The 12 Strizers

by Erzats

2 years after the war with Alvarez, peace returned to Fiore. But for the mages of Fairy Tail and their friends, it won't last. 12 warriors coming from an unkown place are coming for them. Who are they and what do they want ? They'll learn it the hard way. OCs, created by me. Multiple Pairing (Nalu, Gruvia, Gale, Rowen, HappyxCharla and others). Advices welcomed.

13. Chapter 13: Memories and artistic threat

Hello everybody ! With those first and hot August days, I've come to give you some shade with a new chapter of this Fairy Tail fic, a new chapter which is going to be the discovery of the reason why Jellal came to help Happy, as well as the arrival of a new enemy. But enough talking, let's go.

PS: I'm not owning Fairy Tail in any way.

Chapter 13: Memories and artistic threat.

Many people were gathered in Fairy Tail's sick bay, either sitting or standing around Jellal and Happy, ready to listen to their explanations on what led to their meeting and the sudden evolution of the blue Exceed, now sitting in one of the beds, his body covered with bandages.

- " OK. I am going to tell you everything. That began approximately 1 day after Happy came back from Karista. "

/- Flashback, in the morning when Natsu discovered Happy's absence -/

Jellal was walking through a forest about approximately a hundred kilometers away from Magnolia, trying to localize and neutralize a dark guild which went on a rampage in the region for some days now. He was following their track when a magic signature drew his attention from the inside of the forest. Curious, he walked toward this magic signature which was strangely familiar to him. He walked in the middle of the bushes and trees to finally reach a small clearing where he fell on something he was absolutely not ready to witness and made him feel a whole lot of feelings, from surprise to fear, also passing by concern and anxiety. Because in front of him was Happy, spread on the ground face against the ground in front of some kind of puppet made of twig with a target drawn on it, the marionette was also covered with some blood and with scratches which, judging by their size, were from Happy, who was probably also the owner of the blood which flowed on the wooden doll. Jellal walked toward Happy, grabbing him and turning him around, relieved to see that he was sleeping but worried as for the blood which poured of his paws and also sign of tears on his face. Jellal got bandages out of his bag pack and looked after the wounds of the Exceed before taking him with him, not wanting to lose the track of the mages he was pursuing, while knowing that he was going to have to question Happy when he'll wake up.

/-In the evening-/

Happy woke up with difficulty, feeling the heat of a fire nearby, being wrapped up in a blue blanket that he did not recognized, although its smell was somewhat familiar. Waking up totally, he turned his head to a person sitting in front of him on the other side of the fire. The flames hid a large part of his face, but with his blue hair and his scarlet tattoo on the right part of his face, he was easily recognizable.

- " Jellal ? But what am I doing here. " Wondered Happy, surprised when he saw the former criminal.

- " Happy. You are finally woken. " Noticed the mage by smiling, his hands joined and elbows on his knees. " I found you sleeping and hurt in the middle of a forest. What happened ? "

- " But where are we ? " Asked Happy, dodging the question while being truly intrigued by the place where Jellal had based for the night. They were in what looked like some kind of building that was in ruins, with broken furniture almost everywhere, broken walls, holes in the framework but what was the most surprising was that these ruins were clean, meaning they weren't old.

- " We are in the headquarters of a dark guild that I rendered harmless. " Answered Jellal with a small smile. " But do not try to evade my question. What happened to you ? "

Happy sighed by hanging his head before answering with a small voice.

- " I ran away. "

Jellal opened big eyes, clearly not expecting this answer which erased his smile as fast as he appeared.

- " What ? But why ? Tell me, I want to know. "

- " Well, everything began with those Strizers. " Began Happy, Jellal frowning by hearing the word Strizer and the bitterness in Happy's voice.

- " Strizers ? What's that ? "

- " Not what, but which. It's apparently a group of 12 people coming from another world to test us. At least, it's what the one that we have to face at Karista told us. " Jellal nodded silently, remembering having seen the last morning an article in a newspaper talking about the destruction of a restaurant which had appears from nowhere just outside of Karista, thus understanding what happened.

- " That Strizer told me things which made me question myself, in particular on my capacities. " Continued Happy, his voice quivering on some words which seemed to hurt him the most.

