Hey guys! I hope you liked the last chapter! I'm gonna finish editing this chapter and then see where that takes me!
I kept repeating the cycle.
Left, right, jump, dodge, jump, right, duck, punch, kick.
If there was a thing I could describe about this battle, about Gajeel's fighting style in particular, it honestly wouldn't take long to describe it. Gajeel was an exceptional fighter and very strong willed like Natsu. Through our fight however, I came to realize that the only Gajeel had on his side was his speed.
He was fast, but becoming more predictable with his attacks.
The only thing I had at my side, was taking advantage of Gajeel's anger. My other master had taught me many lessons, one of them being, that while anger could fuel you and make you grow stronger during a battle, it could also make you restless. Gajeel's anger was the only advantage I had at the moment, because he was becoming more slower with his attacks. I tried masking my emotions, making sure Gajeel didn't grow suspicious of me during our fight, of what I knew about him.
"I can see the fear in your eyes, you little bitch. What's the matter? Are you afraid of me?" Gajeel smiled maniacally.
"I'm bored more than afraid of you, if I'm gonna be honest here." I rolled my eyes.
"WHAT? Bored?! You smug little cunt!" Gajeel growled.
"I'm not going to lie, Gajeel. You're a tough opponent...you've actually managed to scare and surprise me. But that doesn't mean I'll back down or go easy on you. Being part of Fairy Tail gives me strength, because I have something to fight for: my family."
For once, Gajeel stopped his attacks, looking confused as he stared at me.
Was it possible that he never understood what a guild was truly about? What makes a strong guild? What makes a strong wizard even?
"What in the hell are you yammering on about? You damn fairies are getting on my nerves with this Nakama crap." Gajeel grumbled.
I merely sighed in disappointment and folded my arms as I glared at him. Knowing that Gajeel would slack in his attacks, I continued to taunt him.
"I pity you so much. You have all of this power, and you just fucking waste it. I don't think you deserve to be a dragon slayer at all." I told him.
"What the hell did you just say?" Gajeel lowered his voice
I felt chills go down my spine as I heard the change of tone in Gajeel's voice, but I managed to keep a straight face. Gajeel moved first, ready to kill, and I moved quickly as well. We both charged at each other, managing to strike each other in face really hard until blood leaking from our mouths.
"You've got some nerve Ember Scarlet."
Gajeel spat out some blood and wiped his mouth clean, glaring at me with those blood red eyes. The both of us slowed down moving back from each other so we could catch a breath. Gajeel and I were both at our limit, but we knew the battle couldn't end just there.
Not until one of us was down for the count.
"I should say the same to you...you've got some nerve picking on Lucy. Hurting my family gives you an ass beating of a lifetime." I smirked.
"You've also got one big mouth on you too. I should take care of that...what I really want is to hear some screams..." He grinned.
I grew tense, recalling how he said the exact same thing the night I was beaten to a pulp by him. I saw Gajeel eye Lucy, enjoying the look of fear etched onto her face. I made my way over to Lucy, blocking Gajeel from her path as I stood tall.
"Don't look at her when you're still fighting me. Leave her out of it you scum bag." I glared at him with disgust.
My eyes widened when Gajeel smirked and chuckled to himself, knowing my one weakness at the moment: Lucy. Before I could comprehend what was happening, Gajeel moved faster than before, grabbing my arms before I could dodge him. Gajeel licked his lips, thirsting for blood, and finally kneed me in the stomach incredibly hard until I lost my breath and coughed up blood.
Gajeel really packs one hell of a punch.
Gajeel released my arms, allowing me to fall to my knees before he grabbed at my hair, holding my face up so that I would be looking at him. Gajeel slid his finger near the corner of my mouth, wiping a small trail of blood from my face before putting it into his mouth.
What in the actual fuck- -
"STOP IT YOU MONSTER!" Lucy cried.
Gajeel merely laughed at Lucy's pleas and lifted me up with that tight grip in my hair, until our faces were closer together.
"That was a cheap trick, Redfox." I smirked.
Gajeel looked surprised that I was still conscious, but his smirk returned quickly.
"What'd you expect? I don't play nice towards bitches." Gajeel retorted.
"Same here." I let out a laugh.
Gajeel scowled at me before throwing me several feet away, before walking over to me and planting his boot on my chest, making sure I was pinned down and couldn't breathe well.
"If you know what's good for you, then I would suggest that you stay down." Gajeel spoke up.
