In the blink of an eye, a lot of time had passed. I could hardly believe it myself, considering it felt like only yesterday I had arrived at the guild with my sister, Erza. Practically nothing about the guild itself changed, only the people inside it. We had all grown up, though I was sad to say that Natsu and Gray never grew out of that habit of fighting with one another. They constantly beat their heads together, thickening their skulls until they were as hard as bricks. I smiled to myself. They were so cute. Since I'd been away for some time, I was quite eager to get back.
It had been four months since I'd been back in Magnolia Town, and I was determined to get there before the Fantasia Parade. Seeing Magnolia at this time of year was always a favourite of mine, everybody was so full of life and laughter that it was almost impossible to not enjoy yourself. Still smiling, I quickened my pace down the road, causing my cloak to sweep backwards and ripple with soft flutters. No longer being a little girl, my clothing was designed to best suit my needs for both questing and day to day wear.
My midriff was completely exposed so that on my back, you could clearly see my red Fairy Tail insignia when I removed my dark green cloak, the hood drawn up for the moment. Since the weather was nice and the rain clouds far behind me, I lowered it and pulled the long braid of my hair free. I only had the single braid, the red woven into an extensive length of four sections with a gold adornment at the base of my head to secure it. That was the longest my hair got, draping easily over my shoulder and reaching my navel, however the rest I had cut short so that it lay in choppy clusters and soft spikes. I'd cut it this way as an attempt to look a little more different than my twin sister, as everybody used to confuse us from behind.
It was a little tomboyish, but I didn't mind it so much. Erza had offered to be the one to cut her hair, but I knew how much she liked having long hair and enjoyed being girly, so I had insisted on having my hair cut. At least afterwards, no one ever mistook us for one another again. It did look rather cool, so I guess I've gotten used to it now. Tucking a loose strand of my hair back behind my ear, my finger brushed against my earring. Both Erza and I had gotten our ear pierced together, holding each other's hands until it was all over. It was a fond memory, and I couldn't help but laugh each time I thought about Erza's alarmed face when they came at her with the needle gun.
She wore silver diamond shaped earrings, so I wore golden hoops in my ears. Just another means to differentiate between the two of us, though our eyes did give us away. I spent my entire life trying to be recognised as an individual and not just as Erza's little twin sister, so the more differences I could make the better. As for my outfit, well that was definitely a little different to Erza's typical Heart Krutz custom armour.
I wore dark coloured shorts which fitted me snugly and a thick brown leather belt with the Fairy Tail insignia on the buckle. Exposing my toned torso and the rather slim figure of my waist, I wore a cropped, sleeveless shirt of black and a light leather chest guard over the right side of my chest to protect me when I pull back the bowstring of a bow. To cover my arms, I had long black sleeves which came all the way up to my upper arms so that only my shoulders were exposed and a loop over my middle finger to keep them from sliding, but over the top of those, I wore set of bracers.
They were also leather, matching my chest guard and were very simple. I'd had them for a long time now so they fitter me perfectly, adapting to the shape of my wrists. My feet were covered by brown boots which came all the way up to my thighs, meaning that most of my body was completely covered except for my torso. Of course, since I had spatial magic I could change and alter my clothing at will, however my stores consisted mostly of everyday clothing and perhaps a few magically enhanced clothes suitable for an archer. Some of them came with my bows, so if I were to equip one in battle, my clothing would change too, but this wasn't the case with all of them. In fact I only had two bows for which my outfit would change, whilst with Erza, almost every single weapon she had corresponded with a suit of armour.
My big sis was just incredible, she inspires me every day. I can't wait to see her and everyone else again, four months was way too long a time to be on a quest, I must have missed a lot of things. As I walked up over the hill, I expected to see Magnolia Town in full glory, busily getting ready for the parade, however when I saw a huge ring of lacrima in the sky, I immediately felt my heart plummet. That can't be good, what the heck is going on?! And why is there one of Freed's enchantments around the entire town? There's a barrier, but at least it's not keeping me out. "Something must be wrong." I reached outward with my senses, trying to connect and feel where my sister was.
