Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima and I, unfortunately, am not him. I do however own any OC characters that will appear later in the story. Relax and enjoy the story.
People speaking "Hello Hello Hello"
People thinking 'Geronimo'
Magic Spells "Fire Dragon ROAR"
Creature/Dragon speaking "I am ALIVE!"
Creature/Dragon thinking'Come along'
Chapter 19 – The Heartfilia Heiress
"Lucy, where are you?!"
"Damn it! There's no sign of her anywhere." Vanitas said as he and Mirajane came to a stop in the middle of an empty street. Since leaving the hospital room they had searched everywhere they could for any sign of the blonde-haired girl, though Vanitas was limited on what he could do because of his injuries.
"This is bad." Mirajane brought a hand up and clenched it over her chest with a worried look on her face, "If Phantom really has got her then they could already be on route to one of their headquarters."
Vanitas nodded his head before grabbing his bandaged side with a flinch, "All of Phantom Lord's headquarters are branched out so I doubt they could have taken her to one that was very far from here, probably near the town that everyone is in… Unless they took her to the main headquarters...?!"
"The main headquarters? What do you-" Mirajane was cut off by the sound of a grunt and turned around to see Vanitas was on one knee while holding onto his side, a pained expression growing on his sweating face. The bandages under his hand were turning red very quickly, "Vanitas! Your wound is opening up, we need to get you back to the hospital to stitch it up again."
"I can't… if they have Lucy then I am partially to blame…Letting myself and the others get injured was the whole reason Fairy Tail is now fighting… and it left all of us open for them to kidnap Lucy." Vanitas took several deep breaths as he spoke, the pain from his injuries were getting to him as he felt the blood flow under his fingers. "That's why I need to find her, or at least tell the others."
"… And we will Vanitas, but you can't ignore the fact that you're hurt." Mirajane replied before moving next him before draping his other arm over her shoulder and easily lifted the two of them up, showing the fact that not being an active wizard did nothing to the girl's natural strength. "Let's get you patched up and wait for the others to get in contact with us… It's not the best thing we can do at the moment but right now that is all we can do…"
Looking at the barmaid holding him up, Vanitas could see that Mirajane's body was trembling as she stared at the ground with a look of frustration. "Mira…"
"Whatever reason it may be, Phantom wanted Lucy for something and they won't hurt her if she is that important. Hopefully we can get those answers later," The model turned her head and flashed him a smile, "For now we need to get you back to the hospital before your injuries worsen."
Vanitas was silent as he stared at Mirajane's blue eyes, before looking down at the road while lightly biting the inside of his cheek. The smile she was giving him was fake, even he could see how worried she really was and how much she really wanted to find Lucy. But as she said there was nothing they could do at the moment, "Yeah… I understand."
"Good, now let's hurry back before Nova leaves the room." Mirajane said before using her strength to hold Vanitas up as the two slowly walked back to the hospital, neither noticing that there was a small brown bag lying on the floor a distance away, hidden by the shadows created by several large crates next to it. The bag was open partially and Lucy's gold and silver keys could be seen through the opening.
(Phantom Lord Building)
Gajeel let out a grunt as he crashed through a wooden pillar, before regaining his balance with a backflip and landed in a crouched position. The Dragon Slayer had a line of blood escaped from the corner his mouth as a grin formed on his face, standing up straight while wiping away the blood. "It's been a while since I've had this taste in my mouth… I need to eat more iron after this."
"When I'm done with you Gajeel, you'll have to drink your meals through a straw." Natsu landed on the pillar a few feet away from his opponent, cracking his hands as flames danced at his feet. "That blow was for Levy, and I still have plenty left to dish out."
"Interesting," Gajeel let out a laugh as his clenched fist rose above his head. "Then let's continue!" The Iron Dragon Slayer's fist slammed into the wood, the force of the impact formed numerous cracks around him and quickly stretched out until the entire pillar was covered. The sounds of the support cracking under them made Natsu narrow his eyes before he bent his knees and jumped off the pillar with Gajeel follow leaping after him. The sudden action from the two caused the destroyed pillar to break off from the others and come crashing down on top of a few Phantom members.
Taking a quick glance down at the unconscious wizards, Natsu snapped his head back at his opponent. "You don't care about what happens to your comrades, do you?"
"Don't focus on those idiots when you're fighting me! Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel responded before throwing his fist forward, transforming it into an iron club as it stretched at Natsu. Releasing a burst of flames from the soles of his feet, the Fire Dragon Slayer leaped over the club and placed a hand over the club before pushing off it like a springboard. Gajeel smirked as he watched Natsu flip over his attack, "Nice try! But staying the air leaves you open for attack! Iron Club Barrage!"
The iron club expanded and dozens of smaller pillars shot out of it in multiple directions, many of them heading towards Natsu's aerial form. With gritted teeth Natsu changed the direction the flames on his feet were pointing and increased the pressure, which caused the flames to flip his body with both legs stretched out. As soon his body completed its front flip, the fire on his feet seemed to split into two large claw-like marks, "Fire Dragon's Dual Claws!"
(Meanwhile)
While the two Dragon Slayers clashed above them, the wizards of Fairy Tail continued their one-sided assault on Phantom Lord. Magic clashed, bodies flew into the air, and everything within the building was being destroyed. But the most damage was being dealt by a very pissed off Makarov, whose power caused even the area surrounding the headquarters to tremble with each step he took. The Fairy Tail Guildmaster had made his way up the steps leading to where he knew the Guildmaster of Phantom was located, and arrived at a very impressive metal door.
