Thank goodness the weekend is here; life is getting busy and I am slowly losing my buffer chapter gap. Gotta get some major writing in! Without further rambling, here's a long one for ya, enjoy!
14
"Frog!" A few random calls sounded around the guildhall and Erza swivelled on her bar stool to look over her shoulder to where Ultear and a council emissary now stood in the doorway. The redhead had been enjoying a slice of strawberry cake and the Twin Dragon's company prior to the intrusion and her expression immediately betrayed her irritation. Ultear wasn't due for another hour, and Erza did not appreciate having to slide her cake back toward Mira for safekeeping to enjoy later. The tone of the guild promptly became subdued, as everyone stopped their rowdy behaviour and tensely watched the council associates wondering what brought them here this time.
Erza stood, adopting her stern, no BS persona and walked over to the council woman, "Ultear," she said in place of a greeting. The woman responded with Erza's name in an equally unimpressed tone. "If you'll follow me," the redhead spun on her heel, offering no warmth to the time mage and marched off in the direction of Makorav's office.
Mira giggled as she placed the slice of cake in the fridge to save for the redhead later, "to come between Erza and her cake… I hope none of our guildmates end up in her path when she gets out of that office."
Natsu sweat dropped, "you aren't wrong there Mira," he said, and both dragon slayers laughed.
The arrival of Ultear was not actually surprising. Natsu had been chatting with Makorav earlier that day about Leo's sudden appearance and the looming threats he'd expressed, on his and Lucy's last mission. When they were done discussing precautions for Lucy's, and the guild's safety, Natsu had made to exit the office. But Makorav stopped him, alerting him that Ultear was also due to visit the guild that afternoon. A council emissary had sent him formal notice of the visit the previous day and Ultear was requesting a meeting with himself and Erza; 'request' was just pretty words from the council, because there was never any real choice involved. The master told Natsu that he may have to fill in as Erza wasn't due back for another week and Laxus was also away on a mission. But with uncanny timing, Erza had called to report in from Hargeon, having finished her two-week request in record time, she was currently waiting for the next train home.
So Natsu had taken his leave, telling the Master he'd let him get back to work on the piles of complaints before Fiore's representative arrived. Makorav had barked back that half of them were Dragon Soul's fault and Natsu simply turned a lopsided grin and a wave on him as he exited.
Leaning against the bar top and sitting across two stools, the light glinted off the gold details on Natsu's boot as he lazily swung his leg watching as the two women ascended the stairs. He shot a mischievous grin over his shoulder at Haru and Mira before bounding out of his seat and taking off across the hall hearing their laughter trail after him. Haru had seen that coming a mile away, Natsu took a certain enjoyment in irritating Council members. Natsu caught up behind the time mage, "surprise, I'm coming too," he announced, leaving no room for discussion. Ultear turned, fixing him with narrowed eyes, but chose not to take the bait and continued to follow the knight who didn't seem at all affected by Natsu's declaration. The trio entered the master's office and the girls took the two chairs in front of the desk. The fire mage crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall by the door. He had no particular interest in the meeting, but he had no trust for the Council either, and he was on edge with the shit going on between Lucy and her father.
Before Makorav could even welcome Ultear to Fairy Tail, she addressed Erza bluntly, "I have come to retrieve the second demon book you received from the cultists in Seven." Erza's unreadable expression wavered for a second, caught off guard by the sudden demand.
"I gave both books to the Magic Council in Seven, I would have imagined you'd have them in Era at the national branch by now."
"Don't give me that. We only have possession of Deliora's book, and that one has proved entirely useless." Ultear turned a disapproving look on the fire mage who only smirked back, taunting her with a wink and the snap of a fiery thumbs up.
Leaning forward in his chair, Makorav's eyebrows knit together, "what does the magic council want with the books of Zeref?" Fairy Tail did actually have possession of Lullaby's book, it was in the vault in the library below the guild with a few other rare magic tomes. But there was no way they were going to offer that information up to the Magic Council without knowing what their motives were. Ultear had claimed that they were not enemies, but the elderly man had seen too much in his life to ally himself with anyone who would rely on demonic power, regardless of their intentions.
Ultear just turned a sly smile on the master, "I am not required to disclose that information to you, even as a member of the saints." Erza growled out about treating Fairy Tail's guild master with the respect his titles warranted but she was promptly ignored. Ultear simply leaned in toward the redhead who had her arms crossed under bust, posture closed off and completely defiant, she asked, "well Erza? Are you going to tell me where you are keeping the book?"
