The Barren Breach. Lucy laments over the visage of the oldest part of Yamikami Woods, after which the forest is named, now understanding why the forest was called what it was. The worst isn't the dead trees, she thinks, nor the dry bushes or the raggedness of the wildlife. It's not the rasin-like berries, the slimy pupa hanging from secluded places, or the spider webs riddling the leafless canopy. Lucy looks up to the trees, the sky, and feels an inexplicable chill running down her spine as she observes the birdless heavens. Not a single bird in sight, and thanks to the stripped, sparse woods, the party can see for quite some distance, save for straight ahead where their line of sight is obscured. There, there's a small rise encircled by the path to the hill our party is headed for - where they'll find a rare Lacrima with high magic storage capacity, and Lucy's luck known right - trouble.
"Man, I'm hungry! Let's stop and have a meal, Erza!" Natsu complains. Happy flies up next to Erza. "Aye! I'm hungry, too, Erza! Can't we stop a bit and have a fish?" Lucy is about to raise her voice to express her agreement, but Erza beats her to it. "Having a campfire going and roasting food would be the same as putting up an 'unannounced visitors here' sign. We'll eat when we're done." Erza hasn't even finished her sentence before her own stomach grumbles, and she blushes slightly. Happy is the first to utilize it. "But if we're going to fight a Dark Guild, which we'll likely have to do, it's no use doing so weakened, right? If we're going to fight them, it's best we do it strong!" He adds, in a lower voice, "and I'm fine with raw fish, really..." Lucy can't help but chuckle, and Erza hums a bit, apparently weighing Happy's argument. "I guess you're right. We stop here, while we're still not visible over the rise, and have a meal - but no fires."
The party is just about to pack up the food when they hear voices coming from behind the rise. There is little to be done about it - there's still things to be packed down when they come over the rise, cutting across it, putting them not thirty seconds away from the group. Upon spotting them, the six men nonchalantly walks over to them, grinning. On each of their bodies there's a visible mark of a purple eye in a black vortex. The men look at Erza first. "Well, well, boys, what have we here? Some lost lil' birds? What are you up to onee-chan, headed to a shieldmaiden's pageant?" The fattest of the group seems to be the one doing the talking. To his comment, all the other five roar with laughter. One tall and scrawny guy passes over to Natsu, who's still packing his lunch, ignoring the partycrashers entirely. The scrawny guy pokes Natsu's head. "Hey, man, what're you doing with these gals, huh? Oh, let me guess - you're her blondeness' cat-tender!" He laughs, pointing at Happy, who's by now having his giggles by acting like a perfectly normal cat. Lucy feels her heart rate raise. Not because she find the men intimidating, but rather because she feels a stab of pity for the poor sods who have no idea who they're mocking. The Scrawny guy continues his mockery of Natsu. "And what's this, pal? Is the summer breeze too cold for ya, so you gotta wear a scarf?" He tries to yank the scarf away from Natsu.
Lucy sighs, Erza smiles, Happy chuckles, and the scrawny guy screams in pain as Natsu's Talons of the Fire Dragon hit the man square in the face, sending him flying. In the same moment, Erza swipes at two of the men, Taurus materializes and sends one flying, and even Happy activates Aera and grabs one of the bad guys. He flies up, thirty feet above the ground, and hovers there, grinning menacingly at his victim before dropping him. The last remaining Tenebrotheo wizard has at this point stumbled backwards to the ground, now held at swordpoint by Erza.
"Right. How many are in your Guild right now, and do they know we're here?" Erza looks at the man, sternly, and he simply shakes his head and stutters. "N-n-noone kn-n-nows, ma'am, no-one knows! W-we're th-thirty-f-five!" Erza looks unimpressed. "Not counting you guys? And how strong are these wizards of yours?" The pinned man looks terrified. "N-not counting us! M-most are like us, b-but there are th-three s-s-strong ones!" Erza promptly strikes the man with the flat side of her sword, instantly knocking him out.
"Right, we've taken down six enemies and have some information. These are both good things. Nice job, everyone. I think we should press our advantage now, and take down this Dark Guild before contacting the Detention Squad." Natsu and Lucy both nod. Lucy thanks Taurus for his work ("Always a pleasure to get a sight of your nice body!"), and sends him back, before returning her attention toward Erza. "Natsu, you and Happy bust in on the guild from above. Lucy, you're through the front door with me." Erza looks at Natsu, Happy, and Lucy in turn. The three nod, and sets their course over the rise.
