Lucy's POV
It didn't even take until Declan had finished climbing the stairs before Lucy felt a niggling worry beginning to build in the back of her mind.
Almost everything about the situation - Declan's use of his practised smile rather than a genuine one, his seeming indifference to the destruction of the Guild (indifference? Or a lack of surprise?), the way he scanned the room as if searching for something elusive...all of those things were enough to make the Celestial Spirit Mage uneasy.
But even more worrying than that, was that the action was so uncharacteristic.
In the time she'd known him, Declan had proven himself to be a largely logical person. He wasn't prone to exaggerated shows of emotion - and while she had seen him at moments like when he'd had her chasing him the length and breadth of Galuna Island in a fit of giggling rage, she had also seen how he acted at other times. He tended to fade easily into backgrounds, quietly going about whatever he was focussed on at the time and neither expecting or seeming to wish for much in the way of attention.
A quiet soul - that seemed to be a suitable term...when he wasn't being the sarcastic/sadistic mischief-maker she had seen shining through.
Suddenly deciding to go gallivanting off on his own with a situation like this going on was completely unexpected, and she couldn't figure out how it made sense...
Unless he knew something the rest of them didn't.
That was characteristic, at least; Declan had proven to possess an interesting range of trivial knowledge, particularly relating to Magic, as well as a habit to either not bother talking about things (like when he was solving the mystery of the villagers while the two of them were defending the village and fighting Zalty, or only mentioned Zalty as an afterthought despite his apparent threat level) or, perhaps, deliberately say nothing about them.
In another person, Lucy might have found that incredibly suspicious - and, in honesty, she would be lying if she hadn't had some doubts, particularly during the last couple of days.
Two things kept banishing those doubts. Observation, and the battle against Lyon's three lieutenants.
During the latter incident, Declan had left her in a one-on-one situation out of nowhere - levelling the playing field by dragging away Sherry's reinforcements and driving the woman up the wall, leaving her making irrational decisions, but doing so nonetheless. Having him just, run away like that, for him to vanish and leave her to her own devices, was a painfully familiar sensation - for all that she had hidden it when she returned to her senses, wrapped in a familiar leather coat and carefully leaned back against the wall of a house in the village.
She had accepted his explanation (and it was a very logical explanation, but mixed with a healthy dose of faith and perhaps some of the mischievous sadism that liked to make itself known in the Gravity Mage's words and actions from time to time), but that hurt had still been there - right up until the fight with Zalty.
They had worked together in a way she had only thought she could manage with some of her Celestial Spirits, and the trust he had placed in her - the weaker Mage, as he had outright stated just the previous night - had cleared away what aches remained from his abrupt exit.
Though, the flinch and grimace that had crossed his features when she had mentioned that exit before fighting Zalty had also gone a ways toward mending that damage. For the usually taciturn Gravity Mage to display such discomfort showed her how much his course of action had weighed on him.
So, as he disappeared up the stairs (followed a moment later by the rush of displaced air that indicated him taking off at high speed, although Lucy could barely hear it even when she was listening specifically for it), it wasn't doubts that plagued her, and the ridiculous theories like Declan being some kind of undercover Phantom Lord supporter were thrown overboard like every other seemingly possible but utterly ridiculous idea her mind produced in its usual running - just like the sheets of paper she'd scrunch up and throw away after the story in her mind translated poorly to the real world.
No, it wasn't doubt that assailed her - rather, she found herself worried that, whatever was going on, Declan didn't think he could or should ask for their assistance. That seemed to indicate that it wouldn't be anything really difficult or dangerous, but at the same time it could just mean that he wanted to move quickly (his unusual intensity as he scanned the Guild Hall's basement while Natsu was yelling at the Guild Master seemed to support that). However, if that was the case, why not inform someone of where he was going, what he was doing?
There were too many possibilities, especially when it was also plausible that Declan really did have to go down to the market to get something and simply wanted to keep it to himself.
'After all,' Lucy thought to herself, unaware of the ruby-red glow that had begun to overtake her usual fair complexion. 'He is a teenage boy, and there are some places I wouldn't want to take my friends shopping...'
Catching her train of thought before it could go any further, the Heartfilia smacked her hands onto her cheeks and shook her head a couple of times, hoping that the sting and shake would clear her mind, before slumping as she looked around. 'Of course, with my friends, I don't even particularly want to dare let them into my apartment...'
The apartment itself was a rather homey one, despite her short occupancy so far. It had three main areas; the living area, where they were currently sitting - the bathroom, which was behind a curtain (she had to remember to ask the landlady about installing an actual door, with an actual lock), and the kitchen, which was behind another curtain, on the same wall as the bathroom, and with the exact same design, with a bookcase placed between them. 'Yes - definitely ask about getting doors fitted.'
Settling into her armchair, Lucy huffed out a breath, cheeks turning a little red again. 'And maybe ask Declan for a little help first this time.'
Honestly, she'd had no idea putting furniture together was so complicated - at home, it had just...always been there, and when they needed more of it the fixtures would just appear.
Here, she remembered the construction of each piece that filled the room. The table and chairs which Erza, Gray and Natsu were currently sitting at had been the first things that Declan had put together, with her watching over his shoulder as he did so. Then, she had done the armchair she currently occupied herself - before they both worked together to construct the bed.
After that, it had been all the shelves which now took up a lot of the available wall space in the room; from the large, three-shelf tall example in the corner, parallel to her bed and touching the headboard, to its smaller, two-shelf cousins on the right hand side of her writing desk, which she had built herself to the right of her fireplace and looking out through one of her windows, and at the foot of her bed, set below a shelf. The second window was directly above said bed, which ran parallel to the wall, allowing the sun to wake her in the morning, while the third was half again as large as the others and was set in her apartment's shorter wall opposite the entrances to the bathroom and kitchen, while her desk and bed were pushed up against the room's longer walls, directly opposite one another.
It definitely wasn't the Heartfilia Estate...but now, after the work she had put into it (and especially after Horologium retrieved her library from the Celestial Spirit Realm - she wasn't going to leave that behind), it felt like a home.
Unfortunately though, until Declan returned with the key to his own apartment (which the others seemed unable to infiltrate, for some reason), she was playing host for her other teammates - though, it was more like playing 'House' with how they made themselves at home.
The Celestial Spirit Mage let out a long-suffering sigh as Happy looked through another drawer, the seemingly insatiably curious feline commenting aloud on what he found inside before moving on. 'Does he have to talk about everything I own?'
"Declan is running late."
When Erza spoke, the atmosphere in the room seemed to draw closer - Happy stopped in the motion of opening another drawer, Natsu's grumblings came to a stop, and Gray's irritated responses turned to gritted teeth.