But that didn't stop the small man as he continued walking, destroyed the door and the entire wall surrounding it with his powerful magic without a blink of an eye. Makarov walked into the large office and instantly caught sight of the source of his rage, "… Just what the hell do you think you're doing attacking Fairy Tail… Answer me, Jose Porla?!"
"That was a very expensive door." A lone man sat in his seat casually with his legs and arms crossed, casually dismissing the rubble and cracks spreading throughout the room. "Your wizards really do take after you, despite all those complaints you did at the meetings. It's been a long time since I went to one of those, nearly six years now… I was really out of it at that time… I clearly overdid with the drinks."
Not even a second passed before entire interior of the office was reduced to rubble by Makarov's magic and the man had punched Jose with a now gigantic arm, destroying the chair that Jose had been sitting in as well as the wall behind it. "I'm not here for small talk, Jose!"
"Ho, ho, ho... oh my..." Makarov's eyes widened in shock as the dust cleared and saw that Jose's form shift and warp before returning to normal.
"An illusion!? You already left this guild headquarters?"
"A battle between two of the Ten Wizard Saints would cause extraordinary natural occurrences. I prefer a rational victory." Jose replied with a chuckle before tipping his hat up.
"Where are you? Come and fight me fair and square!" Makarov shouted at his fellow Guild Master. He didn't get a response however as another image appeared in front Jose and Makarov's eyes widened once more. On the ground with her hands tied behind her back, was a familiar unconscious blonde. "Lucy! W-Why is she?"
"Come now Makarov, as if I need to explain." Jose reached a hand out and created a purple magical circle pointed at Lucy's form.
"Stop it!" Makarov reached his arm out in an attempt to halt the man in front of him. But before he could do anything else, Aria appeared behind him with his hands held out and the air picking up. 'I didn't even feel his presence until he was directly behind me! Where did he come from?'
"So sorrowful!" Aria of the Sky shouted tearfully as he used his magic to start draining Makarov of his powers. Sending him crashing into the wall next to the destroyed door, the large man continued to cry as Jose's image dismissed his magic and stepped away from Lucy.
"Ho, ho, ho...there is no way we'd kill Lady Lucy, right? At least, not yet..." Jose told his fellow Guildmaster as he chuckled at the sight of him in extreme pain. The magic that Aria had used was a spell that drains the target of all their magic in an instant called Metsu, and the more magic they had the more pain they experienced.
"Aaaaahhhh!" Makarov screamed in pain. 'Don't tell me… this wizard is draining my magic away…"
"Please don't tell me you didn't know who this girl was. Especially since she is Lucy Heartfilia, and a member of your guild this entire time." Jose shrugged his shoulders with a laugh, "Oh well… I guess it's none of your business anymore."
"It's too sorrowful!" Aria cried as Makarov was sent through the wall and the flooring, sending him down to the lower levels. The small man could do nothing as his body collided with several pillars and injured his body even more.
(Lower Levels)
'… Something doesn't seem right.' Cana thought to herself as she dodged a sloppy punch from a Phantom member and with a swipe of three cards, sent him and several others flying with a lightning bolt. 'Despite Gajeel Redfox being here, there is still no sign of the Elemental Four.'
"Don't get distracted Cana!" Erza shouted as she slashed another Phantom member who emerged from the ground behind the card user.
"Ah, thanks Erza." Cana nodded her head in thanks before turning her back against Erza's as they faced the large crowd surrounding them, "… Hold on… Erza?"
"What is it?"
"Is it just me, or did the earthquakes caused by the Master-"
The brunette was cut off as a crashing sound was heard a few feet away from the two female wizards, making them turn to that Natsu and Gajeel had returned to fighting on the ground. Natsu was standing with his hands covered in his fire with a serious expression on his face while Gajeel had turned his hands into spiked hammers and had a grin on his face, which had a few bruises on it.
"Not bad Salamander, you might actually make me get serious." Gajeel commented.
"Is that right?" Natsu slammed his fists together, creating bigger flames upon collision. "Because I still have a lot more punishment to dish out and the fire in my belly isn't even close to satisfied."
"Oh I know. You're little tricks, Fire Driveand Fairy Flame Mode. I remember seeing 'em in action at the tournament." Gajeel grinned before turning his hands back to normal, "In fact I've got something pretty interesting to show you…Iron Dragon-"
Yet another crashing sound was heard, but this one was louder than before and echoed throughout the building. Many turned their heads to see what was the cause and every member of Fairy Tail froze in complete shock and horror once they saw what it was… or rather, who it was.
"M- Master!" Erza cried out and ran over to him with Cana a step behind her.
"Ah… d…amn… my… magic..." Makarov gasped out as Erza and Cana knelt down next to his body before Erza reached down and held the man up.
Quickly ignoring his adversary, Natsu ran towards the large group that was forming around the fallen Guildmaster. Once it was obvious the battle wouldn't continue, Gajeel dismissed the magic he was building up and clicked his teeth in annoyance. "Tch… Looks like the fun's over. And things were getting good too."
"Why can't I feel any magic from Master? It's like he's a plain old man now." Elfman muttered.
"I don't get it… How could he lose?" Gray questioned as he looked up at where the old man had fallen, "Just what exactly happened up there?"
"No way...how can the Master be defeated?"
"I-Impossible!"
'This is bad, if Gramps is out of the picture then…' Natsu's body tensed as he looked back at the Phantom wizards they were just thrashing, all of them were getting back on their feet with cocky grins.
