Hello Everyone and Welcome Back!

Thank you once again for the reviews and follows/favorites, I really appreciate it. Also if you want to see any upcoming stories, you can see the names for them on my profile page. They are all in progress at the moment just have to put some finishing touches on them. Also I'm thinking about trying to a panel at a con with some other friends for FanFiction. If you know any info about that I would appreciate any suggestions or other information about how to enter. Thank you guys! Now on to the story!

~wolvesfinalden

Fairy Tail: By Your Side

Chapter 8: Attack on Fairy Tail

Lucy and Duke had been training together for the past couple days for an attack from Phantom, which could happen at any moment now. Duke's assisting magic has gotten stronger over the past few days. Lucy had been hoping that they element side would grow as well but so far they haven't been able to perform it successfully yet.

Loke was rather impressed with the duo. He had been able to recover enough during the few days by staying in the celestial world during that time. He'd come every now and then to help them out with training and he could sense power coming from the wolf. The more he watched the wolf train with Lucy, he realized what it was. It almost seemed like power was seeping out of a lock.

'If that power is unlocked, they could give the master a run for his money.' Loke thought.


Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy had been trying to focus on anything besides Phantom Lord. The more Natsu thought about it, the angrier he got. Half the time he had to keep himself from sniffing them out himself and taking them down. However he managed to keep himself from doing that, thanks to Erza's threats and of course pleas from Lucy.

Natsu realized he hadn't seen her or Duke in a few days. The last time he saw her was when they came to the guild 2 days ago. Duke and Lucy had come with Loke, explaining that Loke was actually one of the golden keys. He knew that wasn't the name but to be completely honest he wasn't paying too much attention. After all they did come while he was stuffing his face.

"Natsu, I have a bad feeling." Happy said looking up at the sky.

The dragon-slayer looked up to the sky as well and could understand why his cat felt that way. He felt it too, an ominous feeling in the air.

'So they picked today huh? About time.' He thought.

Natsu then stood up and started making his way over to Lucy's.

"Happy come on!" he yelled.

"Aye sir!"

The two made it to her apartment and entered through her bedroom window. It wasn't long before they were greeted by Duke. He tackled the two down to the ground and licked Natsu's face, making the fire mage laugh. Then finally got off of them. He made his way out to get his master.

Happy was about to follow Duke until he noticed Natsu not following them. He looked over to his friend and saw the fire mage staring out the window. Concern was plastered across his face as he looked outside. The blue cat walked over to him and pulled on his pant leg.

` "Natsu, are you okay?" he asked him.

At first the dragon-slayer didn't even answer him. His thoughts were all drawn to what Phantom Lord might do now. There was no doubt that they would attack today, he could sense something was going to happen.

"I'm fine Happy but just between us," he then moved down beside Happy and looked him in the eyes. "Lucy and Duke aren't to leave our sights, got that?" he told him.

"Yeah sure but why?"

"Phantom Lord is after Lucy because of her father. She feels like this is all her fault remember. That's why we have to watch them and make sure they don't give in to them, or do something they'll regret." Natsu told him.

"You really care about her don't you Natsu?"

He paused before he answered. Of course he cared, he cared about everyone in Fairy Tail but there was just something about Lucy that made his feelings stronger. The fire mage couldn't really understand what this was, nor did he care at the moment. All that mattered was the here and now, right?

"Yeah I do Happy. I care about Duke too. I think it's just because this is our team. I like how it is and I don't want it to go back to before we met them. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah."

Happy smiled, he loved the fact that they finally had a big team. More so that he had someone other than the mages of Fairy Tail to talk to. Duke was more like him and made it easier to play with. Of course he liked Lucy too, after all he wouldn't pick on her now and again if he didn't.

After their talk Duke entered the room with Lucy behind him. The wolf now looked a little more on edge as he stared at the window. Natsu noticed and realized that Duke was now picking up the bad vibes around the area.

"What is it Natsu? Why'd you come over?" Lucy asked.

Though she knew he usually came over every so often but not with this serious look on his face. Something was up and she didn't know why but she felt really uneasy this morning.

"I've been having a bad feeling ever since I woke up this morning. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me however, I think now it's certain. Phantom Lord is going to attack today." He said in an oddly serious tone.

"Why not go to the guild first? I mean they need us right?!" Lucy said a little freaked out.

She was about to run out the door until Natsu grabbed her arm.

"Lucy do me a favor today and stay near me." He whispered to her.

"Natsu…"

"Come on let's go."

He then pulled her along behind him, while the other two were on their heels. They managed to reach the guild in record time and luckily nothing had happened to it yet. Though when they greeted everyone, they all seemed uneasy as well.

"Natsu! Lucy! Duke! Cat!" Erza shouted as she marched towards them.

She came up in front of them and from what Lucy could see, their red haired friend was somewhat poker faced but had a small hint of concern in her eyes.