- " Let me guess. " Cut Jellal, beginning to understand the reasons of the Exceed fugue. " It's about Frosch and Lector new forms and the way Natsu reacted to them ? "

- "Aye". The cat agreed sadly by remembering those events. " And what the Strizer told me drove the point home. As a result, I decided to train myself to become stronger and be more than just a flying mascot. "

- " I understand now. " Muttered Jellal his look aimed at the ground before raising his head to look at Happy. " But you didn't have to leave without telling anyone. I am sure that they would have all helped you. "

- " Or they would have asserted that I didn't need it because I was already nice as I am. No, if I ran away, it is also to show them that I can manage and also to teach Natsu a small lesson. "

- " Like making him understand that it's not because you say nothing bad that you can't hurt others people ? " Understood Jellal with a small half-smile which made the cat smile too.

- " Yes, that's it. " Began Happy before suddenly scowling, bitterness visible on his face. " But I feel like I'm not doing any progress and that I can't do it alone. "

Seeing the eyes of the Exceed full to the brim with tears, Jellal had an idea. He balanced the pros and the cons of his idea which was going to be lightyears away from what he was used to. But he was unable to let the poor Exceed alone like that.

- "Very well. In this case …" Jellal got up, under Happy's confused eyes. "… I'm going to train you. Are you interested ?" This revelation took the young cat by surprise and he end up being frozen in bewilderment.

- "What ? But …"

- "Are you in or not. Just knows that you won't be able to go back on your decision. So ?"

Happy remained silent several seconds thinking about the implications which it could have but he left his doubt behind him, wiped his tears and raised his head towards Jellal.

- "AYE, SIR !"

/- Flashback's end-/

- "After that, I trainer him day and night, AT HIS DEMAND, calm down …" added Jellal hastily by seeing people getting ready to pummel him for being too harsh on the poor cat, calming their anger. "… I am not a monster, thank you. So as I said, I trained him so he could reach his goal, which was being a real asset for the guild and Natsu, at least as much as Panther and Charla could be for Gajeel and Wendy."

- "All right, it explains many thing, but I am curious. Why these magics in particular?" Asked Lucy, intrigued by the reasons behind the choice of the magics which Happy has from now on.

- "Well, the magic of transformation was a base so that I could be useful, by taking a human size." Explained Happy. "Even if I exactly wanted a hybrid appearance which is a mixture of Panther feline one and Charla human one. For claws, I wanted a magic which was good with my fighting style but without it being overly powerful, I didn't want to become a powerhouse. And Claw Magic is one of the simplest to learn, especially for creatures like Exceeds which are basically animals."

- "At least, it answers our questions. We are going to let you rest now, Happy." Proposed Erza by getting up, imitated by the others, but Happy stopped them.

- " Wait, I would like to give something to Charla. " He said while searching for something in his bag, under the curious gaze of the present mages and the white Exceed who sighed by shaking her head with her eyes closed.

- " Happy, if it is another fish, it is even worth getting it out of the … " The rest of her sentence died in her throat when she saw what Happy was handing to her. It was not a fish, but a small flower bouquet, more exactly white lilies, that Charla looked at with big eyes under the surprised looks of the other mages.

- " I hope that it will be enough to forget all the times I wanted to offer you a fish. Thinking back about it, I realize that it was pretty stupid. " Explained Happy, rubbing the back of his head with his other paw, eyes closed and a cute and slightly unsure smile on his face.

- " T-Thanks. They are beautiful. " Answered Charla, her cheeks pink by taking the bouquet before following the rest of the mages, not without looking at Happy one last time. Erza looked at the scene with a light smile by turning to Jellal.

- " Why do I have the feeling that you have something to do with that ? " Wondered the mage with a half-smile which Jellal returned to her, making her blush slightly.

- " Let's just say that I told myself that a little bit of help in this domain would be useful to him. " He explained before going out of the room with Erza, leaving Natsu alone with his 'son'.

