Like a Phoenix
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A/N I am basing this story in some canon events but I'm changing things to fit my own storyline ideas. NO this will not follow canon, it will only loosely bring canon bits and pieces in. I own the Pradesh Family, the Bosco I built around them, White Sea and the concept of Archangel Magic and Archangel Mages laid out here. I make no apologies if I don't fangirl over a specific character. I love all of Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima created an amazing concept and built a framework for a really fun world where a lot can happen. I write rated-M stories. So there will be triggers, violence, blood, and things that go bump in the night. Only warning I plan to give. I hope everyone enjoys! Michikolyvie and Rose G and all the other readers out there who asked for this..thank you for writing to me!
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Air, breath, just a breath, even a small one, it wasn't coming though...fuck Brandish to hell how could such a waif of a woman be so fucking strong?! Her nails frayed trying to dig into the womans skin enough to get her to loosen her hold even the least bit, Lucy felt it, black spots starting to appear in her vision, life itself starting to leave her.
Her very soul screamed for help though her body could do nothing but struggle more and more weakly. Cana was knocked unconscious nearby, to think...they had saved her, stopped Marin from strangling her only to have her turn on them like this!
Cana down, Marin gone, Lucy was left to feel her life leaving her, knowing Natsu wasn't coming, nobody would, the fighting was too intense right then, they were all too spread out. She would die here…
Brandish's cold gaze stayed on her until suddenly the woman spasmed and blood dribbled down from her lips, her hold released and Lucy crumbled to the ground choking and gasping in air, looking up through eyes struggling to focus, almost consumed in blackness to see a sword protruding from Brandish's chest and the fiery glow of golden eyes and long black wings before she passed out.
She came too into warmth, comfort she'd not known in weeks, she'd been sleeping in the open, often unable to even risk setting up a camp, she and Cana huddling together for warmth as they had tried to work their way to the others, utterly lost and confused by the changed topography and lay out of their own damn country thanks to Irene.
She was warm though, and comfortable, and that scared the shit out of her to the point she was afraid to open her eyes and find out she was dead.
"It's ok...you aren't dead Lucy." A deep voice chuckled and that made her eyes snap open. She wasn't dead, she was instead wrapped in a warm soft blanket with...thickly muscled tanned arms around her. Looking across the wrecked husk of whatever ruined building they seemed to be in she saw Cana in the same condition, in the arms of a tall man with platinum blonde hair that was smiling at Lucy knowingly.
She looked around a little more, taking it all in, she was being held, long legs in dusty tight black pants were on either side of her, her face was pressed against a black silk shirt that was wrapped around a warm hard muscled torso. Craning her neck she met calm gold flecked purple eyes that held a hint of amusement in them.
"Not dead...sadly neither is the bitch that was trying to kill you but she fled and we didn't stick around to see if she'd come back, we got you and your friend out of there" The man holding her said quietly. Lucy blinked and the blonde holding Cana smiled "I'm Kaleb Pradesh, Guildmaster of the Boscan guild White Sea, older brother of your guildmate Bickslow, holding you is Zen Pradesh, also a brother. We were separated from the group we were with when that...spell...went off and when things settled we started trying to find our way to them and came across Brandish attacking you and your friend." The man, Kaleb...said. How did he know she knew Bickslow? She'd never seen this guy before, or the man holding her for that matter, Bickslows family lived in Bosco and fucking Bosco was attacking Fiore as sure as the fucking Alvarez empire was.
"I'm a mindbender Lucy, I can hear your thoughts, read them, and my guild tried to fight our Crown Princess when she overthrew her father and took over Bosco, siding with Alvarez and Emperor Spriggan but we were overwhelmed...most of us were killed, the city that was our home was...wiped off the map...hundreds of thousands of innocent people died…" Kaleb said a little brokenly.
The city of White Sea had been home to more than 300 thousand people and Princess Kurino had...wiped it off the map...killed everyone...all in her attempt to subjugate Kalebs guild, to bring him and his mages to heel. The thought sickened him, he hadn't known she would do it, go that far, she had made an example of him and his guild, of their city, it had worked, other smaller guilds had surrendered, joined her forces...Gods, had he known she would do what she did he'd have been on his knees at her feet to save those lives but he hadn't been given that chance.
