We ended up leaving Xinos in an ice cage in the middle of Felden so then the Rune Knights could find him. Silently we all walked towards Magnolia, where this mess started.
"Gray," I said softly as we walked through the cold snow.
"What," he answered, hints of anger in his voice for my continuance of not telling him why we were doing what we were doing.
"We're going back to Magnolia because Xinos said they were going to attack the guild. And if we get there too late then we will at least have a lead as to where they went."
"Okay but who are they," Levy asked after a moment.
"None of you will understand why I've been so cautious about saying this except Gray," I said coming to a stop, I looked towards the man who was only in his underwear.
"Who took them," he asked sternly.
"Roaring Skeleton," I answered, his eyes went wide, and he fell into the snow.
"But we defeated them, me, Natsu, your spirits, we-"
"They have a new leader," I said softly. "And who ever they are they're stronger than Wuufs." Gray was shivering. Levy and Romeo were at his side in seconds. "They're responsible for Xinos hunting me down, and for the man who attack Gefallene Heim, and for the job that cost me my arm."
"They did, all of that," Levy said softly, tears were running down Gray's face.
"Then we have no hope to save them," Gray said in between sobs.
"No," I said sternly, his eyes met mine and I stepped forward. "I'm going to make sure we get them back, because we're the people who keep stopping them," I placed my robotic hand out for him to grab. "We know their strengths, now it's time to show them ours."
After a moment Gray took my hand, and I pulled him to his feet. "Yea, let's go get them back," Gray said softly with a smile, his voice sounding cool and collected like it usually did. I looked towards Levy and Romeo who nodded and smiled. Erza who was ahead of us smiled at the sight of me acting like I did long before the incident.
"Let's get to Magnolia before they attack," Romeo said as he started to run towards the city. "Right," Levy and Gray called out before running after them, Dux followed suit letting out several happy barks.
"It's been awhile since I've seen you do something like that," Erza said softly, a smile on her face.
"Maybe it's time I accept what's happened and start moving forward," I answered before running after the three who were already pretty far in front of us. I could hear Erza's armor as she ran after me, and as a group, determined to save our friends, we ran towards Magnolia.
The sun was shining brightly on the cold winter snow, the drips of water that fell on us as we ran under the ice covered trees. We were all ready to fight both for our guild, and for our friends who were taken from us.
When we arrived in Magnolia however, it was too late. The guild was in ruins, so many people were injured. "We're too late," Levy said softly as we approached what was left of the guild hall. Dux let out a large bark then ran towards the rubble that was the guild. After a moment I ran after the large dog, the others following me as we followed Dux.
Dux let out another loud bark and started digging in the rubble. "What's Dux trying to do," Romeo asked as we reached him.
"He's trying to show us something," Levy murmured. Dux began grabbing things and pulling them away from the larger piles.
"I think he's trying to free someone," I said running over to help move the rumble away. The others quickly helped, Levy and Romeo moving smaller rocks compared to Gray, Erza and I, who were lifting large rocks.
After several long minutes of moving rocks Dux was able to wiggle his way into a little opening and began to pull someone out. Both Erza and I had to lift one of the largest rocks in order for Dux and the person he was rescuing.
"Dux, hurry up," I growled towards the dog as Erza and I strained out bodies to lift the large rock. Gray, seeing how our strengths weren't enough joined us in our effort to lift the stone. We then saw Dux begin to wiggle his way out of the little hole, in the grip of his jaw, a small man.
"Shit, that's gramps," Gray said, as we dropped the large stone. Levy and Romeo were already at Makarov's side when we reach them.
"Are you okay Master," Erza asked in her stern voice as we all kneeled around him. Makarov winced and let out a groan of pain.
"I'll be fine," he said opening his eyes slightly.
"Dammit, if only Wendy was here," I muttered looking at the tattered old man who was clearly not as fine as he thought he was. Makarov's eyes met mine and his eyes widen more.
"Lu-Lucy," he asked weakly, I remained silent but nodded. "I, I should have known you were," Makarov let out several loud coughs and winced at the pain.