Being drawn forwards, I quickly rushed into motion and started to run, sliding down the slope to quicken my pace before racing directly into town. The people seemed nonplussed about the floating lacrima around the city, perhaps that's a good thing. If they were aware that those lacrima orbs were filled with immense lightning magic, enough to destroy the entire city, then there would be widespread panic. What the-?! Skidding to a halt, I saw several of my own guild mates passed out unconscious on the ground, beaten up and completely wiped out. "No! What…what happened?!" Had they been attacked, was Fairy Tail under threat? I'd been gone too long, I'm way out of the loop, I have to find Erza now!
"Hey Fairy Tail! Can you hear me?" Warren? "Things aren't looking so good for us, check out what's floating in the sky." Touching two fingers to my temple to listen, I lifted my gaze upwards to the lacrima orbs. Looks like I got back here just in time. "We're going to have to pull together, so get off your lazy butts and lend us a hand! If any of you are still fighting then just give it a rest for a second." What?! Fighting?! If I find out Natsu and Gray started an all out brawl within the guild and got everybody involved, forget Erza, I'll kill them both! "Those lacrima are part of a spell called the Thunder Palace, Laxus is using it to threaten the entire town, so we have to take it down before he can set it off." I felt my heart pulse a frozen chill through me. Laxus? Laxus…did this? I don't get it, this is impossible. Laxus wouldn't do something like this! "We don't have much time, so we have to work together."
"Wait a minute, how did you find out about the Thunder Palace, Warren?" Big sis! Hearing her voice in my head, I immediately exhaled with relief. It's alright. I can deal with Laxus's involvement later. Right now I have to find Erza. She might be able to hide it from the others, but I can tell just from her voice that she was exhausted and physically strained. I need to get to her right now and help her however I can. She needs me.
"I've never been happier to hear your voice, Erza. I'm glad you're okay." Gray answered as I took off running, using Warren's telepathy to connect with Erza through him and without even speaking, was able to get a direct lock onto her position. Hold on Erza, I'm coming to you.
"Gray! I see, so you're the one who told him." I continued to hear everyone's voices in my head, and to be honest not a lot of it made sense. The other guys in the guild started to ask about Erza not being petrified, then proceeded to know how a few of the other girls in Fairy Tail were doing, wanting to know whether or not they were still petrified too. There's only one person in the guild I knew of that could petrify people, and that was Evergreen. She was part of Laxus's Thunder Legion, so with a heavy heart, I slowed down slightly to wallow for a moment as I got my bearings.
"So this was Laxus's doing. That idiot, what was he thinking?!" Shaking my head, I refused to let myself cry over it. "It doesn't matter, I'll pummel his ass later." Turning a corner, I continued running as everybody broke out into an argument, yelling and fighting with one another until suddenly, the voice of a girl I did not recognise came through. She sounded confident and determined, yelling for everybody to shut up. She gave a rather inspiring speech, telling everybody to set aside their issues in order to work together as a guild. Lucy…I'm looking forward to meeting you properly. "Erza!" Seeing my sister ahead, Erza turned her head in surprise and blinked at me.
"Zera!" Tackling her even with her Heaven's Wheel armour on, I hugged her tightly. "Zera! Did you just get back? Your timing couldn't be more perfect, did you hear Warren just now?"
"I did, Erza, is it true? Laxus set up this Thunder Palace and is threatening the town? What does he want? I don't get it, he wouldn't go this far, he just wouldn't, I don't believe it, I don't…" Gritting my teeth, I grasped a hand to my face in order to try and relieve some of the tension in my head and keep myself from crying.
"He wants Master Makarov to relinquish his role as master to him. In order to try and force the master into complying, Laxus had Evergreen petrify the contestants of the Miss Fairy Tail contest, and forced the entire guild to fight one another." Erza explained to me as I let her go and she returned her focus to the Thunder Palace. "There's no time, we have to destroy these lacrima!"
