Despite your pleas, I am unable to provide a new, original arc. I don't have the time, nor mental capacity to come up with something new, so we'll just get to Tartaros, which will be the last arc of this story. Do not worry, it won't be as long, nor as tedious as GMG was, and the amount of original ideas I have will play along with the canon in a way that should look natural. No more longer-term, new OC's either. I've got too much stress in my life as it is to deal with more backlash.
Hope you enjoy the chapter.
December 5th, Magnolia
Lucy stretched her arms and yawned loudly. She sat up in her bed and scratched the haystack on her head, eyeing her still poorly lit room. Her eyes fell on the two figures that crashed on her spare mattress, both of them barely clothed in some random t-shirts and shorts and basically lying on top of each other. Erza's foot was currently in front of Natsu's face, and Lucy swore Erza must have had either the cleanest feet in the world, or he was so knocked out his enhanced senses didn't even pick anything up. In the corner, on the windowsill sat Gray, who was still asleep. For some reason he was more than fine with the most uncomfortable sleeping positions imaginable. Wendy and Carla were tucked in on her sofa, sleeping innocently.
Lucy sighed and jumped off her bed. It's been a week since she let her friends stay with her, and frankly, she was getting a little tired of it. Not that they were terrible guests, they respected her privacy and rules as best as they could, with the one little slip up being that of certain two lovebirds forgetting they weren't alone one night. She simply missed having the mornings to herself.
"Good morning." Lucy jumped at the greeting and noticed Erza looking at her from the floor.
"Morning." Lucy said to her and yawned again. "Coffee?"
"Yes, please." the redhead smiled and got up. "I'll help you, I'll just get the paper first."
"Okay."
After they freshened up a little bit, they both put their hair up and started preparing breakfast. Although Lucy missed being alone, she found being this close to her friends a very comforting and pleasant experience. They all refused to leave her be upon learning about her dad's letter and, truth to be told, it was one of the main reasons behind their stay.
Lucy cracked a couple eggs into the pain and turned to Erza, who returned with the newspaper in her hand. "The guild is nearly finished, right?" she asked.
Erza looked up from the news paper and tossed it aside, now fully committed to the chopping board. "Yes." she said and started cutting bacon into smaller pieces. "Soon we'll be out of your hair." she joked with a smile.
"No, not at all!" Lucy waved her hand. "I'm just excited to finally be in the guildhall again. I miss hanging out with everyone."'
"Yes, it's been a while since we've all stayed under a roof we could actually call ours." Erza sighed and dropped the chopped bacon into a separate pan. "I genuinely cannot recall the last time we spent an evening in the guild."
"It was that big party before the S-Class exams." Lucy laughed. "Poor Levy almost didn't make it in time the day after!"
Erza smiled faintly. "It feels like Tenrou was so long ago...Yet for us it's been only 4 months."
"Yes." Lucy added softly. "So much happened since then..."
"Wow, way to ruin the morning."
Natsu entered the kitchen and yawned ceremoniously, with Gray dragging his feet right behind him, both of them half-naked. "What'cha cooking?" he asked.
"Whatever we could find in the fridge," Erza said as he kissed her on the forehead. "You two eat too much."
"Says who." Lucy said, not amused. "You eat almost as much as both of them. And you two, clothes, now!" she added. Gray simply dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
Natsu snorted. "Tell me about it. One time we hunted a boar, and all I got was one ham. She ate everything else by herself in one night."
"Granted it was our first properly cooked meal in weeks, I wanted to enjoy it." Erza said as she gave him a look.
"No, you've been doing this since you were a kid." Gray added. "Lisanna practically learned how to cook because of you, she had to pile plates on top of each other to keep up."
Natsu laughed out loud, while Erza pierced Gray with her eyes.
"Quite loud, aren't you?" Carla said as she flew into the kitchen with Wendy, who looked as fresh as ever.
"Coffee?" Lucy asked Gray as Erza portioned breakfast onto each of the 6 plates.
"Yes, please." he said and sat down by the clearly too small table.
The team sat down and ate breakfast while talking about their day. They were planning on finishing the guild sometime this week, and start taking jobs again.
"It feels like we haven't been on a job in forever." Wendy said as she sipped her heavily diluted with milk and sugar coffee.
"Did you guys take any jobs while training for the Games?" Gray asked everyone. "Me and Juvia helped some village with their troll problem, got just enough to last us until the Games."
"No, nothing." Lucy shook her head. "You?" she turned to Erza and Natsu.
The couple looked at one another. "No, not really." Natsu said and took a bite of his food. "We found my old stash, so we didn't have to worry about money."
Carla frowned. "Didn't you say you hadn't eaten a proper meal in weeks?"
"The places we ate at weren't that good at cooking." Natsu shrugged. "That's all."
Both of them looked a little stiff and nervous. Nobody bought this story, but they decided not to press too much.
"Right." Gray said over his mug and took a big sip of his coffee. "Anyway, let's finish and head to the guild."
