Okay people, here is the new chapter. This update took longer because I got sick, yet I managed to do it!
Thanks everyone for your reviews, it's really important to have them.
Answers for the reviewers:
To treeofsakuras – Mirajane is not in love with Natsu, she's really thankful to him, and she cares a lot about him, but nothing more than that. Don't worry, Jane will find her love – that may take a lot of time and several attempts, but everything will be fine in the end.
To Anaklusmos863 – Sorry man but things are not like they seem, don't let your eyes to deceive you xD
To abhishekunnikm – Natsu is immune to alcohol, ErzaXNatsu fight chapter will be after Eisenwald ark, in form of a flashback with some additions. And of course, Sin is much more than a trinket.
To Fangking2 – Actually Natsu's personality in this story is balancing on a thin line between antihero and antivillain.
Everyone else – many thanks people, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.
Chapter updated 23/11/2016
Chapter IV – The Bet, Illusions and Train.
…
July 6th, Year X784, 10:40, Fairy Tail.
Without saying anything Natsu went to the closest unoccupied table and sat down at it. Lucy wanted to follow him but Sin descended in front of her, blocking the way. The blonde looked at Lil creature questioningly as he landed on her shoulder and whispered, "Don't get close, Lucy, it's not safe there. Go to the counter and join Mira."
"Not safe? Why?" Lucy sounded surprised.
"You'll see by yourself in a few moments, just go," Sin insisted and Lucy decided to do as he said. She was half-way to the counter when someone else barged into guildhall.
"Bankai! We got trouble!" Everyone stared at panicking Loki, who stood in the doorway. Once he somehow managed to catch his breath, he added, "It's Erza, she's back!" Almost everyone froze after he said that, though they quickly followed the suit and fell into a panic as well.
"And here we go again…" Mira murmured as Lucy sat down at one of the chairs near the counter.
"L-Loki, are you s-sure it is Erza?" Someone asked fearfully.
"Of course I'm sure!" Loki shouted back, "How I can be mistaken?"
"Natsu-san! Please, hold yourself back, don't drive her mad!" Another mage addressed Natsu.
"Stop speaking nonsense, I have nothing to do with it, she's just that inadequate, get used to it," Natsu waved him off, with indifferent voice. His reply didn't calm down anyone, in contrary, panic became even more intense.
"What's this all about?" Lucy wondered.
"Well, we all have some sort of a hobby," Sin replied quietly, "Your hobby is writing novels, Mira's hobby is singing, and Natsu's hobby is playing on Erza's nerves," Sin explained. "Usually he drives her mad and then leaves so she vents her annoyance on the others because she's not allowed to fight him directly due to guild rules." As he finished explanation everyone in the guild could hear heavy footsteps coming closer to the guildhall.
"It's Erza…" Loki murmured, his expression was disclosing his nervous disposition.
"No mistake – that's her footsteps," Wakaba whispered, biting down on his smoke pipe.
"The time to settle all of that has come…" Natsu said as his eyes blazed with crimson light.
"With that kind of reaction, Erza-san really must be an amazing wizard," Lucy thought aloud.
Everyone watched in fear as Erza walked through the door. She was carrying a giant horn which was covered in cheap jewels and other gaudy baubles (in Natsu's opinion). When the knight-mage made it to the center of the guildhall, she put the horn down, and the entire building shook due to the force of an impact.
"I have returned… Is master here?" The scarlet haired sorceress asked as Lucy examined her. At least one thing was obvious – she is magnificently beautiful. "She is very pretty…" Lucy murmured.
"Welcome back. Master is attending the regular meeting," Mirajane answered knight-mage's question, with her usual, welcoming smile.
"I see," Erza nodded.
"Erza-san, what is this humongous thing?" A man with sandy-yellow hair asked from next to the horn. As far as Natsu could remember – his name was Max.
"Why does it seem like everyone is trying to draw her attention as far away from Natsu as possible?" Lucy asked.
"Because that's exactly what they are doing," Sin replied, "It's useless, though…"
"Hmm? This? The local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon that I subdued… It was so pretty that I brought it back as a souvenir," Erza replied with a thankful smile as she remembered it. "Will it be a nuisance?" She asked, slightly narrowing her eyes.
"No, not at all!" Max and a few others mages assured her instantly.
"The horn of the demon that she subdued," Murmured one of the mages.
"Whoa…" Another mused.
"Macao, do you think she knows about the incident at Hakobe Mountain?" Cana whispered to the mage in white coat, who started to sweat all over after he was reminded about those events.
"Crap… I'm a dead meat…" Macao mumbled to himself.
"She is quite different from what I was imagining," Lucy whispered, extremely surprised about how quiet everyone in the guild have been since Erza entered the building. "What's with everyone?" She addressed Sin again.
"You're about to see in a few moments," The little boney creature replied, making Lucy even more curious. During all that time that she spent with Natsu, he never even mentioned Erza's name.
"All of you!" Erza narrowed her eyes as she shifted her gaze at wizards in the building, causing them to freeze on places and hold still as stone statues. "I heard a bunch of rumors whilst I was on my mission, it seems you've been causing troubles again. Even if master did forgive you, I won't!" She said with a stern voice, making everyone to shrink back.
"Here it comes…" Sin grumbled as the knight-mage turned to Cana, who was quietly drinking her booze, right out of the barrel, as usual.
"Cana," The brunette choked and even lowered the barrel as she heard Erza's voice, "How can you continue to drink in such an undignified manner? Sit down appropriately, now!" The knight-mage demanded, forcing Cana to rearrange her legs. "Vijeeter!" Knight-mage called for a dancer-mage, without even looking to his side.
"Yes ma'am?!" He froze on place.
"If you are going to dance, do it outside," Erza demanded and turned to Wakaba. "Wakaba, I'm getting tired of that smell, get rid of that disgusting habit!" The Kemuri no Mahō [Smoke Magic] user buried his face in his hands. "Nab! Just hesitating in front of the request board as usual? Maybe it's time to stop pissing in the wind and pick up a job already?!"
"Eh?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow as she heard the last one of Erza's phrases.
"That's a familiar manner of speech…" Lucy noted. "By the way, it seems that she loves to tell everybody what to do even more than Natsu…"
In the meantime, Erza continued to keelhaul the Fairy Tail's wizards. "Macao!" She stared at the Pāpuru Furea [Purple Fire] user with a disappointed gaze for a few seconds before releasing a deep sigh.
"Say something, damn it!" He pleaded desperately but got nothing in return.
"Ah, you guys give me so much troubles, but I'll let it slide for today without saying anything," Erza announced as she adjusted her hair.
"I think she's already said more than enough," Lucy whispered to Sin. "Is she like a disciplinary committee chief here or something?"
"That'd be Erza…" Sin whispered in reply. In the meantime, the entire guild became dead quiet as Erza's eyes locked with Natsu's.
"Wanna say something to me too, cara mea?" Natsu asked with his common, emotionless voice. Several newspapers, which contain articles about his recent exploits on the front pages, were floating in front of him, including today's release, with a photo of a mushroom cloud in place of the Everlue's mansion.
Erza gritted her teeth, glaring at the salmon-haired warlock for a few moments before speaking. "Yes, I do. Kiss my ass, Natsu," She hissed.
Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Well, your ass is the best one around here, so I'd gladly do that. Turn around and lean down," He stood up and made a step toward Erza.
"Don't get close to me!" Knight-mage growled, clenching her fists.
"You just asked me to kiss you… Yet you already changed your mind? Ah, women are so fickle…" Natsu sighed with false disappointment. "Anyway, get rid of that schlock," Natsu pointed at the demon's horn, "That thing is even more absurd than you are."
Erza's cheeks became pink due to her growing fury as she clenched her fists tighter.
"Oh, are you really up to it? If so, do it. I promise to buy the next issue of a Sorcerer's Weekly as soon as it comes out, and I'm definitely going to make a poster of its centerfold," Natsu spoke out as Erza's eyes suddenly erupted with bright yellow flames. It seemed very similar to the instances when Natsu's eyes were emanating crimson light.