No...Kurino had needed a show of power to bring the other guilds in Bosco to heel, exterminating the Knights of immaculate Light hadn't been enough, and when her attempt to have Kaleb killed by a bloodhunter who happened to be friends with his baby brother had failed...she had brought her flagship to White Sea and destroyed the city without warning, without any attempt to let even a single person surrender if they had wanted to.
He hadn't been there, none of his brothers or sisters had been, no, they had been seeing their father to safety, asylum given to Arman Pradesh in Minstrel, but he'd felt it...the death of his guilds heart, it's home, all of those hundreds of thousands of people and that moment had brought him to his knees.
Lucy looked between the two men, both were big guys, she felt Laxus/Gajeel level muscle under her hands as she pushed herself to a sitting position. "I...I was hurt...bleeding…" she whispered, running her hand over where her midsection had been sliced open, her shirt was still sticky with her blood but the injury wasn't there, she touched her throat, which should be burning...she shouldn't even be able to talk…
"Shh, Kaleb and I both have some minor healing magic, you're fine and so is your friend, you do need to eat though, and here." He held up a canteen and Lucy took it gratefully, opening the lid and taking a deep drink of cool wonderful clean water that held a taste of herbs as she slid her finger over Virgos key.
The Maid spirit appeared and Zens arm flew out, a huge glaive appearing in his hand "No!..No it's ok! She's with me!" Lucy cried grabbing his arm. Eyes that had flared gold slowly returned to that beautiful purple color and the glaive vanished.
"You're a Celestial mage…" the man under her said, smiling faintly and looking at the maid again…"Virgo…" he said, recognition in his eyes that surprised Lucy.
"Yes...this is Virgo...one of my spirits…" She replied. Virgo bowed, seeming undisturbed about nearly having been attacked.
"Princess, it's a relief to see you ok…" Virgo said.
"Thanks Virgo...these two saved Cana and I...could you please get us something to eat? Something warm?" Lucy asked hopefully and Virgo bowed again "It would be my pleasure Princess." She replied vanishing.
Zen was looking at Kaleb "That's going to be incredibly helpful…" He said quietly, Kaleb nodded and Lucy looked at Cana with a worried frown. "Is she ok?" She asked.
"She's fine, she woke up a while ago and flew into a guilt induced anxiety attack at seeing you still out, I had to calm her down, put her back to sleep, you both were pretty beat up and exhausted when we found you." Kaleb told her.
Lucy sighed, that was an understatement. It had been 16 days since Irenes spell and they were still lost, the only people they had encountered so far were either Alvarez military or fucking Spriggen.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten anything and water, Gods she drained Zens canteen without meaning to it tasted so good.
"Oh...sorry…" she whispered handing it back to him, he smiled and she watched golden magic light up the surface of the canteen, he handed it back to her and she smiled faintly when she took it and it was full again.
"I can create purified water, the herbs in there though I did add by hand, they're good for you, help with energy and magic regeneration." He told her. She nodded, drinking eagerly now that she knew she wasn't going to screw him out of water, which was a precious commodity in the warzone they were in. The Alvarez wizards had poisoned a lot of the water supplies already, it wasn't safe to drink from rivers or streams anymore.
Cana came to then slowly, Kalebs hand on her forehead, his Lavender eyes glowing faintly for a few moments. When she came to she looked right over for Lucy and seeing her sitting up drinking from the canteen she jumped out of Kalebs arms, tripping in the blanket still wrapped around her and staggering over to grab Lucy in a tearful hug.
"Lu...fuck Lu I thought you were a goner...I thought we both were…" She whimpered.
Lucy hugged her back, shoving the canteen into her face "Well, looks like we found some new friends, Bickslows brothers here saved our asses. No offense guys but I am sick to fucking death of being a damsel in distress." Lucy sighed as Cana drank down the remainder of the canteens contents then blushed, looking at Zen "...sorry…" She said meekly handing it to him, Lucy grinned "Don't be, he can refill it!" Lucy said brightly. It lit up in Zens hand and Cana took it back grinning and doing like Lucy had, greedily drinking her fill.
