" Lucy and Happy fled from Erza's gaze and chased after the mage, neither willing to question her orders.
After they left, Erza fell to her knees and used her remaining sword to support herself. 'I've used up too much magic.' She clinically evaluated her situation. 'Natsu, Gray, it's all up to you now.'
As Lucy and Happy ran down the corridor after the fat mage they soon lost sight of him and stopped at an intersection. They wildly looked around, but were unable to determine which way he had went. They chose one and random and prayed that they were right.
A/N: Done, just pounded that whole chapter out in one day. Because I'm awesome. (Making this count for June regardless of when it was posted) So there we have the start of Lullaby Arc and we meet Brook! For all of about four lines, but it counts! You'll get more of him later. This will be the last thing I post before I go on vacation for a week, so if you read any of my other stories don't expect a fast update. Until next chapter, later.