Shagotte didn't start or yell like most royalty would have in that situation. Instead, she simply rose from the seat, and I saw her robes were little more than an elaborate shell for her to hide in. Within, she was a petite white feline in simple clothes with a few small pearls outlining a heart on one side of her face.
"Sir Nichiya, Minister Nadi, spread the word. We must leave right away, we have very little time."
"Your majesty you cannot possibly be suggesting we listen to this human?!" Nichiya sounded offended at the very idea.
"Her words are true. I have seen them and I will not allow my people to die because of hubris I enabled them to develop." Shagotte's eyes switched to me and in spite of her being less than half my height, I got the feeling I was standing before a mother. The weight of her gaze and the look in her eyes.
"Young one, I'm afraid my power will not be suited to the task of spreading the word to my people within time. Will you be my wings and help me save my country?" It was a formal request, one that seemed to have some weight in the Exceed culture given how Nichiya's tail was fluffing up in outrage.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to save them." I told her firmly, offering a hand as Cubellios shifted her coils in preparation for take off. Then she shifted deliberately to swat Nichiya away from my outstretched arm, more specifically his sword. She hissed angrily, a drop or two of venom spattering on the carpet and melting it quickly as she eyed the orange cat with barely concealed fury.
"Majesty, please! This human cannot possibly be trusted!" He recovered with remarkable speed, placing himself between Cubellios and his queen with his tiny sword drawn, edge shimmering with magic.
It would have been a brave act if it wasn't wasting valuable time his people didn't have.
:Hatchling, are these foolish cats truly worth saving? They strike at those who would aid them!:
I didn't answer her. Shagotte was looking pissed at the captain of her guard.
"Sir Nichiya! I have bowed to the whims of this people as they hailed me as their goddess and guardian. And all I did, I did for their sake and safety and the continuance of our race even when it broke their hearts and mine! Now, unless you wish to raise your hand against me, you will stand aside and let me lead my people to safety! Side by side with a human who is doing more for Extalia than the captain of the army!" Her sleek fur was barely raised, but it was, her soft voice had sharpened into a near berserk fury and her small paws were lifted, tiny well groomed claws peeking out. Her every nerve was on edge and she clearly was on the verge of flying into a rage.
She has been aware of this danger for a long time.
Hopefully long enough to have put some warnings in place to prep her people for evacuation.
Nichiya was so shocked that he dropped his sword.
Shagotte barely managed to contain herself as she stalked forward, accepting my hand.
"Pardon me." I said, bending and lifting her into my arms. "You have no way of holding on, this will be more secure." Then I hopped onto Cubellios's back and we were out the hole in the wall, flying up.
No sooner had I come into sight than the still airbourne guards started a panicked yowl.
"A human has abducted the queen!"
Oh for-!
Part of me was exasperated and annoyed beyond belief. The other part of me was laughing. I had wrecked a palace, decimated the morale and dignity of an army and kidnapped a queen all in one day!
"There is a tower where all can hear my voice." Shagotte informed me as we gained height, Cubellios divining what I intended.
"No need and no time. When you're ready, go ahead and speak. Sonorous!" I had already gotten used to feeling how my magic worked with Exceed thanks to Happy.
Behind us, the lacrima moved ever so slowly closer to Extalia, towed by the massive chain. The guards may have been up in arms over me, but several other Exceed were clearly already at the point where they were ready to flee.
Shagotte's voice rang like a chime amped up to eleven. There wasn't a part of the city her voice didn't touch and I knew I'd probably be going to Wendy with some minor hearing damage later. But there wasn't a single citizen in the city who didn't hear her order.
"My people! Fly to the west! Leave all behind! Faust would destroy Extalia but do not let him take our people!"
There was a moment of shouted confusion beneath, some wings popping to life and others hesitating seeing their queen in the hands of a strange human and without all her royal regalia.
"Fly! Before the island is lost!"
I quickly shifted Shagotte so she was clinging to my back instead of my carrying her. Making it plain that she was there of her own volition and not because I had captured her.
