AN: Skipping Tower of Heaven and jumping into Fantasia! We're still seeing the tower, don't misunderstand, but Fantasia first.
Anyways, Laxus finally gets more screen time...
The Phantom members mostly went off with a slap on the wrist and maybe surveillance/probation (like Ryos), but Element 4 were held in jail for some time before being let out under house arrest. Though, they don't have homes, so it's mainly strict supervision and ankle monitors. The E4 are also not allowed within a certain distance of each other. So Gajeel went home to Denish and let's just say he goes through Rhodonite events over there with Ryos while Fantasia is happening, because he's going to sit out on this arc until maybe the ending.
Needless to say, the group stumble back to Blue Pegasus at the dead hours of the morning-- to be greeted with a fully reserved host club, just for them.
Gray is very flustered to be here, but what the hell is he supposed to do when a crew of conventionally attractive men greet them all at the door with suave bows, sweet words, and offers of drinks?
Run right back out because he needs to breathe, yes.
"You done being a Tsundere over there or shall we duke it out on the Tsundere battlefield, dude?" Ren teases, and Gray lets out a mortified screech into the night sky.
"Ignore him," Cana beams, comfortably following the arrangement of handsome boys into the building. "I'm famished! You don't serve crude beer here, right? Alright, today's a wine day!"
Lucy is thrilled, holding up her hand as Hibiki easily understands he has to take it like a prince. "Oh my god. Ohmigod. Ohmigoooood," she whispers, absolutely losing it at the front door, covering her mouth just overwhelmed with emotion.
"And don't worry, it's all on the house tonight," Hibiki says, waving away the rest of the guys as he personally leads Lucy in like an escort to their table. He lifts a finger to his lips with a wink. "As the Pegasi do, we repay favors by treating you to a magical night."
Lucy swoons. "I want a lacrima camera installed in my eyes…" she whispers, "how do I handle being surrounded by so many hotties?"
"Well, for now, we need to look at those injuries on your hands."
"Inju— wait, I'm injured?!"
Lucy notices belatedly, how parts of her skin had torn and cracked, and it wasn't just around her arms and hands, it was on her face, too. That's strange.
"It must be the result of forcing too much Celestial magic through you," Hibiki says, softer. "Karen… her autopsy report… it had similar injuries as well."
Lucy's eyes sunk a little. Come to think of it, she was too young to be allowed to see her mother's body before she was laid to rest. She only remembered her mom's smile, her gentle, warm hands— scarcely any features. It was all too long ago to remember.
"I see," she says, "that's fine, then."
Cana plops right down on the couch and crosses her legs, resting a hand on her knee.
"Well then, what are you waiting for, boys?" Cana challenges, "show me a magical night, I'll tell you I'm a very hard girl to please."
"Challenge accepted, Cana dear."
"At least you two look like you're having fun!" Gray whines from a distance.
"Oh come on, Gray," Cana leans over the backrest of the couch to address him upside down, "it's impossible to not enjoy yourself among the Pegasus. That's kind of the whole point of being here. Don't be a bummer!"
Gray sighs, ignoring the way his cheeks flush when Ren comes by with a glass of wine. He's getting surrounded very quickly, someone's judging his fashion senses (or lack thereof, considering he's topless) and some are blatantly staring instead of offering him any additional form of modesty, so he wants to crawl into a hole and die.
"As expected, I can't be compared to the real thing," Ren says, mildly impressed.
"Stop it!" Gray barks. "Can't you guys focus on the girls?!"
"Well, it's well known that we're actually so comfortable hosting for so many girls with no strings attached because we're mostly ga—"
Alas, Lucy cheerfully sits down, the food is served, and socialisation begins in the illustration of the pegasi's hospitality, and at some point, they forget all about being embarrassed.
Lucy shows off her new key, and though it stings for some, they smile and celebrate, promoting a new lease of life for all of them.
She summons her Plue to interact with Kathy, and Master Bob happily serves up one cocktail after another, reveling in the cacophony of a delightful night of safety.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to be here."
It's the break of dawn when Hibiki finds Lucy Heartfilia at Karen's grave, a humble bouquet in her hands. Her injuries have been wrapped and covered, though Master Bob had been very worried there would be scars.
"I just thought I'd come to pay my respects," Lucy says.
Hibiki's smile is a little bitter. "Well… thank you," he says.
To Fairy Tail, Karen does not deserve any memory in light. Cana and Gray were still comfortably getting ready, and the others in Blue Pegasus have long stopped visiting her grave other than on memorial day.
It didn't matter if Karen had been a sinner or a saint, being forgotten is just the fate of the dead in society.
"Celestial Spirit mages always have their names carved into the stars," Lucy says. "It doesn't matter how little you've done, how strong the spirits you summon are… your light is there, in the sky. Maybe it's still too far away to reach Earthland, maybe it just can't be seen from where we stand. But it's somewhere up there, in the realm of the Celestials, never fading and never forgotten."
Hibiki knows that story. That superstition.
It's something Karen's told him before, but she had cited it like an old folktale, because it had simply sounded romantic as a conversation starter.
"Spirits like Loke fade when they perish, and they will always be replaced by a similar, but slightly different star," Lucy says, turning towards him with a slightly sad smile. "But humans… our names up there are eternal, you know? They say that…"
"They say that the King mourned for the first contractor so deeply," Hibiki speaks up, not intending to interrupt her— and yet, he couldn't help but finish the story for her. "He wanted her name to exist eternally, among the spirits she loved so much."
Lucy chuckles.
"Yeah! Pretty romantic, don't you think?"
Hibiki feels bitter, when Lucy smiles with Karen's words, and lives with Karen's wounds, and strives, with Leo's key.
He feels bitter, but it's a feeling that will pass. So he'll let it bubble and boil, and maybe, one day, it will taste like the cold brew Master Bob makes, and he'll be able to reminisce on it with fondness, rather than regret.
