Chapter 11: A Job Well Done
Night had transitioned into early morning, as the sun rose up from the hills and brought morning sunlight to Shirotsume. Laxus and the Thunder Legion had finally gathered all of the merchandise out of the room where Medusa's Gorgon stored them. Even though the dark guild had plans to sell them for the sake of wealth, they had failed to do so because of Fairy Tail's raid on their guild hall.
By the time the team of four returned to the main room of the guild hall, they were surprised by the unexpected arrival of the 4th Enforcement and Detention Corps, led by their captain and Magic Council member Lahar.
"It's one of the Magic Council members," Laxus said. "And he's brought some Rune Knights along with him."
"Yes, and we are here to arrest the three members of Medusa's Gorgon: Viper, Fang and Brutus," Lahar replied.
"They're right here, on the floor," Bickslow said, pointing to the three wounded men.
"We've just crushed this dark guild and pinpointed the location of the stolen goods: right in their guild hall," Laxus explained to Lahar. "I managed to defeat the guild's master and one of its strongest mages: the oversized rock-head, Brutus."
"And I have conquered the guild master's son, Fang," Freed added. "Also known as the murderer of the six female mages."
"Good work, Fairy Tail," Lahar said to them. "Thanks to you we have enough evidence to verify that they are indeed the ones responsible for their crimes. We will proceed with taking all three of them into custody. And we will also order Medusa's Gorgon to be disbanded upon their trial."
As soon as Fang opened his eyes, he was shocked to see the Rune Knights and Freed surrounding him.
"You are under arrest for the homicides of the six female mages," one Rune Knight said, holding up a pair of Magic-Sealing Cuffs.
"And if I resist?" he inquired, glaring angrily at them.
Freed drew out his sword and aimed it at Fang's throat, as he gave him a coldhearted stare that was enough for him to petrify the Poison God Slayer.
"Your fate will be far worse than the last, as retribution for your actions toward them…," he warned him darkly. "And Ariella, as well."
Seeing Fang whimper made Laxus smirk, and to him, it was a pleasing sight. He was proud of his most trusted comrade for reducing the once misogynistic, conceited man into someone who was now terrified of being tortured once more. In fact, both Freed and Laxus felt that Fang deserved this punishment for poisoning Ariella with his Poison God Mephistis.
Freed must have somehow cut his arrogance down to size, he thought. That'll show him we give no mercy to anyone threatening our guild.
Fang reluctantly held his arms outward, willing to accept his fate as he witnessed the knights placed him in the Magic-Sealing Cuffs.
"Alright, Rune Knights," Lahar commanded his army. "Take them away, all three of them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Viper and Brutus were also placed in Magic-Sealing Cuffs upon waking up, and the Rune Knights escorted the three men out of their guild hall and into a horse-drawn wagon with a barred window on a door. All Laxus and the Thunder Legion could do was watch their enemies climb inside the wagon and Lahar closing the door, then locking it with a key. A knight who was in command of the wagon grabbed hold of the reins and whipped them, commanding his horses to start. The two white horses neighed, and they started galloping as the wheels of the wagon began to turn. To Fairy Tail, it was good riddance since they felt that the dark guild would deserve to be reprimanded for their actions and harsh repercussions would be imposed upon them. And those punishments would be Medusa's Gorgon to be disbanded and the three men themselves to be imprisoned for the rest of their lives after they were to be tried and convicted.
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Laxus said, sighing in relief.
"Hey, boss," Bickslow said to him, pointing to the boxes. "Don't forget that we have to get the items back to Oak Town."
"I know," Laxus answered him. "We'll have to get to Oak Town via a train… but we don't know if a town has a train station."
"It does, but the earliest train to Oak Town arrives at nine o'clock sharp," Lahar stated. "We'll deliver the goods to the three stores for you, while you head back to your guild."
The four Fairies were grateful to have received support from a society that would normally consider them as nuisances due to the constant property damage their guild would cause. They would definitely thank the Magic Council for that, albeit they had never been assisted by the Council before.
"Thank you," Laxus said to him. "We appreciate your help, as because we've spent the entire night crushing these damn Medusas."
"'Tis my pleasure. Now, my Knights and I shall do your favor, and then return to Era to report of the arrests. The trial will begin once the three suspects are delivered to us."
The Rune Knights began carrying the boxes of the stolen goods out of Medusa's Gorgon, working as a team to escort them to Lahar with the quest to carry out their favor for Fairy Tail. It took some time until all of the packages containing the items were finally out of Medusa's Gorgon, and Lahar was pleased about his men assisting the Fairies.