Virgo reappeared with a heavy pot with steaming contents that caught everyones attention with it's heavenly aroma. Within moments she had doled out the stew to everyone and they all sat gratefully eating, though Kaleb refused to let Virgo make a fire. "I'm sorry, it would be really nice but the smoke would give away our position and there are enemies all around the area, we need to remain as we are, dusk is almost here, we can get on the move once the sun is down so it's easier to stay hidden." He said.
Zen finished his meal and shifted away from Lucy who was still half leaning on him, the man was warm and she was enjoying that warmth damn it. "I'll scout the area and see which route will be best, I can guide from the air if we need.." He said, getting to his feet and Lucy got her first good look at him. He was tall, near Bickslows height if not equal to it, heavier built though, in tight black pants made out of some sort of stretchy material that were tucked into tall black boots, a black long sleeved shirt and a furlined black leather vest that was open, the heavy charcoal colored cloak on his shoulders was lined with a silvery gray fur and he undid it, handing it to Lucy. "I can't wear it while I'm flying." He told her with a smile as she more than happily wrapped it around her.
He had hair that was a rich mahogany brown streaked with gold and held back by a leather band that made a low tail out of the thick lengths, it was braided from the band down and reached down between his broad shoulders.
He grabbed up a pack, pulled out some heavy black gloves and then a black mid thigh length coat that he pulled on, then with a whispered spell the pack vanished, Lucy recognized re-quip magic when she saw it though this was a variation she wasn't familiar with.
"Ok, you think it's dark enough to go up?" Kaleb was saying. Zen nodded, adjusting his cuffs over his gloves. "Should be, plenty of smoke and fucking clouds in the sky, I won't be easy to see. Keep me linked." He said and stepped to the ruined doorway of the building they were in, carefully looking outside, listening, before stepping out and Lucy saw runes flash slightly as he passed, so either Zen or Kaleb knew rune magic and had secured this spot for them to rest in.
Kaleb looked at she and Cana "Ok, like I said, I'm a mindbender mage, and for safety sake I'm going to mentally link the four of us ok? You won't have to talk, you can think to communicate." He said and both women smiled faintly, nodding. Like Warren, Lucy was thinking, feeling a dull ache remembering that sweet mage was one they had lost...they had lost so many friends…
The link opened and Lucy sucked in a breath as a more than racy image of Cana riding a naked Kaleb flashed in her mind, it was cut off, blanked out and a blushing Cana slapped her hand over her eyes "Uh...yeah...sorry bout that...didn't realize you didn't work quite like Warren...so...thoughts AND images huh?"
Kaleb nodded "Thoughts, images, memories, whatever you transmit." He chuckled. In their heads they got Zens voice "Yeah lets keep the porn to a minimum while I'm trying to gain altitude without being seen hmm?"
Cana rolled her eyes "Yeah..sorry, sharing is caring right?"
"Well, we ARE Boscan so we do share but I doubt a hard on will help me fly better so keep it to yourself." Zen returned and Lucy snorted while Virgo gathered the bowls and pot and asked quietly if she needed a change of clothes which Lucy heartily agreed she did and asked Cana if she wanted some as well.
Kaleb busied himself gathering up the blankets and few things he and Zen had out before doing just like Zen had and using a spell to store them while the girls changed clothes into the warmer things Virgo provided though she greedily wrapped herself up in the fur lined cloak again, fastening the silver clasps with the symbol of a churning white sea on them so it wrapped her in it's wonderful warmth and the rich spicy masculine scent of its owner.
She froze as images filled her mind, a view of the area from the sky and she realized she was seeing through Zens sharp eyes and was wondering how he flew. She knew mages who could fly, Wendy did it using wind and Freed and Mira had demon wings, Laxus used his lightning and Natsu sometimes could chanel so much power through his feet he could become a sort of human rocket, Erza had wing armor, but she realized she had no idea what sort of mage Zen was.