"We don't have the book you seek," Makorav interrupted, "perhaps Seven's branch chose not to turn it over to you. After all, you did invade their country… that must be damaging to inter-council trust, no?"
Ultear broke the gaze of a silent power struggle with the Titania to glare at the smug look on the master's face. "Fine, understand that if you are hiding that book from us, you will be facing trial for discord against the National Magic Council of Ishgar."
Natsu laughed behind them, breaking a heavy silence that was stretching between them as the three were locked in a stare down. "You know, I think the Council needs to find some new hobbies outside attempting to find fault with our guild, especially seeing as you all are so epically bad at it." The time mage clicked her tongue at the insubordinate guild members, Fairy Tail would continue to be major a thorn in the Council's side. However, she could tell she wasn't getting anywhere with them, so she requipped a new stack of complaints and bills onto the master's desk, revelling in the way his eye twitched. If she couldn't see victory over the unruly guild today, then she'd at least enjoy that little piece of revenge. As she made to leave the office, she made a passing joke that if the book were to magically appear, then maybe the complaints might magically disappear. Natsu glowered as she walked by and she tauntingly blew him a kiss in retaliation, just to see the rage flicker through his eyes.
A few days later
Team Dragon Soul lounged about a table, their eyes focused on the small guild master perched on the railing of the second floor overlooking the hall, Mira stood to his left her hands clasped in front of her. Lucy glanced around the room, she'd never seen so many of Fairy Tail's members gathered in the guild at one time, even more shocking was how quiet and pacified everyone seemed to be. In light of the meetings Makorav had had earlier this week, the master had sent out a summons to all Fairy Tail mages out on missions and in Magnolia to finish up any outstanding jobs and be in the guild on Friday for an announcement. "I thought I'd met most of the guild by now, but there are so many faces I don't recognize," Lucy whispered and Erza explained that about 90% of the guild was currently present, she pointed out that as the most powerful guild in Fiore, it also tended to be the most popular, though a lot of members didn't make regular appearances. Due to a never-ending influx of mission requests, many members would take multiple requests at a time and finish them back to back, disappearing for extended periods of time.
After calling for their silence, Makorav relayed every detail they knew of a potential attack being orchestrated by Lucy's father. He followed that up with a full disclosure of the meeting he'd had with Ultear and his suspicions around the magic council. It still felt weird to Lucy that everyone knew her past now, she'd been so nervous to share her story with them, worried they might treat her like some pampered aristocrat or a spoiled brat. But to her slight surprise, not one of her guildmates treated her any differently than 'Lucy of Fairy Tail,' had been treated from day one.
When their small master finished relaying all necessary information, he fell silent, taking a large swig of the beer he still had hold of. Then the air warped subtly, and a tall dark-haired man appeared next to the master out of thin air. Neither he, nor Mira seemed the least bit surprised, Makorav gestured toward him, "everyone, meet Mest, a member of our Fairy Tail family, not that any of you will recall." Shocked murmurs went up around the guildhall and the volume of conversations slowly increased in quantity and noise, until frustration got the better of the elderly man. Titan hands expanded to stretch out over them, clapping twice, "Shut up you brats," the Master boomed, his voice echoing. Everyone snapped to attention again, "as I was saying, Mest is a member of our guild, he used memory manipulation on all of you to avoid any chance of having his cover blown. For the past two years, under my direction, Mest has been working for the magic council under cover."
The new mage pivoted slightly, displaying the dark red emblem on his shoulder to the guild. The master went on to explain that he summoned Mest home because his suspicions were meeting their peak where the Council was concerned. Thankfully, their memory mage had plenty of information to share, so it was worth the risk of losing their council infiltration.
Mest explained to the entire guild that the NMC was consistently struggling to maintain an iron clad control over Ishgar's magic wielding population, and their anxiety was growing as more and more powerful guilds sprung up around the continent. The individual council branches didn't hold many powerful mages in their ranks, each branch having just one of the National Council members representing it, with a handful of mages under their direct authority. The Ten Wizard Saints were technically allied to them but were not necessarily bound to follow their commands. So, with Fairy Tail's and other guild's power totally eclipsing the Council's own and the general population's faith lying with guild mages, the Magic Council knew its' authority was being eroded. It became theorized that if they could control some of Zeref's powerful demon creations, that they could impose their will on the guild network, as their power would be on par or greater than that of the guild mages.
