Previously:
There was too much heat in me and seeing Erza scream once again in pain has made something snap within me. My heat inside becomes heat outside of my body. My head lifts and my eyes close involuntarily. The heat I'm feeling doesn't hurt, but it continues to get hotter as my fury of the entire situation increases. I have to tear this guy and his cohorts apart to protect my friends. That is the only thought in my mind until I lose consciousness.
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He chuckles lightly, glad that it is all over and that he properly paid back Phantom Lord for the assaults on his home. Lucy and Happy laugh along with him, their hearts and minds no longer burdened by the oppressive shadow of their defeat.
Unfortunately, they forget about one last player in the battle against Phantom Lord. The strongest one of them all.
José.
Ezra stares in shock as her heavily injured friend bursts into flames. She almost screams in panic, thinking that José somehow set Krysti on fire. Yet the look of shock on his face showed that it wasn't him who did it. She finally released her magic. Erza thinks before José and she were caught up in the conflagration. The red-head closes her eyes as the flames wash over her. Almost instantly her eyes snap open at the gentle warmth caressing her.
"Warm?" she mummers to herself, momentarily forgetting that she is being held captive as the pain ebbs away. The smell of smoke catches her off guard. How can something be burning from just that gentle warmth of Krysti's fire? It's an impressive display with how large the fire is, but the strength in the flames are lacking. It's no surprise since it is the woman's first time releasing her magic. Very few wizards have a strong display of magic the first time it manifests itself.
The flames look strong. They surround her to the point to where she can't even see José, and they are definitely bright. Erza is certain with time, Krysti would become quite the powerful fire mage, as strong or even stronger than Natsu is right now. The smell of smoke grows stronger and this worries Erza. What if it's the older woman who is burning? It doesn't happen often, but sometimes fire mages can lose control of their fire and burn themselves. The flames start to die down and the glimpses of the room surrounding the redhead leave her startled.
Charred.
The white and grey stone of the room is scorched until most of it is black. The battered red carpet is burnt into a black smoldering mess; even José himself hasn't escaped the fire unscathed. His lip is curled into a sneer as his singed clothes have small wisps of smoke coming from it. A thump pulls Erza's attention away from the room and she looks over to where her friend is. Krysti lays unconscious on the ground in a heap. Even her clothes suffered from the fire.
"Krysti!" she shouts out in concern, hoping the brunette would stir to let her know if she is okay.
She didn't move.
"Pathetic pest. She deserves to suffer a slow death." Jose says in a deadly calm voice as he lifts his other hand in the direction of the fallen woman.
"José! Don't you dare harm her!" Erza commands with all the dignity that she can muster in her position. José spares her a glance, his grin widening in a manic way.
"You think you can dictate what I can or cannot do? I am the leader of Phantom Lord, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. A mere peon like you has no right to even think of telling me what to do. I'll show all you in Fairy Tail and in this country that Phantom Lord is the superior guild even if I have to kill each and every one of you myself. And I think I'll start with this unsightly pest." José almost growls out that last sentence, his eyes blazing with anger. A magic circle activates in front of his hand and Erza starts struggling harder within her bonds.
"Die." José calmly says just before the sound of thunder rings throughout the room and it becomes lit up with a bright light. José magic fades and Erza is covered by a white glow. She gasps in surprise as she feels not only some of her energy returning, but even her armor is being repaired.
"This is..." Erza mumbles in wonderment. As the white glow dissipates around her, she floats gently down to the floor from where José has been holding her up with his magic. As her feet touch down, she allows herself to collapse onto her knees. She can feel the heat in the stones and it confuses her why they are so warm to the touch. José's arms lower back down to his sides as he watches Erza descend. He looks up to see the source of the light and his face, which was in a crazed grin, settles back into a look of neutral indifference.
The light shining into the room from the broken windows is just enough to obscure the features of the short figure slowly floating down to the top of a large rubble pile. The face may be hidden, but only one person with a magical presence that strong is that small.
Makarov.
By some stroke of luck, he was able to recover his magic in time to come and fight against the leader of Phantom Lord. He was there when Krysti's magic manifested itself in the explosion of fire. He feels proud and worried at the same time. Proud that she was able to tap into her magic and release it an effort to protect her friends. But he is also worried that she has used too much of her magic and may be in a dangerous situation not unlike his just less than an hour before.
At José's words of not just harming his children, but killing them, Makarov knew it was time to step in. He cast a special healing spell to help his children rejuvenate their magic at a faster pace, hoping they would wake up. It was heartbreaking to see them all laying passed out on the ground like they were broken dolls.
As he floats down to confront José for his heinous actions, Makarov closes his eyes to keep the inner rage from controlling him and makes him lose his cool. He needs to have the utmost focus for this battle with José. Seeing Makarov appear was a shock at first, but José quickly overcomes that fleeting feeling. He realizes that now he has a chance to not only defeat the Fairy Tail master but make him suffer even more.
Without realizing it, an ugly smirk appears on José's face. The disbelief that has kept Erza still, grows more so when she turns just enough to see Makarov's silhouette above her. It's incredible that not only has he recovered but to the point to where it doesn't seem like he was almost at death's door such a short time ago.
"Much blood has been spilled. Children's blood. Because of their parent's failure, the children have suffered and shed tears. Enough of this feud between us two." Makarov intones solemnly in a formal way that he only reserves for the most serious of occasions. Erza looks at the man who is like a father to her with relief evident in her expression.
