Wendy stared up at Laxus in fear as he towered over her. She held onto Freed tightly, having paused in her healing. She didn't understand what was going on! Sure, Laxus could be a bit of a bully, but to hurt his closest friends like this? There must be someone else who did all this!
"What's going on here, Laxus?! Who hurt everyone?!" She asked the S-Class mage, who only looked down at her quietly. There was a shift in the air, and Wendy jumped away with Freed in her arms only a second before a bolt of lightning slammed down where she had been kneeling.
"Tch! You're a fast one, aren't you?" Laxus said in annoyance, tilting his head up to follow her. He held up a hand, and more lightning magic gathered in his palm. He thrust it forward, and Wendy barely dodged the bolt that flew from it.
"What are you doing? Aren't these three your friends?!" Wendy cried as she tried to put distance between Laxus.
"They're nothing but traitors!" Laxus shouted in a rage, calling down another lightning strike near her. Wendy had seen his magic before, and knew that it should have hit her if he was focused. Whatever had happened to Laxus, it had made him lose his composure completely. "I thought at least they would stand with me against Jellal, but even they turned to him eventually! It seems that the only one I can rely on to get this job done is myself!"
Wendy had no idea what he was screaming about, but knew that she needed to get as far away from here as possible. Freed was still being dragged along in her arms, and she couldn't heal him, much less Bickslow or Evergreen, while avoiding lightning strikes. She leapt away from Laxus to the edge of the clearing, and turned to jump into the dense East Forest. She launched forward with a burst of wind…
And ran face first into an invisible wall.
She stumbled back from the blow, staring in confusion as purple runes spread out from where she had been halted. A quick glance showed the runes spread around the entire clearing.
"Neat trick, huh?" Laxus said, and Wendy turned around in a fright. She slowly began to back away, but found herself quickly against the unseeable barrier. "Jutsu Shiki can do some wonderous things. This one was set up so that it won't let anyone else out of the field until I've left. So, either you beat me and toss my unconscious body across the ring, or I walk out of here with all of you lying face down in the dirt." He let out a laugh as he raised a lightning encased fist. "Though I think we both know how this will end."
Wendy threw herself over Freed. She knew that her chances against Laxus were next to nothing, but at least she could protect her guildmates. As she closed her eyes and waited for his blow, a voice rang out from across the field.
"LAXUS!" The two of them froze, immediately recognizing the voice. Laxus halted his attack mid-swing, and they both turned to see Jellal standing just outside the barrier. He was staring at Laxus with an anger that Wendy had never seen before. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Ah, there you are! I was getting bored over here. This pipsqueak barely put up a fight. She's too reliant on her friends to bother getting strong at all." Laxus laughed, turning towards Jellal, previous opponent seemingly forgotten. He walked towards the center of the clearing. "I'm sure you recognize this place. It's where you humiliated me last time with your tricks. Well, this time I'll beat you, and none of your underhanded tactics are going to work on me. So come on! cross that line, let's settle this properly."
Jellal stared at him contemplatively, before shaking his head sadly. "I can't give you what you want, Laxus. Please stop this. If you can calm down, we can go and talk to the Master and-"
"Shut up! Like your words mean anything after you've turned everyone against me!" Laxus shouted, a bolt of lightning appearing in his hand. He turned back towards Wendy. "Now, get in here and fight me! Or I'll find someone else to entertain me!"
"Wendy!" Jellal immediately rushed forward past the runes on the ground, and Laxus quickly turned back, chucking the magic at him. The bolt aimed true, but when it reached the mage, it passed through him harmlessly as he faded into mist.
"What?! Wait, that's-!" Laxus recognized the trick immediately, and began looking around for where 'Jellal' had disappeared to. He eventually spotted the man, now holding a staff in each hand. He let out a chuckle as he realized what had happened. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. I should have figured you were in on Jellal's little coup, Mystogan."
"The fact you can say such a thing with a straight face tells me you're well pat reasoning with." Jellal, or rather, Mystogan, said with a glare. He held one of his staves forward, and it glowed brightly with a purple light. "I'm not doing this for him, but for Fairy Tail. Someone needs to knock some sense into you!" Laxus tossed the lightning bolt at him, but the second staff in his hand glowed with a blue light, and three magic circles stacked together. "Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water!"
The attack hit the barrier and immediately bounced back at Laxus, who easily swatted it away with a growl. While he was busy deflecting his own attack away, Mystogan swung the purple-lit staff down.
