Chapter VII

Natsu looked at all the scattered Phantom mages. It was unbelievable. Laxus never did this much damage to any mage…he smelled funny too. Mirajane jumped behind the bar and grabbed the communication lacrima from the back room. "I know phantom lord has stronger mages…but why aren't they here?"

Makarov shrugged; the remaining three of the element four were likely to be found in the city, but weren't. Elfman walked over, confused, "Who are you calling at a time like this?"

"We couldn't beat the other phantom mages without Laxus, and I don't think we can fight their S class mages by ourselves either." Most of the guild looked down in quiet defeat. "But we aren't just gonna give up here… If Laxus can beat normal mages from Phantom Lord, Gildarts can beat S class mages."

Gildarts was surrounded by the ugliest, slimy, hairy monsters that came out of a book. The book in question he'd thrown in a fire that lit up the woods. The man below him quivered in pain, "What…what are you?"

"…I'm a wizard of Fairy Tail."

That was the last he heard until he'd fainted in disbelief, and tiredness. The small lacrima he kept in his pouch glowed. Usually they wait months for him to come home; why are they calling? "Can't wait 'til I get back, ne Mira?"

"Actually…no. We have trouble with an old enemy. He just had his guild attack ours."

"What enemy?"

"…José."

"…José…why is he out of prison?"

"We don't know, but we do know that he's rebuilding Phantom Lord. All the old mages are stronger than ever—!"

"Laxus wouldn't let me beat one up!" Natsu whined, butting out Mirajane, "He came over and practically killed them all!" He was pushed out of the way by Erza.

"The mages had us forced into the basement. Laxus came and freed up, beating them. They aren't done though. Phantom lord still has three S class mages that are bound to be stronger than ever. We know they aren't with José and that they aren't here. We can't beat them on our own, though, it was clear when we couldn't beat the regular mages."

"…yeah. So…what's got Laxus so riled up? He wouldn't do shit for you guys! What they do to him?"

"Gajeel's…been kidnapped."

Gajeel woke up in a small room, only illuminated by the light from the window. He could see the cobwebs in all four corners of the room, and the only piece of furniture there was a bookshelf, with dozens of dusty, aging books. What went unnoticed was the camera above him. He couldn't remember much of what happened before now. As much as he tried, the sudden loud voice in his head prevented him from thinking straight.

"Don't think, just do what I say."

Gajeel froze where he was, eventually nodding. He knew who that voice was.

"Stand." He stood. "Go to the bookshelf and find the book labeled, Relive."

He walked to the bookshelf as told. The books he saw were really cheesy. Some children's books, poems, fairy tales—a loud sired blared through his head. He looked at the next shelf. Dictionaries for all sorts of languages, historical novels and textbooks—the siren appeared again. The next shelf had more fictional novels. Mysteries, horror, romance, and before the obnoxious noise returned to his head, he moved on to the final shelf.

Forbidden

The books were all spell books. José stole forbidden books of other magicians. He immediately spotted the red book labeled, Relive. He removed it from the shelf.

"Open it and read its contents."

Gajeel read the cover.

Relive

A book of the ancient spells of Zeref.

"Zeref?" He muttered, receiving a hard shock in his ear. He quickly opened the book; nothing. The page was blank. He flipped the pages around, in search of words when he was finally able to read. He muttered the words to himself, and they quickly began to glow. He coughed, clearing his throat, and continued to read to himself…he screamed. Gajeel choked up blood.

"Where do you think Totomaru is? You don't think he's hurt, do you? Because that would be horrible!"

"Shut up!" The very wobbly human figure sticking out of the ground. His accent made him very recognizable. "Don't cry now, Aria, Totomaru will return to us soon, hohoho! All we need worry for is those dirty Fairies! Those Fairies aren't even much of a worry, now are they?"

Wiping the remaining tears hidden under the cloth hiding his eyes, Aria agreed. Sol swiftly turned around in triumph, humming a short tune. "Perfect! By the time Totomaru does return, he may no longer be needed!"

"Are you sure?"

Sol opened his eyes in shock, revealing the muscular wizard before him. "I think Totomaru is very important."

Aria almost cried at the sound of Gildarts. He growled back at them, "So, where's Gajeel?"

