Chapter 3: Attack on the Train
Once the sun had set beneath the mountains and the fiery sunset sky had transitioned into a clear night filled with stars, the Fairy Tail Mages had found a place to stay for the night: a local hotel called Rosewater Lodge. They needed their rest after a long day, but Ari couldn't just let go of the gruesome discovery they made in the alley. How could a young female wizard have her life cut so short when she had nothing to do with Medusa's Gorgon?
Ari was staring at the shower wall as the rain of water poured onto her skin, the warm steam clouding the bathroom. Over and over again, the vision of the woman's corpse played in her mind like a scene from a movie.
Why did she have to die at a time like this? she wondered to herself. She could have had a future ahead of her as a wizard, but now Medusa's Gorgon had taken it all away from her. She didn't deserve to be killed by them!
The sound of the bathroom door knocking snapped Ariella out of her thinking, and on the other side, it was Juno who was waiting impatiently for her to be finished.
"Hey, Ari? How long are you gonna be in that shower?" she called out to her. "I need to keep myself clean too, you know! Bickslow's gonna tease me and think I smell like a fish!"
"A-Almost done, Juno!" Ariella answered her. "I'm just about to finish washing up. I'll be out soon."
"Well, make it quick!"
Five minutes later, the bathroom door opened up and Ariella emerged from it, wearing an ivory bathrobe that was provided to her by the hotel. Her dripping wet locks were covered up by a white towel that she had tied into a turban.
"Alright, Juno. The bathroom is yours to use now," she said to her. "Thank you for waiting."
"Finally!" Juno sighed in relief, dashing past by her sister and closing the door right away. "Thanks, Ari!"
Ariella settled herself on the bed and stared out at the window, which displayed a scenic view of Oak Town's oceanic coast. She let out a low sigh, and the longer her pale blue eyes gazed at the scenic, the clearer the horrid vision of the murdered victim became. She couldn't help but empathize with the poor woman; at the same time, however, she was angry at the dark guild for committing the crimes of robbery and homicide. Their actions were unforgivable to her, and she felt that the dark guild would not get away with them.
I swear that I will exact revenge for these women, she thought, clenching the sheets with her right hands. They did not deserve to die at the hands of Medusa's Gorgon, and to do that, my guild and I will defeat them!
In another room next door to the Maxwell Sisters', Laxus was on his communications lacrima with Makarov, whereas Evergreen was in the shower and Bickslow and Freed were getting themselves settled for the night. The Lightning Dragon Slayer was standing next to the window with the scenic view, the stars twinkling in the night sky.
"Our investigations have been completed," he said. "We found a crucial piece of evidence at one of the stores, and it was thanks to Bickslow for pointing it out to us."
"Well done," Makarov's voice said on the other end. "Tell me of the evidence you found; I can send them to the Magic Council for further analysis on that and the murders of the five female wizards."
"Actually, make that six," Laxus corrected, shocking his grandfather.
A mug of ale slipped from Makarov's fingers and it crashed onto the floor, the beverage spilling over. That earned stares from some of Fairy Tail's mages, including Team Natsu.
"I'll get that for you, Master," Mirajane said, hurrying over to clean it up with a washcloth.
"Another victim, in Oak Town?!" Makarov exclaimed, his eyes bulging in horror.
"I'm afraid so, Gramps," Laxus said grimly. "We made that discovery after completing the investigation at the third shop, when we heard a scream coming from a bystander. The body belongs to a female in her twenties with strawberry blonde hair, bearing a wizard's guild emblem on her right shoulder. We also found the Medusa's Gorgon emblem burned onto her back, proving that they were her killers."
"T-That's horrible…," Makarov stammered, his body trembling in terror. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before saying calmly: "I'll notify the Magic Council of this latest murder, as they have also been investigating the murders. They need to stack up enough evidence to prove of Medusa's Gorgon's wrongdoings. However, this dark guild is sneaky and has slipped through their fingers a couple of times before when their Rune Knights tried to arrest them."
"We already reported it to the town's authorities, so the Magic Council would probably have already been notified about it. That said, I'm confident that they will arrest Medusa's Gorgon this time around."
"That's why it's crucial that you and your team will track down Medusa's Gorgon and defeat them, before they carry out more robberies and kill more female mages."
"I know, Gramps, but we have yet to find the reason why they would target these women. Even the Magic Council doesn't know," Laxus explained to him.
"Well, then try to figure that out when you do find them," Makarov reminded him. "Make sure you and your team don't let your guard down, as because Medusa's Gorgon has some powerful mages."
"Roger that," Laxus said, just before the call came to a close.
The next day, it was time for the Fairy Tail Mages to return to the guild and talk over their findings with the master. They boarded the train that would take them back to Magnolia, with their belongings on hand. Even Evergreen brought her green heels along with her, as she could hardly wait to try them on when they would return home.
