Despite everyone being beaten and bruised, we were all stocking up for the next fight. Lucy had been found, and she sat sadly on a barrel next to Natsu and Happy. Natsu had found her, and brought her back home. It turns out, she was Lucy Heartfilia, the runaway daughter of the Heartfilia Konzern, and her father wanted her back. Many people gathered around Macao and Wakaba as they inspected a map, making a plan. I was standing next to Lucy, holding a lacrima as I talked with the daycare teacher. "I am so sorry." I apologised. "But this is getting bigger than we expected, is it possible for you to keep the kids for a little longer."

"Of course!" The daycare teacher assured. "I understand, I'll keep the kids safe."

"Thank you so much. I'll call you when this issue is resolved." I ended the call with a reluctant sigh.

"Don't worry." Gray assured the sulking blonde. "We'll get 'em back for this." Lucy looked down a little more.

"I know." She said softly. "I'm not worried about that. It's just…all my fault…"

"Being targeted by dangerous people is just one of the downsides of being rich." Elfman stated. "At least you're protected by a real man, like me!"

"Will you give it a rest already!" Gray spat at him.

"I gotta say, I was shocked when I heard the news." Happy admitted.

"Mizuki wants to know why you hid the truth from everyone." Mizuki added, turning in Lucy's lap to look up at her.

"I wasn't trying to hide anything!" Lucy protested. "I mean, there's no way to bring up the fact that I'm a runaway in casual conversation. I've been gone for a year and my father hasn't cared. Now all of a sudden he's forcing me to come home? He's done all those horrible things just to get me to go back. I hate his guts! Still, if I hadn't run away in the first place, none of this would have ever happened."

"Don't be ridiculous, your dad's the one to blame!" Elfman said.

"Idiot!" Gray seethed.

"Uh, it's Phantom's fault!"

"No…" Lucy argued softly. "I'm the one who brought trouble to the Guild and it's all because of my own selfish choices. I'm so very sorry…I'm just going to go back home and hopefully, all this will be over…"

"I don't know about that." Natsu said. "I can't see you playing the part of the pretty princess sittin' around in your mansion. Laughing with us in this filthy Guild Hall, goin' on adventures even though you freak out all the time, that's who you really are. You said you wanted to stay with us, right? Why would you ever go back to the place you ran away from? Come on, who are you trying to kid, you're Lucy of Fairy Tail. No more runnin' because you belong here with us."

"Hey, Lucy." I said softly, turning to her. "You're part of our Brood." Lucy turned to me, prompting me to smile at her. "We protect our protect our Brood." Lucy started to tear up and started to cry.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed, bringing her hands up to her face. I approached her, running my hand up and down her back. I could also hear Cana fail to find Mystogan, and Laxus being an absolute ass, not coming back to help save his grandfather. If we look at the ranking of Guild Members, right now, Erza and I were the top-ranked members, so it was our job now to lead the Guild. Suddenly, there was a loud crash and the earth shook.

"What's goin' on?!" Gray demanded Alzack then ran down the stairs, a wild look in his eye.

"OUTSIDE!" He shouted. Fairy Tail exited the Guild, and I paled…there was…a walking…building….

"What is that thing!?" Natsu demanded. We all watched in horror as the building approached us.

"It's a Guild Hall with ginormous legs!" Happy exclaimed.

"Is it Phantom?" Loke wondered, the Guild Hall getting closer and closer.

"How do we fight that thing?!" Wakaba cried.

"I never anticipated this." Erza said shakily, only clad in a towel as she had just gotten out of the shower, the silver and gold scales on her neck glinting in the sunlight. "I can't believe they'd go to such extremes to attack us!" The Guild Hall then stopped, and then a wall slid down. I watched as a cannon of some sort extended, pointed directly at the Guild. A black ball of energy formed at the end of it, growing in size. "Go!" Erza shouted. "Get out of here now!" She then turned back to the cannon, racing forward as her form shone.

"Erza!" Mira shouted.

"Don't do it!" I cried. "Erza please!" Erza changed into her Ademantium Armour.

"What are you doing!?" Loke asked.

"Protecting the Guild Hall!" Erza declared.

"Is she gonna try and block the cannon's shot?" Bisca wondered.

"That blast looks too strong, I don't think she can do it." Minnie added.

"You're just risking your life, this is ridiculous!" Wakaba called.

"Erza, no!" I cried, trying to race forward to stop her, but an arm caught my waist to hold me back. My mind was racing. Protect…Mate…Protect…Mate…

"You're not going to be able to stop her!" Gray told me. "We just gotta have faith in her!"

"No, I have to be there!" I continued to struggle against Gray. "She's my Mate! I can't-" I was cut off when the Cannon fired. A large Magic Circle appeared in front of Erza as she joined the two halves of her shield. She met the blast head on, and tried to repel it. I tried to fight against Gray to get to Erza, her armour was cracking, breaking apart little by little. And then…her shield fell away, and she was thrown back. "NO!" I roared. Erza rolled a little and came to a stop. I finally broke out of Gray's hold and ran up to Erza, collapsing at her side. The rest of her broken armour disappeared, leaving her in her regular clothes. "Erza…" I breathed. "Oh please say something."

"Makarov has fallen." A voice echoed from the walking Guild. My eyes snapped up to it and I snarled, smoke curling from my lips. "And Erza can no longer stand. Any chance of victory has slipped through your fingers. Surrender Lucy Heartfelia immediately." Master Jose ordered. "You have no choice."

"That's not gonna happen!" Alzack said.

"Like any Guild would hand over one of their own to a monster like you!" Bisca added.

"You hear that! Lucy's staying put!" Macao shouted. Fairy Tail shouted agreement, protesting Lucy going with him.

"I won't ask again!" Jose demanded. No one listened, still arguing.

"We would never betray her like that!" Erza shouted. "You'd have to kill us first!"

"You can stop now because we're not giving you another answer!" Natsu cried. "We're taking every one of you jerks down!"

"Lucy is my Brood!" I screamed to the walking Guild. "You hear that Jose! You hurt my Mate, you attack my Brood! I'm coming for you, Jose! You hear me!? Save your Magic, because I'll kill you myself!"

"If Death is what you want then I'll give you a second helping of Jupiter!" Jose called from the Phantom Guild Hall. "You've got fifteen minutes to ponder the folly of your actions!" I heard a soft thud, and looked down at Erza.

"She's out cold." I reported shakily, gently moving some of Erza's hair out of her mouth. Suddenly, hundreds of shades flew from the Phantom Guild Hall, swarming quickly.

"You're in quite a quandary, aren't you Fairy Tail? There are only two ways this situation can play out. Either my troops will tear you apart, or you'll be blown away by Jupiter."

"We've got to do something to take out that Jupiter Cannon." Cana said. Natsu then declared he would break the Cannon, and Happy flew him towards it. Gray and Elfman said that they would also storm the Phantom Guild Hall.

"I'm going to take out Jose." I reported, standing. "He can't stay standing, not after what he did to my Erza." I clenched my hand, silvery flames encasing my fist. "Protect her for me, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." Minnie said with a nod. I turned back to the Phantom Guild Hall.

"Mizuki, let's go." I said seriously. Mizuki clutched the back of my jacket, her wings unfurling as she shot us towards the walking Guild.