"This our chance! They've got no chance now that their Master is down. Attack those Fairy scums!"" The members of Phantom Lord roared and went on the offensive as Fairy Tail tried their best to defend themselves against the revitalized enemy.
'No...This is bad...our morale took a blow as well...' Erza and Natsu shared a glance before nodding to each other, the former reaching up and wiping a lone tear that grew in her left eye. 'There is no other choice…'
A giant flame suddenly erupted from Natsu and stretched out until it blocked the two guilds from each other, causing many to take steps back in order to avoid getting burned. The Dragon Slayer of Fire tightened the fists he was clenching before shouting loud enough for everyone to hear, and what he said shocked many. "Everyone else start retreating back to the Guild Hall. I will hold them off until everyone is outside!"
"No way! Are you out of your mind Natsu?!" Gray shouted.
"Men don't retreat!" Elfman added as he fended off several members of Phantom.
"No, he's right." Erza shouted as she summoned a sword in her right hand, "We might be able to handle these guys and the Elemental 4, but without the Master we don't stand a chance against Jose! Not while things are in such chaos!"
"I can still fight!" Macao tried to tell her, but the injury had just received from protecting Cana was taking its toll.
"Me too!" Bisca shouted, but seconds later her legs started to wobble and she fell against Alzack's extended arm.
Erza slammed the blade of her sword into the ground before shouting back at her stubborn guildmates. "This isn't up for discussion! Retreat and that's an order!" This time the others listened to the redhead and started making their way to giant exit they had created, using Natsu's flames to cover their backs.
"Leaving already, huh?" Gajeel sighed in disappointment as he watched Fairy Tail begin to retreat. He jumped up to the rafters and landed next to Aria, who arrived in time to watch their enemy Guild retreat.
"It's so sad!" Aria cried with tears running down his face.
"Aria...you're creepy as always." Gajeel commented as he continued to stare at Natsu and Erza guide everyone to the exit. "I'm surprised that you managed to put down that old geezer."
"It was all part of Master Jose's plan, all I had to do was follow it to the letter. But still…" The blindfolded man replied, and seconds later he started crying again. "Thank you for your kind words!"
"Jeez! Would you stop crying already?" Gajeel looked up at the man in annoyance. Seriously, all the man every seemed to do was cry and talk about how sad things were, it was a real pain in the ass to deal with. "So…did we capture the target?"
"Yes… Juvia and Sol retrieved Lucy and have confined in our headquarters. Master Jose is seeing to her now." Aria answered in a serious tone.
Natsu perked his head up to look up at where Gajeel and Aria were, his eyes widened in disbelief. "… You've got to be kidding me…"
"Is something wrong Natsu?" Happy questioned as he stood next to his best friend, where he knew it would be safest.
"GAJEEL!" Natsu shouted in anger as the fire wall started to grow larger and blast several of the Phantom Lord wizards as they tried to get through.
The Iron Dragon Slayer only chuckled as he stared down at Natsu and the retreating Fairy Tail guild, while next to him Aria was using his magic to move the two. "We'll finish this someday, Salamander. You can count on it!"
"Natsu, what's wrong? We need to get out of here…?" Erza raised an eyebrow as her pink-haired husband stared up at the beams where Gajeel had originally stood.
"… Those bastards… they kidnapped Lucy." Dismissing the surprised looks he was getting, Natsu ran towards the fire with a determined look and stuck his hand into the flames. While they could not see the other side due to the increased size of the flames, the two could hear the sounds of grunting and shouts of pain coming from the other side. Natsu soon pulled his arm back and with it was a slightly charred Phantom member. "You're coming with us."
"S-Salamander!" The grunt cried out in fear as he felt Natsu start to pull him by the scruff of his collar. "W-What d-do you want from me?!"
"You'll find out soon," Natsu responded with a dark tone before looking back at Erza with a small smile. "I'm going to have a little chat with this guy. Erza, you get the others back to Magnolia safely."
"But Natsu-"
"And where are you going flame-head?" Gray questioned as he made it to the trio, a fist raised in the air covered in his ice magic. "I'm having a hard time agreeing to a retreat. We need to make these guys pay for what they did."
Erza gentle placed her hand on Gray's fist, making the coal-haired man look at her in confusion until he was the weak expression on her face. "I know how you feel Gray, but without the Master… we don't… I'm sorry."
"Erza…"
Summoning fire in the hand holding the Phantom member, Natsu twisted it and made it quickly wrap around the man until it completely immobilized him. Once that was finished Natsu walked over to Erza and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her turn to look at him. The Dragon Slayer wrapped his arms around her and held her for a few seconds, before pulling back to flash her a warm smile. "Don't worry Erza, everything is going to be fine… I'll see you guys back at the guild, and with Lucy too."
Gray and Erza watched as Natsu walk back to the bound man and started pulling him out of the exit with Happy right on his heel, before the two turned in a different direction then where the others were heading. Once the two were out of sight Gray turned to look at Erza, "… Hey Erza…"
"We need to move quickly, Natsu's fire wall won't hold for long. We'll meet up with him, Lucy and Happy back in Magnolia." The armor wearing woman said firmly before she started running towards the exit to catch up with the others, leaving Gray to himself. The ice wizard watched her back as she ran towards a few stragglers and began shouting orders, the weakness he had saw before completely gone.
'… It was always you… Natsu.' Gray thought to himself with a very small smile before he too started running towards the exit and followed his guild to the stations. "This isn't over."
NDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESDNESNDESNDESNDES
Lucy slowly began opening her eyes as she felt her hands being restrained by something. When she fully opened her eyes she saw herself in a room made of rock and a steel door with metal bars on them. She sat up and tried to free her hands, but the rope that had them tied wasn't budging at all. "W-What is this place?" The blonde looked around the small room as she tried to recall what had happened.'I remember now… those two from Phantom Lord's Elemental Four kidnapped me, and it looks like they put me in a dungeon or something.'
"So...you're awake now, Lucy Heartfilia." She quickly snapped her head in the direction of the door as she saw a man who was wearing a wizard getup with bat wings coming out of the coat he was wearing and wizard hat with the point drooping down next to his head. "I was getting a little worried with how long you were out.
"W-Who are you?"
"I'm the Guildmaster of Phantom Lord, Master Jose Porla." The man introduced himself as he opened the door and walked up to her with his arms crossed.
"You're Phantom's Guild Master!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.
"Yes...I truly apologize for having you retrained like this and placed in such a filthy jail… but at the moment you're my prisoner." Jose explained as he mockingly bowed his head, "Please try and understand."
"Untie me now! How dare you attack my friends!? Even Vanitas, a former member of your own guild."
Jose's smile twitched at Lucy's mention of the Devil Slayer, but he seemed to dismiss it with a shrug of his shoulders. Turning his head to the side, the man began to scratch his chin with an amused look, "You know…depending on your attitude... We would be fully prepared to give you the treatments that more suited for an esteemed guest such as yourself instead of a low-class prisoner."
"What do you me-" Lucy tried to ask, but felt something crawling on her leg. Looking down she saw a large centipede move its way over her leg and was about to crawl under her skirt, letting out a scream she shook off the bug as quickly as she could. "Kyaaah! Yuck, so GROSS!"
"You see? You don't want to stay in an unpleasant place like this." Jose snickered as he faced her once again. "If you promise to behave, we would be happy to move you to a beautiful suite."
"Why did you attack us?"
"Us? Oh you mean Fairy Tail? You see...that was an extra! A side diversion!" A crooked smile instantly appeared on Jose's face as he answered the girl.
"W-What?"
"Our true objective was to get a hold of a certain someone, of course it was by chance that they resided in Fairy Tail. So, we thought, why not kill two birds with one stone." Jose explained with the smile still on his face. "No, it was more like three birds since Gajeel was able to deal with that traitor Vanitas."
"A certain someone?" Lucy repeated with a confused look.
"I never would have thought that someone from such a prestige family like yours would be so naïve and stupid." Lucy's eyes widened as Jose walked up to her and knelt down so that they would be at the same eye level. "The target is non-other than Lady Lucy Heartfilia, the only daughter of Jude Heartfilia and heir to the Heartfilia Family."
"H-How do you know that?"
"I was surprised to hear that you were hiding your social standing from your guild. I don't know why the daughter of one of the richest men in the world is doing, handling such cheap and dangerous work at a place like Fairy Tail…" Once again Jose shrugged his shoulders before standing up straight.
"So… you kidnapped me?"
"No, of course not. It was none other than your father who hired us to retrieve you and bring you home." At this, Lucy's eyes widened even further, her pupils shrinking as her whole body began to tremble.
"N-No...you're lying...why would he want me back?"
"Isn't it normal for a father to be worried about when such a pretty daughter runs away from home," Jose chuckled in amusement as he continued to speak. "Any parent in his position would search for her, am I wrong?"
"Of course you are!" Lucy shouted back. "That man wouldn't do something like that, in fact I'm shocked he even realized I was no longer there… I'll never go back! I'll never go back to that horrible house or have anything to do with him!"
The older wizard sighed at that, "… You really are a troublesome young lady."
"Release me then!"
"Sorry...can't do that."
"… Please…" Lucy stared at him for a few seconds before turning her face away as it became red. "I really need to use the bathroom."
"That's a very old trick, isn't it?"
"But I really need to go..." Lucy whined as her body started to squirm.
"… Alright then, here you go!" A bucket was placed in the center of the room, directly in front of Lucy.
Blinking a few times, the Celestial Spirit wizard was taken aback by the man's actions. "You're not serious! A bucket?!"
"Every trick has a come-back, and we have many for anything you might think of." Jose let out a smug laugh at his intellect, he wouldn't let a young girl get the best of him. "You won't catch us off guard with something like that."
Letting out an embarrassed sigh, Lucy walked to bucket before positioning herself over it. "I guess I have no choice..."
"YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT!?" Jose shouted with his eyes popping out of his head. After starting at her for a few seconds to see if she was bluffing, which by the looks of it showed she wasn't before quickly turning his back to the girl. "Such a vulgar young lady! You're lucky I'm a gentleman and will turn away!"
"… Yes… thank you…!" A smirk appeared on Lucy's face before she sneaked up behind the man and drew her leg back, before kicking him in the groin as hard as she could.
"YYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!"
(Magnolia Hospital)
Vanitas, Mirajane and Nova turned their heads towards the open window as they heard a, staring outside for a few seconds before the barmaid spoke up. "I wonder what that was…?"
Nova tilted her head to the side, "It sounded like what happened to those men that Mommy kicks between their legs… What does flert mean Aunt Mira?"
"The correct way to say it is flirt, and I'll tell you when you're older Nova." Mirajane quickly answered before motioning to the picture the young girl was drawing, "Now why don't you get everything together so you can finish at the Guild Hall?"
"Alright!" Nova cheerfully replied before putting all of her colors away.
As she was doing this Mirajane looked at Vanitas, who was still looking out the window. "Is something wrong?"
