Chapter 2: The Journey Begins
I do not own any of the cannon characters, like Natsu, Erza, ect. I can only claim ownership for plot and my OC Stormblade. The rest are owned by the author of the magna, and the publisher too for that matter.
So the groups journey begins. How will the quest to stop Lullaby go with an extra hand on board? Read on to find out.
The group, minus Erza, was at the train station waiting for said woman to arrive. Natsu had already purchased tickets for the five of them, Happy didn't need one though. Lucy and Happy were sitting on a bench with Plue in Lucy's lap. Justin was leaning against a pillar to the right of Happy. Natsu and Gray were getting into another argument. They kept going back and forth and were attracting a lot of attention to themselves when finally Justin had enough. "Would you two knock it off!" He exclaimed before pushing them apart with a weak wind spell and then saying "Natsu go sit next to Lucy! Gray go sit on the bench over here!" he said as he pointed to a bench on across from Natsu.
"OH YEAH, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO IF I DON'T?!" yelled Natsu and Gray at Justin. "HEY STOP COPYING ME!" they then shouted at each other.
Justin smiled in a way that almost seemed evil. "If you don't I tell Erza you've been fighting whenever she isn't looking." he said with an almost manic gleam in his eyes.
"You wouldn't!" said Natsu at the same time as Gray said "She'll kill us!" "Then go sit and behave or I'll have to tell her, okay?" he replied. Natsu and Gray looked at each other, back at Justin, then they walked to where he had designated before. Lucy was a bit shocked that they had actually listened. Though I guess it's more the threat of Erza then Justin that stopped them. However Natsu and Gray weren't quite done yet. While at first they ignored each other, but Natsu being well Natsu started to make faces at Gray, and Gray despite the fact that he usually was above Natsu's childish antics decided to respond in kind and the two were soon trying to make the weirdest face possible at each other. Justin *sighed*. Well at least they stopped arguing. Justin then turned to Lucy. "I should have done this before because I did this with Natsu and Gray but," he said as he held out his hand for Lucy to shake. "My name is Justin Stormblade, a pleasure to meet you." he said as they shook hands. "It's nice to meet you as well Justin." Lucy replied with a smile. "This is only my third mission so it will be fun to have another new guy along."
Meanwhile Erza finally had gotten through the crowd and was approaching the now calmed group with a cart full of luggage. "Sorry I'm late, have you been waiting long?" she asked. When Lucy saw the amount of luggage that Erza was carrying she felt her heart skip a beat from shock. "Woah look at that luggage!" exclaimed Happy excitedly. Justin looked amused at the amount that Erza was literally carting around. Meanwhile Lucy got over her initial shock. "All those belong to you?" asked Lucy. Meanwhile Natsu and Gray had stood up and walked towards Erza. "Well it's time to go good buddy!" said Gray as he put his arm around Natsu's shoulder. "Aye!" replied Natsu. "Listen one Happy is enough!" said Lucy. "Good, I really love to see the two of you get along." When she said that Justin started laughing silently. "And what was your name? I believe I saw you at the guild earlier."
"My name is Lucy, Mirajane asked me to come along so I could learn a thing or two, I hope that's okay with you." "It's fine, the more the merrier. My name is Erza Scarlet. I heard you defeated a mercenary gorilla with just your pinky finger? It will be great to have a wizard like you on board, thanks for your help." said Erza "Oh, no it's my pleasure." said Lucy, though she was shaking a bit. That's not quite what happened!? Who told her that?!
"Hey Erza, I'll come with you but only on one condition!" said Natsu. "Shut up! We already bought tickets!" muttered Gray. "Oh what is it?" asked Erza. "I want a rematch once we get back to Fairy Tail." Lucy *gasped* Gray said "Do you want to die?!" "I'm a lot stronger than I was last time! This time will be way different, cause I'm going to beat you."
Erza smiled. "Yes, I can tell you've improved, but as for if you can beat me, we'll just have to see. I accept your challenge." "OH YEAH! I'M ALL FIRED UP!" said Natsu with a roar. After that the group boarded the train and found seats towards the back of it. Justin sat by the window next to Erza, while Natsu sat next to Lucy across from Justin also on the window side. Gray sat in the outer seat across from Erza, while Happy sat in Natsu's lap.
