Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, all I own are my OCs
Standing guard was much more boring than Raven remembered.
When she had offered to stay behind to watch over Erza with Lucy and Hibiki, she had envisioned herself fighting off faceless attackers while the the others rushed to rescue Wendy. Instead, all she was doing was pacing restlessly, tuning in and out of Lucy and Hibiki's conversation.
Blayze was sitting in the grass beside Erza, his paws resting on her clenched hand, but his eyes kept straying back to Raven, no doubt sensing her growing agitation.
She knew that it was a good thing that no one had stumbled across them, and that no threat had presented itself, but Raven couldn't deny that she was almost wishing one would, simply so she could release some of her energy.
It didn't help knowing that everyone else was out there fighting their way to Wendy while she was here doing nothing but wearing a path in the grass.
Every fiber of her being was telling her to go find Wendy and the Oracion Seis, but she knew she couldn't leave Erza. It wasn't that she didn't think Lucy and Hibiki could protect her. She knew they could. But she had to be here herself to guard Erza, because if she left to find Wendy, and someone attacked, harming Erza... she would never forgive herself.
"Raven?"
At the sound of her name, Raven stopped her pacing and looked questioningly at Lucy.
From her place beside Erza, Lucy said, "I know this isn't the best time, but I was wondering, if you don't mind my asking, why exactly is it that you and Jura don't get along?"
Raven blinked, not expecting the question, and thinking back on the memory, a frown settled on her face.
"About a year ago, Blayze and I took a job that involved taking out some dark wizard who was terrorizing a nearby town, but on the way there, a storm hit which slowed us down considerably. By the time we arrived in the town, we were three or four days late. The mayor, not knowing how much longer we would be, asked for help from another guild," she explained.
"Lamia Scale," Blayze said, and Lucy's eyes widened.
Crossing her arms, Raven continued. "Jura got there only a few hours before us but had already managed to locate the wizard. We found them quickly and jumped right into the fight. The wizard was strong, and he also used Earth Magic. So, a lot of Jura's attacks either didn't have much effect on him, or he was able to defend against them. While Jura was keeping him distracted, I attacked him and knocked him out."
"So, you're angry because Jura got put on the same job as you?" Lucy asked.
Raven scowled. "No, I didn't mind him showing up. What pissed me off was that damn mayor," she said shaking her head. " Blayze and I had taken the job because it paid well, and we were low on money that month. That reward was supposed to pay for that months rent and food, but as it turned out, the mayor was a huge fan of Jura, with him being a Wizard Saint, and split the reward between us."
"How much did you get?" Hibiki questioned.
"He only gave us a quarter of it," she growled. "It was our job, and he gave it all to Jura! There was no way in hell I was gonna let that slide, so later that day when Jura was traveling back to Lamia Scale, I snuck up on him, knocked him out, and took the money."
Lucy and Hibiki sweatdropped.
"You stole from a Wizard Saint?!"
Raven rolled her eyes. "It wasn't stealing. I was taking back what was rightfully mine."
When they continued to gape at her, she huffed. "It's not as if he's any better."
Blayze rolled his eyes. "He was more mature and fair about it than you were."
"He was not!" she snapped. "He tracked us down, and while we were both sleeping, he took half the money!"
"Exactly," Blayze said. "Instead of taking all of it, like he could have, he only took half."
"Oh, so I should applaud him for only taking half of my money?" she fumed.
Lucy sweatdropped slightly as the two partners continued to bicker. She started to say something when Hibiki interrupted.
"I found Natsu," he said. "I think I can get in touch with him."
"That's great!" she exclaimed, turning to the others. "Hey, you guys..."
"Because of him we couldn't pay rent that month and had to take a job during our time off!" Raven said angrily.
"You guys," Lucy said a bit louder.
"It was his job to," Blayze argued, "He deserved some of the money."
"Hey!" Lucy shouted.
"What?!" Raven and Blayze snapped.
"Hibiki is trying to contact Natsu," she said.
Raven blinked, finally being brought back to the present and saw Blayze do the same.
"Natsu, can you hear me?" Hibiki asked.
After a few moments, they heard Natsu's voice. "Yes, Great Tree."
Raven raised a brow. "What did he say?"
"Great... what?" Hibiki said before shaking his head. "This is Hibiki of Blue Pegasus. I'm glad I could reach you, no one else has responded so far. What's your status? Have you found Wendy or the cat?"
"They're both right here," Natsu answered, causing them all to let out a sigh of relief. "Wendy's unconscious, but Happy's already awake."
