Hello, hello!
A huge thank-you to everyone who reviewed, I'm glad you liked the Jerza bit. ;D Again, I'm eternally grateful to my loyal readers (you know who you are) and I welcome new readers (I'm assuming you're a new reader, not a silent lurker O_O).
What else, what else . . . oh yeah! Just got back from my vacation to Aussie. I would've had my chapter posted earlier, but there wasn't any free wifi. Apologize for the delay in updating, and not replying PMs.
Anyway, Aussie is cold. Really cold. I swear I wore three layers and still froze my hands off.
Side note, this story isn't going entirely canon. The Grand Magic games aren't taking place right now, so Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus members who are participating will still be included here.
But anyway, without further ado, we shall now see how the Fairy Tail guild has been dealing!
Chapter Sixteen.
Makarov sat on the bar, clutching the piece of glass, before a jet of shadow shot towards him and he came to his senses.
Ducking under the bar, he threw up a shield of light to counter the shadow. The shield sprang up just in time, deflecting the shadow – even so, it twisted – kept going – grazed his arm –
Makarov grunted as his arm burned as if it had come in contact with acid.
Around him, the Fairy Tail members fought alongside Lamia Scale and what few members they could find from Blue Pegasus.
Makarov threw magic spells left and right, activating seals, ice, fire, and wind magic at random. As a black blur sped to him, Makarov glimpsed a pair of red eyes and a gaping mouth amid the inky darkness.
Death Mages, he realized. Death Mages hiding in the shadows, who harnessed unholy powers – the lowest of the low.
Makarov stretched out his hand and grabbed the shadow at where he thought the Death Mage's neck would be. His hand closed around flesh, and the lethal blackness was reduced to a black-clad Death Mage pinned against the floor.
Hissing, and scratching, the Death Mage struggled to free himself from Makarov's chokehold. Even as his face turned purple and he fought for breath, he proved to be surprisingly coherent.
"You fool," the Death Mage rasped. "Why do you persist? The Dark Lord is all-powerful. Why do you fight? Why do you not lay down your lives and go peacefully?"
"Quiet down, vermin," Makarov spat.
Across the room, a Death Mage knocked down Reedus before a Lamia Scale mage – Lyon – drove him away –
Then Lyon was similarly attacked and burned by a second Death Mage that had caught him unaware. Chelia came to his aid, but the damage was done – part of his face was singed.
Under Makarov's hand, the Death Mage and laughed. "You can't win," he gurgled. "Why do you fight?"
"Why do we fight?" Makarov growled, pushing light into the Death Mage as he writhed and twisted. "We fight because it's our duty! We fight because our guild bows to no one! We fight for Fiore! For those we love! Because we –"
The Death Mage exploded.
"– ARE FAIRY TAIL!"
Several hours and Wood Makes later, courtesy of Laki, the guild looked significantly better than it had been during the attack.
Sitting on the bar and smoking a pipe, Makarov surveyed the scene contemplatively. Mages from Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale were wounded and being treated by Porlyusica. There were no casualties, though Makarov feared it would last.
He sighed, setting down the pipe, and turned to Mira.
"They're toying with us," the bartender said quietly, absently wiping a glass in an effort to calm herself down. "How many Death Mages did they send? Just about thirty. And look at the damage they've caused."
"We need to prepare ourselves better," Makarov agreed. Something niggled at the back of his mind, something that needed attention, but for the life of him, Makarov couldn't figure out what it was.
The glass shattered against the floor as Mira gasped suddenly. "The civilians."
Makarov cursed. That was it.
"Master, do you think they're in danger?" Mira asked.
"Highly likely," Makarov answered, scanning the group of mages. "If our guild is attacked, the citizens could be in danger as well."
"We can send out some mages –"
"Laxus, Freed, Evergreen, Bixlow," Makarov snapped. "Jet, Droy. Look around outside and help the civilians."
"We can't fight off the enemy and protect the civilians at the same time," Mira said.
"No," Makarov agreed. "We could get them to evacuate, maybe. Far away from any guilds, so they'd be relatively safer – after all, the major guilds are being targeted, so maybe if they stayed away . . . Freesia Town, Balsam or Tully Village, maybe. A hideout here could also work . . ."
"We'll get them to evacuate," Evergreen said. "One way or another."
"First things first," Mira said. "We need to prepare ourselves for another attack."
"We need help," Makarov mused. "More mages." He looked at the mages from Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale again, noticing the missing people.
"Ichiya, Ooba," Makarov called to the respective guild leaders of Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. "Where are the rest of your mages?"
"We don't know," Ooba groused. "Our guilds were attacked too. Most of us escaped, but the others . . ."
"The rest of the Trimens are missing," Ichiya wailed.
"We need everyone on hand," Makarov said. "All of them . . ."
"Master, are you thinking . . ." Mira started.
