Into the Woodsea

The Oracion Seis had opted to build their hideout in the ruins of an ancient civilization, specifically where the ancients would go to worship, and "speak" with the gods. At the moment, the dark guild was performing the Ut Resugart ritual. The six looked on as dark mages dressed in black cloaks stood around a large sarcophagus, performing a chant, as the sarcophagus glowed.

"How long is this going to take? We have to be fast," Racer said.

"Doesn't the Ut Resugart take days to complete?" Angel asked.

"Normally, but what we're doing will take less time," Brain answered.

"I can't believe more people don't market this power to raise the dead, they could make an infinite amount of money!" Hoteye said.

"Don't be a fool, the Ut Resugart doesn't bring people back to life," Brain responded, "It is performed on those who are technically still alive, but trapped in a different state, and returns them to their natural state. We will be done soon enough."

"If that's true, then what did you want that girl for anyway?" Cobra asked, as he scratched Cubelios under the chin, and received an affectionate nuzzle in return.

"She was the Sky Dragon Slayer," the leader explained, "As such, she possessed a power that since faded. Healing Magic."

"The Lost Magic?" Angel asked.

"That is quite valuable, oh yeah!," Hoteye mused.

"So that's why you wanted her, to resurrect Jellal?" Cobra said, "That would've been a lot quicker."

"It doesn't matter," Brain said, "Make do with what you have, and as things stand, this is what we have. In the mean time, we must continue looking for Nirvana."

"We should split up," Cobra said, "We can cover more ground that way."

"What say we make a bet about it?" Angel said with a smile, "First one to find Nirvana gets…"

"A million jewels? Oh yeah!" Hoteye said.

"I was going to say gets the first kill," Angel said.

"I for one, would like to take another look at that blonde," Cobra said with a dark grin, "I could hear something strange about her." Brain just watched the ritual proceed as his subordinates bickered, and in one case, slept.

"Once we complete this, it probably won't matter," he muttered.

(at the edge of the Woodsea)

Wendy had begun the process of healing Erza, her body giving off a light blue glow as she did. The others watched on in silence.

"Do you know how long this takes?" Jura asked, "Not that we're rushing you of course, take all the time you may need."

"This will probably take a while," Wendy admitted, "This poison is powerful."

"Very well then," Jura said, "Some of us should probably go ahead." People vocalized their agreements to that.

"Who goes with who?" Eve asked.

"We should probably corresponding by guild," Lyon said, "That'll probably get the best teamwork."

"I'll stay here," Lucy said, "I'll keep an eye on Wendy and Erza."

"Then I'll stay as well," Hibki said, "I'll keep an eye on these lovely women."

"Hell no!" Natsu roared. Everyone started at Natsu, as he wrapped one arm around Lucy, and another around Wendy, briefly causing a pause in her healing magic.

"I ain't leaving my girlfriend, or my little sister, with one of the perverts!" he declared. That surprised people, not for Natsu being protective of Lucy and Wendy, since both of those had already been established.

"'Little sister'?" Wendy echoed.

"And what do you mean by that?" Carla demanded.

"I promised Igneel I'd protect her," Natsu declared, "And the best way to protect her, is to make her my little sister!" People stared at Natsu's declaration, as Wendy looked up at Natsu with wide eyes.

"That is admirable," Jura said with a respectful nod, "But you will be needed within the forest. I'm afraid you must be there to help us."

"But…," Natsu began.

"Natsu," Lucy said sternly, as she wormed her way out of Natsu's grip, and put her finger against his forehead, "If this relationship is to work, you can't constantly be clinging onto me, I'm a grown woman." Natsu pouted again as he looked away. Lucy sighed, as she touched his cheek, and guided him back over to her.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"And you don't need to worry," Hibiki said, with a smile at Natsu, "You have my word as a Pegasus, that no harm will come to these girls while I'm with them." Natsu was silent, but he could see something in Hibki's eyes. The man was being serious.

"Fine then," he relented.

"Thank you," Lucy said, as she kissed him on the cheek, "And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Wendy." After settling things, the groups all got together.

"Men!" Ichiya said, "Let us embark on our quest!" With that, the group set out. Happy, under Natsu's instruction, stayed with Lucy.

"I'll protect you from the pervert!" he said firmly, standing on Lucy's head.

"Save it," Lucy said, removing him, and setting him on the ground, and looking at Hibki, "I'm honestly kinda surprised Natsu was willing to let you go." Hibiki, who had activated his Archive, and was looking over some files, looked back and smiled.

