Thank you for still reading, that is all.
The first thing that crossed Laxus' mind was how proud he felt when they stumbled upon that damaged council room. He could feel a satisfied smirk spread across his features, soften his cool blue eyes. Half of the room was blown completely apart, allowing the cool breeze to gust across, picking up dust as it blew past. Piles of rubble were stained with dark splatter marks that for the sake of argument Laxus would later call blood. The faint scent of his cousin helped him make a quick track of her movements, he was instantly pleased with how everything seemed to have played out.
"Lu took down so many mages here; I can't believe I missed this. Her progression is really something, you know." A lopsided smile that didn't quite fit the lightning mage's personality overtook his lips as he nodded approvingly.
"She did all this?" Ultear asked shakily, pulling her cloak tightly around herself to shield her appearance from view.
"That's my cousin for you, but it seems like Levy put up a good fight too." Laxus clapped a hand on the woman's shoulder, steering her towards the new base of operations. He was practically beaming with sibling-like pride, and it made the others a little uneasy.
"Laxus is like a kitten next to the Natsu and Lucy now." Gray snickered from the rear, completely missing the air of unease.
"Gray, is that really a good idea?" Jellal whispered in a hushed tone to the man walking just a few steps behind him. The ice mage merely shrugged and continued his fit of quiet laughter.
"I'm not a half breed, so what? I could still mop the floor with your face." Laxus raised a brow at the member of their party that wasn't even supposed to be there. He really wanted to know how the hell Gray had even managed to weasel his way into their little entourage in the first place.
"Yeah, yeah. All powerful Laxus will surely put me in my place." Gray drawled lazily.
"Gray, you are barely a match for Wendy at this juncture, I don't thinks it's wise for someone in your position to comment on others' abilities… in other words this is no better than digging your own grave." Meredy sang quietly to the unsuspecting ice mage.
"There is no way Wendy is stronger than me, come on she's a kid for god sake. And she's a healer, not that it's a bad thing, but healers aren't usually brimming with physical prowess." Gray took a moment to flex his pride before his whole body took to shaking as a shock ran through him. (Courtesy of Laxus who had enough of the annoyance that wouldn't stop talking)
Laxus had had enough of the ice mage's big mouth; no one was allowed to insult his family, especially not in front of his face. The lightning mage let out a crackling charge as a warning for Gray to keep his mouth shut for the rest of their trip.
"Told you so." Meredy sang louder this time before taking out a lollipop from her travel pack. Gray shot her an angry glare, but the threat of getting shocked again made him shrink back without saying anything else.
Jellal and Ultear simply shock their heads at the scene while continuing to follow Laxus down the deserted hallway. It wasn't much further before they reached their destination, and a short knock on the door brought an elderly mage to open it. Laxus gave a short greeting, explaining that Lucy had sent them here to clean up the mess she had left. The elderly mage listened to the instruction that Lucy had sent for Laxus before he pulled out a stack of papers that were nearly as tall as he was. The old man explained the situation in greater detail to the mages, and handed them the stack of papers that Lucy and Levy had instructed he prepare for them.
"I was instructed to help you with the task of reconstruction, since I have worked for the council for a courter of a century. Lady Lucy asked that I help guide the new generation through this transition."
Laxus took his time reading over the reports that were obviously drawn up by the script mage herself, making a note of just how many new prisoners they were now housing in the maximum security facilities on the outskirts of Era. A long low whistle left his lips as he read off the familiar names for Jellal and Ultear to hear.
"She wasn't kidding about making a mess, now was she?" Laxus ran a hand through his long blonde hair stopping just short of the blue ribbon Wendy had lent to him and sighed. "Right, there isn't much time to waste. Meredy and Gray will be assigned to the archives; I'm going to need a list of candidates to replace the wizard saints, as well as a roster of capable mages who are willing to work for the reformed council. Jellal, I'll need you working on informing the network of mage guilds that there has been a power shift, and that missions will temporally be on stand-by. All the Guild Masters will have to inform their prospective clients that current job posting will be put on hold for a short while. As for you Ultear, I need you to reconstruct the room that my cousin took apart as best as you can, when that's finished I need you to handle communications with the rune knights." Laxus handed over paperwork accordingly before turning back to the elderly man, who was grinning like a madman.
