This is the last arc, the story is ending. I know I had ups and downs, but I hope for the most part it was fun for everyone.
Enjoy...
"What's going on here?" Gray asked as he entered the guild.
Fairy Tail was bustling, with mages walking around carrying and bringing materials of various kinds and working on the building's structure, inside and out. Gray thought this was all very strange, it wasn't common for mages in his guild to build things.
"With the threat of being attacked, we are building a defensive perimeter. We thought it would be a good idea," one of the mages said.
"Oh, I understand. Doesn't seem like a bad idea at all," replied the ice mage.
"Exactly, those are the plans. If you want to help...", the mage showed the plan, which looked more like a scrawl of a talentless child.
Gray looked at it with a disgusted expression. "What a horrible thing! Who was the idiot who did this?" he grumbled.
"Whaaa!", Mira put her hands to her face crying, when she heard the ice mage's comment.
"MIRA!" Gray yelled. "I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean that!", he tried desperately to apologize. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was women crying.
Lucy looked at him with boredom. "You've got it again, Gray," she said.
"Mira!" shouted Ryker when he saw his lover in tears. "What happens?", she ran and hugged him, crying into his chest.
"Now you're dead, Gray. It was nice meeting you," Happy said. Gray swallowed desperately, sweating cold and shivering at what would happen to his life.
"Come on Mira, tell me? What happened? Why are you crying?" Ryker asked Mirajane crying in his arms.
"They didn't like my drawing and the plans I made," she whimpered. "And they called me an idiot", she looked at the ice mage surreptitiously, with a malicious, sadistic and evil look. Gray went back to swallowing hard and sweating cold, sweating like never before, watching his life flash through his eyes.
Ryker's expression clouded, becoming furious and filled with deadly rage. "Who called you an idiot, Mira? It will be his last day on this earth."
Mira pulled away from him, wiping away her tears and smiling at her boyfriend. "Forget it, Love. We have more important things to do."
"Are you sure?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, don't mind that," she replied.
"If you think. But call me anything", he said and went on with his chores.
Gray took a deep breath of relief. "Thanks, Mira. I'm sorry for calling you…you know".
Mira looked at him and smiled gently as she always does, although there was something about that smile that bothered him. "It's okay, Gray. I'm sure you will be very useful to me in the future", she said and left him alone.
Gray was left alone with his thoughts, what she meant. He felt a tremor go through his body, a feeling of fear and insecurity took over him and he knew his future was not going to be pleasant.
Lucy approached Ryker and nudged him with her elbow. "'Love' huh...!" she teased him.
Ryker blushed slightly. "Shut up, Lucy!" he said sullenly, to a smiling blonde.
"How are the preparations going?" Makarov asked in his office.
"We have everything ready. We can leave tomorrow morning," Jellal replied.
"Excellent. Thanks for helping us, Jellal," the Fairy Tail master said.
"It is my duty to put an end to dark guilds, master. So I couldn't deny the help," he replied.
"I imagine it's not just that," Makarov smiled, making Jellal blush at the innuendo. "Anyway, be careful there."
"We will. The trip should take a couple of days, so we'll leave as soon as possible," Jellal warned.
"Don't waste time, warn others and be prepared," urged Makarov. Jellal bowed in respect and left the master's office.
As agreed, early the next morning, Erza's Team, plus Gajeel, Juvia and Jellal left for Annaheim . There were no trains or easy roads to that forgotten part of Fiore. The only way was for them to go with mounts. But their departure did not go unnoticed by keen eyes.
Somewhere in Annaheim ...
"My lord, Karan," Ivan called to him, bowing respectfully.
"Any news, Ivan?" he asked.
"Yes. Our watchman reported that Fairy Tail mages departed the guild on mounts."
Karan smiled at the news. "They should be here in two days. Who is coming?".
"Apparently Jellal Fernadez , Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel , Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell , Juvia Lockser, and Gajeel Redfox," Ivan replied.
"Interesting," Karan said thoughtfully. "I thought they would send more people. But anyway... It went as planned, they sent the strongest mages at their disposal".
