In the stately room belonging to the Strauss sisters, Mira looked up at something. They'd both heard the brief battle outside, and had gone to confirm that the cheers belonged to the right side. Satisfied that they were safe for moment, they had retreated to their chambers to wait.
"Lisanna, stay by my side," Mira said sternly.
"Why?" The younger Strauss pouted.
Mira looked at nothing, scanning the walls. "There's something bad in the air." She was in a large room that the Strauss sisters once shared with their brother, until he'd gotten his own at Lady Evergreen's bitching. There was a sword on the wall that her brother had once used, and she took it down, keeping the blade in her hands.
Suddenly, a bell rang, shrill and impatient. The sisters looked vaguely stunned.
"The warning…," Mira whispered.
"You were right," Lisanna mumbled.
"Shit!" Totomaru shouted as the servant fell to the floor, lifeless. He'd been too slow in killing him and the man had run to grab a rope in the corner of the room. The rope pulled onto the castle's warning system, little more than a series of bells joined by rope.
He could hear running footsteps, angry shouts. His blade became wreathed in fire. Fine, he would kill everyone in his way. All that remained in the castle were household militia, servants, lords and ladies. He would kill them all.
The door banged open and five men ran in, brandishing swords.
"Blue slash!" The flame on his sword changed to a cerulean fire, and he slashed, encasing the five men in ice. "Red slash!" He surged in, cutting a horizontal line that bisected all five through the waist while still trapped.
He would kill them all.
"How sad!" Aria cried, tears streaming down his face. In a large chamber he faced ten more household guard. They were running at him, swords and axes drawn. "I have no weapon!"
The men roared triumphantly, but then the whole area was engulfed by Aria's magic. The air howled as he manipulated it, draining the very life from these poor souls. Bodies twitched and writhed within the area of his spell. Aria smiled as bodies hit the floor.
"How sad that I am no mere knight! I need no runes to cast – I am a full mage!" He laughed loudly to unhearing ears.
"Non, non, non!" Monsieur Sol shouted loudly as he ran. He was sure that he was going the wrong way, moving further from the throne room. Surely it'd be on the ground floor? He began throwing doors open. These looked like private quarters of the higher class.
He was worried – as the outsider. The Norman in England, he needed to prove his worth to Jose. Failure would be instant deportation if not outright death. And he liked this job. Merciless killing was very much his kind of thing.
He smiled. Even if he could not find the king, surely there would be some high ranking target here. He moved on, door by door.
Two men leapt out at Juvia. Her hands flashed, and they impacted the floor unconscious, struck by the pommel of her sword. She had one target: King Dreyar. She would not kill anyone else. No one else deserved to die in this war.
The words of Lord Fernandez rang in her head. She wondered if she would have a chance to meet his wife. Perhaps find someone who understood her.
No…no one understood her. That was fine. She was not a passionate person. Juvia would complete her mission.
Gajeel rode lazily past the main gates of Magnolia. He wasn't really sure what to do now. He could wait with these men, head for the field of battle or return to his chambers to deal with Levy. He looked up. The castle loomed large over the city. Suddenly, a section of the castle exploded outwards, red flames visible.
Gajeel practically choked. What the fuck was that? Fire powerful enough to break stone? But Salamander was…what kinda mage or alchemist or…
Knight.
Fire, one of the four elements. They couldn't be…inside the castle, surely? But then again, Phantom had already tried one sneak attack…using only weak soldiers. That was a diversion, a faint within a faint! The weakling bastards had to use this level of underhandedness just to make things even?
Gajeel took a moment to shout at the militia behind him to stay put. The last thing he needed was another attack wave breaking them while they were distracted. Then Panther turned under his guidance and began to head for the castle.
Just a little longer. I'm coming.
He blinked in confusion. Who was that thought aimed at exactly?
Levy quailed at the sound of the explosion. What was going on? Those bells had started ringing and she had no idea what they meant. Maybe she should go and find Mira. Perhaps there was a fire…no the castle was stone, it wouldn't burn. Then what? The only thought made Levy gasp. Were they…under attack?
