Titania and The Hunter
Chapter 68: Not Alike x ǝʞᴉʅⱯ ʇoN
Hey everyone! Welcome back!
########Hunter########
"They're coming!"
"Everyone grab what you can and run!"
"Oh god! This can't be happening!"
"Natsu, get to the car!"
"I-I am!" The nervous pink-haired Dark Mage responded as he grabbed any supplies he could and followed the others out to the vehicle as fast as he could. Under his feet he felt the ground shake and the echoes of the sudden raid attacking them. After depositing the supplies in the back, he turned back to the wooden building he and his guild had called home for years-
A massive explosion burst through the building and rendered half of it into kindling. Natsu and the others were blown off their feet by the force of the eruption and sent sprawling into the sand and dirt. The pink-haired teen lifted himself up and coughed as he felt grains of it along the lining of his throat. With a tear in his eye he looked up at the figures looming over them like angels of death.
"Did you think you were going to run off? Without us realizing?" The terrifying redhead said threateningly as she held her spear out at her side, "We're not letting you Fairies escape us anymore."
"Lay down any weapons you have and we might go easy on you." Natsu and the others glared up at the whiskered blond that stood right beside her. At the looks he was getting he shrugged, "I said might. It was right there on the label."
"Screw you, you royal dogs!"
"Fairy Tail will never submit under your heel!"
"Magic is a freedom you've stolen from all of us! As long as the king's tyranny reigns we will not surrender!"
"Gave us an answer." The redhead said to her companion as her spear shifted form. Before their eyes the single spear changed into two, smaller spears she wielded in each hand. Her partner shrugged and drew a pistol from his holster.
She kicked a fallen tree by their feet into the air before swinging her spears down on it. The broken wood parts started to burn and freeze in quick succession. And as they flew over them, the blond aimed his gun and fired at the pieces of debris. In an instant the pieces of flying, broken tree stopped sailing over them and suddenly dropped like rocks. Natsu watched the burning and freezing chunks fall over them all.
But as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain, he noticed that it never came. A shadow was cast over the frightened pink-haired driver as he tried to catch his breath. He raised his head and looked up at the giant, hulking figure that had extended his cloak out several feet to guard them from the falling debris, and who had used his own arms to stop any stray shots from hitting Natsu.
His eyes watered, "Jii-sama."
Makarov, the master of the Fairy Tail guild, stood proudly and whipped his cloak down. It returned to normal shape and retracted to his back. The muscular, 7-foot tall Dark Mage stood facing the Royal Army's elite soldiers and announced, "You will not be hurting my family anymore! Not on this day!"
("Wait, Jii-chan is huge in this world? Like, standing taller than most people?")
("And he's ripped too?")
("Y-Yes, that's right.")
("Ewwwww.")
("That's weird.")
"Well, there he is. Finally come out of hiding." The vicious redhead snarled as she pointed the end of her spear at him, "We've been waiting a long time to find you, Makarov."
"I surprised by just how big and bulky a man drawing towards 90 can be. Aren't you in your years when you should be sitting down and complaining about youngsters?"
"I am. I whine and bitch every day about that stupid king and his damn lackeys bothering us with their stupid demands and decrees. But I can't exactly leave everything to my kids yet." Makarov announced as the burly, elderly man clenched his fists, "Not as long as I can help and protect them."
"You can be father of the Fairies or the king for all I care." The redhead scoffed, "Doesn't change anything. Today is the day you and the rest of your winged pests go down for good."
"Better warriors than you have tried, young lady."
"And they've never been able to follow through. That's where we're different." She was about to make a move before her blond comrade raised his arm in front of her. The sudden action seemed to startle and annoy the terrifying redhead as she glared at him, "What are you doing?"
"There are more Fairies to catch and clip, right? Leave the geriatric to me." The whiskered man said assuredly as he swung his gun down and extended it into a small blade, "I promised the king I'd make sure to cripple their foundation before we bring in the bombardment. And that's exactly what I'm going to do."
As the two soldiers argued, Natsu trembled in fear and despair. He felt his lungs get cold and empty as he nearly forgot to breathe-
"Natsu."
He flinched and looked up, "Jii-sama?"
"You need to get behind that wheel, grab everyone you can, and drive away from here."
"W-What about-"
"I'll hold them back and then we can start deciding on a new guild hall."
Natsu…didn't believe him. He shook his head, "W-We…we can't-"
"You will. Right now kid." Makarov demanded, his cloak extending out at his sides in preparation for battle, "Consider it my order. Protect our guild. Protect your friends. And don't look back."
"But-"
"GO!"
With a sharp flick of his cloak it extended, covering up their line of sight as he rushed in and attacked the whiskered blond and forced the redhead to retreat. Natsu's eyes started to sting as tears lined his vision and left everything misty. He didn't even have time to wipe them away before he turned and ran.
He yelled out to everybody that he could find to follow behind him. With the sounds of yelling and battle at his back he slipped into the driver's seat and started to turn it on. In an instant all the indecisiveness and fear and cowardice coursing through his system quelled. It was still there, hidden under the surface and demanding to be noticed. But it was outplayed…
By the confidence he felt behind the wheel, and the purpose he was reminded of to save and protect his guild, "Get in! Everyone get in! Get moving now!"
He and a concord of magical vehicles started to drive off. They left their broken guild hall in the rear view and abandoned their master so that they could escape. Tears tried to escape his eyes again but with a sharp huff he pushed them down and focused. His Fireball was at the head of the convoy and leading the rest of his guild to safety-
"Natsu! Where's Master? Did he make it back in time?"
He didn't answer his closest friend's inquiry and just focused on driving.
"Natsu?"
His hands tightened around the wheel-
"Natsu!"
"He's not here!" The young pink-haired Dark Mage finally broke and yelled back at his friend, "Jii-sama told us we had to go ahead while he fends them off!"
"What?! Natsu, he's gonna die if we leave him behind!"
"He'll be fine." Natsu lied, "He wants us to escape first so that's what we're going to do!"
They drove in silence for a few more moments as Natsu tried to stomach the choice he made.
But then he heard the sound of wind rushing over an empty space and looked back in shock. He saw the door of Fireball swinging open while the backseat was empty.
"LISANNA!" Natsu spun the wheel around and caused Fireball to drift aside as the other vehicles in the caravan started to slow down and stop in response. He stuck his head out the window and called out to his white-haired best friend, "STOP! GET BACK HERE!"
"I have to reach Master!" The youngest Strauss sibling called back as her boots flared and she started running with the speed of an animal, "We have to get out of here together!"