The white light of the spell Makarov cast wears off as he finishes with a harsher voice, "We must put this to an end!" His eyes snap open during this to reveal a glare aimed right at the master of Phantom Lord. Erza forces herself to stand up as she wipes away tears of happiness at seeing Makarov back to full health.
"Master!" she calls out softly, almost overwhelmed by her relief. With the Master here, Fairy Tail now has a fighting chance to win this unsanctioned war. The two guild masters stand there in silence, glaring at each other. While one is glaring with hatred and jealousy, the other glares with a righteous fury and the need to protect his loved ones.
Without saying a word, José lifts up his hand towards his chest and makes a fist. Purple light glows about him and the whites of his eyes turn black while the pupils turn a pale yellow. Small rocks start to fly up into the air from the pressure of his magic alone. His expression and aura just ooze malice despite the ridiculous way his face looks. As he squints his eyes, it just gives him more of a look of a demented panda. If the situation wasn't so dire, it would be hysterical.
"You wish to cause a disaster?" José growls out in an almost gleeful way. The veins on Makarov forehead throb as he clenches his fists at José's words. He settles into a more balanced stance to ready himself for combat. A flash of light and a yellow magical orb appears on the end of Makarov's index finger.
His cloak flaps around him from the wind generated by the sheer intensity of his magical power. The Master lifts his finger up in front of his face before swinging his arm back in preparation to launch the baseball-sized orb towards José. The fury in his eyes greatly evident.
"If it's for the sake of my guild!" Makarov shouts out in reply to José's challenge. The wind from the magical pressure of the two wizards whips around in the room in a frenzy as the two stare at each other. Before the intense staring contest between the two guild leaders, two of the four fallen fairies slowly wake up as their magic returns.
"What is this warm, familiar magical power?" Gray asks himself as he struggles to lift his head. The sight that greets him, leaves him speechless. Erza and the Master are standing in defiance in front of José. The sickly purple magic used by José forms into an orb before it splits into the three skulls that imprisoned Erza just moments ago.
They rush out to capture Makarov who in response, casts several magical circle shields to block the attack. As he blocks, the Fairy Tail master jumps off the large pile of rubble to land in front of Erza. The red-head gapes at the increased amount of magic power José is throwing out. It makes what he was using against her a mere trifling.
"Get everyone away from here!" Makarov commands of the female S-class wizard without breaking eye contact with the crazed leader of Phantom Lord. Gray and Elfman get back on their feet with some difficulty, the battles they have fought today taking their toll. They look on in awe at the power exuding from the two Wizard Saints.
They also take in the sight of the blackened walls and floor of the room. Like there was a massive fire that broke out. It leaves them wondering what exactly happened after they passed out?
"Master!" Gray calls out, unhappy that he is ordered to retreat and leave the old man alone.
"Why is he here?" Elfman asks more to himself than anything. It's shocking to see someone so close to death to be fighting so soon and so strongly.
Erza turns to face the males as she barks out, "Do as he says!" She banks on the Phantom Lord Master being too focused on taking out Makarov to pay attention to her as she leaves the safety of the shield to go to the fallen brunette. The guy's eyes widen in shock at her move, and the breath leaves their lungs like they are punched in the gut when they see where Erza is headed.
"Why is she here?" Gray asks of himself in a breathless whisper.
"What happened to Krysti, her clothes are completely burnt!?" Elfman shouts out in surprise. And Gray is snapped out of his shock to see that yes, it is true, her clothes are completely burnt to a crisp. Even the bandages that were covering her wounds are blackened. As Erza start to pick up the larger woman with a pained grunt, the burnt clothes and bandages start falling off in bits and pieces.
As she rushes back to the safety of the shield and her friends, the guys begin to blush heavily. In Erza's mad rush to hurry back, most of the brunette's clothes and bandages were whisked away by the wind. The coverings weren't just burnt to a crisp, they were completely ashen.
To help keep her modesty, Gray goes to take off his shirt only to realize that he lost his shirt, again. The blush on his face increases as he tries not to look at the now quite exposed body of his friend. Elfman coughs as he too looks away before taking his shirt off. He walks over to the two females while keeping his gaze aimed towards the ceiling.
He offers the shirt to Erza while saying gruffly, "It is Man to help protect the modesty of a woman." As soon as his shirt leaves his hand, he turns his back to help with protecting Krysti's modesty. Gray can't help but peek as Erza pulls the surprising well fitting, although long, shirt over the brunette. Mira by this point has already awoken and thumps Gray on the back of his head when she sees him peeking. His face turns even redder at being caught.
"Let's go," Erza commands once she gets the shirt on Krysti. She lifts the woman up, holding her upright with one arm wrapped around her waist and holding the brunette's arm over the redhead's shoulder. Elfman helps his sister to stand and they go to leave the room. Gray jerks with a start as he quickly moves over to Krysti's other side to help hold her up and ease the strain on Erza.
During this quick retrieval of their fallen guild mate, José stopped attacking Makarov and in turn, Makarov lowers the shield, although the glowing yellow orb at the tip of his finger has only grown bigger in size.
"Now that you are here, I have no need for the small-fry. Don't worry. I'll finish them off later, of course." José calls out cockily. He is confident in his youth and strength to be able to finish off the Fairy Tail guild all on his own, especially with them all run down from the battle against his obviously more powerful guild.
