"Master, I'm really worried." Mira sighed. She stood behind the bar, wiping it clean with a cloth.
"Try not to worry yourself too much Mira." Master Makarov said, smiling at her.
"Speak for yourself, old man." Cana slurred with a hiccup. She had been drinking non-stop since everyone had left for battle.
Makarov closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Of course he was worried, so how could he tell anyone else not to worry? His children, his guild, was out fighting not only one but multiple dangerous enemies. His own grandson was out there as well. He had seen the pain on the faces of those of Fairy Tail who stayed behind. The worry was so thick in the air that you could part it with your hands. If you swung a sword at it a wound would probably appear, and the sadness would bleed out. But he had faith in his guild, and all his brats. He knew how strong they were, and how their emotions could power them.
Porlyusica walked into the guild hall, her face looking aged with worry but her eyes blank. She walked over to Makarov and looked down at the tiny old man as he sat on top of the bar. She carried a bag with her, filled with medicines, cures, and herbs.
"Makarov, this stress is bad for your heart." She groaned.
"Mmm. What brings you here Porlyusica?" Makarov nodded.
"I figured that I should be here when your children return." She said matter-of-factly. And then she made her way to the sick bay.
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Juvia walked up to Erza and stood by her side. The Heaven's Wheel armor had failed her, and she wasn't taking it well. Evergreen was broken and unconscious on the ground, breathing but not moving. Lyon's resolve had disappeared. He was unable to fight, and unable to care. The moral of the remaining wizards was wavering, and Juvia knew that she had to do something. She couldn't let anyone else get hurt. It was time to bring an end to Bone Crusher and the pain he was causing all her friends.
"What do you plan on doing Juvia?" Erza asked, finally looking at her.
The look in Juvia's blue eyes went from sadness to determination. She stood tall and looked Erza in the eyes. She was ready to get serious.
"Juvia is going to drown him." She said confidently.
"Drown him? How are you going to do that?" Freed gasped.
"Juvia will contain him in a sphere of water, and he will begin to suffocate. When you see him go unconscious, you will attack with everything you have." Juvia explained.
"How do you know your water sphere will be strong enough to suffocate him?" Levy asked, her hands shaking.
"Because Juvia will be using her body."
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Natsu's entire body shook as he looked at Ember. Her Dragon Force reminded him so much of when he had faced Acnologia on Tenrou Island that he was actually frightened. Sweat dripped down his face, his muscles twitched. It was hard for him to remember that this girl was his friend, his team mate. She had been like an actual older sister to him, and now he was terrified of her. She looked at him with her blacked out eyes, the blue marks on her skin appearing to glow in the brilliant blue aura that surrounded her.
Wendy, Laxus, and Gajeel couldn't help but shiver in fear as well. They were having flashbacks of Tenrou Island. Of the battle with Acnologia that caused them to be frozen in time for 7 years, the world aging around them but themselves remaining the same. They feared that if Ember attacked with her dragon slayer powers, that the same thing would happen. Even though they knew in the back of their mind that the only reason they were frozen in time was because of their magic uniting and with the help of the guild's founder, Mavis Vermillion. Mavis was not here, they didn't see her, although it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility for her to show up. But this was not Tenrou Island, so the magic in the land was not the same.
All of the exceeds cowered. They got close to their friends, shaking and tears in their eyes. They were so small, so defenseless. They didn't know what to do. Pantherlily was prepared to go into battle mode if he had to. In that form he would be the size of a muscular and formidable human, but he wasn't sure he would be strong enough to do much. The appearance of Ember's Dragon Force was making everyone else's fighting spirit leave them. It was as if they had forgotten who the enemy was.
"She hasn't used any dragon slayer magic at all in this fight. How is she all of a sudden in this form?" Sting stammered.
"Laxus…." Gajeel said in a low voice. Rogue and Sting looked to him for explanation. "She shielded Laxus from that attack. Her fear of him being hit by it, the fear of losing him, that must have set off her natural instincts. She lost control."
"Is this a good or bad thing?" Rogue asked.
"I don't know." Gajeel sighed.
