Hey all! This is my first ever Fairy Tail story. Introducing... a tough, confident version of Lucy Heartfilia!
Credit for story image goes to pl. fairytail. wikia. com and to whoever posted it there.
IMPORTANT: A new poll is up on my profile! Please take the time to check it out and vote on it!
IMPORTANT #2: Separate from the poll, there's another Fairy Tail idea in the works. This will be a crossover with the TYPE-MOON universe (Fate, Tsukihime, etc). Unlike this story, the new one will deviate from canon greatly! If I ever get enough planned out to release it...
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters!
"It's amazing..." Lisanna observed happily. "To have a huge bath just for our guild..."
Lucy nodded and stretched, a white eye-patch and a fringe of hair covering her ruined eye. "Ah, this feels so good..."
Cana grinned. "Who wants to go out working when we have a place like this?"
"After the Daimatou Enbu we've been getting so many requests." Lisanna agreed. "I'm so busy I don't know where to start."
Levy nodded contently. "With all this work we have to rest too."
Lucy blinked. "Weren't you supposed to be working today?"
"Jet and Droy said they wanted to go alone." Levy explained. "They were so fired up..."
"We'll show Levy how good we are!"
"Of course! We can do it if we really want too!"
"Please save us, Gajeel!"
Pantherlily sighed, watching as Jet and Droy dangled upside down, heavily tied up and repeatedly prodded with spears held by several tribal warriors. "Why did you take them with us?"
"They just followed me."
"By the way..." Lucy recalled. "Natsu and Gray also went out to work together."
"Those two?" Lisanna's eyes widened. "That's unusual..."
"They get along better lately, but it's still weird for them to go together." Mira agreed.
"I think Happy is with them too, though..."
"More importantly, Lucy..." Cana moved over to the blonde. "Is is true that Natsu groped your boobs?"
"Maybe he did..." Lucy shrugged, inwardly vowing to strangle Happy when she next saw him. "So what?"
"Nothing really..." Cana reached around and squeezed. "Let me have a feel too..."
"It tickles!"
Levy sighed. "They're talking about breasts again..."
"By the way..." Something occurred to her. "Where is Wendy?"
"Wendy is working with Erza." Mira told her, climbing into the bath.
"Alone?" Levy blinked. "Weird."
"Apparently they were attracted by the reward." Mira sat down in the water. "It's some rare sweets."
"I... I..." Erza stammered. "I'm Elie, G Tonfa's messenger!"
"Leave, you suck!"
"Don't come out!"
"Haru's too quiet!"
Theater Group Chairman Rabian smiled. "Thank you very much!"
Haru-Wendy sweatdropped. "What is this job?"
"Just resist for the sweets, Wendy." Charle grumbled, wearing a nose that made her look like Plue.
"Eh?" Lisanna looked confused. "But I saw Erza there just now..."
Levy glanced at a red-haired woman in a far corner of the bath. "That's true..."
"Blondie..." Flare Corona smiled, turning to face them.
"It's Raven's Flare!"
"Why is she here?"
"You-"
"Hold it..." Lucy stopped Cana from attacking. "Raven Tail disbanded. Flare actually joined Fairy Tail just yesterday."
"I had no place to go..." Flare pressed her fingers together timidly. "I wasn't even sure if I wanted to join Fairy Tail..."
"So why did you?"
"You will join Fairy Tail! As Knight of Jade, I command it!"
"I got a very compelling reason."
Lisanna, Levy, and Mira face-faulted in unison.
"The bath is so nice..." Lucy slowly made her way to her apartment. "And my rent is paid for a year in advance... I can just slack off for a while."
"Welcome back!" Wendy smiled when Lucy opened the door.
"We let ourselves in." Erza added.
"What?" Lucy blinked, confused. "But you both moved in! Why are you acting like you shouldn't be here?"
Wendy blinked. "That's true... why did we use the window again?"
"The sweets we got as a reward..." Erza changed the subject. "They're a little too much for us. We want to share some with you."
"Thanks." Lucy sat down next to Erza and leaned into her contently. "So does that mean you did a good job?"
"Eh, well..."
"Perfect!"
"By the way..." Charle mumbled thickly. "Aren't Happy and the others back yet?"
Lucy frowned. "They're late, considering it was meant to be an easy job."
Erza nodded. "It's been three days already."
"They shouldn't be far away." Wendy observed. "We could go check on them."
"Indeed..." Erza agreed. "Considering their skills, it's weird that they'd take so long."
Lucy stood up and grabbed her knight's sword. "Shall we go then?"
"Must you bring that thing everywhere?"
The three women and one Exceed stared at the huge fallen monster in confusion.
"Huge!"
"This is..."
"The monster in the request."
"Charle..." Happy hobbled over, supporting himself with a stick and looking terrified. "Help me..."
"What happened?"
"Well..."
"Stop fucking around, you shitty flame!"
"I should be saying that, you bastard perv!"
"It's because you always act without thinking!"
"It's because you never decide what to do!"
Lucy, Erza, and Wendy watched as Natsu and Gray continued to pummel each other. "Ah..."
"As always..."
"There was no need to worry..."
Charle tried not to laugh. "Three days of this?"
Happy looked exhausted. "They do sleep and eat..."
"What a cute fight."
"Hey..." Erza approached the two men. "Will you quit it already?"
"Shut up!" Both of them roared, lashing out simultaneously and smashing their fists in her face. It took them a few seconds to realize they attacked someone who wasn't them.
Erza wiped away some blood from her nose and glared at them. "I see..."
"Erza!"
"Why are you here?"
Both men screamed when Erza surged forward and joined the fight.
"I'm never working with him again!"
"I don't want anything to do with that idiot!"
Elfman laughed. "You're always the same..."
Romeo glanced between the two men. "Don't act like kids."
"Master..." Mira walked over with a sheet of paper. "We have an emergency request."
"Hmm..." Makarov grunted, taking the paper from her. "Since the Daimatou Enbu, we've been getting many requests for specific wizards."
"It's because everyone got popular."
"Natsu! Gray!" Makarov waved at them. "They're requesting you two again!"
"So that's why they were together..."
"Be thankful and don't fight next time!" Erza warned them.
"Let's see..." Makarov glanced at the mission details and paled. "This is..."
"What, Gramps?"
"I'm not going with him anymore."
"No, you have to go... and also, you cannot fail..." Makarov trembled. "The request is from Walrot Seeken, #4 among the Ten Wizard Saints, and one of Ishval's Four Gods."
"One of the Four Gods sent us a request?"
"What's going on?"
"Someone comparable to Sorano needs our help..."
Erza was wide-eyed. "What happened?"
Wendy looked around the area. "Such a peaceful place..."
Lucy smiled. "The air feels nice too."
"The wind is pleasant." Erza agreed.
"Feels like going on a picnic!" Happy observed cheerfully.
"Yeah..." Charle sighed and glanced behind her. "If it wasn't for that."
"You ate my meat, didn't you?"
"I wouldn't eat your stuff!"
"And wear some clothes!"
"Do something about that hair color, it's an eyesore!"
Erza turned to the arguing duo. "Will you stop it? We're about to meet a man of high rank!"
"We came with you because we were worried..." Lucy added. "But it might be worse than we thought. The Ten Wizard Saints are the continent's ten most powerful mages chosen by the Council."
"Yes. Sorano, Master, and Lamia Scale's Jura are among them." Erza explained. "In the past Phantom Lord's Jose and Jellal were as well. Apart from Sorano, the highest four are also called the Gods of Ishval."
Flare frowned. "Ishval?"
"The old name of this continent."
"Still, why would such a person nominate those two?" Lucy wondered. "Wouldn't asking for Sorano, who's officially stronger than him, make more sense?"
"You can get eaten by Erza for all I care!"
"You can be covered in Erza's shit!"
"Are they trying to insult me?"
"Look!" Wendy pointed to a cottage with trees sticking out of the walls. "There's a house!"
"It's here..." Flare checked her map. "The house of the #4 Wizard Saint, Walrot Seeken..."
"Excuse me." Erza called as they entered. "We're from the guild Fairy Tail."
"Shh..." A man at the far side of the house shushed them, watering a flower. "Be quiet. Plants like silence. If you understand, close that annoying mouth."
His lips twitched at the sudden silence, then he burst into laughter. "Just kidding!"
"It's a joke, you know!" He turned to the group, revealing himself to look remarkably like a tree, with bark-like skin and hair that looked like a tree crown. "Plants and flowers like the human voice! Ahahaha!"
"A tree?"
"What is this guy?"
"Is he really so amazing?"
