Natsu POV
Phantasm stood in the guild doorway, his laugh echoing around the hall being the only sound to be heard, besides me and Sting growling. My Dragon Slayer instincts had kicked in as soon as I'd identified him as a threat, the need to protect Sting manifesting in my every action. The way I stood slightly in front of him, my wide stance to push him aside more than to protect myself. Sting recognized this and I saw his frown directed at me.
"Focus on him and yourself Natsu, I can protect myself, alright?" he demanded. I looked at him momentarily.
"But I want-"
"No. Remember our agreement?" he stated. I nodded and stared down our opponent. Phantasm was watching us with an amused glance through the eyes of the very same mask he wore on our first encounter.
"You would challenge me?" he said amusedly, "Look around you… even Makarov of the Ten Wizard Saints is frozen by my power". I had to admit he looked strong, but I was still gonna beat the crap out of him.
"What do you want?" Sting growled, still obviously trying to maintain a level head despite the situation.
"Want? Who said I wanted anything… let's just call this a house call" he laughed once more. Damn him… I thought, rage filling my thoughts and chest to their absolute limit. "Now now… don't look at me like that. If you're angry about the staff incident than you really need to let things lie…" he babbled. The more he talked the more I thought about jumping up to attack him; the only thing that stopped me was the thought of leaving Sting's side.
"Natsu…" Sting said to get my attention, "I don't think he's gonna fight us here" he commented.
Phantasm pointed directly at Sting. "Good job, give the dog a biscuit" he stated, "I was just here to remind you… I can come here whenever I want and there's nothing anyone can do to stop me" he gestured around the room in emphasis. I briefly flicked me eyes around to see my guildmates all frozen by this guy's magic. They were all aware of what was going on, that much was obvious even to me, so I couldn't act too protective of Sting unless I wanted to explain to everyone why later. He's set this up like that… I thought returning my attention to the dark mage in front of us. He raised his arms above his head and clicked his fingers. Two spell circles appeared on the floor and out of them rose the same robed figures which attacked us at my house. "What the hell is going on?" I demanded. Phantasm cocked his head.
"Did you not recognize my buddies?" he asked mockingly. His grin widened to an impossible degree.
"Don't fall into his trap Natsu" Sting said from beside me. He had been coldly analytical these past few moments, obviously deciding how to proceed. "So you sent those guys?" he asked.
Phantasm nodded. "Give the doggie another biscuit, two for two. Yes, I sent them… but why you might be thinking?" Sting cocked his head slightly.
"To frighten us… or…"
"Yes. Now you seem to be getting it. My power is great, but my love of CHAOS is greater!" he cackled now, maniacal and high pitched.
"He's insane." Sting said flatly. I nodded in agreement.
"So that stuff with the staff was for his own amusement and now he's just playing with us" I commented. Phantasm smirked as I said this, laughter subsiding.
"Yes Natsu Dragneel. I was just having fun before… but now you've got me interested. How much fun can I have with you I wonder, the boy who destroys everything he touches in dragon fire…" he said taunting me to attack. And I almost did, if not for Sting putting his arm out in front of me. I growled deeply.
"Don't hurt Sting… or Fairy Tail… or you will regret it for your very SHORT life" I snarled menacingly. Phantasm laughed and clicked his fingers once more, dispelling his 'buddies'.
"We'll meet again…" he said, turning and fading into the air. I sniffed until I was sure he couldn't possibly be there before turning to Sting.
"You aren't leaving still?" I asked.
/
Sting POV
After Phantasm's disappearance Natsu kept scenting the air until he was sure we weren't going to see another encore. Once he was sure he turned straight to me.
"You aren't leaving still?" he asked, eyes full of concern and anger.
I shook my head. "I've got to go… Sabertooth needs their Guildmaster back, and that guy can't frighten us" I said, putting a friendlier grip onto Natsu's shoulder so as to look inconspicuous to the awakening guild. Makarov was first up.
"He… was certainly powerful. He waltzes in here, freezes us all before we can even react and then demands to see you two. He will pay…" the old man was fuming with rage, body growing to be significantly larger.
Mirajane, Erza, Gray and Lucy came over. "He was waaaaay too strong for us" Lucy commented. Gray nodded reluctantly.
"I hate being frozen, especially by some dark wizard" he spat the word out like it was poison. Erza was almost murderous in her gaze.
