Thank you all for your support during this story. I know I have a long ways to go with regards to writing but I hope to improve and at the same time entertain you all. Also, please forgive me for my bad Grammar and Spelling throughout this story... it's been thirty odd years since I've been in school. So be kind.
So Thank You all so much...
BTW... LinkMaster997 sorry about the pairings. I thought as I was writing fiction I was allowed to do that. My Bad! LOL
Disclaimer... I do not own Fairy Tail.
Chapter 18
At Sabertooth Cont...
Lucy's POV
"Wendy.. Please see to Lisanna! NATSU!... It's done. You can stop now!" I said with a sigh of relief.
"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Yelled Lahar, who was standing with the Magic Council.
"Just taking out the trash!" Yelled Angel as we all burst into laughter.
As I gained my composure and looked around the mayhem that surrounded us, I could see each Fairy Tail member release a light black haze, which drifted up and slowly faded away. I looked at each of my sisters and smiled, proud of a job well done. Years of planning had gone off without a hitch and I couldn't have been more proud of my family, then I was at this moment. I lowered my self down to one knee and placed my hand on Makarov's shoulder and offered up some comforting words, "She'll be fine now Makarrrrrrrrooooovvvv!" I screamed as a sudden sharp pain coursed through my upper back stopping at my left breast, causing me to fall face first to the ground.
Natsu's POV
That was the worst thing I've ever had to do in all of my life. Having to fight my friends in order to save another was a strange concept to me. I know it had to be done and it made perfect sense to me, but still it was something I never thought I'd ever have to do. Protecting my family while they helped Lisanna turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had ever imagined it would be.
If it was a normal fight there would be no issue... no holding back, but against my Nakama, my guild mates, it was proving to be troublesome without hurting them. I thought I was doing a good job. The moment I took my eye of Erza, that one missed moment and it all came crumbling down... I heard a blood curdling scream and I knew who it was. I had heard that scream before and it always meant one thing...
"LUCE!" I screamed but it was to late. The sight of Erza's sword ripping threw a defenseless Lucy, hit me like a ton of bricks... This is the second time I've failed her as I dropped to my knees shaking uncontrollably.
"OH MY GOD... I'M SO SORRY!" Erza screamed as she gently picked up Lucy, her tears streamed down her cheeks pooling on Lucy's blood stained body. She looked up with tear stained eyes as if to plead for help, but none was offered... Lucy's friends just smiled causing Erza to scream at them, "PLEASE HELP HER... WHY WON'T YOU HELP HER?" She cried as she pulled Lucy's face into her chest, her stunned said it all and she mumbled. "Wh-hy!?"
"Erza! I can't breath," Lucy softly said, causing Erza to fall back with fright.
"Luc- LUCY!" Erza screamed and quickly grabbed her again, inadvertently hitting the large sword in her back causing another loud scream from Lucy.
"AAHHHH! Please take it out!" Lucy cried out as a bewildered Erza shook uncontrollably. As her hands shook, she slowly pulled out her sword causing Lucy again to cry out in agony. After a few moments Lucy sighed and looked up the fiery redhead who was now a mess of emotions... crying being the main culpret. She wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a hug to comfort her old friend.
"Please don't cry Erza... I'm fine!" Lucy said as she leaned back showing a hole in her shirt and an unmarked chest where a sword once rested. "See! I'm fine... please don't cry!"
Erza picked at her shirt and thoroughly looked her over... seeing no wound she grabbed Lucy again and hugged her. "Thank Mavis... But how?"
"I'll explain later... so dry your eyes, we need to tend to Lisanna now," Lucy said as she helped Erza to her feet. Lucy leaned in and whispered into Erza's ear, "You owe me a new shirt!" and they both laughed and hugged again.
I looked around and noticed Cassie struggle out of Orga's arms and came running over to me and jumped into my arms.
"Uncle Natsu! Don't cry... Cassie's here!" I smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. At that moment all of my worries vanished and I remembered that this has happened before. 'I'm such a dumbass!' I thought as I stood up and noticed Orga. he was now growling at me. I gave him my biggest grin, while smiling back.