Trying to absorb the shocking information that the Council was involved in corrupt behaviour, the Fairy Tail mages sat in stunned silence, waiting for Makorav's thoughts. "I am going to get in touch with Council member Yajima and see what light he may be able to shed on these developments. Mest and I believe that the council is likely divided and may have been infiltrated by others with more malicious intentions than ours and we can only speculate how high up it goes." The elderly man's eyes grazed over the tension marring his usually carefree children and he sighed, "worry not, for we are Fairy Tail, and nothing will take us down. For now, continue to live your lives, keep each other safe, and when we have more information to go on, we will act."
A few days later
Planning to take a quick job request, Natsu, Haru and Lucy had woken early that morning and strolled to the guild together. Master hadn't had any new information regarding the Council yet, and so for the most part, it was business as usual for the Twin Dragons, aside from having Lucy living with them. That Master had requested that she stay with the boys or at Fairy Hills, until they had more to go on where Lucy's father was concerned. Lucy already had enough trouble paying for one rental property, let alone Fairy Hills high fees, so she found herself back at the cabin temporarily. Sharing a bed, (platonically, she'd remind anyone), with Natsu had become fairly normal since the Seis incident anyway so it wasn't much of an adjustment. So, there they were, another mundane day, until they found themselves standing stunned in the entrance to the guild taking in a scene none of them could have predicted.
Before them, tables and chairs were toppled and broken, liquor bottles and glasses lay shattered and strewn about the hall, the mission request board appeared to have been scorched along with various surfaces around the guild. Finally a layer of moisture and large puddles covered the hall and the wood planks of the floor squeaked as the trio slowly made their way into the mess, no one said anything. Mira and Cana were making their rounds with brooms and pans sweeping up glass and debris, the ivory barmaid looked up as Haru approached her with Lucy on his heels, "what happened here?"
"We have no idea, someone ransacked the guildhall overnight, no one was here to defend…" she trailed off, dropping her eyes to the pile of glittering glass shards. "I don't understand how they could have broken in, the guild is protected by Freed's enchantments, only Fairy Tail members should be able to enter."
"They have a Spatial Magic user."
"Gramps! Have you figured out who the fuck trashed our guild?!"
Coming up from the guild's basement library, he replied, "yes Natsu, I believe I have." The master's eyes flickered around the few mages currently present in the hall that were gathering around him, "Lullaby's book has been stolen and only spatial magic could have breached our vault."
Natsu's eyes burned with fury, "this was the Magic Council then," he spat out.
"It appears, that would be the most likely explanation."
"Great, I've always wanted to knock those blowhard's teeth in!" He announced slamming a fiery fist into an open palm.
"This is still the Council we are talking about, the highest authority governing mages. We need to be delicate in how we proceed." Makorav interjected.
Natsu was about to argue when Mest flashed into the middle of the hall, dropping right on top of a broken chair and tripped forward, nearly falling flat on his face. "What the fuck? What the hell happened here?!" He asked as he peeled himself off the floor, daunted by the state of the hall. As Makorav explained what had happened, a few more members began filtering in for the day, each expressing their shock and concern as they entered.
The master's eye twitched at the ongoing interruptions, "alright enough of this, Haru, can you reach Warren to send out a debrief to all our members? I don't feel like repeating the same conversation a hundred times today."
"Yes Master, I'm on it." Haru walked away, two fingers at his temple.
Mest's eyes shifted from the water mage back to the master, "I regret to inform you that my mission wasn't a success. We need to talk."
The short man looked up at Mest with a grimace, "Haru! Contact Laxus and Erza after, tell them to get their asses to the guild and meet us in the library as soon as they arrive." Haru waved a hand in confirmation, and Makorav turned toward the basement, "Mest, Natsu, with me." Lucy had taken to clinging to Natsu's arm at some point, and he placed a hand on her shoulder in silent reassurance as she reluctantly released her grip. He fell into step behind the other two and disappeared into the basement library, books had been tossed about and shelves knocked over. Levy would be devastated, Natsu thought absently, as his eyes landed on the large vault that seemed unaffected in the back. Makorav hopped up on the table in the center of the room that was still in one piece, the boys both continued to stand, brimming with too much energy to be still. The master observed Fairy Tail's spatial mage, a layer of anxiety apparent in his posture. He'd had sent him on a stealth mission to Era to get in and find Yajima who hadn't responded to any of his attempts to contact him. Yajima happened to be the only Council member he fully trusted and he was terribly worried for his friend, it wasn't like him to not answer. Releasing an exacerbated sigh he watched Natsu who was pacing back and forth growling under his breath, a dragon in chains, if Makorav had ever seen one.
