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The next day, at midnight, a group of seven men slipped past the guards, 3 of them bringing a sack full of glittering gems, another 2 hauling gold coins and the remaining 2 was carrying the sculpture. What they didn't realize was trouble is hiding at every corner, ready to ambush them.
The leader of the group, Ishbal, shouted out to his comrades, "Come on you punks! Beat it! To the secret room!"
Picking up speed, he turned a corner, when suddenly, three girls, with red, blue and violet hair sprang out in front of him.
"Surprise," Faye grinned evilly.
Within seconds, Ishbal was bound up and gagged, the tip of Faye's sword touching his neck. Ishbal's eyes were wide with fear. He squirmed and called his comrades for help, but it wouldn't be much help. His comrades were at the mercy of the others.
Gray held the sculpture in his hands, careful so as not to break it. The sculpture was a model of a beautiful woman, with hair cascading down her back, face silky and smooth. In her hands was a flower with seven petals. A writing was engraved at the very bottom of the sculpture. It read, "My beloved Esmeralda, my love, my flower…"
"Mission completed," Marvel pumped his fist with Jason.
"Let's go home," Levy said.
The doors of the guild burst open, and in went the group of mages.
"Ahh, good to back," Natsu stretched his arms.
"I'm gonna have a long hot shower. That'll be good for my tired muscles," Lucy sighed. "Yeah, me too," agreed Levy.
"Who's hungry?!" Gajeel shouted. He met with a delighted response from his three kids. "Alright! I'm treating you to lunch!"
"Oh yeah! Thanks dad!" Jason pumped his fist in the air.
"I'm gonna need to polish my armors," Faye remarked. "And me, my sword," Azura agreed.
"Alright everyone, go home and do your own things first. We'll discuss the matter later on at night," Erza waved her hands. "Go on now."
Everyone then headed off in different directions. Acquanetta went with Faye, Azura and Cyan back to their dormitory.
"It's been a while since I last saw you guys. I've heard you've gotten stronger. You should fight me sometimes," Acquanetta challenged.
"Sure thing, but don't get mad when you lose!"
"I won't. That is, if, I'll lose."
The three girls chatted some more and before long, the sun went down, and they had to go back to the guild.
Everyone gathered in the special meeting room. Natsu was showing Layla some techniques, Lucy was chatting with Levy, Igneel was admiring Izo's new violin, Marvel was throwing his knives towards the dart board, scoring countless bull's eyes, and Gajeel was horsing around with Jason and Allona.
Suddenly, Erza and Jellal came in, their face dead serious.
Erza banged the butt of her sword on the table. Everyone stopped to listen to her. "The matter that I have come to discuss with you, is of a very dangerous enemy in the most northern part of Fiore."
Here she paused to look at them. "A dragon."
Gasps escaped, questions were asked. Jellal shushed them all, and gestured to Erza to finish her story.
"Those who came with me and Jellal, namely Natsu, Lucy, Gajeel and Levy know of this matter already. The rest of you, listen closely. The information that I'm about to tell you is highly classified. It would be best if no one else know of this matter yet."
She took a deep breath. "See, Master Makarov went with us 8 years ago, to find and slay this dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon was still too strong for us. We were almost killed. Even Master was overwhelmed. It then captured Master, and spoke to us, 'Bring me the Fruit of Eternia, and I will return him to you'. With that, he disappeared."
Silence.
Then Faye spoke up, "The Fruit of Eternia? That's a jewel, isn't it? It belongs to Queen Elva, Queen of Victoria. She died 500 years ago, and the jewel was said to be buried with her."
Jellal shook his head, "No, that's only a myth. The Fruit of Eternia is hidden in the Rock of Vroengard, in the city of Gilibaen. But no one knows it's exact location. Countless have gone there to search, but in vain. The chance of us ever finding it is very, very minute."
Azura replied in a small voice, "So what do we do?"
In answer, Lucy said, "The dragon gave us 2 weeks to find it. We give ourselves a week and a half to search the Fruit of Eternia. If we fail to find it by then-"
"Then we will gather mages both from our guild and outside, and we fight the dragon," Erza stated, her lips pressed together.
in the Rock of Vroengard, the fourteen mages searched in vain for the Fruit, thir grim faces dusty and streaked with sweat. Making matters worse, the sun was scorching hot, and there was no breeze.
"It's not here," Faye reported.
"Not here either," Allona shook her head.
