I'm tired. That's all I really have to say either than sorry for not updating sooner.

Disclaimer: If I owned this story, Lucy would dry her tears and kick the shit out of a lot of people

Warning: Language and fighting!

3rd Person P.O.V.

"Come on then," snarled Natsu at the stoic form of Kageyama. "Show me what you've got!"

Slowly, Kageyama reached his arm up to brush invisible dust off his shoulder, face painfully blank as he did so. "And why should I waste time with a fly like you, hm?"

Instead of answering, Natsu leapt forward to engage Kageyama in a battle of fists, pounding against the mage's defence as he did so.

Lucy carefully watched the fight as she mentally checked over her injuries, internally wincing at the stinging pain in her legs and the deep throbbing around her ribs. 'Shit, that might be cracked. I can't be of use when I don't have full mobility of my body.'

Still watching Natsu and Kageyama fight – although it was already becoming rather one-sided due to Natsu's rage and the depletion of Kageyama's magic after doing a massive attack – Lucy carefully fingered her keys with her free hand, the right hand clutching onto her sword like a lifeline. "Lyra?"

Her beloved spirit appeared in a flash and gasped at her torn appearance. "Lucy-chan!"

"Hey Lyra," the blonde grimaced back. "Do you mind patching me up quickly? I'm fighting a dark guild and it's already gotten a bit messy, so I'd like to be prepared for more battles."

Lyra pursed her lips in disapproval, but vanished to the spirit world to go fetch the medical supplies she always kept ready for new injuries.

A crunching noise distracted Lucy and she turned to see a wall concave, the tangled limbs of Kageyama peeking through the rubble. "Damn it, Natsu!"

The Dragon Slayer turned to look at Lucy in confusion. "What? I just hit him. He hurt you, so it's only fair I hurt him back."

Lucy's anger was partly soothed by Natsu's words, but she still scowled at him. "Idiot! I said to only hurt him enough so that he would be in-capitated to move, but still conscious to speak!" She went to shout some more but broke off in a wheeze as her ribs protested.

"Lucy!" Natsu looked uncertainly towards Kageyama, but declared him down for the count and hurried over to his friend that was struggling to breathe. "Are you okay?!"

A thumbs up came from the blonde as she sucked in greedy mouthfuls of air. "I'm…fine…"

Natsu went to protest but was cut off by a flash of light. "I've got the medical supplies, Lucy-chan!" Lyra held up the kit triumphantly, but when she caught sight of Natsu, her sweet face fell into an ugly look. "You!"

"Me?" Natsu held his hands up uncertainly.

Lyra placed her ever-present lyre and the medical kit down so that she could round on Natsu, murder evident in her eyes. "You're meant to protect Lucy-chan, idiot! How dare you let her get hurt while you're nearby! There's not a single scratch on you and yet Lucy-chan is bloody and broken! Why, I should beat you here just to get my point across your thick head!"

Every time Lyra angrily stepped forward, Natsu would take a step back, continuously trying to protest over the spirit's loud shrieks. When she finished her mini-rant with several stabs to his exposed chest with her petite fingers, Lucy interrupted with a tired smile. "It's okay, Lyra. He was…incapacitated at the time of my injury. It's not my fault."

A low growl escaped the cute spirit's throat and she turned away from Natsu so that she could pick up the medical kit and tuck her lyre securely under one arm. "Tch, Taurus told me that he was unconscious while you were in trouble. Useless…" Her words trailed off into a series of mutters, low enough that even Natsu's superb hearing couldn't make out the words.

'I will never insult one of Lucy's spirits for being weak again!' Thought Natsu desperately as he backed away from the deceptively harmless spirit. "I-I'm going to go and try and wake up the bastard!" Seeing Lucy nod in confirmation, Natsu spun on his heel and marched over to the rubble that contained the unconscious Kageyama, intent on dragging him out in the most painful manner to wake him up.

"You go do that you useless male." Lyra snorted to herself before lifting the quiet Lucy's shirt so that she could begin to wrap her already bruised chest. "Oh, Lucy-chan, this is awful."

The girl shrugged in reply. "I've had worse."