Lucy herself felt her grip on the arms of her chair tighten, and bit her lip - she'd been distracting herself, but considering Declan's value of 'swift', he was taking far longer than he'd said he would.
"Couldn't it just be that he's taking a while?" Lucy asked quietly. She didn't even really believe it - but at the same time, she didn't want to accept another option, however logical it might be.
"Declan has not disobeyed an instruction yet - nor does he seemed inclined to." Erza disagreed, placing her teacup down with a startling loud clink. "Admittedly, he strikes me as the type to use the rules as and when they benefit him, rather than always adhering to them - but I cannot say that I know any reason for him to be explicitly disobeying my instruction in this situation."
Lucy's grip on the armchair tightened to the point where her arms shook slightly, and Gray spoke up. "So, what're you saying? Do you think he's off doing something he doesn't want us to know about, or...?"
"I would prefer to say the former," Erza answered, "but with his demeanour prior to his departure and the current situation..."
The Ice Mage and Titania shared a look for a few moments, then made their way to their feet - Natsu and Lucy following close behind.
"One way or another, we should at least check if anyone has seen him - at the market, the Guild, perhaps other locations if Lucy can tell us where he goes regularly." Erza continued, leading the way to the door. "We will travel as a group, and if all goes well then..."
The redhead's voice fell as they descended the stairs to the apartment building's ground floor, where the street exit was, and a knock on the door came almost as she reached for the handle.
Erza raised a hand to tell the others in the hallway to stay back - and, glancing back, Lucy could see Gray and Natsu shift themselves into combat positions. She herself reached to her belt, taking hold of one of her keys - she hadn't taken them off since the fight with Zalty.
With one hand held open, ready to grasp a weapon if it appeared there, Erza pulled the door open - revealing the sombre features of Max Alors, his usual vibrant grin absent. In the street behind him, Elfman was standing with his arms folded, glancing all around. 'Standing guard.'
Erza took one look at them, and her own expression immediately shifted to match Max's. "What's happened?"
Fairy Tail's socialite grimaced, glancing toward the other three Mages in the doorway before his gaze returned to Erza. "Phantom Lord attacked again." He told her, and Lucy let out a low moan - a sound that caused the man to wince as he continued. "They...sent Gajeel Redfox, their Iron Dragon Slayer, to attack Shadow Gear. He would have really hurt them, but...your teammate, Ross, bought them time to get away."
Lucy's grip on her key loosened, and it almost dropped from her fingers as Max let out another sigh, one hand resting in his hair while, behind Erza, both Gray and Natsu's expressions darkened rapidly. "Max...where is Declan?"
Meeting Erza's gaze, the Sandstorm Mage kept himself standing straight, despite the impending doom he was standing mere feet away from. "Magnolia Hospital. Wakaba and Macao got him there quickly, but..." The Mage grimaced. "He's not in great shape."
Clink.
The innocuous sound of Lucy's Key hitting the floor was like a church bell ringing, and the four other Mages each glanced her way - each seeing the Celestial Spirit Mage shaking slightly where she stood.
Max's grimace worsened, and he turned away somewhat before addressing Erza again. "You should probably drop by...but when you've seen him, come to the Guild Hall. The Master's made his decision - Phantom Lord have declared war, so we're marching as soon as we have everyone together."
The Sandstorm Mage started walking away, but paused to look back, addressing Lucy this time. "Your friend - he made every Fairy Tail Mage proud tonight. Phantom Lord won't get away with this; not if we have to scour them away from the face of Earthland."
With that, Max continued his walk, meeting up with Elfman as they jogged off down the street - heading for the next address on their list.
In the entrance to Lucy's apartment, the blonde herself was still shaking slightly, while Erza, Natsu and Gray were inscrutable.
'I was right...I was right, and I didn't say anything. If I had asked, he might not have told me, but he'd have had to lie - and he hasn't lied to me yet, not to my face. I'd have noticed, I did notice when he used that fake smile so I'm sure I would have noticed, but I didn't try...'
"Lucy."
The Celestial Spirit Mage's recrimination was cut off by the one pronunciation of her name, looking up from where her eyes had fallen to see Natsu in front of her, leaning down to pick up the Key she didn't even realise she'd dropped.
Holding the golden instrument in his hand, the Dragon Slayer turned to her, his usually bright eyes dark like coals, waiting to burst into life. "I'm not smart, like you and Declan - I go with my gut, and my fists. So, I can't really understand what you're thinking now...but I can understand what Declan was thinking."
Pressing the Key into Lucy's hand, Natsu closed her fingers around it. "Sure, I don't get why he didn't ask for backup, or how he knew what was happening...but I understand that he wanted to defend someone else, and I understand that it's the kind of person he is." The Dragon Slayer chuckled, stepping back from Lucy with a momentarily bright grin. "Sometimes, he's a bit of an idiot - like me."
Lucy looked down at the Key in her hand, feeling the warm metal, the magical power within just waiting to mix with her own. "And, if I got all beat up like this..." Natsu continued, his expression darkening into something more feral. "I wouldn't want everyone standing around being sad - I'd want my friends to go out and finish what I started!"
Turning around, Natsu headed out into the street, a barely-visible orange light flickering around his fingers every few seconds. "So, we'll go check in on him..."
There was a roar of crackling flames, accompanied by searing flames erupting all along the Dragon Slayer's arms as he punched his fist into his open left hand. "AND THEN WE'LL BURN PHANTOM LORD TO THE GROUND!"
Lucy watched the burning, flickering form in the street for a moment, before her fingers curled around her Key once again.
She looked up from her closed fist, and her eyes blazed just as fiercely as Natsu's had ever done. "To the ground."
Beside her, a cruel smirk spread across Gray's features, and Erza's lips twitched upward for a moment.
Out in the street, Natsu turned back and smiled, showing off his unnaturally sharp teeth. "Then let's go - the night's still young, and there's no better time for fireworks than this!"
Oak Town, Later That Night
Moving almost the entire Fairy Tail Guild to Oak Town in the middle of the night would normally be a tall order for anyone.
Not this night, though.
Since he was already going to be breaking so many of the Council's laws over this (like he gave two shits anyway), Makarov just walked straight into the station, boarded the train currently resting inactive on the outgoing Oak Town line, and instructed his children to get it moving.
Crewed by a group of reckless, furious Mages, the train reached Oak Town at such a speed it was a wonder the whole thing didn't go off the rails a dozen times during the journey. As it was, the whole thing was suffering from some serious stress damage, and would probably need to be replaced completely.
The same could be said for the main street they were walking up - dozens of Mages, practising dozens of different Magics, all of them in states of high emotion and just itching for the opportunity to break something...
