Gray and Erza were sitting at a bar in Kahling. Their last few days had been not as eventful as hoped. Their injuries were promptly treated by the Kahling doctor, but when they tried to confront Duke Antoine, the house had been completely deserted. It had become obvious that he never intended to pay them for the job. The money was simply to lure the Celestial mage to the job, then steal the egg from her as soon as it was retrieved.
Master Makarov had insisted Erza and Gray stay put while he organized back-up from Fairy Tail. Lucy and Natsu were out there somewhere and likely to be attacked by demons over and over again until something was done with that egg. Levy had been working on the tar issue and the identity of the spirit trapped in the egg to no avail. Without seeing the substance covering the keys (even with Gray's description), she couldn't figure much more out about that. As far the egg went, there was little to no documentation other than what they already knew.
The additional mages were due on the next 6:00 train, which was in about 6 hours. Gray and Erza had moved hotels and talked to various townspeople, but there wasn't really anything new learned at all. Nobody had heard of the job request. Nobody knew about the egg buried above their city, and nobody had even noticed the commotion on the hill the other day. In short, both mages were sick of the town, its inhabitants, and waiting for Fairy Tail to show up.
"I still don't get why we can't go look for Natsu and Lucy," Gray muttered under his breath.
"I agree," Erza's brow furrowed, "They will be chased eventually. The demons will not give up after trying for the egg just once. As soon as Natsu and Lucy resurface, there will be another attack. We need to be there to help them."
"We cooooouuuuld..." Gray made shifty eyes toward the door.
"Without Master's permission?" Erza blurted out, her obvious shock making Gray laugh.
"Erza, you know I'm normally a straight and narrow kinda guy," Gray said, the laughter disappearing from his voice, "But Flame Brain and Lucy are in trouble. We have no idea where they are. As much as Fire Freak pisses me off..."
"...He's your best friend," Erza supplied, to which Gray nodded.
"And we all feel the same way about Lucy," Gray continued, "Lucy is the light of Fairy Tail. We all love her. I'd never forgive myself if something happened."
"Natsu won't let anything happen to Lucy," Erza said pointedly, "You know how much he loves her...and not the same way the rest of us love her."
Gray nodded, "I know. It's just hard to sit here."
"Then let's go," Erza announced, standing up, "We'll return to the scene of the crime and look for evidence on where Lucy and Natsu have gone and start tracking them. We'll leave a note at the train station and they can meet up with us at the first campsite, as I assume Natsu and Lucy haven't left the cover of the forest. We'll leave calling cards for the trackers to follow."
Gray grinned, following his friend out the door.
Natsu and Lucy were preparing to leave. Henre and his family had been amazing with them, but they didn't have a lacrima and the next priority was letting Fairy Tail know where they were.
They were outside, saying goodbye to the family, Lucy huddled over a map with Henre so she could understand where the next village would be. They had traveled over the mountain into Seinch, the next country over from Fiore. Now they would back peddle to Fiore, but stay to the road. Crystaline City was the closest to the border.
"Whatever trouble you're actually in," Henre said to her, "You have a safe home here. Please come visit us again."
"Thank you for everything," Lucy called, waving.
Henre pulled his wife to his side, where she urgently whispered in his ear.
"My wife says she hopes you made a baby at our house now that your back is better! She says you are beautiful together!" Henre called.
Lucy and Natsu blushed profusely, turning back to wave once more.
"Next time we see you, we'll have at least two!" Natsu promised.
Waving goodbye, the mages giggled slightly, started their long walk.
"Maybe we shouldn't go back to Fiore," Lucy stated, walking beside Natsu. Her back was no longer in danger and hurt a lot less. Carrying her wasn't necessary anymore, although Natsu still had one arm around her waist., "I think maybe the demons didn't think to check out of the country."
"Maybe," Natsu admitted, "but our family won't think about that either. We need a lacrima. We'll be safer with Fairy Tail than anyone else."
Lucy nodded, continuing down the road.
Fairy Tail was quiet these days. Natsu and Gray had been gone for awhile, but with Laxus, Juvia, Gajeel, and Levy also gone to support the others, the guild was eerily quiet. Makarov had gone to the Magic Council to inform them of the new developments.
Mirajane poured Jet a beer and exchanged glances with Cana.
"Do you feel that?" she asked, steadying herself on the bar counter.
Suddenly, the entire guild started to shake, the roof threatening to cave in. The front doors burst open. Happy hid behind Wendy with Carla as 5 enormous demons stormed into the guild. The last one, being ridiculously tall, simply smashed through the wall.