"Did you notice it too?"

"If you mean having a bad feeling about today then yeah. Ever since Happy and I got up this morning we felt it, wasn't until we got to Lucy that I actually started to sense it."

"That means they are coming then." Erza said.

She then turned and began barking orders at the others. They all quickly began to prepare themselves for the battle to come.

Lucy and Duke on the other hand stood near the exit. She knew she promised Natsu to stay near him however, this was their fight. They had to finish it themselves or they couldn't move on from their past.

"Duke this is what we were training for. Are you ready boy?" She asked him.

Duke looked up and nodded at his master letting out a soft growl. He wasn't about to let them win.


Phantom Lord finally approached, they arrived in some sort of huge vehicle. To Duke it looked like a flying mansion. Though he could smell and sense magic all around the thing. All the members were inside but the ones posing the big threat were the elemental four and of course their dragon-slayer Gajeel.

Lucy backed up with Duke standing in front of her as he bared his fangs to them. He was going to show them no mercy.

"Hand over the girl and we'll leave peacefully." One of the elemental four said.

` "As if we'd just give her to you!" Natsu yelled in rage.

Erza looked to Natsu slightly confused she looked towards Lucy and Duke whose expressions showed no emotion at the moment. Mira noticed this and walked over to Lucy.

"Lucy what are they talking about?" she asked her.

Lucy sighed as she turned to the girl. They had to know eventually, she had originally hoped to keep this a secret but there was no way that was going to happen, not with Phantom Lord going after her. She had just wished she had told them all before this happened.

"They are being paid by my father to take me back. I only found out when they took me a few days ago. I'm sorry I should have told you guys from the start but I was hoping this could be resolved without that." Lucy said.

"Why would your father pay them to drag you home?"

"Before I left he said about marrying me off to someone. That way he could ensure his company won't fall. He also wants Duke gone, knowing him he'll try and get rid of Duke himself. He's not a nice man Mira, he never was, not after my mother died." She said as she looked up to the machine.

"Lucy we won't let them take you back. You do know that right?"

"Natsu told me. He was the only one that knew the whole story."

"It'll be alright Lucy, we're Fairy Tail after all and your family now whether you like it or not." Mira said with a confident smile.

Lucy smiled back, this is what she had wanted for the longest time. A place she could call home, where she had friends or in her case now family that actually cared about her. Looking back over to Duke who was still focused on Phantom Lord but acknowledged Mira's words by wagging his tail.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted as he dashed after Gajeel.

Gray and Erza hurried after him, Lucy stayed back with Duke a moment not sure if they should go after them or remain with Mira and the others. Before she could decide what to do, Duke decided for her. He grabbed onto the whip at her side and dragged her along as he charged after Natsu.

Happy quickly came behind and flew about Lucy and Duke, making sure to keep the promise he made to Natsu. When she reached Erza and Gray, they were being blocked by the elemental four. The big man with his eyes blindfolded attacked Erza, meanwhile the water mage that kidnapped Lucy, went after Gray. They were able to lead those two away leaving the other two with Lucy and Duke.

Duke growled at them and looked back to Lucy. She nodded and got out Loke's key. She called the lion spirit forth and he appeared wearing his suit and red tie, with his glasses. He smirked at the members remembering what all they had caused. Finally he could take them on at his full strength.

"Let's go Lucy." Loke said.

"Right behind you." She answered.

Duke then let out a howl and charged at them leaping up in to the air.


Natsu was going head on with Gajeel. However he felt like he was getting absolutely nowhere. Every hit he'd counter it every move he made so did the iron mage. They were in perfect sync when they fought each other, for Natsu it was highly irritating.

"Come on Salamander, you can do better than that can't you?" Gajeel said in a mocking tone.

The fire mage's fists started bursting into flames, only this time giving off more heat and standing taller than before. The only thing he could think about while he fought, the pictured burned into his mind as he remembered what exactly he was fighting for, Duke and Lucy.

While he fought Gajeel, Happy should be watching over the two, not that Duke couldn't do that himself but Happy was being his eyes, he needed to know they were okay himself.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted.

A huge explosion of flames escaped Natsu's mouth and made their way to Gajeel. The iron mage managed to block the flames, by turning his arm in an iron rod. However after the attack hit, even Gajeel noticed the flames heat, as he realized that the fire had actually burned his own skin, rather than just the iron.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Gusts of iron flew at Natsu as he tried to defend himself. He tried dodging it but ended up caught in his attack. He managed to use his flames to protect himself and blow off the attack all together.

The fire mage then launched himself at Gajeel, only this time not using any magic, surprising Gajeel. Natsu made contact with his face and knocked him across the ground. Natsu smiled as he watched his enemy fly.

"Alright Salamander, you surprised me with that one." He commented. "But that ain't going to happen again."