Ember walked towards Natsu. He just stared at her, not being able to move. He was beating himself up inside for reacting this way. It was not like him to be scared of another dragon slayer. He was one! He could fight one, and beat them! It was the past that scared him, not really his friend. And he knew he had to snap out of it. Ember grabbed his hands in hers, and a smile appeared on her face. Natsu gasped. In that moment he didn't see Acnologia, he saw Ember, his friend, his family. His body started to relax.
"Don't be scared of me Natsu. It's still me." She said.
"Ember…..I-I'm sorry." Natsu sighed.
"It's okay. But we have to end this. You and me. Are you ready?"
"Absolutely."
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"If you use your body then the attacks will hit you as well!" Jellal shouted at Juvia.
"Yes." Juvia nodded.
"No. No. I won't do it." Levy cried.
"Me neither. That's suicide." Freed sighed.
"You will do it! You all will do it!" Juvia yelled, her face red with anger.
The wizards all looked at her. Sorrow filled their eyes, and fear filled their hearts. They didn't know what would come of this, and the possibility of hitting Juvia with their attacks scared them. They didn't want to deal too much damage to her body, but they wanted to defeat Bone Crusher, and no one else had any ideas. Juvia wasn't going to back down, and they knew this. She was a Fairy Tail wizard, and she would do anything to defend her guild and her friends, even if it meant putting her own life at risk. They admired this, because they all would do the same. They all had before.
"Fine. It's our only option." Erza finally said. She gave off the impression of confidence, but her heart ached for Juvia.
"What if this doesn't work? Then what do we do?" Bickslow asked.
"It will work." Erza stated, the confidence on her face unwavering.
"We believe in your Juvia." Levy said with a smile.
"We are all right here." Freed smiled and nodded.
Juvia looked at all her comrades. At one point in time she had fought against Fairy Tail. She had kidnapped Lucy and battled Gray on the behalf of the dark guild Phantom Lord. But they had all looked beyond her dark past and accepted her. This held true for Jellal too, who at one time thought he was possessed by Zeref and almost killed Natsu and Erza in an epic battle at the Tower of Heaven, but now he stood at Erza's side and fought at hers. Racer also, who had once been a member of the Oracion Seis and planned on taking over the world with dark magic Nirvana. Now he sat with an injured Evergreen's head on his lap, making sure she was alright. And then there were her guild mates, her family. Levy, Freed, Bickslow, and Erza. She could feel the love in their hearts, and the faith they had in her, she smiled at them one last time before turning away from them and walking outside of the barrier.
Bone Crusher laughed. How could any of them be stupid enough to willingly walk into open territory? Where he could easily crush them? He held his hands out towards Juvia and clapped his hands together, but nothing happened. His face contorted in confusion and he took a step back. Juvia stared him down. She would get her revenge for Gray. She would punish this dark wizard for causing him and her other friends such pain. She was determined to make it so he never broke the bone of another living person ever again. She took a step forward.
"Drip drip drop." She said in a monotone voice. It sent chills down everyone's spine.
"How did your bones not break? I don't understand!" Bone Crusher shouted, shaking his fist at her.
"Juvia is water, both in body and soul." Juvia said, showing him exactly what she meant. Her body became water, clear and flowing and powerful.
She launched herself at Bone Crusher, wrapping her body of water around him in a sphere of water. He floated inside of it, blowing bubbles out of his nose. Bubbles rushed out of his mouth, so it was apparent he was yelling, but there was no way to hear what he was saying. The sphere of water was beginning to slowly drown the wizard, and it started to rise into the air as if to make it easier for everyone to attack. Bone Crusher struggled. He might as well have been below the surface of the sea, but no matter how hard he tried to swim to the surface, he couldn't break free.
Erza, Bickslow, Freed, Jellal, and Levy all formed a line along the barriers edge. They watched the sphere rise into the air, and prepared their minds and bodies for attack.
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"So what's the plan?" Natsu asked.
"We are going to Unison Raid, from above. But before we do that, we need to distract the dragon until everyone else can get off this mountain and at a safe distance." Ember said.
"That will take forever!" Natsu shouted.
"No. The exceeds can fly them. They will be far enough away quickly." Ember explained.
"Oh right! Awesome!"