I mumbled lowly under my breath, and smirked when I knew Gajeel would hear it with his heightened senses.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Gajeel growled.
Gajeel hauled me up again by my shirt, our faces inching closer together.
"Fuck...you...you damn...pussy." I spat blood in his face.
It was like I was actually staring into the face of a dragon, a coldblooded killer. Gajeel stared at me like I was his prey, and it took just about everything not to kill me on the spot. I could tell Gajeel wanted a slow and painful death for me, but I could also tell that Gajeel was holding back a little, probably to keep me alive for Jose knowing he'd want to finish me off. Gajeel tossed me over to Lucy like a ragdoll, ignoring her cries as she reached over and held me in her arms.
That cheap bastard...
Gajeel slowly inched towards Lucy as he cracked his knuckles, ready to play around with Lucy and beat her senseless because he was bored. I took in a deep breath and got up quickly that it threw Gajeel off guard. I was up on my feet again, and used a technique I remembered from Juvia Lockser and trapped Gajeel in a bubble of water. Gajeel looked at me with wide eyes in complete shock, figuring out that I was just stalling the entire time. I sniffed the air and smirked to myself.
Natsu's nearby...
"Ember! Are you alright?!" Lucy asked worriedly.
"Oh trust me I'm about to drop dead, I'm practically out of magic again...but I put up a good fight at least." I grinned.
"How did you get up so fast?"
"I was faking it, sweetheart. You think I'd let this idiot beat me? Naah. That ain't happenin'." I let out a weak laugh.
I could sense Natsu getting closer and focused my energy on keeping Gajeel trapped. I knew that my magical energy was depleting fast enough that I wouldn't be able to finish my fight with Gajeel, but I had faith that Natsu could finish the job.
"Natsu's coming in our direction...he'll be here shortly. I'm just delaying Gajeel as long as I can." I told Lucy.
"How do you know that?!" Lucy cried.
"I just do, Luce! You've gotta trust me on this one!" I felt my arms wavering.
Gajeel glared at me as he struggled in his water prison, ready to break free at any moment at the rate he was going.
"Shit!" I cried.
"YOU LITTLE FUCKERS!"
Gajeel finally broke out, hitting me with his Iron Dragon Club spell. My back hit the wall again until I was right next to Lucy once more.
Well that's it...I'm done for...
"EMBER!" Lucy shrieked.
Lucy grabbed me again and cradled me in her arms, trying to check for any severe injuries. I could feel her tears falling onto my face and knew that she incredibly upset.
"You monster..." Lucy glared at Gajeel.
"Well this bitch should have kept her big mouth shut. I ain't goin' easy on her 'cause she's a girl." Gajeel joked.
"I wasn' expectin' yo to, dumbass." My speech slurred.
Before Gajeel could retaliate, the floor suddenly burst. There were chunks of stone flying in all directions, and from the clouds of dirt and dust came Natsu. Natsu stood in front of us protectively a look of anger and determination on his facial expression.
It's about time that knucklehead showed up.
"Guess all it takes to lure the Salamander here is the proper bait." Gajeel chuckled.
"Unlike you Phantom creeps, we all look out for each other. I won't let you lay another finger on Lucy-" Natsu then noticed me and ran over in worry. "Who did this to Ember?" Natsu asked Lucy.
"It was Gajeel...Ember, she...she tried protecting me with whatever power she had left." Lucy mumbled softly.
"Hey Natsu." I grinned weakly.
"She's lost too much blood...I'm so sorry, this all my fault." Lucy cried.
Natsu brushed hair from my face and smiled at me.
"It's okay. She'll be fine, she's from Fairy Tail." Natsu assured Lucy.
Natsu stood back up and cracked his knuckles, but I spoke up before he turned back to face Gajeel.
"Natsu."
Natsu glanced back at me with a seriousness that was a rare sight to behold from him.
"Use his anger against him, he's a reckless idiot."
Natsu made a move forward, but I spoke up yet again.
"And Natsu?"
Natsu stopped again.
"Make it hurt."
Lucy was holding me tightly against her as a way to keep her nerves at bay as Natsu and Gajeel gave it their all. Their fight was destroying nearly everything around them, including the structure to the Phantom Lord Guild. I winced as I made a move to sit up.
"L-Lucy..." I winced as I tried to sit up.
Lucy looked at me in both curiosity and worry and helped me sit up and lean against the wall.
"Reach into my pocket and get me the small pouch inside." I told her.