Natsu heaves a breath, absolutely winded. The monkey bastards just keep coming, and the darker the day went, the more they began to set up ambushes across alleys and land some really frustrating hits on him.
He's getting dizzy.
He didn't think he'd actually feel so irritated, but he's really lost his bearings in this unfamiliar town and they're taking full advantage of that. Why did he think it was a good idea to chase them to their home base again? They're leading him in circles!
(He's out of Warren's range now, too. He wonders if they've found Loke yet…)
He snatches up a member of— Naked Mummy, he learns— by the skull, and the imbecile had the cheek to scream like he was terrified of the consequences.
"You better bring me to your fucking Monkey King before I burn you all down to scrappy, molten ash!" he snarls. He has no more patience for this.
He can't leave Ryos for too long, what if Ryos thinks he just abandoned him there?
"Aaaah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I swear! Just go down that way, that way—!"
"Hey now, don't go bullying Bomber that much, Salamander."
Natsu lifts his head with a scowl.
The Monkey King, he assumes, is a large man with too many expensive clattering trinkets for his own good.
"Kinda mean, don't you think, Big Brother Gato?" another shows up from an alley, an afro crowning his figure, wearing sunglasses despite the night sky.
"I agree, Big Brother Zato," Gato, standing on the roofs, scowls. "Don't go bullying Bomber that much, Salamander."
And Zato bursts out laughing. "You're repeatin' yourself!"
Natsu lets go of the grunt in his hands, and the slightly burned victim scrambles away into the crowd— the crowd. Natsu looks around, clicking his tongue as he realizes he's surrounded once again, the fallen quickly cleared away for those more active.
This is strange. Naked Mummy is huge, but certainly, not this much… there weren't just monkeys around, too. Some of them wore bike helmets, some capes, and some…
"This isn't Naked Mummy," he realizes. He can't see the guild marks, but he realizes, almost too late, that the smells differ. They're making a good job of seeming like a huge coagulation, but this is an alliance.
"Fun, isn't it?" Zato laughs. "We haven't done a large-scale plan like this in a hot minute, so we went all out!"
Gato nods. "Community in the dark, they help each other."
"Exactly!" Zato beams. "We could have gotten more, but I don't wanna bother the higher ups so much, you know? Just know the Oracion Seis faction is much wider than this."
Gato nods. "Community in the dark, they help each other."
"Stop repeating yourself, Big Brother Zato!" Gato cackles. "So, how about it, Salamander? Are you willing to surrender nicely?"
"Fuck no," Natsu curses. He's outnumbered. This usually wouldn't be a problem, he'll just go all out and run as far as he can, he can do that, it's pathetic, but it'll be worth it.
A whimper catches on someone's throat, and Natsu's blood stops cold.
Gato finally lifts his hand from where he'd tucked it behind him, revealing a girl taken up by the hair, bruises lining her face and gashes split down her arms.
Chico whines when Gato drags her forward, almost to show her off.
"I'm sure you'll change your mind after seeing this," Gato laughs. "We all had a laugh when Titania and the other big names just so nicely left her there in Fairy Hills for us!"
Natsu can't move anymore.
He really can't.
Chico pries her eyes open through the mud and blood cracked through her head. Her hat is stained and soaked in—- that's a head injury. That's a head injury . She sobs, calling out, "N-Natsu… I'm sorry, I—"
"Hey come on now, we were courteous!" Gato says. "Right, Big Brother Zato?"
"Yes, we didn't harm the other girl," Zato says.
"Natsu!" someone calls, desperately.
Natsu whirls around, already dreading what he'll see.One of the Naked Mummy grunts has a young girl held back by the arms. She's not as bad off as Chico, but her clothes are ruffled and she's scratched up.
That's Wakaba's daughter. She's not even a mage, and—
"...let them go," Natsu's teeth grinds, fists clenching. Pathetically, he resorts to the only thing he can think of. He lowers his head and says, humbly, "please."
"We didn't harm the other girl," Zato repeats himself.
"And it'll stay that way, if you play nice," Gato grins.
Curses.
Curses.
Curses.
"What do you want from me?" Natsu demands.
He wants everything and to just sock them in the face right now, but there's no telling what they'll do. Chico's fragile enough at the moment, if they hurt even a hair on Wakaba's daughter's head, he'll never forgive himself. He can't make it in time to protect both of them. He's outnumbered.
(Chico can't help him. She's usually strong enough to give these dumbfucks a run for their money, but her magic only works at full power in Magnolia. That's why they drew him out of it. That's why they took her out of it.)
He shouldn't have come alone. He should have taken the extra time to call for help, but, like an idiot, he insisted on being a lone ranger and here he is, in a dilemma. He's so stupid. He's so stupid.
"Well, honestly, we've had a hard time recently because of your pal," Gato says. "You know, your fellow leader and big brother, Laxus? He was so rude to us, beat us up for nothing, like a brute. Unforgivable, don't you think?"
Natsu clicks his tongue.
Ah, of fucking course.
"So what we want is simple," Gato says. "You humiliated us for no reason. So of course, we want you on your knees, head on the ground, and apologize to us while licking our damn shoes, you scumbag fairy . Then we'll call it even, yeah?"
Freed Justine is honestly mortified by what he sees in Magnolia. Houses are trashed, civilians are running, and Fairy Tail mages are trying their best to do damage control.
(Dark Guilds, seemingly from Naked Mummy, Dark Unicorn, Harpyja… they're all from the Baram Alliance … and they've raided the entire town of Magnolia.) He spots Mirajane in the forefront of the guild, Satan Soul swiping away crowds of Dark Guild mages in an instant.Freed knows this is their fault, and he hates himself for it.