At the same time, Lucy noticed that Natsu closed his own eyes for a second. A moment later, the fire in Erza's eyes went out. "Now this was odd…" Sin commented.
It was a very strange scene, but Lucy knew too little about Erza to make assumptions. Instead, she addressed Sin, "What was odd about it?"
"Fire in her eyes. As far as I know, her magic has nothing to do with fire, at least not directly…" Lil boney creature explained.
"Alright, that's enough, I have to go," Natsu said as if nothing happened, and headed toward the guildhall's door. When he was almost at the doorstep, the God slayer stopped and turned around. "By the way, can I assume that you have earned the full reward for your mission, in size of 7,350,000 jewels?"
Erza, despite still being enraged, gave him a barely noticeable nod.
"As I've expected. Congratulations, you lost," He said and continued his way toward town's center, quickly vanishing from sight.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!" Erza's furious howl shook the entire guildhall. Having forgotten about her trophy, she flew out of the guildhall like a bullet, yelling, "NATSU! I'LL KILL YOU!"
The whole guild let out a sigh of relief as Erza vanished from sight. "Fuh, we got off lightly… It's been a while since I saw Erza pissed off to such an extent…" Loki commented.
"Did you hear her scream? It sounded more like a monster's roar than a human's voice. Each passing day she becomes more and more monstrous…" Elfman scratched his cheek.
"Okay, can someone explain to me what just happened? Anyone?" Lucy asked, shifting her gaze between Mirajane and Sin.
"Well, Erza Scarlet is a senior mage of our guild, just like Natsu. Both of them are considered to be equal in terms of strength. They are the most unyielding rivals of our guild…" Sin started to explain.
"Really?! Equal to Natsu?!" Lucy asked in shock as she remembered how Natsu wiped out that huge mansion with just one spell.
"Also, Erza adores order and always strictly follows the rules. She also forces others to do the same, usually through fear of her fury. Then there is Natsu who only follows the rules when it's convenient for him – he's, essentially, an anarchist. He likes to hurl spells hit and miss, destroying everything left and right. And he likes to remind Erza that he is not afraid of her, and it infuriates her to the limit," Sin concluded.
"It's ironic," Mirajane sighed. "If you put the IQ of those two together, it would probably be one-fourth of our guild's IQ. However, if you put the childishness of those two together it would probably be at least one-half of our guild's childishness."
"Okay, I think I got it," Lucy said with a smile. "Now I see why you two tease Natsu constantly… By the way, what have Natsu meant when he said that he is going to buy a Sorcerer's Weekly?"
"Ah, this…" Mira giggled. "About nine months ago they had a full-scale battle against each other. After almost an hour of fighting, still neither emerged victorious, but a huge amount of collateral damage had been done. Master became enraged, he kicked their asses and forbade them to use spells against one another ever again. For violation of that order Natsu will have to pay 200 000 Jewels for each spell, and Erza will have to take a photo for the magazine, topless, for each spell."
Lucy snorted as she heard the word "topless".
"Yeah, Makarov is a pervert too, but he is an extremely powerful mage and he perfectly used their weak points – Natsu's greed and Erza's pride," Sin commented.
"Then why did she chase after him?" Lucy wondered.
"Well, no one forbade her to use her fists," Mirajene shrugged. The guild slowly started to get back to normal, and she had to return to her work.
July 6th, Year X784, 11:50, somewhere in the forest, not far from Magnolia.
Natsu was marching through the forest, using bolts of his magic to clear a path for himself from bushes, dry branches and other litter.
"You're making more noise than a battalion of demons would…" Erza's voice noted from somewhere nearby. Natsu smiled to himself and headed in that direction. He walked about a hundred of feet forth and found Erza, she was sitting beneath a large oak tree. As he approached, she stood up, and without saying anything leaped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Their lips merged in a greedy and extremely passionate kiss as Natsu pressed her closer to his body.
Their kiss lasted for about two minutes before lack of oxygen forced them to take their lips apart. "Damn, I missed it so, so much… That was the longest month in my life!" Erza exclaimed, trying to regain her breath.
Natsu pressed her head to his shoulder, burying his face into her soft hair. "You think it was easier for me? Unable to touch your silky hair, to inhale your scent, to look into your eyes?" He kissed her earlobe. "Not to mention that I alone had to keep an image of us as of "unyielding rivals" for the guild. Their speculations and even jokes about our relationships became quite a nuisance… they grew quite bold with that, actually…"
"My poor Natsu…" Erza chuckled a little. "But, in the end, splitting up for four weeks was your idea," She noted with slightly accusatory tone. "And this was for the last time! From now on I will not let you go away from me even for four hours, not to mention four weeks," The scarlet haired girl declared, her voice was stern as iron, but Natsu only pressed her to himself tighter, gaining a satisfied groan.
"Relax, there's no more need for anything like that…" He whispered into her ear. "But, to be honest, this little temporary parting was useful to better understand our relationships, at least for me. Since we've began dating, or may be even earlier, I knew that I want to be with you and with you alone. But now I've realized that I want to have you as my partner, too."
"By the way, speaking about partnership," Erza noted with narrowed eyes, "Why does your coat carry the smell of two different women's perfume?"
"Oh, c'mon Erza, I've already granted to you my seal. But even without it, do I look like someone who'd cheat on my beloved one? Okā-sama was very strict about that, in my family, cheating is even worse than losing a battle," Natsu said with soft smile. "Relax, jealousy doesn't suit you."
"Can't help it," She replied, forcing Natsu to give an answer.
"All right, all right," Natsu smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but her jealousy was flattering him. "One of those scents belongs to a girl, who I've defeated yesterday, during my last mission, and the second one belongs to a newcomer who I took as a temporary teammate for that mission. Guild introduction, first team mission, etc., you know the drill," God slayer explained.
Erza scrutinized Natsu for a few seconds but then relaxed and put her head to Natsu's shoulder. "The newcomer is that blonde girl who was sitting near the bar counter? She asked some questions about me."
"You heard her questions? Amazing... You're advancing your new skills so fast!" Natsu praised his girlfriend, gaining another satisfied groan – she likes to be praised by Natsu.
"By the way, what's happened at Hakobe Mountain? I heard Cana whispering to Macao," Erza asked, making Natsu to chuckle.
That's why Erza didn't say anything to him – she heard the mention about incident but didn't know what exactly happened. "He screwed up his mission a little… well, not a little, completely… if not for my interference, he would've been dead by now," Natsu replied, as he sighed with disappointment. "By the way, why did you say 'Stop pissing in the wind' to Nab? Some people were surprised…" The god slayer inquired.
"Because, rather than teach you something good I started to copy your bad habits, like use of vulgar expressions, for example…" Erza hugged him tighter, "Nasty boy…" She mumbled. By the way, her limbs were still wrapped around Natsu.
"It's good that we are going to announce our relationship, I've grew tired of playing that spectacle. Moreover, I think Sin already figured it out, to some extent at least, and Mirajane too… Oh, by the way, I have a gift for you!" Natsu suddenly remembered something. Despite the fact that Erza was still hanging on him, he managed to pull out a little gold mirror, decorated with diamonds, from his coat's internal pocket. This was the mirror that Natsu took from Everlue's house. "Take it, you may be a very exotic girl, but you're still a girl, so let this little thing be a reminder that you are the most beautiful girl in the world when I'm too far to do it myself."
He was right, Erza was a girl after all and she was melting due to his words and compliments. She grabbed the mirror and examined it. It was obvious that she liked it, but for some reason she sniffed it and looked at Natsu with suspicions. "Natsu, it has a strange smell… You did not steal it from somewhere, aren't you?"
"Of course not, I acquired it in battle," Natsu waved off all the accusations.
Erza sighed heavily, thinking, 'I suppose that's how you were justifying your robberies back than – by calling them combat trophies...' But nonetheless she hid the mirror in her magical space.
"By the way, sweetheart, how much further do you intend to hang on me?" Natsu asked with one eye closed.
"My entire life," Erza answered honestly, without hesitation.
