In the town of Era, the Magic Council was currently having another meeting. And this time again, it involved the actions of the Fairy Tail guild.
"The Eisenwald guild may have been defeated, but it is only a small victory in the grand scheme of things." one council member said.
"The number of dark guilds doesn't stop growing." another agreed.
"I am more worried about how they got there hands on a tool of forbidden magic." the shortest person in the room stated.
"I hate to admit it but the blame for this may go all the way to the highest levels." another council member admitted.
"Whatever the case may be, we owe a considerable debt to Fairy Tail for their actions. Regardless of how annoying they usually are." a young blue-haired man declared.
"They took down an entire dark guild with a reduced team. That is very impressive." a young woman added.
She was a pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair and red eyes. She had a rather voluptuous figure, and she wore a long revealing kimono, sporting a striped pattern.
Her comment caused almost the entire Magic Council to argue with each other. Until the tattooed man spoke up, silencing them. "No matter how you feel about them, the facts are there. Eisenwald's plan was stopped, lives were saved and we all got to keep our position on this council."
"Would you stop this nonsense?! It doesn't matter what kind of good deeds they do, they will always be overshadowed by their reckless destruction!" a random council member countered.
"And their only good member took part in it this time!" another added, referring to Natsu.
"If that's how you feel, why don't we take the opportunity to tell them so?" the blue-haired man proposed with an evil smirk.
Back in Magnolia, Lucy was in her apartment, writing about her newest adventures on a sheet of paper. 'It turns out that Eisenwald's unsuccessful attack on the guild masters has become a huge event. It was on the front page of all the newspapers and everyone was talking about it. Until I joined Fairy Tail, I could never have imagined being part of anything this important. It feels awesome but I'm not going to let it go to my head. The good news is the authorities arrested almost the entirety of the Eisenwald members. Unfortunately, word on the street is that Erigor has broken out of jail and is now free again. If that's true, he might try to attack our guild to get revenge. But even if he does, our team will make quick work of him. It is Fairy Tail's strongest team and consists of Natsu, Erza, Gray and myself. And Happy, of course. I love Fairy Tail and its members are really good people. So you don't have to worry about me, mom. I'm doing just fine. PS: Please don't tell dad any of this.'
When she was done writing it, the blonde girl folded the letter and put it in an envelope. She then stretched while wondering what she was going to do today but was interrupted by a voice behind her.
"Wow, 70,000 jewels a month for a place like this sure is cheap." it commented. When the Celestial Spirit mage turned around she was astonished and enraged to see Gray slumped in her armchair and, even worse, in nothing but his boxers. "You did very well for yourself, Lucy."
He was answered with a kick to the chest. "What are you doing here uninvited?! And why did you strip in my place?!" she screamed.
"Wait! It's a misunderstanding! I had already lost my clothes when I got here." Gray clarified.
"That's not better. Get out." the female mage ordered.
"So you have forgotten about today, huh? That precisely why I came by." the ice mage noted.
"Forgotten what?" Lucy asked.
"When Erza challenged Natsu? Well, the rematch is taking place right now."
In the street in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall's entrance, the two aforementioned wizards were silently facing each other with dozens of people surrounding them but keeping a good distance away so as to not get caught up in their fight to come but to be able to witness it. They were also yelling encouragement to both of them.
Erza was standing in a battle stance, eyeing her opponent carefully and thoroughly.
Natsu, on the other hand, stood sideways and looked at his adversary with his head a little bent. He was looking at her amusingly with a small smirk.
That is the sight Lucy was met with once she had made her way through the crowd. It made her stare at them in surprise and slight disbelief. "No way. They are really gonna go through with this?"
"If those two are real men, of course they are." Elfman reacted.
"Erza's a woman though." Mirajane countered.
"More like a monster of a woman." Macao commented.
"They are both monsters in their own way." Lisanna corrected.
"It's been some time since our last spar. Don't you think so, Erza?" the pinkette questioned.
"It has indeed. But this time will be different. I have spent months training and studying you just so that I could beat you." the redhead responded.
"I'm impressed by your determination." Natsu complimented. 'It seems excessive though.'
'It does.' Mavis agreed.
"Requip: Black Wing Armor!" Erza called out and changed into one of her armors.
This one was black with silver trimming that had silver crosses in several places. It had a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist-guard. The waist-guard left the front of Erza's body exposed, with her groin being covered by a dark imbuement. She had large plates guarding her legs and two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure, but the parts used to fly were composed of a membrane-like material. Erza's hair was tied in a ponytail.
