"So, you came back for another ass-kicking, Salamander?"
"Gajeel." Natsu growled, "I've been looking for you."
"Well then, what are you waiting for?" He said in a mocking tone, provoking the fire dragon slayer into lunging at him. Natsu went for a flame-enhanced right hook, which despite connecting barely fazed the Iron Dragon Slayer as he had used his magic to turn his skin into hard metallic scales. Gajeel retaliated by swiftly kneeing the Fire Dragon Slayer in the stomach, causing Natsu to growl in frustration as he was forced back before resuming the fight.
Meanwhile, all Lucy could do in her current position was look on, that is until a certain winged cat came along, "Don't worry Lucy, I'll get you out of this!" Happy assured her.
"How?" The blonde asked in confusion as Happy reached into his sack, before pulling out… a lock pick, "Why do you have that?" Lucy asked incredulously.
"Gotta get into your house somehow." Happy stated nonchalantly.
"You damn cat." Lucy said, clear exasperation in her tone as she had now just discovered the means that Happy and Natsu used to get into her apartment. However, Gajeel had taken notice of Happy's attempt to free the celestial wizard.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!" He cried after kicking Natsu away before bringing his weapon down in a vertical slash, Happy was still preoccupied with trying to get the first of Lucy's four restraints undone and only noticed until it would be too late to avoid it.
"Regulus Impact!" Came another battle cry, as a figure who appeared to be wielding light as some form of melee attack punched the side of the sword with a magic-enhanced fist.
"What the-!" The Iron Dragon Slayer said as his sword was knocked to the side, missing both Lucy and Happy.
"Sorry, am I late?" The duo's saviour asked, revealing it was none other than Loke, the auburn-haired wizard was grinning confidently.
"You're Fairy Tail's little pretty boy, right?" Gajeel said, narrowing his eyes in anger as he recognised Loke.
"The one and only." The young man stated before he became serious, "Happy, you keep doing what you're doing, okay? I'll keep him off your back." He continued.
"Right!" Happy nodded in affirmation as he was assured by his fellow guild member before setting to work on the locks once again.
"What makes you think you can hold me back alone?" The Iron Dragon Slayer asked as he cracked his knuckles.
"Well, I'm not alone, am I?" Loke retorted, shrugging his shoulders as an Gajeel's expression shifted to one of confusion, that is until a certain fire user re-joined the fray.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Phantom's ace was caught off-guard as he was engulfed and pushed back by the gout of fire straight through the wall, kicking up dust in the process. A crash sounded, indicating Gajeel had landed hard, likely on one of the giant's arms.
A final metallic click sounded as Lucy was free from her shackles, landing with a slight stumble but ultimately regaining her footing.
"Lucy get to safety, find the others, and get out of here, Happy go with her." Loke ordered, surprise crossed the blonde's features.
"But…" She said trailing off, noticing Loke's expression, it wasn't one of condescension, but rather pleading. As she thought about it, she was Phantom's target and if she was able to escape Fairy Tail's rival guild would no longer have any leverage over them. With her mind made up she decided to heed Loke's advice, mostly anyway, and ran for the exit alongside her furry companion.
Natsu and Loke watched their friend go, their attention only being diverted by a loud thud, Gajeel having leapt back through the destroyed wall, "That sucker punch was pretty good I'll give you two idiots that." He stated with a wicked grin as his skin began to take on a scale-like pattern and turned to a grey colouration, beginning to reflect light, "But you won't break through the scales of an iron dragon."
"Great." Loke sighed sarcastically, since it didn't take a genius to figure out the new layer of armour would protect against melee attacks, presenting a problem as he and Natsu were close-quarters fighters.
Unfortunately, Natsu wasn't much of a genius as his fists ignited, "Bring it on!" He challenged, leaping towards his fellow dragon slayer, his sucker punch connecting with Gajeel's face and causing the Iron Dragon Slayer to skid back.
Natsu clutched his right hand, hissing in pain, even with his above average durability there were still scrape marks on his knuckles. By contrast, Gajeel didn't even have a scratch on his new metallic coating as he chuckled maliciously, "Like the bite of a flea." From his position Gajeel extended his arm in the form of his club, Natsu leaping over and onto the limb, not willing to give up despite the obvious setback in his plan of brute force.