"Happy, go find the guild!" Freed says, and Happy immediately zooms forward. He lifts a hand to his head. "Warren, this is Freed! What's the situation?"
"Freed! Oh, thank god you're here. Natsu was supposed to be here, but we couldn't find him!"
"Natsu is—?" Freed decides not to chase it, "nevermind, we'll think of it later!"
"Alright," Warren allows, "we've got fifty percent of the civilians hiding in the guild, Mira's taking that with Enno. Twenty percent in the dorms— Mikuni and Mickey are taking that. Everyone else is dealing with the remaining thirty percent evacuating, we're planning on Kardia Cathedral!"
"We're really being stretched thin…" Freed mutters, "I'll take charge! Warren, who's at the Kardia Cathedral?!"
"Uhhh— Macao! I'll try to get a connection— this is tough with so many people, I'm sorry!"
Freed draws his sword, wings sprouting behind him as he backs up, and with a thread of runes spilling from his hands toward his blade, he begins to trail down a line of runes along the border of Magnolia.
Naked Mummy were bold enough to attack Magnolia on Fairy Tail's home grounds, and even Phantom didn't have the gall to do that.
But since they were so nice to give Fairy Tail full reign of their home field, there's only one thing Magnolia can do when so drastically outnumbered. They just need to take a breath and regain their composure.
"Tell Macao to go up and ring the bell," Freed says, "and get all of Magnolia to assigned stations immediately— Activate the Gildarts Shift!"
"...And thus, the town is saved, and things settle down once again…" Makarov sighs. "Seems like a whole lot happened."
Master Makarov finally skulks back into Magnolia after Naked Mummy is chased out and barricaded out by runes. Freed contained them so they wouldn't run off to other cities, and from there, they waited for the Rune Knights to come.
(They were all very angry and loud before Master Makarov showed up and shut them all up with a slam to the ground with a gigantified fist.)
"Seems I've left you kids to deal with quite a hurdle," Makarov says, "good work, Mirajane. Freed. And all of you, you've done very well."
"It was nothing," Freed says, humble.
"Yes!" Mirajane beams, "I do wonder what took you so long, Master."
"Well, I got caught up by a case of train station maintenance, you see," Makarov says, "seems like the railways are having some trouble with organization. They're horribly understaffed after the Heartfilia scandal, and people are boycotting the service."
Macao grimaces at that. "Oh… because of the situation with Lucy?"
"You went on the train? I thought Natsu was walking you back," Elfman says, rather appalled as he fixes up a bandage on Krov's arm.
"Well, he went ahead…"
"Speaking of that guy, where'd he go?" Vijeeter wonders. "He suddenly went no contact on us. He was supposed to be back by now."
"Seriously, it's so low of Naked Mummy to suddenly hit us when they know we're still recovering from the war, and right when so many of us were busy finding Loke!" Mickey yells in the distance, and that shatter and squawk from Nigy in the distance must mean something is broken again. "Laki and Bisca aren't home, either!"
"Yeah…" Warren frowns, "I swear I had Natsu on contact just earlier today… he said he'd get back to me once he was back in Magnolia, but he just never did."
"I wonder if something happened?" Krov says, "I won't say it's unusual for him, but…"
"Geez! Where'd he run off to?" Mickey whines. "We were really struggling out there, doesn't he know how underprotected we were?"
"I wonder if he got caught up by something at Porlyusica-san's place…"
"No, he was definitely in town!" one of the civilians yell, apparently having been eavesdropping, "he was right here this morning, when Judy's flower shop got hit! And can you believe that cowardly lizard of a brat? He just ran off without helping us!"
"What?"
"Wait, hold on—"
Somehow, the argument's inflating, and the outside of the guild hall, which was still being used as an evacuation center, burst into chatter and argument. Suddenly, it's completely hostile. It's full of people complaining, loud and boisterous, to Master Makarov, about Natsu Dragneel and his unexplained absence.
"We're so grateful Freed made it home, it must have been so hard to rush back!"
"We can't thank Mira enough for how hard you worked!"
"We're sure Erza and the rest had urgent matters to attend to. But Natsu, he hasn't been pulling his weight recently, has he?"
"Even in the Phantom battle, he didn't participate in the main battles with those Element Four, did he? All he did was char a great portion of our city courtyard, like some vandal!"
Freed and Mira are flustered by the high praise thrown at them, one after another.
"No, wait, I'm sure—" Freed tries to cut in, but the volume overpowers him, and he shrinks, unable to try any better. "Natsu isn't the type to do that. I'm sure there's a misunderstanding somewhere…"
"Yeah…" Mickey's a little flustered by the anger she accidentally activated. She had only been enraged in the usual competitive fashion, but she'd forgotten the townsfolk weren't in the same combat-prone mindset as the members of the bar, "I wasn't… seriously blaming him, I was just joking…"
But the crowd inflates once more with complaints.
"You don't have to cover for that delinquent, Mickey!"
"You did so much for us when most of the girls weren't around! You had huge shoes to fill and you're so much more useful than him!"
"I…" Mickey crumbles. "I…"
Mira quickly covers, stepping before her. "Uhm! I'm so sorry, everyone. I'm sure we're all exhausted. I'm sure everyone wants to go to their homes to see how much damage can be fixed soon, so let's all dismiss for now, shall we?"
She smiles as bright as she can, and speaks with volume and authority. A single loud clap and spread of her devil's wings bring all attention to her and chatter to dwindle.
And all at once, composure returns to the crowd.
"Let's put this incident behind us," Mira says, "Fairy Tail will open a soup kitchen later tonight at the town square, so do join us! We all have to help each other in times like this, right?"
There's a cheer of agreement, and Mira turns around to wink at Mickey, who smiles in relief.
Makarov nods in approval, and as Mirajane continues into taking citywide attendance in sections, Mickey can't help but feel conflicted.