"Your straightforwardness and honesty are so cute sometimes. However, I hope you will keep your promise – tomorrow, 7.07 we will announce our relationships to the guild, and since I won our bet you will start the talking," The god slayer said, looking straight into her clear, beautiful eyes, which were full of adoration.
"Alright," She replied simply and smiled, before moving in for another kiss.
July 6th, Year X784, 17:00, Fairy Tail.
Everything was going as usual inside of the guildhall, well, except for that all the wizards here were less noisy than usual, because Erza was here too, she was sitting at one of the tables. It looked like she was filling some kind of a report, most likely about her four-weeks long mission.
Suddenly the guildhall doors opened and some man appeared on the doorway. He had spiky, black hair and dark-blue eyes. He was dressed in a middle length white coat, dark-green pants and high black boots. His name was Gray Fullbuster.
"Gray! Welcome back!" Mira waved at the ice-mage from behind the counter.
"Hi Mira," He returned her welcome as he went to the counter. "Is master here?" Gray asked as he approached the barmaid.
"The master left this morning for a Local Guild Masters League meeting," Mirajane replied with a slight smile.
"Okay, seems like I have to send a message to him then," Gray said with slight disappointment.
"Is something wrong, Gray?" Mirajane asked, Erza raised her head to listen to Gray's reply too.
"I'm not sure…" The ice wizard mumbled. "This is why I want to talk with the master first."
"Okay, master is in Clovertown, you can send the message there," Mira informed before returning to her work.
"Right away," Gray said as he stood up from his bar stool.
"Gray, get dressed," Erza demanded as she returned to her report's filling.
Gray looked at himself and discovered that he was only wearing his boxers. "WAAHHH! How the heck did this happen?! I was in my clothes just a moment ago!" Gray screamed in panic as he rushed to find his clothes.
"Erza, do you know where Natsu is?" Mirajane asked as she came to clean up a table that stood next to Erza's.
"Natsu?" Erza asked, pretending that she did not recognize the name. "Ah, you mean the incarnate of Chaos and Anarchy? Somewhere out there, wandering around our world, as usual," She replied with narrowed eyes before returning to her papers.
Mira rolled her eyes and shook her head in slight frustration as she returned back to the counter. "I'm wondering... Does she really not noticing that she is copying Natsu's demeanor or she's actually doing it intentionally to get on our nerves?" Mira asked exasperatedly as Gray was putting on his pants.
Suddenly, Erza raised her eyes and glanced at Mirajane with a short, dark glare, causing a light shiver to run along Mira's spine.
"Lately, it seems to me that she can hear us even from the opposite side of the guildhall," Gray whispered to Mira as they both stared at Erza's reaction.
"I don't know, but if things continue to develop this way, I'll get paranoia because of these two," Mirajane mumbled.
July 7th, Year X784, 9:00, Fairy Tail.
"Hrmmm..." Lucy was thoughtfully staring up at the request board, looking at the various kinds of missions, which were available for picking. "Search for a magic bracelet. Remove spell from a cursed staff. Fortune telling love with astrology?! Exterminating a devil on the volcano?!" She was quite at a loss. 'And why is this guy constantly hanging around the board?' Lucy thought as she snuck a peak at Nab, who was hanging around the request board… since the moment she joined the guild, as far as she could tell.
"Found something interesting yet?" Sin asked as he landed on the top edge of the request board.
"There sure are a lot of things wizards are requested to do…" Lucy noted as Elfman approached the board.
"Oh, escort the convoy with valuable goods for 220,000 jewels!" He exclaimed after browsing through different requests, and turned to Mirajane, who was standing behind the bar counter. "Nee-san, mark that I'm taking this job!"
"Alright, I'll mark it when I'm done!" Mirajane responded with a smile. "Take care, brother!"
"Don't you worry nee-san, my fists can handle this with ease," Elfman said as she walked towards the door. On his way out, he stopped near the doorway and shouted, "I'm the MAN!"
"Why does he continue to say that phrase?" Lucy wondered. "By the way, what kind of magic does Elfman-san uses?"
"It's called Teiku Ōbā: Bīsuto Sōru [Take Over: Beast Soul]," Lil dragon replied. "Regardless of that it doesn't fit him, it is an interesting kind of magic…" Sin began to explain as he relocated himself on Lucy's shoulder. "It allows him to record a monster or a monster's body part he has touched and then either take their form or summon it into his own arm. According to rumors, Elfman actually defeated the beasts before "recording" their forms. And don't be mistaken – that's not a transformation but summoning type of magic," Sin added. "There are different types of transformation magic, but usually they are water or earth dependent, but summoning uses darkness attribute…"
"Hmm? Attribute? What's that?" Lucy wondered.
"No, nothing, never mind that," Little creature shook its skull, getting back on topic, "Despite the fact that he cannot yet use a full body take over, Elfman's strength is considered above average in our guild."
"And why did he become so excited when he found that job?" Lucy asked another question.
"Because he is good at escort jobs. Many robbers may reconsider their plans to attack the convoy as soon as they see Elfman's figure," Mirajane explained, not without some pride in her voice, Elfman is her brother, after all.
"Ah, yes, I remember! Natsu mentioned something about this," Lucy said as she remembered the god slayer's phrase '…you have to choose missions according to the specific benefits of your team members.' Stellar mage looked around, "There are so many different kinds of mages in the guild, it seems that almost every member of Fairy Tail has his own type of magic."
"In general, yes – I doubt you can find at least two mages in our guild who uses the same magic, Elfman and Mirajane are the exception because they are siblings," Sin agreed. 'And a good example that choosing magic according the blood ties ain't the best idea…' He thought.
Mirajane came closer to the request board, lightening up the room with her kind smile, and said, "Just let me know if you find a mission that will suit you." Lucy turned her head to look at blue-eyed girl, "Since master's attending a Local Guild Masters League meeting, I'll be handling the missions' logbook until he gets back."
"Why this is your duty too? You already have more than enough of work here, in the bar, why can't one of the senior mages do it?" Lucy questioned.
"Lucy, actually Mirajane is an S-class mage too," Sin noted.
"Really?! But… but that means you are strong too, just like Natsu or Erza? Then why you are working as a barmaid?!" Lucy was quite surprised.
"Well, I… No, I'm not…" Mira stuttered as her smile waned. Lucy quickly realized that this was a very unsuitable subject for discussion, so she decided to change it.
"Sorry Mira-san, forget what I said. You just mentioned something called the "Local Guild Masters League", what is it?" The stellar mage inquired.
Lucy succeeded in her task of distracting Mirajane from her sad thoughts. She perked up and started to talk. "From time to time, all the guild masters in the area get together and give regular reports. It's different than the council meeting, though…" Mira pondered for a second before turning toward a large fellow in a white shirt and black, pointy hat. "Umm, I guess it can be a bit confusing. Reedus, can I borrow your Hikari Hude [Light Brush] for a few minutes?"
"Oui," The man reached into his pocket and handed over some pen-like item to Mirajane.
"Since you just joined the guild, you probably don't know about the wizard organization chart, right?" Mirajane started to draw a diagram of the structure of the world of magic, which should help her explain the basics to Lucy. "The governing body over all mages of this continent are the ten members of the council, connected with the countries' governments across the entire Ishgar. Their job is to bring order to everything that goes on in the world of magic. They also pass judgment on mages who commit crimes in the guilds." Lucy listened as Mirajane continued her explanation before the snow-haired girl moved to the section below. "Then below them is an organization of guild masters, the local Guild Masters League, each country on our continent has at least one. They circulate the decrees of the council, also their task is to smooth out the communications between the guilds in the same area, and keep us unified." Mirajane turned from the diagram to look at Lucy, "And I should say, this is quite a hard job to do, keeping the guilds together."
"I had no idea that each guild has a connection with another one," Lucy said as she stared at the diagram.
Mirajane added, "Keeping the guilds in alliance is very important, it helps to establish a good relationship between decent mages. Because, if you are not careful…"
Suddenly, Lucy noticed that crimson mist started to envelop her body as an eerie whisper reached her ears: "Or those who dwell in darkness will come for you…"
"HIEEEK!" Lucy wailed in panic as she jumped to get away from the mist. Then she turned around, her eyes were filled with horror. She really thought that something has come for her. Instead she found Natsu, who stood behind her, watching her reaction with his glowing eyes, as if it was quite interesting scientific experiment.