Natsu launched himself at Gajeel, igniting flames in his palm and soles to create a kind of speed boost. He swung with a fire-encased fist, Gajeel readily met the attack with a punch of his own before grabbing Natsu by the neck and slamming him hard into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. The fire dragon slayer gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, which was only exacerbated by Gajeel stomping hard on his stomach.
Loke's fists shone with light as he ran at Gajeel, what he was about to do would probably hurt himself more than the iron dragon slayer, but even he could accept that the only way to break through their opponent's defence would be to hit him as hard as they could, "Regulus Flurry!" The Fairy Tail member began to launch a series of blows against Gajeel, aiming for the stomach and face to do as much damage as possible. After forcing Gajeel back with several blows, Loke hadn't been counting in his state of desperation but he was positive at least a dozen had landed. Panting heavily, Loke prayed to the stars that by some stretch he had beaten one of Phantom's aces but with Gajeel still standing albeit with his head thrown back, that wasn't the case.
"Not bad for a poser." The iron dragon slayer admitted, the slightest flecks of his armour peeling off before he grabbed Loke by the shirt and headbutted him square in the face, causing his glasses to break as he lay sprawled on the floor. Confident that he had beaten one of his opponents completely, Gajeel turned away, "Now for-huh?" He spoke to himself, he had been about to go back to pummelling Natsu yet he was gone, looking around he sniffed to locate him.
Finally, he caught the scent of soot and ash, coming from above him. His attempt to block the attack, a hammer blow with two intertwined hands failed as Natsu brought it down on his head. The fire dragon landed and then kneed Gajeel in the temple, finally he inhaled and once again unleashed a Fire Dragon's Roar, blasting Gajeel upwards into the ceiling and causing debris to rain down from the impact along with the iron dragon slayer.
"Was that enough?" Natsu wondered out loud.
"Not even close." Came Gajeel's swift reply as he picked himself up from the rubble, clutching shards and other pieces of metal, gleefully beginning to eat them. Even Natsu knew what this meant, Gajeel was using the iron in the metal parts of the debris to replenish his strength, similar to how he himself would consume fire for the same purpose.
"Oh, crap." Natsu swore as Gajeel, with renewed vigour, charged at him. The fire dragon slayer attempted to lash out in defence, only for his blow to be deflected as Gajeel struck him in the face with his elbow. A hard kick into Natsu's chest brought him to the ground for a second time. All he could make out in his desperation to get the wind back in him was Gajeel calmly walking over to him then looking down with a malicious smirk.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Natsu cried out in pain as the near-point-blank attack tore into him, sending him down two levels into a room with a large generator, that was necessary in allowing Phantom's guild hall to move. Only a few large windows illuminated the room from the outside.
"So, this is the best Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer has to offer? What a joke." Gajeel mocked, Natsu was barely conscious after taking the full-brunt of Gajeel's roar, to the extent that he couldn't even attempt to make a comeback. Phantom's dragon slayer turned to look out the window as a great deal of noise suddenly picked up from the battle below and given Fairy Tail's apparent closeness, it wasn't hard for him to guess what the new fuss was about. He smirked, grabbing Natsu by the scruff of his neck and began dragging him over to one of the windows. He spoke again as he shoved Natsu hard against the window, "Now would you look at that?" He asked in a triumphant tone.
Despite the fact that his face was being held against the glass, Natsu could still make out what was going on. Jose's shades had merged into one large, spherical entity with six arms and even with the combined attacks of the Fairy Tail mages on the ground, it wouldn't dissipate unlike singular shades. Its concentration wasn't on those assailing it, rather the target was the damaged guild hall, once it was close enough the shade began to strike the building. Despite the best efforts of the Fairy Tail mages, the attack on their home went undisturbed and with the structure already damaged it didn't take much for the building to collapse.
Natsu tensed up, his fists clenching as he began to shake. Since Igneel had left him with no warning, that hall had been a source of companionship for him. It held many sentimental memories even if he wouldn't freely admit it, antics with Naruto, the many brawls he had with Gray and other members, where he and Lisanna had…
He began to shake, "Still some fire left you?" Gajeel questioned condescendingly, "Fine, I'll give you one swing." He continued, letting go and despite some swaying, Natsu was still able to stand. Throwing a sloppy punch due to the fatigue, Gajeel countered it easily, grabbing Natsu by the throat and tossing him into the air and aiming an outstretched arm at the airborne Dragon Slayer, "Iron Dragon's Lance." At this, Gajeel's nails took on a clawed appearance, rapidly extending and detaching so that they were launched at his target after several seconds of juggling Natsu in the air, the Iron Dragon Slayer ceased his attack, causing Natsu to unceremoniously fall to the ground.
