[Last updated: 09/17/18]

Later the next day, I found myself at Magnolia train station in the presence of a very unhappy Natsu, who was, of course, quarrelling with Gray. "UGGH! I HATE THIS! Teaming up with you is the worst idea ever!" Gray, with his face practically pressed against Natsu's, agreed with him, "Yeah! Tell me about it, Erza made a huge mistake bringing a loser like you along!" Sparks were flying between the two, to put things lightly. 'Aaaand now they're bickering like an old married couple.'The thought made Mira giggle a little bit and said jokingly, They should just kiss and get it over with, if you ask me. Oh, the sass on this one. Truly, she is the Queen of Sass. I was smiling though; she was a great companion to travel with.

I looked over to the nearby bench where Lucy and Happy were sitting; Lucy had one of her smaller celestial spirits (Pet?) on her lap. I later learned from Natsu that the little guy's name was Plue. He was a small white humanoid that stood at one and a half feet tall with bland eyes and a golden horn-like nose reminiscent of a carrot that gave him the slight appearance of a snowman. I noticed his body was shaking, almost constantly, though this didn't always occur. He mostly communicates by using gestures. Although he appears capable of vocalization, the only sounds he seems to be able to make are unintelligible cute-sounding noises. When I asked him, Natsu claimed to understand him; Mira and I, however, are dubious of that fact.

I heard Lucy comment, with her head in a hand, "Let's just sit here and pretend we don't know them.", referring to Natsu and Gray. Happy asked her, "What made you decide to come along with us?" I drew near, as I myself had been wondering about that. "Mirajane asked me to tag along." As best I could tell from her explanation, she had wanted Lucy to come along with us to stop them from (Metaphorically) tearing each other's throats out. Happy commented that she wasn't doing a very good job. Lucy sighed and gestured futilely at the duo, "What can I say? They're hopeless." Then Erza suddenly came in out of nowhere, "Sorry I'm late; have you been waiting long?" Lucy brightened and looked up, "No, not really …" She trailed off as her eyes widened when she saw the sheer amount of luggage that the other woman was bringing along with her. She needed a large wagon to transport it all. Holy shit! What do you think she's packing in all of that luggage?! 'I don't know; perhaps clothes or weapons? That's what I would pack … if I packed.'

And like clockwork, Natsu and Gray got all buddy-buddy. Erza looked over to them approvingly, "Good; I really love to see the two of you getting along." She then began to talk to Lucy about her and I recently joining up … I got the impression that she had heard vastly overhyped rumors of Lucy's abilities, I mean, Lucy could take care of herself, to be sure; however, what she was describing were just flat out and out lies. Natsu tore himself away from Gray for a second to talk to Erza, "Hey Erza, I'll come with you only under one condition." Why did he come this far if he might not have come with us? Does he EVER think things through?

This drew her interest, "Oh? Well then, let's hear it." Natsu clenched a fist and grinned confidently, "Ok, I want a rematch when we get back to Fairy Tail!" This caused Lucy and Gray to flip out slightly at him, the latter asking him if he had some kind of death wish. Natsu clenched a fist and grinned confidently towards Erza, "I'm a lot stronger than I was last time! This time will be way different; because I'm going to beat you!" She paused briefly before replying; no doubt she was analyzing Natsu. "Yes, I can tell you've improved. As to whether or not you can beat me … suppose we will have to see. I accept your challenge." Embers suddenly started flying from Natsu, before his head – comically enough – burst into flames, "OH YEAH! I'M FIRED UP!" Apparently he meant that literally.

A little later on after we had climbed aboard a quaint steam train, Natsu was sitting in the seat next to me in the cabin we got to ourselves along with Erza, Lucy, Happy, and Gray. Natsu was slumped against the wall and had a sickly pallor to him. Gray fixed him with a stare, "I swear … you're totally pathetic, Natsu. One minute you're picking a fight, and the next you're like this." Lucy looked over to Natsu and said quietly, "It's gotta be tough on him getting from place to place." Erza simply smiled calmly, "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Then to Natsu, she sweetly said, "Come here and sit with me." A sickly 'Aye' could be heard from Natsu as he and Lucy traded seats. He was now sitting beside Erza, clearly uncomfortable. Erza put an arm over his shoulders and said, "Now, just relax." He nodded weakly, "Aye." That was the last thing he said before Erza gut punched him hard in the belly, knocking him out and ending up with him sprawled on her lap. She sat up, relaxed her arms to her sides, and nodded approvingly at her work, "There. That should make the trip a little easier on him."