- " Happy. I'm really sorry for all that I said. I would never hurt you deliberately, you know that. "

- " I know, but the fact is that you often hurt the others with what you said or do because you don't know what the others are feeling, or even what YOU are feeling. " Explained Happy, wanting to make Natsu understand on what points he had to improve himself. " If you can't manage to understand what you feel for the others and what they feels for you, you will hurt others at one moment. "

- " But I know what the others are for me. They are all my friends ! " Countered Natsu, arms crossed, without really understanding what Happy wanted to say before heading towards the exit. " I'm going to let with you rest, now. Goodbye ! "

- " No, wait! " But this last cry from Happy didn't stop Natsu who closed the door behind him, the Exceed sighing in despair. " If only he wasn't so naive. "

/-Later, in the streets of Magnolia-/

Lucy was having a walk in town, the inhabitants all busy working on repairing everything that had been destroyed by the fight between Fairy Tail's youth and Exceed and Daniel, the young Strizer of the sky, which had disappeared like the others without leaving of a single trace, some people saying they witnessed some kind of a shadow which would have swallowed the young man and making him disappeared from the rubbles. This shadow could, according to what the stellar mage knew, be one of the Strizer's work and she hoped that there would be no new attack anytime soon, at least so they could have enough time to recover. Sailing through the various stall of the market, she made her food shopping for the week, letting her eyes wandered and her Canis Minor spirit Plue have a walk, her look falling for example on the fishmonger stall which gave a discount, which made the mage smile, imagining the small blue cat buying his fish before coming to save Charla. Having finished her shopping, she called Plue and decided to walk and to take advantage of the day, in spite of it's rough beginning. She passed in an alley where numerous craftsmen were displaying their works, Plue suddenly throwing himself on one of them, which drew the attention of the young woman which was gob smacked by what she saw. There was nobody, but paintings that were hanging on the wall were sublime. Paintings of landscapes, people and even everyday life objects, painted with vibrating colors which highlighted every details, all of it in a sober style and close to reality which enthralled Lucy.

- " You like my paintings ? "

Lucy was taken out of her daydreaming daze to turn to the man who had just spoken to her. He was in his 25, a stature identical to Natsu, be it on the height, seeing that he was almost a head taller than her, that for the muscles. He had naturally tanned skin, orange-red hair combed in some kind of reptilian crest and amber eyes which shone like a wildfire. He had a friendly smile, an unlit cigarette between his lips. He wore an open and sleeveless orange quilted hoodie and wore it over a red shirt. He also had ample jeans on held by an orange leather belt and white and red striped sneakers. He also had a kind of wide bracelet, like a sponge strap, but made of metal on which was represented a dragon which seemed to be wrapped around a sword.

- " They are yours ? " Asked Lucy by gesturing to the paintings.

- " Yep. I made them all by myself. You want to buy one ? " He asked, making the young woman hesitate, when her eyes got lost on one of the paintings which represented a starry sky, which slightly worried the painter. " Hum. Are you okay ? "

When she turned around and when he saw her eyes becoming wet, he was taken by surprise but Lucy wiped her tears away before answering.

- " It's nothing. This picture reminded me of my mother. We loved looking at the stars and tried to find constellation when I was a child. She died when I was 10 years old. "

- " Sorry, my condolences. " The young man just stated before an idea came to him. " Concerning my works, if you want, I can paint a portrait of you. I could even try to pay tribute to your mother there. What does she represented for you, except for starry nights ? "

- " She was my world. My best friend as much as my mother. And an outstanding mages. She's basically what I want to be " Expressed Lucy with a nostalgic smile, eyes lost in the void.

- " I see. " Smile the painter by turning to his equipment. " Do you have a photo of her, or an image or something that could helps me to know what she looked like? "

To answer the question, Lucy searched in her bag and stretched out to him a scrap of paper which was a portrait of Layla Heartfilia. The painter took the drawing and looked at it one moment before hanging on it on a blank painting on a wooden easel.

- " It's a magnificent drawing. " He admitted looking at the drawing with a professional eye. " You made it ? "

- " No, it's a gift of a friend for my birthday. I described her to him and he made that based on my description. "

- " That friend of yours is very talented, in any case. " Assessed the painter before pointing at a stool on the other side of the easel. " Well, sit down here, miss … "

- " Lucy. Heartfilia Lucy. "

- " Jameson, but you can call me James. Or Jay if you want. " The painter said by lighting the cigarette he had in his mouth. " You doesn't mind if I smoke ? It's an habit of mine to smoke while painting. "

- " No, not at all. " Answered the mage, by no means bothered by the smoke seeing that she spent most of her time with a pyromaniac.