Yeah."
The sounds of talking, tinkering and hammering echoed across the forest, as the Fairy Tail guild continued to work on their new guildhall. The building was essentially done, with only a couple details missing that, much to everyone's frustration, had to be taken care of before anybody could settle in.
"Okay, so today we're finishing the veranda and pillars inside..." Erza muttered to herself as she stared at the blueprints. For some reason she was wearing a full, yellow colored construction uniform, with a yellow protective helmet and reflective strips on the sleeves. Being the only person to wear such clothing, she stood out like a sore thumb and gave a lengthy and solid lecture about safety and regulations to anyone who dared ask her about it.
"Yeah, but first we need to patch the left wall from two days ago." Laxus said and pointed at the wall on the paper. "Your moron boyfriend tripped and punched a hole through as he was falling."
"Weren't we tearing that wall down anyway?" Bickslow asked. "We were supposed to use different wood for it, right?"
Laxus frowned. "Wait, that's the one?" he asked. "Elfman!" he called. "Don't take the right wall apart yet!"
Elfman peeked from behind the wall with several ripped out boards in his hands. "Too late."
Laxus dragged his hand across his face and left to assess the damage, but not before muttering something about running away for a few days.
"Looks like we can start on the veranda, then." Bickslow laughed and used his dolls to fly up.
Erza smiled and closed the blueprints. Truth to be told she was a little tired of building and itched for some action. Nevertheless, she felt fully committed to the project and would carry her duty out as usual.
She walked inside the guild and looked up. Natsu, Gajeel, and Gray were on the scaffolding and supposedly nailing the boards down as the finishing touch. However, she spotted something weird, and as she squinted she felt her face growing red.
"What are you idiots doing?!" she yelled out, scaring them. Natsu was so surprised he dropped a board, which fell to Erza's feet. Upon picking it up she noticed that it had a big letter N burned into its bottom right corner.
"What is the meaning of this?" she asked.
"They're signing each board they nail down to the pillar." Juvia said nonchalantly as she sat with Lisanna and helped her paint the floor with protective paint. "I believe the score is 10 for Gray and Gajeel and 9 for Natsu."
"Eight." Natsu said from above. "That was my ninth."
Erza pinched the nose of her nose and sighed tiredly. "We've been through this! There's no room for fooling around!" she scolded them.
"Fine." groaned the trio and continued to work as intended.
"Have you seen Master Makarov?" Levy asked Erza.
"Don't you mean Makarov?" Macao asked with a snicker while carrying a large beam together with Wakaba.
"I dare you call him that when he's around." Wakaba said, which shut Macao up immediately.
"Yes, he's outside." Erza replied to Levy's question and pointed at the door with her thumb. "He's working on some forms by the trees."
Levy nodded and was just about to leave, before shouting. "Watch out!"
Gajeel's hammer fell out of his hand and made its way directly towards Wakaba's head. The man looked at Levy in confusion, who squinted, dreading the impact.
"What?" he blinked in confusion and looked around. "What are you yelling for?"
Levy's face relaxed. "I...I could have sworn..." she said and looked up. The hammer was back in Gajeel's hand, as he continued hammering his nails into the wood. "Nevermind, I guess I was seeing things..."
Wakaba shrugged and proceeded to carry the beam where it was supposed to go. Above him, Gajeel smirked to himself smugly and couldn't help but let out a gentle chuckle.
Erza once again sighed. Truth to be told, she was tired of it all. It may have been only a week, but her itch for some action and nostalgia made it rather easy to overpower her commitment to the new guildhall. "I need a break..." she muttered to herself and adjusted her helmet.
"Why don't you go on a job?" Juvia asked her, spooking the redhead. "Oh, sorry," she apologized.
"A job? We have none." Erza asked, confused.
"A bunch came today. Looks like our popularity is back, because they barely fit in the mail box. Lisanna has them in the back if you want to take a look. Maybe you could take Natsu, too. Looks like you two could use some time alone." she added with a gentle smile.
Erza blushed, but returned the smile. "Thank you, I shall go now."
With that said, Erza handed Juvia her blueprints and headed to the back room. Just as Juvia said, there laid a stack of jobs, all ready for taking. She took a couple pages into her hand and looked through them, before picking one that seemed perfect for the current mood, the big, fat S in its bottom right corner making it an almost obvious choice.
"Natsu, come down here!" she called out to Natsu upon returning to the hall.
Natsu jumped off the scaffolding and landed next to her. "What's up?" he asked.
Erza turned the paper to face him and smirked from behind it. "What do you think?"
Natsu squinted. "Dark guild extermination...missing people...sounds good." he said with a smirk and dusted his hands off. "Lemme just grab my stuff and we can go."
Erza nodded and turned to Gray and Lucy. "Sorry guys, but I'd like to go alone, just the two of us."
"No problem." Lucy said with a smile.