Lucy nodded and hesitantly moved over to me, reaching into my jacket pocket and pulling out the small pouch I kept on me. I grabbed the herbs inside and began chewing on them.
"What the hell are leaves gonna do? You hungry or something?" Lucy looked confused.
"There are some herbs I carry on me. I left the other pouch at the guild, but these herbs that I have on me should help me gain back my energy within minutes. I won't be able to do much since I'm still drained of magic, but I'll be able to move around again at least. Our attentions were once again brought over to Natsu, who began to struggle and grow weaker during the fight. Gajeel smirked as he grabbed some iron nearby and ate it, clearly gaining more strength from doing so.
"We have to do something to help Natsu!" Lucy shouted.
I recalled that if a dragonslayer at their element, it would boost up their strength. Gajeel was an iron dragon slayer, and he got his strength from ingesting iron.
And since Natsu was a fire dragon slayer...
"We need fire..." My eyes widened in realization. "Natsu would definitely win if he ate some fire."
Lucy made a move to summon her celestial spirits and frowned when she remembered that when Juvia had kidnapped her that her keys were lost. The only Celestial key she happened to have on her now was Sagittarius: the Archer. Without thinking, she summoned her spirit, who appeared in a flash, knowing it would better than nothing.
"I'll explain later but I need you to shoot fire!" She said to the spirit.
"I can't shoot fire, but I'm a good archer. Yes indeed." He saluted.
"Who the hell is he saluting to?" I mumbled to myself.
We were interrupted when Natsu shouted from across the room, a look of worry on his face.
"LUCY! EMBER! You guys better get out of the way!" Natsu warned us.
"I feel so useless..." Lucy hung her head down in shame.
"You're not useless Lucy! Now let's think of something okay? We need to help Natsu!" I told her.
We all looked at Natsu in complete shock as he was taken down by Gajeel. The both of us were frozen where we stood, surprised that Natsu was defeated by Gajeel. I grew more worried when I noticed that Natsu wasn't getting back up.
Did Gajeel win? Screw that! I'm not letting him win!
"Hey look at your guild hall! We're doing some redecorating!" Gajeel laughed hysterically.
We turned to look out of the gaping hole in the building to figure out what the hell Gajeel had meant by that comment. The Fairy Tail guild hall was hit with a huge energy blast, and it was now crumbling down into pieces. We could only stare at Fairy Tail in absolute shock, afraid to blink, afraid to do just about anything really. I felt tears spring into my eyes as I fell to my knees, feeling all of my hope vanish into nothing.
My home...it's all gone.
FLASH!
"E- -Erza...are we staying here?" I timidly asked.
Erza smiled warmly at me as Master Makarov came over and gave me a pat on the back.
"This'll be your new home now, kiddo!" Makarov smiled.
"Come on inside Ember...you could get sun burnt if you stay out here for too long. It's so hot out." Erza said.
Erza grabbed my hand and we went inside the guild with Master Makarov to talk about living arrangements. I took in my surroundings and smiled brightly as I looked at the huge guild hall in wonder. The first thing I took notice of were two boys brawling. I felt the urge to go over and join them in playing, but I merely stood back and kept silent as I grew timid. I slowly inched my way over and when the boys took notice of my presence, they stopped fighting.
"C-can I play with you two?" I blushed and looked down at my feet.
"Play?! We're fighting can't you see that?!" The pink haired boy yelled.
I felt tears spring into my eyes from the boy's harsh tone and felt my bottom lip quiver without even realizing it.
"Look what you did pinkie! She's crying!" The dark haired boy snapped at his friend.
The dark haired boy came over and gave me a friendly smile in attempt to cheer me up.
"Sorry about that flame-brained loser...my name's Gray." He introduced himself.
I sniffled and wiped away my tears, trying to compose myself.
"I'm Ember..." I cracked a small smile.
"WHICH ONE OF YOU MADE MY LITTLE SISTER CRY?!" Erza yelled furiously.
I squeaked and hid behind Gray, knowing that whenever Erza grew angry that there would always be trouble. Gray looked ready to pee his pants and immediately pointed at the pink haired boy.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT! APOLOGIZE TO HER!" Erza grabbed him by the hair and threw him at my feet.
The boy looked ready to faint and he immediately started saying "sorry" repeatedly.
"IF I EVER CATCH YOU PICKING ON MY SISTER, YOU'RE DEAD YOU HEAR ME?!"
Gray and pinkie both nodded their heads vigorously, afraid to make Erza more angry than she already was.