"He will pay for what he has done, and for threatening a member of Fairy Tail" she said flatly. The whole guild seemed to be rallying now. Anger and hatred pouring forth, as well as sympathy for me and Natsu standing up to him. Apparently no-one had thought anything of how we acted during the event, even Natsu's overprotectiveness. Yet.
"I still need to get back" I said, trying to keep everyone calm, "Although I think walking is out of the question now". Erza nodded in agreement.
"To avoid any panic or suspicion we'll need to get you to Sabertooth… but with your magic and trains not mixing, we could try a magic mobile, it'll be a lot harder for anyone to find you in one of those" she schemed. I nodded, then spoke up.
"I know Wendy can use her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic to stop the motion sickness, so I should be able to drive the thing" I said confidently.
Erza nodded in agreement. "Then it seems we have a plan. But on another matter…" she wandered off without finishing. We watched her go as Makarov returned from speaking with Maccao.
"Maccao's going to co-ordinate things here and make sure everyone's okay. Wakaba's helping. Levy, did you notice anything about this guy's magic?" the knowledgeable script mage shook her head.
"I've never seen or read anything about it" she replied. Natsu pouted.
"It smelled like dark magic… but also like death" he said grimly. I nodded in agreement.
"I could smell it too" I confirmed. Makarov looked around grimly, as if expecting some great creature to pop out of nowhere.
"It reminded me of death magic" Gajeel said bluntly, "I've fought a few mages like that before and that smelled kinda like their magic… but weird". Suddenly everyone turned and faced a point of space somewhere near to my person. I looked about but couldn't see anyone. Then Natsu placed his arm on my shoulder.
"Natsu, wha-" I jumped. As soon as Natsu touched me a figured suddenly appeared beside me. She appeared quite young, with a pale pink dress and blonde hair.
"Don't be afraid Sting" she said soothingly, holding up her hands to show her harmlessness.
"Who are you?" I asked, suspicious of this girl's sudden appearance given what I'd just seen with Phantasm. Saying this I noticed Natsu's grip on my shoulder increase as he pulled me nearer to him. "This is the First Master" he whispered. I wore a look of even greater confusion hearing this. She looked directly at me.
"Yes. I am the First Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermilion." She declared, "I must state that I am, at the moment, more accurately a ghost or image of the person that was Mavis Vermilion". I nodded in semi-understanding.
"Alright, but how are you still alive, aren't you a hundred years old or something?" I was really confused by this. She smiled.
"Yep. I'm 118 years old. Although my body may have died my spirit lives on in the guild. Normally only wizards of my guild can see me but I made a special exception for you as you are both a friend and ally to Fairy Tail" Finally some realisation hit me and I nodded with a smile.
"Alright, but why are you here?" I asked. Makarov nodded.
"Yes, why are you here First Master? Do you know something about our enemy?" the current Master asked. Mavis nodded.
"I was observing from the place where spirits exist, the Spirit World shall we call it… and I saw that presence. More precisely I could sense it. The darkness surrounding our guild. It stopped me from manifesting so I just observed until it left… All I can say is that man was very powerful… but also, strangely ancient" she stopped to let this sink in. "He also seems to be able to affect spirits somehow, although I don't know anything beyond that". Natsu cocked his head.
"Why does he want to bother me and Sting?" he asked. Mavis shrugged and Makarov sighed.
"Even the First Master, the Fairy Tactician, can't figure this out then?" Mavis bowed solemnly.
"I'm sorry everyone, I'll see what I can find out in the Spirit World. Until then stay safe you two… and Natsu, don't worry about Sting so much. I know you love him but he does need to go" with that she disappeared and Natsu let go of my shoulder.
"How did she…" he mouthed. I smirked and whispered in his ear discreetly.
"Don't worry" I said soothingly. This seemed to calm him down. After that I turned to Makarov as Erza came back with Wendy.
"I've sent Jet out to get a magic mobile" she stated. I nodded.
"Then it's time to say goodbye" Natsu whimpered a little.
/
After about half an hour and a few stiff drinks I loaded my stuff onto a magic mobile. Jet had found one in very little time at all and brought it straight to the guild. Erza had also sent Max out to get an 'extra someone'. I was curious as to who she was referring to, however refrained as I focused as much remaining time as I could on Natsu, just to make sure he was okay. Max returned a little later with a man of about 20, wearing a fine suit and wild honey coloured hair.
"Erza asked for me?" he said as Max brought him to the front of the guildhall.
