Chapter-25

The Guild Arrives

Pain. Pain. It was all around her. It coursed through her body and seemed to tear apart her very soul. Not an inch was free from it. The world around Lucy had turned a dark crimson. She could feel herself writhing, tugging at the chains desperately, and trying to do something to get rid of the pain. Someone was screaming. Who was it? The voice sounded familiar, like her own. But it couldn't be her, could it? She sounded way too distant and far away for that, right?

Jose watched in gleeful, morbid, pleasure as Lucy shook and struggled and screamed in agony on the ground before them. Just a little more…..just a little more and the draining process would begin. Of course, it would become even more painful from then, but Lucy would've passed out by then, giving her some (if brief) relief.

It was too late for Lucy Heartfilia. Just a little more time, and she would become nothing more than a hollow, empty shell.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Found anything, Wendy?" Natsu yelled to his little sister.

"Nothing so far!" Wendy shouted back.

The guild was searching desperately for the relocated Phantom Lord base. Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel (Juvia persuaded him to help out) were using their dragon slayer sense of smell to try and track down Lucy.

"I got it!" Gajeel burst out suddenly.

"Are you sure, Gajeel-kun?" Juvia asked anxiously.

"Yeah, its faint, but its Blondie's scent, I'm sure of it. It's coming from that direction."

Master Makarov looked towards where he was indicating and quickly connected the dots. "That's the coastal side. Let's get moving, kids!"

"Yeah!"

The whole guild was there, all of them ready to fight for their lost comrade. Except for Lisanna, who had opted to stay behind and look after Levy, Jet and Droy.

Makarov had quickly explained why Jose wanted Lucy and also about her problem turning human on that day. It was close to night now, and they had to hurry, or they would lose Lucy forever.

Natsu and Wendy, aided by Happy and Carla, took to the sky. The exceed used their Aera magic to tap into max speed and flew at top speed towards their destination.

Gajeel, on the other hand, simply grumbled something about it being unfair that he was the only Dragon Slayer without a cat, but ran alongside the other guild members nevertheless.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jose glanced up at the increasing numbers of stars in the sky now and then between watching the lacrima do its job and smirking to himself. His smile began to widen as the golden light surrounding the lacrima began to darken to grey and from grey, to a midnight black.

"Master!" Someone called him and he turned around, annoyed.

"What?"

What was left of the Element Four (Totomaru, Sol and Aria), who were supposed to be watching out for any intruders to eliminate them, were back in the circle.

"It's Fairy Tail," Totomaru looked panicked. "It's the entire guild, and they're headed this way!"

Jose cursed under his breath. He had not counted on Makarov finding the place so soon. The warlock took a quick glance at Lucy, whose screams had gotten even louder. Fairy Tail was notorious for giving hell to anyone who hurt their mages and this case would be no exception.

Ah, well. The smug grin returned to his face. It was a guild war, wasn't it? And the Phantoms would definitely beat the Fairies.

"Let them come," He said coolly. "We can handle them."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Here we are!" Wendy called to Natsu as they descended to the ground. Their ears were immediately assaulted by the sound of tortured screams.

"LUCY!" Natsu roared, setting his hands on fire when he saw the half-star chained up to the lacrima, surrounded by black light. He instantly began to charge towards here.

"Not so fast," A voice spoke. Totomaru materialized in front of Natsu and smacked him in the face with a purple fireball.

Natsu looked furious. "I don't have time to play with you right now! He yelled. "Fire Dragon Roar!"

Totomaru snapped his fingers lazily and the stream of flames that had been heading his way swung around and targeted Wendy, who screamed as she ducked.

"Wendy!" Natsu called.

"I'm fine!" Wendy began to run towards them. "Go save Lucy, Natsu! I can handle this guy!"

Natsu hesitated. "But-"

"Go!"

Natsu nodded. "Right. Stay safe!"

Totomaru moved to stop the Fire Dragon Slayer as he ducked past him, but was intercepted by Wendy.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

Totomaru reeled back from the attack and grinned. Maybe this little girl would be a challenge, after all. Even if she was a half-breed.

Just hold on, Lucy! Natsu thought fervently as he ran for the lacrima. I'm coming to get you out of there!

(A/N): Sorry for the short and terrible chapter, everyone! Tests are coming up, and it's kinda hard to balance writing and studying, so….

Thank you, Mavis Chase for letting me know that I uploaded the chapter twice by accident! Thanks to you, I was able to fix it in time. :D

SoraTheSkyDragonSlayer, thank you for your inspiring and sweet review! About the Galuna Island thing, I'll and fit it in, but no promises XD. If I can't, I'll find another way to introduce Gray's backstory. And I appreciate your constructive criticism, but I'm still an amateur writer who's a bit on the younger side as well, so please bear with me! Thank you!

And finally, Xiaconis, thanks for the sweet and amazing review as always! And Lucy turns human only once a year, and it's only going to be for that one day. When night comes, she turns back into a half-star for the rest of the year. I hope that clears up your doubts!

Thank you so much again, guys. Please review! See you next chapter~