The night ended as most nights with the Fairy Tail guild did: with everyone in piles on the floor and every available piece of furniture, flat or not. Romeo was the only one still awake, sitting in the hallway with his miniature lacrima still in his hands. Wendy had hung up hours ago, Krystal demanding bedtime stories and Carla in the background desperately trying to calm her own children. Romeo doubted Happy was being much help.
Sleep called to him, and yet the thoughts running through his head kept him awake. It was an unfortunate feeling that he was used to, insomnia draining his body of energy even as he fought for just a few hours of rest.
He let his head thump back against the wall, listening to the night sounds rolling through the small house. The living room held most of the guild who had come out with Makarov. Elfman, back against the wall, acted as a pillow for his sister and wife, Bickslow and Freed slumped nearby. Erza had dragged Natsu and Gray to her side, the three of them resting against the couch where Cana was draped over Lucy. Levy and Juvia curled together at the other end of the couch, and Gajeel snored away in the armchair.
Romeo was the only one in the hallway, needing space to talk to his wife without the crazy spilling over too much into the call. Also, it was the first time in months (years for Bickslow and Lisanna, their Marigold's extensive surgeries confining them to Magnolia for most of her life) many of them had been without their kids; they were letting go in a way they hadn't since before Natsu and his team left all those years ago.
They were relaxing and carefree, not worrying about what their children may be up to or if they were in trouble. With Wendy and the Dreyars at home, along with so many other members of their guild, the kids were safe. And, for some completely odd reason, Romeo had a feeling that no one would be waking up before ten tomorrow. Everyone planned on taking advantage of the break.
Romeo sighed, pushing himself to his feet and slipping the lacrima into his pocket. He padded to the window at the end of the hall, resting his forearms on the sill and forehead resting on the glass.
The night was peaceful, his friends were asleep, and the town below…
The town below was on fire. He blinked, wondering if this was a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep. He blinked one more time. No. The flames still licked at the trees, dancing along rooftops, painting the sky red.
Romeo bolted upright, skidding back into the living room. "Natsu!" He cried, tripping over Freed's 's hand shot out, grabbing the back of his vest and hauling him back into his feet.
"The hell are ya yelling about at this time of night?" He grumbled, glowering at the younger man.
Romeo stumbled over his words, the exclamations stuck in his throat. From his spot by the couch, Natsu raised his head, sniffing the air. "What's on fire?"
"Everything!" The Purple Flame wizard finally got out, hands gesturing at the town down below. "The town's on fire! I don't know what happened, but it's burning!"
Despite the three hours of sleep they were all running on, every single one of them was on their feet in an instant, wide awake and ready for whatever was about to be thrown at them.
"Do you think it has something to do with those monsters that guy told us about?" Lucy asked, gathering her hair into a quick ponytail.
Gajeel shrugged, rolling his shoulders. "Sure it's related. It always is."
Erza clapped her hands together, looking around at the group of thirteen assembled wizards. "We can have time for wondering about what is behind this after we help those who need us. Juvia and Natsu, I'm trusting the two of you to handle the fire?"
Natsu smirked as he cracked his knuckles, scarf loose around his neck. "Hell yeah. I'm all fired up now."
Juvia grinned too. "We got this. It's been too long since we've had the chance to all work together."
"This is not a game," Freed snapped. Although Romeo was fairly certain he saw the green-haired man suppress a smile of his own.
"No, we know." Cana stretched, grabbing her bag from where she had last discarded it. "But we do our jobs better when we treat it like one, yeah?"
"Let's stop wasting time!" Evergreen was already moving toward the door. "We have a town to save."
They piled out of the house, but Romeo hovered in the doorway. Natsu glanced back, barely contained excitement masked by a frown. "Romeo? You good?"
The younger man smiled. "I'm gonna stay here with the Master."
"You know you don't have to. He'll be fine on his own, he's just as strong as ever." Natsu crossed his arms, glancing briefly at the faraway group of wizards, already dozens of feet down the mountain. "Come on, don't you wanna fight some stuff?"
"We don't know there will be anything to fight," Romeo shot back, smile still wide. "But if there is, I don't wanna leave the Master by himself. 'Sides, insomnia's been real bad. I'd probably be less help down there than I would be up here."
"If you're sure." Natsu walked back to his side, grasping his arm in a firm grip. "Be safe. And once this is all over, I'm sitting on you until you sleep." Then he turned, jogging to catch up with the others
"You can try!" Romeo called after his retreating back. Natsu lifted his hand in a wave before he disappeared into the trees. Romeo swallowed, preparing himself. He truly didn't trust himself enough to use magic at the moment, especially with all of the civilians around. But waiting around while unable to do anything, watching the fire burn down below with only Master Makarov for company… the next few hours would surely be stressful.
