7: Lullaby

Erza sighed as all eyes turned to her. The blond man had gone straight to the point of the matter, which she liked. "Well then, let me explain," she said, crossing her arms, "I was on my way back from my previous job when I stopped by a bar in Onibas, where wizards tend to gather, and some of them happened to catch my attention."

Naruto sat back in his seat, looking across at the woman over Lucy's head. "There were four of them," Erza went on, and they were a rather unruly bunch. But I did overhear them speaking of a 'Forbidden Lullaby'. They also mentioned a familiar name to me, Erigor, wizard in Eisenwald."

"And this Lullaby," Lucy said from her spot between Naruto and Erza, "Is it some kind of magic that puts people to sleep?"

Erza only shrugged, "I don't know, but seeing as it was 'sealed', it must contain some kind of powerful magic."

Naruto looked over at her, "Could it have been a job they were finishing up?" He asked, the name "Lullaby" sounding slightly familiar. "I mean, they do need to make money somehow."

"True, that is what I thought, and I wasn't going to pay it anymore attention," she said, frowning, "That is until I recalled what Erigor was famous for," she said, clenching her fists, "Erigor is the Ace Wizard of Eisenwald, nicknamed the Death God, because he only takes assassination requests," she said, her face darkening, "The Council prohibits such requests, but Eisenwald didn't care, so Erigor was free to do as he pleased." The train pulled into the Onibas station, allowing the five wizards to disembark.

"Crap," Natsu frowned, "I forgot my pack, I'll be right back!" He said, and ran back onto the train.

"Don't take too long, Natsu, it's about to leave again," Naruto called back over his shoulder, turning back to the red-head, "Erza, I'm new to the mainland, but wasn't Eisenwald kicked out of the Guild Leagues a while back?"

"They were," Erza nodded, "And they were also order to disband after their Master was arrested, but they continued on, and are now branded as a Dark Guild."

"Dark Guild?!" She squeaked, taking a hold of her mentor's sleeve, a small amount of sweat beading her brow, "But should we really be dealing with people like that?"

"How come they haven't been arrested, then?" Naruto asked, frowning, "If this Guild's gone Dark, then shouldn't the Council do something about it?"

"They are trying," Erza frowned, "Though most of the Guilds that are Dark have been cast out of the League just as Eisenwald was, so it doesn't matter to them how or what they do, as long as its beneficial to the Guild, or whoever's in charge. They ignore any orders given by the Magic Council."

Lucy crept back toward the train, only to be grabbed by Naruto, "And just where do you think you're going?" He asked with a slight smirk.

Lucy trembled, "I think I should go home."

Naruto's smirk turned into a full blown grin and swept the girl over his shoulder, startling a shriek out of her, "Oh, no you're not," he said as he headed back to the group with her kicking and flailing, "You got me into this, so there's no way you're getting out of it."

"P-put me down!" Lucy yelped as the crowd around the station stared at them, most of the grinning at the display, "Naruto, this is embarrassing!"

"Tough cookies," Naruto smirked.

Happy flew moved over to the pair, "You wanna know what's really embarrassing?" Happy asked, point at them, "You can see Lucy's panties!"

"Hieeek!" Lucy shrieked, pushing off of his shoulder and getting back on her feet, her hands holding down the back of her skirt. Naruto looked red as an apple as Lucy glared at him. "You saw, didn't you?"

"Nope, not a thing," Naruto walked right passed her.

"Liar," Lucy pouted, but stopped as Naruto turned back to her, "What?"

Naruto grinned, "Stripes, huh?"

"You did see!" Lucy yelled. Naruto cackled and raced ahead of her as she gave chase, only to nearly run right into Erza's luggage.

"There you two are," Gray said, looking around the pair of them, "Where's that stupid pyro?"

Naruto looked confused, and looked down at Happy, "Didn't he come back off the train?"

"I didn't see him." The little cat said, shrugging his shoulders, "But the train left a few minutes ago."

Erza suddenly rushed forward and headbutted the blond wizard, "You idiot, you were supposed to look after him!"

Naruto rubbed the lump on his head, "Who said I was going to do that!" He roared, "I just told him to hurry up!" He said, and turned to Lucy, "I'm gonna go find Natsu, and get him off that stupid train." He said, jerking his thumb back at Erza, "You stay with the nut job, and keep them out of trouble."

"Why me?" Lucy shivered.

