The world was bright and full of color as a young black haired girl came running through the forest towards a large body of water. The girl was giggling as she weaved through the trees, shouting behind her. "Mama, come on! I wanna go swimming!" She came to the clearing where the lake sat by peacefully and ran in just far enough to still be able to stand. "It's so cold!"

A blue dragon came following after the child, shaking her head with a sigh. "You're only just learning how to swim, you need to be careful, Felicity."

The child, Felicity, looked to her mother with a pout. "But I'm getting better… I can float on water and everything. Look!" As she shouted, the girl fell backwards to let her back collide with the water. Another giggle fell from her lips. "See? I'm floating!"

"Yes, I see. But how are you doing on actually swimming?" The dragon questioned, an amused smile on her face. "Floating is one thing, but swimming is something completely different."

"You're no fun…" Felicity muttered, waving her arms and feet in the water, causing her body to slowly spin. "Mama?"

The dragon sat down in the grass surrounding the lake, her eyes watching the child carefully. "Yes?"

Felicity turned her head, her brown eyes focused on her mother. "I want to learn the wing attack big brother knows." She was blunt in her statement, however, at the age of three, she wasn't a big fan of asking politely quite yet.

Her mother frowned. "I don't think you're quite ready for that yet, child."

A huff escaped the child's lips. "You say that about every spell Rogue learns! Why can't I learn the same things he does?"

"It is important to know that your magic is just as much defense and support as it is offense." Her mother spoke in a gentle voice. "Let's focus on your supportive abilities before we get too far into attacks."

"But…"

"No buts, Felicity." The dragon narrowed her eyes as she looked at the child's disappointed expression. "If you keep resisting the training I am providing then you will never learn. Trust me, your time will come."

The child didn't seem to feel better after the dragon spoke, but she still nodded in agreement. She fell silent after that as she stared up at the blue sky above. What she wouldn't give to be on the same level as her brother. She had practiced her healing ability for weeks and it still didn't seem to be good enough for her mother. What was the big deal about support? Wasn't magic typically used when fighting? She didn't understand why she had to wait. But she also knew better than to talk against her mother's actions.

All she had to do was wait and hold on to those words.

Her time would come.

"Cece! Hey! Wake up!"

A masculine voice filled my ears and my eyes pinched together at the sound. My mind was clouded as I attempted to bring myself back to reality. The world felt heavy around me, as if there was a weight sitting on my chest to keep me from moving. I tried to take a breath, but found myself struggling with that simple task. Slowly, I began to register the feelings around me and started to realize what was happening.

As much as I had wanted for my body to be able to handle the amount of magic it took to create a clone, I knew full well I couldn't put up with as much as I wanted to. I had pushed my luck keeping the clone up for more than my original task. But as the image of Laxus' face flashed through my mind, I knew I would make the same choice again.

My eyes fluttered open and I found myself resting in the arms of a dark figure I couldn't quite make out yet. I glanced to the side to see a few others around me, but I couldn't figure out who a single person was. All I could see was blobs of color. I sniffed at the air and knew none of them were a danger, they were simply members of the guild.

"Kardia Cathedral. That's where Laxus is." I let out, a groan escaping my lips at the end. I attempted to sit up, but my body was locked in the arms of the person holding me. "Let me go."

"You're low on energy, take it easy." A female voice spoke and I pinched my eyes closed once more to try and focus my vision. When they opened again, I looked towards the voice to finally be able to tell that it was Mira speaking.

Before I had the chance to speak again, a rough hand forced my lips open and a stream of water was poured into my mouth. I hadn't been expecting the action, but did my best to drink the water that was being given to me. I knew full well that it was one of the few things that would bring my energy back right now.

Once the water stopped, I felt the arms around me relax and I was able to bring myself to an upright position. "Thanks," I spoke, turning my attention to the person who had been assisting me, but my eyes widened in shock. "Y-You!"

I stumbled to my feet and took a few steps away from the person, fully seeing that they had been Gajeel. "How dare you! Never touch me again!" I exclaimed, a chill going down my spine. "God, I'll be showering all damn day…"

The Iron Dragon Slayer scoffed. "You're welcome by the way…" He got to his feet and glared back at me. "Salamander and I have been taking turns watching over you. Least you can do is say thank you."

"Like hell I'll thank you for anything!" I looked away from him, crossing my arms. As I looked away, I locked eyes with Natsu. "Is he telling the truth or…?" There was no way I would believe Gajeel was helping me without any confirmation.

The pinkette nodded, a growl falling from his lips. "Yeah…" He pointed towards himself. "But I was way more help than he was!"