"Begin to fly, they shall follow." Her voice wasn't as ringing now that she wasn't trying to reach the further reaches of the city, But it was still quite loud.
:Away from the city and the impact, my friend: I told the snake who pumped her wings and soared on. Shagotte repeated her call again and again, encouraging her people to get up and move. Even though Natsu was going to remove the threat of a magical explosion, the impact of the two islands colliding would destroy everything standing on them. So long as all the Exceed took flight-
ETD is aimed at the area directly before Extalia. Right where I was leading them.
:Bear left!: Cubellios abruptly changed course, and I saw that we had amassed a large following of the Exceed. Shagotte's breath caught faintly.
She saw too.
Huh. She really is a seer.
Cubellios kept on flying, eventually some other Exceed who were strong fliers took over leading the pack while Shagotte, Cubellios and I looped back around to snag up some stragglers. G2 was outlining the blast radius brightly in my vision. The line we had to get everyone across before it was too late. Exceed had their own magic and some of them had made their own magic items. Those would all be left behind and destroyed, releasing their power all at once, not to mention the residual magic from the lacrima. Which had just vanished behind a massive pillar of fire with a roar that shook the air and made the last few ranks of Exceed surge forward in a nervous panic.
I cheered.
"Attaboy Natsu!"
With my ninja headband active letting me stick to Cubellios's back like an insect, I snatched the slower fliers out of the air, planted them on her back and reached out for yet another one, keeping a careful eye on G2's calculated weight limit for Cubellios.
Then, after a beat of hesitation...I turned off my headband, snagged another X-ball and leapt off her back.
"Fly!" The familiar spell snapped into being, preset from a rune on my bracer. I then snatched another four Exceed and placed them on Cubellios on my stead, flying up to soar beside her head.
Losing the energy regeneration effect of the headband would hit me later, but for right now, this was the best thing I could do.
I was a faster flier than the Exceed, so I quickly pulled up at their head with Cubellios beside me. The looks on some of their faces when they saw not only the snake flying, but the human too was priceless and would have been a lot more amusing if not for-
Impact.
The crash was incredible. The sound of stone and earth colliding started very suddenly, and it just kept right on going, the Dragon Chain cannon towing the entire island through Extalia until both were nothing but rubble raining down onto the ground and dust hanging in the air.
We need to get low. The city itself had been keeping us safe from ETD, it's bulk providing us with valuable cover. But with it destroyed, the dust cloud that remained was all that was keeping us from being shot out of the sky.
And it occurs to me that I am just as vulnerable. Mystogan is gonna kill me later. And he'd probably have to get in line. No one was gonna be happy with me putting myself out on a firing range.
I twisted in the air and dove, keeping low to the ground. Most of the cloud followed, but some still stayed above.
"Dive!" Shagotte called, still under the effects of my voice boosting spell.
The first blast missed most of the Exceed. But a few were still caught in it. Their lacrima dropped like the rocks they now were and there came a frenzy of quick activity as their friends and family moved to catch them all before they could hit the ground. Those who had escaped the ray hurried to dive down lower to our level.
Get behind cover.
That was what needed to happen now. ETD had a very quick reload rate and once they focused on us down here, we wouldn't have the maneuverability to avoid it and I didn't have the juice or the inspiration to block it.
Something to hide us. Or at least them.
I sensed the next shot being lined up and rolled to the side.
"Left!" Shagotte's order was obeyed and this time we only lost three Exceed to the ETD.
I need something to disrupt it or they'll keep getting picked off. I appealed to G2, searching for something, anything to try and keep this race from getting harvested.
It is a variant of the same machine as the Anima. Made to turn Exceed into harvestable lacrima.
Targeting system?
It tracks active magic usage.
Which means as long as we keep flying, they know where we are. But if we stop, we're sitting ducks. On foot, we'd never get away from the impact zone.
But certainly there wasn't anything I could do about the cannon from this distance. The only spell I had that could stand up to that range was a Patronus, and sending them a positive vibe incarnate, message bearing, obviously magical animal would be about as helpful as sending a postcard.