"We Trimen talk a lot, but we know a taken girl when we see one," he said, "We don't go ruining relationships. Or messing with a guy's little sister." Wendy flushed red, as she resumed her work

"Wow, so you're Natsu's little sister now?" Happy asked.

"I don't think so," Carla protested, "The situation is clearly not appropriate."

"Well…," Wendy said. In all honesty, the idea didn't sound that bad. True, she didn't know much about Natsu, but there was something about Natsu that she trusted.

"Lucy," Wendy said, as she briefly looked up at the blonde.

"Yes?"

"If you're Natsu's girlfriend, does that make you my big sister?" she asked. Lucy probably should've said "no", but looking at Wendy's face, and her hopeful eyes…

"Maybe," she answered, putting her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

(in the woods)

"I hope Lucy and Wendy are alright," Natsu said, looking towards the direction he came from.

"You've only been gone for a couple minutes," Gray said, "They'll be fine." Natsu pouted at that. The fire and ice mages had gone out into the forest to look for the Oracion Seis base.

"Come to think of it, where did the whole little sister thing for that Wendy girl come from?" Gray asked.

"Didn't I already say why?" Natsu responded, "I made a promise to Igneel that I would protect her. So in order to do that, I decided to make her my little sister."

"I don't know if it works like that," Gray said, "I don't think you can make a girl your little sister just like that. Not to mention she's in a different guild."

"That doesn't mean she can't be my little sister," Natsu said firmly. Gray sighed, as he shook his head. No point trying to dissuade him at this point.

"Well…," he began, but they were interrupted, with a dark mist suddenly floated through the area they were standing in.

"The hell is this?" Natsu said, "Its turning the trees black."

"That's the influence of Nirvana." Gray and Natsu looked around in surprise.

"I know that voice," Natsu muttered. From the trees, a group of men dropped down to the ground from the trees.

"Its him again," one guy said.

"You know these guys, Natsu?" Gray asked.

"When I was going to help Lucy save her dad, these guys had taken everyone hostage," Natsu explained, "They're not tough."

"These must be the sub-guilds of Oracion Seis," Gray said. Natsu then looked over the people again.

"Why do they all look like monkeys?" he asked.

"Its that bastard from Love and Lucky!" a bald guy yelled.

"Shut the hell up!" one of the guys, who had an afro, yelled, "We're Naked Mummy! We're the Masters! I'm Zatou!"

"And I'm Gatou! We used to be under the hegemony of Lord Frieze," one guy, who had long hair that stood up, continued, "But we changed to Oracion Seis, because they promise power."

"Now let's beat them up!" the afro guy said.

"Well this will serve as a good warm up," Gray said, as he took off his shirt.

"You don't warm up," Natsu said, cracking his knuckles, "That's what I do." His chest then flared up.

(with Blue Pegasus)

The other guilds, as thing turned out, were going through something not entirely dissimilar. Blue Pegasus was under attack by a dark guild as well.

"What's Black Unicorn doing there?" Eve asked.

"And what kind of name is that?" Ren said. Both men seemed oblivious to the similarities their guild's name had with it.

"Come to think of it, where's Master?"

(somewhere)

"I'm warning you!" Ichiya said quickly, as he lay against a rock, dark mages surrounding him, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!"

"What are you going to do, turn green and beat us up?" one guy asked.

"MEN!"

(with Lamia Scale)

Lamia Scale was in battle with a dark guild known as Medusa Lock.

"I've dealt with these brutes before," Jura said to his guild mates as he took a battle stance, "I will do the work. You must save your strength."

"You kidding?" Lyon responded, "And let Fairy Tail show us up? No way I can do that!"

"And I won't let my love be bound!" Sherry said with a smile, as she also took a stance.

(with Natsu and Gray)

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu said, as he slammed his fist into the nearest foe, sending the man careening away. He then whirled around, and let loose his fire breath, blasting another group of them away.

Meanwhile, Gray was doing more or less the same thing, only with ice. He grabbed one guy by the head, and promptly froze it. He then threw the frozen guy into a second man who was stupid enough to try and charge them.

"Take this you bastard!" the bald guy said, firing at Natsu with his magic gun. Natsu turned to face him, as he breathed more fire, melting the bullets, and consuming the fool in the flames.

"Damn that guy!" Zatou said.

"We'll take him down!" Gatou said. The two then leapt at Natsu, who turned to them with a grin. He then brought his hands together, as he concentrated a massive amount of fire into on orb.

"Fire Dragon's Meteor!" he said, as he through the orb at them.