"That's bullshit! If I hadn't stepped in, she would have passed out a lot quicker!" Gajeel quickly hopped in to defend himself.

"No way! I was doing perfectly fine on my own!"

"You were doing a shit job!"

"Enough!"

Makarov's voice silenced their argument and I turned my attention to him just as he threw a new water bottle my way. Without a second thought, I cracked it open and drank it in a single gulp. I would have to raid the bar for more before I thought about using my magic again. "Natsu and Gajeel helped to keep your spell stable." Makarov narrowed his eyes at me and I shrank back, feeling as if I was a child being lectured. "You knew you couldn't handle it, didn't you?"

My gaze casted downward in guilt. "Well…" I reached over and rubbed my arm, trying to find the words to defend myself. "I wanted to be helpful, that's all. And I did exactly what I said I was going to do."

None of them needed to know that I had had a discussion with Laxus. It hadn't done any good, so they had no reason to know. Someone else needed to drag the lightning mage from his darkness, it certainly couldn't be me. Although, I wished that I could have been more helpful. But what did I expect? I had no idea what it meant to inspire hope into another person.

However, I couldn't shake that image of a scared little boy from my head. He wasn't sure what else he could do to show he was worthy of someone's attention. Maybe it was because his father had been kicked from the guild years before, but Laxus had something he wanted to prove and he was scared of what would happen if he couldn't accomplish his goals.

I clenched my fists and crunched the water bottle I was holding. Laxus was passed the point of no return. There was nothing anyone could say that would bring him back to his senses. All we could do is follow his games until one of us comes out on top.

I broke away from my thoughts and turned to the other two Dragon Slayers. "I suppose I should thank you both. I wouldn't have been able to do that without your support so…" I trailed off, not used to having to express gratitude towards others. "Thanks."

"Whatever." Gajeel scoffed and turned to look away from me. I rolled my eyes, his opinion didn't quite matter, but I was grateful for his help nonetheless.

"Alright, what have I missed?" I glanced around the room, finally taking note that the girls were no longer stone. "Evergreen was beaten?"

Makarov nodded. "Everyone else was defeated and Erza was able to break free of Evergreen's spell and take her out."

My eyes widened. "W-Wait. Everyone was defeated?" I processed the statement before my heart began to race. "What about Phillip? Has anyone seen him? A-And… Hayden, where is he?"

Happy's ears drooped down as he spoke. "We haven't seen Phillip, apparently he and I aren't being counted as participants… And Hayden was taken out by Evergreen."

"You're joking…" Out of all people to lose to Evergreen, Hayden? She was practically a bug, it should have been easy for him to win. I heaved a sigh. The Thunder Legion wasn't a group to mess with, I was wrong to underestimate them. A shiver went down my spine at the thought of not knowing where Phillip was, but I had to have faith in him. He wouldn't put himself at risk, he knew better. "Alright, what's the game plan? I highly doubt Laxus is going to back down with or without hostages."

Lucy tilted her head. "But he has nothing to hold over us, why would he keep fighting?"

"If he wants to be the guild master, he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants." Mira frowned, looking down towards the ground. "I worry what he will do now that we aren't as vulnerable."

Makarov growled at the thought. "I will personally give him a punishment of the highest grade later if he keeps this up." He clenched a fist and looked towards the doorway. "Curse you Laxus… This time you won't get off so easily."

As he spoke, it was clear that most of us had the same thinking. At this point, Laxus would need to be disciplined for his actions, there was no way we were going to let him off the hook. I was all for teaching him why his thoughts were wrong and I knew whatever our master had planned would help with that. Makarov always seemed to have a way of knowing how to help his children when they needed him most.

"Hold up." Natsu spoke, crossing his arms. "I can't help but agree with Laxus' idea of finding out who the strongest person in Fairy Tail is." Everyone looked at him in shock, unsure of why he would want to keep something like this going. "So don't be so hard on him, Gramps."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Finding out who the strongest person is was a tempting thought, but this wasn't the way to do it. Even if we all wanted to find that out, there was no need for the whole guild to participate. The only real options were Erza, Laxus, Mystogan and of course, Gildarts. No one else could even compare to the strength they all emanate. If they all were to fight, I highly doubted they all would survive the fight.

"Alright!" Natsu cheered, a bright grin on his face. "Let the second Battle of Fairy Tail begin! Bring it on all of you!" He cheered, pumping his fists into the air.

