"Damn it! With the building like this, we can't fire Jupiter again!" Jose snaps, "what are you doing, Element 4? DO SOMETHING! STAND THE GOLEM!"
"Geez," Gajeel huffs, "no need to hustle, Master. It's not like they can do that tsunami again anytime soon, the Lucy chick's out of commission."
"You cannot believe that is a good thing!" Jose groans.
Juvia sighs. The rest of the Element 4 have gone to their stations, preparing the golem's magical circle to get it to rise again.
"They're already headed for Jupiter's lacrima," Jose says. "Abandon it. I want the rest of you to prepare Abyss Break!"
"Mass murder is on the agenda again today I see…"
"Don't grumble, Gajeel!" Jose snaps. "If you held back the Salamander like I'd told you to, none of this would have happened and we'd have the heiress in the bag! I knew it was a mistake to entrust you with that job. I gave it to you because you insisted,but Totomaru would have been much more capable in that regard."
Gajeel rolls his eyes.
"You make a shit every time I do something, but if I didn't , you'd have told me I was lazing about ass doin' nothing. The fuck do you even want from me?"
Gajeel taps his foot twice against the ground.
Jose reacts first, a whip of shadow bubbling right through Gajeel's feet. Gajeel hisses, leaping back immediately, but Jose drags Ryos out of the shadows by the collar, the child's hooded cloak sliding off to reveal a bush of deep black hair.
Jose yanks Ryos right over to his arm, suspecting him in the air as he struggles, gasping for breath.
"I think you've forgotten something these days, Gajeel," Jose says. "Oh Gajeel, Gajeel. Who do you think you are, speaking to me that way?"
Gajeel curses.
He can't panic. Jose will know, and Jose will use that against him.
"Hey, easy on the brat," he sighs, pulling his gaze away, trying to look calm. "As long as he's alive, any member of Fairy Tail that steps foot in our guild hall will be easy targets. He's working exclusively as your eyes and ears, you sure you wanna lose him?"
Jose scoffs. "Sure, Ryos is second to none when it comes to surveillance, but I'm not sure if it's really worth this distinct lack of loyalty I'm sensing here."
Gajeel clicks his tongue.
"...Is there anything can I do for you, Master?"
Jose smirks.
"That's a good boy."
The main force heads on forward.
Loke grabs Gray by the hair before he runs on with them.
"You are staying here!" he hisses, and Laki jumps over, latching onto Gray's arm with a cheeky grin. "You're still injured, so stay here as the defense. Suicidal bastards, I've had enough with all of you!"
"Ow ow ow Loke my hair, ow!" Gray tries to get his hand off to no avail. "What's with you— oh woah. You look mad."
"I'm not," Loke mutters with a smile. There's a grinding noise.
"Was that your teeth?"
"No."
"You're mad!" Gray yelps, clinging onto Laki, who looks utterly fascinated. "I've never seen you mad before, that is terrifying!"
"I'm not mad at all."
Gray spends a baffled moment just considering his options, before he just gets on his knees and bows in apology.
"...I will stay here. Please stop looking at me like that."
Loke lets go. "Really? Good!" he says, brightly.
Gray is mortified. Laki looks like she's opened a door to a new world, her eyes twinkling with amazement.
Loke grumbles something under his throat, turning away, his smile washing right off. The rumble in his throat sounds like the low growl of a predator, and Gray is honestly too afraid to protest at this point. Guess he's doing house-sitting duty again today.
"It's okay, you're doing it with me," Laki says, huffing up her chest. "I'm going to make a wood canopy enclosure over the guild building, so lend me some of your magic."
"Am I not supposed to rest?"
"You are, but you're not going to do it, so obviously, you get to sit there while I think of the architecture myself."
"Hey, that's not fair!"
"Too late, I'm starting!"
The main force has run out into the Phantom Lord guild building, leaving a little more than half of them at Fairy Tail for defense.
Meanwhile, Max has managed to retrieve Lucy, hiking her up to his back and rushing back to the guild building where Mirajane stood with the rest of the team in charge of medical aid.
Aquarius alights from the water, trialing right behind him, to the curious glances of a few other members. They don't know if they're supposed to do something about her or if she can send herself home, but her cold glare is enough to deter anyone from asking.
Loke glances up at her, raising a brow. She probably has enough magic to keep the gate open herself without impeding Lucy's recovery, but there's still no reason for her to stay. She's not the type to, anyways.
Instead, Aquarius fixes her gaze straight on Loke, hovering over flat ground until she's right before him.
Loke's stomach sinks. Oh crap, she's coming right at him. He turns around immediately, realizing this is the best time to hightail it out of—
"Hey, brat."