"You, I trust," he said, patting her on the head comfortingly, "Her, not so much." He then rushed off toward the train tracks, "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Erza followed after him, "We're going to stop the train."

"Eh?!" Lucy yelped as Erza stormed passed her.

=x=

Natsu staggered to the nearest seat. "Dammit, that spell Lucy used must've worn off," he groaned, his stomach rolling, "Shit, I didn't expect the train to start moving so soon!" He sat down, and began the long wait for the train to stop again. "I'll just have to get off at the next station, shit, Erza's gonna kill me for sure this time."

He settled in to wait, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible, hating the weakness he was feeling."Excuse me," someone said, "Is this seat taken?" Natsu slowly shook his head. The person sat down, Natsu keeping his eyes closed against the pain in his stomach. "My, my, my, you seem to be in a lot of pain," he said, "Are you okay?"

Natsu remained quiet, not trusting himself to speak without hurling.

"Fairy Tail." The man went on, "A normal Guild, huh?" He said, leaning over in his seat. "I kind of envy that."

=x=

"Please, it's our friend, so stop the train," Erza insisted, but the station manager was having none of it.

The man shook his head, glaring at the girl, "Stop talking nonsense," he sneered, "We can't stop the train for one person that didn't manage to get off!"

Over his head, Erza spied the emergency shut off switch, and gestured to Happy, "Happy, shut it down!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy said, flying up to the switch.

There was a screeching sound of the alarm going off, which alarmed several people, but Erza was undaunted. "Let's go after Natsu," she said before turning to an attendant, "Excuse us, but please deliver this to 'Hotel Chili'."

Lucy frowned, palming her face, "This is turning into a really big mess," she sighed, "I should've taken that stupid job and gotten the reward."

"Where's the fun in that?" Gray asked, sans apparel.

"What the hell happened to your clothes?!"

Meanwhile, back on the train...

"Speaking of Fairy Tail," Natsu's guest prattled on, "Mirajane's famous, isn't she? She's in the magazine's sometimes, and she's beautiful." He said, Natsu listening to take his mind off of his stomach, "You know, I wonder why she's not active anymore? I mean, she's still young." He went on, "And I don't know her name, but I hear that there's a new girl that's pretty cute." He said, "Do you know her?"

Natsu nodded, his breathing becoming labored.

"You know, I've noticed that regular Guilds have a lot of cute girls," he said, "I envy you that...there aren't any girls in my Guild...would you mind sharing some of yours?" He said, and stood up, Natsu's eyes cracking up just in time to see him raise his foot level with his face "Or so I'd like to say!"

Natsu snarled as his foot came into contact with his face. The man sneered at him, "Now you can stop fucking ignoring me," he laughed, "It's discriminatory towards Dark Guilds!"

Natsu was knocked out of his seat, and tried to stand, but the man just came at him again, kicking him in the ribs. "You wanna know what we call Fairy Tail wizards in my Guild?" He asked, kicking him again, and again, "Flies! You're nothing but a bunch of flies to be swatted!"

"I'd like to see you try it!" A streak of white smashed through the side of the train, slamming into the Dark Guild member, and sending him into the other wall, "Purify!" Natsu recognized that voice as the familiar white glow surrounded him, immediately taking his motion sickness away.

Natsu got to his feet, furious, but before he could start his attack, the train suddenly lurched, and came to a grinding halt, throwing the three wizards about in the car.

The wizard, Naruto saw, was a man with pale skin, and black hair tied up in a ponytail, his bag flew from his shoulder, and clattered to the floor, popping open. Something clattered to the floor as the bag fell, and both Fairy Tail wizards saw a...flute...a frightening flute to be sure. It was shaped like a skull, and had three eyes above a grim grin.

"What the heck is that?" Natsu grumbled.

"You saw?!" The Dark Wizard yelped, and scrabbled for the bag and the flute.

Natsu growled, "Shut up," he said, flames roaring from his fists.

Naruto stepped forward, his hands inside his cloak, "I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he said, drawing out Caliburn, "Now, what Guild are you from?"

The wizard crouched down, wary of the sword, but grinned as Naruto and Natsu stood close together, "None of your business, Fairy Flies!" Suddenly a massive tendril of shadow erupted from beneath them, and blasted Naruto right in the gut, tossing him into Natsu. Naruto nearly lost his grip on the sword in his shock at being hit so suddenly, but the shadows wrapped themselves around the pair, and flung them toward the hole he had made.