"Ah… you're here" she said gesturing for him to come over. Once he did she turned him to face me. "This is Master Sting Eucliffe, I want you to co-drive with him back to his guild, alright?" he nodded quietly, obviously used to these kind of situations. I didn't bother asking her why she had brought him, it was pretty obvious; she needed him here to drive this if I couldn't make it all the way, or if there was something wrong. As cunning as ever… I thought as Natsu took me around to the other side of the vehicle, out of the sight of the others. "Natsu…" I said, running my hand through his hair. He shook his head.
"I don't want to say 'goodbye' so I'll say 'see ya later' alright?" I could tell he was desperately fighting the urge to jump in the vehicle with me. A Dragon Slayer's instinct to be with their mate I noted silently, before I lightly kissed him. He tried to deepen the kiss, which I allowed fleetingly, before we returned to the others discretely.
It was now closer to 1AM, nearly an hour later than the initial departure time. I stepped up to the driving seat of the vehicle with quite the group of wizards fussing about. Wendy came over and clambered up, placing her hands over my ears she cast her spell. I knew it would stop me from feeling motion sick, however I hoped it would last the whole journey. Once she was done she went and joined the group standing closest to the magic mobile. Finally, the driver Erza had asked for climbed inside, and with that the moment came. I was leaving Fairy Tail, and Natsu… although the latter would be coming to see me a few days from now.
From my perch on the vehicle I looked out at the guild wizards I had spent most of my time with these past few weeks. "Well… looks like I'll be leaving now" I said unsurely, "I would just like to say that I'm thankful for each of you helping and accepting me into your guild, even for this brief time. I would also take the opportunity to apologise for all the trouble, and bid you a fond hope that we will defeat this Phantasm before he causes any more mischief." At the ending of my short speech Makarov smiled broadly.
"It is my fondest hope that relations between our guilds have a brighter future ahead, and that indeed we will see the end of that dark wizard's plans before any true harm is done" he concluded. I smiled and took the SE plug onto my wrist. Natsu called out.
"Safe journey Sting" he said as I set the vehicle in motion. It had been a while since I had even tried using one, especially since, like Natsu, my motion sickness had begun to occur at quite the young age.
After a little bit of practice, I sent it rushing forward; away from Magnolia, from Fairy Tail, and from Natsu.
/
Several hours later, arriving at Sabertooth
It was daylight by the time we reached Sabertooth. Erza's foresight was most appreciated it would seem, however, as we had had to stop for a while and change over. Instead of taking the direct route my co-driver, which I learned from our intermittent chit-chat was called Striker, suggested a longer, but more complex route to avoid any possible attacks from Phantasm. He was quite the capable wizard, it would seem, as well; he gave me a brief demonstration. He practiced a form of speed-enhancing magic which allowed him to run on air and increase his weight to deliver more devastating blows from above. He drove it on more expertly than me and when we switched I fell asleep inside, only waking up when Striker asked me if I wanted to stop somewhere to get something to eat, which I happily accepted.
He drove most of the way and when we arrived at Sabertooth he was exhausted. As soon as the car pulled up I was almost dragged out by Rogue. "You're late. Makarov sent me a letter at your departure, to let me know you were coming, and then I had to wait around for you for a couple of hours." I stared at the black haired Shadow Dragon Slayer.
"I've been gone for a few weeks and you greet me like that?" I said sarcastically. He rose an eyebrow.
"You got banged up pretty bad too. I know you went to Fairy Tail with your own agenda, but did you really have to go get the guild's reputation down whilst you were out there" he scolded. I sighed, if Rogue's this bad no just wait until Natsu gets here I thought, hauling my packed stuff out of the vehicle. Yukino emerged from the guild hall next. "Sting! Your back" she called out. I shot her a smile.
"Just now, Rogue was giving me an earful though" I greeted the celestial mage. She hugged me.
"When the guild heard about you getting injured whilst out with Natsu we got worried. But then you sent us a letter with the payment for the doctor and we figured it must not have been as bad as we thought" she said as we walked inside. I nodded.
"It was pretty bad, but I got better pretty fast. Three days with that doctor, and with Natsu's help and I was right as rain the next day" I lied a little. There was still something wrong with my magic, it fluctuated sometimes, but otherwise it was fine.
Rogue sighed. "Our idiot leader, brave and foolish at every turn" he said. I scowled at him.