"Psycho! I almost had a heart attack!" Lucy yelled at him whilst her hand clutched the front of her shirt where her heart pounded just beneath her skin.
"Lucy, don't be a dull beggar. To get scared that easily, it's pretty sad, you know?" Natsu noted calmly.
"Scaredy-cat Lucy!" Sin made a new nickname for her.
"Shoo! Stop fooling around!" Lucy still tried to catch her breath.
"By the way, Lucy, 'those who dwell in darkness' really do exist," Mirajane noted to the newcomer as she started to draw additional section on her diagram. "They're known as Dark Guilds, Lucy. We call whatever guild that does not belong to the league the Dark one. They are made up of wizards who don't want to follow council rules, most of the missions they do involve crimes and malicious acts."
"They'll come to recruit him one day, then," Lucy noted sourly, pointing at God slayer, she was still angry at him. "Are those Dark Guilds really that scary?" The stellar-mage turned back to Mirajane.
"They are dangerous Lucy, but you should not be worried about it – they usually try to remain in the shadows, it is very unlikely that you will be able to meet any of them during regular missions," The blue-eyed girl answered the question.
"But it does not mean that you can become careless Lucy," Sin noted as he landed on her shoulder. Then he addressed Natsu, "By the way – isn't it almost 9:30 of July, 7?"
"Patience, Sin, she has three more minutes," Natsu waved him off.
"July, 7?" Lucy looked at Natsu questioningly.
"Lucy, do you remember that Natsu and Erza made a bet? Well, for some reason they decided to keep the stakes in secret, so no one actually knows it. However, today, at 9:30, they should announce the winner, and the stakes should also be revealed to everyone," Sin explained.
Suddenly Lucy and the others heard a familiar set of heavy footsteps.
"She is here, it's time…" Natsu said with pretty mysterious look.
A few moments later, the guildhall doors opened and Erza entered the building. Natsu went to meet her.
The whole guild fell quiet as Natsu and Erza met in the middle of the guildhall.
"May I have your attention please?" Erza began to talk, it was clear by her tone that she was not asking for attention but demanding it. "As most of you already know, four weeks ago I and Natsu made a bet…"
"We decided to keep the stakes secret and reveal them simultaneously with the winner announcement. However, it was done not because the stakes are very special, but because they are significant only for the two of us. You will realize what I mean in just a moment," Natsu commented with his usual, emotionless attitude.
Everyone looked at each other questioningly.
"Well, it's time to settle it," Erza continued. "First thing's first. You should know that Natsu has managed to earn more money than I during these 28 days, so I admit my defeat," She said simply, surprising everyone; Titania admitted her defeat, just like that? No… it's probably because she's able to admit her defeat she is Titania.
"Our stakes…" Natsu continued. "The one who lost shall admit his defeat in front of whole guild. No more no less, and that already has been done."
"And that's it?! So much mystery for something like this?!" Someone tried to resent but Erza's glare shut him up quite fast. Vast majority of guild members remained quiet though, as they understand that it was not easy to say "I've lost" in front of the whole guild, especially when it comes to the rivalry between those two.
"But that is not all," Natsu added, "There was another little condition – there is another announcement to the guild that we should do, and the one who lost will do the talking. We also kept stakes in secret to avoid speculations about the announcement," The god slayer turned to the scarlet haired mage. "Now, I hope you rehearsed your speech?"
"Many times," She replied and cleared her throat. "Now, wizards of Fairy Tail, I'd like to make an announcement…" The knight-mage started, but then she suddenly turned to Natsu, wrapped her hands around his neck, dragged him closer to herself, and her lips merged with his in a very passionate kiss.
The guild members stood still as if they all have turned to stone. However, not all of them; Mirajane and Sin looked on with satisfied smirks. Lucy was not shocked either – she knew too little about these two to have a strong reaction.
"Very well said…" Natsu admitted as Erza released his lips from their kiss to get some air. Even he did not expect so bold action from Erza as to kiss him in front of an entire guild. Whispers washed over the guildhall.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's not all – wait until I finish, please," Erza asked sternly in the form of demand. She lifted up her left hand as it began to glow when she used her Kansō [Ex-equip] magic to remove her metallic glove. As soon as she did, Erza demonstrated the back side of her palm to everyone. Or, more likely, she demonstrated her ring finger, with a ring on it. The gold ring shone beautifully with a platinum inscription and one huge diamond, surrounded by a ringlet of twelve rubies. Without a doubt it was a wedding ring, and an extremely pricy one at that.
"Okaaay, that was unexpected…" Sin murmured thoughtfully as he scratched his bone scull.
"To say the least…" Mirajane agreed, she stared at the ring with widened eyes.
Even Lucy was surprised. "Oh my… That ring… I wonder who made this one…"
Suddenly the guildhall doors opened again and Gray entered the building. He was in a hurry so he began to talk whilst still running. "Hey Mira, master sent me a messa…" Gray fell silent and froze on place as he slowly started to realize – at which scene he is looking at – Natsu and Erza, standing very close to each other, as Erza is demonstrating her wedding ring. The diamond of her ring shone especially brightly in the light of the daybreak, which was coming through the opened doors.
Gray stood still, as well as entire guild, staring at the (apparently) engaged couple, which is going to be a married couple soon. Though, it seemed that Mirajane was less shocked than the others, so she was the first who dared to break the silence, "So, when is the wedding?"
"Saturday, October 13," Natsu replied as he and Erza observed the guild, very satisfied with the awe that they've managed to inspire.
"And how long have you been dating?" Sin inquired, he too was not shocked as much as the others.
"Our first date held a few hours after our battle which took place on October 13, nine months ago," Erza said with a shining smile. She was quite proud of her idea to assign the wedding day exactly one year after their first date.
"Nine months?! You have been hiding your relationships for almost nine months?!" Mirajane exclaimed in shock. "Why?!"
"Because I wanted some privacy at the first stage of our relationship. I wanted to better understand my feelings, to better understand what it means to be a couple," Erza explained. "I'm sorry if you feel offended, but I just wanted some privacy," She addressed the guild.
"Glare as much as you want, you're perfectly aware about that I'm not sorry at all," God slayer said, not addressing anyone in particular, though, he was looking at Mirajane. Natsu had no intentions to explain anything at all – he simply thought that whatever hiding their relationships or not was their decision, which doesn't require any justification. Still, he agreed to answer a few questions…
Questions and demands for an explanation lasted for approximately fifteen minutes. Oddly enough, Erza patiently answered quite a lot of questions, except those that were too private or too stupid. And, as it was already said, Natsu also replied some…
Finally, when everything calmed down and all members of Fairy Tail knew that they are all invited to the wedding, they congratulated the young couple. After all, Fairy Tail is a large family.
"Gray? Are you listening to me?" Erza called for the ice wizard who was still in shock and did not hear her when she called for him for the first time.
"Ah, yes ma'am!" Grey suddenly realized that Erza was talking to him directly.
"Why is that guy so scared of Erza?" Lucy asked Mirajane as she, Sin and Mira were sitting near the counter.
"Well, a few years ago she caught Gray walking around the town naked and beat him up, quite harshly," Sin replied.
"That… makes some sense..." Lucy replied with a sweatdrop.
Erza looked at Gray (who somehow appeared only in his boxers) for several seconds and said, "I got a message from the master about an hour ago. He said that you found something and might need my help."
"Wha… He did?! Ok… Okay, I found something while I was returning from my mission. Master authorized me to perform an investigation, but I don't need help…" Gray tried to speak in the most non-offensive way possible.
"Then it's decided," Erza cut him off. "According to master's wish, we're teaming up for this mission. We will be leaving tomorrow morning," In a matter of seconds Erza had taken leadership.
"Wait Erza, it's just a-" Gray tried to argue but was interrupted again, by Natsu this time.