"We'll be perfectly fine without you standing around and watching our hands all day." Gray mumbled with nails in his mouth and began hammering another one into the pillar.
The knight sent him a look and Requipped into her standard armor. "Great. I shall notify Laxus, then."
"It's Master now," Max said.
"Try calling him that. I'll watch." Gray said from above. Max was not too fond of the idea and continued to polish the wood with his sand in silence.
Shortly after, upon getting Laxus' permission, the couple left for the train station, packed with only essentials.
"The job is in a small town only 2 hours away from here." Erza read out loud from the announcement. They sat opposite to each other in the train wagon. "If things go smoothly we should be home by midnight." she said with a smile and folded the paper behind her breastplate.
Natsu burped gently. "Yeah." he said.
"Apparently, over the past few months people have been going missing by dozens, if not hundreds." Erza said, now with a serious tone. "Disappearances occur over the entire nation, with no connection to be found. Entire villages would be found empty, with little to no damage, or trace left behind."
Natsu frowned. "You know what it all sounds like, right?" he asked her.
"I do. But there is no proof that suggests the disappearances have anything to do with the Underworld." Erza said. "The Council has been on the trail ever since the first people have gone missing, and found nothing. By now they'd be bound to have cracked at least one outpost, at the least. They always leave tracks behind."
"Not everyone is as experienced as us." Natsu scoffed sarcastically. "How many did we crack on our training, 10? 12?"
"15." Erza said after a long thought. "I may have said it already, but I'm still shocked there were still guilds loyal to Seven Commandments out there. It's been over seven years since their fall."
"Some of the ones we cracked were under them for just as long, if not longer." Natsu said. "When you know one way of living, it's hard to accept anything else. Exhibit A." he added and pointed at himself."
The knight looked at him in amusement. "Who taught you that phrase?" she asked with a small laugh.
"Mira, when she was pointing Macao out what drinking too much will do to him, after he threw up all over the building materials."
"And who taught Mirajane?"
"Levy."
Erza chuckled and looked out the window. Natsu looked at her for a moment, his face dropping a little bit.
"Hey." he nudged her knee with his foot. "That last place we took out was the last outpost remaining." he reassured her. "There are no more. Whatever this is, it's not what we've been through. Trust me."
Erza blinked and looked at him. "Okay. I believe you. With the fall of 3 major pillars of Baram Alliance, the Underworld has taken a significant hit. With Tartaros being the sole remaining big fish, there's hardly any activity left. I'm sure the issue is related to something else entirely."
"Not that Oracion Seiss had anything to do with them to begin with." Natsu said as he sank deeper into his seat. "They probably would have tried to take out the other guilds if you hadn't stopped them."
Erza smiled faintly. "Well, we happened to cross them first."
Natsu smiled and immediately dropped it, instead replacing it with a gentle grimace. Erza smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, you'll have to bear with it. Going there by foot would have taken us half a day."
"No, it's fine." he waved his hand and sunk into his seat. "I'll just take a nap."
"Of course. Sweet dreams."
2 hours later
Natsu groaned and stretched happily as his feet touched the ground. Erza stepped out of the train behind him and pulled out the job request from behind her armor. "We're supposed to head to the mayor's office. It ought to be nearby." she announced.
"Lead the way." Natsu said and followed her into the town.
It was a pretty town, full of vegetation and buildings that were clearly that from an older era, but preserved to suit today's standards. The streets were rather empty, but not abandoned, with people happily walking around and children playing in-between houses and stores.
"You would think this place would be a little more quiet." Natsu said under his nose as they passed a group of laughing young girls.
"I agree." Erza nodded. "Let's just ask the mayor directly."
Ten minutes later they were waiting by the door to the mayor's office.
"Not gonna lie, I like this kind of reception." Natsu said while rotating his cup of tea in his hands.
Erza blinked. "Oh, right. I've never taken you on an S-class quest. This is pretty standard." she said and sipped from hers.
The secretary opened the door to the mayor's office. "The mayor will see you now." she announced.
The couple put aside their tea and entered the office. It was surprisingly smaller than they expected, especially in comparison to the sheer size of the lobby. It was filled with bookshelves full of books and various models of trains, planes, and even cars.
The mayor sat behind his desk and adjusted his glasses. He was a sturdy man, with some salt sprinkled into his pepper hair and dirt on his hands, which he was currently trying to wipe off with a cloth.
"I apologize for the delay, I expected your arrival days from now." he said and gestured at chairs placed before his desks. "Please, have a seat."
Natsu and Erza sat down by the desk. "The job description mentioned a dark guild, is that correct?" Erza asked.
"Most likely." said the mayor and leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure you've noticed the hills that tower over our town. The people who have gone missing have all been seen right before they left for them, only to never come back. Those hills are home to a dark guild that has been a thorn in our side for several years now. Although I cannot provide any direct proof, I think it is quite likely they are behind the disappearances."
"How many have gone missing?" Natsu asked.