"I'm right with you, big sis." Flinging my cloak aside so that it fell back over my shoulder, I readied my stance and opened a hand. "Requip!" A magic circle appeared underneath me, spiralling outwards as an ebony bow appeared in my hand with magical incantations carved into the wood. "Huntress." The moment my fingers touched the string, it glowed a bright white colour and a magic arrow also appeared as I lifted and took aim. "Multiple Shot!"
"Go forth my swords!" No fair Erza, you sound way cooler than me. Grinning to myself, I released my arrow and quickly drew back several more, feeling my own magic pour into them as each arrow then split off into ten separate arrows, flying up into the sky as a streak of white. "Be ready, the lacrima are infused with Body Link magic. When they break, the lightning will strike the person who destroyed them." Erza warned me and instantly I gave a wail of shock.
"HUH?! You could have told me that sooner big sis!" She cracked a wry grin, breathing heavily so I dispelled my bow and sent it back to my spatial void and pulled Erza towards me. "You're exhausted, lean on me for a while. Take it easy." I fussed over her a little, making her lean against me as I supported her waist and felt her brow to check for a fever as the armour disappeared and became her usual attire. Above us, the entire Thunder Palace exploded after streaks of magic and colour flew up into the sky and caused them to shatter. The intense booms sounded like thunder and each released a burst of candescent particles of light. For a moment, it looked utterly beautiful, however when I felt a tickle of static, my face dropped. "Eh?"
Immediately a torrent of lightning hammered down against my sister and I, causing us to scream and shudder under the force and pain as we clung to one another. I'm not sure who was trying to protect who in that moment, both of us sharing one another's torment as the lightning rippled through our entire body and caused every sensation to burst with sparks of agony, the sensation of my body being ripped apart flaring through me until all at once, it was over. Erza and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air and shaking from the after effects of being struck by lightning. We were both covered in burns and scorch marks, my skin tingling all over as I lay on my side with one hand still tightly gripping onto my sister's. "Zera…are you…alright?"
"I'll…live…you?"
"Me…too…" Good, that's good. Jeez, this was not how I wanted to spend the Fantasia Parade or the Harvest Festival. Wait until I get hold of Laxus and that Thunder Legion of his. I'm going to turn them into human targets for practice. Speaking off, I can still hear the sound of lightning. Craning my neck as I lifted my upper body off the ground, I honed in on the source of the sound to notice bright lights of electricity and fire coming from the cathedral. Growling, I punched the ground in anger, eyes narrowing to unforgiving slits as I began to get up. "Zera? Don't…you won't stand a chance against Laxus."
"Quite frankly, I'm a little too pissed to care." Cracking my knuckles, I began to go through an extensive list of the pain I was going to make him feel in order to teach him a lesson, and no amount of chocolate cake was going to pacify me. Softening slightly, I reached down for my sister and grasped her under the arms, pulling her out of the middle of the street and rested her against a wall so that she was at least a little more comfortable. "I'll be back soon, just rest here a little, okay?"
"Zera." Not wanting to be dissuaded, I turned and moved as fast as I was able towards the cathedral, though for a moment I limped because of a particularly injured leg. It was nothing that a little rest wouldn't fix up, but for now I was still resolute in my determination to get to Laxus. That dumb…spiky haired…lightning prone…moron! I'd always thought that Laxus was incapable of hurting anyone intentionally, guess I was wrong about him, or at least he'd changed enough that he'd become truly cold and unkind. I didn't want to believe it, and I think part of the reason I wanted to get to him right this moment was to see for myself.