"That's wonderful," Hibiki said, "Now, hang tight, I'm gonna upload..."
Raven tuned out Hibiki and stared into the forest. Her ears picked up on the sound of many people walking through the trees nearby.
"I'll be right back," she murmured to Blayze before heading in the direction of the noise.
She crept quietly through the trees, and soon came to a stop. A few feet ahead of her was a group of about thirty wizards stealthily making their way to Erza and the others. She looked them over carefully and saw their guild marks, dark green snakes wrapped around their upper arms.
Black Python, a small but well known dark guild.
The Oracion Seis must've hired them to try and slow us down, she thought.
Silently, she hurried back to the others.
"What's wrong?" Blayze asked, spotting her at once.
"There's a minor dark guild making their toward us," she said.
"What?" Lucy gasped.
"My guess is that they're working for the Oracion Seis," she explained before turning to Hibiki. "How far away is Natsu?"
"Not too far," he said, glancing at his map. "He should be here soon."
She nodded. "Good. You guys stay here and wait for him. I'll take care of the dark guild."
"I'll come with you," Blayze said.
"No, you stay here with Erza," Raven said, looking at him. "I'll be back in no time."
He frowned but nodded. "Be careful, Raven."
She grinned, fangs flashing. "Always."
Blayze watched Raven disappear into the trees with a slight frown. He normally wouldn't worry about her going out on her own, knowing she could take care of herself just fine, but with the Oracion Seis out there and all of the dark magic in the Worth Woodsea, he couldn't help the twinge of worry in his chest.
He tore his gaze from the trees as Lucy walked over to him.
"Looks like she's finally gonna get the fight she's been itching for," she said with a small smile.
He sighed. "It should take the edge off at least."
Lucy glanced at him. "She sure does love to fight, doesn't she?"
Blayze shook his head. "You have no idea."
She laughed lightly. "It must be a Dragon Slayer trait."
"It definitely is," he muttered.
Lucy hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Why is it that she stayed behind with us instead of searching for Wendy with the others? I could tell that she wanted to be out there with them."
Blayze paused, unsure of how to answer. The question was simple enough, but the answer was a little more complicated. After a moment, he decided to give the brief version. "Raven cares about everyone in the guild, obviously, but she's closer with Erza than she is with anyone else. The two of them have been close since the day they met. I know they think of each other as sisters... If it had been anyone else that got hurt, she would've gone after Wendy instead of staying behind." He shook his head. "I know that sounds bad, but it's not what I mean. It's just that with someone so close to her heart like Erza, she has to be there to protect her herself. It's not that she thinks you're incapable, believe me, it's just..."
Lucy's brows furrowed. "What?"
He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "When she was younger, someone that she cared a lot about got hurt real bad, and she wasn't there to protect them. I think she still blames herself to this day for letting that happen, and ever since then, when someone she cares for is in danger or unable to protect themselves, she takes it upon herself to guard them and stay by their side, no matter what."
"Oh," Lucy said softly, "What happened to the person that got hurt? Were they okay?"
Blayze nodded. "Yes, we got them to a healer just in time."
Lucy looked at him, noticing the sadness in his eyes. "Who was it that got hurt?"
His face tightened.
"Family."
Raven laughed as another Black Python member went crashing into a tree.
"This is way too easy," she chuckled, "But, it feels good to finally be able to fight."
"Earth Make: Lance!"
She twisted her body lazily as a lance flew past her, then eyed the Earth Mage in front of her.
"That's the best you can do?" she muttered. "Pathetic."
"Shadow Dragon Wing Attack!"
As the mage flew through the trees, disappearing from view, she winced a bit.
The pounding in her head, which had gone away for a while, was back with a vengeance.
With a twitch of her hand, the last three wizards went down, and she rubbed her temple, trying to ease the pain; however, her attention was pulled away from her aching head when the ground started to shake.
"What the hell?" she murmured, glancing around.
What was causing it?
Her question was answered not a second later, when in the distance a pillar of black light shot into the sky.
Her eyes widened in horror at the sight, knowing almost instantly what it was.
"Nirvana," she breathed.
A wave Dark Magic erupted from the pillar with lightning speed.
And before Raven could even think of running, she felt the magic crash into her body, sending her stumbling back as her body went numb, and her legs gave out as the world around her went black, and the sound of something shattering filled her head.
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday! And, of course, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm super excited to write the next chapter, it's at the point in the story that I've been waiting for! The next couple of chapters are gonna be awesome (in my so humble opinion) and will provide some answers for you guys regarding Lilith!
Follow, favorite, or review, it's much appreciated!
Until next time:)