"What trick are you up to?" Laxus asked, only to realize the answer immediately as five staves landed around him, moved into place above him during their confrontation. As five more magic circles appeared above him, he quickly gathered as much magic as he could underneath Mystogan.
"Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"
"Raging Bolt!"
Beams of magic enveloped both S-Class Mages as their attacks hit simultaneously. Wendy watched the battle in awe as she healed Freed, mind still reeling from the recent reveal. The Jellal she was hanging out with was Mystogan? She would have thought the idea of the Jellal she was hanging out with being someone else impossible, since he looked and smelled just like him.
But he did act different on some days. More affectionate to her, more brotherly. More like the Jellal she had originally known, who carried around a staff and had an air of mystery to them. Had that Jellal not only been a part of Fairy Tail, but hanging out with her without herself even realizing it? Why?! Why did he not just reveal himself?
If not for the intense battle raging in front of her, she would have shouted her head of at Jellal for answers. But for now, she just gritted her teeth and waited, and hoped that someone would be able to answer her questions after all of this was over.
Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin when Natsu suddenly fell through the forest canopy above her, letting out a yelp as the Dragon Slayer landed neatly on his feet in front of her and Lisanna. Judging by her equally startled expression, she hadn't seen him coming either.
"Natsu! A bit of warning next time maybe? You could have landed on one of us!" Lisanna gave him an unimpressed look as the two of them got up from the ground.
"S-Sorry…" Natsu at least had the decency to look ashamed for a few seconds before immediately wandering off in a random direction. "Anyways, lets get going! I thought I saw some weird columns of light nearby. I think someone else is doing some training around here, and I want to check them out."
"Of course you do." Lisanna shook her head, but didn't bother trying to dissuade him, simply walking up to his left side and following along.
Lucy decided to follow suit, quickly catching up and ending up on Natsu's right side. She silently watched Natsu as he focused on heading towards whatever destination he had in mind, and found herself noticing something under his scarf. Under the dragon-scale scarf looked to be a tiny silver chain, as if part of a necklace. It was entirely hidden under the article of clothing, and she only noticed due to being so close to him.
"Hey Natsu, what's that around your neck?" Lucy asked, feeling a sense of Déjà vu from asking a similar question to Lisanna only a couple minutes ago. Natsu turned towards him with a look of confusion, while Lisanna froze in place.
"… It's called a scarf." He said, giving her an unimpressed look.
"Not that! I know what a scarf is you-!" Lucy took a deep breath. "I meant underneath that. It looks like you have some kind of necklace. I was just wondering what it was?"
"Oh, that! You should have said so!" Natsu said, producing a tired sigh from Lucy. He reached under his scarf, grabbing whatever was at the other end of the chain hidden in his scarf and pulling it out. Upon uncurling his fist, he revealed a silver ring, completely identical to the one Lisanna wore.
"Oh? You have one too?" Lucy said in surprise, turning back to Lisanna. "You didn't mention you both had identical rings."
"Huh? You've already seen it?" Natsu replied, looking over to Lisanna as well, who held up the ring on her hand. He stared at it with a much more complex look than Lucy was used to on his face. "Oh, you're wearing it now? I thought you said you wanted to wait a while before telling everyone?"
"Well, it has been two years, and after everything that happened with Phantom Lord, I decided that I was ready to stop hiding who I am. And that included… this." Lisanna explained, leaving Lucy completely lost on the context. Whatever the deal with these rings were, it was obviously meant more to them than as simple jewellery. There was one reason for them that came to mind, but it was honestly a little unbelievable that they were for that purpose. There had to be some other reason that she just wasn't seeing.
"Well, that's great! I was starting to wonder how we'd tell everyone!" Natsu said nervously. "Now is probably the best time to announce it anyways… especially since Mira isn't strong enough to kill me over it currently."
"Really Natsu…" Lisanna shook her head at his words, before noticing Lucy staring at the two of them. She looked contemplatively at her, before eventually deciding on something and nodding silently. She tugged on Natsu's arm, and gave him a serious look. "Hey, if you're so nervous, maybe you can practice by telling Lucy."
"What?!" Natsu completely froze, glancing between the women like a spooked animal. He looked like he was about to deny her idea, but another look from Lisanna made him sigh in defeat. He turned to Lucy with a nervous grin, and Lucy just stared back in utter confusion. "So, Lucy… You see, a couple years ago I… I mean, err…"
Lucy raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lisanna besides Natsu. "Is he okay? This is staring to worry me."
"Don't worry, he needs to learn how to do this eventually. C'mon, it's not that hard." Lisanna elbowed the man expectantly, and Natsu turned to her in annoyance.
