AN: Hello to all readers, hope you're all doing well this weather. As I've stated, I've returned, and I've brought the new version of this story with me. Admittedly, this was much more difficult to start than I expected. Nonetheless, I'm glad I finally managed to get it done, and I look forward to posting more chapters out soon.
I was also distracted by looking at a RWBY Fanfic story on Youtube, 'RWBY: Flaming Skull', an AU story with team RWBY interacting with an OC team. Just wanted to mention it because it's actually pretty well written and the voice acting in it is quite good. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of it. Hopefully it won't distract me as much from the writing, but we'll see.
Before getting into the story, just wanted to mention some other cool fanfics, both 'My Hero Academia' crossovers. The first is 'The Demonic Hero' by Fairy-Of-Lore, a 'Devil May Cry and My hero Academia' crossover, and 'Rising of the Sun', a 'MHA and Okami' crossover. I won't go into much detail about them, but both are very impressive so far, and I recommend giving them a read if you're looking for something to gander at.
Right, that's enough promoting great stories, time to get to this one. Feel free to review or PM to share your thoughts and criticisms. It's always much appreciated. Now, to the story
Rain was coming down heavily tonight. Magnolia hasn't experienced such heavy downpours very often. Most of the time it was either cloudy or sunny with a less frequent rainy season than in other cities. It was one of the reasons that agriculture in and around the city had to make more use of water magic to help water their crops and sustain their animals.
Tonight, the usual weather pattern was different though. The downpour created the need to create more drains around the city to keep everything from flooding. Even then, it seemed that there was going to be a lot of work to empty the city of the excess water.
Other houses around the city wouldn't be having that problem though. One of the houses is at a higher altitude compared to the other houses. It was safe from the possible flooding that the other houses might end up experiencing. Inside was a man in his mid-thirties with black-greying hair, brown eyes and dressed in a black shirt, green overalls and brown boots.
"Man… it's raining heavily tonight." The farmer said.
He looked down at the lower altitude land, seeing one particular field filled with various vegetables. He instinctively cringed with worry, believing his patch would become waterlogged and ruin the chances of any of the vegetables being able to finish growing properly. All that hard work to provide more food for the market will most likely go down the drain. If he had any way of contacting the city's magic guild and calling for their help then he would have called them instantly.
However, it looked like it would take more time than hoped to at least repair the field, never mind help fix the vegetables.
"Dad?"
The farmer was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of the other resident's voice. Standing in the doorway to one of the other rooms was a young girl in her late teens. She had light blue hair and green eyes, dressed in a black nightdress. She looked like she was struggling to keep her eyes open, but still tried her best to make eye contact with the farmer.
The farmer looked back at his daughter, putting on a false smile in front of her. "Hey, kiddo. Did I wake you up?" he asked her.
"No…" she answered. "Just had trouble sleeping."
"… Same." The farmer said. "Rain's pretty loud this evening, huh Eve?"
The daughter, Eve, walked up to her father. When she was standing next to him, she looked at him with a serious look.
"That's not what's keeping you up, is it Mr. Fadel Ruddel."
Hearing his full name being spoken out loud by his only child made him wince. This was usually her way of messing with him (as he wasn't too fond of his name), or when Eve knew something was bothering him. He was about to try and play it off when she crossed her arms. After a quick mental debate on whether or not to hide his thoughts, he decided to stop hiding his worries.
"… The field wasn't looking too good before the rain… and now I'm worried that the rain's just going to destroy everything. It might be a while before we can make money for food. Sorry."
Eve listened silently to what he said. When he was finished, Eve's expression relaxed. She lightly punched his shoulder and gave him a grin.
"Don't worry, Dad. We'll find another way. We always do." She said to him.
"Yeah, but…" Fadel looked down at the ground in slight shame. "I want to be able to do more. Make enough money to get a better house, help you get those books you wanted to learn magic…"
He sat down at the table in the kitchen, lying against the backrest.
"No matter what I do, it just doesn't seem to be enough. It's never enough."
"It's always more than enough." Eve countered,
Eve sat down beside her father, placing a hand on his head while smiling at him. "You always give it your all to make sure we can live happily. There's no need to beat yourself up like this."
Fadel looked up at Eve. He knew his daughter always tried to look at the brighter side of things. He wanted to say something else but decided against it. Instead, he looked out the window again from where he sat, focusing his gaze on the view of the city.