Just keep ahead of it until we can get out of range. I bore down, trying to get a bead on where they would be aiming their next attack and steering the flock of Exceed behind me accordingly.
-vVv-
Gray had had a decidedly neutral stance towards spiders for most of his life. But now, he decided that he hated them.
Or maybe he just hated this guy.
The shield of ice he hastily molded between them was smashed down just as quickly. His mutated opponent was trying to close the distance between them, scuttling over and around any number of obstacles but the largest, his clawed legs finding purchase on everything. Gray was presently caught trying to get some distance to have enough time to form a gun or something to let him try and cripple the damn thing. But it was moving too quickly and he never had the time to formulate a proper defense.
I need to slow it down so I can get to it's legs. Almost anything was vulnerable at the legs...
Slow.
He had already used the idea before on the giant mutant cephalopod. Cold was the absence of energy which in turn slowed people down as it stole their body heat. And a spider would be as vulnerable as cold blooded fish to extremely low temperatures.
"Ice Make: Maze!" He envisioned it with a large number of twists, turns and curves, too low for the spider thing to creep inside and potentially trap him somewhere. But he also imagined it with a lid so that even if it climbed to try and spot him, it wouldn't see anything.
Gray wound around inside the maze, superchilling pockets of air inside of it, ready to be released. Cold enough to instantly cause a modest case of hypothermia in a normal human. Or hopefully, a mutant, crazy spider monster.
To Gray, it felt no different than regular air. Though the lack of oxygen could get dicey if he stayed in there for too long.
He had about half filled his trap with the super chilled air when a dark clawed leg broke through the ceiling and he threw himself flat. He escaped being impaled but received a deep slash across his back.
"Aaarrgh!"
Pain. So much pain. No, focus. Need to close the wound. Think of the solution. Picture it and-
"Ice Make: Bandage!"
The edges of the cut iced over, freezing the blood before more could escape. A temporary solution, but the best he could do at the moment.
Forming a slide under him, Gray kicked out even as another claw stabbed down into the gloom of his maze.
"Spiders are master hunters, boy! They never let their prey escape once in their web!" The muffled cackle was no less unsettling for it being slightly more difficult to hear.
Damn. Gray heard scuffling and scratching on the top of his maze. He can still figure out a way to track me in here...
He had wanted to add more rooms, but the present overall temperature, hovering around negative 30, would have to be enough.
Gray slid out of the maze, still on his back, and thus was able to bring his hands together.
"Ice Make: Dome!" The ice of the maze reformed according to his mental design. Like a giant cup placed over his opponent. Only as low, heavy and thick as Gray could make it. The man spider was caught inside it, along with all the freezing air Gray had been filling his closed off maze with.
The creature spasmed, reduced to a dark shadow as it scrabbled against the ice, causing harsh screeches to penetrate the air. Gray pushed himself to his feet, feeling the wound on his back crackle as the ice he had used to hastily cover it pulled at his skin. He placed his hands against the dome, facing the shadow as the thing tore at it's prison. He gathered his thoughts, focus and magic, feeling the magic spiral out of his skin.
"Cryogenize."
Inside, the temperature plummeted from far below freezing to obscenely cold. From about -15 to -60 or so. The scratching slowed.
Cold Shock Response: Causes gasping, a sense of breathlessness and temporary rigidity of limbs. Usually seen in people who fell into freezing water. Usually leads to drowning in that case.
Ultear had taught him, not just magic, but everything there was to know about ice, cold, and people's reactions to them. Consequently, Gray was on permanent standby for snow rescue missions when a crew of mountaineers went missing.
The thought of normality made Gray sag briefly against the side of his creation, listening as the monster within slowly grew still, paralyzed from freezing. He was done with this madness for the day. All he wanted to do right now was go to sleep and wake up at home.
Gotta go see Wendy. Shoulder...
His patch job wouldn't last forever.
He popped another X-ball, exhaling in relief as the slightly stale tasting magic flooded his system. Then he straightened, collecting his thoughts and visualizing what he wanted.