"Well, thank you for coming, mages of Fairy Tail. Who are Natsu-kun and Gray-kun?" He held up Happy and Charle. "Wow, you're more cat-like than I thought!"
"..."
"It's a joke. Ahahaha!"
"He's quite lively."
"Y-yeah..."
"Oh, I feel thirsty." He observed, tilting his watering can and drinking from it.
"Pardon me for asking..." Erza began. "But are you the Wizard Saint Walrot Seeken?"
"I sure am!" The man nodded. "I'm Walrot Seeken."
"It's a joke, though." He added, shocking and confusing them.
"... saying that it's a joke." He finished, causing a group face-fault.
Gray sighed. "I feel tired already."
"Hopefully #1 and #2 aren't as obnoxious." Lucy observed. "At least Sorano only calls everyone '-kun' or '-chan'."
"After retiring I've been working to bring back trees to the desert." Seeken explained.
"Retiring?" Flare repeated. "Were you part of a guild?"
"It was a nice guild." Seeken nodded. "Anyway, I'm preventing the desert from spreading with my Green Magic. It sounds like philanthropy, but it's just a hobby of mine. For this reason, I've been traveling across deserts. And some time ago, I found a strange village."
"According to the documents I found, it's the Sun Village." He read from a book, missing Flare's suddenly wide eyes. "A village that in the past used to worship an ever-burning flame as its' guardian deity."
Natsu frowned. "An ever-burning flame?"
"Yes." Seeken nodded. "But that village is now frozen."
Flare paled.
"I don't know if it was a natural or a man-made disaster." Seeken looked grim. "But people, animals, plants, even buildings and rivers... even the eternal flame which protected the village is frozen."
Lucy's eye widened. "A flame froze?"
"I don't know what happened." Seeken sighed. "However... people were alive inside the ice."
"People living inside the ice..."
"What do you mean?"
"The villagers were frozen alive." Seeken explained. "I can't leave it like that. I want you to save that village. That's my request."
"I see! It's simple then!" Natsu decided. "I'll just melt all the ice with my flames!"
Flare nodded. "And I'll help."
Gray sighed. "Then I'm not needed."
"No, that's not simple ice." Seeken shook his head. "We will definitely need your power too."
"I might sound impertinent..." Erza began as Seeken led them outside. "But can't a mage with your power just solve the matter on his own?"
"I think you may be misunderstanding something." Seeken smiled. "The Ten Wizard Saints aren't all-powerful, they're just ten people chosen by the Council. There are many mages stronger than me out there, and I can't even compete with those outside the continent. My magic isn't suited for battle, I doubt I could even win against an armed youngster."
"But-"
"Everyone has something they're good or bad at." Seeken told Erza. "Friends and the guild exist to make up for that."
Erza nodded. "You are right."
Natsu and Gray smirked and bumped fists. "We accept your request!"
"Yeah!"
"As Knight of Jade, I will see this task completed!"
"Put that thing away, Blondie..."
Wendy smiled. "Leave it to us!"
Erza frowned. "So where is this village, anyway?"
"About 2000 km south of here."
"That's quite far."
"I can help with that." Seeken lifted a branch-like staff. "Gather over there, and don't forget your things."
"Turn right." He commanded, smirking as they did so. "That was a joke."
"Hey!"
He slammed the staff into the ground and started chanting something. A plant began quickly sprouting under the group, lifting them up on its' leaves as it rose into the sky.
"Do your best." Seeken smiled. "Fairy Tail mages."
The tree they were on bent and shot forward at an insane speed.
"Wow!"
"It's like the tree is alive..."
"Woohoo!"
"It's like having a ride..."
"Be careful."
"He was humble..." Erza realized. "But he was really something. Magic that can control nature..."
"#4 controls nature, #3 controls movement..." Flare shivered. "Exactly what magics do #2 and #1 have that make them so strong?"
Seeken watched the tree vanish in the distance. "It's flowing..."
"Walrot!" A voice called to the much younger and normal-looking Seeken. "Fast! Come here!"
A man with shaggy hair grinned. "Are you spacing out again?"
"Look!" A middle-aged Purehito motioned to one direction when Seeken approached him. "It's complete!"
Seeken looked up and grinned. "Oh! This is... our guild..."
"Yeah..."
"Let's take a picture!" Mavis Vermilion cheered, standing in front of the three smiling men. "Fairy Tail is born!"
105 years have passed... Seeken closed his eyes and smiled wistfully. Mavis, these youngsters... inherited your feelings.
"Is it here?"
"That was fast."
"That magic is amazing!"
"Ugh..."
"You're sick?"
"Look!" Happy pointed at a rock covered in a layer of ice. "The surface of the rock is frozen!"
"The village must be here." Charle realized.
Flare looked around the frozen-over city. "What the hell happened here?"
Lucy frowned. "The buildings and everything is frozen..."
"According to Walrot-sama, the people are frozen too..." Erza looked confused. "But I don't see any."
Natsu looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of a frozen giant, clad in armor and reaching for a sword. "Huge!"
Lucy looked around. "Is this a giants' village?"
Gray stared at the closest giant, clearly uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Gray sighed. "Whenever I see big frozen things, I just..."
"Like with Deliora..." Lucy mused, understanding.
"I'm surprised to see such huge people..."
"The dogs are big too." Wendy pointed to a frozen canine the size of the Fairy Tail guild hall.
"Is this even a dog?"
"Anyway..." Natsu grinned. "We should save them!"
He pressed himself to a giant's frozen ankle and burst into flame. "I'll melt this down with my flames!"
"Do your best, Natsu!"
"Hn..." Natsu grunted, increasing his output.
"Go! Do it!"
Natsu slumped by the foot, tired and confused. "How did it not work..."
"Aye..."
"The old guy said this isn't normal ice..." Gray placed a hand on a frozen toe. "This feeling...it's magic I've never sensed before..."
"You can't break it down either?" Erza frowned. "And you, Lucy?"
"My Amaterasu Seals are technically heat-based spells..." Lucy lifted the fringe shielding her ruined eye, revealing a symbol of a curved line on the white eye-patch beneath. A thin beam of violet light shot from it and splashed harmlessly against the frozen form.
"Nope." Lucy sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing."
Flare stared at her. "Just now... it looked like your ruined eye could shoot lasers."
"That's the idea."
"I guess it's not that simple..." Gray observed. "But... this feels similar to someone's magic..."
A trio of figures watched them from an overlooking rock.
"Someone preceded us?" A man with long hair and a rifle sighed. "Oh, man."
"It's just women and kids." A man with spiky hair and a huge sword frowned.
The third man, a fat one with gelled-up hair, adjusted the huge metal fist-tipped mace he was carrying on his back. "Dun dun."
Erza heard them and looked up. "Who are you?"
"We're a guild of treasure hunters."
"Sylph Labyrinth."
"Dun."
An eerie silence fell as Erza stared at them.
"We're a guild of treasure hunters."
"Sylph Labyrinth."
"Dun."
"It's ok, I got it."
Wendy looked surprised. "A guild of treasure hunters?"
"So they specialize in finding treasures?"
"I'm sorry, but the treasure sleeping here is ours." The rifle-holder smirked. "Don't get in our way."
"Treasure?"
"Who cares about that?"
Long-hair frowned. "Aren't you here for the eternal flame?"
"Then what are mages doing here?" Spiky-hair demanded.
"We came to melt the ice and save the villagers."
The trio exchanged glances.
"That's getting in our way!"
"Dun!"
"The eternal flame is a legendary flame that's been burning for centuries." Long-hair explained. "To us treasure hunters it's an S-class super treasure. We were never able to get it because of the giants protecting it, but now they're all frozen. In other words, it's the perfect chance to get the flame."
Flare gnashed her teeth furiously.
"But if the flame is like the protecting god of the village, then it's very important to them." Wendy observed. "If you take it away, you'll be like thieves."
The three exchanged glances again.
"So you're saying treasure hunters shouldn't take a treasure?"
"We can't let someone else get it before us!"
"Dun dun!"
"We can't lose time, we must get our treasure before the mages interfere!"
"Ok, let's go!"
"Dun!"
Gray frowned. "Sorry to tell you this, but the flame is apparently frozen too."
"Don't underestimate our super treasure-hunting skills." Spiky-hair grinned, holding up a vial with a violet liquid. "With this super treasure, Moon Drip, we can super melt the ice."
"What?"
"Moon Drip..."
"The magic Leon and the others used on Galuna Island..."
"They turned it into a liquid?"
"Wait..." Natsu pointed at the vial. "With that we could bring the village back to how it was!"
"Go! We must catch the treasure hunters!"
"Get them!"
"If we get it, it's ours!"