Gray, who was looking impassively out the window at the rolling landscape, turned his gaze back our way with a serious expression. "Erza? I think it's about time you started filling us in; I mean, what kind of job are we going on here?" She nodded, suddenly all business, "Of course. I believe the dark guild Eisenwald is planning something big; I'm not sure what exactly, but it has something to do with a magic item called Lullaby." Lucy spoke up, "Wait, that thing from before?" As it turns out, she had run into them before. Around the time I was doing my jobs after Lynna village, she had apparently gone on a job with Happy and Natsu where Happy had been taken hostage by hungry dark mages they believed belonged to a dark guild named Eisenwald.

I simply leaned back in my seat and listened to their discourse; I still felt pretty talked out from last night. I couldn't remember the last time I had talked that much about anything … nor for so long, but … my new friends deserved answers, and I gave them. Anyway, they talked about Eisenwald, or at least a splinter group of them that – from what I can tell – apparently has possession of an item called 'Lullaby'. Supposedly, this item is so imposing that it even had dark wizards – the majority if the criminal element of this world – scared of it. Erza began explaining how she came by all this information.

It turned out that she stopped by a pub in a place called Onibus on her way back to the guild after completing a job. She knew that this place was a gathering spot for local wizards. She had overheard a group of drunken mages talking rather loudly, bitching about how they had finally found Lullaby and how they couldn't do anything about it because of a seal. A mage of their group had then gotten up, and declared that the others shouldn't worry, that they should tell someone by the name of Erigor that he would be the one to bring it back to their guild in three days' time.

I took the opportunity and asked, "Lullaby? Like the song you sing to get kids to sleep?" She nodded, "Yes. And the fact that it had been sealed away means that it must have been a very powerful magic." Gray asked her, "You sure the guys you saw in the pub are in Eisenwald?" Another nod. "Yes, I can't believe I was such a fool that day. I didn't recognize his name; Erigor: the Ace of Eisenwald. He only accepts assassination requests, which is why he's earned the name "Erigor the reaper". I asked the obvious question, "So. This … Erigor, he kills for money?" She nodded at me and continued, "When the council outlawed assassination requests, Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the council's rules. As a result, they were kicked out of their wizard league six years ago; but that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders and have remained active to this day."

I winced in sympathy as she pounded a fist into Natsu's back in frustration. He's going to feel that tomorrow. "How could I have been so careless?! If I recognized Erigor's name that day, I could've pulverized them! I could've forced them to reveal their scheme to me!" I scooted forward a bit in my seat and leaned back to get into a better position and said, "So, if I've got this straight: Eisenwald's planning to do something with this 'Lullaby', and you wish to stop them because from what you overheard, you're sure it's going to be something bad." She balled a hand in frustration and nodded, "That's correct. And I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can take on an entire magical guild all by myself; that's why I've asked all of you for your help: we're storming the Eisenwald guild. Gray leaned forward, a grin plastered on his face, "Sounds like fun to me!" Happy enthusiastically emitted his trademark "Aye!". I chuckled confidently said, "Is that all? This'll be easy." I then noticed as Lucy started to practically break out in a nervous sweat … I couldn't say I blamed her, as most of her capabilities seemed to be supportive in nature. She has Taurus, to be sure, but her mermaid chick seems to be a rather double edged sword. What IS her deal with Lucy, anyway?

We finally reached the next station in the trip, and we paid our fares. Although I'm not proud to admit it, I had to rely on Lucy to assist me with how much money to pay the man. I really need to find a book or something about their currency, it's just not making sense to me and this is getting to be kind of ridiculous at this point. (Although, it is nice to be able to pay for something by myself, at the very least) I had intended to do it while I was at the guild, but I got … distracted. I looked over to Erza at that thought. Mira scoffed, Yeah, you sure did. So … speaking of which, you ready to talk about that yet? 'No. Just … let's get back to the guild, ok? I'll talk as much as you want then; I promise. Until then, that would just be too much of a distraction.' Oh yeah, talking about her WHILE staring at her ass, that would be too much for you, huh? Ok. Fine. I'll wait. I had to struggle to hold in my laughter. This woman. I could just about imagine the deadpan expression as she gave that line.

