Back with the continuation
"speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
Hargeon
Nighttime
The Liberation battle of Hargeon was a victory for the forces of Fiore.
Wall, Dimaria, and Neinhart were soundly defeated. Dimaria was the only one they managed to capture, Wahl was destroyed, and Neinhart's whereabouts were unknown after he fell into the ocean.
Erza was on a bed as she was bandaged all over herself as the first thing she saw when she awoke was a smiling Kagura. "You've finally awoken."
"Kagu…" Erza tried to sit up, only for her already sore, and aching body to start hurting her. "Ugh…"
"Relax. You mustn't overexert yourself." Kagura said while trying to ease Erza back down onto her bed.
"Your wounds were terribly deep, so it'll take quite a bit of time for you to fully recover." Wendy said.
"But don't worry; there won't be any lasting damage." Carla reassured.
"You two have seen better days though." Gray spoke with a smirk, teasing the two about their injuries.
Juvia gasped when she looked at Gray. "Gray-sama! What has come of your clothes?!" Said the water mage who also had no shirt on.
"You're one to talk." Risley pointed out.
"Er-chaaaaan!" Milliana hugged Erza gently as to not accidentally harm her.
"Everyone…" Erza stared before the realization hit her. "W-Wait! The war! What happened on the battlefield!?"
"Don't worry." Gray said with a smile
"The mission to free Hargeon was a success, we've taken back the harbor and the town." He explained as everyone was cheering in the town
"Jellal and Meredy are cleaning up the last remains of the armies. so, it'll be some time before they're all taken care of." Juvia added in
"why is Meredy here?" Erza asked as she thought that the pink haired Sensory mage was still at the guild
"dunno" Gray replied "she said she wanted to join the fight and take revenge or something"
"I see." Erza said with a confused look as she was curious on what is the revenge, Meredy was talking about
"for now our plan is to go back to the guild for the time being." Gray told her
"We're worried about how everyone back at the guild is faring." Juvia added.
"So you can rest easy and leave the rest to Mermaid, and Lamia!" Risley grinned.
"Thank you." Wendy showed her appreciation with a nod.
"In that case…I too shall…" Erza actually tried to stand.
"Y…You can't!" Kagura objected to Erza's movements. "You still need time to rest!"
"I'm afraid I don't have the luxury." Erza said. "What became of Laxus…?"
"He took out two monsters in a row, he's down for a while." Gray answered her
Kagura then remembers how she gave Jellal CPR when he was drowning as she swordswoman blushed hard
"Erza." Kagura called out to her
"What is it?" Erza replied
"u..how…to put this…I'm sorry." Kagura told her
"what are you talking about?" Erza asked before Kagura cups Erza's cheeks and kissed her
"EEEEHHHHHH?!" Wendy and the others exclaimed in shock to the action and so did Gray
"Can you forgive me now?" Kagura said while blushing to Erza who looks confused
"Heh?" Erza said
"So you've finally come around and are willing to share information with us." Makarov asked the Nation Destroyer
"It's a one-time deal." Brandish said, making sure they understood her position. "I am a citizen of Alvarez first and foremost. I cannot simply betray my home country. And that is exactly why I refuse to become your ally in any capacity. That said I owe Lucy a debt, so I am willing to negotiate with August for you."
"Huh?" Lucy pointed at herself.
"What exactly did you do, Lucy?" Cana asked.
"…I uh…" Lucy said as she had an idea on Brandish was talking about but can feel like she did though
"it is possible" Natsu said as he crossed his arms "in the past, August was the only member of the 12 who always listen to reasons then orders"
"In Alvarez, while August is referred to as the Calamity, Irene bears the title of Despair. The two of them are peerless in skill." Brandish explained. "In Elieen's case, we share no personal relationship, and thus there is nothing I can do to stop her but…as for August, I've known him since I was very small. As a result, I may be able to persuade him to pull back, depending on how the negotiations will unfold."
"That would be extremely helpful." Makarov said.
"No kidding! You serious!?" Warren spoke with a wide grin.
"That…is a great proposal. I am thankful for your help." Makarov gave Brandish a sincere nod.