"Look, I don't know how this is supposed to work! No one in the guild is exactly a good example on how to announce these things! When was the last time someone from Fairy Tail was in our position?!" Natsu began to rant, announcement completely forgotten.
"It was Macao I think, and we all saw how that ended up. But that was completely different than our situation." Lisanna replied.
"That's it!" Lucy shouted, patience finally reaching its end. She turned to Natsu with a fiery glare, grabbing him by the scarf. "Just tell me whatever is the big deal before I go crazy from all this teasing!"
"Oh? Are we interrupting a little lovers quarrel?"
All three of them turned in shock at the voice to see Gajeel standing there with a cocky grin. Behind him were Rogue and a blond boy about the same age as the Shadow Dragon Slayer. Lucy quickly let go of Natsu, facing him apprehensively. "What we were doing is none of your business!"
"Is that so? And here I was, going out of my way to tell flame-brain here that another Dragon Slayer joined the guild." Gajeel suddenly announced, before turning around. "But if you don't want to here more than I guess I can leave."
"Seriously, another one?! Where are they?!" Natsu shouted in excitement as he ran up to Gajeel, who pointed at the blond kid behind himself. The kid took that as his que to bow politely and introduce himself.
"I-I'm Sting, and I'm a White Dragon Slayer. I also have a Lacrima like Rogue." Sting said nervously, glancing up at Natsu. "I'm also, umm, a really big fan of you, Natsu!"
Natsu stared at the boy for a few moments, before letting out a laugh. "Sweet! I've finally got my own little Dragon Slayer now!"
"What?!" Gajeel shouted in surprise, along with many others present. He raised a fist at Natsu. "What the hell are you talking about? Don't you already have Wendy to train? Why should you get two disciples?"
"Wendy gets more training from her sister than me." Natsu replied dismissively. He glanced at Sting from behind Gajeel. "Hey kid, you want me to train you, right?"
"Y-Yes! Please!"
"There, see!" Natsu grinned as Gajeel's face grew even more perturbed. But the Iron Dragon Slayer glanced down from Natsu's smug face, and couldn't help but notice the ring now hanging in front of it.
"What have we here? I didn't take you for the jewellery wearing type." Gajeel said absent-mindedly, grabbing it between two fingers holding it up. He licked his lips as he stared at it. "Quite the shiny little thing, and the perfect size for a snack too- Grah?!" He let go of the ring as Natsu's hand clamped tightly around his wrist. "Ah! It was a fucking joke, Salamander! I wouldn't eat someone else's jewellery, I swear, I'm not that much of a jerk."
"That's debatable." Lisanna muttered under her breath, but eventually turned to Natsu. "Calm down Natsu, he didn't mean anything by it."
"… Fine." Natsu finally released Gajeel's wrist, but continued to glare at him, his playful teasing replaced with a serious air. Lucy put a hand on his shoulder.
"Natsu, please. He doesn't know how important those rings are to you and Lisanna." Lucy tried to ease their tensions. She knew that Lisanna's ring meant a lot to her as a symbol of some promise Natsu made to her, and she figured the same was true for Natsu's.
"Wait, you and she have matching rings?" Gajeel said, glancing at Natsu like he was an idiot. "You utter dunce. Do you have any idea what getting matching rings with someone usually means? An engagement ring! You might be sending the wrong message to your girlfriends here, Salamander."
"Of course, I know it means that! And I keep telling you, Lisanna isn't my girlfriend, she's my fiancé!" Natsu got up in Gajeel's face, anger growing. Lucy froze as what Natsu said registered in her brain. She turned to him in disbelief. He couldn't really be saying what she thought, could he? There was a silence as everyone stared at him in shock. "What did I say?"
Lisanna slapped a hand to her forehead, letting out a suffering sigh as her cheeks flushed. "Natsu, why can't you announce that when you're not about to start a fight?"
"Announce what- oh!" Natsu words finally caught up with his brain, and he suddenly appeared very sheepish. "I guess it just kinda slipped out when I got fired up?"
"What-, But-, H-How-?!" Lucy's mind was moving a mile a minute at the sudden revelation. "How did I never hear about this?! Who else knows?!"
"Nobody." Natsu said simply. "Well, besides Macao. I had to have him help me with the rings. I didn't see the point of keeping it a secret, but Lisanna wanted to wait until she was ready. Which I suppose is now, so…"
"I'm sorry Lucy. I really should have told you earlier, but going on missions with you was so nice that I didn't want to ruin it." Lisanna explained, giving her friend an apologetic look. "I… understand this is probably a lot to take in, but I really hope this doesn't make things awkward between us."