"… That was so loud that I can almost feel his pain… but for some reason I don't feel any pity, only indifference. Weird." Vanitas shrugged his shoulders before looking back at the white-haired woman, "Anyway let's head to the Guild. The others should be coming back soon."
(Phantom Lord Headquarters)
"Old tricks are still around because they work, remember that." Lucy said with a smirk as Jose fell to his knees and grabbed his steaming crotch, twitching several times from the pain he felt. "Well then… See ya later!" With a playful wink, Lucy went toward the large doorway behind her… Only to freeze up when she saw that beyond the door was a only a small ledge, beyond that was a drop that was several stories high.
"Hahaha… it's a pity for you… this is our sky prison." Jose muttered as the Phantom's Guildmaster got back up to his feet slowly, still holding his crotch in pain. "How...how dare you...do that to me…"
'What should I do?' Lucy bit her bottom lip as an image of her father's intimidating figure entered her head and she shuddered at the thought of seeing him again.
"Now then… it's time for your punishment. I'll need to teach you just terrifying Phantom Lord truly is…" Jose snickered as he started reaching out for the girl. Lucy closed her eyes tightly before she did something that Jose was not expecting and jumped back as far as she could. Jose gasped in shock as Lucy started falling toward the ground, before cringing as the pain returned and made him fall to his knees once again. "I think… one of them… popped."
'It isn't my imagination… right? I can hear him… I know he's there!' With a deep breath Lucy called out to the first and only name that came to her mind, "NATSU!"
Almost immediately a voice shouted back at her.
"LUCY!" With a powerful leap, Natsu jumped onto the wall of the headquarters and ran up towards the falling girl. Once he was close enough, the Dragon Slayer ignited two bursts of fire at the bottom of his feet and jumped at Lucy, catching her bridal-style before landing in a pile of ruins. The female wizard slowly opened her eyes to see Natsu was holding her up, "Are you insane girl? That was way too close."
"Yeah but… I knew you'd be there Natsu." Lucy answered with a smile.
"Lucy are you okay? You came falling out of the sky!" Happy flew next to the two with a concerned look on his face. "What happened?"
"Hold on a second, let me get you out of these ropes." Natsu stated and gently sat down to the ground before summoning a small flame and placed it against the rope that held her hands together. A few seconds later the fire burned through the rope and freed the girl from her bindings, "There you go, I made sure to only burn the ropes so you should be fine."
"Are you okay?" Happy asked.
"Thank you… and yeah, I think so…" That was all Lucy said as she rubbed her wrists.
Getting back to his feet, Natsu turned his head to the building behind them. "Luckily I managed to get the location from that guy on where this place was… I even decided to be a nice guy and bring him here myself since he was so injured."
Several yards back, a charred body could be seen laying in front of the Phantom Headquarter's main entrance, his left leg twitching as black smoke was emitting from his body. "N-No more fire… No more… fish."
"In any case we should head back to the Guild." Happy suggested as he looked from Lucy to Natsu, who nodded his head. "A lot of them were seriously hurt."
"Yeah, as much as I was to get revenge for what they did to Gramps and the others. We need regroup and plan a counterattack to finish these guys off once and for all, luck for us we now know where exactly their Headquarters are." Natsu looked up at the building with a frown, before letting out a sigh. "Hopefully we'll be able to help Gramps recover faster."
"Nab got a broken arm and Macao was beat up too." Happy added, neither of them had noticed Lucy's body start to tremble at they talked.
"Well Nab is a lot weaker than me and Macao's an old ma-"
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." Natsu and Happy turned to look at Lucy with confused expression, before their eyes widened at the how much she was shaking. Memories of the damage done to the guild, the injuries her friends had sustained as well as Levy being pinned to a tree with her team and Vanitas being buried under rubble, the fact that there was a war between the guilds in the first place. "I-It's all my fault… Everything is because of me… but even so, I want to stay in the guild… Because I love Fairy Tail!" The girl had tears running down her face as she turned to face the two.
"What the hell are you talking about? No one is saying that you have to go anywhere." Natsu knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, "If you want to stay then just stay, you're one of us, a member of Fairy Tail now and forever."
"But…But…" Lucy couldn't even finish her sentence before she continued to cry.
Seeing that she wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Natsu and Happy turned to each other and nodded their heads. Maneuvering the girl onto Natsu's back, the pink-haired man started walking away from the building. "… Come on you two, let's go home."
He could feel Lucy nod her head against his back, while Happy summoned his wings and started flying in the air next to him. "Aye sir."
(Time Skip)
After Fairy Tail had returned to Magnolia after retreating from the battle with Phantom Lord, they immediately started to treat the injured and plan their counterattack. Natsu, Lucy and Happy soon arrived and were greeted by an excited Nova, Mirajane and Vanitas, the latter two apologizing to Lucy for not being there to help her when she need it. While Lucy was revealing the truth of her origins to everyone in the Guild, Erza told Bisca and Alzack to take Makarov to Porlyusica for treatment, though the woman had quickly kick them out after putting the old man in one of the beds there due to her bitter feelings for humans. Her other patient Ur had found the entire situation to be hilarious until she was hit by Porlyusica's broom and told to drink her potion, which made the woman's face turn green at just the thought of it. Multiple members were coming up with a plan on how they would strike Phantom Lord's Main Headquarters and gathering supplies while others were recovering their strength. Seeing how badly injured some of her friends were from the fight they had with Phantom only made Lucy guilty because of the fact that they got all these injuries because of her.
"Are you worried? Don't worry, we'll get them back for this." Lucy perked up at Gray's voice and turned her head to look at him.
"No… It's just that...I'm sorry..." Lucy bowed her head as apologized again."