"We trust in the Master to be able to finish this war," Erza states confidently as she and the other four leave the Phantom guildhall through a hole in an outside wall.
"It's been 6 years since we've last faced each other, hasn't it? And Fairy Tail has grown so much in that time. But it's been destroyed now, hasn't it?" José says conversationally before chuckling happily as he widens his stance. Makarov moves to change his position to a better angle and the yellow orb, now the size of a cantaloupe, emits a bright white light. His glare has intensified at José's words, Makarov's rage is bubbling closer to the surface.
"A guild is not a building. It's a union between people!" Makarov shouts out as he lunges forward with his arm swinging around to start casting a spell with the pale yellow orb. His hand moves erratically and each change of direction left a smaller pale yellow orb hanging in the air around the Fairy Tail master's body. Each floating orb is connected by a line of the same color.
"But I'm so happy." José says almost in a whine before he continues, "I get to establish the order of superiority among the Wizard Saints." As he finishes speaking his magic surges up again for another attack. At the same time, Makarov's magic also surges to prepare to counterattack.
"I really owe everything to my kids! You've all done well. Be proud to be part of Fairy Tail!" the Master of Fairy Tail yells out, knowing that those four can hear him even though he wishes they would hurry and get away. Unseen by those inside the robot, a sphere of pale white light surrounds the robotic guildhall. The power of the magic is strong enough that the ocean water lifts up and swirls around the sphere.
Above, the clouds are spiraled and from the center, a blue lightning bolt hits the guildhall dead on before more lightning flashes around the pale sphere. Despite Natsu's victory, the Shades controlled by José has yet to stop attacking the members still on the beach. It wasn't enough that the guildhall, their home, was destroyed. José has to take out the remaining Fairy Tail mages as well. As they battle on against the never ending army, their attention is caught once again by something happening to the giant robot.
Some of the more tired mages fall down as the ground starts shaking without warning. The mages on the beach are scared and confused by what is going on inside Phantom Lord's guildhall. The cause of the shaking is the clashing of Makarov's and José's magic. Both are engulfed by their magic and are pushing against one another. The amount pouring out of them as they fight for dominance actually lifts the two off of their feet as if they are flying.
And they are only using one hand.
At the same time, both the guild leaders gather magic in their other hand to lash out at one another while not giving up their battle to overwhelm the other. Explosions of light flash across the room and both guild leaders land a magical hit on the other, knocking each other back.
"Dead Wave!" José cries out as he gathers magic into a bright purple ball within his hand as he recovers from the blow. With a wave of his hand, he launches it towards Makarov who blocks it with a shield of bright, almost white light. The blast is so strong that the pale sphere around the guildhall disappears and the purple encompasses it instead. Red lightning shoots out from the purple magic as the sphere swiftly grows in size. It bursts into streams of purple magic that is so bright it almost turns white.
The water surrounding the guildhall blasts upwards into large waves as more red lightning dances in the grey sky. The shockwave from the explosion almost knocks down some of the mages fighting on the beach. Inside the room the two guild leaders are fighting in, dust and soot envelop the room, obscuring everything. The magical attacks cease as they both wait for the dark mixture to settle. José stands proudly, certain that the old man at the very least has been injured if not killed from the powerful attack.
He flinches back when Makarov bursts through a dusty soot cloud with three magic circles surrounding his sides as a shield. The circles turn and face José in an upside-down triangle as a white light admits from Makarov's hands. He holds them up in front of his face in a triangular shape and the white light strengthens in brilliance until everything but him fades out into a bright white canvas. He lets out a wordless shout and the light becomes a beam aimed right at the Phantom Lord guild master.
The blast engulfed José and covered the guildhall in a light so intense that it burned brighter than the sun. The Fairy Tail members on the beach and even the people of Magnolia had to shield their eyes from that light or risk going blind. The shockwaves from that attack were strong enough that it even knocked Natsu off of the floor from where he was resting. He lets out a startled yell as he finds himself falling through the air. Happy has yet to let Lucy out of his grasp as he flies around and is not able to catch the dragon slayer.
"Are you okay?" Lucy cries out to Natsu, worried about him being injured even more from that sudden fall.
"But what was that?" Happy asks worriedly. In response, a face-splitting grin show's up on the dragon slayer's face. He looks as happy as if someone told him he can eat as much as he wants free-of-charge. Lucy looks at his joyful expression feeling perplexed, not knowing what could be causing it.
"This is Gramps' magic, no doubt about it!" he tells her cheerfully. His spirits are higher now that the knowledge of the old man is back to fighting form.
The room the two guild leaders are fighting in is in a much worse shape than before. After that blast, most of the room is destroyed and is barely holding up. Both the guild masters land lightly on the ground, undisturbed by the unstable flooring.
"Impressive. Such magical power, and yet so young. You do have what it takes to bear the title of Wizard Saint. If you had used that power for good and became a role-model for the younger generation, you would have led the magic world to its future..." Makarov says in a grand voice before getting interrupted. As the old man spoke, José just gave him a glare of disapproval until he was tired of hearing the old guild master talk.
"You're lecturing me, aren't you?" José interrupts with a smugly amused sneer.
"As is Fairy Tail tradition, I shall count to three before rendering judgment upon you." Makarov cuts back in with a louder and more impatient voice. At hearing those words, as if he was naught but a small child, José's sneer twisted into a hateful frown.
"Beg for mercy." Makarov almost hisses out, his disdain for Jose displayed clearly on his features. José lets out a taunting laugh to show that he held no fear over the old man's threats.