What did she do? What did she do? Getting a little panicky, Levy's body rebelled at her hasty movements, painfully reminding her that she was in no condition to do anything rash. What else could she do but sit here and wait? Feeling foolish, she grabbed Lucy's book, as if it would make her feel better.
Footsteps hurried along the corridor outside and the door flew open. Levy backed away from the man who had entered. A man with long black hair and silver armour. An orange tabard and a sword cloaked in fire.
"Psh. More trash. Die."
His attack was sloppy, seeing only an injured woman. A slash at shoulder height for him gave her an easy way to throw herself under it. She cursed her dress for being so restrictive – why weren't women allowed to wear trousers too?
But she was completely prone, unable to get to her feet quickly. Even without her dress, the pain wracking her refused her swift motions. She could do little but stare hopelessly at her murderer. Her fingers clutched the book tightly.
But Totomaru had paused. Around the girl's fingers…was that a tiny nimbus of magical power? Was this girl capable of unleashing magic without runic items, just like Aria? Shit! She clearly seemed unaware herself. What should he do? This girl was valuable – did he kill her or take her hostage?
Ah, fuck it. Kill her, never mention it to anyone. Problem solved.
He raised his sword over her.
Mira screamed as the man who had run into their room produced a stream of sand from his weapon. Mira was slammed away as it glanced her – and travelled onwards to engulf Lisanna. The younger sister was half buried, and screamed in pain.
"Lisanna!" Mira shouted.
"Non, non, non! That spell will constrict until she is crushed!" Sol gloated. "And there is nothing that you can do but watch!"
"You bastard!" Mira screamed, trying to swing the heavy sword that she was holding. Sol smirked, easily parrying the inexpert strike and Mira was forced away into the wall with a grunt of pain.
"Big Sis!" Lisanna called desperately. "Please…guh…run!"
Juvia ended up at the castle's rear, in an open area, analogous to a modern loading bay. The road ran around to here so that carts could easily transfer large products to the kitchen, such as deer or boar carcasses.
Had she failed? The castle's labyrinthine corridors were frustrating. But then again, there was a lot of foodstuffs here…she could destroy it. If she did, perhaps it would deal an important blow to their supplies.
She could…but would it be wrong? Facing the enemy in fair battle was one thing, but this seemed underhand in the extreme. Juvia shook her head. This entire scheme was underhand. This was nothing. Enact her orders.
Aria advanced into a great vestibule. An enormous room lined with pillars and a lush red carpet. Valuable paintings hung on the walls and that end was a set of great golden doors. The King's chamber.
"How sad! To leave your king alone!" He advanced towards those doors. A hand reached out to push them open, to enter into the room in which he would enact bloody murder.
At about the same instant, the Element Four were hurled back, crying out in pain. They recovered, shouting, "Who are you!"
"Jet! Droy!" Levy cried happily, sinking to her knees. Her two friends stood over her, separating her from her would-be assassin. Totomaru glared at them, instantly sending a wave of fire their way. Jet, using his sword left-handed swung in rapid succession, creating a gale to blow the fire back. As the Phantom Knight expressed his disbelief, Droy slammed his sword into the floor, a tangling vine lashing out as it grew. Fire cut it in half, and the knights eyed each other up warily.
"Levy, run," Jet urged.
"W…what?" She asked, voice breaking.
"We can't beat this guy," Droy stated. "Particularly not in this condition."
"Hahaha! I see! You two were left behind because you're injured! What a pitiful pair you two make!" His eyes flickered, checking them over. The ringlet around Droy's leg suggested that it was healing from a fracture. He couldn't move quickly. The other's main arm was out of action, needing his offhand. "Is this all that really opposes me? It's offensive in a way!"
Jet's eyes looked back. "Why haven't you run away yet!?"
Tears streaming, Levy fled through the doorway. Gajeel was right, she thought. This is what weaklings were. People who left their loved ones to die.
Sol looked on in disbelief as the woman that he had thrown aside radiated power. Dark power. She stood, a single eye visible behind her curtain of silvery hair. It was glowing vermillion. In response, the runes on her sword began to glow in unison, cloaking the blade in that same vermillion energy.