It was a struggle to move for a while, fighting against the numb sensation and forcing my body to move, but the closer I got to the cathedral, the more immense magic power I could sense. Laxus was definitely there as was Natsu. I could sense another magical presence, but I didn't recognise them at all, and Levy was also nearby. I have to push forward, I can't stop. Must keep moving, I have to get there. Increasing my pace just a little bit, I practically dragged my way towards the cathedral as my motor abilities slowly returned, however as the cathedral came into sight, a huge burst of massive magic power practically ripped through the air and a golden yellow magic circle appeared over the building.
"No way! That's Fairy Law, what is he doing?!" Was Laxus truly trying to kill us all? Just how far has his mind snapped? I should have realised sooner, I should have been here for him. As a friend, I should have been able to notice that Laxus was hiding so much rage inside him. Unable to do anything, I pressed my eyes shut as the golden light illuminated everything around me, filling everything with a cold light. "Big sis!" I called out for my sister, wanting nothing more than to be held by her in that moment, though it showed just how little I had progressed to becoming truly independent. I still needed her, and right now, I was scared.
Fairy Law was one of the greatest spells which had been perfected by our First Master, Master Mavis. It amassed a colossal amount of magical energy and turned it into a destructive force which only targeted those that the viewer saw as an enemy. With Laxus's unstable mentality right now, there's no telling just how much his hate and rage had corrupted his Fairy Tail spirit. I prepared for the worst, expecting to become nothing but ash, however when the light passed over and left me feeling nothing but a distant tingle, I blinked and lifted my hands to inspect them. I'm still here and still in one piece.
That had to mean something. Laxus's spell had worked, but it had not affected anyone. Looking around, all the villagers and townspeople were perfectly unharmed, and I could still sense my sister and everyone else. Fairy Law was a powerful magic spell, but it responded according to the heart and feelings of the caster. Deep down, Laxus must still care about his guild mates. "Tsk, this idiot is only pissing me off more. You better be ready for a tough lecture, Laxus, because I won't go easy on you this time." Clenching my fist in determination, I forced myself to push past all weaknesses and start to run, heading directly for the cathedral.
Fire and lightning clashed in the sky, bright explosions causing an impressive display of power and continued overhead the cathedral. Laxus, stop this now! I was still too far away but I was moving faster now. Opening my hand, I requipped my weapon for the Huntress once more, drawing back the string to create a magical arrow. "Line Shot!" The arrow turned into something like a harpoon, streaking through the air and arced its way towards the cathedral. It hooked onto the tallest part of the building, the rope going taught as I grabbed onto it and suddenly was pulled up and into the air as the magic rope retracted itself, pulling me upwards. Natsu was going crazy, releasing an incredible bought of Fire Dragon attacks on Laxus and finished with one of his Secret Arts, consuming Laxus with a blazing inferno which knocked him to the ground. "Natsu…you sure have grown up a lot." Natsu released a roar full of emotion to the skies, looking beat up and after even his echoes could no longer be heard, he collapsed. "Natsu!"
"Huh? Zera? That you?" I dropped down beside him and placed my hands upon his back, gently turning him so that he could sit up in my arms. "Great to see ya, Zera, did you see that? Did you see how totally awesome I was?" Unable to help it, I gave a smile and a giggle.
"I sure did Natsu, you were all fired up." Brushing aside his hair, I looked up as Happy, Natsu's friend and flying cat, came with a worried call. "Happy, can you take Natsu down from here and get him to the infirmary? He's hurt badly and should rest for a little while."
"Aye sir!" Happy nodded his head and came around Natsu's back to pick him up. "You okay Natsu? You look terrible." Worried, Happy tried to show his concern for Natsu, but he was already fast asleep and snoring. "What?! You're already asleep?!"
"Let him rest, Happy." Behind us, I heard a grunt and Laxus began to come back around, sitting up and causing the broken tiles of the cathedral roof to shift underneath him. Suddenly, I remembered just how angry I was. "You." Hearing my voice, Laxus froze in place. He barely got the chance to look up before my foot had kicked him full force in the gut, causing him to splutter and lose all breath whilst flying backwards and striking the cathedral's outside tower. Covering the distance in a heartbeat, I lifted my foot and planted it directly next to his head against the wall, cracking it whilst placing my hands on my hips, raging and seething down at him as Laxus looked at me with a dark indifference. "You idiot, you…stubborn…livewire…ugh!"