While we waited for the train to go through its' motions to start back up, we decided to get something to eat. Gray got a sandwich of some kind, Erza was eating a large slice of strawberry cake, and I found some kind of spicy chicken burrito; at least I thought it was chicken. I requipped my helmet off and took a bite. It tasted like it, although many things do, it seems. Anyway, as we ate, Lucy asked Erza what kind of magic she practiced and if she could show it to her. "That's a good question." Happy jumped on his seat excitedly while eating a fish and said, "Erza's magic is really pretty! She makes her enemies bleed. A lot." As she finished her bite of cake, Erza commented, "Personally, I think Gray's magic is much more beautiful than mine." Gray swallowed a bite, put his lunch down next to him, and got into his combat stance: a fist balled onto the center of his other palm. "Oh, like this?" He activated a light blue magic seal as cold winds started to blow around the cabin. He separated his hands to reveal a small, icy replica of the Fairy Tail emblem. "I use ice magic." Lucy snorted softly, "Now I understand why you and Natsu don't get along! He's fire, and you're ice; talk about not mixing very well." Erza chewed thoughtfully as she made little gestures with her fork, "Hmm … I've never thought of it that way." Gray smirked, "Nah, I just hate his guts."

Finally, we made it to the end of our ride and we got off the train. Gray asked, "You think the Eisenwald guys will be in this town?" Erza just shrugged, "I have no idea. That's what we're here to find out." Lucy commented in a low voice, "I'm still thinking that maybe I should go home." It was then that Happy – who had climbed onto my shoulder – looked around and asked, "Hold on, what happened to Natsu?" We did an about-face as we ran back to the station just in time to see the train we came in on, presumably still holding Natsu, pull away at full steam ahead. Happy said, "Uh oh, there he goes."

Lucy just stood there agape at the sight, mouth open in shock. Erza clenched her fists in anger, "I was so busy talking that I forgot about him! I'm such a fool! Natsu hates all forms of transportation; this is all my fault! I need one of you to come and hit me for my penance!" I can't tell if she's serious, or just being dramatic right now. I walked up to her and flicked her on the shoulder. She flinched and looked up, possibly expecting more. "Erza, you're Human. We make mistakes. Besides, you didn't mean to leave him on the train, right?" She shook her head. "Good." I helped her up from the kneeling stance she had adopted by then. I looked around, "Now then … is there a way to stop the train? We can't leave him on that thing."

As quickly as we could, we made our way to the main building along the railway with Erza leading the way. She found what I took to be an important looking lever and pulled, activating a chorus of alarm bells – actual bells! It was then a cross man in a navy blue uniform came up to her; he looked like he worked there. "What do you think you're doing, lady?! You can't just pull the emergency lever without permission!" She calmly said to the man, "It's for our comrade, please understand." The man took a step back in surprise, "Are you kidding me?" Erza then told the man to take her luggage to the hotel. "What do I look like lady, a bellhop?" Actually … in that uniform? Yeah, he kind of does. I could hear Lucy comment in the back that she was coming to think that all wizards in Fairy Tail are a little insane. Gray, who was in his underwear again, replied, "Well, not all of us." Surprised, she looked him and asked, "Oh yeah? Where are your clothes!?"

We quickly decided that it would be best to try and catch up to Natsu while the train was stalled; I began to think of the best course of action before Erza gestured for me to follow her, she already had a plan. I shrugged and followed, curious. She led us to some sort of vehicle that I later learned was called a 'Magic Mobile': it looked like some kind of weird mashup of a car and a horse-drawn carriage; the seat of the carriage being where the engine would normally have gone, with some kind of rudimentary control mechanism before the seat. Overall, the driver was put out in front of everything, left to the tender mercies of the elements. Please let this be some kind of prototype that they released for some reason and they will go back later on and finish it?