"Mages won't catch us!"
"After all they said about stealing..."
"Dun..."
A demonic-looking bird with a single large eye and a rat-like tail flew over a desolate mountain.
"Treasure hunters and mages..." A large man with cloth covering his mouth muttered, watching the creature. "Annoying, but we must get rid of them. It's our job."
"Who cares about petty thieves..." The woman accompanying him scoffed. "The mages are the problem."
The man nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
"Fairy Tail..."
"Eh?" He glanced at her. "You know that guild?"
"You're quite ignorant if you live in this world and don't know about them."
The man grunted. "I don't know what happens on the 'surface'."
"Oh well, I didn't expect to have a chance at revenge so quickly." The woman smirked. "The underworld isn't bad either."
"Who cares..." The man stood up. "Let's do our job, newbie."
"Newbie?" Minerva raised an eyebrow. "You can call me 'Lady'."
"Wait!"
"We can save the giants with that thing!"
"Don't be kidding us! Do you know how long it took us to get our hands on Moon Drip?"
"We went to an island full of super demons and super looked for it all over the place!"
"And anyway, isn't it scary if the giants come back to life? Dun!"
"Hey..." Lucy looked around. "Where's Erza?"
"She stayed in the village to look for other clues."
Happy paled. "I hope she doesn't destroy any giants..."
"And where's Flare?"
Wendy frowned. "That, I do not know. Maybe she got lost."
"Stop, you thieves!"
"We're not thieves!"
"We're treasure hunters!"
"Dun!"
"This is annoying, let's just do it."
"Yeah, let's super do it!"
"Dun!"
"Drake!" Spiky-hair and gel-hair spun around. "Position yourself!"
"Got it!" Drake nodded, jogging off.
"We really can't let some mages underestimate us!" Spiky-hair observed, reaching for his sword.
"We'll eliminate the obstacles!" Gel-hair prepared his mace. "Treasure hunting is a dangerous job, dun!"
"Our job is dangerous too! If you wanna fight us, it'll be quick!" Natsu countered. "I'm all fired up!"
The fist-shaped mace slammed into the ground in front of him, knocking him back from the force.
"A hand-shaped weapon?"
Gel-hair, Sylph Labyrinth's Hammer Lala, nodded. "The power of the 'Stronger' is dun amazing!"
Natsu charged forward with a burning fist. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
His eyes widened when Lala shielded himself by opening the mace, then closed it again and caught him.
"Dun!" Lala grunted, swinging the mace around and smashing Natsu into a rock.
"Ice Make..." The air around Gray turned frigid. "Lance!"
Sylph Labyrinth's Sword Hiroshi shot towards the projectiles. "Super Slash!"
Gray paled when Hiroshi sliced past all the lances, before focusing on him.
"Eat my chain blade!" Hiroshi crowed, pulling a lever in his sword's handle and transforming it into an extending segment sword. "Super Stab!"
Gray barely managed to dodge the impossibly quick attack. Lucy and Wendy's eyes widened when something whizzed past them and shattered a nearby rock.
"Be careful!" Lucy knocked Wendy out of the way of a second attack.
The blonde glanced at the bullet embedded in the ground. "A gun?"
"From where?"
"A sniper?"
"Nice dodge." Sniper Drake mused. "But next time I'll shoot you in the head."
Charle frowned. "His voice is echoing... I can't pinpoint his position."
"My Type-74 Rifle is hungry for blood." Drake chuckled. "I won't miss again."
Wendy glanced in his direction. "I can smell gunpowder... he's over there!"
"Got it!" Lucy swung a key. "Open, Gate of the Archer. Sagittarius!"
"Feel free to let me handle this sniper." The man in a horse costume decided, already aiming an arrow. With a grunt he fired, only for the arrow to hit a bullet head-on and get deflected.
"That..."
"He hit the arrow?"
"That man..."
Drake grinned. "Don't underestimate a genius sniper."
"These guys..." Natsu hesitated. "They're actually pretty good..."
Erza examined the frozen giants curiously. "I wonder why... everyone is looking in the same direction and holding weapons."
"What happened to this village before it was frozen?" She muttered. "And is it even possible to melt so much ice with so little Moon Drip?"
Her eyes widened in realization. "Giants... weapons... ice... were they fighting against something?" Or protecting something? But what? The village? It must have been something important... the eternal flame!"
"If they consider the flame the guardian deity of the village..." Erza looked around. "Then they were protecting it from external enemies. In other words, the flame must be in the opposite direction the giants are facing."
She glanced at a mountain behind the last two guards. "A mountain? The flame must be on top..."
"There's nothing..." She panted tiredly. "Why? I thought if I could find the flame, we could bring the village back to how it was. But even if I find it, it's supposedly frozen too. I was too superficial... it can't be so easy to find a village's treasure..."
She glanced at her reflection in a nearby ice crystal and paled in disbelief. "W-what is this?"
Her eyes widened when her armor, now much too loose for her, fell off. "I became a kid..."
She felt herself over, frowning at her small stature. "What happening? I don't even have an armor that fits this size... still, more importantly-"
She took a step forward and her foot eased out of her shoe, causing her to lose balance and slide all the way down the icy mountain.
"I can't move as I want..." She grumbled. "My physical size is different from what my mind's used to. I wonder how this happened... I must find a way to get back to normal..."
Wendy grinned. "It's like I'm your older sister!"
"Erza, let's fight!" Natsu cracked his knuckles.
Gray smirked. "Now I can win!"
"Sorry, Za..." Lucy turned away. "I'm not a pedophile..."
Erza panicked. "I absolutely have to go back to normal!"
Natsu grit his teeth. "You're tough, considering you don't use magic."
Hiroshi smirked. "Don't super put Sylph Labyrinth on the same level as any other treasure hunting guild. We're the ones who won Fiore's Secret Treasure games and became the strongest treasure hunting guild!"
"The world of treasure hunters has a similar festival too..."
"Congratulations..."
"That's amazing!"
"Don't sound like you mean it..."
"If you got it, go home." Drake's voice carried over to them. "Some random mages can't compete against us!"
"We're not some random mages." Gray held up the vial with Moon Drip mockingly. "Ta-da!"
"What?"
"The Moon Drip!"
Gray motioned to a thin, twisting hand made of ice. "It's called Ice Make: Thief's Hand."
"When did you-"
"You're a thief, a super thief!" Hiroshi shouted. "Drake, shoot!"
Sagittarius scowled and shot an arrow at the bullet, deflecting it.
Drake paled. "What?"
"As for what concerns me..." The Spirit observed. "I am a master of archery."
Hiroshi shot his sword at Gray. "Give it back, thief!"
"We must save the giants." Gray countered calmly. "Sorry, but we'll keep it."
He barely dodged a second attack, throwing the vial away. "Natsu!"
"Yeah!" Natsu caught it and quickly passed it on before Lala could attack him. "Lucy!"
Lucy smirked and batted it over to her left. "Wendy!"
"Charle!"
"This is getting dangerous." Hiroshi observed, trying to get a lock on the current vial holder.
"Happy!"
"Got it!"
Everyone's eyes widened when the vial soared over Happy and smashed on a patch of ice, spilling the Moon Drip on it.
"It broke!"
"What the hell? You're super villains!"
"You steal stuff and then break it... dun! Dun!"
"Look over there..." Lucy pointed to where the vial shattered. "Only that little piece of ice melted. That amount of Moon Drip was never enough to save the whole village."
"Does it mean that our plan was super bad?"
"We thought we could dun melt the eternal flame with Moon Drip..."
"Let's dun change our plan."
"We must super change it!"
Wendy sighed. "You're getting your characters mixed up..."
Natsu frowned and pressed his ear to the melted area. "I can hear something... someone's voice..."
"Eh?"
"Voice?"
"I can hear a voice coming from where the ice melted." Natsu explained. "It's like it's calling out."
"Maybe here!" Natsu sped off. "This voice... I think I heard it somewhere."
"Wait, Natsu!"
"What's he doing?"
"What did he hear?"
"I don't know..." Lucy sighed. "Let's go after him."
"Wait, I'm coming too!"
Drake ran over to Hiroshi and Lala and the three exchanged glances. "It can't end like this! Let's run after them!"
"Did you seen the blonde's keys? They're super rare!"
"Treasure hunters can't go back to their guilds barehanded!"
"Who's voice was that?" Natsu wondered. "Shit! I can't remember!"
His eyes widened when a large figure with cloth covering its' jaw blocked his way.
"A friend of the thieves?" Natsu frowned. "So they weren't alone..."
"I'm not a thief." The man countered, beginning to glow with dark energy. "Go back, go back to the memories of your past."