*Blerg* Natsu felt ready to throw up. "I swear you're totally pathetic Natsu, one minute you're picking a fight, and the next you're like this." said Gray. "It's gotta be tough on him to get from place to place." said Lucy worriedly. "Don't worry he'll be fine." replied Erza. "One sec." Justin said as he got up stepped past Erza and walked out of the car. The others turned to see where he went. He came back a minute later precariously carrying a cup of what looked like tea. As he approached the team's seat he tripped as the train lurched a bit. Showing remarkable agility he kept the cup up and didn't spill any tea but instead fell in Erza's lap. He quickly got up and muttered, "Sorry." To Erza quickly before sitting down. His hood was up so only Happy (and Natsu but he was too sick to notice.) could see his face and Happy swore he saw Justin blushing a bit. Was he...blushing, does he have a crush...on ERZA?! thought Happy who was screaming internally. As Justin finally resettled he pulled down his hood and his face was uncolored again. He took the tea and sprinkled something into it before string it with a small spoon. He smiled. "Done, here Natsu drink this."
Natsu *groaned* but willed himself to drink it. As he did he noticed it didn't make him feel sick like food normally would. "Whaat is this?" he moaned. "A tea with an extra ingredient in it. It will sooth your stomach but, unfortunately it won't work until we are at a full stop, so if we have to get into a car after this you'll feel fine." answered Justin. "Thaanks," said Natsu before falling asleep. Justin faced the others. "I put something else in the tea to make him sleep, however a loud noise or shaking him will wake him." "Great idea Justin!" said Lucy. "Aye!" Happy also said. Gray, who had pretended not to pay attention then turned to Erza "Erza, I think it's time you told us what's going on." Erza nodded. "I have reason to believe the Dark Guild Eisenwald is planning something big, I'm not sure what but it does have something to do with something called Lullaby? "Lullaby, Wait that thing from before?" said Lucy in surprise.