"One problem. I don't think we have enough exceeds."
Ember was right. In order for their attack to work Happy had to stay with Natsu. That left Pantherlily, Carla, Lector and Frosch. Lector and Frosch would carry Sting and Rogue respectively. Carla would carry Wendy. Pantherlily could turn himself into his battle form and carry Gajeel and one other person. Ember turned to Pantherlily.
"Lily, you need to go into your battle formation and carry both Gajeel and Cobra. That is the only way everyone can escape." Ember said to him.
"No problem." Pantherlily nodded, and he transformed. He was now as big as Gajeel, a huge formidable black panther.
"What about Laxus, Ember?" Wendy asked.
"I've got that handled. Nunu will take him with you and then return to me quickly." Ember said.
"Nunu?" Gajeel questioned.
Ember just smiled. She held out her scythe and it burst into Hell Fire. Nunu appeared before everyone, Sting and Rogue gasping in shock. The large hell hound stood there and growled at the dragon. Lector and Frosch trembled at the site of the wolf-like beast, ram horns on top of it's head and black spots blending into it's storm gray fur. Ember instructed Nunu to take Laxus to safety, and the hound snorted as if to acknowledge her request. Large demon wings as black as Ember's eyes sprouted from his back.
"HE HAS WINGS!THAT IS SO FUCKING COOL!" Natsu screamed.
Nunu flew over to Laxus and grabbed him by the waist of his pants with his mouth, carrying him into the air. The exceeds sprouted their wings and grabbed the dragon slayers, following Nunu's lead. The Earth dragon was getting impatient now. It hadn't attacked because of the sudden presence of Ember's Dragon Force. All dragons knew the power of Acnologia, and hers was similar enough to cause the dragon to stay back. But now he was finally realizing it wasn't Acnologia, and he roared into the sky.
Ember and Natsu began distracting the dragon with minor attacks that would just annoy it. Punches, kicks, yells. Happy flew Natsu around the dragons head so that Natsu could pester it more easily. They didn't want to use up their magic power because they would need it for their Unison Raid, but they had to wait for Nunu to return first.
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Erza re-qipped into her Flight Armor. The cheetah tail and ears matched with the cheetah print armor to go along with the speed that came with it. She had a short sword in each of her hands. Jellal crossed his arms above his head gathering power from the shadows around him with his Heavenly Body magic, beginning the casting of the spell Altairis. A black orb formed above his head as it grew from the shadows it gathered, the night sky and all it's stars seeming to appear inside of it. Once Jellal and Erza were prepared to attack, the others were as well. They had to attack all at once.
Erza threw herself at the sphere with incredible speed, dicing at it from all angles with her two swords.
Jellal sent Altairis at the sphere, the black orb hitting with efficiency and the power to cause massive damage.
"Solid script BOMB!" Levy sent a solid script at the orb, the word BOMB exploding on impact.
"Dark Ecriture Death!" Freed flung runes at the sphere, and they landed on Bone Crusher's skin with purple light.
Bickslow sent his babies at the sphere, and they sent off a chain of explosions.
All their attacks hit at once, causing a blinding light to light up the sky and blow them all backwards and onto the ground. They shielded themselves from the immense magic power and waited for the attack to finish. The light died out, debri stopped flying, the wind stopped blowing. The magic power of the attack diminished.
They all looked at each other, making sure everyone was alright. No one was hurt. Racer had shielded Evergreen and Lyon had shielded himself. They looked up into the sky with confusion on their face. This immediately made everyone think the attack didn't work and they jumped up quickly, ready to attack again, but when they looked to the sky they realized that wasn't the problem. The sphere was gone, Bone Crusher laid on the ground next to Cheza and Jesy, totally unmoving. He had been defeated. Their combination of attacks and team work as a whole had worked. But the sphere of water was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Juvia.
"JUVIA?" Erza called out, running out of the barrier in a panic.