"One!" Makarov shouts out fiercely.
"I wondered what you'd say. But this?" the Phantom Lord master sneers again, closing his eyes to show that he wasn't falling for this bluff. "Beg for mercy!?" he shouts out in a high-pitched mocking voice that makes him sound even crazier than he is.
"Two!" Makarov shouts out again, as he calls upon his magic to cast down his judgment. So much power is being gathered that his pupils can no longer be seen in his eyes. He brings his palms together at an angle, with one over the other and another pale yellow orb of magic appears.
"You expect the number one guild in the country to bow down to you? Don't kid yourself! I can fight toe-to-toe with you! No, I won't hold back, so I'm actually more powerful!" José yells out as he calls upon the most powerful spell he knows, ready to destroy the old man in front of him. His purple magic drapes around him like a giant worm.
"Three!" Makarov yells out, enough magic has been gathered and now he only needs to activate the spell.
"You're the one who should beg for mercy! Begone! Disappear with your brats into the ranks of history, Fairy Tail!" José shouts, completely confident in his abilities and certain that since he is willing to kill that he will have the edge and win.
"Time's up!" Makarov cries out.
"Die, Fairy Tail!" José screeches out as he sees his moment of absolute victory. He blasts out his magic with every intention of snuffing out the life in front of him. Makarov slams his hands together as the magical glow around him brightens.
The twin blasts of purple magic almost reach him before they dissipate. José sucks in a shocked breath as the light continues to grow stronger. Something is sapping his magic, his strength, his will. All he can do is stand there as pure white light shoots out from the ground at his feet. Makarov starts floating in the air again as yellow light brighter than the sun can ever be, shines out from everywhere.
"Fairy Law is invoked!" Makarov proclaims at the top of his lungs. His eyes which have closed when he slammed his palms together now open. From them, a magic circle appears and a soft shining light spills out from the heavens to meet the golden glow in an ever more brilliant display. The entirety of the Phantom guildhall is bathed in the soft glow, and any place that the gentle light does not touch is covered by the blindingly bright orb in the middle that's half the size of the guildhall.
From the pale light shining above, another golden glow just as luminescent as the light in the guildhall pours out onto the building below. Just as quickly as it came, the golden light from above recedes and just before it disappears a supernova of light explodes out from the hall.
Everyone on the beach, in the town, and even those who evacuated are blinded by the burst of light. After the initial burst, it dims down but even that is quite bright. It's hard to see anything happening with the giant robot. At first, José's Shades went unnoticed by the mages on the beach as they faded in the light, but not for long.
The longer the Fairy Tail mages look into the light, the more they feel compassion radiating from it. What they were able to feel was the love that Makarov has for each of them.
"It's Fairy Law," Erza explains. She along with Gray, Mirajane, Elfman, and Krysti arrived on the beach just moments before.
"Fairy Law?" Gray asks. He never heard of a spell called that before.
"Righteous light that slays the darkness. It slays only that which the caster believes is the enemy. It's a super-powerful magic, now counted as a legend." she tells him. With a start, she turns to look at Krysti, who is laying on the beach, still unconscious near them. Erza looks down at the older woman in slight awe, thinking that her first showing of magic is reminiscent of the legendary spell being used in front of them right now. A small smile appears on her face as she thinks about how great of a mage her new friend will be.
The other three stare in awe at the sight of Fairy Law and its beautiful glow. Only Mirajane notices the look that Erza is giving the passed out brunette. She stays quiet and plans on asking the red-head about it at another time. As the glow dies down, the sooty dust within the room containing the two Wizard Saints settles as well. There José can be seen standing in the same spot as before Fairy Law was cast. However in that same spot was not the same man.
Arms thrown over his face to protect him from the blinding light, a much paler version of the Phantom Lord guild leader stands there. Besides erratic twitching, he doesn't move an inch. His mouth gapes open in a scream, but the only noise that can be heard is a dry rattle. Everything about him has been muted, colors and even sound. His rich and vibrant clothes look old and faded. The soot and dust settling on him make the clothes look even more run down than they are.
Even his skin and hair have lost their color. His maroon red hair is now completely white, although the soot peppering it gives it a gray tint at a distance. His skin looks like he hasn't seen the sun in years. But one of the biggest changes was his face. As you get closer to José, wrinkles can be seen all over his face, making him look like a very old man now. The look of absolute horror was so etched into his face that you would feel pity for the poor man if you didn't know that just seconds earlier that he was trying to murder an entire guild of people.
Makarov stood there staring harshly all the while, taking in the new visage of José. He knew that something like this was going to happen once he cast the spell, but Makarov had no other choice. It was either cast the spell now that would basically drain the younger man of his vitality, or duke it out which would cause unknown amounts of damages and possibly even casualties.
"Never come near Fairy Tail again," Makarov commands in a very deep but otherwise seemingly calm voice. If you didn't take into account the furious glare he is giving the once young looking guild master. Besides the twitches, José still has not moved one muscle during this. The Master of Fairy Tail turns his back on the Master of Phantom Lord and his face relaxes a slight bit now that he is no longer looking at his now defeated enemy.
"The council will not stay silent after things have gotten so flashy. You should watch out for your own skin for a while. And the same goes for me..." Makarov advises before walking calmly away. Behind the short man, a pair of hands fades into view in an ominous way. Soon after the hands appears the manically grinning face of Aria. Despite his clothes being badly singed, he seems to of recovered from his defeat by Erza. His hands are outstretched, trying to reach Makarov while his back is turned.