"Come, let's go back inside," Makarov says, "the injured, to the medical tent, and everyone else can have a tea break while we reassemble. We should get as much done as we can before sunset."
"As expected of an S-class," Freed says, "she can really handle people well."
"Y- Yeah…" Mickey says.(Mickey's doing her best too, and she's even older than Mirajane. Yet, there's such a palpable difference. She supposes there's nothing that can make up for charisma.)
"You're worked hard too," Freed says, "let's go inside and rest."
"Alright," Mickey says, cheering up, "I really need a drink, anyway."
"Mickey! Mickey, are you here?"
Joey Fullborn rushes out of the basement to the guild cafeteria, hollering for her. He spots her and hurries forward.
"Mickey, you were taking charge of Fairy Hills, right? Ruchio said that Wakana was there, but roll call just reported back she's not among the civillians in the building…"
Mickey's blood runs cold.
Joey adds, hesitant. "Apparently, Chico was babysitting today… so, where did you station Chico for the defensive efforts? I haven't seen her all day, which is strange, because the rest of our team is here…"
Mickey holds her breath, dread running through her veins.
"No, I… I don't know," she says, "I didn't… I just sent all available hands out in random directions, I don't remember which way I sent Chico." She wasn't actually sure if she sent Chico out to help at all. "I don't…" Would it be pathetic to say she didn't even know if Wakaba's daughter had been in the dorms at all?
"I—"
She can't speak.
(She was in charge of securing the safety of the dorms and she didn't even know something as basic as that?)
"Warren can't find Chico anywhere?" she deflects. "Geez, we're all a mess right now, how'd you expect anyone to know where they are? Wakana will be fine if she's with Chico, alright? They're probably caught up in the nurse stations and shelter buildings."
She'll show up soon enough.
She definitely will, right?
It's amber into the evening when Lucy, Cana, and Gray make it home.
"What…" Cana's at a loss for words, "in the holy hell… happened…"
"Uh," Gray's jaw drops at the sight.
Lucy is completely freaking out. "What happened to the— why is that building there— why is the army here?! Are we greeting the king or something, what is with the grand walkway?! What happened to Magnolia???"
"Ah, calm down, this is called the Gildarts Shift…" Cana tries in vain to assure her, "but wait, is Gildarts home?!"
"No no, no way," Gray says, then turns his gaze toward the closest broken building, where people were clearing out a completely crushed house. "Wait, I'll go ask."
First of all, for some reason, Gildarts Shift was activated and hasn't been reset yet. This leads to a lot of uplifted landscape, and the long roadway in the center has been refurbished into a temporary disaster relief collection center. The soup kitchen is somewhere nearer to the guild building, but the market was offering blankets, tents, and were manned by civilians and council members.
"So apparently, some dark guilds raided us," Gray reports.
"What?!" Lucy and Cana balk.
"Ah you three there!" someone hollers, "don't go into town yet, you need to register your name in the general list—"
The person at the reception pauses.
"OH! Lucy!" he calls.
Lucy turns and her eyes light up with recognition. "You're the old fishing boat guy that's always by the bridge!"
"Yes, that's me!" he beams, "glad to see you're home. See, Naked Mummy came in and attacked while ya were out!"
"WHO?"
"What," Cana gawks, slamming a hand on the table. "Naked Mu— the dark guild that Laxus beat up?! But why?!"
"I think you just answered your own question," he says, jabbing a thumb toward the guild, "but register first, aye? We wanna make sure everyone's accounted for."
"There, there… cheer up, Happy," Mirajane soothes, leaning over the counter to the sniffling cat sitting on it, nuzzling him gently at the side of his head. "Don't listen to them, everyone in town's a little winded up today, so they're saying things they don't mean."
"But you didn't hear what they said about Natsu!" Happy whines, "they— they don't understand a thing, Natsu's not the type to abandon anyone, they don't have to be such jerks! I'm sure once Natsu comes back it'll all make sense!"
Cana, Gray, and Lucy finally return to the basement of the guild hall to find most of the group crowded around the inconsolable blue cat.
"We can't exactly release a statement to shut them up now," Macao says. It's too soon, and no one's in the mood to be tolerant. They just wanted a name to blame, and to address the issue now will fan the flames and make it the focus. "It'll settle down soon, Happy. Just bear with it for now."
"It was just as bad when the scandal with Lucy just happened."
"Honestly, it's a bit of a relief it's just targeted at Natsu this time, instead of the whole guild."
"I guess you could say, technically, they've forgiven us for the whole Lucy debacle by pinning the anger all on Natsu?"
"I don't understand how public opinion works."
"That is, precisely, how fickle public opinion works. They just latch onto the next easiest thing to criticize."
Wakaba sighs. "I mean, Natsu's never been too vocal and he's hardly the type to make himself a good name either… I suppose it was only a matter of time before we got into this type of crap. He's just unlucky this time."
The chatter is very sharply interrupted by Happy just bursting into tears, wailing loudly.
"All of you are just being jerks! Natsu didn't even do anything wrong!" he sobs, "this isn't fair at all! What did Natsu do to deserve all of this, he's not even here!"
"Ahh, oh dear."
"I'm sorry!"
Gray interrupts, cutting into the crowd, "hey hey, what the hell's going on?!" he reaches for Happy, patting him on the head as Happy wails at the sight of him and runs at his chest. "What's this about Natsu?"
Gray picks up Happy on one arm and scowls.
Cana frowns. "Look what you all did! You made a cat cry! You made the precious baby child of Fairy Tail cry, be ashamed of yourselves!"
"We're sorry!" comes the chorus. "Please forgive us!"
"Come on, Happy, be happy! I'm sure Natsu will be home soon!"
"And then we can go through the town screaming his good name and teach all those gossipers a lesson!"