As the train was crossing a bridge that would lead them to a forest, Bickslow and Juno were still doing the silent treatment on one another, for the sake of complying with Ari's condition. They were in separate seats, with Juno seated next to her sister and Bickslow sitting next to Evergreen. Seated in the same group as them were Freed and Laxus, though Laxus was dreading the ill-effects of his motion sickness.
"Are you going to be alright, Laxus?" Freed asked, feeling concerned about him.
"I'll be fine," Laxus grumbled. "It's just that this motion sickness is a pain, but I'm used to it. I'm a Dragon Slayer, after all."
"If he wants to, he can throw up from an open window," Juno said, snickering at him.
A large red vein popped up on Laxus's head, and trying to maintain his balance, he rose up from his seat and stomped over to Juno, startling her sister.
"L-Laxus…," Freed stammered, waving his hands frantically. "P-Please calm yourself…"
"Uh-oh, he's mighty angry at her now," Bickslow commented.
"Angry, angry, angry," his babies parroted, floating around their owner.
When will this brat learn? Evergreen thought, shaking her head in dismay. I'm starting to get tired of her and her childish shenanigans. I wish we could've just left her behind at the guild.
The Lightning Dragon Slayer leaned in toward Juno, his smoky grey eyes glaring at her with an intimidating stare. He wrapped his right hand around her throat and lifted her up from her seat, alarming the others and the passengers staring at them in surprise.
"Laxus! Please don't make a scene here!" Freed cried.
"Excuse us," he snarled at him, startling the Runes Mage.
Laxus dragged Juno down the lane of the train car, his hand still wrapped around her throat as she began struggling to get loose from him. He found a door to a restroom, opened it up and he shut it, locking it behind them.
With a vigorous force, Laxus dropped Juno onto the floor, giving the Nature Mage some time to breathe. Once she came to, Juno stared at him with frightened eyes as he leaned in toward her, keeping the intimidating glare on his face.
"Listen, you little brat," he growled angrily at her. "You dare mock me for my motion sickness? That is one thing you do not want to do to a Dragon Slayer, and I am one of them. If you make any more insults about me, I will make you regret it. Understand?"
Juno nodded to him, her body trembling at the sight of Laxus's scowling. Facing the Lightning Dragon Slayer's wrath was the worst she could have imagined, compared to getting chastised by her sister.
All of a sudden, the sounds of the train brakes squealing were heard, followed by loud explosions. Laxus stumbled on the floor, feeling the vibrations from the rumbling. It felt like there was an earthquake, though it actually wasn't.
"W-What the hell was that?!" the raspberry-haired mage exclaimed.
"I think the train is under attack," Laxus assumed. "The others are still in their seats. We have to hurry!"
As soon as they emerged from the bathroom and raced down the lane, the two Mages were shocked to see a large gaping hole that had been made from the explosion. The train had come to a screeching halt in the middle of the forest, with the passengers panicking and running about. Making their way through the crowds, Juno and Laxus spotted Freed, Ari, Bickslow and Evergreen out of their seats and on the floor; thankfully, they were largely unscathed.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked them.
"Don't worry about us," Bickslow said to his boss, as he helped Evergreen up from the floor in front of their seats. "We're a-okay, boss."
Ariella was held in Freed's arms as they carefully rose up from the floor, brushing the dust off of themselves. Juno was relieved to see her big sister was safe, though she wondered who or what made the explosions.
"Where are these explosions coming from?" Evergreen questioned, scanning the damaged area.
"I believe that they are from either bombs or some type of Magic that can create explosions," Freed guessed.
Just then, another explosion obliterated the rooftop, exposing the Mages into view. They heard a sinister laughter coming from above them, which frightened the passengers. Once the smoke was clearing up, it revealed to be Fang and Brutus, the ones behind the explosions that obliterated the train!
"Greetings, Fairy Tail…," the blue-haired said to them.
Everyone was horrified at the sight of Brutus holding up the body of the conductor, who was brutally wounded.
"It's Medusa's Gorgon!" all six Fairy Tail wizards exclaimed.
"You guessed it. We are Medusa's Gorgon, from Shirotsume," Brutus said to them.
"Shirotsume… that's where the guild we defeated, Ghoul Spirit, were from," Freed said, as he recalled his team easily overwhelming Ghoul Spirit right before the start of Laxus' plan to take over Fairy Tail.
"Wow, you remember that?" Bickslow asked him. "It was a long time ago!"
"There's no time for flashbacks. We have to stop them!" Evergreen reminded the men, taking out her fan and opening it up.
"If you're wondering why the train stopped, it's because we forced the one driving it to use the brakes! And also… we had some fun torturing him," Brutus explained to them, as he hurled the conductor's body at the Fairy Tail Mages with a vigorous force.
"You will pay for that…," Laxus snarled, as sparks of electricity began to flow from his body.