"Y-YES SIR!" Pinkie shouted.
With that being said and done, Erza went back to go talk to Master Makarov. I felt embarrassed almost instantly from Erza's protective and angry behavior and bowed my head at the two boys.
"I'm sorry about my big sister...but she's actually not that bad." I mumbled softly,
"Yeah right. She's a monster." Pinkie trembled.
"Umm...my name's Ember." I held out my hand. "It's nice to meet you uh..."
"Natsu. My name's Natsu." Pinkie smiled a little bit. "So you're new to Fairy Tail? I am too."
"Uh yeah...it seems nice here. I think I can get used to calling it home." I giggled.
"Cool! If you ever need anything then come to me! Forget stripper boy over here!" Natsu pointed at Gray with his thumb.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME PINKIE?!" Gray shouted at Natsu.
And with that the boys started brawling once more, taking off where they left off.
I liked it here already!
FLASH!
"Natsu...please...let's just give them what they want...they can take me." Lucy cried silently.
I saw Natsu up again as he slowly made his way over to Gajeel.
"So how does it feel to see your guild hall in shambles?"
It was like I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. I began experiencing something I had never felt before since the Tower of Heaven.
I wanted to kill someone, I wanted to make them suffer.
I glanced over at Gajeel as he hit Natsu once more, making him crash over to a wall nearby.
"I can't stand to watch this..." Lucy sobbed.
I'll start with that son of a bitch, wipe the floor with his blood.
"GAJEEL!" I screamed in outrage.
Gajeel along with everyone else looked at me in surprise and also fear.
"How...how are you covered in iron dragon scales?" Gajeel asked.
"I'm not going to stand by and watch you kill my best friend." I growled.
"E-Ember..." Natsu groaned.
"Ember don't do this! I'm begging you!" Lucy cried.
I ran over to Gajeel faster than I ever had before, and before he could even blink I grabbed his neck and held him up in the air as I let my anger consume me. Claws began to grow and form on my fingers and I was ready to attack before Natsu spoke up.
"Ember. Don't do it." Natsu muttered weakly.
I froze as I continued to stare into Gajeel's eyes full of fear. My body shook as I tried with all of my might to control myself again, and not let the darkness consume me. Within seconds, my body returned back to normal, and I dropped Gajeel. Gajeel held his neck and gasped for air before he looked up and glared at me with hatred. I felt some of my magic energy slowly returning and then formed a flame within my palm.
"Natsu. Eat up."
I tossed the flame over to Natsu, who was at a loss of words from what he had witnessed. He didn't dare question me and consumed the flame in an instant and immediately regained his power and strength as he finally stood up on his feet again.
"I'M ALL FIRED UP!" He shouted.
Natsu returned to his final battle with Gajeel, finally being able to surpass the iron dragon slayer. I tried distracting myself as Natsu and Gajeel fought and saved other members of the Phantom Lord Guild from the falling debris as the entire guild shook.
"Ember! Lucy! This place is coming down!"
We both saw Happy flying over to us and I grabbed Lucy, shoving her towards Happy's direction.
"Take Lucy and go! It won't be long until this place is down!"
"But what about you?!" Happy cried.
"I've got business to take care of!"
I ran out of the room without another word.
It's time to end this.
"Do you have any last words?" Jose laughed evilly.
I punched my way through, making it into the room. I nearly froze when I saw Erza's current state and felt a rush of anger as I then glared at Jose defiantly.
"Stay away from my sister..." I grumbled.
I ran over without another thought until I was standing in front of Erza, feeling the instant need to protect her and not allowing Jose to make another move.
"Ember..." Erza mumbled weakly.
Erza made a move to stand up, but failed. I moved quickly, catching Erza in my arms.
Shit...if Erza's down, what hope do I have at even beating Jose?
"Well well...if it isn't the lovely Ember Scarlet. So nice of you to join us. Now it's time for you to die." Jose smiled evilly.
Jose and I fought for several minutes, Jose ranting about Fairy Tail was something that was a means to a bitter end or something along those lines. It ignored most of his little speech, mainly to focus on making sure I dodged his attacks so I could live. I didn't have much magic energy left, so the only I could resort to was dodging Jose's brutal attacks. Jose wasn't relentless either, he wanted to make sure I suffered. We both paused after Jose finished his little rant and I glared at him from how petty and pathetic of a man that Jose truly was.
He made me sick.
