Thoughts

Deity/Dragon Speaking

Normal Discourse

Notices/In World Text

(***)

Jack looked at the four people kneeling in front of him. They all looked very guilty, even Natsu. He sighed before taking a seat on a chair that decorated the hotel room they where staying in. "Don't take S Class jobs without permission from Master or without an S Class Mage"

All of them nodded. "Natsu and Gray, I am disappointed in both of you especially. You know how dangerous S Class missions can be to those that aren't qualified. You may be strong enough to handle low tier S Class Monsters on your own, but what about Lucy? Or Happy? What if you came across a monster that you couldn't defeat?"

Shame, the worst emotion of all surfaced in Natsu. He was the closest among everyone at Fairy Tail to Lissana. The thoughts of that happening to Lucy or Happy made him sick.

"Tomorrow we arrive at the guild and discuss your punishment with Gramps" Jack said as he stood up and walked towards the door of the room. "Reflect on your choices"

He exited the room leaving the three mages and exceed to stew in their own thoughts. They sat in silence for a while before Lucy broke the silence. "You don't need to worry about me, I handled myself just fine!"

Her attempt to lighten the mood was noted by both boys, but it didn't work. Natsu shook his head. "No Lucy, you don't understand. I overestimated myself and underestimated the mission. What I did was stupid. I put your life on the line for my own pride"

Gray scoffed, he couldn't fathom how his brother pretty much let them go with a slap on the wrist and even taught him a new form of Magic. "I was supposed to bring you both back, but I let my feelings get in the way. We're lucky that Jack is understanding enough to let us go with a small lecture"

Lucy nodded, confused as to why Natsu and Gray where this serious. Jack had mentioned that they would know about the dangers of an underqualified person coming on an S Class mission.

Natsu huffed before slapping himself in the face. "Lucy! I can't promise that if you continue to come with me on missions your life will be in danger, so I'm giving you this one chance to back out. I won't hold it against you if you do"

Lucy was shocked to see Natsu acting so mature. It wasn't like him at all. Yet she couldn't fathom the thought of leaving Natsu alone with Happy. She smiled and placed a hand on the dragon slayer's shoulder. "We're a team, right? Teams have to stick together through thick and thin!"

Natsu smiled.

Gray smiled.

Happy smiled.

From outside the room Jack smiled, he was eavesdropping on the conversation. His job was complete, there would be no need for further punishment.

(***)

The five walked into Magnolia, all weaving a grin on their faces.

The Dragon Slayer and his trusty exceed at the front of their pack pumping their fists into the air. Both yelling "We're back!"

Gray sighed thinking about the mission. "But after all that work, we only got the key!"

"Yeah! What key is it?" Happy asked looking at Jack who had yet to reveal the key to anyone.

Lucy looked at Jack, she had tried using her logical reasoning to get Jack to give her the key. It hadn't worked.

Jack shook his head. "First of all, I did all the work! Secondly, the person who gets the key should be the first one at the guild hall"

Natsu, Happy and Gray all sped off leaving a dumb stuck Lucy behind. She was about to run after them, she wanted the key too.

"Wait Lucy" Jack said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I want to talk"

She looked up at the older mage and nodded. Lucy had no clue what this about.

"I'm going to give you the key… but on one condition" Jack said as he requiped the key into the hand that was on Lucy's shoulder.

Many thoughts raced through her mind. Anything perverted she would accept. Lucy wouldn't mind Saint Frost going down on her. She fought down a blush as she agreed with the terms "S-sure"

"Tell me your last name" Jack demanded as he dangled the key in front of her. Lucy didn't expect this, but it was a trade she was willing to make. The keys represented her freedom, the more she had the more she felt connected to her mother and her true self.

Lucy did hesitate for a couple seconds, she took a breath and said her last name. "Heartfillia"

Jack smiled as he expertly dropped the key into one of her pockets. "Lucy Heartfillia, Fairy Tail Mage… It has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

The smile that Lucy made after he said those words made him smile. He put his hand back in his pocket, playing with the communication ring he had in it. All this thought of helping others made him realise that he should check in Iceberg.

They both reached the guildhall, where they found Gray and Natsu looking at the building in shock. Lucy too looked up and paled. Massive iron bars penetrated the guildhall. Jack could feel the murderous intent leaking out of Natsu and Gray, which made him walk up behind them and place a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Lets go and have a drink" Jack said as he pushed the two boys inside the hall, down the stairs into the basement where everyone was gathered. They were instantly greeted with a small cheer.

"Hey! Jack's back!"

"He's got Natsu and Gray with him!"

"Did you see what they did to the guild?" Nab asked as he pointed upwards.

"Those Phantom Lord Creeps! Look what they did!"

"We never did get along with them!"

Max growled. "Now we're going to have to take them out!"

"Calm down! We're talking about Phantom Lord here!"

Jack chuckled a little as he walked over to where Makarov was sitting. "Yo! Welcome back!"

Jack waved at the small old man. "Where's Red?"

Mirajane looked at Jack with a sly smirk. "Looking for your girlfriend huh?"