"Idiot, how's that going to help?!"
"Someone run to East Forest and fish up the lake lord, we have a cat to feed!"
Gray pats Happy on the back. "I'm sure flame-brain will easily deal with all this nonsense, so you don't gotta worry about him," he assures, Happy looking up tearfully at him. "You know him. I'm more annoyed that he's just leaving you here like this. What a dick of a partner, don't you think?"
Happy sulks. "Yeah, Natsu should've been home to greet meee!"
Lucy isn't sure if she's supposed to take this seriously at all. The town wasn't in a very ideal state, but she meets Makarov's eyes and he looks at her kindly.
"Welcome home, Lucy," he says, "how was your conversation with your father?"
Those words felt warm and liberating.
Lucy beams, "I really showed him!" she declares, punching the air. Then, seemingly remembering something belatedly, "that's right. I… don't know if this is the right time to bring this up, but… uh… Loke's home too!"
She reaches to her key pouch, retrieving a single, precious key.
The guild turns toward her in surprise, gasping at the sight.
"WOAH! You got another key, Lucy!"
"Wait, is that Leo, the leader of the zodiac?"
Lucy snickers, mischievously lifting her key to show it off, absolutely and unabashedly smug, "yeah, wanna see?"
Happy lifts his head from Gray's side, finally calm enough to at least stop incoherently sobbing— only for his ears to perk up immediately as Gray chuckles and Cana holds back a loud laugh.
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee!"
"—hey Lucy, I know I said you could call me anytime, but time zones, you know…" Loke sighs, emerging in a wisp of pink smoke and magical turbulence. He huffs, brushing his hair back fully with a gloved hand, tossing his long furred cloak over his shoulder. He's in the middle of fixing the jewel-studded buckle at the collar of his sleeves as he sighs, "my palace is a complete mess and I haven't even had time to change out of ceremonial garb yet…"
He whips out his sunglasses from his inner pocket and puts them on.
"Oh, we're in the guild already?"
Needless to say, the palpable silence in the guild hall is thick as a curtain.
Even Lucy has her jaw dropped as Loke straightens the sleeves of his very intricate and regal fur-lined robe, embellished with a whole array of adornments, silver and gold and gemstone. He taps experimentally on his dress shoes and sighs, satisfied at his presentation.
"Sorry about the imperial formal wear, there's a ceremony to reinstate me," he says. "So, uhm…" he fidgets as all eyes turn to him, "...surprise?"
"LOKE?!"
Needless to say, Loke got a hell of a lecture from Lucy, then from Gray and Cana, and then Enno came in, and somehow, Makarov didn't have anything to do except mildly bonk him on the head with a remark of 'bad!'
Then they partied, and partied, and partied.
The party went on into the night, and to the morning, where rebuilding efforts continued.
Laxus, Bickslow, and Evergreen finally return to Magnolia to quite a sight.
"I knew they were planning something…" Bickslow sighs. "Though, at least it looks like Freed handled things right."
"I'm gonna go home and shower!" Evergreen stretches, "Fairy Hills, here I come!"
"I'll go look at the guild!" Bickslow reports, "bye, Laxus!"
And on wings and totems they left the scene, leaving Laxus in the middle of the road wondering why he's made such an autonomous team if he's going to feel kind of lonely when they leave without a second thought.
The smell of Magnolia is wrecked.
Gildarts shift means everything is out of place, and it's never been out of place for so long before. There's also the mustiness of a battle, the foreign traits of Naked Mummy's invasion… it all just doesn't feel right. He can't find individual scents in a chaotic mesh like this. He can't tell who's alright and who isn't.
"Awh, aren't you a charmer?"
"No, it's the least I could do, as a gentleman. Please, I'll take the bill, but please have mercy on me."
"I'm in love!"
"Please don't be."
Laxus can't believe his ears, but turning two streets to the cafe on centrecourt and— yeah, that's Cana.
She's dressed a little more modest than usual with a nice jacket she only uses for dates, and she's sitting opposite a guy dressed in red and furs, a notable lacrima ankle monitor in clear view while they nurse cups of tea and coffee with their conversation.
"Are you on a fucking date with a member of Phantom Lord?"
The words come out of Laxus' own mouth, but the sentence is just so utterly incredulous, he has to repeat himself just to make sure it's right.
"Cana, are you on a fucking date with Element Four?"
Yeah, it's right. Doesn't make the situation any more believable.
Cana turns to him and beams . Mercy on the poor Phantom Lord mage called Totomaru or whatever, because he whirls around, face completely sheet white.
"Hey, Laxus! Welcome Home!"
"Oh no it's the Thunder God ."
Laxus steps forward, and each slow, furious step is packed with anger . Totomaru squeaks, but he can't exactly run. Laxus sizes him right up.
Laxus turns to the little shit, "Cana… what the fuck ."
Cana rests her chin on both hands and has the gall to pout cutely. "I can date whoever I want, you stick in the mud! You're scaring him, leave us alone for some privacy."
Yeah, no.
Laxus snags her right up by the collar.
"Hey, brat," Laxus snarls at Totomaru, "get out of here before she steals your entire wallet and erase your memories of her entire existence so she can do it again."
"She what ."
"You're so mean!" Cana whines. "I only did that like, five times! And I only do it to rich people, I promise!"
"I'm not rich! I'm literally on probation!' Totomaru protests.
"Never," Laxus hisses at Totomaru, " never go on a date with a fairy, especially if they trick you into it. There's a reason why Cana's the only one of us that's never been fucking arrested and it's not because she's well-behaved. You're lucky, punk. Now get out of Magnolia."
"You owe me another date, Totomaru!"
"No he does fucking NOT you fucking menace ."
"Geez, you ruined it," Cana sulks. "Totomaru finally got out of jail, but he's not allowed to interact with any of his old Phantom buddies, you know? I thought that was kinda lonely, so… oh, and I invited him to Fantasia."