The cobblestones never stood a chance.
Leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, Fairy Tail stomped up the street toward the castle which housed the Oak Town branch of Phantom Lord. At the head were Master Makarov, Erza, Gray and Natsu - right on their heels, Elfman, Cana, Loke and Alzack were at the forefront of the crowd.
Every expression betrayed anger, every movement screamed of violence, and the pressure of so much barely-leashed magical power woke nearly every animal in the town and caused nightmares in whoever the Guild passed.
Then they reached the front door. Makarov stared at it, the oaken barrier between some minor fines and open warfare.
For about a second.
"Natsu."
Beside the Master, the Salamander stepped up, drawing back his fist. His pupils focussed down into slits, his teeth all showing and unnaturally sharp, incandescent flames roared into life around his arm as he reared back. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Natsu let the punch fly, and the resulting explosion of flames, wood and stone could be seen from the other side of the town.
None of the Fairy Tail Mages so much as flinched as they moved forward, through the devastated wall, into the Guild Hall.
It was almost Gothic in its architecture, with no windows and few torches to create a dingy atmosphere. The ceiling was criss-crossed with thick wooden beams, running parallel and perpendicular to the long wooden tables on the ground floor. Apart from that, it was really nothing but cold, unforgiving stone.
The room beyond was, despite the time of night, filled with people - Makarov had rather expected that. After all, Jose wasn't...well, he was an idiot, but he wasn't an unintelligent idiot. He would have known that the repercussions for his actions would come on swift wings, and for someone who cared as little for his comrades as Jose, that would be a cue to keep all his pieces close at hand for deployment.
Though, he didn't seem to have told any of his Guild members that.
Shouts and screams of surprise sounded all around the hall, while others yelled in pain or groaned where they had fallen - the shockwave from Natsu's attack had caused a line of damage straight down the centre of the Guild Hall, uprooting flagstones and destroying furniture, sending Mages flying every which way.
Makarov walked forward into the breach, and took a deep breath. "WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!" He declared, drawing more curses and more screaming from the rabble in front of them. "AND WE ACCEPT YOUR DECLARATION OF WAR!"
Natsu let out a long scream, one which was too sibilant and too low-pitched to sound properly human, and leaped forward - immediately diving into the thickest part of the Phantom Lord crowd he began lashing out, launching kicks, punches and elbows into every target which presented itself, breaking bones and sending his opponents flying with every movement, yelling and aflame all the while.
Right on his heels, Erza - forgoing any of her magical sets of armour as being frivolous - had drawn two swords before wading in, instantly clearing a space around her as she struck. Her opponents fell in singular blows, grasping at open wounds in a desperate bid to keep their blood where it belonged, falling like puppets as she sliced tendons like strings, or going straight into unconsciousness as the flats and pommels of her swords found vulnerable nerves or openings in their defences.
It was the same wherever the eye fell - the Fairy Tail Mages were united in their burning desire for retribution, their wish to take revenge for their comrades and protect each other from the threat Phantom Lord had become. Their singular purpose and overflowing emotion alone would have made them an unbeatable force - but their Magic, already bound so closely by a day of plotting and planning in the basement of Fairy Tail and naturally cooperative thanks to the close bonds that tied every member of Fairy Tail together as family, took that desire. It took in the rage, the righteous fury, the wish to protect and the need for retribution...
And the hearthfire that always burned in Fairy Tail leapt for the heavens.
Gajeel's POV
None of the Phantom Lord members stood a chance - and, looking down from where he stood among the rafters, Gajeel Redfox could see it clearly.
'These fairies...don't mess around.' He had to admit, watching the devastation unravel, picking out the tiny figure of Makarov Dreyer in particular. 'That's the one Master Jose said to steer clear of...hard to believe some scrawny old man like that's one of the Ten Wizard Sain-'
Abruptly, Gajeel's thought process found itself derailed, as that 'scrawny old man' erupted in golden light and swelled up to a dozen times his normal size. Fists like train carriages swung, and the sheer pressure wave almost buffeted Gajeel from his perch, even as the impacts themselves carried Phantom Lord members up into the air, through the rafters (literally, sometimes) and into the ceiling beyond, where either it broke, or they did.
The ones who hit the walls fared no better.
"YOU ATTACKED THAT MONSTER'S CHILDREN!" The massive figure declared, likely in response to something Gajeel couldn't hear, its eyes glowing with magical power. "DON'T BE SURPRISED WHEN IT COMES FOR YOU - AND DON'T THINK THAT YOUR HUMAN LAWS WILL KEEP YOU SAFE!"
From where he was watching, Gajeel shuddered slightly. 'These damn fairies - they should be just trash, especially without Laxus, Mystogan or Gildarts...but none of them are like what we were told! They're supposed to be a group of idiots who can't get along for a minute, not...this!'
A phantom pain throbbed in his left arm, and the Dragon Slayer glanced down toward it with a grimace - the purple-black bruises from that fairy's grip hadn't even begun to heal, despite his Dragon Slayer constitution, and he almost felt like the bruises ran all the way through his arm and the bone beneath.
Shaking off the moment of distraction, Gajeel continued to watch the melee as the once again shrunken figure of Makarov headed out of the room toward a staircase - probably to head upwards in search of Master Jose, like Jose himself had predicted.
"Well, at least the Master's plan is working." Gajeel muttered to himself, scanning the area again and noting the absence of the target. "So these reckless scum can just keep on fighting...we'll win in the end.
"For now..." The Dragon Slayer's lips began to pull back, baring sharp teeth as a bloody tinge began to enter into his already-red eyes. "With Makarov gone...I can deal with the trash!"
Leaping from the rafter on which he stood, Gajeel felt the familiar sensation of steely power entering his body as metal rose to encompass his arm, building on it and extending it until by the time he reached the floor below, he had a multi-metre club of solid iron - one he wasted no time in bringing down on the two closest non-Phantom Mages.
Or, maybe they were Phantom - the others who had been caught in the strike certainly were.
'Not like it matters.' Gajeel thought to himself, bloodthirst in his smile. 'In this Guild of ours, anyone who can't stand on their own two feet is just wasted space!'
Those were the teachings of their Master - that was what he had learned from Master Jose. The man had taught him the true meaning of strength - had shown him the power that lay in embracing complete independence, in establishing dominance over others, in being a true Dragon.
A faint throbbing came from his left arm, but the Dragon Slayer ignored it. So what if that trash had managed to break his scales - it wasn't like he'd done anything else. He'd tried, again and again, but in the end all he'd managed to do was leave some bruises (and an incredibly irritating amount of dirt in his hair - it had taken hours to get that shit out).
