The meeting room was nearly full of wizards. Erza, Gray, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel, Pantherlilly, Canna and Mira were sitting around a table. Each wizard began making conversation, waiting for Master Makarov to enter the room.
"Do you know why we've been called here, my darling?" The water mage questioned as she clung to her ice prince.
"Would you get off of me!" Gray yelled as he jumped away from Juvia. "I don't know… Gramps called us into his office at the same time. All he said was to meet him here this morning."
The Script Mage glanced in the Ice Wizard's direction. She was surprised to say the least that Gray didn't know Lucy was back in Magnolia. Levy assumed that Master Makarov let her team know the Celestial mage was home. The bluenette untangled herself from the Iron Dragon Slayer, sneaking her way over to a certain red haired mage.
"Hey Erza!" Levy waved as she grinned at her friend.
"Levy, it's good to see you." Titania gave the mage a small smile, however her face didn't light up as it usually did. The bluenette could tell there was something on Erza's mind.
"How are you?"
It took some time for the Scarlet Maiden to find the words. "I've got a lot on my mind."
Suddenly, Loki appeared once again in front of his guild mates. Tagging along behind him was Virgo the Maiden. Some weren't shocked by their appearance. However, others couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Looking around the space, Titania's brow raised. She and Gray were not in the guild hall the day Lucy returned. As far as they know, the Celestial Mage is still on her mission. "Loki?"
"LOKI?! Is Lucy still on her mission? Why are you here?" Gray piped up.
Immediately the Lion raised his hands in surrender. "We returned to Magnolia just before the weekend. Lucy's at home recuperating from her time away."
"Has anyone told Natsu?" Erza questioned.
Virgo popped her head out from behind Leo. "Salamander has been at Lucy's apartment since he found out she was home."
"When was this?" The Ice mage sounded offended.
"Why weren't we notified as well?" Titania's voice cracked, tears threatened to overflow. A mixture of happiness, anger, and frustration was bubbling inside of her. "We're a part of her team just as much as Natsu." Tears began to form quickly in the redhead's eyes.
"Because it was important to have you here this morning." The Guild Master's voice rang from the back of the room. All the wizards quickly turned to see that Makarov snuck in through a hidden door. Everyone was silent as Gramps walked to the front of the room, taking a seat at the head of the table.
"I brought you all here because I have a job that needs done." Master Makarov leaned back, glancing at every one of his guild mates. "As many of you know, 'Drip' has become an epidemic in Magnolia, as well as throughout Fiore. We've been witnessing it tear our citizens apart, and it's time to take action!"
"Why now?" Juvia questioned. "This has been an epidemic for almost a year, Master. I feel it's almost too late to be stepping in."
Makarov smiled at the Water Mage. "We didn't have nearly the amount of information that we do now. Not only that, other guilds have stepped up and decided to help us with our endeavor."
"What information is that exactly?" Erza inquired.
"While Lucy was on her job near Onibus, she came into contact with the man who was creating the drug. He was actually working for the company that contracted her, Royal Tree. She was there to find out what happened to some stolen equipment. During her stay there, she gathered as much information as she could.
"Lucy found out that the creator of Drip is also a member of Grimoire Heart. From what she could ascertain, he was attempting to move up in the ranks by creating this drug. He stole the equipment to do so."
The room became silent in shock, unaware that their friend decided to take on such a dangerous mission.
"Why isn't Lucy here to tell us this?" Gray raised a brow, his arms crossing across his naked chest.
Loki glanced in the Ice Mage's direction. "Lucy is at home, healing from the trauma of losing two people she became close to during her mission.'
Virgo continued where her big brother left off. "I was with my Princess the day it all went down. The house was ambushed by masked men with weapons. They shot anyone in their way and took the equipment that was in the back of the house. If I hadn't been there to save Lucy… I hate to think about what could've happened."
"We're glad all of you are safe." Mirajane gave the Celestial Spirit a gentle smile.
Pantherlilly put his hand up momentarily before he spoke, addressing the group. "If these men came in and stole the equipment that was stolen. Would it be safe to assume that the owner of the company took measures into his own hands?"
"It's a likely possibility." Master Makarov nodded. "However, I'm not concerned with Royal Tree any longer. I want to know how this wizard, Dico, is going to recover from the loss of his equipment. Now, if we could get back to the task at hand, please?"
"What do you need us to do, Gramps?" The Ice Mage questioned.
"There's a few things that need to happen. My plan is to split you up into groups, this way we can divide and conquer. Gray, I need you, Erza, and Juvia to do some research on Grimoire Heart. We need to know how involved they were in this Drip plan, along with any other useful information.
"Pantherlilly, Gajeel, and Levy, I need you to monitor Dico's movements. If he plans to harm the people that got in his way, we need to stop him. I'm also afraid he may come after Lucy. We need to know about it before it happens.
"Mira and I will be the only communication points in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Every piece of information goes through both of us. We are also the ones that will call you home if we fear your lives are in danger."
The Card mage looked towards Gramps. "What about me? I need to help!"