Lucy stared between the two of them as the three recently arrived Dragon Slayers stood silently, still reeling from the recent revelation. She wasn't sure how to feel about all of this. She couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed at not being told, but she also respected their want to keep it secret. But then what about everything the three had done together. Had the words she spoken to them after beating Gajeel back then actually meant anything to them?
"I-"
Just then, a giant bolt of lightning crashed down deep within the forest. The entire forest shook as a flash of light blinded everyone present. The Dragon Slayers all covered their ears at the sudden loud noise, as everyone jumped in shock.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Sting shouted as he held his ringing ears, glancing around at the surprisingly clear sky in surprise. It was obvious such a large bolt of lightning was not natural.
Natsu stared in the direction of the blast in concern. "Laxus. I thought I sensed him earlier."
Gajeel looked over at Natsu equally worried. "Something tells me he doesn't usually unleash hell in the middle of the forest like that?"
"No, he only throws stuff out that big if he's getting serious. But why-" Before Natsu could finish his sentence, he heard something with his recovering hearing. Gajeel likely did too, judging by the way they both started sprinting presumably towards Laxus.
"Natsu?! Where are you going?" Lucy cried, but was ignored as they disappeared into the forest. She saw the others looking as confused as she was, and after shrugging, she summoned Meteor and followed after them in a golden light, the other three not far behind her. Whatever Natsu and Gajeel had just heard, it obviously wasn't good, and she was surely going to do anything she could to help them, as a member of Fairy Tail, regardless of her feelings towards them, positive or negative.
Laxus summoned another round of small electric strikes from the sky, smashing through the misty replicas of Mystogan that continued to spawn around the battlefield. He let out a grunt as more immediately filled their place. They couldn't do anything but annoy him, but unfortunately, they were very good at that one job.
"Come out and fight me, you coward!" Laxus cried as the mist continued to pool along the ground. After their first trade of blows, Mystogan had immediately begun spawning copies of himself while filling the arena with mist. For the past couple minutes neither had landed a blow, as Laxus kept blasting away illusions and Mystogan summoned more. But they both knew this stalemate couldn't last forever. "I know you are using one of those staves to do all this. Every time I blast a copy of your stupid face, I use up more of it's magic. How about we just cut to the chase and get back to the real fight."
"I already told you, I have no wish to fight you." One of the illusions spoke, and Laxus blew it away with a flick of lightning magic. This didn't change much, as another one began talking again in its place. "I'm not the Jellal you are looking to fight, not that he wishes to have this fight anymore than you."
"Then he shouldn't have taken what was rightfully mine from me!" Laxus growled, continuing to take his frustration out on the illusions of his rival's lookalike. He stomped forward, and the mist fried away in a surge of lightning. "You have no idea what it means to have your birthright stolen out from you!"
"Don't lecture me on birthright!" Mystogan replied, and Laxus almost flinched at the sudden venom in his words, the nearest replica glaring at him. As Laxus fought off the approaching fog, Mystogan continued to speak angrily. "I live as an exile to my own people! I am decried as a traitor and coward to those I am meant to lead! But I fight for them anyways, because it is my duty to protect them no matter the situation. Tell me Laxus, what have you done to show yourself as a worth leader of your people?"
"I've shown I'm the strongest!" Laxus boasted, as another hail of thunder dispelled more illusions, the mist failing to replace them as fast as before.
"And what great purposes you have used that strength for? To plot the torture of the very people you wish to lead for your own amusement!" Mystogan shouted through the ever-disappearing replicas, lightning piercing each one. "You wanted to know why Jellal was given the title of Guild Master over you? It's because he was weak! Someone like him, who had no one but his friends to lift him up, understands the true strength of Fairy Tail."
"There's only one kind of strength, and I'll finally show you it!" Laxus shouted, finally tired of Mystogan's lecture. He held his hands up, pooling up as much magic as he could. "Raging Bolt!" A giant bolt of lightning shot down on the center of the remaining mist, far larger than the previous instance of his attack. In a single flash, the remaining mist faded away, leaving a stumbling Mystogan in its place. He let out a laugh as he rushed towards the disoriented opponent. Mystogan raised one of his staves, but Laxus snapped over to him in an electrical flash and slapped the weapon out of his hands easily. He grabbed the man by the throat and held him up. "Honestly, this performance was pathetic. Did you really think that pitiful display would beat me?"