There are a handful of people that are old and powerful enough to actually call Leo a 'brat', but there's only one that actually will.
And thus, Loke meekly turns around and murmurs, "y… yes, ma'am?"
Is she mad? Oh, she definitely is, but is this the good kind of 'mad' or is this the bad kind of 'mad'? Because either way Loke kind of wants to perish right this instant.
Aquarius clicks her tongue and Loke jumps.
Something is tossed in his direction. A thick iron bracelet— a wide cuff bangle, adorned with waves and other symbols of the Aquarius denotation. It's a little weighty, but the power of the Celestial World is palpable.
(He's just holding it, and yet the eternal agony, the eternal tearing of his skin into this dimension's painful oxygen— it eases, like a comforting blanket draped over his skin.)
"Wait… is this Lionrock?"
It's a flask bracelet that can be filled with water, and from it, even a normal person can wield water in a similar way to Aquarius herself, albeit to a lesser degree.
"Give that to Lucy," Aquarius says, scowling at Reedus as he picks up Lucy from Max's back to lay her down. "Look at her. Can't cause a measly tsunami without collapsing, how pathetic is that? Tell her that an eleventh of my power is more than she deserves."
And then Aquarius vanishes in a wisp of stars and magic fog, back through the gate.
Loke stares in baffled silence.
Aquarius knows what it means to give a human a Celestial Weapon. Aquarius definitely knows as well that Leo would know what it means.
Right now, this bangle must be filled with water from the spring of the Celestial World. The recovery spring, where all spirits go for healing.
The water from the recovery spring, which, if Loke gets a hold of, would be the key to ensuring he lives just a little longer. She didn't mention anything about his banishment, though. Perhaps, she didn't care. Perhaps, this was just a whim.
(Perhaps, this was her way of showing she cared.)
Loke sighs.
He turns around to see Gray and Laki staring, clearly bewildered.
And he puts his mask right back on.
"She's… kinda intimidating, isn't she?" Loke says, not really needing to fake the conflicted misery on his face. Gray nods grimly, and Laki chuckles.
"Well, then, I'll head on in to help the medic team," Loke says, casually tucking Lionrock into his coat pocket. He's got an excuse to not fight, anyways.
"Yeah. And stay in there," Laki says, "I'm not making a door."
"Make one, geez! People need to get in!" Gray argues.
"A door would interfere with my aesthetic!"
"Your aesthetic is just completely impractical!"
"Yeah?? And what exactly is your point?"
Gray prepares another retort, but a drop of rain upon Laki's glasses makes her look up in confusion.
"Wha– oh no!" Laki says, "we haven't fixed the holes in the guild yet… what awful timing. Looks like I'll have to improvise a rain-roof now."
"No, no," Gray says, stepping toward the guild. "Your wood won't be enough to hold up against the broken parts if this rain gets heavier… which, I think it will. So you focus on the defensive shield, I'll patch the holes in the ceiling."
Laki smiles. "Alright! Teamwork makes the dream work, right?"
"That's so cliche," Gray says. "But alright, I'll give you that one. If I ruin your aesthetic, then my bad, yeah?"
"No, it's fine," Laki assures, cheerfully. "The best creations are speckled with imperfections. To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality…or so construes John Ruskin, in 'The Stones Of Venice'."
Gray chuckles at that. "You know what? I usually don't get your quotes, but I think I like this one."
"Happy to serve!"
The rain abruptly pours and the two of them wail in surprise. The rest of the guild also on standby hurry into the building and Gray hurries to construct an ice shield abovehead.
"Dear lord, what gives?!" Laki balks, looping her arms around Gray's shoulders to narrow their area as much as possible. The temporary umbrella wasn't shielding them at all, water splashing up from the ground and drenching them from bottom up. "My socks are wet! Ew!"
"This is going to cause a flood downtown!" Gray grunts with effort, holding up the ice barrier against his injuries. "There wasn't even a weather warning—"
"Unforgiveable…"
Both of them stop in surprise.
Juvia Lockser glares at them with hollow, gleamingly murderous eyes.
"How dare you two, lovey-dovey, flirt and banter, in the middle of battle like this… Gaji's suffering, and yet, you two are playing around …" Juvia mutters, though, she's genuinely angered. "How shameless! Fairy tail does not understand anything!"
"Wha— it's the rain woman!" Gray balks.
"Element Four?! …and who's lovey-dovey?" Laki yelps, clinging closer again to Gray before noticing herself. She doesn't let go, though, "oh, this?"
"I think you should let go," Gray suggests.