I was so focused on Orga, I never noticed Lucy standing in front of me with her hands on her hips - grinning. The moment I saw her, she smacked me up the back of my head and called me a, "dumbass!"
"OUCH!" I yelled. "What was that for Luce?"
"That's because you keep forgetting who I am... I can protect myself now.. you know!" She said with a smile.
"I know that... but I can't help myself. I'll always protect you because you were my first true friend... to this day, my best friend!" I smiled as she wrapped her arms around me and hugging me.
"Aunty L is a meanie! Uncle Natsu isn't a dumbass!" Cassie said as she stuck out her tongue.
"Oh so I'm a meanie huh!" Lucy said as she looked at me and winked. "Maybe I should tell your Mother what you just said... No I think I'll tell your Auntie M instead," I said with an evil smirk.
"NOOOOO! Please Auntie L... Don't tell Auntie M... She's scary when she mad!" Cassie said as she buried her face in my chest and I smiled at Lucy.
"Luce that's enough teasing her. Let's get back to everyone!" I said as we both laughed and turned around. We noticed the confused looks on everyone's faces. 'This will be hard to explain,' I thought.
"Hey Luce why is everyone here?" I said as I rubbed the back of my head.
"I think Lahar said something about an S-Class exam... but that doesn't explain why all of Fairy Tail is here," I said as I looked for the one person who could explain everything... Lahar.
"LUCY... NATSU! GET OVER HERE!" Yelled Sting from the entrance of our guild.
"HEHEHE! Luce! He's jealous again!" I laughed.
"Yeah! But he's so cute when he's like that!" She smiled at me. "Coming!"
'I love that smile of her's, especially when she's with Sting... she just lights up the room,' I smiled as I thought to myself how fortunate I was to find her that day so many years ago in Hargeon Town.
Sting's POV
"Dam... One of these days I'm gonna beat his ass!" I laughed until I tried to open the guild doors and saw a notice on the door and read it...
"The guild formally know as Sabertooth is hereby closed. All inquires are to be forwarded to Lahar, Division Commander of the Magic Council... Signed... The Magic Council." I looked to Mother and Father-in-law and they both winked and smiled at me.
"Mother... Do you know what this is about?" I asked out of confusion as the rest of my family was now standing behind me.
"Could be!" She said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Best to ask Gran Doma about that!"
"Chairman! Why is our guild closed?" I asked as I opened the door so Wendy could take Lisanna to the infirmary. She was followed by Yukino, Erza, Makarov and our Exceeds.
"Here, this should explain some of it and when we all get inside I'll explain everything." Gran Doma said as he handed me a letter.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" Lahar shouted, then waited a moment until it had quieted down, he then spoke again, "IF you all could go inside of Sabertooth, we will explain why you are all here!" Everyone looked confused but did as he requested, leaving only my family outside of Sabertooth. It was quiet for the first time since earlier this morning when we made way towards Sabertooth.
"Well! are you gonna open it or what!" Said Rogue who was slowly becoming impatient.
"OKAY! OKAY! Geez, show some restarint!" I said as I started to read the letter to myself. I felt my blood boil as I crumpled up the letter and threw it to the ground.
"Sting! What did it say?" Asked an irritated Minerva.
"It said they all "QUIT" the dammed idiots all left!" I growled as Lucy reached down and picked up the crumpled piece of paper and opened it up to read.
"It says... "We Quit! signed Dobengal" They actually quit and there's no reason given.
"What do we do now? We have no guild to call home!" Angel said as she leaned against Rufus for support. They didn't fight, he just supported her as she started to cry.
"Don't worry Angel-nee, we'll figure something out," Lucy said with a forced smile.
"Hey this is perfect! This is great news!" Natsu said with a big smile.
"What?" We all yelled at the same time.
"What's so great about that Natsu? And give me back my baby!" Yelled Orga as he took a disappointed Cassie from Natsu.
"You can all join Fairy Tail and we can keep our family together... Great idea right?" Natsu said as he fist pumped the air.
"IDIOT! Why would we want to be Fairies?" Said Sting and Rufus in unison.
"HEY! What's wrong with being a Fairy?" Natsu said as his fists burst into flames. "You wanna say that again?"