Without further ado, Lucy took a seat on the stool, Plue on her knees whereas Jameson began to work, from time to time asking Lucy to maintain her position. Everything went on without any problem until Jameson opens without warning his shirt and jacket, thus giving Lucy a good view of his well build upper body, which made slightly blush the stellar mage.

- " Uh, why are you stripping all of a sudden ? "

- " Eh ? " Jameson raised his head without understanding what she meant before following the eyes of the blonde towards his open clothes and he understood what disturbed her. " Ah, sorry about that. I tend to do that when I'm concentrating on a painting. I'm sorry. If that bothers you, I can close everything. "

- " No, it's nothing. I'm used to that in a way. " Answered Lucy by rolling eyes, thinking in of numbers of times or Gray had found himself in boxer shorts without warning(preventing).

- "If you say so."

The painter get back to work, without any other interruption, at least until somebody decides to ruin the moment. A pink haired somebody who had just turned up without warning, taking the mage and the painter by surprise.

- " Hey Luce. What are you doing here? "

- " I could ask you the same question. I thought that you'd stay with Happy to make up for the time you lost. " Lucy asked surprised, wondering why the Dragon Slayer was here.

- " He … He wanted to rest. So I said to myself that I was going to have a little walk and I found you by chance. " Explained Natsu, under the suspicious looks of Lucy who couldn't imagine Natsu, even during a stroll, ending in the district of the artists precisely when she is also there.

- " Yeah, or you just smelled your way up to me, admit it. " Accused Lucy and judging by the reaction of Natsu, the wide open eyes and a bead of sweat pearling on his temple, she was right.

- " Not at all. You are weird, Lucy, really. " denied Natsu, Lucy looking at him with round eyes, not believing that he had the boldness to tell her that she was weird, in spite of the situation. When the eyes of Natsu finally settled on Jameson, he scowled. " And what are you ? "

- " It is not already obvious enough ? " Answered Jameson by stretching his arms towards his brushes and paintings on the walls and tables around him. " I am a painter and the young lady here is my model. "

- " And what the hell are you doing half naked ? Are you an exhibitionist besides being an artist ? " countered Natsu, with an acidity in his voice that took Lucy by surprise but who did not impress the painter who answered with the same kind of curtesy.

- " Would it be too much of a pain in the ass to be at least a little polite, pink flamingo ? And you aren't the better placed to make this kind of remark. " replied the young man by pointing at Natsu's open jacket that let his abs and torso visible too.

- " Except that I don't really like exhibitionist like you, especially when he forces other people to witness it. "

- " WELL, THAT'S ENOUGH! " Roared the mage girl by standing up suddenly to come and stood in front of Natsu, clearly pissed off. " Natsu, you stop that right now ! "

- " What ? Why are you defending this guy ? " The fire mage said, indignant, by pointing at Jameson.

- "Don't point at me, cotton candy head." Said Jameson, no one really noticing him.

- " This 'guy' asked me if that bothered me if he opened his jacket because that helps him to concentrate, which I answered that it didn't. He, at least, asks before making something who could be disturbing or ill-at-ease, like for example breaking in a girl's apartment to surprise her when she got out of the shower. " Accused Lucy.

- " Wait. Don't tell me that you still hold that against me ? It's not that bad, really. " Complained Natsu, not understanding why Lucy was still blocked on this story, although the words Happy had returned to him, in particular something about taking into account what the others are feeling. But he did not take it seriously.

- " Wait. You really did that ? Man, do you know what respect is, at least ? " Commented Jameson with wide eyes.

- " Shut up, you dick ! No one cares about your meaningless drawings ! " barked Natsu who, for an unknown reason, couldn't support that guy.

- "If you had a minimum of consideration for others, you would have asked the questions who shall have allowed you to know that this 'meaningless' drawing is a tribute to her dead mother. " Natsu's eyes suddenly opened widely before he turn his head to Lucy, now looking furious AND hurt.

- " You see, THAT is your problem, Natsu ! " Roared Lucy by raising her voice. " You have no consideration for what the others think and feel. Thus you do what you want without thinking that it could hurt other people. So now, leave immediately and leaves us alone ! " She punctuated her sentence by pushing Natsu away who, shocked by what she said, left but not without giving a dark gaze at Jameson who send it back to him before returning to his painting.

- " He isn't not nice, this guy. What a jerk. " said Jameson bringing the finishing touches to his work.