"Canna, Loki, and Virgo, you have one of the most important jobs." Makarov smiled towards them. "I need the three of you to keep a perimeter around Lucy. We need to make sure she's safe at all times. I have asked Natsu and Wendy to be in constant rotation at Lucy's side until this mission is over.
"Is everyone clear on their roles?" The Guild Master glanced around the room "One of my fears is that Dico or the Dark Guild are going to come after whoever did this, and their eyes are going to be set on our Lucy as the culprit."
"Can we visit Lucy before this mission starts?" Gray questioned.
Erza nodded in agreement. "Yes, we need to make sure our team-
"Why are you so concerned, Gray? Do you have a crush on Lucy?!" Juvia gasped.
The Guild Master shook his head, holding it in one hand for a moment. "I'm sure Lucy would love to see her fellow guild mates. However, I would restrict the amount of people that visit at one time. I don't want to overwhelm her, she's supposed to be healing."
All the wizards in the room nod in agreement. None of them wanted to bombard her. However, Gray and Erza were the first duo to leave the room, Juvia following quickly behind them.
Silence filled the space inside the Guild Master's office. Dico glanced around the space, noting that it was just as dark and dreary as the rest of the guildhall. As he sat there with Kawazu and Capricorn, the tattooed wizard was curious as to how this meeting was going to go.
The three heard the door open and close swiftly behind them. Each of the wizards tensed up, feeling the aura of their Guild Master approaching.
"So… I heard there was a mishap in one of our side operations?" Hades mentioned as he took a seat at his desk, leaning back in the chair. "With that equipment lost, It's going to take months, if not an entire year to recover. This doesn't bode well for you, Dico." The Guild Master's tone was serious as he looked between the three wizards.
"You two, I thought you were supposed to be watching over this operation, to make sure nothing went wrong?!"
Capricorn was the first to speak. "Well sir-
"I don't want excuses! I wanted to see the results!" Hades yelled angrily.
Dico interrupted their bickering. "Master Hades, it should only take another week to be up and running again."
The Grimoire Heart Guild Master raised a brow skeptically. "How?"
Snickering, the tattooed man leaned back in his chair, recollecting what happened yesterday.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?"
"Can it, will ya? I know what I'm doing."
Dico and Kawazu couched next to the basement door at Royal Tree Productions. The tattooed wizard had a lock-jamming kit inside of the door handle. It took a couple of minutes, but with relative ease, Dico had the door unlocked. Once the duo was inside, the dark wizards made quick work of the cameras before they turned on a light.
"Get that mixture into that tank over there." Dico demanded as he ran to the other side of the room, putting in Jay's alarm code.
Kawazu looked at the glass bottle in his hand. The mixture inside was bubbling, void of any color. The dark wizard made his way over to a large water tank. He opened the lid on both containers, pouring the small glass bottle into the reservoir.
"What's that gonna do?" Kawazu questioned.
"Kill the plants. If he wants to take away my livelihood, then I'm going to do the same to him." Dico answered simply as he continued to unlock the doors in the lower area. The equipment was nowhere to be found.
"We need to keep looking." The tattooed wizard mentioned as he unlocks the last door. "He must've hidden it somewhere else."
"How can you be sure that it's here?" The feathered wizard raised a brow.
"Jay may think he's smart, but he's just as predictable as any other non-magic user." Dico chuckled. "I'm going to check upstairs."
The dark wizard made his way to the main floor of Royal Tree. Dico made the decision to leave the Processing Room alone, in solidarity for Melody. Walking through the rest of the facility, the tattooed man started to rip boxes down from their shelving. In addition to this, he unlocked every single door, looking for the concentrate equipment.
"What do you want me to do now?" Kawazu questioned.
"Destroy the place until I find the stuff. Don't touch any of the locked doors."
After about six rooms with nothing, Dico finally found what he was looking for. A grin spread over his face. Thankfully the parts weren't too banged up in the first raid they were a part of.
"I found it! Get over here and get this stuff back to the guild!"
"Aren't you gonna help?" the feathered wizard questioned with a raised brow.
"I have one more thing I need to look for." Dico mentioned before he walked to the front of the building. The tattooed wizard breaks into Jay's office, going to the filing cabinet on the left side of the room. This was where the employee files were kept. It took no time at all for Dico to jimmy the lock. Once inside, he looked for the most recently hired employee files.
"Gotcha." The tattooed wizard grinned before he went to join his comrade.
"I must say, I'm impressed." Hades nodded in approval. "Does the file have any pertinent information?"
" The File doesn't give the girl's real name. Only the one that she gave the company. However, Royal Tree only put the job posting out to two guilds. Blue Pegasus and Fairy Tai-
Hades interrupted the dark wizard. "This is the opportunity we've been waiting for." An evil grin spread across his features.
"What do you mean, sir?" Capricorn questioned.
"We're finally going to wipe out those puny fairies once and for all!" Hades concluded. The room burst into cheers, all of the wizards overjoyed at the thought of fighting another guild.
"Yeah! Down with Fairy Tail! The Dark wizards cheered.
"We'll get them where it hurts.. Right on their precious island." Hades snickered.