"I know you have," said Lyra sadly, eyes tracing the angry pink scar that stretched across Lucy's side. "I just wish you were more careful sometimes."

There was no answering comment and Lyra respected the blonde's silence, keeping quiet herself as she finished bandaging Lucy's ribs before going on to dabbing healing salve onto her cuts that were mainly along her arms and legs.

"Oi! Lucy! Flame-brain!"

Natsu turned to see a panting Gray running towards him, no shirt evident on his person. "What'cha say to me, Ice-princess?!"

Not bothering to answer, Gray looked around before he spotted Lucy being tended by Lyra. "So you're okay Lucy? I heard you scream…"

Lucy winced at his comment and the pain of the healing slave. "I beg your pardon for that, Gray. I shouldn't have screamed, it's a liability in battle. Especially with someone with sensitive hearing such as Natsu."

Blinking dumbly, Gray looked over to Natsu, seeing him just as stupefied as he was. Blinking once more, Gray looked back to Lucy to reply to her comments. "Lucy, screaming out of pain isn't a sign of weakness."

She didn't answer straight away, instead, thanking Lyra before sending back to the spirit realm, promising to summon her out later to check on her ribs. The blonde heaved a deep sigh, checking to see if her ribs hurt as bad as before – they still did. "To me, it is, and I'll be thankful if you don't continue to chase this subject, Fullbuster."

With the use of Gray's last name, Lucy implied that she was serious and that the matter was over. She breezed past the two males in order to grab Kageyama's arm and to start dragging him down the corridor, back towards where Gray had come from. "Now, if you may, I'd like to head back to Erza quickly so that we can hurry up and catch up to that Erigor bastard. I don't want him playing Lullaby any time soon."

Gray and Natsu shared a look before jogging to catch up to Lucy, Gray easily taking Kageyama into his arms. "Fine. But we'll talk about this later."

"Okay."

"Erza!"

The red-haired mage turned at the sound of her name, eyes widening slightly to see Natsu, a wounded Lucy, and Gray lugging an unconscious male over his shoulder. Natsu led the pack and lowered his arms that had been cupped around his mouth to amplify the sound of his shout.

"Is everybody okay?" Erza stood up, authority oozing out of her. Her magic levels had already gone up a fair bit from her rest and she had taken the increase of strength as her cue to interrogate a member of Erigor. The scared male had revealed some things that were quite horrific.

"Nobody was especially hurt, Titania," replied Lucy, ignoring Gray and Natsu's incredulous glances. "But we have to be quick, Erigor isn't her-"

"I know." Erza stalked over to stand in front of the three other mages. "I just found out that Erigor never planned to broadcast Lullaby over the train station loudspeaker." Her expression was grim as she stared into Natsu and Gray's confused eyes. "He's planning to play it in Clover. Specifically-"

"At the guild master's meeting, right?"

Erza nodded at Lucy's question. "He's already got a lead on us and we're currently trapped in here. There's a giant wind wall around the station that's keeping us from getting out. It's surrounding the whole place; no one can get in, and no one can get out."

"Damn it!" Cursed Natsu, slamming his hand into his fist angrily. "The bastard is going after Master?!"

"And the other gramps," finished Gray darkly. "What do we do now?"

"Bust through it obviously Ice-princess!" Natsu lit up his fist excitedly, "I'll smash through it easily!"

Lucy stepped away from his lit fist and went over to stand beside Erza. "Titania, does the wind wall cover the sky or the ground?"

"The sky, yes." Erza replied, slightly confused. "So Happy can't fly Natsu up through it, but the ground is clear."

The blonde hummed before realising something. "Hey, where is Happy?"

"I-I tho-though you'd n-never ask abo-out your b-blue cat." A quivering voice came from behind, and the team turned as one to see a scared, green-haired male half-in, half-out of the nearby wall. A blue lump hung dejectedly out of his chubby, trembling arms.

"Happy!" Natsu called out in worry, his long-time companion unconscious in the enemy's arms. "Let go of him!"

"N-not until you give me K-kageyama." There was suddenly a dagger in the male's hand and the situation got a whole lot more serious.