"See Salamander, this is the difference between you and I, I don't need so-called 'friends' to back me up. The only way you can become strong is by relying on yourself." Gajeel stated, bringing his foot down on Natsu's stomach, the Fire Dragon Slayer was too tired to even make a retort, only being able to snarl at his opponent. Above the two was the hole Gajeel had made when using his roar, a flash of green and orange bringing a smirk to Natsu's face, "What's so funny?" Gajeel asked abrasively.
In response, Natsu gripped the ankle pinning him down, "The hell are you doing?" The Iron Dragon Slayer asked.
"Regulus Hammer!" Loke's voice called from above them, with a light-infused elbow drop, the Fairy Taill mage plummeted fast enough so that Gajeel was only quick enough to see what soon struck him. No sooner had the attack landed that Gajeel found Loke using his face as a launch pad towards the generator.
"You son of a-! How aren't you still out cold? No normal person could be up so soon after nutting them with my scales!" The Phantom member roared accusingly before taking two sniffs, "Oh, I see, you really aren't normal, are you?"
"Hmph." Loke scoffed before clutching his chest in pain, 'Dammit not now!' He internally pleaded.
"Give it up pretty boy, Salamander couldn't stand up to me, what makes you think you can?"
"Nothing," Loke said, surprising his opponent, "But I can do this." He continued, charging towards the generator.
Gajeel's eyes widened as he realised Loke's intention, "No!" He bellowed, springing into a continuous series of lunges to catch up.
"Regulus Impact!" Loke cried just as Gajeel reached him, but he couldn't stop the collision between fist and metal or the explosion that occurred straight after. The destruction of the machine would do little to stop the Giant then again, that wasn't what Loke was going for. Gajeel had been knocked back by both the explosion and Loke being propelled into him, yet he could hear a new sound. It was one of suction and the flames caused by Loke's interference were heading straight for the source, the billowing flames seemingly being tamed and channelled into a stream.
As Natsu engulfed the last of the fire, he flashed a cocky grin, "Now I've got a fire in my belly!" He stated, "Thanks Loke, I'm not gonna let you down!"
'Dammit!' Gajeel internally swore. While he still believed himself superior to Natsu, even he couldn't deny it would be difficult for him to stand against the now-revived Dragon Slayer. His eyes darted around, quickly landing on another pile of debris, still full of iron-rich metal he could use to replenish his own stamina. He made a dash for it as he reached out though, his wrist was grabbed by a flaming hand, burning hot enough to barely begin melting the scales in that area. He turned to face Natsu and even Gajeel had to silently admit, he looked ready to kill and it intimidated him. The Fairy Tail mage landed a powerful uppercut but Gajeel didn't fall, countering with a solid right hook.
"You're actually pretty tough Gajeel," Natsu said, turning his head to face his opponent again with a furious scowl, "But you creeps destroyed our guild hall and I'm going to kick your ass for it! Now if you don't mind, I'll take a leaf out of your book." Flames erupted around Natsu's body, mimicking Gajeel's technique. Gajeel snarled, realising that if he got close, his defences would begin to melt. Natsu might be an idiot but even Gajeel couldn't deny he was combat savvy.
"Then bring it!" He challenged, his ego was on the line and he wasn't willing to let a member of Fairy Tail beat him.
"You asked for it!" Natsu shouted, doing an upwards elbow strike, following up with right-handed punch then a left hook. Gajeel parried the spinning backfist that came next, retaliating with a knee strike then a roundhouse kick that sent Natsu flying.
The Fairy Tail mage inhaled, "Fire Dragon's-!" Realising what Natsu was about to do, Gajeel copied his action.
"Iron Dragon's-!"
"Roar!" The two men bellowed, their respective attacks spewing forth clashing. The torrents of fire and iron seemed to be evenly matched until Natsu's suddenly flared up, pushing back despite Gajeel's best efforts to keep it at bay. The flames tore into the Iron Dragon Slayer, sending him through the wall and straight into the arm of the Giant, denting the metal joint of the arm. Natsu soon jumped through the destroyed wall, propelling himself up to the stonework on the arm.
