A/N: Shout out to AmmyChey3X and Crimsonlink310, my only two reviewers last chapter! You are both fantastic and the reason this chapter is being posted today instead of next week when I get home from my trip abroad.
And now let's... shake things up a bit...
Chapter 25: Volcano Day
There is always a moment before every disaster when the world holds its breath and the earth quakes in fear waiting for the volcano to erupt….
"God damn it, Gajeel! Who was that? What the hell is going on?!"
"I need you to take a message back to the old man."
"Not until –"
"Fucking hell, Lily – there's no time! Ivan is gonna be back here any minute expecting to see your bloody, mangled corpse! Get back to the guild, and tell Makarov that Raven Tail is mounting its attack! He has less than two days until Ivan burns Magnolia to the ground! Now hurry up and go!"
"But what are you –"
"Just go!"
But no matter how the world trembles in fear or what is done to prepare…
"Everyone who's not fit to fight help with the evacuation! We are leaving nothing to chance!"
…volcano day always comes.
Magnolia was burning. Just the first few houses on the outskirts of the city were alight, but the fire was spreading rapidly with no one to reign it in.
There were two lines of wizards. Fairy Tail on one side, Raven Tail on the other. Father and son at the center of their respective lines, staring each other down, waiting to see who would make the next move. Ivan Dreyar was smirking, and standing to his right, arms folded was…
"Gajeel Redfox, you traitorous bastard," Cana snarled.
Gajeel sneered at her,
"What can I say? I know how to pick the winning side." And for a flicker of a moment his expression changed into something more mischievous. Then his left arm was extending into an iron pole and smashing into Ivan's gut.
"WHAT THE–?!" screeched a Raven Tail wizard.
"IRON DRAGON ROAR!" A good chunk of the dark wizards were tossed into the air like leaves.
"Redfox, you son of a bitch! How could you?!"
Gajeel gave the dark wizard a smile that was all teeth and no kindness and kicked him hard enough in the chest to send him flying.
"'Cause I'm a Fairy Tail wizard, you jackass!" Gajeel roared after him. He glanced over his shoulder at Makarov. "Ivan has the rest of the guild flanking you from the east. He's after something called-"
Five more angry Raven Tail wizards tackled Gajeel at once and he disappeared beneath them in a flurry of fists and metal.
The world descended into chaos.
Jellal's feet scrambled for purchase on the rubble that was all that remained of Erza's favorite bakery. She was going to be so pissed when this was over. This place made the best strawberry cheesecake.
He had to focus. All this fire and these destroyed buildings were messing with his head. Jellal had always been more prone to flashbacks than Erza or Simon. He could almost see the Tower guards opening their mouths to fire.
A blast of razor sharp air sliced across his bicep. Damn it! Focus, focus! He had to focus! Jellal re-centered himself, sent a jolt of magic to his feet, and shot forward in a burst of starlight. His attacker didn't even have time to dodge.
"OPEN, GATE OF THE LION! LEO!" This was live or die, and Lucy intended to start with her best foot forward.
Honestly, an electricity maker. Erza requipped into her thunder empress armor. The bastard never stood a chance.
"NO! MASTER!"
"GRAY! LYON!"
"Aw, does this make you mad?" The woman swayed back and forth, a lazy smirk twisting up her mouth. "This is just pathetic, really. I thought you were supposed to be the S-class wizard of the Ice Djinn Trio, and yet here you are gone all to pieces. I expected more of a challenge – how disappointing."
The massive glass-rock hands holding Gray and Lyon captive tightened slightly at the tiny flick of the woman's wrist. Ultear heard a bone snap. Gray was still kicking feebly. Lyon had stopped struggling several minutes ago, and now his lips were starting to turn blue. And there wasn't a damn thing she could do. None of her ice magic was working. It slid off the woman's rock spells like slush.
"Oh, this is just dull," the woman whined. "Someone really ought to be screaming." The hand around Gray tightened further. Ultear heard another bone snap, and he shrieked in pain.
Her hands were starting to shake. She could see the see snow, feel the demon's screams shake the ground, taste the ash in the air, hear her mother's voice…
I'll always love you with all my heart, Ultear. Please, take care of your brothers for me.
Of course I will, just please don't leave me!
I'll never really leave you.