"Good work, men," he said to them. "Now, it is onto Oak Town for us first. Then we'll go back to Era."
"Yes, sir!"
Once they bid farewell to Lahar and his army, Laxus and the Thunder Legion were about to start heading back when Evergreen tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see her, wondering what she had to say to him.
"Does this mean I still get the necklace?" Evergreen asked, her brown eyes sparkling just like the necklace's emeralds. "I've been eyeing on it since it was stolen from Minette Jewelers and it has my name written all over it!"
"Uhh, you still have to pay for it," Bickslow answered her, earning a disappointed frown from her.
"You'll get it, Ever," Laxus reassured her. "Just come to the jewelry shop once they have it back."
"Well, I'm sure they'll get it back today! I'll make sure to head to Oak Town to buy it before someone else does!"
Now that Medusa's Gorgon was finally out of the way and the goods were about to be sent back to Oak Town by Lahar's Rune Knights, it was time for Laxus and his team to go back to Magnolia and report to the master of their accomplishment.
"Alright, then," he said to his team. "Now that we have succeeded in our mission, let us return home and tell Gramps that we've done it."
"And check on Ari," Bickslow added, causing the green-haired's eyes to widen in astonishment.
Ariella…, Freed thought of his love. I hope she isn't dead by the time we return!
Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild hall, Natsu and Happy had made their safe return from Shirotsume… without a warm welcome from Gray, Erza and Makarov. They were utterly displeased with him about not complying with their protests not to follow Laxus and the Thunder Legion. Even Carla was just as displeased, after hearing of them from Makarov upon her and Wendy's return from their job.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, NATSU!?" Makarov shouted. "YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT'S NOT POLITE TO POKE YOUR NOSE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS!"
"You chose to deliberately disobey us," Erza said to him sternly. "And as a result, you have disappointed Team Natsu for your obstinance."
"You need to start listening to others more often!" Carla chastised, a red vein popping up on her head. "Your obstinance and carelessness will only lead you into more trouble!"
"We're sorry…," Happy said to them, bowing lowly.
"Don't sweat it, bud," Natsu reassured his best friend, placing a hand on his head. "We went there just to help Freed avenge Ari, remember?"
Gray, Erza, Makarov, Wendy and Carla were left in states of astonishment, their jaws dropping in shock, their eyes widening greatly. The two could tell that they were left speechless by what he had just said.
"You left us for Medusa's Gorgon just so you could help Freed?" Gray inquired, raising an eyebrow.
The Fire Dragon Slayer nodded to his friends, folding his arms with confidence as he explained to them:
"He was about to suffer the same way Ari did when I saved him by using my Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame on that poison creep. Even though he was angered by my choice to follow him and his team, Freed and I made a great team in our battle against Fang. We ultimately beat him, but Freed wasn't quite finished with him yet. He tortured Fang using his magic, and he almost killed him!"
"Actually, he rendered Fang unconscious," Happy corrected him.
"Oh, yeah… That," Natsu replied, finally realizing the correction. He chuckled apprehensively as a sweat drop ran down the left side of his head.
Just then, the doors to the guild opened up and everyone turned to see Laxus and the Thunder Legion entering triumphantly. They could hear cheers coming from some of the other guild members, such as Cana, Wakaba and Macao. Jet and Droy were hugging one another with excitement as they joined in the cheering, whereas Gajeel and Panther Lily smiling proudly at Laxus. Even Levy was just as thrilled about their return, as the Solid Script Mage could tell that they had successfully completed their mission.
"Ah, it's them," Erza said, her frown shifting into a content smile.
"Welcome back," Wendy said, waving warmly to them.
"So, you were able to stop Medusa's Gorgon, weren't you?" Makarov asked his grandson.
"We did, Gramps," Laxus answered, nodding proudly to his grandfather. "The three men have been taken into custody, and upon their trial and imprisonment, Medusa's Gorgon will be disbanded."
"Excellent!" the elderly guild master cheered, raising his mug of beer upward. "I'm proud of you and your team for bringing Medusa's Gorgon to justice. This is truly a job well done for all four of you."
Although Laxus was gratified of his team for their success, he turned to Natsu with an intimidating glare on his face. The Fire Dragon Slayer gulped apprehensively, as he wondered what Laxus would intend to do to him. He wasn't looking forward to being punished for defying the order of staying behind at Fairy Tail, and neither was Happy.
"As for you, Salamander…," he snarled at him. "I was notified by Freed that you chose to sneak your meddling nose into our business. What were you thinking?!"