"Lisanna wait!" Natsu stomped his foot on the pedal and turned as he tried to chase after his friend. He saw her rush back into the forest and tried to chase after her before he saw it.
The Legions in the sky dropping ordinance down from above.
Into the forest.
Onto their master.
Over her.
"NOOOOOOOO-"
The sight of the forest lighting up like a bonfire was burned into his eyes forever.
########Hunter########
Earth-Natsu sat across from Edo-Natsu in shocked and appalled silence. The image of his comrades and master falling at the hands of two of his dearest friends was a sight he never wanted to think about. But in this world it was a reality that Fairy Tail had to come to turns with.
He…he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle what his counterpart had gone through.
Just hearing about how close Lisanna had been to death years ago when he wasn't around left him on edge. But having to watch it himself? That…that was too cruel.
And without Makarov around to guide them…it was no wonder this Fairy Tail wasn't up for taking risks like that anymore.
Edo-Natsu cupped his hands together and nervously bounced his foot before looking up at his more confident doppelgänger, "S-So your guild is inside that b-big Lacrima the Royal Army collected?"
"Yep, that's right."
"A-And do you think everyone inside it is okay? L-Like they aren't hurt or anything?"
"We don't think so." Happy shook his head, "Carla said we should still have a few days to rescue them before it's too late."
"A-And the members of your guild…" The meeker young man hesitated and shifted on his chair, "T-They were all okay? T-The last time you saw them?"
"Jii-chan is still kicking! And I'm sure he's gonna make it another 50 years before he gets too old to handle our fun anymore." Earth-Natsu smiled, "And right before this all happened, Lisanna was trying to cheer me up from my funk. Like she always does."
Edo-Natsu's eyes widened and he looked at Earth-Natsu in disbelief. As he stared at his own face and realized there was no lie to ease his worries or make him feel better, his eyes started to water. He sniffled and tried to hide his reaction, "S-Sorry."
"Don't be. We get it."
The door to the side opened up and the identical men looked over to see the female members of their party emerging to join them. Wendy walked out in a small complimentary gown while Earth-Lucy, Edo-Lucy, and Sherry walked out in towels. As she ran her hands through her newly cut hair, Edo-Lucy looked over at the two Natsus, "Baths open now boys if you wanna get the grime of the day off you."
"I'll take one later." Earth-Natsu answered while looking at the fellow doppelgänger duo oddly, "I still can't believe you ended up taking a bath with yourself. You might be the only person in the entire world who not only has done that, but wanted to."
Happy giggled, "Doesn't matter what world she comes from; Lucy is Lucy, and that makes her weird."
"Shut up cat!"
"L-Lucy," Edo-Natsu spoke up as he looked over at his blonde comrade, "A-A-Are you r-really okay with c-cutting your hair like that?"
Edo-Lucy blinked and then put a hand to her new hairstyle that she had just gotten at the hands of Cancer. To differentiate herself from her counterpart, she resorted to getting the long golden hair that went down her back cut to just around her neck. The Fairy Tail Dark Mage scoffed and waved it off, "It's no problem. It definitely helps avoid any problems or miscommunications. 'Lucy how'd you get here?' 'Lucy don't you have a key to get us home?' 'Lucy-San, how are we going to get everyone back?' It was doing my brain in!" The brasher blonde girl said with a sigh before sliding her hand through her hair, "This seemed like the easiest answer short of writing 'Edolas Lucy' or 'Earthland Lucy' on a nametag."
Earth-Lucy looked slightly conflicted, "But are you sure you're okay with cutting your hair?"
"Yeah, I mean it's just hair." Edo-Lucy said with a smirk, "Some girls might think they need to keep theirs nice and pretty but I'm not one of 'em."
"Oh," Sherry stepped in and hugged her best friend, "I still think you're pretty, Lulu."
Edo-Lucy chuckled, "And it's sweet that you'd lie to me like that, Sher-bear."
A small sweat drop ran down Earth-Lucy's cheek, "Man, it is so weird seeing me get along with Sherry."
"Oh, should I cut my hair too?" Earth-Natsu spoke up from the side, "We need to find a way to tell which one of me I am, right?"
"T-That's right." Edo-Natsu nodded, "H-How else would you t-tell the difference?"
The girls of the group looked between the identical men and their wildly different demeanors.
"I think we'll be fine."
"Are we done being ridiculous?" Carla asked petulantly as she jumped onto the table after changing back into her clothes, "If we are then we need to consider our next course of action. We're only one city away from reaching the capital and when we do, we need to act quickly to recover the Lacrima and our guild. We need to start coming up with a plan of action."
"B-But what can you do?" Edo-Natsu asked, trying to raise his voice as the girls stepped into another room to get dressed, "There's s-so much you guys have to do a-and finish to get what you want. H-How are you going to get the Lacrima back to your world? And how do you even turn the Lacrima back to normal?"
"That's something we can worry about later!" Earth-Natsu said with a wide grin while pounding his fist into his hand, "Fairy Tail doesn't worry about the particulars or the details or the collateral damage! We just focus on something and get it done!"
Carla sighed, "That's not exactly an encouraging answer."
"Yeah, Natsu really needs to work on his planning." Earth-Lucy said as she stepped out fully dressed with the other girls. As she tied up her hair she sat down with the others. And when she did she smiled, "But that doesn't mean he's totally wrong. Let's focus on the plan one step at a time and we should be able to make something good." She looked around at the Edolas natives, "You guys said that the king of this land has the ultimate authority, right?"
Sherry nodded, "The ultimate authority among the humans and our people. But none of us can have a say or do anything in the face of the Exceed. Not even the king."
"Exceed?"
"They're the highest beings in this world. The only ones that have internal magic that never depletes. They're the closest thing we have to deities in this world."
The Earthland crew looked surprised by this knowledge, but as Earth-Lucy thought about it she asked, "Would they be responsible for absconding with our guild in the first place?"
"No." Edo-Lucy shook her head, "They rarely ever intervene with the actions and decisions of humans. If any choice was made to keep the magic supply stable then it was made by the king."
Earth-Lucy grinned, "Perfect. Because if he's the top of the pyramid and makes all the decisions then I have an idea. A way to get the Lacrima, return it to normal, and get us all home."
They looked at the blonde Fairy in surprise as Wendy perked up in her seat with anticipation, "How do we do it, Lucy-San?"
"We do it with them!" Lucy pulled out her Gemini key and smiled deviously, "They're the answer to everything."