"Six." replied the mayor. "Two of them siblings. The boy ran after his older sister and, just like her, vanished. Their parents lost both of their children within 3 days,"
Erza frowned. "What can you tell us of this guild? Their numbers, where their hideout could be?"
"Nothing useful, I'm afraid." the mayor sucked on his teeth and shook his head. "Can't be more than a dozen or two of them, otherwise this town would have fallen a long time ago. They know those hills better than anyone, for all I know they have several outposts."
Natsu sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Guess I'll be crawling my way up." he said, which made Erza let out a gentle laugh.
"Tell your people to stay away from the hills." she then told the mayor. "We'll take it from here. I promise we will bring you and your people closure."
The mayor smiled sadly. "I appreciate your decision not to give us any false hope. It must be the experience."
Erza tensed in her chair. The mayor leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. "I know about the both of you, and the stories your names carry. Nevertheless, I am beyond thrilled to have you two here, helping us. I've watched you during the Games, my daughter hasn't stopped talking about you two ever since. I don't care about the rumors, or the past, all I focus on is now. You bring me those people back, no matter the shape. I'll handle the rest."
"As you wish." Erza said and stood up from her chair.
"I shall contact the Council and arrange a group you shall answer to." the mayor said and shuffled in his desk drawer in search of something. He pulled out a small communication lacrima and placed it on his desk. "Take this. Contact me as soon as you find those people and I shall send them on your way."
The two nodded, which pleased the mayor. Erza grabbed the lacrima and put it behind her mayor then escorted them out of his office and shortly after they were marching down the streets leading into the hills.
"He's one "straight to the point" kind of mayor." Natsu mentioned.
"Have you seen his hands? Despite his position, he must be actively working in the mines just outside the town." Erza added as they walked up the main road into the hills, that was full of vegetation growing from the sides. "No wonder he's so worried about his people."
"That thing he said..." Natsu muttered as he pushed away a branch out of the way. "I think he wasn't trying to be a dick, just stating exactly why he hired us."
"Yes, it's most definitely not because of our newly acquired fame." Erza nodded and ducked underneath a tree Natsu bent for her. "It just says how desperate he is." Erza smiled softly. "We were gone for 7 years yet people still remember us same way they did before."
"Well, those fancy ratings they came up with ain't helping, either." Natsu said and rested his hands behind his head. "For almost half of the Games people kept yelling out "SS-rate!" to me wherever I went, I didn't even know what they meant until I took part in that event."
"Yes, it was utterly tiring." Erza sighed. "I do not understand why they even had to rate us in the first place, neither of us was anywhere near the hook."
"Well, I was on that now renewed 5 year deal, remember?" Natsu reminded her. "If I behaved for 5 years under gramps' supervision, I'd get clean. They must have rated us somewhere around then."
"I still don't appreciate me being anywhere near that list of theirs."
Natsu grinned. "You're just mad because you got only one S." he chuckled.
Erza sent him a cold look. "This isn't a joking matter." she said sternly. "According to Jellal, there are only two individuals who classify for a rate higher than yours. Zeref and Acnologia are the only SSS-rate criminals Ishgar has ever noted. Even SS is used for just a handful of people."
Natsu frowned. "Acnologia..." he grumbled under his nose. "I wonder where that prick's been hiding."
The couple was now climbing a steep path up the foot of the hill. Erza looked at him with worry in her eyes. "You're not thinking of going after him, are you?"
"'Course not. Not now, anyway." he said, now calmer. "I just never fully forgave myself for being so useless back then."
"There was nothing you could do." Erza tried to reassure him with her soft voice. "Ever since the Tower your body had been literally torn to shreds, Porlyusica herself said it was a miracle you could even fight in your condition. A part of me didn't even want you to take part in the exam because of it."
Natsu looked at her. "Well, I'm glad you did." he smiled at her and reached out for her hand. He grabbed it and brought it up to his lips, kissing it gently. "If you hadn't my mind would probably still be in pieces. Gildarts knocked some sense into me, he started the process. I just never got to fully thank him for it." he added, his voice now more grim and painful.
"I'm sure he knows." Erza said and squeezed his hand back.
"I wanna visit Tenrou some day. Give him a proper send off."
"Of course."
"Hey, what happened to the grandma anyway? I heard she disappeared." Natsu asked.
"Not much more than you. We found her apartment empty, with signs of struggle. She's been missing ever since."
"I thought maybe Raven Tail kidnapped her for that plan of theirs, but Luppi was the only person they found in the building."
"I know Master has reached out to the Council for help, if there's anything we can do, it's waiting."
Natsu exhaled through his nose and sniffed around rapidly. "Looks like we're climbing." he said as the two approached a wall at the end of the path. "Judging by the smell, those people were kidnapped way before this point. They must either know about us, or their patrol is slacking."
"Regardless, we're climbing up." Erza said and readjusted her gauntlets. "The enemy guild must be just up ahead."