Jack smirked and put his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner. "I doubt Erza would appreciate it if you called me her boyfriend"

Mira only giggled politely, covering her mouth with her hand.

"This isn't the time to be gossiping!" Natsu yelled, pointing at Jack and Mira. The snow haired duo turned to face Natsu. "We need to strike back!"

Jack frowned before bonking Natsu on the head. "You're dumb"

"The guild is in ruin!" Natsu shouted causing Jack to shake his head. He crossed his arms and walked past the dragon slayer.

"The guild hall was damaged, nobody looks hurt. It's a taunt" Jack said with a disappointing sigh he started to walk towards the exit of the basement. "The guild will never be in ruin because of a simple sneak attack like this"

Walking out of the guild, Jack couldn't help but think about Iceberg again. A chat to them would probably help him stop thinking about them for a while.

(***)

Jack sat in his office, smiling as the Prime Minister of Iceburg looked at him through a communication Lacrima.

"Saint Frost! It certainly has been a while!" The elder lady said with a genuine smile. "What do we owe the pleasure of your call?"

"I just wanted to check in, to see if everything was okay" Jack said as the Prime Minster nodded.

"I'll be honest with you. Iceberg is thriving… however with this come shady corporations" the head of state confessed as she rubbed her hands together. "The Heartfillia Corporation is attempting to funnel all imports through their railways, demanding more and more money for operational costs from our local businesses. They have gone as far to hire mages to enforce their will."

Jack frowned. "What about the people I trained while I was staying in the country?"

The prime minister nodded as the camera moved to show a man, dressed in all white tracksuit, red eyes and black hair on a sharp face. "This is our Chief of Staff, March"

Jack nodded, he remembered this one briefly from his stay in Iceberg. "Hello there"

"General Frost" the man greeted with a salute. "The military is currently doing all it can to push back these invaders, however we cannot move them beyond Fort Frost, that sits on the border of Iceberg and Bosco"

"I'll take care of it. I'll also be filing a lawsuit against the Heartfillia company soon, please provide all materials you can upon my arrival" Jack explained as he opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a pile of papers. "The Heartfillia company has been expanding their influence too quickly, and the council wishes their assets to be made public"

The prime minister gasped. "That would be beneficial for all countries of Ishgar. But what would that do to the thousands that work for the company"

Jack sighed. "I don't agree with the way the council wants to steamroll the company, but I do agree that assets like this should be controlled by the government to allow a fair trade and more. Those employed… I will attempt to argue the case that they should still be hired by the council, as they know the equipment better than anyone else etc."

The Prime Minister nodded. "When should we expect your arrival?"

"In one or two months' time" Jack said before cutting the transmission as he sensed a presence entering his house. He placed the papers back in his draw and closed it. Exiting the office he headed to the living room where he found Erza sitting on the couch.

He smiled as he conjured a rose out of ice in his hand. Erza turned her head to see Jack walking towards her.

"I hope you don't mind my intrusion. Master ordered that we stick together for a couple days and wait for this Phantom Lord thing to blow over." Erza explained as Jack handed her the rose. She took it and admired how realistic it looked, how it never melted nor felt cold in her hands.

"I'm sure you just used this as an excuse to spend some more time with me" Jack teased as he walked toward the kitchen.

Erza nodded as she got up and followed Jack to the kitchen. "I agree that we haven't spent that much time with each other recently"

"You know Mira called me your boyfriend today" Jack stated with a teasing smirk on his face as he opened the fridge and pulled out two containers.

"That skimp!" Erza muttered as she eyed Jack. "Why would she say that?"

"I think we both know the answer to that" the snow haired mage replied as he placed the containers in the microwave.

"B-But we haven't even kissed or done anything!" Erza spat out with a red face causing Jack to chuckle.

"You want to do something?" Jack asked as he looked Erza directly in the eyes. She didn't know what to do.

Jack walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Erza could feel her heart just about exploding. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "We can forget about our problems for a night"

Erza gathered everything she had and sighed. Pushing Jack away. "I… We can't"

Jack nodded; he knew he couldn't. "I guess we'll just have to keep waiting"

(***)

Jack awoke to the rumbling of his apartment complex; he could sense the Magical Power from Makarov exploding. He could feel it.

"I guess its time" Jack said with a sigh. He requipped his battle clothes and his communication ring. Reaching out to a specific person with his ring he waited.

The ring glowed as a connection was established. On the screen in front of him stood Laxus.

"Oh? Brother? It's been a while" Laxus said with genuine smile, only to drop it when he saw the serious expression on Jack's face. "What do you need?"

"Come to the guild. If you want to battle me you have to beat a specific person" Jack offered, he could see Laxus thinking about the offer. He knew he almost never spoke to Laxus asking for something.

Laxus chuckled. "I'll be half a day… be ready to face me brother!"

Jack cut the transmission. He would kill three birds with one stone. Destroy Phantom Lord, recruit Gajeel and Juvia and save his brother from his path of delusion.

Though, Laxus did seem different.