Heavy footsteps sounded above, and light filtered over them as the door opened and Laxus started down the stairs, Erza right behind him. "Thank you for joining us so promptly, I trust Warren has caught you both up on our situation?" Receiving simultaneous nods, he addressed the raven haired, "okay, tell us about the mission and then we plan our counter strike."
Era
It was a beautiful autumn day, vibrant blue skies with the occasional smear of white cloud, crisp air and golden trees blowing in a light breeze. A flash of light split space itself and a group of four appeared, hidden by the foliage of a garden in the courtyard that framed the pristine building of NMC. Mest took his hands off Natsu's and Laxus' shoulders and Natsu released Haru's arm, the four men turned toward each other in a huddle. "Okay, everyone knows the plan?" Mest began, eyes shifting over the dragon slayers, "I will drop Natsu in the north wing, Laxus, west, Haru will take south and I will take the east. As I was unable to locate Yajima due to interference, I imagine he is likely in the prison that is set between the North and West wings, but that remains speculation."
Laxus broke in next, "gather any available intel, if the opportunity to retrieve Lullaby presents itself, then go for it. But, above all, we find Yajima, and get out," he added with the authority of their senior S class. The trio nodded once, and Mest gripped the fire mage's shoulder, space around them warped, Natsu's head spun briefly and then they were inside polished halls. Natsu pressed his body into the shadow of a stone pillar that lined the wide marble hallway, Mest gave him a thumbs up and confident look before disappearing.
Still leaning into the pillar, Natsu focused his senses on his surroundings to try to get his bearings. As he did so, he subconsciously ran a couple fingers over his bare neck, he felt naked without his scarf. All four of the mages on the stealth mission were currently clothed in skin-tight black sleeveless tops, pants and combat boots, Fairy Tail's emblem shone in silver on their backs. Despite the destructive power of dragon slayer magic, the three slayers also happened to be the most effective at infiltration missions due to their abilities to vanish into their respective elements and their naturally heightened senses. Running his hand over the back of his neck on last time, Natsu shifted and peered around the edge of the pillar, a pair of amphibian council emissaries were moving in his direction. He released a breath, followed by just enough magic to dissolve into his fire, reappearing behind a pillar halfway down the hall. Checking to ensure he hadn't been seen, the fire mage hugged the outer wall, moving quickly but silently toward the interior of the building. He slid to a stop sliding behind a pillar as another emissary approached, he shifted behind the smooth stone moving with the frog's blind spot. Natsu had never been a fan of the delicate nature of stealth missions, despite an innate talent for them, he was much more partial to throwing fire and fists around to get the information he wanted. As he hid behind the pillar, he found himself desperately wishing he could just start blowing the building apart until he got the attention of someone who could be forced to lead him to Yajima. He reined his impulses in and once he was in the clear again, he glided forward, his dragon senses on overdrive searching for unknown smells and sounds. His patience was rewarded when he caught Ultear's scent and following the scent led him to a closed door with a black emblem of Fiore emblazoned on it. He assumed it would have to be her office as Fiore's Magic Council representative, thankfully, two pillars framed the doorway giving him cover.
"Haru, I've stumbled on to our old friend Ultear."
"Copy that, be careful Natsu."
Natsu leaped up, pressing his back into the wall and his feet into the pillar to brace himself above eye level of any stragglers in the halls. As he suppressed his magic power completely to disguise his magic signature and focused his senses to listen in beyond the door.
"The tower is coming along well, the Death Head Order have arrived back with a fresh batch of workers," a male voice spoke stoically. Natsu cocked his head, wondering what the hell a tower could have to do with anything and why an assassin's guild would be assisting with gathering workers. 'Once again, no black and white recon. Can anything ever just be as it seems?' Natsu thought. "Are we making progress in gathering the power we need?"