Erza took the chair and fixed some kind of apparatus onto her wrist, grabbed the controls, yelled for us to climb in, and the second the last foot left the ground, we were off at high speed. Lucy and I had made it into the cabin of the vehicle, Gray, on the other hand, was clinging onto the roof for dear life. Erza sped us down the road and eventually ran parallel to the tracks leading out of town, towards the train that held Natsu. We closed in on it and I could see one of the last few cars had its' roof split down the middle like an overcooked loaf of bread. We came up to it just in time for Natsu to jump out of a large hole in the side of the car in question … and right into Gray to headbutt him at high speed. Erza stomped on the breaks. I looked out and saw the two of them lying on the ground on their backs with stars in their eyes. Erza asked them if they were all right, I heard a weak 'Aye' from one of them. I swear … these Earthland wizards … so incredibly durable! That kind of collision should have killed them both!

However, they couldn't have been hurt too badly, seeing as they were back on their feet arguing a minute or so later, albeit with large lumps on their heads. "That HURT you idiot!" Natsu gritted his teeth, "Shut up you icy freak! How come you guys left me on the train?!" Erza sighed, "I'm just thankful you weren't badly injured. I apologize, Natsu." And with that, she grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into her metal breastplate in a forceful hug. Natsu rubbed the side of his head, "It's ok! I'm still shaken up pretty bad, I got attacked by a weirdo on the train." Lucy gasped and placed a hand on her mouth, "Are you serious?" He crossed his arms and said, "I think it was the dude who dragged away the guys who were going to eat Happy." Wait, what? "He said he was with Eisenwald." This got Erza's attention, and she slapped him so hard he fell to the ground. "You fool! This is exactly who we're chasing on this mission! WHY DID YOU LET HIM GET AWAY?!" Natsu got up on his knee, hand rubbing his cheek, "What the … this is the first I've heard about it!" Erza continued angrily, "I explained everything on the train! You should listen to people when they talk to you!" Meanwhile, Lucy, Gray, and I were in a little back behind Erza, out of earshot as Lucy deadpanned quietly, "She completely forgot she knocked him out, didn't she? This woman is unbelievable." Gray agreed. Happy quipped, "That's Erza for ya!"

We all piled back into the magic vehicle and Erza said, "So … he was on the same train we were on. Let's find him." Gray and Natsu talked about the guy he 'met' on the train. Natsu said, "He didn't look like the guy from a dark guild, and he had some kind of strange flute; it looked like a skull, except it had three eyes." Lucy said, "A three eyed skull?" Gray commented that that was creepy. Lucy had the look of deep contemplation; Happy asked her if something was wrong. "It's just … I've heard about that flute before … Lullaby." She looked up suddenly with a worried expression, "The cursed song! It's death magic!" Gray asked, "A cursed song? Like an incantation?" Lucy shook her head and shrugged, "I've only ever read about it in books before … but there are deadly spells out there forbidden to be used by wizards." Erza took on a serious expression, "That's right, there are cursed black magic spells that kill the person that they are used on." Lucy continued, "Well, if I'm right, then Lullaby's even worse." Well shit.

A little while later, Erza had us speeding down a mountain road, jostling everything inside the vehicle violently. (I'm still more than a little hesitant on calling it an actual car) Gray, who was clinging to the roof again shouted, "Hey! Slow down Erza! You're using up too much of your power driving this thing!" I heard her reply, "I have no choice but to press onward! We're running out of time, if Erigor gets his hands on this death magic … trust me, lives will be lost! Curse them! What is it they hope to accomplish? This is madness!" I increased my hold on the vehicle as we went over yet another rough patch.

We eventually made our way off of the trail and parked on a cliff above to overlook a small train depot named Kunagi Station. A reason I could think that we were parked all the way up here, instead of near the station itself, is because of the presence of military soldiers there. (Although they looked nothing more than footsoldiers to me) I too looked out briefly to get a better look at them, since we had been too busy running from them when we were back in Hargeon. Mira and I conversed quietly, and agreed that the general look to them reminded us of how medieval knights looked, if not slightly different.

The typical soldier seemed to be outfitted with a simplistic helm constructed of what looked like steel and some kind of cloth – or decorative covering – with a length of chainmail attached to the aforementioned helm that draped around the shoulders. On the body, they wore a – presumably reinforced – outfit of vertically striped mustard yellow and navy blue with black leather boots. Jeesh, who picked these colors out for them, the combination is absolutely garish! They were armed with shields that shared the design motif that bore some kind of sigil upon their corners. As for offense, they each held decorative spears that had bright red tassels below the blade – which were decoratively inlaid with some kind of material that glowed faintly; of course, the glowing may have just been the way the light shone off them.