"No, my hair's going to get wet," Laki insists. "I just went to the salon yesterday for a head spa. It's going to get ruined! It cost me a fortune! It was my long-awaited me-pampering day!"
"I need to fix the holes in the guild before the building collapses in on us," Gray argues. "Geez. I'll pay for another session, alright? Could you just fight alone for a couple minutes to buy me some time?"
Laki pouts, but finally relents, letting go.
"I hate the rain!" she yells, stepping into the rain with resolve, cringing as her hair gets soaked in seconds, "you , rain woman! I hate you!"
Juvia snarls, arm lifting with red hot fury. "The feeling is mutual, you shameless woman!"
Instantly, wood and water clash with a loud furor, thorns and vines forming a vintage shield just in time to suppress the equivalent of a tsunami that comes at them like a vortex. Laki hisses, but she braces her feet against the ground, enduring the inevitable spray of water that permeates her wood shield.
Gray takes a step back, "yikes," he hisses.
"Yeah, I can't handle this alone!" Laki declares almost immediately.
No one else inside the building can fight against such an overwhelming water mage. Loke's ring-type winds and waters would stand no chance, either. The only ones that could would be Laki and Gray, who at least has the edge with their ranged-type magics.
"Under the rain, everything is Juvia's territory!" Juvia declares, a single swipe of her arms bringing the rain down threefold.
At this rate, the building would collapse under the shower and its own weight.
Gray curses. If only Lucy still had the ability to call Aquarius— but no choice now.
"Change of plans!" Laki yells, both hands forward as her shield ruptures, the entwined knots of rooden roots that formed her shield ripping apart by the sheer water pressure uprooting it by its clogs. "Help! Help! HELP!"
Gray aborts the mission to run into the guild, clapping his hands together in casting formation before enclosing them over Laki's hand. Ice instantly infests the wood, trailing up to the shield, and exploding in fractaled flowers against the gaps.
Laki sighs in relief, and Gray takes position right behind her, bracing against the waters together.
"Loke's in there. So's Mira," Laki says. Everyone else is fighting, either on the bridge or in the Phantom guild hall. "They're smart enough to escape."
Laki lacks strength, and Gray lacks energy. They can't win this. But they have to.
"You cannot defend forever," Juvia declares. "How dare you continue to flirt in front of Juvia! Have you no respect?"
"Ah geez I AM LITERALLY AROMANTIC," Laki snaps back, "I'm gratified that you're jealous but YOU ARE STARTING TO ANNOY ME!"
"DO NOT LIE TO JUVIA! If that is not love between you two, what is it?!" the water surges on stronger, and Laki yells, leaning back against Gray in surprise as the ice begins to melt and water starts shrouding in from the sides.
Quickly, Laki lets go of the shield for Gray to carry, and focusing her magic into her hands once more.
"You're not the only one that excels with water!" she declares. "Wood Make: Be always Grounded, keep reaching Heavenward!"
Flanking her sides, gigantic mangroves sprouted and rose and enclosed, weaving together in front of and further behind them, forming a great arc fence higher than the roof of the guild hall.
Juvia pauses in surprise. "No way… so much magic all at once?"
"It didn't take much at all," Laki flips her hair over her shoulder, scowling at its soaked state. "If there's water, then there's one less thing I need to encourage my plants to grow."
"Is that how it works?" Gray wonders, dispelling the shield before them. "Also, what did that attack name even mean? I don't get it at all."
Laki ignores him, pointing at Juvia.
"YOU! Rain woman!" Laki says. "Romance is beautiful, wonderful, and amazing! But it is like literature— it best exists in a book, in my surroundings, and never associated personally with me. Remember that!"
Juvia frowns. "Juvia does not understand. Love is love."
Gray looks between them, confused. Why are they just… conversing… about love? Also is the rain lighter now or is it just him? Oh crap, he'd better go reinforce the guild building right now while they have the chance.
(Honestly, Gray concludes that he just doesn't understand women at all.)
"Love is deeper, broader, and much more than just romantic passion!" Laki says, "love is full and deep and unconditional. Have you read My Antonia by Willa Cather? I'd have liked to have you for a sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother or my sister – anything that a woman can be to a man. The idea of you is a part of my mind . Ahh~! Isn't that a wonderful expression of the many dimensions of love ?" Laki squeals, absorbed into herself and her quotes halfway through saying it.
Juvia pauses, in deep thought.
"...anything a woman can be to a man… how intriguing. How… befuddling," Juvia says, "Juvia understands those emotions, but she did not realize it could all come under the same umbrella as the 'love' she has heard of. I would love to read more of that book, so I may understand better what this woman feels for the man she speaks of."