"Yes, Lord Siegrain," came Ultear's voice, "our elite magic unit was successful in retrieving Lullaby's book from Fairy Tail. Our beneficiary was also able to use his resources to secure two additional books, Seijaru and Vira."
"Excellent, see that you get to work on that, right away."
"Of course, sir."
Natsu heard footsteps moving toward the door, and he slunk back further into the shadow of the pillar. A head of bright blue hair appeared just a meter from him, and the pinkette held his breath as he watched Siegrain pivot and disappear down the hall. Peering around the door frame carefully, he caught sight of the time mage slumped over a tome. Natsu had to assume that would be Lullaby's judging by the heavy dark energy he could feel emanating from the book. Allowing just enough of his magic to spill out to flash into the office, he materialized behind Ultear, slapping a hand over her mouth and an anti-magic cuff around one wrist. She gasped into his hand, her eyes shifting to him in alarm, without removing his hand, Natsu fixed the other cuff to the leg of her desk. He relieved her of Lullaby's book and held it up before her with flames dancing at his fingers, singeing the book's cover. "Don't go doing anything stupid, or I turn this book to ash as well," he instructed as he removed his hand from her mouth.
She shifted, looking over her shoulder and bared her teeth at him, "how the hell did you get in here."
Natsu leaned in until his mouth was next to her ear, "same way you, assholes broke into my guild." Ultear could hear the barely supressed rage lacing his words. She eyed him as though he were a rabid dog, that might snap at any moment, caution would be her friend right now or she might have another useless book on her hands.
"Where. Is. Yajima." Natsu stated each word harshly through clenched teeth and the time mage's eyes widened in surprise, she was sure he was going to inquire what they wanted the books for again.
The pinkette arched his brows at her silence and let fire lick at the book in his hand again, she swiped for the book but he requipped it away. Spinning her chair to face him and fixed her with a deadly look, he repeated the question. "Yajima is enjoying top rate accommodations in his very own prison cell for defying the Council," she informed him haughtily.
Natsu's mouth opened to demand further information when Haru interrupted, voice washing through his consciousness, "Natsu, Laxus needs back up, he made it to the prison looking for Yajima and ran into trouble, you are the closest. Mest is caught in his own battle, I am on my way to him now."
"Got it." The pinkette turned back to the woman in front of him and adjusted the cuffs to secure both wrists around her desk. 'So much for simple get in, get out,' he thought as he tore a strip of cloth off the bottom of her own kimono and wrapped it around her mouth before smirking down at her. "Don't go anywhere now," he told her smugly as she ground her teeth around the cloth gag.
. . .
Spinning on his heel and sprinting down the hall toward the west wing, he sniffed at the air searching for the lightning mage's scent. He was less concerned about getting caught now, but he still kept close to the wall, Natsu heard a group of rune knights heading his way before he saw them. Vanishing into his flash steps, he skipped through the center of a group of four knights in an undetectable blur, snagging a large ring of keys off one of their belts as he did so. Natsu smirked to himself, twirling the ring of keys around an extended finger as he continued to sprint silently down the hall. The pinkette abruptly ducked down a wide passage to avoid a couple groups of council employees that would have converged on his location. This corridor led further into the interior of the council building and strangely seemed to have less employees moving about than the outer halls that the offices were situated around. It made his job a hell of a lot easier, though at this point he was almost itching to get caught just so he could punch something. His eyes shifted back and forth over the path before him, the hall was still polished but very simple compared to the decorative architecture he had just come from. A heavy steel door broke the clean plain wall on his left and he came to a stop in front of it, no doubt it would lead to the prison he was looking for.
He tried a few keys in the solid lock before it gave way with a resounding click, Natsu pressed the door open and was momentarily shocked to find himself in a large airy room that stretched several stories high. He had been expecting to walk into a dank dungeon-like prison, but what he entered was anything but. Natsu surveyed his surroundings, the room was large, open and circular, and appeared to contain multiple levels of floating lacrima cells holding various criminals; one he even recognized as a dark guild master Haru and he had apprehended not so long ago. Suddenly a sharp burst of lightning crashed between two of the cells, missing Natsu by mere feet and effectively pulling him out of his observations. He whipped around, taking in the sizable charred hole in the wall behind him, 'looks like I found Laxus…' he deadpanned internally.