He probably wouldn't be able to sleep for the next two days with all this stress.
Romeo sighed as he dragged his hands through his hair, turning back into the house.
XXX
They were halfway down the mountain when Gray had the urge to turn around. Not back up to Gramps's house, but away from the burning village. He frowned, slowing down and looking in the direction his gut was tugging him in.
"You feel it too?" The Ice-Make wizard turned, seeing Lucy facing the same way as him. "Pyxis is telling me to go that way. I wonder…"
"Luce, why'd you stop?" Natsu glanced back over his shoulder, pink hair falling over one green eye.
She shook her head slowly, small frown he recognized from when she was puzzling out a particularly difficult problem. "I think… I think we need to go that way."
Everyone else had stopped as well by that point. Erza crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. "In case you haven't noticed, the village down there is currently on fire. We need to help them, not wander through the woods."
"No, I'm serious." Lucy's hand drifted over her keys, head tilted much like a dog's. "There's something that way. We need to go there."
Gray nodded in agreement. He couldn't place why he was getting this urge, he didn't have the spirits Like Lucy did. Maybe just instincts. But he had survived enough battles to know not to ignore that feeling.
"Maybe the cause of the fire is that way," Juvia offered, running her hands through her hair. Her fur-lined ensemble was far too hot for this; she was already debating shedding the top. Maybe the hat too.
"Lucy, Gray, you're positive about this?" Erza's eyebrow hadn't lowered an inch. The two nodded, meeting each other's gazes before looking out into the woods. The scarlet warrior sighed. "Fine, all right. Let's split up then."
"I'll go with my darling Gray!" The volunteering was immediate from the Water Woman.
Gajeel shook his head. "Nah, Juvia, we need ya to put the fires out." She pouted in return, accepting the truth no matter how much she didn't like it. Gajeel snorted before continuing to survey their small group. "I'll go with the Salamander."
"Why do you still call me that?" Natsu grumbled under his breath. Gajeel smirked, and Lucy had to bite back the urge to explain that was the exact reason and, much like they told their children, if you want him to stop, just ignore him.
Evergreen huffed. "We don't have time for this. Six and six, everyone pick a group and let's go before any more houses burn down, yes?" Then she turned abruptly on her heel, continuing the march down to the town as elegantly as she could while nearly sliding down the mountainside.
Elfman followed his wife, cracking his knuckles and loudly proclaiming, "A real man helps those who need it."
"Can't argue with that logic," Lisanna said with a shrug, extending her elbow to Juvia. "Shall we?" Juvia turned and blew a kiss to Gray before taking Lisanna's arm and joining the group heading down to the village.
Natsu grabbed the back of Lucy's neck, pressing his forehead against hers. "Be safe."
"I could say the same to you," she murmured, letting her eyes close as she took in a deep breath of his familiar scent. "Don't cause too much trouble."
"Love you too." He pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead, squeezing her neck once before slipping away, letting Erza drag him and Gajeel after the others. She watched him go for another long moment before turning her attention back to the remaining wizards, the five of them looking at her expectantly.
"All right, let's go figure out what's going on here."
XXX
Natsu planted his feet in the middle of the town, right in front of the bookstore they had spent hours in earlier, tipped back his head, and inhaled.
Flames rushed past his lips, tumbled down his throat, filled up his stomach. As long as he kept sucking the fire in, it kept flowing into him. Finally, he could take no more, and he let his jaw snap closed, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth.
"Oh, come on, Natsu, I know you can eat more than that!" Lisanna called, soaring above him in her bird form. Buckets of water hung from her talons, quenching the flames below until they ran dry and Juvia would refill them.
Natsu groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I dunno, Lis, I think I ate too much at dinner."
"Impossible." It was hard to tell when she was a bird, but he was fairly certain she was laughing at him. He stuck his tongue out in retaliation, just to be sure.
"A real man would power through," Elfman said, usual rumble ten times deeper from his massive frame.
"Yeah, if you can't eat the fire, what good are ya?"
Natsu adjusted his scarf, glaring at the flames all around. "Don't wanna hear it, you bucket of bolts."
"Less arguing, more helping," Erza snapped, Sea Empress sword slicing through the air and delivering quenching water to the burning buildings. Her muscular frame was protected from the heat and licking fire by her Flame Empress armor. Natsu stared at her, tilting his head in confusion.
"Hey, Erza."
She let out a long sigh, sending her blade through the hinges of a door to free the occupants inside. "What is it, Natsu?"