"Still, we'll need some help clearing up the mess in the morning," Fadel said. "… maybe even head over to the Fairy Tail guild, eh?"
At that, Eve's eyes brightened at the idea. Fadel knew how much his daughter admired the resident magic guild. In it were some of the strongest mages in Fiore. Every person training to become a mage at this point all have their eyes set on joining the guild. From what he heard, while the people in it were a bit… eccentric, they were some of the kindest people as well. So long as there were people who could look out for her, then he'd be happy.
"Well, I think we'd better get some rest. Won't do us good walking into the guild half-asleep." Fadel pointed out.
"Right. Night, Dad."
Fadel watched as his daughter went to her room. When she was gone, he grinned and looked out the window again. The rain looked like it was lessening. Chances are the soil would be just as waterlogged as he suspected by the time morning hit. It was just as well he thought of going towards the magic guild.
He stood up and went to the cupboard, looking for a cup for some water before sleeping. His eyes then caught sight of a bottle. His grin faltered at the sight, doing his best to ignore the sight of it. He found a suitable cup and closed the door, making sure to be quiet to avoid waking his daughter. He went to the sink to fill up his glass.
He was interrupted by an unexpected knock on the door.
Fadel was puzzled by this. He wasn't expecting anyone, and even then no one would knock on another's door at this time of the night. He got up and went to see who would want to see them at this time of night and this weather.
He opened the door to find a person in a dark green cloak, hunched over and resting their arm on the wall outside for support. The person beneath the cloak was coughing heavily, swaying side to side slightly. It seemed like the stranger was just about ready to collapse.
The sight of this person's condition alarmed Fadel. "What are you doing out here?"
The cloaked stranger tried lifting their head, but wasn't able to get far. Their face was still hidden behind the cloak.
"Pl… Please… help…"
The farmer was further concerned when hearing the weak, raspy voice come from this drenched wonderer. From what he picked up from the sound of their voice, the stranger was a man. He had many questions in his head as of now, but now wasn't the time for them. Reluctantly, he decided to let the person in, leading them into the kitchen.
"Quick, in this way." He whispered, quickly seating them by the table. "I'll find some dry clothes. Help yourself to some of the food in the cupboard."
Fadel dashed to his room, trying his best not to wake his daughter, as he grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt from his room. He made his way back to the kitchen and left the clothes beside him.
"You can change in my room if you want. If you need help, let me know, but try to keep the noise down. My daughter is asleep."
"…"
Fadel waited for a response, but got nothing but silence. Worried, he kneeled in front of the person in question, shaking their shoulders gently to get a response.
"Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"…"
They gave no verbal response, but instead lifted their head slightly. From there, Fadel was able to look under the hood, seeing part of the person's face. Even then, he wasn't able to see much. The hood, or rather the collection of sashes covered most aside from the person's chin and the bottom lip. The lip was pale, as well as dried and cracked. This person looked like they weren't in the best health.
He looked more concerned. "Hey. Seriously, are you okay? Do you need-"
Fadel was interrupted when he heard the sound of someone screaming. He felt the fear shoot through him as he recognised Eve's voice. He got on his feet and started o sprint to her room. He was stopped when something latched onto his wrist. He yelled out in pain, the grip, having enough force to break his arm.
He looked back to see a stranger gripping onto his wrist. Before he could ask why, the stranger pulled him in, punching him in the forehead. Fadel fell to the floor, dazed and sore. He soon felt something sharply dig into his chest, making Fadel cry out in pain. He looked up to see the robed stranger standing over him, keeping him pinned down. He tried to remove to foot, but the stranger proved too strong to be moved.
"Dad! Dad, help!"
Fadel, hearing his daughter's cries, kept trying to escape. His attempt was met with the stranger removing the foot and grabbing his neck. He was lifted into the air and thrown against one of the walls. The force of the throw made him break through the wall and out into the rain. He landed on the ground, dazed and unable to move.
He was starting to lose consciousness. As he did, he saw the robed stranger walking out of the house. In addition, another person was walking out of the house, with Eve trapped in their grasp. She called out to him, reaching out with her hand.
The last thing he saw was these attackers being risen into the air and flying away, with Eve keeping her sight on her father one last time before he finally blacked out.
The next morning, activity within Magnolia city was buzzing.