"Look, Laxus!" Natsu protested, fire burning in his onyx eyes. "I wanted to avenge Ari too, so it's why I made Happy take me to Shirotsume! Freed would've been a goner if I didn't save him in time! Plus, he and I teamed up for the first time to defeat Fang!"
"Well, that doesn't give you an excuse to run off to pursue us!" the Lightning Dragon Slayer snapped. "Our job is none of your business, so I'd suggest you butt out if you don't want me to punish you!"
The Fire Dragon Slayer growled crossly at him like a dog protecting its master, and in the midst of the two Dragon Slayers leering their eyes at one another, Freed decided that he could stand by no longer and fess up about reporting Natsu to Laxus.
"Natsu, please forgive me for telling Laxus when you clearly told me not to," Freed said, placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "I understand that you also wanted to avenge Ariella, but I'm afraid Laxus is right. You have no right to get involved in any business that isn't your own. Please keep that in mind next time the four of us take on any jobs."
Natsu simply nodded to Freed, though he was hoping that Laxus would listen to Freed and forgive the Fire Dragon Slayer, due to their formidable alliance in their battle against Fang.
"Laxus… I beseech you to exonerate him," Freed pleaded, his eyes glistening like those of a pouting dog. "He simply saved my life, as he said, and I am grateful he helped me fulfill my promise to Ariella."
Laxus hesitated at first, since he was infuriated at Natsu for meddling in their job request. However, since he understood Natsu's reasoning and him teaming up with Freed, he felt that it was best he forgive Natsu, hoping that he would learn from his mistake.
"Very well," he finally spoke up. "I'll let you off the hook this time, Salamander, since you and Freed did make a good team beating Fang. But the next time around, don't do it again."
"Okay. I won't sneak my nose into any business that isn't my own," Natsu said to him. "That's a promise, Laxus!"
Laxus simply smiled at Natsu in response, with Freed sighing in relief now that his guild mate had just been amended. All was good, and now it was time for them to move on.
In the midst of the cheering guild members, Freed noticed Porlyusica heading downstairs, and he wondered why she would be down there when she was supposed to be monitoring Ariella's condition.
"Porlyusica," Makarov said to her. "What are you doing here?"
"How is Ariella?" Freed asked, frantically grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Is she alright?!"
Porlyusica was silent for a moment, hesitating to tell him of Ariella's condition. She could tell from the look in Freed's eyes that he was desperate to hear of her, and he had high hopes of seeing her alive and well. A small smile soon formed on the elderly healer's face, making Freed's eyes widen in curiosity.
"Ariella is no longer suffering from Fang's poison, and she is alive and well," she finally spoke up. "I made an antidote for her thanks to help from Juno and Lisanna, and it was effective enough to cleanse her body completely of it. However, it will take a while for her to wake up, so she needs to rest right now."
"Then may I at least go see her?" the green-haired male pleaded. "I have to tell her that I made a promise to her and I fulfilled it for her… with help from Natsu."
Natsu grinned the moment his name was mentioned, as he recalled teaming up with Freed to defeat Fang. Oh, how he wished they would work together more often!
"You may," Porlyusica replied with a nod.
Just as Freed was about to head upstairs, he paused when he heard Natsu's voice say to him:
"Wait."
The green-haired turned to see the pinkette, and he was wondering what he would want to say to him.
"Let me go with ya, Freed. Ari's gonna be happy for us when I tell her of our teamwork."
"Aye!" Happy added with a nod. "I'll come with you guys too!"
"Very well," Freed said to them. "But we have to hurry if we wish to see her alive."
Natsu nodded to Freed, and soon the two mages and the blue Exceed hurried up the stairs, with their respective team members, Makarov and Porlyusica observing them.
In the infirmary, Juno and Lucy were watching over Ariella, who was sleeping silently in her hospital bed. Her face was no longer tinted purple, and her breathing had returned to normal thanks to Porlyusica's antidote. Lisanna, Mirajane and Elfman were watching them from nearby, also concerned about the Nature Mage.
"Lisanna, Elfman, I'm glad you two came back home safely," Mira said to her siblings. "However, Ari hasn't woken up yet even though she was given the antidote by Porlyusica."
"Like she said, Ari needs to recover," Lisanna said to her big sister. "If it weren't for big brother Elf, I would've been taken over by the Vulcan that attacked me and Juno."
"Juno told me about you, so it's why I had to hurry into the forest right away," Elfman explained to his younger sister. "We should thank her."
"Yes, for that and bringing the ingredients to Porlyusica," Lisanna said, nodding in concord.
The doors to the infirmary swung open, and everyone turned to see Natsu, Happy and Freed entering the room.
