Hey everyone, so back again with Light Light chapter 31. Sorry that it's taken a bit longer than planned this one changed a lot from the original draft and a lot of things had to either be changed or moved around which is why it was a bit delayed sorry. This chapter is part one of two since I've decided to split it in half because it was getting too long and taking up a lot more time.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed/followed or Favourite last chapter it is all extremely appreciated.
Upon hearing the loud explosion Gray's eyes widen as he quickly turned back to Lucy who was staring at the town in shock shifting her view to Gray's face they silently communicated with each other.
"Go" Lucy softly mouthed as she nodded slowly, signalling to Loke to head inside to be with the twins, still trying to process what had just happened. "I'll stay here, don't worry I have my spirits,and the rune wall" Lucy continued gesturing to Loke who was already rushing inside.
"Thank you" Gray said before starting into a run back into town 'Juvia, Aizu...please be safe' the ice Mage hoped as he ran through the forrest rushing back to town not liking the uneasy feeling he had.
As soon as Gray had left her line of sight Lucy took one more quick survey of the area before turning and heading inside making sure to lock the door as she headed through the hallway ,seeing concern face of Loke who was trying his best to comfort the panicking twins in the living room.
"Nashi, Kai" She spoke softly bending down opening her arms to be immediately met with the the sudden weight of the two six year olds as her son and daughter wrapped themselves around her "shhh it's ok you two" Lucy spoke using a calming motherly tone stroking their hair. Knowing that they were distracted for the moment Lucy turned her attention to the lead zodiac. "Loke it's starting, Gray's heading back to town, I believe that staying here is the safest option, even with Gray I don't think it'll be safe to try to get to the guild"
"I agree princess, although I don't think we're in the best situation and it'll be best to be ready just in case" Loke replied sternly as he walked around the room closing curtains while peeking out the windows on high alert, not liking the silence in the area, there was none of the usual chirping of the birds or the rustling sounds of wildlife shuffling through the bushes, the only sounds he could hear was Lucy's soft whispering to the whimpering twins. "Lucy, it's too quiet" he whispered catching his caster's attention, who at the statement stopped talking to her children to listen.
"It is" was the simply response, "c'mom you two, it's time to get up" Lucy smiled although it was clear to everyone in the room that it didn't reach her eyes, standing up she gently gasped each of their small hands in her own.
"Mum?" Kai nervously asked wanting to say more but couldn't find the words, as his mother directed him to the lounge.
"Is something wrong, why was there an explosion" Nashi continued for her brother when he received no response looking up at her mum seeing the worried look,as she climbed onto the lounge nervously grabbing Kai's hand when he sat next to her. Both not sure how to feel, their mother was acting scared and Loke was acting different. They could tell something was wrong especially when their mum was suddenly engulfed in a bright light as she activated Loke's stardress, neither have Nashi nor Kai ever seen Lucy activate stardress outside of training before, another indication that something was wrong. The feeling only got worse as the celestial Mage summoned Virgo and Capricorn who didn't even give their usual greetings or ask for punishment but instead headed over to join Loke.
Lucy couldn't help the guilt she felt at the scared looks her precious babies were giving her, she knew her lack of answering was only making things worse but honestly she didn't know what to say, closing her eyes Lucy allowed herself a brief moment to gather her thoughts before turning back to Nashi and Kai, reaching out to gently stroke Nashi's cheek.
"Ok I need you two to really listen to me right now" she paused really wishing things didn't have to come to this "there is a dark...bad guild that wants to des...hurt Fairy Tail and it seems they want to do it now...but don't worry I...we won't let anything happen to any of you no matter what ok" Lucy tried her best to sound convincing and confident that by her children's reactions she had somewhat succeeded.
"But...why do they want to hurt us, has Fairy Tail hurt them?" Kai innocently asked, before Lucy could open her mouth Capricorn answered.
"Unfortunately my young masters there are just bad people in this world who enjoy hurting others" the seagoat stated not afraid to withheld any of the truth accepting the other questions the young ones had, grateful for her loyal spirit Lucy took the opportunity to turn to Leo.
"Loke are you able to leave a come back with your own power" she inquired receiving a nod from the lead zodiac.
"Of course princess, I'll be a brief moment" Loke answered before disappearing, Lucy felt some relief course through her as the small strain on her magic lifted, turning back to her kids and Capricorn ignoring the light behind her as Loke retuned on his own power.
"So it looks like we may be awhile you two so do yo..." Lucy started thinking of a way to lift the mood when she suddenly felt something that horrified her or lack of, she didn't even need to look at her three faithful spirits to know they had similar expressions. Slowly turning to the front window where Virgo had the curtain pulled a bit back she was horrified to see the rune barrier slowly disappearing fear spiked through her as she also saw three unknown figures all baring the Blood Rose guild mark were smirking as they faced the house watching the barrier finally faded.
They were here and they had somehow destroyed Freed's ruins with little difficulty.
"Nashi, Kai stay inside with Capricorn, you will listen to him, Capricorn please keep them safe" Lucy instantly commanded jumping into action pulling out her celestial whip while attaching her other normal whip to her hip while walking to the lounge "Loke, Virgo I need you to come with me outside" she finished giving both Kai and Nashi a quick hug kissing each of them on their forehead "please stay here, don't worry everything will be ok and remember Nashi, Kai I love you." she quickly whispered as she embraced them before reluctantly pulling away nodding to Capricorn as she headed outside followed by Loke and Virgo, the celestial Mage and her spirits stopped just outside where the rune barrier once stood now facing the three Blood Rose members.
"I don't care who you are or what you want, I'll give you one warning LEAVE before we force you to." Lucy commanded while removing her celestial whip as she shifted into a battle ready defence stance along with Loke and Virgo the three them knowing that their front yard was about to become a battleground.