"You bastard…," she hissed.
"Non non non, non non non, non non non! With a 3-3-3 non, I cannot believe that a mere female could possess this level of magical energy!" He tried to recover his wits, and struck the wall with his sword. "Sable Dance!"
The stone of the wall began to disintegrate into granules of sand, surrounding Mira. Ha! He'd done it! What was that pain? Why was blood dripping from his mouth? Mira stood behind him, slowly sheathing the sword. As it snapped closed, Sol bisected through the waist. His torso fell forwards to land lifelessly on the floor. The last word to leave his lips, 'non'.
Lisanna felt all of the pressure evapourate in an instant, the sand around her becoming inert. She quickly ran over to Mira, who lay unconscious after her exertion.
"What was that, Big Sis?"
Juvia couldn't believe it. The woman who stood before her looked so meek, so mild. She was blonde, wearing a white dress. She couldn't have knocked her back, surely? She began to notice the two men who stood behind her. One large and powerful, the other of medium build.
"Well, well," said Lucy Heartphilia. "I thought I should check on the supplies that we were sending, but I never thought I'd find something like this. Mr Leo? Mr Taurus?"
The two men advanced. Neither were knights, but Juvia could clearly see that both were magic users. The taller man carried an enormous double-headed axe, and the other had a pair of runic gauntlets. Both wore simple chainmail armour with white tabards bearing the Heartphilia crest.
"Let's try and take her alive," said Mr Leo. "I'd hate to kill a woman."
"Mou! I would never kill such a nice body!" Mr Taurus agreed.
"Hey, you two," Lucy mumbled sheepishly.
"Don't you dare underestimate me! Water Slicer!" Juvia said angrily. Her sword swung, generating a beam of water. The larger man leapt forward, and the water gathered on the head of his axe.
"My Axe of Aldeberaan has the power of suction! No attacks will get past to hit my owner's Nice Body!" He slammed the axe downwards, smashing the stone floor as Juvia backstepped. She turned slightly as the second man rushed in, his gauntlets glowing.
"None can beat us, for we fight for love! Fist of Regulus!"
Juvia froze.
"Lo…lo…lov…," she stammered, red faced. She took Leo's punch right to the face and fell unconscious.
"Doki!" Lucy emoted, her face going into an uneasy expression of surprise. "I…didn't think it'd be that easy!"
Gajeel was running. Perhaps he should have gone straight to the king. No, he should have definitely gone towards the king. So why was he heading towards his chambers? Why was he concerned about her?
He shook his head. No, he'd seen the explosion in this vicinity that was all. It was the best place to find one of the enemy. And his room was here, with his stuff. Including her. His property, and no one else was going to break it.
His eyes boggled slightly. Outside his chambers it looked like a bomb had gone off. The walls were blackened and smouldering. And there were two bodies lying amongst it all. He wasn't sure if they were dead or not, but there was a lot of blood.
"S…save her…," whispered Jet in a voice as dry as the Sahara.
Gajeel scowled. "Don't…"
"You can't threaten us in this state," Jet interrupted, a thin smile on his face. You can't kill dead men. "We…bought you some time. Hurry."
Gajeel shook his head in frustration, but pressed past. Even to him, this felt wrong, but what could he do? He was no doctor. He wanted revenge for this…but hadn't he done the same just a day before? His brow furrowed. What was this? The strong beat the weak. That was life. So why was he angry? Why was he furious?
"Gah! I'll beat the answer out of his skull!"
Aria looked up angrily at the figure barring his way to the throne room. His blinded eyes couldn't believe themselves. The person was a knight, but female. Plate armour, custom made for the female form. A red tabard with the sigil of a white eye. A staff in one hand, with a four bladed tip.
Flowing scarlet hair, tied back in a loose ponytail fell past her shoulders. Her lower face concealed by a red cloth tied around it. Just like Mystogan…
"W…who are you?" Aria raged. "Fairy Tail has no female knights!"
"I am a woman who has no name to you. But I am a woman who walks the path of the knight. So you may call me Lady Knightwalker!"