"Archangel, I'm an Archangel mage and I have wings you'll get familiar with, Black because of the type of Archangel Mage I am. I use them for more than just flying." Came the mans voice and Lucy inwardly slapped herself, the link Kaleb had made shared thoughts..duh...well, at least she hadn't broadcast her little fantasies of grabbing the purple eyed mage and kissing him.
"Until right then anyway, save that idea for when I'm on the ground though." the man chuckled in her head and Lucy audibly and mentally groaned as Cana cackled.
"Hah, i'm not the only one with dirty daydreams!" She snickered, Lucy shoved her lightly "Yeah well mine aren't x-rated!" She returned and both women laughed softly, Kaleb shaking his head and going to the door, the sun was down, it was time to go.
It took some getting used to, and fortunately Kaleb had done it before so was already very good at it, but using Zens eyes from above they maneuvered their way through the wreckage of Magnolia avoiding the random enemy squads that were searching for survivors and looting.
They found out how powerful Kaleb was when he redirected a squad of Alvarez Berserkers, sending them in another direction thinking they had heard something so they could clear the city and break free into the woods. Everything was just so...different, Irenes spell had completely screwed everything up.
"You have no idea the scope of it either, entire countries were moved, borders changed...the shit she did is going to stir more fighting as countries try to settle who owns what now." Kalebs voice was smooth deep, silky in their heads and Lucy had to rein in her thoughts so they weren't broadcast to the others.
They had to find Fairy Tail, Laxus, Natsu, all the others, Gods only knew where everyone had ended up, she had been trying to comfort a grief stricken frantic Levy one minute, pulling herself out of rubble in Hargeon the next, thank Gods she'd run into Cana, who was as lost as her. Her spirits were trying hard to help, to get some sort of map going for her but that wasn't easy either because everything had changed.
She was so worried about her friends though, poor Levy who had watched Gajeel taken down by Bradman just as the man had confessed he loved her.
"We'll find them." Zens voice assured her.
Unconsciously she pulled the warm cloak around her tighter to her at his words, it had happened with her before, when she had met Natsu, within moments she had known he could be trusted, and that he would be special to her. She felt that with Zen only in a deeper way. She trusted him, waking up in his arms had felt like the most natural thing in the world, she'd felt...safe, at home in those arms and considering how insane everything was right now she knew better than to take that lightly or shove it aside as some stupid fancy.
Yes, the man was handsome, strikingly so, but there was more to it, something about Zen drew her, called to her in a really deep and meaningful way and like when she had met Natsu and he'd held his hand out to her that first time, she was ready to reach out and hold on to whatever it was, follow it, because these feelings had never led her wrong in the past.
Natsu had become her best friend, who knew if Zen would become that...or even something more. She'd not had feelings like that with Natsu, well, there was the one time when Cana had given her that cryptic BS about a fateful encounter, but that had been bullshit because Natsu had just been wanting Virgo to dig some holes for him. He didn't feel that way toward her and she didn't feel it toward him, he was like a brother. Zen though...yeah, she'd be lying if an idea like Canas hadn't popped into her head shortly after she'd regained consciousness there, fortunately hers had come before the mind link and she knew to keep that dirty side of her thoughts in tight check right now.
She could sense from the brothers the same sort of worry she felt for her friends, they were worried about their brothers and sisters and friends, their father, their country. This war was horrific, it felt like the end of the fucking world and in a way it really was. Nothing would ever be the same now, Irene and her spell had changed everything, scattered the world they all knew to the winds.
They had no idea where they were headed or if it was even the right fucking direction they were going.
"It's the right way Lucy...look" Zens voice came and suddenly the image she was seeing went gray and she realized he was climbing through clouds, she looked up at the sullen dark sky, not a star could be seen, the moon was even mostly blocked from view, it's light making some clouds glow the only indication it was there. Suddenly Zen broke from the clouds and the dark sky filled with stars came to her and on the horizon, flashes...fighting...the front.
"It's about 2 weeks away on foot, but we ARE heading the right way." He told her, all of them since the link was in place.