For Gajeel, his scales had taken the brunt of the damage, consequently being destroyed and while he could still fight, using his roar had exhausted him enough so he was no longer able to replenish them. His impact had caused minimal damage to the Giant as the arm was still moving albeit a lot slower than it should have, "Huh, so Totomaru, Sol and Juvia got taken down?" While he was indifferent to the other two, he was surprised at Juvia's defeat given her immunity to physical attacks.
As he crawled onto the stonework, Natsu as expected, awaited him. Now though, he was clearly fatigued, if the fact that he was heavily panting and he'd powered down his flame cloak was anything to go on.
"Let's settle this now Salamander," Gajeel stated at Natsu's questioning look he continued, "No magic, no fancy tricks, just two Dragon Slayers pummelling each other 'til they can't stand." Natsu briefly smirked at that but he wasn't willing to enjoy this fight. Natsu jumped, even without using his magic he was still stronger than the average human, leaping up and bringing his foot down in axe kick.
Gajeel blocked the attack with his arm and pushed back, Natsu corrected himself, landing on his feet. Taking advantage of Natsu's recovery, Gajeel shoulder barged him, throwing all of his weight into the blow and striking hard. Natsu swore he heard a rib crack as he barely avoided falling from the limb. Despite nearly having the wind knocked out of him, Natsu held his ground, digging his heels in and pushed back. He retaliated with a hook into Gajeel's temple, staggering the Iron Dragon Slayer before wrapping his arms around the back of Gajeel's neck and kneeing him in the stomach.
The larger man grabbed Natsu by the shoulder and using him as an anchoring point, hoisted himself into the air and brought his elbow down onto Natsu's head. Even with the heavy blow and searing pain, Natsu didn't go down, tensing his legs and launching upwards into Gajeel's chin. His fellow Dargon Slayer also refused to yield and with the fatigue they were both experiencing they knew their next attack would be their last. They balled up their right fists and with the remainder of their energy, let out a battle cry and swung. In many situations like this, one would expect one opponent to simply hit the other first, this was not the case for the two Dragon Slayers, in a comical display, they caught each other square in the jaw. Thankfully, neither of the two fell off after falling backwards and were simply knocked unconscious, though if potentially falling to their deaths was to be avoided, the Giant's arm would need to stop soon…
"Punishment?" Aria asked, "You are right but I won't be the one to receive it. Vacuum Palm!" At his command, Aria thrust his palm forward, causing a wall of air to head straight for Mystogan.
"Three Layer Magic Circle: Mirror Water!" Mystogan countered as three magic circles appeared to reflect the attack back at its caster. Aria quite literally glided out of the attack's trajectory.
"Hmm, let's see how you deal with this." Aria stated, merely charging at his opponent, Mystogan remained impassive as Aria passed through him.
"You think that cheap parlour trick was enough to fool me?" Mystogan replied, "I'm quite adept in illusory magics, where is the real you?"
"Here." Aria spoke up, reappearing behind Mystogan, "Or perhaps…" He continued, beginning to multiply, and form a ring around the Fairy Tail mage, "I could strike from any direction." The group of twenty-four spoke in unison.
Mystogan quickly did a three-hundred and sixty turn before giving an annoyed sigh, "I've said it once and I'll say it again, where is the real you? If your plan is to scare me into surrender with false superior numbers it isn't working."
'That won't be what's so terrifying.' Aria thought with a sadistic grin. His copies were simply a distraction while he positioned himself directly above Mystogan, "Feel your magic power drain away! Metsu!" He declared, encompassing Mystogan in a bubble of airspace and bringing his hands together. The very attack that brought down Makarov would be sure to have the same effect on an S-Class mage. Aria appeared triumphant for a minute until he realised something was wrong… very wrong. When using his attack and draining the Ethernano from his opponent's body it would almost wring them like someone would do to a wet towel, causing them to writhe in pain until they were nearly to the point of death. That, and he would feel the Ethernano come towards him so he could distribute it but there was none coming from Mystogan.
Calmly, the Fairy Tail mage turned towards him, "Are you done?"
At this point, Aria's jaw was hanging open in shock, "How? There's no way you could resist the effects of Metsu."
"It would be a lethal attack to use on someone who's from around here." The S-Class wizard retorted cryptically as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't mock me." The air-user growled caustically, holding his palm out, "Zetsu!" At his command, nothing appeared to happen but Mystogan knew better than to underestimate his opponent. He was proven right when he retreated back somewhat and the air to his right suddenly exploded and knocked him into another pocket of air that did the same.