Lucy poked her head out of the window to look down at the structure and wondered aloud, "I can understand cars and boats, but why would they hijack a train?" Happy looked out with Lucy and agreed, "Yeah, it doesn't really seem like it would be a good choice for getaways since it can only follow the tracks it's on." Erza, who was looking down to the station said, "Yes, that's true … they are quite fast." Meanwhile, while they were talking, I had found a seat with my back to Erza, looking at a more than nauseous Natsu and a comfortable looking Gray … who had somehow stripped to his underwear again when I wasn't looking. "I guess it's up to us to figure out where those Eisenwald guys were going in such a big hurry and why." Lucy pulled her head back in and turned around to look at Gray in shock before yelling at him for being in his underwear again. Gray merely looked down, mild surprise evident in his face, as he asked, "Am I?" Lucy shook her head and poked it out the window again, "The military's already been called to action, so it should only be a matter of time before someone catches them." Agreeing, Erza said, "I hope that's the case, Lucy." She engaged the vehicle and drove off at breakneck speed.

We made it to an urban settlement and Erza took a corner fast, skidding the vehicle on its side wheels. Gray, (Who was back on the roof for some reason) yelled down to Erza to slow down; that she was going to overload some kind of plug. She simply increased her speed and said, "There's no telling how many innocent people could die if Lullaby's song is played! I can't slow down, we have to stop Eisenwald before it's too late!" Gray slammed a fist in the roof above us, "But at this rate, you're going to use up all your magic before we even start fighting!" I looked out at her, and she smiled, "Well then I'll just have to rely on hand-to-hand combat. Besides, I've got you, Natsu, and Jai as backup!" Back inside, Happy, who was sitting beside Lucy, commented, "I feel like there was something important I was supposed to tell you, Lucy." She looked down to the cat, "Oh really? Well, what was it?" He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, "I don't remember … it was just something about something I was supposed to tell you … Um, you're …" Natsu interrupted from the floor in a shaky voice, "I'm going to be sick for real!" Happy nodded at Natsu, "That's it!" Lucy yelled at Happy again.

Natsu climbed up to the seat and forced himself partially out the side window. Lucy rushed to him to pull him back in, "Woah! Watch out, Natsu! You're gonna fall out!" I heard a nauseous reply, "That's what I'm aiming for!" Happy, meanwhile closed his eyes and retreated into his mind, thinking hard about what he needed to tell Lucy. All of a sudden, Erza exclaimed, "What's that up ahead?!" I looked outside in time to read a sign for Oshibana station. I looked ahead to the side of Erza, and saw a large stone building with a thick, black ribbon of smoke coming out of the side.

We got near, and parked. I disembarked as Erza rushed towards the crowd and to a uniformed man with a simple megaphone. She put a hand on his shoulder, "Excuse me! What's going on?" Annoyed, the man looked over his shoulder, "And why should I tell you, lady?" In response, she headbutted the man to the ground; she then went up to the next rail worker and asked him the same question. When he didn't answer, she proceeded to head-butt him too. She then went on to do the same for the next rail worker, and so on. Lucy, who was holding Natsu up, commented, "Hmm … it seems like her questioning method is a little counterproductive." Gray, still in his underwear, walked up beside her and said, "Erza's got her own way of getting things done." Lucy asked him where his clothes were.

Erza, who apparently had either run out of people to headbutt, or received what she asked for, came up to us with a serious face. "The Eisenwald guild's inside! Come on!" Gray nodded, "Right." Lucy gestured to Natsu with her free hand, "So I've got to drag this one around?" I heard a choked apology come from Natsu.

We proceeded to make our way into the station proper; I looked around. The very large, long room we found ourselves in had to be about two and half stories tall, with a large rounded roof capped on both ends by windows made to fit the dimensions of the roof. As we ran, Erza continued debriefing us: "A small army unit stormed in earlier, but they have yet to return. I'm guessing they've been caught in battle with the Eisenwald forces." Sure enough, we came upon a stone staircase strewn with the broken bodies of the missing soldiers. Several of them gasped; Happy said with disbelief in his voice, "They've been completely wiped out!" I spoke up, "Well, of course they've been completely wiped out. No disrespect meant to the fallen men here, but they were sent in alone to go up against an entire guild. A small contingent of normal soldiers such as this would never have stood a chance against such odds – at least not on its own."