"I would believe you if you didn't have a track record," Laxus grumbles.
"Hey c'mon! It would've been fine, he's got the council mage supervising him," Cana insists, "he'll make it home!"
"Cana, if you were a guy doing that to a girl, you'd get a criminal charge at best ."
Initially it had only been the grunts that were let out, but apparently, the council's let the Element Four out too. Laxus hasn't heard any news about Jose's sentence, but he supposed Jose was sitting enough of a sentence for everyone.
Guild mages really did get the privilege of leaving jail early without sitting through sentences, and Laxus honestly didn't blame the general public for not liking that. A common criminal would be sitting years for less.
"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!"
Laxus and Cana pauses at the front door, surprised.
The guild's in much higher spirits than he'd initially assumed. Peeking in found Loke and Bickslow having a hell of a drinking battle. Broad daylight and all.
Around the hall everyone's having the time of their life.
Levy and Erza are still absent, apparently they're caught up in the library, but Lucy is helping Mira serve drinks around. Something about stealing tips from the more drunk of the party. Wakaba and Vijeeter have launched into a dance battle somehow, and for some reason, Gray is belting out a song on stage in all his tone-deaf glory. Elfman is also doing the chorus because he only knows the lyrics to that specific part. Everyone's too drunk to care about the horrible singing.
"I don't believe you when you say you can't get drunk! That's not fair!" Bickslow groans, clearly miffed.
"Well, I can't!" Loke yells, slamming his mug on the table, "you're gonna wanna bring Celestial Ambrosia or more if you wanna put a dent in me!"
"I drank you under the table one year ago and I will do it again!"
"I drank myself under the table, you had nothing to do with it!"
Laxus wants to turn back around and go home, but alas. He enters, and the guild erupts with a hurray of a welcome home.
"LAXUS IS BACK!" comes the cheer, and though there's no second floor to run and hide in, Laxus sighs and sits down and relents a very fond response.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm home."
The guild hall is fond and full of life, even in the night. There's still a soup kitchen set up for disaster relief, and they were all having fun working and partying in tandem, revelling in the fact that almost everyone's made it home.
Laxus is exhausted, and the extensive, uncalled-for overtime is miserable… but looking at this sight makes him realize it's all worth it after all.
"Welcome back, Laxus," his grandfather, already drunk to high heaven, lifts his mug at him, "Oh! Cana dear, how was your date?"
(Why is Laxus not surprised that Makarov encouraged her?)
"It got ruined!" Cana whines. "Laxus got in my way!"
"Oh dear," Makarvo burps, "better luck next time, then."
Cana snickers. "Next time I'll listen to the cards when they tell me trouble's coming. But this time it's fine, Laxus promised me a drink now instead!"
"No I didn't…" Laxus groans, but Cana's already bumbling up to the drinking battle, demanding to join.
Tono Rabbits lifts a banana in his direction. "Welcome home, Laxus. Would you like a banana in these trying times?"
"You're fifteen and shouldn't be deliriously drunk," Laxus retorts.
"Indeed," he simply says, peeling the banana he is now no longer offering. "No one has accepted my offering of bananas. The bananas have done no wrong."
Laxus deeply understands why the town is apprehensive about their ethical standards. He's starting to want to agree.
"Laxus…" Happy sniffles, waddling up to him, "I can't find Natsuuuu!"
"Oh dear, here we go again," Enno sighs, leaning over the counter. Wait, what's she doing in the guild? Is this seriously how understaffed they are? "He'll turn up, Happy, would you like a refill of your milk? I promise we didn't spike it with alcohol this time."
"I can't trust you guys with anything, can I?" Laxus is too tired to criticize at this point. How did they get the cat drunk, if Happy was a real cat he'd be dead and they'd all have lost custody of the poor creature ages ago.
"That's what you said yesterday and he's still not here!" Happy wails, though his crying is drowned out by the partying in the distance. "He's not home either, he's not in the dorms, he's not even in the basement or Mira's house. He's hiding !"
Laxus sighs.
(Natsu's got a habit of hiding. When he doesn't want to be found, when he wants to be alone with his emotions, he doesn't allow himself to be found.)
"What happened?" Laxus asks. "I sent him back to deal with Galuna Island, didn't I? He was fine back then. What happened during the war to get him down?"
"Well, that's the thing… we don't know," Enno says.
"Yeah," Macao inserts himself into the conversation. "Warren lost contact around the start of the battle with Naked Mummy, and then, he just never showed up again."
"He ran off!" one of the more drunk members holler. "Don't you hear all 'round town! He ditched the battle and scurried off like some coward!"
"Hah! You believe that story, you dumbass?"
"Of course not, what kinda bull is that?" comes the cackle back. But, softer, "you know, it doesn't make sense, but neither does the fact that he's not back yet. He's never gone off like this when there's a disaster."
"But it definitely isn't his first time running off without telling anyone," Mirajane chuckles, "he'll be back, of course."
"Yeah, he always comes back!" And so the cheer returns to them. "Can't get rid of him if we tried, he's our Salamander after all!"
But they were forgetting something crucial.
All those times he returned, it was always reluctantly, and accompanied by Lisanna, who probably spent hours to days of searching. It was like a little scavenger hunt to her, and it's well-known that her precocious stubbornness is why Natsu opened his heart to her in the first place.
But Laxus realized, eventually, that all those times, Natsu only showed up because he wanted to. Because he was compelled to.
If he truly wished for it, Natsu would just disappear one day. But his love and attachment to Fairy Tail kept him coming back. Laxus thought truly that after Lisanna, he had to try his best to give Natsu a true connection to this guild, a reason to come home…
…and yet, Laxus had no idea in full honesty, if his efforts had ever worked.