They stole their way along, Zen rejoining them a little before dawn, landing lightly in a soft rustle of his glossy black wings. He nodded in a direction "There's a small cave that way in the side of a rocky hill, good shelter, well hidden, can only see it from directly above it." He said and led them to it. Once inside it was Zen who drew runes around the opening, on the floor, both side walls and, unfurling his wings, did the same with the ceiling. She'd not seen runes like his though before, a single one and there was a ripple of magic that flowed around them.
They had traveled in the icy late January night and Lucy was cold, it felt like she'd never be warm, though she'd awakened that way there were times like these that warmth, safety and normalcy seemed like they didn't exist anymore. How many dead people had they seen as they walked, how many evil things had they traveled past, she'd felt it, each time the Berserkers came near, and she felt them being hunted too. Brandish had survived, the Spriggan would be after them.
"Then we will take them down." Kaleb said through the link and his hands lit, Lucy watched as his eyes glowed and white fire flowed from his hand into a good sized rock, in moments the rock glowed red and warmth started filling the cave.
"For now, we are safe, Zens wards can't be breached by any known current magic because his magic is...unknown in this era, we sleep, rest and resume our journey to find Fairy Tail, your friends, our brothers. We will win this...we will not fall to the black wizard." Kaleb said in a low hard voice.
Lucy looked hard at him, eyes sliding to the distinct insignia on his cloaks clasps and she smiled faintly. A wizard saint...with a twinge she wondered if Kaleb might be the last one left. Makarov had fallen defending his guild, Jura was missing, Warrod was taken down, Wolfheim, Draculos, God Serena had seemed to barely put effort into taking them down.
She knew nothing of the other 4 Wizard saints of Bosco though...maybe…
"Dead...Alphose refused to take a knee, so did Guron and Riminda so they were killed, Helseth is in the service of Princess Kurino now, I am the only Wizard Saint of Bosco left not dead or taken by the empire." Kaleb said quietly.
"Not for a lack of trying to kill him though…" Zen added with a sigh, pulling his pack from storage while Kaleb pulled out the familiar heavy blankets. Lucy nodded, trying to keep her thoughts better contained, running a finger over Virgos key she quietly asked the maid to bring them something to eat and summoned Aries who fashioned a couple of plush round "beds" so they didn't have to sleep on the damp rock of the cave floor.
It was getting harder and harder to stay positive, despair seemed to nip at her heels as Lucy quietly thanked Virgo and sat on the edge of the bed, blushing faintly when she realised Aries had only made two, the spirit probably assuming they would be sleeping the same way as they had before.
"It's the best idea, Zen and I both channel Immaculate light, so we're warmer than normal people, it's why we held you both before while you slept, if we share beds, we'll just be more comfortable." Kaleb said and Cana leered at the tall blonde "Oh you won't hear me complaining, just don't be surprised if I start groping around in my sleep." She said with a grin, Kaleb gave her a thin smile "I'll manage." He replied with a chuckle.
They didn't waste time, all of them were too tired. Lucy didn't even hesitate, when Zen laid back in the small bed she climbed right on top of him and he wrapped the blankets around them, his arms closing around her as she nestled down into his warmth.
Cana did the same, though she was considerably more handsy, her fingers sliding up thick thighs and gripping Kalebs waist to pull herself against him while she grinned up at him wickedly. The wizard saint chuckled, settling the blankets around them, her hands wandered a little more and he hissed in a breath when she got really bold because he wasn't reacting.
"You know...it's a nice way to get warm, behave or I'll assume you really mean it." He said quietly to her and Cana smiled "I would love to warm up skin on skin." She said and he laughed again but she cut him off, grabbing a fist full of pale silvery blonde hair and kissing him pretty fiercely.
Lucy gaped and Zen laughed, arms tightening around her. "Well, it is a good way to get warm. Get some sleep Princess, the night will come soon enough." He said and Lucy burrowed in better against him, his warmth seeping into her and making her sleepy in spite of the sudden moan she heard from Cana followed by some rustling and other sounds that had her blushing furiously before she finally fell asleep, Kaleb apparently wasn't kidding, but then neither was Cana.
The Card Mage was over stressed, over exhausted, her nerves were shot and she needed the release way too much to back down. Kaleb nudged Lucys mind off into sleep but ignored his brother, Zen wouldn't care, he had his arms full of a pretty sleeping blonde, Kaleb was the one with a lusty hungry woman sticking her hand down his pants.