"W-what?" Natsu paled when he shrank down to the size of a child. "What's going on?"
The man scowled. "It will be easier to get rid of you as a kid."
Erza grit her teeth as a sword slowly appeared in her hand. "I can use magic, but... it takes longer to change armor, and magic is consumed faster. My physical abilities are much lower... and my feet feel cold."
"Titania lost her face."
Erza spun to face the speaker and her eyes widened. "Minerva? Why are you here?"
"Changed guilds." Minerva explained. "This is basically my first mission. I didn't expect to meet you."
"That symbol..." Erza glanced at the mark on Minerva's stomach in shock. "Succubus Eye... a dark guild?"
"I only work with the strongest guild." Minerva smiled. "It isn't important whether it's in the open or in the underworld. I like to look at my surroundings from a powerful position."
"And that would be Succubus Eye?"
"This guild is just a foothold." Minerva observed. "I will go higher."
Erza scowled. "Did you lose your pride as a mage, Minerva?"
"Stop talking and let's resume our fight." Minerva brushed the question off. "Although I really doubt you can do anything with that body."
Erza looked around. "Did you do this?"
"No, this is my partner's magic." Minerva told her. "There are many interesting types of magic in the underworld."
"So you're not fighting directly anymore?"
"The underworld has its' own way of fighting. My vision has broadened too." Minerva mused. "Prepare yourself. This isn't a simple festival. It's a fight to the death."
"What's going on?" Natsu struggled to hold his pants up. "I became a kid! Are you a thief that can use magic?"
"I said I'm not a thief." The man sighed. "Oh well... I'll just get rid of you right away!"
"Shit!" Natsu barely dodged the man's swipe. "I can't move like I want! Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A small puff of smoke flew out of his mouth.
"What the hell?" Natsu panicked. "Even as a kid I could use magic better than this!"
"Your appearance is just an extra effect." The attacker explained. "The Law of Regression is a magic that lowers an opponent's magical skills."
"That's not fair!" Natsu swung a fist forward, causing a mere ember to fly off it. His attacker smashed a fist into him, causing him to hurtle back.
"Ouch! This hurts!" Natsu cradled his red cheek. "How can your punches be so powerful?"
"It's your defense that's lower."
"Shit, this is bad." Natsu looked up and his eyes widened in horror. "What the hell is that?"
The man looked up, confused. "What?"
"Damn!" He glanced at where Natsu was, only to find him missing. "He got away!"
"Ahahaha!" Natsu cackled as he fled. "Kids have their own fighting style! It feels kind of nostalgic... Gildarts always fell for that. Sorry, but I'm gonna look for that voice!"
"That brat is underestimating me..." The man reached for the cloth covering his mouth and pulled it off, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. "He will soon realize how strong non-humans are."
"Kyah!"
Lucy turned towards the younger woman. "Wendy, are you ok?"
"I'm sorry, the ground is frozen..."
Lucy sighed. "We lost sight of Gray too... Happy and Charle are searching for Natsu and Erza from the sky..."
"What should we do?" Wendy asked her. "We don't even know what this place is. Actually, something's been bothering me, Lucy-nee... it's definitely weird, but I think we're being followed."
Lucy sweatdropped at the sight of Hiroshi and Lala dressed up as Happy and Charle.
"No, we're just super cats."
"I'm a white cat, meow-dun."
"You must be joking."
Hiroshi grit his teeth. "How could they see through our treasure hunter skill, 'Disguise'?"
"I knew I should have pretended to be the blue cat!"
"Did they really think we'd be fooled?"
"Treasure hunters are really mysterious..."
"If they found out we super don't have a choice!" Hiroshi exclaimed. "Target change! Those keys of yours are really rare, aren't they?"
"We're dun gonna get our hands on them!"
Lucy sighed. "What's with these guys?"
"I'm sorry for the bottle..." Wendy told them. "We don't really want to fight with you. We just want to save the giants."
"Giants?" Hiroshi looked up at one of the huge men. "Who cares about them? Treasure hunters only use one method to judge things."
He swung his sword, taking out a piece of the frozen giant's leg. "They check whether things are treasures or not!"
"Stop!" Wendy demanded. "He's still alive!"
"I don't care if it's alive or not, if it's not a treasure I'm not interested."
"Please stop talking."
"I won't!" Hiroshi cackled. "I'll do what I want, and get what I want! That's what treasure hunters do!"
"Stop!" Wendy shouted, blasting him with a Sky Dragon's Roar at the same time. Lala's hand-mace reached out and stopped Hiroshi from flying away.
"I don't want to fight you." Wendy frowned. "But I can't ignore your pointless cruelty!"
"If you plan on hurting the villagers, then we'll be your opponents." Lucy agreed.
"Fine." Hiroshi smirked. "Let's get both the treasure and the women."
"I don't need the women. Let's kill them, dun."
Shots rang out, causing both women to narrowly dodge.
"We're three against two women." Drake smirked. "What can you do?"
Wendy cursed as she slipped on the ice and fell over.
"Wendy!"
"Got you!" Drake grinned and fired at the prone girl.
A lock of red hair shot out and grabbed the bullet in mid-air, rendering it harmless. Flare smirked as she stepped out of the forest and stood protectively in front of Wendy.
"Sorry, I lost sight of you guys." She told Lucy, then glanced at the treasure hunters. "Women are three too. Blondie, Blue-hair, and a red-head."
"Who's this chick?"
"An ally of theirs?"
Flare grinned. "Kukuku..."
Wendy picked herself up. "Thanks for the save."
"Took you long enough to find us." Lucy added.
"By the way..." Wendy glanced at the symbol next to Flare's Fairy Tail mark. "I meant to ask earlier... what does that mean?"
"This mark is the crest of the Sun Village." Flare explained, causing their eyes to widen. "I was raised by the giants from a young age. When I came here now, I found all the village people.. all my people..."
Her tone turned angry. "I can't forgive you."
"We super aren't the ones who froze those guys!"
"We just dun came for the eternal flame!"
"That's not any better! The eternal flame is an important protector of our village!" Flare shot a mass of hair at the treasure hunters. "I won't let anyone sully it!"
Lala panicked. "Her hair grew!"
"I got this!" Hiroshi charged forward, shearing a mass of Flare's hair off.
"Open, Gate of the Crab. Cancer!"
"Leave anything regarding hair to me, ebi." Cancer quickly stepped up behind Flare and fixed her hair. "Hair Growth, Scalp Care!"
"That feels so good..."
Lucy smirked. "We'll protect the giants."
Wendy nodded." Let's do this together!"
Flare stared at them for a moment, before smiling in agreement. "I'm back!" She shouted, smashing Hiroshi away with a tendril of hair.
Lala jumped into the air and swung his mace at Wendy. "Dun!"
"Meteor. Vernier!"
"Sagittarius!" Lucy re-summoned the archer. "Try to counter the sniper!"
Flare watched in shock as Wendy battered Lala from all sides without letting the man fight back. "Blue-hair..."
Sagittarius gave a howl of pain and dispelled when a bullet tore away part of his side.
"That came from around there..." Lucy narrowed her eye, spotting a gleam of metal in the trees. Scowling, she lifted her fringe of hair and her eye-patch lit up before shooting a series of short bursts of violet energy towards Drake.
"Hair Shower: Wolf Fang!"
"No matter how many times you try, hair will never beat a sword!" Hiroshi laughed, tearing past Flare's attacks and causing strands of hair to fill the air.
"This hair is my pride and something I received from the blessing of the eternal flame..." Flare scowled, manipulating the cut-off strands. "Hair Shower: Firefly Flame!"
Hiroshi paled when the hair floating around him and clinging to him began to explode. "Gah!"
"Hiroshi!"
"You can't afford to look away!" Wendy snapped, smashing a Sky Dragon's Claw into Lala. "You're fighting me!"
Flare's eyes widened when Hiroshi, who she considered down and thus turned away from, tied her hair to a tree. "Huh?"
"Hehehe..."
"My hair?"
"Treasure hunter skill, Knot Tying!" The man explained gleefully.
His smile faded when Flare's hair stretched out and tied him up.
"It doesn't matter if they're tied." Flare told him. "I can just make them longer."
"What?"
Drake scowled when the barrage of light shots faded and he could aim again. "Why, you..."
Loke smiled, crouching behind him. "Found ya."
The man paled.
"Lucy!" Loke shouted, throwing Drake towards the clearing the group was fighting in.
"Silver Cloud: Sky-Tearing Gale!"
"Hair Shower: Thousand Birds!"
"Knight's Blade: Strike of Authority!"