Three of the Fairy Tail mages hesitated, unsure as to what the male was going to do, but the last one had no such qualms. "Just give him the fucking man," snarled Lucy, picking up the slowly wakening Kageyama by the scruff of his now filthy, white jacket. "Give us Happy and we'll give you Kageyama."

"I-I can't trust you!" The dagger slipped, dropping closer to Happy's still form. "Give me Kageyama first."

"We have no need of him," stated Lucy coldly, holding out Kageyama expectantly. "So either give us Happy, or I'll have to take him from you."

"Lucy," hissed Erza. "Happy could get injured if you do that. You're not fast enough!"

"Maybe not me, but Virgo is." Lucy's eyes twitched to the green-haired male's right, and he turned with a gasp to see a pink-haired maid coming up out of the floor next to him. "Earth magic!"

"Punishment, mistress?" Asked Virgo as she plucked Happy out of trembling arms.

"Not for such a good job, Virgo," smiled Lucy as she relaxed. "Thank you so much."

Virgo's face remained blank as she casually knocked the Eisenwald mage out and dragged him through the rest of the wall. "Will that be all, mistress?"

"There's one more thing you can do for me," Lucy said as she dropped Kageyama and stepped forward to collect Happy from Virgo's arms. "Can you dig us a tunnel to outside of the wind wall surrounding this place?"

Virgo bowed deeply, "of course, mistress." The maid spun in a blur and disappeared in a flurry of dirt and stone. A deep hole left where she was standing.

"Wha…?" Gray summed up the situation eloquently. "What the hell just happened?!"

"I would like to know as well," Erza commented, her arms crossed across her breastplate. "You bargained with a nakama's life on the line without telling us, what were you thinking?"

"It's not bargaining if it's one-sided," replied Lucy as she handed Happy carefully to Natsu. "I was already assured that my spirit would come through."

"How can you be so sure?" Erza pressed.

A steely look entered Lucy's eyes as she locked gazes with Erza. "Because they are my nakama. I trust them with my life and they trust me with theirs. So if I say I trust them; that means I bloody well trust them." The blonde turned away with a scoff lodged in her throat. "Can we just focus on the big picture here?"

"Sure," Gray placed a soothing arm on her shoulder. "But I'd just like to know how that spirit was summoned? I didn't see her at all when we walked down the corridors."

"I summoned her as we walked. I was just lagging behind you so you didn't notice, and Virgo went right underground so that that man couldn't see her." Lucy picked up Kageyama by the back of his jacket again and began to drag him towards the hole her spirit had made. "Can we go now?"

Natsu, Erza and Gray exchanged looks before chasing after the blonde who had just leapt down the hole, the newly regained Happy cradled securely in Natsu's arms.

"The four-wheeler is still here," commented Gray as the group of four raced towards the vehicle that sat dejectedly against the curb outside of the train station. "I thought some one would take it as they escaped the town."

"They wouldn't since there's not many mages here in Onibus." Lucy slid to a stop in front of the magical vehicle and opened the door, motioning Gray to get in, which he obliged.

"I'm not getting in," protested Natsu, the hand that wasn't holding Happy coming up to cup his mouth as he turned green. He yelped in surprise when Lucy pushed him half-into the vehicle before she grabbed the roof, swung her whole body into the air, and did a duel-kick to Natsu's back in order to push him in.

The Fire mage went sprawling inside the cabin of the vehicle, clutching Happy tightly as he was flung into the seat that wasn't occupied by Gray.

Releasing the roof and ignoring both Gray and Natsu's protests, Lucy shoved in the now-conscious Kageyama and slammed the door shut before running around to the front so that she could hop up onto the driver's seat beside Erza.

"Why are you sitting here?' Erza asked as she attached the SE-plug to her wrist and picked up the driving reins.

"Because," began Lucy, "if you grow weak from magic-depletion, I can grab the reins off you and drive for a while."

"But aren't you tired yourself?" Erza pumped magic into the vehicle and took off with a roar, intent on getting to Clover as quickly as possible.

"Yes," Lucy agreed simply. "I have summoned three spirits today; two gold keys and one silver, but I am not tired enough to not be able to get us to Clover from here. So any moment around half-way to Clover, I'll be perfect to switch with you as I will have enough energy by the end of my haul to be of use, and you'll have enough time to regain your energy."