The main priority of most of the citizens was helping to repair much of the damage that had been caused. Several homes, businesses and landmarks were severely damaged, even reduced to rubble, as a result of the conflict that occurred before.
One of these businesses was a small restaurant, with several people outside talking to one another.
"How much longer do you think they will be?" One of the workmen asked.
"Who knows." Another said as he shrugged his shoulders. "They said it could be a while."
The group all sighed, quickly starting to feel fed up. The workers were able to rebuild the restaurant's building. It wasn't easy as it was one of the most damaged parts of the town. In other cases, because it was such a small space, people would have opted to focus more on the more significant part of the city.
That wasn't how things worked in Magnolia. In this city, everyone and every place were treated with equal respect.
That said, one of the workers showed to be the most impatient, walking up to the building.
"What the hell's taking them so long? They said they were only prep the oven and freez-"
Before he could finish, a burst of flame shot out of an open window, prompting the impatient person to back away, and the rest to fall onto the ground in shock. Shortly after a blast of cold air came after, instantly putting out the fire. That said, the workers found their clothes to be partially frozen.
"Hey! What the Heck are you doing, you, skinny-freezer!" One voice roared from inside.
"I was keeping you from burning the place down, coal for brains!" yelled another.
"There's nothing inside to burn, it's all concrete now!"
"With that much magic you were using you would've blown the whole place up!"
The two people inside continued to argue with each other for a bit longer, both spouting cringe-worthy insults towards each other. Eventually, the sound of fighting could be heard within. So sooner had the brawl broken out did the two people inside fly out of the window, both throwing painful-looking punches.
One of these brawlers was a young man with spiky pink hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed in a single-sleeved black jacket with orange trimmings, beige pants and sandals. He bared his teeth at his opponent, showing a set of sharp fangs.
The other was another young man with spiky black hair and dark blue eyes. He was only wearing a pair of black boxer shorts, but a shirt, pair of jeans and shoes had flown out with the pair, resting right beside the two fighters. He glared at the pink-haired boy, showing no signs of giving up in this fight, the same as the pink-haired boy.
One of the workers, thinking he might risk getting into that fight, spoke to the pair. "Uh… is everything okay in there now?"
The pink-haired boy grappled the nearly-naked boy by the throat. He looked to the worker in question as he held his opponent in place.
"Yeah, we just finished putting it back together. Used a bit of heat to dry up the concrete."
The black-haired boy soon broke free from his predicament, to which he grabbed the fanged young man by the head, pinned him face-down to the floor with his knee before grabbing his nose, twisting it side to side.
"Agh! Not the nose, not the nose!"
As the pink-haired boy cried out, the black-haired one spoke to the worker.
"I cooled it down enough that it's ready for use. There's a decent flame inside for cooking, it looks ready to go-ah!"
In retaliation, the pink-haired boy was able to reach the other's face and grab his nose as well, resulting in the two of them trying their best to cause as much pain to the other as possible. As this went on, the workers could only look on, each of them smirking at their antics.
"That's Natsu and Gray for you." One of them said.
"You'd think that they'd learn to get along at this point." Another said.
"Oh? Are they not?"
At that sound of that voice alone, the two young men came to a sudden halt. Instead of anger showing on their faces, it was replaced by looks of sheer terror. The workers were all grinning at this, as they knew exactly who it was that had spoken just now.
Walking up behind them was a woman with long, red hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a set of silver armor with a silver cross on it, a blue skirt and armor-plated boots and gloves. On one shoulder, she was carrying a shocking amount of building materials, ranging from bags of sand to cinder blocks. Despite the weight, she showed no sign of strain or wariness, instead smiling in the direction of the two young man.
Both of them were frozen in place as the woman set her sights on them.
"Oh… Hey, Erza…" the pink-haired boy said shakily.
Erza, the woman in question, nodded to them both. "Natsu, Grey, good to see you're both out and about." She said, referring to the fanged fire-user and his barely-clothed opponent respectively.
She set the materials down on the ground, showing little care as she allowed them to fall onto the ground. The sudden shaking of the ground a testament to the weight of the materials and her strength. She kept her eyes on Grey and Natsu, both hands on her waist as her gaze grew into a blend of ice and steel
"Didn't I tell you both to keep your arguments to a minimum? We wouldn't want anymore damage to occur, would we?"