"Haha sorry blondie but me and my buddies here have direct orders from top to collect our future guild members." sneered the Blood Rose Mage who was standing in the middle of his group. The man was just taller than Loke with a scar covered skinny body topped with unruly grown brown hair, it seemed his clothing was the only 'clean' thing about the man with jeans and a black shirt that had the dark guilds mark embroidered into it, a clear sign that he was more than just a grunt. Along with the arsenal of professionally crafted weapons attach to him all bearing the guilds seal. "although it seems that you wish to avoid conflict, which I must say is awfully convenient since neither of us really want to fight don't you agree Crypt and Axis" he spoke in an over confident patronising tone as he motioned to the left than the right as he addressed the two men with him. Meanwhile it was taking Lucy almost all of her self-restraint to not start attacking at his words.
"Hehe not at all Crimson, not at all" Crypt chuckled eerily , just looking at the man made the Fairy Tail mage's feel uncomfortable, the man was incredibly pale and covered in various tattoo's to the point where it was near impossible to see his mark, his dark blonde hair was greasy and thin but the most uncomfortable thing about the man was both the crazed look his eyes held along with a jagged smile and the fact that it seemed impossible to stand still with his hands shaking as they fidgeted with a magical pen, paired with him shifting from leg to leg.
"While we were looking for a god scrap, I suppose it'll be easier on us to avoid a fight" Axis who if it wasn't for the Blood Rose guild Mark place up along his left arm would pass for any normal citizen, by far he was the cleanest and most presentable of the three with with short maintained black hair, jeans and a red singlet shirt, along with a couple of scars the only things that seemed threatening about the man was the brass knuckles he wore indicating that he was a physical Mage.
"Excellent see we're all in agreement here, now all you have to do is just hand over those two youngins in that house and we'll..."
"LIKE HELL WE WILL" Lucy shouted angrily not even allowing the leader to finish, while Virgo and Loke observed their opponents.
"Princess, judging by the pen it seems that Crypt is the one who broke the barrier indicating that he's a rune Mage" Virgo whispered quickly just after her master had shouted.
"Tsk tsk, you know darling it's rude to interrupt people one would think a mother would know this things" Crimson smirked.
"Shut the hell up and leave otherwise face the consequences" Lucy shouted again gripping harshly on her whip trying her best not to allow her emotions to get the best of her knowing that the man was aiming to undermined her. At the Fairy's responses Crimsons cocky smirk instantly dropped quickly replaced by a serious frown.
"This could've been easy and painless but you just wouldn't cooperate would ya...you wanna know why I'm called Crimson" his tone was dark and serious as he held his hand out as a long silver sword with a red hue suddenly appeared showcasing his weapon requip Magic "it's because my swords are always stained with my fallen enemies blood" was all the mage spoke before he launched himself at Lucy who quickly dodge while quickly attempting to strike the leader with her whip.
At Crimson's attack both Axis and Crypt soon followed his example while the later mentioned disappeared only to suddenly appeared in front of Virgo who quickly reacted by going underground before attempting to strike at the crazed man, while Axis went for a direct punch at Loke who matched him with a regulas powered hit forcing the man back while the Lion spirit cringed at his now bruised knuckles from the Brass.
"I must say it's been a while since I had a good scrap although even with three on three there's no way you'll be able to defeat Fairy Tail mage's" Loke gestured towards his opponent feeling confident in himself and his partners abilities, with the exception of Crimson these mage's magical energy wasn't anywhere near as strong as Lucy's, but unfortunately it had seemed that the Lion spirt had spoken to soon.
"I hate to admit it cat but your right we can't win, that is as long as it three on three, lucky for us though Fairy's we have reinforcements" Axis laughed as his body suddenly began flashing before a clone of him appeared followed by another and another all with the same magic energy as the last "what do you have to say now cat" all six of the Axis's laughed at the look of horror on Loke's face along with Virgo's and Lucy's as they realized this high stake fight just got a tougher and with the explosions in town no doubt occupying the Guild and Natsu, the chances of backup where slim.
Jellal froze as Gajeel cursed pulling Metty to his chest covering her face doing his best to protect her from the cloud of dust that had surrounded the small group of three as an explosion was set off just near them while they were walking through one of the empty backstreets of the town.
"Gajeel we're not alone right now" Jellal whispered backing up towards the larger man limiting the chance of being caught by surprise from behind.
"I can hear them but with all this stupid dust I can smell where they are, or how many of them there are" Gajeel gruffly replied eyes darting trying to catch a glimpse of his opponents at the dust began to slowly disperse, while gently placing his large hand on the back of his daughters head in hopes of keeping her calm. "We know your there, so why not stop being cowards and face us" he angrily shouted getting tired of being circled.
"Well well guess we did underestimate the Fairies my darling Scarab" a feminine voice spoke before two figures appeared as the dust finally cleared revealing just two of Blood Rose mage's, a women who had dark green hair matched with red eyes, she wore a red dress that resembled an upside down rose with thorns tied around her waist and along her arms similar to how one wears a scarf, while her male partner look like a sick hybrid of a rhino beetle and a human with a hard armoured black winged shell on his back paired with the a large horn appearing from his forehead, just from appearance alone it was easy for any Mage to tell that the their magic was drawn from nature.
"I do believe your right Thorn but doesn't that just make things more interesting for us" Scarab clicked as he looked his opponents up and down smirking as his eyes stopped on their target. Seeing the man's eyes settle on his daughter Gajeel couldn't help the threatening growl that escaped from his throat as he slowing lowered Metty before gently nudging her behind him shielding her from the two nature mage's view, not once did the iron slayer look away from them.
"Awwww Scarab look what've you've done, you scared the poor little thing" Thorn spoke in an obvious mock whine as she leaned sideways trying to glimpse at the little girl only to receive another growl from the tensed slayer.