Lala gave a wail when Wendy smashed his Stronger to pieces and sent him flying. Likewise, Hiroshi screamed when Flare shot a barrage of needle-sharp hair at him. Lucy simply slammed her sheathed knight's sword into Drake's stomach as he flew towards her.
"And that settles that." Lucy declared, making a show of wiping her hands off as the three treasure hunters flew off into the distance.
Flare turned to Lucy and Wendy and smiled. "Yep!"
"Lucy-nee..." Wendy's eye twitched. "Strike of Authority? Really?"
"Yes."
Wendy face-palmed.
"When I was little, I lived in this village." Flare told Lucy and Wendy, who were listening intently. "But I didn't like being the only one different, so I left. Until then, I'd never seen someone the same size as me. That actually scared me... and that's why... I became like this..."
Lucy nodded, connecting the dots in her mind. "And that's why you entered Raven Tail?"
"I didn't know how to make money..." Flare looked away. "I entered Raven Tail without knowing anything. That guild hated Fairy Tail... but I thought that was normal..."
"It's ok." Wendy smiled and held a hand out. "Let's put that behind us."
Flare shook the offered hand gratefully. "Yes... I'm sorry."
Lucy shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
"So basically..." Wendy looked around. "You came back to your hometown and found it like this?"
"Yes..." Flare teared up. "I just wanted to have a normal first mission with my new guild... I didn't even know this had happened..."
The redhead looked around. "Maybe the eternal flame will be able to melt the ice... come with me! I'll show you where it is!"
"Charle..." Happy looked up at the demonic one-eyed bird and trembled in horror. "What is that?"
"I don't know..." The whiter than usual cat stuttered. "B-but it's no good... with that thing up there, we can't fly."
"Aye..."
"That voice... who is it?" Natsu sprinted past several frozen giants. "And when the hell am I gonna grow back to my normal size?"
"Ahahaha! Nice!" Minerva cackled, kicking the temporarily much younger redhead. "You're just like a child, Erza!"
Erza grit her teeth when she was knocked sliding back.
"Really..." Minerva sneered, lashing out again. "Nothing more than a child. I want to punish you even more... to forget the shame of Daimatou Enbu..."
I can't fight her back in this shape... Erza panicked, flying back. Do we have to defeat the user of this magic for its' effect to vanish?
"Hey, you."
The large man stopped and looked up at Gray.
"Are you a friend of the thieves?"
"How annoying." The man observed. "Why do you have to show up one at a time?"
"Who are you?" Gray flinched. "That mouth..."
The unnaturally sharp teeth twisted into a sinister grin. "It's like this because I'm gonna eat you!"
Gray broke in a cold sweat when he found himself suddenly as a kid. "What the..."
The unknown man began cackling as he climbed up towards Gray.
"I'm... a kid..."
Gray looked down at the charging man and his mind replaced the attacker with Deliora, following up with visions of Ur, a younger Gray, and Ultear. The man stopped just short of Gray and looked puzzled when the boy slumped and began screaming in fear.
"Sometimes it happens..." He observed, grinning in realization. "When they turn into kids, some people remember what they experienced in their childhood. Poor kid, but... I don't give a fuck about that!"
"D-demon... Deliora!" Gray backed away in terror. "H-help..."
"I won't let you escape." The man grabbed Gray's face and lifted him up. "I'll tell you one thing before killing you. In this world there is a place you must absolutely not step into. The other side of the Gate of Hades... you're currently standing in its' entrance."
Gray struggled weakly against the hand holding him up.
"Ahahaha!" The man laughed again. "It's no use talking to a kid!"
"Gray..." A female voice resounded in his mind. "Deliora is dead..."
"I know!" Inner Gray shouted. "I know, but... it killed my Mum and Dad..."
"It's dead..." The female voice repeated. "Be brave... you must defeat the enemy in front of you. Otherwise your friends will be in danger."
"Friends..." Gray looked up into the grinning man's face. "The enemy in front of me..."
"Yes... I'm watching over you..."
"Ul..." Gray pressed his hand into the man's arm and spikes of ice spread down the limb. "... tear!"
The man flinched and released Gray, stepping back. "Cold..."
"Ice... a demon... a kid... and Moon Drip... too many nostalgic things around." Gray wiped some sweat away. "How pathetic to lose control because of that... but now it's ok. Did you do this to the village?"
The now identified demon smirked. "What if I say yes?"
"Then the magic you use is disgusting." Gray slipped into a fighting stance. "I'll show you what ice magic should be like."
"What are you saying?" The demon scoffed. "Do you understand your situation? The Law of Regression doesn't give you back your youth. It lowers your speed, stamina, and magic... in other words, you're just like a rabbit about to be caught. Relax and-"
His eyes widened when he noticed he was standing on a small piece of ice jutting out from the cliff.
"You stepped back, remember?" Gray reminded him. "I created a step for you. I don't need it anymore, though."
With that, the ice crumbled and the demon crashed down the cliff.
"Argh..." He slowly picked himself up. "When did you-"
"Not all of my abilities got lowered." Gray grinned mockingly and pointed to his temple. "Here. My strategy control room feels even better than usual. Originally, molding magic uses a person's imagination as a weapon. Thanks to you I could go get back my original imagination power."
"How stupid!" The demon snapped, scaling the cliff again. "Can you turn your free imagination into actual objects with your current power?"
His eyes widened when he reached the top, only to find nobody there. "Where did he go?"
"You fell for it again." Gray observed from below him. "You're standing on an extra transparent layer I made."
The man's eyes widened when the ice under him vanished and he fell onto a frozen bush. Gray smirked when the demon reached the thorns and jumped up in pain.
"You..."
"Ice Make..." Gray watched the furious demon approach. "Hammer!"
His jaw dropped when a tiny hammer formed over the demon's head.
The monster scoffed. "Like hell that'll hurt."
"Oh, well..." Gray shrugged, causing the hammer to break apart. "I'll turn it into something different."
The demon smirked. "No matter how you use your imagination, with your current magic power-"
The powdered remains of the hammer landed on his head, causing him to yelp.
"Snow cone!" Gray finished.
"Cold!"
"Ahahaha... you don't look very yummy." Gray mocked him. "By the way, an ice mage wouldn't feel cold from something like that. Now I'm sure... you weren't the one who froze that village. You're not that powerful."
His opponent scowled, ice trickling from his head.
"That's why you have to make your opponents weak to fight them." Gray continued. "In truth, you're just average."
The demon darkened and began to shake with fury.
"I could just kill you right now..." Minerva pointed a sword at Erza's prone form. "But I want to hear something first. The pathetic voice of a stubborn fighter like you... plead for your life. Ask me for mercy. And I might just change my mind."
Erza glared at her. "Don't lose your pride as a mage. Your magic exists to protect your friends and loved ones."
Minerva stared at her in confusion.
"It's not too late. You can still get out of the darkness... Minerva."
"H-how dare you lecture me..." Minerva grit her teeth in rage. "Pathetic... you'll die now!"
And with that, she swung down.
Erza's eyes widened when she felt her body strain against her shirt. "My body... it's back to normal?"
With a quick movement, she dodged the sword and countered with a foot to Minerva's chin, knocking the woman back.
"What happened?" Minerva frowned. "Did Doriate lose?"
"Well, anyway..." She stood up and brushed her coat off. "I prefer you like this, Erza."
I know how to beat that Armor of Nakagami... I am going to win. Minerva smirked. "But first, you should do something about your clothes."
Erza glanced at her shirt, which was meant for a child and therefore straining to keep her covered, before smirking. "That goes for you too."
Minerva looked down and her jaw dropped at the sudden lack of skirt. "What? When did this happen?"
Erza held up the missing garment, looking amused. "I didn't do it on purpose... I just caught onto it earlier..."
"Ouch!" Natsu's body returned to normal in mid-step, causing him to overbalance. "What the... my body is back to normal..."
"My body..." Gray watched his body shift to its' twenty-four-year-old self. "It's the same as before."
His eyes widened and he barely dodged a swing from his opponent, who seemed more insane than before. "What the hell?"
"You got so mad that your magic faded?" He scoffed. "What an idiot..."
Doriate grit his teeth and turned into a huge dark-skinned monster. His next attack smashed into Gray and caused him to crash into the icy ground he made earlier.
"A demon?" Gray noticed the new form of his attacker. "It looks like Mira's Satan Soul magic...
The demon roared.
"No, this feeling..." An image of a burning village flashed in Gray's mind. "It can't be... a demon from the Book of Zeref?"
Doriate surged forward and lashed out at Gray, causing him to skid back a few meters.
"Such force..." Gray scowled. "Plus he's really agile..."
