Another day has passed by, but things are about to look bright. Lucy reached the entrance of Magnolia when she ran into Happy and Natsu.
"Lucy! Where are you off to?" Natsu asked.
"You got a job?" Happy asked.
"Yeah. I'm on a way to a place known as Citadel of the Ancients." Lucy said. "A historical place where Sabertooth is at. They found a way to destroy the spirit orb."
"Are you serious?" Happy said.
"Awesome! We'll come too!" Natsu said.
"Oh no. You need to go talk to Master about this." Lucy said. "He said he wanted to speak to you about this before you head over there."
"What? Come on. Let's just go together right now." Natsu said.
"Sorry, but Makarov has to talk to you about this." Lucy said. "Anyway, I'm in a hurry. Hopefully I'll see you there." With that, she just ran off on her own.
"We better go see, Gramps." Natsu said as he ran back to the guild and Happy went after him.
…
The Guild
Makarov was hoping for the best. He heard the guild doors burst open and saw Happy and Natsu coming right in and right at him.
"Gramps, Lucy just told us." Natsu said. "Has Sabertooth really found a way to destroy the spirit orb?"
"Yes." Makarov said. "Sabertooth came through for us and they figured out how. In order to do so, a powerful spell is required. Until the spell is ready, we must help them protect the orb at all costs."
"Let me do it! Please!" Natsu begged.
"Natsu might have lost it before, but what if we promise Natsu won't even touch the orb since it was his fault we lost it." Happy said.
"Would you forget about that?!" Natsu shouted.
"I was going to ask you to do it anyway. The rest of your team has already went on ahead to the citadel." Makarov said. "Natsu, you must protect that citadel at all costs. The resources there will be necessary to destroy the orb and try NOT to demolish the place this time."
"You got it. Let's get there fast, Happy." Natsu said.
"Aye!" Happy said as the two of them raced out so the orb will be destroyed and foil Tranquil Mind's plans.
…
Citadel of the Ancients
Natsu and Happy rushed right over to the citadel. The citadel was in the center of a town that had a Japanese theme to it. It became dark out since it took them hours to get there. Erza, Gray, Wendy, and Carla already arrived at the citadel and Minerva was there herself with all of the guarding the orb.
"We're here!" Natsu called out as he and Happy arrived.
"Natsu! Happy! We're so glad that you made it!" Wendy said.
"It's about time. What kept you?" Gray said.
"We got here as fast as we could. So the time has finally come for the orb to be destroyed?" Natsu said.
"Yes." Erza said.
"The time we've waited for is here." Minerva said.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's smash it to bits already." Natsu said.
"Settle, Natsu." Erza said. "In order for us to destroy it, we need to neutralize its power so it doesn't fly off like last time."
"It makes sense. After all, not even Natsu's power could even leave a crack in it." Carla said.
"So how do we do that?" Happy said.
"Just be patient. The spell is nearly ready." Minerva said.
"Ngghhh! I don't know if I can wait." Natsu said and remembered that someone was missing. "By the way, where's Lucy?"
"Lucy? I thought she was going to arrive with you guys." Wendy said.
"She left before us. Where could she be?" Happy asked.
"Wait. Here she comes." Gray said as they all saw Lucy running in.
"Sorry I'm late." Lucy said.
"What took you so long?" Natsu asked.
"Sorry. I actually got lost for a little bit on the way here." Lucy said.
"It's actually a straight path from here to Magnolia." Minerva said.
"Hey, the important thing is that she made it." Wendy said. Lucy took a few steps closer to look at the orb.
"Is this the spirit orb? Wow! It's beautiful!" Lucy said. Minerva had her eyes on her for she felt something was wrong. However, there was no time for question as an explosion went off.
"What was that?" Wendy asked.
"I'll give you one guess on who would have caused that." Gray said.
"Tranquil Mind!" Erza said.
"So they came after all. What should we do?" Natsu asked.
"I'll stay behind and guard the orb. How about you assist me?" Minerva asked as she looked at Lucy. "Erza, you and the others head downstairs and meet the enemy below to take them out."
"Got it. Let's move!" Erza said as the rest of them went to do just that. No matter what happens, they need to protect the orb. All of them raced outside and head down the road until they came across a squad of four puppets.
"There you are you, you rotten puppets!" Natsu said.
"Are they just going to try out number us?" Gray said.
"Not to worry. I can handle this myself." Natsu said. He didn't get the chance as blasts of light and shadow blast the puppets with Rogue and Sting appearing.
"Hey, we came to help." Sting said.
"Sting! Rogue!" Erza said.
"Incoming!" Wendy said as two squads of those puppets appeared.
"Natsu, how about you stay with us to take these puppets down." Sting said.