"Gajeel, stop their trying to goad us and your letting them" Jellal harshly whispered as quite as possible lips barely moving so that if it was for Gajeel's enhance hearing he wouldn't have even noticed that the heaven Mage had spoken. Jellal was tensed as he took in their situation trying his best to find a way out of this, glancing at the dark mage's he could tell that they're magic capabilities were strong. If this was a usual fight he would have no doubt in their victory but this wasn't a usual fight, they had Metty to protect and keep from harm.
"Listen let's just cut to the chase" Thorn stated holding out her palm as a white rose slowly grew from it. "You know why we're here and what we want, and I feel obliged to give you an offer, we can do this the boring way and you just step aside and we take that little cutie with us, or we have some fun" Thorn finished as the rose on her palm turned red before wilting away.
"And you should already know the answer to that" Jellal retorted silently wishing to himself that they were in an more open area, knowing that the buildings around them had people them meant that a lot of his heavenly magic attacks couldn't be used at least without destroying anything or harming innocent lives. While Gajeel had summoned his dragon force with iron scales covering his body as he slowly backed up towards a wall careful forcing Metty to head backwards as well before she felt building behind her, as Jellal walked in front of the family shielding them as the silence grew. Watching with anticipation as he saw the two in front of them whisper to each other, just knowing they were scheming something caused him to feel unease especially when it was clear they were allowing Gajeel to move Metty to safety.
"Dad?" She whimpered.
"It's ok Shrimpy, Daddy just got some arse to kick so stay here giihii" Gajeel cockily spoke finally facing the steel blue hair girl before creating a wall of steel around her both hiding and protecting the girl from the fight, before turning back to his enemies with a seriously stern cracking his knuckles "It in case your too stupid to notice but we're doing this the fun way"
"Good I was getting worried that today would be boring" Scarab spoke before charging towards the slayer, with his wings out, the two soon clashing, Scarab's horn against Gajeel's iron clad hand before the two separated. Both Gajeel and Scarab stared each other down, both coming to the silence conclusion that pure force alone isn't going to favour any of them in this battle
"As impatient as always" Thorn tsk before launching the thorn covered vines that rested on her arms toward Jellal, said blue haired Mage quickly rolled to the side dodging the attack, he was preparing himself for a counter attack when suddenly more thorn covered vines burst from the cement pavement. Jellal quickly jumped back in surprised unfortunately the heaven Mage wasn't able to react fast enough and cursed as one of the spikes torn through the skin of his left cheek causing a small trickle of blood to fall. "Ahahaha look at that Scarab sweetie first blood goes to me" Thorn cheered gleefully still standing in her original spot, it was than the Jellal noticed that long roots were growing out from her legs sinking into the ground.
'She can't move from the spot' Jellal realised before having to dodge another vine trying to formulate a plan while continuously having to move just to avoid being skewed growing annoyed at being unable to conjure any of his spells due to constantly having to move.
"Well now dearrry it's kinda hard to draw blood when your opponent is has skin made out of freaking iron" Scarab hastily replied drawing out the word 'deary' with annoyance at the lack of damage he was inflicting on the iron slayer, while Gajeel had been able to get a few decent hits with his 'iron dragon claw' attacks across his stomach where his shell amour didn't reach leaving the area valuable. "Dammit I've had enough of this" Scarab yelled in frustration as he took another hit from the Fairy Tail Mage and was beginning to feel the effects of his injuries.
"What can't the bug take a little beating, and I thought Blood Rose would be more threatening " Gajeel mocked smiling at the state of his enemy, he hadn't even had to use his roar at all and this weird bug man had already look close to be beat, however glancing over towards Jellal he could tell that while the heavenly Mage hasn't taken any damage except for his cheek he was growing exhausted at continuously having to dodge, on the upside he had been able to send a few small blast of magic towards the green haired Mage who only managed to block several the hits she had taken while not giving the lady any serious injuries it had slowed down her attacks quiet a bit allowing Jellal more opportunities to attack. Gajeel's attention was drawn back to the bug man when he started screaming in a deep voice "what the" he whispered in shock as thousands of black flying insects appeared from thin air creating a black cloud.
"You were quick to underestimate us Fairy Tail" Scarab gleamed as the cloud of insects swarmed around him "now you'll pay the price" he grinned lifting his hand pointing towards the Iron dragon slayer before the swarm took off surround Gajeel in a cloud of black limiting his movements and site.
"Dammit" Gajeel cursed as he lashed out at the insects only to have more appear instantly trapping him in a vortex, being surround by insects flying in a fast continuous circle, Gajeel's eyes widen as he noticed the speed of the flying bugs circling him was also slowly cutting of his oxygen supply,it was in that moment that he realised his iron scales were receding, the insects were slowly draining away his magic. While trying to reactivate his scales and even his breathing Gajeel had failed to noticed Scarab entering the swarm and was quick to land surprise hit after hit using his insects as cover to appear from wherever he chose too.
"Enough, Iron dragon's roar" Gajeel shouted forcing whatever magic that hadn't been drained forward to summon his roar moving his head as a powerful surge of pure slayer magic poured from his mouth shooting in all directions finally dispersing the insects freeing him from the swarm along with hitting the insect mage forcing him backwards into a wall rendering the man unconscious. Once his roar had faded the slayer found himself brought to his knees panting heavily filling his lungs desperately with air the effects of forcing his magic and his injuries finally catching up to him.
However he didn't have much time to celebrate his victory as vines surrounded his arms and legs forcing him down onto the ground, using what little strength he had Gajeel turned his head surprised to see Jellal being held down in a similar grip also panting heavily covered in scratches while the vines holding him had strategically placed sharp thorns around his limbs that pierced his skin whenever the ex-criminal struggled to move,
"shit dammit, let us go you dam witch" Gajeel angrily shouted attempting to free himself from the vines holding him down refusing to admit defeat by these pathetic low life dark mage's 'at least I know Metty is safe, there's no way their getting through my Iron to get to her' the thought giving the father some comfort.