The demon crouched down and gave a loud magic-imbued howl. Gray's eyes widened when he felt himself turn into a child again.
"Wha..." Natsu had once again fallen over. "What the hell is going on?"
Erza scowled in frustration when she shrunk to fit her shirt once more.
"Huh..." Minerva smirked. "So Doriate is still alive and kicking..."
Erza looked at her opponent and struggled not to laugh. "Y-you..."
"Waaah!" Minerva panicked when her too-big coat fell off her. "Even me? Has he gone completely mental?"
"Well..." Lucy raised an eyebrow, unconcerned about all her clothes except her bra having fallen off. "This is unexpected..."
Flare averted her eyes from the blonde. "We've become little..."
"It must be the result of someone's magic." Chibi-Wendy realized.
"Blue-hair..." Flare giggled. "You're really cute."
"Thanks." Wendy smirked. "You too."
Wow... Lucy watched Flare and Wendy with amusement. I corrupted Wendy... go me!
"Happy!" Gray's eyes widened when two cats fell out of the sky. "Charle!"
Happy picked himself up. "Just like that we weren't able to fly anymore..."
"What's more, you're tiny!" Charle looked around in shock. "And Gray too... what happened to you?"
"Did that thing..." Gray glanced at Doriate "Did it use its' magic on the entire village?"
"Huh?" The two Exceed noticed Doriate and jumped into a bush to hide. "What is that thing?"
"If I don't stop him here, then everyone will be put at risk." Gray shot a few shards of ice at Doriate, frowning when they just bounced off. "It's not affecting him one bit..."
"Then..." Ice grew around Doriate's feet. "I'll stop his mobility by freezing his feet!"
The demon wrenched his feet out of the ice and kicked out, sending Gray flying back.
"What the hell..." Gray struggled to stand up despite the pain wracking his body. "From a single blow..."
And to make things worse, his magic power is increasing! If I get hit again... He glanced at the charging demon in fear. I won't be able to dodge it! What can I do?
Think, dammit! He chided himself. A world trapped in ice that no one's capable of reversing... ice?
So not good... He paled when Doriate swung a fist down at him. This is so gonna leave a mark...
Happy and Charle shot past the fist, dragging Gray away from the demon.
The boy sighed in relief. "Thanks, you two."
"Even with the two of us..." Charle strained to not fall to the ground. "This is as high as we can fly right now..."
Gray's eyes widened when Doriate's fist stopped just short of slamming into the frozen ground. Of course, that's it!
The little me couldn't hit him with anything significant, but when he crashed into the frozen bushes, it definitely hurt him... Gray recalled. One would expect his body weight to simply crush the frozen bush into pieces, but because of its' special magical properties, the bush dealt him some damage... I don't know why that's the case, but cold the ice covering this entire village be his weak point? The proof is right before me... he's turned into a mindless beast and yet he's instinctively avoiding contact with the ice. Which means that if he's hit with the power from the ice covering the village...
If I could somehow control this village's ice... Gray jumped back from another attack. If it was this easy, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place... no. I can do this! Even without melting it, if I'm able to hit him with the ice's magic power... the magical properties of this are surprisingly similar to Deliora's... I was simply intimidated back then!
"I had zero self-confidence!" Gray roared, slamming a palm into the icy floor and lashing out towards Doriate's fist with his other hand. "Use my body as a vessel! Go through me!"
Gray reverted to his adult form at the same time that magic power from the ice shot through him and crashed into Doriate, knocking the huge form into the forest.
"Gray..." Happy walked over. "Are you ok?"
Gray glanced at Doriate, who was changing back, signifying his defeat. "Yeah..."
"What did you just do?"
What the hell is up with this ice... Gray frowned in thought. There's no change in this unsettling magic power, but somehow...
He turned to Doriate when the demon began chuckling. More importantly, that guy's true form worries me...
"You're the ones who opened it up..." Doriate warned them, smirking. "Hell's gate, that is... it can't be undone. And-"
The demonic bird swooped down from the sky, growing to an enormous size and swallowing Doriate in one bite. Happy and Charle gave identical shrieks of terror and jumped behind Gray, hoping to remain unseen.
"Making us big, making us small..." Natsu tugged at his scarf in irritation. "We really should've beaten the crap out of those guys when we had the chance..."
Lucy chuckled as she walked out to meet him. "You actually think the treasure hunters were the ones who did that?"
Wendy smiled. "Good thing we found you!"
"Pink-hair..."
"Oh, hey!" Natsu's eyes lit up when he noticed Flare. "You're not lost anymore!"
"Flare knows this area better than anyone. Even if she lost sight of us, she knew how to get around this place." Lucy observed. "This is her home village, after all."
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "So are you supposed to be a giant too?"
"Nope." Wendy shook her head. "She was raised here by the giants."
Natsu leaned in close to Flare and hummed thoughtfully. "So then, this whole village situation must be pretty tough for you... and Fairy Tail's reputation is at stake. We'll definitely get things back to normal around here."
Flare stared at him with a mix of joy and disbelief.
"The eternal flame might be able to get the village back to normal." Wendy told Natsu. "So Flare-san is guiding us to it..."
"I see..." Natsu nodded and turned to the frozen mountain behind him. "I could've sworn I heard a voice coming from this mountain, though..."
"That's not a mountain." Flare corrected him. "That's the village's guardian... the eternal flame."
Three sets of jaws dropped in unison. "What?"
Natsu was wide-eyed. "How is that not a mountain?"
"The giant flame is frozen solid..." Lucy muttered. "That's why it looks like a mountain..."
Wendy sighed. "So the flame is frozen..."
"We hoped the flame would be able to restore the village." Lucy frowned and crossed her arms. "But if even the flame is frozen, then..."
"Look out, guys!"
"Gray!" Wendy turned to the rapidly approaching man and two cats. "Happy! Charle!"
Natsu paled when the huge demonic bird chasing Gray came into view. "What the fuck? What is that thing?"
"I don't know!" Happy wailed. "But it definitely wants to eat us!"
"Get away!" Charle panicked. "Shoo!"
Lucy sighed. "Can't you just knock it out or something?"
"I can't use magic I don't have..." Gray looked around. "But maybe I can melt the ice around here..."
Flare looked hopeful. "Really?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying you can melt this stuff?"
"Not 100% sure..." Gray grit his teeth. "But I'll sure as hell try!"
"Since I've started to feel bored..." Lucy surged forward. "I'll handle that piece of crap!"
"This mountain is the eternal flame." Wendy explained to Gray. "You need to melt it."
"What?"
Lucy sighed. "Can you do it?"
"Hell yeah!" Gray exchanged a high-five with Lucy. "Take care of your business, Lucy!"
"Yeah, whatever..."
Lucy grinned at the oncoming bird. "Eat this, you piece of demon shit! The 28th Seal: Cannon Beam!"
With that, she thrust her palms out and a huge wave of violet energy shot towards the bird, engulfing it completely. The huge creature gave a screech of pain and flew out of the beam's range, before attacking again.
"As Knight of Jade..." Lucy slowly drew her sword. "I shall not lose to you, foul monster!"
"Someone should tell Princess Hisui she screwed up..."
The bird lashed out with a clawed foot, trying to slam Lucy into the ground. The blonde weaved past three of the claws and sliced the last one off, eliciting another pained shriek from the bird.
"You're annoying me, you accursed beast!" Lucy shouted, moving her fringe away from her eye-patch and shooting several violet blasts into the bird thing's single eye. "Try this on for size!"
"You are a threat to this village and to the eternal flame!" Lucy leapt forward and prepared her sword to attack. "That fire is necessary to save this village!"
With that, she stabbed the huge eye near the top and twisted violently, slashing her sword down the entire organ. The demonic bird gave a deafening screech of agony and flew away, leaving a trail of dark blood as it fled.
Gray ran towards the frozen flame. "I got this!"
"You don't understand the nature of the ice covering the village." Wendy observed, hugging Charle. "We couldn't handle it or melt it at all..."
"I was able to channel it through my body earlier." Gray countered. "But I'm not sure if the ice here has the same properties."
"You're gonna channel the ice magic through your body?" Natsu frowned. "Exactly what happens after that?"
"Ice Make." Gray grunted. "I'm gonna change this village's ice into something that suits me..."
Flare watched him in awe. "That's incredible..."
"I'm not entirely sure if I can do it, so the giants trapped in ice might have to wait a bit more..." Gray grit his teeth. "First, this mountain... I'm gonna try thawing out the eternal flame! Everyone, step back!"
The mountain of ice lit up and slowly began fading when Gray pressed his hands against it.
"It's disappearing!"
"You did it!"