"Your Master" I retorted, flaunting my rank over him. The guild muttered as I walked through, flanked by my two assistants. Rogue and Yukino always helped me run things (sometimes into the ground) so they were used to us moving about the guild as a group. A few wizards rushed up and asked me how I was.
"I don't remember a time you ever got so terribly injured" Rufus said, passing me in the corridor. I smirked as he continued walking.
"Yeah… me neither" I admitted, he seemed to be smiling as he continued on. Once I reached my office I opened it and… nearly died.
There was a mountain of paper work. No, more accurately it was a sea. Papers covered the floor, the desk, even some of the shelves, in piles everywhere. I glowered at Rogue, who chuckled a little. "While you were gone, master, the Magic Council kept sending us stuff about that dark wizard. Reports, files, requests for information from you… you're going to be busy these next few days.
I sighed deeply. This is revenge for making him worry I thought grimly.
/
After showing me my office Rogue left me to my own devices. First up on my list was going home, unpacking, and finding Lector. With this in my head I exited the guild and promptly went over to mine and Rogue's shared apartment. He noticed me leaving and reminded me to 'pack everything away neatly'. I muttered, as I left, "Stupid Rogue…".
As soon as I entered the apartment I was barraged with a cacophony of noise. "Sting! Your here!" Lector said. I smiled and patted my exceed buddy on the head.
"Yeah, just got back actually… were you waiting for me all this time?" I asked. Lector nodded with a big smile on his face.
"Yeah, 'course I was." He said, "I heard from Rogue that you'd be coming back to the guild today so I figured I would wait for ya here". I nodded.
"So, what you been up to?" I asked as I went further inside, depositing my stuff down on my bed.
Lector shrugged. "Not much. Frosch got lost 'round town, so nothing new" the red exceed recounted. "How'd things go on your end?" he smiled.
"The jobs were pretty standard. I didn't have to do much so it was pretty boring overall. Well... except that stuff with this dark wizard, Phantasm" I pointed out. Lector frowned.
"Yeah, from what Rogue told us he's some bad news. He shouldn't be too much of a threat to you though Sting, coz you're so powerful and all" Lector boasted. I just kept smiling. "How'd things go with Natsu?" he asked.
I paused for a minute, before remembering that I had told Rogue, Lector and Frosch about my plan to befriend Natsu. I shrugged. "It went pretty good. We're really good friend's now" I smirked, That's kinda of true I thought.
Lector nodded. "Good, I know how much you wanted to befriend him, what with him being your idol and everything". I nodded.
"Yeah…" I packed away the last of my stuff, carefully putting the white box under my bed. Lector watched suspiciously. "Just some stuff." I said, responding to his unvoiced question.
"If it's presents I won't tell" he probed. I shook my head.
"It's just some stuff from Magnolia, you know, keepsakes" I lied. He shrugged again and we left the room.
/
After about an hour talking with Lector I figured we should go back to the guild. On the way there I ran into some people who stopped to ask me questions. Obviously more than just the guilds know about the attacks I thought as I walked on. I'm gonna have to be careful with the jobs I pick for the inspections since there might be some risks… and if Phantasm shows up at the guild we need to be ready to beat him. Lector noticed my slightly solemn expression.
"Don't think too hard about those dark wizard guys, I'm sure everything'll be fine" he said confidently. I nodded and smiled at my best buddy. I'd missed having him around…
We entered the guild and Rogue glared at me as he walked over. "Where have you been? You took your time" he scolded. I shrugged and walked on past him towards my office.
"I wanted to chat with Lector." I explained calmly. He sighed.
"You should get on with your work, the Magic Council sent another file of paperwork for you to fill in while you were out". I grimaced. No life. That's it… no life for the next few days.
Rogue left me to it in my office. Lector helped pile stuff up into semi-organised lumps of paper. The first paperwork I found on my desk I did. Most of it seemed to be requests for information about my encounters with Phantasm and his helpers from the Magic Council, however some were job requests and others were things to do with the guild. I sifted through the stuff until I found the paper I wanted though. FAIRY TAIL GUILD ANALYSIS it read in large bolded print along the top. Once it was found I sat down at my desk and started writing. Lector left me to it with a casual 'see ya' as he flew out through the door.
/
Fairy Tail, the day after Sting's departure
Natsu POV
"It's boring…" I whined, sitting in a booth with my head on the table. Lucy glowered.
"Take a job then, geez… Sting's gone for one day and you throw a fit" she stated, annoyed.