Both young men shook their heads quickly, followed by the two of them wrapping their arms around each other and shaking their hands, trying their best (and failing) to hide their fear with largely exaggerated smiles.
"N-N-No arguments here. We're getting along fine, right?" Grey said.
"Th-That's right b-b-bubby!" Natsu said.
One of the workers stepped forward, greeting the woman with a slight wave. "Hey there. Just so you know, there's no need to worry about those two. They've been a great help.
This caught Erza's attention. "Oh. Have they?"
Another worker stepped forward. "Yeah. Both helped to fix the building here. Natsu helped speed up the concrete's drying time too, so we can get started on redecorating."
At this, Erza's glare softened into a more normal glance. "Well that's great to here." She looked back at Grey and Natsu. "In that case, I'll leave you both be. That said, don't cause any trouble for anyone. Okay?"
"Yes Ma'am!" both Natsu and Grey exclaimed.
With that, Erza picked up all the building materials in one scoop, regarding the workers once more before making her way to another area. When she was out of sight, both Natsu and Grey rushed to the feet of the workers that stood up for them, repeatedly bowing to them and praising them.
"Thank you so much! You guys are the best!" Grey yelled.
"All ahil you guys! True heroes!"
The two continued to praise the workers, much to their discomfort. While this was happening, two more people had been observing the scene.
Joining a group of builders who were working on several different stores were two young women. One had long, blond hair that was tied into a ponytail and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink t-shirt, blue shorts and white sneakers. The other was quite younger, seemingly just into her teens. She had long blue hair that was tied into twin ponytails and brown eyes, dressed in a red jacket, dress shirt and tie. She also wore a skirt, stockings and red shoes.
The Blue-haired girl smiled awkwardly at the scene between Natsu and Grey. *Those two never seem to run out of energy, do they?"
The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? That said, they might just get tired and not want to admit it."
"Do you think I should ready my magic just in case?"
"Nah. They'll just go at it longer and get into more trouble."
The blonde looked back at the scene they were working on, pulling out a golden key from her belt. She looked back at her younger friend. "So, ready to get back to work, Wendy?"
"Just a minute." Wendy said to her friend, sitting down on a slab of broken cement. "Sorry, Lucy. I'm still a little tired from helping out with the church."
"Not a problem. Take as much time as you need." Lucy responded, respecting her friend's needs. She lifted her key into the air before slashing it downwards.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"
With that, the ground briefly shook before light appeared over the ground, something shooting up into the air. It landed on the ground, briefly shaking the area, and then took a different form. A humanoid bull with large amount of muscle mass, dressed in only a pair of shorts, boots and a very large battle axe strapped across his back.
The being looked back at Lucy, giving her a thumbs up. "Yo, Lady Lucy. How can I help?" he said.
Lucy gave him a thumbs-up as well. "Hey, Taurus. We need some extra muscle to move the debris. Can you give us a hand?"
"Anything for you and your rockin' bod', fine lady." Taurus said, immediately lifting some of the scattered debris off the ground. "After this can a get a 'Smooch'?"
With that, Lucy quickly kicked Taurus in the back of his knee. The surprise was enough to make him lose his balance, falling back and causing the debris to land of his face.
"I swear, you never stop getting on my nerves." Lucy said. "Now get to work before I dropkick you in the teeth."
With that, Taurus got back on his feet, showing no sign of damage or delirium from the debris. With a quick grin, he quickly got to work. Moving away the slabs at a surprisingly fast rate.
Lucy looked around, glad to see that they were making great progress. As soon as Taurus was done, she might ask some of the other spirits to help out. Before she could decide on who to call, she felt a tap on her shoulder, turning to find Erza standing there.
"I see you've everything handled here." Erza started. "How much longer before all the debris is cleared here?"
Lucy looked back at the scene and shrugged her shoulders. "Hm… no long. A little over an hour, I'd say. Then we can get to the repairs."
"Excellent." Erza stated. "I'll go get some materials for the repairs. Call me if you need anything else."
"Sure. Thanks, Erz-"
Lucy didn't get to finish as a small, metal tray came flying into view, hitting Erza on the side of her head. The suddenness made Lucy jump. She looked around to see where the tray had come from. To her surprise, or lack thereof, she saw Natsu and Grey brawling with one another once again, this time with more aggression.
Lucy sighed and slapped her forehead. "Honestly… when will they stop?"
