The guild doors flung open with the force only a single person could muster.
Erza.
"Where is Master Makarov!?" She demanded, both of her arms still flung out.
"He's just gone out to visit an old friend." Mirajane replied with a smile. "Why Erza? You've been gone for more than an entire week, where've you been?"
"Tracking Ragnarok." She replied grimly. She wore her normal armour, but her forehead was red and her body was covered in sweat as if she had sprinted here. "They're coming, by boat."
"How long do we have?" Natsu demanded, shooting up in his chair.
"They'll be here at daybreak. They have a wind mage with them, they're moving fast." Erza answered, striding into the guild and letting the doors close behind her. Grim looks were passed between the mages, it was already dark.
Everyone got up slowly, eyeing Erza. The requip mage inwardly beamed with pride, they looked towards her to take responsibility for all of them.
"Macao, get Romeo and the other children out of here." She ordered first.
"Yes, Erza." He answered dutifully and turned to accomplish his task.
"There's no way we can repel them while on the water. There's too many mages on their boats to counter the amount we could fly there, so we will have to meet them on shore." Erza explained. "Juvia, you and Gray come up with a strategy to damage their boats. If they sink before shore, perhaps we could avoid conflict."
"Juvia will gladly do this with Gray-sama." The bluenette saluted with a grin. She grabbed Gray by the sleeve and scurried outside with him.
"Elfman, find any man willing to help and load anything from value from the guild hall to the storehouses."
"It'll take some real men to pull that off, but we'll manage." Elfman smirked, turning to find some helpers.
"Levy, contact Gildarts, Laxus and every Mage that isn't currently present, save the injured ones. Do your best to find Master Makarov also."
"I'll try. Those two are on quests, but I'll do my best." Levy smiled before turning to find a lacrima.
"Lucy," The redhead turned sharply on the blonde, making her jump. "Did you find the location of Paro and Mason?"
"Loke found him, but he couldn't say where he was." Lucy said, bowing her head. She wished she could have done more to help. "He got our letter but there's no word from him."
"We will have to do without. All of the S-class mages follow me." Erza motioned to the top level. "I have important news for all of us."
"Bye guys." Synnova got up from her chair, nodding her head towards the couple.
"Nova..." Maryanna got up from Dante's lap, stumbling over to the Shadow mage. "Just come back and find us before the fighting, okay?"
"You can count on me." Synnova smiled, spotting Maryanna's quivering lip. She wrapped her in a hug. "I'll be fine; I can take care of myself." She whispered.
"I've thought about it..." Dante rapped his fingers on the table before getting up to his full height. Toby Keith sat on his shoulder, beside the handle of his spatha. "I think you should join our team. We haven't done a quest in a little while with all this Ragnarok shit, but when we kick their ass I think you'd be a good addition."
"Dante, calculated as usual." Synnova replied with a sad smile. She nodded once before wrapping him in a hug also.
"Erza..." Natsu said slowly, tipping his head towards Lucy.
"Make it quick, we will be waiting." Erza growled. She stalked up the stairs, followed by her two female guildmates.
"Luce..." Natsu squatted down to the sitting mage.
"Natsu, you should know," Lucy put her hands between her legs and looked down nervously. "You've been awesome. Ever since we started dating-"
"Right after I became S-class." Natsu remembered.
"Right after you became S-class, you've treated me so right. I can't believe it; I still think this is some kind of dream."
"Lucy, this aint no dream." Natsu smiled at her. "You're the only girl for me, I know that for sure." He grabbed her hand, leading her to a standing position.
"Say it again..." Lucy joked with a giggle.
"Lucy, you're still she only girl that blows my mind." He smiled, wrapping his arms around her.
"Say it again." She repeated quietly.
"I'll say something better." He smiled, bringing his head away from her neck.
"I'm in love..." Natsu whispered, taking her lips in his.
"Natsu!" Erza reminded sternly.
"You'd better go..." Lucy said sadly, pulling her lips from his.
"I'll say it again, everyday for the rest of my life." He promised. "Actually, how about I say it again when we beat these guys?" He smiled.
"Oh Natsu," Lucy chuckled.
"What'd ya say? I'll take you out, somewhere nice!" he continued.
"Natsu, if you don't get up here RIGHT NOW I'll take my sword and shove it-"
"Better go!" Natsu waved, running off. "Think it over!"
Erza looked at the approaching boy with mild disdain, but turned back to the other females.
000
"Here we are." Macao stopped on the large clearing. It was a large hill that had been sliced to a sharp cliff overlooking Magnolia by the sea.
"Dad..." Romeo tugged on his father's sleeve. "Why are we here? I want to be at the guild with Natsu and the others."
"Romeo..." he chided, lowering himself to his son's height. "You have to be safe, that's why you're up here."
