A/N - This chapter took longer because it just was not forming the way I wanted it to. Finally, I managed to get it to where I was decently happy with it. Hope it reads well!
Former Arrangements
By Genavere
Chapter Thirteen
"It seems Queen Hisui suspicions were correct." Erza looked down at the manor engulfed in flame. With a hand on her hip and a smile on her face, she assessed the situation favorably.
The fires indicated that their friends were still alive, and the lack of additional explosions that they heard before meant they were not currently involved in a battle. All conditions she found satisfactory for their rescue plans. A sense of pride welled up in her chest.
On either side of her, Gajeel and Gray both watched as the guards and servants of the manor scrambled around. It seemed that many of them were not magically inclined as they passed buckets back and forth in a feeble attempt to fight the fires.
"Tck, Salamander never does anything small, does he." Gajeel scoffed, arms crossed over his chest.
"Natsu has never been one to half-ass anything," Gray said, chest bare. "If he wanted to send a message, this would be how he would do it. That explosion earlier was probably him, too."
"That maybe true," she pointed at the fire at a different part of the manor away from the larger one, "but I have a feeling our other missing friend started that one."
"You think Bunny Girl did that to cause a distraction?"
"It is possible, especially if they were able to plan an escape without anyone knowing. This will prove useful."
Planning for the rescue party had been relatively easy as most of the guild had wanted to participate in some way or another. In the end, Master Makarov and Erza had set up three teams. The first being Team Natsu since it had been their teammates and closest friends who had been captured.
The second team was led by Laxus with the Thunder Legion. During the discussions of planning the rescue teams, Laxus had stepped forward and said he would be going no matter whether they agreed or not. He had formed a strong bond with Lucy after Guiltina and his respect for her had grown after he was brought back into the guild.
"Determined to save your little sister?" Mira had asked him with her trademark smile. Every muscle in his body stiffened, but he did not deny the idea that he had come to view her as such.
"Just put me and the Thunder Legion as going."
The third team, led by Mirajane, consisted of Juvia, Romeo, Gajeel, and Levy. The younger Strauss siblings had not been back in time to come with the rescue teams, else they all knew they would have tried to come with. Everyone else in the guild had stayed back by orders of the master or had been out on jobs.
Even with three teams consisting of some of their strongest, there could be no room for error.
"Even with this development, I want to ensure the camp is set up at our rendezvous location in case either of them are hurt or if we run into additional trouble." Erza turned away from the sight of the manor. "The sooner we get back to the others, the faster we can search for Natsu and Lucy."
Before she took a step, she noticed Laxus heading toward them with one of Bickslow's dolls following.
The Lightning Dragon Slayer's cloak flowed around him, the wind and his movements adding to the billowing fabric. It was a miracle that it was able to stay on his broad shoulders somedays, especially during fights, she mused quietly, but thought nothing more of it. What concerned her happened to be the look on his face. The arrogant look he typically had was replaced by one of trepidation.
"We have a situation on our hands," he announced when he grew close enough. "Several of Freed and Levy's alarms have been triggered all around the property as high alerts." At the top of the hill, he came to a stop and crossed his arms. A nerve twitched under his eye as he surveyed the burning manor. A distant roll of thunder echoed above.
"What does the high alert mean?" Gray asked with a frown. "We have creeps showing up to cause trouble?"
"That could be exactly what that means." Erza pressed a finger against her chin. "High alerts are only triggered by those who have magic capabilities. Even ability-holder wizards, if their magic power is great enough, could trigger it. That means we might not be the only guild to have arrived here when we did.
'It would not surprise me if we find ourselves having to face against the members of the same guild as the prisoner back at the guild. We will need to move fast. Our primary goal is to rescue Natsu and Lucy. Only when they are safe, we will determine if finding the duke—"
"Wait." Gajeel cut her off and took a step toward the manor, his face strained. Laxus came up next to him with a similar look. Moments ticked by as Gray and Erza stared at them unwaveringly. Both anxious to know what they found.
Both Dragon Slayers jerked forward. Gajeel swore. "It's them!"
"No doubt about it," Laxus said. "That was Lucy and Natsu. Sounds like they might have run into trouble."
"No time to waste then." Erza called out her sword. It had taken far too long for them to find their friends, in her opinion. A week would have been too long, over a week was inexcusable. And now they might be in further trouble. Her grip tightened on the hilt. "Laxus, I will leave the delegation of the others to you. Gajeel, lead Gray and I towards Natsu and Lucy. If they found trouble, we will be there to help them!"