The train continued on as the two wizards were blasted out of the wall, thrown into the ground, and tumbled to a stop in a heap.

"Gah, what the hell was that?!" Natsu roared, his mouth flaming, "Next time I see that bastard, I'm gonna roast his nuts!"

Naruto groaned, "Natsu, get off of me!" He said, and tried to get up, his sword now stabbing into his leg. "Shit that hurts!"

"Jeez!" Natsu got up and turned him over on his back, "Looks like it missed the bone. Can you heal something like this?"

Naruto nodded, "No sweat." He groaned as Natsu helped to remove the blade, "The sword was just absorbing my magic too much for me to try."

The pink-haired Dragon Slayer watched as Naruto passed his left hand over the wound, and was astonished to see the flesh and cloth stitch themselves back together.

"What the hell do you think that was all about?" Natsu asked as the blond wizard stood up, dusting himself, off, "I mean the guy said he was from a Dark Guild, and then there was that freaky flute."

Naruto frowned, "Dark Guild, huh?" He asked, looking at the young man, "Natsu, I think that was the guy we were looking for."

"Ya think?"

Naruto nodded, "Come, we'd better go find the others before they start to worry, and then we need to get some info from Erza," he said, heading back toward the train station, "She might know that guy."

Natsu turned toward the direction they had come, and grinned, "Looks like we don't have to walk very far," he said, pointing toward a dusk cloud that was coming toward them, "Here they come!"

Naruto sighed in relief as he saw a magic vehicle speeding toward them, Lucy hanging out of the window waving at them while Gray was situated on the roof from some reason. Erza pulled the vehicle to a stop, "Natsu, Naruto, are you two alright?"

The two wizards looked at each other, "Well..." Naruto started.

"We got our butts whooped," Natsu sighed, crossing his arms, "I think we ran into one of those Eisenwald dicks you were talkin' about."

"Did you catch him?" Erza asked.

Naruto gestured to themselves; both of them were dirty, and scuffed up from their role on the ground, "Do we look like we have a prisoner?" The blond asked, "Seriously, the guy sucker punched us after we got the drop on him." He said, earning a glare from the red-head, "Now, you mentioned something about a 'forbidden lullaby', right?" Erza nodded, "Well, that guy freaked out after we saw something he was carrying."

"Yeah," Natsu chimed in, "He had this freaky lookin' flute that had a skull on the end of it, a skull with three eyes."

Gray looked at the pair, "Three eyes? Well that's gross."

Naruto nodded, but noticed that Lucy had stopped after she'd gotten out of the vehicle, and was trembling. "Lucy? Are you alright?" He asked, going over to her.

"A flute with a three-eyed skull," she said, deathly pale. "No...it can't be...that was just a made up story, but..."

"Lucy!" Naruto said loud, growing worried, "What's wrong? Talk to me!"

Lucy snapped out of it, looking at her mentor, and friends as they all looked at her in worry. "I think I know what it is...If that flute is the 'Cursed Song'...Lullaby...sleep...death." She looked at Erza, "That flute is the lullaby! Lullaby, the magic of 'Death'!"

"What?!" Erza gasped, looking at her in shock.

Gray looked at the blonde, "What do you mean by a cursed song?" He asked while Natsu looked confused.

Naruto looked at the girl, "I think I know...go on, Lucy." He prompted.

The girl nodded, "Well, I've only ever read about it in a book," she said, frowning, "But there is such a thing as 'murder by curse' among forbidden magic, right?"

Erza nodded, "Yes...just like the name, it'll curse the target and cast 'death'." She said, her face darkening as she spoke, "It's black magic."

Lucy shook her head, "Lullaby is worse than that."

=Kunugi Station=

The Kunugi train station was in an uproar.

Wizards had invaded the station and were rounding up the civilians, and non-magic users. One man seemed to be in charge. He was tall, and carried a large scythe over his shoulder. He was shirtless, and bore several swirling black tattoos on his chest, back and shoulders. "Get all of the people and the driver off of the train," he said to his men, "Eisenwald is taking over."

Drivers and passengers alike were driven from the train as the man boarded, smiling as he came across the last passenger aboard, "I heard that you were gonna come back on this train, so we've been waiting for you, Kageyama."