"But I wanna fight Dad!" Romeo insisted, bouncing up and down. "I've been practicing, I can do Magic now! You saw me!"
"Yes, and I'm so proud of you." Macao smiled at his son. "But you can't fight with the guild, not this time."
"Why?" The inevitable question came.
"Romeo, it's very dangerous. Even Natsu has trouble with these guys." Macao insisted.
"B-b-but Dad..." Romeo's lip quivered. "Natsu's the strongest! He can't lose, he can't! It's impossible! I wanna fight with Natsu and Gray and Lucy and everyone!"
Macao brought both of his fingers to his temples, rubbing them while uttering a sigh.
"Romeo," he looked up, deciding on a plan. "I brought you up here so you would have the best view of your old man beating up all the baddies."
"Wh-what about Natsu?" Romeo sniffed, wiping his nose with his arm.
"Yes, Natsu and Gray and Erza and Cana and everyone in Fairy Tail." Macao got up, looking down on his son.
"I'm leaving some supplies with you Romeo; you will be fine for a couple days. Whatever you do, you can't leave this spot. Period. You have to wait until I come up and get you."
"I'll wait Dad!" Romeo said proudly. "I'll wait right here for you! I won't move, not no matter what!"
"That's a good boy." Macao breathed, turning away. "I'll come back for you, I promise. Just wait here."
A single tear fell on a blade of grass, making it droop with the new weight.
000
"Ragnarok is bringing their Second Rank wizards this time." Erza announced, slamming a palm on the table for no apparent reason.
"Second class?" Mirajane asked innocently.
"Yes, it's their equivalent of our S-class wizards." Erza explained.
"I bet they aren't that tough." Natsu scoffed. "How many of them are there?"
"Four, the same amount of S-class we currently have."
"I see..." Synnova stated blandly, guessing her plan.
"It can be easily assumed they will want to separate us from the fight, and I'm afraid we will have to do just that."
"Erza! We can't fall right into their plan!" Natsu scolded.
"We have to." She growled back. "We can't have a Second Rank wizard tearing up our mages when they're busy fighting the main force."
"We will have to just kick their ass quickly and regroup." Natsu said casually, leaning against the table.
"Go into battle that naive and you won't come back Natsu." Erza spat. "Fairy Tail doesn't have the only powerful wizards in Fiore, and I'm sure they wouldn't retaliate without a trick up their sleeve."
"I'm just stating the truth Erza; we can take 'em. We did it once, now they've come back for another beating." Natsu grinned, cracking several knuckles.
The south wall, closest to the sea, suddenly ripped open, emitting cries from the four S-class wizards. A large projectile tore through the wall, sending dangerous splinters everywhere. Synnova shot out a hand, protecting the four of them with a layer of shadow.
The large object tore through the floor, spitting out on the bottom level. A chorus of yells met their ears.
"What was that!?" Natsu demanding, running forward to the railing. The four of them leaned heavily on it, scanning the scene.
Everyone in the guild hall was doubled over or on their side, hacking and coughing. A low, sickly green fog slowly spanned out over the guild. A large crater was a new addition to the concrete floor. The dust and fog slowly cleared, revealing a broken crate. Inside the crate was-
"Poison!" Erza screamed, "Cover your mouth!" The rest of the three did likewise with objects of clothing.
"Get everyone out of here!" She ordered. She scanned the area for something she could use as a gasmask, but found none. The three others scrambled down the stairs, while Erza took a cautious breath.
"IT'S POISON!" She screamed to her guild mates. "GET OUT OF THE GUILD NOW!"
She coughed once, sputtering and stumbling back a step. Her head felt dizzy and numb, she had trouble focusing on objects within her vision.
"The poison is heavier than air; it's all gathered on the bottom floor." She wheezed, snatching the railing and leaning on it. "Th-they need to get out from the bottom floor..."
She looked through the bars of the railing, seeing the bottom floor completely evacuated.
When she tried to stand, Erza fell to her knees.
"Damn armour..." She muttered. "No cloth on it... can't breathe..."
"Mason..."She muttered, slumping over sideways.
000
"Gray-sama, what can we do to stop the ships?" Juvia asked, barely controlling her furious excitement on being paired with Gray.
"I don't know, something big..." Gray muttered in thought, not sharing the excitement of his peer.
"Juvia thinks..." Juvia began, but led off, whimpering quietly.
"Is something wrong Juvia?" Gray whirled on her.
"Juvia doesn't know... Juvia didn't fight them, but Juvia saw what they did at the ball. Just..." She said sheepishly.
"Scared?" Gray offered.
"Yes. Juvia is scared." She answered quietly.
"Nothing wrong with fear." Gray smiled at her. "Fear is good, fear keeps us alive. Just don't let it control you."