"Let you go hahahaha, and here a thought I had heard it all, for what reason would I ever realise you" Thorn laughed loudly at the statement "sorry boys but I still have a job to do involving our little princess hiding behind some iron" she finished in a low sneering voice turning her head towards the wall.
"You may have us trapped right now, but there is no way your magic can get through my iron, even if you kill me it will still stand" Gajeel threaten angrily still struggling against her vines, catching her attention.
"Oh deary I hate to admit it but you are right, hmmm now whatever shall I do" Thorn mocked in an over exaggerated voice as she dramatically placed her palm on her forehead "oh my that's right I have this with me" she teased reaching into her bag before pulling out a small vial filled with purple liquid. Spotting the curious looks from her prisoners the mage decided to continue as she began opening the vial "you see here boys, our guild has been mmmm let's say 'studying' yours ok, it's no coincidence that me and Scarab were the ones who bumped into you. We were chosen, Scarab's hard shell body can withstand hits even from Iron and I can keep any enemy desperately moving giving them little chance to cast a spell or write one" Thorn smirked when she felt the Iron Slayer trying to lung at her through her own vines, rolling her eyes as she dismissed him, the vine mage hand began to morph into another vine still holding the vial before extending it outwards directly towards Metty. "But neither of us can get through Iron, not to worry for this liquid was specially designed to melt through anything observe" she finally finished as the vine reached the wall before tipping.
Both Gajeel and Jellal watched in horror as the iron began to melt away revealing a prettified Metty inside who was shaking tears in her eyes as she saw her father being held down before the vine holding the vial dropped the item as it quickly wrapped around her, Metty scream loudly as the vine slowly grew its own thorns securing Blood Rose's grip on the young girl.
"METTY" Gajeel shouted in panic and anger as the scent of her blood reach his nose making him increase his struggle tenfold determine to save his daughter.
"Oh come now little one, those brambles are even that sharp, at least when compare to the ones I'm using on your daddy" Thorn gleamed as she began to slowly retract her vine forcibly dragging the crying struggling five year old towards her, trying her best not to hurt the little girl too much, her master said they are allowed to play but not to be too rough. "Speaking of which struggle all you want but you're not gonna...Whaat?" Thorn started before pausing eyes widening in fear as she watched the Iron slayer bit into the thorns with iron covered teeth and mouth successful breaking them, one by one with each bite, she watched on in horror as the man slowly freed himself from the vines eyes growing red and panting giving him a the look of a monster coming towards her.
Thorn panicked knowing that while her vines were planted she couldn't move and was essentially a sitting duck, she also knew that there wasn't enough time to pull the girl towards her, release Jellal and uproot herself before the angry beast was upon her, the only option she had was to flee which wasn't an option. Bracing herself with closed eyes she waited for the onslaught from the enraged man halting the vine that was entrapping the young girl. She heard the yell of furry followed by a loud thump and sounds of struggling, reopening her eyes Thorn witness Scarab holding the slayer down with everything he's got taking hits from him.
"What are you doing, take her and get out of here don't worry about me" Scarab yelled catching his partners eye who nodded before continuing to pull the screaming girl towards her, she was almost with reach.
"Daddy" Metty screamed through her tears as she was dragged passed her father. "Let me go" she gave another shout trying to struggle only this time a glint on the girls skin shone as parts of her arm seemed to turn to iron preventing more thorns from digging into her skin, unfortunately for the young girl the unconscious use of magic cause her to tremble before leaving said child weaker than before.
"Metty, agh dammit get off me you stupid bug" Gajeel shouted desperately as he witness the raise and fall of his daughters potential magic while still struggling against Scarab trying to reach out for his daughter as she passed him, looking terrified when she was in front of Thorn who was about to reach out and grab her.
"Maguilty sodom" a voice shouted above them yelled as light based swords appear out of nowhere tearing through the vine connecting Metty to Thorn, as well as the ones holding down Jellal. Thorn released a horrible scream as the swords cut through her followed by a loud grunt as Scarab was pieced through his shell releasing Gajeel who took no time rushing towards Metty and bringing the terrified crying girl into a deep hug, rubbing her back gently while glaring at the the shocked newly injured mage. Almost every fibre in his body wanted to tear her from the ground and pull every vine off from her lithe body. The only thing holding him back from attacking her was that right now Metty needed him more.
"Meredy, Lilly" Jellal exclaimed as he saw his work partner being lowered to the ground by Lilly currently sporting his larger form along with a small first aid bag, upon landing Meredy rushed towards Jellal helping him up as Lilly went to Gajeel and Metty.
"Lilly, do you have any bandages in that bag" Gajeel asked slowly in a low voice trying to contain his furry for the sake of his daughter, as he finally pulled away from the shaking girl in his arms to inspect both of her arms which were covered in small cuts.
"Off course" was the exceed's simply response as he pulled the wrap of material passing it to his partner who all but grabbed them from him.
"Metty can you please hold out your arms, Daddy has to put this bandage on" Gajeel asked trying his best to keep his voice calm and gentle, while Lilly stood protectively in front of the two keeping an eye on the currently fallen Blood Rose mage's. The father frown slightly when all he received was a timid nod and a small sniffle from his usually talkative little girl as she slowly raised one of her arms up. "Hey now, you were very brave just now and did a great job at impressing daddy" Gajeel spoke in an attempt to get a response as he gently wrapped her arm being careful not to be too tight.
"I did?" Metty softly spoke for the first time just after her dad had finished wrapping both arms.
"Of course you did, you were amazing and really brave" Gajeel smiled feeling relieved that she was finally talking again and beginning to have that spark back in her as he complimented her.