"And Gray, I'm sure you remember that fifteen minutes ago I've mentioned that, from now on, me and Erza are a team, right? That means if she's going, I'm going too," Natsu added as he was encased in Erza's loving embrace.
At this moment it'd be very suitable to mention that Gray's name really suits him because he literally turned pale-gray. He looked as if the devil himself told him that he's going to assist him on the mission. Maybe it's because Natsu and Erza together were even worse than any devil...
"Erza… Natsu… and Gray…" Mirajane said to herself, making Lucy look at her in confusion as she noticed the blue-eyed girl shivered a little. "It was very hard to imagine that Natsu and Erza could make a team, and it's even harder to imagine Gray joining them." She brought a hand to her mouth in amazement as she watched the deeply depressed Gray, who sat near the counter, and Erza, whose head now was resting on Natsu's shoulder, whilst he was gently stroking her hair. "Lucy, I think we've just witnessed the creation of Fairy Tail's strongest team!"
"FOR REAL!?" It was the only thing Lucy could say after hearing that.
Natsu and Erza left the guild to make some "preparations" before the mission.
Gray was still depressed. "Why did master do this? It is a simple recon mission, I could easily handle it myself… Now I have to deal with these two…" He mumbled to himself.
"What's wrong with him?" Lucy asked Sin.
"Well, to be honest, Gray is a very good mage. He may not be as powerful as Natsu or Erza but he is quite close to their level. I think the two of them at the same time is just too much for him. Don't worry, he will be fine in the team," Lil boney creature assured her.
"Oh, by the way, Lucy, did you find a new team for yourself? Or did you decide to do missions on your own?" Mirajane asked as she came close, partly overhearing their talk.
"Huh? Oh, I'm not in a rush. I'll think about it for a bit," Lucy replied, however, she actually enjoyed being a teammate with Natsu.
Cana's voice called out to her, "No need to talk it down now. You don't have to force yourself to team up with anyone." Lucy turned to the woman's table to see her again drinking booze right from the barrel. "Natsu told me that you did some nice job for your first mission, so you'll get more team requests than you can stomach, pretty soon."
As if to confirm Cana'a statement, Loki appeared out of nowhere. "So, Lucy, how about the two of us form the team of love," Loki said with a charming smile as he drew closer to Lucy. "Tonight, just the two of us."
Lucy's eyebrow twitched as a drop of sweat slipped down the side of her face. 'Not possible,' She mentally deadpanned.
"You really are beautiful – even looking through the dark shades of my sunglasses, you're still so shining and pretty," Loki continued to talk sweet to her, not paying attention to the look she was giving him. "If I'd looked at you with my naked eyes, they'd probably shatter into pieces." Loki smiled, still trying to make a good impression, but Lucy retained the same deadpan stare.
"Then please take them off," She said bluntly, unfazed by his pathetic attempt at wooing her.
"KLINK!" The set of keys at Lucy's belt jangled. All of Loki's charms seemed to vanish in an instant as his attention drifted down to the clanging set of keys on Lucy's belt, his eyes widened in fear and a little bit of shock. "W-Wait, don't tell me you are the Seirei Madōshi [Celestial Spirit Mage]?!" Loki shouted as he took several steps back.
"Yep, she is," Sin responded instead of Lucy, whose hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted a little to the side.
"She already has seven units in her contracts, including three Zodiac keys!" Mirajane said with a slightly cunning smile.
"Fate, what cruel tricks you play on me?!" Loki exclaimed, turning on his heels and running towards the exit. "I'm sorry, we are going to end it here for now!" He called back.
"When was there ever an "us"?" Lucy stared after him, blinking. "What just happened?" She addressed her question to nearby people.
Mirajane giggled, gaining Lucy's attention. "Loki isn't very good at dealing with Seirei Madōshi," She explained. "I bet something happened in the past involving a girl."
"That man flirts with any woman he sees," Sin said as he landed on Lucy's shoulder. "I wouldn't be surprised if something bad already had happened to him in the past, perhaps some Seirei Madōshi girl appeared to be short tempered."
"So, I guess he's tried to do it to you as well?" Lucy questioned the barmaid and Mirajane nodded.
"Yep, I just ignored him and when he became too persistent Elfman tried to beat him up, but Natsu interfered as he just exchanged a few words with Loki. I have no idea what he told him, but I never saw Loki as pale as he was after that conversation…" Mira said thoughtfully.
'I… kinda… can imagine…' Lucy pitied Loki.
"Also, Loki was hitting on Erza and nearly got himself killed… poor guy," Sin added.
"Somehow it didn't surprise me…" Lucy sighed as Mirajane looked at Gray who was still a bit shocked. "I wonder how their mission will go…" She thought aloud.
"You don't have to be worried Lucy, any of those two can handle almost any task, and Gray is also powerful enough," Mirajane stated confidently.
"Um? Oh, I'm not about that, I just think that he may feel himself uncomfortable in the company of two lovebirds right now…" Lucy mused.
"Lovebirds? In the company of two vultures, you were going to say?" Sin clarified.
"Yeah, you're right guys, it may be an issue right now…" Mirajane said as she placed a glass of ice tea in front of Lucy. "Lucy, can I ask you for a little favor?"
"Hmm?" Lucy looked up at the barmaid.
July 7th, Year X784, 11:55, Withering forest, near Oshibana Town.
Deep in the dark forest, full of dead trees, the dark guild Eisenwald is located. Many dark mages, who were not averse to taking illegal missions and do not shun to commit various crimes, inhabited the area.
"Who was that chick who came here recently?" A tall man with whiskers asked as he and his comrades walked through the halls.
"I dunno, I couldn't see her guild mark or anything," Another man replied. He was wearing a yellow and black jacket with the Egypt-styled hood over his head.
"She was gorgeous though…" The taller man muttered before letting out a frustrated yell. "Shit, I should have made a move on her!"
"You wouldn't have stood a chance, Byard. You could only get your ass kicked, she came here to visit Erigor," A fat man commented, drawing Byard's attention.
"Has Kageyama come back yet?" The group turned to see a tattooed man standing behind them with a giant scythe leaning over his shoulder. He was an extremely tall, lean-built and yet mildly muscular man with silver hair and dark eyes; this man was the ace of the Eisenwald guild, 'Shinigami' Erigor.
"It's not an easy task to break the seal of that thing, so it can't be helped," The hooded man replied.
"Don't be hesitant, now is our chance. Our time has finally come…" He said with an evil sneer. "This is our only chance to accomplish our objective. Now that those old geezers are having their regular meeting."
July 8th, Year X784, 9:25, not far away from Magnolia train station.
Natsu and Erza were walking toward the station hand in hand, chatting.
"I'm impressed, you greatly improved your new magic whilst you were gone for that mission," Natsu noted to his fiancée.
"Not as much as I could have if I would be training with you," She replied with smile. "Right after this Lacrima was implanted into my body and I started to learn magic from the grimoire that you gave me, I've began to feel strange, but I think I'm beginning to enjoy it."
"Me too. You became so warm and even more emotional than you already were, I like it," He replied, making her to embrace him tightly as he inhaled the scent of her hair.
"By the way, you also seem to greatly improve your sword technique," She whispered in his ear and kissed his earlobe.
"It's not that hard if you have one of the best swordswomen as your sparring partner. Besides, I lost half of my hand to get this magic so it seems quite justly that I got some benefits in exchange," Natsu replied and their lips merged in a kiss. "But that's not all – if we'll be lucky, I'll show you something really nice during this mission." Erza looked at him questioningly, but Natsu just kissed her in reply, leaving some kind of intrigue…
July 8th, Year X784, 9:35, Magnolia train station.
"What the hell was master thinking?! Why did he have to make those two… monsters to go with me?! I know I'm more than enough for such a trifle!" Gray huffed angrily.
"Just be quiet, you're too loud," Lucy said as she noticed that a couple of people is staring at them.
"By the way, who are you and why are you here anyway?" Gray asked, making Lucy to sigh lightly.