(at the edge of the forest)

There was the sound of a light explosion in the distance. Everyone looked in the direction, and saw a thin trail of smoke rising into the sky.

"What's that?" Wendy asked, as she continued healing Erza. The progress was quickly beginning to show, as the purple tint began to fade from her arm, and color began to return to her face.

"That would be Natsu," Happy said smiling.

"Natsu did that?" Hibiki said.

"That's right," Lucy said, smiling.

"I've a sneaking suspicion that he was being excessive," Carla said.

"Knowing Natsu, that probably was," Happy answered.

"I'm never going to flirt with either of you again," Hibki said to Lucy and Wendy. The two both flushed a deep crimson.

(in the ruins)

Brain looked over his shoulder, as he heard the explosion. He frowned.

"Enough, this is going to have to do!" he said, looking towards the ritual.

"But more Lord, if we stop now then he won't be complete!" one of the performers said.

"Will his magic be present?"

"Well yes…"

"Then that's good enough," Brain said, as he looked over the ritual. He counted twelve mages.

"That'll do," he said. Before the mages could do anything, Brain thrust his staff at them. The dark energy was upon them before they were even aware what was happening.

(with Natsu and Gray)

Gray dusted his hands off, as he looked over the remnants of battle. He noticed Natsu, who had smoke leaking out of the corner of his mouth, walking towards one of the downed mages, and heaving him up.

"Where's the Oracion Seis hideout?" he demanded.

"I'd rather get incinerated by you than punished by Brain!" the man yelled.

"That can be arranged," Natsu said, as he grinned, and his chest lit up.

"Trust me, his girlfriend and sister aren't here to keep him cool," Gray said. He normally wouldn't play along with Natsu, but they needed to make progress. The Dragon Slayer licked his lips enticingly, as curls of steam snaked out of his mouth. The glow spread to his throat, and into he back of his mouth.

The dark mage continued to try and resist, but when he saw Natsu open his mouth, and the glow within it, he relented.

"Okay!" he cried, "Okay! They're just West from here! There are some ruins, that's where you can find them!" Natsu looked him over, before closing his mouth, and letting the glow die down.

"Thank you," he answered with a grin, before head butting him unconscious, and dropping him. He and Gray then started running in the direction given.

However, as they were running, something suddenly knocked them both to their feet. There was a flash, as the two looked around.

"Where the hell is this coming from?" Natsu yelled.

"You guys don't know when to give up," Racer said, as he appeared on a tree.

"Its that speed mage!" Gray said.

"I've got far better things to do than go dealing with you two whimps!" Racer said, as he glared down at the duo.

"Damn!" Natsu said, as his chest glowed.

"Simmer down!" Gray said.

"Don't steal Lucy's line!" Natsu said right back.

"I'll take this guy," Gray said, tuning to face Racer, "You focus on getting down there!" Natsu looked over Gray, before taking a breath.

"Don't lose, Frosty!" he ordered.

"Don't go ordering me around," Gray responded.

With that, Natsu continued running, leaving Gray and Racer behind.

Eventually, Natsu arrived at the edge of a large ravine. He cracked everything he could crack, and preemptively lit up his chest, before sliding down the walls. As Natsu landed, he noticed a cave. He slammed his fist into his hand.

"I'm all fired up now!" he said.

(in the cave)

Brain was fortunate he didn't mind the sight of dead bodies. The smell though was quite annoying.

The coffin glowed, as the Ut Resugart was completed. True, it was not complete, but it was enough, and Brain was generally willing to opt for enough.

Midnight, meanwhile, continued sleeping.

"Hey! You tattooed ass!" Brain turned, and saw Natsu standing before him.

"It seems I have an infestation of lizards," he grumbled, before turning his attention away, "But no matter. Its been done." With that, the coffin fell away, as Natsu charged, his hands eclipsed in fire. But that was when he saw him.

The coffin clattered to the ground, revealing the resident. He was tall, with blue hair, and a red mark on his eye. A figure Natsu knew all to well.

"Jellal," he said.

Note: I wonder what the strange thing Cobra heard about Lucy was.

Sorry if Natsu and Wendy's dynamic felt rushed, but this was my plan from the get-go, and I figured no reason not to do it sooner rather than later. Some of you might remember "Ut Resugart" from EOTBD.

On an unrelated note, I need some reassurance that people still like Fairy Tail. I know that it is popular, seeing as its constantly in the top five most read series on most manga sites, and its consistently rated 4.5/5 or 9/10, so its clearly considered good by the majority, but they aren't vocal enough (its my personal favorite). Come on people, we have to defend what we like!

Be sure to review.