"Let's look for him in the morning," Laxus says. "We're not going out again for a while. You should enjoy it."
Happy nods, wiping away his tears, but not yet consoled.
(They shouldn't dampen the cheer of the party.)
"Laxus! Welcome home!" Freed greets, brightly, his cheeks flushed with drunkenness.
Laxus sighs. "You sure had fun. Good work today."
"Oh, definitely not!" Freed says, bowling, "it's all thanks to you, for quelling the greater forces outside of Magnolia. I would have been in trouble if Naked Mummy brought reinforcements, so I attribute this clean success all to you, Laxus-sama."
Laxus really didn't feel like that, because honestly, Laxus felt like he was dealing with grunts the whole time. Grunts that were only trying to distract him from their main force in Magnolia.
"You're too humble," Laxus remarks. "And stop drinking, you lightweight."
"And the wiiiiiinner issss!!!" Warren declares, loud and dramatic, taking the mic and stepping up the counter, clearly also drunk, "LOKE!"
Bickslow groans, collapsing under the table as Loke raises his empty mug in victory, heaving a satisfied breath.
"What's the prize, what's the prize—" Warren spins, "well of course, a kiss from Lucy!"
"What?!" Lucy squawks, and the guild roars in overexcited cheers. "WAIT, I do not consent to this!"
"Sorry, Lucy, this is what happens when they get too drunk," Mirajane says, "on the bright side, they will be on their knees apologizing to you tomorrow. And cheek kisses count."
"Mira, that's not helping me—!!"
Lucy squeaks when she's shoved through the crowd to Loke, who is somehow already on his knees.
Despite insisting he can't get drunk on human beer as a recovered Celestial, he lifts his head with flushed cheeks and takes her hand on one knee.
"Lucy… would you marry m—"
"WAIT WAIT WAIT LOKE YOU'RE GOING THREE STEPS TOO FAST AND OUT OF THE AGREEMENT! LOKE, THINK CALMLY!"
"Premarital kissing is forbidden in Celestial laws."
"That is the most stupid lie I have ever heard— LOKE, I will break your glasses!" Lucy reels off in exasperation only to turn back and find Loke very unsubtly trying to fit a ring on her finger. "All of you are too drunk to function!"
She pulls away and Loke has the gall to sulk, cat ears drooping.
"You can't cute your way out of this!" Lucy barks, utterly flustered. "Seriously, don't you have a palace to clean up or a Celestial post-ceremony party or something to get to?! GO HOME!"
"Awh, no kiss?" Wakaba whines.
"KISS! KISS!" comes the cheer.
"You will not peer pressure me into this!" Lucy yells.
"BOO!" comes the thumbs down.
Lucy sticks her tongue out, "you're the only one losing!"
Loke bursts out laughing when Lucy starts making faces at them. The argument is quickly dismissed in favour of people bringing up the betting board for Cana's drinking quota today, and quickly, everyone dissolves back into new drinks on the house.
Lucy huffs, dissatisfied.
Loke takes her hand in his, and lifts it up for a knight's kiss on her knuckles.
"I'm actually serious, you know?" he says. "You don't have to marry me. But at least accept the ring."
Lucy's cheek flush. "Geez, you and your irredeemable playboy habits… wait…" she looks down, and it registers in her exactly what Loke is trying to fit on her finger. "...is… is that…"
Loke kisses the ring after successfully putting it on, albeit only on the middle finger. It's a wide steel ring, more sleek and masculine and practical in design akin to the ones he usually wears, rather than something a playboy would use to propose. It wasn't too fancy, and there was no place for a gemstone. In its place is the symbol of Leo among its many intricate metal finery, black and gold entwined.
"May the stars look fondly upon you, may their light lead your path, and may their guidance bring you glory," he says. "Love you Lucy, bye!"
"WAIT LOK—!!!" Lucy shrieks, but he fades right off back into the Celestial world, "You— You can't just give me the Regulus and then leave!!"
When Natsu finally stumbles home after some long and agonizing days of being treated like absolute trash— Chico's on his back, her wounds graciously wrapped, and Wakaba's daughter calmly follows, holding his hand.
"I'm really sorry," Chico says, weakly, into his back. "If I were just a little stronger…"
"It's fine," Natsu insists. "It wasn't a big deal."
The town has managed to recoup their losses. Fairy Tail is celebrating.
Natsu returns to the shelter of the night. He thinks some of the civilians are glaring at him, but tensions have been high since the Phantom war, so he doesn't think much about it.
"I'm…"
Chico clutches harder around Natsu's neck, sniffling, "I'm so weak. I can't do a single thing right. I'm sorry, Natsu… because of me…"
"Just forget about it, alright?" Natsu says. "They agreed to leave us alone. So go back to everyone else and live on as normal… that's the best way to go on."
No point wallowing in their weaknesses. If Natsu had been stronger, or smarter, or more inclined to team up… perhaps he could find a way out of the situation too. Alas…
"Natsu…" Wakana looks up at him, tugging at his hand. "My legs are tired…"
Natsu obliges quickly, picking her right up on one arm.
He smiles. "It's been a really long walk for you too, so it's okay," he assures. "Let's go back to Fairy Hills, alright?"
Wakana nods.
"Today was really scary for ya, huh? Sorry about that," Natsu says. "Once you get back to the dorms, you can ask the big sisters to get you something sweet, you know? It always smells like pastries in there, they have baking nights all the time. I know Elfman's probably having one in the boy's dorm."
Wakana nods, leaning into his shoulder, taking a shaky breath.
Natsu's trying his best to ignore the half-done reconstruction, the Gildarts Shift being oddly activated at this time— it just took a bit of maneuvering around, but there's no sense in being worried about it right now. He's exhausted, Chico is nursing a concussion, and Wakana needs some genuine rest.