"I was right to believe that the chosen ones would return peace to our world. It makes my old heart happy to see that I lived long enough to see this day." Laxus thanked the old mage for his hard work before turning towards the exit.
"Hey, is that all of it, aren't you going to help too?" Gray sneered, not liking the fact that Laxus had refrained from assigning himself a job as well.
"I have a family matter to attend to, now get to work!" The air around Laxus practically sizzled, and Gray found himself cowering at the mere thought of being electrocuted once more. There were no more complaints as Gray wrapped his hand around the pink haired woman's wrist, urging her to move in the direction of the archives room that was clearly marked on the map he was now holding.
For the second time that day, Wendy found herself trapped on a train, only this time the high of victory outweighed her slight bout of motion sickness. She figured that it would hit her as hard as her brothers' one day, but she was more than happy to wait for that part of her new found maturity. As the only female dragon slayer she had already begun to see that she was beginning to undergo changes that hadn't happened for her brothers till many years later.
"Would you sit still already?" Happy practically growled at the blue haired teen that was bobbing excitedly in her seat. Wendy only responded by sticking out her tongue before continuing her previous action. "Romeo, switch with me pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!" Happy whined at the dark haired boy. Romeo was silently amused at the other members of his team. No matter how long they had been traveling, things never changed between them; Happy would always be Happy, and Wendy, well she was something else.
"Alright, alright." Romeo waved as he got up from his seat to step over the mass on the floor in front of his feet, instantly Happy made his way over to sit between Charle and Lily, a satisfied smile on his face. He turned to the white exceed opening his mouth in preparation to offer her a nice fish when she cut him short.
"If you so much as mention a fish for the rest of this trip I swear I will stuff you in the luggage compartment." Charle held the utmost authoritative voice as she narrowed her eyes at Happy. The blue exceed gulped and turned back in his seat, muttering about how he was just trying to be considerate. Wendy ignored the two as she watched the landscape become hilly out the train window, while Romeo chuckled at the scene. Of course Happy had used Wendy as an excuse to be closer to Charle, he should have known.
A low grumble came from the mass at their feet, and Wendy instinctively shoved a heeled boot into the side of the man's face eliciting a hiss of pain from their captive. Wendy's grin doubled at the sound, she was truly having the best day she could ever remember.
"Almost there! I can't wait to tell Lucy-nee about my awesome battle!" Wendy chimmed.
"We helped too." Happy whined.
"Yes it was a team effort." Charle added.
"I kicked his ass the hardest though." Wendy placed a thoughtful finger to her chin, nodding to herself.
"Hey, I got in just as many hits as you did." Romeo folded his arms over his chest, with a small pout.
"Well I guess so, but I wore him down." Wendy's voice became more subdued this time as she turned back to look out the window. They were nearing the borders of Era already, and she could feel the tension of change in the air. It was driving her dragon senses crazy, and she was already pumped for the fight she knew was coming.
The blonde sat on the side of the hot spring, watching the sun sink lower in the sky as she allowing the steam from the water to loosen the tension in her sore body. She had played off the pain earlier in front of the others, but she knew that she was truly lucky that she had survived at all. She could still feel the burn of the whips as they slashed through her tender flesh. She could still smell the metallic scent of her own blood being spilled on the floor. She had watched the whole scene replayed through the eye of her best friend, and she was horrified by the scene.
In the throes of battle Lucy hadn't realized just how much damage her body had really taken, but as she watched Virgo wrap her in torso with gauze it became clear to her just how dire her situation had truly been. It was no wonder Levy and the others were a complete mess. Lucy had only looked at herself in the mirror for a few short moments, and had no choice but to look away in disgust.
As a strong mage she was aware that she had allowed her guard down far too many times during the progression of the battle; Lucy had rushed in with a hot head before making a real plan to defeat her opponents, and that was her down fall. She allowed herself a smirk when the thought crossed her mind that this was the way Natsu must feel a lot of the time, even though he came victorious he never seemed to come home without injuries. She let out a sigh, realizing that she still needed to continue her training so that she would be able to control the amount of magic she expelled during the critical battles that she knew were still on the horizon.