"OH NOWWWWW YOU'VE DONE IT!" Cana yelled at them, "Makarov is going to be soooooo pissed at you!"
There was no more time for talk. Instantly, the guild hall was in action. Freed set up runes around the master's office so no one would gain access, then started setting lacrima bombs, only set to go off on beings that were not Fairy Tail members. The remainder of the Thunder Legion attacked the tall demon. Cana nodded to Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna and they all took on the 2nd demon. Macao, Jet, Droy, Max, and Wakaba took on the 3rd. Alzack and Bisca, along with Nab, Mest, Laki and Reedus took on the 4th.
Alarmed, Mira suddenly realized there was no one to take on the 5th demon, "Cana! We have to finish this one quickly!"
Cana looked over to the 5th demon, who was stalking up to where she fell, raising its' enormous foot to squash her.
"I don't think so, asshole!" a new voice rang out, "That would be last mistake you'll ever make! NOBODY touches Daddy's little girl!"
Gildarts appeared at the last moment, pushing up on the demon's foot and easily sliding a sword through it. The demon reeled in pain, jumping back with a roar. With Gildarts pursuing the 5th demon, Cana got off the floor to rejoin her group.
Mira cringed as the tall demon the Thunder Legion was attacking crashed through another wall. Focusing on her own demon, she began transformation. Her brother also went into beast mode and together, they focused their attacks. Lisanna changed into an bird, luring the gigantic monster toward her siblings. Cana charged a card, preparing to trap the demon within it. As if on clockwork, the demon went straight into her line of fire.
Throwing the card with an incantation, Cana concentrated, "Card that be within my reach, trap this demon!"
There was a blur of light. The demon disappeared instantly, trapped within the card. Nodding to the others, the team broke apart and rejoined with other teams battling the remaining 4 monsters.
The 3rd demon was short, but very toned with an angry, open mouthed snarl on its' face. He used iron magic in a similar way to Gajeel, but didn't have the brains to back it up. He tore apart beams, using the metal in the hinges and nails to throw at his opponents. Jet was speeding in and out of the demon's legs with a rope, effectively tying the legs together as he did. Max threw sand into the air, blinding the demon. The demon lashed out, swiping furiously with its' claws, making contact with Wakaba and sending him reeling into one of the only support beams still standing in the building. Thankfully it held, but as Elfman joined their group, he realized soon the building would collapse...again. He nodded to the others and they advanced together, the 3rd demon suddenly realizing he was in a lot of trouble.
Alzack and Bisca made quick work of their demon, hog tying him effectively. Cana showed up and trapped this one in a card too. Looking over, she realized Gildarts had long since defeated his demon, glancing proudly over the guild as each team finished their job.
"FAIRY TAIL!" Gildarts yelled, "We are victorious! You've done well protecting our home!"
"Well," he muttered, surveying the damage, "to a point anyway."
He was met with wild explosions of agreement.
Cana and Mirajane explained the current situation to him. Gildarts face got lower and darker as they continued.
"Do you know something?" Mirajane asked suddenly, watching his face.
"Yeah," Gildarts said in the usual Gildarts way, "And those kids are in trouble. I can only hope the reinforcements get there in time."
He got up and grabbed his backpack.
"Where are you going, Pops?" Cana demanded, "We need you more than ever now! That's just like you to walk out at a time like this!"
He walked up to her, brushing his hand down her cheek lovingly, "My baby girl, I'm not deserting them. I'm going to catch up to them. Gray is a demon slayer and Natsu is a fire dragon slayer, but they aren't going to win this fight. It's all Lucy. Lucy is the only one who can put a stop to this."
"What do you mean?" Freed asked, joining the small group.
"Only Lucy can set the spirit in the egg free and squelch the demon attacks," Gildarts said.
"You're telling us Natsu, Erza, and Gray aren't strong enough?" Mirajane's mouth dropped open.
"That's right," Gildarts nodded to her, winking slightly, "Lucy is the only one who can stop this. So I'm going to go to them and guide her through this."
"I'll come!" Mirajane said quickly, remembering the nice evening she and Gildarts had spent the last time he was in town. She pushed the thought aside. She was one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail - so she should be there at the front lines.
He ran a hand along Mira's face, causing her to blush, "Nope. I'm going alone. The demons didn't find what they were looking for and you've defeated them this round...they might be back. You all need to protect the guild hall...or what's left of the guild hall..." he paused, surveying the damage again, "You might want to build the new guild hall...preferably before Master comes back."
With that, Gildarts left the guild hall without another word, oblivious to the walls of the city that closed as he walked through town and out of Magnolia once again.