"The sadness..." he softly wails to himself. Magic circles form at the end of Aria's hands as he prepares to cast the life draining spell again. He almost wiggles in happiness at the fact the old man is wide open just like the last time he ambushed Makarov. Tears fly out from his eyes just as he thinks that the 2nd defeat of Makarov is literally at hand. Just as the large man in a burnt green coat nears the Fairy Tail guild leader a large blow almost dislocates Aria's jaw.
It happened so fast that Aria was already flying off to the side to crash heavily into a piece of a wall before the Master's arm was visible. It is a testament to his strength that without even looking, he is able to knock down a man at least 10 times his size. Makarov's arm snaps back to its original shape just as Aria crashes into the now completely broken wall.
"It's over! The battle of the guilds is finished." Makarov loudly proclaims so José and Aria can hear him. His voice grows harsher as he threatens them, "But if you try anything more, I'll take you out and leave not a trace..." He then turns to face Aria with a closed-eyed smile on his face which startles the Elemental 4 wizard. Makarov's voice goes up a few octaves and his tone changes from a battle harden warrior to a carefree old man.
"Take José with you and go home! Right now!" Makarov tells Aria gleefully.
As nothing else seems to happen within the giant robot, the Fairy Tail wizards start to rejoice and celebrate their apparent victory over the Phantom Lord mages. Their cries echo so loudly that even the people who evacuated the town for safety were able to hear the resident mages. Makarov's heart swells with pride as he listens to the cheers of his beloved children.
Everyone was exhausted from their battles, each member fighting in their own battles to ensure that their loved ones were safe. The Fairy Tail wizards who decided to stay on the beach to try to protect the guildhall are all jumping and dancing in their joy. However, the four who made it back from Phantom Lord's guildhall are not quite as jubilant. Oh, they were elated in their own right that the war is over, but at the same time, they couldn't express themselves fully. They were still extremely worried over the unconscious brunette laying on the sand beside them.
She is barely breathing and even her hair is burnt, something they found out along their trek out of the enemy guildhall. They might not have noticed if it wasn't for the smell of burnt hair that clung to her strongly. Mira, Elfman, Erza, and Gray all hover nearby Krysti, not quite certain what to do for her yet. As they stand around, each one is full of questions that they want to have answered.
Back at the robot, Lucy and Happy are flying higher to catch sight of their friends and family celebrating on the beach when they hear the cheering. Lucy lets out an almost hysterical laugh just from the relief that it is finally over. Out of all the Fairy Tail wizards, she was the one hurt the most emotionally and is a top contender of being most physically hurt as well. Natsu watches his teammate laughing cheerfully as Happy joyfully flies her around in circles and a content look crosses his features unseen by the other two.
"I knew you could do it, Gramps..." Natsu says to himself, relieved and happy that everything turned out ok. Being able to see that smile on Lucy's face was more than worth the pounding he took. Lucy is a precious friend of his and he wouldn't hesitate for a second to go through all of this again to make sure that she doesn't have to cry anymore.
Makarov climbs up onto one of the robot's shoulders that doubles as a roof to look down on the beach watch his celebrating children. He is quickly noticed and they settle down in case he has something to say.
Projecting his voice, Makarov proudly proclaims, "This victory is not from just my power alone, but a victory made from our whole family." The cheers that rose from his words was deafening.
Afternoon soon descends upon Magnolia and where there was once chaos and fighting, order and peace follow. The townsfolk who evacuated during the fighting trickle their way back into town. They are relieved that their home is largely untouched despite the harsh battles that both guilds were in. Only the buildings belonging to Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord were affected in the war between guilds.
The only members of Fairy Tail who remained unaffected by the war were the ones who were away on missions. Master Makarov makes sure that everyone tends to their wounds first and foremost as the guild members gathered around their destroyed home. He sent his fastest runners to have Krysti taken to Porlyusica as soon as he sees the condition she is in. He worries that the spell he cast to help his children to regenerate their magic was too little too late for his newest child.
With how much magic the brunette released for the first time it was close to life threatening. Coupled with how serious her injuries were, it was a miracle that she is still alive. The old medical advisor grumbled under her breath, but she took in Krysti when she saw the state the brunette was in, albeit reluctantly. After getting everyone settled, the Master begins talking to everyone who fought to get their side of the story. Loke wandered during this helping bring in a wounded Reedus who ended up with a bad sprain from trying to protect Lucy.
Natsu saunters up with a smug grin on his face, his clothes still wet from the swim he took to get to shore. What's left of his clothes is in worse shape than he is. The same goes for almost everyone else surrounding the now ruined guild hall. The pink-haired dragon slayer listens in to his friends telling what all they know that happened after the Master was ambushed. When Erza tells her part in bringing Krysti along with her to fight, Natsu's head swivels to face her so fast that his neck cracks.
"YOU DID WHAT!?" he shouts in outrage. He runs up to the red-head and he gives her a hard glare. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!? SHE WAS ALREADY ALMOST DEAD! SHE CAN"T EVEN CAST MAGIC! SHE..." Natsu was interrupted by the armored woman as she glares at him hard. With her voice raised, it cracks like a whip which echoes in the sudden silence as everyone within hearing range quiets down to watch the confrontation.