Even Mystogan had to admit, the attack packed quite a punch as his head was spinning, "Even I must admit it is impressive that your body is still intact after taking two direct hits from Zetsu but many more unexploded air pockets wait for you to set them off." Aria stated.
"That may be but you aren't the only one who can levitate Aria." Mystogan said, taking forth one of his staves and demonstrating his ability to levitate via the use of Air magic, "Five Layer Magic Circle: Sacred Song!" Five magic circles appeared, firing off a beam of concentrated magic energy. Though, before the blast reached him, Aria tore his blindfold off, placed his palms in front of him, one facing up, the other facing down and called out the name of his attack as his eyes began to shine yellow.
"Zero!" He called, prompting the formation of a large whirlwind-like attack that collided with Sacred Song. The collision caused a blast that would have sent both mages flying had Mystogan not used his Mist Body so the shockwave passed through him and Aria was able to teleport out of the way.
When the blast subsided, Mystogan deactivated the Mist Body, "Vacuum Wave!" Aria's voice declared from behind him, the Fairy Tail mage only had the time to turn around before Aria released his attack point blank. He cried out in pain as he was forced back towards the ground, landing hard on the stone. Fighting through the burning pain from the various cuts he had sustained, Mystogan picked himself up and struggled to hold his headwear in place with one hand as it had been partly slashed by the attack.
"Determined to protect your identity, are you?" Aria asked as he descended, "It matters not, the dead have little need for names."
With his free hand, Mystogan reached for one of his five staves, striking the end of it into the ground hard enough that it broke into the stone, and lodged there, "Single Seal: Spellbinding Circle!" The same ability that had trapped Aria just before their fight once again appeared to capture the Element Four member.
"This again? You do realise I am sustaining no damage, correct?" Aria asked, looking at Mystogan condescendingly with his purple eyes, the pupils of which had split into four separate quarters.
"It's not meant to hurt you." Mystogan stated matter-of-factly as the remaining four staves began to levitate and were then positioned in a pentagonal pattern.
"Moving your weapons, am I supposed to be impressed?" The trapped mage asked sarcastically.
"No. You see, while I did gather all of Makarov's magic power, I only gave him back enough for him to regain consciousness, coherency and to allow him to recover."
While Aria didn't give Mystogan the benefit of a reaction, the tone of his next question betrayed his confusion, "Then where is the rest of it?" In response, the staves around Aria began to glow a bright white colour, the same as concentrated Ethernano, "What is this?!"
"A test, for something I'm working on, it's merely a knock-off of the real weapon and barely has five percent the power but it's needed to not hinder my friend's actions." The S-class mage stated.
"Weapon? So, it's already known?" The Phantom mage asked.
"Correct, though it will take some time to charge, the runes need to be set up beforehand. Ten Layer Magic Circle: Satellite Square: Alpha Etherion." Ten magic circles proceeded to form layered on top of one another and with the mention of his attack, Aria began to visibly panic. He began trying to thrash around wildly but to no avail with the Spellbinding Circle wrapped around him.
"You don't have to do this!" Aria pleaded, terrified out of his wits, "Please, let's talk about this!"
For once Mystogan raised his voice, "The time for talking was over when you destroyed the guild hall and nearly killed Makarov!"
"If you use something like Etherion, everyone within the building's walls will perish, none will survive, not even your friends!" Aria tried to reason.
"Which is why it's a knockoff, the 'Etherion' is a loose term at best here. It's far weaker and unlike the original it doesn't require a large area to attack, its sole target is you." As he finished the statement, the lights that had formed at the top Mystogan's staves became spherical and a stream of light from each of the five shot to the top tier of the Magic Circles. Mystogan brought his free arm up, "It's done charging, farewell Aria of the Suffocating Cloud, your defeat is at hand." Bringing his arm down, so to did the laser. Aria was lost to the blinding column of light, the only sound was a brief scream that was soon silenced.
As the light cleared, it was revealed Mystogan's Spellbinding Circle was still intact and still held Aria in its grip. As it was his spell Mystogan still had control of it and thought it best to move it away from the gaping hole that had been created as a result of his knock-off Etherion, "Hmm, I suppose the guild is finally rubbing off on me." He pondered as he looked down to see that his attack had ripped straight down through even the ground floor of Phantom's guild hall. Dispelling the Spellbinding Circle with a flick of his wrist, he allowed Aria to fall to the ground, bent down and checked his pulse. The Element Four member was still alive at least though sections of his clothing had been singed whilst the few exposed areas of skin had first degree burns.