"Exactly, my lord," Ivan agreed. "Lars was very helpful to us."
"Where is he, by the way?" Karan asked.
"He's smart, he must have run away. Do you want me to deal with him?".
"Leave him. He's harmless."
"As you wish, my lord," Ivan said. "We sent a detachment to find Laxus Dreyar, too."
"Perfect, Ivan. But I feel something is bothering you," Karan commented, sensing his subordinate's concern.
Ivan looked at him seriously. "The other guilds. When they find out what happened, they'll come at us. I'm not sure we'll be ready. There will be casualties among men."
Karan smiled carelessly. "None of them are as strong as the mages we are going to face now. There is nothing to fear. When we destroy Fairy Tail, the other guilds will be nothing," he said grimly. "See, Sabertooth , there are only three prominent mages, the two Dragon Slayers and Minerva. Mermaid Heel only have Kagura, Four Cerberus there is no one I would single out and Blue Pegasus, I don't even need to comment. Lamia Scale, has just that ice mage and Jura. Beating Fairy Tail is nothing to worry about. We will go against everyone and kill them just as we are going to kill these fairies."
Ivan laughed. "When the guilds fall, Fiore will be ours."
"It will be a beautiful sight to behold," Karan laughed devilishly. "Ivan, get everything ready, let's make them fall into our trap and guide them to the arena."
"Yes sir", Ivan bowed and walked out of the tent where Karan was.
"We moved here from our base at the right time. Now I just have to wait... HAHAHA!"
Ryker was sitting at a table, along with Mirajane, eating lunch. However, he wasn't acting as usual, his gaze was far away and distracted, and he showed unease. Mira noticed his weird behavior, it wasn't common for him to act that way, and that worried her a little.
"Don't worry about them, Ryker," she tried to calm him down somehow. "They will do fine. They always come out," she smiled.
He looked back at her and smiled back. "It's not them I'm worried about," he replied.
"So what's bothering you?"
"Something about all this isn't right," he replied.
"You said this before, but you still haven't figured out what it is?" she asked. "I'm starting to worry about you."
Ryker reached out and took Mira's hand affectionately, caressing it with his fingers and he smiled gently at her. "I'll be fine, Cutie ," he reassured her.
Mira giggled softly and shyly. "' Cutie ,'" she repeated. Ryker blushed and cringed, slightly embarrassed, Mira smiled and found his reaction cute.
"Well, anyway... What about Laxus and his team?" Ryker asked.
"They're on a mission," Mira replied.
"On mission? Where?"
"He's to the north, not too close. But why?".
"Spark would be of great help in this situation," Ryker commented, lamenting the absence of one of the guild's most powerful mages. "I thought long and distant missions were being banned."
"They are, but the order was from a former customer. There was no denying it," Mira explained. "Apparently it was an urgent request."
Ryker stopped and thought for a moment. He looked to the side to see the guild and its mages and a terrible idea began to form in his mind.
"What's up, Ryker?" Mira asked, sensing her boyfriend's spirit. They're so in sync that they didn't even need to ask each other questions to know what they were thinking.
"I think we have a problem here," he was categorical.
"What do you mean?", she asked worried and scared.
"Mira, when exactly did Laxus go on a mission?" he asked.
Ryker and Mira went to the guild's archives to check the history and record of all the work that was done by the mages. Mira was meticulous and kept everything perfectly organized so it wasn't hard to find.
"It's been three days. The trip was long and there was no proper transportation there," Mira said, looking at the records.
"And who is the employer?" Ryker asked.
"A noble, businessman. He's made some requests to the guild before," she said.
"And the previous jobs he asked for, where did they go?" Mira and Ryker searched the logs for his old mission requests.
"Here it is," Mira warned. "All orders were in Crocus, in the capital, and in important cities of the kingdom, but nothing as far away as this one. Do you think something might happen?" she began to feel scared. That request was out of the contractor's pattern, she felt fear and remorse if anything happened. "Damn it! I should have paid attention, known something was wrong", she martyred herself.