And at this moment, Mest objected. "MASTER! You must not accept such fabrications so easily! This must be their plan! She'll use this opportunity to escape!"
"Trust me or not, it makes no difference to me." Brandish told him
"I trust her!" Lucy said,
"Lucy! You can't be serious!" Mest exclaimed to her
"I am as well" Natsu said as he crossed his arms "and if it comes to it, I'll just face August myself"
"Natsu!" Ultear exclaimed as Natsu looks to her
"I know, but I promise to come back" Natsu said with a soft smile
"that's not the problem here!" Ur exclaimed to her son in law "you nearly died when you were up against Zeref! If this August person is just as strong as Zeref himself, what makes you think you can come back alive!? Aya couldn't stop crying when we all thought we've lost you!"
Natsu squinted his eye as he looks to his daughter who was holding Ultear's hand
"I know" Natsu said "but it has to be done this fight…..is not something I can ignore"
Natsu kneeled down in front of his daughter as Aya just looks down
"please understand, Aya" Natsu said as he patted his daughter's head
"don't go…" Aya mumbled softly as the child was starting to tear up
Natsu softly smiled to his little girl as he takes off his scarf and wraps it around Aya's neck
"can you hold this for Papa, Aya?" Natsu said as Aya grabs a hold of the warm scarf as Natsu patted her head "Papa promise to come back home, alright? So don't cry ok?"
Aya wipes her tears as she holds out her pinkie finger
"promise?" Aya asked as Natsu intertwines his pinkie finger with his daughter's
"Promise" Natsu said as he hugs his daughter before giving her a kiss on the forehead "I'll be back"
North Fiore, Mt. Zonia.
Irene Belserion was casually strolling through the mountain turned white with snow.
"Zonia, the sacred mountain. This land, at one time, was the site at which the black and white Maiden clashed. The white Maiden emerged victorious, and as a result, snow of the purest white has continued to fall on these mountains ever since."
"Wow, Lady Irene!" An orange haired girl spoke with a huge grin. This was Juliet Sun of the Irene Squad. "I'm surprised you're this well versed on the folk tales of this puny country!"
"Imbecile!" Spoke the orange haired one's counterpart; a woman with long black hair: Heine Lunasea.
"Have you forgotten!? Lady Irene was originally a resident of Ishgar." And the moment she said that, Irene's lips curved down very slightly and she gave her two subordinates a look.
"Oho?" Juliet turned to Heine with a knowing smile "I wonder, was it really the smartest idea bringing up that subject?"
Heine realized her mistake immediately and started to backpedal as fast as she could. "Ah…no…! I was just….simply…"
Irene felt amused, her lips curving up into a small grin. "Hmmm~. The Black and White Maiden…I'm sure they were the spitting image of you girls."
"YAY! I wanna be the black one!" Juliet threw her arms into the air.
"YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY THE FREAKING WHITE ONE, DAMM IT!" Heine yelled, furious that such an obvious statement flew over her counterparts head.
"Which begs the question…if the two of you were to battle, who would be the one to come out victorious? Shall we find out?" Irene's words caused the two girls to sweat. "I'm joking, of course."
A sigh of relief from Juliet and Heine. Irene then placed a hand on her hip, tapping her staff onto the snowy ground.
"Supposedly the two Maiden were disputing over which of them would claim a certain man. A wonderful story. But…as wonderful as it is, it's starting to feel a bit cold, wouldn't you agree?" Irene asked as she tapped her staff on the ground, the environment began to change. The white snow was gone, replaced with the field of blooming flowers one would see in the beginning of the spring season.
"It's so warm…" Heine was always taken aback by Irene's power.
"Wee! Nice one, Lady Irene! Not that I'm surprised!" Juliet said with glee.
"It seems we have some party crashers." Irene grinned to her two fellow Spriggan who weren't too far away. "Bloodman…Larcade, are you ready to give our new guests a warm welcome?"
Gajeel and the others begin rescuing the capture guild members as they mow down the enemies. "Come on, pick up the pace…"
"RAAAGH!" Elfman roared, using his raw power to clothesline a number of soldiers down.
"HAA!" Lisanna hopped forward in her bunny takeover, her leg strength unmatched, and the enemy troops were figuring this out as her kicks blew them all away.