The moment her brown eyes laid on Natsu, Lucy tears of relief welled up in them, as she couldn't believe he had come back to her, safe and sound.
"N… Natsu!" she cried, the tears falling from her eyes as she rose up from her stool and ran over to him.
Natsu could feel her arms wrapping around him, and his face soon tinted bright pink as his onyx eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect to receive a welcome like that from her, especially since she was worried about him. Then again, he held her close to him warmly as he could feel some of her tears moistening his vest.
"Oh, Natsu! Thank goodness you're back!"
Her relieving smile soon shifted into a cross glare, befuddling the Fire Dragon Slayer and Happy. Lucy then grabbed hold of his vest with her right hand and pulled him into her, as she then shouted:
"Where have you been?!"
She gave him a rough slap across his face with her left hand, much to everyone's shock.
"OW!" Natsu shouted, rubbing the slap mark on his left cheek. "What did you do that for?!"
"Erza and Gray told me that you left for Medusa's Gorgon even though I told you not to!" Lucy snapped. "What were you thinking, you idiot!? You know that it's not your job; it was taken by Laxus and the Thunder Legion! And Ari and Juno got their permission to go with them just to find out why the dark guild would be killing female mages!"
"Look, Luce, I can explain," Natsu stated. "The reason why Happy and I followed them to Shirotsume was to avenge Ari, and we did so by working together with Freed."
Freed gave her a nod to confirm Natsu's reason, and to the Celestial Wizard, it was an answer she didn't expect from them. She had never seen them team up with one another, as they were on two separate teams in the guild and she didn't think their contrasting Magics would work well together.
"You and Freed, a team?" Lucy asked, her eyes blinking with curiosity.
"Yep!" Natsu answered, nodding to her. "Fang was about to poison Freed just like he did to Ari, so to save him, I stepped in and roasted that Poison God bastard!"
"And I do thank Natsu for that and our alliance," Freed added. "In spite of our contrasting magical abilities, we were victorious over Fang. And I was able to carry out my promise to Ariella."
A small smile soon formed on Lucy's face, and she understood how well Natsu and Freed worked together to avenge Ari. She believed that they would work alongside one another again one day, if they had ever gotten the chance to do so, so only time would tell for them.
"You will be thanked by her, Freed," she said to him. "Ari loves you to death and you feel the same way towards her, so why don't you head over to her right now?"
Taking Lucy's suggestion into consideration, Freed approached the side of the bed where Juno was, causing the raspberry-haired to glance up at him. His eyes shifted downward at his sleeping beauty, apprehensively waiting to see if she would wake up.
Ariella's eyes slowly fluttered open as she groaned lowly, to the surprises of Freed, Juno, Natsu and Lucy. Even the Strauss siblings were just as surprised to see her awake, and everyone witnessed her rising up from her hospital bed.
"Hey, Ari!" Natsu said to her, grinning. "It's good to see ya again!"
"Sis!" Juno cried, hugging her older sister as fat happy tears were rolling down her face. "You're alive!"
"Juno…," Ari said to her. She gently held her sobbing sister close to her, smiling warmly at her as the Strauss siblings gathered around her, with Lisanna trying to calm her best friend down.
"She's awake! Hooray!" Happy cheered, as he flew over to her with his wings and danced around her in the air.
"And she's cured, thanks to Porlyusica's antidote," Lucy added.
Freed was relieved to hear that his beloved was no longer in pain from Fang's poison, thus being spared from a potential demise. It meant that they would be together again, as a couple. All he had to do now was tell her of the promise he made to her, along with Natsu saving him and fighting alongside him to defeat Fang.
"Ariella," he finally spoke up to her.
"Freed… My love," she said, her pale blue eyes glossing over with joy as she got out of the bed and wrapped her arms around him. "You came back to me."
"I made a promise for you, by defeating Fang," Freed told her, as he embraced her in his warm, loving arms in return. "And I was able to carry it out, thanks to Natsu."
Natsu grinned proudly in response to hearing his name being mentioned by Freed, and Juno and Lisanna lit up with delight to show that they were ecstatic of his heroic deed, even though he was in trouble for disobeying.
"You and Natsu… as allies?" she questioned.
"Yeah!" Natsu answered her. "I know that I wasn't supposed to get involved, but I had to follow them anyway. The reason why I made that choice was to help Freed avenge ya, Ari. He was about to be poisoned like you did when I roasted Fang, saving Freed. Even though he was angry at me for following him and his team, we teamed up to take down Fang for ya."
"And now, Fang is in custody, along with his father and Brutus," Freed added.
"Ohh, thank goodness," Ariella sighed in relief. "Hopefully he will be locked up with them for the rest of their lives."