"She is a Fairy Tail mage. Her spirit was strong and it wanted to do everything it can to fight to protect the people she loves. Magical ability or not, I have no right in stopping someone that determined to fight. If I didn't take her with me, she would have found some other way to get in." At this point, Natsu looks slightly mollified but still extremely frustrated.
Erza's tone softens as she continues, "That and now we can no longer say that she doesn't have any magical ability. After you left Natsu, José showed up along with Gray, Elfman, and Mira. They were knocked unconscious and it was left up to me to protect them. Krysti showed up during this and I was not strong enough to last long against José. When he caught me in his magic, she came in looking angrier than I have ever seen her. Before I knew it, flames burst out of her and covered José and me."
A small upturn of Erza's lips accompanies a look of respect in her eyes while still telling her side, "When the flames died down did I notice the extent of her outburst. The entire room was blackened, everything burned. Even José was affected some. Yet, to me, her flames were as a gentle summer wind. Not one mark was to be found on Elfman, Gray, Mira, or me as well." The three mentioned shared looks of amazement with each other as they find out why everything was burned like it was while they were passed out.
Lucy cuts in by swiftly saying, "There was a wall of flames that came in where Natsu and Gajeel were fighting! It didn't hurt Happy or me at all, but the Phantom mages in the room with us..." she trails off as she remembers the unmoving bodies and she shudders.
Happy jumps in at this point, "Yea! It came just in time too! Natsu was so low on magic reserves that Gajeel was almost about to win! But then like a wish come true, fire came into the room and was everywhere. Natsu got to eat and win!" The little cat jumps up and down on the ground to show off his excitement. Bisca and Cana came up while Natsu was having a death wish by yelling at Erza of all people.
Cana goes to throw in her two cents, "It wasn't just in those two rooms, there was a point where the entire building was on fire." she informs her friends who were all inside the building at the time.
"Yea, fire burst out of every crack that robot has and covered almost the whole thing like it was armor," Bisca adds. At hearing this from the other two females, the Master and the rest of the wizards who were not outside during the battle let their jaws drop.
"If you don't believe us, take a look at the outside of the building. All those black marks were made by that fire." Cana tells them sassily. Several heads turn to inspect in the outside of the Phantom Lord's guild hall and everyone looking gapes at the sight. Most of the building's light gray stone exterior is covered in black marks. The eyes of Erza, Gray, Mira, Lucy, Happy, Elfman, Makarov and Natsu bulge out comically. Each of them is experiencing a wide range of emotions from awe and wonderment to shock and fear.
Except for Master Makarov, he felt more distressed and horrified. He already has the magic council constantly breathing down his back from the sheer amount of damage his children cause. Now he has another one with more destructive potential than most of them put together. All of Fairy Tail that is present reel back in shock as their Master bursts into tears and cries like a baby for no reason they can think of.
"Ummm, what did we miss?" a sweet voice calls out hesitantly. People turn to see that Levy, Jet, and Droy are standing in front of them, they are still covered in bandages, but otherwise, they look fine.
Cold. Deep biting cold that worms its way into your bones and refuses to leave. So cold that it is painful. Everything and everywhere is cold and hurts. A warm liquid enters my mouth and I greedily suck it in, hoping that its warmth will drive away the cold. Everything fades.
Cold. Still so cold. Loud voices sound off nearby and I try to work my mouth to ask for something warm. There is still pain, but not as much. The cold not quite as intense. The voices stop. I try to call out again and blessed warmth makes it way to my mouth. I drink it quickly, relishing the warmth as it spreads through me. Everything fades.
The cold isn't in my bones anymore. It centers more in my chest, but I can still feel it. The pain is more of a low ache now instead of a sharp stabbing pain that hit everywhere at once. I struggle to open my eyes and a soft, gruff voice says something nearby. Gentle hands raise up my head and a cup is pressed to my lips. I open my mouth to swallow down the warmth that settles and spreads in my body. Everything fades.
The cold is only in my chest now. Most of the pain is gone. I let out a sigh of relief. It is an odd feeling, but it isn't the first time my chest has been cold like this. Unbidden, memories of times when I would donate blood or plasma came to me. I mentally shake them away as I open my eyes. Darkness greets me which causes me to panic until my eyes adjust and moonlight can be seen streaming in through a window. A dark form shuffles forward with a cup in its hand. The soft yet gruff voice says something to me while holding the cup to my mouth. A hand lifts my head up and I drink down the not as warm liquid. Everything fades.
Warmth. Pleasantly wonderful warmth. Waking up like this is so much better than being cold. I let out a sigh of happiness as I roll over to get more comfortable. A low throbbing ache builds up in my body the more I move. Once I reach my preferred sleeping position of being partway on my stomach and side, I snuggle into my pillow and allow myself to drift off again.
I wake up to the sound of birds chirping and I smile lazily at that. I had a very good dream that is quickly fading. I get the impression that a large man with a mustache is involved, but it soon goes as well. I open my eyes to see a blurry image of a brown room. Using one of my hands, I wipe away the blurriness to see a room that is made of wood. Where am I? Not like with planks, but like the room itself is inside a giant tree. Shelves were scattered around the walls which were filled with all sorts of bottles and jars. I look down to see a big circular rug over a stone floor.
I see a small garden full of strange looking plants next to a dresser at one end of the room. The flowers look pretty. Looking towards the other end I find a small alcove with more shelves wedged in it. Many different books fill these shelves along with some dishes for decor. The sound of a door opening catches my attention. I sit up in bed to see a pink-haired older woman in a red leather-like cape with teeth along the collar walk in.