Lucy looked towards Erza, intending to ask if she was alright. All concern for her friend vanished, replaced with cold dread, seeing an all too familiar glare making itself known on the armoured woman's face. Lucy looked back and forth between Erza and the two young men fighting, unsure of what to do at this point. That said, seeing the growing anger in Erza's eyes prompted her to make a quicker decision.
Lucy dashed away, hiding behind Wendy and peeking over her shoulder, just enough to keep Erza and the boys in view.
Wendy, who had also seen the event in question, looked at Lucy with a nervous smile. "Um… don't you think we should step in and help?"
"Not now Wendy…" Lucy said, sweat dripping from her brow. "We'll leave it five minutes into the beatdown before we try and stop her. She'll be a bit more relaxed after it."
As much as Wendy wanted to stop the carnage before it even began, she couldn't help but agree with Lucy's sound… albeit cruel logic.
Erza walked up to the boys, grabbing them both by the hair and pulling them to either side of her. The brawlers were both surprised and upset by this.
"Huh? What gives?" Grey asked.
"Who's keeping me from teaching ice-for-brains a le…" Natsu halted mid-speech as he saw who it was that stopped them.
Erza then positioned the two of them in front of her, a frightful stare that spoke volumes to the two victims as magical energy unintentionally seeped from her, further heightening the terror she was already unleashing to Natsu and Grey, as well as anyone else unfortunate enough to be standing near them.
Erza's tone was a blend of steel and ice as she began to chastise them. "This childish squabble will cease at once. We are in the middle of repairing the town after the battle with the empire, and we cannot afford any more of you two wasting time on your issues right now."
"W… We're sorry Erza!" Natsue managed to say.
Grey also tried to speak. "It was a mistake! We'll try to-"
"I have already warned to not twenty minutes ago to stop." Erza pointed out. "If words can't get the message through, then I have no choice but to use another medium!"
With that, the magical aura around Erza expanded even more, causing Erza's form to fade into black, aside from her eyes that pierced the shadows with a raging red light shining from them. It was at this point Natsu and Grey thought that this was the end for them, considering the importance of rebuilding the city.
"Oh man, this is it! I should've eaten the rest of that ham before I left!" Natsu cried.
"Only you would have that as your last thought." Grey replied in a deadpanned tone.
"HELP! SOMEONE!"
At the sound of the high-pitched voice ringing through the air, All feelings of anger and fear vanished. Erza released Natsu and Grey. They looked to where the voice had come from. In their line of vision was a man in ragged clothing, struggling to even walk as he was making his way over to the group. His head turned towards the sky, still crying out for aid.
"Someone… please…" he said, this time his voice growing silent.
He was about to collapse, when Erza dashed towards him, catching him in her arms and gently laying him on the ground. Natsu, Lucy, Grey and Wendy all charged after her, just as concerned for the man's safety.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Natsu exclaimed. "Wendy, you're up!"
The blue-haired youth raced over with no hesitation, skidding to the man and Erza's side. She outstretched her hands towards the man, her hands becoming wrapped in a light green glow. Following this, the man became covered in an aura with the same shade of green.
Wendy's expression formed a stern glare, trying her hardest to help him. "Don't worry. You'll be okay." She said. "… He has a lot of injuries on him. How did this even happen?"
"If he came into the city, shouldn't the guards have noticed him?" Grey asked, just as bewildered at what was happening.
"They're either spread thin helping out with the rebuilding or still recovering from injuries." Erza answered. "It's not ideal, but they're just not able to cover everything like before."
As Wendy tried to heal the injured man, Grey turned back towards the crowd. "Hey! Someone look around town for something to help! We're gonna need all the help we can get!"
At that, builders and workers and everyone else helping to repair the city dropped what they were doing and dashed towards different directions, all of them looking for something or someone that can help the victim.
Lucy checked her pockets, looking for something. "Where are Happy and Carla?"
"They went to a nearby town to make an order for more wood planks." Natsu answered. "They should be back soon. Why?"
"I was hoping they could do some recon to help find what happened." Lucy answered. "But I know who else can help."
With that, Lucy pulled out another one of her keys. She waved it in the air.
"Open! Gate of the Maiden – Virgo!"
With that, a bright flash appeared in front of her. When it faded, in place of the light was a young woman with mid-length pink hair, blue expressionless eyes and was dressed in a maid outfit.