"Oh, I was just wondering. That armor's supposed to protect you from fire, right? So why's there so little of it? I mean," he waved a hand at her, ignoring the piercing gaze she was giving him, "like, half of your arms are out."
She raised an eyebrow, holding the door open long enough for the family inside to rush past. "You walk around every day in a vest and you're going to comment on my attire?"
Gajeel laughed hard at that. Natsu glared, huffing at the other Dragon Slayer with vicious eyes. "It was a legit question!"
"How about we argue over Natsu's lack of fashion at a later point when the lives of these townspeople aren't in our hands?" Evergreen hissed as she whipped her glasses off, glaring daggers. Almost literally.
Natsu was glad he had made it a point to never look Evergreen in the eyes.
"It's not a lack of fashion if this is the only thing I can get that's fireproof," he grumbled, still huffing. Then he stopped, turning slowly and frowning at the distant mountainside. Gajeel joined him, dark eyes scanning the horizon.
"You hear it too?"
Natsu nodded thoughtfully, brow furrowed. "Yeah, but I can't figure it out. What the hell even is it?"
"Beats me."
"I've heard something like this before though." He huffed a final time, crossing his arms and racking his brain. But still, he couldn't place the odd sound, the skittering and thundering and pounding that was slowly beginning to increase in volume.
"North!" Lisanna shouted, drawing everyone's attention.
Elfman rose to his full height, towering over the small cottage he had been dousing. "Aw, what are those things?"
Erza turned, ponytails whipping through the air as she cut her hand downward. "Clear the area! Natsu, Juvia, keep dousing the fires! Gajeel, Evergreen, with me!"
"Why do they get all the action?" Natsu adjusted his scarf, cracking his neck in the same motion.
"We don't even know what's happening," Juvia responded, water bursting from her hands and drenching the house in front of her. "For all we know, this is where the action is."
"Nah, nah, there's definitely something wacky going on." He reached for the fire, grabbing it by the handfuls and taking bite and bite. "Oh yeah, now I've got a fire in my belly. Literally." He groaned, stomach swollen and aching. "Ugh, I don't think I can eat anything else. Ever."
"Real men don't complain so much," Elfman grumbled. "But Juvia, the punk's right. Looks like there's a lot of weird things going on at the other side of town." He stood along a row of houses, guiding the citizens of the town from the wreck of downtown. They all moved quickly, if a little cautious of the hulking monster.
A building on the other side of the street groaned. Lisanna dove toward it, but she was too late to stop the crumbling of the house. A couple huddled in the doorway, too terrified to move and trapping themselves under the weight of the rubble.
Elfman lurched forward, massive frame throwing itself under the house before it could collapse on the young couple. He braced against the stone and wood, pushing it backwards and away from the other citizens of the town.
Lisanna, arriving just a few seconds behind her brother, swooped in and pulled the couple out of the way. "Come on!" She shouted, still holding the pair in her talons and leading the way down a clear path out of the village.
As the villagers stumbled after the Take-Over mage, Juvia rushed in, throwing herself next to Elfman, body steaming and face twisting into a wince as she did her best to free the man-turned-monster from the crushing embrace of the destroyed building. "Natsu," she groaned, hissing as a sparking piece of wood bounced off her arm. "Help me out, will you?"
But the Dragon Slayer wasn't paying attention to the plight of his guildmates. He was looking down the opposite end of the street, snarl covering most of his face. "We got a bigger problem, Juvia."
"What's bigger," she panted out, finally shoving Elfman to safety, "than a literal town on fire?"
"Remember all those creatures that ran through Magnolia a few years ago?" He glanced back at her, reaching his hand out to pull the flames from her steaming form. "Yeah, this might be a bit worse."
And then she heard the thundering. And then she felt the sinking in her stomach. Ah. So it was going to be one of those days, huh.
XXX
Lucy grunted, hauling herself up over the boulder in the middle of their path. Her knees bore the marks of tumbles and slides down the mountainside, boots scuffed and mud clinging to her skirt. She was going to take the longest, most luxurious bath of her life after this was all over.
"How much further?" Bickslow grumbled, digging in his heels and sliding down the hill with more grace than Lucy had managed.
She shrugged, brushing her hands against her keys once more. "I dunno. But Pyxis says to keep going, so"
"So we keep going, yeah, yeah." Bickslow huffed, sticking his elbow out. Freed, nearly falling flat on his face, grabbed his friend's arm. He pat the taller man's shoulder in gratitude before reaching back and offering Levy the same support.