"The rest of you better scout the area. There might be more of them." Rogue said.
"Got it." Erza said.
"You really want to leave them here?" Gray said.
"They can handle this. Our main priority is to secure the citadel." Erza said. With faith in their comrades, all of them went to look for the other puppets.
"At this rate, they'll infiltrate the castle soon." Rogue said.
"We better get wrap this up as fast as we can." Natsu said.
"That means we have to take all of them down. Let's tear them apart!" Sting said. "White Drive!"
"Shadow Drive!" Sting and Rogue both glowed in light and shadow. Sting went and gave one a powerful kick that destroyed the puppet. Rogue charged right in. The puppets swung his blade at him, but he became a shadow and phased through. Rogue gave one powerful punch and destroyed it.
"Hey! Save some for me!" Natsu said as he went and attack. Two of them slashed at him, but Natsu jumped over them. He gave one a powerful kick to push it back. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu threw the fireball dangerously close at the puppet and destroyed it.
"These things are starting to drop like dominos." Sting said as he avoided the blades. He grabbed the puppet and spun it around and he tossed it with the arm coming off. The tossed puppet slammed into another one. "White Dragon Roar!" Sting shot out the laser from his mouth and it burrowed through both of them.
"Over here!" Rogue said to get the attention of the last two. One jumped up and the other spun around to attack, but Rogue sunk into the shadows and they missed him. Rogue caused shadows to erupt through the ground and tore them to pieces.
"That takes care of the ones here." Natsu said.
"Something isn't right. That seemed almost too easy. You think they put up more of a fight if they know we're on the verge of destroying the orb." Sting said.
"Maybe we're just that awesome." Natsu boasted.
"Let's go check in with the others." Rogue said as they went to meet up with the others. Erza and the others were fighting just as hard against a few extra puppets.
"Ice-Make: Floor!" Gray froze the ground and caused a couple to slip. "It's over! Ice-Make: Battle Axe!" Gray slashed down with ice on them and shattered the puppets.
"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy unleashed her whirlwind blast and destroyed some of the puppets. Erza joined in as well and smashed a few with her Black Wing Armor. Carla and Happy took to the skies to try to find more of those puppets.
"This is weird. Shouldn't there be more of those puppets. There doesn't seem to be that many." Happy said.
"You're right." Carla said. "I also don't see any human controlling them or anything. What could be going on exactly?"
"You think we have them on the run already?" Gray asked.
"I sure hope so." Wendy said.
"Hey!" Sting called out as he and with Natsu and Rogue managed to catch up with them. "You guys ran into any trouble."
"No. There isn't that many of them and that's what's bothering me." Erza said.
"Where could they be?" Rogue said.
"Come on out! You guys haven't had enough already, have you?!" Natsu called out.
"What could be going on? It's way too early for them to be giving up." Sting questioned, the same as what everyone is thinking. They soon got their answer as they heard an explosion and saw the citadel was on fire.
"Oh no! The tower is under attack!" Wendy said.
"The attack out here was just a diversion to keep us away." Rogue said.
"Lucy and Minerva are up there!" Happy said as he was worried about them.
"Couldn't Minerva just use her magic and get the both of them out of there?" Gray said.
"Yeah, but I'm not picking up either of their scents or their magic power." Sting said.
"Something must have happened inside the tower. They might be trapped." Rogue said.
"Natsu, you and I are going in." Sting said. "The rest of you stay out here in case more of those puppets show up or they manage to get out."
"We better hurry." Natsu said as he and Sting right inside. Natsu and Sting traveled from one floor up to another, but there was smoke and fire everywhere as everything was burning.
"I can't believe the flames have reached so high." Sting said.
"I can just devour the flames and we be fine." Natsu said.
"Hang on, Natsu." Sting said. "Let's wait until we get to Lady Minerva and Lucy. They could be in trouble and the enemy might still be inside. They can just easily set the place ablaze again."
"I guess you're right. We just better hurry before it's too late." Natsu said. Natsu and Sting raced through the burning building as they made their way up from one floor to the next until they made it to the floor below them and were just at the bottom of the stairs. "Lucy! Minerva! Just hang in there!"
"Wait. Do you hear voices?" Sting said.
"Voices? What are you talking about? This is no time to be hearing things." Natsu said.
"Just shut up for a minute and listen." Sting said. Natsu used his enhanced ears and he was hearing the voices Sting was talking about.
"I'm tired of your façade. Reveal your true identity already."
"What are you talking about? We can't fight now. It would be exactly what they want."
"It's Minerva and Lucy." Natsu said.
"Something isn't right. Be careful." Sting said and they headed up the stairs, but what could be going on above them?
Next Time: Gone with the Wind