Erza opened her mouth to protest she could power this thing by herself, but her teeth clicked together and she was silent. 'She does make a point. This way, we'll be prepared for anything.'

The drive was silent for the rest of the trip, only groans from Natsu and the impressively quick switch between Erza and Lucy interrupting it.

It was after driving along a lengthy piece of railway and a bridge that something happened. Lucy perked up in the driver's seat, fatigue disappearing in replacement of intense concentration. Catching onto her anxiousness, Erza visibly stiffened her posture and glanced around warily, searching for whatever caused the blonde's shift in emotion. "Lucy, what-"

There was a deafening howl of wind and the four-wheeler rocked before tipping over into a roll, falling off the railway it was travelling on and into the fringes of the surrounding woods. Both Erza and Lucy covered their heads with their arms and fell out of the car as it rolled, only getting clipped by the edges of the sturdy vehicle as they did so.

A sound of crunching and cracking made the two girls jump to their feet and race towards the downed vehicle. Just as Erza reached around to open the slightly crumpled and upside-down door into the cabin of the vehicle, a layer of frost slowly covered it and Erza leapt out of the way as the door was broken off in a spray of frozen metal.

"What the heck just happened?!" Gray tumbled out ungracefully from the door, dragging Kageyama out after him. Shortly after, a still green-faced Natsu flopped out pathetically, Happy tugging at his hair and whining, trying to get him up and moving.

"I see everyone is okay and Happy is now conscious." Erza surveyed the group before glancing towards Lucy who was scanning the surrounding trees. "Did you see what happened, Lucy?"

The blonde didn't reply, intent on searching around for the attacker. Suddenly, she stiffened and hissed through clenched teeth, "Erigor."

A cold laugh echoed as Natsu staggered upright next to Gray and Kageyama – who was held firmly by the jacket by Gray – his ears and nose twitching madly. "I can smell him. He's…" The Dragon Slayer sniffed at the air before tilting his head towards the trashed vehicle next to him. "Here!"

Two bare feet thumped solidly onto the twisted metal of the vehicle and Erigor swung his scythe back to hold it casually behind his back. "Well if it isn't the fairy flies and…" His eyes narrowed dangerously at the beat up and scared looking Kageyama. "A traitor!"

"N-no, Erigor, sir!" Kageyama shook his head as much as his clenched jacket would let him. "These flies just won't let me go! I promise you I'm not traitor! Sir, I'm-"

"Shut up!" Erigor sneered at Kageyama before twirling his scythe expertly to hold it back in front of him, its silver edge bared and gleaming. Out for blood. "Do you know what I do with traitors? I, Shingami, take their lives as my own. Just as a Death god should."

"Take a life?!" Erza stepped forward towards the dark guild member, anger and passion evident in her voice and form. "That is the worst thing you can do! How dare you so casually say a thing! Every life is precious, no matter how insignificant it is deemed to be!"

'T-they're defending me!' Kageyama watched with wide eyes as the two males of the Fairy Tail guild began to shout right alongside their female comrade, yelling things about taking a life is bad! 'This is…this is comradeship? This is what they call…nakama?'

"Enough you insolent flies!" Erigor roared. "I can kill whoever I want! I am Shingami! I am Death itself!" The mages form flickered and wavered before disappearing. Erza instantly fell back into step beside Natsu and Gray, eyes peeled for where Erigor would strike from. Natsu and Gray seemingly slipped into their rightful places, forming a back-to-back triangle formation that protected them from all sides.

'Where is he going to come from?' Wondered Kageyama fearfully, head darting around as he tried to catch sight of his guild master. 'Where is he going to attack from?' Suddenly there was a howl of wind and a tugging on his arm.

Time seemed to slow.

Kageyama stumbled forward and felt the back of his coat get ripped from an unknown force. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the blonde-haired girl tugging him forward before pushing him to the side, making him just miss the gleaming curve that sliced through the air where he had just stood a second ago.

The scythe bit into the ground and time sped back up. Kageyama wheeled around at the insistent pull of the arm, and then was quickly released as the blonde unsheathed a sword from its sheath on her back. His torn coat fluttered to a stop around him and the blonde took that as her cue to parry the slice that arched towards her almost lazily, courtesy of Erigor.