Dispelling his dome revealed the being within, patchy with frostbite and barely moving. The regular air made it hiss in pain, the sudden thaw doing more harm than good.
"Ice Make: Hammer." Gray then set about the grim business of breaking the thing's legs. He didn't have the raw strength to bludgeon someone to death and he had to make use of all vulnerabilities.
It felt rather like snapping open an oversized crabs' legs, only not nearly as appetizing.
Then the ground began to shake.
-vVv-
"You've got to be kidding me!? Now? Really!?"
Lucy had seen a lot of stuff in her short months in Fairy Tail.
Some of them were absolutely wonderful, others were more terrifying. Like Lullaby, Deliora, Nirvana...and now this.
Natsu had talked her ear off about Igneel. She recognized the basic shape of a dragon in the things head but-
There came a sensation of loss and she hastily shut off all her magic, pulling it tight and close around her skin, even hurriedly dismissing Sagitarius so he wouldn't be drained of his power.
"What is that?!" She heard Wendy cry in alarm from behind her.
Wendy.
Her job right now had been to protect Wendy while Sagitarius covered the others who were fighting. They had held their position in the empty gap of wall Gray and Erza had knocked down earlier, content to let their enemies come to them and eliminate them that way.
But this...thing seemed to even be a surprise to the Edolas soldiers.
It towered above them all, vaguely human in shape but with a draconic sort of head and an odd sort of...tail extending behind it. In its hands, it had a proportionately sized long sword and kite shield. (Erza had quizzed her one day and found her knowledge of weaponry to be...remiss and had rectified the situation quickly.)
And it was very bad that it was so large and still so far away. It's head turned towards them, it's maw opening, glowing-
Oh no.
She had seen the stance often enough in Natsu to guess what it was about to do.
Lucy ran back towards Wendy, intent on getting them both behind the outer wall as quickly as she could so maybe, just maybe-
"Requip!" Erza's cry was the only thing Lucy heard as she glanced back upon reaching Wendy, who was already being tugged away by Carla.
Clad in black and silver armor with shields on both arms, Erza was thrown skyward by Gajeel, landing on the highest building nearby, between everyone and the incoming attack. The two shields locked together and a massive magic circle formed before them.
Adamantine Armor. Her strongest defensive armor. Lucy had heard about it in passing, referencing the Phantom Lord debacle. It had been strong enough to block an Abyss Break, though it had nearly killed Erza to do so.
The Dragon's Roar impacted Erza's circle with a crash and Lucy reflexively covered her ears from the cacophony of noise that ensued. But even over that, she could hear Erza's raw throated scream of challenge and defiance as she burned through her magic at a reckless rate to try and keep the beam from vaporizing what lay behind her. Not only them, but also the men they were fighting.
It won't be enough. Lucy felt a bubble of fear form in her throat, effectively choking her as she scrambled behind cover with Wendy. She could already see Erza's armor start to chip and crack. Erza's magic might not give out, but her armor will! Even against the Abyss Break, it shattered.
Erza would protect her friends or die trying, Lucy knew that about her...But she didn't want her to die.
C'mon, think...! What can I do? What can anyone do?
Then there came a shriek and the sound abruptly cut out as the continuing blast of energy was suddenly refracted, sliced into two beams. The Celestial Spirit mage tensed for a moment before she saw that the second beam was shooting harmlessly into the sky.
"What was that?" Wendy asked, lifting her head from behind the rocks.
"I'll look, you stay down." Lucy cautiously lifted her head as the odd silence started to be peppered by cheers.
Peering around the broken stone blocks of the wall, Lucy saw Erza was still on the roof, but she was not alone. The subtle mist in the air and the dark haired figure told her that Gray had joined her and was supporting her gently.
Blocking all that energy probably almost made her overheat. But Erza was clearly alright, even as Lucy watched she straightened and Requiped to another set of armor that she couldn't identify. But the cheers quickly solidified into distinct words.
"Long live King Jellal!"
"What?"