Yes...no matter how much strength that fairy had seemed to find in thinking of his Guild, it hadn't been enough. He was still the best, still on top of the food chain. He was still the strongest.
No matter how much the damn bruises throbbed, or how much worse it got when anything so much as brushed them - he'd had worse before, it'd take more than some fairy's sting to stop him throwing a punch.
Allowing the iron on his arm to slough away, the Dragon Slayer looked around, revelling in the chaos, searching for a worthy target. "I AM GAJEEL - THE IRON DRAGON SLAYER!" He declared, rearing his head back and letting his voice be heard all throughout the room. "COME AND FIGHT ME, SCUM!"
Casting his eyes around again, Gajeel found himself snarling when he realised that the people in an area around him - the fairies, at least - had all suddenly drawn back, like he was a bomb about to go off.
'Tch - figures; damn cowards are probably scared by what I did to that other damn fairy. Well, fuck it - I'll just go to th-'
That was about as far as his thought process went before he realised that, more than just an area around him, a corridor had opened up in the fighting - and at the other end of that corridor was a teenager with pink hair, dressed in black, gold and white, and with flames coruscating over every inch of his skin.
"Gajeel..." The teen hissed, a sound that had Gajeel's eyes widening suddenly - he hadn't heard a voice like that in years, not since...
Since...
The teen began to stalk forward, picking up speed rapidly as he crossed the floor. "I'm Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel!" The now-named Natsu declared, accelerating into a full run as Gajeel got himself together enough to start moving to meet him, iron crawling over his arms as he began to move.
"And for Declan..."
The two Dragon Slayers reached one another, and Gajeel threw the first punch - only to find that Natsu had ducked beneath it and was now right inside his guard, the flames on his arms reaching a whole new level of intensity as the black-haired man's eyes widened, knowing that he wasn't going to be fast enough for this.
"I'M GOING TO BURN YOU INTO ASHES!"
Then the pink-haired Dragon Slayer's fist buried itself in Gajeel's face, and he came to the conclusion that there might have been a reason that trash in Magnolia had seemed so damn sure of himself, talking shit with his back to the wall and nowhere left to turn.
'Good thing this guy's here and not with the target - Sol'd run like a bitch, and Juvia would probably boil over.'
His last thought before turning his entire focus onto the fight, was that at least there was no way for those two to fuck up a simple retrieval mission.
Magnolia Hospital
Sitting in one of the Magnolia Hospital's waiting rooms, the figure of Lucy Heartfilia let out a sigh.
Declan was more stable now, but showed no signs of waking. The doctor assigned to him had managed to retrieve all the bone shards that had lodged in his midsection, as well as put his ribs back in the right places - right now, they were all being held in place with stasis bandages, while the spells laid into the bed he was lying on encouraged them to re-attach properly and heal.
He wasn't in critical condition, and he was expected to make a full recovery once the blood loss had been regenerated, his organs recovered and his bones were reconnected - though, the doctor had warned that it was possible that there would be some lingering stiffness or even possibly trauma from an encounter which came far too close to being fatal.
The doctor must have been new in town - otherwise he'd have had time to hear the Psych Ward's horror stories about Fairy Tail Mages.
Leaning back in her seat, the blonde glanced out the window, to where rain had been drumming on the glass for a little while now, before letting out a sigh.
"Drip drop, drip drop...Juvia brings the rain which clouds the windows..."
With a blink, brown eyes turned to the new figure in the room, narrowing slightly as they took her in.
It was a girl, probably in her late teens - slender, but with a figure comparable to Lucy's own. Her hair was an azure blue, and fell to her shoulders where it was curled tightly upwards again, almost like Swiss rolls. Her eyes were blue as well, though it was a darker shade, while her complexion was so pale she might almost have been mistaken for a yuki-onna.
She was dressed in a sapphire blue coat with brass buttons and belted around the waist, as well as a navy blue shawl - both the shawl and the sleeves of the coat trimmed in cream fur. Holding the shawl closed was a pure white teru teru bōzu - a sphere with a stitched mouth and eyes, from which hung white fabric much like a handkerchief. Atop her head was a navy blue Cossack hat, and she carried a pink umbrella printed with darker pink heart designs.
"Yes..." The girl murmured to herself, glancing around the waiting room. "Steadily and silently, Juvia brings rain..."
Midnight blue eyes settled on Lucy's figure, just as another voice made itself know. "Oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, oui, bonjour! With oui, in a 3-3-7 rhythm!"
The cobblestones which made up the floor of the hospital suddenly bulged upwards, their colour shifting as they moved upwards until it began to coalesce into a humanoid figure.
It was a man, slim and of average height, with green hair that pointed straight upwards and a tiny, pointy moustache. His eyes were black, with one hidden by a red monocle attached to a slim chain. He was dressed in a formal brown suit, with a ragged collar bearing three outward-jutting protrusions on each side of his neck. The suit was worn over a white shirt, paired with a black tie and simple shoes. He also wore a short black cape which was attached to both of his elbows.
"Oui, this madamoiselle must be our precious sible!"
Brown eyes stared at the two figures for several moments, before the male suddenly snapped his hand out at such a speed there was a crack, simultaneously shifting his posture so that his upper body was leaning to his right at 90 degrees to his legs, in a movement which seemed like it should have broken something. "Oh non, non, non, I have forgotten to introduce myself! I am Monsieur Sol, and we have been sent by the great Guild of Phantom Lord to welcome you!"
The woman beside him spoke as well. "And I am a member of Phantom Lord's Elemental Four, Juvia, who brings rain."
The figure of Lucy stared at the two for several moments longer, causing an awkward silence to rise in the room.
"Mademoiselle...?" Sol half-asked, peering at the blonde through his monocle. "Did you, perhaps, not hear us?"
The figure stared at them for a moment longer before heaving another sigh and standing up - before another voice spoke up from behind the Phantom Lord duo.
"That's not it."
Both Juvia and Sol immediately whirled around, finding themselves face to face with Macao Conbolt - his features serious, purple light already glowing around his hands. "The bastard was just using the time to get an eyeful of the girl there."
Sol and Juvia both blinked several times before their eyes widened and they glanced backwards - just in time to see the figure of Lucy Heartfilia burst into smoke and drift away to swirl around the feet of the newly revealed Wakaba Mine, who was smirking around his pipe as he stood in his near-constant slouch.
The Phantom Lord Mages glanced rapidly between the two Fairy Tail men, eyes wide. "Qu'est-ce que...how?!" Sol cried, only a couple of seconds from disappearing into the ground beneath his feet.