"Riiiight~?" Laki says, clasping her hands together in excitement. "I have it! I can lend it to you!"
"Juvia would appreciate that."
There's a long moment of silence.
Then Juvia realizes. "Wait! You are an enemy! How appalling, how despicable of you to distract Juvia like that! Unforgivable!" she hurries to correct herself, entirely flustered, not even realizing her face was bright red. "Juvia is serious about her mission here! Juvia is angry! Do not distract Juvia with interesting conversations!"
Laki tries her best to keep a straight face. "Oh no, what do I do? She's kinda cute."
Gray runs out of the guild building hard of breath. "Okay, I'm done fixing the roof! Next plan, Laki!"
"Oh, nice timing!" Laki says. "Gray, do you consider me a love interest?"
"Huh?!" Gray balks, blushing immediately.
"How bold!" Juvia gasps.
"He doesn't," Laki answers, "because I'm not his type. Right? Gray loves sweet and cute, delicate girly girls… because he likes to be a cool knight in shining armour, you know."
Gray's blushing even harder now, "is this the time to be discussing this?!"
"How charmingly childlike," Juvia says, "Juvia admires a very fairy tale-like ideal."
Gray is going to die of embarrassment right now. He looks into the sky and counts to ten. "Enough , Laki, what the hell!"
"Fairy Tale, huh… that's appropriate," Laki says. "Me and Gray, we're not in love, but we still look out for each other unconditionally, and we accept each other, despite creative differences. That, too, is love."
Gray nods approvingly. She's right.
(Even if she's starting to sound like Sherry. Maybe they should meet.)
Laki holds a hand to her chest and smiles.
"It is a very nuanced, and very important love to have in your life, because this is a love that can surpass limits," she says. "Do you have a love like that too, Juvia?"
Juvia blinks in surprise.
"...no," she admits, "Juvia… does not have anyone like that. In Phantom, everyone looks out for themselves. But Gaji and Ryos treasure each other, and they are never allowed to be happy. Juvia dislikes that. Juvia does not want to be trapped in that way."
"Trapped?" Gray says, incredulous. "That's stupid. Love should never lock you down."
"Though, it sounds more like Phantom's environment is the one that's never allowing them to be happy," Laki says. "But you care for them, don't you? Then, that too is love."
"Love between comrades can only be a weakness," Juvia says.
"No," Laki says. "Love between comrades is a strength!"
Juvia frowns. "If it is a strength, then why are Gaji and Ryos suffering? Why are they forced to live, constantly used ? All because they refuse to let go of each other?"
"Suffering? Is that how you see it?" Laki says. "You don't understand anything, Juvia! They're suffering because they're stuck with each other? That's probably not how they see it."
Juvia's brow quirks in annoyance. "You claim to understand them better than I do when you have never even met them before?"
Laki laughs, exasperated. "I'm a reader! I understand many things without being able to personally get to know the people involved. If those two are really being used , and yet they continue to support each other… have you considered that they're not forced to, but are surviving because they're together?"
Juvia's eyes widen. "They are… voluntarily staying together? Despite knowing they'll be used? That makes no sense."
Laki smiles. "That, too, is love ."
Right now, Laki and Gray, too, are staying, despite knowing that neither of them stand a chance in this battle. But they stick together either way.
"Have you recovered enough yet?" Laki asks.
"Yeah," Gray says.
Laki turns to Gray, raising a hand like a princess would request a greeting from a prince. With an understanding sigh, Gray takes it with all the grace of the prince she wants him to be, planting a kiss to the back of her palm.
He opens his eyes to meet hers.
A magic spell circle opens under their feet, whitish blue and bronze meshing together, centering into the image of a tree with bursting snowflakes as leaves
The magic melds and gathers, spiraling to life around them in rapid winds, cracking the water droplets that reach them, hazing instantly into ice as vines and plants sprout from the ground around them.
Juvia gasps, stepping back in surprise. "...this much magic is…?!"
The rain was freezing right above her head.
Laki reaches her free hand out. "I implore, make it clear to me just once— Should you be only mind, intellect, and soul… Where should I go if I wanted to merge with you?"
Gray chuckles at that.
"I still don't understand a thing you're saying," he says, and Laki bursts into laughter too. "But you know, I'm more than capable of keeping up with you."
Laki smiles. "If you go beyond the clouds, you will get endless sunshine."
The Unison Raid takes the form of a limitless amalgamation of ice and wood. Frost steps in where wood does not, and wood permeates where ice cannot go.