I was so angry that I couldn't even organise my thoughts, feeling a strong mix of emotions until finally, I simply fell to my knees and flung my arms around his neck to embrace him. "Hey! What are you-?"
"Shut up Laxus, you dumbass. I'm sorry I didn't realise it, but you've been hurting deep down all this time. I'm sorry, but I'm still mad, so I can't totally forgive you right now." Holding him close to me, I felt his shoulders sag slightly as he allowed me to hug him so that his head was completely wrapped up in my arms. Taking a breath to steady myself, I pulled back slightly so that we could look at one another, kneeling up over his lap as I placed my hands either side of his face as tears gathered in my eyes. "Since when did the Laxus I know start hurting others like this? What happened to you?" I was upset and frustrated, not knowing what to do or say to make him feel better and also make him understand that what he'd done was wrong. "Would you really have killed everyone to make your point?"
Laxus didn't look guilty at all, in fact, he wasn't showing any emotion at that moment, however he did have the decency to look me in the eye. When I saw him lift his hand, I panicked for a brief moment that he was going to throw me away from him or hurt me, but I quickly dismissed the idea. Deep down, Laxus cared for his guild mates, his Fairy Law had failed to eradicate us and I knew that underneath the stony exterior, he had a soft and gentle heart. His hand came to my cheek and his thumb rubbed away at my lashes, removing the tears there as he pointedly turned his face away without answering.
Finally I gave a smile, placing my hand over his and turning my face towards his palm for a few moments. Perhaps I didn't understand Laxus as much as I would have liked, but I knew enough that the fact that he was being gentle now was his small way of apologising. Suddenly he winced, grunting in pain as he clutched his ribs so I quickly got off him. "Take it easy, you're hurt. I'll get us down from here, so just relax for a moment and don't move." Placing my hand on his shoulder I then stood up on my feet and exhaled a small breath, summoning my magic up from my reserves then held my hand over Laxus. "Lux Corpus!" Speaking the enchantment, a luminescent orb appeared around Laxus and lifted him off the ground.
Using another enchantment to make me fly, I guided the two of us down off the roof and to where Levy and Freed were waiting with a stranger who looked like he too had suffered a heavy hand of Laxus's power. I noticed the Fairy Tail crest upon his arm, so I assumed he was a new member. "Laxus…" Freed and Levy both murmured his name as we touched the ground and I dispelled the enchantment around us. Without a word he walked away, refusing to even acknowledge us. "Laxus wait!" Freed hurried to follow, however as he passed I noticed that he too was rather injured and his clothing was completely torn.
"Freed." He stopped, looking to me with guilt however reacted when he only saw soft affection in my gaze. "Look after yourself, and keep an eye on him for me. Come back to the guild soon." Stuttering, Freed stared at me for a few moments before nodding his head, giving a rather polite bow before chasing after Laxus.
"Zera are you okay? When did you get back?" Levy worried as she held the stranger's arm over her neck, helping him to stand.
"I got back in time for the Thunder Palace, then I heard that Laxus was causing trouble so I hurried on over to settle things. Are you alright Levy? You weren't hurt at all were you? Who's this? I know I haven't seen your face before. You must be a newcomer." Smiling in greeting I gave Levy a hug before then taking the stranger's other arm and pulled it over my shoulders as well.
"Name's Gajeel." He grunted rather bluntly, causing me to smile further.
"It's a long story and you've missed quite a lot, Zera, I'll catch you up with everything once we get back to the guild." That sounded like a good idea to me. Four months had been a long time to be away, perhaps too long. Maybe I won't try taking such a difficult quest on my own for a while. After all, someone needs to help keep everyone out of trouble back at Fairy Tail.