Seeing this made Natsu smile a bit. 'At least this time, she didn't try to fight me with her default armor or one of her elemental armors. She's learning.'
"Round 1. Begin." Makarov started the match.
As soon as the guild master said that, Erza used her armor's wings to propel herself towards her opponent at high speed and tried to slash him with the long sword she was wielding.
As fast as she was, Natsu's reflexes were faster and they allowed him to dodge the incoming blow with ease. However, he was unable to avoid the armored foot that followed and got hit in the chest. Usually, the pink-haired mage wouldn't even feel such an attack. But because the Black Wing Armor increased Erza's offensive capabilities, it was a lot stronger. Strong enough to push one of his feet back and into the ground slightly.
This shocked many of the people around them and, when she turned around and saw her accomplishment, Erza grew a proud and confident smile. Only for it to vanish completely when she saw that Natsu had a smile of his own. Except his one was devilish and amused. So much so that it actually made a cold sweat run down the knight's forehead.
Without uttering a single word, the pinkette extended his hand and summoned his trademark sword, thus indicating clearly that playtime was over.
Forgetting her apprehension, Erza took her sword and her courage in both hands. She then jumped at her opponent with her sword pulled back behind her back and brought it down on him with all the strength she could muster.
As a response, Natsu simply raised his own sword with one hand to place it in the way of Erza's.
Much to almost everyone's shock, not only did Natsu's weapon sustain and block the blow, but it was also completely undamaged and didn't budge whatsoever.
Capitalizing on the redhead's shock, the pink-haired man kicked her into the stomach, sending her back.
When she had recovered and stood back up, Erza looked extremely pissed and frustrated. She wasn't all that surprised that her adversary had the physical strength to stop her attack, even with the assistance of her armor. She had discovered that his magics granted him inhuman abilities. But what she couldn't get her head around was how his sword was so durable. She had cut through wood, metal, bricks and even rocks with this same technique without any difficulty. Yet that single sword had sustained it like it was nothing.
'What is that thing made of?' she thought.
Realizing she wouldn't get anywhere like that, Erza switched tactics and armor in a flash of gold. "Requip: Purgatory Armor!" When the light died down, the knight was clad in a black armor that was covered in spikes. Erza's hair became styled in very prominent spikes pointing outwards in every direction, with her right eye being covered by it and a devilish shadow obscuring the upper part of her face. "This is one of my most powerful armors. None have seen it and lived to tell the tale." she warned.
"Bring it on." Natsu provoked with a hand gesture and a mocking smile.
Responding to the challenge, the red-haired woman attacked him with her large black mace. It had the same spike-like design as the Purgatory Armor and was larger than Erza herself with six large spikes running down the edge, getting progressively larger as they reached the hook end of the weapon.
Unfortunately, its impressive size made it rather heavy which meant that the attack, while powerful, was slow. A fact which Natsu took advantage of as he skillfully dodged the weapon.
Both of them then prepared to attack each other with their respective weapon but stopped when they were interrupted by the sound of a single hand clap.
When everyone turned to the source, they were surprised to see so sort of humanoid frog in a robe advancing towards the two mages. "This fight is over. I'm here on behalf of the Magic Council. Following the Eisenwald incident, your guild has been found responsible for 11 counts of criminal property damage. Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel, you will come with me."
"WHAT?!" almost everyone yelled in shock.
A little later, the members of Fairy Tail, except the two who had been taken into custody, were gathered inside their guild hall. However, unlike usual, they were neither partying nor having one of their typical brawls. Instead, there was a gloomy atmosphere looming over each and everyone of them. They were all worried and anxious about what was going to happen to one or both of their guildmates. One of them in particular was so concerned about his pink-haired friend that he wanted to go and free him by force. As a result, he got tied up to one of the wooden posts with ropes.
"Come on, guys! Let me go!" he said as he tried to wiggle his way out.
"Happy, try to calm down." Lisanna advised.
"How do you want me to calm down when the Magic Council abducted Natsu?! I gotta go save him!" the feline exclaimed.
"And how are you gonna do that? Storm the Magic Council and break him out? Even if you could, it would have huge repercussions on the guild. We can't face off with these guys." Gray commented.
"So we are just supposed to stand there and take it quietly?! Even though we only did what we had to do to stop Eisenwald?! That's not how Natsu raised me!" the blue cat argued.
"If the Magic Council says you're guilty then you are. That's it. They don't care about reasons or circumstances." the ice mage countered.