"I'm out." I muttered, letting my feet carry me over to the bar. As the pinkette began to challenge the people standing before us, I reached for the hose on the sink. Shamelessly, I raised it to my mouth and turned the water on, drinking it right from the hose. It felt like I hadn't had a drink of water in days. God, I would drink from the lake if leaving was an option.

As I continued to drink, my eyes wandered towards the barrier as the runes turned red. I furrowed my brow. What? That couldn't mean anything good. Some of the runes flew from the barrier and began to attach together in front of us, forming in the shape of a skull. What did Laxus think he was doing?

"Can you hear me, old man?" Laxus' voice filled the hall and we all became very to what he was about to say. "All you other guild people… One of the rules has gone out the window, so I'm adding a new one. I've activated the Thunder Palace in order to keep the Battle of Fairy Tail underway."

My eyes widened. He couldn't be serious! Just because he was fighting a losing battle, he was going to put the citizens of Magnolia at risk? Out of all the options he had, he thought that was his best shot?

"You have one hour and ten minutes." Laxus continued, not caring for the anxiety that was filling the air. "Do you have what it takes to beat us? Or are you going to give up instead, Master?" His laughter filled the room as the runes dissipated. Just over an hour left and we were running out of options.

Makarov clenched his fists. "What are you thinking, Laxus! Are you trying to drag innocent bystanders into this as well?!" After his statement, his breath got caught and he quickly reached to his chest. Before we had a chance to react, he landed on a clump on the ground.

"Oh no!" Mira shouted, quickly running off towards the infirmary. "His usual medicine! Not now!"

"Master, please hang in there!" Levy shouted as Bisca came over to support his head.

I quickly threw the hose down and ran towards him, kneeling down beside him. "I've got him, hold him still." The green haired woman did as I asked and I placed my hands over top of Makarov's chest. Water formed against each of my palms as I did my best to lower his physical pain. I had never tried to heal anything more than flesh wounds, but I could still lessen his pain until he was able to get his medicine.

"Everyone, look outside!" Mira shouted as she came running in with his medicine. As the others went running out of the room, she quickly came over and picked up the elderly man. "I will take him to the infirmary. Go with the others." I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should leave her be, but nodded nonetheless, and ran for the balcony.

The others were already outside, their gazes up at the sky. When I approached, I noticed the lightning lacrima lining the sky. "What are those…?" Natsu questioned.

I walked over and gripped the railing in fear. "Lightning lacrima… He's taken everyone in town hostage." Their eyes widened as they turned their attention to me. "If those things go off, anything inside the circle will die in an instant."

"What?!" They exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Bisca stated, pulling out one of her guns. "I won't let that happen!" As she aimed her shot at one of the lacrima, I frowned. There's no way it would be that easy. "Stinger Shot!" The bullet soured through the sky and easily blew up one of the lacrima. When nothing happened in retaliation, I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it was going to be that easy.

However, my hopeful thoughts were quickly squashed as Bisca's body erupted in electricity causing her to let out a pained scream. "Bisca!"

She fell to the ground and Levy and I quickly ran to her side. "Bisca, stay with us!" Levy shouted as I brought my hands over top of the gun magic mage, letting my water heal her flesh wounds.

"Body link magic…" Cana muttered, looking up at the sky. "There's a spell on those lacrima that links the damage they receive to the person who causes the damage. So if you attack them, they'll attack you right back."

"But if we don't do anything about it, the citizens will…" Levy began, fear dripping from her voice.

"We have to stop Laxus, now!" Cana shouted and Lucy nodded in agreement.

"I'll do my best to evacuate as many people as possible." The blonde ran towards the door, Happy shouting that he would help her. Juvia and Cana were close behind and I found myself gritting my teeth in anger.

Not a single thing I said had gotten through to Laxus. And as I watched the girls leave the guild hall, I worried that none of them would be able to do anything against him. As much as I wanted to have faith in each of them, I was also aware of the difference in skill. Laxus was above each and every one of us and there wasn't much we could do about that.

Seeming to have the same thought, Natsu leaped over the railing and attempted to jump from the roof to join the fray, only to be stopped by the barrier once more. "Dammit! Let me out, Laxus! You've gone too far!" He shouted, slamming his head against the barrier. "If you want to be master so bad, then just fight gramps! I've had enough of your crap!"

As the boy continued to shout, I returned my attention to Bisca. It seemed she was still breathing and would easily live, but I needed to get her to the infirmary. Stopping my spell, I leaned down and threw her arm over my shoulder. "Easy does it…" I pulled her off the ground just as Levy announced that she would try to break the enchantment that kept us here. Before she explained further, I began to walk Bisca towards the door. "I will do what I can for Bisca and Master. Let me know when the enchantment is broken."