The man smiled at him, his hair slicked back into a spiked ponytail. "I managed to break the seal," he chuckled, reaching into his bag, and producing the malevolent flute, "This is it."

The man grinned and took the flute from him, "I see...so this is the Forbidden Magic," he said, grasping the flute in hand, "Lullaby."

All around them, the members of their Guild roared with laughter and approval, "Good job, Kageyama!"

"Now the plan is complete!"

"This flute was just a tool for 'murder by curse' at first," the leader said, "But the great Black Wizard, Zeref, developed it even further into a magic flute." He said, smiling widely, "Indeed, he created such a terrible thing." He said, turning to his men, "The 'mass murder curse', Lullaby," he laughed, "That puts a death curse on everyone who hears its melody!" He spread his arms out wide, "Get this thing rolling boys! It's time for the show to begin!"

=x=

The magic vehicle pulled into the train station to find it in shambles where crowds of outraged and frightened people were complaining to the Rune Knights about the atrocities that had happened. Lucy was looking down from the window, "They took over the train?!"

"Jeez," Naruto frowned, looking out over her head, "These guys must be insane."

Lucy nodded, looking up at him, "I can understand a horse-drawn carriage, or a maybe even a boat, but a train?"

"Aye," Happy commented, "It can only run on the rails, so it's not very beneficial to take over, huh?"

Gray started shrugging out of his jacket, "Yeah, but it's got speed," he said, pulling his shirt over his head, "Maybe they're in a hurry to carry something out they've got planned?"

"Why are you taking you clothes off?" Naruto groaned. "Now is so not the time!"

Lucy sighed, leaning on the window frame, "Well the military forces are already on the case, so it's probably just a matter of time before they're all arrested." She said, sounding hopeful.

From the front of the vehicle, Erza frowned, "I certainly hoe you're right, Lucy." She said, and stepped on the gas, "Hang on!"

The vehicle torn through town at break-neck speeds, Gray hanging on for dear life, while Natsu enjoyed the ride for once thanks to Naruto's spell. Naruto on the other hand was feeling exactly the same as Natsu would when he didn't cast the spell. He was turning green around the gills, "Oh, boy, remind me never to let her drive again!" He groaned as Lucy held his head in her lap, "Lucy, why is the cab spinning?"

Lucy gave him a nervous smile as the vehicle lurched again, "J-just try to bare with it a little while longer, okay?"

"Erza!" Gray shouted as they crashed into a food cart, "We're going way too fast! The S.E. plug is inflating!"

Erza just poured more magic into the plug, "If someone plays that flute, then there's no telling how many people are going to die, Gray," she said evenly as she sped through the town, "Human lives are at stake here all because of a flute!"

"I know that, but right now we don't even know what they're up to!" Gray shouted back, "And since we might end up fighting with them, you should probably slow it down and save your strength for when that happens!"

Erza frowned, "I don't care," she said, "If push comes to shove, I'll just grab something to use as a club and fight with that!" Smiling at bit, she turned and glanced at the people behind her, "Besides, I still have you guys to back me up, right?"

"Damn right ya do!" Natsu hollered, knocking his fists together, "I can't wait to get some payback on that creep with the shadows!"

Naruto sat up and looked out the window, his sickness slowing for the moment, but his eyes widened as he saw smoke in the distance. "What's that?!"

"It's Oshibana station," Erza said, stepping on the gas even harder. Moments later they skidded to a halt in the back of a large crowd of people. The red-head, followed by Natsu and Gray with Lucy and Naruto bringing up the rear, barged her way through the crowd. "What's going on?!" She demanded of the first employee she encountered.

"Who the hell are you - Gah!" She headbutted him, and moved on to the next, only to repeat the process.

Naruto groaned, palming his face, "I guess she like people who answer right on cue, huh?"

"Now you know her better," Gray commented, "Let's get inside, we'll probably find out faster."

Erza seemed to agree with this coarse of action, and hurried inside. "Hey, don't go alone!" Naruto called out, only to have Natsu brush right by him, "Oh, come on!"

"Race ya!" Natsu yelled out.

"Aye!" Happy said, flying by.

Gray followed after them, leaving Naruto and Lucy staring after them. The blond sighed, "Well..." he said, following after them with Lucy slowly bringing up the rear.

What the found inside, however, was far worse than they could have thought.

It was the military...all of them dead.

Natsu clenched his fists in anger while flames licked up from his knuckles, "Those bastards!"