Meanwhile at the Dark Guild Eisenwald: "I heard Kageyama got back to us." "Yeah he found it!" "Our time is fast approaching gentlemen, this means we are one step closer to completing our goals. The Guild Masters will be too busy holding their conference they won't even know what hit them!" said a man with a large scythe and silver hair.
Back on the train: "I see, so you've run into members of Eisenwald before?" asked Erza. "Well" said Gray, and then Justin heard nothing, he could see Gray talking but couldn't hear him, next he heard a dark feminine voice that sounded almost playful, but at the same time horrifying say.
C̀͌͋̀a͒nͧ͒ͩ̏ͣ ͓̗̰̬̘͍̩̐ͫyͤ̅o̼̤ͭ͛ͨ͌̐u̘̔̎͐ ͆͊f̬̻̳̪ͬ͌̾ͧe̘̙̘̮͓ͩ̒̾ͤê̫ͭl̰̖̰̭͓̹͆ͦͬ̌̏ ̪̯̪͂̒͗̈́͗͂ͮi̯̜͔̺͙̲̞̓̚t͔͈͓̺̟̓ ̩̹̞ͫͯͨ͐̂å͈͎̿ͬͮ̏p͉͚̻̞̯̥̫͛̅̓ͣp̝̹̽ͨ͗̊̊̔r̰̺̱ǒ̯̦̱̣̱̯a̙̤͉̟̋̅̌̅c̖͕̤͙ͪ͒̎ͣ̋ͅh͑?͙͒̈́̃ͧ
̱̜͚̲͕̉̂
̘͓̯̱͚̠̥̋̈̑̈͋̌̀H͙͛͊͋e͉̺̱̗͚a͇̘̺̪ͪ͊̈́̅̉r̅̊̓̾̂́ ̺̥̣̬̹̝̊̾t̪̦̦̔h͎ͦe̼̙̩̖̜̪͒̀ͨ̾ͪ ͭ̆ͬ͒̌a͎̾̓nͪͨͥͨ͗ͦͅg̰̠͖̫̘e̮͍͕͐̋̀̏l̄̂̔s̼͐̎̈́ͦ̔̚ ̝̗̝̥̬̝̪̆̚c̘̺̪̫̽̉͋̎ͦ̔͌r̗͗ͮͩ̚y͍͇̯̱̦̌ͨ̌͊̉͋ ͕̙͈͙͌̌͑̔̃̾́ȉ͙̻̘̹̺̌n͎̫̹͔̝̺̹̄̅ ̈̒ͦ̋̓̊̒ṕ̜͔̞͖̖̻̇͑̔a̱̹̟̔ͦī̯͆͌͂̒̚n͐͌ͮ͒͗,̺̻̳̗̩̣̆ ͣͭ̋ͧt͑h̘̗͉̼͛͛ͪ̈̔e͕̘̺͔̳͚̾̉ͦͅiͥ̔͋̈͐́̽ř̻̪̞̰̟ ͕̠̙̠͎̑ͨͩͅm͓̿́ͥi͕̗͇̫̭͋s̖e̠̼͈͍͖̤͇r̲̹̻̬̮̺y͓̲̖̗̬͑̓ͤͨ̓̑̓?̠̯͆ͩ̈́ͥ
̪̭̎ͬͧͭ̍
͓̣͖̻͉͈T̺̤̘̻͉̦͑ͫ̽̇h̖̮̰͉ͮe̹̗̳̪̤̅ͫ͒͒̆̌ͩ ͬ̓̉ͤͪḍ̯͔͍͖́a̫̖̳̮͉ͧͦ̐̊̅ͅr͖̣͙͚͇̯̙ͫk̲̲̪͉͍̄̈̊̓̏ͨn̝͕͇͍͙͕ͤ̆̄̾ͤ͆̂e̺̬̙̩͇s̼͗͛̎ͪ̄̄s̗̙̟̮͖̻̋̂ͬ̍ͅ ͉͉iͧs̘͖̱̊͆̾̔̒ͤͅ ̼̘̝̜͖̏̒coͯͤͥm̩̞ͦͣͨ̚i̹̩̟̘͖̞͂ͪ̊̏ṉ͓ͬ͊̉g̟͋ͨ͂̈́ ̾ͤS͈̫̮̞ț̞̗̙͕̝̮ͨͧ̍̈́͗̉̚ỏ͖̠͍̥̯̥̖ͩ̔r̩͎̼̗̱͂m͙ͦ̓͑ͩ̂͂b̹̱̖͍̪̯͔l̻̤̲͖͓͆̽ͅä̳͇̤̤͚̩̫d̳̤̻̯̠̯̰͛̓͐̐ḙ̇̇̏ͮ̏,̹̼͓͚̻̗̳̽̽̂ͩ̒ͣ͛ ̲͙̯̻̳c̜͓̟̪̱͎̱͒̈̋ań̹̳͍̲̯̐͂ͅ ̰̰yͤ̐o̳̰̊ͦ̄ͬͥ̏ǘ́̆͗̊rͬͮͧ ̠̥̺̺̲ͨ̾ͪ͆ͩn̩̥̟͚̖̞̄ͨͭ͗̋͒ͧe̞̬̅̃ͫẅ̲̺̰͔̮̩́̄ͬ̍ ͔ͣ̓̃͑ͨf̰͖͖̲̗ͣ̿͛ͯͤ̐ȁ̗̱͗̈́̌m̰ͯi̫͕͈̝͈͂̅ͪl̺̲̄y̮̝ͨ ͯ͌ͯw̩̠̓ͯ̎ͅě̺͈͚̪̮ͪa̮̮̹͔̰̤̾̇̅t̫͎̤̖̂ͥ̚h̺̘͍̼̱͎̘ěr͕ͮ͐̌ͩ̈́͆̔ ̪̲͖̝̟̀ͥt̲̻̦̙̺͎͛ͤ̓ͭͩͧ̆h̬̜̰̞̬͛ͮ̊ͮ͂e͈̪ͅ ̪̰̺̤ͧs̱̼̻̣̼̻͕͗ͩ̊͂̊̃t̙ͤ͛͋o̞ͤ̀r͖̤̞͓̪͗͊̃ͯͧ̿m͔̦̺͖̥͕̐̿ͅ?̲̜̮̝̦̭̐̑̌͑́͛
̦̭̝̥̲̼̮̋ͩ͆̽̎̚