"Oh look how sweet daddy and daughter are finally together" Thorn suddenly spoke in an unstable matter seeming to the recover from Meredy's attack alerting all Fairy Tail mage's as Gajeel slowly pulled Metty back before Lilly lead her slightly away from the battleground. "You think you can beat me that easily, just because my darling Scarab is done doesn't mean I'll give up" she laughed manically.
"I'm glad you still want to fight cause I'm about to make sure you pay for what you have dared to do to Metty" Gajeel all but growled in anger cracking his wrist as he signalled for Lilly to take Metty away from the battle to safety. Surprised when Jellal placed an arm on his shoulder.
"I know you want your revenge, but right now Metty needs her father, she's scared and doesn't understand what exactly has happened, please leave this to Meredy and Myself" Jellal asked the angered iron dragon as Meredy initiated another battled Thorn holding her at bay, seconds passed before the father let out a angered grunt as he turned back waking towards Lilly and Metty. Gajeel reluctantly scooped the metal blue haired girl who instantly clung onto her father, covering himself once again in iron scales before both he and his exceed gave one final nod to Jellal and Meredy as they turned and ran from the scene towards the guild hoping to get Metty to safety.
"No I will not let you get away" Thorn yelled with a tint of madness in her voice as she sent dozens of vines towards her fleeing opponents screaming in agony as Meredy's magic once again cut through the majority of them while Lilly used his sword to tear the ones that were missed.
"Gajeel go ahead, I'll follow behind" Lilly shouted slicing through another vine receiving a nod from his partner as he rushed off.
'Just please hang on a bit longer Metty, I'll protect you, no matter what' Gajeel swore to himself as he gripped his usually quite daughter closer to him, feeling nothing but anger that he had allowed her to get hurt in their first place.
Juvia stiffened quickly pulling Aizu close, tightening her grip on his little hand, feeling slightly less tense when the quiet boy returned her squeeze and leaned into his mum's leg scared from hearing the explosions. Juvia turned her view to Wendy and Romeo who were just as tense,she was glad that the duo had just met up with them to head to the guild meaning that whatever was about the happen at least she wouldn't be alone. They all knew that this was it, an attack was coming but from where they didn't know and the dust from the explosion did not help the situation. Fact is there was so much dust floating around that even with the recent destruction this amount felt unnatural.
"Wendy are you able to locate or hear anyone" the water Mage asked her fellow blue hair guild mate hoping for an advantage over the enemy, before feeling discourage as the younger lady shook her head.
"No there's too much dust around making it hard to pick up any smells and the noise from the explosion have left my ears ringing. I think I'm limited to how an average person hears for now sorry" Wendy replied trying to hide how worried she was about this situation only to calm a bit as she felt Romeo place a comforting hand on her shoulder sending her a small smile.
"It's fine Wendy, whatever comes our way we can handle it" Romeo offered support to his girlfriend before turning his attention to Juvia and her son. "I don't think anyone is coming right now I think we should stay alert but continue towards the guild hall" the fire Mage suggested receiving nods from the rest as the slowly started walking again with Juvia holding Aizu walking in the middle while Wendy and Romeo stood at her sides.
"The dust" Aizu mumbled silently as he looked over his mother's shoulder causing Juvia to look down at her boy.
"Mmm Aizu what do you mean sweetie" Juvia questioned knowing that if Aizu had something to say especially in this situation it's usually important. One of the advantages of having a rather silent child like Aizu was that when they had something to say it was usually worthwhile, both Gray and herself have noticed over the past months was their son was becoming extremely observant.
"It's following us" Aizu finished in his usual soft voice looking upwards at his mother's face. His statement made everyone in the small group stop and look around, he was right while originally they had passed it off as leftover debris from the explosions the way it hung around and moved wasn't natural, no someone was controlling it and they were also following them.
Suddenly all three mage's turned as they heard panting and someone running towards them. Wendy and Romeo standing defensively in front of the water Mage and her child. Juivia shifted her hold on Aizu so that she was only using one hand to hold him, with her free hand quickly transforming into water readying for an attack as the noise grew closer and the outline of a figure appear in the dust before the group let our gasp of relief at the same time as Gray slowly came into view panting slightly.
"Gray-Sama" Juvia shouted gleefully.
"Daddy!" Aizu cheered instantly lighting up and struggling gently against his mother who smiled fondly and placed him on the ground letting out a small laugh as her son ran towards her dear Gray-Sama almost tackling the poor man as he jumped into his father's awaiting arms.
"Hey there...champ" Gray panted as he pulled Aizu closer to him, Juvia frowned since her Gray-Sama had never referred to Aizu as 'champ' before but decided it to shake it off thinking the stress of the situation was just affecting him.
"Gray-Sama Juvia is beyond glad that her beloved is ok" the water Mage cheered deciding to stay back allowing her husband and son a touching moment and to keep her guard up.
"Guys, the reunion is nice and all but I really think we shouldn't stay still for long" Romeo pitched in feeling slightly agitated with the lack of movement.
"I agree, we really should be getting to the guild hall to meet everyone" Wendy added slipping her hand into Romeo's allowing him to squeeze hers in an effort to calm him down a bit.
"Actually about that I think it'll be safer to take Aizu home" Gray suddenly suggested taking the rest of the group by surprise especially since the guild was closer than the Fullbuster residence and had a backup safe room for all the kids to stay.
"I'm sorry but Juvia disagrees, Master has asked us to head to the guild if we're not home when there is an attack on the city to make sure everyone is safe and to access the damages, they may also need our help there" Juvia added feeling uncomfortable with the situation while also noticing Aizu was also expressing mild discomfort. Something wasn't quite right, glancing at Wendy and Romeo it became evident that they felt the same.