########Hunter########
Naruto sat back in the car and looked out the window as Edolas' landscape sped by. While they made the drive towards the capital the Gajeels of both worlds conversed about pretty much every topic they could. About guilds that existed in Edolas. About the dragon that raised him in Earthland. How he got interested in journalism. How he became a Phantom Lord Mage before joining Fairy Tail. Who raised him. If he knew anyone named Juvia or Ryos. It was a lot of back and forth between the two doppelgängers that seemed to steadily fall more and more in love with each other.
They didn't make many stops in-between the town they had run away from and the capital. There were only breaks to go to the bathroom, hunt for food and water, and change out the Lacrima charging the car. Other then that it was a constant road trip to recover the Lacrima storing their guild.
As they drove along, Naruto's thoughts wandered to every little thing that crossed his mind. Where was the Fairy Tail and other guilds native to this world? Since he was apparently responsible for killing the Makarov of Edolas, did that mean all the identical counterparts of his friends hated him?
And what about his guild? How were they going to return to normal and get back to Earthland? Were there going to be any adverse side-effects to being in a Lacrima for this long? Could they have been saved sooner if he had been teleported through at a different point in this world? Could he have gotten their faster if he had stolen that other Erza's mount and flown to the capital?
And what about that other Erza? What could have happened in this world that made her work for the Royal Army? Just the thought of her hunting down and attacking Fairy Tail was such a foreign idea that if he hadn't seen her himself he would have thought it impossible. And if he faced her again would he be able to really fight her? If his Erza saw how poorly he had performed she would have chewed his ear off.
…
Were his counterpart and this world's Erza close like they were?
There were many ideas and worries running through his mind as they drove along to their destination. And focusing on any one of them for too long could have left him in a spiral. But thankfully Naruto found a method of distraction to clear his mind, curb his anxiety, and deal with the Gajeel self-congratulating problem all at once.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"Are we there yet?"
"NO!"
"Are we there yet?"
"NO!
"Are we-"
"LOOK! LOOK! LOOK OUT THE FRONT WINDOW! IT'S JUST MORE PLAINS AND DESERTS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE! WE'RE NOT THERE! NOT EVEN CLOSE! SO STOP ASKING!"
…
…
…
"Don't you fucking-"
"How about now are we there yet?"
"GAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Earth-Gajeel screamed as he turned in his seat, hands morphing into serrated blades as he reached for him, "I'LL KILL YOU!"
His counterpart took one hand off the wheel and pulled his collar, "Gajeel calm down!"
"I'LL KILL HIM!"
"He's just doing it to get a rise out of you!"
"JUST A LITTLE FLAYING! A LITTLE SKIN! HE WON'T EVEN NOTICE!"
"Lose control and you just prove his point!"
Naruto relaxed into the back seat and hummed happily, "Oh yeah, that hits the spot!"
"HIS FUCKING SMUG-"
"Sit down!" Edo-Gajeel yanked his counterpart back into his seat as Earth-Gajeel grumbled and frowned. The savvy journalist looked into the rear-view mirror and spotted Naruto's satisfied smirk, "Feeling better?"
"Tons thanks." The whiskered Mage chuckled a few times before he opened his eyes and focused his attention on what mattered. He sat up and addressed the driver, "Hey, can you tell me a little more about the Naruto from this world?"
"His name is Naruto Namikaze. He's a high-ranking official in the Royal Army and a trusted advisor to the king."
"Namikaze…" Naruto tested the word on his tongue before shaking his head, "That's odd. But what about his history? Where did he come from? Whose his family?"
"Unclear." Edo-Gajeel answered with a shrug, "Before joining his personal history is basically an enigma. However I do know the kingdom showed special interest in him and Knightwalker at a very young age. A few years later they joined as cadets in the army and rose through the ranks together. Why they chose to join and stay…" He fixed his fedora to shield the sun coming through the windshield, "Well I'm not sure what the answer is."
"So he's just like the Titania of this world?" Earth-Gajeel noted, "Does that mean he's a Commander too?"
"Not quite. After he had killed the elusive and legendary guild master of Fairy Tail, his fame and popularity skyrocketed. People started looking to him for success and results. The king saw this increase in public recognition and decided to capitalize on it. Namikaze was promoted to a new position, working directly under the king, and recognized around the world with an honor no one else can bear."
"And what would that be?"
"He's the guild master for the only legal guild in Edolas."
########Hunter########
Erza marched through the halls of the castle after finally returning and landing her Legion outside. She made her way through the familiar castle, ignoring the soldiers that stood at attention and saluted her. Honestly the only thing on her mind was the battle she had gotten into with the identical version of her comrade from another world. And all the information she had learned while fighting him.
He was a member of the Fairy Tail of another world. As was her counterpart as well. And the guild trapped inside that Lacrima that was going to power their magic supply for years to come was the Fairy Tail guild's hometown. Honestly all that information swirled in her head and left her conflicted on multiple ends.
She walked into the Royal Army's R&D facility while they were in the middle of constructing new forms of Lacrima weaponry and application. With a quick look around she spotted two of the head scientists in charge of everything here.
"Boro, Brain, I have returned."
The Chief-of-Staff turned to face her as well as the dark-skinned man in a regulatory soldier uniform and white lab coat. The shorter man chuckled as she approached, "Commander Knightwalker, it's a pleasure to have you back. We missed you."
"I'm sure you did." The redhead looked up at the marvelous contraption they were building, "Is this device part of the plan the king has cooking up?"
"Indeed, although the full extent of it is unknown to us now." Brain said before turning back to her, "Can we help you with something, Commander?"
"I need to charge my Lacrima up again." She held up her spear, "I don't think it lost too much magic power but we should prepare just in case."
"You had to use your weapon?" The short scientist pondered while stroking his chin, "What could have possibly made you resort to using the Ten Commandments?"
"I'll answer that when everyone is here." Erza handed him the Ten Commandments and waved a solider over, "Send a notice to all the high-ranking officials to meet me here immediately. I have a debrief they should listen to."
"Can you maybe not have it in the research lab?" Brain requested in a tired voice, "It's so irritating and they're so loud and we have work to do and-"
Erza simply answered by staring at him in a long, uninterrupted silence.
Brain sighed and took her spear, "Very well. I'll go clear an area for the meeting."
It wasn't long until the research lab had the Commanders and officials in it to discuss Erza's topics. Hughes jumped up to sit on a table and kicked his legs out impatiently, "Geez Erza, you got us on edge with anticipation here. You don't usually call meetings like this."