It takes twenty minutes for the party to reach the hill where Tenebrotheo is located. Around it, the terrain is all rocky and jagged, making transport by foot a mess. The guild itself looks oddly normal, a plain wooden building with purple-black colour theme, two stories and even a large sign that reads "Tenebrotheo". Erza surveys the area. "Right. It'll be difficult for Lucy and I to get to the doors. From here, maybe two minutes." Natsu looks at Erza. "Suppose you want me to keep their attention while you work on that, then?" Erza nods in reply to Natsu's question. "If they know the Lacrima is there, they may have some nasty magic weaponry inside. Watch out for that," she says. Natsu grins. "Right, I'm getting fired up! Happy! Let's go!" Natsu clenches his fist and grins at Happy. "Aye, sir!" he says, and they're off.
Lucy observes as Natsu and Happy flies over Tenebrotheo, and crashes through the roof. Erza pats her shoulder and immediately dashes for the Dark Guild, through the rocky terrain. Lucy falls behind relatively fast, while Erza traverses the jagged ground swiftly and gracefully. It takes them about 80 seconds to reach the door, through which Erza bursts, to find half of the guild already unconscious and with burns of various degrees. The Dark Guild members do not seem to be brandishing any weaponry beyond what is normal, and the holder-types don't have exceptionally powerful tools. What's more, the guild doesn't seem to have a basement entrance, just the stairs to the second floor. Lucy takes the Key of the Archer and swipes it through the air. "Gate of the Giant Crab, I open thee! Cancer!" Lucy's hairdresser, and arguably most odd spirit, materializes out of thin air. "A combat situation again? -ebi" he says, to which Lucy points at the Dark Guild members. Cancer and Erza each do their own form of cutting, swiftly bringing an end to the remainder of the Tenebrotheo wizards.
Natsu pokes around them, and finds someone who's still conscious. He grabs the wizard by the collar and pulls him up. "You have one second to tell me where the Lacrima is, or I'll burn you to a crisp," he says. The Tenebrotheo wizard looks at him, terrified. "I don't know what you're talking about! We don't know about any Lacri - Gah!" Natsu, Erza, Lucy and Happy all look at the man, who now has a large spike protruding from his chest. He falls unconscious, wheezing, and the party looks up, to where the spike came from. There, they see three cloaked figures - one holding a pair of daggers, another wielding a shimmering rapier, and one brandishing a magic repeater crossbow - with a type of bolt quite similar to the spike that penetrated the wizard Natsu had been interrogating. The middle of them, with the rapier, speaks. "Trash like you shouldn't live, if a simple fire wizard comes in, wants our secrets, and manages to bust through you all." The other two don't give a sound. Natsu looks at the man they had just shot, in shock, before fury replaces it, dominating his eyes. He looks up at the trio. "Weak or not, defeated or victorious, isn't he your comrade? Your guildmate? Your family!?" The three sneer at him. "We, the Tarnish Brothers, gentlemen of fortune, care not to take lessons from trash. Get lost, before you get hurt." Erza looks at Natsu, then retreats a few steps, as if to give him room. Lucy quickly follows her example.
Just as Erza and Lucy are out of collateral range, Natsu covers his feet and hands in fire, and jumps at the Tarnish Brothers. They deftly dodge out of the way, the crossbow-man sending a bolt in Natsu's direction. It narrowly misses, and Natsu responds by sending a roar at the crossbowman, who is forced to retreat backwards behind cover to escape the flames.
In the meantime, the brother with the rapier engages Erza, sending a quick succession of swift and accurate stabs towards her. Erza allows her armor to take one of the blows, but the rapier glows at the touch of the armour and cuts clean through, and into Erza's shoulder. She grunts and skips back, glaring at the fencer. She requips to her Flight Armour and counterattacks with a blindingly fast flurry of swipes, but the fencer nimbly escapes harm with every swing.
"Gate of the Goat, I open thee! Capricorn!" Lucy swipes the Key of the Goat through the air, and Capricorn materializes next to her. "Capricorn, take out the - wait, where'd he go?" Lucy looks around. Erza and the fencer are busy not being hit by each other, and Natsu is chasing the crossbowman around, effectively breaking every type of cover the guild can offer in the process. The dagger guy, however, is nowhere to be seen. "Capricorn, there's a third enemy around here somewhere. Stay alert!" Natsu pauses for a split second in his razing of the place, and looks at Capricorn. "Twelve feet up, eight o' clock!" before he resumes chasing after the crossbowman. Capricorn does a spin, looks up, and sees the cloaked figure hanging in the roof support. "Leave it to meh," he says, and launches upward.