"The Master knew you'd go after Lucy - I don't know any of the details, but I'd bet it was that Ross kid who told him something." Macao smirked. "Your Dragon Slayer must have a really big mouth - we can relate.
"However," the single father continued, his expression becoming serious again. "You still came here to kidnap a member of our Guild - and since we didn't get to go and beat the shit out of your other Guild members, you're gonna have to do."
Macao cracked his fists, just as the smoke around Wakaba's feet began to swirl faster, rising around him and beginning to fill the room. "Oh, c'mon Macao..." The smoker whined, though his expression didn't change and his eyes never left the Phantoms. "Can't we leave the girl be? Maybe she'll be grateful enough to go on a date with me!"
"It won't happen in a million years and you know it, you black-lunged bastard." Macao replied, while between them, Sol and Juvia glanced at one another - both reaching the same conclusion, if for different reasons.
"Juvia thinks we don't need to be here, Monsieur Sol." 'Juvia doesn't want to fight this pervert!'
"Oui, oui, oui - our sible is elsewhere, so nous devrait la trouver elsewhere!" 'These two are dangerous together - and neither of them have an exploitable weakness! I must retreat!'
With that, both Phantom Mages immediately made their moves - Sol disappeared into the ground beneath his feet, while Juvia dissolved into water and shot forward at Macao, causing him to curse and leap sideways, leaving her free to escape the room and, in short order, the hospital.
With the two Mages gone, Macao and Wakaba glanced at one another, before cackling madly. "I gotta tell this story to Romeo!" Macao declared, holding his middle and laughing. "Wait till he hears his old man scared off two of Phantom Lord's most powerful Mages without even laying a finger on 'em!"
Wakaba, who was in much the same state, grinned as the smoke in the room dissipated. "Yeah - this'll definitely impress Mira; maybe I'll finally get that date!"
The other man in the room shook his head, collapsing into a nearby seat. "Keep dreaming, Wakaba." Leaning back in the chair, Macao stared at the ceiling. "It was pretty smart of the Master, having us set a trap like this - I guess wandering around with Lucy's form every now and again was the right idea."
"Yup," Wakaba agreed, taking a seat himself. "That Ross kid's a lucky bastard - that teammate of his hasn't left his bedside ever since she got here, has she?"
"Not for more than five minutes." Macao answered. "I think she planned to head out with Natsu and the others - I feel kinda bad for telling her the Master thought someone might come after him."
"It's not a nice trick," Wakaba sighed, "but it kept her safe this time didn't it? And besides, she has Shadow Gear to keep her company - you've seen how Lucy and Levy have been getting along?"
Macao smiled. "Yeah, I have. It's good to see Levy finally has someone who can keep up with her."
"Two someones, from what I've seen." Wakaba pointed out.
"That's true." Macao agreed. "Declan's pretty sharp." There was a pause, before the single father giggled. "He really is a lucky bastard though, isn't he? I wonder how Jet and Droy are feeling?"
Wakaba blinked a couple of times, then burst out laughing again. "Oh, those would be some priceless expressions..." He managed, taking in large gulps of air. "Almost as good as the looks on Lucy and Declan's faces when they saw that banner!"
Macao burst out into fresh laughter, and the two men kept up their mirth until a nurse poked her head around the door and levelled a glare at them which seemed to scorch whatever surface it touched.
Both gulping, the two men shook themselves, before leaning back in their seats again to stare at the ceiling. "I wonder how the others are doing right now?"
Oak Town, Phantom Lord Branch Hall
Makarov Dreyer moved up the staircase he had found surrounded by a golden aura - whenever his foot touched the steps, a reverberating wave of power emanated away, shaking the entire building to its foundations as he climbed higher and higher, ready and willing to get his hands on his fellow Guild Master's neck.
He emerged onto a level just as dimly lit as the lower hall - here, the furniture seemed antique, maintaining the Gothic style but bearing tarnished golden filigree and faded leather, arrayed along a corridor leading to a high-back, almost throne-like seat, where the room's only other occupant could be seen.
Jose Porla was a tall, slim man with straight black hair reaching down to his shoulders and a thin moustache. His face was long and sharp, with vaguely pointed ears and prominent eyelashes, as well as almost unnaturally dark lips - nearly as dark as his eyes which, despite being green, were almost always thought to be black without close inspection.
Seated on his 'throne', he was wearing a flamboyant coat with a high collar that sported a jagged mantle and jagged lower edges, as well as intricately decorated borders and inners, featuring two prominent bat's wings and a witch's hat bearing Phantom Lord's symbol, its tip so ridiculously long that it fell down the Mage's front like a ponytail. Beneath the coat was a plain shirt held clasped with his Wizard Saints' medallion and two attached ribbons, leading down to loose, striped culottes paired with long socks and a pair of pointed shoes, each decorated with a fuzzy ball on the front and back of the foot.
Seeing him sitting there, with one leg crossed over the other, Makarov's already raging temper spiked - to declare open war, to spill the blood of children and then just sit there?
Makarov's magical power exploded into an even higher gear, the 'Giant's Rage' he had become so well known for once upon a time reaching a whole new level as golden light arced and curved away from him like lightning, tearing chunks from the wall and detonating furniture pieces when it made contact, rapidly reducing the room from an incredibly expensive work of Gothic art to so many matchsticks and shattered stones.
"What the Hell..." Makarov growled, still stomping forward, destruction following in his footsteps. "Do you think you're doing, Jose?!"
From his seat, Jose looked up - an ungodly irritating look of smug condescension on his face like usual, showing little to no reaction to being faced down with an angry Wizard Saint.
While the loathsome man spouted some false pleasantry, that fact bored through the rage clouding the Fairy Tail Master's mind, bringing his senses back to the fore - Jose was an arrogant son of a bitch, yes, but this was out of character. Even if he had his head so far up his own ass he couldn't see the boot headed for it, he would at least have the common sense to stand up and raise his magical power to combat levels...except, when he felt for it, Makarov could barely feel his Jose's magical power at all.
That shouldn't have been possible - Jose had never put much stock in restraining his abilities, preferring to just let his magical power run wild wherever he went, no matter how many issues that much raw magic leaking into the world could cause.
He wouldn't normally have bothered being this attentive...but he recalled the message Levy had passed to him, the one which had come from Ross. It seemed to be a strangely random piece of information to send with her, but that kid wasn't the type to do something for no reason - he was committed to something, and his every action would be a step to advance toward it or to protect his progress.
If he needed Fairy Tail to reach his goal, then he wouldn't want Phantom to destroy it - knowing that, he had taken a step to, from his view, stop that happening right before he went and got himself put in the hospital.
He had sent that message, likely in the full knowledge that he wasn't going to be able to pass on any more information - even if he actually had, though only in the space of a few moments.