"It's a normal thing for daughters from rich families to be targeted and one of the down sides of it!" Elfman added before he placed his fist on his chest with a smirk. "But a real man's duty to protect them!"
"Don't say that!" Gray snapped back at the tall man, who gave Gray a look at being interrupted
"But I'm surprised too." Happy said. "Lucy, why were you hiding it?"
"I wasn't so much hiding it...but I ran away from home a year ago and not once did he want me back. Now he suddenly wants me back, I just don't get it." Everyone watched as Lucy's hands tightened into fist, "Doing all these horrible things just to get me back… He's the worst! Although...all of this happened because I ran away from home in the first place, right...?"
"N-No! That's ridiculous! Your dad is the bad one!" Elfman told her with a wave of his hand.
"Idiot!" Gray shouted at him.
"Ah! I mean it's all Phantom's fault!" Elfman let out an awkward laugh as he corrected himself.
"Because of my selfish actions...I can't believe I caused so much trouble for everyone...maybe everything will get better if I just go back home..." Lucy admitted.
"No way." Everyone looked down to see Nova looking up at Lucy while holding a large rolled up paper with both hands behind her back. The young girl had an angry pout on her face as she stared up at Lucy.
"Huh? Nova?" Lucy blinked a few times.
"Miss Lucy doesn't belong anywhere but here! Fairy Tail is where everyone laughs and have fun together!" Nova reached out one of her hands and patted Lucy's leg several times, "That is how Miss Lucy is and should be, not all stuffy and a giant stick in the mud! That's why you left, right?" Pulling out the rolled up paper, Nova opened it up to show a childish drawing of Lucy and Nova holding hands with Erza, Natsu, Happy, and other members of Fairy Tail standing on either side of them. Above everyone's heads was a very accurate drawing of Fairy Tail's symbol that obviously Mirajane had drawn for Nova. And in bold letters next to the symbol were the words Miss Lucy of Fairy Tail. "I made this for you since you weren't feeling so well. Do you like it?"
"Nova…" Lucy's eyes started to tear up as she stared at the drawing and Nova's smiling face, before leaning forward and bringing the young Dragneel into a tight hug, "I love it… thank you so much."
"Don't cry. It's not like you..." Gray told her as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Yeah! Men are weak to womanly tears!" Elfman added while trying his best not to cry himself. A distance away Loke was watching the four of them as they talked amongst themselves, frowning lightly as his focus went to a crying Lucy who was holding Nova's drawing up for both of them to see. A distance away from them, Cana and Mirajane were making attempts to contact Laxus and Mystogan for assistance, though it didn't seem to help as Cana wasn't having much luck with finding the elusive Mystogan's location. Laxus had refused to assist them stating they should clean up their own messes, his words only seemed to piss many of the Guild members off. Mirajane had actually destroyed the Lacrima easily before tearfully stating that she would fight as well, though Cana and Vanitas helped her calm down a bit to help continue with treating more of the injured.
In the showers on the other side of the lower floors, Erza was trying to calm herself down from the battle they had just left. But she wasn't alone as Natsu stood outside the stalls, allowing the two to converse about their current situation.
"According to Bisca and Alzack, Gramps was hit by a spell called Drain. Apparently the target of the spell could recover faster if the magic that was scattered was returned to him. But since we didn't know what it was exactly, it was too late to do anything then." Natsu explained as he leaned back against the wall, "Unknown to everyone upstairs I managed to acquire one of Gramps' special Communication Lacrimas and contacted Mystogan. He'll take care of getting all the magic that was lost, as well as taking care of that other thing."
"The Master is out of commission at the moment, Mystogan is going to be too busy to help with the situation here," Erza's voice spoke up through the sound of running water, "Laxus is nowhere near us and would not even attempt to come… A lot of our numbers were injured in this battle." The redheaded woman placed a hand on the wall in front of her as memories of the battle echoed through her mind.
"Jose is probably on the top floor. I'm gonna tear him a new one!"
Makarov's words played in her head as she remembered the last time she spoke to him. She then clenched her fists and punched the wall as hard as she could. "Damn it! I should have went with him! I'm pathetic! It's all my fault!"
"It's not your fault Erza, Jose and Phantom played on our emotions. Gramps wouldn't have let either of us go with him even if we had tried." Natsu's voice could be heard coming directly behind Erza and she felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her close until her bare back made contact with his now wet clothing. "Right now we need to focus on protecting the Guild, and even if Laxus and Mystogan aren't here, the two of us are S-class wizards and there are others here ready to fight."
Bringing a hand up to Natsu's arms, Erza tilted her head up to look at her husband before leaning up until her lips were pressed against his. The two simply stood there in the shower just letting the water fall on them, before Natsu pulled back with a smile and step away from Erza. This confused the woman as she turned to face him, "What is it Natsu?"
"As much as I would love to continue, I don't think we want a repeat of what happened last time we were down here after a battle." The smirk on Natsu's face grew as he watched Erza's face turned turn the same shade as her hair before she turned her body away from him.
It was after one of their two team S-class missions that turned out to be one large battle against several wizards that could control monsters, it had left the married couple covered in drool, dirt and other filth that should not be spoken of. The two had returned to the Guild Hall quickly and went down to the showers to clean up before meeting up with Mirajane and Elfman to pick up Nova… well that had been the plan at least. The two had gotten side tracked and the next thing they knew, Natsu was holding Erza up by her ass cheeks with her back against the wall and pounding into her while she was moaning like crazy with her limbs wrapped around Natsu's body. On the other side of the basement where the Fairy Hill meeting was being held, one of the girls had heard something and a few had to investigate. The scene Cana, Levy and Bisca had arrived to left everyone speechless… almost everyone, Cana only said one last thing as the three left the embarrassed couple.