"It's important Hughes." She stated, "And it's something you all need to be aware of."
"It happened during your scouting, didn't it?" Sugarboy inquired, "You went to gather our men at the outpost and check on the rumors about the people from the other world."
"And ended up getting into a fight apparently." Erza's eyes twitched slightly as she turned and glared at the whiskered blond comrade leaning against a table and eyeing her recharging spear. He scoffed, "Must've been a serious fight if they managed to make you pull out your big guns."
"Actually he was a coward that ran away to stop fighting me. Speaking of which…" She pulled out the visual Lacrima and started to project the image. The recording of her fight started to play for all of them to see.
Even though they had watched the soldier fighting recording before, watching this one with their comrade holding off a copy of Naruto was surreal.
"I-It's actually Naruto." Coco muttered in disbelief, "It's really him."
"And he's actually managing to avoid your attacks and keep up." They watched his hand glow and grab the Ten Commandments before lurching in towards her face. Pantherlily raised an eyebrow, "What did he say to you then?"
"Everything I needed to hear." Erza stepped towards the visual and pointed at the whiskered blond she was fighting, "This is Naruto Uzumaki," She noticed Naruto's expression shift for a moment before she continued, "A loyal member of Fairy Tail from Earthland, and here to reclaim his guild and comrades from the Lacrima."
"Ohohoho!" Hughes belted out a laugh and nearly tumbled off the table, "There's no way! The guild inside that thing is the Fairy Tail of Earthland?! Oh that's hilarious! What are the chances?" The cackling young man nearly doubled over before looking at his blond compatriot, "How's it feel knowing you're part of the rock club?"
Naruto shrugged, "Little unsettling but nothing that should really matter." He watched the fight and couldn't help but notice something, "He's missing several chances to counterattack."
"See? I wasn't lying when I said he was a coward." She said sharply, glaring at Naruto as he frowned and scoffed in response, "From what I can gather there's a version of me that's part of the Fairy Tail guild as well, and from what I inferred from his reactions they are close."
"They're friends?" Coco asked before she smiled and beamed with joy, "Aw, isn't that sweet? I guess it doesn't matter which world you're in, you two are the best of-"
The dark, unnerving stares she got from both Erza and Naruto in response made her squeal and run away. She hid and cowered behind Pantherlily as he sighed in response, "You two, you can just ask her to be quiet. No need to startle the girl."
"Anyway," Erza grumbled out, "He uses some form of magic that strengthens his body, controls small bursts of wind to attack, and summons weapons from thin air for variety." The 2nd Commander crossed her arms and glared at the screen, "He's going to come here to try and retake the Lacrima. And when he does I'm going to finish the fight properly this time."
Naruto scoffed, earning a spiteful frown from Erza in response, "Sure you're up for it? From the looks of this footage you can barely even touch the guy." He chuckled and shrugged, "Need someone to hold your hand? Maybe fight the big bad me for you?"
"I'm showing you the video of my fight right now. Are you just blind and incredibly stupid?"
Sugarboy sweated, "Um, I believe you have to ask or-"
"He couldn't even land a proper hit and was to afraid to engage in actual combat." She matched his glare, "Just like you; all show, no substance."
"And yet you still didn't manage to catch him." Naruto noted, "Funny how that works, huh?"
"He ran away. And not only that he had an accomplice to help him slip away from me. I guess the coward keeps similar company." She stepped forward while keeping Naruto's gaze, "Let me make something clear, Namikaze. When your craven copy comes running this way with his comrade, I'll be there to stop them. They might be from another world, but a Fairy is a Fairy in my book." She pointed a finger in his face, "So stay out of my way when the time comes."
"Pfft, big talk, Knightwalker." The scarred blond pushed her finger away and got up in her face with the same intensity, "But what makes you think you'll be the one to cut them off? His majesty might see fit to put me in charge and capture him. After all he's my copy."
"Then we'll have two useless cowards waving at each other and running away."
"It's a shame your other self isn't here. I'd love to see what a sweet and likable version of you would look like."
"I'm sweet and likable. Just not to dumb bastards like you."
"Are you trying to start something?!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth!"
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Hughes clapped before shaking his head, "Honestly, can you two try flirting somewhere else? Get a room and - AH!" The young Commander yelled in shock as a beaker went sailing by his head. He tumbled off the table and hid behind it as glass and other pieces of lab equipment started flying his direction, "Hey no fair! I didn't bring my stuff with me! I thought this was just a meeting!"
"First mistake!"
"Always be prepared!"
The conversation quickly devolved as Erza and Naruto spiked shit at Hughes. Pantherlily, Coco, and Sugarboy could only watch the madness from the sidelines. And Brain groaned as he watched his research lab becoming a casualty of war, "This is why I didn't want the meeting in our lab! Chief-of-Staff, can you please-"
"QUIET!"
Everyone went still and silent after Boro's sudden exclamation. The short, wizened man stepped up to the visual projection and reversed the footage. As it replayed and he increased the volume, he watched a vortex of metal shards separate Erza from her foe-
("Iron Dragon's Roar!")
He played and rewound the footage several times along those few seconds. And after enough playbacks he turned to Erza, "Is that what I think it was?"
Erza regained her composure and nodded, "I believe his comrade is a Dragon Slayer."
…
Boro smiled and looked up at the footage with a gleeful grin. He nodded, "We have to be prepared for any attacks. Not just from Naruto's counterpart but in order to capture the companion with Dragon Slayer magic." Boro started tapping his fingers together in anticipation, "Namikaze, gather your men and get set along the city. And bring Knightwalker along to make sure no Fairies slip away."
"But Chief-of-Staff Boro-"
"She doesn't-"
"No buts!" The short man walked away, "I want everyone prepared! This…is the beginning of a brand new world."
########Hunter########
"I can't believe those little spirit friends of yours can really pull this off."
"Believe it." Earth-Lucy nodded under her cloak as she and the others started making their way through the capital's streets. She stayed close and kept his features hidden as they made their way around, "If Gemini can just touch the king then they can mimic him completely. Once they do we can give orders and release the Lacrima back home."
"And get us all leaving together." Earth-Natsu said with a smirk, "This is gonna be fun."
"Natsu-San, please control yourself. We don't want to draw too much attention."
"Magic from Earthland is so interesting." Sherry said as she followed them, "To imagine you could summon beings that fight for you and can copy people's appearances. I can't imagine what anyone in this world could do with abilities like that."