There was Jellal on the ground still, and there was another Jellal up above, carrying an impressive looking spear and wearing a cloak-
Mystogan?
"People are calling Mystogan Jellal." Lucy reported to the Sky Dragon Slayer and the white feline.
"That's his real name." Wendy's voice was quiet as she rose and came around. "He'd be Edo-Jellal if he weren't using another name." Lucy's mind flashed through all the implications of that as well as the fact...
"So he could legitimately be the king here." 'Siegrain' Jellal's alter ego in Earthland, had basically been a Prince Charming. Handsome, powerful, charming in his interviews, seemingly impeccable reputation...
In Edolas, the Prince bit was literal.
That's almost funny.
"C'mon, let's go find out what happened."
-vVv-
Mystogan's heart was racing faster now than it ever had before and he forced his grip to loosen on Ten Commandments haft.
The Rune Save function of the spear was possibly one of the more underrated forms the magic weapon had. The ability to cut through magic.
Without the time to attack the blast of pure energy more than once, Mystogan had needed to place his strike at just the right angle to split the beam as he had. He was just glad he had been able to cut it down to something Erza could handle without collapsing. The fight was far from over.
"Mystogan." Seeing his own face looking back at him was less unsettling than it had been at first, though at least Jellal was an ally now. He noted his counterpart looked worn from a long, heavy battle but was otherwise well.
"Jellal." Another cheer for 'King Jellal' made him flinch slightly with another stab of guilt.
Later. Worry about it later.
"What's the situation here?" Erza had more seniority in the guild, but he would stay in charge of this operation as the most well informed of the pair of them.
"The army's been persistent about trying to overwhelm us, some quite creatively with some shapeshifting. Natsu went to free the others, Gray took off after the one supplying potions to the shapeshifters-"
"Byro." Mystogan's voice was hard with scorn and disgust. Faust's second in command and conspirator in everything that was wrong with Edolas-Fiore right now.
"-but he's back now and keeping Erza's armor from melting with her still wearing it. And judging by the large flying fireball headed for it, that huge suit of armor is about to be attacked by Natsu."
Mystogan wanted to utter any number of undignified curses and wished wholeheartedly that Fae were there to send a message after Natsu to break off his attack and wait for backup.
"That armor is Dorma Anim: The most powerful magic item in this world. Regular magic can barely even scratch it." Even from where they stood below on the ground, Mystogan saw Wendy and Gajeel's heads come up sharply and look at him with an uncanny stare. Their hearing truly is incredible.
"I had hoped to neutralize Faust before he could try and activate it. It's keepers never used it, not even when attacked and it could have turned the tide of war in their favor."
"Why? Was it unsafe to use?"
"Too powerful. It drains what little magic there is left in this air at a voracious rate. It destroyed this world's old environment and it took centuries to find a semblance of balance again." He looked down at the spear in his hands, mouth tight. "He truly has lost his mind..."
"Likely my prince, he feels you are here to stage a coup and overthrow him. Thus, he feels that this is a necessary measure and a worthwhile one." Pantherlily said, landing beside him, barely breathing hard. "I have sent my men to secure the civilians outside the city or in their underground shelters. They are completing the evacuation now."
"What about the army?"
"Confused, leaderless, for the most part."
"Couldn't you command them?" Pantherlily's expression was sardonic at best.
"My prince, I am well respected and trusted among my own men and the citizens. Not among the legions commanded by my fellows."
No, they would be either torn between kowtowing to you because you were an Exceed or resenting your authority over them because the army has always been a dog pit of infighting children with explosive weapons.
So they would still have a large amount of uncoordinated soldiers attacking them as their commanders could motivate them. Which meant that not everyone could go to try and stop Faust from effectively ripping their world apart.
"Mystogan." Wendy was there, carried by Carla and looking as somber as the grave. "Natsu is going to fight the Dorma Anim."
"Yes."
"Is that something he could do alone?"
He knew what the answer would cause. He knew what it would bring.
It would make Wendy turn and fly straight into the heart of danger because only she out of everyone could heal Natsu should he fall in battle. And she was a wizard, facing danger was what she did and he had seen her throw herself into adapting to her new life with vigor and determination.