"Right!"
"Remember to keep communications open!" Laxus shouted after them as they charged toward the sound of their friends. The tones of the voices had chilled his blood harder than the presence of the Ice Mage.
Yes, he had grown to view Lucy as his younger sister. The Thunder Legion teased him relentlessly about it after they had gone on a job with the three main members of Team Natsu. Not only did they look similar enough that people on the streets confused them as such, but they were family already with the guild. She had been willing to forgive him and proved to be a competent fighter. Not only that, but she had also listened to him and gave advice without complaint many times, and vice versa.
His fists curled inward as he headed back to the rest. A line of lightning crackled across the dark clouds overhead, the thunder rumbling through the ground. Under his breath, a promise of pain.
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Lucy blinked up at the lightning spiderwebbing across the clouds above. Would there be rain, she wondered, yearning for even a brief glimpse of a star in the darkened sky. Being away from her magic, spirits, and family had drained her more than she realized. Or it was the numbness that made her body feel like a puzzle barely put together with a complete limb missing, she wondered aimlessly.
Either way, the rumble of the ground brought her thoughts back to the fight at hand.
Particularly, to her partner.
Scales, horns, wings…Every feature, every red sheen. In her heart, she knew what it meant. E.N.D had been released.
Yet, there was a difference, she noticed.
Something was off from when she had last seen him in those caverns of lava. His features this time held a draconic look to them, and the right side of her body did not ache as it had when his demon side came out last. And his eyes…his eyes, while golden-red, were still him. They were not crazed and wild in a state of frenzy.
Her forehead was still warm from where he had laid his. A smile spread along her lips. That Natsu. Her Natsu. Even when she thought he could not impress her or push himself further, he could still leave her breathless. Somehow, in the time from when they had last seen each other, he had managed to combine every part of him into a force no one could surpass. Not against his determination and drive.
Then why am I just laying here, she berated herself with a huff. Annoyance flared through the thickness in her arms, and she pushed herself up until she managed to fully sit up. The world spun around her, enough so that she feared she would throw up what little she had in her stomach.
Gripping the grass tightly, she clenched her eyes closed and breathed in several deep breaths. If Natsu still fought, then so would she. Even if it meant fighting back her nausea first. A wave of heat brushed passed her, lifting strands of her hair from her face. It brought a sense of comfort through her since the heat came from him.
Taking a deep breath, she looked down at her leg and the needle that was still embedded in the muscle. Using the tip of it, she cut the bottom portion of the coat Natsu wrapped around her and ripped a strip from it. It was a bit dirty, but that did not matter.
Thankfully, her leg was completely numb, which worked for what she had planned. Gripping the portion of the needle that was available to her, she gritted her teeth and yanked it from her calf. No pain came from it, but fresh blood began running down her leg from the wound. With the strip from the coat, she wrapped it around it and tied it tightly with the knot right over the wound.
Panting, she gripped the needle in her hand and clenched her jaw together. As long as she was still conscious, she would keep fighting.
Across the field from her, fire engulfed the clearing and claws scraped across steel. In the sky, wings beat powerfully and sent gusts of wind into the opponent's eyes. Natsu flipped midair to land briefly on the ground, his feet pushing away from it with tremendous force and straight at Bear Flint. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The blow slammed into the man's arms as he blocked. An arm came up and pushed back the kick aimed for his head. His other arm brought his sword forward to aim for the Slayer's gut. Fabric from the loose shirt caught on the tip as claws caught the blade and tossed it away. Both jumped back, assessing the other.
The demonic beast barely seemed out of breath, which shook Bear Flint as he gasped for air. The endurance he had tracking was different than fighting. And he could not deny the boy was talented. The scales offered protection from his needles and swords, the tips of them ricocheting off seamlessly. Wings brought a second pair of arm-like limbs that could block incoming blows.
Nonetheless, never had a beast bested him, and he would not allow that to start now.
A new sword materialized and lifted in a defensive stance, he spread his free arm out fully with even his fingers spread. Needles began to appear around and above him, duplicating until at least a hundred, if not more, surrounded him. "How many can you melt before they overwhelm you?"
Natsu stood his ground as waves of the sharp projectiles shot out at him in rows. Moving would have been a waste of energy. Magic flared as his body temperature spiked. Waves of heated air wavered around him like a wall. As the needles reached it, they began to melt and rain into gobs of metal steel dropped onto the grass with a hiss.