Juvia leaps back, phasing into water as webs of wood crowd behind her. She phases through it, escaping with great urgency— but ice snags her watery form much quicker. She turns back into human, but the ice has morphed into wood and taken root, eating into her flesh, leaves sprouting through her skin, enrapturing her arms in a cage of evergreen.
"No, no, no… Juvia cannot lose—"
She runs to the side, only for a gnarly owoden bear trap to clamp shut upon her feet, shattering it into water droplets. She winds back around with urgence, but behind her is the embrace of an ice iron maiden, spikes closing in—
—she hisses, jerking right back around, heading toward the sky— but trees hang over her head, almost in mockery.
Ice begins to grow through the wood, freezing through Juvia's body and taking root in the stone-paved road, crystalizing into a magnanimous art piece, of ice-sculpted flowers coexisting with wood-carved snowflakes, clustered elegantly between the body of a young girl.
Juvia cannot move.
Laki and Gray step forward, smiling through the light drizzle as it slowly begins to let up. Juvia can only stare at them, speechless, as the attacks cease right there.
She stood no chance.
(Their love was beautiful.)
Juvia's envious.
So, so, envious of them, that they had something like that. Friends, beloved, people that would risk anything to be with each other, someone who would come in to save them, no matter what. She didn't have anyone like that. That's why, even now, she could only stand here, and await her death.
No one has ever stepped in to save Juvia before. She was so strong, after all, she was just a gloomy rain woman, who no one could love.
(Juvia didn't need a lover. But someone like this, who could come in and help her… she allowed herself to think of how wonderful it could be.)
Tears gather in her eyes at the thought— at the thought of such a perfect, beautiful thing, and the breathtaking shape it has taken with her as the centerpiece.
Creation magic took the form of art.
Juvia was never an appreciator of art.
(But now… how could she not?)
"...will you be killing Juvia now?" she asks.
"Kill? Oh, no no, of course not!" Laki hurries to insist. "What are you talking about? Why would I do that?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Gray sighs, swiping his hair back as the rain finally gives away to the sun. "Treasure your life a little, alright?"
Juvia can only stand there, in disbelief.
The sun— the sun , rises over her head. The wood and ice encasing her must be sapping away her magic, just enough to drive away the rain. She wants to stay here forever, because she could never imagine that the sun she's only ever seen from a distance could be so beautiful.
"Ah, and," Laki grins, "about that book! My Antonia! Come over to Fairy Hills after this, won'tcha? I'll lend it to ya! I'm super sure you'll love it!"
They're not even considering killing her. Not after all they did.
They have compassion as fellow human beings, that surpass disagreements and hate. They hold human life in high regard.
(This, too… is Love?)
Juvia belatedly notices that the rain doll on her chest is gone. It must have fallen while she was escaping the wood.
Loke has Lucy on her back. Reedus drags a wheeled pull-cart with Levy, Jet, and Droy on it., and Mira's pushing from the back, going as fast as they can. Romeo's pushing Macao on his wheelchair, keeping up.
No one else is on the streets. They don't want to get involved.
"The safehouse?" Reedus suggests.
"Our safehouse won't be good enough for the injured," Mira says. "It won't be tactical to go to Porlyusica's, that's too far…"
"You can come to Mom's house!" Romeo suggests.
Macao balks. "Wait, I don't think that's a good idea—"
"It is an amazing idea!" Mirajane says. "Enno won't reject us, and she can protect you, too! You guys go on ahead then, I'll go join the battle."
"No time to be a wimp today, Macao," Loke says, "Romeo, lead the way! Mira, what are you going to do?"
"The only thing I can do right now!"
Mirajane's face morphs into Lucy's likeness, and she nods with resolve. Her devil wings sprout behind her back.
Loke hesitates, but he nods back, understanding.
"I can't just sit around," Mirajane says. "I have to fight, too. I have to try."
She can do little except hit a little hard and fly, but that's enough. That's all Lisanna could do back then, too, and she was still so, so strong.
Mirajane reaches for Lucy, who's unconscious, cradling her face gently with her hand.
"This time, we're going to protect her with everything we have, everything we can. So when we finally go home, we won't be missing a single person."
Never again.
She is a big sister, and everyone in the guild are her younger siblings. She will never fail any of them again.
"My feet are heavy…"
Phantom's members fight against Fairy Tail's at their front door. Getting ahead of everyone else is Natsu, followed by Erza and Cana, and then Elfman, charging through everyone else.
"Heavy… you're right," Erza says, noticing it herself. She looks down, then upward, at the phantom ghosts making their way toward the guild, where Bisca and Alzack are shooting them down from the ice and wood platform over the waters. "Shadows?"