Natsu looked at her with a spark in his eye. "Wanna race?" he asked with a cheeky smile.
Erza sent him a grin of her own. "No magic." she said.
"Deal."
The two stood side by side to each other. On a mutual "Go!" they began climbing up the tall wall with such ferocity dust began to form a cloud at the foot of the rock.
A couple minutes later Natsu pulled himself up and jumped to the ground with a loud cheer. "Not even close!" he announced to the forest before him.
Erza climbed up right behind him, her irritated face the first thing popping out from behind the rock. "Natsu, we have to be quiet!" she hissed under her nose as she pulled herself up.
"You're just mad you lost." he said and dusted his pants off. The statement was true, and made the redhead even angrier.
Before she could say more, however, she was interrupted by rustling in the nearby bushes. Five men emerged from the forest, clad in dark-blue robes and armed with knives and clubs.
"All right, fun's over." announced the biggest of them, a giant man with black, messy hair and bread. "You'll come with us, either through force, or peacefully. Your choice."
A man next to him cackled. He was short with bad posture and an older face. "Idiots! Haven't they learned what happens in these hills?" he asked his comrades, clearly full of himself and the reputation his guild carried around these parts.
"The more, the better!" said the third man, a skinny, but tall man with a club that most likely weighed more than himself. "I've still got that jug of ale Master gave us last week, I feel like we're gonna get much more for these two!"
The group laughed out loud and began to slowly approach the couple. Natsu looked at each and every of them and scratched his chin, puzzled. "What do you think?" he asked Erza. "Which one will do?"
"I think the biggest one might be the safest choice." replied the knight.
"Harder to break?"
"Amongst other things."
"What are you two blabbing about?!" screeched the shorter man. "Put your hands up, or-"
His rant was interrupted by a foot to the face, courtesy of Erza, who kicked him after a brief step-in. Natsu was right next to her, having already knocked out the tall man with a club with a gut punch that folded him like a lawn chair.
"What the-" exclaimed one of the shocked, three remaining men, before receiving a swift punch to the face. Natsu then turned around, dodged a spear being thrust at him and elbowed the last man in the jaw, severing his consciousness immediately.
The black-haired man took a few steps back in disbelief and gulped loudly. The couple approached him slowly and stared him down with what felt like normal looks to them, but absolutely crushed the man's spirit.
"Do you want to join them, or would you rather cooperate?" Natsu asked him and cracked his knuckles.
The man quickly dropped his weapon and extended his hands forward. "What can I help you with?" he asked with a tone that was nothing like his previous demeanor.
Erza Requipped a small piece of rope and tied it around the man's wrists. "We're looking for the people, who have gone missing. Your guild was involved, as stated by your friend over there." she said as she tied the knot and stepped back. She then summoned more rope and passed it on to Natsu, who used it to tie the remaining four. "Take us to your guild, now." she commanded him.
The man smirked. "Very well, let us-"
"Just so you know." Erza interrupted him. "If you lie to us, or try to deceive us in any way, we will know immediately. This man here has a nose so sharp he could tell what you had for supper last night." she said and pointed at Natsu with her thumb.
The man laughed. "Well, I'm sure that's an exaggeration-"
"Beer and a steak." Natsu said after piling the unconscious men up by a nearby tree. He then sniffed a few times. "With bread and butter."
The man's face quickly lost all its color, along with his confidence. "This way." he said shakily and began leading them into the forest, the sweat from his face dripping to the ground like from a wet towel.
The trio began to venture deep into the forest so thick it was almost impossible to see further than just a few feet.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Natsu asked him after a while.
"Yes." the man said. "There is a small window in the forest we built the guild in. Nobody ever cuts through this forest, so we've been operating untouched for years."
"Why are you kidnapping people?" Erza asked him and gave him a push forward. "Who do you supply?
The man hesitated. "You guys may turn me in, but I will get killed if I tell you more. Not in a quick way, either."
"Don't worry, you've told us enough." Natsu said and ducked under a branch. "We'll just ask someone dumber."
"I don't think anyone will be that dumb enough." the man said.
"We'll see."
"How much further?" Erza asked and tried to ignore the gutting feeling in her stomach.
"Just behind these trees."
Just as he said, upon emerging from behind a giant oak tree there was a building, built right in the center of a small field. The building had two floors, but was rather small, capable of housing no more than a dozen people.
"Olay, good enough." Natsu said and swiftly punched the man in the gut, immediately knocking him out, He caught him in the air and dropped him behind the tree and out of sight.
"I'd say there's a dozen, maybe 15 of them." Erza said as she observed the building.
"So 10 inside at most." Natsu added.
Erza looked at the knocked out man. "We should have asked him where they're keeping the abducted..." she sighed.
"In a guildhall this size? Gotta be the basement." Natsu said and cracked his knuckles. "How do we do it?"
"Let's split up. Like you said, there isn't much room inside. They have to be either in the basement or the top floor. I shall head down, you take care of everything else."