Gray and Cana were already ahead, just as dirty as the rest and yet somehow enjoying their time much more than the rest of their group. Cana stumbled over a root, went down on her knees, and bounced back up the next second, a handful of dirt already launching through the air toward the back of the Demon Slayer's head.
He flinched as it hit, mud dripping down his bare back. "Dude," Cana sniggered, "where did your shirt go?"
"Probably left wherever you first threw mud at me. Seriously, Cana, doesn't it get old?"
"Nope."
Lucy shook her head at her friends' antics, too worried about getting down the mountain safely to join the bickering. She sighed, looking up at the towering landscape around them. "Of all the places, why did the Master choose to move to a mountain range?" She muttered to herself.
"Probably thought it would deter this kind of nonsense," Levy said. "He should have known it follows us Fairy Tail members no matter where we go."
Bickslow snorted at that. "Understatement of the century." He glanced at Freed, obviously hoping for agreement from his friend. However, he found Freed frowning at the base of the closest mountain. "Everything all right there, Freed? Did the mountain offend you or something?"
The green-haired man shook his head slowly, a palm resting against the hilt of his saber. "No… no, I simply can't figure it out. Levy? You see it too, do you not?"
Levy glanced at Freed, following his line of sight to the rock pile a few hundred feet below them. She frowned, scanning the formation with a critical eye. "Yeah, there's… there's something off about it." She snapped after a few seconds. "The rocks are too similar. Even from up here, they just look like exact copies of each other, only sized differently."
She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Cana, Gray! Wait a minute! We want to check out those rocks!"
"Why?" Cana hollered back, in the middle of attempting to pull her hair into some semblance of a ponytail instead of pasted to her face by mud and sweat. She turned to Gray. "Any idea why she wants to 'check out some rocks?'"
He shrugged, wiping the mud from the back of his neck. "I dunno. It's Levy. Who knows what she thinks?" He slid down the few remaining feet, frowning up at the mess of the mountainside between him and the rest of their group. "Why the hell is the ground so gross?"
"Ever heard of this thing called rain?"
"You know, I don't appreciate the sass," he deadpanned. He cocked his head. "Hey, want some help up there?"
"Don't know why you haven't done anything yet!" Lucy shouted back, pausing in her descent and clearly waiting for Gray to make his move.
"Maybe I just won't now," he grumbled before pressing his hands together, pushing them out toward the ground before him. A sheet of ice burst from his hands and coated the muddy earth, providing a clean and smooth path for his friends.
Bickslow grinned, his dolls spinning around his head. "Hell yeah!" He leapt forward, arms out to the side as if he was surfing down the mountainside. Freed was close behind, knees bent and keeping him low to the ground.
Levy and Lucy exchanged a glance, both women hiding smirks behind rolled eyes. "After you," Lucy said with a wave of her hand.
Levy grabbed the outstretched hand, dragging Lucy forward with her. "Oh no, we're doing this together." The pair slid down the sheet of ice with only minimal flailing, unable to control their laughter.
Freed was waiting at the bottom, hand out to catch them before they could slip. Levy took his arm, letting go of Lucy to step off the ice. Lucy continued, unable to slow herself enough that she slammed into Gray, his hands bracing her waist to keep them both from falling. He grunted as the air was pushed from his lungs by their collision.
"Thanks," Lucy gasped out, still breathless but grinning up at her friend. He snorted, squeezing her waist once before letting her go.
"Hey, Lev?" Cana's voice cut through and captured everyone's attention. "Is this why you wanted to look at these rocks?"
Levy turned, mouth already open to respond, when she caught sight of the Magic Card wizard and faltered.
Cana's arm was fully passing through the topmost rock. She waved it around, feeling no resistance in what should have been solid stone. She marveled at the sensation, leaning to the side to kick her foot through a rock at the bottom of the pile.
That one, it seemed, was solid.
Cana cursed, grabbing her foot as it smarted and losing her balance in the process. Her other hand shot out for support, finding one of Bickslow's dolls first and nearly going down anyway.
Bickslow hauled her upright. "My babies don't do balancing so well. Neither do you apparently."
"Aw, fuck off." She shoved his shoulder. "How was I supposed to know it was a real rock?"
"Is your foot all right, Cana?" Levy bit her lip hard to keep herself from giggling. The brunette stuck her tongue out. Levy couldn't contain her laughter anymore. "This is why I said to wait, you know. Freed and I have spells for this sort of thing."
"What kind of thing? Cause it just looks like a pile of fake rocks." Bickslow crossed his arms.
"Exactly," Freed said. "That's what it looks like. It's obviously not, however. It seems to be a pile of copied rocks, all exact replicas of the one Cana so artfully discovered."