"...No, Wendy. No one man can." She didn't say anything, just turned back down to Gajeel with a steely light in her eyes.
"We're gonna go help Natsu."
"I ain't got wings, girlie." yes...Yes that would work.
From his observations, the Dorma Anim was the closest thing to a dragon in Edolas. It had the same power, the same hardy nature. And here were three people whose entire skill sets revolved around defeating the impossible and conquering the almighty.
"What do you think you could do against Dorma Anim?" Pantherlily asked Wendy carefully. He was likely going to try and stop her. Wendy looked at him and Mystogan saw a hint of a young dragon behind her eyes.
"I'm going to go fight beside my friend, and do what I was raised to do: Slay whatever is too strong for other people." Gajeel clawed his way up beside them, a savage grin on his face.
"I ain't letting Salamander melt all that tasty looking metal before I get to take a bite out of it." He looked straight at Pantherlily... "You look strong. You get me to that pile of tin and I'll make sure it can't hurt your city."
"Prince Jellal-"
"They're right, Lily. Go." Mystogan shifted Ten Commandments into a better position and readied himself mentally for the battle against the still determined soldiers down below, who were. "The three of them are our best chance against Dorma Anim." Which was already starting to come closer to their position, further cementing Lily's statement that Faust was targeting him in particular. Or perhaps Jellal since they were identical and Jellal had been seen by the people first.
Either way, this will be a messy fight at best.
His guildmates had been fighting hard and long, they were pushing their limits with little to no time to recover. Time which he would not need magically as they would.
"Have the others pull back, recuperate and get your strength back. I'll hold them off." he informed Jellal quietly.
Ten Commandments shifted into Silfarion and Mystogan leapt into battle.
-vVv-
We had more or less left the range of ETD, but were still searching for a safe place for the flock to land and recuperate after their hard flight. And there just wasn't any place that...felt right.
The choice is made.
What?
"Kaah! Up here!" The hollar came from above and I looked up to see a white cat with an impressive monobrow hailing us from an island tucked in the sheltering grasp of a large tree. "Stop flying you dimwits! They'll track you as long as you're using magic!"
"Please! Come and take shelter with us!" This cat was an iconic shade of blue that I knew better than any other color.
It was the exact same color as Happy's fur.
"Marl, Lucky." Shagotte looked shocked, several of the exhausted Exceed landed in the space before a small neat house, deactivating their wings.
"You know them?"
"They and Pantherlily are the only Exceed to ever be exiled from our nation for disagreeing with a royal decree." She sounded soft, regretful and completely understanding.
I didn't see why Marl and Lucky had been banished, but I did get a flash of a white and blue egg that looked...vaguely familiar.
"Will you be alright with them?"
"They are far better people than most, but their quarrel is with me and me alone." She said, softly and grimly determined.
How long will they be safe if they stay here? I appealed to G2
Projected estimate: 5 days and 3 hours if searches are sent out by standard Edolas Fioran patrol patterns. It would be enough, though it was far from a permanent solution.
"I need to go." Dodge the lasers trying to turn me to stone and get back to the city and my friends. Even if they didn't want me fighting, they wouldn't want me far away.
"Then go, child. We are already in your debt for your warning and your guidance."
Cubellios landed to let her passengers off and Marl approached and checked several of the more tired ones over, fussing like a mom would.
I hesitated before getting back onto Cubellios though, because of both her and Shagotte.
I reached out and softly touched the queen's shoulder and felt knowledge flash through my mind.
She saw ETD when it was conceptualized, shortly after Anima was invented. She knew that the Exceed would be targeted sooner or later and wished to take steps to ensure their race survived.
She ordered the eggs of an entire generation be taken away from their parents and sent through an Anima to Earthland. Even her own egg, to the point of sacrificing a wing for it to survive. Marl and Lucky disagreed with her decision, quite vocally, which resulted in their being banished. Shagotte only ordered it to prevent the other Exceed from harming them after they made themselves pariahs.