"The enemy may be at the Guild attacking them it may not be safe to take Aizu there. But if you're really that concerned for them Wendy and Romeo can go and we'll go home" Gray finished as he attempted to pull Aizu closer to him looking mildly irritated when his son squirmed in an effort to back away, the action instantly setting alarm bells off in Juvia's head, it was then that she noticed what made the whole interaction wrong. Gray was still wearing all of his clothes, not once had he even tried to strip. Fear ran through her mind, her body slightly shaking as a theory formed one that she desperately hoped was wrong. Slowly Juvia spoke as she chose her words carefully.
"Gray I'm sorry" she started feeling horror at how her husband didn't even react to the use of first person and at how Aizu's eyes widen since he had rarely heard his mother speak with 'I' and for his sake she prayed that she was wrong. "But we have to go to the guild, Aizu left his favourite toy there Mr HCP."
"Juvia we can't just go to the guild for a toy at a time like this" Gray simply replied with mild annoyance not noticing how the other mage's paled or the look at horror his wife held as he didn't even seem to recognise the phrase. Juvia slowly stepped forward suddenly very concerned about her son who was looking up at his father with disbelief and horror, tears starting to form in his eyes, clearly understanding that his dad had missed the codeword.
"Gr..Gray can you please pass Aizu to me, he's upset at you since you don't want to go get Mr HCP" she spoke slowly offering the code one last time hoping beyond hope that her husband had just missed it the first time. Her suspicions were correct as not only did the man who may not be her husband once again refused to head to the guild but suddenly had the gall to forcibly pull Aizu closer to him who was now trying to wiggle free from the gasp.
"Listen Juvia I'm the man here, so what I say goes and I say we go home, just you, me and our sweet little son here" 'Gray' spoke as he stood up holding Aizu, the tone of this voice being one that Gray would never use is what cause Juvia to finally accept the truth and snap.
"I'm sorry" the water Mage softly whispered as she turned to glare at the man giving a slight nod signalling Wendy and Romeo to get ready. "Aizu close your eyes and take a deep breath" Juvia shouted before launching herself in her liquid form encasing Aizu in her watery gasp while simultaneously sending a harsh jet of water at 'Gray' her actions catching the man of guard and launching him into a brick wall of a nearby building, before resolidifying staring down her opponent clutching Aizu to her chest. "Ok sweetie you can open your eyes again and you did a great job holding your breath" Juvia praised the boy happy that although he knew that she may have just attacked his father at the very least he didn't have to witness it.
"Ahh you dam bitch" a loud groan was coming from the wall catching everyone's attention as they turned to 'Gray' all staring in horrified shock with Juvia quickly covering Aizu's eyes sparing the site of the man who had what look like a crack along his head with one side showing orange hair and red eyes while the other was still the same face of her beloved Gray-Sama.
"Hahahaha hey Oya I thought you were the self-proclaim King of look a likes but Miss bluey just took you down like it was nothing" a voice filled with mirth laughed catching everyone's attention irritating his partner.
"Clay why don't you just shut the hell up and come help me" Oya shouted standing up cracking his knuckles as strings of lighting shot through them, this did not go unnoticed by his opponents all of which were in a standoff.
"Fine fine" Clay replied appearing from the dust, the man was admittedly rather handsome with a lean body, dirty blond hair and a slight tan "why good afternoon fairies nice to finally encounter you" he surprisingly kindly greeted catching everyone of guard while his partner groaned "As you know we're here...well he is at least for that little boy in your arms, myself I'm only here to make sure that your cute little dragon slayer over there can't play any tricks on us or doing any enhancing" Clay finished as he held a hand up gathering some of the dust in his hand twirling it within his grasp turning it to smoke.
"Enough of this polite bullshit" Oya shouted sending a crack of electricity towards Juvia and Aizu.
"Juvia, Aizu" Romeo and Wendy shouted in alarm as Romeo sprang into action tackling his guild mates pushing them out of the way just in time as the electricity shot right pass them barely missing the three Fairy Tail members who rolled a couple of times due the force of being tackled before stabilising themselves. "Juvia, leave these guys to me and Wendy we should be able to take them out on our own" Romeo suggested as they regained their footing. Juvia regarded her younger teammate before turning to Wendy who nodded.
"Ok" she reluctantly agreed picking Aizu up and rushing away from the scene only to stop suddenly as the dust surrounding them turned into a thick black smoke making it near impossible to both breathe and see, the water Mage cursed as she realised they were being herded back into the fight.
"Mmmm sorry there love, but I just can't allow you to leave" Clay smirked flicking his left wrists controlling smoke.
"Juvia-San, I'll see if I can make a path for you" Wendy offered as she ran beside them readying herself for a sky dragon roar, however just as she began to inhale the air, Clay directed a small portion of the cloud straight towards the slayer forcing her to cut off the attack to avoid inhaling the smoke.
"Wendy take Aizu, I'll handle this" Juvia spoke her tone suddenly serious as she passed her son to the younger Mage before walking in front of them "Romeo you can deal with Clay, I'll deal with Oya, I want to make sure he knows why no one should even think about impersonating my dear Gray-Sama" the mother demanded in a almost deadly tone as she turned her arms to water shooting one toward the takeover electric Mage giving Romeo the opportunity to switch his opponent to Clay.
The battle continued with Oya shooting his lightning towards the water Mage while dodging the bouts of water that were being sent his way, both mage's were showing annoyance since neither of their attacks were hitting there mark. Meanwhile Clay was dealing with Romeo who had Wendy healing him whenever he was in range. It didn't take long for the Blood Rose mage to notice a pattern between the fire mage's attacks and the slayers healing using this new information Clay quickly directed a cloud of smoke between the two, using it as a cover up as he ran forward sneaking his way past Wendy directly to Aizu.