- " He has his qualities. But he has no consideration. If he was not that naïve about emotions, he would be … uh … " Lucy had a hard time finishing her sentence, even beginning to blush and Jameson, seeing that, smiled and completed the sentence without raising his head off from his painting.

- " Perfect ? " Jameson thought he hit the point, but Lucy's sigh made him have doubts.

- " I don't know anymore. I don't know where I am about that now. "

- " I see. " He simply answered before going away from his picture. " Here we are ! It's finished ! "

He removed the painting from the easel, giving back the Layla's drawing to Lucy and showed her the painting. It was Lucy's portrait, standing in the center of a plain, with in the background a sky filled with constellation with Layla, who seemed to float in the middle of the stars, looking at her daughter like a guardian angel. Lucy took the painting in her hands, with tears in her eyes.

- " It is beautiful. " She simply stated, eyes fixated on the face of her mother who seemed more than real. " I don't know what to say. Thank you. "

- " It's nothing. The pleasure's all mine " He answered before beginning to search in the pile of painting next to him. " By the way, I would like your opinion on this one painting. It is supposed to carry a message. I would like to know if the message is understandable. "

- " Yes. With pleasure. " Answered Lucy by taking the painting Jameson was handing out to her and looked at it. In a matter of only a few seconds, she lost her smile, replaced by a mixture of incomprehension and fear. " What the hell does that mean ? What is that ? "

- " I deduct from your reaction that the message is understandable. Then they shouldn't have too much trouble to understand it at Fairy Tail. " Concluded Jameson by sitting down back to front on a chair, his lit cigarette between his fingers. Lucy frowned and leaped up, taking a fighting position, one of her key in her hands, sending Plue back in his home world.

- " I don't know what you want, but I'm not going to let with you make. " She threatened but just as she had stopped uttering her threat, she began staggering, feeling dizzy. " What ? What's happening to me ? "

- " The problem with some paints is that they emit vapors which can be harmful for a human being. Sorry, but I'm afraid that you may have inhale a little too much of those vapor to fight, now. " Lucy had remained conscious just long enough to listen to Jameson explanation before losing consciousness and falling to the ground, Jameson getting up and walking up to her. But a light blinded him and when it died down, he saw Leo holding the mage in his arms and running away.

- " Don't be afraid Lucy, I am going to take you to the others, you have nothing to fear any… "

*FWOOOOSH*

- " AAAAAAAHHHHH! "

Leo collapsed on the ground, brought down by an attack which had struck him in the back. Jameson, his hand covered with a red aura approached Lucy, grabbed her and placed her on his shoulder before turning to Leo, a bad smile on his lips.

- "I didn't expect you to come like that, spirit of the Lion, but I have to say it's not that bad. I needed a messenger." His red hand approached the spirit, which was unable to make anything besides suffering.

/- A little while later at the guild -/

Natsu was sitting at the bar, his face strained by anger, but also incomprehension and doubt, which intrigued the others a lot. Gray, sighing, got up from the table where he sat with Juvia and went to his best friend, sitting down next to him.

- "You doesn't seem like your usual self, matchstick, and I'm not talking about the same kind as you were when Happy disappeared. Something happened or what ? I thought that you would get better with the return of Happy."

- "And that's the case. I don't see why that would bother you, ice queen." Countered Natsu, clearly not feeling like talking.

- "I think that it has to do with Lucy, right ?" Threw Mirajane, a smile on her lips by knowing all well that she was right, which made Natsu sigh.

- "I saw her in town serving as a model to a dumbass painter. She send me packing once again. She even took the defense of this guy."

- "I don't have all the elements, but I am sure that she had good reasons for putting the blame on you. And hearing you talk like that, it's making me think that you are just jealous that he is spending time with her." Pricked Gray with a derisive smile, what earned him a dark gaze from the fire mage.

- "I AM NOT JEALOUS OF THIS GUY ! AND GO FIND YOUR CLOTHES BACK, YOU COLD PRICK !" Countered Natsu before Gray run away in search of his disappeared clothes. "And also, jealousy or not, I felt something wrong with that guy." His last sentence chilled the air around the bar, all thinking that a Dragon Slayer instinct wasn't something to be taken lightly, and it was confirmed immediately.