Natsu nodded. "Sounds good. After you."
Erza emerged from behind the trees and quickly ran up to the guild, with Natsu following right behind her. The couple looked at one another for a second, after which Erza took a few steps back. Natsu raised his leg and kicked the door down, making it fly across the hall.
The sound of chairs being pushed back echoed across the dark hall, with over half a dozen men suddenly standing up from their seats. The couple entered the hall and began scanning the area in search of their goal.
"Door to the right." Natsu told Erza, to which she nodded. She quickly ran to it and pried it open with brute strength alone, revealing a dark staircase leading down.
"Good luck." she told Natsu and began running down the stairs.
"You too!" Natsu yelled back to her and dodged a knife thrown at his head.
"Who the hell are these guys?!" yelled out one of the men as he watched one of his comrades being smashed in the face by Natsu.
"Kill him!" yelled out another one and pointed his hand at Natsu. A green beam of energy zapped through the hall and missed Natsu's head after he moved it out of the way. The Dragon Slayer then dashed across the hall and kicked the man away, right into the guild's bar, the bottles and glasses breaking upon impact and overflowing the counter with booze and sharp shards.
"Protect the Master!" an order was given by one of the dark mages. The biggest man in the hall quickly ran up the stairs and slammed the door behind him, which Natsu noted in his head.
"You're dead meat, you hear me?!" screeched out an older woman wielding two axes. "We have you surrounded!"
Natsu nonchalantly looked around and cracked his neck. "If you say so." he said.
The woman yelled out and threw herself at the Dragon Slayer, who caught both her hands by the wrists. He gave them a squeeze that made the woman cry out in pain and drop her weapons. He kicked one of them to the side and forced one of the dark mages to block it with his sword. Natsu then threw the woman directly into him and knocked them both down to the floor. He dodged a torrent of wind sent his way by another man and grabbed a chair, which he threw at him. The chair exploded before it reached its target, blown up by wind, but it was no match for Natsu's fist, that bent his face under its weight and caused him to crash through the back wall of the guild.
"Let's see you dodge this!" cackled one of the remaining dark mages and aimed his hands in Natsu's direction.
BRILLIANT FLAME!
A torrent of flames swallowed Natsu whole, much to the joy of the dark guild. Their joy was quickly extinguished, however, for Natsu began to suck the flames in, until every last bit of it was inside his stomach. He wiped his lips with a small burp and watched with amusement as everyone in the hall take a fearful step back.
"I know this guy..." said the flame mage with a gulp. "I saw him during the Games...He-"
His sentence was cut short by a punch in the gut that immediately dropped him to the floor. Natsu then sped up the pace and knocked each remaining dark mage out with a single blow, effectively defeating them and clearing the path to the top floor. He adjusted his scarf and began climbing up the stairs with a small smirk on his face.
A man cried out in pain and crashed into a wooden door, effectively knocking it out of its hinges and making it toppled to the floor with a loud thud. Erza entered the room after him and swiped her blade to the side, before sheathing it. Before her was a room divided in two by iron bars that went from the ceiling to the floor, with several curled up figures behind in the dark.
"We made it in time..." the knight sighed to herself in relief and knelt by the knocked out man in search of keys. Upon finding them she opened the door and entered.
"Do not fear, I've come to help." she said softly to the startled people. One of them took a few steps forward, letting the dim candle light fall on her face. She was a young woman, not much older than Erza, with long blonde hair that gently fell on top of her dirty and malnourished, but other than that healthy face.
Recognizing her as the sister who'd gone missing a few days ago, Erza took a step in her direction. Suddenly, the girl was grabbed from behind by a man clad in the same robes as the people upstairs. He wrapped his arm around her chest and put a knife up to her throat, staring into Erza's eyes as he did.
"Not a step closer." he growled through his teeth. "Or I will gut her like a pig."
Erza stopped in her tracks and gently clicked her tongue. Cursing her incompetence, she gently raised her hands in the air and took her eyes off of his in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Very well. Do not harm her."
"Step away from the door, I'm leaving!" the man ordered.
Erza looked behind the man and spotted an iron bucket in the corner of the cell. She focused her magic and gently lifted it in the air with telekinesis, as to not alarm the dark mage.
"Are you deaf?!" the man and swung his knife through the air, spit flying in all directions from his mouth- "I said move out of the-"
The bucket hit him in the back of the head, successfully stunning him, even if only a little. The girl he held hostage managed to set herself free and stepped away from the oppressor. At the same time Erza dashed across the room and grabbed him through the bars by the collar of his robes and slammed him against the iron bars. She repeated the process several times, until his consciousness was gone and his body fell to the ground.
The knight knelt by the bars and began searching for keys to the door. Upon finding it, she unlocked the cell and entered- With her eyes now more adjusted to the darkness, Erza spotted three people in the cell, two of them being the siblings, who sat in the corner in each other's arms, exhausted and scared.