"Doesn't look like Erza suffering in the satisfactory department judging by his size and the volume of her voice. Better cross that 'helper' from the list."
"T-That wasn't my fault! H-How was I supposed to know that there was going to be a Fairy Hills meeting down here to plan something for my birthday!?"
Natsu gave the redhead a shrug before turning his head away from her, "All I'm sayin' is that things got awkward for a while after that… Really awkward." Before Erza could say anything, a loud booming noise came out of nowhere and caused the ground and wall to shake.
"What was that?" Gray questioned as he and the many wizards in the room cautiously looked up at the ceiling.
"Everybody!" Alzack shouted from the stairway, making everyone turn their heads to look at the panicking man. "You need to come outside and take a look at this!"
Vanitas was the first one to react as he shot to his feet with a look of horror on his way, "No… they couldn't have… Not for something like this!" Ignoring the looks of confusion that he was getting from the others, the Devil Slayer rushed passed Alzack and up the stairs. Not even a second later the others followed after him to the surface and were shocked at what they saw once they made it.
"W-What the hell is that?"
"It's a walking Guild Hall!" Happy shouted while he and the others watched the Phantom Lord's Headquarters walk towards them with several legs sticking out from under it.
"Is it Phantom?" Macao took a step back with a nervous look.
Wakaba shifted the pipe to the other side of his mouth, "You got to be kidding me! How're we supposed to fight something like that?"
"No way… I never imagined them to attack us with such extremes!" Erza stated in shock as she stared at the walking building that belonged to Phantom, there was only a towel covering her body since she and Natsu had come straight from the shower room.
"… The situation is a lot more disastrous than you guys think." Vanitas' body trembled as he recognized what Phantom Lord was planning to do, "If we don't stop that thing quickly… it will wipe everyone and everything that stands before it!"
"What should we do then? How do we fight it?" Loki questioned as the Fairy Tail guild watched the walking building come to a halt a good distance away. For a few moments everything seemed quiet, and that was not a good thing at all.
Vanitas shook his head before speak, "We're going to need as many defensive spells as possible! If Jose is really serious about this than his first move will be…"
"The Magical Convergent Cannon, Jupiter!" Inside the main control room, Jose was sitting in his chair with several men surrounding him in order to properly control the moving Headquarters. The Guildmaster gave the men a silent nod to signal them to prepare the weapon and wait for his orders. Outside on the mainland, Fairy Tail watched in shock as the gate in front of the building slid down and a large cannon emerged from inside the building, extending its barrel which was currently pointed at them and their Guild Hall. "Engage and wait for my mark… Eradicate them all."
"Here it comes!" Vanitas warned as the cannon started to power up.
"Everybody, get down now!" Erza told her comrades before she ran several yards ahead of them and tossed her towel away before re-quipping into her Adamantine Armor, which was a dark blue and white armor with two large shields on the gauntlets. Slamming the two halves of her shield together and creating a large magic circle in front of her, the woman had only one thing to say. "I won't let you destroy our guild!"
"Erza... don't tell us-"
"You're going to try and stop that attack!"
"MOMMY!" Nova shouted as Mirajane held the struggling girl tightly in her arms so she wouldn't run towards Erza.
Drawing three cards from her deck, Cana started channeling her magic into them and was preparing to throw them. "I doubt even her Adamantine Barrier defense alone will be enough!"
"Then maybe an extra shield would help!" A voice called out from the side making others turn to see Ur standing off to the side with magic swirling around her form, with one fist pressed firmly in her palm. "Ice Make: Rose Barrier!" A large gust of wind escaped her hands and moved in front of Erza's barrier before turning into several giant roses that merged into a giant wall of ice roses, by the time it was finished the ice wall was as large as than Erza's barrier.
"What the-"
"That thing blows away anything Gray's ever made!"
"But will it be enough?!"
Everyone watched anxiously as the magic blast from Juptier finished powering up and was unleashed, heading quickly towards Erza and the two barriers. It was moving incredibly fast and they knew that would not be able to dodge it if it could be blocked. The blast slammed into Ur's shield and halted the attack in its tracks, the giant rose garden of ice seemed to be holding strong against the blast for a good while and caused it to lose a great deal of its power. But seconds later the ice started to crack and Jupiter's blast finally pushed through and slammed into Erza's barrier. The scarlet haired wizard gritted her teeth as she felt the pressure of the attack slam into her shields, but she dug her feet into the ground beneath her as she refused to move an inch. Thanks to the massive decrease in the magical power of the blast, Erza had no problem with managing to stand strong against it… but her armor was another story.
Several cracks formed on the shield and her helmet, making Erza let out a low growl as her eyes closed. Suddenly the magical power she was putting into the shield started to increase, with a second orange layer of magic appear between her and the barrier. "… This attack… will not…"
"Erza!"
"Mommy!"
"I won't let it touch our guild… OR MY FAMILY!" Erza snapped her eyes open to reveal that her pupils had shifted into slits. The second layer slammed into the barrier and made it grow even larger with a new center emblem that resembled a dragon head. The power boost in the barrier was enough for it to halt the blast entirely and before long the blast started to evaporate until it was completely gone. The barrier in front of Erza faded away and the woman stood proudly as she stared defiantly at the Phantom building, even as the shields on her arms cracked even more before falling to the ground.