Gray snorted as Cana flipped the green-haired man off. The older man continued on as if the interruption had never occurred. "But why are they there? Is this just the remnant of someone's training exercise? Or is there a reason for this pile? Could it perhaps be a marker for something more?"
Lucy shifted the weight in her hips, still by Gray's side. "Whatever we're looking for, it's definitely this way. Pyxis is quite insistent." There was a golden flash of light in front of her. She sighed and raised an eyebrow. "What? I wasn't talking to you."
"Aren't you always?" The Celestial Spirit smirked, glasses somehow still glinting despite the only illumination being the stars far above."'Sides, aren't I allowed to show up just because?"
"That's not what's supposed to happen," Lucy grumbled.
Loke's smirk only grew, reaching out to clap Gray on the shoulder. "Good to see ya, man. And Lucy, you could always use an extra hand, right?"
"Out with it." She crossed her arms. Gray had seen her make the same exact expression at her children.
Loke sighed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'm bored. And there's always chaos when our guild is involved."
"I feel like that's been said so many times this night alone," Levy said, kneeling next to the fake rocks. Freed joined her, the pair putting their heads close together as they began to examine what was in front of them.
Loke draped his arm over Lucy's shoulders. She sighed, giving in and resting her head against his arm. "You want to pick a job for next time since you're so bored?"
"Only if Natsu and I agree on one."
"Are you trying to get me killed?" She elbowed him lightly in his side. "If you and Natsu agree on a job, it's going to be so insane that we end up destroying half a town, nearly blowing ourselves up in the process, and then end up facing some crazy monster that shouldn't exist but somehow does anyway, and we'll beat it after nearly going down at least three separate times, and then we'll think we've won but then it will just power-up somehow and-"
"Lucy, that just sounds like what happened on Galuna Island," Gray cut in.
"I was gonna say our fight with Grimoire Heart," Cana said from where she still leaned against Bickslow.
Freed shifted uncomfortably. "I thought it sounded rather like when Laxus tried to take over the guild."
Levy looked up from the rocks, brows furrowed even as she let out a small laugh. "Seems like a lot of our adventures follow the same path." She tapped a spot on the real rock, glancing over at Freed. He muttered an incantation under his breath, too close to press his saber against it in the dramatic manner he so favored. A ring of runes appeared around it, and the fake stones glowed a light green before going up in smoke.
Lucy waved her hand in front of her face, coughing slightly as the smoke twisted around them before disappearing into the night air. **She squinted at the opening now revealed to them, darkness spilling deeper into the mountain. "Well, that looks interesting."
"Looks like Pyxis was right," Loke said with a smirk.
Gray leaned against the Spirit, twin grin spreading across his face. Loke raised an eyebrow, taking in the man's distinct lack of outerwear. "This enough adventure for ya?"
Loke slung one arm around Gray and the other around Lucy. "Oh yeah, this is gonna be great."
Freed and Levy rose to their feet. "Let's be careful," the green-haired man said, hand once more resting on the hilt of his saber. "There may be more traps like this. We don't even know what is hidden back here, or why."
"Why's are for wimps," Bickslow cut in, bumping against his best friend's shoulder. "Come on, let's go!"
"Hell yeah!" Cana pumped her fist. She nudged Bickslow in turn. "Ya know, last time you boys were in a cave with Lu and me, we beat your ass."
Levy giggled, rolling her shoulders. "Let's save the fighting for our enemy, huh? Freed is right, though. Let's do this carefully; for all we know, there's a whole dark guild down there."
"What I want to know," Lucy said as she started forward, leading the way into the mountain, "is how the fire started in the town. Like, are we about to face some kind of fire wizard? What if it's the guy from Phantom Menace? But why haven't we seen him yet? Are they lying in wait for an ambush? But, again, if everyone's here in this cave, how did the fire start?"
Gray snorted. "Lucy, Bickslow's right. Stop asking questions and let's go just figure out what happened."
"Yeah, yeah." Lucy reached a hand back, unsurprised when Levy's slipped into hers. "Yeah, let's do this. After all, Natsu and Erza can't have all the fun."
And they pressed in deeper, nerves on edge and senses stretching. They would not be caught off-guard. They were all itching for a fight.
Finally, some action! I know, it's been a long time coming. Trust me, I've been annoyed at the pacing as well, but hopefully now I'll get back into the swing of action and fighting and humor and all the other things we love about Fairy Tail.
Sorry this chapter took so long. I swear, I had ever intention to finish it by Wednesday, but. Well. Life. But here it is now! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, but I seriously cannot promise anything, especially with finals creeping in ever so slowly.
Any idea of what's coming up?
Hope you all enjoyed! See you next time :)