"Tck," Natsu glared at the hunter wizard at the end of waves, "that all you got?" His wings were still spread wide, providing a barrier to protect Lucy from behind him. While his attention was on his opponent, he could hear her moving behind him. Her breathing and heartbeat increased as she did.
Stubborn woman, he thought with a fanged grin. She never knew when to quit trying to prove herself, even when he knew she had no reason to. There were some days he felt she had more drive and energy than he did.
A strong scent caught his attention and made his core temperature drop. His heart clenched. The coppery tang in the air matched the smell he knew matched Lucy's fresh blood. Could he risk a look back at her without opening himself or her to a direct attack?
"Natsu!" A shiver ran through his body. The sound of her voice was rough, but strong and full of determination. "Don't worry about me! Gut that bastard so we can go home!"
He smirked. "Don't have to tell me twice." Bending down into a crouch, his entire body erupted in flames. Hair whipped around his face. Eyes snapped up and narrowed at his prey. "Hidden Fire Form – Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!"
His body snapped forward, disappearing from where he stood and appeared in front of Bear Flint. A fist shot up unhindered by sword or arms, neither fast enough to see the coming attack. Scaled covered knuckles cut into skin from his uppercut.
Flint's body flew up into the air, suspended there for a moment by the force of the blow. A figure appeared above him and wings unfurled, blocking out another wave of lightning that forked across the sky. Narrow golden-red eyes seemed to glow in the night. A split second of fear brought a word to his lips. Then the demon flew at him, a massive force of power slammed into him.
Spittle spewed from his lips from the impact. Their bodies massed together as they crashed to the ground and cut a path into it. From the impact, a cloud of debris swirled around the area and a haze of browns, greens, and tans hid them.
Wings stretched out with a few snaps and cleared the dust, scattering it in all directions. Natsu stumbled back, ringing filled his ears. As much as he wanted to shake his head to try to clear the annoying sound, the world was already spinning around him. Saliva gathered in his mouth a moment before he felt the familiar twist in his gut from nausea.
The impact had been rough, sure, and the hunter did have a wall of muscles he just slammed into, but he had done similar moves to larger opponents. That attack should not have left him in such a state.
Blinking, he stumbled further back toward the spot he hoped Lucy was. The way the world would not stop moving made getting to her difficult and made him stumble. A layer of sweat broke out on his face.
Arms hugged his stomach in agony. Claws, scales, horns, even his wings began pulling back into himself. The loose shirt he found earlier was torn from his wings and the fight. Yet, somehow, he still had the uncomfortable boots on. A noise caught his attention and he looked toward where Lucy had been.
He frowned. Why were there two Lucy's crawling toward him, their mouths moving simultaneously as if yelling at him?
"—tsu!"
While he was known to be slow at times, he could almost admit that it looked like she was saying his name.
"Natsu! Behind you!"
The breath he took caught in his throat. Her voice pulled him back to the now as the movement behind him finally registered. All his senses stitched together and told him the danger he was in. Around him, the air pressure changed, the force of a massive weapon directed at him. Inhaling a single breath to push the one stuck in his throat down, a multitude of new scents hit him.
Desperate to reduce the damage, he twisted around as fast as he could. If he did not attempt to block the blow, it would leave him and Lucy vulnerable to attack. He refused to let anyone hurt his partner anymore!
"Ice-Make: Shield!"
A shockwave pushed Natsu through the air as a massive, spiked ball of a morning star slammed into the ice wall. Cracks formed along the shield but held firm against the weapon. On the other side to him, a small figure dropped down and laughed. "Shrink!" The higher pitch voice commanded, though a hint of a masculine cord pulled from it.
The ball shrank a considerable amount until it was the size of a softball and laid on the ground with a chain connected to it that led to a metal coil-like handle that wrapped around its owner's arm up to their elbow. The laughter earlier grew deeper, and they threw their head back as the ice finally crumbled. "What fun! How could I have expected other people to show up!"
A figure appeared in front of where Natsu landed, swords drawn, and Heaven's Wheel armor equipped to fight. Erza gritted her teeth. "You have no honor to attack someone with their back turned."
The flail-welder smirked and spun the ball around in the air with the chain. "Darling, you should know better than to assume anyone in a dark guild has honor." They tossed a braid over their shoulder. One half of their head with light blue hair was clean shaven with intricate tattoos all over the exposed skin. The other half was French braided and went down to the back of their knees. "Have you not heard that it is impolite to intrude on someone else's fight?"
"Not when you aim to harm my friends."