Mystogan sighed, despite his new-found hatred for Phantom Lord, leaving such injuries the way they were could cause complications later on. Which wouldn't reflect well on Fairy Tail's reputation if those complications led to death, even if it was on just a mild chance. Porlyusica would be sure to give him an earful but he would rather Aria remain sedated and alive in a place far away from the conflict to avoid him returning and that he would need to remain behind to ensure that didn't happen. Deciding it would be best to leave Jose to those who had gone up the stairwell before him Mystogan retrieved his staves, picked up the unconscious Aria by the scruff of his neck, rapped on the stone floor with a staff, and disappeared, his destination, the East Forest.
Meanwhile, Kushina, Naruto, Gray, Erza and Juvia were heading up the stairway leading to Jose's sanctum when suddenly the building began to tremble.
"What the heck was that?" Naruto asked as the shaking stopped.
"Don't know," Kushina responded, "Let's just hope it was good for us."
"It won't be too long until we reach Master Jose," Juvia said, "Please follow me."
Lo and behold, the Water mage was right, it wasn't long before the group entered a large room, constructed of marble. High-rising pillars supported the weight of the roof, a great red carpet lined with gold seams that led to an intricately carved throne that seemed to be made of obsidian. A lone person sat upon the throne, Jose Porla, their target.
"So, the Red Hot Habanero leads the Titania, her own son, an Ice mage, and one of my own to battle against me?" Jose questioned rhetorically, "Juvia, I'm disappointed in you."
"Mater Jose, I can-"
"Silence!" He commanded, cutting her off, "You are a traitor and will die a traitor's death, a fate you will share with all of Fairy Tail."
"So that's it?" Kushina questioned angrily, "You attacked us, just so you would have an excuse to slaughter our guild?"
"No," Jose said, "At least, that's not the only reason. You see, Fairy Tail and Phatom Lord have been enemies since both guilds were founded roughly four-hundred years ago. Since then, both have seen at least three guild masters and despite being under the same banner being affiliated to the Magic council, a vicious rivalry has always been present. Today that rivalry ends and with Makarov, well that's between the two of us. What better way to kill two birds with one stone than to leave your guild hall in ruin," A holographic screen of sorts appeared before those who were present, causing an audible gasp from the Fairy Tail mages, "Murder his 'children' and leave Makarov alive to die a broken man?"
There would have been an outcry from Erza, Naruto and Gray had the air not grown thick with a feeling of dread. The three plus Juvia noticed the redhead's reaction as her hair began to levitate despite there being no breeze and she was directing her killing intent squarely at Jose.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ms Uzumaki," Jose began condescendingly, "I understand your fury but surely you wouldn't want to hurt your allies by unleashing all of your magic power now, would you?" With an annoyed glare, the power radiating from Kushina dissipated, "Your little guild may have defeated the Element Four, I know, I was surprised as well," He continued, as he responded to their looks of shock, "But, if you want something done right…" A sphere of what appeared to be pure darkness formed in each hand, crackling almost like electricity.
"You just have to do it yourself!"
Omake: Titania and the Hellhound
Fairy Tail guild hall, X776
Erza didn't know what to expect when she entered the headquarters of the guild she had been told about. Even though she had awakened her magic, would they really accept a bedraggled, one-eyed eleven-year-old with nothing to her name but the clothes on her back and a small sack of essentials? She opened the doors and stepped into what appeared to be a quiet day for the guild. Good, without the near-daily brawls Rob had told her about in one of his many recollections, it should have been easy to find the master of the guild, hopefully it was still Makarov. Though she did hear the odd whisper in the silence that befell the occupants, something about a 'mini-Kushina' whatever that was.
That's when her day became… strange. A blond boy, younger than her by about three years yet he was unlike any other kid the girl had seen with the black markings on his hands and face, claws on his feet and a tail of all things with the way his hair was fashioned, Erza would have guessed he looked like a fox. It was what he said next though that was quite surprising.
"Mom you got short, and, you're my age, and, you're wearing an eyepatch…" The blond began, going into a ramble as only a kid would know how to do. Even so, he seemed to notice her confusion, "You're not my mom, are you?"