I͓̯͆̂̍͊̃̓ ̟̝̟̞ͪ̊ͭ̑ͭ̚̚f̱̫̈̑̎̃͆ͨ̚o̖̩̤̯̘̟͑ͯ̈ͨ͂͛ͅụ̪̭̞̓́ͮ͌̂n͍̳ͭd͍̻̳ ̤̤̝̞̲̦͇̀̓̋ͬa͎̦̩͈̜͊ͯ̏̉̔͆̃ ̘̰͙̎̔n̗̦e̠̖̞̿̇̊̅w̮̹̿ ͓aͫ̇̍ͪ̾l̇͂̾̎̑l̬̭̊͂y̯͍̮͔͕͆̒̆͗͆ͫͣͅ ̺̬̘͎ͬ̍̎͗̇̍ͬạ̹ͥͬ̌̇̈́ṯ̳͈̯̃͆̇ͅ ̣̭̩̣̘̮͓ͥ̇͐̌T̘̘̤͙̲͓̝̓̃͛ͣ̅h͈͍̣ͫ͂̿e̤͇͚ͧ ͍̤̪̬͙ͮT̖̙͚͈̂ͬ̀ͤ̓̽o̒̑w̹̜͚̔̆ͩe̮͚̮ͦ͐̑r͖͙̜͎͈͐̎̐ͥ ̗͎̈́o̬̗͉͔̼̹͎n͍̺̫͓̣͍͙̑̓̔̓̒ͧͮ ̄͌͌̇̄̅t̗̮̺̞̯ͩ̎ͬh̐͂ͬ̓ͣͭ͋e͙̦͎ͥ̑͒ͅͅ ̜̳̞̤̝̙̩ͭ͂̇ẹ͍͖͗̉̊̑d̙̖͑ͨg̣͙̺͗̌̉̊̉ͥe̊̀̾̽̌ ̲̗̣̞͍̠̲̂̓̽o̦͕f̜̠̼̖̲ͮͥ͗̏ͣ͒͗ ̒H̜̃e̯ͅå̿ͧ̐̽̍v̘͓͙̭̲̥̘̂̔ͦ̅͌͂ͤe̝͓͛ͥn͔͕͚̦͕̘͛ͥ̓ͅ.̼͎̄̚.̤̗͆̈.̦̖͉̗͍̱͌ͯ͐̊͛͌
(Can you feel it approach? Hear the angels cry in pain, their misery? The darkness is coming Stormblade, can your new family weather the storm? I found a new ally at The Tower on the edge of Heaven.)
As the word heaven echoed out Justin was snapped back to reality but Erza shaking him. "You okay?" She asked, because he was pale and had broken out in a sweat. "Yeah I'm fine, just dozed off for a sec, my bad." Erza looked at him worriedly but decided not to say anything else. Must have been my imagination bringing up old memories. "Sorry Erza can you repeat what you said?" Justin asked. Erza then went over what they knew about Eisenwald and Lullaby, including her first encounter. "Lullaby, that's a song you use to sing kids asleep..." said Lucy. "Yes, and the fact that it had been sealed away means it must be very powerful magic." responded Erza.
"Erza, how do you know the guys at the pub were even with Eisenwald?" asked Gray. Erza looked down in shame, "Yes, I can't believe I was such a fool that day," she looked up again, "I didn't recognize his name, Erigor the Ace of Eisenwald, he only accepts assassination requests. Which is why he earned the name Erigor the Reaper." "Erza, that's not your fault." said Justin. "Why not, if only I had recognized Erigor's name I could of pulverized them!" said Erza angrily. Justin however stayed calm. "You were tired and winding down from what sounds like a large fight against a large beast, you weren't 100% there and as such it's not your fault, no need to be ashamed or angry with yourself." he answered. "Maybe your right but that doesn't change anything." said Erza. Meanwhile Lucy had been thinking about Erigor.