Makarov almost found it hilarious - to think, of all the possible gifts Ross could have borne it would be that. Such an ability in the hands of someone who was so utterly incapable of harnessing it...at least, for the moment.
Someone up there was messing with the kid.
But that aside, Ross had chosen a warning - a warning to be delivered to him, personally.
That warning sounded loud and clear in the back of Makarov's mind even as he completely ignored whatever the Hell Jose had been saying and felt his magical power surge into his right arm, which immediately powered forward with the approximate size and kinetic velocity of a freight train so as to make the disgusting man shut the fuck up-
And his super-sized fist went right through the bastard.
More alarm bells started ringing, and Makarov surreptitiously formed a Magic Circle hidden by the motion of his coat as he brought his arm back, casting two spells in quick succession and tying them together with the kind of speed and intuitive knowledge that only members of organisations like the Ten Wizard Saints could ever lay claim to.
At the same time, he gritted his teeth, glaring at the insubstantial image of the other Guild Master and wishing he knew a spell which could attack an opponent through a thought projection. Perhaps he'd try looking through the Magic Library after this was over and done with...
"You cowardly bastard..." Makarov growled. "You left the Guild already?!"
Jose's smirk widened. "You know as well as I do that when Mages of our calibre do battle, the effects on the natural world can be catastrophic."
Makarov glared harder - like this bastard cared a whit for that. He was just a rotten coward.
"No..." Jose continued. "I prefer a more...rational victory."
There was a flickering of the air near the Dark Mage's feet...
And the figure of Lucy Heartfilia, unconscious and with her wrists bound, appeared there.
For a moment, Makarov felt his heart seize, and his eyes widened in panic - then, he looked closer, and a smirk began to spread over his own features. "So that's how it is."
Jose blinked - his smirk failing now that Fairy Tail's Guild Master seemed to have gained a confidence boost in the moment where he should have been fully distracted. After all, even if Juvia and Sol had failed to retrieve the Heartfilia, Makarov couldn't know that - he should have been more panicked, even, since he should have believed that the guardians he had left in her place had been overcome. Mine and Conbolt were two of his oldest 'children' - a connection like that should have been easy to exploit.
There was only one possibility - that Makarov had seen through his Illusion Magic somehow, even through a Thought Projection spell.
"Nice try, Jose." Makarov continued, a savage smile with far too many teeth spreading across his features. "But whoever it was that sent you after Lucy really should have given you a more up-to-date picture."
Jose's eyes darkened, as Makarov raised one arm to point at 'Lucy'. "The real Lucy's bust...is at least three inches larger!"
For a moment, the Phantom Lord Guild Master stared dumbly at his hated foe - then, the image of Lucy flickered out and malevolent, black magical power began to rise and spiral around him, some of its rancid, oppressive miasma making itself felt even through the Thought Projection.
"I DID NOT DECLARE WAR TO BE DEFEATED BY CUP SIZE! PHANTOM LORD'S SUPERIORITY WILL NOT BE UNDONE BY A PERVERTED OLD MAN!" Jose screamed, conveniently ignoring the fact that he was about one musical number away from being kidnapped for the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
He wasn't wrong - after all, while he appreciated the views he could get from his out-of-the-way spot on Fairy Tail's bar, Makarov had loved and lost in his time, and was too old to take a great deal of interest in that kind of thing any more anyway. He liked to play up the part, since it was a useful part of his act, but being able to discern an illusion from reality based on bust size?
If he needed any more proof that Jose was an idiot, the fact that he believed that excuse was it - honestly, it had only taken one glance at illusion-Lucy's hands to notice the lack of any Guild Mark there.
Still, idiot or not, Jose's temper was well and truly riled - and Phantom Lord were a credible threat.
Especially when it seemed that the Guild Master's anger was taken as a cue and, from the air behind Makarov, a figure appeared.
He was tall - extremely so - and with the musculature of a wrestler. His skin was tanned, visible on his rectangular, elongated face with prominent cheekbones and a rounded chin. Covering his eyes and eyebrows was a simple white blindfold, while whatever hair he might possess was hidden by a dark green top hat.
Compared to the incredible mass of his torso and midsection, his limbs seemed disproportionately thin, even hidden by his large, loose dark green coat with white edges and his dark blue, ankle-length trousers. The coat was closed around the neck, sporting a wide and high collar, but falling open from that point down to reveal a ruffled yellow shirt with its collar split into three horizontal straps circling his neck, held closed by three buttons.
Around his neck, there was a necklace - the centrepiece of which was a red skull with its eyes blindfolded, linked to a series of equally red crosses by small beads - and around his shoulders to hang down his front was a wide stole, purple and white in colour and covered in intricate motifs.
Aria of the Element Four, the user of Airspace Magic, teleported from where he had hidden himself within an Airspace constraining his magical power and his image to prevent the Guild Master from detecting him to directly behind the Guild Master's back, hands moving forward and to the sides to initiate his most devastating technique, the Metsu -
And instead had a split-second to detect the flare of magical power in front of him that, though he could not see it, heralded the formation of a spinning Magic Circle before it erupted into a beam of light that struck Aria in the chest, carrying him the length of the hall and into the wall at its end in only a second, embedding the large man in the bricks as he failed to form a defensive Airspace or disperse into the wind in time.
Makarov turned away from the Thought Projection of Jose - which cursed and spat some more before flickering and vanishing, its progenitor spinning away from where he had been standing in Phantom Lord's true Guild Hall to keep the spell going, stomping away to his chambers to don his battle attire and leaving a trembling duo of Juvia and Sol behind - to face Aria, taking in the appearance of the green-clad giant pulling himself from the brickwork.
"You'd be Aria, then." He noted, his voice most level but the snapping, coruscating arcs of golden energy flickering around him betraying his true state. "I guess even Phantom Lord's S-Class Mages are incapable of doing anything but attacking from behind."
The large Airspace user clambered to his feet, turning unerringly to face Fairy Tail's Guild Master as the air currents in the room fed him information on where the old man stood, as well as the effect he was having on the environment.
Behind his blindfold, Aria began to sweat as the very presence of Makarov's magical power disrupted the flows of air and Ethernano in the room so much that, should he dare try to dissolve into the air, the odds of being able to remain cohesive and pull himself together at the end were too low to risk it.
"Oh, I am so sorrowful..." He declared, bringing his hands up to point at Makarov. "That I must do battle with such a great Mage...SUCH SORROW! ZETSU!"
The spell kicked in, generating dozens of compressed Airspaces and sending them hurtling toward Makarov - invisible, but no less devastating when they hit their target, Aria had demolished buildings with this attack.