"Shagotte...There is something more you should know." She looked up at me, frowning faintly, curious and concerned. I knelt and leaned in to whisper to her, focusing on what I wanted to convey.
Carla.
Wendy's friend and protector. Her confidence, determination and absolute loyalty to what she deemed worthy of her attention. Her caring nature, which came out to Wendy, myself and the young Frosch.
"Your daughter's name is Carla." I just touched her forehead, focusing on the sensation of copying and transferring the knowledge I had of the white feline and her character and letting it glide into Shagotte's head. "She made it."
Your child survived, and thrived and is someone you can be proud of.
If there were tears in the queen's eyes as I rose and trotted over to the new hosts of the Exceed nation, I didn't look back to see them. But I did hear several Exceed ask, alarmed, what was the matter and why she was crying.
My attention was focused on Marl and Lucky.
"Marl? Lucky?" The kindly blue feline turned towards me right away.
"Yes dear? Are you well, do you need something?" I knelt then accepting a small, rough work worn paw.
"Yes. I need to tell you and your husband something important." Lucky spat, but approached when Marl waved him over.
"What do you want, human?" he asked grouchily.
Well, I know where Happy got his personality from: Not this guy!
I didn't take offense though. He had his reasons for being gruff, and grief was one of them.
"Your egg made it through safely. It was found by one of my very good friends, who helped it hatch." Marl's face went still, while shock, hope and grief warred for dominance on Lucky's face.
"Your son's name is Happy. And believe me, his name suits him." There was a lot more I wanted to tell them. And a lot more that they clearly wanted to ask me. I clasped their paws briefly, letting my knowledge of Happy flow through to them. Both my fondness for the winged cat and my irritation at his familial ribbing. Happy: the second friendly face I had seen after escaping captivity as a child.
I want nothing more than for you to meet them in person. But at least in this way...their stories can stay with you. Knowing they're happy without you is a burden, but not as heavy a one as not knowing whether your children survived in the foreign world they were sent to.
Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy are gathering to face Faust bearing Dorma Anim.
Now, the sight would have scared me at any point in my life before I had seen Acnologia off of Gildarts. It wasn't pleasant even now, but it was at least not as bad as other things I had seen. But the update did remind me that Cubellios and I had a lot of ground to cover together to reach the city and our guild.
I withdrew from Happy's bright eyed parents, but not before Marl embraced me with fervently whispered gratitude. Cubellios had been relieved of her passengers and was now taking a deep drink from the couple's well.
:Are you well?:
I asked her, she shook herself slightly.
:Keeping up with your life is far more busy than I ever was with my friend: This was said half in complaint, half in satisfaction.
:If you are too tired to fly, I can do that for a while: I had been asking a lot of her today already. And of myself for that matter. But we had to get back, one way or another. Though some people might be glad if it took a bit longer, just so we were safely out of harm's way.
Hopefully the Team Seven luck ran itself out back with Sugarboy and Hughes. And since I had taken the headband off, that was further reason for the side effect to no longer be active. I wasn't sure if I had another big fight in me without some rest.
:You should not, hatchling. Your power is not limitless: Her caution checked my zeal very effectively. Mystogan had specifically warned me to be careful and I was already toeing the line of where I had promised I would stop. Flying out away from Faustian had burned through about a third of my magic reserves after everything was said and done. I kept on intermittently regaining some magic when my clones throughout the city were destroyed, that was the only thing keeping me together ahead of the net drain of flying like I had to get here. If I flew back...
I'll definitely be below the limit. And I'd already broken one promise to Mystogan by using Shadow Clones in my fight against Hughes. And another in spirit when I had fought not one but two army commanders in the first place.
...What are the odds of it going badly in me if I try to fly back to Faustian?
65% chance of spontaneous structural failure.
That...was too high. I knew it. Everyone in my guild would say the same. It was the sane, smart, reasonable thing to do.
And I hated it.
This...is hell. Like when Freed had trapped me in the guild hall during the harvest Festival.