"We'll use the king's form to release our friends and get us back home and we should be alright." Earth-Lucy looked to her Edolas friends and smiled, "Maybe if we have the chance we could use him to ease some of the restrictions and make you all legal."
Edo-Lucy shrugged, "Wouldn't stick once you guys leave and he's back in charge again. Unless we kill him when we have the chance." Earth-Lucy was startled by the suggestion, and felt her throat dry up when she saw the serious look on her own face after saying it. After a moment Edo-Lucy shook her head, "It's okay. We won't ask you to bloody your hands for our sake. It's our fight and only we should go to those lengths."
Earth-Lucy stuttered for a moment, "B-But we should do something. If we leave you guys without doing what we can to help-"
"That's fine." Edo-Lucy interrupted her counterpart's fretting with a firm voice. The blonde woman looked at her own worried expression and admitted, "Because in truth we can't really help you either. We got you here, and we'll help you find your route into the castle, but we can't help you get your friends back." She looked up at the castle in the distance, "This is where we part ways."
"That's fine." The Edolas natives looked at Earth-Natsu as the young Dragon Slayer grinned, "You guys helped us a lot while we were here. And we were worried that we'd be coming to this world blind and alone." He chuckled as the Earthland Mages smiled, "It's nice to know we still have friends to rely on even in another world."
Edo-Lucy was flustered by the praise while Edo-Natsu stuttered, and Sherry smiled contently. Happy giggled and Carla sighed in exhaustion, "Honestly, you people are impossible. We're in the middle of a mission right now and-"
Yelling! Cheering! A mob! Something – something was wrong.
Carla went still as some strange images ran through her consciousness and her instincts sent an ice cold chill through her blood. Her reaction was noticed by Happy and Wendy, "Carla, what's wrong?"
"Are you feeling okay?"
The little white cat started looking around frantically for the source of her unease. People walking around and using magical tools like they were everyday appliances. So much noise it was hard to make out what was what. On reflex Carla looked up into the sky, knowing as she inhabited it so much that there could have been a-
Something was flying in the sky over the city. Was…was that a bird? What kind of bird circled a city?
"We need to move." Carla grabbed the edges of Wendy's cloak on instinct and tried to pull her along, "Something's wrong. I-I think they know we're here."
"What?"
"How?"
"I'm not sure but we need to get out of sight. We can't let them find us."
The cloaked Mages quickly started making their way through the hordes of people in a hurry. As they tried to move through the crowd they started gaining people's attention. Nothing serious but more and more people were starting to pay attention to the people in cloaks running through the streets.
Until a platoon of soldiers made their rounds by. Earth-Natsu grabbed Wendy and the cats and slipped aside as Edo-Lucy grabbed Earth-Lucy's hand and ducked into another alley with her friends. As the two groups were separated, they silently nodded ahead and promised to meet along the way.
Natsu put Wendy, Happy, and Carla back on their feet as he walked ahead with a hand on his flaming sword handle. The little Fairy Mage quickly followed after him, "N-Natsu-San, are you sure the others will be okay?"
"They'll be fine. Lucy has her magic and the others know where they're going." The older Dragon Slayer assured her as he stayed vigilant, "Just watch my back and be prepared for anything."
Wendy gulped but nodded before reaching into her pocket. Retrieving the wind cylinder they had bought in the black market, she followed behind Natsu and kept Happy and Carla at her side. She felt her arms shake and her hands tighten around her weapon, but resolved to not buckle when the time came for her to fight. Her guild was relying on her to help them, and that meant she had to be strong right now. Remember what Naruto told her. Remember how Erza looked when faced with danger. All the memories of her friends emboldened her-
Until she saw a man suddenly flash into existence behind Natsu.
She panicked and called out for him to move-
But not a sound came from her mouth.
What followed was hard to describe. The man attacked Natsu's back, earning a grunt of pain before her friend yelled and attack. His flaming sword burst to life and he yelled before swinging at the ambusher. The sudden arrival dodged his swing with remarkable speed as they started exchanging blows in the alley away from everyone else.
But they didn't make a noise.
It was unsettling. Like watching something on mute or from something blocking the ears. Wendy tapped hers a few times and heard no sound. Only the feeling of her heartbeat filled her ears as even her rapid breath was utterly silenced.
Something pulling her leg drew her attention away from Natsu and his speedy foe. Looking down she saw Happy pat his ears in fright as Carla was pulling on her sock. Her best friend was waving her paws and yelling to no avail before she pointed back in the opposite direction.
Wendy looked back and immediately aimed her weapon down the alley. But then she noticed the man slowly making his way over to her with a sly smirk on his face. Wendy felt goosebumps run up her arms and legs when she saw the familiar burgundy-haired man stroll towards her.
Cobra.
H-How was this possible? There was no way…
Cobra moved and Wendy raised her weapon again only to stop as he touched his arm. A glowing Lacrima watch on his wrist flashed for a moment before sound returned to the area. She heard Natsu yell and roar as the flames burst on his sword and he tried to catch his agile opponent. Happy made noises as he realized that sound had returned and Carla stayed by her side in case anything went wrong.
"A kid?" Cobra pondered aloud as he drew closer, "I didn't think Fairy Tail was recruiting so young these days. Or are you one of those invaders from another world?" He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "Honestly I didn't really listen to the whole debriefing. It's really unnecessary. All we have to do is find you guys and-"
"HA!" Wendy fired a wind projectile while he was distracted.
But he put a foot on one of the walls and leapt off it, clearing the flying bullet of wind before landing back down. Cobra smirked, "You look like you just started with that thing. Poor kid." He stood back up before yelling, "Racer, you done with that guy yet?"
"Almost!" The speedster dashed around Natsu as his flaming sword's trail carried with each swing. But with each swing, Racer dodged effortlessly. He leaned against the wall as Natsu growled, "This loser can't even keep up with me." Racer dashed forward, grabbed the hilt of Natsu's weapon, and yanked it from his hands before bull-rushing the pink-haired man. As Natsu bodily hit the wall, Racer leveled the flaming sword to his neck, "Now why don't you just stand there and give up before I have to-"
Natsu took a deep breath and inhaled the flames coming from the sword. As they watched the fire pour into his mouth, Cobra and Racer looked on in disbelief, "What the - AGH!"
Natsu punched Racer in the chest and reclaimed his blade. He ignited it again and smirked, "You wanna try that again? Because it wont work!"
"Did he just eat the fire?" Racer asked as he picked himself up, "Didn't Chief Boro say-"
"Yeah," Cobra nodded, "That's what we were supposed to be looking for. I guess he's one of them."