"The ice is melting!"
Gray gave one more roar and the last of the ice trapping the flame vanished.
"Huh?"
"What... what's going on?"
"The flame is gone..."
"You gotta be shitting me..."
Flare trembled in horror and fell to her knees. "Impossible..."
What is this feeling... Wendy looked confused and afraid. This magical power...
Charle tried to understand what she was seeing... or not seeing. "Maybe it was gone already, since it became frozen..."
"No..." Gray clenched his fists in frustration and looked down. "This is my fault... this was... I won't be able to thaw out the giants this way..."
"The fire that had been burning for centuries, going out just like that..." Flare mumbled. "Is the village doomed now?"
"It's not gone!" Wendy declared, getting everyone's attention. "There's still some strong residual thought! That's proof that it's still alive!"
"Thought? Alive?"
Lucy pointed to an elaborate stone carving on the top of carved giant head. "There, look... that's the fire's altar."
Happy's eyes widened. "There is still a little fire left..."
"Natsu!" Wendy spun towards the fire user. "I know you can restore that flame!"
"That's right!"
"Pink-hair..."
"Hell yeah!" Natsu charged towards the distant altar. "I got this!"
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art..." The man jumped to an impossible height and swung his arm towards the altar. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
"The flame is..." Flare watched the scene unfold in shock. "The guardian spirit is... alight."
The fire gave a loud rushing noise as it expanded and illuminated the entire village.
"That voice I heard..."
"That residual energy..." Wendy looked amused. "I see..."
"You're shitting me..." Gray's jaw dropped. "The eternal flame is..."
Natsu simrked. "So it was you."
"It's been 400 years..." Atlas Flame's fiery mouth contorted in a grin. "Son of Igneel."
"One of the dragons from the Eclipse Gate..." Lucy muttered thoughtfully. "It should have gone back to 400 years ago..."
"400 years, yes..." Atlas Flame rasped. "For 400 years... I have continued to burn strong..."
Natsu chuckled. "So you're still alive, uncle..."
"Alive?" Atlas Flame repeated. "No, that isn't entirely correct..."
"What we're seeing is a form I brought forth with Milky Way." Wendy explained, focusing on maintaining the spell.
"I am... no longer of this world..." Atlas Flame agreed. "But that is something from the distant past..."
"I don't think he's firing on all cylinders."
"My awareness, or rather, memory..." Atlas Flame gave a weak chuckle at Gray's comment. "It's all a bit jumbled..."
"Pull yourself together, uncle."
"Hmm?" Atlas Flame glanced at Natsu. "I remember... Igneel's son..."
"It's probably from the ice." Wendy sighed. "At the core, residual thought may be based on strong will but it's still very fragile magic. By being frozen from the ice magic for so long, parts of his memories have clearly become damaged..."
"Ice..." Atlas Flame nodded in realization. "The world was covered in ice..."
"Are you talking about the village, uncle?"
"What happened?" Flare demanded. "Please tell us..."
"That guy..." The dragon frowned. "I... mistook him for someone else..."
Lucy narrowed her eye. "That guy?"
"Yes... a single human..." Atlas Flame sighed. "He changed the world to ice..."
Gray paled. "Was it done by an ice mage?"
"One mage did all that to the village?"
"Why would he-"
"That man... he thought I was a demon..." The dragon apparition explained. "He froze the entire village to eradicate me... an exorcist mage. A Devil Slayer."
"I've heard something like that before..." Lucy observed. "It's magic made to defeat demons."
"Hm... it's all a bit foggy..." Atlas Flame mumbled. "I am... what am I?"
"You are the guardian of this village! The flame of the giants!" Flare bowed before the dragon. "Somehow, I beg of you! Shine your light upon this place once more! Please save this village!"
"I am... yes, my name is Atlas Flame." The dragon watched Flare curiously. "I created this village. My village's misfortune is my pain... my village's sorrows are my tears... I hold the lingering scent of my final spirit... along with the fire of Igneel's son... I shall set this village free."
"I am the fire dragon... Atlas Flame!" The dragon roared. "The guardian dragon of this village!"
Heat began to spread from Atlas Flame.
"Igneel... dragon king... Acnologia... Zeref... I remember it all..." Atlas Flame glanced at Natsu. "The most vile magic from the Book of Zeref... E.N.D. 400 years ago... Igneel was unable to destroy E.N.D..."
"Oh?" An unfrozen giant looked around in confusion.
A second giant, having suddenly regained movement, stumbled. "What?"
"This warmth..." A third one felt the air. "It can only be from the flame..."
Minerva scowled. "The ice is melting..."
Erza nodded, pleased. "They did it."
"Tch..."
"Hm? This is truly a rare sight..." A giant man leaned over them curiously. "Humans are milling around in the village..."
Minerva turned to flee. "Let's end it here. We'll settle things eventually... you and I, on a much grander stage."
"Don't let the darkness corrupt you!" Erza shouted after her. "I know you have more fortitude than that!"
"Please." Minerva scoffed. "I'll be the one corrupting the world with my darkness... not the other way around."
Wendy sighed and looked down. "Atlas Flame's residual memories have completely vanished..."
Lucy nodded. "To think he'd be able to muster up that much power with what little spirit he had left..."
"E.N.D. is the dark magic Igneel was trying to destroy?" Natsu exchanged confused glances with Happy. "First time I'm hearing about that."
"Aye."
"Silver-sama..." A lizard-like messenger hesitated. "We received an order to gather at headquarters..."
"I'm visiting a grave." A scruffy man with unkempt black hair grunted. "Let me be for now."
"All of the members of the Nine Demon Gates have been summoned this time." The messenger persisted. "So please comply with the summons, Ice Devil Slayer, Lord Silver."
"Relax, there is no need to crap your pants. It's not like I'll eat you or anything." Silver of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros turned to face the lackey. "The only things I consume... are the souls of demons."
A giant chuckled. "We were saved by small people..."
Gray smirked. "Glad you went back to normal."
Erza frowned. "What happened to this village?"
"Apparently it was attacked by an Ice Devil Slayer." Lucy filled her in.
"We tried to get our weapons to fight..." A scarred giant sighed. "But we can't remember anything after that."
"The eternal flame." Lucy frowned in thought. "In other words, he came here to defeat Atlas Flame thinking he was a demon."
"So this incident was caused by the criminal's mistake?" Erza asked, trying to confirm it. "Quite complex..."
"No. We still don't know the criminal's true intentions." Gray scowled. "The guy from Succubus Eye said something about opening the gate to hell..."
Erza's eyes widened. "Tartaros?"
Gray nodded. "The criminal is likely from there. And Succubus Eye, as a subordinate guild, might have been here to protect the village."
Wendy sighed. "You mean he might have frozen the village for another reason?"
"Yes." Charle agreed. "There might be something else..."
"Anyway, we did our job!" Natsu cheered from his seat on top of a bald giant's head.
"Aye!"
"By the way..." Lucy looked around. "Where's Flare?"
Erza frowned when she noticed Flare sitting behind a tree and out of sight. "Why are you hiding?"
Several giants, including Natsu's seat, stood up with angry expressions. "Hey, Flare! Are you there?"
"Come on..." Lucy pushed Flare out from behind the tree. "It's been a while, after all."
"I abandoned this village..." Flare struggled against Lucy. "I left without saying anything..."
"Don't worry, they're not angry..." Wendy looked up at a scowling giant. "I think..."
"Are you really Flare?"
"It's been a long time..."
"You grew up."
"Though you're still smaller than us..."
The lead giant frowned. "How was the outside world?"
"It was fun..." Flare looked away. "But also hard..."
"It's the same wherever you go." The giant observed, while his friends began to smile and laugh. "As long as you're alive."
Flare stared at him in shock.
"No matter if you stay or go, this is your home." He spread his arms to emphasize the village. "You can do as you please. Well... I just want to tell you something, though... welcome back, child."
The other giants nodded. Some of them started cheering.
"I... I..." Flare teared up. "I'm home..."
Minerva stared at the destroyed hall of the Succubus Eye guild in horror. "W-what is this..."
"Everyone..." She slowly walked in, looking around wildly. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"
She noticed a small black thing vaguely resembling a human and picked it up carefully. "What is this?"
"A person."
The hand holding the black figure trembled. "A person?"
"My magic makes people stronger."
Minerva spun towards the shadowed form of the speaker, gritting her teeth in fury. "Who are you?"
"However, the weak who aren't worthy of this magic..." The female speaker continued. "They all end up that way."
"My name is Kyouka." The woman stepped into view, revealing furry ears, a smirk, clawed hands, scaly legs, and a long tail. Everything else was covered by clothes, a mask, and a helmet. "One of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros."