"Well hello there kiddo, you've caused quite a bit of trouble but now it's time you come with me" Clay overly cheerfully greeted as he grabbed the small now panicking boy's wrist only to immediately pull back with a shriek "fuck that's cold" Clay grunted as he shook the hand that he used while Aizu stood staring wide eyed at his arms.
'Cold?' he silently questioned himself not feeling a difference in temperature.
"Roar of the sky dragon" Wendy roared landing a direct hit on the distracted smoke mage knocking him out instantly, unfortunately Clay's actions had also cause Juvia to momentarily lose focus on her own battle as her attention was turned to her son when she heard the smoke Mage shriek, an action she immediately regretted as Oya harshly grabbed and pulled her to him.
"Gotcha now Mrs Rain women, you've managed to dodge my lighting but now can you just imagine the how it'll feel as I send them directly through your body, oh I can't wait to hear your screams" Oya smirked cockily still sporting his half Gray face, as he watched his captured enemy struggle.
"Juvia" both Romeo and Wendy scream knowing that there's no chance they'll reach her in time. Said Mage was panicking she could already feel the small teasing jolts.
"Are you ready for true pain" Oya smirked, Juvia tried to hold back her screams, eyes closed as she felt more pulsing through her each more painful than the last but suddenly they just stopped quickly being replaced by a familiar cold sensation. Looking forwards she saw to her surprise that Oya's body was completely frozen his takeover magic dissolving completely as he fell to the side revealing behind him her naked knight, his side covered in black and hair standing up.
"I have never enjoyed freezing bodies, even if temporary but if you ever come near my wife or son again I'll make sure to do so much worse" Gray announced looking at the frozen man with pure hatred and anger as his demon ice began to recede.
"Gray-Sama!" Juvia called overcoming her shock as she ran towards her husband enveloping him into a tight hug, before pulling back to seal their lips into a quick passionate kiss.
"Juvia, I'm so sorry I'm late" Gray whispered feeling shame at allowing this situation to happen.
"It doesn't matter you got here in time" Juvia comforted placing her head on his chest allowing herself a moment to calm down, however loud sniffling soon broke the two apart with alarm as they turned to see a crying and shaking Aizu who was now standing in front of them with Romeo and Wendy watching from behind.
"D..d..daddy H..CP" Aizu spoke stuttered clearly having a hard time forming words, the question catching Gray off guard, the ice maker having no idea why his son would be using the password on him, glancing towards his wife for help she onto shook her head lips forming the words "later" before smiling at him gently.
"NWG" he replied bending down with a frown only to lose his balance as Aizu launched himself at his father crying and gripping him tightly refusing to let go. Once regaining his balance and standing back up, Gray began to try and soothe his son by whispering sweet words smiling as Juvia joined them in a small family hug helping her husband with comforting their sweet little boy.
The joyous reunion was cut short as the four adults found themselves tensing, with Aizu still clinging to his father refusing to let him go, as they heard the tell-tale sign of someone running towards them. Everyone soon found themselves visibly relaxing as an injured Gajeel and Metty appeared from the around corner, upon seeing his fellow guild mage's he began to head towards them.
"Metty" Wendy gasped as she ran to meet her fellow slayer halfway as the blue haired girl took noticed of the girl's condition "Gajeel can I please see her" Wendy demanded catching everyone but
Gajeel off guard as she made eye contact with the slayer as if challenging him. She knew that in this state his protective instincts over his 'hatchling' were stronger than usual.
"Yea" Gajeel finally nodded as he knelt down to Wendy's height "Metty be a good girl for Wendy" his gruff and stern voice was a contrast to his gentle actions as he passed his daughter to Wendy who went straight to work on removing the crudely wrapped bandages on the girls arm so that she can get to work.
"Gajeel are you ok" Juvia asked as she approached the two, feeling concerned for her long time friend.
"Huh I should be asking you that" Gajeel's sharp replied was "We were with Jellal and ran into trouble...they...they almost got Metty and would've been worse if not for Lilly's and Meredy's timing, Jellal and Meredy stayed, Lilly should be catching up soon" the iron slayer paused finding it difficult to admit out loud just how close he'd have gotten to losing his special little girl "by the looks of it you guys had similar issues" he questioned seeing the unconscious mage's and how Aizu had basically attached himself to Gray.
"One of them pretended to be Gray, Juvia worries that experiencing someone using Gray-sama's image may have lingering effects on Aizu" Juvia explained with a sadness in her voice making eye contact with her husband, his face held a dark expression as he heard her words wishing he could've gotten there sooner to spare their son this pain but for now the best he could do was gently rub his back in smoothing patterns.
"We should be getting to the Guild, they may need our help" Gray finally broke his silence.
"What about Metty and Aizu?" Romeo questioned as began to tie up the defeated mage's.
"That's right if the guild is under attack is it really safe to take them there" Wendy realised as she finished healing Metty, smiling at the little girl.
"Don't worry, Master has had us plan ahead, by the front of the guild hall is a locked cellar path, Levy and Freed put the spell together so that it remains unseen to those who don't know of its existence and runes so that only parents, Master and several other mage's can pass through without difficulty, the path leads directly to the protected room" Gray explained
"We should really start making our way there" Gajeel added as he bent down so he could pick Metty back up only to be surprised when the little girl shook her hand.
"Wendy made me better, so can I walk?" Metty quietly asked still clearly shaken from her experience but obviously wanting to act like a big girl in front of the others, Gajeel couldn't help but smile and feel a wave of relief as Metty was beginning to act like herself again.
"Of course you can Shrimpette, but you got to hold daddy's hand and stay close ok" he answered ruffling her hair receiving a nod. "Ok let's get to the guild" he ordered.
"You guys go I'll stay and get these guys ready to take to the council" Romeo offered.
"I'll stay and help out Romeo" Wendy offered as they waved off their guild mates.