Natsu leapt up on top of one of the lacrima cubes, skipping forward over subsequent cubes to make his way to the center of the strange prison where he laid his eyes upon the lightning slayer, framed by two unknown assailants. Laxus was looking a little battle worn, but Natsu guessed that had more to do with his focus being on protecting the elderly man to his side, than on the other two's strengths, even with them ganging up.
Keeping himself hidden a while longer to try to determine the powers of the two enemies. The fire mage watched as the duo launched themselves at his comrade, Laxus threw two simultaneous, thunder laden punches out to his sides, connecting with both of his attackers. The smaller man with white and black hair went flying back with a cry, colliding with the corner of a cell sending him spiralling into an unmoving heap a few feet away. The second large man was thrown back, but he disappeared completely, and Laxus' eyes widened as he moved Yajima behind him. Fire exploded behind Laxus as Natsu's iron fist connected with the large man's jaw cutting his attack short. It had been clear the man was attempting to attack from Laxus' blind spot taking advantage of the lightning slayer's divided attentions.
Laxus flinched forward at the explosion bringing an arm up to ward off the heat, he looked over his shoulder, "Natsu, 'bout time."
The pinkette fixed his snarky friend with an equally snarky grin and a thumbs up, "you're welcome."
The S class mages turned as their opponents crawled back to their feet, moving to stand back to back and instructing Yajima to stay between them. "Natsu, watch that one," Laxus gestured to the man in front of him, "'Totomaru of the Conflagration,' he commands control of all fire, according to him anyway."
Natsu's eyes shifted to the blonde and back to Totomaru, "we'll see about that," he responds with a cocky smirk.
"The other is Aria of the Heavens, he will try to drain your magic if he catches you off guard, he almost got me once," Laxus added. Without so much as a step in their direction, Aria shifted an arm, palm out and bursts of air exploded in the space surrounding the trio. Without missing a beat, Laxus reflexively tossed Yajima over his shoulder and zapped upward, depositing the old man on top of a lacrima cell and out of harm's way. Natsu now stood a small distance back, having leapt up and spring boarded off the wall of a cell to dodge the series of attacks. He was simply observing the duo as the lightning slayer materialized out of a bolt of lightning and crashed a brutal kick into Aria's chest.
Seeing that Laxus had the other mage under control, Natsu charged the other fire mage with a magic coated fist that turned back into his own chin, throwing his trajectory off. The pinkette flailed, tripping into a wall and massaged his sore jaw looking more amused than injured, "huh, so your powers weren't entirely exaggerated then, however…" He trailed off, further releasing his magic, flames bursting off him to see just how much fire his opponent could manage to manipulate. Totomaru smirked arrogantly, and began spinning the flames back toward Natsu, who watched unimpressed as his own fire continued to roll off him in a torrent blocking the incoming flames. It appeared to Natsu, that he'd already found the limits of his enemy's control and he was hoping for a better challenge. But it wasn't meant to be, giving a wild smile he flashed into fire appearing behind Totomaru and spun to drive a powerful heel into his side. The fire pouring off his leg whipped up a swirl of flames and the other fire mage was launched back, straight into the air mage that Laxus had just sent flying at the same time. The two dragon slayers watched as their opponents crashed, flames and static flickering off their bodies as they slumped onto the ground white eyed and twitching.
"Well, that wasn't much fun," Natsu announced, he nudged Totomaru's shoulder with the toe edge of his boot as he made his way passed them to Laxus.
The blonde chuckled and shrugged, "they can't all provide a challenge, I suppose."
Haru stood tensely watching the mage across from him, the hall was flooded, and they were both standing in knee deep water. "This fight is fairly pointless, wouldn't you say? I will eat whatever attack you throw at me affording me excess power, and your water body absorbs any of my attacks, thus providing you additional power."
"Yes, Juvia agrees, it would appear that we have reached a stalemate," the bluenette commented. Honestly, it hadn't seemed like she'd wanted to fight at all to begin with, as far as Haru could tell. He watched as she absently kicked a leg through the water watching the ripples expand outward.
Her blue eyes shifted back up to meet his, "but, stalemate or not, Juvia will not tarnish the Element Four's name," she whirled around again, the end of her arm dissolving into water as she slashed out with a long tendril of water, "water whip!" Haru dodged to the side, sending a barrage of water bullets at her, but they just vanished into her body with no damage again. He cursed under his breath, he knew his regular attacks wouldn't work against her, but he had a feeling more powerful dragon slayer magic could deal serious damage. He just didn't want to hurt her if he didn't have to, she simply seemed to be doing what she believed to be right, just like him.