Fairy Hills is rambunctious tonight. Apparently, the girls are having a drinking and sweets night, and from what Natsu can hear, Levy is talking very excitedly about a book she and Erza found in the Council library.
"Oh! Is Mira here— wait, Natsu?!"Lucy opens the door in her towel and squawks, jumping back, covering her cleavage area, embarrassed. She definitely didn't expect a man to be at the door.
Natsu stares, confused. Why is she in a bathrobe? Is that what the girls do in the girls' dorm? Does he want to know?
"What the– Natsu!" Erza burst through, also in a bathrobe. "Hey, come on now, you and Gray both! You have to understand girls' dorms are off limits for unscheduled visits."
"Is that Chico?" Mickey, also in a bathrobe, are they all in their damn towels what the hell, "Chicoooo!" she cries, running forward, clearly drunk, "I missed you so much!"
"Oh hey Natsu, wanna join the girls' late night pajama party?" Cana teases.
Is that what they're calling it? Pajamas?
Natsu's blatantly staring at Lucy now as she, the only embarrassed one of the group, runs to hide behind Cana.Wakana hurries to hop off Natsu's hold, running into Evergreen, who was on the carpet, for a tear-filled hug. Of course. She is also in a bath towel.Natsu resolutely does not want to know what goes on in the girls' dorms.
"Oh dear. What'd you do to our princess, Natsu?" Evergreen teases.
"Oh, you're back, Evergreen?" Natsu frowns. He thought they wouldn't be home for a while… well, the situation's like this, he supposed it made sense. "Happy's home, too?"
"Yeah, he's been looking for ya!" Cana informs.
"If you bullied Wakana I won't forgive ya!" Levy adds, heatlessly. "Welcome home, though! Did you find Chico at one of the outstation medbays? Thanks for bringing her back!"
"I—" Natsu eats his words. Chico's asleep, and he's in no mood to explain. "Yeah. Take her off my hands."
Erza's already on it, carrying her carefully.
"Wait, where have you been anyways," Lucy says, brows raised, "the city's pretty pissed about you not being here during the invasion and all."
"I suppose those explanations can wait until tomorrow," Erza assures, smiling. "But be careful around town, Natsu, not that you need any warning."
"See you in the guild tomorrow, Natsu!" Cana grins. "You owe us a story and some drinks! Loke finally came home, and Laxus ruined my date— hey, treat me to a meal in his place, since Laxus is being mean to me!"
"Yeah, everyone's pretty worried, you know?" Levy adds, "Warren's been looking nonstop for ya until he exhausted all his magic!"
Natsu doesn't know how to respond to any of this.
They didn't know a thing, and honestly, Natsu didn't intend on telling anyone. Not only was it morbidly embarrassing, he didn't want anyone to think they had to repair his broken pride or anything. Going after Naked Mummy after they've finally managed to settle this after-war was just asking for more trouble than Magnolia could afford.
So he holds his breath and turns away.
"Yeah," he says. "I'm going home."
"Have a safe trip home," Erza says, "I'll go put Chico down in bed. You get some rest too, Natsu. You look like you need it."
"And wash your face! You're covered in mud, you know?"
The door closes easily behind him.
Without Chico on his back and Wakana holding his hand, the world suddenly feels so cold for Natsu, and though he clings to the scarf around his neck, tonight it's not enough to keep him warm.
Lisanna's grave by the hut is clean and untampered, much unlike the rest of the town. It's comforting to come here after sunset, if only because the hut stays upright, always warm inside.
"...I'm back," he says. Missions always begin and end with him stopping here, but didn't stop by before heading to Galuna, so it feels like it's been forever.
There are souvenirs inside, little trinkets, little non-perishable items from cool stones and accessories, to cute pouches and decor like vases and statues, all brought home from the many towns he and Happy have been on for missions.
There's a bookmark with a pressed king protea flower hung up by the keyholders. That must be from Happy, Natsu reckons.
(Once upon a time, Lisanna contributed to the treasure den too.)
Natsu finds himself curling into the pile, finding some mildly comfortable spot among the dusty plushie of an ugly dragon they won at a Fantasia three years ago, allowing a long, painted piece of large textile from some faraway culture they visited four years ago to drape over his side.
He thinks of what the girls said, something about the town not being happy about him not being here.
He can hear it.
He lets the silence permeate and the cacophony of the town reach his senses. He always sees it, when he closes his eyes, the way everyone spites him for not being there when it mattered, and honestly, Natsu had been filtering all those kinds of thoughts out for so long, they don't surprise him anymore.
If the guild may benefit from this, maybe that's better. He didn't care about their opinion, anyways.
Absent-mindedly, he knocks twice upon the ground, and waits.
No matter how long he does, Ryos does not respond. He does not understand why, but he decides it can wait until tomorrow, if need be.
"Oh? What a nice little cottage you've got here, Salamander!"
He jerks upright.
Right outside the building is a single man he recognizes, but hadn't ever registered as a threat. The man is nondescript, normal as can be… as a member of Naked Mummy, at least. He's wearing a hood, but the mark of his guild is boldly printed on his clothes and across his slightly monkey-featured face.
His jacket is emblazoned with the motif of bombs and skulls.
"...who are you?" Natsu demands, despite knowing. Are they still not satisfied? You've got to be kidding me.
"My guild members call me Bomber," he says. "And I have a very unique magic, you see… It's usually really hard to activate, but you did me the favour of apologizing with your head on the ground for me today."
"The fuck do you wan—"
Natsu's words are cut short.
All across his body, spiraling rapidly from under his vest and toward his arms, runes have winded around his wind, coating almost every inch of his skin with words in a language long lost.
And they gleam, painful and blue.
"Haha…" Bomber chuckles, "you didn't think we'd be satisfied with just one person apologizing, did ya?"