He gave her one last opportunity to stop and when he offered to back off she gripped his hardening erection and ground herself against it and that was it, in moments his pants were shoved down enough to free him and Canas were pushed down into the blankets and she was straddling him, riding the wizard saint hard and fast with nothing but a deep tension easing release as their goal.
It took only minutes for Canas first, and Kaleb kept her going, flipping her to her back and settling between her legs, driving into her hard, not letting her come down from the high before he was sending her rushing back up and she clung to him, heat pumping through her body, lust seeming to burn away every worry, all her stress, rigid miserable tension was gone as the big blonde snapped his hips with skilled precision gripping her ass and tilting her hips so he rammed right into the sweet spot deep within her that had her seeing stars again.
He came with her over the edge the second time, usually he lasted a lot longer being a Boscan with a good bit of experience under his belt but like Cana, Kaleb was carrying a hell of a burden of stress and he just plain needed to get his climax.
Sated, for the moment at least, Cana finally settled into Kalebs arms and let her exhaustion take her before any worries or stress could seep back into her waking mind.
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Screams filled the air, but then, they had for days, weeks even, the screams of the living in pain, the dying, the dead, demons, fighters, heroes, the world at large just seemed to be endlessly screaming. Coupled with the stench of blood from too many sources, far too much death, fear...Cristoff wrinkled his nose, narrowing his midnight blue eyes as his broadsword arced down then up, cleaving through the two Alvarez soldiers that had rushed him, a hand coming from the hilt of his sword before it had even fully cleared the neck of the second man so his head could tumble free to push a powerful healing spell past the fighting to hit Laxus who had just had a spear rip clean through his right shoulder and send him staggering.
The lightning Slayer groaned, feeling the invigorating glory of healing magic course through the wound, pull his flesh back together and restore him, the minty scent that accompanied it left no doubt as to where it had come from. Wendy was also nearby, doing her best, but Cristoff was an experienced battle healer and right now, it really really showed, several of the fighters here including himself would likely be dead already and this line would have buckled were it not for the raven haired dragon slayer in bloodsoaked holy armor alternating between mowing down soldiers with his sword, blasting them back with his magic and healing his comrades.
The soldiers of Alvarez had identified Wendy quickly as a healer and strong support mage to the others and had targeted her but Cristoff was right in the thick of the fighting and knew how to hide what his major magic was doing. A well placed roar from him coupled with one from Laxus to cross attack the fighting field finally saw it cleared and Cristoff groaned, stepping backward slowly, dark blue eyes scanning the area then down the lines to see the current wave was done, they had held the fucking line through it.
They weren't supposed to be front line either, they were fucking mages, they should be ranged but the Minstrellan and Fioran knights had needed time to regroup and Cristoff barely got a few breaths before he joined Freed casting protective wards.
Laxus joined them, refusing to let them work alone when they all so badly needed rest. He was grateful he and Freed had found this battalion of friendly forces, even happier when he'd found Wendy, Levy, Lily, Farron Cristoff and Vander among them.
"Where were you?" He asked as he joined Cristoff a few minutes later, Cristoff knew what he was asking about and heaved a sigh "With my brothers and about 30 White Sea mages heading into Hargeon, the spell hit and suddenly it was just me Farron and Vander and we were surrounded by Gods only know how many Alvarez forces. They weren't very strong though, we took them down and hadn't gotten a mile when we came on Levy, Lily and Wendy...they weren't...doing well." He said quietly.
Laxus frowned, looking toward Levy who was huddled by the fire now, Wendy hugging her while she sobbed. He hadn't been able to talk with them since they had found each other, they had been fighting pretty much non-stop, barely getting breaks to eat and drink let alone catch a few minutes of sleep.