"We don't need to fight, the Element Four is being manipulated by a corrupt Council, just trust me," he pleaded, but she scoffed and snapped her whip at him again. The bluenette launched forward as he stepped back to dodge and appeared in front of him throwing an elbow strike toward his head, he blocked with a forearm and shot an open palm into her sternum. She gasped as the air was knocked from her lungs, but recovered fast with multiple precise punches, one catching him in the gut just beneath his rib cage. Haru buckled forward and she threw another uppercut into his jaw using his momentum to her advantage, the strike sent his body arching through the air before landing with a large splash in the water. Haru sat up slightly dazed, shaking the water from his hair and glared at the unreasonable mage before him, not that he didn't appreciate the team loyalty.
"Fine. Have it your way." Haru flipped back to his feet and darted at the bluenette, he ducked under a high kick and nailed her with a punch of his own into her side. Twirling behind her as she fell, he quickly wrapped her in a choke hold trying to get her to give up the fight, but she simply struck back with an elbow aimed for his ribs. He released her before it could land and disappeared into an arch of water over her head, she followed suit and bursts of water crashed down the hall, sending out large splashes each time they collided. Emerging from his water arch, Haru kicked off a wall and flipped over the other water mage as he released his magic power further, cerulean scales crawled over his cheeks and down his arms.
Natsu had just alerted him that he and Laxus had vanquished two of the Element Four and were on their way to him with Yajima in tow. The other water mage appeared out of her own water stream, eyeing the newly draconic appearance of the man before her. She hesitated briefly, before deciding long range combat could be safer without knowing the abilities this form afforded him and shot multiple slashes of water forward. Haru inhaled the onslaught and sent it back at her in new form, "water dragon's whirlpool," he called whipping up the knee-deep water they were standing in, into a violent torrent of spinning water. Even in her water form, she'd have trouble escaping that, the power of the spinning pool would divide the waters forming her body if she tried to pass through it. Haru couldn't even see inside the whirlpool it was so dense, the major excess of water in their current environment making it even more powerful than usual. He knew her only option would be to attempt to escape out the top of the storming waters, and he'd be ready for that. His magic spiked exponentially, a blue glow filling the space, "dragon slayer's secret arts:" he stated as he searched the whirlpool for movement. As predicted, Juvia burst out the top of the raging waters and Haru bent into his knees, launching at her with blinding speed, "ocean's vengeance, storm blades!"
Still partially surrounded by streams of water and without time to react, the bluenette took multiple slashes of high-pressure water that cut right through her water body. Her eyes widened in shock as she shrieked in pain, before her body dropped heavily sending up a spray of water on contact. Haru landed next to her and lifted her body out of the water to lean her against the wall, he sighed as he began assessing her injuries. He had just begun turning her forearm over in his hands, wearily eyeing the inflammation of her wrist when her eyes slowly opened.
Haru's eyes trailed up to meet hers, "hey, stay still, my comrades will be here soon and one of them has access to medical supplies."
The bluenette searched his face skeptically, looking for deception, looking for the trap she was sure he was setting for her. But she only found sincerity. She arched a brow as he released her broken wrist, "why help your enemy," she snapped.
Haru only shrugged, "I haven't considered you an enemy since we first engaged in battle," he told her flatly. She argued back, telling him he was just naïve, but he cut her off, "you're not a bad person, that is all I need to know." Haru shifted, sliding down the wall to sit next to her in the water, he was already soaked through from their fight, so it didn't really matter. "You should know, we at Fairy Tail are certain there is corruption, possibly mutiny taking place within the Council. I personally believe you and the Element Four are being manipulated."
"That's nonsense. We have already locked up the rogue Council members."
The water slayer glared back at her, "Yajima is not an enemy of the Council, and certainly not of Ishgar. Siegrain is behind this."
The conviction in his voice threw her off momentarily, but she shook it off, denying his claims fervently. As he watched her with an irritated expression, Haru picked up on ripples of movement through the water as someone approached and turned quickly to peer down the hall. Juvia followed his line of sight, caught off guard by the sudden change. They watched a blue haired man strolling calmly toward them, seemingly unphased by the water he was wading through.