"One of what?"
"None of your concern."
Natsu's eyes widened and he turned around to block a bullet from hitting him with his flaming blade. And the moment he deflected the shot he felt the blade in his hands grow a dozen times heavier. He tried to hold onto it but it slipped from his hands and cratered into the ground. Natsu looked down at the change in his weapon before looking up and blocking the knee to his face. But he couldn't block the blow Racer landed on his chest that sent him flying back.
"Natsu-San!"
Natsu immediately picked himself up and growled before spotting their new opponent. His eyes widened when he saw the blond, whiskered man holding a strange gun in his hand and standing in their way. However when he saw his blue eyes and faint scars over his face, he knew it wasn't their friend coming to their rescue, "Naruto."
"You know me?" He asked as he stepped over the sword embedded in the ground, "I'm guessing you're another Fairy Tail Mage from Earthland? So you know the other me?"
"That's right." Natsu stood up and faced the identical version of his old friend, "You're a cool guy over there. Too bad you're not the same over here."
"Well I can't say what I'm about to do next will improve your opinion." The gun extended to form a blade and Naruto rushed forward to attack Natsu. The pink-haired Fairy Mage avoided the swings of the blond guild master as his strange blade flew at him in a flurry. Natsu cursed and wished he could use his flames to fight-
The blade nicked his forearm and Natsu jumped back to cradle his arm. He looked down, seeing that there hadn't actually been a cut or gash on his arm or even his clothes. He counted himself lucky to-
"Sorry man," Naruto warned as he raised his blade, "You're out of luck."
Natsu suddenly found himself floating off the ground in time with the point of Naruto's sword. And suddenly when he swung it aside, Natsu was slammed into the wall. He grunted and gasped in pain before Naruto swung aside and sent him into another wall. The pink-haired man bounced off the walls and ground several times before he came to a stop midair.
"Let him go! Now!" Naruto looked down, keeping Natsu suspended in the air, to see Wendy looking up at him with her weapon aimed at him. She stared at him deeply, small tears pricking the edges of her eyes after witnessing her friend get brutalized at the hands of a man wearing Naruto's face, "Just put him down and let us go!"
Naruto stared at her for several moments before shaking his head, "I can't. Sorry."
"B-But they're our guild! Our friends in there! If you use the Lacrima like that, they'll-"
"I'm sorry, but I promised that I'd do whatever I could to help Edolas and it's people." Naruto apologized, "And that Lacrima can fulfill that promise. So sorry…but it changes nothing."
Wendy was about to fire before Naruto whipped his blade forward and sent Natsu flying at her. She could barely react in time as his larger body slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. Her weapon went tumbling to the ground and popped open as a gale of wind started to build up.
########Hunter########
"Hurry! Hurry!"
Lucy followed after her doppelgänger and friends as they tried to avoid the public eye. When they started on a path that might have crossed with soldiers on their patrols, the Edolas Mages quickly redirected them down a different route to avoid detection. These detours happened again and again as more soldiers started to appear in the heart of the city.
"H-Hey," Earth-Lucy spoke up, "Are they going to be okay? They don't know their way around this city."
"Just trust them to avoid detection for now. We have to keep moving. If they catch wind of us-"
Just as they were making their way through an opening in the crowds of people, an explosion of wind drew everyone's attention to the side. They all looked up as a large tornado formed between the alleys of some buildings before quickly dissipating entirely. Some citizens looked and murmured in confusion at the strange occurrence.
The rouge Mages felt a sense of dread fill their stomachs.
Earth-Lucy bit her lip in desperation before she tried to run over. But a snag on her wrist stopped her from going any further, "What are you doing?!"
"I just know that's where Natsu and the others are. They need help!"
"But they could already be captured! And even with your Spirits you can't fight off the whole army and the officers!"
"I have to try!" She said, "I'm a Fairy Tail Mage, which means I have to try and help my friends when they need it most no matter what!"
"But if you go then we can't help you!" Edo-Lucy admitted, "And if anything happens to you too…"
…
Edo-Lucy felt her hands get cupped and squeezed gently. She looked up at Earth-Lucy and saw the Celestial Mage smile warmly at her, "Thank you guys for everything."
Edo-Lucy looked floored by her words and struggled to say anything. And still could find nothing to say or call out to as her Earthland counterpart started to rush in the direction of the danger.
As Lucy drew closer to the spot she saw the vortex rise from, she saw soldiers bundling up in the area. Lucy narrowed her eyes and threw off her cloak in a hurry. As she drew closer she drew out a golden key and called, "Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
A man with a bow and horse cosplay appeared beside her and saluted, "Hello!" He immediately spotted the legions of soldiers in front of them and knew what to do, "Allow me to thin their numbers!"
Arrows flew faster than the eye could see and disarmed the Edolas soldiers in the way. As so many of them were stunned and rid of their weapons, Lucy recalled her spirit before drawing out another key, "Open! Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!" She summoned the tan, metal-tailed man by her side as he smirked in excitement, "Blow them away!"
"We are! Ready! Here we go!" Scorpio aimed his tail around and blew out a giant sandstorm that swept away everyone in its path. The Celestial Spirit let out a big, hearty laugh as he blew the soldiers off their feet with a single wave of sand. He smiled, "You need us, call us again!"
He disappeared with a flash of light and Lucy pulled out the next key, "Alright you jerks, tell me where my friends are and if they're hurt! Right now! Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Tau-"
Something flew down from above at blistering speeds and struck the key out of Lucy's hand. She hissed and pulled back, clutching her hand gently as Taurus' key clattered to the ground. When she looked down she saw a white feather glowing gently between her foot and where the key had fallen.
"Sorry about that~." Lucy flinched and looked up in surprise. When she did she saw a familiar white-haired woman floating overhead with resplendent white wings extending from her back. She floated several meters off the ground and giggled behind her hand, "I just saw you pull out those pretty gold keys and summon those big monsters to your side. And I thought if you lost them you wouldn't be able to summon them. Am I right? You're welcome to prove me otherwise."
"A-Angel? Is that you?"
"I think I've seen your face on a few wanted posters. You're prettier on paper." The white-haired woman cruelly noted with a cute tilt of her head, "I think I should save you the pain and put you down now."
Her wings spread out and back before swinging forward, sending a flurry of white feathers raining down over Lucy. She acted quickly and jumped to the side before rolling to a stop. When she did she pulled out another key and yelled, "Open! Gate of the Crab! Cancer!"