A twisted grin came to the other's face. "My, where are my manners! Not only have I not introduced myself, but I have also not even sought my guild member's condition."
With a grand flourish, they bowed. Their tight fitted chest armor crossed over their midsection and wrapped around their neck leaving their toned stomach and chest exposed. From their hips down, a skirt with ruffles puffed out and ended just short of the laced thigh-high platform boots they wore. "Quinn Oakley is my name, but The Crusher is what I am known as."
They glowered up with darkened eyes at her, their smile growing. "You could not possibly believer your guild is the only special one with members with grandiose aliases, right Fairy Queen Titania."
Erza felt a chill run down her spine at the look and aura from this Quinn person. The name Crusher had been circulating quite a bit in the guilds lately, but no one she had personally talked to had seen them. Now she had a face to put to the name.
"My, we both are quite impolite as you have not checked on your guildmates at all." They put a hand against their cheek in mock fright. "How unseemly we are."
It was a ploy, she knew the moment she looked back to her friends, the other wizard would lash out with their weapon and attack. Her grip tightened on her swords. "Gray."
While Erza had placed herself in front of her friends, Gray had rushed the rest of the way to Lucy and Natsu. He had gotten to the celestial wizard just as she finished dragging herself to the unconscious dragon slayer and put his head on her lap.
"Natsu? H-hey, wake up! Natsu!"
His chest heaved erratically, and his face was pale and drenched with sweat. Even with her calling out to him, there was no reaction that he heard her. Gray frowned and tried to figure out what was wrong with him. "Natsu's in bad shape," he called to Erza to let her know.
"Lucy?" Gray knelt by her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, something that normally would have started a fight between him and the fire mage. "What happened to Natsu?"
"I-I don't know," she shook her head, tears staining her face. Her fingers ran through Natsu's sweat drenched hair and glared up at the large wizard getting to his feet several feet away from them. "He was fighting that man and after an attack, he began to look sick."
Bear Flint stumbled toward them, blood filled his mouth and stained his face. It was obvious to all of them he had taken substantial damage, but he still managed to laugh and look triumphant. "That boy had no chance against me—hidden ability spells, ha! My rebuke spell has never let my prey go, and it won't now." His eyes snapped to Lucy, the lightning above reflecting in the wide stare.
"Oh, Honey Bear, how mean of you!" Quinn laughed. They swung their flail around and clucked their tongue. "Poor creature, I had truly desired to see their prowess against my own strength. A shame to take away such an opponent so hastily in a potentially amusing battle."
"What do you mean by that?" Erza demanded, her voice thick with worry.
Lucy gripped the loose shirt that covered Natsu's chest and felt the unnaturally high temperature radiating from him. While she was used to his normal higher than most body heat, this abnormally higher. Shivers made his whole body shake and his lower jaw chattered in his unconscious state.
"The moment I uttered the spell, any attacks he landed against me would cause a wave of poison to be expelled from my pores." A needle appeared in his hand, and he pierced his skin with it. "My resistance to it is remarkable, but even I would succumb without one of my antidote needles."
Lucy's eyes widened as she watched him toss the needle into one of the raging fires surrounding them from the fight earlier. They needed that antidote! Poison had been an Achilles' Heel for them in so many situations, and Wendy did not seem to be with Gray and Erza.
A shiver of cold dread choked her and gripped her in a state of terror. She could not lose him.
Another chill of cold caught her attention and the tightness around her throat loosened. Magic surged through her veins so rapidly her vision swirled. Air filled her lungs easier, even with the pain from the injuries she sustained. A hand reached up and felt the raw skin of her throat where the collar had been. Being free of it lifted an oppressive weight from her shoulders that allowed her to relax even in the situation they currently faced.
"Gray."
He waved her off. "Don't mention it. Just keep an eye on him for us." He stood and moved next to Erza. "It's time that we show these dark guild freaks just who they are messing with."
"We will get the antidote for him." Erza chanced a glance back at her and offered a small smile. "Let us handle this. We will be sure to show them exactly what makes Fairy Tail a family."
"Such endearing words from insignificant creatures!" Quinn prepared their weapon, excited to fight and show why they were named Crusher.
Bear Flint stepped next to his guild member and grinned. "I think you are miscalculating something." The fur wrap he wore was tossed to the ground and two large axes were summoned in each fist.
"And what would that be?" Gray asked, unamused.
"If you win, I may give you the antidote, but whoever said that he would survive that long?"
A/N - Happy Halloween! Next chapter is being worked on and will involve a lot of fighting!