I'd have to start walking back, give myself more time to regain energy, charge my kinetic relays to try and get some more back.
How soon can I make it to the city on foot if I hustle?
Six hours, 27 minutes.
That long? Why that-? A twinge of pain from my leg reminded me that I hadn't come out of the day's fights unscathed. The excitement, and the fact I had spent most of my time flying had kept me from really noticing that my leg was badly bruised and not at all happy with supporting my weight. I wasn't going to be running anywhere until Wendy had a look at me. I could barely even afford the power to to splint it to try and support it a little.
In other words, too late to do anything more to help my friends.
There's gotta be some faster way back...! Something, anything!
Cubellios and I glided to the ground and started for the city, moving as quickly as we could, leaving the Exceed to their personal politics and working out their issues with one another.
I had trained physically, but I had been running, fighting and moving all day with only the chance to drink some well water. I got tired really fast and had to slow to take care of myself, which frustrated me even more.
Some spindly grass by the side of a tree I passed made me stop, staring and thinking hard...
That...that was the same plant I had pointed Lucy, Wendy and Natsu towards to make contact with Edo-Fairy Tail.
I hurried towards it quickly, snapping off a twig and waiting impatiently.
"Who is this?"
Droy.
The relief I felt was short lived, as soon as the voice registered, I felt my spine stiffen and my crazy idea come out before I could stop it.
"My name...is Celeste D Faerun. And I'm an Earthland Fairy Tail wizard."
-vVv-
The girl's voice emitting from the call in started to resonate and grow louder until every voice in the guild hall was silent, listening to it. Droy stared at the mother plant which he had placed seedlings from so people could contact them all across Fiore and beyond. It never did this before.
"I know my Lucy, Wendy and Natsu already talked to you. I know you don't know me, or my Edolas self." There was silence for a beat. "And I know exactly how scared you are."
There seemed to be a soft swirling in the air. The dust motes through the window caught the light and suddenly they could all see a girl, kneeling by the callweed, holding the stalks with care.
She looked to be no more than ten years old. But every eye on her knew she had been fighting. And fighting hard. Small scratched, bruises, tousled clothing, the desperate exhaustion in her eyes.
"I know everyone you've lost. I feel how much it still hurts." And there were tears glimmering in her eyes accompanying the unmistakable knowing that she did know. She did understand. Intimately, wholly.
"...I don't want to lose my family. I can't reach them in time and even if I could, I could barely do anything to help them."
Fear of loss, that was something they all knew. Every Fairy tail wizard in the guild, lived breathed and embodied that fear every day. Wondering if when the sun rose the next morning, if those who had gone out for work the night before would come back. Droy swallowed thickly, unable to tear his eyes away from the callweed.
This is why I didn't include visuals for callers...
It hit everyone in the heartstrings too hard. They couldn't help everyone. They could barely help themselves.
"You got a point to this spiel, kid?" his tone came out harsher than he meant for it to. Actual tears were falling now and Droy generally felt like a piece of garbage.
"Your guild hall is the only way I've got to get back to them in time." Glowing blue eyes seemed to stare into Droy's soul and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. "Fairy Tail helped me before when I had no other hope...And I had to try and see if that was the same here."
He had no way to respond to that. Nothing he could think of would phrase the refusal in a gentle enough way to make it seem like less than heartless.
Levy pushed him aside gently.
"Kid, we-"
"Lisanna, what-?" Natsu Dragion's voice was all that Levy managed to register before a grip like iron had seized her and tossed her aside.
"We're coming to get you Fae. Stay there. We'll be there in a few minutes." The girl's head lifted sharply then, shock painting her features with a new kind of emotion.
"Lisanna...?" The barest whisper drifted across the line, but it made the white haired girl smile, cry and laugh.
"I'm here, Fae. I'll be there soon." She ended the call and then looked at Levy, who had never before realized how much the few inches Lisanna had on her made her seem taller.
"We're already orphans." Lisanna said to the motionless guild hall, glancing towards the small memorial they had erected for their fallen. "I'm not letting her become one too."