"We need to get him to Porlyusica or someone," Levy said urgently towards us.
"I'll go find someone," Romeo said running off.
"They took Mira," Makarov said softly. "And they said they wanted to," Makarov went into another fit of coughs.
"Makarov," I said softly, my fists were clenched as I looked towards him. Dux was sitting nearby, whining softly at the sight of the old man.
"Lucy, you have to stop them," he went into another fit of coughs.
"Don't put strain on you body Master," Erza said placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Where's Romeo at," Levy said getting to her feet as she scanned the surrounding area.
"He- Help," a weak voice said, Dux quickly ran over to where the voice came from.
"Levy, stay with Makarov," I said quickly as I ran after Dux, Erza and Gray following me. Dux was already moving several stones when we reached him. A beaten Juvia was helping Dux move the stones away.
Juvia's eyes met mine and I could see both anger, and sadness in her eyes. "You have to help me save Cana," Juvia said weakly. Gray and Erza were already working on moving the rocks when I processed who they were trying to get out of the rubble. I saw Cana laying there, face down, unconscious.
"Lucy, we need some help with this, stone," Gray breathed out as he, Erza, and Juvia worked on lifting the main rock that was on Cana's legs. I nodded and began to help lift the large rock.
Dux grabbed onto Cana's clothes and with the help of Juvia pulled Cana out. Then Juvia's eyes met mine. "You," Juvia shouted. "They said you are the reason Juvia and Cana went through this," tears came to her eyes as she approached me. "You're the reason they hurt Cana," Juvia's voice went soft and she turned away. Juvia then returned to Cana's side and silently sat there, her eyes set on Cana's unconscious body.
They also gave me a message specifically for you. A true skeleton's roar kill all those in it's wake, my mind recalled what Fern had told me. I clenched my fists and out of anger, punched large rock that was sitting next to me, which resulted in the rock to turn into smaller pieces of rubble. All of this is to get to me, to make me weak, to make me angry, I shouted in my head.
Don't let your anger get the better of you Nix," Zo said as we continued to spar, she was up three zero. My technique had become sloppy and unbalanced.
"Shut up Zo," I grunted as I threw another punch towards her angrily, only to be swept and thrown towards the side of the ring.
"Nix, anger can be one of two things, a strength, or a weakness. You are using your anger as a weakness not a strength, you are blinded by the need to hit something that you have thrown out everything I've taught you," Zo's voice was soft and calm. "Now if you direct that anger towards someone, and keep good technique, it can become a strength."
After that little talk my anger slowly became my strength, and most of the time I didn't get angry during a fight and kept a cool head. I closed my eyes and let out a large breath. I felt Erza's hand on my shoulder, I turned to see that she held a concerned look on her face.
"I'm fine, just," I said walking towards Juvia and Cana. Juvia's tear filled eyes met mine, and I crouched down to her head height. "Juvia, I will make sure they get what they deserve for taking and hurting our family, but I need to know where they went," I said softly. After a moment Juvia nodded.
"They said they something about going to Karkas Shihri," Juvia spoke softly, tears still falling from her eyes. "And the final battle between skeletons and fairies."
"Thank you Juvia," I said getting to my feet, Erza, and Gray were getting more people out of the rubble. "Dux," I said loud enough for the large dog to hear me. In seconds the large dog appeared at my side. "Let's go," I said softly as I began to run out of the Magnolia.
This is my fight and my fight alone, I'm the one who drew everyone into this, and now it's time for me to take responsibility for that, I thought to myself as Dux and I ran through the forest. The snow covered ground had begun to melt, and you could feel spring in the air. As we ran I stripped off the hoodie I wore to keep my arm a secret, and left it in the melting snow.
"I will save you guys, and I will stop the Roaring Skeleton once and for all," I said sternly.
Hey everyone I'm finally back.
Sorry for missing so many updates back to back, been extremely busy visiting family and friends and being sick.
Hopefully though nothing will be holding up the story from here on out.
I also figured since I missed so many updates lately that I should put out at least one chapter before returning to the regular schedule.
Sorry again for making you all wait so long, and thank you for your patience.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all next time.