"They will," Freed replied to her. "After all, they have committed these heinous crimes we uncovered during our investigation in Oak Town."
Though she remained in Freed's embrace, Ariella turned to Natsu and the two made eye contact as she said to him:
"Thank you, Natsu, for fighting for me alongside my love."
"Hehe. What are friends for?"
She also glanced over at Lucy, who was in awe from the emotional reunion, and she said to her close friend:
"And Lucy, thank you for keeping an eye on me,"
"You're welcome, Ari," Lucy replied, smiling at her.
Just then, the doors opened up and everyone turned to see Laxus, Bickslow and Evergreen coming in. They were wondering what was taking Freed so long and they also wanted to see Ari, so it was why they had to head upstairs to the infirmary to check up on them.
"Well, look who's finally up," Laxus said, glancing at Ariella.
"She's cured!" Bickslow and Evergreen exclaimed happily.
It wasn't just Ari who he was glad to see again; he also had something to let Juno and Lisanna know, and it was no other than their completed mission of collecting the components for Porlyusica.
"And Juno, we received word from Gran that you and Lisanna helped her fetch some missing ingredients for her antidote. Well done to both of you."
Juno and Lisanna simply grinned at Laxus as tokens of their appreciation, and they were both grateful to have completed their task successfully as they gave each other high-five. They made not only Porlyusica proud, but their respective siblings and their comrades as well.
Though she was gratified of herself and her best friend for accomplishing their mission, Juno had something else in mind. She glanced at Bickslow, who was giving Lisanna a hug and congratulating her, with his five dolls dancing around them cheering for her.
"Hey, Bicks," she said to the Human Possession Mage.
"Hmm?"
"About earlier, before we left for Oak Town… about my height over the past seven years. I want to let ya know that I'm still gonna grow like a flower. As for you… you haven't changed one bit. You're just as tall as the ugly Vulcan in East Forest!"
"WHAT?!" Bickslow snapped, a red vein popping up on his head. He leaned in toward Juno's face as his nose was pressed against hers, his eyes glaring crossly at her. That comment was not pleasing to him one bit, and he couldn't believe Juno would go back to her old ways even though they had put their differences aside.
"How dare you compare me to a Vulcan!"
"Well, serves you right for calling me a weed!" Juno thundered, as sparks began to fly from their eyes and they growled like angry dogs fighting over a bone.
"UGH!" Freed and Evergreen groaned, dismayed that the same old commotion was starting all over again. And they thought Bickslow and Juno were finally starting to get along!
"Here we go again," Laxus grumbled with a low sigh.
Lucy and Lisanna were watching the commotion in an awkward silence, whereas Natsu and Happy were cheering Juno on for the fun of them getting it on. In the midst of the childish squabbling, Ariella shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. What would she do to try to get them to change? Nothing, though she would keep mediating them, sometimes with Lisanna's help.
"Well, things have changed over the past seven years," she said of them. "But Bickslow and Juno will always stay the same."
"You said it, Ari," Lucy replied to her with a nod. "And no matter how many times they fight, you will still consider them as your comrades, right?"
Ari smiled at Lucy and answered her in her usual benevolent tone of voice:
"Yes."
As Juno and Bickslow began to wrestle with one another on the floor, Natsu and Happy continued to cheer for her. The ridiculously immature wrestling match kept going until Laxus's face was starting to turn red with fury. He was getting fed up with their bickering and their shouting was starting to become too much for him to deal with.
"Uh-oh, he's just become angry…," Freed said, his body trembling apprehensively.
Laxus marched over to the squabbling duo and grabbed hold of their heads, smashing them together vigorously. Everyone's jaws dropped in shock, as they couldn't believe he had to resort to that when he normally wouldn't.
"That'll shut them up," he growled, as he walked away from them and returned to Freed and Evergreen.
Bickslow and Juno were groaning in pain, stars spinning around their heads as their eyes were swirling like pinwheels. There were also bumps sprouting out of their heads, like mushrooms would from underground.
And Ariella was right all along: although everything had changed over seven years, Bickslow and Juno will still always be the two people she knew and cared about.
But most importantly, she was grateful to have a guild who would fight for her when she was out of commission. And in this situation, she was thankful for her beloved Freed and her fiery friend Natsu for carrying out their promise for her. She didn't know what she would do without them, hence why they were here among the strongest of Fairy Tail's wizards to take on anyone who would dare to harm her or their loved ones.
The End
I hope you enjoyed this multi-chapter story! I've gotten the hang of posting multiple chapters for one story here on this site, so please Rate and Review! (No spamming or trolling allowed!)