We climbed the staircase, careful not to tread on the bodies around us, and went through the double doors at the top. A low laugh emanated from a man before us, echoing sinisterly around us from the hard surfaces of the station. "Step into our parlor, Fairy Tail flies!" In front of us, there stood what looked like the entire dark guild, Eisenwald. With a panicked expression, Lucy exclaimed, "There's so many of them!" Erza stepped forward a few paces and looked over to a thin man with a very large, vicious looking scythe sitting precariously on the ledge of a large window. "You fiend! I take it you're Erigor?" The man in question simply laughed in a low register. Meanwhile, Lucy, who had put Natsu on the floor, was rocking him back and forth in an attempt to rouse him, "Come on Natsu, wake up! We need your help!" I glanced at him; it indeed looked like he would be out of the picture for some while. Happy walked over to her and looked at Natsu, "Good luck! Between the train, magic mobile, and your shaking, it's a motion sickness triple combo!"

One of the men clustered on the other side of the large room eyed Natsu and said in a low, dangerous voice, "Hey you! It's your fault I got in trouble with Erigor! Get up!" Somehow, that was enough for life to flow back into Natsu's prone frame. He blinked and then focused his senses in the direction of man in question. "I know that voice!" Erza took a step forward, "We're not threatened by any of you! Tell me what you're planning to do with Lullaby!" The man known as Erigor smile wickedly, "Oh, you haven't heard yet?" He nimbly jumped into the air, and with a gust of wind, flew higher into the air. Oh, storm magic again; this could get interesting. "What do all train stations have?" Lucy exclaimed, "He flew?!" Happy said, "It's wind magic!" Storm magic, wind magic … whatever. I'm not convinced there's an appreciable difference. He alighted on one of the announcement systems speaker poles and kneeled. Erza gasped, "You plan to broadcast Lullaby's song?!" He laughed heartily, "Thousands of nosey onlookers have flocked to the station to get a glimpse of the action. Who knows? If I raise the volume enough, it may be able to extinguish the whole city with my melody of death!" Erza narrowed her eyes at him, "What reason do you have to commit such a heinous crime against the innocent people of this town?" He grinned, and answered, "This is a cleansing of all of the fools out there who fail to appreciate the rights they hold so dear; who remain so willfully ignorant of the plight of those who have had their rights stripped away. They've committed the sin of turning a blind eye to the world's injustice … therefore, the Reaper has come to punish them!"

Lucy yelled, "But killing them isn't going to help you get your rights back! It's only going to make everything worse! That's the whole reason you were kicked out of the wizard league in the first place!" Erigor raised a hand as he spoke this next phrase then balled it into a fist to emphasize it at the end, "At this point, we've given up trying to regain our rights. We want power! Then we will be able to wash away the sins of the past and take control of what happens in the future!" Lucy was shocked for a moment before saying, "You guys are completely insane!"

One of the men in the front of the group kneeled and placed a hand flat on the floor, "We're rolling in a new age of darkness!" His face began to be lit up from below by a purple light, "Of course, by the time it gets here, you flies will be long gone!" Several thick, dark appendages shot out from his shadow, separated themselves from the floor, and rose up to attack us. But before they could hit, they were defeated by a fiery counterattack from Natsu. The man just stared at Natsu, "You again?" Natsu grinned at him, "Eisenwald dude! I knew I recognized that voice!" Lucy turned her head to him, "You're back to normal!" Natsu looked around at those gathered before us, "Oh, wow! It looks like we've got ourselves a party here, huh?" Lucy corrected him, "No, Natsu! These are the guys we have to fight!" He grinned and forcibly met his palm with a fist. "Like I said, it's a party!" I couldn't say I disagreed.

Lucy pointed to Erigor, who was smirking from atop his perch at us, "This is the strongest team Fairy Tail has to offer! You better be ready!" Erigor simply flew straight up, then spoke to his men, "I leave them to you! Show them the terror of the dark guild Eisenwald!" His image stuttered before vanishing. Erza then ordered Natsu and Gray to pursue him; that if they worked together, not even Erigor the Reaper could defeat them. She was leaving him in their hands. Of course, they had their faces pressed together in animosity until Erza gained a nasty glint to her eyes and yelled at them, "What did I say?!", scaring them into both running after him with a panicked 'Aye' from each. A few of the members from Eisenwald used their various magics to go after them.