Cancer popped into existence and slashed upwards with his scissors, sending cuts through the air up at Angel who had to dive and fly out of their way. Lucy quickly picked herself up and drew her whip, yanking it back and preparing to snap it at the flying woman-
Only for her feet to sink into the ground until she was down to her knees in liquid earth. She nearly tumbled over and freaked out, reaching for another golden key to aide her-
"Melforce!"
"AHHHH!" A powerful gale force wind slammed into Lucy, blowing her out of the ground and sending her flying across the city plaza. She bounced off the pavement several times, causing the civilians to run and part out of the way before she could hit them. She slid to a stop on the ground, coughing and gasping for air as pain filled her entire body. Lucy struggled to lift her head and looked up in shock, "E-Erza?"
"Apologies, young lady." Hoteye stepped forward, "I do so hate beating on the weakened, but a job is a job."
"I feel like Naruto set our expectations a little too high." Midnight said from his side as Angel floated down and retracted her wings. They all looked to the woman in front of them, "Is there anything you wish to ask her, Commander Knightwalker?"
"No need Macbeth." The Edolas Erza said, transforming her spear back into its base form as she looked down at the blonde Fairy, "We'll take her back to the castle and extract all the information we need to out of her there. We'll have the time."
"W-Wait." Lucy groaned as Midnight stepped to her side, pulled her whip out of her hand and locked them together with cuffs. As Angel stepped over and took her keys she cried out, "No wait, don't take those!"
"These things are so pretty." Angel marveled at the beautiful golden and silver keys in the pack on her belt. She hummed before looking to Erza, "Hey ma'am, should these go into evidence? Or do you mind if I take them? Because I think I could make some very pretty gold and silver bracelets out of these Earthland artifacts."
"We'll let Chief-of-Staff Boro get a look at them first." Erza said, "After that I'm sure we can make good use of them."
"NO!" Lucy struggled against her restraints and cried out, "YOU CAN'T!"
"Oh, did you guys catch some foreign Fairies too?" They all looked over as Naruto, Cobra, and Racer walked up to join them. With Natsu being dragged behind Cobra, Happy and Carla in Racer's grasp, and Wendy being carried by Naruto. The burgundy-haired Mage chuckled as he stopped and chucked a beaten and cuffed Natsu to the ground, "I hope you guys had as much fun as we did."
"N-Natsu." Lucy whimpered as she saw her friends beaten and captured, "I-I'm sorry."
"Lucy…" Natsu groaned as he lifted his head, "Dammit."
"These aren't the ones we were expecting." Erza noted as she looked between their captured prisoners, "We'll have a lot to tell the others when we get back to the castle."
"But it's not all bad news." Racer announced, earning his comrade's attention as he looked down at the pink-haired Mage, "That one's a Dragon Slayer too so mission still completed."
"It's not." Erza shook her head, "Not as long as the others are still roaming around and risk our operations."
"N-No. P-Please stop." Naruto looked down at Wendy as the young blue-haired girl looked up at him solemnly, "Please…Naruto-San…Erza-San…don't do this."
"Little girl, you need to understand this." Erza turned and said sharply to the defeated girl in his arms, "We are not the people you know. We are not your allies or friends."
"Knightwalker, that's enough."
"You are our enemies and we show no mercy to our foes." Erza stepped forward and glared down at the frighten twin-tailed girl, "The sooner you accept that reality, the less this will hurt."
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
The little white cat squirmed out of Racer's grasp, slipping out of the big cloak she had been hiding herself in and tumbling to the ground. After she hit the floor, Carla immediately picked herself up and ran to Wendy's aide. She looked up at all of them, eyes brimming with tears, and cried out, "You can't hurt them! You can't hurt her! She's the most important thing in my world! I-I won't let you hurt her anymore! So let her go! Let her…"
Carla's breath slowed to a stop as she noticed Erza and Naruto staring down at her in shock. And when she looked around she saw others looking at her in the same way. The soldiers were the first to respond, muttering or falling to their knees.
"I-I can't believe it."
"One of them is here."
"There's no way!"
"O-Oh shit." Racer pulled off Happy's cloak and revealed him to everyone as well. And when he did he immediately put the blue cat down and prostrated before him, "I'm so sorry! I had no idea! Please forgive me!"
As the soldiers started to react strangely, the civilians watching looked confused by their actions. A confusion that Carla and the others certainly felt as well.
That was until Naruto and Erza dropped to their knees and bowed their heads, "Lady Exceed, my sincerest apologies! I had no idea it was you!"
"Wha-"
"An Exceed!"
"She is?!"
"Oh my god!"
And just like that, all of the civilians that had been watching fell to their knees and bowed their heads in reverence. Carla and Happy found themselves in the center of a pit of pray and admiration. People cheering and begging them for a miracle.
Carla felt a pit in her stomach grow so deep she felt sick.
This. This is what that horrible feeling early had been trying to warn her about.
"If she's attached to this girl," Naruto looked down at Wendy, "Then that means…"
"Her too." Erza realized, "We're blessed. The Exceed have delivered our prayers! All hail the Exceed!"
"All hail the Exceed!"
"All hail the Exceed!"
Carla's body felt like ice. She had come here to save her guild and protect her dearest, most beloved friend.
Only to realize now…she may have just signed away their lives.
########Hunter########
"I expected there to be more guards or patrols." Naruto noted as he dropped down to join the two Gajeels, "But the place seems pretty barren honestly."
"Because apparently there was some commotion early that drew everyone's attention. There was a large assortment of soldiers in the city's plaza, and after the matter was settled they all returned to the castle." Edo-Gajeel answered, pushing up his glasses and smiling in relief, "I'm not quite sure what it was but it makes our job easier so let's just be glad of that."
"Can we focus?" Earth-Gajeel said with a frown as he looked around, "What exactly do we gotta do next?"
"From what I gathered there's already a portion of the Lacrima here in this city. It was used to drum up support as an object of propaganda. It was going to be interpreted into the world's magic supply today but after the commotion they held off the ceremony. It's being cornered off from the public for now." Edo-Gajeel answered, "Which means this might be our best opportunity to take it back."
"If part of the Lacrima is here then we can rescue our friends. And if there are any experts on changing it into magic there, then they might have answers for how we can turn them back to normal too." Naruto smirked, "It's at least worth a shot."
"So how the hell do we get through a legion of soldiers, patrols, and whatever hell else is waiting for us to grab a giant Lacrima?"
"Well…" Edo-Gajeel pulled out several small incendiary devices, "I have a few ideas."