"Natsu! Take him now!"

There was an explosion of flames as Natsu let off a tremendous roar, but those bright, burning flames were quickly put out by a simple twirl of Erigor's wind-infused scythe. "Tch. Is that all you fairy flies have? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You are-"

"Hah!" Erigor found himself being cut off by the sharp whistle of air from one of Erza's swords and the clang of his scythe parrying the other weapon.

"Ice make floor!" The ground turned to slippery and smooth ice, Erza already out of its range before it had spread to her and Erigor. The dark mage found his balance off and this was quickly taken advantage of Natsu, who lashed out in a strong, flaming fist that connected with Erigor's jaw.

'Unbelievable.' Kageyama watched in awe as Lucy took a run-up and leapt onto the ice, skidding across its surface so that she could use its force to do a powerful side-slash with her sword. 'This is the power of teamwork. Of having nakama.'

Unfortunately, Erigor had barely gotten started, and easily slapped the open Lucy with a flurry of winds. The girl yelped and went flying back, only to be caught by Gray.

"T-thanks Gray!" The blonde wheezed through her aching ribs, struggling out of the Ice mage's arms in order to stand ready beside him. "But what do we do? He's a fast-moving Wind mage with a weapon. What weaknesses can we use against him?"

"You're the brain, Lucy," Gray replied in annoyance. "Don't expect me to think this out!" He clasped one hand and placed it against the other fist that was flat. "Erza! I'll boost you!"

The red-head yelled her agreement and dashed forwards, columns of ice appearing to give her a boost into the air that she took full advantage of. Her sword glowed before being replaced by a large mace that she slammed down towards the waiting Erigor.

Calmly, the male twisted his left hand in intricate gestures as Titania bore down on him, her mace held high as she slammed it down. There was a grinding noise as a twister began to form around Erigor and the vortex of wind quickly rose up to catch Erza in its spin. Natsu, Gray and Lucy could only watch as their companion was spun into a red and grey blur in the howling mini-cyclone.

"I am not here to muck around with flies like you," sneered Erigor as he watched Erza be flung around by his attack. "I will use the power of Lullaby to show those stupid, ignorant geezers of guild masters why we illegal guilds should be respected and feared!" He cackled before cancelling his technique, laughing harder when the Re-quip mage was dropped like a stone.

"Erza!" Natsu dove for the falling girl and caught her just before she hit the ground. "Are you okay?!"

Struggling, the girl sat up in his arms and grimaced through the pain of the numerous tiny slices she now obtained across her body. "I'm fine, Natsu. Let's just hurry up and defeat him before he can use Lullaby."

"That's not a bad idea," inputted Erigor. "Maybe I will warm up the flute's amazing power on you flies, an entrée before the main course of those geezers." He lifted the three-eyed flute he held in the hand that wasn't holding his scythe, "are you souls prepared to be taken by the Shinigami?"

Before the flies could say anything, he lifted the flute to his lips and blew hard into the mouth-hole, listening contently to the piercing sound that cut through the air. A wicked grin was barely hidden behind the flute as he watched the four flies and the traitor drop to the ground in agony.

The red-haired fly was withering on the ground beside the pink-haired one, her bellows of pain audible, even over Lullaby's music. The pink-haired fly wasn't moving at all, his hands clamped over his ears as he shook with pure agony. The dark-haired fly had slumped against the broken four-wheeler, convulsing, and the blonde-haired fly was letting out continuous shrieks of agony as she kneeled on the ground. The traitor had already gone. His body was slumped in a boneless on the ground, his soul already taken by the power that was Zeref's magic.

Erigor watched with glee as the flies movements began to slow and then stop completely, their bodies hitting the ground with soft, fleshy thumps.

Lowering the magic flute, Erigor began to laugh. A screeching, throaty noise that echoed throughout the forest. He lifted Lullaby over his head and rose of the ground triumphantly. "With this! I can finally show those ignorant fools why they should never ignore the might of Eisenwald!"

His laugh continued to echo as he floated above five dead bodies and a broken vehicle.

Holy shit! What did I just do?!