"Why don't we take our battle somewhere else? You'll have to follow us if you want to fight us!" Fang said to Laxus, as Brutus took out a smoke bomb and hurled it beneath their feet. In an instant, they had disappeared in a huge puff of smoke as the passengers were coughing from it. The smoke was blinding the Mages as well, obscuring them from seeing the dark mages escape from the train.
Once the smoke finally cleared up, the Fairy Tail Mages were now fired up, ready to chase down the thieves!
"After them!" Laxus shouted.
He and his team soon took off, with the Maxwell sisters following close behind. They were in full pursuit, with Fang and Brutus dashing ahead of them as they delved deeper into the forest. Though they had managed to catch up to them, Brutus hurled another smoke bomb at the Fairy Tail Mages, only for Laxus to obliterate it with a strike of his lightning.
"You think your little smoke bombs will slow us down?" he boasted, a smirk forming on his face.
"Damn it…," Brutus cursed. "He obliterated my smoke bomb in one shot!"
"Well, let's keep moving!" Fang exclaimed, as the two dark mages hopped from branch to branch. Fairy Tail was still pursuing them, and the chase was dragging on until they reached an opening. It led them to an area filled with trees, as well as a patchy terrain of grass.
"Ha! We've finally caught up to ya!" Bickslow shouted, sticking out his tongue. "Are you gonna surrender yourselves and the stolen goods to us?"
"Hehehehe… don't think we're the only ones here," Brutus said in a dark tone of voice, his lips forming into a wicked smile.
Soon, more Medusa's Gorgon members emerged from behind the trees one by one, cornering Laxus and his guildmates as they gathered around them in a large circle.
"Crap. They're surrounding us…," Laxus growled, glaring at the dark guild members.
"We're trapped like rats!" Bickslow shouted.
"Trapped! Trapped!" Peppe and Poppo mimicked.
"Like rats! Like rats!" Pappa, Puppu and Pippi joined in, also parroting their owner's words.
Freed drew out his sword as he got into a standby stance, whereas Evergreen held out her hand in front of her and Bickslow got into position with his dolls hovering around him. Juno held out her fists with her left foot placed forward and her right foot backward, leering at the dark mages with a determined expression. As for Ariella, she was simply staring at Fang as she also got into standby position.
"Well, I see that we have three women in this guild…," Fang crooned, eyeing Ari, Juno and Evergreen. His tongue slithered out of his mouth and he licked his lips all around, sending shivers up Ariella's spine. Evergreen and Juno, on the other hand, were merely disgusted by him.
"This guy is giving me the creeps," Juno said, shuddering.
Is this the man who murdered the six female mages!? the blond Nature Mage thought, her pale blue eyes widening in horror as she recalled discovering the sixth mage's body in Oak Town.
"Hey, Fang, don't just stand there," Brutus said to his friend. "Pick any one of these ladies to kill. The master will be pleased with more female bodies piling up."
Fang's lips curled into a wide, Cheshire Cat-like smile and his amber eyes shrinking to the size of small marbles as he began to laugh menacingly.
"And just what do you think is so funny?!" Evergreen retorted.
"As much as I would love to play with all three of them… THIS ONE'S MINE!"
With that said, he lunged at Ariella and snatched her by grabbing hold of her arms, zooming past her comrades and they disappeared into the woods, to the shock of the Fairy Tail Mages.
"Ari!" Juno cried, her eyes widening in horror.
"Fang's taken Ariella. We have to save her!" Freed exclaimed.
"She can handle him," Laxus assumed, puzzling his teammates and her sister.
"What do you mean? He has already killed six female wizards and now Ari'll be next!" Bickslow claimed.
"She awakened her Nymph Form during our battle with Noire Rosé, and she did put up a fight with Grimsley the first time she used it," Laxus explained, as the group recalled Ariella's battle with Grimsley using her newly awakened Nymph Form. "So I'm sure with it, she'll do just fine with Fang."
Ari…, Juno thought, worried about her sister.
She then felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to Bickslow, who was grinning at her, to her reassurance.
"Don't worry about your sister. Right now, let's put our differences aside and join forces to take down these thieves!"
A confident smile formed on Juno's face and she nodded to him, as they then got back into their standby positions together.
It's about time these two are finally starting to get along…, Laxus thought, relieved to see them no longer squabbling. As a matter of fact, Evergreen and Freed were relieved as well, assuming that they would no longer have to deal with Juno-induced headaches.
"Alright, Fairies… Let's show these Medusas no mercy!" the Lightning Dragon Slayer declared, raising his right fist upward in the air.
The Fairies swiftly charged at the Medusas, and battle cries could be heard from both sides as they started to exchange blows. The battle between Fairy Tail and Medusa's Gorgon had just begun, with the shop's owners depending on them and the fate of their stolen goods on the line…
It is finally on between Fairy Tail and Medusa's Gorgon, but Ariella has been targeted by Fang! Will she have the courage to face him? Find out in the next chapter!
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