He sends a kick flying in the direction of the dagger-wielding man, missing only by an inch. Capricorn and his adversary enter much the same state as Erza and her fencer opponent, a constant dance of attacking and dodging. However, Capricorn has an advantage that Erza does not. Lucy finds an opening, and swings the Fleuve d'étoiles - and the whip finds its way around her enemy's neck. Capricorn takes the opening and sends a powerful punch to the side of his enemy's temple.
Simultaneously, Erza requips into Adamantine armour. Once again, she decodes to test her enemy's rapier's offensive capability - and as expected, the magical sword stabs through the armour without effort. She is, however, left unscathed, and as she brings the two halves of her shield together, summons the magic barrier for which the armor is known. One again, her enemy lounges at her - but this time, the rapier is stopped dead in its tracks. Erza focuses magic into the barrier, enlarging it, and dashes forward. The Tarnish brother tries to dodge, but Erza's pushing field is too wide, and he slams into a nearby wall. He retreats into the rocky terrain, Erza requips to her Heaven's Wheel Armour, and summons dozens of magical blades, sending them in her opponent's direction. On the jagged terrain, his agility suffers, and it doesn't take long until the barrage of blades begin to hit. One swipes by his leg, causing him to stumble. He knocks his head on one of the jagged stones, and is out for the count.
Inside Tenebrotheo, Natsu is chasing the crossbowman around. Constantly dodging incoming bolts, and constantly destroying the cover the crossbowman is hiding behind, he soon notices that Erza has left the building, and Lucy is coming after. Just as Lucy leaves the building, Natsu leaps upward. "With a flaming right hand and a flaming left hand, when you combine the flames together... Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" He creates a large fireball and tosses it at the floor, causing it to explode. the entire guild is demolished and the crossbowman thrown out a window. Natsu's caught beneath some rubble, but he quickly manages to push himself out of it. "My, my, guess I went a bit overboard again!" He grins, looking at Lucy and Erza.
Natsu, Erza, and Lucy begins to clear the rubble from the site, while Happy is on the lookout for the Guild Master or any other reinforcements. Tying up all of the Tenebrotheo wizards, moving debris from the battle, searching for proof of mining - luckily, Erza and Natsu are strong enough to get most of it done quickly. Lucy focused on finding traces of mining. The three Tarnish Brothers had enhanced magical weapons, after all, even if two of them were unlucky enough to be paired against wizards who simply never got hit. "Don't suppose there's enough of that refined Lacrima in those weapons, Erza?" Erza ponders Lucy's suggestion. "No, it's possible they just had strong enchantments. I'd rather be done with this before the detention corps comes and take these guys away." Lucy sighs. "How are we going to get to the Lacrima, anyway," she asks, to which they hear the answer just by the rise, in the form of a shamelessly innocent whistle.
Marco comes over the rise, whistling on a merry tune, and is carrying a pickaxe lined with magical symbols across the shaft. He strolls leisurely toward them, stops next to the rubble, and smiles. "Whoo, you really did a number on the place, didn't you? Ah, well, all's well that ends well. No use looking for digging spots here, I guess, I can see from the steel that these guys used that they didn't use that type of Lacrima - even though the rapier sure is carrying one hell of an enchantment." The party looks at him, then sighs in unison. Natsu is the one who speaks. "Well, then, how will we get to the Lacrima?" Marco points at his pickaxe. "I'll find as much as we need within the hour. And there's no need to worry about a Guild Master, the Tarnish brothers are it. This guild's an oligarchy, apparently." Lucy and Erza looks at Marco in disbelief. How does he know so much about them? And the mining? An hour? That's not a long time, Lucy thinks, and wonders if the guy's serious. She is, however, convinced when she sees him swing the magical pickaxe. With each swing, the pickaxe lights up, and turns a heap of rock the size of himself to gravel. The pickaxe's head then turns into a shovelhead, with which Marco clears the gravel with ease. Then, after not thirty seconds have passed, he repeats the process.
It takes him about forty minutes to get enough refined Lacrima for the forging. "Well, then, with all of this done, let's head back to the grotto. Titania... I'm sure you'd like to see the weapon be forged, no?" Erza looks down and blushes. Lucy knows she hasn't yet found a sacrifice. "And if you don't have a sacrifice, don't fret about it. I'll help you think of something when we get there." Erza looks at Marco, and cracks just a tiny smile, nodding. Marco picks up the Lacrima, and then he, Natsu, Happy, Erza and Lucy leaves behind gravel, rubble and beat up wizards, and returns to the heart of Yamikami Woods.