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Ember was swooped off the ground by Nunu. He carried her by the hood of her cape with his mouth. She smiled. She had been sick of distracting this dragon, she was getting bored. Surprisingly her Dragon Force was still in effect, even though she had refrained from using any magic power while waiting for Nunu to return. All she could think about was Laxus, and how if she had not reached him in time he would have died. It hadn't occurred to her that she could have been the one that was killed if her emotions didn't send her into Dragon Force. Ember hated losing control, and hated that she could sense her friends fear of her. But it was time for her to embrace who she was, and to use her power to save her guild. The guild that had accepted her and trusted her, even though it was a long road. The guild that was now her family.
Nunu flew Ember to Natsu and she pointed up. Happy started to rise into the sky, carrying Natsu with him. Nunu and Ember rising alongside them.
"We need to do this quickly. Before he can come flying after us." Ember said to Natsu.
"No problem. I'm all fired up!" Natsu smiled, his fist igniting in flames.
When they reached a comfortable height Nunu and Happy stopped flying. They turned Ember and Natsu so they were directed towards the Earth dragon and not away from it. The dragon hadn't noticed where they had gone yet. All the better, it gave them more time.
Natsu started to power himself up. Flames burst around him and hugged his entire body. The fire licked at the sky around them in a brilliant dance of flames. Natsu's power was incredible, and it kept growing. Lightning started to spark around the fire, traveling in and out of it as if it was a thunder cloud. Ember gasped. Laxus had told her about giving Natsu his lightning magic on Tenrou Island, but she had never seen him use it. The mixture of flames and lightning was beautiful, and the power that came along with it skin tingling.
Ember was already in Dragon Force so she didn't have to power up as much as Natsu. The blue aura that encompassed her grew bigger and glowed brighter. Shadowed tendrils licked off of it and began to mix with Natsu's fire. The blue marks on her skin once again looked as if they were glowing, her eyes black and endless.
The magic of the dragon slayers began to mix. Natsu's red flames began to turn blue. Flames mixed with Ember's shadows and swirled around her. They grabbed each other's hand. Lightning spread between them causing goosebumps to erupt on their skin. Each of them took in a deep breath, getting ready to send a dragon slayer roar down at the Earth dragon with everything they had in them. They released their power at the same time.
Their roars flew down at the dragon, and the mountain. A giant pillar of flames, lightning, shadows and blue light. The attack hit with ferocious force. The mountain and everything around it lit up brilliantly. The explosive sound and incredible force of the attack blew out miles in every direction.
The exceeds carrying the other dragon slayers stopped flying and turned around. They all hovered in the sky, the bright light blinding their eyes and the sound hurting their ears. It was almost like Tenrou Island all over again, and this sent chills down Wendy and Gajeel's spines. Laxus and Cobra were still unconscious. Sting and Rogue shook down to their souls. The exceeds were sweating not only from the weight of the people they carried, but also from their anxiety.
The force and sound of the explosion stopped. The light began to fade, and soon it was gone. And along with it, so was half of the mountain.
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Max ran into the guild hall so fast he almost stumbled over when he tried to stop himself. He was out of breath and his sandy blonde hair was drenched in sweat, hanging in front of his eyes. Makarov and Mira stared at him. Cana was passed out at the bar, the huge amount of alcohol she had consumed finally kicking her ass.
"The...the exceeds are back….with the dragon slayers!" Max gasped in between breaths.
Makarov jumped off the bar and Mira ran from behind it. Lucy, Lisanna and Gray jumped up from their table and broke into a run, following Mira and the Master out the door. Everyone else shortly followed them.
The sun was setting, creating ribbons or purple, pink, and orange in the sky. The breeze blew gently, ruffling the hair of the Fairy Tail wizards. Carla and Pantherlily stood next to Wendy, Gajeel, Cobra, and Laxus. All four of the dragon slayers had passed out from exhaustion. The two flying cats breathed heavily from all the energy they had used carrying them. Pantherlily was no longer in his battle form, and was down to his small size again. Lector and Frosch had taken Rogue and Sting to Sabertooth to be treated for their injuries and exhaustion. Lily had brought Cobra to Fairy Tail because he didn't know where else to bring him.
"Hey look! It's Erza and the others!" Warren called out, pointing down the street.
Everyone turned their attention away from the dragon slayers, not even noticing that Happy, Natsu, and Ember were not among them in the chaos.