"Yeah! I will... I'm no Fairy!" Yelled Sting as his hands were enveloped in white light.
"Bring it Light boy!" Growled Natsu.
"Let's go Flame face!" Sting shot back.
"STOP THAT THIS INSTANT... OR I'LL KICK BOTH OF YOUR ASSES!" Yelled Minerva and as quickly as it had started it ended there.
Natsu and Sting hugged and said, "We're not fighting!"
"Idiots!" Lucy said as she laughed as Lahar appeared at the door.
"Hey... We're waiting on you lot! Get in here now!" He yelled as we all shrugged and entered our former guild.
As we entered the guild I was taken back by the number of people who were squeezed into our somewhat small hall. It was nice to see a packed hall but it was also sad that this scene may never be seen again. I noticed a table near the stage that was empty and I assumed it was left that way for us. We all walked over to it and sat down, holding our children in our laps. Layla-chan still clung to Rogue which made me smile. I looked up and saw Gran Doma come over and he asked me to follow him and Makarov.
Gray's POV
I was sat at a table with Erza, Juvia and Romeo. Mira and Elfman were with Lisanna in the infirmary, tending to their sister. Erza was still a bit shaken from the earlier incident and my mind was going a mile a minute trying to make sense of what happened with Lisanna, all the while trying to understand what Natsu was doing with the Tigers... This was a confusing mess and hopefully someone will explain what's going on. Then it dawned on me... the biggest question of all... 'Why were we all here today,' I thought.
"Can someone tell us what we are all doing here?" I said as I stood up looking for answers. I heard rumbling behind me as others also stood up with the same curiosity.
"Please sit down! Gran Doma will be back in a moment and will explain everything then," Lahar said as I turned to see Gran Doma, Sting and Master return from Sting's office. The look on their faces said that something serious was up.
Gran Doma's POV
As we returned to the hall I could see many confused faces in the crowd. Some were standing, others were talking among themselves, but the most confused group were the former Sabertooth guild members. I looked at Morgana who was now smirking and I couldn't help but think that she had a hand in all of this. I turned to Makarov and Sting, who both nodded their approval. I figured I better get this over with so we can get back to more pressing matters.
"Listen up everyone... I am Gran Doma, Chairman of the Magic Council and we're here today to resolve a few issues. First off I want to make two small announcements! One - The S-Class test for Sabertooth has now been canceled. and Two - The guild formally know as Sabertooth, as of this moment is disbanded," I said as the place erupted with a big cheer, only to be quickly overshadowed by a familiar roar.
"QUIET YOU BRATS!" Roared an over grown Makarov. "DO NOT BE DISRESPECTFUL TO OUR FRIENDS!" At that moment you could hear a pin drop. "And stay quiet," He said as he turned to Sting and apologized for his rude brats.
"Thank you Makarov!" I said with a grin.
"No Proble.." He started to say as Wendy, Lisanna, Mira, Elfman and four cats appeared.
"Hey everyone!" Lisanna said as she was suddenly mobbed by everyone including a very excited Makarov who joined in the mob scene. Only Myself, Lahar, Jura, Morgana, Emrys and Sting remained where we were. I could also see the rest of Sting's companions in front of us looking a little uncomfortable as they watched the scene unfold.
I started to speak up when Sting shook his head and said, "Let them have their moment with their friend... we can wait a few more moments," He said as the noise was almost deafening.
"So what happened with her anyway and what did I see earlier?" I asked.
"Well... A few years ago Natsu, Minerva and Lucy were sat around a fire one night talking like they did almost every night and they realized that there was something off about Fairy Tail... Lisanna in particular. It wasn't anything drastic... it was just that they all seemed to be easily angered. They later told me that Minerva noticed something odd with Lisanna, one day when she held her and it was Natsu who noticed that when they were in Edolas, everyone had a double... even Lucy!" Sting said.
"Yes that would be odd, because of who her parents are. They aren't from Earthland, so Lucy's double should not have existed there as Edolas is a mirror world of our own, with the exception of magic, that is!" I said as I looked to Morgana who smirked.