"No, I'm not…" She answered, after a minute of somewhat awkward silence, the doors opened once again.
"Mom, something weird happened!" The young boy declared, running past her, Erza followed his path and saw that he was now side by side. Her only working eye widened in surprise as she noticed that the woman who had now entered the building looked strikingly similar to herself.
"What is it?" She asked her son, he pointed at Erza and she had very much the same reaction as the young girl had had to her. She approached Erza, her son at her heels and knelt down to Erza's level, blinking in comical surprise. Erza shrunk away somewhat, not liking the feeling of being examined like a test subject and even shuddered lightly at that idea.
Kushina noted the new girl's discomfort, "Hey sweetie," She began softly to ease the girl, "What's your name?"
Erza looked at Kushina, unsure before she finally responded, "…Erza."
"Okay Erza, what are you here for?" She asked.
"I… I want to speak to Makarov."
The forward reply surprised Kushina a bit, "Alright then, let's get you cleaned up and I'll take you to him, okay?" Her mini doppelganger nodded and Kushina took by the hand, gently leading her away. Though she didn't notice Kushina turn her head slightly and motion to Naruto to wait in the hall and pointed towards the East Forest. Naruto stuck his thumb up, understanding what the gesture meant, they would be paying a visit to Porlyusica's.
Later, outside the hermit's home, the two Uzumaki's waited, after fetching Makarov Erza had asked to speak in private with him. When they came out the guild master's face was solemn and hadn't said much as he guided Erza to Porlyusica's other than that she could potentially create a new eye for Erza. It had been several hours since then and at last, the door to the hideaway opened.
Makarov and Erza exited, with the redhead of the two now with two visible eyes and appeared as if she had been crying, strangely though, it was only on one side of her face. Quite excited to make a new friend, Naruto rushed ahead of Kushina, "Hey, so your name's Erza, right? Sorry about before, is it okay if I call you sis?" Naruto's question was innocent enough but Erza tensed up and went quiet.
Naruto realised he had said something wrong, "Sorry…" He apologised though he didn't know what quite for.
"It's okay," Erza replied, seeming to calm down, "Just, call me Erza, I'd still like to be your friend…" She continued before she realised that she didn't know his name.
"Naruto." He finished for her.
The barest trace of a smile found its way into her expression, "I'd still like to be your friend, Naruto." At that, Naruto grinned, though it might take some time for the new guild member to warm up to him, he was more than willing to be patient with her.
A/N 1: And finished for now! Hey, guys, I know it's been a while since I updated, and in that time, Fairy Tail ended or at least the main manga has (and no I don't plan to incorporate the 100 year quest). To say Fairy Tail fell from grace is… an understatement at best, rest assured that I hope to add some of my own ideas to make Fairy Tail at the very least, less of a mess than what it ended up being (I already have a full rewrite story up for those who are interested in something like that).
A/N 2: Kind of going off from the first one, I know it's been about a year and a half since I uploaded the previous chapter and I want to say, I'm sorry it got that far. However, I have my reasons, college being the main one but also the subsequent rest from it, build up to my brother's wedding and just in general writer's block or wanting to do another story extended out the time it took me to update. Another thing that needs to be said, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT DEMAND UPDATES! I appreciate that this story is loved and I can't thank some of you enough for your patience with me but throughout my absence, there's been a particular person, they'll know who they are if they're reading this who has messaged me quite consistently demanding to know whether or not I'm going to update and believe it or not that attitude tends to set writer's back further. So please, I enjoy writing for you guys but also respect that outside of fanfiction, I'm my own person, my life can keep me busy and even though I have a plan for the story, sometimes I just don't know how long it will take for me to finish a chapter. Thank you for listening, now that that's off my chest…
A/N 3: If you recall, I mentioned in an A/N in the first chapter that I was going to include an OC in this story and while this is still true, my initial plan was to include two OCs, one the mentor, the other the student who eventually joins FT. However, after some consideration, I have decided to include just the mentor OC after realising one of two Naruto characters would probably make a better option. I want you guys to vote on a poll on my profile who you think should be that character, these may sound random but there is a common ground between them that I aim to use for who they'll be in this story. Your options are: Konohamaru and Temari. I also plan to create a separate story detailing the life of the chosen character and the OC mentor.
With that all out the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time!