Take care of your brothers for me….
Take care of your brothers….
Ultear had never been so angry in her entire life.
"I made a promise!" She could feel the power swelling up beneath her feet and in the air around her. The blood red magic circle that flared under her feet was nearly twenty feet across. Distantly, Ultear wondered if this was how Mira had felt when she reawakened her Satan soul. The air throbbed with magic. "I MADE A PROMISE TO MY MOTHER, AND YOU WILL NOT MAKE ME BREAK IT!"
And then suddenly Ultear could see everything. Every particle of rock. Every past, present, and future it could possibly have. She dug in with magical fingers and tore.
"All rock becomes sand!" The two glassy hands burst into pieces, but Ultear was already moving before Gray or Lyon could fall. "Ice make: slides!" The boys slid to safety several feet behind her. "Before rock was born it was magma!"
The woman screamed as the lava which had once been her creations came crashing down on her head, and she was consumed.
There was a soft wheeze from behind her.
"That was… pretty freaking scary. Never seen you do anything that big with time magic before." Hearing Gray's voice was a relief.
"Didn't think that I could." Ultear sank to her knees as the magic drained out of her in a rush. Slowly, she dragged herself over to check on Lyon. If Gray was talking, then he could wait. Lyon was breathing again, small, ragged breaths, but he was still unconscious. She ran a hand through his snowy hair.
"Think she's dead?" Gray murmured. He hadn't even tried to sit up. It was telling.
"I doubt it. Dark wizards are like cockroaches." Ultear collapsed onto her back and stared up at the remains of the cathedral's ceiling. She grasped Lyon's wrist and reached out for Gray's as well. Both their pulses beat strong beneath her fingers.
She had kept her promise.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"
"For fuck's sake, Natsu! At least try to aim!"
Laxus stood on the edge of East Forest and stared at the flames. Screw being banished from the guild – like hell was he going to stand back and watch Magnolia burn.
It was a trap. Bickslow knew it was a trap, but he'd come to that realization just a fraction of a second too late.
The Thunder Legion had been expertly split up. They made an excellent team, but Ivan Dreyar had planned specifically for his son's team. Bickslow was cornered in an alley, and his babies… his poor babies were suspended in a sphere of green goop that was stopping him from moving them into different containers. The alley was just wide enough that he couldn't use his acrobatic tricks to make a bid for freedom. Damn it.
Nothing for it – figure eyes it was.
Bickslow reached for his visor.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Poison make: mist."
Bickslow screamed. His eyes burned. The world went black.
The damage didn't look any better from the air. Erik closed his eyes and listened. The Council's armed forces were on their way but still far off. Too far. Damn it. Master Makarov was severely injured. What the hell were they going to do?
He tightened his range again, concentrating on the fight below. A scream. That was Bickslow. He focused. Two attackers, not one. Erik would be better off with some help. Fight smarter, not harder. That's why they had teams.
Who was free? He listened carefully.
Perfect.
"Come on, Cubelios – time to do some rescuing." Erik had to focus on the here and now, or he'd get them both killed.
"Come on, Shorty, this ain't the time to be sitting down on the job."
"I figured out you were a double agent, you know."
"Why am I not surprised? Stop smiling like that – we're in the middle of a battle!"
Well, Bickslow now knew two things: this had been a trap, and without his eyes he was totally screwed. Beyond screwed. He was a dead man walking. Well, crouching. It was instinct left over from before Laxus had found him. Crunch up into as small a ball as possible – it left less of your body exposed to attack. Fuck, his eyes hurt.
"Oh, don't worry – it's not permanent. Well, that dose wasn't. You'll be able to see again in a few days. Master Ivan doesn't want you permanently damaged after all." The man's voice sounded incredibly smug. "You're exactly the kind of recruit he's looking for. I mean, seith magic that uses human souls? That's not just skirting gray magic – it's bordering on black! However did you manage to get into this guild? Didn't anybody ever ask where your – what do you call them – your babies came from? Oh, and those figure eyes. Using humans like puppets. Very dark. I bet the Magic Council had kittens when then found out about you."