"There's no need to be afraid." Erza said, while trying to hide the fact her stomach dropped upon realizing some of the people were already gone, and began Requipping blankets and cloaks that she then carefully passed on to the kidnapped. "My name is Erza, I am a Fairy Tail mage. Your mayor has hired me to find you and bring you home."
The third person, an elderly man, broke down in relief and stood up from the floor. He ignored the warm blankets, walking over them, and hugged Erza with such force he almost toppled her to the ground. The knight, although surprised, did not push him back and gently hugged him back in comfort. The elder sister grabbed the blankets and put them over her brother, while giving Erza a look of gratitude. She nodded from over the old man's shoulder and let him calm down whilst hoping the remaining three people were still in the area.
Natsu kicked down the heavy, iron door separating the guild Master's chambers from the rest of the floor. The giant man Natsu saw earlier ran up to confront him and punched the palm of his hand.
IRON MAKE: MACE!
A giant iron mace materialized in the air and attacked Natsu from above. The Dragon Slayer simply caught it with his bare hand and began to melt it down with just the heat of his palm alone. The mace turned into a orange-yellow blob of metal, which Natsu then threw back at the man, hitting him in the stomach. He flew across the room and crashed into a large bookshelf, after which he slid down the broken wood and got buried by books, unconscious and with a giant burn mark on his torso.
Natsu stepped further into the dark room and spotted another door. He kicked it down as well and was greeted with the sight of an elderly woman with braided, long, white hair and a black robe hiding her crooked and old figure. She was sitting in a rocking chair, with a cloudy colored ball on her lap. The room was small, and frankly quite empty, with weird marking written on the walls and herbs hanging by the ceiling and above the door, with scented candles seated in random spots throughout the room.
"Game over." Natsu declared to the woman.
She opened her old, blue eyes, and looked into his with no signs of fear or anger. Instead, a small smile formed on her wrinkled face. "Oh, I know, young one. I knew of your arrival for quite some time."
Natsu took a step in. "That so?" he asked.
"Yes." the woman replied, still smiling. "You see, I have a bit of a gift. I can see the future, through this ball of mine. I saw a vision of your foot knocking down my door two days ago."
Natsu scoffed. "All that time and you did nothing with it? Sounds like you're overestimating your gift." he said mockingly.
The old hag laughed. "I see why you'd think that. But seeing as who it was that knocked down my door, I knew that with our little resources and strength, there was no stopping the two of you. One has to face their end with dignity, when it arrives." she said. "Something you, my dear boy, will have trouble with." she added with a sinister smile.
Natsu frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.
The hag gently laughed and began to caress her ball. "Your near future is full of pain, oh child of a dragon." she said. "Dread, fear, fire and blood. Everything you hold dear shall be broken, and that, what you've sought, but has always been with you, shall be lost right before your eyes."
Natsu's fist clenched on its own. Although he did not fully understand her riddles, her words managed to cut him in the deepest spots possible, with nearly surgical precision. He glared at the hag with such intensity it was almost as if he was trying to melt her with his eyes alone.
"There is darkness and age to you that you yourself are not aware of. It shall be revealed soon." she added and began to openly cackle at his apparent future, an apparent light of joy in her imminent downfall.
Natsu clenched his teeth. He walked up to the hag and forcefully ripped the ball out of her hand, before smashing it on the ground. He then looked her deep in the eyes and growled through his teeth. "You're finished. You and your men will be arrested and this building burned to the ground. Don't resist." he added and pulled out a piece of rope, which he then used to tie her hands with.
Natsu escorted the hag out of the room and upon reaching the stairs met Erza, leading the missing town folk out of the guild, who was already talking to the Council troops. The two exchanged a look and gave each other a gentle nod. Erza looked around Natsu in search of more people, but to no avail. Accepting the fact they failed to save everyone, she swallowed heavily and resumed giving directions to the soldiers.
Half an hour later two dozen of Council soldiers arrived at the scene, dragging along the men Natsu and Erza had subdued earlier. Upon receiving the full report from Erza, who gave them some strong points to start the questioning with, such as who they supplied, they began collecting the remaining dark mages and tend to the saved, who were severely malnourished and tired. Upon sealing off the entire building for future inspection, both the Council and Erza could finally head down to the town.
By the time they got out of the hills, it was beginning to get dark. The mayor greeted them at the entrance to the town, along with the rest of the town folk, and expressed joy at the return of his people.
"Unfortunately, we could not find the rest." Erza said while bowing to the mayor. "The Council is to start an investigation. We could not get an answer out of any of the dark mages ourselves."
The mayor tiredly massaged the bridge of his nose at the news. "There is no need to lower your head, miss Scarlet." he said and patted Erza on the shoulder. "I've already told you, I was prepared for everything. You did your job splendidly. We are forever in your debt. Thank you for freeing our town from these monsters, and getting our people back home."
Erza raised her head and nodded.