Lucy hid her face in Naruto's shoulder while the elder blond gulped to hold back his bile while his own anger began to boil over. "How can they do this to people?" He asked, "They weren't even wizards, they were defenseless!"

"Let's hurry up," Gray said, "The platform's this way!" He said, heading down one of the halls. They ran after him as he rounded a corner, and nearly blundered into him.

"I knew you'd come," a grim voice spoke up as they found themselves face to face with the entire Guild responsible for the carnage in the station. "Fairy Tail."

Lucy shivered and hid partially behind Naruto, "W-what's with all of these people?"

Naruto held up his arm slightly, shielding her, "Just stay behind me," he said, reaching into his cloak, drawing Caliburn from its sheath.

The man that had spoken sat above them, a scythe on his shoulders, "We've been waiting for you."

"You Erigor, aren't you?" Erza said, stepping forward.

"Hey," man with whisker marks similar to Naruto's spoke up, "You're that armor girl from the other day."

"I guess she's the one that leaked out our plans," a rotund man said.

Kageyama looked furious, "You fucking flies," he growled savagely, "It's all because of you!"

"Calm down Kage," one of the men said.

Naruto stepped around Erza, his sword held firmly in his grasp, "What the hell are you planning, Erigo?" He asked, his eyes seeming to glow with power, "And you'd better have a good answer for the men down stairs."

"Hmm?" Erigor hummed, considering the young man, "Oh, you know," he said carelessly, "We just want to fool around. We didn't have any jobs, and we were all bored as hell."

All of his men started laughing uproariously as their leader lifted off of the train and into the air. "Don't you fools understand?" He asked, "What do they have inside of a train station?"

"H-He flew!" Lucy gasped.

Happy floated up beside her, "That's Wing Magic!"

Erza considered his words, "Station..." She said as he floated up to the broadcasting speakers, "Are you going to broadcast Lullaby?!"

"Bingo." Erigor laughed madly as did the rest of his men, "There are hundreds, no, thousands of people gathering to this station even as we speak! If we broadcast the Lullaby's melody loud enough maybe even the entire town will how our sweet melody of death!"

Naruto's blade began to glow brightly, "You murdering bastard!"

Erigo turned about in the air, grinning madly, "We're just cleaning up the fools that live their lives enjoying their rights," he said, slowly turning end over end in the air, "When they don't even know that there are people who have been revoked of their rights!"He turned to look at them while he was upside down, "I beleive that living a life that is oblivious to the unfairness of the world is a sin," he said, smiling down at the Fairy Tail wizards, "Thus, I, the God of Death, has come to punish them!" He cackled, "A punishment called 'DEATH'!"

"Your rights will never be returned if you do something so horrible," Lucy shouted at the man, speaking up for the first time against the man, "Besides, you're the bad guy in first place!"

"And a hypocrite!" Naruto snarled, "You're taking away the peoples' rights to live! A right shared by every living creature in this world!"

Erigo looked at the two blondes for a moment, then grinned, "How cute," he grinned, "Now that we've come this far it's not the 'right' that we seek, it's the 'authority'. If we have the 'authority', then we can wipe the past clean and control the future."

"You're such a fool!" Lucy shouted, going for her Gate Keys.

"Such a pity," Kageyama sneered, slamming his hand into the floor, "for you little flies to die without getting a glimpse of the Dark Age!"

A gigantic hand made of shadow erupted from the floor beneath Lucy, forcing a scream from her as Erza and Gray cursed.

"NATSU!" Naruto roared, appearing in front of Lucy, cleaving the Shadow appendage in half as the Dragon Slayer rocketed forward.

"It's payback time!" Natsu roared, "We're on a real battle ground this time, ya punk!"

Kageyama lept back, avoiding the blow, and landed among his Guild. Erigor smirked, "There's someone I must put to death!"

Naruto roared forth, leaping into the air at the Wind user, "Give me that flute, Erigor!" He roared, his blade swinging in a wide arc as light flew from the magic sword. The Light crashed into the ceiling as the man dodged easily.

He laughed, looking down at his men surrounding the wizards, "I'll leave the rest to you guys." He said, floating away from the impending battle, "Have fun."

Naruto looked furious as the man fled the battle. "ERIGOR!"

And Naruto is pissed. Look forward to the next chapter, because our favoriteblond is about to cut loose!

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