"Wait, Erigor kills for money!?" said Lucy in shock. Erza nodded "When the council outlawed assassination requests Eisenwald decided money was more important than the council's rules, they were kicked out of their Wizard League six years ago, but that didn't stop them and they still remain active to this day." finished Erza. "Okay! I should be heading back home now!" said Lucy fearfully as she broke out in a sweat that made Justin's look miniscule by comparison. Happy laughed, "Lucy's slimy all of a sudden!" he said. "It's sweat!" muttered Lucy angrily.
"So Eisenwald is planing to do something with this Lullaby and you want to stop it because after what you overheard you think its going to be something bad?" asked Gray. "That's correct and I'm not foolish enough to believe I can take on an entire magical guild all by my self, that's why I asked you four to come with me. We are storming the Eisenwald guild." said Erza. "Sounds like fun to me." said Gray. "Yeah, let's do it!" exclaimed Justin. "Aye!" answered Happy. "I really shouldn't have come along!" said Lucy. "Ew now you're super slimy!" said Happy. "I told you it's sweat!" said Lucy angrily.
Erza got up to got to the restroom. A minute later a food cart came by and everyone ordered something to eat, Gray ordered for Erza. Lucy, who had calmed down and wasn't sweaty and more, said. "Can't you give us a discount, pretty please?" asked Lucy while giving her cutest face. Fortunately for the group it was a young guy around their own average age pushing the cart and he got so flustered with Lucy he actually continued on without being paid. When that happened Justin burst out laughing and took a whole minute to calm down before he could continue to eat his sandwich and the rest of his lunch. When he finally did Lucy asked him, "What you aren't affected by my feminine charm?" she asked while giving him the same look she gave the Carter. Justin blushed a bit but then shook his head and said "Not quite as badly, it helps that I actually know you a bit I think." He said.
The group ate quietly. A few minutes later Erza came back. Justin filled her in on what happened and it made Erza laugh as she sat and started eating what Gray had ordered for her. "Thank you Gray, this is exactly what I would have ordered." she said. Gray smiled and shrugged as if to say. "No big deal." As the train continued Lucy asked Erza a question. "Erza, if you don't mind what type, of magic do you use?" she asked. "That's a good question." said Erza. "Erza's magic is really pretty, she makes her enemies bleed, a lot!" said Happy. "I don't know if I call that pretty." said Lucy. "Personally I think Gray's magic is much prettier than mine." said Erza. "What like this?" said Gray as he open one hand, put his fist in his palm and made a 3D version of the Fairy Tail symbol out of ice. He then moved it over to Lucy, "I use ice magic." "Now I get why you and Natsu don't get along. He's fire and you're ice!" said Lucy.
"I've never thought of it that way before." said Erza. "Nah, I just hate his guts." said Gray. "No Gray, I think Lucy's right actually," Justin said. "Your magic is tied to your emotions and in turn so is your personality. If you think about it you're calm and collected and get straight to the point, while Natsu is wild, unpredictable at times, and goes on a rampage if not controlled. The more emotion, the more of your heart, you put into your magic the stronger it will be." Justin finished. Gray nodded but remained silent. A minute later the train pulled into station and they gathered their belongings. Unfortunately they left one spiky pink haired fire wizard behind...
As they walked on to the platform Justin asks Erza a question. "So do we know if these dark wizards are still here?" "We don't but that's why we're here to find out." she answered. Happy then noticed that Natsu was missing. "Hey where's Natsu?" Lucy *gasped* The train, of course, then left the station. "Uh-oh there he goes!" said Happy. "We were so busy talking I forgot about him, I am such a fool Natsu hates all form of transportation. This is all my fault, I need one of you to come and hit me for my penance." said Erza. "Don't feel too bad Erza," said Justin. "He was asleep and we all forgot him, it's not like he was in your lap or something." Erza *sighed* This had been a bad week. She thought. "We have to find the emergency stop system, all stations have them." she then said. The others nodded and split up to find it.