"Yes. Round up all the legal guilds in Fiore. I want them all here."
The civilians, meanwhile, weren't being very cooperative.
To be fair, Evergreen concurred, they were in shock – a dozen Death Mages had caused considerable damage to their homes and there were several injuries.
Some citizens of Magnolia had packed their bags and left for Freesia, Balsam, or Tully with little fuss, along with a few mages to guide and protect them.
The others . . . well.
Evergreen twitched irritably, glaring down at the young man who now clutched at her like a lifeline, tears streaming down his face.
"Sir, kindly grow up and move. You all need to evacuate!"
The man clung to her harder – Evergreen suspected part of the clinging was because of her figure (really, what sane man would turn her down?) – and wailed some unintelligible words.
Evergreen made a noise of disgust.
A few meters away, a woman was also swooning in Freed's arms. Said mage, bless him, seemed to have the patience of a saint, because he wasn't attempting to throw the lady off.
A blur sped past Evergreen, followed by a trail of dust, as what she assumed was Jet rallied more citizens.
She sighed, looking down at the blubbering young man before her. It would be hard enough calming these people down, much less telling them to leave their homes and evacuate.
There was a commotion several blocks away. Glancing up, Evergreen saw jagged bolts of lightning crackling menacingly. Shrieks of citizens followed soon after as they scurried and packed, double-time.
Laxus never was the patient one, Evergreen thought fondly, before proceeding to follow in the Thunder God's footsteps. She gave the blubbering man in front of her a solid thwack on the head and shoved him off her.
Laxus, meanwhile, had managed to scare the majority of the citizens into obeying him.
Well.
The majority.
A particularly stubborn old man – Laxus recognized him as Mr. Wheatley, owner of one of the inns in Magnolia – stood in front of his establishment, arms crossed and eyes stern. Laxus hated to admit it, but Wheatley kind of reminded him of Gramps, and Gramps could be intimidating.
But because he was Laxus, he simply crossed his arms back and glared at the old innkeeper. "You all gotta move, it's not safe here."
"I ain't moving," Mr. Wheatley said firmly. "Lived here all my life – all sixty-eight years of 'em, and you'd do well to remember that's longer than you've been here, young man."
"Cheh."
"You watch that tone with me, boy."
Yep. Grams, alright, Laxus thought. Outwardly, he said: "Oh? And you're just gonna sit here and twiddle your thumbs while they" – he jabbed a thumb to the sky to emphasize his point – "attack Magnolia?"
"Ain't gonna be twiddlin' our thumbs, boy," Mr. Wheatley scoffed. "All you mages runnin' around, preparin' for the end of the world whatnot, thinkin' you're better than the ordinary folk . . ."
"Get to the point," Laxus said impatiently.
". . . don't you interrupt me, boy. Point being, why don't you give us a chance to defend our town too?"
Laxus had known this was coming. "Absolutely not."
"Pah! There you are again, thinkin' you're better than us!"
"In this case, we are. You have no powers, no magic, no way to defend yourselves, you're old! Wanna keel over with a heart attack in the middle of a fight?"
"Why don't you go tell that to Master Makarov? Eh?"
Laxus huffed. "Gramps is an exception."
"Well I'll have you know I'm in my prime, boy! Been on this Earth longer than you, and here you are mouthin' off at your elders – ah, Makarov, teach this brat of yours some manners."
"I try," Makarov said, trotting to the bickering pair.
"What, you gonna take his side now?" Laxus protested indignantly. "Gramps, look at him –"
"Quiet, boy. Now," Makarov took out his pipe, smoked it contemplatively, and gestured at the innkeeper. "You were saying?"
"Let us stay and help," Mr. Wheatley said firmly.
"Just you?" Makarov said neutrally. "I might consider if we get enough people."
Mr. Wheatley harrumphed and looked around. His search was awarded when two people – Makarov recognized them as the two boaters who usually warned Lucy to be careful as she walked along the river – hesitantly made their way to Makarov.
"We'll stay, too," they said.
"Who else?" Makarov said, raising his voice. People stopped and stared, came over and listened.
"Who else will stay to fight for Magnolia?" He shouted, increasing in size as he applied his Titan magic. Makarov was attracting attention, just the way he wanted. Other citizens volunteered – some timidly, shyly, others freely, happily.
"There is no turning back if you choose to stay. You are not mages. You are civilians. Many will die, blood will be shed. I ask you again, choose wisely – will you stay?"
And from the remaining Magnolia citizens – the men, women, adults, elders – came a ragged cheer of agreement.
"You planned this all along, didn't you," Laxus muttered to Makarov.
The guild master tilted his head to the side. "They have their pride. So do we. We'll need all the help we can get."
Mostly filler, I know, but we had to see what the guild was up to. This was written in a hurry so I'm sorry for any mistakes; feel free to point out any mistakes or improvements I can make!
- TheAliensDidIt