"How may I be of service, princess?" the woman said to Lucy.
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. "Virgo, thanks for coming. There's been an attack. Wendy's looking after the victim, but can you check outside the city for signs of a struggle. The attackers might be close, or could have left a clue."
Virgo kept a blank expression as she responded. "How long ago was the attack?"
"We don't know, the guy just appeared in the city. There's no way he could have walked a long distance given… you know." She said, looking back. She was relieved to see that Wendy's healing magic seemed to be working.
"… I'll see what I can find." Virgo stated.
With that, Virgo quickly drilled a hole in the ground, moving rapidly through the ground out towards the city. With how Quickly Virgo can move underground, she should be able to find something soon.
Natsu grinned at the celestial mage. "Nice one, Lucy." He said. "As soon as Happy gets back, I'll ask him to do some recon."
"Right." Lucy said as she dashed towards Wendy. "Wendy! How is he?"
"… He's…" Wendy started, keeping a strong focus on her patient. She then looked surprised, looking at her friends individually. "He's waking up!"
At that, all eyes turned towards the man. His eyes slowly opened but his eyes seemed glassy and expressionless. He didn't seem to be aware of where he was, not paying any attention to the crowd surrounding him. The most he was able to do was breathe and blink his eyes.
Natsu was not keen on letting him just lie there, choosing to kneel in front of the man and shake his leg, trying to prompt a response. This seemed to work, as the man's head slowly turned his head towards the fire-user. His eyes brightened, his eyes coming across Natsu's bare arm, more specifically the Fairy Tail guild emblem on the upper arm.
"Fair… Fairy…" he managed to say.
Without warning, he sprang forward, yelling in pain as his remaining injuries were aggravated by the sudden movement. He grabbed Natsu's arm, his expression becoming less dazed, his eyes now tearing up.
"They… they took her. Please help her." He said in a strained tone.
Natsu's face became a concerned glare. "Who? Who took her?"
"… Mages… my daughter… Eve…"
With that, the little strength he had faded, forcing him to fall back. Erza caught him again, looking perplexed at his words.
"He was attacked by mages?" she asked, not looking happy in the slightest. "… A Dark Guild."
Grey opted to speak. "Are you sure about that Erza? There haven't been any mentions of Dark Guilds since we took down 'Avatar'. I thought they were taken down."
Erza nodded in agreement. The Dark Guild 'Avatar' had been one of the more recent, but most dangerous, guilds that worked outside of the magic council's rules. They had worked according to the ideas of Zeref, even going as far as to summon their creature of destruction to bring about the destruction they believed Zeref sought. It was only thanks to Grey and the rest of the team to take them down once and for all.
Since then, they thought that all the Dark Guilds had ceased to exist, given the amount of damage and the threat level the members of Fairy Tail, and also the council, had proved to be.
"It seems we were wrong." Erza stated. "I can't believe that I was so foolish."
Erza was about to pull something from her pocket when the ground exploded before them. They all took a defensive stance, believing that it could be another threat. That was until the smoke cleared, revealing Virgo in front of another large hole in the ground.
"Virgo?" Lucy cried in surprise. "That was… quicker than I thought."
"It didn't take long to find something unusual." Virgo stated. "Not too far away from the city walls, there is a house with most of the front destroyed. It was an attack… but…"
"But what?" Lucy asked.
"The interior of the house was completely flooded. Given the rain last night, it seems that it was some time last night. If it had happened recently, then the inside wouldn't be flooded, or at least flooded as much."
"What does that mean?" Natsu asked.
"It means that the kidnappers struck last night, and they have a head start." Grey answered.
"…"
No one was happy to hear this news. They had only just begun to feel like things were going back to normal. They thought that everyone here would finally be able to relax, to be able to live without fearing for their lives after the Alverez attack. Instead, more people were still getting hurt, and the guild had been too many steps behind to stop them.
All were struck with guilt and worry, feeling that they should have done better. Natsu had been the first to break free from this feeling, slamming his fist into his palm, a blast of flame firing out. The sound was enough to gain everyone's attention.
"Then what the hell are we doing here? Let's get going and find her!" he said. There was no way he would allow anyone, Dark Guild or not, to get away with causing harm to anyone in the hoe of his guild.
"And how do we do that?" Grey asked him. "We don't have any leads, no clue as to who these guys are!"