Tartaros? Minerva paled. Does it mean that they already know we failed to protect the village?
"You didn't have to go this far just because one village was taken back!"
"What are you saying? I know nothing about that." Kyouka shrugged, shocking Minerva. "I already said that I just want to make humans stronger. Very soon... a large-scale strategy will be set in motion. I came here because the master ordered me to gather soldiers."
"You're killing soldiers instead of gathering them!" Minerva gestured towards the many black forms littering the ground. "Are you stupid?"
"We don't need soldiers that cannot get stronger." Kyouka countered calmly. "Though I wonder... how about you?"
Minerva took a step back in fear as Kyouka advanced. "No... stop!"
"Ahahaha!" Walrot Seeken cackled gleefully. "I knew sending you guys was the right decision! How nice, how nice!"
Natsu grinned. "It was a piece of cake."
Erza nodded. "I'm just glad that we finished the job without further incident."
Wendy turned to Lucy. "By the way, where's Flare-chan?"
Flare-chan? Lucy raised an eyebrow. "She stayed with the giants for a few days. She'll ba back soon."
Gray sighed. "It surprised us when we found out Tartaros was involved."
"Hm..." Seeken mused. "I wouldn't worry too much about them. Let the Council handle any investigations regarding them. More importantly..." He turned to the small garden behind him and rummaged through it. "There's still the matter of your payment."
"We've been looking forward to this!"
"It's only natural, after a job well done."
"Here." Seeken held out a potato. "It's a potato from my garden."
"..."
"It's a joke." Seeken smiled. "I'm just messing with you."
"A joke... right..."
"That's so funny I forgot to laugh."
Seeken's grin widened. "It's actually a potato I bought in the nearby town."
"Like we care where it came from!"
"We want cash! Cold, hard cash!"
"Uwaaah!" Wendy looked around in awe. "Now this is nice!"
Erza nodded, climbing into the hot spring. "Quite the view we have here."
"It reaches quite far..." Lucy added, following her lover.
"As expected of Walrot-sama." Erza announced. "To know of a secret hot spring like this..."
"Look, Wendy!" Charle pointed to a sign. "It says this place is not just good for your health, but for your physical beauty as well!"
She frowned when no reply came. "Wendy?"
Turning around, she gave a large sigh when she noticed Lucy and Erza making out in the water and Wendy staring at them, transfixed. "Back to normal, I see..."
"There's nothing like a bath after hard work..." Lucy observed, breaking away and leaning back contently.
"It helps rejuvenate a tired body and soul." Erza observed, moving over to examine a tree by the poolside. "It allows us to face future trials refreshed."
"I can't help but feel bad for Natsu-san and Gray-san..." Wendy added, wiping away a small trickle of blood from her nose.
"They'll be fine." Charle reassured her, drifting by slowly. "I doubt they have any interest in a hot spring anyway."
"Shows how much you know."
"We can enjoy stuff like this from time to time as well."
"Aye!"
Everything froze, before...
"Kyaah!"
Lucy chuckled. "I'm surprised to see you guys in the female bath."
"We were here first." Natsu observed, ignoring Wendy's panic.
"You guys were the ones who came in after us." Gray agreed.
"Oh?" Seeken laughed, climbing in. At least he had the sense to cover his privates with a small towel. "I did tell you it was a unisex hot spring, didn't I?"
"And now I'll have nightmares."
"Guys, just..." Wendy sighed, still trying to cover herself. "Could you leave for a while? It's embarrassing..."
"We've seen your naked bodies quite a few times already." Natsu countered. "Honestly, the novelty wore off a while ago."
"Besides, why are you even embarrassed?" Gray looked confused. "All three of you are lesbians anyway."
"That's true..." Natsu gave a depressed sigh. "Man, so many girls in the guild and only the lesbians hang out with us..."
"Meledy likes hanging out with you guys and she's straight." Lucy reminded him, cheering him up a little.
"Yeah, Mel's cool."
"Still, this brings back memories." Erza cut in. "I used to have baths with Natsu and Gray all the time."
Wendy sweatdropped. "That's not normal, no matter which gender you like."
"It's been a while." Erza walked over to Natsu and Gray. "Let me wash your backs for you."
"N-no, I'm good."
"We're not kids anymore!"
"Ahahaha!" Seeken cackled, enjoying watching the scene unfold. "Aren't comrades the best?"
Lucy smirked, looking on as Natsu and Gray tried to flee from Erza. "They sure are."
"That reminds me..." Seeken lifted an arm. "I haven't told you guys yet, but..."
He showed everyone a dark Fairy Tail guild mark. "Just like Mavis, I'm a founding member of Fairy Tail. That makes me a grand-sempai to you."
"What?"
"Eh?"
"For real?"
"So the guild you were in..."
"It was Fairy Tail?"
"That's why Master was so worried about this mission..."
Seeken smiled. "Just-"
"You're messing with us again?"
"It's all true."
Gray face-faulted.
Erza smiled, having worn Natsu down into letting her wash his back. "So is this the reason you requested Natsu and Gray?"
"Pretty much." Seeken nodded. "When you entered my home, I caught a nostalgic whiff of the guild's wooden smell... just kidding."
Wendy sighed. "We're not getting anywhere."
"To have met you young fairies really made my heart skip a beat..." Seeken told them. "The peace that Mavis sings about... Fairy Tail, a guild with bonds between the souls of mages which are even thicker than blood. That spirit carries on even now, and is in all of you. That very spirit will become the key to your successes and triumphs... I felt that in the moment I met you all."
Seeken looked at each of them in turn. "Mavis once said 'Comrade isn't simply a word. Comrades are about heart. It is the unconditional trust in your partners. Please, feel free to lean on me... and I too will lean on you as well... there will be painful times, sad times... I'll be with you through thick and thin... you are never alone. The hopes we carry are matched by the number of stars twinkling in the night sky, the rustling of the wind on our bodies brings premonitions of what's to come tomorrow. Now let us take a stroll... to the melody from the song of fairies...'"
The man gave a nostalgic smile as he finished.
Erza smiled as a calm atmosphere spread through the pool, then turned to Natsu. "Now do me."
"Ah, ok..."
Wendy went deep red. "That order could be so easily misunderstood..."
"Wait..." Natsu's jaw dropped in realization. "So you're even older than Gramps?"
"That's rude, Natsu."
"That means..." Natsu grit his teeth. "If he's been around this long... he might know about E.N.D. and the demons..."
"E.N.D.?" Seeken repeated. "Demons?"
"Apparently it has something to do with Zeref's book of demons." Natsu explained. "My dad, Igneel, tried to defeat it or something..."
"The Book of Zeref... another unsettling phrase..." Seeken looked thoughtful.
"If I know what E.N.D. is then I might be able to figure out where Igneel is." Natsu concluded. "I think, anyway..."
"That's what Atlas Flame told us." Wendy added.
"My apologies..." Seeken shook his head. "But I have no idea. Still, when you told me about Tartaros this afternoon, I remembered something. We know next to nothing about the true form of their guild. Not of their base of operations, their members, or even their actual numbers. But from various people who claim to have witnessed their meetings... they all say those meetings are a worshipping for demons."
"This is a prophecy from the Gods of Ishval, so take it for what it's worth..." Seeken suddenly looked grim. "It's possible they have the Book of Zeref in their possession."
"A guild has that book?"
"And that might be the E.N.D.?"
"Is that right..." Natsu began flailing his fists wildly. "So you don't know shit about where it is? Dammit! When I find them, I"ll make them spit it all out! I'll give them some of this! And some of that!"
Wendy covered her mouth. Lucy's eye twitched. Happy and Charle paled in terror. Seeken sweatdropped.
"Oi, Natsu..." Gray pointed to the man's feet.
"What?"
Erza stared up at him unnervingly, her head and back covered in bruises. Her hand tightened with enough force to dig through the stone floor. "Natsu..."
The man managed to give a small yelp of horror before a fist sent him soaring over the forest.
"I'm not going after him." Lucy, Wendy, and Gray spoke in unison, before bursting into laughter.
NOTE: Yes, I made Wendy a lesbian too. Deal with it.
NOTE #2: The upcoming chapters are as follows:
Magic Guilds, Unite – the dragon attack (done).
Flare of the Sun Village – the Frozen Flame arc (done).
History of Fairy Tail: How I Met My Mother – Meledy's past.
Hell Unleashed – Tartaros arc intro.
NEXT TIME: History of Fairy Tail: How I Met My Mother.
That chapter will actually take some time to write, since I need to work out all the details. Still, look forward to it!
Thanks for reading!