"Wait, so let me get this straight...we're fighting for our fucking lives over some fit of jealousy? You're pathetic Jose. That's just sad and you know it." I growled.
"Such a big mouth on a young woman. I'll take care of that. You'll be begging for death in no time at all."
Before I could even blink, Jose was in front of me and he grabbed my neck lifting me up into the air. I could see his hands glow with dark magic, and it was burning my skin. The power that emanated from Jose was overwhelming and I was practically rendered useless against him. I could barely keep my eyes open from the sheer pain that I was currently experiencing. Jose smirked evilly, enjoying my screams of pain and finally delivered the final blow by piercing his arm through my stomach until it reached to the outside of my body. Erza shrieked from absolute terror and cried as she felt helpless, only being able to watch me die. I struggled weakly against Jose, my eyes wide as I could taste blood.
"Stop struggling...it'll only make this worse." Jose smirked.
I looked up at Jose and spat in his face before getting the strength to kick him away from me. It didn't do much damage to Jose and he only chuckled at my attempt to hurt him. I whimpered as I threw up blood and fell to my knees, my hands pressed tightly to my stomach, though I knew it wouldn't do much good at all.
I'm definitely going to die at this rate.
"It's time to show everyone that WE are the strongest guild of all time." Jose spoke up.
It was one of those moments when you saw your life flashing before your very eyes. Jose was relentless with his attacks once more and hit me with some of his strongest spells. It actually didn't matter to me that I was getting beat within an inch of my life, if it meant that Erza would be spared from this torture, I would gladly endure it for her. Jose began using a spell that was taking my very soul from my body, and I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I looked up at Jose with wide eyes, and the image before me was something I didn't think I would forget. To me at that very moment, Jose resembled the devil himself, he looked like a monster. It was like I was staring at Death in the face and I felt fear for the first time in awhile. Before I knew what was happening, I was blinded by a bright light, and in seconds I was able to make out Master Makarov. Makarov looked absolutely furious as he cut Jose off and stopped the spell in time. Makarov caught my body and nearly cried from the sight. He blinked away tears and gently set me on the ground before turning over to Jose, a light aura encasing his entire body as his magic power grew.
"You have shed the blood of our children. And that is unforgivable." Makarov grumbled. "This war between us has gone on long enough, Jose." Makarov looked at Erza. "Get everyone out of here! NOW!"
Erza wiped away her tears as she managed to stand up and picked me up. It wasn't long before my vision would fade in and out, seeing several locations of the Phantom Lord Guild and seeing Erza help everyone get out of there alive. I heard muffled voices as I was being brought back over to shore near our destroyed guild hall.
"She...has healing...herbs?!" A voice shouted.
"...she's dying!"
"Just...get her...to swallow!"
I felt my mouth being opened, and felt my vision fade into nothing but absolute darkness.
"She's waking up!" Gray shouted.
I blinked slowly as my vision cleared. I saw the faces of nearly everyone from the guild smiling at me in relief.
"We thought you were a goner!" Wakaba grinned.
"She's an S-Class wizard! She ain't goin' down that easy!" Macao laughed.
"Everyone give her some space!" Mirajane yelled.
Mira moved everyone out of the way and dabbed a washcloth to my forehead.
"How...how long was I out for?" I groaned.
"Those herbs healed you...you were out for several hours." Mira answered.
"We won though right?" I asked.
"Yup." She smiled brightly.
"She's awake?! Bring me to her!" A voice shouted.
I winced from a loud crash and saw Natsu and Erza at my side immediately.
"Ember!" Erza cried.
Erza hugged me tightly, brushing hair from my face as she kissed my forehead.
"How are you feeling?" She asked.
"Like shit." I whimpered.
"Listen. I don't want you to worry about Jose. He's been taken care of." Erza told me.
I merely nodded and closed my eyes.
"Waaiit! I wanna see her too!" Natsu whined.
"Only for a moment. She needs rest." Erza told him.
I blinked slowly again, my head feeling dizzy all of a sudden.
"I beat his ass for you!" Natsu smirked.
"Huh?" I mumbled softly.
"Gajeel!" Natsu reminded me. "All thanks to you!"
"Good to hear." I smiled faintly.
"Alright, now. Get out while she sleeps. She looks exhausted." Mira pushed Erza and Natsu away.
"Oh come on! I just got here!"
"NOW!" Mira snapped.
I closed my eyes again, feeling relief from the news.
At least Fairy Tail won...
I'm sorry if this chapter was lame...I'll continue editing and making other chapters later!