"Well, we gotta do somethin' instead of just being sour about what we can't do!"
Natsu and grey looked like that they were going to enter another spat. Both Lucy and Erza were about to intervene, knowing this wasn't the time to fight.
"I think I do have a lead."
At those words, all eyes present looked towards the celestial spirit, a sliver of a smile appearing on her face. She dug out an item from the side of her outfit, holding it with both hands and outstretched towards everyone. The item was a black sphere with an emblem etched into it. It looked like a wide-open set of teeth with elongated fangs, the head of a rose within.
"It seems that there was a Dark Guild. There also seem to be traces of magic coming off of it. I can't say for sure what it does, but it's a start."
Natsu stood up and ran to her side, pulling her into a hug. Virgo gave a friendly smile at the act, glad to have been of some help.
"Virgo, you are awesome!" the fire user exclaimed.
Virgo hand him the orb and Natsu held it up towards the sun, a toothy grin appearing on his face.
"Get ready dumbasses. You're in for a world of hurt when we find you."
"Is everything ready?"
Two people were standing before one another, both dressed in grey, tattered cloaks that hid their appearances. They were standing in a chapel, shaped in a circle. There were curved cloisters, all of them broken and worn. At the other end of the room, an alter stained with blood, a single chalice in the center that was filled nearly to the top with a black substance.
The first person to speak had his fists clenched, speaking in a harsh tone. The second person spoke in a much more relaxed tone, showing to not be as rushed.
"The preparations are almost set. After we get some more 'fuel', we should be ready to go ahead."
That's what you said when we brought in that last target!" the first person exclaimed. "How much more do we need before we're ready to go?"
"…" the second person raised their head, giving the first person a blade-like grin. At the look being given, the first person felt a chill go down his spine, but he refused to back down. "As I said, this will be the last one. Everything else is ready to go."
The first person still seemed unconvinced by their words. He was about to respond when the doors to the chapel burst open. They turned to see a group of people briskly walking into the room, carrying a person with a bag over their head.
The person carrying their victim approached the two, gently resting the body onto the ground.
"She was exactly where you said she'd be." The carrier said. "It was easy enough to get her here."
"Excellent." The second robed person said. "… Yes… yes, this is it. Can you feel it?"
The second person raised their hands out to their sides, revealing a pair of heavily scarred arms with black gloves over their hands. the scarred figure lowered their arms, kneeling in front of the body. The scarred figure removed the bag, showing the victim to be Eve.
"Plenty of power in this one… this is more than enough to finish our preparations."
The scarred figure stood up, looking towards the leader of the group. The man with the scarred lip.
"Get the equipment and have her ready as soon as possible. Get yourselves something to eat before starting though…" he gave the whole group a grin. "You've more than earned it."
With that, they all bowed and left the chapel, the doors closing on their own when they had left. The first person adjusted their hood, revealing a pair of glowing lilac iris, but no pupils. The lilac-eyed figure looked at their scarred ally.
"So this is it, huh? We can finally complete our mission." He said, a liver of a grin showing on his face.
"I'm slightly offended that you doubted me." The scarred figure stated. "Anyway, you're right. Everything we've worked for will be achieved. We can bring an end to it all. A life without-"
Before he could finish, an agonized, beastly roar rang through the air, followed by the sound of other humans shrieking in pain and fear. It lasted for nearly twenty seconds before they died out. When it did, the scarred figure walked to the alter, their eyes focused on the chalice. The figure kept the grin on their face, looking up above. The air was suddenly filled with a visible black mist, coating the walls before making its way to the chalice. When it all entered the black liquid, the chalice was further filled by the tiniest amount.
The scarred figure turned, a light laugh escaping their lips.
"Soon… we will bring an end to this… accursed existence."
AN: And that's the first chapter done. A bit of set up and such for the main events of the story. And for those of you wondering when a certain character is about to appear... expect their grand entrance soon is all I can say. Also, if I made any mistakes in terms of the Fairy Tail story and lore, feel free to say so. I'm telling you it's difficult to remember it all sometimes.
And that's all from me for now. I'll be aiming to get another chapter for this out before Christmas, as well as at least one chapter for 'Dark Angel of Remnant' as well, for those who are interested.
Thanks for reading this, remember to leave some feedback and I hope you all have a great day and stay safe.