It's been a week now, since they first set foot on the Rock of Vroengard. They have searched high and low, but to no avail. Jellal casted a Search magic, but it seemed the Fruit of Eternia was protected using a layer of magic that prevented it from being scryed.
"This is hopeless," Marvel sat down on a huge, flat rock, wiping away beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.
The others looked around despairingly.
"We should just gather everyone and prepare to fight the dragon, Erza. We're wasting time," Gajeel remarked impatiently.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Yes, I think that's for the best…", Erza replied sadly, looking at the others forlornly.
They went back to the guild hurriedly and after breaking the news to their fellow comrades, they started asking their friends from other guilds to help.
Faye knocked on the doors of the Blue Pegasus guild. She had, along with her two sisters and the Redfox triplets, came to ask for help.
A girl, about 17 years old opened the door. She had startling sea-green eyes, and shoulder-length emerald hair braided up. She wore blue tank-tops, jeans and sneakers. She took one look at Cyan and her face lit up.
"Cy! What's up?!" she exclaimed hugging her friend. Her gaze then fell on Faye and Azura. "This must be your sisters, and," here she looked at the triplets, "the famed trio."
"Good to see you, Rhea. We came because we desperately need your help. Please, is Master Bob here?" Cyan asked anxiously."He's in his study room. Come on in!"
The six of them followed Rhea down the hallway, and into Master Bob's study room. The old man was reading a newspaper while humming a merry little tune. He was the same as ever, still wearing his purple spaghetti-striped shirt and vertical-striped pink and purple shorts, except that he now has more wrinkles. He caught sight of them, and in a friendly tone, he welcomed them, saying, "Well, hello there! What a lovely surprise! Makarov's kids right? Now what can I do for you?"
He floated up, using his two tiny wings, and landed next to them, smoothing himself.
Allona wasted no time beating around the bush, " Sir, Master Makarov is in grave danger. He has been captured by a dragon in the most northern part of Fiore. We're here to seek help to fend off the dragon, for our guild alone won't stand a chance."
Master Bob's face paled. He then said gravely, "Oh dear. Tell me the whole story, and I'll see what I can do."
So the six of them recounted the events, and when they were done, Master Bob said, "I will send 15 of my best mages to help you on this quest. I myself will come with you."
Faye bowed low, "We're eternally grateful for your help Master Bob. If you please excuse us, we must hurry on and return to our guild. Once again, thank you sir."
The six then returned hurriedly, and found that all of the existing guild members have been called back from whatever jobs they were doing. Among them was Wendy and the four exceeds, Happy, Charle, their kid Nessie and Lily. Wendy had grown since the guild last saw her. From a teenager of 15 years to a grown woman of 22. She had grown taller, and is now blossoming into the full extent of her beauty. Happy was hugging Natsu, so happy at their reunion that tears had started flowing down his cheeks. Natsu laughed and petted Nessie. Lily was off sword fighting with his owner Gajeel while Charle stayed by Wendy's side.
Lucy caught sight of Faye and the others walking in. "How did it go?" Lucy asked worriedly. "Master Bob and 15 of his best mages will arrive here shortly," Faye reassured her. "What about the others? Did they manage to gather up enough mages?" Azura questioned.
"The results are quite satisfying. Yajima had agreed to help. Goldmine and 20 of his mages from Quatros Cerberus will come. As well as Ooba and her comrades. I"ve heard that Lyon and Jura are coming too. Mermaid Heel's offered their help, as well as Crime Sorciere. I think we've gathered up about 200 mages. It should be sufficient, I hope. "
Faye looked around at the grim-faced men and women preparing for battle. Here was Laxus and his loyal members of the Thunder God Tribe, Cana sorting out her magical cards, and beside her Gildarts, donning on his usual black, tattered cloak.
"It will be," Faye confirmed. The others nodded in agreement.
Erza stepped forward and called for the attention of the warriors. Her voice comes up, calm but forceful. The voice of someone who is used to calling the shots under pressure. "Now everyone here knows of the grave danger that has befallen on our master. To the guilds that have agreed to help us, we thank you so. But there is one thing that everyone should know," here she took a deep breath. "the dragon that we are about to face… It was the same dragon that eradicated Tenrou island years back, Acnologia."
Gasps, shrieks, screams and mutterings were heard instantly. No one was prepared to hear this. Faye trembled, so did her two sisters and the Redfox triplets, remembering the tales told by their parents about the horrible dragon. Can they really defeat this monster?
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