Jellal and Erza walked ahead of the group, looking forward with serious faces like leaders do. Levy leaned on Bickslow for support, exhaustion all over her face. Racer walked next to Freed, Evergreen still unconscious in Freed's arms. Lyon had gone back to Lamia Scale and was not with them. But neither was Juvia. They stopped walking when they reached the group. Elfman ran to Freed.
"Evergreen?!" Elfman yelled.
"Take her to sick bay, quickly." Freed said to him, handing her to Elfman gently.
Elfman took her body in his arms, tears building up in his eyes. Mira brought her hand to her mouth with a gasp.
"Porlyusica is in sick bay, hurry!" Makarov yelled at Elfman. He nodded and ran back into the building.
Levy saw Gajeel on the ground and stumbled to him. She dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around his sleeping body. Her body shook with sobs but there was a smile on her face. She was just happy that he was alive, and in one piece. Racer went over to Cobra to make sure his guild member was okay.
Gray, Lucy and Lisanna looked around confused. They were the first to notice that anyone was missing. Panic began to set in. Gray ran up to Erza and Jellal, his hands in fists.
"Where is Juvia?" He asked, grinding his teeth.
"We don't know." Jellal said sadly, looking at the ground.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?" Gray shouted. Everyone looked over at them in silence.
"She is the reason we were able to defeat Bone Crusher. She used her body to make him go unconscious in a sphere of water. We all attacked the sphere at one time. It was effective." Erza explained, she was choking back her own tears.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Gray was freaking out. He was determined not to cry.
"It was the only way. It was her decision. And she had been right." Erza choked.
"So what…..she's just gone?" Gray stammered, his heart pounding in his chest.
"When the dust settled Bone Crusher was on the ground. Juvia was nowhere to be seen." Jellal said sadly.
No one said anything. They had no words. No one wanted to say that Juvia was actually gone, but none of them wanted to give false hope and say that she wasn't gone either. Quiet sobs could be heard throughout the crowd. Tears glistened on peoples faces in the light of the setting sun.
"W-where's Natsu?" Lucy whimpered. Tears streamed down her face.
"Holy crap, Natsu isn't here!" Someone gasped from the crowd.
"Neither is Ember!" Another said.
"Or Happy!" and another.
Mira began to cry. Four of her friends were not here. And one of them was in sick bay with countless broken bones. She covered her face in her hands and dropped to her knees. Lisanna ran over to her, kneeling beside her and crying as well.
The dragon slayers started to wake up. Laxus propped himself up and then got into a sitting position on the ground, he wasn't strong enough to stand on his feet yet. Wendy rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking up at her guild members. Romeo ran to her and threw his arms around her. She hugged him tightly. Cobra opened his eyes and Racer helped him balance himself into a sitting position. He had not been awake since he had passed out in the middle of battle. He was confused at first until he realized where he was. Gajeel wrapped his arms around Levy, and they just laid there on the ground.
"Laxus, where is Ember, Natsu, and Happy? And Nunu for that matter?" Makarov asked. Laxus refused to look at him, and he didn't speak.
"Hold on wait a second. Natsu and Ember aren't here?" Cobra questioned, looking around.
"You have been knocked out since we were all still fighting. They…..they let us escape." Wendy whimpered and began to cry.
"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked, tears flowing down her cheeks as she held Mira.
"Ember went into Dragon Force. Her and Natsu were the only two left with enough magic power to fight. Us exceeds carried the other dragon slayers away so that they could perform a Unison Raid against the Earth dragon that they were fighting." Pantherlily explained.
"The attack succeeded. The dragon was blown away, along with half of Mount Florencia." Carla said sadly, looking at Wendy.
"So where are Natsu and Ember?" Gray yelled.
"We don't know. We didn't see them anywhere." Pantherlily sighed.
Makarov's face turned white as paper. His eyes began to water and tears started to fall down his wrinkled cheeks. Three of his children, an exceed, and a hell hound, had not returned home. There was no confirmation on their physical state. No details on if they were alive or dead. The Master turned and walked away from the crowd, disappearing back into the guild hall. No one followed him. No one spoke. The only thing they all shared with each other at that moment was the tears that fell down their faces and the despair that flooded their thoughts.