"So you knew about this?" I said as Morgana nodded.
"Of course I knew. Who do you think I am?" She said sarcastically.
"Anyway Mother checked Edolas and found not only Lucy's double there but her other daughter's doubles as well and we realized that Zeref must have been there at one time as well. Here, Zeref and his Sisters are immortal so they all should live a long time... but on Edolas where there is no magic and they are just copies of their original forms, we believed that Zeref's body would have died long ago. We also concluded that it was very possible that his spirit lived on. Somewhere along the line we think he found Lisanna and possessed her... Leading us to our little confrontation earlier!" Sting said with a cocky smile.
"That does indeed make sense. So I will assume that the smoke that emanated from everyone was Edolas's Zerefs influence on Fairy Tail and once he was destroyed his hold on them vanished!" I said with a smirk.
"Yes! That's correct! Lucy came up with the idea to test Lisanna for Zeref and she also planned every detail to banish him... My mate is a genius, isn't she?" He said as he smiled at Lucy who blushed back at Sting.
"Indeed she is... That's one of the reasons we wanted her to take the S-Class test, among other things!" I said as I noticed that the crowd was slowly starting to disperse.
"What other reasons were there?" Sting asked.
"It's not safe to discuss those things here Mr. Eucliffe... we'll save that for another time. Understood!?" I said as I glared at him.
"Understood! But we will talk again... Do you understand that?" I growled.
"Fair enough!" I said as I motioned Lahar to get control of the room.
"Everyone, please take you seats and listen up. The Chairman has some things he wishes to say," Lahar said in a friendly tone, which quickly faded as people were slow to return to their seats. "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" He yelled as the hall went quiet as everyone returned to their seats. "that's better!"
"Thank you Lahar," I said as Makarov returned to my side up on this stage and the Exceeds sat with their friends on the table in front of me.
"You're welcome!" Lahar said as he placed his arm on his chest and bowed.
"As I mentioned earlier, the Guild formally know as Sabertooth has been removed as an official guild. The reason being they were closed and that is against the rules. No guild is to EVER close and lock it's doors to the public... That's automatic termination. Now I see a lot of smiling Fairies... don't get to full of yourselves. If Sabertooth had not broken that rule it would be Fairy Tail today that would be disbanded," I smirked. 'And I was so close to having the problem Fairies out of my hair!" I thought with a smirk as everyone was talking at the same time.
"Settle down you Brats and listen to the Chairman!" Said Makarov as he smiled down at Sabertooth before him.
"Now you're probably wondering why we were going to shut down Fairy Tail," I said as almost everyone nodded "Yes!" "Even though we have many complaints about Fairy Tail, the list is a mile long, we decided to close Fairy Tail because you attacked and killed one of your own. Even though it was an accident and she is now alive and sitting here... An official guild is never to do such a thing... No excuses... No exceptions!" I said as I looked at both guild Masters.
"Therefore we have discussed this issue and come to an agreement. Fairy Tail will continue as an official guild with no penalties, but only if they accept our two conditions. This must be unanimous or the Magic Council will disband Fairy Tail today as well. Understood!" I said as I heard a lot of moaning and mumbling from the crown. "UNDERSTOOD! We are not playing around here... DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?" I yelled.
"Understood!" Everyone said.
"GOOD!... Now, from this moment forward both Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are one guild," I said as I raised my hand to stop the objections from the Sabertooth members sitting in front of me. "Now in order to make this new Fairy Tail, Master Makarov and Master Sting have decided it would be best for this new guild to have a new Master... One agreed upon by all those sitting here. We will hold a secret vote to decide the new Master," I said with a smirk.
"One by one you will walk into Master... no I mean Sting's office and place you hand on the Lacrima on his desk and cast your vote. Jura will watch over this process from in the office to prevent any funny stuff. There's just a few rules to follow... You can't vote for yourself, nor can you vote for Master Sting or Master Makarov. Also your choice must be someone who is capable of running your guild. And finally, your choice needs my approval. If it's a stupid choice, I will appoint someone I deem acceptable... So choose wisely! Now go and vote!" I said as I watched everyone slowly move towards Stings office.