"As promised, your reward." the mayor said and handed a giant sack filled with Jewels to Natsu, who took it from him. "Thank you two from the bottom of our heart. We will always be grateful to Fairy Tail."
The couple gave the town folk one last nod and turned around, on their way to catch the last train back home.
Their walk was quiet. From Erza's side, caused by her feeling of failure, that burned deep in her chest. She was fully aware of what it meant to be passed on from a guild like that, and the thought alone made her stomach turn. From Natsu's side, it was because of the hag's words ringing and bouncing of every corner of his mind, like a fly unable to leave the jar it had gotten itself caught in.
He looked at Erza's frowning face, his own gently twisted in a worried and scared even scowl. No matter how pessimistic he was of how much truth there was to the hag's words, he was all out of chances to take. He squeezed the bag in his hands with such tenacity the fabric began to gently tear, and took a deep breath to calm down, unwilling to alarm Erza.
"There's nothing we can do now." he broke the silence. "We did everything we could."
Erza sighed. "I know." she said shortly. "I suppose I let myself get spoiled these past few months. I forgot what it feels like to come short in this kind of missions."
"Whatever it is, it's bigger than what we can currently do." Natsu said. "You heard those soldiers, they're swarmed everywhere. This town is not the only place suffering. No matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone."
Erza sighed again. "Yes. I know." she said.
Twenty minutes later they were both sat in the train to Magnolia, Natsu napping and Erza deep in her thoughts. Once they stepped out of the train two hours later, the clock at the train station hit ten in the evening.
"We should get back to Lucy's." Erza said tiredly and Requipped out of her armor into a black sweater and jeans. She stretched her arms out with a loud groan and turned to Natsu. "Perhaps we could stop by the store to pick up some breakfast. I feel guilty for emptying Lucy's fridge." she added with a small smile.
Natsu simply stared at her, which she found weird. To Erza, it felt like he was just glaring at her for no reason, but to him, it felt like looking at his entire world. With a hand grasping around his heart, he gulped and grabbed her by the hand, dragging her across the station, much to her surprise.
"W-what are you doing?" Erza asked, confused, as Natsu dragged her through the exit.
"I'll get that tomorrow morning." Natsu declared. "For now, we're getting a drink. And some food, I'm starving. I'm taking you on a date."
Erza blinked, even more confused. "A date? At ten in the evening? Everything is closed."
Natsu grinned at her. "Here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna use some of this money to buy a couple drinks and some food. Then, we're gonna go somewhere private and spar. You're gonna let all of that guilt out, and when we're done, we're gonna go back to Lucy's and get a good night's sleep. Then tomorrow, we'll finish the guildhall. Any objections?"
Erza opened her mouth in a protest, but no sound would come out. She found herself dazed by his eyes staring into hers so deeply and passionately it was almost as if he was trying to burn into her mind. Defeated, she simply shook her blushing head with a smile. "None." she said, and allowed herself to be dragged deeper into the city, the hand leading her wrapped tightly around hers, as if it never intended to let go.
A man cried out in pain and grabbed his slashed shoulder, blood oozing out of the deep wound directly through his robes. He slid down the filthy bar counter and dropped to the floor, his terrified, green eyes staring at the hooded figure before him.
The figure hid her claws under her hood and approached the downed man, staring him down like an insignificant worm. "I shall not ask again." she said with a silky voice, that did a very good job of hiding its cruel and cold nature. "What happened here?"
The man gulped in fear. "Two mages showed up, a red-haired knight and a pink-haired fire user. They took down everyone and took the cargo away. I survived only because I was out gathering firewood, when I came back the whole place was filled with Council soldiers and those two. I swear, that's all I know!" he pleaded with tears in his eyes.
The woman inhaled sharply. She pulled her hand from underneath her hood and slashed the man with her claws at such speed he didn't even get to scream in terror. His hand fell to the floor lifelessly, as blood began to pool under him.
The woman watched the blood reach her feet and stared at her own reflection in the crimson pool, a smirk forming on her face despite the anger in her blue eyes.
"Fairy Tail..." she whispered in excitement. "You might prove yourself entertaining after all."
9 AM of December 6th
Lucy rolled out of her bed tiredly and yawned. She masterfully stepped over the sprawled on the floor Natsu without even opening her eyes and passed by Gray, still snoring in the window. She approached her front door and opened it, the newspaper already on her doormat. She bent down to pick it up and immediately froze, her drowsiness going away in a blink of an eye. She grabbed the paper and lifted it up, unable to believe what her eyes were reading.
On the front page was the Council headquarters in Era, with half of the building seemingly erased from existence, replaced with rubble, debris and broken wood. Over the picture, in huge, black letters, stood the headline:
Magic Council HQ in Era attacked. 117 dead, 50 missing. Several prisoners confirmed missing in the commotion. How will the Council maintain safety, when they can't defend themselves?
End of Chapter 50. To be continued in Chapter 51: Tartaros.