"Lord Siegrain," she greeted, she glanced back at the dragon slayer next to her who was back on his feet and assuming a defensive posture, "Juvia is sorry to have let you down."
"Why are you sorry?" He threw her a malicious grin that sent a chill down her spine, "you have played your part perfectly, my chess pieces are set for battle and I no longer have need of the Magic Council, or you."
"What do you want?!" Haru demanded, stepping between him and Juvia, he quickly reached out to Natsu telepathically imploring him to pick up the pace. He could feel the stifling magic pressure wafting off the man before them, and he was low on magic due to his recent fight. Ironically, he was surrounded by water and it wouldn't help him, too much of his own water magic had collided with Juvia's, making it useless for a quick powerup. Siegrain smirked, dismissively waving a hand at them and moved to leave, ignoring them as if they weren't even worth his time. Haru immediately materialized in front of him out of an arch of water, blocking his path, "I asked you a question."
Siegrain placed a palm on his chest, and it exploded in bright golden light sending Haru's body flying back. The water slayer flipped in the air, his feet planting on the wall behind him and launched back at Siegrain like a bullet aiming a water infused fist at him. Juvia's mind was still racing at Council member's declarations as she watched the two men clash in a barrage of brutal strikes. As far as the bluenette could tell, the battling mages appeared to be fairly evenly matched, but she nervously noted that Haru was slowing as the toll of his battle with her must be affecting him. She cringed as Haru took a nasty kick to the ribs and as his body dropped forward from the wall he'd crashed into, Siegrain met him with a well-timed knee to the gut. Haru dropped to a knee, and Juvia noticed the first attack had taken a hole out of his shirt and deep bruising was already marring the muscle beneath. Haru choked out another lung full of air and Juvia screamed for his attention as she sent a massive wave of water toward the two. The wave submerged both mages knocking Siegrain away as Haru gratefully accepted the magic in greedy gulps.
He stood hinged forward with his hands on his knees and releasing a satisfied exhale, throwing a thumbs up in thanks to Juvia as he released his magic power again. "Water drive," Juvia eyed the glittering blue scales as she observed the only water spell that had ever done her damage, let alone ended in her defeat. Haru charged at the Council member again, and they exchanged blindingly fast blows with renewed vigor until the water slayer finally found an opening. Spinning with the power of his secret arts, slashing water blade strikes rained down on the other man's body. A scream of pain was torn from his mouth and with a final powerful kick, Siegrain's body flew back colliding hard with a wall, causing a webbing of cracks around the impact point. Haru's body remained tense, ready for the counter strike he knew would come. He wasn't waiting long before Siegrain lumbered back to his feet, stumbling forward a couple steps before regaining his balance. He fixed Haru with an absolutely furious expression and slammed his forearms together in an X over his head erupting in a giant gold magic circle. The two water mages flinched back as their shadows bent abnormally and the look on their enemy's face became more deranged.
"Alteria!" Siegrain shouted, whipping his arms down and apart releasing a massive ball of magic that held the appearance of the night sky itself. The magic burst forward, the walls on either side of the spell rumbling and cracking from the sheer level of magic pressure exerted in the space.
Haru's eyes went wide in terror, he threw himself toward Juvia, "water dragon's lair," he cried desperately, and a swirling dome of water surrounded the pair just before the devastating spell could overtake them. The water slayer gritted his teeth driving the remainder of his power into maintaining their shield, until if finally burst and they were both thrust back in a spray of water. Panting for breath, Haru glared defiantly at Siegrain, even as black spots clouded his vision, the other man walked toward him gripping his own shoulder and moving with a noticeable limp.
He stopped directly in front of Haru, looking down at him with an emotionless expression, "I won't underestimate the power of a dragon slayer again," he promised. His eyebrows drew together as he considered the water mage and the greed behind his eyes gave Haru a sinking feeling, then he smirked and vanished.
A/N. Oh hi Juvia, nice of you to join us, can you tell me where Gajeel is? Because *I* haven't figured that one out yet. Any ideas my amazing readers? (and no…. Haru will not be with Juvia, waterXwater is too obvious for me :P and I like her Gray obsession).
For those of you wondering where Leo is at after his brief appearance last chapter, don't you worry your pretty heads, he'll be back soon.
It's off to Heaven on Earthland next chapter.
See ya Wednesday!
R&R.
xx Loka Muse