Natsu frowns. "Ryos…"
A huge tremor shakes everything under their feet, and Natsu squeaks, stumbling onto the building and immediately feeling sick from the rumbling motions. Everyone gets low and holds on as the golem is propped back upright by what appeared to be humongous steel bars, rising from the ground to allow the building to lean upon it. More steel anchors the golem's broken foot to the earth beneath the waters.
"Wha… after all that effort to knock it down!" Elfman groans.
"Holy crap… Black Steel Gajeel," Cana breathes.
This much magic wasn't just impressive— it was showstopping. Even Laki and Gray together would have a difficult time producing so much of their element at once, and yet, Gajeel's done it like it's nothing.
"Why are they lifting it? It doesn't seem to be to make it move—" Erza gasps. "The golem's writing something in the air!"
"I'll continue to go for the Jupiter Lacrima!" Natsu yells, powering on.
"Wha— wait!" Cana calls, "agh, dammit! We'll split up here!" She turns to Erza and Elfman. "Figure out what's going on, take down an element each, got it?! We'll think of Gajeel later!"
"Got it!"
"Understood!"
Cana dashes past them as Erza and Elfman nod at each other, parting ways immediately.
Cana slides into the cannon right after Natsu.
"Oh, bummer," Totomaru of the Element Four sighs, "I thought I'd get some alone time with a fellow fire mage, what a shame."
Natsu sees her and scowls.
"I thought you said one each? I'll take this one," Natsu says.
Cana grimaces, "oh hell no. You're going to fight me for Gajeel later, I know a losing fight when I see one. This one's mine. You focus on destroying the damn lacrima."
"There are four and one's a girl ," Natsu throws his hands down, frustrated. He turns fully to her and groans, "you never let me have anything!"
"Well I'm the big sister, you let me," Cana says, pointing at herself.
"I'm the younger brother, you let me!" Natsu whines, "look at him! He's literally a fire mage! He's literally asking me to fight him! I am literally the designated fire fighter!"
"No, you are the designated arsonist," Cana says, " I am the fire fighter. And Gray."
"You know what I mean!"
"I said I wanna fight, you brat, so sit down!"
"Uhm…" Totomaru shifts his foot awkwardly, staring at the two as they get into each other's face to start yelling, "am I just supposed to wait or—"
"Hey, shush for a bit, you wanna get hit, bitch?!" Natsu snaps.
Cana sighs, "sorry, mister bad fashion, but this is between me and this moron. Some damn privacy, please?"
Totomaru holds up his hands. "Oh. Okay, my bad. I'll wait. Take your time."
"Agh, fine! Go then!" Cana groans, turning away, "You're such a big strong man you can take out everyone on your own, huh? You want everything , you get everything , because you're the youngest! Plus, you'd do it faster than me because clearly, you're stronger, and I, weak and eternal S-class candidate Cana —!"
"STOP GUILT TRIPPING ME."
"It's everyone's rite of passage to defeat me on your way to becoming S-class, you know?" Cana says, "everyone thinks it's gonna be you this year. Obviously . Not like I've been taking the damn exam for six straight years or anything. I'm not even in the consideration anymore. I'm just there to fill up the list. Phew, Cana? Oh, the eternal grade-repeater? Who even cares about her ?"
Natsu groans, throwing his hands into the air in defeat.
"FINE! Rock Paper Scissors!" he declares.
"Now that's more my thing," Cana grins, victoriously reaching her hand forward. She takes a card from her deck and smirks.
Natsu snarls, "that is so not fair."
Of course, Cana instantly wins, and Natsu wails in despair.
"...are you done?" Totomaru asks.
"Yes, yes, we are!" Cana says brightly, "sorry for the wait, I'll be fighting you!"
Natsu sulks and Cana grins, taking out her cards. Totomaru sighs, finally standing up again to dust himself off and prepare for battle.
"Geez, you Fairy Tail wizards are so high maintenance."
"Are you really saying that?" Cana snarks.
"Yes I am! You're such sticklers about rules and ideals," Totomaru says, "family this, family that, what utter nonsense," he scoffs. "I can't believe you would give up a fight over rock paper scissors, Salamander. Have you no pride as a wielder of fire?"
"It's none of your business what we do," Natsu snarls. "And I don't wanna hear shit about pride when that piece of rusty garbage is in your guild!"
Cana smiles, not offended. "We're just being true to ourselves and watching out for each other, you know?" she says. "Aren't any of you Phantoms like that too? Like Gajeel and his little shadow, for example."
Totomaru rolls his eyes.