With one swipe of Makarov's arm, a shining golden circle formed in front of him, effortlessly halting each blast in its tracks before pausing in its rotation and rapidly reversing direction, growing smaller and denser before erupting forward in a spear of golden energy.
With his blindfold in place Aria couldn't appreciate the beauty of Makarov's Magic - he just felt the spike of power that screamed DANGER and immediately launched himself sideways, the currents in the room painting the picture of the wall behind him tearing away in the wake of the strike, which erupted from the side of the building and extended over the countryside for an instant like a shooting star.
Shivering as he realised that, if not for his Airspace allowing him the power of flight and the ability to move swiftly even without teleporting, that single strike may well have been the end of him, Aria once more turned to face Makarov, whose voice remained perfectly level as he spoke up again. "I suppose I can see why you're all such cowards, with attacks that weak."
Grimacing, Aria reached upwards. He wasn't going to wait to receive an injury before unleashing his full power here; if he wanted a chance at victory, he was going to need to pull out every trick he had.
Not bothering with his usual careful reveal, the Airspace Mage ripped the cloth away from his eyes before opening them wide, revealing that instead of a normal iris and pupil, his eyes had only four purple quarter-circles, arranged like petals.
With the removal of the blindfold, Aria's own power began rising - enough so that the air currents in the room began coming back under his control, and the S-Class Mage felt some of his confidence returning. After all, Jose had told them before that he was more than a match for Makarov - the man must have deteriorated in his old age, so surely he had a chance here!
"To be forced to remove my blindfold so early - IS TRULY SORROWFUL!" The larger man declared, tears falling from his revealed eyes as he brought his hands up once more - both cupped, with the left hand on top and the right below, joined at the heels. "But for a great Mage like you to be the focus of my most powerful technique...is EVEN MORE SORROWFUL!"
Bawling like a child while Makarov looked on with the kind of shadowed calm that indicated he was well and truly done with this shit, Aria's full magical power rose and surged forward with the air currents in the room as he yelled his incantation. "Airspace of Death - ZERO!"
The wind around Aria seemed to curl and condense, spiralling around the large figure in the form of smoke. Dirty-golden specks of light began to appear like ailing stars, spread throughout as the spell began to take on a life of its own - a life that needed to grow, needed to live, needed to devour.
In the space of a few seconds, Aria let the spell fly, the smoky vortex with its insatiable appetite for life rushing forward to claim the aged yet abundant lifeforce in front of it.
Makarov watched the onrushing Magic for a moment, features inscrutable and eyes hidden in the shadows of the room, where the only remaining light came from Aria's glowing eyes and the moonlight pouring through the demolished portion of the wall and the ceiling which had fallen with it. Then, with a sigh, he traced a pattern in the air, golden light following the movements of his fingers as surely as ink followed a pen, before raising a single hand in front of him, pinky and ring curled over thumb, pointer and index raised, and making a sharp downwards gesture.
Just as the deadly spell reached Makarov, the pattern he had drawn in the air exploded into radiant life, spreading through the space in front of him and forming symbols whose meaning would be incomprehensible to all but a dedicated few.
The wall of characters stood firm in the face of Zero, the two magical powers crashing together as Aria's spell howled and tore at the wall of unmoving golden light.
From where he stood, hands still before him, pouring more and more of his magical power into the attack, Aria began to feel doubt. 'What...is this?' Looking through his vortex of smoke, all he could see was the glowing golden light of Makarov's Magic - the man himself barely a silhouette. 'My most powerful spell...isn't having any effect at all?!'
Looking on from behind his unyielding defence, Makarov spat sideways on the ground as Zero kept trying to break through his barrier. "A Magic designed to do nothing but kill..." He growled, glowering at the smoke beyond the light. "Mages like you are a disgrace to everything I stand for."
His right hand still before him forming the half-Ram seal, Fairy Tail's Guild Master brought up his left hand, tracing another pattern in glowing light as if he wasn't holding back Death Magic with his other hand. "I will not allow..."
The pattern was completed, the lines drawn. "Someone like you..."
Golden light, shining like the sun, surged from the dots and joining lines, outshining even the barrier as they unfolded into five circles - four small, spinning even as they raced around the larger, central circle's circumference at equidistant points. "TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR MY CHILDREN!"
The five circles stopped spinning, having reached such a brightness that the tears running down Aria's cheeks were no longer an act, but from the strain of keeping them open in the face of such radiance. As he felt the amount of magical power that had been brought to bear on him, the Airspace Mage brought up all the remaining magical power he had in what he knew was a futile effort.
"Light Magic..." Makarov growled, raising his flattened left hand above his head before bringing it down in a chopping motion. "Svet Kop'ye!"
The golden circles in front of the Guild Master each shrank in an instant, down to the size of an apple - then, they erupted forward in five solid lances of glowing energy, each seeking Aria. A foot after leaving the circle, the five lances became fifteen, when the main shafts each sprouted another two spears. Those spears then split again a foot later, bringing the number to thirty-five.
Thus it went that, in the seconds it took for Makarov's strike to pierce straight through the Zero as if it wasn't even there and cross the fifteen feet between the elderly man and Aria, the number of lances grew to the point that they tore into the walls, dragging the crumbling stone with them as golden light subsumed everything in a path of utter devastation before the Guild Master - leaving Aria to let loose one last scream of "HOW SORROWFUL!" before he too vanished into the golden glow.
On the Lower Floor
Gajeel growled once again while he had air in his lungs, grimacing in a mix of pain and bloodthirst as he did his best to ignore the burns and bruises he was now covered in.
The other Dragon Slayer fought like a man possessed, never letting up and never getting distracted, shrugging off the blows and slashes he took in the pursuit of Gajeel as he did his utmost to fulfil the promise he'd made at the start of their feet.
The Iron Dragon Slayer was feeling more alive than he had in years, his instincts running full-bore and his Magic roaring a battle cry in his veins as he battled for supremacy over this interloper - but as much as he was enjoying it, this fight should have been over long ago.
The shaking in the building had died down some for a little while - but it was back now and worse than ever, which probably meant that the fairy Guild Master wasn't down yet. What could have gone wrong? Jose had gloated about how well he knew Makarov for ages when he was concocting this plan - there should have been no way that he wouldn't leave himself wide open with a distraction like an injured member of his Guild.
Unless...they didn't have the distraction?
A small part of Gajeel began to debate whether he should thank Sol and Juvia for this fight, or if he should just beat the shit out of them for fucking up their one goddamn job. How hard could it be to kidnap some runaway rich girl?! Her Guild was already out of town, and she herself was a Celestial Spirit Mage - who everyone knew were totally fucking useless without their keys!