Meanwhile on the train, Natsu was still asleep. However, thanks to the tea he drank his stomach had calmed down greatly and he was starting to slowly wake up. As Kageyama walked through the train towards the car Natsu was in he stepped inside and saw Natsu's guild logo. "Oh looky here it's a Fairy Tail wizard, how's the guild treating you these days? Is it worth sticking around?" he asked. Natsu was almost fully awake and said, "What?". Kageyama tried to kick him but Natsu wasn't feeling sick so he dodged the kick and then sprang up and punched Kageyama in the face, without using his magic. However it still was a hard punch and it was enough to get Kageyama to back up a few feet, which in turn gave Natsu time to grab and put his pack on. Kageyama scowled. "Don't act so high and mighty just because you're in a legal guild, you know what you look like to us? Harmless little flies!" said Kageyama crazily.
Natsu however got mad and summoned fire to his fists. "You take that back! Fairy Tail is one of the strongest guilds in Fiore, and since I'm in a hurry I'll give you one chance to back off before I pulverize you." said Natsu. Kageyama seemed to be angered by this however and with out speaking a word used KNUCKLE SHADOW and sent 4 shadow fists at Natsu. Natsu avoided them and they crashed into the car behind him, causing severe damage to the it. He responded by putting his fists together and saying "Now it's my turn" FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST! and then punched Kageyama, who had barely had time to react which sent him flying, causing more damage to the train. As he did that a wooden flute fell out of his pocket and Natsu saw it. What is that? thought Natsu. "Oh no he saw it!" Right at that moment the train lurched to a stop.
Back at the station Erza had pulled the emergency stop lever and one of the guards was yelling at her. "You can't pull the emergency brake lever, it's for emergencies!" he said angrily, Erza remained calm however and said, "If we don't stop this train thousands of people could die! Does that count as an emergency?" Erza asked. The guard visibly paled and nodded. Justin asked "The train is stopped then?" Erza nodded. "I'll go get Natsu, you three get a car!" Justin said. Gray then asked, "How are you going to reach him without a car, or another train?" Justin simply jumped on a rail and appeared to...slide along it using his electric magic, then he took off, using his wind magic to push himself. "Well that answers that question." said Happy. "Come on, we have to find a magicmobile and follow him!" said Erza.
Meanwhile at an office somewhere in Fiore: "I don't care if a million people are in danger! Get those trains running on time again!" shouted an older man in a rich looking suit. "Y-yes sir!" said a younger man on the other end of the connection.
Back on the train Natsu and Kageyama where in a stare down and the two weren't moving, then an announcement over the train's PA. "Attention all passengers we apologize for the delay, we will be starting up shortly." At that the train lurched and started moving again.
Meanwhile Justin was pushing himself as fast as possible when he heard a honk from his right side. He looked over and saw Erza driving a magicmobile, with Lucy, Gray, and Happy in the passenger compartment. Justin used a burst of wind to launch himself into the air and he landed on the roof of the car. Less than a minute later they came upon the train which was moving quite fast when one of the cars seemed to explode out of one side and Natsu came flying out of the train right at Justin. Justin planted his feet and then used the wind to catch Natsu and throw him into the passenger compartment, right on top of Happy, who had been in Lucy's lap. Erza stopped the car and the train went off into the distance. "Natsu are you alright?" asked Erza.
Natsu moaned but got up off of Happy, who seemed worse off as he had been squished flat. "Sorry Happy." said Justin. "It's alright." Erza looked at Natsu. "What happened, why did you jump off the train?" she asked. "I was attacked by some weirdo on the train." said Natsu. "Are you serious?" said Lucy. "He reminded me of the guys who tried to eat Happy, said he was in Eisenwald." Erza's eyed widened and she slapped Natsu as she said "You fool! That is exactly who we're chasing after!" she said angrily."Erza calm down!" said Justin "He was asleep remember?!" he said. Erza then hit her head on the car. I am an idiot. "Everyone in the car, now!" she said. Justin jumped back on the roof and the rest got in the passenger compartment again as the car took off after the train.
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