There was a murmur of a different voice. Something wrapped around Bickslow's neck and lifted him off the ground until his toes were barely scraping the cobbles. Impressive, considering how tall he was, but it definitely wasn't a human hand holding him up. He scrabbled at it with his fingers. It felt gross and gooey. Probably the same stuff that was holding his babies hostage. The guy who had wrecked Bickslow's eyes was monologue-ing again.
"Master Ivan would help you reach your full potential. In Raven Tail, you wouldn't have to hold back your talents. You could –"
"Oh my god, why are you still talking?" Bickslow groaned. Seriously, evil villain speeches were so predictable and dull.
"W-What?"
"Seriously, I am a Fairy Tail wizard," Bickslow wheezed. "We are notoriously stubborn. Your evil speechifying isn't going to work on me. It didn't even work on Gajeel when he was probably still fresh out of Phantom Lord. That's just sad." He grinned and let his tongue loll out. "I bet all the other dark guilds are too embarrassed to even acknowledge know- urk!" The thing around his throat tightened.
"Well, if that's the way you feel, then I guess you're no use to us after all. Poison make-"
"I think not." There was a flapping of wings, and then the flutter and thud of someone wearing a long coat landing dramatically in the alley between Bickslow and Mr. Monologue. Sounded like Erik. He did like a dramatic entrance.
"Poison make: lance!"
There was a distinctive slurping sound.
"That was delicious. What's your secret? Hemlock?"
"Oh my god! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Ah, the familiar final words of most of Erik's opponents.
There was a snarl and another thud from Bickslow's left. Sounds of a struggle. A cut off scream. The thing around his neck abruptly let go, and he hit the ground hard.
"Sorry about that. I had to knock her out. Are you okay?" The voice was light, feminine and familiar, but Bickslow couldn't place it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, babies, are you safe now?"
"Safe! Safe!" came the response, followed by five solid impacts against his chest. His shoulders sagged in relief. He could feel their five bright little souls again, even if he couldn't see them.
"Come on – let's get you somewhere safer."
Bickslow sighed.
"That sounds great, but I can't see a damn thing." At the horrified intake of breath, he added, "You're timing was good, so it's temporary."
"Temporary! Temporary!" his babies chorused.
"Well, then I guess I'll have to be your eyes for the moment."
Small fingers gripped his right hand and placed it on a delicate shoulder.
"Listen, sorry to ask, but who are you? I don't recognize your voice."
A slightly sad laugh.
"I'm not surprised you don't remember me. I'm Lisanna Strauss. We used to talk sometimes before I was sucked up by anima and ended up in Edolas. I haven't been back very long."
Bickslow felt his breath catch in his throat, and his grip involuntarily tightened on her shoulder.
"No. I- I remember you."
Gajeel just caught the flicker of movement on the edge of his vision. Saw the spell charging. One last suicidal shot before the bastard was out of power. Saw the three people in the line of fire. Speedy. Fishtail. Shorty.
Hell no.
No time to scream, only to run.
He pulled up his iron scales.
The shot smashed through scales and ribs and internal organs. But it didn't go through his back. Good.
The dark wizard collapsed.
Gajeel's vision started to go dark around the edges as his knees buckled.
Huh. Hell of a way to go out.
"GAJEEL!"
"I want you to join me."
"The old man was right – you are nuts."
"You have been ejected from the guild just like I was! Surely you understand-"
"I understand that I hurt others and that I deserved the punishment I received. I learned. Something that you are obviously incapable of."
"If you're not with me, then you are against me, and I shall be forced to cut you down!"
"I have a better idea. This has gone on long enough."
"No! How can you even-? You're not even a part of the guild anymore!"
"FAIRY LAW!"
The golden light touched every part of the city and when it faded, not a single Raven Tail wizard was left standing. The Magic Council's armed forces arrived just in time to arrest the remaining, gibbering members of Raven Tail, put out fires, and render medical assistance.
"How's the master?"
"He should be fine once he wakes up. He took a hell of a blow the head."
"Please, help him! I got his heart restarted but-"
"We'll take it from here, madam."
"Don't worry, Levy. Gajeel will make it – he's tough."
"Let's go get you washed up."
"Any casualties?"
"None so far. Only serious injuries and property damage caused by the dark guild. Several Fairy Tail wizards require surgery."
"Make sure they get everything they need. We're in their debt this time."
The world breathes out a gentle sigh of relief. Another volcano day has past.