Ryker placed his hand on her shoulder, "Don't blame yourself, we don't know what happened. That's why we're here". She looked at him with sad eyes, tried to manage a slight smile. Then he stopped and thought for a few seconds. "Now, that pattern doesn't fit," he said. "They were all protection services, but this one isn't specified, is it?"
Mira looked at the record and checked. "It's just written that you need a mage specializing in lightning, but it doesn't say the nature of the request. It was an S-Class mission , when it was registered, Laxus was the one," she said. Ryker looked at her seriously. "What are you thinking, Ryker?" she asked seriously.
"That we're screwed," he replied.
They returned to the guild hall and gathered everyone together, as did Makarov, who was in his office.
"What do you want?" the guild master asked.
"There's a possibility we've fallen into a trap," Ryker said bluntly.
Everyone in the guild started talking at the same time, causing an intense and irritating noise.
"All quiet!", Makarov yelled, silencing all the guild mages who had started the buzz. He fixed himself on Ryker, looking at him seriously. "Explain, Ryker," he asked.
"What we have here is the classic divide-and-conquer strategy," Ryker began to explain. "Laxus' mission is very suspicious, he was sent far away, a place difficult to access and remote. Interestingly, Erza's team too. And here we are. If I were to bet, communication with Erza and Laxus is impossible," he said.
Makarov motioned for Mira to try with the lacrima. Again and again she tried but nothing happened, as Ryker predicted there was no communication with either team.
"What does all this mean, Ryker?" Lisanna asked, startled.
"That they are smart and have planned their actions very well. We are not dealing with ordinary mages or a trivial black guild. They're good," Ryker said. "The bastards tore us apart, drawing each group to one side. They will attack us with everything. This is not a joke".
"What do you suggest?" Makarov asked.
"They will attack us on three fronts. Erza, Laxus and the guild. Nobody knows this and both Erza and Laxus will fall into a trap."
"How can you be sure of that?" someone asked.
"It's standard army strategy. We trick the enemy and catch him off guard," Ryker replied. "And because I've done something similar."
"I understand, but Jellal made contact with an informant. He confines him," Makarov stated.
"Jellal was tricked. An undercover agent to deceive, give false leads, deceive. If it's done well it's very difficult to find out. If I were to bet their base wouldn't even be in Annaheim ," Ryker turned to Levy. "Levy, bring me a map of that place," he asked. Little bluenett ran to the library to get what he asked for.
"What can we do? We can't let them fall into this trap", Elfman said worriedly for his guildmates.
"The first thing is to get all the people out of town," he said.
"What!? But why?" they asked.
"We are not dealing with saints. From the looks of it and the way they've worked this far, they want Fairy Tail dead. They will spare no effort to do so. And using the villagers as a weapon against you is an advantage. They must know your modus operandi, and they know that you will defend civilians. This counts against you. By taking people out, they lose that advantage. I know, because I've seen it happen," Ryker replied flatly.
"Ryker, you have more experience. Lead," Makarov ordered.
Ryker nodded. "We have to get everyone out as quickly as possible. I think they should coordinate attacks. That should give us a day and a half," he said.
"And what else?" the master asked.
"Keep trying to communicate with them. When the fight starts don't fight them head on. They will be the majority, use the city you know best to your advantage. Use guerrilla tactics, this is not the time to be the noble hero. Just win and survive," he advised them seriously.
"Ryker, here it is," Levy arrived with the map of Annaheim .
Ryker studied the map and relief of that inhospitable region. It bordered on another realm and was dotted with gorges and canyons that connect in intricate paths that may or may not be connected. The natural labyrinths would be perfect for ambushes and to separate the group, being able to attack the mages individually. It was a death trap. Only those who knew the region very well could get in and out without getting lost. That geography scared him.
"This is going to be a massacre," he thought. "Okay… Erza's team is the strongest, by logic they will concentrate their greatest forces against her. Here, they will send a smaller, weaker group," he began to ponder and analyze the mages around him.
"Ryker, what are you thinking?" Mira asked.
He looked at her deeply and seriously. "I'll help Erza," he replied.