Erza was looking after them as she spoke, "We'll catch up with them once we've finished up with the men here, ok?" Concerned, Lucy asked, "Us? Against an entire magical guild?!" Erza, meanwhile, placed a hand before her, palm out facing the enemy, said "Let's do this!" and requipped a sword using a blood red magic circle that appeared some distance above her. The sword spun at high speed as it materialized until she expertly caught the blade, planted it in the ground before her in one smooth motion, and glared at her enemies with her crimson shoulder-length hair blowing around her dramatically all in one smooth motion. I wonder if the dramatic hair was on purpose. "If you insult the Fairy Tail guild again in my presence, I swear none of you will live to see tomorrow!" In answer, about thirty men leapt high into the air, obviously with the aid of magic, and brought swords to bear as they targeted Erza and I.

Not to be outdone, I leapt into the fray with a roar behind Erza. In the back of my mind, I could hear Lucy and Happy talking about requip. I couldn't focus on them, though, as Erza and I went to work taking out the trash. (I also vaguely remember something about Lucy and some kind of crab-man … I think it was one of her Celestial Spirits)

I landed in a thick group of men who quickly surrounded me, blades drawn and pointed at me; I sighed … they never will learn, will they? If you face off with a Spartan, you're going to have a bad time. However, before I could bring out a weapon – in retrospect, something I should have done prior – I felt hands on my shoulder blades and snapped an elbow back for a man to be sent flying with a broken nose. I reached a hand forward and tried to summon my DMR for it to pretty much fizzle out in my hands. I looked at my hand, "What the … ?" Dark chuckling emanated from the group. One of the men before me smiled and noted, "Yeesh. You sure did a number on Todoroki." I looked up to him and calmly asked, "Wha – what did you do to me?" The man grinned and replied, "Simple. We nullified your magic. Don't worry though, it should come back within a few minutes. However, you'll be cut to ribbons on the floor long before then." So. That's the game, eh? Well, time to break the bad news to them.

I started laughing, confusing them. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, gentlemen, but you just eliminated the … mmm … shall we call it, the "painless" option for me?" The man cocked his head to one side, curious. "Oh? And what do you mean by –" He wouldn't be able to finish his sentence on account of his mouth being full of shattered teeth and my fist. For the benefit of those still conscious around me, I decided to graciously answer his half-voiced question. "Because I don't need a weapon to take you guys down. I AM A WEAPON!"

I began using my hand to hand training to take out my enemies; they weren't even worth the use of my weapons anyway. Bones gave way under my blows: jaws were shattered, fingers were snapped like kindling, arms and legs were broken with surgical strikes. However, I made sure not to land a blow on anything too important. I was taking pains to keep from killing them all out of sheer habit.

A few minutes later, I had finished up all the enemies around me; all of them crying and moaning in pain around me. I looked over and there were still quite a crowd around Erza, who was fighting valiantly. She was skillfully requipping an impressive arsenal of weapons at a blinding speed: spears, swords, axes … you name it, she used it. I noticed the reason she had so many to fight was because the crowd around her was being continuously fed with new bodies from the group on the other side of the room: they were wisely avoiding me, however it wouldn't help them. I fought my way into the center where she was fighting. Soon enough, we were fighting back-to-back. I heard her say, "Still so many; annoying, but I'll wipe them out. If you'll give me a moment, Jai?" I turned around to look at her, she had despawned her weapons and had her arms down to her sides. Her armor began to glow brightly until the effect spread to the ends of her body as well.

From the sideline, I heard Happy comment, "Most magic swordsman only have the ability to swap their weapons, but Erza is able to swap her armor for special enchanted armor that enhances her abilities. It's a talent only she possesses. That's what makes her magic special, it's a technique called, 'The Knight'." When the glow abated, I saw she had plated armor covering her chest, with a large metal flower over it, and she was wearing a large billowing skirt that had metal plating in the upper area. Her stomach and neck were left uncovered, and she had large metal wings that appear to be made of individual blades, as well as a wing-like headpiece. The armor she requipped into was called Heaven's Wheel. Mira was enthused, Oh wow! She's so pretty!