"Ah, you're awake now. About time." the woman says grumpily. I recognize her voice. She was the one who been giving me those warm drinks. I look down to finger the orange fur blanket that has been covering me.
"Thank..." I clear out my throat when I hear how hoarse it sounds. I try again, "Thank you for taking care of me, ma'am." I say respectfully. I look back up to see that she is looking at me with an annoyed expression. I break off eye contact and stare at the blanket. I feel uneasy. Did I do something wrong?
"I'm sorry," I say softly.
"Hmm? What for?" I hear her ask with a note of surprise in her tone.
"I'm getting the feeling that I must have done something to make you upset," I explain, still speaking softly and staring at the blanket. I hear a low growl and I cringe. Yup, I did something alright.
"Yes, you did," she replies curtly. I hunch my shoulders at this. "This is why I don't like humans." Humans? "Always risking your fool necks by overdoing it and never thinking about the consequences. It's a miracle that you're even alive after everything you did." Wait, what?
"Um, excuse me ma'am, but what do you mean 'after everything I did'? The last thing I can remember is seeing my friend Erza fighting some smarmy looking guy." I keep my tone respectful as I say all of this since clearly, she is some sort of healer. Even though I have no idea who she is. She turns to silently study me with an upraised eyebrow. I try not to squirm under her hard gaze. She then scoffs and moves over to a table with lots of plants and powders and liquids scattered across its surface.
I decide to keep silent as well as it seems that she does not want to answer me. Usually, I would press for answers, but in this instance, I'm assuming that she has been taking care of me and I do not wish to be rude to her. The silence stretches out and I take this time to slowly stretch and move my body to see how hurt I still am. I marvel at how there seems to be barely any aches or twinges of pain at all. How long have I been out? Better yet, how did I end up here and why am I not in the hospital?
"Here," she grunts out as a small cup is placed in front of me. Jerking slightly from startlement, I look up to see her annoyed expression before nodding.
"Thank you." I softly say before picking up the cup to drink its contents. A bitter taste explodes in my mouth to which I make a face at. I still swallow it all, for if she wanted to harm me she would have done it while I was unconscious. I hand her the cup back and she snatches it quickly before marching back to the table. My ear starts getting itchy and I go to scratch when I feel something in my ear. Concerned, I dig out what turns out to be my translator. I go to stick it back in when it hits me. I lost it when I was beaten up by that weird brown suit guy.
How the hell did this get back in my ear? Is this part of the magic, or did someone find it and bring it back to me? The healer woman says something, and I quickly replace my translator.
"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? I didn't have my translator in." I inform her, still being as respectful as I can. She turns and looks at me with a slightly less annoyed expression.
"Translator?" she asks. I nod and pull it out again to show her. She glances at it and nods.
I place it back in my ear before asking, "Do you know how I got this back? It was missing during the attack by Phantom Lord." Her expression hardens at the name of the guild who attacked us.
"It was brought by one of the noisy brats that have been almost constantly hanging around here. They are apparently very worried about you. I've lost count how many times I had to chase them away just to get some peace and quiet. I hate humans." she grumbles out that last part. I lower my head and smile knowing who she meant by noisy brats. So they really do care...
As if my thought was a summons, the door rattles from heavy pounding that is accompanied by rather loud and familiar shouting. Well, speak of the devil... The door bursts open and in pours in some of my friends. They rush to me with their faces gleaming with excitement when they see me awake.
Flashbacks of hospital scenes in movies back in my world race through my mind and my mischievous side takes hold with an overwhelming urge. I school my face to look wide-eyed and confused. As everyone calms down in their greetings and questions I look them each in the eye carefully.
"Who are you?" I ask in a small and confused voice as I settle my gaze onto Natsu's face. I tilt my head slightly to the side for added effect. In unison, all five of their expressions drop and a look of horror crosses their faces. At this, I couldn't help it and threw myself back onto the bed while giggling madly. The sound of Lucy's offended squawk changes my giggling into mad cackling.
"That was horribly mean, Krysti!" I hear Happy say from above me. I open my eyes to see sour expressions on all their faces, although I can see Erza's and Lucy's lips twitching in amusement as well. I try to sober up as I raise myself back to my original sitting position. Laughter is still bubbling out as I try and fail to hold back a shit-eating grin.
"I'm sorry!" I cry out, not feeling sorry at all. "I couldn't help it! It's a common dramatic scene from my world, and it is not like I wake up in a hospital all that often. I saw a chance and I took it. I mean it's not like I'm going to get injured all that much anyways." A weird chill passes through my body at those words and all of my mirth shrivels away. I shiver at the feeling as it leaves me feeling odd. What the hell was that?!
"Krysti, what's wrong?" Gray asks with an upraised eyebrow at my actions.
Rubbing my arms which are now covered goose bumps I reply, "I don't know. Just got a weird chill." Like someone was walking over my grave. I hope this isn't an omen... Erza steps forward before I think further on the subject and clears her throat to catch my attention.
"Chills and pranks aside, how are you doing, Krysti? You had us worried with how long you been unconscious." the armored female said in a gentler than normal tone.
I look up at her curiously before replying, "Right now I'm feeling fine. What knocked me out, and for how long?" The group shuffles in an awkward manner which shoots a spike of worry through me.