"Ah, you mean Ryos? You misunderstand," Totomaru says. "Ryos and Gajeel aren't partners of any sort. Neither are any of the Element Four, in that regard."
Natsu frowns.
His feet are heavy. Ryos is present.
"If anything, Ryos is the greatest example of why we in Phantom don't play family," Totomaru says. "Gajeel's a fool. Why would you parade around your weaknesses?"
Cana frowns in confusion, and Natsu's eyes widen.
"Wait, what does that m—"
"No more waiting!" Totomaru yells, fire shrouding his arms. "You wait right there, Salamander! I'll deal with you right after I'm done with her!"
"Don't you dare underestimate me, bitch!" Cana snaps. "Natsu, destroy the lacrima and get out of here, hurry up!"
Natsu doesn't.
"RYOS!"
Instead, he grips his fist and grinds his teeth and— with a mighty stomp , he shatters a crater under his feet, sending a ripple of fire resounding through the entire room.
The Jupiter lacrima gleams in reaction to the magic, and the chargers explode from the wave. The horrifying pulse of magic makes Cana freeze in her tracks, turning around in horror. Totomaru holds his breath, speechless.
"RYOS, come out right now before I get mad!"
There is no response.
Totomaru stares on, exasperated. "He's a very timid child, so… you know…" he offers, "he'll come if you call nicely, you don't have to yell…"
"I'm only calling one more time, SHOW YOURSELF!"
"Hey ENOUGH!" Totomaru snaps, "he's not gonna come if you're being so damn rude, you hotheaded arsehole! He's our guild's youngest, have some humanity!"
Cana side-eyes that. "I kinda agree with him, Natsu."
"This is a family matter, FUCK OFF," Natsu yells back. "Cana, deal with this! I've got places to damn be!"
"What?!" Cana balks, "so after insisting on having a part you're gonna ditch me?!"
"You're the one that's insisting!" Natsu snaps, pointing accusingly. "And I'm giving it to you, so you better do it all right!"
Cana deflates. "I mean… I'm fine with it, but…"
"Wait, you're seriously going to leave— wha—" Totomaru looks toward his feet, where's Natsu's feet were beginning to shroud over with tendrils of shadows. "You are kidding me."
Natsu doesn't resist.
He lets the shadows drag him in, vanishing with a sharp flicker into the ground, plunging into the darkness. Cana and Totomaru are left in exasperated silence.
"Well then, without further ado…"
The Moon card in Cana's hand gleams.
Totomaru curses, stepping back and recollecting himself for battle.
"Agh, this is why I hate you Fairy Tail bastards!"
Elfman parts from Erza very quickly, sprinting across the hallways of the Phantom Lord guild, kicking down guild members in the vicinity.
"Small fries, small fries, SMALL FRIES!" he yells, "where is the ELEMENT FOUR?! Come out and fight me MAN TO MAN!"
Some of the Phantom Lord members shriek as they scamper aside from the rampage.
"I'm not a man! I'm not a man!" Sue wails, "I'll leave! I'll leave!"
"I am a man but I'm going to change my mind! Stop!"
Elfman continues roaring and rampaging, impervious to their squawking. He kicks down a wall and continues on.
"Oh, Beast Arm Elfman…" Sue sighs in relief, finally settling between debris as Elfman goes down the hallway to another section. "He lives up to his reputation."
"That's the freakiest part about him," Bozu murmurs, and another man agrees. "Definitely don't want to fight him, of all people."
"His reputation?" someone asks. "I mean… he seems pretty macho and flamboyant if you ask me, but I"m more afraid of Titania…"
"No, no, that whole 'manly' thing? It's a schtick," Bozu says. "He emphasizes it like he's crazy for it, but I heard he's the furthest thing from it when he's mad. Loses sight of everything, indiscriminate destruction…"
"Kinda like now?"
"Yeah…" Sue trembles. "Haven't you heard of that old story? Once he got so mad, he destroyed a whole village and two more, killing his own little sister in the process!"
"What?!" several voices gasp around them. "For real?!"
"Yeah! It was the biggest scandal back then! He even got arrested and interrogated, but they pardoned him under insanity charges, it's ridiculous!"
"I don't understand why they didn't stick him in a mental facility."
"And they call us the evil ones?!"
"...oh, non, non non, how disappointing, how despicable! You do not deserve to step foot in our half, non, non, non! With a non count of three, three, three!"
Elfman stumbles upon Sol and he instantly understands that this annoying motherfucker is his opponent. Lucy described a man that didn't seem to have joints or sense, wielding earth— and Monsieur Sol was surely phasing out of the ground, twistable as an earthworm. This must be it, then.