That's when the door of the guild opened, Leo bursting through it, his suit burned in the back and covered with burns. He held in his hand a rectangle covered with some kind of fabric. But the most disturbing thing was that he had with him the Lucy's whip and key ring.

- "Leo ! What happened to you ?" worried Wendy by approaching Leo

- "It's nothing. I'll heal myself by going back into the stellar spirit world. But this guy let me come to give you that."

He threw the wooden panel which slid on the ground to Natsu, who picked it up and looked at it with Makarov and the other mages who had grouped together around him, all shared between fear and anger.

It was a picture which represented a volcanic landscape. Lucy, wearing a princess's dress, was like crucified to some sort of a wall of red rocks, looking with eyes filled with tears at the show which offered itself to her, which was a young man with orange-red hair and amber eyes which had just plunged a long sword in the side of a dragon which was basically a clone of Igneel but with a pink crest and wings, the same pink as Natsu's hair. The mages didn't need a long time to understand that this painting was a threat.

- "Where is he?" Asked Natsu, looking pissed

- "He told me that he would be at mount Drastam. He said he wanted to make his work live and that he will not like any unnecessary characters." Answered the Lion by sitting down with difficulty. Natsu, from his part, raised his head, gave the picture to Makarov and went towards the exit.

- "Hey, where do you think you're going ?" Questioned Gray already knowing the answer. "If you go to fight him, we are coming with you."

- " No, I'm going there alone. He said he wanted to make his picture a reality, so besides himself, he need a fair princess and a dragon with a pink crest. I think that the message is rather clear. "

- " However surprising as it can be, he is right. " Approved Makarov, although surprised that Natsu can have such a logic. " But you will never reached mount Drastam in time. " Natsu agreed and turned to Sting who was standing next to the bar.

- " Yo, Sting. Can I borrow Lector for the journey ? "

- " Yeah, no problem. Lector ! " Sting accepted and called his friend who appeared and went to the fire mage who had just collected Lucy's whip and keys.

- " Hang on, Luce. I'm coming. "

/- Much later -/

Natsu and Lector finally arrived at mount Drastam, an active volcano whose successive eruptions had changed the surrounding landscape to a desert of stone and dead plants. On the side of a plain, stuck to the side of the volcano was Lucy, attached to a wall, in a position of crucifixion which made fury rise in the body of the Dragon Slayer. A fury which still rose when he saw Jameson walking out from behind a rock, a sword hanging on his belt.

- " Here you are at last. And you are not alone. It's a pity, I am well afraid that it will force me to hurt the princess. " Threatened the painter, Natsu immediately understanding the message.

- " Lector, go back to the guild. "

- " But … "

- " GO BACK ! I'll be okay. "

Lector let his eyes switch between the mage and his opponent for several seconds before deciding to leave, leaving the 2 young men alone.

- "Good. Now, we are going to be give life to my piece of work. Just know that I called it ' A dragon's end '."

- "The only thing which is going to end here is your bullshit, false Reedus!" Countered Natsu, Jameson almost face-faulting facing the stupidity of this insult. But he resumed.

- "Well, doesn't matter. I did not introduced myself to you. I am …"

- "A Strizer." Interrupted Natsu. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to get that point seeing the situation. And since your buddy the cook said that your powers were all based around a 'domain', seeing where we are, I can guess what kind of power you have."

- "Well. It seems like the cotton candy isn't as dumb as he looked." Jameson laughed with a smile. "But indeed, I am a Strizer. Jameson Freeman, Strizer of the volcano." He announced proudly just as the volcano behind him exploded. "And as painter and warrior, I'm going to make my masterpiece out of your defeat."

Watch out, this fight is going to be hot !

….

Sorry for that, nevertheless I hope that you will like this chapter and that the fight in the next chapter will also please you.

Before closing this chapter, I would want to warn you that between the August 18th and 25th, I going to be on holidays and so unable to draw anything. The week before, I'll begin the French version of my new One Piece fanfiction and, if I can, the translation of this chapter in English, although this will certainly have to wait for the weekend of my return. All this to tell you that there will be a gap of a week in my usual rhythm, I hope that you will forgive him me. The next FT chapter will be published the 31/08 or 01/09. See you soon.

Next time: confrontation in volcanic field. The secret of managing the feelings. The teaching of a painter and the feelings of a dragon.