The guild hall was engulfed in complete chaos, mage's were locked in battle throughout the room. Many of those attacking Fairy Tail directly seemed to be low level grunts, the only problem being that there were literally hundreds of them increasing the pressure on the Fairy Tail mage's protecting the guild. Every time one was defeated two more replaced them.
"Fire dragons claw" Natsu shouted tearing through at least five grunts knocking them out almost instantly. He was beyond pissed at the moment at least thirty minutes had passed since the initial attack and all he wanted was to get out of the guild and find Lucy and the twins to make sure they were safe. Unfortunately he knew he couldn't just leave his guild mates to fight alone in this situation. The fact that he couldn't break away and leave only made the fire slayer feel more frustration as he launched another attack.
"Natsu to your left" Mira warned as she swooped downwards bearing her Satan soul attacking several of Blood Rose's members while flying past as she tried to collect any of the knocked out grunts throwing them into rune prisons her husband had created to contain the fallen and keep anyone from escaping.
Laxus watched on as he stood on the inside balcony railing sending bolts of electricity to anyone stupid enough to even try to get pass. The future leader was steadily growing more antsy at being unable to fully join the fight, but he knew that he had to oversee the battle along with the Rajinshu who were staying by the bar as the last line of defensive to hold the invading guild members back from passing the hall and to keep them away from the back room protecting the young ones. The fact that Kira and Ru-Ne were the only children account for at the moment also concerned him.
"Laxus this isn't working, they just keep coming we need another plan" Evergreen expressed as she landed near her team leader, quickly turning a foolish man who dared try to climb to the second level to stone.
"I know but we need to wait till gramps gets back with Mest, Levy and Erza, until then the best we can do is just keep pushing them back" Laxus grunted shooting out more lighting at some fighters
trying to land sneak attacks on Macoa and Wakaba. Evergreen sighed in silent agreement before taking off back into the fray of battle passing Freed who was now next to Mira.
"I'm growing concern about Natsu he's beginning to fight too aggressively, they may be our enemies but he's getting close to fighting to kill rather than knock out" Freed expressed to his concern to his wife before creating another rune prison.
"I agree" was Mira's quick reply as she took off towards the fire Mage firing her own attack at his targets.
"What the hell Mira I had that" Natsu snapped as both Fairies skilfully dodged a blast of energy.
"Natsu your attack just now would've killed them if it had hit" Mira stressed kicking at one of the approaching females "I know your frustrated and pissed but we do not kill unless necessary so cool your head" The demon takeover mage finished banging to of the grunts heads together.
"They're keeping me from finding Lucy and my kids I don't know if they are safe or not so sorry if I'm getting a bit angry" Natsu bit back tone dripping with sarcasm as he launched a fireball.
"I get it, but we both know Lucy is a strong and capable woman who wouldn't let anyone touch Nashi or Kai, plus we know from her last report that their likely at home away from the battles and a rune barrier protecting them" Mira tried comforting her long time friend "I know you want to go to them but we really need you right now" her tone growing sharp as they barely missed being hit. Seeing that while Natsu was fighting a less aggressively the concern he had was still there "as soon as Master gets back along with some of the others make their way here, there should be enough of us for you to go ok" Mira offered before taking off to assist Cana who was suddenly being swarmed leaving Natsu to continue fighting while being left with his thoughts.
"Luce please be ok, as soon as I can I'll come for you" Natsu whispered the promise to himself as he knocked another Blood Rose member down, just wishing the uneasy feeling he had would go away.
Lucy was struggling to take deep breaths panting heavily as she tried to stand firmly on her own two feet, trails of blood trickled down her arms and legs from the various cuts that Crimson had managed to land on her body. Crimson smirked cockily at her as he wiped the blood off his current weapon of choice being a small sword. He could tell that the Blonde was hurting more than she was letting him know, oh how he was going to enjoy taking her down.
Unfortunately for Lucy her spirits were also having a difficult time, the celestial Mage could feel the strain on her magic from the battle, without looking she could tell that Virgo was running out of steam and heavily bruised from her fight against Cypt. Loke was also running low on energy while the head Zodiac hated to admit it he was exhausted, body beaten running out of time as his ability to keep himself outside of the celestial realm on his own power was wearing thin and battling an opponent who attacked with clones of himself wasn't helping his cause.
Loke swore as one of the Axis's swooped towards him, with the lion spirit realising to late that it was a trap and he had fallen right into it as who he assumes to be the original Axis adsorbed some of the nearby clones and uses the magic energy to kick him swiftly the force propelling the lion right into the house smashing right into it exposing Capricorn and the twins to the battlefield.
"Lucy I'm sorry" Loke whispers as his power had finally ran out forcing him to return back to the celestial world.
"Loke! Dammit" Lucy screamed desperately as she watched him go but what filled her with fear was the looks her children gave her as they saw the state she was in before Capricorn shielded their site with his body, her loyal spirit already preparing to take over the fight with Axis in Loke's place. "Stardress Capricorn" she shouted dogding another jab from Crimson, knowing that in this state calling another Spirit would take to much energy and that right now they were fighting a losing battle, but no matter what she would not give up and allow these dark mage's to take her precious babies, over her dead body would she allow anyone to touch Nashi and Kai.
'Natsu..anyone please come soon, we can't hold on much Longer' Lucy silently pleaded as she ran towards Crimson for another attack.
That's it for this chapter hope you all enjoyed it ^.^
LouLouBear900 – Gray and Lucy aren't together, he was just walking her and the twins home.
SSTrans – Thanks for the review, the plan is that Kai will eventually be able to summon spirits better, but there's a reason as to why I wrote that he tried summoning last chapter ;)
Violinist147 – Really happy that you were able to find the fic again ^.^ thanks for the follow hope you've enjoyed what you read so far : )
MasterGildarts – Glad you liked it and yep Blood Rose is finally taking action.