"8 days," Gray says suddenly. I snap my gaze towards him and he has an unreadable look on his face.
My mouth dries as I ask, "What?"
Lucy pipes up as she steps closer, "He said 8 days, Krysti. That's how long you were out." I feel numb at her words.
"What happened?" I ask barely above a whisper.
"What happened is that you released so much magic while you were heavily injured that you nearly died!" the healer's voice gruffly rings out. I shrink back in fear as she continues ranting on while my friends turn to face her fearfully.
After the healer's outburst, who Krysti later found out was called Porlyusica, the story came out briefly. Krysti wasn't shocked to find out that her magic manifested itself into flames. The clues were all there. What shocked her was the extent of the flames. Everything everyone has told her about what to expect for a first manifestation indicated that she would have something small and weak happen. Like a small spark of flame or even just something just growing very warm. Nothing like the conflagration that she apparently caused.
As soon as her friends finished explaining what she did before passing out, Porlyusica interrupted immediately to tell them that the brunette isn't allowed to even attempt to try to do anything magical for two weeks since her stunt strained her body badly. A broom magically appeared in the pink-haired woman's hand as an angry look appears on her face. She chases everyone, including her patient, out of her house all the while spouting how she hates humans.
Looking scared for their lives, the Fairy Tail members who dealt with the old healer before rushes out in a stampede. Even Erza knows better than to cross Porlyusica. Lucy is left behind with Krysti as both females never dealt with the healer before. Yet, with the expression on Porlyusica's face neither one of them wanted to deal with her anger as well. Lucy helps Krysti up and out of the house as the brunette's body isn't fully recovered and can't support her weight as of yet.
They stumble around but eventually make it out of the house and away from the angry healer brandishing a broom. The others who were waiting across the clearing rush over to help Lucy with Krysti once the two girls are far enough away from Porlyusica's house that they won't inflame the woman's wrath. Erza, being the bravest of the four, was the first to move and reach the other two. She was also the first to notice the blush on the brunette's face.
"What's wrong, Krysti? You're blushing," she asks. Krysti presses her lips together to make a tight line and just looks down. Not getting her message at first, it takes the girls a few seconds before they too look down and then they understood. She is still wearing Elfman's shirt and it barely covers her hips as Krysti stands there being supported by Lucy. Eyes wide, Erza summons her magic to make a large blanket appear in the air and the two girls hurriedly wrap up the larger woman before the boys figure out what is going on. She mumbles out a quiet thank you as her blush dies down.
THUMP!
"AHH-OWW!" Krysti suddenly screams while clutching the back of her head. Almost as one, the group turns and looks down to see a glass bottle with blue liquid swirling around in it on the ground by Krysti's feet.
"Drink one swallow of that once a day until it's all gone! And none of you better not pull any more stupid stunts that I have to fix you up afterward! Now GET OUT!" screams out the healer with broom still in hand. Happy quickly grabs the bottle and flies out of the clearing and is soon followed by the rest of the group; albeit slower since they were mindful to keep pace with their not fully recovered friend.
In their dash to get away, the blanket covering the brunette's modesty kept getting snagged on brambles and branches and almost getting ripped out of her grip. When she does finally lose the blanket, she lets out a small shriek in surprise. Krysti falls as she tries to turn quickly to retrieve the blanket and loses her balance as her legs are still wobbly.
"Can we slow down now please?" Krysti whines out from her position on the ground with the shirt riding up over her hips. Erza quickly retrieves the fallen blanket to cover up the scantily clad woman before the boys see something they shouldn't. Lucy steps in between the two males as they are turning around to look back to try to block their view.
"The old hag doesn't go far from her house so we are safe now," Natsu replies nonchalantly as he tries to peer curiously around Lucy to see what she is trying to hide. Lucy raises up an arm to block, and Natsu bends to look under her arm to which she moves accordingly. Gray, now curious as well, goes to look around Lucy's other side to which she uses her other arm to block. Soon both her arms are flailing wildly as she is determined to help keep Krysti's modesty if it's the last thing she does.
"Pffft. Lucy looks really funny!" chortles out Happy in obvious glee. Erza's lips twitch in amusement and Krysti struggles to stifle a giggle. Happy is right, Lucy does look funny as she is leaning all over the place while waving her hands wildly through the air. It doesn't help that Gray and Natsu are also leaning every which a way to look behind the blonde. The three of them look like they are doing some kind of weird dance and Krysti has a hard time not outright laughing at the realization.
Safely bundled up again, Krysti clears her throat before calling out, "You can stop now Lucy, it's safe now." At the sound of Lucy's loud sigh of relief, Krysti can't help but giggle. The boys look disappointed that they missed what all the fuss was about.
"No fair!" Natsu whines out. "What was the big deal that we weren't even allowed to see?" Krysti's mischievous smile made an appearance and she sauntered the best she could on unsteady legs towards Natsu. He looks at her curiously, not noticing the smirk.
"No big deal," she replies easily. "After all, it's not like it was something you haven't seen before." She moves further away from the healer's house with the sounds of strangled gasps, indignant squawks, and noises of confusion sounding off behind her. Unseen by her friends as they struggle to process the implications of the brunette's words, a huge smile of content settles on her face at the chaos she caused.
A/N: I know, this chapter is a lot shorter than my usual chapters. It just seemed right to end it right there. Thank you for being patient with my long updates. Family life and sickness has been real distracting and time comsuming.