"You can get rid of fear..." Gray muttered, striding towards her. "You just... need..." He grabbed her shaking face, pressing it closer to his. "Encouragement."
A huge light lit up the dark sky, interrupting his motion before their lips could touch.
"What's that!?" Gray yelled, eyeing the lime green comet.
"It's heading towards the guild!" Juvia pointed out. She raised a hand to her mouth and whimpered quietly, watching helplessly as it tore through the top floor.
"We need to get in there!" Juvia pointed out, but Gray was already running. He held the door open, helping file out stumbling Fairy Tail Mages.
Gray's eyes widened, seeing the green cloud. "Poison." He cursed. He ran inside without warning, grabbing and leading people outside. He burst out into the fresh air, letting out the breath he had been holding. Juvia watched in terror as her beloved prince risked his life three more time, helping out twelve of his friends.
Natsu suddenly burst out of the green fog, carrying an unmoving Gray in his arms.
"GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia erupted, scrambling over to him.
"It's alright Juvia." Natsu managed a forced chuckle. "He's just dazed, give him a couple seconds."
"Where's Erza?" Mirajane snapped suddenly. Everyone's eye's suddenly widened in realization of their lost comrade.
"ERZA!" Natsu screamed, dropping Gray and running towards the door. He was just about there when one last, quite short, figure walked out of the fog. Behind him he dragged a familiar redhead.
"Makarov! Erza!" Natsu said with relief, relieving the Master of the redhead. He picked her up in his arms, running her out to the group that had gathered outside.
"Ragnarok..." Makarov growled, clenching his tiny fists together.
"Back-handed and dirty." Dante offered: setting down a Maryanna he had been carrying. Toby Keith poked his head out of his hiding place in his jacket.
"Gray-sama..." Juvia caught his sleeve. Or would have, he already had his shirt off.
"Juvia." He replied, grinning. "When we both make it through this, we can finish that." He continued, guessing her thoughts.
Juvia fainted on the spot. Her eyes rolled back and her body thumped against the pavement.
"Overdo it much?" Natsu joked, elbowing Gray. He knocked over the still-weak ice make mage by accident and bent to pick him up.
"What was that stuff? I feel so..." Gray muttered, holding his skull.
"Weak." Dante answered for him. "Whatever that stuff is, it sapped all our strength."
"You sure?" Gray asked.
"Positive." Dante answered. "I've asked around, that's the only symptom that anyone has reported.
"They're sapping our magical energy." Makarov said, making everyone turn. "I know this, it's a plant-based poison that saps magical energy. It's inhumane, and I haven't seen it since..." the Master shuddered at the memory. "Since her."
"Fairy Tail!" A projected voice called out. The guild turned; frowning at the sight. Three wooden ships neared the coast, silhouetted by the sun peeking up from the horizon.
"Daybreak." The recovering Erza muttered. She leaned heavily on Natsu, whose face was surprisingly calm as he watched the ships approach at a tantalizing pace.
"Do something. I thought you were going to have something planned" Erza growled at Gray.
"I can't. I can barely stand." Gray wheezed.
A woman leaned over the prow of the foremost ship. Her red eye's gleamed with pleasure, the way a dog looked when it gained a treat after begging. After so long... finally. She had her prize.
The woman had pale skin, so thin and fragile it put parchment to shame. Set into the skin of her face were two red rubies that were her eyes. They blazed with unnerving ferocity, nobody on her ship dared to meet them. Her thin lips curled into a cruel smile, their crimson color rivalling her eyes
Her lime-colored hair rested on her shoulders. Her bangs lay untamed, covering her right eye completely.
The strangest thing about her was what lay atop her head. Resting on her lime hair was a circlet made entirely of thin branches. They were barely visible past the thick, pink bush of lilac flowers that sprouted from the branch.
She had a slim figure, but curvy in certain places. She would be called extremely desirable for men around her age, which seemed to be mid-twenties. On this figure sat a moss-green swimsuit top visible through an open leather jacket. The jacket was overflowing with fluffy sheep's wool out of the collar and sleeves. Tight leggings clung to her shapely legs, which ended at her bare feet.
Her fingernails rapped on the wooden ship. They were colored bright red, as to match her eyes and lips. They were long and had been sharpened to thin points.
"I am Lilac Rosewood." The woman continued in her shrill, screeching voice.
"What's with Ragnarok and forced introductions? They must drunk on their own egos" Dante muttered, but listened for her to continue. Four figures walked up behind her, two to a side. Dante eyed the three males and female, smirking when he saw the absent Edmund. To his surprise, Sebastian was also absent.
"We have come Fairy Tail." Lilac continued dramatically. "It is time to bring an end to your reign of ignorance and destruction. We are the bringers of your doom. We are your RAGNAROK." She screeched the last word, cut off by the sound of her ship hitting land.