"Don't forget, I called dibs!" Natsu shouted, pointing back at me.

I smirked. "This is a war. Dibs doesn't count." And with that, I walked back inside.

Carefully, I led Bisca into the infirmary and set her down on the bed. As I got her covered in a blanket, I glanced over at Mira who was sitting besides Makarov. "You know…" I began and she turned her gaze to me, displaying her worry. "There's no use sitting here, why don't you go look for your brother. I'll watch over these two."

The woman's eyes widened. "Are you… Are you sure?" When I nodded, a smile grew on her face. "Thank you." A tear fell from her eyes as she got to her feet and ran out the door.

My gaze followed her until the door to the infirmary closed. When it clicked shut, I finally allowed myself to take a breath. This was the most I had ever interacted with any of the other guild members and now here I was, providing them aid. Something I had never even considered doing before.

I walked over to where Makarov was lying and brought a hand to his forehead. A fever, of course. "Dammit old man…" I muttered as I let water cover each of my hands. I brought one to his forehead and the other to his chest. "Don't you die on me…"

Most of the guild members drove me mad and on a daily basis, made me want to pull my hair out. However, Makarov was always a calming force when we needed him to be. Whenever something was going wrong, we always knew we could count on him. And now, he had no other choice than to count on us.

I closed my eyes to allow myself to focus on healing his pain, but I found my mind wandering to simple memories of the man. He was the one who had brought me to Fairy Tail when I had nowhere else to go and I was eternally grateful for that. If he hadn't found me, I wasn't sure what I would have done. I was just a child, I had no way to provide for myself or Phillip. I may have easily been on my way towards death.

"I don't know what led you to being out here tonight, but I promise you, where I'm taking you, you'll never be able to feel alone like this again."

The words echoed through my mind and I could almost feel the tears welling up in my eyes. The old man meant more to me than I ever wanted to admit and I couldn't stand seeing him ill. Any time he had a heart attack, I feared for the worst. And with the amount of stress he was experiencing, this could be the time that he loses the battle.

As the thought crossed my mind, I gave my head a shake. No. He wasn't going to die. Not while I was the one watching over him. I blinked back tears and returned my focus to healing. There was no use worrying about that, especially when I can do something to change that outcome.

As time rolled on and minutes felt like hours, I did my best to switch between healing Bisca and Makarov. Most of my time was spent on the master, but I wanted to make sure Bisca was alright as well. I was growing tired with each passing minute, however, I wasn't ready to throw in the towel.

I had just stepped away from Makarov's bed to chug down some water when I heard the door open. My attention turned to the figure in the doorway and I frowned. "Miss Porlyusica, how did you know to come here?"

The pink haired woman didn't even spare me a glance as she walked over to Makarov. "I'm not an idiot. I know when something is wrong." At her angered words, I shrunk back. Alright… Didn't need to bother her anymore.

The woman stood beside the master, her eyes scanning over his form. As she did so, I went back to restoring my energy with water, but made sure to never take my eyes off of her. She was the best Fairy Tail had in terms of medical care and if anyone was going to know the state of Makarov's health, it was her.

Silence filled the air for what seemed like a lifetime before the woman turned to me. "Bring Laxus here." When I furrowed my brow, she continued. "Bring that stupid child here. He's out gallivanting around, ignorant of his grandfather's grave condition."

At her statement, my eyes widened. "Wh-What? You can't tell me that he's dying." No, not after everything I just did.

"Please…" The woman's voice cracked as she spoke and I flinched at the tone. It was more vulnerable than I had ever heard from her. Over the years, she had always been an angry woman so hearing her crack under pressure was unfamiliar. "Just do as I ask. He doesn't have much longer."

When she turned to face me, there were tears in her eyes and I found myself frozen in place. "No… No that can't be…" A hand went to cover my mouth as I tried to keep myself calm. Porlyusica had no reason to lie about this so I knew she was speaking the truth, I just didn't want to accept it.

I swallowed back tears and turned towards the door. "You better keep him alive while I'm gone, you old hag." I stumbled out the words before I could even stop myself. They were rude, but I didn't care much at that point. And with her lack of response, I knew she didn't either.

My feet carried me out the door and I was thankful that Levy had managed to break the enchantment that had been holding me here. There was no way in hell I was going to sit back when our master was on his deathbed.

Dammit Laxus. I sprinted through town, making my way towards the cathedral. If it's a fight you wanted, it's a fight you're gonna get. I'm going to drag your ass back in pieces if that's what it takes.

This ends now.