Shaking off the thought, Gajeel prepared himself to charge forward to start the next exchange of blows with his opponent - but was distracted, like everyone else in the room, when the hall's roof was torn away, leaving the interior to be bathed in a glow like the sun had suddenly come down to Earthland.
The cries and screams of Phantom Lord, which persisted even as they became hoarse over the course of the battle (which, if Gajeel was honest, was really more of a wholesale slaughter - for fuck's sake, even the no-names in that damn Guild were worth ten of the weaklings Jose had let pollute Phantom!), reached a new crescendo as what could only be Master Makarov's spell brought noon to midnight, and with it the almost certain knowledge (to Gajeel at least) that Aria was well and truly out of the game.
'Oh, Jose is going to be pissed.'
A moment later, a figure fell from above and crashed down in the centre of the room - a large figure in an even larger green coat, which now seemed to have been almost bleached, as if by prolonged exposure to the sun.
Aria's hat was gone, either disintegrated or floating off somewhere, while he had apparently removed his blindfold - for all the good it had done. All of him, indeed, seemed to have suffered the same kind of bleaching - while at the same time he was covered in scorch marks, abrasions and small cuts, not counting the significant crater he had made when he fell from what remained of the top floor.
The battle paused, the participants looking up - and, at the sight of a small, glowing figure standing on the lip of what had once been the hall's attached tower, the Fairy Tail members began to yell in approval, laying into their opponents with even more vigour as Phantom's morale crumbled.
Gajeel grimaced even further - somehow, Master Jose's plan had come tumbling down around his pointed ears, and the anticipated morale-breaking incapacitation of Fairy Tail's Guild Master wasn't going to happen.
"Aria's been defeated!" Some unimportant mook yelled, the cry echoing around the hall, sinking in more and more until the one word that Gajeel knew would break the camel's back was sounded.
"RETREAT!" Someone yelled, barely audible over the din but audible - and that was the important bit. "RETREAT!"
The call began to spread, and the line that Phantom were barely holding shattered like so much glass. The Mages turned tail and ran, abandoning all attempts to fight in favour of a flat-out evacuation.
Gajeel ground his teeth, his anger rising like a dragon in its own right as he stared at the retreating cowards - but, as he was reminded when he had to bring up his armoured arm sharply to intercept a blazing kick from the other Dragon Slayer in the room, he couldn't pay them the attention needed to beat them back into submission.
He knew he had to break away - he needed to get back to Master Jose, to get new instructions since the plan was so comprehensively fucked. But Gajeel Redfox didn't run - he might leave, when he had accomplished his job and he had his satisfaction, but if he went now it would be running, and the strong didn't run.
For the first time in years, Gajeel's instinct-driven drive to be the strongest - instincts that, ironically enough, Jose himself had helped develop - came into conflict with his need to obey the Phantom Lord Guild Master, and the Dragon Slayer struggled with deciding which was more important to him.
'...Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it damn it damn it!'
Gajeel met the next wild haymaker with a two-handed parry, knocking the blow wide only to bring his clasped hands back around in a reverse-hammerblow that lifted Natsu from his feet and launched him backwards across the room to bounce across the wooden floor.
"DAAAAMN IIIIT!" Gajeel screamed to the ceiling, before jabbing a finger towards the rising figure of Natsu with anger blazing almost as bright in his eyes as it did in the Fire Dragon Slayer's. "WE WILL FINISH THIS!" He declared, before turning around and sprinting for the back of the hall, not bothering to use a door and instead just charging straight through the wall with iron arms crossed before him.
As he began to run in the direction of Phantom Lord's true Guild Hall, he cursed anything and everything in his mind - while that same small part of him that wasn't currently busy finding new and inventive ways to deform the human body or insult someone's lineage noted that, in the end, he had chosen Jose over strength. He had decided that another person and their beliefs were more important than him and his own.
He had...acted like that trash in Magnolia.
As he disappeared into the night, Gajeel barely kept from screaming his rage at the heavens - while the throbbing of the bruises on his arm somehow made itself known amid all his other myriad injuries...
And a part of him continued to think.
Author's Note
Yo! How's everyone doing? Well, I hope - it wouldn't do to have my audience be too sick to pay my story their full attention, ne?
Anyway, so this chapter's coming out along with a wave of changes to the other chapters - nothing incredibly drastic, but I wanted to be sure that the Declan in past chapters fits with the one I'm writing now, since I've settled into the idea of who and how I want to write. The biggest change was splitting the first chapter into two parts, since it ended up being so long, which is why there were two uploads tonight but only one 'new' chapter.
Okay, turning to reviews...
To answer the questions I was asked -
-'AngelFaux', Ch. 12, Mar 21 - No, that wasn't a typo - the Japanese probably doesn't make any goddamn sense, but I was looking for an attack name and that just popped into my head. I liked it, so I rolled with it.
-Finder18, Ch. 12, Mar 22 - I've mentioned this before, but the plan is for Declan and Lucy to end up together, yes. That's the goal I'm aiming for, and since (for my character at least) a multi-pairing wouldn't make any real sense, I'm going to try and satisfy my inner shipper by seeing how far along I can realistically prod some of the canon/fanon pairings.
Now, as to the hints I gave in the last chapter -
I've had a few guesses, so I thought I'd address those.
-Zeru'xil, Biotics was a fairly obvious guess, but that's not it.
-'Guest', I won't tell you it's the Rinnegan, because it isn't.
-HeartlessNobody13, Yours was the most comprehensive and, from my view at least, most unexpected guess - it wasn't right, but it was well made all the same. 'cane-jian', you get a mention here too, since you drew the same conclusion.
I'd really expected the first two guesses, but that last one really got me - then, I wondered just how obvious I'd made it, so I looked back at the hints I gave.
Turns out that, apparently, 2AM Teninshigen is shit at leaving clues (yeah, I don't sleep, I write - perhaps not the best idea, in retrospect). The first two are actually alright - in fact, for the second hint, it's the very first non-Fairy Tail Japanese property I referenced in the story that I drew the ability from, to make things that much easier (and to make you read chapter one again, :P), while the first hint was fairly self-explanatory.
The third hint though...I have no idea what I was thinking. Please, just...ignore that one. Hell, I wrote it and I have no idea how that was meant to help.
Oh, well - you live and learn I guess.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter - if you have anything to say about it or any of the previous chapters now that they've been re-written, feel free to make suggestions or commentary via PM or review; I'll take it all under advisement, though whether I actually make suggested changes will be at my discretion.
Oh, and a mention of thanks to Klutzybear and a recognition of achievement for leaving the longest review yet made for this story - thanks!