"We'll see about that. I don't care who you guys are but you aren't laying a hand on Lucy or Duke. I'll make sure of that." Natsu threatened.

As he said those words Natsu's body began to change. His eyes started to glow a bright red as he glared at Gajeel and finally his skin started to turn into dragon scales. The iron dragon slayer got up and prepared himself. This wasn't looking good for himself, he knew what happened when anyone messed with a dragon's treasure. He just hoped he would survive his attacks.


Gray had happened to have an easy time with the water elemental four. She had taken a liking to him, much to his surprise and eventually gave in. He wasn't going to complain either. After all just meant that one of them were down already and quite possibly on their own side as well.

"What was your name again?" he asked her.

"It's Juvia, Gray-sama." She said with hearts in her eyes.

'Geez of course this would happen to me and no one else.' Gray thought as he looked away from the girl.

"I know this is still your guild and all but do you mind telling me what exactly you guys are planning. I mean if you just wanted Lucy, why not sneak in and take her like before? Seems like a lot of extra work for you guys." Gray asked her.

He didn't lke them trying to take Lucy away from them. He had to admit he did have a little crush on her when she and Duke first came here. Though after getting to know her and all, he noticed that she seemed almost like a sister to him. He never had someone like that before, so there was no way in hell, he was going to willingly let her go. Not to mention that flame-brained idiot wouldn't have that happen either.

"Juvia doesn't really know why. Juvia does remember the master saying something about wanting to attack Fairy Tail. Something about an excuse to take you all down. Juvia is afraid that's all she heard from them. Juvia's orders were to take down anyone that got in her way and capture Lucy again."

"You're not going to now right?"

"Of course not. Not if that would upset Gray-sama."

"Good, that's less for me to worry about. Come on how about you stick with me for a while. I have to go find Erza and Natsu. I'm sure Duke, Lucy, and that cat are around here somewhere as well."

Gray then walked off with Juvia running close behind him.


Lucy, Loke, Duke, and Happy had a hell of a time trying to take down the other two elemental four, however after a while they had managed to finish him off. Duke and Loke got the last blow as they attacked at the same time, with Lucy's magic in sync with Duke's, allowing for a power boost at the end. Loke was very impressed with them, they had gotten a little stronger with in the last couple days.

"We should try and find the others now right?" Lucy asked the group.

Duke nodded then looked up to Happy. Natsu and Happy both weren't aware of the fact that the wolf had actually heard what Natsu said to Happy. Luckily for them Lucy didn't have Duke's sensitive hearing and didn't hear a word about it. He was surprised the two actually wanted to keep an eye on her two but he really couldn't blame them, he had the same problem though now he was relieved that he wasn't on his own there.

"Yeah we should probably go find Natsu now. I think he went after Gajeel."

"Sounds alright with you Loke?" Lucy asked him.

"Yeah but we better hurry. Never know if that fire idiot needs a hand or not." Loke said.

Lucy nodded and looked over at Duke and Happy.

"Lead the way boys."

Duke barked and took the lead in front of Lucy and Loke, with Happy flying behind him. Lucy and Loke went right behind them as they ran off to the direction they last saw their dragon slayer.

Duke was going off the scent of ash from the fire mage. It was much easier to pick up, thankfully because there were way too many scents around in the area. Had his scent not been as strong it would have blended right in with the others.

The wolf then could smell the scent of iron mixed in with the ash, which he assumed was Gajeel's scent. He didn't like that mage one bit, not after what he did to Levy's team and the guild hall. They reached the scene in no time however when they got there the fight looked just about finished. Both of the dragon slayers were on the ground and neither were able to move.

Lucy immediately ran over to Natsu's side with Happy, while Duke and Loke stayed where they were and watched Gajeel carefully.

"Natsu are you okay?" Lucy asked him.

"Yeah I'm fine, just need to recover for a minute." He replied.

"That's a relief." Lucy said with a sigh.

"Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah were fine Natsu. Nothing we couldn't handle." Lucy said to him with a reassuring smile.

Natsu then turned over to Happy, who then nodded his head, agreeing with what Lucy had just said. The fire mage then sighed in relief, he was a little worried about her since he wasn't with her, the only thing that stopped him from going after her, was the fact that Duke and Happy were both with her. Duke was strong and wouldn't let anyone touch her and Happy wouldn't dare let anything happen to her either, but if there was trouble the cat could have easily found him.

"That's good. Did you find out anything else about them?" Natsu asked her.

"No, though I'm pretty sure now that they aren't just after me. They have to be doing this for another reason." Lucy said.

"Why do you think that?" He asked her.

Loke then interjected with his own thoughts.

"Think about that Natsu. If they just wanted Lucy, why make a big scene about it? Why not just sneak here in the night and take her that way? Wouldn't that be the most assured way of completing that, if that had been the only thing they were after?" He asked him.