"What..happened?" He asked and Cristoff shook his head, dark eyes worried on the two women. "The soldiers hadn't managed to do anything yet, but they were planning to, Vander fed them to a void shade and we got them the hell out of there but I don't think I've seen Levy stop crying unless she's fighting or sleeping. Lily said it had to do with Gajeel...Bradman took him down…" Cristoff said quietly and Laxus closed his eyes absorbing that, adding the pain of the loss to the well of it filling inside of him since his grandfather had gone down. "I'll put her to sleep but...I hate to say it...we need to get the fuck off the front line…" Cristoff said.
"Yeah no shit, I've been saying that for four days." Vander said, joining them, the long black swords dripping blood in his hands fading and vanishing with the breeze. "We couldn't abandon the men, you both know that, we needed to see them joined up with the rest of the forces we could get to, we've done that, now we're free to go look for the others." Farrons voice, much calmer than his younger brothers came as the eldest Pradesh brother joined them, pale blue eyes moving with concern to where Levy was crying.
"Ok, where do we go?" Laxus asked, moving a bit on the log he was sitting on so Freed could sit beside him.
"Well, from what I've gathered, Hargeon, Magnolia and most of Crocus were dismantled by the spell, forces have been scattered but, once the spell abated communications were restored and the forces have been regrouping near Crocus. Our friends and family aren't stupid, they're going to try to regroup too, and Crocus is just the most logical place to find each other, central, still held by Fiore with the largest concentration of fighting forces. I've seen Boscan airships fighting Alvarez ships...Kurino doesn't have full control of Boscos fleets...my bet is General Minda, she'd never go along with Kurino overthrowing the king and most of the fleet is very loyal to her." Farron said.
"Ok, I...I can try, the spell is gone so my teleportation is working again, between Laxus and i we could all go in one shot, we're apparently 10 miles outside Dawn City right now...or where Dawn City was...the topography of mountain ranges wasn't changed from what I've seen so Lunar shift should be safe." Cristoff sighed.
Farron put a hand on his shoulder "You sure you have the magic for it?" He asked. Cristoff scoffed shoving his older brother a little as he pushed to his feet. "I'm taking Levy, Lily and Wendy, I'm going to put Levy under for this, she won't enjoy the shift in her current state, so I can take Vander to if you can handle Freed and Farron Laxus." Cristoff was saying. Laxus narrowed his eyes, he was tired as hell in every way, but he'd be damned if he let Cristoff shoulder so much. "I'll take Van, Farron and Freed, you get the girls and Lily, Blue Moon inn, remember it Cris?" Laxus asked hopefully, picking something in Crocus that was unlikely to have been affected, the little inn was a favorite of his and it was near the city center.
"Good choice, yep, I remember it has this great outdoor patio on the roof where the moon hits pure, perfect spot." Cristoff responded, heading toward Levy who was still wrapped in Wendys arms cradling Lily against her chest, the black exceed stroking her cheek with a gentle paw.
Lily looked up as the Lunar slayer came to them and sighed, Cristoff really only shared one thing with Gajeel, long black hair, but it had been enough to make him do a double take since Cristoffs usually smooth black hair was in disarray from days of fighting and in it's disheveled state on first glance it had resembled Gajeels unruly mane. The big mage seemed to know it and his eyes were filled with gentle concern and compassion as he tilted Levys chin up so her bloodshot swollen eyes met his. "Peacefully sleep Levy." He commanded softly and Levy went limp in Wendys arms.
Cristoff took her from the smaller slayer, she weighed almost nothing so he had no trouble shifting her against his chest "Ok, come here, i need you touching me, I'm going to teleport us to Crocus to the Blue Moon Inn." He said and winced as a clap of thunder announced Laxus' departure.
Lily flew to Cristoffs shoulder, pushing his face into the mans thick black hair shamelessly, he missed Gajeel fiercely, and Cristoff wasn't Gajeel, but he was a big powerful dragon Slayer and his minty scent made Lily feel a little better.
Wendy simply pressed in and wrapped her arms around Cristoffs waist, her cheek coming against his arm and the Lunar slayer drew in his magic, whispered a spell and silvery light consumed them, the minted scent and crisp cool misty feel of his magic bathing them for several moments then cold air snapped back into place and they were standing on a moonlit patio looking over the market district of Crocus, laxus and the others a few feet away, the stench of blood and fear no longer thick in the air.