Lucy and I (As well as all the men in the opposing guild) approved her change of armor. That is, until she used it against her enemies. Probably thanks to the metallic wing-like structures of her armor appearing loosely attached to her shoulders, she rose several feet in the air, spawned many other swords (Holding two of them in her hands) around her arrayed in a circle and made them spin until they glowed brightly with the order, "Now … DANCE my swords!" She attacked with blinding force, literally cutting through all of her opposition that sent men flying everywhere; they stayed wherever they landed. Lucy gasped, "Woah! She took them down with a single swipe!" She is indeed a formidable swordswoman. One of the idiots left went to attack her, she cut through his sword (Rendering it as so much finely made scrap) and defeated him in one swipe as well. I heard one of the enemies shout her name: she was Titania Erza, Queen of the Fairies. That done, she placed her arms down at her sides and requipped back into her normal armor. The only remaining enemy (Who appeared to completely lack a nose) turned tail and ran; I can't say I blamed him ... after a show like that, I believe I would have done the same, were I in his shoes.

Erza looked after the man and frowned and said to Lucy, "Hmm … I would imagine he's going to look for Erigor. You should go after him." Lucy hesitated, "Who, me?" Erza gained a glint in her eyes and ordered the other girl to do it, who ran off to comply. When she was gone, she then fell into a kneel, breathing heavily, "Gray was right; I overdid it on the Magic Mobile. Please boys, don't fail me." I walked closer to her, hand hovering in the air near her in worry. "Erza, are you alright?" The woman grunted slightly as she got back to her feet, she looked a little frayed around the edges from the magic she expended in the battle. She nodded, "Yes, I'm fine." She smiled weakly, "Although … I may have used a large amount of my magic today." She shook her head and sighed, "It can't be helped. Come on, we need to warn the people outside of the danger posed here." I nodded, "Lead the way." As we walked, she fixed me with an appraising look, "You fought well back there. I'm impressed." I laughed nervously slightly, "Well, chalk it up to about a decade and a half of being in and out of combat, but thanks, Erza." She smiled briefly then focused back on leading the way.

We found an equipment cabinet in one of the offices that held what looked like a megaphone. She offered one to me, "No thanks, I have my own." I tapped the outside of my helmet. We then found our way to a balcony outside overlooking the ocean of people. We readied our megaphones and delivered the message, 'If you value your lives, then you will leave this place at once! This station has been taken over by evil wizards; they are threatening to broadcast a deadly spell over the loudspeakers that would kill everyone here! I beg you, run as far as you can!' A few station workers appeared next to Erza. (Huh, I thought she knocked them all out) The nearest one said, "Hey lady! Why would you make everyone panic like that?" She looked over to him and replied, "I would rather that than watch all of these people die. In fact, you gentlemen need to evacuate as well."

I turned and watched as everyone in the crowd before us turned and ran until they were but a black blob in the distance. I wondered aloud to her, "Now that everyone has evacuated, I wonder what Erigor's next move will be." I turned around and couldn't believe what I saw: it looked like a contained, slightly conical tornado was centered around the station, it was a wind barrier; we were just outside it. A red dot appeared on my motion tracker from above, I turned my head to see it was Erigor himself. He didn't look poised to attack, rather he had a smirk on his face and looked to be rather enjoying himself. "I've always wanted the opportunity to fight the Queen of the Fairies … but unfortunately, I don't have time to play with either of you right now." As he finished his statement, he raised a hand, palm facing us, and a blinding purple light began to glow in the middle. A magic circle formed that forced Erza and myself through the barrier and into a pillar, I left a sizeable crater in it before I fell to the ground. Erza got up and attacked the barrier; I could hear Erigor yell over the din, "It's useless! There's no way you'll ever be able to break through my magic sealing barrier. You see, it's one way only. If you try to escape, the wind will tear you apart." Erza yelled at him, "What is the meaning of this you scoundrel?!" He shook his head, "We've wasted enough time with you Fairy Tale flies! Now, if you will excuse me …" And with that, the man flew off into the air. "Come back here! Curse you, Erigor! I'll find a way to stop you!" She slammed a fist into the pillar near her, "So he wasn't targeting the station after all. Just what is he planning?" She was silent for a little bit, holding the shoulder that impacted the pillar first; I think she was thrown harder than I, judging by how fast she was pushed back in. Fortunately, I missed landing on her. She looked at the barrier and stated, "We will stop you."