########Hunter########
As the fireworks exploded in the background, Naruto and Gajeel made their way sneakily over the streets of the capital to avoid the attention of the soldiers below. They all hurriedly ran towards the explosions Edo-Gajeel was setting off to grab their attention and leaving their positions open for the Fairy Mages to slip by.
Gajeel grunted as he jumped after Naruto, "Pretty clever finding a route to avoid their patrols. Although I kinda wanted to get down there and beat up their guys face-to-face."
"You'll get your chance when we find the Lacrima." Naruto grumbled, focusing on keeping watch on their surroundings as they quickly made their way towards the designated area. With one last jump he cleared over a few buildings and landed on the edge of another while Gajeel dropped down by his side. He quickly raised his finger and silenced the Dragon Slayer from saying anything before pointing out the street.
A portion of the giant Lacrima that had been secured by the Royal Army was right in front of them. It had sentries and patrols surrounding every inch of it to ensure that it was protected before it was carried back up to join the rest of the Lacrima it had originally come from. Apparently there had been some commotion earlier that had drawn the attention of the Royal Army. So it was now…or never.
With one quick glance the Fairy Mages looked at each other, nodded, and made their move.
In a blinding dash they leapt down to ground level among the soldiers. They looked down at them in surprise, trying to react in time and raise their weapons to fight.
But it was too late.
"HA!"
Naruto and Gajeel split up, charging around the Lacrima's circumference and flooring any soldiers that crossed their path. Naruto obliterated their defenses and dented their armor with every punch and kick he threw. And Gajeel swung his arms around like metal batons, crushing their guard and sending each soldier in his path flying bodily into another person.
Naruto quickly cleared his half of the plaza housing the Lacrima position. Once he did he called out, "Clear!"
"Get going! I'm holding off guys on this end! I'll catch up!"
Naruto ran to the front of the Lacrima and the mobile platform it had been carted around on while being shown off to the city. With a deep breath the whiskered S-Class Mage reached down to the side of the platform and tried to roll it out.
"IT'S REALLY FUCKING HEAVY!"
"So what?!" Gajeel barked and swatted another soldier away, "Do you want me to carry it out while you're over here swatting the bugs?! Would that make you feel better?!"
"Oh I'd like to see you try and move this thing!" Okay, so even if it was on wheels this thing wasn't budging. With a quick breath and focus, Naruto started to channel magic through his arms and legs. His Armor bolstered his strength several fold before he reached down and pulled one more time.
The wheels started to squeak and turn slowly as he dragged the platform forward. With the help of his magic the effort turned from being REALLY FUCKING HEAVY to just really fucking heavy but possible. He stomped his foot down into the ground and pulled as hard as he could.
"Grrrrr." Naruto growled through his gritted teeth as he dragged the giant Lacrima piece along, "I think I'm going to pop something!"
"Get over it you wimp!" Gajeel chided as he jumped up and struck an oncoming squadron of soldiers with his legs as they jutted out like spikes, "Do your part and haul that shit out of here!"
"That's! What! I'm! Doing!" Naruto yelled, face red and veins pulsing as the wheels started to move a little faster and the Lacrima behind him dragged along a little smoother. If he continued at this rate then they should be able to secure a path for the Lacrima away from the army in-
A blur flashed in the corner of his eye and in an instant Naruto felt something hit his cheek so hard it nearly popped his neck out. He lost his grip on the platform and bounced off the street several times before turning and skidding to a stop. The S-Class Mage ignored the stinging in his cheeks and looked up at his attacker.
He clicked his teeth, "Shit, you're here again?"
Racer slid to a stop, the boots on his feet letting out sparks of magical energy as they slowly deactivated. The long-nosed man looked at him in surprise, "Holy hell, you are a copy of the boss, aren't you? You look like you could be twins." Racer shook his head and knocked his boots on the ground, "Good thing I was ordered to stand post here. If you managed to get your hands on this thing then who knows-"
"Demon Logs!"
Racer's boots sparked back to life and he dodged Gajeel's flying spikes in a rush of speed. Naruto jumped back to his feet and rushed in to attack Racer before the speedster could make a move. But in a flash he rushed through the barrage of metal projectiles and ended up by the Dragon Slayer's flank. Gajeel tried to turn and guard himself but a sparking kick swung in and sent him flying into the Lacrima.
Racer hissed and lowered his foot, "That was tougher than I expected."
"Hell yeah it was!" Gajeel seethed, grabbing onto the Lacrima to lift himself back up as metal scales started to form over his body from the side Racer kicked him from, "That hurt like a bitch but you're gonna need to pull out all the stops to put me down! So go ahead and try - what are you guys looking at?"
Racer was staring at him in shock. As was Naruto. And so was every soldier that had arrived or just started to pick themselves up. They were all staring at Gajeel in awe and silence…before he realized it wasn't him they were looking at.
He saw a glare shining off the metal scales around his body and slowly turned around. As he did he witnessed the large portion of Lacrima that had been chiseled off starting to glow and react strangely. He stepped away as it glowed so bright it was almost blinding before the Lacrima seemed to explode.
Naruto shielded his eyes before watching as the light of the Lacrima began to recede and shrink into a smaller point. Everyone watching looked on in shock as the giant Lacrima quickly transformed into three separate bodies on the ground.
"No way."
"It can't be."
"That's-"
"Ugh…" One of the people slowly lifted himself up with a groan, "What happened? W-Where - weren't we in the guild a second ago?"
"Gray-sama, Juvia is confused! Please hold her!"
"N-Now is not the time for your crazy!"
As the Maker Mage was nearly tackled off his feet by his blue-haired admirer, Naruto looked down at the last person recovering from the change. She put a hand in her red hair and rubbed her head with a groan before looking up…
A pair of blue and brown eyes stared into a matching set.
"Naruto? When did you get back? And what happened?"
########Hunter########
Done
So originally I had planned to address any set of identical people by their last names when they are around each other. I thought it would be the best way to address them without confusion. But when I got the the Gajeels talking and realized one of them didn't have a last name, I marked them with Earth or Edo instead.
And in the end I decided that would be how they were differentiated when they were together. Because the last names made it seem really impersonal and detached for me. I mean I love and write these characters, so just referring to them by last name feels weird to me.
But tell me what you prefer instead and I'll see what I can do.
So, we've got the Commanders, the Edolas Oración Seis, and a Royal Army to deal with. But now we've got Erza, Gray, and Juvia on our side! Hopefully this won't hurt too bad!
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