"I'm Lucy, and I'm here because Mirajane-san asked me to join your team. She asked me to keep you a company, since Erza and Natsu are a couple and they could make you feel uncomfortable," Lucy explained as she recalled her talk with the blue-eyed waitress.
"Whatever," Gray said as he scratched his cheek.
"Sorry for making you wait, have you been here for long?" Erza's voice called out to them.
"Not really, we've just got here," Lucy waved to them.
"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Natsu asked as he and his fiancée got closer.
"I asked her to get along with the three of you," Mirajane's voice came from behind as she came walking toward the group, with Sin riding on her shoulder. "I thought that she can… bring some diversity to your team," She clarified.
"Not this again," Natsu rolled his eyes as he heard Mirajane's words, "Just admit it – you're longing for adventures, and since you can't participate yourself, you're trying to compensate for it through the others. This. Won't. Work." God slayer uttered each word distinctly.
"Oh, just not this street psychoanalysis since the very morning…" Mirajane sighed tiredly, "It's not even ten o'clock yet!"
"Deal with it," Sin commented from Mira's shoulder, "He knows that your consciousness is most vulnerable during early hours…"
Whilst Natsu was bickering with Mirajane, Lucy introduced herself to Natsu's fiancée.
"Nice to meet you," Erza nodded. Lucy only gave her first name, but, seemingly, Erza was fine with that, just like all other members of Fairy Tail. As she was done with the introduction, she turned her attention towards man that stood beside Lucy. "Gray," Erza addressed the ice mage, "Are you ready? As master desired, you will lead the mission since you have some information about the situation."
"Ready as I've ever been," Gray replied. Apparently, he did accept his fate of going on the mission with Natsu and Erza.
"Hmm, Erza, I see you're traveling light," Mira noted. "You usually take a whole cart of luggage on missions, but now you have nothing at all…"
"Huh? What are you talking about? I have everything I need," Red-haired girl assured, looking at Natsu, meaning that she needs nothing but him. "By the way, Mirajane-san…" Erza added, showing so pretty and charming smile that it could make one's hair to stand on end "…you're too close to my fiancé." And she quickly stepped around Natsu, taking a spot between him and Mirajane.
Snow-haired girl rolled her eyes. Gray and Sin simultaneously facepalmed, but Lucy made a small step back as she actually felt some really disturbing intent hidden behind Erza's words…
July 8th, Year 784, 9:49, inside the train at Magnolia station, one minute until departure.
"Jane, don't let things here get too hectic," Natsu noted to the blue-eyed platinum blonde as she turned away and headed off into the town. Erza and Natsu took seats opposite to Lucy and Gray, Sin was between the blonde and the stripper. A few seconds later the train gave the signal for departure as its wheels started to roll.
Suddenly, Erza's skin started to turn pale and wet due to cold sweat. "Erza-san? Is something wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly.
"I… don't know… It seems I… got some kind… of motion sickness… and it's getting worse… every passing day…" Erza moaned with visible efforts.
Natsu lifted her by her armpits and made her sit on his lap so he could serve as a shock absorber between Erza and the train. It seemed to make her feel a bit better. "Strange, you never had it before… and it seems I have to cancel the order of two-seat sport Madō Sharyō… [Magic Vehicle]" Natsu murmured to himself.
"Why did you order it in the first place? You have no driver's license," Gray inquired.
"Yes, but Erza does have," Natsu replied as he gently stroke her hair. "She is perfect – I found a beautiful lover, reliable teammate, loyal bodyguard and personal driver all in one woman…" Natsu "praised" his beloved. "Though, as it seems now, it won't work with driving… how very unfortunate…"
Erza looked first at Natsu then at Gray, with a silent plea in her eyes. "Gray… I'm too weak to summon something from my magic space… so please, do me a favor…" She asked with weak voice. "Use your magic to create a knife… and carve my heart out of my chest…" Gray and Lucy gulped as they've heard this request, Sin facepalmed whilst Erza continued, "There's nothing good about him..." She pointed at Natsu. "He is insolent, cunning, and arrogant – yet that stupid thing…" she pointed at her heart "…continues to tell me that I love him so strong and so sincerely..."
"Hey, it seems that you also have learned how to do ambiguous compliments…" Natsu smiled and embraced her tighter, "I love you too, with all my heart."
All three at the opposite seat made a "facepalm" gesture. 'No, they're both definitely weird,' Lucy thought.
"Can you guys stop it already? Otherwise I'll just crush my skull with so much facepalming…" Sin snorted.
July 8th, Year 784, 10:30, Inside the train.
The train moved along the rails across the fields of a countryside. "Gray, isn't it about time you told us? What are we supposed to be doing?" Sin asked, mostly to prevent another "lovely" conversation.
Gray nodded, "Well, when I was returning from my mission, I stopped for some rest at the town of Onibas, in the bar where wizards gather. While I was inside, I overheard a group of hoodlums talking. I did not hear the specifics, but I realized that they were from the dark guild Eisenwald and they are up to something, up to no good, that's for sure. I heard that they tried to unseal something called "Lullaby", also, I heard two names that are unknown to me – Erigor and Reina, so I asked master's permission for a recon mission," Gray explained.
"Erigor…?" Erza moaned weakly.
"Reina?" That name seemingly picked Natsu's interest.
"Erigor… I know… that name…" Erza started to explain, fighting with her sickness. "He is also called… 'Shinigami no Erigor'… [God of Death Erigor] An ace of… the Eisenwald guild…"
"S-Shinigami..." Lucy exclaimed with a bit of fear in her voice.
Erza continued, "That's a nickname… people gave him… because he kept… taking up assassination requests… The council prohibits… mages from taking assassination requests… but Eisenwald choose money… Now I remember… Eisenwald was ousted… from the mage guild league… and is now categorized… as a dark guild…" Erza moaned those last words with great effort, making Natsu to cover her mouth with his palm to not let her talk further.
"A dark guild?!" Lucy exclaimed, with horrified voice.
"Lucy, you're sweating all over, what's up?" Sin asked, perfectly knowing the answer.
"Well, I did not hear anything specific about that Erigor, however, I'm quite familiar with the second name you've mentioned – Reina," Natsu informed. "She is also known as Ginjitsushi no Reina [Silver Claimer Reina] – a rogue mage, well-known among bounty hunters. She's wanted for various crimes, including blackmailing, abductions, robberies, extortions, hostage taking and others. The reward for bringing her in is 1 300 000 jewels. Rumors say that she left the country… Looks like it's not true, after all," Natsu finished his report.
"So… this was why master requested you two to come with me… He supposed that it might not be just be a reckon mission…" Gray thought aloud.
"Exactly. Two dangerous criminals and a whole dark guild are up to something. That Lullaby, which they are trying to acquire – it must be something special, or most likely a quite dangerous magical item," Natsu's eyes blazed with crimson light.
"I have heard them talking about how they were having trouble taking possession of Lullaby because it is sealed, so I think we still have some time," Gray stated.
"Maybe I shouldn't have come along…" Lucy muttered, a lot of sweat trailing down her face.
"It's a bit too late to whine, Blondie. The moment you've boarded this train it's been decided – you are going with us," Natsu has managed to smash her hopes in one blow. "We have to act quickly. We're going to march into Eisenwald and obliterate anyone who gets in our way, we have to get that 'Lullaby' thing before they can use it. Do not relent, people, we should strike quickly and decisively, no one should be allowed to escape," Natsu declared as the train continued to carry them to their destination.
"That sounds interesting," Gray smirked in anticipation of the battle.
July 8th, Year X784, 10:55, Inside the train
At some point along the way Lucy realized that she actually did not see any of the magic powers that other Fairy Tail members wield, except for Natsu. "Oh, by the way people, what kind of magic do you use?"
Since Erza continued to suffer from motion sickness, Natsu answered the question instead of her. "Erza's magic is beautiful, just like she herself is. Her attacks are swift, precise and deadly, you'll see soon enough," He announced. Erza let out a weak moan of thankfulness.
"It's not an explanation…" Lucy muttered.
"Yeah, but I think Gray's magic is the most artistic," Sin commented, ignoring the blonde.