Lucy was glad that she was currently alone in the bath, because that meant that Levy had finally agreed to get some rest. Though she enjoyed the solitude, she was worried about leaving the others alone with what had happened over the past twenty four hours. Especially Levy, the poor thing had been through so much recently, and Lucy knew that she blamed herself for what had happened to Lucy. No matter how much she tried to convince her blue haired friend that there was nothing she could have done, Levy insisted that she should have been able to do more. Lucy could tell that Levy still felt as though she wasn't strong enough, and she didn't blame her for it, considering Lucy herself still felt weak in the face of what was next.
Everyone involved was feeling the pressure build up as the event approached, Lucy could sense the fear mounting around her. It was becoming tangible to a point where she felt as though she were in a dense fog that wanted to cut off her supply of oxygen. Soon the blonde's worries would only double, as the paths of so many crossed once more.
Wendy was on her way with her little crew; Lucy could already feel her presence just beyond the mountain range. Laxus was disobeying orders, and was on his way as well, his arrival would be in mere minutes. It was all beginning to play out like one of the many scenarios she had been subjected to in the guise of dreams. The pressure of the next few hours weighed heavily on the Celestial Mage's shoulders, because she was well aware at this point that they were nearing the deadliest battle any of them had ever faced before.
She wrapped a towel around herself, minding the fresh bandages before making her way back into the room where her companions were waiting. Once she was dressed, Lucy gathered the others around herself preparing to go over their new plan of attack. They no longer needed to search for their objective; she finally knew where to find him.
Elfman stood panting as he stared at the pile of rumble in front of him, scrunching up his nose at the smell that could only be compare to a barbeque gone horribly wrong. He couldn't for the life of himself find where he had left the other two in his little party, but he was pretty sure it had been around this area. He had been searching for about an hour when he decided to circle back to this place, but still he had no luck.
"I feel like I missed something." Elfman groaned sitting himself on a large boulder. There wasn't much else he could do until he found Natsu and Gajeel; after all he had finally gotten a solid lead in the town just over the last peak. They were getting closer, and Elfman was getting excited for the rematch. He would wait calmly for the other men to show themselves, since they must have gone off hunting or something like that. Possibly they had decided to train even more while he was gone, Elfman didn't like that idea all that much, he was falling behind, and it wasn't manly to be over powered by younger men.
He set his mind to train as well, that way if he was wrong and the other two weren't training, he could consider himself to be catching up. The large man grinned at his own logic, if he worked hard enough he could get back on par with the other, he just needed to get his ass in gear.
Erza was never one to question an order, but she had a feeling that something big was coming. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach, a horrid knot that twisted her insides painfully. This was the same as it always has been before a particularly large or important mission. Something bigger was going on, and Erza didn't like the fact that she wasn't involved. It just wasn't right; they wouldn't leave her behind, not when the situation was so dire. Erza had sworn that she was going to protect her friends, even if it cost her every last ounce of strength.
"There is no way I'm going to sit on my hands while the others fight!" Erza demanded as she slammed her armored fists on the table. It was a battle cry that was answered by several other mages who also felt that they would go crazy if they didn't do something.
"There is a limit to everyone's power, go to them Erza, remind the two of them exactly what they are fighting for." Master Makarov gave a tired smile as Erza nodded. It wasn't long before she had rallied the rest of the troops preparing to head for Era. All the while Erza's knot clenched down even tighter than before, she just hoped that she could make it before the fighting broke out.
"My lord, the time is approaching." A hooded figure bowed deeply in front of a tall throne holding out a large Lycrima for his master to observe. The lengths of dark fabric that shrouded the man, hid his violent tremors, as he tried to hold his hands steady. He knew from prior experience that the mere knowledge of fear would cause the master to administer punishment. Fear was a forbidden emotion in this place, and all those who served the master knew it all too well.
A heavy silence followed the man's softly spoken words while the Master watched the blonde woman on the screen with intensity. The cloaked man held his breath awaiting the terrifying verdict of the man who was sure to be the death of him.
"Yes, it would appear that they are finally ready." His dead eyes narrowed as he watched the group of mages in the lycrima projection. "It won't be long now, Lucy dear, I'll take everything I've been denied and watch as you and your beloved ones suffer."
A/N:: And you thought you knew who all the bad guys were, didn't you? Is it even possible that there is someone in this world of Monsters that could make even the great Natsu Dragneel quake in fear (other than Gildarts of course)? Join us again Next week as we discover what this shadowy figure plans to do with our favorite characters!