(Loke wasn't bleeding and hurt, but he looked weak and devastated. Elfman hates it when someone who never showed his own weaknesses ends up in that kind of state.)
"You're the one that messed up Loke and kidnapped Lucy, didn't you?"
"Non, non, non," Monsieur Sol deems, "I am the one. But I am a monsieur who prides himself on honour, and you are not noble enough to refer to that respectable young man and the heiress as you do. I don't acknowledge this, non, non, non!"
Elfman frowns in confusion. What is he even talking about?
Monsieur Sol's eyes were fixed in a glare.
"I despise Fairy Tail as much as every other Phantom member, but I respect them, as opponents! I do not respect you," Sol says, pointing forward. "You are not worthy of your guild's name! You taint the sacred nature of this war with your mere existence!"
"And who the hell are you to say that?!" Elfman snaps.
The earth bends and rises around them. "I shall do Fairy Tail a favour and rid them of you, first," Sol says. "Oh, non, non, non, I can't stand your existence!"
"So you're just not going to bother answering, huh… fine!" Elfman snaps, his arm bulging through to the arm of a Vulcan. "True men talk with their fists!"
"You are not a true man, you pitiful excuse of manhood! How dare you preach your false ideals so brazenly and shamelessly?!" Sol swings his arms down, a quicksand trap trapping his feet before tendrils of molten soil shoots up to enrapture Elfman's form. "You besmirch the reputation of every man in the world!"
Elfman curses.
This man isn't reasonable. He's just one-sidedly firing points at him, never giving Elfman the chance to understand or respond to the argument presented.
This isn't a discussion.
Elfman just has to punch his way through all this, because reasons didn't matter. He was never one to discuss things civilly anyways, and he stopped being a pacifist so, so long ago. Right now, he just needs to win.
(Nothing else matters, because right now, Elfman just needed strength.)
"I'm not going down so easy!" Elfman roars, arm changing quickly into one of scales, that of a monstrous aquatic beast.
He sludges through the mud and forces the liquid to part between his fingers— then he braces and throws, breaching out of the water with a javelin of muddy aquatic force.
He leaps, feet morphing into that of a bird's talons, hanging sharply upon the corner of the wall.
"Bring it on, you Mons-sour!"
"NON! It's Mon sieur!" Sol declares, and Elfman leaps aside just in time to avoid the spikes protruding under his feet.
Elfman howls, fist morphing into a gorilla's as he follows the momentum to plunge his fist downwards.
Sol steps back, just a little— and the soil before him morphs.
Lisanna stares back at him with fear in her face, the statue's arms reaching up as if to defend herself.
"No, wait— NO!"
Elfman's eyes widened as he registers it, but he's far too late to stop himself in the middle of his fall. His fist shatters the rock formation into bits, crushing it by the face, crumbling it into dust in seconds— and his feet slides through the debris, destroying what little his fist didn't hit.
He recoils with a scream, falling backward with horror.
"Oh, dear," Sol hums, mockingly. "What have you done?"
Then, it registers , and his entire being is seized with fear.
"Was that how you killed her back then, too? How could you be so cruel?"
Elfman lunges forward quickly, picking up the dust under him, cradling little pieces of what still resembled her hair, her eyes, her fingers— and he couldn't help the pathetic sob that escaped his throat.
"L- Lisanna….?!"
And in that moment, he was no longer in Phantom Lord's guild hall, he was no longer fighting an opponent. He was no longer the strong and prominent Beast Arm Elfman.
At that moment, he was reduced to simply a brother, heartbroken and devastated.
"Eh?!" Mirajane gasps, when she comes to the crowd at the Phantom guild hall and realizes Elfman had gone on ahead. "You're kidding! Why did you let him go, they've probably split up now!"
"Why, you ask, I mean…" Bisca averts her eyes.
"Please, you guys know this!" Mirajane insists, not taking this well at all. "It'd be one thing if he was up against the small fries, but… nevermind, I'll go on ahead, since I can fly."
"Wha– wait, Mira! No!" Bisca calls, "Elfman's one thing—"
Alzack stops her, shaking her head.
"She'll be fine," Alzack says, though he doesn't sound too convinced himself.
Mira's already too far away to stop, flying ahead and not hearing anything from them.
(What happened back then hurt them all. But slowly, surely… those two have been trying to get stronger again.)
"Mira and Elfman will be fine," Alzack says. "But then again, maybe they've been fine for a while now. Maybe it's us who have never been able to trust them on their own, instead…"
Bisca can't help but continue to worry.