"You think?" Gray was slightly pleased by the compliment. He silently held his left hand out and placed his right fist against the palm. Frost gathered around his hands before he parted his arms and opened his fist, revealing an ice sculpture of the Fairy Tail symbol.
"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed, she seemed quite impressed.
"Yeah, and it has a lot of utility uses," Natsu agreed.
"Though… Ice does not… really fit you…" Erza commented, making both Sin and Gray to blink in surprise.
"Don't listen to her," Natsu rolled his eyes, gently covering Erza's eyes with his palm, "From what I can see, Gray, your compatibility with magic, based on water and its derivatives, including ice, is very high, so your choice of magic was the right one."
Gray could only smile wryly at those words – not that back then, when he just began to study magic, he actually had a lot of options to choose from…
July 8th, Year 784, 11:10, Inside the train
The train started to slow down in preparation to halt when it reached the station. "Alright, standard clean-up sweep," Natsu declared. "First, we have to find where Eisenwald's guildhall is located, and then we'll suppress all resistance," He added as everyone was getting ready to leave the train. Surprisingly, Erza recovered from her motion sickness quite quickly.
But when Natsu and Erza were in the carriage's platform they both suddenly stopped, Erza sniffed the air and Natsu clutched his left hand is if he felt some pain in it. They stood like this for about three seconds before looking into each other's eyes.
"Love you, be careful," Erza said as she kissed tip of his nose and got off the train. Seemingly, they no longer need words to understand each other. As soon as Erza left the train, Natsu rushed back to their seats and fell on one of them, pretending that he is sleeping.
"Erza-san, what's going on? Where is Natsu?" Lucy asked when she noticed the knight-mage got off the train alone.
"It's just Erza, titles make me goosebumps," Erza noted as she started to look around, seeking the railroad control room. "Natsu had to stay on the train, we felt something dark when we were about to exit, it seems that someone boarded the train, maybe someone from Eisenwald and Natsu is going to investigate."
"Erza, what are you looking for?" Gray asked.
"Control room," She answered flatly. "I want to stop the train in the middle of the span so Natsu will have more time."
"Natsu and I were in this station before, I think I know where it is," Sin waved his bone claw, asking others to follow him, "C'mon, this way!" He flew toward one of the station's corridors.
"Gray," Erza called for the ice mage, "I need a favor from you, we need a ride."
Gray just nodded and headed towards the station's exit.
Lucy seemed amazed. 'So, this is what being a "team" really means… They are all doing what they have to, without hesitation…'
(With Natsu, inside the train)
Natsu was sitting on one of train's seat, leaning on window, with his eyes closed. Normally he isn't snoring when he is sleeping, but now he was, just for a show. He felt that source of darkness is getting closer, now all that he has to do is wait.
"Excuse me sir? Is this seat taken?" A man in the white suit, with dark hair arranged into a spiky pony tail, asked with casual smile. Natsu ignored him, continuing to pretend that he is sleeping, however, he felt the source of that dark force nearby. "Some people like to sleep inside the trains," Man said and sat down without even waiting for the answer. His sight slipped down a little and he noticed Natsu's guild mark. "Oh? Fairy Tail? So, you're a wizard of one of those legal guilds. I rarely read magazines, but I heard about your guild," He continued to speak despite Natsu pretense that he's not listening.
'Ignorant fool… But it's good that he's not reading magazines, or he could've recognized me…' Natsu thought. 'The next station is getting closer, c'mon Erza, amica mea, I know you can help me. This idiot is talkative, just buy me a bit more time somehow.' Actually, Natsu has another way to extract information, a reliable one, but he was hesitant to use it in public places, at least without a real necessity.
"Speaking of Fairy Tail... Mirajane's famous, isn't she? She's in the magazines sometimes, right? She's also beautiful," The guy continued to speak on random subjects.
'This one is a captain obvious… But that's good – I don't even have to interrogate him, with enough time he'll spill it all out himself,' Natsu thought, still pretending that he's asleep.
(With Erza and the others, at the station)
"That's the situation, and this is why I'm going to stop the train," As soon as the group made it to the control room, Erza explained the situation to the local railway's traffic supervisor. Every time she opened her mouth, she was demonstrating her large canine teeth, which was much larger than any normal girl's teeth.
"Is it just me or do her canines look like monster's fangs?" Sin thought aloud as he scratched his boney skull.
"What is the situation?" The traffic supervisor asked in confusion, he was sweating all over.
"People in Fairy Tail are very similar, aren't they?" Lucy asked Gray as they watched Erza talking to the traffic supervisor.
"Hey, don't judge the entire guild by these two, I'm normal," He replied, quite offended, yet, somehow, he appeared only in his boxers.
"Then where are your clothes?!" The stellar-mage exclaimed. "How can an exhibitionist be normal?!"
"It's for my fiancé, please understand," Erza finished her monologue, which sounded more like a declaration of intentions. She has already decided what she is going to do.
"Stop talking nonsense! We can't stop the entire train!" The supervisor shouted at Erza. "Not for just one person who did not manage to get off!"
"Don't you dare to yell at me," Erza growled as her eyes erupted in white-yellow flame.
"Eeek!" The traffic supervisor shivered as Erza's attention got focused on the switch behind the railway employee with the words 'Emergency stop' underneath it.
"Sin! Pull it!" Knight-mage commanded.
The little boney creature looked at Erza, who pointed behind the traffic supervisor and followed her finger to see a switch. He saluted to her then flew toward the switch, flying over the railway employee's head. "Aye aye ma'am!" He saluted before stopping at the switch and placing his little boney claws on it.
"Hey! Wait, you can't…" The traffic supervisor shouted as Sin pushed the switch down. An alarm started to ring and its sound carried throughout the whole Onibas station, alerting all those who were at the station.
"Huh? Emergency alarm?" Asked one of the passengers.
"An accident?" Another speculated.
"It has… became such a mess..." Lucy muttered with a sigh.
"Yup..." Gray agreed and she turned to look at him only to see that he had stripped down to his boxers… once again.
"Your outfit! When did you…?!" Lucy asked in shock.
"Gah! Not again," Gray screamed in panic.
"C'mon you three, let's go after that train! Gray, our transport is ready?" Erza asked as she headed towards the station's exit.
"Yep, it's just outside" Grey reported as he looked around to find his pants.
"Good. In times like this I'm so thankful that Natsu taught me to travel light…" The knight-mage noted to herself.
(With Natsu, inside the train)
"Speaking of Mirajane, I wonder why she's not active anymore. She's still very young," The guy in the white suit continued to ramble. "I also heard that you guys have another gorgeous woman, Erza. I heard she likes to play the hard-to-get girl."
Despite that guy now was speaking directly about his fiancée, Natsu didn't show any reaction, still pretending that he's sleeping… This guy didn't cross any red line yet.
"And I don't know the name, but I heard there was a very cute new girl who joined your guild. Do you know her?" The guy with the ponytail said as Natsu let out a snort, pretending that he is about to wake up. He became silent and Natsu started to think that it is time to "wake up" and "talk" to this guy, but he opened his mouth again. "I noticed that legal guilds have many cute girls… I envy you. There are no girls in my guild…" He looked at Natsu with an absolutely stupid grin on his face. "Though we got one recently, but I doubt she's joined us for long. But her silver magic is definitely a strong one…"
"That's all I wanted to know," Natsu said as he suddenly "woke up", grabbed the guy by the collar of his white shirt, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You are from Eisenwald, and Reina is working with you," The god slayer stated and winded Eisenwald's mage with a full forced punch, smashing him into the carriage's ceiling. "Now do not interfere, I need to take a look at your stuff." Natsu grabbed the guy's bag and shook out its contents onto the seat next to his.
At that moment the train began to slow down and the guy that had stuck in the ceiling fell on the floor. "This is one of the countless reasons why I love that girl – I always can rely on her," Natsu addressed the guy on the floor as if they were old friends.
"How dared you?! You won't get away with hurting a member of Eisenwald!" The man shouted as black-purple seal appeared beneath his feet and his shadow split into three tendrils and shot towards Natsu.