"No, though I doubt anything I could throw at you would." Mystogan strained out, before smirking slightly. "Though it was certainly the method that wasted your time the best."
"What the hell are you-?!" Laxus quickly realized what had happened. The mist covering the ground, the constant illusions bickering and pestering him. Mystogan had baited him into a fight, only to immediately waste his time, and he knew exactly why. Knocking Mystogan out of his hand into unconsciousness with a final blast of lightning, he whirled around just in time to see a now healed (but clearly weakened) Freed use his magic to sneak through the Jutsu Shiki barrier. "Damn you!"
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy shouted with a swing of her arms, knocking him off balance with a gust of wind before he could chase after his former right-hand man. With a final glance snuck back, Freed stumbled out of the clearing into the dense forest.
"No!" Laxus thought quickly. He needed to stop Freed before he got to far, but now that he was past the barrier, Laxus himself would have to leave it as well to continue the chase. That would allow the others to leave, however. Luckily, all of them were all still knocked out. All exempt for one. Laxus flew to Wendy's side in a flash, ignoring the wind she tried to throw at him with ease, and swung a lightning covered fist towards her as hard as he could.
"AH!" Wendy's left arm moved up to block the attack, and it made a sickening crack as she was launched back into the invisible barrier. She slowly rose to her feet, leaning against the arena's barrier as she clutched her now-broken arm. Tears were pooling in her eyes, but she still had the strength to glare up at him.
"Hmph… You're tough, but it's time to take a nap, kid!" Laxus raised his arm up again, lightning crackling along it menacingly. But as he brought it down, two figures emerged from the forest beyond the barrier, their own fists raised.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"
Laxus's fist collided with the two Dragon Slayer's, and he jumped back in surprise at their sudden appearance. The two immediately passed the barrier and stood in front of Wendy defensively.
"I was willing to overlook your actions against me, as a sort of punishment for my previous actions. But raising a hand against children like this is unforgivable." Gajeel said first, with a look of disgust across his face.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Laxus?!" Natsu shouted at him, anger flaming up quite literally around him.
"I don't have to explain anything to you! Disappear!" Laxus shouted, summoning down a dozen lightning bolts from the sky above, both of his opponents to distracted in rage to notice the impending attack. He needed to defeat them as soon as possible, no questions. But before the bolts could land, a golden whip of light shot out from behind them, hitting all twelve bolts in a single swing. It cracked through the air like the trail of a shooting star, hitting each one before disappearing in a flash. "What?!"
Natsu and Gajeel also both looked up in confusion as a figure enveloped in golden light flew out of the trees and landed next to them. The light faded, revealing Lucy holding an odd whip in her hand. Besides the handle, the rest of the whip appeared to be pure magical energy, glowing gold with the power of Heavenly Body Magic.
"You two are lucky that Virgo picked up this weapon in the Celestial Spirit World for me." Lucy said, glancing over at them in exasperation. "Neither of you saw that attack coming, did you?"
Laxus just stared as Lisanna and two boys he didn't recognize followed quickly behind her, all rushing into the clearing to defend their injured guildmates. He couldn't believe his bad luck. Why did so many nuisances have to gather in the same spot at this exact time?
"I don't know what's going on here Laxus, but you need to stop!" Lisanna demanded.
"You think you weaklings get to tell me what to do?" Laxus scoffed. "I'll wipe you into dirt and go stop Freed with time to spare! You're all nothing but minor nuisances at best!"
"You're the one underestimating us Laxus! I'll have you know that five of us are Dragon Slayers!" Natsu shouted proudly, before Lisanna interrupted him with a pointed cough. "Okay, fine, six Dragon Slayers if you want to get technical. You really think you can take us all on at once?"
"Oh please, being a Dragon Slayer isn't that impressive anymore. You're all not as special as you think." Laxus laughed darkly, as the magical energy around him began to grow to a terrifying level. Sparks flew off him as his muscles bulged, ripping the sleeves of his shirt and revealing dragon scales. The canines in his wicked grin grew pointed, and he stared them down with the eyes of a beast.
"No way! You're a Dragon Slayer too?!" Natsu shouted in disbelief.
"He must have a Lacrima like Juvia and the brats!" Gajeel guessed, staring at the display of power in front of him.
"So, you've heard of them before? Lucky you, you've gotten a preview of the kind of ruin you're all in for." Laxus said as he drew his head back and charged electricity into it. He then released the magic at the ones standing before him in a great bellow.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
Next Chapter: Infernal Friends