"Yeah but it doesn't make sense. We have destroyed plenty of stuff before and they have never gone that far." Elfman wondered.
"And why arrest Natsu among all of us? He is like the one Fairy Tail member they don't hate." Mirajane added.
"Maybe because it is the first time he went out of line and they want to make sure it won't happen again?" her younger sister theorized.
"I doubt it." Makarov said, catching everyone's attention.
"What do you mean master?" somebody asked.
"I don't think the council would dare go against Natsu. Since we know so little about him, they must know next to nothing except that he is tremendously powerful. My guess is that this is all just a ruse to try to get information about him." the guild master clarified.
Natsu and Erza were currently in an armored carriage, on their way to the headquarters of the Magic Council in Fiore. Both of them looked surprisingly calm, almost indifferent, to the situation they were in. However, only the female of the two had magic-canceling handcuffs on their wrists, indicating their prisoner status.
"Sorry that your long awaited fight got interrupted." Natsu said to the knight in a teasing tone.
"It's fine. We'll just have to resume when we get back to the guild." his guildmate responded seriously, apparently not picking up on the joke.
"I take it we agree this is all just a formality?" the pinkette inquired and received a nod as an answer.
"Yes. After all the damage we caused, the council wants to show it takes action to the population. I suspect we will be trialed, maybe even put in jail for a short duration, but nothing more."
"Actually, only Erza Scarlet is under arrest. Natsu Dragneel has been summoned by one of the council members." the frog lady clarified.
Both wizards silently stared at the amphibian in with bewildered expressions for a short time before they spoke up simultaneously. "Now you tell us?"
Before they could get a response, the vehicle stopped and they all got out. They then entered the immense building and soon had to separate.
"Good luck for your trial, Erza. If whatever nonsense they want me for is short enough, maybe we could get back to the guild together?" Natsu suggested.
The red-haired woman was visibly surprised by the kind and considerate words of her guildmate but managed to give him an answer regardless. "Y-Yes, of course. It would make sense."
When the two had parted ways, Erza was being led to the room where she was going to be judged but on her way, met a familiar blue-haired young man leaning against a pillar who smiled at her. 'Siegrain.' she thought.
As he walked towards her, the frog-human hybrid bowed in respect. "It's been quite some time, Erza. But don't worry this is merely a thought projection. My real body is still in Era. In fact, almost all of the council members you are about to see are projections too. You see, we don't find it necessary to really be there since they are just trying to place the blame for Clovis' destruction on someone else in order to save face. That is not why I'm here though. As a friendly warning, keep your mouth shut about you know what, for both of our sakes." he said before he started walking away.
He stopped in his tracks when he unexpectedly heard the redhead respond. "What about Natsu?"
The council member raised an eyebrow and turned back around to face her with the same mocking smile plastered on his face. "Oh? I'm surprised you show such concern about someone you barely know. Especially considering your own predicament. But I'll humor you. One of my fellow council members has taken this opportunity to summon him for an entirely different matter. But I can't tell which one or what it is. Anyway, I'll see you shortly on the other side."
He then disappeared in thin air while Erza was still glaring at where he had last stood. The frog creature then looked up at her. "You know some very important people." she remarked.
"That man is evil." the knight responded.
Natsu was currently standing in front of two large doors in a hallway. He had been for some time now. After he and Erza parted ways, Rune Knights had escorted him to this spot, told him to wait there and left. That was something like thirty minutes ago. Thirty minutes of just standing there, staring at two giant wooden doors. Natsu's patience was beginning to wear thin but his ghost friend's was long since gone.
'This is taking too long. Natsu, break down the doors.' she whined.
'Stop telling me that. I'm bored too but if I did that, Fairy Tail and Erza would just be in even more trouble.' the pinkette argued.
'I have spent something like 80 years alone on a remote and deserted island. And I was less bored than I am now!' Mavis complained.
'And you think I'm not?! It's even worse for me because not only do I also have to stand there and wait, but I also have to listen to your bitching!' Natsu said back.
Before either of them had a chance to say anything else, the large doors finally opened, revealing a woman who appeared to be a secretary advancing towards Natsu.
"Natsu Dragneel, if you would care to enter, you will be received shortly." she said and Natsu went in without wasting any time.
The room was a large office with a desk the size of a dining table, a luxurious office chair behind it and two chairs in front of it. The room also sported a large sofa, many bookshelves and large windows that almost completely made up one of the walls.
Once Natsu stepped in, the secretary left and shut the door behind her, much to Mavis' displeasure. 'Are they gonna make us wait another thirty minutes in a different room?! Natsu, burn this office down!'