"I apologize," Sol jumped in, "that is information we must keep to ourselves. We are simply here to make sure no one gets in the way of Phantom Lord."

"I see. So he's with José?"

"What!?" the wobbly being attempted to sound confused, and failed miserably. "I have no idea what you are referring to. José? Now why would Gajeel be with him?"

"Well then where's José?"

"N-neither of us know! Now scram before things get messy!"

"Messy?" The mage clamped his hands together and cracked his wrists. The ground appeared to be shaking. "Oh this will be one hell of a mess."

Laxus looked at the building before him. The construction was still incomplete, but it was certainly bigger than Fairy Tail. He knocked the door down with a kick, the metal door making a loud 'thud' as it landed. He expected other members to show their faces after that, but no one showed up; the guild was empty. "No shit," he muttered under his breath. The new guild even looked stronger than Fairy Tail on the inside. The stairs led to every floor in a spiraling motion which even looked like the perfect murder weapon for Natsu. The marble floor covered in dirt certainly proved unfinished, let alone the huge hole in the ceiling of the last floor he could see from below. José seemed to have had some style left.

He heard footsteps.

Laxus ran to the room where he swore he heard them. There was a clatter coming from the edge of the…kitchen? Huh. He marched over to the corner, behind the counter, "So some of you motherfuckers are still…here?"

The being digging in the cabinets looked back at him. He stood, "Lookin' for Gajeel?" He said.

"…Totomaru…"

"Nah, please, Laxus," He said, completely relaxed. That smug look on his face made Laxus snarl. "Call me Toto."

"…Toto?"

"Toto."

"…where's Gajeel, Toto?"

"Gajeel…upstairs. Stay quiet, will ya?"

"Tch…" he made his way upstairs, leaving Totomaru to continue his business, whatever that was. He stood against the wall, next to the door of the master's office. 'José's probably in there with Gajeel…' He took a quick peek through the window.

Pitch black. Not that that tells you whether or not he's there.

Laxus sighed, assuming he couldn't hear him. He moved on through the hallway. They rooms were empty of everything, including his target. Was Totomaru lying? 'Of course he was, no shit, Sherlock. He's probably right behind you.' He waited a few seconds—

One.

Two.

Three.

—And whipped around ready for attack. No one was there. He could still here the clatter of dishes from the kitchen. He relaxed, and continued down the hallway. He stopped at the large hole in the wall and floor. There was no getting past that. He went the other way. This side of the hallway was much darker, and the lights weren't working properly. He stood near a metal door. 'He HAS to be in here.' He broke the hinges off the door. There was nothing but a…surveillance room? There were TV screens hanging everywhere, showing every room in the building. Not just that, but every room in the Fairy Tail guild. He looked at those screens. Little Wendy Marvell was sitting in the corner of the guild crying. He pushed that thought out of his head and moved on. Just before he left the room, he noticed a familiar room, showing up on one of the screens. Gajeel's room. They spied on him. Laxus ran back downstairs. "Hey Toto!"

He was no longer in the kitchen.

"…fucking…" Laxus looked around the first floor until he passed through a glass door and spotted Totomaru near a pool. "Toto!?"

"Yosh."

"You…you said he was upstairs!"

"They aren't?"

"N-no!"

"Ne…well, it's clear that you've looked everywhere. I dunno what else to tell you."

"AUGH!" He screamed. Totomaru tripped, and fell over. Laxus' lightning bounced off the walls and it felt like the roof was about to cave in. "Whoa, cool it, cool it!" Toto yelled for his attention, "Listen, if he ain't here, than he ain't here! I dunno what to tell ya'!"

Laxus sighed, kicking a lawn chair into the pool. "You are so unbelievably useless."

"Useless?" He laughed at the statement, "I'm pretty sure I'm very important."

"Ugh…"

Gildarts looked at the almost-corpses beneath his foot. "So, about Gajeel, where IS he?"

The "corpses" moaned in pain. One of them coughed and eventually even chuckled. Gildarts snarled, "Where the fuck is he?"

"Hohoho…you see Gildarts…at this point…Gajeel Redfox just may be no more…"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" He slammed his foot in his face.

"Master José…is probably crushing Gajeel….Redfox with his…own…bare…" At that, Sol had lost consciousness. "BITCH!" Gildarts kicked them very far away.