"You have a point there but then what else could they want."

Lucy then looked down to Natsu with a questioning look.

"You guys never had a problem with that guild right?" She asked them.

Loke had to take a minute to think about that but couldn't think of anything they could have down to provoke Phantom Lord, other than attacking their guild for harming Levy and her team. Natsu then thought about it as well and couldn't remember a time when their name was even brought up.

"I can't think of any." Natsu said looking over to Loke.

"I can't either, though it is strange. We don't exactly have anything that they could gain from this."

"What about the master?" Happy said.

"What do you mean Happy?" Natsu asked him.

"Well I remember the master saying about having an argument with the Phantom Lord master. I don't know what it was about but it sounded serious. He mumbled something about the way they treated each other and something about the way they took on jobs." Happy said trying to remember what exactly Makarov had said about them.

"That could be why then. That would explain why they took down the master right when they did." Loke said looking over at Happy.

Duke then walked away also listening to the conversation. He walked over to Gajeel who was also listening to them, just not saying a word about it. When Duke got close enough the iron mage turned his head towards the wolf.

The wolf waited for a violent act or some kind of remark but nothing came. He then titled his head to the left, waiting for the dragon slayer to do something. Though the only reaction he got was a smile.

"I'm not so bad once you get to know me." Gajeel whispered to Duke. "I just do what I'm told, though I have to admit I hated doing that to that little shrimp and that team of hers. I know I shouldn't apologize to you wolf, but I'm sorry. That's just how my guild works and it makes you lose sight of right and wrong." He whispered.

Duke was shocked to hear kind words come from him but the wolf could tell it was nothing but the truth. Had he been lying, Duke would have taken no time to rip his head off. Instead the wolf laid beside him and looked over to his group. He let out a little whimper, causing all of them to look his way.

When Natsu saw how close he was to Gajeel, he tried to move to get the wolf away from him but he still didn't have enough energy. Instead the fire mage had to resort to screaming at him.

"Duke! Get away from him now!" he shouted at him.

Usually Duke would always listen, when it came to Natsu and Lucy that is. Though this time he didn't even move a muscle. He knew Natsu was just yelling because he thought he was in danger, being that close to the other dragon slayer that he was fighting not too long ago.

"Calm down Natsu. Duke has a reason for this, let him show you." Lucy said calmly but with slight worry in her voice.

She believed her words, Duke never did anything rash, unless he knew it was perfectly safe. This had to be one of those times, or else he would have moved when Natsu had yelled over at him.

Duke turned back to Gajeel and used his muzzle to try and tell the iron mage to speak to them. As if he got the hint Gajeel began to tell them why exactly Phantom Lord was attacking them.

"Our master has some kind of grudge against yours. His plan is to annihilate your guild and take over this area with our own. Sounds twisted but I just follow orders." Gajeel said to them.

"So that's it huh? Fine." Natsu said as he began to stand up, with Lucy's help.

"Natsu." Lucy said as he finally stood on his own.

"Well we'll just have to a stop to him. Sorry Gajeel but there is no way in hell that Fairy Tail is going to go down. Not to someone like him." Natsu said as he made his way over to Duke and Gajeel.

"All power to ya Salamander." Gajeel said.

Natsu stopped beside Duke and put his arm around Duke's neck. Then looked at Gajeel.

"I don't like what you did to my friends, or the guild hall, though it seems Duke is fine with you. I don't know what you said to the wolf or what your intentions really are. However what I do know is, is that Duke doesn't let a lot of people around him. The fact that he walked over to you and is this close to you know, shows that somewhere deep down, you really aren't as evil as you seemed." Natsu told him as he let go of Duke.

"Just know that if for any reason that I should have any reason to doubt that again, I won't hold back and I'll have Duke here to back me up got it?" Natsu said in a threatening voice.

However Gajeel didn't find it threatening, to him it seemed more like a challenge. So he looked at the fire mage and the wolf again before saying anything.

"I'll make you a deal Salamander. You go kick our guild masters ass, and once you've done that I'll make it up to your guild, then me, you, and Duke here will have another fight." Gajeel said with a smirk.

Natsu smiled at the offer, then he turned to Lucy and noticed Duke did the same.

The girl looked annoyed at first but then sighed and nodded her head, showing that she didn't mind Natsu taking Duke into a fight.

"You're on!" He said shooting back up.

Duke then howled as Natsu screamed out his favorite phrase.

"I'm all fired up now!"

And there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. I think it went kind of slow when I was writing it so I apologize if it wasn't all that great. I'm trying to get better at fighting scenes but it's just hard for me to get into it sometimes. I promise I will get better though! Thank you all for the support and please leave a review or even favorite/follow my story. That's the best way I know that you all are still wanting more. Until next time guys and thank you!

~wolvesfinalden