Fairy Tail:

Fairies vs. Phantoms

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

Summary- Haru takes part in the Fairy Tail/Phantom Lord Guild War, but soon learns of the rival guild's motives. What will Haru do to protect her new best friend?

Ch. 1- Declaration of War

If there was one thing that described the mood, right now... it would be absolutely depressing. Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, Erza, Haru, and Blue Fang had just arrived back home from a harrowing adventure on an island in the far south, their spirits high and filled with vigor... only for them to come crashing down as they found their beloved guildhall impaled with iron rods. It was certainly a shock to the 7 members, but as Elektra and Mirajane had said, no one had gotten hurt since the attack occurred during the night while everyone was away and the building was empty.

The culprit: the Phantom Lord Guild.

Since they could not use the upper floor until repairs were made, the Fairy Tail Wizards had resigned to stay in the basement library until then. Needless to say, Natsu was very upset about the whole ordeal, but he was even more irked that Makarov seemed to be so nonchalant about the whole thing as he drank from his whiskey bottle. The Guild Master only waved it off and said that the Phantom Lord Guild was just using immature tactics to rile Fairy Tail up. However, Natsu wanted to go out, find the perpetrators, and punish them for their misdeed.

"Now, Natsu, it's nothing to get all worked up over," said Elektra as she put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard, but Grandpa's actually taking this pretty hard, too, you know."

"...He sure doesn't sound like it..." Natsu groused. "Why can't we just go and kick their asses?!"

"Natsu, you know that armed conflict between wizards guilds is strictly forbidden by the Council," Mirajane spoke up.

"So what?!" Natsu questioned. "We never listen to the Council, anyway!"

"Natsu, that's enough!" Erza snapped. "There's nothing we can do... just grit your teeth and bear it."

"Yeah, take it easy, Flamehead," Gray added.

"You think we're not upset, either, Natsu?" asked Haru as she sat on the bench with Blue Fang, stroking his head as he rested it on her lap. "I mean... Phantom Lord has always had it out for us. You know they're just a bunch of bullies who only wanna get a rise out of us."

"I did read somewhere that the Fairy Tail Guild and the Phantom Lord Guild had a bit of a rivalry," said Lucy.

"Yes, there always has been a bit of bad blood between us," Elektra replied. "I went with my Grandpa to a Guild Master's convention, just to keep an eye on him. He tends to... go a bit overboard with his drinking sometimes... but then, while I was there... well... the Master of Phantom Lord might have said some... rather unpleasant words about us..." She had a rather disturbed look on her face. "Especially about me... and when that happened, Grandpa got... more than a little angry."

Lucy noticed that Elektra seemed rather uncomfortable about speaking about the incident, judging by her slightly furrowed brow, quivering lip, and the way she hugged her right arm.

"Anyway, long story short," the Magnetism Wizard began, "since that day, Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail have been at worse relations than before... but we can worry about that later."

As everyone continued on with their own conversations, Haru took a look around the basement... and that's when she noticed that someone wasn't present. Three someones, as a matter of fact.

'That's strange,' she thought.

"Umm... Mira?" Haru asked.

"Hmm?" Mirajane hummed in reply.

"Where's Team Shadow Gear?" asked Haru.

"Oh, Levy, Jet, and Droy?" Mirajane asked. "They left on a job a couple of days, ago... I guess they don't know what happened here, either." She then put a hand to her chin in pondering. "Now that I think about it... they should be back by now. I know the job didn't take them that long."

"Huh..." Haru muttered. "Oh, well... I'm sure they're okay."

'...I hope...'

XXX

Later that night, Haru was walking with Blue Fang near South Gate Park after everybody had gone home. Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Erza were all staying at Lucy's house (without her knowing, of course). They said it was better if some of the members of Fairy Tail stayed in groups, in case members of Phantom Lord attempted to attack anybody while they were alone.

At first, Natsu wanted Haru to come and stay with the group, mostly out of concern for her safety. However, the younger Dragneel sibling declined, saying that she didn't like being inside Lucy's abode without her permission. That and she assured Natsu that she would be fine as long as she had Blue Fang with her.

"This beast may be small, but that doesn't mean she can't bite back!" Haru quipped, and even bit at the air for emphasis before she walked away.

However, the feeling of unease still sat heavily in the pit of the Beast Wizard's stomach. She didn't know why, but she had this sneaking suspicion that something just wasn't right. She knew that Phantom Lord had always had it out for Fairy Tail, especially after that incident involving Makarov and Phantom Lord's Guild Master, Jose. However, what really bothered her was that all day long, she had not seen Levy, Jet, and Droy, and those three were always at the guild together.

"Hey, Blue Fang?" Haru asked, causing Blue Fang to glance up at her. "Do you get the feeling that maybe there's more to this than we think there is?"

Blue Fang only tilted his head and whined in perplexity, causing his partner to sigh as she reached up and scratched at his ears.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," she said. "Maybe I am reading too much... into..." She trailed off as she noticed a small crowd had gathered around the Sky Tree in the park. "Well, that's strange. Wonder what all the hubbub's about."

As she went to get a closer look... her curiosity quickly turned to horror. She gave a sharp gasp as she felt her blood suddenly run cold and she could have sworn that her heart had stopped for just a short moment. Even Blue Fang looked absolutely horrified by the way his mouth gaped open.

"...Oh, Mavis above...!" Haru whispered before she turned and sprinted off, making a beeline for Strawberry Street, where Lucy's apartment building was. As soon as she entered the complex, she ran up and started to bang on the door with both fists.

"HEEEEEEEEEY!" she screamed with every bit of breath that she had. "NATSU! HAPPY! LUCY! GRAY! ERZA! OPEN THE DOOR! SOMEONE!"

Suddenly, the door opened, and out came Lucy with a look of concern, followed by Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy.

"Sis?" Natsu asked.

"Haru, what's going on?" Lucy asked as she put her hands on her shoulders. "What happened?!"

"The... the South Gate Park...!" Haru wheezed out. "C... come quick!"

"Why?!" Gray asked.

"There's no time to explain!" Haru answered. "Just come on!"

With that, she led the others back to the park as fast as she could, and as soon as she arrived with the others, they all gasped at what they saw.

Crucified on the Sky Tree with their wrists pinned down by iron nails... were Levy, Jet and Droy, all three of them bloody, bruised, and battered. However... Levy's shirt was torn down the middle, revealing her yellow bra underneath... and the Phantom Lord Guild Mark painted on her stomach.

"Oh, my god!" Lucy cried with tears in her eyes. "Levy!"

"Jet... and Droy!" Gray shouted while Erza growled in fury.

"This is terrible!" cried Happy.

"Those Phantom bastards...!" Natsu snarled, veins bulging out of his arms. "This is lower than low!"

"Now they've really gone too far!" Haru exclaimed while Blue Fang snarled ferociously.

"...Who... did this?"

Everyone turned to see Makarov and Elektra... both of them with shadowed faces as they approached the scene. Immediately, the crowd gasped as they backed away, sensing the overwhelming fury permeating from the grandfather and granddaughter. As they approached... Elektra raised her head, revealing her darkened eyes... eyes that were welling over with tears of unbridled rage.

"Who the hell... did this?!" she asked. "WHO THE HELL HURT ONE OF MY KIDS?!"

"...I could turn the other way when they wrecked our guildhall," Makarov spoke... revealing his own furious visage, "but when they harm one of my children... that's when I can no longer stand idly by!"

CRACK! His staffed cracked in half from his iron-like grip before raising his head to the sky with an enraged declaration.

"THIS MEANS WAR!"

And so it begins.

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