"Incredible… she actually managed to stop the thing." Macao muttered in amazement.
Elfman let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, "That Erza is something alright, and there is no one else like her in the guild."
"Maybe so, but it looks like it took a lot out of her." Cana pointed out as they watched Erza return to her normal armor, panting heavily as her body slouched forward a bit. Thankfully Natsu quickly moved to her side and caught her as she started to fall. "Even will Ur's shield, taking on something like that is not easy."
"You got your magic back Ur? Is it even safe for you to use it?" Gray asked his teacher as she walked over to them with her hands in her pockets, "You only recently got your body back and-"
"Don't worry about me Gray, that friend of Master Makarov's confirmed that there was nothing truly wrong with me. All those potions she had me drink have really helped with regaining my magic… if only it wasn't so gross." Ur shuddered a little before shaking her head, "My powers aren't completely back yet, maybe a halfway there."
"… She almost completely blocked that thing and she says she's only at fifty percent."
"Gray's teacher is a monster."
"Definitely S-class or maybe even higher."
Ignoring the comments his guildmates were making, Gray looked at Ur with a concerned look. "But still, why are you here? You should still be resting."
"… I may not be a member of Fairy Tail… But this guild is important to one of my precious pupils." Ur placed a hand on her hip as she gave Gray a smile, "What kind of master would I be if I didn't help protect something that made you into the person you are today when I could not?"
"But still-"
"VERY IMPRESSIVE FAIRY TAIL," Jose's voice echoed from the magical speaker system of his Headquarters, drawing the attention of many as they turned to look at him. Natsu turned himself and Erza around to face the building, the Dragon Slayer having one of his wife's arms slung over his shoulder. "BUT EVEN IF YOU MANAGED TO BLOCK THE FIRST BLAST, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO STOP ANOTHER… HAND OVER LUCY HEARTFILIA, IMMEDIATELY."
"You're out of your mind!" Alzack shouted back with a clenched fist in front of his chest. "That's not gonna happen!"
"Where would find a guild who would hand over a comrade to the enemy?" Bisca called out in agreement to her partner's words.
Macao was the next one to speak, "Lucy's not going anywhere! She's one of us and that is how it's going to stay!" One by one other members of the guild shouted their own opinions on how they would never do such a thing, bringing tears to Lucy's eyes as she heard their words.
"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE! I WON'T ASK AGAIN!"
Lucy's body shook as she looked at the damage done to the area and to her guildmates, 'I…I should just give myself up… I don't want anyone to suffer because of me…'
"We'd never betray Lucy in a million years!" Erza shouted as she slowly removed her arm from Natsu's shoulder, startling Lucy as she turned to look at the woman. "You would have to kill us before we'd ever turn against a comrade!" Cheers of agreement were once again heard, but this time they were even louder and in perfect synch.
"Our answer won't change no matter what so shut the hell up!" Natsu yelled as he pointed at the center tower of the buildings, "The only thing that's gonna happen is us destroying each and every last one of you!"
'E-Everyone… T-Tha… T-Thank you!'Lucy had tears falling down her face with once hand covering her mouth. A few second later she felt a smaller hand grab onto the one she had at her side, making her look to her side to see Nova looking up at her with Mirajane standing behind her.
"See Miss Lucy, everyone would be sad if you left." Nova said with a large smile that instantly reminded her of Natsu, "You have to stay with us now, because we won't let you go!"
"Y-Yeah… I want to stay!"
Natsu pulled his hand back and formed a fist, instantly summoning flames to cover it as he glared up at the building. All around him members of Fairy Tail were following his actions and preparing their weapons and magic, "So now that you've said you piece let me say mine. We're taking you Phantom chumps down! I hope you're ready, because this is Fairy Tail's COUNTERATTACK!"
NDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESNDESDNESNDESNDESNDES
A/N:Chapter Nineteen is now complete and we've reached the final battle between these two Guilds. I hope it was enjoyable for all you readers out there. Be sure to review and no flames. I will ignore them and they will be given to Natsu. As you can see, I've done the attacks in English for this chapter, many so I can see what you guys think on which is better.
A/N 2:The next story for update will either byThe Dhampir of Yokai AcademyorSword of Twilight.
Omake
A chibi Lucy, Cana and Nova stood in front of the mission board.
Lucy (Wiping away a remaining tear): I'm so glad to be a part of such an amazing guild. Even though they are all scary strong, they care about me.
Cana (Smirking at Lucy with her arms crossed): Of course, despite our… quirks, we all believe that everyone in the guild is family.
Lucy (Laughing before a puzzled look appears on her face): That's true in more ways than one. I how Mira is able to put up with the guild's craziness.
Nova (Angrily waving her arms in the air): That's because Aunt Mira is awesome! She can make anyone do what she says!
Cana (Taking a sip from her flask): That's because of her lovable personality… or because some of them are afraid of the "Old Mira" returning.
Lucy (A question mark forms over her head): "Old Mira"? You mean from when she used to take missions before suddenly retiring.
Nova (Perks her head up with a smile): That's right! From what I hear, Aunt Mira used to get into fights all the time with Mommy and liked to try to make Daddy cry.
Lucy (Tilting her head with scared white eyes): …What?
Cana (Brushing her hand through her hair): That's right, and back then she was an S-class like Erza.
Lucy (Waving hands like crazy): EEEEEEHHHHH?!
Nova, Lucy and Cana: Next time on the Fairy Flame Dragon...Chapter 20 - She-Devil's Rage
Lucy: I can't imagine someone like Mira picking fights with Erza of all people! I wonder what changed her so much…