"Silence," Natsu replied indifferently as Gladius Terminus glinted in his left hand. Natsu swung his blade and sliced all the shadows that tried to attack him, also he sliced off the guy's ponytail. "I told you to not interfere, haven't I?"
The Eisenwald member was frozen in shock as he touched his head to check his new haircut. In the meantime, other passengers started to leave the carriage in panic.
"Let me finish with this and after I'm done, you're going to tell me all that you know about Lullaby," Natsu said with the same indifferent voice as he continued to examine the guy's stuff. "Hmm… What's this?" He was about to grab some metallic sphere when he heard an announcement:
"Attention all passengers, we've confirmed that emergency stop was a false alarm. We will be departing shortly."
The train jolted forward and Eisenwald's member lost his balance and fell on his knees. As he hit the floor, some weird, skull-shaped flute fell out of his pocket and landed in front of him. As soon as it happened Natsu clenched his left palm.
"No!" The dark mage shouted as he tried to get back on his feet.
"So, this thing really is the one…" Natsu said as his left eye flashed with dark blue flame. "Now you have to tell me all that you know about it, as well as what Erigor and Reina are planning to do with it."
"Like I would do that!" Eisinwald's mage shouted back at the salmon haired warlock.
"Oh, you will, because each time I don't get an answer from you I'm going to cut off one of your limbs. I'll start from the fingers and finish with your head," The Gladius Terminus's blade glinted, reflecting the sunlight.
"Shut up!" Guy bellowed and dashed forward to grab the flute.
"Hands off, that thing belongs to me now," Natsu declared as he swung his blade once again.
The dark mage quickly brought up his shadow magic to protect him, "Mamorukage!" [Shadow Protection] But of course, the shadow wall was not strong enough to block the attack, Natsu's sword created crescent-shaped shockwave that ravaged the entire carriage and sent Eisenwald's member crashing into what was left of the carriage's platform.
At the same time Natsu noticed that metallic sphere, which he wanted to examine right before the train moved, started to glow. "What the…?" Natsu felt powerful magic coming from it. 'Oh no! It's going to explode!' God slayer's attention was focused on the sphere so when he noticed that the dark mage extended his shadow and grabbed the flute… it was too late. The sphere exploded, tearing the carriage in half. Natsu remained in the rear part of the train, which started to slow down as it lost its connection to the rest of the train and its locomotive.
"We'll meet again, scum! I promise – you'll pay for everything you did to me!" The dark mage yelled angrily as his half of the train has rode away.
'I'm sure we will, soon enough,' The god slayer thought as he watched with narrowed eyes as the dark mage on the train vanished from his sight. A few moments later Natsu noticed something that elicited a dust cloud, approaching him. Several seconds later the god slayer managed to distinguish a Madō Sharyō with Gray as its driver.
"Just in time people – we need to follow that train!" Natsu anounced as he ran towards the vehicle. He made a sign to Gray that he should not stop and Natsu was going to board the vehicle while it is moving. He did just that as he jumped on the roof of the moving Madō Sharyō like it was nothing special. He leaned over from the roof and climbed into the vehicle's passenger cabin through the window.
"Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy asked in concern. "What happened? I saw several explosions…"
Natsu took a seat near Erza, who was greatly suffering from motion sickness. As before, he placed her on his lap to serve as a shock absorber between her and the vehicle. She immediately felt a bit better. Then the god slayer replied to Lucy: "Yeah, I found one of the Eisenwald's members, a shadow mage. I bet he is responsible for unsealing the Lullaby and now he is delivering it to his boss." Natsu said as he slightly opened forward window so Gray could hear him too. "However, when I was about to interrogate him, something exploded – I bet that was one of Reina's toys."
"Did you at least saw what this Lullaby thing was?" Gray asked from the driver's seat.
"Oh, rest assured – I did…" Natsu replied as his voice suddenly became very solemn. "From passerby's point of view, it's nothing special – just an ugly-looking flute with a skull on one end of it, a skull with three eyes."
"What? That's gross," Gray commented.
"A flute with a three eyed skull?..." Lucy asked slowly as she stared into space.
"Hey Lucy, what's up?" Sin asked as he watched the girl shivering a little.
"No… can't be…" Lucy murmured to herself. "It's just a made-up story… but…" She raised her head and looked at Natsu. "If that flute is a cursed song… Lullaby… sleep… death…" Lucy's face was distorted with fear. "Natsu, that flute is the Rarabai! The Shi no Mahō [Death Magic]!"
"I know," The god slayer nodded. "I felt the source of this magic, and Erza felt it too. This is why we decided to leave someone aboard the train," Natsu informed as Erza gave a barely noticeable nod.
"I've only read about it in a book… Among different types of Kindan no Mahō [Forbidden Magic] there is such a thing as "Korosu Noroi" [Killing Curse] right?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah… just like the name, it'll curse the target... and cast 'Death,' Erza moaned.
"This is called Kuroi Geijutsu [Black Arts], Lucy," Natsu added, gently stroking Titania's hair.
"Ouuu… Can we stop… For a second?" Erza pleaded, making Natsu to tighten his embraces.
"Sorry my love, not now," He kissed her cheek.
"Lullaby is much worse than simple curse magic…" Lucy started to explain. Gray and (probably) Erza were listening to Lucy explanation, but both Natsu and Sin seemed strangely uninterested, they were just looking at each other, with grim expressions…
At the same time, Magnolia town, Fairy Tail.
"Here you go nee-san, a message bird," Elfman said as he handed over a small blue bird.
"Thank you," Mirajane replied as she gave a small magic letter to the bird and let it go.
"What's in this letter?" Elfman asked.
"Oh, it's a report to the master about Natsu and Erza, and that they both decided to help Gray with the mission," Barmaid answered her brother's question with a somewhat cunning smile.
July 8th, Year X784, 11:50, Kunugi station
The train was at the station when several dozens of dark mages came to the platform and started to board the train.
"Kick all of the guests and the driver out of the train. Eisenwald is taking over, kill anyone who tries to resist," Erigor ordered as he looked over the train. Eisenwald's members stormed into the train and started to throw out its passengers through doors and windows along with their luggage. As Erigor examined the train, he noticed that the last carriage was almost destroyed. A man jumped from the train and started walking towards him. He appeared to be a quite battered Kageyama.
"I heard you are gonna come back on this train so we've been waiting for you, Kageyama, but looking at the destruction… Did something happen?" Erigor asked with slight concern.
"Let's talk about it later. First, here!" Kageyama said as he pulled out a flute from his internal pocket. "I managed to lift the seal somehow," He said with evil smirk.
"Whoa…" Some of Eisenwald's members exclaimed.
"So, this is the forbidden Lullaby?" Erigor said as he grabbed the flute from his subordinate's hands and started to examine it, ignoring Kageyama's "new" haircut and his battered condition. "This was originally nothing but a tool used for death curses… But the great black wizard Zeref transformed it even further, into a demon flute. All those who hear the sound of it have the life sucked out of them. The mass-death curse magic, Lullaby!" Erigor explained the flute's background as he boarded the train. "C'mon, Reina should be there already! Let's begin the operation!" Shinigami shouted, urging his guild's members to act.
Spell List:
Kemuri Mahō – Smoke Magic
Pāpuru Furea – Purple Flame
Teiku Ōbā: Bīsuto Sōru – Take Over: Beast Soul
Hikari Hude – Light Brush
Seirei Madōshi – Stellar Spirit Mage
Madō Sharyō – Magic Vehicle
Rarabai – Lullaby
Shinukami no Erigor – God of Death Erigor
Ginjitsushi no Reina – Silver Arts Master Reina
Mamorukage – Protection Shadow
Shi no Mahō – Death Magic
Kindan no Mahō – Forbidden Magic
Korosu Noroi – Killing Curse
Kuroi Geijutsu – Black Arts
Well, that's it!
I think you may have some questions – feel free to ask in review section, I'll try to answer them all =)
Oh, this chapter was originally called "Damned and Denied", yeah… I decided that it's to early for that name. This is the name for the next chapter. See you people, as always – write REVIEWS!