"She's right Natsu" Gray said from beside me. "Take a job, then we can all get back to work". I rolled my eyes.
"Fine…" I was itching to see Sting again, but was reluctant to go on a job since Happy managed to get it into my head yesterday that Gramps would leave without me. I scanned over the request flyers and selected one that looked interesting. It was a pretty standard 'beat up the monster terrorizing the village' kind of job.
I placed the flyer in front of Gray and Lucy. Happy flew over and joined us. "There, ya happy?" I asked angrily. Gray took the flyer and scanned through it quickly.
"Sound's good, wanna leave in an hour or so? It's not that far away and I just need to get some stuff ready" he said. Lucy quickly scanned the flyer.
"This'll almost cover my rent, sounds good" she said, "Meet you in front of the guild in an hour". Me and Gray nodded and they both got up and left to get ready. I didn't have anything pressing to do so Happy just sat on my head, which was once more laying down on the table.
"Come on Natsu cheer up. You sulked all of yesterday, you didn't sleep well last night, you gotta get back to normal" the blue exceed stated. I groaned.
"I know" I said, sound muffled by the table, "I'm trying… it's just my Dragon Slayer instincts are going crazy, they're just making me wanna get up and go" I said. Happy sighed.
"You're hopeless…" he complained before getting up and wandering off. I watched him go before I felt a tap on my head. I turned over to see Lisanna standing there.
"Hey Natsu," she greeted, "I just wanted to see how you were doing and well… look at you" she pouted. I groaned and resumed staring the table down. "Come on mister, you're going to come on a little walk with me. A bit of fresh air will do you good" she babied me. I stood up and was dragged out of the guild and into the midday light. "So, what's up?" she asked dumbly as we walked along a pretty empty street.
"I miss him" I said flatly. She nodded.
"I know that, what kind of boyfriend are you if you don't, right?" she asked. I smirked.
"A pretty bad one…" I answered. She smiled.
"Yeah, but do you know what's worse?" I shook my head, confused. "A boyfriend who mopes around just because he can't see them every second of every day. As I recall you were fine going on jobs without Sting around, just so long as you came back to him…" I nodded, "Well, just pretend like Sting's just gone on a longer job without you, and you'll see each other soon, alright?" My smile brightened. Lisanna was actually helping me out.
"Yeah, I just worry about us… I mean, he's in a different guild and…" I couldn't find the words. Lisanna patted me on the shoulder.
"It'll be alright, remember, Sabertooth isn't that far from Magnolia, you can get there and back in one day, easy" she said confidently. I nodded.
"Thanks Lisanna, you're right. Sabertooth isn't far from Magnolia anyways, so it's not like I won't see him a lot, and right now he's probably busy working away, getting ready for Gramps to come over so it would only be fair if I was working hard too, right?" I sought confirmation from the white haired mage. She smiled wider and nodded.
"Of course, now… can you help me carry some of the stuff Mira wanted from the market" I cocked my head. She deliberately lured me out here just so I could help her carry stuff? … but I suppose I should help her since she helped me I thought as Lisanna glared at me until I nodded. "Good, let's go to the market" she giggled. I sighed.
/
On the way back to the guild I suddenly realised why Lisanna had asked me to come. "Lisanna," I inquired, "Why are these sacks so heavy?". She had handed me two brown sacks from some random store in town, asking me to carry them around whilst she ran off to get some other stuff. The take-over mage laughed.
"They're heavy because they're full of iron, silly" she giggled out. I sweat dropped.
"You mean I've had to lug tons of iron around all day?" I asked, voice deadpan. "Why the hell do we need so much iron?!" I shouted.
"Of course you've carried that around, I couldn't have carried them, and all of this stuff, by myself" she informed me "And the iron is for Gajeel. You have your own special fire menu so why can't he have his own iron one?". I sighed Sting was right about her manipulative streak I commented internally.
When we reached the guild I was met by a chorus of curses. "Where the fuck have you been?" Gray said.
"Oh crap…" I squeaked. Lucy glared at me.
"We agreed to meet here half an hour ago Natsu" the blonde scowled. Lisanna smiled diplomatically.
"Natsu was just helping me, sorry if we got side tracked" she apologised. This seemed to pacify them a bit. I dropped the iron inside, then we went out on the job. Stupid Lisanna I complained, any thankful thoughts for her advice gone after that trip around the market.
Although she was right about me and Sting… I admitted, we can see each other often, right?
End of Chapter 21