Timeskip (Forty-Five Minutes Later...)
"I spent the last ten minutes conferring with Makarov and Sting on the results of the vote and I have to say I'm impressed that everyone took this seriously. That surprised me considering we're talking about Fairy Tail!" I smirked as a unanimous "Hey!" echoed through the hall. "Hey! I get to have a laugh too you know!" I chuckled.
"Well! Who's our new Master?" Shouted someone from the back.
"Okay I know your all impatient. After all the votes were tallied we have four nominated for the new position. We have three good choices and one I have no idea what that is about. Happy... Who's Happy?" I asked as I face palmed. 'Did I just say that?' I thought.
"I am!" Some fool in the corner sang out as he laughed.
"Me too! I'm Happy!" Yelled another.
"That's Man!" Said another.
"Cut the foolishness!" Yelled Minerva from the front table as everyone at their table burst out laughing.
"Anyway... foolishness aside, who's Happy!?" I said again with a stern voice.
"Aye! Sir!" Said the little blue cat sitting on the table before me.
"Who did you vote for little one?" I said as I leaned forward.
"I voted for Happy Sir!" He said as he fist pumped. "I could have everyone bring me fish then!"
"Did you not hear me when I said that you weren't allowed to vote for yourself... Ah! never mind it makes no difference anyway. Your vote won't change anything. Just curious, who's Exceed are you anyway?" I asked as if it mattered.
"Aye! Sir! I'm Natsu's friend!" He said with a stupid grin.
"That explains a lot!" I said as everyone burst out laughing again.
"Hey stop laughing or I'll kick your ass!" Yelled a confused Natsu.
"Anyway back to the topic at hand... The three choices are all choices that I would support so you all choose wisely... except for that dammed cat!" I said as those at the head table smirked and tried to avoid laughing. The person with the third most votes was Mirajane Strauss. I believe she would make a fine Master someday!" I said as everyone cheered "Mira!"
"These two finalists came as no surprise, except that Fairy Tail has nearly a five to one member ratio to the Sabertooth members sitting in front of me. So I'm happy to say that a lot of Fairy Tail voted for someone other than their own. Perhaps this merger will work out better than we had hoped. The difference between first and second is only two votes and that is what took us so long to come out here with our decision," I said with a smile as I turned to Makarov. "Do you want the honors Makarov!?"
"Thank you Chairman... It's my pleasure," He said as he stepped forward. "Listen up you brats... we have a new Master, but we also have a second Master so to speak. A second in command if you will... when your Master is out or if a difficult decision is to be made they can work together. This second Master has as much authority as your new Master and you will treat her with the respect she deserves. Lucy le Fay... step forward. You are the second in command!" I said as I smiled at a confused Lucy. "Well come forward Child!"
"There must be some mistake here Master... Why would anyone vote for me?" She said as she slowly moved to the stage.
"HAHAHA! Child you really don't understand do you... We all love and respect you. We also think you're a wonderful girl who I'm just so happy to have back under my wing," I said with a smile as I held her hand and patted it.
"Are you all sure about this?" Lucy said with tears rolling down her face.
"Yes!" They all shouted.
"Okay... Thank you! I won't let you down!" She said as she wipped her tears away.
"You know this day started out on such a sour note for us, but we got Lisanna back, we saved our guild, got new members and we got Lucy back. It's turning into a great day after all and I'm so happy and proud right now!" I said as I tried to contain my emotions. "I'm honored and proud to announce the new Master of Fairy Tail is... Laxus Dreyar!"
With that announcement the guild went nuts...
A new day was dawning for Fairy Tail... A fresh start!
Well I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter in this story.
We've come full circle in this story. It was a lot longer than I had originally planned but I just enjoyed writing it so much. I may do a follow up chapter in a week or two but as of now this is the final chapter of Lucy's Fate. I may add the next saga to Lucy's Fate down the road if there is any interest in it and it would be the follow up to this story.
So if you want the next story in this saga... Please review and let me know. If there's no interest... then we'll see what happens. I may write it anyway. LOL I like the characters a lot and may use them elsewhere.
Thank you everyone for your support and I hope you support my future stories as well.