Levy was pulling Rogue with all her might. Mirajane was helping Yukino, while Pantherlily carried away Ren and Hibiki. They were slowly rescuing the people who were hung up on display. Between a few members of Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth, and Quatro Cerberus, they had their work cut out for them.
Gajeel freed Sting, lying the master of Sabertooth down. "Sting! Pull yourself together man!"
Sting was semi-conscious, his eyes opening slowly at Gajeel's voice. "Ugh…Gajeel…-san?"
"How is everyone else…?" He asked, but that wasn't an answer he'd be getting from Sting.
"I'm pathetic…!" Sting yelled at himself. "I'm so god damned pathetic!"
He cried in tears as he had led everyone into a battle that they lost
"You can leave the rest in our hands." Gajeel told Sting. "All that pain and frustration building up in you now. I'll be sure to return it in spades!"
"Gajeel….!" Levy yelled.
The shift in the atmosphere was very noticeable. "What's going on…?!" Mira asked.
"The snow's vanishing…!" Elfman pointed as the ground changed.
"Damn it…god damn it!" Sting began to cry. He was so mad at himself for being so pathetic.
"They've got four monsters on their side…" Rogue brought a hand to his face as they were defeated so swiftly by the monsters
"monsters?" Gajeel's lips curved into a smirk. "then we have ourselves the Savage Six!"
"…Wait." Levy pointed to herself with a confused look. "Does that include me, too…?"
Natsu, Lucy, North, and Brandish were travelling down the eastern road to make their way to August.
"Natsu, since you were once a member of the 12, do you know what's August's magic?" Lucy asked the man
"fair warning, even Dragist would've had a hard time against August, consider yourself warned." Brandish said quickly as Lucy sweatdropped
Natsu however didn't replied to Lucy's question as the man had just been walking straight the whole time
"Natsu?" Lucy called out to the man
"what?" Natsu asked as he turns to look at Lucy
"I asked if you knew what August's magic is" Lucy asked the man as Natsu just holds his head
"his magic….." Natsu muttered out but he can only see nothing in his memories of August "who…..is August?"
"ha? What are you talking about? August is the guy we're going to negotiate with" Lucy said as Natsu just holds his head
"i….can't remember" Natsu said before he saw memories of Jet, Droy, Levy, Nab cracking before shattering into pieces
"what do you mean?" Lucy asked as she was now concerned about Natsu
"mind if we stop the chit chat?" Brandish said "we're walking too slow to August"
"well we didn't have any magic vehicle lying around the guild, so walking was the only choice" Lucy said
Natsu patted North's head before turning to look to a tree
"show yourself, Mest" Natsu said as Mest's head popped out from beside the tree
"Mest!?" Lucy gasped.
"I just can't believe that you all actually trust that woman." Mest scowled.
"it doesn't matter if she tried to counterattack against us or not" Natsu said to him as his eye glowed black "I'll just end her on sight if she did tried such thing."
"Even so, that's not enough reason to release her from her cuffs! She's supposed to be our prisoner of war, remember?!" Mest exclaimed.
"More importantly…" Lucy shifted topics. "How are we going to get there? We can't walk the whole way."
"I can only teleport if I know August's exact location" Mest told them
"I can only carry one person" Natsu said
"then how about this?" Brandish said as she snapped her fingers and North was a 30 foot tall giant wolf
"WHOA HE'S GINORMOUS!" Lucy screamed.
"BIG DOG!" Mest exclaimed
At the sight of the giant North, Brandish's lips curved into a grin. "Now we can ride…on this big fluffy wuffy guy~"
She hugged Norths front leg leg, her persona shifting to an incredibly girly one.
"Ah, she turned girly all of a sudden…!" Lucy gasped.
"let's get on" Natsu said as he grabs Lucy and threw her up
"kyaaaa!" Lucy screams as she landed on North's back "give me a warning next time!"
Lucy screamed at Natsu who just threw Brandish next
Mest teleported himself while Natsu jumped up and landed on North's head
"come on, North" Natsu said as he whistled and the big wolf started walking
That's a wrap!
Bye bye