'Mavis, I swear-' Natsu began but before he could finish, another set of doors opened, revealing the youngest woman in the Magic Council.
As soon as she saw the pinkette, she got a confident and seductive smile on her face. "I'm so pleased to finally meet you, Natsu Dragneel. You probably don't know me but you may call me Ultear Milkovich."
"I take it you're the reason why I'm here?" the Fairy Tail member stated more than asked.
Indeed, she was. Ultear had personally requested for Natsu Dragneel to be brought to her office. She did so because she had been tasked by two people to meet with Natsu and study him. Even though he hadn't been a member of a guild for that long, he had gained a lot of attention from a variety of people. Two of which were men Ultear worked with. The youngest of them wanted to know if he'd make a suitable sacrifice for a particular plan of his and the other sought to recruit him in his guild. In any case, Ultear's main objective was to extract as much information from the pink-haired mage as possible concerning his guild, himself and his magics. Even though she didn't know much about her target, Ultear was confident. She did know one thing: Natsu was a man and she knew very well how to get a man to do whatever she wanted. She was so sure of herself that she had activated a recording lacrima hidden in her office when she walked in. Something Natsu hadn't missed.
Her smile got bigger at his comment and she started walking towards her desk, intentionally swaying her hips. "It is. You see, your reputation has attracted the interest of the council and we have considered making you a Wizard Saint. We just need a bit more information and since this was my idea, I was tasked with collecting it."
Natsu was no fool and saw right through the young woman's lies but decided to play along. First, because it could be fun. And second, because it would give him the opportunity to learn more about her himself. "Very well then. Ask away."
Ultear smiled, believing this would be even easier than she had anticipated. She sat on her desk and leaned forward, making sure to let her interlocutor see a good portion of her cleavage. "Good. Let's begin. Where did you learn your magics?"
"My father taught them to me." Natsu answered simply.
"Who is your father? Where is he now?" the council member asked.
"He's dead. I do not wish to talk about it." the pinkette answered in a cold tone, already losing interest in the situation.
"I see. Moving on, our records indicate you haven't been part of Fairy Tail for very long. What were you doing before?" Ultear changed the subject, as to not upset Natsu too much.
"Nothing much. I was mainly training far away from civilization." he answered.
"Why is that? Is it because your magics were too powerful and you only recently learned to fully control them? Exactly how powerful are you now?" the woman questioned.
Unfortunately for her, Natsu had now lost all amusement at the interrogation. "Let's stop playing games here, Ultear." he declared, shocking the dark-haired girl while he was walking towards her. "How about you start being honest with me and I'll be honest with you?"
Ultear hid her surprise with a giggle as she got of her desk and closed the gap with the pinkette. She then caressed his chest with her hand seductively. "Playing games? I don't know what you mean."
"Stop that." he reacted, clearly not amused and this time, Ultear couldn't hide her shock as she swiftly retreated her hand back to her side. Natsu then sighed and continued. "Fine, I'll start. You live under the delusion that you can outsmart and deceive everyone else. You also don't have any regard for the lives of others and believe your goals to be the only ones that truly matter. And you justify all of this by the pain you have been through in your past."
Forget shocked, Ultear was now enraged at being read so easily. "How could you know?! You don't know me!"
"Because I used to be what you are. That is why I'd be willing to help you if you wanted." the Fairy Tail mage offered.
"OUT! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" she ordered in anger.
Seeing that this wouldn't go anywhere, Natsu shrugged and left the office but could still hear Ultear throwing things around in fury.
'Wait, wait, wait. You're telling we had to wait over half an hour for this?' Mavis wondered.
Later on, Erza was sitting in her cell, lost in her thoughts, when she heard and saw her pink-haired guildmate leaning against her cell door.
"That bad, huh?" he asked.
"I was sentenced to a full night in jail and will be released tomorrow." she informed him.
"I see." Natsu said while melting the lock. He then entered the cell and shut the door behind him, mush to Erza's surprise.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"What do you mean? I'm not gonna let you spent the night here on your own. Besides, if I leave now, I'll have to make the way back on my own. But if I stay with you and keep you company, you'll be able to keep me company tomorrow." the pinkette explained.
This got Erza to smile fondly a bit. "Thank you."
"For what?" Natsu asked, confused.
"Nothing."
Further away, Siegrain's thought projection was observing them with narrowed eyes. Especially, one of them. 'Natsu Dragneel, huh?'